The Ties That Bind - Cannon TRANSFORMER FANFIC
BY: STARSCREAM FOR PRESIDENT & SUNSTAR
THE TIES THAT BIND
BITTERSWEET
“Huh, he’s not here,” Skywarp said as he looked up and down the corridor.
“I told him to stay close by,” Starscream said slightly irritated.
“I’ll go look for him. We’ll meet you in your quarters?”
“Yes, I look forward to it.” There was a hint of dread in Starscream’s voice.
“Ok, see ya in a few,” Skywarp chimed as he teleported away.
He materialized in the control room directly behind Dirge. Skywarp often felt uneasy around the grey Seeker and he saw this as an opportunity for revenge. “Dirge.” He quickly shouted causing the other Seeker to jump and drop his data pad. Skywarp grinned as Dirge quickly turned to face him.
“Why must you always do that?” His tone instantly struck fear in Skywarp.
“Uh, have you seen Thundercracker?” He hoped his inquiry would cause Dirge to forget whatever thoughts of revenge he may have had.
“No, I haven’t. And if I were you, I would make sure to never do that to me again.” Skywarp made note of Dirge’s dire warning and quickly teleported out.
He rematerialized in the canteen. This time he found his quarry. “There you are.” He half shouted as Thundercracker jumped and dropped his energon bar. He grimaced as he picked it up and realized it was covered in dirt and debris. He studied it for a moment and threw it into the trash receptacle.
“Damnit, Warp, why do you always do that to me?” Thundercracker’s irritation turned to concern as he realized Skywarp was no longer with Starscream. “What are you doing here?”
“Screamer and I are ok and he wants us to meet him in his quarters for some energon.” Skywarp spoke rapidly. His mood was greatly improved since Thundercracker had last seen him.
“Alright,” Thundercracker said apprehensively. “Hmm, I’ve never been inside Screamer’s room. I wonder what it looks like.”
“Ah man, his room is twice the size of ours and you wouldn’t believe how neat he is.” Excitement filled Skywarp’s voice.
Thundercracker looked at Skywarp astonished. “He’s invited you into his room before?”
“Um, no.” Skywarp said hesitantly.
“Warp, you’re a dork.” Thundercracker realized just how Skywarp had seen the inside of Starscream’s room.
“Heh, sometimes I move his stuff around just to mess with him.” Skywarp chuckled as he thought of the pranks he had pulled on Starscream. He only wished he could have seen Starscream’s face as he discovered his personal effects had been rearranged without his knowledge or permission.
Starscream had left Skywarp's room after the dark Seeker flitted out looking for Thundercracker. He had a few things in his quarters that he needed to put away; things he'd rather the ever-nosy Skywarp did not see. The red Seeker shielded his optics as he wandered the brightly lit hall hoping that Hook would not spot him. He suddenly did not want to return to the repair bay. It was not comfortable and it had no windows.
He slowly wandered to the elevator that would take him to the upper level of the base where he, Soundwave and Megatron had their quarters. The elevator moved rapidly up and stopped with a slight jolt. He stepped out of the lift and squinted again. Too bright, his head throbbed. He reached out for the switch by the hall and flicked out the light. "Much better." He sighed as he walked to the far end of the hall.
Megatron had made sure that there was a huge empty room between him and Starscream. Guest quarters he had claimed, but no one visited from Cybertron. Shockwave never came to Earth; he did not like humans or their planet. When he thought about it, what Decepticon really liked Earth or its inhabitants? There were a few pleasant locations, high mountains or open plains that he liked to frequent, but on the whole it was a hostile planet. His life was at as much a risk when he went out cruising as it was when he was on a mission.
He passed Megatron's doorway, there were voices: Megatron's and Soundwave's. He paused and pressed his hand and audio sensor to the door. Yes he could hear the voices. Starscream strained to listen. "Laserbeak reports on Skywarp's and Star...," Soundwave's monotone voice became muffled as the Seekers head started to throb again. He was unable to focus in on the voice. He decided he would quickly get a move on so he did not get caught by Thundercracker and Skywarp as he was eavesdropping on Megatron.
He arrived at his door. He looked at it for a moment thinking of how pleasant it would be to be home again. He punched his password into the door passcoder. It slid open with a quiet whoosh and whooshed shut again as he stepped through. The room was very dark. Only the lights of the base could be seen through the huge bubble shaped window. Starscream placed his hand to the switch and raised the light up a couple lumens; just enough to shed light in the room so he could see where he was going.
