CHAPTER 1

Partners

"I have been a fool. Made mistakes. Monumental ones. I now realize I was never destined to be a leader, or even an equal partner. And, I am at peace with that. I have gained a clear understanding of my place in this universe. Of who I am. Of who I was always meant to be. Starscream: second in command, humble servant to Lord Megatron. Thank you for listening, Soundwave."

That was what Starscream had decided anyway…until he was sent on a mission by Megatron to guide Airachnid to a crashed Decepticon ship named the Harbinger. The warlord had been very displeased with the Seeker not telling him about his scouting of the ship, even less displeased with knowing he had not retrieved the weapon onboard. As Airachnid then mentioned he had not even logged the ship's location into the database, Megatron had grown increasingly impatient with him.

Lucky for the Seeker he had imprinted the location in his processer. Less fortunate was it that he had to guide the malevolent Airachnid there. He trusted that spider as far as he could throw her.

They arrived at the edge of a forest, where they transformed and conversed about the ship…and other things. Such as Starscream degrading Airachnid's helicopter mode and attempting to win her respect by telling her of his past as the Air Commander of some Energon Seekers…which, not surprisingly, failed to impress her. Then, however, the talk moved on to Cliffjumper.

"Just recently, I personally vanquished one of Optimus Prime's fiercest warriors. Cliffjumper," he said the last part in a nefarious tone.

This made Airachnid turn and look at him. "You snuffed an Autobot?" she asked, perhaps mildly surprised though not overly impressed.

"Yes I did," he replied in a satisfied tone, "Without mercy."

"Oh," she said, sounding even less interested than before. "Even Megatron showed you mercy when he planned to terminate you at the mine."

"What?" he exclaimed. "He told you about that?"

"We talk."

Starscream snorted. The thought about Airachnid and Megatron conversing without him was unbearable. He was second-in-command to the Decepticons, not her! He then remembered overhearing Megatron and Airachnid's conversation just before the Seeker had interrupted them and then sent on this mission.

"The wreckage lies just beneath where we stand," he muttered. "I will need to find a point of entry—"

But Airachnid had already initiated her drill-mode and dug underground, leaving him behind on the surface. He looked down the hole and snorted once again.

"Showoff."

He crawled down the hole Airachnid had made, folding his wings tightly against his back to make room. On the way down, he thought about Airachnid's words and her and Megatron's conversation again. His thoughts moved on to the episode in the mine, and then a horrendous thought struck him.

What if Megatron hadn't considered keeping Starscream around after all? What if he secretly ordered Airachnid to take him down once they were inside the Harbinger, where no one would find him nor ever know what happened to him? What if he was planning on making Airachnid his new second-in-command?

No, it couldn't be. First of all, the warlord didn't like the spider any more than the Seeker did. Second of all, Starscream had sworn his loyalty and owed Megatron back in the mine, so Megatron knew the Seeker wouldn't betray him again…at least for now.

As he finally reached the bottom of the hole and met up with Airachnid inside the ship, he decided to forget about these paranoid thoughts for now. Megatron would never replace Starscream, he was too valuable. And he certainly wouldn't have Airachnid assassinate him. He knew the warlord would want the pleasure of doing that himself, however unnerving this thought was.

"Suit yourself," Starscream said, as they went through the hallway of the Harbinger. "I conducted a thorough search of this husk years ago."

Airachnid began messing around with the ship's computer. This took the Seeker by surprise.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed and walked over.

"Accessing the cargo manifest," she replied briefly while pushing the buttons. "Or didn't you think to do that during your thorough search?"

"Idiot," he snarled, growing increasingly impatient with her. "The ship's systems haven't been activated for eons. The Autobots could detect its energy signature!"

"Ah, here it is," she said, as if he hadn't been talking at all. "Section twenty-three."

The twosome moved on through the ship, to find their destination. However, as they arrived where section twenty-three was supposed to be, instead they found a solid rock wall.

"The ship just…ends," Airachnid observed. "It must've broken in half during the crash."

Starscream made a small, mocking grunt, gaining Airachnid's attention. "Or in the air. If you performed actual research, you would've learned that an Autobot battalion shot the Harbinger out of the sky."

