Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

Author's notes: Finally I finished this chapter...

Memories

"I won't do it." Skywarp clenched his fists. "Why not?"

"It's too dangerous. He might go offline. Permanently. Or I could damage his brain functions, his processing. Better just wait for him to wake up. Besides, according to the information you gave us yesterday, the Decepticons are attacking the power plant sometime today. I need to be ready to repair the other Autobots when they return."

Thundercracker touched Skywarp's arm carefully. "He's the medic, 'Warp. He knows what he's talking about." Skywarp snarled and stomped toward the door. Thundercracker shrugged to Ratchet and hurried after his wingmate. He soon caught the black and purple Seeker and fell into pace with him.

"What's the matter with you? We have to play cool."

"Starscream will wake up in six hours. Before that we can't do anything to help him. I guess I'm just anxious to find out what his message was, if it is from our Screamer at all..."

Thundercracker grasped his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure it's from our Screamer. Just relax and think about other things while Starscream's recharging. And hey, maybe Ratchet finds out something new. He said he was going to measure Starscream's brain impulses. I'm sure we'll get our Screamer back soon enough."

Skywarp sighed. "Yeah. Guess so." He took off in the air and Thundercracker was left staring after his wingmate.

If he just hadn't messed everything up between them.

"We'll work it out, 'Warp. In due time, when Starscream is alright again." Thundercracker swore to himself. He began to walk back to med bay, to Starscream.

XXX

"The Autobots have left for the power plant, Laserbeak reports." Soundwave said in his monotone.

"How many of them?" The Decepticon leader asked. "The majority. Only few were left in their headquarters."

Megatron sneered.

"Our diversion attack worked, just as I imagined. Soundwave, leave Rumble and Frenzy here to guard the base." He stood up from his chair and his gaze briefly circled his forces as Soundwave ejected the twins and pushed the button to raise the docking tower.

"Decepticons, follow me!" Megatron took off, the others right behind him. "Soundwave, contact Blitzwing and tell him the Autobots will soon arrive " He ordered as they left the base.

Soundwave contacted Blitzwing and told him of the arriving Autobots. Then he replayed Laserbeak's full report in his head. It included more than just the Autobots.

Soundwave was worried.

Megatron's missing Seekers had been found. All three of them.

XXX

Thundercracker watched over Ratchet shoulder. The monitor was blurry, the blue jet didn't understand a thing it said. Ratchet though, seemed interested.

"Now that's curious." The white and red Autobot said. Thundercracker tried to define what the medic was looking at. "What's curious?" He asked.

Ratchet pointed at the screen. "There's three kinds of brain impulses coming from Starscream's brain. See? These are strong, very strong. And these are very weak. Then there seems to be a third kind, it's sometimes strong and sometimes weak. It's almost like a pattern."

Thundercracker frowned. "So?" Ratchet glanced at the blue jet like he was a sparkling.

"Every bot has his own, unique brain impulses. For example, you. No one else in the universe has got the same kind of brain impulses than you do. And look at the monitor. Starscream has got three different types of impulses. It almost looks like he's got company in there, but that's of course ridiculous and impossible."

Thundercracker took a closer look at the screen. "Maybe there's an error. Must be."

'Or maybe one type belong to Starscream, and the other to the sparkling. But what about the third type?' Thundercracker glanced at Ratchet.

"Uhm, Ratchet? Can I talk to you about Starscream? Confidentially?" The medic flashed a smile to him. "I am a medic, everything you tell me about your friend's condition is confidential. I am not allowed to tell anyone." Thundercracker smiled back, relieved. Maybe Ratchet could figure it out.

"Before Starscream fell asleep, he told me that he had a message for me. A message from someone called 'Screamer'. I didn't get to hear it before he offlined, but I do believe that this 'Screamer' is the genuine Starscream, the one that I know. We used to call him that, me and Skywarp, we invented the nickname. Do you think Starscream could be... Possessed somehow? I know it sounds crazy but I don't know what else to think."

Ratchet rubbed his chin. Then he turned to look at the monitor before him. "You know what, Thundercracker? It may not be that farfetched theory. Those brain impulses... There's three different types. It looks exactly like Starscream had three minds in his head. Hmm..."

