Chapter Text
The AC blasted throughout the darkened room, and yet the air still felt hot and stale. Arcee dug the tips of her fingers into the bed. The gentle sound of mental scraped against metal echoed in the room. She tossed and turned and tried every sleeping position imaginable and then some! But it didn’t seem to do much good. The young femme grumbled as she shot up and rubbed her face. "Great. It looks like it's going to be a long, sleepless night. Again!" With that said, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked the long, dark halls of the base with a hand on the wall. A hand ran along the cold, metallic wall and would only stop to toy with a bolt every so often.
A soft sigh escaped into the air as her gaze studied each door along the walls, knowing whose room was which. "Huh. Of course, the largest room goes to the big boss man. Still, I wish I would’ve taken the offer to take over the room when he gave me the choice."
The walk continued until she ran across a room with muscle cars plastered on it, and a chuckle emerged. "You couldn’t help it, could ya, Bee? You and Cliff both loved those things." She looked across the hall, to the last two doors on the left, and shook her head at the sight of the Keep Out! sign. "Sure, Ratchet, I won’t go in your room, as long as you don’t go into mine."
The one next to it had cutesy, pastel-colored kittens and amp guitars stuck to it. "Haha, you couldn’t bring yourself to let her down, huh, big guy? I can’t say I blame ya, I would’ve done the same." Then, as she turned to look down the hall, there was another door off to the right. Fingertips once more dug into the smooth, cold wall and caused light scratches in it. "You can do this." It took a few moments, but she managed to get to the door.
As she placed her hand against the door, and caused it to open with a ginger touch. The room inside was a mess. Comics and magazines laid about the floor. The bed was half made as posters of jaguars, mustangs, and porches plastered on the wall behind the bed. She chuckled as tears welled up in her eyes. "God Cliffjumper, why'd you have to go? You have no idea how much we need you. How much I need you. Not a day goes by when I don’t miss you and wish you’d come home to us. To me." As her gaze fell to a bulky, wooden desk covered and buried in papers, she let out a soft, shaky breath. With a head shake, she strode over to the table and began to investigate the papers. "You couldn’t stand to have anything clean, could you, Cliff?" The sight of a loose, blackened piece of paper caught her eye. Curious, the femme pulled it from the stack and found a photo of a North Top Talon Jet, with T-38 written beneath it. Curiouser still, she could see a few words through to the other side.
Hey Scream,
Look I know you're exhausted working for Megatron. I can hear it in your voice. I promise Optimus is not Megs. You’ll be safe here. It might take some time for everyone to come around, but I’m sure if you stick with me, we’ll all be friends before ya know it.
PS: I could use your inside info on those mines. Food’s tight, and I can’t get much to ya.
A soft "no" escaped Arcee’s lips as her hand shook in surprise. "No, this isn’t right! How … Why would he even do this? What were you thinking, Cliff?! She quickly stormed off in a fury on par with a giant blaze and began to pace the room. "Why? Why would you do this? What did you plan on having him join?" But when the sound of silence answered, she let out a scream that had built up in her throat. The scream caused a few team members to wake up, as Bee rushed into the room and gently placed his arms around her.
’Arcee? Arcee, what are you doing in here? Is -
Arcee interrupted him: "I’m fine. I’m fine, just overwhelmed. C’mon, I need some air." Arcee transformed into vehicle mode and ran off into the darkness. Bee watched, shook his head, and followed at a good distance.
…
The sun had come up by the time the Bee made it back to base, and Arcee had gone home to Jack’s place. She was now curled up on the mattress and under a blanket that June had offered her to keep warm. The sound of footsteps as they rushed toward the garage drew her attention, causing her to groan
"Hey, Arcee! "Come on, there's a motorcycle rally in town, and - Arcee?"
Arcee grumbled, "Sleep." Jack slowly approached and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Rough night?"
Arcee nodded and grumbled again.
"You wanna talk?"
"No, I want to sleep."
Jack nodded and grabbed his bicycle instead. "Alright, I’ll be sure to get some good pics and see if I can find anything you’d like. If you decide you’re up for it later, come out and join me. Enjoy your nap, Arcee."
She nodded from under the blanket, and Jack rode off for the day. The sound of the garage door being shut earned a soft groan and quickly fell asleep.
