Title: Glare up a Storm

Summary: A challenge to explore Megatron's and Starscream's relationship, their characters and possible interaction with each other. A hundred words, a hundred situations. Short chapters and long chapters. Chapter one: Consideration.

Genre: Romance/Angst.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers characters, robots, environments etc, etc. Any OC, robot or location not recognisable is mine.

Rating and Warning: T for gore, language, violence, abuse and a few parts that can be viewed as… naughty. OOCness through the roof, OCs here and there, beware. Shortness.

A/N: Just a little tit I wanted to try out again. Did it before with satisfying results. Only difference is that it will have actual chapters this time.

…- Chapter 1: Consideration -…

The ground, with its many slippery rocks and loose stones is relentless. Megatron is a heavy machine, so the rocks crumble under his weight, lodging tiny pieces into his wiring and circuitry underneath his feet, causing a small but painful annoyance, adding to the already growing damage reports. The red and orange stones make his steps, which are already deterred, even more wobbly.

Even more tricky when the tyrant makes his way down a slope, not particularly steep or long but all the more a challenge due to his current condition.

Great damage has been dealt to his entire frame. The warlord, whose body is usually waxed to the most beautiful and spotlessly white is now marred with filth, damage and energon both his and his enemy's. There are dents, cuts and complete patches of armour missing. His right shoulder has a deep cut running through it, open from the front to the back. There is another deep cut on his lower back, barely missing valuable cables. The centre at the top of his back, where his thick neck begins is raw from overheating where the Prime had tackled him and had dragged him over the ground. He misses three fingers on his left servo. A deep dent in his right knee joint makes it lock when he puts too much pressure on it or when he completely stretches the limb, same goes for his right hip. His left side lies completely bare where Optimus Prime had dug his fingers into the Decepticon lord's armour and had torn it away. Megatron had retaliated that with a baring of razor sharp dentas, had locked his jaws around a thick cable in the Autobot leader's neck and had torn through. That action is the cause for the four straight lines running over the right side of his helm, deep and still leaking droplets of energon. The Prime had torn his right optic too while doing so, but Megatron needs not two eyes to see.

Once again a powerful tingle runs through his right servo, his fingertips bare. They sustained the damage from when Megatron had torn the Prime's mask away, fingertips clawing at his face. Even though his nemesis hadn't shown a sign he cared about being disposed, the small victory was invigorating enough for the both of them to continue their battle amongst dozens of other Autobots and Decepticons battling their own conflicts.

The Autobots had been particularly vengeful during their last clash, a challenge Megatron usually welcomes. The thrill of the fight is still coursing through his wiring, the gladiator still high on the rush joors after he had sounded the retreat.

Today's raid had been satisfying, worth the damage he and his subordinates sustained.

A sudden slip up, a rock breaking off to the left has the tyrant nearly lose his footing. His foot twists and comes to a sudden stop, more damage reports flash before his vision. Pain shoots through his left ankle, which he just pulled. Though it is a small nuisance amongst much greater damage, the warlord still growls deeply at himself, more so for the misstep then for the actual injury. He stands still for a few short kliks, his internal clock counting down the seconds as he steadies himself once again. Unfortunate, when Megatron puts his weight onto his recently injured leg pain intensifies and more warnings flash.

Damn it all to the Pit.

The warnings do not cease, nor does he shut them down as Megatron once again continues his way. He finally reaches the end of the slope, which hadn't been that high but might as well be miles long at the same time. At the bottom at last he adjusts his shoulders once, his lower arms firmly locked behind slender legs. He hoists the weight higher onto his back, feeling the weight press on the rawer parts of his back and shoulders. The left leg of his 'passenger' scrapes along his exposed side, wrenching a pained growl from his vocaliser. A long arm finally slides down his shoulder, dangling there from only three cables and Megatron takes a moment to thank Primus the arm doesn't fall off.

Because he will not (And he could not if he wanted to) bend down to grab it with the Seeker on his back.

He doesn't know why he is carrying the loudmouth himself. Yes, Megatron had sounded the retreat because his troops sustained great damage. The same goes for the Autobot faction, but the Decepticon couldn't care less for them. Many barely had the energy to fly back, and those who did had dragged one of their own with them. Soundwave had his Casseticons to deal with. The Conehead Trine could barely fly themselves. The two Constructicons that provided back up had taken care of other wounded 'cons. And to make matters even weirder, Thundercracker was unconscious, leaving a highly confused Skywarp with two unconscious Trinemates. The Black Seeker had been hovering over the remains of his Trine like a vulture, snarling at anything that moved. Starscream had crashed after several gun blasts through his wings and Thundercracker had fought off the Autobots that had tried to attack the red Seeker when he was down.

Megatron still doesn't know why he's carrying Starscream though.

He remembers the black Seeker snarling at him, thinking he was a threat too. He could very well be, offline the weaklings that fell on the battle field. But instead Skywarp received a good slap to the helm, tearing him out of his protective state of mind. The confused flyer had grabbed the nearest fallen Trinemate, Thundercracker and had vanished, Starscream completely forgotten, leaving Megatron alone with his SIC.

And he could have left him there. Left his treacherous Second to bleed out on the battle field. It would be an ending befitting a weakling, death by the hand of the enemy. As the Decepticon Lord stood there and watched the broken, torn and raw form he'd contemplated leaving him.

Still he couldn't bring himself to do so.

Now, as the gladiator walks with the Seeker riding along piggyback, Megatron wonders how the glitch in his programming prevented him from leaving his SIC. Or how it is preventing him from simply dumping the extra weight now, leaving him to rust out here in the middle of a rocky wasteland. It would be most fitting, yet Megatron keeps walking. Even a fourth and a fifth check on his systems reveal nothing more then the damage and corruption already sustained from his fight with Optimus. It could be that the Autobot leader had simply smacked him too hard to the head a couple of times.

A sudden change of heat, ever so small as it is, draws the Lord from his thoughts. Energon drips along his chest past black lips. They open and close, an already damaged vocaliser scratching even worse then before. The words are so crooked he cannot make them out, even when Starscream seems to repeat them seven times over. The hand dangling over his shoulder contracts its fingers, putting a great strain on the three cables still keeping it attached to the wrist. A thick, dark green cable snaps at the elbow, rupturing with deep purple energon blood. The warlord's chest is bathed in mere kliks, and more kliks later the bleeding is stopped by the Seeker's emergency self repair system. The E. S. R. S. must have kicked in, saving as much energy as possible.

Starscream needs to be treated at a medical bay, or he is sure to die.

He needs to be treated, or that will be the end to the backstabbing, the plotting, the constant threats of him overthrowing the current leader of the Decepticon army.

Megatron still isn't sure why he's carrying the Seeker though…

-TBC