Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I have been a fool. Made mistakes. Monumental ones. I now realize I was never destined to be a leader, or even an equal partner. And, I am at peace with that. I have gained a clear understanding of my place in this universe. Of who I am. Of who I was always meant to be. Starscream: second in command, humble servant to Lord Megatron. Thank you for listening, Soundwave."

That was what Starscream had decided anyway…until he was sent on a mission by Megatron to guide Airachnid to a crashed Decepticon ship named the Harbinger. The warlord had been very displeased with the Seeker not telling him about his scouting of the ship, even less displeased with knowing he had not retrieved the weapon onboard. As Airachnid then mentioned he had not even logged the ship's location into the database, Megatron had grown increasingly impatient with him.

Lucky for the Seeker he had imprinted the location in his processer. Less fortunate was it that he had to guide the malevolent Airachnid there. He trusted that spider as far as he could throw her.

They arrived at the edge of a forest, where they transformed and conversed about the ship…and other things. Such as Starscream degrading Airachnid's helicopter mode and attempting to win her respect by telling her of his past as the Air Commander of some Energon Seekers…which, not surprisingly, failed to impress her. Then, however, the talk moved on to Cliffjumper.

"Just recently, I personally vanquished one of Optimus Prime's fiercest warriors. Cliffjumper," he said the last part in a nefarious tone.

This made Airachnid turn and look at him. "You snuffed an Autobot?" she asked, perhaps mildly surprised though not overly impressed.

"Yes I did," he replied in a satisfied tone, "Without mercy."

"Oh," she said, sounding even less interested than before. "Even Megatron showed you mercy when he planned to terminate you at the mine."

"What?" he exclaimed. "He told you about that?"

"We talk."

Starscream snorted. The thought about Airachnid and Megatron conversing without him was unbearable. He was second-in-command to the Decepticons, not her! He then remembered overhearing Megatron and Airachnid's conversation just before the Seeker had interrupted them and then sent on this mission.

"The wreckage lies just beneath where we stand," he muttered. "I will need to find a point of entry—"

But Airachnid had already initiated her drill-mode and dug underground, leaving him behind on the surface. He looked down the hole and snorted once again.

"Showoff."

He crawled down the hole Airachnid had made, folding his wings tightly against his back to make room. On the way down, he thought about Airachnid's words and her and Megatron's conversation again. His thoughts moved on to the episode in the mine, and then a horrendous thought struck him.

What if Megatron hadn't considered keeping Starscream around after all? What if he secretly ordered Airachnid to take him down once they were inside the Harbinger, where no one would find him nor ever know what happened to him? What if he was planning on making Airachnid his new second-in-command?

No, it couldn't be. First of all, the warlord didn't like the spider any more than the Seeker did. Second of all, Starscream had sworn his loyalty and owed Megatron back in the mine, so Megatron knew the Seeker wouldn't betray him again…at least for now.

As he finally reached the bottom of the hole and met up with Airachnid inside the ship, he decided to forget about these paranoid thoughts for now. Megatron would never replace Starscream, he was too valuable. And he certainly wouldn't have Airachnid assassinate him. He knew the warlord would want the pleasure of doing that himself, however unnerving this thought was.

"Suit yourself," Starscream said, as they went through the hallway of the Harbinger. "I conducted a thorough search of this husk years ago."

Airachnid began messing around with the ship's computer. This took the Seeker by surprise.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed and walked over.

"Accessing the cargo manifest," she replied briefly while pushing the buttons. "Or didn't you think to do that during your thorough search?"

"Idiot," he snarled, growing increasingly impatient with her. "The ship's systems haven't been activated for eons. The Autobots could detect its energy signature!"

"Ah, here it is," she said, as if he hadn't been talking at all. "Section twenty-three."

The twosome moved on through the ship, to find their destination. However, as they arrived where section twenty-three was supposed to be, instead they found a solid rock wall.

"The ship just…ends," Airachnid observed. "It must've broken in half during the crash."

Starscream made a small, mocking grunt, gaining Airachnid's attention. "Or in the air. If you performed actual research, you would've learned that an Autobot battalion shot the Harbinger out of the sky."

"How far away is the other half?" Airachnid snapped, annoyed by the Seeker's tone.

"I'm afraid that information is…need to know," he said sassy, repeating her earlier words about the weapon they were looking for.

Airachnid did not find his reply amusing. As a response to his sass, she shot out sticky web from her servos and restrained the Seeker's arms and torso in a cobweb. Despite his earlier suspicion, Starscream was absolutely shocked by the spider's action.

"What are you—"

"Don't try to make me look like a fool before Megatron," she interrupted and held a threatening claw at the Seeker's face. "Have me return empty-handed while you locate that weapon yourself."

This made Starscream even madder, as this time he actually hadn't cared for the weapon, nor planned to gain Megatron's favor this way – that is, until Airachnid mentioned it just now. "How dare you accuse me! You are nothing but a scavenger! An opportunist!"

"Aren't you one to talk," she replied aloof.

"Perhaps," Starscream admitted, "but I've changed. Seen the error of my ways. I live to serve Megatron now."

"You won't live to serve anyone, if you don't tell me where to find the rest of this ship. Now," she said with a commanding tone.

Starscream huffed anxiously. "A few kliks north of here through a stone arch. Now release me!"

Airachnid moved off the Seeker and reverted to robot mode, turning around to give him a venomous smile. "When I have the weapon in hand," she said with a silky voice. "That is, if I can find my way back, without my guide." She turned around and walked away.

"This is not funny, Airachnid," Starscream exclaimed frightened. "Come back here right now and cut me loose! Airachnid! That is an order! I am your commanding officer!"

He could hear her laugh at his panicking protests. He got a sinking feeling as all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind. Airachnid is a traitor, she has to be. When I get out of this filthy gunk, I'll tear her useless head off, and I don't care what Megatron is going to say… He then once again remembered Megatron and Airachnid's conversation, and more anxious thoughts went through his mind. Did Megatron plan this? Did he really plan to have Airachnid replace me as his second-in-command? Have I been betrayed by my master?!

His thoughts were interrupted by Airachnid's sudden return, having reverted back to spider-mode.

"Airachnid! You traitor!" he shouted angrily as she scurried over him. The next second, the Seeker spotted the Autobots right behind her. I knew they were going to detect the signal, damn wretch, he thought with anger.

She completely ignored him and began drilling her way through the rock wall, leaving Starscream behind, tied up and at the Autobots' mercy. The blue femmebot named Arcee went through the hole Airachnid had made, apparently determined to follow her.

"Arcee, wait!" Optimus Prime called, but Arcee neither returned nor responded. Prime was way too big to fit through the hole, so he went in the direction where he and the other Autobots had come from. "I will assist Arcee. You two bring Starscream to the surface with you."

"You got it," Bumblebee bleeped, as Prime disappeared from sight. He and Bulkhead turned their attention to their newly acquired prisoner.

"Well, well," Bulkhead said while looking at the tied-up Starscream. "What do we have here?"

"Ugh, this is so humiliating," Starscream muttered and dragged his knees to his chest, in an attempt to stand up. Instead, Bulkhead grabbed the webbing on his back and lifted him on his peds in a rough movement. The Seeker let out a surprised exclamation.

"Move it," Bulkhead ordered.

"I don't need to take orders from you, Autobot," Starscream snapped.

Bulkhead reverted his right servo to a wrecking ball and nudged the Seeker in the back with it, making the latter flinch. "I said move it!"

"Alright, alright!"

As they got outside, through the entry the Autobots had gone through, Starscream, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were approaching Optimus and Arcee, conversing. Apparently, Airachnid had taken off already, Starscream figured.

"Move it!" Bulkhead repeated and shoved the Seeker.

"No need to use force!" Starscream said offended, and a bit scared as he fell to his knees from the big Autobot's shove. He huffed and looked anxious up at Optimus Prime. "I'll tell you anything you want to know!"

Bulkhead chuckled. "Is that right? And what do you want in return?"

Starscream thought for a moment. As Prime took a few steps closer, the Seeker replied in a defeated tone: "I want to be…on your side."

This seemed to surprise the Autobots. Nobody said anything for a while. Optimus stared at Starscream, who stared back with long, downcast eyebrows and worried optics in an anxious expression. The Autobot leader seemed to be thoughtful. Not all the Autobots took the Seeker's offer seriously though.

"On our side?" Bulkhead repeated and laughed. "Yeah, right! And I've been lobbing with the Fallen!"

"You wouldn't betray the Decepticons," Arcee said.

"Wouldn't I?" the Seeker protested. "What have they done for me lately, besides humiliate me, spy on me, demote me? Megatron tried to extinguish my spark in cold blood, then all but replace me with that traitorous wretch Airachnid! She abandoned me! Left me for scrap! So why not rat them out?"

Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead walked a distance away, leaving Bumblebee to guard the prisoner with his gun ready. The Seeker snorted and faced the other way. He should have known better than to trust that they would just take him in that easily. He could hear the other Autobots discuss something and mention his name.

"He's telling the truth about Megatron trying to scrap him," Arcee said. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"You're not saying you actually trust Starscream?" Bulkhead asked.

"Trust him? Never. But this may be the one time our objectives align." She was most likely referring to their shared hatred toward Airachnid.

"You're right to be wary, Bulkhead," Optimus said, "but I agree with Arcee."

Starscream was glad the Autobots had freed him from the web – not so happy that they had then put stasis cuffs on his wrists and buckles on his wings. Naturally they didn't trust him enough to let him roam freely, so of course they also had to transport him in Prime's trailer. It was big enough for Starscream to fit in, but it was still rather confined and dark, almost enough to give the flight-based Seeker claustrophobia. It didn't help that the ride was terribly bouncy, so he was occasionally hurled up and down on the floor of the trailer. He had told the location of the other part of the Harbinger to the Autobots, but they brought him along so he could point out the exact location.

After several cycles, Prime stopped, and by the sound from outside he had transformed. Starscream now lay still in the darkness and was no longer distracted by the bounciness to ignore the claustrophobic feeling that returned to him. He wasn't used to being in such a small confinement, not even aboard the Nemesis. In fact, even the smallest room on the airship was bigger than this tiny space.

And giving the recent events in the Energon mine of having to hold up the ceiling to prevent getting crushed beneath tons of rocks, the Seeker had not been very thrilled about small, dark, confined spaces. And this trailer was all three things.

"Well, whaddya know?" Bulkhead said as he, Arcee and Bumblebee transformed in front of the stone arch Starscream had told them about.

"Could still be a trap," Arcee reminded him. Behind them, Optimus transformed and left the trailer at a standstill for a while.

"Starscream's loyalty to Megatron has always been questionable," Optimus said. "If he has truly split from the Decepticons, our prisoner's knowledge of their agendas could make him a valuable ally."

"You don't mean permanently, as in keys to the base and everything?" Bulkhead said in disbelief.

"However unlikely that scenario," Optimus said calmly, "every sentient being deserves an opportunity for redemption."

"Even bot-killers?" Arcee protested. "Even Airachnid?"

"Without that hope, we may never achieve lasting peace."

Starscream was beginning to get worried. What's taking them so long? They haven't left me, have they? Am I going to spend the rest of my life in this—

The trailer door opened and Bulkhead's large figure appeared in the opening.

"Rise and shine, Screamy!" he said and roughly pulled the Seeker out of the trailer by the legs, so he landed hard on his aft. He let out an agitated exclamation by the impact. He was glad to be outside the small trailer, but it still didn't help on his restraints.

"We're here," Arcee announced to him. "Where's the ship?"

Starscream got up on his knees and looked around, trying to determine where they were. He could see that they were in a canyon, far away from the forest, but close enough for the drive to only last about ten cycles, apparently. "It's through the arch, among the stones."

They looked in the direction where he pointed. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, you're with me," Optimus said. "Arcee, remain with our prisoner."

This seemed to take Arcee by surprise, because as Optimus and the other mechs were about to leave, she caught up to Prime and stopped him. "Optimus, please," she said. Prime turned and looked at her. "For Tailgate."

"Your desire to avenge Tailgate will only continue to cloud your judgement," he simply replied and walked off with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, leaving Arcee behind with Starscream. This one grumbled while hassling with his restraints.

"Is the clamp really necessary?" Starscream complained. "I promise not to fly away. It's really giving me a crick!"

Arcee placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative manner. "I can shove you back in the trailer." The Seeker moaned disappointed.

The next several cycles, Arcee did nothing but walk back and forth in front of Starscream. None of them spoke a word. What do Autobots and Decepticons talk about together when not fighting to the death? Although Starscream wasn't happy being in this situation with the Autobots, he didn't want to remain in this awkward silence with the femmebot either. He thought about striking up a conversation. But how to start one?

"I'm not really so bad, you know," he began. "Megatron, he's the evil one."

"Tell it to someone who cares," she replied, but stopped her aimless walking back-and-forth.

"Like whom, Airachnid? What I wouldn't do to get my hands around her wretched throat." He made a clenching gesture to underline his words.

"So we can agree on one thing."

"Oh, you have no idea," he continued, pleased that she found interest in his opinion. "She showed up one day, and the next thing you know, she's acting like she runs the place." Arcee smiled. She seemed to be easing up a little to the Seeker by his berating of Airachnid. Either that, or she simply found amusement in another Decepticon hating the spider. "She whispered lies into Megatron's ear, maneuvered to remove me of my rightful place!"

"Well," she replied and looked away, "she terminated my partner."

"What?!" he exclaimed in disgrace. "She's taking credit for scrapping him now too? That was m… Megatron's doing." He didn't know what had stopped him from saying "my", but he was glad it happened, seeing how Arcee reacted next.

"What? Megatron wasn't there. And neither were you."

"Uh, well," Starscream began, trying to build up the bricks made by his lie. "We were both present. I saw Megatron scrapping him with my own eyes."

"Who are you talking about?" she asked.

"Cliffjumper, who else?" he replied confused.

Arcee seemed to daze off for a second. "Of course," she said. "Who else would've done it? Of course it had to be the Big Bad himself!" She stomped in anger; Starscream flinched but was glad the anger wasn't directed at him.

"Yes, well, his Lordship prefers to have the pleasure of exterminating his enemies himself," he replied, actually being sincere, thinking about the episode in the Energon mine. "He also exterminated my partner, back in the war for Cybertron."

Arcee looked at the Seeker with renewed interest. "You had a partner? You, of all 'Cons? I thought everyone hated you."

"Yes, I know I'm not the most popular guy in the universe," he admitted. An understatement, really. There was actually not a single being who knew Starscream and even liked him. "But back before the war, I was Air Commander of a squadron of Energon Seekers, tasked with guarding the Dark Energon on Cybertron. My best friend and most trusted partner was among them. His name was Jetfire."

"Jetfire," she repeated. "I think I've heard that name before. He was an Autobot, part of the elite troops back in the war. Why would he be friends with a 'Con like you?"

"For your information, I wasn't always a Decepticon," he said, eager to move the conversation away from Cliffjumper. "In fact I have only been Megatron's second-in-command for the last few thousand years. We were guarding the Dark Energon from Megatron and the Decepticons, under orders from Zeta Prime. But Megatron ended up defeating us and…er…forced us to join him, or be eliminated. Jetfire declined the offer, and Megatron terminated him as an example to the rest of us."

Arcee raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Really? I find that hard to believe."

Starscream's gaze flickered from side to side, unsure how to continue this awkward turn of the conversation, when his optics suddenly fixed on a point in the sky. "Wow."

Arcee turned around to see what had fascinated the Seeker, and gazed in wonder herself; a meteor, very distant – just a small speck on the sky, but quite illuminative – fell slowly across the sky towards the ground. The size of the meteor was unclear, but due to its slow speed and far distance it seemed to be huge.

"Wow indeed," she repeated. "We gotta tell Optimus about this. This could be—What do you think you're doing?"

Starscream had approached the femmebot on knees and held out his claws at her, but she had just managed to turn around and point her blasters at him before he could do anything. He flinched as she busted him, and winced back.

"Who, me? I wasn't doing anything!" he said, with little convincing tone. He put on his most miserable, frightened expression he could make.

"Don't try anything funny, 'Con!" Arcee hissed coldly, not impressed by his attempt at pity.

"Arcee! Arcee!" Bumblebee's bleeping sounded from the stone arch. The two bots turned and looked at him running towards them. He was alone.

"Bee! Where are the others? Where's Airachnid?"

"She got away," he beeped, while looking a bit concerned at the twosome's situation. "But she used the Immobilizer to stun Optimus and Bulkhead. I destroyed the weapon, but they're still frozen!"

Arcee took a more affirmative stance. "Lead the way, Bee. Get up," she added to Starscream, gesturing with her gun. The Seeker got onto his peds and began walking after Bumblebee through the arch, with Arcee and her gun pointing at his back. They gazed upon the crash site of the Harbinger, stuck in the mountain, the entrance just sticking out far enough to enter the ship. At the foot of the ship stood two frozen Autobots, Bulkhead and Optimus Prime respectively. Arcee left Starscream with Bumblebee and examined the Prime 'statue'.

"We have to get them back to base," she said and opened her comm. "Ratchet, do you copy?"

"I read you, Arcee. What's your status? Have you located the Decepticon weapon yet?"

"Sort of," Arcee replied, looking down at the remains of the Immobilizer – mere fragments scattered on the ground. "But Optimus and Bulkhead need help. They got hit by the weapon, called the Immobilizer, and they've turned into statues."

"I'll open a GroundBridge at your location."

"Wait! There's something else you should know…"

"You have Starscream with you?" Ratchet exclaimed by Arcee's explanation and hammered his hand into the instrument panel. "There is no way on Cybertron or Earth that I am going to let a Decepticon into our top secret base!"

"Not even a supposedly 'former' Decepticon?" Arcee's voice sounded from the other end of the comm.

"Seriously, what are the chances that Starscream would join our side? We can't risk letting him know our location, you should be aware of that fact."

"Relax, Ratchet. It's not like we're gonna give him the run of the house. I'm not INSANE. But like Optimus said, he could have useful information that could help us win the war sooner. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but this is one time where we have to take the help we can get."

Ratchet was silent for a moment, thinking. "And where do you suppose we keep him in the meantime?"

"Well, we can't leave him out here. The 'Cons could easily find him and…well, you know."

"Well, we can't have him in the base."

"How about clearing one of the storage rooms and put him in there?" Bumblebee suggested on his own comm.

Ratchet became thoughtful. "That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Wait there! I'll go get something ready, and then I'll bridge you all back here."

They waited for several cycles in silence, waiting for Ratchet's signal. Starscream hadn't heard what the doctor had said, but overheard – he couldn't help but do so due to being right next to them – Arcee and Bumblebee talking about him 'having useful information' and discussing whether to 'leave him out here' or 'put him in a storage room'. He wanted to ask what they had decided to do with him, but he was also afraid of the answer. So they just waited alongside the petrified Optimus Prime and Bulkhead, until Arcee heard Ratchet's voice on her comm. again.

"All clear," Ratchet informed. "I'm opening the GroundBridge to your location now."

The GroundBridge appeared right in front of them, and Starscream felt his spark race faster. He was about to learn the location of the Autobot base, something which would certainly get Lord Megatron on better thoughts than to replace him with Airachnid…

From the GroundBridge stepped out Ratchet, looking at both 'Bots and the single 'Con, the latter with a rather bitter look on his face.

"Arcee, you help me get them through the portal," Ratchet said.

While Bumblebee was keeping an eye on the observing Starscream, Ratchet and Arcee tried to carry the petrified Optimus through the GroundBridge, but they could barely move him over to the portal, even though they were pretty close to it.

"Bumblebee, we need your help," Ratchet said.

Bumblebee glanced uncertain from Starscream to his friends. "But what about…"

"He's not going anywhere," Arcee said and took something forth. It was a small card-like object. "This is the key to his stasis-cuffs. He can't get out of them without it. Even with the wing-clamp off, he won't be able to transform with the cuffs on. He's staying with us if he wants to get free. Right, Screamer?"

The Seeker snorted and pouted at her explanation. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. As much of a crick as the wing-clamp gave him, the cuffs were the real problem. Even the hardest of rocks in this place wouldn't be enough to break them. He had to stay put.

Together, Ratchet, Arcee and Bumblebee managed to lift the immobilized Optimus through the GroundBridge portal, leaving Starscream alone with the similarly-stiff Bulkhead. The Seeker glanced at his blank, firm face.

"What are you looking at, fatty?" the Seeker snarled at the Wrecker. "As soon as I get out of these restraints, you're all going to feel my wrath!"

He returned to his former position when he heard the three 'Bots coming back from the portal. He maintained his poker-face when they went to get Bulkhead. Arcee glanced at the Seeker.

"We'll be back for you once we get Bulkhead through," she informed him. He responded only with a grunt.

They pushed him through the portal and disappeared like they did before. However, this time the portal itself also disappeared. Starscream's spark skipped a beat. They LEFT me?! he thought shocked. How…why…what…

"No! Wait! You can't just leave me like this!" he shouted while holding out his cuffed servos into the air. He gained overbalance and fell over. "Come back! Please! COME BAAAAAAACK!"

Nothing happened. Nobody answered him. All he heard was his own echo shouting "Come back…come back…back…back…" at him. He loosened up as the painful truth hit him.

They left me… They lied to me. They told me they were going to come back for me, and they lied… He felt silent sobs coming from his stomach. He hadn't thought the Autobots would pull a Decepticon like that. A Starscream, for that matter. Megatron's gonna find me, sooner or later. And he'll have me terminated. And then…he'll have me replaced with that wretched Airachnid… Oh, dear Primus, what's going to happen to poor old Starscre—

The GroundBridge portal reappeared in front of him. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but as he lifted his head from the ground, he saw Arcee and Bumblebee step out from the portal.

"What are you waiting for?" Arcee said firm. "Get up!"

Starscream felt a weird combination of joy and offense. He was so shocked over the event that he remained still, thus compelling the bots to get over to him and lift him onto his peds themselves. Arcee poked her gun into his back and repeated her "Move it!"-order to him. He felt very strange about this turn of events as he walked through the GroundBridge portal with Bumblebee at his front and Arcee at his back.

"You left Starscream with the Autobots?!" Megatron raged as Airachnid had returned to the Nemesis and reported. "Do you have any notion of the consequences of your blunder?"

"But, my Lordship," Airachnid said quickly, "it was Starscream's incompetence that cost us the Immobilizer—"

"I don't care about some TRINKET!" Megatron roared into the femmebot's face, making her wince back. "My second-in-command is a prisoner of the enemy. Which means all Decepticon intelligence could be at the fingertips of the Autobots!"

At that moment, Airachnid realized she had made a huge mistake. It was more the wrath of Megatron than Decepticon information falling into the Autobot's hands that troubled her, though.

As for what happened to Starscream, she couldn't care less. The Autobots could use him for spare parts for all she cared.

But Megatron seemed to have a different idea about that…

"The damage looked bad," Ratchet informed as Optimus and Bulkhead had regained mobility and performed exercises, "but it was a snap to repair, allowing us to reverse its effect on you. You should regain your full range of motion before long."

Optimus went over to Arcee, who stood in deep thoughts. "Is something the matter, Arcee?"

"What, that we're keeping a Decepticon within our base who could possibly break free and scrap us all in our sleep? Nothing of the kind," she replied sarcastically.

"I understand this is a difficult choice we made," Optimus said, addressed to everyone in the room. "But there is no doubt that as soon as Airachnid returns to Megatron, Starscream will most certainly be announced a fugitive among the Decepticons. Sending him back would seal his fate. Besides, there is much our prisoner knows that can be helpful in our war against his former comrades."

"But, like, only temporary, right?" Bulkhead asked hopeful. "We're not gonna keep him here forever, right? I mean, it's not like he was serious about being on our side, right? Right?"

Nobody said anything for a moment. "While it is unlikely that Starscream will see himself as one of us," Optimus finally said, "there is a chance that we can show him the way we think. And…who knows…maybe one day, he'll make the right choice."

While Starscream was sitting in his small, empty cell, still with the wing-clamp and stasis cuffs on, he stared into the wall, specifically at the closed, locked door and thought about one particular thing.

Have I made the right decision…?

Chapter Text

Over the course of the following week, the Autobots decided to interrogate Starscream every second day, starting the day after his arrival at Autobot Outpost Omega One. Ratchet was in charge of his interrogation, but as an attempt to loosen him up a little to Team Prime, he gave him a single Energon cube at every interrogation. The Seeker had then eagerly told him the location of several of Megatron's Energon mines, of which the Autobots had then proceeded to raid, as their Energon stockings were getting low.

During the second interrogation, Ratchet wanted Starscream to tell him about Megatron's plans, but upon realizing saying too much would mean the end of his usefulness sooner than he'd like, the Seeker only told the medic that the warlord was seeking more Dark Energon. Despite Ratchet's dissatisfaction by the lack of information, he let the Seeker have his Energon cube and left him, waiting for a time where he would be more talkative.

He had hoped the free Energon would make the Decepticon let his guard down and slip like he always did when he was allowed to talk as much as he wanted. But that was apparently only a first-time's luck, he figured disappointed.

"Do not give up yet, old friend," Optimus said and laid a hand on the medic's shoulder. "He will speak up sooner or later. We have to be patient."

"Easier said than done," Ratchet replied gloomily. "It's not that easy being patient with this particular bot. Brags about himself more than he says anything useful." He glanced at Prime and back on the monitor screen. "But, er…I'll work it out."

"Just make sure you don't let your guard down, Ratch," Arcee said. "He may not be very threatening, but that 'Con's got a silver tongue. I wouldn't trust him at all."

"Still better than Airachnid, right?" Bumblebee bleeped. Arcee shrugged.

"Yeah, no one's worse than her. Screamer's a real do-gooder compared to her."

"Hey, if he tries any funny stuff, we'll just have to discipline him," Bulkhead said and slammed his fists together. Optimus gestured him to calm down.

"Bulkhead, we have been over this. We should not induce violence upon him unless there is no other option. If he should decide to rebel, use an Energon prod to put him in stasis until he calms down."

They all nodded in agreement, followed by silence as they returned to their work. After about a cycle, Bulkhead broke the silence.

"So when do we tell the kids?"

More silence. The kids had not been present when the Autobots returned to base with Starscream, cuffed and clamped and shoved into a small, empty cell with only a recharging table for him to sleep on. The following days when the kids had been there, they avoided mentioning Starscream's name, merely referring to him as "business to attend to", when going to interrogate him, otherwise calling him "you-know-who" in a low voice. But they knew they couldn't keep him a secret from them forever.

The question was: when was the right time? And how would the kids react to their new "roomie"?

Starscream wasn't sure what to think of the Autobots.

Despite him assuring them of his wish to be an Autobot, they placed him in the smallest, emptiest room with nothing but a recharging table for him to sleep on. He was constantly bored, and sleeping 24/7 didn't exactly cut it. Even the Energon cube he received every second day didn't satisfy him enough to forget about the claustrophobic feeling he gained whenever he woke up and bored himself so much, that he became uncomfortably aware of just how small and confined the room was. The Autobots could have at least given him a ball to throw at the wall, just to have something to do.

And if that wasn't bad enough, they still didn't trust him enough to relieve him of his shackles. Well, he could live with the stasis cuffs, but they could at least have removed his wing-clamp. The crick he had gained on day one had now increased to incredible back-pain, and it was driving him crazy.

The only benefit of being an Autobot prisoner rather than a Decepticon prisoner was that he was at least not being threatened on his life or tortured during his interrogations. Unless you call that pain in his wings torture, that is. Which is exactly what it was to him.

"I hope they will soon decide to trust me enough to get this stupid thing off me," he grumbled while kicking the floor with his ped. He was once again getting bored. He looked around like he always did, checking if there was anything he missed in the room, something which the Autobots might have left behind when they cleared the room or interrogated him. But all he got out of it was the same uncomfortable, dizzying feeling, as he looked into the low ceiling.

Suddenly, it seemed as if the ceiling was moving down towards him. The room seemed smaller than usual, and it was only decreasing in size for every nano-cycle. An image of the collapsing mine appeared in his head and filled him with fear, making him fall down on his back and wail. The pain in his wings grew to an intolerable level. He had had enough.

He rose to his legs and started ramming his back against the walls, back and forth, in an attempt to break the clamp off. But either the clamp was too solid or the walls were not strong enough, because no matter how many times he rammed into the walls, the clamp stayed whole, and all he got out of it was more pain. Each ram gave a deafening echo throughout the room and possibly out in the hallway as well.

The noise started to disorient him, but he couldn't stop himself; he was reacting instinctively to get out of his prison, to get rid of the pain, one way or another.

Meanwhile, the Autobots had gone out to find an ancient Cybertronian data cylinder which had given off an energy signal to the radar. Whatever the cylinder contained could be valuable, and they had to get it before the Decepticons did. All Autobots except for Ratchet had left the base. He had to stay behind and look after Miko. Jack was attending his part-time job at the drive-in restaurant, and Raf had a lot of homework to do. It was hard for him to concentrate on his school work while at the base, at least when it was theoretical work that needed to be read and written, as there was always happening something new and exciting at the Autobot's. His homework had already begun towering up, and he needed to focus if he wanted to avoid getting lectured by his teacher, or worse yet: his mother.

"Why did it have to be the kid who speaks the loudest and most to stay behind?" he muttered to himself, generally not really liking Miko, though not hating her either. "Rafael I can handle. Jack doesn't bother me either. But Miko..."

"Ratchet, come in!" Miko's voice sounded from the comm.

"Miko?" Ratchet replied annoyed, losing his patience with the girl. "This is an emergency channel, we need to keep it open for the other—" He silenced as he heard loud bangs sounding from the comm. "Wait, where are you?"

"DOI! I'm with the thingamabob!"

"Thingama…" he repeated, but then realized what she meant. "The data cylinder!"

"Yes! Can you bridge it outta here?"

"I will reactivate your arrival coordinates." He opened the GroundBridge to the location of the battlefield. The loud banging continued, though somewhat closer and clearer.

"Dude! Can you open it any closer?"

"Supply coordinates," Ratchet replied as the banging got even louder. He briefly wondered if he had unintentionally increased the volume of the comm.

"Um…fifty yards?"

"Precise coordinates!"

Suddenly Ratchet realized the loud banging was no longer coming from just the comm.; he could hear loud noises coming from the hallway, deafening the sounds from the battlefield, and it didn't stop. Unless they were having another Scraplet infestation, that noise could only be coming from Starscream's cell. It sounded like he was already fed up with being a prisoner, despite only six days having passed since his arrival.

Ratchet glanced from the GroundBridge to the hallway. He couldn't leave the portal open and unattended, in case the Decepticons decided to take advantage of the free access to their base. At the same time, he couldn't just shut it down again, in case Miko or one of the Autobots managed to get the cylinder to the portal. On the other hand, this loud banging noise sounded too serious for him to ignore. He had to find out what their prisoner was up to.

He made a decision and left the command center, trusting the others in the battlefield would prevent any Decepticons from entering the GroundBridge. He grabbed an Energon prod from the rack just in case. He walked down through the hallway, listening to the noise getting louder and louder, until he arrived at Starscream's cell. He looked through the small top window and felt uneasy as he witnessed the Decepticon ramming himself into the walls repeatedly while wailing in distress.

This doesn't seem to be an act, he thought with a beating spark. He's hurting himself. I better put him in stasis and find out what's wrong.

He unlocked the door and opened it. Starscream immediately stopped ramming himself into the wall and stood stiffly, staring at Ratchet with a wild expression like he had never seen another Cybertronian before.

"Wh-what d-d-do you w-want?" he stammered. The medic looked dark with his back against the light outside, making him look rather obscure, especially with the rod in his servos which Starscream first saw when it began glowing light blue.

"Don't worry," Ratchet said in an unconvincing calm tone. "I'm just going to put you in stasis so you don't hurt yourself more than you already have…"

Starscream's spark beat faster than before. No doubt this was another Autobot trick; they must have realized he didn't know anything useful to them, and now they had decided to put him down like a frail Vehicon!

"Over my dead body!" the Seeker yelled and charged forward. He somehow managed to ram Ratchet into the wall outside without getting shocked by the Energon prod.

The Decepticon looked from side to side; the loud noise from his self-attacks was still ringing in his audio receptors and disorienting him. He forgot which way was out, but as Ratchet was recollecting himself, he made a swift decision and went left. He scurried through the hallway past several other storage rooms, some empty, others containing something. He was filled with dread when the path he chose lead to a dead end.

"N-now what do I d-d-do?" he stammered to himself. The pain he had induced himself was nothing compared to his current misplaced fear; he had no idea why he suddenly felt so frightful or how it happened, but all he cared about right now was getting out of this isolated prison.

"There you are!"

The Seeker turned around as Ratchet caught up to him. He curved his back and lowered his wings in fear, but he sent Ratchet a hateful glare and snarled as if he was some wild animal.

"N-no! S-stay away f-from me!" he shrieked pitifully as the medic only got closer, not impressed by his display of 'aggression'.

Ratchet held forth his sparkling Energon prod and tried making himself as wide as possible to prevent the prisoner from escaping past him again.

"Just give it up, Starscream," the medic said, both annoyed and concerned. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to see what's wrong with you."

The medic took a few steps forward with the prod a little pointed forward, but otherwise blocking the corridor. Suddenly, Ratchet's figure was replaced with the image of Megatron pointing his fusion cannon at him, reminiscing back to the Energon mine. The black in Starscream's optics turned red in fear, his pupils narrowing.

"GO AWAY, MEGATRON!" he cried, taking the medic by surprise. As his vision went back to Ratchet, he took advantage of the medic's distraction and charged forward once again, this time swiping his cuffed claws at the Energon prod, making it fall out of the medic's servos before getting rammed by the Seeker.

As Starscream continued running, he looked behind him to make sure Ratchet was down long enough for him to get away. As he faced forward again, he ran into something hard and fell on his aft. He looked up and shrieked at Optimus Prime's tall figure. The Autobot leader stared down at the Decepticon in a calm manner.

"And where do you think you are going, Starscream?" he said with his deep voice.

"I…I'm not afraid of you, Prime!" the Seeker snarled in hostility, slowly returning to reality. "Mark my words, when I get out of these shackles, I swear by the AllSpark I'm going to—"

He was zapped in the neck cabling by Ratchet's Energon prod, letting out a silent scream until he lost consciousness and went into stasis. Ratchet removed the prod from the Decepticon's neck and watched him collapse on the floor. He sighed of relief.

"Thanks for the assistance, Optimus," he said to his leader. "He would have been difficult to subdue without help."

"You can tell me what happened as soon as we get him back into his cell."

"Actually, I wanted to perform an examination on him before that. I need to make sure he didn't hurt himself too badly during his…scene."

"I understand." They carried the unconscious Starscream together through the hallway, towards the command center. "It seems the time for revelation has arrived."

"Are you nuts?!" Miko exclaimed as Ratchet laid Starscream onto one of the recharging tables in the med bay. She had first let out a scream as he and Optimus had carried the unconscious Decepticon into the command center, sharing Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead's surprises. As the Autobots had then explained the situation to her, she had become mad and kicked Bulkhead on the leg in an expression of disappointment. "Don't you remember what he almost did to me, Bulk? How can you let this creep into the base?"

"Miko, I'm sorry I didn't tell ya before, but we weren't sure if you kids were ready for it yet."

"Ready for it?" she repeated enraged. "You're giving shelter to a Decepticon! And the worst one I've met yet! How could you!" She kicked Bulkhead one more time.

"Take it easy there, kicker," Arcee said. "We know you're upset about the cylinder, and I get how you feel about Starscream, but you need to calm down."

Miko took a deep breath and sat down beside Bulkhead, trying to shelter herself from the sight of Starscream.

"How does it look, Ratchet?" Optimus asked the medic.

"Not as good as Bulkhead, but there doesn't seem to be any serious damage. He'll recover."

"Do you have any idea how he could have started his rampage?"

"Not exactly." He studied the unconscious Seeker from top to bottom and back. "Though it could have something to do with his wings. I'm reading extensive tension from them, and it's not from the strikes."

"Maybe it's the wing-clamp," Arcee suggested. "He did tell me it was giving him a crick back in the canyon."

"They don't really seem comfortable," Bumblebee bleeped. "What if we try removing it?"

"And give him back his wings?" Ratchet protested. "I don't think so!"

"The stasis cuffs would still prevent him from transforming though," Arcee pointed out. "And he can't exactly use his missiles, since we've removed and hidden them away. I don't see how his wings could prove any more dangerous than those claws of his."

Ratchet became thoughtful for a while, looking from the others to Starscream, to Miko and then back to the Seeker. He finally sighed and said: "Fine. I don't want to have to deal with that situation again anyway."

He unlocked the clamp on Starscream's wings and took it off. The wings flattened out on the table as if relieving them of a heavy burden. The screen stat showing the tension in the wings decreased and turned green instead of red. Several other bars seemed to either lower or heighten by the action, depending on stress, health and miscellaneous.

"Huh, it worked," Ratchet said, mildly surprised. "But we're not taking off the cuffs."

"Of course not," Arcee said. "I'm not crazy."

"Can you just get him out of here so we can get some peace?" Miko begged from Bulkhead's leg. She didn't seem to trust Starscream even in his unconscious state.

Ratchet nodded and released their prisoner from the cables and got Bumblebee's help to carry him back into his cell. Afterwards, they returned to the command center so Ratchet could examine Bulkhead, who had been wounded in battle.

Starscream groaned as he regained consciousness and found himself back in his cell, on his recharging table. He grumbled. He was back where he started.

He stood up and was surprised to feel no pain in his back. He looked behind him and saw that his wings had been freed from the clamp that had contained them for almost a week. He wiggled them, moved them up and down, until he was certain they still functioned. He smiled of relief, but his joy was soon replaced by regret as his gaze fell on the stasis cuffs. He was still a prisoner, wings or no wings. He felt a bit sore in his back from all the ramming into the walls, and besides a few scratches, the walls seemed intact by his outburst. He then remembered today was an interrogation day, which meant he would get an Energon cube. He felt a bit more at ease by the thought of a cube and relaxed.

He heard a faint sound outside, something that sounded like tiny footsteps and of faint splashing.

"Hello?" he called uneasily. "Is anyone out there? Who is it?"

He walked over to the window and looked out through the small opening. There was no one there. He was about to walk away when he heard the footsteps again and looked down. It was a human girl. He recognized her from the Energon mine.

"Oh, if it isn't Bulkhead's pet human," he snickered and watched her stiffen. "What was it you were called, little one? I'm not very good with human names…"

The girl stood still for a moment, then turned around with what was apparently supposed to look like a fierce expression, but which only amused the Seeker. "My name is Miko," she hissed. "And you're not fooling me, Decepticon! You're up to something, I know it!"

"Well, aren't you cute, Miko," Starscream cackled, the same way he had done in the Energon mine. It gave her goose bumps, and suddenly she didn't feel so fierce anymore. He noticed she was holding a bucket with white paint. "What's that you got there?"

Miko turned around and started walking away. "Paint for Bulkhead. We're making art, and you're not worth wasting my time on!"

Starscream watched her walking away, to the right of his cell. "If being friends with those creatures is what it takes to be an Autobot…" He sat down by the wall. "…then I'd rather be eaten by Scraplets."

As Bulkhead had already made plenty of plates with the Synthetic Energon formula on, the bucket was beginning to run out of paint, so Miko went through the hallway to fetch some more. She stopped when she reached Starscream's cell. She didn't want to be spotted by him again, so she tiptoed as quietly as possible across the floor, past the cell door and onward to the section with the paint. She grabbed a bucket of white paint. That was the easy part. The hard part was getting back, unnoticed.

She tried tiptoeing as quietly as possible past the cell door, but the heavy bucket made it difficult, and she wished she had asked one of the 'Bots to get the paint, but they were already busy lining up the plates already done.

She was almost past the door when her knee dunked against the metal bucket. She stiffened and listened carefully.

She almost believed the coast was clear, when Starscream's scratchy voice sounded: "Is that you again, Miko? Let me guess: The bucket is just an excuse to see me again, isn't it!" He chuckled and crouched down, looking through the bottom window at Miko, who felt like leaving but couldn't exactly move her legs out of the spot.

"Don't be silly," she hissed. "Who would want to see you? Everyone hates you!"

"You don't have to rub it in, you know," he said, slightly offended. "So, what kind of…art project are you and Bulkhead working on? I'd love to know."

"Not that it concerns you, but it's some kinda recipe to something called Synthetic Energon," she said and was about to walk away.

Starscream flinched. "Wait, Synthetic Energon? Now that's quite tricky, even for the most experienced of scientists. How exactly does a mudflap like Bulkhead qualify for such a difficult task that he is not nearly worthy or skilled enough for?"

His derogating Bulkhead did the trick; Miko stopped in her tracks, put down the bucket and walked back to the window with a rather fierce expression for a human girl. It only made the Seeker smirk.

"Don't you ever talk about Bulkhead that way! He's way more worthy than you'll ever be. What do you even know about Synthetic Energon anyway?"

"A lot," he replied. "I know a lot about Energon, to be fair. I used to be an Energon Seeker back before I joined the Decepticons."

Miko seemed to be taken a little by surprise by his answer. "You weren't always a 'Con? You used to be a 'Bot?"

"No, no, no," he said and waved with his servos. "The Energon Seekers were an independent group, bound by neither Autobot nor Decepticon. I was Air Commander of the Energon Seekers, guarding Cybertron's supply of Dark Energon along with Thundercracker, Skywarp, Jetfire and many other Seekers." He began reminiscing his old days. "But, honestly, before I became any of that…I wanted to be a medic."

"What, like Ratchet?" Miko asked questionably.

"Mmm, yeah, I was young and naive, wanting to help bots in the battlefield." He rested his head on his cuffed servos. "I took medical studies and I was even given a dead Autobot to dissect. You know, for surgery practice." He chuckled by the memories. "If only I knew I was going to be dissecting a lot more Autobots later in life."

"Riiiiight," she said and backed off a few steps, but stayed behind, curious about his past. "So, like, what made you change your mind from helping people?"

"Being an Energon Seeker had better payment, and I was given the position of Air Commander, which meant the next step in my path to greatness, which was then followed by me becoming second-in-command to the Decepticons, trusted subordinate to Lord Megatron!"

"Except now you're a prisoner," she said, breaking his moment of joy. "And from what I've heard and seen, you're probably not second-in-command any longer either."

Starscream's smile faded, replaced by a snarl. "I don't need to hear any of your comments, fleshling! Begone! Shoo! Go away!"

Miko didn't let him tell her four times, so she picked up her bucket and ran off towards the command center, leaving Starscream to brood.

As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Megatron had not seemed happy before he sent him and Airachnid on that mission to find the Harbinger. Neither had Starscream really proven to be especially loyal and trusted to the warlord lately. And with the news of his capture, the Seeker was pretty certain the next time he saw another Decepticon – or Megatron for that matter – it would not be a happy reunion.

He would be terminated on the spot, he knew it. He had no choice. He had to stick with the Autobots from now on.

"It's time for his interrogation," Ratchet informed Miko, while Bulkhead was still busy painting. "You keep an eye on Bulkhead while I take care of him."

"Will do."

Optimus, Bumblebee and Arcee had gone off to meet with Megatron to negotiate a trade: the empty cylinder for returning it full. The Synth-En formula had proven to corrupt and consume Bulkhead's mind, erasing memories of everything unrelated to the formula, which would eventually leave him in the state of a mindless zombie. The Autobots would gladly rather give the formula to Megatron than let their comrade suffer that fate.

In the meantime, they had discussed what to do with Starscream's interrogation session that day. His outburst might have been an incident, but by request of the majority they had agreed that he should be disciplined. After rejecting Bulkhead's "disciplinary" act ("I'll give him a good beating," he had said), they ended up agreeing that they omit giving him an Energon cube that day. At first it had seemed like a harsh punishment, but then they agreed that that might make him think twice before trying something like that again – on purpose.

He knew the Seeker would not be happy with their decision, but the interrogation had to be done either way. He made his presence clear to him before unlocking the cell door and going inside, like he had done the previous two sessions. At first the Seeker smiled at his arrival, but the smile faded as his gaze went up and down the medic without spotting an Energon cube.

"Where's my cube?" he asked confused.

"You'll get it when we're done," Ratchet lied, thinking he wouldn't talk if he knew he wasn't getting anything. He closed the door behind him, leaving them in almost complete darkness, aside from their optics and the light from outside. "Now, talk. What's Megatron up to these days?"

Starscream looked into the wall, pouting. "How should I know? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly part of his army anymore."

"Right," Ratchet said, realizing it was a dumb question. "Then, is there anything he would be up to, working on, which he has talked about in the past?"

"Well, let's see, he's looking for Dark Energon…"

"You already told me that last time. Tell me something different."

"Oh, I don't know…I'm feeling a bit dizzy today. A bit depleted of energy, if you will…"

"Gee, I wonder why," the medic said sarcastically. "Maybe it has something to do with your little rampage."

Starscream looked confused at him for a moment. "Rampage? What are you…ohhh, that thing earlier, yeah, I remember now. Yeah, that really drained me of energy. Perhaps a little…oh, I don't know…Energon cube would do me good?" He wiggled his eyebrows in a hinting manner.

"You're not getting anything until you tell me something I don't already know," Ratchet said firmly, not letting him get his way.

The Seeker snorted disappointed, then became thoughtful. "Well…I do know he probably would want the Synthetic Energon as much as you do," he finally said. "The Energon mines on this rock aren't going to last forever, after all."

Ratchet stared at Starscream for a moment. "How do you know about the Synthetic Energon?"

The Decepticon looked at his servos in a casual way. "Lucky guess, maybe? Look, if you want any more information, you'll have to give me a cube."

"I'm sorry to inform you this, but you're not getting a cube today."

He looked away from his claws and at the medic with a shocked expression. "What? Why not? I told you about the Synthetic Energon! I…I…I can tell you something else, I—"

"Save it," Ratchet said, not believing he actually had anything useful to say. He rose up and walked towards the door and opened it. Starscream fell down as he tried to rush over to the medic.

"Please, give me a cube!" he begged. "I'll tell you anything, I just need some Energon!"

As Ratchet walked out of the cell, ignoring the Seeker's whining, he closed the door and looked at him through the top window.

"You should have thought about that before trying to escape," he said coldly and left the hallway.

Starscream was left in a state of disbelief, anger and betrayal. "That deceitful Autobot," he snarled. "I won't forget this, Ratchet, I won't!"

Later, Bulkhead and Miko had returned from a little "adventure" they had sneaked off to while Ratchet had been interrogating Starscream, and the Autobots' fears had come true: Bulkhead was passed out, his mind emptied by the Synth-En formula, and Miko was crying in despair beside him. Thankfully, Miko had triggered the data to leave Bulkhead's mind and shoot into the stars before the Decepticons could get their servos on the formula. And as they arrived back in the base, it was thanks to Miko and her electric guitar that Bulkhead regained consciousness and displayed normal brain activity and had regained his memories.

Ratchet had then gone to the storage to get five Energon cubes for Team Prime to celebrate on, also because it had been some time since they last refueled.

Unfortunately, he had to cross Starscream's cell on his way back to the command center, and he was even less stealthy than Miko. Starscream immediately caught sight of him and the cubes in his arms. The medic had earned a very dark, very judgmental death glare from the Decepticon as he passed by with the Energon.

He decided to ignore him and just walk along, but in his mind, he knew the next session would not be as civil and calm as the previous ones.

The Decepticon just had to endure two more days without Energon. Surely he could handle it.

Chapter Text

The following week carried on more or less peacefully. Though Starscream still held a grudge against Ratchet for not giving him a cube the other day, he was relieved to find out it was only temporary. The next two interrogation sessions came with a cube, the first one eagerly devoured quickly. In return for the cubes, however, Starscream did not tell Ratchet much, other than that Megatron was looking for more Dark Energon to do something big (which the Autobots already knew), and that though Megatron was in possession of all the Earth's Energon mines, they wouldn't last forever (something that the Autobots also already knew about).

"I'm beginning to think he doesn't actually know as much as we had hoped," Ratchet said the day after the second interrogation.

"He's probably just pretending he knows something so we can keep him here, all nice and cozy," Arcee said coldly. "It wouldn't be unlike him to do something like that."

"Well, I say we make him tell us more," Bulkhead said and clenched his fists.

"No," Optimus protested. "We do not resort to violence unless absolute necessary. And using it in an interrogation is not the Autobot way."

"But what do we do when he ends up running out of useful info?" Arcee asked. "Do we just drop him off for Megatron to find?"

"I'd feel better when he's gone, honestly," Bulkhead said. "I'll never forget what he tried to do to Miko back in the mine. I say we let him go."

Most of the Autobots agreed, but Optimus raised a servo in objection.

"We do not know what would happen to him if we give him back to the Decepticons. Airachnid could have acted on her own when she left him, but if she was following Megatron's orders… I do not believe he would take Starscream's return well."

"So what if he scraps him?" Bulkhead replied. "One less 'Con to worry about. And one of the worst, for that matter!"

"If we act indifferently to Starscream's fate by sending him back, we are no better than the Decepticons. We Autobots differ from the Decepticons by knowing the concept of mercy."

They all silenced, neither disagreeing nor wanting to protest against Optimus' statement. They knew he was right. He interpreted the silence as understanding and continued talking.

"However frustrating he may be, we have to be patient with Starscream. He will come around, sooner or later. But make no mistake, we will keep a close eye on him at all times."

The next evening, Ratchet was checking a sample of Synthetic Energon; ever since Bulkhead lost the formula, Ratchet had continued to connect the missing pieces in an attempt to complete the unfinished formula, then worked several days on the development. Rafael was currently present in the base, having come home from school early and having regained control of his homework – Jack was working at the drive-thru, and Miko was in detention (again) – and leaned against the railings, looking interested at Ratchet's work.

"Hey, Ratchet. Is that Synthetic Energon?" he asked curiously.

"Well, yes," Ratchet replied while checking the cells on the Synth-En. "In fact I am preparing to test a sample. I see that you come equipped with protective goggles," he added with a smile, referring to Raf's glasses.

"I can watch?" the boy asked eagerly.

Ratchet chuckled. "We just add some to this test engine…" He injected the test engine with the Synthetic Energon. He and Raf watched as the blue light turned green from the change of Energon, followed by the engine running smoothly with a purring sound.

"It works!" Raf exclaimed. "Bee!"

"Ahp-yep-ep!" Ratchet protested. "This saturation of the formula requires further trial before we can even think about using it for fuel, ammunition or first-aid. Which is rather unfortunate since our own Energon reserves are at an all-time low. Our severely outnumbered warriors have been rapidly burning through our stockpile of late, as the Decepticons continue to run us ragged and grind us down. Natural Energon is in such short supply on your planet, and Megatron seems to have his oily claws buried deep in all the Earth's deposits. But, if we can successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all the energy we'll ever need."

Arcee and Bumblebee entered the command center from the training room. "Hey Ratch," Arcee said. "It's interrogation time again."

Ratchet sighed and rose up from his work. Raf glanced from the hallway to Ratchet.

"I still can't believe you're actually keeping Starscream here," he said. "Isn't it, you know, dangerous?"

"Very," Ratchet replied. "But we have it all under control. I'm not particularly looking forward to this session though."

"Why not?"

"It's because we're low on Energon, isn't it, doc?" Bulkhead asked, having entered the command center after Arcee and Bumblebee. Ratchet nodded.

"Our supplies are too low to spend on him at the moment. If you enter another battle now and get wounded, we'll need what little Energon we have left to fix you up."

"Not that Scream is going to care, of course," Arcee said. "He just wants the room-service we provide."

"Yes. He certainly won't like this news." Ratchet walked towards the hallway. "Let's just get this over with so I can return to my work."

Starscream wandered restlessly back and forth in his dim cell. So far the Autobots had bought the information he told them, but he feared they might be beginning to suspect he didn't know as much as they wanted him to. The last two sessions had certainly not contributed well to their belief that he had useful information. Nonetheless, Ratchet had continued to give him an Energon cube every second day, as he did his best to behave – the way the Autobots thought was behaving, anyway – so it would probably still be long until they lost interest in him.

At least, that's what he had believed, until Ratchet opened his cell door for their scheduled session. The Seeker stopped his wandering back-and-forth and gave the doctor a crooked smile of expectation.

"Ah, another interrogation, I see," he said and inspected Ratchet from top to bottom. His smile faded as he failed to see the usual Energon cube on him. Confusion and panic struck him. "Uh…where's my cube?"

"Sorry, you're not getting one today," Ratchet replied. "Sit down, please."

Starscream faced full front and scowled at the medic. "What do you mean I'm not getting one today? I've behaved recently, haven't I?"

"Indeed, and I'm grateful for it. It's easier to work when you cooperate. Now please, sit down," he repeated, a little sterner.

But Starscream did not want to obey the medic at the moment. "Not until you explain to me why you see fit to ignore my needs, when I have obviously not done anything wrong!"

"Sit. Down," Ratchet repeated impatiently, this time with an undertone of anger, making the Seeker wince back a little. He snorted, but sat down on the floor up against the wall, giving him a more vulnerable position – in Ratchet's favor, not so much in Starscream's own favor – just like the previous sessions. "Now, speak."

Starscream kept silent for a moment, considering his next move here. Seeing as his previous sessions had been less than informative, it would be unwise not to say anything this time at all. It would certainly give the Autobots an indication that he really didn't know anything useful. However, the Seeker also knew it would be stupid to tell him anything during this current situation. If he told Ratchet something useful, would that not indicate that they did not have to feed him to get information? They would most likely give him less Energon, or even worse, they would completely stop giving him Energon, thus letting him starve to death!

"I said speak," Ratchet repeated impatiently.

Starscream made his decision: He wouldn't say anything to the medic. He remained silent and turned his head in a pout. Ratchet sighed in irritation.

"Look, the reason you're not getting a cube is that we're very low on Energon," he gave in. "We simply cannot afford to spend any more to feed you."

Starscream snorted. "Well isn't that just typical of you Autobots. You only care about yourselves, never about someone who's alone in a small, dark room with nothing to do, every day and every night, slowly starving to death."

Ratchet clenched his fists in anger. "We're not just thinking about ourselves," he protested. "We're trying to protect Earth and find a way to restore Cybertron, while you Decepticons are only interested in conquest. Isn't that what you want, Starscream? To be leader of the Decepticons?"

"That was my former ambition. Right now I just want to get my revenge on Megatron."

"But it was Airachnid who—"

"Megatron set me up, I know it!" Starscream exclaimed. "He wanted to get rid of me, he wanted that ever since what happened in the mine! You can't send me back, he'll kill me!" There were traces of both anger and fear in his voice. Ratchet wasn't surprised, but the Seeker's behavior still bugged him.

"We're getting off track here," the medic said annoyed. "Just tell me something."

Starscream returned to his pouting position, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Sorry, no Energon, no information."

Ratchet sighed and face-palmed. "I don't have time for this," he said and got up, heading for the door.

Starscream looked surprised up. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have work to do. Perhaps you'll be more cooperative in two days." He went out the door and closed it behind him. The door locked with a beep.

"No, wait, don't leave me here!" Starscream exclaimed and crawled hectically along the floor as Ratchet left the hallway, ignoring his outbursts. "You can't just let me rot in this hole! Stop ignoring me!"

As Ratchet did not return and he got no response, Starscream sat on his knees and stared into the floor. It's just a matter of time before they kick me out, he thought anxiously. And then I'll perish.

"He wouldn't tell you anything?" Bumblebee asked as Ratchet entered the command center much earlier than usual.

"Nope. He seems to stand by the principle of getting a cube in return for information."

"Oh, that sassy little…" Bulkhead said and slammed his fists together. "Let me in there so I can teach him—"

"Stand down, Bulkhead," Optimus said and laid a servo on the green bot's shoulder. "Remember what I said. No violence unless absolute necessary. It is only natural that Starscream would be upset about not getting Energon. We need to talk to him about it, not punish him further."

"We can't afford to give him any cubes though," Arcee pointed out. "Our supplies are too low."

"Besides, if I went back in there again, without a cube, I don't think he will tell me anything anymore," Ratchet said. "At least not unless I use force."

"I'll give him a little talk," Bulkhead said and stepped forward, but was stopped by Optimus.

"No, I will talk to him. He might see the situation differently if I am the one standing before him."

Bulkhead had no objections against that, so he stepped back and let Optimus enter the hallway. Raf leaned against the safety rails.

"Are you sure Optimus can make Starscream talk?" he asked doubtfully.

"If there's anyone who can make a lowly 'Con like him talk, it's Optimus," Arcee assured.

"Yes," Ratchet agreed, as he returned to the Synthetic Energon. "Starscream may not like Optimus, but he must at least have some respect for him. Everyone respects Optimus, even the Decepticons."

"Yeah, Prime will make him talk," Bumblebee agreed.

Starscream got a shock as the door opened up. He hadn't expected Ratchet to return so soon. He was still sitting on his knees in the same position as the doctor had left him in.

"Back already?" he said. "I thought you were too busy to—"

He silenced and widened his optics as he saw that it was not Ratchet standing before the kneeling Seeker – it was Optimus Prime. He was really big, just as big as Megatron, but he looked even taller from Starscream's kneeling position. The light from outside flashed against Prime's back, making his front dark and gloomy.

"P-P-P-Prime?! Wh-what are you—"

"Be quiet," Optimus said calmly as he closed the door, silencing the Seeker. The room was once again shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the dim wall lamps and the two mechs' optics. Starscream had never noticed how dark this room actually was, not until the large Autobot leader had stepped inside.

Starscream's gaze fell on the floor as a series of questions appeared in the anxious Seeker's mind. What did Prime want? Was he mad about him not telling Ratchet anything? Was he going to pummel him like Megatron used to when he was misbehaving? Was he going to kick him out and leave him for the Decepticons to find?

"Please don't hurt me," he said desperately and lowered his wings in submission. "I promise I'll be nice. Keep your stupid Energon, just let me live!"

"You misunderstand," Prime said patiently. "I am not here to punish you. I simply need to talk to you."

Starscream dared to lift his gaze and look at Prime's face. "Talk…to me?" he repeated nervously.

"Yes. I apologize for the absence of your cube, but our supplies are dangerously low. We need to have some in case any of us get injured in battle." Starscream held back a snort – it would be unwise to be rude against the Prime in his current situation. "But you can help," Optimus continued. "You still know the locations of Megatron's Energon mines, do you not?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Then tell me at least one of the locations, so we can acquire more Energon. For ourselves and for you."

Starscream hesitated. He knew about many of the mines, but for some reason, his memory was failing him recently, at least as far as Decepticon information was concerned. He hadn't thought about it before, but now he realized he had had problems with remembering things ever since he joined the Autobots. He tried with all his might and will to remember an Energon mine location, but they mixed in his processor; he couldn't tell which mines were empty, which were full and which were thin.

"Starscream," Optimus repeated, still calm though with a very slight sterner tone. "You just have to tell me a location of an Energon mine."

"Don't rush me," the Seeker hissed, when he suddenly remembered one. "Wait! There is a deposit that was just recently discovered, and it was quite a mother-load. I think there's Energon in there for several months supply."

"Give me the coordinates."

"Um…" Starscream struggled in remembering the coordinates. "116, 39. In a canyon."

Optimus studied the Seeker for a moment, then nodded and opened the door. "Thank you for the information. We will be back soon."

As Prime closed the door, Starscream realized too late that he might have given him the wrong coordinates. There was another deposit not far from the mother-load, which had much less Energon and not nearly enough to last even a few days. The two locations were still too far from each other to detect the other though.

He dreaded to think what the Autobots would do to him when they returned from the poor raid. He crawled up against the corner, staring anxious at the windows.

As Optimus entered the command center, he found that everyone except Ratchet were absent.

"Ratchet, where are the others?" he asked.

"Oh," the doctor said and looked up from the Synthetic Energon. "The computer detected Energon on the move. The others weren't patient enough to wait for you, so they went on ahead to obtain it."

"Open a GroundBridge. I will accompany them."

Ratchet opened the GroundBridge and reminded Optimus that their Energon stockings were almost depleted, and that if any of them came back wounded, it might be difficult for them to recover. As Prime left through the GroundBridge, Ratchet wished he could do more. An idea struck his mind, and he looked down at the Synthetic Energon.

"Time to find out if you're ready to be used on Autobots," he said and injected the Synth-En into his arm. His blue optics turned green, he began shuddering and dropped the jar. The world turned dark around him, and then he passed out on the floor.

Raf noticed the doctor's fall and went over to him, waking him up by calling his name. Ratchet found it puzzling and annoying that such small beings could be so loud.

After finding out that the Synthetic Energon made him feel better than ever, Optimus called the base to ask for an emergency GroundBridge. Apparently Arcee was chasing after Knock Out and Breakdown who had an Energon cube, and she wouldn't stop because they needed the Energon, even if it was just a single cube. He locked onto her coordinates, but she told him she was too close. Her status meter then showed she got hurt, which prompted Ratchet to open an emergency GroundBridge and went through it himself to save Arcee, leaving Raf to man the 'Bridge.

While waiting for Ratchet to return, Raf poked around on his laptop to see if there was any way he could help – that is, until he came across something interesting.

He found what seemed to be a video feed of Starscream in a room, and it looked an awful lot like the rooms in the base. He quickly realized that the video was a security camera, as he remembered Bumblebee telling him that they had installed a camera into the wall after Starscream's 'episode', so that they could keep a closer eye on him, in case of another outburst. As such, they were able to determine when he had behaved or misbehaved, and in case of misbehavior, whether they had to put him in place or not.

Right now, the Seeker was crouched up against the corner of the wall opposite to his recharging table, muttering lowly to himself. Raf turned up the volume in an attempt to hear what he was saying, though he could only make out small bits and pieces.

"…wait…when I get out…show them…regret…let me in…"

From what he could hear, it sounded an awful lot like Starscream was planning to escape. Almost as if he was planning for the Autobots to let him go, and then he would attack them or something.

"I better tell the others about this when they get back," Raf said to himself.

After a few minutes, Optimus called the base and requested for a GroundBridge. Raf used all his strength to pull down the heavy switch and opened a portal. The Autobots entered with Ratchet in the lead.

"What happened?" Raf asked as he saw the look on their faces. Ratchet seemed rather elated, and the others seemed to be admiring the doctor – even Optimus had a curious look on his face.

"I only saw the gory aftermath, but I hear the doc was a one-bot wrecking machine," Bulkhead replied with an impressed tone.

Ratchet went over to Raf and picked him up, to the boy's surprise. "Hey there, little buddy," the doc said and dropped the boy back onto the floor.

"Hey!" Raf said surprised. "I have something to—"

"Alright, what's your secret?" Arcee asked, interrupting Raf.

"No secret. Just a little something I like to call Synth-En," Ratchet replied and threw a full jar over to Arcee, who caught it.

"Guys, I—" Raf said but was interrupted once again, as if they didn't hear him.

"From the data Bulkhead transcribed?" Arcee said and handed the jar to Bumblebee. "I thought the formula was…"

"Incomplete?" Ratchet ended for her. "Not anymore."

"Guys, I found something I think you should—" Raf tried again, but was then interrupted by Bumblebee.

"It's...green?" Bumblebee bleeped upon inspecting it, then passed it on to Bulkhead.

"So Ratchet makes a better tough guy than I do a smart guy?" the green mech said baffled and handed the jar over to Optimus, who didn't seem as impressed about the situation anymore. He seemed more concerned than happy – then again, Prime rarely smiled.

"Ratchet, I question your wisdom in using yourself as a test subject," he said.

"G—" Raf didn't even get to say a word before he was interrupted again.

"Optimus, you didn't see Ratchet out there. He was in overdrive! We should all try this stuff!"

"Or give Ratchet more so we can take a vacation," Bulkhead suggested jokingly.

"I agree that the initial results seem…promising," Optimus said and walked over to Ratchet. "But I recommend that further testing be confined to machines, not Autobots. Outnumbered though we may be, old friend," he said and laid a servo on the medic's shoulder, "we need a warrior in the laboratory right now, more than we need another in the field."

"GUYS!" Raf exclaimed. Finally he got the Autobots' attention. He looked a bit shyly at them for his outburst. "Sorry. I saw Starscream on the security camera, and I think he's planning to escape."

The Autobots looked at each other, then back at Raf.

"Well, why wouldn't he?" Arcee said. "He's our prisoner, so it makes sense that he'd want to get out."

"But," Raf continued, not certain they understood what he meant, "I heard him say that when he gets out, you'll regret having let him in. Or something like that. It sounded like he was planning an attack."

They shared glances once more.

"Thank you for the information, Rafael," Optimus said. "We will continue to keep a close eye on Starscream. He will not get a chance to escape anytime soon."

The following morning, Ratchet was in the training room with Bulkhead to show him how he handled the Vehicons.

"And then," Ratchet said and jumped, "he came right at me, and I…" He waved at Bulkhead. "Well, come on, Bulk! Come at me!"

Bulkhead looked surprised at the medic and made a resenting gesture. "I don't wanna hurt you, Ratch." To his surprise, the doctor slapped him across the faceplate and retook his battle stance.

"I said: Come at me!" Ratchet repeated eagerly.

As if triggered by the slap, Bulkhead turned his servo into a wrecking ball and charged at Ratchet. The medic dodged the Wrecker's attack, then proceeded to lift him up and threw him against the wall. Bulkhead went right through the wall and landed on the wall behind it, in the hallway. The first wall had broken off the speed, thus lessening the impact on the second wall, but it still had some cracks in it.

"What was that?" Arcee exclaimed as she and Bumblebee entered the hallway. They saw Bulkhead lying upside-down against the wall with pieces of the broken wall below him. He groaned by the impact.

"You have competition, Bulk," Ratchet said as he walked out, punching the air in an excited state. "I'm a bit stronger than I used to be." He walked out of the room, over the rubble. "Also a bit faster, THOOM!" He made a movement against Bumblebee as if he was about to punch him, but stopped just as the fist was a mere inch from the scout's face. The doctor chuckled by Bumblebee's reaction. "Think you can take me, muscle-car?"

"No way," Bumblebee said and waved his servos in resentment.

Ratchet retracted his fist from Bumblebee's face. "Wimp."

"Hey, tough guy," Arcee said, "watch where you're throwing Bulk. That's Starscream's cell, and it looks like you made some cracks in it."

"Oh, never mind that," Ratchet said nonchalantly and walked off. "The wall will hold. He won't get out that easily."

Starscream was fast – though uneasily – asleep in the corner that morning, when something huge suddenly hit against the wall from the outside, knocking the surprised Starscream down with a scream of fright, along with his recharging table in the other end.

"What in the name of the AllSpark was that?" he said and looked to the sides. His gaze fell on something lying on the floor next to the recharging table. He crawled over to it and inspected it. It looked like a camera of sorts. A security camera. They had been watching him this whole time, maybe even listened to him!

"Not anymore," he said and struggled getting up. He lifted a leg and stomped hard on the camera, crushing it beneath his ped. His gaze rose to the wall, where the impact had come from. His spark made a jolt as he saw a few cracks in the wall. Whatever had made that impact seemed to have given him just a slight chance to escape. And now that that security camera had been destroyed, the Autobots wouldn't know what he was about to do.

"Alright," he said as he approached the wall and dug his claws into the cracks. "Let's get to work."

Meanwhile, in the command center, the Autobots had entered the coordinates given by Starscream. There was indeed a signal of another vein. And there would most certainly be Decepticons there too.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus said, but Bulkhead gestured him to wait.

"Hey, hey, shouldn't we wait for our secret weapon?"

"This mission is unlikely to require medical expertise," Optimus pointed out.

"But you never know if it may require additional firepower," Ratchet said while leaning against the wall in the entrance to the hallway. He walked over to the GroundBridge while adding: "Bumblebee can handle GroundBridge duty."

Bumblebee looked skeptically from Ratchet to Prime. "Optimuus…" he said in a begging tone, but it seemed as if Ratchet had already made the decision official.

"Time to put some hurt on those Decepticons!" Ratchet said with a clenched fist.

Meanwhile, Starscream had spent five long cycles carving through the wall cracks with his still-cuffed servos. After finally cutting all the way through, he pulled his claws out and looked at his work.

"Now, should I pull or push?" he asked himself. It would be easier to do it quietly if he pulled, though vastly difficult. Pushing would be faster and easier, but certainly noisier as well.

After a while of consideration, he decided to push the piece. Although his claws had dug deep, it was still tight in place and only budged a little as he pushed with all his strength. After a whole cycle, the piece finally went all the way through and landed on the floor outside with a loud bang. Starscream hit his face against the wall and recoiled. As he regained his footing, he inspected the hole he had made, which let in a lot of light into the otherwise dark room. It was pretty small, but perhaps if he laid down his wings and made himself as narrow as possible, he might be able to squeeze through…

He did as self-instructed, and though the arms went through easily, he got kind of stuck by the shoulders, as they were the widest part of him. They were just half an inch too wide on both sides. He pushed and squeezed and struggled to pull through; the Autobots must have heard the loud noise from the wall piece, and it wouldn't take them too long to get there and see the Seeker stuck halfway-through the hole. He had to be fast.

"Nggghh, come on, you stupid shoulders!" he snarled in panic as he found that now he couldn't get back into the room again either. This unfortunate situation meant, however, that he was moving further out. "GET THROUGH!"

Pushing against the wall outside and the floor inside the room, he made one last, full-strength push which popped his shoulders through, along with the rest of his narrow body, making him fly through the hole and land hard on the floor outside, face-first. He rose on his knees and stood up the rest of the way on his legs, and now he noticed the wall in front of his cell's wall had an even bigger hole, as if something huge and heavy had been thrown through it with massive strength. Perhaps the Autobots had been a bit too eager in their combat training, a mistake which suited Starscream just fine.

He looked to the left and right, considering which way he should take. He decided to go right, as last time he chose left it was a dead end – he had not considered the fact that the directions were now mirrored, however, since the wall was opposite to the door, meaning Starscream was heading towards the same dead end, but he first realized that later.

As Bumblebee and Rafael stood by the GroundBridge, waiting to hear from the others, a sudden loud bang sounded from the hallway.

"What was that, Bee?" Raf said concerned. "It couldn't be more Scraplets, could it?"

"Either that, an intruder, or Starscream's up to something," Bumblebee bleeped. "Whatever it was, I better go check it out. Can you look after the GroundBridge in the meantime, Raf?"

"Sure," Raf said, though a bit worried. "Be careful, Bee."

Bumblebee went off into the hallway with his blasters ready. He walked carefully among the walls and around the corners. As he rounded a corner, he saw a glimpse of gray that disappeared immediately.

"Hey! Get back here!" he shouted. He ran down the hallway and around the other corner, until he arrived at the broken wall. He inspected the wall to Starscream's cell – there was a small hole where the cracks had been. The scout looked through the hole and into the room. It was empty. Starscream was on the loose.

"Oh, scrap," he bleeped. "The command center! I gotta warn Raf!"

The scout ran off to his right, towards the command center. A few nano-cycles later, Starscream peeked forth from the training room, having hidden behind the wall when he had seen Bumblebee coming from around the corner. He dared to step out from the room and tiptoed off in the same direction as Bumblebee had taken. He soon arrived at the entrance of the command center. He peeked from the wall and saw Bumblebee talking to the human known as Rafael by the GroundBridge controls.

"Starscream's on the loose, Raf," the scout bleeped frantically. "I'm going off to look for him in the hallway again. Keep your eyes and ears open in case he comes here. If you see him, go hide and call me, and I'll be right back. Okay?"

"O-okay," Raf said, rather spooked by the news of the Decepticon loose in the Autobot base; it was just like the Scraplet situation, except that now it was also dangerous for the human. Reassured of his partner's safety, Bumblebee went off through the other entrance to the hallway, in search of Starscream.

Starscream glanced from where Bumblebee had disappeared, to the human boy. He chuckled silently. This was too good an opportunity to let alone. He waited until the boy left his attention to the small screen humans seemed to be so fond of, and then he tiptoed as silently as he could towards the boy. He did once turn around and look, but Starscream had just managed to duck behind the cover of the med bay.

"Bee? Is that you?" Raf called silently. As there was no response, he went back to the screen, slightly anxious.

Starscream reappeared from his cover and stalked closer to Rafael. When he was just a few feet from the boy, this one turned around, but he had noticed Starscream far too late.

"Bumb—" he began, but silenced as Starscream grabbed him between two claws, his thumb perking at the boy's chest and his pointer perking in the back. Altogether, this gave Raf an uneasy feeling that he was about to get impaled, and he could very possibly be, if the Seeker felt like it.

"Shhh," Starscream whispered and held the other pointer against his mouth. "Be quiet, little boy. If you make so much as a peep, I will spike your puny human spark." He grinned maliciously at the boy's frightful reaction.

"Wh-what do…do you want…?" Raf whispered anxiously, hoping it was silent enough for the Seeker.

"I want to get free, of course," Starscream whispered. "But first I need a few things. Now, firstly, where are my missiles?"

Raf stayed silent, looking anxiously around. He didn't know where they were, and Starscream got the indication of that by the boy's silence. It did not make him any less annoyed though.

"Okay, then, I guess we can wait with the missiles until I get free. So, where is the keycard to my stasis cuffs? And you better answer me this time, or I will end you."

Raf looked anxiously around again, and felt panic growing as the Seeker's claws pressed slightly harder against his torso.

"I-I don't know," he cried. "I don't know! Please don't hurt me…"

Starscream blinked, but then frowned. "Hmph, should've known you'd be useless," he mocked. "If you want anything done, you gotta do it yourself."

Raf was afraid he meant he was going to kill him, but luckily he decided to keep him around while he wandered around in the base, looking for the keycard. As he passed the med bay, however, he encountered something more interesting.

"Well, well, well," Starscream said, looking at a jar filled with a green substance. "What do we have here?"

Raf's heart skipped a beat as the Seeker picked up the jar filled with Synthetic Energon. "No, don't touch that, it's—Argh!" He groaned as Starscream pressed a little tighter on the boy's torso, threatening to cut him in half.

"I know very well what this is," he said without removing his gaze from the jar. "It's Synthetic Energon. Other than being a substitute for regular Energon, it also enhances the consumer's strength and speed. Judging by the bright color, however, I assume it is incomplete. If so, then that means it would also increase the consumer's temper. Not that big of a problem, of course. It is rather beneficial in a battle, actually."

Rafael stared perplexed at the Decepticon while he was talking, almost forgetting his life was at the 'Con's mercy. Starscream noticed the boy's confusion and smiled in amusement.

"I was an Energon Seeker before I joined Megatron. I know a thing or two about all kinds of Energon, including the sort the Ancients sealed away to prevent us Decepticons from using it. In fact, not to brag or anything, but I know how to manufacture it, as well as Dark Energon."

Rafael gaped; he had listened to how the Autobots had begun doubting the Seeker's knowledge, but he had just found out right here and now that he did indeed know more than they thought. Apparently Starscream seemed as if he could read the boy's mind, because his smile faded quickly.

"Uh, forget what I just said, okay? I will kill you if you squirm," he added, but his attention had now returned to the green jar. As it was impossible for him to inject the Synth-En into himself while he was still cuffed, he opened the jar at the top with his teeth, threw the lid aside and guzzled the jar's entire content within a few nano-cycles. Raf dangled dangerously above the Seeker's head, almost afraid he would fall into his mouth along with the Energon (Starscream did have a rather large mouth, in more ways than one).

He shuddered a bit before the effects kicked in; his red optics turned green like Ratchet's had done, he dropped the jar on the floor so it broke to pieces, and he also lost his grip around Raf. The boy screamed as he fell through the air and onto the ground. He tried getting up, but his left shoulder hurt immensely – it had been misplaced, maybe even broken.

"BUMBLEBEE!" he screamed loudly.

Starscream did not react to the scream; he stumbled a bit but did not fall like Ratchet had done. After about ten nano-cycles, Bumblebee stormed into the command center and was shocked, not to see Starscream drooping slightly while standing, as if he was ill, but to see Raf lying on the floor, twisting and groaning in pain, next to a broken glass jar.

"Raf!" he bleeped in panic and ran towards Starscream, preparing to punch him. "You'll pay for that, you worthless pile of—"

Starscream had ducked, avoiding the scout's punch, and instead head-butted him in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall. Bumblebee groaned and looked up at the approaching green-eyed Seeker.

"Heh, this stuff is good," the Seeker said and clenched his fists. "Real good." With a swift movement, he broke the stasis cuffs in half, freeing his arms, though the remains still stuck to his wrists, making him unable to transform, use his lasers or his missiles which he was not currently in possession of. However, he was now able to freely use his claws to do some damage.

Bumblebee got back onto his peds and charged at Starscream, but this one dodged all the scout's attacks with relative ease, thanks to the Synthetic Energon. The Seeker laughed maniacally while dodging the scout's attacks. Meanwhile, Raf finally got up and struggled desperately to get away from the robots' battle. He sought cover behind the med bay and watched Bumblebee's almost pointless fight against the seemingly superior Starscream.

At one point, Starscream misread one of Bumblebee's moves and got punched in the face, making him wince back. Bumblebee jumped back, surprised he actually got a hit in, but hesitated in continuing the battle, a mistake he soon regretted.

"Heh. Big mistake, scout," Starscream said and leapt forward, swiping his claws against Bee's chest, making him recoil. Starscream proceeded to punch him repeatedly, without letting the scout get as much as a single hit in. Raf stepped anxiously forward.

"Bumblebee!" he exclaimed. "Fight back! Come on, fight back!"

But Bumblebee could not recover for even a second; Starscream was too fast, too strong. The Seeker swiped with his leg against the scout's legs, making the shorter bot fall on the floor, injured and near unconscious.

Watching in panic, Raf looked around for something he could do to help his friend; he spotted the GroundBridge switch, and without a further thought, he left his cover and ran up the stairs as fast as he could, holding onto his wounded arm, all while listening to Starscream's continued punishment of Bumblebee. He reached the switch and used all his strength in his right arm to pull down the heavy switch. He hoped the GroundBridge was still locked onto the Autobots' coordinates; they really needed them right now!

After a good amount of beating, Starscream grabbed Bumblebee's shoulders and lifted him into the air, off his peds.

"Hmm, this reminds me of something," Starscream muttered. "Oh yeah, I remember now. Let me tell you a little secret…"

He pulled Bumblebee closer to him; his optics were flickering on and off, making his consciousness uncertain. He pulled him so close that his mouth almost touched his audio receptor. Then, he whispered so lowly, so faintly, that only Bumblebee would be able to hear it.

"…I…killed…Cliffjumper…"

Bumblebee's optics had gone black, indicating he had slipped into stasis lock. He had most likely not even heard what the Seeker had just said.

"What's that? You didn't hear me? Oh well, that's too bad," Starscream said and spread his left claws. "See you in the Well of All Sparks, Bumblebee!" He stretched his left arm out, preparing to kill Bumblebee."

"NO!" Raf screamed, tears threatening to trickle down his cheeks.

"Bumblebee!" a familiar voice shouted from close by. The next second, a shot blasted out from the GroundBridge and hit Starscream on his left arm, making him drop Bumblebee to nudge his wounded arm. Another blast hit him in the chest, making him fall on his back.

He hadn't even noticed the GroundBridge had opened, but the Autobots stormed out from the green portal, stopping him from executing their scout. Arcee approached and pinned down Starscream with her blade at his throat.

"Don't move, or I'll cut you in…Wait, why are your eyes green?" she said as she noticed the Decepticon's odd optic color and malicious smile.

"Go figure," he simply said before swiping her off him with his claws. He rolled around so he was on top of her. He punched her hard in the face, and as she seemed down for the moment, he rose up, took one quick look at the other arrivals – Optimus and Bulkhead – before he proceeded to run in the direction which he hoped led to the exit, at full speed.

The Autobots didn't chase after him right away. Optimus went over to Arcee and knelt down before her while Bulkhead was standing by.

"Arcee, are you alright?" he asked concerned.

She regained consciousness and groaned as she sat up, holding a servo to her head. "Yeah…yeah, I'm fine."

"Get the Energon prod," Prime said. "And wait for my signal."

Starscream continued to run through the very dark corridor, where the walls were made of rock instead of metal like in the hallway, and the floor seemed more like a dirt-road than an actual floor. This was most certainly the way out. Just a little more, he thought eagerly to himself, you're almost out!

He was struck by shock and disappointment as he ran into a dead end. In front of him was nothing but rock, though he had a feeling it was a hidden door.

"Locked?" he said in disbelief and swiped repeatedly against the wall, but it had no effect. "No, no, no, no! I was so close! Let me out! Scrap, scrap, scrap, SCRAP!"

"Did you really think we were going to take in a dangerous Decepticon to our base, and not prepare for an escape?" Optimus Prime's voice sounded behind him. He stiffened and turned around to see both Prime and Bulkhead, cornering him like a pair of stalking Predacons.

"Let me out," he repeated in a hiss. "I need to get outside!"

"And let you see where our base is?" Bulkhead replied. "No way! You come with us right back to your cell right now, or we'll have to use force!" He turned his fist into a wrecking ball, and this time Optimus did not object to it; Starscream had gone too far when he hurt both Bumblebee and Rafael.

"On my signal," Optimus whispered to Bulkhead, who nodded in understanding.

"If you won't let me out willingly…" Starscream said and spread out his claws.

"Wait for it…"

"…I'll make you release me!" He charged towards them, claws ready to strike.

"Now!"

Optimus and Bulkhead jumped to each side, letting Arcee through and shove an Energon prod into the Seeker's neck. The electricity ran through his exposed throat and through the rest of his body. He shuddered and shrieked in pain, but Arcee did not stop until the Seeker closed his optics and his body went limp – he had passed out.

Arcee turned the prod off, but kept it attached to Starscream's neck, just in case he would wake up again.

"Get him to the med bay and initiate stasis, quickly, before he wakes up," Optimus ordered and helped Arcee carry the unconscious Seeker through the corridor into the med bay, where they put him on a recharging table and initiated stasis. They had been just in time; Starscream's optics had already started to open when they put him in stasis. He had just managed to glare at them and let out a groan before falling unconscious again.

Relieved they had managed to avert the crisis, the Autobots took a moment to rest while making sure Arcee, Bumblebee and Rafael were all safe. Bumblebee had regained consciousness, but was heavily wounded. He was carried into the Energon shower to recover from the worst wounds, but if he was to recover completely, they needed Ratchet. This thought made Raf look around; Ratchet was nowhere to be seen among the Autobots.

"Where's Ratchet?" he asked nervously. "Is he…?"

"He went off on his own to track down Megatron," Bulkhead answered. "We gotta find the doc so we can get Bumblebee fixed up!"

"And so we can remove that stuff from Scream and Ratch himself," Arcee added in. "Doc tried to mercilessly kill a miner back there. Then he berated and blamed us for losing the war. And he…he had the nerve to blame Optimus for Cliffjumper's death." She clenched her fists, shuddering in rage.

Raf looked surprised at her; he recalled how Starscream had said the Synthetic Energon escalates the user's temper as well as enhancing their strength and speed. And judging from his sudden energy and vigor that followed his consumption of Synth-En, he had proven to be right. He was about to mention it, but recalling what the Seeker had told him about staying quiet, and the fact that more serious things were happening, he decided to wait with telling them until things had calmed down again.

Bulkhead was at the computer and tried to get a fix on Ratchet's coordinates, but nothing came up.

"That stupid Energon is messing with his signal," he growled. "I can't locate him."

"Keep trying," Optimus encouraged. He glanced at the unconscious Starscream who, despite being in stasis, was slightly twitching with his servos and legs. He seemed to be fighting the stasis – probably due to the massive amount of energy provided by the Synthetic Energon – but was ultimately unable to fully wake up. "We need to find Ratchet, before he finds Megatron."

After fifteen anxious cycles of waiting, searching for Ratchet's signal, keeping Starscream in stasis and Bumblebee recovering, finally; Ratchet's energy signal popped back on the screen. It was close near the location that Starscream had sent them. His status meter told them he was badly hurt, so they immediately set the GroundBridge to his coordinates and went to get him. Bumblebee stood by to look after the GroundBridge, Rafael and Starscream. It seemed risky at first to let them be alone with the Decepticon again, so shortly after the critical scene, but they reassured themselves that he wouldn't be able to do any more damage while in stasis.

It took roughly eight cycles or so before they returned to base with Ratchet, who had a nasty wound on his stomach, which he had gained by a punch from Megatron. Optimus carried the unconscious doctor in his arms all by himself, while Bulkhead and Arcee went through carrying something else: Energon cubes.

After having connected Ratchet to Energon support in the med bay – using the small amount of Energon they had left in storage – the Autobots (including Bumblebee who was already feeling a little better now) took turns in walking in and out through the GroundBridge to transport Energon cubes from the mine, and looking after Ratchet, Starscream and Rafael. After about half a mega-cycle, they had carried all the cubes through the portal and were stacking the last ones when Ratchet woke up. He tried to sit up, but Optimus pushed him gently back down with a servo.

"Easy, old friend," he said. "You lost a lot of Energon. Good and bad."

Ratchet struggled through his words. "I…I-I didn't intend to hurt…anyone, I-I just wanted…so…badly to…"

"To help us," Optimus ended for him. "We know. But you nearly cost us something irreplaceable. Our medic…and a most trusted friend."

Ratchet didn't know what to say. He was touched by Optimus' words, but he wasn't sure how the others felt about the situation. He looked to his left and saw Bumblebee and Bulkhead stack a few Energon cubes on top of a large pile.

"You did lead us to a much needed Energon supply," Optimus said. "And for that, we should all be thankful."

Ratchet smiled, reassured all was well. A faint groan made him look to his right and see Starscream lying on a table next to him. He only had a stasis cable attached to him, along with having his wrists and ankles restrained so he couldn't get free.

"What…happened...to him?" he asked uneasily.

Optimus hesitated before speaking. "Unfortunately, Starscream took advantage of your situation and escaped after the wall to his cell got damaged."

Ratchet stiffened, remembering how he had thrown Bulkhead against the wall and then ignored Arcee's warning. He felt regret and guilt stab him on the inside. "I…I'm sorry…" he muttered.

"Apology accepted, doc," Bulkhead said after finishing stacking. "But Scream asked for trouble himself, so it's really him who has to apologize."

"We will have to sort that out after we get the Synthetic Energon out of his system," Optimus said. "Now that our supply has been replenished, we can safely do an Energon transplant on him."

"Why not just keep him in stasis? This way he won't do any trouble at all."

After saying that, Starscream's servos and peds gave violent twitches, his head shook and he grumbled loudly. Arcee swore that she could even see one of his optics slightly open ajar to reveal a thin green line. This display gave the Autobots an uneasy feeling. He seemed as if he was about to wake up.

Optimus returned his gaze to Bulkhead, who seemed to have understood what Prime meant. "He could wake up at any moment, regardless of how deeply we put him into stasis. Besides, we are not finished with him yet."

"Right," Arcee said. "He needs to get taught a lesson so he doesn't pull that stunt off again."

"What about Raf?" Bumblebee broke in. Optimus glanced at Rafael in the couch by the TV. He seemed to be about to fall asleep, not having contributed to the conversation, and his shoulder still seemed to hurt him.

"Bring him home to his family, Bumblebee," he said. "He needs to recover too."

Starscream did not wake up until the very next day. After sending Bumblebee off to drive Raf home, they had hooked the Decepticon up to cables and drained Energon from his body, until the green substance had disappeared and only light blue Energon came out. Afterwards, they had swiftly changed the machine to give him normal Energon. As soon as the Seeker had been relieved of the corrupted Energon, he had laid still and remained quiet the rest of the time.

While he was recovering, the Autobots had prepared a new cell with a recharging table for him, as it would take too long to repair the wall in the old one, and it would be harder for him to find his way out from a new spot. They had also removed the fragments of his stasis cuffs from his wrists and instead put a new set around them, but this time on his back. This would make it more difficult for him to refuel, recharge and move around, but at the same time it would prevent him from any further attempts at escape or attack. They had debated for quite a while before they finally cuffed him.

Then, after having put him into his new cell, Bumblebee had returned to base around noon and told the others something interesting that Raf had told him on the way to his home.

"Starscream knows how to make Synthetic Energon!" he whirred excitedly.

"What? Are you sure?" Ratchet asked in disbelief, and as Bumblebee assured him, he continued: "But how can he? That formula is eons old. The Ancients had it sealed away long before any of us even existed."

"Maybe he was lying," Arcee suggested. "To make us think he can still give us useful information. Maybe he's getting aware of our suspicion."

"Yeah, we can't trust this guy," Bulkhead said in agreement. "I mean, look what he did to Bee and Raf! This is the second time he's tried to escape, and so far the only useful info he's provided us is the location of Energon mines. Seriously, why are we still keeping him here?"

Nobody spoke for a while. They were all thinking, considering what to do. Optimus was the first to break the ice.

"Whether Starscream was lying or not, it is an opportunity to find out if we can complete the Synthetic Energon formula sooner. We have to take the chance and ask him about it."

"But he's in stasis right now, and he might not wake up the next few mega-cycles," Arcee pointed out.

"Then we shall wait until he wakes up. However long that will take."

As such, the rest of the day was spent patrolling the hallway and checking up on the sleeping Starscream, all while recovering from their own wounds. Starscream's stasis nap did not take a few mega-cycles, but almost two solar cycles. It was almost midnight the next day, when Starscream finally woke up. He had one Pit of a headache, as well as a backache.

"Oww…what hit me…?" he groaned and wanted to nudge his head, but found out his servos were cuffed behind his back, thus explaining the pain in his back. But he did not know where the dizziness came from.

"Finally you're awake," a voice said from outside. He looked up and saw the door open up, revealing a sleek figure enter his cell. It was Arcee.

"Wh-what do you want…?" the Seeker said drowsily.

"It's interrogation time."

Starscream blinked. "No it's not. It's first tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow. You've been in stasis for almost two days."

Starscream blinked a few times, then opened his optics wide up. How could he have slept in for so long? Come to think of it, he did feel kind of hungry. He scouted the femmebot as she closed the door, but she had no Energon on her.

"Then…why did you not bring me Energon?" he asked right away.

"Because you don't deserve it," she replied directly.

"What? Why not?"

She turned and looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously? You're wondering why, after what you did to Bee and Raf? After what you did to all of us?"

Starscream winced back a little in confusion. "Uh, yes. What did I do?"

"You took Ratchet's stash of Synthetic Energon, trashed Bee, hurt Raf and tried to escape! I had to stun you with an Energon prod and then put you into stasis to keep you down! Or maybe you don't remember any of that?"

"…No…I don't," he replied after a moment. Arcee's anger was replaced with bewilderment.

"Seriously? You don't?" Starscream shook his head. Arcee sighed. "Well, no matter. Whatever the case, you're not getting a cube today."

"But, I didn't do anything wrong today," Starscream argued.

"Today, yesterday, it makes no difference. You're not onboard the Nemesis anymore, Scream. You're not getting away with trouble by whatever Megatron does to punish you. If you're going to stay with us, you'll have to follow our rules. Now, Bumblebee told us you're capable of making Synthetic Energon. Is that true?"

Starscream stiffened, surprised by the sudden change of subject. "Who told him that?"

"Is it true?" she repeated, ignoring his question, though his answer gave her an indication that it was.

He hesitated for a long while. "…No. I can't. I just said that to impress- eh, I mean, to show my superiority to him!" he corrected. "I really don't know how to manufacture Synthetic Energon! Or, that is…I'm not actually sure right now…"

Arcee face-palmed irritated. "I knew this was a waste of time. If it wasn't for the locations of Megatron's Energon mines, I'd kick you out through the GroundBridge personally and leave you wherever you might end up!"

Starscream sat up in fright. His worst fear had been confirmed. "Wait, wait, I can provide you with other useful information!"

Arcee crossed her arms and stared impatiently at him. "I'm listening."

Starscream hesitated again. He wasn't sure what to tell her. If he told her too much information, his usefulness would drop right away, but if he didn't tell enough, she might scrap him right on the spot! Although the Synthetic Energon part hadn't been true, he did know how to manufacture Dark Energon, but that was basically useless to the Autobots as they were trying to prevent Megatron from gaining more. But what else could he tell her? He spent almost an entire cycle on thinking, which was apparently too long for the femmebot, because she was about to leave again.

"Wait, don't go!"

"I don't see a reason to stay. Unless you can tell me something useful, something important right here and now."

He felt like he was about to scream, when suddenly a thought struck his mind. His panicked expression changed to a malicious smile, which kind of unnerved Arcee. What could be on his mind?

"You know, Knock Out and Breakdown were not the only Decepticons roaming this planet before I summoned them," he finally said.

Arcee finally seemed to be interested in what the Decepticon was saying. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Are there others?"

Starscream chuckled in delight. He had them right where he wanted them.

"Give me Energon, and I shall tell you."

Chapter Text

While the Autobots were interested in knowing which Decepticons were still loose and scattered on Earth, they kept Starscream's punishment, and so they all had to wait with anticipation the next two days before the next interrogation, and thereby, an Energon cube. Despite his hunger, Starscream couldn't help but feel gleeful throughout those few days. He had finally revealed some rather useful info to them, thus making certain that the first thing the Autobots did that morning two days later was to enter the Seeker's cell, with an Energon cube, to get some answers.

He smiled with anticipation when he saw the door open up and a figure entered with the glowing cube. It was Arcee again. The Autobots had discussed the interrogation matter and decided it would be better if all the Autobots participated in the interrogations instead of being only Ratchet. This way, Starscream would not think of any of them as "good cop, bad cop", as they would both give him cubes and deny him cubes depending on his behavior.

This method would also allow Starscream to get used to the Autobots, let them get to know each other better, even if just a little bit. It was Ratchet who suggested it. He had remembered dealing with anti-social Autobots and Neutrals back on Cybertron, who because of past traumas were afraid of being with other mechs. He had never tried with a Decepticon though. As he thought about it, most of the Decepticons seem like the traumatised mechs that he used to treat, among others.

Perhaps there was something like that in Starscream as well. So far though, he hadn't revealed much, if anything of his past. Arcee knew he had had a partner named Jetfire, an Autobot who apparently got executed by Megatron as the Seekers joined his Decepticons. She hadn't met Jetfire back in the war, nor heard of his death, but he had been a famous air support to the Autobots, together with the Aerialbots.

She had to wait with getting that information for later. Right now, she had another question for the Seeker.

"Here's your cube," she said and put it down on the floor. "Now tell me about those loose Decepticons of yours."

"I would, but I am terribly underfueled, and it would be much easier to remember if I got energized right away..." He wiggled his eyebrows in a hinting manner, which annoyed the femme.

"You'll get it after telling me about your 'Con friends."

"Oh, I feel so terribly weak..."

She sighed in irritation. "Fine," she snapped and took the cube, practically pouring its content in the Seeker's face. He had been taken aback by her giving in so quickly, and got soaked rather than refueled by the Energon.

He snarled by her barbaric action. "You don't have to be so rough. And how exactly am I supposed to clean myself with my hands on my back?" He shook his back in demonstration.

"That's for you to figure out," she said coldly. "You got your Energon. Now tell me!"

The Seeker snorted, dissatisfied with her approach. She behaves worse than me, but SHE isn't imprisoned, he thought annoyed. "Alright," he said. "I told you before that there are other Decepticons out there than those onboard the warship, didn't I?"

"You did. And who are they? How many are they? And where are they?"

Starscream's smirk returned. "One question at a time. You know that back on Cybertron, I was an Energon Seeker, right?" As she nodded, he continued. "Well, after getting forced to join the Decepticons, there were a few other strong Seekers who joined along with me. My Trinemates, Thundercracker and Skywarp..." He made a dramatic pause. "...went with us, and are currently somewhere on this Earth right now. As for their locations, I do not know, but they may be hiding among the humans, probably disguising themselves as their flying vehicles."

Arcee took a moment to process this. She had met the two Seekers during the war, but they seemed much different in model and size than their commander. She had heard of Starscream back then, but not met him until the fall of Cybertron, when Optimus had brought a team with him to Earth. It was shortly after losing her partner Tailgate, when she became partners with Cliffjumper. He looked the same as right now. The one she had heard of, however, had been much bigger and more powerful than the one she met. He was also said to be red and blue, not solid gray. She had wondered about it, but due to the war it had not been unusual for particularly wounded bots to get a new body to continue functioning. Perhaps something like that had happened to Starscream too.

"Alright, so we have Thundercracker and Skywarp," she repeated, going back on topic. "Are there any others?"

"Hmm," Starscream said and thought for a moment. "Those Combaticons who wrecked havoc in the last days of Cybertron? They went with us too. I have no idea where they are. Perhaps hiding as well, causing destruction in some minor country, who can say?"

Arcee's spark seemed to beat a bit faster by the notion. She had seen the terror of the Combaticons for herself during the war. The Decepticons Brawl, Swindle, Vortex...a shuttle that she couldn't remember the name of, and their leader Onslaught. It is said they had been modified by the Decepticon scientists to merge into a giant Combiner, a nearly impossible to defeat opponent. It had turned the war in the Decepticons' favor, and the cause of much destruction on the planet. They had each been built specifically for battle, hence the name. Their Combiner form, Bruticus, was a terror no one had seen before.

To think that those mad mechs were on this planet right now was a horrifying thought. Hopefully they were at least apart from one another.

"Okay, the Combaticons," she repeated. "Anyone else?"

"Hmm, let's see...oh, the Stunticons are also on this planet somewhere," he replied with a chuckle. "In fact, they're the ones Breakdown and Knock Out came along with. Motormaster and Dragstrip are probably 'hitting the roads', as they say, somewhere with a lot of humans."

Arcee didn't like the sound of that either. While the Stunticons weren't a Combiner team like the Combaticons, she had heard rumors that if they get at least five members, they would be able to make themselves Combiners like the Combaticons, or the much older Combiner team, the Constructicons. Motormaster was definitely the leader, Dragstrip being his right hand mech. Breakdown was part of the Stunticons but didn't like the attention as much as the others did. He spent most of his time alone, but according to rumors spent a lot of time with Knock Out when he arrived. She had never heard he was part of the Stunticon team though.

"Alright, so Motormaster and Dragstrip. Anyone else?"

"Hmm," the Seeker said and thought for another moment. "Well...maybe...no. They're the ones. My former Trinemates, the Combaticons and the Stunticons. They're the mechs who are currently roaming the Earth. Thundercracker and Skywarp will either be roaming the skies or hiding among the fleshlings. The Combaticons may be destroying things, and the Stunticons will most certainly be racing on the human roads, maybe even run over a few of them."

Arcee glared at him by his last words, but knew he was probably right. The Stunticons, particularly Motormaster were merciless to anyone standing in the road and wouldn't hesitate to ram into them. If they did that to humans, they wouldn't survive it. Even bots would get seriously injured from an impact with them.

"Thank you for the info, Scream," she said and took the empty cube as she left the room, making sure to lock it behind her. Starscream became thoughtful after she left.

It seemed like a reasonable amount of information he gave her, though he wondered if he had said too much? Admittedly, he too had been concerned regarding the renegade Decepticons. Not so much with Thundercracker and Skywarp, but the two other teams. He hadn't been popular with either, particularly not during his short rule of Cybertron when Megatron had seemed terminated by Omega Supreme, the Autobot Guardian. And in his current state, they would love to get their servos on him.

Hopefully they would stay hidden for as long as he existed, and they wouldn't get in a conflict with them.

"Those are dangerous 'Cons," Bulkhead said as Arcee returned and told them what she had been told. "I've got a few dents to proof that."

"And they could be hiding anywhere," Bee said concerned. "They could be destroying stuff right now!"

"Indeed," Optimus said. "We best be more careful from now on. And warn Agent Fowler in case they are discovered."

"Do we tell the kids about this?" Bulkhead asked. They went quiet for a moment.

"Not right away. If they ask, you can tell them. While they do not need to panic or get worried, they have the right to know about the troubles on their planet. We cannot keep them in the dark anymore."

The Autobots nodded in agreement. After the arrival of their dangerous prisoner Starscream, it was no use lying to the kids any longer, even if just omitting telling them the truth.

As Jack and Miko arrived at the base later that day - Raf had to stay at home until his shoulder had fully recovered - the kids asked right away what Starscream had told them by now. The Autobots were surprised over having to tell them already, but did so nonetheless. They were shocked to find out there were more Decepticons on Earth than those they had met or heard of.

"And how is Rafael?" Optimus asked concerned.

"He says he's getting better," Jack replied. "Though the doctor said it will be another four days before he's relieved of the sling."

His shoulder had gained a minor fracture, but still needed about a week's rest and recovery. It was fortunate it had not broken during that long fall from Starscream's cluthes, or worse. He had told the doctor and his mother that he fell on a rock while riding his bike (which he hadn't used in years), and had been driven home by a friend who put his bike in the garage before leaving. He had then explained to his mother that he had wanted to try riding his bike again, and that he had been a bit rusty on it, causing his fall.

"Well, okay," Bee bleeped depressed by the answer.

"He also said that he'd race you as soon as he's recovered, Bee," Miko said to cheer up the sad mech. Her words seemed to lift the yellow bot's spirits, though neither she nor Jack could understand his bleeps. It was Basic Cybertronian, something only Transformers could understand. It was kind of equivalent to a toddler's babbling, except the robots could actually understand what the sounds meant. So far, none of them knew how Raf was able to understand the bleeps.

"So what will you do now? With Starscream, I mean," Jack asked.

"We'll keep asking him for more information," Ratchet answered. "Though we take turns now instead of being just me."

"Why are you still keeping him?" Miko asked worried and upset. "He hurt Raf! He could do the same to us! I don't trust him, I don't like him."

"I don't like it either," Jack said. "And I haven't even met him yet. Getting a Decepticon to switch sides sounds nice, but this guy seems too dangerous. How are you even going to get through this?"

The Autobots took a moment to consider the kids' worries. It did seem like a pointless goal. And it wasn't exactly like they had made any progress with him. And it had almost been a month since they brought him in.

"Every living being deserves a second chance," Optimus finally replied. "And Starscream has shown genuine hatred towards Megatron, which seems promising. He has been through a lot of war, just like all of us. Being the second-in-command of the Decepticons may have both its advantages and disadvantages. He is used to being punished by Megatron in presumably brutal ways. I believe if any of us were in his situation, we may have reacted the same way."

Once again, silence. The other Autobots hadn't thought of it that way. Well, Ratchet had. But not the others. They remembered, after Megatron was brought back to life with Bumblebee's help, how the warlord had gone straight for Starscream, pulling the screaming Seeker by the head into the warship and did terrible things to him.

The next time they saw him, he was badly battered, most likely from Megatron's punishment. He had then injected a Dark Energon crystal into his spark chamber and thought himself invincible, until he got his arm shot off by Optimus. He had then pulled the shard out again and left the Autobots with the zombified Skyquake.

Back then, they had only been relieved that Megatron had put a stop to Starscream's plans, and were focused on stopping him from raising Skyquake. But now that they thought back on it, they realized this poor mech had been exposed to a lot of abusement, even if it was deserved.

"See it as a challenge," Ratchet said. "If we can change Starscream's mind, then perhaps the other Decepticons have hope as well."

"Absolutely," Optimus agreed, glad to know Ratchet had understood the purpose of keeping Starscream. "It is a hope of a better tomorrow, for all of us."

During the next interrogation, it was Bumblebee's turn to ask the Seeker. The humans had been concerned about exposing Bee to the one who had hurt him and his partner so bad, but the interrogation went surprisingly well.

Knowing Raf would recover before long, Bee wasn't as angry with Starscream as they had thought he'd be. He arrived with a cube, fed it more gently to the Seeker than Arcee had (only a few droplets had spilled on the floor), and asked questions in a held-back tone. The Seeker could sense his anger and hear a bit of it in his bleeping, but the Scout was surprisingly good at keeping his cool, despite his young age.

Starscream had decided with himself that he would only tell very important info at least every second interrogation, so as to keep him valuable for longer, and so he could come up with something useful to say. During the interrogations he couldn't say that in, he would simply give the Autobots the coordinates to an Energon mine, which was always appreciated. He did that as well during Bumblebee's first interrogation. He mostly did it to make sure the Autobots would continue having a steady Energon supply, so things like what happened during the Synthetic Energon incident wouldn't happen again.

