Ch. 20
The seeker was more than grateful that the Autobots hadn't attached the wing clamp to him this time. He remembered the pain of it before, the crick in his back struts and the ache. He wasn't looking forward to that again. Sadly, the cuffs around his wrists were mandatory and in the dark of Optimus's trailer, Starscream picked at them with a sigh. Within the hour things would change as they had before. Or nearly so.
The trailer's tires squeaked as the vehicle came to a slow stop. He heard the Autobots outside transform. They must have been here.
"Starscream's loyalty to Megatron has always been questionable at best..." he heard Optimus say as he addressed his team; it faded as he grew further away.
The seeker flitted his wings in the cramped space then grimaced when he heard Bulkhead's heavy footfalls stomp to the back of the trailer and the door opened.
"O.K., Screamy, rise and shine."
Starscream snarled as the green mech reached in to grab his leg, "Touch me and I will kick you so hard, your dentals will cave in."
Bulkhead flinched back in surprise, watching as the seeker wiggled out himself and grumbled when he stood.
Optimus stared him down, "Where now?"
Starscream pointed behind him, passed the arch, "Through there. Airachnid should be at the other half by now."
The Prime nodded, "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, you are with me. Arcee, keep an optic on Starscream."
"Optimus wait-" "Do NOT leave me with-"
Arcee and Starscream both paused as they tried to speak over one another; the seeker growled as he glanced at her, "You first."
The femme crossed her arms, "You want me to go after Airachnid too?"
Starscream smiled wide and nodded, "You're the only one here who could really put some dents into her! Especially since you two have history, or so Airachnid says. She'll be so focused on tormenting you, she'll ignore Prime and... Bulkhead. Yes, leave me with the yellow one."
Bumblebee beeped at him as he frowned and Starscream rolled his optics, "Yes, fine, leave me with Bumblebee."
Arcee looked up at Optimus with pleading optics, but the Prime shook his helm, "It is this history that gives me great concern and I fear it will cloud your judgement. We will be back soon."
Optimus, Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked cautiously through the arch, leaving Arcee with Starscream.
The seeker sighed, sitting and leaning against the trailer, "Well, I tried."
The femme glanced at him, "You wanted me gone so we wouldn't talk about the whole 'being buried alive' thing."
Starscream scoffed, "Only partially. That, and I don't actually like you. Surprise."
Arcee smirked, "Watch the sarcasm, Scream. Ratchet can give it back just as hard."
"You say that as though I'll be held captive long enough to be taken to your base," the mech mused, "What if I don't want to go?"
Arcee stood over him, "I don't think Optimus will be giving you much choice."
"Yes, much like he did for you."
The femme shook her helm, sighing, "I know. But he's right. I let my anger over what Airachnid did... it just makes things harder."
Starscream knew what the spider had done, but asked anyway, "So, you do go back a ways. What did she do to you?"
Arcee glared, "She killed my partner."
The seeker hummed softly, grumbling, "Busy, isn't she? If she's not tormenting you, playing games with humans or trying to work her way up the ranks, she's snuffing Autobots."
"You could say that."
Starscream growled, "Horrible wretch. If and when I get my claws around her throat..."
Arcee frowned at him, "All on your own?"
The seeker's wings perked, "... Preferably..." he huffed with emphasis after a moment, "Well I certainly don't want help from the lot of you."
The femme began to pace as the minutes ticked away and Starscream slid away from the side of the truck to lay back in the dirt, his legs crossed at the ankles as he tried to relax. Arcee's pacing was pleasant enough. He was content without her trying to badger him about the cave incident. But a low rumble and scratching noise in the dirt had the mech sitting up quickly.
His wings twitched, "I don't like this. They should have been back by now," Starscream looked to Arcee, "COMM them, why don't you?"
The femme shook her head, "They could be engaged. I'm not going to compromise them if they're trying to sneak up on her."
The seeker let his wings droop to the ground, pitching them straight up again when he felt the same rumble and scratching on his wing tips, "What if she's trying to sneak up on us...?" he murmured, quickly scrambling to stand.
Arcee glared, "You know something?"
Starscream hushed her and shook his helm, "No, I just felt something in the ground. Something under us..."
The femme remembered what he had said when they had been trapped. That he could feel vibrations in his wings against stone and dirt.
