They don't get much time to think about what they have done.
Within breems, they get the first sign of what Starscream meant about Thundercracker burning off coding, and in the following cycles they are forced to passively watch what they have unleashed by their actions, unable to do anything to stop it.
"Prime! A message from Russia. Thundercracker has just attacked a squadron of their fighter jets during one of their training sessions. No survivors," Perceptor calls from where he is perched in front of Teletraan 1, watching several live feeds of the merciless attacks from the Winglord all around the planet.
The Autobots survived their encounter with Thundercracker. The humans aren't that lucky.
Starscream is still isolating himself together with Skywarp at the top of the volcano, and if they heard right, Ratchet is with them as well. Any attempt to reach the CMO has failed. No communication seems possible, and every time they try to venture up the mountain, Skywarp pops into existence and with a threatening display forces them to back down.
It has been several cycles since Thundercracker took off, and the Winglord is leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he circles the planet. No country has been spared a visit. Live feeds of the burning husks of planes are spreading like a wildfire on the internet, causing global panic among the civilian population.
And the only ones to blame for the catastrophe are his Autobots.
And himself.
This wouldn't have happened if he had managed to take control of the panic among his crew.
"A call from the President." Perceptor's voice breaks into his thoughts, and he turns to look at the large screen.
"The UN is demanding action. You can't allow this beast to roam free without penalty, Prime! I thought you were in control of that thing!" the President snaps, cutting straight to the issue the instant he emerges on the screen, facial features hardened, a steely glint in his grey eyes.
"Control Thundercracker?" someone whispers incredulously in the background, and Optimus waves for silence.
"I am afraid I am out of options in this matter, Mr. President. Thundercracker is a different species from us and the leader of his people. He is a powerful adversary. On Cybertron, they basically prey on our kind. We can't do anything to stop him. We will have to wait this out. I am sorry." He answers honestly, his apology layered with the pain of all the human lives lost to this initial misunderstanding.
"There is honestly nothing you can do?" the human leader asks, incredulous, fidgeting uneasily at the knowledge that even their powerful foreign allies are powerless to stop the lone being currently attacking and laying waste to cities all over the planet.
"Anything we try will just send him into an even greater frenzy, with the complete loss of all my crew as result. We can't intercept him in any way. All you can do is keep flight traffic to a minimum and sit this out. I assure you, he will cease this at some point, when, however, I am unable to tell you," Optimus answers with a deep sigh and shake of his helm.
"Very well. I will make a statement and inform the other countries," the President answers, and with a solemn nod from the human, the call is cut, the screen returning to show the several live feeds from around the planet once again.
First Aid's words from a few orns back are true. Thundercracker is able to lay waste to a large part of this planet if provoked, and right now he is dangerous, but not on a rampage to destroy everything around him. They need to keep him as placated as possible until the coding affecting him is burnt off.
It is this knowledge Optimus would have preferred to talk to Starscream about.
What can they expect?
But it is impossible with Skywarp this openly hostile to anyone closing in on the resting area at the top of the volcano. It is obvious that he is protecting Starscream and the seekerling in Thundercracker's absence.
"Prime! An Airbus 330 over France. It managed to initiate emergency landing when Thundercracker sliced up its right wing. However, its front wheel broke in the landing and there are casualties," Perceptor informs as the new data arrives, and the whispers in the room silence for a moment as everyone present stares at the screen and the ongoing rescue of the survivors from the harsh emergency landing.
The right wing is almost torn completely off of the plane, and most of the damage is clearly not from the emergency landing.
"Where is he now?" At least Thundercracker hasn't bothered to shield his spark-signature, and they can follow his route to France's coastline and over the Atlantic Ocean towards American soil.
Is he returning?
Is the nightmare over?
None of them dare hope.
The attacks just keep ticking in when the Winglord enters U.S. airspace. Thundercracker is merciless, and the few planes still in the air stand no chance. He is onto them in an instant, the feeble panicked attempts to avoid the inevitable futile against the seeker's superiority.
