Mwa ha ha. And things move forward. Poor Magnus. As I'm sure you've guessed, I'm taking a bit of artistic liberty with their ages. The canon doesn't really give great guidelines for how old everyone is save for the occasional obvious one like Kup. Either way, you get it – Magnus Old, Hot Rod Young.

Onward! (And thank-you for reading and reviewing. Just because I don't reply doesn't mean I don't read and appreciate~)

Chapter 3

Eating meals with Hot Rod had slowly begun to weasel its way into Ultra Magnus' routine. It was by no means a daily affair as usually the boy was joined by his friends Springer and Arcee (It was one thing to be around Hot Rod but Ultra Magnus just felt, old around the three of them together…) and the commanding officer suspected he was intruding in their clique. But it was often enough that he saw Hot Rod for a cube of energon at least once a week. It was, rather pleasant, Magnus could admit to himself. At the very least educational.

"You enjoy fishing because you get to, sit still?" Ultra Magnus questioned with hesitance lacing his voice. Hot Rod hated sitting still. For anything. Ultra Magnus wondered if there was ever an attention drill where the boy had managed to not move even a tiny bit. "Forgive me if I'm confused."

"No, no," Hot Rod waved his hand in frustration. "Not 'get to' but 'have to' sit still." Hot Rod put extra stress on the word that mattered. "Its' like." He paused trying to think of a way to explain it. "In drills and stuff, what really happens if you move from attention? Aside from getting an instructor to roll his eyes – not much. There's no real consequences at the end of it. Even in the field sitting perfectly still doesn't really matter all that much."

"I beg to differ." Ultra Magnus chuckled and decided to school Hot Rod in the importance of stillness in the field.. "Sometimes it's-"

"Not for me, then." Hot Rod cut Magnus off. "Special Ops and them need to sit still to stay undetected. I'm on the front line. Who cares if I'm sitting still or not?" He chuckled and tapped his own chest over the painted on flames. "I'm bright red and orange, Magnus. I'm not exactly designed for hiding."

Magnus took a breath of air. "Alright you've made somewhat of a point. But what does that have to do with fishing?"

"You really, really have to sit still!" Hot Rod smiled and tried to keep his enthusiasm in check. For someone with energy near literally bursting from his seams, being forced to sit still was a huge challenge and Hot Rod loved nothing if not a challenge. "If you move, the fish get scared. And it's like that for humans! So me moving even the tiniest bit is even worse."

"You move all the time when you're talking with Daniel." Magnus pointed out before sipping his cube. Hot Rod's reasoning was starting to make sense, but not enough to completely clear the confusion. "And you two usually bring home a fish."

"Fish aren't very smart." Hot Rod snickered and started to spin his energon cube in his hand, watching the liquid swish along the sides. "They scare away when you move, but they usually come back when you're still again. It just takes longer. When I'm fishing with Daniel we're not usually pressed for time so it doesn't matter how often we scare them. But when I'm by myself it's frustrating to have to wait." Hot Rod stopped frowned. "Does that make sense?"

"You don't like doing things that don't have reason behind them." Ultra Magnus smiled. "I suppose that yes, it makes sense." Hot Rod grinned triumphantly at him. "Still doesn't excuse your inability to sit still during drills. Just because you don't feel earning a reprimand from a superior officer counts as a 'real consequence' doesn't mean it's still not valid."

"Aw, come on Magnus." His voice practically whined as he leaned over the table. "Drills are so boring! You just repeat stuff over and over and it never has anything to do with actual field work."

"Its about discipline and repetition." Magnus smiled as Hot Rod continued to pout pitifully. "They're good for you."

"You would say that." Hot Rod muttered before drinking his cube. If there was any 'bot on base that was gifted at following orders to the letter, it was Ultra Magnus. Hot Rod sat up straight and suddenly pointed a finger. "But there's no way you can tell me you enjoyed doing drills when you were my age!"

Magnus chuckled before finishing off his energon. "On the contrary, I was top of my class when I was your age. I stayed at perfect attention longer than anyone." Magnus was rather proud of that little accomplishment, actually. The older bot pat the back of Hot Rod's hand in a soothing manner. "Maybe some day you'll manage a third of my record."

"A third?"

"Was that too generous?"

Hot Rod snickered into his hand. Ultra Magnus made a joke; how about that? Combined with the older 'bot's straight face and teasing optics, Hot Rod laughed even harder. "You're not allowed to make jokes, Magnus. I don't think my spark can take it."

