Chapter Text
The last thing he remembered was the angry grumble and crack of an experiment gone wrong and the wall of heat that then enveloped his frame. He most definitely did not recall a high-pitched scream and the preceding litany of frantic curses as the machine’s readings began maxing out.
Yeah, he didn’t remember any of that.
What he did remember was the many failsafe’s he had on standby for a worse-case-scenario outcome – but, surprisingly, that mental arsenal didn’t cover dealing with whatever the hell he was experiencing right now.
Speaking of which, what the hell was going on?
Colors swirled bright in his vision – saturated waves rushing past him and blending in the distance into an endless black void. Fear tore through his mind and if he could feel anything beyond the scorching heat he was sure he’d be purging his tanks by now. His accelerometer was on the fritz and his spark stopped cold as his external sensors warned of an incoming collision. He didn’t need his internal hud to guess that he was quickly approaching ‘splat’ speeds, and even if his T-cog hadn’t just logged off, he doubted he could do anything else to decelerate besides hit whatever was coming his way. So, Starscream offlined his optics, tensed every limb he thought he could feel, and braced for impact.
For all the good his deliberation did him in freefall – at least he could say he wasn’t dead. As far as he knew, that is. He lay flat on his back in what his external sensors relayed as a small, rectangular room. The cold steel under his wings stung in contrast to the heat that had suddenly subsided. Though his readouts claimed he hadn’t offlined, his frame certainly felt like he’d been put into a wringer and barely made it out the other side.
Starscream raised a shaky servo to his faceplates, scrubbing against his optics as though to remind himself his limbs were still his own. The seeker let out a groan as he slowly sat up, the little room spun in his vision and paired with the darkness left him feeling even more disorientated. Which was not a situation he would allow himself to be in. Scooting back until he hit a wall, Starscream dug a talon into it for support and pooled his strength into raising up to his pedes. Had it not been so dark, he’d have noticed the grey creeping into his vision. But, as it was, he didn’t, and was out before he even hit the floor.
~
Red optics onlined in a room that was unfortunately beginning to feel familiar.
Starscream once again found himself sprawled out on the floor, though, this time he at least felt marginally better. Passing out and recharging was basically the same thing, yeah? Before the jet could pool his newfound strength into giving standing up another go, he heard pedes outside the door followed by the jangle of a turning handle.
“Just a second, please! They should be somewhere bac – Oh! Are you alright?”
Suddenly, the lights were on and servos were on Starscream’s frame. His optics had offlined instinctively at the influx of light and he let out a hiss at the sting as his vision was forced to readjust. The hands noticeably flinched back at the hiss, but the seeker could still feel a worried EM field clashing against his own.
“How’d you end up here?” The mech continued, this time keeping his hands to himself. “You’d need a keycard to even get in…” His voice then dropped into a whisper and a gentle hand found a spot against the flat of his wing. “Are- are you one of Megatron’s mechs?”
“Excuse me?!”
The Emperor of Cybertron AKA Not One of Old Buckethead’s Lackeys onlined his optics with a harsh growl. Had he not then been face to face with Optimus Prime the jet would have been ready to tear the mech a new one. Looking at the red and blue mech kneeling at his side, Starscream was at a loss for words. The colors and voice seemed to match up, but his whole… Everything else screamed otherwise.
He seemed… young?
Even sitting down, Starscream could tell he likely didn’t stand past the jet’s helm. And while it had been a while since he’d seen the so-called protector of Earth, the seeker definitely remembered having to look up at the truck.
And why was he still touching him?
“Orion? Did you get lost back there?”
The smaller bot’s finials perked up and he hurriedly snatched a datapad from a shelf before turning to look down at the seeker.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Orion whispered, before sliding the door open and slipping out.
The metal door slid silently closed, and Starscream let out a chuff.
Like hell he was just going to sit pretty in some broom closet!
Jumping up, the jet stalked to the door and sent a ping to its automatic lock. It slid open smoothly, and Starscream strode out with his wings held high. He took only two steps before bumping into the back of Orion.
Who in turn was looking at the front of a very angry looking mech.
“Orion,” The mech began, his voice a deep drone and dripping in disapproval. “Who is that?”
Starscream’s field flared out in agitation. “Who the hell are y- “
“He’s my partner.” Orion cut in, stepping to the side and grabbing the seekers hand. “Sorry, I know it’s against the rules, but he really wanted to see the archives and I figured it’d be okay just this once.”
“The point of it being against the rules is that it’s okay never.”
“I know, sir, and for what it’s worth, I’m very sorry.” Orion dipped his helm. “It will never happen again.”
There was a pause of silence.
“Yeah, I’m sure it won’t.” Huffed the mech, reaching out a hand, his field showing exasperated affection.
“Thank you!” Said Orion, letting go of Starscream to give the other mech’s hand a thankful shake.
There was another pause.
“…I was wanting the datapad, but alright.”
“Oh!”
~
The rest of the day included Starscream simmering in silence as Orion finished his duties. Every so often, Orion would show him something with a pleading look, and Starscream would feign interest until the unnamed mech looked away again. Starscream hadn’t wheedled anything else out of the little bot, but he was beginning to understand what was happening the longer he observed.
From what he could tell, they were in Iacon. More specifically, the hall of records. Even more specifically, pre-war. He’d had that thought the first time he saw Orion, but it hadn’t seemed likely until he had caught a glimpse of the outside. The beautiful city was large and bustling; the last time he’d seen Iacon like this was the day he was kicked from the academy -- right before the war started.
So, his most likely theory was that his experiment had somehow sent him back in time.
Yet, the one thing that didn’t add up was Orion.
Starscream knew Orion Pax. The mech was a hard-plated enforcer built for the job and not unlike the Prime now residing on Earth.
The little mech now trying to use a step ladder to reach higher shelves seemed like a knockoff.
“Starscream, could you help me get this down, please?”
A very nice and arguably better knockoff.
~