Chapter 4
Demolishter watched the two from a safe distance away as they talked and then Starscream flew off, leaving Alexis alone. She turned and headed back into her house and, once both were out of sight, the Decepticon turned away to process what he'd just wittnessed.
So starsccream was beginning to regain his memories, he realized. and now he was communicating with Alexis, asking her questions.
If Megatron found out about this he wouldn't be happy,.No that was an understatement, he would be furious!
Megatron was just going to have to not learn about it, he told himself. It wouldn't end well for Starscream at all if he did. Which meant Demolisher was going to have to keep this a secret. Hopefully his visit with the young woman would be a one time deal and he wouldn't come back.
Unfortunately Demolisher knew this wouldn't be the only time, he'd be coming back to her, asking more questions and requiring answers. He just hoped if and when that happened he would do it during times when Megatron wouldn't notice his absence. Otherwise the outcome would be unpleasant for everybody.
The Decepticon sighed, Oh boy, his life was just about to get even more complicated.
Starscream, you'd better not get yourself into any trouble.
After Starscream had gone, Alexis returned to her bedroom, feeling disappointed with the outcome of her conversation with him. She hadn't gotten through at all, he still could not remember her.
She sighed, glancing back outside at the night sky as if expecting him to have returned and was standing outside her house again. But he wasn't. The street was completely empty of any giant machines.
She hoped he would come back soon, so she could have more time to talk with him about his dreams and the memories in them. If she had more time she might be able to break through the barrior preventing him from remembering his past, from remembering her. If only she knew what it was that was preventing them all from coming back.
The only guess she could make for that was because he'd been killed and his spark had somehow been damaged in some way, preventing him from actually being able to recall anything except in dreams. She wished she could somehow repair his spark, make all the damage go away and let him remember everything. If he did he wouldn't be working for Megatron anymore, wouldn't be trying to detroy everything. He'd be with the Autobots and humans, he would be with her!
Reality and wishful thinking were two different things and in reality Starscream was working for Megatron and helping him forward his selfish goals. She couldn't change that, unless Starscream decided he wanted to know more about himself, if he continued having more dreams where his memories surfaced, Maybe, given time, they would not just be dreams, they would stay in his mind and come together, filling in all the blanks in his mind.
"I just hope he comes back," she said, looking down at the necklase in her hand. "I really hope he comes back..."
Starscream met nobody once he arrived back at the base and went straight to his recharge station. He was tired and his conversation with the human woman had given him a lot to think about and the only place he could do so without being interrupted was to do it while he recharged. So once he climbed into the machine he powered himself down and entered sleep mode.
Not too long afterward he began to dream...
Starscream was moving through tunnels below the surface of a planet, what planet, he did not know. He did know that he was overwhelmed by a sense of danger and something was telling him not to look back.
"Starscream!" a voice called to him, a familiar female voice.
He against his instincts looked back, seeing a figure in a pink and wite space suit rushing toward him, she was being followed by a orange female minicon. She put out her hand and called to him, her voice revealing utter terror.
Suddenly a black void open behind her and as he watched helplessly she and her companion were sucked inside even as she screamed out his name.
He yelled for her, a name that he was unable to hear then the void opened around him and he was pulled inside. Megatron's voice echoed around him, laughing madly. Black thorny tendrils appeared around him and wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving.
Starscream woke, yelling. "NO!" then realized he was not in the dark void anymore and was free, he remained still, panting heavily.
A nigtmare, that was all it had been.
But that girl, she'd been in his dreams again. Closer and much clearer, she'd been calling for him, begging him for help. Why? What happened? Why had she called for him? Why had she been pulled into the void like that?
He grabbed his head, dimming is optics and he tried to remember, tried to recall something, anything at all.
There's a reason, he thought. There has to be a reason!
His optics lit back up and he raised his head realizing the girl hadn't died, that part wasn't true. He'd spoken to her the previous day. She was alive! Alive and able to give him answers! He had to go see her again, had to learn more, had to regain the memories he was missing. Only she could give that to him, help him recall it. It was important, why else would he be dreaming about it?
