THIS STORY CONTAINS SLASH and will not make sense unless you read AMBROSIA first. Just saying this because I don't want people jumping down my throat about Unicron's characterization before they see that I've developed him up to this point.

.o

"I win."

"Damn you! OHH!"

"Mm, you're smoking."

"I'm sm-OOH! Are you trying to kill me here?"

"There are worse ways to die. Like this one--"

"OHHH--Unicron...oh--you bastard...OH!"

Starscream struggled to stay in a handstand. His balance was precarious at best, and made even more wobbly by the long, talented tongue dancing spirals over his cone. Wave after deliciously tingling wave coursed through his neural network like light gradually illuminating his innards. Unicron held his legs apart from behind while treating his cone like a piece of rust candy. He'd found the sweet spot within Starscream's sweet spot--and Starscream bucked as a nearly continuous overload jangled his system.

"First one to climax loses? I suppose this means..." Unicron gave the cone one last, long lick that sent Starscream shrieking all over again, "I win by light years."

"Argh!" Starscream moaned, twitching helplessly. "I'll explode if I have another one!" He waved his arms in mock submission. "Mercy! I beg you!"

The hands holding him up eased his body to lie on the ground.

Starscream flopped into Unicron's shadow, spent. He smiled as his golden companion bent down and rewarded him with a smoking-hot kiss. Primus, he loved Unicron's full, soft mouth and how it made him tingle...

"I thought you knew better than to challenge me." Unicron looked down his nose, "Whoever has the first overload loses...what a foolish game."

"You liked it."

One corner of the dark god's mouth lifted and amusement inched his rich voice half a degree from deadpan. "Watching you writhe pleases me. Especially when you call out my name..." and he started to softly imitate Starscream's orgasmic cries, "'Oh, Unicron...ohhh...ohhhh...ohhhh...'" while slowly crawling up towards the Seeker's head. "'Yes, yes...'" their bottom lips touched, "'yes.'"

Unicron's move threatened to excite Starscream all over again. For an instant he could only stare in awe as those predatory optics bore into his own--

Mine, those eyes said, You are MY love.

--and when their lips touched, his Spark compelled his fingers to reach up and trace Unicron's smooth, perfect cheek. He found himself covered in gold as his lover hovered above him. Once in awhile the posture still caused him a flicker of old memories--but his kiss always washed them away.

That mech had the most iron control of his sexual arousal Starscream had ever seen. He overloaded Starscream three times without overloading once himself. Now all the built-up sexual desire swirled like electric twisters behind his smoldering gaze.

Starscream's silver optics glimmered in mischief. Suddenly, he scooted under Unicron's body and wrapped his lips around the access port Unicron hadn't bothered to retract--the fact that he left it open at all did Starscream's Spark good...it meant he felt safe.

Unicron, being on his hands and knees, couldn't do a thing to stop Starscream's ambush.

Nor did he try.

"Consider this payback," whispered the Seeker. He wrapped his arms around Unicron's waist and used his fingertips to paint imaginary art all over his back. Sparks gushed from the port and splattered on his face, betraying Unicron's desire.

"Unnnh...Starscream," Unicron gasped, arching his back. His upper body lowered as he rested his forehead on his fists. Each exhalation of his intake system sent hot air wafting over Starscream's helm. After a bit he started leaning more to the right. Then the lights in his abdomen blazed and his writhing wing array snapped like whips against the ground. "Ssssssstarscr--OH..." His mouth stayed open while his voice faltered. Overload bloomed through Unicron like an explosion. Starscream could almost measure its progress by watching which parts of him stiffened. It started in his midsection, spread through his right side, took over the left, flooded his wing array...his face was always last to contort.

Looking up, Starscream saw Unicron's visage pinch tight, his optics flaring red-white and his lips spasming away from his fangs in exquisite agony. Each breath cycle carried a soft groan.

Then, with a last twitch, Unicron clenched his teeth and snarled to signal his overload's completion. Starscream's favorite sound in the universe. So...powerful and possessive...and he was the only one allowed to hear it.

Starscream grinned and kissed the port, using his lips to nudge it back into its housing. "Guess that makes me a sore loser, huh?"

Unicron flashed an upside down smirk that made Starscream's Spark flip over in its chamber. Starscream felt a hand grasp the back of his neck and yank him up. Lips still alive with static worked their way across his throat.

"You are a sore loser." Then, from somewhere within Unicron's digestive tract, there came a growling, metallic belch. Unicron covered his mouth as his avatar reacted to the gas burst. "Great, methane. I'll be belching for hours. And that last moon--"

Starscream chuckled, meeting Unicron's eyes, "I can't believe you're still complaining about that last moon tasting funny. You had a gourmet meal and the last moon..." He grinned, "a wimpy little crumb of a moon! Haven't you digested it y--"

"I'm about to process the moon right now. It isn't my fault I had to come back and feast on those planets again...the system is old. The inhabitants kept moving from planet to planet...their time is over, but they foolishly refused to accept the inevitable. I...had no choice." His optics dimmed in momentary guilt that he quickly brushed aside. "Besides, you're the one who complains when your energon is too sour for your palate."

