Chapter Text
When Jetfire woke from recharge to Starscream hacking the door's keypad, he thought nothing of it. He shouldn't have. Maybe then, Starscream would still be here.
Instead, he stood silently as the base was searched. Walls were dismantled. A misshapen panel on the outside of the Ark was found. He was gone. Perimeter searches returned nothing.
"Did he tell you anything before he left?"
Jetfire stared down at the table, ignoring Prowl's request. His spark was hollow, completely enveloped by the pit. Starscream was gone. Why did he leave? Why didn't he take Jetfire with him?
"Jetfire," Prowl snapped. "Did he tell you anything?"
Jetfire shook his helm.
Starscream didn't say anything. Why didn't he say anything? He just left. Now he couldn't come back—not after what he did. They called him a traitor. But if he was a traitor, that meant he betrayed Jetfire, too, didn't it?
His creator didn't mean it. He wouldn't hurt him like that. It had to be something else.
"Are you sure?" Prowl asked. "You don't remember any suspicious remarks? Anything that could've led to this?"
Starscream was angry at Skyfire—so angry that he'd gotten stuck. Jetfire didn't know exactly why, but it had something to do with him and the Enigma. Was it his fault? Did he do something?
It washed over him like a bucket of ice. This was his fault. He made Starscream leave. He loaded the Enigma into his sublingual drive, and somehow that resulted in Starscream doing what he did.
Prowl was staring at him. He should say something. But he knew it in his spark—his vocalizer wasn't going to work. So he just shook his head.
"So you don't know anything?" Prowl asked.
If Jetfire didn't actually say no, was it still a lie? He couldn't speak, anyway. Just the idea of pulling his comms up made him want to bite, but…
He fiddled with the bracelet. Again, he was reminded of what he'd done. He didn't even know what it was—he just knew it was all his fault. But even if this was all his fault, Starscream still loved him, right?
His creator wouldn't want him to hurt himself. So, Jetfire bit down on the charm and composed a message.
[He was angry with Skyfire over me.]
Prowl's expression didn't change. His doorwings twitched so slightly that it was nearly undetectable. It was the only indication that the received Jetfire's message.
"Skyfire requested urgent changes to project Safeguard," Prowl said. "You're aware they involved you, correct?"
Jetfire attempted to sink his dentae into the bracelet's charm. It didn't give. He shook his head.
Prowl's brow furrowed. His doorwings twitched.
"Your Starscream, our Starscream, and Skyfire were working on Project Safeguard," Prowl said. "An attempt to make a functioning combiner gestalt. Skyfire requested you be added to the team. Did you consent to this?"
Skyfire and Starscream hadn't explained their argument. Was this what it was about? Skyfire wanted him to be a part of this project, and Starscream didn't. Jetfire should say no on that alone. But curiosity crept into his processor.
Combiners were rare. He learned a bit about them in his classes, since when treating them, medics needed to keep their status in mind. It was important not to use treatments that could impair combination.
To know Skyfire wanted to make him one of them…
[I didn't know,] Jetfire sent. [Can I think about it?]
Prowl sighed. "Very well. You may go now."
He motioned toward the door. Jetfire stood up slowly and made his way out of the room. Immediately, he was in Skywarp's arms.
"He didn't hurt you, right?" She asked, feeling along his plating.
Jetfire shook his helm.
Skywarp squeezed him. "Oh, thank Primus. How'd it go?"
[He just… asked me questions.]
Skywarp was quiet for a moment. Then, she flicked her wings and resumed checking his plating. Jetfire tried not to squirm under the attention.
"Good," Skywarp said. "Maybe they have some integrity after all…"
Jetfire didn't know what that was supposed to mean. Why did she think they would hurt him? What would the point of that be?
"I—" His vocalizer crashed and rebooted. "I want to talk to Skyfire."
Skywarp's gaze sharpened. Her grip grew tight.
"Him?" She growled.
Jetfire nodded.
"What do you even have to talk with him about?" She said.
"Prowl said some things," Jetfire murmured. "I want to know if they're true."
Skywarp looked away, her lips curling. Her wings twitched. She shook her head. Her claws dug into Jetfire's plating, clutching him as if he would disappear at any moment.
