"Optimus!"
The Autobot leader, who had nearly dropped something he was rearranging when SAW darted past him, stumbled over his cargo when his medic came running in. He put the piece of furniture down and turned to Ratchet. "What's wrong?" he asked, now a little irritated. Ratchet came to a halt before his leader, looking quite disturbed.
"It's SAW," he said. "He…" He paused. "…He found Jazz…"
Dead silence—and a few dropped items—resounded around the base.
After a few moments, Optimus spoke again. "Is that why he ran out?" he demanded. "Because he saw him?" Ratchet looked down at the ground slightly guiltily.
"…No," he finally said. "…He ran out because…I think I frightened him."
"How do you mean?" Optimus pressed. He paused. "Ratchet, what did you do…?"
"…I lost my temper, Optimus," Ratchet replied, putting his face in his hands. "It was completely out of line, but…"
"'Buts' later, Ratch!" Sunstreaker interrupted, putting down the thing Optimus instructed him to move. "We've gotta go find him before the Decepticons figure out he's alone!"
"Bumblebee, stay with Honeydew!" Optimus instructed. "The rest of you, let's go!"
SAW stared up at the Seeker, who had been completely silent since he stopped his fall. Thundercracker stared at him, then looked to the side every so often, as though afraid he was being followed. His hands never left SAW's shoulders, and SAW was too afraid to even move. Thundercracker looked back down at him, now apparently seeing how scared SAW was.
"…I'm…I'm sorry for startling you, like that," he said, his voice sounding strange. It was somewhat hollow, with a slight glitch to it. His optics shifted to either side of him before focusing on SAW again. SAW noticed that Thundercracker's normally bright red eyes were now a darker, dimmer wine-ish color. His once proud, confident stance regressed into a slightly hunched and introverted one.
"…What…?" SAW choked over his words. "…What are you doing here…?" Thundercracker again shifted his optics around the area.
"…Running…" was all he said. SAW felt Thundercracker's grip on his shoulders flex and release slightly. "…From him…"
SAW shuddered at the venom in the Seeker's voice, knowing all to well who Thundercracker was talking about. "Why?" he asked softly. Thundercracker's grip flexed again before he let SAW go. He turned and leaned against a tree, remaining silent for a moment.
"…I know what Starscream did to you," he said suddenly, snapping SAW's attention back to him. "I heard you screaming. I confronted Starscream about it, and he told me that you belonged to him and that I stay away from you." He turned his head away from SAW. "After you left, things got foul. Starscream and I stopped seeing optic-to-optic completely. But…" He broke off as though to collect himself. "…Not two weeks ago, things got really ugly. Starscream pissed me off, and I attacked him. He won, and he claimed his victory by modifying my body."
SAW stepped closer, noticing that Thundercracker's voice was breaking with emotion. Thundercracker put his hand to his face.
"All I can say, SAW," he said thickly, "is that I know exactly what Starscream did to you."
It took SAW a moment to realize what Thundercracker meant. "Oh, God…" SAW choked, putting a hand over his mouth. Thundercracker let out a pained noise.
"He's my brother!" he shouted shrilly. "He's my brother, and he…!" He broke off. "…I'm out," he said after a moment. SAW looked at him questioningly. Thundercracker lowered his hand to look at him. "…I'm out of Starscream's little club he put together," he clarified. "He proclaimed himself as leader of the Decepticons." He shook his head, a short laugh leaving his throat. "He just doesn't get it……Megatron's gone. There are no Decepticons now. Nothing more than masterless drones carrying on something he started up millions of years ago, and now will never get finished. Starscream just doesn't understand."
SAW shifted forward slightly. "So…you're not a Decepticon anymore?" he said hopefully. Thundercracker shook his head. "Then…are you—?"
"No, I'm not joining the Autobots," Thundercracker finished. "And I never intend to."
"But why?" SAW demanded. "Why wont you join the Autobots? Starscream deserves to pay for what he did to you! And I'll vouch for you! Optimus will—!"
"The Autobots had a chance to let me join," Thundercracker interrupted. "And they blew it. SAW…" He pushed himself off the tree and walked in front of SAW again. "…Optimus Prime preaches peace and engages in as little conflict as possible. I am not the peaceful type. I enjoy conflict. I like battle. I revel in screwing people over—including Starscream. You might not want to hear this, but I liked to experiment with the humans Starscream has stored in his lab. Protecting humans is not what I do. I'm a destroyer; I'm a killer. It's what I like, and what I'm good at."
"Then why are you standing here talking, and not screwing me over?" SAW demanded. Thundercracker took another step forward and put his hands on SAW's shoulders. He leaned down slightly so his mouth was next to SAW's audio receptors.
"…Because I like you," he said softly. He pulled back slightly, then pressed his mouth to SAW's.
SAW was frozen on the spot as Thundercracker gently but firmly kept him in place and slid his glossa out of his mouth to lightly probe SAW's. And SAW found that it wasn't all unpleasant. Thundercracker wasn't forceful or rough like Starscream, but wasn't cautious or unwilling to move forward like he knew Bumblebee and Barricade were. It was a surprise, but a…pleasant surprise.
Thundercracker's hands slowly slid from SAW's shoulders to either side of the smaller mech's waist, his thin fingers gently sliding in the crevices. His fingertips stroked over delicate metal and wires, making SAW unconsciously shift forward into him. Thundercracker pulled back, his optics locking onto SAW's while his hands pulled SAW's body closer.
