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The roaring sounds of jets alerted the small figures of the Malto family below, and they quickly moved aside as the elite trine transformed and landed onto the soft dirt below. Starscream and his trine mates had been visiting the terrans more and more lately for reasons he insisted were not for Hashtag. It just happened that the purple van was always there every time the elite trine checked that the Malto’s were not in any danger. Although she wasn’t here at the moment it seemed..
“Since your base has a complete lack of defences, I took the courtesy to check the area and found nothing of concern. You’re welcome.” Starscream immediately spoke, and while his words may have been rude, they were true; the Maltos really did need some home defences. Skywarp and Novastorm were always roped along into his patrol of the owned land even though all of them knew not much would dare attack the family these days. While the Malto’s did not need to be told they were safe, debriefing was just something ingrained into the tri-coloured seeker as a side effect of the war. Among other things. There was a brief cough before the sire of the Malto’s spoke up, “Well thank you, Starscream, for making sure we’re safe. Would you three like any energon?” While he didn’t have the same care for humans that many other bots did, he appreciated the fact someone could see his efforts. Before any of the elite trine could respond to the offer of fuel however, an energetic squeal could be heard from the entrance of the barn as Hashtag quickly approached, excited to see the seekers. Starscream ignored the teases from his trine mates through their bond about his change in demeanor as soon as he heard her, instead focusing on the youngspark in front of him.
“Hi, Starscream, Novastorm, and Skywarp! I didn’t know you guys were visiting today! Argh! Sorry I’m not prepared for our movie marathon!” Hashtag fretted and began to mutter to herself, something about projector parts and the perfect list of films. Starscream, having so far had a good day with no recent reminders or flashbacks to his past, gently grabbed her shoulder and reassured her, “Hashtag. Don’t worry about it, there are always other solar cycles.” The purple van hesitated slightly before replying “I know.. I just wanted our hangout to be perfect.” Sadness in his sparkling? Oh this would not do, especially when she had such sweet intentions. An idea appeared in his processor and he was surprised he hadn’t done it already. “Hashtag, you terrans have communication systems, yes? I’ll give you my line, and I will let you know when I plan to visit next. That way you can organise something if you wish to.” Starscream spoke gently, or as gently as a bot could with a voice box like his. Immediately Hashtag shot up and hugged the tri-coloured seeker.
A brief flinch from Starscream made Hashtag hesitate and retract, but he slowly put a servo on her helm to assure her that he was fine. The purple van did her best to be cautious with physical touch when it came to the seeker and had learnt to wait for him to initiate the first touch. Still he wasn’t exactly one for hugs. Even before the war, it was a privilege very few had.
When Hashtag moved back, Starscream moved his servo away and stared at his trine mates. Skywarp was trying to see if the sire Malto would make an energon equivalent of the energy treats he often made for the terrans. The Malto sparklings had offered their treats to him and his trine a few deca-cycles ago, but unfortunately the ingredients weren’t safe for cybertronian consumption. He knew Skywarp was eager to try some, and Novastorm too as her wings tilted towards the conversation indicating that she was listening in. Suddenly Novastorm’s wings twitched and flicked in multiple directions, almost hitting Jawbreaker in the process. She was still for a few nano-kilks before her wings shuddered. Starscream knew what she would say before she even opened her intake, turning towards him. “There’s a storm coming! A bad one. We should seek shelter or leave now to avoid getting caught in it.” His theory was proven correct by the yellow seekers words, and he paused to think. While he did want to spend more time with Hashtag and the other terrans, he did not want to risk being stuck inside for Primus knows how long.
The two other seekers moved their wings in anticipation for flight as if they understood what he was thinking, and well in this case they probably did. Hashtag, quick to understand the situation quickly spoke up “But you’ve barely been here for five minutes! And we’ve got lots of activities we could do in the dugout! Isn’t that right, Twitch?” The red drone shuttered her optics twice and fluttered in the air, not expecting the question, before speaking up “Yep! We’ve got LOADS of stuff to do! Like puzzles, or movies, or or games!” She continued to list activities while Hashtag looked up at him with big eyes. She totally knew she could get what she wanted with that look. Starscream sighed, “I suppose we can stay till the storm dies down.”
