Chapter Thirteen
Confide in Me
The next day found Alexis on the roof of the base, staring absent-mindedly out over the stretch of grass to the cliffside that the base was perched on the edge of. Optimus had told her the news the night before, and now she was determining to treasure her last morning in California.
The morning sunshine glowed overhead as she sat with her slender legs dangling over the side and her chin resting on one hand, scanning the slowly brightening heavens as the sun rose above her. The sky was already bleeding from a pale grey to bright, dazzling blue, and the remnants of dew lingering on the grass sparkled with every colour of the spectrum as the light caught the water.
A small sigh escaped her and she closed her eyes for a moment when there was a tiny stinging from her skin where the necklace lay.
The gem had grown colder and heavier since her nightmare, and the base of her neck had taken to aching constantly; she could rarely find a comfortable position to sit or sleep in because of it, and it frequently became stiff, momentarily paralysing her head. She was exhausted by carrying it, but she had long since given up on trying to remove it - if fate had cast her in this role, then she knew that she had no choice but to accept its decision. Her future was out of her hands now.
She opened one eye to peer up at the pale yellow sunshine of the morning.
Tranquillity had been her home since she had been born. She had only left once, when she and her parents had gone to attend a wedding in Nebraska, but other than that she had always been in this place. Even though her father had been constantly travelling with the Air Force, he had insisted that they stay in one place to ensure a secure family environment, and so that Alexis had an uninterrupted education.
Well, she thought with a grim smile, that theory went out of the window when the Autobots came along.She would miss the blazing sunshine of California. She would miss the places that she knew like the back of her hand: the Autobot base, her home away from home; the lake where the kids hung out; the spring beyond the trees where she and Starscream went for their trysts.
And... she would miss her own home.
As she was with the Autobots so much, she rarely considered her true home and her family. It was something that she was internally guilty about; she had abandoned her mother for the past three years, only coming home now and again to show her face for a few hours before she left again, mainly by Hummer or jet.
But despite the fact that she had neglected it, she would miss the little house in Tranquillity. She would miss the smell of cookies in the kitchen... the photographs of her father that lined the walls in the front room... her once-organised bedroom that had disintegrated into disarray when all sense of normalcy and order in her life had disappeared.
"Hey, Alexis."
The pasty young woman glanced up to see Mikaela stepping up from the ladder that led from the ground to the roof. "Hey," she greeted softly, shifting over a little so that the brunette could sit down next to her. "You're up early."
Mikaela shrugged casually, brushing dust from her jeans before she came and seated herself at Alexis's side. "It's ten already," she pointed out, indicating her wristwatch to prove her point." How long have you been out here for?" she added concernedly.
"Couple of hours?" Alexis guessed. "I couldn't sleep."
"Oh," Mikaela murmured, drawing her knees up to her chin and embracing them tightly as she scanned the sky.
A thoughtful silence fell between the two young women. It was a silence that spoke a thousand words, and yet it was edged with tension - tension that Mikaela was radiating like warmth from the sunshine. There were so many things that she longed to ask her friend, but she could not think of how to word them. How to ask her what Optimus had meant when he spoke of her nightmares, and what her necklace's intentions truly were.
After a minute or two, however, she could no longer stand it. "Alexis," she said slowly, and was rewarded with a brief glance from the girl's unmade-up green eyes, which she noticed were ringed with dark shadows, "What... what did Ratchet mean when he said that the All Spark has... claimed you for itself, or something like that?"
A small, humourless 'huh' of laughter escaped Alexis and she shook her head, smiling dourly. "He meant what he said, Mikaela," she sighed, passing her hand over her sore forehead. "It wants to use me to kill Unicron."
"But how?" the other girl pressed, leaning closer. "I don't understand it..."
"Nor do I," Alexis whispered brokenly, but found that there were no tears left in her to cry. "But... it's happening. And I just have to accept it now."
Mikaela stared at her, her aquatic eyes wide with shock. "Accept it...?" she repeated, shaking her head. Alexis's attitude was frightening her - badly. "Alexis, you do know how the All Spark is going to use you, don't you? Why won't you tell me?" She paused, biting her lip for an instant before she asked softly, "Have I done something wrong?"
Alexis's head snapped up and she shook her head quickly, regretting her decision when her cranium seemed to throb with pain. "No, Mikaela. You've been the best friend I've ever had for the past three years. But... you've got enough on your mind without my worries, too."
