Sparkmate

Truck

Lea

I was cleaning up my dishes from cooking breakfast when I heard someone stumble in.

"Lea, are you awake?" I laughed.

"I'm always awake before you are, Cade. I'm almost done fixing this. Breakfast was in the oven so it would stay warm. Did Tessa have breakfast?" I smiled.

"Yes, she did. Oh and here's the cash from my check. It should cover paying bills." I held the envelope out.

He shook his head, "I can't take that Lea. That's your money not mine."

I sighed. We always did this dance. He always lost the argument. I walked over to him and made him take it, "do it. Don't argue. I live here and I'm going to help you. Do you understand? You argue with me again and I'm going to just have Tessa take care of it."

"Alright, Lea. I get it," he put it in his pocket, "I'm going into town. To that run down movie theater. Wanna come."

I grabbed a towel and wiped the grease off my hands, "sure. What are you looking for there?"

"Anything I can use. To fix or build." I smiled.

Always looking for the next thing to build. It's one of the things I loved about living with Cade. He didn't let stress of dealing with human problems affect him very much. He didn't give up on his dream.

"Yeah, I'll come. Let's go." I threw the towel down.

I grabbed the bag I kept with me all the time. I walked towards the entrance of the barn.

"Are you going out like that?" I looked down at my shorts and tank top.

I turned to Cade, "seriously? I'm fine. It's hot today anyway. Let's go."

He laughed and followed after.

•••

After entering the movie theater the two men tried to show us around, but I went off on my own. I didn't want to be shown around. That way I could explore without a shadow. I found some neat stuff, and grabbed a couple things. I put them in my bag without paying for 'em. Cade doesn't need to spend more money that he doesn't have. Plus I didn't have an issue with stealing. Sometimes you have things like stealing to survive.

"Lea, Lea, Lea! Come check this out!" I rushed over to him.

I went to speak when I found him, but I froze instead. He was standing in a truck and I watched as tons of shells fell out. They were from rockets and other weapons. I glanced over the semi truck. A bad feeling settle in my chest. I didn't want to confirm my suspicion, but I had too. I stepped to the other side of the truck. I lifted up the tarp. I saw faded flame designs. My heart felt like it stopped. It felt hard to breathe. I placed a hand on his door.

"Optimus," Cade jumped down.

"I want this. I can't wait to fix it up. What do you think, Lea?" I couldn't respond.

I couldn't believe that he was here. In this condition. If this was Optimus, then Cade and his family would be in danger. I would have to tell them who I really was. Optimus would be in danger again. I would be in danger again.

"Lea," I pulled away, "are you okay?"

No, no I wasn't. However, I needed to keep my cool.

I smiled at him, "yeah. I'm fine. Do you want this?"

Please say yes, please Cade.

I didn't know what I would do if he said no. If he didn't decide to take Optimus I would have to figure out a way to get him out of here.

"Hell yeah. I wanna find out what this is." I smiled.

Thank god. I can be there to keep them safe if Optimus goes nuts. I can make sure Optimus is okay at the same time. I can make sure he is safe.

"Let's get out of here." He was gone before I could say anything.

I placed my hand on the truck. Optimus looked to be in terrible condition. I used my magic to access the damage. I could barely sense Optimus. He was badly injured. I could barely feel his spark, but it was there. It was small so I knew he wasn't out of the woods yet.

I rested my head upon his door, "I will keep you safe. I swear it, Optimus. Even if I die in the process."

"Lea, you ready? I have a tow truck out front," I smiled, "let's get it home."

I walked out as the tow truck guy came in. I watched for a moment as he got Optimus hooked up to his truck. I bit my lip. I couldn't watch. I needed to get out of there. I rushed outside. I couldn't stay in there without falling apart. Seeing Optimus like that was hard. I got into Cade's truck. I felt tears threaten to fall down my face. The images of the ambush that left Optimus that way he was, was seared into my memory. We got separated and I couldn't find him. I felt him, but after awhile I couldn't. He wasn't in one piece, but he was safe. For now that's all I cared about. It's all that mattered to me. I pulled out the necklace from under my shirt. It was a part of him. He gave it to me right before the ambush. It was a part of his spark. It hadn't glowed in a long time. I had been so worried he was gone because of that. I was so happy he was okay. That my sparkmate was still alive. The door opened and Cade hopped in.

"Are you ready to go?" I nodded, sliding the spark piece under my shirt.

I didn't need Cade asking what it was. At least not yet.

"Let's get home." He started the truck and we left.