The Rest Is Silence
Chapter 7 - Friends?
Starscream flattened himself against the unforgiving rock face, wishing (and not for the first time) that he was smaller. The crevice he was trying to press himself into was barely big enough to fit in comfortably, but the scratched paint was a minor worry compared to what would happen if he could not find a hiding place. From high above came the rumble of a jet engine as the ominous shape of a black F-15 fighter blotted out the sun for a moment.
The hunt was on. The Decepticons were out in force, patrolling the skies in the search for their runaway commander. Starscream didn't know whether they had been ordered to shoot him on sight or take him back to face Megatron's displeasure, and he didn't want to find out. Neither option would be healthy for him; Megatron had been very displeased.
The fugitive seeker was travelling by land; though he was easily the fastest and most skilled at flight in the Decepticon fleet, even he could not dodge the gunfire from Megatron's entire army. He was too easily visible in the air, and, knowing Megatron, there was probably some sort of reward for his capture or termination, which would only drive the still-loyal warriors to search even harder. So, in the interest of self-preservation, he had chosen to ground himself, to move under the cover of tree and rock. It was not easy. The bright splashes of red and blue on his exostructure were not ideal camouflage in Earth's primarily green foliage, and his height gave him a slight disadvantage in that he was actually larger than many of the trees which would otherwise provide him shelter.
And he had no idea where he was heading.
The Decepticons were now his enemies. The Autobots hated him, and with good reason. In short, Starscream had run out of places to turn. He had no sanctuary from the merciless hunters in the sky, no place on Earth was safe and, being confined to the land as he was, he could not dash for the thermosphere and flee to another planet. For one usually so confident in all his decisions, Starscream really regretted being so harsh on Skyfire - though he was damned if he would ever admit that to anyone. Skyfire had been offering him love and safety, a place to stay in a situation like this. Protection. Everything that Starscream lacked at the moment. Starscream had responded by telling Skyfire that all the pain was his fault, and now he felt an overwhelming remorse at the cruel and hateful words he had rained upon the undeserving Autobot.
He wouldn't apologise to Skyfire, or go running back to the white mech now that times were hard, he told himself. He had his pride. He was still a Decepticon warrior, he was powerful and clever and he would not cower when the circumstances called for strength. Even though Starscream knew that he was lying to himself by pretending he was strong and brave, that he was actually a weak and helpless coward, he knew that he truly was too arrogant to confess that he had been wrong and that Skyfire could help him.
Unfortunately, he had to admit, as Skywarp once again flew over his hiding place, he was also desperate.
Living rough did not agree with the aloof seeker. There was no Energon readily available out here in the wilds of this Primus-forsaken planet. Starscream had had to make hit-and-run raids on tiny local power stations in the middle of the night, when darkness gave him cover, and even then there had only been enough available energy to last him the next day. The lack of recharge and medical facilities showed on his exostructure, which was covered in dust, dried mud and tiny scratches from trees and cliffs, mostly gained from when he had tried to conceal himself in a hiding place designed for a creature at least two squared metres smaller than him.
Yet again, Starscream found himself contemplating returning to Megatron and begging for forgiveness. There would probably be blows, of course, there was always a beating when Megatron was displeased with his lieutenant, but, perhaps, Starscream would escape with his life. Then the seeker ran a blue finger down the scar on his dark face, and he remembered the unmitigated contempt that had been on Megatron's face when the silver mech had been about to kill him, and he knew that returning was not an option. This time was different from all the others. This time, Megatron really was out to destroy him. Starscream longed to know why, for, as far as he was aware, he had not committed any crime. It was possible, of course, that Megatron really did believe he was betraying the Decepticons to Skyfire, but Starscream thought Megatron knew him better than that. Megatron surely knew that Starscream cared for the Decepticon cause above almost everything else? Sure, he wasn't loyal to Megatron at all, but he was loyal to the ideals and the morals of the Decepticons - one of the most loyal there was, in fact. To suggest, with that knowledge, that Starscream was a traitor was either pure stupidity or a convenient excuse for getting rid of the air commander.
Starscream knew Megatron wasn't stupid. Their intelligence was about equal, and the officer regarded himself as superior to most other Decepticons. That meant that Megatron wanted Starscream out of the way, and he needed an excuse to do it. But why? Starscream could make no sense of it - was it something to do with his missing past? Was there a reason that Megatron would want to keep it hidden? There was too much that he didn't know, and he couldn't get answers while being persecuted as a traitor by his old allies.
If only there was a way for him to get to Cybertron! But flying out was no longer an option with the skies being guarded so carefully, and he could not work the Space Bridge alone - it needed another person at the controls...
Oh. Slag.
Suddenly, swallowing his arrogance for once and apologising to Skyfire really didn't seem like such a bad idea. Out of the blue, Starscream found that a trusted ally was more than just a distant, fading memory or an impossible luxury - it was a necessity. If he was ever going to escape from Megatron's vengeful clutches, if he was ever going to find out anything about his personality change, then he needed to get to Cybertron, and to get to Cybertron, he needed a friend. Skyfire was the only offer of true friendship he had ever had.
... was it too late to salvage that? Had his parting words to the white mech been too harsh to guarantee the warm welcome and acquiescence he craved?
Starscream was an oppurtunist, and getting Skyfire to work with him opened a clear pathway to his acheiving his desire. If that meant that he had to swallow his immense pride to beg and crawl on the ground, completely humiliate himself and stick his face in the dirt apologising to his old friend, then so be it. He had done it to Megatron before plenty of times. Shaming himself before those he needed protection from was one of the main reasons Starscream was still alive. It was all for his own good - all for his own selfish wants, and, at the moment, Starscream felt that he would do anything to find out what Megatron was so keen to keep from him; to find out his own past. Even if it meant treating Skyfire like he was a vengeful Megatron and begging for mercy - if that's what it took, then that's what he would do.