"I don't have that many worries," Mikaela insisted quietly, putting her hand on Alexis's shoulder comfortingly. "C'mon, Alexis."
"You have worries enough," the other girl pointed out firmly, folding her stick-like arms over her chest. "What are you going to say to your mom and dad about going to Virginia, for example? If I know your dad, he won't let you go without a fight... he was separated from you for a year when he went to prison, and I can't picture him being happy about you leaving the state."
"Dad will have to let me go in the end." She lowered her blue-green eyes, flexing her jaw. "I don't know if you feel the same way, but I don't feel like they're my family any more, Alexis. I love my dad so much - I really do - and I love my mom. But... I think my true family is with the Autobots now."
There was a short lapse in conversation before the reply came. "I feel that way, too."
Mikaela nodded slightly, her jaw still clenched as she stared out over the cliffside. She tilted her head so that her cheek was rested against her knees before she spoke once again. "In a way... Ratchet's way more like a dad to me. I love him so much - he's taught me a lot about myself and everything else, and he's always there for me. And I know that Dad was in prison and so he couldn't be with me... but he was a criminal."
"He did it because you guys needed money," Alexis reminded her. "He just cared about you and your mom, right?"
"But he could've just gone and got a job in a store or something," Mikaela muttered bitterly, clenching her fist and causing one of her large, faux-diamond rings to catch the sunlight as she did so. "He didn't have to steal cars. And mom could've babysat me instead of him taking me with him, but she was too busy drinking and clubbing."
Alexis shook her head, unable to think of anything to say.
Finally, the brunette heaved a sigh and put her face in her hands wearily. "I don't care any more. They've got each other... and I have been living with the Autobots for two years. It's not like I'm still living at home and I'm suddenly leaving."
"But don't you think you should tell them the truth?" Alexis said persuasively, putting a hand on Mikaela's hunched back. "I know that they've gone wrong in a few places with their parenting, but... but I still think that you owe your dad some kind of truth, if not your mom. Just tell him that you're in safe hands... just let him know you're going to be okay, or he'll never forgive himself."
Mikaela glanced at her, her lip quivering a little. "Yeah," she mumbled, brushing her eyes quickly with the cuff of her denim jacket. "Maybe... maybe I should go and introduce him to Ratch', so he knows that I have some kind of father figure to be with."
"I think so," she agreed gently. Then she paused, looking intently at her friend. "How's it going with Ratchet and Rose?"
A small smile tweaked at Mikaela's lips. "Okay, I think," she said thickly with a brief sniff to dispel her tears. "I don't think she's as scared about the whole robot-human thing now. But I doubt she realises that he has any kind of feelings for her... she's too focused on her worries over her dad, and your mom... what they'll say about all this."
She nodded slowly, running a hand through her mousy hair. Then she smiled at Mikaela affectionately. "You really do care about him, don't you?"
"Who, Ratchet?" Mikaela asked, to a nod from Alexis. "Yeah, I do. Like I said, he's like the dad I never really had. And I just hope... and pray that she'll make him happy. 'Cause if there's anyone in the whole world that deserves happiness, it's him."
Alexis returned her gaze to the brightening firmament, thinking about all that the medic had done for her in her time. "Yes," she concurred, clasping her hands in her lap and nodding her complete agreement. "He does."
There was another silence that lasted several minutes, with both girls considering the changes that their lives were about to go through. When the light of the next day faded, they would be in Virginia - in the Pentagon. For Mikaela, it would not be a frightening journey because she had never travelled - her family had travelled all around America - but the idea of being in such an official, military place sent a shiver down her spine. Alexis, meanwhile, was feeling homesick already.
Again, Mikaela broke the silence. "How's Starscream taking all this?"
"Badly," Alexis informed her almost inaudibly, her face crumpling for an instant. "I... I'm just so afraid for him, Mikaela. Yesterday he just lost it, and I'm terrified of what he'll do if anything else happens to me."
"He did kinda flip," she admitted. "He's got a lot of frustration in him. But then again... he was a Decepticon for God-knows-how-many years." She paused and turned her head to see Alexis's agonised facial expression; the other girl was clearly an inch from tears, her eyes glistening in the soft glow of the sun. "But he loves you so much, Alexis."
