Trine

by Daenerys Starcatcher

What /does/ it mean to be a Seeker? This story looks into that, as well as my headcanon on Seeker-kin. Bits of history regarding the beginning of the war, as well as a look into the Command Trine and their hopes, dreams, and ambitions. Rated M for future chapters, and will contain slash. Read and review if you would!

11. Chapter 11

Yeeeeeha I am on a roll, now that I found stuff that Katea-Nui and I wrote over a year ago.

This is the last of that stuff, so I actually have to physically WRITE more instead of edit, polish, and add to. However, more story will be forthcoming!

I think you guys will like this one.

Warning for dubcon due to being ordered to do stuff.

Reviews make me ^.^.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Air Commander Skywarp." The Slagmaker's tone was low and deadly, and Skywarp's wings twitched involuntarily. He immediately pulled them as low to his frame as possible, trying to literally shrink into a wall.

"Um, yes, Lord Megatron?" The faintest hint of a squeak could be heard in his voice, and Skywarp cursed himself for the weakness.

"I thought that you would be different. Not a failure as your treacherous trineleader was. Where are they, Skywarp? Why haven't you found them yet?" Megatron placed a hand on Skywarp's left wing and gripped it hard enough to slightly bend the plating, and Skywarp winced.

"I haven't seen them, no hint of where they are, an' we've been looking, I swear it!" Skywarp looked up and tried to lock optics with his commander, and the look in Megatron's optics made him want to teleport away as fast as he could.

"You haven't looked hard enough. You're a failure, incompetent just as Starscream was. I should have known it, seeing as he trained you." Megatron sneered.

"No, I can do better. I'll find them. I will." Because I need my trine, he thought. I need 'em back because I can't DO this, I can't BE this. The hand on his wing tightened just a little more, and he could feel himself being shoved downward to the floor.

"On your knees." Megatron said almost offhandedly. "Prove your loyalty."

Skywarp almost reeled back in equal parts disgust and shock, but he did as ordered.

Nobody told Megatron no.

~.~.~.~.~

Medbay, Starscream knew, had an aroma that was all its own. It wasn't /unpleasant/, per se; it was certainly medicinal and astringent though, tingling the sensor network in his nose in a way that wasn't entirely pleasant.

He asked the ceiling, knowing that /someone/ would answer, "When in the rainbow frag am I moving /out/ of here?"

"Where ya movin' to?" Quipped the little voice from the next berth over. Swiftshot was visiting while his brothers were on patrol, sitting in Thundercracker's lap and showing him how to play his game.

"Hopefully to quarters with the mech who you're using as a chair, Shooter." Starscream answered. "Surely Ratchet needs this berth for something or another; I don't require constant care anymore." he muttered. And he didn't. His mental state occasionally necessitated that someone remain with him to forestall anything...unfortunate, but TC would gladly take that duty.

Thundercracker chuckled, tucking the youngling closer. "They're still clearing out a room, Star. Half the ship IS under a mountain." Swiftshot nodded in agreement.

Star pouted. "Yes, I suppose they'd have to. Who was it that wrecked it so thoroughly anyway? Slag for pilots..." Star mused, giving Thundercracker a significant look. He'd almost gotten used to being close to his bondmate. Almost. There had been times when he wanted TC to hold him throughout the long nightcycles, but the medbay berths were far too uncomfortable for both of them to recharge on a single one. Star sighed. That meant that when Star needed it, Thundercracker stayed awake to help.

He supposed that that was yet another piece of evidence proving how the blue Seeker felt...and Starscream was warmed by it.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Air Commander, the frag is this supposed to be?" Astrotrain asked Skywarp, disbelief clear in his tone. Skywarp's battle plan was...nonexistent on the holo-projector. It looked like chaos, and it wasn't just because Sky had no idea how to use the damn thing.

No, it was because Skywarp simply wasn't a leader, not like this. This was going to make the 'Cons look even stupider than usual.

Skywarp scowled. "Shut up, Astrotrain, and let me fix this."

Blitzwing grumbled in the background while the Coneheads seemed to be resigned to their deaths.

The teleporter sighed. The frag...strengths, weaknesses, and yeah if he fragged this one up he was likely to get another big taste of what Starscream always got post-battle. It had already happened once. Skywarp twitched at the memory of being thrown to the floor, one wing twisted because of "failure".

"So. Our objective is an air strike of their base, morons, so listen up. Anyone of you know slag-all about the Ark?" he finally asked.

Several shakes of helms and even one 'we're following THIS guy?' before the room fell silent again.

"Great." Warp mumbled. "Fine, whatever, if you get your afts shot off it's not like /I/ care, and I definitely won't deal with the Autoslag to get yer sorry aft back here." he warned.

"You bigger mechs get to the first strike team. Bigger bombs at first, then the Seekers go in and evade the defense while we finish the job." Their great strategy was an extremely simplistic tactic that a sparkling could have offered.

"We're so slagged." Blitzwing despaired before following Astrotrain out. The rest of the air troops filed out, followed by Skywarp who had a sinking feeling about this.

Swiftshot swung from Starscream's hand, talking to him as they walked from the medical bay to where the proffered room was being renovated for the Seekers. The youngling babbled about whatever caught his attention, displaying traits that better related him Bluestreak rather than the twins.

Star glanced down at the happy-go-lucky youngling and smiled once more. Swiftshot was /good/ for him in more ways than one, and he opened his mouth to tell him so. Before he could get the words out, though, the hostile gaze of three minibots pinned Starscream to where he stood.

Swiftshot squeaked as he was pulled short and he looked up at the seeker curiously. "Whadja stop for, Star?"

Star's wings trembled as he stared at Gears, the ringleader of this little gathering, and he took in air rather deeply. "Please move so that we might pass." he said, congratulating himself of his even tone. His hand squeezed Swiftshot's just a bit more tightly, though, and anyone who could read wings could see that Star was clearly rattled.

Gears' arms crossed over his chassis. "We don't listen to Decepticreeps." He huffed spitefully. The other minibots with him, Gears and Cliffjumper, snickered. Swiftshot looked between them and Starscream. "Callin' bots names isn't nice." He said sternly.

"In case you failed to note I am no longer part of what you seem to delight in calling inane names." Starscream said flatly, a touch of his ambivalence shooting through the spark link. He glanced at Swiftshot. "No, no it isn't. Would that they had your wisdom, little one."

The minibots scowled. "Shove it up your afterburners, 'Con!"

Swiftshot frowned. "You better stop it."

"Or what, brat?"

Swiftshot smiled sweetly suddenly. "I'll scream."

~I think we may need help.~ Starscream sent to TC, releasing Swiftshot's hand. He gathered his will and stood to his full height, thankful that he did, indeed, at least outmatch three fragging minis. "One, you twisted little cretin: I am not a 'Con anymore. Do note the lack of insignia on my wings, oh, and the fact that you're not smoking slag at my pedes. Two, you are a /rude/ little thing, aren't you? Compensating for something, perhaps? Or are you just naturally stupid?" he hissed, completely forgetting Shooter's admonition about namecalling.

Gears didn't back down. "We don't welcome your kind here!"

~Where are you?~ Was Thundercracker's immediate answer.

Swiftshot looked up at Starscream, reaching for his knee... When the Ark suddenly rumbled ominously and then an explosion rattled then entire ship.

~Halfway down the hallway, I don't know how much longer I can keep my mouth shut.~ Star said honestly, moving up on the mini with silent grace. "My kind. And what kind is that, hm? The kind that was in need, and your Prime recognized that? Or are you a bigot who hates airframes?"

Then the vibration hit. The mechling seemed to seize up before he curled up in a crouch and screamed as loud as was physically possible, and Swiftshot's reaction made Starscream immediately drop to one knee to gather the mechling up. "Shooter, what's wrong?"

Swiftshot shook his helm, screaming louder when another explosion rocks the mountain. The alarms kicked on, screaming to drown out the sparkling's wailing. The minibots scrambled back down the hall to get to their stations.

Starscream didn't even hesitate, scooping Swiftshot up into his arms and heading back the way they'd come...back to medbay, where hopefully Ratchet or First Aid was available to help the visored youngling.

Attacked. What idiocy had Megatron planned now? Starscream felt dread coil in the center of his tanks; what if he was after Star and TC? He began to feel as though screaming like Swiftshot might just be a good idea...and he began to run.

Ratchet was waiting outside medbay, yelling orders at mechs helping him prep. He didn't even hesitate to pluck the wailing sparkling away. "Prowl wants you and your bondmate in the command center!"

Starscream almost froze, not sure if he heard Ratchet right. "He wants /what/?" he asked stupidly, allowing the medic to take Swiftshot away. "Where /is/ the command center anyway?" Star demanded to know. The strange instruction helped to focus him on something other than worry and fear and he was grateful for it. ~Command center, TC?~ he asked hesitantly.

~I'm coming to get you.~ Thundercracker replied just as he turned the corner.

Starscream sagged in relief as he waited to be retrieved by his mate. Thundercracker would keep him calm, would stop him from overreacting no matter how worked up he made himself over possibilities that could very well not come to pass. Star reached out to Swiftshot and ran a thumb down his face, wiping tears off.

"Shooter, it's going to be okay. All right?"

The sparkling was not to be consoled and Ratchet had to whisk him away into the medical bay. Thundercracker walked up, placing a servo on Starscream's lower back. "Come on, Star." He murmured, leading him to the command center.

"What if they're here for us, Thunder?" Star asked softly, walking down the almost deserted hallways on the way to a command center he'd never been in. "Is that why they want us there? Is Prime going to give us up to keep his people safe?"

