Title: Rebirth
Chapter Seven: Emotional Malfunctions
"Teal is SO not your color."
Bumblebee blinked his optics at Sam as he arrived back on base, emitting a burst of electronic noise that sounded suspiciously like a raspberry, hands on his hips. Sam, grinning from ear to ear, went up and slung an arm around the scout's calf.
"Missed you too, buddy."
Optimus watched the reunion, a smile tugging at his faceplates. As Ratchet and Ironhide filed into the room, the CMO ran a scan on Bumblebee and immediately scowled. "After your report, you're coming with me to the medbay."
Bumblebee saluted Ratchet and gently eased himself away from Sam's grasp, placing a finger to the side of his head. Sidling up next to Mikaela, Sam watched as the world around them changed into the holographic projection of the industrial side of Mission City. From the way the world moved, they could tell it was from Bumblebee's point of view as he drove through the city streets.
They watched as Bumblebee spotted the small femme after his ascent to the top of the apartment building, and listened as he spoke with her. Sam and Mikaela both jumped out of their socks at Starscream's appearance, and flinched sympathetically as the smaller mech got his aft handed to him. The video feed ended as Bumblebee fell from the building and watched Starscream fly up, tossing the small femme up into the air and catching her in his cockpit, flying away at top speed.
"Wow," Sam breathed as the world returned around them. "I didn't know there were girl robots!"
"Mechs, Sam," Mikaela corrected with a roll of her eyes.
"Female autonomous robotic organisms are extremely rare," Ratchet explained, arms folded pensively. "They were few in number before Megatron hunted them down. Now, barely a handful remain. We call them 'femmes'."
"Why would Megatron hunt down the females?" Sam asked, eyes wide. "I mean... You kind of need them to keep the race going, don't you?"
Ratchet sighed, looking away. "Cybertronians are made in two ways. One is by means of the AllSpark... The other is through a spark-bond. Spark-bonds can be formed between either gender, but a sparkling is usually created within a femme, whose bodies are specifically made to be able to carry a sparkling. They're more energy-efficient than mechs. A mech can create and carry a sparkling... Unfortunately, the sparkling will not survive in most cases. I'll tell you more about it later, but right now I'm more concerned about this femme, Magnesia."
"Technically she's a sparkling," Optimus murmured, optics half-shuttered. "But I've never heard of a sparkling of her age being anywhere near as mature, physically or mentally, as Magnesia is."
"We need to get her out of Starscream's clutches," Ironhide growled. "Nothing good can come from being raised under a mech like that slaggard."
The medic threw up his hands in frustration. "How did he get his hands on her anyway? She knows more of human culture than Cybertronian... She couldn't have been made by the AllSpark, or we would have known."
Mikaela bit her lip thoughtfully, arms folded over her middle. "He was really protective of her... Starscream, I mean." As the mechs turned to focus their attention on her, she continued, "Is there a chance that she's his?"
Bumblebee shrugged and warbled at the other mechs. Ratchet and Optimus looked thoughtful while Ironhide scoffed - loudly.
"Couldn't be. Sparkling her age would be far smaller and less developed. Even on the chance Starscream had managed to carry a sparkling to term, there's no way she could function as well as she can now. She even has an alt mode."
"Well, what about the disappearances? Do you think this might be linked to Starscream? Humans go missing, a femme shows up out of nowhere, barely-sparked, and refers to Autobots and Decepticons as Democrats and Republicans? Plus... did you catch what she said when Bumblebee asked her for her name? She almost replied with something else, and she mentioned her 'sparking' as a 'change'."
All eyes turned toward Mikaela, stunned.
"We need to get in contact with Magnesia," Optimus stated, horror creeping into his optics.
