Second Encounter

The snow was covering the entire area. The sky was light gray. There was nothing except piles and piles of snow, a few snow covered mountains and a small snow covered boulder, no one and nothing else to be seen. The snow was glowing white and snowflakes were falling from the sky constantly, but slowly. They were dancing in the air as the wind was blowing, their playful dance making an impression of a magical atmosphere.

Then, a small pile of snow right next to the big boulder moved and two big metal parts emerged from it.

Starscream slowly opened his optics, only to realize that he was covered by a snowy coat. He gasped in surprise and soon straightened himself to get the snow off of himself. He soon narrowed his optics and growled as h looked down at the white pile

"Curse you, tiny ice crystals!" he loudly whined and rubbed his optics. As soon as he removed his hands from his optics, he looked left-right to see where he was.

"Oh, now I remember", he silently said with a small smile, "I'm in the middle of nowhere!"

As he exclaimed that, he frowned again, stood up and kicked the snowy boulder. As a result, he yelped as his foot hurt. As he tried to walk away, he stumbled over the pile of snow which was covering him before and fell into the snow, face first. The mech pursed his lips and looked up, only to see a single snowflake falling towards him. It soon stopped at his nose and he looked at it as it melted. He looked up to see the light gray, empty sky and then he sighed, looking back at the pile of snow to say: "Well… I guess I have deserved that."

As he said that, he stood up and started walking again to find his own place, but stopped as soon as he felt pain in his wing. He looked back and saw a deep cut in it, bigger than it was before. He lowered his optic ridges and turned his head into the direction he was headed to again, looking at the big mountain in front of him. It was covered in snow as well, but there were blue and black parts from the shadows too. It was steep and he smugly smiled as he knew no one would be that stupid to go climbing up there, so the humans who were in pursuit after them wouldn't get at his side… but he soon widened his optics. Just as he started thinking about them, three helicopters came from behind the mountain. Starscream stopped every movement as he realized that they were flying around, restlessly pointed into his direction. He was scared, but not too scared to do something. He quickly pointed a missile at them and closed an optic for better aim as the helicopters were flying around. The humans obviously knew that he was going to try to take them down.

As soon as he got a perfect aim, he moved his index finger and his last missile launched. It was flying directly towards the helicopter and Starscream was sure it would hit, but in the last second, the helicopter activated some kind of force field and the missile exploded, not even scratching the helicopter.

Starscream's optics widened as the force field was actually blocking his missile.

"How? The missile's destructive power always surpasses human technology… Why isn't it working?!"

He soon narrowed his optics and fired a few blasts, this time aiming at another aircraft. This one didn't activate a force field, instead, it simply dodged the blasts and the blasts hit the tip of the icy mountain. The seeker widened his optics as the snow started sliding down the mountain and he knew he just caused an avalanche.

In a matter of seconds, the surroundings became white and foggy and he knew he shouldn't stay at the place; else he'd be covered by snow once again… but this time, it would be a much larger amount of snow.

He swiftly turned around and started to run as fast as he could. After some time, he looked back and saw that the snow was coming faster than he thought it would. He got scared and started to run even faster, but he soon realized that t was useless to run. Still, he knew he shouldn't fly; he would crash or lose energon once again.

The noise of the falling snow was getting l9uder and louder, and he was getting more and more upset about that. Another surprise for him was that the humans were actually after him as well, obviously completely ignoring the avalanche. The noise their helicopters were making was revealing them. Starscream was heavily gasping and he soon remembered that he was going into Arcee's direction. Knowing that she wasn't made for cold weather as well, he knew she didn't get really far just like him. He knew if he'd get to her once again he'd end badly, but not as bad as being buried alive.

"Slag the femme, I'm going back!" he exclaimed, regardless of his injuries transformed, rose up and flew away. He was speeding up to the limit once again, intending to escape both: the humans and the avalanche.

The noise of the snow was slowly getting weaker, so he knew the avalanche was about to stop.

Just as he wanted to stop flying, he heard the helicopters and knew he shouldn't. He speeded up, resulting that the wing started cracking again. The pain was striking him, but he knew he shouldn't stop. He wanted to stay free; he couldn't imagine being imprisoned by humans doing experiments on him… and Arcee. He didn't want them to catch her either.

"They could find out more about us if they capture her… yes, that's the only reason", he thought, but knew it wasn't the complete truth… but he didn't know.

He knew he shouldn't fly that fast when his wing is tearing apart, but he had no choice. The helicopters soon surrounded him; one was to his left, one to his right, and one from above. He wanted to shoot them, but soon remembered that he lost all of his missiles. He wanted to hit them from the side, but he knew he could only do it with one side, making even more damage as soon as the helicopter gets back to him. Ideas were filling up his processor once again, but none seemed to work.