"No, Star." Thundercracker's face was set, serious. "They're attacking, yes... only it's Skywarp... I think they're hoping we can talk to him..."

At the mention of their third...former third...Star's wings stiffened fully and he jerked as if he'd been struck. "He won't listen, TC. He's blinded by loyalty, you said." Starscream didn't know. He hadn't spoken to him in too long a time. Star reached for Thundercracker's hand as they walked almost unconsciously, needing the comfort. "I...miss him." he said almost too softly to hear.

"I know. Come on, Star." He said, leading him to the command doors. Inside was a bustle of activity. Optimus looked up from conversing with Prowl and Jazz and they were waved over.

Starscream's knee joints were just strong enough to hold out without betraying his worry. "You wanted us here?" he asked the Prime uncertainly. A quick glance at Thundercracker showed Starscream that TC didn't know why either. ~He's not going to give us up is he?"~

~I don't think so.~ Thundercracker tried to mask his own uncertainty as the three officers straighten. "We did. The Decepticon aerial forces are attacking. We were hoping you could aid us... Perhaps talk to Skywarp, who seems to be leading them."

Starscream's frame stiffened further and he squeezed TC's hand even harder, not even thinking of how it might hurt. "I...I am willing to try." Starscream whispered, giving Optimus Prime a look that was filled with everything he felt.

Jazz grinned. "Megs musta been hard-up, namin' that glitch Air Commander in your place." Prime frowned at that and held up one hand in the universal 'stop' gesture. "Jazz."

Star gave Optimus a single nod and eyed the comm array. "If...we talk to him, it's best to do it in person, so to speak." he ventured. Starscream didn't want to. He didn't want to leave the safety of the Ark behind. The very thought of going out there terrified him, mainly because he'd managed to half-convince himself that this attack was staged to get both of the errant command trine members back where they belonged.

The Ark rumbled again, shaking as blaster fire came over the comm. "They're targeting the top of the mountain!" Smokescreen cried from his station. "They'll bring the entire thing down on medbay and the offices!"

Thundercracker stiffened. ~Swiftshot's in medbay!~ "We'll do our best. Come on Star. I'll be right next to you."

"Medbay.../Swiftshot/!" Starscream gasped. "TC, with me. Hurry. Please...oh Primus thank you, let's hurry." Starscream said, giving the blue flier a pleading, then relieved look. He only stopped long enough to give Prime a significant look. "Take out the triplechangers first. Any seam or join is a sensitive and therefore vulnerable area. Propulsion systems are redundant- don't bother knocking them out of the sky. Disable motor control instead by aiming a high-powered electrical shock at the bases of their helms or through an optic. If they brought the combiners, then disable them either by taking out the weakest member, or if they are already combined, aim for the joins. Use your own gestalts' frametypes and specs as a guide."

That advice given, he took off toward an exit to /try/ and stop this before it could go too much further.

Thundercracker was right on his heels even before Prowl could turn and begin relaying orders based on the new information. Another violent quake shook the ark, rubble falling from the cracks in the ceilings and walls. Thundercracker cursed. "We have to hurry!"

Starscream accessed what schematics he had of the Ark and paused for a split second. "We can exit via an escape hatch in junction 17-A, just ahead...if you can fit." he added. With each shake and shudder of the ship, Starscream could virtually hear and feel Swiftshot's panic. The explosions must bring back the memories of war on Cybertron, nothing that was pleasant even in the best of times.

"It's not a matter of if." Thundercracker replied grimly. "Lead the way."

"Won't let you hurt yourself." Star said, meaning every word.

They arrived at the indicated area and the access hatch was above them both. Star rose up on his thrusters and tested it- too heavy to lift, let alone push even if he did it as hard as he could.

"It might be buried under rock." Thundercracker mused before following to try himself... that was when a flash of purple filled the hallway.

"Slag!" Starscream swore, though that could only be one person.

It hurt more than he'd thought just to see him. Skywarp looked fundamentally changed in some way, and Starscream felt immediately wary of the change. It wasn't clear what was different until the black and purple Seeker began to speak.

"Starscream. Thundercracker." he said quietly.

Thundercracker drew himself straight and dropped back to the floor, tense and ready for a fight. He loved Skywarp like a brother. It had hurt to leave him behind, but Thundercracker had given him his chance and Starscream had needed out. "Skywarp." He replied.

"Yeah, TC?" Skywarp sounded almost...defeated? Starscream frowned deeply. What had /happened/ during the relatively short period in which Skywarp had had Starscream's former rank and title?

Thundercracker seemed confused by the change as well. "You have to call off this attack."

"Um, no?" Skywarp gave his former trinemate a look of disbelief. "You have any clue what'd /happen/ to me if I did somethin' that /stupid/-"

"Oh Primus." Starscream breathed. "Oh Primus, now it's you. Sky. Skywarp. You can't do this. It'll destroy you." The teleporter twitched even more, his wings shuddering on his back. He couldn't listen to them. They were /traitors/. Not Trine! Not...trine...not...they were still Trine because once Trine, always Trine no matter what.

Frag, Skywarp thought.

"Skywarp please." Thundercracker pleaded as the ship shook again. There were distinct sounds of creaking metal, lights flickering around them. A ship wide comm went out. ::Rescue units to section 8-C! I repeat, rescue units to section 8-C! Structural integrity compromised! Mechs possibly trapped!": Thundercracker searched his databanks for what section 8-C was and nearly collapsed in relief. Not medbay. Section 8-C was the command offices.

Star knew where that was and he winced. Skywarp shook his head again, almost frantic. "I CAN'T, TC, you don't get it! He'll slag me, or /worse/ than slag me. I'm watched constantly an' even though I KNOW I'm still loyal I...I..." He couldn't say it; Sky had never been able to speak his emotions easily.

Another shockwave buffeted the Ark and Starscream winced again. "You are harming those who would /aid you/ against that insane piece of scrap." Star said acidly.

"Starscream!" Thundercracker warned. ~Now is not the time to let your temper get the best of you.~ He turned to their missing third. "Skywarp. If you do not stop this, the medical bay will be crushed. There is a youngling there. Not even in his second upgrade yet. /Please!/ If not for us, your trine, then to spare his life..."

"There'sa WHAT?!" Skywarp FROZE. "You...there's /no way/ there's a bit here. We'd know." Skywarp said, trying to convince himself...but TC didn't lie and Warp knew that.

"Yes. A youngling. Who's terrified of the sound of war." Starscream said, his tone softening not one iota. "Skywarp...I /know/ your wish. Would you take a new life just to feed the desires of a madmech?" At that, Star's tone did soften and he even looked at their missing third with something approaching compassion in his gaze.

Skywarp trembled. He looked from one Seeker to the other, hands clenching and unclenching in his indecision. "I...guys..." he whined, and the ship rocked again, this time harder. "He'll kill me." Sky whispered. "Or he won't kill me, he'll just-"

They were running out of time. "He won't." Thundercracker said, reaching out a hand, palm up. "Not if you are /here/. Not with the Autobots. With your Trine. Where you belong."

Skywarp bit through his lip, a thick trickle of energon staining his pale face. With a violent shake of his head, he activated his comm.

/All right you glitches, /retreat/. That's an order. M'last one, too. Dirge, you got this as long as you take your trine and the triples back to the Nemesis. Just go./ He shared the comm with Starscream and Thundercracker, hoping against hope that he'd done the right thing.

/THE FRAG, SKYWARP?/ Dirge commed back, in shock. /Did you find them?/

/None of your business, Seeker!/ Skywarp roared back through the comm. /I gave you an order, and as the Winglord's Third you had better damned well follow it!/

There was utter comm silence for a few seconds, then Dirge proved himself to be the most intelligent of the Coneheads when he finally answered. /Understood, Air Commander. Dirge out./

Starscream stared at Skywarp as if he didn't believe it. Had he chosen his trine over Megatron?

Thundercracker still didn't put down his hand, listening to the comm with hopeful disbelief. His optics softened. "Come home, Warp. Come back to us. We miss you."

Skywarp still hesitated even though he'd given the order. He'd taken the step that couldn't be undone...well, it COULD, he'd just have to claim the Coneheads lied.

He didn't want to. The look in Star's optics and the plea in Thundercracker's voice were just too much; the raw place in his spark where their bond once was felt as though it were on fire.

"How're you gonna trust me again?" he asked softly, reaching out very slowly.

Thundercracker didn't move, letting Skywarp make the choice. "We're trine. We KNOW you, Skywarp. We love you. Please."

"Always have." Starscream said, the words echoed with his wings, his optics, and the way that he grasped Skywarp's hand and gently tugged him toward them both. "Come home. It's not so bad here...and they don't beat you. Ever."

"It was all true, wasn't it." Skywarp asked, and Star stiffened, looking down at his pedes without answering.

"We'll talk about it later." Thundercracker replied quickly. The alarms had shut off by this point and a comm came through to Thundercracker. ::Thundercracker, this is Prowl. The aerial forces are retreating. Status?:: Thundercracker tilted his helm.

::Situation under control... We uh... we have Skywarp...::

"/Have/ me? Are ya takin' me to the brig?!" Skywarp demanded to know, and Starscream glanced up with more than a hint of his old attitude in his gaze.

"Don't be a moron, Sky, you're going to medbay." he said, stifling a laugh. "You need to be looked over."

Skywarp looked almost wary at that. "No." he said flatly.