Starscream stopped. "No, that was not right." He thought as he looked around. He could have sworn he had put the datapad back on the shelf with the others. He looked around and noticed the chairs were not in the same place he had remembered them. He shook his head for a moment, pressing a hand to the side that had been cracked. "Must be a misplaced memory file." He reasoned.
Quickly, he grabbed a few things off his desk and placed them in a drawer in his recharge chamber. He looked around and his optics rested on the dart board that sported a very punctured picture of Megatron.
Earth culture had some interesting target sports. Darts he found was a frequent outlet for frustration in humans. He had created a board and had the Constructicons make the tungsten darts. He explained to them it was a form of armour piercing weapon that he had planned on firing from his wrist launcher.
He knew that the board would have to go; Skywarp would have a slag fit if he saw it and the picture and Thundercracker would not be very impressed with him either. Everything was in order once again.
There was a bleep of his door buzzer.
"Enter."
Thundercracker clung to the hand rails of the elevator as it moved up. Skywarp happily nodded his head in time to a song that apparently only he could hear. Thundercracker was uneasy about being on the level in which Megatron's quarters were. His tension was momentarily eased as Skywarp's soft humming turned to outright singing.
"If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?" Skywarp realized that he had absentmindedly sung the words out loud. He quickly shot a concerned glance at Thundercracker who stood grinning and shaking his head. Thundercracker braced himself as the lift suddenly stopped.
Skywarp led the way down the long corridor as Thundercracker followed nervously behind. "This is really weird. I wonder which room is Megatron's."
"That one. And that one over there is Soundwave's." Skywarp said playing tour guide.
"You haven't?" Thundercracker knew that Skywarp was a loyal soldier and would never do anything to jeopardize his career, but he was also an accomplished prankster. Megatron would be the ultimate challenge for a bored Seeker with the ability to teleport.
"Huh? Oh no, not Megatron's. That'd be a death wish for sure." Skywarp chuckled but was somewhat offended by Thundercracker's insinuations. "Here we are." He said gleefully as he rang the buzzer outside Starscream's quarters.
Skywarp entered the room and walked to the far wall of Starscream’s quarters as though he expected to find something there. “Hey where'd that holey picture of Megatron go?”
Starscream looked at Skywarp with a glare. “What holy picture? And how would you know if I have one or not?” He asked Skywarp coldly.
Skywarp grinned. “Where’s the energon?” He asked changing the subject.
“Wait, wait, wait. Holey picture? What are you talking about?” Thundercracker asked accusingly.
Starscream shot Skywarp a dirty look and wandered to the storage room. “He means my most sacred relic. It’s a holy picture not one with holes.” Starscream realized suddenly that Skywarp had been in the chamber to talk to him in his re-charge cycle so he had probably seen the contents of his room.
Skywarp shook his head and grinned at Starscream. “Anyway, I came here with a mission.”
“With a mission? Clarify.” Starscream’s voice came from the storage room it was filled with tension and concern.
“Yeah, to get plastered. Bring it on.”
“Use that tone with me and Thundercracker and I will be drinking and you will be watching.” Came the slightly muffled voice. "Ah here we go!"
“Uh, Megatron’s room is just down the hall so we might want to keep it down.” Thundercracker shot a nervous glance at the door.
Starscream emerged from the storage room with a massive stack of energon. “Well if Megatron wanted peace he could move to the west tower and I can have his apartment.” He carefully piled the cubes onto the table in the middle of the room and regarded Skywarp and Thundercracker for a moment.
Skywarp took a cube and began to chug. Thundercracker was a bit apprehensive.
“Well what are you waiting for? Stop standing around like lumps and sit and relax. Thundercracker are you going to stand there or are you waiting awhile to dig in so you don't pass out so fast?” Starscream chuckled nervously.
“Why does everybody tease me about that?” Thundercracker had grown tired of the old joke. “I'm just kinda freaked out. This is all kinda weird.”
Skywarp finished his first energon cube and began working on another.
“What freaks you out?” Starscream sat down on the dark couch in the corner of the room holding an energon cube grinning slyly. He slowly started to spin it around on his finger tips.
“I don't know. I guess I should be happy that you two are willing to work things out, but c'mon. Megatron is right down the hall.” Thundercracker gestured in the direction of Megatron’s quarters to further emphasize his point.
“Who cares? These are my private quarters I can do what I want in them.” The Seeker stopped playing with his energon cube and he sipped slowly savoring the taste of clean pure energy.
