Chapter 4

Optimus Prime listened intently outside the berthroom door before knocking gently. He couldn't hear anything from the Seekerling but he could hear what sounded like distressed beeping from the Seeker's minicon partner. He knocked once more before overiding the doors locks. He entered quietly, ensuring the door closed behind him, activating the lights.

He could see Swindle standing at the bottom of the large berth, his faceplates portraying surprise and relief at seeing him. The Autobot commander sighed sadly as he watched the Seeker writhe on the berth, insulating tarp laying abandoned on the floor, obviously in the throws of another nightmare. It wasn't a secret that the young mech suffered from them.

Optimus crouched by the berth, careful not to wake the Seeker too quickly. He didn't need Starscream to be any more panicked than he already was. He made sure to speak softly,

"Hey Starscream, it's time to wake up."

He got another distressed whimper for his efforts, "shh, shh, I know. It's just a dream Starscream." He gently placed a servo on the young mechs' arm and with a loud gasp, Starscream awoke.

Starscream instinctively recoiled from the servo touching him, his wings and cannons moving to press tightly against his back as he brought his knees up to curl into himself. The images of Demolishers' death still flashing in front of him. He couldn't stop the high pitched distressed keen. He suddenly became aware of the larger mech at his berthside, his voice soft as he spoke,

"Easy Starscream, it's alright, you're alright."

Starscream bit back a sob as he turned to look at the Autobot leader crouched beside him. His wings twitched up slightly before falling downwards once again. Optimus' optics softened at the respectful greeting.

"Are you ok?"

The Seeker nodded, yet his wings trembled giving away the emotions running through him. Optimus could only sigh as the Seeker attempted to hide the truth. He certainly wasn't okay, he was far from it. The Prime moved slowly until he was sitting on the edge at the bottom of the berth, so he could face the youngling,

"You know, Starscream, it is perfectly alright to grieve."

The red and white mech simply stared at him before averting his optics, wings rigid. He obviously didn't want to and Optimus couldn't blame him. To grieve meant he would have to accept the fact that the only mech within the Decepticon fold who had shown him any care towards him was gone.

"I don't suppose you want to try and recharge, Starscream. Why don't you come and spend some time with the rest of the mechs?

Starscream stared at the far wall, unsure what to do. He didn't exactly feel up to socialising but at the same time, a part of him didn't want to be alone. He glanced at Swindle who beeped encouragingly at him. Without looking at the Prime, he responded, "ok" his voice croaker than usual.

The Prime must have pre-warned the Autobots of Starscream's arrival into the rec. room before the Seeker had even got to the door, not that Starscream was going to complain. Nobody questioned or paid much attention to him as he entered silently, finding a corner to sit in. He got a few quiet moments to himself to observe the Autobots relaxing. The mechs were either, reading, watching the monitor or playing some game with the human children. He quickly looked away as the female of the group looked to him and smiled softly. The Seeker jumped as a quiet voice spoke to him,

"How are you, Starscream?"

It was obvious he hadn't noticed the medic sit down beside him, "sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Red Alert, along with everyone else who had noticed the flier jump, watched his wings drop down slowly.

"I'm alright" he fidgeted nervously

The medic nodded, "good. Do you want to read or watch something on the monitor?"

Starscream just shook his helm, suddenly feeling rather awkward. He spotted Scavenger laughing with Jetfire and his spark lurched. For the first time, he realised just how much he missed Demolishers' company. The Decepticons' were never close with one another but at he could at least relax around the tank. Starscream got up to leave, ignoring the medic calling out to him.

Red Alert glanced at Scavenger, Optimus and Jetfire as the Seekerling left. He could hear Sideswipe asking about what was going on but he didn't bother answering, hearing Jetfire telling the rest to stay behind, Scavenger rushing ahead to find the Seeker.

It didn't take them long to catch up with Starscream who was already with Scavenger. The three mechs' sparks fell as they heard the almost silent sob. They couldn't see Starscreams' face as his back was turned to them but from the Scavengers' expression, the youngling wasn't doing well.

"Starscream, please, let us help. What's wrong?" The old spy spoke softly, keeping his voice low, placing comforting servos on the Seekerlings' shoulders. The comforting voice of the old mech seemed to be the breaking point as the Seeker started to tremble violently, wings drooping so low they nearly touched the floor, a harsh sob ripping its way out of the young mechs' vocaliser, echoing down the hall. As Scavenger gently shushed him, Starscream fell into a fit of crying, tears dripping in quick succession to the floor as he cried his spark out. Through his sobs, the distraught mech managed to stutter out three words that broke the sparks of anyone who heard,

"I miss him"