Author's Notes- Hello again. Here is the first chapter of my tentatively named 'Truce' fic (if anyone has any better ideas for a title I would would be very grateful for them). I wish to thank peppymint, Darkness413 , Confuzzled-Neko and poisonouswaffle'n-stuffs for their reviews/favourites of Imperfections I can't tell you how flattered and happy I am with them. Also, thanks to all those who read it- 128 Hits and 108 Visitors- I let out a high-pitched squee when I saw that :-).

Beta- the lovely Kibble Beast.

Warnings- Violence and Transformer swearing. (Later chapters- Major Character Death and torture- the Decepticons being themselves. There will be individual warnings with each chapter).

Set post-ROTF

Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters.

I will be using some G1 and Armada characters and ideas.

Offlined/ permanently offlined/ deactivated- death

Optics offlined/ temporarily offlined- recharging/ passed out

Units of time:-

Astrosecond- 1 second

Klik- 1 minute

Cycle- 1 hour

Orn- 1 day

Decacycle- 1 week

Meta-cycle- 1 month

Solar cycle- 1 year

Little Notes:-

- Commed speech is in bold.

- I visualise Starscream's wings as slightly bigger than in cannon.

- Seeker trines hatch over a period of three orns- one each orn. The oldest is the trine-leader.

- Should a Seeker lose his trine members then he/she will slowly die unless they enter a reconstituted trine and will be in pain until they do.

Chapters will vary in length but won't be below a thousand words.

Hope you all enjoy.

Truce

Chapter One- Wings

Locked away in his lab, Starscream moaned feebly as he tried to patch himself up. It wasn't fair, Primus damn it. He had been good. This time he had behaved and been obedient. The mission he had been sent on had been successful and he had returned with his trine loaded down with energon.

He snarled as he attempted to fix his wing- what was it the humans said? Damned if you do and damned if you don't? A fitting sentiment considering today. Thundercracker, Skywarp and himself had been sent with some of the other Decepticons to attempt to gather the precious fuel for themselves and the remaining hatchlings. They had attacked a power station and had begun to collect energon as per orders when the Autobots, a fairly small number- with Prime obviously missing (should have noticed- Primus why didn't I notice? Why didn't I realise?)- had predictably attacked.

Starscream allowed himself a brief snigger; a few of those Autobots would definitely not be fighting another orn. They had actually won! For the first time in far too long. Or so he had thought…

On his return to the base Starscream had landed gracefully with barely a scratch on him, still exhilarated from battle. The Nemesis was silent.

He sighed whilst he sipped a bit of high-grade to build up his nerve before returning to attempting to fix his terribly damaged wings. If it had been anything else he'd have gone to Hook but… his wings. Arguably the most brilliant- and most vulnerable- part of him, and Hook just couldn't or wouldn't be gentle with them. The medic was only to be trusted if absolutely necessary. He also couldn't go to his brothers for fear of worrying them.

Starscream buried his helm in his servos for a moment. Should have noticed how quiet it was but the others were so loud. Not that he could really blame them as he had been the same. They had all been crowing their victory through the comm link and out loud. Some of the younger ones had done loop-the-loops (before being reprimanded by their elders to have more dignity and to have more care considering the energon they stored inside of them), though secretly the veterans too had ached to join their sparkling-like antics, and so had allowed them their fun for a few precious moments. It wasn't often they had something to celebrate after all.

The Decepticons had stored the energon in extremely high spirits, morale given an unimaginable boost: they had caused Autobot losses but every single Decepticon that had departed with Starscream that morning had returned with him in the afternoon. It also had the pleasant effect that the others had gained a bit more respect for the Air Commander and his leadership skills. He had left the others to finish storing the energon and had been walking along the corridor, chatting animatedly with his trinemates, when they heard the missing members of their faction crash into the Nemesis.

