Title: Miles Adrift, Inches Away...: Come Together

Author: pl2363

Series: Transformers AU/G1

Rating: M

Warnings: A little violence, Interfacing (including robot frot?), Sparkbonding

Notes: Thundercracker x Skywarp. Each harbors pent up desire for other, but due to never being upfront with one another, they remain apart. Thanks to Mirage Shinkiro for the beta!

Also inspired in part by Anon Decepticon's seeker fics, as posted on her Livejournal.

Title borrowed and edited from the song 'Broken' by the Unkle:

"Strung out with wings of the dawn
Hole in the black soul in the storm
Torn down through the cracks in the dark
We're miles adrift we're inches apart"

Also... Transformers belong to Hasbro, I am just playing with them.

The POV switches between Thundercracker and Skywarp:

Only you.

Those words were repeating in an endless loop in Thundercracker's processor. He tapped his fingers against the console he sat at, staring at but not seeing the monitors before him. His punishment for insubordination the evening before: forced temporary grounding and being placed on monitor duty. Starscream was livid when he got out of medbay, taking out his own problems on Thundercracker. Although he was fully aware he had crossed the line and said things he shouldn't have, he had also been stupendously drunk. Who would hold someone's inebriated words against them, anyway?

Only you.

He felt a pang in his spark, a strange sensation he didn't understand. Skywarp had been totally trashed. His words...meant nothing, right? If they didn't mean anything, then why was his spark quivering when he replayed that grainy piece of memory file? Skywarp's handsome pale face with lips drawn into an easy-going smile as he so casually said out loud something Thundercracker knew he also felt, but would never admit to.

He shook his head trying to stop the thoughts from coming. A familiar pain started to creep up his neck cables again. His shift only half over, he couldn't afford to get a processor-ache now. He glanced at the series of screens in front of him, trying to focus on something other than his internal struggles with long suppressed emotions.

On one screen, Soundwave wandered down the barracks hallway with all his cassetticons following after him. On another, Megatron in the control room, staring up at the main screen flickering various schematics for an unknown project. On yet another screen, Ramjet and Dirge beating the slag out of someone in the commissary. Thundercracker sat forward, his optics trying to focus on the blurred mech in their grip:

Skywarp.

Why wasn't he warping out of the area? Every inch of Thundercracker's frame tensed for several drawn out seconds as he waited to see Skywarp disappear, but he didn't. His desire to protect the one thing in this war that still meant something to him took over. He shot out of his chair and abandoned the monitor room heading down the series of short hallways to the commissary. Bursting into the area, he crossed over to the brawl and pushed aside the onlookers in his way.

Anger flared deep within his spark as well as his body at the sight of Skywarp's dented frame being continually kicked by his attackers. Without any thought at all, Thundercracker stepped forward and grabbed firm hold of Dirge's shoulders. The dark blue jet turned to look at him, confusion playing across his face. Before the conehead could formulate words, Thundercracker pulled him off his trinemate and tossed him with all his unrestrained strength, rather effortlessly, several meters away. His gaze then shifted to Ramjet, who froze, staring back at him slack-jawed.

"Get your hands of Skywarp, now," said Thundercracker, his voice booming with his barely restrained anger.

Ramjet furrowed his brow, then twisted a section of wing he held tightly with one hand. Skywarp jerked from the pain but didn't make a sound. Thundercracker kept his optics pinned on the white jet and stepped closer. This was the second time this aft bent one of Skywarp's wings. What kind of sick flier would find pleasure in destroying the most sacredly held part of any airborne mech's body?

"One step closer and I'll--" Ramjet didn't have a chance to finish. Thundercracker's fist flew through the air as he closed the gap with one large step. The sound of metal meeting metal made a satisfying crunch that echoed in the room as his fist made contact with Ramjet's jaw. The white conehead flew backwards from the force of the blow and crashed into a table before sliding onto the floor. Thundercracker took up a defensive posture while standing over Skywarp's beaten form.

