Starscream walked right through the groundbridge and right into the base. He walked past Arcee and the human children on his way to the medbay.

Raf watched Starscream stomp off. "Is he okay?"

Bulkhead and Bumblebee looked at each other. There was a moment of silence.

"...No. Not at all," Bumblebee said.

Starscream heard none of their conversation. He darted into the medbay and threw himself down onto his berth beside Optimus.

Optimus was still deep asleep.

"Lucky," Starscream mumbled. "How nice would it be to just go to rest on your berth and not wake up for a long long while. Or… ever at all?"

Optimus said nothing.

Starscrream just needed to sleep. His systems just needed a reboot, that was all. When he awakens he'll feel fine and all the terror of the cave will be gone.

Starscream's chestplate pulsed in pain and he gently lifted a servo to trace the weldmark on his chestplate.

"It won't heal," he whispered to Optimus. Once again, there was no response.

"Primus, what am I thinking? You're not even awake, yet here I am talking to you! It won't heal right. I'll have a big grey line in the middle of my chestplate for… the rest of my function, I suppose. Which probably isn't that long. It's only a matter of time before… before he finishes me off—or before I get so terrified, my fear will make my own spark just collapse in on itself."

Optimus's vents whirred and hummed in his recharge. Starscream curled up on the berth and stroked his new Autobot badge.

"I'm scared. I don't know why, but I can't stop dreaming of my old friend. His memory always comes back to haunt me at the worst moments. He was… was not that different from you, Prime. Or from the Wrecker, in fact."

Something clattered in the doorway.

Starscream's helm shot up and he looked out of the medbay at the sight of a wrench on the floor. He looked upward and saw Bulkhead standing beside a work table he had jostled.

"Uh… yup. Just getting a wrench. Which I dropped. 'Cause I need a wrench!" Bulkhead stuttered.

Starscream went still. "How much did you hear?" he asked softly.

"Well, er…"

"How. Much?"

"Just, a, um…" Bulkhead sighed and his shoulders fell. "All of it."

"What?!" Starscream jumped off the berth and ignored the way the motion made his chest twinge in pain. He walked right up to Bulkhead and flared his wing, but the weight of it made him tip over and into the wall.

Bulkhead moved forward and caught him. "Woah there, Screamer!"

Starscream growled. "You didn't hear anything."

Bulkhead sighed. "Starscream…"

"You didn't hear a word! Not a single! Word! Pretend this didn't happen!"

"...What was he like?"

Starscream froze. "What?"

Bulkhead readjusted his grip on Starscream. "Your old friend. Do you wanna talk about him?"

"Uh. No. What do you want? Why did you even come here?" Starscream said.

Bulkhead just continued to stare at him. "Um, I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Well, here I am, and I can assure you that I'm perfectly 'okay.'"

Bulkhead shook his helm. "...No. You're really not. When are you gonna stop lying to yourself?"

"I'm not lying to myself!"

Skyfire's voice drifted through his helm. "The Council lies, Starscream. It lies and lies and lies."

Bulkhead and Starscream just stared at each other.

"Come on, Bulk!" Miko called from the main room. "You're missing the big monster truck race!"

Ratchet ran up to Bulkhead. "No more monster trucks and no more bothering my patients! You're needed on a mission. The Decepticons are trying to claim an important relic of the ancients!"

"Yes!" Starscream said. "You go and take care of that and stop lurking in medbay doorways, how about that?"

Bulkhead frowned and looked back and forth between Starscream and Ratchet. "Ah, sure. But Starscream…" He grabbed ahold of the Seeker's shoulders and twisted Starscream around so that he was facing him. "Remember, if you ever wanna talk about your old buddy… I'm here."

Starscream watched Bulkhead walk off with wide optics.


A day later, Bulkhead appeared in the doorway again.

"What now, Wrecker?" Starscream sighed.

"Hey, Screamer. Ratchet wants me to take you on another scouting… mission…" Bulkhead trailed off and stared right at Starscream.

Startascream blinked and sat up on his berth. "Something wrong?"

"We…" Bulkhead stopped speaking and stared into space for a moment. "We're needed on a scouting mission."

"A scouting mission," Starscream repeated. There was something off about the way Bulkhead stared into space. Bulkhead's field crinkled and wavered around him and his plating spasmed and his optic twitched.

"Yup. Ready?" he stuttered.

"...Yes. What the slag happened to you on that mission, Wrecker?"

Bulkhead stared off into space as his optic twitched again. "Subspace Log 47…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Let's go." Bulkhead hooked his arm around Starscream's shoulders and led him right out of the medbay and through the groundbridge. Ratchet activated the bridge for them with a frown and stared at them as they walked through the green portal.

They walked through the bright green tunnel of the bridge together as Bulkhead continued to stare off into space and mumble to himself.

"Er, what happened to you on that mission?" Starscream said. He stepped away from Bulkhead and watched the Wrecker twitch and mumble to himself.

Bulkhead's optic twitched.

"There. It happened again!" Starscream shouted as he pointed at Bulkhead's faceplate.

"What?" Bulkhead asked.

"Your optic keeps twitching! What happened to you on that mission you went on?!"

"Relax, Screamer!" Bulkhead sighed as he waved his servo through the air. "Nothing to get your wings in a twist about."

They walked out of the bridge and landed in the middle of nowhere in some snowy woods. The wind whistled through the spindly black trees and their pedes crunched through the thick snow as they stomped along through the icy wind.

"And what precisely happened to you out on that mission that is not worth 'getting my wings in a twist about'?" Starscream said. He was tired of being left out of the loop, slag it! He stepped right in front of Bulkhead and forced the Wrecker to stop walking forward.

Bulkhead wringed his servos together. "Well, kay, so there I was fighting Breakdown and Knock Out over some big cylindrical doohickey—not sure what it was, some kind of data cylinder—?"

Starscream froze.

Data cylinder.

The data cylinder.

—A large grey cylinder with a red cap sat strapped down on the floor in front of Skyfire and Starscream—

Starscream's optic twitched.

Bulkhead laughed and continued. "And I guess Miko kicked it or something and wham! It shot a whole bunch of data right into my processor!"

"Into… into your processor?" Starscream whimpered.

"Look at what's on the cylinder if you ever lose your way," Skyfire's voice whispered in his processor. Starscream never looked at what was on the cylinder. When Skyfire died, Starscream died on the inside. He'd never gotten the chance to see what Skyfire had left for him—

"See, all you need is just some fresh air, huh? No more memory lapses!" Bulkhead laughed as he patted Starscream's back.

"Are you even in fighting condition?" Starscream asked as he and Bulkhead walked through the forest.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, a beam of pure energy from some cylinder hit you right in your processor. So there's that."

"No beam of pure energy will ever stop this Wrecker from Wrecking, Screamer!"

Something was wrong. Maybe it was the way Bulkhead's optics twitched nonstop, or the way the snowy wind whistled through the trees… but there was definitely something wrong. He only ever felt this sense of dread right after he had failed to assassinate Megatron and the warlord was after him.