"Heeeeeeey," Starscream nipped Unicron's pouty bottom lip, "I have very refined tastes. Rust, oil truffles, your crotch..."

The dark god snorted in amusement, pulled Starscream to his chest and flopped over onto his back.

Starscream felt the ground shake as Unicron started to process the moon he groaned about earlier. The lights dimmed until the Spark in Unicron's glowing core provided the only illumination. He glanced at Unicron's face and--yup--he'd fallen asleep. He always fell asleep after a meal that size.

Smiling, Starscream touched his lips to Unicron's glistening cheek, pushed off and headed down to watch his amazing digestive system.

After five years it was easy for him to find his way around Unicron. Never again did he lose himself in the maze of corridors. He was all smiles when he stepped into the gigantic room of moving parts, pulsating pouches, metal slabs and gurgling tubes.

His smile dropped the second he saw the silver-blue powder already processed and entering the giant pipe in the middle.

"Unicron! Stop! The moon was a trick!" Starscream dove at the nearest tube and yanked with all his might. Useless! "Unicron! It's cadmium! It's poison! Reverse!"

Cadmium pellets--like arsenic to humans--were a dirty, underhanded way to kill a mech. Ground into powder and sprinkled in an energon drink, mixed into a flux cake or even dust inhaled by the intake system were all ways of introducing cadmium into a mech's body. Just one pellet the size of an adult human head would shut down the minute nuclear fission responsible for converting energon into fuel, causing a mech to starve with a full tank. Cadmium poisoning was not a peaceful way to die.

By scale, Unicron absorbed enough to do serious, if not fatal damage. He was about to get sick. Very sick.

Unh, Starscream?

Starscream covered his mouth so he wouldn't cycle the tainted air. "Vomit! Now! Before you--"

...it's too late...I've already processed at least half of it.

"How in the pit could you not notice cadmium?" Starscream snarled, clutching his head in anguish, "HOW?"

A masking signal. I was baited...fooled. They were expecting me to eat their outermost planet first. Had I done that, I would be in my death throes instead of making love to you.

Tears leaked down Starscream's vermillion cheeks. His hand muffled his voice, "You...you idiot...you should have checked--"

I did. My scans said iron the whole time, Starscream. The lights flickered. False...atomic numbers...false...readings...

"Stay awake!"

I can't.

"Unicron!" Panic knotted a chilling fist in Starscream's throat. "You--you didn't take it all in yet--"

Starscream...get out of my stomach...sealing...

The entire room shuddered. Doors began to close. A pained groan echoed between the walls. Unicron's entire digestive process slammed to a stop. Everything fell so silent that Starscream heard the slosh of liquid settling. Only one fuel pump kept running, its soft whir the sole signal indicating life. One pump out of six. It barely moved enough energon to feed Unicron's little finger. His body was so massive and required so much energy that his true body needed a constant energon flow. Without it...

Gasping, Starscream bolted through the last open door and sprinted towards the core of Unicron's being. He spared no sentimentality as he pulled his wing blade, sliced a hole in the glowing rock and leapt through. Layer by layer, he slashed, desperation painting every frenzied movement. The last wall was like putty. Starscream cut carefully, and only enough to squeeze himself into the small space.

Unicron's Spark pulsed and crackled in irregular intervals. The dais was empty.

Reflections of orange tubing shimmered in Starscream's optics. He followed their coiling lines to a tiny golden shape lying spread eagle on the ground.

Unicron looked like a doll someone cast off as useless. He'd tangled himself in his own neural network. Sickly yellow liquid left his umbilical line a bloated, disgusting mess.

Reaching out, Starscream lightly touched Unicron's legs. "Unicron? Can you hear me?"

No response.

Starscream untangled Unicron's limbs from the wires, careful not to disconnect any. Then he turned Unicron over and gingerly picked him up in his cupped hands. The Mini-Con's red optics flickered. Starscream rejoiced inside.

"Unicron! It's Starscream...can you hear me?"

Chimes twinkled. How did you...

"I had to cut my way in. Who cares about that...how much cadmium have you absorbed?"

Unknown.

Unicron's face drew up in clear pain. His umbilical line ran in reverse. It meant pumping waste through his body, but spent energon had to be better than a gallon of cadmium. The tube pulsed until the poisonous bolus no longer threatened to enter his body.

It fooled all of my filters. Even... he looked up at the placenta-like bundle on the wall, the last one. I am in total disbelief. I... his optics flickered.

Once again Starscream felt mech fluid well in his eyes. He slid to sit and cradled Unicron to his chest. "Don't you die on me."

Ignoring his statement, Unicron looked up. Cut the umbilical line.

