there's a million&one ways
A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Hopefully you'll have just as much fun reading it.
Replies:
I'm so sorry for not replying earlier! Please feel free to hit me over the head!
Tlcoopi7,, they sure are!
PwnKage,, I can't answer the other question, but I can tell you why decepticon are aftholes. It's because they've had to put up with Screamer's voice for the past couple hundred of years without earplugs to block out his voice, lol. That kind of sound does bad things to your mind after a while.
Cadence Barrick,, thank you. ^^ hopefully this'll still match the quality of my other chapters. :3
Pairings: Annabelle Lennox w/ Starscream vs. Annabelle Lennox w/ Ironhide
Disclaimer: I do not own transformers or any of them; they are rightfully copy-writed to their respectful owners.
Ironhide sat atop the gray boulder as he gazed idly onto the soggy valley. Puddles of water reflected the young azure sky. The depleted grass fell limply to the dark, saturated ground. The few evergreens that survived had the ends of their needle-like leaves changing to a dead brown. He sighed into the cold air, hating how his breath was visible. The creaky sounds of rocks tumbling reached his audio sensors, but the mech didn't stir . . . he didn't want to move so long as this dead silence persisted.
The human squatted down, placing his chin on his curled hand. His hazel eyes were clouded by the haze of a sleepless night. The gravity of the situation was more finely engraved onto Will's face. His wrinkles were exaggerated in the early sunlight. He roughly ran his hand through his hair.
Will stared at the ground and said, "You iron giants have done a lot for us over the years . . . been through a lot too . . . together I mean." Ironhide remained unmoved, still as a statue. "I know how it feels now, and I'm sorry for keeping you on the sidelines all these years. I forgot how hard it is just to sit and watch."
"I've been put on the sidelines longer than this before," Ironhide informed emotionlessly.
"So you aren't going?" Lennox inquired.
The mech shook his head. "No," he stated bluntly. "I'd get too caught up in revenge to think straight."
"So who – "
"Arcee and Cliffjumper are good leaders," Ironhide said. "And among Mirage, Powerglide, Blaster, and the new recruits, they'll be able to track down those decepticons without any hitches. Provided Jetfire gives them the coordinates."
"You think he'll – "
"Yup," he answered shortly.
"Optimus Prime seems to th – "
"Optimus Prime has never seen him under pressure," Ironhide answered. "No one has."
"So do you think he can d – "
"I hope so," the autobot answered curtly. He glanced at Will the saddest, most pathetic look he had ever seen a creature express. For the first time in his lifespan, Ironhide had used the word hope because he didn't know what the outcome was going to be. Quite frankly, he was scared to find out what the outcome could be.
Lennox reached and touched his warm to the giant's cold armor, but he felt nothing. A rock would have felt more comfort in the small gesture. The autobot looked away, retreating back to the memories of a young Annabelle Lennox – his Annabelle Lennox, the one that would never runaway from him.
The sound of the mech snarling as his wings unexpectantly hit the wall awakened Annabelle. The seeker's growls subsided, but his irritation remained strong, bubbling underneath his armor. He swiftly swerved on his toes and he critically analyzed his slave. "Finally," he grumped. Anna raised her head snootily. "You're awake."
"I need sleep," she reminded slimily.
"I know," Starscream retorted. His voice was more screechy than normal, and Annabelle had to mentally stop herself from flinching. Nails on a chalkboard sounded better than his voice at the current moment. The seeker's swift but ungraceful movements were unusual from what Annabelle had been accustomed too. As he loomed directly over her, Annabelle sat up, trying fruitally to match at least to match one twelfth of his height. "I wished you didn't need so much."
"Hey!" she shouted. "I am not some punching bag for your bad attitude!" There was a pretenscious silence that filled the gap between her words. Starscream took a step away from the human. His face relaxed, and Anna sighed. She was relieved at the safety cushion between her and the mech. The human stood onto her two legs, eager to stretch her aching muscles. Anna looked away from him to stare at the room, but there were no obvious changes she could see. 'For doing a lot of work, it sure doesn't look like it,' the human thought bitterly. 'You think they wou – ' Anna was lurched into the air. The warm grasp of his claws tightened around her body.
He held her above his head, too happily examining and savoring her fearful, angry expression. "You missed the briefing," Starscream informed critically.
"Well, whose job is that?" Anna spat. "It's not like I'm built with an internal alarm clock."
"I had to let you sleep so that you would function better," Starscream growled. "Otherwise you won't be able to function." She stared, perplexed, at him; her gaze shifted from confusion to hostility. He rolled his optics away from her. He sighed dramatically to release the exhaustion caused by Annabelle's cynical attitude. He moved down the hall hastily, even eagerly. "Why do you always assume I'm up to no good?" he inquired critically.
"Because you aren't up to any good," Anna spat frankly.
"And you aren't up to any good either, Annabelle," he reminded. "Anyone who would rely on such radical and desperate tactics is never good."
"Well, aren't we two of a kind," she said flatly.
"Don't sound so disgusted," the seeker retorted.
"And why not?" the human asked smartly.
"Because people like us don't come around very often," he answered in an even tone. Starscream raised head, displaying the arrogance he so proudly and boldly loved. The edge of his optics gleamed with dangerous self-satisfaction. Anna gawked at him, trying to sort through her confusion. Us? Had he blown a logic chip?! "Don't look so shocked," the decepticon commented. "It makes you look weak."
