Megatron was not himself.

He stared off into space upon the bridge and his optics twitched as a low growl vibrated through his frame. Soundwave watched from the shadows as he recorded and catalogued everything he could about Megatron's condition, every little twitch and every little pulse in his field.

This was not the focused, deadly warlord he had devoted his spark to. This was a distracted warlord. Megatron was still intimidating, but there was something terribly off about him. There was a brief burst of static and a waver in his field that Soundwave did not like. He only ever got this distracted when he wasn't in control.

There were not many things that were out of his control. Megatron burned the Council, crushed his enemies, and had Cybertron in his servos. Megatron was in control of those things... but there was one elusive thing that Megatron had never been able to control, one mech whose spark he had consistently failed over and over again to snuff out. One mech that was not under Megatron's control.

Now there were two of those mechs.

Megatron stared at the image of Starscream and Optimus.

He stared at the way Starscream stood by Optimus's side, and not his.

The cycle had been broken. By now, Starscream should've been back at his Master's side, his frame dented and bruised and his optics cast down to the floor after being inevitably put back into his place by Megatron.

But the space beside Megatron was perfectly empty.

Soundwave would fix this. He would. This was no mere task to be delegated to the incompetent drones.

He would have to take care of this himself.

He stalked through the halls of the Nemesis, scaring the nearby drones and making them flinch as he abruptly whirled around. The door to the deck outside groaned open and a powerful burst of air hit Soundwave's frame. He walked outside, the only light at all coming from his pulsing violet biolights and the bright cold moon above. He stood upon the edge of the ship, only a few feet of metal away from the edge and the thousand-foot drop far below.

Soundwave stood upon the prow of the Nemesis and cast his senses out across the world. His scans probed the atmosphere itself and the entirety of planet Earth. He scanned, he listened, he watched, and he stood there for a long, long time.

The drones moved and drifted around him as they tended to their own duties.

He scanned.

The Nemesis flew on around the world and the lights of the human settlements dimmed and brightened.

The sun rose, and life continued aboard the Nemesis as usual.

He kept scanning.

He watched through his security cameras as Megatron threw a cube of energon at the wall in his wrath, his optics inevitably returning to the wretched picture of Optimus and Starscream together. He just stared at it, his optics red with rage.

Soundwave scanned, and scanned, and scanned—

—He detected something.

A brief signal appeared on his HUD.

It was just a blip, a faint point of energy lost amongst the overwhelming static and noise of the human's technology, but it was there. Far, far away across the globe.

The traitor was on another mission, then.

Soundwave leaped off the edge of the Nemesis and transformed, letting the winds carry him to Starscream.

Megatron would be himself again. Soundwave would see to it. He'd fill that void beside his Lord and soon enough Starscream would be back there cowering beside him, his frame dented and bruised with energon. And Soundwave would see to it that he would not get away again.

Soundwave flew off into the night and chased the signal.


He was so, so tired. His frame creaked and ached as he transformed and flipped down to stand beside Megatron. Blaster marks scorched his armor and his arms hurt from firing so many plasma bolts from them.

The whole world was on fire and an endless battlefield stretched out before him. Hundreds of Decepticons rushed ahead and fought hundreds of Autobots in a frenzy of blue and red blaster bolts.

"You have arrived just in time, Starscream. Just in time! Just in time for justice!" Megatron said, his frame silhouetted by the golden light of the burning flames around him.

Starscream nodded and felt his spark swell in his chestplates. Justice. It was such a simple word, yet such a powerful one. The Towers were burning and soon the tyrants who had lived in them would burn too. They could run, but the Decepticons would just run after them. This was true power before him. Megatron decided who lived and who died with just a few words.

"Justice," Starscream breathed out.

A Decepticon soldier dragged himself across the ground, the raw fear on his faceplate visible even from where they stood. Three pairs of blue optics shone from within the smoke and three Autobots emerged, their blasters pointed right at the wounded Decepticon.

Starscream growled and sprang forward. He wouldn't let the Autobots get his soldiers—

Suddenly he was being grabbed and thrown to the ground. He looked up and snarled at Megatron as he stalked closer.

"What the slag was that for? I was trying to save him!" The Autobots were now closing in on the Decepticon.

Megatron looked out at the Decepticon, his field calm and perfectly smooth. "He deserves this. He was too weak to defend himself. He chose this."

"What—? You're telling me he chose to get surrounded by Autobots?"

"I see everything, Starscream. I saw how he chose to try and save another fellow soldier. Now look where it got him." The Autobots saw the Decepticon and began to run towards him.

"I can save him," Starscream breathed. He hadn't been able to save many Seekers back when Vos burned, the very least he could do was save this rogue soldier he'd never known. Or never would.

"He chose this," Megatron repeated as he looked out grimly. The Autobots began to fire at the soldier.

"It matters not, Starscream. Only power matters!" He looked out proudly across the flames. "Fly in and burn the Iaconians."

Starscream grimaced. It would be a long flight. He'd have to fly around the battlefield—it was far too dangerous to travel through, there was no point in risking getting himself shot down—and only then after hours of flight would he reach Iacon.

"Yes, master!" He prepared to take off and transform when suddenly something tightly grabbed his leg.

Megatron wrenched him forward and growled. "I know what you're thinking, coward. Don't fly around the battlefield, fool. Fly through it." Another bomb went off in the distance.

Starscream's spark lurched into his chestplates. Far off on the battlefield thousands of plasma bolts were flying back and forth, alighting the air with fire, vaporizing and killing the flyers in the clouds.

"But why? I could get shot! I mean, yes, flying around the battlefield does take longer, but I can still destroy Iacon in time—"

"Choose."

"What? No, I need to think about this—"

"Choose now or choose never. Time is of the essence. The Autobots slaughter the slow who fall behind. Only those who are swift to strike will strike their enemies down. Back in the old days the old towersmecha made us promises… They made promises, and then they broke them! But no more! Now they are gone, and we remain. My word is law now. Only I have the power to protect you, Starscream. Only me. You made me a promise to bring justice. Are you willing to fulfill it? Or are you just another towersmecha, another bot who breaks their promises?"

Megatron's servo tightened on his shoulder. Starscream flinched and whimpered as he felt the metal of his pauldron crush and bend under the sheer weight of his talon.

"Master, stop—"

"Does this hurt you, Starscream?

"Yes!"

"It will hurt more if you fail and the Autobots get you. And it will hurt far more if you fail me."

Starscream went silent and stared out amongst the burning wreckage. He could hear the faint cries of the dead and dying whistling through the skeletal remains of the burning buildings of Iacon far off on the horizon. He had thought that joining the army would be about not only killing enemies, but helping allies. Pulling mechs from the rubble of collapsed buildings and clearing away the wretched Autobots so that they could rebuild. Starscream saw none of that.

All saw was just Decepticons kicking away civilians and leaving their soldiers behind in the dust. The rogue soldier he had wanted to save was dead now, his frame punched through with plasma bolts.

"This is how it must be, Starscream. Remember how when Vos burned, I was there. Now I need you to be there for me." The body of an unfortunate shuttle who had been hit by a plasma bolt lit on fire and fell to the ground like a meteor, sending out a massive plume of dust that fell over the whole area. Megatron's red optics shone like beacons amongst the dust. "The Iaconians will not expect to see you emerging from the flames. You must risk something to gain something. I do not care if you get hurt, Starscream. You must feel pain to get power and you must get power so that you can inflict pain."