"What the frag is going on in here!?" Starscream screeched from the doorway.

The gathered crowd dispersed, fleeing the commissary. Starscream strutted over, with a slight limp he was attempting to hide, and cast a suspicious glance at Dirge then at Ramjet. Eventually his gaze settled on Thundercracker. Their optics locked in silent staring contest.

"Your psycho seeker just beat the frag out of us for no good reason!" Dirge yelled as he tried to get to his feet.

"Oooh, I think there was a very good reason," replied Starscream with small devious-looking smile, his optics still trained on Thundercracker.

Thundercracker felt Skywarp's hand on his lower leg. Fingers flexed against him in a strangely tender touch.

Finally, Starscream broke off their locked gaze. "Dirge, kindly gather your wingmate and get yourselves down to medbay."

The dark blue flier grunted in annoyance, but complied and helped the white jet stagger out of the commissary. Starscream watched them until they turned out of sight, then he twisted back around to stare at Thundercracker, again. "I believe you were on monitor duty."

"I was." Thundercracker allowed his shoulders to sink down, letting his defensive posture deflate, although he didn't move away from Skywarp.

"And you are here...because?" Starscream crossed his arms over his chest as he raised a judgmental optic ridge.

"It's my fault!" blurted Skywarp.

They both quickly looked down at their damaged wingmate.

"I find your trinemate's disregarding of my direct orders a mistake that is all his own. That said, I do find it odd, my dear little Skywarp, that you didn't teleport out of here," Starscream said in a condescending tone.

"Ramjet stuck something on my back." Skywarp sat forward and turned at his waist. Sure enough a small round device was attached to the back of his shoulder. "I don't know what it is, but I couldn't teleport."

Starscream started to walk closer, but Thundercracker tensed his posture again, which caused the flamboyant painted jet to stop in his tracks.

"I'll get it," Thundercracker said as he leaned down to dislodge the device, which upon a quick inspection looked like a modified cerebral shell.

"I don't know what you did to torque them off Skywarp, and honestly I don't even care. You can drag your aft down to medbay once they are released. And as for you," Starscream turned his optics on Thundercracker and narrowed them. "I suggest you return to your assigned duty."

Skywarp's hand gently squeezed Thundercracker's leg. A show of solidarity, perhaps? Or maybe a show of affection?

"Dimissed!" Starscream hissed as waved his arm in the air.

- - - + - - -

"Hand me that pair of tweezers," ordered Starscream. His trineleader sat with his face glued to a powerful microscope and extended his hand expectantly. Thundercracker picked up the tool and handed it off.

As if it weren't bad enough Starscream had punished Thundercracker with monitor duty, he now had him standing in his small private laboratory handing him tools like a personal slave. He kept his mouth sealed shut, though. Obviously his recent behavior had angered Starscream more than he thought, and the only way to appease him would be to reaffirm his loyalty. Sadly, that meant standing around like a service droid handing the self-centered glitch tools.

Starscream finally sat back in his seat, frowning. "It failed." Thundercracker didn't know exactly what the microscopic experiment Starscream was running entailed, but he did know that his commander had over the vorns tried different ways of making a renewable source of energon.

Eventually Starscream turned his gaze to Thundercracker. "You can go."

Relieved, Thundercracker made for the door.

"Thundercracker."

He stopped in his tracks and glanced over at his shoulder at Starscream. "Yeah?"

"Do you know why I chose Skywarp?" Starscream looked unusually serious as he spoke.

Thundercracker turned to halfway face him. "He was the fastest flier, and he could teleport."

"No," said Starscream, a smug smile crossing his lips.

"Then why?" asked Thundercracker.

"Because of the way you two looked at one another."

A thick silence fell for what felt like a never-ending klik. What could he say to that?