Alexis sniffed thickly. "I love him," she choked. "I love him so much it hurts me. I need Star... he's my everything."
Mikaela smiled. "Star... that's sweet." Upon seeing the continuation of the girl's distress, she wrapped her arm around Alexis's shoulders, drawing her best friend close and letting the other girl weep quietly into her jacket. "Alexis, honey, don't cry... everything's gonna be alright. I promise..." Her fingers clenched comfortingly on her shoulder, conveying her certainty.
"Thank you, Mikaela," Alexis whispered, hugging her tightly.
"You two okay?"
Mikaela glanced over her shoulder to see Sam hauling himself up the ladder. "We're good," she assured him with a strained sort of grin, and Alexis wiped her reddened eyes on the back of her hand, swallowing her sobs with difficulty. "Are you okay, Sam?" she added to her boyfriend, seeing that he looked a little despondent.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Just that 'Screamer sent me up here - he wants to talk to you, Alexis."
"How'd he know we were here?" Mikaela asked, frowning slightly as Alexis slowly drew away from her and got to her feet unsteadily.
"No idea," Sam sighed, running his hand through his sleep-tousled brown hair. "He was actually kind of civil for once, though, so I thought I'd do it. Want me to go down with you, Alexis?" he asked the slim girl when she passed him, taking her elbow. "You look kinda like you might faint - not meaning to sound rude, or anything -"
Alexis smiled fondly at the taller teenager's awkward babbling. "I'm alright, Sam. I'll see you guys later," she said to both of them softly before she swung herself onto the ladder and descended slowly back to terra firma, disappearing from their visual range.
Mikaela watched her go sadly, standing up at a leisurely pace before moving to stand next to her boyfriend, who gave her a weak smile.
"She's not doing so well," she confided to him in a low voice, and Sam tilted his head to one side enquiringly. "I'm really worried about her, Sam."
Sam shook his head, putting one hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulling a face. "We all are, 'Kaela," he sighed, and she looked up at him gloomily. "But I guess we'll just have to trust Optimus with whatever he's got planned. He's never led us wrong yet, right?" He looked to her desperately as if for confirmation, his brown eyes seeking hers.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah." Her hand found her way into the one that was free of his pocket and she squeezed it tightly, drawing consolation from him.
"It'll be okay," he murmured to her, lacing his fingers around hers. "We're gonna be okay, Mikaela. We're going to survive."
"You really think so, Sam?" she whispered, huddling under his arm and keeping her eyes on the lightening sky and the sun that crept higher with each passing moment. "You think that every single one of us is going to come out of this alive... that all of us will survive Unicron, and that all of us will be okay at the end of it?"
He paused, considering it for a minute as the light breeze teased at her dark curls, sending strands of hair into her eyes. Then he replied.
"No. No, I don't."
Starscream's claret optics roved aimlessly around the room as he sat awaiting Alexis's arrival. He had requested that Sam run and get her - in a politer manner than he had ever requested anything in his life - and the boy had agreed without argument, darting off to where he knew that Alexis and Mikaela were up on the roof, watching the sun's slow ascent into the sky.
He had sensed that Alexis was up there. After three years of spending every moment possible with her, he had become oddly attuned to her presence; he would receive vague inklings that she was in a certain direction, and he had awoken to find the distinct feeling of her being above him somewhere. Given the fact that Skyfire had been in the communications room, there was no way that she could have been airborne, so he had assumed that she was up at the human's lookout on the roof.
His life had turned itself upside down overnight, and he despised it.
In all of a week, the All Spark had systematically stripped away every small joy in his life; now, it had taken away his home of three years. They were leaving California for a state called Virginia, and he had no wish to go. He did not want to leave this familiar place, with its blazing sunlight and exquisite night sky that was forever peppered with the stars he loved.
But wherever Alexis went, he would follow.
Loyalty had never become him. By nature, he had always been a traitor and a turncoat - Megatron had known of his untrustworthiness since the very beginning of his role as his Air Commander and second-in-command. Everyone had known the drill when he was around: to keep an optic over their shoulder at all times, lest they find one of his swords in their spark. Power had been the dominant desire of his life, and he would have done anything for it.
Now, on the other hand, he had been driven to the one thing he had never known - loyalty - by a human girl. A squishy. A fleshbag. A weak, insignificant organic.
