#21 - The Spark: Birds of a Feather

"Megatron, sir," Tarantulas began as he came to Megatron, alone in the main control room. "I have witnessed something that may jeopardize the mission if put into further effect."

"Go on." Megatron turned to regard the spider, knowing exactly which mission that was being referred to and also knowing what he might have witnessed.

"I have reason to believe that Starfeather and Terrorsaur are having an affair behind our backs," Tarantulas said.

I suspected as much, the Predacon leader thought with a frown. But how could it have gone so far without my noticing? Blast that pterodactyl...

"Inform Blackarachnia to keep an eye on them, you as well."

"Are you suggesting we do nothing?" he hissed. Tarantulas was slightly taken aback.

"I'm suggesting that you do nothing," Megatron replied sternly. "I will decide when the appropriate time to act will be, yes."

-x-

Starfeather was happier than she had been for months. She was doing all the aerial twirls she knew as she made her way to her refuge. No, their refuge. That's what she had started to call it for the past few days. She transformed to robot mode, did a front flip, and landed neatly before the rock pile.

"She sticks the landing and the crowd goes wild!" she cheered and punched the air triumphantly.

"You seem cheerful today," she heard a voice say from above her somewhere above her. She looked up to see Optimus Primal sitting at the top of the rock mound. "Any particular reason?"

"Can't I be happy when I feel like it?" she asked. She blushed out of embarrassment and shuffled her feet.

"No, you're not allowed," he replied through a smile, indicating that he was only joking. She laughed, but stopped when he went on more seriously. "I actually came here to talk to you about something."

"About what? Megatron isn't planning anything as far as I know," she said, putting on a questioning look.

"That's not what I came here to discuss with you about."

"Now it's 'discuss'? Am I in trouble?" Starfeather crossed her arms, ready to defend herself. He shook his head.

"Technically, you haven't done anything wrong, but it has come to my attention that you are involved in something that you probably shouldn't be," he said. She stared at him.

"What are you talking abou... wait, no. How do you-"

"You and Terrorsaur weren't exactly careful about where you flew off to a few nights ago," he explained before she could finish. She blushed again, only brighter and made an exasperated noise.

"What's wrong with us being together? He feels the same as I do! Why does everybody have to stick their big ass nose in my personal business? You're worse than my parents ever were!" she boiled out, gesturing in frustration. She didn't mean half of what she was saying, Optimus knew. She was just embarrassed and scared of what he might do to her about it. He came down to stand before her as her shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. He took her shoulders reassuringly and she looked up at him with fearful and moist optics.

"Like I said, you're not in trouble, Starfeather. I just came to let you know that you need to think about what you're doing and where your loyalties are."

"I don't know if I can choose Optimus. What- what you saw that night was our very first time out together, just the two of us." She smiled softly at the memories of that unforgettable evening, but it vanished from her face. She sniffed and rubbed at her optics with her fists. "I don't know how long I go on like this, sir."

"I know you'll make the right choice in the end," he said gently. She smiled sadly and gave him a hug.

"You remind me so much of my dad."

-x-

A few days after an attack of a Dinobot clone sent to the Maximals, things had been winding down. That is until the Predacon fliers got a call from Megatron that they were needed at a stasis pod crash sight. They split up, Waspinator being the first to be attacked by Cheetor, who was sent by the Maximals to retrieve the pod. This gave away the cheetah's position, allowing for Terrorsaur to move in. Starfeather saw they were attacking and started going in from behind.

When Cheetor went beast mode and started running for it, she was able to get a clearer shot, but the cat kept moving. This chase continued for several meters before Terrorsaur came up with a better strategy. Waspinator kept on Cheetor's tail while Terrorsaur and Starfeather separated and went on stealthily ahead.

A smart move from the cheetah got Waspinator down for the count, but a blast from both the blasters of the other two fliers knocked him out as well. They landed and Terrorsaur looked at Starfeather.

"Get Waspinator up and take care of the kitty cat. I'll get the stasis pod," he said. Starfeather smiled innocently.

"Yes sweetie," she answered, suppressing a giggle. He playfully shoved her playfully, then took off. She watched him for a moment before turning to the downed wasp. "Hey Waspy, can you hear me?" she asked, lightly shaking him by the shoulder.

"Wa-wazzzpinator hearzz B-bird-bot," he replied.

"Okay." She nodded. "That's good. Now, can you transform to beast mode?"

In answer to her question, he did so.

"Wazpinator feelzz better now."

"Alright." She smiled. "Now, just keep those compound eyes on that cat and I'll be right back." She patted him on the head as she said this and got up to go see if Terrorsaur needed back up. When she got closer to where the stasis pod had crashed, she heard something like a bird cry. When she looked up to see where it came from, she saw a falcon circling up and back toward where the pod was.

