THAT WEEKEND…

On the day of the bachelor party, Skywarp wasn't particularly excited. Really, he didn't care. All he wanted was to be with Moonbeam. The party was scheduled for tonight, and right now it was breakfast time. Skywarp was encouraging Megatron to take care of the sparklings more, so he could improve his parenting skills (or lack thereof).

Skywarp let Starscream sleep in for once while Megatron took care of the sparklings, with the purple jet as his guide.

"JUST DRINK YOUR NOURISHMENT!" Megatron was yelling, holding baby Megs in one hand. Baby Stars was, as usual, hovering in the air, making little squealing noises, and Megs was crying. Megatron looked exhausted, but he was trying to take care of the sparklings too.

"Now, now, don't yell at the sparklings," Skywarp soothed.

"This is impossible!" Megatron shouted. "When they need to feed, they cry. When they need recharge, they cry. When they are bored, they cry. When they want attention, they cry. When they are sick, they cry. No matter what, they are ALWAYS crying!"

"It's not that hard." Skywarp shrugged and smiled. "When they need to feed, feed them. When they need recharge, sing to them and put them down for their naps. When they're bored or need attention, play with them. When they're sick, give them medicine or take them to the medic so they feel better."

Megatron made a kind of grunting noise and started to feed Megs. Skywarp gently took Stars out of the air and fed him his bottle.

Meanwhile, Thundercracker had been at the table, too. Moonbeam was on call today, so she couldn't be with them, but Thundercracker was there. The thing was, he hadn't spoken, opened his eyes, or even lifted his head up off of the table. Skywarp and Megatron had been too busy taking care of the twins to really notice him. What they didn't know was, Thundercracker had never been so miserable in his life.

It was a huge loss, and he couldn't understand why; Gemstone was okay, but she was just a friend with benefits, a hooker pretending to be his girlfriend. Thundercracker wanted a real girlfriend, someone nice, pretty, funny, someone he could love forever and protect from harm.

Ever since Gemstone had left, Thundercracker felt like there was an empty place inside of his spark. Why? Why, why, why? It made no sense. All he knew was that he was all upset now, and felt almost like crying.

But no—Thundercracker did not cry…ever. Starscream seemed to have shed quite a few tears when he was carrying, and Skywarp wasn't the type to hold tears back in general, but Thundercracker never cried. In fact, he was used to bottling up every emotion, every emotion besides anger, that is. In his trine, he was a fighter, believing that there was no room for emotion in times of war.

Soon enough, Stars finished his bottle and started to drift into stasis. As Skywarp was rocking him, he looked at his brother, slumped on the table face-first, looking more depressed than he could ever remember.

"I'm sorry, Thundercracker," Skywarp whispered.

Thundercracker emitted a low grunting type of noise, but he didn't move his head or body. Skywarp noticed, though, how his wings were hanging low. This signified either fear or great sadness in a jet, and since Thundercracker didn't really have anything to fear that Skywarp could think of, he must have been very upset.

Well, his girlfriend DID dump him a few days ago, Skywarp thought, not knowing that the relationship between Thundercracker and Gemstone had been fake all along. No wonder he's so sad.

"You loved her, TC, I know that," said Skywarp. "But you have to move on."

"Just leave me alone, 'Warp," Thundercracker mumbled; he wanted to be left alone with his confusion.

"Thundercracker, breaking up with someone is always hard." Skywarp put one hand on Thundercracker's drooping wing for comfort; it involuntarily twitched, but didn't go up again. "Remember, though, there are plenty of other femmes who could love you, too."

"Yeah? Like who?"

"Like…um…" Skywarp felt his face reddening. "Maybe you could meet one at the bachelor party tonight. You know, like at the Decepticlub."

"I don't want to pick up a femme at the Decepticlub," Thundercracker told him, remembering that he had met Gemstone that exact way…and look how well that had turned out. "I just want to be left alone, okay?"

"Okay," Skywarp mumbled, and turned away, knowing that his efforts to raise his brother's spirits were only in vain.

THAT NIGHT…

Thundercracker didn't want to go to the bachelor party, but Starscream (best mech) had forced him to. Gemstone, he insisted, was gone now and didn't matter. Just like all the other Decepticons, Thundercracker was entitled to a good time.

