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Skywarp was always making Thundercracker feel giddy, so he ignored it at first.
When that giddiness turned to nausea, which in turn became sickness, Thundercracker could have happily put it down to picking up some virus from this banal little planet, before thinking of the alternative.
Skywarp however...
"I can't hear anything," he murmured, audial pressed to Thundercracker's front, expression strained as he tried to listen.
"Of course you can't-"
Skywarp shut him up with hurried shushing, pressing closer. Thundercracker stared down at the top of his mate's helm, wondering how long he was supposed to put up with this.
"Even if I was sparked you wouldn't hear anything, Skywarp."
Finally Skywarp pulled away from his chest and stared up at him with wide, unsure optics. "Do you think you might be?"
Thundercracker couldn't place his tone of voice. Was that anxiety from excitement, or dread?
"I don't think so," he lied.
Skywarp bit his lip, moving to stand. "Maybe we should get you checked, just in case?"
"Or..." Thundercracker couldn't believe he was suggesting this. "We leave it, and just see if a sparkling arrives or not?"
Skywarp looked amused but befuddled, "In a years time?"
"Do you really want me to ask Hook to check my chamber for a potential sparkling and advertise to the whole base that we're... you know?"
"If you are knocked up, then it's not like we'll be able to hide it anymore anyway." Skywarp shrugged- probably because he didn't have to worry about being the 'expectant solider'. There wasn't anything embarrassing about it... just, that they were at war. It would come with a bit of a stigma.
"And Megatron..." He began.
Skywarp waved him off, "Oh, what's Megatron gonna say? It's not like he has any room to talk. Everyone knows what he and Screamer get up to behind closed doors."
And with an uplifting feeling, Thundercracker realised they had an alternative to Hook digging around inside him and telling the whole base what he found.
"What if we ask Starscream?"
Skywarp, as predicted, brightened.
"But Screamer," Skywarp complained, pulling Thundercracker behind by the hand. "He's really sick."
"Then go to Hook," Starscream snapped.
"You repair Megaton all the time!" Skywarp pointed out, following him around the lab, poor Thundercracker getting dragged all over the place behind him. "And he's not even trine. C'mon, we just need you to check something."
"I'm not your personal medic," Starscream grumbled, but started pulling off his protective gloves, "You owe me a huge favour."
Thundercracker's relief was echoed by Skywarp's, but short lived. He may not have to open himself up on the examination table and suffer the uncomfortable scrutiny of the Constructicons, but they still had an examination ahead of them that could reveal important -life changing- news.
"Sit down," Starscream snapped, pointing to a seat without an ounce of bedside manner.
Thundercracker did, and Skywarp hopped onto the table next to him, still holding his servo. A thumb rubbed across the back of it, comforting in a simple, grounding way.
"What's wrong with you then?" Starscream threw his gloves onto a lab desk and came to stand with a cocked hip in front of Thundercracker. "If it's rust, you can get out."
"It's not rust." Thundercracker growled.
"He's been purging." Skywarp helpfully supplied. "Every morning refuel. It's been pretty gross-"
"Warp," Thundercracker hunched his shoulders self consciously.
"What a waste," Starscream rolled his optics. "Have you consumed something weird? I've told you to stay away from that organic oil."
"Just energon," Thundercracker's voice dropped to a mumble.
"And he hasn't been recharging," Skywarp added.
Thundercracker felt even more exposed now. He hadn't realised his restlessness had been disturbing his mate so much. Skywarp was a heavy sleeper anyway, he didn't do much more than mumble when he shifted closer for comfort, or when he started rearranging the pillows and covers into a fort. It was easier to recharge that way.
"Is that it?" Starscream looked disinterested. "Do you like wasting my time?"
Thundercracker opened his mouth to exaggerate some symptoms in an attempt to restore Starscream's interest before he could send them packing, but Skywarp beat him too it.
"But he might be sparked!"
Thundercracker let his helm drop into his servos so he didn't have to see Starscream's reaction.
Thundercracker was indeed sparked. Starscream had the read outs.
He extended them to Skywarp. They were snatched out of his grip by eager digits. Skywarp held them close, soaking up as much as he could. Starscream doubted he understood even half of the jargon.
"Congratulations." He growled, wondering how the pit he was going to explain this to Megatron.
Because he was going to have to be the one to explain. They were his trine, his responsibility, and whatever fallout came of this, was going to be on him. Thundercracker and Skywarp huddled together, smiles and excitement and every sickening aspect of being a parent already leaking out from their fields and getting all over him.
He moved away in case it was contagious.
"We're going to have to- have to make room for it," Skywarp said with a look of realisation and impending responsibility, "And stuff. Sparkling's need stuff right? And somewhere to sleep. What do they eat?"
Thundercracker rubbed his wing comfortingly, "Calm down. It's not here yet..."
"But it will be soon." Starscream glared. "And who is going to have to take care of it?"
Thundercracker frowned in confusion, "We will-"
"Me! That's right!" Starscream interrupted loudly, chest puffing out. "I spend my life cleaning up after you two and your mistakes."
"Hey!" Skywarp stood up, "it's not a mistake!"
"Aha!" Starscream pointed at him, "So you did this on purpose!?"
Skywarp cringed back, "Well I mean..."
