Chapter 9
Starscream sighed in content, keeping his optics squeezed shut firmly. Such a rare feeling, the feeling of being rested andC recharged, a good night's sleep for the first time in over 234 megacycles. In his bed…safe and warm, worries pushed at the back of his processor…that soothing snoring coming from right next to him, the warm armour he could feel against his fingers…
…warm armour? Snoring?
The flier opened his optics abruptly and bolted upright into a sitting position, looking around frantically. The same concrete walls as his room, but where on earth was he? Next to him was…oh. Now he remembered. There was Megatron, snoring gently with his huge frame acting as a shield for Starscream, keeping him warm in the cold apartment. And there he could see the door curtains of both rooms open - Skywarp and Thundercracker were fast asleep under their blankets. Good. But why was he in Megatron's berth?
He rubbed at his optics sleepily, trying to ease some memory into his mind of how he got here. Ah yes…he had come home from the science academy with the book and sat down to catch his breath, and must have fallen asleep. Starscream sighed with relief - he hadn't done anything that he regretted. Yet. Checking his chronometer, he realized he had only been asleep for five cycles - not long in any other mech's terms, but to someone that had been living off half a cycle of recharge a day, it meant forever.
Slowly, he lay back down, cautious so as not to wake or startle the gladiator next to him. Though he could defend himself and fight well, Megatron was a gladiator, and a heavyweight at that. Startling the giant would not end well at such close quarters. The silver mech sighed in his sleep, shuffling slightly further onto the berth, and Starscream only then noticed how uncomfortable Megatron's position looked, hanging half on, half off the bed. He squeezed himself against the wall as best he could with his wings in the way, and very gently eased the gladiator further onto the berth.
They were so close now, and Starscream's intakes hitched slightly. The only other mechs he'd been this near to were his brothers when they used to share a berth together, and Clench when he was overcharged on energon and particularly bawdy (the sleazy bastard). Yet, somehow, there was something very comforting about having someone so large lying next to him, and he realized the nagging feeling at the edge of his spark was a sense of safety - something he had not felt for a long, long time. Ah, those big arms he had admired only yesterday…the same arms that had crushed and killed those three gladiators on the transmission one of the junior scientists had been watching…Starscream felt perversely excited by being so near the deadly limbs, the hands that could choke him to death in seconds.
Without even realizing he was doing so, Starscream snuggled closer to the source of heat lying next to him. Megatron shuffled slightly in his sleep, flinging an arm over the flier's waist. The smaller mech flinched, unused to physical contact of any sort - then relaxed as he found that the weight of the bulky arm was actually quite comforting.
Then he froze again. "…How long have you been awake?" he whispered in his rasping voice, and Megatron opened his optics slightly.
"Since you lay back down," Megatron replied with an impish grin, "…Starscream." The named mech opened his almond optics wide in horror.
"What…how did - "
"In the front of Shockwave's book," Megatron explained, closing his optics again and moving to make himself more comfortable. "After that it was easy to figure out your brothers' names. But don't worry, your names are safe with me," he whispered soothingly. Starscream grumbled, untrusting. They were silent for a long while - the flier wondered if Megatron had gone back to sleep, until suddenly the silence was broken again.
"I thought you would run away," Megatron said softly, "but you're still here in my berth."
Starscream laughed, bowing his head against the wide silver chest to muffle the noise. "It was nice and cosy and warm here," he giggled. He debated for a moment whether or not to continue, chewing at the edge of his lip component. "I…I feel safe here."
"Safe is the last word I'd call it," growled the gladiator playfully. "I could crush you right here."
"Mmm," Starscream hummed happily, "Thundercracker always did say I had messed-up tastes."
Megatron pulled back a bit, looking down into Starscream's optics with a bewildered expression. Starscream mirrored his confusion, then mumbled shyly "was it something I said?"
"No, no…just…" faltered the silver titan, "I…thought you would mind more…I didn't think a mech like you would like me holding you like this." Starscream smiled sadly, and instead of replying, snaked his feminine arms around the bulky body.
"I don't know anymore," he whispered, so quietly that Megatron wasn't sure he heard it at all. "I don't know. Everything is different lately…the officials are hunting people down…the public executions…the science academy has all these rumours flying around…I do my best to protect my brothers, but I don't know how to protect myself."
Starscream began to babble to himself incoherently, his words slipping into mumbles and jargon that vaguely reminded Megatron of the accents of mechs from Vos - Starscream's original home. He shushed the flier gently, wrapping his arms around Starscream tightly and forcefully, pressing his lips against his helmet.
