Short and took me forever to write. Guh. Anywho, references for questionable things at the bottom. Whoo.

§ Tragedy bound, looking for clues
I'm starting to think he likes the abuse
I'm starting to feel like he doesn't feel
Is there anybody in there? §

"Ok.. Ok, he's stable." Wheeljack looked up at Ratchet, who then threw down the two electrical rods. When both were touched to either sides of a bots spark, they functioned much like defibrillator paddles. He shoved the machine out of his way and went back to hooking up oil and lubrication lines and electrical circuits in Starscream's torso, sighing at how tedious the work was.

"Think his chances are any good? Should we even be trying this?" Red Alert asked, unable to conceal his doubt. Ratchet grunted.

"And if we are able to repair him, and he survives, you won't be saying anything about how we should have given up. There's a lot of debris in his wounds, I hope it doesn't clog any of the feeds..."

"I didn't think you even liked him," Wheeljack admitted. Ratchet didn't so much as look at him.

"I didn't. But he and Millie sure seem to have taken a liking to each other, and if he's making her happy, I don't... It's my duty to heal. That's what I do," he said hastily. It was still hard to forget that Starscream was still a snotty, sarcastic Decepticon. Ratchet was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"How long will this take?" Red Alert asked, working on Starscream's wing. A steady drip of sedatives had been fed into one of his oil lines, but the bag containing the chemical was nearly empty. He stopped his work to change it out for a full bag.

"Solar cycles(1). I'm guessing 2 or 3," Ratchet answered. They'd already been at it for half a day, and Ratchet felt as though no progress had been made. He cursed quietly as he took a step back, closing his optics, taking a breather. "No one stops til we finish," he said finally. "If you have a problem with that, you take it up with Prime."

§º§

Optics fluttered open, then closed again at the bright light. Something touching his face. He tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy. Millie. There she was again, wiping his face. It was like the day they'd met. Everything. Right down to the soreness he felt. The only new feeling was the one of security that was nipping at him, a strong sense of comfort he got from Millie's touch. It had been her who found him, and that had saved his life. And, unlike anyone else he'd come in contact with, she was there. If he wanted her, she'd be at his side. She was helping even when she wasn't asked. Not that he'd ask for help anyway. Still, he couldn't stop these new feelings regarding her from creeping into his mind, his spark, and settling there. His optics opened again. Millie stepped back, tossing the sponge she'd held into the bucket at her feet.

"Was just cleaning you off... you were damaged, and they operated, it was messy," she said quickly. He just stared at her.

"What..." He was too weak to get the whole sentence out.

"What happened? Bumblebee attacked Megatron for attacking you. With the Decepticon forces wiped out, and all the Autobots having personal hatred for Megatron, they swarmed him and ripped his body apart. Optimus took out his spark. Apparently it was mildly anti-climactic as, well, he was in pieces and couldn't fight back. However, they all achieved their goal, and a fun time was had by all. Except maybe Megatron," Millie explained with a nod. Starscream's optics narrowed. "What? What's wrong? I thought you wanted him dead."

"I... should have... killed him," Starscream forced out. Millie sighed.

"Well, he's dead, which means you don't have to worry about him trying to hurt you anymore," she said, mildly irritated he wasn't seeing the brighter side of the situation. His expression softened, and she put her hand on his cheek again. When his only reaction was to look her with an almost thankful expression, Millie grinned at him. "Maybe your injuries were more extensive that we thought. You're letting me be affectionate?" He emitted a robotic groan, evidence of his current weakness, as he sat up. He rested his head in his hands.

"It is new to me... strange... to be cared about. I can't say it's entirely unpleasant. Our code was to always fight for ourselves. More than once I've felt an obligation to protect Skywarp and Thundercracker, slag, especially Thundercracker. He didn't see the point in needlessly killing humans, and of course he thought he could hide it(2). But the mercy, even in the slightest of states, made him weak and in need of protection, it meant he'd hesitate, and even the tiniest hesitation would mean his death. How was I supposed to do an air strike with just Skywarp and myself? Skywarp was an idiot." He stopped himself, he was talking too much. Starscream looked away from Millie. "Naturally we were told only the weak ones felt any compassion to others, hence the hatred for the Autobots."

"Are you seeing it differently now?" Millie asked. Starscream turned to look at her again. He didn't say anything, just simply put his hand around her, letting her lean her back into his palm and hold his thumb. "Fair enough. Let's get you out of the recovery room and back to your quarters so you can recharge, hmm?" Starscream stood, slowly, wobbling a little.

"This isn't me," he said weakly. Millie looked baffled.

"What isn't you?" she asked.

"I'm not weak. I'm not soft." He sounded less than sure of himself. Millie sighed quietly.

"Once you finish recovering, you'll be back to your old self. Don't worry," she assured him, walking with him to his quarters. Starscream settled on his bed. Millie told him to rest up and started to leave, but he stopped her.

"You don't have to go... Unless you've got somewhere to be," Starscream told her, worried she'd laugh, call him weak, degrade him in some way. She just smiled.

"I'll get my bedding," she told him, her tone warm and caring. She returned quickly, set up her makeshift bed. "Get some rest, Starscream. Barring any wild accident, I'll be here when you wake up." Starscream groaned, nearly inaudibly, as he turned to lay with his back to her. His feelings for Millie were confusing him. Despite this, he fell into a deep recharging state, taking comfort in Millie's presence.

§º§

"I'm almost done. If only we had a competent medic... Megatron would overlook that... At least I was able to learn most of it on my own..." Shockwave grumbled to himself as he hurried about the room. Tools were strewn about, and the pieces that once made up Megatron's body were set out on the table against the far wall. Soundwave looked at the pieces, then at the supplies.

"We'll need more tubing. I will retrieve the necessary materials," he said as he made for the door.

"And make sure you get the green tubing. The red tubing is rather unreliable," Shockwave called after him. Shockwave could hear another bot coming in, and he turned to see who it was. Runabout was walking in, looking less than pleased.

"Starscream got away. The Autobots came for him. We tried firing, but Optimus came-"

"You let that walking pile of scrap metal scare you off?" Shockwave fumed at the smaller bot. Runabout frowned.

"He had reinforcements. Two other bots were there, as well as a female human. She was helping the most. Starscream's gone soft on us," he finished. Shockwave spaced out for a moment, his mind reeling.

"Well, we need to destroy Starscream. He's a major threat now that he seems to have sided with the Autobots. But our first order of business is to revive Megatron. Frenzy was able to get his spark back online-" Shockwave boredly motioned to the spark, held in a special case "-and I'm working on his body. We should have him running again in... ten solar cycles, I hope." Shockwave sighed. "We'll worry about Starscream after that. I'll be sending you and Runamuck to do it, but since you both seem incapable of this, I'll be sending someone else with you. Now get out of here so I can work."

"But what about the other Decepticons?" he pressed.

"They're being worked on! Now go away!" Shockwave snapped.

Soundwave returned with an armful of tubing and hoses, as well as several cases of oil and lubricants. With help from the spy unit, who was far too devoted to Megatron to not help, Shockwave set about piecing his leader together.

(1, 2) t r a n s f o r m e r s . w i k i a . c o m Look up both units of time, amd Thundercracker.
You'll have to copy/paste and take the spaces out... I'm also going to base Shockwave's character on the one seen in Shockwave's Burden, which can be seen on youtube.