ON BROKEN WINGS I'M FALLING

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers of any continuity, Hasbro does. Any and all OC's, however, do belong to me. Please ask before you use them. Also, I don't own the song "broken wings" by Alter Bridge; I borrowed the title from part of it and may have a songfic chapter with it, but hey who knows.

Rated T just to be safe unless specified otherwise for certain chapters. . Contains slash, mpreg, language, maybe some violence later; if you don't like it quit reading now.

Pairings: Skyfire/Starscream, and some Bluestreak/Sunstreaker later. Might add more later on, but let's just stick with the "Starry Skies" and "Streaked Sweetness" for now

Talking: "Cybertronian"

"English or other human languages"

(bond talk)

:comm. Link:

'thought'

Time changes:

Nano-klik=1/2 a klik. Klik= less than a second. Breem (cybertronian minute) = 8 minutes. Cycle=hour. Joor (cybertronian hour) = 6 hours. Solar cycle= = 1 week. Orn= 13 days. Groon= 1 month. Deca-orn = 3 months. Stellar cycle= 1 year. Vorn=83 years.

Chapter 1:

Pre-Earth, Pre-war

It was late in the night cycle [dark- o'clock in the morning in Earth time] and all was quiet as Cybertron lay dormant. But not all were getting a pleasant night's recharge. Some had far too much work to do. In the labs of the science academy, a lone mech worked wearily, so engrossed in his work he hadn't detected the presence of another. "Starscream?" the Seeker turned to see his partner standing by the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, Skyfire, just getting ready for tomorrow"

Smiling softly, the Shuttleformer approached him. He tried to turn back to his work when a strong red and ivory arm-servo wrapped around him. "Star, the meeting with the Council is tomorrow and all this preparation will be for nothing if you're too worn out by it to stay online for debriefing," Starscream knew he was right; they both did; but he wasn't going to admit it out loud.

The reason they were so close is because they had so much in common. They both originated from Vos –though Skyfire lived in a different city for a few vorn- they were both at the top of their class, and were the butt of many bots' jokes. Starscream was small with a fiery temper, and got defensive when somebot brought his size into the conversation, while anybot that didn't know him would say that Skyfire, given his larger size, would be clumsy and slow, but being the patient gentlemech he was he let those comments slide across his armor like wind shear.

Starscream sighed "Even so, I couldn't recharge if I tried," wings drooped in defeat. 'Oh, I think I can fix that.' Skyfire leaned in close and purred in his audio "I can help you if you want…"

Smirking, Starscream whispered back "with the work or the recharge?"

Skyfire pretended to think on that "hmm… both," and with that they put everything away and went back to their shared quarters.

The next solar cycle, the pair stood before Cybertron Council. The first rose and addressed them. "So, you are the two that have been selected for this mission?"

Both nodded "We are," the speaker looked at them both, accessing them. Starscream hated that, he hated it when other bots looked down on him. Looking down at him on the other hand… He glanced over at the Shuttleformer next to him as the council members went over the data they had received prior. Sensing his tension, Skyfire nudged him with his wingtip, the calmness of the larger flyer's EM field soothing the smaller Seeker's nerves.

"Based on what we have seen and heard, you two have been chosen, out of all your peers, for a deep-space exploration mission. You depart at the end of the megacycle, within which time you will make any further preparations, get cleared by a medic and report to the launch deck at Iacon space port at the time of departure. Any further details have been downloaded on these datapads," said datapads had been handed to an underling who brought them to the two scientists. "Until then you are otherwise dismissed," and with that they all excused themselves from the room.

The two soon-to-be voyagers looked over the material they were given; "'equipment and supplies needed'? 'Report to launch deck at Iacon space port…'? Do they really think we are that incompetent?" Starscream grumbled.

Skyfire looked over "If they thought we were incompetent, do you really think they would be sending us in the first place?" He received a glare in response, so he decided to change the subject. "Well, first things first, we had better get started on this supply list" he held up his data pad pointedly, heading towards the storage facilities near labs. Starscream followed, grumbling to himself.

Upon reaching them, Skyfire hesitated "now, one of these locks automatically, but I am not sure which one…"

Starscream on the other servo just marched up the one of the doors "bah. We won't be long, let's just get what we came for and get on to more pressing matters," He punched the access panel on the door frame and went inside as the doors whooshed open, Skyfire followed ; neither bothered checking to see if the panel inside was working. The doors came closed with a loud 'click', "what was that?" Skyfire turned to look around with concern. Starscream snorted "the doors closed, let's just hurry up and get out of here," The two set to work gathering what they needed.

A joor later… "Ok, I think that's everything" Skyfire took a step back to check over the two bins they had accumulated. "Well then let's go," Starscream was eager to get out of there as they each took a bin, which he balanced on one arm servo so he could open the … 'what the?' he just now realized that where the access panel on this side of the door should have been was covered in sheet metal and sealant, having been removed recently. "I guess that leaves us two options; try comm. someone to come let us out or try to find another way out," he was already contacting someone.

:Skyfire to Perceptor, can you hear me?: Perceptor was another close friend of his, although they were more like brothers, while Starscream, well they weren't exactly fast friends but now…

:Perceptor here, where are you? Class is about to start?: it was close to the end of the semester, but Perceptor had signed up for extra courses and still had class.

: I have finished my courses early, but Starscream and I have been chosen for a deep-space exploration mission. We were in the process of gathering supplies from storage but…:

:Don't tell me, you locked yourselves in the one with the trick door?:

Skyfire face palmed, sighing :yes:

He could almost hear Perceptor chuckling to himself on the other end of the line :well, like I said, class is starting, I am afraid I won't be able to come get you for another joor:

Skyfire groaned inwardly :I understand; I'll ping you if we do get out before you get here, but other than that we will just sit tight here in the meantime, Skyfire out.: he closed the link and turned to Starscream "well, I hope you've had better luck than I…"

"WHAT? You mean you couldn't contact anybot either?!" the Seeker lashed out at him, and as usual he responded calmly.

"I managed to contact Perceptor but he won't be available for another joor at least-"

"A joor? We can't just sit here for a joor!"

"Got any better ideas?" he put his servos on his hips in an 'I'm waiting' gesture.

Starscream sighed "the only mechs I can think of, besides you, that would even bother are my trine, and they are in Vos." He let himself slide down the wall in despair.

Skyfire understood; another reason they got along so well is because of they both loved science and they didn't have that many other friends. The only bot he didn't call was right next to him, and vice versa.

"Well…" He sat down next to him. "Now what?" They had to do something; they were both flyers, and flyers do not do well in closed spaces. With that thought, Skyfire got up "well, like you said, we can't just sit here for a joor, might as well tidy up," he started doing so.