Canting his head to one side, Starscream's lips curled into a wicked looking smile. "A trine works best when the members are willing to fly, fight and die together. I will not fly, fight or die for anyone but myself. That meant I needed two that would support me. But, equally as important, two that would grow close and be willing to sacrifice themselves for one another. Sadly, Firestorm died before you and he could reach that point. Your loyalty to me didn't waver, even after his passing, though." Starscream stood up and wandered over to Thundercracker. He struck a haughty pose as he placed his hands on his hips. "The reward for your loyalty was getting the flier of your choice. The look on your face when you saw Skywarp, as well as his reaction to you, sealed my decision."

"Why are you telling me all this now?" asked Thundercracker, feeling both angry at Starscream's incredible arrogance as well a little confused.

Starscream frowned at him. "Loyalty, Thundercracker. I'm not sure what has had your circuits in a twist lately, but I am telling you now, straighten it out. I love to fly just as much as you do and, trust me, grounding you brings me no pleasure. Stop acting like a rebellious youngling, figure out what you want, and take it for Pit's sake!"

Thundercracker stared at Starscream for a long drawn out klik. Take what he wanted? What did he want? What was Starscream babbling about? He realized that at least for the moment, he really wanted to leave. "Yes, sir."

Faintly shaking his head, Starscream waved a hand in the air as he returned to his seat at the workbench. "Go."

- - - + - - -

Circuits in a twist, I'll twist his circuits. Thundercracker imagined how good it might feel to punch that little glitch of a commander in the mouth. It had felt pretty good to punch Ramjet. Almost better than pounding the slag out of an Autobot, actually.

What had he been babbling about, anyway? Why did he tell him about supposedly picking Skywarp for him? Skywarp... that touch to his leg, that was a strange new behavior. A shiver ran down his backstrut as he remembered how it felt.

He reached his quarters, entered his code, and proceeded inside. The space was sadly empty. He had hoped Skywarp would be there, but quickly remembered he probably went to medbay. A new wave of anger pushed through him at the image of that mentally defected conehead bending his trinemate's delicate wing with such malice. He walked over to his berth and sat down in an angry huff.

Flicking off his optics, he tried to calm himself. He used to be so calm, so in control. What had changed? He re-lit his optics, realizing he had that thought yesterday, too. Something was different... out of place. Normally he would simply brood silently about things that bothered him, then move on and let them go. Something had changed, but he couldn't quite place what it could be. A painful sensation of heat and tension suddenly flared along the back of his neck cables. Thinking too long and hard about everything had re-initiated his near processor-ache from earlier. There would be no avoiding it this time, though. It came on too fast to fight off, and his whole helm suddenly raged with unrepentant pain.

Wincing, he slid to lie on his side on the berth, pushing his wings behind him. He wrapped his arms around his head and trembled a little from the rush of pain. He finally turned off his optics and willed himself to escape into a recharge.

- o – O – o -

His fathers were yelling, again.

"How could you have spent all the credits I put in that account already?"

"I had to! Somehow you seem to think I can run this household on the meager amount you dole out to me, and I can't! Thundercracker needed his upgrade!"

One father walked to the other side of the large entry way of their even larger home. The other remained leaned against the wall. Thundercracker spied on them from the top of the winding staircase that led to the recharge rooms.

"I didn't want him, you know."

"I'm aware. But that doesn't matter, because I wanted him."

A long silence followed. Thundercracker felt coolant pooling in his optics. He hated when they fought and didn't understand why one father never showed him any love at all. Glancing over his shoulder at his room, he spotted a brand new toy he had picked out as a reward for sitting still during his trip to the medical center for his upgrade, which this time included his wings. He crawled across the floor until he knew neither father would see he had been spying, and then hopped to his feet and ran into his room.

He picked up the unopened box and stared at the shiny label on the front, 'Building Set: Kaon Shopping Center'. Looking past the box, he gazed at the parts of the building sets he already had set up in the corner on the floor of his room: The city center, the transport and train station, and the gardens. As much as he wanted the shopping center to add to his growing city, he also wanted his fathers to stop fighting.

