Chapter Text
It all went wrong. In every sense of the word. Megatron abandoned him, the Decepticons looked to be dismantled, and all Starscream could do was sit in Megatron’s throne, attempting to live his fantasies.
It had felt empty from the start - but it all drained away when he was accompanied by the Predacons he’d so loathed. The beasts he’d treated as lesser , now closing in on him.
Their blows are as heavy as Megatron’s, Starscream eventually accepting the abuse as if it was coming from Megatron himself. If this is how he goes out - so be it. His life had lost all meaning anyway. He had nowhere left, nothing to turn to, no one to believe in. Everything had gone wrong - starting the day he pledged himself to Megatron’s cause.
As the world goes black, he hopes that maybe, just maybe , he’d find whatever constituted for peace when a mech was offlined.
The last thing he expected was to awaken from the blackness that had enveloped him.
The world around him was blurred, Starscream struggling to make much of where he was. It almost looked like Shockwave’s underground laboratory - but that wasn’t right. It couldn’t be. He raises one of his hands - to find an unfamiliar claw there instead. Panic hits him like a wave, and he thrashes. The movements are slowed by liquid - he’s in liquid.
He’s in Shockwave’s lab.
In the midst of the panic it hits him like a truck - something is drastically wrong. It takes all of his strength to lash out and shatter the tube he’s held in, liquid spilling out onto the floor as he drops onto it unceremoniously. He’s sprawled out, coughing up the liquid he was held in. Everything felt… different. Diagnostics were different, parts weren’t there that should be.
He commands his body to stand - only to be horrified when he’s standing properly on all fours . His gaze darts down, seeing his own body properly.
When he goes to scream, it’s a horribly loud, animalistic screech that greets him instead. He scrambles backward, falling over and skittering back to his feet. A crash from behind him has him whip his head around to see that a tail - a tail attached to him - had knocked over equipment. The thing swayed in a panicked agitation; and Starscream finally becomes aware of the feeling of it. A new appendage.
“Somehow I am unsurprised you manage to cause a racket.”
Predaking’s voice has Starscream snap his attention toward him. He stands, not as a beast, but as a mech. A mech that Starscream once was like. Was? He wasn’t confined to this form - was he? His optics close tightly, and he focuses on shifting his form. The body complies without trouble, raising Starscream to a height he’d never been at before when he opens his optics.
It’s dizzying - and he promptly ends up falling over, leaning onto the nearest counter to keep himself from meeting the floor again. So much had changed about him - how long had he been out? Why had this happened?
At least the who behind it was plenty obvious - Starscream snapping his attention to the smug Predacon before him.
“ What have you done to me .”
The words are hissed between clenched dentae - a sharp pain following as some of the new fangs dig into his lips, causing energon to trickle from the wound. A loud, long hiss follows, Starscream putting a hand up to his mouth.
A large hand. Much larger than the ones he’d been so used to. It isn’t his first time changing his frame - but it is his first time being forcibly changed into… Into a beast.
The realization rocks him, and he feels sick .
“I have merely shown you what the world looks like from our optics.”
Predaking explains it as if it’s obvious, crossing his arms against his chassis. Starscream can put it all together - the beating to take him out of commission, then dragging him before Shockwave and setting him up as an experiment.
An experiment that succeeded .
“So what - am I the first in the new line of your kin set to take over Cybertron and knock us Cybertronians off of it?” Starscream sneers. “You’ll not get far . No one will follow you after you forced them into this… this...” He trails off, not having a word for the new form.
“You mistake my intentions, Starscream.”
Predaking’s slightly confused tone snaps Starscream away from his thoughts, staring at him, now confused himself.
“Then what-”
“It is your punishment, and your opportunity to atone for all you have done to us.”
“My - I - what ?!”
“If you were to see it through our optics, be in our position, that would be the lesson I hope to teach you. You held your pride, claimed yourself better, yet cowered away from us. You despised us, for merely being as we are. This seemed the only way to humble you; to show you.”
“YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME!”
The scream of rage tears itself from Starscream, and he lunges for Predaking. His movements lack their former grace, and he is easily caught and thrown to the side, slamming into more of Shockwave’s equipment, sending it all over the room.
The thing that surprises Starscream the most is the lack of pain he was used to. It felt merely as if he had rolled off of a berth and onto the floor - not as if he had just been thrown by a mech who was (infuriatingly) larger than he was.
He moves to get himself up, only to stop for a moment and think. Took everything away from him? What more had he left at the point they’d ambushed him? Simply - his form. His status. Status no one would allow him to have back. Vos would go on without him, no matter the form he was in. The Autobots would never accept him.
They likely wouldn’t even do so now.
His arms go out from under him and he collapses to the floor, letting his anger go for once. A hopelessness takes its place and for the first time in a long time, Starscream feels his body shudder as sobs tear their way from his chest.