"You're shivering," Bulkhead said.

Starscream halted and flared his wing. "What do you want, Autobot?"

"I wanna know why you're all jittery. You can't possibly be that cold."

"Maybe I am cold." The wind blew harder and sent shards of ice and branches at his wing.

"Something's got you riled up!"

Starscream scoffed. "I do not get 'riled up'! I am fine."

A faint whistling noise echoed through the dark trees up ahead. Something violet shone in the branches and then vanished with a flash.

Something landed on his shoulder and he flinched.

"Primus, what—?" He turned around and saw Bulkhead's servo on his shoulder.

"If you're so fine, then why did you just flinch?"

Starscream opened his intake. Then he closed it.

"I… I don't want to talk." His chestplate was beginning to ache again.

The trees whistled again and the sound of laughter echoed on the breeze. Starscream had to strain his audials to hear, but there was definitely a faint noise echoing in the wind. The air began to buzz.

"He's here, isn't he?" Starscream whispered.

"Who?"

"Him! Don't lie! When is he not here?!"

Bulkhead just looked at him. "Do you mean Sounders?"

Starscream looked away. Something about the way Bulkhead looked at him made him with those big blue and familiar optics made him uncomfortable. "No, I mean… him."

"...Screamer, ol' Buckethead isn't here! He isn't even within a thousand miles of here!"

"How do you know that? How do you know he isn't lurking around a corner?!"

"The only people lurking around here are us! Are you all right?"

"...Yes. Pathetic question. I'm fine."

Bulkhead sighed. "...Y'know, Optimus told me that bots always say they're fine when they're really not fine. So, um… gosh, I'm not that good at this touchy-feely stuff—"

"There is no need to be 'touchy' or 'feely'!" Starscream walked right past Bulkhead and closer to the dark trees up ahead. Something violet flashed in the trees again. "Bulkhead, I'm perfectly fine, I can assure you—"

"Are you sure you aren't trying to assure yourself?"

"Why, you little—!"

Laughter echoed through the air. Starscream stilled and stared into the woods. That wasn't the harsh guttural laugh Megatron made as he had beaten Starscream. That was the laugh of another warmer, nicer, and much deader mech.

Bulkhead shuffled up beside him. "Scree… what do you hear?"

"I hear… I hear him."

"Mega—?"

"Don't say his name. Just don't."

"...Buckethead, then. You feel like Buckethead is really here?"

"When do I not feel like that?"

"No need to get your wings in a twist, Screamer. He's fine, we're safe—"

"Safety is a temporary illusion that shatters the moment whenever he comes into the picture, Wrecker!"

Bulkhead moved and stood in front of Starscream. "Hey, look at me."

"What are you doing to me?" Starscream tried to step past him, but the Wrecker moved to block his path again.

"Er, grounding you? Isn't that obvious?"

"'Grounding me'?"

"Well, yeah. Normally that's Optimus's job, but seeing that he's off dreamin' in the medbay... and you're here busy living through your worst dreams… I guess I kinda just had to step up to the job?"

"Oh, so I'm a job then? A piece of work?"

"Well… you are kinda a piece of work. But that's okay."

The laughter echoed in the breeze and the snow began to fall even harder.

"Is it, though?" Starscream asked softly.

"Sure as slag, Screamer. We gotta fix you up… you're all…"

"'Wrecked up'? You're just a… a clumsy oaf, what makes you think you can fix anything, much less me?!"

Bulkhead smiled. "Well, this clumsy oaf just tricked you."

Starscream blinked and took a step backward. "...What?"

"I got you to admit that you do need to be fixed up."

"Well… I… That wasn't fair!"

"It wasn't fair when you lied to us all those times in the past. But you lied to us anyway. So I guess I got kinda sneaky with you. So what? We both trick people for different reasons."

"Oh?"

"You used to trick people so you could hurt em'... and slag it, Scream, I tricked you cause I'm trying to help you."

"And how does making me admit that maybe I'm not quite as strong as I once thought somehow help me?"

"It helps you see the truth. And the truth is, Starscream…"

Bulkhead leaned in close and pointed towards the dark trees.

"...Megatron's not here."

Starscream took a step back. "I…"

"He's not. Instead, you just got a clumsy oaf here with you. Would you rather be with Megatron instead of me—?"

"Primus, no!"

"See? I don't bite. So stop biting me."

"I do not bite!"

"Yes, you do, you're snarking left and right!" Bulkhead laughed.

"Is that even a word?"

"It is now, Screamer. And hey, guess what?"

Starscream rolled his optics. "What?"

"...You stopped shivering."

Starscream blinked. Now that he thought about it, his frame had indeed stopped shuddering. Bulkhead looked at him with a wide smile.

"Oh, don't get coy with me," Starscream said as he rolled his optics.

"Nope. Not coy at all."

Starscream sighed. "Let's just get this mission over with—"

The trees shook and the air began to buzz.

Starscream froze. "Bulkhead, I swear, I'm not going crazy again! There's something actually here."

"I sense it too, 'Scree," Bulkhead said as he stared into the dark woods with wide optics. Snow began to fall from the sky in thick white clumps that stuck to their frames and melted down into their plating. The last time Starscream had been this cold was when he was on that mission with Skyfire—

"Something's here," Starscream breathed. A tingly sensation went down his back struts and he looked all over the dark and cloudy sky for any signs of anybody at all. His optics saw only blackness and he dragged his servos down his faceplate. "No, no, not again, I can't go through this again!" Starscream whimpered as his chestplate began to ache in pain again.

"Let me check it out," Bulkhead said as he stomped through the snow and deeper into the darkness.

"No, just... stay close to me, okay?" Starscream said.

Bulkhead snorted. "What, are you scared of the trees?" He turned around and his optics widened at the sight of Starscream. "What's wrong?"

Starscream gulped. He couldn't afford to be seen as weak, he couldn't allow the Wrecker to see how much the snow was getting to him.

Bulkhead stared at him for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Starscream snapped as the snow fell harder. "Perfectly fine."

"We'll be fine, Starscream! Just you see..." Skyfire's voice whispered in his helm, so calm and so full of warmth. He'd been such a warm mech, but he had died such a cold death—

Bulkhead grabbed ahold of Starscream's shoulder and guided him forward. "We'll check it out together. It'll be nothing, you'll see," Bulkhead kept on talking and Starscream just tuned his voice out as he stared into the woods with terror. Bulkhead continued to glance back at Starscream every few seconds as the two of them walked along.

"—and I was like, Jackie, your idea is crazy, just you see—"

"We'll be fine, Starscream! Just you see..." Skyfire had said.

The trees shook and a voice echoed from the dark woods. Starscream froze and stared into the dark shadows as the laughter grew louder and louder. It was a male voice, deep and warm, with a distinct Iaconian accent and—

Starscream stumbled back. He was dead. He was dead, he couldn't be here. His voice was all in his helm.

