One year later…
For over a century, Minneapolis and St. Paul had been dubbed "the Twin Cities." But on the other side of the Great Lakes, the city of Detroit had acquired its own twin. Whether you could truly consider it a "twin city" was up for debate, seeing as Detroit's sister city wasn't even on the same continent… or indeed, on the same satellite. But the two cities had a close relationship nonetheless, and the new city owed its very existence to the aid and support of Detroit, so they shared a closer bond than one might expect.
On the stark, barren surface of Luna, Earth's moon, the sister city had sprouted rapidly over the course of a year, like a patch of mushrooms after a rain. Gleaming new buildings were being erected as fast as safely possible, some with the same blocky aesthetic of Detroit's skyscrapers and warehouses but others with twisting, sweeping architecture unseen in any human city. And said city was being built on a far grander scale than an ordinary metropolis - not out of any hubris on the part of its inhabitants, but out of sheer necessity.
Cybertron City wasn't intended to rival Detroit in size or grandeur. For the Cybertronian refugees who had opted to stay on Earth, it was simply home.
Orion grunted with exertion as he pushed a steel girder into place, holding it in position as Scrapper bolted it down. "Got it?"
"She's solid," Scrapper noted, thumping the girder with his knuckles. "Gimmie the next one - oh wait, what time is it?"
"1620 hours, going by Eastern Daylight time," Orion replied. While the moon's rotational cycles weren't nearly as long as an Earth day, Cybertron City still went by Detroit time. Seeing as there was so much back-and-forth between the two cities, it made things easier for everyone than trying to juggle two separate systems.
"Slaggit, I'm late for my oil break." Scrapper tossed his tools aside and dropped down from the skeletal frame of the apartment complex he was working on. "Takin' my fifteen. Union rules and all."
"Can't argue with union rules," Orion noted, laughing. "You enjoy your break."
"You too." Scrapper pointed the "finger-guns" gesture at Orion before sauntering off.
Orion shook his head in amusement as he headed off to check on the other building teams. He'd learned by now that arguing with Scrapper and Mixmaster that they didn't actually belong to any union would do no good. And in all honesty, their mastery at construction work made putting up with their quirks worth it.
I feel bad now for shunning them back when we first met them, he thought. Bulkhead saw some good in them, even if they were a little rough around the edges. But I guess I know now what it's like for someone to make a judgment about you without truly getting to know you.
It bothered him on some level that it took being ostracized for his own roots to finally sympathize with mechs like the Constructicons. But then, he had been raised by the Autobots, who had taught him to judge mechs for their origins and their place in society. It was hard to shed that ingrained behavior… but he was doing better, and taking steps to change how he viewed the universe around him. Or at least he hoped he was.
Not far away, Bumblebee was perched on Strika's shoulders as he welded a sheet of metal cladding into place. The hulking Decepticon general held the minibot's ankles loosely in her massive hands, ensuring he didn't topple over as he worked. Lugnut and Bulkhead, meanwhile, were hauling materials while Obsidian and Wedge consulted a set of blueprints. Ratchet knelt beside Blitzwing, soldering a component in the triple-changer's arm and rolling his optics as his patient kept switching between all three faces to keep up a steady stream of chatter. Prowl, Jazz, and Cyclonus were wrangling a communications array into place on top of a nearly completed building, and Jetfire and Sunstorm were escorting Omega Supreme to a landing strip while Jetstorm and the other Seekers waited to unload Omega's cargo of building materials and other vital components.
A little over a year ago, this sight would have been completely unthinkable - Autobots and Decepticons working together, setting aside their past grievances to forge a better future together. But so much had happened since that fateful day when Ultra Magnus had confronted him about his heritage… and despite the terrible events that had followed that day, he liked to think that they had been able to forge a better future from those events.
Blitzwing's gaze landed on Orion, and his random personality flipped into view. "Ooh-hoo-hoo! Orion, schatzi, come save us from ze evil mad doctor before he dissects us!"
"Can it, Three-Face," Ratchet grumbled. "I'm not dissecting you, just trying to fix this wiring you tore showing off for the sparklings."
"Were you being the entertainment brigade again?" asked Orion with a chuckle as he approached the medic and triple-changer.
