A/N: This chapter has been sitting in my drafts ready for editing for a while now. I was getting around to it but then my cat died horribly and suddenly. I was home alone with him when it happened to top it off and it's really affected me. He had multiple heart issues which we were managing with medication but unfortunately the meds could only keep it at bay for so long.
I miss him so much but am slowly getting there mentally. It's been a very shite two years for me (the reason I put this story on hold in the first place and fell so behind with it) but I'm hoping now that I can finally catch a break. Let's hope so anyway. As an apology, here's a nice long chapter with some needed lightheartedness for you guys.
"Did it work?"
"Shh! Keep your vocalizer down," Swindle whispered furiously from within the darkness of the corridor as the scrambler device he had attached to the access panel of Starscream's hab suite emitted a beep, indicating it had successfully unlocked the door, "of course it has. I'm a genius."
Doors sliding open as he retrieved the device and dumped it into his awaiting subspace, the two 'cons cautiously stepped into the room as the automatic lights activated.
"We have approximately fourteen kliks before he returns from the boundary check." Swindle murmured as he realized the area was in fact deserted as he had hoped and rooted around in his subspace again.
Retrieving a curious-looking vial filled with a clear, innocent-looking liquid, he held it up to optic-level with a devilish grin before scanning the room.
"Over there."
He pointed to a large desk positioned at the back of the expansive room and strode over to it before opening the topmost drawer. Demolisher followed on behind him, craning his neck and observing as the other grunted and pulled out a cube of delicious-looking high-grade.
"Look at all this," Swindle groused resentfully, motioning to the neat row of cubes lining the drawer, "only the best for old Screamer, eh?"
Retrieving the front most one, he flipped the lid off the vial before tipping the contents of it into the smooth, glowing liquid. Giving it a couple of quick swishes, it blended into the blue fluid seamlessly as though it was never there.
"Now, we put it back and we simply wait," Swindle stated over his shoulder to the other, sounding extremely pleased with himself.
Stooping down in order to set the cube back into its original position, he froze in his tracks when a voice rasped out suddenly from behind them.
"Well, well, well. I wonder what two subordinates could possibly be doing snooping around my quarters at this hour?"
Both mechs span around wildly in shock. Optics wide and mouths slightly agape, they gawked at the sight of Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp stood within the doorway of the hab suite, their arms folded, red eyes aglow with something unidentifiable as they studied them.
Starscream's expression was one of triumph, a small, sly grin playing at the corner of his mouth whereas his two brothers remained cold, closed.
"Well?" Starscream questioned again, quirking his optic ridges at the dumbfounded troops.
Whilst Demolisher's expression remained one of flustered unease, Swindle thought fast, his own quickly smoothing out into a wide toothy grin, his demeanour switching to become suave and charming.
"Oh, come on, Starscream," The purple and yellow 'con stated jovially, "we are so tired of that watered-down, tasteless garbage we have to refuel with daily. We just wanted a little taste of some high-grade again," he motioned to the drawer that was still ajar with his free hand, "Primus knows how long it's been since we've had some. But I guess you caught us!"
With feigned disappointment, he quickly made to return the cube but paused with the jet's next words.
"Hmmm," Starscream intoned at length, a deliberating finger pressed to his chin, "you have gone to all this trouble I suppose, so I guess I will allow it."
Swindle's insincere demeanour cracked slightly then, a hint of uncertainty and perhaps even fear evident on his face before he forced a smile to his lips again. But neither 'con made any move to drink from the cube.
Starscream raised his optic ridges questioningly then before indicating to the cube still clutched within Swindle's grasp.
"You have my permission. And you've got a perfectly good cube right there in your servo, do you not?"
"I umm..." Demolisher and Swindle exchanged wide-eyed glances, the latter quickly shoving the cube towards the other, "I'm feeling rather full after refuelling. I think I'll have some another time. Here, Demolisher. You have it."
Swindle attempted to push the cube into the other's hands again, but Demolisher blocked the motion vehemently, taking several steps backwards.
"I will just... get out of your way." Swindle added, passing by the desk and setting the cube hurriedly down upon it, but as he made to pass Starscream the jet immediately sidestepped, blocking his path with his large wingspan.