Starscream obeyed without question. A flick of his wing blade severed the delicate lifeline. Energon poured from the stub in Unicron's stomach, but, remarkably, the piece connected to the wall didn't bleed a drop. The Mini-Con's chest heaved as he sucked air into his tiny intake system. Starscream elevated and pinched the tubing, trying to staunch the flow. His innards felt like ice, like everything he was bled out with the energon oozing through his fingers.

Unicron grasped Starscream's pinkie in his tapered fingertips. His head started to loll sideways. Starscream...you have such beautiful hands. I could lie here forever in these pillars of creation...I dream about your hands. I dream that you create me anew...

"...and you're going to keep dreaming those things," Starscream whispered. He slid to sit and rubbed Unicron's cheek with the side of one index finger. "You hear me, Unicron?" He took Unicron's hand between a thumb and forefinger. "Don't die."

A faint smile tugged Unicron's full mouth. Never, my love.

He slipped offline. His intake cycles were so slow...so dangerously close to ceasing altogether...and his Spark shrank with each pulse. Its surface was so thin that Starscream could see the energy scarring on the opposite side.

"Unicron, I'm right here," Starscream said softly, tears welling in his eyes. He cursed his helplessness in the face of the situation. "This can't be happening...you can't go out like this, damn you! It's...not fair!"

There was no response. Not a twitch or even a flutter.

Starscream felt a stretching sensation in his own Spark. Like something pulling away, fading, going slowly dark. Unicron's little body started to dull.

...No, Unicron! Don't you leave me!

Distant thudding sounds told Starscream that Unicron's giant body was working in reverse to expel the offensive material. But his real Mini-Con body tried to pump energon with no umbilical line to feed it. Lilac fluid began to leak through Starscream's fingers and drip onto his blue and silver legs.

Primus...there must be something I can do. He's dying! I wonder if... Starscream looked down at himself and his spirits lurched at an idea. Insane, dangerous...but a beacon of hope.

"Just hold on, Unicron. I've got an idea. If you can hear me--hold on!"

Redundant wiring in his arm served as a tourniquet for Unicron's umbilical cord. Starscream made sure it was tight before laying Unicron gently on the dais. Then he retracted his cockpit canopy and began tugging at his own internal components. He had two fuel pumps--the main one much like a heart and a smaller secondary to help the fuel flow to his lower body. The secondary pump had four lines--two inlets and two outlets--made of flexible material meant to expand and contract depending on the temperature and energon flow. He gritted his teeth and disconnected the set leading to his left leg, pinching the tips so he wouldn't bleed himself out. Oh, that hurt to do...

The secondary pump tubes were only slightly larger than the ones in Unicron's natural umbilical line. Now, praying that the connecting pins would fit, Starscream married his fuel lines to Unicron's.

Please, let this work.

He released the tourniquet. Fresh energon flowed into Unicron's starving body and waste flowed out to be cleaned through Starscream's filtration system. The seal wasn't tight and energon still leaked out, but only drops compared to a steady flow.

"Okay...come on now...fight back. Live. You have to live." Starscream eased Unicron's shaking body back onto his palms. Unicron fed him countless times...and now here he was, offering his body as a life support system. Right then he'd give Unicron his Spark if it meant keeping him alive.

The minute cadmium cycling out of Unicron's true body made Starscream's fuel tanks ache. For him it wasn't a fatal dose...just enough to cause indigestion and a headache. Minor discomfort compared to Unicron's precarious condition.

Sensations of love and belonging flowed through their bond. Even in unconsciousness Unicron managed to express himself. No longer did he hide behind cloudy walls of apathy. He'd even begun talking a little about his early life--the parts he wouldn't show through their lovemaking. Only briefly, a sentence here and there, yet the images his words painted were nightmares no living creature should experience.

How anyone could harm such a delicate being was beyond Starscream's understanding. He let his silver eyes rove over the pencil thin limbs and tiny hands and feet. And that little face...a face that should smile in merriment always bore endless sorrow.

Unicron remained insensate. His optics flickered as he tried to wake up, but he didn't have the strength. Between every flicker, his half of the bond stretched so thin it bordered on snapping apart.

Starscream rubbed Unicron's chest with his thumb, using touch to reassure him that he wasn't alone. If these were to be his final moments, he wanted to at least comfort him all the way to the end. Every so often he'd dip his finger in the energon dripping off their joined tubing and use it to paint a glowing sheen on Unicron's mouth. Each time he did, Unicron smacked his lips and the tiniest tongue Starscream ever laid eyes on flicked out to lap up the fluid.

He tried not to let his worry slip through their bond. He thought only of positive things like painting, sunsets and the calm sensation of togetherness.

Finally there came an hour where Unicron's sputtering optics managed to stay online. He looked around with the dim gaze of a bot suffering delirium--a common symptom of cadmium poisoning.

S-Starscream...where are we?