Jetfire thought of Prowl's words. Starscream, Star, and Skyfire were working on a project. Skyfire wanted to use him for it because he loaded the Enigma into his sublingual drive
"Did Starscream leave because of me?" Jetfire asked.
Skywarp's grip slackened as her optics went wide. Her wings shot upward. She took a step back.
"No!" She exclaimed, her voice gratingly loud. When Jetfire flinched, her next words were softer. "None of this is your fault. It was Starscream's choice to do this. And that idiot'll be back before we know it. He's done things like this before."
Her voice grew tense toward the end. Her wings trembled, almost like she didn't believe herself. They drooped as she spoke again.
"He'll come back," she said. "He has to. How else will we get home?"
"You're right. He'll come back."
Jetfire didn't know if he believed it. But if he didn't know, then it wasn't a lie. It was just what Skywarp needed to hear. He pulled her into a hug, taking care not to put too much pressure on her as he squeezed. She melted into it.
They stayed like that for a few moments. No one came down the hall. It was just them and nothing else. Then, Skywarp withdrew.
"Let's go back to the room," she said.
She took a few steps. Jetfire followed. He nearly walked into her as she froze, a gasp escaping her vocalizer as she clutched her chest.
"Skywarp?" He said quietly.
"I—I'm okay," she said, the words strained. "I'm okay. Just… give me a moment."
He rested a hand on her shoulder as she stood, hand nearly shaking from the intensify of her grip. Then, as quickly as it came, the moment passed. Skywarp released her chest and carried on as if nothing happened. But her wings remained low, and her steps were slower than usual.
Whatever was going on, it didn't need 'just a moment' to go away.
◇◇◇
Jetfire wanted to keep watch on Skywarp, but she insisted that nothing was wrong. It seemed like she found every possible excuse to get away from him, even though he knew that couldn't be true. But with Starscream gone, she was the only mech he could rely on.
He sat at the desk, reading yet another datapad. The last several ones he tried were all romances. He didn't have anything against them, but he really wasn't interested in 'fuzzy feelings in the spark' or whatever else passed for descriptions of romantic love. It was just… weird.
And so many of the stories had little else in them beyond romance! If they had an actual plot, he could tolerate the endless descriptions of the love interest's every panel and decal. He'd stay for grand battles, or political feuds, but most of them were just two mecha meeting in a fuel shop. Who was choosing these?
Whatever. At least this one—
The door slid open.
"He set us back months!"
Jetfire carefully placed the datapad back on the shelf. Star and Skyfire burst through the door. With a dramatic flourish, Star crossed the room and flopped backward onto the spare berth.
"I just can't believe it!" She finished.
As Jetfire moved back toward the desk, the projection on his elbow caught one of the datapads. It slid out, taking several others with it as it crashed to the ground. The other two mecha slowly turned toward him.
Jetfire stared. Skyfire stared back.
"It doesn't have to be months," Skyfire said. "It could just be weeks, if we change focus."
His words were obviously intended for Star, but he wasn't looking at her at all. Jetfire fiddled with his bracelet.
Star rolled onto her cockpit. "Prowl said he wouldn't approve the request unless—"
Skyfire motioned with his hand. Star fell silent. After a moment, Skyfire stepped closer. Jetfire jumped as he backed into the desk's chair, his plating tensing. Crouching down, Skyfire offered Jetfire a smile.
"Prowl must have told you by now," Skyfire said softly. "We need your help with Project Safeguard. You're the only mech who can do it."
Jetfire's vocalizer refused to work. Forcing the words out made it crash again.
"Wh—what do you need me to do?" He managed to get out after a reboot.
He knew. He just wanted to confirm it.
"When you loaded the Enigma into your sublingual drive, you started the gestalt creation process," Skyfire said. "From every record we could find, it's irreversible. The moment the Enigma is loaded into another mech, you will be reformatted."
Then he didn't have a choice, did he?
"I'll be part of a combiner," Jetfire said.
Skyfire nodded. "You will. With the strength of you and your partner's combined form, we'll be one step closer to sending you home."
