SpikeLightening, thank you for your review!

Aquafire is a cheeky little femme isn't she? This chapter we see Starscream's thoughts on the young trine as well as a lovely conversation between he and Aquafire!

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Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for Aquafire, her trine, Skyblitz and Wildfire.

oh! Second update of 2012! I feel great!


Aquafire stood in the Command Centre with her trine, watching what could only be described as the best entertainment in all of Cybertron aside from a gladiatorial fight in the Kaon or Slaughter City.

A fight between Starscream and Megatron.

They'd been called up to the Command Centre to receive information about a mission they were being sent on and somehow, they had walked in just as the two were beginning their usual volley of verbal insults and arguments. It seemed to be over the younger trine's mission from what they could gather. Over the past two vorns since their official induction into the Decepticon army, Megatron had sent them on a great many missions, all of them recon and infiltration of some kind. At times Aquafire wondered if he was trying to get them offlined for good, sending them into enemy territory the way he did.

"They are going on this mission, Starscream, that is final!" Megatron pinned the Air Commander, fusion cannon whining as it came to life, pointed directly at the others faceplates.

"Y-yes, Lord Megatron," He sputtered. He vented out a sigh when Megatron stepped back and shot a glare at the younger trine when they dared to laugh at him. He picked himself up and glared at his leader, who was acting like nothing had happened as always.

"Now then," Megatron cleared his vocals, gaining the young trines attention. "We've gotten word that the Autobots are testing some new defense system over Iacon. I need you and your trine to go and observe."

"Would you like us to record video of it?" Aquafire asked.

"Of course," He nodded. "Now go!" The three saluted and left. Megatron then turned to his SIC and frowned at him. "Why do you insist on arguing with me every time I send them on a mission? You've very clearly stated how much you despise them on more than one occasion."

"That may be so, but they are still apart of my troops," He snapped. "When you send them out on missions without my permission, it becomes my business!"

"I am leader here, Starscream, do not forget that," The mech actually flinched back from the tone of his leaders voice. "They are just as much apart of my troops as they are yours. When I wish to send them on missions, I do not need to consult you. I hold higher rank, even over your squadrons. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron," He hissed out before leaving the room.

-Starscream's P.O.V-

The nerve of him! How dare that slagger send them out again without first consulting me! You might ask yourself, "Why do you care? You hate them." Yes, this is a true statement but they are still nonetheless under my command. I will grudgingly admit that Aquafire's trine is one of my best units but I will never say so aloud. I dislike having a femme among my troops, but you know this already. It's distracting, vile and annoying. When not in battle, my men are making bets over who they think she will 'face with after a victorious fight with the Autobots. I have nothing against femmes, I just have a problem with Aquafire. I hate that others compare us, saying we're on par with one another, which we most certainly are not! At times I pray to Primus that she be struck down in battle and learn a lesson of some sort.

"Megatron send them out again?" Skywarp appeared before me, effectively dragging me from my inner ramblings.

"Yes," I snapped at him.

"Aww, and here I was hoping to play a prank on them," He pouted. I scowled at my trine mate and moved around him, heading towards the rec room.

"I hope those slaggin' twins get her," I snarled to myself. Every time I see them in battle, I hope they offline her, as they always focused on her trine once they caught sight of her. I barely noticed when Thundercracker joined us, silent as he was, and sat beside Skywarp who rattled on about how upset he was that the younger trine wasn't around. "Skywarp, shut up before I make you shut up!" I finally shouted at him. Honestly, he acted like a sparkling sometimes! Scratch that. He always acted like a sparkling. He promptly snapped his mouthplates shut and pouted childishly, arms crossed over his cockpit. I ignored him and drank my cube of energon, silently hoping that Aquafire and her trine failed their mission. Megatron couldn't blame me if they did since I wasn't the one who gave them the orders. Bah, oh well. It didn't matter to me if they failed or succeeded, all that mattered was that I had them out of my circuits for the next orbital cycle or so.

