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Chapter Text

Deep underground, the Predacons were focused on their latest operation. Doctor Onishi's memories had revealed a maze of tunnels with a tantalizingly mysterious central chamber, where an ancient people had supposedly hidden an artifact of great power. Gigatron was so enticed that he mobilized, and ordered Sky-Byte's subordinates to remain at the base so they wouldn't "ruin everything."

Scourge was on point, using a shoulder-mounted light to illuminate the way. The whole group walked at a brisk pace, the way they'd been walking for what felt like hours.

Sky-Byte's legs ached—he much preferred to travel in beast mode—but he wasn't about to reveal his discomfort. He was already working at a disadvantage here, since it was Scourge who suggested that this place might be something important. The others had barely spoken to or looked at him the entire time, and the only reason he was here was because he insisted an "Earth cultural expert" like himself would be useful in a place like this.

He started to regret that decision. The others were going to binge watch a bunch of movies on a new-to-them VHS player they found at the junkyard; he imagined how comfy laying down with nothing to do, wrapped in a blanket, would be. It wouldn't even matter if Darkscream made them watch FernGully three times in a row...

"Lord Gigatron, I believe this is it up ahead," Scourge said.

"Oh? Excellent. Let's not delay." He laughed as he followed Scourge into a large chamber. "There it is! Look, you guys."

The Decepticons crowded around him, murmuring in awe. Sky-Byte tiptoed around them. "Hey, I can't see!"

"This surely possesses some sort of power we can use," Gigatron said, moving forward with his groupies clinging to his sides.

At first, there seemed to be nothing special about the room, until Scourge's light caught something in the back. It was a huge crystal, wrapped around with metal wiring that held it upright on a wide dais. The light also revealed a few carvings on the walls around the crystal, perhaps implying this was some sort of ritual site.

"Lord Gigatron, what exactly is this?" Scourge asked, gesturing to the crystal.

"I don't know," Gigatron replied confidently. "However, it's valuable, since it was in Doctor Onishi's memories."

"Doctor Onishi's memories haven't led us astray before," Scourge agreed. "So, shall I collect it for you, Lord Gigatron?"

"It looks quite heavy," Mega-Octane said. "I'll help you, Scourge."

"Sh-shouldn't you figure out what it does first?" Sky-Byte went ignored.

Loud footsteps pounded down one of the other halls that connected to the room. Fire Convoy and his entourage appeared, heroic and calm. "Gigatron, I will not allow you to take that crystal!"

"Heh. I knew you would show up. Terrorize!" In dragon mode, he rushed towards the Autobots. "Attack!"

Volleys of blaster fire illuminated the cave. Sky-Byte cowered in an empty doorway, wondering if it was worth it to get involved. Gigatron never recognized his accomplishments anyway, and he'd been ignored through this entire outing. Nobody would notice if he saved his energy this time—hell, they wouldn't notice if he got scrapped right now.

The Decepticons, merged into Ruination, had forced Optimus into a corner. Gigatron took the opportunity to metamorphosize back to robot mode and step onto the dais.

"I'll be taking this," he said, laying his hands on the crystal's gleaming surface.

"No!"

"Get lost!" One of the Autobot brothers leapt onto the dais, arms outstretched to shove Gigatron.

Sky-Byte lifted his blaster and fired without thinking. Side Burn hollered in pain and fell off the dais. Gigatron, however, also started cursing.

"You damn fool! You hit me!"

"I-I-I'm sorry!" Sky-Byte quivered.

Before Gigatron could come over to give him a beating, however, the crystal began to glow. Energy roiled inside it, looking a touch menacing.

Ruination turned to him. "Lord Gigatron, that seems unsafe—"

Optimus tackled him to the ground before he could finish, breaking him into his components.

A searing light overpowered Gigatron. He screamed in—surprise, fear, pain. The sound struck ice-cold terror into Sky-Byte's spark and went echoing down the cavern's adjoining tunnels.

Oh, damn, oh, damn, ohh—! His optics burned as he stared, transfixed, at the light. He'd really done it now!

The light faded. Everyone was looking at the spot where Gigatron had stood; he was no longer there.

"Lord Gigatron!" Scourge ran up to the dais. "What is…?"

Sky-Byte's legs shook like jelly as he approached. Had their leader been reduced to a pile of dust, or to a pile of scrap metal? He weakly tried to brace himself for whatever gruesome image awaited him when he got close enough.

"This is..." Convoy's voice trailed off. He, too, stood dumbfounded in front of the dais.

Where Gigatron once stood now lay a tiny, harmless baby. He had Gigatron's colors and tiny versions of his horns and wings. His little fists were curled on top of his chest, which slowly rose and fell as he slept, completely obvious to his surroundings.

Scourge lifted his attention from the baby to the crystal. Then he looked at Convoy, his whole body tensing.

"I think we should just peacefully part ways here," Optimus said. "Leave this place."

Scourge made a garbled, frustrated noise, but Mega-Octane came behind him and grasped his shoulder. "That would perhaps be for the...best." He scooped the baby up and they ran down the tunnel back the way they came.

"This way, this way," Mega-Octane said, guiding them. Gigatron was the one who had the map, but fortunately he had a good memory.

Scourge suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"He's waking up."

The tiny Gigatron whimpered, struggling in Scourge's arms. His head hung at an uncomfortable angle.

Sky-Byte stepped closer. "Hey, you have to—"

"What's happened to you? Lord Gigatron?" Scourge lifted the baby and raised his voice. "Lord Gigatron! Can you hear me? Answer me!"

"Listen to me! Be gentle—"

Gigatron thrashed his head around, his whimper rising into a wail.

"Th-this isn't like you," Scourge said with a growl. "Heed my words! I'm going to shake you around a little, to try to get some sense into you, okay?"

Sky-Byte screamed. He fired off a torpedo at the ceiling, showering rocks and dust onto the Decepticons. "STOP! STOP!!"

"What's the meaning of this!?" The terrible brothers all turned on him.

"If you shake him you'll kill him," Sky-Byte said, unafraid of how they had all closed in on him. "Babies are very, very fragile."

"Kill him?"

Sky-Byte walked over and, feeling quite bold without asking permission, took Gigatron into his arms. "You're holding him at a weird angle, and putting pressure on sensitive areas. That's why he's crying. Plus you were yelling right at his face. Children's ears are sensitive."

Scourge was indignant, but also watched him carefully. "How do you know so much about this? What did you call it? Babies?"

"Babies is the plural, this is a singular baby." Sky-Byte settled Gigatron in the crook of an elbow. He looked around with big curious eyes, quiet now that he wasn't so uncomfortable. "And it's no wonder you guys don't know anything about them, since you came online as protoforms."

"So this is how other Transformers are born?" Mega-Octane asked.

"Some. I didn't know Lord Gigatron was one of them, but I guess it makes sense."

"This really is Lord Gigatron, then," Scourge said. "That crystal must have done this to him."

"But why, and can we reverse it?"

"The Autobots are still back there, I bet," Sky-Byte said. "We should go back to base and return here later."

The Decepticons exchanged looks. "The crystal was deeply embedded into the ground," Mega-Octane said. "I doubt they could steal it, but I doubt more that they even would."

"All right. Everyone, retreat." They started moving at Scourge's order.

Except Sky-Byte, who stood in the tunnel a moment longer. "You really were transformed," he mumbled. "What are we going to do?"

Gigatron had been screaming for over two hours, with Scourge trying to calm him for about that long. They'd tried to feed him, tried to get him to sleep, tried to give him toys (Gas Skunk had some trinkets he'd found at the junkyard along with the VHS player) but nothing worked. He sat in his chair, which was comically large for him now, and cried and kicked at the air until he was red in the face.

The other Decepticons had given up, retreating to various corners of the Megastar to escape the noise.

"Just tell us what you want," Scourge grumbled.

"I've told you, babies can't talk," Sky-Byte said.

Goosher was futilely waving a rattle in front of Gigatron's face. "Sure would be convenient if they did though."

Darkscream was flipping through a baby care book. "It says here some babies cry without reason. The best thing to do is keep comforting them until they stop."

"Does it say how long it lasts?"

"Anywhere from a few minutes to...a few months."

Scourge groaned. Even Sky-Byte sympathized with him.

"Of course Lord Gigatron is crying, look what's happened to you," Gas Skunk said. He clasped his hands together in a pleading motion. "Please be patient, sir, we're trying to figure out how to fix you!"

Scourge stood abruptly. "This is pointless. The Decepticons and I are going scouting. Radio me if he turns back to normal."

I don't take orders from you, Sky-Byte thought, eyeing him as he left. As soon as he was out of the room, Gigatron's tears ceased. He sniffled and glanced around like he was looking for someone, then sighed peacefully and settled down.

"Oh, look at that," Gas Skunk said. "Do you think he understood our words?"

Sky-Byte huffed. "It's more likely...hey, Scourge!"

His face appeared in the doorway, optics narrowed. "What?"

"Will you come back in here for a second?"

"Why?" As soon as Scourge's face met the light, Gigatron started wailing once more. He cringed. "But he'd stopped!"

"Just as I thought."

Scourge raised a fist indignantly. "What do you mean by that?"

"Gigatron is scared of you, Scourge," Sky-Byte said. "He was quiet while you were out of the room."

Scourge took a few steps back, out of Gigatron's sight. The crying stopped once more. "I suppose you're correct."

"You do look identical to Fire Convoy," Darkscream said. "That's probably why he's so scared."

"His memories are probably scrambled," Gas Skunk added. "He knows Fire Convoy, but not the Decepticons he made."

Scourge growled.

Sky-Byte chuckled. "It looks like I'll be in charge of taking care of his lordship until he recovers."

Scourge balled his fists. "Why would you want to be in charge of something like that?"

Because maybe Lord Gigatron will remember when he turns back to normal, and he'll praise me for being such a good babysitter! Sky-Byte thought, feeling warm inside. For Scourge, however, he said, "Because you Decepticons are all terrible with babies. The only chance he has is with me."

Mega-Octane appeared, responding to Scourge's summons, and put a hand on his shoulder. "I think Sky-Byte is right for once. Not only do we know nothing about these other kinds of Transformers, but childcare is suited to someone as weak-willed as him."

"HEY!"

"I suppose so," Scourge said, disappearing down the hall to find the rest of the 'cons.

Sky-Byte tilted his head up, trying to look proud for nobody. "Childcare is noble work."

"Especially if it's for nobility, right?" Goosher giggled. He was still shaking the rattle, for his own amusement at this point since Gigatron was thoroughly unimpressed.

"The book says we need a nursery," Darkscream said, having not paid attention to anything else for the past several minutes. "Where are we going to put that?"

"It'll have to be right here, I guess," Sky-Byte said. "Lord Gigatron won't mind. You guys get on that, and I'll tend to his needs."

The Predacons glared at him. "Trying to make us do all the hard manual labor again," Gas Skunk said.

"N-no, it's not like that..."

They walked away, muttering among themselves.

Sky-Byte sighed and looked down at Gigatron, who was peacably chewing on his own fingers and clueless to the cloud of misery hanging in the room. "I guess you probably hate me too, huh? It is technically my fault you're in this mess. Anyway! Why don't we get out of this dark, dingy place for now? It'll take a while to fix this, and it just makes me sad seeing a little baby in a place like this."

Gigatron continued to chew on his hand. Sky-Byte took that as agreement.

The day was bright and clear, and the smell of the ocean drifted through the city on the nice breeze. Everything felt big and fresh, like he could go anywhere and do anything. The baby strapped to his chest with materials he'd found around the base dampened those possibilities somewhat.

"This is sort of like a vacation for both of us," Sky-Byte said. "You never get to go out and relax, and I never..." He paused. "We should enjoy this, is what I'm saying."

He stopped at a crosswalk, eying the light that told him it wasn't his turn yet. Walking was less dangerous than flying, and obeying traffic laws was less dangerous than being a prideful numbnut. Gigatron's head whipped side to side as he tracked each car that drove past them. "Are you thinking about your own car mode, I wonder?"

They crossed the street and continued deeper into the city. There was a park near the center, he recalled. Ever since the tower incident, humans left him alone when he ventured into public spaces like this, so he enjoyed an Autobot-free walk.

