A new plot bunny grabbed me, and this is the result. I am unsure as to how many chapters this is going to have, but I do hope you guys like it.
Warnings: Light slash, violence.
Pairings: None really, not yet.
Disclaimer: I only wish that I owned the Seekers...
The sonic boom shattered the air just a bit too late.
Skywarp felt it an instant before it hit- burning pain across his sensornet, lines cut and cauterized in the same instant by enemy laser fire. He let out a shriek on both the Seekers' commlink and the trine bond, his pain following along despite his attempt to stifle it. His wings would no longer support his weight, several large, leaking holes in the wide black panels, and he began to lose altitude at a shocking rate. He tried to access his warp gate and found that energon loss had taken that option away from him, and all went dark as he crashed into the side of the cliff, a smoking, ruined heap of metal.
A cheer rang on the Autobot side- it wasn't every day that one of the elite trine was grounded, much less taken /that/ completely out of the action. Thundercracker heard the ragged cry and a wave of anger clouded his processor- didn't they realize that Skywarp was one of those sentient beings that they professed freedom for?
The rules never had been the same if one wore a purple sigil, and they never would be.
The blue Seeker shot through the sky, following the trail of smoke and scorched metal, ignoring the questions from his allies. Starscream already knew why he'd broken formation, and had already given his approval whether Megatron liked it or not.
Trine first, faction second. It was never talked about but that's the way it was. Most didn't know, couldn't guess. They thought that Starscream only tolerated his wingmates for the sake of battle prowess. They didn't know that they were a bonded trine, closer than brothers, more than lovers. It was what they were, just as much a part of them as their wings and their optics and their sparks. The other Seekers knew it, but their loyalty to their Winglord superseded the loyalty to the Decepticons and even the loyalty to their commander.
There were so few Seekers left, after all, and those that remained were precious.
Thundercracker landed, his spark breaking at the image of his brother-mate-third lying in a pool of his own fluids, blissfully unconscious. He kept his expression carefully neutral, though, and moved to pick him up ever so gently, not wishing to exacerbate his injuries. Unconsciously, he chirred a dual-toned sound that was older than most of the mechs that fought in this world- it seemed to soothe the unconscious Seeker, and so Thundercracker repeated it.
The high-pitched whine of a laser rifle broke into his reverie, and that was the only warning he received before intense pain washed over his wings, the shot disconnecting motor relays and causing him to land on top of his already injured wingmate.
Sunstreaker grinned ferally and commed Prowl. /Two out of three ain't bad. I have two very injured Seekers at my position. They may even still be alive, though for how long, I couldn't say. Happy sparkday, Prowl./
/Spare me your flippancy. Guard the prisoners; I shall send transport as soon as possible. Prowl out./
Starscream felt the shot as it happened, and he let out a pained shriek, quickly stifled so that Megatron didn't realize exactly what had happened. It simply wouldn't do to have him suspect the extent of the trine bond; that mech would use anything and everything to gain leverage, even over his own people. The silver tyrant whipped his helm around to glare at his SIC, and Starscream returned the glare full-force, daring him to speak.
"What causes you to make more of those irritating sounds, Starscream?"
"Why, my Lord, I was merely making an audible observation on how much of a failure this plan has turned out to be. Why, if I led the Decepticons-"
Starscream was interrupted by a backhand slap to the face. That actually /helped/ the Seeker; it distracted him somewhat from his trinemates' pain and especially Thundercracker's anger. That didn't mean that he hated Megatron any less for it; Starscream loathed Megatron, and for more reasons than just the physical punishment.
Thundercracker was still conscious; Starscream could feel him. He sent a wordless pulse of reassurance, and it was answered with a pain-soaked wave of apprehension mixed with thanks.
/I'll get you out, somehow./ Starscream promised.
/Know that, Scree. Warp's bad off./ Thundercracker replied slowly.
/He's alive, Thunder. He'll be okay. Watch over him. Don't let them separate you./
/Won't if I can't help it. Love you. Can't talk anymore- hurts. Gonna rest./ Thundercracker's mental tone sounded strained.
/Stay awake, Thunder. Don't you leave me./
"Are you paying attention, Starscream, or shall I remind you that ignoring me has its price?" The unlovely tones of the Slagmaker broke into Starscream's conversation, and he sent Thundercracker another wave of comfort through their bond even as he scowled nastily at Megatron.
