Author's Notes- Hello all. I wrote this a while back and thought I'd post it.

Warnings- Transformer swearing and violence.

Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters.

Unbetaed.

Set during and directly post ROTF so it contains spoilers.

All mistakes are my own.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Loyalty

Starscream reattached his arm and silently, resentfully, stared up at Megatron as the larger mech finished speaking. The Seeker's spark froze when the Commander turned towards him and he scuttled backwards with lowered optics. This proved ineffectual, however, as Megatron strode forward and pulled his second to and beneath him by a wing and punching through his frame and spark chamber to take hold of Starscream's spark.

The Decepticon Lord, keeping his Seeker firmly still, hissed malevolently into his audios, 'no more chances Starscream. Fetch me the boy,' he tightened his grip agonizingly on Starscream's spark, 'and do not fail me!' Terrified, the SIC's vocaliser refused to work as he reeled from the pain. He could barely focus on his leader's voice, but managed to nod weakly.

Megatron squeezed the life force in his servo once more before he released it and slowly drew his servo out of his second's systems, and let go of the dented wing in his grip. Starscream, now with no one to support him, slid shuddering and whimpering to the ground. The Commander gave a parting kick to the flier's lower abdomen before taking off into the air.

Starscream lay, curled up in a ball and quivering, staring at the sky he could see over the tops of the buildings in front of him, trying to soothe himself. It'll be fine, he's never meant it before, and he doesn't mean it now. He doesn't. Still, the Air Commander couldn't deny that, in all the times he had been beaten by his leader, his spark had never been so directly threatened. It had had a cannon aimed at it more times than the SIC cared to count but it had never been so vulnerable, so exposed. He watched the clouds and birds soar across the sky and ached to join them.

Miserably, the flier pulled himself to a sitting position and, though he craved to repair his wing, knew that his upper abdomen had to be fixed first. It would not do to reach the battlefield (for he was sure there would be one soon) and be responsible for his own deactivation by bleeding out. He cringed as he imagined what people would say should that happen. What an absolutely humiliating possibility but then, Primus allowing, he would be allowed to haunt that… that slagger for the rest of eternity.

He was getting so tired of nothing he did being good enough, of never being praised or even acknowledged beyond an object for his larger Commander to take his frustrations out on. The Seeker was built for speed not for strength so any altercation between them, unless he fled and subsequently branded a coward, always fell in Megatron's favour. It just wasn't fair. Starscream noticed the energon running down his frame and watched it pool beneath him numbly. Slowly, lethargically, he unsubspaced his small repair kit and set to work on himself.

When Starscream felt he was repaired enough to attempt his mission he stood and walked apprehensively to the edge of the building. For the first time in his millennia long life the Seeker felt intimidated by a drop. Normally he would laugh at it and attack it with nothing short of glee, confident in his skill as a flier and his experience as a warrior, but now as his spark shivered in its chamber he was afraid.

I could fall, the shocking thought crossed his processor as he gazed over the edge and the ground seemed further away than it could be. No one would save him and the Autobots would surely be summoned by their human pets to dispose of him. He would lie, his agile metallic body broken and his beloved wings destroyed, and wait for death either by the servos of his enemies or else a slow bleed out.

It would hurt.

The Seeker retreated to the centre of the roof trembling and looked up longingly at the sky, taking deep ventilations to soothe himself. He reached out a servo to catch the air currents and allowed the familiar urge to fly overwhelm him. The sky was his only and true friend and confidante. Starscream's master in a way Megatron could only dream of being and he had served it faithfully his entire lifecycle. Surely it will not abandon me? His optics followed a formation of birds and the SIC's wings twitched with desire.

It was worth the risk.

It always had been even when he was a sparkling learning to fly for the first time. If I fall, then I will save myself. The Air Commander didn't need rescuing he was perfectly capable of doing it himself as he always had done. Starscream knew there was no one to best him in the skies and, steeling himself, refused to be beaten by this ridiculousness. Shutting his optics, the Decepticon attuned himself completely to the flow beneath his talon tips and, almost without thinking, began to run forward and as soon as his pedes met nothing but the air which infused his very being he transformed and took off into the open sky.

Shortly into his flight, Starscream allowing the air to look after and comfort him, Soundwave contacted him through the comm. Decepticons: boy's location detected.

The Air Commander sighed before replying in their own tongue with what he hoped to be his normal arrogance, Starscream in pursuit.

On reaching Egypt, the first thing the SIC saw almost made him turn his own null-rays on himself. Optimus's body surrounded by soldiers lay on the ground beneath him, and he was going to have to report it to his Commander. For the love of Primus, why do you torture me? Using the pyramid his leader was perched on to put a makeshift shield between them, Starscream landed on the opposite side to Megaton. 'Master, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the soldiers brought the body of Prime.' Thankfully, the Decepticon Warlord didn't seem to blame him for this inconvenience and ordered the attack.

