A/N: I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting too long. It's a big chapter and it took a few rewrites to get everything set up for the next few chapters. I tried to develop a handful of the main players and play into some of their fears about being alone, it will make sense as the story progresses. I promise. I had wanted to get this done for Christmas because it coincided with something really cool that happened on Christmas Eve this year. I'm not talking about Santa or Jesus, but there is a few mentions of it in here. And it was really cool to see.
I have always been a firm believer that there is a deeper relationship between Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker...not a slashy one and not because all three are fliers or Decepticons. In the universe where my stories take place, they've been best friends since they were sparklings. I'd go on about this, but I'd be giving away parts of the story that I don't want to, yet. I am going to draw on the odd relationship set up in my first story 'Thrown to the Front Lines' between Rachel and Skywarp. (In case you are new to the story or just forgot, when Rachel was kidnapped by the Seekers she was stuck with Starscream and takes an instant dislike to him, insulting him a few times before finally telling him to 'shove it up his afterburner' and throwing up inside his cockpit 'emptying her fuel tank'. Skywarp finds this hilarious and proceeds to repeat the 'shove it up your after burner' bit over and over, and he is now relegated to carting her around the Decepticon base. She's made to believe that Jazz is dead and she begs Skywarp to kill her, which he refuses to do, but he does promise that if she behaves for him, he'll take good care of her -I mention this joke in here- and in the end, she saves his life twice.) I had not planned for anything to come from that interaction, but when I got the idea for 'Countdown' it opened up some interesting options.
As always, constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms, reviews given much love and let me know if you like what you're reading. It's hard to learn from mistakes if you don't realize you're making them.
Story Arc 6
Chapter 7 – Alone
Thundercracker strolled out of the Decepticon headquarters purposefully, only opening the Seeker's private comlink the instant he was outside and clear of Shockwave. "Hey, 'Screamer? You're not going to like this, but Soundwave is still functioning."
He received no response and frowned. "Hey, 'Screamer? Are you there?"
There was still no answer and the dark blue Seeker groaned, Megatron had probably taken out his aggressions on the Air Commander the moment he found out about Soundwave. "'Warp? Are you with Starscream?"
There was no answer and Thundercracker cursed. Either they were currently in a fight or Megatron had used them as punching bags and the Seeker was hoping it was the former. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it right now; he had his orders and a timeframe in which he had to get everything completed. But he was going to run a personal errand first. He could go it alone for a while.
From the main gates to the headquarters, he looked out over Iacon letting the sights and sounds of his home world wash over him. He could feel the dirt from Earth finally cycle out of his intakes and he shuttered his optics. The tension from being cooped up on the Nemesis while stuck on the backwater planet melted away. He was home.
There was the low thrum of familiar engines and his optics snapped open, instantly drawn to the sky above him - the flier patrols were just starting their nighttime sweeps. He watched them as they gracefully circled around the Decepticon base and headed back across the city. Primus, he loved to watch the flier patrols at night when he was a youngling. For as long as he could remember he wanted nothing more in life than to fly, to be able to glide along the midnight blue skies and dance freely among the stars. The dark blue Seeker smiled as the patrol swung back around towards him. Even if he wasn't going to have much time on Cybertron he was going to enjoy a few small pleasures. He scanned the first flier that arced through the sky above him, letting his body take on the original flier form that he was given. The bulky alternate form of the Earth jet melted like quicksilver off his body, transforming his wings into the longer, sleeker shape that would allow him to slice through the atmosphere with little wind resistance. He admired his wings briefly with a spreading grin. Slag trying to blend in on Earth, he wasn't going to change back into that primitive excuse for a flier that he had been forced to take.
Now that he felt more at ease, Thundercracker leapt into the air and transformed, smiling inwardly as his body folded properly into the perfect form of the elite Cybertronian flier. Once in the clear skies that shook out the final clogs of Earth's foul and dusty air, he soared over to Iacon's East side circling overhead and frowned. So much of the city was still in disrepair. It seemed like time stood still for Iacon, keeping it in the same state it had been since the last time he had been there. There was so much destruction in the area that he almost missed the building he was searching for. He transformed and glided down to the grim obsidian colored building. He looked at the entrance momentarily before straightening his shoulders and pushing the wide double doors open.
It would have been pitch black on the inside if it weren't for the numerous braziers that held the small flames that would burn for eternity. Thundercracker moved reverently through the aisles, passing silently by monuments draped by dusty tri-colored flag of Iacon. This was the final resting place of many who had died in the war. The small glowing bowls, holopictures and cubes of stale energon were lovingly placed next to the names of those who occupied the grottos.
Towards the back of the sepulcher, the dark blue Seeker stopped and watched the shifting holopictures that were silhouetted by the gentle flicker from the braziers eternal flame. The first picture was of a dark blue flier that pierced the sky with its sleek form, deftly executing aerial maneuvers at the speed of sound before taking up the leading position in a tight diamond formation. The next picture was the sleek flier transforming gracefully and landing on a raised platform with important looking mechs smiling and eager to shake the flier's hand. She vigorously shook each offered to her, finally standing tall and proud as a highly decorated military flier approached. The military flier placed an ultramarine blue sash that was covered in metals over her right shoulder and handed her the tri-colored flag of Iacon before saluting her sharply. The next picture was of the flier stroking the cheek of a sleeping blue sparkling that was cradled in her arms. She looked up and smiled proudly, shifting the sparkling gently to show him off for the picture. The next picture was of the flier laughing as she attempted to hold on to two over exuberant younglings, one dark blue and the other black and purple, as they tried to jump into the air.