*~*~*
"I'm never going to get used to this…" Kavick muttered, holding still as Starscream directly connected with him and was uploading files into his CPU. "It's like something out of the Matrix… Just plug me in and download whatever I need to know into my brain, and suddenly I know things that would take me weeks or months to learn otherwise…"
Starscream scoffed derisively, withdrawing the portlink from Kavick's head. "It's just one of the many things that make you better than the weak little fleshling you once were."
"Ooh!" Shadowstrike, formerly known as Nicodemus, stepped forward with his white eyes glowing brightly. "Then you can teach me drunken boxing! I'd love to learn drunken boxing!"
Growling in irritation, Starscream brushed past the small androgynous mech. "I have no time for your stupid games, Shadowstrike. Be prepared – We'll be having visitors soon. You will all be on your best behavior, understood?"
"Visitors?" Magnesia leaned over from where she was perched atop a large stack of empty cages. "Other mechs?"
"My wingmates," Starscream lifted his chin arrogantly, casting his crimson gaze around the three sparklings. "Skywarp and Thundercracker. They answer to me, but you will answer to them. Anything they tell you to do you are to perform immediately and without question, as you should do with me." He scrutinized the group for a moment, then growled, "You will need the symbol of your alliance painted on your armor as well."
"The Decepticon sigil?" Shadowstrike put his hands on his hips. "The one that looks like an angry cat?"
"A mark you should wear proudly," Starscream snarled, glaring over his shoulder at the far smaller mech.
Shadowstrike put up his hands in surrender, optics wide. "Sorry, sir. Didn't mean to offend."
Mollified by the respectful title, Starscream turned to head out of the abandoned warehouse. Magnesia nimbly jumped off the stack of crates she'd been sitting on and made her way to the others. "What do you think they'll be like? Starscream said they were his wingmates… Maybe they're like him?"
"I hope not!" Shadowstrike muttered, folding his arms and shifting his weight to one leg. "One Starscream is enough…" Kavick grunted his agreement, but Magnesia frowned at the pair, bristling slightly.
"What's wrong with Starscream? I like him!"
"After what he did to us?" Kavick narrowed his amethyst optics at her, a low rumbling growl rising in his chest. "You're not developing Stockholm Syndrome, are you?"
Magnesia looked insulted, narrowing her cerulean optics. "What, so I'm expected to just hate him for trying to save his race? Personally I'm glad I met him, and I'm glad I'm here with him instead of being back where I used to be!" Spinning around, she headed out after Starscream, shaking her head in disbelief.
Shadowstrike and Kavick shared a look. "Definitely Stockholm," Shadowstrike muttered as Kavick shook his head slowly.
It didn't take Magnesia long before she located Starscream just outside the warehouse, climbing up onto the roof to stand beside him as he gazed up toward the stars. They stood in silence for several long moments, neither speaking nor looking at one another, until Magnesia let her form gently rest against Starscream's birdlike leg. He broke his gaze from the stars to look down at her with a slight frown, head tilted.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Magnesia turned her optics up to look at him, her cheek resting on his knee.
"Touch me. Whenever you are around me you can never seem to resist touching me. It's highly unnecessary."
Magnesia's eyes flared with embarrassment, gently withdrawing from his side. "I'm sorry… It just… It's comforting."
Starscream stared at her blankly for several long moments, his optics twitching as something shorted out briefly in his logic processors. He'd been called many, many things… but 'comforting' was definitely not one of them. "Are you malfunctioning?"
"Huh?" She blinked at him in confusion and worry. "I don't know… Am I?"
Heaving a sigh from his vents to cool his overworked central processing unit, Starscream kneeled down to her side, using one clawed hand to tilt her head. "Hold still…" Sliding a cable hook-up from his wrist, he gently inserted it into her neck and connected with her, scanning over her processor. A few moments later he withdrew with a grunt. "You're fine… Probably a human compulsion."
"Do your kind not touch?" Magnesia rubbed her neck port, trying to dispel the remaining tingle.
"Aside from trying to hurt or repair one another? No. Unless you're spark-bonded, but in general we just don't touch. Our metal isn't as sensitive as human flesh."