The live feed of a Boeing 747 exploding in the air when it is hit by a bolt of laser fire shakes them all to their very sparks, and they just stand there, completely frozen, as the remains of the plane descend in a burning inferno.
So many lives lost, in just one simple move from the Winglord.
Many of them share glances, wanting to wake up from this nightmare to the Thundercracker they have come to know as domestic and protective and sane. Not this demonic version of him.
Even Sunstreaker is wavering in his belief in Thundercracker as he stares at the growing list of casualties.
Coding, Starscream had said.
He glances one last time at the screen before he turns to leave, heading towards the medbay and his brother. First Aid thinks Sideswipe is going to wake up soon, and he wants to be by his twin's side, no matter what chaos the world around him suffers.
Sideswipe deserves that reassurance.
And he will be sure to ask about Thundercracker.
He stops for a moment, hesitating at the sudden realization. What is he going to tell his brother? That his hero has turned into a ruthless villain?
It is going to crush Sideswipe completely.
He needs to have that talk with Thundercracker, but so far he has been too worried about Sideswipe to seek out the blue seeker. Now he needs the talk even more to keep his faith in the Winglord and be reassured that Thundercracker is still Starscream's caring mate.
With a frustrated snarl at the troublesome feelings this crisis causes inside him, he tries to suppress the shiver running down his spinal strut and begins to move again, almost running towards the medbay and his brother, desperate to have something else on his mind.
First Aid looks up when the yellow twin barges into the medbay.
"Have they heard anything from Ratchet?" he asks, nervously, walking over to the berth where Sunstreaker takes the usual spot beside Sideswipe.
"No. Hound says Skywarp still guards the volcano fiercely. There's no reaction at all from Starscream. He's tried to yell to get his attention, or Ratchet's attention, but without any response," Sunstreaker answers, not even looking away from Sideswipe.
There are some small minute trembles now and then, and he can feel how the bond is slowly coming more and more alive. It is still far from what it used to be, but he can begin to sense his brother again, and it eases some of his worry.
"I am sure we are going to see him awake within the next few hours," First Aid reassures as he studies the monitors and the growing parameters. The red frontliner is showing increased processor activity, stronger and growing spark pulse, increased flow of energon in the frame, and sufficient cooling.
So far, it looks like Sideswipe is going to make a full recovery without any lingering damage from his close brush with death.
"I can't wait to have his troublesome and exuberant personality back. With Ratchet healthy and hopefully soon back among us, I'm sure everything is going to turn out alright for all of us," First Aid adds with a small smile. Then, with a comforting pat on Sunstreaker's shoulder, he returns to the sink and his work.
The attacks on the planet carry on for cycles before Thundercracker finally returns to the volcano, and by then, humanity is thoroughly terrified. Global casualties are in the millions, while the physical destruction is impossible to measure.
What they hadn't foreseen was that when they suspended the air traffic all over the planet, Thundercracker turned his attention onto the surface of the planet and began to simply level whole areas, completely careless as to whether he attacked nuclear facilities, factories, hospitals or any other delicate buildings.
That is why the casualties are as high as they are, and also why almost every city-skyline all over the United States of America shows billowing smoke from ruined skyscrapers.
Absolutely nothing escaped the wrath of the Winglord.
Only the Empire State building was spared, and only in the very last klik before impact.
They had all watched in horror as the iconic building in the center of New York became Thundercracker's next unfortunate target, only to be spared when he suddenly veered violently, zigzagging haphazardly between the city-skyline surrounding the iconic building without causing any damage in the process.
That had been the first indication that something had changed, and a small inkling of hope had dared worm its way into their sparks.
They had held their breath as they watched the startling air show of Thundercracker almost flirting with the buildings, coming close enough for a human to reach out and almost touch the plating of the tetrajet, yet far enough from the structures to do nothing more than rattle the structures by the sheer force of his passing.
Just one miscalculation and he would have careened into one of the buildings, raining destruction down onto the ground far below and the passing, fleeing, humans panicking at the sight of the runaway seeker.