Skywarp looked up from his energon cube. "Chill TC. Geez, it's not like we're gonna do anything that's gonna get us in trouble."
"It is not like we are going to try to kill each other." Muttered Starscream in agreement.
Thundercracker shrugged and took an energon cube. He uneasily sat at the table and looked out the window. He was impressed by the view and somewhat envious. His quarters did not even have a window.
Starscream sat and regarded Skywarp and Thundercracker with amusement. He was very uncomfortable with their presence. He did invite them and he would try his best to accommodate them. Skywarp stood up from the couch and walked over to the desk. “Uh what are you doing, Skywarp?” Starscream inquired suddenly leery of what the dark Seeker's intention was. He had things stuffed in the drawers of his desk that he would rather keep out of Skywarp's sight.
Skywarp turned around quickly and regretted doing so as the energon had already taken effect. “Uh, nothing.”
“Skywarp don't go near my desk please. It’s tidy.” Skywarp grinned as his hand reached out towards the top. “You afraid I’ll mess it up?” He began running his hand along the desk's surface.
Starscream shot a look at Thundercracker who did not notice as he was mesmerized by the window.
“Man, you two are boring. Loosen up will ya? This is supposed to be a party?” Skywarp asked somewhat aggravated.
“Yes it should be." Starscream coughed. “Then we should do a toast.” Starscream started to lift his energon cube formulating something to say.
“A toast? I’ve had more fun getting my augmenter flushed.” Skywarp groaned at the thought of one of Starscream’s toasts.
“Ok then, Skywarp, have it your way! How about a slice of bread?” Starscream laughed wryly.
“Bad puns, yes that's a helluva a lot better than your boring toasts. I'm here to have fun, so just shut up and drink.” Skywarp knew things would be awkward but he was truly disappointed.
“Thundercracker, you party pooper, snap out of it.” The blue Seeker still sat in front of the window mesmerized by the passing sea creatures. “You can't have it both ways. Do you want to have fun or me to remain silent?”
“Oh, what are you going to do? Tell jokes?” Skywarp sat on the desk. “Go for it flyboy, show me whatcha got.” He challenged.
“Skywarp! Get off that desk, you will scratch it!” Starscream rose to his feet. He felt a sudden flash of annoyance flow over him that he battled down.
“That's not funny. You don't tell good jokes.” Skywarp grinned and stepped away from the desk.
Starscream passed Thundercracker and waved his hand in front of the blue Seeker’s face. "The lights are on and nobody is home."
“Look Screamer, if you didn't want us in here why'd you invite us?” Skywarp inquired.
“It's not that. I am not used to this. And this one here is dead to the world.” Starscream kicked gently at Thundercracker’s leg.
“See, I told you it was weird.” Thundercracker replied not seeming to notice he had just been kicked.
“Ah, he speaks.”
Skywarp sighed. "I can get wasted in my room by myself. I was kinda hoping we could have fun like we did when we were stuck in that room together.”
Starscream cringed inwardly at the memory. He had not forgotten that day; just over twenty-four hours stuck in a room with Skywarp in near absolute darkness: a claustrophobe’s nightmare. “Well, since you have seen the board, are you interested in a game?” Starscream strode over to the desk and opened a drawer and brought out nine darts and held them out.
“What game? What the frag are you talking about?” Skywarp studied the darts in Starscream’s hand. They were small stubby missile shaped things with a very long, sharp, slender point. Each ended with a brightly coloured flight bearing the Decepticon insignia.
Starscream leaned down and whispered to Skywarp, “That holy picture of Megatron is attached to a dartboard. It's one of my favorite pastimes.”
“What’s a dartboard?” Skywarp inquired.
Starscream was surprised. He was sure Skywarp had heard of darts. “Humans use it for their drinking games. They are often found in Pubs." Skywarp looked blank. "Public houses: where they drink their organic version of energon. Its like an energon bar back on Cybertron. They throw the darts at the target." Skywarp and Thundercracker looked at each other puzzled still unsure of what Starscream was talking about. The air commander looked at them for a moment and shrugged "I'll be right back.”
Starscream disappeared into his recharge room. He picked up the board from against the wall and pulled the picture off and slipped that into a drawer. He brought out the round red, green and white disk and held it up triumphantly. “It’s a target. Depending where you hit it depends on how many points you get....”
Skywarp shrugged. He did not find the game very amusing. “You got any other games?”
