Main Characters:

Crusader (Decepticon femme Commander)

Blaze (Decepticon femme second-in-command)

Viper (Decepticon soldier)

Vertigo (Decepticon soldier)

* means comm talk.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers but Crusader, Blaze, Viper and Vertigo are mine :P


Character focus: Thundercracker

Chapter 7 – Regret

The blue seeker onlined his optics and groaned. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the waves of the ocean crashed gently onshore. It was a beautiful day alright, but it was the complete opposite if you were suffering from a hangover. The powerful blaze of the sun blinded the half-asleep mech, the birds were giving him a huge processor ache and the ocean...well, it just made him plain seasick.

He rubbed his helm and searched his memory banks, trying to remember what he was up to last night.

Something that involved a hefty amount of energon, he guessed. He was right, of course.

There, playing inside of his CPU was the memory of Starscream handing him a cube of high grade and talking about Crusader. The seeker sighed as he came to realise he might've revealed more to the higher ranked mech than he should have.

'Stupid,' he said to himself, slapping his helm.

He sat up from his berth and looked around. An empty energon cube laid on the floor and assuming it was his, the seeker picked it up, climbed out of his berth and started to make his way towards the Air Commander's room. He passed several doors, some containing loudly snoring mechs, until he reached the right room.

He knocked once, no response.

He knocked twice, still no response.

He knocked three times and still absolutely nothing.

Getting very annoyed, he decided to just break down the door and barge in.

Stuff the manners.

He looked towards the berth and groaned loudly. It was empty.

'Frag it,' he said, turning on his comm link.

*Starscream, where in Primus' name are you?* - Thundercracker

No response.

Thundercracker cried out in anger before trying again.

No more Mr Nice Mech...

*STARSCREAM!! GET YOUR AFT DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT OR SO HELP ME, I WILL DRAG YOU HERE MYSELF!! - Thundercracker

Still no response.

*STAARRSCREEAAM!!!* - Thundercracker

*Holy frag, mech! I'm trying to recharge!* - Starscream

*I DON'T CARE!! GET YOUR AFT DOWN HERE!!* - Thundercracker

*But–* - Starscream

*STARSCREAM!!* - Thundercracker

*Alright, alright! Primus! Uhh...where exactly is down here?* - Starscream

*YOU IDIOT!! USE YOUR FRAGGING TRACKING SYSTEM!!* - Thundercracker

*Oh, right, sorry. I'll be there in five minutes.* - Starscream

Thick. He is so fragging thick, Thundercracker thought, shaking his helm. How his sister fell for a mech like that, he had no clue.

Suddenly, footsteps started to come his way, walking at a slow pace.

That was quick.

A tall mech came around the corner and he realised it wasn't Starscream at all. It was someone completely different.

'Megatron, sir,' he said, nodding. 'Good morning.'

The Decepticon Commander nodded back. 'Thundercracker, what are you doing up so early?'

'Just getting my troops ready for the search, thought it'd be best to start as early as possible to get it over and done with...that is if you're alright with it, sir?'

The silver mech smiled. 'Excellent idea, Thundercracker. Keep this up and you might get a promotion.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Megatron looked down at the broken door and back at the blue seeker. He raised an optic ridge and smirked.

'I don't want to know, do I?' he asked.

'Highly recommended that you don't,' Thundercracker replied.

'Very well. Carry on.'

The seeker watched the silver mech leave. His spark was going mad with a desperate urge to kill the mech.

His back's turned; it's a perfect chance...

He ignored his thoughts and hit himself in the chest, trying to calm the overwhelming thirst of his revenge seeking spark. He let out a sigh of relief as the other mech disappeared out of the room with him still rooted to the spot, hands down by his side and not around his Commander's throat. That surely wouldn't end well.

He rubbed an optic and slid his back against the wall, sitting down, asking Primus why things were this way. Life was so unfair.

xxx

'Crusader, where have you been?' the mech asked, frowning.

'With Starscream,' she replied.

'What? You shouldn't be going out with him for this long, you might get hurt.'

