Jazz was trying not to watch Starscream too closely, but he was worried. The seeker was clearly trying to put up a brave front, but Jazz thought he'd be crazy not to be frightened. Who knows what the Decepticons had told him about the Autobots.

And in some part of his processor, Jazz wondered if they might have been right.

The submersible eventually surfaced and the Autobots began to unload. Starscream and Jazz were the last to exit onto the soft sand of the beach and into the foggy early morning.

"We have a bit of a road trip to get to the base," Jazz said. "We'll be traveling with Optimus Prime."

That name elicited a flicker of recognition from the seeker, but he responded with only a shrug. It was barely dawn now as the sky quickly became lighter. Starscream was tight lipped as they waited. He seemed unhappy and Jazz wished he could say something that would ease his spark and maybe some of the guilt that Jazz had.

They only had to wait a little while before a small contingent of Autobots met the ones who had been involved in the raid. Ratchet arrived and was quickly evaluating and triaging the wounded with First Aid, while other bots were quickly transforming and leaving to go back to the base to prepare for a possible attack.

A lot of words like retaliation were being murmured through the ranks. Jazz had been thinking the same thing, had anyone asked him. But no one did.

Prowl was standing close by, examining some scorching he had on his forearm with a frown. They both had found themselves pariahs since this whole mess had started. Jazz knew that Prowl didn't quite have the same kind of remorse that he had about what had happened with Starscream and tacere avem, but it was still there. Unfortunately, the other Autobots had interpreted Prowl's behavior as unfeeling or uncaring and had not treated him well for it. But Jazz knew that losing rank had hit Prowl pretty hard.

Jazz had never really cared about rank or anything like that. But… he wasn't particularly thrilled in how it had come about for him.

Mirage had outplayed him. And Jazz hadn't seen it coming.

Finally Ratchet made it to the three of them. "Odd that you two are in charge of him," he said gruffly.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only Autobot he knows," Jazz said, giving Starscream a side-glance and a calming smile. "But he'll get to know more of us soon."

Ratchet softened a bit. "I'm Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer of the Autobots," he said. "I heard you had been wounded."

"Hook patched me," Starscream responded quietly. "…but another look would be appreciated. He quickly became occupied."

It struck Jazz that this statement would have been scathing from the Starscream they used to know. But as he spoke, Jazz heard that Starscream was just describing the plain truth of what had happened.

Ratchet was similarly thrown off-balance by his response. "…sure." Ratchet gave Jazz a quick glance and then began scanning him.

Jazz could see Starscream was uncomfortable with Ratchet's proximity. "Have you fueled lately? We can get you some energon," Jazz offered.

Starscream shook his helm. "I'm fine," he said softly.

Ratchet pulled back, reading the scans with a frown. "Yes, you are in remarkably good health other than some blaster injuries." Ratchet actually seemed surprised. "Those pain patches will have worn off by now, so we can get you some new ones. But… you are underfueled, Starscream. We will need to get you energon when we get back to the Ark."

Starscream swallowed and nodded as if chastized. Ratchet gave Jazz a nod and walked back over to the other Autobots to prepare to depart.

As they watched him leave, they saw a new mech walking towards them with his typical intensity.

Optimus.

Starscream stiffened and was clearly trying not to take a step back in alarm. Optimus noticed and put his servos up placatingly.

"I am not going to harm, you Starscream." His optics gleamed with an odd quality they often had when he was talking to humans and didn't want to frighten them away but still needed something from them.

Maybe Jazz was projecting.

"No, you would just hurt-…" Starscream started, his voice thick. But he cut off abruptly, shaking a little, and slowly folded his arms over his chassis. His lips pressed into a line.

"You are upset. You are free to speak your mind with us; we will not harm you for having a contrary opinion like the Decepticons would."

Starscream blanched. "No! They wouldn't either- I was not harmed, sir."

"Your wounds tell a different story."

