Chapter 11: Lingo

A/N: Updates are going to be irregular, but I've got the story (kinda) figured out (I think). Yay! Gonna be going to Aussie land in a few weeks! Holiday! Then back to shitty work…uuuuhhhh…yaaaaay… Oh yeah, I might have to change the story rating in the future…there won't be anything HORRIBLY bad (other than the typos I find) but, maybe. Hmm, this one has bad language…then again, it's not the first time I've done it ;)

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Two F-15's cruised leisurely at their own speeds, holding a loose air formation. Without their aerial commander to lead, the purple jet took the liberties with a complacent flight pattern around his blue wing mate, goading the latter to voice his disapproval when he performed a number of acrobatic barrel rolls around the blue seeker. He also found entertainment in challenging himself, just to see how many rotations he could do around his wing mate at an unsafe close proximity without knocking into him. Seven was a good number, but Skywarp was aiming for double digits.

"For the love of-! Can you just-! Just stop it 'Warp! It's not funny! Get-! SHOO!"

"Woo-hoo! E-LEVEN, baby! I did eleven! Did ya' see that, huh TC? Did ya' see? Did ya' see? TC, you saw that right, you did!" the purple seeker gaily cruised back into formation to get his equilibrium. "Who's the con, man? Who's the con! That's right baby, it's ME! SKYWARP! 'An the crowd whoops for 'WARP! Oop! Oop! YEAH! …Now you gotta buy me a cube."

A disgruntled noise came from the blue seeker. "I'm paying to get annoyed!"

"Pretty much. Would you like to purchase the full version now, or take the thirty day trial period?"

"You've got a glitch in your circuits, you glithcy...glitch." Thundercracker finished his insult lamely and his comrade jokingly nudged their wings together. Finding stability in his circuits, Skywarp asked Thundercracker the question that had been clinging onto his vocalisers the minute his optics blinked online from recharge.

"So…you told the 'Screamer yet?"

Skywarp inwardly frowned when heard a small sigh escape the blue seekers communicator.

"Not yet, 'Warp. First time I tried, Starscream was not in a good mood, and she slammed the door in my face." The purple jet made a small groan like Thundercracker's pain was almost physical. "Then I thought, might as well let it out now y'know, so I just…barged in." Skywarp let out a low chuckle at his wing mate's audacity.

"Ooh hoo-hoo! TC, taking the reins! Why are you still here today, huh? Huh? How'd ya' manage to live?"

"She wasn't in her room."

"What! But I thought-"

"I didn't go back in just then. I walked around for a bit, trying to sort out what I was gonna say, then, when I came back…she wasn't there." Skywarp was mentally slapping his head at his blue wing mate. Why must he always hesitate? It's not like they didn't know Starscream, who always had something riding up her thrusters. It all boiled down to her own uninhibited arrogance being the root of her misery, than again, she was more incensed than malcontent these days. The purple seeker's Spartan thoughts ignored Thundercracker's own methodical approach in admitting his feelings for her. To alter the concrete bond they shared as a team and as friends gave the blue jet enough reasons to feel a little guilty. A quick swat to the wing took Thundercracker back to the present.

"Hey, we better get this stuff back to Megatron. I hate carrying explosive food."

"You mean Energon cubes?" Thundercracker queried.

"Whatever, TC! Remember the last time one of 'em Autoboobs shot me in the jet belly? Almost DIED man!" Skywarp's short attention span took its turn to change the subject. "Then we can find Princess 'Screamer for ya'!"

"Hey, don't-wait, what do you mean, find her? What's happened to St-" the blue jets voice shot up to new levels of alarm.

"Cool yer jets, blue boy. She wasn't in her room, that's all. I knocked, I radioed her, nothin'. Maybe she's too pissed ta' care."

"What…is she-…is she okay?"

"Hey, I'll help ya' find her, 'kay? She's probably still in the base. The roster says so. Geez, you're so desperate to make her Mrs. Thundercracka'-"

The purple seeker soon found himself flying upside down when Thundercracker slapped his wing.

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"Skywarp did not contaminate the current supply of energon?"

Soundwave's question was returned with a raised optic by Skywarp. The blue Seeker gave a firm nod at the masked communications officer.

