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Chapter Text

The sinking of B-127’s blades into living metal was a satisfying motion, the completion of a job well done. He watched energon spill from the chassis of his target, cerulean pooled at his pedes as he waited for the life to completely leave the crumpled frame before him. 

With a small ex-vent, B-127 prodded the lifeless frame with the tip of his pede before scanning it with a vitals sensor just to be extra certain. He couldn’t afford one of his targets somehow onlining and going to the public with the news of their shoddy assassination attempt. No, B-127 was kept around because of his success rate and he would like to keep it that way.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Sentinel Prime sat draped in an oversized chair in an oversized room, pedes crossed in the air as he waved a servo at B-127 to beckon him closer. He never met B-127’s optics, too engrossed in the datapad he held to bother.

“I have a most exciting proposal for you.” Sentinel grinned with sharpened denta, overzealous and oozing arrogance as always. “I want someone gone. Someone who holds too much power over mechs outside of Iacon, thus out of my immediate reach. I’m sure you’re aware of the High Guard, yes?”

B-127 nodded once.

“Their so-called leader Starscream has been hiding out for too long unaddressed. I want him gone and you’re the perfect mech for the job.” Sentinel readjusted himself in the chair, finally looking at B-127 where he stood.

Their little arrangement went unsaid, there was no choice for B-127 in this matter. He would kill who Sentinel Prime told him to and when. This is just how it must be.

“I don’t care how you do it or any other details surrounding that. Make a big scene or strike him down in the silence of the recharge cycle, I don’t care. Just get it done and I might consider arranging a new contract for you.You’ll be receiving instructions as usual.” With a wave of his servo, Sentinel dismissed B-127 and resumed whatever he was doing on the datapad.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 clambered down the broken down air vent to the abandoned storage closet he had constructed into his makeshift home. He would recharge here for the last time until his new target was dead and gone. Leaving behind the safety of the little space he had created for himself was part of the job, it was to be expected at this point.

Safe within his home, he now opened his comms and pulled up the instructions he’d been sent from an unknown contact. It was fairly sparse, approximate coordinates for the last known location of the High Guard and an image and short description of the target. Starscream was a fairly handsome mech, but B-127 could see the violent contempt burning behind the seeker’s optics from the mid-action picture that had been attached. He was a threat to Sentinel Prime and must go.

The workings of a plan had filled his processor the moment he had been given this task. It was going to be difficult given the little information he had on the High Guard in general, let alone Starscream. His first step was to locate the High Guard then join their ranks to gain more intel. Gaining the favor of the High Guard would help him get closer to Starscream undetected. 

He would work out more details as he went but at least he had a start. For now, he grabbed a cube of energon from the small cabinet and drank it quickly as he sat down next to his crafted friends. 

“I’m going away for a bit guys! Sentinel Prime has a job outside of Iacon for me I guess.” B-127 smiled, patting Steve on the helm. “Aw, don’t worry! I’ll be back in no time. I mean, yeah it’s my first job outside of Iacon but I’ll be alright! I’m a touch mech, one High Guard assassination won’t be the end of me.”

He wondered if his crafted friends could actually talk, what they would have to say about this. Maybe something about him staying safe and how they’d hope he comes back soon. It would be nice if they could talk, but B-127 would pretend they could until he made real friends. Making real friends was a no go for him, it was too much of an occupational hazard. Friends could be used against him or they might not take kindly to his line of work. Not like he had a say in what he did with his life but what would B-127 know?

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Travelling by pede was slow, it would probably take the full cycle to reach the coordinates he was given. Without a fully working cog there wasn’t much B-127 could do to speed up his travels, so he kept walking. The surface was stunning, rock features stretching out as far as he could see. He spent as long as he felt comfortable out in the open just staring up, a myriad of stars dotted the landscape and stood out from the kaleidoscopic sky.

When he got his cog fully working, which B-127 hoped he earned after this mission, he would love to come back to the surface and really take his time to explore. He would travel everywhere he could, regardless of the risk of Quintessons finding him. It would all be worth it. Every life he had ever taken in service to Sentinel Prime would be worth it when he had his cog working right and with that his freedom.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 was being watched. He hadn’t noticed the feeling for very long, perhaps only a few kliks but long enough to know it was intentional. 

“What are you doing here? Who sent you?” A blue seeker dropped out of the sky, landing a couple paces in front of B-127 with guns whining as they gathered charge.

Throwing up his servos in surrender, B-127 stopped in his tracks. “No one sent me.”

The mech didn’t budge, still aiming for B-127’s spark chamber. “Then why are you here?”

“Are you with the High Guard?” It was a risky move, but this mech looked very similar to Starscream and if he could take B-127 just a little bit closer to the target then all the better. B-127 continued, “I’ve heard stories about you guys. I just wanted to see for myself if everything about you is true.”

“You’re a fan?” The mech looked skeptical as B-127 nodded. “There’s no way you’ve actually heard of us. I thought that smug bastard wiped all records of us. Tell me why you’re really here and maybe I’ll hear ya’ out before I blast you to bits.”

B-127 took a steady in-vent before speaking. “Records of the High Guard being wiped? Sentinel Prime tried and pretty much succeeded but small traces slipped through. I don’t know much, only that you fought for the Primes and fled after they fell. But that’s why I’m here. To learn the real truth.”

The mech grumbled something inaudible before closing the distance between them faster than even B-127 had time to react to. His HUD pinged with a high voltage warning before he hit the ground, everything going dark.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 awoke on his knees, servos bound behind him and a nasty ache building in his helm. Resetting his optics, he took in his surroundings. Thick metallic foliage surrounded the small area that was crowded with mechs. A large throne was positioned several paces away from where B-127 knelt. A red flight frame mech who B-127 assumed was Starscream sat upon it, glaring holes into the assassin’s helm.

“Who do you think you are? What right do you have to claim to seek the truth?” Starscream’s voice rose over the hushed whispers at B-127’s expense.

B-127 took a moment to respond, mulling over potential responses and the reactions to each. Everything rode on what he said, playing the long con was his best bet to get close to Starscream. 

“I think Sentinel Prime is lying to Cybertron, withholding the truth to play some kind of game. I want to find out what’s really going on, outside of what Sentinel is saying.” B-127 watched both the crowd and Starscream, hoping he said the right thing.

“What’s your designation, little bot?” Starscream raised an optical ridge, leaning forward in his seat.

“B-127.” He kept his replies short, the less he said the less there was to mess up.

“And what makes you think I shouldn’t turn you to scrap right here and now for knowing of our existence?” Starscream stood, walking down to where B-127 still knelt and angled his chin up with a digit.

“I have no reason to think you wouldn’t just turn me to scrap right here. But I can prove my worth if you’re willing to allow it.” B-127 dipped his helm as a sign of respect he hoped was believable.

“There are many reasons you could be here, none of which end well for me or my High Guard. Thundercracker, you found this mech, what do you think? Should we humor him?” Starscream motioned to the blue mech who had brought B-127 here.

Thundercracker tilted his helm to the side in thought. “I mean, he doesn’t seem like he’s lying. But it’s one mech against all of us, if he tries something we have the advantage. If he’s being earnest then we gain an ally. I say we keep him under close watch but allow him to stay, let him learn the truth he wants.”

“My trinemate has spoken. Thundercracker, I’m placing him under your ward. You have my permission to cut him down if he tries anything. Let us see what you have to offer, little bot. This meeting is over. Keep our new friend cuffed for the rest of the cycle while we make arrangements, we can go from there.” Starscream bared sharpened denta in an intimidating grin, rising from his seat and patting B-127 on the shoulder as he passed.

B-127 allowed himself to mentally deflate, keeping his posture rigid as Thundercracker readjusted his cuffs to be positioned in front of his frame. He had passed the first test, gaining Starscream’s favor was the next step to the seeker’s downfall.

Chapter Text

B-127 now followed around Thundercracker everywhere, trailing behind the seeker to meetings and overseeing the High Guard’s training. He’d graduated to a different set of stasis cuffs that allowed his servos to move freely but limited the use of a cog. He figured it wasn’t worth trying to explain that he didn’t have use of his cog for actual transformations regardless, that would just make them more wary than anything.

The High Guard had been more accepting of B-127 than he had expected, in that no one had outright tried to attack or kill him yet. He wasn’t expecting kindness or general acceptance of his presence but not being more paranoid than usual that someone was out to kill him was a welcomed surprise. The High Guard’s unyielding loyalty to Starscream surely played a part in B-127’s treatment but he didn’t mind that being the case.

Their steadfast loyalty would likely become an issue when it came time for Starscream to fall but B-127 would take this one step at a time. He needed to become close enough to the leader to find an opportunity to strike. It would all come together with time, it would have to.

Thundercracker sat across from B-127, sipping his energon as the night cycle approached. “What’s life in Iacon like?”

B-127 eyed the seeker warily, he really wasn’t expecting his glorified sparkling sitter to willingly engage in conversation with him. “I wouldn’t really know. Didn’t get out much.”

There was a lot that could be revealed in casual conversation, B-127 had to tread carefully, much more so now that he lived with his target. Keep everything brief, reveal as little about himself as possible.

Thundercracker didn’t respond to that for several moments, continuing to drink his energon at a leisurely pace while looking off into the distance. B-127 studied the seeker, trying to see if he’d said something wrong.

“You’ll find that the surface is a lot different than anything in Iacon. We’re certainly more free here than down there. If you’re here to take that from us, I suggest you change your intent now. We weren’t part of the Primes’ High Guard just to look pretty.” The seeker finished off his cube of energon, standing from the table. “Get some recharge, we meet with Starscream at first light.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Nothing much had changed within the time since Starscream had ordered the High Guard to flee and go into hiding. New routines had been built and new tasks to complete had been found to keep everyone from losing their minds. Now there was a great change in the form of a not so large yellow mech.

Starscream was not a gracious mech, not by any sense of the word. He was rather inflexible with the new path he and the High Guard followed, each solar cycle being the same and Starscream found himself not minding it remained like that. There was a threat to the mundanity now, maybe not in the literal sense but things would be changing regardless of this new mech’s intentions.

His paranoia flared, perhaps this was his end and this little bot had come to offline him. But why wait all this time? Fifty cycles of freedom only to be struck down by a bot that Starscream had no true reason to believe was associated with Sentinel Prime. His trine would call him a paranoid sack of bolts if he voiced this out loud to the and perhaps they were right. They'd been left alone for quite some time now and nothing of the small bits of information they had about Iacon’s current state suggested they were in danger right now.

Finding a truth seeking straggler was bound to happen eventually, it taking so long really was the only odd thing about this. Knowledge and those who sought after it wouldn’t ever be fully stamped out by those in power. Starscream tried to remind himself that a new bot was not an immediate threat. 

He was not the same mech who stood by the Primes all that time ago. Starscream had changed and been forgotten by Cybertron. Maybe he was a better mech now, maybe he was worse but change had occurred regardless. But now was not the time for dwelling further on his past and the potential of issues he’d rather not think about.

Thundercracker entered the makeshift office Starscream had taken for himself in the decayed building the High Guard now called home. The strange yellow mech trailed a slight distance behind, optics tracing over everything in the room. Starscream gestured for them to sit at the mismatched table, pulling up a chair for himself, watching curiously as B-127 waited for Thundercracker to take a seat before allowing himself to sit.

“If it hasn’t been made evident by the High Guard’s actions towards you they are incredibly wary of a newcomer entering our safe haven. Several even expressed a desire to have you eliminated before you could act against us. I obviously ordered them to stand down for now; but keep in mind that many, if not most of them are ready to tear you limb from limb if they find cause to do so.” Starscream leaned back in the chair, it creaked noisily against him as he looked to B-127. “It’s in your utmost best interest that you don’t do anything that could be remotely seen as a threat to us. I can only do so much to keep them from disassembling you on the spot.

“You might ask why I would ever put the mechs I hold command over at such incredible risk by allowing you to stay. In part it’s because I’m curious what Sentinel Prime is up to now, to use any spare bits of information you possess against the Prime. I’m also very interested in what truly led you here to us. You must think you’re a very brave little bot to come waltzing into a den filled with Cybertron’s most capable killers and expect to learn about us. But now that I have extended a gracious servo, what will you do with it?”

The yellow bot didn’t cower nor seem remotely nervous as he stared back into Starscream’s optics. Starscream had to commend his brazen nature, faced against someone he no doubt had very little information on who could easily cut him down in a spark pulse.

“Like I said, I want the truth. The real truth that hasn’t been painted by Sentinel Prime’s embellishments. He says many things but I don’t know how much of that has been twisted until facts have become unrecognizable. He said the High Guard were destroyed, I went to find that out for myself but here you all stand. How else did he lie to us?” The words B-127 spoke seemed convincing enough, assured in what he said to the degree Starscream felt minutely put to ease. 

“I suppose that’s simple enough, we let you stay here and in return we show you what we know.” Starscream gave B-127 an easy smile while still studying his reactions. “In time we can discuss removing the stasis cuffs completely, but for now you can get around well enough with them as they are.”

He shifted his gaze to Thundercracker who was absentmindedly tracing the transformation seams on his arm. If there was anyone outside of himself that Starscream trusted it was Thundercracker, regardless of if B-127 had hidden motivations there would be no running from the blue seeker.

“You’re ensuring our guest is well acquainted with life here?” Starscream asked Thundercracker.

Thundercracker shrugged. “You know as well as I do there’s not a lot we do here. Overseeing training, training, wiping the floor with my training partner, refueling on mediocre energon, recharge then repeating it all the next cycle. You would be more fit to share our history than I am.”

B-127’s optics seemed to brighten at that, Starscream filed a small mental note to bring that up later when the newcomer was more settled and he could prove without a doubt he was no threat to Starscream. The seeker doubted the little yellow bot was any threat to him, even in stature alone Starscream had the advantage, but one could never be too cautious. Especially where he stood in life now.

“You’re free to go now. I’m sure I’ll run into you soon enough, B-127.” Starscream accentuated his words with a mildly pleasant smile. He could at least be somewhat hospitable to their guest. He could place his trust in his trinemate to keep the yellow mech from being an issue.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Restlessness creeped over B-127’s frame as he reclined in the berth he’d been given to recharge in. Recharge was the farthest thing from his mind as he laid awake with his processor running far too fast for his own good. Plots and schemes rattled around in his thoughts, unfulfilled and too risky to ever be executed in full.

Many things could be done to cut his time with the High Guard short. But those many things would end in his death and maybe not even the death of his true target. B-127 could render a bot lifeless with only a few movements of his own. Yet here he lay, utterly useless to make the first move. He was– unfortunately at the whim of Starscream for the time being.

For now B-127 would fantasize about dislodging the seeker’s optics from their sockets, slicing through that overly polished plating deep down into the fragile mesh that housed delicate internal components with his knives. He offlined his optics, picturing himself standing before Starscream and watched the small trickle of energon pool onto the floor as B-127 plunged a knife between transformation seams, making purchase right above the seeker’s spark chamber. He sliced down in the vision, watching as Starscream’s spark stuttered and blinked rapidly before plunging his frame into cold silence.

B-127 slept easy with Starscream’s downfall at the forefront of his processor.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Watching the suns peek up from the horizon was a new comfort that B-127 found himself indulging in the beginning of every solar cycle. It was strange how quickly he found himself looking forward to something so simple. The technicolor streaks of atmosphere danced around the two massive orbs of gas and flame that lit up the sky. Early on when it was still cool enough for the mist to cling to B-127’s plating he would sit next to the large open window and watch the surface come to life.

It was almost easy to forget why he was here to begin with.

“It never really stops being less beautiful. In all this time seeing the suns rise still makes my vents stall.”

There was shuffling behind B-127 as Thundercracker scooted a crate closer to the window. He leaned against the windowsill, shaking the haze of recharge from the tips of his wings.

“There’s a scouting mission planned. Talked to Screamer about it.” There was a pause as Thundercracker turned to look at B-127. “He said he wants to see what you’re capable of so you’ll be tagging along with me and Ramjet. I’d like to stress that any wrong move ends in your energon splattered against a rock and your cold frame at my pedes. We don’t have the time nor spare mechs for sparkling sitting so you’re either with us in full or marked as another dead traitor against us. We leave when the suns set.” 

Thundercracker stood and disappeared into the next room, allowing B-127 just a little more time to soak in the beauty. This was one step of many to earn the High Guard’s trust and he would meet every requirement they threw at him to prove his worth. He had to.

Chapter Text

B-127 felt a wave of familiarity ease into his joints and seams as they trekked through the dense metallic underbrush of a forest. He was relieved to find that the majority of scouting missions were done in root mode to avoid detection. Jets weren’t the most stealthy alt modes in close range, so they’d learned to adapt. That just meant one more solar cycle went by without B-127 having to explain his lack of an alt mode. He didn’t want to explain that he’d been forged with a faulty cog that denied him the ability to transform fully. Explaining that while leaving out the promise Sentinel Prime had given him to grant him access to the best medic Iacon had to offer to repair his cog wasn’t on B-127’s top list of things he wanted to do.

