A/N: Author is back! … and owes a stack of review-responses and reviews, which should hopefully be done tomorrow. Well, today, technically, since it's past midnight. Thank you so much to anyone who's still reading this – reviews are love and much appreciated, but even having people still reading this monster makes me happy! So thank you very much, all of you! :)
A/N the Second: This chapter hasn't been betaed yet. It's been read through a few times but proper betaing won't happen until tomorrow. There shouldn't be too many things that need corrected but considered yourself warned, anyway.
Vivienne Grainger wrote a gorgeous fic in an AU-ish verse that bridges 'Four Lives' and this little monster of a Seeker-fic – in which Will discovers that if he thought being around giant, alien robots was confusing, it really has nothing on being dead. It's called 'Death Duties' and can be found on her FFNet account. Go read, because it's pretty and awesome and this chapter will still be waiting when you're done :D
Will Lennox didn't know what Megatron's fascination was with deserts but despite the amount of bitching and complaining he'd done about it since the 'Cons had first made themselves known, it wasn't a fascination he really objected to. Deserts made for a surprisingly nice battlefield when you had Decepticons to deal with. It didn't leave you a lot of cover but it also didn't have millions of people in close proximity and didn't come with far too many civilian casualties or the headache of trying to keep a cover of nothing-out-of-the-ordinary.
The Seeker, surprisingly, agreed... if for somewhat different reasons. It had quickly decided it hated the sand on Diego Garcia, so that really didn't bode well for an actual desert, but it was quite content with the lack of clouds, humidity, and anything it might fly into on accident. Given a couple of centuries and Will suspected that boredom with nothing but rocks and sandy dunes might make it wish for something a little more exciting, but for now the thing was still young and pretty much anything was fascinating and new to it.
Of course, that also killed off most of the small and very unlikely hope that Will always held that Starscream's attention would slip one day in battle and send him head-first into a mountainside but then, life was full of little disappointments like that.
The Indian Ocean skimmed by below them as they approached the coast with all of the painfully sluggish speed a C-17 was capable of – and sluggish it was, to Will and the Seeker both. Having to play nice with the actual F-22s and not just leave them behind in a cloud of dust had been bad enough. Having to keep pace with something that couldn't even approach the speed of sound had started out annoying and ended up as nothing less than excruciating for the very proud and very, very speed-addicted Seeker-part of him. Worse was the fact that they couldn't do a thing about it. Ignoring the fact that the C-17s held the safety-measures that currently kept the 'Con Seekers from just bearing down on them in a rain of missiles, the fact remained that the pathetically slow, vulnerable bits of flying tin also held what was theirs and neither Will nor the Seeker were about the stray far from Ironhide or Ratchet. Not that there was much they probably could do if Starscream and the rest of the fraggers somehow found a way to attack but it was the principle of things. It was mate and mate was theirs to protect.
As a compromise, they'd finally settled on air acrobatics instead. Fly ahead, fall back, catch up, spin and turn and repeat as desired – it was enough to have made his stomach churn as a human; now it was nothing more than a way to keep himself distracted from the unwelcome combination of the anxious knot in his non-existent stomach and the boredom that left him entirely too much time to think about it.
A boredom and anxiety that he had long ago given up on shielding, too, which resulted in Ironhide and Ratchet both getting the full force of his distraction. Not a very decent thing to do, Will-the-human figured. The Seeker seemed to think that it was perfectly fair.
"And to imagine I thought you had been restless as a human," Ratchet remarked dryly over their comm-frequency.
Of course, they both gave as good as they got and that was a nice distraction, too, so maybe that was why Will insisted on being a pain-in-the-aft about it all.
"Hey, I usually got partnered with Ironhide and he never complained," Will pointed out and evened out his course and his speed to match the C-17 with the medic in it without a bit of conscious thought involved in the process. An amused feeling through his bond told him that Ratchet was perfectly aware of what he had just done but the medic didn't comment on it - he was probably just grateful that Will had stopped 'pacing' the airspace for a while. Their medic might have experience with Seeker bonds and flights but that didn't mean it wasn't necessarily annoying, anyway... even if Will honestly did try to keep the worst of that part of it away from his bonds.
