Reincarnate (TFP)

𝙵𝚒𝚟𝚎

Author Note:

I'm quite sure you all have seen the show if you are reading this and you know well (or somewhat) of what happens in the first couple of episodes. I would rather not waste time on rewriting everything as I have done in the chapters before this one and adding in Ellie.

Anyway...

Time skips :)

(To the start of "Masters and Students", then wherever)

———

Optimus stood alone, off to the side and out of the way of anyone. His thoughts occupied him and his expression was empty apart from the slight downturn of his eyebrows and the heavy gaze that rested in his optics.

Small footsteps and the soft click of a boot heel against the cement flooring caught his attention. He did not turn towards the sound, only listened to it. The steps came to a pause beside him and now he felt small human eyes looking up to him. Now, he looked down.

It was simply Ellie. She stood tall, dressed in her favorite red sweater, white skirt, black leggings, and small white ankle boots. It was her signature outfit. Miko once told her she looked like a candy cane. Another time, she was called an upside-down Polish flag.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

As he did every time she spoke, he tensed a bit. Her voice was almost identical, if only it had a metallic tinge to it, then- No. She was gone. He needed to let go. Ellie was not her.

"I would think you'd be happy. I mean your arch-nemesis is finally gone. Shouldn't you be celebrating?" She continued.

"I do not disagree with you, Ellie," he looked away from her, "But part of me wished to change Megatron's mind, not extinguish his spark."

Ellie paused for a moment. She thought on his words.

"But do some people really deserve a second chance?" She asked her guardian, "Even after everything terrible they do?"

"That depends," Optimus looked back at her, "do you believe terrible people are simply born?"

Ellie blinked, then answered, "Nobody is born evil."

A rumble shook through the base. Optimus moved to cover Ellie from any falling debris. Ellie looked unsurprised at the loud noise and vibrations.

"Don't worry. Those are just science fair projects," Ellie waved dismissively and casually walked back to where the other humans worked. Optimus straightened back up again, then followed her.

Raf coughed and waved away a thick smoke from the air.

Miko spilled more paint on the floor of one of the platforms. Bulkhead was acting as a stand for her solar system project.

Jack and Arcee were bickering about which piece was supposed to go where on his motorcycle.

Ellie walked over to her little stand where she worked on plants. She decided to opt for something simple and familiar to her, so she tested how different plant soils affect the growth of flowers. She had several tiny pots of flowers, some grown tall and healthy, others not so much.

Ratchet finally decided to come over and see what all the ruckus was about. He critiqued everyone's project, even Ellie's one on organic plants, about how badly done they were.

Not that he could help her with anything. Ellie wouldn't let anyone touch her plants, anyway, even Optimus.

Optimus suggested simply helping them with their schoolwork. He made the point that the Autobots could also learn about Earth in return.

Eventually, Ratchet went along with it, and Optimus was about to go see Ellie's project when an alert sounded from the computers. He left with Bumblebee for a mission shortly after that.

—
It was only when Optimus had finished typing up a field report and noticed the other bots taking their humans home for the night, that he realized he hadn't seen Ellie since before he left for the mission. He walked around the base, checked everywhere she may or may not be, then returned to the main area. He double-checked the couch that Miko and Bulkhead had brought from who knows where a few days ago. Ellie was nowhere in sight.

Optimus went to the lab to ask Ratchet.

"Did you check on the roof?" Was the old mech's response.

Optimus hadn't considered that factor yet, so he took the base's oversized elevator up to the "roof" of the base.

There, in the light of the sunset, sat the small figure of Ellie. She faced the sun as it sank, allowing the night to take over for the next few hours. Her hands rested in her lap, eyes tired and alert all at once. She knew he was there.

"You can see everything from up here," said she, "I can see my house."

She pointed at it.

"Indeed you can," Optimus sat down beside her.

Silent minutes passed between them as they watched the sun go down below the horizon. Ellie yawned.

"What was Cybertron like?" She finally spoke.

"You would be surprised to find it was quite similar to your own world. Only it was made of metal and nothing organic grew or thrived. We had buildings just like yours; stores, houses, apartments, museums, stadiums, libraries, and so on."

Optimus looked over Jasper. Few cars were out at this hour. Mainly those going home for the night or heading to their night shifts.

Ellie hummed, "that sounds nice."

"It was. Though, it was far from perfect," Optimus recalled the caste system, the riots, the events leading up to Cybertron's fall.

"Well, Cybertron isn't alone, you know," Ellie yawned again, "Like Earth. Nothing is ever perfect."

Optimus stood up, "I should get you home."

"Fine by me," Ellie followed him back inside the base.

The following day, the humans got poor grades on the projects that Ratchet tampered with. Ellie, however, got an A+ on her science fair project.