EHSparkwoman: Can you guys do the disclaimer?
Starscream: EHSparkwoman doesn't own Transformers; it belongs to whoever created it.
EHSparkwoman: If I did own Transformers though I think I know who the Decepticon leader would be!
*All Decepticons point to themselves*
AN: Not sure where this bunny came from. Actually I am, it came from listening to a song called 'My camera never lies' by Bucks Fizz. You'll see why when you read this! Also the Decepticons and Autobots aren't on Earth yet, which is why Shockwave is with them. Text in italics is a character's thoughts. In case the summary didn't make this clear enough this story does have mechxmech in it. If you don't like that sort of thing, don't read it.
"Don't you guys want to go flying?" Starscream was in a better mood than usual and his two trine mates couldn't help wondering why.
"No Screamer we don't." Skywarp seemed more annoyed than he should have been.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"You two don't fight! And why are you so into this idea of going flying Starscream? Did you annoy Megatron again?" Thundercracker hoped that it would only be the case of Starscream getting on Megatron's nerves; Megatron hadn't sent him on any bad missions lately.
"I haven't annoyed Megatron. Well…"
"What did you do this time?" Now Thundercracker was curious.
"I haven't done anything wrong. I'd better go and find Megatron before he blames me for something else…" Starscream wandered off to try and find his leader.
"Skywarp?"
"Yeah. What is it?"
"Do you think that there is something wrong with Starscream?"
"He's not as twitchy as normal. I wonder why that is?" Skywarp seemed to think that there was a problem with his trine leader but he didn't know what yet.
"He must be keeping something from us and we need to find out what it is!"
"How we gonna do that? It's not like we can keep tabs on him all the time." Skywarp unfortunately had a point. Thundercracker thought for a moment then had an idea.
"But I do know someone who can! We'd better go find him, wasn't he one of the mechs that Megatron sent out on energon retrieval?"
"If that is the case T.C. then he'll be back soon. Come on!" Skywarp ran off towards the main doors and Thundercracker reluctantly followed him.
"You want me to do this why?"
"Because he's acting weird." Reflector seemed to agree with Thundercracker; Starscream had been in a rather good mood, in spite of there not being any different tasks to do than normal.
"Maybe you are being too suspicious. And how on Cybertron am I supposed to follow him without him noticing me?"
"You're small enough that he won't see you following him Reflector." Skywarp did have a good point. Reflector was good at spying on people; not as good as Laserbeak, Buzzsaw or Ravage but still good.
"Alright but what are you two going to give me in return?" The seekers didn't seem to think that he would ask for something in return.
"Have we got any high grade T.C.?" Skywarp whispered.
"I think so; not for long… We're going to have to give it to Reflector." Thundercracker didn't seem happy about that proposition; high grade was hard get hold of.
"We have some high grade we could probably give you." Skywarp answered before the blue seeker could argue.
"That would do. But I'm not spying on him until after dark!"
"Why?" Thundercracker seemed to understand but Skywarp didn't.
"Because I'm less likely to be caught by someone else."
"Oh right. We'll find out what's up with Starscream in the morning then." Skywarp seemed to understand now.
"Do you all think there will be any scavenging in the morning?" Skywarp seemed to be forgetting something.
"Probably not for a few days. We did get some but not a lot. Those Autobots are getting better at guarding the stuff!" Reflector had a few scratches to prove it.
"Reflector just came back from a scavenging mission Skywarp. We don't need to go energon collecting for a few days." Thundercracker sometimes wondered if Skywarp spoke before he engaged his processor.
"Oh yeah."
"But we do need to get to sleep before Shockwave comes and tells us to!" Thundercracker and Skywarp ran off towards their rooms and Reflector walked off in the direction of Starscream's.
I wonder why that mech is in such a good mood… He hasn't gotten beat up in a while but I don't think that's it… Reflector then noticed where he was and snuck back around the corner.
I can't get caught before I even start trailing him! What's that noise? Reflector looked around the corner and saw Starscream wandering off somewhere.
I wonder where he's going; Shockwave will tell him off if he catches him wandering around when it's not his turn on nightshift. Reflector quickly started to follow at a discrete distance so as not to get caught.
I wonder why he'd be going in there at that this time… Nobody goes in the throne room at this time; well not unless they have a death wish… Reflector stood at the door and listened hoping that he didn't get caught.
"I'm not sure I feel like doing that…" When Reflector heard Starscream say that he knew he'd missed something important.
"Why not?" Reflector then pondered why Megatron was still hanging about in there.
