You may recall the first bit of this from yonks back...
Titled, thanks to rosieknight ^_^
First part is here
Title: My Big Fat Seeker Wedding (Chapter 2)
'Verse: G1 Transformers
Characters: Seekers. Megatron. Soundwave. Skyfire. Sideswipe.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: TF cussing.
Starscream’s and Skywarp’s return to the Nemesis was marked by an aggravated Thundercracker immediately collaring the both of them and dragging his trinemates off for a thorough chewing out.
“Where in the Pit have you two been? You vanish, don’t tell anyone where you’re going, and then you don’t answer your comms when I try to contact you. Megatron’s about to spit nails, the rest of the seekers are going nuts thanks to him, and you had better have a damn good reason for leaving me to deal with the whole bunch of glitches without so much as a fragging warning!”
“ ‘Cracker, Starscream’s sparkling is getting bonded.”
“… What?”
Skywarp snickered at the blue seeker’s stunned look. More seekers (nosy eavesdropping slaggers, the lot of them) spilled into the area, crowding about the lead trine, bombarding them with questions.
“Whose sparkling?”
“Bonding?”
“Didn’t know Screamer had a sparkling.”
“Is there going to be a ceremony?”
“Can we go?”
“A bonding!”
“Frag ‘can’, we’re going!”
“When is it going to happen?”
“Where is it going to happen?”
“Cybertron? Or will they be coming here?”
“Will you lot Shut. Up?!”
They fell silent, but betrayed their excitement in their restlessness, shifting wings and pedes constantly. Starscream sighed, rubbing his nasal bridge as if it pained him.
“I don’t know when the ceremony will take place, but it will not be happening-”
The outcry cut him off and he snapped at them again, glaring as his seekers quieted before continuing.
“The ceremony will not happen until Megatron agrees to a truce with the Autobots. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“And why would that be so, Starscream?”
Those words, said in the most menacing tone the Decepticon warlord could muster, had little effect on his Air Commander, who only sneered at him.
“Because my sparkling is the fragging Second in Command of the Autobots, and there is no way he’s getting bonded when you’re still taking pot shots at him!”
Seekers discretely took image captures of Megatron’s boggled expression. Starscream folded his arms, smirked, and mentally counted down. Five… Four… Three… Two…
“What?!”
= = =
One explanation later, Megatron was still unappeased.
“You left him with the Autobots. You should have kept him. We would have defeated the Autobots with a tactician of Prowl’s abilities on our side.”
The Air Commander sneered. “Right, because the Decepticon Army is just the perfect place to raise a youngling. First of all, the Autobots were the fragging government. They ran the shelters and youth centres, they were the caretaker and educator bots. All you had was a pit in the ground and Soundwave. Secondly, Prowl learnt his trade under the Autobots, or did you miss that little detail?”
“Soundwave’s younglings coped, and Shockwave could have trained him.” Unconvinced, the Decepticon leader argued back.
“Soundwave is usually based onsite and is in constant contact with his brood. I actually have to leave the base, plus I'm not a slagging telepath. And I wouldn’t trust Shockwave with a pet rock, much less my own sparkling.”
“Your creation would have adapted.”
The gunmetal mech waved dismissively, and Starscream growled. “Or he could have died; I know exactly which outcome would have been more likely.”
As the rest of the seekers started to murmur dangerously, Megatron wisely decided to abandon the topic and move on to the next one.
“And what makes you think I’ll agree to a truce with those weaklings now?”
The dark faced flier smirked again. “Because it’ll be the one bonding gift Optimus Prime won’t be able to top.”
= = =
Starscream headed for the exit of the Decepticon base, one tentatively drafted peace treaty in hand, radiating smug satisfaction. Megatron really was too easy to manipulate. On his way out though, he was stopped by Soundwave, who motioned for the flier to step into the monitor room with him.
“What is it now? I have to get going before those Autoglitches decide they’re bored with waiting and get on with the bonding ceremony.”
“Query: Why leave your own creation?”
“Didn’t you get my answer to our glorious leader?”