There was a snicker from his trine mates, but before he could formulate a remark, he saw Skywarp teleporting to him and warping them all into the dugout with a flash of red. The terrans, not used to her outlier ability like him and Novastorm were, stumbled around nauseously before slowly regaining composure. Twitch shook her helm before shooting up towards Skywarp in excitement and asked question after question “How did you do that!? Can I do that!? Is it just a cybertronian thing or a terran thing too? Can Novastorm and Starscream do that too?”
Skywarp responded easily, able to keep up with the terrans high energy while the others still processed her words, “It’s my outlier ability! Pretty cool right? It’s a power that not many bots have, so unless you’ve been teleporting into walls I doubt you have it. My trine can’t warp, but they do have their own abilities!...Or well.. Novastorm does.” The purple seeker stumbled over her words towards the end, glancing quickly at Starscream in apology. Novastorm quickly moved to Skywarp’s side, adding in “My ability is weather manipulation! It’s how I could tell the storm was coming!” The topic of outlier abilities was stupid. They were just dumb little magic tricks that only served to exhaust said bot instead of accomplish their goals. Starscream did not care that he didn’t have one. He wondered if the storm had started yet.
Starscream sat down on a nearby couch while he watched Nightshade contemplatingly hum before asking with a notebook in hand “So how do these outlier abilities work? Are there limitations to these powers?” Novastorm, excited to talk about her and Skywarp’s powers, responded “I have more sensitive wings than most flight frames, so it helps me detect changes in air pressure! It’s how I can tell when the weather’s gonna change. Though my wing circuits get fried easily because of it and the charge from controlling lightning. As for Skywarp-” but before she could finish said seeker butted in “I can only teleport to places I can picture in my mind or as far as I can see! I also get kinda drained if I do it too often. As for how it works.. I kinda just imagine myself being there and I am.”
Skywarp, seeing that Nightshade wasn’t fully satisfied with the answer, started once more “It’s kinda just a feeling in your body..” she trailed off struggling to explain the abstract topic, looking towards Starscream for help. He merely sighed before adding in “Bots who have an outlier ability have a unique chip within their body. The chip resonates with their spark and wants, so it knows when to activate. These chips are located in an area corresponding to their power. Skywarp’s is in her chest, Novastorm has one in each wing although they’re half the size, and I..” he paused at all the attentive eyes on him. “Bots who don’t have an outlier ability do not have this chip.” Starscream decided on.
While the dugout was soundproof, Starscream felt as if he could hear the storm raging on outside the door. Threatening to break through.
The inquisitive eyes of Nightshade continued to stare at him after they finished writing everything down. “How is it that you know more than Skywarp and Novastorm on the topic? Did you study it during your science days?” the green terran tilted their head while they asked. It seemed Hashtag also picked up on his strangely high amount of knowledge as she too stared as if trying to devise one of her film theories. The tri-coloured seeker merely scoffed “The lack of knowledge those two have on their own abilities is pathetic. It’s not hard to find information on outlier abilities.” Skywarp opened her intake to object but Novastorm stopped her with her servo as if she knew she’d reveal something stupid impulsively. Knowing her, she probably would’ve.
The terrans had not had the opportunity to discuss outlier abilities with any other bot, so they took Starscream’s words as truth. Starscream merely just wished they’d move on from this topic already. They’d gotten their information and were just dragging things on. Nothing good ever happened from outlier abilities. He shuddered at the thought, trying to keep himself from staring off into the distance. The storm continued on outside. Oh Primus, Starscream hadn’t even made sure he wasn’t around before landing. The tri-coloured seeker ex-vented shakily and lightly traced his throat. He could feel the permanent damage to his protoform.
