Before the War Part V
"Hurry up Sunstorm," Starscream called over his shoulder at his lagging older brother.
"I'm coming," he called, his yellow optics dulled slightly as he glanced around in boredom.
Both brothers walked the rest of their way home from their studies in a comfortable silence. They walked close to each other, Starscream bathing in his brother's warmth while Sunstorm lapped up Starscream's confidence. Even though Starscream never seemed to get any of the praise that Sunstorm got from their father, absolutely nothing could make them turn on each other. They were as close as brothers' got, leaning on each other through the thick and thin. They were their own best friends, not needing any of the other students or younglings their age to entertain them.
Sunstorm got to the door first and walked in, tossing his data-pad bag just around the corner of the door. "We're home!" he called into the house.
"Kitchen!" their mother called back.
They looked at each other in confusion before heading towards the kitchen, Starscream dropping his bag down beside his brothers. They walked in and immediately froze, wings springing up behind them in terror. Three of the biggest mechs they had ever seen in their whole lives were sitting at the table with their parents. Starscream had to bite down viciously on his glossa to keep himself from whimpering while Sunstorm's hands were beginning to heat up drastically, fire getting ready to burst to life. One of the mechs, a blue Conehead Seeker, leant forward to whisper something to the huge mech beside him, both of them snickering. Blackfire shot them a glare before turning her body around to face them, smiling reassuringly.
"Come here you two," she called gently.
Sunstorm moved forward first, forcing his legs to move and Starscream scuttled after him, optics darting from one mech to the next in panic. He immediately gripped his mother's arm as tightly as he could, hiding behind her chair from the mechs. The conehead and the green mech beside him snickered more, but the large gun-metal grey mech remained silent, fingers intertwined slightly as he leant back in his chair. Starscream swallowed and scooted closer to his mother as Sunstorm took a quickly defensive position on his other side.
"Well," Blackfire sighed as she looked up at her sons, "these are Sunstorm," she gestured to her eldest, "and Starscream," she added as she patted her youngest's arm gently. Both young mechs waved shyly at the older mechs. "Mechs, these are Dirge," she gestured to the conehead, "Onslaught," she gestured to the huge green mech, "and Megatron," she added as she gestured to the large grey mech who only blinked slowly in recognition. "They are some old friends of mine from the Pit Fights."
"Oh," Sunstorm chirped, tilting his head curiously, "they're the ones that you always beat up?"
Dirge and Onslaught immediately looked insulted while Megatron merely chuckled. "She was our teammate," Dirge snapped.
"They won't admit to being beaten by a femme in a lower weight class," Blackfire chuckled.
"Was not!" Onslaught shouted.
Blackfire chuckled before she let Starscream curl up on her lap and snuggle against her. Dirge snickered again before he leant forward over the table. "Well, we know who isn't going to carry on his mother's legacy," he sneered.
Blackfire growled and glared at him as Starscream's wings fell and he curled up against her more. Sunstorm hissed at them, his wings standing up straighter in outrage for the insult to his brother. Northstar merely stared on impassively, not even bothering to show interest in the conversation. Megatron glanced at Dirge before chuckling coldly.
"That youngling has more courage than you do, Dirge," he stated evenly, causing Starscream to freeze for a moment, his spark stalling at the sound.
"He's terrified of us!" Dirge shouted indignantly.
"I cannot really blame him," Megatron replied calmly, "you're visage is quite horrifying," he stated, his almost none existent mouth turned up in a smirk.
Dirge sat there fuming, but didn't dare retort and at first Starscream wondered why, but then he saw it; Megatron had two swords set neatly on his lap. He swallowed before snuggling closer, emitting a low chirp of fear, his optics never leaving the swords. Megatron glanced at him, his smirk gone as he turned to look down at him fully. He stared at him for several long moments before he smiled softly.
"Come here, little one," he called gently.
