Almost thirty chapters everyone! Oh my Primus! :D I didn't think it would go on this long! And yet, there is still so much more to come!

It seems you all enjoyed the last chapter~ especially having Optimus crash haha. This chapter is kind of an odd one, lots of things going on and lots of decisions that need to be made. I'm sorry if it gets confusing, I actually had to go back and edit a lot of stuff to make it fit in with the rest of the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, it belongs to HasTak. I claim only Luna, her trine, the adult trine, Wavecrasher, Drizzle, and some others I can't remember. StormStrike belongs to Mercedes Wolfcry.

Thank you all for your continued support on this story! Means so much to me! Keep it up!

I still need sparkling names everyone! Mech or femme~ The actual 'gender' will be a surprise!


Optimus wasn't sure how to respond to the news once he finally recovered from crashing. He was stunned of course, perhaps even a little disappointed, but the fact remained that Luna had had very little choice but to do as Starscream wanted. He was upset that he hadn't been able to rescue her earlier and save her from this fate.

"Silverwing, this changes nothing," Optimus rumbled once he found his vocalizer again. "You are still my daughter and I love you dearly. I will support you as much as you need during this time, we all will."

"I don't want anyone else to know I am carrying," She whimpered softly.

"How are you to hide it?" Optimus rumbled softly. "Ratchet can keep it confidential and so can the twins but what will you say when the sparkling is born?

"I... hadn't thought of that," She admitted softly. "I do not want them to hate me for this."

"They could never hate you," He gave her a gentle smile. "You have some daunting decisions to make, sweetspark," Optimus stood and drew her into his arms, holding her close. "I can accept the fact that the sparklings Sire will be Starscream and that you are still unbonded but that is what also disappoints me. I had hoped that when you and Aqua Blade found your sparkmates that you would both be bonded before one of you became sparked."

"He would never sparkbond with me," She bit out. "He thinks of me as nothing more than his own personal slave." She paused then and lightly fingered the collar, tracing over the Cybertronian glyphs that spelled out Starscream's name. "I... want to take it off."

"Are you certain?" Optimus looked down at her with soft, caring optics.

"Yes," She whispered. The Prime nodded and carefully helped her to remove the slave collar. Luna shuddered once it was off and curled against Optimus. She looked at her bracelets and removed them as well. Optimus remained with her until she fell into recharge and then left to speak with Ratchet.

"I will be taking a great risk but I believe it would be beneficial to us all if I contacted Starscream," Ratchet gave him an odd look. "Not today, I wish to see what he will do over the next few days now that Luna is back with us."

"Optimus, you are going to be playing a very dangerous game," Ratchet warned.

"I have realized this," Optimus rumbled out. "But I am only doing so for Luna's sake."

"You wish to see if he will come back for her, is that it?" The Prime nodded. "You're testing him? Optimus, he's a Decepticon!"

"He is the Sire to my daughter's sparkling," Optimus crossed his arms over his chest. "Seekers are notoriously protective of their mates and offspring if I remember correctly, old friend."

"Indeed they are," Ratchet deflated a little. "Is that what you are betting on then? That Starscream will abandon the Decepticons in favor of ensuring the safety of his creation?"

"I do not expect him to leave the Decepticons," He shook his helm. "But I do expect him to at least provide some sort of support for Luna. I will however, offer him a chance to join us should he decide to leave the Decepticons."

"If he had any common sense, he would leave and come join the Autobot cause, or at least claim neutral status," Ratchet snorted. "If you ask me, he should be here begging you to allow him to take Luna as his mate."

"That, my friend, may be a bit harsh," Optimus actually chuckled. "Should he turn himself over to us, I will be taking him aside to speak with him. If he truly wishes to take Luna as his mate, he will need to prove to me that we can trust him."

"Agreed," Ratchet nodded. "Go back to your daughter, Optimus, she needs you," The Prime nodded and went back to the med bay. Ratchet sighed and scrubbed a servo over his faceplates. "I'm too old for this kind of slag," He grumbled to himself.

-X-X-X-

After being yelled at and beaten by Megatron, Starscream lay in the med bay, ranting rather loudly to Knock Out who was repairing him with a grin on his faceplates.

"She was mine!" He hissed out. "How dare they take her from me!" He growled and flinched when Knock Out "accidentally" tugged on some wires. "I should have never left the room," The red mech thanked Primus when the Seeker stopped screeching. "I would still have her then."