Ever since that stunt show, the destruction had dwindled to almost nothing and any further loss of lives has diminished drastically as well. They all breathe a collective sigh of relief when their tracking finally shows Thundercracker banking and leading a direction towards Mount St Helens.
And they relax even more so when the proximity sensors surrounding the volcano finally alert them to the incoming seeker.
The calamity is over, or so it at least seems.
Hound lifts his helm from where he is leaning against the boulders making up the bottom of the volcano at the sound of the approaching jet engines.
Thundercracker comes in low and begins to circle the mountain several times, dipping in altitude before he enters a steep climb and is greeted by his mates in the air above the volcano.
Skywarp teleports into the air beside him and hovers there for precious kliks before transforming into his tetrajet and joyously following Thundercracker's every move. Starscream somersaults off of the highest precipice of the volcano and transforms before blasting rapidly towards his mates, determined to not be left out of their joyful reunion.
Hound frowns disapprovingly at the sight of the happy display between the three seekers.
Humanity lies in ruins and Starscream isn't mourning the losses around the planet. Instead, he is dancing flirtingly around the Winglord as if he doesn't care in the least about the world around him.
He can't believe his own optics at the obvious change in his adopted creation.
What has become of his little peace-loving seeker? The one that Ratchet told him cried when he downed a human plane and first later realized that it wasn't a seeker, but steered by the tiny organics?
He begins to tremble, and is unable to keep looking at the three seekers in their joyful flight.
It is so wrong.
With a last glance up at the seekers, he watches as Thundercracker finally herds his mates back to the resting area atop the volcano, the last rays of the sun bathing them in its gentleness and illuminating their pristine plating in a stunningly beautiful inferno. The white on Starscream's frame is ablaze in liquid fire, and Hound would have marveled in the sight, if not for the grim realization that Starscream is no longer his little innocent seeker.
A glint of red and white atop the volcano catches his optics and he tries to adjust his sight to better see the frame, but he is too far away, the angle wrong and the light too bright in his optics to clearly discern it. However, it can only be Ratchet.
At least it looks like Thundercracker is back to his usual imposing self, and that is at least a good thing. With that knowledge in mind, he descends down the crack and into the spaceship to report his findings to Optimus and hopefully get further knowledge about when Ratchet will be joining them.
Ratchet looks up when Thundercracker lands, the ground beneath his frame rattling with the power of the thrusters touching down. Blue optics meet yellow, and he is frozen in place as Thundercracker takes the few steps separating them on the precipice.
He can feel his spark pulse faster as he looks up, straining his neck to keep the optic contact as the dominant seeker comes closer.
Then, much to his surprise and Starscream and Skywarp's shock, Thundercracker collapses to his knees in front of them, and the resting area shakes violently as the large frame connects with the ground. Thundercracker sways dangerously, claws reaching towards him in an almost begging manner, while emitting a beautiful trill. He stares mesmerized at the sight, unable to believe this show of weakness from the powerful seeker.
What is going on?
"Ratchet, he is asking you to feed him," Starscream gently translates, kneeling beside the dominant to keep Thundercracker from collapsing completely.
"Why?" The question is the most pressing among the many rising in his processor.
He moves to begin a scan; his medical knowledge is begging him to examine the blue seeker, but Starscream stops him from initiating it.
"He has been airborne the last fifteen cycles and he didn't get the time to feed this morning. His frame has used up all its reserves to deal with the immediate damage to his frame while he flew, and he has used large amounts of energy to burn off the coding. I know that a few cubes of energon are going to set him straight, but his plea for you to feed him is also a show of trust. Take it," Starscream explains in a soft encouraging tone of voice.
The offer is a true sign of trust from Thundercracker.
The Winglord might spread his coding willingly among his people, but exclusively feeds from his submissives if he is in desperate need of fuel. Swiftstrike's offer to feed him, when Thundercracker had been depleted after the fights cementing his power among their people, had been an extremely rare occurrence, but the clan leader had recognized the desperate need, and back then Starscream had been unavailable, while Skywarp had been needed to provide the urgent repairs.