…
It was late evening, and by now Jack had decided it was a good time to touch base with the other bots to see if they knew something. Unfortunately, Bulkhead was out with Miko on a mudding trip, and Bee still hadn’t made his appearance for the day. Doc Bot was busy as usual, and Optimus had just returned, so he only caught the tail end of Raph and Jack's conversation, and he gently butted in.
"Is something wrong with Arcee?"
"Yeah, well, kind of. See, I went downstairs to my garage to get her up and go to this motorcycle rally that was in town. But she wanted to sleep more instead, it seemed like she had a restless night, so I just let her sleep. You wouldn’t happen to know something, would you, Optimus?"
The old warbot hummed softly and rubbed his chin in thought. Then, with a head shake, he replied, "No, nothing I can think of. Arcee will often leave for hours at a time on such nights and will not return home until the morning. It seems to be her way of clearing her head."
Jack wondered out loud, "Wonder what it could’ve been that upset her like that? I hope tonight will be better for her."
….
Arcee finally decided to make her way back to base not long after Jack got home. He tried to talk to her in regards to the late-night ride, but all it did was send the two-wheeler on a race back to base. So, for the time being, she watched Bulkhead play keep-away with the lob ball while Bee tried to tackle him. "Hey, take it easy, you two; you’re gonna break something of Ratchet’s!"
"Fine mom! We’ll be careful." She rolled her eyes and chuckled at Bulkhead’s retort.
"Funny, I don’t remember evicting you from my gestation chamber. And I’d remember that too, ya big baby." Cee stuck her tongue out at him as he shot the femme a dirty look. This gave Bee a chance to snatch the ball away from him and get a good game started. With a stretch and a cheeky wink at Bee, Arcee found her eyes drooped a bit, and before she knew it, a cat nap had set in. The sting in her eyes caused them to water but it was welcomed. Bulk’s voice cut the nap before she.
"Yo! Arcee look out!" Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to process the situation, and she took a hard hit to the face from the ball. "Scrap! Arcee, are you okay?" Bulkhead rushed over to her; the femme was now flat out on the floor like it was nap time. Without much of a chance to react, Arcee had shot the ball back at Bulkhead‘s face.
"I told you to be careful! I’m going to my room." Bee rushed to Bulk to make sure he was okay, as the femme stormed off.
Arcee grumbled as she reached her room. "Mechs!! They’re all idiots! Especially a bull-horned red one that wants to invite decepticons to join us like it’s a Sunday picnic!" A deep echo bellowed in the room as Arcee’s fist slammed into the wall.
Pinching the bridge of her nose and with a sigh, she muttered, “I need to get answers. But he won’t give me what I want if I don’t find some way to make peace." Her head in her hands, Arcee let out a long groan. "They're gonna kill me if they find out, but it’s what needs to be done." With that said, a private message was sent out, and quietly snuck out of the base once the activity had died down.
…
The desert was now covered in a cool blanket of night, with stars scattered across it. At the edge of a canyon, a sleek, deep blue Kawasaki motorcycle pulled up to the ledge of the canyon. The bike’s rider quietly contemplated the vast expanse of desert before them. Soft winds would blow in from the northeast, and small dust clouds would kick up and die off again in the distance. The large walls that made up the canyon caused the rider to twitch a bit as a hand clutched the bike’s handles tightly. "Always did hate to feel small, but I kind of like it at the same time." The rider looked around again as if to see if anyone was around. When the coast seemed clear, they unhooked a saddle bag that hung on the side of the bike. Then, like a ghost, the rider vanished into the air and the bike transformed.
The bike turned out to be Arcee as she stretched and pulled muscles throughout her body. "There we go, man! I love being able to do that, but sometimes it cramps ya up." As she did so, the young speeder turned and found her gaze resting on the canyon once more. Some walls felt as if they could tower over her and would begin to bark orders in a deep, sultry voice. Some seemed to want to invite her to take cover against them. While others served as an odd reminder, of something that caused her shoulders to hunch up. She felt the rest pull forward as she stood up straight and put all the weight on her tiptoes.
"Trying to make yourself taller than me? It’s cute, but it won’t work." The smooth, menacing voice made Arcee jump in a panic. She whip around to face its owner, as she readied her blades for a tough fight. Although she put them away once it was revealed who it was. "So you did get my message, that’s good to know," Starscream grumbled a bit and shook his head.