-Normal P.O.V-

The only thing better than a fight between Starscream and Megatron was watching the Autobots scramble like a bunch of retro-rats. This was what the trine thought as they circled the alarmed city of Iacon. Even from their position high in the air, they could hear the scream of the klaxon alarms and the shouts of the Autobots as they scrambled to organize a defense team.

:We have what we came for, lets go!: Steel Wing snarled over a comm.

:I want to watch them squirm a bit longer.: Aquafire retorted. She banked to the side and flew lower with her wingmate's, howling with laughter as she fired upon the Autobots. Steel Wing knew she was headed for trouble but followed suit, firing upon them as well. Storm Ridge flew even lower and knocked over a group when they couldn't get out of the way fast enough. He rejoined his wingmate's, cackling happily as they continued having their unscheduled fun. They would no doubt get in trouble for it when they returned to Kaon but they all agreed that it was well worth it. They heard two hauntingly familiar shouts and immediately moved to fly higher, not wanting to be brought down by the Twin Terrors.

"Get off ya fragger!" Steel Wing snarled when Sideswipe managed to grab onto him. He spun a few times and managed to dislodge the red twin.

"Let's head back!" Aquafire finally ordered.

-X-X-X-

Starscream was dragged from his recharge by Skywarp, who was talking too quickly for his commander to comprehend in his barely online state.

"Skywarp, run that by me again," He grumbled, sitting up and shuttering his optics a few times.

"They're back!" He blurted.

"Who?" Starscream honestly wanted to punch him at that moment.

"Aquafire's trine," He grinned widely.

"And why should I care?" He drawled, crossing his arms over his chestplates.

"Because they are all basically in stasis lock," He chirped.

"Why exactly, could you not have told me this in the first place?" Starscream groaned, running his servos over his face.

"Because I like making you guess," He giggled then and ducked away from the enraged mech. Starscream went with his giddy trine mate then, following him to the sick bay where most of the other Decepticons had now gathered. Many were exchanging credits, muttering amongst themselves as they wondered who had taken down the young trine. Starscream pushed his way to the front and entered the sick bay with Skywarp and Thundercracker at his sides. Hook and the other Constructicons were rushing around, trying to keep the three Seekers at least partially online while they dealt with their injuries. To his immediate left, he could see that Storm Ridge had multiple wounds covering his chassis, all of which were still leaking energon and various other fluids. Many of his joints were still sparking from where the wires were damaged. His wings were damaged badly as well and the sight of it made the three older Seekers wince. Their wings were their pride and joy, having them damaged was a horrible feeling.

To his right, they saw Steel Wing, who looked to be the most injured of the three. Starscream scowled at this. He would be having a long talk with them once they recovered. How dare they allow themselves to fall at the servos of the Autobots! He raked his optics over Steel Wing's form again, taking in his extensive damage before he turned his attention to Aquafire. The sleek femme was also in stasis, presumably from her injuries and energon loss, and seemed to be just as injured as Storm Ridge.

"Such disgraces," Starscream snorted, turning to leave. His trine reluctantly followed, obviously more worried for the younger Seekers than he was. He headed for the Command Centre and found Megatron in a most foul mood. "Did they fail?"

"No," He spat. "They got the needed information and recordings. But I am furious that they defied my orders to not engage the Autobots under any circumstances!"

"My Lord, this is the exact reason I did not want them to take this mission!" Starscream began to argue. One look from Megatron shut him up effectively. "It is a miracle that they are even still online," He feigned worry for the young Seekers.

"Yes, it is," Megatron snorted. "Until they are recovered, your trine will be filling in for them," The expression on Starscream's faceplates morphed into one of shock and then fury. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," He hissed before storming out with his trine.

The next few cycles passed in silence for the Decepticons while the young trine remained locked up in the sick bay, still undergoing repairs. Many of the Seekers were finding that not having them around was odd and more than just a few admitted aloud that they actually missed them. Starscream himself was in a terrible mood all the time, having no one else to take his rage out on except the lesser troops; but even that did not help for long.

"Word has it that Hook's letting them out today," Thundercracker informed his irate trine leader. It had been half an orn since they had first returned and at some point, they had been brought out of stasis so repairs could be continued.