The less the High Guard knew about him the less there was to suspect his true goals while staying with them. He’d play nice and get buddy-buddy with some of the other mechs who were actually pretty interesting to be around. Thundercracker had been the easiest to form a pseudo friendship with, he was by no means stupid but there was a certain easy acceptance the seeker seemed to live by that made him a perfect candidate.

Even better that Thundercracker seemed to take pretty well to B-127 in general, making jokes and easy conversation long before B-127 thought it was reasonable to expect. The hike was made silently but not wholly uncomfortable, at least it gave B-127 plenty of time to think. 

The easiest plan would be to get Starscream alone, killing him quickly and quietly and disappearing without a trace. He wasn’t worried about his chances of getting tracked down by the High Guard once he made it back to Iacon, they wouldn’t dare follow him there. Perhaps he would wrap a servo around the lead seeker’s neck, crushing his vocalizer and rendering him speechless before opening up his central fuel line. He would let the energon cascade from that severed fuel line as he shattered Starscream’s spark into dozens of shards.

Thinking of this eased B-127’s worries, he’d killed more visually imposing mechs with much less planning with much less time to work with. There was exactly zero room for error but it was almost soothing how simply the plan could be laid out. He would succeed not just because he had to, but because he was the best.

Thundercracker held a servo up, motioning for the group to stop. A large clearing was up ahead several paces from where they hid in the brush. 

[Make no sudden movements, no sound. We are just here to observe. Do not act no matter what you see.[] Thundercracker’s comm pinged soundlessly in B-127’s HUD, the seeker’s optics were hard and unmoving as he waited for B-127’s confirmation, to which the assassin nodded once.

They all crept closer, a large shuttle came into view more clearly. It was unlike anything B-127 had seen before– surely that wasn’t a Cybertronian build. It was angular and dark, jutting out unnaturally and created a menacing shadow in the moonlight. Within the shadow were several figures, more organic and uncanny than any being B-127 had ever seen for real. Quintessons which had only previously been known from stories and archive files to him. Transformation sounds cut through the silence and B-127 followed the sound up to the sky where two Cybertronians dropped to the ground in their root modes.

Cobalt blue– a plating color which B-127 had only ever associated with one mech shone in the limited light, overly polished and devoid of imperfections. Strangely, B-127 felt nothing as the scene unfolded before him. Sentinel Prime was working with the Quintessons and B-127 had not a single true emotion towards that new revelation. He had known some of this in parts, too disconnected from any other piece of truth for it to mean anything substantial.

If Sentinel had gone behind everyone’s backs to work with the Quintessons– the very beings he’d claimed to save Cybertron from, then what else had he lied about? Was B-127’s deal with the Prime still solid?

The deal had to mean something, even now. It had been Sentinel who had granted B-127 medical care to fix his broken cog to allow partial transformations. Just one more job and he would be granted access to the best medics on Cybertron so he could fully transform. Sentinel had promised and even if he had lied behind everyone’s backs he hadn’t gone back on his word to fix B-127 yet. Hopefully it stayed that way. If Sentinel went back on his deal with B-127 then it was game over, there was nowhere else for B-127 to go.

B-127 glanced over at Thundercracker and Ramjet, both mechs watching the scene unfold with the same hardened expressions. This must not have been the first time they’ve witnessed this. They watched as Sentinel bowed slightly to the Quintesson and turned to leave, transforming and taking flight into the sky. Thundercracker nudged B-127’s shoulder and motioned for their retreat, they’d seen all they needed to.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

No one spoke until they made it back to the High Guard’s base, there was too much for B-127 to think about to want to talk regardless. Ramjet had splintered off to go find Dirge and Thrust as soon as they’d gotten back, leaving Thundercracker and B-127 to their own devices.

“Sentinel meets with the Quints every other lunar cycle. I'm not at liberty to say why he meets with them, seeing as you’re still an outsider, but I’m sure you’ve already figured that out.” Thundercracker reclined in his seat as he spoke, stretching his arms and wings out with a groan. “What was it you said you did in Iacon again? Did you see much of Sentinel?”

B-127 stilled, dermas resting on the edge of the cube of energon he’d been drinking. “I did maintenance for the Senate building. Most I saw of Sentinel was from a great distance, I stayed out of sight from the high ranking bots.”

The lie came easily, rolled off his glossa smoothly and confidently. Like he actually had been a maintenance bot for the Senate. He never said the same lie about his background during a job, usually he never needed to actually converse with someone in his target’s social circle but it never hurt to be overly cautious. The web of lies he had to construct had become a sort of comfort to keep him distant from the other bots he had to work with.

Thundercracker hummed as he nodded, taking the lie as fact. After all, what purpose would a small bot with a broken cog like B-127 have to lie about his former occupation. A lot actually. And it was with that assumption that the High Guard’s leader would fall to the small bot that never seemed to pose a real threat.

“Oh, right before I forget. Starscream commed me saying he wants to meet with you one on one. Dunno what he wants but he said to get some rest first, you’ll meet in his office after the recharge cycle.” Thundercracker said. “Come on, gotta rest up before your meeting with the big boss.”

B-127 got up wordlessly, following behind Thundercracker as they made their way to the communal berth room. He felt a wave of determined calm wash over him, finally it was time to act. 

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

The plan he’d been working on was taking on a solid form, much closer to coming to fruition than B-127 had expected but that was all the better. The sooner Starscream’s greying corpse laid at his pedes, the sooner he could get a fully functioning cog. Sentinel hadn’t given him an actual time frame, by this point in their professional relationship he trusted B-127 to work in a timely manner. That trust had been built up for many cycles of being Sentinel Prime’s personal assassin. The amount of spilled energon on his servos didn’t bother him anymore, he took it as a source of pride, of his own strength to keep himself alive.

B-127 was not a mech who should’ve survived this long, small with a broken cog in a world where the ability to transform determined your standing and quality of life. He wasn’t naive; the cogless bots were treated horribly, exploited until their breaking point. Their livelihoods send them to the Well long before they should’ve. B-127 could’ve ended up like them, almost did with a cog that was only capable of small partial transformations. 

But he didn’t end up like the cogless bots. Sentinel Prime had taken a shine to him, the reason for that was still unknown to B-127. It didn’t matter. B-127 had been forged into a weapon and doing so had saved him. Regardless of what he thought about Sentinel Prime’s rise to power and his suspicions of the Prime’s treachery, B-127 owed his life to Sentinel. Thus, he would act on the Prime’s orders to keep himself afloat. It wasn’t loyalty, just pure will to keep surviving.

He’d recharged soundly, lulled into a pleasant resting state by a sense of finality. This would all be over very soon. Walking around without having to trail behind Thundercracker was a strange feeling, knowing it was a sign of the High Guards’ trust in B-127 that he would soon betray. Still, he didn’t feel guilty. This was part of business, nothing more than that.

There were no doors anywhere, long since destroyed by time and wear and tear. B-127 knocked on the doorway before stepping into the room. Sure, he could’ve acted on the element of surprise and incapacitated Starscream that way but the seeker wasn’t his typical target. He couldn’t use his typical tactics with a mech of Starscream’s caliber, he was the leader of the High Guard and former protector of the Primes for a reason. There was no room for error.

Starscream sat at the desk in the center of the room, tapping away on a well worn datapad but looked up when B-127 entered the room. A rush of excitement ran through B-127’s lines, he let the heady excitement overtake him. There was no shame in allowing himself to relish in the anticipation of a kill. 

“You wanted to see me?” B-127 sat across the desk from Starscream when motioned to do so, arranging his limbs casually.

The seeker nodded. “I have to say I find you intriguing to no small degree. Thundercracker mentioned you were a maintenance bot for the Senate? Yet somehow you find yourself here, in the midst of the legendary High Guard. But our existence should’ve been erased, you shouldn’t know who we are. So tell me little bot, how did you find out about us?”

This was a test then, B-127 would play along for now. Just until he could get close enough for his knife to make purchase in the seeker’s spark chamber. He in-vented steadily, betraying none of his true feelings. “As I had access to the archives for maintenance purposes I spent some time reading through the archives. I had stumbled upon an account of the High Guard that had gotten wedged behind a shelf. It was probably supposed to be destroyed but somehow had managed to go unseen until I found it. 

“It didn’t say much, just spoke of your role as the Thirteen Primes’ protectors and weapons. Nowhere else was there any mention of the High Guard. It made me curious, and I started to doubt what everyone had been told by Sentinel Prime. I had no real way to find out if the High Guard still existed but I took a chance by going to the surface, Thundercracker finding me was nothing more than a brilliant stroke of luck for me.”

The chair scraped the floor as Starscream stood, walking around the desk to lean in closer to B-127. This was a perfect opportunity. B-127 could visualize his next motions, one servo wrapping around Starscream’s neck as his other servo transformed into a blade in the same moment as it would plunge through layers of metal and nestle within the seeker’s spark chamber. A quick, clean kill.

Scarlet optics locked onto B-127’s own, carefully scrutinizing the yellow bot. It would be so easy to kill Starscream at this moment, just two simple motions and there would be a dead mech at B-127’s pedes. For the very first time, B-127 found himself hesitating. He willed his arms to move but his pistons felt gummed up by an invisible substance. He watched completely immobile as Starscream walked in a circle around B-127’s chair. He was so close to having a fully functional cog, just one more kill and that was it.

So why now was B-127 so transfixed by the mech that stood before him that he was unable to act?

Chapter Text

B-127 reset his optics once, twice, willing himself to move. To do anything other than stare at Starscream as he continued to soak in every detail of B-127’s frame as if preparing to devour the yellow mech whole. He felt glued in place by Starscream’s very gaze, he wasn’t nervous to kill. No, he was very eager to get this over and done with. So what’s with the hesitation?

At last, Starscream stopped. If only to take B-127’s chin in his servo, lightly digging a clawed digit into his faceplate but not deep enough to draw energon. “I’ve decided I’d like to keep you around. A more permanent arrangement than being sparkling sat by Thundercracker. You will be allowed a longer leash, I’ll tell Thundercracker you’re allowed to go where you please within reason. You haven’t done anything to make me doubt this decision yet so I’m willing to be a little extra gracious.” He paused if considering something, “Can you fight?”

B-127 chuckled in a tone he hoped was a little hesitant, a little nervous about the prospect of fighting. “I’ve never had a need to fight. I’m sure I can be taught but I don’t know how, no.”

There was a tug in B-127’s spark, something strange and foreign as he weighed his options. He still had a perfect opportunity to kill Starscream right here, right now. The seeker was still plenty close to catch him off guard. He found himself hesitating once more, unnamed emotions swirling inside him. Maybe he could stick around a little more, see what else the High Guard has to offer before killing their leader and returning to Sentinel. 

“If you’re to stay here you must learn to fight. I’m not willing to house a useless mech.” Starscream smiled, baring his fanged denta just slightly before releasing B-127 from his grasp.

Pretending to learn to fight when he was a skilled assassin would prove difficult but he was willing to fake that if it meant just a little more time with the High Guard. There was something alluring about Starscream, something drew B-127 to the seeker and he needed to know what that was.

He nodded. “Then I’ll learn to fight. I like making myself useful anyways.”

Starscream clapped his servos together. “Good. So long as I find you useful, you have a place among the High Guard. That’s all I had, you’re free to go now.”

B-127 stood, hesitating for just a nanoklik before walking out of the office. There would be plenty more opportunities to kill Starscream, for now he would continue to play nice.

The halls were quiet as B-127 began to wander, he had no obligation to go find Thundercracker now that he had been given free reign. The blue seeker’s company had been somewhat enjoyable but it felt good to be alone again. He took his time walking, taking in the cobbled together construction of the half open building the High Guard resided in. Most of the ceiling was eaten away by weather, streams of sunlight poured in through the gaps and bleached the metal it touched. There was a wildness to the structure that was so unlike anything in Iacon but it felt comfortable and welcoming, more so than any building in Iacon had ever felt.

Skywarp came into view as B-127 rounded the corner. “Heard from Screamer you’re off the leash now. How’s it feel?”

It seemed strange that Skywarp was actually speaking to B-127 without either of his trinemates present. Perhaps now that he’d been the stamp of approval from Starscream the purple seeker was willing to be more friendly.

“It feels good, I’m sure Thundercracker is happy I’m out from under his pedes. Starscream said I’ll be taught to fight now that I have a more permanent place within the High Guard, did Starscream say who was to be teaching me?” B-127 kept his tone relatively friendly which wasn’t hard to do, Skywarp seemed likeable enough.

The seeker hummed, “No, he hasn’t said anything to TC and I but I’d imagine it would be one of us or maybe Soundwave. Scheduled training should still be going on if you wanna head to the courtyard. I can’t stick around. I have patrol but someone there should be able to give you a run down.”

B-127 nodded as Skywarp teleported away in a brilliant flash of purple. He continued down the hall towards the courtyard at a leisurely pace, brushing the metallic foliage that climbed the walls with his digits. A new plan was forming: sate his unexpected curiosity regarding the High Guard and Starscream, then he would go in for the kill. Sentinel Prime would just have to wait a little longer before the High Guard’s leader was eliminated.

It would be good to size up his opponent regardless, B-127 needed to know if Starscream had any unexpected tricks that he could pull when cornered. This was a calculated decision that he was absolutely not influencing with his own motives, if only he could actually convince himself that was the truth. He knew this was selfish and could put his mission in jeopardy but B-127 couldn’t find the will to care. Surely he was allowed to be a little selfish every now and then, right?

The sun beat down on the small courtyard where B-127 found many of the High Guard training. Almost at its highest point in the sky, the sunlight beamed strongly, bouncing off the plating of the bots hard at work. No indication had been made that the High Guard did anything but watch Sentinel Prime. B-127 hadn’t noticed any preparation for an assault or even the faintest whisperings of plans. They trained and they watched, nothing more than that.

Thundercracker cracked a smile, waved B-127 over with his servo. “So maintenance bot, ready to take a stab at sparring? Form will come later, I just want you to get a feel for the motions first.”

The seeker dropped into a defensive stance in the center of the courtyard, motioning for B-127 to follow suit. He mirrored Thundercracker, taking care to make his form more sloppy and unbalanced than it should be, more in line with how a bot who’d never fought before would act. Fighting against reflexes that had long been ingrained in his programming would be difficult but it was either that or ruin his chances to find out more about the High Guard. They couldn’t find out about B-127’s line of work or his past if he wanted to stay here.

“You probably don’t have any combat protocol installed but we’ll start basic. Block with your inner arms, keep your stance wide. In a real fight weapons would be involved more often than not but it’s good to know close combat.” Thundercracker advanced forward, curling his servo into a fist and aiming for B-127’s chassis but stopping just before his fist made contact. “You have a couple options, blocking and dodging are good starts for now.”

B-127 moved his forearm to push Thundercracker’s fist out of the way so it didn’t collide with his chassis. This started a stilted dance of practice combat in slow motion. Thundercracker would attack but not follow through all the way with the power of his attacks and B-127 would respond clumsily, allowing hits to land more often than not. 

He would give it to Thundercracker for being a decent teacher, making his motions more pronounced and exaggerated than they would be typically. He continued attacking B-127 and allowing him to respond with either a block or dodging the attack.

The seeker crouched down, sweeping his leg underneath B-127 and knocking him down on his aft. Thundercracker laughed, offering the yellow mech a servo. “You’re pretty bad but not a lost cause so don’t worry about Screamer kicking you out quite yet over not being able to fight.”

B-127 nodded, smiling slightly as relief washed over him. He accepted Thundercracker’s servo and was helped up off the ground. The first of many training sessions had gone well and he had played off being unable to fight enough for Thundercracker to believe it.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Starscream did everything for a reason. He might seem irrational and motivated by a lust for power but that was only partially true. He wouldn’t deny the power lust to some degree, though that had waned in recent cycles. Most of the time Starscream’s reasoning was atypical, incomprehensible even to him but there was still a reason behind his actions. The reasoning would come to the surface eventually but for now Starscream was in the dark about his specific reasoning to keep B-127 around. 

Really, the yellow mech was a hazard, a liability of unknown proportions. So much could go wrong but here Starscream was welcoming a strange bot into a safe haven for both him and the other High Guard like this was a normal circumstance. It was anything but. The High Guard were essentially refugees, fleeing from Iacon had been under less than ideal circumstances but they were supposed to be safe here on the surface. If something went wrong and B-127 was a threat then Starscream had effectively doomed them all.

