Starflower reluctantly humbled herself in front of Megatron. She started off her short life at Dark Mount, headquarters of the Decepticons in search of a suitable room mate, to no avail. Not only were the Decepticons impossible to live with, they were weirdo's.
She left Dark Mount and lived for a day at Iakon, home of the Autobots. Unfortunately for Starflower, they were equally as weird.
She went back to Dark Mount in hopes of making things right between herself and the Decepticons.
"I should have expected this from Black Moon." Megatron murmured, looking down at the kneeling Starflower from his jeweled throne. "The nerve of him sending me a retarded femme bot to begin with."
Starflower cringed hearing Megatron call her retarded again, but it couldn't be helped.
Crawling back to the Decepticons wasn't what she really wanted either, but it was that or be homeless.
"If I take you back, what do you plan to do to make up for your act of traitorous deceit?"
"I don't know." She said softly, fighting to steady her voice. "Whatever you ask of me."
"I'm going to leave it up to the other Decepticons." Megatron said, pointing to the familiar corridor of Dark Mount. "Please them and make them happy and I will consider it."
Starflower gulped, hating to have to face the others after the trouble she dealt with the last time. She hated the other Decepticons for the way they treated her, and for the lies they told Megatron, but it was in the past. This time she had to make it right, for her own survival.
Gathering her strength, she lifted hand and knocked on the first room she came to. She couldn't remember whose room it was, so she waited nervously to see who she would end up facing first.
Thundercracker opened the door and peered out at her. Shifting her feet, she should have known it would be him.
"Starflower?" he questioned, bewildered at seeing her back at Dark Mount. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm back and I'm here to make it up to you for the lousy way I treated you." She said lowering her optics, hating having to lower herself for something she knew she committed no wrong over.
Thundercracker's lips lifted into a wry grin as he stepped aside and bided her to enter.
She walked in, sighing at the sight of the all too familiar vibrating recharging platform of his. Skywarp was there leaning against his desk, his smile smug.
"Who is this?" he asked.
"You remember that retarded femme bot that Black Moon pushed out on Megatron?" Thundercracker asked, shoving her forward. "Well, this is her."
"This is Starflower?" Skywarp asked, bending over to look into her optics. "She's a cute little thing, too bad she has special needs."
Starflower knew if she had skin, her face would be beet red. She frowned, feeling like a fool or a retard rather.
"So, how are you going to make up for it?" he demanded, hands on his hips. "I was pretty insulted the last time you were here making fun of my recharge platform and all."
"What do you want me to do? She asked.
"I don't know." He said, turning away from her and unfolding a scroll onto his desk. "Think of something, Skywarp and I have these plans to work on for Megatron."
She stood still for a moment as the two seekers turned their backs to her, and then she gazed around the room. The recharge platform had smears on the glass cover, the computer equipment had a thin layer of dust on it and the floor had metal shavings scattered about all over.
"I could give his room a good cleaning." Starflower whispered to herself. "Surely that would be a start."
Leaving the room, she quickly re entered with a bucket of cleaning solutions and a scrub brush. Dropping to her knees, she proceeded to scrub the floor.
Thundercracker turned around, so did Skywarp. Starflower could feel their optics scrutinizing her, but she ignored it and kept working.
Scraping the shavings into a neat pile, Starflower scooped them into a dust pan.
"Look at that." Thundercracker said. "She's cleaning those up."
Starflower smiled, feeling that Thundercracker must be impressed with how she was doing.
"She's even cleaning that." Skywarp commented, pointing to the scoop of silver shavings.
Starflower looked down at the dustpan, the silver pieces of metal gleamed back at her. She wondered what they were and why they weren't on the floor the last time she was here.
"I cleaned this mess up." Starflower said proudly, holding up the pan of shavings.
"Yeah, we can see that." Thundercracker chuckled.
"Doesn't that bother you?" Skywarp asked, frowning at the dustpan she held.
"What, these?" she asked innocently, looking down into the pan. Carefully she reached in and lifted up one of the silver shavings, studying it.
"Oh! I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Thundercracker replied, gasping.
"Why not?" she asked, twirling it between her finger and thumb, wondering what the deal was.
"Eeewwww! Gross!" Skywarp cried, clutching his neck in shock. "She's touching it."
"Hey, cool it." Thundercracker whispered, but still loud enough for Starflower to hear. "She doesn't know any better."