"This isn't why I joined you," Starscream said softly. He wanted to hurt the bots who burnt Vos, yes, but he wanted to help bots, too. He wanted to create a better Cybertron. But all he saw was destruction.

Starscream remained silent, Megatron's servo clasped onto his shoulder like a vice. He tightened it.

"You promised to bring justice. This is how it must be done!" Megatron sneered, leaning in until all Starscream could see was his angry faceplate. "With fire and terror."

Starscream nodded and felt his spark sink in his chestplates. It was the way of things. The cries of the dying echoed through the air and somewhere out there were his trinemates. But he couldn't go to them—he had a mission to complete. He had to bring justice. Rebuilding could come later. And if throwing himself into deep danger was the only way he could bring peace, he'd do it. Over and over and over again.

He tightened his armor and tried to ignore the way his shoulder dented under Megatron's grasp. "Yes, Master."

"Good. You've made the right choice, Starscream." Megatron shoved Starscream off the roof and watched him transform as he flew off into the night, right back into the heart of danger. He just couldn't fail, he couldn't, because the consequences for failure were far worse than getting shot down by an Autobot.

Megatron watched him fly off, his servo clenched into a fist by his side.


Starscream just stared at the wall. He could still smell the stench of the spilt energon and could still hear the distant sounds of blasterfire.

He should be recharging, but he just couldn't bring himself to lie down. The memory of Megatron loomed over him in the day and he didn't need to loom over him in the night, either.

Starscream got up, snorted and kicked the door in frustration. He was never free of Megatron, never, and—

The door slid open.

Starscream blinked. "Well, this is new."

It should have been locked, but there it was, wide open. He could just stroll out right into the base right now and cause as much damage as he possibly wanted. Past Starscream would've absolutely taken advantage of the opportunity and began destroying everything.

But present Starscream hesitated. He couldn't just leave his room and get caught—the Autobots had given him rules and he could not afford to fail them. He still didn't know what the price for failure was yet. Starscream rolled his optics and began to turn around to go back to his berth.

Suddenly, a spiked shadow rose up onto the wall.

Starscream whirled around as his spark began to pulse in his chestplates. He could not be here, he couldn't. There was no way Megatron was in the base.

"I have to be sure," he mumbled, "I have to be sure."

If Megatron truly was lurking within the base it was only a matter of time before his claws closed in around his frame. If that happened, he couldn't be in his room. It was small and dark and he couldn't afford to let Megatron grab ahold of him and slam him against the wall and trap him and—

Starscream shook his helm. He took a deep vent and walked outside.

There was nothing there except shadows and the dim light of the main computer from the main room.

Starscream let out a heavy vent. "What a relief!" He fluttered his wings and began to turn around—

The sound of blasterfire rang out.

His wings shot up straight into the air and his frame froze as his optics looked back and forth in a desperate attempt to pinpoint the source of the noise. He looked behind him back at his room and just considered running in and shutting out the world—

But he couldn't. "I won't let myself be caught again," Starscream said as he walked farther into the base.

He turned the corner, emerged into the main room, unsheathed his talons—

Optimus was standing at the computer console, his back to him. He just stood there staring at the screen, his field flowing slowly and sadly around him.

The blasterfire rang out again.

Starscream blinked. "Uh... Prime?"

Optimus turned around and his optics widened in surprise. "Starscream." He wasn't sure, but he thought the Prime looked uncomfortable.

"What are you doing up?" Starscream scoffed as he retracted his talons. It was the dead of night, the base was cold and dark, and Optimus just stood there alone in the dark. Optimus looked back up at the console and narrowed his optics. The footage of a bloody battle was playing on the computer.

"Do you think I have done a good job leading the Autobots?"

"...Well, of course. If you hadn't, Master—I mean, Megatron—would have wiped you all out a long time ago."

Optimus nodded. The footage of the gruesome battle continued to play out on the computer. The bright red and blue flashes of the plasma bolts rang out loudly into the main room and lit up his frame.

Optimus frowned and stared at the screen. His field hung heavy around him and grew even heavier as the battle continued to rage on and on upon the computer screen. The battle was long over, but it seemed Optimus was not over it.

His massive red and blue frame sagged and his field flowed slowly around him. "We lost another mine."

"The one I helped you find?"

Optimus just nodded.

The map of all of the Autobot's mine locations was up on the screen, casting both of their frames into shadow. Starscream had given them that mine.

And Megatron took it back.

Optimus sighed. "Perhaps… perhaps if I had tried harder—"

Starscream scoffed and interrupted him. "I think you did all that you could, Prime."

"Did I, though?" Optimus mumbled.

Starscream's wings twitched. This wasn't Optimus. Well, it was Optimus, but it was a strange and sad side of him that he hadn't seen before.

Normally he relished in watching Autobots break down before him. He'd loved watching their hope die from their optics. But seeing Optimus sit tiredly before him with his optics dimmed made Starscream's spark wrench itself around in his chestplates. He felt like he'd escaped his nightmare only to enter another one, except this nightmare was Optimus's.

Starscream was used to picking apart people. He wasn't used to putting them back together.

"You tried your hardest, and that's what matters," Starscream said softly.

"I suppose. I just cannot help but wonder if there will ever be an end to this war, or if Megatron even wants this war to end. How did you get out of your room?"

"It…" It was tempting to lie. Lying came almost as naturally to him as flying did. He thought up of some lie to say, he looked Optimus in the optics—

And felt the words die in his intake. He just couldn't lie to that sad faceplate.

"It was unlocked, Prime."

Optimus just nodded and looked at him. "I apologize if my reminiscing woke you up. You should return to recharging."

"So should you! You shouldn't be moping around in the middle of the night!" Starscream scoffed as he reached over and turned the battle footage off.

"There will be another mission tomorrow," Optimus mumbled as he watched the map of their only mines on the computer console. "Failure is not an option, Starscream. The consequences for losing this war will be dire. I promised to help rebuild Cybertron, and I will fulfill that promise. We cannot fail," Optimus finished, a steely glint in his optics.

Starscream felt his armor tense up around his frame.

"Failure is not an option," Megatron's voice said in his helm, silky smooth and full of unspoken promises of pain. "Do not fail me, Starscream."

He nodded numbly and tried to analyze the Prime. He had always been brilliant at reading mech's true intentions. But whenever he looked at the Prime, he saw nothing. He saw a massive and tired mech just standing there and staring at the computer screen.

Prime was unknowable to him. Just when he thought he'd had him figured out, Optimus would do or say something that completely shifted his perception of him.

It scared him. This was a version of Prime that was war-torn and utterly exhausted down to his struts. This wasn't just another side to him, he suddenly realized; this sad mech was him, and it had taken him a thousand years to realize that.

Simply put, Starscream had no idea what Prime would do or say next. The more he tried to analyze him, the more confused he was. Every little kindness he had shown him completely went against what he had thought the Prime was like for over a thousand years.

He'd always thought of Optimus as being a massive, terrifying mech who cleanly and efficiently cut down those in his way. And Optimus was like that, to some degree.

Optimus just looked at the computer screen and tightened his armor around him, his field heavy around him.