The All Spark made strange decisions indeed.
Why, at the origin of all things, had it chosen to take his spark - his spark, the spark of Starscream - and infuse its partner into the heart of a human?
He could sense that they were being driven apart. Fear and anxiety had got the better of both of them, creating a schism of doubt that neither of them could overcome. And it was slowly, painfully, and torturously breaking his spark.
So he would set things right.
However, at that moment a loud, cheery song suddenly erupted from somewhere near his right audio receptor - something to do with a star girl or some such nonsense - and he almost short-circuited himself in shock, springing away from the abrupt, unwelcome sound and pointing his Vulcan cannon at the perpetrator - Bumblebee - who gave him a sheepish sort of wave and ignored the weapon.
"Bumblebee!" he snapped, rolling his optics in annoyance before re-transforming his arm back to its normal state. "What the slag are you doing?"
The yellow Autobot shrugged. "You looked like you needed cheering up," he said by way of explanation.
Starscream hissed at him irritably, folding his arms. "So you thought that the best course of action was destroying my audio receptors?" he demanded, before he raised an optic ridge at the smaller robot's look. "Oh, for Primus's sake - what is the matter with you? You look like the medic just gave you a fragging diagnostic."
Bumblebee shuddered. "No... he's busy giving Sunstreaker a diagnostic, for the trip."
"Primus be with him, then," Starscream muttered, although he felt that that obnoxious twin of Sideswipe's probably deserved a good round of torture from Ratchet. "Well, come along, youngling, clear your processors of it - what do you want?"
Although he looked slightly riled by Starscream's use of 'youngling' to describe him, Bumblebee decided to let it go. "Well... it's about Alexis, really..." he said hesitantly, causing Starscream's head to snap up and his scarlet eyes to narrow alertly. "I... feel as if Optimus has not told us something about her role in this, and -"
"You were wondering if I would?" the jet finished darkly.
The Autobot nodded warily, clearly wondering whether Starscream was about to explode with wrath and throttle him, as was his apparent tendency.
However, the red-eyed robot merely leant back against the wall slightly, his gaze searing so intently in the direction of the floor that Bumblebee feared that it might burn a hole through it. "Why do you want to know?" he asked brusquely, his long arms tightening over his torso. "These matters are none of your concern."
And, astoundingly, Bumblebee cracked.
"Yes, they are!" he said angrily, his raspy voice almost breaking into a squeak with the unfamiliar volume. "Why is it that you older ones all feel that we should be kept in the dark about all this, Starscream? This planet is our home just as much as it is yours - Primus, even the humans were not informed of Unicron's coming, and this is their native world!"
Starscream stared at him.
"And if that was not enough," Bumblebee continued furiously, squaring up to Starscream has best he could, being only sixteen feet tall where Starscream was at least thirty, "You then decide that we should all be completely unaware of everything that is happening! How are we to prepare for this fight, if we don't know all of what we are -"
There was suddenly a strange squealing sound and a string of clicks, followed by a screech akin to that of fingernails on a blackboard. Bumblebee clutched his neck with one hand in alarm, his round blue optics widening distinctly in surprise.
The taller Cybertronian sighed resignedly. "Now you've gone and fragged them."
Bumblebee glared at him, trying his utmost to reboot his vocal processors. He had not shouted in that manner since Mission City, when his voice had been restored - Ratchet had always warned him to be cautious with his volume - but in his frustration with the older mechs, he had completely forgotten his caution with his voice. Frightened by the thought of being permanently mute again, he took a step back, his mouthpiece quivering dangerously as confusion swept over his features.
Starscream clenched his jaw, disliking the look of terror that he was getting from the young mech. "Bumblebee, calm yourself. Ratchet will be able to repair your vocals... go on." He pointed in the direction of the medical bay.
The baby-blue optics threw him a look of fright before Bumblebee dashed off, still grasping his neck.
Shaking his head, Starscream glanced up at the roof impatiently. The Witwicky boy had probably been distracted by the prospect of one of those disgustingly unwholesome 'donuts' that he and Miles so favoured, and completely forgotten about his request to bring Alexis to him. If Alexis ever touched one of those ridiculous things, he would gladly burn every donut on the planet.
"Starscream?"
He looked around to see Alexis at the doorway, looking unreasonably small beside the enormous door.