"Scree… did you hear that?" Bulkhead said.

Starscream's spark froze within his chestplates. "I hear that noise very clearly, Wrecker. You can hear it too?"

"Yeah," Bulkhead shuddered as he stepped backwards. "That's crazy creepy. Could it be a human making that laughing noise?"

Starscream bit his lip and tried to ignore the way his frame shook. "No. Not a human. He was so much more than just a human… so much more."

"What? Who's 'he'? Do ya know that mech who's making that noise?"

Starscream nodded his helm. "I knew him very well."

Bulkhead blinked at him. "You 'knew' him?"

"He's dead."

Bulkhead stepped backward and stared into the trees. "What?! You're makin' no sense, Screamer! Is this a prank?"

The laughter grew louder and louder.

"Do I look like a prankster to you?! I would never fool around like this, never, especially when it concerns the memory of him—" Starscream hissed. His chestplate began to pulse in pain.

"'Him'? Is this… is that the laugh of your old dead buddy, Screamer?" Bulkhead rapidly glanced back and forth between Starscream and the dark trees. "Well, this has gotta be a trap, right? Let's spring it!"

"No!" Starscream shrieked. The voice laughed on and on, so warm and yet so cold at the same time. The snow fell harder and bit into their frames.

"What? Are you scared, Screamer?"

Starscream tightly grabbed ahold of Bulkhead's servo right as he tried to transform it into a wrecking ball. The laugh grew louder.

"I, well, no, I'm not scared—"

"The Council lies, Starcream. It lies and lies and lies—" Skyfire's voice whispered. Starscream wasn't sure if the voice was coming from his helm or from the dark woods.

Bulkhead put both of his servos on Starscream's shoulders and wiped the snow on them away as he held the shaky Seeker steady. "Calm down, Scree!"

"You calm down, Wrecker!"

"Relax, I've got this, I can protect us both—"

"Skyfire was unable to protect himself, so why would you be able to?!"

Bulkhead froze and looked at Starscream. "What… What happened to him?"

The laughter rang through the cold snow. "I… I don't wanna talk about it."

Bulkhead frowned. "You won't tell us stuff. You won't tell us why you're so jumpy, or who Skyfire even was, yet you talk about him all the time!"

Skyfire's voice kept laughing on and on in the woods.

"Why do I need to tell you everything?!" Starscream snarled.

"We can't help you if we don't know what's wrong, Screamer!"

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine!"

"That's the problem! You keep saying you're fine, but you're not, you're not, you're lying to yourself—"

"I have to lie to myself! It's the only way I could handle the fact that Megatron had lied about everything!"

"it lies and lies and lies—" Skyfire's voice echoed from the trees. Starscream's chestplate pulsed in pain with the rhythm of Skyfire's words. He wasn't sure if his chest hurt because of his healing injury, or if his spark hurt with the grief of remembering Skyfire.

Bulkhead looked at him with wide optics. "You lie to yourself too. So… you're finally admitting that to yourself…"

Starscream blinked the snow out of his optics and flared his wing. "Yes, I'll admit it, I do lie to myself, I do, just don't go towards those trees, slag it! Save yourself!"

"But…" Bulkhead sputtered. "Why do you wanna save me so badly? I thought you didn't like me."

Starscream blinked. Why did he want to protect the Wrecker's wellbeing? He was brash and loud and annoying. And yet...

Bulkhead just stared at him and patiently awaited his response. Patiently. Patience. Bulkhead had patience for himsomething Megatron never had. Optimus was patient, Bulkhead was patient, Skyfire had been patient

"I… I just think you're useful to the team. That's the only reason, Wrecker," Starscream sighed. It wasn't the truth, not really, but the mere thought of even saying the truth made a knot form in his tanks.

Skyfire's distorted voice rang through the falling snow. "—it lies and lies and lies—"

Bulkhead frowned. "That's the only reason you wanna save me?"

"The only reason, yes!" Starscream shouted.

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

Bulkhead stared at him with wide optics. His optic twitched.

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

"Whose voice is that?!" Bulkhead growled. "Not now, creepy voice! I'm talking with Screamer! Star, d'ya really wanna only save me because I'm useful?"

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

Starscream flinched. "You... you just called me Star for the first time."

Bulkhead nodded slowly. "Yeah. Does that matter?"

Starscream bit his lip. "No."

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

"Reaaalllly? I kinda overheard your chat with Raf, and you seemed pretty touched when the kiddo called you what ya wanna be called."

"What?! You were listening in?"

"Not intentionally! You were loud, okay? 'Cause you were just so shocked. I had no idea that lil' nickname meant so much to you..."

"No," Starscream shook his helm. "That little nickname means nothing to me."

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

"Well, didn't your old buddy also call you Star?" Bulkhead scratched his helm.

Skyfire's voice continued to laugh on and on in the woods.

"Well, er, yes, but..." Starscream stumble.

"Then why wouldn't you want to be called what you really wanna be called?"

"Because... because... it's just a stupid nickname, it means nothing to me"

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

"Well, doesn't it remind you of better n' happier times, Scree, or should I say... Star?"

Starscream crossed his arms and blinked the snow out of his optics. "No. It really doesn't."

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

"Why won't that stupid voice just shut up?!" Starscream snarled.

"I dunno, Screamer. I don't know. Maybe I should take care of it myself, you're beginning to shiver again," Bulkhead said as he began to lead Starscream away from the woods.

Starscream pulled away from him. "No, no, I'm fine, really, I am"

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

The trap, the voice, the laughter. It was all meant for Starscream, and he knew it. There was a storm awaiting him and he couldn't risk dragging Bulkhead into it, he couldn't lose another friend in yet another storm. Not again, not ever ever again.

"Awww, Star..." Bulkhead said.

Starscream froze. "Wait, did I say all of that out loud?!"

"Yeah, Star. Yeah. It's okay though!"

He rapidly shook his helm. "No, it's not okay, it's not true, you, y-you don't... remind me of anybody..."

Starscream's wing flared. "You remind me of Skyfire!"

He stumbled backward. Bulkhead's jaw dropped. The voice in the woods went silent.

"... I do?" Bulkhead asked softly.

"Well, no, wait, I mean—"

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

"Fine then!" Starscream screamed into the woods. "It's true! The Wrecker reminds me of Skyfire, okay? It's true, it's true, I'm not lying! Not to him and not to myself!"

Silence reigned.

"Starscream…" Bulkhead began.

Starscream froze.

"...thank you," Bulkhead finished as he nodded.

"What? Why are you thanking me? I just told you that you remind me of a dead mech!"

"A very kind dead mech, Starscream. I'm glad to be compared to somebody as great as he was."

Starscream's wing drooped. "He was a great mech. He really was," he said.

