Captive
Title: Captive
Verse: IDW AU, based on an expected future
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Optimus, Galvatron, Skywarp, Ultra Magnus; Skywarp/Optimus, Ultra Magnus/Optimus (If you tilt your head and squint)
Word Count: 2,524
Warnings: Some mech loving, but nothing graphic or descriptive, mostly implied.
Summary: Optimus dwells on his time in captivity when he had only a seeker for company.
Notes: Blame pellimusprime for this. Really. I wrote this because after really thinking about her love of this pairing, I decided it needed angst and my amautuer writing skills. 8D
Clarity only seemed to come after it was desperately needed. The moment you had to decide, your opinion was skewed and off base. Your response was naive and rash. And always, always, always, regret followed in a near suffocating manner.
Optimus had always been able to move past that. As a leader, you couldn't dwell on the mistakes you made, you had to be able to learn and move on. If you let it take you, the only thing left was to fall.
Even when he'd failed his troops, even when they'd been stranded on Cybertron while Megatron pressed his victory over Earth, he'd shoved aside any lingering regret and fixed it.
But what if you couldn't fix it?
Lighting the room were only a pair of azure optics and a softly glowing cube of energon. The cube balance on one slender knee, untouched and held up only by a loose digit.
For a brief time, there was peace. The humans and the Autobots lived in peace, working with each other to rid the Earth of those renegade Decepticons. What had been a suspicious alliance grew into a trusting friendship, a lucky change for both.
Of course, it had to end. Optimus had learned on several occasions that when things seemed at their best, it had to end. Total war would always reign it seemed.
Megatron, or rather, Galvatron, returned. The Decepticons grew organized once more, falling in line behind their new leader, happily discarding Starscream's delicately held dictatorship.
So once more, Earth was caught in the middle of their age old war. Only this time, humans stood alongside Autobots. Not that they didn't question it. The humans often contemplated on how to get rid of them, Decepticons and all, but always, in the end, some event occurred to prove the worth of the Autobots in their survival.
So the cycle began again. Back and forth battles. The destruction of near everything around them. Mechs died and mechs were created. Plans worked out or went wrong. Hostages were made and traded. Often though, they were simply locked away.
Optimus clutched the edge of his berth in one hand, optics darkening a fraction.
He'd been one of those locked away.
Somehow, Galvatron had managed to disarm him in battle. Left venerable and ready to accept death, he had hardly expected the Decepticon leader to lower his weapon.
"No..." Galvatron murmured, grinning. "No, I won't kill you Prime. Not yet."
Optimus could only pull himself several inches out of the dirt, optics flickering wildly as they tried to focus on the other mech's face.
"I'll keep you alive. For two reasons." Galvatron took a step forward, pulling his leg up before slamming his heel into Optimus's back. He ground it into his back plates until sparks flew. "I want to see your puny little comrades, those Autobots, search for you. They'll have no idea where you are. They'll search and search, desperate and disordered. And you'll be able to sit back and suffer through it all."
Optimus offlined his optics, body shuddering. His body was shutting down without his consent. He couldn't comm for help and he couldn't fight back.
"And of course, death would be too sweet for you. I want to lock you away Prime." Galvatron kneeled down on his back, causing several areas of the mech's back to cave under the weight. He leaned toward the Autobot, putting his lips up to his audials."I want to see you rot, locked away in a cage. And when you finally beg for death... It will not come."
The darkness had been maddening. Endless and impenetrable. He had no idea how long he’d been down there. Galvatron had made sure his internal clock had been disabled, just for that purpose. That simple little thing had nearly driven him out of his processor by itself.
The darkness was interrupted by no one. He was left completely alone and completely without. The darkness and silence was only broken by the barest amount of energon rations being dropped down a thin tube. It was strange how the highlight of his time was seeing that soft glowing cube drop to the center of the floor. Especially when it was laced with a liquid additive that made ingesting it so painful he nearly starved himself to death.
It shouldn’t have been surprising how he reacted when things changed. He shouldn’t be regretful, right? He didn’t regret what he did. He regretted how he felt.
Sometime, in the middle of the stretch of darkness, someone came. He’d been so relieved at the sudden contact, that he’d hardly cared just who it was that had come to see him, let alone why.