Blitzwing's angry personality spun into place. "Someone has to be keeping ze kids out of everyone else's wiring! Might as well be us!"
"So long as you don't give them nightmares," Ratchet noted, closing up the arm plating. "There. Next time wait until you've fully shifted to one form before shifting again. Your transformation systems aren't equipped to change alt modes in the middle of a transformation cycle."
"Don't tell us vhat to do!" the angry visage snapped, and Blitzwing shifted to his jet form and screamed away.
Ratchet growled and pushed himself to his feet. "Here I thought our team had some of the biggest lunatics on it. Blitzwing makes Bumblebee look like a cyber-monk in comparison."
"He means well," Orion replied. "And he's good with the sparklings. At the moment, keeping them out from underfoot while the construction teams are working is the best thing he could be doing."
"Still not sure I trust that trip with the kids," Ratchet complained. "What happens if his angry side decides to resort to corporal punishment? Or his random side drops them into a crater to see if they bounce?"
"Give him some credit," Orion countered. "He often watched over me while my father was busy, and I turned out all right."
Ratchet scowled but conceded. "Fine, point. Still, the first time I see a kid get hurt from his actions, I'm disassembling him."
"It's a deal." Orion knew it wouldn't come to that, though. Blitzwing had a reputation as a brutal, crazed warrior, but he didn't let that extend towards sparklings. In fact, all three of his personalities seemed to have a soft spot for the little ones. Not to mention that Orion himself had plenty of memories of spending time with Blitzwing while Megatron was occupied.
Speaking of Megatron… "I need to go talk to the other leaders. Can you handle things if anyone needs me while I'm gone?"
Ratchet snorted a little, but smiled. "The day I can't handle some young punks is the day I order my own shutdown. Go on, Orion. I've got things handled here."
Orion… it was such a small thing, to be called by his old name by a friend who had always known him as Optimus. But it warmed Orion's spark regardless. He had finally asked the Autobots of Cybertron City to address him by his sparked name instead of his adopted name, and he had worried that they would balk at such a change. And to be fair, so many of them had called him Optimus for so long that they occasionally slipped and called him by that name instead. But the fact that they were making the effort - and that some had finally become comfortable referring to him as Orion - meant the universe to him.
Cybertron City didn't have a functioning city hall yet - the powers that be had unanimously decided that housing and medical facilities came first. Plans were being drawn for a building that would serve as the seat of government, but for now Orion met with the other leaders of the city - Megatron, Rodimus, Dominus, and Shockwave - in the rec room of an unfinished apartment complex. Blast Off and Ironhide guarded the doors, and both nodded respectfully at him as he walked inside.
"Ah, Orion, you made it," Dominus greeted, smiling as the violet-and-black mech drew up a chair and sat at the conference table. "I hope we didn't interrupt you in the middle of a project."
"Lately it seems like living here has been nothing BUT projects," Orion admitted. "There's still so much to be done to get this city built and running, it feels like we'll never get it done."
"Hey, we've still come a long way," Rodimus pointed out. "That's something to be proud of."
"Agreed," Shockwave intoned. "But that is not what we convened to discuss today."
Megatron nodded slowly. "Shockwave, you have news from Cybertron?"
Orion's entire frame tensed, and he fought to keep his expression neutral. Cybertron City might be their refuge, but they all knew that all it would take was one decision on the part of the Council or the new Magnus to threaten their existence. So far their truce with the Council had held, and Earth and the lunar colony were safe… but Shockwave still kept a close optic on Cybertron's information networks, looking for any sign that their safety could be compromised.
"My information sources show that Cybertron is currently in a state of turmoil," Shockwave reported. "It would seem that Ultra Magnus' decision to imprison those of Decepticon heritage was unpopular… and when footage of how prisoners in the Kalis correctional facility were being mistreated was released to various media outlets, it sparked an outcry."
Dominus raised an optic ridge. "Someone leaked prison footage to the press? A bold move."
"Cybertron's citizens have a right to know what's going on in our prisons," Orion replied. "Especially when they have friends and family who might very well have ended up in those prisons. As hard as Sentinel Prime worked to keep mechs out of jail, I'm pretty sure he wasn't able to save them all."
"How did the Council react?" asked Megatron.
