Chapter Text
Energon Level: 7.4%
It would be any time now.
Starscream, lying on the floor while leaning against the corner of the room, thought to himself as he watches his Energon levels slowly plummet, promising him an agonizingly slow death, that also seemed too soon to be true.
Before, when he had just gotten banished, It had been years of scavenging, months of despairing, weeks of starving, and now...
Now he only had mere hours. Not that he could care. He stopped caring a week ago, maybe even a month ago. But he used to care. He did, just not anymore.
Energon Level: 7.3%
7.3% is an extremely low number. 20% is the threshold for functionability, 10% is barely functioning, and by 5%, his frame will have to force itself into stasis to conserve whatever is left for it to grasp.
Again, not that he cared.
Energon Level: 7.1%
In his time of banishment, he had spent most of it grieving and agonizing over everything he had lost. Not only had the Decepticons lost, it had happened in the worst possible outcome; his own leader, forfeiting and fleeing from Cybertron, never to be seen again.
Not that he processed it at the moment- he was trying to outrun three predacons that wanted to rip him to shreds. Not that escaping that fate brought any good to him.
Energon Level: 6.8%
Ah, Megatron. Even in death, somehow without his doing, he still manages to haunt him one last time. That stirred something in him. After everything he had endured, all those failures, beatings, humiliation, agony-
He weakly grasps his servos. As much as he can, anyways.
He can't even rant it off to someone. Anyone.
Energon Level: 6.4%
That's right, it's because everyone left him. Well, atleast metaphorically.
He had no one to turn to, with the Decepticons disassembled, and the Autobots' relations with him is surely deeper than 6 feet under the ground. That is why he is in this very predicament. Not without his faults, of course, but not entirely his, either.
It's only a matter of time, anyways.
His optics slowly close, then-
Thud.
"Starscream...?"
That very familiar raspy voice almost pulls him out of his fatigue, but-
[WARNING] Energon Level: 5%
Initiating Emergency Stasis
Everything around him fades with the annoyingly recognizable voice echoing into his mind before he becomes unconscious.
He, surprisingly, comes to consciousness later, but he could somehow tell it had been some time.
Confused, and somewhat more refreshed than he had been in years- He jerks himself up when he realizes he's on an actual berth, and when he also realized that he wasn't dead.
He blinks against the bright light, unused to it as he had grown accustomed to the darkness of his... humble abode. Once his vision had adjusted, he looked around to find himself in what clearly was a simple berthroom.
Energon Level: 52.5%
... What.
Now he thought this was ridiculous. There was no way some wayward stranger had managed to swoop in and save him from the clutches of death just as he had gone into stasis.
He couldn't even focus on his surroundings. What idiot decided to save the former second in command of the Decepticons who have probably either been outlawed or executed due to their crimes? The only reason he was "let go" was because he had managed to escape, and no one cared enough to pursue him to the end of the galaxy.
Did... Someone who didn't know him manage to pick him up? But that wouldn't make much sense either- anyone with basic Cybertronian knowledge of taking care of a seeker frame would know about him or his faction... right?
He groaned as he hurt his own head from overthinking. Feeling he would get a better grasp at his situation if he looked around, he finally analyzed his surroundings.
It was... Fine. It was a standard berthroom, although he could tell it was not up to Cybertronian standards, more like the type to find when in foreign territory. In other words, wherever he was, it was on another alien planet.
He shuddered and hoped it wasn't the same as Earth.
Just as he was about to attempt to move from his berth, the door had opened, and-
In came Megatron.
He staggered back in shock, his wings slamming onto the headboard with his confusion and anxiety not helping him calm down. What was he doing here?! He had disappeared from Cybertron way longer than he had, and he seemed to be in remarkable shape, with Unicron's upgrades still present.
He hadn't even noticed his venting was faster than it should be until a voice commanded him to slow down.
"Starscream, breath. Slower... That's it." He realized Megatron was calming him down.
Megatron was calming him down.
Of course, the first thing he did finally calming down was punch him in the face.
"You!" He snarled as his fist pathetically slid on the side of his cheek as some attempt of a punch. Megatron calmly reached for his wrist and put his hand down, maintaining eye contact.
Curse this weak body! He thought to himself. A moment passed until Megatron sat up from the berth and chuckled. "Even after recovering from near death, you still dare to defy me." He spoke lightly, and to Starscream, it perturbed him to hear his former master speak so fondly of him as if most of their interactions weren't spent trying to kill each other.
"And yet, that doesn't explain why I found you in some ruins of a building barely hanging on to your spark." His tone shifted coldly, as if he was reprimanding Starscream for his lack of care of himself.
Ha! As if he cares. He thought as he fought to free his wrist, to which Megatron nonchalantly let goes of. Glaring at Megatron while dramatically rubbing his wrist, he takes a few seconds before coming up with a response. "Oh please, if it troubled you too much, then you should have just left me in there to rot." He replied snarkingly.
At that answer, though, Megatron shifts. "You mean to tell me you had meant to go offline?" To this, Starscream felt confusing panic- he didn't understand why Megatron was asking this, and he didn't know what would come of it depending on his reply.
But his silence spoke volumes anyways.
"Apparently, your frame had gone for so long without Energon, it would take a while until you can get used to taking more than atleast 60%." Megatron smoothly changes topics as if he knew Starscream would never speak of the matter as of now, which doesn't answer anything to Starscream's perpetual confused state. But now he had another question-
"Since when were you well adversed in Energon intake?" He finally noticed he sounded rasp. Well, it had been a while since he last spoke. "Ah, it was Knockout who had informed me of what to do." "WHAT?!"
Starscream hunches over closer to Megatron, Gripping his shoulder, aghast. "That traitor?! How are you in contact of him?!" Megatron rolled his optics, used to the antics of his former SIC. "Ever since you had left, enough time had passed for the Autobots to reach out to me in dealing with Decepticon relations. You know how Autobots are with their soft ideals."
"Wha- Then, what are you doing here?!" He hummed before replying. "Well, with the return of groundbridges, Cybertron has managed intergalactic relations with the benefit of teleporting from one place to another- that is how I got here. As for why I am here, I no longer have authority of any kind. I am a bounty hunter, and I had just executed my target when I stumbled upon a faint spark reading in one of the nearby buildings of where my target had hidden."
Ugh. This really is just ridiculous. That is, if it is true...
Starscream's thought falters.
Wait, why would I care so much?
"Well, It will be a while until I need to return to Cybertron. For now, you must rest here until you can stand on your pedes again. We'll talk more on your... 'situation' later." Megatron stood and exited the room anticlimactically as Starscream is left to himself. He sighs defeatedly.
Of course, in the end, in some twisted way, Megatron made me feel alive again.
To... Kill him, of course. He smiles to himself in some form of assurance.