"Are you serious?" Skyfire ignored him 'fine, be that way,' After a few kliks, Starscream got up and busied himself as well. After they straightened out the whole room, which only took half the joor, they took stock on their bins once more.

Starcream was getting more and more antsy by the passing klik, See, Seekers were known for many things; their skill in the air, their love for the sky, their hatred for enclosed spaces and… their interphase drives; and right then he had every bit of Seeker coding fighting against him. Skyfire also had Seeker coding in him, but he was able to hold it back—for a while.

Before either of them knew what was happening, Starscream came up behind Skyfire and wrapped his arms around the Shuttleformer's waist. "huh, what?" he looked around and peered beneath one arm-servo and then the other, trying to see behind him. "Starscream? What are you…?" he felt the smaller bot snuggle against him. "Oh c'mon, Skyfire. It's not like we have anything better to do,"

Skyfire turned around in the embrace, putting his servos on Starscream's shoulder-struts. "Oh, really?" they smirked at each other and leaned closer, almost touching but not quite. "How long has it been?" Skyfire suddenly got all bashful "I don't know about you, but for me? Um… never." Starscream chuckled "well, well, well; haven't even left yet and we are already dealing with uncharted territory, eh?"

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The two fell back against the wall, systems tingling from overload. All either could say was an out-of-"breath" "whoa…" and stare at the ceiling until they remembered where they were. They both did their best to make themselves presentable. Starscream had gotten up to straighten things up again, but Skyfire stayed where he was; he had never felt so exhausted.

Shortly after, Perceptor, as promised, came to let them out. They both looked up at him in the doorway. "Ah, here you two are. I do apologize for my tardiness but…"

"What the Pit took you so long?" Starscream grabbed the bin again and pushed past the smaller red mech. Perceptor looked confused at the Seeker and at Skyfire, who was slowly getting up.

"Don't mind him, he's just a bit on edge after being in here. Thank you for coming," he swayed a bit on his peds when he tried to pick up his bin of supplies and grabbed onto a shelf for support.

"Are you alright?"

"Hm? Yeah, just…" he scrubbed his faceplates with his servo. "Thanks," he took the bin from Perceptor, who had intended on carrying it for him. Perceptor opened his mouth, about to say more, when something reached his olfactory sensors; Ozone, with a hint of lubricant and other biomechanical fluids. 'Were they…?' he blushed at the thought 'don't be ridiculous, they are friends. They wouldn't just casually interface like that, would they?' he followed his friend out and they talked about this and that on the way back to the labs.

By that night cycle, they had almost all their supplies ready and made appointments for physicals and planned on visiting friends and family the next solar cycle. When they got back to their quarters Skyfire went right for his berth, more than ready for recharge, while Starscream went to hit the wash racks first. They didn't share berths that night cycle; they didn't need any more physical contact between them than they already had that solar cycle.

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Skyfire entered the clinic in Praxus for his physical exam, telling the receptionist about his appointment, and sat downto wait for his turn. He hadn't gone to the clinic in Vos like Starscream had because he wanted to visit some friends of his and this clinic was on the way. Also he had felt a little "off" since what happened between them and he knew that a lot of other clinics just took in bots with the right credits; this clinic was one of the few that actually cared for its patients.

"Skyfire?" He looked up when he heard his designation being called. "Yes?" A red and white mech with a gray chevron stood in the doorway. "Come with me."

Skyfire followed the young medic down the hall to an examination room "Are you the medic here?" The mech snorted "Medic-in-training"

"Oh," the medic became friendlier as they reached their destination; it was a very basic examination room, with a med-berth, some cabinets and a workstation with a sink and waste reciprocal in a corner. "I'm Ratchet, just have a seat on the berth and we'll get started,"

Skyfire did as asked. "I thought you said…"

"I know what I said, my mentor will be here shortly, he said to get you ready for the more thorough parts he will be doing. The rest I have no problems with. Now, follow the light…"

After a few breems of Ratchet during basic tests- like tracking a light with his optics, checking vital stats, etc.- another medic came in. "Hello… Skyfire, is it?" Skyfire nodded "I am Searchlight, Chief Medic at this facility. I understand you're here for a physical?"

Another nod "Yes, I am required to get one for an expedition I have coming up," Ratchet handed the senior medic the data pad containing the information on the examination thus far.

"Ok, everything seems to be checking out so far… except for these odd readings around your spark chamber. Nothing to worry about we just need to examine this more closely," He rummaged in one of the cabinets and got out a small hand-held scanner with a spoon shaped attachment on the end "Alright, Skyfire, if you could just open your chest plates for me" the Shuttleformer hesitated, but did as the medic asked. "Alright, now I want you to lie REALLY still and keep cycling air at a steady rate while I insert this scanner and let it do its work, starting NOW!" he slid the spoon in between his protoform and his spark chamber. It was uncomfortable, but Skyfire kept still and was able to keep his vents working steadily.

After 3 breems the device beeped and was removed, when Searchlight saw the results he frowned. "Skyfire…" he hated asking questions like these but it was part of the job "Have you recently…?" Skyfire stared at the suddenly nervous mech, wondering why he seemed so embarrassed all of the sudden.

Searchlight put down the scanner, was about to say more when his comm. link went off. "One moment please…" he answered the incoming comm. and received word of an incoming patient. "Ratchet, I just got a comm. saying we were going to get another patient, would you mind going to see what happened while I finish up here?" The trainee nodded and left, while his mentor returned to the task at hand "when was the last time you interfaced?"

His processor immediately pulled up memory files of the other solar cycle. 'Well, I'd hardly call that interfacing.' "Why do you ask?"

The blue and white medic took a deep intake and came right out with it. "You're Carrying." Skyfire swayed slightly as those words hit him like someone just dropped a glass crate of coolant on him. "Wha…?" Searchlight caught him by the arm and lay him down on his side "how could this have happened?"

"I was kind of hoping you'd tell me, but judging by your reaction, I'm guessing this wasn't planned?"

Skyfire slowly shook his helm, numb. "No, we…" suddenly embarrassed "we just, I mean… wouldn't we had to have…?" his hysterics were halted by a servo grasping his shoulder strut.

"Calm down, it's alright," he gave the panicked Shuttleformer time to gather himself.

"Now I know I'm not your usual medic, but I will give you some additives to put in your energon. For now I recommend Low grade only, mid-grade or medical if you absolutely need it, but NO HIGH GRADE WHATSOVER, understood?"

Skyfire nodded, he never touched the stuff anyway. "Alright I think that's all for now. If you would just wait in the reception room while I get you what you need, after that you'll be good to go."

Skyfire went back to the waiting room to find Ratchet with a green and white mech with helm fins who was holding a cold cloth over the lower third of his faceplate "…and why weren't you wearing your blast mask while you were doing this?"