Red eyes narrowed, his expression relinquished to one of hostility then, the jet studying the smaller mech menacingly.
Swindle knew then that he had been rumbled.
Opening and closing his mouth like a hapless goldfish, he turned his head desperately toward Demolisher, whom of which already had his hands held up in a gesture of compliance.
"Warp!" Starscream bellowed over his shoulder, arms spread wide as he lifted and trained his null rays upon both Decepticons. Thundercracker had also raised his own, training them keenly on both mechs too.
"On it." Skywarp replied before de-materializing with a shimmer of light and reappearing directly behind Swindle.
Swindle began babbling nervously, attempting to back away from Starscream's null ray currently shoved in his face but bumped directly into Skywarp stood sinisterly behind him.
"Hey! What are you...?" Swindle trailed off, snapping his head around and briefly glimpsing the evil grin of Skywarp before the larger 'con pounced on him. Managing to overpower the truck easily, he pinned his arms behind his back.
Starscream watched on with a sneer as the arms dealer had his legs wiped out from beneath him with a kick, falling into a kneeling position at the commanders' feet.
"You're... you're planning on trying to take down Megatron again, right?" Swindle shrieked, writhing helplessly within Skywarp's unyielding grip, "Well I've got something that will help with that! Real powerful. Guaranteed to do some damage! I will cut you a deal and give it to you for half price if you let me go!"
Evidently impassive to these pleas, Starscream folded his arms and watched the struggling mech in a drawn-out agonizing silence for a moment before bypassing him and making for the desk.
Watching his motions with wide, terrified eyes, Swindle began to struggle even more desperately as Starscream lifted and casually examined the cube that he'd hurriedly placed on the desk moments ago.
"Completely free!" Swindle exclaimed then as Starscream took deliberate steps toward him, the cube clutched formidably within his grasp, "I will give you it for free if you spare me!"
Starscream's features twisted into a loathsome grin, eyes flashing dangerously as he reached out and wrapped his long fingers around Swindle's throat, Skywarp proceeding to force his jaw open when his leader gestured to him with a nod.
"P-please... guh. Let me g-go!" Swindle choked out; expression delirious with terror as Starscream began to slowly tip the cube directly above his open mouth. Vehemently, he attempted to close it, but it was practically impossible.
A rivulet of the poison dribbled down his throat, Starscream watching on with morbid fascination as the truck spluttered and gasped, a horrible gurgling sound filling the air as his optics began to frizz with static. Thundercracker had meanwhile boxed in a horrified Demolisher in the background, his null rays still trained resolutely upon him.
Face beginning to slowly drain of colour, chin laced with thick blue foam, Swindle jerked and shuddered violently. Starscream, however, continued to pour the liquid down his throat. Right up until the very last drop.
Skywarp relinquished his hold then, the now mostly grey mech falling forward heavily onto his hands and knees.
With his last dying gasps, Swindle crawled forward, reaching toward Starscream with his free hand, the other clutching his throat, but the jet merely kicked it aside with an indifferent sneer.
All fell silent and still for a moment as he studied the now stilled body with scorn. Sniffing, he then turned a purposeful glare toward a horror-stricken Demolisher. Whom of which was now quaking head to pedes.
"Well," Starscream growled as his brothers re-positioned themselves either side of him, weapons still trained on the wretched mech, "that's one down."
Demolisher panicked, raising his own weapons, and taking aim at both Starscream and Skywarp who was nearest to him, but Starscream was too quick.
Unleashing his firepower, he incapacitated him immediately, a bellow of pain leaving the 'cons lips as he doubled over, clutching his blaster arm. The three seekers exchanged dark looks then.
Fixing him hungrily, the three of them began to close in, walling him in from all sides.
"No! Please, let me go! I won't say anything to Megatron, I swear! Arghhh! NOOOO!"
Teegan woke with a start.
Hurriedly rubbing her eyes, she bolted upright and looked around her, trying to gauge her whereabouts. Comprehension catching up to her senses, she realized then that she was currently sat upon the sleek metal surface of a desk. A desk situated within a very large dimly lit room.