Shockwave tilted his head to one side, and Orion swore he managed to look smug despite having no actual face. "The Council instituted martial law… which turned out to be a disastrous move. There are mass riots in every major city as we speak, and multiple calls for the entire Council to resign their posts and allow for a new election."
Rodimus whistled. "That's wild… um, think they'll actually do it?"
"It's unlikely they'll resign of their own free will," Dominus replied. "But if the populace of Cybertron overwhelmingly demands it… they may feel they have no choice."
"Or they'll finally appoint a Magnus to quell the uprisings," Megatron pointed out.
"Pessimist," Dominus retorted. "Has there been any word of a new Magnus being chosen?"
"No one currently occupies the Magnus position," Shockwave answered. "The Council has attempted to appoint Sentinel Prime, Rodimus Prime, and even Dominus Ambus to the Magnus seat in absentia, but Cybertronians refuse to accept a Magnus who cannot even make the journey to Iacon to fulfill their position without being arrested."
Orion just shook his head. The Council evidently hoped that appointing a Magnus in absentia would appease the public while still leaving them in complete power. At least it seemed the people of Cybertron saw through the ploy and rejected it.
"I wouldn't even want the job," Rodimus muttered, shuddering. "Not after what they did to Minimus."
"At least it sounds like there are good changes happening back home," Orion noted. "Maybe the system will finally be fixed… and maybe mechs here will feel safe returning home someday."
Megatron snorted. "Don't celebrate too early. The Council could still prevail. Or the people could install a dictator, or a Council even worse than the one currently in power."
"Still… change is coming," Orion replied. "There's hope for the future."
"And if nothing else, the Council will be too busy with their own problems to worry about harassing Cybertron City," Dominus added. "This news means safety at the very least… though it could also mean an influx of newcomers to our colony. Mechs are growing tired of living under Functionalism and factionism, it would seem. Perhaps they'll choose to come here and be neither Autobot nor Decepticon, but Cybertronian."
"If they do, we'll be ready for them," Rodimus said with a firm nod.
"No further news from Cybertron," Shockwave reported. "What of our relations with Detroit?"
"Starscream has been… surprisingly cooperative," Megatron replied. "As evidenced by him allowing his sons, Seekers, and Constructicons to aid us in the rebuilding. It would seem that, once he actually obtains a leadership position, he's quite good at it." He said that last grudgingly, but with obvious respect.
Orion ducked his head to try to hide a knowing smile. His father met frequently with Starscream to negotiate supply shipments and other dealings between Cybertron City and Detroit, and while those meetings had been fraught with tension at first, the two had settled into an almost amiable relationship over the course of a year. Orion had even overheard them making small talk when they thought no one else could hear - not just about the challenges of governing a city, but their experiences as parents. Starscream would occasionally grumble about the Jettwins, only to nearly burst with pride regarding their accomplishments moments later. And Megatron, when he wasn't holding back laughter at whatever antics the twins had gotten up to lately, would relate his own stories about Orion's childhood or his pride in what he'd accomplished as an adult.
Funny how those two went from trying to kill each other to friends… and maybe more, given time. I wonder…
"Orion!"
"Huh?" He shook his head and looked up at Dominus. "I'm sorry, I got lost in thought there. What did I miss?"
"Megatron was just informing us that Sumdac Industries has made a breakthrough in their study of the technorganics. Isaac thinks he may be able to reverse Waspinator's condition, and restore him to his true self."
His spark jolted, hope flaring through him. "That's great news! Maybe once he's back to normal, we'll be able to rehabilitate him." And mend his relationship with Bumblebee… if he agrees to that. We'll see. "What about… what about Blackarachnia?"
Megatron frowned. "Sumdac is… less than optimistic. She has been a technorganic far longer than Waspinator, and he believes organic DNA may have infiltrated her CNA so deeply that it's impossible to disentangle it. He will continue his research, but can make no promises."
Something inside him deflated at that. He had hoped that some part of Elita-1 could be salvaged. But if it wasn't to be… well, perhaps she could still be saved. He could hope, at any rate.
Isaac, too, had faced his own disappointments in the past year. Sari still refused to return to Earth, and while that didn't slow Dr. Sumdac down, Orion could see the loneliness in his friend's eyes every time he came to Cybertron City. He knew he worried about his daughter, and that her insistence on staying in Iacon hurt him.