He could be kind and forgiving in a way Starscream didn't even know was possible. And he didn't know how long it would be before Optimus stopped being kind. Everybody has a breaking point, and the Prime's breaking point was shrouded in mystery. His kindness was just too good to be true.

Starscream nodded slowly. He would please the Prime in whatever ways he could and would do everything it took to make him happy. He would give them mine D-16 when it was time, and all would be well. He just had to avoid messing up in the meantime.

"Failure is not an option," a voice said. He couldn't tell if it was the vorns-old memory Megatron's voice echoing through his helm or if it was Optimus's voice speaking in the present. He was still learning to tell them apart.

"I won't fail you," Starscream said. Optimus had no reaction and just kept staring at the screen. Mine D-16 continued to float on Starscream's HUD, blinking on and on. It was vast mine. A prosperous mine. The last true bargaining chip he had left.

"Do you think I am a good leader?" Optimus said.

Starscream was silent as they walked through the halls, Optimus's massive pedes vibrating the entire floor. He could give him the mine, but what would he have left? No, he needed to keep the mine's location a secret—a day might come when he fails a mission, and whenever that day does come Starscream will need to do whatever it takes to get back into Prime's good graces.

"I don't know much about being a good leader, Optimus," and Primus, did the honesty sting a bit.. but something about admitting that he himself wasn't perfect made Starscream feel somewhat lighter.

"You'll learn. We just have to not fail."

"Do not fail me, Starscream," the memory of Megatron's voice said. "Never fail me."

Starscream walked back into his room, his spark in his throat. He knew a threat when he heard one. "I won't fail you. I won't."


The massive remains of the crashed ship loomed in the night.

Starscream let out a shaky breath. He could not afford to fail this mission, he just couldn't. He understood Megatron and understood that he would beat him when he failed a mission. It was just the way of things. But he did not know Optimus's way of things. The Prime was vast, tall, and unknowable in a way Megatron just wasn't. He wasn't sure what the Prime would do to him if he were to fail. Nothing pleasant, likely. He had to be a strong leader who dealt out harsh punishments—how else would he have become Prime? But he didn't know what those punishments would be. And that… that made Starscream uncomfortable. Prime had said he never beat his soldiers and Starscream had seen the truth and conviction in his optics. But just because he never beat them didn't he didn't hurt them in other ways. And he didn't know what those other ways were.

"Screamer? Earth to Screamer?" Bulkhead waved a servo in his faceplate, his voice echoing in the ship's depths.

Starscream flinched and jumped back. "Yes, yes, what do you want, Autobots?"

"You tuned out!" Bumblebee said.

"You're not thinking about betraying us, are you?" Bulkhead laughed.

"I will betray you if you keep calling me 'Screamer.' What kind of nickname is that?"

"Hey, I'll call you Starscream when you begin calling us by our names, got it? And don't get any dirty ideas about betraying us. I wasn't joking."

"Fine, Autobot," Starscream scoffed and walked off down the corridor, Bumblebee and Bulkhead watching him.

Their fields flickered and wavered behind him as he walked along through the halls, frothing with uncertainty and barely hidden discomfort. He was used to generating feelings of discomfort in other mechs. Starscream had once even taken great pride in his ability to ruin a mech's mood.

But now the idea of angering the Autobots frightened him. Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked behind him. They could shoot him at any moment.

"Do not fail me, Starscream," the memory of Megatron's voice said. "Never fail me."

For a split second the air wavered again. Hot static jumped across his wings. It wasn't from Bulkhead or Bumblebee's field. Starscream whirled around—

"They're here," he said suddenly.

A plasma bolt shot by Starscream's helm.

Starscream ducked to the side as a swarm of drones suddenly came running down one of the hallways. A frenzied battle between the drones and the Autobots began. He cursed as a drone dropped dead by his pedes, a massive dent in its chest from where Bulkhead had caved it in. The sound of blasters firing and frames being dented and crushed echoed out into the quiet ship, floating into his audials as he hid away.

He peeked around the corner of the hallway he'd taken cover in and his optics widened. Bulkhead had a savage look on his face as he swung his wrecking ball into the helm of an approaching drone, crushing his processor and caving his helm in instantly. Two more drones dropped dead behind him, their frames burnt and blown apart by Bumblebee's plasma bolts.

Starscream watched the fight play out, drone after drone being killed before him.

"Failure is not an option," the memory of Optimus Prime's voice said.

Would the Autobots shoot him down the same way they shot down the drones if he failed?

He knows Optimus wouldn't do that… but the others—

"And don't get any dirty ideas about betraying us," Bulkhead had said.

He wouldn't betray them. He'd please them, he had to. He couldn't fail this mission.

The last drone dropped dead. Bulkhead wiped spilt energon from his plating, Bumblebee transformed his blasters back into servos, and Starscream crept out from the shadows as they congratulated one another. The drones had nearly ruined the mission, but he wouldn't let that stop him. The bright blue glow of energon shone from down the hall. Starscream's optics widened and he went towards the glow, his field flaring out in surprise as he walked onto a balcony in a large room. Cubes of energon sat scattered all across the floor and lit up the entire room with a bright blue glow. Most were either crushed or smeared by the fight, but some still remained, glowing brightly within the darkness.

Starscream felt his spark soar in his chestplates. This mission wouldn't be a failure. He leaped down from the balcony and fell down amongst the cubes, his wings fluttering behind him as he took in the sight of all of the energon, of all the safety and security before him.

"Wow! Optimus will be pleased." Bumblebee beeped as he ran down the creaky stairs and down into the main room.

"Looks like you finally found something, Screamer!" Bulkhead laughed as he ran down the stairs after Bumblebee.

They stood there amongst the glow of the energon. A feeling of calm descended upon Starscream's spark. Something violet flashed by the balcony up above.

Starscream's helm shot up, but there was nothing there to see. The air shifted, static raced across his wings, something was not right here.

The balcony creaked.

Starscream's wings shot up high on his back.

A massive crack appeared in the wall where the balcony was attached. The balcony was suspended right over the cubes, right over all of the energon he'd worked so hard to find.

"No!" Starscream shouted as terror flared in his field. Bumblebee stepped back from him, his optics wide.

"I have to stop it from failing, I have to," Starscream panickedly mumbled to himself as the balcony groaned and creaked and faltered right above the energon. He had to save the energon, he had to, but he could think of only one way to save the cubes.

"You must feel pain to get power"

His plan would hurt him. It would hurt so much. Starscream glanced back at Bulkhead and Bumblebee, their fields full of confusion. They couldn't sense the danger, couldn't sense the oncoming failure. Saving the energon would hurt him. But they might hurt him far more if he doesn't save the energon.

A loud snap boomed through the empty ship, Starscream whirled around, his jaw dropping in horror—

The balcony was falling and plummeting towards the energon. It was falling.

Failing.

—And it was about to crush the energon and everything he'd worked so so so hard to find and Starscream couldn't fail, he wouldn't.