"You are more beautiful than any femme Primus ever brought into existence," he murmured softly. "I pledge my loyalty to you alone. Not Optimus; not Starscream. Only you."
SAW gaped up at him, shocked at Thundercracker's declaration of love for him. Thundercracker brought his hand to SAW's face and leaned down for another kiss when he suddenly froze.
"…Starscream…"
SAW didn't have time to react. Thundercracker grabbed him to him and jumped into the air, his jets taking off.
"THUNDERCRACKER, WHAT THE FUCK!?" SAW shrieked, holding onto his shoulders tightly. He noticed that Thundercracker was flying in the direction of the Autobot base. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
"Not letting Starscream get a hold of you again!" Thundercracker shouted back. "He wont let you get away again—not without his sparkling inside of you!" He suddenly nosedived—SAW noticed right away—right next to the Autobots.
"SAM!" Sunstreaker shouted, running over, his cannons activated. As soon as he touched ground, Thundercracker let SAW go. "Get away from him, you Decepticon son of a—!"
"Sunny, stop!" SAW shouted. "He's not the problem!"
"What do you—?" Sunstreaker was interrupted by a blast that barely missed him by a foot. The other Autobots looked up to see two jets—an F-15 and –22—shoot their way toward them.
"Starscream!" Ironhide confirmed, his cannons revving up.
"…And Skywarp!" Sideswipe added. He focused his attention and gun on Thundercracker. "…And the runt of the family!"
"Sideswipe, enough!" SAW hollered. "I said, he's not the problem!"
Optimus stepped forward. "Barricade, take SAW back to the base; you and Bumblebee protect him and Honeydew!" Barricade nodded and took SAW's arm to lead him back to the base, but he was cut off by an indigo Jeep that transformed into Soundwave and blocked their path.
In retaliation, Frenzy jumped from Barricade's back and stood his ground in front of SAW, arms and legs spread in defense.
"Frenzy, stand down!" Optimus commanded. "Go with Barricade and—!"
A shot rang out, cutting him off, and the spot that Frenzy occupied was now a smoldering crater and red-hot twisted metal that wasn't even recognizable anymore.
"FRENZY!!!" SAW screamed, his vocals actually shattering the glass on everyone's body. His legs gave out and his hands clutched his head as he let out another scream that made the jets swerve in the air. Barricade held onto SAW, though numbly staring at the twisted metal form of his former life partner in front of him.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker paired with Ironhide in shooting ruthlessly up at the jets. One shot from Sunstreaker nicked Skywarp's left wing and the smaller jet swerved violently before turning and flying shakily the opposite direction. A few more shots from Ironhide nearly hit Starscream before the F-22 followed his brother back to South America.
By the time the noise settled, Thundercracker had disappeared and Barricade was holding onto a convulsing SAW, who was making noises not unlike Bumblebee made during the Sector 7 abduction. The Autobots rushed over, Ratchet in the lead.
"He's going into psychological meltdown," Ratchet said, slight panic in his voice. "Frenzy was ripped too violently from his spark bond. He needs another spark mate immediately!"
"Shit-fuck, what are we gonna do!?" Sunstreaker swore, also panicking. Optimus was about to command a retreat to the base, when Barricade caught his attention.
The Mustang was rearranging SAW in his arms, pulling the smaller mech face up. His fingers desperately searched for the activator to open SAW's chest.
"Barricade, what are you doing?" Ironhide demanded. Barricade ignored him and finally got SAW's chest open. SAW's spark was flickering dangerously and his movements were now writhe-like and weak. Barricade opened his own chest and moved SAW in his arms. "Barricade—!"
"Ironhide, let him be," Optimus said, putting his hand on Ironhide's shoulder. His voice held a sadness that made everyone else be still and silently retract their weapons.
Barricade gently held SAW in his arms and brought their chests together. A light pulse erupted through the air and Barricade made a slight pained sound, but he kept his hold on SAW. The smaller 'bot twitched and made light whine sounds.
Optimus watched for a moment, knowing that physically-produced spark mate bonds took awhile to complete, then something caught his periph. Soundwave and his released Cassettes were slowly advancing toward the crater and what was left of Frenzy. They were still next to it for a moment before Rumble let out a pained shriek and dove in, holding his body against the twisted metal. Ravage yowled weakly and nuzzled another metal cluster with the tip of his nose. Laserbeak made high-pitched blips and fluttered down next to his brothers. Soundwave himself knelt down next to the crater, his hands and fingers twitching. Optimus watched on as Soundwave gently brushed Rumble aside and picked the remains of Frenzy up in his hands. He brought Frenzy up to his chest, and Optimus saw Soundwave's visor and faceplate slide away to reveal a monotonous face and deep violet optics. Soundwave held his lost Cassette—one of his beloved children—close to his spark and made uncharacteristically angst-ridden sobs. After a moment, he stood back up, his Cassettes clinging to him, and slowly retreated out of the area, his head lowered in dead defeat.
Between the loss of Frenzy and Barricade saving SAW, no one dared to say a word or make a sound. However, all of them were thinking the same thing—What were they going to do now?
Yeah, I kinda planned on offing Frenzy from chapter 20 of the prequel. Sorry for Frenzy fans, but it was a decision I had to make. I'm a big Frenzy fan myself, so it was hard for me too. –bows head— Forgive me, readers.