Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

Author's notes: I wrote this in a hurry, so there's probably alot of errors. I'll edit this later when I have more time in my hands.

One Down, Two To Go

What else could go wrong? Skywarp could be mad enough to go back to Megatron and tell him everything. Or he could tell the Autobots what was really going on. No, Skywarp wouldn't do that. Not for Thundercracker's sake, but for Starscream's. Thundercracker glanced at the 'sparkling' beside him. Starscream was eagerly drinking every last drop of energon. No wonder. They had been through a lot lately, they had only arrived yesterday and this was the first energon ration they got.

Starscream noticed the blue jet's gaze on himself. "What you looking at? Me got energon on my face?" Thundercracker smiled. "No. I was just thinking." Starscream nodded. "Me thinking too. Me got a message for you." The spakling sipped from his energon cube. Thundercracker leaned over the table.

"A message? From Skywarp?" Starscream shook his head. He poured the last drops of energon into his mouth. Then he glared at the cube, a disappointed look on his face. "Empty." He stated. Carelessly, he threw the cube on the wall and it shattered into pieces. Hoist turned to look at them from his computer. He shot an angry glare to Thundercracker. Thundercracker grimaced and pointed at Starscream. Hoist shook his head and muttered something before he turned to look at the screen again.

Thundercracker glared at Starscream. "Why did you do that? That's a bad habit, Starscream." He whispered. Starscream sneered. "Mega does that too. I saw yesterday." Thundercracker sighed and leaned back in his seat. "You shouldn't do everything Megatron does. He's got no manners. Besides, we're only guests here."

Starscream folded his arms. "Me do what me want. You no mama, you no can tell what Starscream can do. You stupid." Thundercracker tried to keep calm. It was hard with a sparkling like Starscream. "That's true. I am not your mother. But I am responsible for your doings. If you do something bad, it's my fault."

Immediately as he finished his sentence, Thundercracker realised he shouldn't have said it. Starscream's optics gleamed. "You mean, if me hit that stupid Autobot, he mad at you and not me Starscream?" Thundercracker grimaced. "No, no. I didn't mean that." He tried but it was too late. Starscream got off the chair and went to Hoist.

"Starscream, please don't do this." Thundercracker pleaded. Starscream stood beside Hoist, who quickly glanced at the Seeker and then paid no attention to him. Starscream glanced at Thundercracker over his shoulder and showed his glossa to the blue Seeker. Thundercracker buried his face in his hands.

"Ouch! Why did you hit me?" Hoist demanded from the sparkling. Thundercracker sighed and leaned against the table.

'Here it comes...' He thought.

"Thundercracker, I think you should keep a closer optic on this little brat. As his wingmate, you're responsible..."

XXX

"What do you mean they're gone??" Megatron barked and immediately regretted it as Soundwave winced and stepped back. It wasn't Soundwave's fault the Seekers were lazy. The telepath, however, soon regained his composure. "The Seekers don't answer to comm. link." He said in his monotone. Blitzwing stepped closer to the two.

"Megatron, maybe they are still recharging. Let me go there and-"

"Silence, Blitzwing! Who gave you permission to speak?" Megatron shouted over his shoulder. The Triple Changer stepped back. Sorry, Megatron..." He mumbled and retreated to the safety of the Coneheads. Ramjet snickered quietly. Blitzwing shot him a glare.

"Soundwave. What is Laserbeak's exact location right now?" Megatron asked. Soundwave was silent for about a minute. Then he turned to look at his leader. "Laserbeak has recently arrived to the Autobot headquarters, he has nothing to report yet." Megatron nodded.

"Alright. Eject Buzzsaw." Soundwave pressed his shoulder button and Buzzsaw ejected from his tape deck. The yellow cassetticon circled above their heads.

"Buzzsaw, find my missing Seekers. Scour the outside of headquarters and search for their energy signals, they might be flying. Soundwave, raise the docking tower."

XXX

"Starscream? What was the message you had for me? Who's it from?" They sat in the privacy of the med bay. Since there hadn't been any battles, there was no one in there but the two Seekers. Skywarp was probably still flying.