Leaning over, Starscream cupped Unicron between his hands so he'd feel safe. The icy panic in his belly made his voice waver, "We're in your core."

It is so dark outside, Unicron shuddered. Don't leave me alone in the dark...terrible things happen when I'm alone in the dark.

"There's no need to worry. I'm not going anywhere," said Starscream. Somehow, he mustered a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay."

The little bot was asleep again in seconds.

Starscream slipped his index finger under Unicron's delicate hand, which barely spanned the width of his fingertip, and rubbed his thumb back and forth over his tapered digits. He turned the hand over and stroked its palm before bending down and nuzzling it with his lips.

Please, Unicron...live.

.o

Time moved inexorably forward.

In three days, Unicron's Spark slowly regulated itself.

The death rust threatening his armor disappeared on the fourth.

On the fifth, Starscream stopped feeling a strain on their bond.

Just before midnight of day six, Unicron assured his improving health by waking up long enough to squeeze Starscream's fingertip.

Starscream stopped counting the days after a week. His left leg ached from the slow energon flow...sometimes he had to stand up and walk just to keep the joints from freezing up. He was eternally glad he always kept a month's worth of rations in a panel on his side. It allowed him to nourish himself, and in feeding himself he fed Unicron as well.

He didn't dare sleep for fear of Unicron waking up delirious. Though he'd helped Unicron escape the cadmium, he was still connected to his giant body, and his giant body suffered with the poison in its system. Since he felt everything his massive outer shell did...Starscream likened it to symbiosis gone horribly wrong.

Unicron did manage to transform. During a moment of lucidity he informed Starscream that he was in intergalactic space--safe from black holes or stars--and there were no planets in danger of the sickening pollution he vented into the void. Good idea...his emesis equated to entire oceans in volume. All he had to do now was process through the poison still in his system and he'd be all right.

Starscream wished he could shoulder rather than merely feel the pain via their bond. It hurt like acid and lightning each time Unicron's massive outer shell dry heaved or jerked into seizures that made his Mini-Con self shake in agony for hours at a time. For a brief period he had no motor control at all--seeing his limbs twitch and writhe like serpents scared Starscream more than anything. He just hoped all the wiggling around didn't propel Unicron's real body somewhere unsafe.

One morning...or was it afternoon?...Unicron jolted into a sitting position, red optics blazing and limbs stiff.

Starscream's hopes rose. "Hey, you're awake!"

He looked up at Starscream and began to...cower. Discordant chimes filled the tiny chamber around them.

"Unicron?"

Horror crossed Unicron's visage. He's in my cables! And he twisted, wrapped a hand around one of the orange wires attached to his back and yanked, trying to pull it out.

"No!" Starscream grabbed the miniature mech's arm. Terror drew icy lines through his innards. Those wires were Unicron's nervous system and disconnecting them was the same as decapitating a human--instant death. "Unicron! Stop!"

He wants to enter me! He...will hurt me...I must disconnect! I must...

"No! Unicron, no!" Near panic, Starscream wrapped his fingers around Unicron's body like a straight jacket. He almost broke down crying at how the Mini-Con thrashed in his grasp. "Unicron...it's Starscream. Primacron isn't here. He can't hurt you. Hey...hey..." He drew him close to his chest. "There's nobody here except me."

He will take off my limbs! He will leave me in the dark!

"No..."

He will pour acid down my throat! He will...he...wants to take a soldering iron to my port...he wants me to scream...to cry... Unicron's face contorted and he sobbed like a Sparkling, his cries as piercing as bells crashing to the floor, I don't want to polish his jack! I don't want to sit on his lap...I don't want his hands or his jack or his tongue on me... his voice sounded so strange. High pitched, shaking, crying, nothing at all like the cold, collected god he was eight days ago.

The honest, sheer terror in Unicron's convulsing Spark reached across their bond. Dark splotches, his scars, slithered through his essence like black lightning and sunspots. Starscream felt the pain of each and every one pierce him. Was it the scars themselves or the cadmium? Unicron's muddled state made it impossible to be sure.

"Primus," he whispered, "Unicron..."

He laughs in my dreams. He laughs and laughs... more sobs, ...it's dark out. I'm frightened. I'm frightened!

"Shh," Starscream kissed the top of his golden helm, aching for him. He struggled to keep his smoky hatred of Primacron from crossing their bond. "It's okay, it's okay. Shh...it might be dark out there, but I'm sitting in the dark with you."

Please don't let him hurt me. Golden tears spilled over the black stripes on Unicron's silver cheeks. He began to squirm again. It's so dark outside...he will find me! He is Dark, he will find me!

Starscream grew desperate. He was already holding Unicron as tight as he dared and the little mech kept writhing, possibly hurting himself in the process.

Please! Please...

"Here..." He placed Unicron in his cockpit and closed the canopy loosely enough to let Unicron's neural lines dangle out the bottom. Unicron lay sprawled against his bare chest components. Starscream looked down at him through the yellow Plexiglas. "That bastard won't touch you in there."