"But-…" Ratchet begins to protest weakly.
"Your newspark will not be in danger during this. You will have time to replenish your energy long before you reach dangerous levels." Starscream interrupts him, as if reading the protest right out of his mind.
That small reassurance does nothing for the panic in his spark. He still has the mindset of a grounder, and to be asked to feed a seeker from his own lines trigger every survival instinct inside him.
He should say no, he wants to say no, but the sight of Thundercracker looking this vulnerable and the sound of the stressed systems beneath the dense blue armor plating calls to something inside him.
Foreign instincts slowly take over and he doesn't think when he lifts his arm, or when his servo reaches forward, only hesitating for a klik before his digits gently caress along Thundercracker's sturdy jawline. The blue seeker's optics try to refocus, but are unable to do so, and it tells him that Thundercracker is slowly but steadily slipping away into stasis due to energy-depletion. To see the fearsome seeker this weak and vulnerable fills him with a strange need to help, and gathering his courage, he moves closer and lifts his other servo to soothingly caress along Thundercracker's left cheek.
Thundercracker's lips part slightly at the touch, showing the sharp tips of the fangs, and Ratchet shudders at the sight.
He is going to willingly allow those to pierce his plating?
To his shock, the thought doesn't just increase his fear, but also awakens a strange thrill within his spark, and the strange need within him intensifies. His frame begins to heat up and his valve lubricates in response, preparing him for the intimate interaction the act of sharing energy is, since non-emergent energy sharing usually results in mating between the participants.
Curiosity and the strange feeling of the situation getting the better of him, he carefully touches a digit to the tip of one of the fangs, and withdraws it when the slightest pressure is enough to pierce his plating and draw tiny droplets of energon.
Thundercracker purrs as the faint scent of the submissive's rising arousal fills the air around them with its unique scent. His systems are bursting with several kinds of need, and licking his fang, he adds the taste of Ratchet's energon into the mix of his own rising arousal, but otherwise remains unmoving.
"How-… Where?" Ratchet asks Starscream dizzily, optics almost hypnotized in their fixation on Thundercracker.
"Wrist. Or your neck. What you feel most comfortable with. Though, the neck is mostly used between mates. More trust between the two engaging in this act," Starscream answers, stroking along Ratchet's right wrist and the left side of his neck.
He shivers at the feeling of Starscream's claws and at the sight of how Thundercracker's optics seems to follow the touch to his frame, staring hungrily at the suggested lines Starscream almost presents for the blue seeker to strike for.
"I-…"
No.
No!
He shakes his helm, trying to clear it.
"Give in to him, Ratchet. He isn't going to hurt you. This is completely normal among our people when someone is this energy-depleted," Starscream whispers into his audio, and Ratchet begins to shake, his wings vibrating, trembling with want and need and fear and-…
Our people.
He stutters, gasping in surprise when the two words mercilessly slam into his processor.
He isn't a grounder anymore.
"I-…" He stutters in a last attempt to protest, but he is at the end of his rope.
His optics offline in defeat and he takes a long deep breath before onlining them again.
"Yes," he whispers, the word so faint that only the seekers' sensitive audios are able to hear it. He lowers his helm in acceptance of his defeat, unaware of the glint briefly flashing in Thundercracker's optics at the sight of his first true sign of submission.
Starscream notices it and, sensing Thundercracker's fiery arousal, he is certain that only energy-depleted systems are what keeps the dominant from claiming Ratchet right then and there. His creator triggers all the right reactions within Thundercracker with his behavior, and it fills him with relief. It means that Ratchet is going to survive among their people.
"Relax, Ratchet. He isn't going to hurt you, not much at least," he soothes, crooning.
Ratchet's breath stutters at Starscream's last words, fear and a feeling of betrayal filling him. He is about to lift his helm to turn and stare angrily at Starscream for the betrayal of his trust, but Thundercracker is moving and he is forced to lie down beneath the blue seeker's heavy frame.
