Since the last chapter took so long to get out, I wanted to hurry with this one and post it as soon as possible. It also helped a had a few days off coming up and I was able to spend a bit of time writing like I wanted to, which really helped out.

Nothing much to really say about this one other than I hope you enjoy it and please review if you'd be so kind.

Also, as a note I'm using the IDW standard of what a cycle is. It's 1.25 hours, otherwise an hour and fifteen minutes. I wanted to say that before anyone got confused.

Chapter 4: Scheming for Answers

The next morning met Windblade with more enthusiasm than she really wanted. The sun was bright outside in the early hour and yet another morning without a berth made her joint's creaking in protest. Ugh, she'd have to get an oil bath today if nothing else to stop the noise. That would be driving her crazy within a couple cycles.

Her energy logs were much better this morning though. She'd only awoken twice from nightmares the nigh before, dreams that she was already removing from her memory blanks. She knew the vague idea of them already, the explosion, the screaming, the pain and horror that overwhelmed her and felt like she was drowning in it. That was more than enough for her. The exact details always made her shudder in horror right after waking up, seeing the faces of the mechs that had died crawling toward her, their bodies melting in the fire… asking her why'd she'd allowed this…

She determinedly deleted that part immediately, blinking in confusion for a second as the dump processed. What had she been thinking about? Oh… her dreams. Had they been bad? Hmm, she couldn't remember. Probably for the best. The memories of that had happened were bad enough without her mental processor and spark making it worse on her.

Her energy wasn't anywhere near topped though, but to be frank she was getting tired of pushing herself to the point of collapse. Waspinator's words rang in her mind, telling her she had to be strong and move on. He was a transformer who always seemed to have scrap piled up on top of him, so if he could do it than she could.

She made her way over to the energon dispenser and drank her fill, forcing it down even when her tanks rumbled in protest. The taste was just as awful as before for some reason and she offlined her optics for a moment as she tried to calm herself. This guilt was eating at her but she had no way to combat it. Running from it to her work left her exhausted, and running from her work was not an option. She'd considered before the option of deleting the memory completely of what had happened but that was no solution either. She needed to know what Chromia had done, why these bots where gone. Forgetting would not change what happened, only make her irresponsible for trying to bury it in her mind.

Instead she forced herself to go through her morning to get ready. There was no time to mope when Metroplex needed her after all. Once her energon levels were full and her reserve was at a high enough percentage that she found tolerable, she painted her faceplate with the lush, bright red paint she always had nearby that showed her as a child of Caminus. If nothing else, she could still find pride in that.

Once ready, she made her way downstairs to see Chromia. Sure enough it was already nearly 0600. Her bodyguard had insisted that nothing had changed on protecting her, that she still needed to make sure Windblade could defend herself and stayed alive. Out of respect, and realizing it was very true, she hadn't argued it.

"You didn't go home last night then," the other femme said in greeting.

"No," she replied. "I had errands to run and then I came back here. I slept though."

"How long?"

"About… ah, let's see… three or four cycles," she answered.

"That's not even the entire night, Windblade!" Chromia protested. "You're going to make yourself sick!"

"I went to sleep late, and I also woke up a couple of times," she explained. "Look, I tried. Really."

Chromia's vents blew out some air before she just went into a battle stance.

"Fine. I believe you. Just get ready."

For a second Windblade wondered if Chromia was going to put up much of a fight since she looked so upset but she barely had her blade out before her friend charged her. Their weapons met with a clang and the seeker was pushed back several feet. The Cityspeaker wasn't prepared when she was stumbled back several feet before she was able to get footing, but much too late. She didn't even see the shield until it slammed against her and knocked her down to her aft, Chromia frowning at her from up above.

"You're going to start sleeping more if I have to drag you to your berth," she stated firmly. "I don't care if you trust me any more or not."

"Chromia, I-"

"No! Don't you do this to me! Don't tell me this is all my fault and then do this to yourself! It's enough that it's my doing that got you in trouble and you had to protect me! Don't make yourself so tired you can't even defend yourself like this! What if something happens? What if you get attacked and have to fight back, but you can't and get hurt or killed? Is that what you want to do? Die and make it my fault?!"