Starscream's joy had faded the second an enraged Megatron roared his name. His trine put their servos on his shoulders and squeezed supportively. As they walked hurriedly towards their leader, Starscream began to shake, and unnoticed by others, Skywarp began to stroke his left wing for comfort. As they reached their destination they were already in their expected positions: the Air Commander in the middle, Thundercracker to his right and Skywarp to his left a step behind him. They stopped and forced themselves not to gape. The other half of the Decepticon army lay, some literally, in pieces before them. Before Starscream could ask what in the Pit had happened, a relatively unscathed Megatron had stormed up to him and punched him across the faceplates. He had stumbled backwards but was caught by his trinemates- who had disregarded Megatron's disapproving snarl- and given him a push back upright.

It hadn't made any difference really. Megatron had grabbed him by the wings and had dragged him screeching to the leader's private chambers. 'Master?' he had whimpered from the berth-room floor where Megatron had dumped him, 'please Master, what have I done?' He was sure he'd been good; no treacherous plans, no insults, not even a disrespectful tone when he had been briefed that morning- he had decided recently that, at least for the present, it was unwise to go for power. Besides, he was happy with his trinemates, his brothers, and didn't want to lose them either by being terminated himself or… by Megatron executing them to punish the Seeker. He had no wish to lose his little family when they had only just returned to him after centuries apart. For that he was content to be subservient and respectful to the silver mech. Too little too late maybe but he was willing to try.

Starscream pulled himself into a kneeling position and stared at the floor, helm submissively lowered yet as he listened to Megatron rant, his optics had widened. It had taken most of his willpower and self-control to keep his claws from digging into his metallic palms. He and the others had, unknowingly, been used as a diversion while the remaining Decepticons had attacked their real objective. His rage withdrew into the back of his processor, borderline terror taking its place when he heard a change in the larger mech's tone.

Loud and raging he could handle- it meant Megatron wasn't really focussing on him- but it had suddenly gone cold, and the nail in the coffin had been Megatron addressing him by name in that chilling tone. It meant punishment was coming but for what? He had done to the letter what he had been told without question or complaint- and he had succeeded. To think he had actually been looking forward to writing his report; he hated reports! They were time-consuming and confining, trapping him in away from the sky. If he had known that most human schoolchildren had homework every night he may have felt a tiny bit of sympathy for the young fleshlings. But of course he didn't, and human study was the least of his worries at this moment. As it was, he had tried to remain silent as Megatron stalked towards his kneeling form.

'Please Master, it was not my fault.'

'It's always your fault.'

Starscream hadn't gotten another word out before Megatron had taken hold of his wings- the Seeker only managed a few astroseconds of panic before his leader shredded the appendages with his terrible claws, slicing through them like the Seeker had cut through the clouds not a cycle earlier. The agony stole his voice for a moment- then he emitted a scream that temporarily shorted his vocal processor. Despite slumping to the floor, his CPU instantly panicked when he heard an energon whip power up.

'Master!' he shrieked, 'please Master I-'

The first lash hit where his wings were connected to his back. Then the blows rained down on the remnants of his wings and wherever else was vulnerable. He had begged and pleaded, even tried to tell the Decepticon Commander of his- now small- success, blurted out apologies for something that wasn't his fault.

'You always fail me, Starscream,' Megatron had growled, powering the whip down and looming over his sobbing second. 'Get out of my sight.'

Starscream's spark clenched. He hadn't failed, not this time. Still, he'd crawled out of his Master's quarters and headed slowly for his lab (leaving a trail of energon in his wake) for a private breakdown and to mend his ruined wings. On entering the code to let him into the lab he had dragged himself in and then, finally, had allowed himself to temporarily offline from the pain.

He looked down and realised that energon was pooling beneath him- he knew he had to work faster. Eventually the Seeker was back to what, with a little bit more work, could pass for normalcy. A bit bruised and battered but, not including some lingering damage, relatively whole. On his own it had taken him cycles but it was worth it for the privacy and for the sanctuary of the laboratory Megatron had given him.

Considering his repairs, Starscream was alarmed to find that his legs weren't obeying his orders to get up. He gave up and slumped on the tarpaulin he was leaning on when he realised it wasn't a mechanical fault; he just didn't have the will yet to leave this safe place. He rolled on his front to make sure that the weight wasn't on his recently damaged back and, using his arms as a pillow, shut his optics off and tried to get a bit of recharge.

