Recharging peacefully was something that was uncommon for Starscream, but for once he did. Tranquility met him as his processor stilled, contentment following while he drifted.
Coming on-line was when he realized why. He shifted carefully, sitting up then turning around, he searched for the girl. Alexis wasn't on the berth as Starscream supposed. Getting up, he located her quickly enough, finding her actually underneath it. Covers wrapped around her tiny body; she was leaning against the wall. Her eyes quickly locked on to his.
"Alexis?"
Alexis' usually animated face was void of emotion, but she was studying him hard with her head rising and falling as she looked him over.
"Come here."
She seemed to think about that for a moment. Not moving quickly enough, Starscream reached toward her. Grabbing Alexis, he sat back down on the berth while settling her comfortably on his leg. Alexis turned around. Dropping the blanket she had held, her eyes shifted downwards.
"You are not the Starscream I knew," she whispered, voice sullen and detached. Deep rooted remorse fastened to her words that he actually understood. "You really don't remember me."
He brought his hand toward her, gently rubbing his digit down her back. She shuttered, leaning into it, eyes rising to meet his optics. "I know you now," he told her.
Alexis pulled away from him.
"I... I felt you... I heard you... I... I..." she suddenly stammered, shaking her head. She shut her mouth tightly before trying again. "What we did... what happened... I... I... have never felt so close to someone before and yet at the same time... felt so distant... I really don't know you at all, and I really hadn't expected... all that... or what it did for you." Her tone changed. Alexis' confusion was replaced by determination. "But you got your pleasure from me, and I know where I stand and..." Alexis leaned down and slid off him. Her back faced him, and her voice broke with buried emotion. "...and you won. I'll tell you what you want to know because I can't handle the thought of you near me anymore."
"Well done, Starscream." Megatron grinned. Standing up, he went to one of the bridge's view ports. Blackened space shot by quickly as their momentum increased. "And even sooner than I expected."
"She said the coordinates would have been changed by now, a security measure from her disappearance."
Megatron turned around. A data pad was handed to him from a nearby soldier. Glancing at it, he tapped on it. Finished with it, he handed it back to the Decepticon, who walked quickly away, eager to disengage himself from the middle of their verbal exchange.
"No matter. Finding the new location is now just a matter of course. Now, as for the female..."
Starscream felt his inner cabling tighten and his Energon flow increased. He envisioned her alone and in the dark cell. The thought of visiting her, talking to her, touching her, convincing her and making her understand... enticed him beyond reason.
"...you shall have her brought to my quarters."
His neck-piece strained when his head shot up, and he felt tension in his wings. His digits pressed firmly against the paneling along his legs.
"My Lord?"
Megatron slowly wandered past him. Stepping up, he seated himself back on his expansive command chair. Pulling himself fully upright, his optics dimmed.
"Alexandra has certainly advanced much from the outspoken youth she once was. One could even say that for a human, she is not that hard on the optics. Especially not with the curves she has been upgraded with. And now that I know that humans are capable of inducing pleasure, I find the idea of having her, of keeping her for myself a rather... intriguing idea."
Realization hit Starscream and he finally knew what had been in the back of his processor: the fact that he had forgotten to turn off the security feeds. He felt like he had been blasted with a proto-cannon. His spark clenched in outrage as all his systems came on-line. His digits stung from the need of touching his blade, the need of...
Pangs started, sharp CPU shattering shocks of energy that forced those thoughts down. Subroutines rerouted his rebellion and rage as it forcibly reminded him of his primary programming. He lived to served Megatron. What Megatron wanted, Starscream would give his very spark to obtain. He was his lord, his master; his will be done.
"Is something wrong, Starscream?" Megatron's voice was haughty and amused. His digits tapped against the throne's thick arms. The sound ripped through Starscream's auditory sensors.
He replied with his emotion devoid, "No."
"Good. You will see to it personally."
Again, something stirred, confusion and then understanding. The flagrant request was one with a purpose, one that was to teach him a point and his place.
He nodded his head.
"That is all. You are dismissed."
Starscream stood there for a moment. His processor was once more accessible, and he realized what he had just agreed to. His whole frame suddenly felt cold and detached. Megatron shifted, an optic ridge rising.
Turning around, the air hit the Seeker hard. He headed for the exit.
"Oh, Starscream?"
