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Post by Starscream on Mar 20, 2024 0:51:08 GMT
Characters Appearing: Starscream , Nightshroud Location (s): The Compound Timeline: Several hours after 'Tell Me Why' Plot Summary: After finding the wounded Nightshroud, Starscream ensures that the femme recovers.. if he can get her to cooperate that is.
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Post by Starscream on Mar 20, 2024 0:57:28 GMT
[TW: Heavy damage and blood]
There weren’t many things that could truly strike fear into Starscream’s spark aside from the ruthlessness of Megatron himself, but the last twenty-four hours had certainly proven it wasn’t impossible.
All it took was a single comm. Just one comm from Nightshroud to make the energon in him metaphorically run cold. The young femme seeker had been attacked and was in dire need of medical aid, weakly begging for help. Despite his paranoia of leaving the base.. of being discovered by the Autobots or even Megatron, Starscream wasted no time rushing out of the Compound, frantically comming Skywarp. With the purple seeker’s outlier abilities, he could reach Nightshroud not just faster, but get her back to base efficiently. Her coordinates, while not terribly far from the base, were still far enough that it would take time to get from point A to B and back.
Time the crimson seeker might not have had.
But Starscream refused to lose the one and only bot he could trust; that he actually cared for. Things between he and Soundwave might have been shaky, but Nightshroud had long since proven she wouldn’t do anything to betray his trust. The former air commander had just been thankful that he’d reached Nightshroud in time, finding her unconscious and bloodied, but most importantly still online. With Skywarp’s aid, Starscream made it back to the Compound with the injured seeker, setting her down on a stack of crates to fix the damaged fuel lines.
Who knew that the medkits the crimson seeker’s twin had forced upon him would actually come in handy?
The mech refused to let anyone come near him. He did not care what they wanted or if they could provide aid of any sort. He was entirely focused on trying to keep Nightshroud alive. As he rooted around, replacing shredded energon lines beyond saving, Starscream noticed how the gash in the femme’s shoulder had left burn marks not just on the armor but some of the internal wiring. Whatever had harmed her hadn’t been a simple slice of a bladed weapon but something more. Electrical perhaps. A shock to Nightshroud’s systems would more than explain how a measly gash in the shoulder was enough to take her down.
Starscream did the best he could with the limited medical knowledge he had. With energon lines repaired and wires supported by electrical tape all he could do was hope self-repairs could handle the rest. Carefully Starscream cleaned up the dried energon both around Nightshroud’s shoulder and wing, double checking his work on the energon lines to make absolutely certain there were no leaks. Once he was done, he picked the femme up, carrying her to their shared makeshift berthroom before placing her on her makeshift berth. The former air commander pulled the tarp over her loosely, taking a seat on his own berth and keeping watch.
Over the course of several hours Starscream did not leave the berthroom once, blue optics transfixed on the unconscious femme. At some point he ordered Soundwave to bring him a couple cubes of energon, quickly shooing the spymaster away without so much as a thank you once the cubes were in his possession. While he sipped away at one cube, he set the other aside for Nightshroud. With the energon loss she was going to need it.
The silence as the former air commander kept watch left his processor stewing over what had transpired now that the immediate danger had passed. Part of him was unhappy with Nightshroud for not staying hidden, but he understood her need to leave the base and she had at the very least commed him to say she needed space before leaving. Instead, his anger was focused on the femme’s attacker. Starscream wanted to hurt them; break them. Who were they to hurt his adopted sparkling like they had?
Faint groans ripped the mech from his thoughts, watching as the crimson seeker’s optics barely cracked open. Practically launching himself off his berth, Starscream took the few steps that separated their berths, kneeling down to get down on Nightshroud’s level.
“Sire..” The femme’s words were soft and somewhat strained. It was clear that she was still weak and exhausted from the attack.