How long had she been out?
With utmost confusion, she further noted about a dozen containers of water roughly the size of mini fridge's encircling her.
Who on earth had left all these here and why?
Realization dawned on her when she attempted to swallow then, wincing at the resulting sensation of sandpaper lining her throat.
Thirsty. So thirsty.
Groggily, she rose. Still rather unsteady on her feet, she lurched forward and grabbed the edge of the nearest container for support as her head swam. She regretted moving so rapidly then, for the injury to her shoulder twinged painfully. From what she could tell though it had finally stopped bleeding at least.
Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it of fog, she plunged both hands into the liquid, cupping it and bringing it to her lips before consuming it eagerly.
Relief washed over her as the cool liquid eased the discomfort in her throat, a sigh of contentment leaving her lips as she stilled and bowed her head, forearms braced along the edges of the container.
Opening her eyes again she released a long, measured breath, her heart skipping a beat as something unexpected drew her attention.
Her reflection. A rather puzzled reflection staring back out at her from within the now-stilled water. One she hadn't seen in approximately three years now.
Her dark hair looked lank, resting flatly against her skull, falling in long tangles around her thin, pale face. Dark circles ringed her eyes. Dirt was ingrained deeply into parts of her skin, the parts of that were visible so pale that they almost appeared translucent.
Unconsciously, she lifted her hand to her blind eye, trailing an index finger along the ugly scar there.
Is that what I actually look like...? Is that really what everyone around me sees? What... Starscream sees?
Teegan had never liked her appearance. And relentless bullying throughout her school years had only fed into her self-loathing and overall lack of self-esteem. Her self-hatred was perhaps one of the toughest and longest internal battles she had ever fought with little success.
In fact, just before the war began, she had finally plucked up the courage to contact a therapist in the hopes of making some sense of why she felt the way she did. Self-harm had always been her coping mechanism in regards to difficult emotions for so long now that she didn't really know how else to cope.
Having no means to see her own reflection for so long had obviously eased said feelings. After all, when you're mostly alone and trying to survive each day, such things aren't really at the forefront of one's mind. But now... after having caught a glimpse of how she truly looked again, those difficult feelings resurfaced with a vengeance.
Angrily, she smacked the reflection staring back at her, erratic ripples distorting the twin image to the point of an indistinguishable blur. Plunging her hands angrily into the water again, she splashed it over her face and neck, rubbing at her skin roughly, far too painfully.
Dirty rivulets of water trailed paths along the sides of the container, mingling with and muddying the clear contents of the fresh water below. She watched them briefly before snapping herself back to reality.
Straightening, she didn't bother checking her reflection again. Instead, she approached where she had been originally left and lowered herself into a laying position once more.
Sighing wearily, she curled inward and closed her eyes. She was far too exhausted to even consider where she was. All she knew right now is that she needed rest—and lots of it.
Thankfully, it wasn't that long before sleep took hold of her again.
"Shhh! Shut up, Warp! Or you're gonna wake her! Oh, great! Never mind. It's too late."
Blearily opening her eyes, Teegan sat upright and rubbed them furiously before catching sight of two sets of large red eyes studying her intently. Two sets of eyes that were mere inches away and that belonged to none other than Skywarp and Thundercracker.
Immediately, she recoiled, shuffling backwards away from the probing eyes, her back meeting the wall that the desk was budged up against. Interpreting her actions as a result of fear Thundercracker immediately attempted to put her at ease.
"Hey, hey! It's OK human. It's just me and Skywarp!"
Offering him a small nod of acknowledgment, a flurry of thoughts raced to the forefront of her mind, and she shuffled to her feet, studying Thundercracker earnestly.
"W-where's Starscream?" She asked, fearing the answer when she glanced around the room and noted his absence, "Is... is he OK?"
Both seekers didn't miss the note of worry in her tone and Thundercracker offered her another reassuring smile, holding his hands up in a gesture of assurance.
"He's fine." He informed her softly, "Absolutely fine."
"Thanks to you!" Skywarp added over his brothers' shoulder through a mouthful of high-grade that he'd retrieved from his subspace.
