Author's Notes- Hello all. This is a sequel to Imperfections so I would suggest you read that first if you haven't already otherwise this won't make much sense to you. This is my first stab at Transformers slash so please be gentle when reviewing and no flames please. My writing is a bit of a mix and if you don't like slash then please read Truce and Imperfections (which can stand-alone) and let me know what you think. Special thanks to poisonouswaffle'n-stuffs, Confuzzled-Neko, Darkness413 and peppymint for reviewing Imperfections and Kibble Beast for betaing it.

Edited to fit TOS- full version is on archiveofourown but without html coding and it has also been posted with full coding on my livejournal account (angelcakes17)- see my profile for links.

Warnings- Rated M for slash (including biting) and transformer swearing.

In Starscream's dream: Bold and in italics- Megatron. Italics- Starscream.

Anything recognisable is from the movies. Set after ROTF and begins directly after the end Imperfections.

Unbetaed- may be edited later, I just wanted to see the initial reaction to this.

Disclaimer- I don't own Transformers or its characters.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Praise

Issues

Megatron froze as Starscream gave him a small smile and he realised what he had done.

He had praised his second.

Quickly he pushed his Seeker down to rest his forehelm on his leader's knee armour, 'recharge you little sycophant! I don't want to hear another word out of you for at least a cycle.'

As expected Starscream cringed at the insult and went still, curling slightly into his Commander's leg, wings lowering forlornly. Megatron forced himself to refrain from sighing, it was necessary after all to keep his second in line, even if it meant they could never have a proper relationship. If the Seeker's ego was controlled then he wasn't a true threat and if he ever became one then the Decepticon Lord really would have to terminate him.

And Megatron didn't really want to destroy his second. He was a good soldier and a mostly obedient servant when he was given a firm servo. It was just a shame that meant he had to be cut down so often, especially when he had genuinely done well. The Commander had watched Starscream flounder and be an object of ridicule so often it almost made him feel guilty but his second had to be... to be…

Slag it.

He stroked the flier's helm gently as Starscream gradually fell into a light unhappy recharge. Perhaps another course of action could be worked out given time and a little effort. A few moments later Megatron stood, scooping Starscream into his arms as he did so, and went through into his berthroom. Tucking the flier in on one side, he rounded the berth and slid into the other one.

He could figure it out after a recharge.

You fail me yet again Starscream.

I tried!

You left me to die on that pathetic insect planet!

But someone… someone had to…

So disappointing.

I hate you!

Even in death, there is no command butmine!

You left me!

I can't even rely on you to swat a simple insect.

… I'm sorry…

Shut up!

Please!

Useless.

D-don't…

Worthless.

I'm not-

Weakling.

Stop it!

Sycophant.

Hate… h-hate…

Starscream!

The Seeker woke with a jolt, the words 'coming Master' dying before he could give them voice, and tried to force his systems to calm down. After a klik he realised his faceplates were damp and gingerly touched a digit to them, flinching when optic fluid came off on his talons. If Megatron sees…

With a silent wail Starscream slipped onto the floor shivering, cruel words echoing through his processor and frame aching with the phantom pain of the blows often used to reinforce them. His wings flapped in frantic distress. It wasn't as if he didn't try Primus damn it! The others never got this kind of abuse even when they failed. When the SIC read reports of past battles, past missions, Soundwave and Shockwave appeared as the perfect soldiers, never failing and loyal without fault. A catalogue of triumphs. He on the other servo…

Why am I blamed for everything?

He was painfully aware that where the others had their accomplishments acknowledged, were praised and had attention paid to them, his were diminished and ignored.

When Starscream had finally found his leader after thousands of solar cycles of searching and running the army for the older mech he had thought, or rather hoped, he would get some kind of acknowledgement beyond 'Where is the Cube?' Even a simple greeting first would have been something for him to cling onto after being chastised for not having the All-Spark to give to Megatron on demand.

If the larger Decepticon hadn't been so consumed with getting the sacred item then things might have been different. Even if the fleshlings had managed to hide it they would have found it without much difficulty. The others would not have been destroyed, the All-Spark would not have been lost and Megatron…

Megatron would not have died.

It was all the slagger's own fault! His rashness and inability to plan before jumping in cannon blazing. It was his fault they'd been starving, suffering, dying and so slowly. Every torment seemed drawn out and without end. If Megatron had been a better leader…

The Fallen may have abandoned him but he left me too! To look after the army and cope with Soundwave and… and…

A wave of remorse drowned his spark.