Next to the holopictures sat an elaborately carved crystal flower that caught the light from the brazier and sent silvery sparkles across the memorial. Thundercracker subspaced two energon cubes and set them carefully beside the crystal before taking a seat on the ground next to memorial. Astro-seconds passed and the silence pressed down on his audio receptors. He laced his fingers together and looked at the floor in front of him, "I know it's been awhile since I was last here to visit you…"
--
The shining blue city of Iacon spread out below him. A rebuilt Iacon, and by the looks of the landscape, he must have been close to the Academy. The moons were new and the lunar outposts sparkled like diamonds on the dark satellites. With a loud whoop, he shot forwards and barrel rolled through the clear night sky.
"What do you think you're doing, 'Warp?" Starscream's voice came over the comlink a nano-second before the red and dark blue Seekers appeared. For once in a long time, Starscream did not sound his usual snarky self.
"Enjoying life, glitch mice." He couldn't hide his inward mischievous grin. "How about we stop for a drink? I know a place near the Academy that serves the best high-grade. 'Screamer's treat!"
"My treat? Why don't you pay for once?" The red Seeker sounded mildly perturbed.
"Because you've got the cushy job and you get paid more than we- hey, do you see that?" He stopped in midair and transformed, pointing out the odd sight that was spreading across the midnight skies.
Starscream and Thundercracker stopped as well. The red Seeker frowned and put his hands on his hips, "That's funny… There isn't supposed to be major planetary conjunction for another 250 vorns."
The three hovered side by side and watched as the planets lit by Cybertron's blue star moved into position for the conjunction that had not been predicted. As the last planet slipped into perfect alignment, the light from Cybertron's blue sun began to pulse and threw an arcing solar flare across the star system. The air that surrounded the Seekers heated quickly and smelled of burning ozone as the solar winds punctured the layers of atmosphere that surrounded the planet. The blue sun started to spin furiously ejecting its stellar matter from both of its magnetic poles in blinding flashes of pulsing light. An immense black object appeared above the doomed sun, drawing in the solar flares as it sucked away its outer layers. Within minutes the dying blue star was dark, its core now cold and empty, leaving just the misshapen metal remnants from its final fusion burn behind. The object was as black as the Pit and the three horrified Seekers stared helplessly into its giant maw as the gravitational well caught them.
He could hear metal being ripped, and the agonized shrieks of Starscream and Thundercracker filled his audio receptors. The sounds of popping wires and metal being crushed continued long after their screams had stopped. Unanswered questions about how this had happened seared his processors: they were supposed to do something to stop all of this…
He could feel the armor on his legs being sheered away, exposing the delicate wiring underneath and crushing the vital energon lines. He gasped in pain, but the forces at work stole his breath and forced energon up from his systems and into his mouth. His optics started to crack and he could feel his body start to disintegrate around him. Why? What did they do wrong?
Skywarp's optics flared to life and he tried to bring his weapon systems online, the panic from the vision forcing his systems to draw air rapidly through his intakes. The orange walls of the infirmary around him gave him a quick reality check, and he was almost grateful that he was with the Autobots and not in that abyss. He relaxed on the table letting his head fall back with a dull thud with a small sigh of relief.
Her light footsteps could be heard running up the small ramp that allowed her access to the table and Rachel appeared to his left. "Are you okay, Skywarp? You nearly jumped off the table."
He looked at the young woman and the concern in her face before snorting and turning away. "I'm fine."
She didn't move and he could feel her gaze. He turned back to glare at her in annoyance. "What?"
"I'm checking your systems."
He raised an optic ridge at her. "Without the monitor?"
She smirked at him. "You'd be surprised." She kept looking at him, as if she was looking through him. "Your air intakes are drawing in sixty percent more than they should be at rest and your fuel pump has increased the flow of energon to your system dramatically." She pulled out a data pad and started to take notes. "Did you have a panic attack from being enclosed for so long?"
"Pfft. No." He looked up at the ceiling. "I'm not like 'Screamer or TC who get that claustrophobic slag."
She patted his arm, "Did you have a bad dream?"
"A what?"
"A bad dream. You know, a nightmare."
He had no idea what a 'nightmare' was, but it sounded like something a weak Autobot would have. "No."
"Then what upset you?" She crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze now on his face.
He glared at the ceiling. "Nothing."
"You're lying."
He snorted. "Whatever."
She sighed and moved over to the monitors. "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it."
--
I opened the med bay doors with my morning cup of coffee in hand to find them leaning on a nearby table and glowering at Ratchet and the unconscious Seeker. Identical azure optics, narrow with barely hidden ire radiating from the pair. Shutting the door softly, I crept quietly across the floor and set my coffee on my desk, watching the strange and unusual interaction. The entire scene was eerie with the Twins being deadly silent and Ratchet not throwing whatever wasn't welded down at them.
Ratchet was muttering to himself as he replaced some of the seriously damaged energon lines in the mech's legs. Even with Skywarp being stable and in deep stasis there was an ever-growing puddle of energon and oil surrounding the table. The gentle medic suddenly swore and started to rummage around in his subspace. Not finding what he needed, he started towards the med bay shelves and then spotted me standing there quietly. "When did you arrive? Never mind. I need your hands to help me thread some of these lines."
I headed up the small ramp that had been created so I could gain easy access to the tops of the tables and stood ready for Ratchet to return with a spool of the finest energon line I had ever seen. In all my work on the Autobots, I had never seen any lines this thin - it was barely wider than my hand and it felt almost too delicate to be used in a warrior's body. I looked up at Ratchet as he handed me about twenty feet of the line, "Where does this go?"
