Chapter 12: Welcome, One and All / Modus Operandi II

A/N: COFFEEEEEEEEE! Writing, drawing and work. Edited things here and there and here and there / Things get more touchy-feely as the chapters roll on, jes' a warning to you guys, so you know what you're expecting (the title says it all!) :P Thanks for the reviews, it helps a lot!

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Red optics flickered into the world of consciousness once again, to a medley of music playing softly in his internal radio. Scanning his room, his optics winked to look at the discarded wings of a seeker, tucked in the recess of his locker. His internal clock said it was four in the morning, but he had his duties. Maybe five more minutes …or five more breems? By the time he squandered over his decision, five minutes flew by his ageless body.

Jazz leapt out of his bed like a cat and exited his room.

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Thundercracker and his associate exchanged bewildered looks until Skywarp took himself as the usual scapegoat for any gargantuan mess.

"Hey, I only tripped TC! My legs not as big as-! As-!" Thundercracker deftly swatted the back of Skywarp's head before the purple seeker could make himself look like the bigger fool. Punching his friend in bitter retaliation, the duo continued to stare at the room, as if it was going to grow a mouth and answer their questions. All Thundercracker got as a flashing signal on his communicator, earning a sharp jab from Skywarp's finger to bring him back to reality.

"Thundercracker reporting-"

"I presume you are in front of my room, TC?"

"Starscream-!"

"Don't 'Starscream' me. My internal sensors said my room has been invaded. You've got the 'purple peeker seeker' to open the doors too?"

Thundercracker made an unintelligent noise, and Skywarp opened his communication systems to listen to their conversation.

"Just lock my doors after that idiot is done with it."

"Starscream, what happened…?"

Thundercracker heard a deliberate silence, leaving Skywarp befuddled.

"…..I'm redecorating."

"What-!"

"Your leader, Megatron has something for you two, and he told me to tell you. Receive further orders from Soundwave, and get going. I have my own work to do."

"Starscream, um…are you free later? 'Cause I wanna talk with you, if you-"

The duo was met with static again and they turned off their radios. Skywarp just raised his optics and looked at Thundercracker.

"Geez, you sure you wanna be with this Deceptichick?"

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The evening rolled off the beach, colouring everything it touched into a deep orange. Spotting a lone Decepticon sitting on the sand, Thundercracker made no attempt to hide his presence to her, and swooped in to land behind Starscream. The aerial commander always had a strong penchant for seeking quiet solitude wherever she could find it, and having Skywarp as their friend meant that their quarters offered none of what Starscream found out on this beach. Thundercracker made a face when he saw a pair of small purple feet, and stepping closer to Starscream revealed a small Cassetticon sleeping soundly on her lap. Wondering why Rumble of all Transformers, could afford the luxury of Starscream's company at a close proximity made Thundercracker feel…a little possessive.

"What's he doing here?" he pointed rudely at the sleeping Rumble.

Starscream cocked her chin at the two small empty energon cubes at their side. "We had a drink and a little chat. Then he fell asleep."

Scratching his head to find the words to say, Starscream gently nudged the smallest Transformer awake, and beckoned him from his blissful recharge. The Cassetticon sleepily complied, rubbing his visors with the back of his hands to meet a blue seeker, unhappy at his very presence.

"I wanna talk to Starscream." He spoke bluntly to the cassette, and leaned in to the purple Decepticon. "…For seeker audio's only."

Taking the hint, Rumble muttered something under his breath, and took flight into the radiant sky. The aerial commander purposely ignored her blue counterpart and strode past Thundercracker, wearing a small scowl.

"Starscream, wait!" he called, and waited for the red seeker to turn around, looking a little exasperated. "I, uh…I wanna talk. I mentioned before that, um…"

"…If it's about you liking me Thundercracker, then the answer is no." The blue jet widened his optics.

'Dammit Skywarp! Can't keep his vocal chords shut!' he cursed inwardly, and looked up at the object of his desire, choosing his words to express his discontent.

"Did Skywarp tell you?"

"No one told me, TC." She answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "And everyone knows how you follow me like some lovesick puppyoid."

Thundercracker then scowled at himself. Thinking back, he did make himself too obvious, and Starscream waited for her words to sink in before she reminded him again.

"You've been dogging me around like you own me, Thundercracker, and that in itself is annoying. Why do you think I wanted some distance from you two? So I can miss the way you nanny me?" Starscream snorted at his direction, and made an immediate mockery of his concern for her, straining her vocals to go sharper and higher with each example.

"Starscream, are you hurt? Let me get that for you! Don't worry Starscream, I can carry this for you! Starscream, let me fight them off for you, you poor, defenceless creature you! Starscream! Starscream! STARSCREAM---!" she rambled on expressing her animosity, flinging her arms into the air. Thundercracker felt hurt that she could easily exaggerate his own words and recite them back to him. He never meant it that way.

