AN:
Hello my lovely readers! I am soo soo sorry for not updating lately, and if you follow me on tumblr then you will at least have some idea why. For those who don't, let's just say I've had a really rough few weeks both mentally and financially with the death of my Rottweiler and my university stopping my student allowance payments.
I'm doing a bit better now that some big uni assignments are out of the way and I have a small amount of free time to breathe in. I've also opened up art commissions on my tumblr so if you want to find my there my username is just .com. Even if you can't afford a commission just a signal boost is hugely appreciated!
To TatteredAngel42: Holy cow! I am so honored that you think so highly of my story! Wow… As for Skywarp, we'll just have to wait for now before we see how he's doing. Haha, not to worry, everything in due time and the Autobots aren't quite due yet! Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this update!
To BarricadesDemon216: Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad 'Warps okay too!
To thunderthunder: Thanks so much for reviewing! Skywarp is definitely a fun character to write and is just extra lovable!
To Eunice Pacheco: Thank you! It's good to be back. Well more back and forth than anything else, but I'm back again for a short while at least! I'm glad you found the song fitting even despite the genre not being your favorite. It means I'm at least somewhat on the right track! And yes, I will definitely be explaining what Skywarp has been doing without his trine the last few vorn.
To lizyeh2000: Haha, yep Barricade is pretty obligated to protect Alexis. However, he doesn't see her as his sparkling. She is just under his protection because Starscream ordered it. Doesn't mean he didn't get attached to her though! XD
To Purest of the Hearts: *laughs manically* Yes, 'Warp is back, but how much of him is yet to be determined! Haha, but no she didn't speak through the bond. Barricade tried to comm Starscream in the seconds before he offlined and Alexis was screaming for Starscream and that's what he heard through the commlink. Starscream did feel her fear though. In my story they won't ever really be able to talk through their bond; communication will mostly be empathic. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
And now, onto chapter 25!
Disclaimer: I do not and never have or will own The Transformers or any of the transformers characters and franchise. I only own my OC Alexis and the plot.
Beta read by my amazing sister, subterraneangem!
Always
"There was always a way, when one knew what one wanted."
― Donna Woolfolk Cross
Chapter Twenty-Five
Starscream did not wait long to issue the orders to the crew and preparations to return to Earth began immediately.
Energon stores were replenished from old Decepticon store houses that only select few knew about. Mechs were gathered and returned to the ship, both old crewmembers and a fair number of new mechs that decided to take their chances on the Nemesis rather than a barren Cybertron. Starscream certainly would not complain about having more mechs under his command, even if most were only good for cannon fodder.
Still there were a few mechs that were useful, such as Hook's new assistant, Knockout.
However, even after issuing the orders Starscream hardly left his brothers' sides. He was at constant vigil, waiting for his two trine mates to awaken.
He had gone to the command center only for a brief moment to oversee the actual take off procedure of the Nemesis, but once Earth's coordinates were locked into navigation the seeker had left quickly and returned to the medbay.
The ache in his spark grew continually worse as the dampener wore off, but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. He ignored it, brushing it off as concern for his brothers. Which of course, was true in part, but he still had no desire to think of any other reason for the constant burn and pulling of his spark.
Where before he was able to focus on the future and the fact that he was already on his way to Earth to ease the tension, it seemed no longer possible. If anything, such thoughts only made the pull worse and that much more urgent.
So instead, Starscream sat silently in between the two berths that held his brothers and tried his best to avoid clawing his own chassis open from the pain.
The task was easier said than done.
Starscream soon found, as he had often discovered before, that patience was not a strong point of his. Neither was sitting still for any length of time.
Hook had been quiet for the most part, grumbling every so often about seekers and their habits, but made no real effort to kick Starscream out of his medbay.
The red and grey seeker supposed he should have been thankful for Hook's tolerance, but he honestly would have stayed exactly where he was whether the medic liked it or not. That was just he way it was. Nothing would be able to move Starscream from his place by his brothers. As trine leader it was his sworn duty and responsibility to stand watch while his trine recovered.
Starscream figured that Hook had been around long enough to understand this and that was the reason why he was left relatively undisturbed by the Constructicon medic.
The Nemesis shifted slightly in its trajectory and Starscream knew that the ship had broken free of Cybertron's orbit. The shuddering rattle lasted only a few short moments and it was unlikely anyone else even noticed it. Seekers by nature tended to be far more aware of their atmospheric surroundings than most, given the highly sensitive nature of their wings and sensor nets.
