Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

Author's notes: Sorry for the delay, I've been busy at work whole weekend. I'll try to update more often from now on.

Foe Of Heart

What Megatron first learned of the 'sparkling' Starscream, was that he was quiet. It was so uncharacteristic for the loud-mouthed Seeker, that Megatron wasn't sure he was the same Seeker at all.

He carried Starscream in his arms. Starscream had stated that he couldn't fly yet and that he was too 'little' to walk by himself. If the situation hadn't been so critical, Megatron was sure he would be laughing his optics out. The silver mech winced a little as he felt a finger on his chin.

The small blue finger followed the seams of his face carefully, with precision. A scientist's precision. The finger stopped on his lips and tried to get in. Megatron sneered. "Starscream, get your finger off my mouth. Who knows, I might bite you." The 'little' Starscream pulled his finger back quickly.

"You bite me Starscream? You eat me Starscream?" Megatron chuckled. "No, I was just trying to scare the sl.. To scare you."

"Ok."

Again the Seeker's finger went to his lips. But this time it travelled down his neck, to his chest. Starscream rubbed the Decepticon insignia with his finger. "Mama says purple faces evil. Say to little Starscream; no purple face to you. Little Starscream always believe mama. Mama always right."

Megatron looked down on Starscream. Starscream's mother creation must have been an Autobot. The 'little' Seeker glared at the Decepticon leader's optics.

"You evil?" He asked with child's bluntness. "No, Starscream. I am not evil." Starscream smiled. "Good." Now the Seeker began to play with the air vent on Megatron's right shoulder, humming to himself and waving his legs back and forth.

Megatron sighed and turned from the corner.

He bumped into Thundercracker and Skywarp. The two Seeker's glared at the very unusual sight. Megatron glared back, but that wasn't enough to drive them away. They began to follow their leader, with stunned looks on their faces.

"So it's official then..." Thundercracker mumbled. Megatron turned to look at him. "What is?" He demanded. Thundercracker shrugged. "That you two are... You know..." Megatron squinted his optics. "No. I really don't know."

Starscream listened to their exchange of words, his gaze travelling between them. "Who that blue thing with wings?" He asked, pointing at Thundercracker.

"Me Starscream like blue thing with wings. Blue Starscream's favorite color." He stated. He seemed very interested in the two Seekers. Skywarp tried to muffle his laughter with his palm. Thundercracker smacked him in the helm.

"Don't you idiot see that there's something wrong with Starscream?" The blue jet said. Skywarp shrugged and Starscream giggled. "Starscream like blue thing with wings, but Starscream like purple idiot more!" Now it was Thundercracker's turn to laugh.

"Haha, very funny!" Skywarp exclaimed and folded his arms.

As Megatron began to walk away from them, Starscream squealed and tried to reach for the two Seekers. Then he apparently got mad.

"Why you Mega no let go? Let go! Gimme! Gimme!" Starscream began to squirm in Megatron's arms. "Starscream want toy, gimme toy with wings!"

"What's wrong with Starscream? He acts funny." Skywarp asked as they began to follow their leader again, and pointed at his Air Commander.

"Amnesia." Megatron responded simply. Starscream was still trying to pull himself away from Megatron but it didn't work. The Seeker pouted. "You no gimme toy with wings, you no fun anymore."

"Listen, Starscream. You can't have a toy with wings, they are for bigger boys. You're not old enough." Megatron said and made a pause.

"What would you say if I gave you something else to play with?" The silver mech tried. Starscream shook his head no.

"Me no want something else, me want purple idiot!" Starscream reached for Skywarp. Thundercracker chuckled. Megatron didn't find the situation funny at all. Starscream was clearly very ill.

"Ok, how about something new? Something you have never seen before?" Now the 'little' Seeker seemed interested.

"Something new?"

"Yes, Starscream. Something better." Now the Seeker in his arms smiled. "Ok. But purple idiot come too."

"Yes, sure." Megatron shot a glare to Skywarp, who nodded obediently and began to follow his leader.

"Thundercracker, radio Soundwave. Tell him to meet us in the command center."

"Yes, sir."

XXX

Soundwave arrived fast, as usual, and he had Ravage with him. Though he didn't understand why Megatron had wanted the panthercon there so badly. He winced immediately as he stepped into the command center.

Megatron sat on his throne, Starscream sprawled on his lap. Skywarp and Thundercracker stood beside his leader. Skywarp though seemed a little disturbed by his Air Commander, who was constantly glaring at him from Megatron's lap. Slowly, Skywarp inched a little farther away.

"Soundwave, call Laserbeak back. The attack has been... Delayed."

"As you command, Megatron."

Soundwave opened his comm. link, his visor never leaving the Seeker on his leader's lap. Starscream was suppose to be dead. Something had gone wrong.