Unicron stopped flailing. His tear-streaked face gained a glow of childish wonder, the same expression he bore when he first saw rain.

Promise?

"I promise." Mech fluid blurred Starscream's vision. "You're safe inside me."

Thank you. Unicron's voice sounded a little more normal again, albeit trembling. He settled himself down on the doors of Starscream's Spark chamber, probably drawn to its warmth. His body seemed to possess magnetic properties--he stayed in place even when Starscream sat up and buried his head in his hands.

Primus, Unicron...that was terrifying! And it was even worse because he couldn't leave this chamber to see how Unicron's giant form progressed in its cadmium purge. I don't know what to do. What do I do? You've always known what to do...

It took ten minutes for Starscream to calm himself. Panic wouldn't do either of them any good.

Starscream peered at his chest and wondered if Unicron ever felt a sense of awe at having another person live in his body. Keeping the love of his life right over his Spark brought forth emotions Starscream never experienced before. A connection beyond their bond...a sensation of being completely one. They were literally inside of each other. As close as interlocked fingers falling together in shadows.

Most mammals gestated their young inside their bodies for a short period. Starscream wondered if this was how pregnancy felt. Did Unicron feel this...wholeness...during the century long interim where part of his body became an advanced incubation chamber?

"I love you," whispered Starscream. He stroked his cockpit as if petting the tiny being within. "Get your aft better so I can kick it for scaring me."

Starscream... was Unicron's reply, his voice softer than an echo. Raw emotion wrapped around Starscream's essence like a vocal embrace. Hold me.

Looking down, Starscream smiled. "I am."

Unicron shifted, his movement a faint, soporific tremble. Could you watch Welder for me?

"But he--" No, it wasn't a good idea to try and correct a delirious bot. Starscream chewed his bottom lip and forced out his response, "Sure...I'll keep an eye on him."

He will need rations soon. Little guy...doesn't know how to...how to feed himself quite yet. You have to...hold him...and hand-feed him with the dipper. It's right next to the pool under my heart. Add carbon dioxide first. Welder...likes his energon... He started to trail off, his speech slurred into a slow rumble, ...carbonated...

"Oh, he likes bubbles?"

Yes.

Starscream nodded. "Okay. Rest up then. I'll take care of things."

Mm. The glow in Unicron's optics faded as he drifted back into stasis.

.o

A flutter brought Starscream back to awareness.

Back to awareness? When did he slip offline? How long did he sleep? He checked his chronometer and gasped. He'd been unconscious for nearly forty-eight hours!

"Unh," Starscream stretched his painfully stiff leg.

Movement in his chest again. A tapping.

Starscream?

Starscream looked down at Unicron, who was bright-eyed, alert and knocking gently on the inside of his cockpit canopy. He instantly came to full alert. Hope rose like helium around his Spark.

"Hey, Unicron! How are you?"

I feel like a supernova went off in my microprocessors. Unicron replied in his typical nonchalant voice. He rubbed his head, frowning. But I'll live.

Sitting up, Starscream watched Unicron crawl out from under his canopy. He did have magnetic properties--he stood on Starscream's side as easily as he did the ground. Starscream felt every step of those little, tickling feet as they walked across his chest, down his arm and planted themselves in the middle of his palm.

"Wow, cool."

Hm? Oh, well I always did consider my personality rather...magnetic.

"Primus," Starscream groaned while his Spark threw a private celebration. Unicron spouting dry jokes meant he'd improved, if not recovered altogether.

Hm. Unicron's optics paused on the fuel lines before rising to meet Starscream's. You...risked your own body.

"You were dying. I had no choice."

Were you here-- his solemn silver face caught the light, --the whole time?

"I never put you down once." Starscream frowned. "What do you remember?"

Unicron scratched his head. Myself telling you how I love your hands. Everything else is a bit--blurry. Now, he pointed to their joined fuel lines, just sit still while I correct this. Your body isn't built to feed two people.

"It kept you alive. That's all I care about. You--scared me. I thought I told you never to do that again."

Unicron used one finger to scratch his bottom lip. His mouth quirked. Mm, old age. Memory always goes first.

Snickering, Starscream leaned back against the wall. Unicron was definitely doing better.

"You mumbled about Welder at one point."

Did I?

He nodded. "You said something about feeding him carbonated energon."

A soft, gentle warmth swelled through their bond. Embedded in the emotion was an image of Unicron's avatar seated on the edge of the energon pool. He pointed to a lever near his foot. Welder somersaulted from somewhere out of view and timed his roll so his backside depressed the switch. Bubbles made the energon sizzle. The purple carbonation sent Welder chirping and clapping his hands.

Unicron's image didn't smile, though his eyes softened when he dipped the dipper into the sizzling pool. It was a small, clear dipper with a spout. He gathered Welder into his lap and gently placed the spout in his mouth. Welder's white face absolutely lit up like a child tasting a favorite treat. He laid back and his azure optics dimmed while he contentedly slurped his fill.

