The more knowledge you had, the more powerful you were. And Soundwave was very powerful.
He glided through the crashed ship like a ghost. This abandoned Autobot warship had failed to destroy the Decepticons eons ago in some long-forgotten battle back then. But Soundwave would use it to destroy the Autobots now in the present day. They were a desperate group, ready to scavenge and take whatever information they possibly could. They would find energon in this ship and more, so much more.
A thousand files were loaded up into his processor, each one full of violence. One file contained a picture of Starscream standing tall over the energon-covered frame of an Autobot he had slaughtered. Another file contained footage of Starscream soaring and sweeping over a Cybertronian city as he unleashed a flurry of fire. The Autobots wouldn't know what city Starscream was destroying in that footage—that did not matter. What mattered was the evidence of the act itself.
Soundwave was hardly seen and hardly heard by other bots, but that did not mean he wasn't seeing and hearing everything. Every moment of the war, every bot who had been deactivated by his talons, every single city burnt away—all of that information was stored within him.
Soundwave dug deep into his memory banks and pulled out all of the most gruesome, most bloody footage of Starscream slaying Autobots he could possibly find. He let a thousand years of violence load up into his processor and flicked through each file, each piece of evidence of each crime Starscream ever committed in this war.
The Autobots were liars, they had to be. Soundwave did not know what they lied about giving the Seeker in exchange for his treachery, or what lies Starscream crafted to wheedle his way into their ranks.
All Soundwave knew was the bloody truth about how awful Starscream truly was. The truth was all it took to tear apart a lie, no matter how well-crafted the lie was. Soundwave let the truth of Starscream's crimes load up into his processor—every moment of Starscream during the war, every bot he deactivated, every city he burnt down—all of the footage and files and evidence of Starscream's war crimes downloaded into Soundwave's helm.
They thought they knew the extent of Starstarscream's crimes, but only Soundwave truly knew the extent. Only Soundwave stood beside Starscream and kept track of his trail of destruction as the Nemesis aimlessly wandered through the dark spaces between the stars. Only Soundwave knew of all of the crimes Starscream committed while the Decepticons ventured through space alone, far from any Autobots.
Once the Autobots know of the true extent of those crimes, they'd drop the Seeker like the worthless trash he was. Then all Soundwave had to do was come pick him up and return Starscream to his rightful place aboard the Nemesis.
Soundwave glided through the crashed and ruined ship as he brought the ancient systems back to life one by one. He stood at the mouth of the crumbling ship and looked out into the night sky before sending out one pulse, one lone signal. By the end of the day Starscream would be back in Megatron's grasp after the Autobots exile him from their team upon discovering the true extent of his crimes. And once Megatron had ahold of Starscream, he would not let go of him again.
The Autobots would have to be powerful and clever in order to see through the Seeker's lies. He'd lie, he'd scheme, he'd try to do everything he could to convince them that he was worth keeping. But no lie was more powerful than the truth, though, and Soundwave would do whatever it took to deliver the truth of Starscream's crimes to the Autobots.
Knowledge was power after all, and Soundwave was about to give the Autobots all the knowledge they could ever need about Starscream.
For once, Soundwave wanted the Autobots to be powerful.
Starscream woke up and just stared at the ceiling. He could still hear the cries of dying mechs and the vast skeletal frames of Iacon's towers crumbling in the breeze. He could still hear Optimus's words echoing in his helm.
The coordinates of the mine D-16 hovered on his HUD.
"I should give it to them," Starscream mumbled to himself as he stared at the coordinates. It would have been so easy, so terribly easy to just hand over his most prosperous mine over to the Autobots—they just needed the coordinates.
Starscream got up, rose to his pedes, and he just stared at the door. And stared. All he had to was comm somebody, let them come in and he could give them the best mine he'd ever created—but something made him stop.
Megatron's voice whispered in his helm. "You will always return to me, Starscream. Always."
He may have been in the Autobot base in that moment, but a part of him always remained there on the Nemesis with Megatron.
Anxiety suddenly rose up in his field. He backed away from the door and pressed himself against the wall. He wasn't sure why, but the idea of sending over all those precious coordinates over to Optimus frightened him. He'd worked so hard to ensure that this one mine never fell into Autobot servos, and there he was considering it giving it to them. The idea of sending the mine coordinates over to the Prime made him feel is if he were ripping away a part of himself.
His chronometers kept on ticking down. The ultimatum was coming. Soon he'd have to choose to stay with the Autobots or to return to Megatron. He just wanted to flop back onto his thin berth and not think about anything for the next year. But he didn't have a year—he just had two days.
Starscream let out a shaky vent. He knew what he had to choose—he just didn't know if he could go through with the choice. He let out a shaky breath and took in a deep vent—
And he smelled ash.
Vos was lost to him.
Starscream laid there on the ground and just stared up at the smoking husks of Vos's glistening spires. Once they had stood so tall that he had to crane his neck cabling up to see their glittering pinnacles. Now they were nothing but skeletal frames against the red sky.
—Starscream flinched suddenly. He was in his cell in the Autobot base, not on Cybertron. Cybertron was far, far away—
Starscream kicked his way through the debris and walked past the deactivated frames of fallen Seekers.
Iacon shone off to the east like a sun. Vos was rubble and ash, but Iacon was still glistening and intact. For now. His optics were blurry and had ash stuck in them, yet he could still see Iacon perfectly clearly. The grounders had ensured that their city was protected.
"I can't even find my trinemates in this mess! Stupid Council, stupid war," Starscream snarled as he stomped through the debris. "Stupid grounders, stupid—"
—"Slag it!" Starscream swore. He punched the concrete wall and watched it crack as he stood there. The memories were coming back now. He could not afford to let them come back, couldn't get lost back in the horror of that day again—
A massive ship flew overhead. A sudden feeling of hope burst through his spark and then immediately faded away as the silver ship's insignia came into view. The stern face of the Autobot brand stared down from beneath the ship's smooth silver hull. A single large burn mark was seared into its side. It shot off into the sky, not caring at all about the Seekers dying below it as it activated its hot blue engines and arced off into the night.
Starscream stared at the ship that helped to murder his people and felt pure rage in his spark, hot overwhelming rage that made static appear in his vision and made his armor tense up—
A faint whining noise echoed through the empty streets.
Starscream's helm shot up and he ran towards the faint sound, his spark pulsing in his chestplates as he knelt down beside a pile of rubble. He shoved the frame of a dead Seeker aside and saw the glint of bright paint down below.