Starscream opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it again and just looked at the ground. "That was just the Combaticons," he mumbled. "And it was your Autobots who-" again, he had started, and then stopped abruptly. Jazz thought he looked frustrated and exhausted.

"Maybe we should get him back to base, sir," Jazz said. "It's been a long night."

Optimus's optics glittered in what Jazz had come to learn was actually annoyance. "Very well," he rumbled. Starscream looked incredibly grateful and his taut shoulders relaxed a little. "We have much to discuss, but Jazz is right. We should get you back to the base. You will travel in my trailer."

There was a little bit of panic in Starscream's optics but said nothing as he followed Optimus over to the trailer. He hesitated only a moment and then got inside.

"You are worried," Prowl said quietly beside Jazz.

"Is it that obvious?"

Prowl shrugged. "You seem to care a lot more about Starscream than I thought."

Jazz's helm fell in exasperation. "I don't know, Prowl. The mech grows on you."

Prowl's optics were watching the trailer with a steely gaze. "I don't think this is going to work. I calculate that Optimus's plan to use Starscream to entice Skyfire and the other Autobots back has a terribly low chance of succeeding."

"Yeah, I could have told you that," Jazz said.

"We need to tell him." Prowl took a step forward, but Jazz stopped him with a gentle servo on his shoulder.

"He ain't listening to us anymore, Prowler. This whole thing shook his confidence and he's not acting like himself. I really think the best play is for us to just watch, wait, and help where we can. Or else we might get locked out of everything entirely."

Prowl's blue optics were like chips of ice as they studied Jazz. Then they flicked back to Optimus who had transformed and was getting ready to leave with the trailer and Starscream. "I suppose… you are right." Prowl's voice had a rare element of defeat to it.

Jazz let his arm drop to his side. "Let's get going, then," he said quietly.

They transformed and took off after Optimus quietly.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

Megatron saw Soundwave wince as Skywarp barreled into the throne room. Apparently, along with his loud voice, he also had loud emotions. To his credit, Skywarp let his wings drop slightly in submission when he saw Megatron's unamused look.

"Please… where is he?"

Shockwave answered him. "He's gone, Skywarp. He went with the Autobots."

The black seeker's wings fell instantly behind his back as he stopped walking. Megatron noticed him flip through a bunch of reactions in rapid succession before deciding on denial. "What? No, he wouldn't have gone-" he started, but then stopped himself.

"But he did. Apparently willingly." Megatron crossed his arms across his chest, the heft and weight of his ion canon particularly noticeable. It had been a gift from Starscream back when they were on better terms. He frowned and then purged that thought as quickly as he could. "Do we know why he went with them?" He looked to Shockwave who had apparently been the last one to speak to him.

"My lord, he didn't give a reason. But he was not entirely sure this is what he wanted to do." Shockwave sounded resigned and maybe quieter than usual.

Skywarp grimaced. "It was because of the Combaticons," he snarled. "They were in charge of him and somehow he got hurt. I know they did something."

"Soundwave?" Megatron asked, arching an optic-ridge.

"Footage: incomplete. Pending check-in from cassettes."

Skywarp sighed. "I don't know what they said to him or what they did but sir, he got hurt and then he saw Thundercracker and then decided to leave? It can't be a coincidence! He's not defecting, he's just misguided-"

Megatron cut him off by holding up a black servo.

He stepped forward until he was standing beside Skywarp and started talking in low tones. "I need you to keep it together, solider. Your Air Commander is out of commission for at least two weeks while he recovers from his wounds. The rest of my army is in shambles from this cowardly attack. If the Combaticons were responsible for Starscream's misjudgment, they will be dealt with accordingly. Can I rely on you to control the seekers while we formulate our next moves?"