The green-and-white's helm fins turned peach with embarrassment "I forgot,"

Ratchet face palmed "brilliant 'Jack, maybe since you forget things like that so often, why don't you just wear it all the time?"

"Hmm, maybe I should, after all…" he spotted Skyfire sitting in the corner looking nervous

"Hey, buddy?" Skyfire looked up to see who was talking to him "What're ya in for?"

"Wheeljack!"

Skyfire reassured them "No, no it's quite alright. I'm just here for a physical check-up. But If I may ask, what happened to…?"

"What? Oh this? Yeah, I was working on a project at the academy"

"Wait, you go to Cybertron Academy too?"

He laughed a bit at that "Did, when class was still in session, this was just something I was working on in my own time,"

"Odd, how come I haven't seen you around?"

"Hmm, what sector are ya in?"

"Science division"

"That's why; I'm in the engineering division,"

"Oh, well, it's nice to finally meet you…erm…" he let his extended servo hang until Ratchet introduced them.

"Skyfire, this is my idiot brother Wheeljack," Wheeljack waved with a friendly "hi" and helm fins flashing blue. "Wheeljack, this is Skyfire, I believe he already told you about himself," after peering under the cloth he pulled his brother up "excuse us Skyfire, I need to see to his injuries before they self-repair wrong,"

"Alright, thanks for your help Ratchet, nice meeting you both" he waved with a shy smile on his face plate. Wheeljack waved back the grin on his face plate evident by the way his optics shone and curled at the corners "See ya, Skyfire, hope ta see ya again," Ratchet just waved back before pulling the other mech around the corner, leaving Skyfire alone with his thoughts.

Too bad there were so many racing through his processor for him to focus on them, so he just stared off into space until Searchlight came with a cube full of powder and a datapad. "Alright, Skyfire, this should be everything you need for now," he handed him the items. "That's enough additives to get you through the first stage, and I have included a datapad on Carrying, sparklings and sparkling care. If you have any other questions contact me or any medic."

"Thank you Searchlight… um, you're not going to tell anyone about this are you?"

Searchlight smiled and put a servo over his chest plate and held the other in a two-fingered salute "medic's honor, telling anyone about something that goes on with a patient unless not telling endangers said patient would violate the medic-patient confidentiality oath we all take when we first start training,"

Skyfire nodded "Thank you," he went to the door and turned back "and thanks again, for everything,"

"No problem," they waved as the Shuttleformer departed and the medic went back to his work.

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As Skyfire flew above Praxus in the direction of Vos he thought of how he was going to tell Starscream; not only could he no longer make the trip, but the two of them were going to be creators! 'He should be visiting his trinemates in Vos now. I just don't feel ready to face him yet,' luckily, he wasn't actually going to Vos that Solar Cycle.

His destination was a small colony between the two city-states where he had lived shortly before going to the academy and still did when the term let out. It took some time to figure out where he was going as he hadn't been there for quite some time but he eventually found the quaint neighborhood- which resembles the suburbs on earth,- with synth-hedges separating the dwellings into a neat little grid system.

Walking up to the gait and letting himself in, he spotted his neighbor and greeted her. "Hello, Greysky, how have you been?" Greysky was another flier, a Rainmaker Seekess; she was fog-gray with light blue wings and upper legs with matching tribal markings on her arms face and back.

She was a beautiful femme, but right then he could see the worry in her sky blue optics "Oh, hello Skyfire, haven't seen you in a while. Um, did you happen to see Skysong anywhere when you came?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't" he started looking around his own yard while she searched frantically in hers "When did you see her last?"

"Somewhere around here," she gestured with her servos.

"Think she might have gone through the synth-hedge?" having no luck out in the open he started searching the foliage in question.

"I don't know but she's got to be around here somewhere," the two continued their search; unbeknownst to them they were being watched. The watcher saw a flash of white and went to investigate, upon recognizing its findings it pounced on its unsuspecting victim.

"RAWR!"

"AAAHH!" Skyfire jumped high enough he landed sprawled across the borderline with his "attacker" clutching his leg.

Greysky ran over asking what happened as he climbed out and looked down at the sound of giggling. "Found her," he picked up the giggling sparkling and carried her to the gait to bring her to her Carrier "and how have you been, little one?" He chuckled as he tickled her causing more laughing "Been helping your Carrier while I was away?"

"Uh huh, she even taugh' me how to make energon goodies,"

"Did she now? Did she show you her special recipe?" Greysky was well known for her special energon goodies.

"Yep, but mine not as good as hers, but I'm gettin' better at it,"

"Speaking of energon goodies, we just prepared a fresh batch. Would you like to join us for evening energon while they cool, Skyfire?"

"I would love to, thank you," the three went inside to bring everything out to the small table under the eaves outside. "What kind would you like?" Greysky called from the dispenser while Skyfire set the sparkling down to get the cubes from the cupboard.

"Um, got any…low grade?"

She leaned back to give him a questioning look. "Yes, why?"

'I have to tell her too, just not in front of the little one, she wouldn't understand…' "Just got back from a physical, the medic recommended low grade and gave me some additives for it," Nodding, the Seekess leaned back around the corner and returned with flask of low grade energon.

As the trio sat down to their meal they started to catch up, they talked about all that happened since they last saw each other and laughed when it was funny and scoffed when it wasn't. then came the goodies, Skyfire couldn't help but purr a little when he bit into one but the femmes didn't mind; they were both used to it and were purring themselves.

Soon Greysky finally asked a question that both drove her crazy and Skyfire dreaded "so, how was your physical? Did the medic say anything else?" He gave her a look and motioned towards the sparkling that at one point had decided to sit in his lap in a 'not in front of the kids' gesture. Catching this she got her creation's attention "Sweetspark, why don't you go practice your reading for a while?"

"Okay," she clambered down excitedly and ran to her room while the adults talked about "grown-up things". Skyfire watched her go "She can read already?"

"yeah she just picked up a story-datapad and started reading, I thought she was just repeating what I read to her but then she got to a part we hadn't read yet,"

"Wow, I feel old. They grow up so fast," the femme laughed at him "Skyfire you are not old… not what did the medic say?"

The mech sighed and thought how he was going to tell her? "You remember my lab partner Starscream?" she nodded "Yes, you brought him and his trine over once, that purple one kept calling me 'Auntie Greysky',"

"Well… the reason I needed a physical in the first place was because he and I were selected for a deep-space exploration mission by the Council,"

"Really, that's great," He gave her a soft smile, he gave her the good news, but was unsure how she would take the rest "I know. But when we went to get supplies we kind of… got locked in the supply closet"

"Oh Primus, that must have been horrible"

"Yeah, someone let us out eventually, but we were in there for two joors, we ran out of things to do to take our minds off it," how should he put this?"Starscream's Seeker coding kicked in and we…" he laced his fingers together to simulate something linking together.