"We can keep it though?" Thundercracker's soft voice cut through the argument. He had his servos folded over his middle protectively. "Can't we?"
Starscream looked into the anxious, terrified faces of his trine, thought of Megatron's impending temper tantrum, and sighed, knowing he was going to have to weather the storm for them.
"Let me deal with it." He ground his denta.
He almost regretted it when Skywarp sprang forwards and tried to hug him.
Starscream decided he would tell Megatron in the morning, when the old mech was only half awake and likely to forget. A short term solution perhaps, but it would do for now. He went to recharge and tried not to dwell on it.
He twisted and turned in berth, feeling too hot under the insulation sheets, but too cold out of them. His back ached, which didn't help, and so did his spark.
He thought of Thundercracker's complaints and a spike of worry ignited in his spark.
But no. No, that was highly unlikely.
He rolled again, the covers twisting around his legs, and laid still.
After another five minutes of frustrating discomfort he gave up, huffing into his pillow before rising. He kicked all the covers to the floor out of frustration and shoved his pillow under his arm. He needed to get out of this stuffy room.
Megatron's quarters were close so he didn't have far to walk. He let himself in.
It was dark inside but he was familiar enough with the layout not to have to activate his night vision. The sound of the door opening roused Megatron, who lifted his helm. Recognising who it was, he grunted and flopped down again. The berth groaned in protest.
Starscream didn't bother with a greeting, throwing his pillow down on the left side of the berth and climbing in next to Megatron. His leader didn't comment on his presence, but Starscream spotted a little frown of discomfort cross his face at the clashing of his anxious EM field as he kicked a leg out of the way to make room for himself. Megatron's own field was sleepy but comforting, obliviously void of worries. It balanced him out.
Despite his usual reluctance to cuddle, he found Megatron's arm under the covers and dragged around his waist so he was being spooned.
"What is it?" Megatron's voice was hoarse with sleep. His servo pressed to the armour below his cockpit, rubbing soothingly.
It only made Starscream more keenly aware of the slight discomfort there.
"Nothing." He lied.
"Good," Megatron huffed, warm breath wafting over the back of his neck. "Because I don't want to have to deal with it till morning."
The arm around his waist began to slip away. Starscream grabbed it quickly, holding it in place. "No, stay there."
One of Megatron's optics finally blinked open, "I thought 'cuddling' was strictly forbidden?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Starscream was glad it was too dark to see his blush. "It's fine."
"In that case..." Megatron took full advantage of his permission. Arms folded around him and pulled him snug against a solid flat chest, something Starscream ordinarily found unbearably claustrophobic and sentimental.
Tonight, driven by some bout insanity thanks to the day's stresses, he pushed into it, relishing the way Megatron encased him, field and frame alike. A nose nuzzled into the back of his neck and inhaled, and Starscream let his optics drift blissfully shut.
Megatron stroked down his front again. Starscream's spark lurched, and his last casual thought before he drifted into recharge was, what if he was sparked too?
Megatron was cleaved up against his back, kissing his neck.
"Hmm," Starscream said, waking up and rolling away. Megatron leant over him, breath warm and musky in the morning, but still tolerable because it was him. Starscream hummed when he kissed him, giddiness rising again. His tanks fluttered lightly.
Megatron mumbled a vague greeting and moved to pull away.
"No," Starscream breathed, tightening his arms around his neck, craving more attention, more physicality.
"What's gotten into you?" Megatron murmured, but didn't deny him. He settled his weight down and Starscream spread his thighs so he could fall between them. Megatron's frame seemed to gush heat, pouring all over him. He gripped Megatron and nuzzled into it, letting their fields mingle.
"Nothing," he said pettishly, burrowing closer, worried for some unexplainable reason that he might be shoved off. He rolled his hips up, enticing Megatron in case he tried to leave, "I want you."
"I don't have time," was sighed in his audial.
Starscream pushed kisses to his shoulder, wriggling, "You can be late."
"This feels suspiciously like a distraction." Megatron's helm turned then, optics bright with greater clarity. He was wide awake now. "Are you planning something?"
Starscream snorted into his neck, not as irritated as he should have been, "No."
"Then you're hiding something," Megatron rose onto his servos and stared him down. His gaze was meant to be menacing, but Starscream felt his cooling fans kick up a gear, reluctantly aroused by the size and ferocity of the mech on top of him. His field must have flared out with it, because Megatron's glare faltered.
"...I will deal with you when I have the time to enjoy it." He said, rolling off the berth. Starscream extended his field to reach after him, feeling neglected.
He collected his pillow and slipped off the berth, watching Megatron stretch and move toward his private wash rack. He glanced at him before entering, brow questioningly arched.
Starscream bit his lip. He was hoping to have put Megatron in a better mood for this.
"What Starscream?"
"Nothing," Starscream waved his pillow about. "Nothing important. I just thought you'd like to know... Thundercracker'ssparked."
Megatron squinted at him, "What?"
Starscream inched his way out the door, until just his helm was poking out around the frame.
"Thundercracker." He elaborated. "He's sparked."
And then he moved as fast as he could without physically running.
He was already around the next corridor by the time he heard Megatron's flabbergasted shout of "He's what?!"
Thundercracker was sipping a cube cautiously in the mess. Starscream joined him, still feeling oddly nauseous himself.
