A Desperate Plea

[Derrick Magnus]

Derrick followed Sideswipe's gaze and glanced over at the red and blue rig thoughtfully for a moment, a passing curious thought in his mind about the beautifully painted truck before looking back to Sideswipe again. "He's been going by the human name Robert Alan Magnus. I'm not entirely sure of his whole real name; we never talked about it really, but I think Magnus is at least part of it. I've got no idea who his brother might be, but dad seems to believe he's still alive and somewhere close the way he talks about him. All I know is that my dad's alt mode is a white Freightliner rig, car carrier actually, and I'm pretty sure his brother is about the same size. Only other Autobot I've seen was a yellow n black Camaro around the neighborhood off n on since summer of '07. I could pick up his signature, though I haven't seen that one in a while so I came out here on my own to try n find you guys hoping you could help my dad somehow." He sighed and brought his hand up to his chest, rubbing it a bit. "I can feel how much he's hurting without mom, crying for her every night... I swear it feels like he's slipping away bit by bit every day..." His voice grew quiet and a bit shaky then and he closed his eyes trying to regain his composure and push down the pain lancing through his Spark that he could feel from his father even as the white mech slept.

[Deleted]

"His name is Ultra Magnus Derrick, least that's his true name. I met your father a few times during this war but never really fought with him a lot and from what I hear Optimus has been worried about him and been trying to find him."Sideswipe said before looking back at Derrick but it was obvious the situation was getting from bad to worse for Magnus. If something wasn't done soon then Magnus really would be lost and Optimus would be suffering from that loss if nothing was done. If only Optimus had been awake to hear it himself. Though as sideswipe was about to say something else he paused as he heard someone move nearby, looking up when he saw someone quickly lean back around the corner.

"Hold on right here Derrick."He said before turning slightly and peeked around,"Anna, aren't you suppose to be in bed or at least asleep?"He asked seeing her as he gently scooped her up and set her down beside him,looking a little stern.

[Deleted]

Anna continued to listen, frowning at the words she heard and looked towards Optimus as they did, wondering if they planned to awaken the Autobot leader and when they continued to talk it still made her saddened. The thought of losing anyone in her family was still a deep fear of her's and it wouldn't surprise her that it was the same for anyone else. With a low sigh she shifted her position a bit to listen more until sideswipe paused and told the person he was talking to to wait a moment.

But before Anna realized it was her that was the reason Sideswipe paused he had already called her out,"Yes perhaps, but when it's actually quite around here you can actually hear others talking, even with how low you were whispering would still be heard you know."She said to Sideswipe as he didn't know how to give a comeback and she turned her attention to Derrick."If you need Optimus I can easily get him for you."She offered politely.

[Derrick Magnus]

Derrick turned and watched Sideswipe bring out a young blond not much younger than himself and he couldn't help but offer a bit of a smile in spite of himself. He lowered his gaze a bit as they spoke, thinking about the name Sideswipe had mentioned. So his father's true name was Ultra Magnus and his uncle's name was apparently Optimus. He looked at the girl, then to Sideswipe a bit apprehensively, not entirely certain who was really whom among their kind and certainly not expecting the reality, as was evident by the next thing he said to the silver mech. "Do you think your leader would let my uncle Optimus, if he really is my uncle, to leave the base and help my father?" he asked tentatively, a bit worried that their leader would say deny the request.

[Deleted]

Sideswipe shook his head at Anna and turned his attention back to Derrick as he smiled,"Actually that would be a no, you see Derrick Magnus and Optimus are spark brothers. Prime will go himself to see him."He explained though noticed Anna's look of disbelief of how he didn't know that in the first place but of course he didn't blame her since she hadn't heard the first part of the conversation. But if Magnus had talked about Optimus he had to wonder why he hadn't said anything about Optimus being the Autobot leader,"I'm just a little surprised how you didn't know."

[Deleted]

When Anna heard Derrick ask this she wanted to ask him how he hadn't known, but Sideswipe spoke up before she did and held her tongue this time. If Derrick knew about his father's brother then why hadn't he known who he really was? Unless his father had a reason to hide this from his own son, but it had seemed a mistake if Derrick said it was so bad. Though instead of waiting for Sideswipe to make the move of comming optimus she made her way to the garage, carefully moving past the others before she tapped Optimus' side.