"Ravage, come here." The Decepticon leader ordered. Ravage growled and ran at Megatron's feet.

The silver mech gathered Starscream in his arms and stood up. He placed the Seeker on his throne and picked Ravage up from the floor. He offered the panthercon to Starscream. The Seeker took Ravage smiling into his arms.

"Kitty!" Starscream let out happily and squeezed the poor Decepticon tight.

Megatron turned around to face his Communications Officer. Soundwave gulped as he briefly wondered if Megatron had found out about everything. He would probably lose his head.

"Soundwave, Starscream has amnesia, he thinks he's a sparkling. Can you help him?"

"I need to know the cause of his amnesia first." Soundwave said with his monotone. The silver mech rubbed his chin.

"I'm not sure what caused it. I think he might have hit his head. We need to take a look at his CPU for possible damages."

"Yes, Megatron."

Soundwave moved across the room and stopped in front of Starscream. Quickly, he scanned the Seeker's CPU. It was working properly. Soundwave read the mind of the Seeker. Nothing significant. Starscream was only thinking about the panthercon in his arms.

Soundwave dug a little deeper. And he soon found what he was looking for. Starscream's memories were there, as well as both of his egos. But they were blocked by this sparkling Starscream.

Something had made the sparkling appear and block everything else in the Seeker's mind. Self protection maybe? Yes, that had to be it. This sparkling Starscream had probably tried to block Hellscream during the attack. And he had succeeded in blocking both of the Seeker's egos.

A wild thought crossed Soundwave's mind. Was this sparkling yet a new ego of the Seeker?

Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense. This ego had been created to protect the Seeker's mind from Hellscream. But at the same time it had shut out Starscream, the real Starscream.

Soundwave knew he could repair the Seeker. It was really simple, he would only need to go inside the Seeker's mind and kill the two alternative egos. Then the Seeker would be back to normal. But he knew he couldn't waste this perfect opportunity to get rid of the Seeker.

"Starscream's mind: Damaged beyond repair. Suggestion: Termination." From the corner of his visor, Soundwave saw how Skywarp and Thundercracker tensed. But they were unimportant. Megatron was the one making the decision.

Soundwave sensed an inner war inside the silver mech. Megatron loved Starscream, but on the other hand, there was no room for sparklings in the Decepticon army. It was Megatron's personal goals versus the Decepticon cause. Soundwave already knew which one would be the winner.

"Are you sure? Isn't there anything you can do?" Desperation was visible on Megatron's face.

"Negative. Further investigation would lead to deactivation of his CPU."

Megatron winced. "He would become a mindless drone?"

"Affirmative."

Megatron sighed. He had made his decision. It hurt like hell but he had no choice.

He opened his comm. link.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp. Take Starscream outside the base and kill him. Leave no evidence of his existance. Except two things..."

Megatron went to Starscream. The Seeker looked up to him and smiled. Megatron smiled back. Ravage used this opportunity and quickly jumped off the Seeker's lap and ran to his creator. He returned inside Soundwave's tape deck. Soundwave's attention was still on his leader though.

Megatron's hands went to Starscream's wings. Quickly, he ripped off the Decepticon insignias and put them in his subspace.

"Alright, Starscream..." Megatron said and lifted the Seeker into his arms. He carried Starscream to Thundercracker and Skywarp.

"Thundercracker and Skywarp will put you to sleep." He said to Starscream and placed him gently on the ground. Then he turned to look at his Communications Officer.

"Soundwave, you are dismissed."

Soundwave nodded. He took a last look at Starscream. To his surprise, Starscream stared straight into his visor, from behind Megatron's feet.

He was obviously afraid of the telepath. While Megatron spoke to his subordinates, Starscream poked his knee with a single finger, trying to get attention. The silver mech's gaze went down and he smiled.

"Don't worry, Starscream. They will take good care of you." He patted the Seeker's helm. Then he killed the smile on his lips and turned to look at Thundercracker and Skywarp. "I don't want anyone seeing you. Do you understand?"

The two Seekers nodded in unison. "Good." Megatron turned on his heels.

He began to walk towards the elevator on the other end of the room. Soundwave glanced at the Seeker sitting on the ground. Starscream began to whimper and crawled after the Decepticon leader. Soundwave read Megatron's mind.

The silver mech's spark was bleeding, but he would not even glance back at Starscream. He didn't want to make this any harder to himself than it already was.

As Megatron disappeared inside the elevator, Starscream began to sob. Thundercracker ran to him and picked him up.

"It's ok, you will see Megatron tomorrow. Now we have to go." Thundercracker had troubles lifting Starscream up. Skywarp went to his aid. As they were busy struggling to get Starscream up from the floor, Soundwave made his leave in all quietness.

Under his face mask, he was smiling in triumph.