Bulkhead looked at him and smiled. "Hey, Star—"

A tree exploded. A hot violet bolt ripped through the air and collided with a nearby tree in a flash of searing hot magenta light. Bulkhead and Starscream were thrown backward by the sheer force of the blast and rolled into the snow.

Bulkhead sat up. "Who shot that?"

"I don't have any weapons, Wrecker!"

A chittering noise echoed through the branches and something shone violet up in the canopy.

Starscream's spark shuddered. "I knew that was somebody here!" he swore.

He moved to run, but Bulkhead reached out and grabbed ahold of his servo. He pulled Starscream close to him and looked him in the optic with the most serious look Starscream had ever seen on him.

"Listen, Screamy!"

A tree right next to them exploded in a shower of splinters and violet light.

"—Megatron is not here. I know the guy, okay? And if it was really him here, we'd be dead by now—"

Another tree exploded behind Starscream and sent a hot wave of air over his wing.

"—so that's not Megs, all right? It's. Not. Him. So don't freak out, okay? Don't freak out!"

The Wrecker had such a tight grip on his servo. A part of him wanted to grab onto the Autobot's arm and just wrench him away. He lifted his talon to do just that, but then he looked up into Bulkhead's optics. The forest itself was exploding around them, yet his blue optics still remained warm and calm.

Warm and calm. Just like a certain shuttle's.

Starscream bit his lip and let Bulkhead continue to hold onto him. "How do I know it's really not Megatron, though?"

Bulkhead transformed his other servo into a wrecking ball as his field flared with determination. "Starscream, you already know it's not Megatron here. And besides, even if it is him—which it's not!—you've faced Megatron down before. If you could face him down before..."

Another plasma bolt ripped through the air and made the snow by their pedes explode.

"...then you can do it again."

He just stared at Bulkhead. Another plasma bolt shot out of the canopy, except it wasn't aimed at the snow or at a tree, it was aimed right at Bulkhead—

Starscream leaped forward and slammed Bulkhead down and into the snow. The bolt whizzed over their helms and made a boulder behind them explode in a shower of rubble and dust. Bulkhead stared up at Starscream with wide blue optics through the dust.

—Skyfire stared at Starscream with wide blue optics—

There was no time to think. He grabbed ahold of Bulkhead and helped him stumble to his pedes as the heat of another bolt blazed past them. The two of them hid behind a boulder and pressed their backs to it as their unseen attacker continued to rain down a volley of hot violet plasma and exploded snow.

Their hidden attacker drifted through the branches and charged up for another blast.

Whoever it was was trying to hurt not only him, but Bulkhead as well, and that was completely unacceptable. He had to destroy it, he had to take it down—

"Oh no, I don't like that look on your faceplate!" Bulkhead said.

He had to fight their enemy, he had to. He just needed to leap forward and end this threat with a slash of his talons. If he could do it before, he could do it again. Starscream peered over the top of the boulder and looked up into the branches high above. Just one leap and one slash of his talons and that would be it.

What if it was Megatron?

"Oh, Starscream," Megatron said. His oily voice drifted through the air and Starscream wasn't sure if the warlord's voice was just a harsh memory, or if he was really there, whispering into his audial—

He shook his helm. Just one leap and one slash of his talons and that would be it. Their attacker could die, right here, right now.

"Oh, Starscream."

The voice was louder now, but he had to ignore it.

"Starscream!" Bulkhead shouted. A servo closed around his remaining wing and pulled him down.

Starscream shrieked and kicked back at his attacker. "Megatron, no—!"

He opened his optics and looked right into Bulkhead's. The Wrecker stared at him with wide optics and snatched his servo away from Starscream's wing.

"Wait…" Starscream breathed heavily. "That was your servo on my wing?"

There was a single moment of silence.

Bulkhead nodded. "Yeah. Star—"

"I can do it!" Starscream said. Hot shame coiled in his field—he should've never shown such weakness—he had to take down their attacker, he had to, for both of their sakes.

"No, you can't kill that 'Con, Star. Look at you, you're burning up!" Bulkhead said as he gently pushed Starscream back down.

"You're burning up," Optimus's voice whispered in his helm.

"You're already burnt up," Megatron's voice laughed.

"I'm worried you'll burn up—" Skyfire's voice began to say.

"I can kill him," Starscream said softly.

Bulkhead shook his helm. "No, Star. You can't."

He'd killed a thousand drones before, a thousand bots, taken down a thousand ships, and he couldn't even find it within himself to take down a single bot. Just one leap and one slash of his talons and that would be it.

He didn't have to do this for just for himself. Starscream flared his wing. He had to do it for Bulkhead.

Their hidden attacker swung around and began to scan him.

"Oh, Starscream!" Bulkhead shouted.

His vision blurred. Their attacker was Soundwave—no, now it was Breakdown, but it had a red optic, so maybe it was Knock Out? Or, Primus forbid, Megatron

"You're burning up, Starscream," Optimus's imaginary voice echoed mournfully through the air.

He should've leaped forward and slammed into their attacker when he had the chance.

Starscream froze.

Bulkhead yanked him down just in time to save him from a blaster shot. A tree exploded behind them and showered splinters all over them.

Bulkhead pressed Starscream down against his frame as they hid back behind the boulder. "We can just hide for now and I'll kill our attacker when we get a chance. It's okay," Bulkhead said. His voice was the softest Starscream had ever heard it.

"No, it's not! I should be able to do this, I could kill so many bots before, slag, I've been in this very same situation before and—"

He stood up straight and looked into the woods. Something violet shone in the branches and a bright blood-red light glowed in the trees.

Just one leap and one slash of his talons and that would be it.

"Oh, Starscream," a voice said. It wasn't Megatron's, Optimus's, Skyfire's, or any other voice from his memories. It was Bulkhead.

Starscream took one last look at the enemy in the treetops. He could kill him. He could.

His vision blurred and he blinked. He was on Cybertron, no, now he was on the Nemesis, no, now he was with Skyfire beside him by a boulder, no, no, yes—

He fell to his knees.

"Oh, Starscream," Bulkhead said as he pulled him closer. "I'll be with you always Starscream. Always. Never forget why we're doing this."

Starscream's jaw dropped. "...What? You'll stay here? You'll be with me?" he asked softly. Another tree exploded behind him.

Bulkhead sighed. "You're a member of the team now. And Wreckers don't leave their teammates behind to get all wrecked up. We're not on this mission for revenge, we're not plotting to kill our attacker for vengeance—we're just plottin' to kill him for justice."

"I didn't mean for this to happen!"

Bulkhead snorted. "Of course you didn't. No one ever intends for these things to happen, Screamy! Obviously!"

"Wait…" Starscream leaned back and looked at Bulkhead with wide optics. "You're not gonna blame this on me?"

"Well, why would I? Why d'ya always think you're going to be blamed for everything?"

Starscream bit his lip. "Um, well…"

Bulkhead's field flared with surprise. "Oh, uh, yeah. Cause of him. But seriously, Scree, you don't need to worry about being blamed for random things!"