"Where did you get that?!" Thundercracker snapped, but realization immediately dawned on him, and he chided the purple jet in furious tones, "Will you stop taking that! You know he's going to notice! He notices everything! And he blames me for it too you know!"
Skywarp looked as though he couldn't care less about facing Starscream's wrath. He merely shrugged, licking his lips in relish after taking another deliberate sip.
"Do you even know if that one was tampered with like the other?" Thundercracker asked exasperatedly then.
"Of course!" Skywarp replied rather tersely, "I should know since I used my cloaking ability to watch the two slaggers the entire time they were in the room, remember? In fact, they passed me by as they entered the room. Didn't have a clue."
Skywarp sounded extremely pleased with himself when recalling these details.
Whilst they had been speaking, Teegan fully took stock of her surroundings. The room was strewn with random clutter on every surface, a crude-looking poster of what appeared to be a female robot plastered above one of two "beds" situated on the far side of the room. The beds were far wider at the top than the bottom and she guessed that it was in order to accommodate their large wingspans.
"So... so you caught them then?" Teegan asked eagerly, tearing her gaze away from the messy surroundings and forcing herself to concentrate on the issue at hand, "What happened?" She added, looking between both jets anxiously.
Teegan didn't miss the silent exchange between the two in the form of pointed glances. Neither said anything for a long moment and she didn't have the nerve to press the subject so changed it instead.
"How long was I out for?" Brushing herself down, she grimaced at the shredded, filthy state her clothes were in. She wondered then what a sight she must present and felt a stab of embarrassment.
"You've been unconscious for approximately three point two earth hours." Skywarp informed her and she raised her eyebrows in apparent surprise.
Both mechs drank from their cubes as silence fell again. Meanwhile, her eyes wandered to the poster plastered above the bed again. She couldn't help it. It was just so intriguing to her. Who knew, that just like humans, giant killer robots also had a tendency to put posters up above their beds like teenage fan girls.
Skywarp realized then where her eyes were fixated and turned to look over his shoulder. Facing her again she noted that he was now wearing a beaming smile.
"Gorgeous, isn't she?"
"Errr... yeah." Teegan replied uncertainly, her expression one of uncertainty and awkwardness.
The only other female mech she had seen was the one known as Proxima. If she were to compare the two, she could only really determine that this particular female was sleeker, more highly polished, with sharper curves, fuller lips and a narrower face. The suggestive pose she was in reminded her of something you would see in a page three magazine.
"She's probably dead by now, Warp," Thundercracker chimed in, picking up a datapad and seating himself at the desk she was stood on before casually perusing it, "after a millennia of war, you'd be hard pressed to even find such a femme. Let alone a conjunx endurae."
"Well," the purple jet sniffed, folding his arms, "maybe we should all start setting our sights a bit further afield then."
"What does that mean?" Thundercracker questioned, optics not leaving the datapad as he awaited an answer.
"Exactly what it implies." Warp replied curtly before adding: "I wouldn't say no to Arcee for example."
Thundercracker made a sound like he was being strangled.
"A-Arcee... but she's a grounder!" The blue jet exclaimed, finally setting the datapad down to fix his brother with an aghast look over his shoulder, "Scream would probably court martial you for simply suggesting such a thing!"
"And? You said it yourself. There aren't really many femmes left. A grounder is better than nothing, surely?"
Little did she know, but "grounders" (what non-fliers were dubbed) had a long-standing rivalry with seekers and other fliers alike. And it was no secret that those with wings considered themselves far superior to those with wheels. It was positively out of the question for the two to be friends. Let alone mate.
"You'd frag a human if given the chance." The blue jet commented dryly then, turning away from his brother in apparent distaste to study the datapad once more.
When Skywarp made no reply, Thundercracker immediately turned around again, studying him suspiciously.
"You're actually thinking about it, aren't you?!" He accused in disbelief.
"Maybe." Skywarp shot back with a playful grin, glossa poking out from between teeth in glee at his brothers' expression.
"You're unbelievable." Thundercracker mumbled before suddenly recollecting their current company. "Umm, no offence by the way femme." He added sheepishly as he nodded at Teegan with a strained smile.
