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Megatron rode towards the destination, new alt-mode clattering around him, mind wandering back to last time he was there. He never knew how much of an annoyance his own brain module can be until recent events. How simple was it to live when biggest regrets he had were about not letting Orion win at Strat Ball and instead whooping his aft and cackling like a madman at the dismayed pouty face. Poor guy actually seemed upset over that silly game.
Ugh. He needed a distraction. Now.
‘Starscream, when will you feel like telling me what do you need to grab from that ship? Is this seriously worth the trip?’
Red jet flying above him huffed in the comms.
‘It would be a quicker endeavor without you tagging along.’
‘So you could pull one over me while i’m not watching? I have the right to supervise you.’
‘Hah! Like you have any experience at that. From what i recall, you were not the brain of that outfit of yours, or had any rank back in the workplace. You would be nothing without the gun power, now quiet down and stop bothering me.’
Good thing Starscream could not see how Megatron’s whole frame shook, threads briefly catching onto stray rocks on the road.
‘I could shoot your down with that gun power, you know.’
‘Sure, go ahead, see how your army full of fliers will react to the news. What a morale boost that would be.’
As far as Megatron could tell, none of those flyers actually liked their ex-leader, other than his trine. But Starscream was objectively good at his job as air commander and, to Megatron’s bewilderment, held genuine respect from them. He is an impressive mech, they said. Just incredibly annoying is all.
What kind of deeds Starscream has done in the past to get this level of loyalty?
Silently fuming at his inability to get back at the mouthy jet Megatron kept trudging on, dark ruins of old ship looming in the distance with suns setting down for the night.
———————————
‘All the cycles we’ve spent in this base, and then you walked in and crushed all of that in an instance.’ Starscream turned to look at him while they awkwardly climbed over the debris that cast shadow over his slit,bright optics. ‘it is almost impressive how much of a trouble magnet you are.’
‘Your base under your leadership. I fail to see how this was my fault.’ jumping down to the bombed out throne room – or whatever it was while the ship still functioned – Megatron tugged the seeker by blue flailing servo, prompting a screechy squeak.
‘Aagh! Stop! My pede is stuck, you want me to break it, you brute?!’
‘What, this?’
He grabbed the offending beam, easily bending it to the side and freeing a dainty heel. Smirking at Starscream’s reaction – that being CLEARLY impressed by his physical prowess - Megatron dragged him down again, ready to catch plump frame in his arms.
‘Ew. Quit groping me.’
He relented to an angry push away from tankformer’s frame, other mech quickly strutting over the throne, heel’s clicks echoing off the walls. Or what was supposed to resemble them. Looking up, Megatron stared at the brilliance of starry sky, rainbow of colorful shades dancing across it. Eventually he would get used to it, but... This was such a drastic change from Iacon’s buildings-shaped shell. Beneath the vast sky was wilderness governing over abandoned sctructures, skittish fauna, no bot in sight other than Megatron’s new troops. Fresh air circulating his vents, blessed ambient silence, without constant noise of workers and machinery.
It was difficult to gauge whether he missed that past life or hated it with his whole being. Something in between, perhaps.
Loud drag of metal on metal brought his attention back to reality. A hatch opened up in the back, barely noticeable in the dark and grime. Starscream stood up, snapping a panel behind the throne closed and dusting off his servos.
‘Well, it was not as damaged as i thought it would be. Come on.’
‘In there?’
‘Yes. How do you think all of us were able to hide before in this place?’ Helm inclined, Starscream raised both optic ridges in impatience. ‘Unless you would rather spend the time appreciating this view out here. Just refrain from giving away my presence to the quintessons when they catch you.’
‘Wait, we’re staying? Can you not just grab whatever you need and head back?’
‘We spent the whole day just getting to this place because of your slow aft. Pardon me for not being a fountain of energy, but i would be happy to get at least some time to recharge instead of risking the night out there.’
Starscream jumped down into the dark, looking up at his leader, bright red orbs the only indication of other mech being there. His annoyed, high-pitched voice reveberated around unseen walls.
‘Come on already!’
‘Are you hiding a weapon in there?’
‘Primus help me’ optics dimmed for a moment as Starscream mumbled under his olfactory, then stared back at Megatron ‘What if i do? Are you scared that i might kill you? Are you that unconfident in yourself? And if so, can i get that leadership back before you disappoint me even further?’