"Hold on! No, wait, hold on, I've got you—"
He grunted as he hooked his arms around a large piece of rubble and threw it aside, revealing another Seeker buried in the dirt and debris down below. A brief burst of disappointment shot through his field when he saw that it wasn't one of his trinemates. The Seeker looked up at him, her optics faint and dim and her armor smeared with spilt energon.
"I've got you! I've got you, you survived the bombing too, I'll help you, I can find help—"
"Stay here," she said weakly. A trickle of energon leaked out of her intake.
"Slag it, don't be like that! I'll get you out of there and you'll be fine, you'll see—"
"Stay here. Be here. Promise me," she said softly.
"Help is coming! Help has to be coming, right? Right. Don't be like that, I don't know who you are, but I'll get you out of this," Starscream said. She just looked at him.
The rubble around them shifted and a bright light became visible. Starscream blinked. Perhaps it was the light of an approaching medic or the optics of another Seeker, maybe his trinemates—
Starscream blinked again and cleared the ash from his optics. That light wasn't coming from beyond the rubble, that light was shining from within the rubble itself. Starscream brushed away some debris with his servo and revealed more of the Seeker's frame. He felt his spark stop in his chestplates.
The light came from her spark. And it was growing dimmer and dimmer.
Starscream just stared at the shredded and torn open hole that was her torso. She blinked slowly and more energon trickled out of her intake.
"Stay here. Be here," she repeated.
Not even the finest medic could treat such a raw spark wound.
Starscream's vents shuddered as he nodded and sat down beside her. "I'm here, I'm here."
He just stayed there and held her servo as he listened to her vents shudder and quake. He didn't know how long he stayed there beside her.
Vos continued to burn around them. The wind continued to whistle through the empty and broken buildings. Iacon continued to shine off in the distance.
No help ever came.
The sound of pedesteps stomped up the road.
Starscream's optics shot open and he looked around the bend. Finally, someone had bothered to show up.
"Get your aft over here, whoever you are and come help me! She's dying!"
A large mech walked up to him. The bright glow of the burning spires cast his faceplate into deep shadow and obscured his frame. All Starscream could see of the newcomer was his massive silhouette tower over him.
"Please, help her!"
"There is no one there to help," the stranger said.
"Shut up, loser! She's right there, can't you see?" Starscream snapped at the stranger. He turned back to the dying Seeker, ready to reassure her, and his spark sank in his chestplates.
Where her spark had once shone was only darkness. Her frame was cold and grey.
Starscream just knelt there and his jaw dropped as his frame shook.
"...Can't you see?" the stranger repeated.
"See what? How she's dead?!" Starscream snarled. Hot rage filled every cable of his being. Rage for Iacon, rage for himself for not being able to do anything, and rage at this stranger who showed up and did nothing to help.
"What is there to see?" Starscream screeched again.
The large mech's optics burned bright red in the dark gloom. "Do you see why she died?"
"Because she was injured, you slagger!"
The massive mech stepped forward out of the shadows. Starscream felt his breath leave his vents all at once.
"She died because she was injured, yes. But she was injured cause the towersmecha chose to kill her," Megatron said.
"What—you get away from here! I know what you're here for. Vos wants no part of your war!"
"Vos is dead. The dead do not want nor speak. But you live. You want. You speak. You speak out against the injustice wrought here. You want revenge."
"Of course I do!" Starscream said. "Just go away, warlord."
"Oh, Starscream. I am always here and I always have been."
"What?" Starscream scoffed. He was covered in energon, he couldn't find his trinemates, his frame ached, and his spark ached even more. "I don't have time for your riddles."
"I speak no riddles. Riddles hide the truth. I do not hide the truth, I reveal the truth! I have always been here! Do you feel that rage in your spark? Do you feel that rage within you waiting to be let free? That raging part of you that wants justice, can you feel it, Starscream?"
"Yes, I'm upset! So what?!"
Megatron leaned over him and his massive field enveloped Starscream's. Starscream gagged as Megatron's enormous field overwhelmed his. He felt like he was in a massive maelstrom of hot static and determination and injustice and rage, so much rage.
"Feel my rage. I know you feel the same way as I do. Why sit here in the rubble and let our anger consume us when we can instead use our anger for a grand purpose?"
"Use it for what?" He knew he should just transform and fly away, he knew he should just leave and fine his trinemates and then grab ahold of Skywarp and Thundercracker and never ever let them go. But something about Megatron intrigued him. Wrath bubbled and frothed in his own field. He felt it in Megatron's too.
"This is what I meant when I said that I have always been here, Starscream. I am rage incarnate. I was placed upon Cybertron to rage against the injustice of our world. You feel that same rage, too. You and I are one in the same." Megatron leaned in until his field completely and utterly enveloped Starscream's and it formed a massive hissing field of hot static and pure anger.
"We are not the same," Starscream said weakly as Megatron's field consumed his own.
"We are, oh, but we are. Be strong for yourself! Be strong for me! Fight back against the Council!"
"They're dangerous! What if they just kill me? I don't..." Starscream choked out as the hot static of Megatron's field overwhelmed him. "I do want the Council to die, but right now I don't want to fight anybody… I just want to find my trine and go home."
"Oh, Starscream," Megatron sighed as sympathy filled his field. "You no longer have a home. The Council has seen to that. You must fight back! You are dangerous, too! You are a weapon that can be wielded! Do not waste your potential on pathetic and fleeting notions of peace—fight for vengeance, for justice!"
"Frag off!" Starscream hissed at him as he flared his wings. "I'm not going to destroy bots! I'm not! Well, I'd like to hurt the specific mechs responsible for burning Vos, but—"
Starscream wasn't sure, but he swore he saw Megatron's optics twitch.
"—but I'm not going to go killing bots left and right for you! I'm a scientist! I create!"
"What place does creation have in this world of destruction?" Megatron said as he stomped towards him. "All that you and your people have created has been reduced to rubble. Now it is time to reduce their murderer's creations to rubble!"
The idea was tantalizing, Starscream could admit that much. To see Iacon burn the same way Vos had would be a grand act of revenge. Starscream shook himself. His trinemates had told him to be wary of Megatron.
"I have a purpose, a place in the grand design set forth by Primus. I am his chosen," Megatron said proudly.
Starscream frowned. "Uh, isn't the new Prime the chosen?"