'Thundercracker, thank you for your concern but I'm a big femme, I can take care of myself. Besides, Starscream and I are kind of sparkbonded so I don't see why I can't be with him for as long as I want.'

The femme put her hands on her hips and gave a disappointed look at her brother. Thundercracker was unmoved by the stare and continued with his stubbornness.

'...But still, you might get hurt.'

The femme shook her helm and took the mech seeker's hands into her own.

'Look, I know that you're my big brother and you have a duty of protecting me, I appreciate that. But sometimes you just have to give it a rest and let me control my own life once in a while, okay? I love you and if you love me too, I'm sure you'd take my request into consideration.'

The mech hesitated. He silently cursed his sister for being so good at twisting words and using them against you.

'This is blackmail,' he stated. 'I have to say yes or else that means I don't love you but I do. Damn it, Crusader.'

The femme smiled and hugged him.

'Thanks, big bro,' she said, releasing him.

'Hmph,' the mech grunted.

He watched her walk towards the table that held energon and started to pour herself some high grade.

'Don't drink too much, Crusader,' he warned.

'Thundercracker...'

'Sorry.'

She turned to him and smirked.

'We really need to get you a femme; a femme that can control your stubbornness and constant whining.'

'Excuse me?' Thundercracker said, poking himself in the chest. 'Stubbornness and whining? Well, sorry for caring about you, Crusader.'

The blue and black femme shrugged and plopped herself onto the couch. She took a sip out of the cube and seemed to be deep in thought.

'Yes...actually, I might know the right femme for you. Her name's Bla–'

'NO FEMMES!' the mech yelled, raising his arms.

The femme jumped at her brother's surprisingly loud volume. She blinked and seemed to be at a loss of words for a moment.

'What the pit is wrong with you? I was only joking,' she said, scowling.

The mech put down his arms and settled himself. He drew in a long breath before letting it hiss out slowly. Painfully.

His optics sagged as he turned to face Crusader, realising his mistake.

'I'm sorry,' he said.

The seeker eased around the couch and sat down next to his sister, optics filled with sadness and regret. The femme put down her cube onto the nearby table and locked optics with him.

'What's wrong?'

The mech avoided optic-contact and decided to stare at the ground for a while.

'Thundercracker...look at me.'

He continued to observe the ground.

The femme huffed before putting her right hand under his chin and making him look at her.

'What's wrong?' she repeated.

He stared back at her, faceplates completely blank. He uttered no word and seemed to be in his own little universe.

'Thundercracker,' she said firmly, finally gaining his attention.

He scratched his cheek and turned away before turning back again. He wished his sister wasn't so demanding and menacing at the same time; he always fell victim to her strong, angry voice and extremely frightening death stares. He prayed to Primus before he spoke his next words.

'I just...' he trailed, put off by one of Crusader's infamous death stares. 'I-I...okay, look. I just fear for your safety, okay? And I fear that...if I ever got bonded...or sparkbonded...I would become distracted and won't be able to protect you. It's already happened once when Megatr...'

He stopped himself when he saw the sudden fear and rage in the femme seeker's optics. She turned away from him, form stiffening slightly.

'What happened with Megatron wasn't your fault,' she said bitterly. 'You didn't know, you weren't there and–'

'That's exactly my point! I wasn't there to protect you!' he protested.

'No! It wasn't your fault that I was raped! It was my fault! My fault for being so weak and allowing him to do it!' she yelled, form quivering with anger. 'You're not my bodyguard, Thundercracker!'

'No, I'm your brother! I was supposed to be there for you but I wasn't! It was my mistake, my fault for not being there when you needed me! Primus forbid, Crusader! I cannot devote myself to any other femme because I'm devoted to you! You are the one and only femme in my entire life and I love you with my entire spark. Crusader, you are the very reason why I wake up in the morning and continue fighting this war – to protect you.'

'So I'm a distraction!'

'No!'