Starscream bolted past Bulkhead and Bumblebee, past their shocked faceplates and the falling rubble and leaped below the balcony. He caught the massive structure right before it hit the energon cubes, his frame bending and creaking underneath the sheer weight. Error messages appeared all across his HUD, he felt the weight crushing him down and the pressure upon his spark chamber—bleeding on the ground, vents coming in harsh gasps, Megatron looming over him, raising his pede—

He threw the balcony off of him with a massive yell and fell to his knees in the rubble. Starscream was on his knees, his frame completely covered in dust and scratches as he knelt amongst the energon. He dragged an energon cube closer and just rested his chin on it as the Autobots shuffled around in the rubble nearby. The sheer energy that had coursed through his frame was fading away now, leaving only a numb ache behind. He just sat there and knelt alone amongst the rubble and the energon.

Bulkhead coughed and looked out into the gloom. "Screamer, where are you?"

There was no response.

Bumblebee picked his way over the rubble and sent scan after scan across into dark room.

"I did it," Starscream's voice said softly.

Both of the Autobot's helms shot up.

"I did it," Starscream said as he sat there curled up around the energon. His optic twitched and his helm snapped around to look at the two Autobots. He silently and shakily held an energon cube above his helm, a smirk appearing on his faceplate.

"We won," he repeated, raising his wings. Pride and relief flooded his frame. He had fulfilled the mission. Sure, he'd gotten hurt in the process… and he did nearly die… but that didn't matter. The mission mattered, the cause mattered. He had been given a job, and he'd done it. He slowly turned around to face them. "I did it," he said softly. "I did it. This mission… there will be no failure. And there will be no punishment." Bulkhead just kept looking back and forth between Starscream's small frame and the huge balcony he had caught. Bumblebee just stared at him, a strange look in his optics.

"Screamer… how did you do that?" Bulkhead gasped.

"I'm stronger than I look, Autobot," Starscream sighed.

Bumblebee was silent. He just looked back and forth between Starscream and the massive balcony he had just caught and thrown aside.

"Starscream… why? You didn't have to do this. You could've gotten hurt."

"Yes! Yes, I did have to do this! We need this energon, this power. And sometimes you have to go through some pain to get it." Starscream yelled out as he stood up, his optics flaring.

His entire frame ached and creaked, but that didn't matter. He'd gotten the energon. Sure, he had nearly gotten terribly hurt, and he hated that, hated the way the terror of nearly dying settled in his spark and choked him from within—but that was just the way of things. The mission had to be fulfilled at all costs, no matter the price. He was tired down to his struts, his wings sagged, and he just wanted to curl up in his dark room in the base.

"Screamer, that was crazy! Why did you do that? Aren't you in pain?" Bulkhead asked as he grabbed ahold of his dented wrist. Starscream wrenched his arm away.

"Pain is power," Starscream said as his entire frame ached.

Bulkhead just kept looking back and forth between Starscream's small frame and the huge balcony he had caught. Bumblebee just continued to stare at him, a strange look in his optics.

He'd proved himself. There would be no failures, no punishments. Not for today, at least.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee looked at each other, their optics wide. "Let's just get back to work…" Bumblebee beeped.

His frame ached down to his struts, but that didn't matter. What only mattered was that he stopped the mission from being a failure. "I don't understand what you're so confused about, Autobots. I did what I had to!" And Primus, did he hate the pain in his frame from pushing himself so hard, but he hated the thought of failure far more.

"Right… well, let's keep scouting." Bumblebee beeped as he and Bulkhead walked farther off.

"Let's split up," Bulkhead said as he glanced at Bumblebee.

They wanted to be alone. Starscream could tell. Whenever he was on a mission all of the Autobots seemed to enjoy going off on their own for a short while. But that was fine, he was used to being left behind.

He could hear them talking amongst themselves. Starscream snorted and walked off.

"Fine, scout by yourselves." He couldn't bring himself to look the Autobots in the optics anyway. That strange and confused look in their bright blue optics made his spark chamber clench up and he did not like that feeling.

He was a Seeker, he was built for scouting. He didn't need the Autobots beside him, and he certainly didn't need that painful twinge he felt in his spark whenever he was left alone again. He walked off alone deeper and deeper into the halls of the ship as he looked for the bright blue glow of energon. The faint sounds of Bumblebee and Bulkhead talking in hushed whispers grew fainter and fainter. The light of the moon shone through the halls.

He emerged out of a massive hole rent into the ship's hull.

"Slag," he swore. Before him was just the dark forest blowing in the night breeze. Tall cliffs towered above him and the moon cast everything in a pale light.

A shadow fell over the ground. Starscream looked up and froze.

Soundwave was crouched on the ship far above him, his violet visor glowing in the darkness. A single red light flashed in the top of his visor, recording everything.

"STARSCREAM," a recording of Megatron's voice said, sounding out every syllable and rumbling with rage. Starscream recognized the way Megatron said his name—that was the same tone he used when he was about to punish him.

"Soundwave!" Starscream shouted as he took a step back. "What a pleasure to see you!"

Soundwave just tilted his helm. Starscream's armor tensed up around him.

He had to get out of here. Soundwave was not himself, he could just tell. The last time he had seen the communications officer was on the bridge of the Nemesis before he departed on his mission with Airachnid. That was when they were both on the same side, back when Starscream just saw Soundwave as an ominous mech that creepily lurked in the dark. He'd known Soundwave was dangerous, and he was afraid of his blank visor, yes—but he'd never truly feared him because they both served Megatron, they both had the same goal. That was the only thing they had in common.

Now they had nothing in common. Soundwave was crouched up on high, the light reflecting across the gaunt curves of his frame. "MEGATRON—WANTS YOU—TO RETURN," he said, splicing and combining several different audio clips to form his sentences.

"I don't plan on it!" Starscream snapped. He looked out into the woods and the first time found himself hoping that'd he'd see Bulkhead or Bumblebee. They were not there.

"YOU WILL RETURN."

"What, so Master—I mean, so Megatron can beat me into the ground again?! Is that why he wants me back?"

"IT IS—YOUR PLACE."

"If he wants me so badly then why can't he come and pick me up himself, then?" he scoffed.

"HE IS TOO BUSY—TO COME PICK UP—TRASH."

Starscream ignored the way that awful word made his armor lock up.

"Is this how it must be, then?"

"IT IS THE WAY OF THINGS," Megatron's voice said.

"'Remember how when Vos burned, I was there.'" Soundwave drifted closer, effortlessly moving past the towering trees as he glided after him.

"Don't you dare speak of Vos!"

Soundwave was moving faster now.

"Soundwave, no, don't do this. Remember when you and I fought alongside one another? The thousands of years of camaraderie?" Starscream rambled out as he began to step away from Soundwave's crouched over frame. He couldn't just transform and fly away, the trees were far too thick and there wasn't enough room for his broad wings. The canopy towered above him, a thick barrier of dark branches and leaves that roofed him in and would surely send him into a spin-out if he dared to fly through it.

"Please," Starscream begged. A hot flare of shame rose up within his core because Primus, begging came far too easily to him.

Soundwave just tilted his helm.

"Don't choose this. Don't."

"MADE A PROMISE—TO BRING JUSTICE. AND I PROMISE—TO FULFILL IT."

Soundwave made his choice.

He lunged.

Starscream threw himself to the side and felt the sharp flat edge of Soundwave's arm cut into his shoulder and draw energon. He slashed out into the open air and felt the air shift as Soundwave curled away from his talons. A single long datacable slowly uncoiled from his back, pulsing with violet light.

Then another cable extended.

And another.

Starscream activated his comms and ran as the sound of Soundwave's whirling datacables whistled through the air behind him.