"He's an imposter!" Megatron shouted suddenly. "He's a traitor and a thief, that is what he is! Orion Pax needed the Matrix of Leadership to make him into something great. I need no rusty artifact to make myself into something great—I was able to make myself into something strong and powerful and mighty all by my own. I have no need for Primehood and no need for relics. I just need myself."
Megatron knelt down until he and Starscream were faceplate to faceplate. "Leave these relics of the past behind and join me. You do not need towersmecha towering over you any longer. Make yourself stronger by joining me! I have need of Seekers, and you are a Seeker in need of a purpose."
"A purpose?" Starscream duly repeated. The word meant nothing to him anymore. Once he had been a scientist and dreamed of creating grand things for a grand future. Now he was a criminal covered in rubble. There was no place for dreams and grand purposes in the ashen world that was now their home.
"No, I need to go," Starscream said as he began to walk off. Every single word Megatron spoke rang true in his spark, but he knew he had to be cautious. He could feel Megatron's presence behind him, the way his optics stared at Starscream as the Seeker walked away—-
"They tried you for a crime you did not commit," Megatron said as he grabbed ahold of Starscream's servo and pulled him back to him.
Starscream froze and felt his spark pulse in his chestplates. He couldn't possibly be talking about the Council, could he?
"You were the most talented amongst the students, the most educated. You were Iacon's finest—"
"Stop!" Starscream snarled at him as he wrenched his servo away from Megatron.
" —you were their finest, but you had wings, and for that last reason alone the towersmecha decided that you must die. They tried to kill you three times—"
"You know nothing about me! Nothing!" Starscream shouted as he jumped back. Each painful word sunk into his spark and brought back even more painful memories.
" —they tried to kill you three times, do not deny it. First with an icestorm on a foreign world, then with false claims of murder, then with the wrath of the Enforcers. Thrice they tried to snuff your spark and thrice they failed. You are a warframe and a scientist, a destroyer and a creator all at once. Help me destroy the towersmecha and carve out the cancer that is the Council from Cybertron. Then help me create a better Cybertron."
Starscream got up and began to walk backwards as he tried to narrowly avoid tripping upon the fallen frames and rubble. Megatron got up and followed him as he towered over him, his field hard and stern as it blazed with determination. He rose up and blocked out the sight of the distant glowing towers of Iacon.
He couldn't possibly join Megatron, he just wasn't meant for the life of a soldier. "Just go away! Destroying... it isn't.. creating—"
Megatron leaned in and grabbed ahold of Starscream's wrist. He pulled the Seeker close until all Starscream could see was Megatron's faceplate as it loomed inches before his.
"Then help me create destruction."
Starscream growled and wrenched his arm away. Megatron had left a dent in his wrist. "We can't build a better home if we just keep destroying our home, you slagger!"
"The trappings of the old era must be burnt away so that the new era can grow in its ashes."
Starscream tripped over the prone frame of a fallen Seeker. He whirled around and unsheathed his talons, his wings high and his armor flared. It only seemed to amuse Megatron.
"Yeah, well, if I burn everything, then what's stopping me from burning up too?"
"Burn for me. Be strong for me! Help me create a new future where gladiators, Seekers, and shuttles alike can all live in peace."
Shuttles.
An image of Skyfire rose unbidden to his processor. He remembered the way his frame towered over him, but not in a threatening way, never in a threatening way. His field had been warm and friendly and so so kind—
Starscream slashed at Megatron with his talons and left three bleeding gashes in his chestplate. Megatron said nothing and merely looked at him. He looked down at the energon leaking down his frame and wiped it away with his servo as if the blood spilt meant nothing to him.
"Join me and burn Iacon. Do it for Vos. Do it for me. Do it for yourself. Do it for her. Be there for her. Follow me," Megatron said as he stretched out his energon-covered servo.
Starscream looked at his servo. He looked at his rapidly falling energon levels data on his HUD. He looked out past Megatron and at the glistening towers of Iacon.
Starscream ran. He transformed and flew away into the ashen clouds as Megatron watched him fly off from below.
"Soon I will burn them, Starscream! And you will be there to help me!" he shouted at the Seeker as he flew away.
Starscream sent a pulse of power to his engines and flew faster and faster until Megatron was a silver speck on the debris laden ground far below. He flew faster and faster into the ruins of Vos, the only Seeker left where there had once been a million.
A memory drifted up from Starscream's processor of a certain shuttle. Skyfire had told him that one day they'd find a mech worth following, a mech worth creating something for.
Starscream kept flying and flying. Megatron watched him vanish. Soon he'd have Starscream in his servos. Soon.
He just stood there and stared at the wall. His processor throbbed with pain and his vents began to whir as they tried to clear away nonexistent ash from his frame.
"Oh, Primus," Starscream mumbled to himself. He fell forward and just rested his forehelm right on the cold wall.
He hadn't had a memory trip that bad since… since Megatron returned to the Nemesis after his long absence. Megatron had a tendency to always bring up bad memories.
Starscream growled and punched the wall again. The smell of burnt Seekers roasting away in the flames drifted through his vents, but they weren't real and he would not, could not allow himself to think they were real again, not even for a moment—-
"Starscream."
"Gah! Yes, hello, that is… I." Starscream whirled around, his spark in his throat. Optimus stood in the doorway and just stared at him.
"Come with me," Prime said before he walked away.
Starscream watched him move away back into the shadows. He blinked and checked his chronometer. The sun hadn't even risen yet.
Starscream moved to follow him when he felt something wet trickle down his servo. He held up his talon and saw the bright blue glint of energon well up from a small crack in his digits. Starscream sighed and wiped the blood away before he ran after the Prime into the main room.
"We have intercepted several Decepticon communications," Optimus continued. "They seem to be very interested in a crashed Autobot ship and greatly desire to find it and its resources. We are going to go on a mission to find it before they do."
"Please don't pair me up with the big green Autobot again, he kept making Seeker puns."
Bulkhead laughed. "Don't get flighty on me, Screamer!"
Starscream made a choking noise. "Primus, end me now—"
"It will be just you and I, Starscream," Optimus said.
Starscream blinked. He wasn't about to complain. A day free from two-wheelers and Wreckers was a good day indeed. But the way Optimus declared that it would just be the two of them left him with a sense of unease. He'd poured his spark out to the Prime so many times now. It now felt strange to be alone with him, this massive mech whom he had once wanted to kill and who he now followed.
"I desire to speak to you alone," Optimus said as if reading his processor. The computer console pinged and lit up.
"Ah… Did I do something wrong?"
