Author's Note: Yeah! SO many reviews! I feel so awesome right now! YOU guys are awesome! We're all awesome! I'm stoked! Enjoy chapter 5!
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.
Chapter 5: Protector
Optimus was very close to kicking himself right about now—everyone knew it and everyone knew why.
"He's not in his room sir! Ironhide and Jazz just checked!" Red Alert exclaimed, running beside his leader in a stoic manner, the way he always got when he knew a battle was brewing. "We're searching the entire premises for him…he couldn't have gotten far without running into anybody!"
Make that two kicks.
"What about the ventilation systems?" Prowl asked, "They're small enough to move through those."
Make that three.
The opposite mech twitched, obviously not thinking about it before. The second-in-command sighed while Prime seemed to just move faster, scoring across the entire hallway in a matter of astroseconds. His two best followed obediently behind him, half-mourning and half-enraged at their own carelessness. Starscream was too passive to fight as of yet (if ever if he continued onward through the same path) and wouldn't be able to stand to battle towards a diabolical cat-mech like Ravage. It would be a miracle if he came out alive at all, and that was the one thing that frightened them the most.
"I want all entrances and exits sealed off immediately! I also want all units spread across the premises in order to corner that blasted Decepticon," Optimus ordered, ignoring his desires to destroy something to remaining a leader, and turned to Prowl. "We're not letting Ravage get away that easy, if at all! We must get Starscream back!"
Doing as he was told, Prowl made a brief nod before breaking off from his superior and dashing down another hallway leading to the control room. Red Alert continued with Prime to Starscream's room to hunt for clues as everyone in the base searched for the mini-Decepticon and his attempted kidnapper. It wasn't but another few breems before Optimus and Red Alert fell upon the youngling's quarters, not even slowing down before the pair shoved into the room, flicking on the light for better visual. What they saw was neither promising nor helping either of their desperate moods at this point. The space was utterly empty of any bubbly, passive life form; not even his favorite blanket, which he tried to drag everywhere with him when the leader was not in sight, was also absent.
"He's gone…" Prime whispered, exploring the room for any clues. Looking under the bed, the bedside table, the chairs, his closet, even his dresser, the red and blue mech didn't leave one stone unturned. If he lost Starscream, he would never be able to forgive himself.
"Look at this, Prime!" Red Alert suddenly gasped, pointing towards the wall where the air filter to the wind pipes was opened, revealing the dark space within. "The ventilation system, just as Prowl spoke of!"
Optimus growled somewhat, flying out of the room. He'd had enough of this. It was time to bring out the big artillery, otherwise Starscream would be lost forever.
"Ironhide," Prime stated into the comm. link.
'Yes, sir?'
"Retrieve my cannons."
--
"Have you visual of the child yet?" Megatron snarled to Soundwave, who, in turn, gave him a pleading look.
"Ravage is still searching, sir," the communication specialist murmured, tapping into his obedient pet's link. "He will have him in no time, of course."
"Of course he will, or you will face my wrath," the silver tyrant snarled.
Thundercracker had to refrain from rolling his eyes, Starscream's old habits beginning to take a toll on him. That blasted ivory mech; without him around to slap Megatron around on every corner, which was practically tradition at this point, was almost annoying when their leader would say such things he would only say to Starscream and expect the same effect. Soundwave seem to twitch at the threat, as if pretending to be intimidated. Sure, it was still a fact that Megatron's 'wrath' was forced to be taken every time they failed, but it wasn't nearly as heated as it used to be. Without their elder Seeker's whining or combating presence, it was like a futile fight for the tyrant.
He was a little off the deep end, to say the least.
His team was being too nice to him.
"Yes, sir," Soundwave muttered, turning away while giving his two minions more support and to hurry their big afts up.
"When we get those kids back, Thundercracker," Megatron suddenly said towards his last Seeker, "You're going to be in charge of them."
The sapphire mech felt his spark drop to his feet. "B-but what happens if I'm turned into one, too?!"
