Death Of A Muse

[heliopauseentertainments]

For megadriftweek 2021 on Tumblr.

Prompt Day 4: Poetry / Muse

Continuity: IDW1

Rating: Teen

Relationship: Megatron/Drift  | Deadlock

Characters: Megatron, Drift | Deadlock, Turmoil

Summary: In which Megatron regrets doing what Deadlock asked him to.

Crossposting: Tumblr | AO3

Fic under cut.

Mistakes were made, Megatron thought, staring down at the blank datapad in front of him. Mistakes that he wouldn’t be able to admit to, not to anyone but Deadlock. Words wouldn’t come. The blank screen mockingly burned up at him. This was his own fault. This was what he’d gotten for giving Deadlock what he’d asked for.

Deadlock had asked to be transferred to Turmoil’s team. Well, not to Turmoil specifically, but somewhere else. Anywhere else. Megatron had chosen to have Deadlock fill a long-time vacancy in Turmoil’s team. The post was less prestigious than serving directly under Megatron but certainly not a demotion in rank.

It had been a way to end something that officially didn’t exist without asking directly. Normally, Deadlock had no problem telling Megatron what he wanted or needed or thought in plain words. That straightforward honesty was something he appreciated in an army full of liars and duplicitous servitors.

Yet this time Deadlock had been indirect. Why? What had precipitated this?

Likely to preserve the façade that there had been nothing… personal between them. An indulgence they had allowed themselves. Fraternization that should never have occurred. Even if they had privately painted it with the romantic veneer of what was shared between a poet and a muse, the underlying violation of ethics of a relationship between a commanding officer and subordinate was… an insurmountable barrier. It was a shame for both of them, but mostly for him for having allowed it in the first place.

No matter how many lines had flowed from his light-pen, stanza after stanza inspired by cavalier flouting of the chain of command. So many beautiful words summoned from the depths of his spark by the gentle weight of Deadlock’s hands in his own.

Megatron’s optics drifted over to the comm device on his desk. It was silent. Of course, it was. He wasn’t expecting a call. Deadlock hadn’t spoken to him since….

Allowing their relationship was the first mistake. The second mistake was approving Deadlock’s transfer request.

Megatron had not seen Deadlock after he’d walked out of the office, transfer paperwork in hand. The last thing he’d told the assassin was that he thought Turmoil could make good use of Deadlock’s skills. He had meant professionally. A jealous part of him prayed that Turmoil never found out about other skills.

Continuing to stare at the link to the outside world on his desk, Megatron realized something stupidly obvious. The comm device could also make outgoing calls.

Yes.

He reached out and, pretending his hand wasn’t shaking just the slightest, punched a frequency into the holographic control panel. The blue circle above the device rippled with the ringing before morphing into a familiar face when Turmoil answered.

“Yes, sir?”

“I need a status report for your unit.”

The report was standard. Boring. Usual business for what the soldiers were up to. Everything was within the usual parameters, until Turmoil finished with an awkward pause. “You know, he’s… been asking about you.”