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Megatron gave a thoughtful hum as he observed the chronometer, there should have been a bright yellow spoiler and perhaps a grumbled complaint about boring bridge shifts half an hour ago. It was not unusual for Rodimus to barge in late often bringing some fantastic but no less true tale of misadventure or sheepish smiles and awkward not quite apologies and promises of doing better in the future.
He had tried contacting the brightly coloured mech but the message seemed to go in to nothing like when the recipient was too far away ... Or didn't exist, odd, Rodimus should have been on board. Megatron was just beginning to calculate who might know the location of their wayward co-captain when he received a call from the science lab. The ex-warlord suspected he knew what direction this call might take.
"Megatron here."
"Sooooo.... Uhhh" began Brainstorm "How do I say this - We-" He herd a muffled rebuke on the other end not quite making out the words but it sounded like Perceptor “Ok! Ok! I - You know what? I think you better come and see for your self." The weapons specialist concluded.
"Very well Brainstorm, you wouldn't happen to know where Rodimus is at? I can't seem to get a hold of him."
Here the cyan jet gave a nervous giggle "Well it’s kind or related? We’re in lab two!” He offered light-hardheartedly and ended transmission; the silence rang ominous. Just because Brainstorm was not concerned didn’t mean the rest of them shouldn’t be.
Megatron just knew this was going to be another bizarre incident on the Lost Light, they had a quiet three weeks after the giant green snail debacle on the planet that ‘shall not be named’ par Rodimus’ insistence; they were long overdue. At least Brainstorm didn’t seem particularly alarmed or ecstatic so whatever it was probably not world ending, at least not yet.
"I better go see what they did now." Megatron announced wearily to the bridge. "You can handle things without me?"
"It’s quite; at least here." Hound waved him off with a sympathetic shake of his head.
"Tell us what they did later!" Someone on the bridge called to the departing co-captain which was acknowledged with a raised hand.
[]
As the science lab door slid open two pairs of optics turned Megatrons way; it looked like he interrupted a heated debate between the scientists. Perceptor looked relieved to see him and Brainstorm looked a little bit guilty.
Megatron gave the lab a visual once over; no black smoke billowing out, all the walls and furniture were still intact, or as intact as he had last seen them. It only showed the usual disarray of the creative presses and not some unfathomable disaster needing his immediate attention. There was no mysterious substances uncontrollably or alarmingly overtaking the lab and there appeared to be no unexpected creatures of unimaginable design wreaking havoc on the ship… Unless it got away.
“Where is it?” Megatron narrowed his eyes.
“He.” offered up Brainstorm in with a hapless shrug.
“Who?”
“Well - Uhh Rodimus, no Hot Rod.” he said quickly glancing at Perceptor to fact check who gave a slight displeased nod of the head “He- Uh replaced? Rodimus, by accident of course!” Brainstorm was quick to state gesturing with his hands.
“You… replaced Rodimus with Hot Rod?” Megatron asked incredulously, through considering all the other things this crew had gotten up to in the past it was not THAT weird.
“Yes” Perceptor stated disapproval radiating from his posture “It appears the ‘condition reversal’ gun that Brainstorm had been working on had worked - perhaps a little too well.”
“Condition reversal?” The ex-war lord inquired with some trepidation, he didn’t like where this was quickly heading.
“Yes!” Brainstorm cut in enthusiastically when questioned about his invention regardless of what trouble it has apparently already caused “Like you know sometimes you find some ancient artefact but it’s all slagged and you think to your self ‘man I wish I could turn back time to when it was less slagged.’”
“And you used this on Rodimus because…?”
“That wasn’t Brainstorms intention.” Perceptor replied rubbing his chevron “It was an accident.”
“Yeah! I never planned to use it on a sentient being but isn’t it neat that it works?” Brainstorm exclaimed excitedly. “It far surpassed my expectations!”
“… Sure, but where IS Hot Rod?” Megatron decided to point out what he considered the important question at the moment, as he cast another look around the lab. If he recalled correctly Hot Rod had been a rather small bot and could have probably easily hidden himself somewhere in the lab if he so wished. It was a useful and potentially deadly trait to have during the war.
