This is it! I have finally completed the last chapter. I hope this ending will feel as right for you as it does for me. And have in mind that i intend a sequel, so it really isnt the ending, just on this part.:) It didnt turn out as i had planned because when i finally came to this chapter a few months ago all my ideas was suddenly flown out the window and it left me unable to finish. Now after a few months, and with frustrations that i have been unable to work properly with other stories i have begun these recent months i decided to return to it and try and get an angle on it. And much to my own joy it worked.
The orns following Ratchets treatment of Starscream is going to be busy for the two medics with the medbay basically under lockdown while Starscream recovers. Skywarp manages to convey enough understanding between himself and the CMO that Ratchet decides to begin in-depth examinations of the seekers one after the other, beginning with the black and purple seeker. When he is presented with the seekerling as Skywarp gently reaches into his cockpit, and letting the CMO see parts of the special design enabling the carrier to carry the little one safely wherever he goes, Ratchets spark simply melts at the sight and the fond memories of Starscreams first orns among them surfaces.
Then when Skywarp offers the seekerling to the medic Ratchet feels how his processor is one the verge of glitching. Here is a wild seeker willingly handing his most treasured possession to a grounder. The trust the black and purple seeker shows him is mind boggling and surreal.
However when he reaches towards the offering claws he is aware of the overprotective dominant keenly watching the interaction between them, and with great care he closes his servos gently beneath the seekerling and draws it into a close embrace with every sensor in his frame alert to any change in the two seekers, ready to hand the seekerling back if necessary.
When nothing happens for several kliks he relaxes and looks down at the little being held close to his spark. It looks so much like Starscream, its colors not yet developed. A single tear travels down his cheek and at a little chirr from the black and purple seeker he forces himself out of the old memories taking precedence in his mind just then. With slow deliberate steps he walks to one of the cabinets, taking a soft rag cloth and then turns to the nearest berth to begin the examination of the little one. When he places it in the soft plush cloth it protests a bit to be removed from the comforting warmth and presence of his spark, but soon the protests silences as the cloth absorbs the warmth coming from its lite frame and returns it, protecting it from the cold air in the medbay.
With a fond smile he turns to another cabinet and withdraws a scanner and begins the process of determine if the seekerling has come out of the ordeal without any lingering issues. He is now aware of the seekers superior self-repair and healing, but you can never be too careful around newsparks.
A few cycles later he hands the seekerling back to its carrier, an infusion of the gentlest cleansing solution running through its energon removing the last lingering traces of the impurities affecting its systems. It is in deep recharge, the procedure energy taxing and with a smile he watches Skywarp nudge a feeding line between the small lips. When the pure energon begins to run into its little mouth it begins to suck and swallow on reflex while still in recharge.
Retreating to the sink to begin cleaning the used tools he is taken by surprise when he feels a gentle tap on his shoulder. Turning around to see what the seekers want now, he is met with Skywarps yellow optics and a definite smile on the lips as the seeker crouches low behind him, wings almost encompassing him completely. A light purr and then Skywarp is nuzzling his helm against Ratchets forehelm completely surprising the medic and Ratchet is left stunned for moments after the seeker has retreated.
"You are welcome…I guess." He utters, his processor stalling for several moments as he watches Skywarp return to the spot beside Starscreams berth, Thundercracker gently embracing the black and purple seeker and resting his helm on the carrier's left shoulder to glance down at his creation.
Ratchet feels himself gifted as he glances at the interaction between the two seekers. Before Starscream was entrusted in their care so many vorns ago no one thought the seekers sentient, intelligent and capable of having feelings, or care for one another. No one had been allowed close enough to know the truth behind the aggressive predators. All they had seen was animals only capable of bestiality and destruction, not this passionate, encompassing feeling clearly showing in how Thundercracker's claws gently nuzzles the black plating, or when he gently with a wing flicker asks for permission and then when granted permission lifts the vulnerable seekerling with the very claws that personally has seen to the destruction of the decepticon forces on Earth.
There is so much more to the seekers' habits than any of them knew, but now their optics has been opened to the wonder and hopefully with time a deeper understanding between their two species.