Hopefully it would be fine. Hopefully Starscream hadn’t signed all their deaths in gilded letters but there was no way to tell. At least not as it stood now. All because Starscream had a strange curiosity surrounding a small yellow mech that came out of nowhere. He could’ve resisted, should’ve resisted the urge to know more about this stranger. Should’ve cast B-127 out without looking back or better yet, killed him on sight, eliminated the threat entirely. Yet he didn’t. Why? It seemed Starscream would be the last to know what his true intentions were.

At the very least he should’ve continued to have Thundercracker keep watch. But no, Starscream had done the complete opposite and allowed him free reign. It would be a lie to say this was the most idiodic thing he’d ever done but it was probably up there. Risking everything they’d gathered in terms of safety and resources over the past 50 cycles and for what exactly? Certainly the cost was not worth the gain. Whatever this gain even was.

There was a tug Starscream felt towards B-127 but couldn’t figure out what that was. Was it morbid curiosity? Perhaps a draw to learn just how horribly Sentinel Prime was using his stolen power, to learn how much better the High Guard was outside of Iacon? Whatever, Starscream supposed the reason why he had ensured their deaths didn’t matter when they were a pile of greyed out corpses. He just desperately wished he would be proven wrong.

Not much could even be done to find out if their new friend was a threat. Soundwave was a skilled hacker and could easily gather any information over the datanet if they had computer access. But they didn’t. With no way to gain access to the datanet they would just have to take B-127’s word that what he said was the truth.

Starscream worried his lower derma between his denta as he thought. What had he gotten them into?

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Getting knocked flat on his aft time and time again really gave B-127 a new meaning of feeling sore. But he wasn’t about to show how he truly fought, he could easily take on Thundercracker in a fight and win but no one needed to know that. 

“You’re improving. Just barely but it’s a good start,” Thundercracker said while helping B-127 haul himself up after a particularly hard fall to the ground.

B-127’s optics flicked to the side, finding Starscream lounging casually on a fallen stone column. When had he gotten here? 

“Such a clumsy bot, I’ll be impressed when you can even land a hit on Thundercracker without tripping over your own pedes.” Starscream picked at one of his transformation seams with a clawed digit, voice dripping in smug condescension.

This was good, B-127 had to remind himself of that while he watched Starscream preen. It meant his act of having no combat skills was believable, that didn’t make Starscream’s snide remark feel any better but at least he wouldn’t be caught in a lie quite yet.

“Well if you need a pipe fixed or insulation replaced I’m your mech. I’ve never had to fight so I had no reason to learn until now.” B-127 allowed some of his exasperation to color his words.

“Yes, yes little maintenance bot you’ve told us of your menial labor back in Iacon. But you’re not there anymore by your own volition. So now you must be like us and learn to fight.”

“Lay off him Screamer, he’s improving a lot faster than I expected and really this is just a precaution. We have no intention of going after Sentinel. Unless you’ve decided we are all of a sudden?” Thundercracker walked over to Starscream and cuffed him over the helm playfully.

Starscream grumbled but made no indication of being anything other than annoyed by his trinemate. “No. We have no reason to go after Sentinel even if he’s an egotistical charlatan. Clearly he doesn’t even think we pose a threat if he’s allowed us to continue to live for 50 cycles. So long as he doesn’t come after us he can do whatever he pleases in Iacon.”

“What about whatever he’s doing with the Quintessons? What if they start attacking Cybertron again?” Even if B-127 didn’t feel particularly strongly about what Sentinel was up to he remembered the Quintesson attacks that drove Cybertronians underground. If Sentinel fragged up whatever he was doing now and the Quintessons resumed their assault on Cybertron it wasn’t just Iacon that was in trouble.

“We have been monitoring the situation. If the Quintessons decide to attack again then we will deal with it then, but for now our numbers are too few to do any real good. My priority is the High Guard, not Iacon.” Starscream waved his servo in the air flippantly. “There isn’t much we could do as it stands now.”

“Sentinel will reap what he’s sown eventually, don’t worry about it too much.” Thundercracker clapped B-127 on the shoulder as he walked past. “Come on, let’s go get some fuel. Wanna join us Star?”

Starscream made a noncommittal sound but followed after Thundercracker towards the mess hall. B-127 trailed behind them, still caught up on the Quintessons. He watched as Thundercracker made an unintelligible joke he laughed at which earned him a rough shove from Starscream, making Thundercracker only laugh harder.

The three bots settled in a corner that Thundercracker seemed to favor. B-127 sat with his back to the wall and took small sips of his energon, watching Dirge and Ramjet squabble over something at another table. 

Thundercracker groaned, letting his helm hit the table with a thunk. “Skywarp commed me so I gotta go. He’s begging me to see something, I don’t even know what he wants.”

“And why didn’t he comm me? I’m his trinemate too.” Starscream asked, taking a long drink of his energon.

“He probably did something stupid he doesn’t want you to know about. Once I find out what he’s up to I’ll comm you. That glitch spawn is such a pain! I better go before he probably gets himself blown up.” 

Starscream rolled his optics as Thundercracker quickly downed the rest of his energon before leaving to go find Skywarp.

As much as B-127 was curious to learn more about Starscream, doing so suddenly felt very daunting as he sat across the table from a mech who should’ve been dead for several solar cycles. It should be easy, on the rare occasions where B-127 had interacted with his targets before their death there were no complicated feelings. He did what he had to, killed the target like he was supposed to and moved on to the next target. 

But now it was hard to even look directly at Starscream for more than a nanoklik without wanting to squirm in his seat. B-127 resisted that urge, determined to stay calm lest he draw suspicion to himself. He took another sip of energon, trying to calm his thoughts. Staying calm and inconspicuous was key right now. 

“Does Skywarp do this often?”

Starscream hummed. “Oh yes, and not once does he comm me for help. He knows too well I’m not as lenient with his foolish behavior as Thundercracker is. He’s lucky he’s my trinemate most of the time. Were he not, well, the High Guard would be one member fewer. I am nothing if not magnanimous to Skywarp especially. Thundercracker is a fool too but he’s much better at getting himself out of trouble without aid. Don’t tell either of them about this conversation, they would have my helm for blabbing their secrets.”

B-127 couldn’t help himself from asking: “Then why are you telling me?”

“Hm, well life’s no fun if there aren’t any secrets to spill. This is harmless information that even the most heinous mech couldn’t twist into something damaging. I’m simply making conversation. Don’t say I never tried to be welcoming to you.”

B-127 let out a huffed vent in amusement. “I really appreciate you not killing me, the instant Thundercracker dropped me at your pedes. I don’t overlook you being so trusting of me.”

There was a snort as Starscream was about to take another sip of energon. “Trusting is something no one would accuse me of. I’m acting in my own interests, just as you are.”

Acting with his own interests, while not entirely his own exactly, B-127 certainly had outside motivations for this entire thing. Maybe he should’ve just killed Starscream when he had the chance. He was beginning to feel his plating crawl from being around Starscream for so long, the unease and nerves from the seeker not being dead yet was making his protomesh itch.

“Of course.” B-127 offered. He’d long since drank the rest of his ration, there was no reason to stay here anymore. He needed to flee before he lost his cool. “I’ll see you around then. Thundercracker’s training is intense and I’ve hit a wall so I should go recharge.”

He stood, feeling Starscream’s optics on him until he was out into the halls. Curiosity had gotten the better of him last time but the fact that Starscream had to go was glaringly obvious. The next opportunity B-127 got, Starscream was as good as gone.

Chapter Text

It was a little disconcerting how easily B-127 fell into his new routine. He trained until the sun was too hot and too bright, high in the sky and then went on patrols in the evenings. Most of the time it was Thundercracker doing the teaching but more recently, Soundwave had shown up to help. 

“Correct your form.” Soundwave nudged B-127’s carefully placed pedes farther apart to widen his stance, guiding B-127 into a position he would’ve taken naturally. Every movement he made was a deliberate attempt to look like a novice. At least Soundwave’s frustrations about this meant he was doing a convincing job.

Soundwave was still largely a mystery to B-127, it was only recently that he’d even interacted with the yellow bot at all. Likely a sign of the High Guard as a whole becoming more trusting of B-127, something that would soon have to be shattered. A deep, anxious itch had settled underneath his plating the longer he remained here. No further opportunities had appeared to strike down Starscream and B-127 worried if he had missed his only chance.

There was always the option to cause a scene but that was an absolute last resort, one that B-127 hoped he wouldn’t have to come to. He much preferred when he could get a job done and get out without anyone noticing until it was too late and B-127 was long gone. Sentinel often bemoaned his choice to opt to make a clean kill rather than strike fast at the first chance he got. But Sentinel wasn’t here and B-127 could act as he always had and kill in a way that felt best suitable for the job.

Soundwave motioned for B-127 to run through the practice stances and B-127 did as commanded, keeping his form just a little imperfect the whole time. Outside of correcting B-127, Soundwave said little and his frame said even less about himself. He wasn’t included in the patrol rotation so B-127 saw very little of him. Starscream met with Soundwave for meetings with the high ranking bots but B-127 had no clue about what. It didn’t seem important enough to his own mission to find out the nature of those meetings.

“Stop here for today,” said Soundwave.

B-127 let his frame sag from fatigue, if anything Soundwave was a more stern instructor than Thundercracker could ever be. He would be relieved when the time came for him to stop this charade, going back to a life of already knowing how to fight instead of pretending to learn the basics.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

“This is just paranoia, Star. Tell me, what has he done so far that makes you suspect he’s out to get us?” Thundercracker watched Starscream pace the length of his office back and forth.

“My paranoia has kept us alive fifty cycles longer than we should have. If it weren’t for my paranoia our corpses would’ve been disposed of along with that of our Primes. Sentinel is out for us and I’m certain this is connected!” Starscream’s voice was shrill and ragged, he wouldn’t listen to his trinemate’s attempts to calm him. He felt a familiar paranoia wrap around his spark when they’d found B-127 and it had yet to retreat. That had to mean something.

“And what has he done to make you feel that way? I go on patrols with him too, I keep an optic on him like you’ve insisted. If you really distrusted him so severely he would still be in Thundercracker’s shadow. But you’ve given him free reign. So why are you concerned now?” Skywarp chimed in from his reclined position in Starscream’s chair.

“I haven’t stopped being concerned. Since the moment he stepped a pede in our safe haven I’ve been concerned. I– I cannot answer why I let him loose, I fear I might regret that decision but… Yes, he’s been fine so far. But what if he’s just biding his time until I or another of our number is vulnerable?” 

“You’ve been alone with him. That’s pretty vulnerable if you’re asking me. Yes, you’re a capable fighter, one of our best, but even you can be taken by the element of surprise. Don’t you think he would’ve acted then if he really had it out for us?” Thundercracker sighed, Starscream could tell he was growing tired of this conversation. “I think he’s a little naive, a little inexperienced, but not a threat. Why would a maintenance bot have it out for us?”

Starscream paused his pacing, rubbing a servo over his face. “Perhaps you’re both right. It’s been fifty cycles, why would Sentinel wait until now to dispose of us? Something isn’t right about our little yellow recruit but maybe I’m being overly paranoid. I’m more than capable of handling a threat on my own, perhaps cycles upon cycles of looking over my shoulder has finally corrupted my logic circuits.”

The blanket of paranoia surrounding his spark hadn’t subsided but Skywarp and Thundercracker were right, however regretful that was. B-127 hadn’t proved himself a threat yet. There had been plenty of opportunities for this to had changed and yet it hasn’t. Letting an inconsequential bug get the better of Starscream was unthinkable. He was in charge here, he had the loyalty of every member of the High Guard and cycles of experience on B-127. He would prevail just as he always had.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

A heavy weight of feeling like he was being watched fell on B-127’s back. He pushed down the feeling and continued his training. It was under Soundwave’s watchful gaze once more, he was certainly a formidable fighter even without B-127’s ruse. Lunging forward, B-127 struck Soundwave but was easily blocked and pushed back. A real fight with Soundwave was something B-127 couldn’t help but want, even if he knew he never actually wanted to have a chance to do so.

He couldn’t take it anymore. Trying not to look too urgently, B-127 craned his helm around, finding Starscream lounging on a collapsed pillar looking rather bored. B-127 averted his optics, looking away like if he was spotted everything would crumble to pieces in his servos. The pseudo anxiety that plagued B-127 was starting to get really annoying, it only came about when Starscream was present. Like even his base programming knew that Starscream had to go and it was an outright disaster that he wasn’t already dead. 

Of course it was a disaster! B-127 had a clear chance, as perfect a moment as was ever possible during a job, especially with one with as high stakes as this one. And he fumbled it beyond belief. It was infuriating. What had changed? What had bred this pinprick of uncertainty?

This was unlike him. B-127 was meticulous with his jobs, leaving behind not a trace of his existence and just a greyed out frame in his wake. Get in, get out. Even at the beginning as a newly trained assassin B-127 had never truly hesitated like he had this time. A baseline anxiety of taking another life had certainly existed but he’d always followed through and saw a job through to completion. Not once had B-127 had to return to Sentinel Prime with the shame of an escaped target. He certainly wasn’t going to break that precedent now of all times.

“Not the worst performance I’d expect from a maintenance bug.” Starscream said haughtily. B-127 wasn’t looking at Starscream but he could feel the smirk that Starscream likely wore on his dermas. The nickname was new. Not once had anyone ever called B-127 a bug before.

“It helps that I have good teachers. Both Thundercracker and Soundwave are very skilled.” B-127 replied, not looking back to see Starscream.

Starscream hummed, “Yes, quite. Though I doubt you’ll ever be able to reach that of any of the High Guard. We were the best of the best when we guarded the Primes and I’m sure we are still among the top of those still in Iacon.”

B-127 bristled just a little bit. He was certainly on par with the High Guard in terms of raw skill. But where the High Guard had seen no true combat in many cycles, that was where B-127 had thrived since being taken on by Sentinel Prime. He was at his peak when faced with brutality, tearing into delicate protomesh with his perfectly sharpened blades, watching cascades of energon spill from his targets. It would be so easy to tear Starscream to pieces right here were he not working with a delicate plan to kill the leader off quietly without any optics to witness his death.

He bit back the answer he wanted to give, claiming he could easily take on a member of the HIgh Guard and instead chose to play it off and turned towards the seeker. “No, you’re right. I could never be able to compete with you. I’d be taken down in an instant if I ever tried.”

“So long as you know your place I suppose.” Starscream drawled, lazily reclining further on the pillar he was laying on.

It was rather strange. The way Starscream seemed so much more casual around B-127 than ever before. Perhaps he’d finally convinced himself that the yellow mech wasn’t a true threat. Better for B-127 that way. Just Starscream being here in general was strange in its own way, before now seeing the High Guard leader in more communal areas was a rarity. Yet here Starscream was, lounging in the clearing with little concern painted on his faceplates.

“That’s enough for now.” Soundwave’s modulated voice cut through B-127’s thoughts as he let his limbs relax.

Before anything could be asked of him or another conversation was initiated, B-127 retreated, far from the heavy gaze of Starscream.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 towered above the seeker where he was splayed out on the ground, energon pooling around his frame. He looked to the blades his servos had transformed into, watching pearlescent beads of pink drip to the ground.

He was in control. He had the high ground with the leader of the High Guard at his pedes, twitching in pain where he lay. There was little that could be done to save Starscream now, his subordinates and trinemates too far off to reach him in time. He would die here by B-127’s servos.

A spark deep satisfaction pulled at B-127, watching Starscream bleed out so very slowly. He was completely at the yellow mech’s mercy, but none would be shown. B-127 drew his right servo back, driving it directly into Starscream’s spark chamber. He watched with rapt attention as energon splattered onto his battle mask and the life was drawn out from Starscream’s frame, reds and blues leaching away and were replaced with a dull grey marking the end of the seeker’s life.

A smile tugged at B-127’s dermas behind his battle mask, at last his task was complete and he could return to Sentinel Prime and a fully functioning cog would be waiting for him.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

He awoke with a deep dissatisfaction crawling beneath his plating, white hot in its discomfort. It sunk deep within his protomesh and intertwined with his wiring until it was indiscernible from the rest of his frame. It had just been a dream, meaning Starscream was still alive and B-127 was in fact not done with this job and a fully functional cog was still too far from his reach.

The solar cycles continued to tick by and no clean opportunity to kill Starscream had appeared. B-127’s imagination processes had run wild, showing him all too vivid daydreams of Starscream’s energon staining his plating and his crumpled corpse on the ground before B-127. It was maddening. The longer Starscream managed to stay alive the more desperate B-127’s processor became. 

During small interactions with Starscream, B-127 saw flashes of gashes in the seeker’s chassis and energon bubbling from wounds that didn’t exist. A simple reboot of his optics revealed that image to be a fabrication of B-127’s processor much to his dismay. The urge to simply strike Starscream down where he stood regardless of the risks grew greater and greater. He needed to find an opening and soon, before he truly lost control. 

