A/N: This ended up being a very long chapter, so I split it into two! Expect chapter 11 shortly!

Synopsis: As an adult, Thundercracker is plagued by doubts. His constantly running internal dialogue about right and wrong started early in in life, and the words of his mother-creator haunt him: You have a good spark and I know that you will follow the right path and find the right answers as long as you let your conscience guide you. It only takes one instance to destroy the confidence in yourself that you are doing the right thing.

Oh. And Skywarp is a brat.

Disclaimer: Takara, hasbro et al. own Transformers. I only make a handful of readers smile and that is reward enough for me. The characters Stealthshadow and Nebula are mine alone. Wraith and Wraith technology are also mine as is the tale of the Seekers in early Cybertronian history.

Notes: Primacron is the name of one of Cybertron's two moons and was given its most awesome name by Fire From Above. Much love for your creative mind! SR-71 is the name of a real stealth reconnaissance aircraft, obviously NOT a Cybertronian design. RCS stands for radar cross section - a unit of measure of how detectable an object is with radar.

As always, constructive criticism is welcomed. Stealing is not.

Chapter 10 – Downward Spiral

Thundercracker was up early again practicing his defensive stances. He moved fluidly through each of the blocking techniques Stealthshadow had taught them with a resolute gracefulness that few mechs would ever accomplish in their lifetime. His concentration was fixed solely on his body as one position flowed into the next with ease. It took an enormous amount of control to rein in his daydreams about flying, but he forced his desires into a corner of his mind. He needed to focus on the work that would earn him his wings, because the longer it took for him to perfect his postures and endurance, the longer it would be until he could get those coveted wings.

A sudden commotion outside broke his concentration and Thundercracker muttered a few of Skywarp's favorite curses as he walked over to the window. He peered out at the street below, but saw nothing out of the ordinary with the early morning traffic moving along at its usual pace. The blue youngling shrugged and turned away, intent on completing the series of stances he was in the middle of before he was interrupted.

"You're lucky I don't slagging extinguish your worthless spark, Starscream!"

Thundercracker's faceplate was pressed against the window in an instant as the large mech roughly tossed his best friend down the front steps. Starscream scrambled across the sidewalk trying to get away from the much larger mech who stomped down the stoop and shook his fist at the youngling.

Some of the morning traffic glanced at the scene before looking the other way. Some stepped around the pair as if they were an uneven patch on the street. Most didn't acknowledge them at all.

The blue youngling watched as the mech stormed off, disappearing in the crowds before he tried their comlink, "'Screamer are you okay?"

There was no answer.

Thundercracker bolted down the stairs and nearly plowed into his mother-creator as she opened the door. One look from her was all he needed to know that she had seen what had happened as well. He glanced across the street and saw Starscream on his knees and trying to stand. Without a second thought, he sprinted out the door, dodging and pushing his way though the ocean of mechs over to where his fallen friend was. He vaguely heard his mother-creator call after him.

"'Screamer!" The blue youngling slid to a stop next to his friend and tried to pull him to his feet.

The red youngling shook off his friend's help and looked away when Thundercracker's optics widened in shock. "Primus, 'Screamer..."

Nebula was instantly at their side and gently ushered the younglings to the open door of her house. "Let's get you inside and cleaned up."

Starscream tried to shrug them off with muttered excuses as he swayed on his feet. "It's nothing. I'm okay."

She helped steady the youngling. "You're not okay."

Thundercracker wrapped his arm around Starscream's body and helped him limp across the street. He didn't say anything to his friend, keeping his optics either on the ground or on the door as he focused solely on getting him to safety. Things were now slipping into place as the blue youngling realized why Starscream often turned off the com system: The yelling in the background over the comlink, the times when he would freak out about playing near his house, the anger he showed during their training sessions, the obsessed need to study...

Nebula shut the front door and led them to the kitchen where she went to work gathering things from numerous cabinets. "Will you get breakfast ready, Thundercracker?"

The blue youngling eased Starscream into the nearest chair, then silently retrieved three energon cubes and placed them on the heating coils.

