Ch. 228

"I don't see why we couldn't have just taken a peek!" Miko whined as Arcee lifted the girl off the shrunken form of the Apex Armor and sent her beside Jack, Raf and June, "We got the doors open, we deserved to take a look!"

"Patience, my friend," Predaking smiled, holding back a wince as Breakdown tended to a small gash on the Predacon's wing, "We must tend to our wounds before we partake in our reward."

Miko pouted, "Oh, 'King!" she gently touched the great mech's ped, "You got hurt protecting us, huh?"

Predaking reached down to carefully rest a digit against the girl's form, "There is no price comparable to the value of my friends' lives."

Bulkhead smiled warmly, "Wow, Predaking. Starscream teach you that?"

The Predacon nodded, "Starscream put himself in harm's way on many occasions to save me. He showed me I was worth more than what I had been created for..."

Ratchet glanced up from welding a cut on Wheeljack's arm, but it was his patient who chuckled, "Scream gave you the best lesson then, 'King. Thanks for sharing it with us..."

Smokescreen grumbled from beside Wheeljack and looked around the med bay, "Not to sound like the biggest whiner, but why isn't Knockout in here helping out?"

Breakdown gave a strained smile, "Uh, yeah, don't COMM him right now..."

Smokescreen frowned, "... Breakdown," he asked simply, "why not?"

The blue mech made a face and went back to working on Predaking, shaking his helm.

The smaller mech decided against heeding the vague warning, huffing as he turned on his COMM to the missing red mech's frequency, "Knockout, can you-"

"GET ME OFF THIS FRAGGING SHIP!" came a shriek, the clattering of something in the background making Smokescreen flinch.

"What the fra-"

"THE POLYCHAETES!" Knockout continued to shout, a sob escaping from him, "OH PRIMUS, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! THE POLYCHAETES! THE POLYCHAETES-"

Smokescreen turned off his COMM and stared at Breakdown, "Ok. What? What was that? Why was he...?"

Breakdown shrugged, "Right, so... Earth's ocean is... Look, I'm not gonna get too into it, but there are these little creatures in the water and they do stuff that really freaks Knockout... out. A lot."

Miko giggled, draping herself over Predaking's ped, "Ocean water is nasty."

"It sure is," June agreed quickly, pulling away from looking her son over to direct Miko to a small chair, "Your turn, Miko. I have to check for any injuries."

The girl whined again, "Aww! But I'm fine! My armor and Predaking protected me the whole time!"

"Just because you wear the helmet," June explained firmly, "doesn't mean you can't get hurt. Have a seat, this won't take too long..."

Miko relented simply to get the task over with. But as June began her examination, the girl looked up at Ratchet.

"Hey, Ratch? Is Starscream ok?"

The medic stiffened to stop himself from flinching; he didn't answer.

Miko kept talking, oblivious to the silence she was receiving, "He stopped the whole ship from just crashing, but he didn't look so good when Optimus was waking him up again. It looked like he stopped breathing? Or... intaking, that's what you guys call it..."

Raf gasped excitedly, "Starscream saved the ship?"

Jack smiled, "That's pretty amazing. But he's done it before with the 'Bots, why not a whole ship?"

"It sounds like Starscream is getting a whole lot stronger," June muttered absentmindedly as she worked.

Everyone flinched when Ratchet roughly set a medical tool down on the counter. The white mech was laying his servos flush against the cool, flat surface, struggling with the will he had left not to shake. He could feel eyes and optics alike staring at him, but still he said nothing...

"Optimus, stop."

"Starscream," the Prime murmured in a sad tone, "I need to ask. You know I have to."

Starscream glared at the mech and paced a short distance down the empty hall, only responding as he came back, "You don't have to ask anything. You only feel you have to. Do me a favor? Don't."

Optimus moved to reach out and touch the smaller mech's arm but the seeker moved away too quickly; he pulled his servo back, "You have not been well since your return. Please, speak to me."

"I don't want to."

"I know you are doing what you are capable of to treat yourself," the Prime admitted, opting to follow Starscream as he paced up and down the hall, "but to do this alone is far more difficult and could cause you far more pain. I know how hard you have been working-"

"Do you?" the seeker hissed, turning quickly to earn some distance away from the Prime, "Well how lucky am I? My efforts being noticed..."

Optimus paused in his steps, watching Starscream closely, "... I have always noticed your progress, Starscream..."

"Then you must notice how I'd like to keep this private."

The words bit into Optimus far more than he would have liked. He could tell by the seeker's demeanor that Starscream was doubling down on behavior he had used in the past to keep himself going. The remarks, the tone, even the way he was carrying himself was not like the mech he had come to know so well in the few months he had spent with him. It was clear his time back under Megatron's reign had been more than just 'unkind'. It hurt seeing the outcome of Starscream's treatment overtake him more than anything else.

"... Starscream," Optimus tried again, "please..." he followed after him slowly, "may we speak-"

"I don't want to-" Starscream snarled, cutting himself off only because of the distinct and staticky hum in his audials from a group COMM.

"All crew members have been cleared and no serious injuries were sustained," Ultra Magnus's voice called in, "All who wish to begin investigations into the rooms, meet at the doors on the lower level."

Starscream glared at Optimus as the COMM cut, holding up a digit, "No. I don't want to."

And he left it at that. The call to distraction was what he ultimately wanted, not to wallow in these weak and upsetting feelings. This was what he told himself as he stormed past the larger mech. This was what he was sure of, isolating these small surface facts while he made his way to the lifts on the other side of the hall. Starscream heard the Prime slowly approaching from behind, his gait seemingly far heavier than the usual uplifting stride he had grown familiar with, but the seeker couldn't find the will to care. He was hurt that Optimus would continue to pry after he'd told him 'no'. And it surely wasn't guilt that hung in the pit of his tank, that made it hard for his optics to glance at the mech he had just chastised; no, he was more than sure that his 'anger' would subside soon enough.