Notes: Another AU! Inspired by vejiraziel's drabble, but OP insisted on being Orion Pax for this one- somebody else is Prime. I'm not sure why Starscream's with the Autobots - that fic hasn't finished writing itself yet.
This story has nothing to do with Kite Strings.
They had been scouting, Starscream in the air, himself on the ground, when the Decepticons Seekers had discovered them, Starscream's replacement leading the way.
Outnumbered three to one, the two of them had fled and had managed to lose their attackers in a nearby canon. Their communicators damaged and Starscream's transformation cog short- circuited (Orion wasn't sure what weapon Sunstorm had been using that it had nearly offlined Starscream so easily), but they managed to lose their attackers. Starscream was unable to transform and his own altform wasn't capable of carrying Starscream's weight.
So they walked.
He had been fine, his mass was evenly distributed throughout his frame and his servos were more than adequate to the task; Starscream wasn't so lucky. Seekers were creatures of flight and were poorly designed for walking. Orion had been treated to a rant that was as amusing as it was educational; he wasn't sure Kup knew that kind of language. Or Ironhide, colorful as his vocabulary could get. Orion wasn't sure what some of the languages the Seeker spoke were, or what he was saying, but he knew cursing when he heard it.
He suspected certain Decepticons were being insulted all the way back to their first ancestor's activation. Especially after Starscream's components started protesting the long walk. As graceful as Starscream's wings were, they pulled him off-balance and compensating affected the rest of his frame. It did explain why Starscream preferred to sit whenever possible and fidget in place when he couldn't.
Recording the tirade, with the intention of getting a translation later, Orion did what he could to assist Starscream, which wasn't much. Not only was the Seeker proud and rejected his offers until the pain rendered him nearly immobile, Starscream was head and shoulders taller than he was.
The sound of a flyer overhead made them both freeze before the sound of the engine registered.
"That's Skyfire!" Orion exclaimed in delight.
"Thank Primus," Starscream muttered, then raised his arm to fire a round past the shuttle.
Skyfire banked sharply, startled, circling back when no other shots were fired. Orion waved his arms, grinning when Skyfire waggled his wings in acknowledgment. The canyon was too narrow for him to land and they watched him disappear behind a formation a mile away.
"Slag and smelt it!" Starscream swore. "More fragging walking."
"Slag." Orion agreed.
--
Orion could see the top of Skyfire's head as they rounded the formation and he sighed in relief.
"Almost there," he murmured.
Starscream grunted, pain and relief in the sound.
It turned out that Skyfire had brought a rescue team; Ratchet made them sit down and subjected them to berating and scans. A cursory scan by Ratchet had him declared only minorly undamaged and in need of a light refueling and a wash. Starscream, the poor mech, was in worse shape. Besides the non-functional transformation cog, he had overworked servos, stressed cables and low energy reserves; as well as dust intruding into several sensitive seams and joints. Ratchet administered a databurst to suppress the output of Starscream's pain sensors and a dose of picotrons to boost his repair systems.
"You," Ratchet pointed at him. "Transform. And you-" He turned to Starscream," get in Skyfire."
Starscream scowled. "I can-"
"You can finish turning yourself into a pretzel. Get in. The. Shuttle." Starscream knew better than to argue with Ratchet about something like this but still acted like he was humoring the CMO as he allowed himself to be helped into Skyfire.
Orion flexed his shock absorbers while he waited to enter Skyfire, enjoying the fact he was no longer on his pedes; just because he was better constructed to walk didn't mean he liked to. Rolling in after Starscream, he settled next to the Seeker and set his brakes as Starscream leaned against him.
--
Starscream had to be assisted out of Skyfire as well and manhandled to the repair bay. His soft groan of relief when he settled onto a repair berth was barely audible to Orion as he hopped up onto a nearby berth. Orion endured Prowl's questioning while First Aid fussing over damage his self-repair system was already taking care of.
It felt like a small eternity before Ratchet threw him out, with orders to clean the dirt out of his components. "And take Starscream with you!"
He had planned on doing just that; the Seeker was in no shape to get there on his own.
Fortunately, there the washracks weren't far from the repair bay and one of the private washpools was empty. Starscream settled on the small bench, suppressing a wince, waiting somewhat impatiently for Orion to set up the pool. "Sometime this stellar-cycle, Autobot."
"Nag, nag, nag." Orion told him, setting the pool to the proper temperature and activating the circulation filters. "It's ready, my Lord."
Starscream sneered at him but let Orion help him up and into the pool. He murmured appreciatively as he settled into the cleaning fluid.
Placing a collection of brushes beside the pool, Orion slid in across from Starscream. "Give me your foot."
Starscream, who had slipped far enough down that his chin touched the pool, opened an optic to look at him. Combined with arched optic ridges, he managed to convey 'And why the slag would I do that?' all without saying a word. Orion waved a small brush at him in reply.
Starscream closed his optics, sliding further down into the pool, and put his foot on Orion's thigh. The sitting shelf Orion was on was high enough that only the bottommost part of Starscream's thruster was submerged; perfect for what he intended.
Carefully, Orion cleaned the gunk out of the thruster, letting the pool whisk it away. Which also allowed him to get a good look at the thruster; he'd always been fascinated by fliers, Seibertronian and organic, despite a rather pronounced fear of heights.
To him, heights meant falling. An association created early in his life, when he had fallen off the top of a crane he had been repairing. The few times he had been lifted by Decepticons and dropped had solidified that association.
But he dreamed, sometimes, of flying and not being afraid.
Finishing with the thruster, Orion moved to the foot seams and ankle joint; he needed to change brushes and use the hose attachment. Starscream's foot twitched, flexing when he finished. Placing the brush aside, Orion slid his fingers into the joint, massaging tight cables and manipulating servos. Starscream made a soft sound, a subsonic hum of pleasure as he relaxed, sliding further down into the washpool.
--
To his surprise, Starscream fell asleep. In the middle of cleaning his other ankle joint, Orion looked up to ask him something and discovered he had offlined. Debating with himself for a few moments, Orion continued with his cleaning and massage; Starscream still had grit on his seams and his cabling and servos were tight.
The Seeker obviously felt safe enough in his presence, not so much as twitching when Orion moved him to access new spots. It was awkward, shifting Starscream's limp frame without letting him submerge.
Moving Starscream so he was laying across the submerged bench and propped against the rim, Orion proceeded to his own cleaning. He had hoped for help but managed to get the worse of the grit out his own seams and joints. He could get someone to help him, later.
Starscream started and screeched when Orion woke him. Orion flinched at the noise, then blocked the blow Starscream swung his direction.
"It's me! You're fine."
Starscream flexed his hand, optics darting from Orion's to flicker around the room. "Hn." Starscream twisted his hand out of Orion's grasp.
It was obvious Starscream was not completely awake as he levered himself out of the washpool, stumbling as he tried to stand. Orion caught him, righting the taller mech.
And earning himself a staticky snarl. It was late enough that no one was around to watch him maneuver a partially offline Starscream to his quarters. Starscream wasn't awake enough to bitch properly, merely grumbling in frequencies beyond human hearing and mostly wordlessly.
At the door to Starscream's quarters, the Seeker managed to rouse himself enough to enter his code. Catching the door to keep it from closing, Orion watched Starscream head for his recharge berth and all but collapse across it. He was completely offline in seconds, his systems humming in recharge.
Snickering softly, Orion let the door close and headed off for his own berth.