He was really starting to feel the day's heat by the time he reached the park, and he was sure a baby was even more sensitive to it, so he sat down criss-cross applesauce style under a big tree at the edge of the property. The parking lot was nearly full and there were lots of children on the playground and the ball field. It looked like they were gearing up for a game.

Gigatron stretched his arms in the direction of the parking lot. "Eh? Do you want to see the cars? But you've already seen a lot of them! Let me rest my legs please."

A small group of humans, sporting friendly and non-confrontational expressions, walked up to him. "You're Sky-Byte, right?" asked a woman in a red blouse.

"Y-yes," he said, feeling suddenly shy.

"We saw you on the news," said a man in a brown shirt. "My cousin's kid was in there, so thank you."

Sky-Byte laughed nervously. He could never, ever let anyone know he was also the cause of the tower's near collapse... "Even a Predacon wouldn't let anything happen to some innocent children. Y-you humans shouldn't be getting involved in our war, is what I've always said." He really hoped Gigatron didn't remember this moment.

A child holding the red blouse woman's hand pointed at Gigatron. "Transformers can have babies?"

"Sometimes. Usually we're built and have sparks put in later, but this guy definitely started out as a baby."

"The Autobots don't have baby robots," the child observed. "Mama, where do baby Transformers come from? Can I know the answer to that one?"

His mother laughed uncertainly.

A second woman, wearing a blue-button up, stepped closer to Sky-Byte. To his surprise, Gigatron reacted with open curiosity, reaching towards the shiny necklace she wore. "He's adorable, Mister Sky-Byte. What's his name?"

"Gigatron."

"He does look like your leader, Gigatron." The humans' expressions all shifted. "Is this his son?"

"U-um, well..." Should he explain it? How would he explain it?

The blue button-up woman gasped. "Don't tell me...!"

"What?"

"It's Gigatron's son...and yours!"

"...Huh?"

The woman put a hand to her chest, her expression becoming wrought with some emotion. "After you risked yourself to save the lives of so many human children, you returned to your castle where your master awaited you..."

"I live in a castle?"

"You told him that the Predacons were endangering life on this planet and that it had to stop. Gigatron was furious! Sympathizing with Earthlings was no different than treason!"

"Treason?" Sky-Byte echoed. Despite himself, he was enthralled in the story, forgetting for a moment it was about him?

"You begged Gigatron, but he wouldn't hear it. He threw you out into the cold—"

It was the middle of summer!

"—but unknown to both of you at the time, you were...carrying his child!"

"My life isn't a romantic drama!"

Gigatron laughed, delighted by Sky-Byte's embarrassment.

"You had his baby in secret, and now, you're trying to lay low among the humans, hoping against the odds that you can raise your son in peace despite all the conflict lately. And deep inside, your wounded heart pounds, aching for the day that your master will welcome you back with open arms—but that might never happen..." When the woman stopped, she found everyone staring at her. "Oh, my. I got carried away again. Sorry."

"You watch too many soap operas," the man said.

Sky-Byte laid flat on his back. Gigatron made a questioning noise as he was now looking at the sky through the tree's leaves. "What can I even say to all that?"

The humans laughed. "Was any of that true?"

"No." Sky-Byte sat back up. Gigatron stretched his arms out to the parking lot again. "In a minute," he said.

"Is he looking at the cotton candy?" The man pointed to the cart with the big, colorful pieces of fluff around it.

"Cotton candy?"

"Human children love it. Can you guys eat it?"

"He should be able to." Sky-Byte groaned. "I don't have Earth money..."

The man smiled. "I'll get you some! Do you want one too, Mister Sky-Byte?"

"Wh-huh? No, no...just for Gigatron."

The man returned a minute later holding a small cone with a giant piece of pink-and-blue fluff on top. Gigatron was going wild in the harness, swiping at it with fervor. He yanked it out of the man's hands and shoved it into his face before Sky-Byte could do anything.

The humans found his reaction amusing. They stayed for a couple minutes more, asking if he liked sports—he wasn't sure, but he enjoyed checkers, which he then learned wasn't a "sport"—then they left to rejoin their own kind. It wasn't the worst human interaction he'd had, but it was one of the weirdest.

Gigatron's fingers were stuck together, and his fingers were stuck to his face. He seemed bemused by this development.

"You need a bath," Sky-Byte said in a baby-talking tone, then recalled who this was. "I mean...Lord Gigatron, this doesn't befit y-your regal stature, so let's get you cleaned up."

They'd been out for a while, anyway, so Sky-Byte returned to base. He found a large pot and filled it with water. Gas Skunk had chemistry equipment that was sufficient for supplying heat, so after some work to set it all up, he had an improvised baby-sized bath tub for Gigatron in one of the auxiliary rooms.

The bigger trial was getting him in the water. Every time he was lowered towards it, he would screech and flail his limbs. Sky-Byte was nervous about doing anything he disliked, so he yanked him back each time.

"Is it too hot?" Sky-Byte tested the water with the tip of his anchor arm. "It doesn't feel too hot to me. Do you prefer colder water?"

Gigatron growled.

"Or do you not like baths at all?" He sighed. "Lord Gigatron, you still need to do this. You're covered in sugar! What will the Decepticons say if they come back and see you like this? They won't let me be in charge anymore."

As he was lowered once more, Gigatron stuck out his arms and legs, catching the rim of the tub.

"Now, now." Sky-Byte pushed on him but he didn't budge. Pushing harder could be a bad idea, but he was really holding on tight.

Then Sky-Byte got an idea. "Okay. Time for my secret attack!" He pressed his fingers into Gigatron's unarmored belly and tickled him.

He shrieked and let go of the rim. Instead of falling into the water as Sky-Byte wanted, however, he attached to the hand that attacked him, swung himself upward, and went flying through the air. Somehow.

Sky-Byte gaped at the sight. Gigatron flipped through the air like this was natural to him. He landed on his bottom, perfectly unharmed, and looked back with a serene expression as though he'd done nothing at all.

"For a baby, you're really athletic," Sky-Byte muttered, holding a hand to his chest to keep his spark from exploding. "How about this then?" He produced a cloth from a nearby drawer and soaked it, then knelt by Gigatron and reached the cloth towards his face. He leaned away from it no matter how many times Sky-Byte tried, and when he'd had enough he slapped the cloth away with a growl.

Sky-Byte groaned. "Do you not like the way water feels, or something?" He cradled Gigatron in his anchor arm, approached the tub, and cupped some water into his hand. This time, Gigatron offered no resistance, even when Sky-Byte poured the water directly on him. "Really? You're going to make me do it like this?" He had to use his fingers to scrub the crystalized sugar off of Gigatron's protoflesh and armor, but there were no complaints nor acrobatics.

A few minutes later, he was as clean as he could get with such a method. As expected by this point, he refused to be dried with a regular cloth, so Sky-Byte resorted to using a heat gun from a safe distance. Gigatron was spread out on the floor, dozing off with a smile while the water evaporated off him.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you? Just like I said." Sky-Byte's hand started to cramp from holding the gun for so long, because it did take a while.

Gigatron was fully asleep by the time he was finished drying. Sky-Byte picked him up and went to the throne room, where the Predacons had set up a crib. He'd have to ask where they got it later.

It looked weird for Gigatron to be in the crib, but Sky-Byte was relieved at the same time. Despite the surreality of the situation, his master wasn't being, like, traumatized by it or anything. He was pretty sure.

"You probably don't like being bossed around, do you?" Sky-Byte whispered. "I don't have a choice. I have to take care of you, because you can't do that yourself right now."

Gigatron stuck his fingers in his mouth and chewed on them in his sleep. Could he understand language? How much of his personality was still in there? Was he still the same man, or had he been reverted to the state of an actual newborn?

This was confusing! Sky-Byte hated thinking about it! With any luck, this would be over soon and then they could never speak of it again.

Chapter Text

The next day, Gas Skunk called everyone into the main room. He stood on the dais, in robot mode, and held up a glittering shard for them to see. "I took this sample from the crystal this morning."

"Stupid! What if it changed you too?" Sky-Byte tried to imagine taking care of two babies, one of them a skunk. He didn't care if the displeasure showed on his face.

"I was careful, and I figured after what you told us yesterday that taking this much wouldn't trigger anything. The point is now I can analyze it."

"Can you get any information out of something like that?" Darkscream asked, struggling to keep his tone even and the painful tears in his eyes. Gigatron was on his hip, twisting fistfuls of squirrel fur in his bizarrely strong little hands. Once he'd discovered the soft, plush texture of poor Darkscream's fur there was no escape, for their lord couldn't be denied even in this form.

"I don't know," Gas Skunk replied. "I have no idea how this thing even works, but I'll have the computer scan it."

"How long will that take?" Sky-Byte asked.

"I don't know."

"What do you know?"

Gas Skunk considered the shard. "It probably has to be Cybertronian in origin."

Sky-Byte shook his head. That told them nothing! "Work hard and I'm sure you'll uncover something soon."

"Of course." Gas Skunk went down the hall to start his work.

Two days later, they didn't have results yet. Even more frustratingly, the Decepticons hadn't been back to base nor contacted the Megastar to explain themselves. When Sky-Byte called them, they vaguely explained that they were gathering resources and information. What they meant was that they were clueless and rudderless without their leader.

Nothing could be done about it, so the Predacons sat around the Megastar and acted as nannies. Goosher and Darkscream were starting to grow antsy, commenting that it was nice weather for thievery or wrecking a few buildings, but Sky-Byte was patient. He saw the bigger picture; when Gigatron was restored, he would remember them caring for him. Such compassion would have to soften his spark.

Currently, Gigatron was strapped into a weird contraption that Goosher called a "walker." It kept him upright, and had wheels so he could scoot around if he wanted. There were a bunch of colorful, noisy widgets he could play with on the tray attached to the walker's front, but his attention was firmly fixed on a monitor displaying human TV.

Darkscream had found a cartoon while channel surfing. It was a fast-paced action show, the kind where characters called their attacks and wore color-coded suits. The bad guys and good guys were brawling—Gigatron was waving his arms and babbling in response to whatever phrases the characters used. He even started miming sword swings.

Everyone took notice. "He almost looks like his old self like that," Darkscream said.

"He's still got to be in there, after all," Sky-Byte said.

"Maybe the crystal made him forget everything," Goosher said. "Making him remember who he is might restore him."

"How do you figure that?" Darkscream asked.

"I've heard about it before. Transformers who lose their memories also lose their outlier abilities, but when they remember who they are, all their powers come back."

Darkscream scratched his head. "But his body was changed, not just his mind."

"Why shouldn't we try?" Sky-Byte shrugged. "It makes as much sense as anything else, and Gas Skunk's computer is being slow."

They all thought while Gigatron yelled in time to the cartoon.

"...So, how do we do that?" Darkscream asked.

"Let's go find some Autobots," Goosher said, raising a fist into the air. "We'll show lil Giga an exhilirating battle and he'll wanna join in so much the spell will be broken!"

"Stupid!" Sky-Byte snapped. "We can't take an infant into the battlefield. One stray blaster shot would reduce him to atoms!"

Darkscream gestured to the TV. "Lord Gigatron is famous, so surely there are some history specials about him."

When they tried, however, they couldn't get a signal to any Cybertronian channels from Earth. They even dragged Gas Skunk off his computer to help, but eventually he admitted defeat and they gave up. If there were documentaries out there, they had no way to access them, and there was no signal tower on Earth strong enough to reach their ancestral homeworld.

Sky-Byte laughed to himself. "Why do we even need TV? We've all known Lord Gigatron a long time, so we'll tell him about himself."

"Ah, good idea," Darkscream said.

Everyone went quiet again.

"So, what does everyone know about Lord Gigatron?" Sky-Byte somberly asked.

"Uh..."

"Well..."

"He's...he's tall," Darkscream offered.

"Seriously!? We've all known him for who even knows how long at this point and none of us can come up with anything besides he's tall?" Sky-Byte was as angry with himself as he was with anyone else.

Gas Skunk raised a finger. "He's a six-changer! They're quite rare."

Goosher nodded. "And one of his alt modes is a hand. I wonder why? Ain't that kind of a weird alt?"

"Gigatron's arsenal includes the cutter beam and gyro sword," Darkscream said.

Sky-Byte stomped his foot to make them all shut up. "This is extremely basic information! We'd get more details from his wiki page!"

"Ah, we should ask the editors for help."