“He - Ahh slipped away while we were arguing.” Brainstorm admitted. “He didn’t seem to know us even through he had met Perceptor as Hot Rod, so maybe he was rolled back from before then?”
“He didn’t have an Autobot badge” Perceptor pondered out loud as he rubbed his chin “It might have reset him to before the war.”
Megatron felt a vague horror creep on to his spark chamber, the potential implications of this…
“You CAN reverse this right?” He growled, he may have adapted a pacifist approach to life but some situations and bots really tested him.
“Y-yes! That is if it doesn't wear off by it self?” The cyan jet was quick to jump in “I mean I already hypothesized a potential reverse mechanism? But it might take some time to actually get it to fruition…”
“See that you do.”
“I’ll help.” Offered Perceptor “Maybe ask Nautica”. Megatron gave an acknowledging nod before quickly exiting the lab.
Now if he was a time displaced almost minibot on a giant space ship where would he be?
“Bridge; come in?” He commed. He would ask who ever was on security to see where the little wayward speedster was, and if that didn’t help he could put out a ship wide memo to let everyone know they were on the look out for lost looking red bots.
“I hear ya!” He received a response; it was Blaster. “What absurd situation are we going to be handling today?” the mech asked with some amusement ringing in his voice. This had the Co-captain sighing wearily; he was really getting too old for this nonsense.
“I need some security footage for outside lab two; somewhere between now and when we received Brainstorms call to the bridge.”
“Sure thing! Are Whirls scraplets loose again?”
“Thankfully not.” Megatron repressed a shudder; while Whirls scraplets generally didn’t present danger to the crew, anymore, they displayed an intelligence that was - unnervingly clever. That had captured Brainstorms imagination and after promising Whirl that no harm would come to them and he only wanted to see how smart they really were, that had been an adventure. It turned out they were too smart by far. Whirl had also happened to be off ship at the time and the scraplets could not be detained again until his return. The former miner turned the corner and stopped mid stride “Belay that order Blaster.”
The little bot froze like a deer in the headlights at the sight of Megatron. There was the familiar yellow spoiler, red helmet, golden fins and a flame decorated chest, it was all a little wrong, but he knew who he was looking at, and by Primus had he truly been that small?
“Hot Rod?” He tried to channel his least threatening aura but it seemed to be for not. Him calling out seemed to have broken the spell and the little speedster gave a slight yelp before turning tail and making a dash in the opposite direction, he made impressive headway before seemingly tripping over his own legs.
“Please I am not going to hurt you!” Megatron tried his best to reassure as he cautiously approached the downed bot. Hot Rod had turned around and shifting slightly backwards seemed to resign to his fate. He eyed the larger bot approaching him wearily.
“… How did you know my name?”
“We - we will meet and become friends.” Megatron wondered how much information he SHOULD be divulging.
“… What?”
“Did Perceptor and Brainstorm, the two bots you saw first when you got here, explain anything?”
“No.”
“Well - you are in the future.”
“That doesn’t make any sense; am I dreaming?” Hot Rod grabbed his helm in clear distress of the sudden turn of events his life had taken. The ex-war lord felt sympathetic, being aboard the Lost Light tended to have that effect on just about everybody at some point and usually sooner then later.
As Megatorn approached he could feel Hot Rods field radiating genuine confusion and pain, he had his hand protectively wrapped around his left knee joint that didn’t seem aligned quite right. As they talked he noticed that the little bot started to try and force the joint in to its original position by smacking it on the side with the palm of his hand.
“Stop! Please don't do that!" Megatron cried out in alarm as he quickly crouched by the smaller mech. Knees didn't just pop out of place and the young bot could be doing more damage to his joint. He did stop but he seemed flustered by the attention.
"It’s fine, really! I just need to wriggle it around a bit and it will start moving again" It seemed the reckless streak had been there from the very start.
"I will be the judge of that, I have medical training" Megatron gently moved away the yellow fingers that were clutching the effected joint.
"Wow really? You don't look like a medic." The big blue eyes looked at him in wonder and curiosity. Megatron felt himself flush a little under such scrutiny, something about that gaze made him feel oddly exposed.