Thundercracker groaned, his servo coming to his helm jerkily to block the bright white lights of the medbay as he opened his optics.
Then he came to all at once and bolted upright.
"Skywarp!" He shouted, flinging his thrusters over the side oft the berth and toppling right into Starscream.
The trine leader held his brother up as the blue seeker struggled to regain his balance.
"Relax TC, Skywarp is right here." Starscream stated dryly, not amused at suddenly supporting his larger brother's full frame weight.
"Wh- how did we get here? Did you find us?" Thundercracker asked, his processes still reorienting themselves after coming out of an emergency stasis lock.
Starscream snorted and clumsily hefted his brother back onto the berth, "We were hoping you could tell us that, you big aft."
Thundercracker groaned and scrubbed at his faceplates tiredly, "I'm not sure that I can. I remember giving Warp the transfusion and then I probably went into stasis shortly after..." The blue seeker looked at his other brother lying still on the next berth over. "Then I woke up here."
"I believe I have the answer to that." Hook announced suddenly from where he seemingly appeared by the two seekers.
"Oh? Please enlighten us, all-knowing medic." Starscream responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm even as his wings perked up with just the slightest movement.
Hook glared at him sharply, visor doing nothing to hide the animosity directed at the red and grey trine leader. "Not until I've run a final physical on sleeping beauty here."
Starscream fumed and scowled darkly, but did nothing to stop the medic from doing whatever scans and prodding that he needed to do on his brother. Crossing his arms and leaning up against Skywarp's berth, the seeker glared holes into the back of the Constructicon's helm as he tutted and went about with his routine.
If Hook noticed, then he never showed it as he subspaced his medical scanner.
"All looks fine for now and you're fit enough for light duty until your energy levels balance out. Keep drinking the additives I gave you and don't make me force your rations down your throat."
Thundercracker nodded stiffly, not liking it but acknowledging the order nonetheless. He had been known for 'saving' his rations so that there would be another serving for the crew to dole out. Apparently Starscream hadn't done as well as he thought in dissuading such ridiculousness out of his brother.
The trine leader's optics narrowed at his brother and Thundercracker shrugged shamelessly.
Venting heavily, Starscream stood up straight and cleared his vocals roughly, "Are you quite finished now?" He asked the medic, his tone broaching derisive in his impatience.
Hook snorted, "Primus forbid I ever finish repairing your trine's collective afts." He drawled.
Thundercracker smirked while Starscream fumed silently at the comment, but neither interrupted Hook as he continued.
"Now, as I was getting to before, Skywarp's abilities are highly unpredictable at the best of times so it's hard to know how he managed to bring both himself and Thundercracker back to the Nemesis without any specific coordinates."
"Yes, yes, we already know how 'Warp's abilities function. What is the point you are trying to make?" Starscream cut in flippantly, his wings twitching with impatience.
"What I'm trying to say, you impatient fragger, is that both your trine mates should be dead!" Hook snarled harshly, his own limited patience running short.
However, it seemed that that was enough to get both seeker's undivided attention.
"What do you mean, Hook?" Thundercracker prompted neutrally, watching his brother's wings flit from shock and disbelief, to anger and disbelief, and then to a clear position that screamed why and how.
Hook vented and scrubbed a purple servo over his visor.
"What I mean is that without coordinates you shouldn't have come out of the other end of the warp sequence, much less show up unannounced in my medbay."
Thundercracker frowned, "And? We already are aware of the dangers of warping without coordinates."
"I believe that he locked onto Starscream's spark somehow. It's the only explanation that makes the slightest sense."
Starscream's optics widened slightly before furrowing into a heavy scowl, "How is that possible?"
Hook grunted, "If I were honest, I would say that I have no clue. However, if I were guessing I would say that it had something to do with how your spark was stressed to the point of fissure just a few breem before they warped in."
Thundercracker's optics snapped to his brother, who had the good sense to flinch at the look he was receiving. "Were you ever going to mention this to me, Starscream?"
"No… Didn't plan on it really." The red and grey seeker laughed nervously under his brother's steely gaze. He didn't like the feeling he was getting from the other side of the bond.
"In any case," the Constructicon medic continued unphased by the non-verbal communication between the two seekers, "I believe that Skywarp's spark locked onto Starscream's and then warped you both directly to his location."