Starflower flinched, quickly dropping the shaving into the dust pan. She still didn't know what the deal was or exactly what these shavings were, but maybe it was better that she didn't ask.
Standing over the smudged recharge platform, Starflower sprayed cleaning solution over it and began wiping.
"You like doing that?" Thundercracker asked, nudging Skywarp with his elbow as they watched her work.
"I guess." She shrugged, continuing to wipe the glass.
"Ooooo, look at the way she does that." Skywarp purred, crossing his arms over his chest, watching with great interest.
Starflower grinned, glad that they seemed pleased with the job she was doing. She strived to work harder, buffing hard to polish out a smudge of axle grease.
"She does that like she enjoys it." Thundercracker said quietly.
Starflower wondered what he meant by that. She never thought she'd end up a janitor in her new life as a Transformer, but she had no choice as of right now.
Standing up and stretching, she dropped the polish rag back into the bucket and pulled aside a broom.
"A broom?" Thundercracker asked, leaning closer to her. "And what are you going to do with that?"
"Sweep." She said, wrinkling her nose, trying to step a bit away from him.
"Did you hear that, Skywarp?" Thundercracker asked, shifting his attention to the other seeker, who was also watching her with a gleam in his red eyes. "She's going to sweep."
"Go on, Baby." Skywarp nodded. "Sweep for us."
Starflower gave them an uneasy look, but she began sweeping the room with the broom, cosmic dust flying everywhere.
"Look at her go at it." Thundercracker said, a sigh puffing from his lips.
"Look at her grip that broom handle." Skywarp said, smiling at her.
Starflower frowned, but kept sweeping. She couldn't tell if they were teasing her for having to clean for them, or if they were actually getting off on her cleaning duties.
"I'm finished." She announced, standing aside so that Thundercracker could see what a good job she did.
"Already?" he whined. "Not so fast, next time do it slower."
"Uh, ok." She said, still unsure of their reactions.
"Can I take her to my room?" Skywarp asked, grasping her by the elbow.
"Sure." Thundercracker said, waving a paper in front of his face as if to cool down.
"You heard him, now you're mine." Skywarp said, leading her out into the dark corridor and to another sliding door.
"Don't forget these." Thundercracker called out, holding Starflower's bucket of cleaning supplies. "Your little supply of toys, Baby."
Starflower reached out and grasped the bucket, cringing when Thundercracker brushed his hand over her's knowingly. "Will I see you later?"
"If your room needs another cleaning." She said, thinking he was probably the biggest weirdo here.
Skywarp opened the door to his quarters and yanked her inside. Holding her bucket behind her, she watched him, waiting.
"Have a look around and tell me what you can do for me, Baby." He replied, watching her with hungry optics.
Starflower looked around, seeing a similar mess, but thankfully no shavings. "Well, I could polish your recharging platform." She suggested, noticing an unsightly film.
"Oh yeah, baby…go on." He cooed, smiling.
"And I could dust the cobwebs from your ceiling after that." She mentioned, jumping away, startled when he sat down on the edge of his recharge platform.
"Can I watch you?" he asked, leaning back and acting all sexy.
"I don't care." She said, leaning over and retrieving her polishing rag. "But you'll have to get up so I can polish your recharge platform."
"You like doing it alone, huh?"
"Well, you can help if you want to." She said, wiping the glass cover as he climbed down.
"Ooooo, aren't you a naughty little girl." He cooed.
Not sure she wanted to ask the meaning behind that, she ignored him and wiped vigorously, the glass was soon sparkling. Poking the broom up into the corners of the ceiling, she swept down curtains of cobwebs. The whole time she cleaned, Skywarp watched, his face strained, his body trembled as if it excited him.
"I don't believe this." Starflower whispered to herself, trying not to stare at the seeker.
After she finished, the room took on a glow of its own, the place sparkled spotlessly clean in every corner.
Standing up, she saluted the flushed seeker. "All finished cleaning, sir." She announced.
"Thank you, Starflower." He panted, going to his recharging platform and laying down. "That was the best cleaning I've ever had."
"Thank you, I think." She said, feeling a bit strange with the way the Decepticons handled her cleaning.
"Will you come back and do it again?" He asked as he watched her leave the room.
Turning around, she said. "Sure, if you need my services."