Starscream frowned with disappointment. He had thought Skywarp would be interested in trying it at least.
“Yeah, Warp wants to play scrabble, whatever the frag that is.” Thundercracker was unsure of the game but he knew whatever it was, it was not something Skywarp would be interested in.
“Monopoly?” He had a variant of the game on his computer.
“What is that? Where you take over stuff?” Skywarp wrinkled his nose.
“Kind of, I have never played it. I mostly sit on the computer and play single player games. Like that doom game I let you play years ago or solitaire." Starscream sounded dejected. He suddenly realized how little he knew about socializing on a non-work related level.
Skywarp suddenly felt sorry for Starscream. He often played games with Thundercracker and could only imagine how lonely it must be to have no one to amuse you. “Uh, let's just forget the games. Let's talk.”
“Holy Primus.” The thought of Starscream and Skywarp talking made Thundercracker nervous.
Starscream placed the board down by the desk. “I am sorry, Skywarp, I am not much of a partier. Perhaps I will sit back and watch you and Thundercracker get drunk out of your minds.” He figured that would at least be very entertaining.
“Ugh, frag. This really sucks. Look Screamer, just forget about everything and just relax.” Skywarp was becoming frustrated with Starscream’s apparent lack of social skills. “You don't have to be uptight around us all the time.” Skywarp consoled.
“If you two start fighting again I'm gonna kick both of your afterburners.” Thundercracker began to tense up again.
“Lovely, then Megatron would eliminate the three of us.” Starscream chuckled.
“See, that's what I mean. Funny. Just be yourself.” Skywarp chuckled and returned to his energon.
Starscream sat back down and kicked his feet up on the table as he lifted the energon to his lips and had a sizeable swig. He could feel the energon starting to take effect even though he had very little. He looked up in surprise as Thundercracker laughed for no apparent reason. “You know, Skywarp tomorrow I am going to have a headache and I will still blame you.” Starscream laughed lightly.
“Heh, those fish are weird.” Thundercracker chuckled as he was once again drawn to the window.
“You think the fish are weird, you should see the giant squid that slips by.” Fish. Twenty years of looking at fish. They were fascinating creatures but they were still fish. Despite having such a large window Starscream often felt uncomfortable. He missed Cybertron and the tall lofty buildings and the freedom to fly wherever and whenever he wanted.
“See, we can sit back and have fun with TC again.” Skywarp grinned at Starscream.
“I am waiting to see him fall off his chair.” The red Seeker replied grinning and having another large swig of his energon. He could feel himself relaxing and getting slightly sleepy. His head was not aching as much as it had been earlier in Skywarp's room. The energon was starting to numb his senses.
“Give it time, I’m sure he will.” Skywarp took another gulp of energon as Thundercracker stared out the window oblivious to the conversation.
Skywarp lay down on his back in the middle of the floor. Starscream stood up abruptly, regretting his sudden movement as the room rotated around him. He wandered over to the computer desk absentmindedly, stepping over Skywarp. He booted up the computer, brought up his music playlist and turned it low so as not to blast out his healing brain. He stepped back over Skywarp and stopped looking down at the supine Seeker who he now realized was part of the clutter on the floor. “What are you doing down there?” He inquired.
“I don't know. You need a skylight. I feel dizzy.” Skywarp’s explanation ended in a whine.
Thundercracker turned away from the window and looked down at Skywarp. “He does that sometimes. Means he's about to pass out.”
“No I’m not! I'm fine. What the hell kind of music is that?” Skywarp’s optics never left the ceiling.
“Ah well what we have playing now is Holst, The Planets, Jupiter. Enya next with Tempus Vernum. That by the way, Skywarp, means Spring-time in Latin. After that we have some of Beethoven's stuff.” Starscream listed off several titles from the play list.
Thundercracker walked over to the desk almost tripping over Skywarp.
“You got 3 Doors Down?” Skywarp shouted at the ceiling. Starscream gave the dark Seeker a cold glance as his voice had rattled his head.
“Or maybe that super something song?” Thundercracker was not as interested in the music as the other two but he didn’t want to feel alienated.
“Primus only knows what I have.” Starscream returned to his desk to look over the available tidbits of human music. He found it difficult to read the monitor as his vision was starting to blur.
“Yeah that's 3 Doors Down and it’s superMAN.” Skywarp corrected Thundercracker.
“I prefer something that’s a little more soothing at this point.” He tried to defend his choice in instrumental melodies.