At least she's no longer on the Council's side, Orion thought. The last Shockwave had reported, Sari had been spotted leading some of the riots against the current Council. Perhaps she still had a hard time forgiving Isaac for lying about her past - or Orion for his connection to Megatron - but at least she was somewhat on their side. And perhaps that would allow for a mended bridge further down the road.
"Anything else to report?" asked Dominus. When no one responded, he gave a nod and stood. "Then we'll convene again in a week's time, barring any emergencies. Keep up the good work, everyone."
"We'll do our best," Orion promised. "That's all we really can do."
Outside the building, a white-and-green minibot waited patiently by the doorway, greeting everyone who stepped out. His gaze rested on Orion without much in the way of recognition, but he nodded and murmured a quiet "hello" to the violet mech anyhow. Orion, for his part, nodded and returned the greeting as politely as he could. It felt strange to be looking down at the mech who had been a leader of Cybertron for so long, and for that mech to be so shy and soft-spoken…
The moment Dominus walked out, however, all polite greetings were thrown out the window. Dominus smiled broadly at Minimus Ambus and transformed on the spot, shifting from mech form to turbofox form with an ecstatic bark. His tail wagged furiously behind him, sweeping moondust to either side in a wide swath, and his paws tapped out an ecstatic dance.
In response Minimus let out a burst of laughter and shifted to his own fox mode, leaping forward to meet his brother. The two fox-formers tumbled over each other, wrestling like turbohound pups, yapping and snarling playfully before bounding away.
"Well… that's new," Rodimus murmured.
"New and welcome," Orion replied with a chuckle. Minimus Ambus - the mech that so many of them had known as Ultra Magnus - had undergone a long and painful recovery from his time in the exosuit that had rewritten so much of his programming. It had taken months for him to recover enough to stand and walk, and even now there were huge gaps in his memory banks… gaps that might be filled with the passage of time or that might remain blank forever. And oddly, some of those gaps were recent - he barely remembered Orion, and nothing of the younger mech's arrest or of their fateful duel.
Dominus refused to give up on his brother, though. He had stayed by Minimus' side every step of the way, spending every spare moment with him to aid his recovery. He didn't judge his brother for the sins of his past, nor did he look down on him for feeling more comfortable in his fox form than his mech form. And he was careful to shield his spark-twin from those who still harbored a grudge for their treatment a year ago.
Megatron rested a hand on Orion's shoulder. "Does it bother you that Ultra Magnus, of all mechs, gets a happy ending here?"
Orion shook his head. "Some part of me thinks it should, especially for how quick he was to accuse me. But I also remind myself that the Council played a huge role in what Ultra Magnus did, and he suffered at their hands too. For now, I think we're better off focusing on building our future than exacting revenge for our past."
Megatron nodded. "You're a better mech than I. I've been sorely tempted to insist we build a brig, and make Ultra Magnus our first prisoner in it. But you're right - our energy is better directed elsewhere. And Dominus has him well in hand, it would seem."
"I don't know if I'm a better mech than you or not," Orion confessed. "I just try my best."
"Your best is better than you think it is," Megatron noted. "You aren't the mech you might have been had I raised you… but I'm still proud of what you've become."
"Even if I became an Autobot?"
Megatron snorted. "You are NOT what you were raised to be. You were sparked by a Decepticon, raised by Autobots… but you chose your own destiny. And while you carry my programming within you, it is what you chose to do with it that made you who you are. A hero of Cybertron… perhaps not the hero it wanted, but the hero it needed."
Orion ducked his head - his father's praise always embarrassed him slightly. But he couldn't suppress a flush of pride at his words. "Thank you, Father."
Megatron squeezed his shoulder, beaming down at the younger mech. Then his gaze flickered to something behind Orion, and his smile took on an amused cast.
"I'll let you be for now," he told him. "There's someone here who wants your attention."
Orion turned… and smiled at the approaching mech. "I'll talk to you later. Though I'm sure there's a certain mech who wants YOUR attention too. Unless you've had enough of Starscream for now."
"Please," Megatron growled. "Starscream is an arrogant, insufferable fool. Our relationship is purely professional."
