X

Starscream hadn't wanted to leave. He loved his creator. He really did.

It was just such a shame the feeling didn't always seem to be returned.

He had always made himself stay, out of respect and duty, he owed it to his creator to stay put and watch over him when the older mech consumed too much high grade to stay conscious. He had raised him, fuelled him. Starscream could have lived with the occasional fights -he had only been hit a few times- and it had been his fault really. He had annoyed his creator.

But the council and authorities didn't seem to think it was Starscream's fault.

And that it was his blunder.

His creator had told him to tell the medic a trip was what had crushed his left wing; but in his pain and distress the medic had been able to work out the truth from him.

Apparently his creator was not fit to raise his sparkling anymore.

But Starscream knew what the Care Centres were like. He was far better off with his unstable creator than he would be there. He was better on the streets than he was there.

There was nothing for it but to run.

And run he had.

He was almost old enough to look after himself now. Just a few more vorns and he'd be considered a mature mech in some city states.

Kaon being one of them.

Kaon would be his sanitary.

He had it all planned out. Using the credits he had managed to swipe from his creator before he had been taken into custody, he would find somewhere to stay, he would get a job, and he would save up his credits until he was mature enough to join the science academy in Iacon. Everything would work out fine.

The transport to Kaon was taking far longer than he had expected. He'd never done it before, he'd only ever seen its location in reference to Vos on a holoform atlas once. His creator wasn't one for travelling, nor was he one for taking his creation with him, Starscream, therefore, had never been out of Vos before. And he'd never seen so many Ground Pounders before, and he had especially never known how tall they could be.

Perhaps it was being only a youngling that had caused him to receive a few funny looks from what he perceived to be the locals when he finally arrived at the station. Kaon was... not what he had been expecting.

He kept his helm low and wings even lower as he stepped off the transport and onto the station, doing his best not to get jostled about by the taller, bulkier Ground Pounders surrounding him.

Dark red optics everywhere seemed to stare him down, and Starscream had half a processor to buy another ticket and get the next transport right back to Vos.

He had no idea how privileged he'd been. Vos was beautiful, Kaon... he didn't have the right words in his vocabulary to describe it; perhaps his creator would have though, he'd shouted vile enough words at Starscream in the past.

The buildings weren't as tall as Vos', and they were deeper. Kaon had a lot of lower levels, they went down so far Starscream couldn't even see the bottom. The city state seemed to tunnel down rather than spiral up like Vos had. The contrast was amazing.

He was more than a little out of place amongst all the towering stomping mechs with dark dirty armour. His wings hitched down lower, his white, red and blue paint was far too bright, clean and noticeable around here.

He couldn't afford to dawdle though, it was getting dark and his creator had always liked to scare him with stories about what mechs that lurked in dark alleyways liked to do to pretty little seekers like him. He supposed it was one of the only lessons his creator had taught him that ever really came in handy.

The first place he'd come across had accommodation above a bar, it was relatively nice -not at all like he'd thought it would be considering it was Kaon. His creator used to drink in far worse places.

The place may have been nice, but the owner wasn't.

"Full." He snapped as soon as he saw Starscream approach.

Starscream frowned at him, "Outside it said you had rooms."

"I don't need trouble," he mech snarled at him, turning away.

Starscream scowled. He was tired, he had enough credits and he had been perfectly, polite up until his point, "I'm not causing trouble," he hissed through gritted dermas, "I need a room."

"We don't have rooms for your sort, now get out before you cause me hassle,"

Starscream frowned, his 'sort'?

"I don't-"

"Out before I make holes in those flimsy pieces of scrap metal you fliers are so fond of!"

Starscream leapt back out of arms reach. He knew only too well what that felt like. He decided it was a lost cause and didn't really want to stay in the place he had been threatened in.

Unfortunately, he was met with strikingly similar responses from almost all the places he tried. Some were politer and lied that they had no rooms; most others were as violent and rude as the first though. If it wasn't because he was a flier, it was because he was so young, one mech had even gone so far as to accuse him of being a pleasure bot! Had said he didn't need the authorities sniffing around anymore than they already did. It was a stupid excuse; Starscream knew prostitution was legal in Kaon.

It was dark now, and he could already see the odd, seedy looking residents of Kaon start to come out. One of them had already tired to touch his wing.

He was staring to get nervous.

"Hey there!"

Starscream jumped and sprang around at the sound of a mech's voice, another creep probably.

"Back off!" he snapped, spreading his wings out behind his back, making himself looking bigger, older.

The mech behind him didn't look like a creep though. He was smiling, not smirking or leering at him. He stood a good distance away and made no moves to come any closer.

"You okay?" the tall, grey mech asked him, extending a servo out in a gesture of good will, "you look lost."

Starscream shook his helm and against his better judgment, decided he might be able to trust this mech, "I- I can't find anywhere to stay."