The next day, the Autobots had come back to the base with more Energon cubes. It was the same day Rafael was relieved of his sling. Luckily it was a Saturday so he got picked up by Bumblebee in the morning, excusing to his mother as going to the computer club, and stayed in the base with Jack and Miko all day. Everyone was happy to see the little boy again, especially Ratchet and Bee.

"Good to see you're at good health again, Rafael," Ratchet said with a smile. "You are welcome to watch me do my work later if you're interested."

"Thanks, Ratch, I will."

"We really missed you, y'know," Miko said and patted him lightly on the arm. "Now the band's back together!"

"We didn't actually start that band..." Jack said.

"So, how's Starscream?" Raf asked all of a sudden.

"He's doing fine," Ratchet said. "And in case Bumblebee hasn't already told you, he had no memory of what he did to you after ingesting the Synthetic Energon."

"He didn't?" The humans were all surprised by this - they hadn't been told of this. It had simply slipped the bots' minds.

"Strange, right?" Arcee replied, adding to the kids' confusion. "Ratchet knew what he had done after getting pummeled by Megatron. So why didn't Starscream?"

"Maybe he hadn't been affected for very long," Bulkhead suggested. "Ratch was affected for two days, but he had only for about an hour."

"Perhaps," Arcee said. "Though I remember him saying that he used to be an Energon Seeker. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it though."

"He used to take care of Dark Energon, maybe he took care of Synthetic Energon too," Miko went in without thinking.

The bots stared at her. She realized she had not talked about her seeing Starscream between interrogations. She had heard a bit of everything from him. "Uh, I heard those things from you guys," she lied, hoping they bought it.

But they didn't seem to dwell on how the girl knew about this. Instead, they thought about what she said.

"Perhaps, since I've seen him being near and even touching Dark Energon without being affected like the rest of us do," Ratchet replied thoughtful. "Even the Vehicon troopers seem unable to handle it for very long. Perhaps Megatron isn't the only one who has developed a resistance to Dark Energon."

"What does that have to do with Synthetic Energon though?" Bulkhead asked.

"I have heard the Energon Seekers were skilled in handling many kinds of Energon on Cybertron," Optimus said. "And even heard rumors that they can detect Energon on a much wider, clearer range than the rest of us. While the ancients did seal away the formula before our time, it could be possible that those Seekers had a similar formula. I do not know how that would contribute to Starscream having amnesia though, but it could mean that certain kinds of Energon affect him differently than us."

"Miko, stop!" Jack said later, while the Autobots got back to doing their own things. Miko had snuck off into the hallway to get to Starscream's cell. Jack and Raf had followed right behind her. "What are you doing?"

"Doi, I'm gonna see Screamer," she said as if it was the most obvious answer.

"But why?" Raf asked. "You said yourself that you don't like or even trust him. Why do you suddenly want to see him?"

"Because he needs an earful after what he did to you!"

The boys followed her speechlessly. A small human girl giving an 'earful' to one of the most dangerous Decepticons in the universe seemed a bit hazardous.

"What good will that do?" Jack asked. "Won't he just snap back at you?"

"That won't hold me back!"

They arrived at Starscream's cell before long. Raf hadn't actually been at his cell before, and Jack hadn't met him personally yet. Only Miko had actual experience with the Seeker, if only a little bit.

She made no hesitation before shouting: "Hey! Starscream!"

The boys froze as she shouted. A few seconds later, a drowsy voice sounded: "Hmm? Who's there?"

"Come on, let's go!" Jack hissed at Miko and tried pulling her away.

"Is it you, Miko?" Starscream said and came over to the door, looking through the top window. He looked down and saw not just Miko, but the two other human boys who he knew were with the Autobots. He realized the tallest of them was new to him. He had heard of the boy, but knew not his name nor his looks. He faintly remembered the small boy named Rafael, however he did not know when he had seen him before. He knelt down to get near eye-level to the children, mostly so he could get a better look at them.

The boys seemed to freeze in place as Starscream faced them. Miko simply stood with her arms crossed, having an angry expression on her face.

"Hello, children," he snickered. "Couldn't keep yourselves from seeing me, could you?" He chuckled merrily.

"Enough of that," Miko snapped. "I'm here to give you an earful for what you did to Raf and Bee."

The boys wanted to just pull her away and run off to the Autobots, but they couldn't move their limbs, only stand and stare at the scene unfolding before them.

"An earful you say? You don't mean you want to punish me, do you?" He laughed hard. "Alright, give me your best shot! I'd love to hear what you have to say to me."

It seemed like a trick question. That malicious smirk on his face, those half-open eyelids, it just seemed like he was ready to throw anything she might say, back at her.

What she said surprised them all.

"How did you feel when Jetfire was killed by Megs?" she asked.

Starscream's smirk fell, and he winced back in astonishment. "How...how do you know about Jetfire?"

"I heard Arcee mention it once. Thought it'd be useful against you. So how did you feel when Megs killed him, huh?"

Starscream snarled at her, really not having expected her to lash something like that at him. He thought about his answer for a while, hesitating.

"You must've felt terrible, right? Or maybe you don't care at all? Wouldn't expect a Decepticreep like you to know-"

"Yes, I felt terrible," the Seeker answered. "It was the worst experience I ever had! What of it?"

She hadn't expected him to answer right away, but continued nonetheless.

"Then you should know how Raf felt when you almost killed Bee. And the other way around."

Starscream snorted at her. "They haven't known each other for very long. Jetfire and I were friends for millions of years before I joined the Decepticons! And just because he had that stupid pride of his, he got himself killed. I didn't even get to see him after he left us. I just got the news from Soundwave that Megatron had terminated him..."

The kids listened intensely to him. He paused and gazed at them, shaking his head before getting emotional.

"Jetfire was an idiot. I don't care that he's gone. In fact, I'm glad he's gone. Spares me of all his annoying speeches to me, attempts at impressing me with his aerial skills... I hated all that. And it has nothing to do with the weird relationships you kids have with the Autobots. I find it disgusting. Organics and Cybertronians, living together in peace. Yuck."

The kids were highly offended of this.

"Fine, if you wanna be that way, we'll leave!" Miko said and turned around. "Come on, guys, we don't need him!"

"We never said we did..." Raf said.

Starscream felt relieved when they left. He speculated if he had been too mean to them, but cast that thought aside as quickly as it had appeared. He didn't care one bit about the humans, not at all.

"Those miserable brats," he snarled to himself as he struggled to get up on his peds. "They'll regret insulting me."

Miko practically ran out of the hallway, wanting to get as far away from Starscream as quickly as possible. The two boys struggled to keep up with her and get her to calm down before entering the command center. She managed to reduce it to stomping as they entered. Only Bulkhead noticed them coming in and approached them.

"Hey, what's the matter, Miko?" he asked, seeing how upset she was. "Why are you so angry?"

"I'm not angry," she barely said with clenched teeth, her words not very convincing.

He turned to the boys instead. "Why is she so angry?"

Miko was afraid for a moment that they would tell on her, but they kept quiet and instead shrugged, pretending not to know. However, her relief was short-lived, as Bulkhead figured it out by himself.

"You didn't just speak to Starscream, did you?" As Miko didn't answer, he took it as a yes. His face turned bitter, looking in direction of the hallway. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing," she said. "It's fine, Bulk, don't worry about it."

But Bulkhead didn't believe her. Without hesitation, he went straight for the hallway. The kids' hearts beat faster as they went after him. "Don't follow," he said without looking at them. "You don't need to see this."

The kids stopped following him and instead got worried about what he meant.

"You don't think he's gonna..." Jack started.

"He wouldn't," Miko said in disbelief.

"We gotta tell Optimus," Raf said.

Starscream was starting to calm down from his fuming over the kids' indirect interrogation of him, when suddenly the door was roughly opened without giving him a heads-up. He had been standing with his back turned to the door and was surprised to be interrogated again so soon.

"What, already?" he said puzzled. "But the interrogation's first tomorrow..."

He saw that the mech entering was Bulkhead, he had no Energon cube on him, and his facial expression was as steamed as his own was a few cycles ago. Something didn't feel right.

The Wrecker ignored the Seeker's initial question and instead gave his own. "What did you say to the children?" he snarled.

The Seeker was taken aback by the accusation. Did the kids go tell on him? The thought made him even angrier than before.

"For your information, they started it," he snapped.

"What. Did you. Tell them?" he repeated with a growl, clenching his fists as if preparing to punch him.

Not certain if the Autobot would actually attack him, he dared defy him.

"I told them how disgusting it is for Cybertronians to be chummy with filthy organics like them. And I won't take it back."

Bulkhead didn't ask him to take it back. Instead, his fist turned into a wrecking ball, making the Seeker flinch. Was he really going to attack him? He started to get worried.

"Hey, now," he said with a nervous laughter, as Bulkhead started to slowly approach him, the light from outside making his front black in a creepy way. "No need for violence. I'm sure we can talk about this..."

"You just said you wouldn't take it back," the Wrecker replied coldly as he got closer. "To me it means we can't talk about it. The others may think you can be turned good with pretty words, but I don't. You're not the sort of type who'll listen to words. I know what Megatron does to you." He stood a mere meter from the Seeker and lifted his servo. "Apparently it's the only thing that works."

Starscream let out a scream. "No! Don't! HELP!"

"Bulkhead!" a thundering voice sounded from behind them.

Bulkhead lowered his servo - having turned back into a hand - and stared at Optimus in shame, seeing Prime's unusually gloomy expression. He had never seen him angry like this before. Unlike Bulkhead, however, Prime kept his head cool.

"Optimus, I..." the Wrecker stuttered.

"Step away from our prisoner, Bulkhead," Prime said, this time more level-headed but still with traces of anger in his tone. "We do not resort to violence unless absolute necessary. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Bulkhead lowered his head in shame and stepped aside. Starscream smirked gleefully. Prime glared at him and his smirk fell.

"But, Optimus," Bulkhead tried and pointed at the Seeker, "you don't know what happened. This piece of scrap talked trash about the kids!"

Optimus contemplated for a moment. "It still does not excuse you to physically punish him. We are Autobots, civil mechs, we sort out things by talking, not by fighting."

Starscream sent Bulkhead a hateful smirk, but it fell as Prime turned his attention to him.

"As for you, Starscream. You may berate us as much as you like, but if you harass our human companions, it will be seen as misbehaving. I will not tolerate you bullying the kids. You will go without a cube tomorrow."

Starscream gave a shriek of frustration. "But, Prime! It was they who started it! They...they asked highly personal things of me! You bots can interrogate me all you like, but I won't tolerate being interrogated by miserable humans!"

Bulkhead clenched his fists again. "Optimus, please, let me at him!"

"No," Prime replied. "Starscream, none of us are comfortable about this situation, neither you nor us. But we all have to try our best to get along, because you are staying with us. Autobots have different rules than Decepticons. The first rule is that we help each other out, no matter how much we may resent one another. You will eventually become part of that too."

Both Starscream and Bulkhead stared at him in disbelief. Bulkhead in particular was very much against Starscream staying with them. He wanted him either out of the house or out for good. And Starscream was not comfortable by having to convert to the Autobot way, mostly because it was so different from the Decepticon way. Although so far, it seemed almost as cruel as with his former comrades.

Starscream simply snarled at him. "Just leave me alone. Get out."

Bulkhead was about to counter back, but Optimus laid a servo on his shoulder. "We will. Think about what I said, for now. We will see you again tomorrow."

As the bots left, Starscream almost felt like crying of frustration. What did these Autobots want from him? What did he have to do to become one of them? He didn't believe any one of them had gone through the same thing to join the Autobots, so why did he have to?

Because they feared him. They said he was dangerous. A monster. It finally sank in. They thought nothing more of him than Megatron did. At least, Bulkhead didn't. The others were trying, but he knew they really didn't care about him.

The only one who had truly cared about him was long gone with the war.

"Jetfire..."

The next day, the interrogation was going to be run by Bulkhead. At first, Optimus was going to give it to Ratchet, but Bulkhead insisted that he wouldn't draw yesterday's events in this meeting. Prime decided to trust the Wrecker with the task of interrogating their prisoner. Though he told the humans he wouldn't blame them if they followed him, hinting that they should keep an eye on Bulkhead during the interrogation, just in case.

The kids took the hint and followed behind Bulkhead, waiting until he had opened and closed the door behind him, before going over to the lower window to look inside. They had never actually seen the interrogations between Starscream and the Autobots yet, so they watched with anticipation.

Inside the cell, Starscream was not happy to see who his interrogator was.

"You?" he snarled, recalling yesterday's event. "I wish Ratchet would interrogate me again."

"Hey, I wanna give this a try, don't ruin the mood now," the Wrecker said with a hint of a joke. But neither of them found it really funny, not even the humans outside.

"Fine, let's get this over with," he snarled, also remembering he wouldn't get a cube this time. He seemed to have a habit of not getting a cube, like, every third interrogation. Perhaps he should try better at behaving, so he could get more cubes, but right now he was just steamed.

He sat down on the floor, and so did Bulkhead. They were now at eye-level, glaring into each other's optics with hatred.

"Now, is there anything you wanna tell me, Scream?" Bulkhead said in a less than obvious annoyed tone.

"I'd wish you all would stop calling me that already," he replied. "So what if I have an excellent vocalizer? I may as well call you Fatty."

Bulkhead snorted by the insult but tried to stay cool. "I'll mention that for the others. But why don't you rather tell me something about the 'Cons?"

"Well, let's see," Starscream said with fake thoughtfulness. "Megatron's a jerk, Knock Out's an idiot, Breakdown's a brute, Airachnid's a wretch and Soundwave...well, he's a teacher's pet, and all the Vehicons are morons. That enough for you?"

"You forgot about yourself," Bulkhead said sassily. "You're a lunatic, right?"

The Seeker snarled at the insult. "A lunatic who'd shred you to pieces if only his servos weren't stuck to his back!"

"Exactly why we made them that way. Okay, how about you tell me what Megatron is doing recently?"

"Trying to find more Dark Energon, contemplating your destruction, planning to conquer Earth and Cybertron, such things."

"We already know that," Bulkhead said, starting to get tired of this little game. "Now tell me something we don't know."

"Did you know," he replied with a smirk, "that my favorite color is red?"

"Not that kind of don't know!"

"You didn't specify."

Starscream thought that if he weren't going to get an Energon cube, he could at least have some fun with it. He soon regretted it as Bulkhead turned his servo into a wrecking ball, as if threatening to attack him again. He looked concerned at the servo.

"Now talk."

The kids were worried too. "Should we tell Optimus?" Raf asked.

"Not yet, let's see what happens," Miko replied.

Starscream snorted at him. "It must be so good to have such a big, sturdy body like you do, isn't it? This way you can make anyone do anything you want, just as long as they don't get killed by your primitivity. Do you feel big and mighty, threatening helpless little beings like myself?"

"'Helpless little being' my aft," Bulkhead replied stiffly and slammed the wrecking ball in the floor, startling the Seeker. "Just tell me what Megs is doing!"

This prompted a small outburst from Starscream, who crouched together, wings lowered in fear. "Please don't hurt me. I'll tell you, just please don't kill me. Just spare my life, please, please, please..."

The Wrecker blinked, not having expected this reaction. He threw it aside and continued: "Alright, talk."

The kids had almost had a heart attack when Bulkhead slammed his wrecking ball hand into the floor, making a loud banging noise. Afterwards, they saw Starscream begging for his life, not really surprised to see that reaction, having been startled themselves. Nonetheless, it was strange to see this dangerous mech behaving so...submissively. And those downcast wings kind of looked like the ears on a scared animal. It looked kind of...cute. Weird.

"You remember the Space Bridge we built some time ago? Well, we've begun building a new one just before I got betrayed by Airachnid."

Bulkhead stirred uneasily. "Another Space Bridge?"

"Of course. You think Megatron will just give up on Cybertron? He won't give up until we've emptied the Earth's deposits of Energon and restored Cybertron somehow! I'm telling the truth!"

"You keep saying 'we'," Bulkhead noted. "You saying you still side with the 'Cons?"

Starscream went silent. He hadn't noticed he had said 'we' instead of Decepticons. "So what if I do? It's not like you Autobots are making me feel welcome! In fact, I might rather face the wrath of Megatron than get abused by you."

"Well then, why don't you run off to your master then?" Bulkhead raged and stood up in a threatening way. "See if I care about you!"

He roughly opened the door, prompting the humans to run off in direction of the command center, before the Wrecker stormed out and slammed the door shut behind him.

Starscream contemplated his situation. "Maybe I should return to the Decepeticons after all."

As Bulkhead entered the command center, Optimus had finished reading a passage from the Covenant of Primus. Apparently, an age-old profecy was about to take place here on Earth. Bulkhead explained what he had heard from Starscream, about the Space Bridge, and they kept it in mind.

It became important later, as after Rafael had replaced a picture of Bumblebee with a funny talking cat, Agent Fowler called and showed them a picture of Soundwave in a military facility, taken by the police. He also gave them a list of items stolen by the Decepticons recently.

"They only need one more thing if they are building what I think they're building," Ratchet said.

"A Space Bridge," Optimus replied. "Just as Starscream said."

Then Optimus asked Agent Fowler to evacuate all the humans in the currently attacked facility, where they were taking the last piece. He wouldn't tolerate even a single human casualty. Afterwards, Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead went through the GroundBridge portal to fight the Decepticons. Bumblebee had gone out with Raf on the road to race together, like they promised while he was MIA. Which left Ratchet behind with Miko, Jack and Starscream.

But Starscream ended up getting ignored throughout that day as well as the next couple of days. The only thing warning him of what was going to happen was a strange dream he had that day when falling into recharge.

He dreamt that Megatron and Optimus faced off against each other. Nothing new. Megatron started glowing purple. A little spooky, but probably due to the Dark Energon. Then, suddenly, he saw Megatron pinning Optimus down while a volcano erupted behind him - not with regular red lava, but with purple. Almost as if Dark Energon was pouring from the Earth.

Starscream woke up with a start. Dark Energon, erupting from the Earth? Real Dark Energon, the purple kind, not the lavender kind that could be manufactured on Cybertron, was said to be the 'Blood of Unicron'. But if that was the case, then...

He got up, went to the door and started banging on it with his head, making him slightly dizzy. The Autobots needed to know about this. Heck, even Megatron needed to know about this!

"Hello?! Autobots!" he shouted, hoping they had installed a camera in them like they did in his last cell. "You have to listen to me! Do not let Prime fight against Megatron! We have to evacuate this planet! Right now! I think Earth is actually the legendary god of destruction, Unicron!"

Chapter Text

Starscream continued banging his head against the door, trying desperately to get the Autobots' attention.

What he didn't know was that they were currently busy trying to save Rafael's life, who had been inside Bumblebee when the latter was struck by one of Megatron's Dark Energon plasma blasts. The scout survived with minor injury, but the boy had been in life-threatening danger. The Autobots had fought the Decepticons at the military base when Megatron landed gracefully in front of them, exchanging trash talk with Optimus and then noting the presence of Bumblebee, carrying the wounded Rafael.

Bumblebee and Arcee had then returned to base through the GroundBridge with the boy, to everyone's horror, while Optimus and Bulkhead stayed behind to finish the mission.

As they were currently working on Rafael, they had completely forgotten about their Seeker, who had been slamming himself against the door and walls for a day, trying to warn them of an upcoming disaster.

The dream he had didn't seem like a mere dream. It felt like a forecast: Cloudy, with a bit of Dark Energon downpour.

Another thing he noticed in his dream was that the sun was pitch black, surrounded by a ring of light - a solar eclipse. He didn't know what it meant, but that, combined with the violet eruption of the volcano behind the towering Decepticon leader, soon executing his archnemesis, seemed like a bad omen.

He had first considered it to be merely a dream. That it was a figment of his imagination and that he shouldn't think further about it.

But seconds after waking from the dream, he swore he heard a faint, yet powerful and ominous voice inside his head rumbling:

"I...SHALL...RETURN..."

It felt too real to be merely a dream.

While he wasn't a religious fanatic like a certain other Seeker he knew - he was more of a scientist like a certain Cyclops - he had speculated on the odds of Primus and Unicron being real beings or merely folktales. The Primes were real, he knew that much. That they were messengers, followers of Primus, that he knew as well. Dark Energon is the Blood of Unicron, he knew that too. But there had never been any documented images or personal encounters with either Unicron or Primus, so he doubted either of them were real.

That dream got him on other thoughts.

Not wanting to risk getting destroyed by - literally - the Destroyer, he felt he needed to warn someone, anyone, so he could get off this planet and to safety. But it didn't seem like that was going to happen any time soon, if at all.

During the first hour, he was getting annoyed that the Autobots weren't answering his call. After six hours, he started getting frustrated. After nine hours, he became furious about being ignored. After fourteen hours, his anger turned into desperation and worry.

What if they had forgotten about him? Soundproofed the cell so they couldn't hear his outbursts anymore? Or...had they finally given up on him?

Whatever the case, it was driving the Seeker mad. He was no longer banging simply his head, but also his shoulders, his back, his chest and even kicked at the door.

"Autobots! You can't seriously ignore me forever! Why won't you listen to me?!" he screamed with all his might, twenty hours later.

He paused for a moment, panting in exhaustion and feeling pain and soreness from the areas he rammed himself with, waiting for someone to appear, even giving a simple response. Nobody came, no sound came, there was no response. His anger returned, as well as his frustration, tired of being ignored.

"ANSWER ME!" he yelled and kicked hard at the door.

He winced back when the door went up ten centimeters from his kick. It was open. It had been open this entire time. But when? Why? Had the power gone out? Or did somebot forget to lock the door after them?

He remembered his last visitor was Bulkhead. Had he remembered to lock the door? He could only recall the big brute slamming the door shut hard into the floor, making his cell vibrate for a second. Had that big lugnut broken the controls with his move?

Either way, Starscream snickered at his discovery. He could get out. He could finally be free! Then his thoughts went to his wrists on his back, locked in the stasis cuffs. Even if he managed to get out, he was still trapped. He doubted any rock or even weapon would be able to break them. Stasis cuffs were made of an extremely hard alloy which could not be broken by regular terms. Only metal of the same alloy could break them.

He then remembered being told he had broken his other shackles while under the effects of the incomplete Synthetic Energon formula. He knew, as an Energon Seeker, that Synthetic Energon was an ancient form of Energon, more to be used as a strength-inducing battle elixir than as a substitute for regular Energon. The recipe was very complicated and you could not make it correctly without the recipe itself. From what he had heard from Miko, Bulkhead had acquired that recipe in his processor and written most of it down, but because it was messing with his memories they had to remove it. Such a waste.

He hadn't actually been lying when he told Arcee he didn't know how to make Synthetic Energon, but he also didn't completely lie to the kids about being able to either.

As Energon Seekers, it had been their job to guard the Dark Energon of Cybertron, but it wasn't the only kind they were guarding.

They were the ones who had guarded the formula of Synthetic Energon, as well.

They had a small batch of it to use for emergencies, but the recipe itself was sealed away in a data cylinder. Starscream had studied the Energon for many centuries, fascinated by its power, and he had even peeked at the sealed recipe when no one was looking. He knew it was against their oath, but he simply had to know how such a powerful thing worked. Unfortunately they got attacked by Megatron's forces before he could finish studying it.

Not wanting to risk the formula getting in the Decepticons' servos, Jetfire had launched it into space. Starscream was on one hand disappointed because he didn't get to finish it, but on the other hand glad that the power-hungry warlord didn't get hold of it.

The Synthetic Energon on Trypticon Station had been the complete form. It gave unfathomable strength to the user as well as enhancing their agility and sharpening their senses. When Megatron's forces came, they used all the Synthetic Energon they had and fought the Decepticons with full power. The battle went on for days, and eventually the Synthetic Energon wore off all of them, leading to their defeat.

This Energon, the incomplete Synthetic form, was still very rough but overall successful. The only flaws in it was the increased temper, an alteration of the sharpened senses, and the apparent amnesia Starscream had. From what he heard, Ratchet, who had also injected himself with the stuff, had not suffered memory loss like he had. At first it seemed strange to the Seeker, prompting him to come up with reasons for it to have happened.

He came with the conclusion that since it was an incomplete form, and the fact that this body of his was of Vehicon origin, it had affected him that way. Another reason he wished he had his old body.

His old body might have been able to break himself out of this mess.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed with him simply staring at the slightly opened door, mind wandering in the past. He had to consider what to do now. Should he get out now? Wait for an Autobot to come by, open it completely or fix the door? And just what was he supposed to do with his servos on his back?

"I suppose I should find out what's waiting for me first," he said lowly to himself, his ped pushing the door further upwards until he could turn around and lift it with his servos high enough for him to crouch out of there. He briefly glanced at the instrument panel; it blinked red for 'locked', clearly having been broken by Bulkhead's rough handling.

He felt his spark beating faster as he found himself in the bright hallway, trying to decide which way he should go. He had not been outside his new cell before, so he had no idea where it was placed or which way led to the command center this time. He decided to play it safe and mark the cell's location in case he needed to go back for cover, and tiptoed as quietly as he could, choosing the left direction. Though it was doubtful if the Autobots would hear him, having ignored his noisy outbursts all day. He peeked carefully at each corner before rounding them, continuing along the next corridor.

He arrived at a fork, one leading to the right, the other straight forward. He looked to the right. It seemed identical to the previous corridor as well as the one in front of him. The one in front turned left a little distance away, he could see.

He took a bold decision and went right, determined this was indeed the right way.

It was the wrong way.

He arrived at a dead end, a rack filled with various things like paint, tools, stasis cuffs and even those Energon prods that had been used on him several times now. He shuddered at the memory.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like anyone had noticed him missing yet, so he bravely turned back and, when he arrived back at the fork, he chose the right direction, the one that was previously in front of him. He rounded a corner to the left and held back a gasp as he went for cover behind the wall - he had almost stepped right into the command center.

He peeked from his hiding spot. The Autobots seemed to have just returned from a major battle, all battered and tired. Especially Optimus Prime seemed worn out. What could he have been fighting to get in this state?

He looked down and noticed the three children were accompanied by two bigger humans, one being Agent Fowler, whom Starscream had personally tortured to prive information from him regarding the Autobots' base, the very same he was now a prisoner in. The irony was bitter.

The other human was thinner, a bit shorter and with pink skin like the children, as well as black hair, like the boy Jack. It was a female, like Miko, but wearing blue-green pants and a grayish yellow coat. She had an arm wrapped around Jack. She was probably the boy's creator, the one called a 'mother'. He had never seen her before.

They all seemed to be waiting for something, standing with straight backs, as the humans withdrew to a wall. Someone suddenly activated the GroundBridge, giving the Seeker a sinking feeling, his spark racing faster.

Oh, if only my wrists weren't bound, he thought desperately. Then I could simply transform and fly out through there...

That thought was erased when he saw who stepped out from the portal.

Megatron.

The Seeker held back a scream. What was his former master doing here, of all places?! Thousands of thoughts raced through the Seeker's mind.

Megatron had located the Autobot base and was preparing an attack on them all.

The warlord had found out where Starscream was and had gone in to retrieve him.

And the worst of all: The Autobots were so desperate to get rid of Starscream, they had invited Megatron over to take the Seeker back, and do whatever he wanted with him.

He began hyperventilating, looking around the command center, back in the hallway, at the portal, trying to find a way to escape. He used all his might not to scream, but small whimpers left his throat as he ventilated.

But that was not the worst part.

The Autobots obviously didn't seem entirely calm over the situation, but they didn't show clear signs of hostility towards their guest either. It seemed as if they were going to do something together. As the warlord entered the command center, he looked up and gave a smirk.

"So this is where the magic happens," he said, quietly but loud enough for the Seeker to hear.

His smirk fell as his gaze moved down and locked onto Starscream. The warlord seemed puzzled at first, blinking, obviously unsure if he was seeing things. The confusion was soon replaced by anger.

"Starscream?!"

Before the Autobots could turn around, Starscream had already dashed off into the hallway, having let out a faint whine when his old master rumbled his name. At every pedstep he let out a whimper, using all his might not to scream. If the Autobots found out he wasn't locked up in his cell, they would either move him to a new cell (conscious or unconscious), or hand him over to Megatron for whatever reason, most likely because they were unable to tolerate him any longer.

He rounded every corner, following his inner map of the corridors, until he finally made it back to his cell. He quickly crouched under the half-open door, using his shoulder to push it down enough until he could close it the rest of the way with his ped. He made sure it went all the way down before moving to the wall, pretending nothing happened, as the sound of pedsteps approached his location. He decided to strengthen his pretend-normality by slowly banging his head against the wall, partly pretending, partly because he felt stupid to have lingered so long at the wall. Of course he was bound to be discovered by someone. And he was currently outnumbered. Including the last mech he wanted to see again.

As the pedsteps ceased he heard a knock on the door, like there always had been when the Autobots were about to interrogate him. He moved his head from the wall and walked over to the door, keeping his poker face on. The bot standing outside was Arcee, unsurprisingly.

"Why...hello, Arcee," he said, trying to hide that he was still venting deeply from the run. "What brings...you here?"

"Megatron said he just saw you now. You haven't been out of your cell, have you?" She didn't like to beat around the bush.

Starscream faked a shocked expression. "Megatron? Here? What...what's that supposed to mean?"

Arcee quirked a brow at his response. "Something came up. You've heard of Unicron right?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Well, it turns out that Unicron's living inside this planet's core."

Starscream snorted. "Figured as much," he mumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Though I can't say I'm surprised, given how much Dark Energon we...the Decepticons have uncovered here. On this organic world, I mean."

She didn't seem to take note of the change in adressing. "You haven't seen anything. Dark Energon was-"

"Spouting from a volcano? I know," he said, without really caring.

This astonished the femme. "How...how did you know?"

"I...had a dream," he simply said. "Not that it really matters. But tell me, why exactly have you brought that maniac here, where I live and in my vulnerable position?"

"Sorry, must've forgotten you were even here," she said directly.

That hurt. It was expected, but it still hurt.

"But, to answer your question," she continued, "we kinda need to go inside the core to put Unicron back to sleep so he doesn't tear the Earth apart when he decides to stretch. And it seems the only way we'll get through this is with Megs' help. He's gonna be our guide."

"Well, have fun then," he said sarcastically. "I won't hold you back from your little picnic."

Arcee rolled her eyes, not really having the time or mood to argue with the Seeker. She was about to leave when her gaze fell on the door and instrument panel. She wanted to check something.

Without saying anything, she knelt down and pulled at the handle at the bottom of the door.

It didn't even budge.

She tried pulling harder and harder, but she couldn't get it up. Having debunked her suspicion, she rose up again.

"And what was that about?" Starscream asked innocently behind the window.

She studied his face for a moment. He was good at keeping his expressions straight or according to the situation, to fool his enemies and to get his way. She wasn't sure if he was acting or not. But the door wouldn't open, so it must be locked and therefore there was no way he could have escaped. Megatron must have seen things.

"Nothing," she said at last, before leaving. "It might be a while before we return. Don't misbehave, and you'll get a cube tomorrow."

Starscream didn't answer, just watched her go. It was first when she had disappeared from his sight that he removed his ped from the door handle inside his cell.

A few minutes earlier...

Megatron entered the command center from the GroundBridge portal, looking up and around the base to get a good look at it.

"So this is where the magic happens," he said with a smirk, which fell immediately when his gaze found Starscream's face, peeking from behind a wall in the other end of the room.

He got a sinking feeling. He had heard from Airachnid that the Autobots had taken his First Lieutenant prisoner, but he had never thought they would have taken him back to their base. Let alone let him wander the base so early. The only reason Starscream was allowed to wander the Nemesis by himself was because the warlord knew the Seeker was too scared of him to try anything funny. One could probably not say the same thing about the Autobots.

Simply the fact that Starscream had indeed defected to the Autobots filled him with anger, and he intended to let him - and the Autobots - know.

"Starscream?!" he thundered, just as the Seeker let out a whine and disappeared. The warlord was about to follow him but was met by several blasters pointing at him, urging him to stop.

Optimus, Ratchet and Bumblebee turned to see what the Decepticon leader had seen. He was already gone.

"You must be mistaken, Megatron," Optimus said. "Starscream is not here, as you can see."

"Yeah, what's your problem, Buckethead?" Bee dared bleeping.

"As we are currently at a ceasefire, I will let that one slide, scout," Megatron snarled at the insult. "I know my First Lieutenant when I see him."

"I'll check it out," Arcee said, retracting her blaster and went for the hallway, leaving the others behind with Megatron. This one crossed his arms, his smirk having returned.

"I didn't think you had the integrity to take him in, let alone wander the base. Such a bold move, Prime."

Optimus spoke with a calm tone, not wanting tensions to rise any more than necessary. "We do not let him wander the base yet, though he has escaped twice already."

"You cannot keep a Seeker locked up in a room forever," Megatron informed, a bit more serious this time. "They go crazy if they aren't allowed to fly. I have heard of one case where a single locked-up Seeker went into an Energon rush, breaking out of the secured room and mangling six guards to death. And even if he cannot get out, he can do tremendous damage to himself, in his attempt to get free."

The Autobots didn't add in while the warlord talked, just listened. "And has that ever happened with Starscream?" Optimus asked.

Megatron barely hesitated before answering. "No. Unlike most, he is surprisingly good at keeping himself at bay. I have had him locked inside for ten years without allowing him flight. Mostly because I had... hindered him of it." He said the last part with a growl.

The Autobots stirred uneasily at the notion. The humans, still hiding, did not understand what he meant. One time when Starscream had tried taking his master's position (and failed, naturally), Megatron had given him the worst possible punishment you could give a Seeker, any flight frame for that matter.

He had torn off his wings, in a slow and very painful manner.

It took ten years to repair, replace and recover his wings. After that experience, Starscream had never again tried betraying Megatron while he or any other Decepticons were present and conscious. He had been constantly wary and afraid of the warlord since. Which worked exactly in his favor.

"He is a monster," the warlord snarled. "A worthless beast that deserves to be put down rather than fed to later bite you in the back. He is not worth your time and resources, Prime. Remember that."

Had it been an Autobot or even human Megatron was talking about, everyone would surely have bantered and stood up to him. But no one protested against him in this case. Regrettably, they agreed with him. Starscream had, so far, been nothing but trouble for them. He kept trying to escape, and they didn't trust him enough to relieve him of his cuffs so he could go out on a flight that he apparently needed. At least Bulkhead was seriously considering Megatron's suggestion to just let him go.

"He may be a monster, but he is our monster now," Optimus said. "We are trying to turn him to the greater good."

Arcee returned before Megatron could answer. "False alarm," she said. "He's still in his cell, locked door and everything."

"Looks like you just imagined it, Megs," Bulkhead said.

Megatron didn't pay mind to the Wrecker. "So you say you're trying to turn him to your side. Yet, you keep him locked up in a cell like a prisoner. Not that I disapprove, it is most appropriate. But even I can tell that is not the way you build trust between each other." He gave a toothy smile at the last part.

"We are taking it slowly," Optimus simply said. "But right now we have more important matters to discuss than Starscream's progress."

"Naturally."

Starscream sat on the floor, waiting, plotting, speculating.

It was sheer luck Arcee had not seen through the lower window, or she would have known he had held down the door handle on his side with his ped. He had hoped the panel outside saying 'locked' would be enough to fool her, but that apparently wasn't the case. It was an improvisation, something he was fairly good at.

He knew he had to wait a good long while before he could be certain that the Autobot team - and Megatron - had left the base for the Earth's core. While waiting for that to happen, he had to figure out how to get free of these irritating shackles. Or rather, how to get his wrists to his front so he could actually use them.

His initial thought was move his servos around his body, but that would be problematic, not to mention painful, so he saved that thought as a last resort.

And so he went on to come up with some solutions.

He could think of none.

There was nothing inside this cell that could help him get rid of the cuffs, and he doubted it would be a good idea to do it outside the room.

He spent merely fifteen minutes trying to come up with something, but his mind was blank. The only thing that made sense was moving his arms around his body. So be it.

He thought if it would be better to move the arms over his head or under his waist. He imagined how painful it would be to move his tightly cuffed wrists under his aft and tossed it aside. It would be better and less painful to move above the head to the front.

While not often used, all Cybertronians had the ability to move their arms 360 degrees, as their joints were more like magnets than whatever held the humans' bones together so tightly that they couldn't do the same. It seemed that now was the time to use that trait of his race.

He pushed his arms back and upwards, as far as he could...only to be hindered by his wings. He stiffened. He had not considered that his wings would be in the way.

He tried different positions with both his arms and his wings: Hiking the wings, drooping them, stretching his arms as long as possible, but no matter what he tried, the wings always got in the way in the end. After twelve minutes of trying, he gave up.

Which left him with one option: Go under the waist.

He had relatively long arms and a small waist, perhaps this wouldn't be as big a problem as he first thought.

Still standing, he stretched his arms as long as possible, then attempted to move the wrists beneath his aft. If it wasn't for the cursed stasis cuffs, this might have been an easy task. They limited his reach to be just a tad bit too short. But there was no other way out of this, he had to move on. Even if it meant he had to twist his joints.

He forced his arms to stretch further than they actually could. The pain was extreme, and he stopped. This was a bad idea, he could possibly disable his arms if any of the nerve wirings snapped at his action.

"Too bad there's no other way to do this," he grumbled to himself, dreading the choice he had made.

He spent half an hour simply encouraging himself enough to get going. Every time the pain in his shoulder joints appeared, he stopped and reconsidered his options, every time coming to the conclusion this was the only way and tried again. After thirty minutes, he got frustrated with himself.

"It's just a little pain, even if I lose my arms, I can always get new ones!" he hissed to himself, tired of being such a coward.

He vented in deeply, then he practically shot his arms under his waist, this time not intending to go back. The pain got more intense as he got further under the waist. He was unable to stop himself from screaming this time. Merely two minutes in, he managed to get his wrists to his thighs, brushing the spike going down from his waist, sending a stinging pain up his spinal strut, making him fall to the floor on his back. He let out a high-pitched shriek. It felt like it had nearly chipped off.

As the pain settled, both from the shoulders and from the waist, he exhaled in relief. He did it. It had been painful, but he had managed to get past the first part. Now he just had to move his servos over his legs and...

His spark skipped a beat. He had forgotten to take account for one crucial possibility: His legs were too long for his arms to get past.

He had never thought about it before - who does, really? - but from what he had seen of himself in mirrors and such, he faintly recalled his legs and wings being just about the same length, his arms only a tad bit shorter. And because they were placed farther from the legs, it made them seem even shorter.

He tried nonetheless to finish the task. He managed to get to the heels, when his arms gave up. He tried crouching his legs, but again, those spiky heels were a few inches longer than the wrists, making it impossible to go on. He tried for twenty minutes before giving up and retreated to his thighs. And now he was faced with another cruel twist: He could not move his wrists back again. The spike on his waist was now blocking the cuffs returning. He imagined he would have to wrist his shoulder joints from their sockets to get under now.

In the next thirty minutes he lay on the floor in an awkward position, crouched up on his back with his servos stuck on his thighs, unable to move, speculating what to do now. He was beginning to get a bit stiff.

He couldn't move his arms above his legs. He couldn't move them back to his back. He was stuck in this ridiculous position, he couldn't move and he certainly couldn't escape in this state. What if one of the Autobots, or worse, one of the humans walked in on him like this? It would be most embarrassing, to say the least.

He had no idea what to do, other than ripping off his arms. But that would cause a great Energon leakage, and he'd leak out and die before he could even patch up the wound. Besides, he didn't have the strength or courage to take off even one of his own arms.

He froze as a possible, but very frightening idea came to mind.

He didn't need to rip off an arm. A servo was all he would need to remove.

"You can't seriously consider doing this, right?" he said to himself.

But he couldn't think of anything else. After the idea sprung to mind, he spent another thirty minutes trying to think of another way out of this, even the slightest sign, even the slightest percentage to succeeding. But nothing came up, and he knew it was the only option he had by now.

He would have to bite off his own servo to escape.

He shuddered by the thought and gazed at his left servo. If done right at the right area, the leakage wouldn't be too serious. Either way, this would be extremely painful.

His spark raced faster as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. His legs and arms were pulled in close, he leaned himself forward as far as he could. As he was mere inches from the wrist, he took a deep invent, thinking This is a bad idea, and then exhaled.

In a swift move, he shot himself forward, grabbed hold of his wrist with his teeth on the side of the stasis cuffs leading to his arm, and rolled forward until he lay on his right side. His spark and head both pounded with anticipation. Being in this tightly crouched-up position was painful, but it was nothing compared to what he was about to do next.

He gently squeezed the mesh on his wrist, trying to find the right spot and to get an idea of how hard to bite. It didn't hurt, but knowing what was going to happen next made the squeeze very uncomfortable. Laying on the floor with his wrist in his mouth for fifteen whole minutes, he thought again, This is a bad idea, I should just quit, I'll get another opportunity, but shook that thought away.

It's just a servo. I can replace it, quite easily, even. What I can't replace is my freedom. If I don't get out of this, I will never be able to fly again.

He closed his optics and imagined one of his many flights. The feeling of soaring among the clouds, feeling a cool breeze gently caressing his armor. The cold but refreshing feeling of going through a wet cloud, washing away dirt from his armor, then basking in the warm sun to dry him clean. Switching to bot mode to initiate a free fall, feeling the excitement of heading towards the ground before transforming back to jet mode, just before hitting the ground and shooting upwards again. Oh, what a thrill that always gave him!

And now, because of the Autobots, he was locked up, bound, grounded, ripped of his freedom and without anything to do in this empty, claustrophobic room. He knew very well what he preferred. A mere servo was nothing compared to his freedom.

Pumped by the prospect of freedom, he opened his optics and bit down hard at his wrist.

The pain was excruciating, and it wasn't even close to cut through. He paused for a bit, but without removing his teeth from the mesh. He could taste the metallic taste of his own Energon and cringed. This was bad, very bad. He wanted to quit, but knew there was no turning back. His servo was already badly damaged, but because his teeth weren't nearly as sharp or strong as Megatron's own teeth, it took a great deal of force and time to get the job done. And the pain would only increase from here.

Renewing his need for freedom, he chomped down harder on his leaking wrist. This time he didn't pause, didn't stop, didn't hold back, only kept pressing harder and harder, hearing the cracks and snaps as metal tore apart and his nerve wirings began snapping. He rolled around in pain, wanting it to stop. He wanted to scream but couldn't, so instead coolant ran down from his optics, stress building up in him from the increase in pain.

By every time his press became harder, the pain became more and more extreme. More, more, more...

...then suddenly, the pain decreased, then disappeared completely. He heard a clonk and fell together as a weight was taken off his arm. He gasped and vented deeply for a moment before assessing the situation.

He looked to his left. His arm lay beside him, an open wound badly leaking Energon on the floor. The servo was gone.

Not currently having the strength to sit up, he pulled the arm to him, shoving the servoless wrist into his mouth. This way, the Energon would at least return to his body.

He sat up with the help of his right servo, which he then glanced at. It was whole, with the stasis cuffs on it. The other end of the cuffs was free, but stained with blue Energon. Which prompted him to look at the floor in front of him.

Between his legs lay the severed black servo of his. The claws stretched in an open servo. A little bit of Energon leaked from the wound, but next to it was a large puddle of Energon. The Seeker didn't even have the strength to cringe at the sight. He was getting depleted of Energon.

His fear and panic having completely disappeared from the experience, he rose to his peds with his remaining servo, stumbling a bit from the dizzyness of the pain and Energon loss, and walked determined towards the door. Without looking back on the severed servo, he opened the door all the way up, enabling him to walk out without issue. When the Autobots came to check on him later, they would be met by this open door, and see the horror inside. They would then put two and two together and know what they had done to him. He'd relish on the thought if it wasn't because of the sacrifice he had made.

He followed the route through the hallways he took earlier, leading to the fork that led to the command center and the racks with miscellaneous. He decided to go right, and arrived at the racks. He searched through the various things until he found what he was looking for: Platinum bandages. Perfect. These would prevent metal ions from entering his wound and stop the bleeding efficiently.

He picked up the bandage roll with his right servo and let go of the other wrist with his mouth. He held it in an upright position so the Energon wouldn't leak out right away. It was first aid time.

He held on the end of the bandage with his teeth and placed it on the wound. He then wrapped the roll around his wrist until it sat tightly enough for him to let go with his teeth. Afterwards he simply had to wrap the wrist in the bandage to seal the wound, which was easy enough. The hard part was the end.

He held onto a piece which would be the other end of the bandage. He then simply let go of the roll, hearing a ponk as it hit the floor, holding onto the piece with two claws. Afterwards he proceeded to cut through the thin metal with his teeth, loose seconds later. Letting go with his teeth, he carefully tucked the end of the bandage into a crevice of the wrappings, then pulled out, made a loop and closed up.

He took a look at his work. Not his best work of first aid, but it would do the job.

Now that that was done, all there was left was the hard part. To escape.

He made his way to the command center and saw that it was practically empty. He was about to enter when he heard voices and saw that it wasn't completely empty after all. Ratchet and the five humans were still in.

Hiding behind the wall, he studied the scene. They were all looking at the monitor screens. On the screen were five headshots, one of them being Megatron, the other four being the rest of the Autobot team. Next to each headshot was a set of bars showing the respective bot's vital stats, including a soundwave bar that moved when one of the bots spoke. It seemed they had already set off into the Earth's core to stop Unicron. Perfect.

Starscream considered his options here. He contemplated simply sneaking up on Ratchet, clawing his side, then his stomach, then his back, then threw him on the floor and began stomping on him like one of those characters in those animated pictures he had seen.

He chuckled and shook his head. It was funny to think about, but he knew that was impossible. As a field medic, Ratchet was used to being constantly alert, as well as equipped with dangerous tools and weapons to defend himself and his patients while on the battlefield. And even though he was alone, Ratchet was much older and more experienced than he, and he was anything but weak. Taking him head on was a death wish.

Too bad. If he could at least knock the doctor out, he could set the coordinates on the GroundBridge to a random location and just take off to freedom. Oh well.

He thought of another plan. Sneak past them without being noticed, then wait at the physical entrance of the base, which he faintly remembered from his Synthetic Energon high. Also a risky plan, but more likely for success than fighting Ratchet.

If he got spotted or heard by even the smallest of those humans, he was done for. This plan was all about stealth. Thankfully they seemed distracted enough by the screens, talking to their core team - literally - to pay attention to the rest of the room. He had to be quick and quiet about this.

He took a deep breath, exhaled, and then went out.

He tiptoed as silently as he could across the floor, eyes fixed on Ratchet and occasionally, the humans, only looking from them to his path once in a while. He had to be careful not to walk into anything, as that would give him away too.

He froze as Ratchet looked to the right. He just managed to slip behind a large tube before he was spotted.

"What's wrong, Ratch?" one of the humans asked.

"Nothing, it's probably just the storm outside," the doctor answered and looked back at the screen.

The Seeker held back a gasp. There was a storm outside? But well, if Unicron was awakening, it seemed only natural to come with a storm.

As he determined the coast to be clear, he boldly left his cover and slowly, quietly tiptoed towards the entrance, merely ten meters from his position. He stopped every once in a while when he was unable to duck for cover, when it seemed the humans or Ratchet were about to move, but they were simply stretching. He then continued his path.

Just as he was merely two meters from the entrance, the entire room went black for a second. The humans shrieked.

"Don't worry, the emergency power will come back on in just a second," Ratchet informed to calm the humans.

While they were distracted, Starscream used the opportunity to get all the way into the rocky tunnel, leading to the entrance. He let out his breath which he hadn't realized he was holding, his spark racing faster than ever, his head feeling hot with stress and achievement.

"I did it!" he whispered to himself, holding back a laughter. "I can't believe I did it! I got out!"

But he was far from done, he knew that. He arrived at the entrance which was...closed, and locked.

He then recalled finding that from the Synthetic Energon incident too. What now?

The only choice he had now was waiting. At some point, one of the Autobots were bound to open the door, either to go out for a drive or to allow the humans to return home. When they did that, he would scoot out before they knew he was there. All he had to do then was run off to freedom!

Unless they find his cell empty before that, that was. He dreaded the thought. All his sacrifices would be in vain if he was found before then.

He leaned his back against the wall, waiting for his moment of opportunity.

Ratchet was relieved when the team's energy signals finally popped back on. They had suddenly disappeared for over an hour, cutting out communication with them. He had feared the worst. Though the fact that Optimus and Megatron's signals still weren't coming on was concerning.

"Ratchet, we need a 'Bridge," Arcee's voice sounded through the comm.

A GroundBridge was immediately activated, and out from the green portal stepped Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead. Optimus never came out, neither did Megatron. (Though that was more relieving than worrying.)

"Where's Optimus?" Jack asked concerned.

"Is he...?" Ratchet began, holding his breath.

"Dead?" Arcee finished, and continued. "No. But he didn't recognize us. He went with Megatron."

"Almost as if he's forgotten about us," Bulkhead added in.

Ratchet had a sinking feeling. Their leader had just defected to the Decepticons. It was hard to believe. But it wasn't good.

Starscream listened as closely as he could from his position. He couldn't see the Autobots, so far in the tunnel he was, but he could faintly hear the echo of their voices, though it was difficult to understand what they were saying. He heard something about Prime having gone with Megatron, something about forgetting, then something about Autobots and Decepticons. From what he could understand, Megatron had lured the Autobot leader to the Decepticons' side, which seemed rather obscure.

He leaned back against the wall and chuckled. So the great Optimus Prime had amnesia and thought he was a Decepticon. Hilarious. If he had known they would get such a strong ally in the future, maybe he would have stuck around with his old comrades. Although he didn't know what good that would do him.

He heard a few more exchanges but hardly paid attention to them.

"Whatever the case, we aren't going to find Optimus today. You should rest for now, and we'll begin the search in the morning."

"Arcee, could you drive Jack and I home? My car got kind of...sucked up in a hurricane."

"Sure thing."

"I'll take you home too, Raf."

"Thanks, Bee."

"Bulk, drive me home too!"

"Okay, okay, since everyone else is doing that, I guess I have no choice, haha!"

"And you, Agent Fowler?"

"I think I'll take my chopper. I'll see you all soon. Make sure to inform me if you catch a whiff of Prime."

"Of course."

Suddenly, the wall the Seeker was leaning against disappeared, and he fell onto his back with a shriek. He got onto his servo and knees and saw that the wall was going up, revealing a long road stretching across a vast desert, no, canyon, there were several mesas scattered across the landscape.

His spark raced faster. So this is where the Autobots' secret base is located, he thought excited. His spark skipped a beat when he heard engine growling behind him. The Autobots were coming his way!

He got onto his legs and stumbled a bit as he dashed off outside the base, rounding a corner and hid by the wall, turning his backside out, hoping his gray paintjob was enough to camouflage him against the wall.

He heard a car revving past him, then a heavier car rumbling past, followed by a motorbike engine zooming past. He waited several minutes in silence, but nothing happened. He had not been spotted. He turned around and gasped.

Having been isolated inside a tiny room without anything to do for over a month had apparently made him forget how...roomy the outside was. As far as his vision ranged, there was nothing but open ground, occasionally occupied by a mesa or two, and it was like that all the way out to the horizon. Above the dark canyon, a dark gray sky was stretching even further than the ground, with stars twinkling, the Moon shining and pale clouds sweeping across the sky. He longed flying amongst those clouds, but unfortunately the stasis cuff on his right servo was still preventing him from doing that.

He looked around, concerned how long until the Autobots found out he was missing. It couldn't be too long. He remembered Arcee saying that he would get a cube in the morning if he behaved. He studied the sky. It seemed to be early evening. Morning probably didn't arrive until at least ten hours. Plenty of time to get away.

Looking at the horizon, he began walking with determination. He didn't care where he ended up, he just had to get away from this place.

A few hours later, Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead returned to base, having set the humans off at their homes. Agent Fowler had also taken off at that time, leaving only Team Prime in the base. Well, minus Prime, that is.

"So when do we start, doc?" Bulkhead asked eagerly. "I can't sit around and wait until the sun rises to look for Optimus. I say we start now!"

Ratchet took Bulkhead by the arm and guided him to a recharging table. "Easy, Bulk. You have been affected by Dark Energon. You're not going anywhere else until I say you're clear. Same goes for you two," he added to Arcee and Bumblebee, who both nodded reluctantly.

"I don't think Megatron is going to hurt him," Ratchet continued. "Remember, they used to be old friends. Megatron will most likely make use of Optimus, which could last for at least a week, if not more. And he knows how to defend himself. He is our leader, after all."

"I just don't like it..." Bulkhead grumbled.

Arcee began walking towards the corridor further into their base. "I'm just gonna go check on Scream. Tell him the good news."

"Don't mention how I blacked out from the Dark Energon, okay?" Bulkhead said.

"I won't."

As she rounded the corner into the hallway, she could already feel something was not right. There was a strange scent in the air, and she swore she could see tiny glowing blue spots on the floor leading to Starscream's cell. She got a sinking feeling. Her walking turned into running upon reaching the last hallway. The door was open. The blue spots were leading inside. She had a bad feeling about this. She went inside and gasped, wincing back at the sight that met her.

On the floor, among a puddle of Energon, lay Starscream's severed servo. The mesh at the wrist was torn in spikes. Starscream himself was gone.

"RATCHET!"

Chapter Text

Starscream was still walking five hours later. He was exhausted. At least it was night, or it would have been so hot he would have melted away.

It was at that moment that he started speculating what he was supposed to do now. Before he left, he may have been locked up, but at least he had a roof over his head and fuel brought to him. Out here, there was no shelter, and he doubted there was any Energon nearby.

"What have I done?" he said to himself, but didn't turn back where he came from. He couldn't face the Autobots like this. It would be awkward to have gone through all that to escape, only to return in front of the entrance and say 'Hey, I changed my mind, please take me back?'.

He shook his head. He wasn't going to return. He would find a way to get his other servo free from the stasis cuff. Hopefully something that didn't involve tearing it off too. He would be totally hopeless if he lost both servos.

He continued walking for as long as he could stay awake. He estimated he had been walking for eight hours before he finally decided to lay down and take a break. He had not had recharge for about thirty-five hours, spending most of his time ramming himself against the wall, then tearing off his servo and walk for like four hundred miles. Hopefully he could find a place to get Energon in the morning.

He closed his optics and fell into recharge.

Ratchet studied the servo on the floor. It was a horrible scene indeed.

"What do you think?" Arcee asked concerned. "Megatron didn't do this, did he?"

"He was with us the entire time," Bulkhead reminded her. "There's no way he could have done this."

"Maybe he did it to himself," Bumblebee suggested.

"He wouldn't hurt himself like that," Arcee protested. "He's too self-absorbed and cowardly to do that."

"I think Bumblebee is right," Ratchet said as he picked up the servo with a pincer. "These are bite marks. I think he bit it off."

Arcee and Bulkhead shared glances. "But why? He said he was tired of being beaten up by Megatron and betrayed by the other Decepticons all the time. We didn't do that to him, did we?"

"No," Ratchet replied, in deep thoughts. "But perhaps...that didn't matter anymore."

He nodded into the room. They first really began to notice just how small and isolated it was, as well as empty. They then remembered what Megatron said about keeping a Seeker locked up. Flight frames tended to have claustrophobia due to being used to fly in the vast sky. They hadn't thought that would happen with Starscream, who, despite of his cowardly nature always seemed confident and level-headed in dire situations. It was weird imagining him freaking out from a mere phobia.

They wanted to turn the wayward Seeker into an Autobot, get a flight frame on their side, give hope for the rest of the Decepticons. And what did they do? They had restrained him, locked him behind bars like he was a mere criminal never to be released again. They now understood what Megatron had meant, that they had made a poor decision in their attempt to make him trust them.

There was no way he was going to trust them after this.

"What have we done?" Ratchet said silently. "I should have known better than to place him in a confined space with limited activity."

"It's not your fault, doc," Bulkhead said. "Starscream's the one who-"

"Do we even have time to discuss this?" Arcee interrupted. "He might still be in the base. Let's split up and search for him."

They spent barely an hour searching before concluding he was nowhere in the base anymore.

"He must have escaped," Bulkhead confirmed. "But how? When? He couldn't have gone through the GroundBridge while we were gone, right?"

"The wound on the servo suggests it happened about three hours ago," Ratchet informed. "He must have snuck out while you were all still in the core."

They winced in realization. "When we went out to drive the humans home...you mean he escaped then?" Arcee said.

"Exactly."

Bulkhead slammed his fist into the wall, leaving cracks in it. "Great. Wonderful. Not only did we lose Optimus, we also let Starscream get away! What else can we lose today?"

Arcee grabbed his fist and pulled it down with impressive strength despite her small size and stature. "Bulk, calm down. We'll find both Optimus and Starscream, and we're bringing both of them back here in one piece."

"That's gonna be tricky with Scream," Bee said and pointed at the servo.

Bulkhead swatted her servo away from his. "I don't give a scrap about Screamer. But if anything's happened to Prime, I'll crush Megatron's head!"

Before Arcee could counter, Ratchet went in. "We can all discuss this further in the morning. Get some rest and we'll start searching tomorrow."

The sun had just risen when Starscream woke up. He estimated he had slept for about three hours. Not much, and he certainly didn't feel refreshed, but the Autobots had to have noticed he was gone by now. He had to move on.

He got up with his servo, noticing the strange feeling in his left arm and then remembered he didn't have a left servo anymore. He sighed.

"Guess I better try to find a way to get this thing off me," he said while shaking the other servo, with the stasis cuff on. "Or at least find some Energon."

The next few days, while Starscream was struggling forward to find Energon and a way out of his cuffs, the Autobots were searching the state as well as others nearby for traces of their leader, or Seeker. So far, they had come up with nothing. The humans were just as worried as the bots.

"I'm sure he'll show up sooner or later," Jack said as Arcee picked him up from the drive-thru.

"Optimus or Starscream?" Arcee asked, though she knew the answer.

"Optimus, of course. Who cares about Starscream?"

"Unfortunately, we do," she admitted as they raced through the desert on their way to the base. "Though I suppose if he was still here while Prime's gone, we might not be as... gentle with him, as usual."

They arrived in the base, where the others were waiting.

"So, if we're going to Cybertron to restore Optimus' memories," Jack said as he joined the others, "then we need to find out how to get there."

"Can't we just use the GroundBridge?" Miko suggested. "Like how you 'Bridged into the core?"

"I already told you, that's different," Ratchet said. "The core is inside your planet. Cybertron is in another galaxy. We'll need a Space Bridge if we're going back to Cybertron."

"Don't the Decepticons have a Space Bridge?" Raf suggested.

"Starscream did mention they were building a new one," Bulkhead added in. "And our last confrontation with the 'Cons confirmed they were collecting parts for it."

"The problem is, we don't know where this new Space Bridge is," Ratchet said. "If only Starscream hadn't escaped, then we could ask him..."

"I blame myself," Bulkhead said. "I threatened him."

"That's an understatement," Jack said. "You almost turned him to scrap!"

"It was only thanks to Optimus that you didn't," Miko said.

Bulkhead said nothing more. They had all gone silent for a while.

"If we can find Starscream," Raf said, drawing attention to himself, "and ask him for the location of the Space Bridge, we could go to Cybertron, get Optimus' memories, and then restore them to his mind."

"But first we'd have to find Optimus," Bulkhead reminded him.

"If we infiltrated the Space Bridge, we might create such a ruckus that the 'Cons themselves will appear," Arcee said thoughtfully. "Maybe Optimus too."

"So in other words," Ratchet said. "In order to get our leader back and stirr the chaos his absence has brought recently, we have to find Starscream. It would certainly be safer and easier to find him first, instead of finding Optimus first."

"But we know Prime's on the 'Con ship, Starscream could be anywhere," Miko protested.

"You forget that he's still grounded," Ratchet reminded her. "He can only get out of those stasis cuffs with the key, and I have that one right here." He drew forth a key-card from his subspace and showed it to them before putting it back. "He'd have to be travelling on foot, so he can't be far from this state, if not still in it."

"So our new mission is to search only for Scream," Arcee confirmed. "Got it. We'd better start searching right away."

Starscream felt doomed. He regretted ever leaving the Autobots' base.

He had not found a single scrap of Energon during his journey, and he was far from close to getting the stasis cuff off him.

He had recently exited the desert and found a small, somewhat dry forest, a few kliks from a human residence. At least the trees were tall enough to conceal him from curious eyes. He had encountered a single human on his journey in the desert, a middle-aged man who claimed to be a geologist, searching for a red shooting star that fell from the sky. Thankfully Starscream managed to get away before anyone else saw him, leaving the geologist's colleagues to believe he had gone mad when he told them he had encountered "a giant metal harpy". What was a harpy, anyway?

He wasn't afraid of the humans, not in a million years. He simply didn't want to risk getting the Autobots' attention, given they had "made friends" with the humans.

Now though, he was so hungry, so tired, he actually wouldn't mind if the Autobots found him and took him back.

What had he been thinking, taking off without a proper means of removing that cursed stasis cuff? Had he been able to fly, he would at least have had a better chance of finding Energon, not to mention having more time to spare. Heck, he would even have been able to board the Nemesis, if he found it, that is.

He slumped among the trees, finding it difficult to even take a step. He stopped to rest for a moment, but then found himself unable to start walking again.

"Oh, come on," he sighed to his legs. "Don't fail on me now..."

He forced his leg forward...and then he fell over, hitting his head against a tree stump he hadn't seen below him. He rolled down to his side, and with a servo on his head he rolled onto his back, looking upwards.

"Stupid forest," he snarled. "I hate this planet. Stupid desert, stupid humans, stupid trees, stupid Autobots..."

He let out a sigh and let his arm fall to the side, just staring at the navy blue sky with lavender clouds and stars starting to twinkle. It was a moonless night, so it was very dark.

"What do I do now?" he whispered hopelessly. "They'll never find me here, I can't move, and I'm just about out of Energon. I'm as good as offline."

He closed his optics, then opened them again, not knowing if he would wake up from his next sleep. Had it not been for his little "amputation", going a week without Energon wouldn't have been such a big problem, even with the stasis cuffs on him.

"Stupid me," he added to his list. "Primus, please, let me live. I promise, if the Autobots do end up finding me, take me back, save my life, I swear I'll try harder to become an Autobot. No more complaints, no more escape attempts, Pit, I'll even..." He paused, finding it hard to say the next words. "...I'll even be friends with those human brats."

"Well, isn't that nice to hear."

He shot his optics wide open. Turning his head back, he saw Arcee's figure standing behind him, in an upside-down view. He let out a gasp, then what sounded like a whimper but actually being a restrained shriek of joy.

"Arcee!"

"Hello Starscream," she replied unemotionally, though she had a hint of a smile on her face. "Long time no see."

Back at the base, Ratchet was fidgeting with the GroundBridge, trying to solve their problem with going to Cybertron. He hoped it worked, because finding the Decepticons' Space Bridge may prove difficult, maybe even impossible, at least without Starscream.

During the week in their search, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee had been fighting the 'Cons at a military base when a GroundBridge appeared, letting the Decepticons through with the power source they had stolen for the Space Bridge. Arcee had followed through the portal into the warship just as it closed. A few hours later they had found her in the Arctic, half frozen. She had then reported not even having seen Optimus on the ship before Soundwave had sent her away.

It was safe to assume Megatron had upped the security since then. Both inside and outside. Such an opportunity would likely not present itself again.

Agent Fowler had then complained to the Autobots about the human casualties of the battle, which then led to an argument over what Optimus would have done in such a situation, which they didn't know because he wasn't there. They managed to calm down before it got serious, though.

Now, the three fighters had split up to search for Starscream in the north, south and east respectively. Bulkhead searched the mountains on the more rough terrain, Bumblebee scanned the flats of the desert at high speed, and Arcee investigated a dry, almost dead forest with barely any wildlife. They would usually search between six and ten hours before calling it a day and retreat to the base. So far none of them had come up with even a clue to where Starscream was.

Well, except, recently, for Arcee.

She had searched near the dying forest to the north when she overheard a certain man talking to one of his colleagues about a "giant metal harpy" that he met the other day. It sounded too much like Starscream to be true. After finding out where he had seen this "harpy", she had raced off with her holographic rider on, briefly reporting to Ratchet about her discovery. It may just have been a delusional man, but they couldn't afford not to take the chance.

While waiting for Arcee to report back her conclusions, Ratchet fixed the GroundBridge so it could go anywhere they desired without effort, even if at high speed, altitude or deep underground. Those had been issues he had wanted to take care of for a long time but simply never got around to do it. Admittedly, he had been inspired by Miko's notion of "turbo-charging the GroundBridge", which prompted him to try upgrading the machine. It was while he worked on it that he remembered he had considered doing the same for a long time. There was no guarantee it was going to work though.

The GroundBridge was of lower tech than the Space Bridge, and so had limits to its function. Like, if two GroundBridge portals appeared near each other, they would create a third portal to a realm called the Shadowzone, where there was basically no life or means to escape again. And if tampered with, like Ratchet was doing right now, it could end up destroying the ones using the portal instead of teleporting them. He would have to test it later, with a non-living thing.

He was half-way done with the adjustments when he got a comm. from Arcee.

"Ratchet, do you hear me? I found Starscream, and he's in bad condition. We need a 'Bridge right away!"

Ratchet felt a rush in his tanks by the news. Finally, they had found him.

"That's great," he said breathlessly. "Unfortunately I cannot operate the GroundBridge right now. I'm currently working on it, and it will take some time to get it together enough to use it again."

"I don't think we have a lot of time here. He's very depleted of Energon, he needs medical help immediately!"

He thought for a moment. He still hadn't made the big adjustments to the GroundBridge which would complicate its usage. He could just wrap it up and keep the original system on, waiting with the new programming for later.

"Give me five minutes," he proposed. "And I'll send a portal to your position. Just hang in there."

"Thanks, Ratch," Arcee said as the comm. was hung up. She turned to the Seeker below her on the ground. "He says to wait five minutes. Apparently he's working on the GroundBridge."

"Great," was all Starscream said, quietly. Unusually quietly.

The femme let out a small sigh and sat down on the ground next to the Decepticon, knowing he was more or less incapacitated and harmless.

"So, why'd you leave?" she said, making small talk, but also a genuine question.

"Need I say?" he replied quietly. "I was bored. And my wings long for flight. I don't think I need to say more. Not that a grounder like you would understand."

"Maybe not entirely," she admitted. "But I guess I can understand from watching the birds. They have wings, they learn to fly, and they fly. And if they can't fly, they get restless."

Starscream scoffed at the notion. "Don't compare me to a bird, I'm far superior to a measly organic. And we fliers don't get restless, we panic. I'm sure you've found my servo to confirm it."

Arcee unwittingly glanced at his left arm, where a platinum bandage was covering the bare wrist. She shuddered by the memory of the leaking servo.

"We did," she answered. "Still can't believe you actually did that."

"Me neither. But I had no choice. What you Autobots did to me was humiliating, stressful and..." He trailed off, wanting to say a third thing but couldn't think of anything. "...and, just wrong," he decided. "I find it hard to believe any of you had to go through the same when you joined Prime's team."

"We didn't," she said. "But you are a Decepticon. We didn't want to risk you escaping and hurting the humans."

"Oh really," he scoffed. "Would you do that to any Decepticon, or just me?"

Arcee was about to say the former, but then fell into deep thought on the question.

As she remembered Megatron saying Starscream's name when he arrived in the base, she realized the Seeker had already escaped at that point. And most likely having seen the Decepticon leader, unrestrained, being welcomed by the Autobots. Of course, they had all been wary of him and knew there was no way they could get stasis cuffs on him. But Starscream probably interpreted it as they would welcome Megatron as one of their own if he was the one who joined them.

She then imagined if any of the other 'Cons had joined them instead of Starscream.

Her first thought was Breakdown. While he and Bulkhead were arch-enemies now, rumors back on Cybertron sounded that the Stunticon had, before joining the Decepticons, been a Wrecker like Bulkhead and Wheeljack. It was said that the two big brutes had been best friends, barely hanging out alone with anyone else. They laughed together, fought together, recharged together, refueled together and built stuff together, they basically did everything together. But when Megatron had started recruiting bots to join his army, Breakdown had volunteered while Bulkhead and Wheeljack had declined. Bulkhead had been worried about his friend's decision, but otherwise there were no protests from the group.

This changed after the first great battle, where hundreds of bots lost their lives, both Autobots, Decepticons and Neutrals. The two met each other face to face. Bulkhead begged Breakdown to return to the Wreckers with him, but the latter refused, claiming he had finally found others like him. This led to a fight between them, a serious fight, and they hated each other ever since. Bulkhead never spoke of this, of course, but Arcee had heard the rumors, and she found them plausible.

She then went to think about Knock Out, the 'Con who spends most time with Breakdown nowadays, it seems. He was quite small for a Decepticon, as they mostly consist of fliers like Starscream and heavy bots like Megatron. He was a jerk, and a maniac, but seemed fond of human culture despite hating the organics themselves. But he also seemed like the kind of mech who sided with the winning team, so she could kind of imagine him with Team Prime.

Her thoughts then went to Soundwave. He was the most loyal to Megatron, wouldn't betray him even if his function depended on it. Otherwise he seemed like a calm mech, though was also kind of creepy. Even less would dare put stasis cuffs on him than Megatron.

Speaking of creepy, she began thinking of Airachnid, her own arch-enemy. Nope. Not a chance. Never. She would never forgive anyone who exterminated her partner. Much less allow them to join their side. Such a bot simply couldn't be trusted.

She wrapped her head, trying to remember if there were other 'Cons they had met but forgot about. Most of the Decepticons who went with Megatron to Earth had by now either perished in battle, by Megatron, or they had run loose on the planet like the Stunticons, Combaticons and Seekers. There were no other 'Cons on the ship than those she had thought of.

She had also concluded that none of them, not even Megatron or Soundwave, were as unpredictable and dangerous as Starscream. He was literally known as 'The Betrayer', 'The Traitor' and other such titles. He was famous for his backstabbing, pretending to be helpless only to strike when his enemies turned their backs on him in pity and disgust. He was simply the least trust-worthy of all the Decepticons. Even the 'Cons themselves didn't trust him, probably why Megatron gave him so many beatings, in attempt to prevent him from backstabbing the warlord.

Her silence prompted the Seeker another scoff. "Thought so."

There was silence for a moment. Then Starscream broke it.

"One question. Why are you Autobots so fixated on protecting this organic world and its residents, instead of trying to help restore our own world? I mean, these organics don't even live for more than a few hundred years before they die. So why go through the trouble to save something that's already doomed?"

She thought on the matter. It was true, humans didn't live for very long. The Autobots had already been on Earth for three million years, far longer than humans have even existed, which was spent waging war against the Decepticons who followed them there. Back then they had hundreds of assets, as well as hundreds, thousands of enemies. Today, there were only five Autobots left on Earth, as well as at least six Decepticons - not including the Vehicons or missing 'Cons - left on the planet as well. They had all perished, though a few had simply left the war and now roamed the Earth in peace. There had been a few rumors and legends about certain monsters that people had claimed seeing but never caught on camera. Perhaps some of these were Decepticons or even Autobots?

"I guess," she began, "it's because they're so strong, so full of willpower. They know they don't live long, yet they struggle to survive, to live their lives without regrets, to be happy. We admire them for their strength, their imagination, their technology despite their young age, and their will to survive. Kinda reminds us of ourselves."

He rolled his eyes, not wanting to comment on her answer.

She dared another question. Or, the same question, but altered. "Why did you really leave? It can't simply be because of boredom."

Starscream thought for a moment, the best he could in his conditions. "I don't know," he replied. "Perhaps because it won't be long until you find me useless and just throw me into the incinerator."

Arcee was shocked, though not really surprised, at the answer. "No," she said a bit too quickly. "No, we would never do that, not even to a 'Con. Not unless it's in a battle," she added quietly to herself. "And we certainly wouldn't do it simply because someone is useless."

"Have you ever had someone useless?"

She thought for a moment. She was a bit ashamed of her phrasing.

"...No. At least no one completely useless. At some point everyone will make use of themselves, whether big, small, strong, weak, good or bad. You have been of use to us plenty of times, I have to admit."

This didn't cheer the Seeker up much. "But when I run out of useful information to give you, there's no point in you having me anymore. And I can't do anything bound, imprisoned. I am useless right now."

"That's just the lack of Energon talking," she protested, though didn't know why. "You said before you'd make a greater effort to become one of us. If you're telling the truth for once, your wings could be more than of great use to us. And you said you were an Energon Seeker too, right? Doesn't that mean you would have easier to find Energon, especially from the sky?"

Starscream snorted at her good points. "Perhaps. Though that didn't do me any good while being out here. Didn't even find a single scrap."

"Starscream," she said, reaching for his helm but changed her mind and retracted her servo. "Nobody's useless, no matter how much you claim you are. No matter how much others claim you are. As long as you have the will to live, it's because you know someone needs you in life." She thought a little for an appropriate metaphor. "Even a bended sword can still impale its victims. It's not any more useless than a straight sword."

"Fun metaphor," the Seeker replied. "But perhaps you're right. I know I might not be the most... reliable of bots, but I do keep my word, and I do not like having debts to others. I promise I will try harder. As long as you try harder too."

A moment later, a GroundBridge portal finally appeared, prompting the femme to stand. Arcee hauled Starscream's right arm over her shoulder, trying to steady him as they walked through the green portal. She did most of the walking though, he more slumped along the ground, barely having any strength left in him. She wasn't sure if he was genuinely weak or if it was pity-weak. Either way, she had to carry him through.

The kids were still in the base when they saw Arcee coming through the portal with Starscream slumped on her back. It was a strange sight, as the Seeker, although small for his kind, was still towering over the tiny assassin and femmebot. He was about to fall over several times just on the way in, his support being way too short for him. But they eventually made it to Ratchet, who put him down on the operating table.

"Hey, Scream," Bulkhead said with a strange cheery voice. "Missed ya."

"Good to see you're still alive," Bumblebee bleeped, also with a cheery tone. Or, the same tone, but the Seeker imagined it was supposed to sound cheery. It worried him to see them like this.

"Shut up," he hissed, thinking they were making fun of him.

"No need for an attitude," Bulkhead replied, sounding less cheery. Good.

"And that's coming from you, door-breaker."

The Wrecker didn't say any more.

"Please, give me Energon," the Seeker practically begged Ratchet. "I am terribly weak."

"Let me first reattach your servo. Unless you like having one hand?"

Starscream briefly glanced at his left wrist, trying to feel the servo that wasn't there. It didn't feel good. He shook his head no.

"Then let me get to work."

He first removed the platinum bandage to reveal the gaping hole in the thin arm. Thankfully it had stopped leaking, but he had to make it do so again if the servo was to work again. First, though, he took the servo and placed it onto the wrist, fitting the pieces together, then carefully blowtorching it together to stick. Good thing the Seeker didn't have any feeling in the wrist at the moment or it would probably be painful.

"The nerve wirings are cut, but introducing Energon should prompt your self-repair system to make new ones," the doctor informed as he wrapped the wrist in a heated copper bracelet, to make the stiffened Energon melt and flow into the hand, so his self-repair system could get to work. Afterwards he gave the Seeker an Energon drip to recover on. He had also taken the liberty of removing the stasis cuff from his servo, as Starscream was currently too weak to try and escape. He did bind the wrists to the table with bracers that were small enough to prevent his hands from slipping through, but big enough so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Just in case.

"Now that you're out of danger and recovering," Ratchet said, "there's something we need to ask of you."

"Fire away."

"We need you to tell us where the Decepticons' new Space Bridge is located," Arcee said instead of Ratchet.

"What for?" he asked himself, out of curiosity.

They glanced at one another, unsure if they should tell him or not. They decided it would be pointless to hide anything from him.

"You must be aware by now that Optimus is not present," Ratchet began.

"I can see that."

"While we were in the core, Optimus used the Matrix of Leadership to stop Unicron from awakening," Arcee explained. "Losing the power apparently gave him amnesia, and Megatron used that to his advantage. So now our leader thinks he's a 'Con. As crazy as that sounds."

Starscream simply nodded, deciding not to tell them he knew this already, having eavesdropped on them a week ago.

"In order to get his memories back, we have to get Jack to Cybertron to fill the Key to Vector Sigma with the Wisdom of the Primes," Ratchet explained. "But the only way to get to Cybertron is by Space Bridge. And you're the only one here who knows where it's located."

Starscream took a moment to think. More for the dramatic effect than for actual thinking. Getting Energon back gave him his ability to think back. So he didn't need to think too deeply to know what to say.

"Assuming they've actually completed the Space Bridge without my supervision," he began, "I suppose I can tell you. However, before I tell you, I have a question of my own."

Ratchet rolled his eyes impatiently. "What is it?"

"Why are you sending a human to our homeworld? Not that I care about humans, but it's not exactly human-friendly environment. Which surprises me that you would risk this boy's life by going there, considering how... chummy you 'Bots are with organics."

Again, they shared glances, unsure how much to tell their Seeker.

"Jack was chosen by Optimus to take care of the Key to Vector Sigma, and therefore the Matrix of Leadership," Ratchet said. "In other words, he has been recognized as a... Prime." Even the Autobot had hard to say those words.

This surprised Starscream. A human, recognized as a Prime? To take care of one of the most ancient and sacred of Cybertronian relics? He had to hold back a scoff, knowing it would upset the Autobots if he didn't. It was just so hard to believe. And worst of all, it felt humiliating, even if he wasn't a religious mech. But the thought of having a human Prime, ruling over the planet and having the Cybertronians as his underlings...no. Just, no.

"R...really?" he simply said with a forced smile, trying hard not to insult any of them. "How... fascinating!" He clenched his teeth, clearly against the idea. The Autobots didn't dwell on it.

"Anyways," Ratchet said, trying to get back on topic. "Now that you know what we're going to do, will you tell us the location of the Space Bridge?"

He looked around at the Autobots, then to the humans below. He fixed on the boy he had learned was Jack, the tallest of them. The boy looked determined into the Seeker's optics, and the Seeker stared back. He certainly seems fearless, he thought. Maybe he'll perish during the trip, and I won't have to look at his face anymore.

"I'll tell you the coordinates."

During the next hour, Ratchet finished adjusting the GroundBridge to have a wider range, as Starscream had told them it was located underground, only accessible by GroundBridge. It was an underground cavern they had discovered, and entered via Soundwave's GroundBridge programming. It was big enough to house a Space Bridge, it was an unknown location and away from anyone's reach. Perfect to build a Space Bridge. They had found the cave and started working on the Bridge just shortly before Starscream was captured by the Autobots. Probably the thing Megatron feared the worst of Starscream telling the Autobots.

Raf helped Ratchet testing the newly upgraded GroundBridge. He used his remote-controlled car to drive through the portal, but it ended up exploding instead of teleporting, which was bad news. Ratchet was ready to give up, but Raf told him a story of him climbing up a rope in gym class, which was hard, but ultimately failed to make Ratchet understand. He wasn't the only one.

"You humans have a strange definition of the word 'hard'," Starscream commented, having listened to the story. "Have you ever tried breaking a stasis cuff? It's basically impossible."

Raf glared at the Seeker, who smirked in return, giving a chuckle. Ratchet just rolled his eyes.

"Why can't we just use Soundwave to 'Bridge us to Cybertron?" Miko asked. "Didn't you say that he worked like a Space Bridge too, Scream?"

Starscream snorted at the name. "Idiot," he said, prompting an outburst from Bulkhead.

"What did you call her?"

"Bulk," Miko exclaimed.

"I called her an idiot," the Seeker repeated, staring the Wrecker in the optics. "Do you really think Soundwave of all bots would help us get to Cybertron? And to do what? Reclaim Optimus' memories so he will stop being a Decepticon? I don't think so. And that lunatic is blindly following the mighty Megatron's every command, even if it costs his own function. Pit, he'd probably erase his own memories than betray his master."

"Besides," he continued, having Bulkhead removed from his face by the others, "Soundwave may have the protocols to act as a Space Bridge, but he hasn't established the link between Earth and Cybertron. He needs to travel by a real Space Bridge from Earth to Cybertron at least once, so his protocols can activate. Which is partly why His Lordship is building this Bridge."

"That reminds me," Jack asked suddenly. "Why does Megatron want so badly to have access to Cybertron?"

Starscream sighed and turned his attention to the boy. "Need I explain? He may be a big old schmuk, but even he wants Cybertron restored to its original state. He can't rule a ruined world, after all. And he can't restore it if he can't even reach it. Should be obvious even for your puny organic brains."

Arcee wanted to punch Starscream for that notion, but instead simply clenched her fist. Jack scratched the back of his head, knowing it was a stupid question.

"But to get back to the GroundBridge, the test subject was a dead object, it doesn't mean a living thing would explode going through that 'Bridge. Maybe," he added quietly to himself, smirking.

"Well, we're not taking that chance," Ratchet said sternly.

"We could try another test," Raf proprosed. "If I can borrow one of your devices?"

Ratchet thought on the idea for a moment. "Alright," he said and handed a small random device to the boy. He connected it to his laptop and programmed it to be controlled by the computer. After plugging it out, he controlled it to move into the GroundBridge, having been activated again. Same conclusion: It exploded.

Ratchet moaned in frustration, but Raf was still positive.

"Maybe it just doesn't work with machines," he proposed. "Have any Autobots ever exploded when going through a GroundBridge?"

"A few," Ratchet replied. "But then it was more glitchy than now."

The rest of the hour was spent continuing to test the GroundBridge before Ratchet decided to fiddle a bit more with the machine, until they managed to send through a test subject without it ending up exploding... at least, not on their end. They decided to take it and prepared for depature.

Jack's mother June Darby arrived to see her boy off, and Agent Fowler arrived with a space suit donated by NASA, as this kid would be the first human to step onto Cybertron, a feat even greater than the first man on the Moon. If word of the Transformers ever got out in public, Jack would become world famous, not that he wouldn't already be famous among the military for his feat.

The plan was that Arcee - having volunteered - was going to accompany Jack on Cybertron, protecting him from eventual dangers as well as a fast transport across the planet. Ratchet, being the only with both GroundBridge and Space Bridge expertise, was going to operate the Space Bridge with Bumblebee and Bulkhead acting as his bodyguards, defending him from approaching Decepticons and helping him take out those that were there.

Which left the remaining four humans back in the base to operate the GroundBridge... and look after Starscream, who remained bound and recovering on the operating table. The bots weren't keen on leaving the Decepticon behind with the humans by themselves, but there was no alternative. Besides, it wasn't like he could get free, so they really had no reason to worry. At least, that's what they kept telling themselves.

As the four Autobots and one human in space suit went through the GroundBridge - Ratchet and the B's first, to take out the Decepticons present and secure the complex, then sending Arcee and Jack through the GroundBridge and onwards through the Space Bridge - the remaining humans turned their gazes from the closing GroundBridge to the Seeker on the table. He gave them a smirk.

"Well then, it's just you and me now," he chuckled.

The base was able to communicate with the bots in the complex, but not with the team on Cybertron. The complex team were able to communicate with both ends, despite the great distance between Earth and Cybertron, probably because of the Space Bridge.

Starscream, getting bored of the silence, decided to strike up a conversation with the humans. He ran through his thoughts, trying to think of a topic to start on.

"That Jack is the first human to betread Cybertron, you know," he finally said after ten minutes of thinking. "You should be honored."

The humans only spared him brief glances before returning their gazes to the monitor.

"It is rather exciting," Jack's mother June replied hesitantly. "But I'm also worried about him. I'm his mother, I should be with him."

"Jack will be fine, Miss Darby," Agent Fowler assured her. "He's got Arcee with him, and the whole team is waiting for them in the complex. They will all return safe and sound."

"Unless an Insecticon gets ahold of them," Starscream added in, smirking.

"What's an Insecticon?" Rafael asked, finally looking at the Decepticon on the table.

Starscream smiled wider, glad to have caught their attention.

"They are large, ruthless beasts, capable of even tearing Megatron asunder. Not that I've ever seen him getting asundered by one, but even the most powerful warriors have fallen before a single of those beasts."

"And you're saying those are roaming Cybertron?" Agent Fowler said concerned.

"Exactly. Maybe even in swarms. They do form those. No one can survive an Insecticon swarm by themselves. Arcee would be torn to pieces, and Jack, well...let's just say he'll meet a gruesome end."

June's expression became more worried than before, even scared.

"Don't believe him, Miss Darby," Miko said and glared at the Seeker. "He's, like, the biggest liar in the universe, he's probably making all that up."

"Why would I lie about monsters on Cybertron?" Starscream replied, still smirking. "True, seeing your fearful expressions is rather amusing, but I won't get anything else out of such petty lies. Insecticons are very real, and are one of the few lifeforms that remained after we evacuated the planet."

"Like...Scraplets?" Rafael asked.

"Yes, those too. Right now, Cybertron is just one large wilderness filled with primitive monsters that destroy everything they come across. Though even Insecticons aren't nearly as dangerous as Scraplets."

"We've seen that," Miko said in agreement. "Those things nearly ate up our bots."

Starscream's smirk fell, looking around, concerned. "You had an infestation? Here? When?"

"It was some months ago," Rafael replied. "They were trapped in an escape pod in the Arctic. After it was thawed out, they started attacking. Good thing they only eat metal, or we wouldn't have been able to stop them."

Starscream thought on the matter. "I never thought about that before. True, Scraplets have never been interested in Energon or sparks, but since all of Cybertron and us Transformers are made of metal, I simply thought they ate everything. Seems you humans aren't so useless after all."

The kids didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. They just stayed silent for the next few minutes. Suddenly the profiles of the Autobots in the complex showed their energy levels to drop massively. Something was wrong.

"Maybe they're fighting," Raf suggested. "And whoever they're fighting seems to be strong."

"The only one I can think of who would be strong enough to tackle three Autobots at the same time is Megatron," Starscream suggested. "Seems he's found us out."

This almost caused the humans to panic.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," June whispered. "What if Jack and Arcee come back and Megatron is waiting for them?"

"They'll be screwed, that's for sure," Starscream replied.

Before anyone could scold him, Ratchet, Bumblebee and Bulkhead's profiles showed them to be offline. It seems they were knocked out by Megatron.

"Oh nooooo," June repeated, burying her face in her hands in worry.

"What do we do now?" Raf asked concerned.

"What can we do?" Agent Fowler said. "I don't exactly have a battle-tank ready in my pocket. We can't do anything to stop Buckethead, at least not without kicking the bucket ourselves."

They were silent for a while, trying to think of something.

"Can't you do something?" June stared up at Starscream, still strapped on the table. He looked astonished at her.

"Who...me?"

"Yes, you. You're the only bot left not unconscious or on Cybertron."

"I can't fight Megatron! He'll pulverize me! He's done that several times, for Primus sake! What can I do?"

"You are his second-in-command, aren't you?" Raf asked.

"Were. But that doesn't mean anything. He always punished me, even when I didn't do anything! Heck, there are people who did worse things and came out better than me when I did something minor. He hates me, he always have and I have always hated him in return. Tell me how exactly I can do anything to prevent Megatron from destroying your little expedition."

"You could talk to him," Miko suggested.

Starscream lifted a brow. "Talk to him? That's your great idea?"

"I thought you were a smooth talker. After all, if Megs hates you so much, then why has he kept you alive all this time?"

Starscream was about to answer, but found he had none. Why did he keep him alive? If it was the other way around, Starscream would execute Megatron if he tried to betray him even once. And some of the things Starscream did had caused others doing the same to be executed without mercy. So why draw the line with him? Starscream couldn't remember how many times he'd betrayed Megatron, the Decepticons themselves, he wasn't exactly a powerhouse like Shockwave, he could admit that, but his intellect was on level (or higher, he preferred to think) with the scientist. Or perhaps it was his level of deception that really describes the word "Decepticon". Starscream never knew, had thought little about it, and didn't really care much. Until now, that is.

"I don't know," he finally answered to the question. "But you may be right. Although I can't promise he won't try to kill me."

"That's your problem, we just want to save our friends."

Ouch.

Starscream thought about it for a while. Then he came up with a plan.

Ratchet struggled to keep himself conscious. The damage done to his body by Megatron wasn't major, but enough to cause a system breakdown. His self-repair system was overworking itself while he tried to assess the situation.

Megatron had found out about their plans. Most likely seen the Space Bridge was activated and still open, and thanks to Soundwave he could instantly bridge to the place. The three of them were nothing in combat compared to Megatron, he knew that much, but he hadn't realized until now that even the three of them together were no match for the warlord. How truly strong Optimus must be to stand against this Decepticon. And how much they needed him right now.

Ratchet glanced to Bumblebee and Bulkhead. Both seemed alive, but unconscious. They seemed to have been hit harder than him, or perhaps the medic's self-repair system was faster working thanks to the adjustments made to him when he entered the field. Medics were equipped with weapons and sometimes given thick armor and improved body systems to function longer in the field to protect his patients. But right now there was nothing he could do to stop Megatron or even help his comrades. All he could do was lie on the ground and wait. Wait for Megatron to turn off the Space Bridge. Wait for Arcee and Jack to come through the portal and meet the warlord. Wait for the base to open a GroundBridge, inadvertently bringing Megatron to their secret base. Wait for the Decepticons to come through another GroundBridge and storm the place. Wait for Megatron to finish them all off.

But Megatron neither tried to turn off the Space Bridge, go through it nor finishing off his opponents. He just stood in front of the open portal and waited.

Waited for the duo to come through. And then claim his prize.

He wanted the Matrix of Leadership for himself. He wanted the Wisdom of the Primes. He wanted to become the next Prime, to rule over Cybertron and Earth with more power than ever.

He heard Arcee and Jack making a transmission. They had arrived at the portal on Cybertron. As no one answered them, they went silent. They probably knew something was wrong and waited on the other side of the portal, not knowing the leader of the Decepticons was right in front of them, on the other side.

His thoughts were cut off when a GroundBridge suddenly appeared behind Megatron. The warlord turned around and saw who had come through. His face was portrayed with shock, astonishment and anger.

"Starscream," he growled as the portal closed behind the small Seeker, unbound and seemingly unarmed.

"Megatron," Starscream replied in the same tone.

Ratchet stared at the scene. Had Starscream escaped? Had the humans set him free? Were they alright back in the base? He couldn't think straight yet, so he just looked at the scene unfolding before him.

"It's been a while, Starscream," Megatron said, lowering his tone a bit. "How have you been?"

The Seeker seemed surprised by this civil behavior. "I'm, uh, fine. Never been better. And you?"

"It's been going very well this month. Not that I will tell you anything, that is. Since you seem to be with the Autobots now."

"Autobots? Noooo," the Seeker said, slowly making his way around the warlord, keeping his attention on the talk. "I've just been here and there and everywhere. Seen a lot of islands, destroyed a few towns, had some fun. It's been hard to find Energon though."

"I saw you in the Autobots' base."

Starscream stopped as he had his back to the Space Bridge portal and looked a bit nervous. "Oh, you did? Well, I wasn't there. You must have been hallucinating about me."

"I would never hallucinate about you, other than you trying to stab me in the back, followed by me crushing your head."

Starscream gulped by the remark but tried not to show his fear. "Speaking of which, I have been informed that you find me special."

Megatron blinked confused and then looked annoyed. "Oh really? And who would tell you such a lie?" He started walking forward, looming in on the Seeker.

Ratchet looked to the sides. It seemed Bumblebee and Bulkhead were waking up and taking notice of the situation as well. Starscream walked slowly backwards, trying to distance himself from the looming Megatron.

"Not that I can tell you anything," Starscream repeated, "but don't you find that interesting? Uh, that you...can't seem to kill me even when I make you mad? Heheh..."

Megatron stopped and gave him a face that expressed disgust, hatred and...embarrassment? Starscream couldn't tell, he had never seen his master embarrassed before, but that expression seemed new to him.

"One more word from you, and I will blast you to atoms."

On Cybertron, Arcee and Jack waited by the portal in anxiety.

"We should go through," Jack said impatiently. "The Scraplets could come back, or maybe there are more Insecticons..."

"We can't go yet," Arcee said sternly. "Something's wrong. Maybe the Decepticons found us out. They could be fighting on the other side. Or worse..."

"But we can't stay here. We have to risk it. We have to-"

Something came through the portal, making Arcee wince back, Jack letting out an exclamation. It was a piece of crumbled paper.

"What is it?" Arcee asked as Jack hopped off her and picked up the paper, unfolding it. "What does it say?"

He read the hastily scribbled words written on it, trying to decipher them.

"'Wait for the rock, then enter'. What does that mean?"

A moment later, a piece of metal that could be mistaken for a rock fell through the portal, startling both. Arcee started her engine.

"It means get on, we're going through!"

In the complex room, Starscream continued stalling Megatron with talking while the Autobots got their strength back, slowly and quietly getting onto their legs, even Ratchet who had been unable to move until now. He seemed to understand Starscream's presence here now.

He was a decoy, a distraction so they could escape. Was it his own plan, or the humans'? Either way, he could not understand why Starscream had decided to move to the Space Bridge if he wanted them to escape. He was blocking Arcee's way, after all.

Starscream briefly glanced at Ratchet, so brief that if you blinked, you would miss it. It didn't seem like Megatron had caught the glimpse, but Ratchet did. It seemed the Seeker was trying to tell him something. Something important.

"Alright, you got me," Starscream continued after a moment of silence between the two Decepticons. "I have been taken prisoner by the Autobots. But only because you ordered Airachnid to get rid of me."

"I never ordered her such a thing," Megatron protested. "It is you who are paranoid. Not that you shouldn't be paranoid, you have every reason to be. I would personally exterminate you myself if it wasn't because you excell at commanding my troops in battle."

"So you do have a reason to keep me alive." A rather vague one, but nonetheless a reason.

"But now that you're with the enemy, I have no further use of you. In fact, if I continue to let you stay with the Autobots, you may cause the ruin of our cause."

He drew forth his plasma cannon and pointed it directly at Starscream. The Seeker yelped, remembering the episode in the Energon mine.

"Please, my liege, let me live! I'll come back with you, I'll tell you everything about the Autobots I've learned! Oh! I know the location of their base!"

Everyone in the room stiffened. Megatron lowered his cannon, interested in his former subcommander's outburst. The Autobots held their breath. He wasn't going to spill the beans, was he?

"Well well, seems you aren't completely useless after all. Tell me the location of their base, and I might take you back."

The Autobots were back on their peds and initiating battle positions. If Starscream revealed the base, they would all be doomed. They could attack now and try to kill the Seeker, but that would compromise the safety of Jack and Arcee, and Optimus would be doomed to stay with the Decepticons for the rest of his life. They had no choice but to wait and hope Starscream wouldn't tell on them.

But that hope vanished at once.

"The location of the Autobots' base is..."

Megatron waited anxiously as the Seeker drew out the sentence, making a dramatic pause.

"...Autobot Outpost Omega One in..."

He was interrupted when a motor noise introduced the motorbike racing through the Space Bridge portal, running up Starscream's back and hitting the surprised Megatron in the head with the forewheel.

"...your face!"

Megatron stumbled backwards, grunting as he tried to see through the dirt in his optics from the wheel. While he was distracted, Ratchet opened a comm. to the base.

"We need a Bridge, now!"

A portal opened at once, and Arcee, not stopping, raced through it, followed by Bumblebee and Bulkhead.

Starscream made his way around the warlord. "Sorry, gotta go! Thanks for the talk, master!"

When Megatron turned around and fired his plasma cannon, Starscream and Ratchet had already made it through the portal. He roared in fury. He had let the Seeker bring his guard down, then drawn his full attention with the promise of the Autobot base location. He had completely forgotten about the Autobots surrounding him and on the other side of the portal. He damned himself for letting his guard down, and promised himself it would never happen again.

Starscream was the enemy now. He could no longer give him mercy. But he also knew the location of their base, at least if he was telling the truth. Megatron had to capture him so he could find out. And then, never let the Seeker go again.

"Soundwave, Bridge me back!"

The humans were relieved to see the whole team, including Arcee and Jack, return safely and alive. Starscream came through as the last one, following close behind Ratchet. After reuniting with the heroes, they all turned their attention to the Seeker, who was currently unbound and walking freely.

"I saved your tailpipes, didn't I?" Starscream chuckled. "You owe me for this."

"You're a wanted liar, traitor and murderer, this rescue of yours isn't even close to repaying your debt," Ratchet countered.

"What debt? Other than taking me in and keeping me alive, I don't see you having done anything that would put me in debt."

"I think he means you have a long way before you've cleansed your karma," Miko said with crossed arms.

"Karma? What's that?"

"You get what you deserve, simple as that. If you do wrong, wrong will be done to you."

Starscream scoffed at the girl. "Human nonsense."

"You still have to go back in stasis cuffs," Arcee said. "But thanks for saving us. You threw those things through the portal, didn't you?"

"Yes, I stalled Megatron, risking my life to make sure you all made it safely back home alive." There was a trace of disgust in his voice as he spoke. "And since I haven't shredded any of you into pieces yet, I believe you can trust me enough to let me-"

"Nope," Arcee said. "You're not cleared yet. You went off on your own without permission. Saving our lives doesn't mean we can trust you yet, though I suppose it is a step one."

"Guys, let's discuss this later. Right now, we should find out what to do about the Matrix," Jack said, drawing attention to himself. "We still need to find Optimus and give him his memories back."

"He's probably onboard the Nemesis," Starscream said. "Doing work for Megatron. Since he doesn't remember being an Autobot he probably can't fight either. And Megatron won't waste people in battle unless they can fight."

"He's on the warship, we get it," Bulkhead said. "Let's go already!"

"The warship is constantly in motion, it is impossible to GroundBridge there without knowing its location. The only way to get there manually is by flight."

The Autobots thought on the matter for a while.

"I could get my chopper," Agent Fowler suggested, "and sneak onboard with Jack. We should be small enough to avoid detection, right?"

"Not a chance," Ratchet protested. "Your helicopter might get detected by their security cameras and the strange energy signal. Plus, if you get spotted, you have no chance of getting out alive. You have to take at least one bot with you."

"My chopper's not big or strong enough to have an Autobot on it. Maybe I could take the jet instead."

"The weight of an Autobot would slow down the jet's movement, it is not nearly advanced as our bodies," Starscream protested.

"Well, then maybe you could take us!"

"My jet mode is smaller than that jet you ride, heck, Skyquake used it for his vehicle mode, and he's enormous! Besides, I only have one passenger seat."

"What if you only took me, and Arcee?" Jack proposed. "She's smaller than you, probably also lighter, and I'm the only human here who actually needs to go. Besides, you know the Nemesis better than any of us. You should know where it is, right?"

They stayed in silence, thinking about the idea. Starscream strongly opposed to it.

"There is no way in the Pit that I'm going to let a human inside my body, nor will I ever return to that ship! Um..."

"What?" Arcee said annoyed. "Out with it."

"Actually, now that I think about it, I did leave some things behind on that ship, having been suddenly captured and everything..."

"Also you're the only flier in here. And like you said, Earth jets aren't as durable as Transformer bodies. You're pretty sturdy, aren't you?"

"I have survived a few crashes. I suppose...I could make an exception this time."

They started planning their rescue operation from there.

The flight wasn't as pleasant as Starscream thought it would be. It would be a lot easier to enjoy it if it wasn't for the Autobot laying flat on his back, and the human inside his cockpit, contaminating him with his organic germs. The thought disgusted him. Though the presence of the Key to Vector Sigma with the Wisdom of the Primes installed intrigued him enough to leave them be. More or less.

"You need to loose a few pounds," Starscream said to Arcee. "It's beginning to get heavy."

"Spare it for the 'Cons, 'Con," she replied. "I'm here to keep an eye on you, and to keep Jack safe."

"It would have been easier if it was just him."

"I don't trust you to be alone with my partner."

"Oh, he's your partner? I thought Cliffjumper was your partner."

Starscream mentally slapped himself. It was a touchy subject, he shouldn't bring it up. He could feel Arcee tense on top of him, but then settling down again.

"Well...Cliff isn't here anymore. Thanks to you 'Cons."

Starscream sighed of relief. "Yes, well, nothing to do about that. Such things happen. And with you, pretty often, it seems."

He had pushed a button he shouldn't have. Arcee punched him hard on the wing, making the jet shake.

"Owch! Don't do that!"

"Arcee, calm down!" Jack exclaimed. She had forgotten he was still in there.

"Sorry. But don't you dare bring something like that up again, Scream. Not unless you have a death wish."

Starscream scoffed, continuing his flight. The sun was beginning to set. They had searched through most of the day without luck. While Arcee wasn't too big or heavy for Starscream to lift, even a small rock will begin to feel heavy when you've held it for six hours without putting it down.

"Still not picking anything up, Scream?"

"No. Wait, I see something up ahead!"

They all three gazed forward. As the clouds dispersed, the large body of the Decepticon ship appeared before them. Seeing it up there, from the sky instead of the ground or inside it, was quite the sight. It was huge, filling out their sight as they got closer, and it seemed rather intimidating as they approached. Starscream stopped before entering its radar range.

"Are you sure they won't detect your signal?" Jack said. "Or Arcee's?"

"Don't worry, my signal is identical to that of Vehicon fliers, they'll think I'm just another drone reporting in from duty. And as long as you stay on my back, they won't detect you...I think."

"That doesn't portray a lot of confidence," Arcee replied.

"It's the only option. Granted, it would be easier to sneak in if there were Vehicons returning, so I could blend my signal in with theirs. It is rather suspicious for only a single Vehicon signal to approach the ship. But it doesn't seem like..."

He stopped mid-sentence and shot forward, catching his passengers by surprise.

"What are you doing?" Arcee said, holding tightly on his wings to stay put. "I thought you weren't going in yet!"

"Quiet," he said sternly. "I have spotted an opportunity."

They looked forward and saw a group of specks approaching the Nemesis. Vehicons, returning from duty. They could blend in there. As long as the 'Cons themselves didn't notice they weren't one of them...

Arcee and Jack kept quiet for the rest of the flight until they reached the ship. They stayed close behind the troopers and just made it inside the hangar as the door closed. The troopers transformed, followed by Starscream, still with Arcee on his back and Jack in his body. The troopers didn't even take notice of them, just walked forward into the ship. Starscream waited in the hangar until they had vacated.

"Alright, you can get off me now," he whispered to Arcee, who gladly hopped off his back. "And you," he said and opened his back, "get out! Ugh, what have you done to me?!"

As Arcee took Jack out of the Seeker's back, a horrible stench came from the cockpit. The boy had vomited on the seat, as followed by the Seeker's transformation. Arcee almost felt bad for Starscream. Almost. He deserved it.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been in a Transformer while they were...urp...transforming."

"Disgusting humans," he grumbled and closed his back. "I'll never get this stench off. You better clean me when we get back!"

"But-"

"No buts! Your mess, your clean-up! And I expect a full clean-up!"

Arcee rolled her optics. "We can discuss this later. Let's just go find Optimus now."

They walked quietly through the hallways, stopping at every corner to check if the coast was clear before moving on. As Starscream knew the ship best he led the way. At one point before going around a corner he signaled the others to wait. A couple of guards were walking past at a crossing up ahead. They waited for about a minute before he signaled them to move on.

"So where do you think Optimus is again?" Arcee asked quietly for the third time since they left the base.

"Good Primus, your short-term memory is like that of a cyber-fly," Starscream sighed, getting tired of having to repeat himself over and over. "There have been no sightings of Prime and no reports of him fighting in the field. If Megatron is not using him as a soldier, he will most likely be using him as a training dummy or for research. And frankly, while he might enjoy beating Prime to scrap, he wouldn't waste such a fine asset. Which leaves us with researching. He will most likely be kept in the data chamber. Also, since he has amnesia, he may not remember to fight. As such, while he may see you Autobots as a threat, he will not try to stop us with force, so installing his memories back into his processor shouldn't be too hard."

He glanced at Arcee, who only seemed to be partly listening. "Are you listening to me?"

"Sorry, you're blabbering so much I'm not sure what's important and what's not."

Starscream mentally slapped himself. "Okay, then let me cut it out for you: Megatron uses Prime for research, Prime in data chamber, we go to data chamber. That simple enough for your simple mind?"

Arcee scowled at him, followed by a slap to his face. He nudged the sore part.

"Hitting me doesn't prove me wrong, in fact it only proves me right," he said with a smirk. "Okay, we're here."

Before Arcee could slap him again, the threesome stopped at the last corner before the data chamber, according to Starscream's directions anyway. He peeked from the corner and pulled back quickly.