A very little time later, while hunting for the boy and trying to deal with the fleshling air force amongst other things, Starscream was surprised to hear Megatron's pained voice crying out for him, and flew down hesitantly but curiously to see what had gone wrong this time. As soon as his downed leader appeared on the ground through the dirt and the grit being thrown into the air the Seeker, instinctively, sped up to aid his Commander.

Landing gracefully, servo already reaching out to see how he could assist, the flier froze at Megatron's uncharacteristically soft exclamation of horror, 'no! No!' The SIC looked past the Commander just as the Fallen's mangled body fell to the ground at Optimus's pedes.

Megatron seemed frozen in place, claws clutching the wall tightly for support, and Starscream had the strange fancy that his leader might be in shock. The Slagmaker that no-one in the universe who knew of him did not fear, defeated by… grief? Was he even capable of such an emotion? The Air Commander stopped his musings when he realised that attention was slowly beginning to be drawn to them and they were dangerously, hopelessly, outnumbered. They had to move and it had to be now or they would surely be destroyed.

Clutching for something to jolt the Warlord out of his stupor, Starscream hit at his Commander's pride. It had never failed in provoking Megatron into action before (almost always painful for his second) and it should not do so now. Taking only a few moments with the phrasing Starscream steeled himself before addressing Megatron in a matter-of-fact tone, 'not to call you a coward, Master but sometimes, cowards do survive...'

A fleeting pride ran through his energon at how strong his voice had been, without a stutter, stammer or simper, and how his leader had acknowledged him without insult but silently as if they had a mutual understanding of each other. Which, most mechs and femmes would say, they did. Even if they also had a mutual loathing as well. 'This isn't over,' he had heard the Decepticon Lord assert behind him in that strange quiet tone as he climbed up a small wall and took off into the air with his leader following him.

It is simply a battle Master, it is by no means the war. Starscream commed Megatron to comfort him. We will recover and fight again. When this was met with silence, the SIC fell back a little to allow the Commander to at once lead the way, while having his own space to think without his second's immediate presence. This also gave the Seeker the advantage of advanced warning and a head start should his leader decide to attack him for their loss.

The threat to his spark still held fear over him and he couldn't help but wonder if he would be executed on return to Base, and the Air Commander's anxiety wasn't helped by Megatron's persistent silence. Why wasn't he ranting? Shouting and enraged as he always was after a defeat. Was it simply, to use the human phrasing, the calm before the storm? Or was it something with much more damaging ramifications?

As they reached the Nemesis, Megatron strode off without a backward glance. My Liege? Do you require me? Again, there was no answer and the SIC headed slowly to his quarters and sat at his desk, silently and contemplatively. There were notes and reports stacked in front of him but the text ran together when he tried to focus on them. Realising that he had been exhausted by the (at times traumatic) events of the day, Starscream resigned himself to recharging.

As he curled up in a defensive manner on his berth, he scanned his systems and, though there was slight damage from the battle and lingering from Megatron's chastisement, it was nothing that could not wait to be repaired until after a rest. The flier internally ordered his quarter's systems to turn off the lights and watched the darkness dance around him for a short while before offlining his optics and slipping into welcome recharge.

A few cycles later, Starscream woke suddenly from a nightmare with a harsh cry which quickly deteriorated into frightened little chitters and chirps before the Seeker gained control of himself. His processor had forced him to watch a tiny version of his spark being held and mercilessly crushed by giant servos. Megatron's servos, only even larger than they truly were. The Commander's cruel laughter rang in his audios and the threat of an orn ago (two now? Three?) was being whispered by his spark over and over again.

When Starscream had calmed himself down he realised he was not alone. Two foreboding red optics glowed at him through the shadows and the Seeker realised, his spark twisting in fear, that his leader had been watching him recharge, in the dark. The Commander's override must have allowed him entry without any alarms going off. The question was now, what did he want?

Summoning up a dwindling reserve of courage, Starscream internally ordered his quarter's systems to light his berthroom. Megatron carried on staring at him in such a manner as for the SIC to feel awkward, self-conscious, and not a little scared. It was as if his Commander was attempting to read him completely simply by looking at him. The optics were the only part of the Decepticon Lord that moved, focussing on no particular part of his second, but constantly shifting focus.

At a loss for what to do, the Air Commander dropped to the floor in a graceful and respectful kneel, his elegance belied by energon beginning to drip slowly down from his still fairly damaged spark chamber as his patch job failed, and a grimace of pain flickered briefly across his faceplates before he lowered his helm to hide his weakness.