"I need backup!" he shouted as Soundwave's cables shot forward and one curled around his wrist. He brought his talons out and slashed at his wrist, drawing both his and Soundwave's energon.

"What? Did you get into trouble already?" Bulkhead said.

"Get over here now, Autobot!" Starscream yelled as Soundwave ran after him. Soundwave did not run so much as float as his lithe and violet frame swooped and swerved around the trees. Starscream smashed through them in a shower of splinters.

"Back in the old days—" Megatron's voice recording whispered. A cable smashed through the tree beside Starscream's helm.

He yelped and twisted backwards before he then jumped over a fallen log.

"The old towersmecha made us promises—" Soundwave rumbled as he twisted around the fallen log and leaped into the air.

Starscream was slammed into the ground as Soundwave fell down upon him and pinned him down.

"They made promises, and then they broke them!" the recording continued to play out.

Starscream snarled and kicked and thrashed at Soundwave as his cables coiled around him and restrained him until all he could see was violet—

The ground they were fighting on collapsed beneath them and they both fell. Starscream twisted away and felt Soundwave's long sinuous digits scratch at his leg as he leaped away and farther into the woods.

"But no more. Now they are gone, and we remain. My word is law now. Only I have the power to protect you, Starscream. Only me."

Starscream sat there on the forest floor as sheer exhausting weighed his entire frame down and his energon pumped hard in his frame. Soundwave clambered up into the treetops and his cables suspended him from the branches of the canopies far above. He just stared at Starscream, the bright glow from his visor casting a bright spotlight onto Starscream's tired and bloodied frame.

"I know where he is going next. And when I find him," Megatron's voice began. Starscream froze. He did not remember Megatron saying this. This was no distant threat or old promise from the past—

"—I will find out exactly why he has betrayed me," Megatron's voice finished. Soundwave tilted his helm.

This promise was new.

"Frag it," Starscream breathed out.

He began to run again and he leaped forward, his spark lurching in his chestplates as he looked down. Far beneath him was a steep drop. For a split moment he was airborne, hurtling in the wind—

—Soundwave suddenly burst out of the trees and skid to a stop on the edge of the cliff, his cables lashing out and coiling into the air after Starscream's falling frame.

One of his cables gently grazed Starscream's leg as he fell. Starscream felt it lightly touch his ankle, felt a cold shock bolt through his circuitry as he felt the cable tense up as it tried and failed to grab a hold of his leg—

Starscream crashed down onto the ground below. Soundwave watched him from the cliff above.

"I am not going back! The Autobots won't betray me," he said, yet even he heard the waver in his voice. Soundwave's visor flared.

"But they will, they will—" he spoke using Megatron's voice as he crawled down the hillside.

"They won't." He remembered the promise Optimus had made to him in the medbay. He wouldn't leave him behind. He wasn't sure about the rest of the Autobots, but he knew Optimus would not betray him at least. Except Optimus wasn't here this time, there was just him and Soundwave and the hot sting of betrayal wavering in both of their fields.

"I won't return!"

"YOU. WILL."

Starscream burst through the trees and circled back to the ship. He jumped right through a narrow gap in the hole and fell down right into one of the hallways.

"Screamer! What—?" Bulkhead shouted in alarm.

Two shocked fields brushed against his own. His helm shot up and he saw Bulkhead and Bumblebee just staring at him, their optics wide and their plating flared.

Starscream jumped to his pedes and tightly grabbed ahold of Bulkhead's arm so intensely that the tips of his talons drew energon. "He's here," he hissed out.

Bulkhead just stared at him in confusion. Bumblebee beeped angrily and a flare of aggression shot through his field as he grabbed ahold of Starscream's arm and wrenched him away from Bulkhead.

"What is wrong with you?!"

Starscream slowly turned his helm. He tasted blood in his mouth.

"I am not the one you should be fighting."

Soundwave burst through the wall.

Bulkhead ducked just in time as Soundwave leaped through the air and fell right past his frame, crashing through the other hall of the corridor and falling back into the forest below. His cables lashed out and wrapped themselves around the trunks of two trees, stopping his fall. He slowly twisted around, his visor cracked and glowing bright.

"CANNOT. RUN."

"Oh, slag no!" Bulkhead said, transforming his servos into wrecking balls and swinging them at Soundwave. Soundwave twisted out of the way, his cables flashing. He reached for Starscream

The Seeker froze

And suddenly Soundwave twisted to avoid a volley of plasma bolts. Bulkhead lunged for him again and he flipped out of the way, his violet armor flashing as he sinuously dodged and curled around each one of their strikes.

Starscream felt as if his sparkchamber was about to collapse in on itself. A cable snapped out into the air and wrapped itself around the tip of his wing. He slashed out with the talons and scratched at the cable, sending it bolting away and leaving behind three bleeding scratches in his wing.

Soundwave was unstoppable. He dodged every bolt, every strike, and lunged at Starscream again. The two of them went tumbling down the hill, sending leaves and dirt everywhere as they fell into a stream far below. Starscream was submerged in the rushing water and all he could see past the dirty water and the frothing waves was Soudnwave's helm above the surface of the river, a bright violet light that lit up the watery depths.

Starscream kicked him in the abdomen with his knee spike and felt energon spill free. He shoved Soundwave away with a splash and jumped out of the river—

A cable tightened around his leg and slammed him down into the dirt.

"Soundwave! We've been fellow officers for thousands of years! Stop. This." Starscream growled, his frame wet and covered in dirt. Soundwave's cable held tightly onto his leg, denting and crushing in the armor.

He tilted his helm as if considering the request.

"REQUEST: REJECTED. You will always be mine, Starscream," Soundwave spoke, and this time he didn't just use the voice recording of a single mech to speak. He spliced together the voices of several different bots and spoke using them all at once, making his echo and growl and hiss with hot static as he wrenched Starscream back into the waves.

Soundwave leaned over him, his visor activating and showing an image of Megatron leering down at him—

Something heavy hit Soundwave and he was suddenly thrown off of him. Starscream's jaw dropped and he watched as his violet frame tumbled off into the woods, his cables pulsing with light as he vanished amongst the trees.

Optimus stood in the river beside him, his servo still clenched into a fist.

"You... you punched him," Starscream said dumbly. Optimus reached down and hoisted him up and out of the freezing water until they were faceplate to faceplate.

"Get out of here. I will not allow him to have you—"

Optimus grunted as something slammed into his frame, sending him colliding against Starscream and the two of them crashing into the riverbank. Optimus shielded Starscream with his massive frame and twisted around.

Soundwave was back. He stood in the stream, the water frothing around his undulating cables. Bumblebee fired at him and he curled out of the way of the blaster bolt as it exploded on the bank, showering them all with dirt and water.

"CANNOT. ESCAPE."

Optimus growled and transformed his servo into a blade. The light flashed against his sword and he swung it down in a wide arc through the air right at Soundwave—

—and Soundwave caught it.

His long thin servos were both wrapped around the tip of the sword, preventing it from going any farther down. His arms shook with the effort of holding it back and rivulets of energon leaked down from his servos from where the blade cut into his digits.

Soundwave stood there, blood dripping down his servos, his arms straining to hold a sword above him, totally silent. His helm swiveled around to look at Starscream.

