The Brat Prince of Vos
Chapter 20
Continuity: Pre- and Post-TF:A, a little bit of AU here and there
Warnings: Spoilers for Transwarped?
Pairings: Megatron x Starscream, Cyclonus x Galvatron, Strika x Lugnut. Sort of, anyway.
The two parts of this chapter take place first before Transwarped, and second afterwards.
I hope it's obvious from the writing, but I thought I'd better clarify just in case!
They floated together in deep space, in silence.
After arguing for five hours solid, it seemed that they had both run out of insults to hurl at each other. The phrase "this is all your fault!" had been repeated several times by now, from both mouths, but really, they supposed, it was both of their faults.
Not that either would admit it.
Out of nowhere, Starscream twitched his disembodied head, the movement sending him tumbling towards Megatron's hands. He quietly began to chew on the stasis cuffs binding the Decepticon leader. The tyrant looked down in surprise - but he kept his mouth shut for fear of yet another argument.
"I may have started it," Starscream mumbled between gnawing on the cuffs, "by putting that bomb on your shoulder…but you didn't have to kill me so…permanently. Or quite so many times, either."
"It's hardly permanent if you come back every time," Megatron sighed down at the flier. "And I wouldn't have had to kill you if you hadn't come rushing up to me null rays blazing every slagging time."
"I don't have a spark anymore - that seems pretty permanent to me," the Seeker said blankly, too tired of arguing to shout. "I'm more of a…what is it the humans called them?"
"A zombie?"
Starscream nodded, before continuing to bite at the cuffs. "That's it."
The silence returned, save for the small noises and clicks of exertion from Starscream as he struggled. Megatron twitched his fingers a little, getting the flier's attention. "Come up here a minute," the silver mech murmured. The flier stuck his tongue out against the cuffs to push himself upwards - undignified, but the only 'limb' that either of them could move at that moment.
He floated up slowly, arching an optic ridge at the warlord. Megatron regarded the former Prince for a moment, before straining forward, ignoring the static shocks given off by the cuffs to plant a soft kiss on the flier's left optic.
"I won't kill you anymore," he said, voice low, "if you don't try to kill me anymore either."
"...Fine," Starscream mumbled.
"I still like you…sort of…if it means anything at all to you now," Megatron sighed.
"No spark," the Seeker pointed out again, expression hardening, "no bond." He dipped his head downwards again, sending him spinning back towards the cuffs, which he proceeded to bite angrily.
Megatron frowned, closing his optics and waiting for Starscream to get the cuffs off. He had survived in Sumdac's lab as just a head without a spark-chamber, nothing powering him but a burst of energy from the All-Spark…but now here he was, spark beating quietly in his chest.
He muttered contemplatively, more to himself than Starscream, "There must be a way."
"I spy with my little optic…something beginning wiiiith…'O'," the Seeker said dryly.
"Orange," Megatron groaned, throwing his arms up into the air and leaning back in his chair dramatically. "For spark's sake, we've been through every damned item in Omega Supreme now."
Starscream's disembodied head sat on the dashboard. "We could look outside the window if you turn me around," he suggested - but then they transwarped yet again to another random point in the galaxy, the outside scenery changing completely. "Or…not."
The Decepticon tyrant picked Starscream's up, placing him in the crook of one arm. Truthfully, the Seeker was quite enjoying this little holiday in Omega Supreme, though Megatron had walked around the ship holding him like this at least ten times now. The flier assumed it was out of boredom - or perhaps to stretch his legs, but after spending weeks without a body, Starscream was beginning to find it difficult to remember what legs felt like.
"We could have a nice long argument," the flier suggested as they walked down to the docking bay of the Omega unit.
The warlord snorted. "Don't we have enough of those as it is?" he asked, holding up Starscream's head in one hand.
"I mean a big, big argument," Starscream said merrily. "One big argument to sort all our troubles out."
"That's not how our arguments end at all," Megatron frowned. "It would end with me throwing you out the air lock." The flier just pouted up at him, and the Decepticon leader rolled his optics, tucking Starscream back against him. "Fine. You want an argument? Here's you go - if you had just been patient and worked with me rather than against me, we would have the All-Spark now, Cybertron would be ours, and we would be bonded."
The gentle reply almost made Megatron's processor lock up, and he froze mid stride, foot still hovering in the air.
He pulled Starscream's head out, gripping it in both hands, and raised it up so that he could look the flier in the optics. "What did you say?" Megatron said incredulously.
"I said," the former Prince repeated quietly, "I'm sorry."
"Have you fried a relay or have I?" the Decepticon warlord asked very seriously.
Starscream glared up at him. "I'll take it back if you're not careful," he huffed. Megatron shook his head with a chuckle. "I've…been thinking about something Cyclonus said to me a while ago. I should have been more patient…but…you really slagged me off! The war was totally over!"
The larger mech's optic twitched. "I am not getting into that discussion with you again, Starscream," he said dangerously, but his expression soon softened and he looked away. "I'm sorry I…changed the conditions of our promise. A bit. Kind of," he ground out through gritted dental plates, then hurriedly added "but I'm not sorry I didn't bond with you! Because I still intend to keep that promise. One day."
"Except that you, oh, hmm, destroyed my spark, genius," Starscream pointed out sarcastically.
"As I said before," Megatron replied, tapping his own chest with his free hand, "there's always a way." He folded his arm again, Starscream resting once again against his torso, continuing to walk along the corridors of Omega Supreme. Then, with a wicked grin, Megatron chuckled to himself, "…Maybe Swindle will sell you his."
The Seeker laughed - not one of his rasping cackles, but the light noise of a youngling - and for the first time in millennia, the Decepticon warlord felt reasonably at peace with his second in command.