"I told him." He said.
"How'd he take it?" Thundercracker asked.
Starscream shrugged, deciding not to admit he had no idea because he'd run away. "I'm sure it's fine."
Thundercracker slumped like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. "That's one less thing to worry about."
"Where is Skywarp?" Starscream noticed his idiot trine-mate's absence. "Shouldn't he be here, holding the bucket for when you inevitably purge that up?"
Thundercracker glared, "He's stealing stabilisers from the medbay for me. Should help me keep stuff down."
Starscream's tanks rolled ominously at the mention. He pushed his own cube away.
"It's so stuffy down here," Thundercracker continued, wings folding close, "it's like the air is making me sick. And everything smells."
Starscream held a servo to his olfactory, suddenly very aware of all the exhaust fumes and recycled air and just-
He stood up.
"You okay?" Thundercracker asked.
Starscream thought that if he opened his mouth to speak all that would come out was the unprocessed energon. He waved Thundercracker's concerns aside and set off with a purposeful stride to find someone private. It soon turned into a panicked run when his tanks didn't have the decency to wait until he was alone.
When the cleaning drones arrived to deal with the mess he acted disgusted and pretended he didn't know where it had come from.
That he could be suffering the same ailment as Thundercracker only became more dreadfully obvious as the day dragged on. He avoided Megatron, not just because of the bomb he'd dropped on him that morning, but because some part of him so desperately wanted him. And not in the normal way that involved heated frames and rocking furniture, but in a clingy, emotional way.
Disgusting.
He'd cuddled Megatron twice in the last twenty four hours and if he dared go in for a third there would be questions.
Not that it would be his fault if he was sparked. Megatron certainly never protested their nights together, and he had no one to blame but himself for their frequency. Megatron and his stupid, handsome...
Everything.
Tired, low on fuel, and too harried to drink again, he went back to his quarters to catch up on the recharge he'd lost the night before. He bundled up the sheets, collected his pillows together, arranged them just so...
Then realising he'd just made himself a nest like a prehistoric brooder, he threw everything on the floor again. Sulking, he looked at the walls, the drips and rust where sea water had gotten in. The death trap that was the unlevelled flooring.
This wouldn't do at all...
Megatron took it upon himself to search out Thundercracker and get to the bottom of what Starscream had shouted at him the other morning, but was soon waylaid by Skywarp- looking uncharacteristically straight-backed and serious.
He stood at attention. "Sir."
"Skywarp," Megatron greeted, lips curling into a smile despite himself. He didn't have to guess as to who the sire of Thundercracker's little 'problem' was. "I suppose congratulations are in order."
It cracked Skywarp's serious veneer. He smiled, slumping, then jumped back to attention again, like he had momentarily forgotten he was meant to be a serious mech now, an expectant sire. "Yes sir, Megatron. I- we want- would like- I mean-"
Megatron quickly tired of watching him flounder. "You want to keep it."
Skywarp clasped his servos together and dropped to his knees, begging, "Please. It won't be a problem. I swear. You'll never even know it's here, and TC, TC can still fight and-"
"No." Megatron held up a servo, "Thundercracker will do nothing of the sort. I won't send a carrier into the field."
Relief flooded Skywarp's expression, "Thanks," he said softly, "Sir. I mean, thanks sir."
"I can have you returned to Cybertron," he offered, thinking he wouldn't want a sparkling of his own to arrive on a foreign planet.
Skywarp shook his helm. "Nah, we can't go without Starscream, and Starscream won't leave without-"
He stopped, looking aside awkwardly.
"-Starscream won't leave me to lead without his hindrance?" Megatron finished for him. "That is true. You'll have time to decide. For now I will have Scrapper and his lot begin work on a suitable nursery for our new arrival."
He hadn't thought Skywarp's smile could grow any wider, but it did. Sensing an impending gesture of unprofessional affection, Megatron sent him on his way before his reputation as a fearsome unapproachable warlord could be marred. Skywarp waved him an enthusiastic goodbye anyway.
Blowing out hot air, Megatron decided to get it out of the way and hailed Scrapper.
Megatron wasn't accustomed to walking into his paramours quarters and finding it full of other mechs, let alone a full gestalt. Starscream was stood in the middle of the busy engineers, alternating between pointing at things and standing with his hands on his hips, looking in charge.
Megatron ducked through the doorway, frowning at the copious cosmic repairs going on. "By the Unmaker..."
"Megatron," Starscream sounded happy to see him, then must have realised how happy he had sounded because he quickly rearranged his expression into a scowl. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see what was keeping my engineers so busy." He explained, turning on the spot. Scrapper was fixing the leaks, Long Haul and Mixmaster were repairing the damaged bulkhead, and the rest were ripping up the flooring.
"What are you doing, Starscream?"
Starscream looked like he had been up to something, so Megatron felt justified in his suspicions. He watched Starscream fidget, folding and unfolding his arms.
"It called redecorating!" He said, with attitude.
"This is a warship," Megatron glared, "Not your fancy city apartment."
Starscream pulled a face like he was genuinely hurt, "I know that. I'm hardly painting things gold. Is it too much to ask that my walls don't leak ocean filth? This is no place to raise- I mean, to live!"
"You're upset." Megatron realised.