Thundercracker just smiled scarily sweetly. "That's where the youngling is~"

Skywarp gave TC a Look. "I wanna meet him.../fraggit/ Thundercracker you are a /manipulative aft/." he complained.

Starscream just laughed. A /real/ laugh, not forced. He felt as though maybe, just maybe, this could work out.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Thundercracker grinned, tugging Skywarp along and ignoring the glares and contemptuous mutterings of several of the Autobots as they headed for medbay.

"Uhhuh. Sure." Skywarp said as he walked, idly flicking his wings at those who glared at him. Oddly enough, he noted that the stares were aimed at /him/ instead of the former Air Commander. He wondered why, other than that Star had been there longer.

"So, a youngling. Whose bit is he?" Skywarp asked, and Starscream laughed harder.

"... He doesn't know." Thundercracker began, oddly hesitant. "But I GUESS you could call him Ratchet's in a sense..."

"How c'n you not know who your creators are?" Skywarp demanded to know. "That makes no sense. Creators don't ditch littles, ever!"

"He's a grounder, Sky. They don't feel the same way as Seekers." Starscream explained, and Skywarp's wings shot up in a mixture of anger and dismay.

"You mean t'tell me that some aftshaft THREW AWAY their sparkling?!" the teleporter virtually shrieked.

"For all we know they were killed in the war." Thundercracker reminded. "But... uh... he happens to be the Twins'... Little brother. So tread carefully..."

Skywarp actually paused. "An' they haven't torn your wings off yet I see." He tilted his helm. "Don't tell me, they don't know he hangs with a pair of Seekers."

"Oh, trust me. They found out. I'm surprised the Nemesis couldn't hear the glitchfit they threw." Thundercracker frowned momentarily as they stopped outside medbay. "We're here. You'll remember Ratchet."

"Yeah." Skywarp said with a smirk. "Did ya frag him again, too?"

Starscream gave Skywarp a dirty look and tweaked his left wing, though he didn't answer the question. He didn't know if TC had or not, though he had a sneaking suspicion that the blue Seeker had not.

Thundercracker snorted. "Of course not. Even if I had offered, he would have said no. It was a one time thing." The medical bay doors slid open, only a few mechs sporting minor injuries inside. The altercation hadn't lasted that long. Thundercracker looked around, pausing Hoist as he walked by. "Where's Ratchet?"

Hoist glanced nervously at Skywarp before pointing to Ratchet's office door. "In there. Keep the noise level down if you're going in."

Sky rolled his optics at the look. "'M not gonna eat you guys, you know. Sheesh. I said I was gonna come be with my trine, not kill Autoslag."

"Skywarp, don't use that term for Primus' sake." Starscream said disgustedly, walking ahead to where he knew Swiftshot was.

Thundercracker put a servo on Skywarp's back, moving him in the same direction. The door to Ratchet's office opened, showing Ratchet in the corner, rocking a shaking youngling and talking softly to him. The blue mechling was clinging tightly, hiccuping and sniffling occasionally. Ratchet glanced up, putting a finger to his lips. ::I just got him calmed down.::

Skywarp stared. They /had/ been telling the truth. There was a sparkling as plain as day, and he stepped forward for a better look...or tried to. Starscream stopped him, shaking his head slightly.

"Shooter...are you all right?" he asked softly, kneeling down to be on the mechling's level. He offered Swiftshot one cobalt hand, letting him choose whether or not to take it.

Swiftshot looked up from Ratchet's shoulder, blue visor dimmed and coolant tracks down his cheeks. He looked at the hand, to Starscream before burying back into Ratchet's shoulder, refusing to move. ::Give it a bit Starscream. He's still terrified.::

::All right.:: Star's comm voice sounded sad, though. Swiftshot had never rejected him before, and Starscream never took rejection well to begin with. He understood the why, though- he was pretty sure the mechling knew his origins by now, and the association was likely too much at the moment.

"I see why..." Skywarp murmured. He reflexively tried to speak along the trine bond but that just resulted in a searing pain in his spark, making the black Seeker hiss in pain, wincing. He re-tried on his comm. ::He's terrified. Was it the attack?::

::Pretty sure it was.:: Thundercracker answered, watching Ratchet work at calming the sparkling down. ::From what we've been told he was found on Cybertron, in Iacon's courtyard living under rubble. Stealing energon from Shockwave until the Autobot femmes found him.::

::Fragging-:: Skywarp spat. He looked longingly at the little one. Yes, his trine knew very well his fondest wish. His /unattainable/ wish. He wanted a sparkling more than anything. Being a Decepticon rather precluded that. Megatron had deactivated carriers and their bits before as an example. He claimed that it was the ultimate weakness.

Starscream could still read Skywarp like a datapad. ~He's thinking, TC.~ he said along their bond. ~Thinking of his dream.~

~I know... Swiftshot may be able to heal more than one of us it seems.~ After several long, quiet moments, broken only by Ratchet's humming and Swiftshot's sniffling, Ratchet turned to them. ::Try again, Starscream. I think I have him calmed down.::

Star nodded and stayed where he was, speaking softly with a hint of a trill in his voice, the tones of Seeker-cant wending their way through his words. Skywarp thought idly that that made Star's voice rather beautiful to hear.

"Swiftshot, can you speak now? You don't have to. I just want to introduce you to...to a friend of mine and TC's."

Swiftshot looked up, or rather turned so his face wasn't smushed against the medic's shoulder. He looked at Starscream for a moment before turning his gaze on the new mech. He looked at Starscream again. "There's no more 'splosions, right?" His voice was small, scared and extremely hopeful.

"There's not gonna be any more explosions. My friend Skywarp made them go back home." That was essentially the truth; Star was just going to leave out the fact that it had been Sky who'd instigated the whole thing to begin with. At the sound of his name, Skywarp looked at Swiftshot and waved with four fingers, a somewhat sheepish grin on his lips. ::Stars are you gonna tell him I'm th' one who-::

::Not unless he asks. If he asks, /do not/ lie to him.:: Star said firmly.

Swiftshot turned back to the new seeker. "You did?"

"Um. Yeah. I ordered 'em all to go back where they came from." Skywarp said, the youngling's gaze making him feel things he thought had been long burned out of him. He stared at both of his former trinemates with a plea in his optics for help, and he suddenly had a sinking feeling that he no longer /deserved/ such from them. Though...he really /hadn't/ betrayed them. He never told Megatron where they were. He hadn't told that TC had taken Star away while he was injured. He'd just...stayed. That was bad enough.

"Oh." Swiftshot murmured.

"Swiftshot, buddy, can I leave you with Star?" Ratchet asked gently. "I have to make sure everyone out there is okay."

It took several moments before Swiftshot nodded and allowed himself to be handed off. He immediately buried into the Seeker's plating, helm laying on his shoulder in front of the vent. Ratchet kissed his helm, not bothering with the watching Seekers before walking from his office.

Several moments of silence passed before Swiftshot looked at Skywarp again. "Are you magic?"

"What do ya mean, little guy?" Sky asked. Starscream merely held the mechling close, stroking his helm and his back in rhythmic motions that he knew would soothe him. Star stood up and sat back down on a medberth for comfort, gesturing for Thundercracker to sit next to him.

Thundercracker did so, watching his mate with the youngling. "Well, you made the 'splosions go away." Swiftshot murmured.

Skywarp bit his lip. How to explain it...

"He ordered them to go home, Shooter." Starscream said gently, helping Sky out a little. He'd never been as good with words as Star was, and Skywarp gave Starscream a grateful look as he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I ordered them."

"So you're NOT magic?" Swiftshot sounded a bit disappointed under the sheer exhaustion in his voice.

"Well...I can teleport." he revealed with a grin. "Go from here to there without walkin' or flyin' or anything."

Swiftshot's visor flickered and he lifted his helm up. "Really? No joke?"

"Nope. No foolin'. Stars can I show him?" He gave Starscream that turbopuppy look that always made Star groan, then acquiesce to whatever it was that Sky wanted.

Starscream sighed. "I don't know..."

Thundercracker, however, shook his helm. "Not right now, Warp. We have things we need to sort out with the Autobots and then talk about as trine first... Besides, I think Swiftshot has had quite enough excitement for one cycle."

Skywarp's wings drooped but he nodded. "Maybe later, Swiftshot. I gotta talk to the brass an' stuff I guess." He looked at TC. "Where'm I gonna be stayin'? Please say not jail."

Thundercracker shook his helm in warning, glancing at the mechling who seemed to be on his way to recharge now that his systems had cycled out all the excitement of the cycle. "We have to talk to them, Warp. We'll see. We'll do our best to keep you out."

Starscream nodded, gently laying Shooter down on the berth, one hand still caressing his helm until the sparkling drifted off. "We should go now and get it over with." he said softly. "And it is my intent that you stay with us for the time being. It's for your own safety as well."

"Safety? There ain't anyone here who could take me-"

"Maybe not anyONE, but several someones? Certainly." Starscream said archly. "Let's go."

"Particularly the Twins. I would avoid them for the time being." Thundercracker mused. "They won't be pleased you led the attack that could have killed their brother. They're surprisingly protective."

Skywarp looked rather ambivalent about that. "Um." he said. "You kinda have a point. I wouldn't like it either. I was only doin' what I had to..." His wings drooped. "He beat me. After we lost that last one." That wasn't all he'd done, though thankfully it hadn't gotten to the most terrible things. Just a bit of humiliation and a pointed request that Skywarp had reluctantly agreed to. He wouldn't have been so reluctant if Megatron hadn't twisted his right wing so hard it felt like it'd been torn off...

