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Ever since Starscream had joined their cause, Jetfire could see now why the Decepticon ranks had held so much friction in them for the duration of their war against one another. After their mission to Mars, being able to observe him carefully up close and personal, he knew something was up with him. Unlike Megatron, Jetfire didn’t like friction to be grinding their ranks making missions harder than they had to be, Mars being an example of that.
Meaning, as much as he loathed to admit it, Jetfire had to bury the hatchet with whatever was Starscream’s problem, before it became their problem.
“Red Alert, can I trust you with watching over the base while I’m occupied? Hot Shot’s got the kiddos, I need to go find Starscream,” he requested politely, though he knew his comrade’s answer before he could vocalize it.
The other mech nodded, not looking up from the console “Of course, Sir.”
Although he and Optimus never made anyone get tracking chips, there were times that Jetfire sure wished they had, as search and rescue could be a lot easier… or tracking down potentially lost mechs over thousands of miles. Instead, Jetfire was having to rely on Starscream’s smoky Energon trails to see where he went. Thankfully the clouds were thin, meaning if he wasn’t using his full thrusters he hadn’t gone too far.
Trying to concentrate on picking up the former Decepticon’s trail, a voice suddenly rang through Jetfire’s comms that nearly made his engine’s sputter from how out of whack the audio was being received.
“HEY JETFIRE IF YOU’RE GOING OUT CAN YOU BRING US BACK A PIZZA?!” Fred’s voice came in and he dipped a little in the air in response.
“Fred! Stand back from the mic! You’re gonna blow his… ears? Speakers? You guys have ears right?” Billy chided and questioned before adding “Besides! We just had lunch!”
“You had lunch! I only had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, that’s not lunch! You need at least two other things to balance it out or-”
“Kids, Is there a point to this conversation? I can’t exactly go and pick up your organic cheese wheel, I’m sort of on a mission,” Jetfire tried to be as gentle with them as possible, as did all of them, but he was already irate knowing he would have to deal with Starscream soon enough and he did not need this right now.
“Is Starscream okay? He left a rock for Alexis then just bolted outta here!” Billy asked in genuine concern “Did something happen out there?”
Too little had happened, then too much at once.
“That’s what I’m going to find out, the new Minicon should be settling in with the others quite nicely by now, but I’m going to check on Starscream, see where he went off to sulk, this shouldn’t take long,” Jetfire informed them as he saw the energon trails began to dip down, following them onto the surface of the earth where they dissipated.
He stood in tall grass amidst rock formations and wildflowers, all of them swaying in the wind. The breeze felt nice on Jetfire’s armor, the grass tickling him a little as he walked in the direction Starscream had gone. Peace was something Jetfire rarely had the chance to see on this planet, most of the time he was relegated to the base due to the form he had taken, or he was fighting Decepticons with the others. The organic life that surrounded engulfed this planet just never ceased to amaze Jetfire, and sometimes he wished to see the outside more, properly take in its elegance than getting acquainted with it as he was shoved head-first into the dirt.
Starscream’s trail ended at a cave, which seemed to veer right as soon as one entered inside. The former Decepticon might have claimed to be on their side, which he had fought against the Decepticons in battle, and handed over the Star Saber to them, Jetfire was still cautious to trust him. Even now, this far out, he could have been relaying information back to them about their plans, scheming about how to steal the Mini-cons or-
Jetfire came to a huge, gaping cavern in the cave that had a tiny pinprick of light coming from above, shining down onto a bed of primrose flowers of which Starscream was simply recharging atop.
He reset his optics, and took in the sight. Starscream didn’t rouse, and Jetfire didn’t think he had ever seen the younger mech look so peaceful. He was practically picturesque, reminding him of an old art piece in the Iaconian Hall of Art and History, his sunset coloured frame peeking up just above where the flowers all parted for him.
Jetfire had come here with the intent of giving him a stern talking to, perhaps some disciplinary action, to make it clear his wallowing would not be tolerated on a mission again… However, loathed as he was to admit it, the flyer had fought hard. They had completed the mission, and he had earned this downtime. If not leave the sight be for disturbing what Jetfire couldn’t help but admit was the most gorgeous sight he’d ever seen.
“Heh,” Jetfire smiled behind his mask “Sleep well, Starscream.”
He left without a word, ignoring the tugging in his spark to head back and join him. No matter how badly he had wanted to stay, to lay down next to him in the flowers and forget the world they were on, the war, the mini-cons, his duty came first.