The Date

So I don't really know where this came from but I just liked the idea of Cee and Screamer being set up on a blind date with each other. Enjoy!

"Chromia, I'm not sure about this." Arcee said, biting her lip nervously as her friend helped buff her back.

"Come on, Arcee, it'll be fun!" The light blue femme reassured the darker blue femme. "The war ended years ago and you've done nothing since!"

"So?"

"You need to get out of the house! It's not a stasis pod, you know."

"I leave the house all the time!" Arcee protested.

"To go to University? That doesn't count as 'fun'." Chromia's pointed out. Arcee scoffed.

"Do you even know who my date is?" Arcee crossed her arms, nearly turning on Chromia.

"Hun, I've only been dating Thundercracker for about a month now. I haven't met the family yet. All I know is that he's a Seeker." The lighter blue femme replied.

"Ugh." Arcee growled. A former Decepticon.

"Live a little!" Chromia exclaimed. "Look," Her tone softened, "I know the war was especially hard on you. But the Decepticons and Autobots have found peace now. They've apologized for their crimes and now Megatron and Optimus are how they used to be!" Arcee nodded, relaxing the slightest bit as she felt the buffer move in slow circles around her spinal plating between her winglets.

"If Optimus can forgive Megatron after everything he's done, you can do the same." Chromia finished, switching the buffer off.

"I suppose I can try." Arcee sighed, turning to face her friend.

"And if it's really not going that well Thundercracker and I will be a few tables away." Chromia patted Arcee's shoulder plate. Arcee looked up with wide eyes; she didn't know that was a part of the plan. Chromia giggled lightly at the sight of her friend's confused expression.

"Thundercracker's more curious than I am. I know you can hold your own. But apparently even though his brother was their trine leader, he's still younger, and Thundercracker wants to make sure he's happy."

Arcee let out a sigh of relief. "No matter, it's good to know you're not leaving me with some stranger."

"I'm happy to make you feel comfortable." Chromia responded cheerfully. "But we have to get going now. I promised Thundercracker we'd be there soon." The dark blue femme gestured for her friend to lead the way out.

The two femmes reached the bar shortly after.

"Oh! There's Thundercracker over there." Chromia grabbed Arcee's wrist and dragged the midnight blue femme to meet her own date. No wonder Chromia spotted him from the opposite side of the room; the Seeker's wide wings were a bright, flashy blue with a crimson streak through the middle. Arcee would have been able to spot him from ten miles away.

There was something about this mech that was familiar. The way the wings perked up as Chromia grabbed his servo, the shape of his slender legs, and the severe stiletto heel-struts, and when he turned, the facial structure was almost identical to –

"Thundercracker, this is Arcee, the friend I was telling you about." Chromia interrupted her friends thoughts with the introduction.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." The mech addressed Arcee politely in a surprisingly deep voice, extending a long, taloned servo , which Arcee shook politely. "My brother should be back any moment. He went to the washroom."

"It's nice to meet you as well. Wow, you really remind me of –" Arcee was cut off mid-sentence.

"So when are they getting here, dear brother? My fuel tanks are dangerously close to empty," came a voice from Arcee's right. Her head snapped to the voice's source and saw another pair of Seeker wings, these ones silver, stride through the crowd. She knew it!

"Ah, these are our dates?" Starscream stopped beside his brother and took in the sight of the two femmes, and double taking when he caught sight of Arcee.

"What are you doing here?" The silver Seeker snarled, tensing as soon as he noticed it was her.

"Gee, I wonder. I thought you just answered that question, dumbaft." Arcee fired back, her tone full of hostility.

"There's no way I'm going on a date with you." The Seeker snarled at the two-wheeler.

"The feeling is mutual!" Arcee exclaimed, turning on her heel and making her way to the exit. She didn't get very far before Chromia cut her off.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, leaving?" Arcee rolled her optics. "Did you not just see my plans for the night fall through?"

"You're not going anywhere. You said you'd give this a chance." Chromia looked at Arcee accusingly, her lower lip jutting out slightly in a pout.

"I know what I said. Starscream killed Cliffjumper, Chromia. And without one single ounce of remorse." Arcee tried to plead with the femme. "If you really want me to go on a date, pick an Autobot, pick any other Decepticon save for the ones that I had to fight on Earth. Please don't make me do this." Arcee tried, coolant tears beginning to prick at her optics. "Please." The last plea came out as a whisper.

Chromia took in her friend's troubled, shaken expression. She'd never seen Arcee like this; the strong, stoic femme, one of Optimus Prime's most powerful soldiers, was on the verge of tears.

"Fine." Chromia sighed, after a pregnant pause. "I didn't know you knew him! I didn't mean…"

"I know." Arcee gave a slight smile. "Thanks for trying." Chromia released her tight grip on Arcee's wrist. The midnight blue femme made her way through the crowd, bumping into the very mech she was trying to avoid at the exit.