Thundercracker spun around, bounded out of his room, and down the stairs to the bottom where he stopped and obediently bowed his head before his creators.

"His upgrade included wings?!"

"Yes."

"Couldn't that wait until he's bigger? You realize he'll need to keep upgrading in size every deca-orn!" yelled his one father.

"And I told you his spark is special! We start him early he'll be ahead of all the others when it comes to flying skills. He could go far in life if we nurture―"

"Here!" Thundercracker interrupted. Both fathers turned and stared at him. "Here!" He held out the box. "I don't need it! You can take it back. Get the credits for it. I... I'm just happy with my wings."

The father that seemed to hate him so much frowned at him. "You think a toy will offset the price of those wings on your back?"

"I... I don't know."

"Stop it," said his other father, seething. Before he could fix the fight between them, his other father grabbed hold of his shoulder and pushed him toward the stairs. "Back to your room, come on now."

He went back up the stairs feeling defeated.

Once they were in his room, his father shut the door and walked over to where the rest of his mini- sized Kaon sat. "Well, I think this city needs a shopping area, don't you?" He watched his father sit on the floor and wave him over. He complied and slid to sit on his knees beside him. He watched as the new play set box was opened, and they set up the new section of the city. He remained quiet the whole time as his father tried to act like things were fine, making comments about the toy set. It brought him no joy, though.

Orns later, when he was alone, he got a container from his closet and set it on the floor. He wanted to fly. As much as he liked the toys, he would sacrifice anything to make sure he could have the chance to take to the sky on his own power. He scooped up every piece and deposited them into the container. He decided then that he would refuse any toy his father tried to give him again to show his commitment to flying. Maybe that couldn't fix the fighting, but hopefully that would ensure he'd never be refused an upgrade.

- o – O – o -

Thundercracker's wings tingled. He wondered why as his systems started to come online again. Someone was touching them. Lighting his optics, he turned his head slightly to see Skywarp watching him.

"You looked pretty slagged off there for a while," Skywarp said with a forced-looking smile.

He grunted in reply and rested his head against the berth again, staring at the wall. Skywarp stopped petting his wings and grew quiet. Flexing a strut, he pressed his one wing against his roommate. "Don't stop; it felt good."

Hands resumed their movements over the surfaces in slowly drawn circles that stimulated the hundreds of sensors that lined the dermal plating. "Were you having a bad memory file dump?" Skywarp asked.

"Yeah, preceded by a processor-ache."

"That sucks slag."

Thundercracker laughed a little. "It certainly does."

Skywarp's hand trailed over the leading edge of one wing, following the contour slowly. "So...is Screamer still mad at you or what?"

"I don't know." ...figure out what you want, and take it...Starscream's words repeated in his processor. He never got what he wanted, it seemed. Peace in his household, staying out of the war, even Skywarp still felt out of his reach. He glanced back at Skywarp and his spark quivered again.

Pushing against the berth's surface, he sat up and faced his wingmate, whose usual jaunty smile appeared to be missing.

"What's with the dour face?" Thundercracker asked.

Skywarp gave him a funny look. "Dour?"

Thundercracker reached out and playfully pushed down on Skywarp's helm. "You look upset."

"You look upset!" Skywarp's crimson optics flared.

Thundercracker trailed a fingertip down the edge of one of Skywarp's wings.

A hint of a smile crossed Skywarp's lips as he slid a little closer, his optics focused squarely on him.

Thundercracker glanced over Skywarp's frame. His fingers moved to trace over a place he remembered seeing Dirge kick earlier.

"All the dents are gone. I'm not even that sore." Skywarp playfully tweaked at the tip of Thundercracker's wing. "How about we pick up where we left off?"

"You don't need to be drunk to want to 'face me then, hm?" Thundercracker asked.

