A/N: Warning - Smut. Challenge fic. Smut. SkyfireXStarscream. Smut. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, there is smut. I warned you, you can't say I didn't.

Disclaimer: I don't own it - just like playing with it. Also, Starscream's Oil Truffle addiction and the idea of seekers housing their interface equipment in their nosecone's come from Cyndi's 'Ambrosia' series, and do not belong to me.

Little Gifts

Starscream stormed down the corridors of the Nemesis, fuming in his usual vociferous manner.

"Stupid slagging Megatron and his moronic, Primus-damned plans! Idiot! Glitch-ridden, outdated maniac! If I led the Decepticon forces we would never fail, if Megatron ever even listened for one nanoclick we might not always get our afts handed to us by those weak, organic-loving Autobots. It just isn't fair!"

The last was shrieked at the door in true Starscream fashion as the seeker approached his quarters, moodily punching in his code. He wanted to go blast something but noooo; Megatron had confined everyone to the base as punishment for the failed mission.

"Serves him right if his precious Stunticons wreak the whole ship and we all end up with salt-water shorted circuits and the Autobots find out and attack us while we're helpless and stupid Megatron finally gets what's coming to him."

He snarled and gave his desk a kick.

"But does he ever get what's coming to him? No! He fails, wastes time and resources fighting on this backwater mud ball, never finishes Prime when he has the chance, proves time and again that he isn't fit to lead and what happens? NOTHING! Not a fragging thing and it's still not fair!"

He paced back and forth, twitching his wings in irritation. He wanted to fly, he wanted to shoot something, he wanted...Oil Truffles?

Starscream stopped short, his sensors catching a morsel of that delightful aroma in the air of his quarters. Where could that be coming from? Could there possibly be oil truffles somewhere? Ohh, for just one little crumb of his beloved treats...

Then he noticed the box. Sitting innocuously on his recharge berth, a pretty, little pink box, tied with an equally pretty pink ribbon. How could he have possibly not seen it before? He dived onto his berth, staring at the box, yes; this was where the smell of the truffles came from! He hastily pulled at the ribbon and it obligingly undid, Starscream threw it to the side and pulled the lid off the box.

Oh, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! The box was filled, hollow, pink wax balls filled with magnificent, thick, sticky oil. Oil Truffles. Starscream pulled one out and brought it to his lip components.

And stopped. Why were his favourite treats suddenly in his quarters? How had they gotten there, past his locked and coded door? Who had put the gift there? And most importantly, what was in the truffles? He glared suspiciously at the truffle he held.

Only one way to find out.

--

Starscream had done every conceivable test on the truffles. Had searched for very nearly every toxin, poison, drug and narcotic known to Cybertronian kind, and quite a few most Transformers would have never even heard of.

Nothing. Not. A. Thing. Even his legendary sense of self preservation couldn't think of anything more to test for. And it was pure torture, too. Starscream had become fed up with himself, there was nothing wrong with the truffles and what did it matter who had left the gift? After all, he was Starscream, Pride of the Cybertron Academy, Terror of the Skies, and the True leader of the Decepticon Empire. Who wouldn't want to leave him little gifts? And good gifts too, he could certainly tolerate someone coming into his quarters, even secretly, if it meant more oil truffles of this quality. That settled it; Starscream practically dived into the box.

It was wonderful, better than flying, better than interfacing. He would give up either or both for oil truffles, Pit; he would give up the Matrix for oil truffles. Starscream worked his way down to the third layer.

"Starscream!"

Megatron! Trust that pit-spawned old wreak to ruin a good moment. Starscream hurriedly swallowed and shoved the box under his berth.

"What, oh mighty Megatron?" He sneered as he sauntered over and opened the door.

"Get your lazy aft out on patrol, seeker. You've been ducking your responsibilities. I want a full search of quadrants A15 to J27." The silver mech growled.

"What?" That would take him hours, he would be lucky to get back before the next solar cycle!