For a moment, Optimus just looked sad. "No—"
"PRIME!"
The sound of the elevator pinging open echoed through the base. All of the Autobots froze. Starscream turned around and looked for the bot who had shouted, but saw no one.
"Either the Decepticons are having a luau, or they're raiding the Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii! And they're not wearing hula skirts, I can tell you that!" a very angry human shouted as he stomped onto the mezzanine.
Bumblebee suddenly lunged forward and pushed Starscream down until he and Bumblebee were both in a crouch beneath the mezzanine. He held a digit to his battlemask and made a shushing motion. Starscream just blinked. Why the slag was the scout hiding him from a human?
"I will send Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee to deal with this threat," Optimus said.
"You better! General Bryce has questions, Prime. The whole government does!"
"I have questions," Starscream quietly hissed to Bumblebee. "Who the slag is that?"
"Is it true a Con jumped sides and is now in your base?" Fowler shouted up at Prime.
"Is it true that I am hiding from a fleshie?" Starscream hissed to Bumblebee.
"Yes, Agent Fowler," Optimus said as he ignored the very angry Seeker hidden by his pedes. "Starscream has defected and is now seeking a better life with us."
Bulkhead snorted. "Seeking, ha!"
"Please end this. Please!" Starscream harshly whispered to Bumblebee. Bumblebee just warbled and beeped.
"Starscream? As in… Starscream?"
Optimus nodded. "Yes."
"...that Starscream?" the human mumbled.
"Yes, human, now shut up! How many Starscreams do you know?" Starscream snapped as he stood up from his hiding place.
"Wha—he's here? Prime, care to explain why you're chatting with a loose Con? Shouldn't he be in a cell?!"
"Yes, shouldn't he?" Arcee asked as she crossed her arms.
Starscream looked down and saw a very small and very angry human in a suit stare up at him.
Ratchet cleared his intake. "Ah, Agent Fowler. Meet Starscream, he has defected—"
"I thought when you said that you brought Starscream in, he was in a cell. Not strutting around your base!"
"He's not strutting around our base!" Bulkhead said.
"Well, then why is he right there?"
"He doesn't strut around the base, he just… kinda walks around the base?" Bulkhead stuttered.
"How is that any better?" Fowler scowled.
"Fowler, we must speak in private. Autobots..." Optimus began to say as he turned to look at all of them. All of them, including Starscream. "...I must speak to Agent Fowler alone."
Bumblebee suddenly grabbed ahold of Starscream's servo and pulled him into a side room with Bulkhead, Ratchet and Arcee. The five of them just sat there and watched the human's shadow and Prime's shadow argue on the wall.
They all looked at Starscream warily and their fields flowed around them tightly with a slight hitch. The raw doubt in their fields blared out into the air and made Starscream lock his armor up tight around him defensively.
"You're all acting as if I'm going to flip out and kill the fleshbag," Starscream sighed as he rolled his optics.
"We can tell you're thinking it," Bulkhead said.
"Starscream, once you're a Con, you're always a Con. You can't escape that cycle of violence," Arcee said.
"He's only good for destruction! He's going to destroy something, Prime," Fowler said from the main room.
"He is helping us destroy the Decepticons," Optimus's voice echoed. Even from the side-room he was in Starscream could still feel the determination in the Prime's field.
"Pfft, he just wants to destroy Megatron. Prime, what in the world made you think it would be a good idea to adopt some crazy con as if he were some stray dog?"
Starscream's armor clenched together and he resisted the urge to run out and yell at the human. Bumblebee's servo grabbed ahold of his shoulder and he pulled him close.
"Stay here! Be here!" he beeped in alarm.
Starscream could hear the frown in Optimus's voice. "He is not a crazy stray dog, Fowler, although Megatron did treat him like one."
"You deserved it," Arcee hissed. Starscream lunged forward and only Bulkhead's massive servos held him back.
"Arcee, don't rile him up even more," Bulkhead said as he pulled Starscream away from her.
"I'm not some dog—" Starscream snarled.
"We very rarely get the opportunity to get intel straight from a former Decepticon. Few of them ever defect. Megatron keeps tight control over them. Thanks to Starscream, I know that other Decepticons might perhaps be spurred on to defect to us as well."
"Megatron isn't the kind of mech you can walk away from, Prime!"
Starscream leaned back and let his helm hit the wall. No matter where he went, Megatron's shadow followed him.
"He can be walked away from. It can be done."
"What, is this not the first time you've snatched some Con away from him?"
"I was once his brother. If I could escape him, then so could Starscream."
Fowler was silent for several moments. "If Megatron saw you as his brother once… then what did he see Starscream as? What role did Starscream play? Did he see him as another brother?"
"... He saw him as something to abuse."
Starscream just offlined his optics and let out a deep vent. The Autobots just stared at him. Bumblebee moved over to him and Starscream flinched away.
"Megatron failed to realize just how valuable Starscream truly is."
"He can't be that valuable, can he?" the human scoffed.
"Yes, Fowler, he was the Decepticon's second-in-command."
"What if he's just using you all so that he can become their first-in-command?"
"No, Fowler. No. He is using me to better himself and I am using him to help win this war. I understand that this is a very risky situation and that he has personally harmed you—"
"How many people has he harmed? He killed your own soldiers, you're going to just look past that?"
Arcee just stared at him, her optics bright and sharp. Bumblebee just warbled sadly.
"I look past nothing. I have seen his crimes and I will still try to help him make up for them."
"Some things can't be undone."
"I can get him to stop committing crimes by ensuring that he does not have the opportunity to commit them in the first place. If he sees the error of his ways and he uses his intelligence to end this war by joining us, he will have the chance to help bring justice to all of the other criminals amongst the Decepticons."
The human let out a deep and heavy sigh.
"Do you really think he's going to follow you?" the human sighed.
"I do, Fowler. I do."
The Autobots just watched the Seeker, their optics full of doubt. Starscream clenched his fists tighter. The cracks in his servo opened back up and began to drip out energon again.
"He won't be able to let go of his crazy rage so easily—"
"He can let go. I know he can."
"Can you really?" Arcee asked him. All three of the Autobots just stared at him.
Starscream shrank back into the wall. He clenched his fists even tighter and felt the tips of his talons cut into the mesh of his servo and draw more energon.
"Prime… I've chosen to trust you. Don't make me regret that choice!"
"You will not regret this choice, Agent Fowler. I will make Starscream follow me. I will see to that."
