A/N: At the time of me writing this on at 9.47am on 15/8/11 (Aus time and date), the votes for the two options are as follows (PLEASE NOTE this is also counting from the people on LiveJournal):

Option 1 (Party): 8 votes

Option 2 (Ritual): 10 votes.

Yeah….it came THAT close. But the trine ritual has won out. BUT because so many of my delightful reviewers have asked so, there will be a chapter with the party directly after this one. I will also mention that this trine ritual will NOT have any interfacing of any kind. That's not the official one. This is the 'official one' (in my head canon).

BY THE WAY!: Did anyone see that review by Peqoud on this story? Honestly, why bother writing that…

You know the disclaimers. Warnings: non sexual p 'n' p.

Turning Point – Chapter 11

Taking a sip of his energon cube, Soundwave asked Prowl, "Now that pleasantries are out of the way, would you mind…?"

"Not at all. Ask any question you wish," the Praxian agreed wholeheartedly, taking a sip of his own energon and shifting so he was more comfortable in his office chair, optics resting on the mech he was helping. He noted that at least the telepath was far more relaxed than he could ever recall seeing his once enemy. It was an auspicious sign.

Deciding what he wanted to ask first, Soundwave questioned, "After you were repaired when you tried to….self-deactivate, what was your emotional state?"

Prowl had a feeling that Soundwave had been wanting to ask that.

"My emotional state did not come through completely until after Cloudstrike and Cloudburst were arrested and placed in jail. Up until that time, I hid my pain, told everyone that I was fine. Optimus was especially concerned. He wasn't full Prime yet, Sentinel was still functioning, and yet I could tell that Optimus would be far better than Sentinel ever could be. He had been watching out for me ever since I had told both Primes of my treatment. He earned my trust with his compassion and he has been my friend ever since. But back to my emotional state."Prowl took a moment here to take in another sip of energon, before continuing.

Optics unfocussed in thought, the SIC said, "It wasn't until I was in my – empty – quarters, that the reality of all that had happened really came down on me. The fact that I had been used like that for so long…it was depressing. I felt a fool. I felt pathetic…and yes….weak, a coward, for trying to take the easy way out."

Soundwave understood the weak feeling. He had become in good acquaintance with that emotion recently.

"I am of the understanding," the tactician went on softly, "that you feel unworthy of your treatment here, and that you feel, understandably, defiled. True?"

The blue mech couldn't find it in himself to articulate the words, so he nodded.

Prowl gave him and understanding smile and went on, demeanour solemn. "My words from the other day I want you to remember. That is one of the most important pieces of advice I can give you. By living once more, you find your way to healing. You have already surrounded yourself with those who care for your wellbeing. This is key, more than anything else, on the way to healing."

Soundwave sipped his energon, listening, but something was niggling at him in the back of his processor. "I can feel myself slowly healing. But my main concern is not for me, but for my cassettes…"

The doorwinged mech frowned, not liking that Soundwave still found his worth as less than it was, but asked, "Your concerns?"

Swallowing the seeming lump of rust in his vocaliser, the telepath answered quietly, "Megatron has threatened to maim, assault, and kill my creations if I act against him or use my telepathy against him. That keeps me perpetually wary."

Blue optics sharpened suddenly with complete understanding. Of course, why had he not suspected earlier? Once Soundwave was assured of his cassettes safety would he be able to accept what had happened. It was like an extra torture for the telepath, he was sure of it. Thinking up plans on the spot, Prowl said, "Because of that threat, I have a proposition. The spare room in which you stay in Blaster's quarters will be specially reinforced and a new security system installed on that one door. Only you and your cassettes will be able to enter it unless you let another in. We could also program it so that Megatron would never be able to enter, even if he tried to hack it. Would this be sufficient enough to begin to ease your worries?"

"You would really do all that for the protection of those who had once tried to kill you?" Soundwave asked stiffly.

"I believe I've been over this with you. You are not an enemy anymore, but a mech in need. I see a need, I fill it if it's in my power," Prowl replied coolly.

Soundwave felt touched by the sheer will to help that Prowl exuded. He smiled in relief. "Yes sir, it will be sufficient." It wasn't a lie. The thought of air-tight security measures did make his spark ease. Maybe he could let his cassettes out into the main body of the Ark soon. Primus knew they were getting restless.

"Consider it done. I'll comm. Red Alert to work on it as soon as possible," the black and white murmured.

A thought occurred to the ex-Con. "How is he taking the fact we are in base?"