The tirade killed everything Windblade was going to saying, dying in her vocalizer before it even had an opportunity to be said.

"No, of course not," she whispered before she stood up. "Chromia..."

She thought long and hard about what she wanted to say, trying to figure it all out before she did so. Waspinator had told her what he had done and she'd forgiven him, mostly. The death of a titan was a horrible crime but she knew him and knew he would not have done such a thing on his own without being made to. Chromia had done this all under her own power though, but it had been much fewer victims and she had done it with the desire to keep Windblade safe. It didn't make it any better, but she couldn't accept one and condemn another. Forgiveness couldn't come yet. She couldn't even forgive herself yet, but she couldn't keep worrying and hurting her friend like this. Because despite everything, Chromia was still her friend and Windblade did not want to lose her.

"You're right. I'm sorry," she stated as she bowed slightly to her bodyguard. "I will try my best to be more careful in the future… and I'll go home to sleep from now on. I think Metroplex might be a little more at ease knowing I was resting anyway."

"Really? I mean, you said you had work for Starscream and couldn't afford to," Chromia said, clearly surprised the other femme was giving in when she'd been so stubborn the night before.

"Starscream isn't happy with me right now anyway," she answered. "Besides I don't think I could do anything worse to tick him off."

"What do you mean?"

"I sort of went to talk to him last night."

"WHAT?!" Chromia cried. "By yourself? Are you mad?!"

"No, no," she assured quickly. "Waspinator was with me."

"Waspinator? The bug? Just what could he have done to protect you?"

"Starscream isn't so bad he's going to try to kill me," Windblade mused. After all, he did still need her to repair and then work the space bridge. "Besides, I got back just fine."

"Hmph. Next time just ask me to come with you," she muttered.

"I will," Windblade promised and she meant it. Chromia was going to always worry about her, it's just how things were. It was touching, even if it had led to horrible things. Maybe she could do like Waspinator suggested, work past it and move on stronger. She knew Chromia wouldn't do something like that again and could be trusted. She'd given her word to behave and would. Windblade needed to be mature enough to meet her halfway.

"So why did you go to the almighty lordship in the first place?"

"Information gathering mostly," Windblade explained. "After everything he said about the people outside of Metroplex dying, I don't want to believe he's as bad as everyone says he is. I'd like to try to reach out to him. It… it didn't go well though."

"Did you honestly expect it to?"

"I was probably a bit too hopeful. His bitterness blindsided me more than it should have. I'm going to try again though. I can't avoid him and I can't work with him as our relationship is now. I need a different approach to understanding him though."

"This is going to lead to more explosions," Chromia muttered dryly. It was a poor joke in Windblade's mind, but she had a point. This needed to be handled delicately.

"I'll figure something out," the Cityspeaker replied.

"Uh huh. You want to become his friend so he'll stop all the scheming and not throw us in jail then?"

"Friends might be pushing it. I was hoping for allies," Windblade said as she made a face. Friendship with Starscream isn't what she had in mind at all. He'd certainly never want it and she didn't feel like that was something she'd ever want to pursue either. "No, his motivations are what is important here. If I could just find common ground. We both want to save Cybertron, so there's that."

"But he only wants Cybertron safe if he gets to rule it," Chromia insisted.

Windblade had to admit that was probably true. What to do about that then? She honestly had no real idea. She wanted to be able to trust Starscream but in this current state she just couldn't. On the other hand she wanted him to trust her. Maybe that angle would be easier to work on.

Not that it would be that much easier since she'd started so much trouble in his office. She'd probably need to smooth that bridge out first before anything. Wasn't there any way to accomplish all of that in one go though?

She'd have to offer him something he'd want, something that would make him allow her to get close. What though? She already had the space bridge. offered to him. What else was there? What else could he possible want that she could get involved in?

"I got it," she said as she slapped her servos together. "Chromia, Ironhide is going to be by in a bit, right?"

"In about a cycle. Why?" her bodyguard asked.