Starscream felt his spark pulse in his chestplates. He didn't know what he was feeling—if it was fear coiling in his chestplates or anticipation or even excitement. Optimus's words rang in his helm.
There was silence.
"...Good. I'm reporting this to General Bryce, Prime. When the Con acts up…"
"He won't act up."
"When, and I mean when—because we know he will act up sooner or later—when he acts up, we need to know."
"I can assure you, Agent, that there is no need to be concerned. Starscream is genuinely trying to become an Autobot. So far he is doing...well."
"Prime, I just heard that hesitation in your voice just now! He's doing 'well'? What does 'well' mean?"
Starscream leaned against the wall and dragged his servos down his faceplate. Well. That was a strange word. It implied being healthy and happy and those were two things Starscream hadn't been in a long time. Not in Iacon, not on all of Cybertron, not on the Nemesis...
But here in the base with the Autobots...
"He is doing the best that he can, Fowler. He will follow me."
He didn't understand why he felt compelled to follow after the Prime, or why the sight of him walking away from him made his spark ache, or why he felt only occasional fear around the Prime—
He felt well when he was around the Prime. The same couldn't be said for the other Autubots—
"He will redeem himself," Optimus continued.
—but he knew he had a friend in Optimus, at least.
The human sighed. "Good. Now can you help me bust up those Cons ransacking Hawaii?"
The main room lit up with a flash of green light as Ratchet activated the groundbridge. They all gave Starscream one last glance before they all came back into the main room and began to pass through the groundbridge. Arcee drove through and never looked back, Bulkhead shared a look with Prime before he drove through—and Bumblebee—
Bumblebee quietly spoke to Optimus in front of the bridge in hushed tones. Optimus glanced over at Starscream.
Starscream snorted. He could feel the human's tiny fleshy optics staring at him.
"Got a problem, fleshbag?"
The human crossed his arms. "I've got a Con problem. Don't think for a moment I'll forget what you did to me! None of us will forget what you've done."
Starscream sneered at him. "Good. Remember what I'm capable of, fleshbag."
"It is time to leave," Optimus said as he walked over to him. Ratchet reset the bridge and Optimus exchanged one last look with the human before he transformed and drove through the groundbridge. Starscream followed right behind.
"All right, what did you want to talk to me about?" Starscream sighed as he and Optimus walked into a forest.
"We are headed to find an old crashed ship. We have no idea how it got here, however, but we want to see if it has any supplies left. I also wanted to talk to you about..." Optimus trailed off and frowned.
"So, what did I do wrong this time?" Starscream sighed.
Optimus just looked at him in confusion.
Starscream rolled his optics. "Oh, don't be coy with me. That was Megatron's thing. He'd say nothing was wrong really, really softly, and then next thing I know I'm being thrown across the room and—"
He suddenly stopped speaking. He'd always tried so hard to control his words and never let out any information, and there he was just pouring himself out to the Prime. The woods felt colder all of a sudden and Optimus just stood there and stared at him.
"That. I wanted to talk to you about… that," Optimus finally said.
Starscream scoffed. "Throwing me across the room?"
Optimus just shook his helm. "No, I want to know why you joined Megatron."
Starscream stopped walking all of a sudden and just stared off into space. He should've known this question would come, why he joined the wrong side all those years ago. Starscream wasn't sure if he was ready to let the Autobots know.
"...Starscream?"
He himself wasn't even sure if he even knew why he joined the Decepticons.
"Because the Autobots and the Council bombed Vos, Prime," Starscream said softly.
Optimus frowned. "There is more to it than that. All these years I have wondered what compelled mechs to join my broth—that is, my enemy. If I can understand why they joined him, I can understand how to get them all to defect."
"It won't be that easy," Starscream laughed bitterly.
"Why not?"
"Slag it, Prime!" Starscream snapped as he whirled around. "You can't save everybody, okay? You can't save the Decepticons or… or the Vosians, or her—"
—he grunted as he hooked his arms around a large piece of rubble and threw it aside, revealing a Seeker buried in the dirt and debris down below—
Starscream scowled and walked off farther into the woods. The sooner he got this stupid mission over with, the sooner he could get away from the Prime and his piercing questions.
The clouds shifted and something reflective shined in the woods. The light glinted off of the smooth silver hull of a crashed ship and shone upon the stern Autobot brand on the bottom of the smooth metal hull.
"Starscream?"
The ship was in a state of extreme disrepair. Rust covered its every surface, the inner frames were bared and rotten, and yet—
"No, no this can't possibly be it," Starscream mumbled as he stepped back. He'd so many Autobot ships, there was no way the ship before him could be that ship, that ship he'd seen soaring over Vos after blasting the city to smithereens. This couldn't be that ship, it couldn't—
Starscream ran up the hill and up to the hull. He cleared away years of vines and leaves and other organic junk to reveal the familiar silver hull. A large burn mark was seared into the side of the Autobot insignia.
Rage flared up in his spark. "I remember this ship."
Optimus's field hovered around him cautiously. He said nothing.
"I remember this ship, Prime," Starscream repeated as he turned around, his servos clenched into fists by his sides. He had reopened the cracks in his servo he got that morning and now energon was bleeding down his fists. "I remember it. It killed Vos."
Optimus was silent. "Do you want to leave?"
Starscream just stared at the rusted insignia. This ship was apart of the reason Vos was dead, apart of the reason he joined Megatron and went through the Pits, part of the reason she had died—
"Stay here," the dying Seeker had said. "Be here."
His wings lowered on his back. "I had a duty," Starscream said softly, so softly as he looked up at the massive hull that loomed over him. Rage flared in his spark. "I had a duty to destroy the ships and stop them from bombing Vos. I failed. I could not destroy this ship back then. But that doesn't mean I can't destroy it now."
Starscream whirled around suddenly and looked Optimus right in the optics. "Let me destroy this—this montrosity," he hissed.
Optimus shook his helm and placed his servos atop Starscream's shoulders. "No, Starscream. Do you think ravaging this place will really help you?"
"Yes!"
"Do you really think that?"
"I have spent the last thousand years hating this ship, raging against it! And now I have an opportunity to rid the universe of it. Let me destroy it!"
Optimus looked up at the massive creaking hull. "Destroying is not creating—"
Starscream froze.
"We cannot build a better home—"
"Do not use my words against me!"
"If we keep destroying our home—"
"Optimus—"
"If you burn everything, then what's stopping you from burning up too?"