They flew to the Cybertronian Mechs' Club, all of the Decepticons except Moonbeam—as stated before, no femmes allowed (again, except for the entertainment). Apparently, it was "tradition".

When they got to the Decepticlub and had made it past the bouncer and everything, Thundercracker didn't step foot on the dance floor. All he did was halfheartedly join the other mechs at the bar, obviously wishing that this stupid "party" would just end already.

"Give me the strongest drink you have," Thundercracker mumbled to the bartender.

"At this club, we have energon so strong that it wasn't even legal in some Cybertronian cities," said the bartender. "Is everything okay?"

"Thundercracker's having trouble with the femmes," Starscream whispered.

"Those femmes," said the bartender, shaking his head and pouring a drink for Thundercracker. "They can bring you such misery, can't they?"

"I told you, Screamer, I'm not having trouble with the femmes," said Thundercracker. "I'm not in love with Gemstone, and I never was. Where is she, anyway? She said she would be here."

"Gemstone, you say?" said the bartender. "Do you mean the young hooker with the white paint job?"

Thundercracker shrugged. "I guess so."

"That femme's been gone for a long time," the bartender told them, "but she came back a few days ago. Didn't look the same as when she'd left…sort of angry. Depressed, like. Mechs were hitting on her and she accepted, but by Primus, her spark didn't seem to be into it."

"Why ever not?" Thundercracker grumbled. "I thought she'd sleep with any mech as long—as long as it wasn't me."

"Is that what she said?" Starscream asked.

"That's exactly what she said." Thundercracker's wings fell again. Glaring down at the floor, he refused to make eye contact with anyone.

"Anyway, what will you have, Mr. Starscream?" asked the bartender.

"Hmm…" Starscream tapped on his chin thoughtfully. "Whatever will get me high and is not nutritious in any way."

…

Skywarp was enjoying himself. The party was great fun, and he knew he would be marrying Moonbeam in a few months; he was on top of the world. Right now, he didn't know that Thundercracker was heartbroken. Right now, he was the future groom, and he was having a great party at the Cybertronian Mechs' Club.

"What are you so happy about?" asked the bartender, grinning.

"I'm getting married in a few months!" Skywarp cried out jovially. "This is my bachelor party!"

"This is your bachelor party?" the bartender repeated. "Well, why didn't you say so? Everything's on the house, friend."

"Thanks!" Skywarp beamed.

"I do think, though, that you are intoxicated enough," the bartender told him with a smirk.

Starscream, meanwhile, had ordered just the drink he wanted. By now, he was extremely high on an illegal brand of energon and shaking his tailpipe on the dance floor. Femmes gravitated towards him, of course, and he was dancing with them all. Starscream was a good dancer, and he was having a great amount of fun. (Of course, when you consume a ton of illegally high-grade energon, it doesn't take a lot to keep you entertained, but that was beside the point.)

As the night wore on, Thundercracker watched Megatron, Soundwave, Rumble, and Frenzy as they all drank at the bar. Skywarp, Starscream, and most of the other Decepticons were on the dance floor. At one point there might have been a Seeker conga line (led by Starscream), but Thundercracker wasn't paying too much attention.

That was when he saw a familiar pearly white figure in the background. The femme did a double take, turned away; Thundercracker put his head down too…until he heard her talking.

"I've got an announcement to make," Gemstone was saying smugly. "I will now be offering free sexual favors to all Seekers, except those in the Command Trine."

The other Seekers scrambled up to Gemstone like moths drawn to a light. All she did was send a smirk in Thundercracker's direction. Thundercracker looked down at his feet, his wings still drooping, his eyes burning with unfamiliar tears.

…

Hours had passed, and the night still wasn't wearing down. Gemstone was no longer visible; Thundercracker thought that she was probably 'facing with another Seeker right now, maybe more than one at a time, or some mech he didn't even know. Which would be worse? What a horrible choice.

And that was when Thundercracker felt someone gently tap his wing. When he turned around, he saw that it was Gemstone. Unable to think of anything to say to her, Thundercracker just cleared his throat and looked down.

"Thundercracker?" Gemstone whispered. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, he lifted up his head to look at her; her facial expression was unusually serious.

"What is it?" Thundercracker mumbled.

