Chapter Text
One of the answers he craved came in the form of a stern call urging him awake. Thundercracker sat up, nudging Starscream to do the same. Ka complained, but complied, somewhat wobbly. Whatever sedative they used was strong if it was lingering for so long. Or maybe Starscream lacked resistance. Either way, ka wasn't able to put up much of a fight as kan was shackled again. Thundercracker bared his dentae and rattled his wings, but didn't struggle.
His chronometer told him it had only been a few breems. The fuel line tests must have finished. They were led through the endless gray halls once again before eventually being shoved through two sets of doors. Dirt crunched beneath Thundercracker's pedes. Ahead, bare trees stretched to the ceiling, cut off at the top. On the walls were projections of the sky. Various false plants littered the ground.
Starscream stared at the imitation of a forest with wide optics. As the chains were removed, ka didn't stir. The door slid shut. Ka jumped.
[{ID:THCR} Starscream?]
Ka shook kas helm.
"No," ka said. "This isn't…"
Kas plating shook. Thundercracker stepped closer. Starscream flinched, then dove straight into Thundercracker, burying kas face in his chest. Wrapping his arms around kan, Thundercracker purred. Horror and revulsion made the air cold.
"This is what they think of us," Starscream said. "This is how they think we live."
Even if Thundercracker could speak, he wouldn't know what to say. His optics scanned the area, landing on a rather large rock. Gently, he guided Starscream toward it. They sat behind it, bathed in its shadow. Artificial clouds drifted across the sky-screen.
Thundercracker scooped up the dirt. After only a couple of handfuls, his claws met concrete. There would be no burrowing here. Starscream's optics followed his claws before ka whined and shoved kas face back into his plating.
"At least in the cells they weren't trying to pretend!" Starscream said.
Thundercracker nuzzled kan. They stayed behind the rock until the artificial sun set, the room dimming slowly and unnaturally. Eventually, they settled into a fitful sleep.
!!!
A claw poked Thundercracker's face. At first, he assumed it was Starscream, but ka laid beside him, unmoving. With a growl spinning from deep in his engine—the loud, imminently threatening kind was the only he could make without a vocalizer—Thundercracker rose and rattled his wings. But what greeted him wasn't the expected Autobot guard.
With a startled peep, a seekerling stared up at him. Va flared vas red and white plating, surprise making the air tingle and fear turning it cold. Thundercracker lowered his wings, but the damage had already been done. The seekerling fled, hiding behind a nearby fake tree trunk.
Thundercracker's first instinct was to coo at it. Unfortunately, that was physically impossible. So, he settled for lowering himself back to the ground and averting his gaze. Beside him, Starscream stirred with a quiet groan. Thundercracker reached over and turned kas helm in the direction of the seekerling. Starscream's optics narrowed. Then, ka trilled.
The seekerling peeked out from behind the fake tree. Starscream trilled again. Va peeped back. Once more, Starscream trilled. The seekerling approached.
"You're big," va said.
Starscream fluffed up kas plating like a preening cyberchicken. Thundercracker would've laughed if he still had his vocalizer.
"We are," Starscream said.
"They take big ones away," the seekerling said. "But they put you here."
Starscream glanced at Thundercracker.
"What does that mean?" Starscream said.
"They took Nimbus away when va got too big."
Thundercracker jumped as the voice of another seekerling came from behind them. The seekerling was halfway behind the rock, vas gray-blue plating nearly blending into it. If not for the brightness of vas optics, Thundercracker wouldn't have located vam at all.
[{ID:THCR} Nimbus?]
Starscream repeated Thundercracker's message.
"Va got big," the gray-blue seekerling said. "Almost as big as you. Va started acting funny and they took vam away."
"Funny how?" Starscream asked.
"Va kept calling out—" The gray-blue seekerling made trilling noise. "I can't make it but it was kinda like that. And va was really hurt but we couldn't see where. We thought the keepers took vam to fix vam but they never brought vam back."
Thundercracker glanced at Starscream.
[{ID:THCR} Data Hunger?]
[{ID:STSC} Sounds like it.]
That further solidified the truth Thundercracker didn't want to acknowledge: the Autobots were capturing Seekers to breed them. But why wouldn't they bring Nimbus back, if they sent Thundercracker and Starscream here? Did they not know how to fix Data Hunger? Considering Prowl had to tell them Thundercracker and Starscream were bonded, they probably had no idea. It explained why they weren't hearing about this program already.