"I'm going to do some work with Metroplex. When he comes by, you and I are going out to see Starscream," she explained. "Just keep watch until then, okay?"
If Chromia was surprised by the sudden desire to be brought along, it didn't show on her faceplate and the Cityspeaker found that to be enough for her. Going to the room Metroplex's mind was in, she smiled softly as the brain lit up at her presence.

"Wind-voice arrived."

"Power status at 65% at T194. Diverting 1% from T-128 through T-132, T-150-169, and T-174 to reach accepted level giving living protocol."

"The planets are shifting."

"Temperature rise. Solar structures engaged for energy requirement needs."

"Hello, Metroplex. I need you to do something for me."

"Power requirement?"

"No, nothing like that. I need to know the location of a couple things. Metroplex… can you please tell me where the two orbs inside of you are?"

There was a pause for a second, the lights stopping for a brief moment. Windblade began to feel worried when she didn't get a reply.

"Metroplex?"

"The stars."

"Power deriving from T-128 through T-132, T-150-169, and T-174. Power status climbing from 65%."

"Wind-voice planning?"

"I'd like to see what can be done about Starscream," she answered. "I think he's looking for the orbs inside of you. At least, that's what I thought before. I think I might be able to use that. If he is, we could get to them together. It would be easier if I could move your parts around and then he wouldn't have to mine inside of you so much. If his motives aren't in the best interest of Cybertron, then you and I get rid of them and make sure he can never reach them. If his purposes are noble then… I'd like to know for myself just what to do about him. I need to know if I can trust him, and the orbs are still an issue. This will take care of both."

"The stars."

"Yes, Starscream."

"The stars."

Windblade wondered if perhaps she was confusing him. Metroplex wasn't always easy to understand but he never just avoided her like this. Perhaps he wasn't avoiding her though. Was there something she wasn't getting?

"What about the stars, Metroplex? Do the stars have anything to do with the orbs."

"T-194 currently at 74% percent and climbing."

"Solar panels now engaged. Power derived in single solar cycle estimated increase 3% daily."

"Metroplex, the stars?" she urged gently.

"Screaming."

"What?"

"The stars are screaming."

Her wings sagged. Not sure she was going to get anything like this. What was he trying to tell her?

"Are you trying to tell me something about Starscream?" she asked him, deciding to try this from another angle.

"The stars are screaming."

She rubbed at her faceplate and at the answer. This was getting her nowhere.

"Metroplex. I need to know where the orbs are," she informed him. It would do no good to ask about Starscream if she couldn't understand the answer.

"No. Information can not be divulged."

"Why not?" she asked.

"The stars are screaming."

She blinked at the blinking lights of Metroplex's brain stopped again for a moment before they all flashed her the same message, all in his different voices and dialects. Some went on in long verses about balls of gas shrieking to the heavens, while other numerical codes told her in long strings of 1's and 0's and all of the different messages just repeated over and over again. Apparently this was important.

"Okay, okay. The stars are screaming. You want to tell me about Starscream, I'm all audio receptors," she answered.

"Screaming."

Okay, this approach wasn't working either.

"Screaming," she repeated. "Uh… why screaming?"

"Screaming."

"Wind-voice turmoil."

"What? No, I'm not in any turmoil."

"Wind-voice turmoil."

She frowned a bit, wanting to deny it again. She didn't like Metroplex know when she was upset. It made him focus energy on her instead of helping and healing himself.

"I'm not… okay, I'm a little in turmoil. I'll admit it, but that's why I need your help. I need to fix what I've done."

"Wind-voice turmoil."

"The stars are screaming."

"The Wind-voice is screaming."

"Stars turmoil."

She just stood there for a second as she let that sink in, slowly seeming to understand what Metroplex had been trying to tell her. Starscream was in turmoil, like her? Did he feel guilty too? Metroplex was like the other Autobots. He'd been involved in the war too and probably knew Starscream as well as any other. Her large and patient friend cared about everyone. Was he supporting her need to get closer to Starscream?

"So… Starscream is hurting then, like I am?" she whispered softly as she traced a servo over his large brain. The lights flickered gently and she didn't know what to say to the last message he gave her. Stunned, she just walked out of the room. She hadn't gotten what she'd first been thinking about using, but she had gotten something.

"Back already?" Chromia asked her. "I thought you had work to do?"

