Chapter Text
Hope I
He didn't quite know how long he had stumbled through the woods. His helm hurt. His comms were still down. How many orbital cycles did it take for him to finally tear the wall to his prison down? It must have been orbital cycles – right?
Almost all of his Energon reserves were used up to fly him to the tree line. From there he walked. Heading this direction, it would only be a matter of time until an Autobot or a Terran would spot him. So, he kept walking.
When he finally reached a road, his hopes flared up. Should he follow it directly? Humans could spot him? But G.H.O.S.T. was gone, so did it really matter? He lost all track of time again. He just kept walking.
It became a chore to keep his optics focused. All of his attention was used up by the simple motion of putting one ped in front of the other. That was why the transformation noise came as a surprise to him.
“Well, well, well,“ a femmes voice said. Was it Elita-1? Or Arcee? His optics couldn't focus properly. “Look who somehow made it out of his prison.“
Another transformation noise sounded. Behind and above him. The sudden rumble of the earth as an enormous mech landed behind him nearly made him stumble. And then he heard the last voice he ever wanted to hear.
“I will make sure, personally, that he will not get out of the next one!“ Something hit his helm – hard. Then everything went dark.
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Starscream woke up with a massive helm-ache. His optics had still trouble to focus and the harsh lights didn't make it any easier.
He was in a pristine room. No furniture whatsoever. A translucent barrier… His spark almost skipped a beat. He was in a cell. Again.
“No, no, no, no …!“ He tried standing up but he barely managed a stumble. His servos were bound in front of him. His rising panic alerted his single guard to his consciousness.
“Priiiime~!“ Bumblebee called down the corridor. “He's up!“
Starscream still tried to catch his bearings when Optimus Prime came into view.
“Prime!“ The seekers voice was high pitched with panic. “What is the meaning of this? What's going on? What…?“
His babble was interrupted by Megatron arriving at Primes side. “SPARE US YOUR ACTING!“ the former leader of the Decepticons all but roared at him.
Reflexively Starscream backed up as much as the limited room of his cell allowed him to. Prime just looked at him. A profound sadness on his faceplates. After what seemed like an eternity he started with a grave voice: “For your crimes against your own people and the humans on this planet, for trying to use Terratronus as a weapon of mass destruction and …,“ he swallowed. The next part was hard for him, “for the murder of two innocent children …“ Starscreams optics went wide. What? “I hereby sentence you to life in prison. You shall never again be released to walk among the innocent.“
Prime still looked at the seeker with this grim and incredibly sad expression while Megatron beside him snarled. “If it were up to me,“ he informed his former second, “I would have you executed on the spot. There is no redemption for a monster like you!“ He punctuated his statement with a hit to the forcefield.
Starscream was speechless. He cowered on the floor of his cell. Looking from one mech to the other. Megatron – furious. Prime – sad. Bumblebee – unsmiling.
“I …,“ he started, not quite finding his voice, “I … don't understand. What are you talking about …?“ Again a furious Megatron hit the forcefield of the cell, making the seeker flinch. “DON'T YOU DARE!“ he roared.
“But I didn't do any of that!“ a desperate Starscream yelled. He was so confused. What were they talking about? He didn't kill anyone. Not recently at least.
Bumblebee snorted from his post at the side: “Trying the old amnesia trick, Screamy? That won't help ya.“ The scout stemmed his servos on his hips. Radiating smug righteousness.
Starscream tried again. Desperation letting him forget about his fears: “But you have to listen to me! I don't know what you are talking about. The last few orbital cycles I was …“
He was once again interrupted by Megatron. “We know all too well what you have been up to,“ the copter sneered at him. Then he turned to Prime. “This is a waste of time. Let the little Cyber Viper whimper and cry. We have better things to do, than listening to the lies of the likes of him.“ With that he gave Starscream another look. One that spoke of disdain and contempt. It wasn't the first time he looked at the seeker like that but nevertheless it made Starscreams spark shrink inside it's casing the way it always did. It made him feel small, worthless… And what made it even worse, was that Primes and Bumblebees faceplates held the very same expression.