“Kryptonite's not that bad.” Skywarp interjected trying to sell the song to Starscream.
“Is that a new element or a type of rock? I have not heard of that before.” He booted up the periodic table of elements and started to look over it wondering how the dense Skywarp would know of something like that.
“Heh, it's the name of the song. Something to do with some comic book hero.” Skywarp’s sentence petered out.
“So it’s not in the periodic table of elements.” Starscream closed the table down as he ran a search in the play list for the song. “No, it's not there.” Starscream's voice slurred a bit.
“I don't care what you two listen to. This Earth music stuff is really weird. I don't know what's scarier: the fact that you listen to it or the fact you know the names.” Thundercracker shook his head as he peered over Starscream’s shoulder.
Skywarp looked away from the ceiling and grinned at Starscream who laughed.
“We’ll have you listening to it too.” Skywarp teased.
“I doubt it.” Thundercracker stated.
“You doubt a lot.” Starscream tipped the rest of the energon back and dropped the exhausted cube on the desk. He realized then he was going to have a heck of a mess to clean in the morning.
Thundercracker glared at Starscream.
“What? Don’t look at me like that; it’s true.” Starscream shrugged as he chuckled giddily.
Skywarp folded his hands over his chest and tried unsuccessfully to hum along with the song.
“Have another energon, Thundercracker, you are holding it too well.” Starscream held out a cube for the blue Seeker.
Thundercracker smiled taking it. "Fine, I'll get drunk and sing human songs."
Starscream laughed giddily as he reached out for a full one of his own. He leaned with his back against the wall grinning as he drank deeply and emptied the second energon cube. He looked over at Skywarp and wondered how many he had had.
“HOLY PRIMUS!” Starscream jumped at Skywarp’s loud exclamation. “You have a cobweb on your ceiling!”
Starscream glared at Skywarp who continued to stare at the cobweb. “I've been away most of three days. I've not had a chance to get into each corner since I came back.” He reasoned.
“Um, Warp, your room is a robo-pigsty.” Thundercracker pointed out.
“I know but I never thought Screamer would have cobwebs.” For some odd reason Skywarp insisted on shouting when he was drunk. If Starscream had realized this, he may have had second thoughts on inviting the dark Seeker over for a few drinks.
“Not only that, Thundercracker, he has bombs laying around. Nuclear bombs: one goes up, bye bye Decepticon Headquarters and I'm not joking.” He chuckled despite his serious statement. He held a ludicrous mental image of the sea exploding as the bombs suddenly went up in Skywarp's room taking out the Decepticons. The Autobots would decorate him as a war hero.
Skywarp laughed maniacally.
“That’s why we're here and not there.” Replied Starscream in a matter of fact tone to Thundercracker.
“Is that what those things are? I am NEVER going in your room again!” Thundercracker had seen the objects in which Starscream spoke of but he had no idea what they were.
“At least my weapons that I keep in here are not as apt to explode Skywarp.” Starscream explained.
Skywarp shook his head. "You're making it up. Those aren't warheads. Where the frag did I get them?" He attempted to deny their existence.
“Skywarp I can identify a nuclear weapon. Those are atomic bombs and who knows where you got them from. I am afraid to ask.” Starscream's voice was tinted with worry.
“Sure, if you say so.” Skywarp mocked.
“Maybe you should clean your room Warp.” Thundercracker cautioned.
“I would recommend that you drop some of them on some human city when you get a chance, Skywarp.” Starscream suggested with some genuine enthusiasm.
“Or Autobot headquarters.” Thundercracker joked. He realized by Starscream's comment that there was more than one nuke in Skywarp's room.
“Heh, I’d get promoted for sure then.” Skywarp propped his head on his empty energon cube.
"Indeed you would." Starscream lobbed another energon cube at Skywarp. “Here, catch.” He grinned as he sat down next to Thundercracker.
“Ugh, thanks.” Skywarp wasted no time in drinking it.
Thundercracker whispered to Starscream, “This is our chance.”
Starscream leaned over. “For what?” He took a heavy sip of his energon.
“We can get Warp back for all the tricks he's pulled.” Thundercracker grinned as he watched Skywarp down cube number four. Or was it five?
“How so?” Inquired Starscream.
“Slow down on the energon.” Thundercracker suggested.
“Oh.” Said Starscream as he put the cube down on the table looking at it as if it was poisonous.
“Let him get plastered and when he passes out...” Thundercracker wasn’t entirely sure how to end his sentence.