Starscream scoffed, "That is completely impossible."
Hook rolled his optics underneath his visor at the dismissal, "I assure you, if I had a more logical explanation I would use it." The green medic moved around the two seekers to check on Skywarp's transfusion lines. "Seeker sparks are far more susceptible to such improbabilities due to the nature of how their bonds are formed. There have been stranger happenings in the past, although this is fairly high up on the list."
Starscream opened his mouth to argue, but was quickly cut off by his brother with a sharp prod through the bond. His mouth snapped shut and he glared at the blue seeker next to him.
'Is it really worth the argument, Star? We got Warp back and I don't think I need much more than that.'
Starscream's optics narrowed into a scowl, but the look softened when they rested on Skywarp's faceplate.
'I'm glad you found him.' Starscream whispered sincerely through their bond, but didn't answer the question.
'We found him. We both would be offline if Skywarp hadn't warped us to you.'
Starscream didn't respond to that, instead staring intently at the purple seeker lying motionless on the berth. Hook was nearby, working at the berth's medical console.
/Lord Starscream, this is Lieutenant Hardtop reporting! You are required at the bridge immediately!/
The elite seeker groaned at the sudden comlink flooding his helm and pressed his servo to his nasal ridge. Thundercracker felt the underlying stress in his brother's spark come clawing back to the top and wondered why Starscream would be so... so distracted, when it had been his life's goal to lead the Decepticon's.
"I am needed elsewhere. Will- will you be alright?" Starscream asked quietly, staring blankly at Skywarp's still form.
"They'll be fine. Now get your lazy aft out of my medbay!" Hook bellowed from his office, startling both seekers.
Thundercracker recovered first and turned to his trine mate, "We'll be fine, Star. Go." The blue seeker reassured his brother with a rough push through the bond.
Starscream smirked, his optics glinting and his wings straightening as he suddenly looked much more like the Starscream Thundercracker knew before he walked out the door without a further word.
Once on the bridge, Starscream was met by Lieutenant Hardtop's grim visage.
"Report Lieutenant!" Starscream barked immediately.
"We are approaching sensor range of the Earth quadrant as ordered, my lord." The yellow opticed mech shifted nervously as he gave his report, "We have come to orbit around the large gas planet to hide our signatures."
Starscream might have given him some half-sparked comment on how the Lieutenant had actually accomplished something intelligent on his own, but he was more interested in what was bothering the mech so much. He wasn't telling him something.
"What else, Lieutenant?" Starscream barked, startling the nervous mech.
"Well, several mechs have reported… illness after consuming the energon brought from the planet." Hardtop sputtered quickly, hoping that this didn't get him offlined. It was just an energon contaminant, but better mechs had been offed for less in the Elite trine leader's presence.
Starscream's optics narrowed. How interesting.
"Is that so?" He hadn't thought of, much less touched the energon since he unloaded it into the cargo bay after he first boarded the Nemesis. "What kind of… illness?"
The shorter mech's platting shrunk down just the slightest, "I'm not entirely certain, Lord Starscream."
Starscream pulled back from where he was leering over the mech and folded his servos behind his back and snorted dryly, "Send Hook a sample of the energon and order the crew to use the default rations. Otherwise, these mechs reporting symptoms are return to their duties. If they still function, they will still work. Understood?"
"Yessir, my lord!" Hardtop saluted smartly, relieved to not be punished for reporting the problem.
The seeker stood there for a long moment, seeming to stare right through him and the Lieutenant wondered if there was something else he should be waiting for.
"Is there anything else, Lord Starscream?" Hardtop ventured hesitantly, starting to feel uncomfortable just standing there with the elite seeker staring at him.
"Hmm…?" Starscream hemmed distractedly before noticing the nervous mech in front of him. "What are you still standing around for! Get back to work!" he snapped irritably, crimson optics flashing coldly.
"Sir!" Hardtop saluted once more for good measure and rushed off in a slightly less than dignified manner.
Starscream however, hardly noticed the mech's departure and instead was staring intently at the distant view of Earth's blue sphere. His spark pulsed insistently, aching deep within his spark chamber despite the lingering effects of the dampener.
Pivoting smoothly on one thruster, the seeker exited the command center with hardly a second thought.
