"1,2,3 Procreate!"

Narrated by Decepticon Skyfire

~*~

We had received Skywarp's frantic transmission while we were already on our way to him. He said they'd been spotted and were under a full scale attack. We'd sped up, but Starscream was worried. He'd said before that we were pretty out-numbered and that we wouldn't be able to take the Autobots, and I think he'd already begun to suspect that a few, if not all of the Seekers he'd sent out had been destroyed.

When we arrived I was shocked at the state of the place; it looked more like a temporary vacation home then a war-fortified base. I was momentarily confused, because even being of a more scientific than war-programmed mind I knew that fortification, especially at your home base, was of the utmost importance. Why had the Autobots not taken such precaution? It dawned on me slowly that perhaps these Autobots had done it on purpose. Would they be so callous as to put themselves at risk just to show us that we Decepticons proved no threat to them?

I disliked war a great deal. I wanted nothing more than to go back to Cybertron and bury myself mid-section deep in books and projects. But this was not Starscream's path, not any longer. He was a warrior now, no, not just a warrior: A Leader. And what kind of Bondmate would I be if I deserted him now?

~Starscream!~ My internal audios were assaulted suddenly with a rather familiar voice. Setting down a few feet from where all the action seemed to be happening, we were immediately joined by Skywarp, and at his side was another Seeker - presumably Thundercracker, whom we'd come to rescue. They looked a little shaken, but hardly like they'd been under attack for any length of time.

~Skywarp! What's going on?~ Starscream snarled, his internal comm. voice no different from his external one.

~Someone picked up on my homing beacon, Starscream.~ Thundercracker interrupted. He had a deeper voice than Skywarp, but it was smoother, a little easier to my audios.

~How? When!~

~I don't know. Two of them were gloating about it when Skywarp radioed me. It took me a minute to realize that the one called Kup had left, and he was searching for them. He knew they were here already.~

~Scrap!~ Starscream hissed.

~Starscream, we should gather our troops, and pull out.~ I would forever recognize that voice, even though I had only just met the Decepticon it belonged to, and had yet to really say anything to him. Soundwave's voice was just that hard to misidentify.

Starscream started and turned to look at Soundwave. In the light from the battle just ahead I saw a glimpse of complete fear and indecision on Starscream's face. It was gone quickly and he was left with a sneer that was becoming too familiar. Had he sneered that much in the academy? In spite of everything going on at precisely that nano-second I broke into a small smile. He hadn't sneered, but he'd sure ranted. He'd pace back and forth endlessly, just raving about some thing or another.

~Screamer, the twins are-~ Skywarp began, and all attention was on him. I'd nearly forgotten Runabout and Runamuck! I turned my head worriedly toward the battle - they were in that cloud of smoke somewhere, alone, forced to fight the vicious Autobots, who would even fire upon children. I balled my hands into my fists.

~kicking Autobot aft.~ Skywarp finished, and I blanched.

~Th-the twins are?~ I gasped. I received a nod in confirmation.

~They're real bruisers. Nothing like the three of us.~ Skywarp continued, indicating momentarily to himself, Starscream and Thundercracker.

~They're not as ... delicate.~ Thundercracker said carefully.

~I'm not delicate!~ Starscream and Skywarp replied in unison, apparently offended by Thundercracker's suggestion. The light blue Seeker shrugged and crossed his arms over his cockpit.

~They're just running into things out there, Screamer, like... Literally. They clobbered Kup, he got up again, but they just ran him over like he was slag...~

~Are you serious?~ Starscream yipped, and he sounded like a creator, eager to hear just how well his creations had performed.

~We have more pressing matters at hand.~ Soundwave said, and I think he might have sounded agitated. As the lot of us turned to look at him, he lifted a hand to his shoulder. ~Laserbeak, Buzzsaw: Eject.~ We all just stood there for a moment, either speechless or (in Skywarp's case) too confused to do anything but watch as two bird-like Cybertronians ejected from Soundwave's chest-plate. They circled his head for a moment as he gave them their orders.

~Retrieve Runamuck and Runabout. Avoid confrontation.~ With a soft cawing noise which meant that not only did the min-cons understand their orders, but that we were essentially hiding, they took off and vanished into the rising cloud of dust.

