Clipped Chapter 3

"Prime?!" Fowler's voice came through the console.

"What is it Agent Fowler?" Ratchet asked, Optimus Prime being gone with Bumblebee in South Africa and obviously unavailable at head quarters.

"Decepticons must have attacked one of my men's bases, it has a small energon pool in it! I want to know why you guys don't seem to even give it mind."

"Woah, there, calm down. We didn't know," Arcee retorted, walking up behind Ratchet. "Is there anything you can discern as being their cause for attacking?"

"Well, here's the strange thing. None of my men saw or heard anything, when presumably a twenty foot robot paraded through the base while injured. And, the intruder only took two missiles."

"Only two? What kind?" Ratchet asked.

"A set of AIM-9L Sidewinders," The other responded.

Arcee and Ratchet exchanging glances, they simultaneously voiced together," Starscream."

"Starscream?" The agent echoed.

Typing the coordinates that were presented as the assaulted base, Ratchet confirmed," The base is not far from the last place we saw him, and he wouldn't have had to cross through any moderately populated areas."

"Then he can't have gotten far. We should locate him," Arcee said, receiving an incredulous look and asking," What?"

"And what would we do when we found him?"

"Well, you could start with making the con return the missiles he stole," Fowler said in an agitated tone. "I really would rather avoid having to explain."

"We're on it," Ratchet assured Fowler.

"Well, I want a report if possible. Fowler out."

Ratchet closed the comm link and sent Arcee a questioning gaze.

"I can do this, without a problem," She promised.

"Alright, well I'll send you and Bulkhead." With a sigh, he grumbled," I don't know what we're going to do about Starscream. We would hate to send him back running to the decepticons, but I highly doubt we could trust him to be an autobot, and we can't leave him neutral as we can clearly see from several incidents, this one being minor in comparison."

"I know, but he's saved me before, and..."

"So he has had a few streaks of helpfulness, but I'd expect you of all people to remember how he's wronged our side."

Averting her gaze awkwardly, she agreed," Yes, he's been helpful before." Though, it was probably for other reasons than Ratchet suspected. "And I can't forgive him for what he did to Cliffjumper, but Optimus wouldn't exact revenge against a defenseless opponent."

"Well, we'll play by ear then, try to figure out what he wants and decipher a correct course of action."

"Bulkhead, gear up, we're heading out," Arcee called, readying herself to exit the ground bridge and search for Starscream.

The two autobots shifted to vehicular mode, when Miko came running up. "Hey, Bulk! Can I come along, please?"

"I don't know..." Bulkhead said as he remembered the scene while he was holding up the collapsing mine's ceiling and Starscream went out of his way just to frighten her.

"Just say yes," Arcee sighed with a nettled air. Arcee's bad mood wasn't Miko's fault; Starscream just couldn't stay out of her life. "It'll be easier to keep her safe when we know she's there from the get go."

With that the autobots and human took off, arriving at an army base within seconds.

"Bulkhead, you cover northeast, I've got southeast."

As the all terrain vehicle followed the directions, Miko asked," What about the rest of the cardinal directions?"

"Well from what I remember, a bunch'a cities are pretty close to the west," He answered, gently rolling through the lush forest that was home to the military establishment. Fog curled around the vehicle as it rolled through.

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense," She commented before saying," Ooh! Turn it up, Bulk!" With the music cranked up, both were singing along, or as Jack would phrase it, 'screaming along', and they kept in search of the cybertronian thief. Little luck seemed to be greeting them.

Resting her chin on her hand, Miko sighed and mumbled," This is boring. Where's all the fire fights and brawling?"

"I hope it doesn't come to that. He wouldn't stand a chance."

Abruptly, Bulkhead was pulling to a stop, having almost not seen a cliff in time because the fog was so thick.

"Whew! That was a close one," Miko exclaimed with a laugh.

"You can say that again," Bulkhead rumbled, about to back up when he realized a giant form was behind him.

"Scrap! I knew you autobots would come searching for me! Why can't you leave me alone? I didn't harm any of the fleshlings, and only took what I absolutely needed for survival," a distressed Starscream exclaimed, both missiles pointed directly at the jeep.

