9 year old Lordes Aubree was always known for killing people with her kindness. Not literally, but their hearts would melt just looking at her. Optimus Prime, at first, thought differently. He thought that all the humans were the same. That they fea...
"Guys, we have to get out of here now! Lockdown already knows we're here." Alice said as she rushed into the control room.
"Agree! Let's haul ass!" Hound shouted as he dropped the connected ship from Lockdown's main ship. The ship continued to drop, Hound doing everything he could to ascend the ship.
"Hound! Why are we still descending?" Optimus asked as he approached the pilot seat where Hound was.
"The controls aren't responding! I'm trying to override the manual system, but it's not working!" Hound shouted as he continued to work the controls. The ship was getting closer and closer to another building and Alice braced for impact.
The impact never came. Inside, the ship had stopped abruptly.
"What did we hit?" Drift asked while we all looked out. In front of the ship was Lordes. She was using all of the strength in her to keep the ship from descending any farther.
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She pushed the ship up as hard as she could until she found herself ascending in the air.
"That's my girl!" Alice cheered as Lordes came to a stop about 300 feet from the building line.
"Okay! Systems are back online." Hound said as they heard the engines start up. Lordes let go of the ship and it began to ascend on it's own. She smiled at the Autobots who were giving her the signs of approval.
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"Thanks, guys." She whispered, before she watched Lockdown's ship disappear into space.
"Come on, guys. Let's go." She said when she got nearer towards them. They all nodded before Lordes flew off into the opposite direction of the city, the spare ship following after.
~
"So, now that he's gone, what are you guys going to do?" Lordes asked as she looked at the others.
"Well, Lockdown's gone, we got a ship, we're leaving." Crosshairs said as Lordes furrowed her eyebrows. "No. You gotta be joking."
Lordes looked at the other Autobots and saw the gloomy expressions. Lordes' humorous face quickly disappeared into a purely disbelieved face.
"You're really going to just leave! After everything we've been through?!" She shouted to them, mainly Optimus. He looked at Lordes and he could see the sadness, the anger, the disbelief in her eyes. And then tears began to fall from them.
"What was the point in even bring us with you when you were just going to leave?" She asked while wiping her face.
"Lordes.." Optimus began as he knelt down to her level. Lordes looked away from him, not daring to meet his face at all. "I am not intending to hurt you. That is not in my nature. But after the cruel acts that humankind has brought upon us, we have no reason to stay here."
"What about me?" She asked as she looked up at him. "What about Cade? And Tessa? And Shane? And Raquel? And Alice?! What about us?! Are we not the reason why you continue to fight?! Are we not the reason you still have hope in us humans even when you keeping saying you don't?! Are we!?!"
Lordes broke down in tears, Alice coming over to her and rubbing her back as she did.
"Lordes, just calm down."
"No." She simply said as she looked up at Optimus and glared at him.
"What about that promise my dad asked that you swore to keep? To always protect me? What about your promise that you would never leave me as long as you live? You said you would do anything in your power to protect me even when I said I didn't need it! Was that a lie?! Huh?!" She shouted, Optimus feeling a ping of guilt in his spark as he listened.
"You never did care about me! Did you?! I was just a pawn in your little game! Well guess what?! I'm done! You can go ahead and leave! I know that's what you want to do anyway!" Lordes screamed at him as Alice pulled her back.
"Lordes, stop. You're overreacting. Calm down."
"CALM DOWN?! OVERREACTING?! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE UPSET, ALICE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE IN THE DARK FOR SO LONG AND THEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE TO BRING YOU INTO THE LIGHT! YOU DON'T GET HOW THAT FEELS! BECAUSE YOU'RE FAMILY IS STILL OUT THERE! I DON'T HAVE ANYONE! NOT AFTER WHAT HE'S DOING!" Lordes shouted to Alice as Alice took a glance up at Optimus who stood motionlessly, but definitely had a slight hurt and sadness in his optics.
"Lordes! JUST STOP!" Alice shouted as she grabbed Lordes' shoulders, causing her to stop shouting. "LOOK WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO HIM! LOOK HOW UPSET HE'S GETTING! HE'S NOT THE ONE BEING SELFISH HERE, LORDES! YOU ARE! YOU MAKING DO SOMETHING THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE A LONG TIME AGO! YOU CAN'T KEEP PUTTING THAT KIND OF PRESSURE ON HIM! BAD ENOUGH HE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT THE DECEPTICONS!" Lordes glared up at Optimus, but it softened when she saw the same expression Alice saw. Lordes looked down at the ground, guilt, shame, and sadness quickly filling her eyes as she realized what she said.
She ripped her shoulders from Alice's grip and ran off, flying in the air as she did and Alice shouting at her.
"No, Alice." Optimus said as Alice looked up at him. "Let her leave. She just needs some alone time."
"I'm sorry, Optimus. That was wrong of her to yell at you like that. But when you said you were leaving, I think it triggered her. I remember when we were kids. Before any of this started, she told me that her mom threatened to leave her dad. She said she was going to leave him and Lordes and she wasn't going to regret any of it. And she meant it. You should have seen the way she looked when she was talking about it.."
Alice looked down at the ground in sadness before Optimus nodded.
"I am not upset with Lordes, Alice." He began as Alice looked up at him. "I did indeed keep a promise. I promised I would always protect her. No matter what happens. After her parents passed on, I swore an oath to her that I would not let anything happen to her. And I choose to keep that promise."
Alice nodded before a small smile spread across her face.
"I better go find her." Alice said as she ran off, just as Bumblebee drove into the old railroad.