"Yes, well, it's not every day you autobots want to parlay with me, now is it? So, what do you have in mind? Or is this a trap set by Optimus?" Scream stood tall and upright and strode over to the smaller bot. Each step seemed to be able to glide over the sand with ease, and soon, the taller, slender frame towered over the young speeder.
His bright, red eyes pierced down at her, his thick brows knitted tight together, as his hands rested behind his back. Arcee swallowed her emotions and attempted to gather her thoughts to speak.
Scream noticed this. He leaned forward to get right in her face, and flashed a cheeky grin at the sight of a femme who was often so eager to engage in slagging matches, was now quiet. "What? Did Ravager get your tongue? Or are you so charmed by my physical appearance that you’ve lost your nerve, hmm?"
Arcee let out a soft growl to regain her voice and spat out what she needed to say. "I did come to parlay." She held out her hand to reveal a crumpled piece of paper. "I found this; what were you and Cliff up to?" He looked puzzled at the crumbled piece of paper, plucked it from her palm, and read it. A soft hum rose into the air at its sight and the contents of the message on the back.
"An old correspondence. Cliffjumper and I were in talks about me defecting to your side." The sight of Arcee’s face, caused him to chuckle. It was longer with eyes wide and cocked brows and her mouth agape, and he turned his attention to the tips of his fingers.
Arcee’s face snapped back together and tightened up. The arrogance and cocky attitude on display lit a fire deep within her belly as she growled, "Why?
"Because at the time of that letter, I'd actively considered it; it was that or go, rogue." He crumbled the letter back into a ball and tossed it aside. "To say I was miserable was an understatement." There was an unusual tinge of regret in his voice, as he spoke. "It was his fault that my brothers died and my sister went missing. I bear some responsibility for their fates. But he was the overall cause of their deaths and disappearance."
"Siblings?"
"Yes, I was the eldest of Lieutenant Cryak’s sparklings. It was me, Thunder Cracker, Skywarp, and Slip Stream. I'd spent a lot of time trying to find my sister and get her back into our ranks, or at the very least learn what happened to her. Not like it matters; Megatron won’t tell me anything about her. He warned me that if I were to continue with my search, all I’d find is myself drowned in the smelting pits of Cybertron."
Arcee remained quiet, her arms crossed over her chest like a wall. A wall with eyes that watched as Starscream’s demeanor changed. His shoulders were hunched up, arms crossed, and his wings pressed together tight. As if he’d expected the worst to happen.
"So what, Cliff was gonna help you find her?"
"That was part of the deal, yes. Every day, I regret that I extinguished his spark." Arcee chuffed at the confession and shook her head.
"Never thought I’d live to see the day where you’d actually admit something you’d done wrong. So, why did you do it?" He sighed and glanced at the young femme with her, who was glaring right back at him. The pair locked in an awkward test of wills. A soft growl escaped the old seeker, and he turned away.
"To prove to Megatron that I was not as worthless as he claimed! Now, unless you want to strike up a deal, or apologize for attacking me, we’ve nothing more to do here."
"Why should I? You killed my partner, and for what? All so you could prove yourself to someone who never cared if you lived or died?"
"Megatron cost me my trine and our little sister! You think I don’t understand loss, but I do! You‘re reminded of them on a daily basis! How you could save them? What could you have done to keep them alive? And by extension," Scream could feel his wings tighten together as he inched away from Arcee’s face. "By extension, keep your promise to your deceased mother." Scream appeared to withdraw into himself. "So, I do what I must. Just to survive, now if you will excuse me." Scream began to storm away, his wings now hanging low toward the ground as he went. Arcee could feel the sharp, stabbing pain in her palms as her fingertips dug into them. Her body trembled with every emotion possible. He got away once because of her, it wouldn’t happen again.
A glob of spit began to build up in her throat as it got tight. No, no, this had to be said, otherwise, this war would never end. Tears welled in her eyes, the thought alone made her stomach churn with unease, but it had to be said. With one more forced swallow, she finally barked out.
"I’m sorry!" This made Scream pause and face Arcee. Her shoulders were hunched with fists that were desperate to nail the Decepticon in the face.
