Chapter Text
Megatron woke slowly, coming out of recharge lazily. His first realization was that he felt content. He saw the sun's rays glinting through the window covering and smiled faintly. A beautiful morning after a beautiful night.
Then he realized he was alone in the large berth. He sat up and looked around the room, but he was alone. Starscream was gone. Megatron was about to scowl when he heard some noise from his refresher. He slid out of bed and crept over to the cracked-open door. One crimson optic peered through the slit. He jerked back in surprise as he heard the sound of someone purging their tanks. He raised a hand and knocked on the door softly.
“Starscream, is that you?”
Immediately, the door snapped shut all the way with a click. “Frag, Megatron, you startled me!” came the Seeker's familiar scratchy voice from the other side. “I thought you were still sleeping.”
“I'm sorry,” Megatron said through the door. “I just woke up. Are you alright?”
There was a pause and there was the sound of running water. Then the door opened and Starscream stood before him, wiping with his fingertips at one corner of his mouth. “I'm fine,” the Seeker answered brightly, but Megatron could see an unmistakable tiredness around his lover's gorgeous amber optics.
Megatron was unconvinced. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” Starscream said, leaning a hip against the door frame. “Too much high-grade.” One corner of his full lips quirked up.
Megatron's brow furrowed in confusion. “But you didn't even drink last night,” he said. He remembered it now; he'd thought it odd that his second-in-command, who normally loved to drink until he passed out, refused to have even a sip of the high-grade Megatron had brought to his quarters.
Starscream laughed. “Obviously, you had too much yourself.” The jet stepped forward and laid a hand on Megatron's chesplate. “Do you remember what else we did?” Starscream's voice had dropped an octave and turned husky. Megatron felt a charge surge through his circuits as he recalled last night's events. In his mind's eye, he could see Starscream above him, his spark bared in its chamber, his head thrown back and optics shuttered, keening in ecstasy as Megatron's fingertips stroked the pulsating blue orb.
Megatron nodded and looked down at his second, fire lighting his crimson optics. “Oh yes, I remember.”
Starscream smiled. “Good. I intend to do the same things again tonight.” He leaned forward and up on his toes to kiss Megatron. Starscream was quite a bit shorter than his master and it was a stretch. Megatron solved the issue by wrapping his arms around the slender jet and lifting him up off the floor. Their lips met and they kissed passionately for a long moment. Then Starscream wiggled in Megatron's arms and the warlord set the smaller mech down on his feet.
“I have to go somewhere, but I'll be back right after I'm done,” Starscream promised, turning to head for the door.
“Where are you going?” Megatron wondered.
“I have to go over some things with my trinemates,” Starscream answered quickly. “It won't take long.” With that, the Air Commander slipped out the door and was gone, leaving Megatron bewildered. Was it just him or was his second acting even more oddly than normal?
Starscream arrived at the medbay to find Hook waiting for him. The medic was seated in a chair next to a bench by the scanning equipment, tapping a foot impatiently. “You're late,” he accused as Starscream flopped down on the bench.
“Look, I made it over as fast as I could,” Starscream defended himself as Hook rose and moved over to the scanner. “I would have been here sooner, except I was in Megatron's refresher purging my tanks for the third time this morning.”
Hook shook his head. “That makes the fourth morning in a row.”
“Yes.” Starscream sighed. “ I hope you can tell me what's wrong. I missed out on some fine high-grade last night.” Hook had directed the Air Commander to lay off the drinking until they knew for sure what was going on.
“I think it's some kind of virus,” Hook mused as he attached the scanner's cables to Starscream's chest and wrist. “If it is, I can just give you some meds and send you on your way.”
Starscream sat back with a sigh as Hook initiated the scan sequence. “What's odd is that nothing showed up on your routine maintenance scans from last orn,” the medic mused. “Usually it takes awhile for a virus to hit but it'll still show in the scans. Of course, I could be wrong.”
A few breems passed and Hook intently watched the monitor as the scans wound to a close. When they were all finished, one file blinked, catching his attention. He clicked on it and quickly looked over its contents. He couldn't stifle a startled gasp.
Starscream looked at him out of half-shuttered optics. “What did you find?”
“I was wrong,” Hook said shakily. “Very wrong. It's not a virus. It's something with your spark.”
Starscream immediately looked alarmed. “What do you mean?”
Hook didn't answer but instead grabbed a hand-held spark scanner. Starscream obligingly opened his chest plating to reveal his spark chamber to the medic. Hook passed the device over the area and waited anxiously for an image to come up on the screen, biting his lower lip. When the screen showed the scan's results, Hook groaned and shook his head.
“Oh no,” he murmured.
“What?” Starscream demanded, sitting forward to give the medic a shake. “What?!”
“Um...uh,” Hook stammered, before giving up and turning the scanner to show Starscream the image of his spark. The Seeker squinted at it, not liking how irregular and misshapen it looked. He glanced at Hook.
“What does it mean?”
“You're carrying,” Hook burst out.
Starscream stared at him blankly. “What?”
“Here!” Hook exclaimed, pointing at the portion of his spark which appeared somehow lumpy. “This is a new spark attached to yours. It's young, I'd say maybe a week old.”
“Another spark?” Starscream murmured, puzzling it out. “Another-” Then it seemed to hit him. Panic flooded his features. “Oh no oh no oh no,” he said.
“Oh yes,” Hook said, tossing the scanner aside. “You are definitely carrying. Do you know who the sire is?” Hook quirked an optic ridge at Starscream, knowing full well the Air Commander had had several lovers within the last vorn.
Starscream slumped back against the wall, nodding. “Yes,” he whispered. “It's Megatron.”
Hook thought he hadn't heard correctly. “Say what?”