“Drag him outside Megatron’s room and knock on his door and run?” Starscream suggested.
“Hmm, that's a good one. Maybe we will do that.”
“What are you two femmebots gabbing about over there?” Skywarp’s speech was becoming slurred.
“Nothing, now shut up and drink your energon.” Thundercracker grinned at Starscream.
“WHO are you calling a femmebot Skywarp?” Starscream returned to his plotting with Thundercracker. “It would be fun to clean up his room and leave him tied up in there.” He chuckled malevolently.
“OHHHH I like this song.” Skywarp shouted.
“See, he's half way there.” Thundercracker pointed at the dark mass of Seeker sprawled on the floor as Starscream grinned.
“We could leave him tied in my armoury.” Starscream noted if this was halfway to drunkenness, Skywarp was going to be very expensive.
“Nah, you don't want him in there with weapons, besides he can teleport.” Thundercracker thought of a hung-over claustrophobic Seeker waking up in an armoury. He could just imagine Skywarp teleporting out and shooting anything that moved.
“If he's out you could remove his chip.” Suggested Starscream with a devilish grin.
“Hmm, nah that might be too mean.” Thundercracker was somewhat angered by Starscream's cruel idea.
“True, that could scare the bugger half to death. And he's had enough of a fright. By the way, does Hook know I am here? Or out of the repair bay, Thundercracker?”
“Um no, I forgot to tell him.” Thundercracker said apologetically.
“Joy.” Starscream said softly knowing he would soon be missed. He leaned his elbows on his knees as he plucked at the edge of the energon cube. He tried to resist temptation but he crumbled and had another deep swig. Thundercracker eyed him with amusement.
“Your music is boring. I should upload some of mine.” Skywarp got up off of the floor and staggered over to Starscream's computer.
“Skywarp! What do you think you are doing?” Starscream asked loudly. He wanted to stop Skywarp but he had no urge to stand up. His mind made him feel as if he was melting into the seat.
"You'll like this song. I promise." Skywarp said with a grin
“‘Warp...”
Skywarp pulled a data pad out of his chest compartment and hooked it to Starscream's computer.
Starscream watched in amusement. “You keep a secret pad now Skywarp? Should I steal it from you?” He wondered what sort of interesting goodies he had on his datapad.
“Nah it's not as interesting as yours.” Skywarp uploaded Shimmer by Fuel. The song started out rather mellow. Starscream even noticed the violins in the background. Skywarp began to turn up the volume as the song exploded into the chorus.
Starscream covered his audio sensors and shrieked, “TURN THAT DOWN!”
“Keep it down you two! Megatron will hear!” Thundercracker cautioned.
Skywarp began to sing along. "It's too far away for me to hold."
Starscream leapt from his seat and dove for the volume control. His aim was sloppy and he fumbled with the dial. The Seeker's feet buckled under him for no apparent reason and he hit his chin on the desk. "SLAG!" Starscream swore loudly as pain reverberated around his head for a brief moment.
“Hey, I like that song.” Skywarp whined.
“Yes like it... Keep the volume down. Megatron does not know I am up here.” His voice was shrill with pain as he jutted his jaw out slightly and rubbed his chin. He looked down at his fingers and noticed faint trace of energon. Slag. He thought as he realized he must have cut it on the desk top.
“Uh, maybe we should turn the music off before we all get slagged.” Thundercracker shot a worried glance at the door again. Starscream was also getting loud. His cry of pain was certain to attract unwanted attention.
Skywarp sighed heavily and plopped down on the couch. He glared at his empty energon cube.
“Skywarp, please understand, I do not want to see Hook again.” Starscream slipped off around the corner and dragged out several more cubes. The stack quivered unsteadily in his arms as he staggered to the table. He figured as long as the energon kept flowing Skywarp would be happy.
“Hook, heh. He's funny. Which one is he again?” Skywarp inquired, his speech slow and slurred.
The red Seeker placed the stack down, steadying it as it threatened to topple. “He’s the one with the hook, moron.” Starscream handed Skywarp an energon cube. The dark Seeker burst into very loud hysterical laughter as he guzzled it down.
Starscream looked over at Thundercracker as he slipped himself beside the blue Seeker. “So, what do you think we should do with him?” Thundercracker grinned.
“I'd contemplate slagging him if he puts the volume up again. I think Megatron would notice him missing though.”