“Easy.” Starscream reached with one servo to gently pet Nightshroud’s helm. “Try to save your strength. There will be a time for us to discuss what happened, but for now take it easy. Do you at least know where you are?”
Nightshroud groaned, optics flitting around shakily as she processed the request. “Home.. The Compound.”
“Good.” As if the fact she’d already called him sire wasn’t proof enough that the femme was somewhat aware of her surroundings. “You need your rest, but you also are in need of energon. I can assist you if you need. After all I doubt you’d be able to hold an energon cube in your current state.” With a soft nod from the crimson seeker, Starscream carefully helped pull her up into a seated position, taking a seat directly behind her so she could lean against him. The spare energon cube he’d kept wasn’t far from his grasp as he reached for it, wrapping his arms around the smaller femme with cube in servo.
“I will hold this for you, but I will remind you to drink it slowly lest you cause yourself to purge. I’ve already cleaned up enough messes today.”
Nightshroud quietly sighed, not even trying to hide her frown. “I’m sorry..”
The femme’s saddened words had stung as Starscream set the energon aside in favor of hugging the femme carefully from behind. “I know. There’s no need for you to apologize, little dove. As I said, there will be time for us to talk about what happened, but know I am not angry with you.”
“You should be..”
“Nightshroud..”
“It’s true..” The femme’s vents hitched as she closed her optics. “I should have listened.. I should’ve stayed, but I didn’t.. all because my thoughts spiraled too far out of control. I wanted to prove I was strong.. that I could help you, and all I did was prove you right. I’m weak..”
Starscream’s optics narrowed. He didn’t want to discuss this right now, but Nightshroud was forcing his servo. Even now, she was still spiraling. “Nightshroud, don’t you ever talk about yourself that way. You are not weak. You are much stronger than you realize, and brave too. I don’t claim to know what happened when you fled, but I do not hate you for this. I’m just.. glad you’re still online; that I could save you.”
“But.. Soundwave.”
“Was a different story,” interrupted Starscream. “Soundwave chose to get involved with the Autobots and the humans and showed no remorse for his actions despite my opinions on the matter. You, clearly, regret what happened. If you think I will treat you as I treated Soundwave then, you are mistaken, but there is one thing you seem to have forgotten. Soundwave and I may have courted briefly, but you are my sparkling. I made a vow to you that I would not abandon you, and I will continue to honor that promise.” Bending forward, the mech placed a soft kiss on the top of the femme’s forehead. “Never forget that I love you, sparkling. You are my chosen trine, and that will never change.”
A choked noise came from the crimson seeker, her frame relaxing a bit more as she smiled. “Thank you.. I love you too, sire.”
“Now are you going to drink your energon or not?”
Weakly, Nightshroud giggled. “Alright.”
“Good. Now lean back against me and I’ll help you. Tell me if you’ve had enough or can’t consume anymore energon.” Starscream guided Nightshroud backward until her back was pressed firmly against him before reaching for the container of energon. He raised it to the femme’s lips, tilting it just enough so that it slowly poured into her intake without causing her to choke. After a couple seconds he paused to give the femme a chance to rest and finish what she’d already drank. He did this several times until Nightshroud had drank half the cube.
The femme waved a servo, groaning a bit. “Okay.. Anymore and I might purge.”
Starscream nodded, setting the remainder of the cube aside. Slowly he slid off the berth, gently helping Nightshroud to lie back down on her right side, wings tucked behind her. She always did recharge better in that position. “Now that you’ve fueled, get some rest. You’re going to need plenty of it so the self-repairs can take care of the rest of your injuries.” Grabbing the tarp, he draped it over the femme carefully tucking her in while avoiding her left shoulder. Just before he could pull his servos away, the crimson seeker grabbed one of them with her own.
“Stay with me..?”
With a sigh, Starscream smiled. “Of course. Get some sleep, little one. Your sire won’t leave your side.” He could already tell it would be a long night, but how could he say no knowing Nightshroud was safe and would be okay.
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