Chapter Text
The day started, as it often did, with a very excitable sparkling jumping onto Cyclonus and Galvatron's shared bed.
"Dad! Dad! It's time to wake up!"
Cyclonus, who really liked his sleep, pulled the covers up over his head. Galvatron gave out a groan as he was shaken.
"Alright, alright. I'm getting up…"
"Yay! You said we were gonna go explore the circuit forests and look for insecticons today."
"Yes. I did say that…" Galvatron tiredly mumbled. "Alright, fine. I shall be up soon."
"Yay!" Hot Rod cheered as he started jumping around the room, running out and presumably causing problems for whatever Sweeps he ran into.
Galvatron, meanwhile, gave a large huff and pulled himself out of bed. While Galvatron's energy was normally boundless, in the early hours of the morning it took a bit of a while for his full capacity to kick in.
"I will join you shortly, my lord," Cyclonus mumbled. He would keep his word, the problem was there was a part of him that really enjoyed being snuggled up in bed sheets.
"Don't worry, Cyclonus, I have this under control," Galvatron said as he left.
Cyclonus relished a few more seconds of his comfortable nest before he got up himself. Wherever Galvatron went he would follow. It didn't take long before he was ready.
As each day passed Cyclonus was growing more and more used to the idea that Hot Rod was going to be a permanent addition to their assortment. A part of him had not expected things to last this long. Lord Galvatron was often prone to flights of fancy; becoming intensely obsessed with an idea or thing for a short period before his enthusiasm would start to wane and he'd lose interest.
Cyclonus was used to seeing these mood changes in his lord. Initially he had wondered if Galvatron's interest in Hot Rod would be one those; that eventually he would become overwhelmed by the responsibilities of parenthood and foist Hot Rod onto some individuals who were more readily equipped to look after a youngling, but now that nearly a vorn had passed Cyclonus could see this was not going to be the case.
And while some of the Sweeps talked about how Galvatron was only training up Hot Rod to be a future soldier, it was clear that was not Galvatron's sole intention. Galvatron spent time and care with Hot Rod, not just instructing him on how to fight and use his powers but in many other ways; encouraging his curiosity, spending time playing games with him, letting Hot Rod explore when their titan base stopped at a new location. He would take Hot Rod out to see the plasma volcanoes, the data forests, and any of the Decepticon cities when Trypticon stopped near one of them. If he was not doing that then Galvatron could often be found telling Hot Rod stories or reciting to him the history of the Decepticons. He always boasted enthusiastically of Hot Rod's progress and achievements.
When instructing Hot Rod in his training Galvatron was calm, patient, doing his best to help him deal with his unstable powers and his insecurities. It became clear to anyone paying attention that Galvatron was simply trying to bring out the best he could in Hot Rod.
It was interesting to see Galvatron's limitless energy being directed towards encouraging a sparkling. But Cyclonus knew from a lot of experience that Galvatron never did anything by halves. When he did become focused on an idea he would pursue it doggedly, sometimes at the expense of all else; and it was clear that Hot Rod was one of those things. Galvatron would not hesitate to do whatever needed to be done for him.
And since Cyclonus had pledged his eternal loyalty to Galvatron, then it meant that Cyclonus would do whatever was needed to support Hot Rod as well.
Yet there was still a part of Cyclonus that was confused as to why it had quite been this way. Why was it that Hot Rod, of all mechs, would inspire Galvatron so?
Whenever Cyclonus had a break in his duties he would go and check how Galvatron was doing. He made it a point to observe their interactions and see what he could glean from them. He checked Trypticon's location systems to find that Galvatron and Hot Rod were currently in one of the offices. Cyclonus guessed that Galvatron was giving Hot Rod an impromptu lecture, or maybe just reading him a story. Either way, Cyclonus decided to find out what they were up to.
Cyclonus soon approached the hall door. He was about to knock and announce his presence when Hot Rod suddenly came charging out, almost barrelling into Cyclonus.
"Whoops! Sorry!" Hot Rod said. A moment later he had transformed into a tiny miniature race car and was speeding off.
"Remember, Hot Rod! I'm timing you!" Galvatron shouted as he watched Hot Rod drive off, then he turned to his second. "Cyclonus! How delightful to see you! Come in! Would you like some refreshment?"
"I thank you, my lord, but where is Hot Rod going?"
"Oh, I'm letting him have a drive around. I was teaching him about the history of Gigatron's rule, but he was starting to get restless. It happens if he stays cooped up for too long, then he struggles to pay attention to anything. So I normally have him go for a short drive around the place, once he gets back he's spent all his energy and much better."
"I see."
"But why are you here? Is there some disaster? Anything that requires my presence on the bridge?"
"No sir, all is proceeding to plan. I merely came to see how things were with Hot Rod."
"They're going splendidly!" Galvatron said as he grabbed a cube of energon for the two of them. "He's so interested in Decepticon history. Of course, I try and make it interesting for him. I go into detail about all the fun bits, the battles and the fights. You can see the way his optics expand hearing about those."
"I suppose it helps that he has a good teacher. You always had a flair for telling stories dramatically, my lord," Cyclonus said as he took his drink.