The notion of losing control was new, B-127 was the one who wielded the blades that took lives. He was in complete control over the deaths of others who posed a threat to Sentinel Prime. Now it felt like the very blades he wielded were wielding him instead. He was at the mercy of his own weapons to quench their thirst for violence in the form of killing Starscream.

So long as his desperation continued to build in such a way he might have to do a sloppier job than was preferred. B-127 would alter his tentative plan to be less precise. Slipping away undetected was still crucial, he was easily outnumbered by the High Guard regardless of how skilled at combat he was; it would still likely lead to his own death if they were alerted to the death of their leader before he was on his way back to Iacon.

Perhaps it was time to strike out a closer relationship with Starscream in order to get his way.

Chapter Text

It would be far easier to simply stride up to Starscream and kill him with no hesitation, no plan, no regard for the reactions from the High Guard. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how B-127 decided to view it, he needed to be hyper aware of anyone discovering his true intentions.

He just had to remind himself that he thrived under high pressure with his back to a wall and no way out but through gorey carnage and sharpened blades. This was just another job. And like with any job, his skills would be tested and his motives challenged but he would always succeed. His perfect success rate would be maintained and he would move on with his life. Easy as that.

B-127 didn’t have the space to question his ability to succeed. He had to, there was no alternative. There was no room for error or another moment of hesitation if he were to get a fully functional cog. Sentinel did not allow him to misstep nor would he allow himself to fail at this.

His unrest only continued to grow as Starscream seemed to hang around the yellow bot more and more. It was innocuous at best but it set B-127 on edge more than he should allow it to. Everything was far, far too casual. Easy conversations about mundane things like the patrol route for the solar cycle or Starscream pestering Thundercracker as he attempts to instruct B-127 during training. It made B-127’s plating crawl with just how natural it felt to get caught up in this lie.

“You don’t talk much about your time in Iacon.” Starscream said simply as he watched B-127 trade practice blows with Thundercracker.

B-127 stiffened minutely before forcing himself to relax, sweeping an outstretched leg low to attempt to knock Thundercracker off balance. The blue seeker jumped back to avoid this attack and went in for his own attack. “What would you ever need to know about my cycles repairing Iacon? Unless a solvent pipe in the nonexistent washracks here starts leaking, my time as a maintenance bot isn’t important. I would think you’d rather talk about something more exciting like your time with the Primes.”

“I’m merely trying to converse with you, bug . Is that such a foreign concept to you?” Starscream’s voice rose in haughty indignation.

The concept of anyone wanting to converse with B-127 was indeed a foreign concept, not that he would admit his long standing isolation on this basis of his work. The fewer bots who knew of B-127 and what he did, the easier it was for him to do what he needed to do and get out unnoticed.

“If you would care to recall the caste system that occurs in Iacon, perhaps you would remember that menial laborers like maintenance bots don’t exactly attract a lot of friends or casual conversationalists.” B-127 replied, with no true bite to his words. The give and take of these conversations with Starscream were mildly addicting.

Starscream huffed, “And the High Guard are just that much better for not partaking in that system any more.”

“Do you ever miss it? Iacon?”

“What I miss has ceased to exist. It remains only as memories stored within my processor. If I had a chance, I would burn down the Iacon that currently stands. The ideals of the Primes we once protected have fallen by the wayside, lost to the future as it is now. Sentinel Prime has made sure of that.” Starscream’s heavy gaze fell on the back of B-127’s helm, he could feel it press into him where he stood. “It would be pointless to waste my time pining after a thing that can no longer exist.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127’s pedesteps were silent as he tracked through the overgrown halls towards the berth room. He’d stayed up later than intended, everyone else had long since headed off to recharge. There were never enough of the High Guard in one place to ever make the dilapidated structure feel crowded, but it was eerily empty now. 

“Do you always lurk in the shadows, bug?” Starscream’s reedy voice materialized from behind,  sending B-127’s combat protocols raring to attack.

He suppressed the commands, fluidly turning to face the seeker. “Do you always sneak up on tired mechs?”

Here, in the dark and under the cover of the recharge cycle B-127 could make his kill. He could practically taste the scent of spilled energon on his glossa. His servos flexed, preparing to transform into blades in an instant.

“I do not sneak . This is my domain as leader of the High Guard, if anything it is you that sneaks .” Starscream rolled his optics, placing a servo on his hip.

B-127 could easily see the steps he would take to kill Starscream where he stood. Get closer, stab his exposed neck cabling and drive his blades deep within Starscream’s spark casing, extinguishing the spark that rested inside. It would be so easy, just a few motions in the silence of the hallway and B-127 would be on his way. He could time it just so, so that he would be safe in Iacon by the time the recharge cycle broke. 

Struts and actuators resisted his commands to move, he stood frozen once more as he stared into Starscream’s bright red optics that were now slanted quizzically as he stared back at B-127.

“Something the matter?” Starscream took a step closer, inspecting the yellow bot carefully.

To have to stare at his target in such a prime position and unable to move anything was the worst possible scenario he had found himself in again . He cursed his entire frame to the Pits and back. Just move! Nothing he threatened his frame with or willed it to do was answered with movement. Yet again, Starscream had rendered him immobile.

Starscream just looked at him; expecting an answer, movement, anything but was met with nothing. B-127 felt like a fool. He was a fool as it turned out, given two perfect opportunities to eliminate his target that ended in failure. There was still time to recover from this right now, he just had to move.

His intake committed the ultimate betrayal against him. “No, I’m fine. Just in need of a recharge. Soundwave wasn’t easy on me during training.”

“Gentleness has never been a term indicative of Soundwave. You’re meant to be training to keep up with the High Guard, a thing that isn’t achieved through gentleness. He does his job and he does it well.”

A strangled noise escapes B-127’s vocalizer in place of what should have been a hum in agreement. Panic flared as realization of the sound he made had broached his processor. Starscream simply laughed, a light and airy sound that pinged around in B-127’s helm.

“You should get some recharge, your teachers will be anything but kind in the coming solar cycle.” The seeker smiled, his dermas curling up into something that could almost be considered kind, B-127 felt rot seep into his tanks at the sight.

B-127 nodded stiffly and his pedes carried him away from the seeker, away from the second chance at freedom he had squandered.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 felt the warm gush of energon staining his plating a vibrant pink. He looked down at the frame he hovered over, well polished wings were splattered with pink as well. They crumpled and withered as B-127 drove his blades into a glass cockpit that had shattered with his violence, the jagged edges glinted in the moonlight. He watched as bright red, attentive optics flickered in pain, going dim before sputtering to life again and again before finally dying out for good.

A servo dove in past the jagged glass and extracted a spark, once having been glowing and pulsing with life, laid in B-127’s servo, cold and dull. The spark was crushed, rendered coarse grit in the tight grip his servo held it in. He loosened his digits and the spark pieces fell back into the empty cockpit, scattering like glitter on the desecrated corpse.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Plagued with sights in recharge that he was seemingly incapable of bringing to fruition was enough to make B-127 mad with frustration. He could picture his frame working automatically in his dreams to offline Starscream, it was infuriating how easy it was in the safety of recharge, a thing he had been reprogrammed to do with pure, calculated efficiency. What made the waking world so different for an act he had committed time and time again with little resistance?

Heavy fog clouded his processor as he exited the berth, stepping out with leadened pedes that forced careful concentration to not stumble over. He wondered what made Starscream different. What was it that caused such an accursed confliction that overrode any and all automatic processes to strike a target hard and fast?

He mulled over the question as his frame went and performed the motions of filling a cube of energon, sitting down to drink it with little instruction from B-127 himself. The first sip of energon sat heavy in his tanks like it was beginning to harden and turn sharp enough to stab him from the inside.

It was difficult to keep a mild expression when all B-127 wanted to do was brood in his misery. He took another sip, letting it coagulate and protest in his tanks. At least it gave him something to complain about in place of his embarrassing inaction. 

B-127 barely looked up when Thundercracker sat across from him, only fainting registering Thundercracker’s greeting. He didn’t reply, letting silence fill the space between them as the rest of the High Guard bustled around them.

“We got intel that a convoy from Iacon is headed to the surface soon. In a few joors most likely. A little out of the blue but your training’s been cut for today, Soundwave’s coming with us and I don’t think anyone staying wants to pick up in our stead.” Thundercracker said, taking a long drink of his own cube.

“Are you engaging with the convoy?”

Thundercracker scoffed lightly, “‘Course not, we aren’t stupid. Our numbers are no match for anything coming from Iacon. Recon only, maybe nip a bit of energon off of them but no real engagement. It’d be really nice to get legit refined energon for once but I dunno if we’ll be that lucky. What we have here does its job well enough anyway.”

“Who’s going?”

“My trine, Soundwave and Redwing.”

“Take me too.”

B-127 waited in the pause his words had created, expanding into a larger pocket of space than he would’ve preferred before Thundercracker finally said: “Your reasoning? It’s not that I don’t think you’re capable of keeping up, you’ve well proved you’re making outstanding progress in terms of skill, but this isn’t a field trip.”

“I never said it was. I came here to learn the truth, the real truth. I’ve already seen Sentinel Prime sell out his people to the Quintessons, I need to know what else he’s capable of. Take me so I can find out for myself.”

His real reason was twofold, him wanting to know what else Sentinel was capable of was true but that wasn’t really anything he was concerned with. He had an in with the Prime and was safe from most harm. What he really wanted was to see Sentinel again to shock his systems into working with him again, to look at Sentinel dead on and remember why he was doing all this. For his cog, for his freedom. In his time spent with the High Guard it seemed he’d forgotten the price of living.

“Alright, I suppose that’s as good a reason as any. I’ll comm Starscream, let him know.”

Chapter Text

A certain rush of electricity had gone through the High Guard, waking everyone with the excitement of something outside of their usual monotonous routine. B-127 stood on the sidelines, watching as weapons systems were checked, then double checked and ensured external blasters were charged and ready to go. They weren’t expecting a firefight, but caution was a welcomed and necessary comfort.

If Sentinel’s crew were to discover them on an off chance it would be a bloodbath, not a single member of High Guard could hope to withstand the might of an entire Iaconian convoy, regardless of their might. They’d be dead before they could even react if they were found out.

That was fine by B-127, he worked better under pressure. He’d felt numbed relief when Thundercracker had relayed a begrudged acceptance from Starscream of B-127 joining the group to observe the convoy, it seemed Starscream held him in a higher regard than he let on. That thought made B-127’s tanks twist into knots, a target having any opinion on him felt deeply wrong. He was supposed to conduct his work in the shadows, under shrouded secrecy where no one could trace his movements. This job was the absolute opposite of everything he’d been trained to become. He had adapted to this as best he could but the small threads of how these jobs typically went still needled at him incessantly. 

“You ready?” Thundercracker stowed an external blaster in his subspace, giving B-127 an easy smile.

B-127 gave him a firm nod. “I need to see Sentinel again.”

“You don’t seem the type to act rashly based on emotional processes but remember, we aren’t engaging. Sentinel and his convoy are not to see us, not to know we’re watching. We’re just keeping tabs on him.” Thundercracker handed B-127 an external blaster as he spoke. “Hopefully we won’t need to see if your training has been beneficial or not.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

There still hadn’t been a need for B-127 to explain his cog situation, they still assumed him to be a grounder with a functional cog so the seekers walked in their root modes to stay together. Most of the complaints about being stuck wasting time on the ground instead of flying came from Skywarp which were quickly silenced by a glare from Starscream. Peculiar.

No questions were raised about B-127 not taking to an alt mode either. Paranoia prickled at his plating about the question being asked but he willfully pushed that to the corner of his mind. If no questions were raised, then there was no reason to explain a very big weakness. There was no need to make him seem broken or vulnerable in a group of bots that valued strength above all else.

The reported location was much farther than last time. Redwing estimated travel would take them closer to mid-day before they arrived, leaving about a joor before Sentinel’s convoy would show up.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Starscream held up a servo in a motion to stop when they were three kliks away from the coordinates. He motioned to a cluster of bushes in the distance that were moving suspiciously. B-127 enhanced his visual feed, zooming in on the motion where the sunlight caught the shiny plating of a bot attempting to hide from sight.

B-127 opened a comm link to Thundercracker. [I spot three bots in hiding over where Starscream pointed. Do you think they’re with Sentinel?[]

[I doubt it otherwise they would remain unseen. Treat them as a third party, follow Starscream’s lead.[] Thundercracker looked over to B-127 and nodded before turning to Starscream.

They watched as the unknown trio continued to make too much motion in their hiding spot. The perfectly polished cobalt blue of Sentinel’s plating came into view much farther off in the distance. The trio was much closer to Sentinel’s convoy than they were, unease creeped up B-127’s spinal struts at that.

[Someone should intercept the unknown group. I can’t tell what’s going to happen but it doesn’t look good. It seems like they’re gearing up to confront Sentinel.[] B-127 continued to keep watch on the smaller group, concern growing larger the more movement they made.

A new comm frequency pinged B-127, Starscream. [You will go. Disarm and incapacitate. We’re taking them with us.[]

B-127 nodded, silently making his way over to the other group. He moved faster when the grey bot began to struggle against the red and blue bot, clearly looking for a fight with Sentinel. The Iaconian convoy had gathered in a clearing next to a Quintesson ship that was just beginning to land.

Setting his external blaster to its lowest setting for incapacitation only, B-127 fired on the unknown group. He aimed for the grey bot’s chassis, hitting his target right where he intended. They went limp in the other’s hold, giving B-127 enough time to shoot the red and blue bot, then the pink one. He hefted the grey bot over his shoulder, signalling for the seekers to come over.

Thundercracker was the first to make it over, checking vital signs on the other two bots. He grunted quietly in approval. [Good work, we should head back before Sentinel’s convoy notices anything. We can call this recon a bust.[]

B-127 hadn’t really even seen Sentinel with the urgency he’d been ordered to take care of the other bots. He would have to find another way to steel himself to get this job done successfully. He would just have to force his processor to cooperate with his mission. There could be no more setbacks.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

The three bots had been bound with stasis cuffs and positioned in front of Starscream’s throne, just as B-127 had found himself all that time ago. This time, B-127 stood to the side of the throne next to Skywarp as Shockwave brought the bots out of forced stasis.

“You three are quite the pests. Tell me, what were you doing on the surface? Whose orders are you under?” Starscream asked, his voice harsh and abrasive as he studied their captured guests.

The grey one spoke first. “We take orders from no one .” His voice was laced with a vitriolic acid, practically spitting out the words he said.

“Uh, what he means to say is that we came of our own free will. We found this data chip with coordinates that led us to where we were hiding. We know about Sentinel, what he’s doing with the Quintessons.” The red and blue one chuckled apologetically, nudging the grey one with his shoulder.

“Oh joy . More truth seekers. Primus seems to have it out for me recently.” Starscream rolled his optics. “And what am I supposed to do about that? Do you even know who I am? Who the bots who surround me are?”

“I– wait. You’re Starscream, aren’t you? You were mentioned in the Archives but most records were scrubbed clean. Both you and the High Guard.”

Starscream slowly clapped his servos together, a wicked smile plastered on his faceplates. “Brilliant! Point to the red one. Do you want a prize ?”

“Go easy on them, I don’t think this is helping us get anywhere,” Thundercracker said with a sigh.

“Oh? Do you want to take the lead on this Thundercracker?” Starscream paused, letting the silence speak for itself. “Right then, state your designations. I like to know who I’m cursing to the Pits.”

“I’m Orion Pax. And that’s D-16.” The red and blue bot motioned to the grey one with his helm. “And that’s Elita-1.”

Starscream tapped a digit to his chin thoughtfully, the motion slow and drawn out. “I suppose I’m feeling charitable enough to hear you out. Why were you in hiding watching Sentinel Prime?”

“We found Alpha Trion in a cave. He showed us what Sentinel was doing, why we don’t have cogs and why we’ve been forced to work in the mines. It was pure luck that Sentinel was right there for us to see the truth of what he’s been doing on the surface.” Orion Pax dipped his helm down, optics trained on the ground he was kneeling on.

Starscream’s optic ridge twitched minutely, barely noticeable to anyone not paying close attention to the seeker. “And why don’t you have cogs?”

“They were taken from us before we even came online. Sentinel took the cogs we were meant to have and forced us to mine for him.” The grey one, D-16 seethed, hatred not at all masked in his tone.

B-127 felt his processor leave his frame, mind reeling from what D-16 had said. He watched his surroundings from outside himself. Sentinel had taken the miners’ cogs? A thought wormed its way into B-127’s logic matrix before he could even challenge it: what if Sentinel was the reason for his own cog malfunction? But… that didn’t make sense. Surely if this was Sentinel’s doing B-127 wouldn’t have any cog at all. His wasn’t fully functional but he still had a cog, the miners didn’t even have that. 

There wasn’t really a reason B-127 could think of for why Sentinel would tamper with B-127’s cog. But the doubt had already been seeded, it wouldn’t leave him now that he had considered this possibility. Why would Sentinel lie about that though? It didn’t make sense.