"It's from some Screamer. He said it's important that you get the message so me Starscream..."

"Screamer? Are you sure-I mean... What did he tell you?" The sparkling streched himself and yawned. The anesthetic Ratchet had given to Starscream was beginning to affect. "No, no! Starscream, don't fall asleep yet! I need to hear the message!"

The sparkling layed down on the berth and glared at the blue jet from there. "Me Starscream sleepy, don't rush me. You can listen to the message when me asleep, me recorded it." Starscream smiled as he powered off his optics.

"Screamer say me wise boy, gonna be a good Seeker someday." Then Starscream's systems went offline. Thundercracker's spark was pulsing faster.

This 'Screamer' had to be the real Starscream. But who was this sparkling then? Thundercracker rubbed his chin as he thought. Starscream was still in there. It seemed that he didn't have amnesia as Megatron had said. But what did he have then?

Suddenly Thundercracker recalled something:

"Starscream's mind: Damaged beyond repair. Suggestion: Termination."

That was what Soundwave had said back in the Decepticon base. Thundercracker gasped in shock.

Soundwave had lied.

XXX

Skywarp arrived to the med bay, a sour look on his faceplate. He approached his wingmate.

"What was so urgent you had to call me here? I was having a blast with Tracks." The black and purple Seeker stated, obviously trying to annoy Thundercracker. The blue jet ignored his statement and signalled him to come closer.

"Starscream has got no slagging amnesia." Thundercracker began. Skywarp snorted. "What do you know about it? Megatron said he has amnesia." Thundercracker rolled his optics. "Megatron knows nothing, it was only an uneducated guess."

Skywarp placed his hands on his hips. "Oh yeah? And you're suddenly an educated professional? Besides, Soundwave confirmed Megatron's 'uneducated guess'." Thundercracker grabbed Skywarp's arm and violently dragged him to Starscream's berth. The little Seeker was still asleep.

"Skywarp, Soundwave lied." Skywarp's optics widened in surprise. Then he squinted them and pointed at Thundercracker's chest.

"What do you have against Soundwave, hmm? He didn't let you give him a lapdance?" The black and purple Seeker poked the blue jet's chest with his finger.

"Shut up, Skywarp! This isn't about me!"

Skywarp snorted and folded his arms. "For once..." He muttered. Thundercracker grabbed his wingmate's neck and squeezed tight. He brought their faces close to each other.

"Listen carefully, beloved, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once: This isn't about us, this is about Starscream. So forget our... Disagreement and for once LISTEN!" Skywarp made a gagging noise and Thundercracker let go. The black and purple Seeker collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.

Thundercracker placed his hands on his hips and watched Skywarp get up. He rubbed his neck, glaring at the blue jet murderously.

"Hmph. Now that I have your attention, I'd like to discuss about our wingmate. The basics are these: Starscream hasn't got an amnesia, he's currently at the state of a sparkling, and his true self can communicate with us only through the sparkling. Oh, and Soundwave lied. I don't know why, but he lied."

Skywarp was still rubbing his neck. "But why would Soundwave lie? I don't get it. He never had anything against Starscream, at least not that I know of."

Thundercracker shrugged. "Maybe he wanted more power and poor Screamer was in his way?" The blue jet guessed.

"Yeah, greed is the basic element of a Decepticon. But somehow I don't believe Soundwave would want any power. Besides, he would probably go against Megatron directly. He wouldn't be satisfied as his Second-In-Command. He would want real power."

Skywarp stared at his palms.

Thundercracker sneered and leaned closer. "Are you still talking about Soundwave? Or about yourself?" Skywarp winced and looked at his wingmate. As he noticed the sneer on Thundercracker's face, a wide smile formed on his own lips. "A little both," he admitted and they laughed.

Then they seemed to remember their fight and regained their seriousness. Thundercracker cleared his throat. "Let's forget about Soundwave and concentrate on Starscream." Skywarp nodded. "Right."

"So, Starscream said that he had a message for me from someone called Screamer. I think that's our Screamer." Skywarp nodded eagerly. "And what was the message?" He asked enthusiasticly. Thundercracker's shoulder's slumped. "He fell asleep before he told me."

