Second to None

Vigilantia Convaluisset

The medbay is quiet, just the sound of vitals monitors beeping and the echoes of activity elsewhere in Omega Oneā€¦

|SS Starscream's optics onlined slowly, flickering at first, the sound of the vitals monitors bringing him from the depths of his recharge. He had trouble focusing, his optical sensors registering his surroundings as blurred and unfamiliar. Yes, he was in a medbay, but it became apparent to him that it wasn't the one he knew. Dark metal walls and purple lights were replaced with gray structured walls, glowing green monitors, and overhead lights whose brightness was almost difficult to look at.

|OP Elsewhere, Optimus sat casually scanning news on a pad, mind wandering here and there. He'd managed to convince the others to take a break, take the kids out to get some fresh air; even Ratchet took advantage of the slow day to sit outside and soak up some sun. A light beeping started from one of the computers to his right, and he glanced over. The medbay...it looks like our guest is waking up... Optimus hesitated. How should he approach...

|SS This wasn't the Nemesis. Starscream wasn't on the Nemesis, so where else could he be? What other medbay...slag. He pushed himself into a sitting position despite his furiously protesting frame, ignoring the signals going off and the pain everywhere. Starscream had to get out; that was the first motive in his processor. Get out. He tried to move to the corner of the berth, but as he attempted to stand up, the mech's legs betrayed him and he fell with a crash onto the concrete of the floor.

|OP A crash that sounded like it came from the medbay jolted Optimus from his indecision. Quickly, he made his way through Omega One. He'd known Starscream wouldn't take well to being brought here, but there had been no other choice... They couldn't just let him die, it wouldn't have been right. When he reached the medbay door, he paused before entering, not wanting to surprise the con into an attack.

|SS Heavy footfalls were heard outside the medbay door. On instinct, Starscream took out his blasters...or at least one of them. His other servo refused to convert and his optical display was still unfocused but the Seeker would do whatever he needed to in order to defend himself. Using his other hand, Starscream shakily pulled himself to his feet, using the berth for leverage. He became aware of a couple of energon tubes still attached to his servo - whatever purpose they had served no longer mattered - and ignored them as he readied himself to face whatever foe waited for him.

|OP It was difficult to tell what the sounds in the medbay indicated, but Optimus knew he had to be cautious. Cautious, and direct. He suspected their guest would not appreciate being kept in the dark. "Starscream, I don't know if you are fully awake, but know that I have no plans to fight you. Do you know where you are?"

|SS The Seeker leaned against the side of the berth, blasters nevertheless at the ready. Optimus Prime might not attack him, so he said, but Starscream was no stranger to deception and would not let down his guard that easily. "Optimus Prime," he said, vocoder raised to be heard through the door. "Your base, I presume?" His side ached like the Pits where one of the tubes had detached itself, but he refused to look. Whatever it was, it could wait. "What am I doing in your medbay? What Autobot trick is this?"

|OP "It is no trick," Optimus said quickly, "You are here because we found you on a patrol, offlined and abandoned after some sort of fight." He hesitated before continuing, but there was no point in hiding the information from Starscream, though he might not take it well. "They were not Autobots who attacked you."

|SS If not Autobots then who else...Starscream hissed in anger. Of course, it was Megatron. It had to have been. Filthy slagger, leaving him to die like that... It made him extremely uncomfortable to do so, but regardless he withdrew his one functioning blaster back into his arm. It clicked into place slowly - one of its components was likely damaged - and he looked up at the door.

"I am unarmed," he announced. The vulnerability of that statement alone bothered Starscream down to his very core. Something about being unarmed struck him as intensely wrong, even more so as he potentially faced the Autobot leader. The Prime was no Decepticon though, and lying wasn't something he did, so perhaps he was safe.

|OP Optimus heard the telltale sound of holstering preceding Starscream's statement, but it was nonetheless surprising that he was willing to put away his weapon in his enemy's base. He pressed the button to open the medbay door allowing it to fully open, and did not advance, not yet. He held his servos out to show that he too was unarmed.

Now that Optimus was able to look at Starscream, he saw that he was barely well enough to stand, and certainly should not have attempted to leave the medical berth so soon. "Starscream, you are still greatly injured. I would... it would be better for you to rest for a while longer."

|SS "I am fine," Starscream spat. His side still ached, and he was certain he could feel something dripping from the wound that was likely there but once again he ignored it. The Seeker felt belittled by the Prime's gaze and words but refused to let it get to him. Optimus was unarmed, that much was evident. "What do you want? Why are you here? If anything, should it not be your medic present?"

|OP "I am here because the computer alerted me that you were awake... Ratchet has been at your side for most of the last few days; I managed to convince him to take a break." Optimus took a careful step forward. It was very possible that Starscream would exacerbate his injuries. "But I will certainly call him now if you would be more comfortable with his assistance."

|SS "No!" Starscream stopped himself once one word was already out, blurted in surprise. One Autobot was unsettling enough; the addition of another was more than unnecessary. He knew a thing or two about Ratchet and how irritable the medic tended to be, as opposed to the Prime's patience.

Optimus' surprised look was indicative enough and Starscream took a brief intake, composing himself. "I would prefer not to provoke your medic, seeing how he is," he sighed. "Unless absolutely necessary, I would much prefer the least amount of Autobots necessary." Who knew what they would do once he was back in the berth and sedated? Arcee herself had some grievances with him, and although he would never admit it to anyone else, Starscream feared Bulkhead and his Wrecker strength.

|OP Optimus' blinked in surprise, and then processed exactly what Starscream had said and couldn't help but chuckle quietly. "You're not wrong about our medic's temperament. I've been on the receiving end of it often enough myself." He stepped fully into the room and tried to causally indicate the wound on Starscream's side, now oozing slowly. It must have been painful, and Optimus pushed down the brief thought that the con might have done something to deserve it. No one deserved to be treated like that by their own comrades. "May I...?"

|SS On impulse, the Seeker flinched and stepped back, then met Optimus' optics. His expression was truthful and honest, and despite everything from the past, every battle, every punch thrown and shot fired, Starscream felt different about this situation. Optimus Prime had never taken advantage of anyone like that, he'd seen several instances of the Autobot leader walking away and granting mercy to a bot on his knees. He'd even heard Megatron tell of such a situation.

