TFP - Every Bit Of Misery

2. Temptation

Ebony let out a vent as KnockOut pandered on and on about some recent ‘gossip’ about the ship, most of rerouting back to his ‘stellar’ paint job and how many times he’d given the Autobots a run for their money while retaining his ‘godly good looks’. ‘What a load of scrap,’ she thought, rolling her optics at his ridiculous, incessant babbling. ‘You have horrid bedside manner for a medic. How did you get this position again?’ She raised an optic ridge at her own thoughts, contemplating how such a vain mech was having the care of others placed in his servos. It seemed like an utterly ridiculous idea.

The doors slid open, breaking through Ebony’s questioning of the medic’s actual qualifications, and in stepped someone she was less than fond of: StarScream. A mech who’s thinly veiled attempts to dethrone Megatron were beyond irritating. The slender Seeker stalked around the room, and Ebony watched him like a hawk, resting her chin in her hand, a grin across her faceplate.

“Well, look what this planet’s gravitational pull drug in,” StarScream spoke, lulling his voice in that terribly characteristic way of his. It was like even his words were slow to realize what kind of danger he was putting himself in.

Ebony just let out a low chuckle, like she was absolutely delighted in his presence. In truth, she sort of was. For vorns, she’d been waiting, just waiting, for him to slip up. For him to make some threatening gesture towards her, even Lord Megatron, so she would have cause to offline him and be rid of his sorry ass. He was nothing but a pain, anyway. More trouble than he was worth. But she’d never let him know how much she wanted to end him. Not until the time came, anyway. For now, she just smiled and acted the part of the loving ally.

“Well, you certainly know how to pick timing, don’t you? You didn’t bother to say such things while we were outside, now did you? You didn’t bother to say anything while we were outside, actually. Now why is that? Don’t have the guts to say something to Megatron’s lover in front of him? Hm?” She knew well enough that StarScream’s horridly endless ‘competition’ with Megatron meant that whatever Megatron had, StarScream wanted.

And Ebony had used that knowledge to drive StarScream nano-kliks from crazy back on Cybertron. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever figured out how many games she’d played with his processor back then. She couldn’t judge very well from the way he was looking at her now.

“Oh, truly you mustn’t believe that I still think you and Megatron are still an . . . item, do you? Oh, Ebony, did you see the way he looked at you on the roof?” The Seeker smirked, sliding a digit under her jawline, tilting her helm up to look him in the optic, his scarlet optics a stark contrast to her dark blue. Everything about Ebony was a contrast to what existed on this ship. Her white paint job stood out like a flashlight in total darkness, her blue optics floating in a sea of red glow. Her own name contrasted with her appearance: Ebony. Black. But she was a white colored femme with silver and blue. Very little of her was that dark of a shade.

“If I didn’t know better, Bon, I’d say you now walk a thinner line with Megatron than I do . . .” StarScream chuckled, using Ebony’s old nickname against her. One Megatron had used often back when the pair were much closer than they were now. “What on Cybertron could you have possibly done back then to earn such disfavor from our wondrous ‘Lord’ Megatron . . . ?”

Ebony smirked, a lie coming to mind easily, rolling off her lips like second nature. “He stopped me from slitting your throat while you were in stasis. Perhaps you should thank him for having mercy on your pitiable, back-stabbing uselessness.”

StarScream scowled at Ebony’s cheerful tone, standing back up and pulling away from her. “Troublesome femme . . .” He muttered, his servos falling behind his back in a show of confidence. Ebony just grinned, knowing her silence would be more effective than actual words with the cowardly Seeker.

“If you’re quite done, I have an examination to finish,” KnockOut scolded. Ebony couldn’t help but laugh, knowing full well that the sounds of KnockOut’s buffer had just died off a few seconds ago. He’d taken the time where StarScream and Ebony were ‘discussing matters’ to preen himself, as seemed to be a fairly normal habit. Of course, from what she gathered, he normally had BreakDown around to aid him in it. She wondered if the pair had bonded, or if they were going to bond. It seemed likely.

