Archive of Our Own ^beta

News had run rampant in the Autobot ranks when it was discovered Deadlock had disappeared from the battlefield. There had been no talk about him being a traitor or killed. Just, nothing.

It made those who knew his skill nervous, thinking Megatron was keeping him hidden and training for something big. But whatever that might have been never came to fruition as the terms of a treaty sent shockwaves through both sides.

It was the day of the first meeting. The first set of terms to be hashed out by the leaders with up to five mechs tagging along. Optimus, of course, had brought four of his inner circle; Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet, and Ironhide. Megatron on the other hand had Soundwave, Starscream, Shockwave, and to all of their surprise, Deadlock. The most surprising part of seeing Deadlock was the cloth sling hanging in front of his chest.

They couldn’t see what was inside and their attention was quick to turn to Megatron as he started the meeting.

Jazz, however, kept most of his attention on Deadlock, discreetly watching as the mech took a seat and Soundwave stood behind the chair. It was definitely a shock to see Deadlock again when so many Autobots had assumed he had been killed off or went underground. Pit, Jazz recalled hearing a few mechs who had survived a battle with Deadlock in it, say they were sure Megatron had killed him. It was soon discovered why when all their reports lined up, describing how Megatron, along with Starscream and Soundwave, had suddenly descended upon the battlefield. But instead of attacking them as they ran, they had gone straight at Deadlock, and what they could only describe as a screaming match started.

The last thing any of them saw, whether because they got too far away or dust covered their view, was Megatron grabbing Deadlock’s neck and lifting him off his peds. And that’s why no one knew about his whereabouts or if Megatron had actually killed him then and there. And yet here he was, whole and healthy with seemingly no reason to have mysteriously dropped off the radar for so long.

Until the reason made itself known.

Jazz only caught the tiny chirp because he had his audials turned up and listening. It didn’t stop him from cycling his optics as tiny hands reached out of the sling across Deadlock’s chest.

Ah, that would explain his disappearance.

Deadlock shifted the sling, cupping his arm under it and allowing the partial top half of a small body to appear to the Autobot’s optics. Jazz almost choked on a vent as he took in the bitlet. He definitely wasn’t expecting that. Clinging to dark armor, that small head; a chevron and cheek guards framing the small face, turned to stare at the new mechs with yellow optics. Tiny fangs flashed as it chirped at Deadlock. The fanged smile could almost be called soft as Deadlock stared at the bit in his arms.

It was fairly distracting.

It was the first sparkling any of them had seen in millions of years, and they couldn’t help but stare. Prowl had kept his gaze on the bitlet for at least ten kliks before turning away and rerouting his processor thoughts to focus solely on the meeting. He could worry and wonder about the implications of this news later. Optimus had so many questions, mostly revolving around if the sparkling was sired by either of the three in command or if it was sired by some other bot. And why they even decided to bring a sparkling to a treaty meeting, it wasn’t the best place for a sparkling to be.

Ironhide and Jazz both thought the sparkling was cute from what they could see of it. Jazz wondered how they managed to miss this, surely other Decepticons knew about this and would have talked? Then again, it was probably a good thing neither he nor any of his mechs had heard a word of this, it would have been useful information that they would have used to turn the tide in their favor. Ironhide was outright smitten with the bitlet already. He adored sparklings and younglings. Ironhide knew he had a reputation among the Decepticons but still wondered if Deadlock or any of the Decepticon High Command would allow him a few kliks with the bitlet.

As for Ratchet, it was a good thing he was sitting at the other end of the table because he knew he kept staring during the meeting. The first peak of the bitlet had Ratchet clenching his denta wondering who Deadlock let get that close to him. He would never admit he had gotten attached during their trysts and was feeling possessive over having gotten to see that part of Deadlock when he was too on guard to let his fellow Cons in. Unfortunately, it seemed like those times were now over. It left a pang in Ratchet’s spark as he watched Deadlock and his bitlet. Sparklings had never been on the table but he wouldn’t have minded experiencing it with Deadlock.

Jazz and the others were somehow able to keep half his attention on the actual meeting and half on Deadlock. The same could not be said for Ironhide. The mech definitely wasn’t paying attention at all and if it wouldn’t have caused issues with the negotiations Soundwave would have done something to stop the filter of baby talk he could pick up from Prime’s guard. It was almost nauseating.

At least the first part of the meeting was starting to wind down. A good thing too as Megatron and Optimus were starting to butt helms. It was surprising that Starscream hadn't started any arguments. Then again, every time he said something snide a quick look from Deadlock had him shutting his mouth. Both sides started gathering their respective datapads strewn about. Optimus had paused with a datapad limp in his hands, which Prowl quickly took from him to add to the pile.

“So. Why did you bring a sparkling to this meeting?”

Jazz couldn’t fault the caution in Prime’s vocalizer as he finally voiced all the Autobot’s thoughts. They stared at Deadlock feeding his bitlet a tiny treat. There had been no commotion from either of them, though Jazz did notice the few times Deadlock had gotten Soundwave to lean down to whisper something to him, and the occasional stealing of a datapad Megatron had in front of him before shoving it back over.

Megatron smirked, “A way to keep us from fighting if you will. This treaty must be settled and having Deadlock here is a sure way to keep us on track.”

Soundwave spoke up before any of them could stand, "Deadlock wants to make an announcement." He moved back as Deadlock, who had gained an irritated expression with an additional optic roll,  pushed out his seat and stood, picking up his bitlet and walking around Megatron and Starscream.

It was the first full view they got if the sparkling and Jazz couldn't help but notice the gray chevron looked suspiciously like Ratchet's, minus the cheek guards. The shades of gray were broken up by spots of red on the sparkling’s frame. Jazz narrowed his optics at a red cross painted onto the bit’s shoulder. Interesting.

Deadlock stopped once he was across the table from Ratchet, set his bitlet down with a smile and half-lidded optics, “Red Heart, meet your sire.”

Silence. And then the room erupted into noise.