Halting, Megatron's voice drifted and shattered against him.
"I suppose I should thank you for breaking her in for me, and for showing me her true potential."
It was more than just repulsion that he felt then. But he could do nothing, nothing but walk away and do exactly what had been ordered, even as he felt his spark shattering with each new step.
He wasn't to see Alexis until months after he delivered her to Megatron's quarters. Starscream was haunted every nano-click by the look on her face when she realized what he was leading her into.
The medic visited often there. Starscream saw that, and Megatron's moods became increasingly agitated, even erratic. And there was boasting, subtle little words and phrases spoken that elicited snickering from the rest of the crew, but had Starscream growing numb as he tried everything he could think of to see her.
Until she was just handed to him when Megatron ordered the Seeker to transport her to Earth. Anticipation and need of seeing her again filled him for hours after that. Until she appeared on the flight deck, approaching him as the doors slid shut behind her. Alexis was thinner than he remembered and strikingly silent while they traveled. Her eyes froze on his panel before she looked out at the expanse of space they were moving through.
The trip ended too soon. He found himself landing on Earth much quicker than he expected. But he was distracted. Alexis was transferred to Wheeljack, who was waiting for them in a small abandoned air field. Starscream watched her get inside him, the two roaring off in a cloud of dust as he was left to wait for her return.
It couldn't have been soon enough.
Starscream vowed that when she came back he would say something to her. But his vocals locked once more when he saw her again. She was dressed differently, her clothes tighter and darker, her hair soft and wavy. Her new indifference was still intact though, tense muscles apparent as she sat there. She brought many packages with her, but she didn't seem pleased in the least. And when she realized that they were almost back to the Nemesis, silent tears were shed that she tried to hide with a turn of the head. Her body trembled when they landed back in the hanger bay. She descended quickly, exiting the hangar bay, leaving Starscream all alone.
That very night he was invited to Megatron's quarters. A celebration was being thrown. Their leader brought out several barrels of Energon, the acquisition of a new warp module, an excuse to get slagged.
Just when Starscream thought he was going to burst at Cyclonus' shrill laugh, Devastator's moronic statements and everyone else's ability to have fun, Alexis appeared. Or more accurately, Megatron disappeared and brought her back with him.
She stepped out of his hands and wandered across the table. Megatron barked for some wayward Con's to move out of the way. He cleared a path for her, shoving mugs and glasses aside so that she had room to sit down.
Few seemed to notice the human, but Starscream certainly did. Once more, she was of a different attire. Silky green fabric caressed her body, floating across her flesh and making her skin appear bright and vibrant. She wore long gloves on her arms; her hair pulled back and up, the delicate curve of her neck boldly displayed. Alexis kept her head down but still managed to sit there with dignity intact. Her legs were folded under, arms stiff on each side of her body.
Hours passed and she barely moved. While Megatron's gaze upon her changed in force and became more lustful with each drop of Energon he consumed. Until suddenly with a very stern and impatient voice, he ordered them all out.
Some had to be dragged away; others carried, but Starscream sat there the longest. Sitting in the corner where he had been the whole time, watching Megatron start to touch Alexis, his large digit wandering down her leg as she bristled. And then his master said something to her that had her jumping to her feet, quick steps taken as she tried to get away. Megatron stopped her with his palm.
He didn't know how he did it, but he did. Starscream got up; he put one pediform before the other, and as a pain shot through him with what he wanted to do instead, Megatron's doors slid shut behind him with Alexis left behind.
Disgust and contempt for himself followed the Seeker all the way back to his quarters. Nevertheless, his steps didn't falter.
Starscream was surprised when he found Megatron had left the ship the following morning, and then elated when he found out he would be gone for at least a cycle. It didn't take him long to find himself outside his leader's quarters. Fiddling with the feeds and security, he turned it all off and then teleported easily inside.
He found her in the back room inside a small area reformatted to human size. A bed was outside it that was obviously placed to be kept in view of Megatron's recharge berth. The closer he got to her, the more Starscream didn't know what he was going to do.
Alexis was scratched, and her dress was torn. He could make out a bruise on the back of her neck, some swells on her arms. Her legs, which were prominently uncovered, held gashes also. Sounds came from her that racked through her body.
And then her back became tense, hands folding over her as she tightened up into a small human ball.
