Co-written by Katea-Nui, a loooooong time ago. We called it AU, but I fit it in anyway. It was awesome enough. Hope you enjoy and thanks for the reviews.
The mechling had been told NOT to go into the medbay without supervision. Yet so many adults had gone in and come out, some looking angry, some looking vaguely ill and a few who'd just come out looking sad. That had been days ago and he'd TRIED to listen. He'd tried really REALLY hard, but his curiosity could only take so much before he just HAD to know the secret for himself. The blue and white mechling crawled quietly through the vents, following the passages that Rewind and Eject had taught him to use in case of emergencies until he was positioned at a vent to one of the private rooms. It was the best place to sneak in without getting caught.
Quietly, glossa poking out from between his lips, he unscrewed the vent cover and climbed out. The room was dark, considering it was nightcycle and really, Ratchet never used more lights then he needed anyway. A small blue visor flickered in that dark. Was someone crying? He hoped it wasn't Ratchet. He didn't like it when Ratchet was upset.
On silent, small pedes, Swiftshot stole over to the berth in the corner where the sounds were coming from. He stood on the tips of his pedes, spying white and red plating in the soft glow of his visor. "Hey..." He said softly, reaching to pat what he could reach. "Are you okay?"
"No." The former Air Commander didn't even bother looking; the answer was automatic. It was dark, he felt the torn remains of something that had been with him for so long, and then the shock of knowing that the bond with Thundercracker was...what it was. He didn't know what to do, how to take it. This was going to kill him more surely than Megatron had tried to. "No, I'm not, and I won't /ever/ be." He hurt. Not just in frame, his frame had been repaired to Ratchet's exacting standards, but in his spark. Skywarp, his brother...now his betrayer, in a way.
Swiftshot frowned, trying to look around the darkened room to see for something to help him up on the berth. It was too dark. So, he improvised. Planting one pede on one of the bars and using that as leverage, he grunted and huffed until he was able to swing a leg up and pull himself with a small grunt onto the berth.
That done, panting in exertion, the youngling crawled over the frame, following the light from his visor to see until he was staring at blue servos covering a face.
"Please don't cry." He said softly, feeling for the stranger. "I can help. I'm good at helping. Optimus says so."
"Don't look at me." Starscream almost snapped, and then he peered out from the cage of his hands. A /youngling/, here? He moved his hands and half-sat up to regard the small mech with a measure of surprise and shock. "There's younglings on the /Ark/?" he asked, somewhat stupidly. The evidence of his despair was plain in the light of Swiftshot's visor and the dim medbay lighting- the tracks of coolant trailing down dark faceplates. "I...you can't help me." he finally said, forlorn and lost. The ache was intolerable, he was sure. He could feel Thundercracker, safe in recharge...but the other was /gone/.
Swiftshot flinched backwards in surprise at the short demand, immediately shutting off his optics to comply. Well he wasn't LOOKING was he? "Jus' me. I'm Swiftshot! Are you sure I can't help? I can give really good hugs and Wheeljack says he ALWAYS feels better after a hug."
Starscream stared at the youngling and sighed. "You can look, I suppose...it can't hurt, after all." He felt bad for yelling at the only youngling he'd laid optics on in /vorns/. He...wasn't sure about the hug, though surely Swiftshot wouldn't harm him? He didn't like to be touched now. His frame crawled when anyone, even Thundercracker, so much as brushed his frame...and it hurt his...bondmate, he now knew, when he flinched away. "...you can try, but hugs haven't made me feel better yet." he allowed.
Swiftshot's optics opened again and with it the light to his visor returned. "Maybe they're not hugging right." He determined with a nod. He opened his arms as wide as they'd go, wrapping them around the stranger's neck and burying his helm against the cabling with a soft chirp.
Starscream stiffened, the images coming to mind against his will, and he felt the tears come even though he tried mightily to stop them. Weakness was not something he showed easily, not even in front of a youngling. He forced himself to stay still, and the touch didn't turn harmful, the energy field against his own was innocent and /young/ and completely unaware of the things he'd been through- in fact, he could not even think of them due to his age...Starscream felt something within him relax just enough that he was able to take one arm and return the hug, though his touch was light and his grip uncertain. "It hurts." he said, very softly, not
"Did you get hurt out there?" Swiftshot asked softly. "Sometimes Sides and Sunny do..."