"How far away is the other half?" Airachnid snapped, annoyed by the Seeker's tone.

"I'm afraid that information is…need to know," he said sassy, repeating her earlier words about the weapon they were looking for.

Airachnid did not find his reply amusing. As a response to his sass, she shot out sticky web from her servos and restrained the Seeker's arms and torso in a cobweb. Despite his earlier suspicion, Starscream was absolutely shocked by the spider's action.

"What are you—"

"Don't try to make me look like a fool before Megatron," she interrupted and held a threatening claw at the Seeker's face. "Have me return empty-handed while you locate that weapon yourself."

This made Starscream even madder, as this time he actually hadn't cared for the weapon, nor planned to gain Megatron's favor this way – that is, until Airachnid mentioned it just now. "How dare you accuse me! You are nothing but a scavenger! An opportunist!"

"Aren't you one to talk," she replied aloof.

"Perhaps," Starscream admitted, "but I've changed. Seen the error of my ways. I live to serve Megatron now."

"You won't live to serve anyone, if you don't tell me where to find the rest of this ship. Now," she said with a commanding tone.

Starscream huffed anxiously. "A few kliks north of here through a stone arch. Now release me!"

Airachnid moved off the Seeker and reverted to robot mode, turning around to give him a venomous smile. "When I have the weapon in hand," she said with a silky voice. "That is, if I can find my way back, without my guide." She turned around and walked away.

"This is not funny, Airachnid," Starscream exclaimed frightened. "Come back here right now and cut me loose! Airachnid! That is an order! I am your commanding officer!"

He could hear her laugh at his panicking protests. He got a sinking feeling as all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind. Airachnid is a traitor, she has to be. When I get out of this filthy gunk, I'll tear her useless head off, and I don't care what Megatron is going to say… He then once again remembered Megatron and Airachnid's conversation, and more anxious thoughts went through his mind. Did Megatron plan this? Did he really plan to have Airachnid replace me as his second-in-command? Have I been betrayed by my master?!

His thoughts were interrupted by Airachnid's sudden return, having reverted back to spider-mode.

"Airachnid! You traitor!" he shouted angrily as she scurried over him. The next second, the Seeker spotted the Autobots right behind her. I knew they were going to detect the signal, damn wretch, he thought with anger.

She completely ignored him and began drilling her way through the rock wall, leaving Starscream behind, tied up and at the Autobots' mercy. The blue femmebot named Arcee went through the hole Airachnid had made, apparently determined to follow her.

"Arcee, wait!" Optimus Prime called, but Arcee neither returned nor responded. Prime was way too big to fit through the hole, so he went in the direction where he and the other Autobots had come from. "I will assist Arcee. You two bring Starscream to the surface with you."

"You got it," Bumblebee bleeped, as Prime disappeared from sight. He and Bulkhead turned their attention to their newly acquired prisoner.

"Well, well," Bulkhead said while looking at the tied-up Starscream. "What do we have here?"

"Ugh, this is so humiliating," Starscream muttered and dragged his knees to his chest, in an attempt to stand up. Instead, Bulkhead grabbed the webbing on his back and lifted him on his peds in a rough movement. The Seeker let out a surprised exclamation.

"Move it," Bulkhead ordered.

"I don't need to take orders from you, Autobot," Starscream snapped.

Bulkhead reverted his right servo to a wrecking ball and nudged the Seeker in the back with it, making the latter flinch. "I said move it!"

"Alright, alright!"

As they got outside, through the entry the Autobots had gone through, Starscream, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were approaching Optimus and Arcee, conversing. Apparently, Airachnid had taken off already, Starscream figured.

"Move it!" Bulkhead repeated and shoved the Seeker.

"No need to use force!" Starscream said offended, and a bit scared as he fell to his knees from the big Autobot's shove. He huffed and looked anxious up at Optimus Prime. "I'll tell you anything you want to know!"

Bulkhead chuckled. "Is that right? And what do you want in return?"

Starscream thought for a moment. As Prime took a few steps closer, the Seeker replied in a defeated tone: "I want to be…on your side."