"Well, that's just unfortunate, isn't it?" his leader countered, undaunted by his fear.
Cyclonus snickered a distance away from them, giving Thundercracker an amused gaze, "Congrats, 'Cracker! You'd probably be a whole lot more fun as a wittle sparkling, too!"
"Shut up, you slagging sorry excuse for a helicopter!" the Seeker shot back, pointing his null ray cannons at the twit.
"Stand down, Thundercracker," Megatron muttered, "We have to concentrate. When Ravage comes out of that base with that child in hand, we're going to destroy it, got it?"
"What if we can't get both out?" Scourge asked, giving an (almost) sheepish look to his commander.
"It's better than having two children with the Autobots," the superior hissed.
Thundercracker gave an even stare at Megatron before shuddering somewhat, feeling a rush of guilt at his comrades being left. Yes, being Decepticon asked for the individual to resist temptation, to shed all previous emotions and precious memories away, but Thundercracker couldn't help it. Though he was never dare tell his leader, Starscream was actually his younger brother (in reality, not just he had changed), and Skywarp was his nephew. They were family, another prominent reason why the blue Seeker had joined the Decepticons, and be damned if all the sapphire mech asked was for him to spare the little bots' lives.
Starscream and Skywarp were practically all that Thundercracker had left.
--
"Ravage is outside, sir!" Trailbreaker cried into the comm. link, fear twisting in his gut. Starscream was slipping from their grasp, and it was getting worse by the moment. Megatron would have him and nothing could be done about it!
'Get outside immediately! Get him before he gets out of range!' Optimus exclaimed in return, sounding half as frantic as he probably was. Getting down to the bottom storage rooms to get the most powerful of their cannons wasn't exactly easy; it took a lot of time to simply get down there, retrieve the stuff they required and then hightail it out of there again. Prime was basically trapped down there with Jazz, Red Alert and Ironhide. There were five major cannons—all of them were meant to bolt to the ground in order to receive the aftershock of the blasts, they were so high-powered. 'We'll be out there in five breems!'
Beside Trailbreaker, Prowl, Blurr, Bluestreak, Warpath, Tracks, the twins and Skyfire accompanied the navy mech as they poured from the control center and towards the exit, leaving Wheeljack behind to take scan the area and prepare it for the fight. It was time for battle, and they would get their beloved friend back, even if it took everything they had.
--
'Have you set up the cannon yet, sir?' Wheeljack asked from the comm. link, watching from back at the base in order to grid their layout of the battle.
"Yes," Optimus replied, stabbing the last rooter into the ground while standing upright to inspect his work. "This should stop them from exiting the perimeter Trailbreaker and Prowl have set up for the Decepticons."
'If not themselves,' the inventor reminded gently, 'Have we caught sight of Ravage?'
"He's already returned to Megatron," Prime muttered, casting a glare towards the cluster of Decepticons at the edge of their perimeter. Blurr and Bluestreak had done an excellent job in cutting them off, using flame throwers to their best advantage. They had set up a line of brush through the desert in a circle around Megatron, and then set it on fire to ensure to keep them within. Now they were surrounded, Autobots on all sides, and five major cannons at long distances pointed all in their direction. They were utterly screwed if they had Starscream in their hands and, hopefully, wouldn't press his presence with them to their benefit. However, if the situation was thus, Optimus had a hard time believing they wouldn't do it.
'Let's get the show on the road,' Wheeljack murmured, bringing the cannons online.
Prime stepped forward.
"This is it, MEGATRON!" the Autobot leader cried through the comm. link, more enraged than he had been in a long, long time.
'Why, isn't it good to see my arch nemesis out and about on a lovely night like this…' Megatron practically purred, acting proud as always, despite the situation he was in. 'So I've heard about the pleasant surprise with my two finest Seekers—'
"You're not getting your hands on them—and I'll see to it that I get Starscream back," Optimus growled, standing in such a position to where he was completely visible to the Decepticons.
'What? I don't know what you're talking about,' the silver tyrant suddenly snapped, irritated that he was cut off.