"You promised to bring justice—you will always return to me. Always." Megatron's voice recording grounded out, his voice hissing and popping with static.

Soundwave jumped backwards, sliding his servos off of the sword. The momentum of Optimus's blade carried him forward and his sword embedded itself into the energon-soaked stream with a heavy clang as it cleaved the rock. Optimus lifted his helm, ready to say something—

But Soundwave was already halfway through a groundbridge.

A split moment before the bridge closed and vanished, Soundwave turned his helm to look Starscream right in the optics. The bridge shut, the air stopped buzzing, and everything was still.

Optimus stood there and said nothing. He transformed his sword back into his servo and just stared at the disturbed dirt where Soundwave had once been, the only sign he was ever there at all.

"You promised," Megatron's voice said as it rose up from his memories. "You promised to help me bring justice, Starscream."

Starscream flinched as Optimus approached him.

"We must return to base. We do not know if he will return."

Bulkhead's jaw dropped. "Did you see that? He just—he caught your sword! And then he—" he rambled on, glancing rapidly between Bumblebee and Optimus until his optics fell on Starscream. His jaw shut with a snap. "...did you…"

Starscream knew what he was going to say. He frowned and tightened his armor—

"...Starscream, did you bring him here?" Bulkhead finished.

"No," Starscream growled out. "I did not. Why would you even think that, do you think we're buddies or something?! Is that it?"

"Well, you're a Con, and he's a Con—"

"I defected! I'm not a Decepticon anymore! That wasn't my fault, sometimes things c-can go wrong and it's not my fault, why can't you just understand?! I'm no longer with Megatron, why can't he understand that?"

Starscream stood there, his frame heaving and his vents shaking. His leg still tingled where Soundwave's cold cable had wrapped around it.

"Why can't anybody understand that?" Starscream repeated softly.

They just stood there in silence. Bulkhead and Bumblebee just stared at him, their optics wide.

"We are leaving," Optimus said. A groundbridge opened up again. Starscream flinched—for a split moment he thought he'd see Soundwave there in the bridge again, his gaunt frame sharply lit by the light. But there was nothing there, just swirling light and the faint image of the dirty base back on the other side.

Bumblebee saw his flinch. "He's not here anymore, you know," he beeped.

Starscream gulped and nodded. He walked through the groundbridge and took one last look at the bloodied ground.

Then why does it feel like he's still there? he thought.


Optimus just stared at his sword. It was speckled with Soundwave's blood.

"I haven't seen Sounders be that vicious in… Primus, it's been vorns!" Bulkhead laughed nervously.

They all sat clustered around the computer console in the base. Starscream had a patch on his wing from where he'd clawed himself and Optimus had a patch on his back from where Soundwave had struck him.

"Megatron is getting desperate. He has finally accepted the fact that Starscream has left him and he is now trying to bring him back."

"Oh, so now we have Soundwave after us too? Fantastic," Arcee rolled her optics.

"But… how do we stop him? He's brutal!" Bumblebee beeped.

Optimus frowned and sighed, letting out a deep and heavy vent of air. "After I became Prime, Megatron refused to accept that I left him and he sent Soundwave out to retrieve me. The only reason he failed was because I was able to get separated from him by leaving Cybertron aboard the Ark. I believe that since he failed to capture me, he is now going to try twice as hard to capture Starscream."

Starscream froze. He'd seen Soundwave on the battlefield. Not often, though. He was almost always on the bridge of the ship, listening and watching everything he could. But when Soundwave was off the bridge and fighting alongside Megatron, he'd been unstoppable, a silent violet shadow slinking along behind Megatron and killing bots left and right.

If Starscream wasn't careful, he'd become one of those bots.

"We just need to keep fighting him off," Arcee said. She glanced over at Starscream and pure disgust wafted through her field. Then she turned around and ignored him.

"Well, sooner or later he's going to snag up Screamer!" Bulkhead said.

"He will not be abducting anybody. We all must play our part to ensure that he does not capture Starscream," Optimus said. Frustration bubbled up in the Autobot's fields and they all glanced at Starscream.

"I don't need protection," Starscream snapped out as he crossed his arms. "I can handle myself just fine out there."

Ratchet scoffed. "You don't even have any weapons!"

"I have my talons!"

"Do you think you can hold Soundwave off with your bare servos?"

Starscream groaned. He knew the answer was no. But he had to contribute to the team, he had to complete missions. The mere thought of Megatron capturing him already loomed over him enough, he didn't need to worry about Soundwave being in on it too. Optimus glanced over at him.

"That's what I thought," Ratchet grumbled.

Bulkhead shrugged. "How do we know Sounders is being serious? What if he's just chasing Screamer to make us all scared?"

Soundwave's cables shot forward and one curled around his servo, a cable tightened around his leg and slammed him down into the dirt—

"He's serious about this, Autobot. Soundwave does not cause fear for no reason," Starscream said flatly.

"It is possible that Soundwave intentionally failed to capture Starscream this one time in order to perhaps convince us to turn him in," Optimus said.

Starscream felt his spark stop. Optimus would not turn him in, he understood that. But the other Autobots would hand him over in a single sparkbeat, he knew that much. And Optimus could not always be there to watch over him.

"Will he ever stop trying to capture Starscream?" Bumblebee beeped.

Optimus narrowed his optics and stared at the wall. For a single moment Starscream hoped he would say yes.

"No. The only reason he stopped pursuing me was because Megatron told him to stop. Megatron desires to capture me himself now. But I will not allow that to happen. And I will not allow him to capture Starscream, either." He suddenly looked over at Starscream. "I will keep him away from you and I will not allow the Decepticons to seize another soldier of mine," Optimus promised him.

Another soldier of mine. A cocky mech with red armor and horns flashed into Starscream's processor. The last time Optimus had lost a soldier of his, he'd lost that soldier to him. And now he was willing to protect that soldier's murderer. Hot confusion bubbled up in Starscream's field.

Starscream opened his intake and prepared himself to tell him that it was all pointless, that sooner or later Megatron would drag him kicking and screaming back to the Nemesis. Something made him pause, though. Maybe it was the sheer determination in Optimus's optics or the way his field strongly pulsed around him, but there was something about the Prime that made Starscream believe him.

He shut his intake. "...Good. You better."

Optimus just took one last glance at him as he looked back at the computer. The Autobots watched the two of them, their optics wide. He didn't need to feel their fields to know that they were full of confusion. This strange relationship between Optimus and Starscream confused them. But it confused Starscream even more.

"We cannot allow this incident to hold us back any longer. Autobots, transform and roll out!"


"Why does all of the energon have to be in caves?" Starscream groaned.

He felt like Soundwave was still there at times. Watching him. Waiting for him. He looked up into the hole of a massive cave extending deep into the hill ahead. He wouldn't let Soundwave get to him, though. Not again. All of the Autobots except Ratchet and Optimus were behind him, their field prickling with unease. Starscream knew that the cave wasn't the thing here making them uncomfortable.

"Just the way it is, Screamer! You got to dig a bit to get a bit." Bulkhead said as he laughed and slapped his servo down onto Starscream's shoulder.

They were at another mine location he'd given them. It seemed like every single Autobot he did not like was there and that all of the Autobots he did like were far, far away.

"Couldn't Prime come?" he grumbled. He didn't want to admit it, but being near Prime made him feel… safe.