"Because I'm tired; I haven't been getting as much sleep as normal, and you know why!"
"I suppose one night without won't hurt… I'd better not hang about in here much longer; Shockwave will tell me off for not being asleep yet …" Reflector got the impression that meant he should be starting to move. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong…
"Maybe I'll come join you…" That surprised Reflector; he wasn't expecting that, he now had a thought. I wonder why Starscream wants to go with Megatron… Maybe I just heard that the wrong way… Reflector didn't believe what he heard next either.
"I don't mind that… As long as you don't mind giving out 'rewards'." Megatron sniggered.
Reflector heard footsteps heading towards the door and began to run; he had a good idea of where to go. I only hope I read what they said right! If I did they are going to be spending the night together… Reflector found the door he was looking for and tapped in the code. Luckily there was no one about to see him go in; they'd want to know how he knew the code for Megatron's room. He remembered to lock the door behind him; wouldn't want to get caught out by something like that! Reflector looked around for somewhere to hide. The only place that meant he could see if anything happened was one of the shelves in the corner. Reflector transformed and landed on the shelf; lens facing into the room. Reflector wasn't in that position long before heard voices outside the door along with somebody tapping the code in to open it. A few seconds later the door opened; letting Megatron and Starscream in, before closing behind them.
Please don't lock the door… Please don't lock the door… Reflector hadn't checked if there was a keypad on this side! Luckily for him it seemed that the two were too tired to be bothered to lock the door.
"I hope no one finds out about this… Wouldn't want anyone to think you were getting any special treatment Starscream…"
"I don't think we have to worry; with Shockwave on patrol no one will be around here, and he's too busy doing that to check on you." Starscream yawned and headed over towards the berth.
"Starscream…" Starscream looked around and saw that Megatron was looking at him expectantly.
"What?"
"What have you, or should I say we, not done yet?" Starscream seemed to understand what his leader was getting at and moved back over next to him. Reflector seemed a little surprised when Starscream put his arms around Megatron, and this increased a little when Megatron reciprocated the action. This still doesn't prove much… It could be just… Reflector quickly forgot whatever idea just came into his head when he saw Starscream lean his head forward and kiss Megatron. Reflector now couldn't deny this wasn't just those two being friendly! I can't just tell Skywarp and Thundercracker about this though; they'll want evidence… Megatron broke the kiss when he thought he heard something that sounded a bit like a camera clicking.
"Did you hear that?" Megatron hoped Starscream heard it too and that he wasn't just hearing things.
"Hear what?"
"I thought I heard a camera shutter…"
"You must be tired if you're hearing things; we'd better get some sleep, or everyone is going to wonder why we're tired in the morning…" Reflector had to try very hard not to breathe a sigh of relief. Megatron seemed to agree with his partner and walked over to the berth. I hope for our sakes I was hearing things… I can be doing without the other Decepticons finding out about this! Megatron shook his head at that thought.
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing to concern yourself with." Megatron lay down next to his partner.
"In that case…" Starscream snuggled up next to Megatron. "Good night."
"Good night Starscream." Megatron put his arms around Starscream before both shut their eyes.
Reflector got a photo of them cuddling as well; it would be helpful blackmail later on, before sneaking back out the door and going to his room.
The next morning…
"Do you think he actually found out why?"
"Why what Skywarp?" Thundercracker yawned. Trust Skywarp to be up early today!
"Why Screamer has been acting funny; you remember that don't you?"
"I've just got out of berth Skywarp; my processor is a bit slow!"
"You won't believe what I found out!" Reflector came running up to the pair of them.
"You're probably right, so why don't you show us?" Skywarp was intrigued now and moved over next to Reflector. One of Reflector's panels slid down and moved outward from his body. It was about the same size as a datapad and had a screen on one side. This must be how Reflector can show Megatron any reconnaissance images he collects… Skywarp thought this to himself. Reflector now held the panel in his hand and it had an image on it. He motioned at Skywarp to look at the image. When Skywarp did he seemed shocked for a second then amused.
"Why didn't he tell us about this? That's why he was acting funny! T.C., come look at the image!" Skywarp motioned at Thundercracker who wandered over next to the other two. Thundercracker seemed more surprised by the image than Skywarp did.
"Why are you so surprised T.C.? I thought he was acting like a youngling with a first crush, I just wanted to know who it was on!" Skywarp really didn't know that but Thundercracker believed him.
"Yeah but… Why'd he have to be kissing the boss?"
"I'm not arguing with it! Those two both know how to shout; I'm not being on the receiving end of both of them shouting at me!" Skywarp had been told off by both of them before.