As soon as the humans realized that the silver jet wasn't trying to escape, each of the helicopters showed a net similar to the net before, but this time, electric sparks were coming out of it. The helicopters situated left and right to Starscream fired the nets.

Starscream's spark skipped a beat and he knew he shouldn't listen to his processor this time, so he directed himself towards the ground and flew with high-speed towards it, just a second before the left and the right helicopters fired the nets, resulting the nets getting fired at each other. The helicopters were affected by the nets and sparks started to fly all over them, the systems stopping to work. The humans in the aircrafts jumped out of the helicopters and used parachutes to save themselves. The helicopters soon stopped to work and started to fall down. The third helicopter kept following the silver jet, the net still not fired.

A few meters before he touched the ground, he suddenly directed upwards and flew up with all might while the helicopters crashed, raising snow up.

The seeker was keeping up, he would do anything to escape from the humans which were chasing him… he was afraid.

As soon as he reached a great height, he normalized his position and slowed down a bit. He went completely still, trying to lower his sounds so the humans wouldn't hear him and find him that way. Also, he wanted to listen if there was anything, but there was no sound. He knew he should land, but feeling the wind was much more important to him right then. He completely ignored the pain and focused on the wind, on the current… He loved the way the wind was blowing exactly into his direction. He was flying slowly, he wasn't rushing anywhere. The only purpose of the flight was to make him feel like a seeker again… to make him feel alive.

Time was passing and it was getting darker and darker while he was just slowly flying, enjoying every single minute of the flight. Pain couldn't stop him from the thing he loved so much. As soon as it got dark, as soon as the first star showed up, he wanted to land…

But he knew if he was all alone, this might be the last flight he'd ever make as his wing would be cracked and he was positive that he would never get out of here.

So instead of landing, he speeded up to the limit and directed himself upwards and looped, then transformed back into a mech and put his servos behind his head, crossing his legs. For a second he stayed in the air and closed his optics to enjoy the moment. Soon, he started falling in a great speed, but he knew he wouldn't fall. As soon as he saw the tip of an iceberg, he sighed and widely smiled, transforming back into a jet. He looped once again and neared himself to the icy ground, touching the snow with both of his wings. Just then, the pain finally got to him and he completely stopped to fly, transforming back into robot mode.

He kneeled down and started gasping loudly, but there was a big smile at his faceplates. As he looked at his wings, he saw that energon was dripping out of it once again and it was cracked to the half, so he couldn't fly anymore… unless he wanted to lose his wing. Regardless of the wing, he was happy. Soon, he threw himself at the snowy ground, smiled even wider and closed his optics. Happiness was filling up his spark, but there were also parts where sadness and fear were…

But that starry night, he didn't want to think about anything bad. He soon sat up and half-opened his optics, looking at the stars. As he looked down, he saw the ocean… and that he wasn't the only person who was looking at the stars at night. There was… another one.

The seeker's optics widened and his smile suddenly disappeared as he recognized the frame of the person.

"Speaking of not thinking about anything bad tonight…"

The femme was standing right next to the ocean, looking at the stars at the sky. As she was far away, he couldn't see anything except her black frame.

He didn't want to approach her; he didn't want to lose his happiness… yet something was telling him to go meet her. He was hesitating.

"If I go there… will she chase me off again? Wait, why would I even want to go there?! If I do go… what then? Apologize? I never apologize for real! She knows it; she'll chase me off… I'm sure of it!" he thought, frowned and narrowed his optics, but then lowered them and looked at his cracked wing, "But… she'd maybe help me with my wing problem… And two is stronger than one, I guess…"

He didn't really know what to do, but he decided to go meet her… and do whatever it takes to get the ability to fly again. He inhaled to prepare himself to go there and stood up, his hands clenched into fists.

His spark was still beating fast from the flight, but he wasn't sure if it was just because of the flight.

"Maybe it's because of the humans as well… They scared me", he just couldn't get it.

He started walking towards the femme, hoping she wouldn't kill him if he'd approach her. As he was getting closer to her his spark started to beat even faster. He didn't seem to get it though as he was focused at his performance.

He soon got right behind her, but she didn't seem to notice it at all. For a second, he wanted to push her into the cold water, but then he remembered that he wanted to ask to join her. He had to overcome his bad habits once and for all, otherwise, he would never develop.

He wanted to say something, but he just couldn't think of the proper words, so he was just staring at her for a while. As nothing was happening, he gazed at the stars as well.

The shiny stars were scattered all over the black sky. The amount of stars the seeker saw on the sky was countless. He soon smiled widely as he took a better look at them. They were in all kinds of sizes, some smaller, some larger. Some were glowing brightly, some with lower light.

"So many stars at the sky", she stated and he half-closed his optics and looked at her.