This seemed to surprise the Autobots. Nobody said anything for a while. Optimus stared at Starscream, who stared back with long, downcast eyebrows and worried optics in an anxious expression. The Autobot leader seemed to be thoughtful. Not all the Autobots took the Seeker's offer seriously though.

"On our side?" Bulkhead repeated and laughed. "Yeah, right! And I've been lobbing with the Fallen!"

"You wouldn't betray the Decepticons," Arcee said.

"Wouldn't I?" the Seeker protested. "What have they done for me lately, besides humiliate me, spy on me, demote me? Megatron tried to extinguish my spark in cold blood, then all but replace me with that traitorous wretch Airachnid! She abandoned me! Left me for scrap! So why not rat them out?"

Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead walked a distance away, leaving Bumblebee to guard the prisoner with his gun ready. The Seeker snorted and faced the other way. He should have known better than to trust that they would just take him in that easily. He could hear the other Autobots discuss something and mention his name.

"He's telling the truth about Megatron trying to scrap him," Arcee said. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"You're not saying you actually trust Starscream?" Bulkhead asked.

"Trust him? Never. But this may be the one time our objectives align." She was most likely referring to their shared hatred toward Airachnid.

"You're right to be wary, Bulkhead," Optimus said, "but I agree with Arcee."

Starscream was glad the Autobots had freed him from the web – not so happy that they had then put stasis cuffs on his wrists and buckles on his wings. Naturally they didn't trust him enough to let him roam freely, so of course they also had to transport him in Prime's trailer. It was big enough for Starscream to fit in, but it was still rather confined and dark, almost enough to give the flight-based Seeker claustrophobia. It didn't help that the ride was terribly bouncy, so he was occasionally hurled up and down on the floor of the trailer. He had told the location of the other part of the Harbinger to the Autobots, but they brought him along so he could point out the exact location.

After several cycles, Prime stopped, and by the sound from outside he had transformed. Starscream now lay still in the darkness and was no longer distracted by the bounciness to ignore the claustrophobic feeling that returned to him. He wasn't used to being in such a small confinement, not even aboard the Nemesis. In fact, even the smallest room on the airship was bigger than this tiny space.

And giving the recent events in the Energon mine of having to hold up the ceiling to prevent getting crushed beneath tons of rocks, the Seeker had not been very thrilled about small, dark, confined spaces. And this trailer was all three things.

"Well, whaddya know?" Bulkhead said as he, Arcee and Bumblebee transformed in front of the stone arch Starscream had told them about.

"Could still be a trap," Arcee reminded him. Behind them, Optimus transformed and left the trailer at a standstill for a while.

"Starscream's loyalty to Megatron has always been questionable," Optimus said. "If he has truly split from the Decepticons, our prisoner's knowledge of their agendas could make him a valuable ally."

"You don't mean permanently, as in keys to the base and everything?" Bulkhead said in disbelief.

"However unlikely that scenario," Optimus said calmly, "every sentient being deserves an opportunity for redemption."

"Even bot-killers?" Arcee protested. "Even Airachnid?"

"Without that hope, we may never achieve lasting peace."

Starscream was beginning to get worried. What's taking them so long? They haven't left me, have they? Am I going to spend the rest of my life in this—

The trailer door opened and Bulkhead's large figure appeared in the opening.

"Rise and shine, Screamy!" he said and roughly pulled the Seeker out of the trailer by the legs, so he landed hard on his aft. He let out an agitated exclamation by the impact. He was glad to be outside the small trailer, but it still didn't help on his restraints.

"We're here," Arcee announced to him. "Where's the ship?"

Starscream got up on his knees and looked around, trying to determine where they were. He could see that they were in a canyon, far away from the forest, but close enough for the drive to only last about ten cycles, apparently. "It's through the arch, among the stones."

They looked in the direction where he pointed. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, you're with me," Optimus said. "Arcee, remain with our prisoner."

This seemed to take Arcee by surprise, because as Optimus and the other mechs were about to leave, she caught up to Prime and stopped him. "Optimus, please," she said. Prime turned and looked at her. "For Tailgate."

"Your desire to avenge Tailgate will only continue to cloud your judgement," he simply replied and walked off with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, leaving Arcee behind with Starscream. This one grumbled while hassling with his restraints.