Thundercracker's optics saddened and the turned hard. "He won't live much longer if we have our way. Come on." He took Skywarp's hand. "Let's go talk to Prime and then have Ratchet take a look."

"He didn't do...that." Skywarp protested feebly, though from the look on Thundercracker's face he was going to have to submit to a medical scan whether he liked it or not. At least Ratchet was relatively gentle and he /was/ good at his job.

"Prime doesn't beat his mechs, does he?" Sky asked.

"Absolutely not." Starscream replied. There was even a hint of respect in the way he said that.

"Not even enemies?" he said weakly.

"Are you going to attack him?" Star asked archly.

"Um no, that'd be pretty dumb."

"Then you should be perfectly safe."

Thundercracker snorted. "Watch out for the big red one though. He talks big. AND will back it up."

"Oh, Cannonhead?" Skywarp said. "Pfft. Whatever. Too slow t'catch ME."

"Skywarp." Starscream said warningly. "In order for us to stay here we have sworn an oath of nonaggression. You will do the same." he ordered.

Skywarp arched an optic ridge. "Not to be a jerk, Stars, but you can't order me around anymore. Not trineleader, not Air Commander."

Starscream jerked back as if slapped.

"Skywarp." Thundercracker rumbled in warning, wings rising and poised to put himself in front of his bondmate if he had to. "When one precedes something with 'Not to be a jerk', it normally means you proceed to be just that afterward. And he still IS your trineleader and Winglord. You WILL show him respect, Wing-third."

It was Skywarp's turn to jerk back, and he looked at Thundercracker with an expression that bordered on hope. "You mean you still consider me..." he whispered. He then looked down at Starscream.

"A-apologies, Winglord." he said, totally unused to saying such a thing.

"Accepted." Star said rather tonelessly, unconsciously leaning back into Thundercracker for support. Skywarp saw this and wondered.

"You are trine. We have blocked you, not denounced you." Thundercracker reminded him. "You must stop the attitude. It's gotten completely out of hand."

"I thought you broke it." Skywarp said. Starscream looked up as well; he'd thought the same thing!

Thundercracker snorted. "Please. I just blocked you." His gaze softened. "After everything we've been through, Sky, did you really think you were so easily thrown away?"

Skywarp looked down at his pedes. "Yeah. Cause I didn't go with you. I was...I was wrong."

Those were the words that Starscream had wanted to hear, and so he steeled himself, offlining his optics, and made himself grab Skywarp in a hug that grew tight nanokliks after he started it. His plating prickled in discomfort at the touch but he endured- Skywarp could help him heal too, he sensed.

"Sky..."

Thundercracker smiled, wrapping both of them in his arms and hugging tightly. "Sky... You're an idiot." He said fondly.

This felt RIGHT and GOOD and Starscream felt safe here in the arms of both his trinemates...or one bondmate and a trinemate. "We still love you, Sky." Starscream whispered, and Skywarp wanted to shake his head and say he didn't deserve it.

Thundercracker squeezed them again with a deep sigh. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Their quarters were ready enough. Star didn't want to stay in medbay tonight, not with them all being together for the first time in weeks. He sat alone on the berth, watching the other two Seekers intently.

Skywarp looked like he didn't know where to sit or even what to do for once in his function. He now knew that Star and TC's bond was different- that they had an actual sparkbond, as stupid as that was in wartime. He wondered when they'd done it.

"When did you two bond?" he asked.

"Shortly after the war began." Thundercracker grinned lopsidedly, dragging Starscream into his lap.

"AFTER the war." Sky said incredulously. "Even knowing that if one of you died..."

"Yes, Skywarp, even knowing that." Star said, willingly sliding into the lap he felt had been made for him. "Though I...still don't remember all of it." he said sadly. "You'll still show me, when I can merge with you...?" he asked TC, knowing that the lack of memory of their bonding night likely hurt Thundercracker quite a bit. It wasn't his fault, though. It was the reprogramming. Thank Primus that the patch, and the subsequent work, was coming right along. He felt more like himself than he had in a long time.

Thundercracker smiled sadly. "Of course, Star."

Dark lips curved in a smile. "Soon." he said, meaning it. He'd begun to feel the /need/ to be close with Thundercracker and though he didn't want to rush it, it was beginning to be rather intense.

"Why don't ya remember /bonding/?" Sky asked incredulously. Starscream looked up at Sky and mumbled something; he still barely believed it himself despite very real proof shown to him by Ratchet /and/ Wheeljack.

Thundercracker rubbed his back gently. "Not right now, Warp. Maybe later."

"Why? Stars is the smartest mech I know-"

Starscream interrupted. "Because that defunct pile of scrap you chose over us /had me reprogrammed/ to be his perfect little /bitch/." The human word was far more fitting than anything Cybertronian he could think of. Starscream shook in TC's embrace, his optics blazing. "It didn't take long, and I fought it. Oh, how I fought it. Thus my frequent medical bay visits and the beatings and the rapes. All of it. It happened, Sky, and that's why I am how I am now." With that, he turned his face away into Thundercracker's chest armor and just trembled.

Thundercracker tightened his embrace, resting his chin on his helm and rocking him. He looked at Skywarp, quick to amend Starscream's harsh accusation. "Nobody is blaming you, Skywarp. Were we angry? Very much so. Sad? Just as much. But you didn't know and as far as you knew you had no reason to believe otherwise. However, we're asking you now, as Trine, to understand."

Skywarp nodded solemnly. "I believe it now. Wanna know why? He beat me too...and made me do things with him." He shuddered. "Mech needs to visit the 'racks, he smells like slag." he said, trying to make a joke and likely failing.

Thundercracker's look indicated he had. "Because he's a power hungry tyrant with a thing for seeker frames and a need to feel dominant. I likely suspect it's because his spike is disproportionate for his frame." Now that. THAT was a joke in good taste.

"Was, kinda." Skywarp said, the ghost of a grin on his lips. "An' he's an eight-nanoklik wonder." He shuddered, and then shut up as he noticed Starscream flinching with every word. "Slag, Stars, I'm sorry, I'm a thoughtless aft." he said, daring to reach out and gently stroke a wing. Starscream flinched again at the unexpected touch, and Skywarp looked hurt. /Very/ hurt.

Thundercracker sighed, taking Skywarp's still outstretched servo. "Give him time, Warp. He's still healing."

"Cause of Motormaster?" At the sound of the name, Starscream huddled more firmly into Thundercracker, looking for all the world like he was trying to bury himself someplace safe.

"Yes. Because of him." Thundercracker briefly had a thought and he looked at Skywarp firmly. "How... Did you see Dead End after we left?"

Skywarp nodded silently. /That/ had been a mess. A rather large one. "Yeah. He...um." He gave TC a critical look. "He paid for what he did to help you."

It was Thundercracker's turn to flinch, the blue seeker looking immensely guilty. But he figured he needed to know, if only as payment for what the youngling had done for them. "How bad?"

"Was in medbay for a long time." Skywarp shrugged. "His team worked him over pretty bad for it. He was lucky it was them, I hear- Megatron would have offlined him."

Thundercracker sighed. "He didn't deserve it..." He muttered. But what was done was done. The only cold comfort was that Dead End was likely used to that treatment from his gestalt leader. It wasn't something to be grateful for, but it likely (hopefully) meant that Dead End would pull through it. "Thank you. For telling me."

"Welcome." This formality between them was something Skywarp didn't want. He didn't know /how/ to get close to them again. The only way he knew of coming together was 'facing and...that didn't seem to be possible anytime soon.

"How can I be the way we were again?" he asked almost desperately. Starscream didn't move- he seemed to be either oblivious or in recharge in TC's lap.

Thundercracker sighed again. It seemed like he was doing that too often these days. "I don't know yet, Warp. Time, I suppose, is the answer for everything. We have to let it mend on its own."

Skywarp nodded miserably. "Then I guess I should get out of your quarters, huh. I'll, I don't know, find someplace to be so you can be alone with your...with Star."

Thundercracker looked at him. "Stay, Warp. You can take my berth... But if you feel you need to, you are welcome to wander... Though I'll likely call someone to keep an optic on you. For your safety."

"Who the Pit would wanna sparklingsit /me/?" he asked in disbelief.

Thundercracker snorted, the closes he could come to a laugh at the moment. "Should I make the call and find out?" He teased.

"Go ahead, now I'm curious." Skywarp folded his arms and arched an optic ridge. "Though I'm /not/ having my energon out of his finger, whoever he is."

Thundercracker grinned before comming whoever was on lateshift in the command center. A silent conversation passed before even Thundercracker hung with some surprise. "Huh. Wheeljack apparently volunteered."

"The one who blows slag up?!" Skywarp looked fascinated yet afraid. "Fine, I'll give it a shot. If I get blown to bits I'm gonna haunt you, TeeCee." He stood and waited by the door for the inventor to arrive. Wheeljack, huh. Skywarp knew next to nothing about him other than that he was smart as slag and liked to blow stuff up.

Well, they had the latter thing in common anyway.

Starscream wrapped himself more firmly around Thundercracker as Skywarp waited; he actually looked comfortable, and the berth was large enough for them both for once.

Thundercracker was still rubbing Starscream's back by the time there was a knock on the door. He sent the command for it to open and the Autobot Engineer stood outside, helmfins flashing merrily. "Hiya!"

Skywarp looked at Wheeljack with a funny little grin and held out one hand. "So, Creator, can we go out an' play?" he asked cheekily. Humor had always been Skywarp's defense against the unknown.