"I think I'm allowed one once a quarter." Magnus looked off to the side slightly embarrassed. Hot Rod was still chuckling though, so he supposed it was all right. A 'ping' went off on his comm. and Magnus checked his schedule. Ah yes, he was due somewhere. "I'm afraid our time has been cut short. I have a meeting with Optimus in a bit and I still need to gather my reports."

Hot Rod watched Ultra Magnus stand up and tilted his head back. Sometimes it just wasn't fair how big some of the other 'bots in the base were! At least he was still taller than the minibots. "No problem. I'll see you later."

"Have a good evening." Magnus nodded, mood much better than it had been then earlier in the day. He left Hot Rod to the remainder of his lunch to make a quick trip to his office. Thankfully his meeting with Optimus was to be short and he could go back to work afterwards. There was still so much to do in the day from turning in reports to Prowl and arranging schedules for his teams. The trip to the Prime's office was even faster and Ultra Magnus smiled slightly as he entered.

"You look to be in a good mood." Optimus noted as his usually more serious brother entered the room. Magnus was always so stiff, Optimus wondered if he ever relaxed. If the smile on his face was anything to go by, he must have learned. Optimus wondered who it was that put that tiny grin on his face. "Care to share?"

"Merely coming from a short lunch with good company." Ultra Magnus took his seat in front of Optimus' desk. "It's always amazed me how the energy of the youth can spread."

"That it is, my friend. That it is." Optimus chuckled.

"We're going where?" Springer crossed his arms in a huff as his commanding officers stared at him. He, Arcee, Hot Rod and a few others had been collected together suddenly to do an off-planet assignment. It was a small team to be lead by Ultra Magnus with Kup in second to apparently search for energon. Springer thought it was a waste of time, but he would also admit having a private moment with Arcee interrupted by Magnus' comm. was part of his frustration. "I've never heard of that planet before."

"It's a recent discovery." Ultra Magnus clarified. "The planet is unnamed and for all intents and purposes appears to be uninhabited by intelligent life, yet is overflowing with untapped resources." Magnus motioned for the team to flip to the next few pages on their datapads showing off the resources in various pictures. "If these are to be believed, we should be able to stop using Earth's resources completely."

"Sounds too good to be true." Hot Rod inserted as he stared at the map on the screen behind Magnus. As great as it would be to be self sufficient again, he knew they'd all be wary to jump on something like this.

Arcee nodded in agreement. "It's all too convenient, Magnus. Why did we never notice this planet before? It sounds like something the Decepticons dished up."

"On that front, we agree." Kup commented. "Perceptor an' Prowl came up with some fancy numbers that equaled out to 95% trap of some sort, and 5% that it's real."

"However, the resources are great enough that it's worth risking for that 5%." Magnus stood straight and spoke with authority. He had a bad feeling about this assignment, but orders were orders. "For that reason we are taking a skeleton crew. Springer , Arcee and Hot Rod will be providing our front line defense. Blurr you will be our acting runner, as per usual. Pipes, you will be playing a dual role of acting medic and data collection. Skylynx has been assigned the role of our ship and main headquarters." Magnus waited for any complaints. "And lastly, Kup and I will be directing the mission. Are there any questions concerning your mission data?"

"If this does turn out to be a trap?" Springer smacked the datapad. It mostly listed what they were going to do when they reached planet. "Then what?"

"We leave." Ultra Magnus spoke with the authority that he so often loathed. "This is a recon assignment. If it looks like there is trouble we will be returning immediately energy or no energy. Optimus was very clear on that front."

"So when are we leaving is it soon because most of us still have things to do, do, do and to pack and messages to finish delivering and things to reschedule and why does this sort of thing always, always come up so suddenly?" Blurr interjected tapping his foot rapidly.

Hot Rod chuckled and slapped Blurr on the back. "I think you of all bots would appreciate how fast this mission was put together considering we just found out about this planet a day or two ago."

Blurr frowned and stomped his foot. "That's not the point!"

"Oh calm down, Blurr." Springer snorted and slumped against a wall, Arcee snickering at them behind her hand. "We'll have time to pack things up, I'm sure. It's not like Skylynx is ready for a round trip right now."

"Are you saying that I'm inadequate in some way, Springer? I the mighty Skylynx!?" The prehistoric spaceship snarled at the little green 'bot. The nerve he had suggesting he was flawed!

"Enough." Ultra Magnus cut in holding a pleading hand in front of Skylynx. He sincerely hoped this was not the start of things to come. "Cease your bickering. We leave tomorrow around noon. You're all dismissed."