Then, in a purple flash, the memory was gone.

He never did learn to feed himself...but he knew how to feed his little brothers. He loved doing that. I used to tell him what a great helper he was. Unicron gazed at him, his expression unreadable, Seeing you paint that day so long ago...you looked just like he used to. So...carefree...just like Welder. Just like...me...

For one split second Starscream wondered if Unicron was still sick out of his mind. The clear, crimson eyes peering up at him said otherwise.

He parted his lips to ask more, but the orange cables on Unicron's back shortened, lifting him up to the piece of umbilical cord Starscream cut earlier. When Unicron reached for the fuel lines connecting their bodies, Starscream braced himself for a gush of energon--but Unicron kinked the hoses with his legs before pulling them out.

It hurt, having that closeness end. Starscream saw Unicron descend towards him again and lifted his canopy to grant access to his internals.

"The red plug is outflow."

Unicron shot him a half amused, half annoyed look. I know.

Of course he would...he practically gestated it that way.

Then he faltered and wobbled on his spindly legs. Starscream cupped his back, instinctively trying to protect him from falling.

"Easy does it, Unicron. Let's get you hooked up before you pass out on me," he said, pulling Unicron's umbilical line together. The injured edges melted into one and purple fluid flowed through. Unicron perked right up like a wilted flower gaining new life.

Thank you. I haven't moved around this much in at least an eon. Sometimes I forget that I am not that massive thing people see coming to devour their world.

"You...are not a 'massive thing'!" Starscream cried. How could Unicron refer to himself in such a way? "You never were! Big or small, you're just Unicron, my bond-mate. Nothing more, nothing less, and I'll love you even after old age extinguishes my Spark." He felt heat rising into his face and looked up, smiling. "I know I won't live forever like you will...I won't even try. You'll still be going strong long after I rust away--"

The day you die, Starscream, Unicron met his optics in dead seriousness, will be the day I die as well.

"What?"

It's simple. I'll take a direct course into the nearest star and pull out the wires in my back.

"But...why? That's crazy! Why end your life when--"

There is no life without you, Starscream, because you are my life. The time before I glimpsed you on Cybertron...that...was a nightmarish nonexistence. But this... he cupped the tips of Starscream's thumbs and his optics shone like jewels, ...here, now, this is what I live for.

Hot tears welled in the corners of Starscream's optics. Long ago, Sideways mentioned Unicron was in the act of suicide when he first saw Starscream's art. He spent all that time waiting for just one moment--and maybe eternity was just a Spark-beat in the grand scheme of the universe--but he waited all that time for this, for what they had now.

The depth of Unicron's love opened like a newborn universe. A boundless, endless light with no borders to define or contain it.

Starscream cupped his hands around Unicron's back. "I'm not in any hurry to drop dead. Just thought I'd let you know."

Unicron chuckled and Starscream felt miniature lips kiss the edge of his thumb. The wing shells on his back rose. He held up his arms and smiled, asking to be held closer. Starscream's silver eyes softened--that smile belonged on those lips, it never should have been robbed from that wonderful little face. Starscream pulled the most precious person in his life to his chest, cupping him in a two-handed embrace.

I remember little of the sickness...some is slowly coming back to me, however...and each time I woke up I saw your face...Starscream...

Starscream felt those perfect, tapered hands caress his mouth. He looked down just as Unicron stretched upwards and kissed his bottom lip.

This body is not a painful reminder when you are near. Another kiss, Please... one more fluttering brush of his lips, grant me one small request?

"Sure." Starscream leaned over and smiled. He was still hopelessly tired...but recharge could wait a few more hours. "Anything you want."

.o

Colors swirled in a silken glide against the blackness. Starscream spun with both arms protracted, bringing life to the void. He looked to the left and grinned at the smiling figure perched on his palm. Clouds of creation surrounded him in spirals and light.

Starscream was painting a dark nebula resembling three pillars standing amongst the stars. He'd seen photographs of it taken by humans and it was one of many things that tickled his desire to start painting again...even though it took meeting Unicron to turn his desire into action.

"Having fun?" the Seeker asked.

That tiny smile grew to light up Unicron's silver face. For once he used a mental projection of his real body. No longer was he limited by tubes and wires. He raised one hand to feel the deep green wafting off Starscream's index finger. It generated a wake that left swirls in the otherwise straight line. I'm very pleased.

Starscream held Unicron above his head and performed a slow pirouette without thinking about it. Dance and color were as natural to him as water and swimming to a fish.

And knowing it made Unicron happy brought him joy as well.

I want to try.

"Go for it," Starscream opened his fingers.

The delicate Mini-Con sprang off his outstretched palm, extended both arms and spun a pirouette of his own. He hung in the air like a soap bubble. White holo-paint wicked from his fingertips and began to wrap into itself. A miniature galaxy took shape around his body. It was crude and one-dimensional...but the fact that Unicron painted it made that little smudge special.