The taps were hard enough it made him twitch slightly before yawning inwardly,"Anna it's a little late to be up."He said not quite awake,"Yea well I don't want to hear it, Sideswipe got onto me already. Your needed like now."Anna said but when Optimus didn't answer she gave his side a hard slap,"Optimus get your big aft moving!"She said trying to not wake the others as he grunted in response and carefully began to roll forward, Anna walking nearby making sure he didn't fall asleep.

[Derrick Magnus]

Derrick looked rather uncertain then, looking from Sideswipe to the girl and back. "My father only mentioned the war in passing and how dangerous it was. He mentioned Autobots n Decepticons, your home world Cybertron and your creator god Primus sometimes, but he never really talked about any of you, though he'd sometimes mention comparisons between him n his brother and me n my little brother Richard, but he never mentioned any names, not even his own or his brother's true names." He shook his head a bit, still not quite understanding the connection. He looked at the girl curiously for a moment as she moved away and among the other vehicles, then looked back to Sideswipe. "So who's this Prime and why wouldn't he let Optimus go to his own Spark brother?" he asked the silver bot then, not realizing that Prime and Optimus were the same mech. "My dad's dying as it is..." he added in a hushed tone trying to keep his voice from breaking at the admission.

[Deleted]

“Prime is Optimus, his full name is Optimus Prime, one of the last primes alive on our planet but we’ll explain more of that later. We call him Optimus or Prime because it’s just easier than his full name, where some just call me Sides but right now we really should worry about your father.”Sideswipe explained but glanced over as Anna went to wake up Optimus and couldn’t help face palming,”Anna really? You couldn’t have some patience?”He asked in annoyance which he only got an ‘f-you’ look in return.

[Deleted]

As Optimus was rolling forward he couldn’t help but overhear them as he paused, gazing at Derrick and Sideswipe before he finally transformed to his robot form, stretching a bit before he face them. What they were talking about he wasn’t quite sure of was what they had been talking about until Sideswipe looked up as the Autobot leader joined them,”What seems to be the problem?”He asked with some concern considering the sound of dying worried Optimus a little as he gazed down at Derrick.

Though Sideswipe told him quietly of what was going on and Optimus seemed shocked and worried at the same time,”Your father last name is familiar to me young man, in fact he’s my brother. I almost thought I had lost him years ago when he went in search of something we were in a desperate race to find.”He explained softly and his optics showed sorrow at knowing his brother was in trouble and close to fading.

[Deleted]

After Optimus finaly transformed and now that she was ignoring Sideswipe, quietly once more Anna watched the three talk, just listening and wondering how far away this man’s father could be, and Optimus’ brother. She may not have had siblings but she knew very well that the risk of losing family was always there and it always worried her for the day she would lose her own, not to mention the fact of the war only adding to the worry.

[Derrick Magnus]

Derrick gave Sideswipe a look of surprise as the silver mech explained a bit of what he meant. But before he could really respond, the red and blue rig transformed and Derrick found himself staring up into a face that was virtually identical to his own father's. It took him a moment to regain himself and he stepped forward towards the twenty-eight foot tall mech, clear familiarity showing on his face as he pulled his shades off. "He... he never told us... I didn't know who you were or who I was looking for..." he responded softly. He then closed his eyes for a moment and lowered his head, taking a deep breath to try and steady himself so he could explain to his uncle, who he now knew was the leader of the Autobots. "He's dying... every night he cries for her n I can feel him slipping away from us... Mom was killed in a car wreck three n a half years ago n it's been all my brother n I could do just to keep him sane and somewhat together... but he's getting worse..."

He swallowed hard then, a thought occurring to him suddenly and he looked up at the tall mech. "If you're really his Spark brother then why can't you feel him dying? Why can't you feel him crying out for her every night since that damned black truck came after us and murdered her?!" he blurted out suddenly, a bit louder than he intended, his tone sounding very hurt, confused, and a bit accusatory. He knew how strong a connection he had with his own brother and how strongly connected they were to their father. It didn't make any sense to Derrick why Optimus felt nothing at all from Magnus, wondering why his uncle hadn't gone to California to help Magnus and he began to wonder if his uncle just didn't care anymore. He had no idea that the bond between them had closed because of their long separation and that because of that separation, Optimus couldn't feel his own brother other than knowing he was alive somewhere.