The Reconian flock were close to Iacon. If one of the Seekers from this program escaped, could they have ended up with them? That would explain Lightframe's immediate recognition and their insistence that Autobot-raised Seekers brought 'slayers.' Maybe they had lived closer and were chased away when one of those Seekers escaped and the Autobots stumbled across them in an attempt to retrieve them. When Thundercracker got out of here—because he was getting out of here—he would ask.
He hoped Lightframe was alright. They may have escaped, but they were injured and likely couldn't fly. Skywarp could only teleport so far. But wa would make it to the Reconians, and then…
Wheeljack had already agreed to help Prowl's Autobots. They spoke of others who would also help, and were concerned about the Autobots being cut off from the network. They were cut off after The Intermediary saw Thundercracker. The ornly stipend stopped being sent when Prowl arrived in Iacon. Ironhide let Thundercracker stay with Starscream, and was kinder to them than the other guards, because Thundercracker spoke to him before. The Magnus had Thundercracker's vocalizer taken away so he couldn't speak. It was all adding up: The Magnus feared communication, so it must be the answer. If Skywarp could convince the Reconians to send a messenger, everything would work out.
Thundercracker's spark buzzed. It wasn't as strong as it was at its peak, but the litter still drew energy from his spark. Sunstorm would probably be able to give a detailed report on exactly what systems the litter had developed now. Were the fuel lines near their spark chambers finished forming? Were their chambers almost ready to close?
He laid a hand on his chest. The seekerlings stared up at him, and he was reminded of the issues at hand. Yet again, he wished his vocalizer hadn't been removed so he could just speak.
[{ID:THCR} I'm carrying a litter, so they put me in here.]
Starscream relayed the message—not without rephrasing, of course. The seekerlings stared up at Thundercracker again, optics wide. The red and white one come closer.
"You are?" Va said.
Thundercracker nodded. Va reached up.
"Can I feel them?" Va asked.
Gently, Thundercracker took the seekerling's hand and placed it on his chest. Their sparks were strong now—he could feel them even with the seekerling's hand between them. The seekerling gasped.
"Wow," va said. "That's—"
Thundercracker was knocked sideways. It wasn't enough force to fully bowl him over, but enough that he didn't realize the seekerling was gone until he sat up. Starscream growled. The rattling of plating sounded ahead.
Before them stood an adolescent Seeker. Thundercracker didn't know quite how he knew that. Va was nearly as large as an adult Seeker, but the air around vam was just different. Baring vas dentae, va rattled vas silver wings again. The teal accents on vas plating blended in with the artificial sky and matched perfectly with vas optics.
"You won't hurt them!" The young Seeker said. "I won't let you!"
Starscream growled and rattled kas wings in response. Thundercracker rested a hand on kas shoulder. Wings flicking, ka turned toward him. Thundercracker shook his helm.
[{ID:THCR} Seekerling. Don't hurt vam.]
Starscream sighed, kas wings lowering. Thundercracker lowered his as well, tightening his plating to make himself smaller. The young Seeker's optics flicked between them.
"We aren't going to hurt anyone," Starscream said.
The young Seeker bared vas dentae. "Like I'd believe that!"
Why did va even think they would hurt them? Thundercracker's wings twitched. Had they put captured Seekers in here before? Yet again, Thundercracker wished he could speak. Starscream was clever, but ka wasn't exactly a comforting presence. They needed to deescalate somehow.
Thundercracker put a hand on his chest.
[{ID:THCR} Tell vam why we're here.]
Starscream stared at him, wings twitching and weight shifting. Then, ka turned back toward the young Seeker, whose wings widened in response.
"We were taken," Starscream said. "We didn't choose to be here, nor did we know you were here. We would never hurt a seekerling. My trinemate has kindled. The little ones were curious about it."
"Kindled?" The young Seeker said, vas wings falling.
"Yes," Starscream said. "Kindled."
"Oh," the young Seeker said.
Slowly, va placed the other two Seekerlings on the ground. They looked up at vam. The red and white one took a step toward Thundercracker, then stopped.
In a swift motion, the young Seeker scooped up both of the seekerlings and fled.
!!!
They didn't seek the young Seeker nor vas companions out, nor did the young Seeker confront them again. Though vas presence was made apparent through brief moments—the shuffling of dirt, the clang of plating, or the quiet whispering of a seekerling. Thundercracker heard two more voices, which meant there were five seekerlings in this… whatever it was.
And yet there were no adult Seekers but them. Thundercracker already knew why, but it was still strange. Then, he remembered his own experiences—laying in the medbay, completely numbed by painkillers—and the picture painted was a lot clearer. How did the Autobots manage to miss something like this? Was this aspect of Seekers really so difficult to grasp?