"Right." Orion thumped his father's arm. "I'll talk to you later. Fill me in on all the Earth gossip."
Megatron rolled his optics and walked away.
"What was all that about?" Sentinel demanded, frowning as Orion turned to face him.
"Nothing… we just got out of a meeting is all." Orion smiled at the blue mech. "So I hear you're still turning down the Magnus-ship."
"You act like you're still surprised at that," Sentinel retorted with a scowl. "Maybe I wanted the Magnus Hammer at one time, but not anymore. Cybertron dug itself into a hole, and it can dig itself out for all I care."
Orion knew that Sentinel cared about Cybertron far more than he let on, but he didn't press it. Allspark knew that he felt conflicted about his own relationship with their homeworld - he still loved Cybertron and wanted to help its people, but his anger at the Council and the trauma he had suffered in Iacon and Kalis kept him from going back. For now, the two of them could do more good for Cybertron here in Cybertron City than back home.
"Besides… there's not much left for me back on Cybertron," Sentinel went on, his gaze moving to the horizon. "I gave up my position as an Elite Guard when I came here. I don't have any friends back on Cybertron other than Digger, and does the femme who ran our foundling home even count as a friend? Everyone I care about is either here or in Detroit."
Orion raised an optic ridge. "Did I just hear you admit that you care about Jetstorm and Jetfire?"
Sentinel snorted. "Just because those two have latched onto Starscream as a parent doesn't mean I don't still care about them. Don't tell them I said that, though - I have a reputation to uphold."
"Sentinel, those two call you Uncle Senny," Orion reminded him. "You don't have as much of a reputation with them as you think."
"At least let me live with the delusion that I do," Sentinel shot back. "Besides… they're not the only mechs I care about here."
Orion's headfins twitched, his curiosity piqued. Sentinel was leading up to something… but it couldn't be what Orion thought it was. They'd gone a long way towards mending their relationship over the past year, but surely they hadn't come THIS far…
Sentinel's hand wrapped around his, bringing his train of thought crashing to a halt. "You're just going to make me come right out and say it, aren't you?"
"I don't want to jump to conclusions," Orion replied softly. "Besides… I thought there was too much history between you and me."
"Too much history between me and Optimus Prime, maybe," Sentinel replied - it was amazing how much a smile did to soften the blue mech's features. "But I think I've grown to really like this Orion fellow."
Orion squeezed his hand, smiling back. "I don't think I'm THAT different from Optimus."
"You're not," Sentinel replied, tugging him closer. "You're still insufferably noble and protective of your team and prone to making stupid decisions because of that. But maybe that's why I'm drawn to you."
Orion chuckled. "You've still got a bit of an ego… but you're more noble and protective than you think you are. And that attracts me too."
Sentinel's headpipes flicked, and his optics blazed as he closed the gap between them…
"ATTENTION LOVEBIRDS!"
"Gah!" Orion whirled, hands raised to fend off whoever had interrupted their moment. Of all times to have left his new ax behind in his quarters…
"Slaggit, it's YOU," Sentinel groaned.
"Hate to break up this Kodak moment!" Wreck-Gar declared, grinning like a child who'd just caught a sibling with their hand in the goodie jar. "But we've just got a shipload of new arrivals! You gonna come join the welcome wagon, or should I leave you guys here in the Gas Station of Love?"
Orion drew in a deep intake of air, then released it with an exasperated smile. "We'll be right there. Just give us a moment… and keep this between the three of us, all right?"
"Mum's the word!" Wreck-Gar pulled a roll of duct tape out of his backpack and slapped several strips of it over his lip plates, then strutted off, humming to himself.
"Well, that killed the moment," Sentinel grumbled.
"It could have been worse," Orion replied. "It could have been Bumblebee, or Starscream. Then the whole city would have known within thirty astroseconds."
Sentinel groaned again. "Point. Um… you should go…"
"We'll both go." Orion looped his arm through Sentinel's. "We'll both meet these newcomers and welcome them to Cybertron City. Then after today's work shifts are over, I'll meet you at the Copernicus Crater and we can continue where we left off." And he shuttered one optic in a wink.
Sentinel stared at him a moment, then smiled. "I'll be holding you to that, Orion, Hero of Cybertron."