"No we shouldn't!"

Darkscream and Goosher were already on the computer though. "He was in a comic book?"

"I didn't know that."

Sky-Byte blushed because he didn't know that either. "WE DON'T NEED THE INTERNET!!"

"Why does it matter so much?" Gas Skunk asked.

He grumbled as he paced around, trying to dislodge any thoughts that might be stuck in the back of his brain. "Because, as Gigatron's number two, I should know him very well, yet I can't come up with anything and it's upsetting. I-I mean, it's just weird to think that we of all people don't know who he is."

Gigatron turned his walker around and rolled over to them.

Darkscream smiled. "Did you figure out that we were discussing you, little one?"

"We don't need to list facts about him," Sky-Byte said. "Let's just talk about our experiences with him. How did you all meet Lord Gigatron and become involved in the Earth operation?" It occurred to him that they'd never had this conversation before.

Gas Skunk pondered up at the ceiling. "My story's pretty simple, I think. I was in spec ops and behind enemy lines a lot, so when Gigatron started looking for recruits I must have seemed a good fit. Plus I have a science background. I didn't actually meet him until I stepped onto the Megastar for the first time though." He laughed uncertainly. "I was too busy feeling nervous to remember much of him, just that he was very imposing and I wanted to impress him."

He was the opposite of that now, and was impressed by simple children's entertainment.

"I got top physical marks and being an amphibian made me handy. S'what I was told anyway," Goosher said. "But the first time I talked to Lord Gigatron he told me to fix my posture!" He grasped his head. "He didn't know I couldn't really stand up straight, but I tried for a whole day and hurt my back."

"What'd he do when he found out?" Darkscream asked.

"He told me to speak up more," Goosher said. "He was annoyed that I'd done something that hurt me instead of just bringing it up. He said nobody who was meek would survive working with him."

"You are known to be quite ruthless," Darkscream said to Gigatron. "But fair as well."

He just looked at everyone with a calm but curious expression.

"What about you, Darkscream?" Gas Skunk asked.

"Ah, this one joined the military because...there was nothing better to do."

Goosher laughed. "What?"

"That's really it?" Gas Skunk tilted his head. "You decided to become a soldier on a whim and Lord Gigatron chose you at random?"

Dark Scream shook his head. "I spent a long while pondering my course in life, studying different philosophies and points of view, and after a long period came to the conclusion...that there was nothing better to do."

Gas Skunk tutted.

"He chose me at random as well, yes. My alt mode helped as it did for Goosher."

"That's unbelievable," Goosher said with a shake of his head.

"So? What was Lord Gigatron like?"

"He didn't say much," Darkscream said. "He told me he appreciated my dedication to the cause."

"He didn't know you were a rambler, I guess."

"I guess not."

Sky-Byte was deep in thought, barely paying attention to the others, but suddenly felt their eyes on him. "Hmm? Oh, how did I meet Lord Gigatron? Let's see..."

Sky-Byte sat huddled on the floor, head on his knees. He was trying to pretend he wasn't in the medbay, or that the past three days hadn't happened. His commander's last words to him beat through his head like bullets.

"You're a useless suck-up! All you do is try to curry favor with me through stupid antics instead of focusing on your job. Stay in your place, Sky-Byte, and maybe somebody here will like you."

The Autobots attacked that same day. Sky-Byte had been the only survivor of his unit, badly damaged and in need of a several day stay in maintenance at another base. Worse, he'd heard the nurses gossipping about how Lord Gigatron was coming to reprimand the survivors for what happened.

"It's over," Sky-Byte mumbled to himself. "My life is over...why couldn't it have ended on the battlefield like everyone else..."

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but eventually he heard a great clamor towards the front of the medbay. His spark shuddered.

"Hey, you!"

Sky-Byte yelped and jolted. A nurse was beckoning him down the hall, towards the crowd of noise. "What?"

"Lord Gigatron has requested you."

Sky-Byte moaned."Uh, um, I...I'm still injured."

"No you're not," the nurse said flatly. Oh, that was the nurse who'd tended to him over the last few days. Sky-Byte wasn't going to fool him.

He followed, whining along the way. His new welds ached and twinged, but all he could think of was the whole new world of hurt awaiting him. These wounds would feel like nothing.

Lord Gigatron stood in the hospital lobby, sucking up everyone's attention like a black hole with light. His grand wings nearly touched the ceiling. From shoulder to shoulder he was as wide as three regular mechs. He looked unimpressed, but that might as well have been the same as "murderously furious" in this situation.

Sky-Byte stood quivering in the doorway, his soldier programming telling him to keep walking but his better sense telling him to run. The result was that he stood shaking in place. His stomach cramped.

Lord Gigatron looked at him. There was a moment where it felt like the floor had left Sky-Byte's feet and he was about to drop into an endless abyss. Then, amazingly, Lord Gigatron grinned. "So you are Sky-Byte! I have been waiting to meet you."

The emotional whiplash made him sick. He gripped the wall with his hand and crossed his other arm over his stomach. "S-sir! Great Lord Gigatron...it is...an honor," he choked out, trying to make it look like he was bowing.

"You told me he made a full recovery," Gigatron said, scowling to the nurses, who started chattering nervously. "Sit down." He pointed to the nearest chair.

Sky-Byte sank into it, willing his trembling limbs to still. Gigatron walked over, no longer wearing that big grin but something more of a smirk.

"I heard about what happened at your base a few days ago."

Sky-Byte hung his head.

"They said you fended off an entire unit of Autobot warriors on your own, after your comrades had been slain."

Sky-Byte nodded.

"Join my team."

Sky-Byte's head snapped up. "Excuse me, sir?"

"I'm heading out on a new mission," Gigatron said. "I need capable, strong warriors like yourself. If you help me, you will be able to avenge your comrades and cement yourself in history for eternity."

Sky-Byte's eyes widened. He didn't care about prestige or winning the war. He wanted to see Lord Gigatron smile at him like that again. "Y-yes, of course, Lord Gigatron sir. I'll do whatever you ask of me."

Gigatron laughed. "Good. I'll forward the details to you after you've been discharged. I wanted to see you before you left this place because I wasn't sure where you'd end up."

In a gutter, overcharged out of his own head, probably. Sky-Byte grinned. "Yes, sir. I'll make my preparations and will be ready to ship out as soon as possible."

Afterward, Gigatron left the hospital and all the noise died down. Everybody gave Sky-Byte reverent, astonished looks while he was being discharged. To be personally selected by Lord Gigatron was one thing, but for him to show up in person to deliver the news...nothing could be better news, especially after the last few days. As he packed his things and made arrangements and read over the documents Gigatron sent him, all he could think of was that big smile.

Like Sky-Byte was good. Like he was worthy. Like he was exactly what Lord Gigatron wanted.

This time he wasn't going to screw things up.

"But history just repeats itself," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Gas Skunk asked.

Sky-Byte was jostled from his reverie. "Oh, nothing. Lord Gigatron selected me because he heard of my prowess. When I met him...he was excited to go on his mission. He's a stoic man, but it was clear he couldn't wait to get going." He dipped his head. "It feels like that energy has been flagging recently."

"We have been running into a lot of problems," Goosher said.

"The Autobots on this planet are surprisingly formidable," Darkscream added. "Wouldn't you say so, little one?"

Gigatron, recognizing that he was being addressed, smiled and stuck his tongue out at Darkscream.

"It is weird to say, but this is the happiest we've seen him in a long time." Gas Skunk tapped Gigatron on the horn, causing him to twist his head around in bewilderment. "The little guy has no worries."

"All he's got to think about is eatin' and sleepin'," Goosher said. "Wish I could do that."

"Of course he's happy, being so well-cared for." Darkscream nodded proudly.

"The point of this was to remind Gigatron of who he used to be," Sky-Byte said. "That doesn't seem to have worked though."

"I don't think he can understand us." Goosher shrugged. "He really is a baby, after all."

Gigatron reached for Sky-Byte. When Sky-Byte took him, he smiled broadly, bringing back the memory again.

"Maybe..." He wasn't sure he should say this, but only the Predacons were listening; and if Gigatron couldn't understand them, did it matter? "...Maybe this is better for him?"

"What?!" the trio chorused.

"He's happy, he's safe, we're taking good care of him," Sky-Byte said.

"But he can't be the Dark Lord of Destruction like that," Goosher said.

"No, but he'll grow up again, and our lives are so long, what's a few years?"

The trio looked at him, a touch suspiciously. Sky-Byte took a step back, unconsciously tightening his grip on Gigatron.

"I-I'm just saying, the Decepticons aren't helping and who knows if your computer is going to find anything. We might have to raise him back to adulthood. It wouldn't be that bad, if so. I don't think Lord Gigatron would be too displeased."

"At least until he grows up, and realizes his mission failed," Goosher said.

"W-we'll deal with that when it comes up. Anyway, I hope things go back to normal too. I want Lord Gigatron back as much as you guys do!" Sky-Byte glanced back down at that innocent, happy-go-lucky smile. All he wanted was for Lord Gigatron to be happy with him, and now, that was so easy.

Sky-Byte hugged Gigatron close, suddenly and painfully wanting to cling to every moment they had left like this.

Chapter Text

Scourge assessed the number of oil barrels inside the warehouse. They'd amassed a fair amount in such a short time, but they'd need far more if they were going to get anything done.

"Commander." Mega-Octane approached him. "We've been away from the base for a while. Should we check on things?"

"Hmm." It didn't matter much to Scourge what went on in there, because as long as Gigatron was in that condition they could do whatever they wanted. Perhaps it was a good idea to see if the Predacons were anywhere close to a solution, though; he doubted it, but Mega-Octane's intuition was sharp. "Yes. Let's visit home, shall we? The rest of you stay here and guard the place."

The others nodded and continued their work converting the stolen fuel into energon cubes. Although the Autobots hadn't discovered their hideout yet, Scourge felt it was a matter of time. It was all the more reason to make sure Gigatron stayed out of their way for as long as possible.

Sky-Byte woke to a cry that echoed down the hall. He stumbled into the throne room, struggling to keep his eyes open and his body upright as he made his way to the oversized crib in the center.

"It's okay, somebody's here," he mumbled, or at least that's what he thought he said. He picked Gigatron up and laid him against a shoulder. Though it helped a little, he still whined and cringed. Nightmare, maybe, Sky-Byte thought.

He returned to his room, feeling almost magnetically drawn to his bed. He put Gigatron beside him and returned to laying on his back. "You can fall asleep here, then I'll put you...where you..."

The next thing he knew, he was waking up again some hours later. His mind was whirling around the odd dream he'd had, but then he glanced down, saw Gigatron, and realized it wasn't a dream. "Ah! I-I must have fallen asleep. I'm sorry, please don't be angry." He didn't know why he was apologizing. Gigatron had the mind of a baby; he wouldn't mind.

He roused and started crying. His face was oddly red, and when Sky-Byte put his hand against his cheek he was very warm.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Sky-Byte lifted him. The movement triggered a coughing fit that wracked Gigatron's body with pained spasms, the noise he made scarier than the sound of any Autobot's weapon. "You're really sick. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner!"

He hurried into the "nursery" while Gigatron continued to complain. The others were awake, and the Decepticons were there too for once.

"What's wrong with him?" Scourge asked.

"He's come down with something," Sky-Byte said.

Scourge growled. "It's your fault!"

"Mine?"

"Because you took him out a few days ago."

Sky-Byte scoffed, but inside he felt a touch guilty. If it was his fault, he'd feel terrible about it. "These things just happen, you know."

"He'll be fine, right?" Goosher asked.

"Sure," Sky-Byte said. "We get sick and nothing ever happens to us. Gigatron is strong, so he'll surely be able to fight this off in no time."

The Decepticons left again, and Gas Skunk and Goosher soon went out on their own to look for fuel. Sky-Byte elected to stay with Gigatron all day, and Darkscream stayed behind to read those baby books for anything that might help.

Gigatron didn't eat much and slept most of the day. They didn't have medicine for someone his size, and watching him suffer made Sky-Byte feel pathetic and helpless. Eventually it was time to sleep again, and he decided to curl up on a blanket on the floor beside the crib.