"None taken," Teegan smirked in reply. Her expression grew serious again then, and before the pair could bicker any further, she asked a question, "What's a... c-conjux endera?" She attempted to repeat the phrase she'd heard earlier, her tone most intrigued.
"Hmm," the blue jet faced the desk once more, lowering the datapad and glancing at the ceiling in apparent thought, "In human terms, I suppose it would be your significant other. Your spouse."
"Did... Starscream ever have one?"
Thundercracker looked a little taken aback at her question, studying her in silence momentarily. Opening his mouth, he attempted to answer but Skywarp cut him off.
"Scream? Nah. He's had a couple of relationships here and there but nothing really serious so far. He's pretty picky you see. A fair few have tried their luck mind you. But ultimately weren't successful. Yeah," He added at length, "he's left a lot of broken sparks behind over the millennia."
"Oh." Teegan replied, attempting to sound casual as she seated herself cross-legged upon the tabletop. The sensation of being watched seeped into her conscience then and sure enough, she glanced upwards to find Thundercracker eyeing her watchfully.
Bowing her head again, she found some nearby detritus suddenly rather very interesting.
It wasn't really surprising to hear. Still, she found herself wondering then what the handful of successful females had been like in terms of personality, in appearance. Did they resemble the one on the poster for example? Was that what drew his attention? Gained his interest? Or was it in fact something a little less... sleazy?
A beep was heard from the nearby doors then, Teegan's heart leaping into her throat as the sleek, tall form of Starscream entered and stalked into the room. Skywarp jumped, stowing the cube of high-grade into his sub-space again before leaning casually against the wall.
Making for a large console on the opposite side of the room, Starscream began clearing a space on it, not seeming to notice her nor the aforementioned as he began conversing with the other two in commanding tones.
"Thundercracker, did you scramble the camera feeds?"
"Yes, Sir." The blue jet informed him solemnly, rising from his seat, "All taken care of."
"Excellent. Warp, did you dispose of the cube in the smelting chambers as I asked?"
"Yes, Sir." Skywarp confirmed, "All evidence of it is mere cinders now." Before Starscream could say anything further, Skywarp studied him concernedly before adding; "Scream? What are you gonna do if Megatron finds out?"
"I will deal with that when the time comes." The red seeker replied crisply, his back remaining to them as he finally stilled. Teegan noticed then that he appeared to be looking down at his hands. Their grip exceedingly tight upon the edge of the console as he did.
Then, before she could blink, he turned and briskly approached the desk.
"Thundercracker, did you—" his vocalizer died then as his gaze swept downward, noting the girl presently sitting there, very much awake and alert. Surveying her for a suspended moment, his optics returned to meet the questioning gaze of his twin.
"She woke not long ago." Thundercracker informed him, "A scan 2.3 orns ago showed her condition is steadily improving."
Starscream's gaze met hers evenly then, and he offered her a firm nod. One that seemingly held a multitude of meanings. This silent exchange was one of acknowledgment, one of thanks, and dare she say respect.
She nodded back solemnly.
Today had to have been one of the craziest, oddest days of her life so far. Without a doubt.
Reaching over her, Teegan's eyes were drawn downward momentarily as he withdrew a strange-looking tool from among the other numerous clutter littering the desk. She blinked twice, her stomach tying itself into a horrible knot at the sight of it.
Cybertronian blood.
His fingers were completely smothered in it. Droplets of the bright blue liquid splattered along the top of both hands, as far up as his forearms. Some was even speckled across his cockpit.
Briskly, he resumed his prior position at the console across the room, his back to the three of them once more.
"When I said plenty of water, I didn't mean sixteen containers of the stuff, Warp." Starscream rasped from across the room.
Skywarp merely shrugged in reply, leading a rather disgruntled Thundercracker to snap and start bickering with him about the state he always left their shared quarters in. Teegan would have found the whole affair highly amusing had her attention not currently been elsewhere though.
Craning her neck, she observed as Starscream prepared a cloth, and starting with his left hand began smearing away the traces of life force there. Moments passed as he made quick work of it, the other two continuing on with their heated exchange behind him. Something was thrown across the room in anger, but she still couldn't tear her eyes away.