"Well things have changed quite a bit in the future." He offered but his focus shifted.
It seemed at some point the leg had been badly damaged and someone had roughly hammered it back in to it's original shape but only in the most superficial manner, and when he gently pried up some of the dented plating the internals revealed were an absolute mess. One of the main joint struts had fractured off and dislodged from its proper position and was stuck fast. He could see how 'wriggling it around' might skip the affected component back in to proper position... All the while doing unimaginable amounts of damage to the internal circuitry and wiring and further damage to the joint it self, it was a miracle Hot Rod had yet to accidentally sever a major energon line. It would also need a better medical scan to see the extent of the damage that might have been deeper in caused by the unnaturally shifting component.
"How long ago did you damage your leg?" Megatron asked the younger bot. At this Hot rod scrunched up his face in thought.
"Uhh- I dunno? A few months?"
Megatron felt an old rage rise up and roll through his EM field if there was one thing he did not regret as a warlord it was obliterating the senate, had he been the bot he is now he would not have done it again, but he did not regret it. He pulled back his anger when he noticed the little red mech trying to subtly move away from him.
"I'm sorry, my anger is not directed at you" He offered up apologetically. “The damage is quite extensive, I would like to take you to the medical bay to have it looked at and repaired properly.”
He made to pick up Hot Rod who protested, unsuccessfully trying to scoot way batting at him with his hands.
"It's not that bad really! I can still walk" Megatron herd the distressed whirr of his fans.
“I am sure you could -” More likely slither along on his belly like worm or scooch along on his behind at best, Megatron mused, but he kept that part to him self “But I would feel better if I carried you”
At that Megatron picked him up with ease and the mech gave a little squeak of surprise that just about melted ex-warlords spark, had Hot Rod always been this… Cute? And he had blasted a hole through that bright red torso, how had Rodimus ever forgiven him for it? He tried not to let the old regrets seep through.
“It’s really not that bad! It doesn’t even really hurt!” Hot Rod continued to protest and tried to flail out of Megtrons grip "And it's not like.... I can afford it anyway." He stilled seeming to shrink on himself as he mumbled the last part in to the big grey chassis.
It had been so long since Megatron had been a law abiding citizen he had forgotten how it had generally worked. He hurried to reassure.
"It won't cost you anything; as I said things have changed a lot." an idea stuck him "Besides technically speaking this is your space ship." Had he not had as tight grip on Hot Rod he was sure he would have toppled out of his arms in surprise.
"What!? We are on a ship!?! How is that possible!?! We are in space!?!" He looked around the admittedly rather non-descript hallway and then started at Megatron, his eyes narrowed "Are you pulling my leg?"
"I am not; we are on a ship and in space” He patiently clarified.
Hot Rod gave a little ‘whoa’ and was stunned in to silence for a moment.
Megatron considered the situation and decided should probably comm Drift sooner then later. He had no doubt that the swordsman would be more then happy to explain things to Hot Rod and keep him out of trouble until this foolishness was resolved. And Minimus who would no doubt want to be kept abreast of the situation as the second in command, the rooster re-scheduling alone would put the minibot in to a frenzy. Did they have any protocols for time displaced individuals? He would need to confer with the ship hand book Minimus had been working on, after all the odd adventures they had been on it had obtained some pretty interesting subsections.
After apparently recovering from the shock Hot Rod proceeded to shower him with more questions about the ship until they made it to the medical bay. Velocity happened to be the medic in charge during this shift. Upon spotting him she gave him a friendly smile.
“ Megatron! What - brings you here….?” She trailed off a bit noticing a mech she didn’t recognize but seemed familiar all the same gently cradled in Megatrons large hands. He set Hot Rod down to sit on an examination table as Velocity stared curiously and the stare was returned.
“Velocity, this is Hot Rod. The mech Rodimus was before he was reformatted -” Megatron abruptly cut him self off, it was probably in everyone’s best interest if he didn’t tell the poor displaced mech about becoming a Prime, and more selfishly, under what circumstances.
“Reformatted?” Hot Rod asked alarmed.