"Perhaps that would be because Ironhide was only marginally more controlled in his restlessness than you were," Ratchet replied and ignored the snort from said weapons specialist as he listened in on their conversation.
"Not my fault the fragging planes are slow. I could have used that time to play target-practice with the flying fraggers and the rest of the Deceptiscum Megatron has left." Ironhide this time, bless his restless, impatient spark, and it was a testament to how far they had come that the Seeker didn't object to having its kind - or its Air Commander - referred to as a flying fragger. It had started to know Ironhide and his way of being and it had gotten used to it, too. It would have been insulted before. Now it was just mildly bemused at the mate that didn't seem to understand how glorious even an enemy Seeker was.
"If the planes were faster, weight, distance, and cargo capacity would be a problem instead. Are you perhaps volunteering to swim the rest of the way if we get you a faster plane instead? Or would a trim of your cannons be better? You seem to have put on some weight in armour as well since I first saw you."
Ironhide huffed. "You're the one with redundant systems."
"I'm also not the one complaining," Ratchet pointed out. "Cope or learn to swim, Ironhide. I'll be laughing from the comfort of my plane and let the Twins fish you out when you sink like the pile of metal you are."
Amusement from the Seeker, amusement and the clear impression of how very unnatural water and swimming was, and then Will let himself fall back again to do another lazy circling of the group of planes. None of the pilots even reacted anymore. He'd heard some insistent inquiries aimed at Optimus earlier on about just what the hell he thought he was doing - being told about a Seeker's little idiosyncrasies and experiencing them in person were two very different things, apparently, and clearly not appreciated in the least by their pilots - but even that had eventually stopped as everyone seemed to accept that their alien jet seemed to know what it was doing and more importantly seemed to have no intentions whatsoever of not doing it, possible orders by Prime or not, thus making the entire argument somewhat pointless in the first place.
Being with NEST tended to be a lesson in futility like that. Anyone who'd tried to teach Sideswipe or Ironhide restraint - or the Twins even somewhat decent English - knew that with painful certainty. Lennox himself, as a good commanding officer, had usually just laughed in the privacy of his office. If they succeeded, great. If not, they could chalk it up to a nice bonding experience with their alien allies and a lesson in having the serenity to accept the things that can't be changed. Or something. Epps had just called it good entertainment as long as they weren't the ones providing it.
There was land up ahead, a thin line of cliffs that grew steadily larger, and Will added that small bit of power that was needed to send them roaring past their group and up ahead of them. He was tired, he was restless, he was anxious, and this was land and not the unnerving unnaturalness of an endless sea that the Seeker seemed to have a bone-deep fear of. Will couldn't blame it, either. The thought of crash-landing in the middle of an ocean with no land for five hundred miles in any direction would have been enough to give the Seeker-part of him some nasty nightmares if it hadn't been for the fact that Cybertronians didn't dream.
"Stay within range, Lennox." Ironhide's voice interrupted before they could get too far ahead – and yes, there was that.
Soundwave was up there, however much Will didn't like to think about it and however much the Seeker wanted nothing more than to tear the winged would-be Seeker imposter to bits for daring to keep them under surveillance in the first place. Soundwave was up there and only the bulky scrambling equipment carried by the C-17s kept the fragger from getting a good look and a good target lock on them. Soundwave and the enemy Seekers that lingered at the edges of Will's awareness with unwanted persistence to match the three marks on their screens, never coming closer than three hundred miles away. Far enough away that chasing after the fraggers would have been pointless, even if their Prime had let them, but still close enough to be a constant source of unsettled annoyance to him. Starscream might think he was doing them a favour in trying to steal the foolish little Autobot Seeker away to the proper side of the war but as far as Will was concerned, he could stick that plan somewhere where the sun didn't shine. They were enemy combatants and no one liked having an enemy lurking in the shadows, just waiting for them to slip up.