It all goes through him at once. Every last little mistake, every single step he took that he knew was wrong, every chance he’d been given to turn it around. Every time a hand extended, he slapped it away, biting and hissing. He’d destroyed himself, and it now weighs its full extent upon him. Only when everything, everything , had been torn away did he finally regret it.
Only when everything was gone did he wish for a lifeline to get himself out of this self-made cycle of torment.
In the midst of the pain having its way through him, he feels a warmth. He’s picked up from the floor, pulled into a lap, and held. Genuinely held .
Everything melts away in that moment, and he clings to the other frame, burying his face in their shoulder. It doesn’t matter who it is. It doesn’t occur to him. All that matters is there’s help . There’s someone there for him - and he’s not about to reject it. He’ll take anything, any chance, any comfort.
A wail tears its way from his chest and he is left a shaking, sobbing mess. Claws gently go up and down his back, a comforting gesture that slowly starts to calm him. Between his wings - wings he still has. They’re there. Relief washes over him, and slowly he quiets down. He clings tightly, letting himself be calmed by the strokes against his back. How long had it been since he last let someone hold him like this? How long had it been since someone had offered to hold him like this? Since someone had even wanted to be this close to him?
“I am sorry.”
Predaking’s voice breaks the silence Starscream leaves when it all passes him. Starscream’s optics shoot open, wide and horrified at the prospect of whose arms he was in. His body stiffens, though that gentle stroke over his back does not stop - a gesture that slowly forces Starscream to relax. It was something Megatron had never done - Megatron controlled with force, not caring to actually talk, or really help when there had been a problem.
“I did not think it would be this bad for you. I thought…”
Predaking trails off awkwardly, and the rest of the sentence enters Starscream’s mind, his shoulders slumping in response. Predaking’s hand stops on his back, an uncertainness taking over his form.
“You thought I was stronger than this.” Starscream finishes it, bitterly.
“I did not think it would cause you to…”
“To finally crack?” Starscream scoffs, though he does not push away from Predaking, staying in his embrace. “Didn’t realize I even had the capacity myself.”
“Are you going to be alright?” Predaking shifts, as if to let Starscream go.
Starscream digs his claws into Predaking’s form, a short hiss passing him. He clings on, pulling himself closer to the Predacon. It might have been embarrassing - if Starscream didn’t need it so much.
“Don’t.” The word comes out, though the underlying ‘ I need you here with me right now .’ is understood by both.
“I won’t.”
The promise comes, and Starscream relaxes his grip. He lets his optics close, and he curls against Predaking’s chest. Perhaps later he’ll regret it - his mind already is screaming at him to leave, to run.
But there’s nothing left to run to. There’s no one left in the universe who would accept him anymore.
“Leave it to the one I called a brute to call my whole reality into question.” Starscream lets out a snort, almost seeming amused. “Took making me into one of you before I broke. I weathered Megatron’s abuse for eons, but all it takes is one beast to change it all.”
“I am no beast.” An irritated growl passes Predaking, and Starscream scoffs in return.
“You are a beast, as am I.” Starscream rolls his optics in mild annoyance. “You’re not changing my stance on it. Though we are kin now. Through no choice of mine.”
“Does it anger you?”
Starscream falls silent at the question that comes next from Predaking. He glances up to see a genuine curiosity reflected in Predaking’s optics. Starscream glances down, at his own frame. A different frame. Something that matched the beasts. Surely a marvel of science, to shift someone’s CNA and change them this drastically. An abomination before Primus, and something surely no one was going to respect or allow Shockwave to continue.
“I don’t think it does.” Starscream manages. “It being without my consent angers me, but there would be no other way for this to have occurred. I don’t know how I feel about it. It brings something new to my life - something I think I’ve been wanting but never able to reach for. I had to… I had to lose everything to gain anything else.”
“This was far from my expectations.”
“Somehow I don’t doubt that.”
A rumbling growl comes in response to the sharp insult, though it causes Starscream to laugh for once. Amusement spills from him, causing confusion in the Predacon. Starscream manages to stop himself when he senses the confusion and he shakes his head.
“It all feels so different with you. You overpower Megatron, you command respect more than he ever did, you could tear my spark out faster than he could - yet I don’t feel that same fear as I did with him. I don’t feel… oppressed.”
Silence passes between the two, Predaking observing Starscream thoughtfully. There’s a moment that passes before Predaking shifts Starscream closer against his chassis - Starscream fails to complain about it.
“What do you feel?” Curiosity peaks in Predaking, tilting his helm as he looks down at Starscream.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
It’s a cheeky answer, a glint in Starscream’s optics daring Predaking to take guesses. To push him further, to force him to say it. Old habits from the days of dancing around Megatron, but this time there’s less of a malicious enjoyment to it. He feels… almost playful .
“I am your king . I have a right to know.” Predaking tries again, trying to exert authority, which only leaves Starscream to burst out laughing again, confusing him even further.
“That won’t work on me.” Starscream finally states, a smirk crossing his face. He knows something Predaking does not, which irritates the Predacon, who snorts and growls lightly in response.