"I'm not surprised," the mech said, nodding his helm in understanding, "Seekers attract attention around here." He paused and seemed to think for a moment, before his optics brightened and he smiled again, "You know what? I know a place that'll take you in, seeker or not."

Starscream watched the mech suspiciously, wary, but his smile was so genuine, and he had, so far been the nicest mech to him since he'd arrived here.

"Alright," he said quietly, trying to hide his nervousness and suspicion, "Where is it?"

"I'll take you there," he said helpfully, "I was going that way myself."

Starscream muttered a quiet thank you and followed the tall grey mech, praying that he might have been wrong about him.

He was unknowingly led into the deeper parts of Kaon, where Autobot security couldn't reach. In the dark it looked no more menacing or different to any other part of Kaon.

It was only when the mech leading him came to a stop did Starscream get a real look at the building before him. Ice spread through his spark.

"Here we are!" he mech said cheerfully, standing aside and opening the door for Starscream to go through.

"That's a brothel," Starscream said quietly, already taking tentative steps backwards, suddenly horribly aware of how young he was, how inexperienced he was and what sort of things fully grown Kaonian mechs did in there.

He wasn't fueled enough to fly, so if it came to it, he'd have to make an escape on foot if this mech simply wouldn't let him walk away. He had said seekers were rare.

He froze in terror as his back met with something hard and he looked up to see another mech, even taller, and broader than the one who had led him there sneering down at him. A massive servo suddenly caught Starscream's wrist, squeezing it. Starscream's intakes stalled and he was still too shocked to struggle.

"Musta' taken you ages to find this one," the larger mech grunted, already dragging Starscream forward towards the door, "he'll make pit loads a' credits."

That's when Starscream started to struggle, "Get the frag off of me!" he shrieked, tugging at his wrist, hoping his calls could be heard by someone, anyone, forgetting completely that Kaon was home to no heroes.

The mech holding him chuckled after Starscream managed to punch him in the chest plates –achieving absolutely nothing- and hoisted him up. Starscream shrieked incoherently as he was thrown over the mech's shoulder, beyond hysterical as he pounded and kicked at the mech's frame.

No! No, this couldn't be happening! He was so stupid, he knew that mech had been suspicious and yet he'd still let him corner him. He felt moisture forming the corners of his optics and knew he was moments away from bursting into tears. It would do him no good; these mechs would only be amused with his misery, so he forced it back as much as he could as he continued to wail furiously.

There was a sudden clang from behind him which silenced Starscream, the mech holding him muttered a panicked, "Frag" before Starscream suddenly found himself falling to the hard ground.

He landed hard and awkwardly on his thruster, twisting it and cracking the heel. He shrieked in pain, fingers creating claw marks on the floor.

There were grunts and bangs from behind him, and when Starscream finally found he had the bearings to look up, he wished he hadn't.

The night just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

Before him were the unconscious and possibly even offlined frames of the two brothel mechs and standing over them and him, was quite possibly the scariest, angriest looking mech he'd seen in his entire existence; and he was looking at him.

Starscream gasped and tried to scramble back when the huge mech stepped forward, heavy pedes almost shaking the ground –or perhaps it was Starscream's imagination- his broken thruster hindered his escape though.

The huge mech was a silvery gray, with a helmet and dark, glowing red optics –just like every other mech in this city state. There were red claw marks painted beneath is optics, and a similar design on both his helm and chest plates. There were scuff mark and gorges all over his frame; he looked like a mech who got in a few fights.

"Can you walk?" a dark, low voice asked him and it took Starscream a while to realize the huge monster was speaking, and to him!

Starscream could only shake his helm, and shrank back on the ground, terrified of being kicked or stepped on by the mech's massive pedes.

There were pleas on the tip of his glossa, but he was too terrified to say them, almost too terrified to even open his mouth in front of the colossal silver mech.

"P-please..." was all he managed.

The mech showed no signs of hearing him and Starscream whimpered and offlined his optics as the mech stooped down. Starscream didn't struggle or fight when massive servos picked him up, he didn't want to end up like the other two mechs. He instinctively clung, with shaking digits to the large mech's chassis as he was carried off, wary of being dropped again and damaging himself more.

The pain he felt throbbing up from his thrusters was completely over shadowed by the crippling fear he felt at being in the servos of such a massive, violent mech; a mech, who he had seen evidence of ripping someone's arm off just moments ago.

What was he going to do to him? Was he going to hurt him? Sell him? To where? A Brothel?

He scared himself with such thoughts.

The large mech carried him out of the red light district of Kaon and down to the even deeper levels, where riots occurred daily and underground gladiatorial arenas were hidden from those few Autobots that dared venture so far in.

But Starscream paid no mind to where he was being taken. Too busy being a shivering, whimpering pile of scrap metal over a large armored silver shoulder. He wasn't sure for how long the mech carried him, only that it was a brisk, unbroken pace, in silence save for the deep heavy intakes of his kidnapper and his own occasional, quiet whine.