"I..." He wasn't going to tell him. He couldn't sully this youngling's mind with all that had happened to him. Star kept it simple. "Yes. I got hurt. My...friend brought me here so that Ratchet could help me."
Swiftshot pulled back some. "Ratchet's good at that. Did he kiss your scratches all better? That's supposed to help. He says so."
Starscream actually /laughed/ at that; the mental image of /Ratchet/ kissing all his scratches 'better' banished the images of what Motormaster had done as if by a gust of wind. "No, not exactly, little one." he said, a slight smile on his lips. He maneuvered himself so that Swiftshot could sit either next to him or on his lap; it was his choice, as Starscream found that Swiftshot touching him wasn't...too bad. As long as he could see it coming.
The youngling scrabbled into his lap, far used to and comforted by tactile contact in the short vorns of his life. He was frowning. "Then how can they get all better? Maybe I can do it? Or did someone else do it already?"
How to answer /that/? "Ratchet just fixed my outside hurts. My inside hurts...just need time." That was the best way that Star could think of to describe it, and he was suddenly grateful that Ratchet had removed the purple sigils from his wings or else the youngling likely would never have approached him. He sighed, his wings twitching. "I don't know if you know him, but my friend Thundercracker...he's helping me, with those inside hurts." As much as he could, Star knew. It was hurting him just as much, perhaps /more/ because of Star's inability to allow TC to touch him for more than a nanoklik at a time.
"Oh." Swiftshot didn't really grasp an inside hurt. "But it still hurts? Cause yer crying."
"Yes, it still hurts." Starscream said, and it /did/...everything hit him more deeply at night, because he was alone and couldn't ask for help. "It hurts a lot."
The mechling frowned before patting around his frame for the small compartment he was allowed to have until he was old enough for his own subspace. He smiled triumphantly when he found it, pulling out a small pack of spicy gels and holding them to the mech. "Here! Sunny makes them for me when he can. I have extra. Wanna share?"
Candy? Well, he supposed that for a youngling, it very well may cure all ills. Starscream couldn't bring himself to disappoint the mechling and so he nodded, taking two out of the pouch. He resisted the urge to sniff them and just ate both at once. When the spicy flavor his his sensors he grinned. "These are my favorite kind." he said softly, and the small smile grew wider as he helped himself to just one more. Though he was far from used to using the words, he knew it was appropriate. "Th-thank you."
Swiftshot beamed. "I like these ones and the really creamy tasting ones, but those're harder to make Sunny says. The humans don't have all the ingredients here." He shoved three into his mouth at once.
"You shouldn't have too much or you'll never recharge." Star said automatically, feeling at ease for the first time in a very long while. "I know how to make these." he revealed, and his face fell when he remembered. "Though I doubt they'd let me in the labs to do so."
"Sunny doesn't use the labs. He does it in the medbay." Swiftshot said. The stranger looked less upset now and that was good. "Ratchet has a thing in the corner." He waved his hands around, trying to make the shape of the small goodie oven with them. "You know. The thing..."
Star raised an optic ridge. "I have no idea what you mean." He hadn't been anywhere other than the medbay since Thundercracker had brought him here. Ratchet had told him he'd be released soon, and he supposed that then he'd move into the quarters Thundercracker had told him about, but he wasn't familiar with the object that Swiftshot was describing. "I'm Starscream, by the way." He hoped his name didn't set off a bad reaction...
"That's a pretty name." Swiftshot latched onto it, giving up on describing the thing. "Why'd yer carrier name you that?"
"Well, as the story goes...my carrier, Dawnstar, wanted to name me after himself. And then he heard me cry for the first time after I separated from him...thus, my name." That's the story he'd been told all his life, anyway.
"So you screamed a lot as a youngling?" Swiftshot concluded. "I get in trouble when I yell."
"According to most I scream too much even now." Starscream muttered. "My friends, what few I have, call me Star." He gave the youngling a sidelong glance. "You can call me that if you want."
"Okay! And you can call me Shooter! But not Swifty. Or Shoot. Or Bullseye." He counted off his hated nicknames on his fingers.
"...Bullseye? Why would...I don't /even/ want to know. Who are your creators, Shooter?" Star wanted to know.
