This was always meant to be a three chapter story, only containing the events of Dawn's time in captivity (not abandoned). Sort of an experiment. But as it is, I made a promise to write an epilogue in exchange for another story I really want to see (can't wait for my threesome Guardinthena xD). In any case, I did enjoy writing this, suspciously much even, considering things are really not going that great for Dawn and the rest here.
So, thank you for reading, thank you for the comments, and I hope the first part of this epilogue manages to raise some feels.
Dawn was dreaming.
It wasn't a deep sleep. She was vaguely aware that she was dreaming, and willed herself to stay that way, though she couldn't quite bring herself to remember why.
In her dream she saw fleeting images of the Autobot base and its network of crisscrossing corridors that seemed to fly by her. Even heard the familiar swishing sound of automated doors and unintelligible chatter in the background. She wished she could've made out what was being said, but the words were too slippery for her to catch them.
Don't. It's futile.
She could see glimpses of the worried, compassionate faces of the Autobots that had become her closest friends. Hot Shot... Hoist... Red Alert... Lots of hands for some reason...
Don't do this to yourself.
Optimus...
Remember where you are. This isn't real.
Oh...? Right...
She remembered. She could feel the pain even through to her bittersweet dream. The pain Megatron had inflicted on her, and would continue to inflict until she would be broken beyond mending. He wanted her to hope just so it would hurt more when he crushed those hopes.
You don't want to hurt any more than necessary, now do you? Stop dreaming and face reality.
How? She could still feel dream-Optimus' hands holding on to her, his helm pressed against her forehead, and hear the soothing things his deep voice was whispering.
Don't you get it?! It's Megatron! It's always Megatron!
"Dawn... can you hear me?"
No...! No, no, no, no! she couldn't do this again...!
Dawn gagged as a combination of nausea and crippling horror threatened to drown her, rising from the pit of her stomach and turning into an animalistic cry. She did what she always ended up doing, using her powers to break the holoform, and tried to curl into a ball to shield herself from the excruciating pain that would without fault reward her effort.
The holoform vanished. The pain didn't come.
Maybe staying in the dream wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Out of my way you slagging rustpots! I... ngh... I can help her!"
Starscream.
In the midst of frantic shouting and her own ragged breathing, Dawn could only focus on the raspy voice. It sounded like he was trying to get to her. She wanted to get up, to see him, but moving hurt so much, and even though hearing the Seeker sprung her hopes up, she couldn't shake the thought that nullified its effect.
It's. Always. Megatron.
"Dawn!"
From outside the dream, warm metal digits took Dawn's hand, squeezing reassuringly, while another hand went to the back of her head. "You don't need to fight! You're safe now, I promise you."
Lies.
"I won't... fall for it... Megatron..." every spoken word felt like pushing thistles through her sore and dry throat, but at least made resisting the dangerously alluring words easier.
The holoform didn't relent, bringing its face closer to hers. "Look at me! I am not him! I told you I was going to get you out and I did, and now the rest is up to you! Show everyone just how strong you are, like you showed me. Really, trying to give up your life to save that of your enemy's... You're a damn fool, but a fool that Megatron did. Not. Break."
Something ticked at the back of Dawn's mind. She remembered that. Trying to crush Megatron's spark chamber. Megatron wouldn't have known she had almost died doing it. Or what the Seeker had promised her after the merciless punishment Megatron had dealt.
"Starscream..." she convinced her tired eyes to focus, finding a set of fiery optics and a determined face hovering above her, challenging her to accept the inconceivable truth. "Can't be..."
"Look for yourself", the winged mech raised her arm for her to see. "Your friends have already removed the implant."
Dawn's eyes shifted to the small patch of stitches decorating her forearm. It was... It was real...? Not a trick...?
She was back...
Her blank mind couldn't process it. Suddenly she couldn't breathe. She started gasping, feeling more lightheaded no matter how hard she was trying to draw in air. Starscream wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him as she clung to him and fell trembling into hysteric tears.
The whole room around them had gone silent.
