They arrived back in the medbay and Starscream was leaning heavily on Onslaught at the end. There was a lot of debris and scorch marks on the walls from blaster fire and a lot of fighting that must have taken place here after they left. Starscream dimly wondered if it would have been better if he hadn't left at all.

Hook at first looked elated to see them, but then his face darkens in rage. "What the FRAG HAPPENED?!" he shouted, dropping all of his tools and running to the door.

"We ran into some Autobots, Hook," Onslaught said, handing Starscream over to the medic. His visored optics bored into Starscream, obviously trying to intimidate him again.

He needn't have bothered.

Hook let Starscream put his weight on him and made a noise of distress. "You should have just stayed here- are you alright?!"

Starscream nodded and mumbled, "I'm fine." Hook narrowed his optics and looked him over for damage, seeing the wounds more closely. His deft servos shook a little as he hardened his jaw.

"Onslaught." Hook's voice was tight.

"What?"

"Why did they fire on him? They know he can't defend himself." Hook turned to look at Onslaught, his optics darting to the other Combaticons who were pointedly not looking at him.

Onslaught took another moment of silence then simply shrugged. "Ricochet. The bouncing of bullets off of walls, not the mech."

Hook turned to Starscream, affixing him with a searching look. "Is that what happened, Starscream?"

Starscream sighed. "Ricochet. Like Onslaught said." He winced a little as a distraction, trying to move the conversation along.

Hook watched him for a few more seconds, and Starscream feared he was going to ask more questions or call him out for the lie. Instead, Hook sighed. "Let me help then." Hook led him to a medical berth and leaned him against it.

"Your trine is going to kill me," he muttered, finding pain patches and nanite gel to start patching him up.

"They won't kill you. It was an accident." Starscream clenched his jaw as Hook began his ministrations on his wounds. "You were right, though. Autobot fire does sting."

Hook sighed. "Damn it, Starscream," he said sadly. "If they threatened you in some way," he said glancing over his shoulder at Onslaught who watched them like a turbohawk, "just know they don't have any kind of power here. Megatron brought them to heel, so you can't take anything they say at face value."

Starscream gave Onslaught a side-glance. "Thank you, Hook," he said quietly. "And no, they didn't threaten… me."

"Good," Hook said, oblivious to the nuance of what he had said.

Unfortunately, the battle wasn't over. The Combaticons stayed by the entrance to the medbay, discussing their next course of action when a loud explosion sounded above their heads on the floors above. They all ducked on instinct and they heard the distant rushing of water coming in above them. There was a distant sound of yelling and blast doors closing, trapping the water and maybe some unfortunate mechs on the level.

Hook started getting a lot of comms. He tried to answer them and deal with them as he continued to fix Starscream. As time passed his face became more and more grave. "You're done for now. Just… stay here," Hook said. He turned to the other Constructicons. "Get those berths righted, we're about to have a lot of incoming," he barked.

Starscream watched with a heavy spark as some wounded started to come in. They filled up the beds quickly and Starscream decided to hop down from the berth to make room. He winced but found he could put more weight on his leg than previously. He went to a far wall near the entrance, attempting to stay out of the way. The Combaticons had left to go fight off more Autobots and it was a weight lifted off Starscream's shoulders that they were gone.

But a few stray angry looks from the wounded took its place.

He could tell the mechs were trying to be subtle about it, or at least try and control their thoughts. It must have dawned on many of them why the Autobots were here, and they likely could not help their ire directed at him. Starscream wanted to shout that this wasn't his fault, but he also knew it wouldn't matter what he said.

Nothing he said was changing anything.

There was a flurry of activity and then a flash of purple light. Skywarp appeared and Starscream thought his spark had leapt into his throat for how excited he was to see him. He smiled warmly and took a step towards him when he saw what Skywarp was holding.

Thundercracker was out cold his arms, bleeding energon all over the ground.

Starscream stopped venting, and his world shattered.