"Us?" she blurted out.
"Us is a word to refer to a party of two or more," he informed. "And there is me, and there is you . . . a party of two to my correct calculations."
"But what did you mean by us?" she asked with more persistence.
"Us is us, Annabelle," he replied in a monotone. "Nothing more to it than that."
"Bullshit!" she hissed. "You're the worst liar I've ever met."
"Or the best one," he chided.
"Doubt it," Anna breathed.
"Do you want to test that hypothesis?" he asked sarcastically. The seeker halted outside the entrance of their complex caverns. A wave of goose bumps raced across the human's skin. Her trembling muscles were polar opposites of Starscream's own mechanical system. The cold was so much more natural to him than heat. The confinement was a good trade if it meant escaping the heat. His wings stiffened as the snow began to stick to his armor. The engines along his back gently purred as the wind rubbed against them. The warm vibrations they emitted made him all the more eager to "stretch" his wings and fly.
"As a matter of fact, yes!" Annabelle snapped. Loose strands of her dark hair wavered in front of her face, blocking the death she was giving him. "I want to see just how good of a liar you are."
His optics glowed brighter at the cutting edge of her voice, and the opportunity to prove him superior. "I accept your challenge," he chirped sweetly. Another cold burst of air bombarded them, and Annabelle visibly flinched at the cold's sting. He gingerly placed Annabelle into his cockpit before her cells could freeze. "Hold tight," he ordered. "I don't want you to sustain any more injuries." The human's grip weakly registered to his internal pressure sensory system, but any grip was better than none. He kicked off from the ground, heading head first into the whiteout. His angular body cut through the thick blockade of snow easily. Starscream had almost forgotten how much his new earth form was superior to his bulky, jagged protoform. It was a shame that the other aspects of their civilization trailed so miserably behind their technology.
The seeker broke through the snow and emerged a top a white storm. The wind whipped the snow from his body, traveling through every hidden nook and cranny. His internal temperature reading dropped swiftly to a comfortable and more preferred status, save for his cockpit; that part of him he had to keep warm if the human was to survive. He peered through the glass, watching with dissatisfaction as she sat awkwardly on top his controls. "You have no problems going very fast, do you?" he inquired seriously.
"I've gone up to mach three," Anna said neutrally. "Jetfire would never let me go any faster than that though."
"You'll survive going mach ten then," he replied casually.
"I can't survive that!" the human protested. "That many g's on my body will kill me!"
"Did you really think I meant it?" he asked. Annabelle's face angrily scrunched up. She took her free hand and slammed it against the cold glass. He chuckled. Humans were so amusing in their actions that he had no doubt they could make wonderful pets if trained. "I told you I was the best liar you'd ever meet," he gloated. He rolled onto his back as he began to fly over the storm. Annabelle's back pressed against the interior seat. "I'll have to come up with some new way to fly with you when I'm in my bipedal mode," he said disappointingly.
"Why don't you just use your disguise?" she asked smartly.
"Because there are quite a few moments where I prefer to use my Cybertronian form," he replied sharply. "And there will be times when the most logical form will be this form."
"Well excuse me for using common sense," Anna huffed.
"Lack of," Starscream corrected, his voice sounding harsher than he intended. He went silent for several moments, his mind drifting away from their current argument. Annabelle crossed her arms. She blew on the loose strands in her face. "I was thinking, Annabelle . . . "
"Yeah?" she asked unpleasantly.
"That after this mission, I should commission a suit to better suit you for our world," the seeker answered.
"Why?" Anna asked curtly. "I'm not going to Cybertron anytime soon.
"I'm talking in general," he clarified. "I need you to be as versible as possible. It would also serve you for defensive purposes should we encounter any autobots or if you provoke any of my soldiers into a frenzy."
"Isn't that your job to protect me from them?" Anna questioned suspiciously.
"I'm not your guardian," Starscream said abruptly. A harsh stillness suddenly dropped over them. He felt the human twist onto her good side. She pressed her feet against his controls, but he let this annoying act go unpunished. He deactivated his optics and guided himself through the humans' GPS system. His mind began to slip into his most recent memories. They stirred an uneasy mixture of emotions that spurred his anger, curiosity, and determination.
Then, exactly four years and 21 seconds ago
Lying lifelessly on the colorless steel table were the failed attempts of life. The protoforms' bodies were slumped over each other, looking as if they were trying to support each other in their final moments. In the left's curled hand was the right's hand. Somehow, beyond his comprehension, the young protoforms had been able to overcome their barbaric instinctive programming all because of fear. At their young age, they knew on some basic level what death was, and the fear of nonexistence had brought them together.
Starscream stared blaitingly at the duo. "I never thought I'd see the day when protoforms were more civil than us," he told himself. The mech lifted up their brittle bodies before pulling them apart with force. Tiny bits of metal clattered to the floor along with a few precious drop of energon. He carefully looked at them separately, noting how lonely they look when they were not together. The seeker placed them onto the tabletop once more.
Light flooded the room, followed by Shockwave's dutiful steps. "What was their cause of death?" the military advisor inquired.
"The obvious," Starscream replied in a steady voice. He turned around to Shockwave. The seeker's optics were barely lit, even flickering with rage. For days he had locked himself in the lab as he concentrated on fulfilling his promise. At this point, he felt the frustration of having to accept another broken promise under his reign. "What is the status of the third protoform?"
