Resurrection

By: Sinead

Part Three

Rattrap couldn’t get over it. This bot . . . he was alive . . . and was as active as the first day he had seen him in the Beast Wars. It had been only twelve hours since they had found Dinobot . . . as a human.

There was a noise below him. He was up on the roof, looking up at the stars in the New England sky. A voice called up, “Are you stuck, Rattrap?”

“No.”

The tone of voice made Doan look up again. He shook his head, and climbed up a tree that was next to the house, then launched himself onto the edge of the roof, from one of the upper branches. A second later, he was his normal self, but he didn’t sit near his old friend. “Three years. Four, perhaps.”

“We’re considerin’ havin’ kids.”

“Primus . . .”

“Yeah. Scary. I know.” Rattrap blinked up at the stars, then looked at Dinobot. “How did you survive?”

The reply was simple, laden with memories and emotional strain. “I didn’t. I had been almost to the Matrix, when I was brought back.”

“Da clone. Sheesh.”

“Yes.”

“What’s . . . what’s it like?”

“The Matrix?”

“No. Dyin’.”

Dinobot immediately understood. Rattrap didn’t want to die. He was terrified of what was inevitable to every mortal being. “It isn’t . . . painful . . . in a way, but . . .” He sighed. “I cannot explain it. I don’t know.”

“Yeah. I understand. On a lighter note, Lizard Lips, what’s da deal with dat Maximal girl?”

Dinobot chuckled, and lay back resting his head upon his hands. Rattrap turned to look at him, and he looked back, saying, “You wouldn’t understand if I told you.”

Rattrap was instantly on his friend, one fist pulled back, ready to throw the punch. “C’mon Choppuhface! Tell me!”

“Very well. She’s Primal’s heir.”

Rattrap fell back, astonished. “What?”

Dinobot nodded, and sat up again. “Don’t tell her that you know. Have either the Maximal Elders or the Tripredacus Council been looking for her?”

Rattrap shrugged. “Cheetor don’t tell me dese things. Dey’re confidential.”

“What about me?” a voice called up. Cheetor appeared a moment later, and sat with the two.

Dinobot looked at him squarely, and asked, “How many Trackers were sent out by the Tripredacus Council to find Primal’s heir? How many were sent by the Maximal Elders?”

Cheetor asked in a whisper, “How do you know?”

“None succeeded, I can wager.”

“Dinobot . . . how did you find out.”

He kept his gaze locked with Cheetor’s, as he replied, “She’s that Maximal girl that you met today.”

Cheetor blinked, then asked, “How did she get here?”

Dinobot finally broke eye-contact, and looked up at the stars. “It was for her own safety, once Optimus left Cybertron. She’s been here six years, and under the care of a human, no doubt. On top of hat, she’s been worrying about her father.”

“Primus . . . Big Bot’s dead.”

“We know. I’m surprised that she hasn’t broke down yet.”

“But what about her? How is she dealing?” Rattrap asked.

Dinobot sighed, and shook his head. “She won’t sleep tonight. That, and she’ll end up waking me up to talk to me in about ten cycles.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been here long enough to help her through a few issues already.”

There were footsteps on the grass below, and Dinobot looked over the edge of the house, to see Optimus’ daughter there. She saw him, and climbed up the tree, then reached over to grab his outstretched hand, and climb onto the roof. Cheetor smiled to her, and she asked, “Did you know Optimus Primal?”

Dinobot, behind her, motioned for the two to play along, not letting her know that they know she’s the heir to one of the most popular Maximals of all time. Cheetor nodded. “Yeah, pretty well, too.”

“How did he die?”

Cheetor explained the Techno-Organic War, as well as the effects. She was silent through all of it, then said, “Dinobot told me about how he was through the Beast Wars.”

Rattrap asked, “Why are ’ya askin’, Kiddo?”

“He’s . . . he was my father.”

“And where’s your mother?” Cheetor asked, after embracing her tenderly. He felt as if he had lost his own father, when Optimus died, and he knew her pain.

“I never knew her . . .”

She clung to him, and he bowed his head over hers, sighing. Dinobot bit the inside of his lip, and then said, “Did you want to go back?”

She nodded, and Cheetor smiled. “We’ll leave when you feel ready to.”

Her head moved, and she looked up at him, then at Rattrap, and finally, Dinobot. She sighed, and said, “I’m going to pack. I want to go home.”

And with that, she was gone.

Dinobot sighed. “So my transgressions have been nullified?”

“Yeah,” Cheetor replied, “so you can come back too.”

“I have no intention of letting her go unprotected.”

Rattrap and Cheetor quietly shared a look, and didn’t press the issue any further. Dinobot stood, and left, excusing himself with the pretense of packing. Rattrap chuckled, once he was gone. “They like each other.”

Cheetor smiled. “No kidding. Should we tell him that he shouldn’t have to pretend?”

“I don’ think so. I mean, sure, later on, but dat can wait, dont’cha think?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Too bad, though. She was cute.”

Rattrap laughed, and the two stared up at the stars again.