Thundercracker rolled over as his fuel gauge complained. Beside him, Starscream let out a sleepy grumble. There was no point in getting up. The Seekers were the only thing alive in here. No prey meant nothing to hunt. The guards would be by with a few turborats soon. It was always turborats. Thundercracker would be tired of then if he had it in himself to care. But as it was, he needed the food too much to be bothered by it.
Eventually, the dragging of the door alerted Thundercracker to the arrival of the promised meal. He pushed himself to his knees, then poked Starscream repeatedly. With a groggy hiss, Starscream rose to kas pedes. The door was already shut by the time they arrived.
Immediately, Thundercracker tore into the nearest turborat. Now that it was in front of him, he was starving. He stifled a purr. There was little pleasure in this place beyond eating. Starscream ate with him, hunched over to hide the pills ka took out. A quick glance told Thundercracker that plenty of them were left, so at least they didn't have to worry about that. But if they were stuck here long enough, they eventually would.
Starscream claimed there were cameras. Thundercracker had to wonder how ka knew what they were, especially since he hadn't noticed any. But maybe ka spoke with others before they left more than he thought. Prowl's base definitely had cameras in it, so ka could have learned about them from there. Regardless, Thundercracker didn't doubt that they were being watched, and neither of them wanted to find out what happened if Starscream took the medicine in plain sight. The reaction The Doctor had to discovering it in the first place was enough. Thundercracker was surprised the medicine was returned at all.
Quiet rustling pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned toward the noise, lips curling. Silver and teal plating met his optics. He lowered his wings and hid his dentae. Still, the young Seeker's wings remained wide. Vas plating flared.
"We aren't going to hurt you," Starscream said.
The young Seeker took a step back and shook vas plating. Then, va surged forward with a hiss. Thundercracker snatched his meal and scooted away. With a turborat in vas claws, the young Seeker sprinted away.
Thundercracker placed his meal back on the ground and continued eating. When he first met other Seekers, he was afraid of them as well. But seeing it so plainly left him helpless.
"Va will be back," Starscream said, kas voice as light as the amusement on the air.
Thundercracker stared at ka, his olfactory ridge crinkling. The young Seeker wanted nothing to do with them. Starscream waved a hand. Thundercracker followed the motion.
Before them sat the remaining turborats. Thundercracker smiled, a silent laugh lifting his shoulders and wings. The young Seeker only took one turborat. Va would have to come back for the others to feed vas companions. All they had to do was wait.
So, they waited. Thundercracker took his time, savoring each bite of his meal. Even after it was gone, they stayed. Stretching across the ground, Thundercracker laid in front of the remaining turborats. Starscream stayed siting, watchful as always.
Gentle tapping on his wing woke Thundercracker from sleep. The ground shuffled. Slowly, Thundercracker rose. The young Seeker stared at them, plating flared.
"Do you need something?" Starscream said.
[{ID:THCR} Starscream!]
Starscream ignored Thundercracker's chastisement, continuing to stare at the young Seeker, who shuffled anxiously. The air was cold with fear.
"Y—yes!" The Seeker said. Va flicked vas wings. Vas optics drifted away, as if va was considering fleeing. "I, um… I need those."
"Those what?" Starscream said.
[{ID:THCR} Starscream! Stop trying to scare vam!]
Starscream glanced at Thundercracker.
[{ID:STSC} I'm not scaring vam. Va is doing that to vaz. The longer va stays here, the longer we can talk.]
"The… turborats," va said. "I need them."
"You do," Starscream said.
Thundercracker jabbed a claw into Starscream's side. Ka hissed at him.
[{ID:THCR} Just give vam the turborats!]
Ka shoved him. Thundercracker widened his wings. With a roll of kas optics, Starscream turned back toward the young Seeker.
"You're afraid of us," ka said. "Why?"
The young Seeker's wings fluttered. "I'm not afraid!"
Starscream motioned toward the turborats. "Then come get them."
The Seeker stepped forward. Then, va stepped back. Vas wings lowered.
"I'm not afraid," va said again.
Starscream chuckled. "You look afraid to me."
With a yell, the young Seeker charged forward. Thundercracker rolled out of the way. Starscream didn't move, staring straight at the approaching Seeker with a grin on kas face. Just before the Seeker reached them, va dug vas heels into the ground, nearly slipping, and sprinted back to where va came from. Starscream laughed.
"I told you," ka said.