He should have said something. He should have told his mother-creator before this happened. He would have stopped this from happening to his best friend. Guilt wracked his young spark as he stared at the coils under the cubes while they turned orange. He should have listened to his conscience and spoken up about the shouting. He put his shaking hands on the edges of the heating apparatus and hung his head as he remembered what his mother-creator had told him:

He looked at her retreating back as she turned off the lights. "What if-"

His worried voice prompted her to flick the lights back on, "What if?"

He pursed his lips trying to put his thoughts into words; he knew something wasn't right because his mother-creator never yelled at him. He never saw Stealthshadow yell at Skywarp like that either. Starscream could be a pain in the aft sometimes, but why would his creator yell at him? Or curse at him or call him names? That wasn't right, but if Starscream had gotten in trouble then he didn't want to get his best friend in more trouble.

He didn't know what to do. "What if you think something is wrong… but you're not really sure if it is…wrong. What do you do?"

His mother-creator walked back over to him and sat down on his berth, "Well, I would tell someone I trusted about it."

Maybe he should tell her about the yelling. She would know what to do. She always told him to let his conscience be his guide…

"Is there something wrong, dear-spark?"

He was conflicted inside and he didn't like this feeling at all. He should tell her. He knew he should. So why was it so hard to say it? What if he was wrong. "I'm not sure…"

"You know that if you ever need to talk to someone you can come to me." She caressed his face lovingly, "You have a good spark, Thundercracker. I know that you will follow the right path and find the right answers as long as you let your conscience guide you."

He looked at the floor, unadulterated confusion running through his body. Maybe it was bad, but what if it wasn't as bad as he thought it was…

She placed a kiss on his forehead, "If it still bothers you tomorrow we can talk about it, okay? Try to get some recharge."

The light went out and he stared at the ceiling with his doubts running amok. Should he or shouldn't he tell her? What if Starscream was in trouble? What if he would get Starscream in more trouble if he told her? What should he do? Should he do anything now, or should he wait and see if the yelling happened again?

"YOU ROTTEN GLITCH! WHAT THE FRAK ARE YOU DOING?! GET YOUR SLAGGIN' AFT DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

He put his hands over his audios and whimpered as the yelling replayed in his mind.

What should he do?

He let this happen to his best friend because he didn't tell anyone. Thundercracker couldn't lift his head to face his friend. His conscience tried to convince him to tell his mother-creator, yet he did nothing. He had turned a blind optic to what was happening right in front of him… just like the people on the street did.

Nebula set an array of things she had pulled from the cupboards on the table. She daubed something from a blue bottle on a white cloth, "This will sting some, but the cuts will be gone in a few joors." She gently wiped some of the dried energon off Starscream's face, dabbing the stringent cleaner on some of the larger welts.

The red youngling hissed and tried to pull away from her.

"The pain will stop in a klik or two."

Thundercracker took the warm energon off the heating coils and brought it over to the table. He carefully filled three cups with the thick liquid and sat down heavily. His spark felt like it weighed a billion tons.

Nebula grabbed one of the steaming cups and pressed it into Starscream's hands. "Neither of you are going to the recreation center until I see you drink at least three cups of energon."

Thundercracker nodded silently and took a sip. He braved a cautious glance over the table at Starscream and their optics met for a moment before the red youngling turned away. The blue youngling dropped his head and stared at the table. He had betrayed their friendship and now Starscream would never forgive him.

The blue femme sadly watched the uncomfortable interaction between the two younglings. "You're spending the night here with us, Starscream."

Starscream's head shot up quickly and he locked his pleading optics with hers, "I can't. I have to protect-"

She knelt down in front of him and gently cupped his face, "I know you do. But sometimes things in life are bigger than what we can handle on our own. I have a friend who will help her and take her to a safe place."

Starscream looked away with a heavy sigh, "... She said he'd find her wherever we go."

"Then we'll take her to a place where he can't go." Nebula tilted her head trying to peer into the youngling's optics. "You're staying with us tonight and tomorrow you're going to a sleep over at Skywarp's."

"But-"

"No buts. Stealthshadow and I have already spoken to your mother-creator about the sleep over."

Thundercracker gave Starscream a guilty look. Why would he want to spend time with the mech that let this happen?

Starscream didn't meet her optics, but there was the smallest of smiles on his lips. Two entire nights that he wouldn't need to spend cowering under his bed. And Nebula never lied to him; if she said she would help, then he knew she wouldn't let anything happen to his mother-creator. He lifted his gaze to peek at Thundercracker who seemed to be in pain. "Maybe we can get Skywarp to lubricate himself again."