"Woah, Screamer, put away the missiles! We just want to talk," Bulkhead hurriedly insisted, not so much concerned for his own life as he was his passenger's.

"Unlikely, I'm no fool," Starscream snarled," You could crush me in seconds if I gave you the chance."

"But why would I? We just want to know... diplomatic... discussion, and peacefully find out whatcha' up to right now."

This seemed to calm the other slightly, his cocked arms retracting slightly- though they were easily capable of aiming in the time it would take Bulkhead to access any weapon. He jumped at Bulkhead opening his door to allow Miko out so he could transform. His ruby optics didn't hide any of his wariness at this.

"Are you hurt? We found energo-"

"I don't want to talk about it," The seeker quickly interrupted, holding one servo to his abdomen.

"Dude, you got creamed by Airachnid again, didn't you?" Miko shouted, running to center stage between the cybertronians.

"Miko!"

"Tell your insolent pet to behave herself!" Starscream growled, clenching and unclenching his servo in simmering anger.

"She's not my pet! She's a friend," Bulkhead quickly clarified, and followed up with a defense," And she isn't insolent either!" He wasn't one hundred percent on the words meaning, but he knew it was demeaning.

With a pout, the girl mumbled," I was just sayin'..."

"Miko, get behind me," Bulkhead ordered gently. He couldn't get the ex-con's cold enjoyment of scaring Miko in the mine out of his head. She sighed, but followed his command, glumly dragging her feet as she walked around his large feet.

A shrill shriek could be heard as her foot caught some underbrush. Bulkhead swiveled his whole body, but not quickly enough. With horror, he realized the only way he'd be quick enough to grab her would involve crushing her in the process. He started to jump to the bottom so he could catch her there, but a spindly hand restricted him and suddenly he saw the seeker plummeting.

Basically doing a modified pencil dive, Starscream swiftly overcame the falling human and grabbed her, now focusing on the ground and how quickly it was approaching. Spreading eagle to create as much drag as possible, he only placed his feet beneath him at the last second, guiding the human in his grasp to the ground and removing the speed of her descent.

She groaned as he dropped her the last three feet, her whole body taking the brunt of the contact with the ground. "Ow, what was that for?" She got her feet and stretched out a sore shoulder.

He held in a grimace at the immeasurable pain screaming through his bearings at the landing. On the drop, almost 0 to 200 in 9.6 seconds. The landing, 200 to 0 in 0.3 seconds. "That is the gratitude I get? You can still walk. You're welcome." He wasn't so sure he could himself, not immediately anyways.

"Holy scrap! You saved me in high heels! Wicked!"

"H-high heels? What are you blabbering about, human?" He shifted as she neared him and reached out a hand to his foot.

"You're wearing, like, fragging stilettos!"

Deciding to completely ignore the blathering fleshling, he glared up at the cliff and moaned," I hate climbing..." If only he could fly.

Bulkhead came driving recklessly down the cliff, calling out," Miko...! Are you alright?!" Seeing her standing and smiling sent warm cheer through his whole body, his spark pulsed in absolute relief. Transforming back to robot mode, he clapped Starscream on the back and clamoured," Thanks for saving her life!"

Sent sprawling a few meters, he cleared his vocalizer and said," Hmm yes, Mention it to your friends." Looking back, he hesitated before saying," Assuming the invitation is still extended to me, I wish to join the Autobots." Going neutral had been hard. Living while neutral had been intensely difficult. Surviving while neutral after losing his T-Cog, absolutely torturous.

"Uh, let me call base," Bulkhead said, a little surprised. He'd come to retrieve the missiles Starscream stole, not Starscream.

~~
~~

"Autobots, we must reach a decision regarding the potential new addition to the autobot team. While he has hurt each of us in various ways, I believe him to possess a redeeming quality that he has never had the chance to reveal," Optimus Prime started the debate with. They had to decide whether to let Starscream join or not, and if so in either choice, what to do with him.

"While it is true that he has dealt much damage to us, having an inside eye at the decepticons would be advantageous," Ratchet offered pragmatically.