The Seeker growled and shook out vas plating.
"Now, tell me why you're so scared of us," Starscream said. "Have they brought wild Seekers into this place before?"
The young Seeker growled and squeezed vas optics shut. Fear cooled the air. Vas claws dug into vas lap.
"Once," va said.
"What happened?"
Va shifted. The air grew colder.
"They died," va said.
"How?"
"I—I don't—"
Thoroughly distracted, va didn't notice as Thundercracker crept closer.
"Does it matter?"
Vas plating shook, vas wings trembling as voice voice raised. The air around va was a mixture of biting cold fear and searing, tingling anxiety.
"It does if you're so worked up about it. What happens to the wild Seekers here?"
"Nothing—"
Thundercracker reached out. The moment his claws brushed the Seeker's wing, va whipped toward him with a cry. Va swung, but Thundercracker caught it easily. He pulled vam to his chest, ignoring the Seeker's cries, and purred. Slowly, he lowered both of them to the ground.
The Seeker may have been nearly old enough for vas first Hunger, but until then, va was a seekerling. Starscream was stressing vam out. Thundercracker couldn't speak, so this was the best he could do.
Va stopped squirming. Thundercracker stroked vas helm.
"Can you… let me go?" The Seeker said weakly.
Thundercracker purred louder. The Seeker shifted in his lap.
"You're not going to, are you?" Va said.
Thundercracker stuttered his engine in an imitation of a trill. The Seeker's olfactory ridge scrunched. Vas optics drifted upwards. Va stiffened, vas optics widening.
"Can you… talk?" Va asked.
Thundercracker stopped purring.
"Oh," the Seeker said.
Thundercracker forced himself to purr again. The Seeker closed vas optics.
"You know, then," va said.
Thundercracker made his engine stutter again in a vague imitation of a questioning trill.
"You spoke Autobot words," va said. "That's why they took your voice away. So you know what they want. They probably said it right in front of you. So why haven't you…?"
Vas optics flicked toward Starscream.
Thundercracker tilted his helm. Why hadn't they what? Thundercracker nuzzled the Seeker's helm. Va chirped in surprise and rolled away.
Va stood and shook put vas plating. But va didn't flee. It was progress.
"Fireflight and Skydive want to see you again. I kept saying no. If I let you…" Va scratched the inside of vas forearm. "Will you promise not to hurt them?"
Thundercracker nodded. He would never hurt a seekerling. Clearly, whatever wild Seekers were brought in here weren't so… Thundercracker's optics landed on the claws that were still scratching at the Seeker's inner forearm. He dug his claws into the thin layer of dirt on the ground.
[{ID:THCR} Do you think…?]
Starscream's wings flicked. Kas claws shook as ka flexed them.
"We won't hurt you or the seekerlings," ka said. "We would never hurt a seekerling. Never."
The Seeker flinched. "G-good. Good… I'll…"
Va stepped backward.
"I'll go get them," va said. "I'm Silverbolt, by the way."
"Starscream," ka said, pointing to kaz. Ka swiped a claw toward Thundercracker. "Thundercracker."
Silverbolt nodded before running away. Thundercracker settled beside Starscream.
[{ID:THCR} Do you think va will actually come back?]
Ka flexed kas claws.
"Va will have to," ka said, motioning toward the turborats.
Thundercracker almost forgot they were there under the force of what he'd just learned. Starscream's claws kept flexing. Then, ka ran them down one of kas arms, feeling along the panel that housed kas wrist port.
The air was heavy with that hard to describe feeling again. Starscream was thinking deeply about something. Thundercracker had no idea what.
There were no birds chirping to fill the silence. No wind rustled the artificial foliage.
"Seekerlings don't have firewalls," Starscream finally said.
[{ID:THCR} They don't.]
Thundercracker nearly shuddered at the memory of connecting to Soundwave. For an individual to be so unguarded, and to know it was because they couldn't guard themself at all… how could anyone do something like that?
"They don't," Starscream said. "They don't."
Ka folded inward and sank kas claws into the dirt. They screeched as they scraped across the concrete underneath.
"That should never happen," Starscream said. "It shouldn't. It never should. It… no one should ever do that. No one. Seekerlings don't have firewalls. You can do anything to them. No one should ever…"
Thundercracker reached over, pulling Starscream to his chest. Kas rambling dissolved into repeated mumbles—no one, no one, no one. Was this what a bad loop looked like from the outside? Thundercracker purred and rubbed Starscream's wing.