The blue youngling's face lifted a bit as Starscream spoke to him and he smiled back at his friend. "We could ask Stealthshadow to help us scare him."

Nebula filled their cups with more of the warm energon as the two younglings brightened. She was worried about both of them, but Thundercracker's emotional shut down scared her. She would bet her ailerons that he was frightened; she would need to talk to him later about it. "Less plotting and more drinking. Both of you need the energy before you run off to the recreation center."

Refilling her cup, she sat down at the table and glanced at the two, "So what are you learning about this week?"

"We're working on communications systems and encryption codes." Starscream smirked slightly. "'Warp hates this lesson."

"And Skywarp got in trouble by accusing his father-creator of cheating, so now he has to finish the obstacle course training in one point nine kliks." Thundercracker smiled into his cup.

Nebula chuckled, "And what did Stealthshadow say to that?"

"He took his wings off and ran the course." Starscream glanced over at her, "I didn't know you could do that. Taking your wings off. I've only read about armor and protoform alterations done by medics."

She smiled at the younglings. "Most fighters and fliers from the war were outfitted with heavy-duty armor that can be removed quickly in case of an emergency. A wounded wing that keeps you out of the air is just a hindrance. The ability to discard a badly damaged wing or a limb can keep you from bleeding to death and keep your enemy from tracking you by following an energon leak. Ideally, you want a trained field medic to remove them if you are wounded. But in a pinch you can deaden your pain sensors, seal off the flow of energon and disconnect the joints at their base. Now that the war is over and we do not need the heavy armor, wings like mine are easily removable."

Two sets of wide purple optics looked at her. "You can do that?"

She nodded and smiled inwardly at being able to distract the younglings, "Yes. I remove them from time to time. But during the Scintillian war, when I wore my full exoskeleton armor, I was forced to remove them twice."

"Why?"

She sipped at her breakfast, "The first time, I was shot down while I tried to protect my wounded wingmate. My wing was in shreds and I had a long walk back to where my platoon was so I discarded it. The second time I removed a wing was to carry my Air Commander away from the battle and get him to the company field hospital."

Thundercracker stared at his mother-creator, "You couldn't fly and carry him?"

Nebula set her cup to the side, "He was a much bigger mech than I am. I wouldn't have stayed in the air, so I had to carry him over the ground."

Starscream look up at her, "You saved him by sacrificing your ability to fly?"

The blue femme shook her head sadly, "I was able to get him to the field hospital, but they weren't able to save him. He had been shot in the chest and it cracked his spark chamber. They didn't have the equipment to transfer his spark."

The younglings looked at each other quietly as she stood up and gathered their empty cups, "Time for us to walk over to Skywarp's."

"You're coming with us?" Thundercracker looked at his mother-creator curiously.

"I want to see this obstacle course that Stealthshadow has set up. It's been a while since I went through basic training. But if the course is a real challenge I might give it a try."

--

Skywarp stood at the door with a scowl, arms crossed over his chest and tapping one foot impatiently. He glared at his two friends as they climbed up the stairs, "Why didn't you turn on your comlinks?"

Thundercracker glanced at Starscream before answering, "We forgot because we were having breakfast."

The black youngling pouted, "You two are always doing stuff without me."

They stopped right in front of Skywarp as he blocked the doorway and Starscream stuck his tongue out at him, "It's because we don't like you, 'Warp."

Purple optics widened in hurt disbelief, "Y- you don't like me?"

Thundercracker smacked Skywarp in the arm playfully, "Don't be a glitch-mouse, 'Warp. Of course we like you. You're our-" He winced on the inside as guilt washed over him again and he glanced between the two mechs. "best friend. Remember? 'Friends 'til the bitter end?"

That seemed to appease Skywarp, but it didn't alleviate Thundercracker's guilt. How long would it be until he betrayed his friendship with Skywarp?

Starscream smirked at the black youngling, "You think you can meet your one point nine klik run today?"

Skywarp sniffed in disdain, "Yes. While you two glitchmice were having breakfast, I've been practicing."

"You're going to need a lot more practicing and less attitude before you'll make that mark." Stealthshadow pushed Skywarp away from the door so he could shut it.