He hesitated, considering the possible reciprocations. If he'd been near to death before and the Autobots had lent a servo...perhaps it would be safe once more to let down his guard. "Very well."

|OP Taking care to be deliberate in his movements, Optimus picked up a hand held suturing device that Ratchet had invented, and went to Starscream's side. He knelt and examined the wound, being sure not to touch any more of the seeker than necessary so as not to make him uncomfortable. The mangled outer plating had been cut away so they would have clear access to the torn wiring underneath, and luckily most of Ratchet's work from earlier was still in place; a small tear had opened in one of the cables which caused the oozing. "Given the circumstances, I assume you would rather not be sedated? I'm afraid this will sting, but I will be as efficient as I can"

|SS The suturing device did indeed sting, but Starscream had prepared himself for - and personally been through - far worse. He refused to make a sound, focusing his attention on the unnaturally elongated beep of the vitals monitor across from him. "How much damage has been dealt?" Starscream asked, his voice controlled and level.

|OP "Enough that you were in recharge for three days after the surgery." Optimus said, as he completed the suture. "You may notice some limited mobility for a time, but we hope it will eventually heal completely." Without thinking, Optimus placed a servo on Starscream's elbow in order to help him back to the berth.

|SS Starscream growled in distaste. He despised limited range of motion; it hindered the Seeker and rendered him weak.

The servo on his elbow startled him, a jolt of fear running through his frame. His immediate instinct was to step back; even Knockout was sparse when it came to physical contact. Aside from when he tended to Breakdown, the Decepticon medic was more or less a tidy doctor, his tools functioning as extensions of his servos. His processor screamed at him to jump back, to prepare for an attack even, but he resisted those impulses, allowing the Prime to guide him back to the medical berth.

|OP Once Starscream was settled, Optimus took a step backwards. He glanced at the monitor and found that the readings were as well as could be expected. Then he took a few moments to visually confirm that Starscream didn't have any other injuries that required immediate attention. And then, he wasn't quite sure what to do next. He didn't want to abandon the seeker in the med bay to stare at the ceiling, but neither did he want to intrude where he wasn't wanted. Optimus tamped down the hope that time spent in the Autobot base would allow Starscream to question his life's trajectory; it was a long shot, he knew. (He was thankful enough that a fight hadn't broken out.)

"Well," he finally said, "I'll leave you in peace."

|SS Words formed in his processor as the Prime started to walk out, hesitantly forming in his vocoder and shooting forth from his mouth. No, not words plural. A word. One word. One reluctant word he might regret in the future.

"Wait." Wait, wait; just with that word he himself was awaiting his demise. Images came to mind, possible scenarios, many of them involving him crumpled to the floor as a crushed, mangled pile of metal and puddling energon, Optimus' pede atop his chassis in victory, blaster trained and fixed on his helm as he prepared to fire... "I want to know what happened." Primus he sounded pathetic, his tone bordering on passive. Megatron would have scoffed at him. "Where was I found? Were any others present?"

|OP Optimus stopped halfway out of the door and turned. That frustrating hope grew fractionally as he heard the seeker's sincere questions. "We do not know exactly what happened to lead to your...beating, but you were found a few miles away from here. We heard the sounds of fighting, and by the time we arrived, Megatron and a couple of his soldiers were flying away." He kept his voice steady, knowing that any suggestion of pity could cause Starscream to withdraw.

|SS He brought soldiers with him? Starscream's fuel tank dropped. Perhaps it was best that he did not remember what had happened. Megatron had grown sick of him and his schemes, deciding that this was the best way to end things, or so it seemed. In a way, this turn of events could be good. He was presumed dead, free, even. Or was he? A part of him belonged to the Decepticon cause, he felt. When detached from its insignia, who or what was he? Starscream wasn't sure. There were a lot of thoughts to process.

"Is my signal cloaked?" he asked. "Your base is impossible to detect under Decepticon scanners, am I hidden from them too?"
|OP Optimus hesitated for just a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, we have been able to maintain our secrecy thus far by cloaking both the base and ourselves." He studied the tense line of Starscream's shoulders, his worried optics. Starscream might hate him for saying it, but it needed to be said. "I am not Megatron. You are as safe here as we are, and we will not harm you. If... If you wish to leave when you are healed, I will not stand in your way, but.. know that you are welcome as long as you stay in peace."

|SS A talon twitched in irritation. How in the Pits had he known... "Of course you are not Megatron," Starscream retorted angrily, though he did not attack the Prime. He wanted to, he really did. The Seeker intook deeply, composing himself. "Your offer is appreciated," he said. "I accept, and will not interfere with you and your team."

|OP "Thank you, Starscream." Optimus consulted his inner chronometer. The others would likely be getting back soon, and he didn't know what their reactions would be to their guest waking up. A couple of them in particular held strong, and understandable, grudges against the seeker. It would be a long time before they would trust him, but Optimus believed the attempt was worth the effort. "I believe Ratchet will be in soon to check your progress... Would you prefer privacy in the meantime?"

|SS "Yes, I would much like that." He slowly lowered himself onto the berth, wings fanning out so that he could rest comfortably. His optics were shuttered but he could hear Optimus leave the chamber, his heavy footfalls growing farther and farther away, accentuated at the end with the hiss of the door closing.