"There are two guards by the door. Of course Megatron would guard a valuable newcomer like Prime. Stay here, I'll take care of this."

"Take care of it, how?" Arcee asked suspiciously.

"Watch and learn."

Without further hesitation, Starscream stood up and walked casually out from the corner, aiming determined for the door. Arcee and Jack stayed behind and peeked just enough to see the scene unfolding before them.

"Starscream," one of the guards said, as they both pointed their guns at the Seeker.

"That's Commander Starscream to you," the Seeker corrected with his servos behind his back. "Lower your weapons and let me pass through here."

The guards glanced confused at each other. "I'm sorry sir, but Lord Megatron insisted that you be taken into custody, should you ever return."

"What?" Starscream said with a fake surprised expression. "There, uh, has to have been a mistake..."

Without warning, he clawed the right guard, the other firing his gun but missed and hit the ceiling. A lamp was hit, and the light began flickering, as Starscream pulled out of the first guard and clawed the other one, hitting his spark chamber, instantly killing him. The other guard fell from his knees, leaking out. Starscream pulled out of the other guard and looked from side to side. As no one else were there, he looked back and signaled Arcee and Jack to come. The two strode forward, paying little mind to his Energon-stained claws.

"Is it really here?" Jack asked. "Where Optimus is?"

"It's the most likely place, but I can't say for certain."

"Only one way to find out," Arcee said and had her blasters ready.

Starscream opened the door, and as it slid aside, Arcee lowered her weapons in relief as the only resident in there indeed was Optimus Prime - or as he now believed himself to be called, Orion Pax.

"Optimus!" Jack called and ran forward.

The large red and blue bot turned to see who had entered. His face expressed confusion and slight concern.

"Who are you bots?" he asked with his deep, calm voice.

"It's me, Optimus," Arcee said and put a servo on her chest. "Arcee."

"And it's me, Jack," the boy said from below the confused Autobot. He only briefly looked down at the human before looking back at the bots.

"What is this small organic creature? And you..." He stared at Starscream for a moment. "You are Starscream, are you not?"

"In the mesh."

"But Megatron told me you had perished."

"Megatron says a lot of things, Prime."

"And you..." The red bot looked at Arcee. "An Autobot? What business do you have here? Did Ratchet send you?"

"Well, kinda, but we're here to rescue you," Arcee said.

"Rescue me? From what? Autobots are the evil ones here, are you not?"

They finally took notice of the Decepticon insignia adorning the red bot's shoulders. They finally realized that he really must be thinking he was a Decepticon, but having been told the opposite of the truth.

"What? No, Autobots are the good ones, it's the 'Cons that are evil," Jack protested. "You can't trust what Megatron says, Optimus!"

"Why do you keep calling me that? My name is Orion Pax. A simple clerk, and far from being a Prime."

"Optimus..." Arcee began, but was interrupted by Starscream.

"I hear guards on their way here. We don't have time for chit-chat. Boy, you convince that lugnut to come back with us while we hold the guards off."

"I'll do my best," Jack promised and further approached "Orion".

"I'll help you, Scream," Arcee said and stood beside the Seeker with her blasters ready.

"That's why I said we, dummy," Starscream replied and got his own blasters ready.

"Hey, what happened here?" one of the approaching guards exclaimed as he saw the dead guards. "What are those two doing on the ground?"

Before he could say more, Arcee shot him through the spark chamber, knocking him over with smoke coming from his chest. More guards approached and the twosome started shooting them down one by one.

While the two sleek bots were holding off the guards, Jack approached the confused Orion Pax. He still seemed baffled over the small fleshling.

"What are you, small organic creature?" the red bot asked calmly.

"I'm a human," Jack answered and drew forth the Key. "And one of your best friends. At least, I hope so."

Orion eyed the small relic in the boy's hand. "Is that the... Why are you..." He cut himself off and took a deep breath. "No. I do not need an explanation. Whatever the reason for this must be a good reason."

"The best reason," Jack said and held the Key out for the bot to take. The bot hesitated.

"Are...you sure about this?" he asked, knowing what the boy's gesture meant. "Are you...certain that I am worthy?"

"You have no idea."

The Vehicons were terrible marksmen as well as fragile in armor. But the sheer number approaching them was almost overwhelming.

"Screw it, I'm taking them head on!" Arcee said and turned her right arm into a blade and left Starscream's side, slicing through the Vehicons too close to them for shooting, and shot those too far away to slice. For a moment Starscream ceased his firing and just watched her fight. So small and yet so swift, dodging every laser and blade coming at her, followed by her counter-attack which instantly finished off her opponents. Arcee truly was an assassin worthy of the title.

"How I wish I still had my old swords," Starscream said lowly to himself, condemning his body. "How are you doing in there, Jack?"

"Just a little more time!" The red bot was kneeling at the boy holding the Key, from which light was streaming into the bot's head. The process couldn't take too long, they needed to get away quickly, before...

"What's going on here?!" a thundering voice sounded from the hallway. A voice they all knew too well.

"Oh dear Primus," Starscream said and left the doorway to get a better look. Arcee had taken out all the Vehicons beside a few who had escaped. One of them must have warned Megatron, or the big brute had heard their ruckus. Either way, the warlord was striding down the hallway, slowly but certainly approaching the intruders, a death-glare set on his face.

"Scrap," Arcee said and pulled back to Starscream's side, trying to block the entrance to the data chamber. "Jack, please tell me you're finished!"

"Not yet, I need a little more time!"

"We don't have time, Megatron is here!" Starscream replied. "I will hold him off, you just get finished!"

"I'll cover you," Arcee said and had both her blasters ready.

Megatron seemed to take little notice of the femme. When he got too close and she started firing at him, he simply lifted his plasma cannon and fired it at her. She managed to dodge in time to survive, but she was knocked back into the room by the shockwave.

Megatron approached Starscream, who seemed much less certain of him 'holding Megatron off' now.

"You again, Starscream?" the warlord snarled. "You are very bold to show your face on this ship after what you did at the Space Bridge."

"I..." Starscream started to back off as Megatron got too close. "I didn't even do anything! I just talked to you!"

"You betrayed me." With a swift move Megatron grabbed Starscream by the head and lifted him in the air. "Like you always do. But this time you do it on the enemy side. I cannot forgive you for that so easily. So tell me: Where is the location of the Autobot base?!"

Starscream emitted a whine while his servos tried to pry the huge servo off his face. With one move the warlord could easily crush his head. He was starting to panic. Was he really going to die here this time? And all while serving the Autobots...

"Get your hands off our Seeker, Megatron," a thundering voice sounded, but in a different way than Megatron's.

Megatron looked up and had shock painted all over his face as Optimus Prime stepped out of the data room, looking more confident and wrathful than he had in a long time. It was clear he had gained his memories back.

"No! It can't be! You-!"

Prime gave him no more time to talk before he went forward and punched the warlord in the stomach, who was still in shock, making him drop Starscream on the floor. The Autobots had managed to acquire the Matrix and download it into the mind of his arch enemy so he once again was his enemy! If it had not been for that Starscream, he might have kept his mind on the task at hand.

Starscream sat on the floor and regained his composure. A large servo presented itself to him and he looked up.

"Come," Optimus encouraged.

Starscream didn't hesitate any longer to grab the servo and get back on his peds.

"What happened?" Optimus asked Arcee as she drew something from her subspace. "What are we doing here?"

"We'll explain later," Arcee replied and pressed the button on a strange device. "We need to get out of here now!"

Arcee dropped the device onto the floor, after which a green portal emerged. Before they left, Ratchet had put together a very simple single-use GroundBridge which was directly linked to the one in the base. It would only stay open for about ten seconds before initiating self destruct. They had to move quick or they would be stuck on the ship with a furious Decepticon warlord.

Arcee grabbed Jack and waited for Optimus to get through the portal before she went through it herself. She looked back, uncertain if they got Starscream along, but he was following right behind her, a hectic expression on his face. They immediately arrived in the base, followed by the portal shutting down abruptly by itself. The portal on the ship had by now exploded.

Megatron got back on his legs as he saw Starscream and Optimus run into the data chamber. A green portal was opened inside. It most certainly led back to their base. Without hesitation, Megatron ran after them, but did not even get to brush Starscream's wing before they had disappeared.

The warlord was about to enter the portal itself when he heard a loud beeping. He looked down and saw a round device from which the portal had come. A light button was blinking red in unison with the beeping. It was going to explode!

Megatron made no further attempt to enter the portal and just leaped out of the room. It was dangerous to enter a GroundBridge that was about to explode - if the portal exploded while one was inside it, the user could end up in a limbo and never get out again. Such a fate had happened to one of Megatron's own seconds-in-command: Shockwave. At least, according to Starscream's report. While the Seeker was an untrustworthy schmuck, he never lied or joked about safety. Cowards know best about safety, he supposed.

Megatron had made a safe distance when the portal exploded. It shook the whole ship and damaged the walls and most certainly had destroyed the equipment in the data room. Good thing Soundwave had copied all the work 'Orion' had done, so his progress had not been in vain. He had managed to decipher quite a lot of text in the archives. Several Cybertronian relics unveiled, some already known to Megatron, others he had never heard of before.

And it seemed all of them had stranded here on Earth.

"This is not over yet, Autobots," Megatron chuckled by the thought. "We're just getting started. Clean that up!"

Everyone were delighted to see Optimus Prime again. June embraced Jack with motherly affection.

"My little hero," she sobbed. "I'm so proud of you! But you're still grounded 'til you're twenty-five!"

"Moooom..."

"It's very good to see you again, Optimus," Ratchet said with a smile. "And good to see you are unharmed."

"I am glad," Optimus replied and nudged his shoulder. "Though my memory is rather clouded..."

"Optimus, it has truly been our darkest hour. But know this: from every indication your spark never ceased being that of an Autobot."

As Ratchet started examining the other Autobots for damage and repairing them, Starscream stood in the middle of the floor, looking a bit lost. Arcee walked over to him.

"You did a good job, Scream. We couldn't have done this without you."

"In another timeline, maybe," Starscream mumbled with a smirk. "I mean, of course you couldn't! I am very important to your team, after all."

Arcee rolled her optics at him. "You still have to go back to your cell though."

Starscream's smile fell. "What? After everything I-"

"And your stasis cuffs are going back on."

Without further warning, a pair of stasis cuffs went onto his wrists. The Seeker let out a whine of frustration.

"You've got to be kidding me. I did not attack any of you a single time while we-"

"Relax, we've made some changes to your cell while you were gone."

Starscream stared at her, then at the other Autobots glancing over at him.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Arcee took Starscream by the wrist and led him through the hallways until they arrived at his cell. The Seeker dreaded the thought of going back into that isolated, empty room...

Arcee opened the door - which seemed to have been fixed now - and showed him inside. At first it was dark like usual, but then she pressed her servo against a newly installed contact on the wall, and light filled the small room. Starscream froze.

The formerly empty room - aside from a recharging table - had been decorated with a small shelf filled with datapads and pens, a desk and chair with a colorful cylinder on it as well as a cube with six different colors on nine cells on each side, and a small vid-screen on the wall. He stared baffled at it all.

"What...what is all this?" he stuttered.

"Just so you don't get bored when we're not here," Arcee replied with a hint of a chuckle.

Starscream wandered the room, examining his new decorations. He looked at the table first, with the two strange objects on them.

"What are these?"

"The cylinder is called a kaleidoscope, I think. The other is called a...Rubix Cube? They're both human inventions, but we made these especially for you, in our scale. I think you'll like them."

Starscream huffed and shrugged, moving on to the shelf filled with datapads. "What are these for?"

"Stories from Cybertron, as well as a few from Earth. There are also blank datapads you can use to make something yourself. Write some notes, draw a picture - which reminds me, there are also some of the datapads with pictures from the Golden Age and the Medieval Age of Earth. The pens have different colors so you can color your pictures if you make some."

Starscream nodded and looked at the vid-screen. "I don't suppose there are any programs from Cybertron on this?"

"It's not a real vid-screen, it's more like a monitor so you can call us if you need anything or if you just want to chat. We came to realize, while you were gone, that you're not our prisoner. You're our future comrade."

"If that is so," Starscream said and turned to face her, "then why do I still have stasis cuffs on? And why does the door still only lock from the outside?"

"Just a few precautions. You're still a Decepticon and you're not clear yet to wander the base alone. If you want to be one of us, you need to earn our trust."

"Haven't I already with saving your tailpipes twice?"

Arcee smiled as she walked out of the room with a hand on the instrument panel to close and lock the door.

"It's a pretty good start. Once Ratchet has cleared us all, we're going to celebrate Optimus' return. I'll get a cube for you then."

Starscream looked after Arcee when she left for the command center. He turned back to look at all his new stuff. He then slapped himself, remembering he still hadn't got his things from the Nemesis. Oh well, he had it all safely locked in a hidden safe which only he knew where was, and which would only open for him. There was no need to worry about anyone taking his stuff while he was gone. He'd get it back some day.

Feeling exhausted from all the talking, flying and rescuing of the day, plus still not having fully recovered yet from his journey, Starscream decided to lay down on his recharging table and take a nap. He would celebrate with the others by the vid-screen when he woke up again.

He closed his optics and smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible anymore after all.

Chapter Text

The next ten days were spent checking out the new stuff Starscream had got in his cell. He started by examining the colorful cylindrical object apparently called a 'kaleidoscope'. He was uncertain of its purpose, though he heard a strange rattling sound coming from it and looked at the top end of the cylinder.

A round image of highly detailed patterns met his unexpectant optic. At first he found the gift lame, but as he pulled away he noticed something at the bottom end of the object. A small case with dozens of colorful pearls rolling around, making the rattling sound. He hummed and looked back at the top. The image had changed!

"Fascinating," Starscream muttered and shook the cylinder a bit. He watched as the round image again changed its patterns, colors replacing one another and creating unique, beautiful patterns. And this was done by something as simple as pearls in a glass case? And it was invented by humans?

Starscream played around with the kaleidoscope for a few minutes, making several different patterns, until he decided to save it for another day so he didn't grow bored of it right away. He put the object down on the table and gazed at the colorful cube, apparently called a 'Rubix Cube'. What could that be about?

Starscream picked up the cube and examined it. He shook it, but the colorful cells stayed the same. Apparently it served a different purpose than the kaleidoscope.

"What makes you tick?" he muttered to the cube and turned it. There were cells of different colors on all six sides of the cube: red, blue, yellow, green, orange and white. The middle cell of each side was of a different color, which he thought on further. He counted the nine cells of a side, then counted all the cells of similar colors including the middle cells. He confirmed there were nine cells of the same color.

"What does it mean...?" He thought for a while. Perhaps there was something inside? Maybe he had to figure out how to open it and get it out?

He twisted the cube but got nothing out of it. He did feel a budge though, and tried moving a row of cells. It worked, and the colors switched places with the cells following them. He chuckled.

"Ah, now I understand. So I have to make all sides the same color to make it open? This will be easy!"

Two hours passed and the cube was still in shambled colors. Starscream was beginning to get annoyed.

"Why won't they stay in place?! I was so close to getting a solid side! Oh, wait, I just have to move this here, then this there and..."

With a click, he managed to get one side solid red. He rejoiced over his achievement.

"YES! I DID IT! I GOT A WHOLE SIDE SOLID RED! Wait... there are still five more sides..."

Starscream whined in frustration as he was forced to split up his beautiful red side to work on the other sides. He really wanted to see what was inside, but at the moment he wanted more than ever to complete the puzzle. After about an hour he managed to get a side yellow and another halfway to blue when he got stuck, again forcing himself to start over.

"Stupid cube!" he screeched and threw it at the wall. It had been specially made for Transformers, so it didn't break by his throw nor by the impact against the metal wall. It just landed on the floor with the yellow and blue sides practically laughing him in the face. He snorted and decided to stop for now before he broke something.

After putting the cube back on the table, he paced around the room, speculating what to do now. He wasn't in the mood for any more puzzles, nor did he feel like reading stories or looking at pictures. Whenever Starscream got upset he would usually go out for a flight to clear his mind. It really helped to do so when you were a flight frame.

Too bad that wasn't an option at the moment. Even if he got out, he still had the annoying stasis cuffs on him preventing transformation. (Although the new cuffs had an energy string between the wrists, allowing his servos to work with the datapads, pens and 'toys', as well as making it easier for him to drink his cubes.)

His gaze went to the vid-screen beside the shelf. He wasn't really in the mood for talking with anyone either, but pacing around aimlessly didn't help ease his fury. He made a decision and clicked on a button on the frame and observed as the screen turned on, showing him the command center. There were a few Autobots present, but no humans. Perhaps it was a school day for the kids?

"Starscream," Ratchet said through the audio system as he noticed the screen was on. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just wanted to chat for a bit, that's all."

"You look a bit tense. Is something bothering you?"

"No, nothing. I am loving those little 'gifts' you brought me, especially that wonderful... what was it called, 'Woobix Cube'?"

"Rubix Cube. And I am glad you enjoy it. It's a human invention, rather primitive, but sort of fun I guess. I think it's a bit too easy for a puzzle though. I suppose you've already solved it?"

"Yes, of course I have," Starscream lied, trying to hide his annoyance. "I've solved it like fifty times now! Can you guess how I turned all sides the same color?"

"I'm guessing you lined up the outer rows of the same color on opposite sides and then twisted them forward, am I correct?"

Starscream's mind started buzzing with the information given. "Yes, that's exactly what I did!"

"Too bad that doesn't work," Ratchet replied and gave him a very uncharacteristic grin. "You couldn't solve it, could you?"

"Don't do that," Starscream said, slightly disturbed by his maniacal expression. "It's creepy. And I did solve it! I-"

"Pardon me, Bulkhead is calling," Ratchet said and changed his crazy face to his more normal stone-face.

"Wait, don't-"

The screen turned black.

"...hang up on me."

The following week Starscream looked through the data pads and read some of the more familiar stories from Cybertron, as well as a few of Earth's fairy tales.

"Cinderella," he read the title out loud. "So it's about a human that can burn things to ashes? Sounds interesting..."

He was greatly disappointed as it turned out to be about a regular human girl who got an elegant dress from a fairy and danced until midnight with her 'prince', then lost her glass shoe which no one could figure out who belonged to. As he finished the story he snorted.

"Disgusting. And here I was expecting a human to shoot fire out of its eyes... And their footwear, so fragile and slips off so easily. Not like my, perfect heels."

He took a moment to admire his peds as well as the rest of his body. While it wasn't as powerful or buff like his former body, it was rather elegant. Rather pretty for a Vehicon body. Then again, it may be because of his coding.

As he got tired of reading, he started making a list over things he had left behind on the Nemesis, in his secret safe.

"A golden crown, lavender shoulder pads and a purple cape for my carnival custome... I was going to use it when I became ruler of Cybertron, but it seems that isn't happening anytime soon..."

Other things he included were organs from the first Cybertronian he dissected, as well as recipes for several kinds of Energon he had wanted to create. That's when he speculated if he had included a part of the Synthetic Energon formula to his collection?

"What else... Oh." He looked down at his right servo and remembered another important thing he was missing. "Right...that."

He wrote it down and felt slightly depressed. "I have to get back to that ship. As soon as I get out of these cuffs..."

As he couldn't think of any more things at the moment, he put it aside and returned to the kaleidoscope and the Rubix Cube. Day after day he would attempt to solve that annoying cube, and every time spend several hours until being fed up and throwing it against the wall. The Autobots had eventually gotten used to it and determined the time of day with it. Always midday, twelve o'clock. During his interrogation days it was a good idea to wait about half an hour after hearing the bang before entering his cell with the cube.

The interrogations weren't really 'interrogations' anymore, now they were more like 'conversations'. The Autobots would ask Starscream about his day and the previous day, as well as how he was liking his new room (they decided it was best to stop calling it a cell) and the miscellaneous in it. In return he'd ask them things like their opinion on flight frames and artificial pink Energon.

Most of them were okay with the Energon, although it lacked a certain taste that natural blue Energon had. As for the flight frame question, they were uncertain how to answer. Most flight frames they had seen were Decepticons like himself, and those few Autobot fliers they had had, had their action in the sky for the most part, rarely in contact with the grounders. Not to mention that most of them had smaller wings in robot mode, making them seem more like regular grounders, whereas the Decepticon Seekers made no attempt to hide their wings.

Either way, they all agreed that wings seemed like a great advantage over one's adversaries and in travelling. Although...

"Don't you burn up your fuel faster in jet mode?" Bumblebee bleeped when it was his turn to 'converse' with Starscream.

"I suppose," Starscream replied before guzzling the Energon in him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his servo before continuing. "But it beats being grounded. Plus, it isn't a lot of energy my booster consumes while in flight, so I can continue flying for many hours. Though in my old body I could also fly in robot mode, at the cost of more energy, that is. So even if I couldn't transform I could still fly." He gazed at his simple heels with no room for jet boosters. "Ah, but those days are over for now. If we ever get Cybertron restored, though, I would like to find my old body and get back into it. Or, if it's complete scrap, make a new one. Anything better than a Vehicon body, anyways."

"I know what it's like to lose a part of yourself." Bumblebee held a servo at his neck cables. "I miss my voice. I wish the humans could understand what I say."

"That little boy with the optics seems to understand you though," Starscream noted. "Yet the other two can't. Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know. Miko suggested he might be an alien though. But he seems pretty human to me."

Starscream chuckled at the notion. "A human that transforms, maybe? Yeah, right! He seemed to break his bones as easily as any other human."

Bumblebee beeped annoyed at the last part and stood up. "I think we're done here."

Bumblebee took the empty cube and stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. Though not as hard as Bulkhead had, and the door had been enhanced so it wouldn't break so easily anymore. Starscream stared after him, puzzled.

"Was it something I said?"

As the days passed and Starscream grew bored of his things he would call the command center by the vid-screen to chat. However, by each day the chat was shut down earlier and earlier, until the tenth day in his new room where he had just barely turned it on before the screen turned black again. And when trying to turn it on again, it wouldn't work.

"Those fraggers cut me off!" he snarled to himself. "How rude!"

He hadn't thought about the reason why. Truthfully, every time he called the Autobots over the monitor, he would blabber on and on about his progress with the Rubix Cube, as well as the sloppy stories of Earth like Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood, complaining about the plot and stupidity of the humans. Fact was, the Autobots were growing tired of his pointless talking and excused their hanging up as someone calling them for an actual important conversation. Ratchet considered switching the monitor out with an actual vid-screen with human and/or Cybertronian programs on it to keep him busy.

But he couldn't today. He, Optimus and Bumblebee were the only bots left in the base when a strange energy signal popped up on the screen. It wasn't alive, but it was definitely Cybertronian. The signal was similar to other relics they had stumbled upon in the past. Relics that Optimus had decrypted while onboard the Decepticon warship. And which he also had to decrypt in the Autobot base, so the Decepticons wouldn't get their hands on all of them.

They ended up leaving the kids in charge of the GroundBridge while the three of them went out to get the relic. It was not long after they left that the monitor linked to Starscream's room turned on.

"Hello? Anyone there? Ratchet? Arcee? Bumblebee? Anyone?"

"Oh, hey Starscream," Rafael replied as he saw where the voice was coming from. "What's u-"

"I FINALLY FIXED THAT CUBE! I SOLVED THAT THING FROM THE PITS!"

The kids jumped back at his sudden outburst. Starscream eagerly shook the Rubix Cube in front of the screen, turning it to all sides to show the solid colors.

"Oh, uh...congratulations?" Jack replied uncertain.

"How long did it take you?" Miko asked.

"Six hours today, starting from scratch, ten days in total!"

"I can do that in five minutes," Raf replied casually.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

The kids chuckled lightly at his reaction.

"Anyways," Starscream said and cleared his vocal cords, "where are the Autobots? Are you humans alone out there?"

"Yup, pretty much," Jack replied. "Arcee and Bulkhead are out patrolling, and Ratchet went with Bumblebee and Optimus to find another relic."

"Another relic? It's like they're magnetically drawn to your fragging planet! What is it this time?"

Jack shrugged. "We don't know. All we know is it has a strong signal. They probably won't be gone for very long."

"I see..."

"How are you doing, Starscream?" Miko asked, to change the subject. "Like the kaleidoscope I suggested for ya?"

"That was your suggestion? It's alright, I guess. But not very useful, like that cube thing."

"The Rubix Cube helps exercising your brain and allows you to think outside the box," Raf explained. "I like them, so I thought you'd want one too."

"That's a stupid conclusion. Why would you think I'd want something you like, just because you like it? It should be something I like!"

"Well, what do you like?"

"Flying! Let me out of these cuffs so I can get into the sky!"

"Sorry, can't do that," Miko replied with a wave of her hand. "You have to ask the 'Bots for that."

"Drat. Well, now that we're talking anyway, would you like to hear..."

And so they went on talking about different things the next hour. About the stories on Starscream's shelf, about the kids' school projects (which Starscream clearly wasn't interested in hearing about), and about safety around Energon and explosives.

"You can hit and throw the Energon as hard as you like, but never EVER light a fire near it! It is extremely volatile and sensitive to heat, so even if crushing it with your foot doesn't make it explode, a tiny lit lighter will! That's why the Vehicons work very carefully when carving the crystals with lasers. They do it quickly and on low power, but it doesn't always work out..."

The humans, despite being annoyed about his constant talk about himself, found the other things he talked about fascinating and informative. Though Starscream often ended up pausing while explaining about something to commemorate himself or to tell about something similar that had happened to him once, spending about ten minutes talking about himself before getting back on track with the original topic, which he would do about three times for every topic. Despite that, they continued listening, apparently not keen to interrupt him. Or perhaps they didn't know how to turn the monitor off.

Despite not liking the humans, Starscream quite enjoyed talking with them. They were good listeners, asked questions now and then (though Miko's constant interruptions with her endless questions were rather irritating), and sucked in all the information he gave them. It seemed easier to impress these small ignorant organics than it was his own kind, who already knew about all the things he talked about.

"I've been speculating for a while," Raf suddenly said during one of Starscream's pauses. "What kind of animals live on Cybertron? Other than Insecticons and Scraplets, of course."

"I've wondered about that too," Miko said. "Are you all giant-robots-that-kinda-look-like-humans, or are there animals too?"

"There are no organic creatures on Cybertron, if that's what you're asking," Starscream grumbled, annoyed that he got interrupted again, but decided to play along anyway. "Though some of our wildlife may look similar to what you have here on Earth. Let's see, what to put as an example... Petro-rabbits are sometimes kept as pets, though they also make good meals for turbofoxes which are extremely fast and vicious..."

And so he explained a bit about Cybertronian wildlife when Optimus suddenly called the base.

"We need a GroundBridge!" he said hastily.

"On it," Arcee said, having just returned from patrol and activated the GroundBridge immediately. As Optimus, Ratchet and Bumblebee arrived through the portal with a strange circular device in hand, Bulkhead rolled in from patrol as well.

"What is that?" Raf asked as he saw the strange device.

"It is called the Spark Extractor," Optimus explained. "A very dangerous weapon that removes the sparks from all Cybertronians within range. Fortunately Bumblebee managed to secure it before Megatron could bring it back."

"Megatron was there?!" the kids said in unison.

"Yeah, but he didn't keep his hands on it thanks to me!" Bumblebee bleeped and pointed at himself, very proud of his accomplishment. "Ain't gonna win over me and my vehicular acrobatics!"

"That's amazing, Bee!" Raf cheered.

"Big deal, try survive getting beaten by him like a hundred times," Starscream's voice sounded through the monitor. The kids had forgotten it was still on. "You'll end up needing a new body."

"Ugh, you again?" Bulkhead said disappointed to the screen.

"No need to be rude. I-"

Ratchet clicked on a button and Starscream's picture disappeared.

"You turned him off?" Miko said shocked. "You can do that?"

"Uh, yeah?" Arcee said. "We've been doing that for a while now."

"Drat, so we didn't have to listen to all that scrap!"

They chuckled lightly, understanding the torture the kids had gone through, which was Starscream's blabbering.

"Don't listen to him, Bee, he's just jealous because he can't trick Megatron like you did," Raf said and looked eager at the scout. "Tell us how you managed that!"

Starscream stood frozen with an open mouth, staring at the black screen. Those jerks had hung up on him. Again!

"They better give me a cube today," he snarled. "Or they'll regret it!"

He did get the cube an hour later, by Arcee. Of all the Autobots, she seemed to be having most contact with him. They still didn't like each other, but it was fun berating Airachnid together during Arcee's turn.

"Have you seen her in her vehicle mode?" Starscream said. "A helicopter! Practically the worst vehicle mode ever! Sure, it can fly, but it's slow and noisy and fragile..."

"I know, I know, nothing can beat a jet like you," Arcee replied with a smile.

"Don't flatter me. But I won't be mad if you do."

"Are you done with your cube yet?"

"Yes, I managed to get all sides the same color!"

"I meant the Energon cube."

"Oh. Uh, yes, yes, here." Starscream handed over the empty cube to Arcee. She stood up and prepared to go.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Scream. You talk a bit too much about yourself though."

"Is that a crime? Or misbehaving?"

"No, just annoying."

"So are you, two-wheeler."

Arcee had her servo on the control panel but didn't close the door right away. She seemed to be thinking.

"Starscream," she began. "If you do eventually...become one of us, get out of those cuffs of yours..." She paused for a moment.

"Yes?"

Arcee looked up and down at the Seeker, then moved her gaze away.

"...would you take me out for one of your flights?"

Starscream was taken aback by the question. A strange feeling made its way from his chest to his face, making him flabbergasted. He cleared his throat before answering.

"Uh, what? Really? Why?"

"Well...you always talk about how much you love flying. I'm just curious how it would be to fly like you."

The strange feeling piled up in Starscream, turning his face a pale blue. "But, uh, you've already flown with me, when we rescued your leader, remember?"

"Yes, but that was a mission. I want to see what a... relaxing flight is like. No stress, no expectations. Just enjoyment."

Starscream cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "I'll...ahem...I'll think about it. You're not light, after all, you might slow me down!"

A smile made itself present on Arcee's face as she closed and locked the door. "See you later, Scream."

Meanwhile, Bumblebee and Bulkhead had gone off on patrol in the canyon, when Bumblebee suddenly picked up a signal similar to the one of the Spark Extractor.

"Bulkhead, do you read that?" Bumblebee called over the comm..

"Yeah, I just picked up the same signal. Could be another homing beacon. Let's rendezvous at the coordinates!"

As Bumblebee drove ahead towards the signal, the memory of his victory over Megatron was suddenly shadowed by Starscream's words.

"Big deal, try getting beat by him like a hundred times."

"That human seems to break his bones as easily as any other human."

The Scout felt enraged by Starscream's words. I'll show him, he thought restlessly. One day, I'll defeat Megatron for real. And I'll never let anyone hurt Raf again. And cars are better than jets.

Bumblebee arrived at the coordinates and transformed to robot mode. He found himself among some stones and looked around. The winglets on his back hiked as he spotted something glowing up ahead in a clearing. It emitted a steady, beeping sound. He ran over to it and examined it. It didn't look like a relic. It seemed more like a...

His thoughts were interrupted by a charging sound. He turned and saw someone holding a glowing thing that in the next second shot an electric blast at him. He trembled as electricity flowed through his frame until he fell limp, falling onto the ground unconscious, his optics turning black.

In the next moment, a group of MECH soldiers walked up to the unconscious Bumblebee, including their leader.

"Silas," one of the soldiers said. "There's another one headed toward our position. Estimated arrival, 2 minutes."

"Work friskly," Silas replied coldly.

When he opened his optics again, Bumblebee saw a helicopter taking off and disappearing beneath the mesas. Bulkhead arrived seconds later, concern radiating from his field.

"Bee! Who did this? 'Cons?"

"I don't know," Bee answered, as he was unsure if the helicopter taking off was Airachnid or not.

"Only one way to find out, come on!"

Bulkhead transformed and drove forward. Bumblebee got up, headed for the road and transformed...wait, he didn't transform? He tried again, and then again...but he was still in robot mode. A surge of shock and disbelief twisted his tanks. He didn't even continue running, he just stood there, denying what happened.

It can't be...please, no, don't let it be true...

Bulkhead eventually noticed Bumblebee was not following him and returned, transforming back to bot mode.

"We rollin' or not?!" Bulkhead said impatiently.

Bumblebee hesitated a bit before saying anything.

"I can't transform, Bulk," Bee finally bleeped. "I can't..."

"What do you mean, you can't?"

Bee didn't answer further, just gave him a concerned, almost scared look. Bulkhead sighed and turned on his comm.

"Ratch, we need a 'Bridge back to base! There's something wrong with Bee..."

Back at base, Starscream read one of the Cybertronian stories from his shelf. "Stumble Bee", it was called. A classic Decepticon story, it told about a mech named Stumble Bee, who was very popular, but one day he didn't watch where he was going, so he fell into a hole and was eaten by Scraplets. Moral of the story: Watch where you're going, even if you're number one.

Starscream sighed and put the short story back on the shelf. "I either have scrappy stories from Earth filled with plot-holes and plot-issues, or I have really good Cybertronian stories which are way too short. We really need to update our stories."

He took a look at the completed Rubix Cube on the desk. While it had been frustrating dealing with it, he had to admit it had been fun too. There wasn't a lot to do with the kaleidoscope though. He couldn't think of any more things to add to his list. He wasn't keen on writing stories himself, and he didn't really like drawing either. Plus, what's the point of drawing or writing something when you don't have anyone to show it to? If the stories are for yourself, you can just tell them to yourself, in your head or out loud, and pictures are always prettier and makes more sense in your head than in real life.

Starscream took a look at the vid-screen. Maybe he should call the Autobots again? Probably not. They would just hang up on him again if he wanted to chat again. Maybe he could turn the screen on without announcing his arrival, just see what they were doing?

He took the chance and pressed the button to turn it on. The screen showed the command center, but no one was currently attending the monitors, it seemed. The Autobots and kids were gathered around Bumblebee on an operating table. He didn't seem injured, but who knew. He listened closely to hear what they were saying, keeping his mouth shut for once.

"You can fix Bee, can't you?" Rafael asked concerned as Ratchet scanned the scout.

"Bumblebee was hit pretty hard. The stun blast may have damaged his T-cog."

"Is that like a T...bone?" Miko asked. Starscream held back a scoff, not wanting to draw attention to himself. What ignorance those humans possessed.

"Not exactly. It's the organ that allows us to scan vehicles and transform," Arcee explained.

"By the AllSpark," Ratchet exclaimed, and Starscream perked to attention, like everyone else. "Bumblebee's T-cog isn't damaged. It's missing!"

Starscream shared the Autobots' shock. So the scout is unable to transform too, huh? Serves that car-lover right! Wings will always be better than wheels! He flapped his wings in demonstration to himself.

"But the Decepticons transform too, why would they steal that?" Jack asked confused.

"Megatron may be known to raise zombies, but he's no ghoul," Ratchet replied.

"If Megatron wasn't behind this, then who was?" Raf asked.

"The ones who cannibalized on Breakdown," Bulkhead began.

"And tried to gut me," Arcee continued.

"MECH," Ratchet ended. "And it would appear their knowledge of Cybertronian bio-tech has grown more sophisticated."

"But why would they want Bumblebee's part?" Raf asked again.

Starscream had not met the humans calling themselves MECH, but by the information of them stealing Bumblebee's T-cog, he had an idea what they were trying to do. I can think of only one reason that they would take an intact T-cog. Those fools are trying to 'build' a Transformer themselves. Idiots, no matter how much they may know about our biology, they can never make a true Transformer with a spark.

"I don't care what they want with it," Bumblebee bleeped and got up. "I need it! It's mine! Let's go!"

"Bumblebee, please," Optimus said and held a servo on the scout's shoulder pad. "You are not presently...equipped to handle this."

"Easy for you to say," Bumblebee bleeped sad. "You don't know what it's like to lose a part."

"You are mistaken, my friend. I do know what it is like to lose a vital part of oneself. And, as a result, I know the value of putting your faith in the strength of those around you. We vow to do everything in our power to make you whole again."

"And if not, Ratchet can just make you a new...cog-thing, right?" Miko asked cheerfully.

Starscream face-palmed. Her comment completely changed the calming atmosphere Optimus was trying to make. Bumblebee leaned backwards in disbelief, then sat down with his servos on his face.

"You...OOOOHHHHHH good lord!" Bumblebee exclaimed, as if he couldn't believe the stupidity of her question...was what Starscream supposed he was thinking, because that was exactly what he was thinking himself.

How ignorant can humans get?! he thought out loud to himself. This was worse than one of those soaps he once watched back on Cybertron before the war.

"What'd I say?" Miko asked, startled by Bumblebee's reaction.

"Miko, a T-cog is a bio-mechanism, not a scrap-yard find," Ratchet explained, rather annoyed. "If it were that easy, don't you think I would have replaced Bumblebee's voicebox by now?"

"I can't talk, I can't drive, I'm useless!" Bumblebee exclaimed. Ratchet lay an understanding hand on his shoulder.

"You're not useless, Bee," Raf protested, but Bumblebee didn't believe him.

"I am..." he replied with a deep, depressed voice.

"Alright, alright, I say none of us transform until Bumblebee gets his cog back," Bulkhead suggested, but got disproved by Arcee.

"Your spark's in the right place, Bulkhead. But I don't think now is the time to be limiting ourselves."

"Not with Megatron potentionally seeking other doomsday devices," Optimus agreed. "And I fear, not while MECH uses Bumblebee's T-cog for their own sinister purpose."

The Autobots started to break up, Optimus and Bulkhead heading out to patrol, Arcee and Jack heading off somewhere, leaving Bumblebee and Ratchet in the base with Raf and Miko. Starscream decided it was a good idea to turn off the screen by now, not wanting the Autobots to know he had been listening in and watching the scene. He went back to reading a human story called "Challenge of the GoBots", which was about giant transforming alien robots called GoBots from the planet Gobotron, the good guys being called Guardians and the bad guys called Renegades. Incidentally, the leader of the bad guys, Cy-Kill, turned into a motorbike like Arcee but was red and white like an Autobot, while the leader of the good guys, Leader-1, was a flight frame and gray like a Decepticon. Starscream found the story rather intriguing, and very familiar for some reason.

While the Seeker was reading, Bumblebee was trying to deal with not being able to transform. He was getting bored and decided to bother Ratchet by the screen.

"Hey Ratchet, where are the others?"

"Optimus and Bulkhead haven't reported in yet."

"Really? Why?"

"Bumblebee! I will let you know the moment I hear something."

Ratchet was about to return to his work when Bumblebee poked him on the shoulder. The medic was beginning to get ticked off.

"Hey, one question?"

His question was deafened by Ratchet's: "Oh, for Primus' sake... Can someone keep him occupied, so I can get some work done?!"

"Hey, Bee!" Raf called, also wanting to distract his friend.

"What?"

"How about a video game?"

"Okay."

The Scout walked around the railings until he arrived at the 'living room' where the two kids were playing...a car game.

"Oh, come on!" he said disappointed.

"Ooh, bad call," Miko whispered.

"Sorry," Raf replied.

"Hey, no big deal, that game's lame," Miko said and threw the controller away. "What do you say we watch some TV?"

"Yeah!"

The first thing that popped on the screen was nothing more than a complete copy of Bumblebee's vehicle mode choice - a shiny silver muscle-car with two black stripes going from the back to the front on the top of the car.

"The new Urbana 500. It won't just rock your world. It'll transform it."

The narrator could not have said a worse sentence.

"ARE YOU KIIIIIIIIIDDING MEEEEEEE?!"

"Taking the "Auto" out of an Autobot is so not a good thing," Miko observed with concern as Bumblebee was losing his mind.

"Bee, come on," Raf said, trying to cheer him up. "You're just as amazing without wheels! I mean, speed isn't everything!"

Bumblebee thought a bit over his words, then nodded in agreement. He's right. Even without speed, I'm still the coolest bot in-

His thoughts were interrupted by a humming engine arriving in the base. Jack and Arcee had returned, and demonstrated a graceful, rather noisy stopping trick, circling around, balancing on the front wheel before standing still on both.

"Personal best, Arcee," Jack said and took off his helm. "You hit 1/20 easy!"

They both froze as Bumblebee glared down at them.

"Grrrrrrrrr..." he snarled and went for the exit with downcast winglets, but was held back by Ratchet.

"Bumblebee! Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going for a walk."

"You can't just go for a walk! We are robots in disguise! Leaving the base in this form puts you at risk of being seen, and of us being discovered!" He grabbed Bumblebee by the shoulder, turning him away from the exit. "You'll just have to remain in the silo until-"

"Enough! I'm just a prisoner like Starscream now, ain't I?"

Bumblebee didn't wait for a response before heading off into the hallways to his quarters, fuming, winglets still downcast like Starscream's sometimes did.

"Yes, Bumblebee," Ratchet said to the air. "Until I can fix you." The medic began thinking about the scout's choice of words. Bumblebee had only been stripped for his wheels and kept in the base for a few hours and was already going bolts. How did Starscream not feel about being kept for almost two months and only flying once, without his freedom? Nothing we can do about that right now, the medic thought.

The next day, as Ratchet had gone off to pick Rafael up from school, Jack was at work, Miko in detention, and Optimus and Arcee on patrol, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were alone in the base. Until a signal popped onto the screen, and Bumblebee convinced Bulkhead to take him along for the mission. As such, the base was completely empty, leaving only Starscream in it.

As the Seeker began getting bored with the GoBots, he decided to ping the Autobots on the monitor. He was surprised to find the command center completely empty.

"Where is everyone? Kids in school, probably...everyone else either out on patrol or mission... Which means... I'm home alone!"

He went for the door but then remembered it was locked and his servos cuffed. He cursed his pitiful state.

"I'm finally alone, and I can't even take advantage of it! I hate those miserable Autobots..."

He was about to consider just breaking the door open when an engine rolled into the base, a red and white ambulance, transforming into Ratchet, letting out the tiny Rafael. Both seemed as shocked to find the base empty as Starscream did. Ratchet called Bulkhead on the comm. to find out what happened.

"Bulkhead! Where are you? You did WHAT? He's WHERE? Hold on, I'm coming to your coordinates! Pull back from your battle and FIND BUMBLEBEE!"

Starscream turned off his monitor before Ratchet could see that it was on, though he didn't have to.

The next moment, a GroundBridge was activated and the medic left Raf behind in the base to man the 'Bridge. While the doc was gone, Arcee soon returned to base with Jack. Raf explained the situation to them, just seconds before Ratchet and Bulkhead arrived back in base with an unconscious Bumblebee. They put him on the operating table, whereafter Ratchet started scolding Bulkhead.

"Of all the scrap-brained ideas," he began, turning from Bumblebee to Bulkhead. "Taking Bumblebee into a potential chase scenario when he no longer has the ability to access his wheels?!"

"He...improvised," Bulkhead excused poorly.

"Hey, Bee's waking up!" Raf announced relieved.

"Ohhhh, my head," Bumblebee said as he sat up and held his helm.

"You've already lost your voicebox and your T-cog," Ratchet started scolding the scout. "Were you really trying to add your spark to the list?"

"I'm useless," Bumblebee repeated.

"Don't say that, Bumblebee," Raf protested. "Y-you're not useless!"

"Look," Arcee started. "I hate to break up the pity-party, but the 'Cons just added an unknown Iacon pay-day number two to their armory!"

"Neither blame nor praise will modify past events," Optimus said as he arrived back from the entrance. "But we cannot afford to take further unnecessary risks. Bumblebee, you are not to leave our base. Not until we can retrieve your missing bio-mechanism." With that, he turned around and left.

Ratchet got an idea and followed Optimus towards the hallways.

"Bumblebee is right to be less than hopeful," he began as he caught up to the Autobot commander. "But you and I both know there exists a way to make him whole again."

"A transplant," Optimus answered the unspoken question and stopped briefly. "But that would require a donor."

He continued walking when Ratchet continued: "You need look no further than the Autobot standing before you."

Optimus stopped again and turned to look at his old friend. "A generous offer, old friend. But your solution would merely trade one Autobot's handicap for another."

"I don't rely upon my T-cog, not like Bumblebee does. The ability to transform is virtually wasted on me! This is where I spend my days, where my thoughts and hands are of value, not my weapons or wheels." He glanced at Bumblebee, who was being attemptively cheered up by Bulkhead, Arcee and the humans. "Our team can't afford to be shy even one warrior in the field."

"You make a compelling case," Optimus agreed. "But know that we will find Bumblebee's T-cog."

"Optimus," Ratchet said in a serious tone. "MECH are savages, who knows what damage they have already inflicted upon it? Or...or if I will be able to repair it!" He looked very depressed at the floor.

"Ratchet," Optimus replied, also in a serious tone. "You did everything in your power."

Ratchet looked dumbfounded at him at first before knowing what he meant and scoffed.

"Please, do you really think this is simply about my inability to restore Bumblebee's voicebox?" When Optimus didn't answer, the medic continued. "I...I just want to do what's right. For our scout. For the team."

As the other Autobots (and humans) were informed of Ratchet's plan to restore Bumblebee's ability to transform, they started getting prepared for surgery.

"Obviously since I am the other patient involved, I will be unable to perform the surgery," the medic explained and started walking past the two Autobots lined up, and Bumblebee sitting on the operating table. "Therefore, one of you must serve as my proxy."

As he reached the end of the line, he turned around and subtly inspected each bot as he passed them, like a general would to rookies in the military. He started with Bulkhead, who straightened as much as he could with his round figure.

"Mm-mm," the medic declined. "Better at breaking things."

Bulkhead sighed of relief as Ratchet passed Arcee.

"Arcee," Ratchet decided.

"Optimus has steadier hands," she protested.

"Steady, and much too large to be rooting around beneath my hood."

Arcee sighed with doubt, walking away to think things through before the surgery.

"Arcee, you can do this," Jack encouraged. "You're steely as they come."

"On a battlefield," she protested. "Not in an operating theater."

"Same thing. As long as you're behind the knife, not under it."

Arcee sighed again, unsure what to think about this.

"Does this mean Bumblebee's gonna transform into an ambulance from now on," Miko said, trying to lighten the mood, "or be all cranky? 'Cause that would be weird."

At that same moment, one of the monitors turned on, showing Starscream's face.

"Ah, you're all back! Good to know I'm not alone anymore!"

"Starscream, we don't have time for this," Ratchet grumbled and went over to turn off the screen.

"Wait!" Miko exclaimed just as Ratchet's finger brushed the turn-off button. "Starscream, you told me once that you've done surgery before, didn't you?"

"Uh, yes. I dissected an Autobot some million years ago as an entrance exam to a medical school."

"And how did it go?" Ratchet asked interested.

"I...uh...well, I think I did astonishing, but they thought I lacked a certain...control. And as it turned out, being an Energon Seeker was better anyway, so to Pit with that!"

Ratchet looked at the others and shook his head in protest, knowing what Miko was trying to do, and strongly opposing to it. Miko ignored his gesture and continued.

"Would you try doing that dissecting thing again, only doing it from one bot to another and just the T-cog?"

The Seeker seemed taken aback (and confused) by the question. "Uh...what?"

"Basically," Ratchet continued for her, mentally face-palming, "she's asking you to be our surgeon, as we're planning to transplant my T-cog into Bumblebee. He got his own T-cog stolen by the human organization called MECH, if you've heard of them."

"Once, I think. So what you're saying is that you need my help?"

Ratchet looked at Arcee, who despite her lack of trust in the Seeker eagerly nodded, as she trusted her own surgical skills even less. The medic sighed and turned back to the screen.

"Yes. We... need...your help."

Starscream grinned widely at the request. "Oh, I don't know if I want to help, when you think about all you've done to me..." He gazed at the pleading Bumblebee sitting on the table. "...but I know what it's like to be trapped in this prison, unable to release oneself in one's true form, racing through the landscape in high speeds. Very well. I will help you with the surgery, IF..." He paused for dramatic effect. "...you promise to let me out of the base and take a flight afterwards. I promise not to fly back to Megatron. Couldn't even dream of it. So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Without awaiting an answer, the Seeker turned off the screen himself for once, leaving the Autobots to think about his offer.

The Autobots spent almost an hour debating whether to let Starscream perform the surgery, or to let Arcee do it. Arcee definitely did not want to do it herself, but the thought of allowing a Decepticon to root around in her comrades' bodies, having full access to their sparks, was hard to fight. She had reached a dead end, pretty much.

"You can't seriously be thinking of letting him do it," Bulkhead protested. "He could easily kill you both! And even if he doesn't, we can't just let him fly freely around! What if he does try to return to the Decepticons?"

"Starscream has little reason to return to them," Optimus argued. "Though he could still consider taking the life of a vagabond. We cannot allow him flight just yet, but maybe we can come to some other agreement."

"I still can't see why Arcee can't just do it," Jack said disappointed. "After all, you chose her to begin with!"

"Jack, please shut up," Arcee said quietly.

"We don't even know if he actually qualifies as a surgeon," Ratchet said.

"I don't qualify as a surgeon, yet you chose me," Arcee pointed out. "At least he's tried performing surgery, even if he failed."

"Besides," Miko said, "he knows if he screws up, he's dead!"

"So will we," Ratchet said, "if it's true."

"Guys, I don't care who operates me anymore," Bumblebee said from the table, drawing their attention. "I just want to be able to transform again. And if I end up dying in the process, well then that's it. I can't live in a world where I can't race. It's all or nothing."

They didn't come with any arguments for that. Ratchet became thoughtful.

"In that case, I will risk everything too. If Starscream is truly to become a comrade of ours one day, we'll have to start putting our trust in him, however hard that may be. Perhaps this is the first stage of putting our faith in him, and his surgical skills."

Optimus nodded in agreement, although it was obvious he was just as concerned as the others.

"Arcee, bring him in."

Starscream didn't read, didn't write, didn't play with the kaleidoscope or Rubix Cube, he didn't even sleep. He just stood on the floor, staring at the door, waiting. Waiting for someone to arrive, to take him out. He was certain the Autobots would take his offer, since it seemed no one else were capable of this task. Admittedly, while the surgery he performed back on Cybertron had failed to pass him, he did manage to carefully remove every organ he was assigned to remove. The reason why he failed was because he had also removed every other organ from the body, including the spark which ultimately ended up killing the patient. Thankfully, it was a Vehicon and not a 'normal' Transformer, just something they had created with a fully grown cloning Protoform. It didn't even have a name, unless "Subject 24-50" was a name. Just a newly created no-name bot with no future or purpose, as well as no one to remember him. Other than Starscream, that is.

Vehicons were different back then than they were now. Before the war, Vehicons were used by both Autobots and Decepticons, but as test subjects rather than troops, thus how they could ensure that new installments, programs or accessories were safe for normal bots to get, as well as being used as training dummies, surgical subjects and servants. It was because of Shockwave's grasp of the Vehicon Protoforms and alteration of their programming that they ended up being soldiers instead of test subjects. (Although it didn't do much good for their health, as they always seemed to be getting mowed down by the enemy.)

Starscream ended up standing in his room, waiting for almost an hour before he heard the sound of pedsteps. He perked to attention and saw a small figure unlock and open the door. It was Arcee. What a surprise.

"I assume you've decided to take my offer?" Starscream said with a smirk.

"Just come along," Arcee replied and waved towards herself.

Starscream followed her out of the cell and looked around as they made their way to the command center. Everyone stood and stared at them, creating a tense atmosphere in the room.

"Don't try anything funny, 'Con," Bulkhead warned, clashing his fists.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the Seeker said unconvincingly.

Arcee stood by Starscream's side as everyone made ready for the upcoming surgery. Putting up x-ray images of Bumblebee and Ratchet on the screens, monitoring their status meters, getting out the necessary tools and finally putting the two patients on the operating tables in the med bay.

"Everyone ready?" Arcee asked as they made no further arrangements. They nodded and she guided Starscream over to the med bay.

"Ahem, excuse me," Starscream said in a fake polite tone. "But I do believe in order to perform this surgery properly, I will need to... let loose a little." He held forth his still-cuffed wrists in demonstration.

"Don't worry, we've taken that into consideration," Arcee said and moved a keycard into the energy string connecting the cufflets. The string disappeared, allowing the Seeker to move his arms freely.

"Ahh, finally! Freedom!"

Starscream's arms made a movement, but nothing majorly happened. With a perplexed expression, he clenched his fists and made a movement with his body, his chest and wings moving a bit but still making no change to his appearance.

"Nice try," Arcee said, knowing what he was trying to do. "But as long as those cufflets stay on, your own transformation is impaired."

"Drat. Well, I had to try. As long as I can work freely, it'll be no trouble at all, anyways."

Starscream stood between the two tables, looking down at his patients. "Don't worry, I'll try not to kill you," he chuckled with a smirk.

"I suggest you keep to your word," Ratchet replied. "Bumblebee's transformation in return for a little freedom to you. Initiate stasis," he added to Arcee, who followed the order.

"Inducing stasis," she droned.

Bumblebee looked over at Ratchet on the other table. "Hey Ratch, thanks for giving me your T-cog."

"Yeah, yeahp-ehp! You can...thank me when...it's over..." Ratchet closed his eyes as the stasis was initiated.

Starscream looked at the tool table with the surgery tools needed for the procedure. It's okay, Starscream, you can do this, he assured himself, getting a little nervous. You just have to remove the T-cog, and refrain from taking out all the other organs. Just take one organ, put into the other bot. One organ, two organs...a dozen organs...no wait, that's not what this is about, FOCUS!

"Alright, Bumblebee," Arcee said as she was about to initiate stasis on him too. "Your turn."

They were interrupted by an alarming beeping. They all tensed up, trying to figure out what it was. Especially the humans were panicking.

"What's happening?" Raf asked worried.

"Ratchet's flatlining!" Miko exclaimed.

"No, he isn't!" Arcee assured them.

They turned their attention to the map monitor, where a yellow dot was blinking and beeping.

"It's an Iacon homing beacon," Optimus said.

"If we picked up the signal, it means the 'Cons just unearthed another relic," Bulkhead concluded.

"Autobots, prepare to roll out!"

"Yes!" Arcee whispered to herself, even though she wasn't the one doing the surgery.

Bumblebee got up, ecstatic about the delayed procedure. Starscream looked a bit sullen.

"Alright! I'm all revved up and ready to roll!"

"Except," Optimus said, "for our patients."

"Awww..."

Optimus turned to Arcee. "It would be best to interrupt stasis."

Arcee was about to do so when Starscream went in.

"Wait, I can still perform! I'll have them all fixed up by the time you return!"

The Autobots looked doubtfully at each other.

"I'm not sure if we can trust you to leave you alone with a pair of unconscious bots and a group of humans, Scream," Bulkhead broke the ice with.

"I agree with Bulkhead," Optimus said. "While it may be time to put our trust in you to do something as delicate as a surgery, I do not believe it is time yet for you to do so unsupervised."

"We can supervise him," Miko suggested. The bots looked doubtful at her. "What, don't think we can do it?" She turned to look at Starscream who only looked amused at her. "Look, Screamy. If you even so much as think about offlining those two while the bots are gone, you'll have to deal with me!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Starscream said sarcastically. "And what exactly are you going to do to stop me, little girl?"

Miko looked uncertain at first, but then she pulled something from her pocket and looked determined at him. It was a very small cylindrical object with an even smaller hole at the top. It had a yellow label and an exclamation mark, black on orange.

"Or else I'll pepper spray ya!"

The Seeker first gave her a baffled look, then burst into laughter. "And what good will that do?"

"It'll blind you and make you empty your bowels! Or tanks, or whatever you call it." Miko gazed at the boys who looked astonished at her. "What? My host-dad is a former cop."

Starscream rolled his optics at her, not sure if he was to take her explanation seriously or not. "Fine, I won't do anything funny while you're gone. You can trust me," he added with a little convincing smirk. He was sincere, but it was hard for him not to find this hilarious.

As they couldn't afford to waste any more time, they decided to leave Starscream in Miko's hands and left the base to arrive at the coordinates given. Starscream turned and looked at the scout with a wicked smile.

"Time for surgery, Bumblebee," he sang.

Starscream had just put Bumblebee back on the operating table and was about to induce stasis on him, when the monitor started beeping and turned on, surprising everyone in the command center.

"Prime!" Agent Fowler said through the screen. "Breaking news!"

Starscream was about to tell Agent Fowler to call back later, but Bumblebee got up and ran over to the monitor.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?!" Starscream exclaimed, but Bee ignored him and talked with Fowler. Well, tried to, anyway.

"Agent Fowler, what's going on?" Bee bleeped.

Agent Fowler looked confused at the Scout. "Huh? Where's Prime?"

"Prime and the others went off on a mission," Bee responded, but naturally the human was unable to understand what he said. He face-palmed in frustration over this inability.

Starscream came over and turned to the monitor. "The Autobots are currently absent, human," he said condescending. "And I was just about to have some fun with... performing surgery, when you interrupted me. Now, what is so important that you must call us like this?"

Agent Fowler stared at Starscream, free of restraints and seemingly unsupervised by anyone but the small Scout. He was obviously confused, not having heard of the more loose rules for Starscream.

"Not that it concerns you, 'Con," Agent Fowler said in the same condescending tone Starscream had spoken in, "but tell Prime I just received access to satelite imagery, which I believe pinpoints the operation of MECH."

Bumblebee's spark started beating faster in anticipation. They had found MECH! Possibly even his T-cog! He looked at Starscream, who also seemed surprised, but not as thrilled about this information as Bee.

"Starscream, I have to go," Bee bleeped. "MECH has my T-cog, and now we know where they're keeping it. I can't just ignore this opportunity!"

"While I find the image of you heading out alone and helplessly amusing," Starscream replied, "I don't think your comrades would find it as amusing, especially when it's on my watch. So I'm afraid I can't allow you to go. Oh well, too bad. Now let's get back to the surgery."

Starscream was already pushing Bumblebee back towards the operating table, but the Scout shoved him away.

"Give us the coordinates, Agent Fowler," Bee said to the monitor. "Where is this MECH base located?"

Agent Fowler just stared confused at Bee and turned to Starscream, anyone, who would translate, much to Bumblebee's disappointment.

"What did he say?"

"He just asked for the coordinates," Starscream replied. "Which you can just ignore."

"C'mon, Screamer!" Bumblebee begged. "You know how it's like to be grounded, trapped in the same place all the time, you understand how I'm feeling, right?"

Now it was Starscream's turn to stare at the Scout. Only, not in confusion, but rather in irritation.

"Oh, sure. Because you missing your T-cog for like half a day is exactly like me being cuffed, imprisoned and neglected for two months without anything to do until the recent week. Yes, I understand how you feel, but are you sure you really understand how I feel? I have my T-cog, but I am not allowed to use it. Now imagine how that feels."

Bumblebee didn't speak for a while. He hadn't really thought about it in that way. He realized his predicament may be bad, but Starscream's seemed like torture. Not having something is nothing compared to having it and not being allowed to use it. Still, Bumblebee was determined to get his T-cog back, so he would at least have the opportunity to use it.

"At least you have the possibility to use it. I don't, right now." He thought for a while before continuing, having an idea. "Besides, if you help me get my T-cog back, don't you think the others would start trusting you even more?"

Starscream stopped and contemplated. Yes, the surgery would probably gain him more trust, but if he can successfully complete yet another mission in the Autobots' favor, get Bumblebee's T-cog back, as well as put it back in him, perhaps they would finally allow him more freedom. Maybe even go on a fly.

"Fine," Starscream replied after some time. "But I must go with you. You're pretty useless in your current state, after all. At least I have my claws."

He demonstrated by stretching and flexing his claws, really showing off how long and sharp they were. The Seeker was probably the Decepticon with the longest and sharpest claws of them all, at least of those on Earth. Then again, it was really the only dangerous part of him. Without his missiles or lasers, the claws were now his only means of defense and offense. But they have caused enough damage to prove themselves good enough as weapons.

"Alright," Bumblebee replied, a bit concerned over having to trust Starscream in helping him with this mission, especially when he was unable to defend himself properly. If the Seeker decided to turn on him, he'd have no chance to win against him this time. Perhaps he should bring an Energon Prod with him, just in case...

Starscream turned to Agent Fowler, as this one couldn't understand Bumblebee anyway.

"Alright, Agent Fowler," he said with a smirk. "Give us the coordinates."

There wasn't much preparation for their little 'outing'. Starscream stayed in the cufflets and wasn't allowed to get his missles. Bumblebee went to get an Energon Prod like he planned, just in case things went wrong. Starscream didn't fail to notice it hanging on the Scout's small back.

"I do hope you brought that with you to fight the humans," the Seeker said, but knew the reason.

"Just a precaution," Bumblebee said. "You may be helping me here, but I'm not so dumb that I won't go without a way to put you down if you try something funny. But, yeah, maybe it can be used for the MECH soldiers too. Hopefully not, though."

Starscream scoffed. "From what I've heard, these particular humans are like tiny Decepticons, yet you still don't want to squash them? Autobots," he added with another scoff.

As they were both prepared and ready, Rafael entered the coordinates given by Agent Fowler into the GroundBridge.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, Bee," Raf said with concern before activating the GroundBridge. "Are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry, Raf," Bee replied. "I'll be back before you know it. And then I'll take you out for a drive again!"

"Well, if you're really sure..."

"Hey, Scream," Miko shouted at the Seeker, drawing his attention. "Don't you dare hurt Bee! Or run off again! If you do, I'll..."

"Yes, yes, you'll give me an 'earful'," Starscream repeated sarcastically. "I'll be back too. Not like I can fly away or anything anyway, and not like there are any allies for me out there either. Plus, my missiles are here. So I really have no choice but to return here. Now, are we done talking so we can get going?"

Not having anymore to say, Jack activated the GroundBridge, being the tallest and probably physically strongest of the children. Even so, it took a few seconds before the switch went all the way up. The green portal appeared in the base, and Bumblebee looked back at Raf, nodding a goodbye, and then he and Starscream walked through the portal together.

"Be safe, Bee," Raf said quietly.

On the other side of the portal, they arrived in a forest. About a hundred meters from where they were sent, a military facility was situated. Most likely the MECH base Agent Fowler had talked about. They hid a bit among the trees and contemplated how to do this.

"Do we storm the place, or do we use stealth?" Bumblebee asked Starscream.

"Stealth, really?" the Seeker replied unimpressed. "We are giant robots. None of us have invisibility or stealth powers, so sneaking in without being seen is probably impossible. We're going to have to fight our way through."

Bumblebee looked back at the base, hesitating. "It seems risky though. What if they've already completed their own Transformer? We don't know how strong it would be..."

"Oh, be realistic," Starscream replied. "They're humans. There's not much they can do to harm us. Besides, however well their research on Cybertronian biology may be, I have hard to believe they would be able to construct a fully functional, capable Transformer within a day's time since you lost your bio-mechanism. They are probably still working on it as we speak. And as I don't see why any other Cybertronian would help them achieve their goal, I think we can handle a few humans and their tiny sting guns."

Bumblebee wasn't as optimistic about the mission as Starscream apparently was. Starscream hadn't met MECH. He didn't know how dangerous they were. How cruel they were. Not like Bumblebee and Breakdown had both experienced. But what Starscream said made sense. As long as there were no Decepticons in that facility, the operation should go smoothly.

"Fine, we storm the place and fight them. Still, be on your guard. Don't underestimate them just because they're humans. They're the ones who mutilated Breakdown, as you've probably seen."

Starscream hummed. He had seen Breakdown in his condition when he went to rescue him. The humans had left by then, but the way Breakdown acted and spoke afterwards showed that they were dangerous. Still, Starscream wasn't completely convinced. How could such small, fragile, fleshy beings be dangerous? Not even their technology is anything to brag about. This mission would be easy.

"We should probably go now, before they end up destroying your valuable bio-mechanism," the Seeker announced.

Bumblebee nodded in agreement. No more hesitation. They had to act now.

They left their hiding place and wandered to the base. They arrived at the entrance door, which was closed, probably locked too.

"So, do we just knock on the door and they'll let us inside?" the Scout speculated.

"Let's give them more than a knock, shall we?" the Seeker replied with a smirk.

No need to talk it out, they both clenched their fists and punched at the door as hard as they could. They created deep dents, but didn't entirely break down the door. Bumblebee went to the side and picked up a small jeep, which he proceeded to throw against the door, after Starscream got out of the way. The jeep did the trick. The door, as well as the wall it was attached to, broke down, the debris scattering across the ground outside and the floor inside. The Autobot and Decepticon stepped inside the base, where dozens of human soldiers were scattered and pointed their guns at the two giant robots. In the middle of the room stood a straight figure with a large scar on his face.

"You again?" Silas said, referring to Bumblebee. "I suppose you've come for your organ? I'm afraid I can't let you have it."

"While I admire your work here," Starscream went in, "I'm afraid to say that we can't allow you to continue this. You'll have to take someone else's T-cog for your little experiment here."

"Like...yours?" Silas said in a retorical question and signaled his soldiers to fire.

The shots felt like mosquito bites on the Cybertronians, possibly even wasp stings. Either way, they didn't do significant damage, but they still hurt. Quite a lot, actually. Starscream was surprised these lowly organics could do so much damage to their thick armor.

"You need to get to the Protoform," Starscream shouted through the loud shots. "I'll cover you!"

Bumblebee went off through the crossfire, while Starscream proceeded to swipe against the floor at the humans, sweeping them out of the way, stopping some of them from continuing their firing. But several were still shooting at Bumblebee. The Seeker tried to stomp on some of them, but it seemed they weren't keen on letting themselves get killed so easily, for they dodged to the sides whenever he tried to squash them. They aimed at his wings and face, which were his more vulnerable parts. His wings hurt pretty bad. He could feel the dents being made by the small yet sharp shots. He covered his face to protect his optics. Fighting these humans was more difficult than he had thought!

"Keep it up!" Silas shouted as it seemed they had begun ganging up on Starscream. But when Starscream peeked through his claws, he could see there were still several shooting at Bee, also aiming for his face, preventing him from fighting back or getting to the Protoform.

Starscream went through his thoughts quickly. If they got shot in the optics, they would be blinded, and optics were a lot more delicate than the metal armor on their body. They could flail blindly around them, but what good would that do? The Seeker had originally thought they could just suck it up and endure the little pain they might get, but actually being hit by these shots proved worse than he thought. While not particularly strong themselves, as there were many shots being fired from all sides all the time, their armor were beginning to get more and more dented, and in some places, particularly in Starscream's wings, he could even feel the mesh about to be pierced from the repeated attacks. If they didn't get this done with soon, they could be done for.

"Bumblebee," Starscream shouted to catch the Scout's attention. "Release me!"

"What?!" Bumblebee shouted back in disbelief.

"Unlock these cufflets! If I can use my lasers, we'll have a better chance at fighting back!"

"I can't do that!"

"Why not?! We're in a predicament here, we can only win if-"

"No, I can't unlock the cufflets, because I don't have the keycard!"

Starscream stiffened as a bullet went all the way through his left wing. They were running out of time.

"Well, then let's risk it!"

Starscream took a risk and removed his claws from his face, closing his optics. He ran forward, not caring if he ran into Bee or the humans. Bee got out of the way as Starscream ran into the Protoform at the wall. He opened his optics again and jumped, latching his claws into the body of the unfinished Transformer. With his right servo, he gutted the Protoform and tore the plates off until he found the T-cog. He grabbed hold of it and pulled it out, jumping off the Protoform and watched it fall. Behind him, Bumblebee had also decided to risk it and fought the humans back with his servos and pedes. Unlike Starscream, however, his optics were unable to close, putting them at a greater risk of injury. It didn't seem to be a problem, though. The Scout punched the humans away, into the walls, the ceiling, into the small jeep, breaking off their shooting, both those shooting at him and those shooting at Starscream.

"I got the T-cog, let's go!" Starscream shouted through closed optics and ran blindly through the crossfire. Until he ran into the jeep, in which he risked opening his optics to see which way was out.

"This way," Bee said and waved him towards the exit.

Starscream got up and ran with the Scout out the base, T-cog secure in his servo. The humans were too slow to stop them, but went after them anyway.

"Do not let them get away with that T-cog!" Silas yelled at his soldiers as they ran off after the fleeing Cybertronians.

While they ran, Bumblebee went on his comm.

"Raf, are you there? We need a 'Bridge back now!" he bleeped.

"Bumblebee! What do you think you're doing there?!" a familiar, cranky voice sounded from the comm.

"Ratchet? You're awake?"

"The humans took me off stasis and I just woke up to discover that not only are you and Starscream missing, you didn't even complete the surgery!"

"Hey, doctor," Starscream intervened on his own comm. "If you don't mind, we'd like to get a 'Bridge back to the base! I have your Scout's T-cog here in my hand!"

"You what?! Alright, I'll open a portal now!"

Less than ten seconds later, a green portal arrived almost right in front of them. The humans were still chasing after them, having seemingly infinite ammo.

"Stop right there!" Silas yelled as the robots were about to enter the portal.

"Good riddance, humans," Starscream said as they ran through the portal, followed by its closing.

The humans didn't even reach the portal before it closed. Silas stared at the empty spot where there had been two giant robots and a green portal thing just seconds ago. He growled and roared to the sky in anger.

"Just you wait, Autobots. This is not over yet."

When Bumblebee and Starscream arrived back in base, it wasn't just Ratchet that was standing there. Optimus, Bulkhead and Arcee had also returned, emptyhanded, apparently, and with concerned looks on their faces. The two homecoming bots stopped just in front of the group, as the GroundBridge was closed.

"I hope you have a good explanation for this, Bumblebee," Ratchet said. "And you too, Starscream," he added, glaring at the Seeker. "What were you two thinking, letting Bumblebee go without a vehicle mode or weapons to fight with?"

"I...had an Energon Prod," Bumblebee admitted, pulling it forth from his back. "I...forgot I had it."

Starscream facepalmed with his free servo. "Great. You could have used it to fight those vermins back."

"I think the energy would have killed them though."

"Would've been better. Less pests to worry about."

"Starscream," Optimus said with a deep voice, which gained Starscream's concerned attention. "I am grateful to see that you were successful in retrieving Bumblebee's missing T-cog." He looked at the T-cog in Starscream's servo, which he held up to show everyone that they succeeded. "But it appears you have forgotten that you are not allowed to leave the base yet."

"I don't remember you saying that at all," Starscream said with a smirk. "Just that I wasn't allowed to gut either of them during the surgery."

"You are mistaken. The rule to keep you in the base has been legible the entire time you have been here."

Starscream got a sinking feeling in his tanks. "You don't mean this counts as misbehaving, does it?" he asked worried.

"Normally it would," Optimus admitted, then paused for a bit, studying the injured Seeker, Scout and the T-cog. "But it seems you have both been through a lot to get the bio-mechanism back. And by the look in Bumblebee's eyes, it seems you have earned his trust as well. Am I wrong, Bumblebee?"

Bumblebee shrugged before answering. "Yeah, I guess. I wanted to free him from the cufflets when things looked tough, but I didn't have the keycard. I thought we were going to be blinded and stung to death!"

Starscream looked from Bumblebee to Optimus with anticipation. Optimus contemplated Bumblebee's words.

"Hmm... yes, I suppose that is a problem. Having only one keycard, there is only one of us who can control if Starscream is to be freed or not. We had discussed this earlier with the conclusion that this way, you would not be freed based on pity or half-hearted trust. But if it comes down to you assisting us in battle... then it is a different matter."

Starscream looked at each of the Autobot's faces. Bulkhead looked less than trustful of the Seeker, obviously. Ratchet looked disappointed and just as little trustful. Arcee simply looked annoyed, but seemed to agree with the others. Bumblebee's expression had changed, however. He did not seem as doubtful about the Seeker as he used to. He looked more concerned than doubtful. Had the Scout been sincere with his wish to free Starscream to help them fight? Probably not. He probably just said it to make the Seeker feel better. Whatever that reason might be.

Starscream perked back to attention as Optimus started speaking again.

"We will discuss this matter," the Autobot leader said, "after we have completed Bumblebee's surgery. By giving him back the piece he lost."

"Are you still up to the surgery, Scream?" Arcee asked.

Starscream thought for a bit. He had been excited for the transplant, getting to open up Ratchet, pulling an organ (or two) out of him and laugh gleefully about it. Maybe even lose a bit control and just get some revenge for what the Autobots had done to him. Now though, with Bumblebee's own T-cog back, there was no need for a transplant, meaning he just had to place an organ inside Bumblebee. How boring. Though he would still be able to cut him open...

"Well, Starscream?" Ratchet asked impatiently.

Starscream sighed, having made his decision.

"I think you should perform the surgery, Ratchet."

Ratchet looked astonished at him. So did everyone else in the room.

"I've already done my part in securing the T-cog. As fun as a surgery sounds... I'll have to pass on this one. You're more qualified to repair someone than I am. Bumblebee will have a higher chance of success if it is you operating instead of me."

Again, more silence. They didn't know what to say.

"Starscream..." Ratchet said quietly, still at a loss for words.

Starscream stepped forward and held out his servo, handing over the T-cog to Ratchet. He then raised both servos.

"Just get it over with, so I can return to my room."

The Autobots looked at each other for a moment before Arcee pulled forth the keycard, touched the cufflets and reactivated the energy string between them, once again limiting the Seeker's movements. As soon as they were activated, Starscream was already moving toward the hallway. He looked back at Arcee, who kept still.

"Well? Are you coming or not?" Starscream asked impatiently. "You have to lock me up, you know."

Still getting over the surprise, Arcee shook her head and went with him into the hallway, toward his room. After escorting him inside, she stepped out again.

"Thanks for helping Bee today, Scream," she said softly.

"If you 'Bots want me to begin liking you," Starscream snarled, "you could start by stopping calling me 'Scream', 'Screamer' and 'Screamy'. I hate those nicknames. Makes me angry every time I hear them."

Arcee thought a bit. "Okay... how about 'Star' then?"

Starscream perked at the name. He stared at her for a bit, then smiled - a real real, not a fake smile or a smirk, it seemed he was genuinely happy.

"Star will do," he replied with a chuckle. "Well, off you go now. I have some stories to get back to."

Arcee nodded and smiled back at him. "See you later, Star."

She closed the door and locked it. As the sound of her pedesteps faded, Starscream sighed deeply.

"She had to choose that nickname, huh," he said quietly to himself. "Same as you called me, Jetfire."

In the command center, the Autobots watched Ratchet perform the surgery on Bumblebee, placing the T-cog back into his body. Luckily it had not suffered any damage, making the procedure easier. Without their knowledge, Starscream had also turned on his monitor and was watching the surgery too, without saying anything.

As Ratchet finished closing him up, they stopped the stasis. Bumblebee woke up again within ten minutes, clear in the head and senses.

"Good, you're awake," Ratchet said relieved. "Take it easy now, don't rush yourself."

He helped Bumblebee stand up, until the Scout was able to stand on his own pedes. An easy and less overworking way to find out if he could transform would have been to activate his lasers. But, of course, an energitic young bot like Bumblebee who loved his vehicle mode more than anything could not settle for such a simple, lame way to test it. He had to test the success of the surgery for real.

As the others stepped back to give him some space, Bumblebee clenched his fists and attempted to activate transformation. Everyone held their breath. The Scout's chestplates moved, but didn't go further than that. He looked concerned at himself. He tried again. Same result, chestplates moved but no transformation.

Ratchet looked on in disbelief. "No...could it have been damaged after all? Have I failed?"

But before he could doubt more, Bumblebee gave it a third try, and this time he transformed into a muscle-car...or an Urbana 500, if the narrator in the commercial earlier was right. Either way, Bumblebee's transformation was successful, meaning the surgery was successful. Which meant that Team Prime had gained back their Scout.

Everyone rejoiced. Even Starscream sighed of relief in his room. Having seen it all, and seeing Bumblebee and Rafael's happiness as they went for a drive, as well as Ratchet's joy and satisfaction of being able to help the Scout, Starscream turned off his vid-screen and returned to reading one of his books.

While reading, the Seeker felt a strange warm feeling in his spark. The team's happiness and joy was because he had gone with Bumblebee and helped retrieve his part. He had helped someone, someone other than himself, without getting anything in return. Nothing except this strange feeling, that was. He didn't know what the feeling was or if he had even ever felt like this before. He didn't care either. Everything turned out well. Everyone was happy.

He didn't even care much about going out for a fly anymore. Why should he?

After all, it's not like the Autobots were sincere about letting him outside. He knew that from the beginning. They had lied to him yet again. He wouldn't be allowed to fly anytime soon, not until the Autobots trusted him fully and completely.

While it hurt him, he had realized this at last and finally accepted it like that. If what he had to do to get to fly again was winning the Autobots' trust, better do whatever they say and want to gain that trust.

If he was to be recognized as an Autobot, he would have to act like one. And what he had learned from watching the Autobots, was that they were disgustingly noble and selfless. Well, some of them, anyway. So he had to make some personal sacrifices as well.

Like giving up on ever returning to the skies again.

He would return when the Autobots thought him ready.

Until then, he had to endure.

And wait.

And then...he would finally escape.

Chapter Text

Silas was boiling inside of rage as he and the soldiers returned to their base. Not only had their location been discovered and their base destroyed, they had even lost the T-cog they had worked so hard to get. Not to mention the damage Project Chimera must have taken during the attack. If the damage was too great, they would have to start over with a new prototype.

"Men, examine the prototype and report the damages to me immediately," he ordered a group of technicians as they entered their ruined base.

They got to work immediately. While waiting for the results, Silas looked around the base. There were scorch marks and bullets lying everywhere on the floor. The substance called Energon, which they figured out about from various footage of the Transformers, was splattered on the floor several places, more from the prototype than the two attackers.

His gaze fell on the jeep, lying a few metres from the fallen prototype. It was lying on its side, also stained with Energon. It was the only jeep they currently had; all their other vehicles were helicopters and muscle cars. Silas preferred the jeep, as it was stronger and more durable than it looked.

"You," Silas said to a random soldier, "go check on the jeep as well! Report any damage to me!"

"Yessir!" the soldier saluted and went to the jeep immediately.

Silas looked from the jeep to the prototype and turned around, gazing at the night outside. This operation had gone so well and discretely. If only they had finished off the damn yellow bot when they had the chance, then the Autobots would believe it had been the Decepticons' work and taken it out on them. And then, they might have been able to complete Project Chimera in time to eradicate both sides...

"Silas," a soldier said, coming from the prototype. "The prototype has some damage to its chest area, but it appears to be repairable. All we need is a new T-cog and it can return to-"

"Silas!" the other soldier from the jeep shouted, interrupting his colleague and gaining Silas' attention instead.

"What?!" Silas growled, annoyed over the interruption. "Speak up!"

"The...the jeep..." The soldier didn't continue, simply pointed at the jeep a few metres away. As Silas laid eyes on it, he saw what the soldier had been trying to say.

The jeep used to be a dull grayish brown color, but now, it had suddenly changed colors; it had turned olive green with purple stripes along the base, even the windows had turned from clear to purple. Silas also noticed the Energon stains had disappeared from it, and it didn't seem like anyone had cleaned it up.

A rumble emitted from the jeep, as if the engine had turned on by itself. The soldiers all pulled forth their guns, including Silas, pointing it at the jeep. Something was about to happen.

Within a few seconds, the jeep broke into pieces, these pieces moving around with mechanical noises, rearranging themselves, until a robot stood on the floor. A small bot, probably about the size of the yellow Autobot named Bumblebee, but with a more square-shaped body due to his jeep mode. He was mostly olive green, but the windows on his chest, as well as his hands, feet and joints had a purple color, his head was black with a light gray face. On his face was a pair of large purple eyes with white pupils, focused on Silas. Also on his face was a mouth currently shaped in a smirk. He certainly didn't seem scared of the humans.

"Who are you?" Silas asked darkly. "State your business!"

"Relax, relax," the smirky bot said and held out a hand. "I'm not going to hurt you, Silas."

"You've heard of me?"

"Heard of you? I've been your personal choice of transport for more than ten Earth years! I know all about you and MECH, and I've helped you get where you needed to go during your missions."

"What's your name?" Silas lowered his gun slightly, but didn't let down his guard.

"My apologies," the bot said and bowed with one arm across his chest, like a waiter does, "my name is Swindle, Combaticon and stationed here on Earth by Lord Megatron. While you may be wary of me at the moment, I believe I can continue to serve your cause. In return, I get thirty percent of your share of Energon."

Silas lowered his gun entirely, but his soldiers continued to hold up theirs, not having received a signal from their general yet.

"And why would I want help from you?" Silas asked skeptically.

"Because I can help you gather the necessary parts for your own Transformer, and tell you all about our biology. I have no problem with ditching Lord Megatron to serve you instead, dear Silas. So, what do you say?" Swindle smirked even wider, kneeling down and holding out a hand about five or ten times bigger than Silas' own. "Do we have a deal?"

Silas thought for a while. Then he finally signaled his soldiers to stand down. He walked over and took Swindle's hand.

"I believe we do."

In the Autobot command center, the Autobots had begun discussing what to do with Starscream now. Bumblebee had gone to take an Energon shower to heal the worst wounds from the MECH soldiers' guns. Starscream would get to do it as well afterwards, he seemed to have taken more damage than Bee.

"He did break our rules," Ratchet said. "And risked Bumblebee's life. Shouldn't he get some sort of punishment for that?"

"He managed to return with both Bee and himself alive, and even got Bee's T-cog back though," Arcee argued. "And got himself filled with lead."

"If he'd returned without Bee, I would've pounded him so hard," Bulkhead said, though without hand gestures this time.

"True, his punishment would have been much harder if Bumblebee had not made it back with him," Optimus agreed. "Still, his decision to not let Bumblebee go alone was the right decision. Had he let him go by himself, there would be no tolerance for that."

"He didn't seem to try anything funny while we were out there," Bumblebee said as he exited the shower, more or less healed, though still with a few small dents which would go away on their own in time. "And we did make it back alright."

"You don't get a say in this, Bumblebee," Ratchet scolded and pointed a stern digit at Bumblebee. "You are just as responsible for this as Starscream. You were the one with the idea of going out there, right? And you were the one who convinced him to go with you, isn't that right?"

Bumblebee hesitated for a bit, but then nodded. "Yeah. It was my fault, not his."

"So we should really be punishing Bee for this?" Bulkhead said in disbelief. "And leave Screamer out of it?"

"Oh, he actually asked that we stop calling him that," Arcee went in. "He doesn't like it."

"Good, then I'll keep calling him that."

Arcee rolled her eyes and shrugged. Guess it's up to them what they wanna call him, she thought to herself.

"Do we omit another Energon cube at the next session?" Bulkhead asked hopefully.

Optimus thought for a bit. "No," he answered. "That would only push him further away from us. The fact that he wants to help us on missions is a good sign, a sign we must not cast aside."

"Are you saying we avoid punishing him this time?" Ratchet asked, slightly concerned.

"Yes," Optimus replied. "We need to stop treating him like a prisoner and more like a comrade. I believe it is time for the next step..."

Starscream felt sore in his left wing. He remembered it had gained a hole from the repeated shots. He stood from his recharging table, put down the data-pad and tried to examine his wing as well as he could. Bending the wing as forward as he could, he saw the hole; it wasn't clean, but it was definitely a hole, and it leaked a bit of Energon. He brushed it with the back of his left servo. It stung. Hopefully the Autobots would allow him in that Energon shower, or maybe Ratchet could take a look at it. Now that he was paying attention to it, he actually felt sore all over his body, having received many dents from the shots.

"Miserable humans..." he mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened, and outside stood Arcee. Starscream winced back, not having heard her arrival. He straightened up and reset his vocalizer, trying to pretend he hadn't just been startled by the femmebot.

"Arcee," he said and let out a cough. "What-"

"Come with me," Arcee said bluntly and waved him over.

Starscream hesitated a bit, but nonetheless followed her instructions. They walked out of his room and along the hallway. The Seeker studied the femmebot's face. It was unreadable, he could not tell if something good or something bad was about to happen. Most certainly something bad.

"Are you going to punish me for breaking your rules?" he asked concerned.

"Quiet," she said.

He didn't say any more, just thought to himself. They are going to punish me. No cube for me tomorrow, probably. I knew I shouldn't have gone with that Scout on his own personal little mission, much less let him do it... This is what I get for being helpful, I guess. I can't wait to get a new chance to escape from here...

"Here we are," Arcee informed, as they arrived in the command center, where the other Autobots and humans were present.

Starscream stared concerned at the scene. Everyone had the same stone-faced expression, even the kids. What kind of punishment could be waiting for him this time...? Perhaps something worse than no cube? He dreaded the thought.

"Stand here," Arcee said as she led him to right in the middle of the half circle of Autobots, right in front of Optimus Prime, who looked more gloomy than usual.

Starscream gulped and lowered his wings in submission. I suppose it was just a matter of time before they'd resort to violence. Better get it over with.

"Just get it over with," Starscream said quietly, with a lowered head and closed optics, awaiting his punishment.

"You misunderstand, Starscream," Optimus said in a calm, soothing tone. "We are not going to punish you."

Starscream opened his optics and looked up at the Autobot leader. "Eh...what? You're not?" he asked uncertain. "Is this a joke?"

"I do not joke," Optimus replied seriously. "Especially not when it comes to punishments. Now, your condition for helping with Bumblebee's surgery was that you would be allowed to go on a flight."

"Uh, yes, but I didn't-"

"However, we cannot allow that."

Starscream blinked. "What? Why not? Is it just because I didn't do the surgery?"

"No. You did well in retrieving Bumblebee's T-cog and allowing Ratchet to do the surgery. You stated yourself that the surgery would have a greater chance of succes if Ratchet did it than if it was you. You thought about what was best for Bumblebee and not of your own ambitions or needs at the moment. You have the potential of becoming a good Autobot, Starscream, and I am proud of your progress."

Starscream looked away shyly with a smirk, but returned his attention as Prime continued.

"However, we cannot allow you full freedom just yet. As such, we cannot allow you to fly yet."

"I knew it," Starscream mumbled to himself.

"However, the deal was Bumblebee's transformation for a little freedom to you. And I am happy to inform you that Bumblebee can transform once again, thanks to you. And we Autobots do not break our promises to anyone. So we are giving you a little freedom."

Starscream perked to attention, listening closely and intently while looking deeply into Optimus' stern yet calm blue optics.

"Starscream," Optimus began. "From now on, the door to your room will only lock if you wish it to be locked."

Starscream waited for more, but Optimus paused. Starscream thought about what he said and suddenly gasped, understanding what he meant.

"You mean...?" he trailed off, but stared at Prime with anticipation.

"Yes," Optimus answered the incomplete question. "You are allowed to roam the base on your own, entering and exiting your room as you see fit."

Starscream took several quick, heavy breaths of disbelief. "R-really? You mean it? I can go wherever I want now without you stopping me?"

"Not entirely," Prime continued. "You are allowed to wander the inside of the base unsupervised, but you will never be alone in the base. There will always be at least one Autobot in the command center, to make sure you do not try to leave through the GroundBridge or the main entrance."

"And don't even think about looking for your missiles or the keycard to your cuffs," Ratchet added. "The keycard is on one of us, hidden from your sight, and the missiles have been hidden in a place you will never be able to find them in."

"Wait," Starscream said unsure. "I still have to wear my stasis cuffs?"

"Of course," Arcee answered. "You haven't won our full trust yet."

"We are taking this situation step by step," Optimus explained. "And the next step is to allow you the run of the base, but with the precaution that you still cannot transform or use your lasers. That step will come later, once you have proven yourself further."

Starscream looked down at his cuffed servos and thought about this new rule. It wasn't really that bad an addition. At least now he didn't have to be inside the claustrophobic room all the time anymore. He could finally explore the base for real now!

"Alright," Starscream replied and looked back at the Autobot leader. "Then I'll wait for that time." He thought for a bit more before he added: "Thank you."

None of the Autobots said anything for a while, though some of them smiled, hereamong Arcee and the humans. They didn't remember if Starscream had ever thanked them before, at least not a sincere thank you like this one. It was probably the first real thank you they had gotten from him since he arrived in the base. Certainly another sign of progress!

Starscream looked from side to side, unsure of what to do now. "So...uh... what now? Does this new rule start now or tomorrow or...?"

"The idea is that it starts now," Optimus replied. "You can stay here for a while or you can return to your room and think about it if you're not ready yet. We will leave the door unlocked so you can come out when you want."

"I think I'll return to my room," Starscream said almost immediately, a bit unexpectant. "I need to get used to this."

"Very well. Arcee, escort Starscream back. And remember to leave the door unlocked."

"On it," Arcee replied. "Come on, Star."

Some of the Autobots tilted their heads in surprise by the new nickname. Starscream smiled as they walked together through the hallway. Seems she was sincere about the new nickname after all!

As they arrived at his room, Starscream went automatically inside as Arcee opened the door. He stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at her. She gave him a soft smile.

"You did good today, Star," she said again. "Really good, actually. Keep up the pace, and you'll be flying in no time. Just...remember your promise to me, right?"

Starscream gave a smile back. "Of course. Though, on the first flight, I think I want to be alone. If you don't mind."

Arcee made a small pout. "We'll see when the time comes. I'm gonna return to the others now. You take your time in here and come out when you want. See you later."

Arcee left the room and closed it, but unlike the other times, she didn't linger to lock it. She just walked away, leaving the Seeker alone. It was then that the realization hit him.

He was allowed to leave his room. He was allowed to explore the base. He was allowed to hang out in the command center. He was allowed to decide if his room should be locked or not.

It wasn't much, but for him, it was a huge step, one step closer to total freedom.

"Perhaps this will work out after all," he said to himself.

In the command center, the Autobots talked about the decision they had just made.

"I don't know how safe it is to just let Starscream walk around by himself," Jack said with concern, "but if you're really sure this was the best choice..."

"Maybe not the best choice," Ratchet replied, "but like Optimus said, we can't treat him like a prisoner forever. We'll just have to get used to seeing him around outside his room more often."

"Who knows, maybe he'll warm up to us a bit more from this," Arcee said.

"Hey, what time is it?" Miko asked.

Raf checked his clock. "It's almost 10," he replied. "We should probably go home now."

"I'm on it, Raf!" Bee bleeped eagerly and transformed at once. Raf got inside and got his second and last ride with Bumblebee for the day.

"See you guys tomorrow," Raf said and waved as Bumblebee began taking off.

Ratchet opened the front entrance so they could leave. "You two are also going home, right?" he asked Jack and Miko.

"Yeah, my mom will get worried if I stay here longer," Jack replied. "Well, maybe not so much since she learned of you guys, but you know..."

"I'm on it," Arcee said and transformed into her motorcycle mode. "Get on."

Jack put on his helm and got onto Arcee, who proceeded to drive out through the main entrance.

Bulkhead transformed as well and opened a door. "Come on, Miko, let's go!"

"Okay!" Miko said cheerfully and got inside Bulkhead before he took off, following the others. As all three pairs had left the base, Ratchet closed the physical entrance again, leaving Ratchet and Optimus behind in the base alone. With Starscream, of course.

"How long do you think it will take before Starscream comes out?" Ratchet asked, more as a retorical question than an actual question.

"We'll have to wait and see," Optimus replied, knowing it was a retorical question.

Inside his room, Starscream had sat down on the recharging table and was about to continue reading his GoBots story, when he remembered his left wing was still injured. He put down the data-pad again and contemplated. Was it too soon for him to step outside his room yet? It felt like it, at least. He knew he was allowed to go when he wanted to now, but it still felt weird, unreal, even. Were they really sincere about him being allowed to leave? Or was it another Autobot trick they were playing on him? Maybe it was a test. A test to see if he was going to take the opportunity and prove himself the opportunist that he was infamous for being. They would probably bust him as soon as he stepped a pede outside his room on his own, saying things like 'I knew you couldn't be trusted,' or 'You're just another opportunistic beast, aren't you?'

Starscream snorted. "No way are they going to keep me in here with feelings or otherwise," he snarled. "If I can leave, then I'll leave!"

He made a decision and stood up, walked towards the door and stared at it. For minutes. He hesitated. More than he had ever hesitated in his life, maybe except for the time he contemplated biting off his own servo. It was still a little itchy from the operation, but otherwise didn't hurt or bother him.

"Don't be a coward," he said quietly to himself. "It's just a door. You can get past it. You are allowed to get past it. Just do it."

Taking a few deep vents, he bowed down and held his servos on the door handle. After several seconds, he slowly opened the door up, until it was big enough that he could step outside. Again, he hesitated, lignering in his now open room. He looked to each side. No one was present. There was no sound of anyone nearby. Had they all left, perhaps? Only one way to find out.

Slowly, he took his first step through the door entrance, outside the room. Then another step, then another, until he was all out of the room. His venting sped up a little, his spark beating a bit faster from excitement.

Is this really alright? he thought to himself. Of course it's alright, they said you could go, enough with all this hesitation!

Determined, he started walking, albeit slowly and carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible. He remembered the way from his escape a couple of weeks ago and turned left, until he arrived at the fork. Rather than going left or right, he went straight forward, hoping it was still the way to the command center.

It was. Starscream arrived at the entrance to the command center and lingered, silently watching Optimus Prime and Ratchet standing in two ends of the room, doing their own things. Ratchet seemed to be working on the Synthetic Energon formula, while Optimus seemed to be decrypting something. Perhaps more of those relics he had heard them talk about?

Starscream once again hesitated, still unsure if it was a good idea to make his announcement and enter the command center or not. He imagined both the Autobots ganging up on him as soon as he stepped inside, forcing him back to his cell, locking it and keeping him there forever...

"Oh, hello, Starscream," Ratchet greeted, having laid eyes on him from the medbay.

Starscream winced back and let out a small exclamation. Optimus turned and looked briefly at Starscream, only to return to his work. Ratchet didn't stare at him either; as soon as the greeting was over, his gaze returned to his work.

Now Starscream was even more unsure what to do. They had seen him, they knew he was there, but they were ignoring him. What to do in such a situation? Play it cool and just go in? Or be a coward and return to his room like a spooked petro-rabbit?

Calm down, he told himself. It's okay. You're welcome here now. They aren't going to hurt you. They're ignoring you. Just go in.

Starscream took a deep vent and slowly, silently walked inside the command center. He gazed from Ratchet to Optimus and back to Ratchet, then back to Optimus, several times, not really watching where he was going. Ratchet and Optimus, in the meantime, were still ignoring him. Or were they?

Starscream stopped right behind Ratchet. He remembered why he had gone out. He turned to face Ratchet's back, but this one was still ignoring him. He seemed to be sitting very still, actually. Did he expect Starscream to run at the slightest movement or sound? Did he think he was a scared dioptas-deer?

The Seeker hesitated a bit before coughing a bit. "Uh-uhm...R-Ratchet...?" he said quietly, uncertain.

Ratchet turned in his seat and looked at the Seeker. "Yes? What is it?" His voice was blunt, as if pretending this was no big deal or anything.

Starscream coughed again, resetting his vocalizer. "Um...uh...It seems that, now that Bumblebee's all better and everything... Can you take a look at my wing? It got wounded from the attack. The left one."

Ratchet nodded and stood up. "Sure. Turn around."

Starscream did as instructed and turned his back to him. Ratchet studied the wings. He winced back a bit by the sight.

It wasn't just the left wing that had gained a hole in it. Both wings had multiple holes in them, though most of them were so small they could be mistaken for dents. There was a big hole in the left wing, and it was leaking Energon. So did the other holes, but very little.

"Does it hurt?" Ratchet asked as he touched the wings.

Starscream winced at the touches. "Yes, especially the hole," he replied.

"That's just a big hole. You have many holes in those wings," Ratchet informed.

"What?" the Seeker exclaimed shocked. "I mean, it stings everywhere on them, yes, but I didn't think..."

"Don't worry, a bit of coating and an Energon cube should do the trick. As well as an Energon shower. It has probably been a long time since you last got one of those, am I right?"

"Uh, yeah?" Starscream replied unamused. "You haven't exactly given me the chance for that..."

"Well, now that you're free to wander the base as you see fit, you can take a shower when you want. Just don't use up all the Energon, we're still short on it." Ratchet led Starscream to an operating table where he proceeded to take out a coating kit and a blowtorch to get to work.

Starscream stiffened as the cold coating touched his wings. "Right, I haven't exactly told you of any new Energon sites in weeks, have I," he said quietly.

"Don't worry, we still have enough Energon to go around for another two months, at the least. We'll be fine."

Starscream stayed quiet for a bit while Ratchet coated the minor wounds, closing them.

"You're still working on that Synthetic Energon formula, aren't you?" he asked as the right wing felt less itchy and sore.

"That's right," Ratchet replied as he got to work on the left wing, starting with the gaping hole. He took out a blowtorch and started working on covering the wound. "After all, eventually Earth's deposits will run out, and we need to be prepared in case you can't provide us with more locations."

"In other words, when I become useless," Starscream repeated from his earlier conversation with Arcee.

Ratchet stopped working for a bit. "What are you talking about? You're not useless. Yes, you may not be doing much right now, but when you prove yourself ready, you can be more than of use to us."

"How?" Starscream asked as Ratchet returned with the blowtorch. It hurt a bit getting burned on his sensitive wing, but he managed to keep together and sit still.

"Firstly, those wings of yours will provide us with air support," Ratchet said.

"That's what Arcee said too," the Seeker replied.

"Because it's true. There are so many Decepticons with the ability to fly, and far too few of us Autobots with the ability. In fact, we don't even know if there still exists any more Autobots with flight forms. Because of that, you are a valuable asset to us."

Starscream didn't respond right away. He thought about what Ratchet said. There were probably no more Autobots with flight ability left. Nothing new to him. Knowing Jetfire was gone, he had every reason to believe there were none left.

"Is there anything else?" Starscream asked, wanting to get away from thoughts about Jetfire. "Are my wings the only thing that interests you?"

"No," Ratchet replied as he was getting ready to finish up with the blowtorch. "You still have valuable information as well. We didn't know you knew about Synthetic Energon, much less the possibility of you being able to make it."

"But I can't," the Seeker replied. "No one can make it without the recipe. That's why it was sealed away and thrown into space, before I could even finish studying it..."

Ratchet had just finished with the blowtorch and stopped working. "What? You studied it before it was sent to space? Are you saying you were in possession of the recipe we lost?" Even Optimus had momentarily stopped working and listened to their conversation.

Starscream mentally face-palmed. He thought he had said it to the humans, and in turn he thought they had told the Autobots about it. Apparently, that was not the case. Come to think of it, had he actually told the humans? He couldn't remember. He damned his memory as it had recently been failing him.

"...yes," he replied hesitantly. "The Energon Seekers that I was in charge of guarded the Dark Energon on Cybertron as well as a few...other things. The recipe to Synthetic Energon was among them. We launched it into space when Megatron's forces attacked us on Trypticon Station. We even had some completed Synthetic Energon to help us in the battle, but eventually it wore off and we were defeated. I had peeked at the recipe occasionally, taking mental notes of it, since it was a top secret recipe that only our most trusted chemists were allowed to look at and manufacture Synthetic Energon. I had almost completed reading the entire recipe when... Jetfire took it and sent it away. Afterwards, we were defeated, Jetfire escaped, the rest of us joined Megatron's army."

Ratchet had continued coating the Seeker's left wing while the latter continued talking. As he was finished talking, Ratchet had also finished the work on the wings.

"Alright, we'll wait a few minutes for the coating to dry before you enter the Energon shower," he instructed. "And Arcee told us you had been friends with Jetfire. He joined our ranks after Trypticon Station had been taken by the Decepticons."

While he knew the answer, he had to ask. "How did things go for him?"

Ratchet hesitated before answering. "He was a great air support for us, along with the Aerialbots during the war. But we lost touch during the fall of Cybertron, when I, Optimus and a select few warriors left the planet to set off for Earth. I don't know what happened to Jetfire, but some said he perished during the final hours of Cybertron."

Starscream got a sinking feeling. "I know. I was given the message from Megatron himself that he had terminated Jetfire. I had hoped he was lying... but I guess it's pointless to hope anymore, isn't it?"

Ratchet didn't reply. He checked his clock. "Alright, I think you can go take a shower now."

Starscream stood up and walked over to the Energon shower and stepped inside. Ratchet activated it from the outside. Trying to forget his other thoughts, Starscream just stood there, in the tube, looking up with his optics closed, just enjoying the feel of Energon caressing his tired frame. He could feel the Energon fixing the dents and scratches that Ratchet couldn't repair himself. After several minutes, the shower stopped and the door opened. He stepped outside, feeling refreshed and better than ever. Well, aside from not being able to transform or moving his servos freely, but for the time being he took what he could get.

"Thank you, doctor," he said as he began wandering back to the hallway. "I'll...see you tomorrow, I guess..."

"You're welcome, Starscream," Ratchet replied, watching him leave. He turned to look at Optimus, who had paused his work and looked back at the medic. "So, you think that went well?"

"I think it went excellently," Optimus replied before returning to his screen. "Let us hope it goes as well tomorrow."

The following week, Starscream progressed from hesitantly exiting his room to peek in the command center before returning to safety in his room, to become more confident and start to stay longer at the command center for chatting with the others. At first, the others were treating him as nicely and being as calm about it as they could, trying not to scare him away, which was particularly difficult for Bulkhead, as he was the one who disliked the Seeker the most.

"How much longer do we have to act like this when he comes?" the Wrecker asked on the second day since the new rule was established.

"Until he's become comfortable enough that he doesn't run off as soon as you move or talk to him," Ratchet replied. "Really, can you be more intimidating?"

"I'm big, it's not my fault he's a scaredy-cyber-cat," Bulkhead protested.

"I'm sure he'll get used to the change soon enough, Bulk," Miko said from the railings.

"As must we," Optimus added. "It is a strange change, but an important one. We must treat him as we would each other, for otherwise he will not feel like one of us."

"I don't think he'll really feel like one of us until he's rid of those cuffs," Arcee pointed out.

"When the time comes, they will come off as well."

Bulkhead gave a small scoff at the notion. He still wasn't keen on letting Starscream getting his freedom under the Autobots.

"It's your turn to speak to him tomorrow, Bulk," Arcee informed him. "Maybe you should get to know him a bit more. Not like you hang around him more than at the sessions."

"Yeah, I don't think I want to be chummy with him like you, Bumblebee or Ratchet are," Bulkhead replied.

"I'm not chummy with him," Ratchet protested. "I'm a medic, I have to treat him like any patient."

"He got back my T-cog, there's nothing more to it than that," Bumblebee said.

"Hey, you don't have to be chummy with him, you just have to get to know him," Arcee said. "Maybe he isn't such a bad character after all, we'll never know if we just ignore him."

"You do that, I'm going on patrol," Bulkhead said and transformed, exiting the base.

On the third day, after Bulkhead finished his 'conversation' session with Starscream and gave him a cube, he returned to patrolling again. Whenever Bulkhead had to 'converse' with Starscream, it was never personal things. Just a hello, asking about the Seeker's day, if he liked the Energon cube and then a goodbye. Starscream was never looking forward to sessions with Bulkhead. Such a boring mech.

About an hour after the session, he decided to leave his room and see what the others were doing in the command center. He was still nervous, but it had been easier that the others weren't trying to force him into doing anything. So this time, as the Seeker walked through the hallway to the command center, he walked in determined without hesitation this time. Well, almost. He always checked how many were present in the command center before entering, both humans and Autobots. This time, all three humans were present, along with Arcee, Bumblebee and Ratchet. Optimus and Bulkhead were MIA. He took a deep vent before entering, this time without trying to be stealthy, but also without saying anything.

"Oh, Starscream," Miko greeted, making the others briefly glance at the Seeker before going back to their own things.

Starscream was beginning to find this behavior a bit annoying. Sure, it was easier to be around when no one was after him, but they didn't have to pretend like he didn't exist. It was kind of rude!

Miko was the only one not ignoring him. Everyone had agreed that whenever Starscream came in, they would refrain from making any comments, only greeting him and then pretend he was not there. This was to make him want to be interested in what they were doing and to make him want social contact. So far, he had only entered, walked in a little, looked around and then left again without a word. This time, however, it seemed he was going to stay.

Starscream looked from side to side again. The fact that neither Bulkhead or Optimus were here made it a little easier to relax, as they were both too intimidating for him. Having just the humans, the Scout, Arcee and the medic here was easier to deal with. He decided it was time to chat.

