Megatron leaving the ship was like opening a can of Trivarion beetles. An infestation of suppressed emotions coming to the surface from the supreme Seeker, infecting the crew while Starscream's intolerance grew as he became quickly unsatisfied with everything. Tasks were forced to be done again, reports were inaccurate and not detailed enough. Everyone quickly became on edge as the Air Commander stirred more than one form of discontent. Until they rapidly learned to just do as he said or stay out of his way. Cyclonus getting his blades torn off when he failed to perform as ordered, an example enough.
Thundercracker watched his wingmate's display, such as it was not entirely out of the ordinary, although not as intense. Megatron expected a tight ship when he was gone, and Starscream would not settle for anything less.
Of course, TC knew what was really behind the Seeker's excessive demands, knew what was making him agitated and irascible, especially when his optics swept through every room before he entered it, looking for her every time. However, Alexis was never around. She was keeping to her quarters, or so he had thought.
"What's going on here?"
Megatron's chamber doors open was enough to make him stop, seeing Demolisher standing there looking stupefied and confused was another. Demolisher straightened up when TC approached, back plates sharpened as he came to attention.
"I am supposed to be looking after Alexis, but I... that is... I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her since yesterday morning. Do you think I should report this to Starscream?" Nervous optics caught his.
"No, I will take care of it."
Demolisher looked relieved. "Good, because a trip to the medic wasn't on the list of things to do today."
Thundercracker stepped close, vocals dropping dangerously. "Are you trying to imply something, soldier?"
"No, no sir!" the mech before him stuttered while backing toward the wall until he thumped against it.
"Good, dismissed."
Thundercracker watched Demolisher disappear. The blue Seeker was distracted as he contemplated things. Where exactly was the human if she hadn't slept in her quarters?
He started to search the ship. Thundercracker began with the usual places, ending up in the back of near empty rec. room. TC sensed Starscream before he entered and froze in place. It didn't take finely tuned sensors to see he was slagged. Starscream's optics were dim, his movements drawn out; he was over energized and obviously looking for someone. TC knew it wasn't him, the disgruntled look that Starscream shot at the blue Seeker, helped cement that.
Starscream was heading toward the back of the room and right for him. After activating his scanners, he realized he was heading right to Alexis also. Acting quickly, he took the opportunity when his wingmate momentarily lost his balance. He bent down and found the huddled human. With a swiftness and speed that would have broken records, he placed her in his cockpit, the girl not even given a chance to argue as he hoped beyond mere willpower that she was hidden by his own energy signature.
Starscream approached him and stepped close, optics analyzing him with extreme prejudice. "Where is she? I felt her. I know she is here," he slurred, head turning this way and that, and then down as he pushed back a terminal station from the wall, nothing was there.
"We have only one female on board, and I am sure, as you know, Megatron already made sure she was quite well looked after," Thundercracker told Starscream while keeping his vocals flat.
The Supreme Seeker looked at him with rising suspicion. "What are you trying to imply?"
"Nothing." He pointedly moved his head, showing Starscream that they now had an audience, many a mech looking their way. "Just that I am sure Megatron would be pleased with your... concern."
The hint was gotten across. Starscream got back up, analytical optics scanning him. Standing still, Thundercracker allowed it. Burning energy rippled through him. He raised his head, firm optics meeting those of the commander.
Starscream backed up, displeased. "As you were."
He really didn't think he would get away with it. Especially knowing that it was beyond sensors that had Starscream locating the girl so precisely.
In his quarters, Thundercracker started to wonder what he was doing. Sitting down on his birth, his canopy lifted. He carefully picked the human up and placed her nearby. Standing, she peered up at him before looking around her and taking in where she was. Figuring it out soon enough, she sat down, arms enfolding her body as she heaved an unsteady breath.
"Are you unimpaired?" he inquired of the human.
Frowning, she craned her head and then shrugged her shoulders.
"Do you want me to take you back to your quarters?"
Again, she shook her head, mouth tightening further.
"Are you in need of sustenance?"
Alexis seemed to consider that and finally nodded her head in the affirmative.
"Remain where you are."
He found some food quickly enough. Returning to his room, TC found Alexis sitting exactly where he had left her. Placing it before her, she looked at it before finally grabbing something. Ripping open the package, she chewed on some sort of bar until it was gone. She grabbed some water and drank the whole thing until it was empty.
And then suddenly she was leaning on her hands, body shaking as she started to cry. Alexis folded into herself and turned from him as she did so. Confused on what to do, TC backed away and left her. He went to his workstation. Sensing a while after that she was asleep, he ordered the lights off. Then Thundercracker turned around in his chair and watched the human for some time afterward.
They started a routine once more. Whenever Megatron left the ship, when things got really bad for her, she would come to his quarters. Alexis would always be high on emotion during those times, withdrawn and frightened. He didn't see Starscream slagged again after that first night. The supreme commander became more careful, more silent, less austere, even as he was obviously stewing inside while he tormented himself.