"Dunno. Sunny and Sides know, or they think they do, but I don't really wanna know. Elita found me and I like her a lot."
Slag, at least he wasn't the Twins' bitlet...his lifespan would likely be measured in kliks if they found /Starscream/ with their sparkling on his lap. Star's lips turned down in a frown. "They don't like me much..."
"They don't like a lot of mechs." Swiftshot said before glancing around. "But they really REALLY like Ratchet. I didn't tell you though."
That was...more than Star really wanted to know, but the mental image of those slagging Jet Judoing maniacs with a crush on the wrench-throwing medic made Starscream laugh, and even send a ripple of mirth through the bond he and Thundercracker shared. He felt the Seeker wake almost instantly, worry and concern flooding the bond. /Oh, I am perfectly /fine/, Thundercracker. I just made a new... Friend. Yes, a friend. Do calm down./ he sent, smiling at the youngling. "That is very interesting, Shooter. I won't tell." Not out loud, anyway.
"Maybe you should." Swiftshot said thoughtfully. "Cause even Tracks said that everyone else knows."
"And Ratchet doesn't?" Starscream asked, nearly laughing again when TC picked up on their topic of conversation. His bondmate apparently had Plans, plans that involved locking said maniacs and medic in a room for a long while and letting Nature take its course. "Thundercracker, I never would have thought..." he mumbled, and then looked at Swiftshot. "No, I think I will keep it to myself for /just/ a bit longer. And you should too. Just for a little while."
"I guess." Swiftshot said doubtfully. "Who's Thundercracker?"
"He looks like me...except he's blue. And taller." Starscream said. It wasn't any wonder than Swiftshot hadn't seen the other Seeker. "He's...my good friend." He didn't think the youngling would quite get the concept of bondmates. He might be wrong, though.
"So he's an Aerialbot too?"
"Primus, no!" Starscream said rather vehemently, before he stopped and revised his tone. "No, Shooter. We are Seekers." He said it proudly /and/ uncertainly, expecting that soon the youngling would realize what he was and run away.
Swiftshot tilted his helm curiously. "What'sa seeker?"
Thundercracker sat up from where he had been recharging. "... Swiftshot, how far outside the Ark have you been?"
"I don't go outside."
"A Seeker is..." How does one describe what someone fundamentally /is/ to a youngling without prejudices, without the knowledge of old Cybertron? Starscream was at once confused and elated- here was an opportunity beyond any other he'd had in quite some time, and he looked down at Swiftshot with a small smile. "A Seeker is one who is modeled like us, yet it means more than that. We are protectors of those weaker than ourselves, first and foremost. Or we were, once." He felt sorry for this youngling who could not go outside. "Why don't you go out?" he asked, knowing the answer.
"Cause it's dangerous. Not as dangerous as Cybertron. Old one optic is there. He's scary." Swiftshot tried to think on Starscream's explanation. "So... a Seeker is like you? Do you turn into planes too? Or a shuttle like 'Fire?"
"It is dangerous out there, and Old...One-Optic...is on Cybertron, unfortunately." Starscream said, smothering a smile that turned into a wave of hurt. That's what Skywarp had always called Shockwave, too... He tried to banish that, but it wasn't that easy. "Yes, we turn into planes." Star thought. "We look most like...one of the Aerials...which one /is/ it..." He never could keep their names straight..."Air Raid. That's it. Our jetform resembles his most closely."
"Air Raid's kinda a jerk. Not as big a one as Slingshot though." Swiftshot frowned a bit.
Starscream privately agreed, though he didn't think that was appropriate to share with a youngling. "Perhaps it's because he doesn't fly very well." he said.
"I dunno. I can't fly so he's already better 'n me." The youngling smiled before yawning. It was far past his recharge time, but he'd gotten to sneak around and meet new mechs so it wasn't a loss.
Star looked down at the obviously tired youngling, and though his presence felt rather nice, he knew that if the Autobots came in here and found Swiftshot recharging on his lap, they'd likely have conniptions. "Shooter...I think that it's time for you to recharge, and I don't think it would be a good idea if you stayed here." His tone remained gentle, though.