"Uh...are...any of you...doing anything...interesting...?" he asked hesistantly.

Again, they briefly glanced at him, but they stopped what they were doing, seemingly contemplating if they should get his attention.

"You...uh...do you like animations, Starscream?" Rafael asked from the railings. Starscream caught sight of the humans and looked around at the Autobots before slowly walking over to the humans.

"Uh...animations?" Starscream replied unsure. "What do you mean?"

Raf quickly found something on his computer and turned it so Starscream could see. The Seeker looked closer. It was an animation of a cat in a space-suit.

"Mars-Cat-says: take-me-to-your-feeder!" the cat said.

Starscream barked a laugh, then glanced around at the Autobots, then back at the humans. They stared at him in wonder.

"Well whaddya know," Miko commented. "Scream has a sense of humor!"

Starscream scoffed and blushed slightly. "Oh please, I was laughing at the simplemindedness you humans have." He glanced back at Rafael. "Are...uh...there more?"

The humans smiled as they found more animations of silly animals that Starscream could laugh or scoff at. The Autobots smiled too. Seems Starscream is getting more comfortable, Arcee thought. Leave it to the humans.

After a few minutes of watching GIFs and laughing at them, Starscream smiled at the humans. "Heh, you humans are weak, but you certainly know how to entertain a mech. Certainly better than most of my books. But uh, I think I'll return to my room now. See you later."

The Seeker turned and left the command center, heading back to his room. He felt a little lighter in his spark. Perhaps tomorrow he should hang out with the kids again.

The next four days, Starscream left his room more and more frequently, and he stayed in the command center for longer and longer periods. On the seventh day since the new rule, he barely left the command center at all. He had mostly hung out with the children, but also began asking the Autobots what they were doing.

Prime wasn't much for talk, but he would briefly tell him he was decrypting text from the Iacon Library to locate the next relics.

Bulkhead barely said anything at all. Whenever Starscream arrived, Bulkhead would usually excuse himself to going on a patrol, so they didn't see eye-to-eye very much.

Bumblebee would tell the Seeker about some new acrobatic tricks he came up with and offered to show him some time, which the Seeker said he would think about.

Ratchet continued working on the Synthetic Energon formula. It seemed to be difficult, having to guess what came next, so it was a long work in progress.

Arcee was often on patrol or racing with Jack, or picking Jack up from the drive-thru, but whenever she was present in the base, she would just talk about their promise to take a flight together in the future. Silently, that is, they had not said this to the others. They might end up thinking Arcee would help Starscream get free sooner than he was ready. Arcee was confident they could wait though.

As night began to fall and Bulkhead returned from patrol, he, Arcee and Bumblebee took their human partners on a ride home. Starscream looked intently at the road to the exit. Ratchet and Optimus didn't fail to notice this.

"You'll get to fly some day," Ratchet ensured him, knowing what he was thinking. "But that day is not today."

Starscream didn't reply, just turned around and headed to the hallway. "I think I'll turn in for the night. Goodnight."

"Sleep well, Starscream," Optimus said from his corner.

A few hours later, after Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee had returned, something unexpected happened. The monitor connected to Agent Fowler's end beeped and turned on, and the man's face appeared on the screen.

"Prime! What in blazes are your people doing out here?! We had an agreement: No collateral damage!"

"I am sorry, Agent Fowler," Optimus said confused, "but all Autobots are present and accounted for."

"Then explain why I'm receiving reports of two jumbo-sized robots mixing it up, twenty miles outside Omaha!"

"Decepticons?" Ratchet suggested, as if it was the most obvious possibility.

"There has been plenty of in-fighting lately," Arcee pointed out. "Megatron can't seem to keep his ranks in line."

"Well, I'm just arriving on the scene. Take a look." The monitor switched to a live feed from the air, showing a crashed gray ship with an unknown Cybertronian standing next to it. He seemed to be dark purple or navy blue and holding a large cannon in his servos. He seemed very familiar, like a bot that was terminated several months ago...

"I don't know," Bulkhead said unsure. "Paintjob aside, it can't be Skyquake. You and Optimus pounded him into the ground."

"Before Starscream yanked him back out," Arcee added. "As some undead Terrorcon. The question still stands: Who's the dance partner?"

The video feed focused on another ship, more square in shape and silhouette, but it was white and looked oddly familiar. Next to the ship stood someone they hadn't thought they'd see again.

"By the AllSpark," Ratchet exclaimed, "it is one of ours!"

"Wheeljack!" Bulkhead said in disbelief, followed by joy. "Hahah, Jackie's back!"

He gave the bots in front of him - Ratchet, Bumblebee and Arcee - a powerful slap in their backs of excitement, pushing them forward, almost knocking them over.

"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln's back," Agent Fowler exclaimed, "we have to contain this situation, before we all wind up on the Eleven O'Clock News!"

Since the Autobots began treating Starscream a bit more civil and stopped calling his room a cell, it had become easier to sleep, and dreams were more peaceful now than they used to. This time, though, it was particularly hard for him to sleep. He managed to get in perhaps three hours of sleep before a nightmare woke him up. It had been the usual nightmare that invaded his sleep the first two months of his stay with the Autobots. Him, Starscream in the Energon mine with Megatron, who pointed his fusion cannon at the Seeker's face. The dream always ended with Megatron pulling the trigger, a light and a sound, followed by Starscream's waking up with a shriek. It felt real every time he had the dream, and this time was no different. He felt around himself, his face, his chest, his legs, until he saw the stasis cuffs and realized it had just been a nightmare.

"Damn fragger won't leave me alone even in my dreams," he mumbled to himself. He didn't feel like going back to sleep. He looked at his puzzles, but also didn't feel like doing those. He stood up and went to his shelf, looking through the data-pads. Reading didn't feel so interesting at the moment either. Perhaps he should pay the Autobots a visit? He had said goodnight, but surely they would understand if he wanted some company. Maybe talking to them would doze him off and allow him to return to sleep.

The Seeker made his decision and went for the door. He opened it and went outside, closed it and headed for the command center. But when he arrived there, he discovered the Autobots had a visitor.

Wheeljack, he thought with a start. The Wrecker Bulkhead's friend. Last time he met the maniac, he was a prisoner onboard the Nemesis. Under the Seeker's command. While his underling, Makeshift, had posed as Wheeljack to find the location of the Autobots' base, but blew up before he could relay the coordinates. Now Starscream suddenly realized why Bulkhead hated the Seeker so much. It was a grudge over having kept his best friend as a prisoner and torturing him. Well, we all have a past, he thought annoyed to himself.

"Ow, easy doc," Wheeljack exclaimed as Ratchet's blowtorch apparently hit a sore spot on a wound Wheeljack had gained on his left shoulder. "I need that arm."

"Hold still and maybe you'll keep it," Ratchet countered and returned to work on the shoulder.

"Look, Commander," Wheeljack said, directed at Optimus, "apologies for the fireworks, it won't happen again. But I tracked Dreadwing across a hundred light years of space."

Starscream took note of the name. Dreadwing? Who's that? Have I heard that name before somewhere...?

"I thought you were roving the galaxy," Bulkhead said confused, "you know, looking for Autobot refugees."

"I was. Until I found one. A Wrecker."

Wheeljack didn't seem very happy when he said that, strangely enough. Bulkhead didn't seem to take note of his friend's gloomy expression.

"Who?" he asked eagerly.

"Seaspray," Wheeljack replied darkly.

Bulkhead barked a laugh. "How is ol' barnacle butt?"

"Not so good, Bulk. Blown to bits, actually."

Bulkhead's cheery expression immediately fell. "What? No..." He backed off in disbelief. Optimus and Arcee lowered their heads and closed their optics, sharing the Wrecker's pain. Optimus opened his again and had a stern expression on his face.

"Dreadwing," Prime almost growled.

Wheeljack went on to explain the incident.

"My flier, Jackhammer, picked up Seaspray's signal a couple of light years from Maderan. We made contact, arranged a rendevous at the Dromedon System. But Dreadwing must have intercepted the transmission, 'cause he got to Seaspray first. Proximity bomb, supposed to take us both out. Guess I should be glad that Jackhammer can take a punch. I picked up Dreadwing's ion trail, tracked it to a dozen solar systems before catching up with him. And he led me right back to this marble. Some coincidence, huh?"

"I know of this Dreadwing," Optimus said. "He was captain of a Seeker armada, and as such, like his twin, Skyquake, fiercely loyal to the Decepticon cause."

Starscream held back a gasp. Dreadwing is Skyquake's twin? Oh, I hope I don't ever meet up with him. He probably wouldn't like to know that his brother is currently wandering around somewhere as a mindless beast. Wait, did Prime say Seeker? Captain of a Seeker armada? But that means...would he have been...MY underling? Well, not anymore, that's for certain. Not while I'm with the Autobots. I really hope I don't ever meet this mech.

"Dreadwing has no doubt travelled to Earth to pay allegience to his one, true master," Optimus continued.

"Hope he's enjoying the visit," Wheeljack said and rose up before Ratchet was finished with his shoulder. "It's gonna be his last!"

He clenched his fist while Ratchet sighed of annoyance behind him.

"Wheeljack," Optimus said, "This planet is heavily inhabited. Any strike that we make against the Decepticons must be carefully measured. As a team. Lest we risk endangering the human population."

"Are you suggesting we sit back and do nothing?" Wheeljack asked in disbelief.

"You! Loose cannon!" a voice sounded from Wheeljack's left. On the railings, Agent Fowler had arrived and seemed ready to give the bots a good scolding. "Your cowboy act almost blew our cover!"

"Cover?" Wheeljack exclaimed in surprise. He apparently hadn't known they were undercover.

"We're robots in disguise, Jackie," Bulkhead explained. "You need an Earth-based vehicle mode outside of here!"

"That spaceship you shot down, NOT Earth-based!" Agent Fowler scolded. "I had to jump through some big hoops to get it all out of plain sight! You need to keep a tighter leash on your people, Prime!"

"A tighter leash?" Wheeljack snarled and turned to the human. "Let me clarify, tiny..."

"Jackie..." Bulkhead warned, as Wheeljack was threateningly walking over to Agent Fowler. Starscream held his breath. If he wasn't allowed to threaten humans, then certainly a rogue Autobot wasn't allowed to either. Yet none of the Autobots tried to stop him. Wheeljack just went all the way over and closed his face to Agent Fowler in a threatening way.

"I'm not one of Optimus Prime's people!" he spat, and then he backed off, walking away, fuming. Agent Fowler stood back, not intimidated at all by Wheeljack's rudeness. He was probably used to characters like him acting this way, working for the military and everything.

"I'll talk to him," Bulkhead offered and looked at Optimus over his shoulder. "Uh, with your permission."

"Of course," Optimus replied.

Bulkhead left, heading after Wheeljack. Agent Fowler put his hands on his hips in an authoritative manner.

"So, the new guy has a problem with authority," the human said.

"Wheeljack and Bulkhead served together in the Wreckers," Optimus explained, "a combat unit that operated outside of the normal chain of command."

"Hmm, black ops," Agent Fowler replied to compare.

"They accepted missions no one else would, and many of them did not come back."

As the two Wreckers had completely left the base, Starscream mustered courage to enter.

"Hey, what's going on here," he greeted, trying to sound like he hadn't just overheard the entire conversation.

The Autobots and human turned to look at the Seeker.

"Starscream," Arcee greeted. "I thought you had gone to sleep?"

"Yeah, well, I couldn't."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough. I had almost forgot Wheeljack still existed. Remember the last time he was on Earth?"

"Yeah, you had him captured and tortured and sent a fake to learn our base's location," Bumblebee bleeped, repeating Starscream's earlier thoughts.

Starscream chuckled. "Oh, good times."

"Yeah, that's not really what Bulkhead would describe it as," Arcee said with crossed arms. "And now I realize why he's not keen on getting to know you."

"Well, the past is the past, nothing to do about it," Starscream said. "If only he'd let go of that."

"Don't count on it. It's hard to accept someone who hurt your partner. Impossible if said partner is dead."

Starscream gulped. It had been quite a hard deal not telling any of them that he was the one who had killed Cliffjumper almost half a year ago. If he told them, especially Arcee, now, then they would certainly kick him out without question, or even terminate him on the spot. But it had been so long since he had last killed an Autobot, and Cliffjumper had been known to be pretty strong. And now, he could not even advertise himself as Cliffjumper's killer anymore. Perhaps, maybe, some time in the future, when he had been fully accepted by the Autobots, then perhaps he could tell them. Though it seemed like a bad idea, so maybe never. The more and more he got to know Arcee, the worse he ended up feeling about killing Cliffjumper, something he hadn't thought would ever happen with him. But it was happening, and he could never forget it. No, he could never tell her. Cliffjumper's death had to stay a secret with him, however hard it was to keep it to himself.

"Is he...coming back here?" Starscream asked concerned, in an attempt to get away from the thoughts of Cliffjumper.

"Maybe," Arcee replied. "I don't know. We'll have to wait and find out until Bulk comes back."

"Okay. I'll, uh, return to my room now, try to get some more sleep."

Starscream left without another word. Arcee didn't try to stop him, and neither did the others. When he left, they started talking about him.

"So you decided to let Scream wander around on his own?" Agent Fowler asked. "Seems risky, doesn't it?"

"We've taken the necessary precautions," Ratchet answered. "As you could see. And so far, he hasn't tried anything funny while wandering. He actually seems cautious when he wanders around alone."

"Of course," Bumblebee said. "He's been a prisoner in his room for two months. Getting this freedom is weird to him now. Maybe he's unsure if we're serious about it."

"He will take the time he needs to get used to it," Optimus said calmly. "In the meantime, we should think about Wheeljack."

Starscream tried to sleep, but he only managed another three hours before being woken up by yet another nightmare. Same as last time. Energon mine, Megatron, fusion cannon, blast, waking up.

"Grrr, leave me alone already, you big clunk!" he snarled to the air with his servos on his helm. He shook his head and stood up. Once he woke up, it was very hard for him to go back to sleep. He had to do something to lull him back to sleep. Should he read? Nah, he still didn't feel clear enough in the head to do that. Perhaps he needed to walk around a bit more, chat with the Autobots.

Starscream left his room and wandered determined to the command center, hopeful to get a chance to doze off to a boring conversation. This time he forgot to check who was in the command center before entering though, he was too tired to pay attention.

"Hey, what's going-" he started, but stopped as he saw who was in the command center.

Everyone aside from the humans were present at the moment. Including Wheeljack. It seemed they had been talking about something when Starscream entered. The Wrecker took notice of him, put on his face mask and drew his blades.

"Starscream!" he growled and readied to attack, startling the Seeker.

"Wheeljack, no," Bulkhead said and held on his friend's shoulders. "He's with us!"

Wheeljack lowered his blades but looked shocked from Bulkhead to Starscream and caught sight of the stasis cuffs around his wrists. "You're kidding," he said and retracted his face mask again to show a sneer. "Now who's the prisoner, huh, Scream?"

Starscream scowled at him. "This is different from your time," the Seeker replied. "I'm trying to be an Autobot."

Wheeljack burst into laughter. "Oh Primus, that's the best thing I've heard in eons! You, an Autobot? Dream on, 'Con!"

Starscream growled at him, flexing his claws, starting to wander towards the Wrecker. "One more word from you, and..."

"Hey, hey, enough!" Arcee said and stepped in front of Starscream. Behind her, Bulkhead stepped in front of Wheeljack.

"Yeah, back off," the big Wrecker said to the small Wrecker.

"No, let him at me," Wheeljack said challenging. "I'd love to teach him a thing or two."

"Please, let me claw out his useless optics," Starscream snarled and flexed his claws, eager to slash the Wrecker.

"Stand down, both of you," Optimus said sternly. Both bots calmed down just a little bit and looked at the Autobot leader.

"Prime, what are you thinking letting a creep like him into your base?" Wheeljack asked in disbelief. "You're not serious about letting him join our ranks?"

"I am," Optimus said sternly. "And he requested that himself."

Starscream sneered at Wheeljack from behind Arcee and Bulkhead. Wheeljack sneered back at him.

"Look," Wheeljack said, taking his gaze away from the Seeker, "I'll be at your service, Prime, but as long as that guy's staying here, I'm not. I think I'd rather explore this planet a bit, maybe find my own place to stay."

"You still need an Earth-based vehicle mode, though," Bulkhead said. "And I think I know one that you'd like. Come on."

Bulkhead took Wheeljack with him outside the base to scan a vehicle mode for the smaller Wrecker. Starscream stood, fuming.

"You bet you aren't staying here, you blockhead," he snarled lowly.

"You're definitely not gonna win over Bulkhead by getting into a fight with Wheeljack," Arcee warned the Seeker. "Try to control yourself.

"But he's the one who started it!"

"Actually, you're the one who started it," Bumblebee corrected. "You captured him and replaced him with a fake..."

"Shut up, Scout," Starscream snarled. "Don't expect me to be working alongside that lunatic. If he's the reason the big guy doesn't like me, screw him too."

"Hey, being enemies with Wheeljack is one thing," Arcee warned, "but Bulkhead lives here with the rest of us. If you want to become one of us and use your wings again, you better make up with him, even if you can't be friends with Wheeljack!"

Starscream stared at her in confusion. Then he realized she probably only said that so that she could get on a flight soon. He snorted and turned away.

"I'm returning to my room," he snarled. "Don't disturb me until morning."

"It is morning, actually," Bumblebee pointed out. "Well, it's dawn. The kids will probably be getting up soon. It's a school day though, so they won't be here until late afternoon."

"Yeah, tell it to someone who cares," Starscream growled as he left the command center.

Bumblebee looked astonished at the hallway and frowned.

"He's probably just tired," Arcee assumed. "Woken up twice within a few hours of sleep. Let's just leave him be until the kids arrive."

Chapter Text

Another week passed after Wheeljack had gained his Earth-based vehicle mode - a car, of course, Starscream thought condescendingly - and it was once again Bulkhead's turn to 'converse' with Starscream. The order of Autobots conversing with Starscream after Ratchet was Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee and then Optimus before returning to Ratchet.

Optimus tried as much as the others to have a civil, personal conversation with the Seeker, but... the Prime wasn't much for getting personal, so like in Bulkhead's session, little talk was made other than asking Starscream about his day and if he liked the Energon. Though Prime did try asking more things now and then, but didn't talk much about himself. He also spoke with the Seeker in a much calmer, more polite manner than Bulkhead ever did. Despite Optimus' calming manner, though, Starscream still found him intimidating, naturally. He was of the same size and power as Megatron, after all, and his stern, quiet, serious nature made him even more intimidating. It was always scary when he raised his voice or expressed anger, whether at Starscream or someone else. His voice would be thundering then, much like Megatron's voice. Yet this terrifying mech was so calm, friendly and understanding... it was so unnatural, gross even, Starscream thought. And he never knew what would set off Prime, despite this one's great control over his emotions, so the Seeker was always uneasy during his sessions with Prime.

Sessions with Bulkhead weren't that much better. He said even less than Optimus and in a much less polite manner. During the next session with Bulkhead, however, a week after Wheeljack arrived and left again, the atmosphere in the room had changed, and the Wrecker was for some reason more chatty than usual.

"Hey, Scream," Bulkhead greeted as he entered the room with an Energon cube, more cheerful than usual. It was weird.

"Hello, Bulkhead," Starscream greeted, much less cheery, in a more neutral voice, putting away a datapad and sitting down on his recharging table like he had the previous sessions after the new decoration of his room. Bulkhead sat down on the small chair that stood by Starscream's small desk with the Rubix Cube and kaleidoscope on. It was just big enough that it could support him without breaking under his huge aft. Though it did squeak a little as he sat down.

"Here's your cube," Bulkhead said and handed over the usual cube. Starscream accepted it and began drinking from it. "How has your day been so far?"

"It's been alright," Starscream replied, the same reply to the same question Bulkhead asked him at their every session. "I've been reading a bit. I'm thinking about going to the command center later. Though I am currently on a very good chapter of my story, so I may first come at evening or late afternoon."

"That's nice," Bulkhead replied briefly. He never made long replies to whatever Starscream said. "Is your cube good?"

"Yes, it's good," Starscream replied, also the same as always. Now there was going to be silence until he finished the cube, followed by a goodbye, and Bulkhead leaving the room with the empty cube. At least, that's how it used to be. But this time...

"How are you doing, Starscream?" the Wrecker suddenly asked.

Starscream was taken aback from the unusual question. Bulkhead never cared about how Starscream was doing. So why now?

"Uh, I'm good," the Seeker replied, then reset his vocalizer before continuing. "How...how are you?"

"I'm doing fine. I'm...uh...I'm sorry for how Jackie tried to attack you last week. He didn't mean it."

Starscream looked confused at him and scoffed. "How do you know if he didn't mean it? I'd like to hear an apology from him, not you."

"Well, he doesn't like you," Bulkhead replied bluntly. "And neither do I. But I'm trying here, we need to get along if you're gonna join us for real."

Aha. The Wrecker was talking to him because they needed to get along. Autobot nonsense. Decepticons rarely got along but that didn't stop them from freely roaming their base without question! Then again, there was a lot of in-fighting because they didn't get along... Perhaps the Autobots were on to something.

"Yeah, well, tell him that I'll forgive him if he would just forget about his time on the Nemesis," the Seeker replied. "And you should forget it too."

Bulkhead snorted at the request. "What you did back then was wrong and I will never forget it, and neither will Jackie. There's no way either of us will forgive you for that, either." He paused and let out a sigh. "But, we do have to get along, so perhaps we should look aside from our differences and...flaws. I don't like you being here, but I'm not gonna go against Prime's orders. You're with us now, Scream, you better remember it and try to act like it."

Starscream snorted back but thought about what Bulkhead said. "Fine. I'll try if he tries. And if you try. Everyone's got to be civil, right? I'm just a bad Decepticon, better if you set a good example for me." He chuckled at the end. "Otherwise how am I to know how to act? Certainly doesn't help that you treat me the same way Megatron does." Not really like Megatron, but he wanted the Autobot to feel bad anyway.

Bulkhead scowled but didn't respond. He had something to think about now. He stood up. "Done with your cube?"

"Yes, here," Starscream said and handed over the empty cube without hesitation. He was looking forward to be alone again so he could return to his reading.

Bulkhead left with a short: "Goodbye," and carefully closed the door before stomping off. Or, perhaps just walking, it was hard to tell when his pedesteps were so loud because of his massive body.

Starscream sighed and took out the GoBots datapad, sat back on his recharging table and continued reading.

Meanwhile, in some forest in South America, Dreadwing, Breakdown and Airachnid had been sent down to scout for Energon. However, that was only what they had told Airachnid; in reality, Megatron had dispatched Dreadwing and Breakdown to get rid of Airachnid, as the spider could not be trusted any longer, or at any time in general. Dreadwing had been established as the new First Lieutenant, replacing Airachnid who had replaced Starscream upon his capture by the Autobots, and the Elite Seeker seemed promising. Meanwhile, Breakdown hated the spider as much as everyone else on the Nemesis, especially since she started making bad puns about his missing optic from the time he was captured and tortured by MECH.

"Am I the only one here who considers this to be overkill, on Lord Megatron's parch?" Airachnid asked as they descended into a small hollow. "I mean, dispatching two of his most proficient warriors, just to track down one unconfirmed Energon spike?"

Dreadwing remained silent, contemplating when the best time to strike was. Breakdown was not as silent.

"Megatron knows me and Dreadwing here'll get the job done," the wannabe-Wrecker said.

"Actually," Airachnid corrected, "I was referring to Dreadwing and myself."

Breakdown growled at the insult and walked threateningly towards her. Dreadwing stopped him, however.

"Breakdown, remain on task," the big Seeker said. "This must be a unified effort."

"Indeed, Breakdown," Airachnid said in agreement, in her annoying, silky voice. "I know we've never seen eyes-to-eye, but that doesn't mean we can't patch things up." She winked as she said the last part. Again with the annoying, bad puns about his missing optic! And this time, Breakdown had had enough.

"Grrrr, that's it!" he exclaimed in anger and began running towards the spider.

"Don't!" Dreadwing warned, but too late. The wannabe-Wrecker had set the assassination in motion.

Airachnid changed to spider mode, jumped into a tree and shot cobweb from her legs. A lump hit Breakdown's face, blinding him. He instinctively reached a servo to his face, trying to get it off, but it was so sticky, his servo just got stuck. Whenever he tried to pull his servo away from his face, it simply launched back and hit him. He groaned in annoyance and fell onto the ground, face first. Fragging spider, I'm gonna crush her! he thought furiously.

Dreadwing started shooting lasers after Airachnid, but she swiftly avoided the shots by climbing around in the tree. She jumped from tree to tree, continuingly dodging the blasts, until she swung around a branch and launched large cobwebs at Dreadwing. The Seeker dodged several shots, while continuing to shoot his lasers at her. But as he took stance to aim and shoot, Airachnid took advantage of his vulnerable position and shot an extra large cobweb at him, this time hitting him, trapping him onto a tree. He struggled and struggled, but to no avail. He was unable to move. It all depended on Breakdown now.

The last shot Dreadwing fired before getting trapped did manage to hit and fell the tree Airachnid had climbed onto, though. She fell down with it, breaking two branches during her fall, resulting in her losing a section of one of her legs. The section fell onto the ground in front of her, the leg it broke from was leaking, and she was injured. Not badly, she still had five whole legs left and it was only the tip section she lost, but it still hurt like the Pit.

Breakdown came running blindly, having finally gotten up and got his servo and face free from cobwebs. Airachnid gazed from him to her lost limb and back at the wannabe-Wrecker. Breakdown started shooting his lasers against her, prompting her to bounce onto another tree, then jump from tree to tree to avoid the shots, going further into the forest, trying to escape.

Breakdown roared and chased after her. You're not getting away, wretch! he thought angrily.

"Breakdown, don't be a fool!" Dreadwing shouted concerned after the wannabe-Wrecker running after the deadly spider. "Release me!"

But Breakdown did not hear him. He continued running, leaving Dreadwing to fight his way out of the cobwebs by himself. Lord Megatron will not be happy about this, the Seeker thought gloomily. He knew Breakdown had no chance against the spider, even though he was bigger than her, and that she was injured. Wounded fauna were very dangerous, and that included spider-bots.

Breakdown ran through the forest, jumping over rocks, zipping through trees, having lost sight of the spider herself, but not her Energon trail. She was still leaking, and with the glowing blue trail, she was easy to track down. As he found a large puddle of Energon, he slowed down to a walk, knowing she was nearby, lying somewhere wounded, helpless, at his mercy. He chuckled by the thought. Now I can finally get back at her for all those miserable puns about my optic, he thought maliciously.

He looked around for more Energon, when a sound of wind passed by him. He looked the way the sound came from and saw the shadow of Airachnid landing somewhere among the rocks. Breakdown ran at a frisk pace, following the very clear, blue glowing Energon trail that led straight to her, just in front of some large stones. She lay on the ground, leaking from her wounded leg, looking scared and miserably at the wannabe-Wrecker, groaning in pain. He chuckled by the scene. As he approached her with his hammer, she backed away, still with the large, scared optics.

"Easy prey," Breakdown said and lifted his hammer, preparing to pound her to pieces.

Only, before he could pound down, the spider caught the arm in a cobweb, trapping it in place. He tried moving it down, it didn't move. He tried pulling it up, it was still stuck. Now it was Airachnid's turn to snicker and smirk maliciously. She pulled a leg, pointing the sharp end to an aim at the wannabe-Wrecker. Breakdown looked down at the spider with his one, remaining, yellow optic, with only one thought in mind.

Scrap.

A slash. A scream. A flock of birds taking off in fright. Silence.

Dreadwing, still struggling to get free from the cobweb, heard the scream and knew what had happened, but he had to confirm it. He tried comm'ing Breakdown.

"Breakdown, what is your status?" No one answered him on the comm. He tried again. "Breakdown!" Still no answer.

It was confirmed then.

Breakdown was dead.

Airachnid had killed him.

Back at the murder scene, several MECH soldiers had arrived, accompanied by Swindle, who seemed to pretty much rank the same as Silas, maybe a little under, but certainly enough that he could decide to go with the soldiers himself, without Silas tagging along.

MECH investigated the scene, shining light on Breakdown's hammer-arm, dangling in the air by the line of cobweb, then shone down at Breakdown's body, which had been mauled in pieces. His left leg had been torn off, along with his other arm and his head. The head lay on the ground by the foot of one of the soldiers. His remaining optic, though still yellow, was open, dark and lifeless.

After confirming the Decepticon was deceased, and there was no one else around, the lead soldier pulled forth a communicator to contact base.

"MECH-1 to Silas," the soldier said. "Our maneuvers have yielded unexpected results. And a familiar face."

"Salvage the remains," Silas replied after the description of the scene. "He will make a good donor for Project Chimera."

Swindle walked forth and stopped right in front of the remains of Breakdown, while the soldiers began salvaging his parts. He made a small whistle.

"Dang, that spider really cut loose, didn't she?" the small Decepticon commented. "Hey guys, mind if I take a look around? Just to see if she's still nearby."

"Good idea," the lead soldier said. "You can warn us if you spot her, or anyone else. But don't try anything funny. I still don't completely trust you yet."

"Thanks," Swindle said and began walking away from the others, as if he didn't hear the last sentence.

Despite seeming new, the fact that Swindle had been a trusted piece of transportation for more than ten years for Silas Bishop was apparently enough that the commander put enough trust into the bot, that he practically treated him like a second-in-command. Some of the soldiers still didn't trust him, and neither did Silas completely, actually. But he made a compelling case, as well as not seeming particularly harmful, what with his small size and no apparent weapons.

Swindle did have weapons, but was currently not in possession of them. He had them stashed away on the Nemesis in some secret vault somewhere, along with a few other...trinkets. Things that he collected, hoping to sell for a ton of Shanix when he got the chance. Things that would help him acquire even more valuable items. For now, though, he had been undercover for decades as a simple jeep, so he could not bring his valuables with him. Swindle wasn't particularly worried, though. Even without weapons, his most powerful weapon was his tongue. He could talk anyone out of fragging him, making great deals that would allow him temporary alliances with almost anyone.

Swindle paused his thoughts as he arrived in a crevice where he heard a strange noise. He crept down and tiptoed along the ground as silently as possible, carefully peeking around a corner. He gasped at the scene before him.

An Insecticon. On Earth. Now that was something truly dangerous...and highly worth intel, which could sell well within the Autobots or Decepticons. Probably more for the Autobots, as it seemed Airachnid was in control of that beast. The beast brought the Energon crystal it had dug out by itself to Airachnid, who made the creature bow to her, as if it saw her as some sort of queen. Very interesting.

Swindle carefully pulled back before he got spotted. He had already obtained enough information. It was time to get back in business.

Back in the Autobot base, a signal appeared on their monitor. Bulkhead and Ratchet were currently the only ones in the base. Optimus, Bumblebee and Arcee were all out on patrol, and the kids were home for the night.

"What is it?" Bulkhead asked.

"A high-frequency signal, with an embedded message," Ratchet replied.

"From who?"

"Someone named...Swindle? 'I have obtained information of extreme interest to you. Bring an Energon cube.'"

"What does he think we are, a delivery service?" Bulkhead commented. "Seems like a trap to me."

"It probably is. You remember the name Swindle, right? He is one of the Combaticons Starscream told us are loose on Earth."

"What could he want with us? Just a cube?"

"It does seem odd. Though if he truly just wants to talk and give us information, we should hear what he has to say."

"You mean...we give him a cube? Just like that?" Bulkhead didn't trust the mech.

"We'll be careful," Ratchet proposed. "See what he wants, then decide whether to give him a cube or not."

"We can't go alone in case it's a trap. But we also can't both go, we'd leave the base empty with only Starscream in it. Who knows what he'll do while we're gone?"

"Relax, I've hidden his missiles where he can't find or reach them," Ratchet started listing, "he can't escape while cuffed and without the keycard and we won't be gone for long. If there is any indication that Swindle will attack us, we'll retreat immediately."

Bulkhead sighed. "Okay then. Let's do this."

Bulkhead went and fetched an Energon cube while Ratchet locked onto Swindle's coordinates and opened a GroundBridge. He also checked in with Optimus and the others. If they were missing from the base, they would not be able to let the others inside, GroundBridge or front entrance. It seemed the others weren't completely done with their patrol yet, but Prime warned Ratchet to be careful and return to base at the slightest suspicion.

"Well, let's go meet this mech," Bulkhead said. Ratchet nodded, and they walked through the portal together.

Swindle stood by in a small glade with a few trees and some rocks, patiently watching the full moon. Pretty, but not as pretty as the twin moons of Cybertron were. How he missed home... but what he missed even more were trading partners.

As soon as that thought hit, a green portal appeared right in front of the small Decepticon. He smiled and watched as two Autobots stepped out from the portal, one of them holding the required Energon cube.

"Greetings," Swindle greeted cheerfully, like he started every trade he did. "The name's Swindle, and I have a good deal for you. One Energon cube for three interesting pieces of information. Interested?"

Bulkhead and Ratchet shared gazes. There was something odd about this mech.

"Uh...yes, we are interested," Ratchet replied, a bit uncertain about this new character. "But you must tell us the information first."

Swindle wagged a finger. He knew they were going to say this. "Tsk, tsk, don't you know you always have to pay first before you get your wares? Otherwise, we'd fall into anarchy!"

"We're already, sort of, in anarchy, I think," Bulkhead replied unsure. "But we're not gonna give you a whole cube without knowing what information you're gonna give us! You said extremely interesting information, right? So give us interesting information already!"

Swindle crossed his arms and frowned. The big lug had a point. He shrugged, and his smile returned.

"Alright, just this once, you're getting the first-time pay-last offer," he said in an annoyingly cheery tone. "Now, I have three pieces of information that is of interest to you, if you're still serious about continuing this war. Ready to hear them?"

"Just get on with it already," Ratchet said impatiently. This bot didn't seem dangerous, but he certainly was beating around the bush.

"Alright," Swindle began, holding up one digit. "Interesting information number one: The Decepticon named Airachnid has gone rogue and is now no longer onboard the Nemesis. She could be anywhere on Earth right now!"

The information unnerved the Autobots a bit, but it wasn't particularly interesting. If the Decepticons were fighting amongst themselves, that was their problem, not the Autobots'.

"I hope your remaining two pieces of information are worth more than the first one," Ratchet said. "Because we're thinking about leaving in a moment."

Swindle waved with a servo. "Please wait, there's more!" He held up a second digit. "Interesting information number two: As she is now a rogue, Airachnid has personally seen to the termination of the Decepticon Breakdown!"

Bulkhead winced back in shock. "B-Breakdown? He's...dead...? No way..." he said quietly, almost in sorrow?

Ratchet gazed at the Wrecker, sharing his shock. "How did she terminate such a large bot like Breakdown?" Ratchet asked skeptically.

Swindle gave them a toothy smirk. "Seperated him and the Decepticon Dreadwing from each other, then she lured the big lug into a trap, tore him apart and left the scene. I watched it. It was quite chilling!"

Bulkhead seemed less sorrowful and more angry, seemingly about to pound the small Decepticon into the ground. Ratchet held out an arm to stop him. There was still one more piece of information left, according to Swindle.

"What's the last piece of information you have for us?" Ratchet asked.

Swindle closed his huge optics for a moment, for the dramatic effect - Ratchet sighed in annoyance - and held up a third digit.

"Interesting information number three: After terminating the wannabe-Wrecker Breakdown, Airachnid found herself quite the handy soldier; an Insecticon!" He sang through the whole sentence.

Ratchet and Bulkhead both stared in shock at the small Decepticon.

"An Insecticon?" Ratchet exclaimed. "Here?"

"How?" Bulkhead asked in the same surprised tone.

"Who knows?" Swindle shrugged, still with his smirk on and closed optics. "But you know what they say! You see one Insecticon, there are definitely more Insecticons somewhere! Of course, this one could be a loner, who can tell... Now, I have given you three pieces of valuable information. I believe you owe me an Energon cube?"

Swindle wiggled with his eyebrows in a hinting manner. The expression reminded the Autobots too much of Starscream, annoying them.

"I don't know," Bulkhead said skeptically.

"Oh, come on!" Swindle said, suddenly losing his smirk and patience. "I gave you good intel! A bot's gotta survive out here somehow! We can't all have a fancy mansion like you have..."

Somehow, what he said reminded them again of Starscream. Ratchet sighed.

"Fine, take the Energon cube," Ratchet said and signaled Bulkhead to hand it over. The Wrecker gave the large Energon cube to the small Decepticon, who could barely hold it up.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Swindle said cheerfully. He pulled something from his waist. "Here are the coordinates for Airachnid's current location." He pulled another thing out of his waist. "And here's my card. Should you need any more info, call this number and we'll arrange a meeting within the next few cycles! From now on, each piece of intel costs one Energon Cube, and this time, you gotta pay first! Call me during Sundays, and you'll get two pieces of intel for the cost of one! That's a great deal, isn't it?"

As the 'business card' saying Swindle's Intel Service, or S.I.S., at your service! and the tablet with Airachnid's coordinates were handed over, Swindle bowed deeply, still holding the Energon cube, walking slowly backwards, until he transformed and got the Energon cube inside on his seats, all having been put down flat so the cube could fit.

"I hope to do business with you again, Autobots! Ciao!" Swindle drove off while singing, away from the Autobots. They stood and watched as the small jeep became smaller and smaller, perplexed over what had just happened.

Ratchet and Bulkhead glanced at each other, then down at the coordiantes and the card, then back to where Swindle had droven off to.

"...let's just get back to base," Ratchet said quietly.

"Yeah...let's...do that..." Bulkhead replied, and they both stepped into the portal, which closed after them immediately.

Swindle was elated, to say the least. He had managed to sell some valuable intel to the Autobots and gained a whole, large Energon cube in return! He was so happy, he wanted to scream! Instead, however, he sang cheerfully, while driving back to MECH. He had remembered to leave out the detail that he was with MECH or that MECH was currently in the forest, to the Autobots. He had to show some loyalty to his current allies, didn't he?

At least until some better trading partners showed up. Then he could ditch MECH and join them instead!

When Swindle returned to the murder scene, MECH had finished salvaging the pieces of Breakdown and loaded them into their cars and on trailers attached to the cars. They noticed their own little Decepticon had returned and greeted him.

"Is that Energon you have there, Lieutenant Swindle?" one of the soldiers asked while pointing at the glowing blue thing inside the jeep.

"Yup! I just made a great deal with the Autobots!" Swindle sang, but quickly added: "Ah, but no worries! I did not so much as mention you guys! To be honest, I had actually forgotten about you back there! Anyway, spider's got a big soldier on her side, but she shouldn't be coming after us."

The lead soldier scratched his head and sighed before getting into his own car. "Everyone, let's return to base!" he ordered.

"Oh, Silas!" Swindle sang through the comm. back to base. "I have a present for you! I just got a whole Energon cube, ready to be used for Project Chimera! Aren't you proud of me?"

"Good job, Swindle," Silas said through the communicator. "You really have come in handy. May you continue to do so."

"Yessir!" The small Decepticon was currently perhaps a bit hyperactive, but he didn't care. All that mattered right now was the success of his trade and the praise of his current 'boss'.

And thirty percent of the Energon gained.

Back at base, Ratchet and Bulkhead were relieved to find everything as they left it. Starscream hadn't come out, apparently. As they closed the GroundBridge, they opened the front entrance so Bumblebee, Arcee and Optimus could get in after returning from patrol. They then inserted the coordinates given by Swindle into the radar. It seemed to be in the northern part of South America, somewhere in Brazil or Bolivia.

"The coordinates Swindle provided are within an abandoned Decepticon mine," Ratchet informed.

"Wait, wait, wait," Arcee said in disbelief. "You met with Swindle, one of those Combaticons Starscream told us about? And you just let him go?"

"Come on!" Bumblebee exclaimed. It seemed they couldn't really handle lone Decepticons that well, at least in cases of taking care of them.

"What did you want us to do, invite him in?" Bulkhead asked jokingly.

"Not that I wouldn't jump at any chance to take out Airachnid, but from what I've heard, this guy is comparable to Starscream! Heck, his name is even Swindle!"

"He didn't seem to be armed," Bulkhead explained, "and he didn't try to attack us. He just wanted to 'sell' us some intel in exchange for an Energon cube."

"You gave him a cube?!" Arcee exclaimed in disbelief. "We already have trouble keeping our own stocks in check, we can't just hand out cubes like charity to everyone we come along!"

Ratchet and Bulkhead looked at each other for a moment, knowing it was kind of a stupid thing they had done.

"Well, he also told us that Breakdown is dead," Bulkhead said, not so sorrowful this time. "Airachnid's work."

"Of course," Arcee said with crossed arms, not particularly shocked. "Well, one 'Con less to worrry about."

"Are you sure we can trust Swindle though?" Bumblebee asked concerned. "I mean, he isn't much by himself, but back on Cybertron, he could merge with the other Combaticons to become Bruticus. Now that was scary."

"No argument there," Arcee said. "I'm almost sad I didn't see it myself. Or perhaps I'm relieved I didn't. He caused a lot of destruction, right?"

"Affirmative," Optimus replied, coming from the hallway. "While Swindle may not be a threat on his own, if Megatron were to get a hold of him and his fellow Combaticons..." He paused.

"...there would be no way for us to win this war."

Starscream had been reading a lot of GoBots lately. After ending an especially exciting chapter, he noticed he had been awake for 23 hours now, barely gotten any sleep at all. The story was just so exciting, he couldn't help it! He was beginning to feel a bit tired though, and thought it would be best to get at least one hour of sleep in before meeting up with the Autobots in the command center for a chat. He reluctantly put down the GoBots story and tried to fall asleep.

In the meantime, the Autobots had prepared to take off to find and take out Airachnid and her Insecticon, as the latter was far too dangerous to leave alone on Earth. Ratchet stayed behind to man the base while the rest of the Autobots went out.

The Autobots were GroundBridged right at the mouth of the cavern. Behind them, lightning stroke and thunder roared, but no rain fell.

"Proceed with extreme caution," Optimus warned the rest of the team.

The Autobots travelled only a short distance before they entered a larger cave, where the Insecticon was fighting none other than Megatron himself. Almost right next to them, on a lower platform, Airachnid stood and was entirely focused on the battle below, not noticing the newcomers.

"FINISH HIM!" she yelled. She was really into this fight. It was a pretty intense fight.

"Wow," Bulkhead commented quietly, "Swindle didn't mention Megatron."

"It would seem Swindle sells his information to both Autobot and Decepticon," Optimus assumed, "not caring if either side end up terminating the other."

"Like a true salesman," Arcee commented. "I knew we couldn't trust him."

"I can't believe I fell for it," Bulkhead said upset.

"Well, you can have whatever's left of Megatron," Arcee said. "Airachnid's mine!" She jumped and transformed into her motorbike mode, riding down the cliffside.

"Arcee, no!" Optimus called, but the bike had already taken off, aiming for Airachnid.

While Megatron and the Insecticon were busy fighting below in the 'arena', Arcee rode along the walls until she jumped off, transformed back to robot mode and aimed for Airachnid, who first noticed her when the Autobot was already on top of her, knocking the spider down. Arcee threw Airachnid against the wall, and after a few seconds, the spider got back up.

"You..." Airachnid trailed off in annoyance.

Arcee didn't answer, she simply activated her arm-blades and stormed towards her arch-nemesis.

Starscream really did not get more than an hour's sleep in before he woke up; not so much from a nightmare, he simply wasn't tired enough to fully fall asleep. He hadn't been outside his room at all today, just staying in his room and reading GoBots. It was a very long series, but it seemed he wasn't far from the ending. How sad. He would have to get some more books.

Knowing he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, Starscream rose up and walked out of his room, heading for the command center. A good chat always doze him off. Only, this time, there weren't anyone in the base, other than Ratchet.

"Good evening, Ratchet," the Seeker greeted the medic. "Where are the others?"

Ratchet turned his attention to Starscream for a moment. "Bulkhead and I found some intel on Airachnid and an Insecticon in South America."

Starscream winced back in surprise. "An Insecticon? On Earth? How?!"

"That's what we all asked," Ratchet replied. "But in any case, the others went to take care of the Insecticon and hopefully also Airachnid. Primus knows that femmebot is more dangerous than even you."

"That's giving her too much credit," Starscream mumbled to himself. "Where did you get this intel?"

"From the Decepticon named Swindle."

Starscream looked on surprised. "Swindle?! That minibot? Can't believe he's still alive. Was he alone?"

"Yes, there were no others."

"That doesn't sound like Swindle. He always sides with someone, even if it isn't Megatron for some time... he must be working for someone. But who...?"

"Well, you can have whatever's left of Megatron. Airachnid's MINE!" sounded Arcee's voice from the comm.

"Arcee, no!" Optimus' voice sounded, but apparently the femmebot had already taken off, given the engine sounds from her end.

Ratchet and Starscream - who had come up beside Ratchet, looking at the monitor - both stared surprised at the monitor.

"Arcee's going for Airachnid?" Starscream asked.

"Alone," Ratchet replied. "She's crazy. Optimus, go after Arcee immediately!"

"Airachnid's not the only enemy here," Optimus replied through the comm. "Megatron seems to have also been lured here, and is currently fighting the Insecticon."

"Megatron?!" Starscream shouted. "Against an Insecticon? Hmm... interesting choice of match-up. Insecticons are very powerful and dangerous, second only to Scraplets. Even Megatron would have a hard time against one of those, I reckon."

"He does seem to be taking some damage," Bulkhead replied. "He has seen us, but he's too busy dealing with the bug that he can't attack us."

"Then go after Arcee!" Starscream exclaimed, earning a surprised look from Ratchet. "She can't handle Airachnid on her own!"

"They are probably topside by now," Optimus replied regrettably. "We have already descended too far into the cave to deal with Megatron to get back up. We will not be able to reach Arcee in time."

Ratchet thought for a moment, contemplating. "Then I'll go after her," he said determined.

"No, let me go," Starscream volunteered, earning another look from Ratchet. "I'm faster than you and I know Airachnid's treacherous tricks!"

"I don't know," Ratchet said skeptically. "Between you being left alone in the base or you going into the field alone..."

"We don't have time for this! Get my missiles and I shall blow the spider to bits! And, uh, save Arcee," the Seeker added after a few seconds.

Ratchet contemplated for a few seconds before making his decision.

"Fine," he decided. "I'll go get your missiles, and you'll go save Arcee. Wait here, I'll be right back!"

Ratchet went swiftly to the elevator and disappeared into the ceiling. Starscream gaped. He had never thought about using the elevator or looking there. So my missiles are on top of this cliff? he thought. Good to know...

While waiting for Ratchet to return, Starscream looked around, realizing he was alone in the command center, unsupervised. There were so many things he could do without the Autobots stopping him. He could open the main entrance and escape from there. He could set the GroundBridge to a random location and then escape through there. He could destroy everything...well, as much as 1-meter long claws could destroy, anyway. That's when he remembered he still would not be able to get free from those annoying cuffs without the keycard, which apparently only one of the Autobots were keeping. And with those on, he could not enter plane mode or access his lasers, meaning he would end up the same way he did during his escape almost a month ago now. For now, at least, there was no benefit of escaping.

Besides, even if he did decide to cause trouble, he did not know how long it would take Ratchet to fetch his missiles and then return. So instead, he simply stood and waited impatiently for the medic's return. It took about three cycles before he came back from the elevator, indeed with the Seeker's missiles in hand.

"Here they are," Ratchet said and approached the Seeker. "Hold up your arms so I can attach these."

Starscream did as instructed and let Ratchet attach each missile and its generator onto each arm. When they had first brought Starscream to their base, the first thing they had done was removing the missiles from his arms, only to discover that new ones were instantly generated from a small hole in a gadget on his lower arms. The Seeker had snickered back then, mocking them for not knowing how his missiles worked. Afterwards, Ratchet had examined the arms and narrowed the function down to a small portion where the missiles were attached, thus avoiding having to remove the whole arms. As soon as they were off and had been confirmed to not produce more missiles, Arcee and Bumblebee had escorted the Seeker to his cell, so he wouldn't see where Ratchet hid his missiles.

As the missile generators clicked into place, Starscream hummed and gazed at his arms in nostalgia. Without warning, Ratchet slipped the keycard to the stasis cuffs into the energy string, deactivating it. Starscream looked surprised at his servos, then at the medic.

"You need to move your arms if you are to aim properly," Ratchet answered Starscream's unanswered question. "That much is obvious."

Starscream didn't reply, simply gave a smirk of satisfaction, which could be confused with a smirk of mischief. Ratchet decided to ignore it and went to the GroundBridge controls, opening a portal.

"Hurry up and save her," Ratchet said with a serious expression at the Seeker.

Starscream nodded, still smirking. "I'll be right back."

Ratchet watched with a sinking feeling the armed, almost free Seeker exit through the portal. He hesitated for a few seconds before he closed the GroundBridge, making sure no enemies would take advantage of the open portal.

"To think, we have to put our faith in Starscream," Ratchet muttered to himself. "I hope I made the right choice..."

Starscream landed in a forest as he exited the GroundBridge portal. It took a few seconds before it closed behind him. He took a look around, taking a deep vent, then exhaling.

"Ahhh, it's good to be back outside," he hummed. "Oh, but I don't have time to enjoy myself. I have a bug to squash."

Starscream walked around, looking from side to side, audio receptors sharpened, optical sensors focused. It was night, making it hard to distinguish purple, black or blue among the dark green trees and bluish grass, illuminated by the full moon.

"Come on, where are you, where are you," he muttered frustrated, almost in a panic. "Where...oh!"

As he turned a corner at the rock, he saw the two femmebots in a hollow a few dozen meters away. He watched as Arcee was pulled up from a hole underground, trapped in a cocoon of cobweb. Airachnid attached the end of the web onto a branch, descended to the struggling Autobot's face and began prodding her. She seemed ready to take the other femmebot's spark!

"Oh no, you don't, you wretch," Starscream snarled and walked swiftly towards them, raised his left arm, aimed at the spider, then clenched his fist together.

The missile launched, flying towards the pair, knocking Airachnid off Arcee, sending her flying into some rocks, followed by the missile's explosion. Arcee let out a surprised exclamation and gazed from Airachnid to the one who fired the missile, optics falling onto Starscream, standing at the top of the hollow with smoke coming from his left outstretched arm.

While the missiles weren't as fast as the lasers, they certainly dealt a lot more damage, even if they didn't hit the opponent but simply exploded near them. Furthermore, even if the opponent manages to catch the missiles before hit, upon launch, the Energon inside the missiles are heated up so much that they explode even without collision, acting like a time bomb. Of course, it took about ten nano-cycles for the missiles to regenerate, whereas the lasers had infinite ammo as long as the bot had energy left. The missiles spent more Energon than lasers, but caused bigger explosions and more damage, requiring less to be fired than lasers, thus making up for the bigger energy consumption. Starscream had tried once being almost completely drained of Energon, in which after he had launched his missiles, they did not regenerate until he was able to refuel again. It was a device he had invented for himself shortly after gaining his current body of Vehicon origin. A simple, yet efficient weapon, easy to craft.

"Long time no see, Airachnid," Starscream snarled at the spider, who looked up and gazed at the Seeker as well.

Neither Airachnid nor Arcee said anything. Both were about as surprised to see the Seeker. Both worried for different reasons.

Starscream began sliding down into the hollow in a sitting position, while raising his right arm and aimed at the spider-bot.

"Payback - is - sweet!" Starscream exclaimed as he clenched his right fist, launching the other missile.

This time it was uncertain whether the missile hit, as Airachnid initiated her drill mode and dug underground to safety, just in time as the missile hit the hole. She didn't come back up, having been chased off.

As the danger of Airachnid was gone, Arcee instead turned her concern to the Seeker, prancing his way towards the trapped Autobot. This was the first time an Autobot had been at Starscream's mercy since the Synthetic Energon incident, which had ended with Bumblebee almost getting killed, Rafael getting his shoulder fractured and Arcee getting a major headache. So much time had passed since then, yet here they were. Arcee hoped they had made enough progress with Starscream that he would choose mercy.

Starscream chuckled as he pranced over to the trapped femmebot, taking his time.

"Oh, this takes me back," he snickered. "It's as if it was yesterday I was trapped in that web myself. How time has flown by."

Arcee wanted to tell the Seeker to get on with it, but she couldn't speak. She was worried. Worried what he would choose. He could still choose to stab them in the back.

"Now, if there's one thing I despise nearly as much as eight-leggers, it's two-wheelers," Starscream whispered with a small hiss.

Despite knowing it would be a bad idea, Arcee decided to speak her mind.

"Go on," she said. "Get it over with."

Starscream gave a wide smirk and began sharpening his claws. "You Autobots have kept me captive for so long, preventing me from going outside for fresh air, took my ability to fly and still don't trust me enough to leave me alone in the base. It really is infuriating. As I recollect, I had finally managed to escape when you found me and took me back to that prison."

The Seeker held forth a servo, stretching his claws, shiny from being sharpened, and grinned. Arcee closed her optics, waiting for the inevitable.

A slash. A break. A thud. Then silence.

Arcee opened her optics, looking up. Starscream had cut over the web holding her onto the tree, though she was still trapped in the cocoon. The Seeker held out the other servo with stretched claws.

"I suggest you lie completely still," he warned with a sneer.

Arcee closed her optics again, lying as still as possible. Another slash, and the cocoon opened, freeing her. There was still a lot of goop stuck to her, though, but not so much that she couldn't move.

"There, free," Starscream spat and crossed his arms, seemingly pouting. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Thanks," Arcee said and got up on her own. "And by the way, I may be a two-wheeler, but I can still outrace you anytime, Screamer."

Starscream snarled by the insulting name. "And here I thought you had changed for my sake," he replied with a servo placed dramatically on his chest. "Oh, the betrayal."

"Says the traitor," Arcee countered. "Also, nice aim, but be more careful next time. You almost fragged me."

"Pfff," Starscream giggled. "I can always frag you some other time. Uh, I mean..." Starscream blushed in embarrassement as he realized what he had just said. Arcee blushed too after a few seconds of realization. "Uh, forget what I just said, okay?"

"Uh-huh," Arcee agreed and shook the thoughts out of her head.

"Arcee," Optimus called through the comm. "What is your status?"

Arcee took a deep vent and exhaled, clearing her thoughts and voice before answering. "Alive, but so is Airachnid." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Starscream saved me."

"Starscream is here?" Bulkhead replied shocked through the comm. "Free and everything?"

Arcee looked the Seeker up and down. "He's still wearing the cufflets, but he's got his missiles. How are things down there?"

"Megatron took care of the other bug problem," Bulkhead replied.

"We are on our way to your location," Optimus replied. "Remain where you are!"

"Yessir," Arcee replied and turned the comm. off. Now she and Starscream just had to stand around and wait for the other Autobots to arrive.

"Still think I'm a dangerous Decepticon?" Starscream asked in a sarcastic tone, but probably being a sincere question.

"I haven't ruled it out yet," Arcee said jokingly. "But you're getting better at convincing me."

"Suppose I'll have to try harder then," Starscream chuckled. "Maybe a flight would get you fully under my control."

"In your dreams," Arcee sneered, partly joking, partly insulted. "Although it would be fun. You better remember to keep your promise."

"I always keep my promises," Starscream snickered. He wasn't completely lying. He did keep most of his promises. Some...simply got altered in some way or another along the way. "And I always repay my debt before taking someone out."

"Well, guess we'll be safe from you for quite a while now then," Arcee replied. "With all we've done for you."

Starscream let out a small snort. "If that's how you see it..."

It didn't take too long before Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead arrived at the hollow.

"So what happened to Megs?" Arcee asked. "We having a celebration party?"

"Megatron terminated the Insecticon," Optimus replied. "And sustained bad damage. But before we could take care of him, Dreadwing arrived with backup."

"Dread took off with Buckethead and left us with the Vehicons," Bulkhead continued. "But you know the Vehicons. One shot or punch and they go boom!"

"What happened with you and Airachnid?" Bumblebee asked. "And why is Starscream here?"

"I fell for Airachnid's trap," Arcee admitted. "I was careless. She almost terminated me when Starscream shot her off."

"She fled underground like the vermin she is," Starscream added with a smirk and crossed his arms. "Go on, applaud me."

No one applauded him. He let his arms fall and sighed.

"You could at least thank me for coming to her rescue," he grumbled.

"I already thanked you," Arcee reminded him. "Ain't good enough for you?"

"Hmph."

The bots rolled their eyes and shrugged at the Seeker.

"What matters is that the Insecticon has been taken care of and we are all safe and sound," Optimus declared. "I think we can call that 'mission complete'."

The bots nodded in agreement. Even Starscream shrugged in part agreement.

"Ratchet, 'Bridge us back," Prime said over the comm. "It's time to go home for a well-deserved rest."

When the Autobots and Starscream returned to base, the Seeker was about to leave when Prime caught his shoulder, holding him back.

"Before you go, Starscream," Optimus said with his deep, calm voice. "I have an announcement to make."

Starscream turned and looked at the Prime in anticipation. What could he want now?

"Were it not for you, Arcee would likely not have come back with us. And let us not forget the time when you assisted Bumblebee in retrieving his T-cog from MECH. It has been on our minds recently, and with today's results, I believe it is time to take another step."

Starscream held his breath. Another step towards freedom? What could it be? Oh, please let it be my wings, please let it be my wings...

"From now on, you shall be allowed to accompany us on missions," Optimus announced. "With free servos and with the use of your missiles."

Starscream let out the vent he was holding. "By free servos, do you mean...?"

"No energy string, but the cufflets will stay on," Optimus clarified. "It will still be a while before you are allowed flight."

Starscream sighed in disappointment. Prime continued.

"But know that with today in mind, you are one step closer to flight. You are doing very well, and I hope you will keep it up. That is all. Ratchet," Optimus added to the medic.

Prime needn't say more. Ratchet approached the Seeker, instructed him in lifting his arms and once again removed the missiles, followed by using the keycard to lock the cufflets with the energy string, limiting the Seeker's servo movements once again. Starscream remained stone-faced during the entire procedure, seemingly thoughtful.

"You are dismissed," Optimus declared.

Starscream nodded without a word, turned around and went through the hallways, heading for his room. He had a lot to think about.

Back at the MECH base, Swindle was leaning against a wall, enjoying a small cube of Energon. He had an empty mini-cube that he brought with him everywhere, simply for the sake of a small drink, easier consumed than with the larger containment cubes. The larger cubes were for stockpiling, not for drinking. They were very impractical for drinking due to their size and weight, thus the invention of smaller drinking-cubes that could fit in the palm of average Cybertronians. But small cubes were in shortage during and after the war on Cybertron, so Swindle had made sure to collect several to keep for consumption. The one he carried with him wasn't the only one he had; he had others stored in his secret safe on the Nemesis, along with his other treasures. Once the time was right, he would sell them to viable buyers.

While Swindle was enjoying his drink, the MECH technicians were working on Project Chimera, which, thanks to Breakdown's remains and the Energon obtained by Swindle, was looking more and more like a real Transformer. Not to mention, a very familiar-looking Transformer.

"I must say, you have good taste in Cybertronians, Silas," Swindle commented after a sip of his cube, pointing it at the almost complete Transformer. "Although I am a bit disappointed you didn't make it look like me. Now that would have been nice payment!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Swindle," Silas replied without looking away from Project Chimera. "But I had the project's design in mind before you came into the picture, as something more than transportation."

Swindle shrugged and took another sip. "Fair enough. But the next one's gotta look like me, alright? I'll even give you 10% of my share of the Energon!"

"You would still have 27% of our Energon resources," Silas replied with a hint of annoyance.

"Hey, never said it was a big discount! But if you insist, then how about 20%?"

Silas sighed annoyed. This was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

Another week passed since Starscream's new privilege was announced. A week since the death of Breakdown and the termination of Airachnid's Insecticon. A week since MECH salvaged the parts from Breakdown and Swindle delivered a cube of Energon to them. A week since Dreadwing became the new First Lieutenant of the Decepticons. Many things had happened that last week, but afterwards things seemed to have quieted down. No new relics had been uncovered yet, and the Autobots still had plenty of Energon left to not need going on another raid for a while. No Decepticons seemed to be causing any trouble to the humans either.

In other words, Starscream didn't get to go outside with the Autobots over the course of the next week, despite being allowed to. He wasn't allowed to go with them on patrols, he wasn't allowed to go with them in places with human population, he wasn't allowed to scout for Energon with them, despite his programming as an Energon Seeker having a better radar for detecting Energon. And finally, he wasn't allowed to go with them when there were suspicions of Decepticon activity in some places. Starscream was beginning to feel lied to, betrayed, as if the Autobots hadn't been sincere when they said he was allowed to go with them on missions.

On the sixth day after his new 'privilege', it was a session with Optimus in the Seeker's room. After having received his usual cube, Starscream went straight to the point.

"You said yourself a week ago that I'm allowed to assist you on missions now," Starscream began after taking a sip of Energon. "Yet you haven't taken me out yet, even when I've asked to. Was that new rule just a lie?"

Optimus had sort of expected this question, as they got to know the Seeker better, and shook his head.

"No, it was not a lie," Prime replied calmly. "There simply has not been any missions yet where we have required your assistance. In some, it would be more inappropriate to bring you along, which is why you have not been dispatched yet."

"Inappropriate?" the Seeker repeated in confusion. "What do you mean, 'inappropriate'?"

"Since you are not yet allowed to initiate vehicle mode," Optimus began, "you cannot join us on patrols. Even if you could, your vehicle mode would attract too much attention from the humans for us to work in peace."

"What do you mean, my vehicle mode is not that attractive," Starscream protested. "I mean, sure, it's a military plane with missiles and I can fly faster than anyone on this planet, and it is quite stunning to look at, but really..."

Optimus didn't reply, roll his eyes, sigh or shrug like the others would. He just stayed silent for a while, until he continued.

"Furthermore, while your missiles may do a decent amount of damage in battle, you said yourself that it takes time to regenerate, meaning you would only be able to depend on your claws for defense and offense in a battle with the Decepticons. Therefore, I am unsure if you are ready to face them yet in battle."

"Took care of Airachnid, didn't I?" Starscream grumbled. "Besides, these claws of mine have taken care of plenty of bots in the past, like..."

Starscream paused. He had almost revealed to have killed Cliffjumper to Optimus Prime. He may not be Arcee, but he was still the leader of the Autobots, and the Seeker certainly didn't want to set off the Autobot equal in power to Megatron. Good thing he stopped himself in time. Now he had to give another example.

"...like, Vehicons," he decided. "When Arcee, Jack and I went to rescue you on the Decepticon warship, I clawed two guards all by myself, with only my claws!"

Again, Optimus went silent for a while, just looking at the Seeker. Vehicons weren't exactly something to brag about. They could be snuffed by pretty much anyone, probably even the human children! But he couldn't mention any Autobots he had clawed, as that would probably not gain him favor with the Autobots, much less their leader.

"Still," Optimus finally said, "I would like to think about it, before we make any decisions on you joining us in battles with the Decepticons."

By now, Starscream had finished his cube and handed it over to Optimus. The Prime took it, but he didn't get up from the chair just yet. It seemed he still had something on his mind.

"Something wrong?" Starscream asked curiously.

Optimus hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Since you have been visiting the command center more often and for longer periods recently, we have been considering to stop these sessions," Optimus said.

Starscream winced back. "What? Stop the sessions? Why?"

"You seem to have become more sociable since you arrived. That was the initial purpose of the sessions to begin with."

"I thought the initial purpose was to interrogate me for Decepticon information," Starscream said skeptically.

"That too was one of the initial purposes," Optimus admitted. "But we needed you to become comfortable around us, to feel like you are part of our team. Recently, it has been looking more like it than before. You even come to the command center on the days where we hold sessions with you and give you an Energon cube. You can now decide for yourself if you want to talk to us or not, instead of being forced to during these sessions."

Starscream thought about it for a while, but still had a question about it.

"If you stop these sessions, does that mean I'm not getting an Energon cube anymore?" he asked concerned.

"Yes, that would be a consequence of it," Optimus admitted. "But, to be honest, you have been getting more Energon cubes than the rest of us have. When we are not fighting the Decepticons, we only refuel about once a week. You, on the other hand, are getting a cube every second day."

"Well, not like I decided that," Starscream pointed out. "It was you Autobots who decided to give me a cube every second day, because every second day is 'interrogation day' or 'conversaiton day' as you now seem to be calling it. You gave me a cube to make me feel 'comfortable', if I remember correctly. Before you took me in, I also only refueled about once or twice a week on Megatron's warship. Now though, I have gotten so used to getting a cube every second day, I fear I may starve if I go a week without one!"

Optimus was silent for yet another while, thinking about what Starscream said, before he answered. It was true, now that he thought about it. The Autobots had continuously trash-talked about Starscream for getting so much Energon and for craving all this Energon, when it really had been the Autobots' own flaw. The reason they had done interrogations every second day was both to get information about the Decepticons as quickly as possible, as well as letting Starscream get used to the Autobots and not feel as much like a prisoner as he was. They only gave him a cube at those times, like he said, to warm him up to the 'Bots. If they had followed the usual refueling routine, they would have been required to only interrogate him once a week, giving him a cube and then leave him be for another week. Starscream would simply not have gained enough social contact to make the progress he had done so far. He might even have gained a mental breakdown if they had done that.

"You are right," Optimus admitted. "It is our own fault that we are losing Energon much faster than before you arrived. It is wrong to blame you for that. I apologize."

Starscream winced and stared surprised at the Autobot. Of all bots, he, Starscream, was getting an apology from, of all bots, him, Optimus Prime! How funny things turn out sometimes. The Seeker coughed and reset his vocalizer.

"Uh, thank you, for the apology," Starscream said. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to only refuel once a week yet though..."

"I said we had been considering it, we have not yet decided to do it," Optimus clarified. "If it makes it easier, we could do sessions further apart from each other, until you get used to a cube once a week?"

"That would probably be easier, yes," Starscream agreed. "If you're serious, then we could maybe start with once every three days?"

"I will discuss it with the others." Optimus finally rose from his chair. "That was all. I bid you goodnight, Starscream."

"Goodnight, Prime," Starscream said as Optimus exited the room.

Starscream didn't feel like reading tonight. He had something to think about.

As Optimus entered the command center, everyone else was absent. The Autobots would often patrol day and night, since they couldn't be sure if the Decepticons were causing trouble. They did have to recharge now and then, however, and they did so in shifts. At least one Autobot had to be awake until another Autobot woke up to take over. Cybertronians could sleep as often as humans, though during war times, they normally only required to recharge for about 8 hours every three days. If going longer without recharge, they would start to get dizzy and low on energy, and it was bad for their health. This night, all the Autobots aside from Ratchet and Optimus had gone to recharge.

"How did the session go?" Ratchet asked without taking his optics off the work on the Synthetic Energon formula.

"It went well," Optimus replied as he approached the computer to continue decrypting Iacon relics. "Although he was a bit concerned about our discussion to end the sessions."

"Naturally," Ratchet replied. "But if he's allowed to roam the base, he can take a cube by himself whenever he wants. Which is a problem, if the sessions are to stop. He could end up stealing from us and deplete us faster than before."

"Which is why he suggested we take it slow with him," Optimus informed. "Take one day away at a time. He requested we start with once every three days."

"Sounds sensible," Ratchet agreed. "If it goes well, then we'll have more Energon available for when it's actually needed."

The monitor started beeping, alerting the two mechs. Ratchet pulled from his work and so did Optimus, and they went to the monitor to check it out.

"What is it this time," Ratchet grumbled and pressed a button, shutting up the beeping. The monitor showed them something familiar, yet unexpected. "A message."

"From Griffin Rock," Optimus replied.

The next morning, early dawn, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead rose from their quarters at the same time. Starscream was still asleep, but was bound to wake up soon. It was a Saturday, which meant that the kids would be joining the bots in a few hours. The rising Autobots were preparing themselves to take off and get the kids. They entered the command center to find only Ratchet present, working on the Synthetic Energon formula.

"Mornin', Ratch," Bulkhead greeted.

"Where's Optimus?" Arcee asked.

"Out on patrol," Ratchet lied, without looking up. "Left just a little while ago."

The bots didn't ask further about it. Bumblebee had an idea, but naturally couldn't ask Ratchet about it.

"Well, we'll be off picking up the kids," Bulkhead announced and transformed. "I'll go on ahead."

"Not if I go first," Arcee challenged and transformed herself.

"You're not getting there before me!" Bumblebee said eagerly.

Ratchet went and opened the front entrance as the three Autobots raced out, competing about who could get to Jasper and back with the kids first. The door was closed behind them almost immediately. Ratchet sighed and continued his work.

A couple of hours later, Starscream woke up and rose from his berth, stretching out...well, as much stretching as he could with the cuffs on. He hadn't been able to stretch them to the sides for a week and was beginning to feel a bit stiff. He contemplated if he should go greet the Autobots right away or if he should stay in his room for a while. Maybe finish up on Challenge of the GoBots? There were only three chapters left, he had counted. It would probably take three hours to get through the remaining three. He wasn't sure if the kids had arrived yet nor if he wanted to chat yet.

He decided to finish the story. He went to the shelf, picked out the GoBots data-pad, returned to his berth, and began reading.

During the final three chapters, Starscream often paused to think about things. Some things being about the characters in the story, how the story had gone from the beginning to the end, but other things being about his own life.

He thought about Optimus' proposition yesterday, about him only getting an Energon cube and a session once every three days now. He wondered if Optimus had decided to do it now or to wait and discuss it further across the next few days with the others? He was wondering how much longer until he was given the privilege to use his wings whenever he wanted. He wondered if the Autobots would ever need his assistance on missions.

He also began thinking about Jetfire. Jetfire had not occupied the Seeker's thoughts for weeks now. Despite knowing better, Starscream kept thinking, believing, hoping that Jetfire might still be alive. He had been told not only by Megatron, but also by the Autobots recently, that he had perished during the war. But he had not seen Jetfire's remains himself, and that Autobot was tougher than he seemed, so Starscream couldn't help but think he might still be alive somewhere...

The Seeker's thoughts then went onto the Nemesis. He still hadn't retrieved his belongings from the ship, which was something he had planned to do as soon as he got his wings back. He knew, of course, that it would be close to impossible to do without getting spotted, caught or killed while infiltrating the ship. If only they had a relic with the ability to do such a thing...

Whenever Starscream caught himself getting distracted by thoughts, he shook his head and returned to the chapter, only to get distracted again merely ten minutes later.

It didn't take three hours to complete the GoBots story, it ended up taking eight. When he finally finished the final sentence of the final line of the final page of the final chapter of the final book, he sighed and put the data-pad away. It had been a good run, but now it was over. He glanced over the other data-pads. There were at least two others he had not looked at yet. He took one and opened it to take a peek.

G.I. Joe was the name of the story inside. It seemed to mostly be about humans, but in a similar situation to the Autobots and Decepticons. The good guys were called 'G.I. Joe' and the bad guys were called 'Cobra', led by Cobra Commander. The story seemed interesting. Starscream decided to give the first chapter a go.

Starscream was surprised how much the two sides reminded him of the Autobots and Decepticons. Cobra Commander especially reminded the Seeker...of himself!

"Who knew humans could be so interesting," Starscream said to himself as he decided to continue with the second chapter.

It had become late evening before Starscream finally decided to lay down his new story and meet with the Autobots. G.I. Joe seemed to be a much longer series than Challenge of the GoBots, so he wouldn't run out of story material for a while. He exited his room and entered the command center, noticing everyone except Optimus Prime was present. Oh, and the adult humans that were occasionally present. And, of course, Wheeljack, who didn't live in the base, thank Primus.

"Hello," Starscream greeted as he entered the command center. "Doing anything interesting?"

"Yes!" Miko exclaimed, though apparently not to the Seeker.

"Go, go, go!" Jack said in a seemingly excited tone.

"You can do it, Raf!" Bumblebee bleeped encouragingly.

"Metal to the pedal, Miko!" Bulkhead cheered.

"Go, Jack, go!" Arcee exclaimed.

Starscream walked closer, looking over the Autobots' shoulders to see what had caught their attention. On the floor below, the children were apparently playing with remote-controlled toy cars and were having a race, with the Autobots cheering them on. How weird.

"This is how you spend your free time when I'm not around?" Starscream asked.

"Oh, hey, Scream," Bulkhead briefly greeted. "Cheer on Miko with me!"

"No, cheer on Jack with me," Arcee went in.

"Go, Raf, go!" Bumblebee cheered on his own.

Starscream gaped. The toy cars were making small, high-pitched whirring sounds as they slowly yet quickly scurried around the floor on a seemingly invisible race course. He didn't know who to cheer for. Then again, he didn't really care. They were just cars. Had they been toy planes, then it was a different matter...

Starscream shook his head and left the Autobots and kids to themselves, instead joining Ratchet by his workplace. Just then, the monitor beeped and Agent Fowler's voice sounded.

"Prime?!" he called. "Do you read me?"

The Autobots and kids decided to pause the race and see what Agent Fowler wanted. They all went up to the monitor beside Starscream. Ratchet pulled himself away from his work to answer the human.

"I'm sorry, Agent Fowler," Ratchet answered, "Optimus isn't here at the moment."

"Then I'll take that as a confirmation," Agent Fowler replied, "that he's presently trying to run me off the road!"

Everyone winced in surprise. Optimus, trying to run down a human? That sounded impossible even to Starscream's audio receptors. It was probably a mistake. Optimus wasn't the only truck on earth, after all. He had to have scanned his vehicle mode from somewhere.

"Agent Fowler," Ratchet said in a strangely condescending tone, "that hardly seems likely."

"Tell that to my furring treves!" the human exclaimed.

Starscream hummed at the situation. What are 'furring treves'? he thought to himself. I swear that humans uses strange vocabulary sometimes...

The Autobot shared glances, contemplating what to do.

"Even if it isn't Optimus," Arcee said, "we can't let one of our own in trouble!"

"Right, let's go kick some tailpipe!" Bulkhead said and slammed his fists together.

The Autobots prepared themselves to leave while Ratchet located Agent Fowler's current coordinates. He didn't seem to be far from their base.

"Can I come along?" Starscream asked in his most polite voice ever.

"No," Ratchet replied almost immediately. "This will likely be a race on the road. Even if we did allow you to transform, your vehicle mode wouldn't be of much use here."

Starscream snorted and crossed his arms - the best he could with the energy string. "I can control the speed of my plane mode, you know."

"You'd still attract too much attention," the medic pointed out. "Maybe another time."

Ratchet activated the GroundBridge and let Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead leave in their vehicle modes through the portal. Starscream sighed and gazed as the portal closed.

"Don't worry, Starscream," Miko said in an attempt to cheer him up. "I'm sure the 'Bots'll let you fly soon!"

"Thanks," Starscream said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm so reassured by your hopes."

The Seeker decided to lean back against the railings, arms crossed and one leg crossing the other. He certainly liked to pose himself whenever he wanted.

They talk all mighty and well, but they probably won't ever trust me enough to let me fly on my own, the Seeker thought gloomily. I'll never get it back...

Arcee raced as fast as she could through the dark of the night, in pursuit of the truck. When the Autobots had arrived at the scene, sure enough, there was a large truck identical to Optimus, ramming against Agent Fowler's car, trying to push him off the road to the bottom of the cliff. Heck, the truck's color scheme was even the same as the Autobot Leader's. Red and blue. Though as soon as the 'Bots arrived, Bumblebee catching Fowler's car before falling to the bottom, 'Optimus' had fled the scene, driving off into the opposite direction. While Bulkhead went to help Bumblebee and Fowler, Arcee had set chase after 'Prime'.

Arcee was certain it wasn't Prime. Primes don't run. And there was something odd about the truck. It was red and blue, but it seemed oddly dark in tone compared to Optimus' colors. It could, of course, simply be due to the darkness of the night. Arcee had never really thought about it before, but were Prime's colors not a bit brighter in contrast? She wished she had paid more attention, not only to the truck, but also to their leader.

Arcee lost sight of the truck by a gas station. She looked around, scanning the station and a somewhat familiar rusty car parked there. She wondered if she had seen it before somewhere? But no sign of Prime, or what might be Prime...

A bright light shone on Arcee from her left, and she turned. A large, dark truck drove at high speed right towards her. She focused on the radiator. There was indeed an Autobot insignia. It was Optimus after all!

She was so shocked by the discovery and didn't react to the ambush in time before she got hit, heard a crunch and lost consciousness.

Several cycles after the dispatch, the team back at base got pinged by Bulkhead.

"Ratchet, we need a 'Bridge back right away! Arcee's down!"

"On it," Ratchet replied and opened a GroundBridge at their location at once. Jack looked on with worry. Miko pat his shoulder.

"I'm sure she's fine," she said, though not entirely convincing.

Soon, the Autobots returned, with Agent Fowler, safe and sound, and with Arcee, unconscious and badly damaged.

"Arcee!" Jack exclaimed and ran over to her. "What happened?"

"Don't know," Bulkhead replied. "Found her like this at a gas station. Musta caught up with Fowler's attacker."

"Well, don't just stand there, get her fixed up!" Starscream snarled, earning a few looks from the others, but only brief ones.

They got Arcee to the medbay, Ratchet examining her and repairing the worst wounds. Afterwards, he put her in the Energon shower to recover on the rest of the minor wounds. Once the shower was done, Ratchet took a flashlight and shone into her optics in an attempt to wake her up. It took only a few seconds for it to work. The femmebot blinked, regaining consciousness.

"Yes, that's it," Ratchet said encouragingly. "Follow the light."

Arcee opened her optics all the way and groaned.

"Wait, what?" she exclaimed confused. She looked around, finding herself back at the base. She sighed as the lights in the Energon shower shut down and she got helped out by Ratchet and Bumblebee. "Not the best choice of words, Ratchet."

"Arcee," Jack said concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Sure," Arcee replied gloomily. "Except for being blindsided by Optimus."

"Didn't I tell you?" Agent Fowler said.

"Impossible," Ratchet said in the same, strange, condescending voice, as if both of them were making it up.

"I'm only reporting what I saw," Arcee defended.

"Why would Optimus try to knock off Agent Fowler?" Jack questioned.

"Maybe Optimus believes he's a Decepticon all over again," Rafael suggested with concern.

"Or," Miko suggested, in a less serious way, "he's been faking being a good guy all this time!"

Starscream face-palmed. "Please, we've all known Prime for more than four million years," the Seeker clarified. "He may be a good actor, but he's not that good."

"If Prime has gone off the rails, for any reason," Agent Fowler went in, "we have a serious problem."

"This is absurd," Ratchet said, seemingly the only one at present thinking they were all overreacting. He walked over to the monitors. "A quick check for Optimus' signal will reveal that's he's nowhere near the location of tonight's incident."

Ratchet pushed some buttons until a signal appeared, right near their base, and he opened the front entrance.

"In fact," he continued, "he's just returning now."

Everyone stood facing the tunnel to the front entrance, watching, waiting, as the rumble of an engine sounded and came closer to them. Through the tunnel appeared none other than Optimus Prime himself, brightly red and blue as always, transforming as he entered the command center, casually approaching his comrades.

Nobody spoke, made a sound or even moved. Everyone was tense, waiting with anticipation. Even Starscream looked concerned at the Prime who also didn't talk yet. From what he had heard during the incident, Optimus had been out of reach during the entire day, though Ratchet kept saying he had just been out on patrol. A patrol usually didn't last more than five hours, yet Optimus had been gone for almost 24 hours this day.

As Optimus approached the Autobots, he took notice of everyone's staring at him, no movement, no chatter, no greetings, simply staring at the Prime in silence. Even Starscream was present, and he too was staring seemingly concerned at the Prime. Something wasn't right. Prime's pedesteps were very loud in this intense silence, ominous, even, slowing down in caution as he got closer to the 'Bots. At one point Optimus got apparently too close, making everyone but Ratchet wince back a little. Optimus stopped in place and looked around at his comrades, knowing something was wrong.

"Is something wrong?" Optimus asked, having to know what was going on.

"We were just..." Arcee began but trailed off, sharing gazes with Bulkhead before continuing. "...wondering where you've been."

"We..." Bulkhead trailed off even sooner, "...haven't been able to reach you."

"I have been...outside of our communication range," Optimus said and reached for something at his waist.

The action caused quite a reaction from Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and even Starscream, partly acting along with the others, partly because he had grown to be wary of large, untrustworthy mechs.

"Wow," Arcee exclaimed.

"Easy!" Bulkhead snarled.

"Stay back!" Starscream shrieked.

Bumblebee aimed his arm lasers, Bulkhead turned his servos into large laser cannons, Arcee jumped to the side and pointed her tiny arm lasers at the Prime, and Starscream, not having either his missiles or access to his own lasers, simply lifted his servos and stretched his servos as far to the sides as he could, claws spread out threateningly. Agent Fowler stepped in front of the children at the railings, shielding them in case a fight broke out. Ratchet was the only one who didn't react to Optimus, instead wincing back from the others' reactions.

Optimus held out a servo in attempt to calm them down. "In a subterranean Energon deposit," he continued, slightly startled, pulling forth a small Energon crystal from his waist and showed it forth.

The Autobots and Starscream kept their arms pointed at the Prime for a few seconds, exchanging glances with one another, unsure what to do.

"Come on, it's our guy!" Jack scolded the startled bots. "Can't you tell?"

Optimus didn't move a cable. He just stood, frozen in place, with his arms spread out, glancing concerned around at the Autobots. He didn't want them to panic, as they were obviously wary of him for some reason. He just waited until they calmed down.

After several, long seconds, the three Autobots finally lowered their weapons and retracted them, turning back into servos. Starscream was the only one who remained with his claws spread out. He was still wary. Arcee glanced briefly at the Seeker before approaching the Prime. Starscream took a deep vent and decided to lower his claws as well. It wasn't as if they'd do much good anyway.

"We're...sorry," Arcee apologized embarrassed as she stopped in front of the Prime. Optimus looked concerned down at her, clearly not understanding what was going on, but how could he? He hadn't been present during the incident, so naturally he wouldn't know.

"Don't blame them, Prime," Agent Fowler said, also having calmed down from the scene, gaining Optimus' attention. "I was attacked earlier tonight, out on an open highway by a big rig, one that bore a striking resemblance to you."

Optimus seemed to relax a bit more, now understanding the ruckus. He gazed at Ratchet, who merely shrugged.

Optimus had not been at the incident that night, but also not out on a simple patrol. Like he had informed, he was at a subterranean Energon deposit, at an island called Griffin Rock, where a team of special Autobots called Rescue Bots were being kept, hidden from the Decepticons' radars, as these bots were too inexperienced to fight the 'Cons yet. Instead, the Rescue Bots lived on the highly-advanced-technology-island, acting as transforming law enforcement robots without sentience. Optimus had discovered these Rescue Bots a few months ago and did what he could to protect them from Decepticon knowledge, even going as far as to keep them a secret from his comrades, minus Ratchet, who occasionally 'Bridged him to the island, and Bumblebee, who sometimes joined the Autobot leader on these 'trips'. So far, no Decepticon danger had been reported on the island, and whatever danger did happen was taken care of by the Rescue Bots themselves.

Optimus put the thoughts about the Rescue Bots aside for now and focused on his comrades.

"Tell me everything that happened on that highway," Optimus requested calmly.

Later, after the Autobots had explained the incident, it had become morning. Miko and Raf had told their families that they were staying with some friends for the weekend and would return the next evening, and since Jack's mother knew about the Autobots, there was no need to worry about the kids' families looking for them.

"...and then I woke up here back at base, shortly before you returned," Arcee finished the explanation. It hadn't been a long explanation, the incident had simply happened late at night, and Arcee's recovery had taken longer than they thought before she woke up.

Optimus nodded understandingly. "I see," he replied. "I am glad to see you are still alive, Arcee."

"I wish I had seen it myself," Starscream said with a snicker. "It must have been quite the sight!"

"Yeah, maybe I'll introduce you sometime," Arcee countered.

Agent Fowler got a phone call and answered it. It sounded like it was from the military base allied with the Autobots.

"Fowler," Agent Fowler answered and listened. He put a hand on his hip and walked a short distance away from the others. "What?" he said surprised. "That's not possible! I can tell you sure as there are fifty stars on my star-spangled shorts, it isn't him!" He turned to Optimus, who had a gloomy expression on his face, knowing the phone call was probably connected to the truck that looked like him.

Fowler put away his phone and informed the others: "Our military base is under attack...by Optimus Prime!"

"The truck?" Jack asked.

"The bot," Fowler answered ominously.

Everyone looked at Optimus, who just stood and looked concerned at the human.

"Ratchet," Optimus said and turned to the medic. "Send a GroundBridge to the military base. We need to stop the attacker."

Ratchet nodded and went to lock onto the military base, then opened a GroundBridge.

"Surely I can go with you this time?" Starscream asked. "Those humans know about you Autobots, after all."

"We do not know anything about this mech," Optimus said. "And I still do not think you are ready for combat yet, much less will I put human lives within your reach."

Starscream snorted but didn't protest further. "Fine, suit yourselves. Don't become roadkill."

With that in mind, the Autobots went through the GroundBridge portal, closing it behind them. Starscream paced back and forth in the command center in deep thinking. He wanted to fold his servos behind his back like he normally did when brooding, but because of the energy string, he couldn't, much to his annoyance.

The kids watched the Seeker walking back and forth, wondering if they should ask him about it. Ratchet beat them to it.

"Stop walking around like that," the medic said, "it's getting irritating."

"You know what's irritating?" Starscream asked and stopped in his pacing. "Having over four million years' worth of combat experience and a superb flight mode, and not being allowed to use it when needed! I should know better than to think Grounders would understand my predicament..."

Ratchet gave Starscream an offended look. "So now that you're on our side, you choose to be condescending over vehicle modes?"

"Don't act surprised," Starscream snarled. "It's partly the reason for the war, I'm sure."

The kids shared glances together. "Reason for the war?"

Before anyone could answer them, Optimus pinged them.

"Ratchet, we need a 'Bridge!"

Ratchet had been standing by the GroundBridge the entire time, ready for this moment. He opened the GroundBridge and let Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Optimus through, and closed the portal just as the beginning of an explosion sounded from the other side. It had been closed just in time, or the GroundBridge itself could have been seriously damaged!

The Autobots took a while to catch their vents. The humans went to their Autobot partners to make sure they were all okay.

"He got away," Arcee informed first. "The imposter. He looked just like Optimus, but...there was something different about him."

"Yeah, he was pretty dark and rusty, and he had yellow eyes," Bumblebee bleeped.

"Fled the scene as soon as we got there," Bulkhead replied. "Can't believe we thought he was you in the first place, he looked nothing like you."

"Perhaps not in the light of day," Optimus replied skeptically. "But you were attacked during the night, were you not, Agent Fowler?"

"Yeah," Fowler replied. "Looked much more like you at the time. Same colors, even. Hold on, I gotta take a phone call."

While Fowler called General Bryce of the military, the kids called for Starscream's attention.

"Scream, you said something before about a reason for a war, right?" Miko asked. "What does that mean?"

Starscream sighed, though perhaps not because of the question. "It's a long story," he replied quietly. "Longer than even this war. I'll tell you later, but not right now."

Miko shared glances with the two boys. It definitely sounded like something they wanted to hear about.

"No, General Bryce," Agent Fowler said, still on the phone. "Optimus Prime did not attack our boys! ... Because I was with Prime when I received the alert! ... Yes, sir, the Autobots were at your base, but only in response to the initial attack! ... But sir, I... Yes, sir. I understand." Agent Fowler hung up with a gloomy expression on his face.

"So what's the damage?" Jack asked.

Fowler sighed. "All military personnel are under strict orders to destroy any and all bots on sight."

"Are you kidding?!" Jack exclaimed.

"But, th-they're innocent!" Raf protested.

"Optimus was framed!" Miko outbursted.

"Though unfortunate," Optimus said, "the military order changes nothing. Our imposter clearly poses a grave threat to humanity."

"A thirty-foot tall transforming imposter," Agent Fowler corrected.

"They actually did it," Ratchet said. "Those butchers managed to crack the code."

One look at each other, and everyone in the command center knew who Ratchet was talking about.

"MECH," Optimus declared.

Back at MECH's new base of operations, the Optimus Prime imposter drove in through a secret entrance. The camera by Silas' new computer showed him what their new toy was seeing, and the controls, including a set of pedals and a joystick, allowed him to freely control the robot's movements, driving and everything. As the truck entered the room, Silas pushed a button on the panel to his right, summoning a lever-control. Pulling it down, the truck behind him initiated its rather slow transformation to robot mode, at least when compared to the actual living, sentient Transformers.

"Sir, any parallax or latency issues?" one of the MECH soldiers asked the commander upon approaching him by the monitors.

"The tele-presence interface performed flawlessly," Silas replied pleased and rose from his chair. "In vehicular and robot mode."

Someone applauded behind them. They turned around and saw it was none other than Swindle, clapping politely but not enthusiastically at their accomplishment.

"That's wonderful news, sir!" Swindle sang. "I must say, I had just my teenee-tiniest bit of doubts that you'd be able to pull it off...yet here we are! Truly a great accomplishment today for MECH, and for humanity! I congratulate you!"

Silas gave a crooked smile and a hum. The small Decepticon was reliable for cheers and encouragement, but he tended to go a little overboard at times. Still, he was right.

"Project Chimera is officially a successful experiment," Silas announced to everyone in the base. "With this, no one will be able to stop us!"

While Silas went on talking, Swindle gave his usual cheery smile, but on the inside, he was plotting and planning. Planning on how this development could affect his entire business. If MECH took out both the Autobots and the Decepticons, then Swindle would no longer have any trading partners on this world! And he couldn't have that now, could he?

Perhaps it's about time to go meet with some old friends...

In the Autobot base, Team Prime was discussing how MECH managed to create their own Transformer.

"MECH abducted Breakdown," Ratchet began. "And by all indications deconstructed him from cranial chamber to heel strut."

"I was there," Bulkhead said.

"And we know from Swindle that Breakdown was recently terminated by Airachnid," Optimus continued. "It is likely MECH found him and salvaged his parts to be used for their project."

"From which they constructed a knock-off of you," Arcee added. "And installed Breakdown's bio-mechanisms into."

"Which in turn scanned an appropriate vehicle form," Ratchet continued.

"Filled the tank with Energon," Jack continued.

"And say hello to Nemesis Prime!" Miko ended dramatically.

Starscream remained silent through the discussion. The thought of those vile humans having created a clone of the Autobot leader was dreadful. At least they hadn't made a clone of Megatron...

"So where do we start?" Agent Fowler asked. "MECH's base could be anywhere."

"Not necessarily," Optimus assured. "While MECH may have learned much of our biology..."

"...they haven't necessarily absorbed our technology," Ratchet ended for him and turned to the monitors and computers. "Without access to a GroundBridge, Nemesis Prime would rely solely on its vehicle mode for transportation."

"Chances are, the MECH base is within driving distance of both incidents," Arcee concluded.

"What are we waiting for?" Agent Fowler asked impatiently. "Let's get out there and mash MECH's little science project!"

"Agent Fowler," Optimus said, "I do not think it is advisable to put yourself in harm's way of MECH's robot again."

"Well, I'm not sure it's advisable for bots to be running recon with the military out there gunning for you!"

"We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary," Optimus assured.

Agent Fowler simply gave him a stern, yet concerned, gloomy look. He knew that when Prime had made up his mind, it was close to impossible to change it. This bot would risk his own life for any and all living beings. Starscream had always found it appalling. Especially since the Autobot also had slain many Decepticons back on Cybertron as well as on Earth and anywhere else the war had taken them. Of course, it was a war, and Optimus justified these actions as being for the greater good and to defeat evil wherever it may reside, but the Seeker still thought him a hypocrite sometimes.

Starscream didn't return to his room that day. Instead he stayed in the command center with the humans and Ratchet, while everyone else was out on patrol, scouting for the location of the MECH base. They had left before noon and continued patrolling in the areas of both incidents until late evening. It wouldn't be long before the kids would have to leave for home, but they couldn't leave until their partners returned, both for transportational convenience and out of concern for them.

Starscream had asked the 'Bots before they left if, when they locate MECH's base, he could go with them on the mission. The 'Bots had been skeptical at first, but decided to wait with the answer until they actually found the base. Depending on its location, they would consider him assisting them. So Starscream was naturally impatiently pacing back and forth in the command center until Ratchet told him to stop out of annoyance. Starscream tried to stand still, but found that he couldn't, soon starting to pace again.

"I thought I told you to stop pacing around," Ratchet repeated during late afternoon, getting tired of the Seeker staying in the command center. "Just go to your room and read something or get some sleep!"

"I can't rest with the prospect of going outside," Starscream protested, this time continuing his pacing. "I can't stand still when I'm waiting, I have to be in movement. Normally I'd go for a fly, but, you know..."

"Can't you kids distract him some way?" Ratchet asked loudly, desperate to get back to work in peace while waiting for a signal from the others.

The kids looked unsure at each other, but then Miko called for Starscream's attention.

"Hey, Starscream, you wanted to tell us something about the war earlier, right?" she asked enthusiastically.

Starscream sighed but stopped his pacing nonetheless, leaning against the railings to chat with the humans.

"Before the conflict between Autobots and Decepticons," the Seeker began, "there was another conflict, much older and deeper than the one currently in motion. It was the conflict between Fliers and Grounders."

"Fliers and Grounders?" Rafael asked curiously. "You mean different vehicle modes?"

"Exactly," Starscream answered, glad the boy understood. "Before the existence of Autobots and Decepticons, the main conflict was between bots with different alternate modes. Fliers like myself were renowned for being able to get anyplace on Cybertron and for being the fastest model on the planet. But we were also often looked down on by a large number of Cybertronians, mainly Grounders, because many of us were made differently than the rest."

"Differently how?" Jack asked, also curious.

Starscream took a moment to answer, reminiscing. "For Cybertronians, there are two ways to be created. Forging or Cold Construction. The former being the natural way for us to be created, the spark gained from Primus himself and the chassis made naturally by bots themselves through certain...means. These bots were commonly known as 'Children of Primus' and used to be the common part of the civilization.

However, at some point, the political parties became more distant from one another to the point that they were willing to start a war for the right to rule Cybertron. For this purpose, factories were made to produce Cybertronian bodies, sparks included, to increase the number of soldiers available as well as having them battle-ready as soon as they were created. These bots were known as Cold Constructs. As their sparks were not given by Primus himself, many Forged bots shunned them and did not allow them to get jobs or the same rights. Many Cold Constructs were flight frames. In fact, I myself is a Cold Constructed bot."

The kids absorbed the information Starscream gave them and thought about it. Given his nature, the kids weren't very surprised to know Starscream was Cold Constructed, as he told them about it.

"What does this have to do with vehicle modes?" Jack asked.

"Well, vehicle modes were a conflict in itself, Fliers often, quite literally, looking down on Grounders for being unable to fly. In turn, the Grounders often shunned the Fliers because most of us were Cold Constructed. Flight frames are a very desired model, especially for war, which is why there are so many Cold Constructed flight frames. Flight frames are rare among Forged bots and often admired as being blessed by Primus.

In any case, the conflict between vehicle modes and the conflict between Forged and Cold Constructed bots were likely the major reasons why the war between Autobots and Decepticons started in the first place. Megatron was a special case. Rumors said he had a Forged spark in a Cold Constructed body, making him a sort of 'hybrid'. Regardless, he was seen and treated as a Cold Construct, cast aside by the Council and left on his own for scrap. But instead of rusting out, he was taken in by an arena in Kaon, where he honed his skills as a gladiator. He had no name before he entered the life as a gladiator, in which he supposedly named himself after one of the original Thirteen Primes, Megatronus. Later, he shortened it to Megatron, but during those arena battles, he attracted a lot of attention, a lot of it from fellow abandoned Cold Constructs. I often went to watch his battles myself when I wasn't on Trypticon Station, and even in my workplace I used to listen to broadcasts of his fights. I admired the way he stood up for himself and at the same time encouraged the bots around him, watching, listening, to help him make Cybertron a better place."

"Ratchet told us Optimus had been friends with Megatron back then," Rafael interrupted. "Back when he was called Megatronus."

"Yeah, wasn't Megs Optimus' teacher or something?" Miko asked, glancing at Ratchet, but as this one didn't look back, she returned to look at Starscream, who seemed just a little annoyed about being interrupted.

"I suppose," Starscream said after shaking the irritation off. "I wouldn't know. Towards the end of his career as a gladiator, I spent all my time on Trypticon Station with the other Seekers and was too busy to listen to more of his battles. It was a mere few months later that Megatron had apparently sought audience with the Council to become the next Prime, but naturally the Council wouldn't let a Cold Construct, let alone a former gladiator become their new leader. So instead they chose Optimus, who is Forged both in spark and in frame."

"And Megs did not like that," Miko continued. "He started the war and stuff!"

"Yes, Megatron did found his own political party, the Decepticons," Starscream replied, "to oppose the Autobots, the other party. Originally, the name Decepticon had a different meaning than it has today. Today it is referred to as a bot who can't be trusted, but back then, it was supposed to tell others that they were being deceived by the Council. Unfortunately, Megatron got impaired by the Council's rejection of him and inclusion of his Autobot pupil, which caused him to start the war between Autobots and Decepticons. Some years later, Megatron decided to take Trypticon Station for its containment of Dark Energon, as well as the arsenal of flight frames staffed there. I remembered Megatron from his arena battles and knew he was dangerous. We had been informed of his rise with the Decepticons and the start of the war and had been tasked by the Autobot Council to guard the Dark Energon with our lives.

I tried everything. I set up traps, released dangerous prisoners and ordered the Seekers inject themselves with Synthetic Energon to maximize battle capabilities. I even went to fight Megatron himself, but no matter how many traps, no matter how many Seekers came at him, he simply shot them all down, sliced them all in half and broke through the station's defenses until he and his team arrived in the containment room of Dark Energon. There, I tried one more battle against Megatron by myself, but I was defeated in the end. I watched as he doused himself with the dangerous Energon, which would normally kill anyone else upon seconds of contact, and waited for him to explode. But he didn't. He changed. Grew more powerful. I was so shocked about the scene that I fled into the room next door.

Megatron took down the door without effort, and faced against me, my Trinemates Thundercracker and Skywarp, and my partner Jetfire. He was about to vaporize us, but I offered him my eternal allegiance and to manufacture more Dark Energon, in return that my Seekers and I were allowed to live, at his disposal. Megatron accepted my conditions, but Jetfire didn't. He called me a traitor and fled the station, and I never saw him again."

As Starscream paused thoughtfully, the kids shared gazes, thinking aout his words. Ratchet wasn't paying a lot of attention to his work anymore, instead listening in on what Starscream told them. It didn't seem like the right thing to let the Seeker tell the kids all sorts of bad things about the Autobots and good things about the Decepticons, but Starscream's explanation was surprisingly truthful and even somewhat degrading the Decepticons, though naturally not as much as the degradation of the Autobots. He was also interested himself in hearing Starscream's side of the story. Mostly, though, he was also reminiscing the past, pre-war and during the war.

"So the reason you chose to follow Megatron was because you wanted to keep your people safe, right?" Miko asked. "That doesn't sound so evil."

"That's because it isn't," Starscream said. "I was as dedicated to the Seekers as Optimus is to you humans. I wanted to keep them safe, and I knew in that moment that no matter what I chose to do, it would end up in the same way. No matter what, Megatron would gain control of Trypticon Station and its Dark Energon, whether I had chosen to flee, stay and refuse or join him. I only did what I did because it was the best choice for the Seekers. But Jetfire did not understand that, the ignorant fool. He left me surprisingly easily, considering our history together."

"Are there still any Seekers left?" Jack asked.

"Probably, I wouldn't know," Starscream admitted. "When we arrived on Earth, only Thundercracker and Skywarp went with us, and they are who-knows-where right now, maybe not even alive. As for everyone else, they either perished during the war for Cybertron or escaped to space for various reasons, some to find allies, some to destroy the rest of the Autobots, and some just wanting to live in peace. When I became Megatron's First Lieutenant, it left me with little options of checking in with the Seekers, and soon I started caring more about my own future than theirs."

Starscream paused to sigh, a strange expression adorning his face. Optics half closed, optical bridges a little down, mouth in a straight line. He seemed almost depressed.

"Do you still care about the Seekers?" Miko asked, slightly concerned.

Starscream took a moment before answering, seemingly mentally absent. "I don't know anymore," he admitted. "I want to, but there are barely any of us left, so why bother... I just wished I had stopped Jetfire from leaving, or went after him to make sure he was okay. I wish I knew...if he's still alive..."

No one talked for a while. Ratchet went back to his work, trying to ignore the distraction. The kids wanted to know more, but were unsure if they should press the Seeker for more information. Starscream just stood and dwelled on the past in silence. He was still thinking about what he had left behind on the Nemesis. Some objects with varied values or interest, but there was one particular item that he absolutely needed to get back. Which was why he was so desperate to get back his wings soon.

It didn't matter if the Autobots would see it as a betrayal or not. He just needed to get it back. And then deal with the consequences later. That is, if he was ever allowed flight again.

As Starscream's tale of the past ended, it had become evening and dark outside. As no one had tried to stop him, as well as taking interest in what he said, he had allowed himself to ramble on and on without control of what or how much he said. As things went silent in the command center, he found himself a bit embarrassed by some of the details he had told. Megatron often said the Seeker didn't know when to keep things to himself, and he was quite right about that.

He loved to talk, and he loved to talk about himself and give information about himself. After he failed to pass his medical exam on Cybertron as a young mech, he had considered becoming a teacher instead, given his smooth voice and ability to talk to crowds while on a stage, but the job as an Energon Seeker paid more, so he forgot about the other thing. He had even considered becoming a politician, but naturally a Cold Construct like himself wouldn't get such chances...

At some point during the evening, one of the monitors in the command center beeped with a message. Everyone in the base perked to attention. Finally, a sign!

"Hey guys, I found something that could be MECH's base," Bumblebee bleeped through the comm.

"About time," Starscream commented, getting up from his leaning position against the railings, walking over to Ratchet by the computers.

"Bumblebee, proceed with utmost caution," Optimus warned through the comm. "Reconnaissance only. We will rendevous at your coordinates."

Starscream looked desperately at Ratchet, who shook his head.

"We need to be sure, first," the medic informed. "When we know for sure that it's the right place, we'll make a decision."

Starscream huffed but waited nonetheless, this time without pacing, knowing the answer would come soon.

Meanwhile at the MECH base, the monitor in the control room caught the sight of Bumblebee driving into their territory. Silas sat down into his chair, preparing to 'roll out'.

"The Autobots are persistent," Silas said and grabbed the controls. "Time to meet their match."

He pressed the button on the joystick, awakening Nemesis Prime. Swindle, who had been admiring the human's creation, quickly stepped aside to give the fake Prime some room. The dark bot walked the way out through the secret entrance, intending to perform an ambush on the Autobot intruder.

Swindle smiled cheerfully and waved a servo. "Have fun!"

Outside the base, Bumblebee drove slowly between some large silos, which he suspected of being where MECH resided. He transformed to robot mode and tiptoed silently among the silos, looking between the pipes and around the corners, for anything that looked human or like Optimus.

"Bumblebee," a familiar voice sounded behind him.

The Scout turned and activated his laser guns, as a dark figure similar to Optimus was approaching him. Because of the dark shadow the silo casted, due to the presence of the full moon's bright light, it was nearly impossible to tell the bot's color schemes. And because of the distance it was from the Scout, it was even difficult making out its optical color. But the voice sounded just like Optimus, so Bumblebee didn't shoot right away, in case it really was him.

"Be on your guard," the mysterious figure said, "my double could be anywhere."

"How did you get here so fast?" Bumblebee asked. It had been only a minute since he received the call from Optimus, and as they had all split off to search in different directions, it was hard to believe Prime would get to Bumblebee so fast.

"I'm sorry... what?" the dark figure replied. He couldn't understand what Bumblebee said!

Bumblebee's suspicions had been correct. This wasn't Optimus. This was Nemesis Prime. The Scout frowned upon the discovery and started shooting at the imposter. Nemesis Prime simply ran towards the Scout, avoiding the lasers effortlessly, until it reached the Scout and started punching at him. Bumblebee avoided the first two punches and shot at Nemesis Prime's arm, followed by a punch of his own, but Nemesis Prime avoided and slammed the Scout on the head, then kicked him hard so he flew a good distance before falling onto the ground and lost consciousness.

