Something Unexpected

Chapter 2: Upgrade

Starscream eased open the rec. room doors and slipped inside, keeping close the wall to avoid the taller mechs gathered in groups around the room. His golden optics darted from one face to the next, looking for his target.

Silver wings perked up at the sight of the red-plated young mech standing next to his green friend. Moments later, a slim blue mech blocked his view. Actually, it was three identical (other than their colors) mechs surrounding HIS Hot Rod that had him growling under his breath as he made his way toward the group.

The seekerling reached out, claws nearly touching Hot Rod's arm when the blue mech surged upward, arms wrapping around the red mech's neck as he pressed their lips together.

"SSSSSHHHHHHHHHHRIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!"

Skyfire set the seekerling down and gave him his best "I'm-disappointed-in-you" look. It didn't help that Starscream looked so adorable with a pout on his lips.

"It wasn't my fault. That mech was pressing his mouth-plates to Hot Rod's!"

"That may very well be, but that's no excuse to... Oh. I see." Skyfire sighed and sat down, holding out his servo for Starscream to climb into. "Starscream, the motorcycles you saw Hot Rod with are femmes. Don't you remember your lessons about different Cybertronians?"

"Seekers and femmes are the only Cybertronians gifted by Primus to bear younglings. Femmes carry a sparkling inside their chestplates and seekers lay egg-pods that eventually hatch into younglings," Starscream commented, a deep frown still on his faceplates.

"That is correct. Arcee and Hot Rod were kissing. There's nothing wrong with kissing."

"But she was kissing MY Hot Rod!" the youngling protested.

"Love is a strange thing, little one. But you can't force someone to love you," Skyfire attempted to explain. There was a long pause as the seekerlet attempted to think that over.

"I don't like femmes," Starscream stated, pouting at the floor.

An hour later, Skyfire managed to arrange a meeting with himself as the moderator. The Arcees were in the medbay when the shuttle walked in, followed by his hesitant seekerlet.

"I'm sorry I hit you... and tried to scratch your optics out," the little seeker grumbled, optics downcast.

The blue Arcee on the berth twitched, torn between glaring at the flier or hugging him because he looked so adorably cute with that pout on his faceplates.

"But it was your fault anyway!" Star piped up with defiance.

"Star..." Skyfire's warning tone came from the doorway.

"Well, it is! She kissed my Roddy! And I'm going to bite her if she does it again," the seekerlet announced, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at the femme trio.

~So cute!~ The Arcee trio shared the same thought over their bond.

"You most certainly will not. And for that little comment, you are grounded for an Earth-week," the shuttle declared, reaching down to snag his youngling before he could run away.

"But that's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong!" the seekerlet argued, trying to get loose.

"I do apologize for my youngling's behaviour. I can assure you that it will NOT happen again," Skyfire told the femmes, before leaving the room.

The Arcees shared an equally amused look, before bursting into laughter.

"So cute!"

"I just wanna pinch his cheekplates!"

"Definitely need to kiss Hot Rod again!"

Hot Rod hadn't seen Starscream for well over an Earth month. One of the Arcees had mentioned his carrier had grounded him, but he hadn't expected it to be for so long. The crimson mech waved to his friends as he strode across the rec. room, preparing to go search for the shuttle scientist and get some answers. Deep in thought, he didn't see the tri-colored seeker in the doorway until they walked into each other.

"Hot Rod!" The seekerlet's familiar voice echoed from the older flier's mouth as he threw his arms around the race car.

"Star, is that you?"

"Do you... like my upgrades?" the tri-colored seeker asked, looking both happy and embarrassed at the same time.

"Definitely. Wow. I mean, you look nice," Hot Rod finally managed to reply.

"Nice enough to kiss?"

The race car felt his faceplates heat up with energon as Springer and the pink Arcee chuckled behind him.

"Or do you only kiss ugly femmes?" the seeker smirked, driving Hot Rod's core temperature up even more.

"WHO'S UGLY?!"

Starscream simply stuck his glossia at the femme over Hot Rod's shoulder, before the racer dragged him out of the room.

Note: Sorry, that's all. I wanted to finish up with ficlet. Originally, I intended to write more with a big reveal over Starscream's sire. Surprise! It was Silvergun.

Backstory: Megatron, using the name Silvergun, competed as a gladiator to get away from the pressures of being Lord High Protector. He met Skyfire at some point in time, and eventually they began a physical relationship that was meant to continue after the scientist returned from his long mission.

Skyfire never came back, and Megatron has no idea that the shuttle gave birth to his son… the future High Lord Protector Starscream (meant to be with the next Prime… which explains his attraction to Hot Rod from the start). Of course, Skyfire is ignorant over the fact that his lover, Silvergun, was actually Lord High Protector Megatron (and I doubt he'll be too happy when they finally meet again)

As for the strange Starscream who incited Megatron to start a war, he was to be Unicron's trickster agent: Sideways.