"Well…I'm sorry." He mumbled plaintively. "But, now that you know…"

"Oh, I know." She grumbled. "I was wondering when you would actually say it, that's all."

"Then hear me out, okay!" The blue jet was at his wits end. How difficult must she be now! "Starscream…we-…let's…let's be together….And I-"

He paused. He could hear himself verbally trip on his own words, in a voice of trepidation. He took a small breath to finish his sentence.

"…I won't take 'no' as an answer." His outstretched hand was met with a raised optic, and Starscream studied his reaction. He was going to be very disappointed.

"No." He did not give her a chance to turn her back to him, and spun her around by the shoulders to meet his optics, agitating the red seeker.

"Don't you touch me!" she shrieked and shoved him away form her. "Your emotional idiocy is no excuse to manhandle me like THAT!"

"Then why can't we be together!" he shouted on the verge of desperation with a voice of consternation.

"Because Thundercracker, I fly the skies, not LIVE in them!" she growled. "You're too late anyway! I've already been spoken for, so don't think that I'm the only Transformer you'd have to deal with when you try anything stupid like that again!"

"Who! WHO IS IT!" Thundercracker denied what he was hearing, wanting to destroy the Transformer who took her first. "Is it Rumble! That bastard's too short for you anyway! I'll step on him-!"

"Shut, up….Just...shut…up." She ordered in a low threatening tone. "….Now, you either calm yourself down…or my null ray's will."

His optics blazed an angry red glow, reflecting off his pale cheeks. It took Thundercracker an extreme amount effort to tide his aggravated state, and the surrounding terra was not spared as he forcibly rammed them down. Starscream watched the blue jet with slit optics disturb the serenity, kicking up wet chunks of sand against the tide, shouting Cybertronian obscenities at the waves, fighting it in its natural course. His fists barely uncurled themselves when they were too sore from punching the large beach rocks, and the frustrated seeker turned to his commander for an answer in his barely controlled anger.

"Ah. Happy now?" Starscream took a quick glance at his energon stained hands, twitching irregularly.

"Who…is it?" he asked with a tense jaw.

"Does it matter, TC?" she folded her arms behind her back and started taking a stroll down the beach, away from Thundercracker. "I don't think our relationship would work anyway…A subordinate wanting to court his superior. It doesn't work that way…"

"What's that supposed to mean-?"

A beeping noise interrupted Thundercracker, and the aerial commander promptly opened her communication lines.

"This is Megatron, calling Starscream."

"This is Starscream speaking. What are your orders, Megatron?"

"Report back to Decepticon Headquarters immediately."

"Yes, my lord."

Starscream turned around to find Thundercracker's jaw gaping open, and gave her blue counterpart a meaningful look, although it was not necessary for him to find the answer himself.

"HIM!"

"Yes, him. And why not?"

"B-! Bu-!" Trying not to short circuit himself was proving difficult. A self-assured smile graced the femme con's face, looking proud while Thundercracker's hands and face jerked spastically for a proper word to reach his vocalisers.

"Look. I want the Decepticon leadership, right? Now I have it. Simple. And it comes with a big grey Transformer too," she shrugged. "We all win. Except you."

"I-…I don't believe-! ….You're not going to get away with-"

"With what, TC?"

"You know 'what'!" he threw his hands forward, impersonating his aerial commander with a poor falsetto voice. "Hey, I'm 'Screamer and I'm SO hungry for power! Here's another scheme! Let's use my sexy BUTT powers to get the Decepticon leadership!"

The blue jet stopped talking when Starscream pointed her arm at him, which had a charging laser rifle at the end of said arm. It never failed to remind anyone why Starscream was the aerial commander of the Decepticons, and standing a few feet away from him, she couldn't miss even if he spun her around with her optics offline.

"We don't need two Skywarp's in our team, TC." She emphasised his moniker, and the blue seeker sunk his shoulders in defeat.

"…How stupid do you think our leader is? He's not going to let you use him like this. It usually works the other way around…"

"Usually. It's time for a change, Thundercracker."

"…This is a bad idea, Starscream."

"To you, TC, everything's a bad idea. Or are you just jealous?" She looked at the blue seeker and thrust her hands apart, throwing her gaze to the skies.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all! Where love triangles are made, and hearts are broken! Jealousy, treachery and deceit runs afresh like the new springs that come alive! The drama never stops, and neither does the show! The play must go on! Welcome Thundercracker---!"

Starscream stopped raving to the air and looked back at the blue seeker, who was not amused at her antics, and continued anyway.

"Welcome, to the nerve ending cliché's of life!"

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A/N: Population: all of us and you. Modus Operandi, Part 2, done. And probably revisited for any typos. Poor TC, the butt of…well, all butts XD Agh, I'm not making sense anymore!

Heh heh, this week there's Friday the 13th and the nerve of me to start writing the 13th chapter! lol I'm gonna try and finish it within this week, or even better, I'll post the next chapter on Friday itself! XD