"Are your audios malfunctioning Starscream? Perhaps a fusion blast might take care of them?" Megatron pointed his fusion cannon to Starscream's cranial unit.

"No, no. Lord Megatron, my audios are fine, quadrants A15 to J27 you said? Of course mighty Megatron, it will be as you ordered." Starscream slunk out of his quarters as Megatron walked away.

"Outdated, malfunctioning killjoy!" He hissed as he made his way to the exit tower. He had been doing his patrols, had even logged them, Megatron's CPU must be rusting, but there was no way of getting that through to him. Now it would be breems before he could get back to his truffles. He snarled and fretted as the tower rose. Patrol! Who did Megatron think he was? Patrol duty was for lackeys! He was Starscream, the second in command! He transformed and revved his thrusters as he took off toward land.

Stupid, annoying, useless patrol! If he wasn't so tired he'd go back and tell Megatron just where he could shove his patrol duty. Wait, why was he tired? He'd recharged not long ago hadn't he? Starscream checked his internal specs.

Energy Level 12...11...10

What! There was no way his energy levels could be that low, could be lowering that fast, the specs had to be malf...

Warning. Energy Level at Critical. Emergency Offline Initiated.

No! He was in the air, he would crash! Starscream began to lose altitude, he couldn't die this way! He was going to crash.

As the seeker hurtled toward the ground a white behemoth moved from its camouflage in the clouds and in an impressive display of aerial manoeuvrability scooped the still falling seeker into its cargo bay.

--

Skyfire had always loved to watch Starscream sleep, his uncannily beautiful features revealed another facet of their charm when they were relaxed in recharge. The only thing not completely appealing about the sight was that Starscream's gorgeous optics did not glow with their usual cerise beauty, but other than that it was a side of Starscream that Skyfire never tired of.

The slender flyer stirred, and the optics that Skyfire admired so much came to life. Skyfire braced himself for the coming storm, even turning the grain down on his audios. Starscream shook his head to rid it of the last vestiges of sleep, and then rubbed his optics.

Or he tried to, but Skyfire was nothing if not thorough and with his rather intimate knowledge of seekers body types, and in particular Starscream's, he had been able to construct a quite elegant contraption, one that could hold the seeker entirely in place without hurting him but not get in Skyfire's way. Starscream screeched when he realised that he was restrained and began to thrash and writhe. Skyfire let him, the contraption would hold, Starscream couldn't hurt himself and the seeker hadn't been in recharge long enough to replenish his depleted energy levels. He would tire soon.

Starscream soon exhausted himself and hung despondently from his restraints. Skyfire moved forward to brush his hand against the flyers delicate check plates. He jerked and yelped, finally focusing on the shuttle.

"Skyfire? Skyfire! You, you, you...Filthy Autobot! Release me at once or I'll-"

"You'll what Starscream? Or hadn't you noticed that you cannot get free and neither do you have your weapons. And also that no one knows where you are, nor do they really care?" Skyfire asked.

"What!? Of course they care, I am Starscream! Decepticon air commander and the true-"

Skyfire tuned out Starscream's rant. He had only heard it a million times before. After a while he noticed that Starscream had stopped and was looking at him suspiciously.

"It was you, you sent me the truffles, and you probably deleted all my logged patrol hours." Starscream's voice had risen with each word, until he was nearly screaming.

"Of course, didn't you like your little present?" Skyfire smiled; how he had missed teasing the little seeker!

"But, but – HOW! There was nothing, nothing in them!"

"Oh not nothing, little starfarer, only the tiniest little amount of an energon absorbing mineral, remember the one we found on Carceliis? Impossible to detect if only one truffle was examined, instead of the whole box. One or just a few truffles would hardly do a thing, but I know how you are with oil truffles. I suspect you got down to the third layer by the time Megatron pulled you away, didn't you?" He smiled.

Starscream stared dumbfounded at the larger flyer. Skyfire could almost read his CPU, see the panicked thoughts running through it and he could guess what was coming next.

"Traitor! Treacherous, scheming, underhanded, dispicab-Mmf!"