His fingers curled deeper in the thick armor as he felt the large mech slow to a halt. There were some unidentifiable pinging noises and the whoosh of a door opening. The large mech began walking again and Starscream could tell from the change in astrosphere and sensors in his wings that he had been taken inside somewhere. His mind could only conjure up images of the most dreadful of places, where anything from rape to being melted down for scrap could happen to him. Silent sobs shook his small frame, but the mech he clung to showed no signs of noticing.

He wasn't sure how far down he was taken into the building, or how many doors with codes they passed through, but he knew it was more than enough to prevent any attempts at him escaping.

Finally they stopped, and Starscream's intakes stalled as he waited, optics wide, fearful but unseeing as his helm was pressed to metal armor. The large mech's frame slumped as a heavy sigh left him and the huge servo that had been keeping Starscream stable over his shoulder was joined by another as they took hold of his waist and lifted him up.

Starscream bit down on his lip, preventing a squeal of fright as the large mech bent down and placed him on something, and then almost instantly, the huge servos capable of crushing his tiny waist, left his frame.

Moments in which he wasn't beaten to scrap or raped within an inch of his life passed before Starscream finally worked up the courage to online his optics again; and once he did almost offlined them again in shock.

The large mech was knelt before him, simply watching him. Starscream glanced quickly to the left and then to the right, taking note that he was in a relatively small room, sat on a rather large berth.

Now that he was looking at him the large mech moved to touch Starscream's cracked and twisted thruster heel. Not only did it hurt, but it also happened to be a very private and delicate part on a seeker's frame, and Starscream did not at all trust this mech, so he was perfectly within his rights a shriek like a femme.

The mech simply looked up at him, expression emotionless and voice loud and deep, "Our medic is recharging, so you'll have to make do with my patch work."

Starscream blinked at the mech. Medic?

Wordlessly the silver giant continued to touch his damaged thrusters, Starscream could only grip the berth and cringe as it was inspected. His expression became completely befuddled when the mech stood, strode to the other side of the small room, rummaged around for something and returned with several tools.

Starscream nearly had a spark attack at first, thinking they were torture instruments, but of course, they weren't. They were medical tools.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to just sit there and allow a strange mech who had essentially kidnapped him touch him, let alone fix him, but he did.

Before long the awkward silence became too much for Starscream to bear.

"Where are we?" he whispered, half to himself, hoping the gladiator would not hear him now that the silence was broken.

"Beneath the arena," the mech answered him, dark optics not wandering from his work as he welded the crack on Starscream's heel closed with steady servos.

"Arena?" Starscream whispered again, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Gladiatorial," was the mech reply, not at all reacting to the seeker's gasp of surprise.

Starscream couldn't help himself. Was this mech a gladiator? A pit fighter? Was it rude to ask?

"Are you are a gladiator?" he whispered, unconsciously leaning forward.

The silver mech did not answer until he had finished the repairs to Starscream's delicate thruster and carefully put it down, "Yes."

And just like that, Starscream's fear was replaced with awe.

He knew his mouth had dropped open, but couldn't close it again.

The gladiator before him stood up to his full height again, and in the suddenness of being loomed over again, Starscream snapped himself out of it. Gladiator's, despite possibly being –for lack of better phrasing in his youngling mind- the coolest mechs on the entire planet, could still be total psychopaths.

Once the silver gladiator returned from putting away his tools he turned his bright piercing optics on Starscream again, and the seeker couldn't help shrinking back. "Can you stand?"

It was a question, probably one of concern to see whether the repairs had done any good, but with such a deep commanding voice, to Starscream it sounded like an order to stand. He didn't want to get on this gladiator's –this mech that had repaired him, and for what purpose Starscream didn't know yet- bad side.

On shaky, aching thrusters he managed to push himself up, not taking his wide, awed, fearful optics off the giant before him. The silver mech was so tall; Starscream's helm only came up to his black hip plating; Starscream's neck ached from looking up at him.

"Good," was all the mech said and Starscream could do nothing but stare at the intimidating mech in front of him.

The gladiator's gaze became somewhat curious as he continued to scrutinize the suspiciously young looking seeker before him.

"A seeker, eh?" he said, voice coming out softer than it normally did.

Starscream wasn't sure if it was a question or just a general statement. So he simply nodded his helm.

Still the gladiator's expression did not change; he did not frown or smile or sneer. It was just a calm look of contemplation. "What is your designation?"

Starscream hesitated, he had always been taught by the caregivers at the primary education centers his creator used to send him to never, ever give his designation to mechs he didn't know.

But this gladiator hadn't hurt him yet; he'd done a crap job at fixing his thruster, but he hadn't caused any intentional harm.

"Starscream." he said quietly, barely more than a whisper.

The tall mech raised an optical ridge at his voice, had he not been suspicious of Starscream's age before he definitely was now. "Where are your creators?" his deep voice rumbled.

Starscream looked down, he didn't like telling people about his creators, or creator, since he had never know his carrier, and his sire had never bother to tell him. He settled for shrugging, still staring at the floor.