I must go see her, he concluded. I must!
But how was he going to get out of there without Megatron noticing? Maybe he wouldn't even know he was gone, that is if he didn't intend to make him and the other Decepticons do anything energon related that day.
After the previous day's failure Megatron might not send anyone out for awile. He would need to think of a new plan and they usually took some time before he formulated them. It could be a good time to head out, before Megatron came up with something...
Alexis really hadn't expected another visit from Starscream, so when he appeared outside her home she was surprised to say the least. Not that she should have been since she'd been hoping he'd return, she just hadn't guessed it would have been so soon.
"Starscream?" she exclaimed, staring at the Decepticon with wide eyes. "You're back!"
"Yes," he said. "I had to."
"You had to?" she was confused. "Why?"
"I need to talk to you," he replied, sitting down in front of her house and leaning toward her, enabling Alexis to see every detail of is scarred face and vise versa. "As I said before, I believe you are the only one that can give me answers."
She almost asked him why he had expected her to but then she realized there was no way he could ask Megatron. It was certain the Decepticon leader would be sure not to answer his questions, and would probably even take steps to prevent him from making further inquiries, same for any of the other Decepticons. As for the Autobots, she knew they would shoot first and ask questions later. Even Optimus Prime wouldn't be much use to him either, as he might think giving no details would be his form of "helping'.
So, as she had done the night before she stared him straight in the eye, well as straight as she could, given he was over twenty feet tall, and said. "I will do the best I can."
So it became a routine for the coming weeks, Starscream would sneak away from the Decepticon base and Megatron's watchful eye and come visit Alexis, asking questions and getting the answers he was looking for. At first it seemed the two were accomplishing nothing but slowly and surely his memories began to unlock themselves and he started to recall more and more, which let to even more questions and even more visits to the human woman. Alexis, to her credit, was able to answer many of them but others she couldn't give him anything solid as she had not been there to wittness the events in question. He didn't fault her for that, she couldn't have seen everything but even so he did managed to piece some of those events together. Some memories were fun and welcome, others were painful and left him feeling sad while Alexis did her best to comfort him.
The biggest issue however was returning to Megatron and the others at the end of the day, his mind full of freshly recalled details and having to put on the charade that he still didn't remember a thing and was still completely loyal to his superior even though each new memory only chipped it away more.
"You don't have to go back to him, " Alexis said after he'd brought up the issue to her. "You could leave them and-"
"And what?" he asked her. "The Autobots aren't going to believe me if I tried to go to them and if I run away Megatron will just send the others to come after me and bring me back to him." he looked away from her, feeling a sudden wave of sadness. "If they did find me he will just erase my memories again."
The young woman said nothing, realizing he was right. What else could he do?
"Maybe I could hide you," she suggested.
Starscream gave her a look as if she'd lost her mind. "How?!" he asked.
"I don't know," she admitted, looking away. "I'm sorry, Starscream, I wish I could do more for you."
"You're doing the best you can, Alexis," he told her. "I appreciate it. You've been a lot of help to me, working with me to bring back my memories and while I still have a long way to go, I'm a lot better off than I was before. I know who you are now, and how much of a good friend you were to me back then." he put out his hand to her. "I really want to thank you."
She looked at his large metal hand and reached out to touch it with her smaller, flesh covered on. "You're welcome," she said. She wanted to say more but she didn't know how to get the words out. All she could do was say what she hand and keep her hand on his, wishing Starscream didn't have to go back, didn't have to continue returning to Megatron and all that that entailed.
It was just wrong, everything about it was wrong but she could do nothing to change it. Nothing at all.
"So I guess you have to be heading back now, huh?" she said.
"I'm afraid so," he said, when he noticed the disappointment on her face he said. "I'll try to come back tomorrow, if I can get away without Megatron noticing."
She looked up at him. "Do you promise?"