"I'll protect you…" he breathed, "Let me protect you…"
The flier suddenly snapped his optics back upwards to focus intently on Megatron's own. "Please," Starscream choked frantically, "you have to do something…someone has to do something…I need you…I need you to be the one Shockwave couldn't be…to join Kaon together, to get rid of the Autobots, to set us all free…please…I can't do it with my brothers like they are…I beg you…" he babbled, becoming hysterical.
"Shhh," Megatron pressed Starscream closer still, aware that he was crushing the flier a little - though the way the flier was gripping on tightly to his own back, Starscream didn't seem to mind the pain at all. "I've…been thinking about it, yes. I want our freedom as much as you, Starscream…but these things do not happen overnight. They take planning. They take skill. They take preparation." He moved his fingers up to the flier's chin, tilting the dark face upwards near to his own. Moving closer, he whispered hoarsely, optics dark with something Starscream couldn't quite place, "I promise you…I'll set you free. I'll set all of us free."
The smaller mech seemed to melt into his hold suddenly, closing his optics and sighing deeply out of his air vents, mumbling. Knowing only a few words of slang from Vos, Megatron thought he recognized a 'thank you' or a 'Primus bless you' in the mumbles, and kissed Starscream's helmet in reply. The flier looked back up towards him, eyes glittering with hope and admiration - then leaned forward, and pressed his lips against Megatron's.
That same, possessive monster surfaced again in Megatron, and he crushed the seeker back into his hold, refusing to allow the kiss to be broken now that he had obtained it. Starscream seemed to be the same - a darker, more violent side to him, mad and irrational, clawing at his back with blue fingers and biting at Megatron's lips, both mechs struggling against each other passionately.
Then the kiss was broken, and the two both gasped for air, intakes reeling and air vents shrieking. Starscream sat up suddenly, tugging at the large hands of the gladiator to make him sit up too.
"I think," gasped the flier with a seductive smile, "that it is your turn to wear this now." He lifted the chain from around his neck with the Decepticon emblem hanging from it, and placed it over Megatron's head, letting it fall against the broad, silver chest. "The future leader…of the Decepticons," he whispered, eyes full of hope.
Megatron smiled down at him arrogantly, but then his face fell slightly. "I…I want you to fight alongside me, Starscream, but…"
"But what?" Starscream squeaked, optics wide.
"You're right. Things are becoming more dangerous. Rumble and Frenzy, they…they stole an arm from an official today. We're wanted mechs, for murder…and if they find out we're followers of Shockwave's teachings, we'll be executed for high treason. It isn't safe for us to say in one place for too long…and it is the same for you and your brothers," he sighed. "I fear you and I will be separated before long."
Starscream looked up at him sadly. "Even if we are separated…" he began slowly, tugging at the chain around Megatron's neck, "we'll find each other again, after you have taken over Kaon. I'll go into hiding, and watch your matches from far away, and then when the time is right, come and look for me. I'll fight with you."
Megatron nodded, pulling Starscream down to lie again with him. With one hand he stroked the flier's wings, causing the smaller mech to tremble, and with the other played with the necklace Starscream had placed on him. He chided himself for thinking something so weak, but couldn't help toying with the idea that it was a rather romantic symbol of their promise to each other, 'chained' together by destiny. Soon the idea was shrugged off, however - he needed to be firm, strong, disciplined, if he was ever going to keep his side of the promise.
"Don't…don't tell Clench about this," Starscream murmured suddenly. "He's always trying to get me to do more than dance for him…but I would never give in to a coward like that." The flier huffed his chest out proudly, smirking. "I have to be won."
"Hnnn," Megatron replied, darkening. He pulled Starscream against him, pressing their lip components together roughly into another bruising kiss. Through the exquisite sensations, he seethed inwardly - yet another reason that Clench had to be disposed of, and soon. The selfish, greedy ring leader of the gladiators could have been a useful ally, but with him threatening Megatron's chance to build a relationship of Starscream, he allowed the darker, possessive side of himself to place Clench at the top of his hit-list. Starscream, meanwhile, was giggling up into the violent kiss, and Megatron wondered for a moment if the flier wasn't a bit off-kilter in his processors (or at least a masochist of some sort).
"Checkmate," Megatron grinned roguishly, and Starscream curled closer against him adoringly for another kiss.