“Affirmative. Also picked up on holding back of information on your part.”
“Pick up on this. None of your fragging business.”
“Please.”
The seeker stopped at the tapeplayer’s supplication, and the understated pleading that ran through it. He glanced back and saw the mech’s hands were clenched over the backrest of one of the seats in the room.
“Query: Why leave your own creation?”
Starscream stared at the telepath, and saw the mech’s grip grow tighter the longer he didn’t answer.
“Query: Why join the Decepticons if it meant you had to give him up?”
Then he understood. Soundwave had been in a similar position. But he’d kept his offspring with him, and with the Decepticons, and Starscream supposed any sane creator would have their doubts about the wisdom of that particular course. His answer was quiet, and lacking any of the snideness that normally would have accompanied all conversation with the communications mech.
“Because I couldn’t take care of him. Your own creations were younglings or older and able to fend for themselves at the time. Even if you did have more of them, they could still take care of each other. I didn’t have a trine then, I didn’t have anyone but Skyfire, and he was probably lying deactivated on a distant planet. It was a miracle I managed to fuel myself for as long as I carried; no one wants to hire a seeker framed researcher who ‘misplaced’ their partner on an exploratory trip. The only ones who would take me in were the ‘Cons, and I wasn’t risking a sparkling in their company. Also…”
He vented air slowly, turning away from Soundwave for a moment.
“Have you looked at Prowl? All that white, and he had blue optics. Every time I saw his sparkling form, I also saw Skyfire. Better for me to care for him at a distance, than to possibly come to hate him for the constant reminder of what I lost.”
The blue mech nodded, and Starscream strode out, intent on carrying out his task. Soundwave watched him leave, then a nudge along his link to his cassettes had him sending an inquiry back. Rumble replied, even as the rest of his creations backed up their sibling in the background of the mental connection.
::You did alright by us, ‘Wave. We turned out okay.::
The telepath paused, then settled back at his post to continue his duty.
::Thank you.::
= = =
It was a subdued Starscream who landed at the Ark. Skyfire met him, along with Prowl and one of those insufferable twin frontliners the seekers despised. Still, the jet didn’t so much as glare at Sideswipe, who then glanced at the other two Autobots in almost exaggerated alarm. The Datsun sighed, then accepted the documents Starscream handed to him.
“I need to run these to Prime. Skyfire, Sideswipe, will you stay with Starscream? Bring him to the rec room if he wants to wait for a reply.”
When both agreed, the SIC turned and left, and Skyfire held out a hand to the seeker. “Come in? No sense hanging around outside while they pick through Megatron’s hot air.”
Starscream didn’t respond, only walking into the Ark in complete silence, flanked by the two mechs. Once in the rec room and seated in an out of the way corner, Sideswipe crossed his arms and frowned at the oddly behaving jet.
“Oi, anyone home, or did Shockwave snap and finally reprogram you into a drone?”
This garnered a reaction, and the seeker sneered at the Lamborghini.
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you, piledriver processors?”
“Hmph. Funnier than you, at any rate. Any way, now that we’ve verified that you’re in the land of the functioning CPU, I have a question. If you two are fliers, why’s Prowl a grounded mech?”
The seeker stiffened, optics flickering, and Skyfire took over the answering. “According to Prowl, it’s a standard procedure at the youth centres. All flight capable sparklings are put into standard groundling frames, and their flight protocols are removed, to make it easier for the caretakers.”
“… I monitored the process personally to make sure he wouldn’t suffer for it.” A raspy voice added, and Sideswipe and Skyfire looked at the Decepticon, who in turn was boring a hole in the ground with his gaze. A glance from the shuttle to the red frontliner had Sideswipe standing and declaring he was going to get some energon for them, to ‘be good hosts and all’. Once the mech was halfway across the room, Skyfire hesitantly took Starscream’s hand.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. You shouldn’t have had to watch them ground our sparkling.”
There was no response for a moment. Then, the jet slowly squeezed his hand and sighed. “Can’t change anything now. He grew up in a safe place, at least. I made sure of that too, I swear.”
