Father and Son – Epilogue. Sixshot's point of view.
I used to be able to hold him in the palm of my servo. He was tiny, especially for a six-changer. His mother was shot momentarily after he was born, no longer of use to us, leaving me to raise my son. Quickswitch slept in my quarters for the first year of his life; he had his own berth, with fencing around it to keep him from tumbling to the floor. But most nights, he'd wake me with his crying, and would end up sleeping with me, curled against my chassis, thumb in his mouth. When I was on duty, the Seekers would be his caretakers; it was what they were programmed for, before the war. Skywarp loved to play with him, and Quickswitch would always laugh up a storm at his silly faces and noises.
Starscream told me he was a quick learner, picking up words and signals far earlier than most Sparklings. Lord Megatron said that showed promise, said that my son would one day become as great of a warrior as I am. I agreed thoroughly, and I knew my son would make me proud.
On the celebration of his construction date, in his second vorn, Lord Megatron decided he should have his own quarters. It was a small room, across the hall from my own. It was filled with the toys and gifts the other Decepticons managed to scrounge up to give him. He didn't care that some of them were broken, he was just happy everyone went to the trouble of getting him presents. He liked our Lord's gift to him as well, happy with his own room, to small for me to stand up in, big enough for him to run around in circles. Yet at night, he often snuck out across the hall, and I'd wake in the morning with my son in my arms, clutching the Turbo Fox plushy Rumble had given him.
"Daddy," he said to me one day, looking up from the back of my data pad that I let him decorate with permanent markers. "What is it that you do?" He'd never asked about my profession before, and his curiosity and pure interest was flattering. Like he was excited to know, like no matter what I told him, he'd be proud of his old man.
"I'm a soldier," I told him. "I serve under Lord Megatron for the Decepticon cause. You will too, one day." He stared at me with wide optics, then looked down at the data pad again. Scruffily drawn scribbles of what I assumed were tanks and canons stained the back of it, but I didn't mind. He'd drawn them for me, and that was all that mattered.
"So I'll get to be like you when I'm bigger?" I nodded, and a large grin spread over his face. He dropped the pad and ran to me, hugging my shin as tight as his little arms could. "I can't wait to be like daddy!" He cheered. The Seekers had all made a fuss about that, saying how precious it was. Again, I didn't mind. Because my son was happy, and my son wanted to be like me. What more could I ask for?
On his third vorn, Lord Megatron approached us as Quickswitch was using my arms as monkey bars, as he often did. My master had a dark, devious smile on his face, and I knew it was time. He knelt in front of my son, once I'd placed him on the floor, and addressed him directly.
"Quickswitch my boy, enjoying your day?" He asked, strangely gentle for the lord of destruction we were all used to. My son nodded enthusiastically, arms folded behind his back like I always did when talking to Megatron.
"Yes sir, I am sir." He replied, making Starscream and Ramjet's Trines giggle about how sweet he was.
"Excellent," Megatron nodded, reaching out and patting his helm. Quickswitch was frightened of Megatron, especially when he yelled at Starscream, or yelled in general. He'd run to me and bury his face in the back of my knee. Thundercracker said it was a "security blanket" effect. "Well, you are now old enough, I believe, to be admitted as an official Decepticon," The look on Quickswitch's face could've made me laugh; the sheer shining glee as his optic widened and jaw fell open, barely containing his excitement and trying not to bounce up and down. Starscream and the other Seekers, however, didn't share our joy.
"You can't be serious!" The multicoloured Second shouted, storming right up and snatching Quickswitch off the floor. "He's three vorns! Three! He's far too young!" He insisted, holding my child on his hip.
"Nuh-uh!" Quickswitch protested, gently tapping on Starscream's wing, like he always did if he wanted his attention. "I'm a big bot now! I'm ready Twinkle-Star!" He whimpered pleadingly, clutching his servos together in a praying gesture. Starscream's hard scowl faltered for a moment at the cute display, then it became firm again as he spoke with the soft yet commanding tone Seekers would with Sparklings.
"Quickswitch, believe me, you're aren't-" Megatron stood up, laughing heartily and slapping his SIC on the back none too gently, like a silent warning.
"It's his special day, Starscream; let the birthday boy do as he wishes!" He chuckled, gripping the underside of the Seeker's wing out of sight from Quickswitch. In response to this, I scooped my son out of Starscream's grasp, still able to hold him in one servo.
"Pleeeeeease Twinkle-Star?" He whimpered. The Seeker hissed lowly in pain, then fixed my son and I with a firm glare.
"You'll regret it, both of you." And with that, he yanked himself out of Megatron's grasp, and stomped back over to Thundercracker and Skywarp, who began fussing over his wing. Megatron nodded in approval, then looked back up at us.