"You LI—"
'Optimus!' Wheeljack then exclaimed through their more private link with something akin to happiness laced in his tone. 'You're never going to believe this!'
--
A half an hour earlier…
Starscream pursed his lips.
Decisions, decisions.
Soft sky-blue optics were trained upon a single sight, glowing and bright, from the cold retains of the storage room. Flavored energon blocks were stocked mountain-high for the Autobot's food supply in the space, and the little bot's favorite hideout for midnight cravings. Often not able to sleep very well most nights, he had found the huge expanse of the room after doing a bit of exploring throughout the base and had been quite pleased with his discovery. It was three floors down from his bedroom (let's just say he couldn't sleep at all) and though it was cold to stay down there, he would always keep his accompanying blanket with him to keep him companionship and warmth. It was like his second Optimus; trusting, protective, and always there for him. However, when it came to desperate decision such as metal flavors or new ones that he'd never tasted before, strawberry and cream, it offered him no help.
"What do you think, blanket?" Starscream asked, nevertheless. It was nice talking to it while there was no one else around. It kept the shadows at bay; it gave Starscream more strength. Just like Optimus. "Strawberry it is, then."
Reaching out, a small hand plucked the glowing neon from its place on the stack and put it quietly to his lips.
A sound suddenly rattled his systems, however, when a loud clanging echoed from outside the door and down the hall. With a jump, Starscream snatched a few more cubes before diving into the closest door to the air pipes, stuffing his blanket and energon along with himself into it. Placing the air filter back into its place, the little one waited. Backup plans were constantly necessary when it came to doing things he wasn't supposed to be doing. He always had one.
Predictably, a silver, sleek form burst through the door two astroseconds later—Jazz—before he rushed back out, yelling something into his link with the other Transformers.
Starscream was puzzled by this; he looked a little more upset than usual, and it wasn't necessarily a good sign. A thought suddenly struck the little one—what if they already discovered he was stealing energon? What would they think of him? They would beat him for sure, no doubt! He always got beaten when doing things he shouldn't be! With a strained gulp, Starscream shivered and backed further into the airways while dragging his blanket along with him, the flavored energon still clutched in his hand. Moving down the small space with expertise, the mini-bot took left and rights with knowledge of the pathways like his own home. He was always good at remember stuff like this. Mom would get angry at him for leaving her sight just to go 'exploring', but he never got hurt. He wouldn't get hurt here, either.
Blanket tied around his waist to make more mobile, Starscream continued his journey, searching for a certain place where he could hide until morning. Then he could say sorry to Optimus before Jazz or the twins got to him. It was an ingenious plan—and it always worked. He had yet to test it out, being that he hadn't been discovered by an of the elder bots when he had been doing as of late, but now seemed like the opportune time. Turning a final right, Starscream wiggled down the last length of the pipe before dumping himself out onto Wheeljack's floor, the doctor presently and constantly absent from doing things in his lab, offering a prime hiding place. Shaking his head at the impact to the floor, innocent optics glanced up to see the enormous holovid, documentaries, human text books, game chips and double-sized berth that greeted his eyes with a welcoming effect. Starscream smiled.
Tonight was going to be fun…
Plopping down in front of the enormous holovid, Starscream comfortably wrapped his blanket around him while grabbing the remote, turning the thing on to watch his favorite shows. Late night ones on Earth were the strangest things he'd ever seen—half of them he promised himself never to watch again. However, things like Cartoon Network and Disney were always good to watch—they made him feel better when he got especially scared and knew there was no one around to save him. He could laugh at the things the characters said, even though he didn't always understand them. One of his favorites was 'The Fairly Odd Parents' which was, to say the least, odd. But he liked it anyways.
Colors flourished to life on the screen and Starscream smiled. If only Optimus was here to enjoy them with him…
The mini Seeker felt downed at the thought.