If he agreed, Jetfire would granted an immense amount of power—both in strength and in value. Skyfire and Star obviously lacked the resources to make any other combiners, or new frames at all. He and his partner would be the only combiner team, which would make them indispensable.
But he would have to fight. Jetfire knew his strength. The moment he onlined, his creator's plating crumpled beneath a light touch. He spent every moment fighting his own strength, desperate not to hurt anyone. Would it be a relief to finally use it for something?
There was one way to find out.
"I'll do it," he said.
It was the only way forward. Skyfire said it himself—once the Enigma was loaded into another mech, he would become part of it. It was irreversible.
◇◇◇
The frame stared into his optics with its lifeless visor. Skyfire and Star claimed that it was a mishmash of parts from the ones that were destroyed, but it was uniform. It was smaller than him, only reaching the base of his chin, and much slimmer. Supposedly, the destroyed frames were larger, but the damage Starscream dealt left much less to work with than before.
The door slid open. Star slipped behind Skyfire, holding a fuel receptacle in her hands. She placed it on the floor and connected it to the intralineal that was already in the room. Then, she opened the frame's medical port and connected the intake to the intralineal. Skyfire watched her before turning back to Jetfire.
"Are you ready?" Skyfire asked. "All you need to do is take the Enigma out of your sublingual drive. Star will handle the rest."
Jetfire nodded. He sent the command to release the chip from his drive. It popped out immediately. He dug his fingers into his mouth to retrieve it.
{Frame syncing protocol activated! Searching for matching signals…}
He handed the chip to Star. She connected her cable to the frame. Without a spark, every command the frame ran was manually requested. Star opened the frame's sublingual drive and placed the chip in.
{Matching signal found! Establishing wireless link…}
Star's optics narrowed in concentration. Curiosity nipped at Jetfire.
"Why are we doing this now?" He asked. "Why not wait until the frame has a spark? Wouldn't it be easier?"
How were they going to give the frame a spark, anyway? Starscream told him how he was created. They needed a donor, and neither Star nor Skyfire said anything about it.
"The reformatting process is rigorous," Skyfire said. "It's easier when there isn't already a spark."
What was going to happen to him? Tension crept through his plating. Maybe he should've asked more questions.
{Wireless connection established!}
"You'll be fine." Star's voice was flat as she stared down at the frame, still locked in deep concentration. "This is just for convenience."
The room fell silent. Eventually, Star removed the Enigma from the frame and disconnected her cable. The intralineal was left in. She offered the Enigma to Jetfire.
"For safekeeping," she said as he took it. "You earned it."
Jetfire hesitated. What was he supposed to do with it? He settled for loading it back into his sublingual drive. This time, it didn't download any programs. It just sat there, completely inert.
{Compatibility reformatting in progress…}
Jetfire fiddled with his bracelet.
"Who's donating the spark?" He asked quietly.
Star and Skyfire exchanged glances. Skyfire huffed. Star flicked her wings.
"It's only fair," she said.
Skyfire unlocked the door with a sigh. They left the lab and made their way through the halls, eventually leaving familiar territory. The further they walked, the darker the halls became. They sputtered to a stop in front of a set of double doors.
Skyfire unlocked the doors. They swung open automatically with a screech, exposing a dim and dirty floor. The light ahead was broken, shining at half brightness through cracked glass. Star and Skyfire stepped forward, and Jetfire cautiously kept pace.
Rooms were carved into the walls. Each had a keypad beside them. The floor inside hadn't been cleaned in a long time. Dirt coated some of the rooms, while others were splashed with old energeon.
One of the rooms had a translucent orange wall at the front of it, and Jetfire realized what this truly was: A prison.
Red optics stared from the back of the cell. Then, suddenly, a mech was at the front of it. The mech screamed as his plating made contact with the energy field. He fell backward, landing with a loud crash.
Sharp, angled wings stuck out from his back. A large crest accented his head. The symbol on his cockpit was an Autobot brand. What was he doing here if he was one of them?
"Are you here to let me out?" The mech asked.
There was deep desperation in his voice. It crackled and screeched as if it were damaged from overuse. His plating was scratched and dented, the colors dull from chronic underfueling.
"Not yet, Pharma," Star said. "Soon."
"Why can't it be today?" Pharma asked.