"You femmes ready for today-" The black and silver flier stopped mid sentence when he saw Nebula standing there behind the two younglings. He gave her his best smile, "What occasion brings you out this fine morning, Nebula? Were my students misbehaving? Because if they were I could discipline them with more homework and training."

The blue femme laughed at him and put a hand on Thundercracker's and Starscream's shoulders, "Nothing of the sort. We had a lovely breakfast together and they've told me all about your obstacle course. I thought I would come see what you have set up for them."

Stealthshadow winked at her knowingly, "Maybe you could stay for a while and talk about some of the drills and tests the Guardian Fliers use for training."

Skywarp's optics brightened at the thought of hearing, and hopefully learning, some new fighting tactics. "Could you teach us some of the fighting skills they use?"

Nebula smiled at Skywarp, "I could show you a few training drills."

"YES!" Skywarp grabbed his two stunned friends and dragged them down the steps, only to let them go at the bottom of the stoop. "LAST ONE TO THE CENTER IS A DIRTY GLITCH-MOUSE!!"

--

Nebula stood with Stealthshadow and watched the three younglings work their way through a series of warm-up exercises. She covered her words to the mech with a smile, "He was just tossed into the street like he was a bag of refuse."

The black and silver flier watched his students with a critical optic as he dropped his voice low, "And no one will lift a slaggin' finger to help him."

"We can't let this continue. With the way things have been escalating… Stealth, I'm scared. I stand by the window every morning praying to Primus that he makes it through another day."

He nodded grimly, "You contact that friend of yours?"

"Yes," The blue femme waved as Thundercracker glanced worriedly over at her, "She is stopping by this morning to collect her and take her into hiding."

"And Starscream?"

Nebula's optics narrowed. "I'm keeping him. He needs to be in a familiar and safe environment. And if that slagger steps foot on my doorstep, I'll shoot him."

Stealthshadow turned to look at the blue femme in surprise, "You've just offended my delicate audio receptors with your foul language."

She crossed her arms over her chest and snorted lightly, "I highly doubt that a high-ranking officer of the Wraith would be offended by anything."

He smirked, "True. But you can't shoot the slagger. Firearm usage within city limits is prohibited."

Nebula looked at the black and silver flier, "I'm well aware of that, but tazer-darts are perfectly legal."

He turned to watch the younglings again, "I was hoping that you'd kick his aft to Primacron. Nothing like watching a femme fight. Especially if it's with another femme and they're covered in oil."

She sent a sharp elbow into the mech's side. "You want a fight? I'll give you a fight. I challenge you in a run through your obstacle course."

"Can't say no to such an offer." He clapped his hands together loudly to get the attention of the three younglings, "Take a seat, femmes. Nebula thinks she can beat my record on the course, so I want you to watch and learn that it's a bad idea to challenge me."

Nebula shook her head in annoyance at the braggart mech's comment. Her optics went out of focus and she stood stock-still; they brightened in less than a nano-klik later and she reached under her left arm, disengaging the lower clasps and servos to her wing, and then the upper servos.

Stealthshadow moved to assist her with a mischievous grin, "Here, let me help you."

She brushed him off as she set her sleek blue wing on the floor, "A real warrior doesn't need help in something as simple as removing their wings."

Three sets of purple optics widened at Nebula's cutting remark; Skywarp barely stifled a wicked giggle.

Nebula removed her other wing and set it carefully next to the other. Then the graceful blue femme stood up, rolling her shoulders and stretching out her long and elegant limbs. She quickly garnered the attention of everyone in the center and stepped up to the starting point of the course. "Do I get to pick who will mark my time?"

"Me! Me! Me!" Skywarp hopped up and down excitedly. Not only did he want her to win, but also show up his father-creator.

"I don't think so, sparkling." Stealthshadow flicked the back of Skywarp's head and handed the timer to Starscream, "You're the impartial one of the group. But I'll be watching just to ensure that you don't fudge the timing."

Starscream nodded quickly, a bright smile playing over his previously quiet features. He held the timer up and looked at Nebula. "On my mark?"

The sleek blue femme knelt at the starting position, her shining optics focused on the first part of the course. "Ready."