"And each and every single one of them as its place in the galaxy", he finished her sentence and the blue femme widened her optics. She knew it was him, but she didn't want to see him at all.

"Why are you here?" she silently asked, not looking at him in any way. He knew she was still mad because of his acting and because he was teasing her. His processor wanted him to leave, but he didn't listen to his processor. He knew he could get her to repair his wing… and to walk alongside him again. It was way too dangerous for him to go alone.

"I just came by to see how you're doing… Not that I care or anything", he quickly corrected himself and as always, it didn't work out.

"Of course not. You never care for anything… or anybody", she arrogantly stated and his smile disappeared in an astrosecond.

He walked over to her right and made her look at him.

"While you were doing… whatever here, I was fleeing from the humans again. They are really persistent… I don't understand you Autobots at all. Humans are so aggressive, they want to fool you and use you as tools… How can you befriend them?"

She narrowed her optics and replied: "Not all humans are the same. Just like wed differ, they differ as well… Not everyone is like the humans who are chasing us… and you."

He narrowed his optics back, returning: "Well; they're not like you either."

She narrowed her optics even more and then looked at the water, saying: "Go away, Screamer. Your trip didn't pay off at all, it seems."

He smiled at that and got closer to her. As he looked at the water as well, he saw their reflections getting together. He just loved to tease her, so he couldn't keep it in: "Look, we are one."

She rolled her optics and pushed him away. She started walking away, walking right next to the water, so her reflection was still visible at it. The silver seeker saw that she didn't look angry at all, so he followed her.

As she was looking at the water, she soon saw his character approaching her.

"When I say go away, I mean go away, Scream." she stated and moved her servo to let him know he shouldn't approach her.

"We both know our hate for each other won't decrease, it will just increase anyways… still two is stronger than one. And as we're the only ones here…"

"Go away", she stated and started rushing to escape him, but he started rushing after her.

"Oh, come on… I'm not so bad actually, you know…? Megatron, he's the evil one", he purred and she rolled her optics and looked at him, both stopping in the same time.

"He at least changed his path; he turned a new leaf… unlike you!" she narrowed her optics again and pointed at him with her index finger.

He narrowed his optics as well and said: "I hadn't the chance to… The Predacons beat me up too soon!"

"Yeah, right. Like we didn't give you another chance to join us!" she exclaimed and put her servo down.

"Me, an Autobot?!" he laughed a little, "Could you really think of me as an Autobot?"

She lowered her head and answered, even though she knew his question was rhetorical: "Believe it or not, I actually thought you'd be a good one… but then I saw how wrong I was about that."

As she said that, he widened his optics, but then narrowed them and lowered his head, replying: "Well, you were wrong. You'd all end up scrapped… That's the way I am… And there's nothing that could prevent me from it."

"And no one", she said and started walking away again, pacing the fastest she could. He soon lowered his optic ridges and followed her again. As he got closer and she saw his reflection, she transformed into alt mode and wanted to drive away, but he called her name and she transformed back into robot form.

"What?" she coldly asked and his wings drooped. He bent a little and compressed his hands, slowly approaching her. She was fully straightened and in a combat position, ready to smack him if needed. He lowered his head as he approached her, straightening.

"Actually… I was here to ask for help with my wing…"

She narrowed her optics and turned around.

"But", he stated and she turned around again.

"Don't fool around, I don't have any time… unlike you, I want to get home… it's my dream… I have a family; I have friends… unlike you, Starscream. But the point is you don't even want friends! You don't need them! You think you are superior… but you're just pathetic and egoistic, no wonder you've been mistreated. You think you don't need anyone or anything… and so be it. If you're so superior, stay alone! I won't help you with your stupid wing anyways. The only reason why you exist is to put pain into other people's lives", she angrily stated and started walking away again, soon realizing that he wasn't following her. As she found it strange, she slowed down a bit to see if he is going to leave her alone, looking back at him with peripheral sight.

"Thank you", he said with a quivering voice and she looked at him, her optics normalizing as she saw that his optics' shine was getting brighter, but were getting wet as well. His optics were half-closed as he was looking at the ground, a slight smile on his faceplates, "thank you for… giving me the answer on my question."

She knew he could easily fake these emotions… but she wasn't sure this time.

"What question?" she asked, crossing her servos and putting her weight at one leg. She didn't believe him at all.

"Nothing… It's just that I've been wondering what my life was for", his smile was slowly disappearing, but then he looked at the stars at the sky and his smile came back.

"It wasn't actually the result I was hoping for… but at least now I know", he soon looked at the ground again, his optics getting wetter.

Arcee tilted her head, realizing that he wasn't faking at all this time.

Then, he looked at her and their optics locked.

"Thank you", he stated yet again and his voice quivered once again. As he said that, he sat his shins and looked at the ocean which was a few meters away from him.