Her optics widened as she grasped his meaning "Oh Primus…" she shook her helm to clear her processor "but what does that have to do with…"

"the medic confirmed that I'm —I'm Carrying!" his voice broke at the words he had yet to come to terms with "Oh dear Primus…" now that it was actually starting to hit him he started to panic"oh Primus what am I going to do?" He dug his digits into the sides of his helm, leaning forward trying to get his vents to work. Greysky jumped up and helped him inside and moved him to the couch as Skysong came back with a datapad. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing sweetie, Skyfire just doesn't feel good right now," she came further into the room to see the big mech on his side, he had calmed down somewhat but was he still pretty shaken.

"You okay?" He onlined his optics to see a small face next to his, she looked just as worried as he was. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Come here." He lifted her up and set her next to him. "Now, what have you got there?"

"Something Carrier an' me have been readin'. Want me to read to you?" she gave him the look that always melted his Spark. "Of course, if you want." She grinned and snuggled into his side as they made themselves more comfortable, turned on the datapad and began reading aloud.

Her Carrier leaned against the armrest and read over his shoulder as they both helped her sound out the words she had trouble with. Soon enough, the femmling's optics started to dim and she started to lean on Skyfire more. "I think somebot's ready for recharge," he whispered as he rubbed her helm. She chirred sleepily and nuzzled his servo.

He went to bring her to her room, but Greysky gently scooped her up. "It's alright, I got her. You stay put, I want to talk to you some more" she turned back and added "I'll get you some blankets, you're more than welcome to stay tonight,"

Skyfire lay back against the couch, waiting patiently for her to put her creation in her recharge berth as he knew she would want to finish their earlier conversation. He didn't mind, he felt so at peace here he almost forgot his current predicament. 'Will it be this nice when my little one arrives?' His little one. Earlier it hit him but now it was finally starting to sink in. He placed his servo on his chest over the spot he was sure the sparklet was developing.

He started when Greysky came back in with the promised blankets from the hall closet and handed to them to him. "Thank you," she nodded and pulled a chair up next to him. "You sure you're alright?" They were speaking quietly so they wouldn't wake the little one recharging in the next room. "Yeah, sorry about that, I was just a little overwhelmed." She lay a servo on his elbow-joint "Don't you dare apologize for something that wasn't your fault,"

He smiled up at her then sighed "well, guess that leaves one more thing to deal with,"

"Telling the Council you can't go?"

'Blast it, forgot about that' "make that two things; I still have to tell Starscream"

"you mean he doesn't know yet?" he raised an optic ridge at her "I just found out myself, I stopped at a clinic on the way here," She looked at him "and you were just going to set off into space and be gone for who knows how long or what could happen? What if you go into Transfer on some barren unknown planet? You would be completely helpless. You could…"she couldn't bring herself to voice those words aloud. He sat up and pulled her into a hug, trying to reassure the distraught Seekess.

"Greysky, sister, the risks were always there before, the only thing that has changed is that it would be harder now and I have a passenger to worry about, but I will find a way. I have to give them the results of my physical which has a footnote about my Carrying; if they are still willing to let me go I will just have to be prepared. If not, there is a good chance I could not only get scratched from the mission but also discharged from the science committee, either way I will do everything I can to make sure this new life comes to be as safely as possible,"

She pulled away to look him in the optics then looked down and sighed "Alright, do whatever you have to; I'll help you every way I can. I just don't want you or your little one getting hurt is all," he smiled his thanks, before falling back against the couch, his exhaustion finally catching up with him. Greysky saw this and pulled a blanket over him "Recharge, you need it. I'll just be in my room if you need anything," he tried to thank her as she got up and walked down the short hallway but 'you do so much already, and still you continue giving. Strobelight, wherever you are, you had to have been the luckiest mech in existence to have gotten a femme like her. Why did you leave them like that?' His thoughts were on them as he powered down for recharge.

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The next morning, Skyfire slowly brought his systems online, just enough to check his chronometer and see if he had anything important going on right then. Finding nothing he let himself doze off some more, content where he was. Until…

*WHUMPF* "Mornin' Skyfire!" he groaned and slit one optic shutter open enough to see the now awake sparkling sitting on his chassis smiling down at him. Groaning again, he let her slide off while he rolled over mumbling "Good morning Skysong. Your Carrier up yet?"

"Yep, she sent me to get you up too." The little one looked around, confused.

"Did she go back into recharge?"

"I go get 'er" she ran from the room only to run right into her Carrier. "oof! Mornin' Carrier,"

"Morning, sweetie," she helped her creation back on her peds. Seeing their interactions reminded Skyfire of what happed the previous solar cycles.

Suddenly feeling very old and tired, He hauled himself up into a seated position. "You're joining us for breakfast, Skyfire." He looked over at her, already getting supplies out. "Oh, um, thank you for asking but I…"

"I'm not asking, I'm telling." She shook a digit at him. "After last solar cycle you need a bit more rest and some energon before you take off." Skysong looked at him with the same worried look as her Carrier, remembering what happened. She trotted over to him and jumped so she was sprawled across the armrest. "Skyfire?" he looked over at her "Are you okay?" he smiled and pulled her into his lap "yes, I'm fine, sweetspark, I just…" he paused 'what should I say?' "I guess I'm just nervous about a trip I will be taking soon,"

"A trip? Where are you going?"

"Deep-space exploration; I get to go into space and find places no one else has seen before."

"You get to go into space? Wow" She thought about it "Can we come wit' you?" He was surprised she would ask that; a quick glance at her Carrier revealed he wasn't the only one.

He rubbed her helm "Sorry little one, as much as I would like to bring you with it's just too far away" Her lower lip component trembled but she tried to put on a brave face and hugged him when that failed "but we'd miss you too much,"

Not only did his spark melt but he swore it sunk down into his peds somewhere. "I know, I'd miss you too" he hugged her "both of you, but wouldn't you be missed here if you did come with me?"

She looked away from him "nobot would miss me…" she was so quiet he wasn't sure he heard right. He hooked a digit under her chin. "I would..." he turned her head so she could look at him "… and so would your Carrier if it were you that left. All the more reason to hurry back, and who knows, maybe someday I can show you some of the places I've seen, I just don't know if it's safe yet,"

She nodded, sniffling on a coolant tear that escaped "Ok," he held her again as his internal comm. pinged.

:You left out a few parts,:

He looked at the only Cybertronian that would have known enough to say that.

:I know, if I get dismissed from the mission I will tell her, if not… at least she'll know why I'm gone:

She came over with two cubes of low grade, one normal sized for him and one small one for her. "Just come back safely, and we can worry about that if that ever happens, alright?" she handed them their energon and went back for hers. Skyfire unsubspaced his additives and sprinkled the appropriate dose into it and mixed it in with the stirring stick she thoughtfully included.