"No. I will not submit," she demanded; her voice firm yet strikingly cautious.
"Alexis?"
She flipped over. Her eyes were red, hair wild, her expression a mixture of confusion, anger and resentment. Starscream saw her face was rather unmarked, although there was a thin gash that began underneath her chin and went along her neck before disappearing under the fabric of her dress. He felt his digits tightening into his palm, his weapon systems fighting to come on-line.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you... I came to..."
"Leave. If Megatron finds you in here he will..."
"He's gone."
"Gone?" Alexis repeated, the word whispered as if she needed to say it herself to believe it. She sat up slowly, flinching.
"You need a medic. I'll get Reflux. He will..."
"No, not today. I'm fine." She tilted her head, her eyes taking him in while something drifted through her face, an emotion he knew was going to die shortly. And he was going to be the one to kill it.
"Tell me you're here to free me."
"I am not."
Her mouth trembled, and her eyes welled with liquid. Alexis turned from him. Crashing back on the bed, she pulled the covers over her and dragged a pillow closer, clenching it against her tightly. "Then you shouldn't have come at all." Her words were clear, extremely sharp and this time full of sorrow. She turned back around, wiping her eyes off with one of her hands. "Why did you come?"
"Because I... Because..."
"You can't even say it."
"You know why I came."
"No. No I do not." Alexis sighed. "And whatever the reason, it is not the one I need."
"Alexis..."
"You should leave."
His wings jerked at her soft command, and Starscream took an involuntary step back. He couldn't stand the way she was looking at him, couldn't stand...
"Wait."
Hope came, an undeserving emotion that rushed through him.
"How long will Megatron be gone?"
"At least a couple of days."
Alexis seemed to consider that. She sat back up, legs pushing to rest against the floor beneath her, rumpled dress pulled down and smoothed out. And then she was staring at him, a firm resolve rising within her.
"Will... will you do something for me?"
He said nothing. Unwilling to answer without knowing what she desired.
"Megatron is becoming more demanding. I... I won't be able to stop him forever, my resistance will not amuse him much longer... I..." She swallowed hard, and as if she was suddenly self-conscious, she brought her hand up to her head. Releasing the rest of her hair from its restraint, she combed through it with her fingers. "I would rather my first time be out of some form of love and familiarity than brute force."
Starscream tried to understand what she was saying. But with him, Alexis' human terms were lost, especially when they always had the habit of meaning many a thing. He knew, however, that whatever it was suddenly made her nervous and fidgety; her gaze unable to meet his for more than a couple nano-clicks at a time.
"First time?"
Alexis shifted, biting down on her lip; her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "Do you know what a virgin is?"
He shook his head.
"Do you know what vestal means?"
Starscream froze. His spark throbbed within its casing when he realized the implications of her words.
"You are offering yourself to me?"
Her back stretched tight with that, gaze lowering once more as she seemed ashamed. Then she spoke, her words so low he had to strain to pick them up, "I think God would understand... It's not like I didn't try to uphold what was instilled in me." Her vocal level increased while she tried to convince herself. "But I can't stand the thought of Megatron..." She started to gasp, sharp breaths taken in and out as she seemed to hyperventilate. "God... I am so miserable... I just can't..."
Once more, tears were released. Alexis brought her hand over her face, rocking back and forth. Starscream couldn't help that he was drawn to her, couldn't help that he went to her and got down on his kneeplates as he very gently moved Alexis' arm away from her face.
"Can't you help me get out of here?"
"I told you I can't. Don't ask me again," he ordered, his tone terse and absolute. There was no way to explain it, even if he could.
"Then... will you... can you... can you pretend to love me, if only for a little while?" Her eyes locked onto his optics. He peered into them hard, tying to see if there was any form of regret. Starscream found none. Alexis was determined. And he, there was no point denying it, wanted her in any way she offered.
He dipped down to her level, and his digit slowly made its way to her. Starscream tugged on her dress, his finger gliding underneath the thin strap until it snapped. He touched her bare skin, softness molding to his touch. She trembled, paled, breathed out and swallowed hard. He stopped. Alexis was nervous and scared. For a moment, Starscream thought she had finally thought her way out of it. But then she looked at him with eyes opening wide. Something came alive in the vivid orbs, something that he had missed and craved and found he desperately needed.
Trust.
Nothing stopped him after that.