The mirror didn't sugarcoat the truth. In the privacy of the bathroom constructed for her, Dawn stared silently over her shoulder at the screaming red, slowly healing cuts on her exposed back. They would scar, she knew it already. She would be wearing the Decepticon insignia for the rest of her life.
Remember who you belong to.
As if summoned, the pain in her back flared alive with the vivid memory of the Decepticon leader's hand pressing against it, slowly carving the flesh. Dawn felt her breathing accelerate uncontrollably, bringing her close to hyperventilating. She dropped to her knees, digging her fingers into her rapidly rising and falling chest.
Don't think about it! Don't think about him! You're not there anymore! You're not...!
But Megatron will always be with you.
Dawn bit in the scream that wanted to tear its way out, knowing the Autobots were never far away from her. She didn't want them to see her like this. She didn't want Optimus to see her like this. And she didn't want to see the pain in his optics every time he tried to console her and she closed herself off or recoiled from his touch.
Or the sadness when she didn't shy away from Starscream.
Guilt hadn't made Dawn's recovery any easier the past few days, but the mere thought of the Seeker, knowing that he was somewhere close, carried her through yet another one of her daily breakdowns. Eventually she was able to slow down her desperate gasping, left shaking and feeling frail as a rain soaked piece of paper.
When would it end? How long until she could sleep without constantly waking up to the terrifying feeling of someone looming over her? How was she supposed to continue at all?! Having conversations, laughing... impossible tasks. She was a puzzle piece taken out, cut apart and glued back together into a completely different shape, and now she didn't fit back into the picture.
Getting up and leaving her room to face everyone was the last thing Dawn wanted to do, but she couldn't stand being alone anymore either. She still wasn't a hundred percent sure the Decepticon leader's holoform wouldn't suddenly materialize in front of her, proving it had all been merely another elaborate way of torturing her.
Drawing strength from Starscream and the miracle of him somehow staying sane even after years under the cruel tyrant's abuse, Dawn dragged herself back to her feet, leaning heavily against the steel sink.
She had no recollection of their escape from the Decepticon base. Only what she had heard, mainly from Starscream himself and Red Alert, as the cybertronian medic had struggled to treat her with his limited knowledge on humans. Starscream had been concise in his summary, claiming he had warped them out of the Decepticon base unnoticed and contacted the Autobots, insisting they'd take him with them too, even if only as a prisoner.
Red Alert had added how narrowly Starscream had avoided being blasted to scrap as soon as he had handed her over. There had been more than one bot ready to blow his head off when they had seen the state she was in. Only Optimus' strict order not to fire had kept that from happening. So they had brought the flier in with them. When Dawn had wondered how Starscream had been beside her when she had come to if he had been imprisoned, Red Alert had explained that the Seeker hadn't yet been put to a cell with holomatter inhibitors, and had used his holoform to barge into the room as soon as he had heard her cry out.
Dawn didn't know where Starscream got his strength from, but she found herself needing that strength. Optimus had come to see her plenty of times, trying to support and encourage her, help her talk about what she had gone through, but she hadn't been able to accept the help, closing up completely. Every careful try the patient Autobot had made, Dawn feared, had only hurt them both.
As much as Dawn wanted to avoid those conversations, she didn't want Optimus to stop trying. She still loved him, wanted more than anything for things to go back to the way they had been. And at the same time, she couldn't stop thinking that she wasn't worth his love anymore, and that eventually, he would grow tired of trying and come to think so too. The possibility terrified her.
Dawn was under Red Alert's instructions to stay in bed and get as much sleep as she could, but as far as her mental health was concerned, that wasn't an option anymore. Clothing herself, she decided she could stay on her feet for a little while, and tottered to search for the only source of comfort she had felt since she had been taken by the Decepticons.
Starscream might not have been a prisoner anymore, after Dawn vouching for him, but he wasn't free either. Dawn's traumatic experience hadn't made her blind to the way most of the Autobots acted towards him. They hardly saw anything else than a formerly loyal ally to the Decepticon leader, and it showed, though they had tried to tone it down when they had brought him to visit her. Still, the cold, hostile looks and bleak silences had been unmistakable. Dawn didn't need to be told that every moment there was at least one Autobot keeping an eye on him.
