Heh. Four months later, right? XD …yeah. I have no excuses. The writing muse just left for a bit. So if you feel the need to re-read and refresh yourself on the story…feel free to do so. Because I know I had to. Either way, attempted to get this story moving. I'm hoping to wrap it up somewhat in 5-6 more chapters just to say I've finished a fic. XD
And if you were still waiting for this – awesome. Really. XD Thanks for sticking around!
Chapter 20
It hadn't worked.
Starscream snarled to himself as he shot his null ray into the battlefield recklessly, not caring which idiot Autobot he hit. It really didn't matter; they all had the same faceplate right now anyway. Well, one of three: A squirt, a warlord and a tape deck. Starscream banked left quickly while transforming into his jet to get in an extra laser shot. The shot hit dead on and the Autobot went down like an insect under his thruster, but Starscream couldn't find joy in it. He was too busy being furious.
It hadn't worked at all.
The air commander could feel his engines burning behind him as he pushed himself to the limit in pure aggravation. The only benefit to his frustration was the Autobots not having a clue what they were dealing with. Even Prime had an almost confused look on his face when the air commander managed to knock his blaster out of his hand before screaming past to the next target. Starscream smirked inwardly when one of the minibots fell over from the speed of which he passed by alone. An amusement for a moment, but sadly not even pummeling things violently was still not enough to appease his temper.
Fragging Megatron was supposed to make his infatuation with Rumble go away. Replace it. Starscream transformed and dove into a kick aimed straight at the disgruntled fire car's (Red Alert?) torso sending him into the dirt. The fire truck screamed in rage but Starscream had already darted to the next target. Hit. Shoot. Jet to the next. It was a pattern and familiar. The infatuation hadn't gone away at all. In fact, Starscream was pretty sure it had gotten worse because now he felt guilty (just thinking the word hurt Starscream deeply) about the whole thing.
Starscream was confused at best. Interfacing with Megatron again had done little more than to complicate the already convoluted situation. Now, not only was Starscream stuck with these lingering feelings for Rumble, he had a jealous Megatron implicitly more involved. (And while you'd think Soundwave would be happy, the Tape Deck seemed even more pissed off than before and kept glaring at Starscream at every opportunity…) He wouldn't stand to have Starscream messing around with the cassette at the same time as he interfaced with Megatron. Not to mention Starscream had no clue how Rumble would take this news.
The squirt really was still horribly fond of Starscream.
On the bright side, Rumble was still under house arrest, so to speak, by his brother. That meant no interfacing (which Rumble was surprisingly okay with as long as he was still allowed to hang out with the flyer…) which lead to things being fine with Megatron. He didn't care if Starscream had a lackey hanging around, after all. However, Soundwave might, that was a big 'might' let Rumble off the hook eventually (if only to stop punishing Frenzy) and then Starscream would be screwed. Probably in more ways than one both literally and figuratively. Rumble would want to jump him of course the second he was free from watch.
Who wouldn't want to jump Starscream after so much abstinence?
Starscream groaned to himself as he sent two more shots at the wretched Lamborghini twins. A third at the gunner who was trying to provide their cover fire. All three suffered some sort of damage and seeing no more immediate targets, the Air Commander blasted straight up into the air to get out of the battlefield and look about. The battle was apparently over., Starscream noted with a sense of wonder. How much had he been zoning out during the battle? And the Autobots were retreating. That was…odd.
"That was amazing 'Screamer!" Skywarp popped into the space immediately to Starscream's right and he found himself tackled by a purple and black blur. "Look at um run!" Skywarp was clinging to his commander's arm and grinning like a maniac. Starscream had been totally on the ball today. He practically decimated the Autobots by himself! Skywarp had never been so proud and happy to be Starscream's brother. "Where the hell did that come from!"
"What?" Starscream heard thrusters as Thundercracker and the coneheads caught up to the ecstatic Skywarp. They were all grinning and giddy in one form or another. Even TC was smiling. Starscream was suddenly quite confused. "What is wrong with all you idiots?"
Thundercracker snorted at the distracted Air Commander but couldn't help but smile at Skywarp's contagious enthusiasm. It wasn't often the Decepticons claimed victory in a battle. "Not like you to be so modest when you essentially single handedly cause the Autobots to retreat."
Starscream wanted to gloat or say something, but he was too busy fighting off a feeling of dread. This would not end well. Starscream was confirmed of this moments later when he and his wing mates touched down and Megatron was grinning like a fool. The current cause of his troubles (well part of it) was motioning Starscream to come over with his hand and Starscream let himself wander off to the inevitable. "Leader."
"It seems the Air Commander has been holding back on us." Megatron chuckled. Starscream had been, for lack of a better word, masterful. He had been efficient, deadly and well, Megatron was anxious to get the flyer alone as soon as possible. He would not deny that seeing Starscream lay into an enemy spilling energon over the fields was far more attractive than it should be. Almost painful to have to wait until later, really. Megatron grinned at the flyer prepared to give him a (finally) well deserved compliment. "Good job."
Starscream puffed up his chest and swallowed his problems as quickly as possible. The entire army was watching the two of them and Megatron of all mechs had just delivered him a compliment. Starscream did have an image to uphold. "Well of course I did. I always do a good job." Starscream paused. "I think the real surprise today is that you even noticed."
Megatron was in too good a mood to care about the lip. He merely pat Starscream on the back and chuckled. "Or maybe you just don't stand out."
There was a snort somewhere in the ranks, but it was ignored as the Decepticons headed back to base, victorious. If only Starscream didn't still feel like he had lost.
