Optimus was drawn to the Artic due to an energy spike. He didn't want the Decepticons or Starscream to beat him there, so he left as soon as he saw the unusual activity. As soon as the GroundBridge closed, his thoughts turned to the warmth of his base. He cursed himself for being so foolish in just jumping through without even refueling or making sure he could take the extreme cold. But he was here now, and no one was able to Bridge him back because the cold had shorted his commlink out (of course).

Did he forget to mention that today was known as a Monday?

He walked through the snow, pulling up a mental map of where the energy spike approximately was. He wished he had snagged a navigator on the way out. Of course, he wished he had grabbed several things, but he had gotten so very excited and forgot to think, which made him smile a bit behind his battle mask. He might as well still be Orion from the way he was acting.

He stopped when he heard something, and then he ran to the sound. He saw Starscream of all 'cons floudering in the snow and making a big fuss out of something. He walked cautiously forward, glancing around to see if Starscream had reallied himself with the Decepticons...again. But no one was with the Seeker now, and no one seemed to be around. Starscream was still a loner.

"Well, aren't you going to help me!?"

Optimus knelt and he saw that Starscream had his arms in a hole in the ice. It was a poor way to ice-fish. "You appear to be stuck."

"I know that!"

The Prime moved him around a bit. "You have to let go of whatever you are holding."

"I am not letting go of it!"

"Then you will be stuck." Optimus went to stand, but then Starscream started to whimper and he looked down to see the little Seeker was trembling, and not from the intense cold. He was scared. It pulled at Optimus' spark.

"I-I..." He slowly looked down and his forehelm rested on the ground. Then he sat back. Whatever he had been gripping, he had released. And his claws were starting to ice over.

Optimus scooped the Seeker up and bundled him against his chest. "We must find cover."

"If my GroundBridge didn't bail on me, we could have gotten out of this frigid waste land!"

That must have been the energy surge. He set Starscream down beside a snow-dune, then began to dig. He made a cave in a matter of minutes, which he laid Starscream in before he crawled in himself.

"So, what are we going to do in the meantime? Suffer in silence?"

Optimus pushed more snow out of the cave, making it bigger, but not so big that their body heat couldn't be shared. "No, we are going to wait for someone to notice our absense."

"How long will that be?"

"A few hours. Four, at the most."

Starscream groaned, actually starting to whine, and he squirmed as far away as he could from Prime. Then he started to chip at the ice forming on his arms and claws.

Optimus took his servos and held them, exhaling on the frozen claws to warm them up. When Starscream could move them without squeaking or grimacing in pain, he moved to warm the Seeker's arms, then his wings and his back. He wished for a blanket, or a heating pad, or something. But he, again, didn't think about grabbing anything.

Starscream watched him, the warmth the Prime was giving being the only thing that made him stay as close as he was to the Prime. He cautiously moved closer, pressing his cold body against Optimus' warm one. The bigger mech hardly flinched. He just curled up around the Seeker and held him close to his body, away from the wind, the snow, and the cold.

They laid like that for hours until Starscream began to whimper and squirm from the cold that was seeping through. Prime had begun to shiver, and he looked down at Starscream with worried optics. They wouldn't be able to survive like this much longer.

Starscream nuzzled into his chest, trying to keep warm. He started to cry and Optimus moved his audio so he could hear him.

"I shouldn't have run away from Megatron! I wanted to show him that I was a part of the team, too, so I tracked down a missing part of the warship. I couldn't pick it up out of the hole I had carved. I wouldn't let it go. Megatron wouldn't have let me back on the Nemesis without it..."

Optimus soothed him and he pulled him against his chest, firmly clamping his wings down so they wouldn't be victims to frostbite. "It is alright now. Megatron will notice you are missing and he will check the GroundBridge coordinates..." It was a nice thought, but he knew Megatron didn't care about his warriors, not even about his second-in-command. He had probably already appointed a new one in his place.

Starscream looked up at him and Optimus saw the scared Seeker that was tucked away inside. He touched his cheek, and Starscream's claws found Optimus'. The Prime hesitated before pulling the Seeker in for a kiss.

The kiss became something more, and it effectively got them warmed up. Starscream laid under him when Optimus finally pulled back and they panted at each other before the hunger became undeniable.

Optimus wanted Starscream. He pulled the Seeker against him and his digits found the Seeker's paneling. Starscream squirmed, shifting and whimpering before he finally gave up to the Prime.

He made sure he was gentle with the smaller mech. He found his port, which was obviously thoroughly abused. He sighed against the Seeker's neck as he gently bit at a cord.

Starscream had never experienced anything like this. Megatron took and often left the Seeker pawing for a sheet to cover himself. Megatron didn't often shut the door when he came for the Seeker, and his aft was soon on display for the warship to see. Prime was not like that at all. If they had been in Prime's berth, Starscream believed he would shut the door, and possibly even have a little fun with him before. But while they were near the point of freezing to death, interfacing was the quickest way to get them warmed up, and it was the only way Prime had thought of, in Starscream's mind. He had never been given pleasure before. He was always giving it out.

So why would he think that Prime was doing this out of love?

Optimus kissed him as he finished. Starscream had climaxed three times before him, and he was climaxing now as Prime pumped his coding into his port. He couldn't stay as long as he wanted in the port so he pulled out as fast as he could, which almost wasn't fast enough. His fluid was already cold as it trickled out of Starscream.

The Seeker looked up at Optimus, slowly closing his legs. He expected the Prime to push him away, or even rip his legs back open and go for it again. But Optimus tucked him closer against his chest and kissed his face.

"You are not ready for another interface. You must rest now."

Starscream stared at him in shock, slowly pulling away. He felt that he couldn't trust Optimus. The Prime obviously was using him, or something. So when he heard a GroundBridge power up, he scrambled out of the cave and ran smack into Megatron's arms, bowling the warlord over in the process.

Optimus stood in the entrance of the cave and his battle mask slid over his mouth. He gave Megatron a small nod, then disappeared back into the ice cave.

Knockout was ordered to examine Starscream as soon as possible. Megatron and the medic were surprised to see traces of Optimus' fluid on the Seeker's aft. Megatron grabbed Starscream by his neck and shook him.

It was the love that he understood best.

Meanwhile, Optimus was laying on his berth, staring up at the ceiling as he thought back to what had occured in the snow. He sighed, dusted at his chest and arm absently, and he rolled over again. The poor Seeker, he thought. What had he done wrong? Nothing, he assured himself. Starscream was an abused mech, with a warped sense of love and pleasure.

Part of Optimus had wanted to show him the other side of love. The other half told him it was incredibly stupid to want to change Starscream.

Because once Megatron had his claws on a mech or femme, they were never the same again.