Starscream stepped back from the Prime. "How… how did you know what I said? Were you there? Were you there when Vos burned?"
"I heard you," Optimus said softly. "I heard you reliving the memory in your room. I debated waking you up."
Starscream groaned and dragged his servos down his faceplate. "I just... they're all blurring together. Sometimes… I still feel like I'm there at Vos, or there with Megatron."
"Destroying this ship will not lessen the pain of those memories. It will just make your memories hurt more. I don't want to see you burn up too."
Starscream sighed. "Oh, Optimus. You know I'm already burning up."
Optimus was silent. The ship just continued to sit there as it creaked and groaned in the breeze.
"Do you really want this?" he said after a moment. Starscream wasn't sure, but the Prime's field seemed heavier all of a sudden.
Starscream looked up at Optimus and his red optics blazed bright. "Yes."
"Let go, Starscream. Let go."
Starscream thought of a Seeker dying in the rubble. "Stay here. Be here."
"I can't! I need to destroy this wretched ship, I have to do this for her."
Optimus just stared at him as Starscream stood there while venting heavily. Starscream hadn't meant to say that. One moment he was just looking at the ship, and the next moment he was looking right at the dying Seeker's dimming spark.
Optimus did not ask who he was talking about. He let out a deep and heavy sigh. "All right. But be careful, Starscream. We will retrieve the energon and then dispose of these ruins."
Starscream's wings shot up in glee and he ran for the entrance.
"—But Starscream," Optimus began.
He groaned and turned around. "Yes, Prime?"
"Promise me you'll let go one day. Promise me."
Starscream frowned and his wings drooped on his back.
"Stay here. Be here. Promise me," the dying Seeker said.
"I…"
You failed her, Starscream thought. Don't fail him.
"I promise," he said. He felt a sudden weight descend upon his spark as he said those two words.
Optimus nodded and walked up beside him. The two of them stared into the ship's depths.
"Then let's complete this mission," Optimus said, and they walked deep into the halls of the ship.
Soundwave watched from up high in the trees.
The dead ship was quiet. Too quiet.
"He never was able to let go, either," Optimus suddenly said.
Starscream frowned. "Uh, who?"
Optimus looked down at him. Grief pulsed in his field.
"Oh...him."
"Yes. Him. He remembered so much. Every slight against him, every battle won, every battle lost. He kept track of every secret crime the Council committed, every atrocity, every act of prejudice and oppression—all so that he could reveal the entirety of their crimes to all of Cybertron one day. I used to admire that."
Starscream shook his helm. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"It has to do with everything. I admired his ability to never let go, to remember. He always tried to look deep into the optics of every mech he harmed or killed—so that he could really see whether they regretted their actions or not as they died. Megatron felt that if you were going to be responsible for the end of a mech's life, the very least you could do was really look him in the optics so that you could see what he was feeling as he died. Back when he was a poor gladiator, Megatronus's ability to look bots in the optics and see what they truly felt was all that he really had. He was a good mech, Starscream. But one day…" Optimus frowned and trailed off. "One day, we were standing in a ruined city. The battle had been won, one of the few battles in which we were brothers on the same side. It was done and over with. But according to Megatronus, the battle had only just begun. He would not stop killing the towersmecha. He said that they deserved it for all the destruction they had caused. Megatron left behind ships of dead mechs. He even stopped bothering to look them in the optics as they died. He did not even spare them a single glance."
Starscream's wings fluttered nervously. It had been a long time since Megatron really looked him in the optics without scorn or derision.
"He said that the towersmecha were all murderers, so he killed them all… and after he finished killing a certain mech, we both realized he wasn't a towersmecha."
Starscream began to feel sick.
"I asked him why he killed that mech. He said that the towersmecha needed to be destroyed and that it didn't matter if a few innocents were caught in the carnage."
"That's…"
Starscream thought of a Seeker who died in the rubble. "Be here. Stay here."
Optimus watched Starscream carefully for his reaction before continuing. "He got so attached to burning them away that he burnt himself up as well. That was when he began to stop being my brother." Optimus finished. The Prime watched him very intently.
Starscream didn't even know what to say to that, or why he felt like had actually been on this ship before, or why in the world those words felt so alarming for some reason.
"That is awful. I'm sorry you had to… you had to see that." The ship creaked and groaned around them.
Optimus nodded and narrowed his optics at Starscream. He opened his intake to say something—
The air began to buzz.
Starscream turned around and saw a violet shadow flit past the door.
"Optimus?" Starscream said as dread filled his struts. "He's back."
Optimus leaped into action and transformed his servos into blasters as he scanned the dark halls. Starscream just stood there and sighed. He stared into the darkness and the darkness stared back.
"There's no point in this, Prime," Starscream said softly as his wings fell on his back. Any moment now Soundwave would slink out of the ship's internals, his violet visor pulsing and his cables all stretched out as they reached for him and grabbed him—
"Do not be so pessimistic. We can still avoid him."
"You can avoid him! You're not the one being hunted here." Starscream snapped as he whirled around. He felt a slight shift in the breeze. Soundwave was getting closer.
"If he is going to take you, then he must take me as well."
Starscream just sighed as Optimus went back to scanning. "Can you even take him in a fight?"
"I have defeated him before. He is a difficult opponent, but he is no Megatron."
The air shifted again. Soft pedesteps clinked behind them.
Soundwave was only heard if he wanted to be heard.
"Optimus," Starscream said. He could already feel Soundwave's ever calm and smooth field coldly brush up against his own. "Soundwave is Megatron! He's his shadow! If Soundwave is here, then Megatron is too."
"Right you are, traitor," Megatron's voice said.
Optimus and Starscream spun around. Starscream's talons unsheathed and Optimus charged up his blaster—
—And they looked out at nothing.
"How many times must I drag you back to justice before you learn your lesson, Starscream?" Megatron continued.
The ship creaked above them. Optimus and Starscream looked at each other before looking upwards. Soundwave was crouched in the ceiling rafters up above them, his cables coiled all around the pillars and supporting him as he hovered above their helms. A live image of Megatron's faceplate was on his visor.
"Megatron! If you want me back so badly, why can't you just come and get me in person?" Starscream shouted up at him. Optimus laid a heavy servo on his shoulder and held him back as he shook his fists up at Soundwave.
"I cannot come and retrieve you in person, Starscream. After all, I need to prepare the Nemesis for your arrival," Megatron's voice spoke through Soundwave.