‘Watch it, seeker.’
Barely holding his irritation back, Megatron carefully braced himself on the hatch and slid into the dark, optics already in the process of adjusting to familiar hazard.
‘Was it always pitch black in here?’
‘No. The attack must have damaged the wiring. Or whatever, i am not a mechanic.’
Something thunked on Megatron’s side and he almost jumped, still blind to their surroundings.
‘Eh?’
‘Relax, that’s my wing.’ he could hear an obvious smirk in jet’s voice ‘Why are you this nervous? You really do think i called you out here for an assassination, huh? Despite, you know, resisting your orders to go with me?’
‘Maybe you knew i would order that. Shut up.’
‘Such eloquent speech you have.’ A draft slid down Megatron’s side as other mech moved away. ‘Well, this is not ideal, but we could just follow the walls, my lab is close so...’
‘It’s fine, i can see the way.’ Vision restored, he snatched seeker’s arm and went down the hall, absentmindedly evaluating possibility of a risk of structure collapse. So far it seemed to be stable, so they had that going for them.
‘Are you always this handsy? Or am i the only one worthy of this special treatment?’ the metal was so pristine to the touch, nearly slipping out of his grip as Starscream did his best to follow along, barely catching up to tank’s wide stride.
‘You have too flattering of an image of yourself,’ Megatron smirked, glancing back for a moment, ‘I am merely a bleeding spark helping out a derelict who doesn’t seem to be able to navigate in any terrain other than flattest, brightest plane imaginable. A tragic sight, truly.’
He cringed at audial-shattering screech laced with static, feeling the limb in his grasp practically vibrating in fury.
‘How dare you mock me, you upstarting brat! Two hundreds cycles of war and prime’s guard duty, what do you have to put against that?! You are not weighed down by life because you did not have any! You did not have to survive in the wilderness or, or...’
‘Yeah, i don’t have any rust in my joints from living in this place. So envious of your experience. Don’t get distracted, would you? Where is that... Lab, you said?’
‘I WILL see you fall someday, you glitch!’
‘Uh huh.’
He got no reply, waking in silence save for clanks and clicks of their pedes on the floor. Just as Megatron began wondering if he was expected to apologize, Starscream grumbled the words.
‘Turn the corner to the right, it will be there.’
Another minute of fiddling with the barely glowing panel and scuffed door finally slid open, letting them in. Megatron blinked, looking at the... Well, it was a lab. Absurdly cluttered one though.
‘Hey, beacon of healthiness, do you see small generator to the left?’
Oh right, Starscream was still stumbling in complete darkness.
‘Yep, here it is.’
‘It’s the standalone i have for emergencies, enough to power up this room. Kick it, but not too hard.’
‘Seriously?’ He turned to look at the seeker, quickly realizing that he would not see Megatron’s incredulous expression.
Well, here goes. He swung the leg, hoping that it would not be another case of ‘whoops, i had no idea my frame got this strong and accidentally crushed another datapad.’
Generator coughed, disturbing Megatron by the sound, and then he almost yelled as his optics got blinded by white colors. Quickly covering them with both servos, he recalibrated visual filters back to default ones, slow mocking claps from behind him accompanying generator’s scoffing.
‘Good jooob! Brute force certainly suits you.’
Megatron groaned, finally looking up at the now illuminated lab, seeker’s bright frame colors popping out in his vision.
‘Why are you this insufferable? What did i ever do you?’
‘What, other than uprooting my hard-earned established life? Not much.’ Starscream walked up to another door, unlocking it. ‘Do not dawdle, you have no idea what any of this does anyway. In here.’
‘You are rather haughty for someone i could lift with my one servo.’
‘Really? I’ll have to check if that is a real brag or not.’ Megatron was hoping he did not blush at the reply and accompanying wink, ‘But that is something for later. Right now i have to scour this place for anything that could still be useful. Nothing prevents the enemy from coming back here, and as you recall, we were forced to leave without notice an any opportunity to cover our tracks. I am not letting my work be at any risk of ending up as something used against me!’
‘I thought you weren’t a mechanic.’
‘That’’s because i am NOT, you... Creature. It is a scientific lab. It cannot be that hard to read from the decor of this room, right?’