"Do I, though? Stop lying, this is my fault, it has to be! Everything is always my fault, I'm always the scapegoat, everybody accuses me of things I didn't do—"

"Like killing that shuttle?"

Starscream froze.

"I mean," Bulkhead stuttered. The air began to buzz. "I mean… oh, Primus, I'm slagging this all up. I know that the Council framed you for offing your buddy."

Starscream's optics twitched.

"And I know it wasn't your fault."

His talons drew into fists.

Bulkhead sighed. "I'm sorry."

"How did you know all that?" Starscream hissed out quietly.

"Well..."

"How did you know?!" Starscream shouted.

Laserbeak paused and swiveled around to the boulder they were hidden behind.

"I heard you, okay?! We all hear you!"

"Hear what?"

"We hear you relivin' your nightmares, Starscream," Bulkhead said so softly. Starscream had no idea the brash Wrecker could even speak that softly.

He took a shuddery vent. "And… what do you mean by 'we'?"

Bulkhead grabbed ahold of Starscream's wrist and dragged him forward and away from Laserbeak.

Starscream snarled. "Answer me—!"

"All of us!" Bulkhead said.

If Bulkhead hadn't been dragging him along, Starscream would've stopped walking altogether.

"...All of you? Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Arcee?" Starscream began to shake.

Bulkhead took a deep vent. He dragged Starscream and himself behind a large cluster of trees and the two of them crouched behind them. A ray of pure violet light shot into the air and swept over their helms as Laserbeak kept scanning.

"Yes, Starscream. All of us hear you. Even the humans."

The humans.

Raf.

Starscream just stared at Bulkhead. And stared. And stared.

"Uhh, Starscream, are you alright there? Oh Primus, what am I even saying? Of course you're not alright."

Starscream began to shake even harder. "You weren't supposed to know. None of you were ever supposed to know."

Bulkhead frowned. "And why is it so bad for us to know that the Council framed you?"

"Don't say their name!" Starscream snapped.

"Why not? We don't need to fear them anymore, they're not around here! I can say their name all I like. There's no need to fear 'em. Wait…" Bulkhead's optics widened and he leaned in until his faceplate was only a breath away from Starscream's. "You're not still scared of the Council, are you?"

Starscream recoiled. "No, no, of course not! I don't fear them, I don't, they're gone—"

"—it lies and lies and lies—"

Bulkhead reached out and began to rub Starscream's back. The Seeker froze.

"Yeah, Star. They are gone. But… it doesn't feel like they're gone, does it?"

Starscream reached his talons up and tried to wrench Bulkhead's arm away, but the Wrecker just tightened his grip on his shaking shoulders.

"They're not here, y'know," Bulkhead continued. Laserbeak drifted closer and sent out another scan. "They're not."

Starscream laughed. "Whose 'they'? I don't know what you're talking about—"

"—it liessssss—"

"Don't lie to me, but especially don't lie to yourself, okay?"

"Megatron," Starscream said. The name just burst out of his intake. "The... the towersmecha. Sentinel. They still feel like they're still here, slag it! Megatron, the Council, the Enforcers, Skyfire—"

"Skyfire?" Bulkhead lifted his helm. "You feel… you feel like your dead friend is with you sometimes?"

Starscream bit his lip. "...Yes."

Laserbeak trilled as she drew closer.

"Oh, Star—"

"Don't call me that, Bulkhead."

"Why? Isn't that what you wanna be called?"

"...Well…"

"That really is what Skyfire called you, wasn't it?"

Laserbeak sent out another pulse of violet light as she scanned the trees right beside their hiding spot.

"We need to find somewhere else to hide, Bulkhead!"

Bulkhead just continued to stare at him with wide optics. "I mean, surely all of your weird memory problems can't be that bad if you sometimes feel like your old friend is with you? He was really nice, right?"

Starscream sighed and looked away. "He was. He really was. I feel like he's here right now."

"See? It's not all bad!" Bulkhead laughed. His field crinkled in anxiety as Laserbeak drew closer. "We… we gotta go…"

Starscream took a deep vent. "Yes." He supposed he could thank the Wrecker for pulling him out of his memories, but for some reason that left a bad taste behind in his intake. There was something about the way Bulkhead looked at him that felt so familiar, yet so foreign. He didn't want Bulkhead to look at him with his strange optics and all their strange emotions. He just wanted to crawl into his medberth beside Optimus and go into shutdown mode for a long time, but that wasn't an option. But not showing his gratitude wasn't an option either.

"Thanks..." he began to choke out. Every word felt like a heavy weight on his spark. Bulkhead turned to look at him with those oh-so-familiar blue optics again.

"Thanks, Skyfire," Starscream finished.

He froze.

Bulkhead's optics widened.

Laserbeak trilled and flew at them at full speed. She fired a laser bolt right at the trees they were hidden behind and it exploded in a shower of dust and debris.

Starscream coughed and tried to see through the dust cloud that completely covered the forest. He couldn't see Bulkhead anywhere. A chill spread through his spark. No. No. Not again.

"Bulkhead?!" he shouted into the debris. He'd already lost his old friend to a storm, he couldn't lose another—

A servo came out of the gloom and grabbed ahold of his talon. Starscream let out a vent of relief as whoever it was pulled him out of the dust cloud.

"Ugh, how I loathe dust. You have my thanks, Bulk—" Starscream looked up at his savior and his words died in his intake.

"Oh, no problem Starscream!" Skyfire said.

Starscream blinked.

Skyfire just smiled.

"You… you're dead," Starscream whimpered.

Skyfire just continued to smile. "Am I, though?"

"Yes! Yes!" Starscream began to shake. It was Skyfire right in front of him in all his glory. His wings, his armor, his paintjob, his warm blue optics—it really was Skyfire, all the way down to the tiniest of details.

"Who told you I was dead? The Council lies, Starscream. It lies and lies and lies!" Skyfire continued. Bulkhead stepped up behind Skyfire and looked up at the massive shuttle with wide optics.

"Starscream!" Bulkhead whispered to him.

Skyfire's smile flickered and a grimace briefly replaced it. He looked behind him at Bulkhead and stepped in front of the Wrecker so that his massive wings would block him. "Ignore the grounder, Starscream. You don't need him. We don't need him."

Starscream let out a breath of relief he'd waited a thousand years to let out. "You're here."

"Starscream, no!" Bulkhead shouted. He tried to step past Skyfire, but the shuttle reached an arm out and pushed Bulkhead back again.

"Starscream… yes." Skyfire smiled. His optics were bright and blue and so so so warm.

A deep sense of unease worked its way through Starscream's spark. He took a step back. "This is too good to be true," he shook out as he walked backwards.

Skyfire's smile flickered again. "But it is true, Starscream. It's really me. How else could you explain why I'm here? I lived, I left the storm, and I found you. I found you, so don't run. Don't make me have to find you again."