Star's optics narrowed. "We're not ready yet. Soon."
Pharma clawed at the ground. His fingers were worn and energeon-stained—this was a habit.
"Please!" He said. "I'll behave! I just want to say hello to Ratchet."
Star put a hand to her face. Beside her, Skyfire flicked his wings. His brow furrowed.
"Ratchet is dead," Skyfire said. "You know that."
Pharma's optics widened. He slammed his fist against the floor.
"No, no, no!"
Each yell was punctuated by a slam of his fist.
"I saved him!" Pharma screeched. "Don't lie to me! I saved him! It isn't funny!"
"We aren't lying," Star said.
Pharma swung at the electrical field. It buzzed as it zapped him. He screeched, falling sideways. He thrashed on the floor for a moment, limbs trembling, before he dragged himself back toward the front of the cell.
"Just let me out!" He cried. "I'll show you that I'm not lying! You'll see!"
Something in Jetfire's spark twisted the wrong way. His plating crawled as bitterness coated his mouth. What were they doing here?
"Soon," Star said.
Why did she keep repeating that? Why couldn't they just let him out now?
"Why are you here if you aren't going to let me out?" Pharma cried.
Star twitched her wing. "Just checking in."
She turned away. Skyfire followed her toward the exit. But Jetfire hesitated and that moment of hesitation was his downfall. Pharma's optics landed on him and his struggle renewed in fervor.
"You!" He yelled. "Let me out! Please!"
"I—I can't!" Jetfire squeaked.
"Please! You have to—"
Jetfire was seized by the arm. His pedes dragged as Skyfire pulled him away. Pharma jumped at the electrical field again.
"No!" He howled. "Please!"
He screeched as he was electrocuted yet again. The doors shut, blocking out the noise. Jetfire pulled himself out of Skyfire's grip.
"Why are you keeping him there?" He whispered.
"He's dangerous," Skyfire said. "That's the only place he can't hurt anyone."
Jetfire clutched at his chest as his spark churned. His fuel tank hurt like when he ate something he wasn't supposed to, but he hadn't.
"He's hurting himself," Jetfire said.
Star huffed. "He always does. First Aid will take care of it when he gives him his checkup."
"W-why not just keep him in a room? Why do you have to keep him all alone in a cell?"
"He'd just escape," Star said, not even looking at him.
Jetfire clenched his fists until the metal creaked. "Did you even try?"
The silence was the only answer he needed.
What kind of place was this? Were the Autobots always this cruel? Was that why the Decepticons fought them? How could they do any of this and think it was okay?
First, they pinned Starscream down when he was stuck. He needed privacy and understanding, not to be manhandled! Then, they locked a sick mech up all alone and let him hurt himself! If Jetfire got stuck, what would happen to him?
Skyfire's sigh pulled him out of his thoughts. The mech laid hand on his shoulder.
"Look, Jetfire—" Skyfire closed and opened his optics, silent for a moment, as if the words pained him to speak. "Some mecha are created with processors that don't work right. It makes them unstable. They hurt other mecha. They hurt themselves. They scream. They cause disruptions. There are only two ways to fix it: make them behave, or lock them away so they can't hurt anyone again."
Jetfire decided it would be unwise to tell Skyfire his processor didn't work right, whatever 'working right' meant. He hurt others, but not on purpose. He caused disruptions, but he didn't want to. Still, he didn't want to be locked away. Not like Pharma.
Jetfire searched for Star. If she was a version of Starscream, did she have the same glitch he had? If she did, then did she realize this also applied to her?
She frowned at him. Closing her optics, she looked away.
"It's the truth, Jetfire," she said.
It wasn't.
◇◇◇
They just finished spark resuscitation training, and Jetfire had sore, trembling hands to show for it. Placing the wires correctly and holding them in place took just the right mixture of strength and carefulness to cause strain. Even First Aid admitted it was a tiring procedure, but ultimately a necessary one to learn. The need rarely arose, and success was even rarer, but if it saved even one life, it was important.
Jetfire put the wires back in the cabinet. He turned to ask First Aid where the spark simulator went, only to jump backward with a yelp as First Aid stood directly behind him. In his hands was a large energeon cube. As he held it out to Jetfire, the viscosity made one thing clear: this was medical grade energeon.
