Groon - roughly an hour
Breem- 8.3 min
So, Starscream loses it and cracks under the pressure. Yay? Who knows!


§ Forgive me if I'm out of line
I can't control myself sometimes
I think I'm sick but I might be wrong
I think I'm broke but it's hard to tell §

Starscream was pacing his cell. His hands were on his head and he felt as though he were losing his mind. He went to the door and looked down the corridor. No one. Not even Millie had stopped by. It had been almost thirty six hours and the only bot he'd seen was Ratchet who set an energon cube down and left without so much as a hello. Starscream gripped his helmet tightly, letting out a frustrated noise. He dropped his hands and turned sharply, letting his head connect with the cell wall. Over and over, part of him hoping it would kill him.

Millie, who had been on her way to see Starscream anyway, heard the noise first, and rushed to get Ratchet, and the two ran to the cell just in time to see Starscream knock himself out and crumple to the floor. Ratchet reached the door before Millie, opening it and rushing to see just how much of the circuitry was still functioning in Starscream's head. His helmet was split open, and there was a fair amount of sparking, but very minimal smoke and no fluids leaking. Millie put her hands around his right thumb.

"Was he trying to kill himself?" Millie asked, looking at Ratchet. He frowned.

"He may have only been trying to knock himself out. Nothing we can't fix in a couple of hours, his helmet is cracked, but the oil and lubricant lines are in tact and the circuits have only disconnected, they're undamaged as well," Ratchet said with a sigh. He lifted Starscream's body. "Stupid slaghead." Millie followed Ratchet, wincing at the sight of Starscream's open head.

"He's not too bad, right?" she pressed as Ratchet set him on a table in an operating room and promptly restrained him.

"You're a nurse, look for yourself," Ratchet said as he set out a tray and began arranging various tools on it. Millie looked at the open wound, reaching in and reconnecting a small plug.

"Looks worse than it is, I guess," she mumbled. She took the fuses off the tray and set about replacing them. Nearly all the ones in Starscream's head had blown. Ratchet replaced a couple circuit boards, and they set about the tedious task of reconnecting everything. Once his head was closed up again, Ratchet turned to Millie.

"Thank you, you are invaluable. I'm going to leave, I think he'll respond better waking up to you than he would to anyone else," Ratchet told her, smiling a little, relieved that he had her to pick up where Starscream was refusing to let the Autobots do so. He exited, and Millie pulled up a small box to the bed on which Starscream lay, sitting on it, sorting through the damaged bits they'd removed from his head into various recycling bins. Starscream's optics fluttered open nearly 45 minutes later, right as Millie was finishing her sorting. He saw Millie, and shut his optics again, hoping she hadn't noticed.

"I can't believe you did that," she told him. She had noticed, and Starscream opened his optics again, seeing no harm in it now, keeping them trained on the ceiling. "Were you trying to kill yourself?" He didn't answer her. He wasn't entirely sure with himself if he had been trying to kill himself or just pass out. Or maybe he was trying to erase his memory chips. He couldn't answer. "At least the clock escaped damage." He didn't answer that either. He sure wasn't going to thank her. "Guess you don't want to talk about it?"

"No." Very flat, very final. Millie sighed.

"Figured. I'll go get Ratchet, he'll let you out of the restraints and take you back to the cell-"

"No. I don't want to go back there," he argued, still sounding very weak. The room had started to spin and he just wanted to rest. Millie stayed sitting on the box.

"Well, we can't trust you not to take off or get into fights. What do you suggest?" Starscream was quiet. "Tell ya what. We'll get you back to the cell, call Optimus down, and you and him can talk it over. Ok? I can't think of any other solution." Starscream looked at her but didn't speak. She patted his hand, and he flinched. She ignored this. "I'll go get Ratchet."

"Will you return with him?" he asked her suddenly. Millie stopped in her tracks and turned to him.

"If you want me to, I will. I'll let you and Optimus talk alone, though. It isn't any of my business what goes on between you two, I'll find out after the talk, anyway,"she told him, scratching her head. "Ok, half a sec..." Starscream shut his optics, hoping the room will be settled when he opened them again. Footsteps reached his audio sensors; Ratchet and Millie were returning. His optics opened and he looked at Ratchet.

"The room is spinning. You didn't do it right," Starscream said bitterly. Ratchet stood over him, Millie standing at his left leg.