"What's that?" he had managed to add his supplements without her noticing before but now she caught him in the act. "Just something the medic gave me to add to my energon,"

"I thought you said you were ok? Why did they give you medicine? Are you sick?"

"No, I am not sick, this actually helps me keep from getting sick,"

"Can I try some?"

"No," both adults tried not to shout but they didn't know what those additives would do to her. "Sorry, this is a grown-up thing. You don't have to worry about it," she understood and they finished their breakfast in the same camaraderie as the evening before.

He stayed with them until the two had to go to the sparkling care center; Greysky worked there as a caretaker while Skysong attended; and offered to walk them there. "Always the gentlemech, huh 'Big Sky'?" he blushed at the use of Skysong's nickname for him.

They walked into the main part of town, looking for all the world like a typical happy little family unit.

"Ah, look at the happy widdle couple and their brat sparkling" They stopped and looked around to see where the jeering voice came from. A group of mechs had blocked the street and were throwing similar taunts their way. One of them, a blue and orange mech, saw the sparkling and recognized her and her Carrier "What are you doing here with that thing?"

Skysong didn't like how things were going and sank deeper into her Carriers servos. Greysky glared at them. 'hell hath no fury like a femme scorned, and the best way to do that is mess with their children' "we are on our way to the sparkling center, where I work and my sparkling attends her lessons"

Skyfire clapped her on the shoulder-strut and stepped in front of her "And for the record, we are not a couple; I'm just an old friend making sure they get there safely" he stood with his wings out, his body language defensive in a territorial threat display. "Is there a problem here?" Luckily, they knew better than to mess with Seeker-kin when they got like that—especially one that much bigger than themselves- They slowly dispersed, suddenly realizing they had somewhere to be. Greysky pinged his internal comm. :Whoa, I feel sorry for anyone that messes with your offspring:

Her opticsfell on a short green mech with horns and purple optics. "Wasp? Hello, how's your mate doing?" Wasp looked back "Oh right, you two work together…"he cautiously came closer so they could talk without shouting, wary of the Shuttleformer. "She's fine, doing better than last week,"

"She going to be coming back to the Center anytime soon?"

He rubbed the back of his helm "Yeah, about that, she just found out she's Carrying," the mech stood tall, clearly bragging, but he had every right to brag.

"Oh my gosh, congratulations,"

"Yeah, it'll be a while before she can go back to work"

she nodded "yes, Carriers do need rest when they Carry, especially in the first and third stages" she noticed he kept looking at Skyfire, like he was sizing him up "Oh, sorry, where are my manners? Skyfire this is Wasp, he signed up to be an Enforcer while his Bonded works at the care center. Wasp, this is Skyfire, our neighbor; when he's not at the Academy anyway,"

Skyfire stepped forward to politely shake his servo "Nice to meet you," Wasp hesitated –Skyfire's servo was about as big as he was—but grasped it "whatever," clearly this bot was arrogant. Mini-bot syndrome: when a smaller build thinks they have to make up for what they lack in size with attitude. They talked for another breem before Wasp also left.

They continued on their way "Carrier? What does 'Pit-spawn' mean?" they looked at the curious sparkling "Where did you here that sweetspark?"

"One of those mechs said it. What does it mean?" Skyfire glared in the general direction they all had left, considering following them and having a few "words" with them himself. "That is a very bad word, one no one should ever say. Don't you ever repeat that, alright?" the little femme was dumbstruck; she didn't understand why they would have words if they couldn't say them, but why would they say mean ones like that?"What about 'Carrying'? That a 'bad word' too?"

"No, why would you think that?" she pointed up at him "'cuz Skyfire got this weird look on his faceplates when that other bot said it" Greysky held her out to Skyfire so he could have a turn holding her as they walked.

"Well, you see, sweetspark," 'oh, Primus, I have been dreading this moment since I got this lecture myself' "Carrying is when a mech or femme has their own little sparkling growing inside them,"

"How does the sparkling get inside them in the first place?"

"Uhh…?" He stammered for words, so Greysky interjected "because Primus said so and put it there," "Right, Primus said so and put it there," of course, like all small children, Skysong's questions never end. "But how does it come out?"

"Hey, how about a game? First one to see the Care Center wins," the little femmling raised herself up in Skyfire's arms so she could see better. "No fair, you're both taller and can see it first," Sure enough, when the Care Center came into view the two adults decidedly didn't notice it until they entered the building. Once they were inside, Skyfire politely excused himself and told them he was going to sort some things out at home and said they could comm. him if they needed anything.

As he went back out, one of the other Caretakers, a cheerful red-orange mech, strolled up and asked "So who's the new mechfriend?" they both blushed and she scolded him good-naturedly while he started walking just a little bit faster.

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Skyfire had intended on returning to his own home and collecting any personals he might need while he waited for his neighbors to come home for the night cycle, but first he made a little detour to talk to certain bots.

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By the time he made it back to his dwelling, Skyfire was exhausted, and just needed to sit down and rest a while.

As soon as he got inside he sat in a chair and pulled out the datapad he got at the clinic and started reading. After he got through a good portion of the reading, Skyfire set the datapad aside and got up and stretched till his cables and joints popped back into place and began rummaging through his home for anything he might need for the journey.

Several joors later, he realized it was almost time for the femmes to be returning home and decided to meet them there.

He walked the whole way as they had had earlier, would have been a waste of fuel to fly such a short distance. Speaking of fuel, he happened to pass a vendor selling 'freeze-E-treats', whipped energon goodies infused with coolant [A.N.: kind of like ice cream.] He smiled 'I'll treat the femmes to some on the way back,'

He arrived at the care center and was about to open the door when they opened automatically, revealing the red-orange mech from earlier. Both jumped, not expecting anyone on the other side of the door.

"Oh, excuse me…"

"Nah, it's a'ight. Hey, aren't you tha bot that was with Greysky earlier?"The mech had an accent.

"yes, my designation is Skyfire. And yours?"

"Oh you're Skyfire, Graysky's told us a lot 'bout ya. They call me Blaster. Wha's happenin'?"

"Not much, just visiting with them before I get sent off on a mission,"

At that moment, The Seekess came about with her sparkling in tow. "Oh, hey Skyfire, have you been here the whole time?"

"Oh, no, I just saw a vendor selling E-treats down the street and thought you'd want some,"

"Well, I'll see you bots later, I got to be in Polyhex in a cycle."

"Polyhex?"

"Yeah, ah live there, and ah got another job as a DJ at a dance club there,"

"Alright, be safe,"

"Don't worry, Ah will,"

Skysong ran up and hugged him "bye, Blaster, see you later," Blaster laughed and scratched the spot between her wings "See ya later, bitlet," and with that he left, waving over his shoulder strut.

