Ch. 145

It was a wonder he wasn't left in the med bay to be tortured. Starscream was still exhausted from the mental strain he had been put under, but what did that all matter now? The seeker was currently seating himself in the corner of the Nemesis brig, his servos locked at the wrists in stasis cuffs. One wrong move and a passing Vehicon guard could have him shocked into stasis. There was little point in resisting more than needed anyhow, it wasn't as though he could escape without Wheeljack.

Speaking of that mech...

Starscream grimaced at what he was most likely going to be subjected to. That horrendous cortical patch. The seeker's insides felt as though they were sinking once he realized what that meant, especially since the Wrecker didn't feel the need to come in for mental-defense training. Now he wasn't just feeling hopeless but also angry.

"It was such an inconvenience, wasn't it?" he murmured to himself.

Heavy pedfalls caused him to wince as they drew closer toward his prison. The sounds echoed around the cell surrounding him, that cold and dark purple hue of the metal clashing against the bright, silvery chassis he had. He stuck out like a white moth against a black wall. There was little point in trying to hide away, either...

"If you thought that was rough," he heard, "then you really have no idea what Shockwave has in store for you."

The cell door slid open and a bright light rushed in from the hallway, blinding Starscream. But in his momentary visual impairment, he still saw two Vehicon guards dragging Wheeljack's sorry aft into the brig, tossing him forward without a pause to care before the door slid shut once more. The seeker glared down at the white mech as a seething anger began to grow in him. He didn't know whether his emotion was toward his new cellmate per say, but in this moment it felt well and truly justified.

"They know everything now, don't they?" he growled.

Wheeljack's chassis was weakly intaking but a heavy sigh from the bot as he rolled over onto his back answered the question, "Hey Scream. Nice digs. We sharing this pad, or...?"

"I honest to fragging Primus hate you."

The white mech struggled to sit up, his servos cuffed, and looked back at the seeker, "I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I didn't think-"

Starscream's voice became shrill, "Really?! Didn't you?! Ratchet and Soundwave warned you what we would be up against and you didn't think that it was worth your time to at least try?! After everything I went through to ensure my mind would be safe, all that was very nearly worthless thanks to you!"

Wheeljack looked like slag. His armor was scuffed and broken. He was leaking small amounts of energon in various places. And he looked pretty sad without the handles of his swords poking out from his back. Starscream didn't care. He wanted the fragger to be miserable.

Wheeljack sighed, "... Yeah. You're right. I avoided it all on purpose. And I'm regretting it now, so cut me a little slack if you don't mind," the seeker rolled his optics, but the mech continued, "I still haven't gotten use to the lot of you joining up, I guess. I wasn't exactly ready to see... Breakdown again. I barely saw him at all when we had that huge Con job a while back and you ended up buried under that glacier, so the thought of seeing everybody again and him, a former Wrecker who'd come back to the Bot side... it was a bit much, alright? So, I'm sorry I didn't come in to train and I'm sorry that they used me as the weak link..."

Starscream just shuffled in his seated position, tsking as he looked away, "Typical. If it's not my major frag up it's someone else who negates all the precautions I take... but if it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. Easily Smokescreen. I'm sure he's why I'm here in the first place."

The white mech shook his helm, "Tough. Sorry about that."

"Oh, don't be. I'm not the one they'll be killing shortly. That'll be you, by the way. I mean, I'm sure they've already procured the location of the base, where the children live and go to school, any rendezvous points you made with any of them."

Wheeljack tapped at his chestplate, "Way to hit me here, Scream. It's really appreciated."

Starscream smiled, "I'm glad it is. And it better be. Now that they've taken what they want from you, they'll remove you to be killed. They won't expect you to have anymore information left."

"... Come again?"

The seeker carefully stood, "You're a dead mech. I can guarantee that they're already lining up the firing squad or prepping the smelting pit. Really, whichever they're fancying at this point."

"Cut to the chase," Wheeljack frowned.

"My point is," Starscream hissed, "is that they will hardly take a detour to the med bay for another patch session before you die. So if I decide to give you information to pass onto Optimus and the team-"

"Oh, I'm starting to like this," the Wrecker interrupted, smirking, "Plus, I'm kinda known for dramatic and harrowing escapes. Aren't I, Scream?"

The seeker glared darkly, "That is the last time I'm allowing you to call me that. And shut up. You either get out the information I impart to you or you die trying."

Wheeljack chuckled, "Easy, easy. I got this. Don't forget who you're talking to..." he smiled daringly, "Scream."

Starscream snarled as he stomped over to the mech, his bound servos flexing their claws, "Oh, that is fragging it!"