"You see this here?" He outlined a gray clump of wires that ran down one of Skywarp's legs.
"The lumpy wires?"
It sounded like Ratchet snorted, "That's not wiring. It's melted lines that bubbled in the heat and were clogged with soot and ash. I need you to carefully lace the new line along the melted one."
Nodding, I looped the line around my arm to make it easier to thread while Ratchet started to work on some of the larger lines in the Seeker's other leg. The line felt dusty and I couldn't help but be curious as to why I hadn't seen it being used in Autobot anatomy.
The medic groused, "Because it isn't. He doesn't have standard flier anatomy and Wheeljack and I haven't found anything on Seeker builds in Teletraan 1's databases."
"This line seems too delicate to be useful in a fighter, don't you think?" I threaded the line along a newly replaced knee joint, shuddering when the damaged line turned into flaky ash when I bumped it.
"It's got to be dainty because he isn't much of a fighter." The red warrior behind us growled.
"He isn't much of anything, not even spare parts." The golden warrior agreed. "Why are you wasting your time repairing him, Ratchet? We'll just frag him in the next battle."
The grouchy medic turned and scowled at his self-appointed and unwanted bodyguards. "We may be in a war but we'd be no better than the Decepticons if we don't help him." Ratchet motioned to Skywarp's inert form with his head. "Megatron left him behind to die, he threw him away. Decepticon or not, I'll be slagged if I just let a mech in need die." He motioned with an energon and oil covered hand for the Twins to leave, splattering them and the area around with the vital fluids. "Now get out. Go bug Prowl or something. I don't want to see you back in here again."
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker stood their ground and glared back at Ratchet.
"Not while he's here."
Ratchet stomped through the puddles of energon and roughly grabbed the pair by a shoulder, forcibly herding them towards the doors. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough for you two slaggin' idiots. GET OUT."
After a few interesting curses in Cybertronian about their creator's lineage, Ratchet had gotten the Twins to out of the med bay and locked the doors behind them. I quickly turned back to my work as Ratchet tramped back across the room and frowned at the amount of energon on the floor. He adjusted the fluid drip that was replenishing the Seeker with energon and picked up another clamp and more of the larger lines. "Now, where were we…"
--
He groaned as he came out of recharge. That Pit-infernal noise that the femme called music was playing again and he could hear her humming along to it as she worked. "You're trying to torture me with this slag playing all the time, aren't you?"
"Not quite. I'm testing a hypothesis that if we subject you to enough happy stimulus that you'll give up your evil ways and become an Autobot." She laughed evilly. "I call it 'The Smiling Seeker Project'."
He groaned again and wished he could shut off his audio receptors. "I'd rather if you'd just send me into permanent stasis."
He could hear her climb the small set of stairs that led to his table. "Now what fun would there be in that?" She started to check the cables and sensors that were hooked up to him. He flinched as her voice took on that annoying singsong tone. "So how is the patient today?"
He gave a martyred sigh. "You ask that stupid question every slaggin' day. How do you think I am? I'm stuck in the Autobot base with all that slag sticking out of me," He motioned toward the monitor. "I can't access most of my systems and I have no idea how 'Screamer and TC are."
She smirked at him. "I would have thought being away Starscream would be a vacation."
He just snorted. "Better to be around him than all these slaggin' Autobots."
She gave him a kick in the side that actually hurt. "Hey!"
She wrote something down on the data pad. "Good to see you're pain receptors are starting to come back online. Now shall I just leave them on, or shall I be nice to the giant snarky robot and turn them off before he realizes just how lucky he is that the 'slagging Autobots' found him and are helping him recover?"
"Whatever."
"Good."
She pressed a few buttons on the monitor and then wrote the results on the data pad; he watched her intently. "What are you doing, femme?"
She didn't even look at him as she punched a few more buttons. "Checking to see how much work it would take to give you an attitude adjustment."
He snorted. "Aren't we witty today?"
At that she looked up and smiled at him. "If you're a good little Seeker, maybe Optimus will let me keep you as a pet."
"Oh, ha ha ha." He dropped his head back on the table and sighed. "So how long until they work out the prisoner transfer?"
"Prisoner transfer?" She had gone back to writing on the data pad.
He huffed sarcastically, "Yeah, a prisoner transfer. You know, where Megatron gives a prisoner to the Autobots and I get sent back to the Decepticons."
She gave him a very serious look. "No one has contacted the Autobots as far as I know."
"Did they try to contact the Decepticons?"
She went back to writing on the data pad. "I'm sure they tried. And you're not a prisoner - you're a patient here. As for a prisoner exchange, everyone is accounted for here."
He turned to look at her and glared. "Patient my aft. Your precious Autoslags are holding on to me so they can get information from me. Well that ain't going to happen. Pfft. They probably didn't even try to contact Starscream, femme."
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Oh, is that so? Then why are we trying to get your sorry carcass back in working order? Why did we bother to help you after the explosion? Why am I wasting my time trying to help your sorry, pathetic, whiney self then? Hmmm, mister smarty aft?"
He lifted himself up on one elbow to look at her, the cables attaching him to the monitor pulling the console closer to the exam table. "And why don't I just squish you now and shoot that device that keeps playing that Pit-infernal slag you call music?"
She didn't flinch or even back down, meeting his optics with a cool glare. "Because you would have done it long before now if you really wanted to. And..." She took her hands off her hips and tried to push the monitor back into place. "You'd be lucky to get up off the table without passing out cold."
"Heh, you really think a little pain would deter me?"