The younglings were in awe as the graceful femme sailed through the course, her body effortlessly twisting and spinning with ease. Stealthshadow's jaw dropped as she strode up to the four mechs.

Nebula smiled the group, "What was my time?"

Starscream beamed, "One point four kliks!"

She gave a pointed look to the black and silver flier as she sat down with the younglings. "Not my best time. I must be getting old."

Skywarp whooped loudly as he turned to face his father-creator, waggling his finger at the much larger mech. "You got owned by a femme!"

Stealthshadow grumbled as he smacked the youngling in irritation. "Enough out of you. Now it's my turn."

The bigger mech had difficulty removing his large and angled wings by himself, and finally allowed Nebula to help him. He stretched out his bad knee and perched at the starting point. "Just say when, 'Screamer."

The black and silver flier launched himself at the course for the second day in a row. Nebula may be a good-looking, but he'd be slagged if he let any femme show him up. When he skidded to a stop in front of the group he smirked triumphantly at the blue femme, "What's my time?"

Starscream nervously glanced between the two adults as he squeaked an answer that was too high pitched for even a turbo dog to hear.

"What is it, 'Screamer?"

The red mech was able to lower his voice slightly, "One point eight kliks."

Skywarp did a victory dance and chanted very loudly, "You got owned by a femme! You got owned by a femme!"

Nebula rose to her feet and lazily picked up one of her wings, "Don't worry, Stealth. If you keep practicing hard, you'll get better."

Thundercracker and Starscream shared a look before busting up with sparkling-like giggles as Nebula teased Stealthshadow while Skywarp continued his victory dance around the room chanting inanely.

Training was canceled for the rest of the day.

--

"But if we simultaneously force the pitch to 270 degrees, we could effectively increase the area of attack to- "

Nebula ducked her head into Thundercracker's room, "It's time to get ready for recharge you two."

Thundercracker and Starscream were lying on the floor focused on a bunch of scattered data pads and conversing rapidly with Skywarp over their shared comlink. The blue youngling glanced quickly up at his mother-creator, "Just one more breem? We're almost done modifying the Cobalt Cobra."

Curious as to what the youngling meant, she walked over to them and peered over Starscream's shoulder. "Modifying the maneuver how?"

Starscream's optics sparkled brightly as he looked up at her, "For a triad in any battle situation." He held up the data pad that he had been writing on, "We've converted fifteen conventional Guardian Flier battle tactics. I was surprised that no one had altered them before."

Nebula glanced over the formulas the younglings had used to modify the maneuvers. They were highly detailed and creative and they might actually work in perfect conditions. "I'm impressed. I have a feeling that you two will put your instructors in fits when you suggest some of these ideas."

"Skywarp helped, too."

"Yeah. All three of us worked on these."

She handed the data pad back to Starscream, "And you can continue working on them tomorrow. It's time for you to recharge. And tell Skywarp he needs to recharge as well."

Starscream took the data pad back as Thundercracker wheedled for more time, "Just one more breem? Please? We'll go straight to recharge right after, we promise."

"You have a long day tomorrow and you'll need to have a decent recharge before going over to Skywarp's for the sleep over. You can continue working on modifying tactics then."

Starscream sat up and started organizing their data pads, setting them on top of Thundercracker's bookshelf filled with data pads on flying. He was strangely surprised that Nebula wasn't upset at Thundercracker for making a fuss about going to recharge.

Thundercracker gave a resigned sigh, "Sorry, 'Warp. We've got to go. We'll see you in the morning."

"It's not fair. You're always doing stuff without me. And now you're having a sleep over without me," Skywarp pouted over the comlink.

Starscream took the pillow that Nebula brought for him to use. "We're going to sleep over at your house tomorrow, 'Warp."

There was a rude noise over the comlink, "Whatever."

Thundercracker and Starscream shared an exasperated look over Skywarp's comments.

"Tell Skywarp goodnight and turn off the comlinks." Nebula herded the younglings over to the berth.

They crawled into the berth and Nebula tucked them in, kissing each of them on the forehead. "I'm serious about you two needing to recharge. I want you to rest, that means no talking all night."

The light went out and it was silent except for the soft noise of Nebula heading to her own room. Kliks passed before Starscream whispered, "Okay, if we alter the thrust vectoring for the majority of the weave patterns, I think we can get sharper turn radii, which means we could-"

There was a soft swishing noise and both younglings sat bolt upright in the berth, their pale purple optics wide in fright.

