Note on the time measurement:

One breem: 8 minutes.

One orn: more or less one day

One groon: more or less one hour.

Klik: a few seconds

Decacycle: more or less one week

Megacycle: more or less one month

Vorn: 83 years

Solar cycle: one year.

Chapter 2

Thundercracker barely recharged before his shift.

It wasn't that the unoccupied room he had found to rest for a few groons in wasn't comfortable. It really wasn't comfortable, but such minor details had never bothered him. He was still too shocked by what he had seen to find sleep.

Pit, he didn't even know how to act around his wing mates anymore now that he knew what they were doing behind his back. He resented Skywarp for not having told him. They were friends, weren't friends supposed to share that sort of things?

Also, he wondered why Skywarp had chosen Starscream of all mechs. What Starscream had that he, himself, didn't have?

Thundercracker had always liked to believe that Skywarp and him were closer than Starscream could ever be to any of them within the 'trine'. The red seeker had kept the distance growing between them ever since they had met.

How many time had Skywarp and himself made fun of their Air commander? How many time had they mocked the arrogant glitch together? He couldn't help but think it was unfair!

Alright, the screamer was pretty, but he was their second-in-command and wasn't exactly easy to approach. His attitude was awful most of the time ( the rest of the time he was either absent or in recharge)

Yet Skywarp didn't seem to mind this anymore. To Thundercracker, it simply made no sense.

Was Starscream manipulating his friend into helping him with another of his infamous takeover attempts? That was unlikely. Everyone in the army knew that Skywarp was loyal to Megatron and wouldn't betray their leader, certainly not for a sexy piece of aft.

Obviously, there was far more to that, and the blue seeker just wanted to know what and why.

Groons passed, he felt too miserable to recharge. The lone seeker went to his shift at the given time and Dirge, who seemed in a far better mood than when he had entered the control room groons earlier, turned toward the newcomer.

" Finally you are here!" The conehead exclaimed. " Mech, you look like slag!" he added, watching Thundercracker walk closer.

" Go away already" He replied grumpily with a movement of his head " that'll make me feel better." He almost wanted to pick a fight with the mech, that would relieve his mind greatly, if that wasn't for the explaining he would have to do afterward.

" I take no order from you, flathead!" Dirge retorted, not moving yet. " But I'd hate to waste my recharge time on you."

He then left the place and Thundercracker let himself slip onto the chair. Thoughts would plague his processor for groons on and probably orns on too. It was a good thing for the time being, the raging storm in his mind would at least keep him awake through his shift.

oOooOo

At first, Thundercracker had hesitated whether or not to relocate. But then Skywarp, as stupid as he was believed to be, would have suspected something and would have started to ask him questions.

The blue seeker didn't want him to know that he knew about his little secret.

It has been hard, but he had managed fairly well to do 'as if nothing had changed'.

Thankfully, Thundercracker didn't have to witness more of his wingmate and wing leader's activities. Skywarp wouldn't dare bring anyone in their quarters when Thundercracker was with him, but the blue seeker had woken up a few times during the night only to see that Skywarp wasn't in his bunk anymore.

He didn't wonder where he was. He knew.

The troubled seeker couldn't bring himself to talk with his friend, to tell him the truth and ask him 'why' or 'what'. He kept his mouth shut and his frustration bottled up.

He was still thinking about them most of the time though. That made him miserable not to know what they were up to. Worse of all, he felt ashamed to realize that he wanted in whatever it was they had. He wanted to have what Starscream and Skywarp had and he wanted to have it with them.

But what was wrong with him? After all, that sort of things had never crossed his mind before.

Thundercracker's spark ached in his chest and there was really nothing he could do about it.

Life went on, ten full orns passed and their energon stock slowly decreased.

Eventually, Megatron called for a war assembly. The warlord, along with his second and third in command locked themselves in the 'war room' with enough energon to last them orns and planned strategy around the clock for orns on.

No one saw the leaders during that time and most soldiers took it as a permission to slack on their duties.

" Hey TC!" Skywarp suddenly barged in the control room where Thundercracker was the officer on shift.

" Hey" He simply answered, not taking his optics off the screen. Skywarp heavily sat on the chair next to him. " Mech, everything is okay? You look...more grumpy than you usually are." the purple seeker asked. It wasn't the first time he had inquired of his friend mood during the past orns, but the blue seeker always answered the same 'I'm fine' and denied all accusations of it being otherwise.

" Yeah, I'm bored that's all. I almost miss the battlefield."

" Right! me too" Skywarp said, chuckling. " Can't wait!" but Skywarp loved being a warrior and it was only normal for him to miss mayhem and destruction.

" Well I think you won't have to wait for long." Thundercracker supplied, only then turning toward the other seeker. "The bosses have been in the war room for one orn and a half...They should come up with a plan soon enough."