"Slag!" Skywarp cursed.

"But he said he recorded it. I think we could take it out from his memory banks. If Ratchet agrees to do that, I am no medic and neither are you."

Skywarp raised his gaze to Thundercracker's face again. "You were right, TC. Bringing Starscream here was a good decision. We couldn't do this without the Autobots' equipments and Ratchet's knowledge."

Thundercracker smiled. "I only hope Ratchet agrees to inspect Starscream's memory banks." He said.

"Let's not hope, let's find out! Come!" Skywarp grabbed Thundercracker's hand and dragged the blue jet after him. Thundercracker smiled. This reminded him of their time in the Academy: Skywarp would get an excellent prank-idea, and would drag Thundercracker along with him.

The blue Seeker followed his wingmate to the Autobot headquarter's entrance.

XXX

"Megatron, Buzzsaw found no trace of the Seekers." Soundwave reported to his leader as soon as Buzzsaw returned into his tape deck.

"Slaggit!" Megatron cursed and sat down on his chair. "Do I need to break into my own soldiers' quarters to find them??"

Blitzwing approached his leader. "The Coneheads said they didn't hear any noises through the wall. I don't think Thundercracker and Skywarp are even there." The Triple Changer said. Megatron turned around in his chair to look at him. "Through the wall?" He questioned, frowning. Blitzwing shrugged.

"The wall between the Coneheads and the Seekers is pretty thin." Blitzwing explained. "And I went to Starscream's quarters. He didn't open up when I knocked, and he wasn't in his lab either, I think. I didn't hear any noises at all. And his surveillance cameras were out of power, too."

"You went to Starscream's quarters? And his lab?" Megatron asked. Blitzwing nodded. "There was motor oil in his corridor, the Stunticons must've been racing there again. And if Starscream had seen the mess, he would've cleaned it up, you know how tidy he is. So I don't think he's been there for a while."

Megatron's look was odd as he stared at the Triple Changer with his crimson red optics. "Motor oil in Starscream's corridor?" He questioned. Blitzwing figured he was mad at the Stunticons for messing up his base again, so he went on.

"Yeah, you should've seen it! Motor oil and race tracks everywhere. The whole corridor was in scratches and traces of paint. They really lived it up this time. There was even one flat tire left in there. I wonder who it belongs to..."

Megatron sighed and lifted his gaze to the ceiling as he leaned back on his chair. Blitzwing looked at Soundwave, questioningly. Soundwave only looked at the Triple Changer with his usual blank look.

"Soundwave?" Megatron asked suddenly. "Yes, Megatron?"

"Who was at monitoring shift last night at eleven o'clock or something?"

Soundwave winced. "I... I was." Soundwave stuttered, afraid to anger his hot-tempered leader. Megatron quickly turned to look at the telepath.

"You were? Oh... I understand."

Blitzwing's gaze travelled between Soundwave and Megatron. He was confused. "What?" He asked, his curiousity winning over his fear. Megatron glared at him prudently, as if measuring the Triple Changer's trustworthiness.

"Nothing you should be worried about." The silver mech said finally and turned around in his chair to look at his Third-In-Command. Again, Blitzwing glanced at Soundwave for any clues or hints. Soundwave kept his gaze firmly on his leader's face.

'Something's going on.' Blitzwing thought to himself.

"If the Seekers don't care to show up in the next two hours, we'll just have to do without them. The wheels of war don't stop for two soldiers. Besides, we need energon badly." Megatron said as he stood up.

"I'm sorry, sir. But did you just say 'two soldiers'? Because we have three Seekers missing." Blitzwing said. Megatron glared at him.

"Correction: Two Seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp. Starscream is no more." Megatron said coldly. Blitzwing's lips parted in understanding.

"You executed Starscream?" He asked. Megatron nodded. Blitzwing was too smart to ask him why. So he wisely shut his mouth.

"And now we wait for my two remaining Seekers. But I have a feeling they won't be my Seekers for much longer..."