Waking up, Starscream slowly became aware of the fact he was sleeping alone. His servo grasped at the space beside him, and he couldn't feel any other body in the berth with him. His optics onlined, and they widened when he saw that Shift was indeed gone.

Alarmed coursed through him, and he jumped off the berth, recharge deserting him as he raced to his own room. Shift likely hadn't bought his excuse about being locked out of the room, but saw that nothing in his quarters had been disturbed. Starscream still checked to make sure the Omega Key was where he'd put it, and when he found it, he frowned as he realized Shift had left without pilfering his one bargaining chip.

Could...could he really have meant it, that he would leave and not be a apart of a faction? Was he so terrified of being on either side he'd have left even at the possibility of going to the Decepticons? Didn't Shift believe he could look out for him? That was insulting enough, but Starscream's frown deepened at the fact Shift believed he couldn't.

It...hurt, actually. He was used to having his every word being regarded suspiciously, but Shift had clearly known he was being played yet stayed anyway. Even when Starscream tried to make him leave he wanted to stay with him. Shift had been uneasy about going with him to the Decepticons, but before they fell into recharge he'd been willing to try-had he simply decided that Starscream's word wasn't good enough?

'Well, he can fend for himself then.' Starscream thought gruffly. His hard edge softened for a moment. 'Although, I wouldn't say no if he came grovelling back.'

Shift would probably get lonely out there by himself...but that was it. He certainly wouldn't miss him-he was just his minion, after all.

Yes, that had to be it. Starscream had only cared about him for a little while...that had to be the reason.

Forcing himself to take his mind off Shift, he came up with a plan to gather the other Omega Keys.

Energon tasted…strange. It wasn't the gritty toughness of the crystals, but it certainly was sweeter. Just an off sweetness. Though in all seriousness, Jack was glad that Wheeljack didn't immediately start questioning him as they both drank their energon.

"Well, how's it taste?"

Jack peered over the cube at the Wrecker. "Good," he answered shrugging, "better than a crystal."

Wheeljack chuckled. "Can't get much fuel from those things raw." He didn't say anything else, though the logical line of questioning would be 'and how did you survive out there by yourself anyway?'

Jack was grateful that wasn't the follow-up. It made things a bit awkward though since Jack didn't want to be intrusive but he wanted to know just why the other mech was looking for him-was it really because he told June he would? Was it pity after all? "I'll tell my mom you found me when I see her," he started, "so I'll be getting out of your way soon enough."

Wheeljack frowned. "You're ditching me again? Am I really that bad to be around?"

Jack blinked. "Uh, no, it's just...talking to you is really awkward because...you...you saw." he bit his lip when his voice cracked on the word.

Now the Wrecker was the one who looked surprised, but then something which almost looked like understanding crossed his faceplate. "Kid, you don't live like I do without seeing some nasty things. I ain't gonna bug you to open up, but you don't have to run away from me either-I'm in no position to judge anyone, not after I used up those points by punching Prime in the face."

Jack jolted, his optics widening, though he wasn't sure if it was by the action itself or how casual Wheeljack sounded about it. "You did? Why-" he stopped, his optic ridges furrowing. "It's because of what...what he said isn't it? You didn't have to do that."

Wheeljack shrugged. "Maybe not, but I don't do things by half."

The seeker was a bit stunned, but it did begin to explain why he would just up and try to find him. And if Wheeljack told his mom he would find him, by that reasoning the end conclusion would be to take him back to her. 'No wonder he doesn't want me to run off.' he thought. "Okay then, I'll stay, but when should we leave then? I didn't specify to my mom about the time, just that it'd be tonight. Since you're gonna be driving, it might take a while get there."

Wheeljack snorted. "You calling me slow? Bet I could drive circles around you."

"Kinda hard to do when you're on the ground." Jack retorted, feeling the corner of his lip curl up. "Though if you want I can fly slowly so you won't feel left behind."

The other mech narrowed his optics. "Be prepared to eat my exhaust. We leave at dusk." he knocked back the rest of his energon. "You can take my berth, it's just at the back of the room."

Jack glanced behind him, and picked at the edge of his cube. "Are you sure? It feels like I'm taking up enough of your space already."

Wheeljack waved it off, reclining in his chair. "It's no problem, not like I'm not used to sleeping in my pilot seat when I need to do a long flight."

Deciding not to argue about something so trivial, Jack nodded. "Thanks." he said and drank up the rest of his energon. He left the empty cube behind, and made his way to Wheeljack's quarters.

Jack paused at the entrance way, and glanced back to see the Wrecker settling casually into his chair and leaning his helm back against his arms that folded behind his neck. Jack tilted his head as he stared at his stretched out form, and when the Wrecker saw him looking, the mech raised an optic ridge.

Jack felt his faceplate heat, embarrassment flushing through him and he ducked inside the room. He let the doors close behind him, and his cursory glance of the room revealed it was surprisingly sparse aside from the berth and a personal terminal. There was a desk off to the side with various pieces of what looked like a blaster strewn about it, but Jack didn't know enough about Wheeljack to not assume his weapons were stored somewhere more securely.

Shaking his head, Jack slipped onto the berth. He frowned slowly, it becoming apparent in just a few seconds that this berth was well-used. There were minute dips and groves on the berth that had contorted to fit a specific body, and though Jack was not that much shorter than Wheeljack, it certainly felt uncomfortable with the top of the indentations digging into his stomach, and he wasn't even going to entertain sleeping on his back and letting his wings suffer.

Jack sighed, his vents copying he action as he slid off the berth to the floor. It was actually a good bit cleaner than the berth he'd been sleeping on in the Harbinger, but it still sucked that after Wheeljack offered him his berth he couldn't even sleep on it. He glanced at the door, but wasn't going to embarrass either of them by bringing it up.

Closing his optics, Jack settled in to recharge. His systems hummed, and after hours Jack's chronometer pinged and he was about to reach into his subspace when he blearily remembered where he was. Jack blinked and shook his head when he found that he'd slept through most of the day.

Getting off the floor, Jack stretched out his arms and sighed in relief when they cracked and let his limbs fall back to his sides. His wings twitched, and he let them sweep up and down before leaving the room.

Jack stopped when he saw Wheeljack was strewn over the chair, his head rolled to the side, one servo resting on his stomach while his other was hanging over the armrest. Jack stared at Wheeljack's face, and could feel his own face begin to heat up. Jack gritted his denta and slapped his forehead with a quiet groan.

'No, this shouldn't be happening-it can't be happening. Why, why, why?' Jack wasn't blind; he'd been afraid this was going to happen with Starscream, but the fact that he had a transference crush on Wheeljack caught him off-guard.

...it was when he onlined his weapons, that must have been when it started, but those stints with Starscream in the wash rack was likely when it began to even form in his thoughts.

Jack had been careful with Starscream and for short time been worried about getting a crush on him, but was just relieved when they had been able to touch each other and all Jack could feel was nothing more than shyness and just the barest feeling of trust towards the other seeker. There was gratefulness, but that was only after Starscream had helped him-this wasn't a healthy development.

Jack glanced at the landing dock, but before thoughts of bolting could fully form, Wheeljack opened his optics. "Um, hey?"

The Wrecker smirked. "Hey yourself, recharge well?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, got any more energon? We should refuel before we leave."

"Sure, just hang on a klik." Wheeljack got up, stretching his arms behind his head and arching his back. Jack glanced away sharply, clenching his fists as he waited until the other mech went to get their fuel.

'This drive is going to be really awkward.' Jack thought, and shakily smiled when Wheeljack handed him his cube. "Thanks."