TRANSFORMERS: The Age of Extinction

Alive

Yeager Farm, Texas
2017

It was morning when Matsuri woke up, almost noon, and she heard Lucas pulling in. She laid there for a long moment, wondering if she should get up and she decided that she would. She got out off bed, changed, pulled her beanie on and walked down the stairs and to the door, where Tessa and Lucas were. In Lucas' hand, she could see the "EVICTION NOTICE" in bold words. Well, just great.

"Dad!" Tessa called out as she, Lucas and Matsuri made their way to the barn. "Are you working with lasers? If so, I'm not coming in."

"You guys have never seen a truck like this before." Cade stated after he opened the human sized door. "Get in here. Lock the door."

"It doesn't have a lock." Lucas muttered as the three got into the barn and walked towards the truck.

"Look! Look at the hole in the radiator. Look at the size of it. Something blew a hole in it!" Cade climbed a ladder before walking across a beam to a platform on the other side of the truck.

"Yeah, so?"

"It's not normal steel. The shrapnel in the engine, it ripped all the connections apart and watch. And this took some Cade genius. You are gonna love this. When I hook this back to a working battery..." Cade picked up jumper cables and put it on the battery and sparks flew from it before the actual truck starts to spark, headlights flashing and then, a voice could be heard which caused Matsuri's spark to flip.

"Calling all...Calling all Autobots."

"Oh yeah," Cade took the cables off the battery. "I don't think this is a truck at all. I think we just found a Transformer."

"Tran...Evacuate!" Lucas bolted outside with Tessa following.

"Wait, guys!" Cade shouted as he climbed down and went after them. Matsuri took one last look at the truck- Optimus- and followed Cade outside.

"Dad, are you out of your mind?" questioned Tessa. "You need to get that thing out of here."

"You don't have to worry. I've been there working all night. I'm fine."

"You know what? That's a truck, okay? You're right." Lucas cut in. "It's an alien killing machine!"

"Dude, it's DOA. It's been recalled, totaled, done."

"So, listen, there's a number that you call. You're suppose to call the government. It's the American thing to do."

"Here we go." Cade muttered under his breath.

"You're suppose to call, and if it ends up being an alien, then you win twenty-five thousand dollars."

"You don't win money."

"And if you can capture it live, like tag it like a wild wildebeest, then you get one hundred-thousand dollars."

Matsuri listened as the three continued to talk and she just couldn't take it anymore. Her emotions were on high right now and she did not want to hear these things anymore, especially from Tessa and Lucas.

"We aren't making the call." She stated, making the other three look at her.

"Not you too!" Lucas groaned.

"Yeah, but unlike Cade, I have a good reason." She could feel Cade shoot her a look at that.

"And that is?"

"One of those Transformers saved my life." It was the truth...just not the whole truth. She didn't even give any of the three a chance to reply before she walked away and to the swing that was attached to a tree before sitting down, rubbing her face.

She only glanced over when she saw Tessa marching and going inside the house and Matsuri sighed. She stood after a moment and began to walk towards the house at a slow pace.

She paused before she got to the porch, her ears twitching under the beanie at a whistling sound. She glanced behind her and saw a missile heading in her direction, causing her to duck. The missile went over her and into the house, making a ruckus. When it finally died, there was silence until Tessa scrambled out of the house and towards the barn.

"Dad! There's a missile in the family room!" She yelled as she passed Matsuri. She broke out into a run and, after a few seconds of hesitation, Matsuri followed.

She could hear crashing in the barn as she got closer to the door and a familiar voice growling and Cade telling someone to don't shoot. She quickly got inside, and she saw Optimus Prime standing there, damaged, pointing his gun towards Tessa and Cade.

"Optimus!" She shouted as she sped passed the two and as soon as Optimus saw her, his optics brightened and his frame lost its tension as he lowered his gun and she gave him a weak grin.

"Matsuri...?" His deep voice was like music to her ears.

"Yeah. You're fine, you're okay, these humans won't hurt you." She motioned Cade to come closer, to speak, and Cade did without a second thought, reassuring Tessa that he wasn't going to hurt them.

"Weapons...systems damaged." Optimus grunted as he ran a diagnostic.

"A missile hit your engine." Cade explained as he walked towards Matsuri. "We took it out of you. You're hurt really bad. I'm trying to help you. You're in my home now. I'm an engineer. My name is Cade Yeager."

"Cade," Optimus wiped his face slightly. "I am in your debt. My name is Optimus Prime. My Autobots. They're in danger!"

Optimus doubled over onto his hands and knees with a groan, His right antenna falling off and clattered to the ground as energon squirted out of the side of his head. "I-I need to go. I need to go now."

"How far you think you're going to get?" Cade questioned as he walked towards the fallen antenna before he glanced at his daughter. "Tessa, come here. He needs our help."

"What happened to you?" Cade looked back up at Optimus, eyes trailing along his frame as Tessa walked up behind him.

"An Ambush. A trap. Set by humans." Optimus explained before he coughed, puffs of dust exiting from his mouth. "I escaped and took this form."

"But you're on our side." Tessa stated as she stood behind Cade and Matsuri. "Why would humans hurt you?"

"They were not alone." Optimus managed to stand, a hand going to his abdomen plating. "My Autobots can repair me."

"Yeah, if you can reach 'em." Cade leaned down and picked up the antenna. "What about me?"

Optimus eyed the human before stealing a look at Matsuri, as if he was asking if it was fine to trust them, to trust Cade, and she nodded.

The mech carefully knelt, grunting in pain as he did so, and Matsuri looked at Cade. "He'll let you try."

Cade nodded and went to go write a list of the things he would need and Tessa quickly went back to the house while Matsuri stayed where she was, her eyes moving around his form, taking all the rust, dirt and dents. Her spark pulsed painfully as she imagined the hell he'd been through. Behind her, she could hear Lucas and Cade's voice moved to the door and out of the barn.

"My spark." Optimus murmured as soon as the two left and Matsuri walked closer to him until she could touch the arm that was keeping himself up from hitting the ground.

"I missed you..." She muttered as she buried her face into the plating.

"And I you, my spark." His other hand came and cradle her back, his thumb stroking her between her shoulder blades.

The two of them said nothing more, just basking in each other's presence, something the world had deny them for the last five years.