(And now, Chapter 7, the final chapter….)

Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.

The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be

Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

Shakespear's Macbeth; Act 1, Scene 4

The water in the reflecting pool rippled and shimmered as the cascading spray from the fountain met its surface. Starscream stared down at his own reflection, a liquid image broken and distorted by the swaying water. But that was a lie. Inside himself, he knew his face looked broken because his spark was. Megatron had played a hand in that, but now would Unicron too? He wore in his expression the feelings he felt inside.

The words Arcee had said to him back at the medical bay played back through his processors. She was right; he couldn't let this happen to himself, not again.

Starscream nearly jumped at the sudden hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to stay out here all night? The party's in there," Thundercracker inquired.

Optimus Prime's celebration was in full swing, but Starscream didn't feel much like joining the others. Too many questions were coming his way and he was beginning to get irritated and impatient….. How are you doing now? Did Unicron really appear to you? What are we going to do about Unicron?

"I know," Thundercracker said knowingly. "They're just trying to make conversation and be helpful, they're scared too."

Starscream exhaled. "I look different TC," he remarked, still staring at the water reflection.

"Well, this isn't exactly a clear picture Star," Thundercracker tried to reason.

"TC," Starscream said, turning toward his trine mate, "I just wanted to be happy. I thought Megatron could give me that, and then when Unicron appeared, it reminded me of how things used to be between Megatron and me, before everything went wrong."

"Unicron lies, you know that Star."

"I do. Now that the dark energon has been removed, I can think things through more clearly now."

"Come on Star, let's go back to the party, there's no sense in you staying out here all alone. What if Unicron showed up?"

"Ok, you're right," Starscream huffed.

Thundercracker chuckled. "I know how it must pain you to admit that," he joked.

"You have no idea," Starscream laughed.

The two of them walked back toward the entrance of the cultural center where the party was being held, Thundercracker's arm draped around Starscream as he patted him gently on the wing.

They walked into the party and knew immediately something was wrong. There was no laughter, no chatter, no music, just silence. In that silence, the gathered crowd simply stared with held breath as Unicron manifested himself.

"No, not now, not again," Starscream pleaded, backing away.

"Unicron," Prime's strong voice carried through the room, "Surrender now, leave Cybertron and never return!"

The great God's head turned slowly from Starscream, his gaze settling on Optimus Prime.

"Under what authority do you justify commanding a God, your God?"

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of this planet and of the new Cybertronian alliance of the Autobots and former Decepticons, you will surrender peacefully or be forced to."

"That is doubtful Optimus Prime," Unicron spoke, "It is your surrender that will come tonight."

Prime's knees suddenly buckled, he struggled to remain standing, finally being forced to the floor, kneeling before Unicron.

"You will ALL bow to me," Unicron roared, forcing those that were still standing to bow before him. They were frozen in place, unable to move, all except Starscream. He glared at Unicron, expression pleading for mercy.

But none would be granted.

"Why do you resist me, my angel?" Unicron spoke softly. His voice curled through Starscream's audio receptors like a smooth song. "Why did you separate yourself from me?" he questioned, referring to the dark energon that was no longer with Starscream.

"I….," Starscream stuttered, fumbling to find words.

"It's ok angel, I know you're afraid, but I can take away that fear my beautiful Air Commander," Unicron cooed. He continued to move closer to Starscream until he was gently stroking Starscream's face, tracing his lips. "Close your eyes Starscream," Unicron whispered softly. Starscream did as commanded, his frame tingling as Unicron's power began to dance over it. "Let me take your fear away," Unicron purred softly, "Don't you want me to?"

"Yes," Starscream breathed.

Unicron smiled. "I know you do angel. I will kill them all," he gestured to the crowd kneeling before the two of them, "then we can be together and you will be mine. Tell me that you're mine."

"I'm yours," Starscream sighed.

"Tell me I'm your master," Unicron whispered, tracing Starscream's chin with a silky touch as he pressed their lips together, drawing Starscream into a deep kiss.

Unicron suddenly stiffened, a jolt of sharp pain running through him as he let out a guttural cry.

Starscream smiled as he twisted the matrix of leadership deeper into Unicron's spark. "No, no more masters," he told Unicron, "just leaders," he said as he glanced over at Optimus Prime. "I bow to no one," he told Unicron, "it's a shame you've mistaken me for someone I used to be. I don't need the power of anyone else anymore."

Unicron let out a gasp of breath, struggling to keep his form manifested. His optics went dark as he disappeared, fading into nothingness.

"I can move now!" Ratchet exclaimed.

"Me too," Knockout agreed.

"Same here," said Shockwave.

"The plan went off flawlessly," Optimus told Ratchet and Shockwave. "It was good thinking on both your parts. Starscream, we all owe a lot to you for carrying this through. It must have been hard for you."

"Maybe a little," Starscream replied, "but after talking with Arcee, I knew this was the right thing to do."

It had been Ratchet and Shockwave's idea to design a box to hide the matrix of leadership's signal from Unicron. He had never sensed it on Starscream when he approached him. It created the perfect opportunity for Starscream to eliminate him with it.

"Are you ok Starscream?" Arcee patted him on the back.

"I'm glad this is finally over, I'm fine," he replied.

Skywarp grabbed Starscream, embracing him. "I don't want anything to ever separate you from us again," he said.

"Neither do I," Starscream reassured him. "I'm here to stay, you and Thundercracker are my trine and my family, nothing could replace you."

"Well," Knockout said, "if I remember correctly, there was a party going on here before Unicron showed up, I say, let the good times keep rolling."

"Why not," Optimus agreed. "I propose a toast," he said, raising his cube of energon, "to our new alliance and to new Cybertron, may we always live in harmony here on our renewed home."

And everyone raised their energon cubes and drank to that.

(This was an interesting story to write and I'm glad a lot of people enjoyed it. This was different for me because I normally write Starscream as a strong, dominant character. It was fun to explore a different side of this character. On a funny note, I had to fight spell check all the way through to keep it from spelling Unicorn instead of Unicron, LOL)