Oh, what would his favorite playmate think of him…? Starscream was thought to be a good little mech, but in the end, he couldn't be more wrong. The only way the little bot got what wanted, though, was to get it himself. That's what he learned after the longest time with his step-father…an ugly scenario that was. So mean…his fists hurt when they hit Starscream's soft metal, often severing limbs and breaking precious wirings without even a care. The pain, oh the sweet pain, it was still heady in his mind, even though he hadn't felt it for a long time. He didn't understand why his step-father wasn't still around, but he didn't care.
Optimus was like his new dad.
He was more than fine with that—if he never saw his step-father again and Optimus replaced him, Starscream's life would be perfect. All of it was still a bit confusing, though, due to the fact that he had no idea how he wound up here at the Autobot base. There was so much…it felt like he should be doing something, or being somebody, but he couldn't put his finger on it. However, when he tried to remember, there would always be the huge, massive darkness and his head would hurt. Thus, he refrained from trying to remember too much. When his mind drifter, though, it hard not to sometimes.
Starscream shook his head briefly, attempting to silence the thoughts within. Already his temples were pounding from trying to remember; he should probably stop while he was ahead.
The little bot heaved a great sigh, sinking back into his beloved blanket before beginning to drift off, feeling recharge creep up on him.
Oh no…Starscream had thought sparingly as he noticed the shadows beginning to pool from the corners, Not the nightmares…
--
Starscream woke up hysterical.
The image of thick fingers tightened around his neck was still so prominent in his mind, he didn't realized that he had woken up until he heard the loud and disturbing noises of the holovid. The effect shook his mind and body—the nightmare was whirling about him in the dark room, it was the only reality to him. The pain was terrible! AAAH! It burnt, so badly! The flames…they were burning his back…and his legs…and his…his….Trembling, pale tears crawling down his frozen face, he shifted around, trying to find the door. To get out. To escape. He had to escape it! Horrific images sprang towards him from the holovid, making a scream rip from the little one's vocal processor as he grabbed his blanket and bolted it towards the exit.
"Optimus!"
Bursting out of Wheeljack's door, Starscream set off as fast as he could down the hall, fear making his legs unsteady as he felt the looming presence behind him attempt to catch him, to hurt him. Such large hands…such impossible strength! He broken his wings, shattered his arms and legs! And no one was there to save him this time! Sobbing harder, more desperately, the little bot rounded the corner, feeling the shadows beginning to snake up on him and snatch him down to an endless pit of oblivion and pain. Where was his savior? His protector? Optimus!
"Save me! Somebody help!" the little one cried, dashing down the corridor, wondering why the place was so deserted.
Was he still in his nightmare?
Was nobody going to save him?
"Optimus, the coordination's are set!" a familiar voice talked into the common link, making Starscream twitch.
And then he turned. The control room! Of course, he would find refuge there! There was a good voice in there, to defend him from the evil mech! Swiftly shifting to the left, he practically dove into the room as he saw the familiar figure of his favorite doctor—Wheeljack himself. Crying deeply, spark beating fast, Starscream dashed up to him and threw his arms around the larger mech's leg, hugging it close. His entire frame clattered, but he felt the shadow die down from the lights in the room, Wheeljack's bright presence beginning to eat them away.
"Eh—?" the good doctor asked, glancing down. "Starscream?"
"I had…I had this scary dream…!" the little one sobbed, grasping him hard, even if the larger mech didn't want it. If they knew about what he did in the storage rooms, fine—he just didn't want to be alone anymore. Anything was better than the nightmares.
"Primus!" Wheeljack gasped, bending down and taking the mini-bot by his arms to lift him up.
Starscream hunkered down, attempting to hide himself against the oddly worried, but deeply penetrating stare. "I'm sorry Wheeljack! I didn't mean to take the energon! I'm sorry…! I just had this terrible dream and I…!"
"Where have you been hiding?" he suddenly asked, hugging Starscream into the warmth of his chassis. It was the strangest action he had done yet; Starscream was utterly perplexed from what he was doing, but didn't hate him for it. Weren't they angry at him for stealing that energon? He knew that energon was a thin resource for all of them, but then why was Wheeljack acting so comforting? "We were also so horribly worried!" he whispered.
