I think I'm avoiding my novels by working on fanfiction instead. Oh well! XD

So, here's a little pairing, but mostly gen fic covering a topic I've often wondered about concerning my favorite Seeker and Shuttle.

Act of Mercy

Summary: Starscream has yet to show up for his post, so Megatron pays a visit to his quarters to discover why.

Pairing: Megatron & Starscream, Starscream & Skyfire (Friendship/Respect shipping, mostly. Could be more if you want.)

Rating: K+ for mentions of proposed violence.

Other Notes: G1, minor AU. Takes place directly after Fire in the Sky.

It was too quiet on the command deck.

Megatron tapped his finger on the edge of the captain's chair, trying to bring some sort of noise into the room to counterbalance the droning white noise of computers whirling and Soundwave's hypnotic typing. Normally he'd have a steady stream of chatter and bickering in the background as he read the endless list of reports and procedurals, but today-nothing.

He couldn't concentrate like this.

"Soundwave," Megatron said, tossing his data pad onto a side table. "Where is Starscream? He's not still in the medbay is he? He was already in there for a week."

"Released by Hook: Last work cycle," Soundwave answered, never once breaking the beat of his typing. "Current location: Quarters."

Megatron drummed his fingers on his armrest. "And what is he doing-Nevermind, I'll find out myself. Watch the bridge."

Soundwave paused in his typing for an entire second as Megatron rose from his chair and exited the command room. "Affirmative."

Starscream flinched hard enough to drop his data pad when his door rattled from the boom of the hit and Megatron's shout of his name.

He fumbled to retrieve it from the ground, his shaking fingers, missing it twice before he lifted it from the floor. He sucked air through his vents and steadied his hand through sheer force of will. Starscream reached across the wall and entered the code to open his door from the control panel. He hissed, "It's open."

Starscream wasn't ready for this.

Megatron looked taken aback by the open door, his optics wide and mouth slightly open. He expected more of a fight? Ha. He didn't deserve it. Starscream dimmed his optics to a soft glow, as Megatron brightened his own to adjust to the lack of light. Starscream hadn't bothered to turn his lights on when he awoke from recharge, and he certainly wasn't going to now. Megatron huffed, and tapped the light switch on as he stepped into the room. His bulk filled the tiny quarters, smothering Starscream without touching him.

But that was a minor offense.

Starscream concentrated on his data pad, half surprised it hadn't lit on fire with the intensity. His pumps whined from the pressure of pumping energon, and the tenseness of his frame. Megatron would start any moment. Starscream's fingers started to shake despite his best efforts. He didn't want to hear it.

Starscream didn't want to hear it.

The warlord started first, unable to take the silence any longer: "Starscream, is there a reason you did not arrive at your post this morning?"

He could go with submission and avoid Megatron the rest of the day, or he could go with anger. Starscream chose anger.

"Why?" Starscream sneered as he asked, eyes still glued to the data pad. The complex equations and star charts gave him no comfort. "Upset you missed your chance to gloat my first day back on shift, oh mighty leader?"

"Gloat over what?" Megatron asked, genuinely confused if the way his brow narrowed was any indication. Starscream felt offended.

"Like you don't know!" Starscream tossed the data pad on his berth. The screen cracked, sparking from the impact. "It's been over a week. There's no possible way you haven't done it already. So get it over with! Throw it in my face and be done with it!"

"My patience is wearing thin, Starscream," Megatron said. He detached his fusion canon as he took a seat on Starscream's berth across from the Seeker. It hit the ground with a thump as he leant it against the wall. "What possible affront have you concocted in that head of yours, that I have supposedly committed, that has you locked in your quarters?"

Starscream stood, for once looking down on his towering leader. He hissed, his wings twitching. "Like you don't know. How dare you. I won't be played with that way!"

Megatron's stony countenance lasted for what felt like an eternity with the two staring each other down. In truth it was only a matter of seconds, before his hand shot out, crunching around Starscream's wing.

"Sit down," Megatron ordered. Starscream yelped as he was pulled down, and shoved back into his desk chair. "I am tired, there is a mountain of paperwork to get through after that wretched failure in the artic, and my Second in Command is throwing a Sparkling's hissy fit. I do not have the patience for this, Starscream. Explain yourself. Clearly."

