Title: Serenity
Universe: G1/IDW-ish, my head canon is a weird mishmash of a lot of things.
Characters: Optimus Prime, Thundercracker, mentions of others
Rating: T (to be safe)
Wordcount: 500+
Warning: English is not my first language and my tenses are a bit shaky, so please be gentle. Oh, and this is not beta read either. *cowers in shame*
Summary: Optimus Prime and Thundercracker, an introspective piece.
Optimus Prime. The name that brings fear even to the heart of the most hardened Decepticon. The one mech who has stand against Megatron himself and survived to tell the tale. The name that brings hope and joy to the heart of even the most reluctant Autobot. The one mech who has bring them from within the brink of termination to an even footing in the civil war that has devastated Cybertron. The one who held the rank of Prime, the bearer of the Matrix and all of the burden and responsibilities of leadership that came with the relic.
It is not the first time Thundercracker has seen the Prime. They have met often in battlefields, even if for Thundercracker it is from within the safety of distance granted by his wings. However, every now and then, when the tide of battle has turn unfavorable for the Decepticons or when he is just plain unlucky, he has had the misfortune to get up close and personal with the Prime. It was during these rare periods that Thundercracker gleaned some insight about the Prime. Thundercracker has seen Optimus changes from an inexperienced mech into the leader that most Autobots saw him as. At the same time, Thundercracker also saw the bright sparks in the Prime's optics slowly diminished into nothing. Battle after battle, the Prime appears to lose his true self piece by piece, whittled away by every Decepticon's victory.
Nevertheless, here he is, stellar cycles later, in this planet called Earth, a Prime without the Matrix, an abdicated leader and watching human television programme together with a Decepticon flier and there it is, that little glint in his optics that Thundercracker has seen once upon a time before the Matrix has claimed Optimus as its owner.
Thundercracker. Elite among elites, whose trine is known far and wide for all the right reasons. Autobots grounder and flier alike cringe at the mention of his name. Not few medics cursed him as mechs with ruptured audios are carted into their care. Neither are the Decepticons immune to such treatment, especially those whose fascination with the Seeker becomes too unseemly. He is a soldier, but one whose skill and abilities has brought him much fame and appreciation, however begrudgingly given, from both side of the war.
Optimus Prime first saw the blue Seeker in one of the battle fought over the occupancy of a city in Cybertron. At the time, he himself is but another soldier in the Autobot faction, a young upstart with Ironhide constantly watching his every move like a cyberhawk. Then, Optimus has marveled at the complete loyalty he saw the seeker has displayed towards his wing mates, his leader and the faction which insignia he wore so proudly on his wings. Yet, in the time between him being chosen by and eventually lost the Matrix, Optimus realised that that loyalty is not absolute. Optimus has seen how the trine was split between Starscream's intensifying ambition and Skywarp's blind loyalty to Megatron with Thundercracker wedged painfully in the middle, unable to choose between his brothers. Optimus has seen how with every slaughter of the innocents, Thundercracker has become less and less inclined to go through with the commands he was given, doing only what is necessary and nothing more. Likewise, Optimus easily noticed the growing unease Thundercracker has displayed battle after battle, as the Decepticon army becomes increasingly bloodthirsty; their leader grew ruthless as the war drags on. Ultimately, it is the threat of the decimation of the human at New York that extinguish any last shred of loyalty he held towards Megatron, earning him the scorn of his wing brother, Skywarp; Starscream has long since abandoned the pretense of the trine bond being anything more than for professional interest.
Nevertheless, it still come as a surprise to Optimus when he saw Thundercracker sitting in the almost claustrophobic room, surrounded by monitors displaying different channel each, the cacophony of noises making it almost difficult to hear, but there it is, the sound of laughter, light and carefree.
Hence, there they are, an Autobot and a Decepticon, a grounded and a flier, both with different past, different life and different reasons, sitting together in a room hardly big enough to accommodate the both of them, watching television, laughing and enjoying the reruns of some kind of sitcom and in their own ways, they can feel the serenity within their sparks.
tl;dr: The a/n is not a mandatory read. I just like to ramble. >_<
A/n: This thing has been nibbling at me ever since I saw that November challenge. Anyway, I am normally a more comedic writer, so the serious tone might be a bit forced. Timelines wise, this piece happens after the disastrous battle in Korea and Thundercracker has agreed to help the Autobots. I realized that at the time of this posting, Optimus are still stranded in Korea and TC has gone missing somewhere else. So, just pretend that this happened after OP somehow managed to come back to American soil and goes to look for TC for whatever reason that I totally cannot fathom. I find a television addicted TC to be totally hilarious. Anyone willing to beta this after it is posted is more than welcome to help me. Otherwise, I will most likely either take it down after some time when I grow too embarrassed at all the mistakes or ignored it forever. I want to ramble more, but between spellchecking and previewing, I got lost. Beside, the a/n is getting longer than the fic itself. Hope you enjoy it. :)