---
"I thought you never wanted to see me again?" Skyfire asked wryly upon seeing Starscream waiting for him. The Decepticon had been hidden behind the rocky outcropping around the Autobot base, but he had stepped forward when the white mech had come out alone.
"... I need help." The air commander admitted eventually, after apparently battling with himself whether or not to speak at all. Skyfire was not sure what to think - normally, he was sure, he would have been overjoyed that Starscream had come to him of his own accord for help, but the Decepticon was taking too much for granted. Twice in the past week or so, Skyfire had offered help, and both times Starscream had responded with hateful words and accusations. As such, Skyfire felt he was being used, and was not as mild as he might usually have been.
"Why should I help you, Starscream? How can someone like me help you, anyway?" The large Autobot folded his arms as he looked down at his old friend, who was repeatedly glancing nervously at the sky as though he expected some sort of retribution from above. "You told me that I only hurt you. Surely you don't need help getting hurt?"
"Skyfire, I'm serious -"
"So am I. I am not something that you can throw away and ignore until you need favours. Friendship works both ways, Starscream. Besides, helping you would be helping the Decepticons, and that would make a traitor to the Autobots. Unlike you, I don't want to hurt the people who help me, so I would rather not betray them."
"I'm not with the Decepticons!" Starscream snapped as Skyfire turned to go back inside the Autobot headquarters. A rumble from above caused both robots to pause and look up, just in time to see the bulk of Astrotrain's jet form pass overhead. Skyfire stopped to watch the Decepticon scout's progress with the intention of taking the information back to Prime in case the enemy were planning a full attack, but he was distracted by Starscream's bizarre reaction; the smaller seeker had panicked, diving inside the entrance tunnel to the Ark, out of sight of the triple-changer. It said something to Skyfire that Starscream was willing to risk the possibility of defence lasers in the entrance to the Autobot headquarters if it would hide him from the Decepticons - perhaps Starscream was telling the truth about having left them?
"What was that about?" The white Transformer asked as Starscream picked himself up off the ground and peered out from his hiding place nervously. Instinctively, rather than out of any conscious decision, Skyfire had moved to help him stand. It was only when he was close that he noticed how rough Starscream looked - the dulled paint and the multitude of untreated scratches were not usually present on the exostructure of someone who had access to the facilities offered in the headquarters of either faction.
"Are you going to believe that I'm not with the Decepticons now?" The seeker gasped out, snatching himself away from Skyfire, almost as though he thought that needing support was a sure sign of weakness. "Megatron's lost it, he's got all the others searching for me. If they find me, then I'm dead or worse, and I don't have the energy to run forever. You're all I have left, Skyfire... please don't leave me now."
Skyfire was speechless; Starscream had actually asked him in a polite, civil way. He had said 'please'. And... his situation did sound pretty desperate. But Skyfire was still unsure; the angry words that Starscream had yelled at him not two days prior still rung clear in his memory, and what was to stop Starscream from leaving again when he had got what he wanted out of Skyfire? Yes, Skyfire wanted to help his old friend, but this Starscream was not his old friend. This Starscream was a self-obsessed, ruthless, scheming homicide, whereas the Starscream that Skyfire loved had been an intelligent, compassionate pacifist.
The indecision must have passed across the Autobot's face, and Starscream must have been watching him carefully, for, just when Skyfire was considering leaving the seeker to fend for himself, a spasm of alarm shook the smaller robot.
"Don't turn me away." He pleaded, his raspy voice carrying a mixture of fear and an emotion that could possibly be construed as indignation. "After all your promises, don't turn me away! If you brush me aside now, you sentence me to death!"
Skyfire's shoulders heaved in a defeated sigh. He knew that he could not leave this pathetic little mech alone in the world, not while it bore the face and body of his long-lost companion. It would be too much like killing the memory of the Starscream from the past, and that was something that Skyfire could never bring himself to do.
"All right. All right." He conceded quietly, and Starscream abruptly stopped his babbling. "But hear this, Starscream. If you shun me the moment you have what you want, then I will not hesitate in handing you over to Megatron. Deal?" At the seeker's mute nod, he added: "What do you need me to do?"
It took a while for Starscream to answer, but when he did, his voice was hoarser than usual with the degree of relief it carried, and the honest display of emotion surprised Skyfire - it was so unlike the Starscream of the present and it reminded him so much of the Starscream he had once known that, just for a moment, he had to fight the urge to gather the seeker up into his arms in a tight, ecstatic embrace. There was hope! There was hope, there was still something left of Starscream that was redeemable!
"I need to use the Space Bridge, now, while the Decepticons are searching for me. Before Megatron tells Shockwave that I'm a traitor. I need to get to Cybertron." The grey-faced mech was saying, and Skyfire forced himself to quell the strong protective urge that had just washed over him at the thought that he might soon have the old Starscream back. "You have to work the controls for me."
"I thought Megatron was out to kill you? The Decepticons rule Cybertron, from what my Autobot allies tell me. You won't be safe there." Skyfire pointed out, puzzled at the request. The only answer Starscream spared him was a pitying look. In the little seeker's mind, nowhere was safe from Megatron, whose grip was firm. It was only a matter of time before he was caught, but, he hoped, the longer he could keep running, the less likely Megatron would be to kill him.
Even so, Starscream knew that he had to find his answers before Megatron found him.