Skyfire squeezed back.
“I know.”
First part is here
Title: My Big Fat Seeker Wedding (Chapter 2)
'Verse: G1 Transformers
Characters: Seekers. Megatron. Soundwave. Skyfire. Sideswipe.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: TF cussing.
Starscream’s and Skywarp’s return to the Nemesis was marked by an aggravated Thundercracker immediately collaring the both of them and dragging his trinemates off for a thorough chewing out.
“Where in the Pit have you two been? You vanish, don’t tell anyone where you’re going, and then you don’t answer your comms when I try to contact you. Megatron’s about to spit nails, the rest of the seekers are going nuts thanks to him, and you had better have a damn good reason for leaving me to deal with the whole bunch of glitches without so much as a fragging warning!”
“ ‘Cracker, Starscream’s sparkling is getting bonded.”
“… What?”
Skywarp snickered at the blue seeker’s stunned look. More seekers (nosy eavesdropping slaggers, the lot of them) spilled into the area, crowding about the lead trine, bombarding them with questions.
“Whose sparkling?”
“Bonding?”
“Didn’t know Screamer had a sparkling.”
“Is there going to be a ceremony?”
“Can we go?”
“A bonding!”
“Frag ‘can’, we’re going!”
“When is it going to happen?”
“Where is it going to happen?”
“Cybertron? Or will they be coming here?”
“Will you lot Shut. Up?!”
They fell silent, but betrayed their excitement in their restlessness, shifting wings and pedes constantly. Starscream sighed, rubbing his nasal bridge as if it pained him.
“I don’t know when the ceremony will take place, but it will not be happening-”
The outcry cut him off and he snapped at them again, glaring as his seekers quieted before continuing.
“The ceremony will not happen until Megatron agrees to a truce with the Autobots. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“And why would that be so, Starscream?”
Those words, said in the most menacing tone the Decepticon warlord could muster, had little effect on his Air Commander, who only sneered at him.
“Because my sparkling is the fragging Second in Command of the Autobots, and there is no way he’s getting bonded when you’re still taking pot shots at him!”
Seekers discretely took image captures of Megatron’s boggled expression. Starscream folded his arms, smirked, and mentally counted down. Five… Four… Three… Two…
“What?!”
= = =
One explanation later, Megatron was still unappeased.
“You left him with the Autobots. You should have kept him. We would have defeated the Autobots with a tactician of Prowl’s abilities on our side.”
The Air Commander sneered. “Right, because the Decepticon Army is just the perfect place to raise a youngling. First of all, the Autobots were the fragging government. They ran the shelters and youth centres, they were the caretaker and educator bots. All you had was a pit in the ground and Soundwave. Secondly, Prowl learnt his trade under the Autobots, or did you miss that little detail?”
“Soundwave’s younglings coped, and Shockwave could have trained him.” Unconvinced, the Decepticon leader argued back.
“Soundwave is usually based onsite and is in constant contact with his brood. I actually have to leave the base, plus I'm not a slagging telepath. And I wouldn’t trust Shockwave with a pet rock, much less my own sparkling.”
“Your creation would have adapted.”
The gunmetal mech waved dismissively, and Starscream growled. “Or he could have died; I know exactly which outcome would have been more likely.”
As the rest of the seekers started to murmur dangerously, Megatron wisely decided to abandon the topic and move on to the next one.
“And what makes you think I’ll agree to a truce with those weaklings now?”
The dark faced flier smirked again. “Because it’ll be the one bonding gift Optimus Prime won’t be able to top.”
= = =
Starscream headed for the exit of the Decepticon base, one tentatively drafted peace treaty in hand, radiating smug satisfaction. Megatron really was too easy to manipulate. On his way out though, he was stopped by Soundwave, who motioned for the flier to step into the monitor room with him.
“What is it now? I have to get going before those Autoglitches decide they’re bored with waiting and get on with the bonding ceremony.”
“Query: Why leave your own creation?”
“Didn’t you get my answer to our glorious leader?”
“Affirmative. Also picked up on holding back of information on your part.”