Optics near blinded by the sudden explosion of light, Optimus had only that familiar popping sound, the sound of air being forced away rapidly, to give him any clue as to what had caused it. Not that he could figure it out at the time.
“Oh how the mighty Autobot leader has fallen…”
Crimson optics stared at him from across the cell. Optimus stood up so abruptly, his rusted legs gave out and he clattered to the floor. “Skywarp…!” his voice was laced with static and pathetically strained.
“You sound so desperate… Like you’re begging for something.” Skywarp chuckled softly, optics brightening.
“Why are you here…?” Optimus asked, almost pleading for an answer. Although he didn’t care. He could have been there to kill him and he would feel the same.
“I’m here for you.” Skywarp told him. Those crimson optics moved forward, a soft clack sounding at the seeker moved forward. “You are lonely… Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
That was how it had started. A visit. They’d just… Talked. About frivolous things. He’d been so grateful at the time, that they could have been talking about the death of his friends and he would have been perfectly happy. That was the state that the loneliness had left him in.
At first the visits were random and never fell into a pattern that Optimus could find. Sometimes the visits were almost curious in nature. Other times they may have been firm, Skywarp acting like it was his Primus-given right to be there, like Optimus was his right. On a few rare occasions, the purple seeker came in furious for no reason that Optimus could tell. He should have realized during those visits what was going on. But he didn’t.
“Do you like it?”
Optimus’s optics brightened, a cautious smile pulled across his exposed faceplates. Long ago, the seeker had convinced him there was no reason to hide his face when they were trapped in darkness.”It’s perfect…” he assured him. Tenderly, he spread his fingers across the thin layer of foam he was sitting on. It was usually used as a lining for a berth, but Skywarp had bought it for him to lay out on when he recharged. For the entire time of his stay, he’d had to rest on the damp floor of the cell.
Skywarp made a pleased sound and he stepped closer to where Optimus was sitting on the floor. When the foam shifted slightly and the crimson optics peered at him from a similar level, Optimus realized he had sat down on the foam beside him.”I’m glad you like it.” He murmured. “If only I knew just how happy it made you….”
For a small moment, Optimus felt a soft pleasure at the seekers words. Skywarp had been so kind to him, so gentle. Then slowly, his optics shifted and for the briefest of moments, Optimus’s blue optics gently illuminated Skywarp’s face.
“I never did understand why you hid your face behind that mask….”
A hand caressed the side of his face, lips components feathering across his. Optimus pulled back quickly, optics brightening in surprise.
“Shh…”
The hand pulled more firmly, catching the side of his helm in a careful, but firm hold. This time, the lips pressed more firmly against his, moving. A soft sound, a moan or a whine, he wasn’t sure, left his vocalize in response.
Skywarp took the momentary weakness to slip his glossa between the Prime’s lip components, sliding his fingers under his chin to tilt his head up.
“Skywarp…!”
“I’ve always wondered how it would sound to hear you beg…”
The energon cube in his hand gave a crackling protest, his fingers suddenly clutching it. His optics stared forward in the dark, his grip trembling on the slowly cracking cube.
What he’d said then… How he’d acted… Optimus should have seen it that first time. He should have stopped him… Pushed him away. But he didn’t. All he could think about was the warmth. He’d trembled under the seeker, begging him for more, begging him to stay with him. Maybe it had been the sheer ecstasy of what Skywarp had done to him that had blinded him into that state. After all, even before he’d been locked away, it had been centuries since his last coupling.
No… That was why he’d accepted it the first time, but after that… That had been his own mistake.
“When do you have to leave…?”
“Too soon.” Skywarp admitted, stretching his arms across Optimus’s torso to loop them around the bot’s neck.
Optimus groaned softly at the movement. They were still connected and even that slight movement stirred desire in him once more. “Don’t go…”
“Maybe we can fit in another round before I go.” The seeker chuckled.
Optimus could see the grin on his faceplates by the light of his optics on his face. He slid his arms around the mech’s waist and clung to him. “Just… Stay longer… Please Warp…”
Skywarp’s amusement seemed to leave him. “You know I can’t.” His voice sounded scolding, like Optimus shouldn’t even have asked.
“Not long…” Optimus whispered. “Please… I love you… Skywarp please…”
Skywarp stiffened, his movements stopping completely. Then, without a word, the seeker pressed himself up and removed himself from Optimus. His panel snapped shut over his spike with an audible click. Then, with a pop of air, he was gone.