She looked seriously at him. "Are you just acting like the tough guy because you're really freaked out, or do you not get just how badly damaged you are, Skywarp?"
"I'm not freaked out." He forced himself up into a sitting position and got a good look at his legs. Most of his glossy black and purple armor was gone, stripped down to a mangled mass of wires and metal, and he was missing most of his right leg below his knee. He quickly checked over the rest of his body. His arms were whole but lacerated, and his body was mangled with large gaping holes that revealed parts of his internal workings that he never wanted to see. He ran his fingers around the side with the wires that attached him to the monitors; it hadn't been destroyed but opened to give access to his internal systems. He felt up his neck, which was whole, and his head felt like it was in one piece. He smirked wryly; Starscream would have had some smart-aft comment for that. His shoulders were damaged and one intake was crushed, but the other was whole and working. His hands continued back to his wings... or where his wings should have been.
He turned his head around quickly, first to his left then to his right. His wings... weren't there. "What the slag?" He looked down at the femme. "WHAT DID YOU SLAGGIN' DO TO ME?!" He grabbed her roughly off the table and brought her up close to his snarling face. "WHAT DID YOU AND THAT SLAGGIN' BUTCHER DO TO MY WINGS?! YOU HAVE ONE NANO-SECOND TO ANSWER BEFORE I SQUISH YOU INTO PASTE!"
She squirmed in his grasp trying to get her arms free, but he only increased his grip. "WELL?!"
"Look right..." She said breathlessly. "Second table over."
He glared at her then turned to look. It took a moment before it registered that his wings were lying on the exam table. Or what was left of his wings. "What the slag..." His grip loosened on her and she gasped for breath.
"Ratchet was able to find them, but they were so damaged." She coughed.
He turned to look at her, shock spreading across his face.
She coughed again and he opened his hand letting her sit in his palm while she gasped for air. "They had been torn completely off."
"Torn off...?"
She nodded quickly. "Your back caught the explosion. Most of your body armor was ripped off your back and it shredded your wings. Ratchet had to seal up parts of your back with spare metal to keep some of your systems inside your body."
He let her slip off his hand and he sunk back to the table, his head dropping back with a dull thud. She stood up on shaky legs and came over to his head. "Skywarp?"
He turned to look at her, cold fear filling his spark. His wings were gone. Gone. He was grounded.
She put a trembling hand on his shoulder. "We're going to rebuild them, but there doesn't seem to be any information on Seeker physiology in Teletraan 1's or the Science Academy's database. Wheeljack thinks he can reverse engineer them from the pieces we brought back."
He just stared at her.
"Skywarp?"
The monitors next to them started to beep frantically. She looked the screens and then back to him, her eyes widening in panic. "Aw crap. Stay with me, Skywarp. Focus on my voice, please."
He barely heard her scream for Ratchet as reality started to swim and he passed out.
--
Jazz glared at the immobile black and purple figure on the far table. He had heard about the incident between Rachel and the Seeker over his wings and he had been in forced recharge ever since.
"I don't like y' spendin' so much time in here wit' him, Rach."
I looked up at Jazz. "He's a patient here and needs someone to monitor him, and other than him finding out about his wings, he's been relatively good. Mouthy and snarky, but good."
"I jus'... I'm worried about y'. He's dangerous."
"His weapon systems are offline and he can barely move. Even if he tried to get off the table, I'd hear him far in advance before he could even attempt to hurt me or anyone else."
"That's not what I mean, Rachel." Jazz crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll talk t' Ratchet and have him give y' another job while he's still here."
I just looked at him confused. "Ratchet needs me to watch over 'Warp while he's busy with constructing an armature for-"
"He can let y' work on the armature then."
I put my hands on my hips and leveled my gaze at Jazz. "And just how am I supposed to build an armature and body armor that's ten times my size? I can't even pick up the smaller pieces."
"Then y'll have t' go work wit' 'Jack."
"But 'Jack has been working in here, too… He's monitoring the new spark chamber and trying to reverse engineer 'Warp's wings. They need me to watch him."
He pursed his lips. "I jus' don' like him near y'. Y're too friendly wit' him, Rachel. He's a Decepticon and a killer. He doesn't deserve y' or anyone else bein' friendly wit' him."
I blinked. "What's wrong with being friendly with him? He's lonely here and no one talks to him or interacts with him other than give dirty looks. He's stuck in the med bay alone, and we're lucky he hasn't freaked out about being grounded and being stuck inside for this long. We don't need him panicking. And since he can't to communicate with the outside, he doesn't even know if his wingmates are still alive and that's really bothering him."
"See what I mean? Y're too friendly wit' him." Jazz turned back to glare at the sleeping Seeker. "Y're spendin' t' much time in here wit' him."
I frowned, "You're jealous of me spending time with 'Warp?"
"I am not jealous." Jazz frowned back at me defensively. "And why do y' keep callin' him that? Y' sound like y've been friends for eons."
I was taken aback by this. "You really are jealous."
"No, I'm not."
"Then what is all this about?" I held my hands out emphatically. "You didn't act this way when Cliffjumper was in here and he was even more dangerous."
He glared at me. "It's not the same thing, Rach. And I'm not jealous."
I sighed at his glare. I still didn't see what was wrong with me taking care of the fallen Seeker and I wanted this silly argument to end. "He's a patient in here, Jazz. Ratchet and Wheeljack are busy and someone has to watch over him, and that happens to be me."
His glare deepened. "Y're too friendly towards him, Rach."
I didn't understand why he was being irrational. "So what if I'm friendly with 'Warp?"