…I could have tried harder, done better. If I had gotten the Cube in the first place Megatron would have been able to think more rationally. The Air Commander's wings drooped and Starscream stopped fighting the fluid running down his faceplates, hoping that if he was silent then he could cry in peace and soothe his spark and processor.

There was a rustle from above and then the whirr of systems coming online.

Oh frag! Ruthlessly, the SIC rubbed at his faceplates with his talons, unknowingly scratching through the thin metal, trying to hide the evidence of his weakness, knowing exactly how merciless his leader would be should he find his subordinate in such a state.

'Starscream?' Megatron didn't quite sound so threatening when he was drowsy but that could easily change. 'Starscream, where'd you go?' There was a thump from the other side of the berth as the Commander's pedes hit the floor and he stood. 'Aren't we a bit old for these kinds of games my dear coward?' The Warlord rounded the berth, 'there you are. What on Cybertron are you doing?'

The flier flinched and kept his helm lowered.

'What are you hiding?' Megatron's optic ridges raised, 'come now, tell your beloved leader.'

Starscream cowered back then looked up tentatively, optics still full of fluid and pleading, wings lowered in shame. Nervously he reached out and stroked the larger mech's pede suppliantly, a mournful chitter escaping from his vocaliser.

'You've been crying? Starscream you-' Megatron began harshly before seeing the marks the Seeker had accidentally inflicted upon himself and his engines vented in a sigh, 'did you… have a bad memory flux?' He finished in a kinder tone.

The Seeker had comforted him after all it was only fair to return the favour while everything could be kept private.

Starscream nodded slowly, keeping himself as small and as close to the ground as possible, unable to meet the larger mech's optics.

'My poor second,' Megatron murmured and pulled him to sit on his lap on the floor, cradling the smaller shaking frame into his chassis. He ran a servo down a wing comfortingly, 'what was it about?' He asked curiously. His Seeker was always careful not to allow any sensitive information to reach his audios for fear it would be used against him or that he would be punished for it. Now they both could have knowledge which could be used as blackmail on the other.

They could be even for once.

'I… I'm sorry Master.' Starscream whispered hesitantly, barely audibly.

'Sorry? Why?' The Commander kept up his encouraging stroking.

'For not doing better for you, for not getting the All-Spark, not resurrecting you sooner, not getting the fleshling boy... It was all my fault.' Starscream's vocaliser cracked on a sob. Megatron's arms tightened around him and a servo reached up to stroke his helm.

'Hush my dear Starscream, hush… It wasn't entirely your responsibility. You could have done more to bring me the All-Spark yes, but you were following the Fallen's orders concerning my resurrection.' Even Soundwave had struggled to get the Fallen's permission despite his loyalty. In the end the telepath had to go behind the archaic, outmoded, mech's back to bring back his leader and Megatron had protected him from the consequences afterwards. 'And I suppose you were helping me fight Prime when I had ordered you to retrieve the child.' A flash of Starscream staring up at him hopelessly with a severed arm in servo crossed his processor. The Seeker, uncharacteristically, hadn't immediately fled when they had gone up against the Decepticon Lord's brother. 'And… that planet seems to be cursed for us my second.' Cybertron… A pulse of longing flared through his home world had always been auspicious for them.

Starscream chirped in slight confusion but was relieved that he didn't seem to be heading for a trip to the medbay yet, and it was nice to be held and spoken to gently even if it was just for this one time. 'You are… not angry with me My Lord?'

Megatron almost chuckled, his engines churning with conflicting emotions. Oh he was angry, as the next Autobot he got his servos on would soon learn, but not at his SIC. 'Stop worrying my Seeker, as you say we will fix it.'

Starscream nodded then with only a slight hesitation leaned up and planted a peck on Megatron's lip components before quickly pulling away, 'thank you Master.'

The Commander's optics lit up with two realisations. One was he now had an idea to keep his second in check without being malicious and the other was that, despite his extensive injuries, his Seeker found him attractive enough to touch intimately. He gave Starscream a possessive hungry look that the flier initially flinched away from but then tilted in closer to with an inquisitive gaze.

'Lord Megatron?'

The Warlord chuckled and dragged his Air Commander up to devour his lip components. 'That is how you kiss my dear Starscream,' he whispered into one corner of the Seeker's mouth as his SIC panted and his engines hummed with emotion.