"Commander, it's painfully obvious that you care for her as more than just some possession," Knock Out finally blurted, that grin never leaving his lips.

"Even if I did, Megatron does not approve of such things," He frowned.

"Since when have you ever cared about what he approves and disapproves of?" Starscream scowled at him then. "If you want her that badly, why don't you simply go get her?"

"How do you suggest I do that?" Starscream frowned again.

"All of my suggestions include either leaving the Decepticons and joining the Autobots or becoming a Neutral," Knock Out hummed.

"Have you lost your mind?" Starscream hissed at him. "Megatron would have me offlined before I could even leave the ship!"

"Its your choice," He shrugged. The Air Commander growled and kept quiet as Knock Out continued his repairs.

Starscream could feel his spark aching, throbbing, calling for it's other half again and firmly ignored it. It recognized it's mate and demanded for Starscream to claim her. He wanted to, oh how he wanted to. But he did not want to give Megatron another reason to think of him as weak, nor did he want the warlord to have something to use against him as he knew he most certainly would.

"All done," Knock Out pulled the Seeker from his thoughts.

"I will... consider my options," Starscream gave the medic a look as he sat up.

"I knew you would see things my way," Knock Out grinned. "Tell me when you finally figure out what you want to do." The SIC said nothing as he left, heading straight for his quarters. Sitting at his desk, he contemplated contacting Luna for no particular reason but then pushed the thought to the back of his processor. Why should he have to contact her? It should be the other way around! He huffed and buried himself in his work, trying to forget about Luna for the time being.

-X-X-X-

Luna was amused to say the least when she spotted the twins and StormStrike a few days later, all three sitting close together and talking like the best of friends. The femme came to the base whenever she felt like it and stayed for a few Earth hours, usually training or talking to one of the other bots. On occasion, she liked to stay in the unused part of the base, claiming it as her on-base quarters though some of the 'bots had other ideas about what she was using it for, especially when the twins were with her.

Luna, however, was keeping to herself, rarely coming out of her room except to get energon and visit Ratchet for daily check ups. The twins occasionally came to bother her and cheer her up, cracking jokes about Starscream and how, if the Seeker didn't step up and take responsibility, they would help raise the sparkling and teach it all their tricks. This had been said in the presence of both Optimus and Ratchet, who had both protested quite violently.

"Can I go out flying?" Luna asked Ratchet in a quiet, subdued voice.

"Will you be taking Boomer and Aqua with you?" He asked, though he already knew her answer.

"No," She shook her helm, giving him the expected answer. Her trine mates had just recently learned that she was carrying and both were beyond upset that Starscream wasn't around to help. Seekers were hardwired to care for and protect sparklings and their carriers. Ratchet knew this from experience so he knew what to expect from the two younger Seekers when it came to Luna. "They would only worry and I just want to get some air. I feel suffocated here in the base."

"Alright," He relented. "But do not be gone too long. Your body cannot take a lot of strain right now."

"I'll comm. you if anything feels off," She nodded to him. She left the med bay and slipped out past the others, though she knew Optimus was watching her as she did so. Once outside, Luna transformed and took to the sky, reveling in the sensation of being airborne again.

It made her forget all of her worries as she flew, which she was grateful for.

The feeling of the wind against her frame, the powerful roar of her own thrusters, the feel of the late afternoon sun. It was perfect! With a joyous cry, Luna dipped and swerved, showing off to an invisible audience. Just as she straightened out, another jet flew up alongside her and bumped her lightly. Luna jerked out of the way, keeping her distance from the other jet.

"Fly with me." Luna nearly stalled and her spark swelled when she heard the voice.

"Starscream?" The other Cybertronian didn't responded, he merely sped up, waggling his wings in challenge. Not one to back down, Luna tore after him, fueled mostly by her conflicted emotions towards the other jet. As they flew, Luna began to realize that they were performing a weird sort of dance.

Twirling and twisting around and over one another, occasionally brushing wings before parting and repeating the steps. She followed him into a dive bomb, twirling around each other in a corkscrew kind of motion. They pulled up at the last minute and transformed.

Starscream grabbed the femme from behind, pulling her until her back was flush against his front side.

"Starscream," She whispered breathlessly.

"Hello, Luna," He growled against her audio.

"What do you want? Have you come to take me back?" Her wings trembled against him as she fought to hold back her emotions.

"If only," He snorted. "Would you come back willingly?"

