At the beginning, Optimus thought he was still overcharged.

Then, he thought it was some kind of flux.

Now, as he can do nothing more than stare horrified at the Decepticon Communications Officer burying his faceplate against an equally terrified Air Commander's chest plates, he has to accept the truth.

It happened.

The conversation, the voices, the shrieking and screaming coming out of Soundwave's speakers, is a memory.

Just like Jazz's breakdown when they shared some memories to convince them of their true natures.

Only, this time, there was more than Quintessons in it.

As far as he remembers nothing happened during the night, minus that unbalanced attempt of a fist fight between Slingshot and Drag Strip that ended with both of them in a giggling pile on the floor.

It was fun.

And relaxing, and enjoyable, and Optimus would never admit it—or, well, he'll probably end telling Ironhide, Ratchet and Megatron—but he wouldn't mind a repeat, as long as he can just lay down in silence to let his processor sort the effects of the overcharging in the morning.

Which is what he was doing, the humming of systems in recharge from the mechs slumped nearby or against him the only noise, almost allowing himself to accompany them once more, before a high-pitched beep pierced his processor.

His groaning mingled with that of the rest of the room's occupants, and, against his will, the Prime pushed Ironhide off of him and sat up, Megatron's servo stabilizing him when he sagged in place.

And then, while they were trying to figure out what was going on, was when they heard the clangs and the groaning of metal being forced to bend, and battle protocols slammed online with enough strength that Optimus almost punched the Decepticon leader on the faceplates when they both stood quick as lightning.

When they located the noise, they finally managed to subdue the coding that was making them wish they had weapons at hand.

Reeds was clearly scared and confused, lying against a wall where he had probably simply crashed into recharge last night, and keeping Soundwave at arms' length.

But it was the Communications Officer who attracted their attention, for it was his speakers that the sounds and eerily echo-less known voices were coming through, soon followed by others also known but that sounded as if from a big room instead of from the void itself.

And slowly, as they heard more, things started clicking in place.

Then, the shrieking began, and Optimus found himself trembling so badly against Megatron that it felt as if his whole armor was going to fall off.

At least with Jazz's flashback they had been spared the explosions and ripping of metal.

Not for the first time, the Prime found himself agreeing with the human saying that imagination is worse than reality.

And then, it finally, mercifully, stopped, and Soundwave had embraced Reeds as tightly as if he was the only existing mech in the universe.

The other had returned the gesture, as horrified as the rest, but quickly pulled the other away as ghostly echoes of voices and melodies grew stronger, worried about whatever was going to happen next.

Fortunately, the Cassette Carrier's reaction had been to online his visor.

However, that hadn't stopped him from dissolving into a sobbing mass once more, though, thankfully, there were no more echoes of the past.

That doesn't mean Optimus has any idea about what to do now, still shaking fearfully next to his petrified Decepticon counterpart.

"Primus…" Megatron whispers, soft clinking of armor sounding loud as he shifts in place, unsure of what to do. "So that's how they…"

"Soundwave, at least." The Prime whispers, the Decepticon leader's recovery aiding his own.

And yet, he doesn't know what to do.

Is there anything he can do?

"Come back? Come back from where?" Reeds voice is soft, but in the horrified silence it's easy to hear, optics darker in a small frown as he tries to push the dark blue mech off. "Soundwave? What do you mean, 'don't come back'?" The Communications Officer's grip visibly tightens, his sobbing going silent. "Oh, no, don't you dare!" And, with a stronger pull, the Air Commander finally manages to get the other Decepticon at arms' length. "Now, answer." The Third in Command just looks down, frame trembling harshly. "Oh, come on. Look at me. Look at me I said!" With a shake, the pale red visor meets dark red optics. "What do you see?"

"Reeds…"

"Wrong. Try again."

Soundwave's shaking increases.

"Starscream?"

"Wrong. Come on, you're better than that!"

"I… I don't…"

With an irritated noise, Reeds lets go of one of the Communications Officer's shoulder plates to have his servo hover over one side of his faceplate—

The scarred half of his faceplate.

Soundwave's visor pales further.

"These. Know what these are?"

"Scars?"

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit!" And Optimus winces, along the rest of the room, because the pitch the Air Commander's voice got to is almost painful. "What are these?!"

"A… promise." The dark blue mech's on the other servo, is so low and thin that they barely hear it.

"To?"