"What? Going to try to salvage this night?" Arcee spat.

"I was heading home, if you were truly all that curious." Starscream retorted. The two stepped out into the cool night air. Arcee turned, remembering the way they came from and headed that way, but stopped when she noticed that Starscream had begun to walk in the same direction.

"So you're following me now?" She turned on him, unable to hold her glossa any longer.

"The Decepticons are no more, Arcee. Why would I be following you?" The former Decepticon Second-in-Command increased his pace to keep up with the femme.

"But," Starscream sighed, "if you must know, my apartment is in this direction."

"Can't you just fly there?"

"My energon's near empty. But even if it wasn't, this is a restricted airspace." The Seeker explained, as if he was talking to a sparkling. "Not that a two-wheeler like you would know anything about that." He added with obvious disdain.

"Can you at least keep your distance? The reason I left was to get away from you."

"Ooh, harsh." Starscream chuckled, unfazed by the insult. "I'm not changing my route. Why don't you transform?"

"Energon's too low."

"Hm, may have done us better to stay. I could have persuaded Thundercracker into paying for both of us to keep us pacified." Arcee didn't doubt that.

"Erm… I know there's a tavern up ahead. I'm, um, not saying it has to be a date. I'm just saying we both need to refuel..." Starscream stuttered.

Arcee considered the possibilities. She knew that he'd go whether she refused or not. This could be where she finally ditched the mech once and for all. But her fuel tanks gave a strong rumble, just as she was about to decline.

Starscream, who had obviously heard the sound smirked. "I'll take that as a yes?"

Arcee exvented furiously, humiliated at giving in, but she nodded stiffly, growling, "It's NOT a date."

He responded impatiently by grabbing her wrist and leading her to the tavern.

It was a quaint little place. A small, quiet tavern like this was next to impossible to find on Cybertron, especially nowadays, with all the lingering celebration and war veterans trying to drink their memories away.

There were a few stray bots here and there, and a couple in a corner booth who were passionately kissing and probably about a klik away from interfacing. Arcee rolled her optics. Couples.

"What can I do fer ya?" The bartender asked as the two bots approached.

"I'll have a cube of high grade. Seeker blend, if you have it." Starscream began, and then looked to Arcee so she could place her order.

"High grade, with a dash of oil."

"Comin' right up."

The two waited in awkward silence.

"That'll be twenty credits altogether." The bartender replied once their energon was ready, sliding the cubes across the counter. Arcee dug her credit card out of subspace, but Starscream waved her away, handing his own card to the bartender.

"This isn't a date, Starscream!" Arcee protested.

"But it was supposed to be. Consider it a peace offering."

"But–"

"No 'buts'. It's already done." Starscream said.

Arcee's instincts, long dormant since the end of the war, told her that Starscream had some kind of ulterior motive. But thinking of Chromia and her advice to forgive… Arcee took a risk. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she pushed her apprehensions to the back of her processor.

They took a seat at a table far from the enthusiastic couple in the corner. What were they supposed to do now?

"So…" Arcee began after taking a swig of her energon. Starscream looked up in slight surprise, not expecting her to be the one to initiate the small talk. "What have you been doing lately?"

"I've been helping train the new Seekers from the Well once they're finished with school. Now that I've finished my community service, I do that full-time." The Seeker explained, taking another sip of his high-grade. "And you?"

"Well, I've been studying to become a teacher." Arcee replied.

"Tough, hot-tempered Arcee is going to deal with sparklings?" Starscream grinned at the femme, obviously joking.

"Dealing with the kids on Earth took a lot of patience. If I can do that, I can take on sparklings no problem." Arcee allowed herself to smile back at the mech.

"Have you heard from them?" Arcee was floored when she heard Starscream ask. The mech shrugged when she looked at him incredulously. She didn't think he'd even care.

"Um, yeah. We get transmissions once in a while. June and Agent Fowler got married a while back. Jack has a half-brother now, and if I'm counting correctly he should be about ten Earth years old. Jack and Miko got together too, and I got a ping three years ago about their first child. Raf's got a trillion dollar computer company going, and I think he's engaged." Arcee listed off. "I wish I could visit, but the Space Bridge is not for public use anymore."

"Well, they can make exceptions for war heroes, can't they?" Arcee's winglets pricked. Was that a compliment? She wouldn't call herself a war hero… And she told him just that.

"Don't be ridiculous. You did a lot for the sake of Cybertron. The new council can't overlook that."

"Well they are. I've tried gaining access." She sighed, draining her cube of the rest of its energon.

He sensed that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. She deeply missed the humans and wanted to be there for them, Jack especially.