An awkward silence ensued. Starscream shuffled his aching thrusters as he waited for whatever verdict the gladiator was going to give. He jumped when a servo on his back pushed him backwards again, and gasped when the backs of his legs hit the berth again and he fell onto it.

"It is too dangerous at this time of night for anyone to go back out," the gladiator rumbled, he seemed to be glaring down at Starscream, or it could quite possibly be just the way his faceplates were set. "If you are not attacked by over-energized scum you are likely to be kidnapped and sold into one illegal trade or another."

And just like that, he turned away, making moments to leave through the door.

"You-You're letting me stay?" Starscream called out to the tall gladiator's dark back, still not sure if this was a good or bad thing that a viscous looking pit fighter was letting him stay –or keeping him in captive in- here. It was wiser, of course, not to accuse the fifty foot pit fighter of kidnapping him lest he end on the street again, or worst case scenario, beaten to scrap.

"One night," the gladiator growled, still not turning to look at him. He pressed the door panel, about to exit the room when Starscream shouted after him again.

"W-wait! Where are you going?"

"Out." he then turned dark red burning optics to him, narrowing them, "do not leave this room until I come back." he growled, and Starscream felt a shiver run up his back strut, "do I make myself clear?"

Starscream nodded vigorously, terrified. Unsure as to whether he should be trusting this gladiator now. What if he was no better than those thugs who had tried to drag him into that brothel? What if he woke up in the middle of recharge to find his wings back been cut off and stolen?

The tall mech gave him one last stern look before stepping out of the room, and in his absence, as the door slid shut, the lights went out.

Now that Starscream was finally alone, hidden in a veil of darkness, he allowed himself to cry. Quietly, he didn't want anyone to hear him, but vigorously. Racking silent sobs shook his frame, and he griped the edges of the berth tightly. His helm hurt, he had a processor ache, he was tired, he was hungry, his thrusters were aching, he still felt nauseous with fear and if he recharged chances were he was going to wake up offlined!

He didn't even care how ridiculous it sounded in his own mind.

He wished he hadn't come here. He should have stayed where he was, he should have gone with the authorities. Now look where he was. No one would give him a place to stay, he'd almost been sold into a brothel, been injured, been badly repaired and been taken captive by the blood thirsty gladiator who seemed to be biding his time before he was going to offline him.

He pressed his servos to his optics and tried to work his intakes deeply, hoping to calm himself down before he made himself purge.

And why was he just sitting here crying?! He had to escape. He had to get out of this pit and he had to go home. Maybe they'd let his creator out of custody if he took back what he'd told the medic. He didn't care how unstable his sire was, he was still his sire.

He jumped up off the berth, scrambling around in the darkness, quietly; he didn't want the gladiator to come back. The room was pitch black, no light shone in from anywhere and it took Starscream's optics longer than usual to adjust because of all the lubricant still in them. He wiped the back of his servo across them, sniffing. He could cry later, now he needed to get out.

With a clearer more determined mind, he felt his way to the door and the access panel. It had an automatic release on the inside; it was only on the outside a code would need to be entered. For some reason his fear increased as he stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, he was more vulnerable out here, anyone could come wandering by, and the gladiator would be angry with him if –no when he discovered he'd run off. Wimping out at last second Starscream quickly backtracked, intending to go back into the dark room which seemed so much safer when the automatic door slid shut, nearly on his wing.

Starscream stared at the locked door in horror.

"Frag," he hissed, uncaring for anyone who heard it. His creator wasn't around to reproach him for bad language anymore anyway.

But now what was he going to do?

It looked like there was nothing for it but to continue his escape.

He had, in the back of his processor, been envisioning his escape as a long, exciting adventure which, through his own cleverness and agility he would eventually manage to complete and make it to freedom. The reality was far from it.

"I told you to stay in the room," a familiar, deep voice rang out from behind him and Starscream almost had a spark attack.

He wasn't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice and waste time turning around, gawping or trying to come up with an excuse, and ran as fast as his admittedly short legs could carry him. With his broken thruster, he didn't get far.

One of the gladiator's long strides was like two, maybe even three of his, and it only took four for the giant mech to position himself in front of him. He let out a shriek of shock as he was, for the third fragging time that day, picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder. He clawed at the mech's thick armored back as he was carried back into the room, still shrieking.

Escape was futile, he knew it was, but the way he saw it he had nothing to lose now anyway, so he kicked the gladiator's chest as hard as he could. It had no visible effect other than the tiniest blue paint scuff on the silver armor.

He was dropped back on the berth back in the room, not quite so gently this time and Starscream jumped back up again, small, weak blue servos curled into fists in front of him in a fighting stance. He blinked as a cube was suddenly forced into front of his face.

Starscream followed the silver arm holding the cube up until he saw the giant mech's face again. It was almost like-

"Is that for me?" he asked quietly, fists slowly dropping pathetically to his sides.