"You can't let anyone else find out about this; Starscream would kill you!" Skywarp nodded in agreement.
"It's a bit late for that you two; I thought Soundwave and Shockwave would like to know about this so I sent them a copy of the image I showed you." Reflector seemed amused by how shocked both of the Seekers were by that; they'd asked him to find out, so he'd thought that Soundwave or Shockwave might have seen a change in either their second in command's or their leader's behaviour.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Thundercracker didn't normally shout so Frenzy and Rumble both looked around to see what the fuss was.
"What's Reflector done now Thunder?" Rumble was the first one to wander up to the three.
"Yeah did he catch you two at it?" Frenzy hoped that would be the reason; Seekers were known for being interface crazy.
"NO! Why would you think that?" Thundercracker was quick to deny that comment.
"Why'd you get so ticked off then?" Rumble had a point.
"T.C.'s ticked off because Reflector caught our leader at it." Skywarp felt like telling the base even though it was a bad idea if he got caught.
"Why would that bother him?" Frenzy didn't seem to understand.
"Why don't you ask Reflector to show the image?" Thundercracker looked at Skywarp and shook his head. Reflector showed Rumble and Frenzy the image and they didn't seem surprised.
"That doesn't like those two are interfacing though." Rumble seemed disappointed.
"What would Starscream be kissing Megatron for though? I thought those two hated each other!"
"You have a point there Frenzy, but unless those two actually say something about them being in a relationship we can't ask them." Reflector was right. All of them then heard the door opening and they all quickly went silent.
"Any of you care to explain what is so interesting about one of Reflector's recon images?" Megatron looked over to them hoping for an answer.
"The image was from Reflector's last recon mission and the image was really interesting." Skywarp wasn't exactly lying to his leader.
"Get on with your duties before I send you to the brig for a few hours!" Megatron shouted at the group and they all quickly ran off to do their assigned jobs.
Soundwave's room…
"Boss, you won't believe the recon mission Reflector did last!" Rumble hoped Soundwave didn't hear about it yet.
"Yeah I don't know how he got away with it!" Frenzy hoped the same thing.
"Query: Recon mission spying on Megatron?" Soundwave stated as if he knew that was right.
"How did you know?" Frenzy and Rumble both said at the same time.
"Reflector sent me the image."
"That means you have a copy. Doesn't it?" Rumble was afraid that Soundwave would tell him he did.
"Yes."
"You can't let Megatron see it! He'd murder you!" Frenzy seemed to hope that Soundwave hadn't kept the message.
"The message with the image attached has already been deleted."
"That's good I suppose…" Rumble and Frenzy seemed relieved.
"One problem. The message was sent to Shockwave and myself."
"I hope he doesn't tell the leader…" Frenzy thought he wouldn't but couldn't be sure.
"Of course he won't; I think he has a crush on Megatron; he wouldn't want to annoy him; that's Starscream's job!" Rumble and Frenzy seemed amused by that comment.
Shockwave's room…
I wonder if anybody has sent me any tasks to do. Shockwave walked over to his computer and checked for messages. I normally have more than one message… Since when does Reflector send me anything? Shockwave checked the message. There wasn't anything written, only an image attached to the blank message. I don't believe I requested an image from Reflector's last reconnaissance mission… Better see what it is… Shockwave checked the image and promptly wished he didn't. Of all the mechs on this base… Why did you have to choose the traitor? I do everything you ask of me and this is how I'm repaid… Shockwave then heard someone at his door.
"What's that on the screen?" Acid Storm couldn't help spotting the image on Shockwave's screen.
"None of your business." Shockwave sometimes wished he wasn't in charge of the Rainmakers.
"Is this the image that Rumble and Frenzy have been telling everyone about?" Acid Storm seemed surprised at the reaction from Shockwave.
"I told Soundwave to tell those two off for gossiping…"
"I'll have to go tell the others about it! I'm not sure they'll believe me but who cares!" Acid Storm ran off before Shockwave could tell him otherwise.
I can't let Megatron find out about this; I'll just get rid of this message and thus the evidence. Shockwave did so then went to find out what his duties were for the day.
Later that day…
I wonder why the rest of my trine seems to be avoiding me… Starscream had been looking for Thundercracker and Skywarp for a while now and he'd still had no luck.
"Lost something Starscream?" Starscream jumped and then looked around.
"Don't sneak up on me like that! I'm trying to find Thundercracker and Skywarp. They seem to be…"
"Avoiding you?" Megatron seemed to understand.
