Ch. 220

Knockout patted Starscream's backplates as the seeker sat heavily in a chair on the command deck, "You know, I don't see how you can forget about a giant, fire breathing Predacon. It's like leaving your kid at the mall..."

"I was trying," the seeker hissed from between his servos, "to get away from the Nemesis. And he had just transformed, I was panicking."

A look of concern passed through each of Starscream's teammates.

"The Predacon can transform?" Ratchet frowned.

"No, Predacons," Starscream emphasized, "There are three. And yes, consider their beast forms as a type of vehicle mode, I suppose... Or... maybe the other way around, I never got the chance to really ask many questions about it-"

"We need to move in quickly," Ultra Magnus interrupted, "Sitting here ignoring the need for some kind of preventative measures against these beasts-"

"No, no, we're not discussing it like that," Starscream glared, finally pulling away from Knockout so he could stand, "Predaking was the only friend I had on that ship. If he didn't escape on his own then the Decepticons have him trapped and are torturing him now, I can guarantee it."

Magnus stepped forward, "And what use would they have for doing such a thing? Did you give it-"

"'It'?!" Starscream failed to hide his emotions as his now white wings flared out and began to vibrate, "He," he growled, "is very much a bot like you or I, and your attitude is very similar to the one that put me in this whole timeline mess! Predaking, Darksteel and Skylynx-"

"Oh good, they all have names," Knockout smiled nervously.

"-thin ice, doctor- they are all capable and intelligent- alright, Darksteel and Skylynx not so much, but the rest of what I said-"

Optimus set a servo on Starscream's shoulder plating to quiet him down, "What I believe you are trying to inform us," he surmised, "is that you have to come to a more friendly understanding with these mechs. And Predaking is just as much an ally as a friend to you. Correct?"

The seeker grumbled, "... Not in so many words... But yes, leaving Predaking at the lack of mercy of the Decepticons is not in our best interest. We have to find out if he escaped."

Ratchet scoffed, "Should we really be putting all of our energy into rescuing a mech we're not even sure could be trusted?"

"I'm vouching for him," Starscream crossed his arms across his red chestplate, "Isn't that enough?"

"Autobots," Optimus called out loudly, "not all of our resources can be expended on finding the location of Predaking. That, right now, is most certain," he looked down at the seeker, who grumbled quietly, "However, as it is a task that is most important to one of us, I will ask for volunteers to aid Starscream and myself in Predaking's search and rescue."

Starscream's blue optics shot up to look at the Prime and he smiled in a sense of near disbelief. But what else could he have expected of Optimus? Of course the bigger mech was listening to him.

Smokescreen immediately stepped forward, "How many do you need? Cause if you only need a couple, you'll only have one spot left to fill after me."

Optimus looked back down to Starscream, deferring the decision to him, "Ah, well, I suppose the fewer the better, in this case. If it's just the three of us-"

"And me, of course!" Miko piped up, "You can't go wrangling a dragon without me!"

Bulkhead wrung his servos together gently as he knelt down to talk to the girl, "Miko, this one's a bit more dangerous. We don't have all the facts here and- no, c'mon, don't give me that look. You can't be upset with me about this."

Miko crossed her arms tightly and huffed, "You guys can't sit me out all the time! I know how to work that Apex Armor like it's nothin'; why can't I help with this?"

Arcee knelt down beside Bulkhead and smiled, "Because, Miko, someone's going to need to keep an eye on things while we're away. I gotta say, you work really well off your own instincts. If you can keep things up around here, I can make sure Predaking doesn't eat Smokescreen."

The girl hummed quietly before nodding, "Ok, ok, flattery works," she set her hands on her hips as Arcee stood back up, "But we get to meet him, right? After you guys find him and bring him back?"

Starscream shrugged, "If he'd like to. He's actually very careful and gentle... if a bit intimidating..."

Miko squealed excitedly, "Suh-weet! I can't wait to meet him!"

"Then if we have our volunteers prepared," Optimus spoke clearly, "I will dismiss the rest of you to attend to your prior duties- Ratchet, please stay. I have a task for you."

The medic paused on his way out the door and grumbled as the deck cleared without him.

The Prime gestured to a console, "Arcee, Smokescreen, between the three of us, we will review our recorded footage of Predaking's last known sighting over the downed Nemesis. We will also need to contact Agent Fowler to see if Predaking has been spotted on human radar."

"Optimus, if I'm not included in this task, then why am I still here?" Ratchet frowned.

Starscream pouted, "And why am I left out of this?"

"Because," Optimus put it simply, "I believe Ratchet has some examinations to perform before you will be officially cleared for field work..."

"Typical," Ratchet grumbled quietly to himself as he poured himself over multiple datapads; he kept his voice to a low mutter, "Stuck doing exams at the most inopportune time, knowing how I feel about all this, what could Optimus have been..."