"I wouldn't expect any less of you, Sentinel Prime, Hero of Cybertron."
And with that, Orion and Sentinel set off for the landing strip, ready to welcome another influx of immigrants to their new city.
Author's Note
When I first got sucked into the Transformers fandom, my perceptions and opinions of said fandom were largely shaped by the first people within said fandom I interacted with. I think this is true of a lot of things in life, actually - how many of us started out with our parents' views and opinions before we started forming our own views and opinions, after all? In my case, however, some of the first fans I interacted with had a very elitist view of the fandom, the franchise, and especially of fanfic, which gave me a lot of negative opinions that I now look back on and cringe.
One of these early opinions, sadly, was the opinion that Transformers: Animated was not worth watching. Someone I befriended in my early TF-fan days considered the show garbage, and thanks to their influence I wrote off the show without watching a single episode. I should never have done this, and I regret that this person's opinion (and my reception of that opinion, let's be honest) prevented me from enjoying a piece of entertainment that was, at worst, a harmless new take on a long-running franchise.
My opinion regarding TF:A softened over the years, but I still didn't work up the urge to watch it all the way through… until the pandemic hit and I was put on leave from my job. And like a lot of people during the pandemic lockdowns, I decided to binge-watch a show to pass the time. Yes, that show was TF:A… and I fell in love with it. It only took me thirteen years to do so, but better late than never, right?
I knew right off the bat that I was going to write fanfic of TF:A, but I wasn't sure what yet. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how much you liked this fic), I was working on my fanfic Brothers In Arms around the time I was brainstorming ideas. Brothers In Arms revolved around the premise of Optimus Prime and Megatron (the G1 versions) having sons… and my brain decided to take the concept one step further and go "what if Optimus Prime was Megatron's son?" And of course, things snowballed from there, resulting in the creation of Carry On Wayward Son.
Yes, this fanfic's title comes from the song by Kansas. No, I'm not a Supernatural fan - I watched a few seasons of the show but lost interest around Season 5 or 6. The song's pretty catchy though.
The characters of Digger and Gizmo are my own. Firebolt (one of Tracks and Mirage's kids) is an OC belonging to my friend and beta-reader BasslineRaver, used with permission.
Dominus is not an OC, but originated in the IDW comics, where he is indeed Ultra Magnus' brother. Obsidian, likewise, is not an OC but is Strika's consort in the Beast Machines cartoon. And in all honesty, Strika deserves to have a harem, so she gets both Obsidian AND Lugnut as consorts here. (And Bulkhead too - my brain decided to add one more to the polycule…)
As for how certain characters get treated in this fic… I admit to having a huge soft spot for Sentinel Prime despite him being an asshole in the original show. One of my goals for this fic was to make him a sympathetic character and give him something of a redemption arc without twisting him entirely out of character. I hope I succeeded there. (And yes, I ship him with Optimus/Orion. Not sorry.)
Wreck-Gar is an obvious favorite character - I've been an enormous Weird Al fan for a big chunk of my life, but even aside from that Wreck-Gar is a precious cinnamon bun who must be protected at all costs. I had a lot of fun with his lines, and even stole a few lines from Weird Al songs to incorporate into his dialogue. (His reference to the Gas Station of Love in the epilogue comes from the song "One More Minute," for example.) Maybe he deserves his own spinoff fic down the road, if I'm feeling that ambitious…
As for Sari and Blackarachnia… I don't particularly like either of them, which is why I ended up writing them out of this fic. I don't feel mean enough to give them terrible fates, though, so I left their ultimate fates up in the air at the end of the fic. You can decide what happens to them in this universe, if you like.
This won't be my last time playing in the TF:A universe - I have at least one more fic planned in the universe of Carry On Wayward Son, tentatively titled Time Stand Still. And whatever you think the plotline to that fic is going to be, you're probably wrong (unless you're my beta-reader and I've already told you, haha…).
Many thanks to BasslineRaver for beta-reading, making suggestions to help flesh the fic out, and listening to my complaints of "I want to bring in Obsidian but Lugnut is already Strika's consort in T:FA" and responding with "*slaps table* POLY!" This fic would not have been possible without you.
Thank you for reading! Comments are not expected but always appreciated.