“Yes, to a larger frame,” Megatron ignored Velocities raised eyebrows and was thankful that she didn’t correct or elaborate through perhaps more due to her own lack of knowledge on the subject “but that’s in the future. Now we need to take a good look at this joint.” He gently prodded the affected appendage making the leg twitch.
“Ohh ouch that looks like it hurts” Velocity winced sympathetically; she didn’t even need to look at the internals to see it was pretty bad. “But don’t worry! We will have you fixed in a jiffy!”
[]
Drifts timing was impeccable as he glided in to the medical bay just as they finished the dexterity cheeks on the new repairs.
“Wow.” He said with an amused incredulous look on his face.
Hot Rod had missed him approaching and nearly jumped off the examination table in surprise but it only lasted a second.
“WOAH are those swords? That’s so cool!” And before Velocity or Megatron could have stopped him from putting his body weight on a freshly fixed leg without easing in to it he slipped off the table to take a closer look, stumbling a bit on the first step but recovered admirably.
At least Hot Rod had enough sense of self preservation not to go grabbing, as far as he was concerned, a strangers swords and merely half circled Drift to get a better look. Drift obligingly drew one of the swords for Hot Rod to observe better. Now the swordsman was outright grinning, the little speedster had always shown fascination with his weapons of choice and apparently reverting back in time a few million years had not changed that one bit.
“I was a bit confused by your message but now I see what you meant.” Drift addressed the co-capitan currently not a considerable amount shorter then they had been this morning and shifted his attention to Hot Rod.
“Hello, I am Drift” The swordsman found himself introducing him self to Hot Rod for a second time in his life, how odd things did turn out. “Megatron asked me to give you a tour of the ship and I will be more then happy to answer any of your questions”
“Umm cool!” the red speedster easily agreed, considering the odd circumstances he found him self in he was holding up admirably “So I have a question! Do you use all three swords at the same time? How does that work? You only have two hands.”
“No not all three at once.” Drift laughed.
“Maybe start the tour in the commissary, I imagine a time traveling ordeal has the potential to leave one hungry” Megatron suggested, he had been somewhat alarmed at how low the little speedsters energon levels were but considering what point Rodimus had been reverted from perhaps it was not so surprising.
Drift agreed easily catching the gist of Megatrons not so subtle suggestion and proceeded to lead the way.
Before they departed Hot Rod hesitated a moment glancing back at Megatron, uncertainly, before hurrying after Drift’s longer strides.
Hot Rod seemed smaller somehow then the bot Megatron remembered, even back when he first considered recruiting him for the Decepticon cause, through in truth in height there was no difference, it was like he hadn't quite yet cultivated the larger then life personality that made up for his lack of size.
[]
“I thought you were with Drift” Megatron found himself faced with a scrutinizing stare as he did his rounds aboard the Lost Light some time later.
“He got distracted with that grumpy medic of his.” Hot Rod rolled his eyes amused.
“I see”
Hot Rod ended up shadowing him through his routine like a duckling; asking odd questions about this or that, his presence turning heads and causing whispers to follow. The rumour had spread across the ship that one of their co-captains had been reverted to an earlier version some were so bold as to peer around corners of hallways and stare until they passed, it seems that’s what passed for entertainment these days.
“So am I the captain of this ship, technically, since it’s mine?”
“You are a co-capitan with me.”
“What? Why? that sounds stupid, why aren’t I in charge?”
“You said more or less the same thing when I was originally given the post by Optimus.”
“Who the frag is he to give out peoples ship captaincy?” Hot Rod huffed and Megatron couldn’t help but chuckle, indeed what right had Optimus had to demand such a thing of Rodimus? Through it had ultimately been perhaps one of the best things that had happened to Megatron him self.
“He was the Prime.”
“Oh… I guess that makes a bit more sense.” But Hot Rod still looked contentious.
“There were extenuating circumstances - I was put on trail for crimes against the species” Megatron sobered a bit as he mentioned this and Hot Rod looked at him with big owlish eyes.
“Whoa… Was it a false accusation?” Hot Rod asked forgetting the initial line of questioning startled by the sudden disclosure.
“Not at all.”
“You must have started as a reeeeeally crappy medic then.” Hot Rod said, he had personally experienced that Meagrton was at least a pretty decent one now. The odd frank non-sequester had the ex-warlord almost choke on his oral lubricant.