When Thundercracker had bad loops, he was afraid. Something made him scared and he couldn't escape it. What happened to Silverbolt was terrible beyond describing, but not something that would cause just anyone to react like that, right? Had Starscream…?
Suddenly, Thundercracker was shoved away. Starscream glared at him, dentae bared and wings wide. Thundercracker lowered his helm. Starscream's wings drooped. Ka turned away.
"Don't look at me," ka mumbled.
Thundercracker averted his gaze.
[{ID:THCR} Did someone hurt you? When you were a seekerling?]
Starscream huffed. "Who didn't?"
Thundercracker supposed that was true. Megatron had hurt Starscream. Sunstorm had hurt Starscream. But not in that way, right?
[{ID:THCR} Is that why you freeze?]
Starscream went limp when manipulated, but not always. Thundercracker could never put a pattern together. I just seemed to happen sometimes.
Starscream puffed kas plating out, then let it settle.
"Megatron…" ka shook kas helm. "When I was small enough for ka to wrap a single hand around my chest, ka liked to threaten to crush my spark."
[{ID:THCR} So it was Megatron?]
Starscream sighed. "No one. It was no one. No one hurt me like that."
It was said so pointedly that Thundercracker couldn't believe it. It dripped with the same slime that Starscream's lies had before, when ka attempted to convince him that ka was provoking Skywarp. Whoever had hurt Starscream, ka wasn't going to tell. Thundercracker didn't need to know, anyway. All that mattered was that Starscream was okay.
The dirt shuffled. Silver and teal plating emerged from the nearby false foliage. Thundercracker let the conversation die. Beside Silverbolt were the two seekerlings before—the red and white one and the gray-blue and yellow one. But there were the two others Thundercracker had heard but not seen—a blue and white seekerling that grinned widely as Thundercracker's optics fell in vam, and a white and teal one that narrowed vas optics and widened vas wings.
Thundercracker scooted over and pushed Starscream to do the same, leaving a large space in front of the turborats. After a moment of hesitation, Silverbolt sat. The seekerlings gathered around vam. Va shuffled a bit, anxiety on the air, before speaking.
"This is, um, Fireflight," va said, motioning toward the red and white seekerling. Fireflight fluttered vas wings. "And this is Skydive—" Va motioned to the gray-blue seekerling. Skydive smiled. "And Air Raid—" The blue and white seekerling that grinned before made a little noise. "And Airazor."
The teal and white seekerling—Airazor—hissed. Silverbolt glared at vam. Airazor scoffed. In a quick motion, Silverbolt bopped vam on the nose. Va blinked, stunned. Starscream snorted.
Silverbolt motioned toward kan. "This is Starscream and Thundercracker."
"Hi!" Fireflight chirped.
Thundercracker attempted to rumble a reply. Fireflight laughed.
"You sound silly!" Va said.
If Thundercracker had a vocalizer, he would've laughed back. He knew how he sounded, but aside from asking Starscream to speak for him, it was his only option.
Silverbolt leaned down, whispering into Fireflight's audial. Fireflight's wings twitched.
"Oh," va said.
Thundercracker held no doubt that Silverbolt just explained he couldn't speak. His spark burned a little. What happened wasn't his fault—it was The Magnus's—but it still felt… well, he didn't know.
If The Magnus found him such a threat, why was he still alive? Did The Magnus truly think taking his voice would make him helpless? Skywarp was still out there. Wa would free them.
!!!
Waz fans were running. They whirred so loudly waz audials picked up on little else. Another notification made wa shudder. Waz fuel was low. Wa didn't care. They were almost there.
Wa staggered forward. Weakly, a hand steadied wan. Wa shook it off. They had to keep going. No breaks. Back in Iacon was Thundercracker, carrying a litter, and Starscream, who was in little shape to defend nam. Still, Skywarp knew ka would try.
Wa had to trust that Thundercracker knew what na was doing. That part wasn't hard. Thundercracker always knew what na was doing. The real challenge was trusting that what na was doing was worth the risk.
Lightframe lagged behind wan, their wings low. Energeon splattered on the ground from the hole in their wing. In this state, they couldn't fly. Warping both of them was easier. But leaving Lightframe behind and warping back to Iacon would be even easier.
And then what? Lightframe would die. Skywarp could rescue Thundercracker and Starscream, but wa could also just get captured. Then, there would be no way to escape.
Skywarp repeated Thundercracker's reminder in waz mind.
Bounce it.
The words were Starscream's, now.
Bounce it.
With an army behind them or not, wa would return. Those Autobots would suffer for their cruelty.