She was sure her heart stumbled in its rhythm as badly as she did as she walked into the mess hall and saw that this time the responsibility had been taken over by Optimus.
His silence was different. It betrayed no emotion whatsoever, positive or negative towards the winged Decepticon. Dawn didn't have a clue what hid behind the impenetrable facade, and it was unnerving, to say the least.
Optimus was standing rigidly in the middle of the room, between rows of oval-shaped tables, focused on a datapad he was holding in his hand. Starscream had seated himself behind one of the tables, looking as disinterested as he had been when Dawn had first seen him at the Decepticon base. Both of them looked her way as she stopped by the door, visibly surprised to see her, and for an uncomfortable moment, none of them said anything.
Dawn felt her heartbeat tapping against her chest and pulsating in the tips of her nervously fidgeting fingers. She knew she was nothing but transparent, barely able to look Optimus in the optics. Grasping for something to say, she nodded to him, eyes wandering inadvertently to where Starscream was.
The flier bounced up, the emotionless mask instantaneously gone as he strode towards Dawn. "What are you doing up with your injuries?"
Then, as quickly as he had gotten up, he stopped mid step, glancing to the side at Optimus. The Autobot leader remained stoic, the warm glow of his optics meeting Dawn's hesitating eyes.
"Starscream presents a valid point. You shouldn't risk injuring yourself further. Though I must say it eases my spark to see you are on the mend."
On the mend... Dawn thought back to what she had seen in the mirror. A sickly rainbow of various sized bruises that centered especially to the areas where the Decepticon leader had forcefully gripped or held her down, bite marks, swollen wrist, the cuts on her back as well as some other, less severe wounds from another session... And those were just the injuries visible to outside. The sadistic tyrant had worked her with care and creativity, never settling to perform the same routine twice.
Dawn swallowed the foul taste that rose to her mouth, struggling to remind herself which events were reality and which were memories.
"I..." her voice was hoarse, throat still hurting from the days of screaming and from getting nearly crushed during the Decepticon leader's last fit of anger. "...needed a walk."
She couldn't bring herself to say she had been looking for Starscream. She probably didn't have to. Somehow she got the feeling that Optimus knew that already. She felt horrible.
"Dawn..." the giant-sized Autobot started carefully, coming closer and getting down on one knee. "Putting aside my strong opinion that you should still remain in bed, is there anything I can do for you? I... failed you before, and that is something I cannot forgive myself. But I am here now, and I will do everything in my power to make it up to you."
A haunting feeling of déjà-vu made Dawn's skin crawl. She began feeling faint.
It's 'him', isn't it? Like before. You do realize you haven't really escaped anything?
"Are you alright? Dawn!"
Optimus' holoform appeared in front of her as she started to sway. Dawn stared at the red and blue form, suddenly not knowing who she was looking at anymore. "N-no..."
He's going to hurt you again. You know that.
"No! Get away from me!"
She saw the large hands reaching for her, and reacted instinctively. Tables and benches screeched into motion and clanked together as an invisible wave erupted from her, clearing the area in front of her of anything metal. The holoform flew back as well, the mech behind it letting out a pained grunt and shutting it off. Dawn's trembling legs gave in, and she crumbled to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut.
"No, no, no ,no, no..." she chanted repeatedly, fingernails digging deep into her arms as she hugged herself. "I can't... I can't..."
And then the familiar arms were around her, raspy voice doing its best to chase the horrors away. "You're not there anymore! You will never be there again! I promise you, you're safe here."
Slowly, the continuous reassuring cut through the fear that had clouded Dawn's mind. She took deeper breaths and opened her teary eyes, though the tension still didn't ease from her muscles. Starscream's holoform stayed by her side, prying her fingers gently loose from her arms. It left a steady aching that got lost with all the other pains that accompanied her as constantly as her heartbeat.