“Starscream, is that you? What on Cybertron is going on in there?” Megatron banged heavily on the door. He sounded very annoyed.
“Frag,” Muttered Thundercracker as Starscream cringed in fear. Starscream was torn between sinking into the couch and answering the door.
“Starscream?” Megatron queried again as he pounded on the door this time much harder.
Starscream walked over to the entrance of his apartment shaking visibly as he dimmed the lights completely. He slid the door open a crack. “Yes, mighty leader?” He attempted unsuccessfully to keep the slurs out of his voice. Megatron glared at Starscream with an insulted countenance.
“Hey, Megatron good to see ya!” Skywarp suddenly shoved Starscream out of the way to greet the Decepticon leader. Starscream fell to the ground and shot a glare at Skywarp. Quickly he stood up stabilizing himself against the swirling world.
“Skywarp? What is going on in here?” Megatron was confused. Not only was Starscream out of the repair bay, he was in his quarters with the one who put him there.
“Oh, nothing Megatron.” Starscream shoved Skywarp back into the darkness. Only the glowing red of his optics could be seen. Further back another pair was barely visible.
“Why is Skywarp in here and why are you being so loud?” There was a hint of concern in Megatron’s voice as his optics noted the slight gouge in the air commander's chin. He thought he had heard a cry of pain.
“PARTY!!” Skywarp yelled waving his hands over his head like a raving lunatic.
Starscream cringed and covered his audios. Thundercracker grabbed Skywarp and placed his hand over his friend's mouth to muffle him.
“Party? I thought you were injured?” Megatron tried to hide his amusement. Not only was it odd for Starscream to be “partying”, it was even more unusual for him to be doing so with Skywarp.
“Skywarp is partying; I am suffering because of it so arrest me." He held his hands out as if he was waiting for Megatron to slap on shackles. He was slightly disgusted at being interrupted with stupid questions. He was also annoyed at the hypocritical stance of Megatron. "You want us to be co-operative.”
“Still, that does not explain why he is in your quarters.” Megatron knew Starscream too well. He began to fear for Skywarp’s safety. Surely Starscream was plotting some sort of revenge.
“So here we are. One big happy family.” Starscream continued with sarcasm gesturing to the room.
“You’re up to something. I demand to know what it is.” Megatron tried to disguise the panic in his voice. The Seeker's antics were all wrong. Something was dreadfully wrong.
“Ok then, if you insist, we are plotting to overthrow you.” Starscream said sarcastically. Skywarp broke free from Thundercracker and laughed hysterically. Thundercracker regained control of him. Starscream shot a look back at Skywarp and stepped out of the room for a moment sliding the door almost shut. “Skywarp is distressed and depressed from his earlier experience. We are simply trying to cheer him up is that illegal? He is also tanked out of his mind.” The Air Commander said with a hint of amusement. He himself was not too far off that mark.
“I don't trust you Starscream. If I discover that Skywarp has been injured, you will be terminated.” Megatron raised his voice as he had many times before to red and white Seeker. Starscream scowled feeling very uneasy about the threat.
Skywarp once again overpowered Thundercracker and began to sing, "There’s always something tearing you apart." His voice was loud and horribly off key.
“The only injury he is likely going to sustain is from himself right now.” Starscream shot a glance over his shoulder. Looking into the slight opening of the door. He could just see Thundercracker trying to wrestle Skywarp to the ground.
“What is he talking about?” Megatron was somewhat amused by Skywarp’s erratic behavior.
“THUNDERCRACKER WILL YOU CONTROL HIM!" He shouted, quickly he turned his head back to Megatron. "I have no idea what he is on about.” Starscream nudged the floor with the tip of his foot as he managed to regain his focus.
“Thundercracker is in there too?” Megatron was not sure how to feel at this point. Thundercracker’s presence ensured Skywarp’s safety but having the two of them in Starscream’s personal quarters made him uneasy. “Who else is in there?” He peered around Starscream into the dark room.
“Yes Megatron, Thundercracker as well." Starscream sneered, "both of MY wing mates are in there, just the three of us. We are trying to have a good time so what are you suspicious of?”
“I am not fully satisfied with your explanations, Starscream. You may continue but you have been warned. Now keep it down!”
“If you threaten to terminate me...” Starscream let his voice hang. He turned and opened the door. “I am watching you mighty leader. I am watching.”
“What do you mean by that?” Megatron knew exactly what Starscream meant and he did not appreciate being called a hypocrite. Starscream only smiled and sealed the door behind himself.
