Two weeks earlier
Smokescreen's P.O.V.
I placed Lora at the mouth of the ground bridge. Fighting raged around us. She couldn't be here, not now. There was too much of a risk.
"Lora, go," I said sternly, leaving no room for an argument.
"Be safe," Lora said, turning to do as she was told.
Suddenly, I was flying, sailing through the air as a predacon grabbed me. I landed roughly on the ground, dust scattering the air as I made contact. I let out a groan, coughing as I pushed myself up. I watched as Lora ran towards me, fear in her eyes. The ground bridge closed, her escape gone.
Metal bouncing across the ground grabbed my attention. The metal cylinder that everyone was after rolled to my hands, gently hitting them as it stopped. The predacon that had thrown me landed on the ground, his foot in my vision. I watched as he bent down, grabbing the cylinder now that he was transformed.
"Hmm, all this fighting over this? What even is it?" The Predacon asked, observing the cylinder in his claws. He couldn't get it, even if I didn't know what it was. The fighting was proof enough that it was valuable.
My actions and their consequences all happened so fast.
I gritted my teeth. Pushing myself up, I tackled the Predacon to the ground. He hit it hard, and I hit him harder in the face, dazing him for a second, but that was all I needed. I grabbed the cylinder and reefed on it, breaking the predacon's iron grip. A foot planted itself on my chest, shoving me away from the predacon. He didn't hesitate as he transformed again. His chest quickly lit up with fire, ready to erupt. I could do nothing, but rise to face the flame.
My optics landed on Lora, desperately running towards me. I could see the fear in her eyes, I could see in the way she ran. Despite the moment, I couldn't help the smile on my lips. The fire tunnelled towards me, but still, I spoke the last words I would ever speak.
"Thank you."
The scream that came from Lora was louder than anything, and hurt more than the fire that had tore into my chest.
I flew, everything dulling. Water splashed up around me as I plunged down, down, down, into the depths of the lake. The cylinder was gone from my hand, falling to the water with me.
I watched as the water rippled above me, the sounds of fighting stopping on the surface. Down here, it was so peaceful, calm even. There was no pain, not as I felt my life slowly slip away. I didn't bother me as much as it should have, after all it was just apart of this war.
If I could have moved, my eyes would had widened as I watched Lora dive in. She swam, trying to reach me. I wanted to call out to her, to tell her to leave, to tell her to go, but I couldn't. My body didn't listen to me. I felt my back hit the bottom, and that was when Lora reached me. She held her hands out, touching them to my chest.
"You can't heal this wound," I tired to say. "You have to go, please." my mouth didn't move. words didn't form.
Lora didn't move, her hands remained on my chest.
"Lora go!" No sound came. I didn't move. "Please, go."
Even in the water, I could see the tears on her face. She wasn't going to leave me.
Blue started to fill the water, mixing with the energon that leaked from my wound. I watched the cylinder glide across the water. It was going to explode, and Lora was down here. She didn't seem to notice, or care.
"Someone, please save her!" I screamed. Any one, I didn't care which side they were on, just please, someone needed to save my charge. "Primus, please don't let her die. Please, don't take her from this world."
A disturbance in the water answered my prayers. With dimming optics, I watched as Optimus dove towards Lora and I. His own optics quickly assessed the situation. He grabbed Lora, his hand gently grabbing her. For a brief second, his optics were on me.
"No, go. I'll only weight you down. Please, just go." I was raging, thrashing in my mind. I couldn't move, and no matter of screaming changed that fact.
"I am sorry." Optimus said, and those three words answered everything.
He was sorry about what was happening, sorry for having to leave me, and sorry for not being able to protect Lora from this. Suddenly, I didn't want to go.
No. I still had so much more to do, so much more I wanted to see. I wanted to see the end to this war, I wanted to see my planet whole once more. I wanted to live a peaceful life, not having to fight day in and day out. But most of all, I wanted to be with Lora. I wanted to watch her grow into the wonderful woman I knew she would become. I wanted to watch her be happy, to live without fear. I wanted her to have a normal life, one without pain. No, I wasn't ready, not any more.
Optimus left, and I was screaming at him to take me with him. Ratchet could still save me. He could do something. No, I wasn't ready. I wanted to live on.
An explosion took over the world, taking all the senses I had left. I was gone, my body shredded in the blast. I could feel my conscience leave, going to join the All spark. No, I wasn't ready.
I guess fate had other plans for me.