Ebony smirked, and waved mockingly to the Seeker, dismissing him, baring her denta for a moment as a silent warning that he wasn’t welcome around here. Another, less obvious warning hid inside the gesture as well: that the Seeker wasn’t going to remain Lord Megatron’s second-in-command for very long.

~~~

“Are you quite finished, Medic? I’m beyond bored with this foolishness and I wish to retire to my chambers for a well deserved recharge, if you don’t mind,” Ebony nagged as KnockOut examined her servos, her joints, for any sign of injury for what felt like the tenth time. She knew that any servo wounds were particularly dangerous, but she didn’t feel anything wrong with her form, and she was tired from what felt like an incredibly long day. The last thing she needed was to have minimal recharge because even the medic couldn’t figure out how to examine something properly the first time around. Again, Ebony questioned his actual credentials for this job.

“Oh, don’t get your metal in a bunch, Ebony,” KnockOut retorted, searching her over again, testing her servos, her peds, her hands, repeatedly. “You were in a nasty crash, and I can’t have you walking out of here damaged. How would that reflect on me as a medic? Megatron would flay me alive if I lost a patient!”

Ebony scoffed, shaking her helm, but didn’t say anything. She honestly believed that Megatron would praise the medic for allowing her to leave damaged, which was part of the reason she was somewhat suspicious as to why he was inspecting and re-inspecting everything so thoroughly. It was irritating and she was starting to think sabotage could be behind it. Disguising a planted injury, like a broken wire, as a post-crash injury would be a piece of walk in the park, now wouldn’t it?

And it could cause some real damage in the long run, too. And when she’s no longer of use, she’d be dumped in the middle of nowhere, left to die, just like on Cybertron. Ebony frowned, knowing it was likely to cross Megatron’s processor, and he certainly wasn’t above such low tricks. He was an infuriating sort of mech. Ebony drummed her digits against the medbay, waiting impatiently for KnockOut to cease his overly thorough examination.

“All right . . .” He muttered, glancing her over one last time. “It looks like you’re all right.”

Ebony vented dramatically. “Well, I could have told you that kliks ago, Honey, I mean, I did fly here after the crash, didn’t I?”

KnockOut shook his helm. “You may have flown here, but with how we react to danger, you may not have noticed any problems before. Which is why you needed an official examination-.”

“Ordered by Megatron,” she interrupted, crossing her arms and raising an optic ridge at the red-painted medic, letting him know full well that she didn’t trust what Megatron wanted. Not after what had happened on Cybertron. She wondered if the medic would be one of those rare cases who actually did know what had occurred vorns ago between herself and the Decepticon leader.

She quickly shook that notion off. After she’d been through with him, she doubted ‘Lord Megatron’ had been able to trust anyone again for a long time.

“Yes,” KnockOut confirmed cautiously. “Ordered by Megatron . . . What was all that about, anyway? I know Lord Megatron won’t say a word about it.”

Ebony stood up, grinning at the medic. “You seem so nice and innocent. I don’t think you want to hear it, Sweetie. The very story might scratch your paint. Especially if Lord Megatron were to hear about you knowing about it.” She smirked, turning away from him and striding from the room, quickly retiring from her quarters, which were strategically placed far from Megatron’s on the ship. Truthfully, hers were about as far from his as was physically possible.

Once inside her room, Ebony quickly began examining herself, not quite trusting the medic’s work. She tested each of her joints, her peds, her hands, checking to make sure everything still worked, that everything was still functioning at it’s prime.

‘Hmph. Prime. He doesn’t even know what role he played in all this.’ Ebony shook her helm, chasing those thoughts away. It was behind her. A long way behind. And she wasn’t about to go chasing the past.

Of course, being around Megatron again, it might become hard to resist temptation.