Without a word, Megatron turned and walked out, leaving the door open in a tacit order to be followed. Briefly offlining and onlining his optics, the Seeker stood and, covering the open wound with a servo, stumbled after his leader to the Nemesis's Command Centre. The Seeker all but crept into the room behind his leader who headed straight for his throne and slouched into it, indicating for Starscream to kneel at his pedes. Wearily the SIC obeyed and walked forward to drop formally to his knees before his leader and waited.

After a moment Megatron looked up through the glass which covered one wall of the room and stared at Earth which he could see in its entirety before him. The Warlord stood and stepped over his subordinate and walked single-mindedly towards that ill-fated planet. Once he reached the glass he stroked it with his claws, optics unreadable. When he realised his second had not moved he clicked his claws and pointed at the floor beside him.

Starscream crawled over to accompany Megatron's observation of Earth and waited to see what his leader wanted. The flier flinched when he felt his leader begin to caress a wing and tried to relax when the touch did not turn harmful. 'If,' the Decepticon Lord suddenly spoke, 'I had any sense I would terminate you now. Everything would be so much more straightforward without your incessant whining and criticism. Not only that, though I've put up with it for millennia, but now I need loyal and capablemechs under my command… I should kill you, compared to the Fallen you an insect, a useless weak insect. And you failed me.' The Seeker shivered and his spark seemed to shrink inside its spark chamber, but the unusually docile Commander made no move to harm him, and the stroking of his wing and the brushes against his shoulder remained gentle. 'Starscream, tell me one instance that you have been loyal to me, without needing to be reminded, and I shall let you live.'

The Seeker's optics glanced about the room for inspiration, panicked. 'I came to you Master when we lost the Fallen.'

'Yes that was a loyal act but I called for you, so it doesn't count,' the Commander stated and turned to go back to his throne, 'you stay there and think my dear Starscream. Should you stand without permission I will shoot you.'

Staring at his lap the Seeker's wings twitched worriedly, 'I… came to Earth to find you, tried to give you an army…'

'That was Soundwave's doing, not yours.' Megatron overrode him thoughtlessly.

Starscream was left speechless. Not with fear, but incandescent rage. The one gift he'd ever tried to give his leader was accredited to someone else and his contributions, as usual, were completely ignored. Abruptly he stood and turned before snarling, 'if you really think I am so unfaithful shoot me then. Nothing I ever do is good enough for you anyway so what's the point!'

Megatron stared at his SIC then stood and walked over. As soon as he was in arms reach he picked the Seeker up, carried him to their war table and laid the flier out. Carefully, he began to repair Starscream while the Air Commander watched on incredulously. 'You are an inept incompetent idiot,' the leader murmured with no real malice, 'but… you're my idiot, my soldier. You don't get to decide where, when or how you die, that's my privilege and mine alone. You would do well to learn that.'

'But you just said-'

'No Starscream.' The Air Commander fell silent as his leader repaired him.

'You went into battle like this? Has your processor glitched?' Megatron scowled, 'one good blow would have ended you, you little fool.' The Seeker seethed at this but remained quiet.

You were the one who left me! At least I came for you! Even he didn't come for you! He would have been quite happy to leave you at the bottom of the ocean to rot. That is what millennia of loyal service would have got you…

'Starscream,' the Air Commander looked up into his leader's optics at Megatron's sigh, 'how can I trust you?'

The second thought for a moment before chirping quietly as an idea struck him. 'I Starscream, a Seeker, second in command and Air Commander of the Decepticon army, pledge my loyalty, subservience and spark to Lord High Protector Megatron, Master of the Decepticons to do with as he wishes.' Normally an oath such as that would have been done far more formally, but the words held no less conviction for the lack of custom.

The Decepticon Lord optic ridges rose in surprise at the unexpected gesture but he inclined his helm in acceptance of it. 'And if I chose to destroy you?'

'If that is your decision I will abide by it,' the flier acknowledged, unflinching.

Megatron nodded, at last seeming satisfied. 'Don't fail me Starscream. You would not enjoy the consequences if you make me regret this decision.'

'Yes, sir,' the SIC murmured, helm bowed to hide anything, thought or emotion, that Megatron could use against him at a later date.

The Commander stepped back once he had finished his work and offered a servo to his second, who took it, and pulled Starscream to his pedes. 'The Fallen is gone…' Megatron murmured, 'but we must go on as we always have done.'

'We shall win next time Master,' Starscream promised, hoping he would be able to keep it, placing a tentative servo on his leader's shoulder armour.

They turned once more to face Earth through the glass, 'yes,' the Decepticon Lord vowed darkly, seeing innocent humans and Autobots screaming and burning in his processor's optic.

And they will all suffer.

Hope you liked it and thanks for reading. Please review.