"I'm not." Starscream sniffed, sounding upset.
Something was definitely not right. Starscream's behaviour could never be defined as normal, but this was getting odd even for him.
"Does this have something to do with your trine?" He sighed, feeling somewhat ridiculous having a personal conversation with Starscream that wasn't going to result in an interface. "And their... surprise?"
Starscream looked at the floor.
Realising that Starscream was unlikely to talk to him with their current audience, Megatron quickly ordered the gestalt out. Starscream looked annoyed, probably because Bonecrusher had left half the floor ripped up.
"Tell me," he ordered when they were alone.
Starscream's field momentarily licked up against his with a flare of panic, before it was locked tightly down again. Megatron crowded him when he cringed back, nervous about whatever he was hiding.
"I think..." Starscream began cautiously, crouched as though ready to spring into the air and make his escape. "I think I'm... sparked."
Alarms started going off in Megatron's processor, and all he could see was the red of warning messages. His self-preservation protocols fired up and tried to override his legs with the command 'Run'. He took just one step backwards before he shut them down.
"Oh." He managed. Then a little ray of light appeared. "You think?"
"I'm quite sure," Starscream amended with enough conviction to crush that tiny ray of hope. "It's just like Thundercracker. I'm nauseous-"
"You've probably ingested something," Megatron dismissed. He'd rather come up with a thousand excuses than face the potential reality of this. It was alright for Thundercracker and Skywarp, they were a functional couple, a good team.
He still sometimes worried Starscream was going to plant a bomb under his berth.
"It's not that kind of sick!" Starscream argued, "I know my own frame, and it's trying to tell me something."
"It's telling you to redecorate your room at the expense of my resources?" Megatron's brows rose.
Starscream stamped his pede, "Megatron!"
"There's a simple solution to this," Megatron decided to stop teasing him and be the voice of reason. "Hook examines you, then we shall know for sure."
"And so will everyone else!" Starscream tightened his arms around himself, "I don't want anyone to know yet."
"We don't know until you've had a check up!" Megatron snapped.
"I just told you, I know."
"This is hardly the sort of thing I can just take your word for."
"Why?!" Starscream asked wetly, sounding upset again. His whirlwind moods were hardly doing anything to sooth Megatron's worries. "You don't trust me?"
"Of course I don't trust you." Megatron shook his helm impatiently. "What sane mech would?"
Starscream seemed to realise he had a point there, and didn't use it as ammunition to further his line of argument. His dejected expression stirred something deep within Megatron though. Like pity, but warmer. Empathy?
He laid a servo on Starscream's shoulder and squeezed it.
"Don't let this worry you." He reassured. "Your bond with your trine is strong. It's likely this is simply feedback."
"I know the difference between my own frame and feedback," Starscream sulked, but didn't shrug him off. He inched closer, and closer, field reaching for his own.
With a sigh Megatron drew him into his arms. Starscream clung to him, again, uncharacteristically affectionate. Megatron stared down at the top of his helm and wondered if this, too, was 'just feedback'.
Skywarp found it just a little suspisous that Starscream was suddenly sparked the same week they'd discovered Thundercracker was. He didn't say anything, because he didn't want a vengeful Starscream setting Megatron on him. He needed to keep himself alive for Thundercracker and his sparkling now.
It didn't stop him from being reminded of every single time he'd ever done something cool and Starscream had derailed his achievement with an even cooler story of his own. It was like when he'd been accepted into the war academy, and then the very next day Starscream had decided to apply and get some 'super awesome genius' scholarship, just to one up him.
"It makes sense," Thundercracker shrugged, weirdly mellow all the time now. "Our frames must be pretty in-tune with each other."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Skywarp folded his arms, resentful anyway, and feeling guilty about it.
It wasn't like Starscream even could have gotten himself sparked on purpose. But they'd have the share everything now. Any of the equipment the Construticons were building, all the toys they'd scrounge from Cybertron. And Starscream's sparkling was Megatron's, so it was obviously going to get first and best pick.
"You should be happy for him." Thundercracker admonished, picking up on his thoughts.
Skywarp scowled, "I will when I believe it."
Megatron hadn't been on his berth for two seconds before a thruster was stuck in his face.
"They ache," A voice whined.
Megatron lifted his helm. Starscream was sprawled sideways across the berth, looking exhausted and drawn out. As fas as Megatron was aware he'd spent the cycle sat on his backside, yelling at his airforce from the ground. Hardly a reason for his thrusters to ache.
A pede tip nudged his chin. "Megatron."
Reluctantly, Megatron took the pede and squeezed. Starscream made a happy trilling noise, and it was almost worth having to sit and massage his thrusters. Starscream closed his optics and laid back. He let go.
Starscream kicked him lightly, "Don't stop."
"They can't possibly hurt that much."
"My legs ache too," Starscream complained, lifting his helm. He wriggled on the berth. "I need a full frame massage."
Megatron reared up onto his knees and threw a leg over Starscream, "No, I think I know what you need."
A reality check- is what he should have said. As a mech with needs and wants, he wisely kept that opinion to himself when Starscream opened up receptively and let his own field pulse with desire. They kissed and moved together, the berth groaning when Megatron lifted legs up over his hip plating, pulling Starscream's aft into his lap.
