Ch. 39

Megatron tapped at his desk impatiently. He had sent for Starscream's retrieval almost twenty minutes ago. If it was taking this long, he'd have to secure and transport the seeker himself. And if he had to walk through the halls of his ship now, he could not guarantee the safety of any crew member that crossed his path.

A light knock at his door pulled him from horrible thoughts and he gruffly answered, "Come."

The door opened and two Vehicons walked in, Starscream in tow, "We have brought you the prisoner, Lord Megatron."

The warlord sneered and stood, walking to them, "Gentlemechs, prisoner? Starscream is our guest. Though circumstances brought him back to us in not the kindest of ways, he is still the Decepticon's second-in-command."

The drones relinquished their hold on the seeker's arms and bowed lightly before making their exit. Leaving Starscream alone with Megatron.

The warlord smirked, watching the seeker carefully as he went to his quarter's door panel and locked it manually. The act itself made Starscream's optics widen and his wings fall flat. There was little he could do anyway and now there was really nothing he could do.

Megatron's heavy steps traveled loudly through the room as he walked back to the seeker, "Now that we are alone, I would like to have a discussion with you, my dear Starscream."

Starscream trembled but found he couldn't come up with a response. This didn't seem to trouble the warlord as he simply took the seeker by the shoulders and led him to a chair across from his desk, sitting him in it. Starscream looked anything but settled but Megatron minded very little, going around his desk to sit across from his second.

"Knockout's medical reports are very detailed," he mused, reaching for something under the desk, "but I believe all your repairs have been completed by now," he pulled out an opaque glass container, setting it on the desk, "I can only imagine the state you were returned to us in if our medical officer had to replace your ped spikes thrice."

His ped spikes?! Starscream couldn't believe Knockout had made three reports, three MEDICAL reports on the repair of his peds. But whatever was helping to create a stall...

The seeker sunk in on himself, keeping his servos on his lap, "Ah... yes, d-damage from this planet's terrain... I had taken to walking more..."

Megatron chuckled, "I can tell."

The warlord took out two small cubes and poured the contents of the opaque glass into each, a bright almost pink energon covering the bottom of the cubes. Starscream held in a cringe. This type of energon, the pink energon, was a super refined blend, passed the point of even being 'safe for Cybertronian consumption'. This caused a chemical reaction in the unstable molecules of the fuel, making it less vital for survival and used more for recreational purposes.

Megatron slid the harmless looking cube of energon towards Starscream, picking up his own cube, "Care to join me for a drink?"

The seeker had to dig his claws into the seat beneath him. The warlord was treating him to the best seat on the ship, besides that lovely throne, complete with nothing but manners and a highly sense-dulling drink. Starscream knew it was a trap. Anyone with a working processor could see it was a trap. The seeker was terrified but at the same time... another thought struck him.

Megatron had been treating him better since their standoff at the abandoned mine. Starscream's confidence, his lack of fear, not only did it annoy the mech, but it intrigued him. That was the look in the warlord's optics that had made Starscream nervous down in the brig. He hadn't seen that look before in those red optics.

The seeker hesitated, then took the cube, holding it in his claws, "I didn't take you much for celebrating half a victory."

Megatron smirked, "Half a victory? Only half?"

Starscream didn't drink from the cube just yet, "The elimination of Unicron. But Optimus Prime is still alive."

The warlord chuckled, sipping from his cube, "Your elimination of Unicron. And I allowed Optimus to live so that I could return you to your rightful place. I told you I would bring you back to the ship, and I meant every word of that."

The seeker nodded, "Yes, you made that clear."

"Aren't you happy to be back?"

"That depends," Starscream leaned back into the chair, "am I welcome?"

Megatron set his cube down, folding his servos neatly, "Why wouldn't you be?"

The seeker's wings fluttered lightly; this was turning into a very interesting game of who would crack first, "Airachnid certainly hasn't been pleased with my return."

The warlord growled softly, "Yes. She is becoming quite the nuisance. Rest assured, I will have that little pest taken care of in due course."

"Something happened while you were away?"

Megatron poured himself another cube's worth of the pink energon, letting it sit, "How perceptive of you. Yes, we had an incident while we were busy saving this world. Soundwave handled it nicely, but Airachnid's betrayal has not been missed by my optics."

Starscream smirked, "Good to know at least a bit of my advice didn't escape you."

The warlord hummed, "Yes, it seems you were very much on point about that," he smiled, "and I was wondering if you had anything else you wanted to tell me?"

The seeker held in a flinch. Here we go. This was why he was here.

Megatron glanced down at the untouched cube in his second's servo and gestured to it softly, "Aren't you going to drink with me?"

Starscream glanced down at his cube. The high grade energon in his servos was potent enough for a heavy class like the warlord. The seeker was a lightweight, both in class and the ability to handle the effects of the high grade.

Starscream watched as a concerned frown developed on Megatron's face and he laughed nervously, "I-I'll have to drink metaphorically, you know I've n-never... been..." the frown increased and the seeker felt his spark sink; he held up the cube and shrugged, "I... guess I'll drink for the principal of it all..."

He took the lightest sip he could and shuddered. It was just as awfully debilitating as he remembered. But at least the warlord didn't look as upset now.

Megatron picked up his cube, "I told you earlier I did not know where to begin when it came to asking you what was going on. I gave myself some time to think while you were recovering in the med bay."

Starscream was fully aware that the longer he sat, cube in servo, and listened, the more danger he was in. It wouldn't take long for the high grade energon to start effecting his systems.

"So I'm going to ask you a few questions, my dear Starscream," Megatron reached over and took the seeker's cube, filling it up, "and I expect nothing but the truth," the warlord put the filled cube into his second's servo and smiled, baring his fangs, "Drink."

Starscream grumbled and swirled the cube lightly, "Ah... why not ask me your questions? I'd like to savor this..."

Megatron nodded lightly, "Very well. Why didn't you call into the Nemesis after your incident with Airachnid and the Autobots?"

The seeker opened his mouth to speak then paused. A lie wasn't coming out. Nor was the truth. Stupid fragging high grade. It was already slowing him. He was going to have to focus harder.

He tried again, "Well," he spoke slowly and clearly, "Airachnid had very nearly killed me. She indicated that whether she ended me there... or if I made it back to the ship, I would be dead to the universe and the Decepticon cause..." Starscream absentmindedly sipped from his cube, "Something about... claiming I was siding with the Autobots?" he shrugged, "I'm not sure. She just said you would put down a traitor before they got the chance to land on the Nemesis..."

Megatron watched the seeker carefully, "Where had you gone after your escape?"

Starscream hummed, "I flew... wow, to a lot of places... Think I went over into Mexico first..."

The warlord continued to watch, smirking when the seeker would sip from his cube, "And when I saw you at the volcano? Tell me, how did you manage to get a hold of ToxEn, my dear Starscream?"

Starscream took a larger drink from his cube, chuckling, "I nearly tripped over it on my way through. Stupid container of it in the middle of a cold lava flow and I was all... Well, I just didn't want to leave it out in the open, 'specially..." he cleared his throat, "especially since the Autobots could have found it. I didn't want THEM to have it..."

The seeker set the remainder of his cube down, sliding it across the desk, "That was a mistake," he shook his helm, "I should not be drinking that, I'll keep talking and... and no, that would not be not so pleasant. Not a good idea to drink this while answering questions, I'll jabber..."

Megatron laughed, filling it again, "On the contrary," he slid it back, "I'm counting on it."