Skywarp's optics brightened with surprise. "TC, I've wanted to 'face you since the moment I saw you!"

If that were true, then why hadn't anything happened between them until now? Until they were both drunk? That had to be a lie. Pressing his lips tightly together he felt the urge to end this now. Stop it before anything started, before he ended up disappointed again. He dropped his gaze to floor beside the berth, knowing that he might not have the strength to resist if he looked into those beautiful crimson optics of his wingmate.

A ripple of pleasure tingled over one of his wings as he felt Skywarp start to massage the surface. Unable to stop his body's reaction, he shuddered.

"Skywarp to TC...come back from wherever you went."

Thundercracker slowly lifted his gaze. His spark quivered again in his chest as he looked into Skywarp's smiling face and optics that glinted with his playful nature.

"You want to do some wing-play again? Or... maybe I could do something else you'd like?" Skywarp got all the way onto the berth and kneeled beside Thundercracker. He ran his purple hands over his own torso, trailing slowly over the lighter silvery areas of his otherwise darkly painted frame. "You want to see what I do when I'm alone?" Skywarp grinned, then pressed a hand down over his interface panel. After a moment of harshly massaging the surface, the cover clicked open, exposing the array beneath. As much as Thundercracker tried to will himself to tear his optics away, he couldn't. He watched purple fingers trace over the shape of the extended jack, then push down lower and rim the open port below. "I imagine it's you." He lifted his gaze up to meet Skywarp's optics, which were dimmed to almost black, then trailed back down over his beautiful form to see a purple finger slowly pumping in an out of the port.

"Me?" Thundercracker whispered.

"Hmmm....yeah," Skywarp groaned. "I always pretend it's you. Every time I overload."

His spark pulsed so hard in his chest he thought it might come crashing through his cockpit. By sheer force of will be managed to ask the question that sprung to the front of his mind. "Even with...others?"

Skywarp nodded. "Un-huh."

Desire, confusion, anger, and fear all coursed through him at once. A jumbled mess of emotions he had been holding back for so long broke free. In a flash, he got to his knees and pushed Skywarp against the wall beside the berth, pinning him. Their faces hovered so close he could feel the heated panted breaths of his now wide-opticked trinemate blowing over his face.

"TC...?" Skywarp whispered, looking at him in bewilderment.

"I don't want this!" he yelled. "You understand? I don't want you make me feel like this!"

Skywarp trembled, and Thundercracker pressed his body flush to the heated frame trapped in his grip.

"W-what did I do?" Skywarp asked, sounding nervous and a somewhat indignant.

He hadn't done anything. Thundercracker stared into his trinemate's optics, fighting the torrent of contradictory emotions as he tried to figure out what he really wanted. Part of him wanted a peaceful life, but he knew that was impossible. Part of him wanted to tell Starscream what he honestly thought of him and possibly beat the slag out of him, but he knew he needed this trine too much to destroy it. Part of him wanted to be the only one that mattered to Skywarp, the only one to get to touch him... Maybe I can have that.

"I want to be the only one."

Skywarp's trembling stopped and his face twisted with confusion. "Only one, what?"

"Only one you care about. Only one that gets to touch you. Only one gets to have you." He felt his own frame faintly start to tremble.

"You are the only I care about, TC. You always have been."

"Then why didn't you..." he trailed off, too afraid to ask. Frightened by the prospect of being rejected, unwanted.

"I'm a trashy little nobody from the gutters of Vos. You were a fragging Elite class mech! I couldn't just do my stupid flirty crap with you!" Skywarp's optics darkened. "I was happy just idolizing you. Getting to be near you. Knowing you'd always protect me."

For a moment his mouth gaped open slightly with shock, then he snapped it back shut. Focusing his optics sharply, he hardened his facial expression to show how serious he was. "Are you not in the most elite trine in Megatron's army? One of the fastest fliers to take the sky over Cybertron? A powerful fighter? The only one I would ever deem worthy enough to share my berth or my life with?"