"Whoa. Not good." A familiar voice and another set of purple optics peered out of the dark. "Too far to teleport."

"Skywarp! What are you doing?" Thundercracker hissed at his crazy friend.

The dizzy mech stumbled over to the recharge berth and crawled in. "It's not fair that you two get to have a sleep over without me."

"It's not really a sleep over."

Starscream shushed the other two, "Be quiet or we'll get in trouble."

"We aren't going to get in trouble," Skywarp yawned as he made himself comfortable between his two shocked friends. "We're still recharging like they wanted."

Neither mech could argue with Skywarp's strange brand of logic, so they curled up on the berth and slipped into recharge.

In the end, Thundercracker and Starscream wound up on the floor, cuddled up without their pillows, while the snoring Skywarp had taken over the entire berth, sprawling across it with both pillows tucked under his head.

--

Skywarp's disappearance resulted in an annoyed Stealthshadow appearing on the doorstep bright and early. And all three paid for his misbehavior with a much longer training session that lasted well into the afternoon. When assignments were handed out, even Starscream gasped at the amount of work that was expected from them for the next day.

Skywarp groused loudly, "We don't have time to complete this by tomorrow. We're having a sleep over, remember?"

"You mean you had your sleep over. All three of you will be buried in homework for most of the night." Stealthshadow smirked evilly at the groaning younglings, "Don't give me slag about it. You brought this on yourselves."

Thundercracker sighed and brought out his stylus to work on the assignment. Better to start now so he could keep up with how fast Starscream worked.

The black and silver flier plucked the instrument from the younglings grasp, "You can work on that later. Time to run the course."

Three sets of surprised optics landed on the older flier. "But we already ran the course for today."

Stealthshadow crossed his arms over his cockpit, "Yeah, and you need to run it again. You three think you can do whatever you want without consequences? Well you better ditch that idea, because I won't allow this behavior."

Data pads were left on the floor as the pouting younglings got up and trudged towards the obstacle course for another three grueling joors of practice.

--

Skywarp beat his head on the floor in frustration.

All three younglings were lying on the floor of Skywarp's house, exhausted and trying to make sense of the homework they were given.

"Assimilating Alien Technology. Didn't we do this stuff before?" The black youngling opened one tired optic and glanced over the data pad.

"No. We studied how to identify alien technology." Starscream was hunched over the data pad and had to fight off a weary yawn.

Skywarp's head hit the floor again and he shuttered his optics. "This slagging sucks."

"We wouldn't be doing this if you had stayed at your house." Thundercracker was tired and losing his thin patience with his friend's incessant whining.

A hand was lifted and Skywarp demonstrated one of the more colorful hand signals he had picked up from his father-creator.

"You two need to quit it and get back to work. I don't want to upset Stealthshadow anymore than he already is."

Silence ensued for a breem as the three worked; it was shattered when Skywarp threw his data pad across the room, startling the other two. "Slag this. I'm not doing this anymore."

"You have to complete it, 'Warp. We have to turn it in tomorrow." Starscream crawled on his knees to where the data pad had skidded to a stop and picked it up. "Otherwise you'll just get in more trouble."

"Frak that. Frak him getting mad. Let him. I don't care anymore." The black youngling rested his head on his arms, snarling at the floor.

Starscream prodded Skywarp with the data pad. "Then what happens tomorrow when you're supposed to turn the assignment in?"

"Don't care." He shoved his friend's hand away. "Matter of fact. I'm not going to training tomorrow."

"You have to go, 'Warp. Stealthshadow will drag you there if you refuse to go."

The black mech picked up his head enough to glare at the other two. "He can't drag me if I'm not here." Skywarp pushed himself off the floor, "I'm going to run away."

Starscream and Thundercracker looked at each other before turning to stare at Skywarp. "You're going to run away just because of the homework?"

"Not just the homework." He said exasperatedly. "Every thing. All this slag, I'm tired of it."

The red and blue younglings shared another look and Thundercracker sighed. "Where are you going go, 'Warp? Some of the Iacon Precincts are really dangerous."

"Then I'll go to one of the safe ones."

