The room was completely dark, silent but for the quiet sounds of the ocean pressing against the damaged ship. The peaceful silence was interrupted by the flash of purple that preceded the arrival of three winged mechs. They stumbled as their pedes hit the floor, two of the seekers guiding the third toward their berth. The third seeker moved easily, laughing melodiously as his mates nuzzled against him. Starscream let himself fall backwards onto the berth as Thundercracker and Skywarp subjected him to a thorough inspection. When they were satisfied their Star was undamaged they let him rest, each curling into his sides, linking digits over his canopy.

"Missed you so much Scree. So so much."Starscream smiled and placed a chaste kiss on Skywarp's helm.

"Missed you too, Glitch," he purred affectionately. "Thanks for coming after me."

"Always, Star." Thundercracker's deep baritone rolled through them. Starscream smiled at the sound of his nickname tagged with those glyphs. Lovedevotionforever warmed his spark and he treated his mate to a deep kiss.

"Hey, no fair!" Skywarp whined, before trying to steal his trineleader's lips. A brief tussle ensued before Skywarp and Thundercracker ended up in a lip lock of their own as Starscream watched hungrily.

The door sliding open quickly had them jerking apart as three sets of optics focused on the tiny form in the doorway.

"Ratbat, what are you doing out of your quarters? And how did you get our passcode?" Starscream asked as Skywarp stood from the berth. The small cassette shuffled into the room awkwardly, clearly wanting to speak but not sure how to ask for what he wanted. Skywarp approached the tiny mech and scooped him up, making the youngling giggle.

"Can I stay here for a while? Soundwave is busy with Onslaught and my brothers are being loud. Oh, and I got the code from Frenzy." The little flier's optics went wide. "Please don't be mad at him! He didn't mean to steal it, didn't even think he could hack your door but he wanted to try because you have lots of security and he was really surprised when it worked!"

"Hush youngling, we are not mad at him, but we will have to have words with him about respecting privacy," Thundercracker soothed Soundwave's youngling as Skywarp brought the flyer to the berth.

"Please don't tell him I told you?" The youngest of the brood asked in a small voice.

"Very well," Starscream answered for his mate, "he will not find out from us. Now, you may stay here for a while, but only until Soundwave is finished with Onslaught." The bat-shaped cassette pouted, but nodded in acceptance. He liked Starscream and his trine! His brothers were often too busy doing grown up things to play with him, but sometimes when Soundwave would visit Starscream and his trine he would bring Ratbat. The seekers would always play with him! Occasionally they would even give him goodies!

A quick comm call to Soundwave had everything settled, and the youngling settled comfortably on the berth.

"Will you tell me a story?" Bright red optics looked hopefully up at the second in command. Starscream had the prettiest voice besides Soundwave, and he would do all the different characters too. Thundercracker and Skywarp would also add their own voices, as fluent in Cybertronian as their mate's, and then the story would be really fun! Giving a theatrical sigh, Starscream asked,

"Which story do you want to hear?"

Soundwave was on his way to pick up the youngest of his offspring. He had just spent an enjoyable orn conversing with the leader of the Combaticons. He had had no idea Onslaught was such a fascinating conversationalist! The mech was intelligent, sarcastic, and had even made an attempt to speak in their native language. Albeit, he had sounded stilted, but with practice that would change. Soundwave was surprised to find that he would be more than willing to help the gestalt commander practice.

At one point Swindle had wandered into the Rec Room and plopped down beside his brother. The younger mech had looked dead on his pedes and had pressed himself into his brother's side before dropping into recharge. Rather than be embarrassed the massive mech had simply wrapped his arm around his recharging brother. Soundwave, although he would never admit it, was touched by the sight. Family was a very important part of his life and he would not stand for a partner who did not share a similar mindset in this. That thought had thrown him for a loop. Partner? He absolutely was not looking for a partner, no matter how his traitorous spark warmed at the thought. Despite these disconcerting thoughts he had made plans to speak with Onslaught again in the next cycle. And his spark had absolutely not just skipped a beat.

Arriving at the trine's quarters the communications officer pinged for entry. A moment later the door slid back to reveal his youngest settled on Skywarp's lap, completely enthralled in Starscream and Thundercracker's retelling of The Cyberfox and Turbohound. The mechling was giggling as Thundercracker chased the Air Commander around the room, pretending to be the 'hound chasing the 'fox. Both mechs froze when the door opened before turning identical dark looks on their mate, who smile back innocently. Starscream straightened up and gestured Soundwave into the room with dignity, ignoring the sapphire mech's poorly hidden chuckles.

"Thank you for looking after Ratbat," Soundwave said. The youngling scampered out of the purple seeker's hold. He leapt for his creator, burrowing into his chassis contently.

"It was our pleasure," Starscream answered on behalf of the trine. "He was no problem." Soundwave smiled behind his mask. Even a quarter vorn ago a scene like this would have been unthinkable. Not only were he and Starscream getting along – he would even go so far as to call them friends - but he trusted them enough to look after his most precious of treasures. All of his sparklings liked the seekers now, and would often seek them out. And the seekers themselves never turned them away. Occasionally the sound system would catch a glimpse of wistfulness in their optics, as though they wished for sparklings of their own. That would not happen in the near future however. Even if it was feasible to raise newsparks during a war Megatron would never allow it. Another mark against the tyrant. Speaking of…

"I am glad you returned safely, Starscream. A word of warning however; Megatron is in a foul mood. I would wait a while before venturing anywhere near him." Starscream nodded solemnly.

"Thank you, my friend."

"You are welcome. Now," he addressed his youngling, "I do believe it is time for a nap."

"Aww! But Creator, I am not tired!" the little flier said as he fought back a yawn. Soundwave would hear no protests however, and bid the trine goodbye.

Once again alone in their quarters the seekers were quick to pick up where they had left off before Ratbat's impromptu visit.

Megatron raged as he watched the video of his third in command conversing in Cybertronian with that traitor Onslaught. He was even more convinced that Starscream had turned the once loyal mech against him. Why else would the sapphire mech converse in a language his Master couldn't understand with a mech loyal to Starscream?! He would have to do something to show the mech the error of his ways.

A cruel idea occurred to him as he surveyed the damage he had done to his personal quarters. He couldn't touch Starscream, not yet, as the only thing that would break him would be to lose his mates, who were both formidable warriors. It would take time and planning to get rid of them. Soudnwave, however, had six unprotected assets he could use as an example. But which one? Ravage and Lazerbeak were both good spies who provided valuable intel about the Autobots. He could not replace them easily, so they were safe. Ratbat, while ideal for his purpose, was too young. Megatron himself did not care, but there were mechs in the army who looked down on harming, let alone killing, younglings. He did not want to risk a mutiny. Buzzsaw and Rumble were highly effective warriors who could potentially put up enough of a fight to stall until help arrived. That left Frenzy. The obnoxious little mech was a superb hacker, but so was Soundwave. He did not need two of them. And the younger twin was not the fighter his brother was. Yes, he would do nicely. Soundwave would regret crossing him. And if he continued on the same path after this lesson, well he didn't really need two spies.