Starscream felt like crying. “Please!“ he tried one last time. “Please, let me talk to Hashtag. Please!“
Bumblebees heckles rose. “Don't you dare …!“ he started but Prime interrupted him with a gentle servo on his shoulder before looking at the seeker one last time.
His voice was severe when he spoke: “You will never see them again Starscream. They shouldn't have to deal with you anymore.“ With that the Autobot leader turned away. After one last snarl Bumblebee followed his leader leaving only Megatron behind.
Starscream was still kneeling on the floor of his cell. Optics filled with confusion and panic gazed up at the former gladiator. How many times were they in a similar position?
“You will remain here,“ Megatron rumbled, “and die alone and hated, like you deserve.“ With that he, too, turned down the corridor and left Starscreams line of sight. This time the seeker did cry.
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“Yes, thank you. That is good news,“ Dorothy Malto said on the phone. Megatron was just telling her the good news of Starscreams capture. One less threat to her family. On top of the stairs Mo heard everything. Once her mother ended the call the girl quietly snuck out of the house and rushed to the barn.
Once she reached the secret underground part of their home she excitedly ran up to her siblings. “Guys, guys guess what!“, she exclaimed breathlessly. Her siblings had already picked up on her excitement and gathered around her. Even Robby put down his comic to listen to his sister.
“The bots caught Starscream,“ Mo burst out. All around, her siblings babbled enthusiastically.
“Where?“ asked Jawbreaker.
“I don´t know.“
“How?“ Thrash joined in.
“I don´t know.“
“How did he manage to get out of the dome?“ Nightshade inquired.
“I. Don´t. Know!“ Mo screamed.
Robby put a sympathetic arm around his little sister. “So all we know is, that we know nothing,“ he teased her. The siblings were talking over each other now. All of them trying to come up with answers.
All except Hashtag. Since Mo told them the news, she became silent. Starscream. She had once really liked him. She thought that there was something good inside him. Something more than the lying, scheming Decepticon. But she was wrong. Once she wanted to call the seeker Dad 2 like Twitch did with Wheeljack. Wanted a deeper connection with the seeker. But now all she could think of was the terror in Spitfires optics as Starscream murdered her without a moments hesitation.
She offlined her optics and shuddered. Her siblings picked up on her feelings. Twitch came flying over to her.
“Yeah, I'm good,“ Hashtag lied lamely. Everyone just stared at her until Robby - as the oldest -stepped in. “We should stop talking about him.“ ´He didn´t say his name´, Hashtag noticed. “Let's just forget about him. The bots caught him. He can't hurt anyone anymore.“ Everyone agreed to that and went back to what they were doing before. But Hashtag couldn't stop thinking about Starscream.
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It was shortly after midnight when Hashtag couldn't take it anymore. She had to talk to Starscream. She had to know. Why did he do it? Why did he betray the Autobots? The Decepticons? The Chaos Terrans? Her? A small sad part deep inside of her thought.
So, she tried to sneak out as quietly as she could. But her family already picked up on her feelings. “Where do you think you are going, hm?“ Mo called up to her. She was standing on Jawbreakers shoulder just outside of the barn. Robby and Twitch came flying up next to the pair. Lastly Thrash and Nightshade came out.
Hashtag let out an intake she didn't know she held. “Guys, I have to talk to Starscream. If I don't I … I …“ She didn't know how to end that sentence but Nightshade graciously supplied her with “… will never find closure?“
“Yeah.“ Hashtag smiled sheepishly at her sibling. It felt so good to be understood like that.
“Mom and Dad will kill us,“ Robby supplied helpfully from atop Twitch.
“Which is why they can't know. Please!“ Hashtag begged. “If you don´t want to help me that's fine. But please don't rat me out.“
All the Malto children looked at each other until finally even Robby relented. “We are in this together,“ he assured his sister.
“But how do we even get to Mr. Starscream so we can talk to him?“ Jawbreaker asked timidly.
“Oh, don't worry,“ Hashtag assured him with a winning smile while tapping her temple. „We will get there no problem.“