The Seeker Decepticon smiled. "I promise."
Alexis, as it turned out, had a very good reason to worry as Megatron had begun to notice Starscream's suspicious absenses. At first he hadn't given it much thought because Starscream was a bit more solitary than he'd been all those years ago and he figured it wasn't such a big deal. But after he'd gone missing for longer periods it was starting to become a problem.
"Where in the world has Starscream been disappearing to?" the Decepticon leader grumbled, sitting back in his throne and trying to figure things out. "What could he possibly be doing with his time?"
Demolisher, who also happened to be in the room, said nothing. He knew exactly what the jet was up to but he was committed to not giving away his secret, even though it was starting to turn into a problem.
"Demolisher!" Megatron shouted, making the other Decepticon jump.
He turned his full attention on his superior. "Wha?!"
The decepticon leader frowned at him, obviously annoyed Demolisher hadn't been paying attention to him. "I asked you a question."
"You, you were addressing me?" he asked, feeling nervous that his leader was suddenly putting him on the spot. "I thought you were talking to yourself."
"No I was not talking to myself," he growled at him. "If I wanted to talk to myself I'd make sure I was alone when I was doing it."
"Ooh, Ummm," he fumbled. "I'm sorry, sir." he paused a moment. "Umm what did you ask me again?"
"I asked you if you knew where Starscream was disappearing to."
"Wh-why would I know that, sir?" Demolisher asked him. "I mean, I don't make it my business to make what he does a priority for-"
"Well, you should!"
"Why?"
"Because!" Megatron snapped, getting up off his throne. He stared the smaller Decepticon down, making him back up a step. "You know as well as I do that if he's given enough space he might start recalling things and thinking for himself."
Demolisher didn't know what to say about that. Megatron really was worried Starscream would remember his past? That was surprising.
I guess he is worried he didn't succeed in wiping his mind completely clean after all...
"I don't think that will happen, Megatron," he stated, though his tone said he also didn't believe his statement. "Aren't those kinds of things permanent?"
"How should I know?" his superior snapped.
"Eh, what?"
"Never mind." Megatron fell silent but he was eyeing Demolisher suspiciously now. "You know something, don't you?" he finally said after a moment.
"What? Me?" Demolisher stared at him in shock. "Why would I know anything?"
"I don't know," he replied, giving him a look. "You tell me."
"I- I umm..." he backed up a little, unable to come up with an answer. What could he say? Megatron wouldn't believe him anyway. "I.. I don't know what-"
"Don't lie to me!" Megatron crossed the room and grabbed Demolisher by the throat, lifting him off the floor. "You know what he's been up to. I can tell by the way you're acting, now why don't you just stop all this blustering and tell me the truth?!"
Given Demolisher's current situation and the fact he knew how dangerous Megatron could be when he was mad he didn't have a choice. "He's been heading to earth," he began.
Megatron's expression changed from anger to that of surprise. "What? Why?"
I'm sorry, Starscream. "He's been visiting that human girl."
"What human girl?"
"That one he was friends with be-before," he replied. "That one they called Alexis."
"Why?"
"I-I don't know," he replied, just wanting Megatron to let go of him. He didn't like being this close to the decepticon leader. "Maybe, maybe he remembers her?"
"Hmmmm..." Megatron let this sink in for a moment, allowing himself time to process the information and decide what he was going to do with it. "Very well then."
He release is grip on Demolisher and let him drop unceremoniously to the floor. "Go get me Cyclonus," he told him. "I have a job for him,"
Oh no. Things were about to go from bad to worse. The smaller Decepticon slowly got to his feet. "What, what are you going to do?"
Megatron turned to him, a smile on his face that sent a cold wave of fear through him. "I need him to take a trip to earth," he told him. "There is somebody there I want him to pay a visit to..."
A/N
If it feels like I'm rushing things, I'm sorry. I don't want the story to drag on with unnecessary things and my idea didn't consist of long drug out scenerios.