Hashtag was excited as the sun finally ascended into the sky. She and her Terran siblings, with the exception of Trash, were making sure the base and the barn were in impeccable condition for their special guest that would be arriving any time soon.

"I honestly think inviting him over is a terrible idea," Thrash muttered, his arms crossed, and a frown etched on his face. He stood there, watching as his siblings stepped out of the barn.

"Come on, Thrash, Starscream is pretty cool," Twitch chimed in. "Just give him a chance."

"Yeah, he's actually nice," Jawbreaker added.

"You've hardly interacted with him," Thrash argued with Jawbreaker.

"What Jawbreaker means," Nightshade interjected, "is that Starscream is nice because thanks to him, the Decepticons assisted us against Mandroid. Without him, they wouldn't have come and we all would have been doomed."

Thrash waved it off dismissively. "He probably helped us out of personal vendetta against Mandroid or something." He then noticed all his siblings were frowning at his direction. "Come on guys, this is Starscream we're talking about. You know, the most cowardly and deceitful Decepticon to ever exist."

"Thrash, please don't call Starscream names like that, especially a coward, because he's the opposite of that," Hashtag intervened with a firm yet composed tone. She remembered how Starscream had risked his life to protect her in the tunnels weeks ago. The way Starscream had protected her really shifted her perception of the Decepticon. She was looking forward for all of them to spend time with him, to get to know him. Also, her human siblings would befriend him so he could see that now all humans were terrible.

However, Starscream's interaction with Mo and Robbie would have to wait, given that they were in school and wouldn't return until later in the afternoon.

"Please try to be nice to him, just like you are with the Autobots." she said to Thrash. "Trust me, he's not so bad."

Thrash remained unconvinced, still sulking.

"Hey, kiddos," Dot greeted her adopted children with a warm smile, only to notice Thrash's vexed expression. "What's wrong, Thrash? Already missing Robby and Mo?" she teased.

"No… I'm just not excited to have Starscream coming over," he grumbled, leaving Dot puzzled.

"What do you mean, coming over?" she asked before turning to the rest of her Terran babies.

"Yeah, remember, mom?" Hashtag reminded her. "Starscream is coming over today."

"Wait, hold on, what?" Dot let out in shock, causing everyone's gaze to shift toward her in confusion before turning to each other.

"You said you were going to tell her," Hashtag told Twitch, who blinked in response.

"No, I didn't. You said you would," Twitch said.

Dot rubbed the corners of her eyes, struggling to maintain her composure, but then her ears picked up a distant sound.

Oh no…

The sound grew louder and more pronounced with every passing second. It was a terribly familiar sound of an engine roaring through the sky, making her mind race.

She looked up to the heavens to see Starscream, in his jet form, streak across the bright sky with an astonishing speed, a trail of ionized particles marking his path in a cascade of shimmering light. His wings sliced through the air, creating a haunting melody that brought certain horrible memories for Dot of countless jets, operated by her fellow people, falling one by one when Starscream had shot them down years ago.

Her mind returned to the present when Starscream burst forth from the heavens, his jet form a blur of speed, rattling the barns' windows and making the ground quivered beneath everyone's feet. With a deft and practiced maneuver, he transformed mid-flight, wings folding as his feet met the earth.

Dust swirled around Starscream as he landed with a resounding thud, his blue orbs fixing upon her with a bored, and dismissive look.

And just like that, one of the most dangerous and unpredictable Decepticons was standing before her and her children… with no Megatron or Autobot in sight.

Notes:

The rest of the current fanfiction is uploaded in my archive of our own. Peeps can look me up as NisrocChico