The silver mech's expression wasn't angry, but he didn't look amused either, "I'm not entirely sure you deserve it."

Starscream pulled a remorseful expression, his wings drooping. He genuinely felt a little guilty, but he wasn't going to say sorry.

Sighing heavily, the gladiator held the cube down low enough for Starscream to take, which he did eagerly, his starved fuel tanks had been making worrying groaning noises for jours now, and he was starting to feel light headed.

"You don't have to stay here," The gladiator spoke again, and Starscream was starting to find his voice less scary and more putout as he guzzled down the sweet, almost decent quality energon, "But I'd rather you did. I do not like the idea of an unattended sparkling running about a place like this."

Starscream nearly choked on his energon, pulling the cube away from his mouth and hissing furiously, "I'm not a sparkling!"

Surprisingly, instead of getting angry with his tone like his creator did, the gladiator merely smirked down at him. "A youngling then," he corrected himself.

Starscream hissed, it was hardly any better, but he returned to his cube rather than continuing the argument. He drank down every last drop of the energon, sighing in relief once he'd finished, allowing a small smile to grace his lips at the warm feeling spreading throughout his frame from his full tank.

Starscream looked at the gladiator.

The gladiator looked back.

Then it suddenly occurred to Starscream that he still didn't know who this mech was.

"What's your name?" he asked with an innocence he did not possess.

"…Megatron," he gladiator replied after a while.

And Starscream continued to stare up at him. The mech, Megatron, seemed to be getting less and less frightening as the seconds ticked by. He also wasn't scowling at him, it was just the way his helmet was set on his helm that made him look a bit sinister, along with all the war paint; but he supposed it was necessary for the pit fights. He was aware they had fallen into an awkward silence again, and Starscream, being Starscream, felt the need to fill it.

"Why did you attack those mechs?"

Megatron frowned at him as if the answer should have been obvious, "I was rescuing you."

Starscream blinked, that made sense, "...oh," he said quietly.

The gladiator chuckled, it was a deep, smooth laugh, "Not too intelligent are you," he joked softly.

Starscream dropped the empty cube in fury; his intelligence was one of the many things he prided himself about. "I am very intelligent," he snapped, completely forgetting he was speaking to the fifty foot pit fighter.

"But without much common sense."

Starscream fought back the urge to scrunch up his faceplates and stick his glossa out at the mech; it would only succeed in making him look all the more childish and stupid.

The gladiator then must have decided that he was bored of talking to him, as he got up, stooping to pick up the discarded empty cube as he went, "As I said before, you may stay here till morning."

He waited until Starscream had nodded before exiting through the door again, this time, leaving a much calmer and more stable seeker.

And Starscream, whether it was his exhaustion catching up to him or the fullness of his tank making him drowsy, could barely keep his optics online. By some miracle he was able to rest his helm on the wide, spacious berth and offline his optics, fairly confident in the knowledge that Megatron wasn't a raving lunatic that was going to deactivate him in his sleep.

Hopefully.

X

When Megatron woke the next cycle he almost rolled off the uselessly small berth he had acquired last night and onto the floor. After he had gotten over the initial shock of waking up out of recharge in such a manner, he set his muddled processor the task of trying to recall why he wasn't in his own quarters.

And then he remembered.

The seeker.

Somehow managing to sigh and groan all at once he dragged himself up. What the frag had he been drinking last night that would have possessed him to take in a street brat, regardless of whether it was a seeker or not? It was one thing to step in and stop the poor thing from ending up in that illegal brothel, which was infamously known for catering to those mechs who had a liking for younger frames, but to bring it home with him-!?

Shaking his helm and putting it down to having far too much to drink, he began to make his way back to his quarters. The seeker... he couldn't even begin to recall what his name had been, would probably be long gone by now. He hadn't seemed keen to stay last night.

But then again, Megatron thought to himself as he entered the code into his quarters, it was a good deed that might possibly give him some chance of rejoining the well of all sparks when he was finally offlined.

He stamped into his quarters and then immediately stopped.

There on his berth, were two pristine white wings.

Megatron carefully treaded closer, not wanting to wake the youngling with his heavy footfalls. The brightly coloured seeker was still deep in recharge, sprawled out across his massive berth and taking up as much room as possible. His dark helm was pillowed on two blue servos and his legs were spread out as far into the opposite corners of the berth as they could get.

Megatron looked at his internal chronometer; he was late for training this morning, but it was still early. Deciding that the youngling would be gone by the time he returned Megatron strode to the other side of his quarters to pick up the assortment of weapons he planned to work with that morning. He looked back at the seeker on his berth one last time before exiting into the hallway, making his way up into the empty arena where the other gladiators would be waiting.

A tiring, but immensely satisfying three jours later, Megatron was sauntering back to his quarters, covered in energon, none of it his own of course, and oil. He had completely and utterly forgotten about what could possibly be waiting back in his quarters for him though, fighting and working out the tension in his frame tended to clear his processor of just about anything but punching other mech's faces in, ally or not.