The mechling nodded. He didn't want to get in trouble when Sunny and Sides found him not in his berth. "Yeah." He hugged Starscream again before scrambling off the berth to crawl back into the vent. Before he disappeared, he waved. "Bye, Star! Bye Thundercracker. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Starscream grinned. In perfect honesty, he nodded. "If you can get away without getting into trouble, I would be glad to talk with you." It was the truth. Talking to the youngling /had/ helped him a bit- he felt safe, which was a feeling Star wasn't accustomed to. The touch of the little one didn't bring on the flashbacks or the tremors. And he cared, either not knowing or not caring who Starscream used to be. He watched Shooter crawl back through the vent before turning slightly toward Thundercracker, a soft smile still on his lips.
"I...miss little ones, being around." he said very softly, almost as if he didn't expect a reply.
Thundercracker smiled back, reaching out carefully and squeezing his hand. "It was a surprise... how they managed to keep it from us is amazing."
Starscream only stiffened for an instant before remembering just who had taken his hand, then relaxed into it, even allowing his thumb to brush lightly across the back of Thundercracker's hand. "I know. And...I'm happy they did." His tone is defiant. "I don't /want/ to know what..." He stopped himself before he could finish that sentence; it didn't need to even be put into words.
Thundercracker squeezed his servo again. "I know Star. But they managed, so don't think about it."
"You know I will." Star hated that part of himself that always worried about the worst. He worried constantly, especially about the Seekers left behind. He'd heard them talking about who the new Air Commander was, and the idea both hurt and made him want to roll his berth laughing. That thought brought back the images he /didn't/ want, and he sucked in a breath as he turned to Thundercracker with both fear and hope in his optics. "I want you to try something. Try to...do as Shooter did, give me a hug. I...need one." That was still harder than Pit to say.
Thundercracker's optics brightened, his own hope being ruthlessly pushed down. His hands hovered in the air between them, wanting to touch but afraid to do so and push Starscream away. "Are you... are you sure?"
Starscream nodded, steeling himself both mentally and physically. He hadn't known that /this/ was hurting Thundercracker as much as it did him...so for /him/, he'd try. After all, even though he could hardly believe it, once he'd agreed to bond to this mech...though he could see why, all the reasons that made it feel so right. "Please." he said, his voice soft. TC wouldn't hurt him. He'd never make him do anything he didn't want. He'd kill anyone who tried. He...could trust him. But could his body trust what his mind was telling him?
Carefully, making sure Starscream could see him move as he gently wrapped his arms around Starscream's waist. He scooted closer to him, hugging him gently though he desperately wanted to clutch his mate to him and make sure nothing touched him again.
Star kept his optics open, and when the other Seeker touched him he felt the panic well up within him...but he pushed it back and down and away from him as hard as he could. That combined with the gentle feelings through their link allowed him to remain still for a moment, thinking about this. He wouldn't harm him. He could trust these arms, this EM field, this spark, /Thundercracker/ to not hurt him...and he laid his helm down on the broad shoulder and even lightly rested his hand on the other. "You won't hurt me. You won't let anyone else hurt me." he said, needing an answer.
"Never again." Thundercracker promised quietly. "I won't let it happen again."
"Swear it?" Slag, he sounded younger than Swiftshot saying that, but he wanted so much to believe it. He still hadn't let go, and then the slagging tears came again, against Star's will, and he hoped that Thundercracker wouldn't notice too much as they trailed down his plating.
"I swear it on Vos' memory." Thundercracker said meaningfully, arms tightening just a bit, one hand gently stroking Starscream's helm soothingly.
"I...want to believe you." And he did. That would take time, though, and Star allowed himself to cry there, because it was obvious that he didn't mind. "I want to. It's just..." His own hand tightened just a bit on TC's shoulder, and he moved very slightly closer into the embrace.
"I know Star." Thundercracker whispered hoarsely, feeling like crying himself. "I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere. Take all the time you need."
He felt bad, now. "Don't..be upset. It isn't your fault." He allowed himself to run his fingers over the shoulder he'd been clutching. "You didn't...cause any of this. You saved me from more of it."
Thundercracker didn't say anything, just squeezing him once more with a deep sigh. He should have gotten him out sooner, should have fled long ago... So many regrets that he couldn't fix. He only had the now.