His processors rang with his sparkling's cry that had somehow come through Barricade's static filled comlink and his spark burned with concern at a level he rarely was used to feeling. Concern was not an emotion commonly exercised within Decepticon ranks; the only exception for him being his trine mates.
What he felt now, this was far more spark deep then even that.
/I'll be returning to the Nemesis shortly. Stay with 'Warp in case he comes out of stasis./
Starscream told Thundercracker gently, feeling his brother's worried prodding through the bond.
/But where are you going, Star?/
Starscream debated telling him, starting from the very beginning and explaining everything, but now was not the time. He might explain later when he had the chance, but at that moment the urgency building up in his spark would not allow for any distractions.
/Out. I will be back soon./ Starscream responded vaguely before snapping the bond closed with a barely noticeable hitch in his movements as he walked down the corridors of the Nemesis.
The red and grey seeker simply gritted his denta and continued on, the long strides of his gait carrying a slightly more forced grace than before. He couldn't close off his brother completely, but he could at least keep him from knowing his thoughts and intentions. He could still feel him and he could feel the worry emanating from his side of the bond, but was also relieved that Thundercracker wasn't going to press him for answers.
It was good to know that he had some level of trust rebuilt with his brother.
Starscream vented deeply as he stepped out into the cold vacuum outside on the Nemesis flight deck. He wasted no time in transforming and jetting off towards the small blue planet and the human child that his spark had claimed.
Alexis scrubbed her face roughly as she picked herself up off the ground. She was exhausted emotionally and physically and desperately needed to find a place to pee.
She had spent the last several hours screaming and crying, trying to get some reaction from Barricade's still form collapsed inside the alcove, but to no avail. She had tried everything that she could think of to wake him up, to the point that she had swung a pipe hard enough to leave a small dent on his forearm.
At that point she realized that he wasn't going to wake up.
She was numb, to be honest.
She had no way of knowing if he was actually dead... or if he was just in recharge or stasis or whatever it was called.
Alexis hoped and prayed that is was the latter.
If Barricade was just sleeping, then it stood to reason that he would wake up again at some point. Right?
The small girl didn't know.
Barricade had collapsed early in the evening after dragging himself back that afternoon. She had stayed by his side throughout the night and most of the next day, rotating between bawling her eyes out and determinedly attempting to somehow patch a few of the massive wounds that slowly bled energon all over the alcove's dirty floor.
Alexis wasn't sure if she had actually accomplished anything or not, but she had at least managed to get away with only one red patch of skin where she had gotten the glowing blue blood on her arm.
Her most recent outburst left her out of breath and her face red and tear-stained.
She didn't want to be alone again. Barricade had been her only comfort in Starscream's absence, and while he couldn't fill the aching cold eating at her insides, his presence was at least enough to keep it at bay.
She missed Starscream.
She missed him more than anything else and it hurt inside to not know how long it would be before he saw him again.
Alexis needed him to come back and make everything better.
She didn't sit around for much longer after scrubbing her face and relieving herself, deciding that she needed to keep moving. She had to keep moving. Just do something to stay busy and feel useful and to keep her thoughts from spinning out of control.
She needed to find some more water soon, so that what Alexis steeled herself to do until… until she knew what else to do.
She didn't know how she would manage without Barricade or Starscream.
The small girl shouldered her knapsack and stepped out of the alcove into the sharp mid morning sun and a brisk wind that send shivers down her spine even as she tucked her oversized hoodie closer to her body. Alexis took a deep breath and stood still for a few moments, listening to the wind whistle past her ears.
She could do this. She had done it before Barricade and survived just fine on her own. She would just keep on surviving until Starscream came back.
Because Starscream would come back.
He had promised.
Alexis knew that he wouldn't lie to her, she had felt it when he was close and she heard his spark. He would come back.
She just didn't know when.
Alexis had barely started her trek towards a known stockpile underneath the ruins of an old convenience store, when something stopped her in her tracks and almost had her stumbling.
Her heart rate picked up when she identified the feeling.
Starscream.
Hardly a few seconds later, the sky cracked with the echoing thunder of someone breaking the sound barrier and a familiar jet streaked across the horizon.
Alexis didn't think, she didn't pause long enough to care about anything else before she was running as fast as she could back towards the alcove.
She sprinted there in no time at all while the jet circled above as it descended rapidly.