Starscream sat up and gave the black youngling a tired an annoyed look. "And what are you going to do when you get there? You're too young to work and too young to go to the Academy."

Skywarp scowled with a harsh shrug, "Doesn't matter. Anything is better than this."

Thundercracker shook his head and went back to his homework. He could think of things much worse than all the homework and training. "This is fragging insane, 'Warp. It's just homework."

"You guys should come with me!"

Thundercracker offlined his optics and smacked the data pad in front of him with his forehead. "I take that back. You're frakking insane and we're NOT going with you."

"You'll go with me, won't you 'Screamer?"

The blue mech shook his head and went back to his homework. This was the dumbest idea Skywarp had ever come up with.

"We should leave quickly. That way he can't stop us."

Thundercracker gave a martyred sigh and looked up to glare at Skywarp. "For the love of Primus! We're not going with-"

Starscream was sitting back on his heels in deep thought. He was seriously considering the idea of running away!

"…I need some time to get ready, 'Warp."

Thundercracker leapt to his feet and yelled at his two crazy friends. "THIS IS THE DUMBEST THING EVER! You can't run away! You have nowhere to go! You'll end up as homeless beggars! You don't even have credits to buy energon!"

Skywarp smirked mischievously, "I know where my father-creator stashes his credits."

The blue youngling threw his hands up in the air, "Fine. You two glitches run away. Have a great time being street bums. Seriously, good luck on your crazy adventure."

He scooped up his stylus and data pad and stalked over to the table, throwing himself at the nearest chair. He felt a jealous stab in his spark. He could understand why Starscream would want to run away, but Skywarp was just being an idiot. So much for being 'friends 'til the bitter end'.

Starscream glanced at the furious Thundercracker, "He has a point, 'Warp…"

"Forget about him, 'Screamer. I can get us enough credits to last us until we get jobs."

"Good luck on getting into the Academy. I'm sure they accept homeless miscreants all the time." Thundercracker waved them off, "Good luck on getting your wings, too. I'm sure you can afford them with whatever job you get."

"Who's getting a job?" Stealthshadow walked into the room with a large bag and set it down on the table.

The blue mech shot a nasty glare at Skywarp, and then went back to his homework.

The black and silver flier glanced at the three younglings: Starscream looked torn and confused, Thundercracker was steaming in silence, and Skywarp glared directly at him in defiance. He couldn't help but be flippant, "Did I come at a bad time?"

Skywarp stormed over to Starscream and dragged him to his feet. "You came just in time to say goodbye. Come on, 'Screamer. We're leaving."

Stealthshadow stepped to one side as the black youngling pushed past him with Starscream in tow. "Where're you going?"

Skywarp snapped over his shoulder, "Away."

"Oh, okay. Have fun."

Stealthshadow pulled a holopad out of the bag along with a rather large bag of energon goodies as he eased into a chair and propped his feet on the table. He rummaged in the goodie bag until he found what he was looking for, and then pushed the bag across the table to Thundercracker. "Want some? We've got two entire bags to eat by ourselves. Oh, and I brought a couple of holodisks. You ever seen these?"

The blue youngling stared at the black and silver flier in confusion.

"They're running away, aren't they?"

Thundercracker nodded and scowled, "'Warp is malfunctioning. He thinks his life is miserable because of the training and homework. He's got the sense of a brass Dodo." He tossed his stylus on the table in frustration, "He has no fragging clue and he's dragging Starscream around on his daft 'running away' plan. 'Warp has no idea of how good he's got it."

He sympathetically listened to the youngling vent until his blustered anger died away. "You want something to drink, TC?"

The blue mech shrugged, "Sure."

Stealthshadow rose from his chair and headed into the kitchen. "Why didn't you run away with them?"

Thundercracker pulled the bag of energon goodies over and grabbed a handful. "Because it's a stupid idea and I'm not a spoiled sparkling that throws a tantrum every time something doesn't go my way."

He shoved a goodie into his mouth as the black and silver flier set two large energon cubes on the table. "What's the point of running away? I love my mother-creator, I like being here, I enjoy the training, and I even like the homework! 'Warp is just…" He met the green optics of the older mech, "He's going to upset 'Screamer."

Stealthshadow settled back in his seat and took a long draught of his energon cube, "I think you need to give 'Screamer a little more credit. He's a bright mech and he'll convince that idiot sparkling of mine that this is a bad idea."