"To… protect… That… That no price is too high as long as…" And just as it was gaining strength, Soundwave's voice trembles again.

"Go on. Finish it."

"As long as those that matter are safe." The Decepticon TIC whispers, trembling softening, but not disappearing.

"I didn't make that promise the day I got these, you know." The Air Commander's voice is once more lower, a soft rumbling, but as sharp as before. "And perhaps I don't remember, but I'm sure I didn't make it the day I woke up thinking of myself as Steve Reeds, either."

The Communications Officer's visor flashes in surprise.

"But…"

"I obviously cared enough to offer myself as bait."

"Because I had the ability to…" But Reeds shaking his helm in a negative silences the dark blue mech, uncaring about the fact he sounded stronger once more.

"You don't get it, do you? Remember Grant? The one that couldn't touch a computer without crashing it unless it was inside a Cybertronian?" There's an indignant yelp from the shape sprawled behind the Air Commander, but the blue-striped Seeker sitting next to it silences it with a kick. "I would have done the same even if it had been him there."

Soundwave's visor pales further, but he just starts to shake his helm, unwilling to accept such words.

And, cruel as it may sound, Optimus agrees with the Cassette Carrier, because Reeds may be willing to sacrifice himself like that, but Starscream…

"He would have." The Communications Officer freezes, but doesn't look away from the scarred Seeker. "He acted all high and mighty, but if something like that ever happened… well, you saw what he did to the drones during the first attack." Thundercracker adds, shrugging almost nonchalantly, but, even sitting against the wall as he is, his wings obviously press further against his back.

Dread and realization settle on the Prime's spark as he remembers that certain memory Mirage showed them, of Skywarp teleporting in the midst of the drones to try and recover Megatron, being shot down—and Starscream barging into the sea of black frames in a berserker rage, invulnerable to the shots that failed to stop him from ripping the drones to pieces.

"But… me?" Soundwave asks softly, voice trembling and higher pitched than usual, and Reeds gives him a small smile.

"Of course, you idiot. You may be an insufferable frozen-hearted bastard, but you're my insufferable frozen-hearted bastard." And the servo still on the Cassette Carrier's shoulder slips away as the dark blue mech embraces the Seeker once again. "Hey, calm down. You saved us, we're no longer in the hands of those creatures. And if they decide to come back, Jazz and Fowler can blast them off again." The former Civilian officers snort, sitting up next to them.

"Unless those things can revive themselves, no one's coming back." The saboteur drawls, resting back on his servos.

And, as he watches Soundwave stop shaking, helm lifting to let Reeds' forehead rest against his own with a cocky smirk, Optimus realizes he never needed to do anything in the first place.

"Besides, we have Reeds. Give him one more try, and he'll be flying as if he never landed in the first place." Skywarp adds from his sprawled position, awkwardly patting his Trineleader's back. "Unless he's as overcharged as I am." He adds in a drunken giggle, and the other two Seeker's exchange fond looks. "Hey, TC, hey. Have you ever seen Screamer fly overcharged? Oh, I wanna see that…"

"Whatever you say, Warp." The blue-marked Flier answer with a silent chuckle making his frame tremble, the Air Commander grimacing at the nickname.

As grumbling from the rest of the room's occupants starts to fill the silence, the Prime allows himself to relax and sit in the bench they—he thinks—were occupying last night, Megatron mimicking him with a chuckle as he watches two of his Elite Fliers poke at the third, uncoordinated servos trying to slap them away.

Soundwave, still embracing Reeds, seems as relaxed as he's going to be with the memory they heard still fresh in his mind, but, as long as he's not panicking, it's fine by Optimus.

Judging by how calm his Decepticon counterpart is, the idea extends to the silver and purple-marked mech, too.

As if nothing happened in the first place, Jazz starts talking, drawing both the Cassette Carrier and the Commander-in-Chief's attention, amusement appearing on their faceplates as the smaller mech lets his mischievous grin grow.

From where they are sitting, the red and blue mech can't hear them, least of all through the grumbling of post-overcharge Cybertronian having been forced to reboot before their systems could deal with the mess the excess of High Grade racked on their frames.

But, despite his processor-ache and the world tilting slightly to the right, Optimus doesn't feel more than relief.

And, oh, look at that, Megatron has made the world move to its rightful angle again by pushing the Prime to the side a bit.

"You're good." He finds himself saying, a small smile on his faceplate, and feels amused red optics land on him.