“Pick up on this. None of your fragging business.”
“Please.”
The seeker stopped at the tapeplayer’s supplication, and the understated pleading that ran through it. He glanced back and saw the mech’s hands were clenched over the backrest of one of the seats in the room.
“Query: Why leave your own creation?”
Starscream stared at the telepath, and saw the mech’s grip grow tighter the longer he didn’t answer.
“Query: Why join the Decepticons if it meant you had to give him up?”
Then he understood. Soundwave had been in a similar position. But he’d kept his offspring with him, and with the Decepticons, and Starscream supposed any sane creator would have their doubts about the wisdom of that particular course. His answer was quiet, and lacking any of the snideness that normally would have accompanied all conversation with the communications mech.
“Because I couldn’t take care of him. Your own creations were younglings or older and able to fend for themselves at the time. Even if you did have more of them, they could still take care of each other. I didn’t have a trine then, I didn’t have anyone but Skyfire, and he was probably lying deactivated on a distant planet. It was a miracle I managed to fuel myself for as long as I carried; no one wants to hire a seeker framed researcher who ‘misplaced’ their partner on an exploratory trip. The only ones who would take me in were the ‘Cons, and I wasn’t risking a sparkling in their company. Also…”
He vented air slowly, turning away from Soundwave for a moment.
“Have you looked at Prowl? All that white, and he had blue optics. Every time I saw his sparkling form, I also saw Skyfire. Better for me to care for him at a distance, than to possibly come to hate him for the constant reminder of what I lost.”
The blue mech nodded, and Starscream strode out, intent on carrying out his task. Soundwave watched him leave, then a nudge along his link to his cassettes had him sending an inquiry back. Rumble replied, even as the rest of his creations backed up their sibling in the background of the mental connection.
::You did alright by us, ‘Wave. We turned out okay.::
The telepath paused, then settled back at his post to continue his duty.
::Thank you.::
= = =
It was a subdued Starscream who landed at the Ark. Skyfire met him, along with Prowl and one of those insufferable twin frontliners the seekers despised. Still, the jet didn’t so much as glare at Sideswipe, who then glanced at the other two Autobots in almost exaggerated alarm. The Datsun sighed, then accepted the documents Starscream handed to him.
“I need to run these to Prime. Skyfire, Sideswipe, will you stay with Starscream? Bring him to the rec room if he wants to wait for a reply.”
When both agreed, the SIC turned and left, and Skyfire held out a hand to the seeker. “Come in? No sense hanging around outside while they pick through Megatron’s hot air.”
Starscream didn’t respond, only walking into the Ark in complete silence, flanked by the two mechs. Once in the rec room and seated in an out of the way corner, Sideswipe crossed his arms and frowned at the oddly behaving jet.
“Oi, anyone home, or did Shockwave snap and finally reprogram you into a drone?”
This garnered a reaction, and the seeker sneered at the Lamborghini.
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you, piledriver processors?”
“Hmph. Funnier than you, at any rate. Any way, now that we’ve verified that you’re in the land of the functioning CPU, I have a question. If you two are fliers, why’s Prowl a grounded mech?”
The seeker stiffened, optics flickering, and Skyfire took over the answering. “According to Prowl, it’s a standard procedure at the youth centres. All flight capable sparklings are put into standard groundling frames, and their flight protocols are removed, to make it easier for the caretakers.”
“… I monitored the process personally to make sure he wouldn’t suffer for it.” A raspy voice added, and Sideswipe and Skyfire looked at the Decepticon, who in turn was boring a hole in the ground with his gaze. A glance from the shuttle to the red frontliner had Sideswipe standing and declaring he was going to get some energon for them, to ‘be good hosts and all’. Once the mech was halfway across the room, Skyfire hesitantly took Starscream’s hand.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. You shouldn’t have had to watch them ground our sparkling.”
There was no response for a moment. Then, the jet slowly squeezed his hand and sighed. “Can’t change anything now. He grew up in a safe place, at least. I made sure of that too, I swear.”
Skyfire squeezed back.
“I know.”