A smirk touched Prowl's lips as he replied, "We are very, very lucky that he was able to keep his paranoia in check this time. "

Soundwave smirked as well. It was a rather comic visual. Sensing that his time was up, he gave a nod to Prowl and left silently, another part of his spark that was hurt, slowly healing.

"You are rather gracious to have allowed us the privilege, Prime," Starscream said, but the slight hint of derision told Prime that the jet really didn't want him to witness what was about to happen.

"It would have been Skyfire if it wasn't for the fact that you two need a break from each other. I think you have been in each other's company far more than what is healthy, especially in circumstances in these," Optimus said calmly.

"Oh? Then who should I spend time with? The jet judo twins? Your medic, your tactician, oh, how about those minibots who have big guns to compensate!" Starscream argued heatedly, crossing his arms and glaring at his new leader. Granted, Starscream would have Prime over Megatron any day, but now he wondered if the semi was being intentionally obtuse right now.

"That is not what I meant," the matrix-bearer replied softly. "I meant that perhaps when one is in another's company for too long a length of time, sometime a restlessness may be felt and a break is needed. I know that you have only talked to Ratchet, myself, Skyfire and your trinemates. And even then, Skyfire has been the only one you have only really associated with. It is a concern for your wellbeing, Starscream, one that I have poorly expressed."

Damn Prime with his diplomatic words!

Scoffing lightly, the Seeker replied, "Apology accepted. Besides, if I take one step inside that rec-room-"

"Actually," Optimus interrupted in a cheerful tone, "Soundwave and your trinemates have ventured there and nothing happened apart from a few hostile glares, so I was informed."

Starscream scowled at the other mech and retorted, "Well, I happen to value my wings higher than Skywarp or Thundercracker. Besides…" he trailed off, as wondering as if to finish the sentence with, 'the only time I feel me is around my trine and Skyfire'.

Thankfully, Optimus didn't press him.

"Hey Starscream, Optimus, sir!"

The cheerful greeting voice belonged to none other than Skywarp, walking toward his trine leader and new commander, with Thundercracker striding evenly beside him. Their wings flicked in greeting, but Starscream saw that they were so eagerly anticipating what was to happen next. A week of no flying was beginning to take its toll on all three of them. Outside in the fresh air was making them all inpatient. Their vantage point on top of the entrance of the Ark gave them a clear view of the desert surrounds and of the brilliant blue sky stretching out above them.

A perfect day for the Trine ritual.

Optimus Prime was going to be watching them to satisfy security reasons, of course.

Sensing the rising impatience in his trinemates – although internally asking himself if he was ready for this – Starscream said to Prime, "We are about to begin. Please do not attempt to call us down or interfere in this time. It needs to be complete."

Optimus nodded in understanding, walking away and sitting down on a blanket he pulled out of subspace to rest on, giving them privacy.

Starscream inhaled and exhaled noisily through his vents to centre himself. Skywarp and Thundercracker moved in closer to him, the blue mech on his right, the black on his left, making them form a triangle.

"Ready Star?" Thundercracker asked quietly, reaching over and taking the tricoloured mechs hand in his, as Skywarp took his and Starscream's.

Cerise optics turned determined and he nodded. "As I'll ever be. Connect, now," he ordered, releasing panels in each wrist, extending two specialised cables. He watched in satisfaction as Skywarp followed immediately, and Thundercracker also, but only after looking both he and his lover in this optics. Next to each point where the cable extended was a port for connection. These connections were more intimate than data exchange ports, but less than ones in the abdominal region for those who could not interface via spike/valve for any reason.

These cables were for creating Trines.

Before any traditional ritual, to find your trine, they had to be in synch with the other two in the trine. The leader of the trine was the one who determined which of the other Seekers would belong. Starscream had found Skywarp and Thundercracker, who had already found each other to be in synch, and decided to take his chances. After all, he had been disgraced from the Science academy at the time. But the two mechs had accepted him. They had been 100% in synch from the first time.

The perfect, balanced trine.

Whispering in a lilted Cybertronian, Starscream spoke the words of the vows they had taken as a Trine so long ago.

"I as Trine leader endeavour to uphold the Vosnian tradition of the Trine, not meant for the faint of spark, not meant for the selfish or the unwilling. I vow to honour, protect, care, and respect my trinemates within the extents of my abilities. I vow to provide in times of need. I vow to protect your wings as you would mine. The Trine is for community. The Trine is for knowing you are not alone in a world where this can be possible. The Trine is for strength and loyalty. As leader, I will fly forward and straight with you." As he said the ancient instilled words, he connected his cables to the other's wrist ports, sending the first data of promise.