"I'm finished. Are you?" Starscream asked. Arcee nodded and stood up, leaving her empty cube at the table. The two stepped out into the darkness once more and continued walking. Arcee changed the subject before Starscream had a chance to, addressing something she had planned on asking before, when he touched upon it.

"If you don't mind me asking, how was the community service? I'm curious. I never actually knew what the sentences were."

"It was long and difficult. We had to find bots who had been separated from their families and reunite them, and if they had expired we had to… deliver the message." Starscream's tone changed to something more somber. "Decepticons were easy. Autobots were much more difficult… and I must say, it was life changing."

Wow. Arcee hadn't expected that that went over well with some families at first. The former Air Commander of the Decepticons bringing that horrible news to a hopeful family? Arcee wouldn't have taken well to it. But as she was analyzing the pros and cons of the community service sentence, Starscream dropped a bombshell on her.

"I was assigned to Cliffjumper's family."

"What!?" Arcee spluttered. He waited while she tried to regain her composure.

"They were the some of the last on my list." He continued once she had caught her breath. "I didn't tell them it was me initially… it wasn't in the protocol, and it would have been more painful for them. But seeing the pain in his sire's eyes and the way his carrier crumpled when I told her the news… And knowing that I had caused it…" The Seeker trailed off. "I felt more regret for my own actions than I had ever felt in millennia. I told them what I did. And I begged their forgiveness. I never expected them to give it to me. But for some reason… they did."

Arcee hadn't realized that she'd been crying. The coolant tears flowed down her cheeks at the story. Starscream had tried to atone for his sins, make up for the loss and destruction he had caused. He was capable of remorse.

She took herself by surprise by grabbing Starscream and pulling him into a sweet kiss. And after the initial moment of shock, Starscream began to kiss her back. He hoisted her up to his level and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He turned, pressing her up against a wall. However, warning bells went off in her mind as soon as her back made contact with the cool metal of the building behind her, but not for the reason she anticipated. They couldn't do this here.

"My apartment…is about a block… from here." Arcee whispered in between kisses. He set her down gently and allowed her to lead the way. She let herself and Starscream in the building and the two raced up the stairs, not caring to wait for the elevator.

She fumbled with her key cards, trying to find the correct one to swipe her into her flat. Once she did, the two bots stumbled in, resuming their kissing from before. Starscream picked her up and pressed her against the wall, and Arcee latched onto his waist once more and circled her arms around his neck.

Starscream moved them both to the couch, laying Arcee gently down on her back, keeping her winglets in mind. Their glossas tangled with each other in a passionate battle. Starscream nipped at Arcee's bottom lip and she smirked against his lips in response, attacking him with more force than before. He moved on to her neck cables and she moaned, her interface panel flaring with heat. Her fingers massaged his wings, making his interface panel tighten and heat up with the same intensity he felt from hers.

His digits trailed down her side plating as they kissed, coming to rest at her hips before they began inching closer and closer to her panel. Arcee matched his actions, moving her own servos to his pelvic plating and tracing its edges and wickedly sharp points. It was an unspoken competition: who'd open up first? They groaned in unison: he as her delicate digits fluttered near his panel; she just as his talons reached the apex of her thigh struts.

But the two heard a throat clear behind them, from the direction of the front door. The startled bots disentangled themselves from each other, trying to see the source of the noise. It was Chromia. The femme who'd wanted her to branch out in the first place was now killing her mood?

"Chromia!?" Arcee yelped in dismay.

"I just wanted to check on you… I never usually have to knock." The femme smirked.

"I can explain." Arcee put a servo to the back of her neck.

"So, I'm guessing there'll be a second date for you two?"

"Ehehe… a safe bet for me." Starscream finally piped up, laughing nervously and looking to Arcee for confirmation. The two-wheeler's faceplates heated as she nodded bashfully.

"Great!" Chromia squealed. "And Starscream, Thundercracker's downstairs waiting for you. He says you both have an early morning tomorrow, and that he hates to be a killjoy, but as much as you'd like to stay here…" She trailed off, not wanting to kick someone out of an apartment that didn't belong to her.

He planted a kiss to Arcee's forehead before he left, with a whispered, "I'll ping you tomorrow," and strutted out the door.

"Anyone but Starscream, huh?" Chromia asked after a pause.

"Shut up."

"Thundercracker knew the whole time, you know. He could see everything through the trine bond he shares with Starscream."

"What!?" Arcee was mortified.

"Don't worry. He didn't eavesdrop or anything. Or at least, he wasn't trying to." Chromia explained. "He could see flashes of some images and feel things Starscream was feeling… and apparently the last thing doesn't happen often. You must have brought out some pretty serious emotions from him."

"Well, he brought out some serious emotions from me too." Arcee sighed, the butterflies in her sparkchamber refusing to cease their fluttering. "I learned a lot about Starscream tonight, things that finally helped me forgive him. I'm giving this a try."

She was eagerly awaiting his ping.