New Beginnings Story Arc
by Springer
rating: *+lp
Part 1: Will You Be Mine?
Rodimus anxiously paced back and forth as the chronometer on the wall counted each second with brutal accuracy. It had been a gift from Optimus to Rodania when she was promoted to Lieutenant First Class, third in position on the Security staff, and Rodimus had a love/hate relationship with it. He loved it because Rodania adored it; after all, it was a gift from her father. He hated it because Rodania was eternally late, and no chronometer in exsistence could keep that femme on time. And right now, she was *late*. Rodania was supposed to meet him for a talk at 2100 hours; it was now 0117, and the digital mark was threatening to slip to 0118. Rodimus sighed heavily and sat down on the couch, holding in his hand the fate of his personal life, the one item that could either make him the happiest 'bot alive, or the most miserable piece of slag known to exsist. And it all rode on Rodania's punctuality. 'Then I'm doomed,' he gloomily thought, then he shook his head as he relaxed on the couch. "I can wait," he said, forcing a smile on his face as the digital mark flipped to 0119. Rodimus tucked the item into his subspace pocket and leaned his head on the back of the couch.
"All I have to do is wait. She'll be here in a few minutes, she's just running some errands for Kup or Blade; she'll be here." Rodimus was deep into recharge mode as the chronometer flipped to 0130, the moon hanging high in the Earth sky as the stars lit up the night.
* * * * *
The sound of the door buzzer is what woke him the next morning, his head jerking up as his optics immediately powered up, momentarily blinded by the morning sun as he stood up and stretched, his tense muscle cables stretching underneath his metal skin. The buzzer rang again, and Rodimus walked over to the door and hit the admit key, his face falling from a bright smile to a disappointed frown as Phoenix's face greeted him. "Mornin' Roddy." Rodimus snorted and moved to one side as Phoenix walked into his spacious quarters. "Hi, Nix," he said, his voice soft and low. The crimson femme shook her head and smiled as she said, "Geez, you sound real happy to see me. I've had better reception at a funeral." Rodimus shook his head as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, mentally laughing at Phoenix's quirky wit. "Sorry, Nix, I had a rough night."
Phoenix looked into his blue optics and nodded, almost as if she had just confirmed a suspicion. "I think I know why you're so glum. Rodania was late for something, right? Something important?" Rodimus glanced at the small item that appeared in his hand and sighed. "You could say that," he replied. Phoenix placed her hands on her hips and started tapping the ground with one foot. "Roddy, you of all people, other than Springer and I, should know how bad her sense of time is. She couldn't keep a date if she went straight to Unicron himself; you *know* that! Shit, even Blade knows that, and you know how distant *that* femme is!" Rodimus sighed and gripped the item with his tight fist, his optics glowing with mild anger. "I know that, Nix, but just this once I wanted, no, *needed* her to be on time! I even gave her a chronometer that was a half hour fast, just so she'd be a little bit more on time!" Phoenix rolled her optics, (no easy task for a Transformer), and said, "Roddy, Perceptor fixed that for her. He noticed that it was fast and told her he'd fix it, and he did."
"Oh. Well, she should've picked up the hint!" Phoenix's hands fell from her hips and she walked over to Rodimus, her wings extending from her back and gently folding over her shoulders as she placed a hand on his shoulder, her smile sympathetic and understanding. "Roddy, give her a chance. She's always been late, and she will continue to be late. It's just a habit of hers, one that makes her unique. If you want to talk with her, then you have to just walk up to her and *talk*; y'know, flap your lips and work your jaw until sound comes out." Her smile turned into a grin as her hand squeezed his shoulder, watching Roddy's mouth work into a smile as the item in his hand disappeared into subspace.
"Thanks, Nix, I think I'll take you up on that advice." Phoenix lifted her hand up and playfully smacked him on the arm, her grin getting wider as she said, "Damn well better. I don't say these things for my health, y'know. It takes a lot of patience and a strong will in order to survive through Dad's speeches; especially when Mags and I were getting bonded. Primus, talk about boring speeches!"
Rodimus laughed at the thought of Phoenix and Mags standing hand in hand, both tuning out Optimus' speech on devotion and faithfulness as he stood in front of the couple with his finger pointing at their chests. Phoenix joined in the laughter and soon both of them were almost on the floor they were laughing so hard. They sobered after a few minutes, wiping away cleansing fluid from their optics as Phoenix flapped her wings and shook her head, a wide grin on her face as she watched Rodimus pull himself together. "Well, I better get my shiny butt to the command center before previously mentioned parent starts getting ideas. You going to talk to Roda, Roddy?" Rodimus nodded, his smile growing at how funny his and Roda's names sounded when grouped together. "Yeah; I need to get this straight before I do anything else." Rodimus walked Phoenix to the door and gave her a hug as the doors slid open. "Thanks for the advice, and the laughter, too. I needed both." The crimson femme smiled and patted him on the shoulder as she said, "I know." The femme left without another word, leaving a slightly puzzled Rodimus behind as he called up Rodania's location.
* * * * *
Rodania cursed as her knee impacted against a portruding corner of the hall as she jogged down the corridors, her weapon bouncing against her leg as it hung from her hip holster, her locater beeping wildly as she turned various corners and barked out warnings to strolling 'bots and humans. She turned another corner and slid to a stop, pulling out her weapon as a Decepticon levelled his blaster at her, his finger hovering over the trigger. "Halt program!" a voice called out, and everything froze as Rodania whirled towards her teacher, Kup, as he stood a few feet away from wearing a frown. "Now what, Kup?! I did everything according to procedure and got there within two minutes! So what's the problem?!" Kup shook his head as he walked towards her, his hand clutching a notepad as his own weapon hung from his hip. "The problem, Rodania, is that two minutes is too long. That 'Con could have killed both Prime *and* Rodimus within two minutes, with plenty of time to spare to kill Magnus and a few visiting delegates for brownie points with Megatron. See what I'm getting at, lass?"