“And what do you want me to do about that?” B-127 heard Starscream say, still in that loud, commanding and condescending tone.

“We want to stop Sentinel. Alpha Trion gave us cogs from the fallen Primes but so many bots back in Iacon didn’t get that. We want to give them a chance too.” Orion Pax gave Starscream a pleading look.

Starscream let out a barking laugh. “We don’t have nearly enough firepower to go against Sentinel Prime. I am not leading the High Guard on a suicide mission no matter how many grandiose ideas you rattle off. There’s a difference between carrying out a noble mission on the basis of justice and that of someone who has a death wish going up against a very powerful foe.”

“Don’t you want to see Sentinel suffer? Orion says he drove you out of Iacon after he killed the Primes. Don’t you want revenge?” D-16 interjected.

“You have that wrong. The High Guard and myself left because Iacon was a lost cause, the ideals we protected had died along with the Primes. We left because there was nothing remaining for us there, not because of cowardice or lack of will to stand against the false Prime.” Starscream bristled, B-127 could see his irritation rising with every word the newcomers spoke. “Everything I have done I’ve done for the benefit of the High Guard. Don’t you dare insinuate that I am a coward for leaving Iacon in a move that Sentinel said was his doing. You are free to do what you wish, I don’t care but don’t drag the High Guard into it. You will leave this place if you have any intention of doing so. Do not force my servo.”

Orion deflated, his helm sagged as he realized his call to action had gone unheard. B-127 couldn’t help but find that amusing, his noble words had been for naught.

Elita-1 finally spoke after looking to Orion, “Would you allow us to stay to gather our strength? We won’t involve your mechs if that’s what you truly want, we just need somewhere to recharge while we work out a plan.”

“I suppose I can be charitable for just that. But one whisper to any of my mechs that you’re trying to recruit them and I have your helms separated from your frames before you can even think to apologize. Do not make me regret this.” Starscream rubbed his temples as he spoke, sighing heavily.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

The atmosphere had been strange after Starscream had allowed the newcomers to stay. It was somewhat of a shock that Starscream agreed but B-127 had once been in a similar situation and had also been allowed to stay. 

B-127 watched as Thundercracker leaned back against the wall where he sat in the mess hall, taking sips of his energon. “What are your thoughts on the new bots?”

“It seems a little strange that Starscream allowed them to stay so easily, what’s he planning?” B-127 said thoughtfully.

“Nothing I can tell you about without getting my vocalizer ripped out. He has his own reasons but I can’t say I’m that surprised, he let you stay after all. Starscream would never admit out loud that he’s sympathetic to the small guys. The newbies are kinda interesting though, the red and grey ones have a strange dynamic going on. I’ve been watching them out of curiosity, they seem really close but also like they’re gonna tear each other to bits at any moment. Finally some good gossip going on around here. You can only talk about the coneheads’ stupid antics for so long.”

“I didn’t take you for someone big into gossip.” 

Skywarp snorted, sitting down next to Thundercracker and inserting himself into the conversation. “TC is the biggest gossip I’ve ever met. The only way he keeps secrets is Starscream’s overly creative threats otherwise he’d be telling all of the High Guard absolutely everything. Don’t tell him anything you don’t want everyone to know, but even then he’ll probably find it out.”

Thundercracker punched his trinemate who dissolved into a fit of laughter as he watched the blue seeker scowl at him. So far at least Thundercracker seemed oblivious to B-127’s intentions but he would continue to be careful about his actions. At least the new bots seemed to be a very helpful distraction for everyone.

Chapter Text

A solar cycle without incident was now a rarity. As it turns out, introducing three new bots to a very insular group is an even worse idea than just one new face. Especially when one of said new bots spends most of their time sitting in a turbulent storm of rage and hatred. It seemed D-16 was not a fan of their new discoveries.

B-127 avoided interacting with the new trio as much as possible. He still had a job to do and needed to focus on finding a third opportunity to kill Starscream. Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find Starscream alone now their new guests had settled in. A hazard that he should’ve expected when the trio had been given permission to stay.

“Starscream is looking for you,” Thundercracker said, stopping B-127’s servo in its path as he had moved to attack Soundwave.

“He has my comm frequency, can’t he tell me this himself?” B-127 lowered his servo, easing into a more relaxed posture and stepping back from Soundwave who remained impassive during this exchange.

“Please, I know you don’t know him as well as I do but trust me. Starscream doesn’t do anything the conventional way. His flair for the dramatics gets in the way of that. Just– go find him, because he won’t do it the other way.” 

This was it. A miraculous third chance was presented to B-127 on a silver platter. He couldn’t expect anything else to land at his pedes so perfectly. It was a chance bestowed upon him by Primus himself. He could not fumble this again. He would not fumble this again.

“Right. I’ll go find him then.” B-127 couldn’t stop himself from the giddy almost euphoric elation that coursed through his lines. He could end this, he could finally end this. For good. Starscream would finally be dead and out of thoughts. He could go back to Sentinel with another kill proudly attached to his track record. And Sentinel would reward him as promised with a way to fix his cog. Being able to fully transform was so close within his reach.

He could feel it, wrap his digits firmly around the future he so desperately craved. It was more tangible than it had ever been before. Just one obstacle stood in his way. 

The walk to Starscream’s office left a heady rush of anticipation thrumming against his plating. His struts were tensed, preparing for fluid motions that ended the life of his target. One well placed strike that caught Starscream off guard was all he needed. 

With no door to bar B-127 from entrance, he walked in, finding Starscream draped across his chair facing away from B-127. The seeker didn’t turn as he stepped further inside. His spark pulsed increasingly faster, ramping up in anticipation for the kill. It felt sweet, he could almost taste the energon in the air.

Starscream got up slowly, walking around the desk and chair to approach B-127. The smile he wore was strange, almost predatory as he got closer to the yellow bot. “Your work disarming the newcomers was quite well done. That must feel good, to have all that hard work pay off. You looked like a natural. Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”

B-127 tensed minutely, the implications were laid clearly between each word Starscream spoke, saccharine and pleasant. He watched Starscream’s optics trail over him with a small smile, undoubtedly looking for signs of betrayal. Unfortunately for Starscream this wasn’t B-127’s first time being under pressure.

He smiled back, miming bashfulness. “All thanks to my teachers. Soundwave’s relentlessness seems to have paid off well.”

“Yes, I’m sure. It seems it was a good choice to let you stay, you’re proving to be quite capable.” The words dripped like thick, sweetened energon off Starscream’s glossa, his digit carefully prodding B-127’s shoulder guard as he spoke.

“I still owe you my gratitude for allowing me to stay, to learn the truth.” B-127 didn’t let his optics stray to where Starscream’s digit made contact with his plating. It was meant to catch him off guard– he wouldn’t let it.

“Of course, one more bot that doesn’t believe that false Prime’s words is bound to be beneficial for the High Guard.” Starscream purred, letting his full servo rest on B-127’s shoulder. “You just proved that to be exceptionally true.”

B-127 pushed the sensation to the back of his mind, ignoring the warmth spreading pleasantly from the seeker’s palm. Starscream was certainly close enough to strike fast enough. He needed to buy himself enough time to transform his servo into its blade, then he could end this here.

“You needed me for something?”

“Ah, yes.” Starscream’s optics adjusted, their focus rested heavily on B-127’s face. “It’s about the newcomers. You’re new as well and still need to prove your worth, though it’s becoming clear you’re more than competent. I want you to keep watch on them. Nothing invasive, I just need to ensure their intentions align with our own. You can do that, yes?”

“Of course.” B-127’s digits twitched where they laid idle at his sides. The command to transform his servo blinked in his HUD, his frame itching for violence, for spilled energon coating the floors, the walls and his own frame. Yet still he hesitated. He dismissed the command, his urge to know more about Starscream was consuming him.

Starscream was a blinding entity and B-127 was caught in his ray of light. B-127 was utterly transfixed, unable to look away or act how he needed to so desperately. He needed Starscream– yes he needed to kill him but there was something else there. At the core of B-127’s being he felt inexplicably drawn to Starscream in a way he’d never experienced before. He was a speck and Starscream was a beautiful oddity, one that B-127 needed to study more than he needed to end the seeker.

For all the desire B-127 held to possess a fully functional cog, his desire to know and absorb Starscream superseded that. It was perplexing, it was greatly unnerving but no matter how much B-127 tried to push away that nagging insistence it remained. Ultimately, he would be drawn into Starscream’s black hole– he could feel that truth intimately. But would he fight it or go willingly?

Starscream hummed lightly, “Good, then that’s settled. I’ll be waiting for your report, you may go now.”

B-127 made his choice where he stood, one he deeply hoped he wouldn’t regret, meeting Starscream’s optics before turning to take his leave.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Something didn’t sit right regarding that yellow bug. Starscream would reluctantly admit to himself that he found B-127 fascinating, a wild curiosity about an increasingly strange bot. Thundercracker and Skywarp continued to try and assuage Starscream’s concerns, B-127 hadn’t done anything yet so why would he do anything at all? He wasn’t fully convinced that was the case.

Perhaps it was just that the yellow bug might have a crush on Starscream and that explained all his odd behaviors. But still… something seemed off. He could feel the intensity that B-127 looked at him, acute and unwavering. Like he was searching for something within the confines of Starscream’s being but was unable to locate it the way he desired. It made him more nervous than he liked to admit, to be so put off by admittedly a very unassuming yellow bot. 

He wanted to be wholly unaffected by a strange little bug that had found himself at Starscream’s pedes. But he wasn’t– not in the slightest. And it irked him severely. He would unravel the mystery that comprised the mech known as B-127, he just needed to be patient.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 found Elita-1 first, picking at the crumbling rock platform she sat on with a sour expression pressed into the corners of her faceplates. She looked up when B-127 approached her, letting her face fall slightly, turning her already sour expression even more sour and drawn together. “If you’re looking for Dee and Orion they got into another spat and both stormed off separately. I don’t know where either of them went. I doubt they went far seeing as none of us have the hang of transforming yet.”

He nodded carefully, watching Elita continue to pry pieces of rock apart.

“It’s strange. Having cogs when all we were told since the moment we came online that we simply weren’t made to possess such a thing. Then we find out that’s a lie. You must be cogged right? You don’t look like a miner, plus I’ve never seen you before.”

“Yeah, I am.” Neglecting to mention the precise functionality of his cog was easy, He did have a cog– it just didn’t work as it should. Regardless, he didn’t need to disclose that to anyone right now. It was a weakness he couldn’t afford to show; to anyone.

“It must be nice not being told you were forged to be lesser than everyone else, being told your only purpose was to do as you were ordered, your worth being slag all. We worked so hard for genuinely nothing. It didn’t matter if we stripped our gears working overtime to mine more energon for Sentinel– it was never gonna get us anywhere but offline faster. He never cared about us despite all the public announcements claiming how vital miners were for Iacon.” Elita took a deep vent, scoffing lightly. “Sorry, you probably don’t care about all this.”

Being told your only purpose had been decided for you resonated slightly with B-127. Of course, he had been given an out with the purpose that was given to him. It was a vastly different scenario. So why did he feel like he could relate to Elita-1? B-127 was not forged to be an assassin, he was reshaped for this purpose when given an opportunity to earn a fully functional cog. Sentinel had taken pity on B-127 and gave him a chance to prove himself by becoming the Prime’s blade.

He thought back to the pain of his reprogramming, the searing and blinding agony of wired processes being reformatted to that of a skilled assassin. He had been nothing, a malfunctioned bot in an oppressive caste society where your ability to transform proved your worth. Sentinel had made him into something useful, had given him purpose when he had been discarded by everyone else. That had to mean something… it had to. Right?

“I should… go find Orion and Dee. Those idiots don’t know when to stop with each other.” Elita heaved herself off the platform, seemingly choosing a direction to go at random.

B-127 remained where he stood, letting his thoughts cascade rapidly over his frame.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Thundercracker tossed a decommissioned blaster at B-127, who caught it with ease, its weight less familiar than the blades that transformed from his servos but still a comfort of its own. Though this particular blaster was past its prime, a useless hunk of junk that’s only purpose now was to serve as a training weapon, B-127 felt at ease holding an object that brought death and destruction to those he aimed it at. There was comfort and familiarity in the weapon that B-127 leaned on.

His training was ramping up now, more similar in complexity to the training he conducted by himself in between Sentinel’s assignments before he had come to the High Guard. He could hold back less now, that in itself was a relief. But his taste for violence had no true outlet now. The decision to spare Starscream was still something he went back and forth on to no end, defying Sentinel felt like a mistake he was bound to regret but B-127 needed to find out what it was about Starscream that crumbled his resolve so effectively. That desire would win– at least for now.

This was by no means the longest a job had gone on for, there was still time to change his mind and kill Starscream whenever he felt like it. He had options that remained open. So long as Sentinel remained patient, trusting in B-127’s competency, there was time.

“What are your thoughts on the new bots?” Thundercracker had been initiating friendly chatter with B-127 more often, it was odd but not entirely unwelcome.

“Is this just a ploy to gather more gossip?” B-127 tested the weight of the blaster in his servos, dropping into a crouch so they could run through evasion drills. Thundercracker lunged forward towards B-127’s pedes, trying to knock him off balance. B-127 evaded the motion, countering with his own attack.

Thundercracker laughed, feigning an attack to draw B-127 closer. “Of course it is. New faces are interesting and make for easy gossip, everyone’s already talking about them. So what if I gather what I can?”

“That doesn’t seem very useful to the High Guard.” B-127 got in a solid punch to Thundercracker’s helm, making him stumble back slightly.

“It’s not about usefulness, it’s about my own entertainment. Besides, there is some usefulness to be found. If my gossip uncovers something important about our new friends then all the better. But that’s not my goal.” The blue seeker shifted to the side to avoid B-127’s fist, grabbing it and twisting hard.

“Then what have you learned?” With a kick, B-127 dislodged himself from Thundercracker’s grip.

“D-16 and Orion have a strange relationship, they seem like they used to be close but that’s not entirely the case now. I can’t describe it accurately but just watch them from afar and you’ll get what I mean.”

B-127 rolled his optics as he grabbed hold of Thundercracker’s arm, flipping him onto his back. “I think you need a new hobby.”

Thundercracker groaned, accepting his fate on the ground. “You’re just not any fun. ‘Warp and Star say the same things.”

It was strange having such a friendly, casual conversation. Strange, but not entirely unwelcome. At least he was adapting to his new environment well.

Chapter Text

B-127 let out a slow, steady vent. His blades were slick with energon, the tangy metallic scent overwhelmed his olfactory sensors but it was still a deep comfort. Pink stood out against the yellow of his own plating, sticky where it had seeped through to his joints.

He looked down at the growing puddle at his pedes; his reflection stared back, warped and distorted but still undeniably B-127. His reflection smiled up at him, sharp and cruel but he didn’t feel his own face smiling. The reflection rippled, a servo broke from the surface and reached towards B-127. He stumbled back but tripped over something behind him and fell. The servo took hold of his pede, scrabbling for a firm grip on him. Energon dripped from the servo, coating B-127’s frame where it touched him.

Another servo shot out from the puddle where B-127 had fallen back into it. Deft digits took hold of his neck, tightening around his cabling and squeezing hard. His neck plating crumpled, a loud crunch of the metal rang through B-127’s audials. He couldn’t feel the pain that should’ve been, just the steadily increasing pressure.

The energon spread, taking on a mind of its own as it ran up B-127’s leg. Long streams of pink snaked up his frame, swallowing him up whole. It spread faster, covering more of B-127’s frame, working its way into his joints and gumming up his struts so badly he couldn’t move. There was a finality to this– through the fear and panic coursing through his processor he knew where this would end… 

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 had to manually turn down the intensity of his fans, his processor still rang loudly with alarm bells that cut across the drowsiness like a heated knife through a metal sheet. His optics booted up slowly, finally coming fully online to find that everyone was still in recharge. The room was quiet, still shrouded in the dark before the sun had begun to rise for the solar cycle.

He moved his frame slowly, testing movements carefully as he got out of his recharge berth. His joints still felt sticky but there was no visual indicator to explain that. B-127’s frame was clean, not a single portion of his plating was covered in energon or anything else for that matter. Nothing had actually happened– but he still felt the pressure of something holding tight around his neck.

Returning to recharge was out of the question, his spark was still pulsing at an uncomfortable rate that made his chassis feel cramped and too tight. Instead, he crept out of the room into the coolness of the night’s air.

Shadows melted into the darkness, wrapping around B-127 like a hug. The surface was beautiful in the dark, inky blacks and purples enshrouded everything. He walked closer to a crumbled balcony, the darkness peeling back just enough to reveal a very familiar winged silhouette.