It was strange. When the Autobots had finally found him, he’d been almost reluctant to go. He’d been afraid to leave behind his strange life in the darkness with Skywarp.
Not only that… But he’d felt betrayed. He’d been left in the darkness for so long; he’d lost hope of rescue.
“Why didn’t you come sooner?”
Ultra Magnus swung his head down to stare at the mech in his arms. “Optimus, I-“
“Why didn’t you come?” His voice was broken and quiet.
The surprised look on Ultra Magnus’s face was gone and he tightened his grip protectively on Optimus’s sides. “We never stopped looking… I never stopped.”
Optimus’s optics darkened slightly. He didn’t believe him and there was no reason to press the issue. He let his head fall against the crook of his old friend’s arm, venting softly.
Ultra Magnus looked like he wanted to argue further, to assure his leader he hadn’t been forgotten, but he seemed to realize it would be best to leave it. “I’m sorry Optimus.”
Looking back, he regretted that reunion as well. He hadn’t been fair to his old friend. Optimus had soon learned that for the near 8 earth months of his captivity, Ultra Magnus had been off base searching for him.
Ultra Magnus had never given up the search and never slowed. It was him who had discovered the hole he’d been buried in for the entire time. It was him who had nursed him back to his physical and mental help. He’d barely left his side since he had returned.
Yet, even after being returned home, where he’d gradually returned to himself, he’d far from forgotten the events in his cell. Skywarp was never far from his mind. He couldn’t forget the time they had shared, what Optimus had thought of as love at that time.
He knew better now. Skywarp had never loved him. He’d never really liked him. It was so easy now to look back and see that the entire thing had all been a game for Skywarp’s own sick amusement.
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t Prime.” Skywarp sneered, a tone he’d never used before.
“I thought you loved me.” Optimus forced his tone to hold steady, to be strong. It was hard to not take on the tone he’d fallen to when he’d been a captive.
“I never said that.” The purple seeker snapped, crimson optics narrowing. One clawed hand reached out to jab Optimus painfully in the chest plates.
“Skywarp, I’m offering you a chance to join the Autobots! Don’t you want to-“
“No! Why would I join you?” Skywarp snarled. “What reason do I have? You?”
Optimus’s optics flickered, his body falling slightly. He tried not to let his heartbreak show. “Skywarp, I just…”
“I don’t want to hear it Prime.” Skywarp interrupted, reaching up to capture Optimus’s faceplates in one hand. “I want you to listen. What happened down there meant nothing to me.”
Optimus’s faceplates slid shut in an attempt to conceal as much of his reaction as he could from the Decepticon. It didn’t work. Skywarp had seen enough.
“I got everything I needed out of you.”
Energon splattered across the wall as a crash echoed through the darkened room.
“How could I let this happen…” Optimus groaned softly and fell back down onto the berth, burying his face in his hands.
He wanted to take back all those months. He wished he’d never fallen for Galvatron’s trap. He wished he’d been able to see through Skywarp’s ploy. He wished he’d been able to take those endless hours of darkness. He wished he’d had the spark to end his own torment in the beginning.
“Optimus! Is something wrong? I heard a crash!”
The Prime raised his head to look toward the door. The familiar voice had pulled him out of his thoughts, at least for the time being.
Optimus forced himself to his feet and went to the door, flicking on the lights before he opened it. “I’m fine Magnus.” He assured him. “I just… Dropped an energon cube. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Ultra Magnus nodded, but he didn’t look quite convinced. “Well, sir… If you don’t mind me saying, you seem a bit off. Are you feeling okay?”
When he attempted a reassuring look, Magnus only shook his head. “Admittedly, I’ve been better my friend.”
“Let’s go take a drive. You need to get out of your room more often.” Magnus said after a moment , grabbing onto his shoulder and carefully steering him out of the doorway.
Regret seemed to dominate his thoughts now. He was so often left alone to attend to his duties now, more often than before. Somehow his soldiers thought he preferred it. So he sat, holed up in his room, surrounded by his thoughts and regret.
Often it went unbroken for cycles before something snapped him out of it. More often than not, it was Ultra Magnus who knocked on his door. It was one of the few times the regret could simply be forgotten.