“I suppose that’s one way off putting it.” He said wearily.
Megatron weighed his options he supposed it couldn’t hurt matters to explain a bit, if their previous time travel shenanigans had showed anything it was that if any change was to take place it would have already effected their current universe and Brainstorm hypothesized that Rodimus’ change to Hot Rod was less time travel related and more physical.
There was a slim chance the reinstated Rodimus would remember what happened but as they found themselves sat in one of the lounges offering a picturesque back drop of the universe they currently cursed through Hot Rod listening attentively, occasionally asking clarifying questions or dropped little comments like “That sucks slag” and “Wow you were a real aft huh?” in the noticeable Nyon dialect the Rodimus of now had all but lost, Megatron decided he would not mind so much if his co-captain remembered. Perhaps someone aught to know.
Much to Megatrons surprise he ended up spending a lot of time with Hot Rod in the following days apparently something about a miner turned revolutionary then warlord and finally a medic fascinated the bright eyed little bot and he listened in enraptured attention as Megatron retold some of what happened. As Hot Rod sought him out daily to listen Megatron found himself confessing regrets he never admitted out loud to any other currently living bot, perhaps it was the knowledge that in the end Hot Rod would not recall any of this. The former miner had found that as he had grown older he had become more sentimental and as they talked the admissions and regrets slipped from his mouth easier and easier.
[]
There had been a near mutiny once Brainstorm announced that Hot Rod would be reverted back to Rodimus. Someone had spread a rumour that head command would not allow a goodbye party, but was easily averted with a ship wide announcement to the contrary.
“I would have thought he would have preferred your company.” Megatron mentioned to Drift when they happened to bump in to one another during the nights festivities, currently the bot at the center of the conversation was sitting at Swerves bar counter swarmed by fellow shipmates and apparently being bombarded with questions, Megatron vaguely wondered how many of the now easily divulged answers Rodimus would have given. Mechs didn’t realise it but the other captain could be a master manipulator when the situation suited him.
“I think you forget sometimes the charismatic pull you are capable of.” Drift laughed “The rest of us know you better by now but it’s a force to be reckoned with when met for the first time”
“Hmm yes; you lot certainly know how to put me back in my place” Drift gave him a feral grin in response.
[]
The next morning they were all gathered in a spare storage room they picked for the procedure. Brainstorm was holding the ‘condition reversal’ gun; it looked suspiciously exactly the same.
“Are you sure this will work?” Megatron doubtfully eyed the gun he didn’t want poor Hot Rod reverting back in to a protoform or worse.
“Don’t worry, I double cheeked his calculations with Nautica.” Preceptor reassured.
There was a few mechs gathered for the reversal process, Brainstorm of course as the party responsible for the procedure and Perceptor, as help and secondary more sensible opinions if needed. Nautica, much to her disappointment, was absent due to an engine hiccup. Ratchet was present just in case, for some reason Megatrons own medical skills were deemed insufficient in this case, through he tried not to take it too personally knowing that was just Ratchets way of showing that he had been worried. Drift was also present for moral support, whether for Rodimus or Ratchet was not clear. There was also a few other curious parties that were not invited but somehow made it in to the room non the less such as Swerve and Tailgate and where Tailgate went Cyclonus and Whirl were usually not far behind.
“Are you ready?” Megatron asked.
“Yeah.” The little red bot gave a slightly nervous nod.
Hot rod suddenly threw a hand out to grab Megatrons, his tiny golden hand dwarfed and contrasted by his larger black one. Seemingly embarrassed by his own reaction Hot Rod pulled back.
“It - it probably won’t matter in the end but it was nice to meet you and get to know you.” Hot rod looked down shyly his spoiler flickering in a nervous tick. Megatron soaked in the sight, chances were he would never see it again and Rodimus as Hot Rod had been surprisingly… Charming.
“I had also enjoyed meeting you as Hot Rod.”
At this the red mech lifted his eyes and grinned shyly.