Gigatron sobbed and shuddered through the night. After waking up to his cries three or four times, Sky-Byte decided to just stay up and spent most of the time holding his little charge. Gigatron's protoflesh was hot to the touch, but he shivered at the same time. Sky-Byte tried to console him by rubbing his back, reading him bedtime stories, anything. Eventually he passed out, and Sky-Byte returned him to the crib before falling into uneasy sleep nearby.

The next day was worse. Sky-Byte held the bottle to Gigatron's mouth and squeezed some fuel out, but it dribbled down the side of his face instead of going in him. He'd stopped taking food entirely and hadn't opened his eyes even though it was nearly mid-day. His little body felt so hot all over, and Sky-Byte despaired thinking of the virus that was ravaging him on the inside. He feared it was winning.

Darkscream approached him around noon. "How is he? He hasn't been crying."

"That's because he hasn't woken up."

Darkscream's eyes widened and he shivered. "That's very bad."

"Yeah, I know that."

"This book has a section on common viruses." He held it up, opened to the pages in question. "His symptoms sound like Common Nova Virus. In adults it doesn't cause much of an issue, but sometimes it's severe in little ones."

"How severe?"

"If he's not waking up and won't eat, he needs to go to a hospital immediately. It is a medical emergency. He could..." Darkscream trailed off.

Sky-Byte's spark felt cold. "There are no Transformer hospitals within light years of us."

"Then what do we do?"

"We might have to ask the Autobots." He doubted they had a repair facility designed for babies, but their AI might have an idea at least. "Does that book say anything else about it?"

Darkscream flipped through pages. "Here's something. 'A common folk remedy for children involves melting down a special ore with a mixture of iron and energon to create an alloy that has restorative effects.' I'll see if there's any of this ore on Earth."

"Hang in there," Sky-Byte said to Gigatron.

A few minutes later, Darkscream turned away from the computer monitor. "It says there's some located in a remote mountainous region in mainland Asia."

"Mainland Asia isn't that far," Sky-Byte said, standing up. "Give me the coordinates and I'll get my little guy that medicine faster than you can blink."

Darkscream stared at him. "Your little guy?"

"I'm stressed, okay? Just give me the coordinates!"

In the hallway outside of the throne room, Scourge stood listening intently. He turned to Mega-Octane. "Tell Movor to be on standby," he whispered. "I have an idea."

Sky-Byte flew through a downpour. It wasn't quite a monsoon, but the winds whipped at him and partial flooding was visible through gaps in the canopy. He was determined to reach his goal, a small mountainous pile dotted with cave openings. He was also unaware that he was being watched.

Scourge was watching him through a computer screen that was hooked up to Movor's imaging systems. Due to the storm, Movor wasn't in orbit and had to take care that he wasn't detected. So far, things were going all right.

As soon as Sky-Byte disappeared into one of the caves, Scourge pressed the comms button. "Fire at that opening and all the others! Seal him in!"

"Roger!"

From his vantage point on a hill some distance away, Scourge saw the flashing lights of Movor's lasers. The computer showed his attacks colliding with rocks and causing avalanches all around the mountainside. Within minutes, the assault on the mountain had left Sky-Byte blocked in entirely.

Scourge chuckled. "Excellent work, Movor. Now it doesn't matter if Sky-Byte finds the cure, because he won't be able to get back to Gigatron in time."

"Heh. Gigatron will die and it'll be all Sky-Byte's fault, right?"

"Yes." Unbeknownst to those idiot Predacons, Scourge never intended to help Gigatron return to his former self. In truth, it didn't matter to him whether Gigatron lived as a baby with the Predacons acting as nursemaids or if he died, but the latter would be far more convenient. They wouldn't have to sneak around storing up energy at remote locations while pretending to be hunting for Autobots.

The only reason Scourge was doing that was because nobody knew how the curse worked. If they attacked Gigatron outright, the stress might return him to his original form. Plus, though the Predacons were stupid, they were great at running away and kept an around-the-clock watch on the demonic brat. He didn't like them, but he didn't want the Predacons to be his enemies either, because they were useful for tasks he didn't want to do.

"Shall we go, boss?"

"No," Scourge replied. "We need to make sure Sky-Byte doesn't make it out in time. He can be frustratingly resourceful when the need calls."

"Understood. I'll fly around and keep an eye on all the cave entrances."

Scourge sat back, watching the computer screen and listening to the distant thunder. Things just had to keep going right for a little while longer, and the Decepticons would never have to think about Gigatron again.

Fire Convoy and X-Brawn watched all of this happen from under the shelter of a large, umbrella-like tree.

"What d'ya think that's about?"

"I don't know," Convoy replied. "Whatever Sky-Byte is doing here must be important. Go investigate; I'll cover you."

"Got it." X-Brawn moved out towards the mountain, jumping on rocks to get across a flooding stream.

When Ai informed them that Sky-Byte was in the region, Fire Convoy dispatched himself right away. X-Brawn was already nearby, so he joined up of his own accord. One Predacon was easy to handle, but the appearance of the Decepticons made things more complicated, especially with their odd behavior.

Convoy stepped out of cover and callled out to Movor, who was hovering nearby. "Decepticon!"

"Eh!? Fire Convoy? What're you doing here?" He turned his nose downward, attention taken from the mountain.

"I could ask you the same question. Do you perhaps have a secret appreciation for nature?"

"No way." Movor opened fire on him.

Convoy jumped out of the way. The lasers struck large pieces of dirt and plant matter into the air. He ran off in a direction away from the mountain, turning and firing his blaster over his shoulder at Movor to ensure he was still the object of his opponent's attention.

A large object crashed through the vegetation and shoulder-checked him, sending Convoy into the wide trunk of a big tree. Scourge grappled his wrists, turning his blaster towards the canopy.

"Scourge...why attack your own comrade?"

"So you saw that," he muttered back. "It's none of your business!"

"Everything you do to the Earth is my business." Convoy kicked him away. They stood opposite each other in a small clearing, the trees barely masking them from the torrent above. Water lapped at their ankles. "What is Sky-Byte doing in that mountain? Why are you trying to stop him?"

In lieu of an answer, Scourge summoned his sword and charged with a roar.

Sky-Byte screamed when the mountain shook around him. He curled up into a protective ball, hovering in midair while the world crashed and thundered. The noise and shaking stopped, but he remained like that for many minutes, his mind stupefied with terror. Eventually he thought of Gigatron and snapped out of it.

"Nobody told me this area was in danger of an earthquake," he grumbled, more annoyed now that his fear had subsided. He turned the way he came and groaned at the sight of the blocked entrance. Dust swirled around and pebbles fell to the floor as the rocks continued to settle. "Great, just great!"

He took to robot form, landing on his feet. The cave sloped downward, and from that direction he could hear water running. As he walked, the walls became increasingly narrow, and his exploration was cut short when his leg descended into knee-high water. His shark mode could swim in it, but he didn't want to get lost or swept up in a current he couldn't fight.

Time was running short as it was.

Sky-Byte turned back and on the way spotted a fissure in the wall he didn't notice before. Something glinted inside. He leaned forward and, taking out the picture he'd cut from Darkscream's book, compared the two. They looked identical...

"I wonder if the earthquake did this," he wondered, reaching in with his hand. He tore the chunk from the cave wall and hefted it in his palm. It was pretty dense. Hopefully it was enough.

He returned to the entrance and tried to move the rocks. First he pushed on them, then with some trepidation fired a torpedo at the center of the mass. The walls rumbled with discontent, but the blockage didn't move.

"What am I going to do?" Horrible images flashed through his mind and he fought to not succumb to his anxiety. If Gigatron didn't get the medicine soon—Sky-Byte was already cutting it close having to fly here and back—if he delayed much longer, it wouldn't matter how fast he flew back because it would be too late!

"But it isn't too late yet," he told himself. "Gigatron is counting on you, so you have to calm down and think of a solution."

He shut his eyes, which didn't make things that much darker. Perhaps, if he struck the rocks at the right angle with his anchor arm, he could get them to move. It would take some trial and error but it was the only thing he had.

Sky-Byte lifted his arm, considering what angle he should try first. As he was thinking, the rocks shifted. Were they coming loose on their own?!

Stones crunched together and fell in a disorganized heap. Light, though weak being filtered through clouds, pierced into the darkness and made Sky-Byte wince. Somebody on the other side of the rocks cursed quietly.

X-Brawn poked his head into view and Sky-Byte fired without thinking. "Yikes!" He jumped out of the way and retaliated with his own blaster.

"W-wait! I didn't mean it!" Sky-Byte backpedaled, sheltering behind a piece of rock jutting from the wall. "Please let me go. I-it's an emergency."

X-Brawn narrowed his optics. "An emergency? Why should I trust you?"

"Why would I lie? I need this metal to make medicine for Lord Gigatron. He's very sick and if I don't get back soon he'll...he'll..."

"You've tricked us before," X-Brawn said, though he sounded unsure. "I...I swear, if this is another trick and that's for some kind of weapon—"

"It isn't, I swear! I haven't even been causing you any trouble recently. All I've thought about is caring for Lord Gigatron, and right now this is what he needs."

X-Brawn shifted, tapping the side of his blaster with an impatient finger. At least it was him, and not one of his obsessive, single-minded younger brothers. "What would Fire Convoy do...?" he mumbled to himself. "He'd probably let you go. Fine. Get outta here. I'd better not hear you causing any trouble later!"

"I promise!" Sky-Byte felt tears welling up as he passed X-Brawn. His relief was simply overwhelming. "...What's going on up there?" He'd paused at the sight of distant blaster fire through the mist. What he'd assumed were weak thunder claps were actually explosions.

"About that..." X-Brawn stepped towards him. "Fire Convoy and I initially came here 'cause we noticed you were in the area, but when we got here, Movor was flying around. We both saw him shoot the rocks down after you went inside the cave. I was ordered to investigate and Convoy's fighting the Decepticons."

The words bounced around inside Sky-Byte's head. He couldn't make sense of what he was told. "How do I know it wasn't you who trapped me?"

"Why would I free you then?"

It really didn't make sense. He shut his optics in deep thought. "Scourge...must have found some other source for the cure, that's it," he said, clenching his fist. "He intends to save Gigatron himself and take all the credit!"

"Huh?" X-Brawn folded his arms. "You seriously think that's what's going on?"

Sky-Byte growled, stomping the ground. "Scourge hates me! You just don't know! But thanks for the information, Autobot. I should have known they wouldn't be on my side even with the present circumstances. Beast mode!" He caught the chunk of metal in his shark mouth and flew away without another word.

He skirted around the battle, glaring down at the pair. Scourge noticed him and called for a retreat, jumping up onto Movor's shuttle mode to escape faster. Fire Convoy holstered his blaster and looked at Sky-Byte.

"Eep!" He turned tail. Now he was flying with the wind, and made better time getting out of there than he did getting in.

Goosher sang a clumsy, croaky tune to himself while he stirred the simmering medicine. A strong medicinal odor pervaded the entire room. Hopefully its effects were as powerful as that smell.

Sky-Byte finished relating the details of the adventure to the others. Gas Skunk and Darkscream were equally puzzled over Scourge's behavior.

"He might hate us, but to do something like that..." Darkscream tilted his head uncertainly.

"We should maybe keep our plans a secret from them from now on," Gas Skunk said.

Sky-Byte huffed. "We never needed their help in the first place, so I agree."

Goosher took the pot off the hotplate and waved him over. "It's ready~!"

"Okay." Sky-Byte got up to look. The medicine was a deep purple color and had a silvery sheen in the light. For Gigatron's sake he hoped it didn't taste as awful as it smelled. He picked up an eyedropper that he'd set out on the counter earlier and used it to collect some of the liquid, then walked over to the crib.

Gigatron hadn't moved or made a sound since he'd been back. His cheeks were bright red and every few seconds his hands would twitch like he was dreaming. Goosher held his head up while Sky-Byte carefully squeezed the contents of the eydropper into his mouth. They did this a few times, until he'd had an energon cube's worth.

Everyone hovered over him anxiously for many minutes. They didn't know how long it would take for the medicine to start working, or if it would at this point. Sky-Byte angsted over whether they'd done everything correctly, switching between being preemptively angry at Goosher for cooking it wrong, Darkscream for providing the wrong information, and himself for getting the wrong material or taking too much time.

Then, after about fifteen minutes, Gigatron opened his optics. He whined and writhed, grasping at the air for something.