Ratchet opened Starscream's canopy and pulled out a wire. He connected Starscream's spark casing to the computer and soon the red and blue Seeker's spark pulses appeared on the screen.

"His spark functions normally. If he was possessed, there would be two or more sparks in his casing, three pulses. But there's only one."

Thundercracker blushed. "Uhm, if Starscream had three sparks in his casing, wouldn't that mean that he's carrying sparklings?" He asked carefully. Ratchet acted like a professional, he didn't hesitate with his answer.

"Normally, yes. But you see, if a soul possesses another being, it becomes more or less like a sparkling, not in mind, but in body. It drains your life force. Have you ever heard of spark parasites? Microscopic creatures that attach to your spark, slowly draining your life force into themselves?"

Thundercracker grimaced. "Yes. I heard once about a mech that got those from a spark merging." Ratchet nodded.

"Exactly. Now, a soul that possesses another soul, becomes a parasite, just like spark parasites. It attaches to a mech's spark and drains his life force. But there's one big difference. If this, how shall we say, 'ghost' attaches himself to a spark, it doesn't kill the owner. It only lives through his body and controls the mech. Understand?"

Thundercracker nodded. "So, Starscream hasn't got a 'ghost' inside him?"

"No. But I need to inspect his spark. He may have those other parasites I was talking about. Do you know if he has merged his spark with anyone?" The medic asked. Thundercracker shrugged. "I don't know. He doesn't tell us much about his life."

Ratchet nodded. "Alright. I recommend that you don't stay and watch the operation. If he has those parasites I'll need to remove them and that's not a pleasant sight... But you can stay if you like, of course." The white and red Autobot went to get his equipment. Thundercracker glared at his wingmate on the operation table.

"I think I'll stay with Starscream..."

XXX

"I hate this place."

Starscream sat on the sand, his legs in the water. He was watching the sea, maybe someone would come and take him away from here. The waves hit the shore regurarly, like a genuine ocean waves. The wind whistled in the Seeker's audios.

"I feel like a slagging stranded person. This reminds me of the time when Megatron exiled me on that island. Slag Hellscream and his big mouth and plans." Starscream leant his chin on his fists. A shadow appeared above him.

"It's not my fault you can't follow my plans." Hellscream. Starscream turned to look over his shoulder. The giant Seeker smiled. Starscream snorted at him.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere pouting?" The red and blue Seeker snapped. Hellscream shrugged and sat beside Starscream. "Why would I be mad at you? I understand your desire to shoot at anything that moves. Or talks. We are alike."

Starscream turned his head away. "I am not like you." He stated. Hellscream edged his arm around Starscream's waist and pulled the smaller Seeker against his side. Starscream offered no resistance. He was tired. Tired of being in here. Tired of waiting for something that might never happen.

The sparkling was still sitting in his usual place. Starscream wondered if he had delivered his message to Thundercracker.

"You want to see something very interesting, Starscream?"

Starscream glanced at Hellscream. "And what would that be? A dead whale on the shore?" Starscream remarked snidely. Hellscream laughed.

"No, my dear. It's something you really want to see, it's in the water. I found it earlier and I would like to take you there." Hellscream kissed Starscream's helm lovingly. "Fine." Starscream stood up. "Take me there. Anything's better than sitting here and doing nothing."

Hellscream stood up, almost three heads taller than Starscream. He grasped the mech's hand and walked in the water, dragging Starscream after him. When they got deep enough, Hellscream smiled. "Let's dive." He said and pulled the smaller Seeker underwater with him.

The ocean was a dark place, the deeper they went, the darker it became. Starscream tried to ask how long it would take, but only bubbles and blurred noise escaped his lips. Hellscream smiled. He tugged the smaller Seeker after him, using his thrusters to get more speed.

Then, after few minutes, he stopped diving and pointed beneath them. Starscream followed the direction of his finger and opened his mouth in surprise.

Faces. Millions of huge faces in the water, mechs and femmes, Autobots and Decepticons. Starscream recognized most of them. There was Blitzwing and Reflector, Prime and Wheeljack, the Coneheads, Soundwave and Shockwave, some Autobots, Starscream didn't remember their names. There was Seekers he had known in the Academy and Autobots that he had killed.

Starscream dove towards them, and then suddenly everything became a blurred mess around him. Memories of his past life flashed before his optics so quickly, he started to feel dizzy. Then it stopped and he was back in the sea.