"And you're still overcharged."

"Nah." But the Decepticon snickers, and why would he—oh, right, he hasn't said 'nah' since he went to that bar with Dion Primus knows how many million vorns ago.

"Yeah."

Both of them laugh softly at that, leaning against each other as the world tilts again, systems winding down and going offline now that the menace is gone, bringing back the post-overcharge error list and the haziness of self-repair working to solve it.

Which is why they both yelp and cover their audio receptors when a high-pitched beep cuts through the slightly annoying noise of the room.

Battle protocols and targeting systems clearing his sensors as soon as they slam online, Optimus quickly scans the room, easily locating the source of the problem as he sees Soundwave once more being held at arms' length by Reeds, though this time, his pale visor is easily focused on the Seeker's faceplate as trembling servos roam all over the Flier's frame—

"Soundwave, Soundwave, calm down!" The Air Commander orders, voice too high in pitch for the Autobot's comfort, but it serves to make the Communications Officer freeze. "It's alright, calm down."

"It's not alright!" The dark blue mech shouts back, easily swatting away the servos on his shoulders as he once more resumes his examination of the matte black frame.

"It is! Now stop that!" Reeds scowls, catching the Cassette Carrier's servos with a scowl. "Come on, this is nothing new, and you know that!"

"Nothing new? Nothing—" But whatever the enraged response was going to be, it's cut short as realization makes his visor flash. "This… This…"

"Yes. Now, will you stop pawing at me?" The Seeker hisses, obviously trying to keep calm, as he releases the dark blue mech when he nods.

When the Communications Officer stays in place, still too stunned by whatever he's remembered to move, the Air Commander nods, almost to himself, and stands up.

And almost ends up on the ground again as his knees buckle, only Thundercracker's quick response allowing him to stay upright.

Upright and with a grimace of pain on his faceplate as a servo is shakily pressed against his chest plate, just over—

"Starscream!" Soundwave shouts, getting to his feet faster than the Prime can follow, Skywarp, despite his previous lack of coordination, also up and tense—

And the matte black Seeker just waves them off with annoyance, getting back to his pedes and shrugging Thundercracker's arm off.

"Enough, all of you! There's no need for such a fuss." The Decepticon SIC sneers, pushing past his Trinemates easily, even if the servo against his chest plate, over his spark chamber, stays in place.

When the Communications Officer tries to follow, the purple-marked Seeker stops him.

"What are you—"

"Hey, he said he's fine, so just let him go, alright?" The Flier cuts in nonchalantly, even if the blue-stripped winged mech follows after their leader, uncaring about the curious looks they receive.

"But—"

"He's a big boy, let him deal with his things."

The door closes without a sound.

Soundwave falls to his knees, startling Skywarp, before he looks down at his servos in despair.

"Huh… He's going to be back to his grumpy self in no time, you'll see." The Seeker adds uncomfortably, obviously not knowing how to deal with the situation at hand. "You know how it goes, you've read his file. Bit of discomfort, swallow a pill, and good as new!"

"Pill? Can Cybertronian swallow pills?" Jazz asks as Fowler drapes an arm around the Communications Officer's shoulders, drawing him close.

Skywarp's mouth opens, but no sound comes out.

"He's done it before, so mute it! Besides, the Hatchet knows how to deal with him." He answers at last, snarling, as he crosses his arms against his chest plate.

"What is wrong with my Second."

Annoyed, the purple-marked Seeker turns around—

And curls into himself with pale optics as he sees Megatron standing tall in front of him.

"Huh… just… just a tiny imbalance from High Grade consumption… easy fix." He manages with a nervous smile, taking a step away as the Prime joins the Decepticon leader.

"My fault." All optics go down to Soundwave, whose servos are now clenched in either anger or despair. "They were… and I…"

"You did what you had to." The Doorwinger whispers, one of his own silvery white servos taking a dark blue one.

"Besides, you know Reeds. Best Air Commander and Tetrajet pilot ever, and when has something tiny like broken bones stopped him? If he's been dealing with his drinking problems since ever, no need to start worrying now." Jazz adds, kneeling down on the Cassette Carrier's other side and grabbing the free servo.

"It hasn't been since ever…"

"For Steve Reeds? It has. And yet, he's still the best. Even Acid Storm said so, remember?" At the Head of Special Operations' words, Soundwave seems to relax. "Now, how about we go have a shower and grab some breakfast? Thundercracker said you could teach me how to use my sonics, and I want to get started as soon as possible!"