'Don't… don't play with me My Lord please. I was only trying to show gratitude-'

'Playing Starscream?' Megatron's own engines roared with amusement.

The SIC began to struggle, trying to pull himself out of his leader's grasp. 'D-don't-'

'Shh, calm yourself,' the Warlord pressed their lip components together once more, entwining their glossas. 'Why are you so frightened?'

'I'm- I'm not!'

'You're trembling,' Megatron whispered silkily, 'and your wings appear to be vibrating.' The Commander ran his servo down the expanse of one and Starscream's appendage unconsciously pushed into the rather pleasant petting it was being subjected to.

'I'm not scared!' Starscream denied again, though he was betrayed by a slight quiver in his voice.

Edited to fit TOS

High and low pitches combining together with the roar of their engines in a bizarre orchestra.

A sound that would surely make even Optimus Prime tremble.

Megatron, staying inside his SIC, slowly came down to settle beside the flier, pulling him close as their engines leisurely calmed. Starscream huddled into the larger frame and all was quiet.

Briefly.

As his leader slid out and replaced his panel to keep the Decepticon Lord's fluids in, Starscream's optic ridges furrowed in thought. Your wings appear to be vibrating. He turned to Megatron glaring. 'I am not an organic bird my wings do not vibrate!'

The Commander's engines rumbled in a full-framed laugh, 'that's what you're thinking about?'

His second seemed to pout at him. 'I am a hundred times more skilled and attractive than any vile Earth vermin with wings. Surely my berthmate agrees?'

'Ah but my dear Starscream you do rather remind me of a bird. You are small, delicate and have those little wings. The screams you give when I punish you, you sing then my lovely Starscream just like them. And when you're concentrating the noises you make when you're curious can be like those feathered tiny beings clicking.'

Starscream didn't know what to start howling about first, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly in a way reminiscent of a fish rather than any Earth species of bird. 'I am not delicate! I've fought in thousands of battles and killed countless Autobots, I am not weak! And I never resemble those hateful little things!'

The Warlord smiled and pulled his SIC closer, 'alright, you are not delicate, though you are slender in comparison to me.' Starscream seemed to accept this and was just quietening down and settling in, willing to call it a draw when he saw Megatron begin to smirk mischievously and his optics narrowed suspiciously. 'Although I have to say you do occasionally twitter like an organic bird and I can prove it to you.'

The Commander covered his Seeker's mouth with a servo to silence his protests, 'just listen Starscream.' Megatron played an audio file of some of the little cries he'd recorded his second making over the solar cycles. A host of chirping, tweeting and chittering noises emitted from his internals and he watched his SIC tightly close his optics self-consciously. The Warlord chuckled but allowed his new berthmate to bury his helm in his chassis to hide his embarrassment. 'And these my little one.' A similar set of chirpings emerged but faded quicker as the Decepticon Lord had less of a variety of the calls of organic birds.

His second's sounds were far more interesting, far more intriguing, than any of that of an organic being. Or any other metallic life form come to think of it.

'Alright, alright, you've made your point,' Starscream moaned against Megatron's armour.

'Oh don't be embarrassed my dear, I find it quite charming.' The Warlord stroked the smaller mech's helm.

'You just like the thought that you could crush me as easily as those disgusting creatures.' Starscream grumbled petulantly, but pressed kisses to his leader's chassis, knowing that the larger mech's spark chamber and the whirling ball of energy itself lay beneath. Safe. Not at the bottom of an ocean or encased in ice…

'True,' the Decepticon Lord admitted, 'but that's not the only reason. They are fairly attractive coming out of your vocaliser. It makes them unique, and therefore fascinating. Did you not notice how sizeable my collection is?'

'… You're saying I should take it as a compliment?' Starscream tilted his helm to one side, 'alright Lord High Protector I will.'

Megatron's optics narrowed before he rolled back on top of his second. Starscream smiled up at him innocently and gently wrapped a servo around the back of his leader's helm to coax him down so the Seeker could litter kisses all over the Warlord's scars. 'These are unique as well you know. I think they make you look dangerous and… quite handsome. A being to be feared.' He breathed reverently, wings enclosing around his leader's back armour.

The Commander's spark spun erratically in its chamber and he devoured his SIC's mouth. 'Mine,' he hissed into his Seeker's mouth.

'Yours.'

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