First off: The Walther P-38 gun mode is and will always be Megatron's coolest Alternate Mode. I barely acknowledge any of the others he's had in all the continuities. Though, the Helicopter Mode in TFA comes in a close second.

Lots of inspiration from the episode 'Cosmic Rust' for Starscream & Megatron's interactions. It's one of those episodes that makes you tilt your head and go 'huh.' when you think about it too much concerning those two.

Oh. And someone out there needs to write Terrorsaur & Waspinator fanfiction. Please? I've been re-watching Beast Wars and I love them. Friends. Reluctant Partners. Pairing. I don't care. Just please write it. If I start another fic this one will never get done and I've read all the ones archived at . T_T

Please & Thank-you! You guys all rock. (Wow...long author's note today...heh.)

Chapter 6

"What do you want Soundwave?"

"Query."

"About?" Starscream waved an arm over his shoulder as he stared at the various circuits spread out before him on the work table. Megatron had a circuit acting up and lucky Starscream got stuck looking for a compatible replacement part. Heaven forbid he can't transform into a gun for one battle. Shockwave really needed to get on the ball sending working parts and materials. These circuits were all about as useful as Skywarp's CPU in a chess tournament. "I'm very busy."

"Topic, Rumble." Soundwave replied with a hint of annoyance. The least Starscream could do was talk to his face instead of hovering over random bits of hardware.

"What about the pipsqueak?" Starscream picked up a circuit board and squinted his optics for a zoom view. He could use that. Maybe. Curse Megatron! Starscream turned towards Soundwave and held up two pieces from his work desk. Soundwave knew circuits; he should know for sure if one fit or not. "Does this look like it would fit on this?"

"No."

"I didn't think so either." Starscream threw the useless piece over his shoulder and smirked when it clinked against Soundwave's head. That bot really should learn to stop impersonating statues.

Soundwave sighed. Starscream was being predictably uncooperative. "Rumble spending a lot of time in your lab."

"So he has." Starscream smiled triumphantly when he shuffled through the stack from his personal collection of back up materials. Starscream had hoped he wouldn't have to resort to his personal parts. Megatron owed him big time for this. "Found one. This should work nicely."

"What does he do?" Soundwave pressed. If he was to find out if the cassette had been acting on his crush during his social sessions with Starscream, he needed more information. It figured this would be the time the talkative Seeker kept his mouth shut. "Behavior, well?"

"Mostly he sits and does nothing." The seeker remarked absently. Starscream pushed up from his workstation and finally turned to give Soundwave his full attention. "Though he does have trouble keeping his mouth shut. Honestly, do your cassettes make it their job to try and make up for the lack of vocals that come from you?"

"Possibly." Soundwave turned his head as Starscream started to walk towards the door with the new circuit for Megatron. Some days he just didn't understand what went through his leader's head to have Starscream be the first he goes to with his repair needs. It was like asking to visit Primus.

"But really, does he have nothing better to do but stalk my labs? I'd think you'd have a mountain of work to keep him busy." Starscream trotted down the hallway close to the wall, Soundwave trailing behind. Starscream hummed a bit to himself. "Though, he hasn't been quite the nuisance he could be. So if you're concerned I'm going to snap and attack him for annoying me, don't."

"Acknowledged."

"Is that it then?" Starscream turned and put his hands to his hips. "Because I rather don't have time to humor your petty worries over your little brats."

"For now." Soundwave tilted his head. It seemed Rumble had yet to make a proper move. Soundwave still had time to discourage the amorous behavior before it got out of hand. Good.

"Fine, then. If you'll excuse me." Starscream stalked off around the corner towards Megatron's personal quarters. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Megatron wants this. Soundwave's worried about that. Shockwave was probably sending little messages to their computer griping about one thing or another as well. Starscream was starting to think Rumble's mindless company was preferable to everyone else always wanting something from him.

Rumble hated Seekers.

Well, except for Starscream but that was beside the point. Right now; he just hated them. He hated how they always teamed up and stuck together. It was like sharing a protoform mold required them to be glued at the hip. He and Frenzy weren't this bad, were they? "Ya' want something or what, flyboy?"

Skywarp leaned over the cassette he had cornered in the hallway. Thundercracker was to his left (feeling much better after a few stasis naps) providing much needed backup. Thundercracker was cool like that; he'd back you up even if he exclaimed for a few hours that this idea was stupid and Skywarp was making things up. It was nice to know Thundercracker had his back even if he wanted nothing to do with this interrogation. Which he made very clear. Repeatedly. But that wasn't important. Skywarp had a cassette to rough up. "I want to know what you're trying to pull with Starscream."

Rumble snarled and stomped a foot noisily. Seekers just couldn't keep their noses where they belonged, could they? "What are'ya talking about? I ain't pullin' nothing!"

"You're practically in his lap every free moment you get! You're clinging to him and following him around like some sort of pet glitch mouse." Skywarp snarled. "You're up to something and I don't appreciate 'bots thinking they can mess with a Seeker without facing the others. We're a unit!"

"You don't even like the guy!" Rumble frowned and pointed a finger right back at the tough guy. If Skywarp didn't get out of his face it was going to come down to blows. Just what Rumble needed ta' relax. "Why do you care if I like spending time with him!"

"Because that's not how Decepticons work! Are you spying for Soundwave? Is that it?"

"No!" Rumble yelled back. He really hated Starscream's brothers. They were nosy and had no business messing with his quality time. A few more lab visits and he might have just work edup the nerve to offering a wax job to Starscream. "I happen to find his work interestin' and that's it!"

