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Jetfire was on Earth. Optimus needed a moment to fully realize it. It had taken him a moment after the battle and even now it felt surreal, to have him standing right here, right in front of him, after so long.
Jetfire was on Earth.
Optimus watched as introductions were exchanged, deliberately taking a step back. He would get his reunion; he just had to wait and watch. It filled him with pride, with joy, with relief to see the Autobot troops on Earth grow, to see them get along so well. Knowing Jetfire, there was no doubt that he too would find his place very quickly, with both Autobots and humans alike.
Jetfire had always been good with others, he had a charisma that was incomparable, and Optimus was filled with gratitude to have him by his side. Not just as second-in-command. As his partner in both arms and spark.
After the first excitement had settled, Optimus took a step forward, offering Jetfire to show him their base of operations and the land surrounding them. Jetfire, of course, gladly took that offer, excusing himself from the group and following his leader, dutiful as he was, of course.
“I‘m glad to have you back, Jetfire,” Optimus said as soon as they were out of earshot from the others. He had no secrets, but he also did not find it necessary for this conversation to be heard by anyone but the two of them. Optimus made sure to emphasize his point further, “I missed you.”
Jetfire chuckled slightly, increasing his walking speed a bit and reaching out with his servo, touching Optimus’ and offering him to intertwine them. It was an offer taken without hesitation, almost like he had waited for half an eternity to finally feel the familiarity of Jetfire’s touch again.
“Aw, you did?” Jetfire teased him, a hint of relief in his voice, “’f course you did.”
He stopped and pulled Optimus’ hand, guiding him to face him. Jetfire’s optics glowed brightly with happiness as he stepped forward. Their faceplates touched, a soft crackling charge jumping between them. “I missed you too.”
Optimus rested his forehead against Jetfire’s, just enjoying his presence for a moment before he retreated again, continuing on his way.
“There are better places for this, I believe,” he said, trying hard to keep the leader persona upright while also drowning in the wish for closeness. It had been too long. Far too long. Optimus subconsciously tightened his hand, as if he were afraid that he would be without Jetfire again if he didn’t.
“Don’t worry,” Jetfire calmed him, his servo tensing under the hardened grip, “I’m not going anywhere."
It had hurt him too, to be separated not just from the other Autobots, but from Optimus himself. His spark had felt a loneliness that was incomparable, and no matter who was with him, the sore never quite improved. It had been a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, a deep worry, despite his trust.
He followed Optimus across half the base before they arrived in front of Optimus’ personal quarters. As they walked inside, Jetfire started to get a bit antsy, not having expected calm, collected Optimus of all people to be as straightforward as this. Not that he was gonna complain about it. Jetfire activated his vocalizer to speak, but didn’t get to say a thing before he found himself no longer at base, but outside instead. The tingle of teleportation was unexpected, she shook his head to get rid of the unpleasant feeling in his circuits.
“Ayo, Opti-?”
The complaints died in his breath as he found Optimus, standing in front of him and gazing off into the distance. Jetfire watched him for a moment longer than necessary, his optics wandering along Optimus’ frame.
The golden sun drowned the world in a pleasant warm light. As he took in the sight, he realized that he did really like this version of Optimus; the Earth style suited him well.
There was something dreamy in the way the sun illuminated his plating, the way the reds had an orange hue now, the blues somehow looking even deeper than usual. The silver parts especially caught the light beautifully, revealing all the little scratches and blemishes from battle.
Jetfire could have stayed here, staring at Optimus for hours, and never cease to find new details that made him fall all over again.
“Optimus,” Jetfire finally said as he stepped closer and absentmindedly spun one of the wheels that he could help but be fascinated by. Those were new, he thought, back on Cybertron, Optimus’ wheels were far more hidden. But now, they were in such an easy-to-reach place, he couldn’t help but see it as an invitation. He wondered if Optimus remembered his tendency to—
“Always the wheels,” Optimus chuckled softly. Of course he remembered. Some of his most fond memories were resting together with Jetfire and having him fondle his plating, only to find a wheel and trace the grooves.