Bee interjected that Starscream had helped MECH with the T-Cog crisis, actually shooting the bot's very own T-Cog.

"And he clearly deems humans as insignificant, caring little for their life," Arcee spoke up.

"But he saved Miko," Bulkhead pointed out.

"He's been known to do stuff that he doesn't like if it will earn him a favorable outcome," Ratchet said.

"He killed Cliffjumper," Arcee said softly, clutching at her spark. Her raw anger had morphed over her coming to know Starscream, but the residual desolation would never fade, and given the right ignition, blind fury could still come over his death.

The group thought over this predicament pensively. To allow the murderer of their partner solace and freedom under autobot protection seemed like an insult to Cliff's memory, but to cast Starscream aside after having shown he wasn't completely vile of spirit would bring them too close to decepticon standards for any of their likings.

"Pl-please," Starscream spoke up, catching all of the autobots off guard. They had secured him so he couldn't overhear their decision... He still wore the cuffs, but he'd managed to escape the room they'd locked him in. While the ex-con was glad that he didn't require any cuffs on his wings, they were severely uncomfortable, it did get at him a little in proving just how much less of a threat they considered him now.

"Please, I've done terrible, atrocious things over my life. I regret them all. I wish I could take it all back by saying sorry," he begged. Starscream was too clever by half; he was well aware of how profound his silver tongue was and how grandiose his successes were, but also how massive his failures ended up.  His best chance of survival without his T-Cog, he'd come to realize, was to seek aid from the autobots. "I apologize profusely for the horrendous crimes against both cybertronians and humans I've committed." He was thankful he managed to use a polite word for the earthlings, a few other choices had almost rolled out of his vocalizer.

Seeing a spark of hope in their curious gazes between each other, he continued," You must realize however, most of what I have done, has been as a decepticon, but I've shed a new light. Taking first the tentative steps of neutrality, I wish to advance to the true side of good."

"So you worked for MECH and shot Bee's T-Cog as part of the decepticons?" Arcee asked darkly.

"I did say most, but old habits are hard to break. Please, if you will not let me atone for what I've done and join the autobots, at least grant me asylum. I need you all to help me not further the corruption of my spark. I need a strong moral presence to keep me from sliding once more. I beg of you."

Arcee rolled her optics at the theatrics, but couldn't help but feel there was some truth to his words.

No one was given the time they needed to think about the seeker's desperate speech as a blaring alarm rang through headquarters. "Decepticons on the move," Ratchet confirmed.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We can get back to him later," Arcee said. They couldn't afford to lose any energon race; resources were running so low.

"Ratchet, do what ever you deem necessary to secure our base," Optimus Prime said," We will alert you when we need a bridge back."

"Understood," The medic said as he typed in the commands and lifted the lever that controlled the ground bridge.

Starscream arched his orbital ridges as the fleshling with shocks of pink in her hair dashed to the portal, seemingly unnoticed, but didn't say anything. That human had often accompanied the autobots in the past, so presumably she was granted access. The ground bridge closed, narrowly following the male humans passage; Starscream was mildly surprised they made it through.

Ratchet looked over to the seeker and said," Well, it looks like it's just you and me now." He picked up energon cuffs and added," If you please..."

"Hmm, yes," Starscream agreed," Just us." He internally groaned. The other expected him to bind himself? Though, at least that meant he could do it as it was most comfortable. Starscream would have much rather be stuck with Bumblebee or Bulkhead; the scout seemed quick to forgive and innocent, and the prior wrecker had a gentle disposition. As he thought about it though, he'd committed far less offences against the medical officer in recent times, so maybe this was for the best. The seeker winced as the cuffs activated, effectively crossing his arms and locking them there.

Strolling around the control room, he tapped his claws against his arms in boredom. "I don't understand why you let humans on your missions," He commented offhand, not really knowing what else to talk about and it not being in his character to remain silent.

"Humans?" Ratchet asked, gaze swinging to where the kids often hung out. Seeing an empty couch, Ratchet's shoulders drooped and he sighed.

"Yes, the female entered the bridge, closely followed by the other two."

"Of course she did," Ratchet muttered to himself before opening the comm link to let the other autobots know the kids were there.