Seeming to sense her eyes on him, he turned his head slightly and noted her curious surveillance from his peripheral. Shifting, he ensured that his large wingspan obscured her view before he lowered his head again and continued with his task.
Sheepishly, she drew back, realizing she'd inevitably been caught.
Hunched in the corner, Starscream watched on with morbid fascination as the sonic tool he'd grabbed made short work of the remaining liquid coating his hands, dispersing it across his plating before it was boiled into nothingness.
Examining his left hand further, he found even more coagulated energon there, between the crevices of his knuckles. Lowering them into the vapor ray he watched on as that too began to vanish, the blue sludge slowly but surely evaporating before his very optics.
Satisfied, he threw the used cloth into the nearby waste vat and joined his still-bickering brothers on the other side of the room.
Rolling his optics skyward, he drew up a spare seat before grabbing a cube of energon from the desk and crossing his pedes atop it, the action sending numerous detritus skidding across the surface.
Finally done with their row, the other two seated themselves heavily with an audible huff. Skywarp to her left at the far end, Starscream in the centre opposite, and Thundercracker to her right.
The nagging feeling that she shouldn't be here arose then, and she looked to Starscream, silently willing for him to dismiss her. Besides, the wound to her shoulder was twinging painfully again. At least if she was allowed to return to her cell, she could finally check on its severity and clean it up if necessary.
However, he did no such thing.
"Warp?" He rasped, setting his cube aside with a grimace after taking one sip, "I think I'm in need of something a bit stronger than this garbage."
The black and purple jet looked utterly delighted, already making for a nearby cupboard which he rummaged around in briefly before producing the same garish-looking containers of drinks they had that night in the hall.
Setting them down, he poured a measure from one into a spare cube, Starscream immediately downing it. Filling it once more, he proceeded to fill two more for himself and Thundercracker.
Grabbing and lifting his cube, Skywarp let out a below.
"To Teegan! The bravest of all the humans!"
"Please guys," She mumbled, feeling extremely self-conscious and highly undeserving of such a title, "I'm honestly not..."
But they didn't appear to hear her, all three tilting their cubes toward her before taking a hearty swig from them and slamming them back onto the table in unison. Skywarp and Thundercracker let off a round of woop woop's and whistles then, Starscream watching on in amused silence as she cringed throughout the entire ordeal.
Grateful when the clamour died down, she crossed her legs, absently fumbling with her laces as she listened to the three of them talk among themselves.
They did for some time, Skywarp and Thundercracker mostly as Starscream listened, periodically taking a sip from his cube.
As time passed, he seemed to loosen up a bit more, even cackling along with the others as Skywarp regaled some rather amusing anecdotes in which he'd used his powers to prank their fellow Decepticons, even Megatron on occasion.
"Hey, femme," Skywarp said suddenly making her jump and snap her head towards him, "ya want some?" He indicated with a nod to the garish drinks, but before she could answer Thundercracker spoke up.
"Don't be stupid Warp," He scolded across the table, "she's a human. She can't process this stuff like we can. It would probably kill her!"
"I just feel a bit bad that she's left out, that's all." Skywarp snapped then, "She was the one that essentially saved Screamer's life after all."
At the sound of his most despised nickname, Starscream shot him a glare, one Skywarp met with a knowing smirk before raising his cube and toasting to him with it.
"I-I think I will just stick with water." Teegan replied quietly before offering him an appreciative nod. "Thanks anyway."
The sensation of a certain pair of eyes burning into her encouraged a squirming feeling within the depths of her stomach. She needn't look, as she could already see from her peripheral that the red jet was eyeing her silently from over his cube. In an attempt to ease said feeling, she shifted, choosing to ask a timid question.
"These metal plate thingies," she indicated to the objects strewn across the desk to her left then looked at Thundercracker, "what are the strange symbols carved into them?"
"You wouldn't be able to comprehend them human," Thundercracker replied with an amused smile, "but in answer to your question, it's basically just our written language."
She studied the odd markings again with a small frown.
"So... you'd also write your name using these same symbols then?"