"Don't move yet." And there was a hint of the /old/ Starscream, the slight bit of command in his tone that hadn't been heard since they'd come here. "I...want you to stay." he said, more gently. His meta snarked at him about what Ratchet would say once he saw all /this/ on his cameras.
"Then I will. Whatever you want, Scree." Thundercracker promised, relief and hope forming a knot in his spark. "Whatever you need."
"I do believe /that/, or else you'd not have put up with me for this long." Star said, a hint of his sarcastic humor shining through. He twisted himself around, not letting Thundercracker let go except so he could reposition himself, and sat with his back to the larger Seeker, almost but not /quite/ sitting in his lap. "Like this. If I go to recharge, just don't drop me, okay?"
Thundercracker stared at the smaller seeker in his arms before a large, rather goofy smile spread over his lips. thank Primus Star couldn't see it. "Of course not. That wouldn't be very chivalrous." He teased softly before kissing the back of Starscream's helm. "Get some sleep, Scree."
"Chivalry? Just /what/ have they been teaching you while I've been in this medbay?" Star demanded to know, offlining his optics just to see if he still felt okay. His frame said that it might just be all right to not have to see, as long as they were the only ones in here. He hadn't even jumped (not externally) when he felt the pressure of warm lips on his helm. "You too, Thunder, or else." he said, allowing himself that small smile again, thinking that maybe one day he might be in one piece again. Maybe.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Ratchet knocked on the open door to ICU room to gain the Seekers' attention. "Alright Screamer, checkup time." He said with his usual gruffness. "I need to see how much more slag we need to flush from your systems."
Starscream literally /jumped/ but was slightly restrained by...what...blue arms? Huh? Oh. He nudged Thundercracker slightly. "I think you need to move, or Ratchet may move you himself."
Thundercracker sighed and reluctantly let go. "You get us up far too early." He grumbled at the medic.
Ratchet snorted. "What's your definition of early? It's the middle of the cycle." He rolled his optics and gestured Starscream to follow him. "Come on, you have a visitor too."
"A visitor? Who would want to see /me/..." Starscream asked, curious. He gave Thundercracker a look that told him that he'd damned well /better/ come back after this was over and done with.
"Just come on already." Ratchet snorted.
Starscream gave Ratchet a /look/ and followed him, his wings held high with his curiosity.
Ratchet led Starscream to the main medbay room where - "Swiftshot! I said don't touch anything! Put that down!"
The youngling, who was sitting on the exam berth that Ratchet had been using for Starscream, dropped the (fortunately) disconnected laser scalpel hub guiltily.
The smile on Starscream's face at the youngling's presence was almost, but not quite, as wide as the one he'd allowed himself last night just before he fell into recharge. "Hi, Shooter." Starscream said. He didn't want to get him into trouble, so he didn't give a hint as to /how/ he knew the mechling, but it would do them both a disservice to lie and pretend he didn't know him. "Laser scalpels can cut your fingers off." he said solemnly. "You shouldn't touch."
The youngling smiled at Starscream, Ratchet's knowing smile going unseen. "Hi Star!" He scrambled off the berth to run and hug the mech around his knees. "It's not my fault Ratch leaves all the COOL stuff where I can get it."
Starscream only flinched when Swiftshot grabbed him, but he wasn't even waist high to the Seeker and all he did was hug, so Star stood there, still, and endured. "Shooter...do me a favor. Please warn me before you...grab me, okay?" he asked, his voice remarkably level.
Swiftshot tilted his helm up curiously but let go with a nod. "Okay. Sorry! Didn' mean to invade yer pers'nal space."
The Seeker blinked. "I'm not sure I want to know who taught you that phrase. It's...all right. I'm just...still hurt, a little, and like to get ready before someone touches me." That was the best way he could think of to explain it to someone so young, and he supposed that that was fairly accurate as well. He looked up at Ratchet to see how much he was monitoring this little visit.
The medic wasn't looking, but he sure as frag was listening and had his scanners turned full tilt on the pair. Recovering or not, Starscream could still be dangerous and Swiftshot was too young to do anything to fend him off. He noted the youngling nodding.
"Okay, Star. Did I hurt you? I didn't mean too!"