"Come again?"
"I thought if I settled the score that it would make me feel better.” She paused, “But all it did was leave me feeling emptier than I already did. I know now that harming you, won’t bring back someone I loved." Now she began to shut down. Her arms crossed tight against her chest, and she cast an avoidant gaze to the ground.
After it was all said, a sense of shame swallowed her up like flotsam in the undertow.
The old seeker eyed her with harsh intent as the two-wheeler dug her nails into her arm.
Scream shot a glare at the autobot and approached with caution. "What do you stand to gain from this, Arcee? That I’ll defect and become an autobot? Forgive you for what happened? Give me one good reason why I should trust you."
Scream could feel the heat from the glare that came from the little two-wheeler as she spoke. "Besides answers? Hope for this war to end sooner."
He eyed her up and down as if to make sure it was safe, only to stop at the sight of her fingers as they dug into her arms. With a gentle sigh, he chastised Arcee with a soft tone. "Stop it."
She turned her head to him with a confused look as he explained. "You’ve got your fingers dug into your arm. Stop it. If you keep that up, you’ll puncture yourself."
Arcee blinked in bewilderment at the statement and was a bit taken aback by the concern he’d shown at the moment.
"Apologies; my younger brother, Thunder Cracker, had a nasty habit of that. I’d lost count of how many times I’d told him to knock it off, yet he still continued to do it. Always had to patch him up and play it off to Megatron as something else. Those two were idiots, especially Skywarp. But I miss those idiots."
Arcee slowly loosened her grip on her arms. The self-inflicted injuries dawned on her as Scream pointed them out. They became more obvious with a sharp sting after she’d removed her nails.
"Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’d like to leave."
A soft sigh escaped her as she pulled something from the nearby saddle bag on the ground. "Starscream, wait!"
A frustrated growl cut the silence as the seeker whipped around at the two-wheeler, only to pause at the cluster of blue rocks that glowed in her hand. "I know words don’t mean much. Especially when you lived and worked under Megatron, for Primus' sake. But this," his eyes widened at the sight, fresh energon! He licked his lips like a hungry animal as she spoke, "Will help prove that I’m not so bad, ya know?" His eyes flickered to her face and caught the sight of the smug grin as it grew.
He returned the smirk, saying, "Heh, using my own words against me now, are we? Well," he said, straightening up, clearing his throat, and looking at the tips of his fingers. "Haha, well I could be swayed to your cause, especially if you’re kind enough to provide a meal or two." He licked his lips greedily and snatched the energon from her hands. Which caused her to yank hers back and step away to watch as Stars happily munched on the energon. A slight smile crept across the two-wheeler’s face, along with a chuckle escaping her throat.
"Huh, I guess June was right."
He paused and looked at her, unsure of what she was talking about. "Right about what? And who is June?" He asked between mouthfuls of energon.
"The quickest way to a mech’s spark is through his stomach." She smirked and began to stride off, but not before her fingers gently grazed his wings. "By the way, you might wanna learn to relax these more, that tension can’t be good for ya." The little retort and the small sign of affection caused Scream to straighten himself up and glare at the young femme.
"Perhaps you should watch your tongue!"
Arcee turned smoothly as the soft sand gently rustled beneath her feet. "Or what?" She with big, puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip. Star returned the smirk and gently tilted her head to look at him.
"Oh, I think you and I will get along just fine, wouldn’t you agree, my pet?" She chuffed at the nickname and moved his hand away from her face.
"Only if you never call me your pet again."
"You’ll learn to like it, my dear; by the way, there’s an energon mine a few clicks north of here. I’d been scouting it out for the last few weeks, and I don’t believe the decepticons have found it yet. I’ll send its location to your personal communication device. As long as you save a few cubes for me, it’s been some time since I’ve had a chance to really eat." He licked his lips and continued to munch on the cluster he’d been given earlier.
An uneasy gaze grew on her face, but she looked at the directions for the mine. They looked legit from what she could tell. "I’ll send Bumblebee and Bulkhead out tomorrow to investigate. If you’re being honest, I’ll save you some and meet you back here the night after tomorrow. Got it?"
He shot her a devilishly toothy grin and spoke, "But of course, my pet." He bowed, and with that, he took off. She grumbled and rolled her eyes before taking off for home.