"No," She hissed. "I am happy with my trine and family again, I do not want to be taken away from that."

"Will you be rekindling your relationship with those accursed twins?" He sneered at her, tightening his hold possessively.

"No," She dropped her gaze, looking at his arms around her waist. This seemed to please the other Seeker as he purred and pressed a kiss to her neck. "Stop it, Starscream."

"You didn't have a problem with me doing this a few days ago," He smirked. He suddenly noticed that her collar was missing and tilted his helm curiously though he didn't ask her anything out loud.

"You don't have to keep pretending," She snorted. "You don't want me, not in the way you're insisting. You only want me to be your little whore. You want to control me." Her whole frame began to tremble and she growled. "How many sparks have you broken, Starscream? How many femmes have you pretended to love before you broke them? I will not be added to that list!"

"Settle down," He growled out. "Lower your voice."

"Shut up, Starscream!" She thrashed against him, squirming to get out of his hold. "Let me go!" Starscream rolled his optics and spun the femme in his arms, pinning her own to her sides. She screeched angrily at this and tried to ignite her thrusters though Starscream kept her in place with a snarl. The mech Seeker pressed his lips to hers in a rough kiss as he held her tightly against his own body, trying to calm her.

"Luna, calm yourself," He rumbled, bestowing kisses upon her faceplates and lips. "You are rambling and will draw attention to us if you continue."

"I don't want you," She whimpered. "What did I do to deserve a traitorous Decepticon SIC as my destined?" Starscream fell silent at this, resting the crest of his helm against her own to look into her optics.

"Your spark will not allow you to truly hate me," He murmured softly.

"I would rather offline than admit I want you as a mate." Starscream figured as much.

"Fly with me?" He whispered before letting go and jumping into the air, transforming as he did so. Luna hesitated for a few moments, watching the mech Seeker circle her before she followed suit. The two flew side by side for quite some time, though Luna was eventually forced to land because of low energy levels. She didn't tell Starscream the real reason when he asked though she had a feeling he suspected something else was wrong aside from her having not refueled. "We should do this more often," Starscream murmured once they were on the ground. "It was quite relaxing." Luna made a sound of agreement and twitched her wings. A ground bridge opened behind the Seekers then, signaling that it was time for the femme to leave.

Just as she was about to go through, Optimus stepped out, standing tall and regal as always.

"Optimus..." Luna was startled by his appearance and quickly stopped herself from moving and hugging the mech.

"Silverwing, return to base," He told her softly. The femme nodded and hurried through the ground bridge, which closed behind her.

"What is Sire doing?" She hissed at Ratchet when he approached her with some medical grade energon. "Why is he there?"

"He thought it would be best if he spoke with Starscream," He grunted, shoving the cube into her servo. "Drink it," He told her. "All of it." He added this as an after thought when he saw her make a face. She finished the cube with a grimace and handed it back to Ratchet before going to find her trine or the twins, though from the distinct sounds she was hearing from the other end of the base, she wouldn't be seeing them for quite a while.

"What did Screamer want?" Boomer embraced and nuzzled her softly.

"Nothing," She whispered. "Only wanted to bother me."

"Does he know?" Aqua embraced her as well, rubbing her back gently.

"No," She shook her helm. The two Seekers gave a relieved sigh at this and nuzzled their leader. They moved to their shared quarters and curled up on the berth though Luna was worried about Optimus being alone with Starscream.

Optimus returned almost a joor later and pulled Ratchet aside to speak with him.

"How did it go, Optimus?" The medic asked quietly.

"Better than I expected," He sighed. "I thought it best not to inform him that Luna is carrying, it is too soon to do so."

"A wise choice," Ratchet agreed.

"He wishes to see Luna more often though," Optimus continued. "I agreed under the terms that he meet her in a remote area and never in the same spot twice, for just a few hours once or twice a week."

"Reasonable," The medic nodded. "But, Optimus, do you truly trust Starscream?"

"I have not yet decided if I trust him or not," Optimus admitted. "But for now, I have little choice but to grant him some amount of trust."

"I understand," Ratchet sighed. "When has he asked to see her next?"

"In two days time," The regal mech rumbled. "After sunset that way no one will see them."

"Where?"

"He will contact me on a restricted band and provide coordinates tomorrow," Ratchet nodded slowly then.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Ratchet walked away then to work at the computers.

"So do I, old friend," Optimus rumbled out a sigh.