"Is the clamp really necessary?" Starscream complained. "I promise not to fly away. It's really giving me a crick!"

Arcee placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative manner. "I can shove you back in the trailer." The Seeker moaned disappointed.

The next several cycles, Arcee did nothing but walk back and forth in front of Starscream. None of them spoke a word. What do Autobots and Decepticons talk about together when not fighting to the death? Although Starscream wasn't happy being in this situation with the Autobots, he didn't want to remain in this awkward silence with the femmebot either. He thought about striking up a conversation. But how to start one?

"I'm not really so bad, you know," he began. "Megatron, he's the evil one."

"Tell it to someone who cares," she replied, but stopped her aimless walking back-and-forth.

"Like whom, Airachnid? What I wouldn't do to get my hands around her wretched throat." He made a clenching gesture to underline his words.

"So we can agree on one thing."

"Oh, you have no idea," he continued, pleased that she found interest in his opinion. "She showed up one day, and the next thing you know, she's acting like she runs the place." Arcee smiled. She seemed to be easing up a little to the Seeker by his berating of Airachnid. Either that, or she simply found amusement in another Decepticon hating the spider. "She whispered lies into Megatron's ear, maneuvered to remove me of my rightful place!"

"Well," she replied and looked away, "she terminated my partner."

"What?!" he exclaimed in disgrace. "She's taking credit for scrapping him now too? That was m… Megatron's doing." He didn't know what had stopped him from saying "my", but he was glad it happened, seeing how Arcee reacted next.

"What? Megatron wasn't there. And neither were you."

"Uh, well," Starscream began, trying to build up the bricks made by his lie. "We were both present. I saw Megatron scrapping him with my own eyes."

"Who are you talking about?" she asked.

"Cliffjumper, who else?" he replied confused.

Arcee seemed to daze off for a second. "Of course," she said. "Who else would've done it? Of course it had to be the Big Bad himself!" She stomped in anger; Starscream flinched but was glad the anger wasn't directed at him.

"Yes, well, his Lordship prefers to have the pleasure of exterminating his enemies himself," he replied, actually being sincere, thinking about the episode in the Energon mine. "He also exterminated my partner, back in the war for Cybertron."

Arcee looked at the Seeker with renewed interest. "You had a partner? You, of all 'Cons? I thought everyone hated you."

"Yes, I know I'm not the most popular guy in the universe," he admitted. An understatement, really. There was actually not a single being who knew Starscream and even liked him. "But back before the war, I was Air Commander of a squadron of Energon Seekers, tasked with guarding the Dark Energon on Cybertron. My best friend and most trusted partner was among them. His name was Jetfire."

"Jetfire," she repeated. "I think I've heard that name before. He was an Autobot, part of the elite troops back in the war. Why would he be friends with a 'Con like you?"

"For your information, I wasn't always a Decepticon," he said, eager to move the conversation away from Cliffjumper. "In fact I have only been Megatron's second-in-command for the last few thousand years. We were guarding the Dark Energon from Megatron and the Decepticons, under orders from Zeta Prime. But Megatron ended up defeating us and…er…forced us to join him, or be eliminated. Jetfire declined the offer, and Megatron terminated him as an example to the rest of us."

Arcee raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Really? I find that hard to believe."

Starscream's gaze flickered from side to side, unsure how to continue this awkward turn of the conversation, when his optics suddenly fixed on a point in the sky. "Wow."

Arcee turned around to see what had fascinated the Seeker, and gazed in wonder herself; a meteor, very distant – just a small speck on the sky, but quite illuminative – fell slowly across the sky towards the ground. The size of the meteor was unclear, but due to its slow speed and far distance it seemed to be huge.

"Wow indeed," she repeated. "We gotta tell Optimus about this. This could be—What do you think you're doing?"

Starscream had approached the femmebot on knees and held out his claws at her, but she had just managed to turn around and point her blasters at him before he could do anything. He flinched as she busted him, and winced back.

"Who, me? I wasn't doing anything!" he said, with little convincing tone. He put on his most miserable, frightened expression he could make.

"Don't try anything funny, 'Con!" Arcee hissed coldly, not impressed by his attempt at pity.

