Starscream sighed, walking onto the balcony. The crisp breeze felt good against his frame after being cooped up in the rather stuffy apartment all night. All he did, ever since he got out of the wash rack, was watch some random channels on the tele-console and read quite a few datapads that he found on one of Knock Out's many shelves.

He had been unable to recharge for over a year and he had to admit that this night, his first night in an actual accommodation, was the longest night that he had ever had. Being on the balcony, looking out at the horizon, he didn't realize that he could feel so relieved seeing the sky changing colour as Cybertron's sun was getting closer to the horizon.

He felt his legs getting sore and decided to sit down as he watched the sky, resting his helm back against the large window behind him. His frame had recovered enough from the surgery that he didn't feel any pain but once in awhile he'll feel sore a bit and if he stood long enough then he'll feel the strain in his legs.

Starscream soon heard the sound of a door sliding open, followed by another door sliding open then sliding close. Not long after that, he heard the wash rack being turned on. His only guess was that Knock Out was up and he was now going to take his sweet time washing and then buffing himself.

The Seeker knew it was going to be awhile before the red medic comes out so he decided to close his optics to try and get a bit of rest, feeling another breeze go by. It felt good being able to feel the wind like this again, when before he couldn't because he was in the lower levels of Cybertron.

He mentally thanked Primus that Knock Out's apartment was on one of the higher floors so he would be able to feel the wind.

He frowned, one of his wings twitching lightly. The wind and height would never be enough though. Seekers need to fly, its in their coding. If they don't fly, well, Starscream didn't want to think about that right now. At the moment, he felt fine but he was surprised that nothing has happened after so long of not being able to fly.

Starscream felt something on his shoulder and he jumped, one of his clawed servos swiping out in reflex.

"Hey now, watch where you're swinging that," Knock Out dodged the Seeker's servo in time so that he wouldn't get scratched.

The ex-Commander blinked a couple times, "That was a rather quick wash you had."

Knock Out frowned, "What are you talking about? I was in there for over an hour."

Starscream looked at the medic with a rather confused look before looking back out at the horizon. Oh, he must have dozed off a bit because the sun was already over the horizon.

He frowned then, his optics widening in realization. He had almost fallen into recharge.

Knock Out saw the sudden panic go over Starscream's faceplate and he had to quickly get out of the way when the Seeker suddenly got to his pedes and rushed passed him to go inside. He watched as the Seeker began pacing, his arms crossed with his servos clutching his upper arms.

"Woah, woah, Starscream. What's the matter?" he asked, stepping into the apartment.

Starscream didn't respond but kept pacing, mumbling to himself.

Knock Out saw how his panic began to grow and he stepped closer, raising his servos, "Starscream, stop."

The Seeker stopped but didn't look at him as he walked to the couch and sat down, clutching his helm as he looked down at his pedes.

The red medic slowly stepped closer, seeing that the Seeker's frame was shaking. He knelt in front of him, "Starscream, what's wrong?"

Starscream just shook his helm, his servos clutching into fists on the side of his helm as his frame continued to shake.

Knock Out reached up to take the Seeker's servos, noticing how he flinched when he touched him. He held the Seeker's servos, "First, I want you to calm down. Can you do that?"

The ex-Commander was silent but then slowly nodded his helm, sighing heavily to try and calm his shaking frame.

Once the red medic saw him looking much calmer, he smiled, "Good. Now, I want you to tell me what's wrong. Take your time if you have to."

Starscream opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying to find the right words to say. He shook his helm lightly, "D-do you still want to know why I can't recharge?"

"Of course."

The Seeker sighed again to calm himself before he spoke. He finally looked at the red medic, "It's because I'm afraid that if I do, I won't ever wake or I would end up being killed."

Knock Out frowned, "Killed by who?"

"The Predacons," he said. Knock Out's confused look made him explain more, "They are the reason why I was injured so much. I'm surprised that the Autobot Ratchet never told you that."

The red medic snorted, "He had left out a lot of stuff about you when you were found by Shockwave," he explained then looked at the Seeker oddly. "How does it relate to why you panicked just now?"

Starscream looked down, his frame beginning to shake again, "I-I almost fell into recharge o-on the balcony and... and..."

"You got scared by the thought that if you did, you won't wake again or you'll be attacked by the Predacons," Knock Out finished for him before looking at him sadly. "I knew that you've been scared of dieing even before the war ended but it growing to this extent that you can't recharge. I can't even imagine what that is like for you."

"It's not fun. Let's put it at that," Starscream said, removing his servos from the medic's rather harshly.

Knock Out wasn't finished and rested a servo on the Seeker's knee, ignoring the fact that the ex-Commander's frame stiffened, "You do realize that you don't have to be afraid anymore. Especially here in my apartment. This is your safe haven now and nothing can hurt you here. Not to mention that Shockwave has been sending the Predacons on rather long missions lately that are usually on the other side of Cybertron. You don't have to worry now."

Starscream could see the sincerity in the red mech's optics. He looked away from him, "I may be safe but it still won't help with the fact that I can't recharge."

Knock Out smiled, "You never know, you may end up falling into recharge again while you're here."

"I doubt that," the Seeker said, keeping his gaze looking away from the red medic in front of him.

There was a short silence between the two before Knock Out got an idea, "Ratchet told me that since you're going to be staying here for now on, I'm going to need to ease your wings back to their original position. Would you like me to get working on that right now?"

Starscream glanced at him. He nodded his helm slowly and looked away again.

Knock Out got to his pedes, gesturing to the couch, "I think it'll be better if you were to lay down on your front."

The ex-Commander laid down on the couch on his front, shifting a bit to get comfortable.

The red medic leaned over him, resting a servo on the Seeker's back while the other gripped one of his wings gently. He looked down at the Seeker, "Ratchet informed me that this may hurt a bit."

"I'm aware," Starscream said before gritting his denta when Knock Out began rotating his wing slowly. He closed his optics from the pain, burying his face into the couch.

Knock Out stopped when seeing the Seeker's pained expression, "Are you okay?"

Starscream nodded his helm quickly, "Y-yes, just... don't stop. I-I want to be able to t-transform as soon as possible."

The red medic nodded his helm, understanding the Seeker's desperation before continuing.

Starscream clenched his servos into fists, trying to ignore the blaring warnings on his internal HUD. No matter how much pain he was going to have to go through, he wanted to go through it as much as possible until he is able to fly again.

A thought came to mind then. There was one other thing that he wanted to go through. He turned his helm to the side, opening an optic to look up at the medic, "Knock Out, c-can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course," was the red mech's reply.

Starscream lifted his helm enough so he could cross his arms in front of him and rest his chin on them, looking forward. The pain in the wing that Knock Out was rotating was fading, "D-do you have any advice?"

Knock Out frowned, "What kind of advice?"

The Seeker felt his faceplate become warm, "Dating advice."

Knock Out grinned, "Ahhh, you want some pointers do yeah?"

Starscream didn't answer which Knock Out couldn't help but laugh about.

"I told you before, there's nothing to be ashamed about. In my opinion, getting advice from someone who has experience in something is way better then learning from some datapad," the medic said, resting the Seeker's wing down then changing to the next.

Starscream winced, feeling the new wave of pain as his other wing was getting rotated, "Th-that's why I'm as-asking."

There was a knock at the door and Knock Out looked up, "Hmm, I'll give you advice later. It seems that we have a visitor."

Starscream sighed in relief when the red medic rested his wing down. He didn't move as the red mech walked around the couch towards the door.

Knock Out pushed a button on the wall, the door sliding open to reveal a mech that he really didn't expect to show up.

"Oh, Bumblebee, what brings you here?"