"What's the matter with you?!"
Dawn flinched, believing the angry words were meant for her, until she looked up and saw both Starscream and his holoform facing Optimus.
"If you're too thick to realize it yourself, let me spell it out for you: You're not helping her! Did you really think Megatron would just ignore the bond you two have, and not do everything he could to twist and destroy it completely? Trust me, he was bent on making sure she could never again feel at ease in your presence. And guess what? Judging by the fact that she's terrified of you, I'd say he got to a pretty good start before I got her out!"
Dawn stared up at the two mechs, shocked by Starscream's outburst. Optimus was standing again, optics wide with equal surprise. Slowly, their gaze fell down as the full weight of the flier's words sunk in.
"I... apologize."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Dawn could hear the Decepticon leader's mocking laughter. It was a pitiful situation, all three of them in pain and unable to do anything but hurt each other further.
A slight turn of Optimus' head and a far-away look emerging into his optics caught Dawn's attention. She had learned to recognize it as a sign of one of the bots talking to him via their comm. link. Whatever the message was, it immediately made Optimus tense up.
"What is it...?" Dawn hesitated to ask, getting increasingly worried as she saw the Autobot leader clench his hands into tight fists.
He didn't answer, instead giving her an evasive look. Apprehension made Dawn's stomach twist with anxiety. She separated herself from Starscream's holoform and stood up, feeling strangely numb even though her pains hadn't gone anywhere.
"It's 'him', isn't it?"
She hated the fact that her voice was shaking as well as the distant realization that everything around them seemed to have melted into an unrecognizable blur in her eyes.
"He's trying to contact us", Optimus was unable to keep the strain from his voice, turning quickly to leave the room. "You two stay here."
"I'm not going to hide from...!" Starscream started furiously, shutting off his holoform and taking a step after the Prime.
A sharp, over-the-shoulder scowl from the Autobot leader stemmed the angry flow, giving the Seeker's processors time to catch up with his mouth. Dawn saw his head turn almost imperceptibly to glance towards her. The explosive anger faded into a low, poisonous growl.
"Just... Tell him we've got unfinished business I intend to settle once and for all."
Optimus nodded curtly and left them, heavy steps booming forebodingly as he disappeared into the corridor. The following silence only made the hammering of Dawn's heart seem that much more louder.
"Sorry", she muttered haggardly. "You got left behind because of me. I know I... I have to face him some day and..."
"There's a time for everything and this is not yours, nor mine. Not yet", Starscream crouched down to extend his hand for her. "You have no reason to be sorry."
Dawn stepped onto the offered hand, steadying herself against the metal fingers as the Seeker lifted her up and went to straighten one of the displaced tables. He lowered her down on it and took a seat himself. Neither of them felt the need to talk. Being alone with just the two of them was what Dawn had been hoping for, and it made her feel better, but only marginally. Having reacted to Optimus the way she had done, as well as getting a sudden reminder of the Decepticon leader's existence, had shaken Dawn profoundly.
Fearing that her feet could still fail her at any moment, Dawn sat down, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. From her shielded position, she let herself study the flier, thinking about his serious, yet somehow still versatile expressions. Calm and collected, emotionless, angry, determined, protective, caring... Even his wings seemed to convey emotions, readjusting their position slightly higher or lower, and giving little twitches every once in a while. Dawn could feel the tension leaving her as she kept watching him.
Starscream did the same, quietly observing her, though his ponderings remained a mystery to her. His forearm leaned to the edge of the table and his other hand rested next to her, fingers close, almost touching her. Dawn inched closer, leaning against them as they rose to slowly stroke her lower back and shoulders, careful to avoid the sore area in the middle. Her eyes closed for a moment, the stress of her pulsating heart easing even more with the calming gesture. She breathed deeply through her nose.
"You called me strong, when in fact it's been you the whole time who's been strong for the both of us. Even after everything he's done, you're not afraid of him."
A passing memory of the disinterested expression on the Seeker's face made her continue. "How do you do that? You're just as affected as I am, so how...? Where do you find your strength?"