Wheeljack looked at him before laughing loudly, only quieting when he got a glare from Thundercracker for his sleeping mate. Even so the inventor still continued to chuckle. "I don't see why not. Hope you don't mind the Dinobots for brothers." He replied just as cheekily.

"...Dinos. Yeah…not claiming Grimlock anytime soon as my long lost sparktwin, but…." Skywarp said, clearly disbelieving Wheeljack's easy kindness. "Mkay, whatever gets me out of here for now. Black Seeker needs food now!" he quipped, giving TC a wave as the door closed.

Wheeljack laughed as soon as it was safe. "You need food, hm?" He grinned, surprisingly seeming completely at ease.

"Yeah, they don't feed ya well on the other side." he muttered. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Wheeljack hadn't said anything bad about his horrible jokes. He had /laughed/, in fact. That was more than most people did. "So, where do ya go for that around here? Not the brig." Sky added hastily.

"Pft. Mostly rec room, but I figured we could stop by my lab and grab a cube before maybe going outside. There's a meteor shower I wanted ta catch and document for research on Earth's atmosphere and I figured you wouldn't say no ta bein' outside fer a bit."

"Outside? Sure!" Come to think of it, seeing the sky sounded like quite a decent plan. "Least then I won't be tempted to slag some moron with an overactive vocalizer." Skywarp said, knowing it was going to be hard for awhile at first. He wondered something, though... "Hey, Wheeljack. Why don't you hate me like everybot else does?"

"Hm?" Wheeljack looked up, then tilted his helm considering the question. He shrugged. "Seekers are interestin'. Besides, I know that you know that I know that you do somethin' ta screw up yer trine'll be on yer aft faster than Sunny and Sides would be on Ratch if they weren't dancin' around the fraggin' subject."

Skywarp actually snerked. "Yeah, even /I/ know about that." he laughed. "Yeah, TeeCee's kinda a stickler for rules and stuff, which is odd for a Con but I s'pose he ain't one now...and hasn't been for awhile. Stars...well, you know about him."

Wheeljack just shrugged again. "We're here. Wait here for a moment. Nooot that I don't think you won't do somethin' stupid, but yer a lot like Sides from what TC likes to tell us, so for the moment lab equipment is off limits!" He ducked into his lab to get a couple of cubes.

Skywarp stuck out his glossa; that was totally not fair. He was dying to know just what the inventor kept in there. Hm, he could always go check it out on his own later. He stored the coordinates in his warp-gate storage module and waited, whistling an old song as he waited. This could be a Pit of a lot worse, he decided. He was already getting to go out.

It didn't take too long for Wheeljack to re-emerge with two cubes of energon and several datapads plus telescope. "Welp, think I'm all set."

Skywarp looked at Wheeljack's burden and asked, rather awkwardly, "Need me to carry any of that? Or maybe give us a lift someplace?"

"Nah, I got it!" Wheeljack grinned, striding down the hall with his precarious load.

Skywarp's wings twitched, indicating his doubt, but he shrugged and followed. It wasn't his place to argue with the only Autobot who'd shown genuine kindness to him since he'd arrived. As they walked, he could almost feel the hostile glares sent his way by those they left in their wake. He wanted nothing less than to tell them to get fragged, but he held his glossa, wanting to see this meteor shower that Wheeljack had mentioned. He liked Earth's weather. Especially the thunderstorms.

Thinking about those made him miss Thundercracker even more...and more still when he recalled that TC was Star's. Unequivocally. Skywarp could have the trine bond but nothing more, which shattered one of his long-held dreams. The teleporter sighed deeply, wings held low.

Wheeljack hummed merrily, the load not even teetering surprisingly as they finally made it out into the open of the darkening sky. "There's a great place on top of the Ark's entrance. A ledge that sticks out and makes a great vantage point."

"Didn't think most grounders liked high places." Skywarp remarked, the cool night air revitalizing him somewhat. It would feel good to fly in this, he knew, but he didn't dare. The Prime had told him he could fly only under escort for now, and Skywarp doubted that Wheeljack with a telescope counted. So he was stuck on the ground this night, which wouldn't help him feel so...not alone, he supposed it was. Here he was, back with his trine, and he felt more alone now than he did on the Nemesis. It made no sense. He followed Wheeljack's directions, lost in his own thoughts, and nearly teetered off the edge because he wasn't watching his footing.

Wheeljack reached out, seizing the former 'Con's arm and jerking him back. "Careful! Know you have wings and can teleport and all, but you don't wanna go over the edge with the currents 'round here." The scientist grinned. "We'll set up here. Show starts at seven local time so we gotta get these up fast!"

"I was lost in my own mind." he said, righting himself. "Thanks." Sky added, knowing that he needed to get used to the courtesies. Autobots thrived on such things and it would make the transition easier. "What do ya need me to do?" he offered.

"No problem." Wheeljack turned to his equipment, starting the process. "See those wires? The green 'n blue ones? Hook 'em to the color coded pads. They'll record the data the telescope gathers."

"What happens if I do it backward?" he wondered aloud, the curiosity that got him into so much trouble coming to the fore.

"It'll record the wrong data. Or record nothin' at all." Wheeljack glanced over his shoulder, helmfins flashing in mirth. "Hoping it'd explode?"

"Maybe." Skywarp said, meeting the engineer's gaze with a small smile. "I get curious about slag, an' wanna see what happens is all. It just...doesn't always work out."

"You can say that again. One explosion takes down the wall and they never let ya forget it." Wheeljack snorted as he finished setting up his telescope.

"Which wall?" Sky asked. He tilted his helm to look up at the sky. "Where should I sit to see this the best?" He tapped his left thruster, the urge to move and /do/ something not overwhelming yet. The conversation helped. So far, Wheeljack was an interesting individual who actually seemed to take Skywarp seriously. That was a rarity that Sky rather appreciated.

"You can see just fine from anywhere on the ledge. Clear skies helps. Was almost afraid it would be cloudy tonight, but they passed over earlier." Wheeljack snapped the last cable into place and started the downloading, checking things over to make sure they were working correctly. "All set. And not a moment too soon." Overhead, the meteor shower was just starting.

Skywarp looked up immediately when Wheeljack told him it was starting. The streaks of light across the sky, plunging into the atmosphere of this alien world...it was a scene of beauty that Sky knew that was impossible on Cybertron.

"That's...gorgeous." he said, meaning it with all his spark. He actually relaxed a little, sitting next to 'Jack rather happily, and he glanced over at his companion with a grin. "Let's have that energon now. Please tell me it's high grade; I could use it."

"Naw. Highgrade is all locked away in Prowl's office after last week's incident." Wheeljack chuckled, passing a cube to Skywarp. "Don't worry, Jazz'll wear him down eventually."

"Incident?" Skywarp thought for a few moments, and sighed. All he'd ever had was back on the Nemesis. Gone forever...just like his stuffed Seeker. Now /that/ hurt. He sighed again, looking at the sky. "I'm an idiot." he muttered.

Wheeljack reached over and patted the mech's shoulder. "We all make mistakes kid. Don't let your wear ya down. Can't get the past back, but we can make a better future."

"Naw, that wasn't even it. It's something I left, back there, something I had since I was a sparkling." Sky sighed. "An' I ain't no kid, I'm prob'ly as old as you are!"

Wheeljack snorted. "I'm older than Ratchet, not by much, but I am." He was totally grinning under his mask. "We'll get it back. Maybe. We all lose things, Skywarp. It's up to us if we want to make them something material. Lost forever. Or, make it something memorable. You don't need an item to remember what it stood for."

"Why do you even /care/." Skywarp asked, utterly perplexed by this. In his experience, nobody showed concern unless they wanted something. Maybe he did. Maybe he wanted what most groundpounders did- a night with a Seeker. He supposed that that wouldn't be altogether unpleasant, though some part of him hoped not, hoped that maybe this mech really gave a slag. "It's just a stuffed Seeker, looked like my carrier."

"Ah." Wheeljack's voice was empathetic. "Let me tell ya somethin' kid. This war's taken far too much from us already. You're a good kid, I can tell. Made some poor choices, but you're not bad. Besides, Decepticon, Autobot? In the end does it really matter? We're all Cybertronian. Don't we all deserve second chances?"

"I am totally not a good anything, 'cept maybe lover. An' even then I fail at loyalty. Obviously. Or else I would have came here with Stars an' TeeCee to begin with." It's clear that Skywarp regrets this decision, now. He gave Wheeljack an intent look at what he said, though. "I'm Seeker, too. You know what that means?"

"A lot of things, I'm sure. Wasn't into cultural sciences." Wheeljack grins, leaning back to watch the sky as they talked.

"Sometimes I don't even know to be honest." He sipped at the energon, purring at the superior flavor. "Slag but this is good." he said approvingly. "Anyway, guess 'm glad you have faith in me...cause I sure as slag don't."

"You will kid. Just takes some time." Wheeljack seemed sure of this.

"I am like the most impatient person ever, you know." Skywarp grinned. He thought for a few moments, then asked hesitantly, "Maybe...if you don't mind...I can do stuff with you sometimes? If you don't wanna sparklingsit an errant Seeker 's okay but..." He shrugged. "You don't hate the sight of me."

Wheeljack turned to look at him for a moment and then grinned. "Sure. can I trust yer word to not mess with anything in my lab?"

"Um." Skywarp hesitated. "I promise to try?" he virtually squeaked. "I mean I don't break stuff on purpose, but..."

"As long as you don't take or move anything we're good. I keep my chemicals locked up after Sideswipe."