"Lies!"

"Is there a problem?"

Thundercracker and Skywarp jumped as the Third in Command rounded the hallway corner and loomed over the two jets. Skywarp wisely took a few steps back from Soundwave's precious 'baby.' It was one thing to bully a cassette when they were alone, but doing so in front of Soundwave was suicidal. "No problem."

"Good."

"Come on, TC." Skywarp grabbed his friend and dragged him off towards their shared quarters. His friend followed quietly even though his eyes promised a rant when they got away from the Telepath. He'd have to deal with Rumble at a later date because he wasn't finished yet. That little shrimp was up to something and he was going to prove it no matter how crazy Thundercracker thought he was.

Rumble crossed his arms over his chest as Soundwave approached him. He did not need 'daddy' coming to his rescue. "I could'a handled it."

"I apologize." Soundwave looked towards his cassette and smiled inwardly. It was not my intention to embarrass you. Coming around the corner was a coincidence.

"Yeah right, Soundwave." Rumble snorted. "You always know where we are."

True. Soundwave nodded once before continuing down the hall knowing that Rumble would follow. It was time he had a talk with the cassette directly concerning Starscream. It was one thing worrying about Starscream flying off the handle, but he had not considered that the mech's wingmates too would get involved. "Let us refuel."

"Kay." Rumble shuffled slightly before following. He was getting hungry anyway.

"You need to tell your guard dog to stop hounding me." Starscream muttered as he soldered the new chip into place on the slagger's back midsection. "He had the gall to corner me in my quarters concerning his cassette. Like I'd really waste my time beating on his troops."

"Soundwave has an unnatural attachment to his personal team. You should see how he frets over Ratbat some days." Megatron hummed as he stared out his window into the water lurking just outside. Having the Constructicons add lighting to the outside was worth it for the view. The water almost had a metallic sheen during nightfall that reminded him of home.

"The Senator?"

"The same."

"I still don't know why he saved that worthless spark." Starscream snorted and double checked the connections in Megatron's back. It was as good a job as it was going to get on such short notice. Starscream closed the back panel with a huff. It'd be so easy to take out Megatron while he lie open and exposed to the Seeker. Too easy. And if anything was ever said about Starscream, it was that he hated doing things the easy way. "You're done. Stop frying your circuits. It's your temper that does it."

"And I wonder who is to blame for that?" Megatron smirked and sat up. Starscream was being rather congenial this evening. Normally these maintenance sessions ended in the two of them causing more damage than they set out to fix. "What has you in such a good mood?"

Starscream shrugged and rubbed at his finger where a slight scorch mark was present from the welding. "I can't stay bitter and angry all the time, now can I?"

"I suppose not." Megatron put his feet on the ground. "Let's see if that good mood has improved your repair skills any."

Starscream smirked as Megatron transformed; he caught him without trying or bothering to look in the mech's direction. It was second nature by this point considering how many times he'd held this weapon in his hand. He looked over the gun thoughtfully and smiled. Thanks to the nature of compressing his mass, Megatron was stuck in this form for at least a couple minutes. Completely obedient to Starscream's whims. "How's it feel to be so small and under my control?"

"Ha ha," Megatron taunted as Starscream handled him. "That question gets old after the hundredth time you ask it."

"What can I say? I never get tired of being the one in charge. Like I rightfully should be." Starscream spun Megatron around in a loop by the trigger. It was a trick he had seen on an old organic western movie. Sadly, Megatron did not appreciate the finer arts of trick shooting and on the second spin, transformed back into his full, towering, mech form. "Shame. I rather like you under my thumb."

"Shut up, Starscream." Megatron stretched out his gears and turned towards the Seeker. He was tired, but there was one more thing bothering him. "Back to earlier, may I ask why Soundwave suddenly feels you're a threat to his cassettes?"

"Not all of them." Starscream shrugged and started to put up his tools. "Just Rumble."

Megatron paused. He hadn't been expecting one of the twins to be causing the trouble. Usually it was Lazorbeak or Buzzsaw who delighted in tormenting the Seekers. "Rumble?"

"He's been following me around and making camp in my lab and workshops." Starscream shrugged. "He seems bored and finally realized there's only one place in this entire ship to get intelligent conversation."

"Unlike you to, how should I put this, enlighten the, fools? Isn't that how you last referred to the small twins?" Megatron chuckled and sat on his berth. He lifted a cube of energon from the night table and sipped it thoughtfully.

"He," Starscream paused before pulling himself up to sit on the main table in the center of the room. It was difficult to put into words just why he permitted Rumble's presence without so much as a fuss. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but Starscream was sure it had something to do with Rumble making him laugh. "Amuses me."

"How interesting." Megatron smirked into his drink. "That hasn't happened in a while. Perhaps I should forbid you from seeing him. I wouldn't want the amusement to distract you from work."

"Like that would be enough." Starscream waved his hand and jumped from the table. "If you don't mind, I'm going to recharge. I'll need all the energy I can get to make up for all this wasted time from fixing your outdated equipment tomorrow."

"As if you had anything better to do."

"Maybe I did." Starscream grabbed his kit and tossed it on a shelf near the door. This was the only room he used it in so there was no need to carry it to and fro his room. "Enjoy the peaceful rest while you can, Megatron. Who knows when I'll be stealing these quarters from you."

"It is far more likely that Rumble will replace you as second in command before that happens."

"Shut up."

"Good-night, Starscream."

"Night, Slagger."