‘I, uh, never been in any place like this. Could be anything.’ For a couple of seconds Megatron was staring at the disorganized mess, before snapping his helm back to the other mech. ‘Hold on, a scientist? You?’
With a smug smile adorning his faceplate, Starscream gestured at the chaos around them as if it was anything to be proud about.
‘Yes sir, i know everything your average bot does not. Weapons, poisons, data about any possible soil of out planet and a bunch of others in close vicinity! You want someone dead – i am your bot! If you want someone studied, however, i would advise seeking Shockwave’s services. Not that i would not be able to do it’ Starscream laughed, optics briefly going over some particular spot of garbage in the lab, ‘I am merely not interested in a anything this dull. But, in any case, it will take a while for me to sort things out so you are free to go to recharge in the meantime.’
‘You said you wanted to do that yourself. And i don’t trust you to...’
‘Yeah yeah i know, big bad Starscream made a couple of threats agaisnt you, he has to be plotting to do something behind your back!’ heavy vent escaped the jet as he rolled his optics. ‘I will join you soon, it’s not like i have that much energy in me to stay up for the whole night. And i would rather be somewhere less dusty by tomorrow.’
...Join him? What did that mean?
Something kept nagging at the back of Megatron’s processor not to listen to self-admitted inventor of murder weapons and keep his watch, but he was rather exhausted himself. Besides, at this pace he would go insane from all the paranoia about his new sort-of-ally-maybe-also-a-crush. This was as good a chance as any to see if he could be actually trusted.
‘Fine. And be efficient. If any of this is actually dangerous, then i share your sentiments – they should not be allowed to get stronger with our weaponry.’
He ignored Starscream grumbling under the breath about ‘someone’s trying too hard’ and went into the smaller room, kicking the door shut behind him. Portable generator only seemed to power up the lab, so he was met with total darkness once again. Rather than risk another blinding attack on his optics, Megatron opted to carefully step forward with outstretched prodding arms, finally approaching the berth. Horizontal one. And probably only one.
Uuh.
It’s been some time since he recharged in anything other than his slot in the communal quarters. This seemed like some sort of exorbitant luxury, not that he expected anything less from anyone as vain as Starscream. Would Megatron even be able to recharge on his own, in uncomfortable silence and position?
Yeah, he definitely missed the times before his banishment. How embarrassing.
Defiantly ignoring that line of thinking, he lied down on the padded slab, giving his systems commands to power down. In the last seconds of consciousness, he tapped soft material under his servo. Hm. This was actually nice. Maybe reminiscence about stuffy, noisy mines was a silly thought after all.
————————————————
Whatever he saw was impossible to recall in detail, but he still had an image of outstretched hand beckoning him into the endless pit. His own servo hung in the air, unsure. Then he was abruptly pulled in.
An embarrasing shout escaped Megatron when he woke up, or at the very least he thought he did. It was still completely dark, save for the faint hue of his optics. Were his arms still intact? Was this his own servo massaging the other or was he still trapped in that hell of his own making?
A line of light fell into the room as Starscream cracked the door open, frowning faceplate covered in shadows.
‘What are you doing in there? I’d prefer no funny covers-soiling business in my berthroom, even if i am leaving it behind.’
Secretly, Megatron was enormously grateful to seeker’s blunt manners – or lack of thereof - that immediately put his mind back into the reality. But he would not say that out loud.
‘Do you have one track mind or something?’ he did his best to look nonchalant, helm carelessly falling back onto the berth, ‘Got a bad dream is all. Nothing special.’
‘Yeah, right. You know we can all hear your pathetic squeaking in the middle of the night whenever you wake up, right? Skywarp was offering to set up bets on whether or not it will happen again. Is this an average thing for you? It would be useful to know whether i should sound-proof your quarters or not.’
He kept blabbing on, but Megatron already felt humiliated enough. There was some faint hope that nobody in the guard noticed his state and losing it did not feel nice. He could not afford to look weak. Unfortunately, that thought alone was not enough to prevent him from voicing the pitiful complaint.
‘Do you ever stay quiet?! If this all you have to say then i’d rather you leave!’
‘Ahem. My room.’
‘Fine, then i’ll go!’
Why was he enduring all of this?! He should have never went anywhere with this mech. First impressions really are the most important. He should demote Starscream’s smug aft the moment they get back to the temporary base.
‘Hey hey, whoa!’
