Author's Notes- Hi I intended this to be a one-shot but I've had a really bad day and I'm happy with where this chapter ended so I'm going to make the shortness up to you with a lot of interfacing next chapter. I think a bit of humour slipped in here- at least by my standards.

Bold- Comm link.

Italics- Thoughts/memories/link speak.

Pairing- Megatron and Starscream.

Warnings- Rated M for next chapter- likely to be censored. Slash and violence.

Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters.

Verse- G1.

Units of Time: Astrosecond- 1 second, Klik- 1 minute, Cycle- 1 hour, Orn- 1 day, Decacycle- 1 week, Meta-cycle- 1 month, Solar cycle- 1 year, Vorn- 1 million years.

Unbetaed.

All mistakes are my own.

Hope you all enjoy it.

Misunderstanding

Chapter One- Overcharged

An energon cube smashed to the floor unnoticed as the Decepticons' revelry reached new heights, more a comradely brawl than a party. Starscream watched the show with a growing hint of amusement, part sullen, part relieved. Angry because Megatron had taken the entirety of the credit for the rare win with only a scrap of praise thrown to Soundwave, but his frame did relax in the knowledge that, for tonight at least, the tyrant had no cause to harm him. Not that that necessarily meant he would not do so, but the Warlord was likely to join in with the festivities, trying to keep up with the majority of the others as their lighter frames allowed them to become overcharged far more quickly.

With mechs like the triple-changers still on Cybertron, Megatron had very little company that was similar to or exceeded him in size. This left him as rather the odd one out on these occasions and, if Starscream looked closely, that knowledge could be seen in the tyrant's optics.

Not that Starscream cared, he seldom drank high grade anyway and these parties were terrific entertainment for the sober. Sipping at a sweet cube of lower-mid grade, the Seeker sighed, his wings dipping in a sudden glint of contentment. The warmth in his tanks from the very light charge he had had abruptly intensified and the flier leaned back, optics dimming as his shutters came down slightly, taking another small mouthful of the glimmering liquid.

Amusement fading the more he consumed, the lazy, mocking smirk dropped slowly from his faceplates as his gaze lit upon his leader once more. Hurt flickered through him for a moment, the memory of rejection and the punishment, the first time Megatron had ever struck him, that followed flashed vividly in his processor before fading, shimmering on the edges of his mind.

Sitting bolt upright, he downed the rest of the cube violently before slamming it into the table where it shattered. Skywarp, appearing an astrosecond later, pressed high grade into his trine leader's servos, returning to their third before Starscream could utter a word.

Staring at the almost-black purple liquid, the Air Commander hesitated for only a moment before downing it in one gulp. The others noticed their superior's uncommon participation and brought Starscream into the unofficial arrangement that everyone ensured that their companions were never without a drink.

Soon, the flier was on his fifth cube, and leaning on his self-appointed guardian, giggling but with optic fluid streaking down his faceplates. Thundercracker sighed quietly through his vents, slipping a protective arm around his wingmate as he stroked the other mech's twitching appendage, growling at some who watched their Air Commander's behaviour curiously.

Each time Starscream seemed about to speak, the sky blue Seeker ran his servo distractingly over the thin plating and his leader purred, nuzzling at him.

'Oh… oh Megatron… Yes… just there please…'

'You presumptuous little fool, how dare you be so brazen?'

The happy rumbling of his engine sputtered out, and he slumped into Thundercracker, 'slagging glitched fragger,' he hissed venomously before beginning to click unhappily.

Starscream's wingmate didn't answer, simply tightening his hold and increasing the steady stream of comfort in the link, glaring meaningfully at the youngest of their trine a few tables away. Skywarp chattered on, oblivious, to whoever would listen and to several who clearly weren't.

Thundercracker grimaced when Starscream began to sing, off-key and words clogged with unvoiced sobs, so that the song itself was lost as the lyrics were blurred together; rendering listeners unable to tell whether the tune was Ancient Seeker, of human origin or just utter gibberish.

The blue Seeker sighed and pulled Starscream up and into his arms, using the link like a leash to drag Skywarp along with them. Their youngest had caused this, so why should he get to remain with his friends while their trine-leader was in such a state?

Even if the little prankster was more hindrance than help, Thundercracker could just send him to berth, rank having its perks after all. As they neared Megatron's table- the tyrant still quite lucid- the blue Seeker hesitated as his purple trinemate stumbled up behind him. If the Warlord saw his SIC like this, he would be less than pleased.

Megatron, for a reason the middle wingmate had never managed to fathom, despised it when Starscream drank high grade, let alone him becoming overcharged beyond coherency. The Seeker was a full grown mech and many of the others got themselves into worse states with far more frequency. Starscream tended to leave the stronger stuff alone, not liking how it affected his ability to fly and to think even in his younger orns before the war.

Turning to Skywarp, Thundercracker hissed so as not to be heard by the others, 'get us out of here.'

The youngest Seeker nodded, placing his servo on his trinemate's shoulder armour but, as he began to teleport, he hiccupped and instead of transporting them to their shared berthroom as had been intended, they rematerialized a foot in the air above where they had been standing and crashed to the ground with an echoing clang.

Starscream blinked blearily, bewildered at the sudden shift in location from the ground to the air and back again, giggling shrilly, he huddled into Thundercracker's arm which was still wrapped firmly around him. The strangely happy sound faded away as two walls of silver appeared just in front of his optics, and he stared with growing apprehension up the fuzzy form.

A sudden bolt of pain burst through his processor and he found himself rising into the air and being dragged towards the exit.

He whimpered softly, beginning to twitter to himself as his trinemates were lost from view behind a familiar large door, the sound of it banging shut vibrating up his frame.

Thundercracker watched Starscream be lifted from his arms by the older Seeker's wings and be taken from the Great Hall by Megatron, the Decepticon Lord's faceplates ominously dark. Turning to his remaining trinemate, he grabbed Skywarp's audio harshly, twisting it until the prankster yelped drawing several amused chuckles from their comrades as the purple mech tried to bat his elder away.

'This is why,' Thundercracker snapped, ignoring his wingmate as he began to whine, 'we do not get Starscream overcharged.'

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