Arcee sighed and turned around, walking away again. As she was walking, she couldn't help but to feel sorry for the seeker; she was a little too harsh to him. She didn't know what it was about him that was restlessly getting back to her, but she knew that she had to get back to him. She lowered her head and slowly approached him again.

He was just sitting there, looking at the water and listening to the waves. His wings were drooped and the breeze was blowing, but he didn't seem to care.

As he didn't look at her, she sat right next to him. As he realized that, he swiftly turned his head away from her, but she already saw the single tear at his faceplate.

"I didn't mean it like that", she silently said and he narrowed his optics.

"Yeah, right… Like it's not the truth… I could have chosen another path, but I haven't. And now? Now my purpose is to ruin everything… so the others could suffer", he stated and she looked at the ocean. She didn't know how to make it right at all, she didn't know a lot about him.

As he saw that she isn't going to say anything, he looked at the ocean as well.

For a few minutes, they were just listening to the ocean waves and looking at the dark water, the stars and the big, round moon at the middle of it. The wind blew again and Starscream closed his optics tightly, making Arcee wonder why he was like that. Still, she didn't say anything.

"I overreacted", she stated and he looked at her, his optic ridges lowered, "the only reason why I said this was because we lost a lot of 'Bots during the war… I personally experienced horrible stuff… caused by the Decepticons and..."

She stopped as she saw that he narrowed his optics.

"Starscream…?"

He just lowered his head and sighed. Then, there was silence again.

"You're not the only one who lost someone, you know… And Autobots are not the only ones who suffered… Just like Decepticons took lives, Autobots did as well", he stated and she narrowed her optics.

"Yes, but we did what was right, we don't kill for no reason", she said and obviously skipped the part with Cliffjumper, and he knew she left it out on purpose. He looked at her hand which was next to him as he didn't want to look into her optics.

"I don't care for you 'Bots… Being a 'Con is being alone", he silently said and she normalized her optics.

"And how do you explain Megatron and Optimus? Breakdown and Knock Out? Are 'Cons really alone, Starscream," he looked into her bright blue optics, "or is it just you…?"

As she asked that, she saw his optics getting wet yet another time. She knew there was something, and she wanted to get it out of him. After a long time of silence, he finally stated: "I had a friend once too."

They both looked down and away from each other. Arcee realized that the seeker didn't want to talk about it at all as he was just silent and she was sure that it was better that way. Then, Arcee had to say something because it was getting odd: "Well; you're not the only one who's screwed up… I mean look at me, I have no idea what I'm doing at the first place… I jump from one state to another and I have no idea why… I mean, I want to get revenge and end up comforting the person who killed my partner", she smiled and a slight smile appeared at his faceplates as well.

He looked at her and half-closed his optics.

"No, you're not like me at all", he slightly shook his head, his optics locked at hers.

Then, Arcee stood up and Starscream's smile disappeared. He didn't want to stay alone, but he knew he wasn't welcome, so he just kept sitting and looking at the ocean waves. They were splashing in front of him and he was looking at them with half-closed optics, not sure what he would do from now on.

"Starscream?" the blue femme's voice came into his audios and he swiftly turned his head into her direction, his wings rising.

"What?" he asked and she smiled.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked and he widened his optics and widely smiled as he didn't expect her to call him back at all. He knew he didn't even deserve it, and that is why it was confusing to him.

"You mean… You… and… me? Together?" he asked and fluttered his wings.

She rolled her optic ridges and answered: "You make it sound like it's something special, just move, Scream."

As she said that, he smiled even wider and immediately stood up. As he was walking, he half closed his optics and said: "Well, how couldn't you accept my offer? I mean, of course you need such a strong, brave and smart mech as me… You couldn't survive a day without someone like me."

"Shut up", she said, smirking. He dumbly smiled and skipped over to her.

"Oh… and by the way", he silently started and got next to her.

"What?" she asked, already regretting she let him join her.

"It actually is… something special", he said even more silent as before and speeded up a bit as he was ashamed to say it at the first place.

She rolled her optics and shook her head, but then actually smiled. She wasn't really happy that he was by her side, but to be honest, she wasn't even happy when she had no one to be by her side.

"If you consider fighting all the time being special, sure", she stated as she got next to him. He looked at her with half-opened optics and smirked.

"So we're not that different after all", he stated and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Say what you want, spike heeled can", she stated and smirked.

"I didn't need your permission, wheeled trash can", he stated and adorably smiled.

The moonlight was shining their way as they were walking alongside each other. The sound of the ocean waves was soothing them, but the harsh wind wasn't really helping as they didn't really like the cold, both crossed their servos and bent as soon as the wind came, blowing snowflakes into their faceplates.

Nevertheless, they didn't really complain as they knew it could get much worse, but what they didn't know that it was about to get much worse.