Skyfire surged forward and pulled the seekers face to his, clashing their lip components together. He could still taste the truffles on Starscream's lips, but far better was the taste of Starscream himself. Skyfire pushed his glossa into Starscream's mouth, wanting more. Starscream tried to pull away but Skyfire only dragged him closer, rubbing his glossa against Starscream's, rasping his lip components against the seekers. With one last lick across his lip's Skyfire pulled back.

Starscream was shaking and Skyfire could hear his cooling fans whirring into life.

"What was that?" spat Starscream.

"A kiss, a human custom used to show affection."

"You used a filthy human interface technique on me?" The seeker was nearly speechless with rage.

"Well, maybe something more traditional them..." Skyfire teased as he reached for the seekers wings.

"No!" Starscream actually screamed, beginning to thrash against his bonds with even more force than before. The sheer terror in his voice pierced Skyfire's spark.

"Shh, shhh, Little Wings." He crooned his old nickname for Starscream, moving forward to hold him gently. He stoked the others cranial unit, whispering gentle words to him. Eventually Starscream calmed down, sinking into the shuttles embrace. Skyfire was troubled; he had not expected such a reaction from Starscream.

"What is wrong Starscream?" He asked.

"We...We're in a war Skyfire, on opposing sides..."

"No one knows, no one will know. Now tell me what is really wrong." He coaxed.

"Nothing! Skyfire, you betrayed me, you left me! How can you possibly expect me to roll over and offer up my cone?"

There was genuine hurt in the words, but something still didn't sit right with the shuttle. He was asking Starscream the wrong questions; it was time to change tack.

"When I emerged from the ice, I asked you if you enjoyed being a soldier. Now I'm going to ask you a similar question. Do you enjoy being a Decepticon, Starscream?"

The smaller flyer stayed silent.

"You don't do you? Only you can't say it, can you? You can't admit you made a mistake."

"What! I am Starscream, I do not make mistakes!" But the retort had none of its usual fire and force.

It was beginning to piece together in Skyfire's mind. The apparent change in Starscream, his attitude toward Skyfire when he defected, Starscream's repeated attempts to overthrow Megatron, Megatron's treatment of his second in command, Starscream's reaction to his advances.

"You lost me to this world, and you failed to bring me back..." Skyfire whispered.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The seeker whimpered, afraid.

"It's all right, I'm not blaming you. Then you went back to Cybertron and everything exploded into this war, you were confused and upset and there he was, wasn't he?"

"He...He reminded me so much of you, someone who could protect me..." Starscream whispered.

Skyfire was more than a little surprised at that revelation. He could see no parallel between himself and Megatron, but obviously Starscream had, and it did make sense.

"And he did protect you, for a while, didn't he? He cared for you...As I had?"

The seeker keened, as if in pain.

"I thought he loved me...I would have given him my spark..." Skyfire could barely hear the words, but they sent a chill through him.

"Did you?" He asked. He didn't want to; afraid of the answer Starscream would give.

"No, he kept saying we should wait and then...He tired of me. The interfacing became rough and then more than 'rough'. Nothing I did or said made it better...But I couldn't let go..."

"Because then you would have no one. And you couldn't leave and you couldn't overthrow Megatron, then I returned...And I left you...Oh, Little Wings, I am so sorry."

Starscream keened again and pressed into Skyfire's chest, seeking the warmth of his spark to sooth him. Skyfire just held him and thought. Starscream had never been very stable, prideful, unable to admit to having made mistakes, impatient, often vicious toward others, single-minded to the point of blindness. But he had never realised how much he himself had meant to Starscream's state of mind.

He would not make that mistake again. He would keep Starscream by his side, even if he had to force the seeker to do so. But first he would try subtle.

"Starscream." He whispered and slid his hands down the seekers nosecone; Starscream shuddered and arched into the touch. The reaction made Skyfire's circuit's heat.

"More." Came the soft plead.

"Are you sure?" Starscream had been through so much...Would this be too much, too soon?