The ivory bot hiccupped through his sobs, confused at the doctor's concern, but no minding one bit that he was hugging him. The reassuring tenderness began pour through Starscream's trembling body, quieting him down to soft sniffles. "You not…angry with me…?" asked in a quivering voice, his fear beginning to ebb away.
"Of course not! Where have you been hiding, little one?" the elder whispered, kissing him briefly on the forehead.
"I was in the storage room where all the flavored energon was."
"What were you doing there?"
"I couldn't sleep and I got hungry…"
"But we checked there already!"
"I got scared when Jazz came in and went into the air pipes…"
"Then where did you go?"
"To your room."
Quietness dimmed the conversation.
Wheeljack simply stared—his expression was something akin to a pleasant shock: he looked baffled, but relieved at the same time. Then he sighed softly, holding Starscream closer to him, tightening his grip as he let a free hand grasp the abandoned blanket on the floor. Standing straight, he wrapped the miniature Decepticon in its warm confines, Starscream taking it gratefully, before then tapping into the comm. link on the control modular.
"Optimus! You're never going to believe this!" he exclaimed, reprieve poured into every syllable.
There was a slight pause, then came Optimus's grand voice through the intercom: 'What do you mean?'
"I found Starscream; not only that, he's completely unscathed and unaware of the situation!" Wheeljack replied, nuzzling the little one's head with his cheek. "He was hiding in my room…right under our noses!"
"What's going on…?" Starscream asked softly, glancing up at the larger mech.
'Starscream…?'
The leader's question towards the little one immediately took his attention as he bent forward in Wheeljack's hold, optics exploring the room. "Optimus! Where did you go! I had another nightmare…!" the little one said, continuing to look around for the source of the voice. "You…weren't there to scare them away…."
Silence beckoned on the other side of the link, but it wasn't a good one. Starscream reached out, not with his hands or his body, but with his spark—stretching out, feeling for Prime's powerful, brilliant spark in return. Darkness filled the space between them, however, and Starscream couldn't reach out far enough to get to him. Beginning to withdraw, he realized that Optimus must've left the base because he thought he was in trouble…something suddenly caught Starscream's essence, bright and strong. Warmth then overflowed Starscream's frightened spark, reassuring and complete, chasing away the terrible shadows. It was a familiar touch—Starscream knew it well.
Optimus!
His spark smiled. I'm here, little one. I'm here.
--
"So he was in your room this entire time?" Trailbreaker murmured, cocking his head.
"Not the entire time, but long enough for me to feel utterly stupid that we didn't check there anyways—right in plain sight. I feel bad for him, however…he experienced another nightmare while we were so concentrating on thinking the Decepticons had snatched him," Wheeljack replied with a low tone, snuggling the little one in his arms.
"I feel like such a droid," Jazz muttered, being aware to watch his language.
"Perhaps we were just expecting the Decepticons to do that, so when Starscream ended up doing so, we were too blind to see what was around us," said Prowl quietly, entering into the control room with his arms crossed.
The rest of the group filtered in, relief consuming the anger that had been there previously. Indeed, it had done so that much that when Starscream was found by Wheeljack, many of the warriors surrounding the Decepticons had even ended up cracking down, especially those that were close to him. Sideswipe had been one in particular, needing the cannon for support when his legs went weak. None of the Autobot soldiers realized how much of an effect Starscream brought out in them until this very moment—it was not only powerful, but very affectionate. It had allowed the Decepticons to get away, but none of their opposite faction had really given a damn.
"Get out of the way, get outta here!" a certain crimson Lamborghini snapped as he shoved through the crowd, presenting himself before the little bot. He stopped briefly at the sight before him, absolute reprieve relaxing his angry features before he sighed happily, "Oh, thank Primus!"
"Sideswipe!" Starscream chirped happily, even reverting to pleased clicks and squeaks when the joker twin plucked him from Wheeljack's arms to embrace him wholly. "I'm glad you're here!"