"Will y' stop callin' him that?"
I sighed again. "Fine. So what if I'm friendly with Skywarp? Is that better?"
"No. I don't want y' t' spend so much time in here wit' him."
This whole situation was getting out of hand. "Jazz. I work in here. I'm not spending any more time than Ratchet needs me to be in here. Why are you acting like you're jealous?"
"I'm not jealous. Y' just don't understand what he is, Rachel." The singsong quality of his voice disappeared completely.
I crossed my arms over my chest, "Yes, I do understand what he is. He's a Decepticon. He's been your enemy for millions of years and now you're acting as irrational as the Twins are about why we're helping him."
"He's a murderer and he's killed a lot of Autobots, some of them were my good friends."
"And you haven't killed anyone?"
"That's different."
"No, it's not, Jazz. You're both in a war and on opposite sides. People die in wars."
He raised his voice at me. "Slag it! That's not the point here, Rachel." I stepped back at his swearing.
"Then what is the point? Why are you acting like this, Jazz? I don't understand why you're so upset about me being friendly with Skywarp. Would you rather I be mean to him?" I tried to keep my voice level. "I'm just trying to do my job. I'm not around him more than I would be anyone else and he's in recharge when we work on him. It's not like we're sitting here chatting all day to each other. And I don't spend extra time in here unless Ratchet asks me to stay, so you have nothing to worry about."
"I'm not jealous, Rachel. There is a lot t' worry about wit' him here and y're not takin' this seriously!" He angrily pivoted and stormed out of the med bay leaving me standing there stunned and confused.
I just stared at the door, trying to digest all that had just occurred. I turned and walked back to my desk slowly, a million thoughts running through my brain at the speed of light. The conversation had started out somewhat innocently, but from there to now... I sat down heavily, leaning my elbows on the desktop and staring at the door again. If he wasn't jealous, then why was he acting like this? He had never voiced any concerns about me spending time around the other mechs or staying late in the med bay before. Ratchet had disarmed Skywarp before he was brought into the Ark, so I wasn't in danger from his weapons. If there had been any time that I was in danger in the med bay, it was when Cliffjumper was in here. As for being friendly, I tried to be friendly with everyone. Maybe I had been friendlier to Skywarp since he's alone. I looked over at the table that held the recharging Seeker; some of the other mechs had razzed me about Skywarp asking Optimus to tell me 'hiya'. I had run-ins previously with him during the battle for Portland and I did save his life while I was held captive at the Decepticon base. And then there was the bit where he was going to ask Megatron if he could keep me as a 'pet' because I told Starscream to 'shove it up his afterburner' and then got violently ill while inside his cockpit.
I turned to stare at the doors again. Why was Jazz so upset over this? The whole thing did not make any sense and it was a silly argument. I'm very well aware that the Seeker is a Decepticon, a 'bad guy', and would under normal circumstances be a very dangerous threat. But these weren't normal circumstances and Skywarp was as harmless as a baby. Granted he's a thirty-foot tall baby, but still. And if the tables were turned and it was a wounded Autobot that had been left back at the ruins, the mech would have been executed on the spot, or maybe interrogated and then executed, because that's how Decepticons are. They can't be trusted.
Was Jazz worried that I'd end up trusting Skywarp because I was friendly to him? I shook my head and frowned. After going through what I did at the Decepticon base there would be a snowball fight in hell before I'd believe anything a Decepticon said.
A sick feeling started to creep into my stomach: if he was upset over me being friendly, and spending time in the med bay, and me not 'understanding' what Skywarp was… maybe it wasn't me trusting the Seeker that upset him. Maybe he didn't trust me.
I started to panic as I flipped open my wireless Teletraan 1 and opened a radio link to him. "Jazz? I'm sorry I didn't understand why you're upset. Will you come back and we can talk-" There was an audible click and low static came over the line.
He turned his radio link off.
My throat tightened immediately and I tried to locate his whereabouts in the Ark using Teletraan 1. There was no sign of him inside the Ark, but it was logged that he left.
I pushed the wireless away from me.
Did this mean he really didn't trust me? Was that why he was angry enough to storm out and turn off his radio leaving me alone with my worst fears? Tears welled up in my eyes and I dropped my head into my hands. I didn't know what to do to fix this. Just the thought that he didn't trust me hurt. And as that evil thought wormed its way down into my heart the first of many pain-wracked sobs broke through.
--
"You're not going to turn your annoying music on today?"
I could feel his optics on me, but I didn't look at him. I focused solely on the monitor and took my notes. "No. I'm not."
Skywarp tilted his head and raised an optic ridge. "Why not?"
"It's not conducive for a proper work environment."
"Yeah, but it made me feel better. Turn it on." He smirked mischievously.
"No. Now lie still, I need to finish these tests." I still didn't look at him.
"Geez femme, who lubricated in your energon this morning."
I sighed and put my data pad down. "You did. Now lie still."
He was smirking again. "You should get me some."
"Get you some of what? Energon that has been lubricated in?"
"No." There was an evil mischievous tone to his voice. "That energon you drink."
I started to take the readings on his system recovery. "You're too hyper already. You don't need caffeine."
He crossed his arms over his cockpit and feigned being hurt. "What's wrong with being hyper?" He pointed towards my desk. "You already have some here, you should at least share."
I didn't answer him as I started to go over the information from his daily examinations. He was thankfully quiet for a bit, but he kept staring at me as if I would get unnerved by it.
He uncrossed his arms and sighed exasperatedly. "Okay, femme. What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing is wrong with me." I still didn't look at him as I typed.