"Arcee! Arcee!" Bumblebee's bleeping sounded from the stone arch. The two bots turned and looked at him running towards them. He was alone.

"Bee! Where are the others? Where's Airachnid?"

"She got away," he beeped, while looking a bit concerned at the twosome's situation. "But she used the Immobilizer to stun Optimus and Bulkhead. I destroyed the weapon, but they're still frozen!"

Arcee took a more affirmative stance. "Lead the way, Bee. Get up," she added to Starscream, gesturing with her gun. The Seeker got onto his peds and began walking after Bumblebee through the arch, with Arcee and her gun pointing at his back. They gazed upon the crash site of the Harbinger, stuck in the mountain, the entrance just sticking out far enough to enter the ship. At the foot of the ship stood two frozen Autobots, Bulkhead and Optimus Prime respectively. Arcee left Starscream with Bumblebee and examined the Prime 'statue'.

"We have to get them back to base," she said and opened her comm. "Ratchet, do you copy?"

"I read you, Arcee. What's your status? Have you located the Decepticon weapon yet?"

"Sort of," Arcee replied, looking down at the remains of the Immobilizer – mere fragments scattered on the ground. "But Optimus and Bulkhead need help. They got hit by the weapon, called the Immobilizer, and they've turned into statues."

"I'll open a GroundBridge at your location."

"Wait! There's something else you should know…"

"You have Starscream with you?" Ratchet exclaimed by Arcee's explanation and hammered his hand into the instrument panel. "There is no way on Cybertron or Earth that I am going to let a Decepticon into our top secret base!"

"Not even a supposedly 'former' Decepticon?" Arcee's voice sounded from the other end of the comm.

"Seriously, what are the chances that Starscream would join our side? We can't risk letting him know our location, you should be aware of that fact."

"Relax, Ratchet. It's not like we're gonna give him the run of the house. I'm not INSANE. But like Optimus said, he could have useful information that could help us win the war sooner. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but this is one time where we have to take the help we can get."

Ratchet was silent for a moment, thinking. "And where do you suppose we keep him in the meantime?"

"Well, we can't leave him out here. The 'Cons could easily find him and…well, you know."

"Well, we can't have him in the base."

"How about clearing one of the storage rooms and put him in there?" Bumblebee suggested on his own comm.

Ratchet became thoughtful. "That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. Wait there! I'll go get something ready, and then I'll bridge you all back here."

They waited for several cycles in silence, waiting for Ratchet's signal. Starscream hadn't heard what the doctor had said, but overheard – he couldn't help but do so due to being right next to them – Arcee and Bumblebee talking about him 'having useful information' and discussing whether to 'leave him out here' or 'put him in a storage room'. He wanted to ask what they had decided to do with him, but he was also afraid of the answer. So they just waited alongside the petrified Optimus Prime and Bulkhead, until Arcee heard Ratchet's voice on her comm. again.

"All clear," Ratchet informed. "I'm opening the GroundBridge to your location now."

The GroundBridge appeared right in front of them, and Starscream felt his spark race faster. He was about to learn the location of the Autobot base, something which would certainly get Lord Megatron on better thoughts than to replace him with Airachnid…

From the GroundBridge stepped out Ratchet, looking at both 'Bots and the single 'Con, the latter with a rather bitter look on his face.

"Arcee, you help me get them through the portal," Ratchet said.

While Bumblebee was keeping an eye on the observing Starscream, Ratchet and Arcee tried to carry the petrified Optimus through the GroundBridge, but they could barely move him over to the portal, even though they were pretty close to it.

"Bumblebee, we need your help," Ratchet said.

Bumblebee glanced uncertain from Starscream to his friends. "But what about…"

"He's not going anywhere," Arcee said and took something forth. It was a small card-like object. "This is the key to his stasis-cuffs. He can't get out of them without it. Even with the wing-clamp off, he won't be able to transform with the cuffs on. He's staying with us if he wants to get free. Right, Screamer?"

The Seeker snorted and pouted at her explanation. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. As much of a crick as the wing-clamp gave him, the cuffs were the real problem. Even the hardest of rocks in this place wouldn't be enough to break them. He had to stay put.