"Lord the Matrix." She heard him sigh as she closed the sliding door behind her.
"Weirdo." She murmured to herself, swinging her bucket at her side.
"There she is!" Starflower heard a voice call out.
Whirling her head in that direction, she spotted Rumble and Frenzy waving at her.
"Yes, Can I help you?" she asked, wanting to be of service, but remembering the horrid little Decepticons and their awful earthquake shaking arms.
"Ya see, Soundwave wants to know if you'd clean our room for us." Rumble asked, looking up at Starflower. "He wants to try your services."
"Uh, ok." Starflower nodded, following them to their quarters that they shared with Soundwave.
Ducking into the cramped room, Starflower set her bucket on the floor. She noticed Soundwave laying still on his recharging platform, not moving and not making a sound.
"What do you want done?" she asked him, wondering why he didn't make any move to answer or even look at her.
"Excuse me, sir?" she tried again. "What did you want done?"
"What do you think you're doing, Lady?" Rumble asked, hands firmly on his hips.
"I need to know what he wants cleaned." She said.
"Look, Soundwave don't mix well with the ladies and he just wanted a chance to get some cleaning without being judged, ok Lady?" he said hatefully.
Puzzled, Starflower reached in her bucket and yanked out her polishing rag. "Would he like for me to polish his computer screen?"
"Hey, you're the expert." Rumble shrugged. "Whatever the boss likes, I guess."
Shrugging, Starflower went to the desk and began rubbing the cosmic dust from the computer screen. Soundwave turned his head slightly and watched her from the corner of one optic, his body beginning to hum and vibrate.
Uncertain, Starflower looked over her shoulder. "Is there a problem?" she asked.
Soundwave immediately stopped and stared up at the ceiling.
"Great, now you've embarrassed him." Rumble cried, throwing his hands up in the air.
"What a cold hearted broad." Frenzy murmured, glaring at her.
Saying nothing further, Starflower sighed and turned back around, continuing her wiping and dusting of the equipment on his desk. Soundwave watched her again, his body again started vibrating and humming.
Starflower stopped and looked at him back over her slender shoulder. He vibrated hard, humming and moaning.
"Uh, what is he doing?" she asked, frowning.
Suddenly, just as he started vibrating, he stopped, sighed and went into unconscious mode.
"What on earth was that all about?" Starflower asked with wide optics.
"Great, now see what you made him do?" Rumble growled. "You made him overload too soon."
"Overload?" she asked, feeling nasty, but unsure why.
"He doesn't do well with femme bots." Frenzy explained. "Didn't we tell you that? He overloads too quickly and leaves them unsatisfied."
"I don't understand." Starflower said, gathering up her bucket. "I just wanted to clean, that's all."
"Yeah, that's what they all say and then they never call poor Soundwave again." Frenzy said mournfully. "You just go back to your normal Decepticons and forget about 'old Soundwave just like the rest of them."
"I told him to stick with the male cons." Rumble whispered as Starflower left the room.
"Starflower, is that you?" another familiar Decepticon voice rang out.
Sighing, Starflower really hated seeing the next one who remembered her, it was Blitzwing. How could she forget Blitzwing with his gear grinding?
"What brings you back to Dark Mount?" he asked.
"Cleaning, really." She said, lifting up her bucket. "You have any messes you'd like for me to clean?"
Blitzwing turned and looked around and then he looked back at Starflower. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, it's free, too." She said.
"Cleaning and I don't have to give you any energon?" he asked.
"You can give me some if you'd like, but you don't have to." She said, thinking a bout of energon would be nice.
"Come inside." He waved her into his room, quickly closing the door behind her.
"Is that polishing rag I see in your bucket" he inquired knowingly, eyeing her.
"That it is." She smiled, lifting it up. "Do you need something polished?" she asked, looking around. His room was clean and spotless.
"If I gave you some energon, would you polish me?" he asked, leaning against his recharge platform.
"Sure, where do you need polishing at?" she crept closer, frowning when she saw all sorts of scuff and scratch marks on his legs and thighs and around the corners of his mouth.
"I have all these scratches and I have no idea where they come from." He said.
Starflower had an idea where they originated from. She took out her rag and began rubbing the scuffs from his face.
"Oh, that feels nice." He said, smiling.
She then ran the rag the length of his legs, buffing out the scuffs as she went.