Medical grade energeon was a general term. It referred to all heavily supplemented energeon intended for medical use. The high amount of additives resulted in a thicker liquid. Jetfire glanced at the label on the cube. This particular kind was for fueling after severe injuries or a highly invasive surgical procedure—it encouraged rapid growth of nanites and was processed quickly.
"Why do you have that?" Jetfire asked.
First Aid pushed it toward him. "Take it. You'll need it."
Jetfire stared at him. Why would he need it? All he'd done was training!
"I know about your role in Project Safeguard," First Aid said. "Skyfire sent me the files last night. You're going to need this."
Jetfire took the cube carefully.
"Okay," he said. "Thanks."
He didn't drink it until he said his goodbye and entered the hallway. After a quick glance down the halls to ensure no one was there, he opened the cube and downed it as quickly as he could. Both of his tanks were on the lower end, so the fuel was needed. He just wasn't sure he needed medical grade energeon specifically.
Unlike mecha with a single tank, he could go long periods without refueling—especially if he shut many of his systems off, like he would if he were drifting through space. It was easy to change the configuration of his secondary fuel tank from everyday use to storage. He never told anyone about it, but that was what he did when the Decepticons and Autobots were heading back to Cybertron. Energeon supplies were so low that barely anyone had more than the bare minimum.
So, to be here, where energeon was handed out so freely, and to hold a cube of med grade in his hands…
The CRI had modified them to eat metal and other materials because they ran out of energeon. He could eat other things. The mecha of this world couldn't. Was it wrong to drink that cube when he knew it wasn't necessary, and another mech might need it?
But First Aid insisted, so he did. Why was he so insistent, anyway?
Jetfire flinched as something in his chest pinched, distracting him from his thoughts. He rubbed along the seams of his plating to find the cause, but as quickly as it came, it went. Whatever it was, it didn't matter.
The hall was still empty. Jetfire tapped on the sides of the now-empty cube. Something in the back of his processor told him to bite it. He started fiddling with the bracelet to find the charm. The pit wasn't here, so why did he want to eat it?
He found the nearest receptacle and recycled it before it could tempt him further.
The rest of the day followed a similar pattern—doing his usual tasks, feeling something pinch somewhere that went away the moment he tried to investigate, and fighting temptation to eat things he shouldn't. After his processor screamed at him to eat the datapad in his hands, he just gave up and laid on the floor.
It was close enough to night, anyway. No one would care if he went to recharge early. A decent defrag might clear out whatever this was. So, he closed his optics…
And jolted awake. The room was dark. Skywarp was curled next to him, her arms across his cockpit. Jetfire squirmed away, the contact burning. If his plating hadn't finally become fire-resistant just before this whole incident started, he would've assumed he was on fire. As a wave of pain crawled through his plating, he forced back a scream, not wanting to wake anyone.
He dug his claws—claws? He didn't have claws—into the floor. They sank in easily, creating divots that held him in place as he trembled. His body laid at an odd angle, as if he couldn't sit flush to the floor anymore.
What was happening? Was this what First Aid was trying to warn him about?
Another wave of tremoring agony washed across him. Energeon flooded his mouth as his dentae met his tongue. As the wave receded, he ran his bleeding tongue along his dentae. Small, sharp projections stuck out of them. Those hadn't been there before. They must've been what punctured his tongue.
He wished Starscream was here. He'd know what was going on. He'd hold him and tell him it was okay and—
He dug his claws in again as more pain shocked his systems. Too distracted to swallow, energeon dripped from his mouth to the floor, splattering his arms. When it finished, he was a mess of energeon and oral lubricant. His fans clicked on, body hot from the exertion the tremors caused.
He waited a moment, then another. No tremors came, but he had no idea if they'd stopped. Still, he had to act while he could. He crawled back toward Skywarp. Careful of his new claws, he tapped her gently on the shoulder, and shook her when that didn't work.
She grumbled as her optics opened.
"Whaz goin' on?" She muttered.
"Help," Jetfire whispered. "I have no idea what's happening but it really hurts."
