Ch. 47

Arcee paced angrily, glancing at Bumblebee and Ratchet ever so often just to growl. They were the only others in the base, so they would have to face her wrath. Optimus and Wheeljack were Primus-knows-where trying to find Bulkhead.

"You knew," she finally vented, her voice oddly steady for being so angry, "you knew and you told Ratchet first?!"

Bumblebee shook his helm as he beeped, saying that he had discussed it with Optimus, and Ratchet and Bulkhead had overheard.

Arcee's optics widened, "So even BULKHEAD knows?! I should have been the first! How could you tell them over me, Cliff was MY partner!"

Ratchet frowned as he typed into his computer console, "Cliffjumper may have been your partner, but he was a friend to all of us, Arcee. Bumblebee was right to talk to Optimus about what happened first. Bulkhead and I didn't mean to hear it before you."

The femme huffed and leaned heavily against a wall, "I can't believe it. For all his help and acts of kindness, it was just another Decepticon trick..." she crossed her arms tightly, "Starscream was just using us again."

Bumblebee whirled loudly and angrily, saying he didn't believe that.

Ratchet nodded in agreement, "I have to agree with him. Arcee, what Starscream did hurts and shocks us all to the core, but what he has done after that-"

"What?" she snapped angrily, "Like trying to blow us up in the Decepticon mine? Catching and torturing Agent Fowler? Awakening Skyquake? Kidnapping Wheeljack and sending in a Decepticon spy? How about using Bulkhead for target practice with the Energon Harvester?! Or stealing the space telescope lens to melt the ice caps?! And let's not forget using dark energon to resurrect Skyquake's dead chassis!"

"That's when Starscream began to act strangely," the medic quickly responded, "or at least, strange for how he normally acts."

Arcee scoffed, "Well maybe Megatron dented his processor hard enough that he finally learned right from wrong."

Bumblebee beeped, telling her that Starscream really seemed to change that day, that she had to have been there to see it.

Ratchet nodded, "It was odd. It was..."

"Then explain it to me," she glared, "cause I'm ready to go out there and find him myself."

The medic sighed and paused in his work, "Starscream... was ready to fire down on us. Skyquake's tomb was already lit up with the dark energon. He was ready to pull the trigger when..." he hummed, "it almost looked like a system overload. He seized up then went rigid, like he was powering down, but he remained standing. Then, when he woke up, he looked genuinely terrified. Beyond what we could have expected from his arrogance only seconds before. And he lowered his weapon, Arcee. Something happened to him and though four of us were there to bear witness to it, I still can't explain the sudden transformation."

Bumblebee beeped, saying that it was seven if they had counted the children.

Ratchet grumbled, "Yes, quite. Sneaky little humans..."

Arcee slowly shook her helm, "It doesn't matter. I don't know if I..." she tightened her hold around herself, "if I can trust him again."

The medic glanced at her quietly then activated the ground bridge, allowing Optimus and Bulkhead to step through with Wheeljack in tow.

The femme quickly rushed to the group, her faceplates holding a more serious than angry look as she tried to control her emotions, "Did you see him? Did Starscream make an appearance?"

Optimus slowly shook his helm, "No, today he did not. I am sorry, Arcee."

Arcee growled and stormed off, leaving to fume.

Wheeljack rolled his shoulders back, whistling, "Wow, what's that about? You'd think any day without that creep would be a gift from Primus."

Bulkhead sighed, "Look, I told you earlier..."

The white mech's optics widened, "But that... I thought you were joking! Scream's really putting in to become an Autobot?"

Optimus followed after Arcee, Bulkhead's voice fading in the background as he explained to Wheeljack. If the Prime couldn't get the femme through the realization of her partner's death, he doubted the seeker would last on his own for much longer.

Arcee's optics kept focusing and refocusing, from her reflection in the glass to the Spark Extractor on the other side of the door.

"I thought you might be here."

The femme looked up in surprise, glaring to hide her sadness, "Optimus, I didn't mean to act so poorly earlier."

The Prime gently raised a servo to stop her, "There is no need to apologize, Arcee. To feel what you feel is normal. Conflicted emotions create far more confusion and anger. Especially when you are unable to confront the one who has caused them."

The femme looked into the glass again, "He found this. He used it against Unicron. It saved you, it saved everyone. So how can this be the same mech who killed Cliff? I don't..." she rested her helm against a servo, "I don't understand how it can be the same Starscream."

Optimus nodded, "Whatever transformation brought about his change of spark is unknown to us now, but I am certain, more than I have ever been in these passed few months, that he will stand alongside us and explain everything. He has done far too much for us to go back to being a Decepticon. You must believe that. His investments in our wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of our human friends, and even some of the Decepticon's highest ranking officers, tells of a larger force at work. Something he can see that we are still blind to. Starscream has told us many times that he is not ready to become an Autobot. I do not believe this is true."

Arcee slowly pulled her gaze away to look back up at Optimus, "You think he's not ready to tell us what made him change. To tell us what he knows."

The mech nodded, "Precisely. Arcee, I do not want you to hide what you feel. It would not be fair to ask that of you. All I can ask is that when he does come to us, remember what has done for you, for Bumblebee, for Ratchet, for Bulkhead, for me, for the children. Because he could have continued to hide the facts about what he did to Cliffjumper and yet he took the risk by confiding in an Autobot, a friend of yours, knowing you would come to see the truth," Optimus looked into the glass with her, shuttering his optics, "He could have said nothing at all."

Arcee hummed softly and sighed as she shuttered her optics as well. It hurt her so much finding out that Starscream had been responsible for her partner's death. But it hurt her more knowing that the silver mech was still out there, somewhere, and she didn't know whether to beat him to death or help welcome him in as an Autobot.