"He's busy on his own mission. Now let's move in," Arcee snapped as she drove inside.

The massive cave yawned open before him. There was something terribly wrong about this mine. The air hissed and buzzed, a cold draft blew out of it, and something moved in the depths. None of the Autobots noticed any of this. They ploughed on ahead and Starscream had no choice but to follow.

"You made a promise to help me bring justice," the memory of Megatron's voice said. He remembered this mine. They all blurred together, but for some reason the sharp rocks and the mining equipment of this mine stood out to him.

There was a deep groove in the wall from where a frame had slammed into it. Recognition flooded his field and he froze for a moment and just stared at it.

He'd been punished here. Megatron had grabbed ahold of his arm, sunk his talons into his metal till he bled, and then just tossed him—

"Screamer, come on! We need you to keep scanning." Bulkhead shouted from up ahead. He was falling behind. He didn't like the idea of spending time with the Autobots, but the idea of spending time alone in the cave made him feel even worse.

He ran to meet back up with him. There had been a fight here between him and Megatron. Scratches were gouged into the wall and black fusion cannon blastmarks seared the ground. The Autobots looked at the signs of the battle and their fields filled with confusion.

"I don't remember us ever fighting here…"

Megatron had tossed him into the air and he'd slammed into the wall. He did something wrong, but he couldn't remember his crime. Just the punishment—

"There was a battle here," Starscream said slowly as he fought to keep his anxiety from spilling out into his field. "You were not apart of it."

He should have said nothing. But he was almost as confused as they were—he did not remember why he and Megatron fought here. Just that they did.

Bulkhead just tilted his helm in confusion, Arcee just scoffed and turned away, and Bumblebee… Bumblebee just looked at him. He turned away from the scout and walked right past him, and yet he still felt his optics watching him. They went deeper and deeper into the depths of the cave.

At any moment he expected to see Soundwave's bright violet frame come into view, his cables slowly extending as he moved towards him—

Starscream groaned and shook his helm. He couldn't think about him. Not here, not now. He had to focus on the mission.

The air shook.

Thump. Thump.

He turned around, his field wide and his wings extended. Something was coming.

"Stop holding us up," Arcee snapped.

Starscream opened his intake snap something back when suddenly he felt it again. A tremor through the earth rumbled past his pedes. His optics widened.

Bumblebee looked back and forth between Starscream and the cave's depths. "You're detecting something, aren't you?" he beeped.

"What's wrong? Is Sounders here again?" Bulkhead said as he transformed his servo into a wrecking ball.

The presence drew closer. Starscream knew that Bulkhead's wrecking ball would be of no use here.

Thump. Thump.

He ran up to the cave wall and pressed the side of his helm up to it. He felt the rock vibrate as something large and heavy moved through the cave.

Thump. Thump.

It wasn't a drone passing or mining equipment being moved along. No, he'd recognize those heavy pedesteps from anywhere. He felt his gut sink as the familiar pedesteps grew louder and louder.

A tall spiked shadow appeared on the wall. Starscream felt fear close in around his spark.

"Oh, Primus," he whispered to himself.

The shadow moved and the ground began to rumble as whoever it was came closer and closer to where they were all sitting. Bulkhead dragged them all behind a bend in the cave and into a narrow branch of it so dark only their optics lit up the shadows. Arcee ran forward out their branch of the cave, disappearing amongst the mining equipment.

It had to be a drone coming along. It had to be, because Starscream didn't know what he'd do if it were him coming this way.

Arcee returned and there was something off about her. Her optics were wide and her armor was held tightly to her frame as her field flickered in agitation. Starscream took in a deep vent—

"It's Megatron."

"What the slag is he going here?!" Bulkhead shouted.

Thump. Thump.

"Shhh! We can't let him know we're here!" Bumblebee beeped in alarmed.

Starscream barely heard them talking. All he could hear was the sound of Megatron's approaching pedesteps as they thudded closer and closer.

Thump. Thump.

"We need to get out of here!" Arcee said.

Bumblebee beeped in alarm. "He'll notice a groundbridge!"

"I say we fight!" Bulkhead shouted as he smashed a fist into his servo.

Thump. Thump.

"You want to fight Megatron?!" Arcee hissed.

"Hey, he's alone!" Bulkhead just shrugged.

"He is not alone," Starscream said, his voice cutting into the air like a knife. The Autobots fell silent. He turned around, his optics bright red with fear. "He is never alone."

Thump. Thump. Thump.

All he could hear was the sound of his spark whirring in his chestplates and the thud of each and every one of Megatron's pedesteps. But there was another set of pedes following his. He couldn't see Soundwave, but he knew he was there. He was always there.

He knew he shouldn't look, but he had to see Megatron with his own optics. Starscream had to know if he was just having a nightmare, or if this was real life. It was far too early to confront Megatron. When he joined the Autobots, for once in his life he didn't really have a plan. All he knew was that he wanted to become a better mech, a stronger mech. A mech who could look Megatron in the optics one day.

But as the sound of Megatron approaching grew louder and louder and the sound of Starscream's whirling spark hummed louder and louder in his chestplates, Starscream knew he wasn't any stronger. He knew he wasn't any better.

He peeked his helm around the bend in the cave.

Megatron's back was turned to him. The glow of the energon cast his frame in sharp blue shadows and his red optics shone like searchlights ahead of him. He turned.

Starscream ducked away. He had no blasters, no missiles, just his talons and a bunch of vengeful Autobots to protect him.

"We should just bash his helm in!" Bulkhead growled as he transformed his servo into a wrecking ball.

"No, we can't. I want to deactivate him as much as you, but we just can't go up against Megatron. Only Optimus can do that." Arcee said.

Bumblebee just said nothing. He looked at Starscream and his blue optics narrowed.

Starscream held still, his optics shining bright with fear. He could feel Megatron's presence. He'd spent so many thousands of years with Megatron that the feeling of the massive warlord beside him would never leave him, ever. He understood Megatron's field better than his own.

Megatron moved closer and the air began to hiss with static as his enormous EM field began to approach his.

Thump. Thump.

Starscream was frozen, completely and utterly frozen. His armor was locked tight to his frame and his wings were pointed down and held flat against the wall. He considered just transforming and flying off into the sky, except he couldn't do that because he was underground and the sky was locked away from him and he was locked in there with Megatron, Megatron, who was moving ever closer—

"You can get through this. Do you understand that?" Bumblebee said as he placed his servos atop both of Starscream's shaking shoulders. Starscream wanted Optimus. If you had told past Starscream he would one day desire to be in the Prime's presence he would've just laughed. But Starscream wanted Optimus to be there, the only mech who could actually hold Megatron off. Except Optimus was away, far far away, and Megatron was right there

"We can't fight him. We can't run from him. So we're going to just sit right here and let him pass us by." Arcee crossed her arms and looked down and observed all of them. Bulkhead glared out into the cave's depths, and Bumblebee and Starscream were both just staring at each other. Starscream's red optics were bright and blown wide and Bumblebee's field radiated concern.

Thump. Thump.

Arcee didn't understand. The murderer was amongst them, the very same bot who had killed Cliffjumper, and they were sheltering him. Sheltering him. For a single moment Arcee just wanted to grab the shaking Seeker and shove him out into the cave right in front of Megatron's pedes. But then she looked at him, really looked at him—

Starcream's field briefly expanded and for a split moment his emotions crackled against her field. Sheer terror radiated out into the air, hissing and spitting static, and then it was gone just like that.