He looked exactly like Skyfire. Even his warm EM field bubbled the same way Skyfire's did. He never actually saw Skyfire die, did he? Starscream just saw his silhouette vanish in the blizzard. Maybe it's not too implausible, maybe the shuttle really was here—

"Don't believe him, Star! Don't!" Bulkhead shouted. The air began to buzz and his voice began to sound dim and distant. Bulkhead began to shout again, but it was almost like he was shouting at somebody else now. "You! Get away from here you purple little freak—!"

"We can still finish our mission, my dear Starscream. We can leave this world behind and build Cybertron anew. Wouldn't you like that?" Skyfire said as he leaned down until he and Starscream were optic level.

Starscream nodded. "...Yes. I would like that."

Skyfire smiled. His optics flickered. "I would like that too! But first, we need to get rid of our enemies…" He slowly turned around and looked back at Bulkhead. Bulkhead stared up into the treetops and wildly fired his blaster at something hidden in the canopy.

"Our enemies?" Starscream breathed. "The Council? The Enforcers?"

Skyfire's smile grew even wider. That was strange. Starscream didn't remember him having that many teeth. "They're already dead, Starscream. You saw to that and you did a good job. A very, very good job. But now you need to do another job. Another mission. Like a science mission… but this one is different. If you want to leave Earth with me, I need you to kill our remaining enemy."

Starscream took a step back. Skyfire definitely did not have that many teeth before. "Megatron? You want me to kill him? Please, I've been trying to for years now—"

"No!" Skyfire shouted. His optics widened once he realized he raised his voice. "I mean… not Megatron. No. He's not our enemy. Laserbeak will dispose of him. He's not our enemy."

Starscream blinked. "But then who is?!"

Skyfire smiled again and looked behind him at Bulkhead.

Bulkhead continued to fire his blaster into the treetops. "Knock it off! Knock it off! Go away, 'Con!" He glanced over at them and froze once he realized both Skyfire and Starscream were staring at him.

"No…" Starscream shook his helm. "Sky, you couldn't possibly mean him, right?"

"Oh, he is precisely who I mean, my dear Starscream. Precisely."

"I… I don't…" He turned and looked back up at Skyfire again. "No!" Starscream shrieked. "It isn't! I watched you vanish in that storm! I watched you die! You're dead!"

Skyfire shook his helm as he smiled non-stop. He began to walk towards Starscream as Starscream walked backwards. "Oh, Starscream. The only dead thing here is that grounder. Kill him."

Starscream froze. "You're not Skyfire. The real Skyfire would never talk that way. Ever."

Skyfire's smile vanished. "Is that so?"

"Yes!" Starscream shouted. He turned around and leaped over a log and ran towards Bulkhead—

A plasma bolt shot out from the canopy and hit him in the leg.

"Primus!" Starscream shrieked as he fell to the ground.

"I am not Primus. I am Skyfire." The fake Skyfire began to walk towards him.

"No, you're not! Stop wearing his face!"

"This is my face—!" Skyfire shouted. Bulkhead ran up behind him and swung his wrecking ball at Skyfire with a roar.

The wrecking ball passed right through him. Skyfire's frame became transparent for a split moment and the image of it flickered and wavered before his frame became opaque again.

"You're a holoform?" Bulkhead said in shock as he stepped back.

Skyfire smiled. This smile wasn't warm and kind like the other ones—this smile was all teeth. "I can assure you that I am actually here."

"Stop throwing holoforms around, 'Con!"

Skyfire shook his helm. "No. I am here."

"Uh, no you're not, slagger!"

"I am not here physically. But I am here in your processor, Bulkhead. All my messages and my logs are now in your helm." Skyfire reached out and grazed Bulkhead's helm with his holographic servo. He turned around to face Starscream and began to walk towards the prone Seeker. "And Starscream…"

Starscream snarled at him. "Get away from me!"

"I am afraid I cannot get away from you, Starscream. I am in you. I am in your very spark." Skyfire lifted a servo and pointed a digit right at Starscream's patched and welded chestplate. He grimaced at the sight of Starscream's Autobot badge.

The holographic shuttle stood up to his full height and smiled. "I am always with you, Starscream. Always."

Skyfire vanished.

The trees rustled above their helms and Laserbeak shot off into the night. Bulkhead fired a volley of blasterfire at her, but she effortlessly dodged and twirled past each bolt as she flew off into the stars.

Starscream and Bulkhead just stared at the empty air where she had been.

Bulkhead let out a deep vent. "...Slag. That was totally creepy. Maybe I can comm base now—"

Starscream sobbed.

Bulkhead froze and looked over at him. Starscream stared at the ground with wide optics as horror filled his field. He bit his lip and his entire frame jerked forward as he choked back another sob.

"Hey, hey hey hey! Listen, Screamer, it's fine, it's fine—"

"Are you going to make f-fun of me?! I nearly believed him! Primus, I, I nearly believed that little flying rat was really him!" Starscream wailed.

"Hey, let it out, let it out. I'm not gonna make fun of you!"

"Oh? And w-why not?! I'm a mess, a sobbing mess—"

"No, Screamer. Why would I make fun of you for this? That was real messed up. That was really, really reaalllly messed up. It's okay to let it out!"

Starscream buried his faceplate in his servos. "Of all the Autobots to think it's okay to cry… I always thought you were the precise kind of Autobot to think it was w-wrong to 'let it out'!'"

"Nope. Not at all, Screamer. Not at all." Bulkhead rubbed Starscream's back and held him closer. Starscream sobbed and clung onto him. "Do you wanna talk about what happened to your buddy?"

Starscream offlined his optics. He remembered a shuttle's silhouette flying away from him, vanishing, disappearing, growing fainter and fainter and fainter—come back, Skyfire, come back

"No," Starscream said softly. "Not yet."

Bulkhead's engine thrummed warmly. "Okay. But...when you are ready to tell me, I'll be here."

He didn't even know how long he let the Wrecker just hold him as his frame shook and rattled with sobs.

Bulkhead clapped his large servo over Starscream's snow-covered shoulder and nodded. Starscream did not flinch. "Let's…. let's just go back to base."

Starscream bit his lip and tightened his armor in order to hide the wave of relief that rippled through him. "Okay."

Bulkhead commed for a bridge. Starscream looked off into the dark trees and stared at them. He saw the dark silhouettes of thick tree trunks and thin spindly branches, but for a split second he saw a shimmer of blue light. Skyfire's transparent frame walked back into view in the far distance. He looked at Starscream and smiled as he outstretched his servos.

A groundbridge appeared and lit up the falling snow with bright green light. Bulkhead looked back and forth between Starscream and the woods before his optics settled on Starscream. He reached out a servo to the Seeker—

—Skyfire reached his servo out to Starscream—

And Starscream took it. He and Bulkhead vanished into the light of the bridge. As the bridge shut behind them, Starscream took one last look at the dark woods.

The bridge vanished and left the clearing empty.