"We did it just fine. Your optics and your main circuit-sensory boards just need to synchronise again. That shouldn't be longer than half a groon. If you're still having troubles, let Millie or myself know and we'll-"

"Open me up and experiment some more?" Starscream sneered. Ratchet frowned.

"I didn't have to help you at all. I could have just tossed your body, it wouldn't have made any difference to me," he shot back.

"Maybe that was what I wanted!" Starscream half shouted back. Millie made a noise and Starscream looked at her. Her hands were at her mouth and her eyes were wide. He looked back at the ceiling. "Just take me back to the cell." His voice had softened, and Ratchet gently undid the restraints, only to apply new ones, similar to shackles, to lead Starscream back down the corridor. Millie followed at Strscream's side, her hand on his leg. Starscream tolerated this, but shooed her away as he was let back into the cell.

"If you hadn't destroyed the table in here, we wouldn't have had to do that," Ratchet said to him with a vague air of annoyance. Starscream just kept his back to them.

"I'd like a word with Prime," he said, flatly. Then he sat, right where he was, not even bothering to go to his usual corner. "Now, if you don't mind," he added sharply. Ratchet looked at Millie who offered a shrug. They left him, to seek Optimus out.

"I told him, well, let me back up. He didn't want to go back to the cell. I told him we can't really trust him, and if he wanted out, he'd have to take it up with Optimus," Millie explained to Ratchet. He nodded.

"A very wise decision. He's made it clear that he's frustrated with being locked up, and that may be how we crack him," Ratchet answered. They spotted Optimus and Millie jogged over to him.

"Starscream would like to talk to you," she called up to him. Optimus crouched to hear her better.

"Does he? What about? He isn't usually interested in talks," Optimus said thoughtfully. Millie bit her lip.

"You know he hurt himself. Well, upon waking, he wanted nothing to do with the cell. I told him to talk to you. Maybe now a deal can be struck?" she offered. Optimus could not ignore the hopeful look on her face.

"Perhaps." Optimus rose. "I'll go have a talk with him." He made his way down the corridors, to Starscream's cell. The seeker had moved into his corner again, in the shadows of the cell. His optics suddenly lit as he heard the Autobots' leader approach.

"I... heard about your accident," Optimus said hesitantly.

"It was no accident. I didn't fall and crack my head open." Starscream rose but did not advance. "I don't want to be in this cell any more."

"You never wanted to be here," Optimus countered. Starscream frowned.

"However, if it means you'll let me out of the cell, I'll..." Starscream stopped. He couldn't finish.

"If you can't even say it, how can I be sure you won't back stab me?" Optimus pressed. Starscream's optics narrowed.

"It would hurt the girl."

"Why would you care about a human?"

"Do you understand that she treated me without a bias? She didn't treat me with sedatives and restraints. I appreciate that she respects me and exercises caution. She doesn't want me to be combative, and doesn't react to me while being on some power trip. I would not disrupt this mutual agreement we seem to have." Starscream glared at Optimus. "That's something even you failed at, mighty Optimus Prime."

"So you'll behave simply because Millie wants you to?" Optimus wasn't sure he understood right. Starscream shook his head.

"I'm complying because I want to get out of this cell, and I know that, should there be a problem, someone in this base will address it without a bias." He waited. Optimus unlocked the cell door and opened it. Starscream slowly started for to door, grabbing the clock on his way out. Optimus blocked his way.

"But let me warn you, Starscream. If we have one issue of you attacking because you don't like the way one sips his energon, you'll end up right back here. I'm trusting you. Do you understand?" His tone was not unkind, but it was firm. Starscream was still unsure of what to say, or how to react. "A simple yes would suffice," Optimus prompted.

"...Yes. But on that same note, if any of your men attack me unprovoked, especially with my weaponry still offline, I can not promise you anything." Optimus nodded.

"Very well. Let me escort you to your quarters. I'll need you to stay there until I can let the Autobots know of the new circumstances. I'll send Millie, if you'd like," Optimus offered. Starscream hesitated. What would he say to her? What would be the point? It's not like they could join sparks for cheap thrills.

"I'll seek her out when I have your permission to leave my new cell," Starscream sneered.

"Please, drop your defense already. Let me talk to the others, it shouldn't take me two breems, alright?" Optimus asked, sighing. Starscream looked at him indignantly.

"Fine. Just let me know when you're finished." Starscream entered his quarters, shutting the door behind him. Before settling onto the bed, he carefully hung the clock over the foot of the it, so he'd be able to look at it as he laid there.