Called to the bridge after Megatron's latest return, Thundercracker was ordered to remain where he was when he arrived. He positioned himself by the bridge's sliding doors, his interest peeking. He saw the human male was standing before the command chair, while Starscream was over on the side leaning against the far wall looking more interested than TC thought he should have. While TC disliked the male, it was obvious that Starscream loathed him.
"Excellent, Michael, your reports are as detailed as they are encouraging," the Decepticon leader said.
"Thank you, my lord."
"Master," Megatron purred. He leaned forward and his optics strobed over the human. TC felt his gears tighten at the tone, while the human remained oblivious to the rising danger.
"Master," the boy repeated obediently.
"Much better. Yet as capable as you have proven yourself, I am afraid I have found your services... no longer required."
"I... I don't understand."
"Of course you don't," the Decepticon commander growled. The human lowered his head, his heart rate pitched, and he tensed. "You're just a human. A human male who has over reached himself an..."
"I do..."
"Stop! Do not even attempt to interrupt me again." Megatron rose, his pediforms barely missing the human. He was just a couple of parnecs off from squashing the creature. "It has come to my attention that you have spent much time with my Alexandra." Megatron paused, looking down. "You may speak now."
"Only as my master has permitted."
"Is that so?" His vocals lowered, and a dangerous growl emitted from Megatron. "And I suppose making contact with her was also somehow stipulated? Answer."
"I... I..." the human stuttered, suddenly unable to form words, "It was... that is... I just... I just..."
"Yes?"
"Tried to... to..." The human's voice became a whisper with the next words, causing TC to have to strain to hear it. "...it was just a hug, my lord, a show of comfort."
"Did she give you permission to do such a thing?" the Decepticon lord asked, continuing with the interrogation.
The boy moved his head back and forth, suddenly shaking. TC was starting to feel sorry for him.
"Tightturn?" Megatron commanded.
The green mech left his station. Gliding over, he looked down at the human with derision. "He made obvious advances. She rejected him, my lord, after he tried to force himself on her."
"No... no, that isn't true!" the boy shouted, a plea in his tone. "That isn't..."
"Are you trying to imply that she asked for it? That somehow I do not satisfy her? Or do you think I don't know that you promised her freedom. Perhaps... perhaps, Michael Renard, you are an Autobot spy!" the leader of the Decepticons bellowed.
"No... believe me, my Lord, I did nothing. I was just stupid... an idiot!" The male fell down on his knees and trembled more than ever. "I forgot myself. I beg for mercy."
"Silence, and stand before your master, you quivering sack of flesh!" Megatron roared while turning to look over the corner of his shoulder panel. Only one more word was needed after that. "Starscream!"
It was then that TC was to learn that Starscream's sharpness and ability had not faded with his memories. A blaster folded into the supreme commander's hand and a shot sounded off, impacting with the human. The male was thrown clear across the room, smoke trailing behind him as a sharp smell filled the deck.
He was disgusted and shocked, but TC could do nothing but watch. Starscream glanced at him, a half-smile on his face; he enjoyed it.
"Tightturn, get someone to clean up this mess. And have the air filtration unit amplified. The stench is appalling." Sitting back down, Megatron turned to Thundercracker and motioned him over, the terminated human already forgotten about. "There have been some irregularities in the Delon Sector, and I want..."
"Do you always work this hard?" Alexis was looking up at him while sitting on his work table, watching him as he prepared his report.
"Yes."
Standing up, she walked closer to him. Alexis blocked the lower view of his screen as she peered at the Cybertronian script. "Am I bothering you?"
"No."
She crossed his path, going to the other side where she sat down. "I... I never thanked you for... you know... allowing me to come here. I know you could get in major trouble for it, and I want you to know it means a lot to me."
Michael being shot suddenly took over his processors. The Seeker knew exactly what would happen to him if he was found out. Even so, he was far too careful for that to happen and in too deep to stop. He wondered if Alexis knew of the fate of the male. He suspected not.
"How come you have never asked me about Starscream? About how I know him?" the human female queried.
That had him stopping. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at Alexis. She pushed her brown hair behind her ears. Her voice was full of hesitancy, her eyes downcast, skin luminous and pale.
"It is not my place to ask."
"Do you mind if I tell you?"
He wanted to say no, but his head had other ideas as it shook downwards and then back up.
So she began. It was more of a story than he had thought. Alexis told him of her childhood, revealing things as she talked of her time with the Autobots, of meeting Starscream for the first time, of his death, of her life afterwards. Thundercracker already researched her. He knew of her career as the representative of the Earth Federation Government Counsel, and even more about her personal life than probably her own family.
He knew she had lived alone, knew she had grown close to the Autobot, Hot Shot, and was valued greatly by Optimus. She had a cat named Clementine; a dog named Maggie and parents who were living nearby. And she was thought to have been dead for well over a year. Everyone believed Alexis was killed in a terrorist attack along with a governor, no one knowing the truth. She was mourned, but no one was even looking for her.
Alexis continued. Her voice became more and more strained before plunging into a whisper as she reminisced. She was obviously thinking of all that had been taken from her. Eyes misting over, she turned away from him and wiped her face off before she twisted back around, finishing everything up with a show of strength, certain details left out that TC found he almost didn't want to know of.