Megatron hissed at the seeker when he moved to cover the exit with his whole frame, wings standing up as if to intimidate him.
‘You do not have be this dramatic, Primus below, i am just kidding with you.’
‘Well i don’t like it!’
Snatching both blue arms in his servos, Megatron pushed Stascream back into the brightly lit room, noting fearful flash in red optics. But it was not enough to deter lightly built jet from preventing his escape, heels firmly dug into the floor.
‘Okay, okay! I got the message! But do you really want to run away from here? What will you do, sulk somewhere in the corner? Be reasonable, i know that must be difficult with your temper but...’
‘STARSCREAM!’
‘Look, it is still middle of the night! I could help you go back to recharge if you want, it’s better than prowling in the unknown territory, right? I can finish my work in the morning, just stop acting like... This!’
‘Maybe my mood woudn’t be so horrible if you didn’t act like this!’
Something creaked under his fingers. Looking down, Megatron noticed fresh dents in seeker’s plating.
Shaking the helm, he let shaking mech go, stepping back into the darkened room and plopping back onto the berth. Moment passes before Starscream silently moved off his spot in the door frame, muffled cluttering reaching Megatron’s audials. He was so tired. Why did his life had to become so hectic and miserable? Why every mech he wanted to get close to had to be an unstable, selfish aft?
Starscream jogged into the room, swiftly closing the door behind him, plunging it into the black void once again. Before Megatron could bark an order to get out, he felt another frame landing beside him,almost obscuring the sound of some mechanism. After a quiet curse and even quieter whir, a projection painted the room in purple colors. A star map, if he had to guess. Or at the very least something simular to the sight he liked to watch every night of his new life. It was coming out of a small box in Starscream’s grasp, which was then deposited to the headrest of their berth. Briefly Megatron followed other mech’s movements, caught off guard by almost serene smile on Starscream’s faceplate. He resisted looking away when red optics met his.
‘It is nothing specia,l but uh, better than sitting in darkness, right?’
‘I... Suppose?’ This was not what Megatron expected after his, frankly, immature outburst. The least he could do was to let seeker do his thing. ‘Pretty fancy for a lamp.’
‘Where have you seen lamps like these?’ chuckling, Starscream settled into padding, looking up at the field of fake constellations. ‘No, this is my personal invention. Pretty simple yet helpful. Creates an illusion that i am not indoors, buried under rubble of this ship, but outside. Also it looks pretty.’
‘It does. I like the color.’
‘Of course you do.’
For once, Megatron did not feel like lashing out at the comment, smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he turned to look at Starscream.
‘What it is helping against, exactly?’
‘Sky sickness. Ever hear of that?’
Suddenly seeker’s face was too close to his own, Megatron’s optics picking out individual blemishes on white metal. His own plating must have looked even worse. He almost felt ashamed at letting the other see him like this.
‘No. It sounds made up.’
‘Wow. Note to self – get some reading material on my kind for you. For someone who has surrounded himself with fliers you are pretty ignorant of the subject.’
‘Alright, explain it then.’
‘I mean, it is... Pretty straightforward. If you keep a seeker, for example, inside of a locked room for way too long, they will become less and less coherent until they get outside and fly again. Which i had to deal with, thanks to Sentinel’s buddies roaming around. And since i like to keep my sanity in check, i found a way to make this a bit more bearable.’
Megatron turned to look at the mockery of the night sky again.
‘Is it that easy to fool your processor?’
‘Yes, thankfully. Too bad i cannot project an image of a better leader onto you.’
‘Just not letting that go, are you?’
‘Never.’
He could still see Starscream gazing at him in the peripheral vision. It was impossible to resist the question that kept burning in his mind throughout the whole day.
‘Is that why you’re refusing to call me by my designation?’
‘It is not yours.’
The answer came way too quick, too confident in its tone for Megatron to be ready for impact. His servos twitched, briefly brushing seeker’s frame beside him.
‘Did i not earn the right to claim it as my own?’
‘By goring an arrogant idiot in front of the entire city and stealing his organs? Not particularly, no. You might have taken a part of him, and i do not dispute your right to bear it. But you are not him, and never will be. At the very least, not while you still behave like a petulant sparkling.’
Pristine denta glistened in purple starlight in snarky smile.
‘I could call you D-16, though.’
