The Wreckers had been known for their recklessness, so Optimus had put Ultra Magnus, a highly respected warrior (and his adopted brother) in charge of them due to the massive amount of Wrecker deaths. The Wreckers, having never had a leader before and never found a use for one, were not pleased. Among the tickled-pink Wreckers was a mech called Wheeljack, who saw Magnus as his "weak brother", Optimus Prime.
Ulra Magnus was not pleased either, but he kept the Wreckers in line, and therefore alive. He went through a lot of mental agony keeping Wheeljack alive, however, and he had saved the Wrecker's aft (more than a few times). The Wrecker would always act the same way: arrogant. He said that he never would need the mech's help. He was quickly soothed by his friend, Bulkhead, but not before he took a few brutal verbal blows to his leader.
Ultra Magnus would act like his brother, who he admired: calm, gentle, and to the point. And he told Wheeljack if he had another outburst, he would be sorry.
Wheeljack never had another outburst, not exactly due to the threat, but because Bulkhead kept him out of trouble until Magnus was called away and enough Wreckers had died so that only four remained.
Bulkhead joined up with Optimus when he saw that there was nothing left of the Wreckers, leaving Wheeljack, Seaspray, and Sprocket to their own devices.
Wheeljack found his way to Earth after Sprocket passed and Seaspray went AWOL. He left shortly after finding Bulkhead and, to his displeasure, Optimus. He went after Seaspray, who he managed to locate before Dreadwing reunited the Wrecker with his brother, Sprocket.
The Last of the Wreckers found his way back to Earth, where he stayed...mostly.
Ultra Magnus patrolled the hallways, hearing Optimus and Ratchet reunite in the Prime's quarters. He heard Knockout get a medical lesson from Arcee, and they giggled mostly as they "worked". He didn't want to peek in and check up on them to make sure they were working, because he didn't want to see what they were actually doing.
He heaved a soft sigh as he heard the pede-steps that could only belong to Wheeljack. "You are supposed to be resting," he said as he turned around to face the Wrecker.
Wheeljack shrugged his shoulders a bit, crossing his arms as his digits trailed softly over the explosive on his hip (Ultra Magnus secretly wished it would explode under his digits, but he knew Wheeljack was too careful for such an accident to occur, unfortunatly for him). "What are you doing, Maggy?"
"Patrolling the base in case the Decepticons are not truly out of the job." He watched him, tilting his helm slightly. Wheeljack looked...different. His optics were brighter, he decided. He found he liked the look of Wheeljack this way. He shuddered as that thought went through his processor.
"You're paranoid," he commented absently. He rubbed his servos as though he had touched something dirty. He clenched his fists and rested his knuckles on his hips, rocking back on his heels. "Understandable, but unnecessary, especially for a big, strong mech like yourself."
If this was taunting, it did not work, but it did make the mech feel uncomfortably hot. He took an intake, feeling his faceplates warm. "Why do you taunt me?"
"I'm not taunting," Wheeljack scoffed. His optics were glittering with laughter. He rubbed against the mech as he walked by, making Magnus flinch. "Good night, Maggy."
It wasn't until later that Ultra Magnus realized that Wheeljack had used that annoying nickname. The mech sat up all night thinking about what had happened in the hallway, and he came to the conclusion that Wheeljack was mentally unstable. He took it upon himself to recommend a physical examination of the mech.
But he came up short when he heard loud purrs coming from the MedBay. He did not want to interrupt their bonding moment, nor did he want to intrude on a happy Ratchet under a possessive Optimus. He settled with standing like a sentry between both, praying they would finish up soon so that he could talk to someone about Wheeljack's strange behavior.
Unfortunately for Magnus, when the sounds of pleasure and happiness faded, snores and happy sleepy-time murmurs replaced them. He stood there, still, uncomfortable, and strangly hungry for that kind of feeling.
No one, however, liked him like that. He wasn't even sure if any of the warriors even liked him, period. He gave a shaky sigh, not wanting to cry. He hadn't cried since before he was adopted, since before Orion found him and begged Stormchaser to adopt the pathetically sobbing sparkling. Orion had rescued the little mechling, and Ultra Magnus never let him be about it, always thanking him, never accepting "it was nothing, Ultra Magnus" as an answer.