~I was just about to tell you to do that,~ Starscream said quietly over the comm. link between the rest of us. I caught a strange look from Thundercracker which insinuated that he didn't believe that for a second: And neither did I.

Was Starscream really happier like this? He had said he was, he'd answered before I had finished my question, which had lead me to believe that he was serious... but now I began to wonder. Had he just been preparing that answer, knowing that eventually I'd ask? Why would he lie? If he wasn't happy, why wouldn't he just tell me? I felt more weight added to my shoulders, piling atop the strange mass which had been building since I'd been re-activated. I tried my best to continue ignoring it.

I assured myself that soon, very soon, Starscream would be able to relax and we could talk. We could discover each other again, and re-bond. I knew it was hard for him, maybe harder than it was for me. For me it seemed like only days had passed since I'd last seen him, my bondmate, as we set out on our first off-planet mission, just weeks after graduating from the academy on Cybertron. But for him? It had been millions of years...

I was brought out of my thoughts as two large figures came barreling out of the smoke towards us. The other Decepticons all instinctually took a defensive stance, but I was an easy target as I stood, dumb-founded, and watched the duo come closer. Luckily for me it was just Runamuck and Runabout (Laserbeak and Buzzsaw on their shoulders), but I knew that had it been Autobots, I would have been targeted and probably destroyed. I would need to seriously reconfigure myself for war if I intended to survive now. We did not need scientists, we needed warriors.

"H-hail L-Lord Starscream!" The twins shouted, and they were instantly grabbed by Thundercracker and Skywarp who covered their mouths and hoisted them off their thrusters.

~Hey! What gives!~ Shouted Runamuck, struggling as was his twin.

~Calm down!~ Starscream barked, and, surprisingly, they obeyed. ~We're leaving! We've got what we came for.~ He declared, starting to turn away.

~Lord Starscream - The Ark is here!~

These words meant nothing to me, but they seemed important to my fellow Decepticons. Starscream almost fell over upon hearing this, and caught himself on Soundwave, who looked at him as strangely as he was capable. Laserbeak let out a warning caw, and Starscream stood back up.

~What did you say?~

~I said the Ark is here! One of the Autobots picked up a transmission from the humans - telling them that they needed their help bringing the Ark into Earth's atmosphere!~ Runabout said quickly, hopping up and down as Thundercracker set him down. Runamuck, still in Skywarp's grasp, nodded enthusiastically.

~The humans are requesting help from the Autobots?~ I said quietly, looking from the ground to Starscream. ~I-I thought you said-~

~This is not the place or the time to talk about it!~ Starscream screeched, then took to the air. ~Back to base! Immediately!~ I stood still for a moment and craned my helm upwards to watch Starscream take off, followed quickly by his Seekers, and then Soundwave. I looked over my shoulder at the cloud of dust and destruction we were leaving behind, and quickly quelled my thoughts, taking off after my bondmate. Because he was... Even after millions of years, Starscream was still mine.

Wasn't he?

He avoided me the whole flight back. I suppose I could have chalked it up to being distracted and about this new information about the Ark; but something darker told me I knew better. It was me he was avoiding, and as we headed 'home' I think I began to realize why. Surprisingly enough I didn't find myself hurt, I knew he had his reasons. I was just curious to hear them now that I knew the truth.

When we arrived at base he continued to try and ditch me. He declared that everyone was to head to their quarters to recharge.

"Starscream-"

" Everyone, Skyfire." He confirmed, giving me a glare before turning and starting into his quarters. I took a deep breath, it was risky, to say the least, this idea of mine, mostly because I'd seen Starscream's fragmented mental state worsen dramatically in just the short period of time that I'd been re-activated, and I wouldn't want to damage his fragile central processor any more than it already was, but I was beginning to suffer. I'm selfish in that way.

~Bondmate...~

The word seemed to freeze his chassis and lock his joints completely. He teetered for a moment, as if unsteady on his feet before he moved stiffly and grabbed the doorframe to steady himself. His ruby optics grew wide, flared for a moment, then shrunk to near slits under his dark helm. He studied me for a moment as he might have studied a specimen under a microscope all those years ago on Cybertron. He'd aged four million years, but he didn't look any different. (Of course I knew full well that this was merely an attribute of our race, but a million years was... long even for us, and he looked the same.)

