A/N: I've had the end scene of this chapter and one specific line stuck in my mind since... pretty much the moment plot started to sneak into the fic, I think. It just took quite a few more chapters to get to it than I had expected *cough*
Will came back online to a world of sand. They had transformed at some point – when or how Will didn't know and didn't remember and didn't honestly care as he used his claws for stability and worked on autopilot to move into something resembling a kneeling position. Mildly more dignified than face-down in the sand, at least. Something in his body felt sore – no surprise, considering that they'd crashed – but the automatic status update he got on the condition of their body half a second later wasn't as bad it could have been, although still bad enough as it was. They had been travelling at low-velocity and the angle had been enough to take some of the stress of their impact. Offline communication system – from Skywarp's little trick or something else, he didn't know. Three point eight minutes spent offline and their location was a good hundred and fifty miles away from the small dot on their screen that marked the last position his systems had of his hopefully still-airborne team-mates and made him blind to all else but the need to see them safe.
He reached out before he could think about it, his own situation pushed aside in favour of his bond with Ironhide. If someone wanted him dead, he wouldn't have woken up; to Will and the Seeker both that meant that their closest mate had priority now.
'Hide?
The response was emotions and flickers of images rather than words - worry, annoyance, anger - and while it was enough to let him know that their mate was safe for the moment, it also brought with it a dawning sense of dread.
The connection was... muted, affected by distance in a way that he knew it shouldn't be; as if the bond was weakened or something was blocking it out-
- And the dread settled hard in his spark as the last of the status reports flooded in and his processors returned to full speed and managed to focus on more than just his immediate surroundings and his mate.
He didn't need to see the three dots on his still-functioning close range scanner to know what was there. The presence that weighed heavily on his spark gave all the confirmation he needed. It was familiar in a way that was unnerving, overrode all else in a response he had no control over, and his hands flexed compulsively in the sand.
His Seeker part was even worse off – it was frozen somewhere between abject fear and awe, with the clear lack of just about anything even remotely lust-related about it all letting Will know beyond any doubt that the thing wanted to be there about as much as Will himself did... and moreover that it wouldn't be of any help at all unless it somehow managed to get a grip on itself and right now, it was all that Will could do to keep himself from doing something stupid.
Maybe he should feel more afraid than he did but the dread and resignation and the lingering sense of loss from the dulled bonds that he had only just gotten used to was enough to drown out fear for the moment. Dread, resignation... and a marked absence of surprise. Starscream had always been clear about what he wanted and whatever else Will might think about him, he also knew that the Air Commander wouldn't have survived for so long under Megatron's command with an ego like that if he didn't have the skills to back it up.
You always knew it would come to this, the small bit of common sense and realism he still possessed whispered in the back of his mind.
That doesn't mean I have to like it.
The bit of common sense fell silent as the presence behind Will flared brighter – impatient fraggers but that wasn't really a surprise when you were dealing with Seekers – and then he forced himself to ignore the assorted minor issues his systems were nagging him about and stood and turned with as much grace and determination as he could manage when he'd just crash-landed in a sandbox.
The Seeker-part was still petrified. Will wasn't sure if that was a blessing or not.
He was greeted by the expected sight of Starscream's tattooed self and the other two-thirds of the Command Trine and the presence that had seemed overwhelming before came flooding back with all the more intensity and burned out the last bits of reason that remained. Every instinct in his body told him to submit, every bit of Pit-spawned coding demanded he show the proper awe and reverence to the divine creature before him... and Starscream, goddamn pest of a Seeker that he was, fragging well knew it, too. The unholy glow in his eyes was enough to make every bit of human instinct he had left bristle – not the best state of mind for a fight, really not the best thing when he had to keep a somewhat level head and stall for as long as he could until backup arrived, but it was all he had and it was enough to lift a bit of the haze.
"Will."
Starscream made the glyph that was his Seeker-given name sound like a caress in a way it never had over long distance communication. All dark promise and dominance in a way that made the non-existent skin of his human side crawl and the Seeker stir in interest from its awed terror and quite suddenly and unwanted Will understood in a way he had never really grasped before just how much 'Air Commander' meant to a Seeker... and Starscream, whatever else he might be, had every personality trait required of the position in abundance.