"I will not allow that to happen, Megatron. And you know it," Optimus said
Megatron scoffed. His entire faceplate filled up Soundwave's visor. "You've let me snatch away so many of your soldiers before. Why is your new pet so special? What makes him better than Ironhide, Jazz, or Cliffjumper?"
Optimus clenched his servos. "I protect my own."
"You certainly do, Prime. You also protect murderers!" Megatron laughed.
"I was not the one who murdered all of Iacon."
Megatron stopped laughing for a moment. "You don't know, do you? I wasn't the person who dropped those bombs."
Starscream froze. Oh, Primus, no—
"—the person who dropped those bombs is standing right beside you."
"On your command," Optimus said.
There was a sadistic edge in Megatron's voice now. Even when he was not there in person his presence still smothered and controlled Starscream. Every word Megatron spoke made Starscream's armor lock up and his field freeze around him.
He stepped back and into Optimus's shadow, hardly caring at all that it looked as if he were cowering behind the Prime. He just wanted Soundwave to turn his awful gaze away from him and to not notice him at all.
"I see everything, Prime. I even see you there, Starscream," Megatron said.
Starscream froze behind Optimus. He peeked out past the Prime and saw Soundwave just stare at him, his visor blindingly bright.
"Once you stood behind me for protection, Starstarscream," Megatron said as Soundwave moved closer.
"Stay back, Soundwave," Optimus warned, a sharp edge in his voice as his battlemask snapped shut over his faceplate.
Soundwave just ignored him and walked right up to the two of them. Optimus shoved Starscream farther behind him and moved to block him, making his bright red armor obscure Soundwave's blinding gaze for just a split moment.
"Once you stood behind me for protection," Megatron's voice repeated slowly and smoothly. There was something off in his voice, something strange about his cold and low tone that made Starscream's spark whirl even faster. Soundwave ignored the hot blue blaster barrel pointed right at his chestplate and leaned to the side, slightly revealing the bright violet lines of his visor. His visor flared.
"It was wise of you to seek me out for protection in the past," Megatron's voice said. The sound of metal snapping echoed out from the other end of the transmission. "But it seems you have now traded me in for Prime. What a foolish move, Starscream."
"Megatron, begone! If you desire to confront me, come do so in person. But do not bring Starscream into this. He is now beyond your grasp," Optimus said as he pushed Soundwave away.
"Starscream is always in my grasp! He once used to seek me out for protection because he understood that I was the only one who could protect him!"
"You are also the only one who he needs protection from."
Megatron hissed. "Stop wasting my time, Prime. Hand him over to me!"
"No."
"Then I will have to just come and pick him up in person by myself."
Optimus charged up his blaster. "And I will be there to stop you."
Soundwave moved backwards and stepped back into the shadows, his visor locked onto Starscream.
"Farewell, traitors," Megatron growled out. "I should tell Soundwave to just let him tear into you. I really should. I should just sit here and watch him lunge into action, watch him leap forward and drag the wretched Seeker back to me. All I have to do is give the command."
Soundwave's frame tensed up and his digits curled into fists by his sides.
"Such a simple command to give. Just a few words and Starscream will be mine."
Optimus moved to block Starscream again and he pointed his blaster right at Soundwave as the silent mech's visor flared—
His visor went down.
"But I don't want Starscream to be captured just yet. Not yet. When I come to claim him, I want to come in person. For now, I merely just wanted to check up on the two of you and see how you are all faring with your new… Autobot. If I cannot convince you to hand the wretch over to me right now, perhaps you will be convinced to hand him over to me a bit later. I have a plan to reveal the true depths of his evil to you, Prime. But that is for later. I desire to see just what Starscream traded me in for. How much have you beaten him?"
Optimus growled. "Not at all."
Megatron sighed. "You should, you really should. I was expecting better from you, Prime. How interesting it is to see what Starscream got in exchange for abandoning me. It didn't have to be this way, Prime, so now you have forced me to convince you to drop the Seeker in… other ways. Do you like being with the Prime, Starscream?"
Starscream's wings shot up on his back. "He's shown me more kindness in the course of a single day than you have shown me in a thousand years!" The words just fell right out of his intake.
Optimus turned to look at him, surprise in his field. Shock blared up in Starscream's own field as well. He wasn't sure where those sudden words came from… but they were true. Every single word he spoke was true. And for once in his life, it felt good to be honest.
Megatron roared on the other end of the transmission. The sound of rending and screeching metal tore through the commlink and exploded out of Soundwave's visor. Starscream recognized that odd noise—it was the sound of him hacking a computer console to bits with his sword. He was so used to trying to dodge Megatron's wrathful sword that he never stopped to consider whether he should even be dodging his sword in the first place. He never questioned his bouts of rage, never thought to himself that his violent wrath wasn't right—he just accepted it. It was the way of things.
Not anymore.
"You need to leave," Starscream said as his wings rose up high on his back.
Soundwave just stared at him. Megatron sharply inhaled on the other end of the commlink. For a split moment Starscream thought he'd devolve into another temper tantrum, another angry tirade.
"Well then," Megatron said calmly and patiently. Starscream knew the patience was a lie. "Till' we meet again, traitor. And I can assure you, Starscream… your day of reckoning is very, very near."
"And I will be there for him," Optimus said as he moved to stand beside Starscream.
Megatron growled. "Oh, so you're there for him now, Prime? You were never there for me!"
For a few seconds there was just silence. Megatron breathed heavily on the other end as if shocked by his own words.
"Until next time," Megatron finally finished. Optimus and Starscream watched a groundbridge open up and Soundwave step through it, his visor locked onto them and watching them all the while. As he stepped through the glow of the bridge his visor flared brilliantly bright for just a single moment before he vanished through the bridge. The bridge disappeared and left nothing behind but disturbed dirt and Megatron's empty promises.
"What kind of game is this, Soundwave? I want results, not theatrics!" Megatron stood tall on the bridge and stared down at Soundwave. Lesser mechs would've cowered before him. Soundwave was no lesser mech.
Soundwave loaded up footage of Starscream walking through the ship's halls onto the visor. Except this footage wasn't recent—it was old, very old. It was security footage of Starscream visiting the ship long, long ago before it was a ruin.
Megatron hummed and tapped his talons against the computer console. "So the wretch has been to this ship before, then? When it was still airborne?"
Soundwave gave an imperceptible nod and let the footage play out. Megatron watched his visor intently, his optics bright red as his field writhed around him like some wild beast. Soundwave kept on playing the footage of Starscream aboard the ship and Megatron kept on getting happier and happier.
