CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

The hotel room was both unlocked and empty when Megatron and Starscream finally returned to it in the early hours of the morning, which did not please Megatron in the slightest.

It should have been occupied by everyone but themselves and Soundwave, so where had they all run off to? Slipstream he assumed had wrangled the twins into something frivolous, like shopping, but Primus only knew what Thundercracker and Skywarp were up to. Especially as Soundwave had strongly implied that Skywarp had not been in a stable mental state when the intelligence officer had parted with them.

"They're... fine. They're probably fine," Starscream said when Megatron voiced this, and the older man noted the concern that the Seeker couldn't quite keep from his voice.

"I'm sure they are," he said quickly. "Thundercracker has always been good at keeping these kinds of things under control. Now, let's take a look at our spoils for the evening."

That seemed to pull Starscream away from any apprehensions he might have been harboring, and the Seeker was quickly settling down on the floor across from Megatron as the older man started pulling wad after crumpled wad of money from his pockets and waistband. Starscream let out a low whistle as the pile between them grew.

"We'll separate the currencies first and then count them," said Megatron, beginning to split the money according to its country of origin.

Starscream nodded in agreement and went straight for a bright green note, much smaller than the others, that read '100 Euro.' It was by far the highest valued note in the pile, and Megatron couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit. The Seeker took all of the Euros and Pounds, leaving his commander to handle all the wrinkly, grubbier money.

When all the money was separated, they had 12 different piles, all alternating in currency and value, and Megatron sat back with a sigh, glancing at the window. They would need to find out the currency exchange rates before they would now for sure how much they had, but it was certainly a substantial amount—more than he had expected.

"It is nearly morning," he mentioned casually as he noticed the lightening sky outside. Then, he turned back to the Seeker sitting opposite him and frowned.

Starscream smiled at him, and Megatron instantly knew that something was wrong. His gaze shifted back down to the money.

Eleven piles.

"Put it back," he ordered sternly, deciding to give his second a chance to be mature on his own, rather than just holding him down and taking it by force.

However, Starscream's expression remained innocent as he held out his hands, palms open. "Put what back?"

"Starscream," Megatron rumbled in his most intimidating tone. They had been having such a good evening together, too. "Put it back before I take it back."

"What? The money?" the young man asked again, eyes still wide and innocent. "It's all there."

Megatron growled. "Care to tell me where the stack of twenty dollar bills has vanished to, then?"

Starscream shrugged again, still confident in his lie. "There weren't any."

Megatron climbed to his feet and loomed over his second, hand held out expectantly. "Last chance."

Starscream scrambled to his own feet, expression now slightly panicked. He took a tentative step back, moving away from Megatron the tiniest bit, and then another. The ex-warlord scowled as he saw the Seeker swallow hard

"There weren't any," Starscream repeated in a quiet voice.

Megatron took one step forward and Starscream bolted, heading for the door. His leader leapt across the room, taking advantage of his much longer legs to get ahead of the Seeker and block his path. Starscream backtracked around to the beds, jumping on top of the double and throwing pillows at Megatron as the larger man advanced on him.

"Give it back!" Megatron repeated the earlier order.

"No, it's mine!" the brat shrieked, jumping down onto the other side of the bed just as Megatron reached for him. "I deserve to get something! Get away from me!"

He made to go around the foot of the bed, and Megatron moved to cut him off. The Seeker scurried back up the other way, clearly planning to vault his way over the bed once Megatron was on the same side as him, and so the older man redirected once more.

"Will you ever cease to be such an avaricious little pest!?" Megatron barked as they went back and forth like this several more times. Despite his frustration, the ex-warlord was surprised to find that he was actually enjoying this.

Starscream, however, froze facing his leader across the bed, and his eyes widened even further.

"Stop. Calling. ME. LITTLE!" he shrieked, his voice cracking slightly toward the end.

In his fury, he was distracted just long enough for Megatron to vault over the bed. With another shriek, this time one of shock, he ran for the front door again with the larger man just behind him. His hands shook as he fumbled with the door handle, unable to get it open before Megatron slammed into him, pinning him against the door. The ex-warlord laughed at the panicked snarl the Seeker made when he wrapped his arms around the young man's narrow waist and lifted him clean off the floor.

"You... unbelievable... aft!" Starscream snarled, kicking and flailing in his leader's arms.

Megatron spun around and flung him onto the double bed. The brat bounced twice before Megatron jumped on top of him, practically laying on top of him as he quickly restrained his arms and legs.

"Get off me! Get off!" the Seeker screeched, thrashing around and pulling desperately at the vicelike grip his leader had on his wrists.