"TC..." Skywarp's optics grew wide.

Thundercracker then pushed forward and broke a taboo, pressing their lips together. Decepticons didn't kiss. He didn't care, though, as he opened his mouth to allow his glossa to trace the seam where Skywarp's lips met. Instantly those soft lips parted, and their glossae entwined between. Passion surged forward within his spark, the same type of passion he felt when he was airborne. That's when he finally identified the elusive emotion he felt deep within his spark. The emotion powering the jealously, the loneliness, and the fear... it was love. That is what he truly felt for Skywarp. It had been distorted under the weight of his emotional repression, but he had no doubt now that was what he felt for Skywarp.

Moaning, he pressed his glossa deep into Skywarp's mouth, flicking it against the inner workings. Skywarp snaked his arms around his neck and opened his mouth wider to deepen the kiss.

This is what he wanted, and Thundercracker decided at the moment he was going to take it.

He pulled Skywarp away from the wall, their lips still locked together, and clumsily turned them sideways to fall back against the berth. The kiss broke with the impact, and Thundercracker immediately looked to the side at Skywarp's injured wing.

"It's fine. Come here." Skywarp threw his arms back around his neck.

Meeting the lustful gaze of his trinemate, he shifted to completely press his body against the one under him. He hesitantly leaned down, brushing his lips over Skywarp's before engaging in another kiss. Skywarp happily melded their mouths together again, and their glossa met in between, playfully pressing and wrestling for dominance.

Skywarp's legs parted, and he felt them wrap around his hips, gripping tightly as he ground his exposed interface array against him. A low moan escaped Skywarp's vocalizer, one that Thundercracker happily swallowed in their long, deep kiss. He then rocked his hips against Skywarp's rubbing the extended jack against his closed panel.

Breaking the kiss, Skywarp gasped and rolled his head back against the berth. "Teee-ceee..." he moaned wantonly.

Thundercracker pressed his mouth the exposed neck cables and sucked at one, while sliding his hand down between them to undo his interface panel cover. With a quiet snap, it opened. His jack had already been pressing to be released from its confined space and extended fully. He gripped both his and Skywarp's jacks with his hand and squeezed and rubbed them together. They both gasped at the sensation that it produced.

Skywarp writhed under him, bucking his hips to increase the friction between their jacks as they slid against each other in his dark hand's grip. Thundercracker groaned and pressed his forehead against Skywarp's chin as he gave in completely to the blissful sensations that racked his frame.

"Jack into me, TC... I want you. I need you..." Skywarp begged, his voice husky and ragged- sounding.

Thundercracker did as he was asked, letting go of his hold and pushing up to position the tip of his heated jack against the entry to exposed port. "Tell me I'm the only one," he said, his own voice sounding strained.

"You are!" Skywarp cried out.

He pressed into the port, his jack sliding into the heated sensor-laden space slowly. He wanted to enjoy every second of this and be sure Skywarp did too. The younger flier whimpered and bucked against him insistently. He pulled back, then pressed in again, this time deeper. He locked his gaze on Skywarp's face, contorted with pleasure. "Tell me you care only about me."

"You're the only one I care about!"

Thundercracker pulled back only to push in again even deeper. Skywarp cried out and moaned all once, coming totally undone before his optics. He was utterly beautiful, splayed out under him writhing with pleasure.

He picked up his pace, pumping in and out of the port with a steady rhythm, totally captivated by the sight of his trinemate under him. Although this was part of what he wanted, he knew he also wanted more: To confess the hidden love he now knew he felt within his spark. "I want to share more than my berth with you," he said as fear washed over the edges of his processor.

Skywarp's dimmed optics focused on him. He opened his mouth, possibly to reply, but moaned instead.

"I want to share my life with you."

"Whatever...you want..." Skywarp eventually replied between heavy pants.

Thundercracker leaned forward so their cockpits touched, while he continued to push his jack deeper into Skywarp with each thrust.

