Chapter Text
Life on the Nemesis had been just fine up until that day, if you asked Starscream. In fact, anyone could say it was a little too fine. Their energon stores were at peak capacity, Megatron was too busy stalking Optimus to beat Starscream into scrap, and Starscream had been out earlier that morning for a recon mission.
Primus forbid anyone find out the only “recon” he had gotten done was to sit back and enjoy the aggravatingly beautiful weather on earth. The breeze against his wingtips as he flew through the clouds was like nothing Starscream had ever experienced before.
Around midday on a lazy afternoon full of scanning for Autobot activity, Starscream began to feel a little lightheaded. He stocked it up to their new energon preservation rules (just because he had secured a new batch of energon didn’t mean Megatron would give him an ample supply, apparently), brushing off the mild discomfort that came with it.
In order to distract himself from the growing helmache that now pounded in his brain, Starscream took a spot beside Soundwave and focused on the monitor screens. As expected, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
How boring.
Starscream grazed his digits over the buttons, searching for something to occupy his time. He could go for another flight, but that would only burn up more fuel. It was already turning out to be such a wonderful day, and Starscream hated to ruin that by giving Megatron a reason to beat him into scrap.
Deciding to go check on the vehicons and try to find some soldiers to boss around, Starscream spun around and started walking down the floor of the control room. Within seconds, however, the overwhelming dizziness he had felt before was magnified.
Starscream clutched his helm and groaned, coming to a complete stop in the middle of the room. Out of the corner of his optics he could see that Soundwave had turned and was now staring at him intently. He tried to assure the mech that all was well, but the minute Starscream took his servos from his helm and stood straight, his vision grew black and his legs gave out from underneath him.
With a loud thud, Starscream crashed to the floor. He no longer held the strength to move his arms much less prop himself up. As his vision faded and his thoughts drifted away, the last thing Starscream saw before falling unconscious was Soundwave rushing to his side.
*****
Starscream’s eyes opened with a ragged intake. He looked left and right, uncertain of where he had ended up. After tossing aside the berth covering he found himself tangled in (when did that happen?) Starscream stood up to his pedes and walked out of the berthroom.
The sensation could be best described as what earth creatures called an “out of body experience.” Starscream may not understand what the phrase meant, but this was sure to be it. He could feel the thrum of the ground beneath him and the gentle touch of wind against his wings as he walked, but couldn’t do anything to control it.
He was simply along for the ride, it seemed.
Just outside of his berthroom was a laboratory covered from floor to ceiling in the most expensive and advanced science known to Cybertron. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. This dream version of himself, however, seemed to feel right at home.
He was helpless as the mech in control walked up to the nearest table and reached for a sample of glowing liquid, then swirled the capsule around in front of his optics. Apparently satisfied with this, the mech plopped the container back into its holder and moved on to a stack of papers.
Based on the messy scrawl of hieroglyphics and other strange symbols covering the paper, Starscream made the assumption that this was old Cybertronian language. Ancient scientific documents, to be exact. His body leafed through the papers, boxy blue digits drifting over the edges of each one.
Wait, what? When did he get the paint job?
Starscream watched from the mind of whoever was in charge as nimble digits quickly sorted through the papers, skimming over each one for important details. Starscream barely had a chance to glance over the tops of the pages before they were tossed aside in a neat pile on either edge of the table. As much as he hated to admit it, his natural understanding of Cybertron’s language was dwindling.
The sound of a door swishing open startled Starscream, but the mech in control did not seem fazed. In fact, the mech didn’t even stop to turn around and face whoever it was who had stepped foot into the laboratory. How irresponsible.
Starscream’s last bits of vision were muddled as his mind began to wake him, but before he was revived from unconsciousness he saw two large white servos wrap around his middle and squeeze him tightly. The budding warmth that spread through his core was enough to tell Starscream that whoever this new mech (or femme) was, they meant the world to the transformer in control.
*****
“…-ream? Starscr… Starscream, wake up!”
Starscream opened his optics with a groan, then immediately shielded them from the blinding medbay lights. He curled on his side in an attempt to escape Knock Out’s prodding servos and grumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Came Knock Out’s panicked voice. “Starscream, can you hear me? Are you alright?”
“I said, I’m fine,” Starscream snapped, swatting at Knock Out’s servos until the poor medic backed away. “What am I doing in here, anyways?”
“Soundwave brought you in,” Breakdown explained, coming over to hand Knock Out a tray full of tools. “Said something about you passing out or whatnot. I dunno, it was a prerecorded mix of words I could care understand.”
“Aww, you know how he is,” Knock Out said, giving Breakdown a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Breaky, you’ll start to understand him in no time.”
‘Breaky’? Starscream scowled in disgust. Those two lovebirds could be so cheesy sometimes.
“Well, doctor? What’s the verdict?” Starscream asked, desperate to get out of the medbay before Knock Out pinned his partner to a wall. “Am I cured?”
“You see, that’s the thing, Screamer,” Breakdown said, propping himself up against the berth Starscream sat on. “The doctor can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with you.”
“That is not what I said!” Knock Out protested. “I’m just having trouble, that’s all. But now that our patient is awake, my job has now become much easier.”
“Knock Out, I told you. I’m fine,” Starscream began to say, but Knock Out cut him off.
“Mechs who are ‘fine’ don’t just pass out on a whim,” Knock Out growled in response. He tapped at a medical screen with a scalpel and clicked his tongue. “Your internal scans are fine. Energon levels are a bit low, but nothing out of the ordinary. Did you have any strange sensations before the episode occurred?”
