Starscream exited the cell where the twins were contained and began walking down the adjoining hallway. It wasn't often that they had captives, as usually Megatron was happy to just have those weak enough to be captured…destroyed on the spot. Which should have been done to these two, he thought, growling to himself.

They were both injured and in need of medical attention, but they were sitting there taking shots at him and the other Seekers, trying to guard an Autobot who was nearly offline for good. Starscream only knew the other bot by name, and thought of it foolish for the twins to protect him, when it was obvious that he was going to die anyway.

But many things the Autobots did were illogical. He supposed that's why he despised them so. Some of them were logical minded, but to have such moronic friends was beyond him. Starscream did not have companionship with most of the Decepticons. He was here for his own agenda and his own agenda only.

In his head, it was laid out and logical. He had plans. No one else did. To them, war was life. To him, there was something else, something always just out of his reach.

Starscream entered the hub of the brig and scowled. Thundercracker and Skywarp stood there, waiting. A smug expression overtook Thundercracker. Skywarp was smiling his usual dopey smile, holding a tray with three energon canisters.

"Did Megatron send you down here just to jeer me?" Starscream eyed them and held out his hand for the tray. "Because believe me, there's enough of that already going on."

Thundercracker grinned despite himself. "As much as I'd like to…"

"And as much as I'd like to," Skywarp added. Starscream sneered at him.

"We decided it would be best not to."

Starscream couldn't mask his surprise. "Oh," he frowned and motioned with his hand for the tray, which Skywarp held at bay. "At least you've decided to do something smart today, unlike earlier when you should have blasted those two to smithereens!"

Thundercracker frowned and continued. "Also, we came to give our reports."

"Just send them to me like usual," Starscream sighed, motioning once more for the tray. Skywarp shook his head and held it away. "Skywarp, unless you would like to end the day with your wings sticking out from your aft…"

"This is the kind of report we wouldn't like floating about our mainframe," Thundercracker added pointedly.

Starscream frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It means we got something to tell you, and if Megatron finds out, he'll kill us all," Skywarp said, genuinely believing that Starscream couldn't deduce this himself and needed it spelled out. The other Seekers looked at him as if doubting he could get any stupider. "What?"

"So? What's the report then?"

"Look, first, realize that this isn't easy for me…"

"Please, Thundercracker, spare me. I know how loyal you are to Megatron," Starscream sneered again. "We all are so dedicated, but not as dedicated as you."

"Or so some of us say."

"But don't you think that if we thought something was going wrong, or if something was happening that we believed to be wrong, we should do something about it, even if that means disobeying Megatron?" Starscream landed a hand on Thundercracker's shoulder. The other jet eyed his hand, then him. "For his own good?"

"I think so," Skywarp piped. The energon sloshed in their containers.

Thundercracker brushed Starscream's hand away. "That's why I'm doing this," he hunkered closer as if someone could hear, but no one else remained in the brig. "I think he's going to try and turn the two. Do some torture and then fiddle with their memory chips."

"You think or you know?"

"I think I know."

Starscream scowled and pushed the blue jet. "You moron! I cannot devise a plan based on hunches! Do you want me to spend the remainder of my life down here?"

Thundercracker opened his mouth.

"Don't answer that! Do you or do you not know?"

"Not…for sure."

Starscream growled and turned away in frustration, then grabbed the tray with the energon and began stomping back to the cell.

"Should I tell him that I heard Megatron say that he was gonna freeze the red one and use it to force the yellow one to spy?" Skywarp hissed.

Starscream halted in his tracks and turned around slowly. "What?"

"When did you hear that?" Thundercracker asked.

Skywarp eyed Starscream, who appeared quite ready to tear him limb from limb. "After you left. I think he thought I wasn't paying attention. But I was."

The two jets looked over to Starscream, ready for a barrage of curses or even a fit of anger. Instead, the commander was smirking quite evilly. "That is interesting to hear. But why, for Primus sake, have you decided to team up with me for some old fashioned treachery?"

"I'd rather sit in the brig for life than side up with one of those…fiends," Thundercracker said, his voice tinged with hatred at the mentioning of the twins. "Besides, I've heard rumors about what they do to the Autobots in down time. The yellow one is a cold bastard who'd destroy anyone who crosses him, and the red one," Thundercracker motioned to Skywarp, who stood there with an absent smile on his face. "Is like this one, only he has the intelligence to know what's coming to him when he does something stupid."

As if affirming this, Skywarp nodded in agreement a little too enthusiastically.

Starscream quickly calculated all the possibilities of righting this situation. None of them wanted the two Autobots on board, either as allies or captives. "Thundercracker, have you got a pistol? Something generic looking?"

"Sure," Thundercracker pulled out a pistol and handed it over. "Why?"

"My shift ends before sunrise. Two hours before then, expect my signal. If I don't, I want you to unlock all access doors," Starscream turned to Skywarp, who still stood with an expectant, yet absent expression. The air commander frowned and turned back to Thundercracker. "And glitch the security in the brig."

"But…you need specific codes for that. Assigned codes. That can be accessed later and investigated."

"Don't worry," Starscream grinned. "It won't be traced. I have a plan…but it's going to require time. I need to make it look like they came up with it, too, or else it wont work. Stay out of Megatron's way, and keep Skywarp busy. The last thing I need is his stupid aft to speak a word of what we're doing."

He turned away and left the two jets wondering just what their commander had in mind.