The Predacons collectively sighed in relief. Sky-Byte picked him up and squeezed him gently. "Welcome back. You scared us," he said with a relieved smile. "I bet you're hungry."

Gigatron cried at the mention of food.

"Hehe. You're going to be just fine now."

A few days later, the adults got sick and they'd already used all the medicine for Gigatron. He was safe because the concoction would protect his system for at least six months, but everyone else was miserable and confined to their quarters.

"This suuucks," Goosher moaned. He was on a call with Sky-Byte.

He sniffled in reply.

"My head hurts so much I can't even watch movies," Gas Skunk said.

"Horrible," Darkscream concurred.

Sky-Byte was under two blankets and still felt cold. He shivered, fangs rattling together. "I'm g-gonna try to get more sleep," he said.

"We should too," Gas Skunk said.

"But I'm booored," Goosher whined.

"The more you rest the faster it'll be over." Sky-Byte hung up, groaning to himself. He laid an arm across his optics and tried to relax.

His thoughts drifted briefly to the Decepticons. They'd disappeared again, but thinking of them made him anxious about Gigatron, who was essentially unsupervised at the moment. They'd locked all the doors to the sensitive or dangerous areas, but still...

The door hissed open. Sky-Byte jolted. It looked like nobody was there, but he heard a pattering from the floor. Gigatron was crawling towards him.

"O-oh. Hello, Lord Gigatron..."

He grabbed onto a blanket and attempted to climb up. Sky-Byte helped him onto the bed, where he got under the blankets and drew close.

"Eh? Did you miss me?"

Gigatron made a baby noise and pointed at the door.

"I c-can't get up, I'm sick. U-unless you need something?"

Gigatron considered that, then raised his other hand, in which he held a full bottle. He cuddled against Sky-Byte's side and laid a tiny arm across his chest.

"A-are you trying to take care of me?" Sky-Byte smiled weakly. "Thank you, Gigatron."

Chapter Text

"Come on! You can do it, little Giga!" Darkscream cheered.

Gas Skunk clapped. "Gi-ga! Gi-ga!"

Goosher hopped from one foot to the other, waving the noisemakers he held in his hands. "Ya already learned how once!"

A few feet away, Gigatron watched them flatly. He didn't seem to understand what had them so excited; after all, he just pulled himself to his feet using the play table they'd set up for him. His first steps hadn't actually happened yet.

Sky-Byte was in another corner, tense and focused. If he does start walking and falls down, it's better to let him fall, he reminded himself. That's how they learn. Gigatron glanced at him as if to ask what was going on.

Feeling the excitement now, Sky-Byte lifted his arms and gestured to himself. Gigatron leaned towards him, then looked down at his legs in confusion. He wanted to move, but he was still in the same place. He shifted a leg and lifted a foot, drawing more excitement from the Predacons, only to set his limb back in the same spot.

"Like this, remember?" Gas Skunk and Darkscream strutted around in demonstration.

Gigatron looked at Sky-Byte again. He lifted his hands from the play table and wobbled, supporting himself on his own two feet for the first time in what felt like a long while. His legs swung out, foot landing half a step forward, with his other leg jankily following a moment later.

Everyone was still, quiet for fear of startling him. Gigatron was concentrating hard. It was a massive relief to see him take those tiny steps; there was a worry, albeit a small one, that his development had been frozen. Now, if worse came to worse, they knew for a fact he'd grow up again.

Gigatron's foot slipped and he fell down with his legs sticking straight out. He blinked, looking around in surprise.

"It's all right," Sky-Byte said. "Just get back up."

He did so by putting his hands on the wall and using it for leverage. Once he was steady again, he took a couple more steps, stretched out his arms, and fell on Sky-Byte.

Goosher blew into the noisemakers while Gas Skunk and Darkscream cheered. "Well done," Sky-Byte laughed.

Gigatron started laughing too, looking pleased.

"The developmental book I read said that a child's first transformation usually happens soon after they start walking," Darkscream said. "So we can expect that too."

"He can get into a lot more trouble now, so we'll have to take extra care," Sky-Byte said.

"He seems to follow you around an awful lot," Goosher said.

"Well, I did care for him when he was sick." He stood up. Gigatron, done with walking, clung to his arms.

"We do stuff for him too," Darkscream protested.

"If you're so worried, it happens that I have an errand to run today, so you can watch him," Sky-Byte said, handing Gigatron off to Gas Skunk.

"Oh? Where ya goin'?" Goosher asked.

"I'm the most efficient at gathering fuel," Sky-Byte said, which was a diplomatic way of saying they needed more fuel quickly and he was the only one who could provide that. The Predacons were layabouts, but they were safe. "I'll be gone for a couple hours, and when I get back we can distribute everyone's rations."

"Fresh fuel is the best," Goosher said, imagining it.

"Bye-bye, Gigatron," Sky-Byte said, stepping towards the door.

He seemed to sense something as he started whining.

"What? What's wrong?" Sky-Byte jumped back to him immediately. Gigatron was quiet and innocent. "...Okay, see you." He tried to leave again, but was stopped by a little sob.

"He doesn't want you to leave!" Gas Skunk said.

"That's...adorable," Darkscream said.

Goosher's eyes were shiny. "I'm gettin' emotional!"

For Sky-Byte, fighting the urge to burst into tears and proclaim he'd never ever leave Gigatron's side again took all of his power. He tried to hide it and look strong by continuing to the door anyway, even when Gigatron whimpered and held out his hands, trying to command him the same way as every other time.

"I'm sorry! I have to go! You want to eat, don't you?"

"He'll be okay," Gas Skunk said. "Just leave fast."

Sky-Byte, heeding those words, ran out of the room.

Gigatron struggled out of Gas Skunk's arms and attempted to run after him. He fell on his face, picked himself up, and fell over again after one more step. There he lay, flailing his arms and legs and crying.

The Predacons were stunned. "Oh my." Gas Skunk shook his head.

"Gigatron likes Sky-Byte more when he's a baby, that's weird." Goosher scratched his chin in thought.

"Metamorphosize!" Darkscream righted him and tried to calm him down. "Hey, I know, let's go outside," he said. "I'll let you ride on my back, little Giga."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Gas Skunk looked worried. "Sky-Byte will destroy us if anything happens to him!"

"We'll make a harness for him," Darkscream said.

Goosher nodded. "I'll get the same supplies we used to make those Autobot costumes!"

"Being outside will distract him. Right, little Giga?"

Gas Skunk folded his arms. "I suppose so..."

Gigatron was flying! All he saw was blue—bright blue of the sky, and Darkscream's blue fur. Wind whooshed by his head. Darkscream turned, dipping one of his wings, which let Gigatron see the glittering ocean and the white beach stretching beside it. Two dots were watching them on the beach.

"Are you having fun, little Giga?"

He babbled and patted Darkscream's fur in response. He couldn't formulate words himself, but he mostly understood what everyone said to him. His attention span wasn't great...as long as only one person was speaking, he was fine.

Unknown to the Predacons, Gigatron remembered everything from his adult self. He had trouble understanding what the memories meant, and he didn't get why he couldn't do those things anymore. It was...for some reason...something happened...but when he thought too hard a giddy haze would come over his mind, and he would see the TV or a toy and forget about it for a while. Oh well.

Something Gigatron remembered while sitting on Darkscream's back was that he could also fly. He wanted to fly on his own again.

Darkscream started huffing and puffing. "You are heavier than you look, little Giga. This one must rest."

Gigatron held on while they spiraled down. They gently landed on the beach, and Goosher came over to undo the harness. He'd complained about it at first, but flying was so much fun he didn't notice it.

His feet made an interesting crunchy sound as he walked around. He looked at seashells, palm trees, and the waves. Birds screeched overheard. The air smelled like salt and fish.

"He got better at walkin' real fast," Goosher said.

"Transformers learn fast, I guess," Darkscream replied. He hadn't moved from his landing spot. "...I'm tired."

"Goosher, terrorize!" He changed shape. "I'm goin' for a swim. If this is like a vacation, I'm gonna take advantage of it!"

Watching him gave Gigatron some inspiration. He walked towards the Predacons and sat down, then opened his mouth and babbled, trying to say the words he'd heard.

"What is it?" Gas Skunk asked. He'd been relaxing nearby. "Are you trying to tell us something?"

"Gi...gigigi ga!"

"It sounds like he's trying to talk," Darkscream said.

"No way...isn't that a lot of development for one day?"

"I don't know. Protoforms come online with everything, so I guess not? This is a unique situation as well."

Gigatron clenched his whole body. There were parts inside that could move, and he could make them if he just remembered! "GIGA! TARIZE!" Bits shuffled around him and suddenly the world looked different.

The Predacons stared at him in slackjawed surprise. "That's so cute!" Gas Skunk squealed. "He's a tiny jet!"

Goosher was tearing up. "H-he copied what I did!"

It was like looking at the world through a TV. Words and lines decorated the edges of his vision. Weird boxes appeared over the Predacons and followed them when they moved.

"Guess what, Gigatron!" Gas Skunk said. "You have four other alt modes, too."

He didn't care about those right now. After figuring out how to become a jet, finding his turbines was easy. He angled his nose up and began rolling across the sand.

"Ah, he's on the move."

"Wait, wait, wait," Darkscream called out, trying to push himself up. "C-catch him, I think he's going to—!"

Gigatron took off with a blast, throwing sand all over his caretakers. His wings sliced through the sky, pulling air around him with a roar. Nothing could hold him down or stop him! Moving in the wind felt better than walking with his feet!

As he turned his nose around, he saw the city in the distance. His spark leapt. That's where he and Sky-Byte went that one day! That must be where Sky-Byte was now. He turned to the skyline and soared forward, the Predacons completely leaving his mind.

Darkscream took to the air but collapsed back down after a few seconds. "I'm at my limit..."

Gas Skunk stared at Gigatron's contrails, mouth agape with horror.

"We gotta call Sky-Byte," Goosher said, which was as scary as what they'd just witnessed.

From so high, the city looked like a bunch of boxes. Nothing was familiar, he didn't see Sky-Byte anywhere, and the shiny grey buildings seemed to stretch on forever. He turned around in the air and realized that he didn't know how to get back to the Predacons. His fuel tank was almost empty, too.

Gigatron descended between the buildings. At least there were lots of long, flat places to land. His landing gear touched the ground and he turned off his turbines, letting himself race along as his speed puttered out.

Human vehicles honked and swerved around him. He angled himself towards the side of the road because he didn't like that noise or how fast they moved at him. The humans on the sidewalk screamed and ran away as he rolled towards them. Eventually, he stopped.

He transformed and sat on the ground. All the noises, sights, and smells made it hard to think. He had no idea how to find the others and he felt small and worried. People gawked at him. They knew he had to be a Transformer, likely a Predacon, but not one that was familiar. Nobody was brave enough to ask.

His fuel tanks panged emptily. He whimpered and looked around. There was a big red something standing nearby that looked tasty. Gigatron's optics widened. He got up and toddled over to it. The big red something was on top of a thin metal stick; he didn't feel like climbing so he grabbed the stick and yanked on it.

Around him, people were staring. A small group missed their chance at the crosswalk because they were so mesmerized.

Gigatron ripped the big red something out of the ground, falling on his backside in the process. He didn't mind because he had food now! He brought the delicious shape to his mouth and gnawed on it.

It was...awful. His face grew dark and he tossed the thing into the street, nearly hitting a car.

"That baby just ripped a stop sign out of the ground!" someone exclaimed.

"I don't know whether to be amazed or scared."

"Somebody call...the police? Child protective services? I don't know! Call anybody!"

Gigatron didn't like the sound of the attention he was getting, so he walked on down the street. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to interact with strangers, especially not humans.

"Lord Gigatron, this way."

Startled, Gigatron turned around too fast and fell down. Since he was a little scared, this time he started crying.

From the shadows of the alleyway, Scourge flinched. "Look at me. This way, quickly."

Once he saw his Decepticon, a smile bloomed over his tears and he stood up. He walked over so Scourge could pick him up, then they went down the alley.

It opened to a secluded area located between the backs of several buildings, where there stood nothing but dumpsters and the cars on the road sounded distant. Scourge put Gigatron down in the center.

"There. We should be away from prying eyes here." Scourge was looking over his shoulder as he said this. From other corners, the rest of the Decepticons emerged.