The Decepticons were all royally overcharged. The thrill of Starscream's victory had washed over the ranks like a tidal wave and for once in his pathetic life, Starscream wasn't the center of everyone's hatred. (Unless you were Soundwave, but no one could find him at the moment…) And no one was more proud than Skywarp.
His mood was so good in fact, and actions so inhibited by the energon, Skywarp decided to make the good times even better. How was he to do this? Skywarp smirked as he spotted Rumble and Frenzy across the hall chatting excitedly. Rumble was excitedly retelling Starscream's actions on the field while his bro pretended to listen. Skywarp couldn't wait to bring his little world crashing down. What better way for a Decepticon to lift his mood than to be malicious?
And it wasn't like Skywarp hadn't been waiting for his time to put that minicon in his place. The fact the flyer finally had the perfect way to do it only made things better. It was simple as well (as Thundercracker would say – simple amusements for simple minds – though Skywarp was half-sure that was an insult of some sort) considering it just took a few well placed words. Skywarp had never been so happy that Megatron and Starscream were fragging again.
How did Skywarp know this? It was written all over his air commander's face of course. Plus, he spent the night in Megatron's quarters. More than one night. Starscream only did that when he was fragging with the big guy. Besides, even if Skywarp was wrong (which he wasn't) it would still be worth the look on the runt's face when he told him. Plan firmly in mind and no Thundercracker around to ruin things, Skywarp marched onward.
"And then he blasted," Rumble stopped mid story as he saw a shadow of wings falling over him and his brother. Knowing it wasn't Star (the air commander had gone off to his quarters earlier), Rumble groaned. "What do you want, Fly boy?"
"Just wondered if you knew, that's all." Skywarp felt no need to beat around the bush. Quick and dirty. Pop in. Pop out. The teleporter's way. "Do you know where Starscream is right now?"
Frenzy didn't like where this was going. The cassette decided to draw a little attention away from Rumble before a fight could break out. "He's in his quarters, you idiot. Shouldn't you know that? You're his brother."
Skywarp laughed and inwardly was practically dancing. This was going to be so good once it clicked in the squirt's head. "Oh, I know where Starscream is." He paused. "I want to know if Tiny Tim knows where Starscream is."
Rumble felt his systems start heating up. Man he'd love to apply a pile driver to this guy's face. What on earth was Star's idiot brother going on about now? "His quarters. What about it?"
"Starscream's not in his quarters." Skywarp leaned over far enough that his face was closer to Rumble's. Confidence was oozing off him in waves. Need to be if he wanted Rumble to even believe him when he delivered the next line. "He's in Megatron's quarters."
"So…so?" Rumble muttered getting an odd feeling. Why was Skywarp telling him this now? There were plenty of reasons for Starscream and Megatron to be hanging out after a victory. "He helps fix Megatron up all the time."
Skywarp smirked and raised his optic ridge in what he hoped was a lewd fashion. "Oh, 'Screamer's fixin' him alright. In all the right ways." He paused for dramatics. "If you get what I mean." Rumble was still glaring at him in that stupid way that displayed quite well he hadn't picked up on the innuendo yet. Skywarp almost sighed having his moment ruined. "Starscream and Megatron are fragging each other's circuits out you moron!"
Rumble's systems froze.
Starscream's voice let out a static laced hiss when Megatron dug his fingers into the joint between his upper thigh and hip. It had actually been quite painful, but Starscream held his tongue. If he spoke up the only thing that would happen is Megatron reminding Starscream that not three breams ago the flyer had done the same and turn-about was fair play and all that jazz. Megatron's grip loosened slightly and suddenly it didn't hurt so much. In fact, it felt rather nice. Bipolar fragger. That's what Megatron was. Starscream tried not to whimper.
Megatron kissed the top of Starscream's chest plate when he heard an appreciative groan. Megatron chuckled into the metal of that red chest. Starscream really had been spectacular today, in all forms and positions. "If I'd have known your performance in the field would increase that much thanks to a bit of good old fashioned fragging, I would have picked this up again the moment we landed."
Starscream nipped at Megatron's helmet before digging his fingers into the back of the warlord's neck. "Don't flatter yourself." Starscream snorted. "You were hardly the cause of my impeccable victory." And it was true. The victory was definitely more focused on his frustrations over Rumble. Starscream cursed again. It always came back to that stupid cassette!
"Is that so?" Megatron continued moving and feeling and groping. Starscream refused to stop squirming. "Why don't I believe you."
"You should, you idiot." Starscream snarled a bit as his hand got caught in a wire. "Lust and overcharge causes complacency and dullness to the senses." The flyer pushed himself into a sitting position to level the playing field a bit more. Megatron's hovering over top was starting to get uncomfortable. He smirked as Megatron took advantage of the position to kiss the Seeker. Starscream mumbled against his lips as he continued, hardly distracted from the topic. "What you saw in the field today could only have been fueled by rage."
"And what," Megatron could feel himself getting excited. Rage was an emotion he could deal with, empathize with, feel through Starscream's circuits. Megatron would not deny that it was thrilling him in an entirely new way that made him want to do nothing more but devour the flyer on his berth. "Caused such rage then?"
Myself. "The Autobots of course." Starscream's smug grin worked better than any faceplate for hiding his emotions. "They just finally got on my nerves today. I think it was the thousandth time Prime gave a speech about protecting the squishies."
Apparently that answer had been the right one. Starscream's mouth was accosted by a fervent one, Megatron's arousal increased ten fold by the mere thought of Starscream sharing his rage over Prime and his idiocy. Starscream lost himself in the pulses of rage and pride and oddly enough some twisted form of affection. But even with all that passion and lust, Starscream couldn't help but wish it was someone else in the berth with him. Someone whose affections were a bit more clear, focused. Adoring and equal.
And that scared Starscream far more than anything else.