His spark flared up aggressively at the sight of her, making his chest burn as it something within it had combusted. The morning breeze had brought the tiniest flush to her eternally milky cheeks, and her eyes seemed a little brighter than usual; everything about her was calling to him, and he found himself almost speechless with yearning within two seconds of seeing her.
"Alexis," he whispered, stepping forward and extending a hand for her.
She stepped up into his palm, settling herself there and giving him an expectant look. "Sam said you wanted me," she murmured, one arm around his thumb to support herself. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," he confirmed, his voice almost a hiss when the warm feeling of desire washed through his systems again. He could feel her heat in his palm, emitting from her organic body and transferring to his metallic hand. "But I felt I should speak with you regarding today. Is there anything in particular that you had in mind?"
She sighed softly. "As long as I can spend it with you, I don't care."
"Good," he murmured, a fingertip trailing down her spine and making her tremble at the bliss in the touch. He heard her pulse flutter erratically and smelt her pheromones skyrocketing; she was obviously more stirred than she let on by his contact with her skin. "I believe we are long overdue for some time alone ... and without fear."
Alexis nodded, pressing her cheek against his thumb. "Please..." she pleaded, her voice quiet but desperate, "Fly me away somewhere, Starscream."
"With pleasure," he smirked, gently depositing her on the ground.
She followed him out into the now-blazing light of the day, where the sun was now high above them and was casting a bright glow over the grassland from its position. He had completed his transformation to his plane form before she had even registered his starting to change, and she could not help but smile warmly at seeing him as a jet.
Flight had been abandoned for far too long. Their moments had always been stolen at the spring or in the woods, but she guessed that he had considered her to be too ill to take to the air now that the All Spark's power was beginning to affect her.
She would prove him wrong today. She was still alive... still holding onto him. And she swore that before she died, she would look upon Earth from space once more... the great blue-and-green jewel, in all its glory.
The cockpit flipped open and she climbed up into the seat, not bothering to fasten her harness as she settled herself before the green screen.
"Deciding to live dangerously, are we?" he mocked her lightly as she glass closed over her head, locking her inside.
Huddling back against the seat, she smirked slightly. "I've nothing to lose," she reminded him somewhat pessimistically as his jets fired up with force, sending deep vibrations all through the aerodynamic Raptor. "If I have to die, I want to die with you."
The feeling of her hand trailing down the side of the cockpit made him tremble involuntarily, but it was masked by the vibrations from the jets. He moved forward with speed, keen as he ever had been to take wing with his spark partner. Yet even as the wind caught his wings and he felt the familiar rush of air over his plane form, he could not help but be distinctly troubled by what she was saying.
When they were high in the air, with the whole of Tranquillity spread out beneath them, he settled himself with heading towards the destination that he had in mind, and turned his attention to the young woman in his cockpit.
"You should not think that way, Alexis Paxton," he scolded her softly in regard to her earlier comment.
Alexis sighed, her eyes raised to look through the glass at the faint wisps of cloud and the brilliant sunlight. "What's the point in pretending?" she asked him softly, stroking the side of the aircraft again. "You know what's going to happen to me, Starscream. Optimus won't say it straight out, but he thinks I'm going to die." She leant her head against the cool glass, sighing and causing a white blur to appear on the transparent surface. "Everyone just thinks I'm too... weak."
"That is not true," he denied heatedly. "None of them believe that - I do not believe that -"
"You know it's true," she murmured dismally, glancing down at herself. "Look at me, Starscream. I am weak."
He was looking at her, and all he could see was what he wanted. He could see the bright green eyes that had calmed his unpredictable temper a thousand times; the pale skin that he longed to caress; the soft, pale pink lips that he craved the kiss of whenever he beheld her. Why did she constantly doubt herself?
"I am looking at you, Alexis."
She glanced up at the lime green screen, tears springing up before she could stop them. "And what do you see?" she whispered.
A soft, frustrated growl made the plane tremble beneath her. "I see a star." She continued to watch the monitor, knowing that he was looking at her from there. "I see a lone star in a midnight sky... an exquisite one that has a light far stronger than any other."
The tears were growing hot behind her eyes, threatening to spill. She knew how much he loved the stars, and his comparing her to one never ceased to make her cry; to him, there was nothing more beautiful. She quickly pressed her hand to her mouth to steady her breathing as the saline in her eyes built up, quivering on her lower eyelids and blurring her vision.