One moment Megatron was staring at the ceiling, and the next he was on top of the seeker, black trembling servos trapping dark helm on both sides, wings creaking from the weight put onto them. Maybe he did need help. These momentary blackouts could not have been a good sign.
Starscream did not seem perturbed in the slightest, as if he was... Expecting the reaction. Of course. Everything he just said was being proven right. He kept smiling at Megatron, optics bright in tankformer’s shadow looming over the seeker, purple shapes dancing on the borders.
‘No? Not fond of that one anymore? Well. I suppose you will have to work harder for the name you like so much then.’
Megatron really wanted to punch him, but that would hardly get him anywhere. What else worked so far?
‘Were you two close?’
There was something satisafctory at seeing Starscream’s expression shift from calm to intense in a mere second.
‘I don’t follow.’
‘Megatronus. You were his guard. You had to know more than anyone about the mech,’ he allowed himself to sneer at the seeker, ‘At least judging by the size of that chip on your shoulder you have about him.’
‘So i did. What of it?’
‘He was impressive, wasn’t he?’
‘He was.’
‘Yes. He was. Because for fifty cycles now his carcass has been rusting on the outskirts of Cybertron. Yet you still cling to the dead mech as if the helps you in any way.’
Slowly shaking his helm. Stacream lift an accusatory finger at him.
‘You do not want to go down that road. I can throw the exact same thing back at you.’
‘You could. In fact, we can do this dance until the night ends and long after that,’ Megatron ignored Starscream’s furious stare as he folded both hands atop red chestplate, settling his helm down on them. ‘Or we could actually work together and make something useful out of it.’
‘Well aren’t you amiable all of a sudden? I did not get the impression that you would be willing to cooperate with me on anything until now.’ Seeker’s frame shook in a futile attempt to throw him off. ‘Or is this another horrid attempt at flirting?’
‘Were they horrid? I seem to be rather successful so far. Got into your berth and all that.’
Starscream barked out an ugly laugh, quickly covering his mouth to stop the grating, high-pitched sound. Barely audible ‘you idiot’ reaching Megatron’s hearing.
‘...but i was talking about another kind of help. You don’t like my leadership, and as unfair that is considering that i am being compared to a prime, i am willing to... Improve myself. ’
‘Oh?’ Starscream playfully tapped his servo on silver forearm, ‘Where do i fit in that grandiose idea of yours?’
He did not want to say it. But Starscream was right, and he knew so much, Megatron had to have that. He could not scare this fickle new ally of his away because of personal pettiness.
Can’s show weakness. But can’t let it fester either.
Frag.
‘Teach me how to be like them. Like someone you would want to follow.’
He stared at full pouting lips, sound of those tapping fingers insisting in the quiet room. This insufferable mech was making a show out of everything, rolling his optics, puffing out the cockpit under Megatron’s frame.
‘I don’t know. It is much more entertaining to watch you flounder about. What do i get out of it?’
‘You get to go along for the ride. The first one to see everything that i do, perhaps even before that. Your past life was stolen from you. I will create it anew in our image.’
‘Ooh. How romantic. Do i get to kill you in the cave when we’re done?’
‘You can try. But i worry you will grow to like me too much by time we get there.’
‘Are all miners so stupid and starry-eyed? Get off of me before i rust from all this sappiness you’re spewing, ugh.’
‘Still waiting for that answer.’
‘Yes, i will try to make less of a mindless brute out of you, happy?’
‘Very happy.’
Leaning forward, he quickly kissed Stascream, who had just enough time to look shocked before Megatron slid back to the berth, laying down to look at purple lights around them. For a while it was just that and the sound of cooling systems on their frames. He almost did not feel like hiding his face beneath covers from all the influx of invasive shameful thoughts.
Eventually Starscream spoke, voice glitching out just a bit.
‘Okay. We have... Not long before sunrise, so it is best to recharge while there is time. And i am not allowing you to oversleep, got it?’
‘Yes, Starscream.’
‘Good.’
‘Hey.’
‘For fr...what?’
He’d go along with one invasive thought.
‘Out of all the stars in this room, and outside of it,’ he waved the servo, following the way colors flowed down the plating, ‘You... Are the brightest one.’
‘Megatron.’
His helm snapped to look at the seeker, white faceplate unreadable.
‘Yes, Starscream?’
‘Rip out my audials next so i won’t have to listen to slag like this ever again.’