“No matter how long it has been, you will always go for the wheels.”
“I can’t help it,” Jetfire purred, closing in a bit further to lean on Optimus, “they’re so damn inviting like this.”
He listened to the soft whirr when he spun it, tracing the rims, tapping them, before he moved to the rubber, carefully hovering his digits over the coarse material.
The feathery touch made Optimus shudder a bit, clearing his vocalizer as he looked at Jetfire absentmindedly staring at him.
“Jetfire,” Optimus said, a slight amusement to his voice. “Must you stare at me like that?”
Jetfire jolted a bit, as if he had been woken up from a trance, his yellow optics widened as he realized how he was hanging on Optimus, straightening his stance again.
“What? I haven’t seen you in ages, and I think I deserve a little reward for saving y’all’s afts back there.”
No matter how casually he tried to play off his neediness, Optimus saw right through him, his optics lighting up with joy, nudging Jetfire’s shoulder.
“I am very grateful for your help, Jetfire,” he said, trying to sound as professional as possible, “but I’m even happier to see you again.”
Optimus put his servo on Jetfire’s shoulder and looked back at the view before them, nodding towards it to signal Jetfire to do the same.
“I wanted you to see this,” he said, looking out to the distance, “this planet is beautiful. Time and time again I found myself standing in this very place, yearning to show it to you.”
Jetfire realized that this whole time, he had been so busy staring at Optimus that he had completely ignored the scenery around them. He turned around, looking in the same direction as Optimus.
As he paid attention to the view, he let out a quiet gasp, stepping a bit closer to the ledge of the cliff that they were standing on. So far, he had only seen dry prairies and rocks on this planet, but the scenery before him was nothing short of beautiful.
It was a lush forest, full of greenery and life, a beacon of beauty in the middle of such an otherwise dull area. When he squinted a little, he could see creatures of all shapes and colors and sizes skitter through the bushes, when he adjusted his audials he could hear a symphony of different sounds.
He looked back up at Optimus, who wistfully watched the woods, his vents rumbling softy as if he were afraid to disturb anyone with his presence.
Jetfire’s optics softened. He wasn’t surprised to see Optimus so enamored with this place. He had always had an affinity for places full of color, teeming with life. Places worth protecting.
Jetfire shifted his stance and stepped a bit closer, scanning Optimus’ face for the familiar ‘I must protect this world’ expression that made him forget about his physical presence, and carefully snuck his servo against Optimus’, intertwining their fingers once more.
Optimus reflexively stepped closer, too, his frame relaxing a bit as he watched the world below.
“Hey, Optimus,” Jetfire said, a sly tone in his voice, “can I invite you for a flight?”
He looked at Optimus, a playful glint in his optics as he squeezed his hand a bit.
“I bet there’s a lot more places on this planet you’d like to show me.”
Optimus looked at Jetfire, hesitating for a moment, considering the offer.
“I’m not sure if that is a good idea. When I’m here, the others will see in the log where I am, but if we relocate…”
Jetfire sighed, a slight disappointment in the sound. Of course, yeah. Others first, pleasure second. As much as he admired Optimus, the leadership situation always got in the way. No matter how much he loved Optimus, no matter how much he trusted in his reliability and competence — sometimes he cursed the war for rendering him unable to fully relax.
“Just a short flight, Optimus. We don’t have to explore half the planet.”
When Optimus still seemed conflicted, Jetfire released his servo and instead placed his hands on Optimus’ face, holding him gently, meeting his optics.
“How far is this place from base? At least let me carry you there,” he offered. He kept his voice soft and understanding, making sure he wasn’t holding any grudges, even if he wasn’t necessarily happy about this.
Optimus shut his optics and nuzzled into Jetfire’s hands, letting out a weary sigh. “You will keep bothering me until I say yes, won’t you?”
“Oh, don’t act like you don’t want me to,” Jetfire replied, a chuckle in his voice. He pulled himself closer, their faceplates almost touching. “I’ve known you for too long to fall for that ‘exhausted leader’ shtick.”