"Your body is weak - that, I will acknowledge," he murmured. "You are human... it is to be expected. But I can fully appreciate why the All Spark believes that your will is so strong, much as I loathe its verdict."
"Why?" she enquired dully, a tear dripping down her cheek. "I don't feel strong."
He observed her in silence for a moment, and she looked back at the screen with her eyes glistening. Then he murmured, "You are the single strongest being I have ever known, Alexis. For you fell in love with me - and to this day, you stand by that decision. Through all of my unpredictability... my betrayals... my antagonism... you never turned back."
She blinked, shaking her head. "I would never turn back."
"Then there you have it."
Neither of them spoke again until Starscream spied their destination and made his unhurried descent, ensuring a gentle landing since Alexis was without her harness. Once he had touched down, he allowed her out of the cockpit and then transformed, glancing down to see her expression.
She looked... stunned.
"Oh my God... what is this place?" she whispered, awestruck. "Starscream..."
He nodded, unable to keep from swelling in satisfaction at his research coming to fruition. "It is called Glass Beach."
The vast expanse of seaside that was spread out before them was dazzling - quite literally. Millions of fragments of glass coated the golden sand, sparkling in the sunlight and creating an abundant, glittering blanket of crystalline shards. Multicoloured light danced across the covering, making the entire shoreline glow with the multihued colours of a rainbow.
He had scanned the area before landing and found, to his pleasant surprise, that there were no other humans for a mile; there was no risk of being seen, and that was what he wanted. It had been so long since he had given her the gift of seeing Earth from space, and this place was in California - it would be a last memory of the state's beauty to treasure when they left for Virginia in the evening. And she deserved this time... their last precious hours before they would have to depart.
"Mom told me about this place," she recalled, stepping forward with her eyes roving over the multicoloured splinters. "She said she'd take me here one day... but she never got round to it, I guess."
"Perhaps she did not have the chance," Starscream pointed out, flexing his powerful wings as the sea breeze touched them.
Alexis sighed in response, still gazing at the multitude of glass fragments. "Maybe," she said softly, the wind whipping her wispy locks into her eyes. She looked up at him, biting her lip. "Oh, Starscream... what have I done? I don't even know my mom any more."
He sat down, making the ground tremble, and opened his palm; she climbed up into it and then onto his shoulder, huddling against his armour.
"She will understand why," he murmured. "When it is explained to her."
She snorted disbelievingly. "Oh, yeah, she'll understand." She put on a slightly high-pitched voice. "'Oh my God, hey, Mom! How wonderful to see you after I flouted my grounding rule and ran away from home, taking my estranged stepsister with me! Oh - by the way - this is my boyfriend, Starscream! He's a giant alien robot! Oh, and did I mention that he killed Dad?'"
Starscream tensed.
"She'd never understand!" she said angrily, dropping the girlish tone. "She wouldn't even listen to me - she'd listen to their precious Rose, but not me."
When he did not reply, she considered what she had just said and immediately felt guilty for it. She knew that he could not stand to speak about his unknowing murder of her father four years beforehand, and how it made him feel, but it had just... come out. She herself bore no grudge for that crime, but she was more than aware of what her mother would do if she found out - have him slaughtered. Nonetheless, she could not stand the pain that was now radiating from him.
"... I'm sorry, Star."
His ruby optics flicked up to her with a tiny click. "You have nothing to apologise for."
Alexis wound her arm as far around his neck as she could reach. "No... I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry..." She pressed her face against the cool, silver-brown metal and exhaled unsteadily. "It's just that I... I'm not sure what she'll say to you, and I don't know how to tell her."
Starscream looked back toward the colourful shoreline, watching the dappled sunlight on the water abstractedly as she nestled against his neck. "Indeed," he whispered. "However can one express this connection in words?"
She was silent, her hand stroking down the bridge of his nose.
He had been hurt at the mention of Adam's death at his hand, but now he understood why she had said it. And he did, for some unexplainable reason, dread the time when he would meet Jasmine Paxton. He was aware that it was common amongst human males to experience these feelings about meeting the parental units of a mate, but his panic was so irrational... what could she do, after all? Like the other humans, there was no way that she could harm him physically... but could she separate him from her daughter?