Nemesis Prime took a few steps forward and watched its defeated opponent. Now to wait for the other Autobots.

In the MECH base, Swindle applauded Silas for the defeat of Bumblebee.

"Spectacular, simply astounding!" the small Decepticon cheered. "I couldn't have done it better myself!"

"Of course, you have no weapons," Silas replied away from the microphone.

On the monitor, footage from one of their security cameras caught the other three Autobots, Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead having arrived and began to split up.

"Looks like the rest of the cavalry has arrived," Silas commented and moved Nemesis Prime to the shadows, preparing for another ambush attack.

"Ooh, Silas, can I join in on the fun?" Swindle asked eagerly.

"You don't have any weapons," Silas repeated. "I don't see how you can aid in the battle."

"I'm not planning to fight the Autobots, I just want to see your victory up close, in person! There's nothing as thrilling as entertainment up close, screenplay can't compare to that."

Silas sighed and waved a hand. "Fine, go if you want. They know our location anyway, your presence will not alert them more. Just don't get in the way."

"Thank you kindly, sir!" Swindle sang and walked calmy off through the main entrance, exiting to the outside. He looked up and around and stepped into a shadow of a silo. After making sure there were no security cameras watching him, he pulled out a small device from his waist.

"Time to disappear," he whispered to himself with a smirk.

He pushed a button on the device, and walked out of the shadow, completely invisible.

The Invisibility Device was one of Swindle's many collectibles he was planning to sell to viable buyers at some point. It was small enough that he could hide it in his sub-space without being detected by Autobots, Decepticons or humans. It, along with his small empty Energon cube, was among the very few things he brought with him from the Nemesis. Who needs to fight when you can turn invisible?

Swindle tiptoed as silently as he could around the base until he spotted one of the Autobots. The one called Bulkhead, the large green Wrecker that was enemies with the now deceased Breakdown. Swindle noticed Nemesis Prime right behind the Autobot, preparing for an ambush. Swindle kept his distance, waiting for a fight to begin.

Bulkhead turned around and saw Nemesis Prime, but instead of questioning it, the Wrecker turned back around, moving on, thinking it was Optimus. That idiot. He had it coming for him. As soon as the Wrecker turned away from the apparent Optimus Prime, this one pounced on the green bot and they rolled in between a pair of silos.

Swindle hasted around the corner, still as silently as possible, not wanting to miss the action. He made it just in time. He watched as Nemesis Prime and Bulkhead engaged in close combat in the darkness, both receiving several heavy punches, until Nemesis landed a punch on the Wrecker's head, followed by another punch to the face, in which after the Wrecker fell to the ground, unconscious.

Having achieved victory, Nemesis Prime stepped out from the darkness, heading towards Swindle. The small Decepticon made sure to back off as silently as possible, to avoid Silas' attention. As Nemesis Prime had passed the smaller mech, Swindle followed the larger mech at a good distance while keeping an optic on it at all times.

Not long after, the two mechs found their way to Arcee, who was standing on guard in the shadow of another silo. Nemesis Prime made no attempt at sneaking up. It simply charged his laser cannon, earning Arcee's attention, followed by a blast. She went down quickly, not having enough time to react. Swindle hummed inwardly at the scene. If Nemesis Prime did take out the entire Autobot team, Megatron would have no trouble taking over the planet's Energon deposits. Perhaps it would be wise to return to the Decepticons, so he wouldn't get terminated along with MECH?

In that case, he couldn't return alone. He would need to find his old pals.

Back in the Autobot base, the monitor showing the statuses of the Autobots in the field began showing Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead's statuses as wounded, probably even unconscious. Only Optimus was left and able to fight.

"Will Optimus be able to handle this by himself?" Rafael asked concerned.

"Come on, Raf," Miko said and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "This is Optimus, he can handle Nemesis Prime just fine!"

"Unless Nemesis Prime is as powerful as Optimus Prime himself, that is," Starscream pointed. "In that case, we're in trouble."

"If I can isolate the control frequency of the remote-link Silas is imploying," Ratchet informed, "I should be able to pinpoint his exact position."

"Remote-link?" Rafael asked confused.

"You didn't think MECH possess the ability to build a completely automous robot, did you?"

"I was hoping Silas would be operating the bot from the inside," Miko said, "because one good punch from Bulkhead, and BOOYAH!" She made a dying sound and fell to the floor for dramatic effect. Agent Fowler shook his head at the girl. She got up again a few seconds later, without anyone commenting on her death imitation. A beeping sounded from the monitor.

"Ah-hah!" Ratchet proclaimed. "Frequency isolated."

"Then re-open that 'Bridge," Agent Fowler ordered.

"Agent Fowler," Ratchet said, "did you not hear Optimus' advice against your involvement? It's for your own safety."

"Look doc, I don't plan on dancing with any bots, but there's a human element in play here. And in case you haven't noticed, I happen to be a highly-trained, government-grade human."

"Yeah," Miko said with enthusiasm, "plus Silas tried to run him off the road! It's personal."

Ratchet considered it for a moment. "Fine, get ready for departure."

"Wait, wait, wait," Starscream exclaimed. "You allow a human to go, yet I have to stay behind?!"

"Make sure Agent Fowler arrives safely at the coordinates," Ratchet said, "and that MECH doesn't have any other surprises waiting for us."

Starscream was about to say something more, but paused, taking in what Ratchet said.

"Uh...what? Really? I...I can go?" The Seeker couldn't believe his audio receptors.

"MECH probably has security cameras installed all over the place," Ratchet assumed, "if you can take them out, it will be easier for Agent Fowler to get in, undetected. And, it would allow our team to get back on their feet and for Optimus to find Nemesis Prime without MECH knowing."

Starscream couldn't help but smile. Finally, they were going to make use of him! Not a very exciting task, but then again, he didn't exactly want to tussle with the fake Prime.

"Send us out!"

Swindle continued to follow Nemesis Prime in silence, until they encountered Optimus Prime himself. This time there was no ambush, both walked up face to face with each other, starting with some pre-fight talking.

Swindle didn't stay to hear what they were saying; behind him, he heard the faintest sound of a GroundBridge portal and turned around. There, about fifty meters from their location, behind some silos, he made out the green light. He glanced briefly at the two large mechs and decided to leave them be. He could always watch the battle from the security cameras' recordings later. Instead, the small Decepticon decided to move towards the green light that quickly disappeared. He turned a corner and saw...none other than Starscream, former second-in-command to the Decepticons!

Swindle had seen him back in MECH's previous base, when he and the Autobot Bumblebee had arrived and broke into the base. He remembered how the Minibot had thrown Swindle, in dormant jeep mode, into the wall, breaking it, followed by an intense shooting by the MECH soldiers. Swindle had not been at full consciousness at the time, but he remembered the Seeker running into the jeep, in which he had leaked just a few small drops of Energon on him. Whether it had been his own or the Energon from the project was uncertain, but it certainly woke up the dormant Combaticon from his decades-long slumber. Amazing what just a few drops of Energon can do to a sleeping bot!

Interested in the arrival of the wayward Decepticon, Swindle approached but kept in the shadows until he knew more.

"Ahhh, fresh air," Starscream said and took a deep vent, spreading his arms. Like last time, Ratchet had fetched the Seeker's missiles for ranged offense, and he had deactivated the energy string, allowing the Seeker to use his claws, mainly to be used for destroying the security cameras. In other words, he could finally stretch again!

Below him, he heard a groaning noise. He looked down and saw Agent Fowler holding his large belly and covering his mouth. The human didn't seem well.

"Are you alright?" Starscream asked, more out of curiosity than actual concern.

"I think I'm gonna toss the breakfast I ate back in flight school," the human said, nauseated.

Before Starscream could comment, they heard a noise and looked to the right. Optimus Prime was thrown into one of the silos, followed by Nemesis Prime running at him. Prime quickly recovered, the two identical mechs locking servos in a wrestle.

"We should probably leave before they see us," Starscream warned, but Fowler had received a phone call.

"Agent Fowler," Ratchet's voice sounded from the phone, "the control frequency is transmitting from a structure 100 meters due north."

"Copy that," Agent Fowler replied and hung up, eyes locking onto the destined silo. "You'll take care of the cameras, right?"

"With pleasure," Starscream replied with a smirk, spreading his claws and took off.

While Agent Fowler snuck along the shadows for concealment, he watched as the Seeker climbed on the silos one by one, reaching each security camera and tearing them off with his claws. If close enough to another silo, he'd simply jump the way to the next, holding tight by putting the claws into the walls. Fowler took advantage of Starscream's distraction and approached the destined silo, climbing up a ladder on the wall.

An explosion sounded not far away. Apparently the pipes lying everywhere in the area were filled with some sort of unstable substance. Oil, gas or the like...

A MECH soldier looked at the explosion through a set of binoculars, wondering if it was Optimus and Nemesis fighting, or if it was the Decepticon named Starscream which Silas had just informed the soldier was present and destroying the cameras. He didn't get to wonder for long, as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back, and his face was met with the fist of Agent Fowler, everything turning white before falling unconscious.

Knowing Starscream had his back, Agent Fowler entered the building, determined to take care of Silas himself.

As Starscream noticed Agent Fowler had entered the building, he stopped destroying the security cameras. His distractions had worked. The human had safely arrived at his destination, and at the moment MECH was probably more concerned about the intruding Seeker than the possibility of another human trespassing. Now it was up to the human to distract Silas long enough for Optimus to take out Nemesis Prime for good...

"Nice to see you here, Commander Starscream," a light voice sounded behind the Seeker.

Starscream turned around, but there was no one there. However, he could feel a strange presence in front of him. There was someone there, someone invisible.

"Who's there?" Starscream asked in a warning tone. "Show yourself!"

"As you wish."

A click sounded, and suddenly, a small bot stood in front of the Seeker. Someone Starscream knew all too well.

"Swindle," Starscream greeted with a smirk. "It's been a while."

"Too long," Swindle replied with a similar smirk. "I trust you've been doing well?"

"I could have been better," the Seeker replied. "I was not aware you were still alive. So you've been hiding with MECH all this time, have you?"

"Only for the past decade or two. I woke up just a few weeks ago, when you and the yellow one broke into MECH's previous base."

Starscream paused for a while, thinking. "You were the jeep," he concluded.

"Yep, though I was dormant for quite a while, until you spilled Energon all over me."

"And where are your fellow Combaticons, if I may ask?"

Swindle shrugged, still keeping his smile on. "I have no idea. We split up decades ago. We had a little...argument. But that's fine with me, I prefer not to stick with the same people all the time. Gotta keep the business fresh, y'know?"

"Suuuuure," Starscream said. "You, uh, weren't wondering why I was with that yellow bot?"

"Well, I must say I was surprised at first," Swindle admitted, his smile fading for a moment. "And now that I know you're here, siding with the Autobots, my suspicions back then seem to have been correct."

Starscream didn't reply. They had a staring contest for a while. Then Swindle's smirk returned.

"Not that I care, anyway," the small Decepticon reassured. "I can work with the Decepticons or these humans, it doesn't matter to me. As long as I get my share of Energon in the end, anything works for me."

Starscream snorted. "If you're working for MECH, shouldn't you be assisting Nemesis Prime over there with the Autobots? Or at least fight me? Why did you decide to follow me and simply talk to me?"

"Because you and I are the same, dear Commander," Swindle replied with calm eyes, still with the mischievous smirk in place. "Our ambitions are stronger than our loyalty to our comrades. You want leadership, I want Shanix. Though now, I suppose Shanix won't be much worth, so I'll have to do with Energon. Besides, I've always admired you, even when my fellow Combaticons wanted your armor."

Starscream hummed. He had always thought all the Combaticons hated him, but it appears this one actually admired him? Was that why he was so annoying and reminded Starscream of himself? It was odd, either way.

"How long are you planning on serving MECH?" Starscream asked, genuinely curious.

"Until they are no longer of use to me," Swindle replied. "I know you smashed all those security cameras, so I have no problem admitting that to you. I also know about the human you let inside the base."

Starscream flinched. Swindle's smirk just grew wider.

"No worries, I'm not telling him or you on Silas. I have no interest in MECH wiping out the Autobots or the Decepticons. And I know that gestalt of theirs isn't enough to match up to the power of the real Prime."

The small Decepticon looked up. Starscream followed his gaze. On the roof of the silo Agent Fowler went into - the same silo that Silas was controlling the robot from - Optimus and Nemesis had crawled up and were fighting it out. Starscream winced when Optimus was stabbed by Nemesis' sword.

"Prime!" Starscream exclaimed, though probably not loud enough for them to hear. He lifted his arm and pointed his missile at Nemesis Prime, but Swindle held a servo onto the arm, lowering it.

"Don't interfere with the show," Swindle warned. "You'll miss the best part."

Starscream snarled but nonetheless did as Swindle said, lowering his arm and watched with the small Decepticon. He side-glanced up and down on Swindle. He couldn't see a Decepticon insignia anywhere, front, side, back, head. As if he had removed it...or perhaps concealed it...

"Where's your insignia?" Starscream asked, optics now focused back on the battle on the rooftop.

"Oh, you noticed that," Swindle replied, still smirking, without taking his optics off the battle. "Yeah, when me and the other guys went off to explore Earth and find Energon deposits and what not, I handed out rubsigns so we could go undercover without the humans or Autobots taking notice."

Swindle rubbed a spot on his chest, and a purple Decepticon insignia appeared. As he stopped rubbing, it slowly faded away, returning the chest to its normal olive color.

"Smart," Starscream noted as Optimus began fighting back on the roof, Nemesis Prime seemingly having lost its momentum. "Guess Knock Out and Breakdown removed theirs when I summoned them several months ago. You did hand out rubsigns to them too, didn't you?"

"I did, but one can't be sure if those guys actually put them on. Oh, look!"

Optimus leaped high into the air and pounded down hard onto Nemesis Prime, so hard that the entire roof collapsed underneath it.

"Oooh, that's gotta hurt," Swindle commented. "Welp, I gotta go see if Silas is alright. It was nice talking to you, Screamer. Hope to see you again!"

Without reactivating the invisibility device, Swindle calmly walked away, heading for a secret entrance somewhere on the silo. Starscream watched, contemplating if he should stop him. He decided to let him go. He had other things to worry about.

On the roof, Optimus kneeled, looking down into the hole, seemingly talking to someone. Probably Agent Fowler. Prime looked up to his left. Starscream followed the gaze; helicopters were on their way to their location. They had to find the others and get out of there at once.

Starscream approached the silo as Optimus climbed down from it.

"Prime," Starscream greeted.

"Starscream," Optimus greeted back in surprise. "I was unaware of your presence here. We need to find the others so we can return to base before the humans arrive. Agent Fowler will take care of things here."

"Of course," the Seeker replied with a smirk. "Let's search."

Without another word, the two mechs went off in different directions, looking for the other Autobots whilst avoiding the helicopters' radars the best they could. Bumblebee had regained consciousness and found his way to Prime by himself. The two of them found Bulkhead in the shadows between two silos, almost missing him. He also regained consciousness when they found him. Starscream found Arcee, having a burn mark from an Energon laser shot, but was otherwise unharmed. She would live.

"Arcee, wake up," Starscream said and shook her. "Time to skedaddle!"

Arcee regained consciousness and looked up to find the Seeker, with missiles and without a restraining energy string. Suppose she'd have to get used to the sight outside the base.

"R-right," she said unsure as he helped her up. "Prime?"

"He took care of things," Starscream assured her. "We'll rendevous with the others at the entrance and return to base."

Without further ado, the two sleek bots made their way to the entrance of the area in silence. They found the other three bots present. They looked up and saw the helicopters landing on some of the rooftops.

"Autobots," Optimus announced, catching everyone's attention. "Return to base."

And as the green portal opened, they all went through it, one by one. Starscream and Arcee were the last to enter. Starscream stood by for a while, looking back over his shoulder, wondering what Swindle was going to do now.

Arcee took notice of the Seeker's hesitation. "Come on, Star," she encouraged. "Let's go home."

Starscream lingered for another second before following her through the portal, which closed behind them a second later.

As Swindle entered the base, he whistled at the amount of damage the fallen Nemesis Prime had caused. Agent Fowler had already left the scene to meet with the helicopters, and Optimus Prime had descended from the rooftop to meet up with the other Autobots.

"Anyone still alive here?" Swindle asked in the seemingly empty room. Three MECH soldiers appeared from the rubble and from the walls. Apparently the rest had either fled or perished.

"Commander Silas is trapped among the rubble," one of them informed Swindle. "The military is on its way here. We need to be quick!"

"Say no more," Swindle said and made his way to the fallen Nemesis Prime. With a good amount of strength, he managed to lift Nemesis Prime's body high enough to make Silas visible.

"Commander Silas!" the MECH soldiers exclaimed.

"Hurry up and get him out," Swindle said with a strained voice. "This bot is h-h-heavy!"

Two soldiers went underneath Swindle and Nemesis Prime and pulled out Silas at the same time. As soon as their commander was out, Swindle let go of Nemesis Prime, but accidentally had it landed on his pede.

"OWWCH!" the small Decepticon exclaimed and fell on his aft, clutching his bruised pede and rubbing it. "Scrap, that hurt!"

"Lieutenant Swindle, let's get out of here!" a soldier said.

Before the pain could fade from his pede, Swindle initiated transformation and let the three MECH soldiers plus Silas inside of him, two commandos in the front seats, and a surgeon with Silas in the back seats. Swindle went straight for the exit and drove off into the night with what remained of MECH.

In the Autobot base, the humans were still present. They had called their families and convinced them to let them stay at their friends' place for just another night, and they would return in the afternoon the next day. They wanted to spend more time with the Autobots before they had to go to school. The sun had just begun rising when everyone had returned and recovered from the battle at the MECH base. The kids had to leave for school in ten minutes by the time the bots had fully recovered, so they would be able to drive them there.

"So how weird was it to see someone who looked exactly like Optimus, kicking the scrap out of you?" Miko asked Bulkhead eagerly.

Bulkhead just groaned, apparently not wanting to talk about it.

"It's a sight I won't soon forget," Arcee replied instead.

"You should've seen the sight I saw," Starscream went in. "Optimus Prime versus Optimus Prime. Now that is a strange sight."

"I believe you," Arcee replied, since Starscream had been the only one still conscious to see the battle.

Ratchet was just finishing the repairs on Optimus' abdomen, where he had been stabbed by Nemesis Prime.

"The question remains whether MECH will continue to function as we know it," Optimus said, "without its leader."

"Well here's a kicker," Agent Fowler said through the communication monitor. "We zipped through the wreckage with a fine-toothed comb, and couldn't find any trace of Silas."

Optimus had a worried expression on his face. If Silas was nowhere to be found among the debris, it meant MECH had taken him and fled to a new location.

"Well, if that's all, I think I'll return to my room," Starscream said, but stopped when he had taken only one step. "Wait, today is supposed to have a conversation session. Prime...?"

The Autobots looked from Starscream to Optimus and then at each other, taking a moment to find out what Starscream meant. Optimus contemplated for a moment.

"Do you think you are ready to wait with a cube until tomorrow, Starscream?" Optimus asked instead.

"I can try," Starscream replied. "If we're going to slowly stop the sessions, might as well start now. I'll be waiting for tomorrow, then."

"Good," Optimus Prime said.

"See you later this evening, Scream," Miko said.

Starscream just nodded and went on his way to his room, leaving the others to their own businesses. He could hear the sound of transformation three times, the sound of running engines, then silence. The Autobots had left the base to take their human partners to school. Starscream sighed and entered his room, continuing with G.I. Joe.

In another place, one of MECH's many bases, the MECH surgeon had tried his best to save Silas, but things weren't looking good.

"The internal damage to his organs is massive and beyond the scope of conventional medicine," the surgeon informed the two commandos in the room. "Fortunately for our leader, MECH is anything but conventional."

Swindle smirked at the scene and gazed to his left, where the remains of Breakdown hung by cables. Swindle had taken the liberty of returning to the wreckage site after the military had gone, and as he discovered they had not taken Nemesis Prime away, he had harvested the organs within it, including the T-cog, and returned to MECH's new hideout. While the surgeon had been working on Silas, Swindle and the two commandos had worked on Breakdown's body, putting the organs back into his chassis and closing him up, reattaching his torn body parts as well as they could. The end result looked as if Breakdown had never been maimed.

MECH was planning to fit Silas' mind into the deceased but otherwise functional body of Breakdown.

A human that would become a Transformer.

"How interesting," Swindle remarked quietly, as the soldiers began working on their new 'experiment'.

Chapter Text

The following week after the demise of Nemesis Prime, the Autobots had to lay low while Agent Fowler was busy convincing General Bryce to not frag the Autobots on sight. It started immediately the next day after neutralizing MECH. Agent Fowler was summoned to Bryce's office to give an explanation, at the same time with being recorded by a private called Daley.

Agent Fowler explained that the deceased bot at the MECH base was not Optimus Prime, but something called Nemesis Prime, created by MECH, a special unit with Silas in the lead. Fowler then went on to do a headcount of the Autobots and included Starscream in it. He explained to the general how the Autobots had successfully captured and converted the Decepticon sub-commander to their cause. But this information simply made Bryce question the Autobots' trustworthiness even more, even went on to accuse them of working with the Decepticons!

Agent Fowler made sure to inform Bryce that Starscream was definitely not a Decepticon anymore. He wasn't completely trusted by the 'Bots yet, but he was behaving very well, and it would only be a matter of time before he would become additional firepower and very much needed air support.

Afterwards they went on to talk about Optimus' recent defection to the Decepticons, in which Fowler explained that Prime had had amnesia back then and Megatron had taken advantage of that. He also explained that the Autobots were very careful around humans, in which he accidentally told the general about the kids - although he managed to leave out the fact that they were minors. He then explained that while they were civilians, they were working with the Autobots and were a valuable part of the team.

Everything seemed to go well until Fowler mentioned Unicron. General Bryce requested him to have a psychological evaluation, since he mentioned that Megatron 'helped defeat a unicorn', in which Fowler promptly corrected him, thus avoiding a counselling.

Circling back to Starscream, Agent Fowler explained that the Decepticon had given them valuable intel and was on the verge of becoming one of the good guys. He also informed that Airachnid had gone rogue and that there were more Decepticons roaming the Earth than they knew about. Hereamong Swindle and the Combaticons, the Stunticons and Starscream's 'Trine Mates', Thundercracker and Skywarp. The Autobots had recently been in contact with Swindle, but for now it seemed the Decepticon didn't pose a threat. They were still looking for the other missing Decepticons. And needed every bit of help they could get, even from a former Decepticon.

Fowler also mentioned that Optimus believed the current Decepticon sub-commander Dreadwing could be converted to their side, but Fowler didn't agree with him. After another questioning about Optimus' trustworthiness, Fowler decided to call the big bot himself. Merely a minute later, Optimus Prime himself peeked in from the window to the office, spooking Private Daley, almost making him drop the camera. General Bryce asked Prime how he was doing, which Optimus replied he was doing well and returned the question, receiving the same answer.

As General Bryce got confirmed that Optimus Prime was indeed alive and well, and certainly on their side, the camera battery ran out, and they decided to end the meeting.

In the following week, the Autobots decided to lay low until things had calmed down in the military, only going outside the base to patrol or if Decepticons were causing trouble. No trouble seemed to be caused though, nothing aside from mining some more Energon, which the Autobots for the most part ignored. They would probably need to go on another raid soon though - their Energon supplies were beginning to get low again.

They knew one reason why they were already beginning to run out of Energon despite the large supply gained almost two months ago. Starscream's sessions were still in motion, though now they had gone from once every two days to once every three days. It had been a strange and hard change for the Seeker, but he managed to push through the week.

The day Agent Fowler was meeting with General Bryce, Starscream got his Energon cube during the first session since the change in the days. He greedily guzzled the cube's contents in him while conversing with Ratchet.

"You seem hungry," the medic noted. "Hard to go another day without Energon?"

"A bit," Starscream admitted after taking a sip of Energon. "But I think I can manage."

"You better not try to steal our cubes when we aren't looking," Ratchet warned.

Starscream scoffed at the accusation. "I would never...! Okay, maybe I would, but..." He saw Ratchet's serious expression and shook his head. "But, erm, I've changed, you know, so don't worry about me taking anything, because I won't. I promise," he added with a very unconvincing smirk and a flutter with his wings.

The next session three days later got easier to wait for than the last one. Granted, he was still hungry throughout not only the second day, but even the first day. It was a conversation with Bulkhead, so it was bound to be fun...not.

Bulkhead had tried being more civil with Starscream lately than in the past though, so Starscream didn't hate the big brute as much as before, but still hated him a little bit.

"Look, Scream," Bulkhead said as Starscream was halfway done with his cube, "I'm trying here. You have to try too. You said so yourself, remember?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Starscream scoffed after another sip. "Are you saying I'm not trying to get out of here? And the only way to do that is to get along with you Autobots and your human pets. As difficult as that is, I'm trying too. Even if you can't see it, I am trying, very hard even!"

"Hey, hey, what's with the attitude?"

"What attitude? I'm like this all the time!" Starscream practically shrieked.

"I know, but you seem to be kinda freaking out right now for no reason at all," Bulkhead replied concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" Starscream repeated, definitely not okay. "Okay?! I'm trapped in a cave! I can't fly, it's the only way I can blow off steam and you won't let me! I'm still a prisoner to you Autobots and you ask me if I'm okay? The nerve!"

Bulkhead really had to control himself to not pound the Seeker down right there and then. Something was wrong. Starscream always had an attitude and berated the Autobots for keeping him inside, of course, but this time seemed more extreme than the other times. Was Starscream beginning to get enough of this? Would he attempt another escape from the base, not caring where he might end up or what would happen to him?

Bulkhead let out a sigh. "I think we're done here," he said and grabbed the now empty cube, got up and left the room.

Starscream continued to snarl, hiss and huff even after Bulkhead left. He closed his optics and let out a few deep vents, calming himself down.

What just happened? he thought to himself a few minutes later, equally as perplexed as Bulkhead. I lost my head? I've gone way longer than this without flying in the past. So why did I lose my head already almost two months after my last flight? Am I losing my mind...?

As Bulkhead went to the command center, he informed the others of Starscream's outburst. There was a mix of surprise and not-surprise among them.

"I don't know why he began to freak out about being trapped in here," Bulkhead said. "I mean, he was outside just a few days ago."

"But he didn't fly," Arcee pointed out. "He said flights calm him down. But I didn't think it was this serious..."

"What if he tries to escape again, like Megatron told us?" Bumblebee asked concerned, reminding them of what Megatron said back during Unicron's awakening, shortly before the Seeker had successfully escaped them. "Why not just let him go for a fly? We could supervise..."

"Not an option," Ratchet declined. "We can't fly, and Starscream flies faster than any of the Decepticons. It would be impossible for us to catch up with him if he got the chance to fly away. We've had this discussion a dozen times already."

The Autobots silenced, contemplating what to do. One of the kids spoke up from the railings.

"Could we give him more puzzles, maybe?" Rafael suggested. "He seemed to like those. Maybe that would distract him enough."

The Autobots gave the suggestion a thought. "Not a bad idea, Rafael," Ratchet replied. "And it wouldn't be too difficult or take too long to make either. Can you show me some examples?"

"Sure, here." Rafael showed Ratchet something on his computer. The medic nodded.

"I can make those for him," Ratchet replied and mentally scanned the pictures. "It will take mere minutes. How many should I make?"

"One of each, I think would be good," Raf replied. "I love those, I think he'd like them too."

"Very well then, I'll get to work."

In his room, Starscream was pacing back and forth in worry. He had messed up. He had screamed in an Autobot's face, possibly insulted both him and the humans, he couldn't recall. It had been so long since he had last been punished with the omission of a cube due to misbehavior. And given how far apart each session had become already, getting punished this time would be daunting...of course, he could always go steal a cube or two, now that he was free to roam the base...yes, that sounded like a good idea...except it was a terrible idea, the Autobots would definitely find out and stamp him as a thief, lock him up again, thus ruining all the progress he had made up until now. The only way to get through this unscathed was taking whatever punishment the Autobots had for him.

The Seeker had been pacing for about an hour before someone knocked on his door. He flinched and turned. It was Ratchet. Here we go, Starscream thought concerned.

"May I come in?" Ratchet asked strangely politely.

Starscream took a few deep vents before answering: "You may."

Ratchet opened the door to the room and stepped inside, keeping the door open. He had the same stone-faced expression he always had. He seemed to be holding something.

"I've got something for you," the medic said before Starscream could ask. Ratchet put something down on the desk next to him. Starscream went over and examined it when Ratchet pulled his servos back.

Sixteen small items now lay on the desk among the fixed Rubix Cube and the kaleidoscope. A bundle of six rectangular metal poles; three metal planks with holes in them, two of them with an 'exiting' hole to the edge; four colorful bundles of six flat squares in each with different shaped edges; and ten bundles of metal rods and rings stuck together in different shapes.

Starscream stared confused at the items, then at Ratchet. "What's that?" the Seeker asked, pointing at the new items.

"Puzzles," Ratchet replied. "We thought you'd like some more things to keep you distracted. Hopefully this will suffice."

Ratchet was already exiting the room. Starscream made illegible grunts before finding his voice again.

"Wait, what, how..." was all he managed to say before Ratchet left, apparently not wanting to hear the Seeker out. Starscream sighed and lowered his arms. He still didn't know if he was going to get punished or not for his behavior earlier. Apparently he had to wait and see. He'd find out in three days.

Instead, he took a look at the new 'puzzles' Ratchet had brought in. The squares seemed to be a regular jigsaw puzzle...except that there were no pictures on them, and the fact there were six of each color suggested they had to be put together into a square somehow. He decided to start with trying the puzzle with red squares.

Starscream managed to solve the red jigsaw puzzle in a few minutes, after trying putting several parts together before realizing they didn't go together and split them up again. It wasn't particularly hard, but it was relaxing, of sorts. Weird. But good weird.

He decided to try the other jigsaw puzzles, all of which were done in a few minutes each, same approach as with the red puzzle. The jigsaw puzzles might be good for him when he needed to relax, because they were pretty easy.

The Seeker then went to examine the three planks with holes in them. One had a long closed hole in the center, one had a long hole with an exit to the edge, and the last one had a small hole, also with an exit to the edge, the same width as the other plank's 'exit'. He picked two of them up and put the one with the small hole through the one with the closed hole. He noticed the hole on the former was visible above the hole it had gone through.

"Aha," Starscream said lowly. "I have to fit all three planks into each other in different directions. This should be easy..."

In the next few minutes, he switched the planks' positions with each other until he managed to fit all three pieces together; one plank being on the horizontal side pointing right and left, one being horizontal on the vertical side pointing at the Seeker, and one being vertical. He admired his work for a moment.

"See, not so hard," he said to himself. "Now, what about those poles...?"

There were six poles, one being completely rectangular, the other five having dents in them; three had two dents; the last two had three dents, two of them the same place as the three with two dents, the last dent being in the center of the two dents, on the edge next to the edge of the two dents. Perhaps this puzzle was similar to the one with the planks? Perhaps he had to put the rectangles together into a square or something? In any case, with all those poles, it seemed more difficult than the other one.

"I'll take your challenge," Starscream whispered to the poles with a smirk.

As the next three days passed, Starscream continued working on his new puzzles. As he couldn't seem to solve the rectangle puzzle, he decided to take a break and leave his room to hang with the others in the command center for a bit. As the Seeker entered the command center, he kept a straight face, pretending he hadn't just freaked out a few hours earlier. But the Autobots and kids seemed to ignore him, so perhaps it wasn't so bad as he thought it was?

After hanging in the command center for a few hours without much talk or action - though with Arcee and Jack going out for a drive at one point, followed by Raf and Bumblebee - Starscream decided to return to his room to look at the puzzle again. But he had lost interest in it, so he decided to read G.I. Joe instead, only briefly glancing at the metal puzzles.

The next day, he struggled with the poles again, until he managed to find the right order to put the rectangles in, but the real trouble was keeping them in place until they were set together. Starscream eventually managed to keep hold of them long enough to insert the last rectangle, then squeeze them together until they were stable. He put it on the table and admired his work. The six rectangles had now become a structure of two poles each in a different direction: one pair facing up and the two other pairs on the vertical sides; one pair between the up-facing pair, laying vertically on each other; the other pair also being between the up-facing pair, but laying on their horizontal side next to each other. It was a structure of balance, if even one of them got a little loose, the whole thing would fall apart easily. But put together right, and the shapes of the rectangles enforced each other into a strong, stable structure.

Starscream was proud of his accomplishment and decided to leave his room to show the others - both the rectangles and the planks. He had each puzzle in his servos as he opened the door and exited his room, heading to the command center. He proudly presented the solved puzzles to Ratchet, who gave him a halfsparked congratulations. The other Autobots tried praising him a bit more enthusiastically, enough so Starscream felt smart, but not so much that he could tell they weren't serious. As he showed the kids, he received much better praise.

"Nice, Scream!" Miko cheered, whether being seriously impressed or not. One could never tell with that girl.

"Good job on the rectangles," Raf said, definitely impressed. "That's a hard one."

"It was," Starscream admitted. "Had it not been for my claws, it probably would have been easier."

As good weapons as his claws were, as well as stunning to look at, the overall practical use of them varied. For reaching things in small openings or picking up a grain of salt - metaphorically speaking, as a grain of salt was way too small for him to pick up - they were excellent tools. For more delicate work where he actually needed to use small tools or, as in this case, put small things together, they were more of a hassle than a help.

"Well, you did it either way," Jack said, also impressed. "How are the other puzzles?"

"I solved the jigsaw square puzzles," Starscream informed. "Too easy, I might say. I haven't looked at the other things yet."

"I think you'll like the metal puzzles," Raf said hopefully. "They're fun ones."

"I'll take your word on it," the Seeker replied. He looked around at the Autobots. "Nothing much happening lately, I see?"

"Nope, 'Cons are unusually quiet," Miko said. "And school's boring as ever."

Starscream snickered at the notion. "I can imagine. What exactly do they teach you in school?"

The kids shared glances for a moment. They actually had told Starscream what they learned in school, but it was over a month ago, and he hadn't seemed interested in hearing about it at the time. Now though, he suddenly wanted to know more about them? Strange.

"Math, biology, geography, English, Spanish," Raf listed, "physics, chemistry, history, socialstudies, art..."

"The basics, in other words," Starscream concluded. "Of course, you are kids, so of course you are learning the basics of everything..."

The kids frowned, not sure if he was insulting them or not. They decided to shake it off.

"Well, what'd they teach you in school?" Miko asked with crossed arms.

"I didn't get into the medical school, I thought I had-"

"No, before that," Miko clarified. "When you were...well, when you were created!"

Starscream paused, just staring at her. Then he sighed.

"I already told you. I am Cold Constructed. I was created with the basics programmed into my processor. Basically, I was created as an adult to begin with."

The kids silenced, suddenly remembering he had already told them this less than a week ago.

"That's...actually pretty sad," Miko whispered. "Wait, how does it work again with the ways you guys are created and stuff?"

Starscream sighed again and face-palmed. "Okay, remember how I said earlier that Forged bots are known as 'Children of Primus'? Like I said, Forged bots are created through natural means, and these start out as small Protoforms known as Sparklings."

The kids perked to attention, and the Autobots began listening as well.

"Sparklings?" Raf asked curiously. "What do they look like?"

Starscream hummed, trying to find a way to explain. "You've seen Scraplets, right?" As the kids nodded, the Seeker continued: "Well, you've probably noticed the...excuse me...somewhat cute faces the Scraplets have, right? You know, as cute as such little monsters can be... Anyway, have you wondered why they look like that?"

The kids thought for a bit, then shrugged.

"Evolution has given Scraplets the ability to sneak up on unexpectant bots, to take them down before their prey knows they're in danger. For this purpose, the little mongrels have taken on the looks of something as innocent as Sparklings. Basically, the heads of Scraplets look exactly like the heads of Sparklings, minus the sharp teeth."

The kids looked surprised at each other at the information. Some of the Autobots stirred uneasily at the thought.

"That's...that's awful," Jack said in shock. "What did you do about it?"

Starscream sighed in sadness. "In the start, when Scraplets first appeared on Cybertron, bots thought they were Sparklings and tried to take them in, only to be infested with the little pests. As the news spread across the planet, no one felt safe around anything that looked like Scraplets, not even the very Sparklings that were the future of our race. Many lost Sparklings were accidentally terminated by frightened bots, thinking they were Scraplets."

Again the Autobots stirred uneasily at the thought and memories they had of watching such scenes back on their homeworld.

"And...are there any Sparklings left?" Miko asked hesitantly.

Starscream shook his head in sadness. "No. The war for Cybertron was cruel and merciless. It was a matter of killing or being killed, whether by Autobots, Decepticons, Insecticons or Scraplets, or even the forces of nature. No one could be certain, and as the war escalated, so did the number of young Sparklings decrease. Any Sparklings that survived were practically already adults, while all younger Sparklings were terminated, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by Autobots or by Decepticons, Scraplets or Insecticons. As far as we know, there are no Sparklings left, and only Forged bots are able to create and care for Sparklings properly. Cold Constructs like myself...our sparks can't handle such a thing."

The kids looked confused at each other and the Seeker.

"What do you mean your sparks can't handle it?" Jack asked curiously.

Starscream silenced. "...I think I'm going to return to my room now," he said lowly, grabbed the two puzzles and left the command center. The kids wanted to know more, but they could see that Starscream didn't want to talk anymore. They could only gaze at the Autobots for answers.

Ratchet shook his head as they looked at him. "Starscream knows more about Cold Constructed bots than I do," the medic answered their unspoken question. "You'll just have to be patient and wait until he's ready to talk again."

The kids nodded but gazed towards the hallway. The subject seemed to have been a sore one for Starscream. But why...?

The next two days, Starscream didn't hang out much in the command center as he used to. He spent almost all his time in his room, not reading, not doing puzzles, not even sleeping. He just lay on his recharging table the whole next day, stuck in his own thoughts. Thinking about the kids' questions the previous day. Questions about school, questions about Sparklings. Questions about the Seeker. Questions he'd rather not answer or even think about, but here he was, thinking about it.

As he always did when feeling just a little depressed, he started thinking about Jetfire. Most of the Energon Seekers had been Cold Constructs like Starscream himself, heck, most Fliers were even Cold Constructs, including the Aerial Bots of the Autobots. But Jetfire was different. He had been Forged, grown up like a Sparkling, got into the best schools because his creators were happy to have gained a Forged Flier. Jetfire had told Starscream this when they met. And Starscream told Jetfire that he was Cold Constructed. He hadn't had a Sparklinghood, he hadn't gone to school. All the necessary basic information that Sparklings learned as they grew up, like motion control, speech, danger, biology, history, math, geography, all that had been downloaded into Starscream's processor before he was activated, just like any Cold Construct before activation.

Cold Constructs were created for war. That was the point of creating bots as adults, so they would be ready for the army as soon as they rolled off the assembly line. And what good would new soldiers be if they didn't know all the basics already? It would take years to teach them everything a Sparkling also had to learn, better to simply shove it all into their heads, press the start button, and here's an army for you, ready for war!

Starscream scoffed at the air. Whoever invented Cold Constructs were such idiots. Had Starscream only been Forged, then he would have avoided all the shuns, discrimination, rejections and prejudice. He knew he didn't fail his medical entrance exam because he lacked control. He failed because he was Cold Constructed. He knew that. Cold Constructed bots couldn't be trusted with keeping patients alive, because they weren't really alive themselves, that's what they all said.

But the Energon Seekers were different. There, it didn't matter if you were Forged or Cold Constructed. All that mattered was that you could fly, whether being a jet, a shuttle or otherwise. Starscream had felt welcome there, among other Cold Constructs, who knew what Starscream had been going through. It was here that he met Thundercracker and Skywarp, who had apparently been created at the same time as Starscream from the same assembly line. They looked identical aside from color schemes, as did many other Seekers.

Starscream had been assigned to work alongside Thundercracker and Skywarp, the three of them forming a Trine, as was customary within the Energon Seekers. The Air Commander of the Energon Seekers at the time of Starscream's arrival was a Seeker named Red Wing. He was a beautiful, sleek, red Seeker with white thighs and black arms and pedes. Like all the Energon Seekers, he had yellow optics, the optic color of the Neutrals. Starscream also used to have yellow optics in the beginning, while still a Neutral. It could also be the optic color of a Neutral Cold Construct, he didn't know.

Jetfire was again different here. He wasn't always an Autobot, but he always had blue optics, like most of the Autobots had. Probably because he was Forged, who knew. Jetfire worked with the Energon Seekers when Starscream joined them. He was still a Neutral back then as well. It was only shortly before Megatron started the first war between Autobots and Decepticons that Jetfire decided to take the Autobots' brand. None of the Seekers were comfortable about it, especially as they were then tasked by the Autobot Council to protect the Dark Energon on Trypticon Station from the Decepticons' servos. Now the previously Neutral Seekers suddenly had to pick sides, which started out as the Autobots, but eventually joined the Decepticons.

Despite Jetfire's irritating nature, there had been something charming about the bot that prevented Starscream from really hating him. They hung out more often than they did with their own Trines. Jetfire's Trine Mates had actually been Red Wing himself, as well as someone named Sandstorm. Starscream had quickly risen in rank and soon proved to be a better leader than Red Wing, thus forcing Red Wing to retire as Air Commander and instead let Starscream take over the post. Red Wing hadn't been too sad about the situation. He had always hated being leader, but there hadn't been anyone worthy enough to take over for him. Until Starscream, that is. So Red Wing was actually pretty happy to retire and let Starscream lead the Energon Seekers as the new Air Commander.

Until Megatron attacked, that is.

After Starscream had decided to join Megatron, after Jetfire left, he had made the announcement to the Seekers that remained. None of them were happy about joining the Decepticons, least of all Red Wing. After the announcement, the red Seeker had pulled Starscream to the side and scolded him like he had never scolded anyone before. Red Wing told Starscream he had doomed the Energon Seekers to oblivion, in which Starscream argued they would have been obliviated anyway. Disappointed in his successor, Red Wing decided to leave the Seekers and never returned. Starscream didn't know if he still lived or not. Chances were he didn't.

Red Wing had been right, though. As the war waged on, the Seekers slowly decreased in number, until the uncertain number of only Starscream and his Trine Mates remained, maybe a few more. Starscream had hoped his decision would have allowed the Seekers to survive, but it had only made their inevitable destruction slower and more painful, as well as losing their dignity by siding with either political faction. Starscream had always regretted saying yes to Megatron back then, but he only realized how much recently.

Starscream shook his head, trying to rid himself of these thoughts of the past. Not feeling like doing anything today, he decided to go into recharge and wait for the next day.

The next day Starscream felt better, albeit hungry. He remembered that today was a conversation day and waited with anticipation for someone to enter and give him a cube. He still didn't feel like getting up yet though, still thinking about everything from the previous two days. So he remained on the table, staring into the ceiling, strangely enough not getting uncomfortable about the small room, perhaps only because he was distracted by his thoughts.

Only a few hours passed after he woke up that Arcee arrived - and that's when Starscream remembered his misbehavior at his last sesson, making him look the femmebot up and down. Fortunately, she was holding an Energon cube in her arms, thank Primus. But Starscream felt surprisingly indifferent about the cube, his hunger seemingly missing.

"Hey Starscream," Arcee greeted as she entered the room. "We missed you yesterday."

"Did you," Starscream replied indifferently, his gaze having returned to the ceiling.

Arcee shrugged. "Okay, you got me," she admitted. "I do have a cube for you here."

"Why," Starscream asked.

Arcee silenced for a moment, obviously confused. "What do you mean 'why'? You always get a cube during these sessions, remember?"

Starscream didn't reply nor looked at her. Arcee had to guess what he was thinking, apparently.

"If this is about last time, forget it," she said, knowing it was that. "You had a bad day, we all get those. And...it seems you still have a bad day..."

Starscream hummed, not really caring. Arcee sighed and took a seat, still holding the cube.

"Do you want this or not?" she asked impatiently, holding it out.

Starscream let out a huff and hauled himself up to sit, as if mere movement was too exhausting for him. She handed over the cube, which the Seeker only loosly had a grip on. He stared into the blue substance, then slowly lifted it to his mouth to take a small sip.

"So...how was your day yesterday?" Arcee asked the usual question. "We didn't see you at all. Were you busy doing puzzles?"

"No," Starscream replied darkly, his usual smile absent.

"Were you reading then?"

"No."

Arcee hummed. "Did you do anything at all yesterday?"

Starscream didn't say anything for a while. "Thinking," he simply said lowly.

"Thinking about what?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

They didn't say anything for a while. Arcee simply sat and watched the Seeker, waiting for him to continue talking like he always did. But he didn't say anything. He also didn't drink more of the Energon. He simply stared into the cube, with a strangely blank expression, half-closed optics and a downcast mouth, optical bridges slightly downcast. Arcee studied the Seeker's wings. They slowly began to droop. The femmebot started getting concerned about the mech.

"How are you feeling, Starscream?" Arcee asked to try to distract Starscream from whatever thoughts he might have.

Starscream didn't answer for a while. "I don't know," he said after a while. "Are we done soon?"

Arcee became more worried about him. "Aren't you going to finish your cube?"

"I'm not hungry."

Starscream handed the cube back to Arcee and laid back down on the recharging table. Arcee didn't know what to do.

"Starscream..."

"Just leave me alone," the Seeker said lowly. "I'm tired."

Arcee wanted to say more, but decided not to. "Alright," she replied. "I'll see you later, then?"

Starscream just hummed. Arcee sighed and left the room.

"That was fast," Ratchet remarked as Arcee entered the command center only ten minutes after heading for Starscream's room. "Was he busy?"

"Busy brooding, that's what he's busy with," Arcee informed. "He didn't even want Energon."

This got everyone's attention.

"Wait, Starscream didn't want Energon?" Raf asked, equally as confused as the Autobots. "Why not?"

"Maybe he wants to go all the way with one cube a week already?" Bulkhead suggested hopefully.

"I don't think so," Arcee replied. "He seemed kind of...off. He barely said anything. I don't think he even did anything yesterday."

Ratchet turned entirely away from his work with the Synthetic Energon formula to pay attention to Arcee.

"Did he drink any Energon at all?" the medic asked.

"He took one sip, then just stared at it for the rest of the time," Arcee replied. "I asked if he was gonna drink it, then he gave it back to me and laid down to stare at the ceiling. I think something's wrong with him."

Ratchet crossed his arms, seemingly thinking. "I'll go talk to him," the medic said. "I'll be back soon."

"Alright, good luck getting anything outta him," Arcee said doubtfully.

Starscream was surprised to hear a knock on his door mere minutes after Arcee had left. He side-eyed the door and saw it was Ratchet. He hummed, allowing Ratchet to enter. The medic didn't have a cube, instead went over to the Seeker at the recharging table, grabbed the chair and sat down by him.

"How are you, Starscream?" Ratchet asked the same question Arcee had.

Starscream just sighed. "I don't know."

"Are you happy? Angry? Scared? Sad?"

Starscream huffed an annoyed sigh. "No...no...no...no..."

"Then how are you feeling?"

"I don't know," the Seeker repeated. "I don't know what I'm feeling right now. Empty, I guess. I don't feel anything right now."

Ratchet hummed. "Are you hungry? Arcee said you hadn't touched your cube."

"I took a sip. Wasn't hungry. Not hungry now either. I just want to sleep."

"You slept all day yesterday. Are you alright?"

Instead of answering, Starscream rolled to the side, his back facing Ratchet. The wings seemed tense somehow, followed by a droop.

"Starscream, you have to talk," Ratchet said, annoyed by Starscream's rejection.

"Why," Starscream mumbled from the other side.

"Because you have to have social contact so you don't become lonely."

"Loneliness is my best friend."

"Please don't make yourself just another mouth to feed," Ratchet said, more concerned now. "The least you could do is get up and out to talk with the kids."

"I don't care about the kids."

"Starscream."

Starscream finally turned around again, with an angry expression on his face, his wings hiking in tension.

"Those kids don't know when to shut up! They ask highly personal things of me, and I hate it! They make me think about things I'd rather forget about! I don't want to think about my past, because my past isn't worth thinking about! No one I cared about is alive anymore, I don't care about anyone left who's still alive. Why am I still alive when Jetfire is dead?!"

Ratchet didn't interrupt the Seeker, he just sat and let him rant.

"Jetfire, he...he was such a pain in the aft," Starscream continued, sitting up, making gestures with his servos. "He did all these things for me, they were so annoying, but, but...but that doesn't mean I wanted him dead! He tried so hard to impress me, to make me like him, and then, when I had to make a life or death decision for my people, he...he abandoned me! He abandoned me, just like Airachnid abandoned me at the Harbinger, just like everyone seems to be abandoning me! Even..." He choked on his words, unable to get them out. "...even he abandoned me..." he whispered.

"Who abandoned you?" Ratchet asked curious. "Jetfire? Megatron?"

Starscream shook his head. He was about to answer, but then shut up, glaring at Ratchet. "It's none of your business. The past is the past. Something you Autobots seem to have a very hard time letting go of."

Ratchet squinted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Starscream gulped, silencing again, turning his head away. "...I can't tell you. You'd never forgive me if I told you."

Ratchet got even more curious. "If you can't tell me, you shouldn't make such statements that only make me want to know even more."

Starscream snorted and squinted his eyes, his wings starting to droop again. "I can't. Just let it go."

Ratchet was very curious to know what Starscream wouldn't tell him, but decided to let it go anyway.

"Fine. Don't tell me." Ratchet stood up and put the chair back by the table. "But please, come with me to the command center. You can't stay cooped up in here forever."

Starscream huffed and got up without further protest.

They exited the room and went for the command center in silence. Starscream walked with his head and wings drooping. Ratchet side-eyed him. This behavior was concerning, especially with a bot like Starscream. It was best to keep an eye on him for the time being. Just in case the Seeker got any ideas.

As they entered the command center, the Autobots and humans showed mild surprise and positivity in seeing the Seeker out of his room. This positivity got quickly turned down as they saw the Seeker's gloomy behavior. He didn't walk over to the kids or asked anyone what they were doing like he usually did. He just walked over to the medbay, laid down on the operating table closest to the wall, rolled onto the side and stared into the wall.

Ratchet sighed. Well, at least he was now where they could see him. The medic returned to work on the Synthetic Energon formula almost right next to the depressed Seeker. The other Autobots glanced concerned at Starscream before forcing themselves to return to their own work. The kids couldn't ignore him though.

"Starscream?" Miko asked as the kids descended from the railings and went to see the Seeker.

"Leave me alone," Starscream mumbled and flapped once with his wings, as a sort of shooing. The kids backed off and returned to the railings.

"Don't take it personally," Arcee said as the kids returned to the living room area. "He's having a bad day. Probably more than one bad day, even."

"Is it really okay to ignore him like this?" Jack asked concerned while glancing at the still Seeker on the table. "What if he tries to..."

"That's why Ratchet brought him in here," Arcee answered the unfinished question. "Whatever he may think about doing, we'll be here, watching him, preventing him from doing that. He'll come around, you'll see."

The kids nodded and sat by the sofa, trying to get their minds off Starscream. Bulkhead transformed and went for the physical exit.

"I'm gonna go off on patrol," Bulkhead informed.

Ratchet opened the entrance, letting Bulkhead leave. He glanced to Starscream. The Seeker hadn't even peeked. Even his usual thoughts of escaping, however small chances thereof, had seemingly disappeared.

As a medic, Ratchet wanted to help the Seeker, but some bots didn't want help. So he had to wait until he wanted help.

On the road, Bulkhead had picked up a strong Energon signal nearby and went to investigate it, after informing the base. He found an Energon mine with no one attending it, and descended into it. He found large stacks of Energon, packed and ready for pick-up.

A moment later, a large shadow covered the mine in darkness. Bulkhead looked up. The Decepticon warship was right above him, and it seemed ready to beam up the boxed Energon!

Bulkhead tried to climb up again, but misstepped and caused the rock he held onto to break off the cliff. The Wrecker fell into the mine among the Energon boxes, which contained the cubes themselves to protect the Energon from damage and heat. Bulkhead lost consciousness and was beamed up into the ship along with the Energon.

When he woke up again, he only faintly remembered how he got there and tried the comm. It didn't work. The warship probably didn't allow Autobot technology to work on it.

Not being able to contact the base, Bulkhead set out of the storage room to find a way off the Nemesis.

Starscream found himself outside, free of any restraints and without anyone nearby to bother him. He stood on the ground, looking into the sky. The Seeker didn't know where he was or how he got there, but he knew where he had to go.

His destination was some 300 kilometres away, easily accessible by flight.

Starscream transformed to jet mode and started ascending into the sky, little by little, slowly building up speed. He had to fly slowly and steadily in the start, to avoid hitting the mesas around him. It was strangely hard for him to go up, as he had to continuously avoid the mesas and fly slowly, in which he kept going further down towards the ground.

At one point the Seeker finally reached above the mesas, allowing him to speed up. But at that same moment, suddenly a flock of Vehicons began gathering around him and started shooting at him. He easily avoided their lasers by spinning from side to side, but knew he couldn't dodge forever. He sped up and flew as fast as he could, until he could feel that he had lost the Vehicons.

But his relief was soon blown away as just a few hundred metres away, just beneath some mesas, the Nemesis was slowly flying by. Starscream passed over it with a beating spark, which accelerated as he noticed from the corner of his optics, right below him, the massive spiky jet mode of Megatron taking off, chasing after him!

Starscream panicked, tried speeding up, but it was too late. Megatron caught up to him, and as soon as the warlord touched the Seeker, the both of them transformed to robot mode, slowly falling towards the ground.

As they fell, no words were exchanged. Megatron proceeded to rip off Starscream's right arm, then his left arm, then he ripped off the Seeker's head. As they hit the ground, everything turned black for a few nano-cycles.

Then, suddenly, Starscream was in the air again, in his jet mode once again, moving towards the Nemesis. He didn't question how he got back or what had just happened. All he knew was that Megatron was on that ship, waiting for him to pass by and would then chase after him.

Starscream boosted up in speed right away, passing over the Nemesis at his top speed. Still, Megatron did not escape his radar, as the warlord appeared only seconds later right behind the speeding Seeker. How could Megatron move so fast?! Starscream was certain he could fly faster than the warlord.

Even in his top speed, Starscream was soon caught up to by Megatron, who grabbed him once again, and started dismembering him as they both fell towards the ground in robot mode. First his arms, then his wings, and then his head was ripped off. Then darkness fell over the scene.

A moment later, everything repeated itself.

Later in the afternoon, the Autobots were still waiting for Bulkhead to report in, not having heard from him in hours. Starscream had not given so much as a peep since arriving in the command center. Perhaps he had fallen asleep. Either way, it made it easier to keep an eye on him and it was much quieter than usual when he was in there. It was rather concerning seeing him so quiet though, even if he had fallen asleep. He was probably just tired and needed some rest and company to feel safe around.

"Optimus, no word yet from Bulkhead," Ratchet informed, as something started beeping on the monitor. "But I am detecting some rather curious subterranean frequencies."

"Of Earthly origin?" Optimus asked.

"I do not yet knew what they are," Ratchet replied while pushing some buttons by the computer, "but I do know where."

On the monitor, a dot appeared somewhere in the northwestern South America.

"The coordinates at which we last encountered Megatron," Optimus concluded, recognizing the coordinates.

"And Airachnid," Arcee added with disgust, remembering how she was captured by the spider and then saved by Starscream.

"And Airachnid's Insection," Ratchet added as well.

They didn't need to speculate any further. They all knew that Insecticons normally lived in swarms back on Cybertron, much like Scraplets. They had hoped that this Insecticon Megatron had terminated was a loner, but they were never so lucky. They remembered what Swindle had told them a week ago. You see one Insecticon, there are definitely more Insecticons nearby.

And if Airachnid had acquired such an armada, they most certainly had to stop her, whatever the cost.

They prepared themselves quickly, and Ratchet opened the GroundBridge portal to the coordinates, sending off Optimus, Bumblebee and Arcee to deal with Airachnid and her supposed armada of Insecticons. Which left Ratchet alone in the base with the humans and the sleeping Starscream.

Or, former sleeping Starscream. The medic heard grunting noises coming from the medbay and turned to look. Starscream was shuddering on the operating table, his wings flapping uneasily up, down and from side to side. His legs gave small kicks now and then, and the Seeker began to slide towards the edge of the table.

Suddenly, Starscream fell onto the floor with a loud clang and shrieked awake. He sprung onto his pedes and swiped against the wall next to him. As he noticed it was just a wall, he quickly turned and looked frantically from side to side, emitting small shrieks of panic as he focused on Ratchet and began hyperventilating.

"Starscream," Ratchet exclaimed at the Seeker's outburst, "calm down! You had a bad dream."

Starscream's vents were still quick but slowed down as he blinked, took deep vents, closed his optics and clutched his face with his servos, trying to calm himself down. He sat back down on the operating table, shaking all over his frame. Ratchet slowly approached the Seeker with concern.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asked.

Starscream's shuddering decreased a bit, he took a deep vent and removed his servos from his face. He opened his optics, which were solid red instead of the usual red and black, which indicated fear. He gave the doctor a little convincing smirk.

"Yes, I'm okay," he lied unconvincingly. "No need to worry."

"You're getting rusty at lying," Ratchet remarked. "You had a nightmare, didn't you?"

Starscream loosened the false smile after a moment, knowing it was no use. He wasn't keen on telling the Autobot about his dreams though.

"Yes, and I don't want to talk about it," he hissed. "You don't need to know..."

Ratchet was still concerned for the Seeker's mental health, but decided not to push him. Starscream tried to change the subject.

"Where are the others?"

"They went off to check a strong energy signal," Ratchet replied. "Airachnid could possibly have acquired an army of Insecticons."

Starscream looked at the doctor in shock. "Oh, that's a real problem, isn't it? Well, hopefully she'll at least order them to take down Megatron..."

"It really doesn't matter what she wants, an army of Insecticons is too dangerous to let alone," Ratchet replied.

"Oh yes, because four Autobots is plenty to take down hundreds, maybe thousands of Insecticons," Starscream said sarcastically.

"Three, actually," Ratchet corrected. "Bulkhead hasn't reported in yet from his discovery."

"What discovery?" Starscream asked curiously.

"He found a strong Energon signal and hasn't reported in since."

"Maybe he got captured," Starscream suggested hopefully. "Maybe even terminated..."

"Bulkhead isn't weak," Miko exclaimed from the living room area by the railings. They had almost forgotten the humans were still there. "He's probably kicking Decepticon tailpipe right now!"

Starscream didn't reply to the human, didn't even scoff, snort or huff like he usually did. He simply stood up and walked towards the GroundBridge.

"Where are you going?" Ratchet replied confused.

"Send me to where Bulkhead last reported in," the Seeker replied.

"The location wasn't exactly recorded in the system," Ratchet pointed out. "And you aren't going anyplace by yourself."

"Then send me to where Arcee and the others are," Starscream demanded instead.

"You're not ready to fight Insecticons yet, or ever," Ratchet pointed out again. "You'd just get in their way."

"Because that's all I do, don't I?" Starscream asked, his wings drooping, already heading back towards his room. "I can never satisfy you Autobots or do anything right. May as well go rust away in my room..."

Ratchet got in front of the Seeker, preventing him from entering the hallway.

"You're not leaving my sight as long as you're behaving this way," Ratchet said sternly. "You need to get yourself together, Starscream!"

Starscream snarled and stretched his claws, ready to claw something. "You don't even allow me to have a bad day," Starscream hissed. "I have had just about enough of you Autobots. Let me pass through here so I can tear something apart, or I'll tear you apart!"

Ratchet looked intently at the Seeker's long, sharp claws. They were itching to scratch something. Was that another thing they hadn't taken into account with him? He swore, that Seeker was a real hassle to work with, with all the considerations they had to take with him.

Ratchet thought as fast as he could, trying to come up with something. He couldn't let Starscream pass through and destroy things or hurt himself, but if he didn't, he had no doubt Starscream would take it out on the medic and perhaps even the humans. Should he knock him out with an Energon prod? Put him into stasis by the medbay? Any of the things he could think of would only set Starscream's progress back by a lot.

Suddenly an idea sprung to mind. Ratchet stopped his defensive stance, giving Starscream a confused look.

"You need to blow off some steam?" Ratchet said, not really a question. "Fine. But it won't be in your room or in here. Come with me."

Ratchet turned his back to the Seeker, which he knew was a bad idea given the Seeker's current mental state, but he had to believe Starscream would trust Ratchet in helping him. Starscream looked confused at a moment, but decided to play along. He lowered his arms and went with Ratchet, to wherever he was apparently going to 'blow off some steam'. He knew he wasn't going to fly, he knew the Autobots well enough to know that.

After turning a few corners throughout the hallways, the two bots eventually arrived at the training room. Starscream remembered the room from the time he had broken out and hidden in it. After that, his memory was pretty fuzzy, but he knew from the Autobots and humans that he had taken Synthetic Energon and went crazy. Since then, he had forgotten the training room still existed.

"Really?" Starscream said unimpressed as they entered the room, which was mostly empty but with a few pieces of equipment, among others a punching bag and a figure with movable 'arms'. "This is how you suggest I blow off steam? You know that a Flier like me blows off steam best by-"

"Flying, yes," Ratchet said, having heard the story a hundred times by now. "But in your case, I think you can do it in a different way as well."

"What do you mean? My case?" Starscream said in confusion.

Ratchet went over to a corner and dragged out a metal figure similar to the moveable one, but more static. He stopped when it was standing right in front of Starscream, who kept his questionable facial expression.

"You have claws," Ratchet finally explained, "and you want to scratch something when you're frustrated, right?" Starscream nodded after a moment of thought. "In that case, I think you can blow off steam by simply scratching this dummy. Give it a try."

Ratchet stepped aside, giving Starscream some space with the dummy. Neither of them had noticed that the kids were peeking from behind the door, curious as to what Ratchet intended to do with the Seeker. Starscream stared at the dummy for a moment, then at his servos, which were still bound by the energy string. It would be difficult getting to express his frustration at full force with them like that, but he supposed he would have to do with what he had.

Starscream stepped over to dummy and moved his right servo to the dummy's 'face', slowly scraping the surface with his claws. Oh, that felt good, really good! It wasn't long before he scratched harder, with both servos, and suddenly he began swiping violently at the dummy from the left and the right repeatedly, letting out growls of frustration - and pleasure, one might even say.

The kids winced a bit by the outburst of swipes from Starscream onto the helpless dummy. Even Ratchet made sure to keep his distance, despite the limited range the stasis cuffs gave the Seeker. Despite the violent scene, it seemed to help.

Starscream thought about all his frustrations, all his anger, all his hatred, all focused onto this one single dummy, having the face of Megatron, Wheeljack, Knock Out, and whoever else he loathed. He thought about his inability to fly, his limited movements, all the hardships he had endured throughout the last two or three months. He thought about the death of Cliffjumper, the death of Jetfire, the loss of the Energon Seekers, the loss of his old body. With every swipe, he felt he was letting go of each burden, damaging each of his enemies, letting go of pent-up aggression.

After several minutes, Starscream started growing tired, his swipes slowing down. His vents became heavy as he swiped once every second, then to once every fifth second, until he swiped twice more within ten seconds' interlay. Then twenty seconds passed where he just vented. He swiped once more, in a strong swing, then he stopped. Now he just vented and looked at his claws. It had felt good. Strangely good. Almost as good as when he went off on a flight. Not as much, of course, but Primus did that do wonders.

Starscream turned and looked at Ratchet, who had regained his composure and pretended the scene had been no big deal.

"So," Ratchet started, "how do you feel now?"

Starscream took a moment to vent a bit more, the breaths slowing down as his exhaustion wore down. "Better. Thank you," he added without really meaning to.

"You're welcome," Ratchet replied and put on a smile. "Any time you feel frustrated, you come in here and take it out on that dummy. Better than you hurting yourself or us, in any case."

Starscream straightened up and walked towards the exit with Ratchet. First now did they notice the kids and sighed.

"You weren't supposed to follow us," Ratchet scolded lightly.

"We..." Jack trailed off and shared gazes with the others, "...just wanted to see if things were okay."

"They are," Starscream replied. "I'm okay now. Don't you worry. Now let's go back to the command center, see if the others have reported in yet."

Together, the kids, Autobot and Decepticon walked through the hallways - the bots walked, the kids rather ran due to their much smaller size and speed than the bots - and returned to the command center. The kids returned to the railings by the living room area, Ratchet went by the computers to check in with the others, and Starscream...just stood in the middle of the room, now clueless as to what to do.

"Hey, Starscream," Raf asked from the railings, drawing Starscream's attention. "Have you worked on the Rubix Cube since you solved it a month ago?"

"Not really," Starscream admitted. "Why should I? I already solved it, what good-"

"The Rubix Cube helps exercise your mind," Raf repeated from last time. "It's good to try and solve it more than once. I mean, how long did it take you to solve it last time?"

"Six hours," Starscream replied. "And I'd rather not-"

"But now you know how to solve it, right? So now it shouldn't take as long, right?"

Starscream thought for a moment. Perhaps he should give it another try? "Very well. I'll go get it, and you can see for yourselves."

Starscream looked at Ratchet, knowing he might not be allowed to leave after all. But Ratchet simply waved a servo, apparently signalling the Seeker that he was allowed to go. That's how Starscream interpreted it, anyway.

Starscream left the command center and headed to his room. As he entered, he looked at the table with the many puzzles. He grabbed the solved Rubix Cube, but lingered for a bit. He looked intently at the metal puzzles and decided to bring those along as well. May as well check them out afterwards.

Starscream returned to the command center and headed over to the kids and put down the metal puzzles next to them in the living room. The rings and rods were about the same size as the kids themselves, making the puzzles pretty big. They had to climb the sofa to avoid getting hit by the puzzles as they were put down.

Starscream then showed the Rubix Cube to the kids. It was enormous. It was one cubic square meter big, only a little shorter than Rafael and almost half the height of Jack. It was a standard 3x3x3 cube with white, red, blue, yellow, green and orange sides. Heck, there was even the Rubix Cube logo on the middle white cell, but the kids knew it had been Ratchet who made it and not the Rubix company themselves. Thankfully, no one knew about the Transformers, so they didn't have to worry about copyright issues. Probably not.

"Alright, shuffle it," Starscream said to the kids, "and I'll show you how competent I am."

"We can't shuffle this," Jack protested. "It's too big!"

"Hey, we haven't tried!" Miko said and attempted to turn the large cube, but it was also too heavy. She had to give up after trying for a minute.

Starscream scoffed. "You humans really are weaklings, aren't you," he said condescendingly. "Must I do everything myself?"

Starscream picked up the cube again and had his servos on the sides, but he couldn't make himself split up his beautiful work. What if he couldn't put it back together? What if he'd only prove how incompetent he really was, with the kids to witness?

"Oh, for Primus' sake," Ratchet said and grabbed the cube from behind the unexpectant Starscream. "Give it to me."

"Hey!" Starscream exclaimed, shocked over having been robbed like that. "Give it back!"

"Here," Ratchet said after a few second and handed back a completely messed up Rubix Cube to the shocked Starscream.

"What? How- what?!" Starscream couldn't believe the Autobot! "You ruined it!"

"Well, better fix it then."

Starscream snarled at the doctor. "You miserable Autobot, you will pay for this, I swear..."

Starscream examined the cube, noted the locations of the white cells and started shuffling. He quickly made a white cross within ten seconds, then twisted and turned until the white corners had been placed correctly within twenty seconds. Afterwards he turned it upside down, found the corners of the orange, red, blue and green sides and turned them down to their right positions within seven seconds each, taking a minute in total. Afterwards, he made a yellow cross within ten seconds, got the yellow corners in the right places within twelve seconds, then placed the remaining corners in their right place within nine seconds, and finally he quickly twisted and turned the cube until the yellow corners were all in place on the last side in eleven seconds.

Starscream presented the fixed Rubix Cube. The kids and Ratchet stared on in surprise. Starscream looked from the kids to Ratchet and back.

"Well? How long was that?" the Seeker asked impatiently.

Ratchet checked his clock, having apparently taking time. "2 minutes and 10 seconds," the medic said. "Impressive."

"You solved it faster than I could," Raf replied.

Starscream smirked with satisfaction. "Oh really? How unfortunate for you!" The Seeker started cackling merrily.

Raf looked up something on his phone. "Uh..."

"What?" Starscream said, still smirking. "Too intimidated by my intellect?"

"Um...the world record for the fastest solved Rubix Cube is..." Raf hesitated. "...3.47 seconds."

Starscream's smirk didn't disappear right away. His optics widened, his pupils shrunk, his frame frozen in its current position. There was silence for a few seconds.

"Uh, Star-"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

To calm down from the discovery that Starscream was nowhere near the world record, he decided to go to the training room and let go of his frustrations on the dummy, already filled with plenty of scratches, but not seeming like it was going to fall apart any time soon. After calming down, he returned to the command center and gave a disturbing smile.

"...really?" he said, replying to an unspoken answer. "Well then...guess I just have to...keep...trying..."

Starscream's good mood over having solved the cube so fast was so easily doused by Rafael's unnecessary comment on the world record.

"Way to make a bot who already has low self-esteem even more insecure, Raf," Miko scolded teasingly while Starscream had gone off to 'blow off some steam'.

"I'm sorry," Raf said quietly. "I wasn't thinking..."

"Hey, it's fine, I'm sure he won't take it so hard."

But of course, as he re-entered, they could see he took it very hard.

"Am I really so incompetent than even mere humans prove themselves so crazy that they can do impossible things, what is this, why can they do that, what..."

The Seeker started mumbling to himself while pacing back and forth in the command center which Ratchet found ever so irritating, but decided to leave the Decepticon be this time.

"Starscreeeaaam," Rafael said out loud, trying to get the Seeker's attention. "I'm sorry! I don't even know how those people do it, most people can't do that at all! Your time is really impressive too!"

"Yeah, you're smart!" Miko said, trying to cheer the Seeker up. "Don't let numbers get the best of you!"

Starscream stopped in his tracks and side-eyed the kids. He didn't smile, but gave a toothy frown.

"Easy for you to say," Starscream said through gritted teeth. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be called incompetent and stupid every day of your life by your boss and then get captured and realize that everything he said was true?!"

The kids shared gazes with each other, and Ratchet even glanced back at the Seeker.

"Megatron was right," Starscream said hopelessly as he sat down on the floor by the railings. "I'm stupid...I can't even beat a human in solving a stupid Rubix Cube..." He tried hard not to choke up, not wanting to show his emotions in front of the humans, or Ratchet for that matter, but it was hard. "He always called me those things. Weak. Stupid. Incompetent. Worthless. Useless."

He ended by the last word, as if to let it sink into Ratchet. The medic remembered how Starscream had called himself that on more than one occasion. So that was the reason. Of course. Megatron. It always came down to Megatron.

"Why'd you let him talk to you like that?" Miko asked, angered by the Seeker's tale. "No one should call anyone else things like that!"

"I had to let him call me those things," Starscream replied, reliving his past. "He's stronger than me. He can easily crush me with his left servo. He can easily catch up to me even when I fly as fast as I can. He can easily rip me apart. He has done so more than once. I can never sleep, I'm always haunted by nightmares of him doing things to me. Blasting me to bits, dismembering me limb from limb. It's been like that ever since he tore off my wings once."

The kids winced back in horror. "Your wings?!" Miko exclaimed.

"That must have hurt," Raf said in pity.

"You have no idea," Starscream replied anxiously. "It's even worse than getting your arm or head torn off. Which also happened a few times, actually, both in dreams and in real life. He always hated me, but he never killed me. He just wanted to torment me. I was the scapegoat, the example. So that the other Decepticons wouldn't try to betray him like I did. Pit, even when I hadn't done anything he'd pull me to the side and start beating me up, simply because a mission failed!"

As the memories flooded through his mind, he couldn't hold back the coolant from behind his optics any longer.

"I hate him," Starscream whispered in anger. "I hate him, and I want so bad to do all the things to him that he did to me. A few months ago, he was finally there, on the operating table, on the verge of death. I never wanted him to come back alive. I wanted to end it there. But I couldn't."

"Why not?" Miko asked in disbelief.

"Well, partly because Soundwave was there," Starscream admitted, trying to stop the coolant from leaving his optics. "But...I was also afraid he would come back to life somehow and blame it all on me like he always did. Which was exactly what happened, as you've seen. As soon as he came back online, he..." Starscream gulped by the memory. "I was barely alive after what he did to me. Knock Out had to keep me in sickbay for days before my consciousness returned. And when I opened my eyes...there he was. Standing by my bedside, berating me, threatening me, telling me I was lucky to get away with the wounds I had gained."

Starscream paused to snarl and shake his head in an attempt to keep his emotions at bay. If the other Autobots had been there right now, he certainly wouldn't have said any of this. But because it was the kids and the doctor, he felt like he could pour his spark out without giving a scrap about their thoughts.

"And then after that..." he continued, "...you Autobots shot my arm off."

"We saw your condition back then," Ratchet admitted. "You looked pretty terrible. Though it was your own fault for leaving the ship before you had fully recovered, if you were so weak your arm fell off by a single blast."

Starscream frowned very angrily at the doctor, and Ratchet decided to shut up and return to the computer.

"And then there was the Energon mine," Starscream said, not knowing why he continued talking about all this. "He took me in there to show me something, which was Energon I had kept secret from him. Then he was about to blast me to bits, had it not been for Arcee. I managed to escape the mine, letting Megatron get buried in the rubble. But...I couldn't leave him."

"Are you kidding me?" Miko exclaimed in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Like I said before, Megatron has a habit of returning from the dead. Last time I tried to offline him, he came back and almost killed me. What he wouldn't have done to me if I had just left him behind in the mine. Not to mention what the other Decepticons would have done when they would send out a search party to find him, while I stood back and did nothing. I wanted to show him I was competent. I wanted to convince him to let me live. So I returned and searched for him."

"And then you found us," Miko added, remembering all too well what happened in the mine. "And tormented Bulkhead."

"You would too if you had been in my place," Starscream said. "I just wanted to give Megatron more reason to keep me alive. But of course you Autobots didn't care about a helpless Seeker like me, so you made me hold up that darn ceiling by myself. Like my arms can hold up a collapsing mine ceiling!"

The kids shared shameful glances before returning their gazes to the Seeker.

"What happened next?" Jack asked, now remembering that he had actually seen Starscream back then, when he got Miko out of the mine on a drill. Starscream had been taken down by the drill though, and they were pressed for time, so he hadn't had the time to get a good look at the Seeker at the time. He then remembered all three of them had actually seen Starscream when they were in the Shadowzone some time before that, though it was darker at the time and the colors were more grayish.

"Megatron came to me," Starscream continued. "He found me. I was standing there, desperately trying to keep the ceiling above me from crushing me, but my arms were too skinny and weak, I wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer. I was so relieved to see Megatron at the time. But he didn't do anything. He just stood there, staring at me. Glaring at me. Judging me. He had me spout a lot of things to him, without even saying anything himself. I swore my allegiance to him, I begged him, screamed at him to help me! But he kept standing there, smiling at me. I thought he was going to leave me behind, like I had been about to. But...just as my arms gave in, he grabbed me and blasted a way out of the mine, holding me close..."

Starscream silenced, thinking more deeply on the memory. "He saved me...Megatron saved my life..."

"Right after he tormented you!" Miko exclaimed in disbelief at him. "He's a jerk! You can't seriously still admire him!"

Starscream didn't reply, simply stared into the distance. After a long moment, he buried his head into his knees, his wings drooping.

"Primus, what am I doing..." the Seeker whispered. He hated Megatron, he hated him more than anything. He hated all the things Megatron did to him, hated all the things Megatron called him. Yet...he couldn't help but admire the mech. He was so strong, so confident, so indestructible, so fearsome. And this fearsome mech, despite all the cruel things he had done to him, still saved an incompetent, stupid, worthless, useless, weak Seeker like Starscream? The Seeker could never understand why. Even the thing with the scapegoat and the example didn't seem reasonable enough for Megatron's actions. That mech was so confusing.

Ratchet watched Starscream and listened to his tale. The medic sighed. Because it was wartime, abuse like that was tolerated, at least with the Decepticons, it seemed. Such treatment would never be tolerated with the Autobots. But with bots like Starscream, it was hard to convince them that things like that weren't normal nor acceptable. Starscream knew it was wrong, but he let everything happen out of fear of Megatron. Even with the security of the Autobots, Starscream still seemed afraid that Megatron might one day show up and ruin everything.

Ratchet decided to stop ignoring the Seeker and went over to him.

"Starscream," the medic said, kneeling down to be at optic-level with the sitting Seeker. "We have repeated this over and over, and we'll continue to repeat it until you understand. You are not onboard the Nemesis anymore."

Starscream looked up from his knees and glanced at Ratchet, wings slightly turning up.

"We Autobots do not tolerate such abuse from anyone on anyone. Megatron does not know the location of our base, even if he visited here once. He will not come for you here. And I swear by my spark, we will not let Megatron get his dirty hands on you again. I promise you."

Starscream stared at Ratchet in disbelief. His wings went up more as the doctor continued talking. He wanted to believe Ratchet, he wanted very badly to believe him. That was the biggest reason why he joined the Autobots in the first place. He wanted to get away from Megatron, to get away from everything that had given him pain. But upon learning he was just a prisoner, he had begun to doubt if the Autobots were that much better than the Decepticons after all. But despite their insults to him, they never insulted his intellect or usefulness nor did they punish him physically, despite many close calls. The only verbal insults they used referred to the bad things he had done himself, but never of his competence. He realized in that moment right there that the Autobots were that much better than the Decepticons.

Taking a deep vent and exhaling, Starscream gave a small smile to Ratchet, letting his wings go all the way up to normal height.

"Thank you, Ratchet," Starscream said, "for trying to convince me of that. But I'm afraid Megatron will never stop before he gets me back, alive or dead."

"You've been through a lot," Ratchet commented. "You may not be the best bot in existence, but then again, you had a pretty poor master."

Starscream smirked a bit more. "I never had a good time before Megatron either. I never knew what kindness was, for no one showed me before. Not until..."

Starscream sighed. At this point he had mentioned his name so often that he no longer needed to say his name to let the kids and medic know he was talking about Jetfire.

"Well, that's why you're with us now," Ratchet said and stood up, moving back to the computers. "We'll get you on the right path. We'll prove the old saying wrong. Once a Decepticon, always a Decepticon. We'll prove them wrong."

Starscream looked intently at Ratchet for a while before shaking his head and standing up, turning his attention to the metal puzzles.

"I never did try these, did I?" Starscream said with a smirk. "Well, let's give them a try!"

Later, after Starscream had managed to free five of the ten metal puzzles and then put them back together - for it was a to-way puzzle: take it apart, then put it back together again - the Autobots finally pinged that they needed a 'Bridge back to base. After activating the GroundBridge, Optimus, Bumblebee and Arcee came through it with a stasis pod dragging after them. Starscream studied the stasis pod intently. He winced back as he saw Airachnid's figure trapped inside it, facial expression surprised in such a nice way. Finally that spider got what she deserved!

Not long after the others had arrived back, the front entrance opened and loud honks sounded from the tunnel. Bulkhead came driving in.

"You guys won't believe the day I had!" the Wrecker said but silenced as he caught sight of Airachnid in a stasis pod. "Oh, you too, huh?"

"You have no idea," Arcee replied.

"Good thing that wretch is finally out of commission," Starscream snarled with satisfaction. "Though I wish I could've been there so I could punch her worthless spark out."

"Well, as long as she's in there, she's not a threat anymore," Ratchet commented. "We'll keep her in one of the storage rooms, firmly locked."

"Oh, you can't be serious," Starscream said quietly. "Well, just place her far away from my room. I don't want to wake up to that face every morning!"

The Autobots chuckled by his comment, totally getting him.

"So, what'd you do today, Bulk?" Miko asked curiously. "I want to hear!"

"Oh, you won't believe this," Bulkhead began. "I just caused the Decepticon warship to crash into the ground! We can invade the Decepticons at any time now!"

"What?!" everyone exclaimed in disbelief.

"Give us the long version, in details!" Miko demanded eagerly. "I want to hear everything!"

Starscream's spark skipped a beat. He didn't listen to Bulkhead's explanation. Thoughts were coarsing through his mind.

They could invade the Nemesis. Starscream could get revenge on Megatron.

Starscream could get his belongings back.

There was a battle coming.

A battle that Starscream would make sure to be a part of.

No matter what he had to do.

Chapter Text

Bulkhead's tale of his accidental trespassing of the Decepticon warship lasted only a few minutes.

"And when the Insecticons backed off," Bulkhead said at the end of his tale while clashing his fists together, "I got inspired by my proximity to the power core, and did what I do best."

"You trashed Megatron's ride like a rock star in a hotel room," Miko concluded with pride for her big partner.

"We should hit the 'Cons right now while they're vulnerable," Arcee suggested with eager.

"Megatron's warship may be grounded," Ratchet said, "but let's not forget that we remain vastly outnumbered, especially since he's added the Insecticon hive to his ranks."

"Then maybe it's time for me to call in an airstrike," Agent Fowler volunteered from the railings.

"Or maybe it's time to let me launch an airstrike," Starscream suggested from his corner of the railings. "I can fly too, you know."

"Or perhaps it is time for us to consider more extreme measures," Optimus suggested himself.

"More extreme than allowing Starscream to fly?" Arcee asked intrigued.

Instead of answering her, Optimus and Ratchet went off into the hallways to get something. When they returned, Optimus was holding a disc with gray and black striped markings.

"The Spark Extractor?" Arcee remarked in surprise.

"You mean the relic that Bumblebee retrieved some time ago?" Raf asked. "The one that extracts sparks?"

"Yes," Optimus replied. "It may be our only chance of winning this war once and for all."

"Extreme indeed," Starscream commented, looking intently at the dangerous device. "But perhaps you're right. The only way I can think of for Megatron to go down is with a weapon such as that one. Even if only a small chance of success."

"Even so, using it near the warship will hopefully decrease the Decepticon ranks by a lot," Optimus replied.

"It's worth a try," Bumblebee bleeped. "I'll get it there and get out quickly without getting hit. I'm the fastest one on the team, after all!"

"Very well," Optimus said in agreement. "We will be counting on you, Bumblebee."

"I could get it there faster, by flight," Starscream argued, "and get out of there even quicker. Pit, send me and none of you will need to risk your lives for this!"

"You just want an excuse for running away," Bulkhead accused. "We haven't cleared you for flight yet."

"I thought you needed air support," Starscream countered irritated. "Why can't-"

Suddenly the monitor started beeping, showing the location of the Decepticon warship. The signal of the ship suddenly turned purple, the change seeming very ominous.

"Optimus," Ratchet said, drawing attention away from the arguing boots. "I'm detecting a massive energy spike at the Decepticon crash site. It appears to be Dark Energon."

The information left the room in silence. Even Starscream forgot his own argument. Dark Energon by the Decepticon warship? A massive energy spike? Everyone in the room was able to put two and two together and were thinking the same thing.

The Decepticons had likely decided to use Dark Energon on their own warship, for whatever reason.

The Autobots prepared to leave for battle, and Ratchet activated the GroundBridge. Starscream still tried to convince the Autobots to let him go with them.

"No, Starscream," Optimus repeated calmly, though with a hint of irritation. "With the ship grounded, we should have the greater advantage. Bumblebee will get the job of setting the Spark Extractor done. You are not needed for this mission."

"But-" Starscream tried again.

"Autobots," Optimus interrupted, deciding they had wasted enough time. "Transform and roll out!"

Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee transformed and went on ahead while Optimus lingered for a moment longer. Agent Fowler decided to get his attention before he left as well.

"Hold on, Prime," Agent Fowler said, stopping the Autobot commander. "If you are gonna deploy some kind of super weapon in the final showdown with the 'Cons, it's my job as a representative of Planet Earth to bear witness!"

There was silence for a moment. Optimus and Ratchet shared glances. Starscream smirked gleefully.

Naive human, the Seeker thought. There's no way the Autobots would-

"Very well," Optimus declared. "You may come with us. As long as you stay behind cover."

Starscream gaped while Agent Fowler began making his way down the railings.

"Wait, what?!" Starscream exclaimed, making aggrevated arm gestures. "Why is he allowed to go, while I have to..."

Without hearing the end of his complaint, Optimus transformed and let Agent Fowler inside of him, followed by him driving through the GroundBridge, which disappeared immediately.

"...stay here," the Seeker ended, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Why won't anyone listen to me?"

"Don't worry, Starscream, the guys will get the job done," Miko said, trying to cheer up the Seeker and failed.

Starscream leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed, his face contorted in a frown.

"I hope they get eaten by Insecticons," Starscream grumbled.

The bots didn't get eaten by Insecticons. They didn't succeed in their mission either. Some ten minutes or so later, Agent Fowler called the base, asking for a GroundBridge back. As the portal opened, only Agent Fowler came through.

"They're scattered all over the place," the human explained. "Got stunned by some weird lasers from the warship."

"A Stasis Beam?" Ratchet concluded and looked at Starscream. "You never told us the Decepticon warship had a Stasis Beam installed."

"That's because it doesn't," Starscream defended. "At least not from what I know of. Maybe they upgraded it while I've been trapped in here."

"In any case," Agent Fowler interrupted, "the 'Bots can't move, which means you'll have to move them."

"Of course," Ratchet said and turned to Starscream again. "You're coming with me."

Starscream expressed surprise. "Really? I get to go?"

"Only to help me move the others back here," Ratchet clarified and unlocked the energy string to free Starscream's servos. "Let's go."

Without further argument, Starscream went with Ratchet through the GroundBridge, delighted to have his servos seperated again and to get out of the small base. As they came out on the other side, they saw the Nemesis flying off in the other direction.

"I wonder why they decided to run away?" Starscream said puzzled, staring after the ship. "It makes no sense..."

"We can wonder about that later, come help," Ratchet demanded. "We'll start with Bumblebee."

Together, Ratchet and Starscream carried Bumblebee on their shoulders over to the GroundBridge, located pretty far away from the 'Bots. As they got back to the base, they placed Bumblebee on the floor and went out again, without listening to Raf's concern for his immobilized partner.

Next they went to Arcee. Granted, she was small enough that either one of the mechs could have carried her to the portal by themselves, but as Ratchet did not want Starscream to be on his own yet, and considering the fact that both Optimus and Bulkhead required both mechs to move them, they both carried Arcee together back in the base.

"Arcee," Jack said concerned, but Ratchet and Starscream left again, not to return in quite a few minutes.

While Bulkhead was around the same height as Starscream, he was much wider and heavier than the sleek Seeker, and even with both Ratchet and Starscream lifting, the Wrecker was incredibly heavy, taking several minutes for them to reach the portal several hundreds of meters away. Eventually they made it through and placed Bulkhead next to Arcee and Bumblebee. Miko also expressed worry for her partner, but knowing he was just stunned made it easier to handle.

"Now we just need Optimus," Ratchet informed. "We'll be back in a while."

"Make it a long while," Starscream commented just before they exited through the portal yet again.

It took two minutes to simply get to where Optimus was lying, having apparently been stunned while jumping in the air. The Spark Extractor was lying right next to him, but thankfully it had not yet been activated. It would have been quite an ugly situation if it had been accidentally activated during the fall.

"How about I carry the relic, and you carry the big guy?" Starscream suggested, not wanting to carry such a heavy load again.

"Not a chance," Ratchet declined. "If anything, I will be holding the relic while you carry Optimus."

"I can't carry him all by myself!"

"You held up that ceiling by yourself quite fine," Ratchet pointed out, probably to tease or mock.

Starscream snarled. "That was different! I was being crushed to death! I was trying to keep myself alive! I can't-"

Without hearing the end of his complaint, Ratchet lifted Optimus and handed him over to an unexpectant Starscream, who only grabbed the big bot in reflex, bending over by the heavy load. He growled and groaned by his burden.

"You'll pay for this," Starscream snarled as he started dragging Optimus along the ground, while Ratchet picked up the dangerous Spark Extractor and walked closely beside the Seeker and the Autobot leader.

As expected, it took quite a while for them to reach the GroundBridge. As Ratchet could see that Starscream carrying Optimus by himself would take too long, he opened his chest and placed the Spark Extractor carefully inside, making sure it was secure and wouldn't trigger itself by accident. Afterwards, he took hold of Optimus, helping the Seeker carry half the weight of their leader. Starscream huffed in annoyance. The medic had never intended for Starscream to carry Optimus by himself, he had simply wanted to tease him, apparently. How annoying.

It still took several minutes before they reached the GroundBridge portal, however, and carried Optimus through it until they could place him among the other Autobots. Because of his position made by the fall, it was difficult to keep him standing level on the floor, but they somehow made it work.

The kids stood on the floor, all looking with concern at the immobolized Autobots. The scene reminded Starscream of the time Optimus and Bulkhead had been immobolized by the Harbinger almost three months ago. The kids had not been present at the time, but if they had, they would certainly have remembered it in this situation. This time it hadn't been the Immobolizer, however, but instead the Decepticon warship, with a Stasis Beam Starscream didn't know it possessed. It was difficult to say if the Immobolizer would be able to remove the stasis from the 'Bots, and Ratchet was in no mood to experiment on his comrades.

"They're alive," Ratchet informed while examining the immobolized Autobots. "But I've never encountered this form of stasis lock."

"The 'Cons are crossing the Atlantic," Agent Fowler informed, "making a bee-line for North America!"

"Wait, we can track them?" Jack asked surprised.

"Why aren't they cloaked like usual?" Raf asked, equally confused.

"None of this makes a lick of sense," Agent Fowler replied, sharing the kids' confusion, "they had us in the crosshead, but the 'Cons just took off."

"They even bailed on that Spark Extractor thingy," Miko commented.

"If the ship isn't cloaked," Jack said, "maybe the communications relays are open and-"

"Ehp, ehp," Ratchet interrupted, "are you suggesting that we just call Megatron and ask him what's happening up there?!"

The kids shrugged, surprising Ratchet. He turned to Agent Fowler, who also shrugged. He looked at Starscream. This one also shrugged, apparently agreeing with the humans for once.

"Fine," Ratchet said after a moment of consideration. "We'll call them."

Ratchet went by the computer and started opening a comm. link to the Nemesis. The kids returned to the railings to stand beside Agent Fowler. Starscream went over to lean against the railings with his arms crossed, not having the energy string activated again yet. Everyone watched and listened in silence.

"Autobot Outpost Omega One to Decepticon warship," Ratchet called loudly and clearly. As there was no immediate response, Ratchet tried again. "Megatron, please respond." Again, there was only silence. Ratchet kept trying. "Megatron!"

Still there was no response. They waited several seconds. Ratchet was about to call again when the monitor beeped in response.

"MEGATRON HAS BEEN RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND," an unknown, loud and growly voice sounded through the comm. Ratchet and the kids had never heard this voice before, but Starscream found it vaguely familiar somehow.

"Who is this?" Ratchet replied.

"WHO IS THIS?!" the voice growled in response, almost in offension.

"Have you taken control of the Decepticon vessel?"

"I AM THE VESSEL," the voice responded loudly. "ANY CYBERTRONIAN WHO INTERFERES WITH MY MISSION WILL BE NEUTRALIZED."

The three large screens suddenly switched to the warship's own camera feed, showing images of frozen Vehicons and Insecticons in three different parts of the ship, to prove the Nemesis' point.

"What mission?" Ratchet asked calmly.

"PRIORITY ONE," the Nemesis responded, "DECRYPT IACON DATABASE AND RECOVER DECEPTICON TECHNOLOGY."

"For what purpose?"

The ship didn't respond. A few seconds after the medic's question, it hung up. The team stood in confusion, surprise and disappointment.

"It hung up?" Miko remarked as the first and crossed her arms. "RUDE!"

"Rude?!" Agent Fowler repeated, almost as a scolding. "There's a giant spaceship flying around, collecting Decepticon weapons of mass destruction!"

"A giant spaceship filled with neutralized Decepticons," Jack pointed out.

"Point?" Agent Fowler demanded.

"This could be our only chance to slip aboard and download the Iacon database."

"So Optimus can decode it," Raf concluded, understanding Jack's thinking.

"Ingenius," Ratchet replied in agreement. "I will infiltrate the Decepticon warship."

"Not ingenius," Jack said in disagreement. "You saw what it did to the Decepticons."

"And probably Megatron too," Raf added.

"And Team Prime?!" Miko added, as if they had forgotten about the Autobots.

"But, that tub had me dead to rights," Agent Fowler argued, "and I'm still breathing."

"The ship may be blind to humans," Jack hypothesized.

"Very well, Agent Fowler," Ratchet said, deciding to go with it, shocking Starscream yet again. "But at the first sign of trouble, I am bridging you right back here!" Ratchet turned to the computer and pulled a card from it. "Now, in order to download the database, you will need a compatible transfer-drive."

"A what?" Agent Fowler said in confusion as he accepted the large card.

"He'll also need tech support," Raf said, wanting to go with him.

"And back-up," Miko added, also wanting to tag along.

"And someone who knows the ship," Starscream added with a smirk.

"Starscream, you would just be detected by the ship and end up like the Decepticons," Ratchet argued. "Let's let the humans-"

"You remember what the ship said, right? Any Cybertronian who interferes with his mission will be neutralized. I will simply not interfere with it."

"Then what exactly are you planning to do? I'm sure showing the humans the way counts as interference."

"If the ship can't detect humans, then it won't know I'm showing them the way. We can split up after I've pointed them in the right direction, and then I could...distract the ship."

The humans looked confused at one another.

"How would you distract a ship?" Agent Fowler asked with genuine curiosity.

"The way I do best," Starscream responded with a smirk. "I'll talk to it."

Talk to a ship? was the thought on everyone's minds, but they couldn't waste too much time on this.

"Fine," Ratchet decided. "You will accompany the humans and make sure they go the right way. Then you will distract the ship somehow to keep it from trying to detect them, if that should happen. Just make sure to not make this mission more trouble than it's worth."

"I won't," Starscream promised. "Let's go."

The humans and Starscream began preparing for departure. Ratchet first went to fetch Starscream's missiles, just in case. As the medic returned and fit the missiles onto the Seeker's arms, Ratchet went to the controls and opened a GroundBridge, coordinates set on the Nemesis.

"Be careful in there, Starscream," Ratchet said. "And don't do anything rash."

"I would never dream of it," Starscream said, not entirely convincing.

And then the party of four humans and one Decepticon stepped through the portal and into the hostile territory of the self-conscious Decepticon warship.

"Fowler to base, we're in," Fowler said on the comm., as the party arrived and the portal closed behind them.

"Good," Ratchet replied. "Their data core should be accessible from any console. I will leave the directions to you, Starscream. Call me if trouble arises."

Then Ratchet's comm. fell silent. Starscream looked from side to side. The hallway was filled with frozen Vehicons and Insecticons. They didn't respond to the Seeker or the humans' presences, but the large beasts were still pretty intimidating, crawling on the ceiling and the walls. He turned and looked, trying to determine where on the ship they were and in which direction to go.

"That way," Starscream said and pointed in the direction the Insecticons were coming from. "There should be a console in that direction. Not that anyone should try to stop you if you get lost, that is. Call me if something happens."

Starscream was already moving in the opposite direction to the one he pointed out.

"Hey, where are you going?" Miko asked. "Come with us!"

"I think I'd rather see if I can retrieve my belongings that I left behind before getting captured, thank you very much," Starscream said sarcastically. "You just go along and play. See you later."

Before the humans could protest, Starscream had already turned a corner and left. They sighed and turned to the direction pointed out to them.

"Well, let's go," Jack said.

Starscream was slightly unnerved as he strode along the familiar halls of the Decepticon warship. Pretty much everywhere he went and turned, there stood one or more frozen Vehicons and/or Insecticons, many of which were crawling on the ceiling and walls. At one point, he turned around a corner and saw a group of Vehicons standing around an unfamiliar mech, yet still familiar somehow. From his backside, Starscream could see it was a Flier, but much bigger than the Vehicons, not to mention the Seeker himself, and this mech was royal blue in color.

Starscream walked around the large Flier, and gasped in surprise as he saw Skyquake's face. But naturally, this was not Skyquake.

"So, you must be this 'Dreadwing' they spoke of," Starscream said to the frozen Flier. He studied the Decepticon insignia on the bot's shoulders. The insignia had a pair of wings sticking from each side. Starscream hadn't seen the symbol very often, but recalled it being the symbol of the Decepticon Elite, similar to the former Autobot Elite Guard, but being given to the strongest Decepticons recognized rather than guarding the Decepticon leader. Megatron did not need anyone to protect him, after all. Decepticons wearing this symbol were often valid candidates for the post of second-in-command to the Decepticons.

Starscream felt unnerved as he studied the mech. He remembered how Optimus had described him as captain of a Seeker army and frowned. Had Dreadwing been part of the Energon Seekers during Starscream's rule? Had Skyquake? He couldn't remember. Despite knowing the names of most of the Seekers, he apparently didn't know all of them. Perhaps they had been part of the Energon Seekers under Red Wing's rule, then left shortly before or after Starscream took over, maybe even before he joined them?

Starscream went through his mind, trying to remember if the names Dreadwing and Skyquake popped up among his list of Seekers. He thought of the names of the other Seekers, trying to determine if they had been in any of their Trines. Acid Storm? No, he had Nova Storm and Ion Storm. Nacelle, perhaps? No, he was with Bitstream and Hotlink. Had they been with Slipstream? Probably. He couldn't remember who Slipstream had had as Trine Mates. Then again, he rarely paid attention to the femme. Sunstorm? Nope, he had never been with the Energon Seekers, he had left Cybertron after Starscream joined them. He had been so unfortunate to have been created with the ability to burn anyone who touched him and destroyed machinery around him. He had therefore been pretty much banished from Cybertron, leaving on a life-long journey to find people who worshipped Primus as much as he did...

Starscream was cut from his thoughts when a loud and familiar voice sounded around him.

"ALL CYBERTRONIANS WHO INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION MUST BE NEUTRALIZED!"

A laser gun appeared from the ceiling and pointed at Starscream, who flinched in surprise and let out an exclamation. He began thinking quickly.

"Wait, I'm not interfering with your mission," the Seeker exclaimed, hoping the ship would understand. "In fact, I q-quite admire your work here! I just wanted to...admire it up close! I have no intention to stop you from whatever you're doing, I swear!"

The laser gun kept pointing at him, but didn't fire. After a few seconds, it retracted.

"GOOD," the Nemesis replied. "SEE THAT YOU KEEP IT THAT WAY."

Starscream dared relaxing his cables and let out a sigh.

"Well, I'm glad we're on the same page," the Seeker replied and started walking. "Say, your voice sounds familiar. I have a feeling you're more than just a simple vessel, am I right?"

"THAT IS CORRECT," the Nemesis replied, apparently not bothered by small talk. "I AM ANYTHING BUT A SIMPLE VESSEL. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

"Hmm," the Seeker hummed, thinking. The apparent sentience of the ship, the vaguely familiar voice and the vessel's apparent awakening due to Dark Energon made one thing clear in any case. "Are you a Transformer?"

"THAT IS CORRECT," the Nemesis repeated, seemingly pleased to be recognized. "I HAVE BEEN TRAPPED IN STASIS IN THIS FORM FOR EONS. BUT THANKS TO THE DARK ENERGON, I HAVE COME BACK ONLINE. AND NOW I CAN CONTINUE MY MISSION TO RECOVER THE LOST RELICS OF IACON."

Starscream paused in his walking, thinking. Trapped in stasis for eons? Recover lost relics? There was only one Transformer in particular that Starscream could think of with that description.

"By Primus," Starscream said with a gasp and looked at the ceiling, even though he had no idea where the ship's face was. "It can't be. Are you... Trypticon?!"

Meanwhile, Ratchet was following the humans' progress through downloading the Iacon Database from a console at which Knock Out was attending. That is, a frozen Knock Out.

Not long after Agent Fowler had inserted the keycard into the port on the console, the sentient warship began detecting the disturbance. Apparently Starscream's so-called 'distraction' wasn't enough to keep the ship from detecting intruders in the other end of the ship. After all, it was its body, so naturally it knew when something was happening in more than one part of it. It seemed like it still couldn't detect the humans, however.

"It doesn't see us," Miko said with confidence through the comm. link.

"Yet," Ratchet corrected. "The ship must not be scanning for carbon-based life forms. But once it widens its search perimeters..."

"...we're toast," Raf ended for him with anxiety.

"I'm 'Bridging you back," Ratchet informed and was about to do so, when Jack interrupted him.

"No," the boy refused. "there are millions of lives at stake in New York, and we three are currently the only ones who can do anything about it."

"Don't you mean 'four'?" Miko asked. "Starscream's still with us. I think."

"You're out of your element, Jack," Ratchet replied. "These readings, the ship's rapid recovery, all point to the fact that Megatron imployed Dark Energon to repair it!"

"Hold on," Jack said, "if you're saying the ship's fueled by Dark Energon, we can dump it, right?"

Ratchet hummed at the idea. "You'll need to reverse the warship's Energon infusor. Follow the mainhead conduits, they'll lead you to the power core."

Ratchet remembered Starscream knew the ship better than he did and tried to call Starscream on the comm.

"Starscream, do you read me?" Ratchet asked. "Return to the humans' position and guide them to the power core. Starscream?"

Starscream did not respond to the comm. Ratchet sighed in annoyance and tried again.

"Starscream, respond!"

"YOU ARE A CLEVER LITTLE SEEKER," Trypticon said in response to Starscream's revelation. "WERE YOU PERHAPS ONE OF THOSE WHO OCCUPIED IN ME WHEN I WAS A STATION?"

Starscream shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and continued walking. "Uh, yes! I was the Air Commander of the Energon Seekers, and we were tasked with guarding the Dark Energon, Synthetic Energon, as well as various relics stored in Trypticon Station not long before Megatron's forces began attacking various places on Cybertron. I am Starscream, if you know me?"

"I HAVE HEARD OF YOU," Trypticon replied. "BUT I FOUND MY STATION MODE EQUAL TO MY CURRENT VESSEL MODE. HIGHLY IMPRACTICAL THOUGH APPROPRIATE FOR LONG RECHARGE. WHEN THE AUTOBOTS DEFEATED ME DURING THE WAR FOR CYBERTRON, I WENT INTO STASIS. WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO WAKE UP AGAIN, SOMEONE HAD TURNED ME INTO A WARSHIP AND I FELL INTO DORMANCY. BUT NOW, THANKS TO THE DARK ENERGON, I HAVE AWAKENED ONCE AGAIN."

"You, uh...you can't transform yet, though, can you?" Starscream asked with concern.

"NO, THAT IS ALSO CORRECT," Trypticon answered. "WHILE I HAVE REGAINED CONTROL OF MYSELF, I FIND MYSELF UNABLE TO TRANSFORM YET. PERHAPS I NEED MORE ENERGON TO DO SO, OR PERHAPS MY PROTOCOLS WILL FIRST COME ONLINE ONCE I HAVE COMPLETED MY MISSION AND COLLECTED THE DECEPTICON RELICS. EITHER WAY, I WILL DO WHAT I MUST TO RECOVER THEM. AND ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY WILL BE NEUTRALIZED."

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not trying to get in your way," Starscream said with a nervous laughter. "Oh, here it is."

Starscream stopped as he passed by one of the many doors on the ship. It was closed. He went over, but the door didn't open automatically like they usually did. He tried to force the door open, but it seemed to be locked.

"Uh...would you mind opening this door for me?" Starscream asked in the most polite, humble, non-provocative tone he could muster. "I left some things in there..."

"NO."

"Oh...well...that's too bad, then, heheh..."

Instead of arguing with Trypticon, Starscream decided to walk away, not wanting to anger the Titan or get accused of getting in his way. He started heading somewhere else, somewhere he didn't know where, but someplace his legs automatically brought him to.

"So, uh, Trypticon," Starscream said, trying to keep the conversation going, hopefully stalling for time and allowing the humans to continue their work, "did it feel good to come out of stasis after all these eons?"