Tailgate and Swerve let out a little ‘aww’, Brainstorm seemed to agree if not as vocal about it and Whirl laughed. Megatron caught Ratchet rolling his eyes and shaking his head in amused disbelief at the exchange, the ex-warlord pretended not to notice, thankfully he was out of Hot Rods line of sight.
They had Hot Rod stand at one end of the room, everyone else behind Brainstorm because Primus new what would happen if they were hit with the reversed ‘condition reversal’ gun.
“Alright everyone; ready or not here it goes!” Brainstorm announced before pulling the trigger.
There was a bright flash of light and the shape shifted and the familiar outline of Rodimus re-appeared he looked mid step stumbling a bit before he became aware of his surroundings looking around the gathered bots as they all stared at him expectantly.
“Umm…. Did something happen?” Rodimus asked looking a bit uncertain. He could have sworn this was not the place he had been a second ago nor the last mechs he had seen.
“Rodimus!” Drift was the first to react and lunged at his friend throwing his arm around his shoulder to give him a half hug, that broke the anticipatory silence and several bots started talking at once showering the confused Rodimus with questions.
Ratchet gruffly cut in with a remark about making sure that the whole ordeal had not had some detrimental affect on their co-captain.
“ Not that I – uh mind being at the center of attention but what is going on?” Rodimus asked as he automatically let Ratchet plug in to scan his systems without giving it a second thought, Drift was clutching his hand while the former CMO had told the others to give Rodimus some room; he was clearly playing favourites, Brainstorm wanted to take some readings too!
“Remember how I called you down to the lab to show you something cool?” Brainstorm asked him.
“Yes? That was just now… wasn’t it?” Rodimus looked around doubt creeping in to his voice as he looked at the gathered mechs.
“That was a little over a week ago” Megatron said gently, he couldn’t help but a slight pang of disappointment but also relief. He had perhaps shared a bit too much to those big earnest blue eyes that looked at him with such curiosity.
“What..?” rodimus said feebly.
“My ‘condition reversal’ gun accidentally went off and turned you back in to Hot Rod for a bit” Brainstorm explained.
“Oh… I don’t remember anything like that at all.” Rodimus said bewildered.
“Do you perhaps remember having a strange dream about being on a space ship and then getting a knee injury miraculously fixed a long time ago, before you joined the autobots?” Brainstorm asked eagerly.
“A misaligned joint in your left leg that you kept on skipping back on to place by hitting it.” Megatron specified with a note of disapproval.
Rodimuses face dissolved in to surprise and recognition.
“I DO remember an injury like that- but it defiantly wasn’t magically fixed.” He winced and shifted as if in phantom pain and getting a gentle swat from Ratchet who was finishing up his medical examination and needed his patient to be still.
“Fascinating!” brainstorm exclaimed excitedly “This proves my theory that no real time travel had actually occurred”
“I can’t believe how small you used to be!” Tailgate exclaimed “You were just a bit taller then me” That observation was not entirely factual but most minibots tended to think they were bigger then they were.
“Well that was a nice light show but I was kind of hoping for more explosions.” Whirl said with a ‘what can you do?’ kind of shrug and proceeded to saunter out of the room.
“I don’t know about you guys but I am kind of glad there wasn’t more explosions.” Said Swerve and Megatron couldn’t help but agree.
[]
Megatron found his feet taking him to the same lounge he had spent the last few days with Hot Rod but when he got there he was surprised to find that he was not the first one there. Rodimus coincidentally, or perhaps someone had told him, was sitting in Hot Rods usual spot reclining, contemplatively staring in to space. At the start of their voyage he thought the mech incapable of sitting still even for five minutes but perhaps due to maturing or feeling more comfortable in Megatrons presence he had learned that not to be the truth.
“Hey Megs.” Rodimus greeted him with a small grin. Megatron approached stopping not quite in front of Rodimus so as not to block his view of the wheeling stars.
“Apparently I was quite taken with your orating skills but I guess I was pretty young and naive” Rodimus said a little haughtily, the words weren’t very nice but any potential hurt was taken out of them by the amused twinkle in his eyes “But I suppose I might still find some of those stories interesting.”
“Hmm perhaps you would.” Megatron replied and settled on the opposite end of the couch as he had done several times earlier this odd week.
They did not sit in silence.
The end (?)