Skywarp quickly found an open berth and angrily yelled for one of the Constructicons. Scrapper appeared, throwing scanners over the broken Air Commander and then cursed, calling for Hook. The two of them together began to take some of Thundercracker's damaged armor off to get to some of bleeding lines below. He groaned, apparently not entirely unconscious as he appeared, and Skywarp was immediately at his side. Starscream saw TC reach up a servo to cup Skywarp's face and there was a pained conversation happening between them. Skywarp nodded slowly, and then said something to Hook.

"We'll do our best," Hook said, loud enough this time that Starscream could hear him, and his spark sank.

Skywarp looked around the medbay and then found him, and his face crumpled when they locked optics. He was now walking quickly over to Starscream, but Starscream was struggling to vent and he was shaking his helm.

"'Warp-" he managed to say out loud, but his voice was strangled and broken.

"Star, it's okay, he's going to be okay," Skywarp said, taking his trinemate's helm in his servos, and bringing their foreheads together to touch. "He's been through much worse, trust me." He pulled back then and froze when he noticed Starscream's patched wounds. "What… happened?"

Starscream stilled at the coldness to Skywarp's voice as he had never heard it like that before. "I'm okay, 'Warp. I'm okay." He kept trying to bring out the lies that Onslaught had taught him by example, but at this moment he found he could not even attempt it.

"That wasn't what I asked," Skywarp said, his fangs bared. "Who shot you?"

"The Autobots."

"And who was guarding you?"

Starscream sighed. "The Combaticons. But it wasn't-" Starscream stopped himself, as Skywarp's face darkened.

Skywarp's optics narrowed and then he grimaced with all of his denta bared. "I have to go back to fighting. Stay with Hook."

Starscream wanted to protest and to ask him to stay but knew he could not. Skywarp turned around and walked back into the middle of the room. "Anyone want to get back in there?" he called.

Two mechs walked up to him, nodded and put their servos on his shoulder. Skywarp gave a final look to Thundercracker and disappeared in a flash of purple light.

Despite being in a room full of mechs, Starscream had never felt so alone.

Thundercracker did look stable, but he also looked like he was in terrible pain. The Decepticons were low on supplies it appeared, and many had to go without any kind of pain numbing agent. Starscream quietly picked at the pain patch he had been given on his thigh wondering why he had been prioritized.

Pain had been a strange sensation to him. It was strange in that it felt familiar… which scared him. His frame had accepted the wounds and gave him adrenaline in its place, giving him the drive to run from the battle that had been occurring around him.

A terrible thought was forming in his helm and he tried to squash it, yet it persisted.

"Why are they even here?" he heard a voice from a berth nearby. Someone he didn't know.

"I could get you a list, but we'd be here awhile," came another voice belonging to someone else he didn't know.

"It's too bad we can't just give them what they want, then," the first one said. "They are being particularly vicious this time and we were already low on energon."

"Well… I'm pretty sure they are here for…" Starscream strained to hear, but the mech's voice had tapered off into a whisper. But Starscream already knew the answer.

He looked around the room wildly. Again, there were some surreptitious looks sent his way from mechs he didn't know, but even some from he did know. They didn't seem to be outright blaming him, but the truth that he was the reason for the Autobots' presence.

And that they would keep coming until they got him.

The terrible thought came to the front of his processor again, and he clenched his jaw and snuck out of the medbay.

Jazz cursed colorfully. They were not going to be able to stay here much longer. They had managed to take the Decepticons by surprise and their intel that they were low on energon had been good, but they were still scary, crazy bots that were on their own home turf. Even with their new weapons that Wheeljack had designed, they still were putting up an incredible fight.

Ironhide was leading his unit, but secretly kept deferring to Jazz even though he wasn't an officer anymore. Jazz and Prowl both were now just grunts in the army, taking their demotions in stride. Jazz knew there were grumblings about it, especially over Starscream of all mechs, but he understood the position that Optimus had been placed in. It was unfortunate that in the end it didn't stop the Autobots from splintering.

Jazz was about to strongly suggest that the mission was over when there was a commotion at the end of the hallway they were guarding. Prowl physically grabbed Cliffjumper's blaster and pointed it down at the ground, telling him not to shoot.