"That must be the new guy," she muttered to herself as she slid down a slope behind one of the many rock cylinder formations in the area. She looked up again when she heard the bird cry again and gasped. She saw the falcon had Terrorsaur by the shoulders and was flying him into a rock face. She growled. "And a Maximal."

As Terrorsaur chased after the falcon, eager for revenge, Starfeather went air born to follow and help when help was needed. They weren't even aware of her presence. Then, the falcon dove out of sight. Terrorsaur glanced around for it, but looked up when it came back into the open and spoke.

"Airazor: Maximize!"

The voice was feminine. As she transformed, she gave another primal cry from the bird of her beast mode and came straight at the pteranodon. He smirked and went head-on towards her. Shots were exchanged before they met. Starfeather watched anxiously as Terrorsaur fought one on one with the new Maximal, plummeting to the earth in a freefall. Before they got too close to the ground, they split apart and Terrorsaur began shooting at the Maximal. She dodged, swooping and swerving gracefully. The raven almost found herself jealous, but that melted away when the falcon shot at him. She stared, frozen in pure, boiling anger as the femme blasted him nearly to pieces.

"NO!" she shrieked and soared forward. Airazor just had time to look up before she was tackled to the ground. The two femmes struggled, each landing a blow or two, until Starfeather was kicked off. Airazor had enough so left the raven alone to go back and help Rhinox. Starfeather snarled after her, but didn't chase her down. She only went and kneeled at Terrorsaur's side.

"Can... can you hear me?" Please please please be okay, she thought as she reached out and touched his cheek. He groaned painfully.

"I hear ya," he rasped. She let a sigh of relief escape her mouth.

"Waspinator," she said into her comm. link. "Leave Cheetor and get over here. Terrorsaur needs assistance, big time."

"Wazzpinator coming. Wazzpinator: out," was the reply and the link was terminated. Starfeather nodded and turned back to her downed comrade, thinking of anything she could do to help.

"Okay, I'm going to try and put you back together as much as I can," she informed him.

"A'right," he agreed. She nodded again and set to work. Waspinator arrived shortly and, with his help, they pieced Terrorsaur back together as best they could. At least, enough so that he could stand on his own and transform. The two mobile fliers were sent out again to collect Blackarachnia and Scorponok, who also had been dispatched to claim the stasis pod. This didn't take long, but Starfeather wanted to be with Terrorsaur like he had been with her when she had fallen ill to that poison.

-x-

Starfeather was alone in the secret clearing, lying in a grassy patch. Terrorsaur was still in a CR tank when they got back with the Second in Command and black widow so the raven decided she wanted to be alone for a while. She sat up at the sound of a familiar call and clenched her fist. That falcon...

Soon enough, there she was in the distance, her image getting bigger and bigger as she came closer. In less than a minute, she transformed to robot mode and landed a few feet from where Starfeather was now standing.

"Hello," she greeted, sounding rather cheerful.

"Hello," Starfeather replied stiffly. "Airazor, right?"

"Yes, and you are Starfeather?" Airazor seemed a bit confused at her tartness.

"Yes."

There was a long silence between them. The only thing that made noise was the little stream as it gurgled softly and a bird or two in the depths of the forest. During the silence, they studied each other and sized the other up. Starfeather tried to appear tough and intimidating while Airazor also presented herself as a femme to be reckoned with. Finally, Starfeather broke the silence, deciding to take the 'pleasantly unpleasant' rout.

"So, Airazor, how are you today since our little scuffle?" she asked with a cool voice and crossing her arms.

"Just fine. Thank you for your concern," Airazor answered, not understanding why the raven was being so testy. Starfeather nodded curtly, glaring at the other femme. "How have you been?"

"A lot better than my friend that you scrapped half to slag, thank you very much," the raven managed without making an angry noise.

"I was only protecting myself and Rhinox," the falcon replied.

"Yeah well, you didn't have to blow him up," Starfeather's voice was rising. "You could have just knocked him out or something less drastic." Airazor was about to defend herself when she realized something. Wouldn't she respond the same way if their situations were opposite, even if it was all for show?

"Believe me, if I had known at the time, I wouldn't have been as brutal. I'm sorry," she apologized. Starfeather paused, taking this in. Airazor didn't need to apologize. Terrorsaur was her enemy and she had just emerged from the stasis pod. She wouldn't have known any better.

"No... I'm sorry. Really, it's no big deal. He'll make a full recovery so... Let's start this over." She felt guilty for lashing out like that.

"Alright," the falcon agreed. "Hi Starfeather, I'm Airazor." That said, she held out her hand for the other to shake. Starfeather smiled, taking the other's hand.

"Nice to meet you."

They shook hands and started with a better conversation and the subject changed from this to that. By the time they both had to leave, they considered each other friends and planned to meet together again soon.