Starscream looked up at his mother, mouthing out a silent plea for help. Blackfire nuzzled him gently before setting him down and giving him a gentle push towards the large mech. He whimpered slightly, hunched over in an attempt to protect himself as he moved towards the much larger mech. Megatron reached down and scooped him up, earning a squeak of fright, before he cradled him to his chest. Starscream whimpered for a moment before snuggling closer and purring when he felt the heat from Megatron's spark wash over him.
"How old is he?" Megatron asked as he stroked his helm.
"Nine thousand," Blackfire replied. "He's tiny for his age."
Megatron chuckled before leaning his head gently on Starscream's back. "I was tiny too, little one," he cooed, making Starscream's wings quiver. "You'll grow, don't worry."
Starscream chirped softly before powering down his optics. He didn't know why, but being wrapped up tightly in Megatron's arms made him feel secured, safe, and strangely happy. Sure, his spark was pulsing a little fast, but that was just left over fear working its way out of him, right? Megatron chuckled as he nuzzled him, something that he had never had an older mech do before since his father hated him, and he felt odd about it. He chirped weakly and Megatron immediately stopped, murmuring an apology before stroking his helm again.
"Aww, who knew Megatron had such a way with sparklings?" Onslaught cackled.
"We'll see if I have a way with my sword too, Onslaught, if you and Dirge continue with your comments," he replied evenly.
Both mechs fell silent before Sunstorm raced over and hopped onto Megatron's lap, grinning at his triumphant leap. Megatron chuckled as he pulled the larger youngling closer so he wouldn't fall off of him. Starscream snuggled against his brother, cooing in contentment and missing the other two mechs taking their leave. His father left to see them off while Blackfire stayed in the room, her optics on her younglings as Megatron held them securely to his chest.
"You're going to make a great father one day," she commented.
Megatron chuckled, shifting the younglings around to have them sit better. "I have yet to find a femme that I can stand," he replied.
"Who said anything about a femme mate?" she asked. "I know quite a few mechs that you could get along with just fine."
He shook his head before letting a groggily Starscream hold on tightly to his finger. "Blackfire, we've gone over this already; I am never, ever mating," he stated calmly.
She smiled before wagging a finger at him. "That's what you say now, but when you meet 'the one', you won't be able to resist the sweet temptation," she teased.
Megatron chuckled before unintentionally stroking along Starscream's wings, making him purr in his sleep. Blackfire regarded the action for a moment, her green optics narrowed and a snarl on her mouth. But then she relaxed, an almost knowing grin on her face before she stood up.
"Could you watch them for a moment?" she asked. "I have to go get something."
He nodded slowly, frowning at the black femme's back as she left the room. He shrugged before looking down at the younglings. Sunstorm had his head on his shoulder, curled up for an afternoon nap and breathing deeply, while Starscream had his head resting over his spark chamber, purring softly in his sleep with his hands curled up to his throat. He smiled at the two sparklings, enjoying their closeness; it was so hard to get time away from the arena now that he was in charge of the whole force; they needed someone to orchestrate everything that they were planning to achieve.
Starscream yawned before curling closer to him, almost hugging his chest now. It was almost cute what the youngling was doing, but something told him that it was also wrong. He picked the youngling up carefully and gazed down at him; so small and tiny for one his age, it was a wonder. He frowned; he had been small because his father creator had starved both he and his older brother, but Starscream was a slagging prince. He had more than enough energon a day to sustain him, and he knew fully well that Blackfire would never, ever let her sparklings starve for even a minute. What could possibly cause him to be so small?
"So you've noticed?" Blackfire asked sadly from the entrance to the room.
He glanced over at her and nodded slowly before she walked over and picked her youngling up. "It's because of Northstar," she whispered as she cuddled the now sleeping sparkling. "He doesn't care for him or show him any form of love."
"How would that make him so small?" Megatron asked as he let Sunstorm curl up.
"He doesn't take in as much energon as he should," she sighed. "It's horrible, and Northstar won't budge an inch over this."
"He…does tend to over-exaggerate a tad," Megatron sighed. "Poor little thing," he added as he looked at Starscream.
She nodded before smiling. "But he's going to be special, I can see it," she cooed.