"IT FELT VERY GOOD," Trypticon answered. "I HAD BEEN A PRISONER IN MY OWN BODY FOR SO LONG, BUT NOW I HAVE FINALLY REGAINED MY FREEDOM. I HAVE THE FREEDOM TO FLY ANYWHERE I WISH, AND ONCE I HAVE COMPLETED MY MISSION, I WILL REGAIN FULL FREEDOM."

"Huh," Starscream said quietly, thinking. "I know exactly how you feel. I am currently also a prisoner in my own body. I feel free, but I know I am not free, for I am currently not allowed to fly anywhere I want. In fact, I am not even allowed to fly. I envy your newfound freedom, big guy."

"IF YOU CANNOT FLY, THEN HOW DID YOU GET ONBOARD THIS SHIP?"

Starscream paused before an open door to a large room. "Uh...I was here from the beginning? Doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how I got here, the important thing is that I won't interfere with your mission, in fact, why not let me help you with your mission?"

"WHAT CAN YOU DO THAT I CANNOT DO? HOW WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HELP ME?"

Starscream started thinking quickly and deeply as he entered the large room, which he noticed had dozens of boxed Energon cubes in it.

"Well...I could take care of the smaller obstacles, like, taking out humans for you," Starscream began, trying the best he could to come up with something. "And, um... Oh, you could locate the relics, and then I could go and retrieve them for you! After all, I would be much better equipped to retrieve the smaller items in enclosed spaces than you would, uh, with your size and state and everything, no offense..."

Trypticon didn't respond immediately, and Starscream feared he may have insulted the Titan.

"YOU MAKE SENSE," Trypticon responded finally. "IF YOU DO NOT GET IN THE WAY, I WILL ALLOW YOU TO ASSIST."

Starscream let out relieved laughter. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! You will not regret it! Uh, so, since we're going to work together and everything, do you mind if I take just one Energon cube from here? I'm kind of under-fueled, and I would be of much better use if I refueled..."

"GO AHEAD," Trypticon said. "BUT ONLY ONE. MORE THAN THAT AND I WILL NEUTRALIZE YOU. I DO NOT TOLERATE LIARS."

Starscream gulped, knowing he had to keep the truth from the Titan. For now, though, he went and grabbed an Energon cube, opened the safety box and unpacked the Energon cube. He held the cube against his mouth and tipped it, pouring its contents in him. His hunger from the same morning had returned, and that's when he realized how much had happened today. First the appearance of Airachnid's Insecticon armada and Bulkhead's trespassing on the Nemesis, then the immobolization of the Autobots, and now the trespassing on the ship of Starscream and the humans. Time sure was passing slowly today.

As he lowered the cube to wipe his mouth, Starscream let out a gasp. Right in front of him, by a control panel, Megatron stood, frozen, servo grabbing a lever, about to pull it down but had been 'hindered' by Trypticon. Starscream looked around and realized that he was not just in a regular Energon storage room, but rather the power core itself.

"Megatron," Starscream said out loud, mostly to himself. He began snickering as impulsive thoughts crossed his mind. He put down the empty cube beside the others and walked over to the frozen warlord, smirking gleefully.

"Who's out of commission now?" Starscream sneered at his old master while circling around him. "You, that's who!"

The Seeker laughed and looked at his claws. Very tempting thoughts crossed his minds.

"You don't mind if I have a little fun with him, do you, Trypticon?"

"KNOCK YOURSELF OUT," the ship said absentmindedly, perhaps busy with other things.

Starscream cackled merrily by the permission from the ship he once commanded. He held his claws threateningly above the armor of Megatron. The warlord was currently helpless and at the Seeker's mercy. Perfect!

"Oh, how long I've dreamed of doing this, oh mighty Megatron," Starscream said condescendingly as he went to the front of the tall warlord, his claws brushing the big bot's neck cables. "What I could do to you, right here, right now, without you even knowing."

Starscream reached his claws from the warlord's neck cables to his purple optics. "Why, I could finish you off with one punch. Like I punched Cliffjumper."

Starscream hadn't been saying that since his Synthetic Energon rush where he had whispered it to an unconscious Bumblebee, and he didn't even remember the moment very well. Last time he remembered talking about it was just before he got captured by the Autobots. He had been dying to brag about it to someone, even if this someone was frozen, and another someone was a sentient ship.

The Seeker heard a gasp from behind - or rather, behind Megatron, as Starscream was currently facing front against Megatron. He looked over the warlord's shoulder and saw the kids, having arrived from a tunnel of Energon cubes.

"You...what?" Jack said in disbelief.

Starscream flinched, knowing the kids had heard his last sentence. "Uh, I, uh..."

"You killed Cliffjumper?" Miko asked surprised. "Should've known it was someone like you!"

Starscream ran out from Megatron and waved his servos against the humans. "No, wait, I can explain! I was-"

"WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO, STARSCREAM?" Trypticon's rumbling voice sounded around them.

"Uh, nobody," Starscream lied and straightened himself. "I was talking to myself. I do that all the time."

"YOU ARE LYING."

Starscream let out a shriek as a laser gun appeared from the ceiling, pointing at him.

"I TOLD YOU I DO NOT TOLERATE LIARS. AND..." There was a pause, as a manipulator arm appeared from the other side of Megatron, pointing at the humans. "...IT SEEMS I HAVE BEEN INFESTED WITH ALIEN LIFE FORMS! ALL WHO INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION SHALL BE NEUTRALIZED!"

"Scrap," Miko said.

The manipulator arm started going after the kids, trying to catch them, but they all managed to dodge its attacks.

"Nice job, Scream," Miko exclaimed as she dodged one of the manipulator arm's attacks. "Now it knows we're here!"

The laser gun started shooting after Starscream, who also managed to dodge the blasts, seeking cover behind Megatron, walls and Energon cubes.

"Don't be naive," Starscream said as he dodged one of the laser shots. "It already knew you were here!"

Raf and Miko started running towards the maze of Energon cubes while Jack attempted to climb Megatron, but was also hindered by the manipulator arm. Starscream continued to dodge the Stasis Beam attacks, certainly not wanting to end up like Megatron!

Wait, Megatron, Starscream thought and glanced at the warlord, whose servo was still clamped around the lever to the Energon imployment.

The Seeker ran over to Megatron and tried to pull his servo down, but the arm was firmly locked in place. He turned around and started pushing against the warlord's torso.

"Come on, you big lugnut, fall!" Starscream snarled. "Fall-"

Not having paid attention to his surroundings, Starscream got zapped by the Stasis Beam and froze in place, servos on Megatron's chestplate, staring angrily at the warlord's face which was looking up.

"Starscream!" Jack exclaimed in shock over the Seeker's fate. The boy looked to the Energon maze. Raf and Miko were being searched for by the manipulator arm. Everything was up to Jack now.

Jack looked from the manipulator arm to the frozen Megatron and Starscream. He got an idea. He went to the back of Megatron and faced against the Energon maze.

"Hey, over here!" Jack shouted at the manipulator arm, just as it had removed a cube to reveal the hidden Miko and Raf.

The manipulator arm turned to 'look' at Jack, standing ready to react. It stretched out its 'fingers' and shot forward to attack. But Jack managed to jump through the open 'hand' and dodge the attack. The manipulator arm kept going and hit Megatron's back with a bang! As the arm retracted, Jack watched as Megatron began tipping over, his servo pulling down the lever all the way, before letting go and falling onto the floor with a loud clang! Jack just managed to get enough out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the large Decepticon.

As the lever was pulled down, the walls and ceiling lights turned from purple to blue, indicating the Dark Energon was being removed from the ship. The manipulator arm tried one last attack on Jack.

"CRITICAL POWER DRAIN," Trypticon rumbled, struggling to keep conscious. "I AM...IN...COMMAND..." The manipulator arm started retracting to the power core. "PREPARE TO BE... NEUTRALIZZZzzz..."

As Trypticon lost consciousness, the manipulator arm went limp, followed by a Dark Energon cube being removed from the power core. It was over.

Well, it seemed to be over, but then Megatron and Starscream started moving again, falling together. It seemed Trypticon's going back into stasis reversed the effects of the Stasis Beam!

As Raf and Miko exited the Energon maze to join Jack, Jack looked concerned at the awakening Megatron.

"Run," Jack said to the others.

They started running, but Miko paused before exiting the room.

"Wait," she exclaimed and turned around. "Starscream!"

Starscream had a headache. He was lying on something hard but warm. As he came out of stasis he opened his optics and looked down. He let out an exclamation as he found himself lying on top of Megatron, servos on the warlord's chestplate, staring into the warlord's similarly surprised face, now having regained his red optics.

"Uh..." Starscream said, his face burning with embarrassment over their current position. "H...hello...Megatron...heheh..."

Megatron blinked a few times, apparently still trying to assess the situation of having his former second-in-command lying on top of him. His surprised expression turned into a frown.

"Starscream!" Miko's voice sounded from the entrance, making Starscream look up in reaction.

The shout had apparently snapped both mechs out of their perplexed state. Before Starscream could get up, Megatron grabbed the Seeker by his wrists, preventing escape. Starscream let out a shriek of surprise. As the warlord slowly got back on his legs whilst holding the Seeker tight by the wrists, Starscream struggled to wrist himself free from Megatron's grasp, but to no avail.

"I would advice you to stop squirming," Megatron growled lowly, "if you still want to live."

Starscream gulped and stopped struggling. His wings lowered in submission and fear. What was going to happen now? Would the warlord terminate the Seeker right there and then? Would he throw him into a cell and interrogate him of the Autobots' base location? Would he start dismembering him like he had done in the Seeker's dream that same day?

Instead of doing anything right away, Megatron gathered both of Starscream's wrists and held them in his left servo, leaving his right arm free.

"You are coming with me," Megatron rumbled as they steered toward the exit of the power core chamber. "And no squirming!"

Starscream found himself having no choice but to obey his former master. He scurried along beside the warlord while holding back whines and shrieks from the pain caused by Megatron's tight hold around both of the Seeker's wrists. It hurt so much, and he was uncertain if he would be able to use his missiles to blast himself free, even if he had the courage to try so.

Megatron dragged the captive Starscream with him down the hallways through the corridors, looking from side to side. He seemed to be searching. Searching for the humans. Searching for the Autobots. He would deal with Starscream after he had found and taken care of Starscream's companions.

Knowing he was siding with the Autobots for the time being, Megatron could not risk letting go of the Seeker. He was not going to make the same mistake again. He was going to take back his second-in-command for good, first force him to tell him the location of the Autobot base, then he would give him a good beating for his betrayal, and then he might let him return to the Decepticon ranks. Or he could terminate him after getting done with him. But that was usually a last resort. Despite everything, Megatron would rather not terminate Starscream, for a number of reasons, some of which even he did not quite understand himself.

Starscream was terrified and in pain. Every time the warlord steered them around a corner to a new hallway, every time they passed a room, he feared he was going to be punished or locked up. But no, Megatron just kept a tight and painful hold on his small wrists, while they kept going. Starscream scurried as fast as his reluctant legs would let him, but at times he slipped and let Megatron drag him before he got back onto his own pedes.

Starscream didn't say anything during the entire journey through the ship. He was fearing for his life. Megatron didn't seem keen for conversation this time either. He kept growling as he looked from side to side, every time they turned to a new corridor.

Eventually they turned a corner and found what Megatron had been looking for. A GroundBridge portal, at the end of a corridor, where a console was placed. Starscream's spark started beating faster at the sight. Ratchet was 'Bridging the humans back! He had to get there, or he would be left behind...

Starscream wanted to call out, but did not do so out of fear of Megatron, who started walking closer to the portal. He could easily go through the portal and enter the Autobot base, wrecking havoc in there, terminating everyone, learning the location of the base if he got out through the physical exit! Instead of calling, Starscream let out an involuntary whimper at his hopeless situation. Megatron did not fail to notice the sound.

"Be quiet," he growled at the frightened Seeker. "Or I will silence you myself."

"Not a chance, Megatron!" a familiar voice sounded from the portal.

Megatron and Starscream both glanced at the GroundBridge. From the green portal emerged none other than Optimus Prime himself, laser cannon at the ready. Without demanding Megatron to release Starscream, Optimus fired his cannon, hitting the unexpectant Megatron by the left shoulder, pushing him back and making him lose his grip on Starscream. The two Decepticons fell onto the floor by the blast.

Starscream made no hesitation this time in getting up and running towards the GroundBridge portal at full speed alongside Optimus Prime. Reassured of the Seeker's safety, Optimus followed him to the portal. Megatron didn't take long to get up and see the two mechs running towards the portal at the end of the corridor.

"You're not getting away!" Megatron roared and fired his fusion cannon at Starscream.

Starscream made small exclamations as he ran for his life for the portal, with a fusion blast chasing after him. The blast almost hit the Seeker as he and Optimus went through the portal, which closed immediately. The blast instead kept going and hit the console, destroying the screen and its contents. Knock Out lay on the floor, having luckily avoided the blast.

Megatron stared at the destroyed console and the open space where Starscream had just been. He let out a roar of fury.

Thankfully the data was shared among all the consoles, so the termination of this one was irrelevant. But the fact that Starscream escaped from him yet again... it was simply infuriating!

"Next time, you're not getting away, dear Starscream," Megatron said to the air, still fuming. "You will be mine..."

Back at base, Ratchet had called a GroundBridge immediately as the kids reported the warship had returned to stasis, and the Decepticons had started waking up. Raf and Miko returned first with a delusional Agent Fowler on their shoulders, having been zapped by the console earlier. They saw to their delight that the other Autobots had also come out of stasis again.

"Where's Jack?" Arcee asked worried.

"He stayed behind to get the transfer-drive," Raf explained.

"Starscream got caught by Megatron," Miko said anxiously.

"What?!" the Autobots exclaimed in unison.

They spent little time dreading the thought of having their Seeker captive by the Decepticons, revealing the location of their secret base and what not. Not to mention the thought of what Megatron would do to the Seeker while captive. They had to get him back.

"I will get Jack and the transfer-drive," Ratchet informed, keeping the GroundBridge open. "One of you must go rescue Starscream."

"I will go," Optimus volunteered. "If he is captive by Megatron, I will have the best chances of getting him free."

"No argument there," Arcee said in agreement, knowing none of them would be able to take on Megatron, even if to save one of their own. Only Optimus was capable of doing that.

"Let's go," Ratchet said and entered the GroundBridge first.

Optimus went through the GroundBridge a moment later. While Ratchet was taking care of Knock Out, grabbing Jack and the transfer-drive, Optimus went to the other side of the portal to face Megatron, spotting Starscream held tightly by his wrists in one servo of the warlord. The Seeker's wings were downcast in fear and the Autobot could hear a faint whimper of pain and fright from the former Decepticon. The sight infuriated him. Megatron would no longer be allowed to do with Starscream what he wanted, let alone have him captured and abused.

Optimus ran out and shot Megatron on the shoulder, freeing Starscream and watched the Seeker quickly getting up and running at full speed towards the portal. With one last look at Megatron, Optimus followed the shrieking Starscream to the GroundBridge. They made it back just in time to avoid getting hit by Megatron's fusion blast.

As soon as both mechs appeared from the GroundBridge in base, Arcee quickly shut the portal down, preventing anything or anyone from entering their base uninvited. Starscream fell onto the floor and vented heavily, letting out small whimpers of relief, rubbing his sore wrists where Megatron had held them.

"That...was close..." Starscream huffed. "I thought you would...leave me behind..."

"Autobots never leave a comrade behind," Optimus assured the Seeker. "I am glad I made it in time."

"You and me both," Starscream replied, getting back onto his pedes, still shaking a bit from the experience.

Starscream walked over to the others, everyone looking at each other, making sure everyone was okay.

"How did you get captured by Megatron?" Ratchet asked suspiciously.

"He was in the power core chamber," Starscream informed. "Frozen. Just like everyone else. The ship found the kids and started attacking us all. I tried to push Megatron over to make him pull the control down, but it seems I was hit by the Stasis Beam as well, for the next thing I remember is finding myself...uh...lying on top of him..."

Starscream blushed embarrassed by the memory. "And, uh, he took advantage of the moment of confusion."

Ratchet face-palmed over the explanation. Now that everyone was okay, Miko couldn't help but giggle and blush at the memory of the two mechs laying on top of each other. Raf and Jack glanced at her in confusion. Girls.

Starscream glanced at the kids. As he saw they were looking at him, he made a facial gesture and shook his head slightly, trying to tell them something. It took a moment before they realized what he was trying to say without words. It seemed they had to talk later.

Ratchet went around and began examining each Autobot, to make sure the stasis was completely gone and hadn't done any damage to their interior. The kids returned to the railings, and Starscream went over to them, making sure the Autobots were out of hearing range. Agent Fowler lay on a table somewhere, trying to sleep the delusion off.

"Listen, kids," Starscream whispered so low that hopefully none of the Autobots could hear, "don't tell anyone what you heard me say on the ship, alright?"

"Why not?" Miko asked, also in a low tone. "They have to know-"

"No, they don't," Starscream countered. "If you tell them about you-know-what, I'll...I'll..."

He tried to think of something he could do to the kids that would prevent them from telling, but knew it wouldn't make a difference, as the damage would have been done already. He sighed and let out a small whimper, surprising the kids.

"Please," he begged, very unlike him, "please don't tell them I killed Cliffjumper. They'll never forgive me, and they'll never let me fly again. I will forever hold it against you if you tell them, especially Arcee."

The kids shared glances, contemplating what to do. They knew Starscream was going through a lot and that he seemed to be genuinely trying to be good, but it was hard to forget about what he had apparently done to Cliffjumper. Granted, they hadn't known Cliffjumper like the bots had, but they knew he had been a valued member of the team and a good friend and partner to Arcee. They had no doubt the Autobots really would hate Starscream if they found out the truth.

"Do you regret doing it?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Very much," Starscream replied, still with the miserable expression on his face. "I can't change the past, I would if I could. But I can't, so please don't tell them, please."

Ratchet seemed to be finishing examining the Autobots and was heading over to Starscream to check on him. The kids made a quick decision.

"Alright, we won't tell them," Miko said. "But you'll have to tell them yourself some time."

"I know," Starscream replied with a relieved sigh. "I will be the one to decide when it's time to spill the beans."

"Starscream," Ratchet said, catching the Seeker by surprise. He didn't seem to have taken notice of their private little 'conversation'. "Let me take a look at you."

Starscream held out his wrists to Ratchet, who examined them. They seemed sore and bruised from Megatron's tight hold, but otherwise they seemed just fine. Nothing time wouldn't heal. Ratchet then had Starscream turn around so he could examine the rest of his frame. It didn't seem like the short stasis had affected him, though he seemed slightly sore in some places. He cleared Starscream for good health and returned to the Autobot circle. Starscream stayed behind at the railings.

"The download of the Iacon Database may have been incomplete," Ratchet informed, "but we now possess four sets of coordinates decoded by the ship."

"Then we must act quickly," Optimus declared, "for Megatron possesses the same four sets. And he will not hesitate to obtain the potential doomsday devices which lie at the site of each."

Starscream listened intently to the Autobots' discussion. As lengthy as this day had already been, he knew it was far from over.

It was going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

The Autobots spent the next ten minutes deciding what to do with the four locations of the Iacon relics.

"If we are to have any hope of recovering the Iacon relics before the Decepticons do," Optimus began, "we must divide our resources."

"But Optimus," Ratchet protested, "when it comes to numbers, we are already at a grave disadvantage."

"Under the circumstances, swiftness of action is paramount," Optimus defended. "This is one race that we absolutely cannot afford to lose."

As they began discussing which Autobots should go where, Ratchet found something strange on the radar.

"Here's a twist," the medic informed. "It would appear that the Decepticons have retreated from Manhatten."

"They just...up and left?" Arcee replied surprised.

"It is more likely that Megatron has already set course for the second set of coordinates," Optimus implied, "having dispatched a unit to this relic's underground location."

"Without busting up a city block to get to it?" Arcee remarked with surprise.

"They used subway tunnels," Jack explained from the railings, gaining the Autobots' attention. Starscream turned to look at the boy. "New York has a whole network of them running beneath the city."

Optimus thought for a moment. "Since the human population no longer seems to be directly threatened, maintaining our disguise will be necessary. Arcee, Bumblebee," he added and looked at the Scout and the femmebot, "you are the best choices to navigate through such a densely populated area."

"Optimus," Jack said to gain the big bot's attention, "New York has more than eight million people. The odds of being spotted by at least one of them are pretty high, even if they are headed underground."

"Where are you going with this?" Arcee asked, having a feeling of what the boy was suggesting.

"You're gonna need a face-man," Jack replied with a smile.

Nobody spoke for a moment, just stared at him, apparently not sure what he was talking about.

"Someone who can speak for them on their behalf," Jack explained. "A human who can run interference if their cover gets blown."

"Well," Miko went in, "I've actually been in subway stations, I grew up in a major metropolis, unlike mister 'I've-never-been-outside-Jasper-Nevada'." She shrugged in apparent offense, despite it being her insulting him.

"I have been to Cybertron," Jack pointed out to her, apparently not able to read the girl's thoughts.

"Cybertron doesn't have subways!" Miko replied, still offended, then paused and turned to the bots. "...does it?"

"It used to, anyway," Starscream replied. "Not like anyone really needed it, though, since everyone has their own vehicle modes. Like a jet, much more effective than a simple train-"

"Agent Fowler's field experience makes him our best candidate," Optimus interrupted and looked to Agent Fowler, laid onto a human-sized operating table turned into a bed, covered by a blanket. The man was still recovering from the shock he received a couple of hours earlier that day.

"Baaaananafish!" Agent Fowler exclaimed from the bed, then lost consciousness again. The man was still delusional.

"If he weren't still recovering from his encounter with the Decepticon warship," Ratchet pointed out.

"Which we survived," Miko said and pointed to herself, "without incident?!"

Optimus gazed from Agent Fowler to Ratchet to Jack and Miko, contemplating for a moment.

"Very well," he decided. "Miko and Jack will accompany Arcee and Bumblebee."

"Yes!" Miko exclaimed in victory and punched the air. Jack looked pleased to be allowed to go as well. Arcee and Bumblebee shared glances, not sure if it was a good idea. Bulkhead looked concerned at Miko, probably worried about her safety.

"Initiate transport," Optimus told Ratchet, "and triangulate coordinates of the other three relics."

As Ratchet locked onto the coordinates of the first relic, Starscream watched Bulkhead talking to Miko before departure and wondered if he should volunteer to come with them. He decided against it, as he did not want to go from one cave to another. Plus, he wouldn't be able to blend in very well with the city vehicles.

"That was some trick, Miko," Bulkhead said to the girl as she and Jack began descending from the railings.

"You mean swiping intel from right under Megatron's nose?" Miko said with pride. "Just doing my part for Team Prime!"

Bumblebee honked his horn from the GroundBridge portal, telling Miko to get a move on.

"Ooh, gotta go, Bulk," the girl said before running eagerly over to the yellow car. "I'll tell you all about it when we get back! Wait up!"

Miko went into Bumblebee, who closed his car door before Ratchet opened the GroundBridge.

"Take care of her, Bee," Bulkhead said.

"Take care of him, Miko," Raf said.

The bot and boy looked at each other in wonder. They didn't dwell on it though. The two Autobots and two humans went through the GroundBridge, to arrive in Manhatten to hunt for the first Iacon relic. As they disappeared, Ratchet closed the GroundBridge behind them. Starscream wondered if he would get to go to the next location.

"Bulkhead," Optimus said and turned to the Wrecker, "prepare for departure."

"You are headed for the Equator," Ratchet declared.

"I'll prep for tropical weather," Bulkhead said and slammed his fists together in eager. "Wrecker style!"

Starscream decided to pass on this one too. He definitely did not want to go with Bulkhead, although it sounded nice to be in the tropics, out in the open. As he was not allowed to fly yet, though, it didn't matter where he ended up, so perhaps it would be better to not go somewhere hot and scorching - like a certain desert.

Ratchet locked onto the coordinates of the second relic and opened the GroundBridge for Bulkhead.

"Rafael and Agent Fowler will be your communications and transportation hub," Optimus informed.

Bulkhead glanced at Rafael. The boy gave him a thumbs-up. Both turned to look at Agent Fowler, who was still talking in his sleep.

"I can haz cheezburger?" Agent Fowler exclaimed to the air before falling unconscious yet again. Hopefully he would come out of it soon.

"Communications, huh?" Bulkhead remarked at the delusional human. Without further ado, the Wrecker walked through the GroundBridge to arrive at his destination.

"Be on your guard, Bulkhead," Optimus warned the Wrecker before he disappeared, followed by the closing of the GroundBridge behind him. Now there was only two locations left to dispatch teams to. Two locations, three bots and two humans left, the humans of which could not be spared. Pit, Starscream couldn't even be sure if he counted as one of the bots yet, in which case there were only two bots left to go to two different locations. Perhaps the Seeker would go to the next location with the next bot.

"Rafael," Optimus continued, turning his attention to the boy, "lock onto the remaining coordinates. I will embark for the Antarctic."

Rafael turned in his desk chair and began locking onto the coordinates for the relic located in the Antarctic. Certainly didn't sound like anyplace Starscream wanted to go to. If it was anything like the Arctic, it was bound to be cold. And given it was at the bottom of the world, it was certain to be cold. Although he would be out in the open, and he didn't mind Optimus' company as much as Bulkhead's. Regardless, the prospect of a cold environment prompted him to stay silent until further notice.

"As for you, old friend," Optimus said, turning to Ratchet, "I would prefer that you have company on your mission."

"No one is left to join me, Optimus," Ratchet said, "except for Starscream. Even if Agent Fowler were alert..."

Agent Fowler groaned, seeming to regain consciousness again. Sadly, he was still delusional.

"Oshahogaboga..." the man said, before losing consciousness again.

"...he's human," Ratchet commented.

"Now that was just sad," Starscream remarked at the gibberish.

"I was considering the only remaining Autobot alternative on this planet," Optimus continued.

Ratchet didn't need to think for long before knowing who he meant.

"Bu-wha-you can't be serious," Ratchet blabbered before regaining his composure. "Wheeljack is insubordinate, a ruffian! Besides, he's Bulkhead's partner."

"Your expertise is scientific," Optimus explained, "but Wheeljack is a highly capable warrior. You would be wise to welcome the temporary alliance."

Ratchet sighed and face-palmed, really not wanting to team up with Wheeljack. Neither did Starscream, so he decided against going with Ratchet. Which, shockingly, would leave him alone in the base with the boy and delusional man.

"What about me?" Starscream finally spoke up, having heard all his options. "I don't suppose you want me to be alone with the humans, do you?" He added a malicious smirk at the end, falsely suggesting he might harm them while they were gone. He could, but he probably wouldn't, given how long he's stayed with them.

Optimus and Ratchet shared gazes with each other, contemplating their situation. Starscream was right. If Optimus left for the Antarctic and Ratchet left with Wheeljack for the last location, Starscream would be left alone in the base, the humans being at his mercy. While they didn't exactly expect him to gut them while alone, he could escape through the physical entrance or the GroundBridge, provided he found a way out of the cufflets still attached to his wrists. Besides, Ratchet wasn't exactly sure Starscream was yet mentally fit to be left on his own, given everything that had happened today.

"I don't suppose you'd want to come with me and Wheeljack, do you?" Ratchet asked, knowing the answer.

"Not a chance," Starscream rejected at once. "If I can't fly myself, I'm not going into a thing that can."

"That means you will go with me," Optimus decided. "To the Antarctic. Are you sure you want to go there?"

Starscream didn't speak for a moment, contemplating. The others had already gone, it would be pretty dull in the base with a boy doing all the work and a man that was out of his mind, and he couldn't even get free from his shackles to escape for freedom. And he had no intent of occupying the same space as that moron Wheeljack. Optimus, on the other hand, had saved the Seeker on more than one occasion, and he was never threatening or insulting the Decepticon. Despite the harsh environment they were going to be in, perhaps it would be best to go with the Autobot commander?

"Alright," Starscream replied and stood straight on the floor, moving away from the railings. "I'll go with you. As long as I get to keep my missiles and my claws free."

"Very well," Optimus said, satisfied they had come to a conclusion. "Open the GroundBridge."

Ratchet opened the GroundBridge to allow the Autobot and Decepticon to pass through, whilst staying behind to wait for Rafael to lock onto the last set of coordinates, so he could go find the last relic with Wheeljack.

As the two mechs appeared from the GroundBridge, they were met by a cold breeze, sending shudders through Starscream's frame.

"Brrrr," Starscream remarked by the coldness. "What is wrong with this planet?! Either it's a scorching desert or it's a frigid wasteland!"

"Come on," Optimus said and started walking. "The relic seems to be in this direction."

Starscream snapped out of the cold and scurried after the larger mech, trying to keep up the pace with the Autobot's longer strides.

"Eh, why aren't you transforming?" Starscream asked curiously. "It would go much faster that way."

"You are currently unable to transform," Optimus said, as if he had lost his T-cog or something, "and I am currently not in possession of my trailer. And I am not going to leave you behind, even if we are searching for a dangerous weapon. Like I said before, we Autobots do not leave a comrade behind."

Starscream felt his cheekplates blushing slightly. It could be because of the cold, of course. He was not as well armored or isolated as Optimus was.

"So, why not release me from these shackles?" Starscream suggested and held up his wrists, still free from the energy string, but the cufflets still attached firmly. He noticed faintly that they had gained some cracks in them, probably from Megatron's strong grip. The Seeker wondered if it had affected the cufflets' endurance.

"While it would go faster," Optimus replied, "we are still contemplating the right time for you to regain your wings."

"You still don't trust me?!" Starscream exclaimed in irritation. "I haven't flown in almost two months! And I haven't tried to escape once since I brought you back from the Decepticon warship, while flying! What do I have to do to convince you Autobots to allow me to fly?!"

"The time will come soon, Starscream," Optimus assured the Decepticon while studying the radar. "I promise. We seem to be getting close to the coordinates."

Starscream sighed and pouted. He was beginning to think he would never be allowed to fly. He realized he had been thinking this several times already. And given how much time had passed since he was taken in by the Autobots, perhaps he was right.

They arrived at the top of a hill and looked out. They didn't see the relic, but they did see something up ahead. A squadron of Decepticons, searching a glacial wall. Perhaps they had found the relic?

"Four Vehicons," Starscream counted, "and, if I'm not mistaken, the one called Dreadwing."

"Dreadwing," Optimus repeated, remembering the last time he had encountered the mech. "I will go on ahead."

Without further warning, Optimus transformed and began driving towards the Decepticons. Starscream found himself perplexed as he began running after his 'bodyguard', not wanting to be left behind - as Prime had apparently lied about it not happening with the Autobots, or perhaps he had forgotten in the heat (or cold) of the moment? Either way, Starscream ran as fast as he could to catch up with Optimus, before he could get picked off by any scouts that might have been looking out nearby.

It took several minutes before he got to Prime, and by that time he had already engaged Dreadwing in pre-fight talk. The four Vehicons had gathered around Dreadwing, two on each side of him, covering larger ground for an attack.

"Optimus Prime," Dreadwing greeted. "I will request only once that you surrender the relic."

"I was going to request the same of you, Dreadwing," Optimus replied. Starscream was just a few meters away from reaching the Autobot but could hear what they were saying.

"Then I would say that we are on equal footing, were it not that there are five of us, and only one of you."

"Two, you mean," Starscream huffed as he finally appeared next to Optimus, somewhat worn out from his running after the Prime.

"You must be Starscream," Dreadwing remarked at the arrival of the small Seeker. "Former commander of the Decepticon warship. I will show no mercy to traitors."

"Oh yeah?" Starscream said with strange confidence. "Well, I will show no mercy to a...uh..." As he failed to come up with a good insult, he simply decided: "Go get him, Prime!"

Not paying attention to Starscream's rambling, Optimus instead focused on Dreadwing, who stared back at the Autobot. The Vehicons drew their guns, ready to attack. Starscream looked at his claws, wishing Optimus would release him so he could use his lasers. Instead, he held up his arms, readying his missiles.

Optimus and Dreadwing stared each other down for what felt like mega-cycles. Everyone was tense. Starscream and the Vehicons waited for one of them to make a move, which would start the upcoming battle. It seemed neither large mech was willing to be the first to attack, as the first attack often decided the victor. Starscream gulped, starting to get worried. The longer it took for the battle to start, the more likely it was that they would lose. Not to mention whoever had taken the relic might get away...

Suddenly, Dreadwing drew his cannon and started shooting at Optimus and Starscream. The Vehicons started firing their own lasers as well. Optimus transformed his right arm into his ion cannon and started shooting back. Starscream jumped around to dodge the lasers, trying to aim at either Dreadwing or the Vehicons. As Optimus seemed to be engaging Dreadwing in direct combat, Starscream decided to take on the Vehicons instead. They were easier prey, after all.

Starscream aimed his left missile at one of the Vehicons, and after dodging two lasers, he clenched his fist and fired it. The missile zoomed through the cold air, hit the Vehicon and exploded, taking the Vehicon down with it. Afterwards, Starscream decided to engage in close combat, readying his claws.

The Seeker dodged several lasers before approaching a Vehicon, dodged to the right and punched a hole in its chest with his left claws. He retracted his claws and watched as the Vehicon fell together and leaked out.

His small victory was quickly interrupted when one of the Vehicons' lasers managed to land a hit on his left arm, earning an exclamation from the Seeker. He continued to dodge the other lasers until he found a good place to stand. He lifted his right arm and aimed at the closest Vehicon. He clenched his fist and fired the missile. This Vehicon managed to dodge the attack, however, getting out of the way just in time to not get caught in the explosion. The missile kept going until it hit the glacier, exploding.

The explosion was the start of a chain reaction. The glacier started to break up and make the ground below them rumble. Starscream struggled to keep himself on his pedes, and he wasn't the only one. The Vehicons fell onto the snow, unable to keep their balance. Starscream watched as the crack in the glacial wall expanded and started to create a crevice, heading directly towards Optimus and Dreadwing!

"Prime! Look out!" Starscream called, managing to avoid falling into the crevice himself.

Dreadwing jumped out of the way, but Optimus was not so lucky. Just as he was about to dodge, Dreadwing shot him with his quickly drawn cannon, making Optimus gain over-balance and fall to the ground. Only, the ground disappeared below him, making him fall into the crevice. Starscream shrieked and ran over to the crevice.

"Prime!" Starscream shouted and reached down just in time to catch Optimus' servo, preventing him from falling.

"Starscream..." Optimus grumbled under his battle mask.

"Don't worry, Prime, I'll get you out of there," Starscream promised, and pulled and pulled, but Optimus was so heavy, he struggled just keeping him from falling.

Suddenly, someone pulled Starscream by the leg, making him shriek. He felt himself getting pulled away from the crevice, loosening his grip around Prime.

"No, let go!" Starscream shrieked as he felt Optimus' servos slipping from his own. "Prime!"

"Starscream!" Optimus shouted, knowing it was Dreadwing who was pulling Starscream's legs.

Starscream couldn't hold on any longer. Dreadwing pulled him away from the crevice, the small Seeker losing his grip on Optimus' servos. Optimus fell into the crevice with a roar, watching as Starscream disappeared from his view point while screaming.

Not again! Optimus thought anxiously just before he hit the bottom. Not again...

Starscream screamed as he was being pulled away from the crevice and lost the Autobot commander, the only one who could really protect him from his enemies.

"Prime! No!" the Seeker screamed, but silenced as he felt something hard pressed against his helm.

"Rise, traitor," Dreadwing grumbled. "Or I will blow you to bits."

Gulping, Starscream oblieged, slowly getting onto his legs and pedes.

"Turn around."

Starscream did as he said. Without warning, a pair of regular stasis cuffs was put onto his wrists. Apparently Dreadwing hadn't seen the other pair of cufflets, or perhaps he simply wanted Starscream to have as little servo movement as possible. Starscream stared from his wrists to the much larger Seeker.

"What...are you going to do with me?" Starscream asked anxiously.

"Were it up to me, I would end this here and now," Dreadwing explained ominously. "But it is my duty as First Lieutenant to Megatron to render all traitors to my lord and master for due punishment."

"First Lieutenant?" Starscream exclaimed surprised. "That was my position!"

"Yes, was," Dreadwing repeated. "But no longer. You two," he added to the remaining Vehicons, "make sure he doesn't try anything funny."

"Yes, Commander Dreadwing," the Vehicons replied in unison, pointing their blasters in Starscream's back.

"Come on," Dreadwing commanded, leading Starscream and the Vehicons away from the crevice - and Optimus. "The relic must still be on this continent somewhere. We will keep searching until we find it."

Starscream let out a whine, temporarily forgetting he was held captive.

This could prove to be a really long day.

Not long after having fallen in, Optimus regained consciousness from the bottom of the crevice. He got up and looked up and from side to side, trying to figure out how to get out of the crevice. Looking behind him, he noticed the crevice was slightly lower level in that end. Perhaps it lead to the ice valley that had been just below their location? He knew only one way to get out of the crevice.

Optimus transformed his arms into ion cannons and started blasting the lower wall in the direction he hoped would be the way out. He kept his distance and his aim straight, to avoid simply burying himself under tons of snow and ice.

His improvisation did the trick. The lower end of the crevice started to collapse, but it didn't seem to have major effect on the rest of the crevice, though some chunks of ice and snow did fall here and there. He watched as an opening appeared behind the wall and started climbing out of his ice prison.

Optimus saw in the far distance a couple of small dots, just as they disappeared from his view range. Those must be Dreadwing, the Vehicons...and Starscream, he remembered with dread.

If the Decepticons got Starscream back onto their warship, the location of the Autobots' base would be compromised. And so would the human population of Jasper, Nevada, which was located nearby.

As he got out onto the open field of snow, Optimus transformed into his truck mode and started driving in the direction that Starscream was taken, hoping the Seeker would hold on until the Autobot would get there.

Most of the journey through the frigid wasteland went in silence. Starscream considered striking up a conversation with his captors, but was unsure if it would be a good idea. He didn't know what would set off Dreadwing, after all. Talking about his deceased twin Skyquake was definitely out of the question. As was talking about the fact that Skyquake was wandering around somewhere in the Shadowzone as an undead Terrorcon.

"So..." Starscream began, having thought of something. "I have heard you were once captain of a great Seeker army. You wouldn't happen to have been part of a group called the Energon Seekers once, have you?"

"My past is none of your business, traitor," Dreadwing growled.

Okay, seems this mech wasn't very keen on small talk. Better shut up then.

"You know," Starscream continued, despite knowing better, "I was once Air Commander of an armada of Energon Seekers."

"Really," Dreadwing replied absentminded while looking at the radar, still not interested in the Seeker's own past.

"Yes, so, I was just wondering if you may have been one of those while I was in command..."

"I may," Dreadwing said, "have been part of such a faction once. But even if I did, it would never have been under your command."

Starscream sighed. Well, he tried. He could have been a Decepticon his entire existence, who knew.

Eventually they made their way to the edge of a cliff. Out on the snowy field far below them, about a kilometer away, Starscream spotted something that looked like a human military base.

"As I suspected," Starscream said lowly. "Humans. That must be where the relic is located."

"Prepare for departure," Dreadwing commanded the two Vehicons.

The Vehicons transformed to jet mode but hovered in the air. Starscream looked confused from side to side.

"Eh? Are you going to leave me behind here?" Starscream asked hopefully.

"Here's a hint," Dreadwing said.

The big Seeker pushed the small Seeker down the cliff. Starscream screamed and tried instinctively to transform, but his chestplates only moved. Because of those damn stasis cuffs - both of them - he could not save himself from the fall. Luckily he fell into a pile of snow, leaving a Starscream-shaped hole in the snow as Dreadwing and the Vehicons descended in flight mode. As Starscream got out from the pile, he shook his head and entire frame in coldness, feeling his face blushing from the cold, trying to keep itself warm.

"You didn't have to be so rough," Starscream snarled before Dreadwing hauled him back onto his pedes by grabbing his back. Starscream let out a shriek of surprise and sighed as the Vehicons' laser guns once again pointed into his back.

"Get a move on," Dreadwing commanded.

They continued walking towards the human facility, Starscream dreading what would happen once they arrived.

After ten minutes of driving, Optimus eventually made it to the edge of a cliff. The blizzard was getting stronger and night had begun to fall. It was uncertain whether it was just here in the arctic or it was also becoming evening back in Nevada. Either way, it would make Optimus' search for Starscream and the relic more difficult, and increasingly hazardous due to the cold temperatures. Luckily the temperatures weren't extreme enough to affect his biology. Hopefully Starscream would be fine as well.

As he reached the cliff, he transformed to robot mode and scouted the area below. It didn't take long for him to spot the four figures making their way towards...a human facility?!

"No..." Optimus said anxiously and opened a comm. link. "Rafael, has Agent Fowler regained consciousness?"

"I'm here, Prime," Agent Fowler replied through the comm. "What's the situation?"

"I require access to a certain facility at my current coordinates. Starscream has been taken captive, and Decepticons are currently on their way here."

"I'll make a call, hang on!"

With Starscream walking with them, it took about half an hour before they reached the human facility. Just before they entered the grounds, several helicopters started taking off. It seemed the humans had noticed the Decepticons' arrival and were retreating.

"The humans are escaping," Dreadwing noted as the helicopters took off. "Good. It will make everything easier."

Starscream wondered. How did the humans manage to notice them coming their way in time to evacuate the entire base? Not to mention that it would have been more likely that the humans would have attacked the trespassers, rather than running away. He had had enough experience with humans to know this.

Starscream didn't get to wonder for long as Dreadwing pushed forward, the Vehicons pushing the small Seeker in the back.

"Search the area," Dreadwing commanded the two Vehicons while he stayed behind with the smaller Seeker.

Starscream looked around, hoping there was something that would somehow allow him to escape, but found nothing.

"Commander Dreadwing, over here," the Vehicon called shortly later.

Dreadwing pulled Starscream with him to the calling Vehicon. The other one joined them as they looked inside the building. A large chunk of ice was placed inside, with something dark trapped inside.

"The relic," Dreadwing remarked and left Starscream to the Vehicons. "It was here all along."

"I would advice you to step away from that relic, Dreadwing," a deep, familiar voice sounded from the outside. The Fliers turned around and saw Optimus Prime, back and looking angrier than ever. "And to release my comrade."

Starscream felt his spark leaping with joy over having been found by Optimus and even being called his comrade! He was going to be saved now!

"'Comrade'," Dreadwing repeated with a hint of disgust in his voice. "How odd to use that word for someone like him. I would advice you to back off and let me retrieve what rightfully belongs to Lord Megatron."

Dreadwing pulled out his cannon and aimed it at Optimus, who activated his ion cannon. "You two," Dreadwing said to the Vehicons, "guard the prisoner!"

Dreadwing started shooting as he charged out of the building and engaged Optimus again in combat. The Vehicons stood behind and watched, keeping a close optic on Starscream.

Starscream was unsure what to do or think in this situation now. Optimus was busy dealing with Dreadwing to deal with the Vehicons, and Starscream himself wasn't exactly in the position to fight back. Or was he? He was unable to access neither his lasers nor his missiles, but he still had his claws. It would be difficult to attack with the stasis cuffs on, but not impossible. He side-eyed one of the Vehicons and waited for the right time.

Without warning, Starscream turned and clawed the Vehicon on his left, killing it in one hit. The other Vehicon got surprised and started firing at the Seeker at close range. But Starscream managed to get behind the dead Vehicon and use it as a shield, then throwing it into the other Vehicon. While down, Starscream went over and punched a hole in the other Vehicon's chest with both his claws stretched. The Vehicon twisted and cramped before going limp. Starscream retracted his Energon stained claws and cackled at the sight.

"Never underestimate a Seeker," Starscream hissed at the dead Vehicons, "even if he is cuffed. Now, how about that relic?"

Looking over his shoulder once to check if Optimus and Dreadwing were still fighting - which they were, fiercely - he steered towards the relic encased in ice. He studied the chunk of ice. It was difficult to identify the relic because of the prism effect of the ice, but it looked familiar somehow.

"Let's get you out of there," Starscream said to the relic and lifted his cuffed servos into the air.

Starscream started beating the ice with the hard stasis cuffs and cackled merrily while doing so. Knowing almost nothing could match the hardness of stasis cuffs, they did the perfect job of shattering the ice and eventually freed the relic. As Starscream brushed some small chunks away from the relic, the object's design became more clear.

"Armor," Starscream identified it as, "of Decepticon origin." It seemed the Decepticon scientists had made many weapons and devices and what not. Starscream had heard of a particular armor said to be made by Decepticons, made of the strongest metal alloy in the entire universe, making it practically invulnerable. It was said to even be impenetrable by the savage Scraplets, making it ideal to deal with infestations as well!

Without further hesitation, Starscream placed the armor onto his torso and clicked it in place. The armor began transforming around him, covering his legs, bent down wings, torso, and reached over his arms. He watched with delight as the stasis cuffs placed by Dreadwing shattered into pieces by the armor as it covered his servos, freeing his wrists. He felt as the armor expanded, lifting him above ground what he normally reached in height, until the armor ended with covering his shoulder and head, a glass-like helm letting him see out of the armor. A blue light turned on inside the helm, allowing him to see in the dark.

Starscream barked a laugh and decided to test his new toy. He leapt into the air as high as he could, feeling how he practically flew into the sky, only to land on the ground seconds later, pedes planted firmly on the ground, which rumbled upon his landing. A wounded Optimus and a near-triumphant Dreadwing both ceased their fighting to gaze at the giant armored Seeker.

"The Apex Armor," Optimus said in wonder, as well as concern over what Starscream might do with this armor in his possession.

Starscream looked down at himself the best he could and chuckled. "A perfect fit!" he declared pleased.

Starscream glared gleefully at Dreadwing and Optimus, who got up quickly, watching and waiting for the armored Seeker's next action. Dreadwing decided not to wait for Starscream to take action.

"You dare to claim that which rightfully belongs to Lord Megatron?!" Dreadwing exclaimed while pointing his sword at Starscream.

Starscream chuckled by the Decepticon's accusation. "And what do you intend to do about it," he said and clenched his new giant servos, "commander?"

Dreadwing charged at the armored Seeker with his sword out. Starscream smirked, deciding to not do anything. He wanted to see if this armor was as good as it was fabled to be.

Dreadwing swung his sword at the armor, but it did not even scratch it. Starscream laughed merrily at the armor's endurance, brushing the hit spot and swung his arm to the right, sending Dreadwing flying some twenty meters away.

"Not so big and strong now, are you?" Starscream burst out. "I haven't had this much fun since I-" He paused, remembering Optimus was nearby. "...well, since I came online!" He went over and picked up an excavator. "Allow me to reunite you with your beloved twin!"

Starscream threw the excavator at Dreadwing, but this one managed to dodge in time and started shooting with his laser cannon, but it also had no effect on the armor. He drew his machine gun and started blasting away at the armor, but it didn't leave as much as a dent.

Optimus got back onto his legs and started shooting at Dreadwing, seeing as Starscream was focusing on the Decepticon. Realizing he was both outnumbered and - because of the Apex Armor - hopelessly outstrengthed, Dreadwing growled and considered running away. But he couldn't. Megatron would never forgive him if he simply ran away without the relic, without even trying. He wasn't Starscream. He wasn't a coward. He was a warrior. And a warrior had to fulfill his duty to his lord.

"I'd rather die than let the relic in Autobot possession!" Dreadwing roared as he charged Optimus with his sword out. If he couldn't take out Starscream in the Apex Armor, the least he could do was take down the leader of the Autobots. But Dreadwing did not know Starscream.

"As you wish!" the armored Seeker exclaimed.

Starscream interfered and punched Dreadwing before he could reach Prime, then proceeded to grab the Decepticon's leg and threw him into the sky. Dreadwing was still unwilling to give up on the relic and transformed midair, zooming back towards the ground, jet cannons shooting lasers at the armored Seeker and Optimus. Even those were ineffective against the Apex Armor, and Optimus continued to dodge. Perhaps Dreadwing should attempt to use an explosive?

As he reached the ground, he transformed to robot mode and landed on the armor just in the right angle to place a proximity bomb onto the back of the armored Seeker. Doing a few somersaults upon landing on the ground, Dreadwing turned around and pulled forth a detonator, turning it on.

Starscream shrieked as a loud beeping sounded on his back. He started to panic, and Optimus jumped out of the way to dodge the explosion, hoping the armor was thick enough to hold against the explosion. A large smoke cloud covered the base, making Starscream's fate uncertain.

As the smoke cloud dispersed, however, Optimus saw to his relief - and Dreadwing to his horror - that Starscream was still standing, alive, and the armor still whole and unscathed. Upon the discovery of his unharmed self, Starscream laughed out loud.

"Not only am I intelligent," Starscream roared, "I - AM - INVINCIBLE!"

Optimus saw with concern how Starscream side-eyed the Prime with an expression he did not like. Surely the Seeker wasn't thinking of double-crossing the Autobot?

The glance was brief, however, as Starscream returned his attention to Dreadwing and ran towards the Decepticon, who began to run out of ideas to fight against the seemingly invincible Seeker.

"Dreadwing!" Optimus called out, stopping Starscream in his tracks. "Return to Megatron and let us leave with the Apex Armor, or I cannot guarantee your survival!"

Starscream stood by, apparently awaiting the okay from Optimus to continue beating up Dreadwing like Megatron used to beat up Starscream. Dreadwing growled while standing with his sword out, thinking.

"I will rather join the AllSpark than let you walk away with this relic!" Dreadwing shouted, but seemed reluctant to fight any further, knowing his situation was hopeless. "And even if it was not for the armor, we still have other unfinished matters."

Optimus retracted his weapons and held out his arms. "I bore Skyquake no malice," the Autobot leader spoke. "And I regret the role I played in his demise. So I will appeal to you as I did your twin. Turn your back on the Decepticon cause and help us end this war. For his sake, and for all who have fallen."

Dreadwing didn't respond, simply looked from Prime to Starscream and back, thinking, contemplating. Starscream stood straight, trying to appear non-threatening - which was difficult with that huge armor on - getting tired of this endless battle. Dreadwing knew his chances were slim, probably even non-existing here. Had Starscream been alone - Pit, had Optimus even worked together with him to fight the small Seeker, he could have probably at least launched several explosives to trap Starscream in the ocean below them. But with Optimus in the way, he was unable to perform this movement. There was no way he could win this fight.

And despite his honor, his duty to Megatron, he imagined Megatron would be more cross losing yet another second-in-command than losing an item they could probably win back later, if they managed to locate the Autobot base somehow.

Dreadwing sighed and made his decision. He made a few movements with his sword, followed by him putting it back in its sheath on his back, regrettably surrendering victory to the Autobots.

"I will terminate you the next time we meet," Dreadwing growled and transformed to jet mode, taking off into the dark sky, heading towards wherever the Nemesis was currently flying.

Optimus and Starscream turned to look in the direction which Dreadwing flew, and moped. A giant Aurora Australis danced along the sky before them, like a stream of sparks and Energon, lighting up the sky and the ground. It had become nighttime in the Antarctic. Optimus gazed at Starscream, who continued to stare at the sky with longing.

"You did well today, Starscream," Optimus praised, earning the Seeker's attention. "It has been a long day. Perhaps we should call the base for a GroundBridge so we can return, rest and recover."

"I think that would be a good idea," Starscream said and smiled. He looked down and pressed a button on the armor's chest, which made it initiate the slow transformation back into a small disc. While he was doing that, Optimus called the base.

"Rafael, we require a GroundBridge back to base," Optimus said.

"On it," Rafael's voice sounded, strangely anxious for some reason.

A few seconds later, a green GroundBridge portal appeared in front of the two mechs. As Starscream's armor's transformation was finished, he gazed at Optimus, who gazed back.

"I think I'll call it a day, what do you think?" Starscream said with a chuckle.

"You have earned your rest," Optimus replied. "Let us go home."

But as they stepped through the GroundBridge portal, they learned the day was still far from over.

There was a crisis back in the Autobot base.

A crisis that changed everything.

Everything for Starscream.

Chapter Text

Optimus knew something was wrong when he called Raf to request a GroundBridge back to base. He knew from the tone of his voice as he responded to the request. But he had not expected the sight that met him and Starscream as they came out on the other side of the portal.

On an operating table by the medbay, Bulkhead lay with a lot of cables attached to him. Ratchet scurried around, trying desperately to get the Wrecker stabilized.

"What happened?" Optimus asked concerned, looking around at the other Autobots and humans for answers. All had the same anxious and fearful expressions. Miko so more than the others, understandably, as it was her partner laying hurt on the table. She was sitting with her back against the railings on the upper floor, facing away from Bulkhead. She didn't want to see him this way, but at the same time she didn't want to leave his side.

"He was exposed to Tox-En," Arcee explained, "and then he was attacked by an Insecticon called Hardshell."

"An Insecticon?" Starscream remarked with dread. "That must have been ugly."

"You didn't see how he was like when we came back," Arcee said. "It was horrifying. Especially to Miko."

"Yeah, when we came back, Ratchet was literally trying to shock him back to life," Bumblebee bleeped, remembering the horrible scene that met their return.

As Agent Fowler took a call, Starscream looked from side to side and spotted a table that had something lying on it, seemingly a relic. He went over to it.

"So, it seems we aren't the only ones who were successful in retrieving a relic..." He trailed off and paused as he put down the Apex Armor next to the other relic, which he recognized as a Phase Shifter.

As he put down the relic, his gaze fell onto his servos. His spark skipped a beat. There were no stasis cuffs on his wrists. Not even the ones attached by an energy string. Both sets of stasis cuffs had been torn off by the Apex Armor!

Starscream turned and looked at the other Autobots. It didn't seem like they had heard what he had just said. They were all focused on Bulkhead and his dire situation. None of them knew that the Seeker was right now free and unrestrained - free to escape if he felt like it.

Starscream didn't move. He didn't speak. He just looked from the Autobots to his wrists and back, wondering how long it would take them to realize he wasn't bound any longer. He wondered if he should even wait for them to find out. He looked around, trying to think of a way to get out.

"Yes, sir," Agent Fowler said, ending his phone call. "Turns out highlights of your Big Apple adventure got caught on security tape. The pentagon needs me to run interference with the mayor." The human looked intently at the wounded Bulkhead, still being examined thoroughly by Ratchet. "I tried to stall, but..."

"Go where you are needed, Agent Fowler," Optimus said calmly. "There is nothing more you can do for Bulkhead at this time."

Agent Fowler turned to leave. "Keep me posted, Prime." He went over to the elevator, catching Starscream's attention. "I mean it."

The man went into the elevator, which closed and took him up, probably to the top of the cliff the base was situated on. The action got Starscream thinking.

Of course, the Seeker thought intently. The elevator. I can access it by myself, take me to the top outside. I can leave without anyone noticing.

"Wheeljack's on his way," Arcee informed after Agent Fowler left.

This caught the attention of both Starscream and Miko, the latter standing up and staring at the bots in disbelief.

"I can't believe you're giving up on Bulkhead already!" Miko exclaimed upset.

"All I meant was Wheeljack and Bulkhead are close," Arcee clarified. "I thought he'd wanna be here."

"I know what you meant," Miko snapped and turned around, heading for the human-sized elevator Agent Fowler had gone through.

"Miko, where are you going?" Optimus asked with concern.

"Home," Miko hissed. "While Agent Fowler can still give me a lift."

Miko went into the elevator and glared at the bots before it closed, bringing her up. Arcee was about to go after her when Optimus laid a servo on her shoulder.

"She needs time," Optimus said calmly.

The bots returned to monitoring Bulkhead, still ignoring Starscream. Starscream gazed from the Autobots to the human elevator to the Autobot elevator, just a little distance away from the railings. He remembered it from watching Ratchet going up to get his missiles, knowing it was how they got to the top of the cliff they lived in. It would be the path he had to take to get to the topside, allowing him to take off into flight.

But he hesitated, knowing the Autobots would see the action as betrayal, having told him time after time that they hadn't cleared him for flight yet. There was something else he remembered, though. He remembered the last time he had flown. Back during the time he, Arcee and Jack had gone to rescue Optimus from the Decepticon warship.

After having formed their plan of allowing Starscream to take Jack and Arcee with him to find the warship, they had taken the very same elevator up to the top as Ratchet had when retrieving the Seeker's missiles, Starscream now remembered. As they had made it to the top, they all three walked to the platform in the center of the plateau. Arcee and Jack had stepped back a bit, giving the Seeker some space to transform. With a deep vent, Starscream had assumed jet mode, feeling eager to get back into the air. But before he could leave prematurely, Arcee had jumped onto his back, reminding him not to try to escape. Starscream had then opened his cockpit, hovering a bit over the ground, allowing Jack to go inside. As Jack had seated himself and fastened the seat belt (which had come with the alternate mode when Starscream had scanned his Earth mode), Starscream had closed the cockpit again. Telling the both of them to hang on tight, he had then fired up his thrusters and launched himself into the sky at high speed, almost knocking Arcee off in the process. Both the Autobot and the human had been surprised at the incredible speed Starscream could fly at, though he had told them it wasn't even near his top speed.

It had been fun, aside from his passengers, that is. It had become much less fun as they had entered the warship, even if the mission had been successful. However, what he remembered most clearly from the mission was when they returned to the Autobot base. Despite having proven he had not flown away or tried to gut either of his new comrades, Arcee had put new stasis cuffs on the Seeker's wrists, accusing him of not being trustworthy enough yet. The memory had stuck itself fast into his processor. He knew they would do the same now if they discovered he was currently not restrained.

He could not have that. He could not let such an opportunity alone. He could not find himself free and not do anything about it. He could not let the Autobots take his newfound freedom away so easily again. He had to leave. He had to think. He had to fly.

Taking a deep vent, Starscream gazed once again from the distraught Autobots to the big elevator. He had made his decision.

Keeping an optic on the Autobots to make sure they didn't notice what he was doing, the Seeker carefully and silently tiptoed his way across the floor towards the elevator. As he made it all the way, he looked one last time over his shoulder. The Autobots were still focusing on Bulkhead. Good.

Starscream pushed the button beside the elevator, opening it. The doors retracted with a loud swishing sound. Starscream quickly stepped inside and turned to look at the outside with a beating spark. First now did the Autobots look up and realized what he was doing.

"Starscream?" Arcee remarked, spotting the Seeker in the elevator. "What are you..."

Before he could hear the end of her sentence, Starscream, staring at the Autobots with a blank expression, pressed the button on the inside of the elevator, closing the doors, taking him up.

His spark beat accelerated from the action. He felt his frame tremble, knowing he was in deep trouble. But he couldn't turn back. Not now. The dice had been cast. He had reached the point of no return.

A minute after pushing the button, the elevator doors opened up, and Starscream stepped outside, just in time before the doors closed and the elevator went down again. In two minutes, the Autobots would arrive at his location and try to stop him. He had to get away before then.

Starscream stepped out on the platform and looked up. A helicopter had taken off and was flying away. Agent Fowler, surely, with Miko as a passenger. It was late afternoon, but it wouldn't be long before sunset.

Starscream looked down at the platform in the center of the plateau. There was a jet parked in the left end, also belonging to Agent Fowler, the same jet that had been scanned by Skyquake and Dreadwing. Starscream went over to it and inspected it. It was larger than his own jet mode, naturally. It was a faint bluish gray color and looked robust. Dents and scratches were marked across the plating, having survived several sky battles.

Starscream laid a servo on the jet's frame. Soon, it would be his turn to fly again. He smirked by the thought.

A faint blue glow caught his attention and looked down at his left arm. There was a small Energon stain on his armor. He wiped the stain with his servo. It was still there. He was apparently wounded. Probably got shot by one of those Vehicons in the Antarctic. It had apparently been a small wound, since he first noticed now that he was leaking. He wiped his stained servo off on the jet, not wanting his own servo to get sticky. He would deal with it later.

Starscream stepped to the center of the platform and stared into the sky, his spark beating in a fast pace in anticipation. He took a deep vent and exhaled.

Suddenly the elevator door opened, and out stepped Arcee and Optimus.

"Starscream!" one of them shouted, Starscream was unsure who.

Starscream made a quick decision and transformed to jet mode, firing up his thrusters as Arcee and Optimus began running towards him. Just as they reached him, he blasted off, launching himself into the sky at full speed, leaving behind the two shocked Autobots.

As Starscream soared through the sky, he let out shrieks of first disbelief, then relief, then joy.

"I did it!" Starscream exclaimed to himself as he slowed down, knowing he had escaped the Autobots. "I did it! I'm free!"

The Seeker expressed his joy of being in the sky again by spinning, making loops and other aerial tricks, going all out of not having flown like that for months now. He ascended higher into the sky, above the clouds, feeling the water washing away dirt and Energon from his missions today. As he reached the top, watching the sun beginning to set, he switched to robot mode and initiated a free fall.

Free falls were his favorite part of flying. Letting himself fall, knowing he had the ability to get himself back up before hitting the ground, that was a thrill a Grounder would never understand. He closed his optics and felt the wind blow beneath him. He turned to face against the ground and felt the wind enter his ventilation system, cooling his interior. He spread out his arms and legs, feeling how it slowed his fall slightly. This was life. This was what he had longed for all these months while trapped in the Autobot base, trapped in robot mode.

He opened his optics in slits and saw he was nearing the ground. Just two hundred meters before hitting the ground, he initiated jet mode, turned upwards and fired his thrusters, having been two meters from hitting the ground, and launched back into the air.

Starscream loved free falls. He even liked initiaing one when simply switching from robot mode to jet mode. He liked transforming with style. He hadn't been the Air Commander of the Energon Seekers for nothing, after all. His aerial skills was one of the many reasons the other Seekers had admired and idolized Starscream, hereamong Jetfire. That Seeker could fly like a boss, that's what they used to say while Red Wing was still in command.

Starscream could fly faster than all the other Energon Seekers, he had complete control over his flight mode, he could do all sorts of impressive tricks in the air, he had been powerful, very intelligent, and he was able to keep his head cool in situations most other flight frames couldn't. Not to mention that he was very good with words, having the diplomatic skills worthy of even a Prime. Even in battle he had had great firepower and a pair of one-handed Energon swords he was very skilled in using. All these were reasons for Red Wing to hand over the post of Air Commander to Starscream. No one had been against his choice. Starscream had been a prodigy, excelling in almost every part that made him a Seeker. Considering he was a mere Cold Construct, his prowess and power was amazing.

Thinking about his own power, Starscream suddenly Sunstorm came to mind. Sunstorm was also a very powerful and dangerous Seeker, due to his strange ability to burn anyone he touched and destroy any machinery around him. He had been created with this ability, perhaps due to a defect upon spark insertion or frame construction. Sunstorm had meant differently, however. He believed he had been blessed by Primus himself with an ability so powerful that he was practically invulnerable and impossible to beat in battle. The yellow Flier had devoted himself entirely to Primus and his beliefs, not having any problem in leaving Cybertron as he was shunned by pretty much everyone, even Starscream himself.

Starscream hadn't been entirely voluntary in the banishing of Sunstorm from the Energon Seekers, though. He had a special relationship with Sunstorm that few Cold Constructs had in similarity.

Sunstorm was Starscream's brother.

The two of them were Spark Twins, much like Skyquake and Dreadwing. Upon creation of a Branched Spark, it split into two sparks, one going into the body that became Starscream, the other going into the one that became Sunstorm. They were created in the same production line, along with Thundercracker, Skywarp and many other Seekers. Nobody knew the two of them were twins, no one but themselves. After all, they all looked alike, so no one would suspect any of them to be related.

But because of their binary bond, Starscream and Sunstorm knew they were part of the same spark. They couldn't exactly feel each other's pain, but they could feel if one of them was in mortal danger, as well as if - hypothetically - one of them had his spark extinguished. Starscream had not felt his brother's spark for many eons, but he knew he was still alive. He had not seen his brother for many eons either, even before the war started, and assumed Sunstorm had no idea of the war waged on Cybertron. Starscream wondered if Sunstorm knew Starscream had switched bodies, as he was unsure if the binary bond was still as strong when his spark had transfered from his old body to this new Vehicon-based body.

Starscream mentally shook his head and decided to land on a plateau far from the Autobot base. What was he aiming for here? While it had felt good to get out of the cliff and into the sky, it couldn't have been the sole reason for him to have escaped the Autobots. He had to rethink his situation. He had to remember why he was doing this.

After a long moment of thinking, he remembered why he had wanted so badly to get back into the sky. He was still missing his belongings on the Nemesis. He looked down at himself. With his transformation back in his possession, he could once again access his lasers, giving him a more efficient way of defending himself. He also still had his missiles attached to his arms. And, of course, if it came to close combat, he had his extremely long claws, recently sharpened from letting out his frustrations on a metal dummy in the training room. He would probably manage himself in a fight.

But he knew it wouldn't be so easy. There was an army of Vehicons onboard the warship, as well as an armada of Insecticons, which he had seen himself were also roaming the inside of the ship. The Vehicons were easy prey, the Insecticons, not so much.

"If I am to reach my quarters, I will need to sneak onboard," he said to himself, crossing his arms. "But how to use stealth with the increase in staff...?"

Suddenly, his comm. pinged, startling him. His comm. had not pinged for several months now. He put a digit to his audio receptor and answered the comm.

"Who is this?" Starscream asked suspiciously.

"Ah, Starscream, so good to hear your voice again!" a small, familiar voice sounded through the comm. "I thought I'd never get in touch with you again!"

"Swindle?!" Starscream exclaimed, recognizing the voice. "How did you get on my frequency?"

"I placed a little 'friend' on your back when last we met," Swindle explained. "I have heard everything you've said since, and if I am not mistaken, you are currently free and flying, am I right?"

Starscream stiffened by the information and instinctively reached a servo behind his back and felt it. He felt a small bump at the small of his back and pulled at it. As he got it off, he brought the servo to his front to examine the thing. It seemed to be some sort of tiny tracking device and his spark skipped a beat.

"You've been tracking my position all this time?!" Starscream exclaimed in fright, knowing the Autobot base location may be in the possession of Swindle.

"No, not your locaiton, just your audio," Swindle said in what was supposed to be a reassuring tone. "I have no idea where your little Autobot friends live. I've been trying to contact you several times, but it seems Decepticons can't just call someone in the Autobot base without an invite, can they?"

"Perhaps not," Starscream said, relieved he hadn't compromised the Autobot base after all. "Anyway, what do you want from me, Swindle?"

"I want you to bring an Energon crystal to my current coordinates, and I will give you something in return, something that will help you reach your quarters without being seen by the Decepticons."

Starscream flinched again. "Oh, you heard that, did you?" he said lowly. "Fine, what size do you want?"

"As long as I can carry it and I can't swallow it whole, any size will do," Swindle replied joyfully through the comm. "Do we have a deal?"

Starscream looked up and gazed at the horizon. "I believe we do."

As the comm. ended and Starscream received the coordinates to Swindle's current location, he leapt off the cliff, let himself fall a bit before turning upwards and transformed to jet mode, blasting into the sky and set off in a random direction.

His ability to find Energon wasn't as good as it used to, having switched to a Vehicon body and everything, but he was still pretty good at locating it. Memories and programmings from Starscream's old body's processor had been copied into his spark, thus how he only needed to have his spark transplanted into his new body when his old one had become a total wreck during the fall of Cybertron. He shuddered a bit by the memory.

After getting labelled as a fugitive by Megatron, Starscream had been in hiding, fighting both Autobots and Decepticons from a neutral line. The Seeker had been on his own during the time, but he had managed to offline many 'Bots and 'Cons in the process. Eventually he had found an opportunity in the captured Grimlock, held in one of Shockwave's Space Bridge towers. Starscream had broken into the tower, taken out Shockwave's underlings and freed the Dinobot. Grimlock, however, had not been very eager to help Starscream fight the Decepticons, and the big brute had grabbed the Seeker and thrown him into the control panel, freeing the Dinobot and knocking the Seeker unconscious.

When Starscream had then regained consciousness, he felt a rumbling everywhere around him. He looked up and found the entire tower collapsing on top of him. Before he could get up and out of there, he had been buried underneath the debris and lost consciousness again.

Next time Starscream regained consciousness, his entire body was shattered, broken and wrecked. He could barely move, and he could feel that even if he tried, he would have probably fallen apart. Despite the fact he had still been a fugitive, a traitor and a war criminal, he had screamed out for help, for he knew he would not be able to survive by himself.

After many cycles, someone answered his call. It had been Shockwave himself who found the wrecked Starscream, the Cyclops having lost his right arm. The two mechs had then made a deal. Shockwave would save Starscream's chassis if Starscream helped replace Shockwave's arm, as he only had his cannon arm left, leaving him unable to do scientific work anymore. Starscream had agreed to the deal, and Shockwave had then lifted the Seeker out from the debris.

Shockwave had proceeded to bring Starscream to one of his offsite laboratories nearby. In there, he had placed Starscream on an operating table but found his body too shambled to save. So instead, Shockwave had brought out a blank Vehicon Protoform, opened it and removed its own spark. He then put Starscream in stasis and removed the Seeker's spark, carefully transplanting it into the blank Protoform. Afterwards, he had added a cube of Energon to the Protoform, which then proceeded to take the shape of a smaller, weaker and less competent Starscream, similar to his old form yet more similar to a Vehicon. His coding allowed him to become bigger than normal Vehicons, however, as well as changing his color scheme to his basic silver color, unlike the Vehicons' mostly dark purple color scheme.

When Starscream had woken up again, he had been glad to find himself still alive, though not so glad to find himself in another body, as well as his own body completely in ruin. He had been surprised he was still alive, considering the condition the body had been in.

As promised, Starscream had then proceeded to help Shockwave replace his right arm, allowing him to continue his scientific work. Shockwave had then commented on how it was too bad Starscream had retired from his scientific career to work in the military field. Too bad for the Seeker, that is.

Afterwards, Starscream stayed with Shockwave for a bit, until Shockwave ended up calling Megatron and telling him about Starscream's return. As Starscream then returned to Megatron's side as the Decepticon warship ventured into the cosmos, chasing after the Autobot ship, steering towards Planet Earth, the Seeker swore eternal allegiance to Megatron, and the warlord allowed him to live. Before they had reached the Earth, however, Shockwave had called Starscream and requested him to return to Cybertron to assist him in working on the new Space Bridge. Starscream had done so, leaving his Trine Mates, Megatron and the other Decepticons behind on the Nemesis, not to see them again until he arrived on Earth more than a decade later. By that time, the Combaticons, Stunticons and his Trine Mates had left the war and were roaming the Earth somewhere.

Starscream snapped out of his thoughts when something beeped on his radar. An Energon signal, and a strong one at that. He followed the signal to a mine accessible from the sky, with a large hole in the ceiling. He transformed and landed by the edge of the entrance and gazed down. There were several Vehicons wandering around, mining Energon, converting it, putting the liquid form into cubes, stacking the cubes, keeping lookout and patrolling.

"There must be tons of Energon down there," Starscream said quietly to himself, making a plan in his head. "Surely they wouldn't mind if I took a single crystal...or even a cube..."

Starscream was about to descend when an explosion sounded below him. He yelped and jumped backwards, away from the cavern. Gunfire sounded as well as more tiny explosions and shouting, all from the cavern below. He dared peek over the edge into the mine. He gasped as he saw Wheeljack running around, slicing up Vehicons and bashing against Energon cubes and crystals. He saw Vehicons carelessly shooting after the invading Autobot.

"Idiots," Starscream hissed. "You'll blow up the mine if you continue attacking like that."

It was risky, but Energon was on shortage on the planet, and Starscream doubted he would find Energon this easy again so quickly. He had to enter the mine, no matter if to get a crystal or a cube. He just had to get in and get out again.

Taking a deep vent, he made his decision and jumped into the mine. He found himself in the crossfire of the clumsy Vehicons and sought cover behind a stalagmite, scanning the area for an opening. He saw Wheeljack just a little distance ahead, having a field day with the Vehicons. He looked to his left and saw a large stack of Energon cubes, ready to get packed. A cube would be easier to get than a crystal, as well as easier to carry in his cockpit.

Noting the Vehicons all had their attention on Wheeljack, Starscream rushed out of his hiding place over to the Energon cubes. He didn't dwell on which to pick, he just grabbed the one closest to him and stepped out in the open. He needed to be under the hole in the ceiling if he wanted to get out again quickly.

"Starscream?" he heard a small, squeaky familiar voice sound below him and stiffened.

Starscream saw in the corner of his optic the tiny form of Miko, scurrying around among the Energon cubes. What was she doing here, of all places?!

"Miko?!" Starscream exclaimed but silenced as Wheeljack caught sight of the Seeker.

Starting to panic, Starscream initiated jet mode, tucking the Energon cube safely in his cockpit and aimed upwards, towards the ceiling hole.

"Starscream, no, wait!" Miko exclaimed, but the Seeker ignored her.

Starscream fired up his thrusters and blasted off out of the cavern, into the sky, hurrying up away from the human and Autobot. So Miko had not gone with Agent Fowler after all, but instead snuck onboard Wheeljack's own ship, the Jackhammer, and gone with him on a mission to...what? Raid an Energon mine? Send a message to Megatron? Lure someone out? He remembered the human and Autobot were partners with Bulkhead. Given the condition the Wrecker was currently in, it seemed his friends had decided to avenge him, in whatever way this served as revenge for the big brute.

Starscream couldn't care less what they were up to. He had his own problems to attend to. He had taken care of his first stop, getting an Energon cube.

Now it was time for the second stop: trading with Swindle.

Starscream followed the trail leading to Swindle's coordinates, his spark still racing from his encounter with Wheeljack and Miko. Had they been aware of the fact he had escaped from the Autobot base? If not then, then certainly they did now. And Starscream had no doubt they would inform the Autobots where he was, or at least where he had been seen. Of course, Starscream wasn't worried. The Autobots couldn't fly, and even if Wheeljack's ship could, it couldn't match up to Starscream's speed. Even if he wasn't as fast in this body as in his old one, he could still fly pretty fast. His many escapes and running away had proven that. If there was one Megatron commended the Seeker on, it was his ability to quickly disappear when he got scared. This was always meant as an insult to Starscream, however, referring to his cowardice. He was still a coward, apparently.

Twilight had fallen when Starscream found the coordinates of Swindle, a small forest. He transformed to robot mode, grabbed the Energon cube midair and landed gracefully on both pedes. The Seeker stepped forward, looking from side to side, scanning for anything yellow or purple.

"Swindle," Starscream called out. "I have arrived, and I have an Energon cube with me. Now step forward!"

The Seeker stopped and kept his audio receptors sharp to the smallest noise. He heard a branch crack and turned to the direction of the noise. There was no one there, at least no one he could see.

"I know you're there," Starscream hissed and aimed his right arm at the direction. "Show yourself or I'll make you!"

A few nano-cycles later, he heard a faint click and saw the small form of Swindle appear in front of him, his large purple optics bright and his smirk wide as always.

"No need to use threats," Swindle said with his annoyingly joyful voice. "I was just waiting to see if you kept your part of the deal. It appears you do."

Starscream lowered his arm and returned his grip to the Energon cube. Swindle stepped out from between the trees and approached the Seeker. Had it been any other Decepticon, Starscream would have told him to back off, keep his distance or even attacked him. But Swindle, despite his annoying sides, also had a curious side that for some reason prevented Starscream from attacking him. No wonder the small mech didn't need to bring along any weapons, like, ever.

"I have your cube," Starscream informed and showed forth his luggage. "I do hope you intend to keep your part of the deal."

"I did ask for a crystal," Swindle reminded him and took something from his waist, "but that was only because I didn't think you would be able to snatch a cube right under Megatron's nose. Or the Autobots' noses for that matter. Seems I underestimated you. I apologize for that."

Starscream huffed in annoyance. "Uh, yes, well, you better remember that for next time," he muttered. "What do you have for me in return for this highly valuable Energon cube?"

"This," Swindle said and showed what he had taken from his waist. The device looked familiar to Starscream. "The Invisibility Device, one of many practical devices crafted by the finest Decepticon engineers on Cybertron. This little baby has helped me out of many troublesome situations. But my time as a rogue is nearing its end, so I thought it would be more useful in your hands, old friend." He added a mischievous smirk at the end, making Starscream annoyed for some reason.

Starscream shifted the Energon cube so he held it in his right servo, allowing him to receive the Invisibility Device from Swindle in his left servo. He then handed over the cube to Swindle, who now had both servos free. He watched as the small Decepticon seemed to be having difficulty holding up the cube, though not so much that it affected the Grounder himself.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Swindle said joyfully and gave a wide smile. "Until next time, Screamer."

Swindle transformed, placing the Energon cube inside his cabin and drove off in the opposite direction. Starscream watched the olive jeep get smaller and smaller, until it disappeared completely from his sight among the trees and darkness. The Seeker looked down at the small device in his left servo. It was oval-shaped with a single button on one end, the other end having a set of hooks to hang onto a bot's armor. It was also silver-colored, blending in nicely with Starscream's own color scheme.

Deciding it was time to go, Starscream switched to jet mode, placed the Invisibility Device inside his cockpit and took off into the sky once again. The sun had completely set, and the sky was transcending into a dark blue shade, with a light blue and yellowish tint by the horizon, indicating where the sun had been. The ground below was slowly turning darker and less visible to creatures who did not have night vision, such as humans. But Starscream did not care about the ground. What he was looking for was located somewhere in the sky.

Starscream had flown for almost an hour, scanning the sky around him for anything that resembled the Nemesis or a Vehicon Flier. He intended to use the same trick he used last time he had flown onto the Nemesis, by using the cover of returning Vehicons to sneak onboard the ship. It was a risky and bold move to use the same trick twice, but he doubted the Vehicons had grown any wiser since two months ago.

Starscream's spark skipped a beat as he found the Nemesis flying right in front of him, above a forest to the north. He kept his distance while scanning the sky for Vehicons. It would be too suspicious if a single Vehicon signal appeared on the ship's radar to return. It was safer to be in numbers, and in numbers there was less risk of his signal being identified as non-Vehicon.

After waiting around, slowly following the ship for a few cycles, he spotted a group of Vehicons flying by on the other side of the ship. Starscream boosted ahead, around the ship, trying to avoid both the ship and the Vehicons' radars, until he arrived behind the Vehicons. They hadn't spotted him yet. Good.

He followed the Vehicons close, but not too close, behind and entered the ship's hangar, transforming seconds after they had transformed. He quickly attached the Invisibility Device to his waist and pressed the button. A Vehicon turned around, this time apparently checking out if there was anyone behind them this time. But it didn't seem to find anything, so it simply shrugged and followed the others into the ship.

Starscream looked down at himself, seeing nothing. He chuckled lowly. He was completely invisible! The trade with Swindle had been worthwhile after all.

Keeping quiet, Starscream calmly wandered through the hallways, keeping an optic out for anyone behind or in front of him. He encountered only a few Vehicons and Insecticons on the way, but thanks to his current invisibility, they didn't see him right away. To avoid bumping into them, he swiftly but quietly stepped to the side and laid himself flat against the wall, keeping silent until the Decepticons had passed him. As he saw the coast was clear, he stepped out again and continued his travelling.

Eventually he made it to his quarters. He looked from side to side and behind him, making sure no one was nearby. As everything was clear, he pressed his servo onto a panel on the wall next to the door, opening it. As he stepped inside, he looked from side to side to again make sure no one was watching, before closing the door by the panel on the inside of the room. As he was clear, he pressed the button on the Invisibility Device on his hip and returned to visibility.

Starscream looked around in his old room. Everything was exactly the way he had left it a few months ago. He noticed how much this room resembled the one he had back in the Autobot base. In the far end of the room stood a recharging table; to the right of the door from where he stood was a desk with a chair by it, though the desk wasn't filled with puzzles and silly stuff like that, instead having a strategy board game on it, which he used to plan out his schemes or battle formations with his troops. He had a piece which he often imagined being Megatron, and another piece he imagined as himself, the Megatron piece being one he had to take down. In those times, it wasn't so much strategy as it was wishful thinking though.

To the left of the entrance from which he stood, there was a shelf, similarly filled with various datapads, though many more than in the Autobot base, and none of those contained silly stories like Cinderella or Challenge of the GoBots. They were history books, notes on Dark Energon, flight frames, various kinds of Energon and other scientific things. After joining the Decepticons, Starscream had become fully committed to the military field, pretty much leaving behind his scientific career. He sort of missed it, but found joy in battling and slaughtering Autobots as well as commanding an army to do his bidding. The Decepticons had changed much, though not all of Starscream's former self.

There was something in this room that his room in the Autobot base did not have, however. A secret safe.

Starscream walked over by the recharging table and knelt down by the free space to the left end of the room. The floor was completely flat, no one would have expected there to be a secret safe. If Starscream hadn't known about it, he would never have been able to find it, either. As such, he hadn't been worried about anyone finding the safe and the items inside. Especially since a password was needed, one which only Starscream knew.

"Skyfire," Starscream said quietly to the floor.

There was a click, and suddenly a small section of the floor next to the recharging table slid aside into the wall, revealing a small cache below. Starscream sighed in nostalgia as he took the items out.

The first thing he took out was a cape. A big cape, in a bright violet color. Next he picked up a pair of large, lavender shoulder pads, as well as a golden crown with a red gemstone adorning the middle spike. They were all part of a set, originally planned for when Starscream would rule Cybertron, which sadly probably wouldn't happen anytime soon. So instead, he had used it as a carnival costume when festivities were in play before the war. The cape was made of some organic fabric, bought in a trade with one of the organic empires Cybertron once used to be in contact with. Cybertron's contact empires and colonies got kind of out of touch with them just before the war, though, making Space Bridge technology pretty much obsolete, and organic goods like this fabric became pretty expensive.

The set had actually belonged to Red Wing, who claimed it was a costume to be worn by the Air Commander of the Energon Seekers for special occasions. Starscream didn't know if Red Wing had bought the set himself or if he had also 'inherited' it from someone. He didn't care either, it was a cool costume, and he had worn it often, even outside of 'special occasions'.

Starscream smiled by the memory and put the things aside for now to look at the other items. He took out three jars, each containing an organ from the first Cybertronian he had dissected, an Autobot Vehicon. One jar contained his Transformation Cog, another contained his brain module, and the last jar contained his spark.

The spark consisted of two parts: a solid body and a plasma soul. The solid spark was connected to the rest of the Transformer body, pumping Energon around through the veins, allowing the Transformer to move its body parts and allowing the organs to function. But the solid part was useless without the plasma spark, which was actual spark. It was the plasma part which was created or summoned from Vector Sigma, and which returned to the AllSpark when extinguished. The plasma spark was the heart, mind and soul of a Transformer's being, the thing that made an individual who he or she was. If transfered to a new body, the plasma spark brought with it all the former frame's memories and experiences, allowing the bot to live on.

When transferring, the plasma spark could stay in its solid body or, through more extreme means, get removed and transferred to a new solid body, though this included a high risk of death or impaired memory. Starscream was uncertain whether Shockwave had transferred the Seeker's spark to his current body with or without his own spark's solid body. If not, then that could explain why he seemed to be remembering many things lately he had previously forgotten about. He didn't dwell much on this subject, mostly because it only made him anxious for the condition of his spark.

Starscream gazed from the extinguished spark to the brain module. The brain module recorded all information and experiences made by the bot through its senses, whether by sight, sound, smell, taste or feeling. This information was then copied into the spark as memories. This was the same for both Forged bots and Cold Constructed bots, only Cold Constructs had the basic information downloaded into their brain modules already during creation. By transferring the information from the brain module to the spark, it allowed bots to obtain new bodies without having to relearn everything they had to upon creation nor having to transfer both the spark and the brain module. Because of this less necessity of the brain module, a Transformer could survive getting his head blown off or seperated from the rest of his body, though most of the motion controls took place in the brain module, making them unable to do anything without a brain module. If seperated from a brain module for too long, though, the frame's organs would eventually stop receiving Energon, and without Energon, the spark would extinguish. If regaining a brain module in time, however, the Transformer would live on, and because the memories were stored in the spark, he wouldn't lose his character. Transformers certainly were beings of survival, unlike those fragile little fleshlings who only had one life.

Putting the jars onto the costume, Starscream reached in the safe picked up three datapads. He opened one. It was a list of recipes for Energon which were popularly used before the war. During wartime, Energon was simply consumed from cubes or raw crystals, as there was no time for luxuries such as Energon paste, Energon cakes or even Energon goodies. Starscream had often snacked on Energon goodies when he was with the Energon Seekers before the war began. Now though, there was no time or place for cooking, but Starscream still believed there could be, at some point in time. So he had gathered his favorite recipes and taken them with him, hoping to try some when the war ended, hopefully with him still being alive.

Starscream put the datapad down and opened another one. It was his notes of the Synthetic Energon formula, he recognized. It was a bunch of equations, as well as descriptions of what to do with the ingredients at what point. It was a very complicated formula, but Starscream had peeked at it during most of his scientific career in Crystal City, where the Energon Seekers previously were occupied before working full time on Trypticon Station. Only the top alchemists had been allowed to read the formula to create caches of Synthetic Energon to be used for emergencies. But Starscream had occasionally sneaked in and 'borrowed' the canister to study it in his quarters. The canister had been designed so if it came in contact with alien life forms, it would shoot the recipe into the cosmos. This defense mechanism was originally used to protect the Synthetic Energon formula from Cybertron's ancient enemies, the Quintessons. If these beings had gained their filthy techno-organic hands on that formula, the galaxy would certainly be doomed.

But when in contact with Cybertronians, the canister did nothing. One could open it and take the recipe out to read it. It was presented like a scroll, though in a holographic matter rather than organic paper or metal. The Ancients had created it for Cybertron's children to use in self-defense from the Quintessons, among other dangerous aliens. But the Ancients had not anticipated that Cybertron's own children would wage war against one another. Which made the formula extremely dangerous, in case it fell into the Decepticons' servos. Which naturally prompted Jetfire to launch it into space, until someone hopefully would have found it. Darn idiot hadn't considered the fact that aliens could have had their filthy organic hands on it and caused the recipe to be lost to the stars, never again giving them a chance in the war. Starscream had scolded him for this, but it seemed it hadn't had an effect on the big Seeker.

Starscream huffed by the memory and put down the recipe among the other things. As long as it was incomplete, it was as virtually useless as Ratchet's own apparent recipe of the stuff. The Energon in the end would still yield the same results as a few months ago.

Starscream opened the last datapad. It contained a list of names, most of them belonging to Seekers, as well as a description of each. Starscream chuckled. He remembered having difficulty in remembering everyone's names when he first joined the Energon Seekers and prompted to write them down on his small datapad as well as describing the mechs. He didn't want to be rude to his new comrades and forget their names, after all, so he tried to remember them his own way. He skimmed through the names, realizing there had been many more Seekers than he remembered.

Acid Storm: As green as the Toxic Wastes.

Ion Storm: Bright solid blue.

Nova Storm: Bright solid yellow.

Nacelle: Red face, frame dark blue, red and white.

Hotlink: Lavender, has a flamethrower.

Bitstream: Teal, slightly more greenish than Thundercracker.

Thundercracker: Blue, has a darker and less green tone than Bitstream.

Skywarp: Black and purple, can warp across the dimensional plane.

Red Wing: Red and black, looks a bit like me.

Sandstorm: Sand-colored with brown speckles.

Slipstream: Femmebot, purple and teal.

Skyquake: Green, big, gloomy.

Dreadwing: Dark blue, big, gloomy.

Starscream stiffened as he saw Skyquake and Dreadwing's names on the list. So they had been part of the Energon Seekers after all. Probably not for long while Starscream was there, though. He kept reading, lost in thought on the names.

Dirge: Blue Conehead.

Thrust: Red Conehead.

Ramjet: White Conehead.

Sideways: Orange and black, has purple optics.

Wheezing Arrow: Dark gray Conehead.

Contrail: Orange and gray, seemingly wingless. Council member. Do not approach.

Jetfire: Big, white, has blue optics.

Starscream looked down at the two last names. He had almost entirely forgotten about Contrail. He had been a powerful Seeker, part of the former High Council, as described on the datapad. Contrail was almost never present during Starscream's time, though he had encountered him on occasion, to which Thundercracker and Skywarp had warned him to not speak to the Seeker. Shortly before the war began, there were suspicions that Contrail was working with Megatron, which later turned out to be true. He and another senator called Ratbat left the Council to join Megatron's forces, well before Megatron launched his attack on Trypticon Station and conquered the rest of the Seekers. Starscream didn't know what happened to Contrail, but believed he had perished during the war along with many other Decepticons and Seekers.

Starscream skimmed through more names until he came across one particular name.

Snowstorm.

There was no description of the Seeker. Starscream scratched his helm in confusion. Why place a name on a list without describing the bot? Did he think he did not need a description, that he would recognize the name and know what to look for in any case? He imagined the Seeker being white, given the name, but he couldn't think of anyone other than Jetfire with that description. He sighed and put the datapad down among the other things. Maybe it would come to him later.

The secret vault was almost empty, aside from one thing. The thing that Starscream had wanted the most to get back, the main reason for him wanting to return to the Nemesis.

He reached down into the vault and picked it up. It was a necklace. A green gemstone was adorning a golden socket, connected to a thin black chain.

It had been a gift from Jetfire, when Starscream had been promoted to Air Commander of the Energon Seekers. He had called it a 'good luck necklace'.

Starscream valued the item more than any other item in his possession, even more than the Synthetic Energon formula. He was supposed to wear it around his neck cables, but it had kept getting in the way when he transformed, so he had decided to wear it around his right wrist instead like a bracelet, which had worked just fine. Jetfire told him that whenever the Seeker missed him, he just had to look at the necklace and it would make him feel good again. Which was exactly what Starscream had done.

Despite Jetfire's betrayal at Trypticon Station, Starscream had kept the necklace with him, even as he was living as a fugitive. When he had woken up in his new body, he had inspected his wrecked body and found to his relief that the necklace was still there, and took it from his old body's wrist. When he then arrived on the Nemesis and gained his new quarters, he found all his belongings already in it, and decided to put them in this secret vault that only he knew of. He had placed the necklace inside with the rest, not wanting to lose it in a battle.

Now, though, he had it back and he could take it with him to his new home. Autobot Outpost Omega One.

Starscream had no more reason to stay behind on the Nemesis. He had what he came for. It was now time to go home.

He put the necklace down beside the other items, pulled out the cape and spread it out on the floor in its full width. He then proceeded to place each item in the center of the fabric, until all items were accounted for and secure. He then started to fold the cape until making sure none of the items would fall out from the smallest misbalance. He ended with tying a knot at the top, securing his luggage. He closed the secret vault, and watched as it became one with the floor once again, as if it had never existed.

Starscream stood up and lifted the bundle. It was heavy and big, but probably small enough for him to carry in his cockpit. Now was the time for the hard part: getting out again.

Starscream pressed the button on the Invisibility Device and watched with dread that the bundle was not turned invisible. Apparently it only worked on the bot the device was attached to, as well as whatever may be inside of him. This could be a problem. Starscream couldn't afford to make experiments in his quarters, though, not with the possibility of patrols roaming outside. Which got him thinking to how to get out without being noticed by any patrols. He laid his audio receptor to the door and sharpened it to listen to the smallest sound outside the room. He heard faint footsteps which soon faded out. He decided to take the chance.

He opened the door and looked outside from side to side. The coast was clear. He walked out and closed the door behind him, making sure to make it look like no one had been in there. Now he just had to return to the hangar and fly back to base. No problem. No problem at all...

He carefully walked through the hallways, following the path he had come from, keeping his audio receptors sharp. If he got spotted, this entire journey would have been for nothing. Through the first two hallways, he encountered no one, though in the second corner he saw a pair of Vehicons walking to another hallway. Things were going well so far.

Until he reached the last hallway before the hangar. As he turned the corner Knock Out appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by a Vehicon Grounder.

"And then I said...what?" Knock Out said, gaze set forward.

Starscream stood completely still. Knock Out hadn't seen him, but he had seen the purple bundle, seemingly floating in the open air. Knock Out and the Vehicon didn't know what they were looking at, but they would certainly find out soon.

"You're seeing this too, right?" Knock Out asked the Vehicon, who nodded. "Strange..."

Knock Out tried to poke the bundle, but Starscream decided that was close enough and stepped to the side, ready to run. As a response to the fleeing object, Knock Out reached out to grab it, but instead grabbed Starscream's arm, which lashed out at the doctor. Suddenly, he noticed his own arm as it lashed out. He was visible again. He glanced down at his hip. The Invisibility Device had fallen off during the lash.

"Scrap," Starscream swore and ran off.

"What? Starscream?" Knock Out said in confusion. He glared at the Vehicon next to him. "What are you standing around for? After him!"

The Vehicon snapped out of the confusion and turned the corner to chase after Starscream. "Halt, intruder!"

Starscream raced down the hallway, knowing he was screwed now. A single Vehicon was nothing, but if any of the Insecticons were to find his position...

He finally reached the hangar when a patrol of Vehicons and Insecticons came after him from the other hallway. It seemed the entire ship was on alert!

As Starscream entered the hangar, he quickly transformed, securing his cargo in his cockpit and blasted out of the ship at full speed.

But Starscream was far from safe yet. Unlike the Autobots, the Decepticons could fly, and the Vehicons and Insecticons wasted no time in transforming and chasing after him. He started shooting at him, which he dodged the best he could.

He was suddenly reminded of his nightmare earlier that day. The one in which he was chased through a canyon, much like this one, by a flock of Vehicons, until he was chased and dismembered by Megatron himself. He screamed inwardly of the memory, not intending to let that happen.

It had become evening as the chase after Starscream was set in motion. Starscream would fire back if it wasn't for the fact that he was hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned and outstrengthed, as well as carrying his personally valuable cargo. The only thing he could do at the moment was flee, and flee swiftly.

Wheeljack and Miko were on their way back to base, having successfully slain Hardshell and avenged Bulkhead. Well, Miko had, Wheeljack just tired the beast out. Yet, despite their victory, Miko didn't feel any different. Bulkhead was still in trouble, and they couldn't be sure if he was even going to survive. Wheeljack was impressed that she was able to take down an Insecticon by herself, though, not to mention the assumingly fiercest and strongest of the Insecticons.

Their gloomy mood quickly changed, however, as several energy signals appeared on the Jackhammer's radar. They looked to the right. Some distance away, a group of Vehicons and Insecticons were chasing after something. Or, rather, someone. It was difficult making out the colors due to the evening sky, but it didn't take long for the pair to recognize who they were chasing after.

"It's Starscream," Wheeljack informed. "So it was him we saw back in the mine. Seems he's being chased by the 'Cons."

"We gotta help him," Miko said. "He won't make it by himself!"

"Really?" Wheeljack asked as they were beginning to approach the chase. "Do you really wanna help that guy? After everything he's done?"

"He's one of us now," Miko explained. "And I like him. He needs our help."

Wheeljack sighed and shrugged. "Fine, don't make me regret doing this!"

Starscream continued dodging, though got brushed several times by laser shots, feeling the burns on his thrusters or wings. He was still far from the Autobot base, which he then remembered as being his destination in his dream as well. But he never made it to his destination in the dream. Perhaps he wouldn't in the real world, either.

Suddenly, Starscream felt the laser shots stopping around him and heard a different set of lasers being shot from his left. He ascended further into the sky and saw Wheeljack's ship, the Jackhammer, shooting after the Vehicons and Insecticons, and these had apparently lost interest in Starscream, for they were now only firing at the Autobot ship.

Starscream considered letting the two sides simply destroy each other. He didn't care for Wheeljack or his stupid winglets. But he remembered seeing Miko with him in the Energon mine and realized she might be inside the ship with him. He had nothing against the girl other than being about as talkative as himself. He didn't care for her destruction.

"I'm gonna regret this," Starscream said to himself as he turned around, descended and started firing back at the Vehicons and Insecticons, joining the sky battle.

Now having the advantage of allies in the battle, Starscream was able to use his firepower to take down two Vehicons with a few shots as well as damaging an Insecticon. He zoomed past his enemies as they started firing back at him, and as he turned back around, he launched both of his missiles, aiming at the Insecticons. The missiles hit, taking down one Insecticon and badly hurting another.

The Jackhammer continued covering for Starscream while the two air forces launched their attacks upon the Decepticons. There were only two Vehicons and a single Insecticon left. They were going to win this battle.

Suddenly, as Starscream was turning to launch another attack, the remaining Insecticon shot his wing, causing the Seeker to spin out of control.

"SCRAP!" Starscream exclaimed as he saw smoke coming from his left wing, unable to stop spinning.

"He's hit!" Miko remarked, as the remaining Insecticon blasted Starscream's left wing and caused him to spin out of control.

"Scrap," Wheeljack swore and took down the two last Vehicons before ramming into the Insecticon, causing it to crash as well. The Jackhammer was tough enough to withstand the impact. The Insecticon wasn't.

As the remaining Decepticons had been dealt with, Wheeljack steered the Jackhammer after Starscream as the Seeker continued spinning, headed towards the ground with smoke emitting from his wing. It didn't seem like he was able to stop.

"Starscream, come in," Wheeljack called over the short-distance comm. "Switch to robot mode and I'll catch you!"

"I can't," Starscream exclaimed through the comm. "I can't stop! I can't transform!"

"What do you mean you can't transform?!"

"I just can't! I'm going to crash!"

"Not on my watch," Wheeljack said through gritted teeth. "Just hang in there!"

"What are we gonna do, Wheeljack?" Miko asked anxiously, concerned for the Seeker.

"We'll comm. the base and ask for a GroundBridge."

Wheeljack did as self-instructed and called the base.

"Wheeljack to base, we got a situation," Wheeljack said through the comm. link. "Requesting ground bridge approximately two hundred meters north of my location."

"What's going on?" Ratchet said through the comm.

"Starscream's crashing and he'll be scrap if you don't open that GroundBridge now!" Wheeljack replied annoyed.

"Alright, I'm on it," Ratchet replied.

A few seconds later, about two hundred meters from their position opened a small green GroundBridge portal. It was still several hundred meters below them, but at the Seeker's current speed, his chances were decreasing.

"Starscream," Wheeljack said through the short-distance comm. "I need you to steer towards the portal on the ground. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'll...I'll try," Starscream said with a strained voice. "But it's hard with all this spinning!"

"Just make sure to hit the target," Wheeljack said, "or you're scrap. Ratchet," he added through the comm. to the base, "just a heads-up, get everyone ready in front of the GroundBridge. Scream's gonna come in hard."

"Got it," Ratchet replied.

"Scream, how are you holding up?" Wheeljack asked through the short-distance comm.

"I...I think I've got it," Starscream said. "I'm coming in!"

"Well," Wheeljack said and glanced at Miko, "all we can do now is cross our fingers and hope his aim is right."

Miko looked on anxiously as the Seeker continued falling towards the ground, smoke fuming from his wing, still spinning out of control.

"Come on, Starscream," Miko cheered quietly. "You can do it..."

Starscream had experienced many crashes during his life. Crashing was part of a Flier's existence. It was expected that wings or rotors or motors would get damaged during aerial combat and would stop the Flier's ability to fly for a while. Because of this, most Fliers' bodies were built to withstand crashes. Starscream had been able to survive several crashes in robot and jet mode in his old body, as well as a few times in this new Vehicon body.

This body was not as tough as his old body though, and he still wasn't completely sure of its limitations. This was a pretty high altitude to crash from, higher than he was used to. Normally if a crashing Flier could see the fall would cause too much damage, the Flier in question would switch to robot mode to decrease damage caused, as damage could be much more severe if keeping in flight mode. Starscream couldn't afford to switch to robot mode, however. He was carrying his most valuable belongings which he would never forgive himself for losing, which could easily happen if he transformed at this speed. He'd rather risk having to replace his entire body again than losing Jetfire's good luck necklace.

Luckily, it seemed Wheeljack was keen on helping him. He had the Autobots open a GroundBridge some hundred meters below him to allow him a somewhat safe landing back in base. But in order to do that, Starscream had to aim for the portal, which was incredibly difficult with him spinning out of control.

Despite this, he tried, and when he thought he was aiming right, seeing the green glowing dot right below him, he simply kept his aim straight and let himself fall.

"Please don't miss," he said into the air.

A few seconds later, his spark stopped as he reached the ground.

In the Autobot base, Optimus, Bumblebee and Ratchet all stood in front of the GroundBridge as per Wheeljack's request at the information of Starscream crashing towards the ground. Ratchet knew very well they had to block the entrance. If a jet Starscream's size and speed were to crash into the base, everything would be destroyed, Bulkhead and the others would probably get badly if not fatally wounded, and the kids would definitely not survive.

Everything depended on whether the Autobots were able to catch Starscream before that happened. And everything depended on Starscream whether he actually reached the GroundBridge or not. They couldn't see his energy signal on the monitor for some reason - probably because they hadn't registered him in the computer, as he still wasn't an Autobot yet - and it was highly inconvenient, this being one of the reasons. They couldn't see if he was hitting the portal or hitting the ground, they didn't know if they had placed the portal the right way. They could only see Wheeljack's energy signal, slowly hovering above the ground, watching the Seeker's fate.

Suddenly, they heard a woosh, and the next second, Starscream appeared from the portal, burning in the wing, coming at the Autobots at high speed, though at least had stopped spinning.

Even though they had been prepared, they were still taken by surprise how fast everything went. One moment, there was nothing, the next second, suddenly a jet flew into the base with a loud roar, smoke coming from the wing.

Despite their surprise, they had been prepared. Optimus, Bumblebee and Ratchet all had their arms held out and managed to catch the jet, breaking off the majority of the speed, but were still pushed a great distance backwards and probably had received some serious scratches on their frames. Before they hit the wall behind them, though, the jet stopped, and was instead simply held in the air by the three mechs. Arcee closed the GroundBridge behind the Seeker. They had caught him just in time.

"Starscream," Optimus said with concern as the three mechs placed the jet onto the ground, still smoking from his wing. "Are you alright?"

Starscream didn't respond right away. After a few seconds, they heard his venting and groaning.

"Uuugggghhhh..." Starscream said and opened his cockpit, revealing a violet bundle. "Can you take this out, please?"

With a surprised look on their faces, Ratchet carefully grabbed the bundle and put it down on a table nearby.

"Can you transform?" Ratchet asked.

Starscream closed his cockpit again and initiated transformation to bot mode. He sat on the floor and vented heavily. He noticed his wing was still smoking and started to bat at it in panic to try to stop the burn. Ratchet turned his servo into a fire extinguisher and shot the foam on the Seeker's wing. The smoke soon stopped and Starscream started to relax.

"Thank you," Starscream said and vented heavily again, holding a servo against his chest. "I thought I was going to die..."

He looked up and saw the mixed expressions on the Autobots' faces. Some showed concern and relief, others showed anger and disappointment. No surprise there, though Starscream was still filled with dread by their faces.

"Uh..." he said and smiled nervously. "I can explain..."

"Explain to us why you left," Optimus said with a calm yet dark voice, clearly not happy. "Why you took off without informing us."

"I...I had some stuff to get back..." Starscream said and started crawling backwards against the now deactivated GroundBridge, not comfortable with the situation, "...on the Nemesis. I just had to get them back, I'm sure you can understand...or not, but that's fine, because, that was the last time I was planning to go back there. I'm not gonna return there anymore, I swear!"

"While I am glad you made it back safe and sound," Optimus said and slowly walked towards the Seeker as he backed off, "and willingly, I hope, I am still disappointed you did not trust us enough to tell us what you were planning to do."

Starscream eventually hit the far back of the GroundBridge, now having no place to escape. He let out small whimpers of anxiety.

"You wouldn't have listened to me," Starscream accused and slowly got onto his legs, lowering his wings in submission, uncomfortable about being cornered. "You would have just put new restraints on me, and I would be reduced to yet a prisoner again."

"It was also wrong of you not to inform us of your missing-"

"I just wanted my freedom back!" Starscream interrupted, his wings hiking in defense, his servos spread out. "I don't feel like anything but a prisoner when you put those things on me. You say you want me to become an Autobot, yet you don't trust me enough to allow me freedom! And you know what? I don't feel like an Autobot at all when I'm in those things. I don't even feel like a Decepticon. I feel humiliated. You all treat me like some beast, you treat me the same way Megatron did."

