Feb. 2, 2013
Prompt 5: Setting: A very cold place
Skyfire was cold. It was all he was aware of. He knew how he had gotten here, why he was here, but he really couldn't think of any way to get out of this. He was frozen. His armor, specially engineered to keep out the cold emptiness of space, had protected his internals from the sharp spears frozen hydrogen dioxide formed, but the water around him had frozen solid, sealing his limbs and body in an airtight block. Even with all his strength, he wasn't able to break it.
As for why he was aware, that was easy enough to figure out. It had happened a few times before. As an explorer, he had specialized sensors and protocols that woke him up when anything possibly dangerous was near. In the past, he had been woken by passing creatures or shifting ice. The passing creatures always made him yearn to be free, to be able to examine them and catalog them. The shifting ice also made him wish for freedom, but a freedom of a different kind. The freedom of the skies and stars, where he could move freely.
He assumed that the ice had shifted and woken him again. He didn't feel any more tremors, but his energy was bound to run out eventually. He had probably simply taken a while to boot up.
Then something touched his fingers. Something warm, something not ice. A soft caress, and he could feel the vibration of words on his plating, even if the ice distorted and muffled it too much to hear.
Over the next long while, he could feel more and more of his arm plating exposed. He tried twitching his fingers, and was rewarded with a shriek that, even through the layers and layers of ice, was recognizable and familiar.
Starscream? He had told the Seeker to continue on, before his comms had shorted. Had told him to live on, because he was done for. Stupid Seeker, never following orders...
More and more ice was chipped away. Skyfire relaxed, enjoying the feeling of air, actual air, on his plating again.
Then his helm was free, and he smiled into the scowling, black faceplates of his partner.
"Starscream..."
"Skyfire, you glitch! I told you the atmosphere was unstable!"
Skyfire chuckled, then outright laugh. "I told you to get free and live on."
Starscream's face fell. "I did," he whispered. "I did, and it was the hardest damn thing I've ever done, you stupid glitch!"
Skyfire frowned, finally realizing that his processors were running a bit slow. He felt dizzy. "What do you mean?" Starscream moved back to the ice on his torso, which was starting to melt as his systems started coming back online. "Starscream, what do you mean?" he repeated, and Starscream let out a choked sob.
"I moved on!" he screeched, leaning back from the shuttle. "I went back to Cybertron! I was expelled from the Science Institute because I had, apparently, murdered you! Then the war started, and... and..."
Skyfire used his one free arm to pull his partner against his warming chassis. Expelled? Murder? War?
But it didn't matter. He had Starscream in his arms, he was free – well, almost – from the ice, and he was happy for now. Starscream could explain later. For now, he was happy to be out of his icy prison with his almost-bondmate in his arms.