As a treat, here's the last update. (Sorry for the shortness, but at this point, there's not much substance left to work with)

I'm not ending it here (Ya'll really think that I would screw you over like that?) at least, I'm not ending this series. There's one more I have planned, sort of a finale – it'll tie in with both this story and The Sterminio Principl - which means that you'll probably want to read that one, if you haven't already - and wrap up any loose ends. I hope you'll stick around with me for that!

Anyway, for those of you who are concerned, and to end the story on a lighter note, this certainly won't be the last you'll see of Eva.

Enjoy!

Starscream is…indignant.

The grieving process took longer than normal.

It wasn't in order, specifically. Anger came first. A blind rage that caused the energon in Starscream's veins to boil and his spark to clench, as if a giant fist were wrapped around it, squeezing, squeezing, until he couldn't take it and he had to do something…

He dismembered the dead Vehicon, first. Tore apart its wings, bathing in the hot energon that splattered across his chest, elbow deep in fluids. He picked it apart wire by wire, membrane by membrane, until the Vehicon was nothing left.

Starscream stole the drones T-Cog. It was a flimsy little device, lacking the powerful thrum of a Seeker. Starscream would have sliced open his own side and shoved the appendage inside him if it hadn't been for common sense and a sudden wave of exhaustion and depression.

He sulked away, limbs feeling heavy, the T-Cog dangling from his fingers and dripping the smoky blue liquid, leaving a small trail of dead grass. The moon reflected off the lake, washing over everything – including the object half sunk into the water by the ruined shore.

It was the relic.

The sight of it caused Starscream to slam still, going rigid as an icy feeling crept through him. His lips slid back over his teeth; it was the sight that caused the flash of anger. The relic. The Primus forsaken relic, the thing he'd ultimately gone after, the thing that had ultimately contributed to…

No. No. He wasn't going to say it. Couldn't admit it yet, especially with the question gnawing at the back of his head. He'd turned away at the last moment, assuming that Megatron was going to crush her head between his fingers – he hadn't actually seen it happen. He'd seen him throw something, but it had disappeared into the clouds before Starscream could get a good bearing.

Maybe she was still alive. Maybe Megatron had tricked Starscream, pretending to kill her and then tossing her away, realizing that he would give up…

Yeah. Then…then maybe a Vehicon, one watching the action from afar and not getting involved, had swooped in and saved her…there had been two other Vehicons, the ones who hadn't been in the room when the wall had collapsed.

Although it all seemed so elaborate, even for Megatron. It was more of Starscream plan. Something Starscream would do.

And Megatron was not Starscream, which meant that it was unlikely.

With trembling, numb fingers, Starscream eased the relic out of the bank. It was bent in like a boomerang, dented and covered in a fine layer of thick grime, black in the moonlight.

With a howl, he flung it as hard as he could, out into the lake.

It landed with a splash, an upheaval of water, sinking beneath the small waves.

Starscream sat down on his hunches and wept.

Starscream is….bartering.

You think it's all your fault, don't you?

You know what pain is like. You've lost lovers before, lost them to this pointless, stupid war. And what have you done?

You've moved on, Starscream. Because you're strong.

Tougher than the rest.

He didn't feel strong. He felt…empty. It was a different thing from strong, but much more powerful. Hard to be strong when your chest felt hallow, like someone or something had taken out a big chunk of yourself and sold it to the devil.

No creature should ever feel like that, Starscream concluded. No creature, human or Cybertronian, should feel like that. He'd gotten everything back, his Cybertronian heritage, his T-Cog, possibly, if he could find someone to install it.

He was free.

But at the same time…he wasn't. He was trapped in this bubble of thick, heavy misery that clouded his brain and made him dizzy, made him nauseas. The presence of a single person would cure that, and she was the cause of his anguish in the first place.

He'd been right, before. He'd had people in the past. Lovers. It wasn't like he and Eva had started that chapter, yet, but with the advances she'd made on him and he'd made on her, they'd been headed for that path.

It was hard to think about. He didn't want to think about it.

But he did, and because of that, the bargaining came next. The "why, Primus, why's" and the, "I'd do anything. I'd defect to the Autobots. I'd return to the Decepticons, fulfill my duties. I'd rip off my wings and throw them down in defiance, but only…"

"Only if you'd bring her back."

"Only if you'd let me go back and save her. Let me go back and kiss her, love her one more time. After what I've been through, I deserve happiness. Why won't you give me happiness?"

Primus never answered.

He only had one suicidal thought. It was new, for him. It was…refreshing. He'd wanted to leap off a cliff and fall hundreds of feet, smash head first into the dirt.

He'd almost done it. He'd turned back at the last minute, just before he'd extended a foot to step over the edge.

But he pulled back not because he was Air Commander Starscream or Lord Starscream or any of those. He was Starscream the Cowardly Rogue, who wept in agony at the loss of his sweetheart. And he didn't want to die a faceless death.

He really, really felt like flying. But he couldn't, because he was grounded. So he sat on the ledge, legs kicking back and forth, beating against the open air. He had the T-Cog resting against his hip, and his back was hunched, wings fanning the air.

He looked like any other creature, too lost in his own thoughts to care about anything else. Eva had poked fun at him the night they'd exchanged affection. Pink, full lips had pulled into a line, red hair fanning out around her, making her look like some sort of avenging angel.

She'd been peppering soft kisses against Starscream's neck, her fingers interlocked with his own. She'd pulled away and smiled, saying, "You've got that look in your eye."

Starscream had raised fine brows, smirking. "That look? What, pray tell, is 'that look?'"

"You know…" Eva had rolled over, toying with a strand of fiery hair. "You one you get all the time when you're thinking too hard. I mean, I expected smoke to start coming out of your ears, but still…"

Starscream barely remembered what he had done next. Laughed, leaned over and kissed her, maybe? Something. It was something that had caused him an unexpected amount of warmth.

When he'd pulled away, he'd been grinning toothily. "You're able to read me that easily?"

"I'd be able to read you're Cybertronian face, if I wanted too."

"Oh, believe me, the facial cues are–"

"Different? Dissimilar," she'd pressed her lips together in a thin line, looking away, as if what she'd said had somehow offended Starscream.

It hadn't. It's just intrigued him even more.

"Just because I'm human doesn't mean you can read my original form like an open book," Starscream muttered, allowing Eva to tuck her head under his chin.

Groggily, she'd said, "It kind of does. When you guys get mad, you may not turn bright red, but your face shows it. You feel it. When you're sad, you may not cry–"

"We cry," Starscream had murmured softly.

"You can feel it. Every creature can feel sadness or pain. And when you fall in love," Eva's eyes had shifted briefly, ever so briefly, to glance at Starscream. "You try to shut it out, but eventually you won't be able to ignore it. Especially when it's too late."

"Yeah," Starscream had run his fingers through her red hair, eyelids sliding shut with each breath. "Yeah. I guess that's what being part of your species means."

He'd fallen asleep, then.

How he wished he hadn't.

Staring out at the canyon beneath him, Starscream's fingers dug into the energon stained T-Cog at his side. He licked his lips, tapping a slow rhythm against his leg, like a sad song.

Starscream is…

Human.