A/N: Chapter is set about 6 months following the awakening of both armies on Earth.
Don't name characters until near the end, though I do give some strong hints prior to that. All characters in this chapter are canon.
Earth, present day - Unknown location
"They're on their way."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, Astrotrain was in orbit and picked up Optimus Prime and three others heading for the space bridge."
Silence fell for a moment, then: "I trust you remember that bargain we made."
The first speaker shuddered. He remembered all right. Megatron had not been best pleased to find out what exactly had happened on Cybertron in his absence, and had immediately built a space bridge so that he could return to Darkmount and deal with the situation personally.
As soon as it was done, he headed out, stating that he would be back in three solar cycles.
Two solar cycles after the Decepticon leader's departure, there had been a transmission to his personal comm. In that transmission, he'd been told exactly what had happened to Megatron and Shockwave and if the one he was talking to now would agree to the speaker's demands, he'd refrain from doing the same thing to his listener.
He hadn't wanted to at first, but then those images had been sent over...
The mech at the console would admit it, he wasn't scared easily, but to see what exactly had been done to Shockwave, not to mention Megatron...
And he was nothing if not a survivor. He refused to end up as those two had.
So without a second thought, he'd agreed to listen to the mech's demands. There were three of them: First, he was to hand over the list of those Decepticon Seekers and ground soldiers who'd been at Praxus. Second, he was not to attack any Autobots during whatever skirmishes they were involved in.
Finally, he was to allow the Autobots access to the spacebridge when they finally decided to explore Megatron's absence...
He had done the first (thanking Primus he hadn't been there due to being laid up in the medbay after a coup attempt), and the second hadn't been too difficult to follow through with either, considering he'd already found ways to gather energon that didn't involve raids. Quite a few had been disgruntled and confused by the lack of action, but then again, they were also confused by his failure to lord it over them...
Over the past few Earth months, he'd spent a lot of time thinking. At first, he couldn't guess why the other mech would have chosen him, knowing well the other mech's dislike for his frame-type after Praxus. There were other Decepticons, less loyal ones, he could have chosen. But on further reflection, he figured out why.
He wanted the Seeker to know that he held his life in his hands. That he could do to him what he had done to the other commanders just as easily, and it was only his obedience to the "requests" that had kept him from that fate.
He was also certain that said obedience was the reason for the information the other had passed along to him, information he'd taken advantage of...
It had been the final demand that had been the most worrisome. Knowing he'd had no control over when the Autobots would finally decide to investigate the Decepticon leader's absence, he'd given orders to Blitzwing and Astrotrain to let him know the moment they were detected heading for the space bridge.
And now, it seemed the Autobots had finally decided to investigate Megatron's disappearance and were going to Cybertron...
"I do," the Seeker said aloud. "Thundercracker and Skywarp are guarding the space bridge, and they've been given their orders." Not that they'd understood why they'd received those particular orders to allow the Autobots through after giving them a brief fight. He imagined they thought it to be another coup attempt. Or an attempt to undermine Megatron.
If only they knew..., he thought with another shudder. He only hoped they didn't make it look too good. He really didn't want to give this mech any excuse to come after him, no matter if he couldn't control what those two did once they were out of his sight...
"Very good." came the reply from over the intercom. "As you've kept your end of the bargain, I will keep mine."
The shadowy figure leaned back in his seat, letting some of the tension seep out of his frame. Even so, he couldn't help but still feel a little afraid.
As if in response to the Seeker's thoughts, the voice spoke again. "However, I would advise taking your leave from that world and changing your appearance. You and your companion. For when Thundercracker and Skywarp return to your base, I expect that at least Skywarp won't be able to keep from shooting off his mouth."
The Seeker cursed inwardly. Fragger, he wanted to hiss. But he knew the other was right. Soundwave was already suspicious, frag him, and Skywarp's big mouth would give that fragger what he needed to come after him. It wouldn't matter to the mech that he'd been in fear of his life. Thank Primus he'd already started making his preparations to disappear, just in case this mech had decided to double-cross him.
"Understood," he replied.
He could almost see the cold nod the mech on the other end just had to be giving right about now. "Return to Cybertron in five stellar cycles. That should be as long as it takes to bring what is left of the Decepticons to heel and make certain that Prime will grant you amnesty."
"I will do as you request," the Seeker once more said, though he wasn't certain five stellars would be enough time for that promise to be kept...
"Good. You did well, Starscream. Cybertronian Commander Prowl out," the voice on the other end of the comm. replied, before cutting off.
Starscream couldn't help the trembles that went through him again once the other mech finished speaking. Primus. He was a dead mech, a walking dead mech. How glad he was he'd been able to set up his lab on the volcanic island the humans called Krakatau once it was clear there was no room in his quarters on the Victory for it. It had made it easier to pack things up, especially once his old friend had joined him. All that was left was to disconnect this comm. system, delete his Decepticon transponder signal, and run.
He was startled out of his thoughts by a hand being laid on his shoulder. "I take it we need to go?" a calm voice asked.
Starscream relaxed slightly. "I take it you heard then, Skyfire?"
"I heard enough. Primus, you weren't kidding about him," the Valkyrie replied grimly.
"Prowl is one mech I couldn't lie about, believe me," the tri-color answered with a shake of his head. "I would guess we have maybe one of this planet's hours before Soundwave starts looking for me."
Skyfire frowned, then looked over at the console. "Then we may not have enough time to disconnect this completely. I'll melt it to slag with my cannon and then we can go. Anywhere you have in mind?"
Starscream nodded. He'd been thinking hard about possible off-world boltholes since Prowl's first transmission. "Sylision Colony. It's a haven for deserters and Neutrals nowadays. I know of some mechs living there who owe me favors for marking them in the personnel files as dead and not deserted. They may be willing to at least help us disguise ourselves."
"That'll do for now," Skyfire replied tersely, pulling out his cannon from subspace and aiming for the console as Starscream started to delete his tracking signal...
Five kliks later, Starscream was leaning back against the interior of the shuttle as they headed into the depths of space.
Good luck, Autobots, Starscream spared a thought for his erstwhile enemies, a nervous smile appearing on his face.
You're going to need it.