" Awesome!" Skywarp said, all giddy-looking. He suddenly grabbed Thundercracker's forearm." Hey, you know what, TC? We should go for a flight until they are done! That'll make the time pass faster, yes? What do you say? We could go and scare humans planes, wouldn't that be cool?"

The blue seeker blinked and couldn't help feeling anger rise. He thought: Right! so now that your boyfriend is not available, you want to spend time with me?

" I'm on shift." He replied simply and quite coldly. " maybe later."

Skywarp's expression fell but he didn't let go of his friend's arm. " No one will care if you're not on shift. You're the only one who still takes shift anyway..."

" I don't care about what others do." He mumbled. " I sighed up for this, least I can do is do my job correctly."

" Why are you so boring, Thundercracker?!" Skywarp huffed. " You barely ever patrol with me and Screamer these orns. I'm starting to think you're mad at me or something...And I haven't pulled a single prank on you for at least a megacycle! What's going on with you? Seriously?"

Thundercracker wanted to stand up and shout at his friend that, yes, he was slagging mad at him for being such a fragging hypocrite. He wanted to grab him, slam him against the nearest wall and ask him what was going on with HIM for taking the Screamer to his berth, the same mech he had always called a 'jerk' and a 'glitch'.

He didn't have the occasion to do any of this though, because their comms. Suddenly crackled, Startling them both.

::Skywarp, Thundercracker, in my office, NOW:: Starscream's raspy voice came through.

He sounded irritated, which was only his second default mode. Their wing leader seemed to have only two default modes these orns: irritated or smug. Thundercracker could barely remember a time when the red seeker had been something else than a bastard.

Skywarp, who had noticed the glint of furry in Thundercracker's optics, just let go of his arm and looked at him sadly before answering the comm. ::coming::

::As you command:: was Thundercracker's more formal reply. They walked there together and Skywarp said nothing. The blue seeker, who had calmed down since his almost-outburst, thought fast. He needed to do something or say something before Skywarp could start suspecting things. He sighed and made a show of rubbing the back of his helmet sheepishly.

" I'm sorry, 'warp...I guess I've been edgy lately...But you know I don't cope well with inactivity. It makes me think too much I guess."

" Yeah...it's okay, don't worry." Skywarp gave him a small smile. " That will end soon and you'll feel better. Then you'll help me prank the Stunticons okay?"

" Er...I'm not too sure about that...But I'll patrol with you at least." he grinned but still felt wronged. The blue seeker hoped that this meeting with Starscream would give him some hints, to confirm or infirm his fears.

The Air commander was fuming when they arrived in his office. They were yet to sit down, Starscream had already started to rant about Megatron being a defective piece of machinery who could only come up with stupid, worthless, plans.

The usual speech from the screamer. Obviously the warlord hadn't wanted to hear his ideas during the top officers meeting and now Starscream had murder in mind.

" We are supposed to attack that refinery tomorrow at dawn...Doing it by night would have been the smart thing to do but our dear leader obviously doesn't know what 'smart' means..."

Thundercracker resisted the urge to sigh and filtered the useless elements out of the Air commander's rant. The plan was quite simple, they were to attack the refinery, destroy their communications- preferably before the humans could call the Autobots for help- then convert the oil into energon cubes and flow back to base. That was the standard Megatron's idea for a casual raid strategy and Thundercracker didn't see how it took them two full orns to spawn it.

While Starscream talked and ranted and fumed, the blue seeker looked at both him and Skywarp closely. The wing leader's gaze shifted from one attendee to the other quickly, too quickly to truly 'see' anyone. As for everyone attending, the conehead seekers, the triple-changers as well as Starscream's own trine mates, they all looked bored to the core.

Thundercracker was impressed by how well his purple friend played his part. He looked genuinely as bored as everyone else. And, for the most part, he didn't even look at Starscream.

In the past, Skywarp liked to relieve his boredom by counting how many time Starscream said ' Megatron' or 'leader' during this charade of a meeting. Was he still doing so nowadays?

Sure enough, as Starscream said " The glorious Megatron expect us to bring at least 200 cubes back to base", Thundercracker saw Skywarp's lips quirk upward as the name ' Megatron' was pronounced.

The raid, as expected, was no different from the many others that had preceded it.

It almost failed too, because the Autobots has showed up like they always do. It wasn't too bad at the end, because every Decepticon had been expecting them anyway and most were more than happy to finally have the occasion to fight.

Even Thundercracker.

It felt so good to be able to vent the frustration out, physically vent it out, he thought as he finally managed to shake Sideswipe off him. He went after the red Bot and caught him before he could use his jet-pack or crash down.

" What's the matter, Decepticon?" The lambo snickered. " You want more?"

" As a matter of fact!" The blue seeker answered calmly and transformed in his bi-pedal form. " I do. And then I'll take care of your vain twin, if no one has seen to that yet."

In the distance, the noise of a fusion cannon firing could be heard, which meant the infamous clash between both faction leaders had started and the battle had reached its final stage.

