Chapter Text
“Harry!”
Optimus watched as Harry froze, his feet at the edge of the roof, his finger on the Allspark. Power sparked between man and wizard and then Harry screamed, his eyes widening until Optimus thought they would fall out of his skull. Then he fell, tumbling over the roof of the human made skyscraper. Optimus could feel his spark freeze in his chest and go cold at the sight, distantly hearing Megatron jeer in amusement. The sun lit up the falling form of Harry as Optimus watched and it felt like he could no longer feel the warmth of the light now.
Ratchet, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Jazz went quiet over their comms before jolting into motion, firing off shot after shot against their foes. The Decepticons they were fighting against fell back momentarily but Optimus only had eyes for the small falling form of Harry Potter. The human soldiers on the ground all stared up at the falling man but they couldn’t do a thing to catch him, as exhausted and busy as they were.
The other boy, Sam Witicky, stared dumbstruck down at Harry, his arms reaching out faintly. The Allspark was still in Sam’s hands, though it was flickering too, and Sam hurriedly raced back and down into the building, running away from Megatron.
Optimus raced towards the building, his spark fluttering and tight in his chest, unlike anything he had ever felt before.
“Optimus! Be careful!” Ironhide yelled out over the comms, firing off another shot against the Decepticon who had transformed into a military tank.
Optimus kept his eyes on Harry, watching as he fell and fell and… started to glow? Optimus jumped over an upended fire truck, swerved around civilians who hadn’t yet gotten out of the way and ran, watching as Harry began to glow a light golden color.
“Prime! Did I kill your human? For you to have fallen for one is beneath us!” Megatron shouted, continuing to run towards Sam and the Allspark.
Optimus caught the moment when Harry’s fall was slowed, watched as the human man seemed to hover in the air halfway down to the ground, perhaps fifty miles up. And he watched as Harry changed. He focused his optics, watched as the Allspark vanished from Sam’s hands. The boy stopped running halfway down in the empty building and stared out the window, meeting Optimus’ eyes.
Harry seemed to grow, light filling the air around him, as he changed into… something new. Something that Optimus had not seen at all. Harry changed forms from human shaped to bird shaped, to a beast former. The bird that took Harry’s place was not one Optimus was familiar with but it was gorgeous, all golden and white, glowing with Harry’s new spark. The light of the Allspark glowed around Harry as he hovered in the air, huge mechanical wings beating steadily.
Huge, green glowing eyes stared blankly for a second, wide with what might have been a bit of pleasure and pain both. Optimus stared up at Harry, the first human-transformer to exist, blinking in awe. Harry peered down at Optimus, his eyes wide and then narrowing.
Megatron roared in challenge and jumped off the side of the building, reaching out right for Harry. Optimus charged ahead, tearing through Barricade, and headed right for his mate, his heart. The Decepticons all followed their leader’s direction, charging with renewed energy right at the Autobots.
Ironhide yelled out a taunt and shot off a beam of energon, ducking down to shield some of the human soldiers that had followed them. Ratchet did the same, yelling for the human captain to retreat.
Harry was still hovering in the air but as Optimus watched, he moved with almost lightning fast speed. Power echoed all around him and sparks of… lightning danced between his wings. He was beautiful. Harry flew down towards the ground with a speed that far outpaced Megatron and dove for the tank Decepticon, the one whom the human soldiers were fighting. And Optimus had to turn his attention to Megatron, hearing the Decepticon roar in their language.
“Prime! I’m coming for you!” Megatron yelled out, his red eyes glowing with hatred.
“You are not leaving this fight alive, Megatron!” Optimus challenged, charging towards the other bot.
“We’ll see about that!”
Sam stared up at the giant bird that had been Harry Potter, the man who had appeared with Optimus when Sam had first met the other bots. The man was now… as tall as a two-story house, with a wing span of 65-70 feet, and giant, golden and glowing with energy. The man’s green eyes shone with an otherworldly light as he stared down at Sam before turning to look beyond Sam.
Megatron lay dead in the middle of the street, his eyes dead and not glowing. The other Decepticons that had joined in the fight were dead as well, their huge, big bodies strewn throughout the streets in the middle of Mission City.
Starscream had been brought down by Harry but he was still alive and no one knew what to do with the Decepticon.
“Sam, are you alright?”