"I was /consulting/ with my aerial units, /Lord/ Megatron." The way that Starscream emphasized 'Lord" made it into an insult rather than a term of respect. "Thundercracker and Skywarp have been taken by the Autoscum."
Megatron glowered. "Useless. Elite trine. Elite screwups, perhaps. And your team at that, Starscream. What does that say about your leadership potential?" The glower twisted into a nasty little smile that made Starscream want to shove his null ray right up Megatron's aft and shoot a dozen times.
It /means/ that Thunder went to save our mate, you overbearing aftheaded glitch. Starscream thought spitefully. What he said was completely different. "I assume that those disgusting twins managed to get ahold of Skywarp and run him into a cliff again." His tone was properly disdainful. "My trinemate is an idiot. As for Thundercracker, he may have went looking for him. I don't /know/. I was stuck here instead of flying with my aerial team. That /is/ what my function is /supposed/ to be, though you mistake me for your punching bag." Starscream smirked at his commander.
Unsurprisingly, he received another clout upside his helm. "Idiot."
Starscream kept his vocaliser mute for the moment, trying to think of a way to rationalize dealing for his trinemates. Of course, he could wait until they repaired Skywarp- the Autobots were usually too soft-sparked to leave even an enemy unrepaired, and once Skywarp was functional, he could simply warp Thundercracker and himself out of their base.
That is, if his warp gate hadn't been damaged in the crash. That was always a worry, and Skywarp couldn't tell Starscream a thing yet. He was still unconscious.
Thundercracker onlined in medbay just as Ratchet began cursing over his trinemate. He onlined his optics slowly, almost as if trying to hide it, but the berth he was on alerted the medic anyway. The red and white medbot glanced over at Thundercracker as if /daring/ him to get up and move, and TC shook his head slightly, indicating his acquiescence. Skywarp was obviously in stasis, optics dark, his infrastructure dinged and dented from the crash. It almost hurt the blue Seeker to look at him, but he wasn't willing to look away for too long, not when they were in enemy territory.
He'd tear the medic's /hands/ off if he tried to hurt Warp, and his gaze spoke the threat as eloquently as if he'd shouted it. Ratchet, of course, ignored it and continued working, his fingertips deftly repairing the large holes that pierced his trinemate's wings. The sparking and leaking had stopped, at least, and to Thundercracker's mostly untrained optics Skywarp even /looked/ a bit better than he had. He privately swore revenge on that damned yellow psychopath who'd backshot him- some Autobot to do /that/. His lip curled at the thought, and that's when his tanks began to rumble audibly.
Ratchet stopped what he was doing, wiped the fluids from his hands, and went to a dispenser that was embedded on the wall. Shortly thereafter, Thundercracker was handed a cube of shimmering energon.
"Medical-grade. You need it after the laser shot." Ratchet said gruffly, turning away to finish his work on Skywarp. Thundercracker gave the medic an inscrutable look before taking his first sip of the fuel. It was good, a lot better than they had most of the time on the Nemesis, and he allowed himself to enjoy the rich flavor, such a simple pleasure in the midst of the enemy base. He hoped that Skywarp would have a chance to have some of this as well- that he would be okay.
Their trine bond was wide open but distance attenuated Starscream's presence, only giving Thundercracker a very faint awareness of his trineleader's emotional state. He was agitated, but /that/ was nothing new, and in slight pain. Thundercracker frowned at that and did his best to send reassurance through the bond. It was likely that Megatron had blamed him for his trinemates' failure. It wouldn't be the first time, nor likely the last.
Sometimes his Supreme Commander was an idiot, Thundercracker reflected. On second thought, a /lot/ of the time he was an idiot. The only one who reliably stood up to Megatron was Starscream, though, and he certainly paid for it each time he did. There were as many rumors as to why Starscream continually challenged their leader as there were mechs on board, but the only ones who knew the truth were Starscream himself, Skywarp (who didn't usually care), and Thundercracker. The animosity went back further than most would expect, all the way back to the beginnings of the war. Back when Vos was its own nation, before it had been melted into slag by its enemies in a cowardly attack that had turned its beautiful spires into nothing more than dust and shattered memories of what once stood.