“Like what?” Starscream asked. He briefly wondered if the out of body experience should be mentioned.
“Helmaches, dizziness… stuff like that,” Breakdown added with a smile.
“Yes, I suppose I did,” Starscream said, crossing his arms over his chest. At this rate, he would never get out of the medbay. “But I’m fine now. My helmache is gone,”—that was a lie—“and I feel better than ever.”
“You fainted, Starscream,” Knock Out said with an exasperated sigh. “Healthy mechs don’t just collapse out of nowhere. Is there anything else, anything at all, that might help us figure this out?”
Starscream should definitely mention the weird dream he had while he was unconscious.
“I’ll let you know if I think of something.”
Or not.
He carefully eased himself off of the berth and slid to his pedes, holding onto the edge just in case his body decided to give out again. After the dizziness that he had felt earlier showed no signs of coming back and Starscream was able to stand on his own without any major repercussions, he decided that the coast was clear and it was safe to carry on with his uneventful day.
The helmache he had developed that morning may not have left yet, but Knock Out didn’t need to know this.
After ignoring Knock Out’s frustrated cries and Breakdown’s attempts at consoling his partner, Starscream walked down the halls of the Nemesis, making his way back to the control room. If he were lucky (which almost never happened), Megatron would never catch wind of the event and he could go on and live a peaceful existence. With Soundwave as his loyal subject, however, this was highly unlikely.
Preparing for the worst, Starscream braced himself for whatever Megatron had in store. A simple chastising was easy to take. After all, it was more than easy for him to turn his audial receptors low and tune out whatever nonsense Megatron may have for him. Guard duty or energon stocks were two assignments Starscream dreaded, and Megatron knew this. However, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Megatron chose this as his punishment.
What Starscream truly feared was what Megatron had in mind regarding a suitable lasting punishment. A slap on the wrist was simple enough, but what if Megatron decided to ban him from the army for a week? Or beat him to a pulp? Worse yet, what if he was stripped of his title for something as simple as fainting on the job?
These thoughts were enough to make Starscream want to run back to his room and never come out. But his job was far from over, so he decided to face it like the courageous seeker he was and take whatever punishment Megatron had in store for him like a warrior.
What Starscream wasn’t expecting to see was the look of surprise on Megatron’s faceplates when he walked through the doors. Soundwave, as always, was standing by Megatron’s side. He was probably snitching on him, Starscream thought. Who wouldn’t pass up the chance to make a fool out of Starscream in front of his leader?
“Starscream,” Megatron’s voice rumbled across the room. “You’re awake.”
Starscream prepared himself for whatever Megatron had in store and held his head high. “Yes, Lord Megatron. I can assure you that whatever happened earlier will surely not be a reoccurrence. I have already asked Knock Out for advice regarding my condition—“
“So have I,” Megatron interrupted.
Starscream stood up straight with a small whimper, his wings hiked high.
“And I have come to the conclusion that a day of rest will do you good. Soundwave, please escort my second to his living quarters. Be sure to give him his daily ration of energon, too. I would not like for this to become commonplace.”
“Yes, Lord Megatron.”
Starscream bowed his head. At Megatron’s side, Soundwave did the same. There was a moment of awkward silence between the three as Soundwave walked up to Starscream and stopped a few feet away from him. Starscream couldn’t see Soundwave’s optics, but he could feel the eerie mech’s gaze all over his frame. After a long moment, the silent mech pointed to the doorway, encouraging Starscream to start walking.
Starscream obliged, but only because Soundwave was creepy and Megatron was watching his back as he left. He walked slowly, keeping pace beside the silent mech who—as expected—said nothing as they went along.
When Starscream had reached his living quarters, Soundwave pressed the keypad to open the door. Without any words, he pointed to the berth at the far end of the room.
“Yes, I understand,” Starscream said, an edge to his tone as he trudged into the room. “But what about the energon? I’m sure you have more important things to do than such a mundane task?”
As expected, Soundwave said nothing. He disappeared around the corner, reappearing moments later with a cube of energon in hand. Starscream took it with a small frown, swirling the contents until they sloshed against the sides of the container.
It reminded him of his dream. Or vision. He hadn’t decided what to call it yet.
“Thanks,” he began to say, but Soundwave had already left.
After securing his door and downing the contents of the cube in one gulp, Starscream settled onto his berth with a handful of data pads. He ignored the comm from Knock Out that warned against any tasks that would overexert his strength and flipped through the first one.
Simply reading the title made Starscream want to yawn. Cybertronian Scientists: A Planet Rediscovered. Regardless of his literature preferences, Starscream still flipped through the glossary. If there was any chance of him finding out who he had seen in his dream, it would be with this stack of data pads.
Unfortunately, this goal was not achieved. It wasn’t long before Starscream had exhausted all sources of information regarding Cybertron’s scientific bots. Still, nothing had matched the description of either mechs in his dream. Granted, his resources were limited, but Starscream was satisfied with his searching.
In the end, it all boiled down to one thing for him: did it have any effect on his ability to prove himself as the true Decepticon leader? If not, he had no business in entertaining the idea. After all, dreams were strange things.
His fainting spell was one thing. That would be something he had to look into later. This? It was no paint off his frame, that was for sure. Feeling rather worn down, Starscream settled onto the berth and closed his optics.
If the dream he had experienced was important, it wouldn’t be the only one of its kind. As far as he could tell, there was nothing to worry about.
Oh, how wrong he would be.