"That's it." She laughed awkwardly. "Not very fascinating, I am sure, but I wanted you to know, TC." Alexis frowned, licking her lips as she sighed. He internally shuttered, the way she said his nickname was somehow entirely more intimate than when others did. "Especially when I consider you my only friend here."
It was that very night when he had his first nightmare in twenty mega-cycles. He had been in a dark place where his comrades were dead and his wingmates were unable to recognize him. Megatron walked through the destruction and bodies, a trail of crazed laughter falling behind him as Thundercracker was expected to blindly continue following, the war raging on all around. He faltered as his motivations became clouded, his resolve deadening inside him as the reasoning why he was even there at all, came into question.
"Thundercracker..."
He heard his name whispered, an echo that rung through him. That was when he came back on-line and when he felt something tiny against his hand. Bringing his optics on, he found Alexis sitting nearby with worry more than apparent on her face. Earlier, she had inadvertently fallen asleep on his worktable, and he was at a loss how she had managed to get from across his quarters to on his berth without his assistance, but she was capable for someone of her size.
"Alexis?"
She smiled gently and nodded her head. Retracting her touch, she sat up straighter. "You were having a nightmare. I... I was worried."
Alexis' words struck him to the core. He got up slowly and looked at her.
"You... you were worried for me?"
"Yes."
He acted without thinking. Picking her up, he leaned back down and placed her near his canopy. For a moment, TC thought she was going to object. But then Alexis stood and walked upwards, sitting down when she reached his shoulder plates. She rested on her side and began to caress him with light feathery touches that soothed.
Contentment followed, the nightmare forgotten.
He hadn't meant to fall back into recharge, had meant to savor every moment of having Alexis on him. But it had been so entirely pleasant that it had become a struggle to stay on-line.
Dreams followed, but this time of an entirely new variety. A version of Alexis waited for him as they became lost in a world filled up of only two. Words were whispered, bodies touching, what could be and what wasn't possible, lost in a hazy world of fantasy, want and imagination.
It was almost painful when he woke up, enticingly so. He figured out soon enough that Alexis had shifted in her sleep and fell back to rest in front of his wing while holding on the right edge with a firm grip. Her fingers were wrapped around tight, small breaths coming out of her that were hot and distracting.
Getting up quickly, he tried not to disturb her. He was not willing to reveal so openly how she disturbed him. He shot into the sonic shower, succumbing. The rush was hard and fast. His circuits overloaded, body surging inwardly, Energon crackling through him as energy escaped around his frame, his entire body becoming a mass of trembling release until he reached the edge and fell over it.
TC found himself on his knee plates when his awareness returned. He got up, his wings still vibrating. He tried hard to calm himself. Focusing on the pressure and harmonics of the shower, he fought to push out the imagery and sensations that haunted him from his dreams.
Some time after, he returned to his room. Alexis was now awake. She stretched below his pediforms as he watched, his spark beating hard against his casing, the Seeker far from sated.
"Are you all right, Thundercracker?"
He could only dip his head forward as he tried hard not to listen to her soft, feminine voice. His optics roamed over her delicate frame before their gazes merged.
"Then... I suppose I should go."
"Yes."
She scrunched her nose up at his stern tone, perplexed, but Alexis said nothing as she departed.
He was going to be late for duty at a time he really didn't need to draw attention to himself. Leaving his quarters, picking up his pace, he rounded the corner. A figure blocked his path.
Tightturn.
Growling, he waited for the small mech to move. It failed to work as it usually did.
"You know, I saw something... quite interesting today," Tightturn said with a smugness in his tone that didn't go unnoticed.
"Tell it to someone who cares. Get out of my way." Thundercracker tried to pass; he was blocked again.
"Oh, but you are exactly the right person to tell." The mech smiled arrogantly. "Especially when it was a certain human female, who exited a certain Air Commander's quarters... your quarters to be precise."
Frustrated and disturbed, he pushed the green mech against the wall and towered over him; his wings stretched out as a warning, shadows covering them both.
"Get to the point."
"No point. Just am in the mood to see a Seeker groveling at my feet. Begging me not to tell Megatron what I saw. You guys think you are so high and mighty, so above everyone else, and all this time one of you have been degrading yourself with Megatron's little..." A blinding sneer appeared on his sharp mouthpiece. "...pet."
Thundercracker probably could have come to a bargain, or even a bribe. But his hands were working before his processor was, crushing the mech's vocalizer before he pushed him harder into the wall. His other hand curled inwardly before it struck the Decepticon repeatedly. Mercy and rationality were far gone as he continued the assault. He didn't stop until Tightturn's optics blackened and his spark that had been pulsing, flat-lined. A crumpled body slumped at his pediforms.
Dragging the empty shell toward the nearest air lock, he made quick use of it as he ejected the spark-less mech into space. It had been a long time since he terminated someone so directly, a long time since he felt such fury. The emotion was still within him as he backed up, turned around and started once more on his path. Alexis' honor was now restored along with his own. Regret not even contemplated.