Megatron's optics widened. "Oh, I remember that ship… you have outdone yourself with executing my plan, Soundwave." Megatron laughed. "So he has no idea where he is, then? Does he not know that he has been to that ship before? Has he forgotten the carnage he unleashed there?"
Soundwave nodded. Starscream had burst aboard so many ships and killed so many Autobots on them he must have forgotten to tell them all apart. But Soundwave could tell them apart.
Megatron's field expanded in glee and hot prickling static washed over Soundwave like a wave. "He and his precious Prime are headed right to the heart of the ship and neither of them knows of the horrors that await them there—not even the one who created those horrors. Very well then, Soundwave. I need some amusement every once in a while. Let's watch this show play out."
Soundwave ended the footage and began to livestream the security footage of the ship straight to his visor. Megatron leaned in, his optics bright red as his field thrashed around him wildly with mad glee. He watched Starscream and the Prime continue to walk obliviously into the depths, and he smiled.
Starscream just stared at where Soundwave had once stood, his spark burning in his chestplates. In that moment Starscream felt a small moment of victory. It was a brief and fleeting feeling of accomplishment. Megatron would come sooner or later and then the terror would return. The terror eventually always returned—but in that moment Starscream was just calm. He stood there and just stared out into the night, his frame shaking slightly.
"That bastard didn't even have the guts to actually look me in the optics in person when he confronted me..." he snarled out.
For a moment there was just silence. Optimus's gentle field washed over his frazzled and staticky one until all Starscream could feel was the weight of the Prime's field over his.
"...Were you telling the truth?" Optimus said.
Starscream blinked and frowned. "Of course I was! The fragger needed to leave, so I just said so."
"No, I meant before, when you said that I have shown more kindness to you than he has in a thousand years."
Starscream's armor locked up around him. His spark was beginning to just calm down and the sheer energy of their encounter was already beginning to fade away. The confession had just burst right out of him, raw with pain.
"...Well…" Starscream mumbled as he looked anywhere but at Optimus. Shame rose up in his field, hot and suffocating. He'd spoken the truth, yes, but being honest made him feel bare and vulnerable. The temptation to just lie rose up in him suddenly. He could get rid of the raw emotion being honest brought him, he could just lie and dismiss his earlier words—
Optimus just looked into his optics, his field patient.
He was patient.
Patient.
Megatron had never been patient with him.
"...Yes, I spoke the truth," Starscream finally said.
Optimus just nodded. Starscream wasn't sure, but for a split moment he swore he felt a faint tingle of pride in the Prime's field.
"What? Does that surprise you? I can be honest when I want to be! It's easy to lie to him when I can't even see his optics." Starscream snapped. He could still feel the air buzz around them and could still hear Megatron's deep growl vibrate through his helm.
"It surprises me that you are being honest to not only him, but to yourself."
Starscream turned away from the Prime and stared hard at the wall. He didn't know what spurred on this sudden burst of honesty. Maybe it was something in Megatron's voice or something about the way Optimus looked at Starscream without any derision or scorn at all—
He shut his intake and looked away.
"Is that how you got through all of the abuse? By lying to both him and yourself?" Optimus said. His field fell heavily around them and wrenched with a strange emotion Starscream hadn't felt a mech feel for him in a long time.
"Do not pity me, Prime. I looked him in the optics and lied to him, but I didn't lie to myself! That's ridiculous," he scoffed.
Optimus's optics softened. "Is that what you tell yourself?""
"You—!"
The ship suddenly creaked all around them. They both looked up in alarm and listened to the entire old ruin creak and screech and groan all around them both.
"Optimus… that isn't the sound of the ship settling, is it?"
A metal door suddenly slid down from the ceiling and divided Optimus and Starscream from the exit. The dead ship's emergency lights lit up with a bright flickering flash and cast everything into harsh bright white and deep shadows.
Optimus let out a heavy and deep sigh as his field suddenly tensed around him. "This was a trap."
Starscream offlined his optics and tried to ignore the panic rising up in his throat. "Yes."
The Prime's optics hardened and he looked off into shadows of the hallway ahead of them. The sound of marching pedes echoed loudly into the confined metal hall. Soon all Starscream could hear was the sound of the approaching drones and the sound of his energon as it began to pump harder in his cabling.
"They're coming right this way," Starscream said. He could hear the drones as they came closer and closer. The entire ship shook and creaked and groaned as the sheer force of their marching pedes rattles the old structure down to its core. The sound of a hundred approaching drones had once comforted him—-they were terrible fighters, yes, but he never had to worry about them shooting him before.
He heard their blasters charge up.
Now he was going to have to fight them without any means to fire back—
"I will fire back for you," Optimus said as resigned acceptance flooded his field..
The lights of the hallway flickered as the entire ceiling creaked. Starscream dropped his helm into his servos and let out a frustrated growl.
"I said all of that out loud, didn't I?!"
"You did," Optimus said as he transformed one of his arms into a blaster and pointed it right into the darkness. "But even if you had not said that out loud, I still would have understood that you were scared."
"How… how could you tell?" Starscream sputtered. He'd always tried to hard to hide his fear and anxiety, tried so hard for so many years to push the desperation down—yet Optimus saw right through it all.
"Because unlike Megatron, I chose to be patient with you and I waited for you to reveal your true feelings."
"What… how? I barely did anything!"
Optimus frowned. "Sometimes, Megatron saw how miserable you really felt. He just chose to ignore you as he harmed you. He never really truly cared."
"Oh, really?" Starscream said as he tried to ignore the sound of the drones as they came even closer. "And how could you tell I was… a bit nervous by 'just looking' at me?"
Optimus's field softened. "By looking at your optics. His arrogance and ignorance blinds him to his own cruelty. But I refuse to be blinded."
Starscream just stood there and blinked. The drones were even closer now. Somehow, the Prime had managed to see right through him and down to his spark—again. For the first time in a long time Starscream finally knew what it was like to have a mech beside him who actually understood him, who could just look at him and just know what he was feeling—
The drones grew closer and closer.
—And Starscream was probably about to lose that mech.
Starscream grit his dentae and got into a fighting stance as he took cover behind Optimus, and how long it had been since there was somebody who was killing to cover him? The Prime looked at him from over his shoulder, and yet again they needed no words.
"I always had to face them alone," Starscream said as the drones finally turned around the corner.
Optimus's battlemask snapped shut. "Not anymore."