The thought of being parted with Alexis terrified him, much as he still hated to admit that weakness. She was his life, and the thought of her dying in exchange for the death of Unicron made his spark weep in rejection of the idea. But what would happen when she told her mother about their relationship? There was no way to hide it forever, after all.
A horrible image of the petite woman formed in his mind; her ire, her grief at being told that her husband's murderer - a cruel, red-eyed machine - was the one that had stolen her daughter from her for three long years. He could already hear her words. Monster... worthless, treacherous scum...
Or was he infusing the lingering spirit of Megatron into her in his mind?
"Starscream..." He looked up at her again and saw her troubled expression. "If Unicron's coming here, do you think he'll have some kind of army with him?"
"Without doubt," Starscream confirmed grimly. "Legend tells of how he created an army of drones, which reside within him and gain energy from the worlds that he consumes..." His face suddenly tightened and he shuttered his optics for a moment. "And, of course... there is the fact that Unicron, like Primus, had the power to give life."
Alexis shook her head bemusedly. "What does that mean, then...?" she asked uncertainly.
He moved his head a little to nuzzle her small body, and she gently extended a hand to touch the bridge of his nose. "It means," he murmured as she stroked his armour, "That he can resurrect those who have fallen." He opened his optics and looked intently at her. "No matter where their bodies lie."
It took about six seconds for what he was saying to sink into her mind, but when it did, she looked horrified.
"Megatron?" she gasped, shaking her head. "That's impossible! He's in the deepest ocean in the world, for God's sake - the pressure -"
"Unicron will not care for any of that," Starscream responded sharply, looking up to the sky as if Unicron was already there. "To him, your oceans are like drops of rain. It is entirely possible that he will simply bring the body forth from the Laurentian Abyss and ignite Megatron's spark again... Megatron would be a powerful servant if he could do this."
She was now so pale that she looked as if all her blood had disappeared. "What will he do to you if he finds you?" she whispered, watching the fiery shades of red dancing in his optics and keeping her hands on his armour as if she feared to be parted from him for so much as a second. "I mean... I don't know a lot about your history with him, Starscream..."
"Then I will tell you," he said shortly. "I entrust everything to you."
Alexis nodded, although she looked slightly frightened at the prospect of what she was about to hear. He looked out over the glittering surf distractedly, a frown darkening his face as she waited for him to begin.
"Megatron and I were rivals since the beginning," he recalled in a low voice. "I first joined the Decepticons when Optimus refused to rescue Skyfire from the ice planet that he had crashed on. I was full of rage, and bitterness... I had nothing to offer the Autobot forces. So when I heard of Megatron's faction - warriors that were ruthless and emotionless, using their anger to fight - I joined them immediately."
She kept her hand on his cheek as he spoke, her heart already aching for him.
His large fist tightened. "I caught Megatron's attention almost at once. I was highly ambitious and a skilled flyer - he was impressed with the way I used my hatred to my advantage, killing Autobots with no remorse whatsoever as I slipped further into the ways of cruelty. After watching me fight for a long time, he promoted me to the position of Air Commander, and made me one of the Seekers of Cybertron... and that was my first true taste of power over others."
Memories flashed before him as he told her his story: memories of times long since past. He could see the towering spires of Cybertron's cities again... feel the heat as he flew over the energon mines...
"It soon became apparent that I was too ambitious. I had never kept my desire to be Decepticon leader a secret; he was always aware of it, yet never worried by the threat I posed. In his opinion, I was far too weak to have the ability to destroy him - and, of course, he needed my skills in the air to keep control of the flyers."
"Did they respect you?" she asked softly. "The other Seekers?"
Starscream snorted. "Hardly. Thundercracker - my second-in-command - was constantly boasting about how he would be Air Commander one day, the fraghead. There was a strange sort of companionship between us, I suppose... but none of them would have the courage to make their aspirations known to Megatron, as I did."
Alexis smiled slightly, tapping his nose playfully. "Probably sensible of them, don't you think? Trust you to be all audacious and get yourself into trouble."
His optics sparkled slightly in return at seeing her display of light-heartedness, and he nudged her in return. "Don't flick me, girl. Now let me tell the tale." She settled back, her face taking on a more serious expression again. "Megatron was not always tolerant of my deceitful ways... he..." He trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "He... hurt me sometimes. Severely, on occasion."