Starscream stood with his arms and upper half of his frame leaning against the ledge, not seeming to notice B-127’s approach. B-127 bristled with anticipation, frame readying for an attack out of habit before he reminded himself that was no longer his goal. He let his struts relax and shuffled his pedes as he walked to make more noise as he got closer to Starscream.

The seeker whirled around at the noise, wings flared in surprise before he deflated slightly at recognizing B-127’s frame. “Ah, you.”

B-127 rested his servos on the ledge several paces away from where Starscream stood. He took a deep in-vent, cool air dancing around in his frame pleasantly. He didn’t respond, only partially because he didn’t know how to compose himself around the seeker now that he wasn’t intently studying every moment for an opportunity to strike the other mech down where he stood. The silence itself wasn’t unpleasant, merely different than carefully constructed sentences stepping around unsaid truths and threats all while standing on high alert. It seemed Starscream didn’t mind it either as he made no move to fill the space around them with words.

When the silence finally broke Starscream turned his helm towards B-127, his optics glowing faintly amidst the darkness. “Thundercracker can’t shut up about the new bots, it’s driving me mad. He should leave me out of his gossip. I don't care. If I never heard about the intricacies of a relationship I shouldn’t know about again it would be too soon.”

The words settled on top of B-127’s plating strangely, the casualness set him more on edge than the thinly veiled threats and carefully worded insinuations ever had. He wanted to take off in the opposite direction at the mere notion of Starscream getting even the tiniest bit friendly with him. But B-127 didn’t move, instead, he stayed very still as he wracked his processor for what to reply with.

Starscream looked at B-127 expectantly, apparently he’d been silent for too long. B-127 reset his optics, grasping wildly for something to say. “I– uh. Yeah, he’s been the same with me.”

“If he doesn’t go find someone else to torment with this knowledge I think I’ll have to find a new trinemate.” Starscream scoffed with no true edge to his voice. He leaned closer to B-127, an odd conspiratory look in his optics. “Listen, with our last little trip being cut short with the new friends we’ve acquired; we didn’t get to nab any nicely processed energon. It would do morale some good if we could nab a crate. I don’t want to take too many of us to stay under the radar, just us two should suffice. Think you could handle that?”

Starscream’s smirk was enough to make B-127 agree instantly just to prove, yes he could handle that. Instead, he said: “When?”

“In a few solar cycles, we have to wait for the next energon drop off. I don’t like to make a habit of taking the energon meant for the Quintessons because we can’t afford to get caught or injured. Plus our energon presses do a decent enough job but the quality just isn’t the same.”

“Okay.”

“Good,” Starscream smiled, shadows hugging his faceplates as he looked at B-127. “I’m quite eager to see how you’ll perform.”

It was probably foolish to agree to be alone with Starscream now that B-127 had forced all thoughts of assassination to vacate his thoughts for the time being. He still felt his frame eager to act on the impulses hardwired into his processor– ready to jump at any window open for the kill, but he didn’t allow himself to any longer. There was a heavy anticipation for murder in the air that hadn’t yet left since B-127 had changed his mind, he wondered if it ever would– if he ever would take back what he had decided on a whim.

This vice-like curiosity just continued to tighten its grip on B-127, threatening to consume him. It had wormed its way around his spark, threatening to choke him out before he could manage to get control over it. 

“Well, I’ll have the others keep tabs on when the energon delivery is supposed to happen. Until then, B-127.” Starscream’s wings twitched in the dim light before he walked off. 

B-127 only hoped this mission with Starscream would go smoothly.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Soundwave and Thundercracker continued trading off training sessions with B-127 along with the occasional addition of the new bots whenever they weren’t too busy with infighting to actually listen to the High Guard (the knowledge that D-16 and Orion sometimes skipped lessons they said they would attend only fueled Thundercracker’s gossip obsession). It turned out that Elita was a fair enough sparring partner even if her skill was far below what B-127 could handle, it was more on par with what he was expected to be able to handle which made his task of masking his abilities much easier.

A personal comm from Starscream himself interrupted B-127’s sparring match with Elita-1. [Dirge spotted the train loaded with energon near enough we can make our way to intercept. Meet me at the attached coordinates.[]

B-127 ducked out of the way of Elita’s punch, “Starscream just commed, I have to go.”

Elita groaned but nodded, announcements had been made several solar cycles ago and all of the High Guard was abuzz with excitement about getting access to more refined energon. “Try not to get killed, I like sparring with you.”

B-127 nodded, slipping a blaster into his subspace and going to meet up with Starscream.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

His luck must run out eventually, with Starscream meeting up with B-127 closer to the energon train there was yet another instance where the topic of alt mode had been avoided successfully. Getting back would be another story but the extra cargo would slow them down enough they likely wouldn’t be able to use alt modes at all. Another narrow escape.

B-127 could feel his spark pulsing with the threat of danger looming above, he had missed it dearly, craved feeling the risk of death at every turn. It was expected as an assassin and he’d grown complacent with the High Guard and choosing to spare Starscream, this gave him a chance to let loose his violent compulsions.

He ran as fast as his pedes could carry him, knowing Starscream would expect him to move faster than he was able to. With no real plan laid out ahead of time, he hoped Starscream had something better than to blast a hole in the side of the train and make a run for it.

Starscream was waiting beneath a rock face, picking at a transformation seam on his arm. He looked up, smirking when he saw B-127 approach. “Took you long enough. Enjoying the scenery too much?”

B-127 shrugged, playing along. “Something like that. Do you have an actual plan?”

“Nothing complex, by past observations the energon trains aren’t guarded so it should be fairly simple. Get in, get out with as much as we can carry. I can’t foresee much going wrong that we would need to plan for to begin with, don’t be blinded by your paranoia.” Starscream straightened, looking off towards the canyon the train was expected to pass through. “Let’s get to it, I think I see the train nearing.”

Without any warning, Starscream transformed and flung B-127 into his cockpit, heading straight towards the energon train. There wasn’t time to think about how strange it felt to be inside of someone’s alt mode, they were moving faster than B-127 ever had straight for the train. Then he was falling from Starscream’s cockpit before landing on one of the train’s cars with a hefty thud. Starscream landed beside him much more gracefully, tactfully holding back laughter.

“Get in, get out. Make it quick.” Starscream blasted a hole in the ceiling of the car, dropping below to access the energon.

B-127 began stashing as much energon as he could in his subspace, working faster when he heard the roar of jets overhead. “You said the deliveries weren’t guarded!”

Starscream hissed, looking upward before leaping into a transformation. “Don’t worry about them, I’ll take care of it. Keep going.”

The sounds of exchanged blaster fire only served to make B-127 work faster. He didn’t know many mechs Starscream was dealing with but he tried to go as quickly as possible. Explosions bloomed overhead, streaking reds and oranges across the sky. B-127 risked a moment to look upward, his spark clenching strangely when Starscream’s bright frame was plummeting back down towards the train. 

Something foreign took over in his processor, cool and steady rage bubbling over his functions, seeping into everything it touched as he took charge of the situation. B-127’s battle mask slid into place as his attack protocols queued up. He caught the attention of their attackers, willing himself to ignore the way Starscream’s frame awkwardly stuck out at odd angles where it had landed on the surface of the train farther away from where B-127 was. The attackers took the bait, immediately changing course for B-127 now it seemed that Starscream was disposed of. That made the rage flare brighter, hotter than it had before. He transformed his blades and took off towards the attackers, likely to be Sentinel’s underlings. One of them charged forward, lunging at B-127– he stepped back before returning with his own slash, driving his blade deep within the shoulder socket of his foe. The bot screamed in pain, flailing wildly, trying and failing to return the hit. B-127 removed his blade with a clean motion, watching in satisfaction as energon gushed from the wound– the bot screamed more.

Kill, destroy, DECIMATE. Words of destruction repeated like a promise within B-127’s processor. Nothing would remain living within his path, he would make sure of that. He took his blades and drove them into his victim’s spark chamber, over and over– shredding the metal that composed the chamber, the fragile crystal of the spark itself now partially exposed pulsed weakly before fizzling out completely.

B-127 turned his attention to the other attacker, he was in worse shape than the one he had just finished off– it seems Starscream had already done a number on him. A torn wing and barely attached arm made him a poor shot as he continued to fire and miss at B-127. He made quick work of disposing of this one. Energon spattered on his battle mask, hot and sticky as he roughly stabbed his blade into the helm, then spark chamber of the remaining bot.

Starscream moaned weakly, snapping B-127’s attention back to the seeker. Both wings were torn, wiring frayed and sparking and far, far too visible from what it should be. Energon glistened slick and lots of it over his entire frame, nothing had been spared from its coverage. Char marks from blaster fire covered what hadn’t been smeared in energon. Starscream’s optics were still online but growing dimmer, the red flickering off and on as he watched B-127 approach. He choked on a vent, fans whirring uncomfortably fast as they worked overtime.

“Skywarp and Thundercracker are coming… the trine bond would’ve immediately notified them of my damages. Frag… not my idea of a good time.” Starscream’s vocalizer must’ve been damaged too, filled with static and cut out frequently.

B-127 crouched next to where Starscream lay, trying to ignore the erratic tugging at his spark as he watched the pool of energon slowly grow underneath Starscream. He didn’t say anything, just stayed close, keeping his blades out as he waited for Skywarp and Thundercracker to come help.

It didn’t take long for the screeching of jet engines to pierce the eerily still air. B-127 slumped with relief as Skywarp and Thundercracker touched down and started assessing Starscream’s condition.

Thundercracker inched closer to B-127, placing a servo on his shoulder that made B-127 flinch so hard he had to force himself to not try to attack Thundercracker. “Skywarp is going to teleport Starscream back ahead of us. Shockwave has already been commed and is preparing for medical care.” He vented heavily, “You okay? Hurt at all?”

B-127 shook his helm slowly, stunned that he wasn’t getting accosted for allowing Starscream to get injured. It felt like this was his fault. He let his battle mask slide back, the mechanism sticky where energon had dried in its crevices. “I’m fine.”

He felt shaky, unsteady on his pedes. His spark felt battered, torn in places where it never had before. Right now B-127 was fully prepared to bring the world to its knees, tear everything to the ground to pay for what had happened here. There was no reasoning, no rationality for why he felt this way– only that he did and he would destroy everything in his wake if it would change anything that had just happened here.

“Alright, let’s get you back then.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Patience was something B-127 thought he had plenty of, something he was required to have when assassination jobs took time to complete, he thought patience was a skill he had long since mastered. All that patience had abandoned him while he waited outside Shockwave’s laboratory as he completed repairs on Starscream. He hadn’t seen Starscream since Skywarp had teleported him back and for some reason beyond B-127’s comprehension, that had done something to him. He was here for the sole purpose to kill Starscream and now the notion of being the one to unintentionally end Starscream’s life left a sinking pit where B-127’s spark should be. He felt defective.

He had begun to pace, unspent energy pouring out of every segment of his frame– he had to pace before he lost his mind. Checking his chronometer every few kliks had become compulsion, each time he checked it nothing truly changed, no great revelation came to him and still no news of Starscream. B-127 wanted to scream.

Another groon passed and finally Shockwave emerged. “He is as stable as I can manage but I have placed him in a medical stasis so his nanites can help patch things up. Large energon loss and severe damage to his wings and internal circuitry were the most pressing issues which have both mostly been addressed. I wish I had more medical training but I did the best I could.”

B-127 felt as though his struts might give out from sheer relief.

Chapter Text

Starscream teetered on the edge of consciousness, going in and out as bots hovered around him: vitals checks and general fussing over his condition surrounded him but Starscream could barely pay it any mind. He was only vaguely aware of everything as it was. He recalled falling– streaking through the sky like a shooting star after being hit one too many times to stay airborne. Then there was the faint memory of a yellow terror destroying everything that touched him. But surely that had been his barely functioning processor imagining things, right?

He reset his optics, focusing on the overly bright yellow helm that hovered nervously just out of reach. B-127 was talking with Thundercracker but the words were lost to Starscream, his thoughts too muddled to discern anything they were actually saying. He found the anxious worry that seeped through the edges of B-127’s frame strange, the details after one too many hits were too murky to figure out why he might be so incredibly anxious. Sure, Starscream had technically nearly died but he’d lived so it was fine. Everything was fine.

Skywarp’s frame breached the fuzzy haze of Starscream’s vision, his optics pulsing softly behind his visor. “How are you feeling?”

“Like slag, I think getting dragged through the Pits and back would be a more pleasant experience.” Starscream could feel an uncomfortable heat where his nanites had begun to repair his wings. There was a deep itchiness where wires had been resoldered to circuit boards and weld lines repaired. Everything about his frame was thrown into a deep discomfort tinged with pain that made him squirm.

“You did take a pretty bad beating. Sentinel's lackeys look worse though, could barely make out they were even mechs once we pried B-127 off of them. TC did a better job teaching him than I could've ever expected.” Skywarp huffed lightly, projecting more lightheartedness into his voice than Starscream knew was entirely real. He wasn’t convinced his injuries hadn’t rattled his trine more than they were trying to let show.

B-127 stepped closer, a wicked violence still seeming to drip from his frame in an ultraviolet glow even though the carnage of his battle had been scrubbed free from his frame. Starscream could feel the smaller mech almost buzzing with a caged up energy that he couldn't quite place the origin of. He dismissed it, pushing it away from the forefront of his mind, instead focusing instead on the way B-127’s optics burned bright and clear as he looked at Starscream like he was assessing an opponent and preparing for damage control all at once. The more B-127 hovered beside the berth Starscream laid on, the more he could begin to peel back the yellow mech’s layers. Perhaps there was something he hadn't quite been able to see before.

“I’d like to take credit for our dear B-127 but that was all him.” Thundercracker nudged B-127 lightly, a playful thing that made B-127 flinch just enough for Starscream to catch in the briefest of movements. It was a quick jerky movement, filled with an anticipation for the worst, even in Starscream’s pain addled haze he could see that clearly.

B-127 didn’t speak, didn’t add to the conversation. He just smiled awkwardly and nodded, tearing his optics away from Starscream and refusing to let them settle back on the seeker’s frame. Distantly, Starscream felt himself mourn the loss of B-127’s attention on him.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Thoughts rattled discordantly around B-127’s processor, never fully formed and too fleeting to even make much sense. The general consensus of most of the thoughts was that he had very badly blown his cover. There wasn’t much sense in holding out hope that the Elite Trine or even just Starscream himself would notice there was a severe disconnect in the skill B-127 had shown on the train and the level he should be at for a novice without true battle experience. All because what exactly? Something had glitched in B-127’s processor, maybe he had blown a logic pathway fuse and all processor power had gone into overdrive during the fight. Maybe. Honestly, it wasn’t the biggest thing B-127 felt the urge to obsessively worry over. 

His own strange overprotectiveness aside; he was sure Skywarp or Thundercracker or maybe both of them along with the rest of the High Guard were going to storm up to him ready to take him out with orders to kill on sight. He was sure this was the end of the line. And what was he supposed to do? Deny the claims he was trying to kill their leader? Because up until very recently he had indeed been trying to do just that. He wasn’t exactly building up a strong case for himself. B-127 didn’t expect anyone to listen to his reasoning that he’d just decided not to kill Starscream seemingly on a whim, because that’s what had happened. He had no strong, convincing reason or a change in morals that made him decide to not kill Starscream, not even to tell just himself. 

He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t rationalize his decision outside of what was ultimately a fleeting curiosity that had grown into something much larger and dug much deeper than B-127 was capable of severing from his spark without little loose ends surely escaping his efforts. But even then he had a feeling those minute loose threads of fascination would grow into larger beasts of their own, turning B-127’s spark into an old growth forest of unfamiliar feelings he had no chance of fighting against. 

Once he managed to sate this parasitic curiosity, he would make it up to Sentinel, personally deliver the Prime Starscream’s severed helm if only to make himself feel more at ease with his rapid onset selfishness that had put everything he’d worked towards on the line. Or maybe he couldn’t recover from this. Maybe Sentinel Prime would find out his numerous missteps– somehow, some way. And maybe he would make B-127 pay for that. 

A frantic clawing, scraping, scratching anxiety pounded against B-127’s spark, begging to be freed at the mere thought of the loss of his opportunity to achieve a full transformation. But he had taken this path of his own volition, much to the shrieking nagging of his very correct logical processes telling him that yes, Sentinel Prime was the easiest way to fix his cog and yes, he had very possibly squandered countless cycles of his own work to reach towards a fully working cog.

If he were to lose everything as he knew it; his place as Sentinel’s blade, his little storage closet of a home filled with constructed friends and the comfort of knowing his place in the world. Would it all be worth it? Could B-127 look back at his actions and say with steadfast certainty that he had chosen correctly? He didn’t know, and the not knowing was going to eat him alive faster than a highly corrosive acid poured directly down his intake.