"Why, thank you, Cyclonus." Galvatron beamed as he sat down. "He's such a bright lad. I can see great things for him, Cyclonus. He has this fire about him."
"That is plainly observable."
"No, not just that. A true fire. He's so determined. One day everyone on Cybertron will know his name, I guarantee it."
"Perhaps if he had stayed an Autobot he could have ended up as Prime."
Galvatron scoffed. "Perhaps. They don't deserve him."
At that point Hot Rod returned, transforming and skidding to a halt.
"I made it! How did I do?"
"Ten seconds faster than before! Congratulations! You beat your record!"
"Yay!"
"Now, would you like to continue our history lesson?"
"Yeah! I wanna know who wins!" Hot Rod said as he went back to a little child sized seat.
"Pfft, us, of course. The Decepticons were undefeatable."
"But you said the Autobots had them cornered on the Red Rust Cliff's! How are they going to spring back from that?"
"Ah yes. Well, I shall tell you!" Galvatron said, instantly he got into his role, stepping into a bombastic and exciting history of the Decepticon attack. "So there was Gigatron! Autobots blocking the way through the cliffs, and another ambush waiting for him at the cliffs’ other side. It seemed impossible, but then Gigatron pulled his most daring move…" Galvatron told the story with much dramatic flair that had Hot Rod completely enraptured.
Cyclonus stayed silent as he observed their lesson.
Hot Rod had clearly been taking in everything he had been taught, because in the days afterwards it was very easy to find him talking to any Sweeps he passed and giving them an exhaustive recount of the history he had learned. Whichever Sweep he chose would basically be stuck there as Hot Rod recounted the whole story in full detail.
Cyclonus had always thought Hot Rod was fairly prone to his attention wandering, but now it seemed clear that he was extremely capable of retaining interest and learning information.
Galvatron himself was prone to distraction. Sometimes there were days where Galvatron was ruthlessly efficient, and other days he was so scattered he could barely accomplish anything. Cyclonus had grown quite used to sensing his Lord's moods and doing his best to help when Galvatron's mind started to stray. It seemed Galvatron was good at sensing these moods in Hot Rod as well, and he was good at keeping the young one on track when Hot Rod's own mind wandered.
Perhaps that was why Galvatron seemed so determined in taking charge of Hot Rod's tuition.
This did all mean, however, that their military campaigns had been inattentive. Galvatron normally used any excuse to get into a battle, but his recent focus on fatherhood had meant they had not joined in as many of Megatron's battles. Indeed, Cyclonus had been fending off many calls from Megatron asking when Galvatron would be coming back to active service. The Sweeps were certainly happy not to have to be called in to fight, but Cyclonus wondered how many more excuses he would be able to devise.
"Is Galvatron intending on ever fighting for the Decepticons again?" Megatron asked Cyclonus on the vidscreen.
"Lord Galvatron has simply been preoccupied with other duties. He will return to battle when the time is right."
"'Other duties', yes, I know what they are," Megatron glared. "Can't you convince him?"
"I am afraid that no one is the arbiter of Galvatron's own destiny but himself," Cyclonus responded plainly.
"What? Is that something he's been saying? Why is he always like this? Well, why don't you tell him this; the Wreckers will be at the base we're going to attack. That might finally entice him."
"I will inform him immediately, Lord Megatron."
"See that you do." Megatron got up from chair and left. Once he was gone, Soundwave appeared and took his place.
"Soundwave: hopes you are doing well."
"I am indeed. It is always good to hear from you."
"Soundwave: hopes present arrived safely."
"It did. Thank you, Hot Rod has been enjoying the video games you sent."
"Results: delightful. If Hot Rod interested: Soundwave can send Rumble and Frenzy's game link code. Multiplayer options: can be achieved with code."
"Thank you, I will inform him of that."
"Soundwave: appreciates it. Communication ended."
The screen turned off and Cyclonus went back to his regular work. It was not long before the door opened and behind him he heard Galvatron and Hot Rod's voices bursting into laughter. Cyclonus turned round to see that Galvatron was carrying Hot Rod on his shoulders.
"There we go! That's the best score on your training so far! I'm so proud of you!"
Cyclonus stood up and gave a respectful bow.
"Lord Galvatron, it is good to see you."
"Aha, Cyclonus! There you are! What news is happening here?"
"There has been another call from Decepticon high guard. There is a plan to launch an assault on the Petrihex research base."
"Hmph. I'm not interested. I have other, more important matters to attend to," Galvatron said as he slowly put Hot Rod down on the ground. "I promised Hot Rod we could go Insecticon hunting this afternoon."
"I have been told that the Wreckers will be at the base."
Galvatron paused, his optics lit up with barely restrained enthusiasm.
"The Wreckers? Are you serious?"
Cyclonus nodded. Galvatron's plating started to shake before he burst into a shout of unrestrained joy.
"Yes! Finally! A group of Autobots that can actually give me a challenge! I can't wait to face them!" Galvatron cackled. "Cyclonus, set course for the Petrihex base."
