Chapter Text
Starscream had been staying in the cell back at the base for quite a bit by now.
As Hashtag arrived home from Cybertron, she decided to check the cameras back at the base, heading there after a bit to make sure everything was going smoothly.
As Hashtag arrived, she walked past all of the Autobots in the base somehow and crept over to where the cells were, spotting Starscream’s somewhere at the other end of the hall.
Hashtag started walking towards him, the words he had spoken at one point echoing through her head. Starscream had said that he was second in command in his own body. Hashtag thought that’s what she heard.
After all, Stardroid- No, Starscream had been pretty high up in the air when he said that. Hashtag wasn’t quite sure she had heard him right.
As Hashtag finally reached Starscream’s cell, she stopped in front of it and sat down in front, not wanting to distract Starscream from his card stacking. Hashtag cleared her throat after a moment, causing Starscream to jump slightly from the abrupt noise.
His cards almost fell over, but thankfully they didn’t. Starscream moved closer to the front of his cell so this way he and Hashtag could talk properly. “Hashtag? I hadn’t expected you to want to talk.”
Hashtag looked at him with a look of sympathy. “I just… never mind, it’s stupid.”
Hashtag pulled out her tablet and showed Starscream a video of a puppy running around the room with the zoomies, trying to take his mind off of whatever Hashtag was going to say. But Starscream still asked her about it.
As the video ended, Starscream looked at Hashtag. “What were you going to say?”
Hashtag shifted, clearly uncomfortable for a second before speaking, her voice tight. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay after… everything that’s happened.”
Hashtag started fidgeting with her hands, clearly showing signs of not wanting to talk about it. Starscream reached out and pressed his hand against the barrier at the front of the cell. Hashtag took her hand and mimicked the motion, pressing her hand over Starscream’s.
“So, are you okay?”
Starscream shrugged and removed his hand, Hashtag following suit. “I think so. It’s just that… you know, it’s hard to talk about.” Their small conversation from last year popped into Starscream’s head. “You understand, right?”
Hashtag nodded, glancing farther down the hallway, towards the location of Mandroid’s cell. “Yeah, I understand.”
Hashtag stayed silent as the memories from last year came flooding back to her, like a dam that was spilling over. Starscream went back to stacking his cards and Hashtag went onto her tablet and scrolled online. But after maybe 5 minutes of silence, Starscream spoke a question that made Hashtag flinch.
“Do you ever feel like you’re not free from his control? Like he’s still in your head?”
Hashtag sat up, having been laying on the floor. “...Yeah. But that was mostly last year. I-I’ve gotten over it. I’m sure of that.”
Starscream noticed the stutter in her voice and looked at Hashtag with worry and a little bit of pity. “Are you sure? You still seem to be… avoiding the topic.”
Hashtag’s hand reached for her tablet, but she pulled away before she could grab it. “Yeah, I’m sure!”
Starscream could still tell Hashtag was lying and asked her a question that made Hashtag almost just want to get up and leave. “What happened while I was in here? You know, I don’t really know what’s happening out there.”
Hashtag looked at the floor, tracing circles in the cool tiles. “Well, it’s a long story… but there were these things called the Blades of Time or something. But they’re able to reset someone back to a previous state… and Megatron…”
Starscream tensed up, realizing what Hashtag was implying. “Ah, I… I see. So, you wanted to make sure I was okay after the, you know, events with Mandroid and now this.”
Starscream’s leg started bouncing up and down from where he sat. Hashtag stood up, preparing to leave, but Starscream asked her one last question. “Well, what are you guys going to do now?”
Hashtag looked at Starscream, hand hovering near her tablet. “I’ll check the cameras as many times as needed. I don’t care how many times I check. It’s worth it to keep you and everybody else safe.”
Starscream nodded and waved Hashtag goodbye before walking back off the way she came.
Starscream felt a creeping sense of dread, but he also felt protected.
He knew that Hashtag would be on watch at pretty much all times, so he just went back to stacking cards, feeling more defended now that he had someone who he could at least trust to keep him safe.