"I'd planned on it, but it seems Metrotitan has something else in mind," she said with a small smile. For the first time she actually felt confident about this. A real chance was presenting itself to her and she wasn't going to be a fool and not take it.

"What?" her bodyguard asked.

The Cityspeaker grinned softly as she went over to one of the computers she'd been using to keep track of the progress on the space bridge and picked up a spare datapad as well. She started to type quickly until she found exactly what she was looking for.

"Remember that ship that Nautica wanted to become a part of?" she asked as Chromia approached her.

"Yes. The Lost Light. She said she wanted to be a part of something more. An adventure finding the founding Knights of Cybertron practically had her drooling transfluid at the thought of it." Chromia replied. "Why?"

"After the believed explosion of the Lost Light, they went two years without contact. Of course they were too busy to really check in and so much power is required to send messages back and forth it's impossible to get a clear communication through all the time. So of course contact was lost. Not like the Lost Light was keeping tabs with the former leader of the Autobots, Bumblebee," Windblade informed her.

"I don't see the point here."

"The Lost Light is now carrying someone on it. Someone very important. Someone Cybertron can not risk losing track of. Therefore an enhancement was put on the ship. It allows it to receive messages with only an hour long delay. Though with enough of a power boost and as long as there's nothing in the way to block the signal, they can actually talk live. Cybertron can send a message on the exact coordinates it needs to be at to receive a live message feed and if that's not possible the Lost Light just sends a following message back assuring everything is alright. They did it specifically to ensure Megatron wouldn't be able to leave without there being an alert put out for him immediately."

"So?"

"Not that many people know this. Optimus told me just in case so if Starscream pulled something and we needed back up, I could go through the proper channels and warn someone who had access to the codes to call for backup. As I know it, only a few really trusted Autobots have this information. I'm not on the list, but everyone who is lives in Metroplex. They've logged into systems attached to him every single time."

"So you can get the codes. Will Metroplex allow it if it's a secret?"

"He just told me exactly why I need those codes, and if it needs a bit of hacking, well this isn't the first time we've bent the rules."

She grinned up at the screen, already seeing Metroplex working to access the information she needed. It might take a couple hours, but this was perfect. She could still use the orbs to distract Starscream, and excuse to get close to him, but this. This is what would really help her.

"Just why in the world do we need access to the Lost Light?" Chromia asked. "What's on that ship that's so important to what is happening here? It's not like they can really help us."

"Not all of them, no. I'm talking about Nautica. If I can get in contact with her in secret, she can start sniffing around for me," Windblade explained to her. "With luck, she can get me in contact with Megatron."

"Megatron! Okay, hold it! Why would you want to talk to him?!" the other femme cried out. "Isn't Starscream bad enough to try to get tangled up with as it is?"
Normally Windblade would agree with her. She hadn't had any desire to approach the mech when Waspinator had mentioned him, and to be honest she didn't much look forward to it now. She was going to try it anyway though.

"Starscream and Megatron. Megatron and Starscream. We don't know much about the history of the war, after all we have our own issues to worry about, but even I've noticed those two are almost always mentioned together. Don't you think that's strange?" she asked.

"Wasn't Starscream Megatron's second-in-command? Of course they'd be involved in a lot of the same things," Chromia reasoned.

"For four million years, all while trying to kill one another?" Windblade asked as she typed in a few more keys on the keyboard. Her grin widened suddenly as numbers began to appear on the screen and she quickly typed them into her datapad. Her look was almost maniacal as a plan began to form in her mind about what she should do. "No, there is much more to this."

She killed the power to the computer once she was finished. She'd have to access a different computer when she made the calls she'd need to, so she couldn't she couldn't be traced by anyone here on Cybertron. No one could know she had contact yet, especially Starscream.

"I wanted to know more about Starscream, to know just what could make him tick and if he was worth working with or not," she said as she tucked her datapad away. "Now I can know anything I want about him. After all, who better to know just how to dance around that complex bot than his own Conjux Endura?"

End of Chapter 4

Yeah, yeah I went there. I always said Megatron and Starscream were married. IDW just gave me a canon term to slap onto it.