So when he stepped into his quarters and rather carelessly threw his weapons into the corner of the room he was considerably shocked when a shriek of surprise assaulted his audials as he was about to toss himself down into his berth.

The fragging seeker was still here!?

"Sorry!" squeaked the youngling Megatron had almost squashed, scrambling to get off the berth.

Megatron simply rubbed a servo against his aching audial and grunted incoherently.

"Why are you still here?" Megatron asked, his voice coming out in a growl, not that he could help it.

The seeker, whose name he still couldn't remember, Star-something, merely fidgeted awkwardly and stared down at his pedes, muttering something Megatron couldn't hear under his breath.

Being in a relatively good mood and feeling an odd sort of fondness for the little seeker, he decided to be charitable. After all, all these good deeds were bound to come in handy in the future.

"Do you need me to take you back up to the upper levels?" he asked.

Again the seeker muttered something to the floor and Megatron had exhale heavily to keep his temper in check and not snap at the youngling to look up and stop mumbling. He couldn't work it out. The seeker clearly wasn't a street brat, he looked too well taken care of. His paint was spotless and clean for Primus' sake, he was relatively well fuelled and despite Megatron's teasing last night, he was clearly educated far beyond what most younglings in Kaon were. Someone must have been looking after him; someone must have been looking for him.

Perhaps he needed to dump him as close to an Autobot outpost as he could get. If anyone was looking for him the authorities must have been informed. Either way he needed to get rid of him.

"Come with me," he said, gesturing for the youngling to step out of the room in front of him, he waited impatiently for the seeker to get over his hesitation and step out in front of him. He nudged him with his pede gently to get him moving up the dim corridor.

"Where are we going?" the seeker's young, but hoarse voice asked him.

"Out," was all Megatron decided to tell him.

As they walked through the hallways and up the many sets of stairs to the surface Megatron tried not to let the noticeable limp the seeker had get to him. His somewhat shoddy repairs from last night had clearly not done the youngling any good.

He had the seeker stick close to him in the street, walking in front, scolding him for lagging behind. He wouldn't be able to see the youngling if the was constantly dawdling behind him; he wouldn't be able to see someone sneak up and snatch him either. It was not at all an uncommon occurrence; and this youngling was a seeker, the rarest of the rare around these parts.

He took him right up to the third level, but he was already at risk of being recognized so far up and to go any further would be suicidal. If any Autobot were to spot him... it wasn't worth thinking about whether they'd have the mercy to simply arrest him or not.

He took the youngling through the most crowded section of the street, thinking to himself how he was going to be able to both successfully get rid of the seeker and make sure he didn't get into trouble.

There were two mechs wearing Autobot colours and insignias on the other side of the street though, and for the first time in his entire existence Megatron was mildly glad to see them. It meant the seeker he was escorting was unlikely to be in any danger with them watching over the residents. Making up his mind Megatron stopped, allowing the youngling ahead of him wander out of sight, in the direction of the Autobots. Without a doubt he'd be found by them and returned home to his creators in no time.

He allowed himself to slump in relief as he briskly headed down levels, but he checked over his shoulder once, maybe twice, to make sure he wasn't being followed.

When he finally returned to his quarters he threw himself down on his berth, safe in the knowledge that there would be no youngling he could accidently crush in doing so. He could put the entire incident from his processor now. All he had to focus on was getting some recharge before the fights that evening. He allowed himself to fall into a deep recharge.

It wasn't deep enough to block out the sharp knocking on his door mere jours later though.

He rolled of the berth with a frown, staring suspiciously at the door. It wasn't routine for him to have callers at his door, and never so close to the fights in the evening. Everyone else was always busy, either getting ready or warming themselves up for it.

Curious, but more irritated at having his recharge interrupted, Megatron stomped over to the door and punched the door panel, glaring out into the hallway at whoever had dared wake him up. At first he thought there was no one there, and that simply made him more infuriated that someone had the courage to play knock and run with him. He almost re-entered his quarters, grumbling under his breath about finding whoever it was, when a small noise drew his attention.

He looked down, and his mouth plate dropped open.

It was the fragging seeker!

"I- I lost you," the seeker muttered sheepishly, and Megatron just stared, "But I managed to find my way back here." He said and looked up, smiling proudly.

And Megatron continued to stare. How the frag had he-

Oh, it didn't matter. He didn't have time for this, he had to be in the arena in a few klicks time.

He stuttered for a moment, trying to come up with a response that wouldn't make him look like a befuddled glitch. The seeker was looking up at him, worried, probably thinking he'd done something to upset him.

Well he had!

Growling to himself he had no choice really. He tugged the seeker forward, back into his quarters and immediately rushed around looking for his weapons. He tactfully ignored the way the youngling was in awe with his broad swords and snapped his fingers in front of the seeker's face to regain his attention, "listen... you-"

"Starscream," the youngling snapped, looking a little offended.