"Slag if there isn't something wrong. You're acting like Soundwave on a good day."
At that I looked up and glared at him, still not saying anything.
"Oooh, that got a reaction." He smirked. "So you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"You're a wounded birdie who's bored and is looking for attention." I went back to work. "Go into recharge so your body can finish your repairs and you can get out of here."
That shut him up and he just looked at me for a few minutes. "Okay, something is seriously wrong with you to make you to act like this."
The med bay doors opened announcing someone entering, and just by the sound of his ramped up internal systems I knew who it was. It had been three days since he stormed out - I assumed he needed time to cool down so I hadn't tried to contact him since. Now, he was standing just inside the doors and those icy cold fingers of panic griped my stomach. I was scared. I was scared of what he was going to say, if he said anything at all. Was he going to tell me that he didn't trust me and that everything was over? With all the worrying I had done the past few days and all the scenarios I had played out in my head, I didn't want to know what he would say.
With fear coming off me in waves, I panicked and did the first thing that my instincts told me to do: flee. I grabbed a handful of data pads and yelled shakily into the other room. "Ratchet! I'm going to go help 'Jack with inventory. Page me if you need me." My heart was in my throat as I tried to walk calmly out of the med bay. I didn't even look up at him.
I got the distinct sensation that he was staring at my back, but I didn't stop or turn around. I didn't want to know anymore if he didn't trust me. It was too painful to think about and I just wanted to be alone.
--
He smirked as Rachel didn't acknowledge the Autobot, enjoying the look of distress on his face as the door slid closed. He leaned forward on the table. Oh, this was going to be an interesting day. "So that's what's got the femme so upset. She catch you interfacing with someone else?"
The glare he received was priceless as the Autobot's face contorted into rage and he stormed over to him. The mech grabbed him roughly by the throat and leaned in close. "She's got a name, Decepticon."
"Yeah, and so do I, Autobot." Oh, this was going to be real fun. "So what did you do? Tell her that you're through your squishy phase and she should go back to the human city?"
The hand tightened around his throat as the Autobot spat at him. "You stay away from her, or you'll be missing more that just your wings."
"Hard to stay away from her since I'm a semi-permanent fixture and she works in here."
"Stay away from her."
The smirk spread across Skywarp's face. "You're a little slow on the uptake today, aren't you?"
A rifle was subspaced and pressed under his chin. "Do you understand me now, Decepticon?"
His optics slid to the other side of the room and the smirk turned into a malicious grin. "So you fix me up just to execute me in front of your medic? I'd bet a months worth of energon rations that he'd get slaggin' mad after he's worked so hard to put me back together."
"And he's right. I would get slaggin' mad. Did you need something, Jazz?" Ratchet stood in the middle of the room, his arms across his chest plate and glaring daggers at the back of the Saboteur.
The rifle was subspaced, but Jazz still held on to Skywarp's throat. The Seeker just grinned, knowing that the Autobot had been caught red handed.
"Did you need something, Jazz?"
"Naw, Doc. Just checkin' up on our patient." He let go of Skywarp's throat.
"Good, because if I see you with your weapon drawn in here again, there had better be a rush of the horde, Megatron and the Unmaker himself banging at the door. Got it?"
"Yeah, Ratchet. I was jus' leavin' anyways." He turned around and headed for the door, but Skywarp couldn't let him go without a parting comment.
"I'll tell Rachel that you came by to see me." The Seeker grinned cheekily.
Jazz stopped at the door, open and closing his fists rapidly before he punched the door panel and exited quickly.
Ratchet watched him leave and shook his head. He walked over to Skywarp and checked him for damage. "You shouldn't rile him up like that."
The Seeker eyed the medic. "Hey! He came in here that way. I actually didn't have to do anything. The femme left without a word to him and he got in my face about it."
Ratchet stopped the examination and looked Skywarp directly in the optics. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying trigger happy there walked in and she picked up her stuff and left." He smirked. "She didn't even look at him."
Ratchet regarded him for another moment before going to the monitor. "You've had enough excitement for today. Time for recharge."
He pressed a few buttons and caught Skywarp just as his optics flicked off and his body went slack on the exam table.
--
The room he was in with Starscream and Thundercracker was filled with mechs, many he didn't know, and they were...having a party?
Tables ran along one side of the hall filled with crystal cubes of the finest high-grade he had ever seen, and when he looked down he saw that he held one filled with the shimmering gold liquid. He smirked as he lifted it to his lips and took a swig. It went down like sweet ambrosia and he sighed. This is going to be one excellent party.
And then he saw something that made him choke. What the slag?
Optimus Prime was walking up to them and Starscream... he was smiling at the Autobot? He nearly dropped the cube he was holding as he tried to bring his Vulcan cannons online, but he couldn't. They weren't there. He checked for his heat-seeking missiles. They were gone too. What in the Pit?
He looked up at his wingmates and gasped. Starscream was still smiling, though not in his snarky way, and he was shaking Optimus Prime's hand. Thundercracker was smiling, too. Smiling like he did when they were younger and weren't burdened with everything. He looked around quickly. Either he had traveled to a parallel universe or he was having one slagging Pit of a hallucination. Thundercracker looked at him strangely. "You okay, 'Warp? You look like you've seen the Unmaker."
"TC. What's going on here?" He turned to look at friend and noticed that the muted purple Decepticon insignias were missing from his body. "TC?" He pointed at his friend's wing with a shaky hand. Why was his hand shaking? "Where's the...?"
"You've had too much high-grade already? When did you become such a lightweight?"
