It was rare when the science team grew annoyed with each other. They were each so... friendly. But even the mechs you wouldn't expect needed to blow off steam.
The entire Earth rotation had started on a bad leg. The three of them were grumpy with each other, needling in when they found something wrong with whatever project one of them was working on, leading into fowl language and heated sentences.
The balance tipped completely when one of Wheeljack's experiments exploded and destroyed half of the lab. Again.
Their injuries were fairly moderate. Flying projectiles and... whatever the goo had been... spattered every which direction, catching the unsuspecting scientists by surprise. After it all ended, they errupted into a verbal sparring match that ended with a slightly more physical aspect. Ratchet hadn't been pleased. Nor had Prowl. After a quick repair, the Second in Command sent them each to their quarters to "relax" and cool down for a while.
Meaning now, he had time to do absolutely everything. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything to do.
Skyfire vented a rush of air in frustration. At least he'd been able to save a back up of the data he'd been working with concerning that strange chemical in the containment field. Thankfully that had also been spared... Though Perceptor's counterpart substance had gone everywhere...
But his data was saved to the science console. And that was only accessible from either the control room, the med bay or the science labs.
"Perhaps I shall try playing a puzzle game?" he said to himself with a mini-shrug. "Teletran, online please."
His personal console on-lined at his command. He glanced at, then took a harder look at it. He shook his head. He had forgotten that Teletran was a downloaded version of the one on Cybertron and therefor had the same settings. His console screen here looked identical to his previous one.
Vaguely curious, he tapped the screen, bringing up the Message Center. He hadn't looked through his messages since before he'd left Cybertron. For someone who used to check them whenever he was near a console, he wondered how much he'd missed, and for a moment, he wondered if he wanted to know.
Messages filtered through the screen. Unread messages counted upwards of one-hundred and twenty, but a filter of those he knew where spam brought the number down to a significant fifty-three. Names he hadn't thought to see again listed up and down the Return Sender lists.
Now interested, he began to go through them. Skimming over a few, and stopping on others.
''
Hey, nice speech earlier. I guess I won't be able to see you off. I have to be in Kaon for a while. Say bye to Starscream for me, ok? I'll miss you guys.
Shimmershot
''
We have received your notice of action. Everything will be taken care of while you're away.
Overturn
''
You are hereby informed, your assignment to interstellar space exploration has been canceled. Return to the School Board for further instructions.
Eclipse
Skyfire didn't know if he should laugh or be upset. The message was dated a single rotation after he and Starscream had left Cybertron.
''
Hey, just warning you, the Kaon rebellions are getting slightly out of hand. I know you said you'd be gone for a while, but I figured I'd let you know.
Hope you guys are doing ok.
Shimmershot
''
The chirping of his door chime jolted him as he read the final message. It was one he hadn't expected in a million years, and he barely acknowledged the person outside. They entered anyway, imediately noticing that his optics were on the console.
"You look like that thing is possessed by a poltergeist," it was Jazz's voice. "What's so interesting? Surely not Red's security updates..."
"I was checking my old messages... I haven't done so since arriving here..." his tone was nostalgic and Jazz quirked his head in curiosity.
"Hope you didn't have any important dates," the silver mech joked, "Hey, Prowler okayed you guys to come to the Rec Room for a small party, so long as you don't try to throttle each other again..." As Skyfire remained blank, he shifted slightly, unimposing trying to see the screen.
The shuttle hummed, shifting to allow Jazz to come closer to the screen. The first thing he noticed was the date. It had been sent roughly around the start of the war. The second and most glaring detail, was the sender. Starscream's signature was in the Return Sender section. Not entirely knowing what to expect, he read through the message. He let out a hum, not entirely knowing how to respond after reading it through. Skyfire glanced at him, his icy blue optics dimmed slightly.
I suppose you'll never know how long I spent searching for you when you disappeared on that planet. You'll never know how hard it was to make that decision to leave and return to Cybertron in hopes they'd send a search party better equipped to find you. You'll never know, because you're offline.
They'll never send a search party for you.
War has bubbled up in our absence. Those rebellions in Kaon have lead to the emergence of the Decepticon Faction. The Autobot Senate was instantly against me upon my return, claiming I'd killed you, and my request to find you went unheard. I suppose maybe their right. I lead us on that shaky approach through the magnetic poles. I killed my best friend because of my arrogance.
I can't even apologize.
I have joined the Decepticons. Megatron... the leader saved my spark in the face of the counsel. I owe my allegiance. I know you'd be completely against the entire idea of war, but it's unavoidable now.
I wish you were here.
I'm going to forget the life I knew. But I swear, I'll never forget you. Maybe when my wings feel lighter, I'll taste the sky again for us and feel more alive than what feels possible now.
Starscream
Skyfire allowed a tiny, undetectable sob of static loose as he stood and off-lined the console, Jazz following suite. They both remained silent, even long into the party surrounding them.
S/N : So, I'm not happy with the ending, as seems to be the case with all of my one shots... but yeah. A little something that popped in my head last night as I listened to Vanilla Twilight by Owl City. If you noticed, some of the words Starscream wrote sound like the song itself. I guess because of that, this can be considered a Song Fic. I don't own Vanilla Twilight, nor do I own Transformers.