Lead the Way

Chapter 4

I slowly woke up and felt someone stroking my hair.
"Is she awake?" I heard Kamicazii whisper.
"Sshh! Let her rest," Blue Moon hushed her.
"Whatever happened," Aura whispered," it must've severely hurt her. I've never seen her this upset since Bee was captured."
I stirred a little and Blue Moon hissed,"Be quiet, I think she's waking!"
I slowly opened my optics,"I locked my door."
Aura, from behind Blue Moon, smiled and held up a thin rod," Nothing keeps me from helping my friend when she's upset."
"So," Kamicazii said,"What happened earlier? You came in looking like you'd seen a ghost then went straight to your berth-room.  What's up with that?"
I sighed,"Do you really want to know?"
All three femmes nodded,"Yes!"
"Okay," I said,"But lock the door again."
Aura locked the door and the three femmes sat on my berth, looking at me expectantly.
I took a deep breath and told them everything I saw.
When I was finished, the femmes were horrified.
"He did what?" Kamicazii blurted.
"He was, k-kissing Elita One," I murmured.
Aura looked furious,"But, he was like, dating you basically, then he went off with Elita?"
"Look, I don't want you to take this out on him, okay?" I pleaded.
"Why not?" Blue Moon asked.
"Maybe I'm just not put out to be his sparkmate," I said, trying to sound like it didn't bother me, but it just came out thick and sad,"maybe a half-predacon and Prime just aren't meant for each other."
"Orchid, listen to yourself!" Aura exclaimed,"you told us that you loved Optimus with all your spark, and apparently, he had been returning that love. But then he runs off with that glitch-head Elita One, who doesn't even have the smarts you have, for no reason at all?"
I shook my helm,"No no, I just don't want you to go off on him about this, okay? Please, just...let me talk to him, okay?"
The three femmes exchanged looks, then nodded.
"Okay, Orchid," Blue Moon said gently,"but if you don't talk to him soon, we're going to."
I nodded,"Okay. And...thanks for understanding."
The femmes stood up and each one gave me a hug before leaving.
I rubbed my optics and sighed.
Later on, I left my berth-room and was immediately bombarded by questions from the mechs like,"Are you okay?" and"Are you hurt?" or"Do you want me to check up on you?" the last one was Ratchet's.
I waved my servos in front of me,"No no, everything's okay! I was just...jump-scared by Elita."
"Must've been some jump-scare," Ironhide muttered, but they left me alone.
"Oh, um, Ratchet?" I called.
"Yes, Orchid?" Ratchet asked.
"Do you know where Optimus is?" I asked.
"He went to talk to Sam," Ratchet replied,"Why?"
"There's something I have to talk to him about," I explained quickly, then walked out the base.
I decided to take the fastest means of transportation possible...flying.
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About half an hour later, I hovered over Optimus' signal. He was directly below me, but I was so high in the sky I could've been mistaken for a bird.
Sam and Optimus seemed to be in a deep conversation, but I was too high up to hear them.
I waited until Sam left before flying down and landed behind Optimus.
"O-Orchid!" Optimus exclaimed as he whirled around.
"I need to tell you something," I interrupted,"but not here. Follow me."
Optimus made as if to say something but I was gone before a single word could come out. The Prime had no choice but to transform and follow me.
I led Optimus to a dense forest and landed by a small, trickling stream. Optimus appeared a few seconds later.
"Orchid, I know this is about Elita One, but you have to hear me out," Optimus pleaded.
I held up a servo,"It's okay, I forgive you."
"Wait, what?" Optimus said.
"I totally understand if you like Elita One. She's pretty and is a much better warrior than me, and she will make a good sparkmate for you," I said,"But I just want to tell you that... I love you, Prime. I always have, and always will, but I respect your decision to be with Elita."
I turned to leave, but Optimus caught my servo in his and spun me around to face him.
"O-Orchid..." he began to say, but just gave up and kissed me.
I felt my spark give a jolt as his lips connected with mine. Nobody had ever kissed me before and the feeling was...undescribable!
But, I still pushed away,"Elita.."
"She was never my sparkmate, Orchid," Optimus said, holding me close and looking intently into my optics,"I only kissed her because she said that if I didn't do it, she would get the word out to the 'cons. And they would use you against me, Orchid. I never ever want to see you get hurt. You know why? Because I love you!"
Optimus kissed me again, harder this time, and I didn't push away.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck-cables and kissed him back.
We kissed for a while before our commlinks buzzed.
We pulled away and answered them.
"Optimus, Orchid, Decepticons are moving in on Sam's position!" Ratchet shouted urgently, "are you on your way?"
"Yes, old friend," Optimus replied,"but we'll need the coordinates."
Ratchet sent us the coordinates and we both transformed and drove out of the forest.
As we drove, Optimus spoke to me on a private link.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling better," I replied,"But why would Elita One betray her own kind, just to get to you?"
"Perhaps she is not an Autobot at all, but a Decepticon," Optimus growled.
"That doesn't explain why she only did it now, and not earlier in life before you loved me," I said.
There was silence, then Optimus said, "I have always loved you, Orchid. I was just too busy or too shy to tell you, and on Cybertron, having a sparkmate publicly was an invitation for trouble."
"Well, I spent most of my time thinking you never noticed me," I said quietly.
"And now?"
I smiled, "Now I don't know how I feel."
Optimus laughed over the comm, but then stopped once the others pulled up around us.
"Where's Lennox and Epps?" I asked Sideswipe.
"We left them back at the base. Didn't think this was a problem we'd need them for."
That didn't sound very reassuring to me, but I said nothing.
Suddenly I heard helicopter blades and looked up.
A helicopter was carrying a car, and Sam was dangling out of it!
"I've got a visual on Sam!" I cried.
"Where?" Optimus asked.
"Um, look up," I said.
Apparently Optimus looked up because all he said was, "Oh!"