"N-no. You didn't." This too was the truth; he'd just startled Star, really, nothing too major. "Why don't you climb up on the berth so we can talk more easily? I'll sit near you, how's that?" His wings telegraphed his nervousness, but his voice was as steady as it ever got.
The white and blue mechling grinned happily and swung around to do just that, already babbling about what he'd been up to already during the day.
Starscream enjoyed that, to be honest- few people spoke to him, and though half of that was his choice, some of it wasn't and it was refreshing to be around someone who had no preconceptions of who he ought to be. He nodded and agreed in the right places, even beginning to relax a bit as they sat and talked. Star held up one finger to Shooter before walking over to the plasglas window where Ratchet was and he tapped on it, miming drinking a cube. That said, he walked to the dispensers and got himself one before frowning. "Shooter, I could use a cube, but I have less than no clue of how to program this thing for someone so much smaller..."
"I'm okay!" The mechling chirped, swinging his legs. "Right now I only get two a day 'cause my min'ral count isn't so good." This didn't seem to bother him at all, Swiftshot really having no idea what that meant anyway. " 'Sides, I'm not allowed to work 'em anymore since I acc'dentally 'sploded the one in the rec room."
He couldn't stifle the laugh that came from /that/ mental image. "If you...exploded one...then I suppose you shouldn't use one until you know how." Star said between the near-giggles. He returned with his own fuel. "Mine's got some...stuff...in it too." he said conspiratorially. "Ratchet says it'll fix me better." He took a sip- even with the additives, it tasted far better than the slag on the Nemesis. "And since I'm pretty sure he's the best medic that exists, it probably will." He wondered why Shooter's mineral count was bad, and belatedly recalled that he said something about Elita. Maybe he'd been found on Cybertron by the femmes. "Are you from Cybertron?" he asked.
"Yup!" Swiftshot grinned. "It's kinda all fragged up right now, but 'Lita said they're trying to make it better. I hope they do. I wanna see the fountain in the courtyard run and not be full of broken buildings... Though I wouldn't be able to hide there anymore. I don't live there now 'cause 'Lita and 'Mia found me and took me with them. Then Ratch came to see me and found out I had brothers! How cool is that?!"
"Brothers?" Starscream wondered just who /they/ were, though his meta was giving him an idea that he wasn't comfortable with, primarily because if /that/ were the case, his wings would be worth scrap if they caught him with their little brother...
"Yup! Sunny and Sides!" The youngling's smile almost seemed to split his face in half. "We have the same carrier, but diff'rent sires. Which is okay, I guess. I don't remember my carrier too much, but my sire was kinda mean..."
Starscream tried not to twitch, he really did. His meta had been /right/, though, and as soon as they found out that fragging /Starscream/ was making nice with their baby brother, they'd both be out for his energon. That was /not/ a comforting thought. "They don't know you talk to me, do they." It wasn't a question.
Swiftshot shrugged. "They don't know I talk to Tracks either."
"You don't have to worry about anything, Starscream." Ratchet snorted as he walked in, having caught the statement. He rubbed the youngling's helm, Swiftshot's visor dimming as he purred. "He's here on my request and if those two bozos want to complain, I'll smack them. Hard."
Swiftshot giggled.
"You see why I am...ambivalent." Starscream said with a hint of flatness to his tone. As long as he was in medbay, he'd be relatively safe.../nobody/ crossed Ratchet, not even their Prime. And outside, he supposed that Thundercracker might just be able to do the job.
He really wished that it wasn't necessary to worry about, but he'd never admit it. "Why did you request..." Star asked the medic, gingerly rubbing the mechling's head to distract him.
"Because sometimes younglings have a better grasp on how to fix things without meaning to." Ratchet replied cryptically. "And if you two are going to be walking around eventually, he needs to get used to you. He's a friendly little guy..." /Until things start exploding or there's gunfire./ He finished over comm.
/Trust me, I think I understand./ Star commed back. /Even if I don't...share that, I share the emotion that goes with it./ he couldn't stop the wave of self-loathing that came along with the admission, but he'd realized that it wouldn't get him out of medbay until he faced up to it. "He is. I like him quite a bit." Star smiled down at Swiftshot, meaning it. "And I hope I get out of here before I rust."
"You don't rust until you're as old as 'Hide." Swiftshot snickered.