Megatron waved his hand dismissively, but filed the name away for later use anyway. "Starscream," he began again, "You are not to leave this room. That is not a request, that is an order."

The little seeker, Starscream, scowled in indignation at the order, mouth opening to protest but Megatron cut him off, "There are battles in the arena tonight. I will be back when they are finished."

Starscream's face plates lit up, "Can I come?!"

"No," Megatron told him sternly. Those fights were not suitable for younglings, "Do not touch anything until I am back."

"But I want to see the fights!" the seeker continued protesting and seemed to determined not to give up, "I won't get in the way-"

Megatron couldn't be bothered to argue with him, he was already late, "Go to recharge!" he decided to shout over his shoulder as he stepped through the door.

"But I'm not tire-!"

And that was all of the seeker's response he heard before his door slid shut again.

Megatron rubbed a servo across his helm. Primus, what had he gotten himself into?

He didn't have the time to dwell on it though and had to jog up to the arena. Several of the other pit fighters glared at his late arrival, but nothing was said.

The crowd cheered and weapons were drawn, the fights began.

X

Megatron limped back to his quarters, dreading returning there knowing what was laying in wait for him. Because of the little problem back in his room, he had been rather distracted during one or two of his matches. A few opponents had gotten lucky hits in. Some deluded part of his processor was trying to reassure him that it was late and the youngling would probably be in recharge.

It was, of course, painfully wrong.

"Did you win!?" an excited, high pitched voice was what greeted him as he stepped into the room.

"Barely," Megatron grunted, tossing his weapons into the corner, as he did every cycle.

He needed to go to the medic, his hip joint felt... loose. It had almost disconnected when he'd been sideswiped by an opponent from Tarn. It mattered not, he'd won. "I told you to recharge."

The seeker boldly scowled at him, and Megatron was mildly concerned with how quickly Starscream's attitude changed. "You're not my creator, you can't tell me what to do!"

Megatron growled, reaching for the seeker, "You were right about the first but not the second."

Starscream flinched, as if he expected to be struck, but Megatron took him by the shoulder vent anyway, using it to steer the youngling around and out into the corridor. Starscream struggled, pulling away from him, "I am taking you to our medic." Megatron informed him to stop his resistance.

Starscream instantly calmed down, but kept a mistrustful, wary expression on his face throughout the entire walk down to the medic, the both of them limping side by side. They came to a halt outside the worn, suspiciously stained entrance to the medical bay; Megatron entered the code and gave Starscream a good shove in.

Starscream, already unstable on his broken thruster, stumbled over the threshold, Megatron stomping in after him and catching him by the wing before he toppled over into a table of menacingly, sharp looking objects.

"Ah, Megatron!" a voice called from behind Starscream, "Not often I see you in here."

The voice was cheerful, but there was a sharp undertone of cruelty lacing the words.

Starscream jumped around and peered behind his gladiators hip to see a red, battered, energon stained mech, wiping his servos on a rag approaching. The mech, whom he assumed was the medic as there was no one else in here, was only slightly taller than him. A dark crimson in colour, with optics only a shade or two different, he almost blended into the abundance of shadows in the medical bay.

Megatron's frame vibrated slightly as he grumbled a greeting and nudged Starscream out from behind him.

The medic's demeanor changed, "What have we here," he cooed, approaching a lot faster now, "A seeker?!"

Starscream was about to take rapid steps backwards as the mech was suddenly inches from him, looking too curious for Starscream's liking, when his gladiator's tall frame stepped in front of him again. The groan in the larger mech's hip gave away his reason for visiting.

The medic took one last longing look at what he could still see of the seeker behind Megatron's bulk before turning his sultry smirk back to the gladiator.

"Broken joint eh?" he said, almost friendlily. He gestured Megatron over to one of the berths, and Starscream latched onto his protector's back, fingers curling between the armor plating as he felt him move.

"The seeker is also in need of repairs," Megatron grunted at the medic, pushing Starscream out from behind him again and nudging him towards the berth next to where the medic was wanting him. "You will repair him first, and examine his thrusters alone," Megatron growled in a commanding tone of voice that made Starscream shrink into himself, "I see your servos wander anywhere else I will not hesitate to rip them from your frame."

The medic clamped his servos together and inclined his helm in a nervous, but respectful gesture, "Of course, of course. I wouldn't dream of-"

"Get on with it!" Megatron snapped impatiently, causing both Starscream and the medic to jump.

Starscream hefted himself up onto the large berth, thrusters hanging over the edge awkwardly as the medic approached and bent down. His fingers curled to grip the edges of the berth as he felt cold servos lift his thruster. He risked a glance over the top of the medics red helm to see Megatron's dark optics watching intensely. Starscream tried to relax. His gladiator wouldn't let anything happen to him.

"So," said the medic conversationally, as he picked up one of his sharp tool and rather carelessly stuck it up his thruster, as if he didn't know they were so sensitive, "Where did he buy you from?"

