Starscream woke up with the knowledge something wasn't right. He had kicked the sheets off his berth, something he just didn't do at night. He scanned himself and he found that his heat cycle had snuck up on him.

Seekers went into heat every Cybertronian spring, and that gave him the ability to sire a whole trine of Seekerlings, the "perfect" kind of Seekers where one didn't get stronger than the others and kill them.

But who would be strong enough to carry them? Airachnid wouldn't do it, and she was the only Decepticon femme!

But there was another femme, an Autobot femme with an attitude and an annoying habit of living. She could carry a good trine in Starscream's opinion. So he got up and excused himself to go on a patrol for Energon, since they had no territory to guard and defend.

Arcee, as it happened, was in need of some fresh air or something because Starscream found her within moments, descending onto her and knocking her down into the dirt. He laughed and turned her helm, patting her cheeks with his claws. "You will do just fine..."

She watched him sleepily, her optics and system's struggling to reboot. She groaned when she was lifted off the ground with surprising tenderness she expected from Optimus, but her optics saw only Starscream.

The Seeker laid her down on grass. A creek whispered over stones. Had she been here with another mech, it would have been soothing.

Starscream shifted her around, being extra careful around her winglets. "You are the creation of a Seeker. Shame the coding didn't make it all the way through."

Her carrier was the Seeker. She was a low-caste femme, so she didn't get hated as much as the higher-up femmes that fell for grounders that visited Vos, the Seeker city. Her sire was a grounder, one of the more agile ones that made a living by spying and assassinating. Her sire had been a spy, which passed on to Arcee. She was small like her sire, but fast like her carrier, and Tailgate used to say it was a deadly combo.

"You could have been magnificent but instead, you are stuck on your wheels." Starscream walked around her, tilting his helm and he made minor adjustments to the position of her legs, arms, and helm. "It's a real shame."

He was probably going to talk her to death. Arcee rolled her optics, the lids slowly shuttering until she only saw Starscream briefly before everything went black.

ooo

Despite what they say about Seekers, they don't frag and run. Seekers would court mates for years, and then fragging would last for hours. It used to be said, among the grounders of course, that Seekers in the berth were amazing, because if you were a femme, you'd keep coming back for more. That referred to the number of sparklings Seeker sires generally created: three.

Seekers were, of course, very passionate in the berth, and Starscream was no exception. He stretched out beside Arcee, waiting for her to wake up.

He was born and raised in a time where mechs respected femmes. If his carrier could have seen what Knock Out did to femmes, she would kick him off the Nemesis.

Arcee was still asleep, her systems making a lot of noise as they fixed whatever damage Starscream caused. He felt bad about that, but if he grabbed her gently, she probably would have sustained greater damage.

Starscream stroked her face, his thumb running just below her optic. He admired her frame, seeing why she was admired by Knock Out and trying to figure out why no mechs were jumping all over her. He decided to do the math, pairing mechs up.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen, Optimus Prime and Ratchet, Wheeljack and Bulkhead...that just left Arcee. She was excluded because she was an extra player on Team Prime. Poor Arcee, all alone, not by choice, but how the team added up.

There was the slight probability of Starscream being her first, but he decided not to put all his hopes on that. Cybertronians were social, and if they found love, they dove in with all their sparks. Arcee could have fallen for a miner, or a sniper, and he could have been her first. Or perhaps it was a femme she fell for.

Humans were homophobic. Cybertronians embraced it. Humans made laws preventing it. Cybertronians made laws preventing laws to prevent it. Mechs didn't just love femmes and femmes didn't just love mechs. Mechs often turned to their friends and even siblings for affection, and sometimes they wound up bonded. Split-sparks were notorious for bonding together.

Starscream was jolted from his thoughts when Arcee woke up, blinking around weakly. He stroked her cheek and waited until she was growling before he spoke.

"My dear femme, you may run if you wish. I will just have to find Airachnid, or wait for another femme to fall from the stars, but I need to sire sparklings. I am in Seeker heat, and it will not fade until I interface."

She watched him blankly, but then she moved closer. She must have learned from her carrier that Seekers were tender, not demanding at all.

Starscream guided her into a kiss, stroking her helm and touching her cheek. He cradled it, his claws tapping on her helm when he went to move again. He sat up and set her in his lap, kissing her jaw and neck. She tipped her helm for him, sighing and purring softly.

He rubbed her hips, petting and squeezing until he heard her panel slide back. He slowly touched there, rubbing the heel of his servo on her main sensor while his claws slipped inside. There was no resistance and he blinked up at her, cupping her face.

"Tailgate," she whispered and she hugged his neck tight.

Starscream's optics softened. He knew Tailgate died in front of her. Megatron ordered his execution when Arcee did not spill secrets. He shifted Arcee in his lap, kissing her abdominal plating. She twitched, then went still as she watched him.

He nuzzled her until she began to grow bored. He experimented with her, locating all of her external sensors and touching each one. Now it was time to sire a sparkling trine. He was getting twitchy and anxious. His panel bulged and he needed release. He spread her legs slowly, touching her valve and easing the petals open. She sighed.

His spike slid into her easily and he settled over her, kissing her face and neck while he thrusted. He was different, and he wanted Arcee to know that he was. He wasn't here to frag her and run off to pretend nothing had happened between them.

Humans fragged for fun. Starscream was not going to let Cybertronians become like them. If Arcee was going to end up carrying his trine, he wanted to be there for her.

She was getting tired. She had some endurance as a part-Seeker, but the grounder part of her burned out fast. Her valve was still active, dripping and clenching around Starscream's spike while his thrusts quickened.

He overloaded just in time. She was exhausted, her optics dim. She touched his face when he kissed her cheek, but then she was asleep. Starscream cleaned them both up and replaced their panels, patting her thighs, her hips, her arm. She only sighed and purred, hiding in his warmth.

Optimus found them in the morning. Later, Starscream was thankful that it was the Prime. Ratchet would have neutered him.

"What have you done?"

Starscream looked down at the femme curled up agaisnt his side. She was smiling, purring, and obviously carrying a perfect trine. Her belly was slightly bigger than Starscream's carrier's had been.

"I have sired sparklings, and if it pleases you, I will remain with her until she sends me away."

Optimus' lips narrowed into a thin line as he watched his second-in-command. She was waking up, stroking her belly with fond servos that came from her Seeker coding.

Seeker femmes adored all creations, planned or not, crippled or not. If humans did not get the desired result, it seemed the easy answer was an abortion, which later they would of course regret. There were few things Starscream regretted, but siring this trine was not one of them.

Optimus helped the carrying femme into the base, skillfully avoiding the others for the Autobots' sakes. He laid the two down together, stroking their helms and smiling down at them. Arcee was purring. Starscream was gently stroking her helm.

The Prime knew his second and the trine in her womb would be safe. He just couldn't guarantee Starscream's safety.