The group dispersed mostly save for Hot Rod and his two friends others wandering off to pack or prepare. Hot Rod looked at his datapad one last time before turning to the others. "You think this is a trap?"

"Don't think. Know." Springer muttered. He was all for a good fight, but walking into trouble like this didn't seem right. "There's no way this isn't some sort of set up. It's gotta' be leaked information or something."

"Well at least we'll be prepared for it, right?" Arcee added while patting Springer's arm. He always worried to much. "And we've already got orders to split at the first sign of trouble."

"Which means there's going to be trouble." Springer huffed and threw his arms up. "I'm going to get some recharge."

Hot Rod waved as Springer and Arcee left. Recharge was probably a good idea; they'd all need it tomorrow.

Ultra Magnus couldn't seem to set his systems to recharge no matter how many times he attempted. Surprisingly enough, it also had very little to do with the mission coming up the next day. That, Magnus had no qualms with. He was working with a familiar team and had permission to leave quickly if necessary. Aside from bickering it was nothing he could not manage nor already expect. It also helped he had Kup to back him up if he needed anything.

It was his brother that had him thinking too hard.

Ultra Magnus put down the datapad he had been trying to force himself to read and stared outside his little window. After retrieving his most recent off planet assignment, Optimus had halted him with a simple question.

"So, may I ask who your 'good company' was before you leave?" Optimus had asked with a chuckle. "I have to admit it's had me curious."

"Hmm?" Ultra Magnus was taken aback by the random question at the end of a mission briefing. Normally Magnus just left when he was finished. Optimus wasn't one for chitchat during work hours. "I was having lunch with Hot Rod."

"Hot Rod?" Optimus paused, thinking for a moment mentally going through Autobots that had been assigned to his brother all those years. A red and yellow flame came to mind and he chuckled. "Ah yes, Kup's little prodigy. Hangs out with the triplechanger Springer and Arcee, correct?"

"Yes," Ultra Magnus nodded slowly. Optimus looked far too amused for his own good. "He's got a few issues with discipline, but he means well."

Optimus chuckled at his brother's confused face. He was definitely thankful at times like this for his own faceplate. "It's good to know you're making friends, even if they are out of your age bracket."

Ultra Magnus frowned at the slight jab. "Was that all you needed, or did you have more teasing to sneak in?"

"That's all, my friend." Optimus shook his head. "I didn't mean to hit a sore spot."

"I'm sure you didn't." Magnus nodded and excused himself quickly.

At the time, the conversation didn't seem all that extraordinary. Optimus was teasing him, as per usual, and Magnus ignored him. It wasn't until he had time alone to remember the conversation and dwell, did he realize how much it bothered him for Optimus to have made the jab about his age. Was he too old to be spending time with Hot Rod, a 'bot less than half his age?

Ultra Magnus certainly didn't feel all that old when he was alone with Hot Rod at any rate. When Springer or Arcee were around and the three of them started to kid and joke, Ultra Magnus could admit to feeling his age. There was so much energy and talk of things he'd long stopped caring about or had no clue to what they were referring that the wall that split the generations was quite apparent. It made him nervous and he usually either excused himself quickly when they arrived or passed by when they were already together in the mess hall.

The freightliner frowned as he tapped a spot on his desk. Magnus felt none of that awkward tension when he was alone with the lad. He'd be his car-carrier trailer that the boy probably didn't even notice the age difference unless he was making some point that involved the 'when you were my age' argument. In fact, usually Hot Rod talked to him like an equal and almost never tacked on the polite 'Sir' to his name. Magnus hadn't lied when he said Hot Rod's energy was contagious to Optimus. Magnus almost smiled to himself.

Being around Hot Rod made him feel young.

Magnus wondered if it really showed so much outwardly that Optimus would notice. It must have been or he wouldn't have said something. But then, Magnus wondered, what did that mean? What made Hot Rod so special that he lifted Magnus' spirit? Was it his enthusiasm or his snarky wit? Maybe it was just the way he carried himself with so much confidence, something Ultra Magnus could admit he was short in at times.

Whatever it was, Magnus took in a deep breath and pushed up from his desk, there wasn't time to dwell on it. If he didn't get any recharge there was no way he'd be able to function tomorrow and he doubted he'd get any sleep on Skylynx. There was bound to be bickering and noise and all else. The older bot strode to his berth and collapsed on it.

At least he'd have good company tomorrow.

Thought in mind, he ran his recharge protocols one last time and they finally began the shut down process.