He chuckled softly, realizing just how much he missed her odd qualities back at the Pit fights. "Isn't that what all mothers say?" he asked.
She stuck her glossa out at him before nuzzling Starscream and making him chirp and snuggle closer. One little red optic onlined and stared groggily up at her before he smiled weakly. She kissed his forehead, making him squirm and squeak in protest to the action, but she defiantly hung onto him. He squeaked at her angrily, squirming to get away, a smirk on his face as she pretended to fumble in her grip. She stood up and held him up over her head, making small flying noises as she moved him around, making him squeal in delight and laugh, holding his arms out to either side of him.
"Isn't he getting a bit old for that game?" Northstar sneered from the doorway to the room.
"Until I can't pick him up anymore, I'll keep playing it with him," she replied evenly before she pretended to lose her grip on him and let him fall.
"Wheee!" he squealed before he landed in her arms again and cuddled against her. "Again!"
"No," she replied before she held him up and watched him squirm. She grinned before setting him on the table and earning a tiny "eep" from him.
"Momma, don't," he whimpered.
She grinned before leaning in close to him and started blowing raspberries on his stomach, making him squeal and try to wiggle away. She laughed softly as she continued to tickle him, not entirely forgetting about the large mech sitting in the chair with her other son. Sunstorm had woken up a few moments before and was staring at them, twitching his wings in thought as he mapped something out in his head. He crawled out onto Megatron's knee, standing up slowly and wiggling himself down into a crouch, his glossa sticking out of the side of his mouth. With a shout, he launched himself into the air, catching on fire halfway across the gap between him and his mother, before latching onto her arm.
"Fire, Sunstorm," she scolded gently as she held him away from Starscream, who chose that moment to leap onto the ground and take off out of the room. "Hey, you little turbo-rat! Get back here!" she shouted after him as she hoisted Sunstorm up onto her shoulders and took off after him.
Northstar glared resentfully after her, growling in the back of his throat before turning towards Megatron. "Rather sickening," he snorted, sticking his nose in the air.
"I find it refreshing," Megatron chuckled before standing up and towering over his smaller friend. "It has been eons since I last saw a sparkling in a good environment."
"Don't get me wrong, I adore my son," Northstar stated, "but it's that parasite that I abhor."
"Parasite?" Megatron asked as he set his swords in his subspace.
"Starscream," he growled. "That little filth almost killed her."
Megatron glared at him, his lip curling into a snarl. "Do not let me hear you speak about a sparkling like that," he whispered dangerously. "Do not forget what background I came from and what I was called."
Northstar faltered slightly, not expecting his old friend to grow hostile with him, but he quickly regained his composure. "You were not here for the nine weeks, Megatron," he replied evenly. "It was a horrible, horrible thing to watch; I'm sure you will see my reasoning some day."
"Personally," he growled as he straightened up, "I hope I don't." He was silent for a moment before tilting his head to the side. "Do I have the Royal family's allegiance?" he asked.
Northstar nodded, a feral grin crossing his face. "Blackfire and I give you our allegiance, Megatron. Any money you need for weapons or rations I will give you without question; it's high time those miserable Autobots got what's coming to them," he replied, bowing his head in respect.
Megatron nodded before heading towards the door. He paused at the threshold before glancing back. "Look after yourself, Northstar," he called, "the Autobots will catch wind of this…and the outcome for you and Blackfire will not be pleasant," he added, regret and shame hemming his words.
"Blackfire and I are aware of the risks," Northstar replied. "Do not fear for us, Megatron, we will get along just fine. Now go, your mechs need you."
Megatron nodded before taking his leave. Northstar closed the door behind him, his wings twitching in excitement at the prospect of what Megatron had described; a new leadership of Cybertron, not ruled by the corrupt Counsel of Elders. Yes, and Megatron as the sole ruler of the planet; sure, he was a little against the dictatorship idea, but really, it was much better than what the Elders were doing. He nodded before setting off to figure out where his family went; it was time for Starscream and Sunstorm's bath, not that he really cared for the little runt, not at all.