Megatron would be up there, too, somewhere, Will had no doubt about it – the slagger did have wings and some idea of how to use them, but whether he was far enough away that they couldn't spot him or just hiding to let his Command trine get the attention, none of them knew for sure.
Their own surveillance was already working overtime to keep an eye on everything. A normal mission was bad enough, even when the 'Cons didn't know they'd been spotted or from what direction they'd arrive. An ambush was a whole lot worse. Starscream, considerate slagger that he was, had provided them with a time and location and not enough time to really pull off a decent attack from another direction. The 'Cons knew they were coming, they knew where and when and the general direction, and that more than anything made everyone on those airplane grip their weapons just a bit tighter.
Your speed is pathetic.
And then there was that. There had been insistent requests from an unfamiliar frequency since the Seekers had shown up on their screen and for once, Will and the Seeker had unanimously turned down every last one of them. They knew perfectly well what they would find on the other end and it wasn't something either of them wanted to deal with, not after the spectacular failure that had been their last talk.
The voice was little more than a low murmur, with barely a ghost of the appeal it held at closer range but that didn't matter. They both recognised it in the snide little insults that had been offered on and off through their flight whenever Starscream came close enough. Obviously, the fragger could contact them from a good bit further away than just two hundred miles. It just didn't carry the same compulsion to submit and obey... which was probably why Starscream had waited until he was closer when he had attacked Will and Ratchet both. Anyone would be stupid to turn down the advantage of surprise and give the enemy time to strengthen their defences before the attack. Why Starscream didn't come closer now, Will had no idea. Maybe they had orders. Maybe it was just another mind-frag on the way.
He felt a sense of soundless support from his bonds with Ratchet and Ironhide both as he passed on the 'message' from the Air Commander, along with the strong impression that he should ignore the other Seeker if he could at all but even at that distance, it was easier said than done and he had learned that fast, too. The voice wasn't strong but the fact that it was Starscream was enough to keep him from blocking it entirely. Whatever Will might say, the fragger was still the Air Commander and it took a lot more drastic means than just pure stubbornness to kick him out for good.
Why do you demean yourself into following fleshling creations like what when you should fly with equals? What proper Seeker has patience for such pathetic pace?
Since blocking it was impossible, ignoring it should have been his second course of action. Starscream, unfortunately, had aeons of experience in just what to do to make a Seeker react and Lennox, unfortunately, for all that his mind was partially human, still carried that Seeker coding and the Seeker hair-trigger temper.
Seeing dry land below him and soaring over sand again – blissful, blessed desert – was enough to cool some of his temper but not enough. Ratchet picked up his intentions a moment too late for his short, sharp reprimand to matter as Seeker programming took over again and the importance of the Air Commander overruled his attention to anything not an immediate danger to his mates.
Says the fragger who puts up with Megatron. At least Prime doesn't pretend to be something he's not. Megatron isn't even a Seeker, he just stole bits of your coding to slap on a ground-pounder frame, Will bit back.
A valiant attempt to correct the numerous flaws in the worthless frame of his creation, Starscream corrected and Will wasn't sure if amusement was any better than anger and arrogance. He may have been sparked as merely another worthless ground-pounder but his choices have made him far more. Science is a worthy ally. Even Seekers can be brought closer to perfection, after all.
The Seeker part felt unsettled – messing with frames or coding was wrong, period – and Will wasn't feeling a whole lot better. Starscream he could deal with. The implication that the fraggers out there might be even more dangerous than he thought thanks to some convenient messing about with their insides and coding was... unwanted to say the least. Unnerving and 'frag it all to the Pit' might be closer in accuracy. His body was what anyone human would call factory new. If he was outgunned and out-armed from the beginning, what with the rest of the fraggers fiddling around with their bodies, then Will had a lot bigger issues to worry about than he'd thought at first. He didn't stand a snowballs chance in the Pit against Starscream, then, not to mention the other two members of the threesome.