He should probably respond, Will's still-hazy mind realised after long seconds, still struggling against whatever the frag Starscream was doing to him. Anger demanded he toss an insult right back – and while he didn't know enough of the Seeker-language to use that, Cybertronian had plenty of insults to spare – but a flicker of sanity prevailed a moment later.
Back-up. There was back-up coming and he had to stall. It would be a cold day in the Pit before he was going to be respectful to the psychotic pile of scrap metal but maybe, just maybe, the insults could wait. If nothing else, he wasn't sure his Seeker-side would even let him voice them.
In the end he stayed stubbornly silent. Starscream's expression hardened for all of half a second before that unholy glow reappeared - used to dealing with a lot more stubborn Seekers than Will, probably, based on what little he knew of the other two of the Command Trine. Or maybe they were just enough of a novelty that he wasn't going to offline them at the first sign of insubordination to his Air Commander self.
Will felt like a bug under a microscope. It wasn't a feeling he particularly enjoyed, especially not when Starscream was at the other end of it.
"Who were your creators, youngling?"
That wasn't an area Will knew enough about to even try to make up a lie, even if he'd had any sort of coherence left to work with. The Seeker stirred uneasily in his mind, uncomfortable with that line of questioning, and Will kept his mouth firmly shut.
Red optics gave him a long look and the presence that still laid heavily on his mind focused and turned sharper as it tested itself against Will's stubbornness and the Seeker's still-terrified indecision.
"Who left you in Prime's hands? Unlike the fleshlings and the worthless ground-pounders, I am not a fool. You are too young to ever have been permitted to leave Cybertron and you were clearly not raised among your proper kind. Your landing was laughable."
"My landing would have been a lot better if someone hadn't fragged up my trajectory," Will bit back before those previous few bits of remaining common sense could stop him.
If he'd hoped to annoy the fragger, however stupid that might have been, he would have been disappointed as Starscream's only visible response to that was a satisfied expression that made Will itch to put a Sabot-round or two through his faceplates to remove it.
"So it speaks." Starscream glanced at Skywarp at his side before he turned his full attention back to Will. "A Seeker-raised youngling would have been trained to land properly even after the interference of my trine-mate. Who left you in Prime's hands? Who took you from your kin?"
The Seeker in his mind drew back with a series of small, startled, unvoiced clicks and for a moment Will felt nothing as much as sorry for it. It was an untrained, inexperienced kid put up against the being that every part of its programming said was its supreme commander and should be obeyed without question but which it knew just as well would offline its mates slowly and painfully if given half the chance - and would relish that chance, too.
With nothing to say, Will just raised his head slightly and glared right back. Stalling for time was easier said than done when you were up against Starscream.
Backup had been a hundred and fifty miles away. If - if - they had been able to pinpoint his position instantly and turned immediately, that was fifteen minutes... but that wasn't counting the air-drop or anything Starscream might have up his sleeve. All he could be grateful for was that they hadn't moved him even further away and for a moment he wondered where Megatron was. That fragger could fly, too. Did he even know what his pet Air Commander was up to or was he stupid enough to think Starscream wouldn't turn the situation into his own advantage?
The pressure on his mind persisted and the distinct sense of loss from his bonds was worse than he had imagined it would be, a dull, twisting ache in his spark where the connections should have been. He liked those bonds. He needed those bonds. For all that they were a pain to deal with and a headache more often than not, he had grown to rely on them to a degree that frankly scared him... and now they weren't there.
The flash of panic could have been himself, could have been the Seeker, but it was enough to block out Starscream for a brief, few seconds.
'HIDE.
The only response he got was a flicker of affirmation and reassurance and silent promise and then the connection was blocked out again and Starscream's optics glowed brighter. He knew, then. The fragger knew. It was just a matter of how much he was able to pick up on. Not a nice thought, not in the least, but not one Will had time to linger on.