Both the Military Third and the Civilian Second chuckle at the enthusiasm in Jazz's voice.

"Suggestion: Release unit Soundwave." Their smiles turn almost blinding at that, and, soon enough, the three of them are back on their feet.

After saying their farewells, they walk away, the saboteur's happy chatter muffled as soon as the door swishes closed.

Skywarp's the next to go, muttering about his 'nice warm berth' as he does, and, calmly, the Rec Room empties.

Until only Optimus, Ironhide, Shockwave and Megatron remain.

"You said everything was as it should." The Decepticon leader speaks calmly, but the threat is clear in his voice as he turns to his temporary Second.

The scientist doesn't even reboot his optic.

"Standard data has staid unchanged except for the expected modification of certain parameters."

"Expected?"

"The new frames have different requirements. The previous functioning processes would be too little or too much, so they have been rearranged."

"And that explains my Air Commander suffering 'tiny imbalances from High Grade consumption' how?" And Megatron is openly growling now, so the Prime rests a servo on his arm, and feels him relax.

"Unknown. More data necessary. However, Ratchet seems to be aware of the situation and capable of dealing with it. I will meet with him to discuss this new development after he is finished with Reeds." Shockwave answers without worry, and, after a nod from his leader, both him and Ironhide walk out the room.

"Tiny imbalance my aft." The Decepticon growls, but his frame deflates visibly.

"How about we go through the wash-racks, get some Low Grade and visit Ratchet to hear what he has to say?"

For a moment, Megatron stays silent.

And then, he lets out a mechanical hiss of his joints as he relaxes even further.

"That sounds nice." Yet he doesn't sound too convinced.

"Or we could go to the Repair Bay now, and deal with the rest afterwards." He adds innocently, and the silver and purple-marked mech chuckles.

"That sounds even better."

Without exchanging further words, they start walking, side by side, and as comfortable with the other's presence as ever, regardless of the many confrontations they are aware of now that they're no longer in the Protectodome.

No matter. Trust triumphs over past grudges.

Even if, Optimus knows, one day they will have to deal with them.

Today is not that day.

The Repair Bay doors open swiftly and without sound, but the two leaders are not deceived, for the first thing they see is Thundercracker, wings held high, hissing down at a snarling Ratchet.

"What is going on here?!" Megatron roars, walking through the doors like he owns the place.

The Seeker immediately whirls around, wings pressed against his back, and the Medic scowls, subspacing the wrench in his servo.

"TC thinks that shouting at the doctor will make him think faster." A dry and not amused voice answers instead, and all optics go to where Reeds in sitting against the headrest of a berth, one leg extended in front of his while the other is bent at the knee.

The servo pressed against his chest plate is still in place.

"Well?"

The other two mechs exchange a look before the Flier takes another step back, lowering his helm.

"I don't know how to solve this." Ratchet spits, and Optimus quickly rests a servo on Megatron's arm, just in case.

"What?" The Decepticon leader hisses instead, tense but not moving, as if the Prime had him completely restrained.

"I've dealt with Reeds' arrhythmias before, but I've always used human medicine—or whatever the Quintessons made us believe they were. But I don't know how to apply it to a mech that is, otherwise, healthy. And so far, his spark hasn't done more than sputter a bit, nowhere close to dangerous zones. His frame is undamaged, his energy levels are high, his spark is strong, even with those flickers… there's nothing wrong with him!"

"But you used to do something! He had those pills—"

"I know that!" The Medic hisses, cutting the Seeker with the menacing glow of his deep blue optics. "Do you think I enjoy seeing him in pain? I know there was something to stabilize the fluctuations, but I don't know what it is! So, mute it and let me try to see if I may work out something else!"

"Ratchet, can you do it?" Optimus asks calmly and, with a low hissing as his joints relax, the white and red mech nods.

"It may take a bit, and I need to keep a monitor on Reeds, just in case something happens—and don't give me that look, I know nothing's happened before—but yes. It will most likely not be the same as whatever I gave him back in the Protectodome, but I can solve it." He answers, keeping his glare on the blue-stripped mech even though he hasn't tried so much as opening his mouth.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Megatron hisses, and the Medic starts moving.

"Joy." The Air Commander scoffs, still sitting as relaxed as before, as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.