He nodded in confirmation before reaching out and sliding one of the metal plates toward him.
"Here," He murmured, hand retracting in upon itself before some sort of laser re-emerged in its place right before her astonished eyes, "I will show you."
"T-H-U-N-D-E-R-C-R-A-C-K-E-R" He spoke every syllable aloud as he carefully carved each glyph into the surface, the markings burning a bright dazzling orange before cooling and fading to black. To her ears however, his vocalizations sounded like a series of strange electronic clicks and whirs.
"I'm guessing that what you heard was a load of sounds?" He asked with a chuckle when he finished and noted her puzzled expression. She nodded with a shy smile. "As I suspected." He added, "Our language is foreign to your ears. Unpronounceable to you too."
"When did you learn English and why do you guys use it all the time if you have your own language?"
"We've learned earth's languages through the World Wide Web in order to communicate with your kind whenever necessary." Thundercracker informed her, "But we've been here so long now that it's just out of habit I suppose." He added with a slight shrug.
"Why did you guys leave your home planet in the first place?"
A brief silence followed on after her timid question, the three seekers looking at each other ambivalently.
To her surprise, it was Starscream that spoke up in answer to her.
"Because of Megatron's incompetence." The answer was clipped, laced with disdain, "Yes, our home planet was beautiful once. Innovative, prosperous, teeming with life and abundant in resources. Now, thanks to our illustrious leader and his impetuous decisions it's nothing more than a decaying husk." He paused before adding with a scowl, "He's also the reason that we are stuck here, on Earth."
"If we hadn't of attempted to follow the Autoboobs," Skywarp chimed in then, "we never would have crash landed here in the first place."
Starscream glared at him. Warp mouthed 'what?' when he noticed but immediately shrugged it off with a pout.
"So, the Autobots do exist?" Teegan exclaimed, straightening, and looking between the three jets inquiringly, "I always thought they were a myth. There were rumours that—"
"—The Autobots are gone." Starscream replied flatly, cutting her off. His tone alone caused her to shrink back slightly in alarm. Thundercracker eyed him in dubious silence for a moment before taking a long thoughtful sip of his drink.
"We were here in disguise for approximately six earth years." He stated quietly, lowering his cube again, "Slowly, both factions began to regroup. It wasn't long after that that the war eventually broke out again and continued here, on your planet."
"I see." Teegan replied quietly, brushing a loose tendril of hair behind her ear as she stared down sombrely at her feet.
"I have a question for ya." Skywarp quipped from across the table suddenly, making her jump again.
"Erm, sure, what is it?"
"When I was traversing the inter webs of your planet," he said, staring at her with the most bemused look she'd ever seen on his face thus far, "I came across a lot of videos. And when I say a lot, I mean a LOT."
"Ok...," Teegan replied slowly, unsure as to where this conversation was going.
"Why is it you humans like smashing your parts together so much?" He finished bluntly, studying her with a most serious of expressions.
Teegan choked before coughing furiously.
All three seekers watched on, rather bewildered as she proceeded to collapse into silent, helpless giggles, clutching at her sides. Starscream looked at Thundercracker then Skywarp in turn, both looking just as baffled as he was.
Finally composing herself, she quickly wiped tears from burning cheeks and looked between the three of them. But their puzzled expressions only set her off again.
The injury to her shoulder twinged more insistently now and she winced through her laughter, reaching up to clutch it with a slightly pained grimace.
Setting his cube aside as her laughter began to ebb, Starscream rose promptly from the desk.
"Right, I think that's enough questions for one night." He stated, extending his hand outward and setting it before her palm up, "Teegan, come."
Obeying, she rose to her feet.
Still clutching her shoulder, she stepped onto his palm, seating herself within its centre. Twisting to look over her shoulder, she nodded to the other two with a small smile. With drunken grins, they both raised their cubes, tipping them in unison toward her once more.
Starscream lowered his gaze then, giving them both a pointed look. The tone with which he spoke was unlike any she'd ever heard him use before, and it alone implied an underlying secretiveness.
"I will speak with you both tomorrow."
Turning on his heel, he approached the exit, the young human safely in hand.