"You and me both, kid!" Sideswipe whispered, sentiment overcoming him as he held tight to the little one. "You scared the slag out of us, you did, but you're safe, and you're never leaving me sight again, so…so…!"
The red twin's frame trembled as he pressed his noseplate against the little form and hiding his optics against the others' gazes, attempting to keep the threatening emotions at bay. He had a reputation to keep, after all, but it was damn well hard when he felt like he had nearly lost his favorite little buddy, only to see that he had been fine all along. Starscream was already known for his ability to draw him bad luck, but it appeared in the most unfortunate of times, he seemed to be the luckiest of them all. For that, they were all grateful.
"Optimus!"
The little chirrup interrupted the deeply affectionate moment, making Sideswipe turn as he saw his leader come towards him. Despite his best ability to refrain from letting his relief get the better of him, a single streak of blue energon trickled down his silver faceplate as he faced Prime. The two stared at one another for a moment, sky optics exchanging between them, trying to comprehend the situation. What was wrong with them? Were they angry at one another? Then, all at once, Sideswipe pushed Starscream into the larger mech's arm before rushing from the control room, his head ducked as an arm moved to cover his optics. Concerned voices followed after him, but only Ratchet ended up trailing behind him as they left to somewhere unknown.
Then, Prime glanced down at his young charge as Starscream gazed evenly back up at him, clicking quietly. "So small, yet so powerful. I think we all deserve a good night's rest," Optimus murmured towards all of his exhausted cohorts before nuzzling the little bot, "And you can sleep with me tonight."
The ivory Seeker gasped and lifted his arms happily, clicking and squealing in an excited manner, as this opportunity was so few. The Autobots had tried getting Starscream to remain alone during the night, often making it through so long as the youngling could feel Optimus's spark. It was seldom anymore that Starscream ended up in the same berth as the elder mech.
Then, in all of his happiness, the little bot cut short as his expression dropped, making his surrounding caretakers flinch in fear of a fit or something…else. Optimus, naturally, had grown quite used to anything that was thrown his way by the sparklings and asked softly, "Is there something wrong?"
Starscream glanced up once more, scowling somewhat as he muttered, "Skywarp."
--
How did he end up in the situation?
Why was it always him that not only missed out on all the action, but managed to get himself in a rut? Literally?
It wasn't exactly in the small print of taking care of a creature that was so small he could fit in the older mech's palm, that such situations would arise. As a matter of fact, when Sunstreaker took on the job, he didn't quite remember even agreeing to it—he had just somehow ended up with Skywarp in his arms when Ravage had kidnapped Starscream before being order to protect the sparkling. So he did. He went as far as kicking Laserbeak like a soccer ball across the corridor so it not only hit the opposite wall, but shattered into some twenty pieces. It was intense satisfaction if Soundwave hadn't magically appeared out of nowhere. With that in mind, however, Sunstreaker had hightailed it out of the vicinity so fast that the cassette deck didn't even have to blink before the golden twin vanished.
Yet, being one of Megatron's most elite, it wasn't exactly the easiest to shake him off, either.
It had taken five breems to find a suitable place to search for a hiding area before the yellow Autobot had discovered a small air valve, but was large enough to let Sunstreaker to fit through. However, what was not expected from going down it was the fact that it did go down. And down. And down. And down.
So, before he let himself get killed, he had formed a sitting position with his body and ended up getting wedged in between the two walls. It was embarrassing, but kept him away from prying optics. He was pretty sure fifteen breems had passed by, and he was still stuck down here. He also knew how long he would last before dying from starvation—he also knew, in all its dreadfulness, how long it would take for Skywarp, too.
"Tunny?" the sparkling suddenly asked, adjusting himself on the larger's chassis.
"What, Skywarp?" the tired twin muttered, rubbing his audio receptor in just the right place to relieve some tension from his headache. He never did enjoy small spaces.