"What is he doing here anyway?" Armorhide asked. "Isn't Sky-Byte keeping a close eye on him?"

"He was flying around," Scourge said. "I saw him begin to land and that's when I called you all to gather here."

"I thought we were trying to be sneaky," Rollbar said.

Scourge shrugged. "We are, but he's alone and none of the Predacons are nearby. We'll make it look accidental."

"How are we going to do this?" Mega-Octane asked.

Scourge turned to Gigatron. "There are many ways a baby like yourself could get hurt in the big city...isn't there?" He laughed darkly.

The words meant something more, but Gigatron couldn't think of what. He stood there and stared at them. The sun was hot, he was hungry, and the Decepticons were closing in on him in a way that made him feel strange.

He wanted Sky-Byte.

Gigatron opened his mouth and shrieked.

The Decepticons stopped, faintly alarmed. A police siren wailed behind them.

"Crap, that might be an Autobot," Movor said.

"Fall back to your hiding spots," Scourge ordered.

A patrol car pulled up to the alley and transformed. Prowl stepped into the secluded area, looking surprised to find Gigatron, shaking and teary-eyed. "Are you the one who vandalized that stop sign?"

What was a stop sign? Gigatron sobbed.

"H-h-hey! It's okay! I won't arrest you, I guess, since you're a baby." He sounded uncertain as he moved closer.

Scourge jumped out of hiding with the rest of the Decepticons following. Their blasters were raised and they seemed to be aiming in Prowl's general direction.

Prowl reacted on instinct. He threw himself at Gigatron, rolled, connected the motion to a jump and landed in the middle of another alleyway on the opposite side of the yard. Blaster fire chased him as he ran to the street.

"He has kidnapped Lord Gigatron! After him!"

"Kidnapped him!? It looked an awful lot like you were trying to shoot him!" Prowl held Gigatron to his chest as he ran. Gigatron did not like this, punching and kicking and hollering. His little limbs seemed to have no effect on an adult Transformer. "When I walked in, he looked scared to death, and you guys just happened to be lurking in the shadows?"

Mega-Octane tried to smooth over the suspicion. "He was separated from us and we were looking for him. We were drawn by the sound of his scream."

"Hmph." Prowl transformed and buckled an unwilling Gigatron in the backseat. He baby-screamed, wrenching at the wretched material strapped to his chest. The siren came on and they sped down the street. "I better call Fire Convoy."

Before he could, however, Gigatron sliced through the seatbelt with his claws and stood up on the floor. "GIGA! WA SIZE!"

"Huh?"

Gigatron flipped over, his legs becoming dragon's heads as new arms unfurled from his sides.

"No, wait!"

He shot two streams of fire at the steering wheel and dashboard. Prowl shrieked and transformed on instinct, throwing Gigatron towards traffic.

The drivers saw him coming and slammed on their brakes, laying on the horns as he hurtled towards them. He bounced off someone's hood and went rolling through the air, finally landing on the other side of the street. He was dazed and bruised. His body transformed back to robot mode without his permission.

Sitting up, he saw more Autobots appear. They started fighting the Decepticons, almost shielding him from them. Gigatron got up on shaky legs and made his way down the street, whimpering and mumbling to himself.

Sky-Byte was flying around the city, looking for fuel he could steal easily. An operation like this would be easier out in the country, but going that far would take all day. In truth, he felt guilty for leaving Gigatron and wanted to return as quickly as possible, so he was hoping for a stroke of luck here.

A transmission came from Goosher. "We got trouble, Sky-Byte! Gigatron transformed all of a sudden!"

"AND I WASN'T THERE TO SEE IT?!" Sky-Byte collected himself. "Ahem..."

"Not that! He turned into a jet and flew away!"

"WHAT?!" Sky-Byte could not collect himself. "YOU LET HIM GET AWAY?!"

"WE'RE SORRY!" they cried together.

Sky-Byte growled. "Which direction?"

"Towards you actually," Goosher said. "He should be in the south side now."

"Okay. I'll get him." Sky-Byte, forced to abandon his original mission, started flying that way, cursing the fact that he was all the way in the north side.

Before long he heard the sounds of battle. Autobots and Decepticons brawled in the street while humans ran away or detoured around them—there were ongoing evacuations in the surrounding buildings which Sky-Byte tried to not disrupt as he flew close to the fight.

"You!" Scourge called out to him from behind a wrecked sedan. "Go retrieve Lord Gigatron! He went that way." He pointed down the street. Sky-Byte nodded and began to go that way. "Bring him here once you do."

"Here? It's dangerous!"

"We shouldn't get separated again."

Sky-Byte rolled his eyes and flew down, metamorphosizing once he was away from the conflict. "Gigatron? Where are you? It's me!"

No response. He frowned and continued walking through the abandoned section of city. At the next intersection he saw a park across the adjacent street. Maybe Gigatron would go to someplace that felt familiar; they'd been to a park like that one before.

Sky-Byte ventured through the emptied grounds, calling out with no answer. He heard a telltale shuffling from below and noticed a drainage ditch with a little tunnel that went under the street. Bending over, he noticed Gigatron's wide, terrified red optics way back in the shadows. "Hey! It's okay. I've found you and the Decepticons are fighting the Autobots. Everything's fine now. Come out."

He shuddered and pressed himself into the dark.

"D-don't be scared. Sky-Byte won't let anything bad happen to you. Why don't you tell me what happened?" He drew close, but the tunnel was too small for him to enter and his arms were too short to reach Gigatron.

"Mister Sky-Byte?"

He startled, jumping around to find Yuuki and his friend standing there. They held little remote controllers. "Wh-what are you kids doing here? There's a battle nearby, so it isn't safe."

Yuuki nodded."We were just about to walk to another park a couple blocks away when we saw you. What are you doing here if not fighting?"

Sky-Byte sighed. He'd might as well tell them. "Have you heard about Lord Gigatron's condition?"

"Yeah."

He gestured to the tunnel. "He's hiding in there and won't come out. He seems afraid of something."

"Maybe the noise from the battle," Yuuki's friend said.

"I see..."

Yuuki stepped towards the tunnel. "I could try to bring him out."

"Really?"

He pressed a lever on his little controller and a tiny monster truck rambled into view out of the grass. "Kids love toy cars, so maybe he'll see this and want to play with it." Yuuki ventured into the tunnel along with his car. "Hey, Giga, look at this." He drove the truck back and forth, and made it spin in place.

Gigatron was transfixed. When Yuuki and the car backed up, he followed them, his optics gleaming with curiosity instead of fear like before. He pursued the monster truck out of the tunnel and into broad daylight.

Sky-Byte gasped in horror. Gigatron's arm was dented and one of his horns was twisted at an angle. His armor was scuffed and his face was damp where he'd been crying. "Gigatron! What happened to you?!"

He halted and, wide-eyed, began to loudly cry.

"Ack! No, no, it's okay. Come here." Sky-Byte knelt and held his arms open. Gigatron hurried into the hug, curling up into a tight little ball against him and shivering. "It's okay! I'm not angry. I'm not angry at you. We can fix this."

"Somebody hurt Gigatron even though he's a baby?" Yuuki asked concernedly.

His friend looked a little angry. "That's just low. Whoever did that needs to be taught a lesson!"

"Yes..." Sky-Byte stood with Gigatron safely tucked to his side. "Th-thank you, children."

"No problem! We owe you one, after all."

Sky-Byte turned away so they wouldn't see his shy blush. "Anyway! I have to return to the Predacons now."

"Okay, see ya!"

The kids waved goodbye to him as he crossed the street, and he compulsively returned it even though he felt a bit foolish.

"Come in, Scourge," Sky-Byte said over comms. "We should fall back. I've got Gigatron."

"No. That cop car was trying to harm Lord Gigatron. I'm going to put him in his place."

"What?" Sky-Byte was shaken by the thought that an Autobot would do anything to a defenseless child. He glanced down at Gigatron and asked, "Is that true?"

"Giga," he answered with a little frown.

"I don't know what that means..."

Over comms, there was a commotion. The arrival of Fire Convoy turned the battle to the Autobots' favor, so Scourge and the other Decepticons called their retreat. Sky-Byte didn't want to fly with Gigatron, either holding onto him or with him in jet mode, so they started walking.

"Sky-Byte, wait!" Fire Convoy called out to him.

He turned around. The Autobots were gathered at the end of the street, their weapons stowed away and postures relaxed. "Wh-what? I'm just following the Decepticons. We're retreating."

"I hope Gigatron isn't badly injured," Convoy said. "Be careful about the Decepticons."

Sky-Byte scoffed. "I heard that cop car did this to him! Look!" He gestured to Gigatron's scuffs. "This is despicable and here I thought you considered yourselves above that."

"I did not intend to harm him," Prowl said. "I heard him scream and found him in an alleyway with all the Decepticons hiding nearby. He sustained those injuries because I had him in my alt mode, because they were firing at the both of us, and he escaped into oncoming traffic."

"That's major creep behavior from the 'cons," Side Burn said.

"You're one to talk," Prowl sniped.

"Hey!"

The thought made him squirm inside, but he didn't let his discomfort show. He snarled at the Autobots and backed away. "Is that your story?"

"Why would we lie about this?" Convoy asked. "Then ask yourself, why would Scourge lie about this?"

"When it comes to Gigatron, Scourge is more of a suck-up than I am—I mean—I really have to go now! He'll miss his favorite cartoons!" Sky-Byte turned and ran away from the Autobots, his processor feeling more scrambled by the second.

Later, the Predacons were all gathered protectively around the crib in the throne room. Gigatron was asleep, laying on his stomach. Some bandages and sweets had soothed his agonies well enough, so now the adults just had to figure out what they could learn from today.

"Poor thing," Gas Skunk said. "I saw it on the news. He got hit by a car!"

"Well, it was more that the car got hit by him," Darkscream said.

"Still!"

"Maybe we don't go to the city for a while," Sky-Byte said. After caring for Gigatron, decompressing, and getting some fuel, he felt weird about the day's events. Convoy's words kept replaying in his head. Were the Autobots right? Was Sky-Byte missing something?

They didn't see the Decepticons after returning to base. He wanted to ask what they'd been doing in that area, and why they didn't call the Predacons after finding Gigatron. Yet Convoy's suspicions also felt incredible. Scourge was underhanded and a scheming bastard, but to harm a little kid?

Weren't they on the same side?

He was still thinking when the Predacons left for bed. He stood over the crib until it got hard to keep his eyes open and his legs began to buckle under him. When his exhaustion won out, he picked Gigatron up and finally headed to his room. From now on nothing concerning the little guy would happen without Sky-Byte present.

Chapter Text

The Megastar's dock stood open and unattended. Gigatron leaned around the corner, watching with wide optics. Nobody was around—he could make it this time! He bolted out of cover, running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the green and blue of outside.

"No you don't!" Sky-Byte's arms descended around him like a cage. He squealed in dismay, thrashing as he was lifted. "You're not turning into a jet and flying away again!"

Gigatron whined, face scrunching up in rage.

Is this all right? Sky-Byte wondered. He's still technically my boss...but his safety comes first, and he can't protect himself right now. If he got scolded for this after everything was over, then so be it. At least Gigatron would be alive to do that.

Darkscream walked in, carrying a large cargo crate. "Is it okay to keep him locked up in here?"

"It won't be forever. We'll turn him back to normal eventually."

"Still, he needs to stretch his wings like anybody else."

Sky-Byte turned Gigatron around to face him. "You're not happy with me, are you?"

He closed his eyes and looked away. Sky-Byte sighed.

"He has to bear with it."

A moment later, Goosher stepped in and went right over to them. "Hi, Giga, I got somethin' for ya. Look at this!" He revealed a colorful package he'd been holding behind his back. It was an action figure from that show Gigatron liked.

He grabbed the box and pressed it against his face, gasping in awe.

"But ya gotta play with it inside, okay? Don't want it to get broken."

Gigatron nodded. Sky-Byte set him down and he started ripping into the box.

"You were right," Goosher said, patting the cargo crate. "It takes longer, but going to the country is a lot easier. It takes the Autobots so long to show up we always get away."

Sky-Byte chuckled. "Good, good. We should be able to go on like this indefinitely if we play our cards right."

As if hearing those words as a cue, Gas Skunk ran into the room holding up a sliver of transparent crystal. "I've got it!"