"He seems pleasant,"

Greysky nodded and picked up her creation as they departed. "He's a good friend,"

"Speaking of friends, did you play with any other bots your age?"

Skysong sighed, depressed "No, none of them seemed to want to play with me,"

Skyfire looked to her Carrier for confirmation :Blaster is also the only other caretaker that will handle Skysong, none of the others want her around the other younglings,:

He frowned; he couldn't believe they would be so prejudiced. "Well, I feel sorry for them, because they are missing out on knowing a great femme," she perked up as he rubbed her helm affectionately.

They got their treats, but when Greysky reached into her subspace pocket for the credits Skyfire stopped her. "Don't worry , my treat,"

"oh no, I couldn't…"

"You let me stay for dinner last night, and after what happened you let me stay over on your couch. The very least I can do is get you a 'freeze-E-treat'"

They got their treats and munched them as they walked, Skysong walked between them trying to eat hers and hold both their servos at the same time. While Greysky was worried that what happened before could happen again, Skyfire noticed they were passing through a familiar area and brushed his wingtip against hers to get her attention. She turned to look at him with a quizzical look and he flicked his optics to the building next to them. She followed his line of sight and gasped. "Is that…"

"Yes," Up on the wall of the building, was the gang from earlier, their frames welded into place in a seemingly random formation. "Notice how the frames are arranged? They sort of form a glyph…"

She looked closer at the formation to find that it did; in rough translation, their frames spelled out "Mess with me, I mess you up," "Oh, Primus, did you…"

Seeing her horror he waved his servo reassuringly "No, no they're still online. I do not condone violence, but there are other means to get such a point across,"

"Morbid body art?"

Skysong looked up at the display "Carrier? Why are there bots up there?"

They both quickly looked away and continued walking. "What are you talking about? There are no bots up there," the two adults stifled their giggles as they scurried home.

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When they got back to Greysky's, she asked if Skyfire would have a seat while she cleaned the energon off Skysong's faceplates. He agreed, he really needed to sit down, making his way over to a chair and collapsed into it; he was starting to tire more easily, that was one of the symptoms of Carrying, especially during the first stage.

Now, while some creators and caretakers recently started using wash tubs and cleaning rags, they just couldn't afford to have cleaning fluid pumped to their meager wash racks anytime they wished so for smaller cleaning jobs, like getting sticky energon residue off sparkling servos and faceplates, Greysky preferred the traditional method of personal cleansing; using one's glossa to clean off plating. While some, like nobles and Council members, would think simply licking themselves clean would be primitive and disgusting, there really wasn't anything wrong with it.

He tried not to stare so he took out the datapad and started reading again. Then he realized 'I leave the cycle after tomorrow, I really should be heading back soon,' he slowly hauled himself back to his peds. Greysky stopped in the middle of cleaning her sparkling's cheek strut. "Are you alright Skyfire?"

"Yeah, I just realized I had better get going if I'm going to be back at a decent time,"

The Seekess nodded and set Skysong down and got up to hug him "Thank you for stopping by, it was good to see you,"

He gently hugged her back "Thank you for having me, it was good to see you too,"

He released her and knelt down to hug Skysong before smaller femme could latch onto his legs. "bye Big Sky, I'll miss you so much,"

"I'll miss you too, Little Sky," he opened up the Guardian Bond he had with her, they rarely used it, as she was too young to understand how it worked but now was as good a time as any.

He set her back down and walked out the gate and down the street a ways so he wouldn't mess anything up when he took off, smiling and waving at them. They smiled and waved back until Skysong realized something and ran inside.

Skyfire was just about to take off when. "SKYFIRE WAIT!" he turned and saw Skysong sprinting down the street after him, holding something in her servos. He caught her in his own servos when her momentum nearly sent her helm-first to the ground. "Skysong, what's wrong?" it took a moment for her intakes to catch up with her. "We-we never finished the story,"

"Oh right, we can always finish it when I get back, is that ok?"

She looked up at him with the spark-melting look of hers "Promise you'll hurry back,"

Skyfire marked the spot they left off on the datapad. "I promise," he handed her the datapad back and she hugged him again. "Goodbye, Skyfire."

"Goodbye Skysong. Be good for your Carrier while I'm gone." And with that he sent her back to her Carrier, gave the one last long look and turned around, got a running start and launched himself off the ground, transforming in midair, and took off.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Skysong looked up at her Carrier "Carrier, will I be able to fly like that someday?"

"Yes, sweetspark, but not until you are older, ok?"

"ok," she went inside and set the datapad on the end table by the couch and went back outside to sit and wait. Greysky watched with a worried look; she always did this when he wasn't around, she would sit in the yard for a while, then go into his yard, waiting for him to come home.

Had he known this could be the last time he'd see them, he probably wouldn't have left.

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Back at the Academy

A clerk was sorting through files, it was late and he really just wanted to get home and get some recharge when he me across some documents for the Council. 'ugh, don't those stuck up nobles realize I have enough work to do as it is?'

He opened one of them marked "Designation: Skyfire" and skimmed through it. 'hmm says here he is scheduled for off-planet exploration and just needs result from a physical to be good to go, ah here it is,' he glanced at the notes that the medic wrote down. "mech unit Skyfire is completely healthy…"

'works for me,' he stamped the file "approved" and filed it with others that needed to be sent to where that one was going and went back to his work. Unfortunately, he failed to read the rest of the report

"… however, it has been discovered that he is the early stages of Carrying. Recommended course of action would be to postpone or discontinue any further participation in scheduled off-world expedition…"

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Skyfire finally made it to Iacon, it was rather slow going for him because he had to keep making rest stops but he managed. When he walked into the main foyer of the space port, he saw Perceptor standing there. "Perceptor? What are you doing here?"

"I have come to see you off. Who knows when I'll be able to see my best friend again," if Perceptor was capable of teasing he would have been.

Without thinking about it, Skyfire reached out and hugged him. "I sure am going to miss you, Perceptor, thanks for everything"

Having recovered from being caught off guard, Perceptor patted him on the back plating "and to you as well, Be careful out there, alright?"

"Always am," he stood to his full height again and walked to the launch deck, waving over his shoulder. Perceptor waved back and made his way to the observation deck to watch the flyers take off.

Starscream was already out on the platform with his trine, who were clinging to him as he was trying to peel them off him. After they saw he was there, they assumed it was time to go and hurried off to the observation deck with the other spectators.

Starscream turned to the Shuttleformer "Ready?"

Skyfire suddenly felt sick with nerves "yes, but, uh Starscream there is something I need to talk to you about…" a loud klaxon buzzer sounded and a flash of yellow light signaling the fliers to get ready and everyone else to get clear.