"We do not-"

"I know you don't abuse me like Megatron does," Starscream interrupted again, getting bold. "That's his way of keeping this 'beast' in check. You may not abuse me, but you still treat me like a monster. Someone who needs to be restrained, or else he might go rampant and destroy the whole place! Yeah, you're no different from Megatron on that page. You use different methods, but the end result is the same. I'm just a monster to you. I've always been."

Starscream's face seemed to be about to choke up, as he began realizing what he was saying was true. That was all he had been treated like his whole life. He was never trusted, even before he gained his deceptive side which allowed him a spot among the Decepticons. Only the Seekers treated him like a true mech with a spark, feelings, a mech who had common sense, a mech that could be trusted. Granted, he made it hard for others to trust him, but he only deceived others in order to keep himself alive and with his dignity in check. Sometimes his plans just backfired and he ended up getting humiliated anyway.

But no more. He would tolerate this treatment no longer.

"I am a Cybertronian," Starscream declared. "I have rights. I have the right to fly when I need to. I have the right to express my feelings when I am upset. I have the right to assist you on missions when I want, and I have the right to not be restrained every time I am in the base. I have the right to be able to defend myself in battle. I have the right for freedom. That's what you always say, isn't it, Prime? 'Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.' But apparently I don't count as a sentient being, do I? Well, I've had enough of this. Give me my freedom back, and I shall give you air support, military strategies and scientific information as a fully fledged Autobot. Refuse my freedom, and I shall leave at the first opportunity and assume the life of a rogue. Choose wisely."

As he finished his speech, Starscream relaxed his wings and held out his arms in a surrendering gesture. He lowered his head in submission and closed his optics, letting the Autobots decide.

Optimus looked intently at the Seeker, contemplating his words. The other Autobots looked from Starscream to Optimus, awaiting the big bot's decision. They could practically hear the gears turning in the mighty mech's head. Considering the pros and cons for either choice he had to make. Considering whether to take the pros or the cons' side. Considering if he should give Starscream his freedom or not.

The Seeker had many valid points. The Autobots would never fully accept him among their ranks as long as they kept treating him like a prisoner. And Starscream would keep resisting, however subtly, as long as they continued doing so. Being accused of treating him the same as Megatron fell ill in his audio receptors, but perhaps the Seeker was right. They would never get anywhere if they continued treating him like a dangerous beast, however much he may be like one.

"Very well, Starscream," Optimus finally said to everyone's surprise. "We will not restrain you any longer. You are free to fly as you see fit."

Starscream blinked and lifted his head to look the Autobot leader in the optics.

"Uh...really?" Starscream replied. "Are you serious? You're not playing a trick on me, are you?"

"You have proven yourself enough times by now to show us that you have no intention to leave our side," Optimus explained, not just to Starscream, but to all the Autobots in the command center. "And we have...I have been blind to that. For too long, we have ignored you, and I apologize for that. But you are right. You are not a prisoner in this base. You are a comrade." Optimus stepped out of the GroundBridge, to allow Starscream to step outside. "You are a most valuable ally."

While listening to Optimus' speech, Starscream slowly made his way out of the GroundBridge, his anxiety decreasing little by little. Eventually he was completely out of the tunnel and stepped into the middle of the room, glancing around at the various Autobots.

"You have the right to be free," Optimus continued calmly. "And we shall respect that. From now on, you are a Decepticon no longer. You are an Autobot. You are one of us. And to make sure we all remember that..." Optimus stepped aside and put a servo on Ratchet's shoulder, the other servo pointing to the medbay. "...Ratchet will replace that Decepticon insignia with our Autobot. It is time."

Starscream didn't say anything, he just stared at the big bot, Ratchet and the medbay. It felt so unreal, there was no way they were going to give him the Autobot brand. They were going to put him in stasis and lock him up in his cell again, for that was what it was, a cell, a place to keep him locked up in, like a monster...

Ratchet, despite his obvious surprise, kept his face in a blank expression and gestured Starscream to come with him. Starscream was reluctant to follow, perhaps only due to his own paranoid thoughts.

"No tricks, right?" Starscream asked unsure as he started walking forward. "I get to keep my wings, and I work for you. That's the deal, right?"

"That is correct," Optimus assured. "You have no reason to worry. We will try our best to make you feel like one of us."

Starscream gulped as he passed Optimus, his wings involuntarily dropping out of fear of being double-crossed. He went over to Ratchet by the medbay and sat down, wings still downcast.

"Loose the wings," Ratchet said, "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Just lay down here so I can get to work."

"Should you be spending time on Scream right now, though?" Arcee asked concerned. "What about Bulkhead?"

"He's stable for now," Ratchet replied. "There's nothing more I can do for him now. It's up to him to wake up. I may as well tend to our new Autobot here."

Starscream flinched by the new addressing. An Autobot. He was going to become an Autobot now. He was going to wear the Autobot brand.

He was going to become the newest member of Team Prime.

An Autobot Seeker.

A few hours earlier...

Miko had just left through the elevator to catch up with Agent Fowler for a lift home when Arcee felt something was odd. She felt like they had forgotten something, but she wasn't sure what.

Until she heard the elevator open. Not the human-sized elevator, no, the Autobot elevator they occasionally used to get to the top of the plateau, on which the grave of Cliffjumper was situated. She heard it open and looked up from the monitors of Bulkhead. Her spark skipped a beat.

She watched as Starscream walked into the elevator and turned around, apparently without restraints on. Now she remembered what they had forgotten. They had forgotten to check Starscream's stasis cuffs.

"Starscream?" Arcee called out, still uncertain what was about to happen. "What are you..."

Before she could finish, Starscream had his servo on the elevator button, and the door shut down. He was going up the elevator!

"Scrap!" she exclaimed and ran out from the monitors. "Starscream's escaping!"

"What?!" Ratchet exclaimed himself, looking up from his work on Bulkhead.

"He took the elevator," Arcee said and stood, staring at the elevator as she pushed the button to go down. "He must be trying to fly away!"

"But he's restrained," Bumblebee bleeped, "isn't he?"

"I forgot to check him," Optimus admitted regrettably. "And he took the opportunity of our focus on Bulkhead's situation to escape on our watch."

"There, it's back!" Arcee said as the elevator door opened again. "It might not be too late."

"I will go with you," Optimus informed and hurried over to the elevator. As he made it inside, Arcee pushed the button to go up and the doors closed, zooming upwards.

"I saw him," Arcee said and face-palmed. "I saw him go in, but I didn't stop him. Why did I just stand there and watch him go?!"

"You were taken by surprise, Arcee," Optimus said and laid a servo on her small shoulder. "We all were. But we will try to stop him. Hopefully we are not too late."

But as the door to the elevator opened to the outside, they saw Starscream standing in the middle of the platform, staring into the sky.

"Starscream!" Arcee exclaimed and jumped out of the elevator.

"Arcee," Optimus said, apparently not agreeing with her rash approach to the Seeker.

And he was right in his thinking. As Starscream realized they were there, he immediately transformed to jet mode and took off, before they could even manage to touch him. He was gone in seconds.

"No..." Optimus said and gazed after him. "We are too late."

Arcee stared at the disappearing dot and let out a roar and slammed her fist into Agent Fowler's jet right next to her.

"I should have stopped him," Arcee said again. "I should have stopped him, and I didn't. I let him go. And now our base is compromised. He's gonna return to the 'Cons and spill the beans on us. He's..."

"Arcee, calm down," Optimus said and laid a servo on her shoulder again, turning her to face him. "We do not yet know Starscream's reason for leaving us. He may simply have gone out for a flight, or maybe he is looking for something. Yes, he may as well be returning to Megatron's side, and in that case, there is nothing we can do about it. He is gone. The fate of our base lies in his hands now."

Arcee seemed to calm down, but Optimus could tell she was still mad at herself for letting the Seeker go.

"I know," she said and started walking back to the elevator, gaze still fixed on the direction in which Starscream had flown. "But I hate feeling helpless."

"So do I," Optimus admitted and followed her to the elevator.

"He better not tell on us," Arcee snarled. "If he does, I'll scrap him."

"We will see when he returns," Optimus said calmly as they entered the elevator. "If he returns."

As the doors to the elevator closed, silence once returned to the top of the plateau. The sun was beginning to set, and the day was coming to an end. It had been a long day, but it was finally reaching its end.

Though, if Arcee and Optimus had stayed behind just a little longer, they may have seen the strange scene that took place just cycles after they returned underground.

The Energon stains on Agent Fowler's jet had seemingly disappeared. Furthermore, its once dull bluish gray color had changed to a brighter, ocean-blue tone, and all the previous dents and scratches had disappeared.

In the next second, the jet seemed to fall apart, then rearranged itself until the figure of a large blue Seeker stood on the top of the Autobot base, gazing out over the landscape, optics fixed on the direction in which a smaller Seeker had taken off to.

"Starscream..." the Seeker said with a hoarse voice, not having been used for over a decade. "I will see you soon."

The blue Seeker transformed back to jet mode and took off into the setting sun, course set for the Decepticon warship.

"Today is the return of Thundercracker!"

Chapter Text

"Aaand... we're done," Ratchet announced and removed the laser tool from Starscream's chestplate. "Now you're officially one of us."

Ratchet stepped back to give the Seeker some space. Starscream sat up with his legs touching the floor, and gazed down at his brand-new Autobot insignia, in the same place his previous Decepticon insignia had been situated. It was red, just like his former insignia. Fitting, as the official Autobot insignia was technically red, while the official Decepticon insignia was purple, though on bots these insignias tended to vary in many colors. This color variation was less common in the early and middle days of the war, becoming more common within the last few thousand years.

Starscream placed a servo on his chest, his thumb parting just enough to see the shiny new insignia. It felt weird. He was now an Autobot. Not just a self-proclaimed pretend-to-be Autobot living in asylum with the actual Autobots. No, with this insignia, he truly was no longer a Decepticon.

It was something Starscream had never thought would ever happen in his life. He had had the feeling he wouldn't be a Decepticon forever, of course, but he had always thought it would either be because he would become a Neutral again, or because Megatron would finally terminate him for good. To become an Autobot... it felt so surreal.

Starscream took his gaze away from his insignia and looked behind him, at his wings. Before Ratchet had started on his insignia, he had taken the liberty of repairing the Seeker's damages first. Afterwards he had started installing a few things in his processor, hereamong connecting his energy signal and comm-link with the base, so they could track him like they could the other Autobots, as well as being able to communicate with him, and he them, without having to rely on another Autobot being with him. Now that the Seeker was healed and an Autobot (Starscream couldn't stop repeating the word in his head or through mumbling), Ratchet turned away from him to check on Bulkhead, who probably needed his aid more than Starscream did.

Starscream's gaze went from his wings to his servos, removing one from his chest to better look at them. He was free. He was free to go outside and fly. That was the reward for joining the Autobots. That, too, felt pretty surreal.

A shuffling sounded from the physical exit of the command center, and Starscream looked up, as did the other Autobots. From the tunnel, Wheeljack and Miko entered the base, the former limping rather dramatically while clutching his arm, the latter slumping with a depressed expression. As the two entered the base, Arcee knelt down in front of Miko.

"Miko, you okay?" Arcee asked concerned, her concern shared by the other Autobots.

"She's fine," Wheeljack replied instead of Miko. "Kid's a pro."

"I wasn't talking to you," Arcee snapped at the Wrecker.

Miko's gaze went from Arcee to Starscream by the medbay, who now rose to his pedes, sporting a shiny new Autobot insignia on his chest. Wheeljack caught the sight of Starscream's insignia as well, and his smile turned into a frown, but he didn't comment on it. Neither did Miko, and as she could see Starscream was okay, she turned her attention to Bulkhead on the other table instead.

"How is he?" Miko asked concerned.

"Not good," Bumblebee buzzed in a sad tone and gazed at the floor.

"Bulkhead will survive," Ratchet replied quietly and similarly gazed at the floor in a depressed manner. "He may never be fully functional again."

Miko seemed relieved that Bulkhead would live, but knowing he may not fully recover kept her depressed mood. She ran over to Bulkhead's table in the ICU, his vital signs stable.

"Miko," Ratchet called, "I don't think it's wise for you-"

He was stopped by Optimus, who held out a servo in front of the doctor, and shook his head, silently telling Ratchet to let her be.

Starscream kept his distance, still standing in the main part of the medbay, watching the Autobots watching Miko approach her comatose partner. He noticed Wheeljack let go of his injured arm and stood on his supposedly injured leg, limp seemingly gone. Starscream raised an optical ridge. Perhaps the Wrecker had over-dramatized his injuries. Attention-seeking glitch, Starscream thought annoyed and stiffled a snort.

"I'm... not sure I wanna see Bulk right now," Wheeljack admitted while gazing at the unconscious Bulkhead. "Not like this."

Wheeljack turned to the entrance, transformed and drove off without a goodbye or any signs of his injuries. Great, Starscream thought. Now he's acting tough. Foolish Wreckers.

The other Autobots ignored Wheeljack's exit and looked back at Miko, now sitting on top of Bulkhead, looking down at his unconscious face.

"I'm never leaving you again..." Miko said sobbingly and buried her face in her arms. The Autobots decided to leave her be.

Starscream felt uncomfortable about Miko's depressed state and decided to leave for his room. Before that, he went to the table with the Iacon relics and his bundle lined up on it. He grabbed the violet bundle by the top and moved his free servo under it to support its weight. He then turned to the hallways. Jack and Rafael noticed his actions but didn't say anything. The Seeker left the command center without a word, and the Autobots only briefly glanced after him.

"We have all had a long day," Optimus remarked, looking around at everyone in the base. "Perhaps we should all rest for the night, so we can be prepared for whatever tomorrow may bring us."

"Agreed," Arcee replied. "Jack, Raf, you planning to stay?"

The boys shared glances together, then looked back at Arcee. "Yeah, we'll stay for the night," Jack replied.

"I'll need to call my mom first, just so she doesn't get worried about me," Raf commented.

"Let's go for a ride then," Bumblebee bleeped and switched to car mode and opened a door.

Raf smiled and descended from the railings, heading over to Bumblebee, and the two of them drove off outside, leaving the others to prepare for the night.

As Starscream entered his room, he placed the violet bundle onto his recharging table and opened it up, spreading the fabric over the berth. He picked up the golden crown and placed it in the middle of the lowest row on his shelf, which, while filled with several datapads with various stories, still had plenty of space for other things to be placed on it. Afterwards, he picked up the two lavender shoulder-pads and placed them right next to the crown, tips facing outwards, and adjusted them until they were exactly parallel to each other.

Next he took two of the three jars containing Cybertronian organs, and placed them on the row at optic level with Starscream, so he could gaze at them whenever he wanted without straining any cables. He picked up the third jar and placed it next to the other two, adjusting the jars so one was exactly in the middle while the other two had the exact same distance between them and the middle jar. If he was to have more stuff, he might as well make sure they were organized neatly.

Starscream picked up the three datapads and looked at the shelf, claws thrumming against the back of one of them, contemplating where he should place them. They would probably get lost among the other datapads. He had taken the liberty of organizing the datapads containing Earth stories in one end of the lower middle row of the shelf, while the datapads with Cybertronian stories were placed in the other end.

There weren't that many datapads, now that he looked again. Not like in his old room, with the shelf filled with datapads on all the rows, all of them about science, military, history, frames, Energon and other things. On this shelf, there was a rather large gap between the pile of Earth datapads and the pile of Cybertron datapads. Starscream shrugged and decided to place the three datapads in a pile of their own in the middle, filling in the gap. Somewhat.

Turning back to the berth, Starscream stiffened. The cape lay smoothly spread out over the berth, nothing else on it. Something was missing.

"No," Starscream whispered and lifted the cape, looking under it. There was just the berth. He shook the cape, but only the sound of flapping fabric was heard.

"No, no, no, no, no," Starscream keened and started crawling on the floor, searching for anything green or gold. "Please don't tell me I dropped it on the Nemesis, please no, please no..."

Starscream continued muttering, panic rising as he couldn't find the necklace anywhere, on the floor, on the berth, on the shelf, on the table or on the chair. He let out a whine.

"Maybe it fell out in the hallways, or in the command center," he told himself, trying to stay calm and not doing a very good job. "It has to be here, it has to be in the base."

Starscream left his room and retraced his path through the hallways back to the command center, optics focused on the floor, not finding anything on his way there. As he entered the command center, his optics darted around the room, searching for anything shiny and green.

Starscream walked in, scanning the floor, not caring about the looks he was getting from the Autobots who took notice of his return.

"Please be here, please be here, please be here," Starscream muttered to himself. "No, no, no, no, no..."

"Looking for this?" Arcee's voice sounded.

Starscream looked up and behind him, feeling a rush in his tanks. Arcee stood and held out the necklace by the black chain, the other servo placed on a hip, her mouth in a slightly crooked smile. Starscream gasped and turned on a heel, rushing over to the femme.

"Give me that!" he almost screeched, and practically swiped the necklace out of Arcee's grasp. He held the necklace in both servos and studied it for a few seconds before realizing his outburst may have been a bit exaggerated. He looked back at Arcee, not looking angry but her smile also having disappeared.

"Uh, I mean," Starscream said and reset his vocalizer. "Th-thank you, for finding it."

"Uh, no problem," Arcee replied, still a bit puzzled over the reaction. "That important to you?"

"Very," Starscream replied and turned back to the hallways. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm turning in for the night. I'm exhausted. Goodnight."

Starscream didn't wait for anyone to say goodnight back to him before he left, claws still clutching the necklace protectively, gaze still set on the piece of jewelry as he walked, as if it would sprout legs and walk off on its own. Arcee shared glances with Optimus and Ratchet, but they didn't comment further on it.

Starscream returned to his room and quickly shut the door behind him. He sat on the berth, still with the cape on it, having smoothed itself out again. For a while he just stared at the shiny green gemstone adorning the golden socket. He gently rubbed the gem with a thumb, feeling the smooth surface and the rough edges. He let out a sigh.

"I'm never leaving you again either," Starscream said quietly to the necklace, repeating Miko's words from earlier. "I know you're alive out there somewhere, Jetfire. I just know it. I know everyone says you're dead, and I can't feel your Spark, but..." Starscream paused, letting out a deep vent. "You better be dead, Jetfire. If not, I'll make you regret leaving me alone in this universe."

Starscream closed his optics and clutched the necklace, holding the gem against his chestplate, his Spark desperately searching for something familiar. Finally, after about a minute, he felt just the faintest residual energy signal of Jetfire within the gemstone.

Revelling in the feeling of Jetfire's energy, he recalled Jetfire explaining to the smaller Seeker, back when he had received the gift, that the gemstone was made of a special mineral that absorbed just a tiny amount of a Transformer's Spark energy when coming into contact with said Transformer. Jetfire had found the crystal himself and fashioned it into a necklace himself, then handed it over to Starscream as a means of always having Jetfire close by, even if the big Seeker should perish.

Back on the Nemesis, whenever Starscream had felt overwhelmed by the war or simply from getting punished by Megatron, he would usually clutch the necklace wrapped around the Seeker's wrist, letting Jetfire's residual energy signature comfort him and calm him down. Having been seperated from this necklace for almost three months now, while being with the Autobots, not being able to fly or almost anything else to relieve him of stress, it had been a hard time adapting to becoming an Autobot. Especially since the whole procedure with 'taming' him, as he had sometimes heard them say, had been entirely unnecessary and only happened because of their prejudice of him.

Starscream didn't blame them for being cautious. It was war, after all, and Starscream had been the former First Lieutenant of the Decepticons, Megatron's right-hand mech. Not to mention the fact that he had acquired quite a reputation for being a schemer, a deceiver, a traitor and unpredictable. Still, the fact that they thought locking him up in a tiny, empty, enclosed space with no windows except to the dimly lit hallway and still having him cuffed inside the cell was a good idea had surprised him. He hadn't thought the Autobots would act this way or treat a prisoner this way.

He knew it had just been because it was him, Starscream, the bot no one could trust. Still, it didn't justify them to treat him like a beast. Come to think of it, he had always been treated that way, and not just by Megatron either. Even before the war had started, at the end of the Golden Age, every bot on Cybertron looked down on Starscream because he was Cold Constructed, a knock-off, as they called his kind. Bots like him were not true mechs, their Sparks were fake, their bodies created in a factory like weapons.

One particular memory suddenly struck him. It happened one day, some time after it had been revealed that Cold Constructs were artificially created and not blessed with Forged Sparks like the propoganda had told them. Starscream had just been rejected by the biggest medical academy in Iacon City when he got ambushed by three Grounders in an alleyway. Two of them had grabbed him by the arms, while the third proceeded to punch and kick the Seeker in the face and abdomen.

Starscream had tried to call for help, but no one answered. He had even side-glanced to the street outside, and bots just went on their merry way, completely indifferent about the fact that somebot was getting assaulted. No one cared about the Cold Constructed bot. Starscream had felt so abandoned at that moment, and he still felt it now.

The leader had then proceeded to rip over Starscream's vocal cords, silencing him. But before they could do any more to him, Jetfire had arrived at the scene and scared the Grounders off with his size and angry voice.

Jetfire had saved Starscream's life back then. Possibly more than that, even. The big Seeker had then proceeded to bring Starscream to a medical center, not the one Starscream had just been rejected by, to get his wounds fixed. His body healed fine, but his voicebox had received permanent damage. Thankfully the damage had not been severe enough to disable his speech function, unlike Bumblebee. After the wounds had recovered, he was able to speak again.

Before his voicebox had been damaged, Starscream had had a very deep, smooth voice, deeper than any of the other Seekers he had been created along with had. Now though, thanks to the assault, his voice had become permanently scratchy and high-pitched. He could still manage some low tones, though whenever he did it always came out as a rattle. In return, whenever he shrieked or screamed his voice could possibly go higher than what humans could hear. And, as it turned out, the damage had even affected his Spark, in the sense that when it was transferred to his current body, his damaged voice was also transferred along with everything else. It seemed scars on a Spark's old body could still be traced onto a Vehicon body.

Starscream did miss his old voice sometimes, but he didn't mind his current voice either. It was annoying to keep being called 'Screamer' though, but he had learned to live with it. More or less.

Starscream opened his optics again and looked down at the cape beside him. He let out a sigh and put the necklace around his neck cables to allow his servos to be free. He then took the cape, shook it a bit, then neatly folded it until it was small enough to be placed on the bottom row of the shelf, to the left of the golden crown.

Having put away everything from his old quarters on the Nemesis, Starscream looked at the empty spot by the foot of his berth. He looked back down at his new Autobot insignia and the good-luck necklace. He wondered how he looked with the new insignia. He wondered what three months with the Autobots had done to his looks. Three months without even a single oil bath.

"I need a mirror," he said to himself, gazing back at the empty spot by his berth. "I should get a mirror. I wonder what happened to my old mirror?"

Starscream had actually had a mirror in his quarters on the Nemesis, but apparently someone had taken it away after he was captured by the Autobots. Probably Knock Out, the only one possibly as vain as Starscream himself. Starscream hadn't really put any thought to the missing mirror earlier when he was in the room - being busy getting his belongings and worrying about getting caught by the Decepticons and everything - but now that he thought back, the spot where his secret safe was had been strangely empty, but he had forgotten about the mirror usually standing there at the time.

Starscream had not seen himself since before going out with Airachnid to search for the Harbinger. He missed looking at himself. Then again, the mirror would have been too large for him to carry with him back unnoticed. Perhaps he could ask the Autobots some time if they could acquire a mirror for him.

"That will have to wait for tomorrow," Starscream muttered to himself, laying back on the recharging table. "Now is the time for a good long, well-deserved beauty sleep."

Lying on his back with his optics closed and a small smile forming on his face, Starscream clutched the gemstone again, holding it close to his Spark, letting the feeling of Jetfire's residual energy lull him to sleep.

Meanwhile in some forest in Mexico, Swindle returned to the small MECH hideout, finding the humans trying once again to fit the comatose Silas into the husk of Breakdown, and not doing a good job. He transformed and stepped inside, servos holding the Energon cube gifted to him by Starscream.

"Heya," Swindle greeted, cheerfully as ever. "I got ourselves some Energon. How's old Silas holding up?"

"Not well," the MECH surgeon replied. "It's hard to position him into the Transtector without causing more damage to him."

"And let me guess," Swindle said and put down the Energon cube on the floor and sat down, scooping some up with his smaller cube. "You still haven't established the mind-body link between Silas and Breakdown, have you?"

"Affirmative," the surgeon replied. "Though I'm getting close. I'm just missing several tools. I doubt I can manage without them."

Swindle had barely sat for a few seconds before getting up again, having already guzzled the small cube's contents in him. "Give me a list and I'll go find them," he offered and put on a smirk. "There's a city nearby, I should be able to get in and out by tomorrow."

The surgeon and two commandos stared at Swindle, as they hauled Silas back out of Breakdown to make adjustments.

"I don't know, you could be seen," one of the commandos remarked. "And then we'd be found out."

"Don't worry, I'll use James."

"James?"

"My holographic driver," Swindle replied with an even wider smirk. "I use him for cover sometimes. When I'm not driving off-road in this forest, I mean. We'll take a trip to the city, find a hospital and steal some equipment for you."

"How will you do that with a hologram?" the surgeon asked skeptically.

"Not with the hologram, silly, I'll go at nightfall and sneak in in bot mode. I'm small enough to get in without anyone noticing. I think. And I'm stealthier than I look. Just trust me."

Swindle gave his widest smirk yet, seemingly supposed to assure the MECH soldiers of his reliability. They didn't find him completely convincing. The surgeon sighed and wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Here," the surgeon said and handed over the paper to Swindle. "We'll be waiting here for you."

"Of course you will," Swindle chuckled and accepted the paper. "I'll be back by tomorrow."

Swindle left the hideout and entered the forest. As soon as he was out in an open enough area to transform, he did, but this time he activated a holographic projector, and the image of a man in a black suit wearing black sunglasses and a black fedora appeared in the left seat in Swindle's driver's cabin.

"Alright, James, let's go for a ride," Swindle sang and started driving.

It took about half an hour before Swindle found a road and drove out on it. He went to the right, steering towards the city. While driving, he increased the effectiveness of his radar and scanned the surrounding 100 miles for any energy signatures.

For the past week or so, Swindle had often gone out on a drive by himself while the MECH soldiers worked on Silas and Breakdown. He had always activated his holographic driver, which he had named 'James', because it was just an awesome name. He liked James. He gave him company, though he never spoke, as he was a mere hologram and thus didn't actually do anything. But Swindle liked to think he might be listening when the small Decepticon talked to himself. It was a way to keep himself from getting lonely, being seperated from his fellow Decepticons and everything. Then again, the 'Cons were not much better company than the humans. The holographic driver might do just as well as an actual person.

Despite his daily searches, he had not come up with any energy signatures other than Starscream's somewhere in North America earlier that day. At least he got to have the company and conversation with another bot, even if they had only been doing a small trade. An Energon cube in return for the Invisibility Device. It had been a rather expensive trade, as he could have really used the Invisibility Device now to fetch those small human tools the MECH surgeon apparently needed and didn't have. Oh well. He could do just as well without it.

All of a sudden, just as he caught sight of the destined city in the distance, an energy signal popped up on his radar. Swindle pulled to the side and stopped, letting other cars drive past him on occasion.

The energy signal was some twenty miles or so away due north of his position. Right where the city he was going to was located. Perfect. He could kill two lilleths with one stone. And he recognized the energy signal.

Making a decision, Swindle drove back out onto the road and sped up, heading determined towards the city where he would find the tools and an old friend.

I'll see you soon, Brawl.

Onboard the Nemesis, Megatron was none too pleased with Knock Out's news of the intruder that had just escaped the warship.

"I cannot believe the stupidity," Megatron growled and walked away from the kneeling medic, and stared out through the large windows in the command center. He turned on a heel and headed back to Knock Out, who had a concerned expression on his face. "You let Starscream board this ship, and you even let him escape again? And this, right after you returned emptyhanded from your mission, Knock Out!"

"My liege, he caught me by surprise," Knock Out said quickly. "And you don't expect me to catch up to him, do you? After all, I don't exactly have wings..."

Megatron growled at Knock Out, silencing the medic. The warlord looked to Dreadwing with an equally displeased frown.

"And you, Dreadwing," Megatron snarled. "Letting something as valuable as the Apex Armor fall into the Autobots' hands! And even with Starscream present!"

Dreadwing lowered his head in shame. "I have no excuse," Dreadwing admitted. "I failed my mission. I am ready to receive whatever punishment you have in store for me."

Megatron looked surprised at the Seeker, then huffed in annoyance, turning to Soundwave. "You, Soundwave, on the other hand," he said, and his frown turned into a toothy smile. "Well done acquiring the Resonance Blaster. You may see fit to use it as you please."

Soundwave nodded. Megatron's smile faltered as he looked down at the corpse of Hardshell, having just been returned to the Nemesis.

"I still cannot believe Hardshell was snuffed by a mere human child," Megatron said quietly. "If it wasn't for the strength and dignity of the Insecticons, I would accuse them of lying. Then again, why would they lie about getting defeated by a human? Such a pitiful fate..."

A beeping sounded from one of the computers below the bridge.

"Lord Megatron, an energy signal has been detected approaching the ship," one of the Vehicons informed.

"Who? Starscream?" Megatron snarled.

"No, but it is a Decepticon signal. Hold on, incoming transmission."

The Vehicon activated the transmission.

"Lord Megatron," a familiar voice sounded through the transmission. "Permission to land on the Nemesis."

Megatron recognized the voice and chuckled. "Permission granted," he said with a toothy smile.

The transmission ended just as quickly as it started. Megatron turned on a heel and headed for the exit. "Come with me," he ordered Dreadwing, Soundwave and Knock Out. "We have a returning warrior."

Soundwave followed without question, as always, but Dreadwing and Knock Out shared a glance before following behind.

As they arrived on the flight deck and the doors slid aside, a mech stood alone out there, patiently waiting for the Decepticons to arrive. It was a Seeker, about the same size and build as Dreadwing, but was more sky blue as opposed to Dreadwing's royal blue color scheme, as well as having dark gray lower arms. That, and his helm was black, his face lacking the horn-shaped optical ridges that Dreadwing and his late twin Skyquake both sported. The Seeker's optics were red with white pupils, similar to Starscream's optics.

The Seeker gave Megatron a smile. "Lord Megatron," he said and knelt down, bowing his head and lowering his wings slightly in submission. "I have returned."

Dreadwing squinted at the newcomer, not sure if he had seen him somewhere before. Knock Out let out a chuckle, totally recognizing him. So did Megatron.

"Thundercracker," Megatron greeted and stopped before the blue Seeker. "So good to see you again. I thought your Spark had been extinguished several years ago."

Thundercracker raised his head and wings to look back on Megatron. "Something like that, I suppose," Thundercracker said.

"Rise, Thundercracker, and come inside," Megatron ordered and made a gesture with his servo. "We have so much to catch up on."

Thundercracker rose to his pedes and followed Megatron and the others inside the ship, giving Dreadwing a brief glance and nodded. Dreadwing didn't nod back.

"Now, where have you been all this time, dear Thundercracker?" Megatron asked as they strode through the hallways.

"Not sure," Thundercracker replied. "I have been dormant for at least a decade, probably longer. It appears somebot spilled Energon over me and brought me out of stasis. I would thank the mech if I could find him. I thought I was going to be dormant for the rest of my existence."

"And where did you wake up, exactly?" Dreadwing asked suspiciously.

Thundercracker took a while to answer. "I don't know," he admitted. "I was still pretty groggy from the long stasis, and as awake as I am now, I am still pretty low on Energon. My only thought was to return to this ship so I could refuel."

"A wise decision," Megatron commented. "And I assume that is the reason why Skywarp isn't with you?"

Thundercracker perked by the mention of his former Trinemate. "I suppose so. I had considered searching for him when I awoke, but like I said, I was pretty low on energy. As soon as I've refueled and rested for a bit, I will go out and find Skywarp. Then we'll both return here to serve you, Lord Megatron."

There was no trace of malice in Thundercracker's voice, not unlike Starscream who always made his thoughts clear through his speeches. His face also did not sport the same smirk as his former Trine leader, but rather a slight frown and dim optics. He seemed almost depressed.

Megatron decided not to comment on the dull expression of Thundercracker's. "Well, I am glad to hear that. Knock Out," Megatron said to the medic, "bring our returning comrade to the medbay and have him ready for battle. That is the least you can do to make up for all your failures today."

Knock Out cringed by the mention of his failures. "As you wish, my liege," he replied and gestured for Thundercracker to follow him. "This way."

Thundercracker and Knock Out left Megatron, Soundwave and Dreadwing and headed to the medbay. Thundercracker towered over the small Knock Out, at least a head taller than Starscream, who in turn was a head taller than Knock Out. And to think this mech used to be one of Starscream's underlings. Then again, Knock Out had heard Starscream had used to be as big as Thundercracker and about as bulky.

"Lay on the table over there," Knock Out ordered and pointed at the operating table big enough to have Megatron on it - which it had, for a long period of time.

Thundercracker followed the medic's instruction and laid down on the table, wings spread out behind him. Knock Out ran a scanner across the Seeker's frame in silence. He still wore that blank, stone-faced expression he had since he arrived on the ship. Knock Out wondered what thoughts ran through the Seeker's processor.

"Well, you seem to be in good health, aside from the low energy, that is," Knock Out informed and put the scanner away. He fetched a cube from a small pile in the corner of the medbay. "Here you go," he said and handed the cube over to Thundercracker.

"Thank you, doctor," Thundercracker replied and sat up, accepting the cube and proceeded to drink its contents. Every now and then he stared into the blue substance, seemingly in deep thoughts.

"A Shanix for your thoughts?" Knock Out finally asked. He was curious.

"I doubt Shanix will do any good these times," Thundercracker replied without looking at the doctor and took another sip of the Energon. "Where is Starscream?"

Knock Out cringed at the memory of Starscream fleeing right in front of Knock Out. "Unfortunately, Starscream has left our ranks and decided to play with the Autobots now."

Thundercracker finally looked at the doctor with a surprised expression. "What? Starscream is with the Autobots? Since when?"

"Since about..." Knock Out thought for a few seconds. "Probably three months ago or something. Since he got captured by them, after Airachnid left him behind at the Harbinger."

"The Harbinger," Thundercracker replied and looked back into the Energon. "Right, we seperated from the Harbinger when it crashed on this planet. Swindle handed out rubsigns to those of us left so we could hide among the humans. I remember putting it on, scanning a plane, and then... then I couldn't transform back. I was locked in alternate mode, and eventually I fell into stasis."

Knock Out's gaze went to Thundercracker's wings, Decepticon insignias absent. "Do you still wear them?" he asked.

"Yes, could you take them off? I don't need them anymore, now that I'm back here to serve Lord Megatron."

"Leave it to me."

While Thundercracker continued to slowly refuel, Knock Out used a tool to carefully scrape at the Seeker's left wing. Thundercracker didn't squirm, though did flick the wing a bit in response to the scraping. Eventually Knock Out found the rubsign and carefully peeled it off the wing, revealing the purple Decepticon insignia underneath. Afterwards he went to the other side of the table and did the same with the right wing.

"There we go," Knock Out said and held the two flat rubsign stickers and brought them to his work table. "I got one of these from Swindle too, but I didn't put it on. Neither did Breakdown. I thought it was all pretty suspicious, and hearing your tale makes me think we were right to throw them away."

"Why? Is there something wrong with the rubsigns?" Thundercracker asked concerned.

Knock Out put one of the rubsigns under a microscope and studied it for a bit. After a few minutes, he seemed to have it figured out.

"It would seem these rubsigns are of shoddy material," Knock Out explained with a frown. "The material used seems to contain a toxin which induces stasis upon bots upon activation of the Transformation-Cog. That's why you went into stasis lock when you went into your new alt mode."

Thundercracker seemed to cringe by the information given. "Skywarp got one too. I hope he's okay..."

"Don't worry, it doesn't seem to be deadly, although as you've experienced, too long dormancy has some bad effects on the frame. Color fading, Energon and energy drop, just to name a few. Good thing you woke up when you did."

Thundercracker looked back down at the Energon, now with a determined look on his face. "I gotta find Skywarp," he said and gulped the rest of the Energon in him in one fell swoop. He put the empty cube into Knock Out's arms and stood up, heading to the door.

"Hey, you haven't rested enough yet," Knock Out called surprised.

"I've refueled and am all better now," Thundercracker claimed. "I need to find Skywarp before those rubsigns do any significant damage to his frame!"

With that, Thundercracker left Knock Out alone in the medbay with an empty cube in his servos. Knock Out sighed and gazed at one of the tables, on which the Invisibility Device Starscream had used to sneak onboard the ship with lay. He shrugged to himself.

"Well, at least some good came out of this day," he said to himself and left the medbay to put away the empty cube.

The next morning, Starscream was surprised to find himself waking up, having slept through the whole night without so much as a single nightmare. He was still lying in the same position on his back, still clutching the good-luck necklace around his neck cables.

Starscream sat up and stretched, suddenly taking notice of his free arms. He looked down at them and caught the sight of the Autobot insignia on his chestplate.

"Oh yeah, that's right," he said to himself. "They made me an Autobot yesterday. I'm free. I'm... free."

It had been real. It had not just been a dream. He really had been freed from his shackles, and he had even been announced an Autobot by Optimus Prime and given the insignia by Ratchet. He had the freedom to go outside and fly whenever he wanted. For some reason this newfound freedom felt a bit overwhelming. It was too good to be true. No way had they been serious about letting him fly on his own when he wanted.

Starscream shook his head, casting the thought aside and instead stood up and wandered over to the door. He paused right beside the shelf. He found the three datapads and took the top one, sat down by his desk and opened it.

It was the datapad containing the names of various Seekers. Not what he was looking for, but he decided to scroll through the datapad anyway, to take a better look at the other Seekers' names. Some of the names he realized he had forgotten about, perhaps because he rarely encountered these bots.

Silverbolt: Silver-gray and light yellow, has a kind of beasty face.

Air Raid: Silver and red, large blue optics, has large black shoulders with red lights.

Fireflight: Black, red and gold, silver helm, is wearing a mouth mask.

Slingshot: White with red torso and face. Wears an orange visor.

Skydive: Black with red and silver areas. Has a yellow face and blue optics.

Hadeen: Femme, silver and yellow with blue optics.

Starscream looked closer at the six names. He knew five of them were Aerialbots and joined the Autobots after Starscream surrendered Trypticon Station and the Seekers to Megatron. The last name, Hadeen, seemed familiar though he could not quite put his digit on it. Hadeen was the name of Cybertron's sun. Suddenly Starscream remembered and smiled.

"Too bad you decided to join the Autobots as another Aerialbot," Starscream said, his smile faltering. Hadeen had been one of his classmates in the Crystal City Science Institute, where he had been sent after his creation, to integrate into Cybertron society as some of the first bots to be created through Cold Construction. At least, being the first ones from Vos. There had been others created in other cities quite a long time before Starscream and the other Seekers had been created.

After presenting themselves to Nova Prime, the Prime ruling Cybertron at that time, all the Seekers had been sent to different cities to integrate into the high caste, until they would be summoned to become part of Nova Prime's army. Unfortunately Nova Prime's scheme was found out barely a few years later, and the Prime himself mysteriously disappeared, never to return. Afterwards he had been replaced by Sentinel Zeta Prime, and the prejudice against CC's began.

Starscream hummed by the memory and continued looking at other names.

Leozack: Teal, has a cyber-lion-shaped helm. Breastforce.

Hellbat: Dark blue, has a batbot-shaped helm. Breastforce.

Guyhawk: Hot pink, has a cyberhawk-shaped helm. Breastforce.

Starscream pondered over those three names. As the descriptions said, this Trine appeared to have been part of a special group called the Breastforce, basically bots with Mini-Con drones stuck to their chestplates, all turning into some kind of Cybertronian wildlife.

Ideally the Breastforce was a Combiner team, but they split up for some reason, and the three jets ended up joining the Energon Seekers, it seemed. But then the Seekers joined the Decepticons, and rumors said the Breastforce had reunited again to form the Combiner Liokaiser. Then again, they were probably just rumors.

Remembering them, Starscream came to think of Soundwave. His new upgraded body just so happened to have Laserbeak situated on his chestplate in a similar manner to the Breastforce. Unlike them, however, Laserbeak wasn't a mindless drone, though because his master was Soundwave, it was easy to think of him that way. Soundwave used to have more Mini-Cons, but some of them disappeared or perished through the course of the war. Only Laserbeak survived and stayed with Soundwave through it all.

Shaking the thoughts about Soundwave out of his head, Starscream looked at the next three names.

Wingnut: Gray and green, wears a mouth mask.

Dingbat: Gray and red, wears a visor.

Skyguy: Gray and blue, wears a mouth mask and a visor.

Starscream couldn't recall meeting those Seekers nor did he really know anything about them. He wasn't even sure if they had joined the Decepticons or the Autobots after the fall of Trypticon Station. They had probably not been among the elite, probably just a few of the many general Seekers.

Starscream decided that was enough and closed the datapad. As fun as it was to recall past memories, there was something else he had to do right now.

He grabbed the second datapad on the middle pile and replaced it with the list of Seekers. He opened the new datapad to check its contents. It was the Synthetic Energon formula. Just what he was looking for.

Starscream closed the datapad again and walked out of his room, heading to the command center, datapad in servo.

When he arrived in the command center, he noticed there were no humans present, despite it being a weekend. Or was it? It was hard to keep track of the days, especially when he had neither calendar nor clock. Perhaps he should get both. Ask the Autobots if he can get a calendar, maybe even a clock. Sure, he did have his internal chrono, but that only worked for routines, it didn't tell him the exact time of the day, let alone the date of the day.

Other than the lacking humans, Starscream also noticed Arcee was missing. All the other Autobots, aside from Wheeljack, were accounted for. Ratchet was in the medbay, Bulkhead sat on one of the operating tables - apparently he had woken up while Starscream was asleep - and Optimus seemed to be working on the locations of new Iacon relics. Bumblebee seemed at a loss for what to do.

Starscream decided to ignore the Scout for now, instead heading over to Ratchet by the medbay.

"Hello, Ratchet," Starscream greeted and put both servos on the datapad.

"Hello, Starscream," Ratchet greeted back, sparing the Seeker only a brief glance. "Do you need something?"

"Perhaps not so much I need something as you need something," Starscream said, thrumming the back of the datapad. "I see you're still working on that Synthetic Energon formula."

"That's right," Ratchet said without looking up from his work. "We need this. So I'm doing the best I can to perfect it."

There was silence for a while, with Starscream just standing there, hesitantly holding up his datapad while thrumming against the back of it with his claws. After a long moment, he pulled himself together.

"I... am not sure how much this will help," Starscream said and turned on the datapad in his servos, then held it out for Ratchet to take, "... but I want you to have this anyway."

Ratchet finally looked up from his work and glanced at Starscream and the datapad. He accepted the datapad and scrolled through it. His optics widened a bit as he got further down.

"By the AllSpark," Ratchet said. "This is..."

"My notes on the Synthetic Energon formula," Starscream replied and folded his servos together in front of him. "It's incomplete, but I was very close to finishing studying the scroll before it got launched into space. Hopefully this will... save you some time. To... predict what may come next."

"You bet it will," Ratchet replied and put the datapad down next to him. He looked back at Starscream and gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Starscream. I needed that."

"I'm sure you did," Starscream replied and smiled back. He let his servos fall to his sides and moved away from Ratchet. "You can keep it as long as you want. I don't need it, and I can't make use of it anyway. It may as well go to someone who can."

Leaving Ratchet to his work with new notes, Starscream now went over to Bumblebee, who didn't seem sure of what to do.

"What are you standing around moping about?" Starscream asked, genuinely curious. "Where is your little human friend? Rafael?"

"He had homework to do," Bumblebee bleeped. "And Jack's working."

Starscream hummed at the information. "Where is Arcee? Is she out on patrol?"

"No, she went topside to talk with Miko."

"Miko's here, but the boys aren't? What is she doing topside?"

"She's... having a hard time handling Bulk's situation," Bumblebee said, nodding in the direction of Bulkhead, resting on the table at the medbay.

"I see," Starscream replied and gazed at the elevator in thought. To no one in particular, he added: "Eh, would it be alright if I... went out for a fly?"

"Knock yourself out," Ratchet replied without taking his optics off his work. Optimus remained silent, as did the resting Bulkhead.

Starscream looked at Bumblebee, who shrugged. "Go for it," the Scout bleeped.

Starscream looked between the elevator and the Autobots and hesitated before slowly making his way to it. He occasionally stopped and gazed back at the Autobots, waiting for one of them to stop him. They didn't, and he continued his journey to the elevator until his servo hit the panel beside it, the doors sliding aside.

Optics still on the Autobots, Starscream walked inside the elevator, just as he had done the previous way, but this time with Bumblebee watching him, having nothing else to do, it seemed. Starscream hesitated for a few seconds before his servo hit the panel inside the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator went up.

Starscream's Spark raced with excitement. They didn't stop him from going topside. They didn't stop him from going for a fly. They let him go. It was almost too good to be true, but with the evidence before him, Starscream knew now that he was indeed truly free.

Realizing his newfound freedom for real, Starscream felt a wide smile forming on his face and he began laughing. Not so much from humor or joy, but rather from the fact that it took about three months before the Autobots had finally trusted him enough to give him his wings back. It was a laugh of relief, letting out built-up stress from being trapped like an animal for so long. He was so excited to get to fly an actual enjoyable flight, he could barely contain his excitement and bounced up and down, his wings flapping excitedly behind him.

As the elevator doors slid aside and let him outside, Starscream ceased his laughter and bouncing, exiting with a more stoic expression. He heard a pair of voices and looked to his right. He stiffened as he saw Arcee and Miko sitting at the edge of the cliff, watching the sun slowly beginning to set. Was it really that late? How long had he been asleep?

Curious, Starscream carefully tip-toed closer to the pair, sharpening his audio receptors to listen in on their conversation. It sounded as if they were talking about Cliffjumper. Starscream stopped as his own name was mentioned. Arcee was telling Miko about the time she and Cliffjumper met Starscream for the first time on Cybertron. Captured, of course.

While they were talking, Starscream's gaze fell on a pile of rocks standing not very far from the pair, just a few feet from his pedes. It didn't seem to be a natural structure. He looked between the rock pile and Arcee and understood. It must be the grave of Cliffjumper.

Starscream felt a rushing in his tanks and suddenly his good mood disappeared like dew before the sun. The memory of him killing Cliffjumper stabbed him in the chest, just as he had stabbed the small red bot in the chest with his claws. Starscream's gaze fell on his right talons, which he had used to finish off the Autobot. The memory of his blue-stained servo, the life disappearing from Cliffjumper's optics, the small frame falling onto the floor of the Nemesis as Starscream removed the servo. Not to mention presenting the deceased Autobot to Megatron when he returned from space, following Cliffjumper's resurrection with a shard of Dark Energon. It had been a horrible sight, and Megatron had then proceeded to finish off the Terrorcon by slicing it in half. Even so, that did not destroy the zombified Cliffjumper.

Starscream remembered the look on Arcee's face back when she found Cliffjumper, sliced in half. When she held him by the servo to keep him from falling into the Energon mine. When Cliffjumper growled at her with pure Energon lust and wrist himself loose from her grip. When Starscream had then proceeded to drop a bomb into the mine and fled the scene.

Starscream gulped, trying to keep his emotions in check. The guilt and angst was eating him up inside. He had told the kids (accidentally, but still), but keeping it secret from the Autobots, especially Arcee, was almost overwhelming. But he couldn't tell them. They would abandon him, let Megatron get his claws on him and he would be back in the Decepticon fold as his punching bag once again. Or he would be forced to live the life of a rogue and search for scraps of Energon just to survive, without allies to back him up.

Starscream stepped back. He may be an Autobot now, but he was still the expendable one. The former Decepticon. The traitor. If anyone of the bots had to go, Starscream would be the first to be let loose, no doubt. Of course, he didn't know in what scenario that would be necessary, but still. This whole thing was just a charade. Pretending everything was good between him and the Autobots. But he knew it wasn't. On the outside, it may look okay, but within, Starscream was still a mess. A mess that even the Autobots would not be able to clean.

Starscream turned around and began walking toward the other end of the cliff, trying to take off in silence.

"Starscream," Arcee's voice sounded.

Starscream stiffened and slowly turned to look at the pair, now staring at the Seeker with mild surprise. He turned all the way, but looked at the ground instead of Arcee's optics.

"How long have you been standing there?" Arcee asked.

"A while," Starscream replied. "Though I can't say I've paid much attention to what you said."

"What are you doing up here?" Miko asked, having been lifted a bit by Arcee's story about Cliffjumper.

Starscream hesitated. "Nothing," he lied. "I mean... I was going for a fly. But I... became thoughtful. That's all."

Arcee rose to her pedes and walked towards him. Starscream didn't back off. She stopped just a few meters from him.

"You didn't forget your promise to me, did you?" Arcee asked with a soft smile.

Starscream forced himself to smile back. "I did not," he said. "But I was hoping for a nice and quiet fly by myself."

Arcee crossed her arms, smile still on her face. "Come on. Just this once. Then I'll leave you alone, and you can fly by yourself all you want."

Starscream's smile turned to a thoughtful frown. He sighed. "Fine," he gave in. "Just this once."

Miko sprung to her feet and ran over to them. "Ooh! Can I come along? I haven't flown in you yet, I can't let Jack be the only one to do all the cool stuff!"

Starscream raised an optical ridge at the human and let out a sigh. "Fine," he repeated annoyed. "Just don't do any gross organic stuff. I still haven't got that stench completely out of my back from the time Jack occupied me."

"That reminds me," Arcee said, "did he ever wash you like you told him?"

"He did," Starscream replied and crossed his arms in a pout. "You just didn't see it. And he didn't do a good job anyway."

"C'mon, let's go!" Miko pleaded eagerly.

Starscream rolled his optics and let his arms fall to his sides. The femme and girl stepped back to give the Seeker some space.

Starscream jumped into the air and assumed jet mode, hovering slightly above ground. His cockpit opened up.

"Well, come on then, get inside," he said.

Miko smiled widely and climbed into Starscream's cockpit, which then proceeded to close. She put on the seatbelt that was so conveniently featured in the cockpit and leaned back. "I've never flown in a jet before," she said excitedly. "This is gonna be awesome!"

Starscream chuckled. "Oh, I assure you, it will be more than awesome," he said. "Get on, Arcee."

Arcee smiled and climbed onto the back of the jet like she had done almost two months earlier. She held onto the base of Starscream's wings.

"Hold on tight," Starscream warned and activated his thrusters, zooming off into the sky, though not as fast as he had wanted to. Just enough so Arcee wouldn't fall off. Starscream ascended higher into the sky until they were above the clouds, looking out at the setting sun and the stars fading in on the steadily darkening sky.

Miko laughed at the high speed of the jet. "Woohoo!" she cheered with her arms in the air. "This is awesome! You're awesome, Starscream!"

Starscream felt warmth rising in his face, tucked somewhere in his body now, a bit flustered over the compliment. "Heh, told you, didn't I?" he said casually. "How are you holding up there, Arcee?"

"I'm good," Arcee said, also taking the liberty of letting out a rather restrained laugh. "But you're right Miko. You really are amazing, Starscream. It's good to have you on our side."

The warmth in Starscream's face became even warmer, almost embarrassed by their compliments. He was not used to compliments. Not with Megatron as leader and with so few friends. Knock Out had perhaps been the closest thing to being a friend to Starscream, and even he was pretty rude. To have someone actually tell him he was amazing and competent and useful... it was perhaps the most surreal thing of all.

"Glad to be on the team," Starscream said with a chuckle.

All laughing, the trio continued the flight, watching the sunset, the appearance of the stars, enjoying the flight and just having a good time.

Chapter Text

The city was farther away than it first seemed. By the time Swindle reached the city borders, it was already nightfall, even though he had only left the MECH base at dusk. The city streets were lit up by the street lamps, though barely any humans walked around. They were all tucked up in their homes, driving to or from work, some working night shifts. The tall buildings were lit up, though as Swindle progressed further into the city, several lights began turning off, indicating the humans were going to sleep.

Some ten minutes after reaching the city borders, Swindle found the hospital. He parked in the back and scanned his surroundings before deactivating James, his holographic driver, and turned his car lights off. Now he just had to wait until the hospital staff was heading home.

He ended up waiting well over three hours before the city was covered in darkness, save for the street lamps. No humans or vehicles other than the ambulances seemed to be present in the hospital grounds. Just to be certain, Swindle set his scanner to carbon-based life-forms to check if there were any night guards patrolling around him. The scanner came up with nothing, and Swindle decided it was good enough for him.

As slowly and quietly as his biology allowed, Swindle assumed bot mode and rose slowly to his pedes. His car lights were still off, and there were no lamps in the area he was in, but thanks to his Cybertronian biology, he had great night vision, and the little light from the half moon and stars on the sky reflected in his optics and was cast back, giving him a sort of flashlight vision.

Transformed and with the moon on his side, Swindle walked calmly over to the large back doors of the hospital. They were a bit shorter than him, but he could easily crawl through them, and the hallways in the dark hospital were just large enough that he could walk upright through them. He made sure to tiptoe as quietly as possible to avoid alerting the humans. While it was dark and mostly empty, Swindle knew that there were guards patrolling the hospital during nighttime, as well as looking after the patients to make sure they survived the night.

Fortunately this hospital seemed to be of low funds, as he encountered almost no guards, aside from a single one close to the lobby. Swindle sought cover in another hallway and took out the list of tools given to him by the MECH surgeon. It wasn't a lot, and it could all probably be found in a lab. Swindle got up and went further down the hallway he had hidden in. By the end of it was a pair of big doors with a small window at the top to look through.

Swindle peeked through the windows and confirmed it was indeed a lab. He did a quick scan of the room to make sure no one was inside, before slowly opening the doors and stepping inside. The ceiling in the lab was a bit shorter than in the hallways, and Swindle had to lower his head to fit. It was uncomfortable, but he could handle it for a little while. He just needed to get three things.

Swindle checked the list again. A defibrillator, a spinal prostethis and... blood. O-negative.

Swindle pursed his lip and looked around. He found a defibrillator in a drawer and a spinal prostethis in a closet, but there didn't seem to be any O-neg. blood in the room. Where did humans keep blood? The same place Cybertronians kept Energon in medical centers, perhaps?

Swindle tucked the two items into his subspace and left the lab, relieved to be able to stand up straight again. He went searching the hallways for something that could contain blood.

He ended up in a secondary lobby, albeit unoccupied, where he found a cart with bags of red stuff inside. That must be blood. He walked over and read the labels. Most of it seemed to be O-negative. Perhaps that was the kind of blood most acceptable by the human body. Energon wasn't nearly as complicated. All Transformers used the same kind of Energon, although some had Natural Blue while others had Artifical Pink, though both worked the same way and were accepted by all Cybertronian bodies. Artificial Pink Energon was only available if one had a special kind of Energon cube called Absorption Cubes, however. These were scarce and practically non-existing at this time of the war, meaning both Autobots and Decepticons had to rely on finding Natural Blue Energon as crystals, which were scarce on any world, as they have a very long solidification time.

Swindle decided to just take all the bags containing O-negative blood. The surgeon could decide how much of it they would use and then scrap the rest. The humans could always get more themselves. Unlike Cybertronians, humans could generate blood simply by eating and drinking various organic things. Transformers had to consume Energon in order to produce more Energon themselves, which was naturally a problem considering the scarcity of Energon.

With his subspace full of surgery items, Swindle left the lobby and wandered into the hallways, heading to the same entrance he got from.

As he exited the hospital, Swindle resumed vehicle mode and reactivated James before driving off into the street, car lights still off. The hospital theft had gone smoothly, but Swindle was not done yet. He still had one more mission to accomplish before he could return to the MECH base.

He had to find Brawl.

Fortunately Combiner team members had weak Spark connections with one another, making one team member able to find another by locating his Spark signature. It wasn't as strong a bond as the one between Spark Twins, Amica Endura, Conjunx Endura or even the parent-child bond between a Sparkling and its Creators. Even so, it enabled Swindle to find his teammates, which nobot else, not even Megatron, could do.

So it did not take long before Swindle found what was supposedly Brawl, parked in a military base just at the outskirts of the city. It was a rusty grayish green tank with a black cannon. At first glance it looked like any regular old rusty tank. But Swindle could feel a very faint energy signal from it. It was definitely Brawl, but he was dormant, just like Swindle had been. Swindle hummed in silence. Perhaps there was a pattern of some sort? He would have to check it out later.

Without hesitation, Swindle drove up beside the much larger tank and transformed.

"Heya, Brawl," Swindle greeted cheerfully but quietly. "Long time no see! You look a bit rusty - literally! But don't you worry, ol' Swindle here will get you out of this boring place. Then we'll have a drink together, catch up on the good old days, destroy some things, find the others. Whaddya say, huh? Sound good?"

The tank did not answer. Swindle let out a chuckle.

"Right, you can't really talk right now," he said. "No problem, let me just get this..." Swindle reached into his subspace and pulled out two hooks and a rope and started knotting the two hooks together with the rope.

Swindle heard a small voice and stiffened, instinctively assuming jeep mode and remained still. A human soldier appeared from the base building and took a look around at the vehicles.

"I could have sworn I heard something..." the soldier muttered to himself, gaze skipping the new jeep, and returned to the base building.

As soon as the coast was clear, Swindle resumed bot mode and let out a sigh of relief. He gazed between the large tank and the other army vehicles.

"Perhaps I should make sure I'm not followed," Swindle muttered to himself and smirked. He had gained an idea.

Thundercracker scanned the area below him as he flew over an army base. There were tanks, jeeps and jets, but none of them had Skywarp's energy signal, so he moved on to find the next.

Thundercracker had searched all night and most of the next day all across America. Every time he found an army base, he scanned the jets for anything resembling Skywarp's signal, then moved on when he found that he wasn't there. How hard could it be to find one dormant Seeker? Very hard, as it turned out. It was like searching for a tree in a forest.

"Curse those rubsigns," Thundercracker hissed to himself at the perhaps hundredth army base without Skywarp. "It's at times like these that a Sparkbond would be useful! Where are you, Skywarp?"

Like Combiners, Trinemates created a weak connection between their Sparks so they could more easily locate each other if they got seperated during missions. And like Combiners, the connection was weaker than an actual Sparkbond between relatives, best friends or lovers. Which was highly impractical in a situation such as this, where not only was Skywarp who-knows-where on Earth, he was even dormant, which only made his energy signal even weaker. Even so, Thundercracker should have been able to locate him by now, but he felt nothing.

As night had fallen, a strong energy signal suddenly popped up on Thundercracker's radar and he stopped, hovering still in the air. It wasn't Skywarp, but it was definitely worth checking out. It was a few hundred meters away below him. Curious, Thundercracker decided to check it out.

When he arrived at the signal and descended, he gasped as his scanners told him what it was.

"Red Energon," he whispered to himself, observing the large red crystal right below him. "Here, on Earth? Unbelievable. This will definitely be in our favor."

Thundercracker was about to transform and land when he noticed he wasn't alone. Surrounding the Red Energon were construction vehicles and humans scurrying around, seemingly trying to mine the Energon. Thundercracker hesitated. He wasn't afraid of the humans nor did the Decepticons really have a rule of being 'robots in disguise', but Thundercracker did have some common sense, unlike many of his brethren. He knew if he was discovered by the humans, they would report him to their military, which in turn he had learned was allied with the Autobots. No reason to alert the Autobots that the Decepticons had gained additional firepower just yet. That would make for a nice surprise later.

Thundercracker marked the location of the Red Energon site, then took off. He could always get it later when he had located Skywarp. His Trinemate's safety was currently more important than even one of the rarest kinds of Energon in the universe. Besides, they were just humans. They could handle them at any time.

Since he couldn't feel his Trinemate's energy signal anywhere, Thundercracker made the conclusion that Skywarp was not on this continent. Meaning he had to search overseas. He still had plenty of Energon in his tanks to fly for several days straight, so he wasn't worried about that.

As such, he reached the western coast of America and flew beyond that, into the Pacific. Thundercracker was fast, comparable in speed to even Starscream, but even with his speed, due to having to conserve energy, he first reached land when the sun had begun to rise. He reached an island known as Japan and decided to check it out there.

As Thundercracker soared through the skies of Japan, searching the army bases below, he met a group of Japanese jet fighters.

"This is the Japan Defense Force, please identify yourself," one of the jets' pilots spoke over a comm., in Japanese, though Thundercracker had, like many other Cybertronians, a universal translator installed in his processor, enabling him to understand the Earthlings' many languages.

Thundercracker hesitated, still soaring through the air, as the jets were closing in on him. He wasn't as good a liar as Starscream and was unsure if he should even speak to the humans or not.

"Repeat, this is the Japan Defense Force, identify yourself or we will attack," the pilot repeated over the comm.

Thundercracker decided to stay silent, instead speeding up, until he shot off, a loud sonic boom shaking the sky and the ground below. He escaped the jets easily.

Suddenly an energy signal popped up on his radar and he ceased to a stop, almost losing balance. He scanned the ground below. There was an army base, filled with jets. And indeed, he could feel Skywarp's signal among them. His Spark beat faster and he started descending into a forest just at the outskirts of the army base.

As soon as he reached below the trees he assumed bot mode and peeked through the forest edge at the jets. He spotted one jet that seemed to be a fading black with some dark gray areas. Thundercracker could just barely make out a faint purple tone in the gray. It was definitely Skywarp, and his dormancy seemed to be taking a toll on his paintjob. Which meant that his body was using all the energy it could find and absorb it to keep him alive, including his color scheme. He almost looked dying, as much as he was graying out.

Thundercracker wanted to just storm in there, grab Skywarp and take off, but he knew he couldn't. There were too many humans, and they seemed to have plenty of air support here. The risk was simply too high at this moment. Besides, as strong as Thundercracker was and as light as Skywarp may be, he couldn't carry Skywarp all the way until they found Energon.

He needed a plan. And a lot of patience. Fortunately for Thundercracker, he was a very patient Seeker and good at making plans. He decided to wait until fewer humans were present and he had worked out how to rescue Skywarp.

Until then, he remained seated on the forest floor, staring at the army base, birds occasionally seating themselves on him without his notice or care.

Starscream woke up the next morning, having slept through the night almost without any nightmares. He only had one somewhere early in the morning where he heard strange and eerie noises coming from his desk and shelf, as if something was alive. When he woke up and looked, there was nothing though, but the dream and darkness certainly made him more paranoid. Not paranoid enough for him to avoid falling back asleep and sleep until early noon.

Starscream rose to his pedes and stretched his arms and wings, arching his back to make a cracking noise, relieving him of the stiffness in his joints from a long night's recharge. As he lowered his arms, his gaze fell on the good-luck necklace now wrapped around his right wrist.

After returning from his flight with Arcee and Miko the previous evening, Starscream found the necklace all tangled up in his armor and decided it would be best to just wear it on his wrist from now on. That way it wouldn't get in the way of his transformation, other than perhaps when he had to use his laser, but it could probably work out.

The flight had lifted the mood of all three. Starscream didn't think he had ever heard Arcee laugh before, but then again it was war. There wasn't much time for laughs. But flying through the air was something no one could argue against. It was the best feeling of all time.

Well rested and content with his new freedom, Starscream exited his room and headed to the command center, intending to go on a morning fly. Or, well, early noon fly. Either way, a fly after waking up.

Starscream's pedesteps were giddy as he entered the command center and found everyone present, including the children.

"Hello to you all," Starscream greeted with a smile.

"Hey Scream," Miko greeted back, on the floor helping Bulkhead with his leg exercises.

"You seem to be doing better since yesterday, Bulkhead," Starscream remarked at the Wrecker lying on his side and struggling to lift the top leg in the air.

"Yeah, except having to do these exercises," Bulkhead grumbled.

"Come on, Bulk, this'll help you get better," Miko said cheerfully. "Follow my lead! One... two..."

Starscream turned away from the pair and headed for the elevator. "I am going for a fly," he announced without looking back. "Will be back in an hour."

"Have fun," Arcee replied.

Starscream smiled as he turned in the elevator and watched the doors close in front of him, seperating him from the rest of the team. He sighed as the elevator went up. It still felt weird being allowed to go off on his own now, but it was a change he was willing to get used to. He was happy they finally trusted him. More or less.

As the elevator doors opened, Starscream stepped outside and took a deep vent, then exhaled.

"What a lovely morning," he said to himself. "Perfect flying conditions."

Without hesitation, Starscream ran to the edge of the cliff, jumped out and let himself fall until a few meters from the ground before initiating transformation. He pointed upwards and shot into the sky, a mere meter from hitting the ground. He let out a laugh by the thrill of the fall.

"This is life," Starscream said to himself as he spun and made loops in the air, getting his own morning exercise. "To think I have been trapped inside a cliff for two months. It feels like a mere bad dream now."

Starscream ascended and reached above the clouds, soaking himself in the cold water vapor and then letting the sun dry it off his armor. A gentle breeze caressed his armor in a pleasant way. Never had he felt so refreshed by a flight before. His first lone flight, simply for the joy of flying, in months. It was something he had missed dearly, but which he had now gotten back.

At one point, Starscream initiated bot mode and let himself fall through the clouds, heading towards the ground. For a moment he closed his optics and just enjoyed the feel of the rushing wind brushing his armor from below, feeling the adrenaline rush from getting near the ground.

Just as Starscream was about to transform back to jet mode, a shadow passed by him, and with it a strong gust of wind that made him spin around. He let out a shriek of surprise and tried desperately to stop spinning.

Starscream noticed he was getting dangerously close to the ground and panic began rising in him. But he was a Seeker, a term given to only the best Fliers on Cybertron. And Starscream was not just any Seeker, he was the former Air Commander of the Seekers. Meaning he was the best of the best at flying. He knew what to do.

Taking a quick vent to calm himself, Starscream initiated transformation while still spinning. The transformation broke off some of the speed, the flat wings and body pushing against the wind from below, giving him back control of the spinning and stopped it. As soon as the spinning stopped, and he was only a a dozen meters from hitting the ground, Starscream quickly turned upwards and activated his thrusters, shooting back into the air, less than half a meter from hitting the ground.

Starscream sighed of relief as he was safely back in the air.

"What the FRAG was THAT?!" he screamed to no one in particular. He flew more slowly and began scanning the surrounding area. It didn't take long before he found the source of his crashing. A distance north of his location, a pillar of smoke went from outer space to below a forested area a few hundred meters from Starscream's current location.

"Must have been an escape pod," Starscream speculated as he began flying towards the forest. He opened his comm. to call the base. "Starscream to base, I just found something interesting..."

Back at the Autobot base, Bulkhead was still struggling with the exercises, despite Miko's help. Bumblebee stood by the railings with Jack while Raf was scrolling through a conspiracy website to look for pictures of Bumblebee, when suddenly one particular picture appeared.

"Wow, what is that?" Jack pointed at the picture, and they enlarged it. The picture was featured 'Mysterious Meteor', but Raf could tell it was no mere meteor.

"A Cybertronian escape pod," Raf remarked with shock.

"Here in Earth's atmosphere?" Ratchet said with surprise.

Raf put the picture up on the large monitors so the Autobots could see too. Miko and Bulkhead both got up to join the others.

Just then, a transmission from Starscream beeped in on the computer.

"Starscream to base, I just found something interesting," Starscream's voice sounded.

"It wouldn't happen to be a Cybertronian escape pod, would it?" Arcee asked.

"Wha- How did you know?" Starscream said surprised.

"Because we're looking at it," Arcee replied. "Well, a picture of it anyway."

"Well, I saw more than a picture, I nearly crashed because of it!"

"Are you okay?" Miko asked concerned.

"I'm alright, but you really should come, Autobots. Anyone could be in there."

"Like a 'Con," Arcee said.

"Or an Autobot," Ratchet said. "With this resolution it's impossible to tell."

"Should we call Wheeljack?" Arcee asked. "Since Bulk isn't combat-ready yet?"

"I can hear you," Bulkhead grumbled.

"Not after the stunt he pulled with Miko," Ratchet grumbled.

"An Autobot may be in distress," Optimus said. "Ratchet, bring your medical kit. Starscream, remain where you are. We will meet up at your location."

"Got it," Starscream replied through the comm. "I'll be waiting for you."

Starscream touched down to ground in the forest near where the escape pod was and transformed. He began walking towards the clearing made by the crash but stopped just before entering it. He observed the crash site. The pod wasn't very big, but probably big enough for one or two, maybe three bots to be stuffed in there. It seemed to have a hole in the ceiling, indicating whoever was in the pod had escaped. From the crashed pod ran a river of Energon ending in a point.

Starscream didn't get to stand alone for very long before a GroundBridge portal opened right in front of the tip of the Energon river, and the Autobots stepped out, one by one. Starscream stepped into the clearing to meet up with them. They were Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Ratchet.

As he approached them, they briefly glanced at the Seeker to acknowledge his presence before all five carefully made their way towards the pod, Arcee and Bumblebee with their weapons out.

"That pod certainly did some damage," Starscream remarked and looked around at the trees and barren ground.

None of the others made any comments, but just kept moving. As they reached the pod, Arcee wiped some dust and soot off a red spot to reveal... a Decepticon mark. Starscream couldn't help but smile at the familiar red insignia.

"It is of Decepticon origin," Optimus remarked.

"And the 'Con inside blew his way out," Arcee assumed.

She had barely turned around before red lasers were being fired at them from the left. On the other side of the Energon river, several Vehicons and Insecticons had appeared and discovered the small group of Autobots. Team Prime were quick to respond with their own blue lasers.

Starscream jumped back, surprised by the ambush, and looked uncertain from the Decepticons to the Autobots.

"Scream, you haven't forgotten how to fight, have you?" Arcee remarked as she almost bumped into the Seeker.

"Of course not!" Starscream hissed and jumped out of the way, transforming his left arm and started shooting his red lasers at the Decepticons.

Starscream wasn't sure why he had hesitated just now. They were just Vehicons, and of course some bigger and scarier Insecticons, but still. And he had even fought Decepticons just two days earlier, not only while in the Antarctic with Prime, but also in the sky alongside Wheeljack. But this was the first time he was fighting Decepticons as an Autobot. With the Autobot brand. It felt weird, but of course he didn't have time to feel weird at the moment.

The Autobots retreated behind some big rocks for cover as two Insecticons descended and started firing at them.

"All those 'Cons came out of one pod?" Arcee suggested, perhaps jokingly.

"Humans refer to the phenomenon as a clown car," Ratchet remarked, perhaps also jokingly, a bit less expectant from him.

An Insecticon began closing in on them, and Starscream lifted his right arm, firing a missile after it. The Insecticon got hit on the side as it tried to dodge the attack, but it was still functional. It transformed as it landed on the ground and went for Prime. The two clashed with claws and swords, but Prime managed to send it off with a blast from his ion cannon and sent another incoming Insecticon flying back with another blast before storming towards the Vehicons.

Another Insecticon came flying in and pushed Ratchet against one of the rocks before transforming. It roared and prepared to slash, but Arcee jumped in and slashed one of its appendages off. The Insecticon grabbed her, but she pushed against its face and got free easily. She and Bumblebee started firing at the Insecticon, until it fell onto its back.

The Insecticons seemingly taken care of, the Autobots turned their attention back to the Vehicons on the other side of the Energon river. Starscream continued firing his left laser while waiting for his right arm missile to regenerate.

Suddenly, a different set of blue lasers began firing from behind the rocks, behind the Autobots. Arcee and Bumblebee noticed the lasers and looked behind in confusion, as did Starscream. A sleek white bot came running between the trees, shooting lasers at the Decepticons.

"Incoming!" Arcee shouted as she and Bumblebee pointed their blasters at the stranger, uncertain if he was friend or foe.

"Down in front!" the stranger shouted and jumped above the pair, continuing his assault on the Decepticons in front of them. He downed a Vehicon who had managed to cross the river, then he started shooting at the others on the other side of the river. His aim was very precise and hit almost every target with every shot he fired, and elegantly dodged each attack the enemy fired.

"Friendly?" Arcee asked in disbelief. All the Autobots had now paused in their attack, just watching the young stranger easily taking down the Decepticons. Even Starscream had to admit this bot had style.

"Seems like it," Starscream remarked and transformed his arm back into an arm.

Another Insecticon came flying in and almost hit the stranger, but he managed to dodge and jumped back. He fired at the Insecticon, but one of the lasers strayed and accidentally hit the Energon river, setting the Energon on fire.

Everyone ceased their attacks as the blue flames spread towards the crashed pod. It was going to explode!

"Fall back!" Optimus shouted.

Starscream made no hesitation in running along with the Autobots as fast as he could, away from the crash site. The stranger went with them, as they sought cover behind some large rocks. They just managed to get behind the rocks when the explosion sounded. As the shock ended and there was only the sound of rattling the Autobots peeked behind their cover to the sight of trees and the ground burning in beautiful blue flames. The Decepticons had been blown to bits by the impact.

The stranger stood on top of the lowest rock and stared at the sight before spreading his arms in triumph.

"Woo! Too hot for you, 'Cons?" the stranger exclaimed victoriously.

The Autobots stood around and just looked at their apparent new ally. Ratchet turned to Bumblebee.

"Friend of yours?" the medic asked.

"What?" Bumblebee replied surprised. "Don't know him."

"Never seen him before," Arcee said.

The stranger jumped down from his rock and put his servos on his hips. A Grounder, it seemed. He had winglets, so he probably turned into some kind of car. He was mostly white but was blue in the middle of his torso, on which a red Autobot insignia could be seen. His optics were large and bright blue as opposed to the Autobots' cyan optics. He seemed to be a young mech, about a head taller than Bumblebee.

"Torching that Energon leak," the stranger said. "Pretty good plan, right?"

"Except that it wasn't your plan," Arcee pointed out. "It was a random shot that almost fried us to crisps!"

"Worked out, didn't it?" the stranger said, his smile undeterred.

"Thank you, fellow Autobot," Optimus said, catching the stranger's attention. "Your... valor is to be commended."

The stranger stared at Optimus, wincing back, looking absolutely shocked. "I... don't believe it!" he said with excitement. "You're Optimus Prime! He's Optimus Prime!" he added to the others while pointing at Optimus Prime.

"We know," Arcee replied unimpressed.

"Yes, yes," Ratchet said blankly.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Bumblebee bleeped.

"Brilliant observation," Starscream said.

The stranger paused as his optics fell on Starscream. "Hey, aren't you Starscream?" he asked suspiciously, his smile faltering. "The stiletto-heeled freak who works under Megatron?"

Starscream cringed at the accusation. "How dare you," he snapped. "They are not stilettos, they are french spools! The nerve!"

The stranger gazed at the other Autobots for answers.

"It's a long story," Arcee said and crossed her arms. "But he's kinda with us now, so don't worry about it."

"Stilettos," Starscream muttered to himself.

Turning their attention back on the stranger, Optimus placed his servos on his hips in an authoritative manner and gazed down at the smaller Autobot.

"What is your name, soldier?" Prime asked calmly.

The Autobot stood straight and saluted. "Smokescreen, sir!" he replied loud and clear with excitement in his voice.

Optimus held out a servo. "Welcome to Earth, Smokescreen."

Smokescreen eagerly accepted Optimus' servo and shook it. "It's an honor to be here," he said. "Especially with you."

"Now what?" Ratchet asked. "It's not like we can just bring him back to base."

"Wouldn't be the first time an ally turned out to be a plant," Arcee remarked.

There was silence among the group for a while. Optimus gazed from Arcee to Smokescreen, deep in thought. His gaze fell on Smokescreen's shoulder. There was another Autobot insignia, but with three stripes going out from each side of the symbol. It was a mark Optimus had not seen in a long time.

"I see that you received your training from Cybertron's Elite Guard," Optimus said and pointed at the symbol.

"True enough," Smokescreen admitted. "Though it wasn't much more than a boot camp by the time I joined. Never even got a proper graduation ceremony."

"There was a war going on," Arcee pointed out.

"Hey, all I ever wanted was to be a soldier, serve the Autobot cause," Smokescreen countered. "But what I got was security detail at Iacon."

The Autobots looked at Smokescreen in surprise. "The Hall of Records of all places," Ratchet remarked. "Optimus, do you not find this highly suspicious?"

Optimus gazed from Ratchet to Smokescreen. "Smokescreen, what was your assignment inside the Hall?" Optimus asked.

"Guarding Alpha Trion during what turned out to be the final days of the war," Smokescreen replied.

"You served under the master archivist?" Optimus remarked with surprise.

"Yeah, I wasn't thrilled at first," Smokescreen said. "Watching the back of an old bot instead of kicking 'Con tailpipe!" He paused for a moment and gazed at their unimpressed faces before continuing. "Sorry. But the Big A turned out to be a great teacher. And a true friend. I mean he was the one who petitioned Halogen in the High Council to make you a Prime."

Optimus looked intently at Smokescreen, his face unmoving. But it appeared he had made his decision.

"Rafael," Optimus called over the comm., "activate the GroundBridge."

"That's it?" Arcee asked in surprise. "That's all you need to hear before inviting him to the party?"

"If my former mentor shared this information, it is because he considered Smokescreen a trusted ally."

It didn't take long before a GroundBridge portal opened up in front of them. They each stepped through, with Starscream as the third last, making a pointing gesture from his optics to Smokescreen and back before entering the portal, followed by Smokescreen himself and finally Optimus, making sure no one was left behind.

Back at base, the humans were eager to meet with the new Autobot.

"We haven't had somebody new here since Wheeljack!" Miko said excited and ran up the stairs to get a better look at Smokescreen.

"A-hem!" Starscream coughed.

"Right, and Starscream," Miko said as she reached the railings. "What's your story, Smoke, where'd you come from, how'd you get here, how many blasters you packin'?"

Smokescreen stared perplexed at the girl. "So these are the life-forms we're supposed to protect?" he asked and looked to the other bots. "Are they all like this?"

"Fortunately not," Ratchet replied, "but I too share Miko's fascination with how you came to arrive on Earth."

"In a Decepticon escape pod," Arcee added and crossed her arms and gave the young mech a stern look.

"Still got trust issues, huh?" Smokescreen remarked. "Tough crowd."

"You have no idea, kid," Starscream commented and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as Smokescreen started to tell his tale.

"The main thrust of combat operations was at least twenty kliks from the Hall of Records, so things had been pretty quiet. But the situation went downhill fast. The 'Cons launched a massive surge that wiped out the last line of defense surrounding Iacon. I was the only thing left to hold them back. And let me tell ya: I was pumped! I mean, this was my chance to see real action for the first time! To prove myself." Smokescreen paused for a moment. "Until everything went black. 'Cons took me prisoner and dumped me unto a transport ship. But I managed to give a guard the slip and hopped in an escape pod. Apparently it was a long-distance pod, 'cause it knocked me into stasis. Next thing I knew, I'm hitting solid ground. Hard."

Yeah, on ME, Starscream thought in his mind.

"The Decepticon warship must have picked up the pod's beacon and guided it to Earth," Ratchet theorized.

"Which would explain Smokescreen's welcoming committee," Arcee said and crossed her arms. She hummed with amusement. "Bet those 'Cons were disappointed not to find one of their own inside."

"Smokescreen," Optimus said, drawing attention to him. "Do you know of Alpha Trion's fate after the fall of Iacon?"

"I wish I did," Smokescreen replied and looked down. "But that was the last I ever saw of him."

Optimus' gaze fell from Smokescreen to the floor, disappointed he still did not know if his mentor was still alive.

"That's it," Smokescreen ended. "My life story. Not exactly the glory I envisioned for myself. Until now," he added with excitement. "Being here with Optimus Prime?! I knew I was destined for great things! I mean, now that you have help, how hard could it be to end this war?"

A loud groan was heard from the hallway and everyone turned their attention to Bulkhead who emerged to greet the newcomer. Only, his greeting was not very friendly.

"Take a good look, newbie," Bulkhead groaned as he dragged himself into the command center. His body creaked and squeaked from the damages done by the Tox-En exposure and not being used enough the last few days. Everyone went silent and just gazed at the wounded Wrecker. "This is how hard."

Smokescreen stared with shock and awe at Bulkhead, still silent.

"Smokescreen," Optimus said to divert the attention away from Bulkhead, "I would suggest that you take some time to become acclimated to your new surroundings. A tour of the base would be an excellent start."

"Sure thing!" Miko beamed excited.

Bulkhead groaned from the other end of the railings and gave Miko a depressed look.

"I mean..." Miko corrected, "Jack here offers a very informative tour."

Smokescreen's gaze fell on Jack, who looked back at him and smiled shyly.

Starscream smirked by the sight. An interesting development, he thought gleefully. Very interesting...

Thundercracker ended up waiting until late afternoon before he decided he had waited long enough. There were still humans at the base, more than he would have liked, but who knew how much longer Skywarp could take in that dormant state. Not to mention how long it would take for that Red Energon back in America to be hauled away by the humans, or worse yet, the Autobots. Thundercracker couldn't afford to wait much longer.

"Starscream did always say I never take enough risks," Thundercracker said quietly to himself and rose to his pedes, the birds on his armor getting spooked by the action and took off. "I'll prove him wrong. The great Thundercracker is no coward, unlike his Trinemates. I'll show those humans."

Aiming from between the trees, Thundercracker lifted his right arm and pointed his blaster at some random point in the city situated behind the army base. There were two ways this could go. The humans would take the bait and drive off into the city to look for terrorists, or they would see where the shot came from and head for the forest. Either way, it would lead them away from the army base.

Before he could change his mind, Thundercracker clenched his fist and a red laser was fired from his arm cannon. The shot went all the way into the city and hit the top of a tall building. The blast was big enough to be seen as a small explosion that made the tip of the building fall off and into the street. The attack did not go unnoticed by the soldiers at the military base.

Thundercracker heard the commander shout in Japanese at the other soldiers, and they each occupied a vehicle and started driving or flying into the city, until the base was abandoned. Skywarp's jet form remained untouched. Perfect.

Taking the chance, Thundercracker emerged from the forest and rushed into the now empty army base and approached the grayish black jet.

"Skywarp, I'm here," Thundercracker called, even though he knew Skywarp couldn't hear him. "I'll get you out of here."

Having a whole day to wait and plan, Thundercracker had already worked out how to get Skywarp out of there. As he couldn't just pick up the jet and walk off with him without being seen by someone, he had to awaken his partner. But to do that, he needed Energon.

Luckily, he had plenty of Energon available.

Thundercracker put a servo on his left arm and dug the claws deep into his armor. He groaned in pain as he tore into his body until he started leaking. He pulled the claws out and held the leaking arm over one of the seams in the black jet. The Energon spilled and seeped through several crevices in the jet. At first nothing happened, but after several seconds of Energon spill, the color faded back in. Grayish black became pitch black, dark gray became dark purple, and the grayish cockpit turned bright orange.

Seeing his efforts worked, Thundercracker pulled his arm away and held on the wounds to hold back the leaking. In the distance, Thundercracker noticed the humans' military vehicles were exiting the city and on their way back to the base.

"Skywarp," Thundercracker called. "Now would be a very good time to wake up!"

As if on cue, the black jet split up and rearranged itself until a sleek black and purple Seeker stood before Thundercracker. He stretched his arms out and held a servo on his helm.

"Ow, my aching motherboard," Skywarp groaned. "Did I have too much high-grade the other night? Oh, hey Thundercracker. Sup."

Thundercracker groaned and initiated transformation to jet mode, his arm still leaking a bit from the chassis.

"Grab onto me, we're getting out of here," Thundercracker hissed, the humans halfway back to the base.

Skywarp cocked his head in confusion but nonetheless climbed onto Thundercracker's back and held onto the wings.

"Okay, but why-"

"Hang on tight!"

Without further warning, Thundercracker blasted off into the sky so fast another sonic boom was heard throughout the sky. Skywarp had to hold very tightly onto the other's wings to not fall off.

"TC, slow down! You're going too fast!" Skywarp screeched, barely able to keep his optics open.

Thundercracker kept flying until they reached a small remote island off the coast of Japan, making sure no one was following behind them. Thundercracker descended and landed on the island, initiating bot mode and throwing Skywarp off his back, so the latter landed in the water with a splash.

"Ah!" Skywarp exclaimed as he rose up and entered the beach, shaking the liquid off his plating. "Hey, warn me next time you plan to- Thundercracker?"

Thundercracker sat on the sand, servo held on his left arm to stop the leaking, groaning in pain. Concern started building up in Skywarp.

"You're wounded," the black Seeker remarked. "Hold on, I'll find something to stop the leaking."

"Appreciated," Thundercracker said, not moving out of the place.

Luckily the island they landed on had plenty of tall palm trees with pretty long leaves. Skywarp easily plucked several leaves from the crowns and brought them back to his Trinemate, knelt down and started working on the wounds. As soon as Thundercracker took his servo off, Skywarp could see what kind of wound it was and scowled.

"You did this to yourself, didn't you?" Skywarp said. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because it was the only Energon I had on me at the moment," Thundercracker replied.

Skywarp cocked an optical ridge. "What does that have to do with this?" he asked and started wrapping a palm leaf around Thundercracker's wounded arm.

"You were dormant," Thundercracker explained, trying to stiffle the groans as Skywarp tended to his wounds. "For more than a decade, I assume."

"Dormant?" Skywarp remarked and added a second palm leaf. "No wonder I feel so tired. But why was I dormant?"

Thundercracker's optics widened and turned to Skywarp's wings, insignias missing. "Those rubsigns you're wearing," the blue Seeker said.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Take them off. They're toxic."

Skywarp's expression became shocked as he tied up and prepared to add a third palm leaf. "Toxic? But Swindle said-"

"I know what Swindle said," Thundercracker hissed. "I knew we couldn't trust the mech. He's always been a suspicious little bot. But I never thought he would deliberately try to poison us! I swear, if I get my hands on that guy..."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get you fixed up first. Then you can remove those things from my wings. Heh, things from my wings. That's a funny rhyme."

"This isn't a joke, Warp. Starscream's joined the Autobots."

Skywarp's smirk fell and was replaced with a horrified expression. "Starscream? An Autobot? No way!"

"It's true. Knock Out told me, and he wasn't on the Nemesis. I think... I think I saw him when I woke up from stasis myself, but I'm not sure. It looked like him, but it could just have been a jet that looked like him."

Skywarp pursed his lips as he applied one last palm leaf. "I can't believe him. He's the one who joined the Decepticons on everyone's behalf, and now he's ditched us and sided with the 'Bots? What a jerk."

"He must have his reasons," Thundercracker said quietly, the pain slowly beginning to die down. "But whatever his reasons, it doesn't matter to us. Not anymore. We're Megatron's soldiers now, and Starscream's the enemy. We can't show him mercy. Megatron would kill us both if we did."

They went silent for a while as Skywarp finished tying the last knot on the palm leaves wrapped around Thundercracker's arm. "You dug pretty deep," he remarked. "I can't believe you did this for me."

"Believe me, if I had an alternative, I would have done that instead," Thundercracker replied and stood up, careful not to move his arm too much and loosen the leaf 'bandages'. "Now, let's get those things off you."

Skywarp stood up and allowed Thundercracker to scrape his wings with his claws. Skywarp was a bit more squirmish than his partner, but tried to remain still long enough for Thundercracker to find the rubsigns and peel them off. As soon as they were both off, he threw them on the sand.

They remained silent for a while, just standing and staring out at the horizon, at the setting sun.

"You know," Skywarp said without taking his gaze off the sun, "I don't think Screamer's gonna let us get killed that easily, even if we are enemies now."

"What makes you say that?" Thundercracker asked quietly, also still staring at the sun.

"You know, he used to be our Air Commander. And Winglord. He used to care about us Seekers. I wonder if he still does."

"Chances are he doesn't. Starscream doesn't care about anyone. He only ever cared about that Jetfire."

Skywarp made a face. "Ugh, I had almost forgotten about him. That traitor. Left us behind while calling Starscream the traitor. Wish they'd let us chase after him when we had the chance."

"Well, at least he's gone now. At least, if what Lord Megatron said is right."

"Oh yeah, how is ol' Megs?"

"He seemed pretty angry. I'd be angry too if my second-in-command had just ditched me, I guess. Oh, that reminds me."

Thundercracker initiated transformation to jet mode. He was careful not to damage the leaf bandages during the transformation.

"There's something waiting for us back in America," Thundercracker informed. "Something that will definitely make Megatron happy with us."

"What is it?" Skywarp asked curiously and initiated jet mode again, a slightly sleeker and smaller version than Thundercracker's, but probably still bigger than Starscream's.

The two jets set off into the sky, heading in determination towards the western coast of America with the setting sun behind them.

"Red Energon," Thundercracker cackled over the comm.

Back in the Autobot base, Bulkhead was not very pleased with the arrival of Smokescreen.

"If you wanted to replace me you should've called Wheeljack," Bulkhead practically hissed at his teammates. "I could've lived with that."

"No one is replacing you, Bulkhead," Arcee assured him. "For one thing, Smokescreen is too green."

"Well, Bulk's as green as they get!" Miko said from the railings to cheer up Bulkhead, not knowing what the expression meant. Starscream sighed in pity.

"What Arcee means is Smokescreen still has a great deal to learn," Ratchet clarified.

"And once you got him trained, then what? Huh?" Bulkhead snapped. "He's in, I'm a doorstop!"

"Bulkhead," Optimus said calmly, "your place with us is not in jeopardy. But there is no dispute that we have long required additional firepower. It is essential that our team learns to work with our new recruit, not against him."

Starscream scoffed. "Yeah right, like I'm not additional firepower," he grumbled. "They sure trust him faster than they did me."

"You were a 'Con, you can't blame us for not trusting you," Arcee said without looking at the Seeker. "This guy's an actual Autobot."

Starscream snorted at the comparison and stood up straight. "I think I'll go to my room," he said quietly.

"Better hope the hotshot's blasters are as big as his mouth," Bulkhead snarled, then lowered his voice. "How hard can it be?"

"Hey everyone," Raf called from one of the smaller monitors on the railings and put a picture up on the big screen. "Check this out!"

Starscream paused before setting a pede in the hallway and turned around to see what had gotten Rafael's fascination. What he saw on the big monitor astonished him.

"Oh, don't tell me it's another Bumblebee sight-" Ratchet began but paused as he looked at the screen. "Oh my..."

On the screen was a photo of a large red crystal, seemingly a broken piece of a meteor.

"Red Energon," Optimus remarked in awe.

"Red Energon?" Starscream repeated in disbelief, his need to go to his room having vanished.

"Here?" Ratchet said in awe. "On Earth?"

"What's Red Energon?" Raf asked.

"An extremely rare and volatile form of Energon," Starscream answered instead of Ratchet. "When refined it gives the power of hyper-speed, whether used on a bot or on a spaceship. I haven't seen Red Energon for almost a century." Which, actually, wasn't very long, considering the war had been going on for millions of years now, but still.

"We must have Agent Fowler clear the dig site of all human presence," Optimus announced, "in the event we are not the only ones who have discovered its location."

"Now you're talking!" Smokescreen's voice sounded from the hallway, drawing everyone's attention. He punched his fists together. "Let's scrabble up some 'Con circuits!"

"Given your limited field experience," Optimus said calmly, "I believe further training is required before you are battle-ready."

"Optimus," Smokescreen protested, "with all due respect-"

"Furthermore," Optimus continued, "we Autobots live on this planet as robots in disguise. You'll need to obtain an Earth-based vehicle mode."

"In order to maintain low profile," Arcee added in with a stern expression, "if that's possible for you."

"If you're talking wheels, bring 'em on!" Smokescreen said with renewed excitement.

Starscream gazed at the Red Energon, and suddenly a thought came to mind.

"Hey, Arcee," he said to the femme. "Do you remember that meteor we saw a few months ago?"

Arcee looked at him for a moment before realizing what he meant. "You mean back when we caught you the first time? Yeah, I had forgotten about that."

"What are you talking about?" Ratchet asked.

"There was a falling star," Starscream explained. "Maybe that was the Red Energon in the meteor back then. And when I...erm, escaped, two months ago, I overheard a human talking about a red fallen star somewhere. Maybe that too was the meteor, and the Red Energon."

"And you didn't tell us this sooner, because...?"

Arcee answered for Starscream: "We forgot. I mean, Optimus and Bulkhead were both immobilized, and then we had to make ready for Starscream to arrive. The meteor simply slipped my mind."

"Mine as well," Starscream admitted. "But at least we found out about it before Megatron did."

"Hopefully," Optimus said. "Let us pray he has not found out about it yet."

It took well over an Earth hour before Thundercracker and Skywarp reached the western coast of America. They could have gotten there sooner, but given Skywarp's low energy levels and Thundercracker's wounded arm, they had to spare the energy they had. Regardless, they were determined to acquire the Red Energon to gain Megatron's favor.

"Are we there yet?" Skywarp asked impatiently. "As nice as it is to fly again of my own will, I'm kinda tired here."

"We're almost there," Thundercracker replied. "Just a few more kliks. I marked the location in my processor before I left."

With their speed, it took about two cycles to get to where the Red Energon was supposed to be. By that time, the sun had almost set.

Thundercracker and Skywarp descended to the ground and assumed bot mode, Thundercracker making sure not to tear up the bandages on his left arm. Skywarp took a look around at the site, which was empty of construction vehicles... and Red Energon.

"You sure it was here you found it?" Skywarp asked skeptically. "All I see is a small crater."

Thundercracker grunted in frustration. "Those humans must've taken it and made off with it," he presumed. "And if the humans have it... oh scrap!"

"What?" Skywarp asked.

"We have to locate that Red Energon!" Thundercracker said and resumed jet mode, less careful about the wrappings this time. "Come on!"

Perplexed, Skywarp resumed jet mode as well, and the two Seekers took off together. "What's wrong, TC?"

"The Autobots are in league with humans," Thundercracker explained and increased the effectiveness of his radar. "If the humans have the Red Energon, it's just a small matter of time before the Autobots get ahold of it."

"Which means...?"

"Come on, Skywarp, I know you're not that stupid," Thundercracker hissed over the comm. "If the Autobots get the Red Energon and we return to the warship without it, Megatron is going to scrap us both!"

Skywarp gasped. "Oh frag, you're right," he replied and increased the effectiveness of his own radar. "We gotta find those humans! Good thing we're Energon Seekers!"

"Yeah," Thundercracker replied quietly, putting his focus into searching for strong Energon signals. "Good thing."

While Smokescreen had gone with Jack out to Jasper to scan an Earth-based vehicle mode, a team consisting of Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and Starscream was sent out to the current location of the Red Energon. By the time they had called Agent Fowler to clear the dig site, they learned the workers had already removed the Energon from the site and had taken it to a harbor several kliks away from its location, by the western coast.

As the team exited the GroundBridge portal, night had fallen at the harbor and there were no humans present. Just as a precaution, Arcee and Bumblebee both had their blasters out and ready, scanning the surroundings for enemies. Optimus and Starscream walked calmly forth to inspect the crate containing the valuable Energon, hanging from a crane high up in the air. The Energon lit up the insides of the crate with a bright yet soft red glow. A faint whirring sound could be heard coming from the crate.

Starscream marveled just at the light and the sound. Red Energon had so much energy built up in it that the ions colliding together created those noises. It was a hint of its instability, but it sure was beautiful. Starscream loved Red Energon. After all, it was his favorite color.

The Autobots stopped just below the crate, gazing at the trapped Energon. Arcee and Bumblebee lowered their blasters.

"Fowler couldn't have the crane operator lower the thing?" Arcee remarked jokingly.

"The humans must have been preparing to transfer the meteor to a cargo ship when they received his evacuation order," Optimus suggested.

A swooshing noise sounded from above their heads, and everyone flinched in surprise. Above them, two large jets flew in front of them, made a back-loop in the air and returned to the ground before they both transformed and landed on their pedes with a loud thud. They were Seekers, both about Dreadwing's size and build, though one was slightly sleeker than the other, as well as black and purple. The other, bigger one, was sky blue with gray lower arms, the left one seemingly wrapped up in... leaves? They turned around and showed their almost identical faces. The black Seeker wore a smirk on his face, the blue one wearing a scowl.

The Autobots wore shocked expressions on their faces, especially Starscream.

"No... no way," Starscream said with a gasp. "It can't be... I thought you were dead!"

"Surprise, surprise," Skywarp snickered and crossed his arms and stood straight. "If it isn't Commander Starscream. Or should I call you Autobot Starscream now?"

"I knew you were a backstabber and a traitor to Megatron, Starscream," Thundercracker snarled, not nearly as pleased as Skywarp. "But to us? You've gone too far."

Starscream's initial shock turned into rage and he stepped forward, indifferent about the other Autobots' lifting their blasters and pointing at them.

"I never betrayed you," Starscream hissed and approached his former Trinemates even further. "You are the ones who decided to leave me behind with that psychopath of a leader! Where were you when Megatron tore off my wings? Oh yeah, that's right. You just stood there and watched him do it to me." He first stopped when he was almost touching Thundercracker's armor, who was at least a head taller than him and very well twice his size and weight. "I never thought you would betray me like that, Thundercracker. Nor you, Skywarp."

The Autobots behind Starscream cringed by the names and the fact that Starscream was so dangerously close to them, considering they were two and he was one, and they both towered over him. Nonetheless, it didn't seem like they were about to attack him. At least, not yet.

That changed when Thundercracker suddenly grabbed Starscream's neck cables with his right servo and lifted him up. Starscream stiffened by the touch and grabbed the arm to try to pry the servo off. The Autobots tensed up and prepared to fire.

"I believe you're misunderstanding the current situation, Starscream," Thundercracker hissed while glaring into his former commander's optics. "We are not your Trinemates anymore. You are no longer our ally. You are our enemy now. We serve Lord Megatron, unlike you. We are his loyal Seekers, unlike you. And we are going to bring you back to him so you can receive your proper punishment."

"And we'll take that Red Energon too," Skywarp cackled and pointed his arm cannon at the Autobots. "Say goodnight, Autochums!"

Skywarp fired the cannon, but the Autobots managed to dodge in time. They started firing their own lasers at Skywarp, who was eager for a fight.

"Secure the Red Energon and have Ratchet 'bridge it back to base," Optimus ordered Arcee and Bumblebee, who nodded and went for the crane.

Skywarp aimed at the pair, but Optimus charged at the Seeker and punched him in the face. Skywarp flew back but was quickly back on his pedes. Thundercracker gazed briefly at Skywarp before he noticed Starscream was aiming his right missile arm at his face.

"You wouldn't," Thundercracker dared.

"Oh, but I might," Starscream snarled.

Instead of firing the missile though, Starscream instead swiped down against Thundercracker's left arm. At first it seemed he had barely brushed the arm, but the next second the leaves tore up and fell on the ground, and a long albeit thin claw mark showed up on the plating. Thundercracker winced back and released his grip on Starscream to clutch his wounded arm, which had begun to leak again, though not as much as earlier.

Starscream landed on his pedes and jumped back. Without hesitation, he lifted his right arm and fired the missile at Thundercracker. The Decepticon didn't have enough time to react and was hit by the missile and was knocked back by the impact. Thundercracker was not down yet, though, and quickly rose to his pedes, still clutching his wounded arm. Starscream scoffed at the sight.

"You engage in combat with an injury, Thundercracker?" Starscream remarked sinisterly and spread his claws. "How foolish of you."

"No wound is going to deter me from acquiring what rightfully belongs to the Decepticons," Thundercracker said and removed his servo, deciding to ignore the wound. "I will bring you back to the Nemesis even if it means beating you half to death!"

Thundercracker sprung forward and launched a fist at Starscream. Starscream dodged to the left and swiped with his left claw at Thundercracker's wing, leaving claw marks in them. Thundercracker spun around and landed a hit on Starscream with his left fist, knocking the smaller Seeker back. Starscream landed on his front but quickly sprung to his pedes again. He transformed his left arm into a blaster and started shooting after Thundercracker, who ran to the left to dodge the shots.

Thundercracker drew his own left arm cannon and pointed it at Starscream. Clenching his fist, a pulse of screeching noise rang through Starscream's head, almost deafening his audio receptors. Starscream shrieked and covered his helm to shield his audio receptors, but too late. He found that he couldn't hear anything, everything sounded blurry and dark. The loud noise also made him a bit dizzy and his vision blurry. He looked up and saw Thundercracker coming at him but didn't register in time to avoid a punch to the abdomen.

Up at the crane, Arcee and Bumblebee both looked worried at Starscream fighting Thundercracker, as well as Optimus fighting Skywarp.

"Don't think about it, Bee," Arcee said to the Scout. "They'll be fine. Let's move on."

Bee forced himself to look away from the fights below and climbed further up the crane after Arcee.

Optimus, in the meantime, learned that Skywarp was a much more difficult opponent to deal with than he first seemed. As soon as Skywarp had gotten back onto his pedes, Optimus had charged at him, preparing another punch. Only, this time, Skywarp gave the Autobot commander a smirk, and suddenly... he disappeared.

Optimus' fist hit the thin air, and he looked from side to side in confusion. Barely a second later, Skywarp appeared right behind him with a plop and launched a kick at the Prime's head, sending him flying to the right, crashing into some containers.

Instead of pursuing Prime, however, Skywarp looked up at the crane at the two smaller Autobots trying to get to the Red Energon. He cackled with a sinister thought.

Skywarp ran over to the crane and stood just under the Autobots, while Thundercracker was busy punching at a disoriented Starscream. Skywarp clenched both fists, and suddenly fire started burning from below his pedes. The Seeker ascended into the air, hovering in robot mode via jet boosters.

Arcee and Bumblebee noticed the Seeker and gazed shocked at him.

"Scrap," Arcee swore and drew her blaster, as did Bumblebee.

Skywarp aimed his own cannon at the Autobots and snickered. "It was nice knowing ya, Autochums," he cackled.

A sudden blast hit Skywarp on his right leg and he was knocked to the left. With a shriek, the black Seeker crashed into the water with a splash. Arcee and Bumblebee looked away from the Seeker and saw Optimus had gotten back up, ion cannon raised.

"Optimus, is something wrong?" Ratchet suddenly comm'ed.

"We have been engaged in combat against the Seekers Thundercracker and Skywarp," Optimus replied back on the comm., briefly gazing between the water and the crane before turning his attention to Starscream and Thundercracker fighting it out by the containers. "And it seems they have come for the Red Energon as well."

"What?! Are you holding up against them?"

"Yes, although they are stronger than we thought," Optimus replied as he started walking towards the fighting Seekers.

"Optimus, behind you!" Arcee shouted.

Optimus turned and was met by a punch to the face by a soaking wet Skywarp. Optimus recoiled, and Skywarp launched several more punches at the Prime's face and abdomen, barely giving him a chance to dodge or fight back, all while cackling merrily.

When Optimus did get a chance to recover and tried to punch back, Skywarp disappeared again. Optimus turned on a heel and looked all around him, but couldn't see the Seeker anywhere. He heard a plop from above and looked up, just as Skywarp grabbed the Prime's shoulders, did a back-flip and threw the Autobot into the water with a loud splash. He barked a laugh.

"A soak for a soak!" Skywarp cackled and turned his attention back to the Autobots on the crane. Instead of reactivating his jet-boosters, he jumped onto the crane and began climbing after them. His right booster had been damaged, so he couldn't hover properly. But he was quick to climb toward the top of the crane to meet up with Arcee and Bumblebee, who were already heading to the cable holding up the crate containing Red Energon.

Meanwhile below the crane, Starscream was thrown into a bunch of containers, his senses still slurred from Thundercracker's sound attack. He looked up and saw Thundercracker coming towards him. He could see his mouth moving and heard blurry noises but could not make out words. His vision was slowly returning to him though, and the dizziness was slowly fading away.

Thundercracker aimed his right arm cannon at Starscream's face. Suddenly the noises from his mouth became clearer.

"Say hi to Jetfire for me," Thundercracker said darkly.

His senses having returned to him, Starscream reacted quickly by turning his left arm into a blaster and aimed it at Thundercracker's cannon. Before Thundercracker could fire, Starscream fired his own laser into the nozzle of his former Trinemate's blaster. The action caused a small explosion on Thundercracker's right arm, and the bigger Seeker was knocked back, letting out a surprised exclamation.