"What?"

"The computer finished analyzing this sample. There's a way to reverse what happened to Lord Gigatron."

Sky-Byte's optics widened. "Really?"

"Apparently that artifact was Cybertronian in origin."

"Wow!" Goosher whistled. "We've been coming to this planet for a long time, huh?" That's what he focused on?!

Gas Skunk nodded. "I have no idea why or how, but it has code inside it and I managed to figure it out, sorta. If this fragment is edited and then rejoined with the whole, it should change how the whole thing functions."

"How impressive," Darkscream said.

Sky-Byte was less enthusiastic. "We'd have to go back to that cave, right?"

"Yes."

"It'd be dangerous to take him."

"It's dangerous letting him stay like this," Darkscream said.

"How do you know it'd even work?" Sky-Byte asked. "What if the code you write hurts him or makes everything worse?"

Gas Skunk thought it over. "I'll run simulations first. That would take more time though."

"Yes! Do simulations."

Goosher poked at him. "Why's it feel like you don't wanna cure Lord Gigatron? Do ya like playing at leader that much?"

Sky-Byte snarled. Goosher jumped back. "No! Don't insinuate stuff like that." He lowered his voice cautiously. "I'm not like the Decepticons."

"That's why he's gotta be turned back to normal," Goosher said. "I don't want those guys to take over." The other two concurred.

Sky-Byte looked down at Gigatron. He was oblivious to the conversation, absorbed in the activity of swinging his new toy around. He was so tiny and innocent...but he was still the Dark Lord of Destruction somewhere in there. "Great. How soon will we be ready to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning perhaps?"

So soon! He fought a cringe. "Okay."

"I'll start right away." Gas Skunk left the room.

Sky-Byte folded his arms, glaring at the floor. The other two noticed this but didn't say anything. Gigatron yelled the name of an attack and made the action figure do a backflip. This time tomorrow, he probably wouldn't even remember this moment, or anything before.

The moon was, if not full, then close to it. Sky-Byte had been staring at it for thirty minutes, attempting to compose a poem that fit his mood. He couldn't figure it out; his thoughts sank through his skull like lead.

A pool of moonlight shone into the room. By now, it had reached Gigatron's crib and he was curious about it, touching it, making shadows with his fingers. Watching him was interesting. Sky-Byte had never been around infant Transformers much, and assumed they were little more than machines that ate and screamed, until a certain age when their minds started to function. Now he saw that they had a particular way of looking at the world, unique to them.

Sky-Byte had moved Gigatron's crib in here after the incident in the city. Whether Fire Convoy was right or not, he didn't trust the Decepticons. It gave him the extra benefit of being able to observe these little habits more often. Now that he knew, definitively, how long they had left, it felt more important to watch, but watching for too long made him feel like a knot was forming in his chest.

"You can't sleep because everyone's so nervous," Sky-Byte said. Gigatron gave him a little look and continued making his shadow puppets. "This room is...stuffy." He hadn't been outside since the incident in the city either, because it just didn't feel right. "Everything I'm doing is for your own good, you know."

Gigatron paused in the middle of making one of his shadow puppets eat the other. Then he turned his back to Sky-Byte and continued to play on his own.

For some reason, that made him sadder than anything. "Please. You're going to be turned back into an adult tomorrow, and it'll be so much harder to part with you if you're in this sort of mood..." His voice trailed off. If everything was going to end—go back to normal—tomorrow, then why was he sitting here scared now? He got up. "Would you like to go outside, Gigatron?"

That got a reaction. Gigatron almost fell over turning around so quickly, flashing a big smile. Sky-Byte picked him up and they went outside to walk on the Megastar's roof.

The moon felt much closer out here. Its brilliance banished some stars, but the remoteness of their current location, the clear weather, and all the base's lights being off for energy conservation meant there were still plenty covering the sky. Gigatron pointed to a cluster and made a noise.

"Yeah, I think that's where Cybertron is." Sky-Byte stopped. The fresh air was nice, but he still felt confined. He metamorphosized and turned to Gigatron. "You still remember how, right?"

Gigatron hollered and changed to bat mode. He flapped into the air peacefully.

"That one's much easier to control than your jet form, isn't it?" Sky-Byte ventured into the sky, keeping a slow pace so they could stay very close together. "It's nice sometimes to just fly around."

Stars flickered above and a mild breeze ruffled the grass. Insect song came from all around, a symphony of summer. It should have been inspiring, but the imagery and sounds flashed in and out of his head without finding purchase anywhere.

"It's a nice planet," he said. "It's a shame we have to do what we're doing." But nothing was sacred and everything changed.

He wondered what he was doing; Gigatron wouldn't remember anything and this night would only exist in Sky-Byte's head. What was the point? To be here, he supposed. How could he be if he was worrying about the will? He forgot about poetry and what the dawn would bring, focusing on the moment.

Gigatron squeaked and flopped onto Sky-Byte's back, snuggling close to his dorsal fin.

"I didn't like keeping you locked up inside, you know. I was scared. I don't know what to think about Scourge and I don't know how I'll get you to listen to me when you're grown up again..."

The sky was infinite. Could he just keep flying forever? He shook because he realized that, yes, he could. The two of them could go to the moon if they wanted.

Sky-Byte returned to the Megastar, converted back to robot mode, and forced himself to sit down. Gigatron, now in robot mode, climbed into his lap then started to fall asleep. His spark constricted sorrowfully.

"Dammit, why is this so hard?"

Gigatron looked up with a sleepy, wondering expression.

"You're supposed to go back to normal and I'm supposed to want that, as your number two! I'm supposed to want you to conquer the universe as much as you want to conquer the universe yourself...but..." He sniffled. There was no way he could stop himself, but he didn't care about crying in front of Gigatron anymore. "I wouldn't mind if Gas Skunk was wrong. I think it would be fine if you stayed like this for a while longer."

Gigatron tilted his head in an almost knowing manner.

"I-I would take care of you and teach you how to use all your alt modes again and hold you when you're tired or scared and we wouldn't have to fight Autobots or anybody a-and everything would be perfectly fine. You'd be happy and I'd be happy, because you're happy, because you...you like me more now than you ever did before."

Gigatron stood up on Sky-Byte's legs to look him in the face.

"Would that be so bad?"

"Ss..." Gigatron thought for a moment. "Skai...bai. Sky-Byte." The look on his face was very serious.

Sky-Byte laughed. The contrast was just funny. "You're right. I'm simply being...sappy." He touched their helms together. "I love you." It was a soft, simple sentiment. He wondered briefly, and decided that whatever he felt for adult Gigatron was closer to admiration than love. He needed his master's approval, because he needed somebody's—anybody's—approval.

When Gigatron was like this, he didn't have any complicated schemes of universal domination or violence. He was happy and soft, and it was so easy to make him smile. Soon he would be what he used to be, what he was supposed to be—distant and temperamental, and Sky-Byte would go back to fighting Autobots.

How was he supposed to be okay with going back to normal?

"The only thing I want is for you to remember me," Sky-Byte said, and clutched Gigatron close. They would go back inside soon. He just wanted another moment.

Gas Skunk and Goosher were obvious as they moved through the forest. Trees shook and flashes of color passed through gaps in the foliage. Scourge tracked them from atop the ledge where he was perched, leaning around a large boulder that he and Mega-Octane had expended a non-trivial amount of energy in pushing up here.

"They've definitely got Gigatron," Movor said over comms, observing from the sky, though he wasn't in orbit. "They'll be at the cave entrance in a few minutes."

"Copy that," Scourge responded.

While waiting, movement in the sky caught Scourge's attention. Sky-Byte was flying with Darkscream. A startled jolt went through his spark, but they were flying away from him and didn't seem to notice him. He motioned for Mega-Octane, further down the ridge, to join him in the boulder's shadow just in case.

"What are they doing here?" Mega-Octane asked.

"They must be patrolling for Autobots," Scourge said. "I have no doubt they'll show up."

Static from Rollbar's comm stole their attention. "Guys! They're almost below you!"

Scourge turned to Mega-Octane. "It's time for another unfortunate accident to befall our comrades." Together, timing it based on Movor's live instructions, they pushed the boulder off the cliff.

Gas Skunk and Goosher cried out before the crash of the boulder striking them cut their voices short. The impact had exploded the boulder into smaller chunks which completely buried the Predacons.

Scourge jumped down. "Start searching! We have to find him!"

"Decepticons?" came a muffled voice.

"Remain calm," Mega-Octane said, landing nearby. "We're rescuing you."

In truth, they had no desire for that and it would have been a nice bonus if those two went offline too, but they needed to make sure Gigatron had been crushed.

Gas Skunk, in beast mode, burst out of the rocks. He started sniffing, quickly found Goosher's location, and started digging. Scourge thought that a bit odd, and his suspicions were confirmed when Mega-Octane called to him in anger and alarm.

"Sir...! Look at this. They've...!" He held up a crude papier-mache construction, shaped and painted to vaguely resemble baby Gigatron. There was even a picture of his face taped to the "head."

"Hehe, like it?" Goosher asked. "It took us all night to make that."

Scourge roared and drew his gun on the Predacons. They shrieked and turned tail.

"If Gigatron wasn't with them, then where...?" Mega-Octane was still focused on the decoy.

Another jolt went through Scourge, this one of recognition. "Sky-Byte! That wasn't Darkscream at all."

"I see. Gigatron must have gained better control over his alt modes."

Scourge commed Movor and Ro-Tor. "Shoot Sky-Byte and Darkscream out of the damn sky!"

"Sir," Mega-Octane said, his head low. "Please, manage your temp—" A black fist pummeled his head and knocked him into the cliff face.

"No! I will not tolerate being tricked by those idiots!" Scourge roared, breaking into a run into the darkness of the cave.

Sky-Byte heard them approach before they started firing. He grabbed Gigatron with his fins, pulling him close, and sped up, aiming for a dark hole in the cliff that their scans had determined was a side entrance to the crystal's cave system.

The Predacons had taken some precautions in case Optimus was right about the Decepticons, and now he was both relieved and outraged that those provisions turned out to be helpful.

While Goosher made the decoy and Gas Skunk coded the fragment, Darkscream had worked all night to craft a hasty, flimsy costume of himself which Gigatron wore over his bat mode. Up close the deception was obvious, for no other reason than the tiny snout and optics peeking out of the stomach, but from afar and at the right angle it looked like Darkscream was just flying very slowly.

Sky-Byte had bet on the Decepticons underestimating Gigatron's abilities. It served them right for never helping!

Ro-Tor and Movor opened fire on the pair, striking chunks out of the rock ahead of them. Sky-Byte disappeared into the tunnel, maintaining his speed. They would have to transform to navigate, but his shark mode was agile and sleek enough to avoid crashing into walls.

Gigatron let out an awed little noise and held tighter to Sky-Byte's dorsal fin.

"Are you okay?"

He thought for a second, then went "Ha" in a way that sounded like yes.

They reached the crystal's chamber. Sky-Byte transformed, carefully catching Gigatron in his arms. "You probably need to be out of costume..." He worked Gigatron out of the costume as he stepped onto the dais. "Now to return the fragment we took. Hopefully this is as simple as Gas Skunk implied it would be."

Blaster fire erupted from the main pathway. Sky-Byte dropped behind the dais and set Gigatron on the ground. "Stay still, please," he bid, then jumped back up.

Scourge's red optics and blue accents manifested out of the shadows like an apparition. He launched a barrage of missiles. Sky-Byte shot one in the air and dodged the others, judging that they would hit the walls. Some went high and exploded on the ceiling, raining rock shards on everyone.

Mega-Octane appeared beside his leader, looked around at the marks left by the missiles, and shrugged as if to say, It can't be helped. He levelled his cannons and fired.

It was easy enough to dodge them, but Sky-Byte would be worn down soon enough. Scourge, seeming to tire of the game, drew his sword and put a leg forward.

All three Predacons jumped on him from behind. Gas Skunk grabbed his sword arm, trying in vain to yank the weapon away, Goosher pummeled his head ineffectively with amphibious slaps, and Darkscream hugged his legs, pretending to be a rock on the ground. Scourge growled and started prying them off.

Movor and Ro-Tor appeared in the side tunnel, firing shots that barely stung thanks to the distance. Sky-Byte metamorphosed and launched at them like a big, shark-shaped missile. His jaws were wide, and between those narrow cave walls, he was sure to grab one of them. He didn't even care who it was.

