A/N: Okay, so this is no longer a oneshot. Hahahahaha. Just a warning to you all... these scenes will skip about chronologically, but you should be able to arrange them mentally into some semblance of order. I'm experimenting with a new style in this story... my hope is that the readers will be able to put together the story and the characters from these little vignettes. I have confidence in you, dear readers!

Enjoy!

Debts


Smoke filled Ratchet's lungs and he coughed, still turning over rubble. Heavy Decepticon fire had utterly demolished this temporary base, trapping several Autobots in the wreckage. Ratchet had to move quickly to find them before the enemy arrived to finish off any survivors. So far, his search had been unsuccessful. He glanced around, checking for Decepticons before he dared to raise his voice in a shout. "Optimus! Jazz! Can you hear me?"

He continued to call out periodically as he searched. Time was of the essence… the swiftest Decepticon runners would be on him in a matter of minutes.

Ratchet froze, straining his ears. He had heard… yes, there is was again! A weak answering cry to his right.

"Over here!"

Something flashed and he scrambled towards it. He found a gap in a heap of rubble through which light shone.

"Prime? Is that you?"

Her face appeared in the hole, bloodied and dirt-stained. "Ratchet! We're all down here. Can you dig this away?"

Ratchet heaved and dug at the timbers and stone. His efforts paid off; he made a hole large enough for a person. One by one they climbed or were helped out, all the worse for wear. Ratchet sent them off in twos and threes—a large group risked attracting the 'cons' attention. Optimus insisted on being the last out, making sure that each and every Autobot got away before reaching out for aid. Ratchet lifted her from the hole and she stumbled. He caught her easily—she was a slim thing, easy to hold.

"You're injured," he observed with a scowl.

"It's not bad," she answered. "Just my ankle. Don't worry about it yet, Ratchet."

She took a step and collapsed, grey-faced. He knelt beside her and immediately saw the damage… it was far more than "just my ankle." He saw white bone ripping through her skin.

"You can't walk on this," he muttered, fishing for a bandage. There was no time to do any more than wrap it, wincing at each of her bitten-back groans. "Take it easy, Prime… I've got you. Hold onto me, now, like that."

He supported her to her feet—well, one of her feet and two of his—and turned… only to find himself facing a painfully familiar purple crest on the chestplate of a man with painfully familiar red eyes, and one of twin swords leveled at his throat.

"Starscream," Optimus gasped.

Ratchet didn't know how the young man—just a kid, really, he couldn't be out of the Academy yet—had dragged himself this far. A thick trail of blood led back to the center of the destroyed lab. There was more blood on the boy, all over, filling Ratchet's eyes with red as strong as that of the victim's eyes. The medic's gaze was drawn to the twisted metallic… things trailing from his shoulders, the source of the pressing flow of blood.

Ratchet knelt in front of him in an instant. The boy's trembling hand reached up pitifully and Ratchet took it in one of his own, squeezing reassuringly.

"It's all right, I'm here. Breathe. Hold on, I'm going to help you… stay with me!"

The boy's crimson eyes were wide with terror and pain. He held onto Ratchet's hand in a vise-like grip. "Help me," he gasped, blood on his tongue and lips. "Please, help me!"

Starscream's eyes were narrowed, his thin lips curved in a frown. He was silent, which confused Ratchet—normally the Decepticon second would be gloating about his victory by now. Instead he stood, frowning, something close to… indecision?... in his eyes.

Then, unexpectedly, Starscream lowered his weapon, looking resolutely away from the helpless Autobots.

"My debt is paid," he snarled, hatred in every syllable, each word forcing its way between his teeth. "Go."

"What?" Optimus began, but Ratchet, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, shoot his head violently to stop her and they hobbled away.

Optimus's silence demanded answered. The medic sighed once they were in the cover of the hills.

"A life for a life." It sounded strange even to his ears, so after a hesitation, he added, "It was a long time ago."

Optimus nodded and asked no questions.

He woke up groggy, feeling nothing but a dull ache in his shoulders. The medic was already there, peering into his face with concern.

"Where…?"

"In my medbay," the medic answered. "You're going to be all right. I promise."

He drifted back into unconsciousness wondering if it was the truth.


Megatron had two kinds of anger. One was the kind that involved swift and violent retribution. The other was a silent promise of terrible pain to come, steaming just under the surface. Starscream knew both well… he preferred the former.

However, it was the second that flickered in Megatron's blood-red eyes when his second reported back alone.

"Where is she?" The question was not loud, but everyone heard it. Starscream didn't flinch, nor did he waste his breath on excuses.

"The Autobots escaped, my lord."

Megatron's face darkened as he stood. "Your incompetence never ceases to astound me, Starscream!"

Before his lieutenant could reply, a high-pitched giggle made them both glance at Frenzy. The spy leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, a smirk splitting his face.

"Esc-caped, St-Starscream?" he chuckled. "Like the P-Pit they d-did. I saw the wh-whole th-thing. You l-let them g-g-go."

"He lies, Lord Megatron!" Starscream retorted immediately, turning an acid glare on Frenzy. "Why would I let Prime slip through my grasp?"

The Decepticon leader looked from one to the other, frown deepening. "It's your word against Frenzy's. No one else witnessed this?" His piercing gaze passed across the others in the room. Nobody spoke. Megatron turned back to his second. "Then I will overlook that accusation. However…"

He moved almost too quickly for the eye to track, pinning Starscream to the wall by a hand at his throat. He moved close to hiss at the other Decepticon. "The Autobots still escaped. If you fail me again, Starscream, I will make you beg for death. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, my liege," Starscream choked. Megatron ground him once more against the wall, making him squirm and grit his teeth at the pain in his back, before letting go and stalking back to his throne.

Starscream rubbed his neck as he glared at his commander. It wasn't his fault. If he'd had his way, the Autobot medic would be bleeding out, lying among the ruins somewhere, and Prime would already be subjected to Megatron's tender hospitality. Being a Decepticon, and a notoriously untrustworthy one at that, didn't mean he was without all honor (except where Megatron was concerned, but in Starscream's eyes the Lord High Protector had sacrificed that right when he turned on the entire planet). He still maintained some sense of fair play, twisted though it may be at times. It was better to have repaid the Autobot now and endure a relatively easy punishment rather than find himself in a moral dilemma on the battlefield where the decision could mean life or death for him. He had let them escape this time… next time, he would not hesitate, not even for Prime's pretty eyes, not even out of some misguided sense of owing to the Autobot Ratchet.

Yes… all memory of his weakness must be wiped out. He clenched his fingers into fist, wishing they held his swords. Yes. He would kill the Autobot medic and utterly destroy Prime. He would take Megatron by surprise one dark night and be rid of him once and for all, and then he would lead the Decepticons to their glorious future…

But first, to take care of Frenzy…

A/N: Starscream's revenge will be swift and terrible, I assure you. Pity we don't get to see it. Haha!