He turned away and walked into his quarters, leaving his door open for me to follow, a silent invitation, but it made my spark pulse hard against my chest-plate. I stumbled into the room quickly and made sure the door zipped closed behind me. Looking back into the room I saw Starscream take a seat on the end of his recharge booth, optics on the floor at my feet. He shuddered into a seated position, arms over his legs, and almost hunched forward as if his internal temperature had dropped suddenly.

I realized, watching him sit there not watching me, that he did look different from the day we'd parted. His wings were scuffed along the edges, the metal plates no longer the pristine gray I recalled but many of them had faded black scorch marks and patches of different shades, different metals. The red which made up most of his chest-plate had been his pride and joy when we were students. He'd buffed it repeatedly so that all the other colors reflected off of it, but now his reds were dull and reflected nothing but years and years of war. His vents were dark and abused; his chest-plate bore endless stretches of black soot from firing missile after missile without cleaning, without waxing or buffing. His cockpit was cracked now, and I wondered if that was a new mark, or if it had been there and he simply hadn't cared to fix it.

Most disturbing, possibly, was when I glanced down briefly at his lower-armor and became aware of ... cleaning. It appeared as if he'd neglected all his other parts specifically to concentrate on hiding the scuffs on his lower armor. I narrowed my optics.

"Skyfire, what do you want?"

Though his words might have been intended to hurt, I could tell by his voice that he was far too drained to do any arguing. Well enough, I supposed. I took a seat at the empty table across from him, turning the chair so that I could face him directly.

"What's the matter, Starscream?"

"That's a ridiculous question, Skyfire." He barked back, sitting up a bit straighter and crossing his arms over his cracked cockpit.

"You didn't tell me the humans were working with the Autobots." I said, deciding to cut right to the chase. I'd wrung many-an answer out of Starscream by jumping right to the point. He was good at avoiding the subject, and when he was forced to respond directly he would get flustered and out it would come.

"Why?"

"It wasn't important."

I frowned. My tactic had failed. He'd changed more than I suspected, perhaps. I frowned and looked away, the thought settling in painfully.

"You expect me to fight under you, and you don't even give me all the information? You want me to follow you blindly, Starscream?" I said quietly, looking up to meet his optics - which he quickly redirected.

"I don't expect anything from you, Skyfire. You're in a unique situation and I'm not holding my breath. You've said you wanted to fight with us, and so I let you." He shrugged a little and I heard parts grinding together roughly. "It was your choice to fight poorly informed; I didn't shove you into the battlefield unarmed. If you want information I'll have Soundwave brief you tomorrow on everything that's happened in the past four million years." He added bitingly, looking back at me.

I hoped I looked as wounded as I felt. I didn't understand what he was saying to me. I understood the words, but there was something behind them, some coded message he was trying to enlighten me to, and I couldn't see it. It was just a jumble of symbols.

"That's... not what I meant." I offered weakly. He snorted. "You... won't talk to me, like you used to. You haven't opened up to me once since I woke up." I looked over at him in time to catch a strange fist he made against his chest-plate where I knew his spark rested. He tilted his helm a little and looked at me, another cold and calculating gaze from a Cybertronian I would give my life for.

"I- Don't have anything to talk about, Skyfire. And if you think I'm going to bond with you after four mill-"

"I know how long it's been, you don't have to keep reminding me." I interrupted, watching as he looked at me with a combination of confusion and anger. "I don't know what difference it makes. Four million years... four days, whatever. A bond is function-cycle long, Starscream. It lasts as long as you last. Even if your bondmate dies you still have a part of their spark within yours. Even if I would have died-"

"You might as well have been dead!" He spat quickly, and though it hurt to hear, and as I looked up at him I knew it hurt to remember, I was excited because I knew I was finally getting to him. I might still get the answers I wanted.

"I-I know." I said, standing as well and watching with a strange twinge as Starscream took a step back from me as if he were frightened. I splayed my hands before me. "I can't even begin to understand what that... Must have felt like to you. I don't know what it's like to experience four million years without you, but-but the bond is still there. I know it is because I can feel it and... I know that you will, if you don't now, after we bond."

"No!" Starscream shouted, taking another step back and throwing his arms out to his side as if fending off some invisible attackers. "I'm Ruler of the Decepticons at long last and nothing, nothing is going to get in the way!"