"It's not the high-grade, TC. What the slag is going on here?"
Starscream and Optimus were now looking at him. "Don't you remember?"
"Let me get Ratchet for you, Skywarp. You're looking unwell." The Autobot leader waved the grouchy medic over and he tried to back away from all of them.
"'Warp? What's wrong?" Starscream was looking at him worriedly. His jaw dropped at that. There was actual concern in his optics.
He looked between his two best friends like they had gone completely insane. "Where are my weapons? Why are we here and why the slag are you two smiling like sparklings when we're in a room full of Autobots?!"
The energon cube was taken away and Thundercracker and Starscream had moved to his sides, gently taking his arms and leading him towards a table. "I can't believe you're already overcharged. We just got here."
There were explosions outside and he ducked, cursing that he didn't have his weapons. Yet, no one seemed to mind the explosions. Instead of everyone around them pulling out weapons and diving for cover people moved to one side of the building to look at...fireworks?
Ratchet was now coming towards him, but he looked different. He stared at the Autobot for a few moments before it sunk in. He didn't have the Autobot insignia on. He looked at Optimus Prime and noticed that he didn't either. This wasn't right at all. Something was really wrong here and he tried to wrench free of his wingmates grasp. "Let go of me!"
There was another explosion, but this time it wasn't fireworks. This time it shook the very foundation of the building. Everyone's attention was drawn to the other side of the hall and there were loud gasps of horror. Then people started to scream and flee in panic.
It had happened.
The planets had aligned and it was opening again. Starscream and Thundercracker had let him go and all three of them shared frightened glances. They had failed.
That's when he heard her scream. He could barely see her in the crowd of rushing mechs, her arms over her head as the others bolted past her, nearly stepping on her.
Starscream pulled a gun from subspace and shot out the window, sending glass in every direction. He knew they had to get out of there and quickly, but he heard her scream again and he stopped to look back.
"'WARP! COME ON! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!"
He ran over to her, scooping the femme up in his hands before running after his friends. They were already outside and in the air, quickly leaving the planet's atmosphere. He leapt into the sky after them and quickly tucked her safely into his cockpit, making sure she was secure as he struggled to catch up with the others. She was screaming about leaving that Autobot behind as he struggled to gain altitude.
"We have to get out of here, Rachel!" Even his voice sounded strained over the roar of his engines as he over taxed them.
"What about Jazz!?"
"No time for that! We have to get out of here!"
His optics snapped open and he was cycling air quickly through his intakes. He could still feel the strain from his overtaxed engines and every micrometer of his body felt on edge. The orange titanium ceiling stared back at him as he calmed his systems down. Even in a forced recharge, he couldn't get away from whatever that was.
He could hear her light footsteps as she ran up the ramp to him. "Skywarp, are you okay?"
He fixed his optics on the ceiling and set his jaw. He didn't want to seem weak, but this was getting ridiculous. Was getting a full and peaceful recharge too much to ask for? He really wished Starscream was around. He'd get taunted and teased by the snarky Seeker, but at least he'd get a straight answer from him about what was going on. But Starscream and Thundercracker weren't around - he was surrounded by slagging Autobots and the femme.
Skywarp sat up and leaned on an elbow, glaring at the femme. "What exactly is a 'nightmare'?"
--
Sky spy picked up heavy Decepticon activity in the coastal waters of Washington; they were on an energon raid and attacking three oil tankers. Even with one of the Decepticons best fighters held in their medical bay, this wasn't going to be an easy fight for the Autobots over the water. The status of the other two Seekers was unknown - neither had been present at any of the subsequent battles since the fight at the ruins.
Luckily, Jetfire was close by to give aerial support and only a handful of mechs were out on patrol. Optimus Prime called out to everyone available who had hydrofoils to rendezvous outside the Ark and within minutes a growing group of mechs capable for travel and battle on the water were lined up and ready to fight. While most were making last minute weapon checks and listening to Prowl giving orders for the battle plan, Jazz kept watch on the entrance of the Ark.
Ratchet stood outside to watch the group leave like he always did when not going to the fight himself. He was a firm believer that if he watched the group all leave in one piece and alive, then they'd come back alive, even if they were in pieces. And Rachel had taken up that tradition of watching them leave, always with a special goodbye for him with a promise that he would come back to her alive, but today Ratchet stood alone.
He sighed. He knew he shouldn't have gotten so angry with her, and storming out and leaving her confused did not help the situation. He had no reason to doubt her and it was a stupid argument they had over the idiot Seeker. He hoped she'd come see him off today, but she had been avoiding him. The past few days, she had stayed close to Wheeljack and Ratchet from the start of her shift to the end, then secluded herself in her room the rest of the time.
Jazz turned and organized the mechs, getting them onboard Jetfire and confirming the last details of Prowl's battle plan, but he was distracted. How could he not be? He had gotten so used to her being there and seeing him off…
As he boarded Jetfire with Prowl and Optimus, Jazz felt the need to look back at the Ark again. He turned just in time to see Rachel step out from behind the grouchy medic's sturdy legs. Her sad and tear rimmed eyes locked with his visor and his spark ached painfully for making her cry. He fought the urge to run to her and sweep her up in his arms, but it was too late for a goodbye and Jetfire's cargo bay door started to close. Jazz quickly pointed to himself, then drew a heart in the air with his fingers, and then pointed to her.
His message was well received; she managed a smile for him as she wiped the back of her hand over her eyes.