'I stop you from living a real life with a femme that loves you! I'm the reason why you never go out to bars to pick up femmes and have fun! I'm the reason why you are so uptight about the mech's I go out with–'

'CRUSADER! I HAVE TO BE BECAUSE IT'S STARSCREAM! YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S LIKE! HE MIGHT JUST BE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU!!'

'YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! YOU DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT ME AT ALL! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE! I LOVE HIM AND IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THEN YOU'RE NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB AT PROTECTING ME! STARSCREAM, HE HELPS ME. HE'S HELPING ME!!'

'HELPING YOU WITH WHAT?!'

Crusader stopped and tried to control her heavy panting. Thundercracker stared back at her, doing the same.

The femme sighed loudly, optics sagging.

'He's helping me cope; keeping me sane. He's also been teaching me how to fight...so that I can protect myself if...something similar happens again.'

The mech shook his helm.

'Don't you see, Thundercracker? He's good for me...I need him.'

'...And you don't need me.'

'That's not true. I need you because you're my big bro...and I'd also like to thank you for being so "uptight" and "stubborn." I never knew you cared about me that much.'

'Oh, but I do.'

Thundercracker sighed as he was suddenly tackled by his sister, causing him to almost fall off the couch. He fidgeted uncomfortably under her touch as the hug seemed to last longer than he wanted. He gave a small cough. Nope, she was still clinging on real tight. He frowned and patted her on the shoulder.

'Uhh...Crusader?' he said nervously. His left optic twitched as she held on tighter.

'Hmm?'

'Uh, er, I'm glad we've cleared this up and all...but could you just...let go now? You're kinda making me uncomfortable.'

The femme released her grip and smirked.

'Mechs,' she grunted, reaching for her energon.

'Hey, it was cute when you were a sparkling, not when you're a full-grown femme.'

The femme shook her helm. 'Mechs,' she grunted again.

'Stop that.'

'Stop what?'

'That.'

'What's that?'

The mech seeker slapped his forehelm. This surely brought him back to the days when he was young; chasing around after a small blue sparkling, desperately pleading her to stop drinking the energon, accusing her that it will make her systems fail. Which it did for like two hours.

'Never mind.'

'Bleh, you're no fun,' the femme giggled, taking another sip of energon.

'Oh Primus, you're already drunk.'

'No, I'm not.'

'Yes, you are.'

'No, I'm not.'

'Yes, you are.'

'Thundercracker?'

'Yes?'

'No, I'm not.'

'Oh, for Primus' sake.'

The femme giggled again and took yet another sip of energon. This continued for a couple more moments until the mech couldn't take it anymore.

He let out a loud huff and turned to the giggling femme, giving her one of his sternest looks.

'You are so drunk,' he declared, reaching for the cube.

'WHA–?! No, get your own cube!'

'Crusader!'

The femme jerked her arm away just in time before jumping up from the couch. The mech groaned as he grasped thin air and he groaned even louder as the femme gave him a smug look.

'Don't look at me like that.'

The femme giggled. 'You are so slow.'

'Says you!'

The mech lunged forward, arms desperately trying to grab the giggling femme. The femme did a side-step causing the mech to land face first onto the ground.

'Ooh, ouch.'

The mech growled and quickly got to his feet, determined not be defeated by a femme.

'Come here!' he cried, sprinting after his now running sister.

The femme laughed loudly as she looked over her shoulder and witnessed the mech tripping over the table.

The mech fell to the ground, flat out on his back. He offlined his optics in pure embarrassment, not wanting to see the smug look on his sister's faceplates. He onlined them again and was met with surprise as he was confronted by the ceiling. No smug sister?

He sat up and pouted as he saw the femme rolling around on the floor with absolute laughter. She clutched her sides and tears started to fall down her faceplates. But it wasn't over yet. The mech eyed the now unguarded energon cube and waited for a moment as the femme continued laughing. He composed himself and dived for the cube, successfully swiping it up with his right hand. The femme suddenly stopped laughing.

'Thundercracker!'

xxx


There you go, that was slightly longer than the others. :)

Starscream is up next...