Starscream looked at her with an inscrutable expression before answering. "My oath. And we're a race of warriors. Have been for millions of years. I suppose we're just more used to it all. The war, and the countless ways it screws up foes and allies alike."
Dawn wasn't satisfied with that. "Getting used to something doesn't equal hope."
"Hope?" the Seeker repeated perplexed. "I thought we were talking about strength."
Dawn took a moment to gather the explanation for the leap in her train of thought. "No amount of strength can help someone without hope. We can struggle on, but if we have nothing to look forward to, nothing to aspire to... are we anything more than senseless tools? Cogs in someone else's machinery."
"Yeah, yeah, you've made your point", Starscream scoffed dismissively, then gave her the same inscrutable expression, as if wanting to say something else, but failing to quite find the words. "If you're so eager to know what gave me the strength to defy Megatron... I'd guess it's the same thing that seems to give you strength."
Dawn waited for further clarification, quickly earning a small bump to the back of her head from the tip of the mildly annoyed mech's finger.
"Don't make me say obvious things, you're smarter than that."
Dawn rubbed the back of her head absentmindedly, still thinking what to say. Starscream sighed, clearly wanting to retract his last statement.
"Every time I have seen you fight in the past, you've fought the hardest, going insanely far, whenever someone you cared about was in danger. You're always protecting someone. For me, this is new... this... want to protect someone."
Dawn couldn't help, but give an affectionate smile at the awkward look on the Seeker's face. Starscream saw it and gave an irritated huff, looking away first, but soon glancing back with a softer, pondering tone.
"I would've never believed a simple smile could..."
Their delicate bubble burst at the sound of metal feet rushing through the corridor, growing louder with each step. A yellow mech charged into the room, stopping to fix Starscream with a blazing glare.
"You... slag-sucking spawn of Unicron!"
"H-Hot Shot...?" Dawn stared wide-eyed at the furious Autobot, who wasted no time stomping towards them. "Hey! What's wro...? Hot Shot!"
The young mech had grabbed Starscream by the shoulder, pulling him away from the table, and punched him square in the face. The Seeker stumbled and fell back, ending up on his aft with a look of dull surprise and a dent on his cheek.
"Get up you sanctimonious scrapheap!" Hot Shot provoked heatedly. "I'm not done with you yet!"
"Stop!" Dawn had jumped to her unsteady feet the moment Hot Shot's fist had connected with Starscream's face plates, scared as she saw that the winged mech didn't seem like he was even intending to defend himself. "He hasn't done anything, why are you...?!"
"Hasn't done anything?!" the yellow Autobot exclaimed, turning briefly to Dawn. "That's not what Megatron said!"
Dawn felt the color drain from her face. Hot Shot continued, aiming his anger with an accusatory finger at Starscream.
"Yeah, he told us how you helped him torture her! And still you dare to prance around here, claiming to be helping her! Now get up, you strutless coward!"
Starscream still didn't make a move to respond, so Hot Shot kicked him in the canopy, cracking the cover and forcing the Seeker down on his elbows. That was more than Dawn could bear to see.
"Stop it!"
Flinging her hand, she used her powers to push the hot-headed mech away from Starscream. The move packed a little more punch than she had intended to use, and Hot Shot barely maintained his balance, skidding to a stop and casting a disbelieving gaze at her.
"Why are you defending him?! After everything he's done to you, rendering you helpless with that implant! After letting you suffer for days before doing anything! After helping Megatron torture you! After fragging you with him! Why!"
Reality began fading away. Or maybe she did. Dawn saw the hand extended in front of her, watching it from somewhere far away.
So the twisted warlord had made sure everyone knew the details of her time in captivity.
Dawn let her hand fall down, mortified beyond belief, and feeling sick to her stomach. "We both have our reasons... You're just going to have to trust me."
"I don't... I can't... This... this is crazy!" Hot Shot stuttered and shook his head with barely contained anger. "He's brainwashed you or something!"
"Hot Shot, please..."