Part of him did believe the routine he had carved out with the High Guard could prove to be fulfilling, a worthy endeavor that was worth the price of losing his chance at a fixed cog. But if it wasn’t, or rather, when the High Guard discovered his deception and rightfully disposed of him he’d be put in a position he hadn’t found himself in since his onlining.

Amidst all the uncertainty his choices had brought him, regret was hardly felt. Perhaps it was the deeply rooted curiosity Starscream had sown in B-127’s spark that now drove his actions to a substantial degree, but B-127 couldn’t say he regretted keeping Starscream alive.

But what did that say about an assassin that simply decided not to kill just because he didn’t feel like it?

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

His routine had morphed into an anxious thing, one of frequenting Shockwave’s lab where Starscream still rested far more than B-127 could give a reasonable explanation for. He could claim a sense of responsibility for Starscream’s injuries, maybe that would deflect the questions enough. But that wasn’t the case, the feral protectiveness he felt towards Starscream withheld against all the internal interrogation he placed himself up against. It was to a point where with a great reluctance, B-127 would accept the strange dynamic he’d adopted with Starscream and simply let it play out– it wasn’t like it was going anywhere.

So he gathered every excuse he could muster to explain to Starscream why he was still hovering around the small medibay where Starscream lay. Sometimes bringing cubes of energon, or battered datapads with reading material to pass the time. Starscream didn’t mention the oddity of these interactions, taking the proffered energon or datapads with a small murmur of gratitude and B-127 would slink back into the shadows but never straying too far.

“You don’t have to do this,” Starscream started as B-127 offered up another cube of energon as an excuse to be around the seeker.

“I know.” B-127 knew very well this was an unnecessary thing, while Shockwave had no proper training, he had enough experience at this point to treat Starscream as well as their resources allowed. But he couldn’t convince himself to stop showing up to covertly check up on Starscream even if he didn’t allow himself an actual interaction with the seeker.

“It’s not that I mind you showing up but really, you’re of no obligation to be here. I’m indebted to you, not the other way around.” There was a hesitance hidden behind Starscream’s words, something more vulnerable being betrayed by the way he spoke.

“And I’m not here out of obligation.” He would pick his words carefully, walk around things that might be closer to the truth but B-127 didn’t need Starscream thinking he was suddenly wrapped up in an obsession with the seeker. He could stop this any time he wanted to.

Starscream hummed, taking a sip of the energon. He looked worn out, the edges of his frame seemed frayed and more dull than they should be. It had only been a few solar cycles since the attack but surely Starscream shouldn’t look this ragged still. Condensation clung to the plating around his vents, creating a sickly sheen that travelled across his entire frame.

“Well I’m not exactly in a position to attempt to convince you to leave. It’s dreadfully boring being injured and Skywarp has taken away all my leader things to do. Apparently healing takes precedent or some nonsense like that. I forget how much I hate the itch of freshly welded wounds.” Starscream ran a digit across his arm, frowning at the condensation the motion collected.

B-127 tried to ignore the worry chewing through his lines at the sight of Starscream’s condition clearly not improving. He didn't want to consider the implications that maybe he had grown fond of any of the High Guard during his stay.

“Any notes from Shockwave about your condition?”

“He said he’s keeping watch of my energon, something about a possible contaminate getting into my fuel lines that my nanites are having issues dealing with. There’s always the threat of eventual death from an injury here. We fled with nothing and the little amount of resources we’ve built up over the cycles isn’t nearly equipped to deal with certain medical emergencies. There’s only so much we can do about that without breaching Iacon’s city limits to seek out what we need. I told Shockwave to make do with what we have, with any luck this injury won’t be the one to kill me.” Starscream’s vents rattled as he spoke, like they were proving a point that his health was less than ideal right now.

“You’re not dying.” B-127 said it more like he was trying to make sure it came true than because he believed it.

“Mmm, I could be is the thing but I hope I’m more stubborn and vindictive to allow that to happen just yet. What, you would miss me bug?”

B-127 didn’t allow Starscream the satisfaction of an answer, deciding he didn’t want to admit to himself his fondness for Starscream had continued to stick around despite his efforts.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 had curled up in an odd little corner right outside of Shockwave’s lab for recharge, feeling the urge to stick close by to Starscream, something he didn’t currently feel like fighting himself on.

Muffled but hurried movement within the lab startled B-127 out of recharge. It wasn’t a pleasant recharge anyways, dreams of tearing down hordes of enemies filled with never ending carnage plagued him too much for it to be considered restful. He dared to stand in the lab doorway, spark dropping to his pedes as he watched Shockwave hurriedly work over Starscream, vitals sensors beeping frantically alerting everyone of Starscream’s declining health.

“We’re going to have to flush his fuel lines.” Shockwave told Red Wing, moving to the side with a menacing looking piece of medical equipment held firmly in his servos.

B-127 watched in a numb, detached horror as they worked around Starscream, trying to get him stable again. If he’d thrown away everything for the High Guard, what would happen if he lost that too?

Chapter Text

Starscream had been stabilized for now but a very alive anxiety over his health had taken over the High Guard. It was hard to keep knowledge like this undiscovered and it hadn’t taken long before the entire overgrown compound was lit up in hushed whispers and fears of what might happen if medical supplies weren’t gathered quickly.

Somewhere between when Starscream’s fuel lines had been flushed and replaced with sterile medical grade energon and B-127 feeling like the world was opening beneath his pedes, ready to swallow him whole he had made a decision.

He strode up to where Thundercracker and Skywarp spoke in Starscream’s office, both of them working to take over Starscream’s duties. “I’m going to Iacon.”

“You can’t be serious.” Thundercracker’s dermas were pressed into a thin, disapproving line as his visor bore holes into B-127’s frame.

“We need better medical supplies, Iacon has all of that in surplus. I’m going to gather what we need– what Starscream needs. I have the most updated knowledge on Iacon’s layout so it has to be me who goes. I can do it.” B-127 left no room for argument, he was doing this because if he didn’t, he felt like ripping off his plating would be his next move if he had to be forced into further inaction.

Skywarp held up a servo as Thundercracker tried to say something else, “Then as Starscream’s trine we’ll be indebted to you for helping him. You really think you can do it?”

B-127 nodded, there was nothing that could truly get in his way and stop him the way he felt now. “I had access to Iacon’s maps long enough that I have them memorized now. I’ll stay low, try to keep myself out of trouble but I’m doing this regardless of the cost.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Skywarp had dropped B-127 right outside the city limits, giving the yellow bot an encouraging nod before teleporting away again. The city skyline was painted in the early rays of the sun just beginning to peek out from the horizon. 

He ducked into a service tunnel, steeling his nerves and making himself look like he belonged there– at least he was decent at that. The grimy tunnel helped soothe his frantic spark as he eased into the single-minded focus of a mission. He would use the service tunnel to make his way to a medical center, preferably on the outskirts of Iacon where few bots tended to gather. Shockwave had given him a list, helpfully ordered in most to least important to obtain. It wasn’t a long list, one of only four items but B-127 knew enough by way of knowing how to kill to note their importance in keeping Starscream alive.

Being back in Iacon knowing full well he hadn’t finished what Sentinel Prime had asked of him felt wrong, he knew what had to be done and he had knowingly disobeyed his orders. In fact, B-127 was back in Iacon to keep his target alive, knowing he should be doing the opposite. It didn’t bother him like it probably should.

Instead, B-127 took two lefts then a right and made his way down a long stretch of narrow tunneling towards the business district. The air was damp and acrid, worn down and filthy metal sheets lined his path as he continued on. For as little time as he had actually spent in Iacon itself, he knew the city well enough. What he was looking for was a small medbay that service workers frequented, small enough he could hopefully avoid running into anyone.

He approached a particularly dirty ladder that likely led up to an alleyway close to where he needed to be, cringing as dark sludge clung to his servos as he ascended. The cover popped open with little resistance and B-127 checked that his surroundings were clear before stepping out into the alley. It was darker here, the early sun still not yet touching the more insular portions of Iacon for the day.

The back door to the medbay was locked with a number pad and a very rudimentary locking system, it seemed this part of the district wasn’t well travelled enough to source better security measures. B-127 opened his subspace and located his lockpicking set, popping off the access panel to the number pad so he could get to work. It didn’t take many tries before the door cheerfully beeped at him and allowed for a seamless entry. So far so good.

He moved quickly through the rooms trying to locate the supply closet, finding it in the back half of the building. Just four things to gather and then he could rush back to the High Guard– to Starscream.

There was a rumbling clank and the main lights turned on, B-127 hadn’t been the one to do that.

“It’s almost a shame really, that my most loyal, highly skilled assassin would be the one to bite the servo that’s given it everything. You had it better than some fully cogged mechs.” A smooth, haughty voice sent an overwhelming spike of dread through B-127’s spark. The how or why was not important, the only thing that mattered was that Sentinel Prime had found him.

B-127 froze with his servo in a drawer, not yet daring to turn to face the Prime. “It’s just taking longer than I anticipated. I’m playing along with their games, that's all I’m doing here.” He hoped his vocalizer didn’t betray the fear that coursed through his lines.

Sentinel hummed and B-127 could picture the overly casual way he was standing with a servo placed on his hip, like he had much better things to do than be involved in this conversation. “Remember what I have to offer to you. You’re a smart mech, you know how much protection and privilege I offer by allowing you to be my blade. And you’re so close to earning your cog repairs! You wouldn’t want to give that up, would you?”

He replaced his servo by his side and slowly turned to face his leader, begging his frame to not betray him in the sinking doom he felt standing here before Sentinel. “No, I don’t intend to give up anything that you’ve offered me. I assure you when I return to Iacon once more it will be with Starscream’s energon staining my frame and his severed helm in my servos to offer up to you. I will not disappoint you.”

What was true in what B-127 spoke was lost to him in the moment, his eagerness to please the leader he served came flooding back in full force. It was beyond his current grasp on reality to determine if what he told the Prime was what he truly intended to do or not. He would figure that out later, when he could parse through his own words more carefully.

“It’s because I am as magnanimous as I am benevolent that I make the leader that stands before you. I’m willing to believe what you tell me because I have faith in your work, you haven’t failed me yet after all. See to it that the leader of the High Guard falls and I will more than make it worth your efforts. I have certain safeguards in place to ensure my will is followed, I hope you remember that.” Sentinel smiled amicably as the energon in B-127’s lines froze.

He recalled something that he’d never been fully sure if it was a memory or something conjured up by his imagination, it had never come into question so he hadn’t ever dwelled on it until now. The armored plating that lined the back of his neck felt too heavy, too foreign as he recalled long ago being ushered to the Prime’s personal medbay for a ‘routine medical check-up’. He’d been placed under medical stasis for just a short while during that check-up and had thought nothing of it when he had asked Sentinel what had been done to him and the Prime had assuaged the yellow bot and told him it had all been very routine and nothing to worry about. He hadn’t felt the need to question further. Now he realized what that medical check-up had likely resulted in the placement of a tracking device or something to that measure.

Sentinel studied B-127’s face and seemed to approve of what he saw. “I look forward to your efforts then.” He let his smile drop and walked out of the medbay without another word.

B-127 stood frozen, unable to move until transformation sounds broke him out of his trance. He moved faster now, digging through the supplies to locate what he needed.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Skywarp had looked genuinely relieved when B-127 had commed him to teleport him back to the High Guard. Vaguely, he was aware this trip could’ve turned into a death sentence but he had narrowly avoided that fate as it seemed. 

“Were you able to get everything?” Skywarp only dared to ask once they were back within the confines of the High Guard’s domain.

“Yeah, thankfully the one medbay I went to had everything. I think the supplies Shockwave asked for are fairly standard so that helped.” The plating on the back of B-127’s burned with the knowledge of what might lay beneath it as he spoke, it took all his efforts to keep his voice from betraying that.

Skywarp visibly deflated in obvious relief at the good news. “He’s still stable for now but this will really help. Thank you, seriously thank you.”

“I wanted to help.” His actions were anything but selfless, B-127 felt bound to the curiosity that surrounded Starscream– he was simply ensuring he could continue to sate that curiosity.

The supplies were taken to Shockwave’s lab, a collective sigh of relief passed through the High Guard as they saw that B-127 had succeeded. He felt it too, letting it wrap around his spark in a mix of relief and worry that his efforts had been for naught. 

To B-127 Starscream was one of his most formidable targets, he had known going into this mission just how powerful the seeker was. He respected the lethal brutality Starscream possessed; it was probably a large factor in what drew B-127 in. Seeing Starscream reduced to a mess of sickness and feverishly trembling plating felt wrong in more ways than he could place, so naturally he had wanted to fix that.

Starscream’s optics fixed onto B-127, their lights flickering softly but still burning bright. “You’re an idiot and a fool. I hope you know how badly your little quest could’ve easily gone wrong.” He quickly looked away from B-127, voice softening ever so slightly. “But thank you.”

B-127 didn’t offer a reply, not trusting himself to speak at this moment, not knowing what truths that shouldn’t be revealed he might spill. He just nodded, stepping back as Shockwave began putting the new supplies to work.

He was growing far too comfortable here, allowing himself to get too attached to the High Guard.

Chapter Text

At some point a small berth had been placed in the corner of Shockwave’s lab for visitors, usually one of Starscream’s trinemates or B-127 himself would occupy the space, keeping Starscream company while he recovered.

For what it was worth the better medical supplies had been helping. Each time B-127 returned to the lab and quietly studied Starscream he looked a little less dull, a little stronger and when he spoke his words held a little more of the bite that B-127 had grown accustomed to. That was more relieving than B-127 wanted to admit.

He still felt the press of a foreign object against his plating, it made him wonder how he’d never noticed before now that it burned hot and heavy where it was implanted. It was oppressive and he needed it gone soon. He ducked out of the lab, not answering the question Starscream asked wordlessly with his gaze. His pace quickened as he sought out a secluded area to attempt to remove the device himself. He couldn’t ask for help, too many questions would be raised about how it had gotten there that he didn’t have lies ready to respond with. 

Raised digits explored the base of his neck, hurriedly running over every seam and the surface of each piece of plating to seek out the intrusion. He had no real plan of getting it out and the prickling of fear if the device had a failsafe ran down B-127’s spinal strut, it didn’t matter he needed it destroyed now. The blunt tips of his digits eventually hit a minor protrusion tucked between cables. He began to dig at it.

Any pain from his self-inflicted attack was muffled by an overwhelming sense of urgency that spiked in strength every nanoklik that went by and the device was still attached to his frame. A trickle of energon ran down his back like a taunt as he continued to dig and dig and dig . It didn’t come free no matter how much he scratched and clawed. The tracking device remained securely in place.

B-127 feared it might be a replaced piece of plating, embedded into the plating’s metal itself in a way that couldn’t so easily be extracted. He didn’t stop the clawing, energon growing sticky on his digits where he must’ve accidentally hit a small fuel line in his blinded panic. The energon made his plating slick, his digits losing their grip where he tried to get a hold on the edge of the small device. It couldn’t be larger than the tip of his digit but it felt like it weighed his entire frame down where it sat. His vents grew frantic and labored, each vent to cool his rapidly heating frame was taking more and more effort as the panic latched more solidly to his processor.

[Are you busy?[] An equal amount of relief and a different sort of panic washed over B-127 as a comm from Starscream popped up in his HUD.

[No. Do you need something?[] A lie but maybe a distraction would be a good idea. If he could calm down enough then he could find something better equipped to remove the device. He wiped away the energon as best he could, trying to reach his back was difficult and there wasn’t anything reflective nearby to see if he’d gotten it all but it would have to do.

[Some energon would be nice.[]

[I can do that, I’ll be there in a little bit.[] B-127 bit down hard on his lower derma, overriding his fans’ settings so they weren’t so loud. He could will himself to be calm just for a little bit.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 entered the lab with energon for the both of them, he only hoped his tanks would settle enough for him to be able to drink his. He still felt weighed down and off balance but at least he wasn’t actively leaking energon any more.

“I tried to bother my trine first but they’re both tied up keeping everything in order.” Starscream took the energon, sipping it carefully. His optics trailed across B-127’s frame, focusing enough on his shoulders that he wanted to squirm under the attention.

B-127 shook his head softly, “It’s fine, I don’t mind, truly.”

“Your neck, did you get hurt?” 

His spark stilled in its casing, watching the way Starscream’s face contorted minutely. He must’ve missed some of the spilled energon.

“Uh– it’s fine, don't worry about it. I’m fine, really.” The words spilled in a rush from B-127’s intake, rushing to try and explain this away.

Starscream’s dermas quirked down slightly. Why did he care if B-127 was injured at all? He motioned for B-127 to come closer, scooting over in his berth enough for the yellow mech to sit down. “Come here.”

For some reason B-127 couldn’t begin to explain he obliged, delicately sitting down on the very edge of the berth. Starscream trailed gentle digits over the back of B-127’s neck, the more his digits explored the area the more B-127 could feel shallow scratches caused by his own servo.