"You'll be pleased to know that he is stable," Shockwave informed. "He is displaying all normal functions for his level of comprehension. He will be ready in less than an hour to be upgraded to a level two functioning status." Starscream nodded. "If he continues on this path, he will achieve full functioning status in a year's time. You may very well fulfill your promise to the autobots and decepticons."
"Have they kept quiet about it?" he asked.
"Yes," the mech answered confidently. "But again, they have no choice but to remain quiet, my Lord. Should they escape, they will tell Prowl, but a few captured council members wish to meet you with. They were very much inspired by your coronation speech made earlier. They say if you fulfill this promise, then they will swear their loyalty to you. The council members will, as promised, speak on your behalf to the autobots." Shockwave paused to let Starscream absorb the information. "This could be the beginning of the end of this war, Lord Starscream."
Starscream turned to the window where he peered onto the streets below him. The recent injured decepticons were slowly crawling their way back into the city. Leaking energon from their wounds had created a small, steady stream. Several dead lay on the side of the road, their grey optics staring at the life source in front of them. The seeker blinked a few times as he took in the scene. He raised his head, swelling with pride. "Do you remember, at the beginning of this war, I told you I would be the one to bring home a victory," he told. "You said I was a fool."
Shockwave bowed his head to his chest. "I was ignorant, Lord Starscream," he answered. "I did not realize your potential at the time. I am gravely sorry for doubting your abilities, Lord. If I could, I would go back and change that."
He turned on his heels to face the purple mech again with folded arms. "Shockwave, go forth and summon my forces. Tell them I will be delivering a speech in two hours. Set up a general broadcasting and bring the protoform with you. I want all of Cybertron to see what I have done."
Draped over the balcony was a purple banner wavering in the hot, moist air. Imprinted on the cloth in gold was the decepticon symbol and beneath that was the elite seeker guard symbol. Farther down on the banner, almost at the bottom was Starscream's name elegantly written. From either side of the balcony rose intricately built pillars that stretched the limits of Cybertronian architecture. In the artificial light, they glimmered like ebon' diamonds. Thousands gathered below the central building in Trypticon. The mixture of red and blue eyes stared angrily and sometimes puzzlingly at the balcony. Skywarp and Thundercracker stood opposite ends of the balcony, each holding a sword honorably between their legs.
Ramjet stalked towards the center of the balcony. He briefly stared over the crowd until they quieted. "Today, I am proud to present unto all of Cybertron, Lord of the Decepticons, High Aerial Commander of the Seekers, Captain of Cybertron's First Defensive Division, and Giver of Life, Starscream!" he proclaimed. "For he has returned unto us what the autobots' destroyed – life! From the deepest parts of hell, he has faced Optimus and the humans to bring back what we thought lost. And today, he is proud to present to you the first protoform since before the war!" The snowy seeker moved aside to join Skywarp.
The echo of his steps eased the uneasy looks the anxious crowd was passing to one another. With anguished, hatred eyes, the autobots saw their captor move into the light. The usual stern face was absent, replaced by a rare facial expression: happiness. Starscream surveyed the crowd little by little. He purposely took the time to address the council members silently. Several Cybertronians turned their heads around to look at the elders. The only autobot not to address the seeker was the faded pink femme: Elita One.
"I come here not today as not as a leader, but as a fellow Cybertronian. It has come to my attention that we have let this war consume us, even allowing it to erase all ties we once shared among each other. It is a sad problem, but a problem we must address, not as separate factions but together as a whole race. Should we remain separate, then we will destroy each other; which is why I need to remind all of us what we can achieve when we are at peace." He turned his gaze his left and the crowd curiously looked to the far reaches of the balcony. Shockwave emerged from the doorway, carrying a lithe object in his deep violet hands. The mech hesitated before gently placed the protoform onto the hard, unforgiving floor. Starscream knelt down, motioning to a small, ebon' protoform.
"Oh my primus!" cried out a nearby by autobot when he saw the protoform walk into Starscream's hands. Other members in the audience stood motionless, wondering how such a realistic hologram projection could exist, but all skepticism was dismissed from their minds when the protoform gazed into the crowd with light blue optics.
Starscream held the protoform close to his chest while allowing the audience to get a clear view of the mech. "May I present unto you, Scourge," the seeker presented. The stocky protoform looked up to Starscream. His low functioning systems could only grasp the shallow meaning of the words the High Lord spoke. "His existence was only achievable through the collaboration between autobots and decepticons."
Perceptor and Wheeljack bowed their heads to their chests. The guilt was compressing their systems from all sides, slowly pushing their systems towards temporary shut down. As Starscream continued to give his speech, Tomaandi looked to the scientists. "That's why he looks like Optimus, isn't it?" he asked in a hushed voice. They gravely nodded. "Then perhaps he will be the Prime to save us."
"He is no Prime," the femme spoke. The trio looked over to Elita One, whom was staring at the protoform with somber optics. "He never will be either . . . not while he is under their command." She closed her optics, struggling to contain the growing rage inside her bustling circuits. "He'll be lucky to have a sense of moral."
"But Starscream has brought life to us!" the elder protested. "Is that not good enough for you?!"
"He has brought life to this planet for one reason," Wheeljack hissed. "And that is to spawn himself a generation of worshippers. He will use them against those who oppose him; he will kill people like us, Tomaandi. You may be spared because of your unfaithfulness to the autobot cause, but the rest of us will be melted down for energon."