"No, time now. We can talk on the way, alright?" he got into position, Skyfire did the same "Alright,"

The second buzzer and a green flash told them to go, Starscream ran down the runway, Skyfire followed suit, they took off and flew into the vast expanse of space.

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They did not know how long they had flown, but eventually they came to a large planet covered in lush green jungle. The local flora was made up of both organic and technological matter, as well as the various creatures they saw scurrying through the brush. They were on their guard, in case any of the locals were less than friendly, as they inspected their surroundings.

"Beautiful," Skyfire examined a large white flower with organic and crystalline petals that gave off a sweet scent.

"Yes, very pretty, but we have work to do," They got out a few testing instruments they brought with and took a few samples and image captures. Skyfire made sure to take an extra sample of the flower. "Skysong and Greysky would love all this,"

"What makes you say that?"

"Oddly enough, when Skysong heard where we were going she actually asked if she could come with, and Greysky loves seeing new places and learning new things…"

"So why would she Bond with some ground-pounder and be stuck in that back water town? Especially when she could have found a nice flier and be amongst her own kind…" Skyfire didn't particularly like his tone. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

They continued their work until the cycle started to draw to a close. "It's getting pretty late, should we set up camp for the night cycle?"

"It's not that late, is it?"

"Starscream, check your chronometer. It's well past the middle of the night cycle,"

Seeing as he was right, they sought of a good spot to stay for the night. They had found a good sized rock ledge that was just off the ground that had an outcropping overhead as well as a few trees forming a canopy of crisscrossing branches as shelter.

After they set up the portable energy converter they had brought with, they each had a cube of energon and took shifts powering down for the night while the other kept watch.

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The next morning, they brought their systems online and realized two things. One, they both forgot whose turn it was and found themselves recharging together in a "lover's embrace". Two, they weren't alone.

Trying not to freak out as Starscream was about to about their current position, Skyfire slowly propped himself up on his elbow joints to look around, and there it was. Starscream was still ranting under his intakes until the bigger flier hushed him. "Shh, there's something here,"

"What is it?"

Skyfire got a better look at the creature. It was feline in structure, mostly dark gold with black accents and had red optics with black slit pupils. It was much larger than the other creatures they have seen and judging by the claws, elongated canines and what appear to be a curved blade on the end of its tail it didn't seem like something one would want to mess with.

"Looks like some kind of cat-bot,"

Starscream saw it too and got out his weapon, again Skyfire stopped him. "Don't, I don't think it's going to hurt us," he slowly held out his servo to it.

"What are you doing?" the Seeker hissed.

"I'm letting it catch my scent," the cat-bot stalked forward, wary of the two strangers in its territory. "That's right, don't be frightened, I will not harm you," He felt the beast's warm breath as it sniffed his servo.

*Jungle Cat's POV*

Bloodeyes had been hunting when he sensed something else enter his territory. They did not come across the boundaries he had set up like others in the past, they had come from the sky. Curious, he observed the strange creatures from afar until they settled for the night and curiosity got the better of him, drawing him in for a closer look. He stayed at the edge of the clearing while they slept; from how they lay together he guessed they were either mates or siblings.

Soon enough, they woke. The larger one with lighter colors noticed him and brought this to the attention of the other and watched him for moment. The first thing Bloodeyes noticed was the creatures eyes; while his were red as blood, hence his name, this one's eyes were the color of the sky when it was clear.

The smaller one with darker coloring and eyes the color of burning embers took notice of him and directed something at him, but the other stopped him and reached out to him, speaking softly in a language he didn't understand.

The cat sniffed him, trying to catch his scent and learn more; from what he could tell this creature was male but for some reason he was giving off a scent that came from females that were expecting cubs; upon closer inspection he showed other signs of this as well. Next to the male-bearing-young was another male, their scents and how they interacted confirmed his theory that they were in fact mates.

Seems strange to him that a male could mate with another male and bear offspring but he guessed that, since this was a species unlike his own, there would be differences and this was one of them. The cat wasn't one to judge other species and he certainly wouldn't kill an expecting mother or their mate unless they were a threat. Since they didn't seem to be hunters or mean him any harm, he would leave them be.

*Normal POV*

They both watched as the creature smelt Skyfire's servo and looked at them both, like he was seeing into their very sparks, and left as calm and silent as he came.

"Well, that was interesting, hope the other creatures here are as… welcoming?"

They got up, had their morning fuel rations, and went back to work. They saw more creatures, all techno-organic; there were birds with four wings and colorful plumage, rodents and reptilians of various sizes, and several types of insectoid. They took image captures and recorded information until they had to stop and transfer data from their processors to datapads they had brought with so their memory banks wouldn't get too full. During this process, however, they couldn't help but feel like they were being watched. Starscream looked around and, seeing noting, shrugged it off. Skyfire on the other servo was more cautious and spotted the danger first. "Starscream, Above you!"

Too late, Starscream looked up as something cold and heavy fell on him and knocked him down.

Skyfire ran to help as a large serpent wrapped around his partner until he couldn't move and bared its fangs at him in a loud hiss as the sides of its head expanded to form a large hood and the end of its tail rattled. The great snake noticed the Shuttleformer and turned its teeth towards him; Judging by the amber colored liquid that dripped from them and the bright colors of its scales one could guess the creature was venomous.

The monster tightened its grip until it left dents in its captive's armor, causing the Seeker to cry out. This angered him greatly "Get away from him!" he pulled out his own weapon and fired a low powered blast at the thing's face. That got its attention as it tossed its head, but didn't stop it so he fired another shot, this one on a higher setting, at the spot beneath its crest where the spine met the back of its head, paralyzing it.

Starscream frantically pushed the unmoving body off of him as Skyfire pulled him clear of it and carried him back to where they set up camp.

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Back at camp

Skyfire immediately got out the medical kit and saw to Starscreams injuries. After taking off his outer plating, he checked to see if there was any internal damage to his circuitry or protoform, finding nothing wrong with the former he saw to the fine micro-cracks in the protomatter [A.N.: what Starscream has here is an equivalent to bruised ribs.]. He pulled out a roll of arti-mesh, which is a type of bandaging, and wrapped it around him. Starscream winced at the contact and tried to sit up.

"Easy, Star, it's just me," Skyfire gently pushed him back down. "Don't try to move just yet, you have sustained damage," he went back to what he was doing. "This might not feel so great, but I have to pull it tight." The Shuttleformer talked him through it; whispering assurances each time Starscream gasped in pain and tried to pull away.

Eventually, they got him all bandaged up so Skyfire let him rest in a defrag cycle while he set to popping the dents out of his armor. "It's a good thing you had this on, otherwise that snake would have crushed you completely,"

A joor later, Starscream brought his systems back online. "S-Skyfire?..."