Her hand crept to her mouth. "Starscream... I didn't realise..."
"I would not have expected you to," he assured her gruffly, not quite meeting her eyes. He heaved a despondent sigh, unclenching his fist and slowly letting his long fingers uncurl. "But I must stop," he murmured, glancing at her with as much of a smile as his mouthpiece allowed. "I brought you here to escape the fear, and I have only brought it with us."
"It's okay," she said softly. "But there has been too much fear between us. We just need to have faith... in each other, if not anybody else. You told me once that fear is the enemy... so let's just let it go for a day."
Starscream nodded wholeheartedly in agreement. "Yes."
Alexis raised her eyes to the bright sky, leaning against him heavily. "Okay... say, by some insane stroke of luck, we do survive this..." She motioned towards the sky in reference to what would soon be above them, "What do you want to do with the rest of your life?"
He rolled his optics. "Really, Alexis... I would assume that the answer is obvious. I wish to spend it with you, and I wish for nothing more than that."
"I will be with you," she pointed out, her eyes going slightly hazy as she envisioned the perfect future that she would never have, thanks to fate's plan for her. "Whilst I'm alive, I'm not going anywhere. But... is there anywhere you'd go, or do? Come on, Starscream, I know you've got some hopes and dreams somewhere in that spark of yours."
"Yours," he corrected her.
She flushed a little, smiling modestly.
A wave crashed over the rocks and he glanced at it, observing the spray of the water catching the light and making a rainbow ripple across its surface before the tide drew back, dragging fragments of sand and glass in its wake. He would truly miss California and its sights; this was his home now, and he prayed to Primus that they would return some day. But he would never come back without her - she was the other half of his spark.
He shrugged slightly, air expelling from his vents. "I suppose I would like to see more of this planet. We are to be here for a long time yet; I admit to wanting to know more about it. I have not completely forgotten my hunger for discovery that I had before the war. Places like this one intrigue me, and I know your planet hides further sights of splendour... like this one." He glanced at her. "And you, Alexis?"
She chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully, looking up to the blue as she considered her own aspirations. Like him, her main priority was for them to spend the rest of their lives together; she could live without everything else in the world but Starscream. There was a little point in creating a dream that she could never live, but she needed to escape herself for a little while... or else she would never be able to make the journey, for fear of what was to come. Spinning herself a tranquil fairytale could do no harm, after all.
"I've got three main things I want to do," she finally decided, ticking them off on her fingers. "One - have you take me up to see Earth again. If there was one truly amazing thing in my whole life, that had to be it..."
Starscream nodded. "And you shall have it."
She smiled, and then her smile widened to a somewhat impish grin. "Two - have the boys and the twins pull some outrageous prank on you, purely for the pleasure of seeing how you react..."
"... That wounds me."
"Liar," she laughed lightly, trailing a finger down what sensitive filaments in his neck that she could reach. He trembled just slightly in response to the touch, trilling softly in the Cybertronian equivalent to a purr and turning to face her again, a smirk lingering in his optics. "And three..." She continued to play with the wires distractedly, "Well... I'd love to see you with the Autobot mask on your wings."
Her gentle, unremitting tugs on the vulnerable cables in his neck were driving him insane with desire, and she had only been doing it for a few seconds; the girl really did have an effect on him that nothing else ever had. "If you wish it," he growled, "Then it will be done. I will grant you everything within my power... and that is nothing less than you ought to have."
She kissed his cheek and leant her forehead against it. "Thank you for bringing me here, Star... it's beautiful."
His spark burnt at the touch of her lips against his face, and he allowed his optics to shutter for a moment at the feel of her warmth. "I do not deserve that name," he husked, pushing at her small frame gently with his nose. "You are the star... stars are beautiful and full of light. I am not."
"That's not true," she whispered, hugging his neck tightly. "Anyway... if I'm the star, what would you be? The scream?"
He chuckled slightly, which made her grin. Starscream rarely laughed, but it warmed her heart when he did - it was wonderful to hear him sound so carefree for once, especially when they were facing a time of such darkness. He answered her question in a low voice a moment later, and she felt the prickling beginnings of fresh tears when she heard it.
"I am the sky. The dark sky that embraces the star, and lets her dance in it."