Starscream let his peds dangle over the side of the medberth he sat upon as he looked around the room at nothing. He was as distracted as Ratchet was, if only mildly irritated at being drawn away from finding Predaking for something as meaningless as this. Hadn't he already been cleared? Wasn't he of sound health after all he'd been through? Or... was Optimus concerned about the effect on his mind that going back into the field could have on him? By Primus, was he finding a reason to ground him again?!

Starscream frowned and rolled his optics, "This is entirely unnecessary," he huffed, slipping off the berth, "My flight earlier proves this: I don't require any further tests to ensure anyone of my capabilities."

"Well, Optimus wants me to do these tests anyway," Ratchet replied in an annoyed voice, his optics still scanning through notes that Knockout had made earlier.

The seeker twitched his wings before frowning, "Has this really anything at all to do with my wellness or does it have something to do with that undertone in your voice?"

"I don't have an undertone-"

"You have an undertone," Starscream glared harder, "and now I have to wonder what I could have done to upset you since I came back."

Ratchet huffed, "You're reading too much into things. It's been a madhouse of constant upkeep on this place and we're all tired-"

The red mech slapped his claws over one of Ratchet's datapads and pulled it away, "You avoid me when you're on your own and you barely talk to me when the others are around-"

The medic returned Starscream's obtrusive behavior by snatching his datapad back, "I talk to you plenty!"

"No you don't! Like right now!" the seeker wormed his way between the white mech and the table, "You can't even look at me! Sure, when Arcee is in the berth next to me or Optimus is hovering nearby-" Ratchet took noticeable steps back and Starscream froze, his optics widening and then narrowing, "... Why are you doing that...? What did I do, or what happened to you that-"

"I'm afraid of you."

The statement had an immediate effect. The red mech's wings stood up on end and there was a painful falling sensation in his spark that wracked him to the core. Ratchet's gaze was turned to the side and to the floor; he was refusing to look up.

"Do you know what you are?" the medic hissed, "Because I don't..." he lifted the datapad in his servo weakly then let it rest again at his side, "I've... put you back together so many times... even when there was hardly anything left to work with, I still managed. And back then, I knew for certain what you were and how you worked and what I had to do to keep you going. But now?" he huffed out a weak chuckle, "NOW?!" he lightly tossed the datapad back onto the table, the clattering noise making Starscream flinch as he trembled, "What kind of Cybertronian can do what you do?! Can... cheat death itself by phasing or- or teleporting- GAH, I don't even know what it is you do!"

Starscream could feel his throat tightening in upset, "U-um, there have been other Cybertronians-"

"NO," Ratchet all but growled, "there HASN'T. Not to the degree of power that costs you NO energon to produce. That explosion? The one you... powered up Optimus to make? It was seen by humans and had to be explained away as military testing! Do you even SEE what you do?! Are you AWARE of your capabilities?! Do you realize how fragged up this is?! That you could kill any one of us because not only can you not control it, but we can't explain it and you can't either?! That I'm terrified of my own friend because-"

That was it. Ratchet choked back a sob and turned his back to the seeker as he pressed his digits into his optics to stop tears. Starscream didn't move. As Bulkhead had done for him earlier he gave the medic space with which to find comfort. But that didn't stop tears from falling down his own cheekplates.

"... How..." Starscream lightly cleared his throat, "how many of you feel this way?"

Ratchet let out a shaky sigh, "I don't know... Ultra Magnus and I appear to be the only ones... but I have no idea if anyone else is as concerned as we are..."

The seeker quickly wiped his tears away, "And, um, O-Optimus's reason for having you... look me over before we go then?"

"... Probably to remind me that you're Starscream first and... this other thing second."

It wasn't even the emphasis that Ratchet used on the word 'thing' that made the seeker recoil, much less that he said it. It was the fact that the red mech knew he had to say it at all. That yes, first and foremost, he was Starscream. But this other part, this power that not only could course from him to another but turned crazed another mech in his quest to harness it... it was truly a terrifying thing.

Starscream gulped quietly, "R... I wouldn't... Ratchet, I would never hurt any of you..."

The medic shook his helm, "You don't know what it is or where it came from. You can't control it," he sighed again and pointed back at the med bay doors, "You're cleared. You can go."

The red mech struggled to still his shaking servos as he stepped closer, "Ratchet-"

"Leave."

It wasn't demanded angrily. Starscream knew that. He had been so focused on Megatron and escaping that he didn't bother to look up and see the damage Optimus had been capable of because of him... the destruction Ratchet had bore witness to.

The seeker slowly stepped back and walked out the door. Ratchet's struggles weren't entirely about him and he decided to hold onto that for as long as he could. This was a conversation to have with him again at a later date when both were in better places. But Starscream wasn't sure if that date would be coming anytime soon.