Optimus’ optics opened again, bright and so full of affection that Jetfire felt like he was going to get blinded from the amount of love in them. He couldn’t help himself and crossed the distance, their faceplates touching, exchanging electricity. Audible static emitted from them as they touched.
Optimus tentatively placed a hand on Jetfire’s cockpit, the other holding his face closer, strengthening the charge he sent as Jetfire mirrored him. Their touch was longing, the current between them powerful enough to have little sparks fly around.
It took Jetfire all his mental strength to separate from Optimus again, letting out a deep and satisfied rumble, optics flickering.
“I missed you,” he whispered, pressing their foreheads together.
“I can’t even put into words just how much, Optimus.”
He merely received a nod and an agreeing hum, neither of the two being able to bring it upon themselves to release the other. They stood like this for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence, the hum of their engines united in the same rhythm, their sparks beating as one. There was so much that could have been said, but standing here like this somehow communicated so much more than any word ever could.
After what felt like ages of just forgetting the concept of time, or existence itself, for all that they cared, Optimus spoke up.
“So about that flight,” his voice was low and almost bordering on exhausted from just using it at all. He didn’t really want to talk, but he knew that at some point they would have to return anyway and taking Jetfire’s offer was certainly the more enjoyable way to do it, instead of just ringing home to be teleported or driving by himself.
“Mmmhhh…knew you couldn’t say no,” Jetfire hummed, smug satisfaction in his voice.
They each had their vices, and what Optimus’ wheels were to Jetfire, Jetfire’s flight abilities were to Optimus. Of course they could just link up, but no, that was different. Linking up was uniting as warriors, Jetfire taking him for a flight was personal. It was a sign of trust between the two.
Optimus knew Jetfire would never drop him, would never fly in a way that was in any way threatening their lives. He’d sometimes be a bit too lively and purposely startle Optimus with some maneuver, but it was a predictable recklessness that allowed Optimus to live for once, to put his entire self into the hands of another person instead of taking lead as usual.
In return, Jetfire knew Optimus would never mess with his alt mode. Jetfire knew that he’d be asking approximately a million times if his grip was okay, if it was not too tight, if he held on to an okay part, if he should shift his weight differently. He’d never risk disrupting Jetfire’s balance, he would treat him carefully and make sure to hold on properly to not fall off.
It took a few more moments until they actually parted. Jetfire stepped back, doing a mock-bow and holding out his hand, speaking with a smile in his voice, “If I may?”
Optimus’ huffed in amusement, taking Jetfire’s hand and letting himself be pulled down the cliff before them, knowing well that this kind of jumping, or rather, falling start was the easiest way to do this.
As Jetfire transformed mid-air, Optimus reached forward, holding out his arms to catch Jetfire’s underside. There were notches in his frame that allowed him to hold on quite well, and even if it had been a while, even if there had been a few frame changes since they last had seen each other, Optimus’ servos immediately found purchase.
“Good?” Jetfire called, ready to pull up.
“Good,” Optimus confirmed, bracing himself for the g-forces that were about to hit him.
Jetfire pulled up, not even grazing the trees below them as he soared above the forest. Optimus kept his optics down, trying to take in as much of the view as he could. He had been here so many times, regretting the size of his frame. He never had gotten as close to this forest as now, too worried that he might destroy something. He was grateful to get this chance and tightened his grip.
Jetfire flew over the greenery for a good bit before he did a generous turn, carrying them back to the direction they came from.
“Where’s the base from here?” he asked, trusting Optimus’ sense of direction, even on this unfamiliar planet.
“Uh—” Optimus needed a moment to collect himself, almost forgetting how to speak from how focused he was, “North, keep north!”
Jetfire chuckled a bit, a teasing comment in his mind that he decided to hold back. He didn’t want to fluster Optimus, not now, not when they were both enjoying themselves so much. Jetfire didn’t hurry in the slightest, just gliding through the air, enjoying the current in his back, the way it caressed his ailerons.