Rodania sighed and nodded reluctantly, sliding her weapon back into her holster as the program dissolved around her. "So what am I supposed to do, Kup? Graft myself onto Rodimus' thigh and hold his hand? What good would that accomplish other than to annoy both of us?" Kup smiled and stowed the notepad into subspace. "Good question, lass. Think about that from now until our next session, all right?" Rodania sighed heavily as she crossed her arms over her chest, her lips pouting as she said, "I don't see why I have to train so much; I mean, it's an assignment to guard Roddy during official functions, something I've been doing for two years now! Why all the emphasis on training all of a sudden?" Kup sighed as he shook his head, angering the femme even more as he started to speak with the 'you're young, you don't understand' tone. "Roda, this isn't a game. This is a broader post for you now; you will be the only one between an assassin's laser and Rodimus Prime. Any distraction, any lapse of concentration could mean death for him, something we can't afford right now.
"I know how much he means to you; just imagine what it would be like to watch the 'bot you love die because you weren't paying attention. Death isn't something you just get up and say, "Gee, that was dull, don't want to do that again." And I don't want to see you go through that kind of hell. Do you understand, Ro?"
"Of course I do, and stop talking to me like I'm some kind of retarded infant! I know what death is, I've seen it enough times to know that it's permanent. And I would *never* let anyone hurt Roddy; that's why I want this assignment!" Kup shrugged and turned away from her, saying "We'll see..." as he left the simulation room. Rodania whirled around and hit the wall, stamping her foot in frustration as anger churned through her system, not noticing the doors opening and someone stepping in. Rodania stood in front of the wall, her fists clenched into tight fists and her chest heaving as her optics glowed a bright blue, her mouth curled into a sneer. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and the red femme yelped, jumping two feet into the air and whirling around with her weapon in one hand as she faced an equally startled Rodimus. Rodania sighed in relief and holstered her weapon while saying, "Primus Roddy, you nearly scared me to an early grave! Don't you know better than to sneak up on a femme? Geez, make some noise..." Rodimus stifled a laugh as he held up his hands and said, "Sorry, Ro, didn't mean to startle you like that."
"Yeah, right. So what are you doing here, anyway? Gonna start a training session, or just relax?" Roddy's smile faded and his hands fell to his sides.
"Actually, I came here to talk with you. I have an hour before I report for duty, and I wanted to talk with you about something very important. Besides," his voice deepened a notch and a hurtful frown crossed his face as he continued, "you didn't stop by last night, like we had planned." Rodania's optics widened and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, Roddy, I'm so sorry! I got so wrapped up with a briefing between Kup and Blade that I totally forgot! And by the time it was over, I was so tired that I just went to my quarters and went to sleep. What did you want to talk about?" Rodimus looked down at his right hand, which was closed around something small, and Rodania's gaze fell down to it, her hand falling from her mouth back down to her side. "What's that you're holding, Roddy?"
Rodimus looked up at her again and a small smile was on his face, and it grew as Rodania watched him kneel on the floor and take her hand into his. He lifted her hand to where it almost touched his lips, and the object he was holding became visible to her. Rodania's jaw dropped as she saw what he was holding: it was a small gold ring, an "R" etched in the gold with tiny diamonds as he held it close to her finger. Rodimus took a deep breath and began speaking. "Rodania, we've been together for almost three years now. True, it's not very long for Cybertronians, but it feels like its been longer. I love you with all my soul, and now I want to take the next step." Rodimus watched as tears began building in her optics as her hands started to shake, and he looked at her with all the love and joy that was physically possible. "Rodania, would you be my bonding partner?"
Those seven words sounded like the most beautiful music in the universe. Tears spilled down her face as Rodimus anxiously awaited her answer, his chest aching with fear and apprehension. Finally, Rodania uttered the only word that would free him from this torture: "Yes." Rodimus yelped as he jumped up and hugged her fiercely, swinging her into the air and spinning around the room, her tears falling onto his face as his arms tightly circled around her small frame. He gently set her down and fumbled for the ring, an Earth custom he picked up after he saw human weddings on television. He slipped it onto her finger and then kissed it tenderly. As he raised his head to look at his now intended partner, he saw the biggest grin on her face that almost made him wince. He briefly rose to his full height, towering over the femme for the sparest of seconds before leaning over and kissing her on the lips, hearing her moan of pleasure as her arms wrapped around his body. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and shoved it deep down her throat, tickling the back of it with the tip of his tongue as Rodania stroked it with her own.
They broke apart panting, their lips wet and swollen as they gazed lovingly into each other's optics, the ring glistening in the light as it rested on her finger. Rodania smiled and said, "I've never felt so happy. Thank you, Roddy." Rodimus placed a finger over her mouth, smiling gently as he said, "No, thank *you*, for making me the happiest 'bot in the universe. Now let's go tell everyone!" Rodania laughed as he grasped her hand and pulled her along, both laughing like lovesick teenagers as they burst out of the room and ran down the corridors, anxiously awaiting the reactions from their friends as they told of the impending event.....
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO!!
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