"Your mates," Starscream said, deceptively calm. "Worthless Autoscum but in lack of any proper potential mates... acceptable, for the time, if they know their place." One, two steps closer, made Will feel like hunted prey, and then the fragger stopped again. "You desecrated your wings."
"Says the fragger with the tattoos."
Will's processors had apparently decided not to do anything about the autopilot his mouth seemed to be on because the words were out before Will could stop them. Not that he wanted to, to be fair – it was a whole new level of stupid to insult Starscream when you were out-numbered and out-gunned by the Command Trine, but the way Starscream's optics seemed to narrow and the glow darkened brought a sadistic kind of satisfaction, too. The fragger had put them in this situation and while he couldn't quite give Starscream the piece of his mind that he wanted, he wasn't going to roll over and beg, either.
The response came a second later, unheard but most definitely felt as the heavy presence around them sharpened and pain flared through their mind. Brief, sharp, blinding, and then it was over as quietly as it had appeared and while Will had only just about enough composure to stay still and not show any kind of reaction, Starscream clearly knew, anyway.
"Your... caretakers have failed in your upbringing, youngling." Back to that familiar Starscream-sneer – at least that was something Will could deal with. "My markings signify my status as Air Commander and my superiority of all on this pathetic ball of dirt the fleshlings call a planet. You desecrated your wings with markings of slavery to the Autoscum and worthless organics."
And then Starscream straightened slightly and the mercurial mood shifted right back to thoughtful and something that Will strongly suspected was what passed for 'reasonable' in Starscream-land.
"The Hatchet would know better than to mark a Seeker against its will. I suppose Prime... convinced you or you felt some irrational desire for your mates' approval. A commendable loyalty. Commendable but misplaced. A true ground-bound mate to a Seeker would know its place at your side and under your dominance. A true mate would not allow you to mutilate yourself. The Hatchet, at least, should know the stupidity of youth and have reined you in. A guardian in the place of the absent ones that Prime took from you."
And there we go with the baiting. Will knew it, Starscream knew it, probably even the Seeker in all its hazy-minded glory knew it, but he couldn't quite stop the brief anger he felt, not fast enough to hide it.
"Did they keep you in stasis?" Starscream's voice shifted again, dark, demanding, and compelling, and Will ruthlessly suppressed the shudder he felt. "Perhaps Prime had little to do with it after all. Even Megatron would not take a Seeker youngling from its caretakers, we taught him the cost of that. Did his ground-pounder spies do what Prime could not? Mirage? Jazz? Or were you sparked by Autoscum Seekers that were too blinded by the righteousness of their cause to honour the kin that shaped their worthless selves?"
Starscream could be a grade-A bastard when he put his mind to it and right now, he clearly did. If baiting and pretend-kinship didn't work then maybe just plain provoking that Seeker-temper would. Make him say more than he'd want to in between snarling at Starscream and calling the slagger every name in the book.
It would probably have worked, too, if it hadn't been for the one saving grace that they had never claimed Optimus Prime for a mate or bonded, and that while the Seeker had been impressed with his fighting skills and would fight for him in turn, that was about as far as it went anymore. The fantasies were almost gone and what interest it showed anymore in their Prime was mostly superficial.
Will admired Optimus. The Seeker was for the most part indifferent and as a result didn't care in the least one way or another about their Prime or the names of mechs that had been offlined long before it had opened its optics for the first time.
"Not much of an Autobot, are you?" Starscream sneered but this time Will got the impression that the sneer was aimed at his faction rather than himself. "The trained cannon you call a mate would have killed for that insult. The rest of them are little better. Hypocrisy of the finest order."
He wasn't going to rise to that bit of bait, either. He knew just fine that Ironhide was trigger-happy even on his calmer days and the rest was standard Decepticon propaganda.
Going by the darkening of Starscream's optics in clear displeasure, Will's continued silence was starting to make him more than a bit annoyed. The Air Commander watched him closely as their silence stretched on and then he moved, faster than Will or the Seeker had any chance to avoid.
One hand locked like a vise on the sensitive edge of his left wing and sent a flare of pain through his body and panic through his Seeker part while the other dug into the myriad of wires that ran along his neck and tightened to the verge of doing real damage.