Verse: IDW AU, based on an expected future
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Optimus, Galvatron, Skywarp, Ultra Magnus; Skywarp/Optimus, Ultra Magnus/Optimus (If you tilt your head and squint)
Word Count: 2,524
Warnings: Some mech loving, but nothing graphic or descriptive, mostly implied.
Summary: Optimus dwells on his time in captivity when he had only a seeker for company.
Notes: Blame pellimusprime for this. Really. I wrote this because after really thinking about her love of this pairing, I decided it needed angst and my amautuer writing skills. 8D
Clarity only seemed to come after it was desperately needed. The moment you had to decide, your opinion was skewed and off base. Your response was naive and rash. And always, always, always, regret followed in a near suffocating manner.
Optimus had always been able to move past that. As a leader, you couldn't dwell on the mistakes you made, you had to be able to learn and move on. If you let it take you, the only thing left was to fall.
Even when he'd failed his troops, even when they'd been stranded on Cybertron while Megatron pressed his victory over Earth, he'd shoved aside any lingering regret and fixed it.
But what if you couldn't fix it?
Lighting the room were only a pair of azure optics and a softly glowing cube of energon. The cube balance on one slender knee, untouched and held up only by a loose digit.
For a brief time, there was peace. The humans and the Autobots lived in peace, working with each other to rid the Earth of those renegade Decepticons. What had been a suspicious alliance grew into a trusting friendship, a lucky change for both.
Of course, it had to end. Optimus had learned on several occasions that when things seemed at their best, it had to end. Total war would always reign it seemed.
Megatron, or rather, Galvatron, returned. The Decepticons grew organized once more, falling in line behind their new leader, happily discarding Starscream's delicately held dictatorship.
So once more, Earth was caught in the middle of their age old war. Only this time, humans stood alongside Autobots. Not that they didn't question it. The humans often contemplated on how to get rid of them, Decepticons and all, but always, in the end, some event occurred to prove the worth of the Autobots in their survival.
So the cycle began again. Back and forth battles. The destruction of near everything around them. Mechs died and mechs were created. Plans worked out or went wrong. Hostages were made and traded. Often though, they were simply locked away.
Optimus clutched the edge of his berth in one hand, optics darkening a fraction.
He'd been one of those locked away.
Somehow, Galvatron had managed to disarm him in battle. Left venerable and ready to accept death, he had hardly expected the Decepticon leader to lower his weapon.
"No..." Galvatron murmured, grinning. "No, I won't kill you Prime. Not yet."
Optimus could only pull himself several inches out of the dirt, optics flickering wildly as they tried to focus on the other mech's face.
"I'll keep you alive. For two reasons." Galvatron took a step forward, pulling his leg up before slamming his heel into Optimus's back. He ground it into his back plates until sparks flew. "I want to see your puny little comrades, those Autobots, search for you. They'll have no idea where you are. They'll search and search, desperate and disordered. And you'll be able to sit back and suffer through it all."
Optimus offlined his optics, body shuddering. His body was shutting down without his consent. He couldn't comm for help and he couldn't fight back.
"And of course, death would be too sweet for you. I want to lock you away Prime." Galvatron kneeled down on his back, causing several areas of the mech's back to cave under the weight. He leaned toward the Autobot, putting his lips up to his audials."I want to see you rot, locked away in a cage. And when you finally beg for death... It will not come."
The darkness had been maddening. Endless and impenetrable. He had no idea how long he’d been down there. Galvatron had made sure his internal clock had been disabled, just for that purpose. That simple little thing had nearly driven him out of his processor by itself.
The darkness was interrupted by no one. He was left completely alone and completely without. The darkness and silence was only broken by the barest amount of energon rations being dropped down a thin tube. It was strange how the highlight of his time was seeing that soft glowing cube drop to the center of the floor. Especially when it was laced with a liquid additive that made ingesting it so painful he nearly starved himself to death.
It shouldn’t have been surprising how he reacted when things changed. He shouldn’t be regretful, right? He didn’t regret what he did. He regretted how he felt.
Sometime, in the middle of the stretch of darkness, someone came. He’d been so relieved at the sudden contact, that he’d hardly cared just who it was that had come to see him, let alone why.