Ratchet snorted, covering his own laugh by clearing his intakes. "You need to stop taking Sideswipe so seriously."
Starscream covered his mouth to stop his own laugh, his wings doing the laughing for him. "Is /that/ why he's red?" Starscream could not resist, not in the least.
Swiftshot opened his mouth to reply before pausing and seeming to actually THINK about it. "I dunno..." He mused thoughtfully.
Crimson optics glowed with actual /happiness/ for a few moments as Star basked in the joke, though it hadn't been nice, it had been relatively harmless. Star gave a quick glance over to his room, wondering if TC had gone back to recharge in a more comfortable position. "I thought you wanted to scrub my systems again, Ratchet?" he asked, sitting leg to leg with Swiftshot and hardly noticing.
"I do. AFTER you finish the entire cube, flitter glitch." The medic snorted, queuing up his logs on Starscream's systems. "Not a drop left. Trust me, you'll be thanking me later... After you're done cursing me to the pit, of course. You can ask your blue winged wingnut alllll about it."
"About what?" Swiftshot inquired curiously, leaning into the seeker happily. "What does TeeCee know?"
"What...I don't want to know, do I." Star said in resignation. There was no getting out of it- he knew this already. He'd tried and tried in the beginning and it got him exactly nowhere. There was only putting it off, and that tended to make it worse so he drank the rest of the cube, frowning at that last sip that tasted somewhere between aft and metal shavings. "There, all done." He stuck his glossa out at the medic petulantly. "If he's brother to the twins he /knows/ all the curses intimately, so is he staying?"
"Oh! I know them all! Sire even made up a few I think. I was glitch for a little bit and rust stain... Sunny got mad when I told him that." Once more Swiftshot didn't seem bothered. It had just been a fact of life for him. "I think Sides taught me some new ones when I told HIM..."
Ratchet hid his scowl by focusing on his screen before setting a timer. "Shooter, buddy, you may not want to be in here for this one... By the way, Screamer, receptacle's over there and don't you DARE spill."
"What in the world are you telling me that fo-urgh!" Starscream felt his tanks rebelling rather violently and was at once grateful and /pissed/ at Ratchet...though he /had/ warned him in his own fashion. He fought off the urge to purge and glared at the medic, though he didn't /dare/ open his mouth, not even to speak. His wingtips shook violently a he eyed the timer...three...two...ohmyPrimus.
The receptacle was /just/ close enough, and Starscream finally managed to vent his frustration in terms that likely had never been heard on the Ark, as Starscream's command of old Vos idiom was far superior to most anyone's on the Con-side, let alone Autobots.
Swiftshot stared wideoptic'd at the seeker, hands now clasped over his sensitive audios, the slats firmly clamped shut in self defense against the absolute SHRIEKING coming from Starscream. Ratchet, having shut off his own audios, was quick to pick him up and push him out the door gently with an order to not touch anything once more while he closed the door behind him.
It took Star a few moments to purge that /awful/ slag Ratchet had made him drink, and he sat back on his thrusters, eying the medic with the first bit of distrust in awhile. "Why in the name of Primus did you only try to poison me NOW?"
"Oh come off it." Ratchet snorted as soon as he deemed it safe to turn his audios back on. "You're the scientist, figure it out smart guy."
"Okay, so it /wasn't/ poison." Starscream actually /looked/ at the slag he'd just purged up, and noted that there wasn't any actual energon in it- it was only a goopy clayey mess that looked rather disgusting even now. "Where did that- was that /inside my tanks/?"
"Bingo! We have a winner! Send him down and we'll give him his prize!" Ratchet grinned, counting down on his fingers and waiting.
"Ratchet, has anyone ever told you that you're a sarcastic /aft-/ gah!" Phase two of the purge then chose to occur, with a bit less cursing and a lot less audial-bending shrieks. When Starscream finally finished, he actually laid himself flat on the floor. "Tell Thundercracker to pick up my offlined frame- or as I heard Frenzy say once, stick a fork in me, as I am /done/."
Ratchet snorted. "Oh get up you big sparkling. Swiftshot handled that better than you are. Do you really want a youngling to show you up?"