"You are being dramatic, Wheeljack," Tomaandi retorted. "I have spoken to Shockwave and he assures me, that no such thing will occur."
"So now you're going to start trusting a decepticon?" Blaster asked hatefully.
The azure 'bot looked through the fiery, young autobot. "You and the rest of the autobots need to look past your illogical hatred and trust the decepticons. They have what we all need! I for one will not condemn my race because of my intolerance towards them."
"So you are willing to – "
"WHERE IS THE ALLSPARK?!" screamed Elita One. Suddenly the entire crowd's eyes were upon her, and the menacing glares from Starscream's guard looked as if they were ready to pounce on the autobot. She stared upwards and looked past the audience's eyes to see Starscream. The High Lord chuckled darkly. The seeker was not about to let this femme ruin his moment of glory. "If you created life with the Allspark, then why not show it to us that it works! For all we know, you could have just transplanted an autobot's spark into that protoform!"
He was stiff, rigid with anger. "If you want to see the Allspark work, then I will show you!" Starscream bellowed. The mech handed Scourge over Thundercracker so that he could address the pressing matter at hand. "Shockwave!" he barked. "Bring fourth the cube and a protoform! We'll show the autobot what I have done!" He raised his head, eyeing her with deep, unlimited hatred. From his throat escaped a primitive growl, and nearby decepticons took a step away from the seeker. "Come closer so that you can see," he ordered.
The crowed moved aside to form a crooked path to the building. The lanky femme strolled forward with an air of aloofness drifting about her. Her eyes never veered to see the faces of many glowering or pleading with her to stop, her eyes were trained on Starscream and Starscream alone. Several autobots turned their heads away as they feared the worst to come: her death. Ramjet flew down from his perch and yanked the young femme into the air. The seeker threw her onto the balcony's floor with no hesitation.
Elita One gathered herself. From here, where all the other buildings appeared to be miniature, she could see the vivid faces staring at her. The numerous autobots gawked at her; while others, like Perceptor, could not bear to witness another autobot bashing. All the autobot faces pulled at her spark. The word failure swirled inside her central processing unit. She, Elita One, Senior Captain of the Fifth Regime, had for the second time her life let down the autobots.
"Do you see what your ignorance has caused?" Starscream asked, whispering the words to her. "You could stop the suffering, Elita One. All you have to do is join me in my cause."
"I will never join your cause!" the femme yelled. "Your cause is fate worse than Megatron's. Unlike Megatron, you know what it is like to be one of us! You were one of us at one time, Starscream! Even before this war, you were one of us! Now you have turned on us! Instead of helping us, you plan on enslaving us! You will not stop! You have been infected by power and greed! And I will prove it when your Allspark fails!" Physical exhaustion swept over her, and it took Thundercracker's hand to steady her. "You are no Primus," she whispered. "You never will be."
"We will see," he spoke.
Shockwave reappeared with the New Allspark and empty protoform in hand. He passed both to Starscream, who then gave the protoform to Elita One. "Just so you can see it's not a trick," the seeker hissed. He raised the cube above his head, holding onto tightly like a trophy. "Here it is! Your New Allspark! Fully restored to produce energon so that our planet may live once more as the beautiful empire she is." All the hushed voices were silenced by his words. For many it was too good to be true, but for the majority it was inspiring, even godly that a Cybertronian could recreate such divine energy. In their optics glimmered one similar emotion: hope, hope that Elita One was wrong and Starscream was right.
He brought the cube close to his chest. The symbols were perfectly engraved down to the last pica-meter. So much time and energy had gone into this project that finally showing it to the world was incredible. Violent surges of excitement pulsed in circuits, enough that he thought he would become giddy after proving Elita One wrong. He felt the heavy weight of war lift from his shoulders as he saw the end of the tunnel to the hell that all Cybertronians had been forced to endure. 'Primus is shining of us today,' he thought. He stared over the cube for a moment more before placing it next to the lifeless protoform. "Now," he said. "I will make you believe."
The crowed held their breaths for a moment but nothing happened. He moved the New Allspark closer to the protoform, trying to encourage the New Allspark to create new life, yet it refused to produce the life giving energy. Elita One looked at him with skeptical optics. He was too consumed with the New Allspark to notice. Hushed voices began to speak in the crowd. Starscream felt his spark pulse furiously like the human's sun. "Work!" he breathed. The seeker shoved the New Allspark into the protoform's chest. "Work!" he growled.
"It's not working, Starscream," Elita One stated bluntly.
"You will address me as Lord Starscream!" the seeker snarled. Without thinking, he took the back of his left hand against Elita's facial plates. She stumbled backwards, dropping the protoform in the process. His beating red optics looked angrily at the protoform. He began to bend down to pick up the protoform when a sickly, crackling sound ricocheted from the cube. Starscream stared towards the crowd, trying to figure out which 'bot had created that distraction, but it took Thundercracker's voice to make him look at the cube.
"What's happening to it?" breathed his second-in-command. The other members inside the balcony gawked at the cube. A fission burst from the center of the cube, emitting a bright azure light. The light lit up Starscream's face as he stared at Primus's essence. The seeker was tempted, oh so very tempted, to stick his hand inside and pluck the energy out of the New Allspark. The decepticon leader pried the New Allspark open more.