Optics near blinded by the sudden explosion of light, Optimus had only that familiar popping sound, the sound of air being forced away rapidly, to give him any clue as to what had caused it. Not that he could figure it out at the time.
“Oh how the mighty Autobot leader has fallen…”
Crimson optics stared at him from across the cell. Optimus stood up so abruptly, his rusted legs gave out and he clattered to the floor. “Skywarp…!” his voice was laced with static and pathetically strained.
“You sound so desperate… Like you’re begging for something.” Skywarp chuckled softly, optics brightening.
“Why are you here…?” Optimus asked, almost pleading for an answer. Although he didn’t care. He could have been there to kill him and he would feel the same.
“I’m here for you.” Skywarp told him. Those crimson optics moved forward, a soft clack sounding at the seeker moved forward. “You are lonely… Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
That was how it had started. A visit. They’d just… Talked. About frivolous things. He’d been so grateful at the time, that they could have been talking about the death of his friends and he would have been perfectly happy. That was the state that the loneliness had left him in.
At first the visits were random and never fell into a pattern that Optimus could find. Sometimes the visits were almost curious in nature. Other times they may have been firm, Skywarp acting like it was his Primus-given right to be there, like Optimus was his right. On a few rare occasions, the purple seeker came in furious for no reason that Optimus could tell. He should have realized during those visits what was going on. But he didn’t.
“Do you like it?”
Optimus’s optics brightened, a cautious smile pulled across his exposed faceplates. Long ago, the seeker had convinced him there was no reason to hide his face when they were trapped in darkness.”It’s perfect…” he assured him. Tenderly, he spread his fingers across the thin layer of foam he was sitting on. It was usually used as a lining for a berth, but Skywarp had bought it for him to lay out on when he recharged. For the entire time of his stay, he’d had to rest on the damp floor of the cell.
Skywarp made a pleased sound and he stepped closer to where Optimus was sitting on the floor. When the foam shifted slightly and the crimson optics peered at him from a similar level, Optimus realized he had sat down on the foam beside him.”I’m glad you like it.” He murmured. “If only I knew just how happy it made you….”
For a small moment, Optimus felt a soft pleasure at the seekers words. Skywarp had been so kind to him, so gentle. Then slowly, his optics shifted and for the briefest of moments, Optimus’s blue optics gently illuminated Skywarp’s face.
“I never did understand why you hid your face behind that mask….”
A hand caressed the side of his face, lips components feathering across his. Optimus pulled back quickly, optics brightening in surprise.
“Shh…”
The hand pulled more firmly, catching the side of his helm in a careful, but firm hold. This time, the lips pressed more firmly against his, moving. A soft sound, a moan or a whine, he wasn’t sure, left his vocalize in response.
Skywarp took the momentary weakness to slip his glossa between the Prime’s lip components, sliding his fingers under his chin to tilt his head up.
“Skywarp…!”
“I’ve always wondered how it would sound to hear you beg…”
The energon cube in his hand gave a crackling protest, his fingers suddenly clutching it. His optics stared forward in the dark, his grip trembling on the slowly cracking cube.
What he’d said then… How he’d acted… Optimus should have seen it that first time. He should have stopped him… Pushed him away. But he didn’t. All he could think about was the warmth. He’d trembled under the seeker, begging him for more, begging him to stay with him. Maybe it had been the sheer ecstasy of what Skywarp had done to him that had blinded him into that state. After all, even before he’d been locked away, it had been centuries since his last coupling.
No… That was why he’d accepted it the first time, but after that… That had been his own mistake.
“When do you have to leave…?”
“Too soon.” Skywarp admitted, stretching his arms across Optimus’s torso to loop them around the bot’s neck.
Optimus groaned softly at the movement. They were still connected and even that slight movement stirred desire in him once more. “Don’t go…”
“Maybe we can fit in another round before I go.” The seeker chuckled.
Optimus could see the grin on his faceplates by the light of his optics on his face. He slid his arms around the mech’s waist and clung to him. “Just… Stay longer… Please Warp…”
Skywarp’s amusement seemed to leave him. “You know I can’t.” His voice sounded scolding, like Optimus shouldn’t even have asked.
“Not long…” Optimus whispered. “Please… I love you… Skywarp please…”
Skywarp stiffened, his movements stopping completely. Then, without a word, the seeker pressed himself up and removed himself from Optimus. His panel snapped shut over his spike with an audible click. Then, with a pop of air, he was gone.