The attack gave Starscream enough time to get back onto his pedes and start launching his own series of punches at the other Seeker, who didn't get enough time to recover to react. While smaller, Starscream's punches were fast and sharp, feeling like little bullets pummeling against Thundercracker's armor.

Whenever Thundercracker managed to get a chance to punch back, Starscream was quick to dodge and counter with a punch of his own. The two Seekers went at it in close combat, Starscream going all out. It had been many years since he had last gone all out in close combat, mostly because his opponents usually were bigger and stronger than him when it came to melee combat, and because Starscream had become prone to wanting to get a fight over with as quickly as possible.

This time, however, was different. This was Thundercracker, his former Trinemate, someone he had trusted with his life, who had now betrayed him along with Skywarp, his other trusted Trinemate. They were among the last Seekers and Vosians, and they were now enemies. They had chosen Megatron over their Winglord. The thought infuriated Starscream. This fight, he could not back away from. He wasn't simply fighting for his life anymore. He was now fighting for his honor as Air Commander of the Seekers and as Winglord of Vos. If he ran away now, he would never forgive himself.

After a more powerful punch which knocked Thundercracker back a bit, Starscream spun and launched a sharp kick with his right pede to the bigger Seeker's face, knocking him to the left. Thundercracker quickly retaliated with a kick of his own, hitting Starscream in the left side and throwing him to the right, landing on his back. Starscream snarled at his former Trinemate as he got up.

"You're not gonna run away?" Thundercracker asked with mild surprise.

"I would rather be eaten by Scraplets than let you win without a fight, Thundercracker," Starscream spat.

Thundercracker's scowl changed to a smirk, and he let out a chuckle, confusing Starscream.

"What's so funny?" Starscream snarled.

"Oh nothing," Thundercracker snickered and returned to his stoic, determined face. "I'm just glad to see you haven't changed."

Starscream frowned by the comment. "What do you mean by that?"

Without answering, Thundercracker charged for another attack. Starscream spread his claws and charged as well, continuing their battle.

Meanwhile on the crane, while Arcee set towards the cable, Bumblebee started shooting after Skywarp, but this one gracefully dodged by swinging to the side, his heavy weight pulling the crane along, almost knocking it over. Arcee and Bumblebee almost fell over by the lean, and as Skywarp swung back the other way, putting the crane back in place, they did fall over. The fall gave Skywarp enough time to get on the top of the crane before the Autobots got back onto their pedes.

Bumblebee got back up and started shooting after Skywarp again, but the Seeker dodged with quick movements and swung the back of his right servo at the Scout, knocking him off the crane. He then wandered over to Arcee, who tried reaching for the cable holding the Red Energon. She saw the Seeker's shadow and looked up behind her.

"Time to unload some more dead weight," Skywarp snickered and lifted a clenched servo, pointing his blaster at Arcee.

Arcee's gaze strayed to somewhere behind Skywarp. Skywarp caught the sight and looked behind him. Optimus had emerged from the water and crawled up another crane. As he reached the top, he launched himself off the crane and flew towards Skywarp with an outstretched fist. Skywarp was taken aback by the sudden attack and didn't react in time to get punched in the face and fall off the crane, landing on his back.

While Skywarp was down and Starscream was occupying Thundercracker in his own personal fight, Optimus grabbed the cable holding the crate containing the Red Energon and began pulling it up. But before the crate got all the way up, suddenly the crane began shaking violently. The Autobots looked below and saw not only Skywarp, but also Thundercracker pushing against the crane, trying to lift it up.

"Watch your step, Autobots!" Skywarp shouted and cackled.

"Hope you like playing with the fishes!" Thundercracker yelled and laughed.

The Autobots' gazes went from the two Seekers to their own. Their Sparks skipped a beat as they saw Starscream lying on his front with outstretched arms and legs, seemingly unconscious. Thundercracker must have knocked him out without them noticing and then joined up with his partner to finish off the rest.

"What do we do now?" Arcee asked with concern.

"Hope Bulkhead recovers super quickly and comes to help us?" Bumblebee suggested, almost a joke.

Just as he said that, a GroundBridge portal appeared below them, drawing the Seekers' attention. From the GroundBridge came a white race car with a thick blue stripe in the middle, as well as checkered doors with the number 38 on them, and pulled to a stop just in front of the crane. It could only be one thing.

"Apparently no one defined low profile for him," Arcee remarked, partly annoyed, partly relieved to see backup had arrived.

The race car split up and rearranged itself until the Autobot Smokescreen stood, strangely calm and not worried about the two large Seekers right in front of him.

More interested in the new arrival than the trapped Autobots, Thundercracker and Skywarp let go of the crane, which fell back into place with a loud bang. They turned to Smokescreen and started to slowly walk towards him.

"Well, well, well," Thundercracker said with a snicker. "What do we have here? Never seen you before, kid. New recruit, perhaps?"

"Priceless!" Skywarp said and barked a laugh in excitement. "I have the chance to be the first one to kick this Autobrat's tailpipe! You better prepare yourself, kiddo. I give a mean aft-kicking."

"Wow, we just met and we're already trash-talking," Smokescreen remarked with a smirk of his own. "Nice. You must be Thundercracker and Skywarp. I thought you'd be taller."

Thundercracker and Skywarp's smirks both disappeared and were replaced with hisses and sneers.

"This won't end well," Arcee remarked at the recruit's insult of their adversaries.

"Smokescreen, stand down," Optimus ordered. "You are no match for Thundercracker and Skywarp!"

Among the containers, Starscream finally regained consciousness and slowly opened his optics, having a real headache, trying to remember how he ended up like this. He had been holding his ground well against Thundercracker, when suddenly something hit him in the back of the head. It must have been Skywarp, the annoying prankster. He was about as unpredictable as Starscream himself, perhaps even more so, given his teleportation ability.

Starscream regained optical function and stared ahead of him, his blurry vision clearing up. Thundercracker and Skywarp both stood and aimed their arm cannons at... Smokescreen, standing right in front of them! The newbie seemed strangely calm for some reason.

"Any last words, Smokescreen?" Thundercracker asked with a smirk.

"Just three," Smokescreen said and clenched his fists, a strange device suddenly glowing on his right wrist. "Get wrecked, 'Cons!"

Smokescreen charged at the two Seekers, who stood and stared perplexed for a few seconds before firing their arm cannons.

The two red lasers went right through Smokescreen. And he was still running, unscathed.

Thundercracker and Skywarp stiffened by the action and continued firing, but every shot just went through some blue holes appearing on Smokescreen's body. He seemed to be phasing right through the shots...

"The Phase Shifter..." Starscream whispered to himself. "Ingenius."

Seeing their attacks had no effect on the Autobot, Thundercracker and Skywarp took a step back as Smokescreen approached them. He jumped into the air with his legs outstretched, and kicked both Seekers in the face, this time actually coming in contact with them. The Seekers were knocked back and they landed on their backs several meters from the crane.

As Thundercracker and Skywarp lifted themselves onto their servos, they stared ahead of them on the seemingly invulnerable Smokescreen.

"A Phase Shifter?!" Thundercracker exclaimed. "How did you get a Phase Shifter?!"

"The same way anyone gets a Phase Shifter, I guess," Smokescreen replied with a smug grin.

The Seekers looked up and saw the three Autobots on the crane drawing their blasters and pointing them at the Decepticons. They looked down and caught sight of Starscream, having regained consciousness and his footing, also transforming his left arm into a blaster and pointing it and his right arm missile at them. They stared back in front at Smokescreen.

"Now what?" Skywarp asked lowly, panic beginning to rise in him. "There's too many of them, and we aren't exactly fresh for combat yet."

"I'm thinking," Thundercracker hissed and his optics darted around to think of something. Suddenly his gaze fell on the crate on the crane. He scoffed and rose to his pedes. Skywarp followed his lead.

The Autobots watched the two wounded Seekers staggering on their pedes. This fight was close to its end, it seemed.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp," Optimus called from the crane. "Surrender now and we shall allow you to escape!"

"And let you have the Red Energon?" Thundercracker growled at the Prime. "I don't think so."

In a quick movement, Thundercracker raised his left arm and pointed his blaster at the crate.

"If we're not having the Red Energon, no one is!"

Before anyone could stop him, Thundercracker clenched his fist and fired his cannon. The laser hit the crate and the Red Energon reacted promptly. A large explosion blew the Autobots on the crane off, so they fell to the ground. The crane itself broke apart and collapsed around them. Starscream sought cover behind the containers to avoid getting hit by the debris. Smokescreen just stood there, unaffected by the fragments falling through his phasing frame.

While the Autobots were distracted, Thundercracker and Skywarp jumped into the air and took off into the sky. Starscream heard the sound of the jet engines and spotted them escaping.

"No," Starscream snarled in fury. "I'm not finished with you two yet!"

Without thinking, Starscream initiated jet mode and was about to blast off when something tucked at his tail and pulled him back.

"Starscream, no," Optimus exclaimed, holding tightly onto Starscream's rear. "Do not go after them!"

"Let go of me, Prime!" Starscream hissed and struggled to get free. "I have to- I need to-!"

"I know it is hard," Optimus said, more calmly but strained, still trying to keep Starscream from flying off, "to be betrayed by those you thought were your friends. Those you trusted."

Starscream stopped struggling and reverted back to bot mode, Optimus finally letting go of him. Starscream stood and vented, staring into the sky at the spot where his former Trinemates had taken off to. He didn't look back at the Autobots behind him.

"My relationship with those two is not the same as the one you had with Megatron, Prime," Starscream hissed lowly. "You can't even begin to understand how it's like. Trinemates aren't friends, family or even allies. They're... it's impossible to explain what it is. Like I said, you would never understand."

Optimus laid a servo on the small Seeker's shoulder, making the latter flinch. "But I do understand what it is like to be betrayed by someone close to you," he said calmly. "No matter the relationship. But they are wounded and could not continue the fight even if they wanted to. The Red Energon is gone. There is no reason to prolong this battle."

Starscream refused to look at the Autobot leader, or any of them. He felt a pressure behind his optics and struggled to keep it there. He felt a lump in his throat and gulped silently. He wrist himself free from Optimus' servo on his shoulder and stepped away.

"If we're done here," Starscream said, trying to keep his voice under control, "then let's go back to base."

Before anyone could request a GroundBridge back to base, Starscream turned the other way and initiated jet mode.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Smokescreen asked surprised.

"Taking the long way home," Starscream hissed, and took off before he lost control of his voice.

The Autobots stared after their Seeker, hearing an echo of a scream in his direction. It was a scream of sorrow, and quickly faded before they could think deeper on it.

Smokescreen looked around at the Autobots. "Uh, are you sure it's a good idea to just let him take off on his own like that?" he asked uncertain. "I mean, isn't he a 'Con?"

"Was a 'Con," Arcee corrected and looked away from Starscream's take-off point. "And it's fine. We've known him longer than you have. He'll be back."

"Arcee is right," Optimus said. "Starscream needs to be alone right now, to gather his thoughts. In the meantime..." He gazed at Smokescreen. "We will discuss this back in base, Smokescreen."

Starscream cried while flying back to base. He couldn't help himself. For all the years he had been serving under Megatron, for all the times he had been punished and reprimanded, for all the battles he had fought, for all the times he had tried to gain Megtron's favor, for everything that happened even before the war began, Starscream was used to suppressing his emotions. He didn't like to let people see him being emotional. Crying was a sign of weakness, that's what he had told himself throughout his life. It was something helpless bots did, bots who couldn't do anything but cry about their sorry situations.

Unfortunately, Starscream currently found himself in a situation unlike any he'd been in before. He was with bots who actually didn't judge him because of what he was, but rather for who he was. Everything that had happened the past three months, including all the free time he had to think about his past, brought on a series of unwanted emotions, most unwanted of them all, sadness, helplessness and guilt.

Starscream did feel helpless in his situation when he was under Megatron's control, but then again not entirely. He had chosen to follow Megatron because he would liberate Cybertron from the caste system. Starscream, unlike Megatron, had not been part of the low caste, but rather had been created into the high caste. One would think this meant his life had been pure luxury and joy, but alas, things were not that simple.

Due to his origins as a Cold Constructed bot, even when living in the high caste, Starscream was looked down on, bullied and occasionally assaulted in the street. He doubted a low caste bot would receive any attention like that. They had simply been ignored and thrown away like garbage. Starscream had been noticed, but instead of simple garbage, he was treated like a punching bag. No one ever got punished for assaulting him, nor any other Cold Constructs anywhere on Cybertron.

The Energon Seekers had provided him a safe place to work and live in, with others of his kind. With the Seekers behind him, and with his amazing aerial, combat and political skills, Starscream quickly rose in ranks and even went as far as to challenge Winglord Overlord for his title. Starscream had won and became the next Winglord, almost at the same time with becoming the new Air Commander of the Seekers, not to mention the Energon Seekers.

Then Megatron came and raided Trypticon Station, forcing Starscream to give up himself and his Seekers to the Decepticons, losing Jetfire's respect and companionship, and eventually he even lost his dignity. He, a high caste bot, serving under a low caste bot like Megatron. Had someone told him back before he joined the Energon Seekers, the messenger would likely have been thrown in jail for something so blasphemous. Now though, his status meant nothing. Nobot's status meant anything anymore. Nor did frames matter. All that mattered was if you were an Autobot or a Decepticon. Which political party you sided with. Red or violet.

When arriving on Earth, Starscream found he was one of only two Seekers left confirmed to still be alive. His Trinemates had disappeared, only Skyquake was left with Starscream. And this one trapped himself in a cliff when Megatron decided to leave for space to search for Dark Energon, not coming out again until three years later. The big Seeker had simply refused to follow Starscream's command. Apparently he was one of those who blamed Starscream for surrendering the Seekers so easily, despite Skyquake's loyalty to Megatron.

Thundercracker and Skywarp had been the only ones to never question Starscream's reasons for whatever he decided to do with the Seekers. They didn't necessarily support him either, but they always followed him through it all, save for the short period of time where he had been marked as a fugitive after attemptively ceasing leadership of the Decepticons after Megatron had become damaged. Naturally they couldn't support a traitor, but as soon as Starscream returned to the Decepticon fold, they followed him once again.

And now, more than a decade after thinking Thundercracker and Skywarp had been terminated, they appeared once again. But this time they refused to follow him. Called him a traitor. Not a traitor to the Decepticons or Megatron, but a traitor to the Seekers. That had hit Starscream harder than any sword, bullet, blast or punch from Megatron's wrath. His trusted Trinemates, now turning their backs on him when he needed them the most. When he needed someone he knew, someone to have his back.

Starscream felt alone, so utterly alone. His Seekers were either dead or had turned their backs on him. There was no one left for him to fight for. No one to return to if Cybertron ever got restored.

Starscream initiated transformation to bot mode, still flying high up in the sky. He fell towards the ground, watching the incoming ground with sorrowful optics and a strange calm. Maybe he should just end it all there, so he could be with Jetfire again. Then he would finally be free from the pain, suffering, angst and guilt that he had to live with for his entire life. He closed his optics, and waited for everything to end.

I'm just glad you haven't changed.

Something in Starscream clicked, and by instinct he returned to jet mode and blasted back into the sky, a dozen meters from hitting the ground. Thundercracker's words repeated themselves in his mind.

He hadn't changed. What did Thundercracker mean by that? It certainly wasn't like Starscream to fight long battles like that, nor was it characteristic of him to not run away...

Suddenly, he realized. He had not been referring to the Starscream everyone knew of. The war Starscream.

He had meant the Starscream he knew, from before the war. The Winglord Starscream. The one who never gave up, no matter how bad things seemed to get.

The one who would never take his own life for something as silly as betrayal and loneliness.

Starscream chuckled, which was laced with sobs as well. He couldn't believe he almost did that. What had he been thinking?

"So what if they've betrayed me?" Starscream snarled to himself, trying to regain control of the crying. "Who cares if I'm going to be the only Seeker left on Cybertron? Or Vosian, for that matter? I won't let them get to me. I will never let them win."

Because he was not alone. He had the Autobots, and the children. Which... was pretty much it, actually. But it was better than no one. And by Thundercracker's chosen words, perhaps he and Skywarp hadn't completely given up on him yet. Maybe they could still make it work out. Given time.

Starscream turned his sobs into chuckles, thinking about the thought. "Until next time, Thundercracker, Skywarp," he said to himself and headed back to base.

When Starscream did return to base, it was with a heavy Spark. As soon as he reached the landing pad on the cliff and initiated bot mode, he lingered for a bit. He looked at the elevator with hesitation. He didn't feel completely ready to see the Autobots yet. He didn't want them to see him like this. He knew they knew he had been through a lot and that he was a mess, but he didn't want them to know just how big a mess he actually was. What he had just planned to do to himself. If they knew, they would likely lock him up again, if not because they didn't trust him with their lives, then because they didn't trust him with his own life.

Admittedly, this had not been the first time he had tried to take his own life. He had done it once before, not long before the war started. It had not been because anyone had betrayed him, or because he was lonely, or because people had told him he was useless and garbage. No, it was... why had he done it again?

The thought was somewhere in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite recall. He shook his head, deciding perhaps it was better not to remember, considering the result.

Starscream closed his optics, took a deep vent and exhaled. Then he took another deep vent, and exhaled. He continued venting deeply for a few minutes, clearing his head, calming himself down. Trying to forget why he was so upset.

When he had, he opened his optics again and looked around him, staring at the black night sky, the thousands of stars accompanied by the crescent moon. It was beautiful. Maybe not as pretty as the Twin Moons of Cybertron, but it was still something. The silence of the dark night and the cold breeze brought a certain calm over him. He took another vent and waited a few seconds before exhaling, just enjoying the feel of the cold air in his systems.

Starscream was tired. It had been a rough day, and he knew it was probably going to get worse tomorrow. Or perhaps it would go better. Who knew.

Deciding he had calmed himself enough, Starscream went to the elevators and opened the doors, stepping inside. As the elevator went down, he wondered if he should say anything. Probably not. He didn't want them to worry. He didn't need to make them think that perhaps he couldn't take care of himself. He would just tell them he was enjoying a night flight. Certainly they would believe that.

Before long, the elevator stopped and the doors opened, letting Starscream out into the base. As he stepped out, the Autobots present - everyone but Bulkhead - looked up from whatever they were doing, and caught sight of him. Even the humans noticed his presence.

Arcee side-glanced to Smokescreen. "Told you he'd be back," she said.

Starscream walked down from the elevator and out on the floor, his face blank and his wings drooping slightly. Looking back at the Autobots, he remembered his fight with Thundercracker, and with it the words he had spoken. He fought hard not to let himself get caught up again and gave the Autobots a forced smile.

"If you don't mind, I'll turn in for the night," he said with a strained voice.

Before he could make it to the hallway, however, Ratchet stepped in front of him with his servos up. "Ehp-yep!" the medic said. "You're still damaged from your fight with Thundercracker."

"I'm fine," Starscream said quietly, trying to get around the doctor. "Let me pass."

"At least let me take a look at the damage first, just so I know you aren't badly hurt."

Starscream hissed but turned to the medbay. "Fine," he spat and sat down on one of the operating tables with his arms crossed. "Just do it quick."

Starscream's wings remained drooped while Ratchet looked over the wounds. There were several cracks on his armor from Thundercracker's punches and kicks, as well as a few scratches that leaked a little bit. Other than that, nothing seemed to be serious. Ratchet rose up.

"Nothing a good night's rest and an Energon cube can't fix," Ratchet informed. "Take one before you turn in. I'll handle whatever isn't healed by tomorrow."

Starscream perked and looked up at the doctor, his wings flicking in response. "You're letting me take a cube by myself?" he asked surprised. "Without watching me?"

"Can't supervise you all the time," Ratchet admitted. "You do have the run of the base, and we aren't restraining you anymore, so there isn't really anything stopping you from taking a cube now whenever you want."

Starscream hummed and thought for a moment. "This means the sessions are stopping now, doesn't it?" he asked quietly and stood up. "Very well then. I never really liked them anyway. I will see you all tomorrow."

Starscream left without another word. He almost made it to his room when he noticed someone was following him. He turned, expecting it to be Arcee, but instead it was Smokescreen. His wings perked in surprise, and he sighed.

"What do you want?" he almost hissed.

"Look, Scream," Smokescreen said, "I'm sorry for calling you a stiletto-heeled freak earlier. And, uh, sorry for doubting you. Seems you're a really big help to the team, considering. Hope we can work out our differences in the future."

Smokescreen held out a servo. Starscream stared down at it, contemplating. The Seeker huffed and smirked in amusement. His servo lingered near the other bot's servo.

"Thank you for the offer," he said, softly dashing the other's servo away, surprising the young mech. "But if I were you, I wouldn't assume myself friends with everyone right away. Some of us are hard to please, and even harder to earn trust with. I do not know you, Autobot, and I certainly am not going to be friends with you so easily."

Starscream turned around and opened the door to his room. "Hope you're a fast learner, newbie," he said as he stepped inside. "You'll need it."

With that, he closed the door and left Smokescreen out in the hallway to think about what he learned today. And Smokescreen left Starscream to think about his life choices.

Thundercracker and Skywarp had flown for almost an hour before they spotted the Nemesis flying in the sky.

"I can't believe you did that," Skywarp hissed over the comm. "It was Red Energon! Red! Energon! And you just blew it up!"

"I couldn't let the Autobots have it, now could I?" Thundercracker hissed back. "There were too many of them. We were already wounded and de-energized when we entered the battle, we were never going to win it. At least I made sure the Autobots didn't get a chance at having one of the most powerful substances in the galaxy."

Skywarp scoffed over the comm. "Tell that to Megs, will ya? He's gonna scrap us for certain, is what he's gonna do!"

Skywarp began to lose altitude, a few hundred meters before they reached the Nemesis.

"Hey, Warp, you okay?" Thundercracker asked with concern. "You didn't get hurt badly back there, did you?"

"No, I'm fine, just... tired," Skywarp said, his voice getting quiet. "I wanna recharge..."

"Just wait a little longer, we're almost there," Thundercracker said and flew in front of Skywarp. "I'll let you ride my slipstream, alright? Just stay with me!"

"Alright... alright..."

The slipstream effect seemed to be doing the trick. Having to spend less energy on speed, Skywarp managed to lift himself up enough until the two Seekers finally reached the flight deck on top of the Nemesis. As soon as solid ground - or, floor - was below them, Skywarp instantly changed to robot mode and landed flat on the deck on his front. Thundercracker changed to bot mode and landed more gracefully on his pedes before turning to his partner.

"Skywarp, you still with me?" Thundercracker asked and poked the black Seeker with his pede.

"Carry me," Skywarp whined.

"You can stand up, come on."

"Too tired. Can't move."

Thundercracker huffed in annoyance and knelt down, grabbing Skywarp's left arm and hauled it over his shoulder, helping him back on his pedes. Skywarp had just enough strength left in him to walk his own steps, but it was obvious he would fall if Thundercracker let go of his arm.

"Come on, let's go inside," Thundercracker encouraged quietly. "We'll report to Megatron, and then we'll have a cube and a good long night's rest. Sound good?"

"Mhm," Skywarp hummed, barely able to keep his optics open. "You won't leave me, will you?"

Thundercracker gave his Trinemate a weak smile. "No, we're together in this," he replied softly. "Just as we've always been."

They entered the Nemesis and slowly walked down through the hallways until they reached the command center, where Megatron was waiting. The warlord stood with his back to them, his servos folded behind his back. Nonetheless, he knew they were there.

"Thundercracker," Megatron's dark voice rumbled through the command center. "You have returned. And you brought Skywarp with you, I see."

Thundercracker took a chance and let go of Skywarp, who, despite his low energy levels, managed to stand upright by himself, though his optics had hard to keep themselves open. Thundercracker stood close by, just in case. He put a fist on his chest and bowed his head.

"Yes, my liege," Thundercracker replied. "We have both returned. I have to report something to you first, though."

"Is it about the Red Energon?"

Both Seekers perked and stared widely at the warlord, who now turned around to face them.

"H-how did you know?" Thundercracker asked surprised.

"Soundwave isn't my First Lieutenant of Intelligence for nothing," Megatron replied darkly. "Laserbeak just returned and showed us your battle against the Autobots. Impressive, considering the state you were both in."

Thundercracker and Skywarp both shared worried glances. Megatron's compliments did not always mean good things. More often than not, they betrayed the punishment that often followed. Thundercracker stepped forward.

"My lord," Thundercracker exclaimed, making gestures with his servos, "forgive me for destroying the Red Energon. I know it was foolish, and I know we could have used it, but the Autobots were simply too many, and-"

"Calm your thrusters, Thundercracker," Megatron said, strangely calm. "You were right to destroy the Energon. You prevented the enemy from getting a dangerous tool. Not many would have the courage or boldness to do that."

Thundercracker blinked and briefly looked back at Skywarp, whose face also was expressing surprise.

"However," Megatron continued, his voice growing darker and more ominous, stepping towards the blue Seeker, "it was wrong of you not to report the Red Energon when you first found it. It was also wrong of you not to call for backup so we could have seized the Red Energon for ourselves."

Megatron walked all the way until his armor almost touched Thundercracker's. The Seeker was almost a head shorter than the warlord, and it was hard for him not to cringe by how close the former gladiator was to him. Nonetheless he stood straight and kept optic contact with the warlord, making sure not to frown or emote in any way that would provoke the big guy.

After a few seconds of a staring contest, Thundercracker looked down and closed his optics. "You're right, my liege," he said quietly. "I was not thinking. My only thought was to make sure Skywarp would return here safe and sound. So that we both could serve you in the war against the Autobots. I did what I thought was the best for our cause. I apologize if I was wrong. I am ready to receive whatever punishment you have in store for me."

Megatron raised an optical ridge, still staring down at the blue Seeker. Behind Thundercracker, Skywarp stood and stared at his partner with concern. Skywarp's frame wasn't terribly scratched, but fatigue and wear was visible on his armor. Even though he had come out of dormancy and gotten the rubsigns off him, his armor had now again turned slightly more gray than when he woke up. The dormancy had been very rough on the black Seeker.

Megatron studied the blue Seeker in front of him. Thundercracker had no fatigue showing visibly, but his armor had definitely seen better days. Scratches from the long claws of Starscream, deep wounds from his own claws, as well as the many punches and kicks received from Starscream's speedy attacks had left their marks on his chassis. Both Seekers had fought hard and seriously in this fight, and both had received heavy damage as a result of it.

Megatron turned around and stepped away from the Seekers. "Get to sickbay and get yourselves fixed up," Megatron growled.

Thundercracker and Skywarp both looked up and at their leader in surprise.

"Lord Megatron..." Thundercracker trailed off.

"Do not show yourselves before me until you are ready for battle. I do not need to lose any more warriors than I already have. Do not disappoint me, you two."

Having got the cue to leave, Thundercracker turned away from the warlord, grabbed Skywarp by the arm and led them both out of the command center.

"Roger that, Lord Megatron," Thundercracker said in silence and smirked. "We'll be ready."

Chapter Text

The sun had already begun to rise by the time Swindle returned to the forest, with Brawl towed in the back. Swindle was still singing joyfully over his success in his two missions, but especially over having duped the humans so easily.

After the night guard had dismissed the strange sound as part of his imagination, Swindle had proceeded to pop the tires of the other jeeps and military vehicles, to prevent the humans from following him. And indeed, as he had attached the hook to Brawl's front and Swindle's back and began driving off with the large tank, the humans noticed his theft and attempted to pursuit him. Oh, if only he could have seen their faces when they learned their vehicles had been immobilized!

He had not done anything to the tanks, as he did not expect the humans to follow him in those heavy, slow vehicles. Granted, Brawl himself was a tank, large and heavy, but Swindle was stronger than he seemed. His jeep mode did sport almost 300 horsepower, after all. Whatever that meant. He had heard the term somewhere and assumed it meant a great deal of strength, which it turned out to be.

In any case, Swindle was able to tow Brawl's tank form swiftly enough to outrun the humans even if they had decided to pursuit in their own actual tanks. Even so, he first arrived by the forest's edge where he left by sunrise, and turned to the left to enter the forest. He met no traffic on the way, as it was still very early in the morning.

By the time Swindle arrived at the MECH base and parked Brawl outside before transforming and entering the building, the pinkish morning sky had turned blue. It had taken longer to navigate through the woods with a several tons heavy tank on tow, and there were limits to Swindle's jeep strength, so he took it slower to better conserve energy now that he didn't have to hide from humans in traffic anymore.

Swindle entered the MECH facility and met with the three MECH soldiers, still trying to figure out how to make the mind-body link work between Silas and Breakdown, who seemed to have taken a great deal of damage from the several attempts to put Silas inside. He looked even worse than when they had first put him back together.

"Honey, I'm home!" Swindle sang joyfully as he entered, opened his cabin and brought out the surgical tools. "And I come bringing gifts! You won't believe the bargain I just made, it was practically a steal!"

"I'm sure it was," the MECH surgeon said and inspected Swindle's 'wares'. "Excellent work. Put the tools down on the table over here."

Swindle brought the tools to the table, in which after he proceeded to walk over by the wall and sit down. He took out his small drinking cube from his subspace.

"It would be wise of you to not take a drink right now," one of the two commandos warned Swindle as the latter was about to scoop some Energon from the bigger cube. "We'll need the Energon to bring back Silas, and according to the doc, it's going to happen soon."

"Oh really?" Swindle replied curiously and put away the still empty cube. "Did you figure out how to do the link?"

"I had a hypothesis and worked out a theory," the surgeon replied as he prepared the new tools for use. "But I think it will work. It may take the whole day to be ready, considering I'm the only one who can work on this."

"In that case, I will be outside and hang out with Brawl for a bit," Swindle replied and stood up again, heading for the exit.

"Brawl?" one of the commandos repeated. "Who's that?"

"Oh, just an old friend of mine," Swindle replied nonchalantly, "but he's dormant, so you don't have to worry about him. He probably won't wake up ever again."

The commandos continued to stare at Swindle for a few more seconds before returning their gazes to the surgeon working his magic. Swindle took it as a cue to that he was allowed to leave.

Swindle stepped outside the facility and sat down next to Brawl, still in tank mode. "Well, Brawl, it looks like you'll have to wait a bit longer before I can set you free," he said to the tank and smirked widely. "But don't worry, old friend. When you wake up again, we'll be back on the team. I have a good feeling about this. So let's be patient and let the humans have their fun while they can. It may be the last fun they'll ever have."

When the surgeon said it could take the whole day, he had not been kidding. Swindle occasionally checked in on the humans throughout the day, seeing the surgeon's progress with the spinal prostethis installation into Breakdown to be connected with Silas' own nervous system. He also noticed the human was mixing the Energon remaining in the cube with the blood Swindle had stolen. This made Swindle raise an optical ridge. Did the fleshling think Energon and blood would mix? Would that even work?

It certainly didn't seem like the red blood affected the coloration of the blue Energon. It seemed to vanish almost instantly. The surgeon ended up using three bags of O-negative blood.

Swindle also noticed the surgeon installing the defibrillator onto Silas' chest, apparently tweaking it to make it connect with Breakdown's body as well. The whole ordeal was puzzling to Swindle. Was this really how MECH was trying to perform the mind-body link between a human and a Transformer? He certainly was curious if their efforts would work out in the end.

Swindle had to wait until nightfall before the surgeon announced the operation complete, however. Swindle checked in with the humans once an hour before returning to chat with Brawl who couldn't talk back nor back off from the smaller bot's constant chattering. At the last of these hourly check-ins, Swindle let out a chuckle as he found Silas gone and Breakdown getting shocked and filled with Energon. Now was the time to see if the surgeon's efforts would bear fruit.

Breakdown's servos began moving, taking Swindle aback. Did it really work? It seemed the nervous system worked, at least, but would the monstrosity be sentient and functional?

The electrical surge grew stronger, and the humans had to duck to avoid getting shocked by the stray rays of electricity. Swindle too found himself having to seek cover behind the wall as one of those stray rays almost hit him. While Transformers did not have any water in their bodies, their entire frames were made of metal and thus conducting electricity as effectively as a simple human. One of the few weaknesses the two races shared.

After several seconds of wild electricity, the machine powered down and the surges ceased. Swindle dared peeking from his hiding spot and watched the scene before him unfolding.

At first, there was no movement in Breakdown's body, the experiment seemingly unsuccessful, as usual. But then, a few seconds later, Breakdown's right optic socket light turned on, followed by the left functional optic. The fallen warrior retained his yellow optic color, it seemed, much like the deceased Nemesis Prime's yellow optics.

After getting optical function online, Breakdown's face looked between his three remaining subordinates, failing to notice Swindle's eavesdropping. Swindle still wondered if it was Breakdown revived, or if it truly was Silas in there.

"Welcome back, sir," the surgeon greeted the resurrected giant.

The monstrosity lifted its servo and looked at it. "What have you done?" a voice, which clearly belonged to Silas, said.

"What we needed to," the surgeon replied, "in order to save you, Silas."

Silas clenched and unclenched his new servo, watching in fascination. "I'm... one of them," he concluded with an unreadable tone.

"The logical evolution of MECH's experiments in bio-tech," the surgeon explained. "Your brain, fused with the donor's nervous and skeletal systems."

Swindle watched with fascination how it seemed the surgeon's efforts had indeed born fruit. Project Chimera had been a success at last. That is, if that was still what Silas would call this.

"The perfect melt of man and machine," Silas concluded with a certain pleased tone. "Exquisite."

All on his own, Silas, with Breakdown's body, loosened himself from the machine that had previously kept Breakdown upright, and stepped down to the floor.

"Thank you all for your dedication and a lifetime of service," Silas said and stepped towards the three remaining soldiers of MECH. "But I now seem more suited to keep the exclusive company..." A cannon drew forth on Silas' left shoulder and pointed at the humans below. "...of titans."

Swindle watched with intrigue and slight horror as Silas proceeded to execute the two commandos and finally the surgeon. They had worked so hard to revive their leader, and all they got in return was a quick death. Swindle couldn't help but feel just a small tinge of pity for the soldiers' deaths. They hadn't really been friends, but he had still spent a month together with them since coming back online, and had spent over a decade in dormancy under MECH's control. And now, MECH had been eradicated by its own leader. How ironic.

As Silas prepared to exit the facility, Swindle made haste to step outside next to Brawl and meet the new monstrosity properly. As Silas stepped outside and his gaze fell on Swindle, the latter gave him a wide smile.

"Silas!" Swindle sang joyfully. "How great to see you back and fully functional! I must admit, I had not expected that surgeon to actually be capable of pulling off a trick like that. Such a waste to trash a genius like that, wasn't it?"

"Perhaps," Silas replied. "But what's done is done. Even if he was a genius, he was only human. And I will associate myself with those weaklings no more. I am now one of you. I am... Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis. I am Cylas."

Swindle's smile turned into a smirk, and he chuckled. "So you changed your name but kept the pronounciation the same? Very clever, old guy!"

Cylas' gaze went from Swindle to the tank next to him. "That is not one of our tanks," Cylas pointed out. "What is it doing here?"

"Oh this?" Swindle replied and clapped the chassis of the tank, gaze still set on Cylas. "This is my old friend, Brawl. He may not look like much now, but he's one Pit of a demolition bot! All we need is an Energon cube and he'll be back on his toes in no time!"

"That reminds me," Cylas said, returning his gaze to Swindle, "you are a Decepticon, aren't you?"

Swindle's smile fell. "Yes, why?"

"Then you can call Megatron and have us join the Decepticons like we are supposed to."

Swindle had expected this question, but he was still taken aback by the sudden order. "Uh, right, can we wait with that?" Swindle said uncertain. "I've been out of touch with the Decepticon warship for over a decade now, I'm not even sure if I can still call them."

Cylas let out a sigh. "Very well. Now that I think about it, there is something I would like to acquire before we call the lord himself."

Swindle watched in confusion as Cylas initiated vehicle mode for the first time. "Something? What is it?" Swindle asked and initiated vehicle mode himself, attaching himself to Brawl before the trio took off into the woods.

"You'll find out when we get there," Cylas replied and led his two Decepticon companions north towards America, the sun several hours from rising again.

Starscream found himself in a seemingly empty space, aside from a strange machine right in front of himself. That is, he was looking at himself, his eyes seemingly belonging to someone else. Right behind the Starscream that wasn't him, stood Megatron and stared at the Seeker in front of him. They both stood stalk stiff, as if they weren't even alive. He could see the red lights from Megatron's and Starscream's own optics, however.

Starscream looked down and saw several items scattered across the floor around the strange machine, along with a note right below the machine. It seemed to be some kind of instructions. It was a picture of the machine, as well as four items next to it. Between the machine and each of the items was a plus sign, and after the last item was an equal sign and a question mark.

Starscream looked around the room at the many scattered items. Perhaps he was supposed to fit four items into the machine, and... then what? Something would happen? Perhaps he should check it out.

Before Starscream could even inspect one of the items, Megatron suddenly pushed the other Starscream into the machine. He seemed to be going into a shredder of some sort, and red liquid splurted from the Starscream as he was swiftly chopped into pieces. Starscream watched in horror as his double was scrapped, not even wondering why the liquid was red instead of blue, but it certainly looked horrifying.

A few seconds later, the other Starscream suddenly reappeared in the same spot he had been before, as was Megatron, none of them seeming as if Starscream had just been brutally mauled by a weird shredder. The floor was still stained red, and chips of the former Starscream's armor still lay around among the scattered items.

Without thinking about it further, Starscream bent down and picked up one of the scattered items, a ball of some sort with a strange pattern. He carefully put it in the machine, which accepted the item without destroying it, it seemed. A strange whirring sound was heard from the machine.

Suddenly, Megatron once again pushed the other Starscream into the machine, and the metal was shredded and red liquid splashed everywhere.

Again the Starscream returned to his former spot along with Megatron a few seconds later, the floor now more stained than it was before. The red stuff seemed to be getting closer to the one Starscream was controlling. The ball had vanished from the floor.

Starscream picked up a small plane and a communicator and threw them into the shredder one by one. A whirring noise sounded as the first item was added and ended shortly before the second item was added, accompanied by another whirring noise.

Before Starscream could take another item, Megatron once again pushed the other Starscream into the shredder, and the red horror took place once again. Soon after, the two mechs reappeared in their same spots. The plane and communicator had both vanished, and the ball was still missing. The red stain was closing in on the one Starscream was seeing things from.

Determined to complete the task the instructions were apparently telling him, believing it would make this horror show stop, Starscream picked up the three nearest items to him, a bonsai tree, a clock and a blank card. He threw them into the shredder one by one, listening to the whirring sounds occuring as each item was added.

Before acquiring the last item, Megatron again threw Starscream into the shredder. The red stain on the floor was inches away from whoever Starscream was controlling. The three items, as well as the others he had given the shredder, remained missing.

A few seconds later, the other Starscream reappeared in his usual spot, but this time Megatron vanished all of a sudden. Starscream felt a rush in his tanks. This was his chance.

Without Megatron to disturb him, Starscream took his time wandering around the space and selecting four different items, occasionally glancing up at his double who was still staring emptily at the shredder. His gaze was blank, his mouth barely even a hard line. He seemed unaware of the other's existence or Megatron's missing presence, nor did he seem aware of the other Starscreams' fate.

Or... perhaps he knew, and he was dreading his fate that was yet to come, unable to do anything to stop it? Simply accepting his doom was coming, staring at the strange red floor with an empty expression, all while letting his double deciding how and when he should meet his end.

Starscream picked up a stuffed horned animal, a set of fake teeth, an iron, and a purple crystal. With all four items in hand, he reached the shredder, the red stain making way for him as he crossed the floor, keeping inches distance away from his feet.

Starscream began with the stuffed animal. The machine purred. He then threw in the iron, followed by a whirring noise. He tossed the fake teeth into the machine, and some huffing mixed with purring could be heard from the machine. Finally, he added the crystal. The machine huffed even louder, similar to a coughing.

This time, instead of the other Starscream meeting his end, the shredder instead whirred for several seconds before a picture was printed out from some opening in the machine. Starscream gazed down at the picture. It seemed to be some sort of metal creature with horns, sharp teeth and purple crystals growing from several places on its body, including its eyes.

A loud growling sounded from his right, and he looked up, as did the other Starscream. Megatron came walking down a flight of stairs that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Why is he still ALIVE?! Megatron's thundering voice was heard through the space.

Megatron walked past the other Starscream, instead heading straight to the one Starscream was controlling, the real Starscream. Starscream briefly gazed down at the floor. The red floor had completely engulfed his feet - not pedes, he seemed to be... a human?

When Starscream looked up again, Megatron was standing right above him. The warlord grabbed Starscream, the world turning around.

The last thing Starscream saw was Megatron throwing him into the shredder.

Starscream sat up with a start and a shriek. He looked around, finding himself back in his room in the Autobot base.

"Just a nightmare," he said quietly to himself and held on his head. "What a weird dream..."

He looked down at himself and noticed the injuries he had gained from his battle with Thundercracker were still there, barely recovered even a slight bit.

"Right, an Energon cube," he said to himself and got onto his legs. "Can't believe I forgot to take a cube."

As he exited his room, he was surprised to find the hallways covered in darkness. Perhaps the Autobots had decided to take their own recharge shifts tonight? But that must mean there was still at least one Autobot awake in the command center to keep nightwatch. Probably Ratchet. That medic rarely slept, as far as Starscream knew. The only sleep he had seen him take was when he was put in stasis for surgery almost two months ago. Otherwise he worked day and night on that Synthetic Energon formula.

Despite the darkness, Starscream, like any Cybertronian, had great night vision, so finding his way around in the dark base was not too difficult. The very few, dim lamps situated here and there were enough to give him a somewhat clear vision of the hallways.

Starscream arrived at the fork of which the hallway in front led to the command center and the right hallway led to a rack filled with miscellaneous items such as first aid kits, Energon prods, stasis cuffs and other things. His gaze fell on the hallway leading to the left. Come to think of it, he had never entered that hallway before, barely even noticed it the first time he actually escaped the base. Perhaps it led to the Autobots' Energon storage?

Starscream made a decision and went the left way. He soon arrived in a brightly lit room, not by lamps, but by a nice stack of Energon cubes, as he suspected. He counted there to be about 32 cubes, as it was a seemingly perfect pyramid with one cube at the top, a layer of nine cubes underneath and the third and final layer having twenty-two cubes. Considering they were currently seven Autobots living in the base, as well as taking into account each Autobot will only take one cube once a week, he concluded these cubes would last another month before they needed to go on another raid to get more. At the very least three more weeks until they had to think about going on a raid.

Starscream made a decision and took the cube situated at the top of the pyramid, opened the lid and began drinking the contents, still standing in the storage. It took about a minute before the cube was empty. He put the empty cube down on the floor next to the full ones. Ratchet could take care of that later.

As Starscream returned to the fork, he almost ran into said Ratchet, arriving from the opposite hallway, apparently having retrieved something from the rack. Both bots stiffened and locked gazes, only really able to tell the other was present because of their glowing red and cyan optics.

"Starscream," Ratchet greeted. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I was... getting that cube you told me to earlier," Starscream admitted. "I just remembered that I forgot about it."

Ratchet looked skeptically at him. "At three in the morning?"

"It's that late?"

"You don't know the time?"

"I don't have a clock. Or a calender. I had wanted to ask if I could have any of those. Just, you know, so I can keep track of the days. Oh, and maybe a mirror too? I miss looking at myself..."

"Yes, I'm sure you do." Ratchet went silent for a moment. "But, sure, I suppose we can give you a clock. It might be a bit more difficult to get a calender though, not to mention a mirror."

"It's just a mirror, any reflective surface that isn't clear will do, really."

"Is there any other reason why you're awake right now?"

Starscream contemplated. "I had a bad dream," he decided. "Or, a weird one, at least. I'm not sure if it was bad enough to be called a nightmare... but it was pretty creepy, at the very least."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Silence fell over them. Ratchet seemed as if he wanted to say something, but he kept silent.

"You took a long time to get home this evening," Ratchet finally remarked. "Any reason for that?"

"No reason."

"You sure? When the others returned, they reported you seemed upset over fighting your former subordinates."

Starscream cringed by the memory. "I wasn't upset, I was angry. But I'm over it now. I'm fine."

Starscream was already heading towards the right, but Ratchet got between the hallways to block him.

"If you have any problems, you need to let us know, Starscream," Ratchet said with a serious tone. "Are you sure there's nothing going on that we should worry about? Are you keeping any secrets from us?"

Starscream cringed yet again. "I'm fine, doctor," Starscream replied, trying his best not to hiss at him. "I'm just tired. I need recharge, so I can recover from my wounds. That's what you told me, remember? So please, doctor, let me pass so I can get some rest."

They stared each other down in silence for what felt like minutes. In the end, Ratchet gave in and stepped aside, letting Starscream pass.

"Goodnight, Ratchet," Starscream said and left for his room.

Ratchet looked after the Seeker for a moment longer before returning to the command center with what he had retrieved. The command center was also dimly lit, though stronger lights were glowing by the medbay, where Ratchet sat down to continue his work on the Synthetic Energon formula, using the notes Starscream had given him.

"One day, Starscream," Ratchet whispered to himself before endulging in his work, "you will tell us the truth."

The next morning - or perhaps it was rather noon, as he had to catch up on lost rest from his bad dream - Starscream rose up, stretched his limbs and clutched the good-luck necklace on his right wrist.

He stared at the door. Considering yesterday's events, he wasn't keen on going for a fly or even going outside yet. He wasn't sure he was mentally ready yet to face the others. He needed some alone time in his room.

Starscream went to his desk, sat down and decided to play with some of his puzzles. He picked one of the metal rod puzzles and began fiddling with them, trying to get them apart. Come to think of it, he hadn't actually tried these puzzles yet, had he? He didn't think so. He had done the jigsaw cubes, the rectangles and the planks, and of course the Rubik's Cube that had taken him ten days to figure out before solving it in six hours the first time, then a little over two minutes the second time. He then remembered the world record was in almost four seconds, and he cringed. Oh well, he could probably try that out later.

Starscream managed to get the two rods apart in a few minutes and triumphed. He gazed between the two rods, wondering if maybe he should try to put them back together again? Just for fun, he decided to try. But it also ended up taking several minutes before he could put them back together again, as he hadn't been sure how he got specifically those two apart.

As he finished, he put the rods down and took another pair forth. This pair was much easier to get apart, as well as back together. He took them apart and put them back together a few times just to feel that tinge of genius that he could so easily seperate and unite them.

Starscream spent most of the day doing his puzzles, and when he got bored with them, he decided to grab a datapad and read up on his G.I. Joe. He was halfway through the next chapter when he dazed off. His thoughts went to his past. To Jetfire. To his old body.

Something in Starscream's head clicked, and he shut down the datapad, putting it back on the shelf with the others. He took a blank datapad and a pen and sat back down by the desk. He hadn't used a blank datapad since the time he had written down the list of items he had left behind on the Nemesis. But this time he wasn't planning to write.

He decided to draw. He drew some circles and lines that first appeared to be mere doodles, but after several minutes, the drawing soon turned out to have arms and legs, a head and a pair of wings. He drew thicker lines over the sketch and made it more detailed.

After what seemed like an hour or two, Starscream switched the color of the pen from black to red, rubbed it against the datapad, turned the color blue, rubbed it against the datapad, turned it white and scribbled over the drawing for several minutes. At one point he turned the pen yellowish-orange and rubbed the pen on the datapad for only a few seconds before again turning the pen black, continued by more scribbling.

After about three hours, Starscream's drawing was done. He put down the pen and admired his work.

He had drawn himself. How he looked before the fall of Cybertron, in his old body. That big, strong, bulky yet sleek body, admired by many, both Fliers and Grounders. The cloudy white frame with sky blue arms and pedes, his torso a scarlet red, his helm almost pitch black, his face a darker gray than most Seekers' faces had been. And of course those pretty golden optics, which later turned red when he joined with the Decepticons, as happened to many Cybertronians. It was a phenomenon that often occured when the new members accepted the Decepticon sigil, as well as the new programmings, comm. link and other things. Still, it was a mystery why some bots changed optic color while others remained the same, such as Breakdown.

Starscream longingly admired his old body on the drawing for a long time, perhaps as long as an hour or more. Along with his strength, speed, intelligence, flight and battle prowess, he had also been a beautiful mech. Many, especially in Vos, admired his beautiful frame. And the way he moved in the sky, whether in bot or jet mode, was also graceful.

He had been an idol for many Fliers, someone to look up to, someone to strive to become. Not so much with his person, as he was admittedly not the nicest or best mech, but everyone had to admit he had style, talent and beauty like no other Flier. It was little wonder that he became not only Air Commander of the Seekers, but also Winglord of Vos, despite his young age. Granted, the other Seekers that were created the same time as him were also talented and excellent at flying, but that was because of the so-called 'Seeker' body-type their manufacturers had created for them.

The frame Starscream and the others had been created in were arguably the best flight frames when it came to flying. The alternate mode was small but powerful and durable, as well as speedy and with lots of room for agility and dodging. The bot mode itself was likewise strong and agile, capable of delivering speedy and powerful attacks, as well as being capable of flight at some speed though not as fast as in jet mode. The frames were usually sleek with beautiful features and very expressive wings.

Because of all these facts, the body-type was often called the 'Seeker body', and bots with these frames were often instantly referred to as 'Seekers', even if said bot wasn't actually a Seeker. Seeker was a term given to the best Fliers on Cybertron, something you had to earn, and not something you were born with. Seeker was not actually a race, but most of Cybertron had made it into a race, simply because it happened to be the best frame for Seekers, as well as the most common body-type among Seekers.

Personally Starscream didn't mind the controversy of his so-called race. It made sense when even non-Seekers had the best bodies for flying. There had been many Fliers with Seeker bodies who didn't like being called Seekers when they weren't though. Some had decided to make up for it by becoming actual Seekers at the Vos Seeker Academy, where promising Fliers could go and test themselves and their flight skills against other flight frames and see if they were worthy enough to gain the title of Seeker. Almost all Fliers with Starscream's body-type passed in the academy, while other body-types were less common, such as Jetfire's body-type.

Jetfire had been big for a Seeker, and his alternate mode, while still a jet, more closely resembled a shuttle, such as the Combaticon Blast-Off. Despite his large size, however, Jetfire was a surprisingly excellent Flier, almost comparable to Starscream himself. Jetfire had been one of Starscream's many admirers and often tried to get his attention by showing off his own aerial skills, both in speed and agility. Starscream had to admit he was impressed with the big guy's performance considering his size, but his constant showing off and following Starscream around everywhere had been a bit annoying. Starscream would have told the bot off if it wasn't because he had been so Primus damned charming.

Starscream smiled and fluttered with his wings, thinking back on those good times. Jetfire himself had also been quite handsome and with gorgeous detailling, not to mention his almost pure white paintjob and those pretty blue optics. He had only been annoyed with him because the big guy seemed unable to know the appropriate times for showing off and when to play it cool. Sometimes his performances had been outright embarrassing to the smaller Seeker. Especially since Starscream had had a reputation to keep, which meant he had to politely reject Jetfire whenever this one had gotten a bit too bold in public.

But whenever they had been alone, Starscream gladly watched Jetfire's performances and serenades in an attempt to impress the tri-colored Seeker. Admittedly, Starscream had also been interested in Jetfire, but he liked to play hard-to-get. It was more fun that way, making them work for his attention.

Eventually, as they got to know each other better, and as Starscream didn't have many friends himself, they ended up becoming pretty good friends and hung out together more often than with their own Trines. And at some point, Starscream didn't know when or how, Starscream himself had asked Jetfire to be his Amica Endura. Which Jetfire gladly accepted.

They had performed the ritual in the air, flying in robot mode, above the city of Vos. They bared their Spark chambers to each other, telling each other how they valued the other, and created a bond between their Sparks. After the ritual, they had then continued on with their work in Vos and Crystal City, as part of the Energon Seekers. They became Amica not long before Starscream took over Overlord's position as Winglord and Red Wing's position as Air Commander.

Now though, after Megatron had stormed Trypticon Station and forced Starscream to have him and the Seekers join the Decepticons, and Jetfire abandoned them in favor of joining the Autobots, the bond between the two Amica seemed almost broken. Now, he could not even feel Jetfire's Spark signature anymore. Normally, it would have meant he was dead, which Starscream partly believed, but at the same time he didn't want to completely believe it.

They had already had a falling out before Megatron raided the station, and after Jetfire left him, Starscream felt almost no connection with Jetfire anymore. Their relationship had been strained, weakening the bond they used to feel so easily between them. Jetfire could still be alive, but because of their falling out, their Spark link was weak and almost non-existing anymore. Starscream deeply hoped Jetfire was still alive, and hoped they would see each other again some day, perhaps when or if the war ended some day. And if that were to happen, he hoped they could sort things out, try to make it work again.

Starscream's gaze had fallen on the green gemstone on his right wrist. His claw traced a small crack across the surface of the stone. It had appeared shortly after he joined the Decepticons, though he had not put much thought into it back then, what with the war going on and everything. Now that he was paying attention to it, he wondered if it had been damaged at some point, or if it was due to the whole Spark energy rumor Jetfire had told him about. Logically it would have been the former, but something deep in his mind told him it was the latter. Had the gem cracked when they had their falling out and their bond weakened? Was it some kind of symbol?

Starscream let out a sigh and saved the image on his datapad before leaning it against the wall at the back of the table, displaying his old body like a framed photo. He rose from his seat and decided he had been cooped up long enough in his room now. It was time to go for a fly.

As he entered the command center, he noticed Jack and Miko had both arrived in the base but Rafael was absent. All the bots seemed to be present, Bulkhead having recovered more and doing more exercises with Miko to cheer him on. He didn't seem to be in as good a mood as his partner though.

Starscream was still deep in his thoughts as he was approaching the big elevator when his presence was noticed.

"Hey Starscream," Miko greeted cheerfully and pulled Starscream from his thoughts. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," Starscream replied quietly. "I'm just going to go for a fly and I'll be back."

"Don't be too long, it's raining," Ratchet replied from his workplace.

Starscream looked back in confusion as he opened the elevator. "Raining? In the desert?"

"Yeah, it happens sometimes," Jack replied and pulled out his phone. "I'm gonna call Raf and see what's holding him up."

"You do that," Starscream said and entered the elevator. "I will go spread my wings for a bit. See ya."

When Starscream reached topside, he was surprised to see it really was raining. A lot, even. The thick rain clouds covered the entire area and darkened the canyon. It looked like it was evening, though it was probably closer to being late afternoon, considering one of the kids still hadn't finished the school day yet.

Despite the rain, Starscream really wanted and needed to fly, so he stepped outside and made haste in switching to jet form, blasting off into the sky, getting himself soaked with cold droplets of water. He ascended further into the sky, until he reached above the rain clouds. Reaching the top of the clouds, he found himself in the presence of the sun, low on the sky, seemingly about to set. There was no rain up here, allowing him to dry off with what little sunlight remained on the sky above the storm.

Starscream fell back into his thoughts of the past as he flew across the sky, intending to watch the sunset before returning to base.

Swindle and Cylas ended up driving throughout most of the next day, watching the sunrise as they crossed the border between Mexico and the United States of America, then watching as the day progressed and the sky became covered with thick clouds, darkening the area they drove in. Nobody they met asked about the tank towed behind the tiny jeep. Swindle had activated James, his holographic driver, and Cylas had his human part in the cabin of Breakdown's body, so they didn't have to worry about suspicions of being giant transforming alien robots. Probably.

They drove across New Mexico, reaching the borders between Colorado, Arizona and Utah before progressing into Utah, where the clouds were so thick and dark it seemed to be about to rain. It was late afternoon when Swindle decided to question his guide.

"Uh, Cylas?" Swindle began, "not that I don't trust you or anything, but where exactly are we going? We've been driving for over twelve hours now and you haven't said a thing since we took off."

"We're almost there," Cylas replied without stopping. "And then you'll see."

"I don't know how well-fueled you are, but I for one am beginning to get a bit tired and hungry here. Whaddya say we stop and search for some Energon, huh?"

"Didn't you say Megatron controls all the Energon mines on the planet? Wouldn't that be like stealing from him? The guy we want to join?"

Swindle huffed in annoyance. "You make some excellent points, human," he said, the last part in barely a whisper. "Fine, but at least tell me how much longer I have to drag this heavy load with me."

"I estimate we are about an hour from our destination," Cylas replied after a moment. "Can you hold on until then, Swindle?"

Swindle mentally smirked. "Very well, I can hold on for another hour. Tell me when we get there."

Silence fell between them, and Swindle had a hard time to not fall into recharge through the dark afternoon, Brawl beginning to grow almost unbearably heavy on him.

Despite how late in the day it was, Starscream ended up spending more than half an hour flying before the sun had set. That's when Starscream decided he had flown enough and needed to return to the base.

As he descended below the clouds, he was once again soaked in the rain, neither having gotten more or less extreme and cringed by the coldness. He sped up to get back to the base as quickly as possible so he could warm up again. He soon landed on the platform and returned to bot mode, stepping into the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors opened to the command center, Starscream was met by a start as Bulkhead threw the Apex Armor disc into one of Ratchet's monitors.

"Bulkhead!" Ratchet exclaimed, "I needed that!"

Bulkhead growled and pushed Smokescreen away as he limped away. "Out of my way, rookie!" the Wrecker snarled.

"He can walk!" Smokescreen exclaimed excitedly, completely indifferent about Bulkhead's apparent anger.

Bulkhead walked a few steps before bending down and picking up the lobbing ball off the floor, which Starscream hadn't noticed until now, and began doing arm exercises with it under loud grunts.

"Looks like he's fit for duty to me," Smokescreen commented, ever so cheery.

Next to him, Ratchet grumpily muttered something along the lines of 'I don't even know what you're talking about,' before turning to try to fix the broken monitor.

Crisis over with, Starscream decided it was safe enough now to step into the command center and descended to the floor. He went over to Arcee, who had also been watching the scene.

"What was all that about?" Starscream asked, keeping his gaze on the Wrecker and the rookie.

Arcee side-glanced Starscream for a moment before answering. "Smokescreen offered the Apex Armor to Bulkhead," she replied lowly. "And Bulk, well, didn't take it very well."

"I saw that."

"You've gotta be kidding, Raf," Jack's voice sounded from the railings, drawing the bots' attention. "You, of all people, grounded?"

Jack was sitting in one of the armchairs in the humans' living room area, his phone sitting on the arm of the chair, apparently on speaker.

"BIG time," Raf's voice was heard from the phone. "I misplaced some homework and blew a couple of tests."

"Translation: A-minus instead of A," Miko commented.

"I'm probably spending too much time at the base," Raf continued. A woman's voice, having what sounded like a Spanish accent, could be slightly heard from the phone saying: "Rafael, I hope you're not on the phone in there!", to which Rafael replied: "No, mama!", before again addressing his friends in the base: "Say hi to Bee for me. Until I improve these grades, I'm off Team Prime."

The phone hung up, and the two humans present in the base looked up from the phone at Bulkhead, still busy with his arm exercise.

"Just when we get one back, we lose another," Miko said in a sad tone.

Starscream hummed at the conversation. He walked over to the railings, gaining the humans' attention.

"I find it funny that you use the term grounded to refer to house arrest," Starscream commented with a slight smirk. "Normally it means being stripped of your ability to fly, something that only occurs to Fliers."

"Bots don't get grounded on Cybertron for missing school?" Miko asked.

"No, they do, but we don't call it grounded. We just call it... house arrest. Maybe. I don't really know, I've never been that. I did get actual arrested once though..."

Starscream blinked widely, his smirk disappearing, but shortly returned, a bit more forced. Miko crossed her arms, giving a smirk of her own.

"And what'd ya do to get arrested, huh?" she asked.

Starscream's optics darted from side to side before settling on the floor, and he crossed his own arms. "False ID," he confessed. "I changed my personal information, I was busted and put in prison for ten years."

Miko's smirk disappeared and she let her arms fall to her sides.

"Wow, ten years for false identification?" Jack replied, equally surprised. "Why did you change it in the first place?"

Starscream turned, trying not to look at any of them. "I changed my name and creation method, because I couldn't get a job because I'm Cold Constructed."

This made a few of the other bots look up, but they didn't engage in questions. They let him continue talking on his own.

"You're kidding," Miko replied with shock. "You couldn't get a job because you were created differently?"

"Well, it's not like I couldn't get a job," Starscream continued. "But I couldn't get any of the jobs that I wanted. You'd think someone with my talent and status would have ease with getting into any academy or getting any job I desired. But alas, I was no better off than Megatron, even though our castes were so far apart. I had options, but because of my creation, bots could legally refuse to give me a job or even let me in their properties. Even hospitals could legally refuse me, even if I was to be on the brink of death."

Starscream gulped silently, hoping it wasn't noticed by anyone. There was silence for a while before Miko asked another question.

"So, you said you changed your name as well," Miko said. "What did you change it into?"

"Starscream," Starscream replied before he could stop himself.

This took almost everyone by surprise. But the bots restrained themselves, letting the humans do the questioning, as they seemed to be doing so well with him.

"So, if you changed your name into Starscream," Jack said, "what was your name before?"

Starscream bit his lip. He had perhaps talked a bit too much. His gaze darted around the room, locking onto each present bot's face, each looking away when he looked, but seemingly interested in knowing his previous name.

Starscream gazed back at the humans, both waiting in anticipation. He contemplated whether to tell them or not.

Starscream's wings drooped, his optics closing and his face seeming to become bluish. Was he blushing?

"...Ulchtar," he finally said, barely a whisper, with his head lowered and his optics still closed, refusing to look at any of them. "But that was a long time ago. It was my name for only the first ten years of my life. I've been Starscream ever since. And I prefer if you just forget you heard me tell you all these things."

There was silence for several seconds. Starscream dared opening his optics and looked at the humans, simply smiling but not in a mocking way. He gazed around at the Autobots, who likewise didn't seem to be mocking him.

"It's a horrible name, I know," Starscream hissed at their gazes and tried to look away.

"It's not that bad," Arcee said calmly.

"I didn't choose it myself in the first place," Starscream said. "It was some Grounder who was in charge of activating and naming us before we were sent off into society. There were eleven of us, I think. Thundercracker, Skywarp, Hotlink, Bitstream, Nacelle, the Rainmakers, Red Wing and Sunstorm. Those were the ones I was created along with. They all got cool names, and what did I get? Ulchtar. And he even told us name-changing was a possibility, but almost impossible for CC's like us. That's why I changed my name and my origin to Forged. And guess what? I got a job. For five years, until I was found out and arrested. They tried to get me to tell them my real name, but I refused. I got out again after ten years, origin changed back to Cold Construct, but I got to keep the name Starscream. That was one thing I would not let them take from me."

Starscream looked around for a reaction. The humans seemed to pity him, as did the bots. Maybe, a little bit, perhaps. Starscream shook his head and snorted.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you these things," he hissed, standing up straight. "These highly personal things that I never tell anyone about. I wish you humans would stop with your endless questions."

"Maybe you should learn to control your endless chattering," Ratchet countered from the medbay.

"That's asking a bit too much," Starscream replied. "It's part of my charm. I can't change that even if I wanted to."

Before the conversation could advance further, Agent Fowler arrived from the human elevator.

"I have news," Agent Fowler informed and descended to the railings. "And I think you'll find it quite shocking."

An hour later, Swindle and Cylas did indeed arrive at the location the latter apparently wanted to go to - a military base. At the entrance gate, Cylas pulled to a stop, and Swindle stopped right behind him, watching what Cylas was going to do.

The gate guard walked out of the gate building and seemed to ask for identification, and Cylas rolled down the cabin window, revealing his scarred face.

"Colonel Leland Bishop," Cylas identified.

Swindle rolled down his own window to reveal his holographic driver.

"Admiral James Von Schneider," Swindle said, holding back a snicker. He knew they were only exchanging names for formalities and for show. Especially since the guard seemed to recognize the face and the name of Cylas and sounded the alarm. And perhaps that large tank towed behind the tiny jeep and the less-than-conspicuous black-suited driver were clear signs of something being up.

Despite the sound of the alarm, Cylas raced through the closed gate, breaking it and entering the military base grounds, Swindle following close behind.

As the soldiers of the base got outside and pointed their weapons at the three vehicles, Cylas rolled up his window again and initiated transformation to robot mode, followed by Swindle, who first unhooked himself from Brawl before switching to bot mode as well.

"You have something that belongs to me," Cylas accused and drew forth the cannon on his left shoulder. "And I have every intention of getting it back."

On the Nemesis, Thundercracker and Skywarp had mostly recovered from their wounds in their battle with the Autobots the previous day, and decided to go to the command center for something to do. Upon entering, they found Soundwave and Knock Out each watching over their own monitors across from one another. Megatron was in his usual spot by the far end of the room. Dreadwing seemed to be absent.

"Hey, Soundwave, old guy!" Skywarp greeted the intelligence officer. "How's it goin'? Still the strong, silent type? You and Laserbeak get up to anything interesting lately?"

Soundwave didn't even look away from his monitor or anything else to acknowledge Skywarp's presence, let alone return his greeting.

"Cold as ever, I see," Skywarp replied with a snicker. "What about you, K.O.?"

"You seem chippier than yesterday, Skywarp," Knock Out commented, actually looking away from his monitor to acknowledge the Seekers' presences. "And your wounds seem to have healed entirely."

"Only thanks to you, doctor," Thundercracker replied, less chippy than his Trinemate. "And now that we are healed, we are ready to receive orders. Lord Megatron?"

Megatron turned to look at the two Seekers. "As I recall," the warlord began, "you have scientific knowledge, am I correct, Thundercracker?"

Thundercracker seemed taken aback by the question. "Uh, yes, my liege," he replied. "By nature, I am a scientist, but I can be a warrior too, if you need me there."

"Our array of scientists is short," Megatron continued. "I currenly only have Knock Out at my disposal. You would be of more use to me as a scientist than a warrior. We have plenty of those."

Thundercracker moped. "You mean..."

"From now on, I want you to work with Knock Out in analyzing any new relics we acquire and what may follow. If I shall need an extra warrior on the battlefield, I shall summon you, but until that time, you are to remain on the warship with Knock Out. Is that clear?"

Thundercracker seemed to cringe but bowed his head. "I understand, sir," the blue Seeker replied. "I shall help where my abilities shine the most."

With that, Thundercracker left Skywarp's side to join with the doctor by his monitor. Skywarp stared after his Trinemate and back at Megatron.

"Uh, what about me, Megatron?" Skywarp asked, pointing at himself. "I, er, mean, Lord Megatron! Will I remain on the ship too?"

"Do you have skills as a scientist or an intelligence officer?" Megatron asked, staring directly into Skywarp's optics, giving the latter a strange sense of dread.

"Uh, not really," Skywarp replied. "But, uh, I'm good at pranks! Like, teleporting behind the enemy and giving them a smack in the back of the head! And! If there's a flight of stairs, and a bot at the top, they can never escape my pushing technique!"

Megatron stared at Skywarp for a long time, not even moving an inch. Skywarp looked around at the other Decepticons in the room. Everyone seemed to stare at him with the same dumbfounded expressions as Megatron displayed. Skywarp felt a warmth rising in his face as he returned his gaze to his leader.

"So, uh..."

"You will remain a warrior for now," Megatron decided. "Under supervision, that is."

Skywarp smiled widely, mostly from nervousness. "Fine by me! I'll show those Autochums what I'm made of! I will-"

"Strange," Knock Out suddenly said, cutting Skywarp's words. The monitor he was standing by was beeping with a Decepticon energy signal, drawing Soundwave's attention as well. "Lord Megatron, it appears that Breakdown's signal has popped back online! Albeit corrupted..."

Megatron gazed intently at Knock Out, glancing between the doctor and the monitor displaying Breakdown's facial image.

"Investigate with caution," Megatron ordered. "It may well be an Autobot trick."

"I certainly hope not," Knock Out replied. "Breakdown may act the brute, but he's a maestro behind the rotary buffer!"

"Shall I accompany you, doctor?" Thundercracker asked.

"Nah, I'll just get some of the troopers with me. You stay behind here and watch over the monitor for me, big guy."

Thundercracker wanted to scowl but decided not to, and took Knock Out's place by the monitor as the doctor exited the command center to find his long-lost partner.

When Knock Out arrived in the place where Breakdown's signal had popped up - a military base in some desert state - he found the entire base wrecked and smoking, and destroyed helicopters, jeeps and other army vehicles lay about, some of them emitting black smoke. He had brought four Vehicon Fliers with him as a precaution. While the Vehicons themselves weren't all that threatening, it was always good to have some backup, if not for fighting then at least for display. One was always safer in numbers.

Knock Out looked from side to side and gazed at the large facility with tons of smoke emitting from a large hole in it. He heard a faint sound of pedesteps coming from the facility. In the next few seconds, Breakdown's sillhouette did indeed step out from the smoking building, dragging some kind of large suitcase with him.

"Breakdown!" Knock Out greeted joyfully. "Where have you-"

Knock Out paused when Breakdown turned to look at the doctor. The left optical socket was missing its patch and under the socket were thick black cracks, giving his face an eerie look. As the smoke began clearing around the wannabe-Wrecker, Knock Out could clearly see his former partner had large white scars and cracks all over his chassis. His frame was very dark and rusty, almost as if he was... dead.

"Breakdown?" Knock Out repeated in horror. "What happened to you?"

"Therein lies a tape," a voice, definitely not belonging to Breakdown, spoke, "which won't be nearly as interesting to Megatron as this." The monstrosity lifted the arm holding the strange suitcase up and gave the doctor a smirk. "So... take me to your leader."

Knock Out stared at the monstrosity in disbelief. Behind the large smoke cloud, another sillhouette appeared, though smaller and sleeker than Breakdown's. Knock Out noticed the sillhouette sported a pair of large glowing purple optics.

"Hey there, Knock Out," a strangely familiar voice sounded from the sillhouette. The smoke began clearing a bit, and the bot stepped out so Knock Out could better identify him. A small olive green and purple bot, about Knock Out's height and stature, seemingly unarmed and wearing a wide toothy smirk on his face, gaze locked on Knock Out. "Long time no see."

It took a few seconds before Knock Out recognized the bot before him. "Swindle?" he said with surprise. "You're alive."

"And not alone," Swindle snickered and went over to the only unharmed vehicle in the base - a large, grayish green tank. He clapped the tank on its chassis. "I'd like to order a reservation for two. Three, if you'll allow me to bring my new friend Cylas over there."

Back in the Autobot base, Agent Fowler relayed a shocking piece of information to the Autobots, all gathered in the command center.

"At 16:30 hours, a satellite was stolen from a high security military vault," Agent Fowler informed. "Surveillance shows the Decepticon known as Breakdown at the scene."

"Breakdown?" Bulkhead repeated shocked. "But he's dead, isn't he? Didn't Swindle tell us he was snuffed by-"

"Airachnid," Arcee ended. "I remember you saying that." Arcee never forgot any conversation including Airachnid's name. It was almost a superpower.

"Perhaps he had been lying after all," Starscream suggested. "Or perhaps he himself was given wrong information. We'll never know."

"Or maybe we will," Optimus said. "Please continue, Agent Fowler."

Agent Fowler nodded and continued, gesturing the video feed of what appeared to be Breakdown. "It looks like Breakdown entered the base in vehicle mode, with someone behind the wheel."

This was quite a surprise to the residents of the command center. "A Decepticon paired with a human?" Ratchet remarked skeptically.

"And I have a pretty good hunch who," Agent Fowler continued. "The stolen satellite was Project Damocles."

"Invented by Silas," Optimus concluded for him.

"I guess the former Colonel Bishop wanted it back," Fowler continued.

"He's still alive?" Bumblebee bleeped confused.

"Yeah," Arcee said in agreement. "I thought Silas was paste."

"So did I," Agent Fowler replied.

"Agent Fowler," Ratchet said, "even if he were alive, are you suggesting that Silas has allied MECH with the Decepticons? I highly doubt that Megatron would entertain such an idea!"

"Why not?" Jack asked from the railings. "The human-bot alliance works for us."

"Most of the time," Arcee commented.

The talk about MECH joining with the Decepticons got Starscream thinking. I wonder how Swindle is doing?

On the flight deck of the Nemesis, Knock Out and the Vehicons exited the GroundBridge with Cylas and Swindle, all pushing Brawl through the portal until they were all through. As the portal closed, Swindle took a look around and smiled.

"Ah, it's good to be back home," the Combaticon remarked. "I can't wait to hit my old quarters and relax with some Energon!"

"Before that," Cylas said, "perhaps we should go introduce ourselves to our new master?"

"Oh yes, right," Swindle replied and clapped the tank. "I'll be back soon, Brawl!"

Knock Out was not very pleased as he led the Combaticon and monstrosity he had learned was the leader of the human organization MECH into the warship. They all remained silent, though Swindle was humming a cheery tune, ever in a good mood. It was slightly annoying to his companions, but they decided to ignore him.

When they arrived at the command center, Swindle decided to linger behind for a bit, first allowing Knock Out and Cylas to enter. He knew Megatron would not be happy with the monstrosity, and the Combaticon would want to wait so he could cheer up the warlord with the news of his return. Surely he would be pleased!

Swindle stayed near the entrance out of Megatron's and the Seekers' sights, and sharpened his audio receptors to listen to the conversation in the command center.

"Knock Out," Megatron's very displeased voice sounded, "what is this abomination? And why have you brought it here?"

"I am Cylas," Cylas greeted, "as in Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis. I come with a proposition."

"This is the human who dissected Breakdown!" Knock Out's even more displeased voice sounded, followed by the whirring noise of a circular saw. "Please, my liege, allow me to return the favor!"

It didn't sound like Megatron said anything, but Cylas was quick to defend himself. "I propose that you not overlook the one asset that provides Optimus Prime an advantage," Cylas' voice sounded, keeping his calm. "At least, on this world."

"And that would be?" Megatron finally asked.

"The human factor," Cylas replied.

"Look around you, Cylas," Megatron said. "I command an army from a mighty warship. What could a human possibly offer?"

"I am no ordinary human," Cylas replied. "And this is no ordinary weapon."

"Damocles is a particle beam cannon so powerful, it could slice up the pentagon like a birthday cake," Agent Fowler explained further in the Autobot base, "or give everyone on Mount Rushmore a mohawk, all from a satellite in orbit. It's the work of a madman, and in Megatron's hands..."

"...a threat to anyone," Megatron concluded, "anywhere on the planet."

"With pin-point accuracy at the flick of a switch," Cylas confirmed.

"And what is it that you wish in return?"

"Merely a place at the table."

As it sounded like Megatron was sufficiently calm, Swindle decided to make his entrance. He stepped into the command center, gaining looks from Soundwave, Knock Out and - surprise, surprise, the Seekers Thundercracker and Skywarp!

"I hope you weren't planning to throw a surprise party," Swindle announced upon his entry, gaining Megatron and Cylas' attention, "because I am here now, and I see no confetti or balloons anywhere."

Megatron stared blankly at the approaching bot for a few seconds before barking a laugh. "Swindle! How pleasant to see you after so many years," Megatron greeted with a toothy smile. "I seem to be getting old warriors back a lot recently. I hope you did not come alone."

"Far from it, my liege," Swindle said with his own smirk and stopped a few meters away from the warlord. "I came with Cylas here, but I also brought an old friend of mine. He's kind of low on energy though, so I was wondering if you could allow me to take one of your Energon cubes so I can wake him up?"

Megatron assumed a slightly surprised look. "And who is this old friend of yours?"

"Brawl. He's on the flight deck, currently stuck in tank mode."

Megatron chuckled merrily by the information. "Excellent," he said pleased. "Knock Out, show Swindle to the Energon cubes and help him awaken Brawl. And make sure they are both properly recovered for duty."

Knock Out glanced between Swindle and Cylas before bowing. "As you wish, my liege," the doctor said.

Knock Out passed Swindle, who followed the red bot past the Seekers, who both glared at the Combaticon with hateful expressions. Swindle kept his smile on, refusing to let them scare him. He was far more valuable to Megatron than the Seekers.

After all, he was part of a Combiner team. And if Megatron were to acquire all five of them, victory would inevitably go to the Decepticons.

Back at the Autobot base, Agent Fowler continued his report on the satellite theft.

"The 'Cons may have the satellite, but they can't use it without the interface code," Fowler explained while opening the file on Project Damocles. "The only existing copy is stored on the secure servers at the headquarters in Colorado."

"We must keep the code out of Decepticon hands at all costs," Optimus said and headed towards the GroundBridge.

Bulkhead smashed his fists together, eager for combat. "It's roll time!" the Wrecker said excitedly and turned to head for the GroundBridge as well, but was stopped by Ratchet.

"Ehp-yep-ehp!" Ratchet said. "I have not yet cleared you for active duty, nor are you ready to roll!"

Bulkhead's body seemed to emphasize Ratchet's words by shuddering a bit violently while Bulkhead growled of annoyance. Starscream passed Bulkhead along with the others.

"Sorry, big guy," Starscream said with a silky voice. "Maybe next time. You just sit back and let us handle the dirty work."

Bulkhead felt like he was boiling inside, watching that self-absorbed Seeker strut his way to the GroundBridge with the others. To think, it had not been long ago when it was Starscream who was always left behind in the base, while the others went off on duty. The roles seemed to have been switched now.

"I really hate that guy," Bulkhead whispered to himself and stepped away to let the others prepare for take-off.

On the Nemesis, Swindle brought one of the Energon cubes with him to the flight deck, while Knock Out returned to the medbay to await the two Combaticons' arrival. Swindle didn't sing this time, nor did he grant any of the Vehicons or Insecticons he passed by a glance. He just made his way to the flight deck by himself and smiled when he approached the still-dormant Brawl. Soon-to-be former-dormant Brawl.

"Your patience has rewarded you, Brawl, old guy," Swindle said cheerfully as he stopped by the large tank and opened the lid of the Energon cube. "Now we can get the whole gang together and have some fun."

Swindle studied the tank, contemplating where the Energon should go. Should he find the fuel tank, or should he just soak the big guy?

"Eh, I suppose it doesn't matter," Swindle said to himself and decided to just pour the entire cube's content onto the tank, watching the blue substance trickling down the grayish green armor. It was uncertain if any of it got inside, as there weren't many crevices on the thick armor where the Energon could seep through.

"Oh well, there are plenty of Energon cubes on this ship," Swindle said and chuckled. "We can afford to waste a cube or two..."

"Swindle!" a wrathful voice sounded from behind him.

Swindle's smile dropped and he turned half around to see who had called his name. He stiffened as he saw Thundercracker and Skywarp both approaching him with sinister expressions, wings hiked to make themselves look bigger than they already were.

"Oh, hey Thundercracker," Swindle greeted and turned all the way around, giving the Seekers a nervous smile, "and Skywarp. It sure has been a long time, huh? How are you both doing?"

"Cut the scrap," Skywarp hissed as they approached the smaller bot. "You gave us those weird rubsign things tens of years ago, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah, I did," Swindle replied confused. "Why? Is something wrong with them?"

"Is something wrong with them?" Thundercracker repeated enraged. "You knew those stickers were toxic yet you handed them out to us all like invitations! You deliberately tried to poison us!"

Swindle's expression fell and was replaced with shock. "Toxic? Those are toxic? I, uh, I had no idea..."

Thundercracker gazed down at the smaller bot, unable to see his Decepticon insignia anywhere. "You're wearing it too?" the blue Seeker said suspiciously. "Or perhaps you decided to defect and leave us all to scrap?"

"What? No, I-"

"Traitor!" Skywarp exclaimed and pointed his left arm cannon at Swindle's face. Swindle yelped in surprise.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down!" Swindle said and put on a nervous smile, holding up his servos. "I'm on your side, remember? I'm a Decepticon, see?" He desperately rubbed the sign on his chest, revealing the purple Decepticon insignia. "See? See? I'm a 'Con, really..."

Thundercracker and Skywarp shared a glance and nodded before stepping back. Swindle sighed of relief, but then Thundercracker grabbed the Combaticon by the neck cables with his right servo, lifting him several feet from the ground.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Swindle asked anxiously. "I thought we were cool!"

"I don't care if you're still a Decepticon or if you knew about the toxin or not," Thundercracker hissed while staring into the smaller bot's frightened purple optics. "I don't trust you, never have, never will. You've never been loyal to the Decepticon cause. You'd be better off dead."

Swindle cringed and keened, trying desperately to think of some way to save his armor.

"You let go of him!" a deep voice sounded behind Swindle.

The Seekers stared in front of them. Swindle could only listen.

The previously grayish green tank in front of them had now turned a darker, greener but still grayish color scheme, and all former cracks from previous battles disappeared. In the next few seconds, the tank split up and rearranged itself, until a large, bulky bot with a large black cannon on his back stood there. The mech's face was covered by a yellow visor and a mouth mask. Actually, all the Combaticons except for Swindle sported mouth masks and visors. Swindle did used to have a visor himself, but he lost it a long time ago. He had never worn a mask though.

Brawl almost towered over the two Seekers, being almost as tall as Megatron. Despite his expressionless face, Thundercracker could tell he was scowling at them.

"Let go of him," Brawl repeated with a deep growl.

Thundercracker scowled back but complied and let go of Swindle, who dropped on the floor with a clank and yelped by the impact.

Thundercracker and Skywarp stared down at the smaller Combaticon. "You're lucky you're friends with brutes," Thundercracker hissed. "Let's go, Skywarp."

The two Seekers turned around and returned inside the warship, leaving the two Combaticons outside in the upcoming storm. Swindle rose to his pedes and turned, staring up at his ally, almost twice his own height.

"Brawl!" Swindle greeted with a wide smile and spread out his arms. "You're awake! At last! Now we can-"

"Are you the reason I fell in stasis?" Brawl interrupted, still growling, though he growled most of the time anyway.

Swindle's smile fell and he lowered his arms slowly. "For your information, I did not know those rubsigns were of rubbish material!" he defended. "I bought them cheaply off some space pirate eons ago, because why not? I didn't check if they had an expiration date or illegal ingredients, I mean, who checks stickers?! I fell into dormancy too and just woke up a month ago, I am just as much of a victim as you are!"

Brawl took a step forward, and Swindle silenced, taking a step back. The tank wasn't being threatening, but he was big and his steps heavy.

"You talk too much," Brawl said. "You're giving me a headache."

"Oh, that's just the after-effects of dormancy," Swindle said and put his smile back on. "Come on, let's go to sickbay and get you fixed up. I myself definitely need a cube and some buffing."

"Buffing sounds nice."

Swindle chuckled as he led his fellow Combaticon inside the ship. "Then let's find Knock Out!"

Inside the ship, Thundercracker and Skywarp both fumed as they strode the hallways.

"That little twerp," Skywarp hissed. "Pretending he didn't know anything. Why I oughta..."

"Let it go, Skywarp," Thundercracker said with more control of his own voice. "Had he been alone, I'm sure His Lordship would allow us to get busy with him. But because he came back with Brawl, it stands to reason Lord Megatron will believe the others are alive as well. And you know what that means?"

Skywarp frowned as he thought hard on the question. "I give up," he said after a few seconds.

"With the return of the Combaticons, we are as good as irrelevant to him," Thundercracker answered. "If he had to choose between Swindle's life or ours, he would gladly vaporize us both, leaving that smirky little glitch alive."

Skywarp's expression was filled with horror. "He wouldn't!"

"I certainly would."

The two Seekers looked up and just barely managed to stop themselves from running into Megatron himself, standing in the middle of the hallway, staring down at his subordinates. The Seekers winced back, then straightened up.

"Lord Megatron," Thundercracker greeted, then let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, how much did you hear of that?"

"Enough to know you are aware of your place," Megatron replied with what was supposed to be a smirk. "At least some of you Seekers know your place, unlike a certain someone else."

The Seekers' gazes fell to the floor, knowing he was talking about Starscream.

"But that is a matter for another time. Skywarp," Megatron said, making the black Seeker perk, "I have a mission for you."

Skywarp looked up at his master with interest. "A mission?"

"Yes, you will accompany Soundwave to a military base in the state of Colorado, where the humans keep the interface code for the satellite Cylas spoke of."

Skywarp's face contorted into a wide smile, eager for action. "It's just me and Soundy, my liege?"

"Soundwave will infiltrate the facility, and you will guard him along with a squadron of Vehicons, should the Autobots decide to show up," Megatron explained. "And knowing Optimus, they certainly will."

Soundwave and Skywarp arrived at the back of the base through a GroundBridge, out of the humans' view range. They were at the front of the base, along with their helicopters and ground vehicles. The sky had turned darker, but now it was because night had fallen, the storm having long passed in that area. Thanks to Soundwave and Skywarp's dark gray, purple and black paintjobs, they were excellently camouflaged in the barren desert and the dark night sky.

"So-" Skywarp began but was silenced immediately by a wave from Soundwave's servo. Skywarp kept his mouth shut and let Soundwave do his magic.

Soundwave opened a transmission and replayed a recording of the human Agent Fowler's voice, taken not long ago, laced with his own voice.

"Attention: all personnel are ordered to evacuate immediately," Soundwave sent, and almost immediately the humans entered their helicopters, almost as if they had already been given orders to leave. "We have a level 5 radiation leak. Repeat: evacuate immediately."

Soon the helicopters took off and the base had been evacuated. Soundwave opened another GroundBridge portal, letting the Vehicon troopers through. Skywarp cackled merrily.

"Oh, I love it when you do that!" Skywarp croaked. To a passing Vehicon, he added: "Say what you want about Soundwave, but his imitations are the best!"

The Vehicon seemed stumped by his comment, but nodded in agreement.

Without further ado, Soundwave jumped onto the facility and broke through the roof, getting inside the command center and began hacking into the servers to download the interface code. Outside the facility, Skywarp ordered the troopers to line up and prepare for some fun.

"Oh, I really hope the Autobots will show up soon," Skywarp said to himself, barely able to stand still. "I'll show them what I've got, I'll push them and punch them and- Ooh! They're here!"

Right in front of them, between the command center and the large rows of satellite dishes, a green portal opened up, and out stepped Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, Smokescreen and... Starscream!

"FIRE!" Skywarp shrieked immediately, as soon as the portal disappeared.

When the Autobots stepped out from the GroundBridge portal into the Colorado base, night had fallen, but because of the thick clouds from the earlier storm, there were no stars nor moon to light the ground. Their only source of light were each others' optics and bio-lights.

They didn't even get to exchange a single word before someone screamed: "FIRE!" and the bots were assaulted with dozens of red laser shots. They immediately sought cover behind some large rocks placed conveniently between the satellite dishes and the command center. Optimus and Smokescreen took cover behind the boulders to the right, while Arcee, Bumblebee and Starscream went behind the boulders to the left.

The Autobots peeked from their hiding spots, studying the enemy. There were about a dozen or more Vehicons, all Grounders, lined up in front of the command center, seemingly guarding it, all firing their blasters at the Autobot arrivals. On the rooftop of the facility stood the black and purple Seeker Skywarp, barely visible on the dark indigo night sky.

"The Decepticons have proceeded us," Optimus remarked and put on his battle mask and activated his ion cannon. "We must secure the command center!"

Everyone having their blasters ready, the Autobots ran out from their cover to engage the Vehicons in battle. While the others were firing their blue lasers (and Starscream his red), Smokescreen transformed and drove into one Vehicon, reverted back to bot mode and shot another two in the chest before getting pounced on by a fourth Vehicon. The young mech quickly got on top, however, and started beating on the other's face.

Suddenly, though, a bright light appeared from above, along with a hissing, bubbling noise, making everyone look up. A large orange laser, the one rumored to make cakes out of pentagons and give mountains a haircut (whatever that meant, Starscream thought), approached the battlefield. Smokescreen just managed to jump off his Vehicon before the latter was deep-fried by the destructive laser.

The other Autobots jumped back in surprise.

"Wow," Smokescreen commented.

"Holy scrap," Starscream swore and looked up as another laser beam was fired towards the ground. By instinct he reverted to jet mode and barely managed to avoid getting turned into a crisp. He hovered over the base, watching the Autobots below scurry around to avoid getting hit by the laser as well. It seemed to be more focused on getting the Grounders than Starscream.

"That thing is dangerous," Starscream commented to himself.

"I know, right?" an annoyingly familiar voice sounded below him.

Starscream reverted his gaze to below in front of him and saw Skywarp, in bot mode, flying up with the help of his jet boosters in his legs, to meet the smaller Seeker.

"Skywarp!" Starscream hissed. "I haven't forgotten what happened the other day!"

"You mean when Thunder and I kicked your aft like..." Skywarp paused. "... like bots who kick afts?"

Starscream flew forward, ramming his nosecone into Skywarp's abdomen, earning a yelp and a cough from the black Seeker.

"You better be careful about what you say, Skywarp," Starscream hissed venomously. "I already don't like you, and I won't hesitate to make sure I have one less enemy."

"We'll see about that," Skywarp replied and pushed the jet away before reverting to jet mode himself. His jet form was slightly larger than Starscream's, almost identical to Thundercracker and Dreadwing's jet forms, though slightly sleeker and with slightly different detailling. Starscream could hear the other giggle with excitement.

"Let's dance, little guy!"

Thundercracker watched the monitor displaying the battle in Colorado along with Megatron and Cylas. The blue Seeker stood with his arms crossed and frowned as he saw Skywarp engage Starscream in a sky battle.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Thundercracker muttered at the image before him. "You're supposed to give the troops orders, not engage in personal conflicts."

Perhaps Megatron had been correct about Skywarp needing supervision in battle.

"Are we worried, Thundercracker?" Megatron asked in front of the Seeker.

"No, my lord," Thundercracker replied and shook his head. "Or, a little, I guess. I'm concerned Skywarp is getting too carried away with his little games."

"You have no reason to worry. If anything, Skywarp is managing to distract the Autobots' only means of air support." Megatron chuckled deeply. "The laser seems promising. With it, we can easily destroy the Autobots' base once we locate it, and any human residences that may be nearby. And then this world will be ours."

Thundercracker returned his gaze to the monitor, watching the two jets darting around in the sky, shooting lasers and missiles after each other, both dodging the other's attacks. Now and then Skywarp would suddenly disappear and then reappear behind Starscream, though perhaps he knew his Trinemate so well, Starscream was able to avoid even Skywarp's surprise sneak attacks which he had just boasted so much about in the command center.

"You better not screw up, Skywarp," Thundercracker muttered to the image again. "I will kill you if you die."

Skywarp certainly made sure to keep Starscream busy in the air. Starscream could not even get a chance to fire at the Vehicons below. Skywarp was too fast and teleported all over the place, rapidly firing at his former Air Commander. Starscream had to use all his focus and energy just to avoid the constant shots from every angle, while simultaneously trying to fire shots at Skywarp. The lasers missed too many times to be worth continuing firing, especially considering Skywarp's annoying warping ability.

At one point Skywarp teleported away yet again. Starscream tried to predict where he would pop up next. He swiftly turned to the right, and as soon as the plop sounded and Skywarp appeared right where he was aiming, Starscream launched both his missiles.

Seeing what he was doing, Skywarp acted quickly and fired his lasers, hitting both missiles and caused them to explode before they reached the black jet. The shockwave pushed both Seekers back a bit, but they regained their balance before spinning out of control.

"You little sneak!" Skywarp hissed at the silver jet as they began circling each other. "You almost blew me up!"

"That was my intention, you numb node," Starscream hissed back. "Don't think just because you can teleport that you're special. I am superior to you in every way, be it speed, fire power or especially wits!"

Another satellite laser beam shot down in the sky, taking both Seekers by surprise, making both of them shriek and knocked back by the shockwave.

"Autobots," Optimus' voice sounded over the comm. "We must draw its fire to distract from Rafael's efforts!"

Starscream struggled to get himself back in balance before retreating from the beam to avoid getting fried.

Skywarp soon appeared right in front of him, taking Starscream by surprise. Before he could dodge, one of Skywarp's laser shots brushed Starscream's left wing and the smaller Seeker yelped and ascended further into the air.

"Ha! You're getting careless, Air Commander," Skywarp mocked as he chased after the smaller silver jet. "Next time it's gonna be your thruster!"

"In your dreams, Deceptiscum!" Starscream shrieked back in rage.

"Ouch, you really are being serious about this whole Autobot stunt, aren't you?"

Without warning, Starscream did a swift 180 degrees turn, pointing his newly regenerated missiles at the unexpectant Skywarp. "Never forget that we used to be Energon Seekers!"

On the Nemesis, Thundercracker cringed as the feed of Starscream and Skywarp's battle showed Starscream turning around while still in ascension and fired his missiles at Skywarp. Just as the missiles were about to hit, however, Skywarp instantly disappeared, and the missiles hit each other, exploding in empty air instead. Shortly after, Skywarp reappeared behind Starscream, and their sky battle continued. Thundercracker let out a sigh of relief.

"They're both taking great risks," Thundercracker muttered to himself. "A nutcase and a self-absorbed-"

One of the monitors beeped and signaled a system breach, drawing the surrounding bots' attention, including Thundercracker's.

"An intruder in the system?" Megatron remarked and pushed Cylas to the side. "Soundwave, we have a breach!"

The map scanned the states to locate the intruder, two states away from Colorado.

"Jasper, Nevada," Cylas remarked from the side. "It can only be the Autobots' human allies."

"Then perhaps you should attend to the matter," Megatron growled at the monstrosity.

"Surely one of your subordinates is more suitable-"

"Now!" Megatron exclaimed.

Cylas made haste to exit the command center and acquire a GroundBridge to the ground. Thundercracker stepped aside and sneered at the human.

"My liege, are you sure you don't want me to lend in some air support?" Thundercracker asked. "Or perhaps I can locate the intruder and take care of him?"

"I think I made myself clear," Megatron growled and walked past the blue Seeker. "Stay here and watch over. I will be back soon."

Thundercracker stared after the warlord. He was now alone in the command center, aside from the Vehicons below controlling the ship, of course. Skywarp was in battle, Soundwave was downloading a code, Knock Out was in the medbay, Swindle and Brawl were probably also in the medbay, and they were probably the reason why Megatron needed to leave, and Cylas had been sent off to take care of the intruder. And Dreadwing was who-knows-where. Considering he was Megatron's second-in-command, he was surprisingly absent.

Thundercracker turned his gaze back to the monitor, intent on following Megatron's orders and proving himself a loyal subordinate.

"Maybe if I prove myself enough, he will let me take Dreadwing's spot," Thundercracker muttered to himself and snickered by the thought. "Air Commander Thundercracker. Yes, I like the sound of that." He thought on it further, and his smile faltered. "Nah, too much work."

As the battle progressed on, two more laser beams shot towards the ground for the Autobots, while Starscream and Skywarp did what they could to dodge while still firing their own lasers and missiles at each other. The beam seemed to only last for about ten seconds, but as it was powerful and mobile, it could do plenty of damage in those ten seconds.

At one point, Smokescreen disappeared from the battleground through a GroundBridge, but Starscream was too busy with Skywarp to notice or think about it. He was really getting frustrated over not being able to snipe some Vehicons. And he was even more frustrated that his dance partner had teleportation of all annoying abilities.

The only upside was that teleportation spent a lot of Energon and energy on Skywarp's side, so he could not use it too many times in battle. Sadly for him, he was such a nutcase and battle-hungry that he constantly forgot about this limitation and often over-used his ability to the point where he was almost out of energy and needed to be carried back to a medbay for recovery. That was the reason why Skywarp was never to be unsupervised in battle. There had to be someone to constantly keep him on task, keep him from getting distracted and to remind him not to use his teleportation too often. It seemed this time there was no superviser to make sure of that. That was pretty much the only advantage Starscream had.

Starscream could get easily distracted himself pretty often, but he always managed to keep his head cool and not overexert himself. As a result, Starscream could continue a sky battle for hours and still emerge victorious without having spent too much energy. Another reason why he had been appointed Air Commander of the Seekers. He was strategically superior to Skywarp, Thundercracker and practically any other Seeker, perhaps with the exception for Dreadwing.

This battle had gone on for well over half an hour now, and Starscream still had plenty of fuel left in him. Skywarp, on the other hand, hadn't teleported for over five minutes now, which was promising.

"Running out of juice?" Starscream snickered and boosted up, then made a quick U-turn and fired his lasers at the black jet, who was too slow to avoid getting hit on the right wing. "Pathetic!"

The shot caused Skywarp to spin for a few turns. Before he could regain balance, Starscream launched his regenerated missiles once again. This time Skywarp didn't have the momentum to avoid getting hit by both missiles. The explosion caused his right wing to catch fire, and the black Seeker began crashing.

"You're scrap!" Starscream cackled viciously as he descended to the ground, circling around the spinning, crashing Skywarp.

Thundercracker gasped and flinched as the monitor showed Skywarp getting hit on the wing by Starscream's missiles and start spinning out of control.

"Skywarp!" he exclaimed and clenched his fists in frustration. "Scrap, he's going to crash. I have to do something." His face contorted into a toothy frown and turned to leave the command center. "I have to save him."

As he reached the door, Megatron stepped through. "And where do you think you're going?" Megatron asked with a glare at the blue Seeker.

"Lord Megatron," Thundercracker greeted. "I know you told me to stay on the ship, but Skywarp needs my help. He's an excellent warrior, but he can't focus without someone to back him up. That's why we're always together, so I can always keep him on task. Please, my liege, let me go assist him!"

Megatron gazed from Thundercracker to the monitor on the far end of the command center and back. "Very well," Megatron decided. "I will allow it."

Thundercracker's face almost beamed, but instead he nodded. "Thank you, sir."

Megatron stepped out of the way to let the blue Seeker run off, heading for the flight deck, while the warlord himself returned to his spot at the monitor to watch over the battlefield.

He had just been in the medbay to welcome Brawl onboard. The two Combaticons were having an Energon cube each, while Knock Out was buffing their armor, much to their pleasure. Knock Out had not liked it so much. It had been more fun buffing Breakdown, but, well, he didn't exist anymore, so it was even hard to enjoy buffing himself. Knock Out had then told Megatron that Brawl would probably be battle-ready the next day, as would Swindle.

Until then, Megatron seemed to have to rely on Skywarp and Thundercracker for new warriors, the former of which seemed to be completely incompetent if left to his own devices. Perhaps he should allow Thundercracker to accompany Skywarp on future missions. After all, it wasn't like they had acquired a lot of relics lately. Plus, Megatron hadn't actually asked Thundercracker what his specialty in science was. Maybe he had no idea how to examine relics. Maybe he was more acquainted to Energon, which wouldn't be of much use here.

Megatron glared at the monitor which still said 'system breach' and 'warning'. "They're attempting to disable the satellite," Megatron growled and switched to the comm. "Cylas, how difficult is it to squash a human child?!" There was no answer on the comm. "Cylas!"

Suddenly Megatron received a signal from Soundwave, informing him the code had been fully downloaded.

"We have the codes," Megatron said on the comm., partly pleased, partly fuming. "Then target the intruder and destroy him!"

On the battlefield, some twenty meters away from the facility, Skywarp decided he was done in his jet mode a dozen meters from the ground before he finally switched to robot mode. He landed hard on the ground and bounced twice before sliding across the ground and laying still on his front.

A few seconds later, Starscream transformed a few meters above ground and landed elegantly on his pedes, crouching from the impact before standing up straight. He gazed at his former Trinemate, groaning and trying to lift himself off the ground, but his arms gave in under him.

"S-scrap..." Skywarp swore and gazed up at his former Air Commander, who stood tall and strangely menacingly above him, snickering loudly.

"You never learn, do you, Skywarp?" Starscream hissed gleefully and aimed his right arm missile at the black Seeker's face. "It's the last mistake you'll ever make."

Skywarp couldn't do anything but stare up at Starscream with pleading red optics and gritted denta. Soundwave was busy in the command center, the Vehicons were busy with the Autobots, and all the other Decepticons were back on the Nemesis. And it wasn't like Megatron would waste any soldiers just to save one insignificant little Seeker.

Skywarp was alone. Alone and at the mercy of his former Air Commander, who now hated him and Thundercracker more than ever. And Skywarp had spent too much energy on all those teleportations. He could barely even lift his body off the ground. There was no saying that Skywarp felt scared in this moment.

"Please, Starscream..." Skywarp begged with a shaking voice, genuinely concerned for his own safety.

"Please?" Starscream repeated and hissed. "Please? After how you betrayed me, you think you can sway me with a 'please'? You are so pathetic, it makes me sick..."

Skywarp's wings drooped behind his back, adding further to his fright. Starscream frowned at the sight. He wanted to teach him a lesson, he wanted him to feel hurt, as hurt as Starscream felt back then, how hurt he always felt. But looking at that face, those wings... that genuine display of fear. It brought yet again a surge of strange guilt in his tanks. He thought about how scared he himself had been when Megatron had pointed his fusion cannon at his face back in the Energon mine.

"SKYWARP!"

Starcream looked up and saw a few red lasers being shot between him and Skywarp and jumped back a bit. From the sky appeared a large blue jet, which transformed into Thundercracker and landed right in front of the downed Skywarp, shielding him from Starscream.

Thundercracker looked at Starscream and hissed. "Leave him alone, Starscream," Thundercracker snarled. "Don't you have more important things to do than pick on a wounded bot?"

Starscream hissed back but didn't lower his arm. His gaze briefly went up and to the base where the Autobots were still fighting. The large orange laser suddenly stopped chasing them, only a couple of seconds after having started.

"It stopped?" Starscream remarked confused. "Did they do it?"

His gaze returned to the two Seekers in front of him. Thundercracker had his own arm cannon raised and pointed at Starscream, while still standing defensively in front of Skywarp, still laying defenseless on the ground, staring at Starscream. Skywarp's wings were still lowered, while Thundercracker's wings were hiked and made him look bigger.

Starscream frowned at the pair. It only made sense Thundercracker cared so much about Skywarp. They had been Trinemates far longer than they had with Starscream, after all. They were always together, always keeping an optic out for each other. Skywarp was useless in battle unless Thundercracker was there to keep him on task, and Skywarp would in return backstab the enemies Thundercracker was fighting, to help him out.

Their joined performance in battle was fearsome, and together they were almost invincible. Skywarp's teleportation and seemingly endless amount of energy, and Thundercracker's sonic attacks and level head. But seperated they had many flaws that could easily be taken advantage of, and Skywarp's lack of focus was just one of the flaws. Thundercracker never took much if any joy out of battle and only did so when fighting alongside Skywarp. They were so close, one could think they were Amica. But they weren't. Starscream didn't know if it was because they didn't like each other that way, or if it was because they never found the time for it.

One thing that was clear, however, was that Thundercracker would lay down his life for Skywarp, and Skywarp the same. They never showed it much in public, but they deeply cared about each other. Starscream often believed they were secretly Sparkmates but they didn't know it themselves yet.

Starscream and Thundercracker had a staredown for several minutes. Neither were willing to pull the trigger. Neither were willing to step away. Skywarp could only gaze between the two, too weakened to do anything himself.

Suddenly a bright light from the laser reappeared on the sky, catching all three Seekers' attention. It didn't fire at the battleground, it fired off to the horizon. They traced the beam to its source and found a light similar to a shooting star falling across the sky. The satellite must have reached the Earth's atmosphere and was being pulled towards the ground. The Decepticons had lost the battle.

Starscream's gaze returned to the facility and saw Soundwave taking off into the sky in jet mode. He smirked and lowered his arm at last.

"Looks like we win," Starscream said and glared at Thundercracker and Skywarp. "You better go after him before you lose your way home."

Thundercracker and Skywarp both gave the silver Seeker surprised looks.

"Starscream..." Thundercracker whispered.

"Get out of my sight," Starscream hissed and stomped the ground with his thin pede.

Thundercracker turned slightly and knelt down, gaze still set on Starscream, and hauled Skywarp's arm over his shoulder before activating his thrusters and taking off into the sky in robot mode, setting after Soundwave back to the Nemesis.

Starscream stared after them on the sky for a bit before returning his gaze to the facility and headed to the Autobots' position. They soon exited the command center and regrouped with Starscream.

"Looks like we won," Starscream repeated with a cackle as he approached the Autobots.

"Looks like it," Arcee repeated.

"What happened with Skywarp?" Bumblebee asked.

"Oh, I took care of him," Starscream replied casually.

"And by that you mean...?" Arcee asked.

"He was wounded and Thundercracker joined him. We had already won, so I let them go. Was that wrong of me?"