Jazz looked up and saw that it was Starscream slowly, hesitantly walking towards them.

He looked very frightened and sad. And it honestly broke Jazz's spark.

Jazz leapt out from behind their barricade, hoping that this was the break they needed.

"Starscream. Are you-"

"If I go with you," Starscream interrupted, "do you promise to leave here, and not attack them again?"

Jazz balked at the request. He wanted to immediately say yes; this would solve so many of his problems. But he also didn't want to lie. "I can't make that decision Starscream. You would have to talk to Optimus."

There was more fear in his optics, more pain. "Then at least will you leave now?"

Jazz stole a look to Ironhide who was watching them with rapt attention. He slightly inclined his helm in agreement. "Yeah. We can do that," Jazz replied.

Starscream crossed his arms and looked at the ground. He then nodded quietly.

Jazz could have kissed him.

All of the Autobots were suddenly on comms, calling for a full retreat. Jazz offered a servo to Starscream. "What changed your mind?"

Starscream regarded the servo with trepidation. "Something you said about not belonging," he replied, taking the servo. "I don't know if I actually belong with the Autobots either, but you're not going to stop until I come with you, are you?"

"We are a tenacious bunch," Cliffjumper said with a smile.

Starscream sighed. "So you are."

It didn't sound like a compliment.

They were running now to a part of the base where they had made a breach in the base ship's hull. A submersible craft waited for them right beyond a forcefield keeping the water from flowing in. The Autobots began to pile in and Starscream waited next to Jazz, watching with dull optics.

There was a small stir amongst the bots in the hallway beside them, and Starscream heard the Autobots yelling for assistance in subduing someone. Starscream's tanks seized as he saw it was Shockwave being forced to his knees.

"Stop," he whispered, seeing someone give Shockwave a punch for resisting. "Jazz, please stop them," he said brokenly.

Jazz looked over and yelled, "HEY that's enough. Cool your helms, mechs."

Starscream walked over, getting plenty of odd looks from the Autobots, but he didn't care. He fell to his knees in front of Shockwave, placing his servos on his helm with extreme gentleness. Shockwave stopped struggling and his yellow optic trained on Starscream.

"Ah. There you are," Shockwave said simply. He flicked his optic to the Autobots behind him, and then back to Starscream. "It appears yet again I am unable to stop Autobots from taking you out of the base. I apologize."

Despite everything, Starscream gave him a tight smile, almost laughing at how simply Shockwave had put it. Starscream cast his optics down and sighed before removing his servos from his helm and letting them fall to his side. "I'm going with them, Shockwave. Willingly," he said sadly.

Shockwave paused and his optic softened a little as he processed this information. Starscream wondered what he thought of him then: would he think he was a coward for giving up? Would he think he was weak? But he didn't see any of these emotions in Shockwave's optic. All he saw was gentleness. "I told you some time ago that logically you might fit in better with them. As long as this is what you really want, you should go."

Starscream was struck then that Shockwave was the only one he could trust to let him make a decision on his own, and Starscream was leaving him. "I don't know what I want," he said quietly.

"You haven't been given the opportunity to figure it out," Shockwave said gently. "Go and find out, and if you decide you want something else, contact me. I will help you."

Jazz was pulling Starscream up off the floor now and directing him to the craft. Starscream wanted to resist, but knew he could not. He looked back at Shockwave sadly.

"Sorry, Starscream, we have to go," Jazz said.

Shockwave watched him go and inclined his helm in goodbye. Starscream suddenly was very unsure of everything, but then Jazz ushered him into the submersible. He was seated near the front, with all optics on him. He tried not to shift under their gazes.

He tried to flip on his comms to send a message to Skywarp, but Jazz reached over and tapped a device to Starscream's helm. His comms went dead in static.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he said sadly.

Jazz pursed his lips into a tight line. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "We can't risk it."

Starscream gently thunked his head back against the wall of the submersible, casting his optics to the ceiling as they took off away from the base.