Chapter Text
It had become a common occurrence for Megatron to enter his private office and find Starscream in the room, sifting through datapads or reorganizing the various gifted gemstones that decorated the shelves. What was a new development was finding the seeker recharging in his chair, helm buried in his arms that rested on the desk. The first few times Starscream would startle awake at the sound of the door opening, followed by whining and plenty of complaints. The last few times it took Megatron shaking his shoulder or barely grazing the wing to wake Starscream, still followed by loud protests.
This time, Starscream didn’t budge even as Megatron jostled his shoulder.
Admittedly, every mech was working on less sleep. It was time-consuming to get the Nemesis in shape and waterproof enough to withstand the strong currents of the planet's ocean. It was a series of unfortunate events that brought them there. They had finally caught the Autobot's ship, and boarded it to begin a final glorious fight, only to crash onto an organic planet. Now, four million years later with new alt forms they didn’t understand, they tried once more to leave the planet, only to get sabotaged. Starscream vowed to make the snotty royal pay.
Megatron had lost track of the number of times he said that things could be worse and got worse; he had a feeling Starscream was keeping a tally.
This predicament could put all those other predicaments to shame.
There were plenty of resources for energon, but as soon as they had enough the Autobot either shot at them or hit the volatile cubes and set off a chain of explosions. Not to mention the fact that the Autobots made friends with the vermin on the planet, making collecting resources all the more difficult.
Speaking of the precious resource, more reconnaissance missions needed to be planned.
“Starscream,” Megatron said at a reasonable volume, shaking the shoulder again and getting no response. “Starscream.”
The seeker made a noise but tucked his helm further, wings knocking away Megatron’s servo. The leader could easily dump the seeker from the chair, but the threat of getting talons through his chassis stopped him. He took a moment to think it over, weighing his options before finally settling on one. Megatron placed one arm under Starscream’s wings and the other slid under the seeker’s legs, effectively lifting him from the chair.
Starscream didn’t wake up, and it was almost like his frame instinctively curled closer. Megatron rolled his optics, huffing and muttering some annoyance as he left the office. The halls were thankfully empty, and the command quarters weren’t far. Megatron had to do a balancing act once at the trine’s quarters, freeing a digit enough to key in the code.
Megatron hadn’t entered their quarters since their departure from Cybertron, and what once was a clean empty room was now filled with junk. Organized and off the floor but still covered every wall surface. The leader shook his helm, having expected the mess since three were in one room. Speaking of the other two, Thundercracker and Skywarp were already inside, skipping their shifts to recharge in their berth.
“Figures,” Megatron grumbled. He walked over and unceremoniously dumped the third seeker onto the other two, expecting them to wake up screeching. Instead, the three shuffled around and wove themselves together, forming a tangled mess of frames. Megatron stood there a little longer, intrigued by how soft Starscream looked smashed between his trinemates. The second in command always wore a scowl, optics narrowed in disgust anytime Megatron walked by. It was, strange.
Quietly as he could, Megatron left, not noticing the sleepy red optics watching him go.
It was just him in the databanks when Megatron encountered another strange thing about the three. Starscream and Skywarp had been sent to scout a potential energon source at a power plant, leaving in the quiet of the night when the place would be vulnerable. Every mech had quickly adjusted to the new sleep cycle, yet certain seekers were still struggling. The telltale sign of some mech entering had Megatron looking up from his work, seeing Thundercracker peeking in.
“Your shift doesn't start until sunrise,” Megatron noted, watching as Thundercracker's wings tilted up at his voice. A motion he began associating with being caught off guard but relieved all at once.
“Anyone else in here?” Thundercracker asked.
“No. It’s been a successful transition to this planet’s sun rotation.” Megatron made sure to glance at him. “Mostly. You should be in your quarters.”
Thundercracker stepped inside, still glancing around as if expecting another mech. Once assuring the coast was clear, the seekers moved over to where a chair and desk sat.
“It’s too quiet in our room,” Thundercracker explained, stretching his arms up before taking a seat. “You’ll be here a while?”
“Until sunrise.” Megatron went back to work, checking over the lines of coding. The ventilation had finally stabilized, meaning Soundwave could go to phase two of his plans. It had gone quiet in the room, and Megatron had expected Thundercracker to say more. So when turning to check he was surprised to find the seekers in recharge, helm tucked into crossed arms. Sighing, Megatron shook his helm, going back to his work. He wouldn’t stop him if Thundercracker wanted to sleep uncomfortably on a table rather than a berth.
After some time and creating a few more tasks that needed to be assigned, Megatron heard the familiar snap and pop of a warp drive. Starscream and Skywarp had teleported in, fans still whirring from flights.
“The plant looks promising,” Starscream pulled a datapad from his subspace, handing it to Megatron. “A small group could sneak in at night once Soundwave disables the alarm.”
“Excellent.” Megatron set the datapad aside, not missing the small twitch in Starscream’s wings. Skywarp had gone over to Thundercracker, servos coming up to touch the blue shoulder. The seeker didn’t stir.
“Thanks for keeping an optic on him. His restlessness in the bond was driving us crazy,” Skywarp spoke up, not sounding annoyed in the slightest.
Megatron looked to Starscream, expecting an explanation but wasn’t given one. The trineleader instead huffed, marching over to Skywarp. The two shared a quiet conversation before Starscream took the other’s wrist and the three teleported away.
Megatron woke up with a heavy weight on him once night cycle, then as his optics focused Starscream came into view. The seeker was lying on top of Megatron’s chassis, with his red optics slit and watching intently. Starscream narrowed his optics further, studying.
“How do you do it?” Starscream’s voice was quiet, with its usual scratchiness nearly nonexistent.
“Do what?” Megatron kept his voice low to match, arms winding around the seeker’s waist. Starscream squirmed before settling in, realizing he was trapped.
“Recharge alone. I thought you were paranoid,” Starscream hissed softly.
“I am, but with you three pestering me at all hours, no one else could catch me alone,” Megatron pointed out, tightening his arms to make a point that he was currently being bothered.
“Fair.”
Silence.
“Why aren’t you with your trine?” Megatron asked.
Starscream huffed in annoyance. “They’re too busy fragging around and keeping me awake. So I came to bother you.”
Starscream’s optics flickered, and his helm dropped just slightly to rest on Megatron’s chassis for a klik before he craned his neck back up. It was clear he was fighting recharge.
“Why do you need to recharge near others?” Megatron questioned.
“What makes you think that’s the case?” Starscream bit out, albeit in a whisper.
“You’re willing to stay awake for days until one of your trinemates or I am available to recharge by. Are you that paranoid?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Thundercracker has me beaten by two days. Seekers don’t sleep alone.” Starscream cut himself off with a yawn. “Our bond is intertwined to the point that we work on the same recharge cycle. If Skywarp is tired then we’re tired.”
“Doesn’t explain the need to recharge near each other.”
“Do I need to explain everything?” Starscream’s usual snark was softer. “Some things don’t need meaning.”
Fair point.
Starscream tapped his talons onto Megatron’s chassis; not to sting but to contemplate and sort his thoughts. “It’s a trust thing. Similar to preening wings. Two recharge while one stays awake to keep watch.” Starscream averted his optics.
Megatron hummed in thought. “You trust me?”
Starscream exvented but didn’t object.
Megatron leaned his head back. “Then I’ll keep watch while you rest.”
He prepared for the onslaught of protests but was surprised when the weight on his chassis dropped and became heavier. Sparring a glance, Megatron saw Starscream already sound asleep.