The seething Autobot wasn't listening anymore, turning on his heels and storming out bitterly. "The sooner we get rid of him, the better for you and everyone else!"
And with that, the earlier comfort was gone for good. No one had showed up to stop the events, and why would they had? They probably thought Starscream deserved the beating Hot Shot had intended to deliver.
Dawn kept staring out into the hallway, barely reacting to the Seeker standing up and walking next to her.
"You shouldn't use your powers while you're still recovering. And... maybe you should keep your distance from me for a while. I'll get someone to help you back to your room."
Dawn couldn't argue. She felt like a brittle shell of the person she had once been. Right then she couldn't even find the strength to make herself move, let alone fight both the demons Megatron had instilled in her mind, and a base full of angry Autobots.
The continuous feed from the surveillance cameras was Starscream's only connection to the outside world. He watched the monitors from afar, looking past rocky areas and into the thin lines of blue sky among peacefully drifting clouds. His wings were itching to take flight after being cooped up inside for days.
In addition to his growing resentment to staying indoors, the message from Megatron hadn't exactly improved his popularity among the Autobots. Cold stares, snooty remarks, blatantly jabbed elbows... So far he had held in his chagrin. It still was a small nuisance compared to what he had suffered by Megatron's side, even if it stung his pride.
What was harder for the Seeker to swallow, was what the message and the following incident had done to his human ward. She had been opening up, even smiling, when that idiot of an Autobot had rushed in to ruin everything. Now even though her body seemed to be healing, allowing her to move around the base more, it was clear her mind remained fragile and tormented.
Accursed Megatron! Cybercrosis damn him!
Starscream's crossed arms tensed in repressed aggression, before he heaved a hefty sigh and let his shoulders droop. Who was he kidding... he had himself to blame too. If he had acted a little bit sooner, gotten her away from that sick-minded slagger before things escalated to the point of her welcoming death... It was the one thing he agreed with the Autobots. He should've helped her sooner.
Starscream's wings twitched in response to his frustration. A good, long flight was what he would've needed to clear his systems. It might've helped her too, just the two of them, shaking off all obligations, every tie, every bad memory. Nothing but the open sky around them. Everything on the ground as distant as the star warming the planet.
If only it hadn't been impossible in their current situation.
Starscream held no illusions. The only reason the Autobots hadn't already kicked him out or terminated him, was because Dawn was defending him, and they didn't dare to upset her while she was still recovering. That wouldn't help him for long, though. Sooner or later they would have to decide what to do with him.
He was too callous of a warrior to fear termination. Besides not being able to settle the score with Megatron, the only thing bothering him about that particular path was the persistent, bloated aching in his spark that only grew stronger when he thought about leaving the human he had quickly and irrationally grown attached to. He wasn't satisfied with the possibility of not knowing what her future would be. Whether she would be alright. It must've been a glitch in his head, but he needed her to be alright.
"Conflicted thoughts, I take it?"
The sudden voice from his side made Starscream flinch. He spun towards the speaker, angry at himself for letting his guard down, and found himself staring at the mask-covered face of Optimus Prime.
Great. Because the heavyweight of the Autobots really was someone you'd easily miss.
"What do you want?"
His tone was sharp, offensive, but the Autobot leader showed no signs of acknowledging it.
"To speak with you."
Something told Starscream this wasn't going to be a conversation about the planet's weather conditions. He glanced around them, noticing the other Autobots having taken their work elsewhere, giving the two of them relative privacy.
This was going to be good. Maybe he would get a matching dent on the other side of his face to fix the asymmetry.
"I wanted to talk about Dawn. And you."
Starscream's optics narrowed. "I won't tell you anything she isn't ready to talk about herself, if that's what you're expecting."
"Fair enough", Optimus stated unperturbed. "Why did you decide to help her?"
An obvious question Starscream had expected to have heard as soon as they had taken him in, not this late. He crossed his arms again, shrugging. "I felt sorry for her. Plus, it was time to set us back from the twisted path Megatron has for so long steered us into."
