Forced chapter, but I'm okay with it. We're moving on with the plot a little bit at least so that's fun. Thanks for reading & reviewing everyone!

Chapter 14

"You are a glitch, 'Screamer." Rumble gasped for air in his intakes. He had warning lights flashing behind his visor and there was a slight humming noise. "A kinky, rotten glitch of a mech." He breathed in air again and cycled it. "Primus."

"What? You didn't enjoy that?" The seeker stretched out his arms and rolled languidly into a sitting position. Rumble was still on his back, effects of the null ray long having worn off, paralyzed by a whole new sensation. Starscream snickered before poking the stationary 'con much like a human child would poke a dead frog with a stick. "I thought you liked it rough." The Seeker purred.

Rumble rolled his own joints in place and tried to get the feeling back in his wires enough to move. Something was pinched somewhere and Rumble was not looking forward to asking his brother to fix it. Rumble decided he and 'Screamer needed to define how rough was rough. "Was the foreplay act with the null rays really necessary?"

"Hmm?" Starscream pulled himself to his peds and smirked. "Of course. I was actually angry about the dent you know." He pointed to said offense just below his cockpit. Starscream would have to make Rumble help him fix it later. Thundercracker and Skywarp were being too weird at the moment to ask. "You had to be punished." Starscream kicked him in the leg. "That wasn't part of the foreplay, you dolt."

"Could'a fooled me." Rumble chuckled and sat up; he twitched when something sparked. Rumble tried to turn to catch the offending wire before it got more tangled but only aggravated the matter more. He jerked at a second spark. "Frag!"

Starscream looked down. "Something wrong?"

"Wire's caught." Rumble winced and groped along his plating for the offense. "I'll get it."

Starscream huffed and swatted at the cassette's hands until the smaller 'con took a hint. Rumble yelped again when Starscream started to turn him over looking for the little pinched wire. The cassette of course had to be uncooperative and tried to struggle. "Stop being such a sparkling and let me see."

Rumble squirmed. Interfacing with Starscream? That was awesome. Better than awesome. Like Primus granting every wish he ever had awesome. 'Screamer trying to help with repairs, even a minor one like a pinched wire, well, that was making him a little uncomfortable. The only two 'cons to ever help Rumble with repairs were his Bro' and the Boss. Maybe it was the cassette programing, but having another trying to fix him was making him nervous. "I'll get it! Just leave it alone!"

Starscream didn't listen, of course and continued looking. When Rumble started to near fight him, the Seeker had enough. Starscream retracted his hand and replaced it with the claw to get a good grip on the mini-con and hold him to the floor. "Stop that. I do repairs all the time for my brothers. It's a freaking pinched nerve and will take less than a minute to fix if you stop moving!"

Rumble winced again, but this time it was from Starscream's voice rising a few octaves. "Okay, just, uh, hurry."

Starscream smiled triumphantly when the cassette finally decided to stop moving and let him locate the wire. However, the 'con was still trembling slightly and he had to admit his curiosity was peaked. "What's got you so nervous anyway? Considering the fact we fragged each other not more than an hour ago, I wouldn't think you'd take issue with me fixing a wire." Starscream let out a 'ha' when he found the red wire caught up in Rumble's back plate. He shifted the plates and surrounding wires just enough that it came free and fell back into place. "There, now I don't have to listen to you whine any longer."

"Uh, thanks." Rumble mumbled. Starscream was staring at him waiting for an answer to his other question but the 'con kept quiet. Some things just didn't translate well into words. Not many other 'cons could really relate to bein' a cassette tape. Thankfully, Rumble seemed to have a valid excuse to avoid answering when a resounding 'ping' entered his head. "Oh! Uh, Soundwave's callin' Gimmie a sec."

Starscream nodded before standing back up and releasing Rumble. He looked at his claw for a moment for any flaws before replacing it with his hand again. Rumble's eyes were flickering now as he held an internal conversation with the walking tape deck and Starscream stretched out his own wires. He looked down at his companion and snorted when he realized they were still talking. Amazing really; Soundwave was a chatterbox to his cassettes. Who knew?