“Megatron!” Starscream snapped. “Megatron is the sire.”
Hook gaped at the Seeker. “Oh my.”
Starscream smiled grimly. “Oh my is right.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. He's the only one I've been with for the last two orns. And the only one who's touched my spark in vorns.” Starscream sighed.
Hook sighed too. “Then I guess there's no question.”
Starscream shook his head. “No. None.” With a sigh, the jet sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees, head in hands. “Now I have to find a way to tell him,” he murmured, staring sightlessly at the floor.
“I'm sure it will work out fine,” Hook tried to console him, patting him on the shoulder.
Starscream bit out a strained and humorless laugh as he straightened and rose. “Well, if you hear that I happened to die in a freak accident, you'll know what happened.” With that, he settled his wings in their normal position and strode out the door.
Starscream paused outside the door at Megatron's quarters, trying to gather his wits. He had no idea what he should say or how he should say it. That made him nervous enough, but there was also the small fact that he had no idea whatsoever of how his master would react. And that was what really bothered him.
Finally, Starscream decided the best way to handle this cluster-fragged situation was just to walk in and be up front about it. With luck, he would never even know what hit him.
The Seeker keyed the door and marched through, steeled to meet whatever fate might await him.
He found Megatron sprawled lazily across the rumpled berth, on his side and propped on an elbow, scrolling through a datapad. The warlord looked up when Starscream sauntered in. He offered his second a smile. “Oh good, you're back,” he said brightly, tossing the datapad aside and moving to sit on the edge of the berth. “I wanted to talk to you about something I've been thinking about.”
Starscream stopped some feet away and held up a hand. “Wait. Please, I have something I need to tell you first.”
The gravity in the Seeker's scratchy voice gave Megatron pause. The warlord's brow furrowed. “Is everything alright?” he asked cautiously.
“Not entirely.” Starscream cleared his throat. Holding Megatron's gaze, he blurted out the news. “I'm carrying.”
Megatron's reaction was not immediately apparent. He continued to stare at his lover, but slowly his expression changed from one of bewilderment to shock and then finally to anger. The warlord jumped up and was suddenly right in front of Starscream, towering over the smaller mech, a pillar of flashing optics and burning rage.
“WHAT?!” Megatron roared. When Starscream opened his mouth but found himself unable to answer, Megatron reached out and gripped the jet by the upper arms, giving him a solid shake. “How could you do this?! You betrayed me, you lying scrap heap! And after you promised to be faithful! Who's the sire? I'll kill him when I'm done with you! Who? Who is it?”
“You are!” Starscream cried, jolted from his speechlessness by the threat. “You, my lord!”
Megatron froze. “Me?”
Starscream nodded emphatically. “Yes! I never betrayed you. You are the sire, my lord.”
Megatron's hands dropped from the Seeker's arms. He stared at his second, all his previous fury suddenly and completely gone, replaced by plain shock. “Uh...well.” Megatron cleared his throat. “That changes things.”
Starscream remained as still as stone, not even his wings twitching. As more and more time passed in silence, his spark sunk more and more and his wings began to droop. Finally, he whispered, “Do you wish me to have Hook terminate it, my lord?”
Megatron straightened and looked at his lover. “No,” he said, shaking his head. There was another lengthy pause, as though the warlord were mentally weighing his options and all their pros and cons. Finally, he stepped closer to Starscream and spoke quietly.
“This is quite unexpected,” he confessed. “But I suppose we should have been expecting something like this from the way we've been merging our sparks. At any rate, it all leads me to what I was going to talk to you about.”
Starscream was doing his best to stay calm and composed and appear interested. In hindsight, Megatron's anger wasn't unexpected, but Starscream found he'd been somehow hoping for a different reaction. Like one which didn't involve yelling and death threats...
“I have been thinking,” Megatron was saying, “that since we've agreed to be exclusive and that hopefully you harbor at least some of the same feelings for me as I do for you, that we might become bonded.”
Starscream's wings shot up in surprise. “As in spark-bonded?”
Megatron nodded. “Yes. As in mated.”
“Megatron, I had no idea you would even consider that,” Starscream exclaimed. “With me, at any rate, I mean.”
Megatron cocked his head to the side slightly. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well...uh, I guess I never thought you would consider me a suitable mate,” Starscream spluttered. “Not with the way we fight. I figured I'd be a quick roll in a berth for you and then you'd move along.”
Megatron smiled in amusement. “It is true that you can be quite annoying, my Screamer. But the truth is that you have been the only bot in this army who has the ball bearings to stand up to me and not just kiss my aft. That counts for something. And I enjoy your sense of humor.” Megatron's crimson optics twinkled as he watched the amazed expression crossing Starscream's face. The warlord stepped closer and began a slow circle around the Seeker, raising a hand to drag fingertips across smooth armor plating, over shoulders, across wing struts. He paused just behind Starscream's opposite shoulder, his lips close to the jet's audio, and whispered, “Besides, my little Seeker, you are just too beautiful to pass up.”
Starscream thought his knees would give out. He realized he was trembling from top to bottom. His whole body gave a little jerk when he felt Megatron's warm lips brush his neck, followed by a gentle nip. Megatron's deep voice was like a soft caress to his audios as the warlord murmured again.
“Be my mate, Starscream.”
Starscream found himself nodding. “Yes,” he gasped. “I will bond with you.”
No one else had ever made Starscream feel this way before. Oh, he'd known physical passion; he'd gotten plenty of that over the thousands of centuries. But this was different. It wasn't merely his entire body that felt this draw to his master, every circuit surging with want and need. His spark felt it too and it couldn't lie, not with every flutter and lurch and jump which betrayed it.
It felt right.