He sighed quietly, and the sound came back to him as an echo, reminding him of the way he felt inside: empty, full of fading echos of what could have been and what should have been. He shifted his weight, waiting for the snores to turn into more active sounds, but they didn't. They almost never did when he wanted them to.
He cursed quietly when the first tear rolled down his cheek and he shoved it away, flicking the cursed tear to the floor. He touched his altered claws gently, flexing them to keep him distracted. He convinced himself that he should still do the exercises Ratchet taught him, so he began to spread the claws, close them, spread them, close them, spread them, close them...
"Maggy? What are you doing, standing in the hall? You should be resting," Wheeljack said gently as he touched his leader's shoulder. He guided the mech back to his quarters before Ultra Magnus realized what was going on and what the Wrecker had called him.
"I told you not to call me that, Wheeljack," he protested as he pulled away from the mech. "I was waiting for Optimus to wake up."
Wheeljack looked up at him and he smiled slightly, his scarred lips attracting Ultra Magnus' attention for some reason unknown to him. "Optimus hardly wakes up when his mate is in his arms. You should know that, except you only just arrived here, but even so, it is common knowledge here." He opened the mech's quarters, and he peeked in.
It had all the necessities: a berth, and a desk with a lamp. Nothing fancy, nothing personal, everything that had a purpose. It was so Ultra Magnus.
"Stick a poster up," he suggested. "A little Pred-baby hanging onto a tree. 'Hang in there'!"
"Why would a Pred-baby be in a tree in the first place? It could easily crush it."
Wheeljack rolled his optics as he pushed the mech into his quarters. "You don't get it. Just sleep and don't think about the Pred-baby and the tree all night. You won't figure it out if you think hard enough."
He sat down heavily, looking down at his claw, down at his pede, up at Wheeljack. "Thank you," he murmured.
"Don't mention it, Maggy. Ever." He smiled at him as he closed the door slowly.
When Magnus woke in the morning, he realized what Wheeljack had called him before he sunk into a deep Wheeljack-filled sleep. He smiled slightly when he remembered as he purred, forgetting how much he hated that nickname.
Something had changed the way he looked at Wheeljack, and he wasn't too sure if it was good or bad.
He walked into the RecRoom, nodding and smiling at his brother as he held Ratchet's servo. The Prime blinked in shock.
"Had a good sleep?" He looked his brother up and down, frowning.
"Indeed, I did." He sat by the Prime, everyone's optics looking at him as he drank his cube quickly. "Well, I'm going to go look for Wheeljack. Oh, and I would like to suggest him to have a physical examination."
Ratchet's optics widened as he smiled slightly. "I think you should have a mental examination, Ultra Magnus. Are you feeling okay?"
"I feel fine, thank you, but it's Wheeljack that I am worried about."
Optimus clapped him on the back, chirping fondly. "You have found a mate?"
The mechs and femmes at the RecRoom table leaned forward eagerly as they began to purr. Magnus looked around at all of them and he frowned slightly. "I have not. Why are you all behaving this way?"
Everyone seemed to exhale the breath they were holding at the same time and everyone but Optimus and Ratchet got up to leave.
Optimus spoke when everyone had left. "Ultra Magnus, you had looked so happy earlier. I thought you were mates with someone."
"No one appreciates me the way Ratchet appreciates you."
"You mean, no one loves you?" Optimus frowned. "That is not what Wheeljack was saying last night."
"What did Wheeljack say?" He tipped his helm in confusion.
"I should not invade his privacy, Ultra Magnus. If you want to know what he said, you should speak to him yourself."
That was the last thing Magnus wanted to hear! He remembered the way he had acted when Wheeljack spoke to him last night and his faceplates warmed again.
Optimus smiled as he watched and he gave his brother's helm a kiss. "Perhaps we were right that you felt something for the Wrecker, which is not uncommon, my dear brother. You just have to have something with you to talk to him."
"What might that be?" He wished his cheekplates would stop heating up.
"Bravery," the Prime purred.