Thundercracker wondered, and not it wasn't the first time, if Megatron had had something to do with Vos' destruction. It had been no secret that he had wanted the Seekers to fight for him; the aerial support had tipped things in his favor, just as he'd expected. Starscream had repeatedly declined the alliance, citing many reasons, but the main one was that Starscream wanted Vos to remain neutral in this silly series of battles; most of the problems that plagued Cybertron were not an issue in Vos.
Megatron didn't understand this desire to stay out of it, and had attempted to court Starscream's favor, some said in more ways than one.
It wasn't until his city was reduced to nearly nothing, eighty percent of the population deactivated or dying, that he finally accepted Megatron's alliance. He wanted revenge on those who'd taken what he loved most from him. At the time, his trinemates had even agreed- Megatron's army was strong, and adding the aerial mastery of the Seekers could only make it stronger.
It quickly became apparent that Megatron had had no intention of keeping his agreement with Starscream to allow him putative control over the air force; he was Air Commander in name only. He hadn't counted on the Seekers' own culture, though, not understanding it or not caring to. They had sworn their allegiance to the Decepticons, yes, but their first loyalty was to their Winglord and their people. Megatron was /still/ unaware of this fact so many millions of years later, and that's the way the Seekers wanted it, even those as loyal as Skywarp was.
It was a testament to the solidarity of their kind that their little deception had continued to last this long.
Thundercracker stopped reflecting on the past, his cube surprisingly empty, to focus his gaze on Skywarp again. Ratchet was /good/; he supposed that was why the medic had a capture, not kill directive on him and had since the early days of conflict. Skywarp's wings were patched, the weld lines painted in nanite-rich sealant that would speed healing, and Ratchet had even begun to buff out the worst of the scratches. Thundercracker's gaze softened just a little.
"You do good work." he said, dispersing the cube Ratchet had given him with a simple gesture. Ratchet glanced up from Skywarp's left wing and merely grunted at the Seeker, turning back to his work before answering.
"You may be our enemies but I'll be slagged twice before I let you walk around in pieces." Ratchet said, not looking at the blue flier.
"That is a lot more than the Decepticons would do if the situation were reversed." Thundercracker replied.
Ratchet looked up and gave the Seeker a piercing stare. "Is there any reason why you refer to your faction in that way, instead of just saying 'we'?"
Thundercracker returned the look and allowed his lips to twist into an odd sort of smile. He stood, his joints creaking somewhat due to inactivity, and walked over to where the medic was still working on Skywarp. He put one hand on his trinemate's arm, squeezing it familiarly. Ratchet stilled, almost as if expecting an attack of some sort, yet relaxed a moment later. By his movements it was apparent that he was choosing to trust Thundercracker not to do anything stupid.
Of course, he had a wrench on standby just in case. Ratchet wasn't /stupid/, after all.
Thundercracker remained silent, just standing next to Skywarp, allowing his EM field to wrap around the injured flier. He couldn't tell if it was helping Skywarp, but he knew that it was helping him so he continued. Seekers needed physical contact, a fact that had been twisted to infer that Seekers had an interface drive that never stopped.
"He'll be ready to be moved in a couple joor." Ratchet told Thundercracker. "I'm sure they'll have a cell ready for you two." Thundercracker couldn't stop the scowl at that; enclosed spaces were /not/ his favorite things, and he hoped that Skywarp awakened beforehand so he didn't panic upon onlining in a small, square room with no view of the sky. Thundercracker gave Ratchet an unreadable look before speaking.
"If Skywarp onlines from stasis in an enclosed room, he is likely to panic."
"Not my choice, Seeker." Ratchet said. "In case you didn't notice, we're at war here, and we can't have you walking about as if you owned the base."
"It will be detrimental to his recovery."
"I'm aware of your kind's need for the sky." Ratchet said, almost seeming offended. "However, my medbay isn't equipped to hold prisoners for longer than it takes me to fix 'em, and I don't trust you two enough to let you stay."
"I offer you my word that we will not interfere with normal operations or attempt anything that would be construed as harmful." Thundercracker finally said, after considering it.
Ratchet laughed incredulously. "The word of a 'Con."
"No. The word of a Seeker." Thundercracker said.