Megatron pulled back enough to smirk at him, and then transferred both the younger man's wrists to one hand before sitting up to straddle his waist.

"Let's see where you've hidden that money, shall we?" he murmured smugly.

Starscream gasped and bit his lower lip in an expression that Megatron had never seen on him before. It was part fearful, but there was something else in there, too. Something stirred low in the ex-warlord's gut, and he recognized it as the same strangeness he had felt the other morning when Starscream had been leaning in toward his face in bed. He did his best to shove that aside and start searching his second for any hidden bills.

As he slipped his palm up under the younger man's t-shirt and began rummaging around beneath his clothes, though, Starscream let out the start of a strangled cry that set every nerve in Megatron's body on fire. He paused in his search for a moment and looked down at his second's face. The Seeker had his eyes screwed shut and his jaw clenched in a desperate kind of expression that somehow made Megatron very aware all of a sudden of the fact that Starscream's body felt rather... nice? Against his crotch?

A mysterious hotness crept up the back of Megatron's neck before diving down his throat, through his stomach, and straight into his waste hose. The flesh there started to tighten the way that it often did in the morning, and Megatron decided that it was about time he got this search over with.

Without a cockpit, Starscream's human form had precious few hiding places available. The money was not in any of his pants pockets, which meant it must be tucked into the wasitband instead.

Megatron grabbed the front of the Seeker's jeans and ripped them open, the button popping off and the zip flying down. Starscream's eyes shot open with a sudden gasp, and he surged up against his leader with a renewed strength. The ex-warlord held him tight to the mattress, though, his gaze falling to the light trail of hair moving from the young man's navel down to...

Megatron's waste hose throbbed, and he gave a little gasp of surprise as one of Starscream's thighs rubbed against it, intensifying the sensation.

Both men stopped instantly. There was a long pause, and then their eyes met, Megatron's bewildered and Starscream's horrified.

At that exact moment, the door clicked open, and Slipstream barged in, followed quickly by the shouting twins. The boys were busy throwing colorful balls at each other, but both froze in place as they noticed their commanders on the bed. One of them was holding a large, colorful plastic gun, which he quickly shoved behind his back.

Starscream closed his eyes and groaned as if he had been caught in the middle of something shameful. Megatron just scowled at Slipstream, and then the twins, who swiftly moved behind her, as if the petite woman could protect them from their volatile leader. At least the sudden appearance of other people seemed to have calmed his body down a bit as it had the other morning, and the not-entirely-unpleasant throbbing in his crotch had stopped.

After a moment's silence, Frenzy fought up the courage to tug on Slipstream's hand and ask in a hushed voice, "What are they doing?"

Megatron turned back to Starscream, giving no warning before ramming his hand between his second and the mattress and slipping around the back of his pants to tug the large wad of dollars loose from his waist band. Starscream's scowl deepened as his commander made a show of tucking the money back into his own pocket.

The mattress groaned as Megatron then climbed off of the Seeker and turned to the twins. "I was teaching my subordinate a well-needed lesson. Hopefully, one he will remember for a long time."

The twins looked confused, but Slipstream's eyes widened and her lips quirked. For some inexplicable reason, she turned to her cousin and winked. Starscream's already flushed face turned even redder, and he quickly busied himself readjusting his clothes.

Megatron decided that he'd had enough of this nonsense for one night—or morning, as it now was—and bent to collect the rest of the money off the floor. His grumbling stomach agreed, and the ex-warlord spared one final curious glance at his second's sulking back before he slipped past Slipstream and the twins in search of food.


Starscream did his best not to look at Slipstream as he heard her putting down her shopping bags (which she'd done a remarkable job of hiding from Megatron) and striding toward him. His heart was pounding so hard he felt like he was going to throw up, and his hands shook as he tried to change out of his ruined pants and into something more comfortable for sleeping in.

The other morning in bed may have been a fluke, but just now? He knew that right there was exactly what he'd thought it was from the shocked expression on Megatron's face if nothing else.

"Little bit kinky, but who am I to judge," he heard his cousin comment after a while.

"What?" Starscream snapped, whirling around to sneer at her. "Kinky?" He felt like she had mentioned that word before when she explained the whole concept of recreational sex in the first place, but he couldn't put a meaning to it.

"Yes. Sticking money down your pants and having him go in after it like that? I suppose that's one way to get his hands where you want them," Slipstream smirked.

Starscream's jaw dropped. She thought...

"I didn't do anything of the sort! SHUT UP!" he shrieked, not caring who heard him.

The door swung open again, and Starscream, fearing his leader's return, spun around so quickly that he nearly tripped over his own feet. It was only Soundwave, though. Slipstream, who moments ago had been carefully picking him to pieces, seemed to melt into a puddle of goo on the spot.