Arcee transformed a servo into her blaster and slowly started scoping the area, ignoring Starscream as the seeker held up his servos.
"What do you want?"
Starscream scowled, "Four blasters are better than two."
Arcee smirked, "Four blasters are only better if I'm sure two of them wouldn't be pointed at me."
The seeker pouted, "Me? Aim them at you? After all we've been through?"
The femme almost chuckled, "My point exactly. Although, I thought you said those events were 'unmentionable'."
Starscream growled as he watched Arcee do a perimeter check. Curse her fast working processor. He slumped his shoulders and leaned back against the trailer.
Within a few minutes, Arcee finished her quick rounds and walked back to the seeker, "Looks like you were wrong."
Starscream frowned at her, "I only hope I'm wrong. I hope Airachnid is engaged in combat with the rest of your team right now and nowhere near us."
"You can keep hoping that then," Arcee crossed her arms, her expression softening, "So, are we going to discuss what happened in the caves, or...?"
Starscream's frown narrowed into a glare. Just as the seeker was about to yell a prompt 'no', the earth beneath them shook and exploded open between them. Starscream slammed painfully back into the trailer, knocking it over, while Arcee fell some distance away, Airachnid pulling herself out of the hole she had dug.
"Arcee, twice in one day? I must say, you really are a glutton for punishment," the spider hissed; but she ignored the femme, turning on Starscream instead, "You and I," she spoke smoothly, grabbing his cuffs, "were not done talking."
The seeker growled at her then yelped when Airachnid was kicked off him by Arcee, the blue femme taking a defensive stance as she brandished her blades.
"I meant it before, Airachnid, I'm going to make you pay!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
The two engaged heatedly, hot sparks from clanging blades showering the dirt around them. Starscream watched, unsure of what to do. This was his opportunity to escape, surely, but this hadn't happened before. And what if Arcee died? He tried to calculate a proper response to all this and came up with very little to work with. If he helped Arcee, Airachnid would report that back to Megatron. If he helped Airachnid... no, that wasn't even an option. But sitting back and helping no one was a grand idea. Especially since he had his cuffs restraining him as it were.
The seeker dodged a round of missed blaster fire, ducking behind the trailer for cover. What he wanted right now more than anything was that key! He heard Arcee cry out in pain and he peeked over the top of the fallen trailer to see Airachnid pulling a spider leg from the blue femme's side, the Autobot dropping to the ground as she curled in agony.
"My, you do fight hard," the spider purred, "but I'm not ready to finish you yet. So be a good girl and stay put."
Arcee hissed her intakes, watching with bleary optics as Airachnid pulled away and started to tauntingly call out in the air, "Oh Starscream? Where did you crawl off to now?"
The seeker stayed put, laying beside the trailer with his wings flush against his back the best he could. This was a mediocre hiding place at best, but he was sure it had fooled the spider when he heard her scuttle over to one of the small dunes, looking over the landscape for him. He only had one slim chance.
Starscream rushed from his hiding spot to Arcee, nudging her as he hissed quietly, "Give me the key, give me the key now!"
The blue femme was going in and out of consciousness, but she managed to point a little ways away from her to a blue, card-like object in the dirt. Right beside Airachnid's tapping spider legs.
"Having a moment with your new friend?" the spider laughed, "Well Arcee, if Starscream is your new partner, I suppose I can take him from you, too."
The seeker snarled, aiming his missiles at the spider, "I may not have my blasters, but I can still hurt you. Now stand down!"
Airachnid circled them slowly, "Not until I have what I want from you. Not until you tell me everything."
Starscream shot a missile at the femme, forcing her to jump back, and he dove for the cuff key, struggling to get it into the lock. Airachnid charged him just as the cuffs slipped from his wrists and the seeker yelped as he dodged a barrage of stabbing spider legs.
The spider snarled, "Hold still!"
The seeker transformed his servos into blasters and fired rapid shots, forcing her back again. All he wanted was space. Space away from her and space to use to get to Arcee; she was leaking pretty fast now.
Starscream dove for the blue femme, trying to shake her awake to be of some use. A roar behind him told him Airachnid was coming in for another assault. The seeker turned, Arcee in his arms, as the spider's long, spindly bladed legs came down upon them.