"Starscream," I said, knowing I sounded like I was talking to a crazy person, but I believed that's what he was at that moment. He looked crazed, his voice rose in pitch and I could see steam beginning to leak through his vents - all of them. He was going to overheat if I didn't calm him down.

"C-calm down."

"No! I will not! You're trying to-to distract me! Well it won't work!" He began pacing from the door to his recharge berth, hands making and unmaking fists at his sides. "I worked too hard to get here, and it's- it's finally happened! Megatron is gone and I-I'm leader! I am! I'm not going to-to forget how long it's taken, to-to forget how much I've wanted this!"

I narrowed my optics in worry as he continued back and forth, his words matching his steps as he kept repeating himself, straining his vocals. I took a step forward, but didn't move other than that.

He'd been pacing in much the same way when I'd first met him, years and years ago on Cybertron. We were just low-level academy students then, nobodies. He wasn't supposed to be in my class, or, maybe it was the other way around - after all he came from money and I was lucky to have made it into the academy, let alone the really important vectors. Only kids with backgrounds made it into those vectors, kids with titles and important parents - Those were certainly not me.

I'd been given my new class assignments, so to speak, and had then been ushered down the hallway as the heads of the academy had more important things to tend to. Shrugging it off I'd headed down the halls towards one of the auditoriums where one of my new classes was supposedly being held that day. The hallway was empty, aside from the towers of trophy cases, and a single student pacing back and forth like he was caught in a loop in front of the doors to the auditorium.

I didn't recognize him immediately, to tell the truth, though it should have been obvious from the beginning that he was Ironclad's younger brother, second son of the infamous Brass Maxis. He bore a striking resemblance to his father and his brother, but I was too busy enjoying myself to notice I was spying on one of Cybertronian's rising stars. He looked panicked and just confused to the core. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore, and stifling a laugh I approached him.

The minute he locked optics with mine I knew who he was: Starscream. Of course me and my big mouth, I'd said I recognized him from that picture, and that I'd always wanted to meet his father. He'd snarled at me and pointed a tiny finger into my chest-plate (which had even then been high above his head) and told me to get scrapped.

Ironically we were pretty much inseparable after that. The academy just loved it too, because according to the masses little 'Screamer' was hanging out with his new Body Guard, and that 'no-good, degenerate piece of scrap' Skyfire was making good with the big names to escape his shoddy past. We didn't care. We fought about it, once or twice because we were kids, and even if we tried to tell ourselves rumors weren't true, we became paranoid. But it eventually became a good laugh. Imagine, a wimp like Screamer and a bully like me - comrades.

But the Starscream before me wasn't pacing because he was worried about a speech he was about to give, the Starscream before me now was pacing because his central processor was malfunctioning. He was paranoid and his core was overheating. I took a step closer, again, and this time he heard the noise. Apparently jolted out of his train of thought he stepped back and lifted his hands as if to protect himself from something. I narrowed my optics, yet again, and watched as he crumpled to the ground and entered system shutdown brought on by his high temperatures.

I finished the distance between us and crouched next to him with a deep frown. Smoke was rising from just about every open joint in his body and his body was attempting frantically to cool itself, clicking at me like a warning. I took only another second to regard him, optics dead and face-plate blank, before I sucked in a breath and slipped my strong arms underneath him. The heat was immediate, and the burn went far beneath just my outer coating on my forearms and fingers, biting down to the innermost cords and wires.

He felt almost sickeningly light in my arms, and I didn't like it. I wanted to feel the weight of him, his touch, a natural heat and not this craze-induced searing warmth. Even though he looked ready to fall apart, in fact he'd looked a mess since I came to, I knew he wasn't in need of Hook's attention: He just needed to cool off and recharge.

I nudged the recharge berth active with my foot before laying Starscream limply atop it. I risked touching him again, ignoring my pain sensors, and rested his arms and legs comfortably, instead of leaving them askew. Ignoring the living cords as they crawled from the ports on the wall towards him, then over and around him, seeking his outlets, I stood and watched him hiss and steam for a moment. The clicking became almost comforting, like a reminder that this was only a temporary set-back. I just needed to proceed cautiously; he'd come around.