Things were just getting heated when a servo pushed against his middle.
He drew back and found Starscream laying with his optics offline, face contorted in pain.
"What is it?"
Starscream touched his helm with a wince. "Processor ache."
Megatron watched him rub at his temples, "Do you want to continue?"
A shake, no, and Megatron tried not to let his disappointment show.
"Don't leave me," Starscream mumbled, shifting out of his lap and turning on to his side, tugging on his wrist to get him to lay with him.
Megatron did, dropping down beside him carefully so not to jostle him. Starscream pressed back against him, frame warm and pliant. Megatron threw an arm around his middle mechanically, unable to escape the feeling that maybe...
Maybe Starscream wasn't just deluded.
The only thing worse than purging like a youngling whose under-developed tanks couldn't handle it's own fuel, was Megatron standing in the doorway watching him do it.
On his knees, back bent, helm shoved in a drip bucket, Starscream didn't think he'd ever been in such a mortifying predicament. He couldn't bear to turn around and see the expression on Megatron's silent, judgemental face.
"You need a medic," Megatron broke the silence. "A good one. An Autobot, preferably."
He'd rather have Hook looking at him than a kidnapped, unsympathetic (and somewhat terrifying) Ratchet. He shook his helm, waving a servo in dismissal because he couldn't yet speak.
"Thundercracker..." He breathed when he finally could. "This is normal. He says."
He finally summoned the strength to look back at Megatron, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say the old mech looked worried.
"Perhaps..." Megatron began, unsure, "Perhaps you should remain on the ground today. Just as a precaution."
In truth, Starscream hadn't done anything particularly active since he'd first felt unwell. He was too exhausted, and spent most of his time on the ground with Thundercracker anyway, listening to him both complain and gush about the sparkling he was growing.
But since Megatron was finally starting to believe him, but nodded obediently.
"Do you need anything?" Megatron offered, and Starscream couldn't remember him ever offering to run errands for him before. "More fuel, perhaps?"
Starscream had just emptied himself of his morning fuel intake, so he was hungry, but the thought of ingesting the same as what had just come up made him want to start dry heaving all over again. No, he had a better idea.
"Goodies?" He displayed his winning smile, "Rust flavoured. The crunchy kind. And nothing with mercury."
"Goodies?" Megatron repeated, looking perplexed.
"As many as you can get." Starscream nodded, mouth watering at the thought of something spicy and sweet. He'd been craving them.
"I'll see what I can do." Megatron agreed.
Starscream smiled.
As with all sensitive information in this faction, the news got out. Thundercracker was quickly inundated with well wishers and judgmental gossipers alike. As someone resentful of attention on the best of days, Thundercracker's mellow mood turned.
"I wish you'd just get scanned." He muttered to Starscream during their daily walk, something Skywarp had read was good for carriers and new-spark's alike. "Then they'll shut up about how irresponsible it is of me."
Starscream hummed, acknowledging to himself that he had thought it irresponsible idiocy himself, before. Now though? Now he was carrying Megatron's heir. The spark that would one day power through the frame that led this faction into victory, that would sit on the throne of the universe. He was untouchable now.
He smiled fondly, hoping it bore wings and his mind and Megatron's...
Well, mostly he hoped it took after him.
"Aren't you curious?" Thundercracker drew his attention again. "It's been a few weeks. You'll know it's frame type now. Could could start picking names."
Starscream snorted, "Megatron can name it." At Thundercracker's critical glance he elaborated, "I'm trying to enthuse him."
Megatron hadn't taken to the news as Skywarp had. He was doing everything that duty was required of him, but he wasn't exactly jumping for joy. He seemed to age ten more years every time Starscream mentioned the impending newcomer.
"Perhaps you're right." He agreed, thinking Megatron would connect better with the situation if he actually had something to see, a scan he could familiarise himself with.
Thundercracker nodded, "It'll get everyone to shut up about me at least."
Starscream hummed. He couldn't say he was looking forward to that.
Starscream was hardly going to subject himself to the engineers. He went down to his lab, used the same scanner he had for Thundercracker.
He checked himself over. The scanner beeped.
He looked down at the readouts. They were negative. Secondary signature not found
With a grumble of irritation Starscream bashed the stupid malfunctioning scanner against the lab desk, and tried again.
The big red negative flashed up at him again. not found
That wasn't right. He frowned, deciding the stupid thing must be broken. He could open his spark chamber and look the old fashioned way, but that posed a risk to the newspark, one he wasn't willing to take.
With a weary sigh of irritation he realised he'd have to use the medbay after all, and that meant dodging Hook and Scrapper and their overbearing curiosity. He sent Megatron a comm. message, summoning him. Might as well make a thing of it.
He had to pull rank to get hold of any of Hook's equipment, and even then it was a matter of wrestling the scanner out of his servo.
"I can- do it- myself!" He snarled wrenching it from his grasp.
"Starscream that's expensive equipment. Not a toy."
"I know what I'm doing, nurse," he sneered. "I've handled more advanced equipment than this."
He dangled the scanner precariously from his pinky. Hook flinched but Starscream was already shoving him from the room.
Knowing he'd have about ten seconds before someone barged in on him again, Starscream quickly activated the scanner. He watched the readout load eagerly.