"I won't steal your stuff." Sky promised. "I used to be in Stars' lab, and he had all his energy stuff layin' around. I never offlined myself or anybody else with that so I should be safe enough." Would this 'Bot be his first friend on this side? Sky found himself hoping so.

"Hey, look!" Sky pointed up. "It's purple, like me!" He grinned, looking far more like he once did.

Wheeljack turned to look, sitting straighter as he considered the possibilities of what created a purple trail for a shooting star or meteor. "Nah, colors off a bit. Yer a darker purple... Besides, your paint has that odd sparkle effect. Human paint?"

"No, Stars did something to it. It shines in sun or starlight, same shade. I like it." Skywarp explained. "Maybe it is human paint though; I have no idea what he did to it."

"Looks like some of the effects human paint has." Wheeljack hummed, thinking about that as well. "Interesting. Mind if I get a sample? Or should I ask Starscream since he makes it..."

Sky snickered and held out his arm. "Don't scrape too much or I'll cry and you'll have to kiss it better." he quipped, keeping the sparkling joke going. Those flickering helm-fins were definitely a different touch, something you just didn't see on every mech. Skywarp liked unique, and since he was going to be friends with 'Jack he guessed it'd be okay to like them.

Wheeljack laughed. "Don't be going Fireflight on me now." He teased back, pulling out a small tool and scraping away a few paint chips to seal away and stash in his subspace.

"What's special about Flight?" Warp wanted to know. The scraping hadn't hurt at all, and he could barely see where it had been done. He pulled his hand back and sat back propped on both hands, legs stuck out in front of him.

"If I had to choose a mech out of all my creations that really still acts his age, it'd be Flight."

Skywarp /stared/. "You're the Aerials' /creator/?" he squeaked. Primus he was doing a lot of that tonight. "I'm jealous." he said, almost too softly to be heard.

"Oh, not like THAT." Wheeljack laughed. "They're preframes."

"Batchmechs?" A lot of Seekers were made that way, but the Aerials weren't Seekers. They'd been...sparked to /fight/ Skywarp. He suddenly felt like an aft. "You had to make 'em to fight us...fight /me/."

"Yeah." Wheeljack sighed sadly. "In hindsight I regret that. Ratchet does too."

"What, makin' 'em fight newly sparked?" He sighed. "War...I guess...it makes people do stuff they wouldn't normally do. Like now that I talked to you, I couldn't ever try an' hurt you. You're a person to me. Not like before, you were just...I don't know...a symbol I guess. There's a lot of slag that's said over 'Con-side about what you 'Bots'd do to us if you had half a chance."

"Same here, though I'm sure there's credence on both sides to the rumors. Not all Autobots follow the Autobot credo."

"Like those Twins." Skywarp said with more than a little derision.

"Now hey!" Wheeljack was quick to correct that assumption. "I never said the Twins didn't!"

"Those two have tried to rip my wings off...strike that, the red one DID rip a wing off...more times than I can count!" Warp protested.

"You were the enemy." He paused feeling there was need for more explanation. "Let me clear some things about our Twins up. Sunny and Sides, before the war, were Gladiators." He began.

Skywarp's lip curled at the mention of gladiators. "So was Megatron." he said flatly.

"Now hold on there, kid. You're jumpin' to conclusions." Wheeljack leaned back, trying to think of what to say without giving things too personal away. "In Kaon, back in the day, things were bad. Most of Cybertron viewed it as the cesspool of criminals and cutthroats. I was no exception. I know better, now. Listenin' to Jazz tell stories puts things into perspective for mechs. Kaon was... bad off. Really bad. They weren't gettin' funds. It was do or die. Survival of the fittest. The Gladiator rings were a way out. Yes they were bloody. Mechs fought to the death there. But once you got there, you had a way off the streets. Nobody messed with you if you were a Gladiator... well much."

He leaned forward, elbows on knees. "The twins entered the rings young. They learned to fight early, survive early and depend only on each other. They trusted nobody. To an extent, I think they still distrust every one of us to some degree. Which is probably why they're still dancin' around each other."

"An' why they won't just tell that wrench-happy medic that they're both nuts in love with him." Skywarp said smartly. "Yeah, upbringing does shape you...I was guttertrash from the low area of Vos, which means that people like Stars and TeeCee weren't even s'posed to acknowledge my existence." He shrugged. "I met Stars in the Flight Academy...he was the Winglord's only creation, and not many people associated with him. I thought he was hot an' so I chased him mainly just to berth him, t'see if I could." Skywarp's pale face actually flushed. "Well, it happened an' we became friends, real good friends. TC was an /instructor/ for Pit's sake and acted like he hated us. Little did I know that Stars was already seein' him sometimes."

Wheeljack laughed. "Well, love works in funny ways. But yeah. The Twins are overprotective. They've learned and it's hardwired. You stand as a threat, they're gonna do whatever they can to take you down and remove that threat."

"Not a threat to anyone who isn't gonna harm my trine or me." Warp said firmly. "Swore to Stars and TC that I wouldn't hurt what they have here, an' I /won't/. I fragged up bad enough already. Not gonna do more of it."

Wheeljack smiled, patting Skywarp's forearm. "That's a great way to be headin' kid. S'why I said you're good. You keep that goal in mind."

Why did he keep /touching/ him? Hm, maybe it was because he had the younglings, sparked into adult frames or not. "Have other goals too, y'know." he said with a small grin.

Wheeljack grinned back. "Always good to keep busy."

Skywarp laughed at that, /loudly/. "Slag, 'Jack, if you only knew /what/ my goal is, you'd be embarrassed as Pit if you did."

Wheeljack snorted. "Best friend of Ratchet." He pointed out.

Skywarp hesitated for only a moment, then, before telling him. It seemed so easy to be comfortable around this mech, even though he wasn't a seeker. "Want a sparkling." he said honestly. "Since I'm...I'm not a 'Con anymore, maybe I can."

Wheeljack blinked, staring at him in surprise as he thought about it. "Hm. Well it isn't encouraged because of the dangers during the war... but I think that's a good goal."

"No more dangerous than a sparkbond...and I would tear anyone apart who hurt my bit." Skywarp said, optics flaring with a peculiar light.

Wheeljack patted him. "You and just about everyone else, mech." The shower had come to an end, leaving the sky starry.

"Beautiful out here...wish I could fly." Sky said wistfully. "I know, I just flew today, an' I have to have somebot up there with me...but...it's kinda hard to explain really. An' I'm in no hurry to go intrude on Stars and TC...they need each other now, not me."

Wheeljack clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Well... If you can keep to yer promise, I don't mind you coming to hang out in the lab while I check through this data."

Skywarp nodded almost too eagerly. "I'll be good. Promise. Even if a minibot talks slag I won't use nothin' from your lab to get revenge."

Wheeljack chuckled. "Good mech. Now help disconnect this would ya?"

Skywarp smiled and did so, remembering the directions rather well. He wasn't stupid as most thought he was; Skywarp was merely easily distracted and thought of far too much to stay on a given topic. The equipment didn't take long to pack up with two helping, and the burden was lighter on the way back because Sky insisted on helping this time. "Payment for puttin' up with me." he explained.

Wheeljack had accepted with a good-natured shrug, taking the two stacks of datapads under his arms to the lab. It opened with a silent command and he strolled into the well lit area, placing the datapads on the only clear space and taking the telescope from Skywarp. "I'll put that away."

Skywarp very carefully put both hands behind his back and found a safe place- a very comfortable looking couch that had just enough room for a slim Seeker to sit. He did so, looking around with a mixture of curiosity and awe. Curiosity because he had no idea what half the slag in here was, and awe because there was so MUCH of it. "You...do you even know how t'FIND anything?" he asked faintly.

"Uh... Sure. I have structure." Wheeljack said looking around before scratching the back of his helm sheepishly. "Kind of."

"There is a stack of somethin' that's gonna fall on somebody's head if anyone runs into it." Skywarp pointed out. "There are seventeen undispersed cubes, three of which still contain stale fuel, and there seem to be at least twenty datapads that are turned on and functioning. You also got what looks like six fingerpaintings tacked to the walls, some cabling dangling from that energon dispenser that looks like you might trip on it, and a dead glitchmouse in the corner." Before Wheeljack could ask, he held up a hand. "Yes, I just saw all that. Have to be observant or I'd 'port into slag more than I already do."

"Erm..." Now he really was embarrassed. "It's structured to me."

"Well then that's fair." Warp said cheerfully. "I'll just sit here and keep my trap shut, then."

"Oh don't do that." Wheeljack snorted. "I can hold a conversation and work at the same time."

"Mkay then. Tell me about you then. I've talked your audial off." Skywarp felt...lonely, though slag if he'd give it a name by admitting it. Seeing his trinemates like THAT had done something to him deep inside...made him feel left out like nothing else could.

"Hmmm. Well, I'm sure you've heard of me before the war..." Wheeljack mused, thinking on where to begin.

"A little, yeah. You were at the Science Academy, right?" Sky remembered something and narrowed his optics. "Were you one of the ones who accused Stars of offlining his partner?"

"Nah, I actually wasn't THERE. I'd graduated already and was making my first, and last, attempt at time travel."

"...is that even POSSIBLE?!"

: "Erm..." Wheeljack blinked in the face of such earnestness. "Well, not EXACTLY..."

"Tell me." Skywarp rethought that. "Tell me please." He sat up, far more attentive than he'd been in any class except one.