"We as trinemates," Skywarp and Thundercracker murmured in a soft tandem, "endeavour to hold this with you. We vow to honour, protect, care, respect, and obey our leader within the extents of our abilities. We vow to provide and comfort in times of need. We vow to protect your wings as you would ours. We see the Trine for what it is and will keep it sacred until we reach the Well of Sparks and beyond. As Trinemates, we will fly forward and straight with you."

Starscream felt warmth travel through him at the honestly spoke words, felt as Skywarp and Thundercracker sent him loyalty, trust, and care through the connection. Shuttering his optics, he cued the exchange. Instantly they shared how they felt, what they wanted from the others. It was intimate without being so. It was softer than love, so much more than care. It was the nature of Trines at its finest. Regardless of the atrocities, regardless of the disagreements and fights, they still believed in one another and cared. Tender feelings blossomed in their sparks, hidden away for so long under Decepticon rule. They were friends, lovers, family and so much more rolled into one.

The exchange completed. The trine bonds were established once more, but now to complete them.

Unshuttering his optics, Starscream gazed into his trinemate's optics. Skywarp's looked suspiciously wet, but he could attend to that later.

Hoarse from emotion, the tricoloured Seeker whispered, "Let us fly."

Still connected through the cables, as one, they ignited their thrusters and hovered above the ground, before slowly climbing. They looked up to the sky as one, sensations of how the breeze felt, caressing their wings, and of the perfectness of the clear sky travelled through the trine link. They flew up, up, up, so high that the Ark was an orange blob amongst empty brownish desert. They hovered there in silence, communicating solely through their wings with sweeps, twitches, sways and wiggles.

Starscream's voice broke the silence.

"Now," he ordered.

In movements long performed, the three disconnected their cables to return them to their bodies and transformed. They faced north in a row, Starscream in the centre, and started off. Words didn't need to be spoken, the ritual so ingrained that they knew what to do.

They streaked forward at high speed, before doing a high loop and performing a low helix down in altitude, heading south. Straight they went, until they executed perfect Immelman turns, G-forces on them exhilarating them, exciting them all. Oh how they all loved to fly!

Thundercracker and Skywarp broke out of the formation, going to the sides and spiralling around Starscream, who was still flying straight in between them. Putting on a burst of speed, Starscream smirked internally. He loved the next stunt, one of the hardest to ever have been taught to fliers. At the last moment, his trinemates levelled out far on either side of him as they went up into a quarter loop, stalling as one, dipping back towards the Earth tail-first, waiting for the precise moment.

"Yee-haa!" trilled Skywarp as they dipped their nosecones toward the Earth and hurtled through the air, allowing themselves to free-fall. Thundercracker laughed deeply, doing an aileron roll lazily for the heck of it as the ground got closer and closer.

Just when Optimus, still watching, thought they were going to crash into the desert plain, they pulled up, thrusters blazing as they pushed themselves into the atmosphere again, spiralling around each other.

Thundercracker levelled out, executing a chandelle as Skywarp and Starscream climbed higher. He lagged behind on purpose. Once they were at a height, he roared up, making a deafening sonic boom as he streaked in the gap they made and going back into the upwards spiral. Skywarp giggled gleefully as he did, and he too pulled ahead, only to show off with the difficult Cobra manoeuvre, seeming as if he reared up before executing a tight loop and falling back into the spiralling formation. They continued to spiral upwards until they were at the exact height they had climbed to before performing the ritual. Starscream hovered there for a second, before rocketing up even higher. His trinemates didn't follow.

He had to perform what was known in the trines as the 'leap of faith.'

Only it was less like a leap and more like a fall.

He had done it before, but only once on Earth. As air pushed past his wings, Starscream reflected that for the first time since he had abandoned his faction, he felt freedom. Not free. He had felt that. But freedom in all its form. He sighed and rocketed on, far higher than he had gone before. Skywarp and Thundercracker were slightly worried that he was going so high, but he ignored it for the time being. He had to do this.

As he got to the point where he felt ice frost over his wings from the altitude, he stopped and hovered.

Looking out over what he could see of the world, Starscream took a moment to reflect.

Why, oh why had he been so stupid? This was such a beautiful planet, and he had ignored it out of forced loyalty and of bitterness. "You have not beaten me, Megatron," he promised to the quiet space around him, "if everything goes my way, I will live to see your de-activation and Cybertron returned to life."

And he cut his engines, letting gravity take him back down to where his trinemates were circling, as they should.

The tricoloured jet looked stunning as it glided through the air, sunlight blinding off the shiny plating and leaving a trail of ice chips, like glittering diamonds, behind him.

It was oddly peaceful.