"Mute it, and take that servo off. I need your chest plates open."

"Not. Happening." The Seeker snarls, curling a bit into himself as the Medic stops by his side with a small box with a screen and two jacks.

"Doctor's orders."

"I don't think he—"

"You mute it, Thundercracker, or I'm offlining your voice box." The Military Second just glares harder, but the Chief Medical Officer stays firm. "You want to be in pain until whatever is wrong with you decides to miraculously solve itself?"

"I'm not baring my spark to you, Senatorial pet." The matte black mech spits, sensor spheres lighting as wings slowly lift.

"Starscream?" The Medic asks, startled, as he takes a step back.

"No, the slagging Prime, who else, you—" But his words get cut as he curls sharply into himself, whimpering in pain. "Shepherd, damn you to the deepest pit of Hell, do something."

"What the Pit is going on?" Megatron whispers, as surprised by the shifting personalities as the other three.

Ratchet is the first to break out of his surprise, and immediately pulls out a jack from a forearm compartment and slams it into the port at the back of the Seeker's neck.

After a couple of nanokliks, the mech goes limp in his hold, and, with Thundercracker's help, he lies him down properly in the berth.

Matte black chest plates open without a sound, revealing an equally colored sphere of petal-like structures hiding the spark.

As soon as it comes into view, Ratchet puts the jacks in his hands in their places at the ports over and below the spark chamber.

The monitor immediately comes to life, displaying three flat lines.

"Well?"

"I pre-downloaded Starscream's normal stats from Shockwave's checks, so it will only let us know if there's some change." The Medic explains, his own chord already disconnected and back in his forearm. "The topmost line monitors total energy output, the middle one checks pulse frequency, and the bottom one is for the Energon levels in the chamber. So far, so—"

A shrill beep cuts the white and red mech's explanation, the top line spiking hard upwards, while the one at the bottom mirrors it, the spike going down.

And then, they still once more.

"What was that?" Optimus whispers, gaze going from the stasis-locked mech on the berth to the machine and, finally, to the Chief Medical Officer.

"Curious. The energy levels are stable." The Medic muses out loud, and Megatron growls softly to make him focus on the others. "The spark has taken in a lot of energy all of a sudden, yet the overall readings stay stable. So, and taking into account we haven't seen that energy be released, where has it gone?" He questions, once more to himself, as he becomes lost in the situation at hand once more.

Not sparing them even a glance, the Medic rushes to some cabinets filled with chemicals, all the while muttering to himself.

The Decepticon leader looks at the active Seeker, who is obviously forcing himself to stay away from the berth so as to not bother the white and red mech.

"Has this happened before?" Megatron asks softly, and not looking away from the prone Flier, Thundercracker nods.

"But he had those pills… one of them helped the pangs go away in a couple of minutes. He always had some on him, just in case…"

"Well, we didn't find anything when we first brought them in." Ratchet grumbles from where he's looking through something on a computer. "How the Pit am I supposed to stabilize a spark that's already stable?"

Another beep, the exact same reaction from the lines onscreen, and absolutely no movement from the mech on the berth.

"He doesn't seem to be in pain." Megatron whispers, but a growl makes them turn to the approaching Medic, blue optics on the machine.

"Who knows if he's feeling it now. I would say he's not, being in stasis-lock, but taking into account it's his spark that's acting up…"

"But there's a possibility he's not?" Thundercracker asks softly, and Ratchet sighs angrily.

"Yes, there is. And right now, I don't know what else do, so that's how he'll stay." He answers grumpily. "Off with you all, I'm busy. I'll call if something changes."

Not knowing what else do, the three mechs step out of the Repair Bay, leaving Medic and patient alone.

"He'll be fine." The Seeker lets out calmly, though far too tense. "No matter what he calls himself now, he's still Starscream."

"That he is." Megatron answers softly, putting a servo on the Flier's shoulder plate and slowly guiding him away. "That he is."

"Thundercracker!" All of them jump at the sudden shout, whirling around to see Ratchet's helm poking out of the Repair Bay's doorway. "Does this happen every single time after he overcharges?"

"Y-Yes. Why—?"

"I think I know what's wrong with him." And, with those last words, the Medic vanishes back inside.

Too fast for them to react, the Seeker follows.