Having sensed his discomfort, his trine mates moved to sit next to him in a comforting manner. They were here. They would protect him this time. “Hey it’s okay if you don’t have a special power! I didn’t have an alt-mode for weeks and no one thought I was weaker for it!” Jawbreaker sweetly spoke up, he had the best of intentions, but unfortunately they were the wrong words for Starscream to hear. The seeker let out a hiss and his voicebox decided that now would be the perfect time to glitch out. Suddenly Starscream was a million stellar cycles younger. The warm cream walls of the dugout melted into the cold dark gray of the Nemesis. A figure stood above him, shadowed by the glaring flashes of lightning behind. When did he fall on the ground? His voicebox spasmed and hurt in a familiarly excruciating pain.
“Hey don’t be rude to Jawbreaker! He was just trying to help!” Thrash’s voice rang through his audials. That wasn’t right. The terrans had only existed recently. His processor hurt. Instead of figuring out the issue he managed to scratchily crackle out a “leave me alone” to the shadowy figure grabbing for his neck.
There was a tightening around his throat, and red and gray were the only colours he could see. He knew he shouldn’t fight back. It would only make it worse. Unfortunately turning off one’s fight or flight response wasn’t exactly possible, so he foolishly tried to fight back anyways. But all that happened was a clicking noise in his voicebox. Why wasn’t it working!? He was harshly slammed into the cold ground as a loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the ship. But the surface beneath him was soft and warm? The variables weren’t adding up, but the billowing winds in his head and the ache in his voicebox made it hard to concentrate. While Starscream had learned to be resistant to bodily pain, his throat was the one place where he never did. It was always used against him.
Voices rung out against the gales. He tried to focus his audials on that. Wait, were those his trine mates? Were they here to protect him? That wasn’t right either. They never came to help him. He continued to listen to Skywarp and Thundercracker’s voices, they asked him to describe his surroundings. He did. As they continued to talk to him, he found his environment changing and oh. Oh. He was in the dugout. There was no Megatron tearing into his throat. There was no Thundercracker. He had died eons ago. Feelings of love and comfort came from Skywarp and Novastorm as they patiently stared at him. The terrans were trying not to look at him but failed miserably, their concern evident.
Feelings of shame radiated from Starscream, and he could feel his optics burn brighter in embarrassment. He loathed these moments of vulnerability, especially in front of so many bots. He felt so weak. While his trine mates and Hashtag had been trying to teach him that weakness was not a bad thing, he could only think of his reaction. That softness would only be used against him. In fact it had many times in the past before Starscream grew smarter and closed himself off. Starscream needed to leave. Now. He couldn’t take another nano-kilk of vulnerability. He felt sick. But as he stood up and shakily opened the door to the exit, he was met with harsh winds threatening to knock him over. Skywarp closed the door before a hay-bale could hit him helm on. Despite the dangerous conditions, Starscream still heavily considered leaving. How hard could it be to ignore some winds threatening to pull him under?
Flight frames’ wings were built to handle severe winds, and he’s flown through worse plenty of times, but he’d grown soft. He couldn’t handle the same things he used to. Pitt, he couldn’t even handle stress like he used to. Pathetic. These bots had weakened him. Now he had to depend on them. It was all part of their plan, he just knew it. They wanted to take his place. Strike him down while he was weak.
A servo grasped onto his own and he harshly slapped it away in response. He didn’t care who it was. They could not keep him here. He wouldn’t be imprisoned again! The danger was not outside, it was inside! His voicebox clicked once more, and the bot in front of him backed up with wide optics as if they knew what he had just attempted to do. Why did they look hurt? He was vulnerable, they should be attacking! Instead they stood in a standstill, Starscream trying to make himself appear bigger while the bot in front of him dropped their wings in submission. He would not fall for that trick.
“You’re safe here, Screamer. No bot is going to try hurt you.” A voice slowly said, approaching him at the same time. His shoulders dropped slightly. There were very few bots who called him ‘Screamer’, none of whom ever seemed jealous of his position. Although perhaps they had changed their mind. He began to recognise the familiar violet colour of his trine mate, Skywarp, as she came closer. Starscream’s processor sometimes worked oddly, he did not always recognise the ones around him as allies. Skywarp was one of the bots who had been by his side the longest, so it was often easier for him to recognise her out of everyone else. As well as associate with better times. He never told her this, but he thinks she managed to figure it out. Or she just thought she got lucky every time. It was a bit hard to tell with Skywarp sometimes.