"I take it they weren't supposed to attend the fight?"

"No," Ratchet admitted, as much as he hated letting the other know the autobots couldn't even manage their human friends.

"Interesting," The seeker commented before changing the topic and asking," Must I really be bound?" It was so uncomfortable, and his missiles had already been stripped from him, it wasn't like he could achieve all that much... Well, after glancing at the console the doctor stood next to, he conceded he could, but he knew it wasn't in his best interest.

"I hope this doesn't come as too big of a shock to you, but we can't exactly trust you."

"You wound me."

Ratchet wished the seeker could have gone with the others; the medic had a lot to get done. That, and he couldn't work on the sensitive material he'd scheduled for today. A frustrating day was nothing new however, and Ratchet continued messing with the computer terminal. The science officer decided to ignore the other and proceed working on the less secretive things.

Starscream sat down and abstractedly watched Ratchet working since he had nothing better to do. It'd been a long time since he worked at a computer station for any length of time. The other stole uncomfortable glances in his direction, obviously uneasy under his gaze. "How could I ever earn forgiveness after all of my transgressions against everyone?"

With a low hum as the scientist though over the question, he finally answered," Honestly, I do not know. You've proven over and over again you can't be trusted, and be it you immoral or amoral, you've stabbed many backs and wounded many sparks. Still... as Optimus has remained hopeful of, every mech is capable of change if they truly devote themselves and embrace a new life."

"That's rather idealistic."

"Yes," Ratchet said solemnly. Many times had he questioned the wide eyed idealism hidden under his leader's growing despondency, but many times had it proven a relief that sometime optimism was rewarded. "But in these dark times, a healthy dose of optimism does the spark well."

"As a decepticon, the only thing that rewarded optimism was harsh, bitter disappointment," Starscream said. "At least if you were pessimistic, you could never be disappointed, just bleakly proven right."

"Just another major divide between autobots and decepticons."

Looking downwards, uncharacteristically timorous, the seeker tentatively asked," Do you really think a mech can change?"

Ratchet looked over with mild surprise, reading the undertones. Do you really think a decepticon can change? Do you really think I can change? Of course, he didn't get a chance to answer, though perhaps that was for the best. The medic wasn't exactly sure what his stance on the matter was.

"Ratchet, emergency ground bridge," Arcee called through the comm.

"Locking onto your coordinates."

The autobots came screeching into the base, followed by enemy fire, a single blast making it passed the safety barrier and striking one of the tools on Ratchet's table.

"I needed that!" The bot called angrily, shutting down the bridge. Great, that just added two things to his list of things to do (which was long enough, Primus knew). Replace his pneumatic wrench, and take a look at the safety parameters of the ground bridge.

"Miko, it is not safe for you on the battlefield," Optimus Prime said as he unfolded to his great stature as a robot. His voice was thick with solemn concern and the slightest hint of exasperation could almost be recognised by someone who knew him well.

Jumping out of her friend's cab so he could also transform, Miko looked up at the autobot leader and said," But Bulk's got my back."

"Miko," Bulkhead sighed," I need to focus on the fight, not-" He cut off as he looked down at her, not really sure how to properly express what he meant.

Her eyes furrowed as he trailed off, feeling betrayed and hurt by the one being who had always seemed to get her. "Me? You don't want to think about me? Fine. I'll just be going then so you don't have to watch your footing," Miko said, rubbing at her eye as she stormily stomped out of the room into the halls.

Bulkhead tried to follow her to apologise, but as soon as he took a single clamorous step, she raised her hand out to signal 'stop', and said," Don't worry, you don't have to think about me, so you don't have to feel bad."

Staring forlornly, he looked around to his buddies, searching for a shred of help as to what he was supposed to do. Starscream watched the proceedings, wisely keeping silent (though he had a few quips that he would have loved to use throughout the scene). Looked like the autobots had just as much drama floating through the ranks as the decepticons, even if not as perfidious.