Secondary signature not found
Starscream's tanks rolled unpleasantly. He hit the scanner on it's side. The result remained the same.
"Hook!" He yelled, opening the door and sticking his helm out. "Get in here!"
"You haven't broken it?!" Hook came scrambling back in, hysterically pawing for the scanner. Starscream let him take it.
"It's not working."
Hook turned it over in his servos. "It looks-"
"Just-" Starscream hissed through his denta. "Scan me for second spark signature."
Hook nearly dropped the thing, then it really would have been broken. "You're not-?"
"Just check!"
The scanner passed over him. Starscream's fuel pump sped up as he waited for the readout. Hook breathed a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping.
"Negative. You nearly had me going there."
He turned the screen to show him. Secondary signature not found
"No I-" Starscream took the scanner back with shaking servos. He'd been sure. So sure. It hadn't- it couldn't have just been his imagination.
"Starscream?" Hook suddenly looked worried. "Starscream, I'm sorry I-"
Of course, that had to be when Megatron arrived.
"Didn't wait for me I see." He commented, folding his arms expectantly.
Starscream's glossa was stuck to the roof of his mouth. He couldn't meet Megatron's optics. He'd been wrong after all. And... and... he'd almost be looking forward to...
"Sir," Hook's quiet voice interrupted the long ominous pause. "There is no sparkling."
Megatron didn't have much of a reaction at all. Starscream didn't know whether to be thankful for that. His shoulder's slumped, optics dimming. "I see." He said, as though he'd suspected that all along.
Starscream just felt empty inside, the warmth and glow of the past few weeks gone. Skywarp and Thundercracker had been right. He'd just been... he'd just-
It wasn't until he heard Megatron's soft curse that he realised cleanser was streaming down his face. He turned away, wiping his cheeks furiously, shuttering his optics when more tried to escape. He heard Hook being bustled out, then strong servos turned him by the shoulders and didn't let him hide. Thumbs swooped across the derma under his optics.
He blinked his optics open, scowling in hopes of stifling the onslaught. "Your servos are filthy, get off."
"No " Megatron said, voice and expression softer than they should have been. Knuckles continued to wipe at his face, no matter how he tried to push them away. "I should have realised you were so invested."
Starscream didn't answer. He hadn't realised he'd been so invested either. Maybe it was because he'd believed, so vehemently-
He was an idiot.
"Sometimes." Megatron said, and Starscream realised his self-deprecation had been said aloud. "Not this time."
Empathy from Megatron was a rare indeed. Starscream would look back and curse himself for not appreciating it at the time. Instead he slapped Megatron away again. "Stop touching my face!"
"When you stop these tears I will."
Starscream didn't know if he could stop. He stared at the ceiling, willing himself to get a grip, to swallow down the lump in his throat. His breath hitched again.
He sniffed loudly with an angry, "Oh for-"
Fresh tears were wiped away, and this time he didn't slap Megatron off. He let his helm fall forward until it thunked against the solid armour of Megatron's chest. Arms folded around him.
There was nothing left to do but cry anyway.
When Megatron told them what had happened, Skywarp couldn't help but declare that he'd known all along.
He regretted it the next instant when Megatron's servo was around his throat and his snarling denta inches from his olfactory. Apparently, Starscream had believed his own false symptoms, and he was pretty upset out the negative readings.
Skywarp thought about how he'd feel if Thundercracker came back to him and said the new-spark had never existed after all, or had been reabsorbed into his spark, and his mood sunk to a guilty low. He'd probably deserved the throttling after all.
"You're gonna be the best caretaker to ours though." He said, prodding his miserable trine-leader. "Isn't he, TC?"
Thundercracker, picking his way through his iron ore, nodded with forced cheer, "Yeah. Of course."
Starscream glared, and Skywarp could understand that he and Thundercracker and their new-spark probably weren't the best company for him right now.
"It's fine." He said stiffly. "I don't need your charity sparkling."
Thundercracker frowned. "Don't call my sparkling charity-"
"I'm relieved actually." Starscream said flippantly, and Skywarp cringed, not believing him at all. "Think of all the extra work it would have been. Always needing fuelling and cleaning. Screaming all night. Drooling everywhere. And it doesn't get easier. Then they start... walking..."
Starscream's voice became thick. Skywarp shot Thundercracker a worried look.
"-and flying... and... their little wings come in-" his voice broke.
"Okay." Skywarp cut him off with a worried servo flap when Starscream covered his optics. "Lets talk about something else."
Starscream didn't answer, his face still buried in his servos.
Skywarp didn't think he'd ever felt so bad for Starscream in the whole time they'd known each other. A glance across at Thundercracker confirmed he felt the same.
By the mercy of Primus, Megatron was in the mess anyway, and it didn't take a lot for him to lay a grounding servo on Starscream's shoulder and offer to 'take it from there'.
They left quietly and Megatron took their place across from Starscream. Skywarp glanced back, watching Megatron take Starscream's slender servos in his own big ones and squeeze them.
"He'll be okay, Warp." Thundercracker reassured him, watching as Starscream didn't pull away. "Megatron's got him."
The emptiness didn't go, but Megatron at his back, palm pressed to his cockpit, lessened the hollowness.
"I would have named it Starfall." He said.
Megatron shifted behind him, their legs knocking against one another. "After yourself. How fitting."