He turned to look up at Optimus, his eyes narrowing at the damage done to the Autobot. Megatron had fought to the last possible end and Optimus was showing the signs of it, with damage by energon gorged into his chest plates and some parts strewn around him. Optimus’ eyes were dim but they were proud as he peered down at the human boy who had risked everything for them.
“I am,” Sam replied, looking over to where Harry had started to shuffle towards them. “Are you?”
“I know when you are looking me over, dear one,” Optimus remarked, his optics amused. “Even if you are different now. I am fine. Can you change back?”
The giant golden bird tilted his head before shaking his head, his eyes… optics twinkling in what was very obvious amusement and excitement.
“I can hear you,” Optimus said, his eyes widening. “Over our comms. You’re… a beastformer, a bot. Harry… You’re just…”
Optimus Prime. Lost for words. I can change back. I think.
Optimus let out a huge sigh of relief, his eyes amused. “You can speak then. Marauder.”
Harry trilled quietly, amusement in his voice, though the sound echoed over the rather silent battlefield.
Ironhide, Jazz, and Ratchet all rolled up to them, followed by the human soldiers who had fought with them. Captain William Lennox led them, his eyes wide as he looked at Harry.
“Is this a thing now? People changing into autobots?” Lennox questioned wearily, as he turned to look over his men.
“I do not think so,” Ratchet explained, his yellow mechanical hide splashed with energon damage. “Optimus, you have some explaining to do, my friend.”
“It has been a long time for me in truth,” Optimus offered, shuddering gently. “Longer than… I met this young boy who kept me company for several years.”
You kept me company too. Sam, thank you for risking everything to protect their… our kind.
“Your kind?” Sam echoed, hearing Harry’s voice in his mind and distantly wondering how that was possible. It sounded both rumbly and mechanical and light in his mind and he wondered what Harry was now.
...That is a long story. Optimus, I think that’s why I was… changing during those years. Well, there was that one Death thing and then… We’ll talk later.
Optimus dipped his head in a nod before turning down to look at Megatron’s body. “I wish it had not come to this. Thank you for fighting with us, Captain.”
The human soldier beneath him nodded, clearly exhausted as all of his men were. Ironhide growled low and transformed into his truck again, rolling over to the human soldiers. The soldiers who were still standing climbed aboard and sat down on the pickup truck’s bed, letting out deep sighs of relief. Captain Lennox turned to look at Ironhide, who flicked his lights on and off before wheeling closer to the captain.
Lennox stared at the truck, tired bemusement in his eyes, before leaning against the side of the pickup truck.
“We have fought and bled together,” Optimus remarked. “Thank you.”
The sound of more military helicopters drew Sam’s attention and he watched as the Secretary of State walked out of a waiting helicopter, his eyes wide as he took in the bots. After a few hours, everyone had gotten transferred to a battleship off the coast of New York, with room enough for all the bots.
“Where is Optimus Prime? I would like to talk to him.”
Sam grinned idly as he leaned into Bumblebee’s side, enjoying the warmth of the bot next to him. “Last I saw Optimus was talking with Harry.”
The man blinked, his eyes narrowing, before he looked around at the various assembled Autobots. Ironhide was still in his alt form while Ratchet was looking over Bumblebee on the bot’s other side. Jazz was holding his cannons on Starscream, keeping an eye on the lone Decepticon.
Harry… was squatting down very still, in the middle of everything. The civilians who had not yet evacuated were staring at him with wide eyes, at the giant golden, mechanical bird in their midst. And beside him, almost leaning heavily on him was Optimus Prime. Optimus slumped into Harry’s side, sitting down, his optics dim. Harry’s optics were light as he met Sam’s eyes and then he turned to look up at the sky, crooning out a quiet noise.
The sunset made the two of them almost glow and Harry was definitely glowing, the same little sparks of lightning dancing around his mechanical plates.
“If we were back on the street, Optimus would never have lowered his guard enough to do that,” Ratchet remarked, grinning a little. “It is good to see him happy like this.”
One of Harry’s wings curled around Optimus and Sam watched as the two of them conversed lightly, with Optimus sometimes speaking aloud. Optimus hummed lightly in reply to something and reached out to put his metal fingers over Harry’s heart, or spark or whatever, and the bot and bot/human looked each other in the eyes.
“... Like us, there is more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime and I send this message to any surviving Autobots living amongst the stars. We are here. We are waiting.”