Skywarp's flicked his pained optics up at Megatron. He had not realized how close Skywarp and likely Thundercracker had become to this new version of Starscream in such a short amount of time, and it surprised him. Starscream had always treated his trine as expendable grunts, though Megatron had gathered it hadn't always been that way. Seekers and trines were still somewhat mysterious to him, and the nuances of their culture escaped him, but it did appear that Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker had been closer to the traditional definition of the trine before they had joined the Decepticons.

Megatron had always wondered what had changed.

For a brief moment, Megatron feared he had lost the sincere devotion of one of his most loyal soldiers. The same solider who had awakened him first before all others on the Ark when they first woke up. He looked almost mutinous and all because Megatron was telling Skywarp to get over Starscream's treachery. "Are we going to get him back?" There was such hopefulness his face then. A pleading and aching look.

Megatron hesitated for a moment. "He belongs with the Decepticons, not with he Autobots. We'll develop plans and keep you apprised."

"Thank you, my lord." His voice had true gratitude and relief in it. "He's not… a traitor, sir."

Ah. So that was the problem. Skywarp worried that when they got Starscream back that he would be punished and treated like any other defector in their ranks. Megatron's optics blazed. "You mean he's not a traitor anymore," he said irritably. He waved his servo in dismissal.

Skywarp paused a moment longer and then bowed. He walked out with his wings still low behind him.

The truth was that he had seen this coming. The new Starscream was very naïve, and it did not surprise him that the Autobots had managed to poison him so quickly even with just a few honeyed words. Megatron had originally decided to shield Starscream and protect him as he had promised, but he had seen how the seeker had started to ingratiate himself into the army and had started win his mechs over. Megatron himself had been thrown off guard by Starscream's change in nature, and he knew not to completely trust it.

Starscream might not be able to hurt anyone, but he was still dangerous.

Megatron had intended to start exerting his own influence on Starscream and molding him to his will, but the Autobots had beat him to the punch. Yet… all was not lost.

"This could work in our favor," he said lowly.

Whereas Starscream at this moment would have called him a fool, Soundwave and Shockwave waited patiently for him to fill them in on his plan. He wasn't sure which reaction was better.

"I don't think the Autobots are going to be as accommodating as Starscream has been led to believe. They will try, I think. But he is very… observant, isn't he? He will notice the same kinds of hypocrisy that Prime has shown to us lately. He will see that they are just using him."

If his two remaining officers noticed the odd quality of his voice as his said this, they didn't comment.

"And… we have his trine. It seems they are much closer now than they were previously. Surely he will want to come back for them?"

"That might be partly why he chose to leave my lord," Shockwave said. "To protect them. And perhaps others here he has formed a bond with. The Autobots withdrew as soon as Starscream agreed to go with them."

Megatron narrowed his optics. Shockwave was likely right, but it was still odd to be thinking about Starscream caring for anyone other than himself. "They aren't going to stop attacking his trine on the battlefield just because he let them kidnap him. So, we'll just have to help him realize it." He turned and walked back to the throne. "The problem will be Skywarp and Thundercracker. We need them to be distracted and not realize we aren't going to rescue him right away."

Shockwave tilted his helm in confusion. "We won't be?"

Megatron gave him a calculating look. "No. We are going to respect his wishes, even if we know they are wrong. As much as don't want Prime to have what he wants, I also want him hang on the noose of his own making. Starscream is a distraction, for more than just us it appears." His words were meant to cut, and he saw that they did as Shockwave flinched just a little.

Megatron turned his gaze to Soundwave. "I need you to leak to the other faction what happened, and make the leak look an accident. We need to do this before Prime contacts them. We need to appear weak, reeling from this loss."

"As you command," Soundwave replied.

Megatron walked back to his throne and took a seat, tenting his servos as he thought. "I'm hoping Prime has done enough damage that even we can look righteous by comparison. I'm not sure how easy Skyfire will be to manipulate here, but it's worth a shot." He looked at Soundwave, and nodded, dismissing him.

"Shockwave. We have… much to discuss."

The door closed behind Soundwave with an audible click.