Returning to the sink and his tools he is no longer on alert when turning his back to the supposed predators, instead calm and trust suffuses his spark and a smile forms on his lips. He has been smiling a lot lately, but can't bring himself to care that he might ruin his reputation of being the grumpy and sparkless CMO of the Autobot army. After all, none of his fellows is allowed into the medbay as long as Starscream is restituting, Thundercracker is making sure of that. The Winglord is protecting his vulnerable mate viciously and anyone not being Ratchet or Firstaid is greeted by the powerful sight of the blue seeker puffing himself up in his most threatening display.
Three orns later Ratchet is disturbed in his examination of a purple and blue seeker when the base wide com. line erupts with orders. Looking up from the sample of energon he has just taken from the seeker he frowns and looks to the side to see Thundercracker poised to react to the possible threat communicated through the com. line. Catching the Winglords yellow optics Ratchet conveys calm before he puts down his tools and goes to the com system at the entrance to the medbay to get further information.
"Prime, what is going on?" his voice booms across the spaceship, aware of the edginess in the three seekers with him. Skywarp is sitting beside Starscreams berth, nuzzling the still unresponsive seeker calmly, but his wings betrays the uproar of feelings inside him and his yellow optics is wide, alert and watching every one of Ratchets movements.
Smiling reassuringly while he waits for the answer he is pleased to see that the wings movement calms down a bit.
"Energy spike. At the decepticon base." Optimus answers him gravely on his private com line.
"But that means…" Ratchet protests.
"That someone has activated the spacebridge, yes." Optimus finishes, his tone deeply serious.
"But who?" The medic wonders. To their knowledge none of the 'Cons escaped Thundercracker's wrath.
"We don't know yet. I'm negotiating with the humans to see if any of their satellites by chance is able to provide any visual from the timeframe of the occurrence." Optimus explains. "How are the seekers?" he then asks curiously.
"They are fine with their strong self-repair and all. But I am detecting a decrease in efficiency. Some hasn't been able to heal the basest of damages and generally they all show varying degrees of malnutrition and degeneration when it comes to their outer armor, weakening them greatly. They are missing key elements from their regular prey to remain healthy, like various types of metals that they are unable to obtain from any source here on Earth. They will need to return to Cybertron soon or the malnutrition is going to become life-threatening to some of them." Ratchet explains seriously, ignoring the painful pang in his spark at the thought of having to say goodbye to Starscream and maybe never see him again.
"And Starscream?" Optimus asks gently.
"I will be able to release him from stasis within the next four orns if everything remains stable." Ratchet replies. "At the least I need to be done with the examinations before I rouse him. He needs silence and calm around him when he wakes. I'm looking forward to talk to him again. It has been so long." A deep sigh of longing and he rubs his chestplates where a faint residual pain still lingers and it will take some time before his spark recovers from the breaking of the bond. Some of that pain is also due to the fact that the bond between them is forever lost and he still feels like he has lost a great part of himself ever since the breaking of it. At least if he still had the bond he wouldn't be so anxious to let Starscream go and return to his roots among his own kin.
"It will be okay Ratchet. He will never forget you. You are his creator no matter his true origin." Optimus sooths.
"I know Optimus. I know." The medic sighs before he closes the com. and returns to the examination, the calmness he exudes enough to relax the three seekers and enable him to resume his work.
But the calmness is soon disturbed again, because a human day later bad news is revealed to the whole Ark crew.
Soundwave is still very much alive and it was he who activated the spacebridge. With Megatrons SIC still alive the war still carries on. None of them is delusional enough to think the telepath incapable of uniting the decepticons and continue waging war on them.
The new knowledge weight heavy on the CMO and it feels like he has become several thousand vorns older in just a few breems. They are all so tired of war and no one knows how their remaining forces on Cybertron fares or how many Autobots have survived in comparison to Decepticons. To have the war reignite suddenly after a faint hope of peace… Ratchet can see the same battle-fatigue in the others as he himself feels in his spark.
"We need Starscream for this." He murmurs, more to himself. The seekers need to know and the only one able to convey everything without misunderstandings is the tricolored seeker. Ratchet might have become skilled in communicating with the seekers, but he isn't a seeker.
Tired he leaves the command center to return to his medbay, a datapad in servo to scroll through the work of the previous few orns. When will he be able to bring Starscream online safely?
"Optimus." He contacts their leader on the com. line after having calculated the remaining examinations.
"Yes Ratchet?" the Prime answers almost instantly.