This planet had pleasant winds, he thought to himself, flying was barely an effort here. He made sure to fly low enough for Optimus to see the ground, yet high enough to not be disrupted by all the dust or get detected by unwanted presences.
“See that mountain?” Optimus asked at some point, his left hand moving slightly to indicate where they had to go next, “The mountain range stretches westwards, and will lead to the base.”
As Jetfire flew across the mountains, Optimus felt fully at ease. He, too, enjoyed the winds around their frames, noticing how Jetfire now had to work harder to keep the pace. Optimus tried to press himself up against Jetfire’s body a bit tighter, to reduce the drag, but his efforts were somewhat wasted as the current still got caught in his body.
Jetfire didn’t mind the little challenge, swaying around to better adjust to their situation, starting to have fun with the way the wind played with him. He had the urge to try a thing or two, but he didn’t want Optimus to lose grip, so he tried to keep his flight steady.
It was not the longest journey, not even an hour, but it was time spent together and that was all that mattered to them. They barely spoke on their way back to base, their frames pressed together being all they needed for the reunion they both had been seeking for so long. As they closed in on their current home, Optimus moved his servo again, guiding Jetfire to an area with even terrain.
Jetfire slowed down and closed in on the ground. Optimus dropped down, landing quite well and rolling off to transform into his alt mode, kicking up a cloud of dust as he went. When he was visible again, Jetfire made sure to fly at a good angle, casting his shadow on Optimus until they arrived back at base.
Of course, it was hard to sneak back, and Optimus had to give some long-winded explanation as to where they had vanished to and why, too flustered to admit that he was not, in fact, showing Jetfire what they had to work with and instead had spent his time flirting. Jetfire watched him with no small amusement, trying very hard to not make several comments to fluster him further.
A bit later, after Hot Shot had pestered Optimus enough into listening to some great new idea he had, Jetfire was pulled to the side by Red Alert, the medic giving him a skeptical glance.
“So, what really happened?” he asked, seeing right through Optimus’ façade.
The kids were standing by a railing, also curious. They had caught Red Alert’s suspicion and wouldn’t have settled for not being included in this conversation.
Jetfire chuckled a bit awkwardly, rubbing the back of his helm. It was unusual to be in this position, so he almost felt like he had to get flustered on Optimus’ behalf. “Eh, come on, is it really that imp— “
“You two were being lovey-dovey, weren’t you?”
Jetfire flinched at the accusation, leaning back. If he didn’t have a faceplate, he’d be grinning wide now as he nodded.
“Yeah kinda,” he said, “Optimus showed me this really neat place and we talked an’ ah, y’know.” He trailed of a bit, cleared his vocalizer and readjusted his stance to seem more confident. “I gave him a flight home. Like in the old days.”
The children reacted with different flavors ranging from surprise to disgust to fascination, all mixing in a very interesting combination of noises. The one thing they all could settle on however, was surprise. They had expected a lot, but not Optimus having a partner. Even less so, a partner that was his own Second-In-Command.
“Oh, that explains so much!” one of the kids said. Alexis, as Jetfire remembered being told. He tilted his head, looking at her with curiosity.
“I was wondering why he teleported there so often; he was messing up the whole log,” she pointed out, counting things she had noticed by her fingers, “then the sighs whenever he saw the Decepticons take off – the flight frames reminded him of you,” she continued with a mixture of exasperation and relief at finally knowing what was wrong with their leader, “and not to mention how often he seemed like he wanted to talk about something, or someone, but tried really hard not to.”
She pointed at him, almost accusatory, “He always had you on his mind, I can’t believe it!”
“Yeah man, go talk to him!”
“Yeah, don’t let Hot Shot hog your man!”
Jetfire looked at the children with confusion, not expecting to suddenly get supported by the tiniest wingmen in the world. He couldn’t help but laugh, loud enough for half the base to hear.
Yeah, yeah he got it now. He understood why they kept them around, why the other Autobots seemed so attached.
This planet, these children — they were worth the effort.