He had passed them. He glanced back. The faces were some sort of a layer. Hellscream appeared through the layer too. Starscream turned to look at the next layer.

There was Thundercracker and Skywarp and Skyfire... Starscream's spark made a sad twist. He turned to look at the face beside Skyfire - Megatron! Starscream immediately dove toward the face of his lost love. He stopped in front of him and tilted his head. It looked so genuine. He tried to touch it, but his hand went right through.

Megatron's optics were directed right at him, his face serious.

Like a torpedo, Hellscream dove right through the silver mech's face. Starscream followed him after giving the last longing look to Megatron. Just like before, memories of those four mechs flooded him, flashing before his optics.

And just like before, it soon stopped and he was staring at the next layer. What was this place?

The next layer had only objects in it. A bowl filled with fishes, Starscream sadly remembered that he had left them in his lab. A berth, that looked alot like his, laboratory equipments, spare parts, a Seeker wing, null-rays, a mirror... Everything Starscream had ever owned. He dove towards the mirror.

He looked at his own image, and touched the surface of the mirror. His hand went right through it.

Then the imaged twisted and turned into someone else. A femme Seeker. A foreign, yet strangely familiar femme Seeker. The Seeker in the mirror smiled softly at him and suddenly Starscream recognized her. His spark missed a beat. That was his mother!

She touched the glass from the other side, still smiling. "My little Starscream." She said. Starscream touched the glass too, sad and happy to hear her voice after so many millenias. He tried to talk to her, but couldn't. She smiled softly, optics full of tears.

"Mama's got to go now." She said, voice trembling.

"I don't want to leave you, honey, you're my everything, but I have no other choice. Otherwise they will find us and take you away..." Her voice trembled with suppressed cry. Then she smiled to Starscream.

"Remember, my dear, mama loves you, mama will always love you. Mama loves you..." She began to fade away, her voice still echoing in Starscream's audios. Starscream began to panic.

'Don't leave me!' He begged, but she was already gone. Her voice was still echoing. Determined, Starscream dove through the mirror. He was going to find his mother.

Once again, memories flooded him. At first, they were all about his personal stuff, his equipments and other things. Then her mother's face appeared before his optics. He stopped the memory flow there, wanting to remember her and his past.

The surrounding space was blurred at first, then it became clearer and clearer, until Starscream recognized buildings and stars above him. They were on Cybertron. He stared up in his mother's face. She was glancing around her, holding Starscream close to her spark.

Her spark was beating fast, she was scared. A loud boom echoed in the backround. A battle? Starscream tried to move, but nothing happened. This was only a memory. Starscream glared at the face of his creator. She was beautiful. Another boom.

She glanced down on Starscream.

"Mama's got to go now." She said, just like before, her voice trembling. A tear fell on Starscream's cheek from her optics.

"I don't want to leave you, honey, you're my everything, but I have no other choice. Otherwise they will find us and take you away..." She said, just like through the mirror and then smiled down on Starscream.

"Remember, my dear, mama loves you, mama will always love you. Mama loves you..." She trailed off and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She then placed Starscream on a small crevace on the wall of a building. Another boom, the ground trembled. It had been closer this time.

She looked at Starscream for the last time, before turning around and running away from the shelter. Starscream saw his own, small hands reaching after her, and he heard himself whimpering. He was a sparkling.

As soon as her mother got out of the shelter, Starscream heard a disturbingly familiar sound of a fusion cannon blast and a high-pitched scream of pain that came soon after it. "Mama!" Starscream heard himself cry out, but the noises of battle completely suppressed his small voice.

His mother was laying on the ground, only few feets away from him, moaning in pain. A huge shadow appeared over her and a mech, painted in the whitest silver landed before her. It was Megatron!

The silver mech grabbed the femme's neck and harshly pulled her up to face him. They changed a few words, but Starscream didn't hear what. Then he saw how his mother spit on the silver mech's face. Megatron growled and dropped her on the ground.

He wiped his face clean with his palm. Then he glared at the helpless Seeker and said something, hatred visible in his optics. He lifted his arm, the one with the fusion cannon on it and aimed it on the helm of the Seeker. He fired.

Starscream's scream entwined with his mother's and everything whirled around. He fainted.