Huffing, Alexis threw her knapsack to the side and struggled to catch her breath as she watched the figure she knew to be Starscream transform mid-air and land heavily, making the ground shake beneath her.
A grin split her face open as she rushed to the massive mech.
"Starscream!"
The red and grey seeker barely processed the shrill cry before a small body impacted with his pede and he looked down to see the bedraggled human child clinging to him for dear life.
His spark swelled with a mixture of relief, confusion, and an overwhelming need to protect the sparkling.
But the tension was gone. Just like that, his spark felt normal and content. Starscream could have laughed at how easy it was, except for the part of him that raged with confusion made him want to gut something.
He would do both for his sparkling.
Starscream tsked lowly as he reached down to pick up the small girl, "If you are not careful you will burn yourself on my thrusters, scraplet."
Alexis pulled back, but didn't crawl up into his open servo like he expected. Instead she shook her head roughly and it was then that he noticed how particularly awful she looked. She was crying.
"You have to help Barricade!" She insisted, roughly pulling on a digit as if she could drag him into the alcove.
Starscream's crimson optics narrowed sharply and he swept the girl up into his servo, "Why would Barricade require my assistance? He is a capable mech." He chided her as he brought his servo protectively to his chassis. He only came to assist her, not Barricade.
"No!" She cried, "You're not list'ning! The Autzobats hurt him bad!"
Starscream paused sharply, his optics fully focusing on her now. "The Autobots are here!?" He demanded sharply, filing away her badly attempted pronunciation of Neocybex for another time.
Alexis shook her head away, her brown eyes filling up with a fresh cascade of tears. "No. H-he kept them away, b-but h-e's hurt bad."
Starscream didn't respond, instead sending a ping to Barricade's comlink and frowning darkly when there was no response.
"Please, Stars-scream! I don't want 'Cade to die!"
"Hush, scraplet!" He commanded roughly, "Where is he now?"
Alexis's lips trembled, but she pointed quickly at the alcove.
Starscream shuttered his optics briefly before venting heavily and ducking into the entrance.
Once inside he cursed harshly under his breath and set the girl to the side near the pile of tarps and blankets in the corner. "Primus fraggit, Barricade!"
The former enforcer looked like he'd been through a brawl with a trash compactor and came out on the losing side. By far not the worst he had ever seen the black and white mech, but that didn't mean he was looking very good. It certainly was not something Starscream had prepared to deal with.
Growling lowly, he un-subspaced his field repair kit and set to work on at least setting up some rudimentary patches so that Barricade wouldn't leak it all out the klick he got some energon in him.
Judging from his scans, he'd only been in stasis for three or four joors so there was relatively no risk in simply triggering a manual reactivation once he'd given him a small transfusion. Not that Starscream would care. He needed the mech fully operational so that he could interrogate the slag out of him and then beat him back into stasis for leaving his sparkling vulnerable.
Starscream paused.
Okay, so he still would have done the same in any other situation, but it struck him just how easy it was for him to want to protect Alexis in this situation.
"Starscream?" said small girl called his name hesitantly. He hadn't even noticed her approach. "Will Barricade be okay?"
The red and grey seeker glanced down at her curiously. How intriguing. It seemed that somehow his scout had earned to affections of the child as well. Not entirely surprising considering the girl's nature, but still interesting. He'd expected Barricade to at least try to keep the girl from attaching herself to him.
"He will recover." Starscream didn't do much to hide the resignation in his tone.
Alexis swallowed and glanced at Barricade's still form and the new patches and welds along his chassis and thighs.
"How the Autobots find you?" Starscream rumbled darkly, his tone making question not optional.
The small girl shook her head, her limp hair whipping into her face with the motion. "They did'n find me at all. Just Barricade. He led them away."
"He left you unguarded?!" Starscream questioned through gritted denta.
Alexis hesitated and fisted her small hands into her messy ponytail, "Yes." She answered softly, thinking about how terrified she had been when Barricade had left and not come back for several days.
The seeker growled lowly, his spark thrumming with protective indignation. Barricade had been given the simple task of keeping the Autobots away and protecting the girl, both of which he managed to slag up completely.
Starscream felt some small, miniscule relief that Barricade had been able to draw the Autobots away, however it was still clear to him that the area was not nearly as abandoned as he had originally believed.
But that was a thought for later.
Barricade would be coming out of stasis soon and Starscream planned on having… a discussion with the scout.