"Offer yourself to him, Ratchet. Be the one to choose," Starscream warns when all Ratchet does is stare with wide optics at Thundercracker, not moving to offer either wrist or neck to the blue seeker.
Wrist or neck.
What to choose?
What to choose!
Refusing to offer his neck to the blue seeker, he lifts a trembling servo up towards Thundercracker and offlines his optics, unwilling to watch as the deadly fangs sink into his plating, or the flow of his energon into the large predator's mouth.
Anticipating the painful penetration of the fangs, he is completely unprepared for the soft lips sensually ghosting along his plating as they gently nibble at the areas with the densest clusters of energon lines beneath the armor. A moan is wrought from his vocalizer, and he onlines his optics again in surprise, realizing that this isn't a predator about to drain him dry.
Staring at the blue seeker's display, he realizes that this is Thundercracker flirting with him, and to his horror, his frame responds to the gentle erotic touch of the lips, heating him up further. When Thundercracker's fangs finally penetrate his armor, he shivers in a rush of intense pleasure, the pain not even registering as the drain on his frame begins.
Primus, this is unbelievable.
Time stretches on into an eternity and he isn't aware of for how long Thundercracker is draining him. The soft swipe of the blue seeker's glossa against the wounds in his wrist calms him as kliks turn to breems, and he groans at every gentle touch, willingly allowing his energon to flow into Thundercracker's mouth and into starving systems.
Dizzy with increasing fatigue, he trusts Thundercracker to stop when he can't take anymore.
Another breem passes before Thundercracker finally stops the drain, fangs slowly withdrawing from the tiny wounds. The haze of pleasure slowly fades and Ratchet dizzily monitors his energon levels. They are barely hovering above critical 67%, and he can feel how the drain on his frame is making him more and more groggy as the extent of the loss slowly registers in his systems.
He fights to stay online, and is only distantly aware of Thundercracker coughing. In his processor-addled state, he frowns at the sound, hissing viciously when something wet is applied to the tiny but deep wounds in his wrist. He begins to doze off when the pain is soothed a moment later, optics blurring and slowly offlining. With his awareness slowly slipping, the last thing he is aware of before offlining is the gentle touch of lips against his own and the feeling of fangs carefully pressing against his plating, followed by the strange tangy taste of energon. Then he succumbs to recharge, his systems too shocked by the loss of energon to remain online.
Only a few breems pass before he regains consciousness again, and he onlines his optics to stare up into smoldering yellow optics. Thundercracker is obviously reenergized, and Ratchet fills with dread when he realizes that the dominant seeker is resting most of the weight onto his smaller frame, the heat pouring off of Thundercracker showing the blue seeker's intent.
No.
No more.
He doesn't have the energy for more, and especially not that.
He lifts his arms and pushes weakly against the heavy frame on top of him, sobbing in relief when Thundercracker heeds his unvoiced wish and moves off of his frame, no longer trapping him.
Instead, Thundercracker embraces him with a soft soothing croon when he curls into a ball, shivering from fatigue and conflicting feelings, and he welcomes the offered protection, seeking a ward against the world around him. The day has been too eventful, and it pains him to think about everything that has happened. In contrast to his inner turmoil, the feeling of the powerful, but laborious systems at his back is lulling, and as he slowly drifts into a sense of calm, it takes a moment for him to realize that Starscream is kneeling in front of him with an energon cube.
Thundercracker shuffles slightly at his back and he looks over his shoulder to see Skywarp offer the blue seeker a cube of energon. Returning his attention to Starscream, he gratefully accepts the offered fuel and allows Starscream to tip the cube against his lips.
"Relax and enter recharge. We can talk about what happened today tomorrow," Starscream adds with a small smile when the cube is empty.
Ratchet sighs, satisfied when his fuel levels have been restored, and snuggles into the frame at his back while Starscream curls around him at his front. The last thing he sees before recharge claims him are his creation's affectionate yellow optics.
A special thank you to T'Reilani for betaing this chapter.