"Starscream," Elita One spoke softly.
She collected the protoform before bringing it close to the New Allspark. The protoform was yanked from her grip by an invisible force. The gray, lanky body hovered the light like an angel. Starscream outstretched his hand and tenderly touched it's mandible plates. The protoform's yellow optics light as brightly as the humans' sun. It parted its mouth, letting out a blasphemous scream. The entire audience, except for Starscream, flinched at the sound. The seeker was too entranced by the phenomena to think of anything else except for how beautiful this life form looked. It's circuits turned baby boy blue, radiating light like a neon sign. The edges of its dense armor burned white, it even began to smoke.
Somewhere in its scream, Starscream could hear the words of some other being. At first the words were whispers as soft as the fluffy clouds on Earth. They invited him, encouraged him to wrap his hand around the protoform. There was a darker side to the words and as their strength grew it became apparent that these were not kind words but warnings. The voice that murmured them belonged to him. Starscream jerked his hand away, suddenly filled with fear of the power coursing through the protoform. The protoform fell to the ground, still glowing. A rare wind howled, where it blew over the audience. With cold hands, the wind brushed over the protoform, turning it to ebon' dust.
Then he felt the wind roll through his hands. The New Allspark turned from a stone gray hue to a lifeless, soulless grey. The light vanished, causing the cube to cave in. As it collapsed upon itself, the New Allspark began to fall apart on the microscopic level. From hard metal to dust, the cube fell apart, and slipped through his fingers. When the wind died, a pile of dust lie at his feet. Starscream's expression was as blank as his processor. He crumbled to his knees, looking at his hard work.
Shockwave hungrily moved forward. "What have you done, Starscream!" he screamed. Thundercracker bristled at the raw, unrelenting murderous tone of Shockwave's voice. The purple mech raised his laser, pointing it Starscream's head. Thundercracker began to raise his own weapon, but Ramjet had his plasma gun lodged in between the blue seeker's engines. Skywarp began to raise his null ray, but the sound of Ramjet's weapon warming up stopped him.
"You have betrayed us!" he snarled. "You broke the New Allspark!" He pressed his weapon against the seeker's head, but Starscream was oblivious to what was happening around him. Shockwave turned his attention to the crowd. "You saw it for yourselves how Starscream destroy our New Allspark! Even after Megatron sacrificed himself to bring back the cube, Starscream still put himself in front of the needs of our race, something Megatron would never do! He has committed treason for the last time!"
Starscream blinked, slowly analyzing the situation. He raked his mind to understand Shockwave's logic, but he couldn't understand his own thoughts. The only coherent thought that he understood scream, "Flight!" He narrowed his maroon optics on the dust. Inside his spark chamber was his spark; which was swollen with rage. The seeker activated his engines. Shockwave flinched, using his hand to protect his optics. The mech hauled his body into the air, where his claws gripped the side of the balcony. He flung himself over the edge and took off into the sky.
"OPEN FIRE!" barked Ramjet.
Skywarp glanced unconfidently at Thundercracker. His programming told him to protect his trine leader, but his program also told him to destroy traitors. His blue counterpart had his head bowed, submitting to Ramjet. "I said open fire!" Ramjet snarled towards Skywarp.
Various shrapnel whooshed passed him. He had reached an altitude high enough that he had that extra sliver of a second to dodge the bullets and blasts. Starscream would have flown straight into the evening sky, but the protective dome that covered Trypticon prevented him from doing so. He rolled over, missing a nasty plasma blast. He stared at the balcony, where, he saw Skywarp raise his weapon. The seeker didn't care that that small bullets pierced his armor and lodged themselves into his circuits. He cared that his own brother dared to raise a weapon at him. Starscream whirled around to avoid the blasts, but Skywarp knew his brother's flight patterns.
The violet blast collided with his engines. For a moment, the tan seeker hovered in the air. So many emotions swam inside him, confusing his thought process. The word "betrayal" slipped from his mouth as he plummeted down to the unforgiving ground. His external and internal systems were registering the hits and analyzing the damage. He knew he should have felt the blasts colliding with his body, but the only pain he felt came from his core. This pain was unlike anything he had felt before. It pulsed rapidly, fueled by some unknown force. It seared his circuits, causing his optics to offline at the surge of energy. Starscream deactivated his other sensors because it no mattered how much damage he took now; a deeper, more spiritual part of him was wounded and gradually bleeding to death.
He felt strong, secure hands grab his midsection and stop his rapid descent. The seeker was faintly aware of his feet hitting the hard ground. His rescuer laid him on the ground like a delicate doll. Whoever this was, was consciously aware of his damaged parts. He opened his mouth to speak, but the mech beat him to it. "I got ya, Screamer," Skywarp informed.
"Where's Thundercracker?" he croaked.
There was a long or short, he didn't really know, elapse of time where there was no sound. "Cracker's not comin', Screamer," he answered somberly. "Not this time." The ebon' mech's released his grip on his brother. He briefly stared down at Starscream. Energon trickled from his wings, forming a puddle beneath his metal body. Smoke ominously lifted from the burnt marks on his body. He pulled his optics away from his brother. Skywarp couldn't stand to look at his fallen brother.
"Don't leave me!" he cried pathetically. "Warp!"
"I'm sorry, Screamer," Skywarp spoke unsympathetically. "But you're on your own this time."