"Come, my boy." Obediently, Quickswitch jumped back to the floor, doing a stiff march as he followed Megatron down the hall, myself and the rest of the Decepticons following suit. We entered the shooting range; Quickswitch had been here many times before, saying he enjoyed watching me work on my aim. I'd let him simply hold my blaster before, though it wasn't loaded, nor did I let him play with it. He'd told me it somehow felt right, like he was supposed to hold that weapon. I knew there and then he was going to follow in my foot steps. Megatron turned to my son, still smiling that dark smile, crouched in front of him and handed him yet another pistol. It was smaller than my blaster, but he could still just barely hold it.
"Um..." He looked up at me, as if asking if it was alright for him to hold it. I bent down as well, helping him hold the weapon properly, though his tiny fingers just barely reached the trigger. Megatron made a beckoning gesture across the shooting range and, as expected, Soundwave appeared. He was shoving and pushing a screaming, crying Autobot in electro-bonds. He guided the bot to the end of the shooting range, in front of one of the well used targets and chained him there, his limbs spread out wide, chassis right in the center of the bullseye.
"Now, Quickswitch, my boy," Megatron grinned, stroking my son's helm with a black finger. "Shoot him."
Quickswitch flinched, looking up at Megatron like he'd asked the most horrible thing in the universe. He then looked up at me, as if asking for confirmation that his audios weren't malfunctioning. Then, he looked passed me, straight at Starscream, who had his arms folded over his chest, looking away with a pained expression. "D-daddy..." He whispered quietly, shifting closer. I petted his helm, lifted him on top of the barrier used to keep you at a reasonable distance for decent target practice, and let him lean against my chest.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine," I assured him gently, helping his shaking arms hold up the weapon.
"Please!" The Autobot screamed at us, tears flooding out of his optics. "Please, anything but that! Why don't you just let me starve to death! Don't make a child kill me!" He cried out desperately, fighting against his bonds. The rest of the Decepticons either taunted him, or gave Quickswitch cheers of encouragement. Soundwave had appeared behind us, his Cassettes clapping and singing for my son.
"Come on kid!" Someone shouted.
"You can do it half-pint!" Said someone else.
Quickswitch began trembling in place, elbows barely able to hold the pistol. Hm, must have been a little heavy for him. I placed one hand under the weapon, helping him level it with the Autobot's spark chamber. "You can do it, I know you can," I whispered to him.
"I... I don't want to daddy..." He whimpered in reply.
"Nonsense squirt; you said you wanted to be like me one day," I chuckled rubbing his side encouragingly. "Well; this is the kind of thing daddy does." He stopped trembling. In fact, he just plain stopped moving, like he was frozen in spot. I glanced at Lord Megatron, who wasn't looking impressed by my son's hesitation. I hunkered down a bit, chin hovering on his little shoulder, placing my large servos over his tiny ones. "It's easy," I said over the cheering Decepticons. "Just take aim..."
"Please! Don't make him do this you monsters!"
"Cock the hammer..."
"Go for it short stuff!"
"Pull the trigger."
Bang!
All around us, our comrades cheered and applauded him. Lord Megatron clapped, a grin on his face. I laughed cheerfully, removing my mask to kiss his cheek, telling him I was proud, telling him he was fantastic. I just barely noticed the Seekers running out of the room, Starscream in floods of tears.
Quickswitch dropped the gun, letting it hit the floor with a clatter, and the room went silent as he fell backwards off the stand. I caught him easily, surprised by the reaction. "Hey! Hey, you alright? What's wrong kiddo?" I cooed at him, cradling him against my chassis. Soundwave and his Cassettes ran closer, Rumble and Frenzy calling to him in Sparkling cant. Quickswitch merely trembled in my grasp, not huddling closer, not pushing away. He just lay there, staring into the distance with wide, shaking optics. This worried me, so I looked up to Megatron and asked to take him back to his quarters. Megatron allowed it, saying he deserved it for being such a well behaved boy. I agreed completely, carrying my son away. I didn't take him to his quarters after all, bringing him into mine so I could actually sit with him properly. His Turbo Fox plush was on my berth anyway, having sat in my room the night before, chattering and listing the gifts he hoped to get.
I sat him in my lap, stroking his helm. I removed my mask, seeing as he preferred me without it when we were alone. I cooed and whispered to him, trying to get a response. I picked up his favourite toy, doing silly voices for it and having it kiss him on the nose. He didn't move, he didn't laugh, he just lay there, curdled in my lap, hugging his knees. I frowned at him, concern written all over my face. "Come on squirt, tell daddy what's wrong... please?"
After a moment of silence, me just holding him close to my spark chamber, his optics turned to look at me finally, but instead of glittering admiration, I only saw fear. That blinding emotion was evident in his voice, as he whispered to me.
"Daddy... why did you make me do that?"
I'm off to Barcelona for the week, but I'll be working on more chapters as a pass time while I'm there! Hope you enjoyed this taster and pretty please tell me what you think! The rest of the chapters will either be in Third person or in Quickswitch's POV. And yes, Quickswitch's nickname for Starscream is adorable! :D
Sixshot: You're going to keep them waiting for a whole week? What if they really like it?
Cybertron: Then... um... aheh...
Sixshot: Primus.