Rumble clicked off the connection with the Boss and stood up slowly. He was in a slag of a lot of trouble. "Uh, 'Screamer-"

"Don't call me that."

"Right uh, I gotta' go." Rumble stuttered. "I'll see ya' later." Rumble started to take the few steps to the lab door and slowed a bit. Starscream had already made his way back to his main desk and was turning on consoles. Wasn't even going to say goodbye; Rumble rubbed his arm. "Maybe. Might be a while."

"Mmm." Starscream hummed in agreement with a little wave. Now that the fun was over it was time to get back to work. He glanced to the side and saw Rumble's slightly downcast face at being dismissed so quickly and something clenched in his chest. Starscream found himself speaking up. "Oh, and Rumble?"

"Yeah?"

"No more pile drivers."

Rumble snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, and no more Null Rays!"

"Starscream!" Skywarp shouted after warping in right behind his air commander. His shoulder was smoking from a laser hit he received from the fragging red twin but he ignored it. "The damn 'bots brought in Superion!"

"Are they crazy?" Starscream snarled at his trine-mate. He was tired, annoyed and beginning to really hate Hoover Dam. They hadn't even gotten ten full cubes filled before Prime and those stupid autobots showed up to the fight! Why was life always against him? "They brought a combiner to a dam! The big lummox will break it!"

Skywarp shrugged. "Maybe they think that's better than us getting energy?"

"Hardly." Starscream fired a null shot into the battle below and smirked when it landed a hit on that annoying minibot Gears. He needed something to cheer him up. Especially since Rumble had been absent lately. Little squirt was probably grounded or something. "Status report."

"TC and Ramjet are holdin' off the twins and the gunners." Skywarp started to fire alongside Starscream while giving the report. "Dirge and Thrust are providing cover fire for the triple-changers."

"Call them back." Starscream snarled. "This is as good a time as any to try out one of our new moves from training." The head Seeker pulled back from the fight enough to try and get a visual on his team before activating the internal comms. Seekers! Form up! Attack Plan Combiner-A!

Skywarp grinned when the other Seekers followed orders and fell back to join up with them. Especially at Blitzwing and Astrotrain who suddenly lost their cover. He didn't hate the triple-changers, but they bugged him. Skywarp laughed as he turned on his thrusters and joined the formation with his team as they headed towards the Aerialbot Combiner.

Thundercracker was to his left and Starscream ahead in the lead, Coneheads behind. They laid down fire and flew together in unison around Superion as its confusion grew trying to keep up. Combiners were strong, but they were slow and that was the Seekers' advantage. Skywarp counted in his head as he laid down more fire aiming for that annoying Slingshot and laughed as the team suddenly broke apart into six different directions and circled back around surrounding him. Skywarp laughed when Superion started to yell out in pain and aggravation.

This was the way to fly!

Megatron and Optimus had been distracted from the rest of the fight with each other like usual, then they heard the giant cry out. Both leaders' attention turned to the battle around them had Megatron laughing. The Autobot combiner had its face in the dirt and was taking fire from all six Seekers. The Decepticon leader couldn't possibly pass up this chance to gloat. "It seems you'll be losing the fight today, Prime."

"Nothing's lost yet, Megatron." Prime declared before swiftly firing at the distracted warlord. Megatron failed to dodge the hit and found himself on the ground. Using the moment to his advantage, Prime left his personal fight to give aid to the Aerialbots. They were young and needed the back-up. Megatron could wait until the next battle.

"Prime!" Megatron snarled as he pulled himself to his feet. He watched Prime dash off to start firing at his Second in Command and his trine and fired his fusion canon at the retreating back. This was not how fights were supposed to work! The leaders faced off while the soldiers fought on! What was so difficult about that! "Coward! Get back here!"

When he refused to cooperate, Megatron huffed and fired his fusion canon out into the main battle instead. Maybe he could take his frustrations out on the weaklings still struggling with one another.

"Megatron: Injured?" Soundwave walked up behind the fuming leader and looked over his form. He appeared fine, but the Communications Officer had been sure Prime got in a direct hit.