"Listen, I…I want to apologize for the way I acted," Gemstone said quietly. "I just…I guess I was kind of mad about Moonbeam and everything and…I don't know. I don't remember."

"No, Gemstone, I'm sorry," Thundercracker told her, standing up and putting his strong hands on her shoulders. "I've been thinking, and I can't believe I ever had a 'fake' girlfriend. As far as I'm concerned, you either have a real girlfriend, or you have no girlfriend at all."

"Thank you, TC." Gemstone smiled. "That's how I feel, too. I know it looked like we had a sort of breakup, even though we were never together in the first place…but even if I'm not your fake girlfriend any more, I can still be your friend."

"Oh, Gemstone, baby, Gemstone." Thundercracker wrapped his arms around Gemstone and held her close. "It's so good to have you back."

"When I was 'facing with all those other Seekers," said Gemstone, "I missed you. I didn't miss being a hooker. I hated doing it again. I did it just to spite you and…I feel really bad."

"Don't," Thundercracker reassured her, and gave her another squeeze. "You did nothing wrong."

They separated, but still held each other's hands. They were amused to see, over by the bar, that pretty much all the other Decepticons had gotten themselves completely high. Starscream was even worse; by now he was literally sitting on Megatron's lap, his arms around the old mech's neck. Starscream was wearing a gold crown and giggling maniacally about something, and every so often Megatron (also intoxicated) would give him a little kiss or, more frequently, a hard slap on the aft. When this happened, Starscream would just giggle even louder. It was pretty embarrassing to Thundercracker, but also hilarious. Gemstone was laughing.

The others weren't much better. Soundwave was high now too, and he was hogging the dance floor, just like Starscream had been. Unfortunately, he had let Ravage loose too somehow, and before they knew it the bar patrons had to deal with a big black mechanical panther trying to attack anything it encountered.

Skywarp was the one leading the conga line now—somehow he had managed to get them all party hats and bead necklaces, which they wore as they danced. Starscream and Megatron, high beyond comprehension, were making out openly at the bar—now Gemstone's laughter had been replaced by a wide-eyed stare at them.

"I heard they hated each other," she said, sounding confused.

"They kind of have a bizarre relationship," Thundercracker explained. "Nobody understands it, not even them. Especially not them. Somehow, though, they make it work."

"Actually, I think having little twins brought them together somehow," Gemstone offered. "You know, because it's a common cause."

"Could be." Thundercracker shrugged. "Or maybe it was because nobody really knew for sure until Screamer got sparked up."

"I remember, when I first got to base, you told me you didn't know who the other parent was." Gemstone smirked. "The only reason I figured it out is because one of them looks exactly like Megatron…but why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

"Starscream was kind of embarrassed by it all," Thundercracker replied. "Like I said, whatever is between them is really weird, and I guess he didn't want any newcomers to know."

"Well, I can understand that," said Gemstone, smiling at Thundercracker; he felt his spark lift.

"I really am glad to have you back," Thundercracker told her, but then he felt his wings droop again. "I guess we'll have to stop our hot animal 'facing, though, since we aren't a fake couple any more."

"Who said anything about that?" Gemstone whispered flirtatiously. "In fact, do you want to know the real reason why I decided we should patch things up?"

"Why?" Thundercracker asked.

"I've slept with almost all the Seekers tonight, but…" Gemstone stroked Thundercracker's right wing and kissed his cheek. "After all of them, I still think you're the best. In fact, Thundercracker, I might offer free sexual favors to those in the Command Trine after all. Fake girlfriend discount."

To both his dismay and delight, Thundercracker felt his suddenly erect spike slam against his interface panel, threateningly close to coming out on its own. This femme was talented.

"Um, Gemstone?" said Thundercracker, his voice more little high-pitched than usual.

"What?" Gemstone smirked.

"I'm kind of…having a little…um, mech emergency," Thundercracker mumbled, cheeks reddening. "If you know what I mean."

"Oh, I know what you mean, TC." Gemstone teased by stroking his wings again and (when she was sure nobody else was looking) tickling him just a little on the interface panel, more than enough to get his spike to pop out.

"Please, hon, I'm dying," Thundercracker begged, trying to hold his release until they got out of public. It was kind of a burning, uncomfortable feeling. "You want to have some real fun?"

"Of course," said Gemstone, leading him out of the room.