Together, Ratchet, Arcee and Bumblebee managed to lift the immobilized Optimus through the GroundBridge portal, leaving Starscream alone with the similarly-stiff Bulkhead. The Seeker glanced at his blank, firm face.

"What are you looking at, fatty?" the Seeker snarled at the Wrecker. "As soon as I get out of these restraints, you're all going to feel my wrath!"

He returned to his former position when he heard the three 'Bots coming back from the portal. He maintained his poker-face when they went to get Bulkhead. Arcee glanced at the Seeker.

"We'll be back for you once we get Bulkhead through," she informed him. He responded only with a grunt.

They pushed him through the portal and disappeared like they did before. However, this time the portal itself also disappeared. Starscream's spark skipped a beat. They LEFT me?! he thought shocked. How…why…what…

"No! Wait! You can't just leave me like this!" he shouted while holding out his cuffed servos into the air. He gained overbalance and fell over. "Come back! Please! COME BAAAAAAACK!"

Nothing happened. Nobody answered him. All he heard was his own echo shouting "Come back…come back…back…back…" at him. He loosened up as the painful truth hit him.

They left me… They lied to me. They told me they were going to come back for me, and they lied… He felt silent sobs coming from his stomach. He hadn't thought the Autobots would pull a Decepticon like that. A Starscream, for that matter. Megatron's gonna find me, sooner or later. And he'll have me terminated. And then…he'll have me replaced with that wretched Airachnid… Oh, dear Primus, what's going to happen to poor old Starscre—

The GroundBridge portal reappeared in front of him. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but as he lifted his head from the ground, he saw Arcee and Bumblebee step out from the portal.

"What are you waiting for?" Arcee said firm. "Get up!"

Starscream felt a weird combination of joy and offense. He was so shocked over the event that he remained still, thus compelling the bots to get over to him and lift him onto his peds themselves. Arcee poked her gun into his back and repeated her "Move it!"-order to him. He felt very strange about this turn of events as he walked through the GroundBridge portal with Bumblebee at his front and Arcee at his back.

"You left Starscream with the Autobots?!" Megatron raged as Airachnid had returned to the Nemesis and reported. "Do you have any notion of the consequences of your blunder?"

"But, my Lordship," Airachnid said quickly, "it was Starscream's incompetence that cost us the Immobilizer—"

"I don't care about some TRINKET!" Megatron roared into the femmebot's face, making her wince back. "My second-in-command is a prisoner of the enemy. Which means all Decepticon intelligence could be at the fingertips of the Autobots!"

At that moment, Airachnid realized she had made a huge mistake. It was more the wrath of Megatron than Decepticon information falling into the Autobot's hands that troubled her, though.

As for what happened to Starscream, she couldn't care less. The Autobots could use him for spare parts for all she cared.

But Megatron seemed to have a different idea about that…

"The damage looked bad," Ratchet informed as Optimus and Bulkhead had regained mobility and performed exercises, "but it was a snap to repair, allowing us to reverse its effect on you. You should regain your full range of motion before long."

Optimus went over to Arcee, who stood in deep thoughts. "Is something the matter, Arcee?"

"What, that we're keeping a Decepticon within our base who could possibly break free and scrap us all in our sleep? Nothing of the kind," she replied sarcastically.

"I understand this is a difficult choice we made," Optimus said, addressed to everyone in the room. "But there is no doubt that as soon as Airachnid returns to Megatron, Starscream will most certainly be announced a fugitive among the Decepticons. Sending him back would seal his fate. Besides, there is much our prisoner knows that can be helpful in our war against his former comrades."

"But, like, only temporary, right?" Bulkhead asked hopeful. "We're not gonna keep him here forever, right? I mean, it's not like he was serious about being on our side, right? Right?"

Nobody said anything for a moment. "While it is unlikely that Starscream will see himself as one of us," Optimus finally said, "there is a chance that we can show him the way we think. And…who knows…maybe one day, he'll make the right choice."

While Starscream was sitting in his small, empty cell, still with the wing-clamp and stasis cuffs on, he stared into the wall, specifically at the closed, locked door and thought about one particular thing.

Have I made the right decision…?