Then gravity, angry at being defied by the gorgeous Seeker, grabbed it's true hold.

Starscream cackled and transformed mid-fall, spread-eagling himself and letting the forces take him, not worried at all of his body hurtling towards the ground, but enjoying the air rushing past him. He was smiling. For the first time in a while, he was smiling in true joy. The joy of flight.

He knew he wasn't far above the ground now. He heard Optimus Prime's cry of alarm, but still, he didn't fear.

Starscream guessed he was about 60 feet above the ground when two pairs of arms caught him like they had on every other time that they had performed the ritual. It was the true test of trust. He let his smile linger as the thought that Skywarp and Thundercracker still wanted and trusted him enough. They barrel rolled together in their mech mode, the black and blue Seekers sheltering the tricoloured one as they flew up to the top of the volcano and finally shut off their thrusters to stand, united.

"Perfect execution," Starscream praised, placing an arm around each trine mate as they did the same. They were all smiling with elation. Their trine bond was complete. Skywarp in particular looked ecstatic, and Starscream was wondering if it was possible if he was going to damage his face from smiling so widely. Thundercracker also looked happier than he had in the past few months.

"Such high praise from you, Star," Thundercracker said.

Skywarp giggled and cried out, "Trine hug!"

Starscream yelped as he felt those arms go around him once more, both his trinemates chuckling as he squawked, "Didn't you do that already?" But they knew their trine leader didn't mean it. His arms were around them too.

After they separated, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The black and purple jet was looking at his lover intensely now – Starscream caught the obvious glance, even as Thundercracker was looking out over the desert.

Sighing at how easily observable Skywarp could be, he drew the wing-language figure for 'protect' on their wings (a half circle with a line through it), and farewelled, walking away, "I'm going to the washracks. My wings need a good polish after that. I would like to meet you outside the rec-room at 6pm."

"See you then, Starscream," Thundercracker replied, but Skywarp only nodded, his optics fixed on the strong blue jet in front of him. Sensing the gaze, Thundercracker turned, meeting the blazing warm fire of his lover's optics in slight confusion. Why was Skywarp looking at him like that? The last time that had happened he had been pushed into a storeroom closet and…oh.

Moving forward, the teleporter stood cockpit to cockpit to the other mech, warmth from their flight still exuding from their bodies. He lost himself in the caring optics of the blue Seeker, reaching up and cupping the pale cheeks in his hands.

"Are you sure?" Thundercracker whispered in concern as he figured out what was to come next.

Licking his lipplates, Skywarp replied back, "No doubt in my spark…or processor."

As strong blue arms wound around his waist and caressed the base of his wings, Skywarp shuttered his optics and leaned forward, gently brushing his lips over that of his lover's, keeping it light, tentative. After all, what if TC was disgusted? Unshuttering his optics slightly, he found TC's optics the same, almost shuttered, but dimmed in tenderness. Feeling relief, he pressed forward, tilting his helm to the side and letting his lips massage over his lover's, the reply strong as Thundercracker's arms held him tight, pressing them together. Their kiss was sweet, tender and soft. If it had been anything but, Skywarp doubted he would have had the courage to continue, parting his lips and letting his lover's questing glossa delve in and stroke over his own.

Drawing back, Thundercracker whispered, "You taste like you. No-one or nothing else, 'Warp."

Brushing another kiss over TC's lips, the black and purple jet whispered, "That's what I needed to hear."

"No. You wanted to hear that. You need to hear me say that I love you…and that when you're ready…I want you to be my bondmate," the blue Seeker murmured as they stood, nose to nose and lips touching the others as they spoke.

Excitement raced through him and Skywarp asked, "You mean it?"

"Yes."

Skywarp pulled Thundercracker into another kiss, holding the handsome faceplate close. Things were going to be great.

Watching from on top of the Ark, Optimus remarked to Starscream, "It's a good sign."

With a warm smile at where his trinemates were embracing and kissing, Starscream replied, "Of course Prime, any bot could see that. It truly is."

A/N: Yeah, I know not a lot of other interaction in this chapter, but I think this really needed to be done. How did you like that last part? Good? PLEASE REVIEW!

PARTY TIME! In next chapter. (Cue the song fics. Any recommendations for songs? I'm thinking that a certain boom box is going to sing 'Bed of Roses,' by Bon Jovi).

I also have some links to the stunts that the trine pulled (just take out the spaces): http:/en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Aileron_roll

http:/ /en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Pugachev%27s_Cobra ... http:/ en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Chandelle http:/ en. /wiki/ Immelmann_turn http:/ en .wikipedia .org/ wiki/ Tailslide