"Try arching your back--" he watched Unicron's body curve, "--now curl one arm up and forward...yes!" His Spark throbbed at the golden spiral Unicron's body became. "You're dancing, Unicron."

I'm dancing?

Starscream performed the same elated spin, "Just like this...just like me."

I'm...dancing! Pure emotion transformed Unicron's voice from a cold monotone to something warm. Something alive. Starscream, I'm dancing!

Then Unicron laughed.

He laughed and it sounded like thunderous rain pounding into parched earth. He laughed and Starscream's spirit rejoiced in its music. He laughed and the shame Primacron inflicted upon his innocence shattered into shards of memory.

Unicron brought his arms close to his body and dropped back into Starscream's hands. He held his stomach, his mouth drawn up into a huge, almost silly grin that would have looked utterly ridiculous on his giant avatar. One delicate hand rose to rub down the middle of his face. Then he peeked out between two fingers, laughed again and laid back with a relaxed sigh.

I remember again, Unicron gazed at the galaxy he painted in the center of Starscream's nebula, I remember how it felt to play...to run and laugh as if nothing mattered. Oh, Starscream...

"Unicron?" Starscream leaned over. The emotions seeping through their bond made his throat ache. Elation...pure elation. Nothing could contain his mind or his desire to simply feel everything.

...Like falling with no ground below...

Red eyes glowed steadily in the misty darkness. Starscream...

"Hm?"

I want you to touch me.

He paused. "Touch you? Do you mean...?"

Yes.

Starscream's fuel tanks sank. Unicron was so fragile and small. He'd never forgive himself if he injured him. "I'm--I'm not sure how. I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

I won't break. Unicron kissed the edge of Starscream's fingertip. Then he reclined obsequiously on the Seeker's palm. My greatest fantasy is to overload while lying in your amazing hands, Starscream. I'm asking you...this once...to make it real.

It was always Unicron making the first move...now, here he was, asking to be loved while at his most vulnerable.

A slow smile brightened Starscream's face. Their Spark bond let him feel the burning arousal vibrating through Unicron's body.

He eyed the scratched, battered mech lying across the part of him that created so much beauty. After only a moment's pause, he traced his fingertips over that precious fragility. Trying with all his might to paint love into the scars marring Unicron's golden armor. Then he stroked his arms and legs, finding a strange solace in how Unicron's fingers splayed and curled from his touch.

Unh...yes...Starscr--UNH! Ooh, Unicron gasped and panted, making delighted cooing noises Starscream never heard before, More, please...your touch is--exquisite!

Starscream lowered his head and ran his tongue along the outer edges of Unicron's shimmering wing shells. Unicron's mouth fell open and he rubbed the side of his own face, his body trembling like a leaf under gentle rain. Starscream treated the other shell the same way before folding his thumb over and lightly massaging the access port between his spindly legs. Sparks of the hottest violet poured onto his palm.

Mmm--oh! Unicron's legs clamped around Starscream's thumb joint. Starscream!

Starscream nuzzled his lips against the Mini-Con's horned helm and exhaled, "Open your chest."

The plates lifted apart without hesitation. The miniature Spark within had no scars--it pulsed pure white. Unicron grasped the edges of his chest panels and met Starscream's eyes. The smoldering look in his optics expressed unimaginable desire.

Love me, Starscream.

How could Starscream resist? He knelt because it felt right and brought Unicron close to his face. His lips offered benedictions against his beloved's essence as he bathed him in the breath of his adoration. He felt a miniscule hand grasp the end of his nose, the fingers so fragile it was amazing they could hold anything at all without shattering.

Unicron tried to speak, but couldn't find his standard voice. The only sounds he managed were musical moans. He repeated the same noise over and over--mellifluous hums and sighs like a wet finger drawn over the rim of a wineglass. The music came from him, not the walls.

"You're beautiful," Starscream whispered against Unicron's body. He sent all his love through their bond. One of Unicron's arms reached back to grasp the middle finger curled above his head. His red abdominal lights flickered and his limbs stiffened. He tried again to formulate words and only managed an octave-long trill.

"Shh, it's okay. I know," Starscream closed his thumb and middle finger around Unicron's free hand. He parted his lips and breathed on him, smiling into his eyes, "I love you, too."

Unicron's face clenched and his vocal processor struggled on a single word-- S...St...Suh...S-StarSCREAM! --as his body arched in unrestrained release. Static sizzled across his limbs and spilled from his port. His melodious cries rang out to fill the darkness. Only a god could sing that way--it didn't matter whether he was three feet or several thousand miles tall--there was no love song more passionate than the one Unicron sang in the height of his passion.

He did not pause for breath after his orgasm. His image dissolved to golden sparkles that coalesced into his rugged, taller avatar. He advanced on Starscream like a storm without once breaking eye contact.