"Hm... Well, it's a lot of trying to match up time streams. It's theoretically impossible to travel forwards in time because those actions and decisions haven't happened yet. It's theoretically not possible to go back in one's OWN time stream. There's a lot of equations involved."

Skywarp blinked. He couldn't help it. That was ten times over his head and it became painfully obvious by the look on his face that that was indeed the case. "Um." he said finally, trying to make sense of that. This was like talking to Star...and that familiarity helped some. "So does that mean you c'n go into somebody else's?"

"Well hey! You caught on fast!" Wheeljack grinned. "Technically speaking we operate on one time stream." He held up a single finger on one hand. "Imagine all our lives, decisions, and situations making up that one time stream. Now, the theory of parallel universes has existed for millennia. Imagine one such timestream existing close to ours, their own decisions and such building it up." He held up another finger on the other hand. "Now, it's theoretically possible that with enough power and a way to rip through dimensions that we can cross the two time streams." Here he crossed his fingers. "And travel back in their time."

Skywarp took a few moments to process that, and a sudden thought came to him. "My warp gate." he said slowly.

"Well, your gate is a perfect example of rift tearing. We say teleport, but really, what's happening is your jumping several SECONDS forward in time. I do know that I said it's theoretically impossible to do such, but I was talking in large increments. Because really, you've MADE the decision to go from here..." He held one finger on one side and moved the opposite finger to a point directly in front of it. "To there. Without anything obstructing you, you're clear to do it."

"I find coordinates and just go. Try not to think too hard about how it works, cause really, I don't understand it." Skywarp admitted. "Stars tried to tell me once, his explanation was different than yours but kinda the same...but all I know is that I can and I do." He smiled at Wheeljack. "You're really interesting, you know that?"

Wheeljack's helm filanges pulsed an embarrassed pink and his cheeks heated under the mask. "Naw, I know I go off on tangents when I get into something." He scratched a fin. "But thanks. You're interesting yourself kid. Outside the seeker thing, I mean."

"What do you mean outside the Seeker thing?" Skywarp asked, frowning slightly. "An' I'm not a kid!"

"Alright. Youngling." Wheeljack was clearly teasing. "Just... Seekers are fascinating. Your frames are the epitome of flight based Cybertronians. Your propulsion systems are complex. They let you get off the ground despite your size, even with thinner plating it should be incredibly difficult to lift your mass merely from your pedes. When you're in alt mode, it makes sense, because you have your wings to carry you while you're propelled forward instead of up."

"I fly just as well in root form as I do as a jet. Pits, I could take /you/ up with me if I held on to you." Skywarp said, knowing that he could. "I'm the second-best flier Cybertron ever sparked." he said with obvious pride.

Wheeljack's optics lit up in sudden eager curiosity. "You could take me up with you?"

"Yeah. You wanna?" Skywarp asked, optics alight. Maybe he COULD go flying tonight!

"Hmmmm... Would be interesting to document. Been flying in Skyfire before..."

"Okay, I am a way better flier than that old shuttle." Skywarp said, snorting. "An' you can't fly IN me." He reconsidered that, his cheeks flaming abruptly. "Okay so that isn't accurate but you KNOW what I meant, you cannot RIDE in me...pits it still sounds horrible...I have to hold onto you I mean!"

Wheeljack was in hysterics by this point, doubled over and holding onto the edge of the counter to keep from falling on his face.

Skywarp flicked his wings at Wheeljack but couldn't bring himself to actually get upset about it- it /had/ been funny and Warp had never had a problem laughing at himself. "Frag you." he said good-naturedly. "You wanna fly or not, Flashy?"

The laughter cut off on a choke of surprise as he Wheeljack's helm whipped around to stare at him. "No. No, that name is outlawed!" He giggled.

"Hm, that one's outlawed. Then I guess I can call ya Blinky, or maybe Lights, or if you really don't like it I'll just call ya Jackie or somethin'."

Wheeljack snorted. "'Jackie is just fine. Everyone else calls me it." His lights flashed merrily. "Hope it's not too dark to get proper information..."

Skywarp snorted. "If you're like every other sciencebot I've met you've modded yourself for better sensors just /so/ you can gather info during weird times." Skywarp grinned, giving a courtly bow dragged from the old days in Vos. "With me, to the stars!" he said in a fake accent.

Wheeljack blinked in some confusion. "What?"

Skywarp froze, still half bent over Wheeljack's hand. He felt like a colossal fool in that moment. "Um." he muttered. "Just me being an idiot. Come on, I guess."

"No no! What was that?" Wheeljack asked, interested in the flourish.

Skywarp quirked an optic ridge. "Somethin' we did back in Vos before it got blown to the Pit. Court stuff. Stars taught me after he became Winglord so I didn't disgrace him." The black Seeker grinned. "Seeker customs aren't dead, just...inactive."

"Hmmm." Wheeljack considered that. He made a note to ask Skyfire. "Lead the way."

"I do that, we get lost. You gotta show me at least once how to get out of the Ark unless you let me 'port." Sky explained easily.

"Oh right." Wheeljack grinned. "This way then."

Skywarp followed, feeling oddly at ease the more time they spent together. He wondered why. They didn't really have much in common. 'Jack /did/ remind him of Starscream in a way...the way Star had been a long time ago, anyway. He had a wicked sense of humor and was smart, probably too smart to be wasting his time on Skywarp. He sighed, wings twitching, and decided just to enjoy the time he was having before he had to go back to what was very obviously Star and TC's quarters.

It didn't take long before they were back outside in the cool night air, standing well clear of the Ark so that Sky had adequate airspace to take off. He looked slightly down at the inventor, a wry grin on his face. "Promise not to drop you." he said, opening his arms almost as if asking for a hug. In actuality, that was just the easiest way to get a secure grip.

Wheeljack was alight with excitement as he stepped forward into the Seeker's reach. "Show me what you got, Seeker."

"Challenging me, are you?" Skywarp said with another huge grin. "Fine." He wrapped his arms around Wheeljack, shifting so that he could bear his weight easily. Once he knew they were secure he fired up his thrusters and took off straight up. He wasn't moving as fast as he normally could, not yet anyway- he knew he had to get up to speed with the extra weight. He thanked Primus that he was getting /good/ fuel now; if not, he'd have never been able to keep this up for too long.

It felt oddly good to be close to someone, even someone who didn't know how much comfort he was really getting out of it.

::Hold on tight!:: Warp crowed before taking them in a spiraling loop.

Wheeljack yelped, clinging tightly and staring at the quickly disappearing ground with wide optics. Holy frag that was an odd feeling!

::Won't drop you. Relax, this is /fun/!:: Skywarp said, almost soothingly. He stuck to normal flight instead of the silly tricks for a bit so that the inventor could get used to the feeling of being in the sky. The longer they flew, the /easier/ it was to keep hold of him it seemed, and Skywarp found himself enjoying himself quite a bit. ::Now. What kinda readings did ya want, Jackie?:: He pinged him with the normal influx of information that Skywarp continually received while flying, wondering if that was enough.

::Uh, well...:: He opens the transfer, clinging even tighter with added excitements. These readings were incredible! The possibilities, the advantages! ::This! This is amazing!::

::Flight is the essence of what it means to be a Seeker.:: Skywarp revealed, and he almost, almost felt like Wheeljack might just understand, unlike most grounders. ::We're at home here. Even under this alien sky, it belongs to me in this moment...and I'm sharing it with you cause I want to.:: Skywarp held him closer in preparation for a diving spiral through a cloud, whooping his absolute joy at the /freedom/ he felt.

Wheeljack screamed, exhilarated and terrified all at once. His voice was stolen by the wind and he clung to Skywarp like a lifeline.

He didn't sense true fear in the elder mech's field, only the ambivalence that came from doing something unknown and more than a little dangerous. He sent a wave of reassurance through his own, knowing it would carry over due to their closeness, and steadied them on a warm air current high above the ground. ::Ready to land yet?:: Sky teased.

Wheeljack was practically wrapped around Skywarp by this point. ::... Maybe a little.:: He admitted thinly.

::No problem. This /is/ your first flight.:: Skywarp said as he slowly lowered them both to the ground. Once he'd landed them without even a bounce, he kept hold of Wheeljack's arm- his equilibrium would likely be screwy for a little while after that, since grounder processors really weren't made for the sort of speeds they'd just accomplished.

"Did you like it? Um, I mean, did you get what you were lookin' for?"

Wheeljack wobbled in place, knees shaking. "Uh... yeah. Yeah I think I did."

"Lemme help you back to your quarters...or do you 'charge in the lab?" Skywarp asked. "It's late, you prob'ly need your rest for tomorrow." He scratched his own helm in slight embarrassment, offering his arm for balance and support.

Wheeljack letting go wasn't really an option. He knew that if he did he'd be flat on his aft. "No time for recharge! To the lab!"

Skywarp frowned. "But don't you have duty or some slag tomorrow?" It really wasn't his place to argue it, though, and he /still/ wasn't ready to face his trine yet, so he helped Wheeljack along, curious as to what, exactly, was so important to delay recharge. "You need my help for this too?"

"If you want to help." Wheeljack was muttering calculations to himself as he walked on his own, striding down the hall to his lab. "Come on Skywarp! We have a lot of work

to do!"

"Skywarp has been oddly absent as of late." Thundercracker noted to his bondmate on another medbay visit. Swiftshot was seated in his customary seat on Thundercracker's lap for these visits. "I wonder where he's getting off to. Not in the brig so he isn't causing trouble..."