The sound of laughter started up again.


"I dearly hope that you do not fail me this time, Soundwave," Megatron said. He looked out over the entire crew of the Nemesis with bright red optics. Soundwave wasn't sure, but for a split second Megatron's optics looked violet.

Knock Out looked anxiously back and forth between Megatron and Soundwave, Breakdown looked around in confusion, and Airachnid just seemed bored.

Soundwave looked up at Megatron. He had failed to raise the Nemesis from the ocean, so this was the very least he could do instead. He would not allow himself to fail the warlord the same way Starscream had failed him so many times before. "MEGATRON: WILL BE SATISFIED."

Megatron snarled. "I better be."

Soundwave led them all into a wide open room with computer consoles on all sides.

Megatron frowned. "I am not impressed."

"PATIENCE."

One of Soundwave's cables lashed out and he pressed a button on one of the computers. Alarms began to blare and the entire room began to shudder and shake. The section of the floor that they stood upon began to rise up.

Megatron watched with wide optics as the entire room lifted itself up. It extended far up above the Nemesis and sent a flurry of bubbles into the ocean water as it ascended to the surface.

It broke the surface of the ocean with a massive splash. Enormous waves smashed into the side of the tower as it rose up high above the churning ocean. Megatron looked out the viewport and down at the raging and thrashing waves below.

Megatron laughed. "Oh, yes! If I cannot bring the Nemesis to the surface, then I will just have to bring the surface to the Nemesis!"

Soundwave watched Megatron spread his arms out wide to the sky and laugh. He turned around and smiled at his watching Decepticons.

Megatron's optics shone a bright violet. Soundwave blinked and stared at his optics. That couldn't be right. How could the dark energon still be affecting his Lord like that? Surely he wasn't channeling the dark energon in that moment, right?

"Decepticons, I have always told you all that we must transform and rise up. Now we can do so… literally. Prepare yourselves. It is time for the next phase in my plan."

"What plan?" Airachnid scoffed.

"The grand plan that will not involve you if you keep mouthing off!" Megatron growled. His optics shone an even brighter shade of violet.

He stompd over to Soundwave and tilted his helm up with a single digit under his chin. "Soundwave…"

This was it. The moment in which Megatron understood the depth of his brotherly folly and admitted he had messed up—

Megatron leaned in close and whispered harshly into Soundwave's audial. "Disobey me again, and the bird will pay the price."

The bird.

The waves crashed against the tower and made him shake.

The bird.

Soundwave stared at Megatron with wide optics.

The bird.

He sent out a ping to Laserbeak across their bond.

For a moment there was only silence. His servos clenched into fists, he couldn't lose her, not his final symbiote, he'd lost the others already thanks to Starscream's stupidity—

His bond to Laserbeak opened up. Relief flooded his frame.

"LASERBEAK: STATUS?"

She chittered excitedly. "STATUS: VENGEANCE."

The sound of Skyfire's laughter echoed across the bond.


Starscream stared at the wall. The quiet thrum and hum of Optimus's unconscious engine rumbled in the air and through the floor abd into Starscream's lone wing. He absent-mindedly traced the Autobot badge on his chest with his servo.

Skyfire had been there. He'd seen the shuttle with his own two optics, had felt the warm air from his vents brush across his faceplate… and it had all been a lie. Starscream screwed his optics shut and punched his medberth as quietly as he could. That little winged rat had come in and ruined anything. He couldn't allow himself to fall for that kind of manipulation again.

"Subspace Log 47..." Bulkhead's voice drifted through the walls.

Starscream moaned and slapped his servos over his helm. Bulkhead chanted some equation non-stop from the next room over. The rhythmic rise and fall of his voice echoed through the base and through the concrete… right into the medbay.

"Subspace Log 47..."

"Stop," Starscream groaned. He looked over at Optimus and snorted. The Prime was fast asleep, of course. All of the other Autobot's berths were located all the way on the other side of the base, away from the Wrecker's annoying muttering. How convenient for them. It seemed he'd be the only victim of a Wrecker-induced night of insomnia.

"Am I seriously the only bot being kept up by his mad rambling?" Starscream grumbled as he rose to his pedes. His single wing unbalanced him and he tilted to the right as he stood. He caught himself against the concrete wall and swore. "Primus—"

A servo wrapped around his shoulder and stabilized him. Starscream shrieked and jumped back. Somebody was touching him, somebody was touching him, somebody was touching—

He whirled around and came faceplate-to-faceplate with Bulkhead.

"Why, you imbecile! You—" Starscream began. His words died in his intake the moment he laid optics upon Bulkhead's faceplate. The Wrecker stared blankly at him with wide blue optics and his intake shook as he quietly mumbled off a series of numbers under his breath.

"Uh, are you okay?" Starscream asked as he took a step back. Bulkhead just continued to stare at him.

"Bulkhead—"

"Subspace Log 47… Oh, Starscream…"

Starscream blinked. "What?"

He grabbed ahold of his talon and guided Starscream out of the medbay and into the depths of the base.

"Stop! Bulkhead… can you hear me?"

He said nothing and continued to mumble equations and numbers under his breath as he dragged Starscream along behind him.

"...Bulkhead?"

Bulkhead dragged Starscream past Arcee, Ratchet, and Bumblebee. That was strange, they all should be recharging, yet there they all were in the main room. They all huddled around a computer screen and glared at it. A schematic of a very familiar data cylinder sat on the screen. The three Autobots watched Bulkhead practically drag Starscream behind him and farther into the depths of the base.

"This is going to break Starscream's spark," Ratchet sighed. He turned around and his optics widened. "Where are you two going?!" he demanded.

"I don't know!" Starscream yelped as Bulkhead dragged him along.

"Subspace Log 47… Oh, Starscream…" Bulkhead mumbled.

"Slow down, Primus! I just want to recharge, not go on a roadtrip!" Bulkhead dragged him into a side room. "Would you please refrain from chanting that incessant formula for just a few… hours….?" Starscream's voice trailed off.

His optics widened as he looked across the room Bulkhead had led him into. White paint was splattered everywhere. Equations and numbers were scrawled all over the walls, floor, and some were even on the ceiling. That wasn't what made Starscream gasp, though.

The symbol of the Interstellar Explorers League was scrawled across the wall. The huge symbol was splattered on with white paint and completely covered the room.

"Bulkhead? What is this?"

Bulkhead said nothing and grabbed ahold of a paintbrush. He dipped it shakily into a can of paint and began to smear equations onto the floor as he muttered on and on.

"The equation… I thought that was the only information that had been beamed into my helm, I thought—" Bulkhead's voice cracked. "There was other stuff on the cylinder too, Screamer. Other messages, hidden real deep in the data. I didn't realize those messages had been beamed into my helm as well, not until you triggered them—"

"Uh, Autobot? Calm down, I can't think straight."

"I can't think straight! I've got a dead mech's last words bouncin' in my helm, n' I gotta recite them, I gotta recite them!" he panicked.