"Take it easy, Honey." He sighed. "You'll make me overload."
Starflower cringed, pulling the rag away. She wasn't sure she wanted to keep doing this.
"Why'd you stop?" he asked, looking up.
"I clean rooms, not robots." She said quickly, gathering up her supplies and fleeing for the door.
"But my scuff marks!" He cried out.
"You wouldn't have them if you'd stop grinding your gears at night!" she yelled back, ducking out the door.
"I don't do that!" he yelled back.
"You do so!"
Back out into the lonely corridor, Starflower sat down with her bucket feeling that she may be better off with the homeless. There were more doors to knock on, so Starflower sighed, feeling that she needed to get up and keep trying. She knew Thundercracker and Skywarp seemed pleased with her work, actually a little too pleased. Soundwave was prematurely too pleased and Blitzwing…well he just freaked her out.
Standing at another door, she knocked. Starscream stuck his head out, his expression surprised when he saw Starflower.
"What a surprise! I heard you were back at Dark Mount cleaning." He said, stepping aside to allow her entrance in his room.
"That's right." She nodded, feeling uneasy when she glanced at the mega zillion light bulbs that lined his ceiling. She couldn't forget the fateful night when he nearly blinded her.
"How's it going?" he asked, curious. "How was it like cleaning for the other Decepticons?"
"Don't ask." She said, embarrassed by the reaction she got from the other Decepticons for cleaning. It was just cleaning for the Matrix's sake!
"When I clean, I do all the work so the femme bot doesn't have to." He commented slyly, brushing up against her and easing the bucket out of her hands.
Starflower tilted her head sideways, uncertain. "Are you going to help me?" she asked.
"I'm going to do it all." He said, yanking out her polishing rag and running it along the top of his computer desk.
"What shall I do?" she asked, watching him frantically shake his butt while he polished.
"Lay down on my recharging platform and watch me." He replied, moving his body in a suggestive motion as he wiped and dusted.
"Fine." She shrugged, laying back and stretching her arms over her head, at least thankful she could get off her feet for a few moments.
"Are you watching me?" he called, now sweeping the broom the length of his silver room.
"Yes." She called back, thinking this was an easy way to earn someone's respect.
"How am I doing?" he asked, scooping up a pile of cosmic dust and pouring it in a waste receptacle. "Am I better than anyone else you've ever cleaned for?"
"I guess so, since I'm not really doing any of the cleaning." She said, trying to stifle a laugh. She was resting while he did all the work, back on earth the humans called it hen-pecked. What an idiot.
Next she watched him on his knees, screwing in loose bolts in the floor. "If you keep me doing all this cleaning, it won't be long before I overload." He warned with a sigh.
"Screw faster!" she dared to say, trying hard to look serious when deep inside she felt as though she could burst out in an incontrollable fit of laughter.
"Faster?"
"Yes, faster!" she pointed to another bolt laying loose in the steel floor board. "Screw this, too!"
Starscream screwed the bolt with lightning speed, of course causing him to overload.
Starflower chuckled, snatching up her bucket. "Thanks for cleaning for me." She said happily as she ducked out the door. "I will defiantly have to come back to this room when I don't feel like doing a damn thing."
Out in the hall way and refreshed from getting a small charge in Starscream's room, while he did all of her work for her, Starflower felt like a job well done.
"Maybe it's time to approach Megatron again." She wondered, finding herself heading to his room. Surely she did enough work to satisfy everyone, if you'll pardon the expression.
Standing in the entranceway of Megatron's elegant room, Starflower bowed.
"Enter and close the door." Megatron nodded, watching from his hot tub.
Starflower did what she was told, stopping in front of Megatron's hot tub.
"I discussed it with the other Decepticons and other than Soundwave and his crew, the rest of the Decepticons would like you to come aboard Dark Mount and stay with us."
Starflower smiled in anticipation. Putting up with their weird ways was worth it, now she had a place to call her own.
"Would I have to bunk with any of the others?" she asked, her hands clenched into tight fists as she awaited his answer.
"No. Now that you're a full fledged Decepticon, you can have your own quarters." He said.
Starflower clasped her hands in delight! "Oh, how can I ever thank you, Megatron?" she cried.
"Would you…clean for me? He asked with a smile.
"Oh, Lord." Starflower whispered to herself.
END