Seismic and Starscream walked Orion through the short distance back to the Solar Flare after a short explanation of where they were going. Orion had no form of currency in his possession, so Seismic assured the triplechanger that it would be no trouble for them to pay the fee for his housing until he had the means to do so himself. Although he'd protested most vehemently, Seismic's death glare had eventually won out.

Orion was a very friendly mech, despite never having known another Cybertronian in his life; he even seemed to possess above-average social skills, which was a wonder in itself. He and Seismic got along very well, and even Starscream found it hard to guard himself against the bigger mech's efforts to get to know him. It took special attention on his part to keep his walls up.

Now as the trio approached the entrance to the Solar Flare, Orion stared at the former warship in awe. "I'd never have thought of using a crashed ship as an apartment building. That's brilliant."

Starscream puffed his chest out. "Why, thank you, Orion. I'm so glad you approve." His ego was flattened when Seismic gave him a flat look, eyebrow raised. Venting, he lowered his wings and let Seismic lead them to Mirage.

Said femme was sitting at the front desk of the Solar Flare, talking patiently with a panicked femme who held her small sparkling close. Her voice could be heard reassuring, "No, nothing is wrong. I promise you we're all safe."

Mirage's gaze happened to fall on the trio standing behind the femme. Her optics narrowed, and Orion's jaw dropped as he tilted his helm down to speak to the much shorter femme next to him.

"Is that Mirage?" He whispered. Seismic saw the look on his face and her derma curled up in a cheshire grin.

"That's Mirage." She confirmed.

"Wow." Orion breathed. Seismic hid her smirk and instead turned to look at Starscream, who looked like he'd eaten a lemon.

"Excuse me," Mirage murmured apologetically, excusing herself to walk over to the odd trio. She stopped right in front of Starscream, servo on her hip as she looked down accusingly at him and Seismic. "Where have you two been?"

Starscream shrugged. "Around."

Mirage exhaled in exasperation and turned to Seismic. "Where have you two been?"

Seismic simply pointed up at the mech that towered over all three of them. Mirage turned her gaze up to the large mech that stood in between her victims, and her jaw dropped for a split second before she clenched it.

"Oh," she said simply. "The victim of the crash landing." She held out a servo. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mirage."

Orion gave her a wide grin. "Orion. It's nice to meet you too."

"I assume that you two offered him housing, yes?" Mirage looked between the two of them, her expression almost daring them to disagree.

Seismic nodded in confirmation. "We said we'd pay for his housing until he could find a job and pay for it himself."

Mirage raised both eyebrows. "You're paying for his housing?"

"Um," Starscream said in confusion. "Yes?"

"Wrong," Mirage shut him down immediately. "I'm the sole bot who's receiving sixty percent of the profit that comes from this place. You only get forty percent, and you have a daughter to care for."

Starscream opened his mouth to protest, and she pressed her digit to his derma to shut him up. He glared as she continued, "Plus I'm the one in charge of this complex, so if you'd rather I give him a room for free-"

"No, no." Starscream shook his helm quickly. "That's okay."

"I thought so." Mirage smirked. She rolled her optics goodnaturedly and shook her helm, making optic contact with Orion. "These two, am I right?"

Orion froze for a second, optics darting between the expectant figure of Mirage and the accusing red optics of the two Decepticons. He wasn't sure who to support in this argument; both parties had been very kind to him in more ways than one.

Eventually good fun won out though, and he turned his optics to the shorter two bots of the group with a smirk. "These two indeed."

"How dare he?!" Seismic exclaimed dramatically. "The weight of such a betrayal... it's just too much..." she sank down to the ground until she fell against Starscream's chestplate and the Seeker had to catch her. Starscream mock glared at Orion, pulling his daughter to her pedes despite her efforts to be as floppy and hard to hold as possible. Orion shrugged and looked at them with a smirk as if to ask 'am I wrong?'.

Mirage gave Orion a grin- a genuine grin, to Starscream's and even Seismic's shock- and punched him lightly. "I like you, Orion. Can I call you Big O?"

"Uh," Orion stammered, grinning nervously. "Sure?"

"I'm glad they decided to keep you around, Big O." Mirage nudged him, then turned to go back to her desk. She pivoted on her heel and clicked her derma, pointing a digit-gun at him as Starscream and Seismic gaped. "I'll see you around."

The pair stared in her direction, jaws dropped in awe. Orion noticed their shock and shook off his own vivid blue flush. "Why are you so surprised?"

Neither one of them spoke for a few moments, still staring in unbelief at the purple femme as she continued with her job. Then, Starscream croaked, "She doesn't act that friendly with either of us."

"And she even sort of likes me." Seismic added. "She must really like you."

"She must really like me..." Orion murmured, optics fixated on the femme in the distance as he absentmindedly smoothed his servo over where she'd punched him. Suddenly he shook out his helm, blush fading as his optics snapped back into focus. "I think I need quarters."

Starscream raised an eyebrow as Seismic replied sarcastically, "Ya think?"

Starscream and Seismic were quite easily able to find a room that was near both theirs and Mirage's, primarily because their quarters were separated from the rest of the ship's; the separation included several rooms aside from just their own, one of which was Orion's new quarters.

"These are your new quarters," Starscream spoke unenthusiastically as Seismic opened the doors to the room, which whooshed open to reveal a room that was almost identical to every other room in the separate section. "Enjoy."

"Thank you so much." Orion said gratefully, smiling softly, and Starscream was driven crazy again trying to figure out why that smile was so familiar.

"Well. Erm." Starscream coughed awkwardly, feeling a little bad for his lack of enthusiasm. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing to me. Really, thank you. I'll remember this."

"You're welcome." Seismic returned, beaming. She ran over and hugged him around his middle as best as she could. He froze in place, then relaxed and put his arms around her with a joyful smile on his face.

"Don't remember it for too long," Starscream said gruffly. "You'll have a lot of time to get used to it."

"Yayyyyyy." Seismic breathed giddily, hugging her new friend tightly. Orion chuckled and patted her head, the much smaller femme purring much like an Earthern cat. Starscream watched them with a fond smile. This was familiar, this was something he'd been missing for thousands of years. This was-

His smile faded. This was just like he'd felt with them.

A very odd chapter, in my opinion. Another bit of depressed Starscream, although this time it's while

his family is right there- something about Seismic and Orion being adorable like siblings wells up bittersweet memories in him. Gosh, I love Orion and I love the different relationships between all of the characters, especially in this chapter. I sometimes feel like I don't do this family justice compared to my imagination, and this is one of those times. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Don't forget to review! Reviews are greatly appreciated! I want to know what you think of this story!

SalixEnder03