"Don't care, can't move." Starscream said, optics still bright red and flickering. "You are a sadist of the highest order. Never let it be said that you are as gentle as Thundercracker tried to convince me- yes, I know what happened with you two, and I do hope you enjoyed yourself as you won't be getting it again. He's /mine/." The Seeker managed a blinding grin from the floor.
The medic rolled his optics. "It may surprise you to hear this, but I don't actually WANT him."
"Good." That did surprise Star; usually most mechs that had a Seeker were mad to have him again. So of course his next question was, "Why not?"
"Because unlike most mechs I don't have an obsession with wings." Was all Ratchet would say. His sights were set already, as it were. "I'd get up if I were you." He singsonged.
"I don't /want/ to get up." Starscream said, and he really, really didn't. "My head's spinning and I am certain I'll purge up my own /thrusters/ if I should rise from this floor."
"Suit yourself, you get to clean the mess in about ten kliks in that case. We're not quite done yet."
"I have to do that AGAIN?" Starscream whined, and he really did whine. That idea made him sit up, and though his helm /did/ feel as though it was going to spin off its bolts, that passed enough for him to actually stand.
"You want to walk around with clay for tanks?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic ridge.
The Seeker shuddered; no, no he did /not/, and he realized that that was the best way for it to come out. "No, obviously not." He sat down and held out his hand. "More poison, please." he said snarkily, though without real heat. "Get this /over/ with so I can rinse my mouth and forget about this joor ever happening in my life."
"Nope. We need to wait ten kliks for THAT to burn away or we'll be dealing with clay AND holes. Almost done and then you're free to go play nanny."
"Holes?" That made Starscream raise both optic ridges in distress. It had to be corrosive, no other explanation. Well, that /did/ make sense- if there was buildup, it had to be dissolved and then gotten rid of.
"You /don't/ have to enjoy this quite so much." Starscream noted.
"Oh please, taking care of the idiots around here is exhausting. I grab what entertainment I can." Ratchet snarked back. "You're the lucky winner today unless Sideswipe does something stupid."
"Oh /joy/." Star said, shuddering theatrically. "When am I getting out of here and hopefully into quarters with /him/?" he asked, pointing at where Thundercracker presumably lay.
"When your tanks are clean and we check your outer well being over. I want to make sure my repairs are holding."
Starscream nodded; at least he wasn't feeding him a line of slag. "I know. When I got here I was spare parts and not much more. For this, you have my thanks. And for not locking TC in the brig, letting him stay here with me even though..." He didn't finish that...even though he didn't /want/ him there, not really. He hadn't wanted anyone. Not even himself.
"Yeah, yeah. Doing my job. Like I told the OTHER wingnut currently invading my 'bay." Ratchet waved a servo dismissively, glancing at his scanner. "Whoops. Time's up." He said far to cheerfully.
"Oh, Primus save me." Star said, and he took the corrosive mixture and downed it while holding his nasal ridge shut, just to prove a point. Soon after, it had the expected result, though Starscream didn't shriek and curse this time- he knew what was coming, though when he laid on the floor after that, he proclaimed loudly, "I am NOT moving this time. Frag you. Frag you and anything that /resembles/ you. I would rather kiss Optimus Prime's /aft/."
Ratchet laughed. Loudly.
Starscream had a sinking feeling and he turned his head toward the medbay door, fully expecting to see said Prime standing there.
Unfortunately, whatever God had decided it was pick on Starscream day had decided that would be the PERFECT instant for Prime to indeed show up. The Autobot commander stood there awkwardly, staring at the Seeker oddly before shifting his gaze to the doubled over Medic who was still wrapped in his mirth. "... Do I want to know?"
"I am /really, really, REALLY/ not getting off this floor, I swear by Primus Himself, and if /he/ walks through that door I shall know then that it is true, that the universe is conspiring against me in some twisted fashion." After this little speech, the former SIC crossed his arms over his cockpit and firmly turned away from all of them.
Ratchet looked as thought he were about to fall over laughing, and there was a glint in Optimus Prime's optics that more than suggested that he found this funny was well. He stifled it, though, and turned to the former SIC. "Starscream, how are you feeling?" he asked politely.
"Like slag, of course." Star glared holes through the medic, not even turning to look at the Prime. "I wasn't aware that the Autobots allowed sadists to become the Chief Medical Officer."
Ratchet just grinned.