...figure out what you want, and take it...

His cockpit split open, exposing his spark to the younger flier. Their rocking motion came to slow stop as Skywarp stared at the pulsing light. Thundercracker watched the yellow-tinged glow of his spark's light play across Skywarp's face and its shocked expression.

"TC...you..."

"I want to share my life with you," he repeated. The fear of rejection, of not being wanted felt like a black cloud hovering over him. He knew if Skywarp turned him down he would have nothing left at all, but he needed the assurance that they were in this together. He wanted this more than he had wanted anything in his entire life, more than even his wanting to learn how to fly. All or nothing now. No more middle ground where he settled for what he was given. To take what he truly wanted for once.

Skywarp's glassy cockpit parted, exposing his own spark. Thundercracker smiled as he saw how quickly it pulsed, the sign of a fast flier. Glancing up their optics locked in a gaze.

"You sure?" Thundercracker whispered.

Skywarp nodded. "You are the only one I trust."

Those words sent a shiver over Thundercracker's dermal plating. He then pressed his chest right against Skywarp's. Tendrils of their sparks reached outward to touch and wind around one another. After a moment, they pulled together, pulsing quickly against one another until they synched up their speed and then merged into each other.

A white hot spike of pleasure, much like the feeling of reaching an overload, took hold of Thundercracker's whole body. He shuddered and moaned at he felt Skywarp become a part of him and he a part of Skywarp. Emotions poured freely between them, and he could literally feel the amount of trust the younger did place in him. He responded in kind, pushing his deeply hidden love into the light of their sparks. Skywarp responded by revealing an equally intense love. The sensation of their mirrored emotions melded together, and they both excitedly shared the joy of revealing their true feelings to one another in such a direct, uncomplicated way. Emotions that words failed to properly convey flowed between them easily.

He was suddenly plunged into a section of Skywarp's memory files: Images of siblings, of a dirty small household, of two adult-sized mechs spark merging, of an older brother carefully pouring out small amounts of energon, and the burning sensation of an empty fuel tank. 'I was nothing, TC. I was an accident...'

Thundercracker opened his memory files to the look of hatred he battled his entire sparklinghood. All the things he tried to do to please those menacing optics that looked at him like he was a horrible mistake, something to be ignored until it went away. 'I wasn't wanted.'

'I want you, TC... I need you.'

'I need you, too, and you are special to me.'

In a flash a surge of energy from their combined sparks took over and exploded between them. An overload like no other came crashing through his entire being, and he cried out and shuddered almost violently over Skywarp. Euphoria permeated every corner of his being as he sunk down against the heated frame beneath him and slipped offline, a smile plastered across his lips.

- - - + - - -

An unusually happy hum thrummed through Skywarp's entire being as he slowly came online. His processor was totally at ease, and his systems seemed to all be running within optimal ranges. Even his spark seemed to hum happily, despite his not being able to fly in days. As all the information from the various parts of body was processed, he picked up on two things that felt out of place: One, warmth against one side of his dermal plating; and two, a thread of energy inside his spark that didn't feel like his own.

He let his optics light, and he looked to the source of warmth. Thundercracker lay pressed against him, already online and watching him with his head propped up on hand. A memory file backlog suddenly reminded him of the incredible overload from the evening before. He furrowed his brow, remembering it hadn't been by interfacing alone, either, but by spark merging. No wonder his creators did it all the time; it had been the most incredible overload he'd ever had. He flashed a bright grin at Thundercracker, whose face remained locked in a stoic stare.

"Holy slag, TC, I think you melted my internals last night."

Thundercracker lips quirked into a frown. Why did he look mad?

Skywarp reached out to playfully push at his trinemate's shoulder. "Don't you dare tell me that overload wasn't incredible!"

"It was." Thundercracker moved to wrap his other arm around Skywarp's waist.