"Good." The cassette tape deck turned his back to them, data pad firmly in hand and mentally counting the number of compressed cubes that were collected, a sure signal that their energy raid task was complete. A purple foot flicked at Frenzy, making him stumble carelessly and scattering the energon cubes he was carrying onto the floor. Getting Soundwave's attention, the navy blue Transformer turned around quicker than the jets expected, to check that Frenzy was still in one piece and a little peeved. Whipping his head to the culprit, the purple seeker pretended he knew nothing and took a unhurried stroll to the exit, leaving Thundercracker under the burning glow from Soundwave's red visors.

"Skywarp was wondering where Starscream is." Thundercracker blurted.

"If you want to know where Starscream is, she is currently in Decepticon headquarters." Soundwave answered plainly in an enforced tone and returned to work. Exiting the storage room, the blue seeker immediately reprimanded his purple counterpart in a fluster.

"We don't bully the little guys when we wanna work with Soundwave, you moron!"

Skywarp just shrugged. "Hey, everyone hates them. They're small like humans and they aren't even Transformer kids. Screw the midgets, slaggin' monkeys with wings-"

"C'mon, let's find just her." Thundercracker lifted his weary head from his hands and patrolled around the grim Decepticon base. "You take the south and I'll take the north, and we'll work our way up. Keep your communication lines open, please."

"Yeah yeah, Skywarp and Thundercracker, going off to find Princess 'Screamer of Lovely-Voice Land…"

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Thundercracker was wondering the quieter halls of the Nemesis when his communicator blinked wildly.

"'Warp, where is she?"

"'Found her yet?"

"No, have you?"

"Nope."

"Don't call me until you have or something-!"

"OH WAIT I SEE HER I SEE HER!"

"WHERE IS SHE!"

"Heh heh heh, PSYCHE-!"

"You SLAGGING PIECE OF SLAG SKYWARP!"

"TC, I don't think she's in the base."

"She has to be! I know it!"

"If you know where she is, then why are we looking for her!"

"Starscream to Laurel and Hardy, come in."

"Heeeeeeey 'SCREAMER! I LOVE THAT SHOW!"

"I thought you would…(idiot)."

"Starscream, where are you-?"

"I told you, leave me alone. Can't a femme con have some 'me' time? To hear you two bicker over me like lost sheep without their shepherd, honestly. I turn off my communicator so I won't be bothered, but what do I have to hear? Dumb and dumber wailing "Where's 'Screamer? Where's Screamer!" over and over and over again in the Nemesis! I said leave me alone, okay? You can live a day without me (as hard as it is), so do it. (Why do I even share internal communications with them…come knocking at my door at Primus knows what-)"

"Starscream, are you in your room? Are you! WE'RE COMING OVER-!"

"I said GO, AWAY! Don't you understand English! I SAID F-"

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"-UCK OFF----!"

A loud static scratched the jet's audio's and Thundercracker winced in pain, taking a sprint to the aerial commander's quarters. Running into Skywarp literally, the duo untangled themselves and raced together in anticipation of her constant disappearance, ignoring the loud grating noise from over exerting their internal machinery when they reached the door.

"Did we make it!" Skywarp leaned on the door frame.

"I dunno…" Thundercracker banged his fists on the door. "Starscream, you in! We-…I just wanna talk to you! About something?"

The blue jet rested his head over her door, hastily gathering his thoughts into coherency.

"….Please?"

"Um, TC…" Skywarp mumbled. "Did she actually say she was in her room?"

Thundercracker slowly turned to look at Skywarp.

"I mean…if she didn't want to be disturbed, she wouldn't, tell us where she was…right…? …Right?" The answer to his question was met by an exasperated moan.

"…Just warp in there."

Taking his cue, the purple seeker's body saturated into an intense light and disappeared. Thundercracker backed away from the door when he heard the latter tumble into various objects, and let himself out of the dark room through the door, making an arced plunge to the floor.

"-SLAG it! What was in my way! Man, I thought her room was like, super neat or somethin''-!"

Skywarp recollected his senses to look at what Thundercracker was staring at with an unhinged jaw. The impeccable tidiness of Starscream's room was gone. Her desk was bluntly halved, the monitor in pieces and the chair turned into unrecognisable scraps on the floor. Even the bulky recharge bed was toppled at a sharp angle, and the walls were littered with dents and fist marks. Looming shadows from the door grew into the scene of what was a bare knuckled fight.

"W…what…happened…?"

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A/N: Um, I had something to say, but my coffee addiction is getting in the way 83 Oh yeah, Wizard of Oz ref!