Starscream flinched both at the question and the way the sharp implements seemed to wriggle around his heel pointlessly. Before he could answer however, Megatron did for him.

"Silence!" he barked, "Do not speak to him."

The medic was either very brave or very stupid as he smirked, muttering an insincere apology before continuing his work.

It took only a few breems for the medic to finish work on Starscream's thruster, but he took his time finishing up, his servos lingered on Starscream's leg a few moments too long before sliding up and brushing his thigh. Only Megatron's deep menacing growl seemed to turn the medic's attention away from his smooth white plating.

He shivered when the medic winked at him before moving onto Megatron, and Starscream couldn't deny that he felt pleasure at seeing the gladiator cuff the red mech around the helm before demanding him to do his repairs, and quickly.

Once they were both repaired Megatron checked that the medic had done a sufficient job on both of their frames. He made Starscream walk around the med bay several times so he could see if the thruster had been properly repaired. Despite the medic doing a satisfactory job Megatron still gave him a spiteful shove into the wall before they left.

Starscream, already having decided that he really didn't like the mech, made sure the medic heard him laugh before Megatron ushered him out.

"Don't ever go near him if I'm not around," Megatron told him as they walked back to the gladiator's quarters.

Starscream pulled a face, "Why? He's just a medic."

Megatron gave him a stern look, "Stay away from him."

Starscream snorted, rolling his optics but deigned to not let himself be caught alone with the creepy mech anyway. "I'm hungry." He said out loud as he tank twisted in discomfort.

Megatron looked down at him, frowning, "Again?"

Starscream nodded, looking hopeful. Megatron sighed; he knew younglings needed to be fueled more often because they were constantly growing but he'd given the seeker an entire cube last cycle. He led Starscream the rest of the way to his quarters and entered the code for him. Starscream entered without needing to be told.

"Stay here. I will get a cube for you."

Starscream's wings hiked up in anticipation of being fueled. Megatron turned around to head back down the corridor again when Starscream's high voice called him back.

He turned halfway, "What now?"

Starscream looked decidedly awkward, "Can- would it be okay if- I stayed here- again… tonight."

Megatron sighed… again. He'd been doing that a lot lately. "I assumed you already were." He growled and turned back to continue up the corridor. He didn't hear Starscream shout a thank you back though, just the quiet whoosh of the door sliding shut again.

He would let the seeker stay one more night. Just one. Then he would send him away. If the youngling was intelligent enough to find his way back here, he was more than capable of being able to make it back to wherever the frag he came from.

He decided he would drag the spare berth from the empty quarters on the second corridor into his room tonight though. He wasn't going to let a youngling push him out of his own berth two nights n a row. Starscream could sleep on the smaller berth.

What he didn't expect however was for the seeker to sneer at the sight of the considerably smaller berth and argue with him about who was sleeping where.

Megatron was too taken aback by Starscream's ungratefulness to put forward a proper argument at first.

"That's not fair!" he seeker wailed, "Why do you get the bigger one?"

Megatron shook himself out of it and moved forward to pick the seeker up off of his berth and dump him gently on the smaller one. "I get the larger berth because it is my berth, and this is my quarters."

"I'm a guest!" Starscream argued back.

Megatron growled to himself, who had brought up this seeker?!

"You are a youngling," Megatron answered back, blocking Starscream as the seeker made a move to try and get past him and onto the larger berth. "You are smaller and do not need much room."

"My wings need room!"

"There is plenty of room on the floor," Megatron said darkly, "and if that is the problem I can take this berth back and you can sleep on it."

Starscream scowled at him, but it looked more like a pout on his young faceplates. That inevitably won the argument, and Starscream still grumpy threw himself down on the smaller berth in a huff.

Megatron groaned to himself as he laid down on his wide spacious berth. He was never, ever going to have younglings; he had not been too keen on the idea beforehand but now thanks to Starscream… never.

It didn't matter. The seeker would be gone tomorrow.

X

Incredibly early the next morning, he was poked awake.

Poked.

At first he thought he was dreaming because no one had ever, ever woken him from recharge -no one had dared.

But when he had onlined his optics he had been greeted by the sight of two, bright red optics staring at him from over the top of the berth. He was embarrassed to admit it made him jump.

"Starscream," he hissed, pushing himself up on one arm, his eternal chronometer told him it was still too early in the cycle to be getting up, "What are you-"

"I'm bored," Starscream whined over the top of him, "Can we go out?"

Megatron stared at him. He could have shouted at the seeker for waking him up, for not being in recharge, for poking him; but doing any of that would only provoke an argument with the youngling.

"Go back to recharge." He growled.

Starscream opened his mouth again, "But I-"

Megatron leant forward on his berth, "Go. To. Recharge." He snarled menacingly.

Starscream threw him his –what Megatron had started to find- customary pout and stamped, as loudly as he could with such small thrusters, back to his berth.

There was silence for a prolonged amount of time, before-

"I'm still bored!"

"Recharge!"

X