Starscream pushed back against Megatron, feeling his flat chest against his wings, warm and solid and dependable.
"What if it hadn't been a flier?" Megatron asked.
Starscream snorted, "Don't ask stupid questions."
A deep chuckle vibrated his wings. Megatron's servo swept up, skimming the glass of his cockpit. "I supposed I would have had to name it then."
"Over my sparkless frame." Starscream huffed, thinking about the sort of common designations Megatron would have given the poor thing. "In spite of your subpar coding, my frame would never produce a grounder."
Megatron laughed again, and a genuine smile worked it way across Starscream's face. "Primus forbid."
The laughter died away, and so did Starscream's smile. The emptiness came back, like a gaping pit in his spark. Stupid trine bond for making believe it, and stupid Thundercracker for getting sparked in the first place, and stupid stupid Megatron because he would have made a good sire.
He needed something to fill that pit of despair, something solid and warm and preferably, Megatron.
He twisted in Megatron's arms, rolling to lie facing him so he could steal a kiss. Or two or three.
Megatron let him at first, accommodating and gentle. Starscream didn't want gentle. He wanted to be railed through the berth, for his processor to switch off. He wanted to feel nothing but Megatron, a pleasure to numb the pain.
Megatron brushed him away. "Starscream,"
"Please." He pressed, taking Megatron's shoulder and pushing him back into the berth. He climbed on top, straddling his hips. Megatron's bright optics blinked up at him, surprised. "Please. Let me feel good tonight."
Servo grasped his thighs, and Megatron relented.
Cooling fans clicked online and panels snapped back. Servos and mouths wandered. Megatron breathed his designation in his audial when he ground against his spike, letting damp folds meld against it's hard length.
He rose onto his knees and Megatron grasped his spike, guiding himself inside as Starscream sunk back down. He watched Megatron watch their arrays come together. He felt the stretch of callipers as his valve struggled to accommodate Megatron without preparation. The burn made it all the better, somehow.
They rolled, Megatron pushing him into the covers with servos planted on his wings. A mouth dropped to his neck, glossa slipping between the wires and teasing the main line.
He dragged his claws down Megatron's chest, marring already scared armour, and in punishment Megatron pulled out, flipped him onto his front.
"Oh," Starscream gasped when Megatron seized his aft and pushed back in again. He sunk deeper this way, and Starscream could hide his face in the pillow and muffle his moans. Megatron's breath huffed against his shoulder as he worked. Every driving thrust felt deeper than the last, until Starscream was sure, sure he could feel it all the way in his tanks.
He overloaded wetly, messing the berth and himself and Megatron.
Megatron grunted and stopped, and Starscream felt the twitch of his powerful thighs against the backs of his own as he finished too, spilling deep inside him. Starscream rolled his helm out of the pillow, sight myopic and helm spinning.
Megatron pulled out and flopped to the side, pushing his lips roughly to Starscream's hot forehead.
Starscream rolled onto his back again. He was tired and buzzing and overheated, but he didn't feel empty anymore.
"Better?" Megatron grunted, throwing a lazy arm over him.
Better than better, Starscream thought, pushing his olfactory against Megatron's shoulder.
Of course, he wasn't going to admit that.
Starscream had thought being aware of Thundercracker's ridiculous trine feedback would lessen the symptoms. He was very wrong.
His cravings changed from energon goodies to iron ore. Thundercracker had to choke back huge portions of it every cycle just to keep the new-spark frame development on schedule. From the faces he pulled it was no secret he hated it.
Starscream didn't think it was so bad, pilfering the odd pieces from Thundercracker's serving.
"Hey!" Skywarp snapped, finally noticing. "Cut that out, Screamer. He needs that!"
Thundercracker had been very aware he'd been stealing pieces, but seeing as he hated the stuff, hadn't said anything. Starscream sneered at being told off but saw no point arguing. He settled for his energon instead, feeling like the usual serving just didn't cut it.
He resentfully braced himself for Thundercracker's feedback to only increase in intensity the later into the carrying he got. This sparkling of his had better be worth it.
Megatron wasn't used to seeing Starscream up and about before noon, so his appearance on the bridge not an hour after the day cycle started was like witnessing a supernatural phenomenon.
"I wasn't expecting you on duty for another five hours," he teased.
Starscream's optics were bright and eager. The spring was back in his step. The drama of the past few days was beginning to pass, and for that, Megatron was just thankful to have Starscream back to himself.
"I need to speak with you." Starscream ignored him anyway. He angled his helm back towards the door. "In private."
Which meant it was serious. Most things Starscream just yelled at him across the ship, heedless of eavesdroppers.
"This won't take long," Megatron told Soundwave, nodding at his Third as he followed Starscream out.
Starscream snorted, smirking at some inside joke. Since his moods had been all over the place lately, Megatron let it lie. He stepped out into the hallway with Starscream, expecting to be led to the nearest meeting room to pour over some over complicated manoeuvre or tactic, when Starscream stopped outside a supply closet and unceremoniously swung him in.
Megatron tripped over a cleaning drone just inside the doorway. "Starscream!"
The door shut behind them and Megatron could barely see his own servo in front of his face. His shoulders knocked something off a shelve and a cascade of smashes followed.
"What ridiculous-?"
