AN: So yes... I finally got round to updating/writing again (for more information see my profile notes).

Anyway back to Skywarp (this chapter follows on from the prologue) and you guys are just that tiny bit closer to figuring out what happened to him before the end of last chapter. :)

Skywarp had been having a pretty scrap day and he didn't know why. For some reason his usual enthusiasm for mayhem, destruction and sadism was absent.

Instead he felt like his tanks were churning and his spark felt heavier than he'd ever felt it be. He hadn't even known sparks could feel heavy until the feeling was applied to him.

To top it all off, his warping was slightly off. No, not the warping itself, rather it was the energy consumption of the warp. It was way off its usual scale. The usual margins for error during the energy transfusion were around one percent, any higher than that and he had to go to Starscream for recalibration. At the moment the error margin was fifty percent!

So now he had to go see his wonderful trine leader in his good mood and have to sit still for hours on end. It wasn't fair; he hated being immobile for any length of time unless it was for a really painful trick on someone.

Then again it could be worse. He could be going to see the Constructicons and while Starscream was annoying, at least he knew what parts of Skywarp's body to take care around, like his wings, which Hook apparently didn't. Or Hook was just a sadist. Either way, Skywarp was sort of glad he didn't have to see the 'Structies. Even if they were more competent than Starscream and could fix almost everything (according to legend the Autobot Hatchet could fix everything).

Starscream did not look pleased to him. Then again Starscream never looked pleased to see Skywarp.

"What is it Skywarp? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

No, Skywarp couldn't. "The energy transfusion for my warp is way off Screamer. It's fifty percent off the normal readings."

Starscream scowled at him. "I just recalibrated your fragging warp generator a week ago. What in slagging Primus's name did you do to it to get it to malfunction so quickly?"

Skywarp scowled right back at him. "Oh, you know, there was a battle. Might have fragged it up that way."

Starscream's face went that particular kind of sour when someone else was right and he wasn't and he stalked back into his quarters. The doors didn't shut behind him so the teleporter took that as an invitation -well as close to one as Starscream would ever give- and followed his Commander.

The Air Commander was one of the lucky few on their ship-turned-underwater-base to have reasonably sized quarters- a right afforded to him by his rank. It was another reason Skywarp avoided going to see Starscream; showing jealousy of anything the latter owned or achieved only inflated his trine leader's ego more, which would eventually lead to a disaster of some sorts.

The large quarters meant that Skywarp could quite comfortably stand in the room without his wings bumping in to anything while Starscream gathered some complicated-looking bits and bobs. Skywarp had no idea what they did and didn't care unless they would help him in some way.

One such thingy made an insistent buzzing sound when it was pointed at Skywarp. Starscream frowned at it and, still frowning, told Skywarp to recalculate his mass.

Huh. Well that was an odd request. Skywarp hadn't had any attachments in vorns and they were usually almost instantly calculated in with his warps.

However his processor was telling him after a few pre-programmed calculations that he had gained some significant weight. More significantly it had happened in the last week, apparently it had been a slow growth, almost like-

"Oh Screamer," Skywarp faux-moaned in an admittedly terrible imitation of a human femme's voice, "Maybe I'm getting fat!"

"Oh I would hope not Skywarp," Starscream snarked, apparently completely unimpressed with Skywarp's mimicry, and continued fiddling with what looked like a scanner.

Said scanner made a bleep sound (which Skywarp would somehow have to program into someone's voice box someday) and his trine leader stared at it with one of the most stupid expressions he'd seen on Starscream for ages. And that was saying something, considering the amount of stupid stunts Screamer had pulled since they had arrived on earth.

Suddenly Starscream burst into manic cackles, the type that never boded well for anyone involved. "How on Cybertron did you manage to get yourself sparked?"

Skywarp stared at him dumbly while he tried to process what had just been said.

Sparked? Him?

Oh no.

Of all thethings is could have been, it had to have been a sparkling.

And not just any sparkling either- it'd been sparked by the head of Autobot Spec Ops, third-in-command of the entire Autobot army.

Now all of that Skywarp could just about have tanked. After all that just meant the sparkling was going to be extra sneaky, which Skywarp could definitely get behind.

More of a problem for Skywarp's dignity and standing was that he'd been sparked up by a grounder.

Uh oh.

He'd be the laughing stock of the entire Armada for vorns!

And looking at his hysterical trine leader in front of him those vorns were going to start right now if Skywarp didn't do anything about it. Think Skywarp, think!

Except he hated thinking and wasn't very good at it.

Wait- this was a medical emergency, well of sorts, and for medical emergencies Skywarp usually went to the Constructicons. They could get rid of the horrible thing, and if they asked why he didn't keep to it he could just say something smart like "War is no place for sparklings." It would make him at least sound like he'd thought about the whole thing instead of going "Eww grounder sparkling: Do not want!"- therefore being a good reason for a visit to the med bay.

And that was all the reasoning Skywarp needed to warp out range of his Commander's gleeful cackling.

Ten minutes later a dejected Skywarp stood in front of the entrance to the bridge. The visit to the Constructicons had been not very good.

He'd told them the problem he had; had given them the little one-sentence speech and had waited for their verdict.

Hook's nasty grin was echoed in his gestaltmates' ones. "Oh I'm sorry Skywarp; it seems we're not able to help you in this matter. Maybe you should bring it up to Lord Megatron."

So maybe they were paying him back for a lifetime's worth of practical jokes, but most, well some, had been really funny (although thinking about them- and there was that stupid word again- not that many seemed as hilarious now than they had back then) and this was a medical emergency!

Now he'd have to face Lord Megatron's judgement on the matter. With the entire bridge watching. Oh and everyone was going to find out about this, everyone!

His reputation was shot.

AN: So what do you guys think happened to Skywarp/according to this chapter will eventually happen to him? Was it a villain? Is there a villain? Any thoughts guys?

Just a footnote on abortion and Skywarp's attitude towards it: I haven't thought very much about how abortion would be viewed in Cybertron's society (pre- or during the war), and as such it is treated rather lightly here (seeing how this is melodrama and crack), but I personally do not agree with Skywarp's reasoning (i.e. basing his decision to abort his sparkling around how his standing in society would be affected by it/the identity of the co-creator), and I think if someone chose to abort their child this would be one of the worst reasons to do so.

Skywarp's also panicking and not very good at thinking (as has already been established).

TL;DR: Abortion is a bit too complex a subject for crack, melodrama, and Skywarp's brain.

Eli