Thundercracker landed on the rocky floor, scorching it with the heat of his thrusters. Still holding the red front-liner by one of his foot, he swung him down on the ground, then he pulled him up only to slam him down again...and again. He put his frustration in the energy he used, hoping it could go away just like this." Do you want more?" he asked as he slammed the Autobot down. " Because I could never have enough!"

Pieces of red armor flew all over the place. Once Sideswipe stopped screaming in pain, Thundercracker decided to put him out of his misery. So, he tore the jet pack clear off his back, took flight and waited to be high enough to drop his charge.

The noise Sideswipe's body made when he crashed on the rock below was spectacular.

Skywarp looked up and realized what had just happened. " WOW! Way to go, TC" he shouted

At the same time, Starscream flew by, spotted the carnage and transformed. "Good Job, Thunder'" he praised, looking straight at his subordinate with an appreciative smirk.

Thundercracker touched down to inspect the fallen Autobot. He was still alive, yet barely. In the distance, they could hear Optimus prime call for a retreat.

The blue seeker lifted his head in time to see Sunstreaker charge toward him. " Move away from him, 'con! Or what I'll do to you will be far worse than what you did to him!"

The yellow lambo held his blaster up as he got closer. " Move away I say" he fired, his aim was good and hit home.

Thundercracker stepped back and looked at the pieces of his cockpit which remained where he had been before. He blacked out the next instant, crumbling on the spot. Sunstreaker hesitated just a klik but, thankfully, it was long enough for Starscream and Skywarp to pull their trine mate away from his line of fire.

OOoooOO

The first thing Thundercracker become aware of next was Hook's mocking voice somewhere near him" You are a lucky bastard".

That's for me to know and for you to never find out. He thought for himself at the medic's remark.

He powered his optic on slowly, feeling still dizzy from the drugs in his systems. Sometimes, the seeker wondered if those drugs were simple medicinal products or if Mixmaster regularly used Hook's patients to test his new chemicals.

" Okay, you are repaired and ready to get slagged again so get the frag out of my medbay already..."

" Hook...You have awful bedside manners" Thundercracker said as he lifted himself from the berth with difficulty. His front felt sore and his joints and gears were still stiff.

" And yet, you always come back!" The medic pushed a small vial into his hand as he stood up completely. " There. Apply this to the weld lines once an orn and there won't be any trace left in a decacycle."

"But...What happened to me?" Thundercracker asked him when he arrived at the door.

" How am I supposed to know? You were hit, it blew your cockpit to pieces but went not deep enough to reach the spark. You've been lucky."

" Who brought me here?"

" Who do you think?"

" Skywarp?" usually it was him. They always saw to each other after a battle, to be sure no one was left behind on the battlefield.

" Yep, Starscream helped him. He owes you or something?"

" Hmm..." Thundercracker made a non-committal sound at first, then finally added: " Yeah, you could say that."

He exited the medbay and checked his chronometer. Good, he still had a few groons ahead of him before the next shift started and he had already decided he would write his report then. Since he wasn't a top officer, it could wait. That left him some time to go to his quarters and relax or get some rest, which was always nice.

It was night time already, so the halls of the sunken ship were very quiet.

Thundercracker reached his deck soon enough despite not walking that fast. He had met no one on his way there. There were two possibilities, he mused: either the battle had been a victory and everyone was celebrating it in the main rec room, wasting the energon they had stolen during the raid and getting overcharged.

Or the battle had been a failure and the Decepticons who weren't severely damaged were in their quarters, moping or resting from the hard orn.

The main rec room wasn't far from his quarters and, at the noise that reached his audios then, Thundercracker deducted it had been a victory orn.

He rounded the corner leading to his aisle...and stepped back the next moment. He flung himself back against the wall, his wings flat behind him, and held his next intake. Not again!

Obviously he wasn't expected to be back from the medbay anytime soon.

In the hall, just a few steps away from his quarters, Skywarp held Starscream against the wall and they were kissing passionately.

As arousing as it might be, this was not the kind of sight Thundercracker had wanted to see again.

Hopefully, this time again, they hadn't seen him.

After a little while, the blue seeker heard them talk quietly. Then, the Air commander chuckled and said something he didn't quite catch, but it sounded like they were parting for the night at last. He should have been thankful for it. It meant he wouldn't have to find another place to recharge that night.

Thundercracker heard Starscream walk down the hall and when he couldn't hear the sound of his steps anymore, he cycled out the intake he had been holding. He was safe...

" TC? "

...Slag.

He looked up at the sound of surprise. " Hey 'Warp"

" What are you doing here?"

He gulped. The talk he had never wanted to have was now unavoidable.

TBC.

Thank you for reading!

Let me read your thoughts and critiques please.

Should I continue this?

P.S: I was wondering. What kind do you prefer when it comes to Transformers sexy stuff? Sticky, Spark-sex, Plug and play, tactile? Something else maybe?

No need to pm me, just answer in the comment section.