"How did you know?" Starscream seemed surprised.
"Because I haven't seen Shockwave today either."
"You don't think they're avoiding us on purpose do you?"
"No. They must be just that busy they can't come and talk to us."
"If you see them tell them I'm going flying for a bit. I'm bored of being stuck in this base; and they haven't been flying with me for a while…" Starscream wandered off towards the door, leaving Megatron to look for Shockwave.
Two days later…
"Decepticons, report to the throne room immediately!"
"I wonder what the boss wants."
"I don't know T.C. we'd better go and find out." Skywarp and Thundercracker then began to walk towards the throne room. It turned out they were early; not everyone was gathered in there yet. Normally they were last through the door because Skywarp decided that something had to be done just before the meeting. It didn't take long for the rest of the Decepticons to file in. They were all muttering about where Soundwave and Shockwave were since they were normally here by now, which left Megatron and Starscream at the front of the room.
"Do you think they're going to tell us yet?"
"Probably not Stormfront. I wonder what Megatron is planning this time…" Novastorm then looked to the front; you didn't want to get caught whispering. At that point Soundwave and Shockwave walked through the door and stood at the back.
"Decepticons. Starscream informs me that there is an Autobot base near here that isn't very well guarded and also has a large stockpile of energon. We will attack this base at dawn tomorrow! You have the rest of today to prepare." Megatron then walked off leaving the other Decepticons to discuss that. The Decepticons didn't start discussing the mission however. They started discussing something else entirely.
"Did you guys notice how quickly Starscream went after Megatron?" Skywarp knew they would have done.
"If you can find someone who didn't, I'll give you an energon cube!"
"You'd better hope Stormfront wasn't snoozing then Rumble! Or you'd better have an energon cube to give me!" Skywarp seemed to hope that Stormfront had dozed off.
"I thought we were talking about Starscream and Megatron not me!" Stormfront hadn't gone to sleep this time.
"Don't you have better things to be doing with your time than loitering around here?" Shockwave looked at the group meanly and they all moved off to 'prepare' for tomorrow.
The next morning…
"Why is there always someone who is late?"
"It's always the same mech Shockwave; you should have trained him better." The rest of the Decepticons sniggered; Thundercracker was right, Stormfront always slept in on days that were important and Shockwave was always blamed for it.
"I said dawn tomorrow, is that not explicit enough?"
"Clearly not, Megatron." Starscream didn't sound as sarcastic as usual. At that point Stormfront wandered towards the door.
"I didn't keep you all waiting too long did I?" Stormfront yawned after speaking.
"You didn't luckily, but I'm still going to punish you when we get back." Megatron didn't like to be kept waiting…
"Decepticons, move out!" The Decepticons didn't need to be told twice! They quickly flew out the door and off towards the coordinates from yesterday.
"I hope this base is as badly guarded as you suggested Starscream; this will be easy!"
"I only hope they weren't trying to trick us…" Starscream could sense something was wrong. There were a few guards on the gate last time that he was there but this time there was nothing. The Decepticons seemed surprised when shots started flying at them from cannons.
"I thought you said this base wasn't very well guarded Starscream!" Megatron didn't seem impressed.
"It wasn't, I swear! They must have…" Starscream knew what must have happened and so did Megatron.
"How could you let yourself be caught?! Decepticons, retreat!" Megatron shouted and the Decepticons could tell that was a good idea; there was too many shots flying for it to be a good idea to fight.
Back at the base…
"How did they manage to see you? I thought you were good at flying Starscream." Megatron knew that Starscream would have an explanation.
"Clearly he isn't as good as you thought." Shockwave was trying to cause trouble.
"They must have doubled security or maybe…" Starscream then had another thought.
"Maybe it was a trap! But what were they after?" Megatron couldn't see any signs of things being stolen.
"Not what. Who."
"What do you mean Soundwave?"
"Reflector is missing." Everyone else looked around and saw Soundwave was right.
"What would the Autobots want with Reflector?" Thundercracker then had a grim thought; what if the Autobots looked at the images Reflector had…
Meanwhile at the Autobot base…
"Aw damn it. They flew off before we could get any of the high ranking ones."
"Your aim must be getting rusty Jazz." Sideswipe hadn't hit any either but decided to try and annoy Jazz.
"Maybe but… Hey! I think we got one!" Jazz pointed out near to the door and there was one.
"It's not one of the main Cons but he might be helpful; it's Reflector." Sunstreaker moved outside to pick the Con up and carry him inside.