Starscream scoffed and ignored the cold feeling that suddenly appeared in his gut. "Oh, Primus. Why am I even here, slag it?! What? I 'triggered' the voice of a dead mech? I should just go back to my berth." Starscream turned and began to walk away.

Bulkhead lunged forward and grabbed onto Starscream's servo. "The messages h-he left behind! They were hidden deep in the data, oh yes, very deep, but the moment you acted like your old self, the old self Skyfire knew, they just surged right up to the surface of my processor—"

Starscream ripped his talon free from Bulkhead's grip and stared at the Wrercker with wide optics. "What?! When I acted like my 'old self'? Bulkhead, we've only just m-met, how could you possibly know what my old self was like?"

Bulkhead's optics locked onto them and flared with white light. "No, I never knew the old you… but Sky did."

His servo spasmed and the paintbrush in his digits dropped to the floor. Starscream's talon shot out and he grabbed tightly ahold of Bulkhead's servo as he reached to grab the brush again.

"How do you know that nickname?! How? How dare you mention h-his designation, I—"

"You loved him like a brother."

Starscream's intake snapped shut and he began to shake. "How did you know his nickname? I never told you," he asked softly.

"Subspace Log 47… Oh, Starscream…"

"Bulkhead… what are you talking about? Did the data cylinder beam subspace logs into your helm, too?"

Bulkhead stared at Starscream more intensely than he ever had before. "I-I worry for you, you know that? I worry. I always have to pull you back to stop you from doing something rash."

Starscream froze. Bulkhead didn't sound like himself. The way he spoke that last sentence, the way his optics grew dim and the way he spoke with a slight Iaconian accent—it was almost as if his words weren't even his own.

"Bulkhead, what are you doing?"

"I—Starscream, I am reading out the logs," he breathed. He stumbled to his pedes and shakily grabbed ahold of Starscream's shoulders.

"What logs?" Starscream asked. He cringed away at the wide-eyed look on Bulkhead's faceplate.

"I—the logs! I can feel the equation overtaking my processor, I need to speak it out loud, I need to take all of the knowledge the cylinder gave me and r-release it—Starscream, there's more on the cylinder besides the equation!"

"What… what are you talking about? The Ancients made that thing!" Starscream sighed. He'd inspected and analyzed every inch of the cylinder the moment he and Skyfire had gotten access to it. "If the Ancients put more on that cylinder besides the equation, we'd know."

"No, no, slag it, there was more information added into the c-cylinder later on, Starscream!" Bulkhead groaned as he stumbled back. He held his helm in his servos as he began to shake harder.

"Wrecker, are you all right—?"

"He wanted to make sure you were alright in the event he died!" Bulkhead blurted out.

Starscream just stared at him. "Who is 'he'?"

Bulkhead took a deep vent. "The friend you spoke of. The shuttle—"

"Don't say his name, don't!"

"Skyfire! Subspace Log 47… Oh, Starscream…"

"What are you even saying anymore?!"

Bulkhead shot forward and grabbed ahold of Starscream's faceplate in both of his servos. His grip was firm, but it wasn't tight. It was almost gentle, even—

"The Ancients only put the energon formula in the cylinder, yes, but Skyfire added more stuff to the cylinder, he recorded whole messages for you to guide you! And I need to speak them, I need to recite them, the cylinder is compelling me—I can't let these messages be lost, Starscream! Listen!"

Bulkhead leaned his forehelm against Starscream's as he began to shake harder. "The Council is after you. I didn't have the strength to tell you that to your faceplate, though, Starscream," Bulkhead said as he recited Skyfire's words. He even spoke Skyfire's words using the same accent the shuttle had used, Primus—

"I think you know that the Council is after us… but you're just so optimistic, you lie to yourself! I never want to see that optimism die. Ever. I won't let the Council get to you. I'll throw myself into the storm if that's what it takes to protect you."

Starscream began to shake. "Bulkhead, why did Skyfire record these logs?"

"I am recording these logs because I fear something might happen to me. Starscream, the Council is going to try something, I think—I don't know if I'm being paranoid, or if I'm right—I don't want to tell you what I think. I don't want you to get scared. I hate it when you're scared. Everything will be fine, nothing will go wrong. We'll finish this mission, drop off the relics, and head back to Cybertron and everything will be fine. And if something does go wrong… hopefully you'll discover these logs and hear my final words."

Starscream recoiled and ripped his helm out of Bulkhead's servos. "Y-you're lying! There's no way Skyfire left logs behind for me, he's gone, he's gone—"

"No, he's not gone." Bulkhead said softly. He lifted his servo and pointed at his helm. "He's here in my processor. His dying words… and you need to hear them, Screamer."

Starscream froze. He could stay and listen to Bulkhead ramble on Skyfire's messages deep into the night—but that would mean losing himself in the memories again. He'd tried for so hard and for so long to leave behind his memories of that warm shuttle and his warmer words—if he stayed to listen to just a single message, he'd stay and let Bulkhead recite all of them to him. And then Starscream would be doomed, absolutely doomed, he'd never be able to push the memories of the shuttle away ever again—

But if he walked away…

"You can stay n' and listen to the messages, Starscream. I—I need to recite them, okay? The data is takin' over my processor, I can't not recite Skyfire's last messages… but it's up to you if you wanna listen to them."

Starscream walked backwards and away from Bulkhead and his desperate gaze and bright blue optics, so bright blue, just like Skyfire's—

His pedes tripped over a paint-can and white paint splattered all over his frame and wings. Bulkhead reached a servo out to him and grabbed onto his talon. He caught him before he hit the floor.

"I'll be with you always, Starscream. Always. Never forget why we're doing this."

Starscream stared at him with wide optics. "Bulkhead… who spoke those words just now?"

Bulkhead's faceplate twitched. "What? I'll be with you always, Starscream. Always. Never—"

"Yes! That sentence right there, who is speaking those words? Are you speaking them, or did Skyfire say those words and are you just reciting them?"

"S-starscream… both Skyfire n' I…. we're always both gonna be with you. We're both speaking these words. Never forget why we're doing this."

"And what are we doing here, Bulkhead?" Starscream stuttered.

The Wrecker smiled. Starscream wasn't sure if it was Bulkhead's smile or Skyfire's. "We're doin' science, Starscream!"

Starcream's vents let out a shaky sob and he rested his faceplate in his servos as Bulkhead knelt beside him.

"Subspace Log 47… Oh, Starscream…"

Bulkhead recited each word of each lost log deep into the night.

Arcee, Ratchet, and Bumblebee watched with wide optics from the doorway. A bucket of fresh paint fell from Bumblebee's servos and splattered across their frames. They all watched Bulkhead wrap his shaky arms around Starscream and pull the paint-covered Seeker closer to him as he continued to recite the messages.

Ratchet let out a sigh and dragged his servos down his faceplate. "They're both going to get their sparks broken."