He heard his brother's boom and then nothing more. Starscream rolled his head over to the side. He coughed out energon, but it felt much more than it. His spark turned over onto itself, creating a massive surge through his circuits. The mech's body convulsed violently. He had never felt so vulnerable or so lonely. He was on his own.
The ground trembled beneath him as the decepticon forces marched towards their fallen ex-leader. 'Don't let me die, Primus,' he begged. 'I can still succeed! I just need someone on my side to see what I am doing.' "Please, I want to live," he breathed before losing his grip on the world.
He woke from his memory with a great sense of disappointment in his spark. He focused his optics on his slippery, wet cockpit. Inside he could see Annabelle sleeping comfortably against the seat. Her chest rose and fell leisurely. To his satisfaction, she was oblivious to the world. He smiled. Starscream heaved a sigh; which produced an opaque cloud. The mech rested his hand protectively over his cockpit. It was a conscious action and one that he did not regret. As imperfect and irritating as the human could be she was the most valuable liability in his possession. Unlike the decepticons and autobots, she knew nothing of his past: other than small, insignificant pieces. Annabelle did not know the extent of his failures or how many promises he had broken in the past.
She was like a fresh beginning for him. She was young and new to this world, the perfect specimen for him to experiment on and control. The idea of this fresh start seemed unreal, but it was very real; in his eyes, it was a sign that Primus had answered his prayers. He was very sure now that she would help him regain his honor and recognition among his comrades.
Somewhere in between his thoughts, he had neglected to notice her eyes open. Anna blinked her dry eyes and rubbed her hand over them. She looked over at Starscream with hazy eyes. The human yawned while stretching her cramped legs. "What are you smiling at?" she asked groggily.
"You," he responded neutrally. She stared quizzically at him. "I was just thinking about how you slipped so easily into my life."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Annabelle inquired coldly.
"I haven't figured that one out yet," the mech answered frankly. "But I was thinking more about you and your current status as my slave." Annabelle stared irately at him for calling her a slave. He ignored her behavior, focusing on the topic. "Have you thought about my offer?"
"I don't like the idea of you being my decepticon guardian," she spat.
"I never said I would be your guardian," he retorted. "I said I would be your mentor into your true world." Annabelle looked away, her anger beginning to boil into her throat, where a tight knot was forming. She breathed heavily on the glass. The seeker flew lower into the cloud cover.
They were silent for precisely two minutes, six seconds, before Starscream faintly muttered; "I could be your guardian, if that's what you want."
Anna's body relaxed and the tension flowed out of her. She was still, silent as she tried to find a motive for his last statement. She found several motives for it, all of which were unpleasant. She looked in his direction for an answer, but in the thick clouds, she could only make out the faint outlines of his optics. "Why would you give me the choice?" the human asked bluntly.
"Unlike the autobots, I want to make peace with you, have you be an ally – teammate," he explained gently. "I don't want to force you into something if you don't want it; that would be ignorant and disrespectful."
"But you're a decepticon," she argued.
"I'm only a decepticon because they are the winning side," he said. "If I knew the autobots would be victorious, then I would've sided with them." He paused, trying to go slow for the human's sake. "So what will it be?"
"I don't know," she replied quietly. "What do you think about it?"
"I'd like to prove to you that the autobots have painted a very different and gruesome picture of us, compared to what we truly are," Starscream revealed. "If it takes being your guardian to prove that, then I will be your guardian."
"I mean, what are your feelings about it?" Anna clarified.
"Why are you so concerned about my view on it?" the seeker asked.
"Well, if we are going to be a team, then I don't want to force you to be something you don't want to be," the human said. "That would make us an ineffective team, and I figure we have so much going against us, that we need to reduce butting heads as much as possible." She hesitated, trying to hold back the urge to humiliate him. "I don't want to be even grouchier than you already are. 'Cause when you're grouchy, then I get the brunt of your bad attitude. Besides, the last thing you need is to be watching out for a silly fleshy. "
He grinned at her logic for she was started to think plans through more thoroughly. He was disappointed at how she thought of him, even slightly insulted, but he tried to let it roll off his processors. She was only a silly fleshy and didn't understand the stress he had to endure day in and day out. "You are a silly fleshy," Starscream concurred. "But for the moment you are a nice distraction from my duties. If you play your cards right, you might even become an asset."
She folded her good arm across her chest. Annabelle was trying to act aloof and get away from their current conversation. The human loathed how he talked to her as if she were an object and not an intellectual creature that could comprehend situations. She huffed loudly.
"You think I am doing this for something," the seeker continued. "When in fact I'm offering this because I want to."
"What?" she blurted out. They dropped below the cloud layer, giving Annabelle the chance to stare into his optics. He looked warmly back at her. Anna was memorized by the perkiness of his optics, and had they not been red, then she swore she was staring into an autobot's noble eyes. "Why though?"
"Why not?" he responded with a sleazy smile.
"You're too happy for this to be something good," the human accused.
"You need to learn to trust people," Starscream pointed out.
"I'm sitting in the cockpit of someone that killed me," Anna spat.
The seeker snapped his head back, closing his optics tightly. The cockpit creaked as his squeezed his hand, but carefully enough not to shatter the glass. Anna cowered, slinking as far down into the cockpit as possible. "I made a mistake," he said in a strained voice "I acknowledge that. I do not need your constant retorts to remind of it." Annabelle dreaded the silence that fell over them.