Optimus seemed to consider that, though it was impossible to tell what he really thought or felt. Not that Starscream cared whether he was satisfied with his superficial explanation or not.
"That doesn't explain why you're still helping her. Or your... strong connection with her."
That would've been a 'not'.
"Well, that's too bad, because I have nothing else to tell you."
Opening up to the leader of his enemies about the various ways Megatron had humiliated and used him... Not in a million stellar cycles.
"You care about her."
The words somehow felt like an accusation. Starscream faltered, falling short on suitably pungent replies. Optimus simply nodded to himself, as if having gotten his confirmation.
Starscream gritted his teeth and uncrossed his arms, not liking the way the Prime was leading the conversation. "What?! Why does that matter to you? Or are you worried I might want to steal her away from you?"
The Autobot leader's composure didn't crack one bit, but the rigid sternness dominating his presence seemed to mellow out a bit.
"That is my worry only if you decide to pursue such a goal with the intention to harm her. Other than that, she is free to make her own decisions."
It was not what Starscream had expected to hear, but there was no time to recover from his surprise as Optimus was already continuing.
"I can see she has suffered grave injuries, both physical and mental, and I can see her fondness and unwavering trust towards you. What I can not see, is how you've earned her trust and what your intentions regarding her are now, and that is something I can't leave unclarified."
Starscream could understand the Prime's side on the matter. He could even sort of sympathize with him and his want to keep the human safe. Until the next sentence.
"Especially in the light of the recent revelation considering your participation in her torment."
That wiped all traces of sympathy from the Seeker's processors.
"Frag you and your condescending attitude! You too would've used even the smallest means to alleviate her suffering had you been in my place! Maybe it's something you soft-plated Autobots haven't figured out yet, but sometimes there is no painless way, only the least painful! And I did my best to give her that until...!"
Starscream's mouth hung open for a nano-klik, before he gritted his teeth, not sure how to finish. What was it that had pushed him far enough to break his oath?
"Until...?" Optimus insisted.
"Never mind that!" Starscream had had enough. With his gnawing worry for the human, the Autobots treating him like dirt on their hubcaps and now their leader harassing him with stupid questions, he had no interest in humoring anyone. He had already freed himself of one megalomaniac's tyranny, he wasn't about to adopt a new one.
"We're done h..."
"Megatron had a message for you."
The sudden announcement froze Starscream in the middle of a dismissive hand wave. Heat began building up in his systems.
"What...?"
The Autobot leader held his enigmatic demeanor, calmly forwarding the message of his archenemy. "Everything is forgiven if you return to him willingly."
The Seeker's cooling systems were whirring in full force to stabilize the increasing temperature in his core. He couldn't even speak, save for a low guttural growl that escaped through his clenched teeth.
"So, do you wish to go back to Megatron?"
Starscream wasn't even going to dignify that with an answer, turning to storm off in silent anger.
Or at least he tried to.
Optimus grabbed a hold of his arm, stopping him in his tracks. Starscream flinched violently at the heavy touch, the simmering anger within his frame exploding as he spun around.
"Neither you nor that glitched-in-the-head fragger get to use me however you please anymore, so hands off before I cut them off!"
The outraged scream echoed from the walls of the base, no doubt carrying to every audio-receptor nearby. Starscream yanked his arm free, glaring furiously at the Autobot leader, who lowered his hand slowly, finally showing some emotion.
Starscream didn't stay to find out what that emotion was. He fled. There was no other word for it, no matter how much he disliked it. He needed to get out, get away from everything! Stupefied Autobot faces ogled at him as he passed them by, testing what little he had left of his self-control.
As soon as he reached a secluded spot behind the maintenance room, the Seeker reached back and slammed his fist into the wall with a snarl. The white-hot flames of hatred only intensified as he saw his hand shaking against the crumpled metal.
He struck it again, trying to force his hand to steady itself. And again, to no avail. The resounding clanging from the continuous strikes did nothing to calm the maelstrom within him, only reminding him of the countless times Megatron had vented his frustrations on him.