Our love is a never-ending overload.

"Yes..."

Starscream found himself ensnared by a rapturous force. Love had him hopelessly intoxicated and he never wanted to be sober again. It compelled him to rise and twirl into Unicron's waiting arms. Neither spoke as he danced into, through and above that embrace, dropping down again in time to be pressed against the ground. Unicron covered him like an eclipse and his kiss was hotter than a solar corona.

And to think how close he came to never feeling that kiss again. Starscream held Unicron's face in his hands and repeatedly pecked his pouty lips. Under no circumstances would he ever take that kiss for granted.

"I love your mouth," he muttered after each lip-lock. "I love it..." He bit down gently, "...love it..." Another nip, "...so much," he turned his head and tasted the smoothness within.

"This mouth loves you right back," Unicron's lips smiled into his cheek and Starscream felt them tickle a winding path destined for his throat. Hard and soft met between Unicron's fangs and the warm air he exhaled directly into a seam in Starscream's armor.

"Mmh, Unicron..." Mech fluid welled in his eyes.

Unicron caught the tears on his thumb. "What?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Starscream snorted, "You almost died! I'm sitting here, trying to pretend everything's okay...but you almost died..."

He felt Unicron nudge his jaw with his lips. The golden mech didn't say a word--the gesture alone coaxed Starscream to relax and cry everything out. Unicron lapped his tears up like offerings.

"You were so sick, Unicron." Light from the nebula painting sprinkled itself across his careworn features. Tears made his eyes a two-toned mix--silver speckled in gold. "I felt so--helpless!"

"I know," came the whispered reply, "Shh, it's all right now." A large, strong hand cupped the top of his head. "If it makes you feel any better--I'll recognize that false signal if I run across it again. I won't be fooled twice."

"Humans have a saying about a situation like this...something like 'that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger.'" Starscream's lips quivered. The pit of his fuel tank was cold with twisting anxiety while growing arousal spread warmth around his Spark chamber and cone. What a queer sensation, coldness amidst heat. Unicron's silky glossa swiping the tears off his cheeks sent the hot and cold crashing together like a storm.

"Ah, humans..." Unicron whispered in his audio sensor, his voice a current that soothed the ache in his Spark, "they have entertaining television signals. I could watch soap operas all day."

"Ugh, Unicron, soap operas?" Starscream bit back a sob.

"The clichéd plots are amusing. Like the character Stefano DiMera, for instance--how many times must he fake his death before it gets predictable?" His amused rumble made Starscream's circuits tingle. "What do you watch, Starscream?"

"I--ooh--I like cartoons, myself." He trailed two shaking fingers over the back of Unicron's neck, causing him to repeat that rumbling sound. "I will say this--humans are creative in that department. Makes me wonder if hearing that Bender mech say 'bite my shiny metal ass!' will ever get old."

"Mm, I wouldn't mind biting your shiny metal--"

Starscream dragged Unicron into a kiss, cutting him off, "Neither would I."

They kissed that way for several moments, getting slowly lost in the rushing, retreating heat of each other's lips.

"Imagine if we were animated figures somewhere." Starscream mused amidst lip-locks. "Would anybody watch us?"

"As long as nobody draws my head disproportionately large, who cares?"

Unbidden, Starscream's mind produced images of Unicron with a head so huge it dwarfed his body and attracted planets into orbit.

"Cute, Starscream. Real cute," muttered Unicron.

Starscream, still crying, burst out laughing and buried his face in Unicron's throat. Laughing and crying at the same time...what a queer feeling! The middle of his chassis felt as if someone dripped sugar water on his sensors. He could almost taste the sensation with his Spark.

Next thing he knew, Unicron had tipped his face up and brought their lips together in a swirl of warm tongues. Their fingers interlocked. He sighed, remembering how precious Unicron looked asleep in his cockpit. No living being had ever resided inside his body before...and he missed that feeling.

We're both so fragile in our own ways.

"But where one is fragile, the other is strong." Unicron butted in. Once again his voice was a cool, stony monotone, like water settling after a disturbance, but Starscream would never forget hearing his laughter. He still felt its echo in the light shimmering over Unicron's eyes.

"So..."

Unicron quirked a brow. "Yes?"

Starscream bared his Spark and smiled when Unicron did the same. "First one to overload loses?"

"Fine." Unicron brought their Sparks together. Static crackled between their bodies.

Mewling, Starscream clung like a Sparkling and melted into the burning lips blazing trails over his throat. "Ohhh, Unicron..." He bit his lip, trying to resist. Trying to fight himself--but Unicron just felt so good. "Mm, you're sparking hard and--" he had to open his big mouth...the second he spoke he felt Unicron release a port pulse that sent him right over the edge. "Oh...Unicron-OH! Primus, OHH--grr, dammit...cheater--UNGH!"

"I win." Unicron snickered against his neck. "Again."