Servos came out of nowhere and grabbed his face. He was knocking over something else the next second when Starscream was kissing him, pressing him back into the bulkhead.
"Hmmp?"
"Shut up." Starscream released him to breathe. Without so much as a warning, his servo was between Megatron's thighs, griping for the manual release on his codpiece.
Oh.
"Starscream," he broke free and tilted his chin up to stop himself being recaptured - a supply closet was hardly the place to-
"No. Now," Starscream said raggedly, getting past his codpiece and slipping his digits into his spike housing. Megatron felt himself harden.
There was something so raw and desperate about him, Megatron couldn't say no, surroundings be damned. Starscream raked his claws over his helm, down his back. Wings smashed the shelve contents and Megatron was sure he crushed more than one drone under pede.
When he stepped back into the bridge fifteen minutes later, out of breath and covered in scratches, Soundwave didn't say anything, but his judgemental gaze said enough.
Worth it.
Megatron wasn't entirely used to sharing his berth on a regular basis, let alone constantly. Starscream complained of restlessness, and two weeks in a row now he had appeared at the end of Megatron's berth, a pillow under arm and dark smudges under his optics.
He snored and he kicked and Megatron woke up every single morning with a dead arm where Starscream had been laying across him, but there was something that felt instinctively right about it.
He caught Starscream rubbing a servo across his side one morning, a frown on his face.
"What is it?" he asked, drying watermarks from his solvent shower in the doorway.
"Nothing." Starscream mumbled, "Tanks are aching. Probably Thundercracker's fault..."
A lot of things had been Thundercracker's fault recently, more now than they had been before. Megatron didn't dare consider why.
"Perhaps you should get a systems diagnostic," he suggested, wording it carefully. "You haven't been recharging well."
Starscream rolled over the berth, sheets tangling in his wings, and watched him thoughtfully, "Why? Don't you want me in your berth?"
Despite the kicks and snoring and everything else, Megatron did enjoy waking up to him. "I want you healthy."
Starscream hummed, still suspicious. "Fine, but you're coming."
"I have duties-"
"That Soundwave can fill in for." Starscream glared. "You don't have to do anything. Just sit there and stop those idiot engineers from trying to talk to me."
Megatron looked at Starscream, sprawled prettily across his berth, and nodded in defeat.
Starscream shouldn't have worried. Hook was kinder than expected. He didn't dwell on why for the sake of his own teetering mood.
Megatron stood off to the side, leant against the bulkhead with his servos folded over his chest, doing the bare minimum expected of a supportive mate. Starscream sent him a Look, and he improved his abysmal performance by taking a whole three steps closer.
Useless.
He wasn't about to start throwing a fit because Megatron wasn't holding his servo though, not in front of Hook, so he remained focused on the ceiling and tried to think of anything but what had happened the last time he had been in this awful little examination room.
"Well, I'll be..." Hook breathed, and Starscream snapped back to the present, thinking from the tone and shocked look on the medic's face that he was finally dying.
"What?" He cried.
"What?!" Megatron demanded.
Hook - in complete disregard for patient-medic confidentially, instinctively handed the readout to the mech he was most fearful of first. Megatron.
Who stared at it blankly and said nothing.
"Give it to me!' Starscream leapt from the berth and tore it from his grasp. "I have a right to know if I'm going to-"
Secondary signature found
"Huh?"
"You're sparked." Hook said simply. "And have been for about three months. I'm surprised you didn't feel the symptoms."
Starscream just stood with his mouth hanging open. Sparked? Three months?!
"But I thought...?"
"Thank you, Hook." Megatron was guiding the medic out, again. "Good work."
Hook looked proud at the praise. He held his helm high, "Well, I only-"
Megatron shut the door in his face.
"Sparked?!" Starscream shouted at him, not knowing how else to communicate his surprise. His symptoms had been getting worse because they were actually his, not feedback from Thundercracker. But him. His.
His sparkling.
There was a smile on his face that he couldn't get rid of. He turned away so Megatron couldn't see.
"I know this may be difficult, after what has happened," Megatron began, placing an open servo on his wing, digits flexing with nervous energy, "But I would like to keep it. If you're open to it...?"
"Oh," Starscream finally contained his emotions enough to face him. "I'm keeping it."
Megatron straightened, "Wonderful. I-"
"You're going to wait on me hand and foot." Starscream decided, thinking he'd wasted a whole three months not milking this for all it was worth. "Seeing as you're responsible for putting me in this position."
"If I recall the night in question, it was you who initiated it." Megatron pointed defensively.
"Yes, and you were fighting me off, weren't you?"
Megatron grumbled something under his breath about regretting things.
"Too late to back out now," Starscream patted his chest proudly, "Your heir is hungry, Lord Megatron, you'd better fetch us some sustenance."
For a moment, he thought Megatron was going to wave a servo and tell him to get it himself. The next second he was crossing the room, grabbing his shoulder vent, and pulling him into a kiss. Starscream's lips curved into a smile when a hand went down his back, and another touched his chest.
"Starfall?" He murmured when he pulled away, recalling the name Starscream had chosen. "A strong name for a seeker."
"Isn't it just." Starscream smiled back, and thought privately, if it wasn't a seeker, they were just going to have to try again.
Megatron didn't need to know that just yet.