[Deleted]

Optimus looked at Derrick sadly, knowing now that Magnus must not have told them the truth, to why he had never been there for his brother all these years. "Derrick me and my brother have always been close, and I would have come to him in a heart beat if I had known where he was, that he was dying. The reason I never came in the first place was due to our sibling bond being closed and us being separated all these years that I couldn't feel him any more." He explained softly and put a hand over his spark.

"The last time I ever felt my brother, ever knew he was alive was the fact our bond had not suddenly gone and when he had found the one his spark called to. After that I still never felt him and never knew he was even on Earth since we arrived back twenty years ago."Optimus said and clenched his fist."But knowing he's here I will do anything to help him through the pain, but this is something that will only be until he might get into worse condition."He said knowing there was little he could do except take the pain away for a time.

[Derrick Magnus]

Derrick had no idea that they had been separated long enough for their bond to close, and he had no idea how long that separation had been. All he knew was how hard it had been on his father and how much he was hurting now. What bothered him more was that it seemed even if Optimus went to Magnus, it would not help and only serve to prolong his pain. Derrick lowered his head then, trying not to let the disappointment and despair show on his face, though he couldn't fully hide it in his voice. "If nothing can be done and he'll die anyway, then all I can do is try and make it as easy on him as I can. My brother is eighteen and he still has me. Maybe it's time we let dad go, let him be happy with mom again. I... I'm sorry I wasted everyone's time n woke you guys up for nothing." he offered then, his voice low and a bit shaky.

He turned away from them and started walking towards the end of the building, transforming as he went. His human form seemed to explode in slow motion and his Cybertronian half was revealed to them as his body reshaped and reconfigured itself into an eight and a half foot tall robotic form, lean and slender yet still very strong, silver with cobalt blue armor plating over his legs, hips, chest, shoulders, arms and head, his entire frame accented with patterns of soft bluish lights along his legs, chest, and arms. A pair of wheels formed his feet and a third narrower wheel settled on his back while what looked like leather covered his abdominal plates, resembling human abdominal muscles. Once he reached the corner of the building, he laid a hand on it, pausing slightly. He was clearly torn, the pain of knowing he would lose his father no matter what they did was evident in his posture. He knew his younger brother could feel the pain Derrick was feeling now, though he tried to minimize it, but he would not explain until he got home and could hold and comfort Richard in person.

[Deleted]

Anna watched the exchange between uncle and nephew, and despite the accusations then Optimus explaining it seemed both were losing hope. Even Optimus didn't seem sure of what to do and in fact seemed almost to be thinking about it more then he should have, least in her opinion he was. Glancing back towards Derrick, watching as he transformed to a robotic form now and she put on a stern expression for once before quickly running to block Derrick's path, caring little of him being taller then her.

"Your really going to give up so easily to lose your father?"She said in a sharp tone and looked towards Optimus,"And you to lose your only brother? Both of you really outta be ashamed when you could do what you can for him through such a rough time in his life. He's suffering for Primus sake, and your not even willing to try and give him some relief from terrible pain and loss he's obviously had for a long time."She said to them as she crossed her arms,"I suggest you get your metal afts transformed, a space bridge opened, and heading to California pronto!"

Though it was a possibly a little harsh Anna wasn't about to let Optimus and Derrick let their family suffer when there could be something done. If she had to she would come along regardless of what Optimus said and make sure they tried something, one way or another.

[Deleted]

Optimus looked at Derrick but this time didn't know how to answer. A part of him felt it would be best to let his brother be with his spark-mate, to move on to the Well of Sparks to be with his One and a part of Optimus was saying to help his brother. But he was in so much pain and grief, it would seem wrong to just prolong that, just to take the pain away for a short time after who knew how long. For now Optimus could only look after his nephew with uncertainty and wondered if he was right.

Though it was a little surprise to see his nephew suddenly shift to a robotic form, even showing an alternate form. Techno organics for the most part were still trying to be figured out and though Optimus was curious he looked towards Anna as she went off on both him and Derrick for not trying to help Magnus, but she didn't understand and he knew it. Sideswipe was aware of this as well and they know she was only acting out for seeing that they weren't helping Magnus at all. "Anna it's not what you think."He said softly before looking towards Derrick,"Derrick I know it may not be much but I will help my brother any way I can to ease the pain and help him let go,to be able to be with your mother again."He offered as he came towards Derrick though notice Anna seemed confused now.