Reincarnate (TFP)

𝚂𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

Ellie lurched forward as Optimus abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?" She asked, smile fading.

"Remain calm, Ellie," He said.

He pulled off of the road and into a field that led to a forest on the other side, "I fear the Decepticons may be following us."

Ellie turned and looked out the window, spotting the jets. They were unlike any Earth jets she had ever seen, and flying too low to the ground. Decepticons. And they were coming after them.

Optimus drove through the field and when he got to the edge of the forest, he transformed and carefully held Ellie in his servo. He hurried through the trees, dodging branches and occasionally looking over his shoulder at the cons.

He found a large, hollowed-out fallen tree and stopped. The jets flew over them, unable to see them through the treetops. He set Ellie down near the fallen tree.

"Hide here until I come back to you," He ordered, before heading off in the direction the cons took.

"Okay," Ellie nodded, crawling into the tree.

The woods were quiet. Far too quiet. The animals must've felt the presence of the cons, too. Ellie could feel her heart thudding in her chest. She wasn't like Miko. She didn't like going out into danger for the "adventure" of it. She hated not knowing what was going to happen.

The sky was starting to grow darker outside the log. Minutes ticked by on her watch.

15.

Then 20.

Then another 40.

Had something happened to him? Was he hurt?

Ellie couldn't imagine that he would have forgotten about her. He cared for her too much. Maybe he just couldn't find where he had left her. Forests were confusing enough in the day, let alone in the dark.

Should she leave the safety of the tree? She knew not to disobey him, but she was getting so worried.

Ellie continued waiting. Another 30 minutes passed.

Her eyes were growing heavy and she leaned against the inside of the tree. It smelled of rain and leaves. Her eyes shut and when she opened them, outside the log was fully black. She couldn't even see in front of her arm. Her watch told her that another half hour had passed.

"Elita."

Optimus!

Her head shot up and she sighed in relief.

"Elita?"

She crawled out of the log and looked around. Luckily the sky was clear enough in the countryside to allow the moon to light her surroundings just enough for her to make out tree trunks and the forest floor.

"Optimus?" She called back.

"Elita." It was faint still but off to her right.

"I'm here!" she ran in the direction.

It grew louder and louder as she made her way towards it.

"Elita."

"Elita."

"Elita."

Louder and louder still. But then, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Optimus had never called her by her full first name before. He had always called her Ellie, even after he knew of her full name. And 'Elita' had been repeated at the same volume and tone the whole time. Her instincts screamed all kinds of warnings at her.