"No, I'm fine." Megatron brushed off a bit of soot from his plating. "Not even a scratch. Report."

"Fight: Losing. Recommendation: Retreat." Soundwave answered plainly.

"Losing? How can we be losing! Starscream and his team just took down the heavy hitter!" Megatron looked over the battlefield again and started to frown. Once you got past the fliers things weren't looking so bright. The triple-changers were being beaten back and it appeared as though the Constructicons weren't fairing exactly all that well either defending the machines gathering the energon. He snarled when he saw the Autobot Twins take down Brawl. "Why are they all so incompetent!"

Soundwave looked over the battlefield to access any damage before he was pulled back to a slightly more distressing matter. A click in his chest reminded him that Rumble was restless in his forced recharge. Keeping him awake was out of the question for such an extended stay nestled in Soundwave's chest. The Tape Deck almost felt guilty for causing such distress, but this was a punishment. Another click and whirl sounded in his head; Rumble was having a nightmare. Soundwave looked out over the battlefield again to try and figure out a way to hurry this along and spotted the only team that appeared to be winning. Which of course reminded Soundwave why his cassette was being punished in the first place: Starscream.

Rumble was fragging Starscream.

They had been together exactly two times but even that was enough to make Soundwave furious. Not so much that Rumble was seeing someone recreationally, but the fact Rumble had lied to him about it. The cassette had denied relations with the Seeker upon confrontation and began babbling excuses about why he had been avoiding quarters and his team. Unfortunately for Rumble, Frenzy had already confessed to where his brother had been going when Soundwave asked.

Soundwave was forced to scan the small 'con's thoughts to get the full details and found himself angry all over again. Null Rays can cause all sorts of unseen damage. How dare the Seeker abuse them that way? Sadly Soundwave had yet to find an excuse to confront the Seeker as he was always with his team or Megatron. So instead Soundwave dealt with his cassette.

Caught in his lie, Rumble had no choice but to defend his choices and Soundwave could not for the life of him understand why. Starscream was a traitorous, backstabbing organic rat; a sniveling coward hidden behind a fierce warrior. And he was most likely taking advantage of Rumble in some way, not that the small 'con noticed. After all, Starscream already had three prominent relationships that would take priority over his cassette at the end of the day. Four if you count the traitor shuttle.

Rumble was going to be hurt before this was over.

Soundwave straightened suddenly and withheld his chuckle. He turned slightly towards his still fuming leader who was now liberally wasting fusion shots into the fray having realized the battle was near lost. Even the Seekers were starting to fair less well now that Prime had started to fight. "Megatron."

"What is it Soundwave?" Megatron snorted and rubbed his head. They had been doing so well when this fight started. Where did it all go wrong? Megatron couldn't even blame his favorite scapegoat for once. "Figured out how we're losing yet?"

"Answer: Seekers." Soundwave smirked inwardly. "Starscream's formation."

Megatron turned towards his officer. For once, Starscream was doing his job and doing it well. What on earth was Soundwave suggesting? "Explain."

"By removing Seekers from battle, opened others to attack. Example: Triple Changers. Thundercracker and Ramjet providing cover fire and suddenly left. Astrotrain and Blitzwing left open to attack. Lost fight." Best of all, his report was true. Soundwave smirked behind his visor when Megatron's face started to contort in anger. Starscream was sure to get a beating out of this. Good. "Only reason for loss."

Megatron watched in disgust as the once victorious Seekers started to drop out of the sky now that Prime was in full swing. Soundwave had brought something important to Megatron's attention and it put it all into perspective. Starscream had yet again failed him. Their win over Superion didn't even mean anything now. It was all one total failure! "Decepticons! Retreat!"

Soundwave relayed the command to all troops and watched as they started to filter out of the field. Megatron stalked off towards the fliers and a quick mental scan revealed he planned to retrieve his second personally and Soundwave chuckled quietly. If Starscream was going to continue playing with Soundwave's things, than Soundwave was going to make that Seeker suffer for it.