"You didn't hear 'Screamer say that he needed time to get things ready."

The older mech nodded as he collected his thoughts. He needed to convince the youngling that things were about to change for the better. "They'll return shortly, TC. Once they realize how hard it is to move around in the Precinct, they'll be back. Or brought back by one of the Guardian Fliers. Everything will be okay."

Thundercracker sighed as he reached for the energon cube and took a drink. He looked completely miserable as he set the cube down and he drew the back of his hand over his mouth, "Yeah, everything will be just perfect."

An optic ridge rose and worldly green optics regarded the youngling curiously, "You don't seem very optimistic about it."

"Why would I be? If I had just- Slag it all." He muttered and stared at the cube.

"If you had just what. TC?"

The youngling sat in silence.

"Come on, TC," Stealthshadow prodded him. "You know I won't tell anyone. Mech to mech, warrior to warrior. Things said while drinking don't leave the table."

Thundercracker looked away from the cube of energon, "…I knew what was happening and I didn't do anything about it."

So Thundercracker did know. "There was nothing you could do about this, TC," Stealthshadow took another drink from his cube. "Nebula and I have been trying for a long time, probably longer than you knew about it. But that's going to change now, you know why?"

The youngling's optics met his, cold disbelief apparent in them.

"Because we're not letting him go back to that. His mother-creator has been taken somewhere safe and Nebula and I will be taking care of him from now on."

"You could have done that much sooner if I had told someone about it earlier…"

"No, and don't you dare think that this is your fault, Thundercracker. Because it's not. We've tried everything for the past six stellar cycles trying to get the authorities to do something on it. Now we're taking matters into our own hands."

The blue mech didn't seem to be convinced, but Stealthshadow wasn't given the chance to try and persuade him further as the front door opened and Skywarp sulked back into the house with Starscream beside him.

The black and silver mech downed the rest of his cube and winked at Thundercracker, quickly picking up his holopad and pretending to read it. "Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested."

"We aren't staying long," Skywarp snarled.

"Then who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

The black youngling growled and headed for the kitchen.

"Hey! Get out of there! I keep my energon in there and I don't like to share."

Skywarp stomped back into the room and crossed his arms over his chest, "Where are the grease guns?"

"Grease guns? Why would I keep grease guns? Those are sparkling toys and I haven't had a sparkling around in a long time. Real pain in the aft he was, too. Glad I got rid of him."

Thundercracker stifled a snicker as he dug inside of the energon goodie bag. He glanced at Starscream and pushed the bag over to him with an evil grin.

Skywarp glared at his father-creator.

The black and silver mech ignored him and held the holopad out to Thundercracker, "Hey, TC. Look at the new design for the SR-71. Someone finally figured out how to mask RCS signals so those of us with stealth alternate modes can stay hidden from enemy radar. About slaggin' time. You wanna look at it 'Screamer? You should be designing armor and munitions for them. Frag. You should be leading the research facilities."

The approval-starved mech brightened and peeked at the holopad over Thundercracker's shoulder while he shoved an energon treat into his mouth.

Stealthshadow grinned at the red and blue younglings. He casually turned his attention on the steaming Skywarp and tapped his lips in thought, "You know, you sorta look like that rotten sparkling I had. Eh, forget about him. You want an energon goodie? I don't usually feed the street drones, but I'll make an exception in your case."

Skywarp's heated glare was nearing supernova.

"No? Suit yourself. Leaves more for us." The flier held up the holodisks to show Starscream. "Ever seen any of these, 'Screamer? TC and I were just about to watch one."

Skywarp gave Starscream a scandalous look, "HEY! I thought we were going to leave?"

Starscream shoved another energon goodie into his mouth as he followed Thundercracker and Stealthshadow over to the vid screen. "But I want to see 'Organic part 3: Attack of the Fleshies'."

--

Halfway through the movie and after the second bag of energon goodies had been opened, Skywarp decided to stop glowering and join the three mechs on the floor.

Halfway into the second movie, all three younglings were out cold in a pile and sleeping through Skywarp's snoring.

Stealthshadow left them as they were as he shut off the vid screen and turned out the lights. They would need all the rest they could get for the next morning.

--

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