"Skyfire," Starscream's voice hitched, the spark shooting through the damaged vocalizer. "You killed him, and you're going to hold it over my head! Tell me what a fool I was! Tell me all about what poor company I keep! So just get it over with, already!"

Starscream's spark quivered in the silence. The lines in Megatron's face evened out. His expression turned contemplative. Starscream wasn't sure how to read that, so he looked to the floor.

"I haven't touched the shuttle, Starscream," Megatron said, his words slow and searching. They hinted at further explanation that Starscream refused to give, or admit. Megatron instead crossed his hands under his chin, and studied Starscream. "Skyfire still functions."

"Don't-don't lie to me," Starscream said. He shot to his feet, not caring about the consequences of another bent wing. He threw his hand out as his voice rose. "He disobeyed direct orders. He attacked you. He defected.

"Despite my personal exception, you've killed for far lesser offenses." Starscream turned sharply toward the side wall, his intakes still. It was a struggle to keep his wings and head upright. His voice was quiet. "There's no way you haven't deactivated him."

Megatron's words held a hint of frustration. "Starscream, the shuttle still functions."

"How!?" Starscream shouted at the wall. He shook his head, his hands groping the air, looking for answers to such a contradictory statement. "How could you not have done it? Are you...biding your time? Is that it? Does your sick, twisted mind want me to watch?"

"I have no plans to prosecute the traitor, Skyfire." Megatron stood, and retrieved his canon. The motion was methodical. Controlled. It set Starscream on edge. Would he be shot? Megatron clicked his canon in place, but made no move to aim it at Starscream. "Despite his brutish strength and bulk, he made for a poor Decepticon. The Autobots can keep him."

Starscream should have left the answer as it stood. It was a good answer. The perfect answer. But he couldn't. Starscream had...he'd been so prepared to deal with Skyfire's second death. To process grieving even after Skyfire had shot a laser knife through his spark chamber in his betrayal.

Starscream didn't understand, so childish as it seemed to him, he asked. "Why?"

"I believe I already answered that question, Starscream." Megatron opened the door to Starscream's quarters with a quiet click to the control panel. "I expect to see you on Deck in a half hour."

The door slid shut behind Megatron, blanketing Starscream in the dark. Confused and conflicted.

Megatron stared at the data pad in his hand, not really paying attention. Starscream had returned to his post, as ordered, but he remained quiet. After his explosion in his quarters, Megatron didn't expect the Seeker to return to his fiery self for at least a few more days.

Megatron had severely underestimated the Seeker's attachment to the shuttle.

He knew the shuttle's death would have an affect, but he hadn't predicted the extent. Megatron rubbed between his eyes, playing back the look of utter grief in Starscream's eyes as he shouted at his leader. Interesting enough, Soundwave had asked Megatron many of the same questions earlier when it was made clear Megatron had no intention of pursuing a punishment for the traitor. Starscream hadn't been wrong: Defection was the worst offense that could be committed under the Decepticon Insignia, and he'd declared capital punishment for far worse.

But his spark wasn't in it, and he pardoned the shuttle.

Not for any act or semblance of mercy, Megatron snarled to himself, but for the sake of his sanity. The consequences of killing the traitor Skyfire weren't worth it. The warlord was no stranger to death, or inflicting times of grief and mourning on others, but even Megatron wouldn't wish the experience of losing a loved one on some poor soul twice. Even if the idiot did deserve it on occasion. Megatron didn't think he could handle a grieving Starscream, let alone the anger and revenge he'd unleash on behalf of the idiot shuttle.

A broken and devastated Seeker was even more worthless than an endlessly rebellious one.

The shift ended as it began, Megatron noted, in soft whirls and intakes shifting air. He set his pad down at the same time his 2nd stood from his console. Starscream's head was high and his practiced strut gave nothing away to the inner turmoil that had silenced his vocalizer for the extent of the work shift. Starscream stopped at the side of Megatron's throne for a second on his way past to the main door. His hands were clenched. His optics burned, their gaze locked on the Command Room door.

As quietly as a breath, Starscream said "Thank you."

Megatron did nothing in response. They merely let the weight of the words have their effect. The Seeker took the response for what it was and left the room. Soundwave followed soon after, surely to nurse his cassettes or spy on some unsuspecting sap. Megatron remained in his chair, staring at the ever changing monitors as the workers of next shift shuffled into the room.

Perhaps, an act of mercy could be justified on occasion.