Maybe Starscream had picked up on those vague thoughts, maybe it was just a lucky guess, but as he continued his voice was lower, smoother, and had a bit more of that allure in it again – enough to make Will listen despite the best of his efforts and enough to make his Seeker-part freeze in their mind.
Haven't you wondered about the gifts of my trine, youngling? Haven't you wondered why you were not sparked with our abilities? Our kind was perfection when compared to the worthless ground-pounders but that perfection had been left unchallenged under the reign of too many Air Commanders. They lacked the ambition for it. They were content in their little world and saw nothing beyond their own circles.
The voice was... appealing and appalling at once, sent a shiver through his body even under the heat of the desert sun and still he couldn't keep from listening. There was something in the back of his mind – Ironhide, familiar, determined, angry – but the feeling was lost in the sound of Starscream's words as they made their way through his mind with a persistence that Will found himself disturbingly reluctant to fight.
Ratchet, with far more experience and a lot less reservations, had none that reluctance and the sound of his voice through the bond was met by silent relief from Will – maybe it was Ratchet's own former bonds with the breed, maybe it was just the medic's relentless stubbornness at work but whatever it was, Will was grateful for an ally.
You manipulated core programming? Ratchet didn't wait for a response but continued, anger and disgust overshadowing any hesitation the medic might feel from his previous run-in with the fragger. Did you decide in your arrogance that your name was Primus, perhaps, or are you so wrapped up in your delusions that you believe yourself capable of controlling the very core of a being? Did you use innocent Seekers for this, Air Commander, or were they so caught up in your arrogance that they honestly believed in your skills?
And risk abilities like ours in the hand of the unworthy? Will could hear Starscream's sneer through their bond at that. I did nothing I wouldn't accept myself. Our decision was unified, as a proper trine's should be.
I'm amazed you were tolerated as Air Commander afterwards, Ratchet bit back. Or perhaps that was why some joined Optimus. I wondered about that – Seekers, after all, should be unified, and we both know what it takes to remove oneself from Seeker-kin completely. I was surprised any of them joined us at all. Maybe I should have been surprised that not more of them did.
Will had expected Starscream to snarl back at that but instead the Air Commander's mercurial mood shifted again and the full force of that attention descended on Will once more as Ratchet was dismissed with little more than a thought.
You are aware of us, youngling. Is this what you want to be? the voice murmured. A slave to ground-pounders and fleshlings when you could claim dominion of the sky with others like you? None of us were sparked with our abilities and none of them were ever simply given to us. We were born with limitations and we chose to crush them.
There was something in the back of his mind, the faraway sound of his name, but he could do nothing but mentally stare, feeling like a prey watching the approaching predator and being unable to look away at all.
Are you aware of Skywarp's limits? Starscream asked as his voice and presence shifted again and Will could have sworn he could hear the dark glow he knew would be in Starscream's optics.
Maybe, probably – fifty miles with any kind of accuracy at their best guess, but who knew – and he pushed the thought away before he could even finish it but it still wasn't fast enough.
That's the thing about limitations, little one, Starscream continued. Limits were meant to be broken and technology – technology can be improved.
And that, Will realised too late, was all the warning he got. He was still within the range of their defences, but only just inside of it and it wouldn't be enough.
There was a sharp crack of displaced air before he could react, red optics and a Seeker's distinctive frame as it materialised just ahead of Will, and then it was inside their defences, but even that wasn't enough. Something hit him hard enough to make his processors reel and the world spin frantically around them, sky and sand and sky, and his instincts did the only thing a young, inexperienced Seeker could do - they reacted instantly to do whatever they could to slow him down rather than risk gunning the engine and send them straight into the ground at Mach two, but that took time and time was what they didn't have.
The air cracked again, the world warped around him, and then there was nothing but sand and the brief, terrified thought from the Seeker that they were out of time and this would hurt-
- And then the world went black as they hit the dunes at close to two hundred miles an hour and merciful unconsciousness took over.