He smiled. The moment he got back to the Ark he was going to find her and talk to her. He couldn't help being angry that she was around that Seeker so much; that jet had used his feelings about Rachel as a weapon in the past, and he seemed to have some fixation with her. But she was right. She worked in the med bay for a reason and right now she had to take care of the Seeker for Ratchet. He couldn't help worrying about her safety with that Seeker in the Ark. She had come a long way from the timid Rachel he had first brought to the Ark, but she was no match for a Seeker.
He'd keep a close optic on the 'Con, because he'd be slagged if he'd let that Seeker come in between them.
--
His face felt overly warm. Things inside his head were cloudy and he received warning messages as he brought his optics online. The unforgiving yellow sun glared at him and he put a hand up to shield his optics from the invading light. A groan escaped from him and he became painfully aware of something being jammed into his back. Very carefully, he lifted himself up on one elbow and off a pile of sharp rocks. Layers of compacted dirt fell around him. Disgusting. He cycled his air intakes only to find more of the dirt lodged in them. It would take him awhile to clear them of all the grime. He ran a system diagnostic and sat up fully, cables and gears creaking stiffly and, as fate would have it, with more dirt stuck in them.
There were creaks and pops from more stiff joints as he stood up and tried to brush the filth off his wings.
He looked around him at the barren landscape that he did not recognize at all. They had been at the ruined temple, but that was in a much greener setting, and this… was not right. His global positioning indicated that the temple was nearby, except there were no ruins to be seen. Systems must have a malfunction, he growled to himself and leapt into the air to get a better look.
Gaining some altitude, he was able to see more of the landscape and was convinced that his navigational systems were damaged… Until he saw the human city.
Or, what was left of the human city.
Something had come through the area and obliterated it. He moved up a little higher and surveyed the area. More than just the city had been wiped out. The blast radius was huge and it had obviously come from the spot where the temple had been.
Megatron. His lip components curled back in a snarl. The 'mighty Megatron' had shot the artifact and the power resonating from it had exploded in a massive concussive force. He screamed into the heavens in frustration. They needed that artifact! He wasn't able to study the crystal fully and now it was lost to them!
He spun around in the air looking for the 'glorious leader'. This was the last straw and he brought his weapon systems fully online. "WHERE ARE YOU, MEGATRON!?"
His answer was a dull whistle from a breeze that touched the desolation below.
He scanned the area. He had to be around here somewhere.
But there was no one.
No Megatron.
No annoying Autobots.
And no Skywarp.
His optics flashed as his fury rose. They left him behind!
He opened the Seeker's private comlink and growled. "You dirty slagger! How dare you leave me behind!?"
But there was no answer.
"Skywarp! Why did you leave me behind?! Did our 'glorious leader' call for a retreat and you ran away like a scared sparkling?"
The comlink was quiet.
The empty breeze caught something on the ground below that flickered in the bright sunlight and it caught his angry optics. He descended quickly, his anger now peppered with curiosity. The object flashed again as the breeze rattled over it. He bent down to pick it up, but stopped short, his fingers inches above it. The breeze pushed the object onto its side and revealed its very distinct black and purple markings. He picked it up and ran his thumb over the metal, brushing off the dirt that had accumulated. There was another flash to his right and another slightly farther away. He followed a trail of what once was glossy black and purple armor through the stony field, until he came upon a dirt and energon encrusted chunk of Skywarp's wing jutting out of the ground.
"Skywarp, answer me!"
There was too much of his armor strewn over the area…
"Skywarp!"
He wouldn't have made it back to the Nemesis this badly injured…
"SKYWARP!"
And Megatron wouldn't have lifted a finger to help a wounded soldier. Warriors that couldn't take care of themselves were deemed too weak to be called a 'Decepticon'.
For the first time in a very long time, panic started to fill his processors. "TC, are you there? Did Skywarp check in with you?"
The comlink was still silent. "TC?"
He ran another scan of his systems. "Thundercracker, can you hear me?"
His systems diagnostics registered he radio link was working properly, but there was only one way to find out for sure. "Starscream to Nemesis. Respond."
"Starscream." Megatron's voice drawled his name out in a disappointed snarl. "I see you are still functioning."
He scowled. "Yes, I am. No thanks to you, Megatron, for leaving me out here."
"If you are functioning, then you are perfectly able to find your own way back." The warlord didn't attempt to hide the loathing for his Second in Command.
"What is the condition of Skywarp?"
"Who?" There was no mistaking the evil taunt in Megatron's voice. "You mean that other glitching Seeker?"
Starscream snarled. "I demand to know what is his condition!"
"I assumed he was with you… A pile of forgotten scrap left behind with the Autobots."
He clenched and unclenched his hands rapidly. Megatron was trying to rile him up. "And the status of Thundercracker?"
There was a snort over the radio. "He's a disappointment. He failed to report back with Shockwave at the appointed time. Now if you are done asking inane questions and can find your way back to base without someone to hold your hand, you have duties to uphold."
He spat into the radio, "Yes, 'mighty Megatron'."
There had to be a very good reason why TC wasn't answering the comlink and he bet it had something to do with one of Shockwave's gadgets. And Skywarp was likely in the lab with the slag beat out of him. He wrenched the fragment of the Seeker's wing out of the ground and jumped into the air. He wasn't sure if he could salvage it, but he could try.
As he headed out over the ocean he tried to reach Thundercracker again, but there was still no answer. He frowned. There had to be a very good reason for all of this. Millions of possibilities of why their comlink wasn't working flashed through his processors: Skywarp was obviously injured and in stasis and Thundercracker was probably stuck in Shockwave's control room with the sensor dampers on. Those were the most likely reasons. He knew his wingmates would never leave him alone.
--
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