"Oh what fun," Starscream replied sarcastically. The rumor quickly spread through the base and many mechs were commenting on how they were going to "comfort" Aquafire. A few joors passed from the time Thundercracker told him the news and by now, everyone was anxious to see the young Seekers. Hook had just released them with strict orders, so strict that he'd even called Megatron to the sick bay to make sure he followed his orders as well. When it came to the health and well-being of the troops, Hook had the final word, as did the other Constructicons.

"There they are!" The wave of whispers swept through the rec room as all optics turned to the entrance. The three young Seekers were standing there, wings held high and flared, as though expecting a fight of some sort. Storm Ridge and Steel Wing were positioned just in front of Aquafire, optics narrowed in what seemed to be fury as they looked around. They moved further into the room, which had fallen silent, and took up their usual seats in the corner of the room, away from everyone else. Everybot in the room watched as the Conehead trine approached them, waiting to see what would happen. Ramjet was the first to move, pulling Aquafire into a tight embrace and, in front of his fellow 'Cons, rubbed her wings affectionately. Thrust and Dirge clasped hands with the other two mechs, grinning at them.

"The frag you all looking at?" Ramjet shouted when he turned around. "Mind your own slaggin' business!" The other Decepticons immediately turned around and went back to their previous conversations. "Ya had us all worried."

"Sorry, Ramjet," Aquafire smiled sheepishly. "Didn't expect them to fight back like that."

"We also didn't expect that fragging weapon of theirs to work," Steel Wing snorted as they shifted to allow the older trine to sit with them. "Packs a punch, I'll say that much."

"We thought for sure you were going to be offlined!" Thrust rumbled out as he returned with some energon.

"We thought so too," Storm Ridge mutter, his vocalizer emitting a crackle and a squeak as he spoke. Hook was still working on it, one more tune up and it would be as good as new.

"How the frag did you make it back in one piece?" Dirge asked them.

"I don't even know," Aquafire shook her helm. "Its all a blur. All I remember is getting slagged by the 'bots and their defense system and that's it."

"Primus must favor you then," Ramjet told her. "With injuries like you all had, I'm not certain anyone would have lived without some sort of miracle."

"Thanks for your concern," Aquafire sipped at her energon. "But I think you'd best leave us. I see our oh so glorious Air Commander heading this way." The Coneheads turned to see that Starscream was indeed heading their way. They left quickly, though they stayed within the rec room in case the other Seeker started any trouble.

"You stupid, ignorant, disrespectful little glitch!" Starscream jabbed Aquafire in the chest with each word, snarling at her. "What were you thinking?"

"We were having fun, Starscream," She snorted, brushing the offending digit away. "Or is that word not in your limited vocabulary?" The older Seeker gaped at her before he regained himself and growled at her.

"Watch yourself, femme," He spat. "Any more stunts like that and they may very well be your last," He glared and turned to leave, missing the faces she and her trine made at him. Aquafire snorted as she sat back down and stared at the cube of energon in front of her. Her tanks churned at the thought of ingesting it and she pushed it away, though with a groan she remembered that Hook had given them all specific orders to refuel the moment they left the sick bay. With a grimace, she slowly downed the mid-grade and sighed when her tanks didn't heave violently. She watched her wingmates do the same and reluctantly left the rec room with them when they finished.

"Ugh, can't we bend Hook's orders?" Steel Wing groaned once they stepped into their quarters. "Not doing anything strenuous is going to drive me out of my processor!"

"Lord Megatron is probably going to have Soundwave watching us with those blasted Cassette's of his," Storm Ridge grumbled. All three let out a collective sigh at this. Soundwave's cassette's were always nosing around and spying on the other Decepticons. They especially liked to spy on the Seekers for some reason, though that probably had something to do with Rumble and Frenzy liking to pull pranks on all the trine's every other day. The young Seekers eventually became exhausted and curled up together on the large berth. Hook had warned them that they would be easily exhausted for the next few orns after having come out of stasis but they hadn't believed him.

"I hope these next few orns pass quickly," Aquafire murmured against Storm Ridge's chest. Her wingmate's grumbled in agreement before they all fell into recharge.