The Seeker froze in sudden sense of self-preservation. Will froze with it, vivid images of just what those clawed fingers could do to his throat passing through his mind. It was enough that the thought of having Starscream so close and so dominant didn't even cross the Seeker's mind. Will had been exposed to more fantasies of Starscream than he cared to count but right there and right then, the Seeker was too terrified of the Air Commander to even consider it.
"I want answers, youngling," Starscream hissed. "You will provide them."
Red optics glowed impossibly bright and Will felt the presence surge around him, heavy and suffocating as it sent Energon flowing fast and panicked through his body in a fight-or-flight response. The world was gone, vanished around them in the overwhelming presence that was Starscream and whatever else they might have joked about on base, it was painfully clear that Starscream had reached his position purely by skill and ambition.
If there was a Decepticon Seeker out there who could take on Starscream and live to tell the tale, Will desperately hoped they would never, ever meet it.
His own Seeker had been bad at times but it had never been malevolent. It had never seriously tried to claim control through sheer force alone. It had been young, it had been weak, and it had been innocent.
Starscream was none of those things.
The presence grew stronger and with it came the sense of drowning, of losing their sense of self where their shields were slipping and forced them back, bit by unrelenting bit.
There was fear from the Seeker, the bone-deep sensation that this was not how it should have gone, this was not the Starscream it wanted, this was not its Air Commander, but all Will could really focus on was bloody-minded stubbornness and horribly calm acceptance that it would not be enough.
Stalling hadn't brought him fifteen minutes, had brought him ten or twelve at the most even counting the time he had been out of it, and whatever he had left of the countdown would be far longer than he could hold back Starscream. A brief, desperate thought at his weapons systems revealed them already out of his control, from Starscream or Pit-spawned coding or whatever the frag was going on to take their mind apart piece by piece-
- And for the second time in as many months Will Lennox found himself backed into a corner with no escape and nothing more in the way of backup this time than an impossibly young Seeker-spark that had no place in the sort of war they fought.
Whatever panic he might have felt from himself or the Seeker was gone, buried under dread at the thought of Starscream going after his family, his mates, and in the end replaced by tired resignation as his mental defences crumbled one by one.
Maybe that was why he noticed the brush against his... spark or mind or processors. He wasn't sure and didn't have the focus to spare to find out, but it was strange and alien and decidedly not Starscream in the almost-regret he felt from it.
You know I can't order you to do this. All I can ask you to do is trust me.
The voice was not Seeker and not Cybertronian but familiar in a way that Will had all but forgotten – light and that voice and a warped, warped sense of humour and gratitude – and the brief anger he felt was gone again as entirely too many pieces clicked into place.
William Lennox had a list a mile long of grievances to take up with Primus but in the end he didn't voice it. The way things were going, he'd get plenty of chances to do that soon enough, anyway, and if the twisted fragger they called a god had gone through all that trouble to put them there, who were they really to argue?
If they get hurt from this... He started the threat but didn't finish – the presence was gone and only Starscream's incessant hammering on his mind persisted in a way that he wasn't sure how long he could stand before it started to mess with the last of his sanity, too.
His defences were crumbling, the Seeker could do little to help, and in the grand scheme, what good would thirty seconds or a minute do him? Starscream had his trine with him, both of them vicious on the battle field, and backup felt impossibly far away.
He could watch his defences be torn to pieces along with whatever bit of his mind he had invested in that or he could use what little control he had left and do it himself. Starscream's terms or his own terms. When he looked at it that way, there was never a decision to make at all.
Trust and a warped god's schemes had very little to say in it. In the end, some twisted sense of obstinance was all that really mattered.
The Seeker shifted in their mind, a whisper of acceptance, permission, and muted fear, and Will sent it back to the shadow it had found – there was little protection to be found in anything there but maybe Starscream would have burned through the worst of his anger by the time he found it.
Maybe.
He held his craftsmanship in his mind for a moment longer, cracked shields and crumbling walls; watched Starscream's presence as it consumed the world behind it...
… And then he let go.