The two backed away, yelling out in alarm. They'd never seen him act so aggressive. Movor slipped further behind, so it was Ro-Tor who he found himself clamping between his jaws. His teeth pierced the military-grade armor with ease and he didn't stop until oil started leaking out. It tasted...awful, but it had quite an effect on Movor, who whimpered and shook while aiming a desperate volley of blaster fire.

Sky-Byte barely felt the ones that connected with his body. He was half out of his mind from desperation, knowing that the only hope he had of defeating any of the Decepticons was by acting like a maniac.

Some of the shots hit Ro-Tor, who complained each time. "Watch your aim!"

"H-he's thrashing you around like a—well, a shark."

Sky-Byte tossed Ro-Tor to the ground. He hit the rocks with a stiff, metallic shriek that came from deep within as his broken parts gritted together.

"Wait, wait!" Movor pleaded, lifting his arms. Sky-Byte didn't listen, sinking his teeth into a thick arm and thrashing him around. He screamed, more in panic than pain, and fired a few times into the ceiling.

Ro-Tor saw his opportunity. He couldn't make use of his legs at the moment, so he had to pull himself along, but he wasn't that far from the dais. His back-up blaster was still in its holster.

Sky-Byte rotated in the air, letting go of Movor at the apex of his turn. One mech crashed on top of another with sharp cries of pain. He quickly snapped back into robot mode and fired a maser storm at them, the blast sending them into the wall helms first.

He ran over and hauled them farther away from the dais, heaving them towards the tunnel mouth. His strength was ebbing now, lines going taut.

Over at the main entrance, Mega-Octane was trying to stop Goosher from gnawing on Scourge's head. They'd already knocked out Gas Skunk. A red blade waved at his face. "Just get Gigatron!"

He pulled away and took a step, but stopped to regard the scene. Sky-Byte's chest was covered in blood, and two Decepticons lay in a crumpled heap near his feet. Whether Mega-Octane was scared or just surprised, it was hard to tell. "Whoa."

Goosher went screaming through the air, splatting against the wall with an oof and falling onto his back. Scourge wrestled his legs free of Darkscream and kicked him in the head. Two more Predacons were out of the fight.

Two pairs of headlights appeared over Scourge's shoulder. Sky-Byte knew they had to be Rollbar and Armorhide. He also knew he couldn't handle this many on his own; he had to make a mad break for it, just get Gigatron and try to shield him with his body while the crystal did whatever it was supposed to do.

More headlights appeared to his left, glaring into his optics. He blocked the light with an arm, briefly confused, then realized it could only be the Autobots. Optimus Prime and the brothers pulled to a halt and transformed. The youngest was slack-jawed in shock.

With them now on the scene, the Decepticons paused in their operations. Scourge turned his attention to Prime, gripping his blade. X-Brawn and Prowl kept their weapons on him, while Side Burn aimed at Sky-Byte.

"What are your intentions here?" Prime asked.

"I want to turn Gigatron back to normal," Sky-Byte replied. "Isn't that the just thing to do? You're always going on about doing what's right."

Optimus dipped his head in thought. The brothers exchanged glances.

"It's been quieter without him," Side Burn said.

"Humans are more at peace ever since you stopped your habitual attacks," Prowl agreed.

X-Brawn folded his arms. "Our whole purpose here was to stop Gigatron, and if this is the way..."

Sky-Byte clenched his fist. He could take out two Decepticons in a burst of protective fury, but he couldn't have matched Prime on his best day. Even if he could, he didn't want to do that. "I agree."

"Huh?" the brothers exclaimed together.

"It wouldn't bother me at all to leave and let him be. I've known Gigatron for some time, and he's doing better in his condition than he has in a very long time. Ever since he came to Earth he's been...unhappy. Seeing him the way he is now has even made me think..." Sky-Byte couldn't believe he was about to voice these thoughts, especially when Gigatron might understand them, but if he didn't say it at this moment he never would. "...Maybe his plan of universal domination was misguided from the start. It's making him miserable, it might destroy him. Am I supposed to help him as a person, or should I be okay with pushing him to self-destruction for the sake of his ambitions?"

The Autobots seemed stricken by his speech. Prime stepped forward. "Am I meant to take that as you recognizing, and renouncing, the wickedness of his plan?"

"Tch. I just don't want him to get hurt, Autobot." Sky-Byte shrugged, showing his open palm in a gesture of earnestness. "I care about him."

"We care for our own as well, and for the whole Earth. That's why...it's difficult."

"You want us to recognize the error of our ways, right? You want us to become good guys. Gigatron didn't choose or want this."

Prime folded his arms, looked very serious for a moment, then declared, "It's your decision. We won't stop you." The brothers began to protest, but he lifted a hand. "I won't do to a Predacon what I wouldn't do to an Autobot. If one of you were cursed, I would do everything I could to fix you."

Sky-Byte relaxed. "Okay. You guys might want to step back then. I don't know what kind of mood he'll be in when he—"

"What about my opinion?!" Scourge fired more missiles into the chamber. It was harder to dodge with so many mechs around—one clipped Sky-Byte's ankle, sending him spinning, and another sailed past Prime's head but the debris that fell from its impact hit his shoulder and Prowl's back.

A missile collided with a chunk of rock on the ceiling, exploding and sending shards towards where Gigatron was hiding. Sky-Byte saw this but knew, even as he scrambled forward, he didn't have time.

Gigatron screamed and tore through the air in jet mode. He made tight turns in the cramped space, zipping by everyone's heads.

"Kill him!" Scourge swung his sword, missing a little wing by a couple feet. "Just kill him now!"

"Sir," Mega-Octane started.

"Shut up! Show no mercy!"

Rollbar and Armorhide sidled into the room, joining the other two in firing at Gigatron, who wobbled through the air and whined in discomfort.

"S-someone catch him," Sky-Byte said, struggling to his feet. "He'll crash."

Prowl jumped up and caught him as he passed overhead. "Got him!" Gigatron struggled in his grasp, then metamorphosed into a dragon. He glared for a second before loosing two streams of fire breath right at his captor's face. "Argh! Not again!" Prowl dropped him to the floor, needing both hands to bat at the flames.

Gigatron ran towards the center of the room, then suddenly stopped, metamorphosed to robot form, and sat down. He looked around at everyone, optics big and sad and watery, and the Decepticons flinched back, now looking very unsure of their leader's orders. "Sleepy," he said.

Sky-Byte hobbled towards him. "We can go to sleep. Come over—"

"FIRE NOW OR I'LL SKEWER YOU!" Scourge roared. That was all the Decepticons needed to be snapped out of their doubting thoughts. Brilliant light exploded in the cave as an assortment of heavy armament launched towards Gigatron. He squeezed his optics shut and covered his face with tiny hands.

Sky-Byte leapt forward, again feeling that surge of protective energy as he went farther than he would have figured possible with his injured foot. He covered Gigatron with his upper body a split second before the bombardment hit them.

It was like being punched by huge fists in every direction. The explosions sent him hurtling through the air and he had no control. They struck something then went through it, an almost musical shattering noise following him as he hit the ground with his shoulder and back. Agony lanced up and down his arm, spine, and head. The crystal was smashed, he knew without having to open his optics because he could feel tiny shards of it digging into his plates like pieces of glass. These were the least of their problems.

Sky-Byte rolled over onto his good arm, which also happened to put his back to their attackers, and placed Gigatron on the ground. His optics were closed and he wasn't moving.

"Gigatron? Hey, Gigatron!"

Scourge chuckled.

"Giga..." It felt like the world was falling away. Sky-Byte didn't know what to do. He looked at Prime for answers, but there was nothing.

A cold glow brought his attention back down, to witness a light enveloping Gigatron as well as the shards scattered around the platform. Sky-Byte remembered the recoded fragment and hastily tossed it out to be with the others.

Gigatron's form morphed and expanded, lengthening, taking on more angles and sharper edges. Sky-Byte shuffled out of the way, transfixed the way he was the first time. The glow faded, replaced with armor that was mostly dark with accents of color and the sleeping face of a grown mech. He took up most of the dais and Sky-Byte ended up clutched against his side.

His optics struggled open and his lip lifted into a snarl. "Wh...at?" He swept Sky-Byte away from him. "Hands off! What are you doing?"

"You're back," Sky-Byte whimpered. He realized he was crying.

Gigatron struggled to his feet, swaying, unable to remain steady. "Autobots? I'll—" He took one step off the dais and his legs twisted, sending him stumbling all the way to the wall, where he caught himself. "Ugh. R-retreat." He managed to metamorphose into bat form and flapped down one of the tunnels.

Sky-Byte took to shark form to follow him. The Decepticons fled, Mega-Octane picking up Movor and Ro-Tor and placing them on Rollbar. The Autobots, like usual, let their retreating enemies go without an issue.

Scourge was prostrated before the platform, his helm almost touching the floor from the depth of his bow. Gigatron had his back to him. "My master, I would never betray you. I did what I did because I believed Sky-Byte was trying to keep you in that form forever."

You're smooth, Sky-Byte thought. About as smooth as shark's skin!

Gigatron growled. "Scourge, you are dismissed. I'll figure out what to do with your lot later."

"Yes, sir." Scourge stood and stomped off, fists swinging robotically.

Sky-Byte knelt, hand to his chest. "Lord Gigatron, I think his intentions weren't as he said."

"Keep an eye on him," Gigatron said. "I can trust you to do that, Sky-Byte."

"Of course."

"The other Predacons?"

"They're convalescing in maintenance. They won't be able to go on missions for a while."

"We can't afford to lose a single man, even a treacherous one," Gigatron muttered. "Very well. You may go, Sky-Byte."

He stood, but paused before leaving. "Ah, Lord Gigatron, I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"Do you remember anything about what happened?"

Gigatron cringed slightly. "Donot ask me about that."

"I'm sorry. I'll go now."

Later, he laid on his bed, nursing the wounds all over his body. He held the little action figure over his face, turning it over again and again. Items like these and the few photos he'd taken were all the evidence that was left of the past few weeks. He sighed. It made him sadder than he expected to look at it, so maybe he ought to put it up with the other stuff.

A knock at the door—strange. Nobody ever called on him. "It's unlocked."

The door slid open and he expected to hear a Predacon. Another, not insignificant part of him realized it could be a Decepticon come for revenge. He pushed himself up with a groan, freezing in shock at the sight of Gigatron.

He too paused at the sudden movement. "I'd like to come in for a moment."

"O-of course." Sky-Byte wasn't sure how to act in this situation, He wasn't technically "at work," but...

"Relax, Sky-Byte. I'm not here on...business." Gigatron wandered through the room, glancing at its sparse furnishings, before his optics settled on the action figure. A twitch of a smirk tugged at his mouth, but he didn't let it form. "Oh, so you kept things?"

Sky-Byte laughed. "J-just in case you'd want any of it! Uh, but I know you probably don't. I'll trash it all tonight if you want." Shoot, why did I say that so casually?!

"Eh..." Gigatron extended his hand and Sky-Byte gave him the action figure. He twisted its limbs and head around, humming a few notes from the show's theme song.

"You do remember, don't you?"

Gigatron's expression darkened. "We can't...talk about it, Sky-Byte."

"Why not?"

"It's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me."

Sky-Byte gestured to the toy held so gingerly in Gigatron's claws. "But you enjoyed some of it, evidently." Gigatron gave him a look. "Just an observation, sir!"

"I know the way you feel about...all of what happened," he said, "but we must move on. It won't help us going forward."

"I understand..."

"You should hang onto this." Gigatron returned the toy. "I'm impressed at how you ran things while I was out of commission."

"R-really?"

"The base isn't in nearly as terrible a condition as I would have expected. And, of course, I am still alive, which probably wouldn't have happened without you."

Sky-Byte smiled. "I would do anything for—I mean, I live to serve you."

"I expect nothing less." Gigatron headed for the door. "I'll be going now. Goodnight, Sky-Byte."

"G-goodnight." Then he was alone in his room again, processing the last few minutes. Despite the line drawn around what they couldn't talk about, it was unbelievably nice to hear Gigatron's words.

He remembered. That little child wasn't gone after all. Sky-Byte's spark felt light and big with love, and the threads of a poem spun within his head.