~~
~~

"Oh! Starscream!" Miko squeaked as she jumped up to her feet, sparing the other only a quick glance before looking down to her equipment. She'd been sitting and idly strumming at the nuisance the fleshling called a guitar when the newest autobot entered the room. "Uh, sorry. Forgot they assigned you this room, it's where I always hang out, er, I guess 'hung out', when I'm feeling down. The acoustics are great."

The seeker glared down at her with a mix of amusement and curiousness. "The past tense 'hung', with any luck, is more applicable."

"Right," She said, as she quickly fumbled to unplug her amp and hightail it out of there. If she was completely honest, the ex con totally freaked her out. Of course she'd never admit it, but how cold he could be and how much he obviously enjoyed frightening her while she tried to save Bulk, toss in that he had been second in command of the decepticon army, and he'd assisted MECH with the whole T-Cog business, also frying Bumblebee's in the process, and he was one completely twisted, terrifying cybertronian. Aside from all of that, however, her main reason for being so quick to leave was she didn't want him to see. She'd been crying.

"You don't need to be so quick to leave, so long as you do," He said with a shrug. It wasn't like he cared about time; he had nothing to do. Scrutinizing the human who kept rubbing at her eyes, he asked," What is wrong with you eyes, girl?"

She stiffened at this and quickly shook her head, saying," Nothing! Nothing at all."

"You're crying," Starscream observed, getting to one knee and peering at the human with a little interest.

Knowing she'd been caught and couldn't really deny it, she stared up and Starscream and asked," What? Transformers don't?" She propped her hand on her hip and tried not to come off as vulnerable as she felt.

"No, Cybertronians do cry, it's just, never without reason."

She went back to gathering her things and muttered," I had a reason."

"Really? A comrade or brother died? You've been horribly mutilated beyond recognition and marooned on an unknown planet? How about-"

"I get it! You're problems are more important than mine! Whatever, I don't care," She snapped. She lifted the mini amp as soon as she had all the cords wound up loosely. One thing Miko hated was letting others see her tears, it was usually worse than whatever had made her cry in the first place.

Starscream realized with a little dread that if he let her leave and the autobots saw a crying Miko running out his room, that would be very, very bad. Getting to his feet, he crossed his arms behind his back and analyzed the problem. "You may sit, er, stay awhile," He offered awkwardly," What's bothering you?"

"What."

"W-what do you mean 'what'? I offered for you to tell me what caused your crying. Isn't that how human convention proceeds?"

"Well, yeah, but you're Starscream. You're like... anti-human and stuff..."

He shrugged and said," I've recently turned a new leaf."

"'Cause you were sick of getting beat up every we-eek!" She covered her mouth with her hands as she realized she was insulting Starscream and Bulkhead wasn't around to save her sorry hide if the ex-con decided it was one straw too many. Turning leaves were nice and all, but a leaf was really light, it didn't take much wind to send it spiraling.

He growled and clenched his claws in subdued anger. He knew he wouldn't get away with murdering the little girl, so he would have to put up with the impudent human.

Setting her stuff down, she sat and brought her knees in close. "Everyone's annoyed with me. Today, even Bulk was." She crossed her arms and laid her head down on them.

"To be fair, you're brash and run off into danger all the time, causing more work for your friends then necessary. You cause more trouble than even I do," He said offhandedly as he found a seat on the other side of the room.

Raising her head and twisting it to glare at him, she said," Wha-Hey! You're not supposed to make me feel worse!"

"I don't know what you were expecting out of the conversation, I merely offered it. I may not completely loathe your kind anymore, but I still don't really like you either."

"Gee. Thanks."

"Anytime."

She laughed and he arched an eyebrow, then rolled his optics. Humans. "I said you didn't need to be quick, but I still wanted you to leave," He mumbled.

"B-but then you..."

"I just didn't want you crying when you left."

"You... nevermind. Thanks for cheering me up anyways, even if was by being aft," She said in her usual buoyant voice, collecting her things and heading for the door.

He held silence as he watched the human leave, thinking of how vastly different his life was from times relatively recent. Preparing for recharge, he tried to find a comfortable position, but alas could not. Sleeping out of his alt mode always brought the dark feeling being on an operation table- something he'd slept on many times- but what could he do to change that? Without his T-Cog, he was restricted to many uncomfortable nights.