Skywarp's optics widened. She sprung into action, feeling along his plating. It burned like before, and Jetfire let out a whine as he tried not to back away.
Then, the tremors came back. He tried to push her away, but his claws snagged on her seams. She yelped as she was slammed to the floor. Jetfire tried to back away, but only succeeded in dragging her with him.
"It's fine, it's fine—" Skywarp whispered desperately. "You'll be fine—"
Eventually, the wave stopped. Skywarp disentangled herself from Jetfire.
"I'm gonna get Aid," she said.
With a whoosh of air, she disappeared.
There was shuffling behind him. He dug his claws into the floor in case another wave came. Pedesteps approached, stopping right next to his audials.
"Could wake an entire barrack with that," a voice—Star's voice—said from the other side of the room.
"Don't be rude," came the voice right beside him.
Thundercracker. Jetfire shuffled away from her, but he didn't get far before his trembling arms gave out.
"We should've predicted this." Skyfire. "He's a warframe. They're not very flexible."
"Well, what were we going to do?" Star said. "Not like we had the resources for a manual reformat."
More shuffling. The whoosh of quickly and irritably fluttered wings.
"If you thought this might happen, you should've warned him!" Thundercracker said.
Star's optics were bright enough that Jetfire could see as she rolled them. "Would he have agreed if he knew?"
Jetfire honestly wasn't sure. But, if he knew they would withhold this sort of information from him, he wouldn't have agreed. It didn't matter whether he would experience this—it mattered that they intentionally didn't tell him.
A whoosh of displaced air silenced the group as Skywarp reappeared with First Aid in tow. Her hands clutched her chestplates, and she stood stiff for a moment. Then, with a few bleary blinks, she motioned toward Jetfire.
First Aid knelt in front of him. He held out his hand, palm up.
"Let's see what's going on," he said.
Jetfire opened his medical panel—
The wave washed over him again. Panic building in his spark, he pushed himself backward, only to smack his wings against Thundercracker.
"Get away!" He yelled. "You need to get away right now!"
First Aid stepped back immediately. Thundercracker hesitated, but quickly backed off as the tremors began. Jetfire dug his claws into the floor again—the only thing keeping him anchored. He rode the wave, flopping into a heap when it receded.
"Does it feel like it's going to happen again?" First Aid asked.
Jetfire shook his helm.
"Can I try to get some readings now?"
Jetfire nodded and offered his arm. First Aid connected himself to Jetfire. After a moment, he hummed.
"Your processor is experiencing surges—particularly in the locomotive node," First Aid said. "They're making your neurocircuits misfire. I have a temporary program that should help."
Jetfire tried to speak, but his vocalizer refused to cooperate quickly enough. So, he settled for nodding. He received a notification as First Aid uploaded the program.
"I'm going to place a pain patch now, if that's alright with you."
Jetfire hummed an affirmative. The patch took the edge off, but the pain was still there.
"That program should stop the tremors," First Aid said as he disconnected. "Or at least reduce their intensity. If it doesn't work, someone needs to come get me."
"I will," Skywarp said.
First Aid dipped his helm. "Good. Now, I have a feeling I know what caused this."
"Wh—" was all Jetfire managed to get out.
First Aid understood despite the lack of actual words.
"Reformatting mecha into combiners doesn't just change the frame. It alters the processor, too. The reformatting program must've hit a snag it couldn't cope with. It should self-correct eventually," he said. "But I want to give you an exam tomorrow to make sure it actually does."
Jetfire nodded. That was fine with him. Anything to keep this from happening again.
"Okay," he said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
A hard-won word finally exited Jetfire's vocalizer.
"Tomorrow."
First Aid smiled at him as he passed through the doorway. A brief silence fell over the group. Then, Star flopped backward over in her berth. Skyfire laid back down in his, and motioned for Thundercracker to join him. She obliged, wrapping herself around him as she settled back in.
Skywarp laid down beside Jetfire.
[You doing alright?] She sent to him.
[As alright as I can for now,] he replied.
She laid an arm across his cockpit, hesitating for a moment as her arm slid off of its surface. She repositioned it and closed her optics. Jetfire followed her example.
He could learn more about whatever this was tomorrow.