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Bumblebee was deep in thought. He looked almost upset.
‘I don’t care.’ Starscream thought. She went back to the paperwork that she was scarcely doing as he took sips directly from a bottle of high grade engex.
Bumblebee wasn’t hoping that Starscream would ask what’s wrong-to him, Bee was just a hallucination. What was wrong with Bumblebee was wrong with Starscream. And Starscream would never address all of that. But they couldn’t bring themself to leave. Maybe they just wanted company.
Starscream groaned. “Well if you’re going to mope you might as well entertain me. What’s wrong?”
Bumblebee was surprised. For a second he thought about ignoring Starscream, or even disappearing back to Crystal City. But trust was a two way street and if Starscream was gonna actually listen to her, she had to be vulnerable too.
“I’m thinking about Optimus.”
“Aww, you miss him?” Starscream mocked.
“No. Actually… closer to the opposite.”
“Oh?” Starscream was intrigued. Autobot infighting could be oh, so entertaining.
“When we were on Earth, Optimus surrendered to the humans. Obviously we weren’t all gonna do that, so we hid and elected a new leader. I was voted in. I didn’t nominate myself-I didn’t even vote, but I got the position. And even though I was constantly underestimated and undermined I did my best to do right by them. And then Optimus came back.”
“Let me guess… Everyone immediately answered to him.”
“I was still the leader, but almost no one acted like it. Especially Optimus. Ratchet, Prowl, and Jazz still somewhat respected my position, but Optimus acted like he was the leader, even after he reassured me that he wasn’t and that he wasn’t going to take the position back from me. If I didn’t approve of what he did, he’d just do it anyway. Because he’s a Prime. And I’m just me. It didn’t help that I was berth-ridden for a good six weeks.”
“Ugh.”
“Then, we all came to Cybertron and Optimus left. But during all that stuff with Shockwave, he came back. When Megatron and I were in Crystal City confronting Galvatron, I was shot. My spark was hit, and I was dying. The matrix fell out of my subspace. My processors were shutting down various other functions to prioritize my spark. My senses were glitching in and out. I remember Megatron taking my badge and declaring himself an Autobot. Then I blacked out, and when I came to I heard Optimus tell Megatron to leave me. Megatron wanted to save me, and Optimus left me for dead. The last thing I saw was them running away. But not before Optimus took the matrix.”
“Primus.” Starscream was shocked, but also contemplative. “And now he's the leader of the Autobots once more.”
“Yeah.”
“ Who’d have thought that Optimus would sink to that level. That’s a classic move I’d pull.”
“…I’m not power hungry, but I liked leading the Autobots. I even think that I could have done another play for Cybertron after Shockwave. And I know Ratchet would have been able to save me.”
“…You’re not wrong. You could have made a play for Cybertron. The only reason I got it was by killing Metalhawk. During the crisis with Shockwave, my reputation might have been one of the lowest it had ever been. You were out there, leading.” Starscream took another swig of engex. “Of course I would never actually admit that. And even if you did regain leadership, I would still be a constant pain in your aft.”
Bumblebee chuckled. “That’s exactly what I’d expect.”
Starscream offered them a swig, and then remembered Bumblebee’s incorporality. “So, are you still an Autobot?”
Bumblebee was surprised by the question. His immediate instinct was to say yes, but now… “I don’t know.” They answered truthfully. “I spent four million years fighting on this side, following Optimus. I tried to do what I thought was right, but was it? I don’t think Optimus is right anymore. Maybe he never was. I just sided with him against Zeta Prime, and then the war started. I couldn’t be a Decepticon-Soundwave made sure of that. And I could never have been neutral and just left. I cared too much. But now…”
“The war’s over. You don’t have to let yourself be defined by faction, or leader, or the war.” Starscream said.
That was surprisingly profound. Maybe that’s what Starscream had told himself when he forsook the Decepticon badge.
“I still have my values. I’m not really an Autobot, anymore, I guess. I just want what’s best for Cybertron.”
“Then we’re on the same page.” Starscream finished his bottle.
Both of them smiled at each other. Bumblebee realized that he was actually enjoying being with Starscream. Something that a few years ago would have been an absurd idea. Maybe Starscream was feeling the same way.
Starscream sighed. “Well, my engex bottle is out and I suppose I should try to get some recharge in before my meetings. Feel free to stay or disappear.” And with that Starscream got up and went to her berth. For the first time in a long time, Bumblebee actually felt happy.