As for Skywarp's nickname for the elder, it had derived from attempts at saying 'Sunstreaker', before shorting down to 'Sunny', and even then it wasn't pronounceable to the mini-Decepticon. Therefore he had shifted it just enough for it to still be understood, but also easy on his vocal processor. 'Tunny' it was.
Soft clicks answered his inquiry with the little bot's own, his tone just as aching and exhausted as Sunstreaker's.
"Well, I don't know when they'll find us," the golden Autobot grumbled, being honest to the last syllable. For another odd reason, Sunstreaker also seemed to be the only one to understand the tiny ball of energy. It had been an acquired trait, however, listening to his brother's incandescent rambles in their younger years was enough. "They'll come when they come."
Click. Chirrup. Squeak. Click.
"We're not gonna die," growled Sunstreaker, sitting straight from slacking a bit, "I'll get us out of here myself before that happens."
Silence set in upon the two, offering for a more depressed environment. Both were tired, hungry and ready for some well-deserved recharge, but Sunstreaker refused to fall to temptation of sleeping before he managed to get Skywarp out of there. Despite his earlier honesty, in truth he was still attempting to figure out how he was going to get them out of there. If they went to the deepest compartments of the Ark through the ventilation systems, then it would no doubt take joors just to get back up to their living spaces, with all the mazes and dark rooms spanning the lower decks. Thus, Sunstreaker took his chances of being discovered.
He would've used his distress calls to send notice to his fellow Autobot friends, if wasn't shorted out from that slagging-bitch-of-Megatron hitting it with an electrical device. Bastard. He would get a well-deserved beating later when all of this passed.
A sudden squeaking caught Sunstreaker unawares as he glanced up, noticing the latches of the vent being unscrewed and pried out from its place. Once it was parted away from the wall, a tiny head poked through, accompanied by two others, before the extremely relieving voice of Starscream said, "Skywarp? Sunstreaker?"
"Hey buddeh," the golden Autobot muttered, smiling tiredly up at them.
"Swar!" Skywarp added.
"What are you two doing down there?" Hoist asked from above, sounding displeased.
"Does it matter? Let's just get them out," Jazz said beside them before removing himself from view, taking Starscream with him.
"All right, all right, I'm bringing down the cable, just sit tight," muttered the ebony repairman.
"I've been 'sitting tight' for the past joor! A lot tighter than you would probably want to imagine!" Sunstreaker snarled, losing his patience immediately. "Now get me the pits outta here!"
Hoist grumbled something incomprehensible before drawing back and a rope replaced his figure. Placing Skywarp on his shoulder, Sunstreaker wrapped the cable around his wrist several times before tugging at it, ready to be taken out of there. A powerful drag reciprocated his action that released him from his position immediately, allowing his legs to span out as his sore muscles moved from their statue-like form. It took only a few breems before the warm light of the hallway greeted the golden Autobot, along with several other figures as they pulled him through the vent and onto the floor.
"Argh…I'm never babysitting again," groaned the psychotic twin that didn't really psychotic at the time.
"But you do it so well," Bumblebee replied with a laugh, "You did with me, after all."
"Yeah, but you were easy," the coherent one muttered as he stood straight, handing the sleepy bot over to Raindance.
"No I wasn't. I was as bad as Skywarp," the other said with an accompanying wink before adding, "But I understand. I think we all just need to get some energon and recharge."
"Agreed."
--
Decepticon Base
"You fools!" Megatron snarled, planting two fists on his hips. "You let yourselves get detected! Now we have neither!"
I think it's almost better that way…Thundercracker mused to himself, watching as his leader scolded Soundwave for his exceptionally poor job this time around—also mumbling something shoving his cassettes down his throat—while stomping away. At least, for now, the little ones were away from the tyrant. The more the sapphire Seeker thought about it, seemingly, he discovered that he would need to start protecting them against his own faction. What was he going to do?
What could he do?
--
A/N: (pant, pant) Scary chapter. I feel bad for leaving Skywarp so left out! He needs to be put in more…more ideas. GAAAAAAAAH! (head inflates)
Read and review, please, lovies!