...No. Arcee wouldn't turn him in. Optimus wouldn't let that happen. If she sent Starscream back to Megatron, Optimus would just go after him. Again. And again. He didn't go back for Cliffjumper, but he'd gladly go back to save his killer.

Arcee locked up her armor and turned away. "We're staying here."

Bulkhead just glanced at Bumblebee and Starscream. The sound of Megatron's booming pedes rumbled through the air as he approached.

"Starscream, he is going to walk by us—"

Megatron stopped to talk to somebody.

"He's going to pass right by us—"

Shouting was heard. Megatron yelled something.

"And Starscream, you are going to be just—"

The cave was lit up with a brilliant violet flash as Megatron's fusion cannon went off. A deep booming noise split the air and for a moment all Starscream could hear was static. Dust fell from the ceiling and the four of them just stood there in the dark, their frames frozen. Megatron drew nearer.

"And you are going to be just fine," Bumblebee softly finished.

Starscream took a shaky vent and nodded.

"What's with your optics? They're way crazy bright!" Bulkhead said.

Starscream blinked and Bumblebee moved back to consider him.

Arcee scoffed. "Your fear is making your optics far too bright. You'll need to offline them."

Starscream froze. He needed to be able to see, needed to be able to see the precise moment Megatron found them so could look for a way out, so he could look out as he ran away from him and escaped. The bright red glow from his optics cast the Autobot's frames into deep shadow.

"You need to shut them, Screamer," Bulkhead said.

Bumblebee just looked at him, a silent plea in his field. "We'll keep an eye out for you, Starscream. I promise."

"You promised to help bring justice," the memory of Megatron's voice snarled at him. Except Megatron was no longer just a memory, he was here, he was about to pass right by them, and Starscream had to miss all of it.

The Autobot's fields wavered out into the air, cold with fear and anxiety and the stench of distrust. So much distrust. They didn't trust him, and he didn't trust them either.

Megatron began walking again.

Thump. Thump.

Bumblebee let out a desperate warble. "Please, Starscream. Please."

Starscream did not trust them. But he had to. He offlined his optics.

The sound of Megatron's massive pedes vibrated through the ground itself and into Starscream's frame.

Thump. Thump.

Please leave. Starscream thought. Please leave.

His massive field roiled and thrashed around his frame like an angry storm. Starscream held his own field tight to his frame and shrunk farther into the wall.

Please leave.

Megatron's field briefly lashed out again and sent static racing across the curves of Starscream's armor. Megatron's massive vents sent hot blasts of air and swirling particles of dust onto their frames.

Please leave. Please leave.

Megatron stopped walking right outside where they were hidden.

Just leave!

The bright red glow from his optics lit up the cavern and made the stalagmites cast deep shadows onto the ground. Starscream shut his own optics, tensed up, ready to defend himself at any moment—

Megatron moved along, his pedes sending vibrations through the air as he stomped away.

Thump. Thump.

Starscream just continued to sit there, his armor tight against his frame and his wings held down to the ground. He let out a heavy vent and slid to the floor as he let his panicked and frazzled field burst away from his frame.

"Oh, Primus," he shakily breathed out. The rocks had cut into his frame and left scratches in his armor, but that didn't matter. Megatron hadn't found him, and that was what mattered here.

A servo landed on his shoulder.

Starscream shrieked and slammed backwards. Bumblebee beeped in alarm and held his servos out.

"It's just me! It's just me!"

Fore once, Starscream was glad to see the scout. "It's just you," he numbly repeated.

Bumblebee nodded. "Just us. And no Megatron."

Starscream dragged a shaking servo down his faceplate as Arcee called for a groundbridge. He could still feel the static from Megatron's field crackling over his wings, could still hear his voice booming around in his helm.

He flinched as a groundbridge opened up in front of them. For a split moment he thought he'd see Soundwave emerge from it, but all he saw was an endless vortex of light.

"Let's go! This place is giving me the heebie jeebies!" Bulkhead said as he transformed and drove through. Arcee took one last look at Bumblebee and Starscream before doing the same.

Bumblebee just looked at him, his field radiating concern. "You ready to leave?"

"Primus, yes!" Starscream shook out. He jumped up to his pedes and was about to step through the groundbridge—

Megatron's pedeprints were there in the dirt. The bright light of the groundbridge lit up the deep grooves into the ground where he had stomped right by.

Bumblebee put a servo on his wing. "It's just us. And no Megatron."

Starscream nodded and let out a shaky exhale from his vents. "Just us," he repeated. But he didn't believe it, not one bit. Megatron hadn't caught him that time, but what about next time? Or the time after that? Or the time after that?

How long would it be until his pedes met Megatron's again?

Starscream took one last look at the trail of prints leading into the darkness. He ran through the groundbridge.


Megatron was behind him. When was he not? He was always there.

A massive servo landed on his shoulder. He flinched.

"Starscream," Megatron breathed out, his servo tightening.

Starscream's wings shot down. He could feel the sheer heat from Megatron's massive frame seeping into his own smaller frame. He could feel his enormous field blaring hot static and a sickening miasma of rage and a hundred other emotions. Megatron's field was a wild complex thing that was always a challenge to decipher. But Starscream always felt the rage in his field. Always.

"You have failed me," Megatron growled directly into his audials.

Starscream whirled around. What did he do wrong? What mission was this? Soundwave stood behind Megatron, but he was of no help. He just stood there in the warlord's shadow, silently watching. Silently recording.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself, Starscream?" Megatron hissed out as his hold on Starscream's shoulder tightened. A sharp burst of paint shot through Starscream's shoulder. He could feel the metal denting and breaking underneath his grasp.

"I… it wasn't me!" he shook out as he tried to wrench himself free from Megatron's grasp. It wasn't his fault! Or maybe it was? Everything was always cast into black and white, everything was either his fault or not his fault at all.

It was never Megatron's fault something went wrong, though. Never.

"You have failed me!" he shouted. His servo tightened so much on his shoulder on his shoulder and Starscream felt his energon drip free—

And then suddenly he was being thrown through the air. Starscream landed with a clang on the other side of the room.

"You thought you could get away with it, didn't you, Starscream?" Megatron growled as he stomped over to him. Starscream used to believe he could hide whatever he wanted from Megatron. Now he knew better.

"I see everything, Starscream." Megatron crouched down onto a single knee and leaned down over Starscream's prone frame until they were just inches apart. "Everything. I am always with you, always, so think carefully about your choices."

Starscream nodded. His shoulder was a bloody mess. "I won't fail you again! I'll bring justice! Just like I promised!"

"About time, Starscream!" Megatron sent him skidding across the deck with a massive kick. "Bring justice!"

Starscream was frozen. Megatron wasn't himself, not at all. There was a wild and feral look in his optics as he sent him hurling across the deck. Starscream didn't know what he did wrong, but he had failed to fulfill his goal of bringing justice. The word "justice" didn't even seem recognizable anymore—he didn't remember what it meant. He just remembered what it felt like when Megatron kicked him.

He would bring justice, just like he promised. Except the thing was, Starscream had no idea how to go about doing that anymore. No idea at all.