"Twenty-two," she murmured. "I . . . " The human's voice failed her. He lifted his head up, glowering at her with frustration. Anna realized that it wasn't so much what she said that irritated him but how she stood in the way of his perfect plans, and she assumed that she was just another one of the masses that stood in front of him. It suddenly became apparent to her what he was asking of her: he wanted someone on his side – some that he could dominate without worry of treachery. The seeker was too arrogant to say it directly; which Annabelle didn't blame him.
"Just say, "yes" already, Annabelle," he breathed tiredly.
"On two conditions," she countered. He looked gravely at her, considering what she said carefully. "You can be my guardian if you will be my mentor." The seeker nodded, his expression softening at the first condition. "Second, you will never address me as any derogatory name in public. You will only use my human name in private quarters where no one else will hear it."
"Why are you so concerned about your name?" he inquired sourly. "It's just a name."
"And it's the only thing I have left," Annabelle countered. "It's something I want to keep to myself 'cause it's special."
The mech rolled his eyes, shacking his head at her funny condition. "Fine," Starscream agreed. "But what will I call you then?"
She smiled weakly in his direction. In the dim sunlight, her hazel eyes a lit with hope that maybe this teamwork relationship could actually word; if it did, then she would be able to relax much easier in both his and other decepticons' presences. "Slipstream," Anna answered.
"Slipstream," he mused, trying the name out. "You couldn't have picked something better?"
"Well, your name isn't exactly great either," she replied bitterly. "It makes you sound like you are some hooker."
He rolled his optics. "On Cybertron, there is nothing that could be considered a hooker," the seeker informed. "We don't pleasure ourselves the same way."
"Just stop," Anna said flatly. She placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes.
"Stop acting like a child," Starscream huffed. "It isn't anything like humans do." Annabelle was doing her best to block him out by saying, "La, la, la,la" over and over again. He growled hot air onto his cockpit, making it fog. "You already saw a mild forms of it," he said hastily. The human abruptly stopped and looked at him with wide, disgusted eyes. "When Jetfire went through my systems to analyze the problem or when Thundercracker uploaded the new systems; that's when you saw it."
"That wasn't anything," she argued. "That was they just fixing your systems."
"It was also a mild form of interfacing," he claimed. The human stared at him, somewhat curious now. "Interfacing is when you allow another Cybertronian to explore your systems without fighting them. It is generally revered as a sign of great trust. You are exposing them to your raw or true self. In the more extreme cases, you form a connection with them during interfacing so that you can share your raw thoughts or emotions with them. It's more like a deeper but out-dated level of communication than anything."
"That doesn't sound bad at all," she muttered.
"It's nothing compared to what humans do."
"How do – "
"Too much information on your species is a bad thing," he said curtly. She apparently found the uncomfortable tone of his voice funny because she giggled. He rolled his eyes, snorting at her giggles. "I don't recall my discomfort being comedy," he said sarcastically.
"You missed that meeting, Twenty-two," Anna said coolly. "Apparently you overslept or something." He scrutinized her, even glaring at her, but not even his worse face could silence her giggles. The human visibly winced when her laughter shot pain through her torso, but she didn't care, especially when her laughter came at the expense of his misery. "Owe," she muttered in between breaths. "Owe, owe, owe!" She grabbed the side of her chest in a poor attempt to stop herself from laughing, but the seeker's stern face prevented her from succeeding. "I wish you could see your face," she managed to breath. "It's funny as hell."
"You aren't pretty either, Annabelle," Starscream commented. The human immediately became silent, slightly sulking at his reply. She pursed her lips angrily, wrinkling her nose in the process. He was offended by her sensitiveness. For several moments he wondered if she would try to break through the cockpit in order to "bitch" slap him across the face. Something remarkable happened instead; she broke into a grin, laughing. The strangest sensations overcame him: laughter, joy, and light-heartedness. They were laughing at each other's superficial imperfections, at the reality that neither of them would ever have enough to courage to admit how much they were entranced and fascinated by the other's appearance.
In the midst of their brief joy, Starscream neglected to pay attention to his short range detection systems, and showed no concern when a low flying, Russian Sukhoi T-50 fighter jet spotted them. The pale pilot inside the cockpit stared intently at the flying rock without so much as batting an eye. "I've got him in my sights," he reported over the frequency. "He apparently has someone with him, but I cannot make out the suspect."
"Suspect?" questioned the other end. "I think you mean victim?"
"No," corrected the brown haired man. He strained his gray eyes to see the other human, but the giant's hands blocked out the view. He frowned. "It's a suspect because he's laughing – if you can call that laughing – with the person."
"Report back to base before he spots you, Novikov," his superior ordered.
"Yes, Sir," addressed the pilot. He veered right, out of sight of the beast and human. No matter the distance, his mind still trailed back to the human; he couldn't out maneuver his fear that the person inside the alien's cockpit would end up in their military morgue very soon.
There was this feeling of apprehension that gripped at one's motion sensors; even though you thought there was nothing there. The air would go still like when one stood on a frozen asteroid, yet you could swear you could feel the heat of a newborn sun pressing against your back, charring your circuits like a marshmallow on a camp fire. These were the feelings that gripped Barricade just before something – more like someone – showed up from out of no where – literally. Skywarp emerged from his violet wormhole, caring himself like a god. The scout rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the lone, albino wolf. A pack of gray, slightly brown tinted family members stood at a distance from him with watchful, golden eyes.