"We'd better get Ratchet to patch him up first; no help to us if he goes offline."
"Jazz, the shot didn't hit him anywhere it would cause problems, he should be fine."
"Do you think the boss will be pleased?"
"I should think so Sideswipe. Let's see if this Decepticon has any information that we could use…"
Decepticon base, a little later…
"Incoming message."
"Is it from the Autobots?"
"Yes."
"Put it on the main screen Soundwave." Megatron seemed impatient; he wanted to know if they were planning on giving Reflector back anytime soon.
"Greetings Megatron." Optimus appeared on the screen.
"Enough with the pleasantries Prime; why have you contacted me?"
"I believe you would want Reflector back."
"What is it you want?"
"I'd like an explanation."
"That doesn't seem like much." Megatron was suspicious; Optimus probably should have wanted the energon back that was stolen.
"What are you talking about? Explain what?" Starscream seemed worried.
"We found a rather unusual image on Reflector's memory banks."
"Go on." Megatron didn't like the sound of that.
"It made Prowl crash." Jazz seemed amused by that.
"So, what else is new?" Starscream knew that happened quite a bit.
"And we were wondering if you knew about it."
"What is this image of?"
"I wasn't speaking to you Megatron; I was speaking to all the other Decepticons." The other Decepticons were unusually quiet.
"Show them the image Reflector." Jazz now seemed more amused; Megatron didn't have a clue but the other Decepticons seemed to.
"I didn't take this because I felt like it just so you know…" Reflector did as he was ordered and showed the image to the screen. The other Decepticons didn't seem too surprised; they'd seen the image before.
"It's an Autobot trick! It has to be!" The other Decepticons didn't believe Starscream.
"I don't know why you would bother me with this." Megatron seemed just as shocked as Starscream did.
"The information we had suggested that you and Starscream had a strained relationship but this image seems to suggest otherwise. I'd like you to explain why you didn't just tell everyone." Optimus was amused by how flustered both of the Decepticons were getting.
"I think a certain song says 'the camera never lies' and I guess that's true so do you mind explaining?" Jazz also seemed to like this.
"And I think you aren't the only ones with some explaining to do." Prowl noticed the other Decepticons trying to avoid looking at their leader.
"They knew!" Megatron seemed to finally understand; the others all knew about this but didn't want to say anything.
"Of course we did." Shockwave seemed annoyed.
"You didn't think that we wouldn't notice Starscream was happier than usual did you?" Skywarp seemed to think not.
"And that you two weren't fighting as much." Thundercracker thought that even one of the Lamborghini twins could have saw that. Speak of the devil…
"What's going on in here…?" Sideswipe peeked around the door.
"Hey did those two finally tell the other Cons about them being in love yet?" Sunstreaker giggled when Starscream turned red.
"Obviously not." Prowl noticed too.
"This is going to be one of those things that we are going to regret isn't it?" Starscream hoped Megatron would say no.
"Probably."
"Do you think we'll hear the end of it?"
"Probably not." Just as Megatron said that he heard one of the Autobots start singing.
"Megatron and Starscream sitting in a tree…" One of the Lamborghini twins started singing.
"SHUT UP!"
"Doing something they shouldn't be!" Rumble and Frenzy shouted out. Starscream turned a deeper shade of red at what they were suggesting.
"First comes love." Sunstreaker shouted.
"Second comes marriage." Sideswipe sniggered.
"Third comes a sparkling in a golden carriage!" Jazz joined in at that point.
"I told you all to shut up!" Megatron didn't like how funny everyone seemed to find this.
"I thought little kids sung K-I-S-S-I-N-G when they sung that song Rumble." Sideswipe seemed confused.
"No I heard some of them sing what I did. And it turned out more amusing anyway."
"Enough!" And with that Megatron ended the feed.
"Hey! What about Reflector?" Frenzy asked; most of the others had forgotten about the real reason for that call.
"I didn't see him at the end of the call." Novastorm was trying to divert attention away from Stormfront who was taking a nap.
"Must have snuck away while everyone was distracted." Shockwave seemed to think so.
"You will all report to your duties at once!" Megatron was in a really bad mood now so everyone quickly ran off to their duty. Megatron shouting at everyone did stop all the gossiping at that point. The pictures that Reflector took however were the subject of discussion for many weeks after that.
AN: I know that ending was kinda bad but I didn't know how to end the story! Also Stormfront is the blue Rainmaker, Novastorm is the yellow Rainmaker i.e. they aren't . And some of the characters are out of character too… Apologies for that! But anyways hope you enjoyed. Please Review.