Hot Rod’s face fell but Galvatron didn't miss a beat turning to him.
"Don't worry, we shall get back to insecticon hunting soon. For now you'll get to see your old man in action. No one puts up a fight like the Wreckers. It's always invigorating fighting them."
"Okay…" Hot Rod said, though clearly still a little bit disappointed.
"Very well, my lord", Cyclonus interjected. "I shall set Trypticon's co-ordinates right away."
"Perfect!" Galvatron shouted.
The battle came and it was clear Galvatron couldn't be any happier. He was maniacally cackling as he threw himself into battle. Galvatron's only problem with fighting Autobots was that because most of them were civilian frames they could rarely put up the sort of fight he hoped for. The Wreckers though, were a different matter. The most hardened Autobot commandos were actually capable of giving Galvatron a good fight. He immediately started grappling with Roadbuster as other Wreckers tried to take him down.
Cyclonus felt lucky he had convinced Galvatron not to take Hot Rod with him. His lord had been so enthusiastic to show off his combat skills to his son, but Cyclonus had made him see that perhaps this would just be a little too dangerous for a youngling.
Currently Cyclonus led the rest of the forces. He was directing the Sweeps to their locations. It was true that they were pretty useless on their own, but they could be overwhelming when there were simply so many of them, and Scourge could always use his outlier to make more. Used like this, Galvatron's forces were a very effective diversion. The Autobots would have to use their resources on combating either Galvatron's fury or the sweeping hoard. Either way, they would not be at their full effectiveness.
Galvatron had just thrown Impactor into Broadside and it seemed they were on the retreat, scurrying back into their base.
"Pah! Cowards! Give me a proper fight like I was promised!" Galvatron screamed as he chased after them.
Cyclonus paused in his own fighting to observe what was happening. It felt odd that the Wreckers had given up so quickly. They would normally try harder than that.
Then Cyclonus looked at the ground below Galvatron's feet. There was something odd about it, like the ground had been recently disturbed.
"My Lord! Wait!" Cyclonus shouted, but it was already too late. Galvatron stepped on a landmine and everything around him exploded, the roof of an entire building collapsed on top of him.
Galvatron was fine, or at least, mostly fine. As fine as one could be when a building had fallen on them. He was currently being wheeled into their base's medbay, surrounded by Sweeps wearing different coats.
"I could have taken 'em…" Galvatron deliriously mumbled.
"Of course you could have, my lord," Cyclonus said, followed closely by Galvatron's side, not leaving him for a second.
"Playing dirty. Iz not fair… if they had let me fight them one to one I would have shown them…"
"My lord, please conserve your strength for now. We will have time to get revenge later."
"I don't need to conserve my strength… I'm Galvatron… Emperor of Destructables…"
"I'm not sure that's quite how it goes."
"Of course it is… I know my own title…"
"Dad!"
Cyclonus turned as a little red figure headed towards them. Hot Rod stopped in front of the gurney, looking up at the terrible state of Galvatron.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Hot Rod asked.
"Yes, do not worry," Cyclonus said, "I assure you, he has had worse."
It was true. Galvatron had survived all kinds of bizarre things. Nothing seemed to keep him down. Sometimes it seemed he stayed alive just through sheer tenacity of will, Cyclonus personally thought that Galvatron wouldn't be capable of dying until he himself decided it was time.
"Do not worry. He will be back on his feet eventually."
"Okay…" Hot Rod mumbled.
Cyclonus followed Galvatron into the medical bay, and then he stayed to make sure the medic team knew what they were doing. Luckily today it was a different Sweep who had been given the lab coat and Cyclonus trusted that he would be able to keep Galvatron safe.
Galvatron fought sleep just as hard as he fought everything else, but eventually he drifted off and then finally the medical team were able to do their work. Once he was completely satisfied that Galvatron was in good hands, Cyclonus left the medbay. He thought about precisely what tasks to prioritize now that he would be in command for the immediate future.
As he left, he found Hot Rod waiting nervously outside. The little sparkling looked up at him.
"Is Dad okay?"
"Yes. He will be. It is merely a matter of time. He must rest and then he will be able to return to duty."
"Oh. Okay." Hot Rod looked down nervously. Cyclonus could see the clear distress that was on his face. He needed comforting, though Cyclonus had never been one for expressing emotions outwardly. He knew though, that he had to try his best.
"You have no need to be apprehensive. Everything will be alright in due time."
Hot Rod weakly nodded before he looked away, fidgeting.
"Who's gonna look after me while Dad's ill?"
"Why, I will of course," Cyclonus said plainly.
"Oh? You will?" Hot Rod looked up at him. It was probably bad that Hot Rod was not expecting him to care. Perhaps Cyclonus had been a bit too distant. At the least, it seemed now would be the time to make up for it.
Cyclonus knelt down on one knee and patted Hot Rod on the shoulder.
"Do not worry yourself, Hot Rod. I promise I will take absolute care of you. As part of my vow to Lord Galvatron I will see you are kept safe."
Hot Rod gave an unsure smile. Cyclonus knew he would not be the same as Galvatron, but he would do nothing but his best for the young one.