"Oh…" Folding her arms pensively, she looked up at him, head tilted. "So how do you show affection?"
Starscream scoffed. "By not attacking one another with the intent to kill?"
Magnesia stared at him in disbelief. "Is that how you were programmed? How the Decepticons were programmed? Just to hurt and kill others?"
"It has nothing to do with programming, foolish femme." Starscream was starting to get irritated by this point, growling lowly. "It's just the way Decepticons work. We're a violent, rowdy bunch by nature. We are natural-sparked warriors, unlike the Autobots, who are mostly made up of pacifists."
"I'm a pacifist," Magnesia pointed out timidly. "Shouldn't I be an Autobot then?"
It happened so quickly, all Magnesia could think to do was crouch down with her arms over her head and shriek as both Starscream's massive clawed hands slammed into the rooftop at her sides and he let out a roar of rage, crimson optics flaring brightly. She screamed again as his claws wrapped around her and he lifted her into the air, squeezing. Red warnings flashed across her mind as she felt her armor buckling beneath his strength, sparking at the joints as her metal flesh groaned and crumpled.
Starscream shook the femme and snarled at her, "No creation of mine will ever be Autobot! Do you understand me, Magnesia? I will sooner deactivate you than see you as one of them! Answer me! Do you understand me!?"
"Yes!" Magnesia gasped, crying out desperately, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"
~*~*~
"You have failed me yet again, Starscream…"
"I didn't… I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! Please, Lord Megatron! AAAAAAAUGH!"
~*~*~
Starscream stared down at Magnesia, watching the small femme hang limply in his grasp, mewling in terror, her bright blue eyes staring up at him pleadingly. Seconds ticked by, and finally he snapped out of his daze, setting her down on the ground as he crouched in front of her. "Hold still…" he muttered under his breath, his hand transforming into medical tools, beginning to repair the damage he'd done to his experiment.
Magnesia's vents were running overtime, and she couldn't quite seem to stop trembling even after her growled at her half-heartedly to stop. Wincing painfully as a suctioning tool popped out each of the dents in turn (it felt like someone prodding a bruise), the silence stretched on for several minutes before she whispered, "I'm sorry, Starscream… I didn't mean to make you angry… Please forgive me?"
"You're forgiven," he muttered absently, popping her joints back into place and unkinking damaged oil and lubricant lines. He didn't apologize for his gross lack of control… They were his creations, he could treat them however he pleased. When he'd finished, she surprised him by meekly crawling up into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and tucking her small face beneath his chin.
With a sigh, he placed one clawed hand at her back to hold her there as he slipped back inside, ignoring the amethyst optics staring at him with resentment. When he'd departed, Kavick turned to see Shadowstrike detaching himself from the darkness of the warehouse, slowly approaching him with a grim look on his androgynous features.
"We have to get out of here, Kavick… For her sake if nothing else," Shadowstrike murmured quietly. "We're not safe here."
"The moment an opportunity presents itself," Kavick muttered, "we will."
A/N - Looks like interest is growing in this fic. Hee... Makes me happy. Please review before you go!
Kitsune Swift - Hehe sshh! It's a secret. It's something that'll come out later in the story, I promise.
Shroxx - Thank you! Yeah, Starscream always struck me as having the potential to make an awesome mad scientist, and very possessive over his work. I'm glad you approve!
Starfire201 - Things are going to be heating up for ol' Screamer in the next chapter. I like sewing the seeds of discontent, even between the creations.
Jovianokamigirl - Yeah, but you can't really blame 'em. Starscream's not the nicest person. :)
WingsofStardust - Thank you! I'm glad I was able to make something unique. It's not the easiest thing to do in a multiple-universe fandom. o.o
UndeadHarlot - I think it's adorable too. :) It's fun showing glimpses of Starscream's inner softie... right before he goes back to being a badass.