"—spark is tricked into thinking there's a lack of High Grade, that's why it keeps taking in more Energon, but the energy levels stay stable because it burns through the Energon as fast as it takes it in. It thinks there's an abundance of High Grade, that's why it's trying to work at a higher level than it can in normal circumstances. It must have burnt through the extra High Grade too quickly to realize there isn't more being ingested." The white and red mech explains, hooking the immobile Seeker to an Energon drip. "That pill I used to give him must have been some kind of powdered Energon crystals, so that there was enough extra Energon available for the spark to burn before it finally realized there was no more High Grade incoming. It's a retarded energy conversion, most likely, an overactive halo. But how the Pit has such a problem not been solved in all this time… There's supposed to be enough copies of the energy regulation coding that no such problems should exist!"

"And yet, it happened. How could it be?" Megatron asks, relaxing the longer the monitor lines stay still.

"Usually, such things happen after a newspark's transfer. Always, when there are twins. It's a consequence of too much coding being given to the newspark, so it takes the carrier spark some time to get the necessary number of copies back. But it solves itself in a matter of orns. Yet, you say it's been going on since you met Reeds…" Thundercracker looks even more worried than before, but only nods in answer. "Either he has too little copies, and it's taking a lot longer to get the necessary number… Or, most likely, he has no copies at all."

"But—"

"Not even creation would leave a mech with no copies of the energy regulation code. If what I fear is true… it may very well mean that someone took them."

The silence that fills the Repair Bay is ominous, and it's too easy to hear Megatron's gears grinding as he tries to keep his rage at bay.

"Soundwave said…"

"The Quintessons. To keep him controlled, most likely. Starscream was always a lively one." The Decepticon leader growls, servos tightly clenched to the point Optimus can hear the metal bend. "Can you solve this?"

"Easily. If it's true that the coding is missing, the spark should accept some copies without trouble. I'll wait for Shockwave, though. If I'm right, this would be enough, but I'd rather be sure." The Medic answers, gesturing to the drip. "You can all go now, I'll keep an optic on him."

Thundercracker is far more reluctant than before, but he goes away. Megatron, on the other servo, is too eager to vanish.

Optimus stays long enough that Ratchet relaxes when there are no more spikes, theory proven correct, before smiling down at his old friend and walking away.

He doesn't bother hurrying to where his Decepticon counterpart is, no need to check.

After all, there's enough material in the sparring room for the irate mech to pummel into iron fillings.

But, just in case he needs a sparring partner or an audio sensor to vent his frustrations into, the Prime doesn't change his direction.

Besides, he needs to ask Megatron how he makes the world stop tilting.

AN: How... the Pit... did this chapter come to life?! What the heck, brain?! Where do you get these things?!

*Sigh* I remember writing the first part, up until Optimus wonders what he can do to help poor Soundwave... And then, I find myself re-reading for typos, and finding my mouth fall open at what I have managed to come up with. Does it happen to other people? I don't know if it's a good thing, to be able to read my own story as if it was the first time I saw it, or a bad thing, because now I have more loose ends to deal with than I did before, and I have one more chapter to add to what I thought would be over in 5-6 tops. 14 chapters, slag it all, and I'm not even halfway to where I wanted to be... Why?!

On to other things. My apologies for the lack of chapter last week, I spent all weekend and the beginning of the week with a headache so bad that my head hurt worse just by thinking about my computer. Or thinking at all. When I finally got rid of it, it was Wednesday, so I decided to wait 'till today to post this chapter.

That means you'll have an extra chapter tomorrow ;)

Angel Heart: I'm glad there were so many things you liked from last chapter. Hope this one doesn't disappoint.

In case it hasn't become clear with this chapter, the reason Soundwave said that 'Don't come back' was because the 'other' of his flashback was Starscream, and he doesn't want his friend to remember such painful memories. It hurts enough just being there, so he doesn't want anyone actually suffering that. The problem is that if/when the others come back, they'll eventually remember everything, like it's happening with Soundwave slowly recovering memories that, for one reason or another, were blocked. So, the only reason to spare Starscream that agony (and Prowl and Jazz too, consequently) is for him to stay as Reeds, to never be Starscream again.

Hope that clears it.

You know, trying to write from another Stunticon's POV may not be too bad an idea... Making it real, though... The guys know how to wrestle themselves free of any attempt at trying to get into their processors, and that includes Motormaster, who is the most 'cooperative' of them *grumbles* I'll keep trying, but no promises.