Said mech came and checked on him. "Here I am, how do you feel?"

"Like I've been stomped on by a city-guardian. I think I'm going to hate large snakes for the rest of my life cycle,"

Skyfire chuckled dryly "After seeing that I wouldn't blame you. I noticed it had multiple ways of attacking; it was a constrictor but from what I could tell it was also venomous, my guess it suffocated anything small enough to fit in its coils and used its poison bite for larger prey and attackers."

"It didn't get you, did it?"

"No, but it tried, I saw what I'm guessing was venom dripping from its teeth. I'm going to go see if I can collect samples…"

"YOU ARE NOT GOING BACK THERE, ARE YOU?" Starscream sat up too quickly and cringed.

"LIE Still," Skyfire eased him back down again "I managed to get you patched up but your repair systems still need time to recover, just rest a while. I shot it in or around the spine so it won't be able to move much, if at all, I'll be fine." He got a blanket out of his subspace and covered him with it. Walking away he thought 'I can't let that animal suffer, if it's still alive…'

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Later, Skyfire came back with several vials of cyber-venom. "Starscream?" the Seeker shifted. "hmm?"

"How do you feel?" he tried to sit up, and regretted it. "Easy now, slowly Starscream, slowly," Skyfire helped him sit up and lean against the trunk of a tree .

"Better now, Thank you Skyfire," He noticed his companion was packing everything up. "Skyfire, what are you doing?"

"Well, we are on an explanation mission, and we've already collected enough samples from the area we are currently in. Once you have recovered all that left for us to do is relocate to a different area or move on to a different planet entirely."

"Very well,"

Skyfire smiled gently at his friend. "Rest now, Little Star, I will take first watch tonight,"

Starscream slowly curled up on his side and went into recharge. Once he was sure he was out, Skyfire's thoughts and servo wandered to the spot close to his spark. 'Now, how am I going to tell him about you, Little One?'

The next morning, they refueled before packing up the converter. "Feel any better this morning?"

"I'll manage, the sooner we get away from this place the better," Starscream pulled himself to his peds.

"Alright, just take it easy. Can you transform or should we walk for a while?"

"If we travel on foot again there might be more of those things. Let's just scout around from the air,"

They took off, both were a little shaky in the air, but both had their reasons.

After flying around for a joor they came to the conclusion that there was nothing else to find and decided to move on.

"This time, how about we avoid planets with possibly hostile life,"

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At the next planet…

The two explorers stood on the barren ground of a barren planet. The only atmosphere of this planet was enough to send cold winds hammering against their plating.

"Okay, how about planets with some sort of sentient life on it?"

They took a few soil samples and, finding nothing else, moved on once more.

After some time of this, They came to a solar system consisting of nine planets orbiting a yellow star. Being almost halfway through the first stage of Carrying, Skyfire decided it was now our never. 'I have to tell him…' He came out of the large rock formation they had taken shelter in after they landed on a moon orbiting the third planet from the yellow star. [A.N. bonus points and inside info to whoever can guess where they are.]

'Ok, you can do this, just walk right over there and… no, no I can't. Calm down, Skyfire, deep intakes,' He paused to cycle air a few times. 'That's better, now just walk right up to… I can't! Why not? What if…' Every time he had a reason not to a nagging voice in his CPU had a reason why he should 'He has a right to know' "Starscream?"

"Yes?"

Skyfire froze. "uhh…" 'Blast it, didn't think he was RIGHT THERE!' "You think we should check that planet next?" he pointed to the planet this moon was orbiting.

While Starscream followed his line of sight and scrutinized the blue and green planet in the distance, Skyfire cursed himself for losing his nerve like that. "Doesn't look like much…"

"Wouldn't hurt to check it out, would it?"

"Fine," They packed up camp and set off, yet again, to the strange planet.

They flew close as they could until they had bank along the planets orbital field to avoid getting torn apart by the G-forces and ease their way into the planet's atmosphere. They coasted along, well within the cloud line until Skyfire felt the need to land; Carrying was taking a lot of his energy, especially during the first stage of it, and he really needed to land.

:Hey, Starscream, I'm… going in for a closer look,"

:Skyfire, we seem to be flying over a glacial region, there's nothing down there but ice.:

Skyfire ignored him and flew lower. Absently, Starscream followed as the wind started picking up. :Skyfire, the weather is picking up:

:I can see that, all the more reason to land and wait it out:

They continued their descent as the storm got worse, the moisture in the air getting into their seams and freezing, the wind trying to wrestle them off course. It got so bad they could barely see the ground and their navigational systems were the only way to tell which way was up.

Suddenly…

:STARSCREAM, I'M LOSING CONTROL!:

:Skyfire, where are you?: Static. :Skyfire? SKYFIRE!:

*Skyfire's POV*

I was running low on energy, the storm was too strong, I didn't know where Starscream was, wasn't quite sure where I was either other than I was caught in a white-out and I was pretty sure I was going down. I tried transforming into my bipedal mode to try to straighten myself out but by the time I had I could see snow that wasn't moving; the ground.

Luckily, the snow was deep enough the cushion my fall, but unfortunately it was also deep enough to bury me. I lay there surrounded by a cold blanket of white fluff that melted and refroze around my vents, with my systems slowly slipping into stasis lock. They say your life function flashes through your processor when you think you are going to offline; for a brief moment I saw Cybertron, Everyone I ever cared about, Which brought my thoughts to Greysky, Skysong, Starscream… our unborn child.

'Forgive me…' And then there was nothing.

*Regular POV*

Starscream searched for an orn. An orn! And still there was no sign of Skyfire. As the solar cycle had come to a close—the solar cycles here seemed to be much shorter than normal—he returned to where he had set up camp where an arrangement of glaciers formed a slight wind break he could take shelter in.

As he drank his energon—luckily they had each brought a portable converter or he would have been screwed—both to warm his systems and renew his energy he decided he had waited long enough 'I must get help, If I go back to Cybertron I could come back with a search party,' He marked the spot with a beacon so he could find it again and fine-tuned his systems to its frequency so he could do so no matter how long it took for him to come back.

Starscream scanned the icy expanse and sighed :Skyfire, wherever you are, be safe. I will come back for you, no matter how long it takes, I will find you!:

After taking one last long look around, he took off. Had he actually taken a closer look at his former "shelter", though, he would have seen that those glaciers didn't form naturally, it was almost as if something really big crashed into the ice there…

A.N.: Well I've finally done it, I have been working on this thing like an oyster on a pearl for almost a year and I finally have it!

I am still un-Beta-ed so I apologize if any mistakes are made, feel free to speak up if you see any; just remember that this fic is my pride and joy and any Flames will be converted into energon that will be made into energon goodies for the nice people that review.