"I can bring Starscream online four orns from now. He will require at least an orn to recover from his time in stasis, but after that he should be healthy enough for high command to brief him on the situation. We have a unique chance to gain allies in the seekers, but this topic is so delicate that I won't tell zilch to them without him present there. I'm not a seeker, and if anything in this goes wrong we might as well sign our own deaths warrants." Ratchet sighs, feeling utterly fatigued.
"I understand. And you are right. Let me know when you have roused him from stasis. I will inform the others." the Prime answers, an undertone of hope clear in his vocalizer.
Unfortunately their hope in gaining the seekers as allies is crushed firmly by Thundercracker's adamant /NO!/ when Starscream explains the proposal to the Winglord and the following roar leaves none of the Autobots without any doubt about the response.
In the Winglords optics, the seekers have no reason to fight a war not concerning them anymore. The threat to his people is gone and he couldn't care less if the grounders eradicate each other in pointless war. Starscream protests wildly, deeply conflicted, but all it does is to make Thundercracker move the time for their departure closer and it is a dejected submissive who bows to his will. There is no point fighting the Winglord on his decision, all it gets him is an irate dominant and punishment for disobeying, Starscream knows that deeply in his spark, but still a large part of him screams for him to fight Thundercracker on the decision.
It takes Optimus to reassure him that they are all going to be okay for him to begin to relax. And he needs to think about how his stress affects his unborn newspark.
A few orns later they are all standing in front of the ruined decepticon base, Starscream properly submissive with drooping wings standing beside Thundercracker and looking sadly towards where Ratchet stands among the Autobot ranks.
This is the last time he is going to see his creator.
Then the spacebridge flares to life in intricate purple colors intermingling in the central force field and the first trine is stepping through to secure the other side. With them are Wheeljack to maintain the bridge from the other side while the transport of the seekers commence.
The trine to join the inventor is Crossfire's and Starscream feels relief at that fact. Crossfire he can trust to not hurt the grounder.
Sensing his inner turmoil, Skywarp physically nudges closer to him, their wings touching and a flash of gratefulness travels through the bond. The black and purple seeker doesn't completely understand how hard this is for the other submissive, but through the feelings of loss and conflict he gets an idea of how hard this is going to be for Starscream.
/It is going to be okay. You will forget him soon./ Skywarp tries to sooth, the underlying explanation that Starscream will be enough occupied when they return to their people ringing clear through their bond. The Winglord trine is complete; every clan leader will want to congratulate Thundercracker and see the new seeker taking up his left flank and test him to his outmost when they realize Starscreams origin.
When communication gets through from Wheeljack that everything is clear on the Cybertron side Starscream tells Thundercracker the go ahead and one after the other their seekers walk through the spacebridge.
Unseen Primus/The Sky Above watches the interaction from the ethereal plane, pleased with the turn of events leading to this moment. Finally everything is coming together and finally the three seekers' fates are moving down the path destined for them. Finally what he envisioned before he sparked them will come true. As he told Skywarp so very many vorns ago Thundercracker is going to be a Winglord of change, and now united in a triade with Starscream nothing can stop that change from happening.
Not even war or separation.
When Thundercracker and his two mates are the only seekers left on the little planet circling the young sun, the god laughs heartily when Starscream breaks Thundercrackers grip on him and runs towards his creator. The crushing hug between grounder and seeker is strengthening his belief that nothing is going to be as it was before and he is deeply pleased with the choice of creators he made for Starscream when fate didn't go as planned and Starscream couldn't grow up among his own. Ratchet and Hound has filled the role as creators to a seeker perfectly with the little to no knowledge they possessed at the time.
Clearly displeased, but held back by Skywarp, Thundercracker allows creator and creation a few breems to say properly goodbye before he moves to separate the desperately clinging seeker from the grounder. Not once does Thundercracker raise any defense or attack against the distraught seeker when he drags Starscream with him away from the group of grounders, not even when Starscream claws at him, gouging his plating and scratching the paint, screeches and generally makes a great fuss of the whole ordeal.
When the last three seekers is gone through the spacebridge a deafening silence fills the area and even from a distance the god hears the faint murmur from Ratchet as the medic – optics brimming with tears – stares brokenly at the fluctuating purple portal, the grounders waiting for their comrade to return from the other side.
"Goodbye my little Star. And…thank you for everything."
End.
Please Review.
A/N: I dont know when the first entry on "Origin" will be published and im not completely decided if i want a prologue connecting it a bit to what happens after the seekers from Earth returns to Cybertron or head directly into it from the start. But keep your eyes open.:)