Starscream was dead. Or so he thought after getting beaten by the three predacons so much that even the harshest beating from Megatron seemed like nothing. But instead of joining the Well as he thought he would, he was staring at Cybertron's sky instead and that confused him to no end.

Trying to stand up cleared a lot of that confusion though. Instead of standing up on his feet, he simply… floated. As if he was air. It took no efforts whatsoever. It felt strange. He looked back to the ground ad saw his broken frame, lying on the energon-covered floor, strangled and twisted beyond repair. All life has clearly left it.

And Starscream was furious! After so so very long avoiding certain death ridiculously often, this was how he met his end! Beaten to death by a bunch of primitives! He wanted to return the favour to the Predacons. He wanted to torture them, strangle them, kill them in the slowest and most painful manner he could think of! So he floated away to find them, only murder and torture in mind.

And find them he did. But there was absolutely nothing he could possibly do to them in his ghost form. He couldn't move or even touch anything. The only thing he could do is transform himself from a floating ball of energy into a floating resemblance of his previous frame. And even then – the Predacons didn't even seen him.

Defeated and frustrated he floated away. And he floated and floated until he saw a familiar face.

One of the Autobots has just come up from behind the corner and Starscream decided to try and see whether the yellow brat would be able to see him. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, he was not. But the ghost seeker followed the other regardless. Being a ghost so far has proven to be very boring and frustrating.

The yellow bot walked for several minutes before entering a building. Starscream just phased through the door after him. And then he saw a truly familiar face. Starscream knew he shouldn't be surprised to see Knock Out but he still was anyway.

Starscream observed as Knock Out chatted with the yellow bot who has given him a datapad. It seems the medic was working on something for the Autobots. Starscream was not interested in it but the fact that his previous SIC has betrayed him so easily for the Autobots was still enough to fire his anger once again.

"Traitor." the seeker muttered. Or at least that's how it sounded to him. Nobody else could hear him anyway.

Except he was wrong. Knock Out's helm whipped in his direction and a pair of red optics widened. The medic's hands grabbed the table behind him and the terrified expression on his face was so very clear.

Bumblebee's optics followed the direction Knock Out was looking at but he saw nothing at all. With a lifted brow he turned towards Knock Out again.

"Is something wrong?"

Knock Out looked at him in surprise. Then at Starscream's floating semi-transparent ghost. Then back at Bumblebee.

"Ah..no. Nothing at all." The red mech did his best to resume his usual posture. He was simply seeing things that were not there. Probably because of working too hard. That's what he wanted to believe.

Bumblebee left soon after, not really interested in Knock Out's mental health. And Knock Out himself ignored the floating ghost oh his ex-Commander the best he could.

But Starscream didn't like to be ignored! He floated to Knock Out's side and when the red mech still didn't look at him – he swiftly moved in front of him.

"I know you can see me, you traitorous glitch!"

Knock Out vented a heavy sigh and shut his optics before opening them again a second later. He steeled his face expression before speaking.

"You're just a part of my imagination."

Starscream was outraged! His optics widened to a ridiculous size in disbelief. He crowded the medic so much that their faces were only inches apart.

"I AM NOT A PART OF YOUR IMAGINATION, YOU FOOLISH TRAITOROUS GLITCH!"

"You had it coming, Starscream. There was only that much scrap I could've taken from you. I mean.. from the real you. Not the 'part of my imagination' you. And I am still not convinced you're real. We don't have ghosts."

Knock Out was right. Starscream had what Knock Out did coming. But the momentarily pleasure and satisfaction Knock Out got out of getting back at the seeker for throwing him under the Megatron-bus have vanished soon after he joined the winning team.

It was true that Starscream was rude. And as much as Knock Out hated others being rude to him, he kind of missed the seeker. The semi-friend~ish relationship they had was almost fun to the red mech. Plotting with Starscream was definitely very fun.

No matter how many times Starscream has ruined his finish, insulted his medical skills or betrayed him – Knock Out kept going back to the seeker over and over again. He had never found out why exactly. But there was something pulling him towards Starscream, something that piqued his interest. And he couldn't resist it.

And when Starscream's life signal went offline on Knock Out's radar – the news hit the red mech. He would never find out what his fascination with the seeker was exactly. And he kind of missed him.

He has joined the winning team. There was nothing holding him back. Except apparently he was wrong because somewhere along the path of opportunism, he has grown a little attached to a variable he did not expect. And now his unresolved interest in the seeker came to haunt him in the form of Starscream himself.

What a cruel torture his mind was putting him through. He ignored as the ghost kept screeching and yelling at him, accusing him of indirectly causing Starscream's death. He ignored it again and kept ignoring it until the ghost got tired and shut up. Not for long though.

"You really think I'm part of your fragged up imagination…"

Silence.

"I don't have to prove my existence to you!"

Even more silence from Knock Out.

"LOOK AT ME!" the ghost screeched much harder than before. The light flickered ominously and the vials Knock Out has stored on the shelves shattered on the spot.

And then the medic stopped ignoring Starscream. And he stopped believing he was just a part of his imagination too. Trembling, Knock Out turned towards the ghost.

"You are real.. I…you.. how?"

Starscream was amused. He has never heard the medic stutter before. Sweet smooth talking Knock Out stuttering was just… too amusing. But his current situation sucked the amusement out of him in a blink of an optic.

The ghost sighed and rolled his optics. "Frag if I know!"

The medic was truly intrigued by that phenomenal. Of course he has seen plenty of human movies including ghosts but he has never ever expected to meet a Cybertronian ghost. Or should he call it a 'lost spark'. He wasn't sure.

But his curiosity got the better of him and he stepped towards Starscream, slowly moving his servo towards the semi-transparent seeker and plunging it right through his chest. The feeling he got was a wild mixture of freezing coldness and searing heat. Starscream, on the other hand..

"Ah, it tickles!"

Knock Out removed his arm from the ghost and supported his chin with one servo, clearly thinking about the whole situation.

"Are you planning on haunting me? Am I that interesting to you?"

Starscream's ghost wings hitched up at that second question. It was amazing how his nonexistent frame still managed to betray his emotions even in death.

"Tsh, you are of no interest to me!" his optics shifted to one side and his servos balled into fists. "But you are the only one who can see me so far. And I got bored alone…"

"Yeah, of course, of course. Stick around if you must. The Autobots are such a bore anyway."

"I'm still furious at you, you treacherous-"

"The war is over, Starscream. If we've escaped back then, where would have we gone? To Earth? The Autobots would've found us there. There would've been nowhere to hide and even if we hid – it would've been a miserable existence. It's all over. Let it go. I realize how that would be hard for you since you died as a result and all that. But you treated others badly and your actions came back to bite you on your aft. I am NOT responsible for that!"

By the time Knock Out was done, his vents were hitching and his voice has gone a bit high erthan he would've liked it.

"I still hate you for what you did.." the voice had no real strength behind it though. It felt more like petty stubbornness.

Knock Out simply returned to his work and for the rest couple of hours nobody uttered a word. Starscream did follow him home though.