Novastorm took Starscream’s wings slowly dropping to their normal position as a sign to come join her trine. The terrans however, stayed further back, but it was clear Hashtag wanted to check on Starscream too. “We should’ve just dropped the topic of outlier abilities.” The yellow seeker spoke up, further words left unsaid with the terrans so close by. The trine had been collectively working on saying ‘sorry’, but this was the best apology any of them could give for now. Starscream merely nodded, an acceptance. Silence was loud throughout the room.
A small whirr of drone fans were heard as Twitch approached them in the air, “Soo this wasn’t just about feeling weak right?” Starscream shouldn’t have been surprised that the terran who so easily talked with that traitorous bot would be the first to speak up. What did surprise him though was Thrash speaking up “Well I mean I’d be pretty upset if I didn’t have an outlier ability and all my friends did.” The motorcycle’s tone suggested he hadn’t meant it as a rude thing, but Starscream’s anger and past memories boiled within him. He found himself yelling out in retaliation “I’ll have you know I had an outlier ability too!” The tri-coloured seeker immediately faltered. He hadn’t meant to say that. He didn’t want to say that. That was meant to be between him, his trine, and the perpetrator. Forever. They would all know how pathetic he was now. Once more he considered the door.
The entire dugout was still. His trine mates did their best to release feelings of comfort through their bond, but it did not stop the shame and fear Starscream felt.
“The use of the verb ‘had’ suggests the past tense.. Please excuse me if I’m crossing a boundary, but did you lose yours?” Nightshade inquired slowly. Starscream tried to push down the thoughts telling him they were only asking to later exploit him. They were sparklings. Not malicious autobots, traitorous decepticons, or his former leader. “You.. you don’t have to tell us if you’re uncomfortable! But Mum said sometimes talking about your past can help.” Hashtag added in. It had been a million stellar cycles, though it still felt like he could use a few thousand more. Despite this, the way his trine mates gently held his servos soothed him.
Starscream would not be able to talk to the terrans about the entirety of the memory as it would be too graphic for youngsparks, but he could talk about his outlier ability. He ex-vented before he spoke “You are correct, Nightshade. I used to have a sonic scream outlier, but it became defective after a few too many hits to my throat..” He wouldn’t really count choking or tearing into his voicebox as a hit; however, he was trying to avoid delving into details. For both the terrans’ sakes and his own. Various pitying- sad looks crossed the young bots’ face plates as he continued “I still have the chip located in my voicebox. There’s no point in doing such an invasive surgery to simply remove it as it doesn’t harm me and it cannot be fixed.” Not to mention the fact he would never allow a bot access to the insides of his form. While he was sure the terrans were determined to find a fix for his outlier ability chip, they respected his unsaid wishes. Maybe one day he would allow them to.
Hashtag, who had been listening and seemingly in thought finally spoke up once more “Soo that clicking thing you do.. Is that your outlier ability trying to activate?” There was a hesitance in her voice, but the purple van was perceptive as ever. Starscream was silent as he shamefully nodded. Now his sparkling would know he had tried to lash out while she was in radius. He could’ve hurt her had his ability not been taken away from him. A twisted thought creeped into his processor, and he had to quickly shove it down before anyone noticed.
As if she had an instinct for when he was feeling distress, Hashtag moved closer to Starscream; not risking a hug when he had just been so distraught and was likely still feeling touch-averse. “You said earlier that outlier ability chips link with the user’s spark. I don’t think you were trying to hurt us. I just think that you were scared, and that your spark was trying to protect you.” The purple van’s words were careful, but spoke a lot of truth. Exhausted, the tri-coloured seeker rested his head on her shoulder. Not trying to hide the coolant threatening to slip from his optics. Not at all.
Despite everything, Starscream felt a little lighter for the first time in a million stellar cycles. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. Outside, the storm began to die down.