Freedom At What Cost?

Chapter 4: Tired and Distracted on the Battlefield

Could he be himself again?...

His servo trembled slightly as he stood there, pondering the situation. Would it work? What if the matrix only returned him to his old state of mind instead of him as a whole? But then again, what choice does he have? To be himself again and ... to be free?.. His servo inched closer to the armour shielding the matrix from the outside. He was so close, all he would have to do was-

* Knock Knock *

" Uh, Sir! Ratchet found an energon mine signal but there are a few Decepticons near the area and we need you to come with..." Bumblebee buzzed from behind the door. Optimus's servo stayed held above his chassis for a moment longer before he snapped out of hit. He took a deep vent as he straightened himself up, the mask slipping back in place as he turned towards the door. " Very well, thank you for informing me, Bumblebee. I shall meet you at the ground bridge momentarily ", his voice steeled as not to let the scout hear any signs of his distress from a moment ago, the other bots must have gotten back from dropping off the kids already...How long was he in here for? " Thank you, sir, we will be waiting for you... and uh, sir? It might be best to stop by the medbay before we head out...just a thought ". Optimus listened as the young bot walked away down the hall, wondering what had brought on that idea. He thought for a moment before looking down at his servos. Once he was sure that the other bot had left, he opened his door and immediately looked down towards his pedes. Just as he thought... there had been a small trail of energon leading towards his door. His servos had stopped leaking energon at this point but you could still see the tiniest hint of blue as the injury had stained his servos. 

' Hopefully, he kept this to himself...' he thought as he closed and locked his door. There was nothing worth hiding nor did he distrust his fellow teammates but it had become a nervous habit of his over the years... He did his best not to remember the day he started locking his door. 

Optimus decided not to visit the medbay and instead headed straight to the main control room. His steps were awfully slow as he traveled down the desolate, and dim hallway. In choosing their rooms, he had opted for the one furthest away from the main area, claiming that it would be the best for getting some quiet time after a long day but... Optimus shook his head. He needed to be focused and in control now, he could not afford to get distracted again. He turned down another hallway as he drew closer to the main room. 

He saw Bumblebee standing near the ground bridge, looking lost in thought. Bulkhead and Arcee stood a little off to the side, discussing the recent mission that the wrecker and scout had just been on earlier in the day. However, Ratchet immediately met his optics as soon as he walked into the room. Optimus could see his concern, he too wanted to discuss the earlier confrontation but it would simply have to wait until they got back. He looked back at his friend and silently mouthed ' later ' to imply that they would have a chance to talk. Ratchet nodded and turned to the others, calling out their names to gain their attention. 

" Now, I know you all have only just returned and the two of you" he pointed at Bulkhead and Bumblebee " have been on a mission all day but, this is the first large energon mine we have discovered in a deca-cycle and we are starting to get into the danger zone on our energon preserves. Now, there are a few Decepticons in the area, not in the mine, but nearby. I suspect they are searching for it as well but we still need to" Optimus listened to his friend give out instructions, glad to have his friend take over while he got his bearings. He silently chuckled as Ratchet held a wrench, threatening them if they got hurt.

The medic turned to Optimus and nodded, signifying that he was done speaking, and headed over to the controls. He nodded back as he turned to his team and started to walk toward the now powered-on ground bridge. " Autobots, we are to remain vigilant and we shall do our best to not alert the Decepticons to our location. That being said, let's roll out!" Optimus said, putting on his 'Prime' voice and transformed. The others nodded as they transformed to follow him.