"Then why do you look like we just got our afts kicked by Autobots?" Skywarp asked as he started to frown back.

The strange thread of energy within his spark suddenly flared with worry and fear. Skywarp touched his cockpit curiously.

'We bonded,' Thundercracker replied. Skywarp snapped his optics to Thundercraker's face. Had those words been spoken out loud? They sounded like they came from within.

"Bonded?" Skywarp repeated as he stared intently at Thundercracker's lips.

"Yeah..."

The only bonding he knew about had to with their trine. It had been almost a vorn since last time they all took part the ritual petting of wings and unspoken promises of protection. "Oh," he said softly as he tried to equate their sharing of sparks with a flier ritual in some way.

"Sparkbonded. We sparkbonded, Warp! Don't you get it?" As his trinemate spoke, Skywarp felt the thread flare again with the sensation of worry and a fear of rejection. It dawned on him then that those weren't his emotions.

"Wait!" Skywarp sat up on his elbows. "I just felt your feelings inside my spark!"

"Yeah. It's a sparkbond," Thundercracker replied. "You don't know what a sparkbond is?"

Skywarp shook his head slowly.

"How did you get through the Academy without learning about it?" Thundercracker's face contorted with disbelief.

"I skipped classes a lot. I only liked the flying ones." Skywarp grinned brightly.

Thundercracker sat up, looking even more upset, and scooted to the end of the berth. A feeling of impending doom momentarily flashing over their new connection. Skywarp sat up and stared at him, unsure of what the problem could be.

Not willing to let Thundercracker slide away from him so easily, he shifted to sit beside him, crowding him against the end of the berth and wall so he couldn't escape. He shoved his face into his trinemate's line of sight. "What is your fragging problem now?"

Thundercracker lifted his scarlet optics to stare at Skywarp. Hurt and fear drawn across his face. "It's new... we can dissolve it still."

"Why would we do that?" Skywarp smiled at the elder, grabbing hold of the thread and pushing his own affectionate feelings over it. He watched Thundercracker's optics brighten. "You think I was lying last night? You think I don't love you?"

Thundercracker's face hardened, trying to not show the underlying emotions he could still feel trickling through their bond. The elder felt unwanted and only valuable so long as he attended to another's needs. Skywarp pushed closer, his chest pressing against Thundercracker's leg that he had pulled to his chest.

He grabbed a tight hold of the thread inside his spark and pushed his love over it. "See?" he whispered. "I don't want to break it or dissolve it or whatever..." He remembered the words spoken between their combined sparks, the assurance that he was special to Thundercracker.

The elder leaned his head forward to press against Skywarp's. "You really want to keep it?"

"Yep."

Thundercracker's lips curved into a guarded smile and a small swell of love poured back through the bond, which felt amazing to Skywarp. How in the world could he think Skywarp would change his mind? Thundercracker was beautiful, graceful, a powerful protector... and now all of him belonged to Skywarp.

"We can't tell anyone. Especially not Starscream." Thundercracker reached out to sweep his fingertips gently over Skywarp's face. "We'd get slagged in short order for being soft-sparked."

"Just me and you, all the way, TC."

He watched the guarded smile on Thundercracker's face bloom into a full genuine one.

'I love you, Warp.'

That time he didn't see Thundercracker's lips move which meant one thing: he spoke over their bond. Concentrating on the thread of the new connection Skywarp pushed his reply back. 'Love you, too. You sexy slagger.'

Thundercracker gave his shoulder a small shove as he let out a small laugh.

This was the start of something new and exciting. Skywarp didn't know much about bonding or sparks. What he knew for sure was that he did love Thundercracker, and he planned on not letting him forget it.

A/N- This is the end of this three part story, which turned out to be the prologue to a longer story that I am working on. I do hope to post the follow up at some point soon. I don't like asking for reviews, but it's helpful to get feedback. So if you like it, please tell me why, and if you have helpful things to also say please do. Thank you!!