And suddenly several things clicked into place in Starscream's head. Slipstream... wanted to... with Soundwave?

Well, at least he wasn't the only crazy one in the family.

Soundwave didn't seem to have any attention to spare for her, though, other than a quick glance before he turned to his creations.

"Were you shouting?" he wanted to know.

They shook their heads, and Frenzy's grip on the plastic gun tightened. "Nah, that was Screamer."

Behind them, Starscream hissed. No one paid him any attention.

"Where is Lord Megatron?" the intelligence officer wanted to know next.

"He went downstairs," Rumble informed him, starting to load a few of the foam balls into their new toy. "I think he was annoyed 'cause we interrupted his game with Starscream."

Soundwave's eyebrows hitched about a half-centimeter higher—a remarkable reaction from him indeed. "Game?"

"We weren't doing anything!" Starscream screeched hastily, because Soundwave spent an awful lot of time talking to Slipstream, and it had suddenly occurred to the Seeker that his cousin was not in any way above betraying his secret to the intelligence officer. The look of disbelief that Soundwave gave him was almost proof enough that she had. He was going to rip her slagging hair out as soon as he got the chance.

"Where are your brothers?" Soundwave asked, having the wisdom to move on to another subject.

"The slag if I know," Starscream snorted.

"Downstairs getting breakfast," Slipstream interjected. "We saw them on the way up. They should be back any minute now."

Well. That was some small relief, at least.

"Good," Rumble smiled. "I'm starving!"

The others lapsed into a conversation then about the origin and purpose of the plastic gun that the twins were carrying around, which it seemed Slipstream had inexplicably decided to purchase for them. Starscream didn't much care, and so dove into his bed, wrapping the covers around himself and trying to ignore how much it smelled like Megatron.


As Slipstream had predicted, Thundercracker and Skywarp returned a few minutes later with trays of food to share around with everyone. While they were handing these out, the door opened again and Megatron slipped back into the room. Soundwave made his way over to his commander, inclining his head respectfully.

"The mission was successful, Lord Megatron," he announced, digging in his pockets to pull out a considerably smaller amount of money than what Starscream had managed to acquire.

Megatron took it silently, and Soundwave noticed how his eyes flickered over to Starscream, now seated on the double bed and picking sulkily at his breakfast.

"Might I suggest," the intelligence officer continued, pulling his leader's attention back to himself, "that we move on to other sections of the city to lessen the chances of the theft being linked back to the hotel, and thereby us."

The ex-warlord nodded, lifting a hand to rub across his stubbly chin. "Very well," he said. "Is there anything else to report?"

Soundwave hesitated, the image of Ajit's frantic, dirt-smeared face flashing across his memory for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Everything else is in order," he replied.

"Good, good..." Megatron's voice trailed off as his gaze wandered back to his second. When he spoke next, his voice was low. "There is a matter I would like to discuss with you in private."

Soundwave nodded and followed his leader out into the hallway, closing the door and leaning against it. Megatron stood in front of him, avoiding eye contact and running a hand over the back of his neck.

"What is troubling you, my lord?" the intelligence officer asked, guessing that this would likely be related to whatever had transpired between himself and Starscream that evening.

Megatron dropped his hands down to his sides and finally looked up to meet the other man's gaze. He looked... embarrassed?

"Soundwave, does your waste hose—the thing between your legs—does it ever get... stiff?"

Soundwave's mouth actually dropped open for a second. He had expected another concern about Starscream's mental state or his eating habits. This was... not something that he especially wanted to discuss with his leader.

"It is... a natural physical reaction to certain stimuli, yes," he replied.

"Such as?" Megatron prompted.

"Did this happen while you were with Starscream?" Soundwave guessed, not quite willing to believe what Slipstream had been subtly insinuating at him for the past two weeks until he heard it from his leader's mouth himself.

"Yes," Megatron confessed, blinking at his third in surprise.

A lesser man might have sighed, or groaned, or something, but Soundwave had enough experience under his belt at hiding disappointment to keep it off his face even in this form. Starscream... It would be Starscream.

Well, he didn't need to explain the emotional aspects of sexual intercourse to his leader, but he supposed that he should at least explain enough to ensure that none of them were going to wake up in the near future to find their leader dry humping a sleeping Starscream. That scenario was just five shades of terrible that he did not want to deal with. He wasn't about to do it here in the hallway where anyone could walk by and overhear them, though.

"I think," he said after a moment, somehow managing to keep his voice as devoid of emotion as usual, "that we should take a walk."