“Is Megatron gonna party with us?” Skywarp inquired gleefully.
“No.” Starscream muttered flatly.
Skywarp looked dejected. Starscream patted him on the back as he passed by, his face was sullen. Megatron had knocked the wind out of his sails. “Thundercracker, keep Skywarp safe will you. If he so much as scratches himself; I am a dead mech.” He was worried about Megatron's threat.
“Don’t worry Screamer, Warp and I will back you up.” Thundercracker consoled. He looked over at Skywarp who had discovered the window and the wonders of the sea on the other side of it. “Now we definitely have to do something to him.”
“I don't know. Megatron looked very annoyed. He told us to keep it down. I think he thinks we are plotting something. Perhaps we can coax Skywarp to teleport into Megatron’s room and tie HIM up.”
“Ah, forget about him, let's have fun. C’mon help me mess with Warp.” Thundercracker pointed to Skywarp who had just passed out in the corner of the couch.
“Think we should pick him up?”
“Why? Are we gonna move him somewhere?” Thundercracker had wanted to get back at Skywarp for years.
Starscream looked quizzically over at Skywarp. “Off the couch and onto uh... put him in my re-charge chamber.”
“Alright.” Thundercracker replied with disappointment.
“More room there.” He motioned for Thundercracker to move Skywarp off the couch.
Thundercracker picked up Skywarp and moved him to the recharge chamber. “Warp was right.”
“Right about what?” He followed Thundercracker into his recharge chamber.
“You're no fun.” Thundercracker grinned to hide the disappointment in his voice.
“Like I have time for fun.” He replied resolutely.
“Just think about all the things we can do to him right now.” The blue Seeker tried to sway Starscream. He laid the sleeping Skywarp down carefully. The black Seeker nestled down and smiled in his sleep. Thundercracker grinned as he looked down at Skywarp. He was delighted his friend was spared. But he still wanted revenge for all those years of jokes and this was the opportune moment. He did not want it to go to waste.
“I am thinking but I have no idea where to start.” Starscream wanted to get back at Skywarp. He had spent almost every day living in fear of his sudden appearances and other strange practical jokes.
“You had some good ones earlier.” Reminded Thundercracker.
“That was before Megatron arrived; he would slay me if I did anything to Skywarp.”
“No he wouldn't. I wouldn't let him. Besides it'd be my fault. I’m the one talking you into this right now so I’m responsible.” Thundercracker knew why Starscream was concerned. He also knew that what Megatron didn't know would not hurt anyone.
“I doubt you could sway Megatron if he decided to. Hmm, if Megatron found Skywarp passed out in front of his door; he would think we killed him. There has to be something less hazardous.”
“Hmm, he's always sneakin’ up on us and scaring us. What can we do to him that's like that?”
“I am tempted to ask him questions.” Said Starscream unable to imagine anything original.
“Oh yeah he does that too.” Thundercracker muttered.
“I know.”
“So do I.” Thundercracker responded with embarrassment.
“How else would I know you like Bumblebee?”
Thundercracker grumbled. "Bumblebee? What about him?”
“I asked you what Autobot you liked. You said Bumblebee.” Starscream shrugged indifferently.
“Liar! I hate all Autobots.”
Starscream grinned. "So do I."
“Anyway, let's do it.” Urged Thundercracker.
“Oh, what would I ask?” He gently rubbed his azure fingers along his chin in thought.
“Hmm, why he's so messy?” Thundercracker figured that was a question everyone would love to know the answer to.
“Shame I can't fly. I'd fly him off the base and leave him on an island till he wakes.” His words reminded Starscream of an old Earth sailors song.
“Heh, that's a good one but Megatron would notice.” Chuckled Thundercracker.
“What shall we do with a drunken Seeker? What shall we do with a drunken Seeker? What shall we do with a drunken Seeker in Decepticon H Q? Leave him on an island till he rises. Leave him on an island till he rises. Leave him on an island till he rises earl-aye in the morning...” Starscream sang softly chuckling between lines. "It's an old Earth sea shanty, called 'What shall we do with a drunken sailor'. I just changed a few words to suit us." Starscream explained with a grin.
“Ok, now you're scaring me.” Thundercracker backed a few steps away from Starscream. He knew that Starscream listened to music; he was aware that he knew the names and occasionally sung to them as did Skywarp. He did not know Starscream had enough imagination to change the lyrics to suit the situation.
The Ties That Bind - Cannon