It was strange. When the Autobots had finally found him, he’d been almost reluctant to go. He’d been afraid to leave behind his strange life in the darkness with Skywarp.
Not only that… But he’d felt betrayed. He’d been left in the darkness for so long; he’d lost hope of rescue.
“Why didn’t you come sooner?”
Ultra Magnus swung his head down to stare at the mech in his arms. “Optimus, I-“
“Why didn’t you come?” His voice was broken and quiet.
The surprised look on Ultra Magnus’s face was gone and he tightened his grip protectively on Optimus’s sides. “We never stopped looking… I never stopped.”
Optimus’s optics darkened slightly. He didn’t believe him and there was no reason to press the issue. He let his head fall against the crook of his old friend’s arm, venting softly.
Ultra Magnus looked like he wanted to argue further, to assure his leader he hadn’t been forgotten, but he seemed to realize it would be best to leave it. “I’m sorry Optimus.”
Looking back, he regretted that reunion as well. He hadn’t been fair to his old friend. Optimus had soon learned that for the near 8 earth months of his captivity, Ultra Magnus had been off base searching for him.
Ultra Magnus had never given up the search and never slowed. It was him who had discovered the hole he’d been buried in for the entire time. It was him who had nursed him back to his physical and mental help. He’d barely left his side since he had returned.
Yet, even after being returned home, where he’d gradually returned to himself, he’d far from forgotten the events in his cell. Skywarp was never far from his mind. He couldn’t forget the time they had shared, what Optimus had thought of as love at that time.
He knew better now. Skywarp had never loved him. He’d never really liked him. It was so easy now to look back and see that the entire thing had all been a game for Skywarp’s own sick amusement.
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t Prime.” Skywarp sneered, a tone he’d never used before.
“I thought you loved me.” Optimus forced his tone to hold steady, to be strong. It was hard to not take on the tone he’d fallen to when he’d been a captive.
“I never said that.” The purple seeker snapped, crimson optics narrowing. One clawed hand reached out to jab Optimus painfully in the chest plates.
“Skywarp, I’m offering you a chance to join the Autobots! Don’t you want to-“
“No! Why would I join you?” Skywarp snarled. “What reason do I have? You?”
Optimus’s optics flickered, his body falling slightly. He tried not to let his heartbreak show. “Skywarp, I just…”
“I don’t want to hear it Prime.” Skywarp interrupted, reaching up to capture Optimus’s faceplates in one hand. “I want you to listen. What happened down there meant nothing to me.”
Optimus’s faceplates slid shut in an attempt to conceal as much of his reaction as he could from the Decepticon. It didn’t work. Skywarp had seen enough.
“I got everything I needed out of you.”
Energon splattered across the wall as a crash echoed through the darkened room.
“How could I let this happen…” Optimus groaned softly and fell back down onto the berth, burying his face in his hands.
He wanted to take back all those months. He wished he’d never fallen for Galvatron’s trap. He wished he’d been able to see through Skywarp’s ploy. He wished he’d been able to take those endless hours of darkness. He wished he’d had the spark to end his own torment in the beginning.
“Optimus! Is something wrong? I heard a crash!”
The Prime raised his head to look toward the door. The familiar voice had pulled him out of his thoughts, at least for the time being.
Optimus forced himself to his feet and went to the door, flicking on the lights before he opened it. “I’m fine Magnus.” He assured him. “I just… Dropped an energon cube. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Ultra Magnus nodded, but he didn’t look quite convinced. “Well, sir… If you don’t mind me saying, you seem a bit off. Are you feeling okay?”
When he attempted a reassuring look, Magnus only shook his head. “Admittedly, I’ve been better my friend.”
“Let’s go take a drive. You need to get out of your room more often.” Magnus said after a moment , grabbing onto his shoulder and carefully steering him out of the doorway.
Regret seemed to dominate his thoughts now. He was so often left alone to attend to his duties now, more often than before. Somehow his soldiers thought he preferred it. So he sat, holed up in his room, surrounded by his thoughts and regret.
Often it went unbroken for cycles before something snapped him out of it. More often than not, it was Ultra Magnus who knocked on his door. It was one of the few times the regret could simply be forgotten.