“Do you still lack respect for authority?” Predaking growls out, bearing his sharp fangs toward Starscream, who merely stays grinning.
“Not at all. I can respect you - however you speak to a member of royalty yourself. We are on an even playing field.”
“...royalty? You?” Predaking asks, incredulous at the very idea.
“Former Prince of Vos. City State Vos, home of the seekers. I was poised to take over. Learned everything about politics and military tactics when I was there. Then the war took it from me and I threw myself in with Megatron. One of my greatest mistakes, then followed by so many countless more.”
“Why did you stay if it was so bad?”
“A good question.” Starscream mutters, sighing. “I suppose a part of it was guilt. A part of it was a need to beat myself down. Tear myself to pieces. Give myself what I believed I deserved. I never thought of changing my ways. I wanted what I was getting. I guess you could call me sick, in a way.”
“Why?” Concern laced into Predaking’s tone, and Starscream knows what the single word is asking.
“Because I blamed myself for not being able to save Vos. I was inadequate. I couldn’t save half of the people I was meant to dedicate my life to keeping safe and happy. All of that rested on my back, and I didn’t know how to handle it. We were at war, what else was there for me after that?”
“Did you not think about leaving Megatron?”
“I did. Many times, Optimus Prime himself held his hand out to me, asked me to turn my back. He wanted to give me that fresh second chance.”
“And you denied him.” Predaking finishes, starting to understand the former seeker he held so close in his arms.
“Every single time.” Starscream confirms, sighing. “When I look back on it now, it seems so… boltheaded. I had every chance at changing my ways, at redeeming myself, at doing the right thing. I never once considered it. I always turned back to the abuse and the beatings. It was what I knew, what I felt I needed in order to atone. I know this, what you’ve done to me, is a part of a ploy to have me atone to you and yours for what I did. Surprisingly, most of the treatment I threw was a way to feel better about myself as I trudged through some sick sense of atonement for Vos and my own inadequacy. I don’t know what I was back then, as much as I don’t know what I am now.”
He leans his helm against Predaking’s chassis as both allow silence to blanket the room again. It’s a lot to take in, a lot to understand. Starscream doesn’t blame Predaking for needing a moment to go over it in his own mind. Starscream had never once been simple - though for anyone who knew history, he wasn’t a hard puzzle to solve.
“You are mine now.”
Predaking’s sudden answer startles Starscream - Starscream letting go of Predaking and jolting up right in his lap, staring at him with wide optics, shock going through him.
“I’m what ?”
The response he gets is a smile from Predaking. Genuine in nature which only takes Starscream aback.
“You will be mine.” Predaking reaffirms. “That is your new life.”
“Who gave you the right to decide that?”
“You did.”
“Oh? And how did I do that?”
“You open yourself up to me, you show me your vulnerabilities, you ask me what you are now, seeming to despise what you used to be. Do you not want a new start?”
“I… I guess I do. But I deserve a choice-”
“Have you not already chosen me?”
Predaking’s question stuns Starscream, as he stares at him for a few moments in complete silence. Predaking has to break the silence, as Starscream seems entirely unable to.
“You have yet to pull away from me, push me away. You have yet to insult me or show me any sign you despise me. You did not allow me to release you, you chose to stay in my arms. You relaxed in my arms. You have shown every indication you are comfortable with me. Is that not you making your choice?”
Predaking’s words resonate with Starscream, and he falls into silence again. He looks down at his own hands, large imposing claws now in place of the sleek ones he’d used to own. A new start. A new chance to do it right. New people to look out for - should he take the route Predaking seems to be suggesting.
“What happens if I accept this?” Starscream asks, glancing toward Predaking. Predaking seems to light up at the suggestion, a bright smile appearing.
“Then I will take you in my arms and I shall teach you our ways.”
The answer is simple. Said without any extra strings attached. Starscream can tell the Predacon means it. That there might yet be a chance for all the old wounds to slowly heal, and a new future to be born from this. Perhaps he might even learn to like this life.
“Very well. I’ll give it a try. But I don’t promise you anything.” Starscream’s old prickly personality shines through, crossing his arms against his chassis and pointedly looking away.
“You say that as if there’s a chance this will not work out.”
Predaking’s words come with a shift in their position. Starscream finds himself suddenly being raised off the floor, a loud yelp escaping him, throwing his arms around Predaking’s neck to keep himself balanced as he’s pulled up from the floor in Predaking’s arms.
“This is embarrassing . Put me down!” Starscream snaps out the order, glaring at Predaking who simply smiles back and dares to laugh.
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?!”
“I mean I am going to keep you in my arms and properly introduce you as mine to the others.”
“What- No ! We’re not doing that!”
“Yet I don’t see you fighting to be freed from my arms.”
“Whatever. Fine. Do what you want.” Starscream relents, though he can’t help the smile that crosses his face as Predaking laughs again. Maybe things might just work out after all.