"Please Skyfire!"

He could never refuse when Starscream used that tone.

He slid his hands further down, trailing his hands over Starscream's leg armour, undoing the restraints as he went, Starscream's armour was so smooth, but he could feel the warmth of his growing arousal. He felt the seeker shiver at the contact.

"If you tell me to stop I will." He promised him.

"No, more! Missed you, so much." Starscream moaned.

"I can tell." He whispered, just brushing his mouth against the tip of Starscream's cone as he straightened up to release the restraints on Starscream's arms. He hissed in pleasure as he wrapped his freed arms around Skyfire, rubbing them up and down Skyfire's back.

The touch sent thrills across his circuits; Starscream began to play with a transformation seam in Skyfire's hip, slipping under armour with practiced ease to stroke sensitive cables and wiring. Then his mouth was on Skyfire's neck, his glossa doing the same there. His spark spun and tingles of electricity ran through his interface cables.

Skyfire slid his hands along the edge of Starscream's right wing, feeling the seeker arch into the contact. He leaned forward and trailed his glossa over the trail his hands had just taken and heard Starscream gasp. Seekers wings were so very sensitive, they had to be loaded with sensors to enable them to fly, the only other part as sensitive was their nosecone, half because of it's use in flight and half because it housed most seekers interface connections.

Skyfire slid his hands outward across Starscream's chest plates, and glided them over his wings. Their size difference meant that Skyfire's hands nearly covered Starscream's wings entirely. He pressed down, firm but still gentle, pressing against the whole of both Starscream's wings.

The little seeker went wild, pulling his mouth from Skyfire's neck and calling his name out as the stimulation spread throughout his circuits, Skyfire then sild his hands to the back of his wings, repeating the move. Starscream wrapped his legs around Skyfire's waist, clinging to the shuttle as if his very existence depended on it. The feel of the seeker wrapped around him sent a rush of blinding heat through Skyfire.

"Please, please, please, Skyfire! I can't...Don't want to wait anymore!" Starscream yelled.

Skyfire buried one hand into Starscream's wing joints, holding him close. His other hand moved down Starscream's nosecone, moving slowly and barely brushing it. Starscream shrieked in frustration, the sound of unconcealed lust in his voice spurring Skyfire into action. He slid his hand around the tip of Starscream's cone and pressed. The front of Starscream's cone split from the back and slid around to reveal the cables and ports. Skyfire gently teased them and Starscream pulled his arms away from Skyfire's back to slide over the shuttles chassis, unlocking Skyfire's interface cover.

"You make the connection, Little Wings." Skyfire urged.

Starscream pulled one his cables from his cone and connected it to Skyfire's port; the fierce rush of not only his own arousal and desire but Starscream's as well burned through him. Starscream began to pulse his spark, pushing the energy through the connection into Skyfire's. Skyfire revelled in the sensations; he had not even known how much he had missed this.

He almost didn't notice when Starscream pulled one of Skyfire's cables to him and plugged it into his own port, looping the connection between them. There was no longer any Skyfire or Starscream, just togetherness. Everything was heat and pleasure, fires building until the heat of it burst through their frames, overload rushing through them, consuming and enveloping them both, bringing them back together again.

--

Starscream hadn't felt so wonderful in millennia. Wrapped in Skyfire's arms, knowing that he no longer had to keep away from what he wanted most, knowing that Skyfire still understood him, forgave him, and still loved him. He snuggled into the shuttle, loving how the others spark warmed to him. He knew what Skyfire wanted and he would be happy to give it to him, he could never go back to the Decepticons now, not knowing that he no longer had to.

He was free, as he hadn't been since he first lost Skyfire to the ice. He nuzzled Skyfire's neck.

"Something you want to tell me, Little Wings?" He asked.

Actually there was something.

"You sent me the present, with the oil truffles?" He queried.

"Yes, starfarer, I did. I take it you liked your little gift?" Skyfire's voice was amused.

"Yes, but why in the world did you make it pink?"