"Look at that loser," Skywarp commented. He pointed with a single finger towards the albino wolf.
"It's not a loser," Barricade corrected. "It's a survivor. Its life would have been so much harder for it because it stood out. Of them all, it is the strongest because it has lived the hardest life."
"It may be stronger because it took the hardest path, but that won't make a difference in the end," the ebon' seeker concluded. "Because in the end, it will always be the first to die." He turned his head to see Barricade looking at the wolf with sympathetic lies. "That's how it is, Barricade. You may be the strongest, but if you stand out, then you'll be the first to fall."
"Is that what happened to Starscream on Cybertron?" he asked.
Skywarp looked away, but it couldn't take away the burning sensation the scout's gaze was creating. "Yes," he admitted quietly.
"The mech is stupid for wanting to go back into that political hellhole," Barricade criticized. He sighed, watching as the wolves trotted back into the forest, eventually disappearing into the forest's shadows. "No offense but under Shockwave's control, we were doing well. The majority of decepticons respects him, and well, Starscream isn't. He's a failure."
"He won't stop until he succeeds," the seeker said. "His failures only fuel his determination."
"Then he's going to kill himself," the mech said logically.
"Only after he kills all of us first," Skywarp said coolly. He bowed his head to his chest. "If killing all of us meant proving himself right, then Starscream would accept that trade in half a nanosecond." Barricade held his mouth tightly and stared at the 'con with still, ominous eyes. "But under his reign, we saw life." Skywarp looked towards Barricade with hopeful eyes. "Teecee says he may kill us in the process of redeeming himself, but in the end, he will revive all of us. He will breathe life into our race again. He can make us whole."
"Do you seriously believe that bullshit?" Barricade asked coldly.
"No," he said bluntly. "And neither does Teecee, but it's a nice thought."
"Nice thoughts get you killed," the scout said shortly.
"I know," the mech answered indifferently. "But so does standing going rogue." He swerved on his heels, aiming his rapid firing gun at something white. The curious, albino wolf didn't have enough time to yelp before it fell to the ground lifeless. A dangerously satisfactory smirk spread across the mech's face. Behind the gleaming red optics was pure blackness, an absence of morals and values. It was that lack of humanity that enraged Barricade. He faced Barricade, raising his gun at his comrade. "Does Optimus know about you, Mirage?" he asked darkly. "Or were you doing this on your own?"
"Does it really matter?" he asked emotionlessly.
"It'll decide whether I kill you quickly or let you suffer slowly," the seeker hissed.
He chuckled darkly. "Now why do you think you have the advantage here?" Mirage inquired arrogantly.
"Because I can teleport," Skywarp boasted. "I can disappear."
"Oh," the autobot said sarcastically, trying to sound surprised. He pressed his fingers against his chin thoughtfully while blinking his optics. "I could swear I could disappear too." Mirage's lips pulled into an eager smile. His body's color faded gray for a moment before disappearing entirely. "See what I mean?" he whispered.
Skywarp's wings bristled and he stumbled backwards into an evergreen. His optics searched back and fourth for a sign of the autobot, but he could not find one nor could his systems detect his signature. The mech, too proud to runaway, drew out his energon-fueled sword. "Come out you coward!" he screamed. "Face me like a real mech!" Skywarp's frightened optics frantically and hopelessly longed to find a trace of the autobot, but there was none. Mirage was gone.
Or so he thought for two more seconds. A crackling pain shot from his back, forcing him to arch his back. He went to scream but the seeker couldn't force a single audible sound from his vocal processors. He was frozen with pain. The autobot slid his flawless sword upwards, cutting through the thick armor like a spoon cuts through melting ice cream on a sultry summer day. As he removed the sword, the seeker crumpled to his feet. Energon poured from the open wounds, creating an eerie glowing puddle. Mirage knelt down, placing an assuring hand on the seeker's shoulder. "I'll make you a deal, old sport," the autobot proposed. "If you can make it out of these forests before I can kill you, I'll let you have your life for one more day. Should I catch up to you, well, you know what will happen."
Skywarp's optics pleaded for mercy but Mirage was either oblivious to it or chose to ignore them like the aristocrat he was. "And to make this an interesting experience," he added on in that silky smooth, money filled voice. "Let's see how well you do when you are taken out of your comfort zone."
The seeker, for a brief moment, saw the unbearable bright light instead of feeling the pain. His systems registered the devastating news, informing him that he should be in an ungodly amount of pain, but he was numb. Skywarp felt like a third person, observing this from a different perspective. "Now run, my little turbofox," Mirage said encouragingly. "Run."
Skywarp scrambled to his feet, literally searching for the ground. His feet carved a perfect trail through the forest. He attempted to teleport out of the forest, and in a flash he saw the god forsaken violet light, but it was short lived. The light retreated before he reached it and then, he heard his systems confirm the 'thump' he heard. The seeker landed on his side, tearing off his arm in the process. He should've grabbed it so that Teecee could've have reattached it later, but Skywarp was too concerned for his spark. He collected himself the best he could and charged into the forest. The trees snapped beneath his body like twigs.
The mech left behind the best parts of himself: his wings and stupid courage.
Mirage stood there, taking aim at the decepticon. They both knew what came next.