"He's avoiding us." Starscream said. "And I'm not sure why." He looked down at the sparkling on Thundercracker's lap. "Have you seen the other Seeker lately, Shooter?" Star was waiting for Ratchet's verdict on his final repairs- he was sick and tired of coming here every third day to check on them. He felt /fine/, he insisted.

Thundercracker refused to let him skip appointments, though, and since his bondmate was big enough to drag him into medbay if necessary, Starscream went. He complained, but he went.

"Nuh uh." Swiftshot muttered absently, glossa between his denta as he drew on the artpad he carried everywhere with him. "Ratchet talks 'bout him helpin' 'Jack though..."

"...Wheeljack?" Star wondered aloud. "How in the frag could /Skywarp/ help with /him/ unless it's as a test dummy?" He forestalled the glare he knew he'd get from TC by waving it away. "That was mostly a joke, Thundercracker, I know that Sky's useful even in a lab." The tricolor Seeker frowned. He didn't want Warp to think he was unwelcome, even though things were still pretty strained. They hadn't renewed the trine bond...Pits, Star and TC hadn't renewed theirs either and Starscream rather thought that Thundercracker deserved that first.

Thundercracker still frowned at him. "Star, I really think th-"

"YES YES YES!" Thundercracker was cut off by an excited Wheeljack who came bursting into the medbay, Skywarp hot on his heels looking for all the world like a youngling who was getting the biggest goodie from the store. The inventor spun Ratchet around, ducking a swipe from his wrench. "WE'VE FIGURED IT OUT!"

Starscream stared at Wheeljack as if he'd lost his slagging mind. He turned to his wingmate. "Skywarp, what in the blazing Pits."

"Let him tell it, let him, it's HIS discovery an' he worked for it!" Warp said, excited.

"I CAN FLY!" Wheeljack cried, helm fins flashing merrily. He paused as the room fells silent. He corrected himself. "Er, rather, I can glide. Check this out!" He turned and activated a switch, a pair of gliding wings springing from the pack strapped to his back. "We haven't tested it yet, but the propulsion system will get me high in the air and let me glide!"

Skywarp beamed. It had been data gathered from him, along with nightly trips into the sky that had allowed Wheeljack to get used to the idea and then put it into practice. "Yup, he can. Not as good as me but he can!" Warp confirmed.

Ratchet stared at his friend. "Why in the name of Primus would you want to fly?" Starscream wondered the same thing as he gave Skywarp a significant look. "Just how much time have you /spent/ in that lab, Sky?"

"Oh, most of it, been 'chargin' there too." he said cheerfully.

Ratchet smacked them both. Hard. "You glitches! It's bad enough I have to drag WHEELJACK out of there, but I will not be worrying about you as well! YOU!" He jabbed the wrench in Wheeljack's face. "I don't know what's possessed you to take risks that are SIDESWIPE stupid worthy, but you will take that thing off right now!"

"Raaaaaaaaaaaatchet!" Skywarp whined. "It's safe, I fly with him an' won't drop him, honest, swear to Primus and we're gonna TEST it tonight after the sun goes down!" He rubbed the dent in his helm as Starscream laughed helplessly, actually having to lean on TC to hold himself up.

Thundercracker was staring incredulously at them, Swiftshot in complete awe. "He'd be shot out of the air in a nanoklik."

"I'm gonna teach him aerial maneuvers, TeeCee." Skywarp said, and that made Starscream start laughing all over again, rolling almost helplessly on the berth. "Oh Primus." the former SIC gasped. "You're killing me, Sky."

"I'm not joking, Stars." Skywarp said flatly, feeling oddly protective over his friend. "He wants to fly. I'm gonna help."

"Ah, who cares if I'm GOOD at them." Wheeljack said cheerfully, rubbing at his own dented helm. "I'm having fun and flying! This is breakthrough science! Imagine what gliding in silently could mean for our Ops mechs!"

Skywarp nodded silently, backing his newest friend up in this. Starscream just stared between them, then shook his head.

"Sky, if it makes you happy." he said indulgently.

"It does." *And it keeps me out of your way.* he thought silently. His wings spoke what his lips did not, though.

Thundercracker frowned, definitely planning something himself. Wheeljack continued to chatter at Ratchet for several moments before rushing for the med door. "You coming, Sky?"

"Yep!" Skywarp grinned, nodding to his trinemates distractedly before following Wheeljack out, hot on his heels.

Starscream stared at the place where they both had stood. "I...don't /even/, Thundercracker." he said, not sure what was going on in the least.

Thundercracker blinked. "What?" He asked innocently as a grumbling Ratchet began looking over his bondmate. Swiftshot looked up at them hopeful.

"I wanna fly!"

"Only if your brothers...and Ratchet...allow it. Only then will I or TC take you into the sky." Starscream said, sitting still so that Ratchet could finish his examination. "Am I fixed /yet/?" he asked, grumbling good-naturedly.

"I don't get a pack like 'Jack's?" He asked disappointed.

Thundercracker shook his helm profusely. "Pit no!"

"No." Star agreed. "Absolutely not. If Primus had intended for you to fly unassisted he would have sparked you with wings."

The youngling deflated pitifully, drooping in Thundercracker's lap. Thundercracker fought the immediate reaction to give into the youngling's will.

"If you get permission you can still fly with one of us." Starscream said. "Though not if you pout that way. That is decidedly unbecoming."

"I'm not pouting!" He sulked, little arms crossed and looking... too much like his older brothers.

Thundercracker rolled his optics and glanced at the door to the medbay, fidgeting. Primus he REALLY wanted to know just what Skywarp was getting up to...

Starscream gave Ratchet another Look. "Well?" Carefully keeping hold of his emotional state and even hiding the comm from their bond, he sent Ratchet a very private comm. ::I need to know this, Ratch. Is it safe. Physically and with sparks. For when I'm ready.:: After he sent that he glanced at TC again.

"What are you planning, Thundercracker?"

Ratchet glanced at him. ::Not yet. Your spark is still healing. Physically, your all checked out, but... I don't suggest it so soon after repairs. The chances of you hurting YOURSELF are high, much less having another mech shove their spike in you.::

"Nothing..." Thundercracker muttered, distracted.

Starscream winced. ::Slaggit, Ratchet, it's not even /for/ me that I ask!:: He left it at that, though, and eyed his mate.

"Pitscrap." he pronounced. "TC, you have /never/ been able to lie to me so I don't suggest you start now."

::Maybe not, but I'm telling you FOR you, idiot! Regression is often far worse than the original fall.:: The medic said sternly.

"I'm not..." Not necessarily. Not something he could talk about here.

"Tell me later then, Thunder," Star asked, curious. He replied to Ratchet as well ::I don't think I'd regress, he would NEVER harm me in that way!:: Star insisted. Though...how would he react if Star /did/, as the humans said, freaked out.

::Regardless, as your physician, my answer is still no. I'm sure if you spoke with Smokescreen his would be as well... And remember Star, it's not just when YOU'RE ready. He has to be ready as well.::

Thundercracker smiled. "Of course, Star."

::Frag you, I hate it when you're right.:: Star commed, defeated in this yet again. :I just...:: Starscream sighed audibly and forced himself to drop the subject before its topic became known. "Three days?" he asked aloud in resignation.

"I think we can stretch it to a week this time." Ratchet replied. No, he was not smug about getting his way... no, wait. Yes he was. "Come on Swiftshot, let him up. We need to check your mineral count. And your optics."

"Oh goodie, a whole week." Star said sourly, standing up and reaching for Thundercracker's hand. "You. You are coming with me while Shooter gets /his/ checkup." he ordered imperiously, the grin on his lips turning the 'order' into teasing.

Thundercracker snorted, lifting the still sulking youngling from his lap and handing him to Ratchet. "Yes, sir." He grinned, twining his hand with Starscream's.

"At least /someone/ respects me." Star said sweetly, pulling his bondmate outside of medbay by the hand. He walked them the short distance to their quarters, and as soon as the door was safely closed behind them he raised both optic ridges, pushing Thundercracker down on the chair so that /he/ had a place to sit. "All right, spill." he demanded, arranging himself in the larger Seeker's lap for comfort.

Thundercracker, finding nowhere to escape to, grinned and tugged him closer. "I was just thinking... We need to talk. As trine. I'm glad Skywarp is getting along with someone, but... their crazy engineer? And you're right. He is avoiding us."

"Why would he avoid us?" Star asked, laying his head on a broad shoulder. He figured he might as well; this was as close as he could get for now and maybe for awhile, and he'd gotten so he enjoyed the closeness at least with him. "And the idea of Skywarp and fragging /Wheeljack/...that is /scary/ in the terms of sheer destructive power." Star smirked.

"Luckily it seems to be remaining in the realms of friendship... though even that is dangerous. From what we know of Skywarp... he probably feels awkward."

"Actually, he's probably happier than Pit to be someplace where all the explosives are." Starscream said archly.

"No, Star. There was something different than that. Skywarp has a purpose now. A purpose that doesn't include us." Thundercracker said introspectively.

Starscream's wings twitched. "And that's a bad thing? Wheeljack isn't using him as a lab rat, is he?" The human term was just too appropriate.

"No, I don't believe so. I think it's something far different…at least on Skywarp's part. We need to watch them, though. There's a chance.." Thundercracker stopped.

"A chance of what?" Starscream demanded.

"Don't worry about it, Star."

"The Pit I won't. What are you talking about?" STarscream stood and crossed his arms over his glass and stared.

"A chance that Skywarp could be clinging to Wheeljack out of a desire to not be alone." Thundercracker finally said.