Megatron paced his room irritably, abruptly realising his second's energon was coating the floor. Not only that, but he was trekking in it. He growled, then turned around and stormed from his room, suddenly wanting to see just how badly his second had done with his task. As the Commander raged through the halls of the Nemesis, he once again contemplated finding the imbecile and draining his life force so he himself could feed off it. It had briefly occurred to him while he had been punishing the lowly mech- but then he had been distracted by Starscream's sounds of suffering. Music to his audios. He smirked- then frowned, puzzled: Starscream's behaviour had been suspicious of late. He was… behaving and being respectful without scorn. He couldn't remember the Seeker having ridiculed or criticised him in decacycles. What was that brat up to?

Megatron emerged into the storage facility to find Starscream's trinemates silently putting away the energon which had been abandoned when the Air Commander's team had heard their comrades arrive. Primus. The previously almost empty shelves were now about three-quarters full and there was still more to stock. Megatron wandered in, staring hungrily and not a little dumbstruck. For the first time in what had to be solar cycles the little slag hadn't failed him. He knew he had punished the other mech undeservedly but he had needed to release his anger and tension somehow and no-one was better for that than Starscream. The large mech's optics narrowed and he stormed forward, picking up Skywarp by the throat, almost crushing it. 'How many mechs did that worthless piece of scrap lose to achieve this?'

'None sir,' Thundercracker answered proudly.

'He ordered you all to flee then, did he?' Megatron answered snidely. Dirty little coward.

'No, Lord Megatron.'

'No?' The Commander stared at Thundercracker, lost for words, and loosened his hold on Skywarp's throat.

'We scrapped the Autobots that attacked us, My Lord,' Skywarp threw in, eager to defend Starscream now he could speak, 'all of them.'

Megatron nodded, seemingly in some kind of daze, before turning on his pede and walking out, not noticing the two deadly glares aimed at his back. Rationally, he knew it had not been Starscream that had cost them this battle, but Soundwave. He had misjudged how many Autobots would go to defend the plant Megatron had sent Starscream to, as well as just how valuable the area they had been truly targeting was when he had proposed this plan to Megatron.

He had counted on Prime being there but both he and Soundwave had agreed that Prime would send some of his more powerful mechs to Starscream's position because of his status as Megatron's second. Although a few key players were absent from Megatron's field and presumably now permanently offline, Ironhide, Ratchet and most of the others had come to Megatron's battle. Was there an information leak in the Decepticons? He thought briefly of Starscream as a candidate- then dismissed it. It wasn't his style and he wouldn't do anything to endanger his trinemates, that much Megatron did know about his Air Commander. Suddenly, Megatron halted in the corridor. There was something strange and foreign in his circuitry and he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

The Decepticon hurried to his private quarters so he could think, and sat silently staring in the dark, the scent of Starscream's energon hanging in the air. Megatron sighed gruffly, any further anger he felt fading. With Prime and the Autobots he could try again, he could always try again, but with Starscream... Although he loved the sounds of pain that only Starscream could seem to make, deep in his processor he acknowledged that this situation was ridiculous. Starscream was his SIC and his Air Commander and he needed him in top condition when they fought together. Memories trickled through his server and he began to wonder just how many battles had been lost because he himself had weakened Starscream- and through him all of the Seekers- beforehand? His expression darkened and he brooded for a while. Coming to a decision, he strode from his rooms, summoning an underling through the comm link to come and clean up Starscream's energon whilst he went in search of his Seeker. Perhaps the two could come to some arrangement. The brat seemed to be behaving: perhaps if Megatron offered a promise not to hurt him in return for keeping the behaviour up, his Seeker would agree. He hoped pragmatically, but with a cynical amusement, that Starscream hadn't managed to repair himself yet; then he could tend to the flier and it would encourage the trust that had been lost (not just tonight, but thousands of solar cycles since), to regrow.

Hope you liked it and the next chapter will be up soon.