“What happened?” Starscream’s voice was soft and gentle, it felt like a sorely needed balm on B-127’s frayed mind.

The words spilled out before B-127 could stop to think about what he was saying and to who. “There’s something attached to my plating. I– I tried to remove it but it’s stuck in a place that’s hard for me to reach.”

Starscream hummed but didn’t respond. A firm servo was pressed against B-127’s shoulder as he felt clawed digits reach underneath his plating. There was a sharp burst of pain and a metallic pop, then a small object clattered to the floor. B-127 slumped forward in relief, feeling lighter than he had in cycles. He snatched the tracking device from the ground and crushed it in his servo before tucking it away in his subspace to dispose of away from curious optics. It was bad enough that Starscream had helped him in this task.

“Thank you.” B-127 whispered, the words barely audible even to himself.

“Happy to help.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Even without the tracking device attached to his frame, B-127 couldn’t escape Sentinel Prime. The Prime’s words echoed loudly within his processor, growing louder and louder until he was sure his helm would split open from the noise.

As he spent more time with Starscream it seemed to only make the noise grow more cacophonous, the conflicts he felt increasing tenfold within himself. He had thought he’d made up his mind, made his choice to stand by Starscream and the High Guard. But seeing Sentinel again had rattled him more than he initially thought.

 What else had Sentinel done to keep him in line?

The tracking device had been destroyed and its incinerated pieces dropped off far from where the High Guard resided, just in case. The crushing weight of Sentinel’s optics on him had been replaced with a growing pinprick of guilt that maybe he was the cause Starscream had been injured. It was probably the truth and that tore painful, ragged gashes in B-127’s chassis. He’d gone to greater lengths than he should’ve to keep the seeker alive and the knowledge he might’ve unwillingly caused Starscream’s death after all of that left a bitter taste on his glossa. He hated it.

But even after all he had done, he knew he would never truly fit in with the High Guard. Not while he was so deep in his lies, not while he was still pretending to be someone he’d never been. The High Guard had placed their trust in a lowly maintenance worker who’d come to them seeking a truth that had been kept from him, not a skilled assassin ordered to kill their leader but had grown a soft spark and changed his mind. If they found out, no, when they found out, B-127 couldn’t hold it against them when they decided he was a liability that was better off dead. This was a breakage of trust one didn’t come back from.

So he would keep pretending and weaving stories of a mech that he was not. Just to stay with the High Guard a little longer.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

D-16 leaned against a fallen pillar with a deep scowl and B-127 could feel the weight of the grey mech’s glare as he watched Elita and Orion Pax trading practice blows. Thundercracker stood off to the side, watching the sparring with a critical optic.

He leaned over to B-127, giving him a small conspiratorial smirk. “Did you hear their fight last night?”

“Gossiping with your targets in your line of sight? That’s low. And no, I was with Starscream last night. I heard nothing.” B-127 snorted, it was hard to not find amusement in Thundercracker’s incessant need for gossip.

There was a dangerous glint in Thundercracker’s optics as his grin grew a little more sharp. “Growing fond of our dear leader are we? What’s more surprising is that I haven’t once heard him complain about you hovering nearby. And Starscream loves complaining more than life itself.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply but don’t. I’m just helping out.” B-127 avoided Thundercracker’s pressing gaze, instead looking over just as Elita managed to knock Orion on his aft, laughing loudly.

The seeker hummed in mock thought and B-127 shuffled farther away. Just what was his aim?

“I humbly give you my blessing.” Thundercracker backed away with a maniacal grin, abandoning B-127 to go give Elita and Orion combat tips. That absolute aft.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Thundercracker’s words had begun to mix with Sentinel’s inside B-127’s mind, a confusing mixture of thinly veiled threats and teasing insinuations assaulted him at all times. He knew Sentinel Prime, more than most mechs, and the Prime always got his way. Always.  

Whether B-127 willingly did Sentinel’s bidding or was put to death for defying him wasn’t really a choice, but it was the only one he had. What had once been a simple curiosity had morphed into something more, something B-127 didn’t quite understand but was at the mercy of his own emotions– all because of Starscream.

Even as he sat by Starscream’s side, his mind was other places. The lab was quiet, with Starscream reading a datapad and B-127 stewing in his own mess of a processor. He would finally accept that he did care for Starscream, more than he should but it was too late to worry about that– he was in too deep as it was. But that care could be easily exploited if Sentinel ever found out just what he’d been up to during his time with the High Guard. Even if it seemed that the Prime was none the wiser, that could very much be just a ploy to keep B-127 relaxed until Sentinel could strike, tearing down both his assassin and the High Guard in one fell swoop. One way or another B-127 would pay a dire price for even thinking of defying Sentinel Prime, let alone going through with it. He wasn’t even sure he felt regret for his actions.

“Listen, I don’t want to pry too severely– you’re entitled to secrecy just as much as any other mech. But just what did I help you remove from under your plating?” Starscream’s optics pulsed with a dangerous curiosity that B-127 could feel dismantling his frame piece by piece.

B-127’s spark stalled, frozen in fear of where this conversation could lead. He forced himself to vent, trying and failing to keep himself calm. Just what was even safe to share? And what would keep Starscream from growing too suspicious?

“I don’t exactly know. Whatever was done to me– the tracking device you helped me remove– I had no knowledge of until very recently.” He took another vent to steady himself. Was trusting Starscream like this a good idea? Probably too late to turn back from this conversation regardless. “What I do know is that it was Sentinel’s doing, at least I think it was.”

Starscream’s optics burned a deeper red, filled with a hatred that B-127 wasn’t entirely sure wasn’t directed towards him at least in part. “That glitch spawn! Every time I learn something else he’s done the more I want to personally liberate his spark from its casing and crush it. But what would Sentinel want with a maintenance worker? Is he that insecure in his Primehood?”

He couldn’t . No matter how much he felt he trusted Starscream he would be signing his death if he even hinted about his true occupation or even just how vital a player B-127 was in Sentinel Prime’s inner circle. 

“I don’t really know. It could be that mechs are randomly selected for monitoring or this happens to everyone. I have no idea, but it was done without my knowledge and it probably would’ve stayed that way had I not found out accidentally.”

“And how did you find out?”

Scrap.  

“By pure accident– it must’ve been bumped during the fight enough for me to be able to feel it.” The lie came easily but it tasted wrong leaving B-127’s glossa, like spoiled energon coating the inside of his intake in a gross film.

Starscream nodded, the rage burning in his optics hadn’t subsided but he seemed to have put it aside for now. “That could explain why Sentinel had mechs following the train to begin with. But that also means this area is no longer safe, there’s no telling if Sentinel ever scraped the device for our current coordinates. We should leave as soon as we can. I’ll need to speak with my trine about this.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

“So you were right then.” A dark expression rested on Thundercracker’s face as he crossed his arms tight to his chassis.

“Possibly.”

“No, no– don't do that. You were right to suspect him and now he very well could’ve gotten you reduced to scrap! Star, you almost died out there and if not on the train then in this very lab succumbing to your injuries.” Skywarp hissed out the words, like even just saying them meant Starscream’s downfall.

Starscream scrubbed his face with his servos, trying to ignore the way his spark was still racing after B-127’s confession. He sighed, not daring to look at either of his trinemates in the optics. “It seems more complicated than that–”

“Now you’re defending him?” Skywarp’s servos curled into tight fists, shaking just enough for Starscream to notice.

“I think if B-127 wanted me dead he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths on multiple occasions to keep me alive.” Starscream admitted quietly as much to himself as to his trine. “I was barely conscious on the train after I fell but B-127 was the one to kill our attackers, not me. Was that not a perfect opportunity to get rid of me and not even have my energon staining his servos? I don’t think he’s admitting to everything but at the very least I can accept that B-127 is not the one I have to look over my shoulder when he’s around. 

“I find myself drawn to him and maybe it’ll just take more time for him to tell us everything but what’s clear is that he’s as much of a pawn to Sentinel as the rest of us are. I’m willing to give him more time to come to me with what he knows.”

Starscream knew just as well as his trine that giving a bot under even a small suspicion of treachery more leeway was a bad idea, but he couldn’t find a reason that he was willing to accept to sever their ties with B-127 quite yet. He couldn’t even hate himself for growing accustomed to the yellow bot’s company as he healed, but maybe he should.

“Alright then.” Thundercracker’s gaze burned into Starscream but he didn’t press further. “Moving on, we need to pick up base and move. Fast. I have an area picked out in Tagan Heights, there’s no preexisting architecture for us to take advantage of but it’s far enough away running into Sentinel will be less likely. Even the Quintessons seem to leave that area alone for the most part.”

Starscream nodded, “Alert everyone then. It’s time we say goodbye to this place.”

Chapter Text

Crates were filled with supplies and subspaces were crammed with every little trace of the High Guards’ existence from the rundown building they’d called home for many cycles. When they were done there would be nothing to indicate anyone had lived here in quite some time. It would be as if the High Guard had never been there at all. A deep guilt chewed away at B-127’s spark, he knew he was the reason everyone had to leave this place even if it was unintended. 

It would've been easier if B-127 hadn’t been so drawn to the High Guard, if he had never let himself become enamored with a life he could never have, not truly. He had been molded and shaped from molten metal into the form of an assassin, hardened, cold and ruthless. He was brittle now that his metal had cooled, his frame would break if he tried to reshape himself into something different, deep down he knew that. This was his life and that’s how it would always be until he was a grey and mangled corpse. Once upon a time he’d accepted that truth, it had been okay because he had a use and enough energon to fill his tanks whenever he needed. Something about that foundation had crumbled and now he was drowning in doubts that were only made worse whenever Starscream noticed him.

He had spent countless cycles in the shadows and trying his best to remain unseen before striking a mech dead and disappearing into the dark. But with sharp, calculated optics Starscream had laser focused on B-127 and truly saw him. And that scared B-127 more than the constant threat of death ever had. He was so drawn to Starscream’s celestial orbit and couldn’t for the life of him tear himself away. Maybe Starscream’s solar flares would lick against B-127’s plating and burn him, but he didn’t think he would mind that much so long as he got to stay close to the seeker just a while longer.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 had slipped away from the unpacking for a moment alone, they’d relocated to a cave system that was proving to be much more expansive than any of their scans had indicated. But that just meant more hiding places for B-127 to tuck himself away into. It almost reminded him of the storage closet and ventilation systems he’d called his home back in Iacon.

He slipped through a fissure in the cave’s wall just large enough to fit his frame, it opened up into a cavity covered in blue and purple iridescent crystals. Melodic chimes echoed in the small cavity as the crystals glowed where B-127 brushed them with his servo. They reacted to his touch, humming and pulsing from the stimuli. It was beautiful.

“It seems that the crystals are reacting to your spark frequency.”

B-127 jerked his helm around, finding Starscream inspecting a cluster of crystals on the wall. He hadn’t even heard the seeker trailing him.

“Some mechs used to say that crystals like these can resonate to match a spark frequency of certain bots.” Starscream lightly tapped the point of a deep purple crystal, it shone brighter where it had been touched. “Why did you do it?”

B-127 reset his audials, his spark had stopped spinning in its chamber as his fuel lines froze solid. Suddenly the space felt much too small, the walls were closing in on him. He replayed the audio just to make sure he’d heard right. “Wh-what?”

“Do you take me for a fool? Was I really that easy a piece to play in whatever little scheme you’re running? What is the High Guard worth to you?” Starscream stepped closer, bringing his intake close to B-127’s audial and dropping his voice low. “Tell me just one thing before I deem it better to strike you down where you stand for your transgressions.”

Everything was moving too fast, yet held static as B-127 tried to piece together what had brought this on.

“Speak. Before I deny you that option,” Starscream said with a cold calmness that B-127 wished he too possessed. Instead, his spark burned a bright and hot fear as he was stared down.

“What is it that you think I’ve done?” B-127 tried to hold his voice steady but his calculated mask was slipping between his digits faster than he’d like.

“What is your true relationship with Sentinel Prime? And if I even think you’re lying to me, I walk out of here alone with your corpse decorating this space and your energon adorning the walls.”

This was it then. B-127’s borrowed time with the High Guard had finally run out. He’d known it was coming but the reality of his situation still tasted bitter.

“I’m Sentinel Prime’s blade, an assassin who only works for him. I go where he says to go and kill anyone he tells me. It was never my decision to become what I am– it’s just what happened. I had a perfect track record before being assigned to take you out,” B-127 laughed, sharp and bitter. He didn’t look Starscream in the optics as he continued, he didn’t want to know how he was taking the information. “I’ve tried to kill you three separate times and yet every single time you walked out alive. Do you know how bad that looks for me? The bot with a perfect kill streak being unable to take down just a single mech even after being given several more than perfect windows of opportunity to do just that.”

Starscream took a step back. His face was unreadable, painted in several emotions B-127 couldn’t discern. “And why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance? When I was injured, why not let me die from my wounds? Why even save me on the train to begin with? You didn’t have to gather medical supplies for a bot you were meant to kill.”

“I don’t know…” B-127’s vocalizer crackled, spitting out static between words before he manually reset it, then reset it again just to be safe. “You’ve done something to me and I don’t even know where to begin to figure out just what that is. What I have figured out is that for whatever reason, I don’t want you dead even when I know I should.”

The seeker huffed with a strange sort of amusement, “What sparkwarming words. I really should kill you for multiple assassination attempts against me. Funny how we both share that sentiment in common as I don’t think I want you dead either, so I guess we’re at a standstill.”

“Sentinel was going to grant me a chance to fix my cog after I killed you… I gave that up and I don’t even know why.” B-127 scoffed, he felt strange after revealing everything– his frame was too heavy and too light at the same time. It was finally all out in the open and he wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and not speak of this entire situation ever again. To disappear from everything.

“Your cog? What’s wrong with your cog?” Starscream’s wings twitched minutely as he frowned. So he hadn’t caught on then.

“Kinda shocked no one asked me about it. It’s broken, at least mostly broken. I can’t transform any more than the blades in my servos and moving plating around to access ports.” B-127 transformed both his servos into their blades to emphasize his point. “After this assassination I would’ve been allowed to have someone fix it. I would’ve been more free than I’ve ever been before. Maybe I would’ve stopped with the assassinations, maybe not but I would at least be able to fully transform and have a choice to do what I wish.”

Starscream played with his lower derma, worrying it between his denta. “So you’re nothing more than Sentinel’s leashed pet. Just another lackey sent to do his will to try and be rid of me. This is a first for an assassin being sent after me but he’s wanted me dead since I took the High Guard and fled from Iacon, so this was a long time coming.”

“If it makes you feel any better I haven’t tried to kill you since before the train. I’ve made up my mind on keeping you alive. It doesn’t matter what Sentinel offers me, I won't do it.” B-127 fully turned away from Starscream, he could feel where this was going and it wouldn’t end well for him. It was never meant to end well for him. “And if you want to cast me out for what I’ve tried to do I wouldn’t blame you, but I promise I will never be a physical threat to you like that. Not so long as I’m the one in control of my frame.”

There was quiet, except for the soft tinkling chimes of the crystals, between them. Starscream didn’t move to fill the silence, his gaze resting on B-127’s back which felt like a tangible thing.

“I think,” B-127 started, unsure if he really wanted to admit this outloud but continued anyway, “regardless of how I felt before we boarded that train, when I saw you plummeting from the sky; injured and being attacked I needed to destroy anyone and anything that had gotten in your way. I killed for you not because I was ordered, but because I felt an urge to defend you. And it felt good– better than any assassination I’d ever completed for Sentinel Prime.”

Starscream ex-vented softly, vents and plating clicking as they expelled excess heat. “Against my better judgement, you can stay. If only because I think once Sentinel discovers your betrayal you’ll have larger issues to deal with than a bitter former assassination target. And against my better judgement once more, I like having you around. I mean, I am also still alive in no small part to your efforts so I suppose I can’t hold your past actions against you forever. We all make choices that don’t necessarily align with our truest intentions.”

B-127 stood with his processor working overtime trying to deal with the influx of data that never should’ve been possible. He had accepted that his time with the High Guard was at a close and he would be forced to go on the run from Sentinel. That had been his working reality until Starscream upended that entire thought tree. He could stay, B-127 could stay with the High Guard.

After all he’d done to undermine Starscream and the multiple attempts he’d made on the seeker’s life it shouldn’t be possible. There should be no forgiveness for B-127. And yet here Starscream stood before B-127 offering up more of a second chance than B-127 ever possibly deserved. It would’ve been unfair for B-127 to ever expect anything of the sort to have been offered to him, but it had and it created a strange pulsating rhythm within his spark and a growing warmth that coated his frame. He didn’t deserve this but he refused to squander this chance he’d been given.

Maybe with the grace of Primus B-127 would be allowed to salvage this. And maybe he could find something for himself. To do something because he felt like it, not simply doing as he had been told to do it. 

“You would do that? What if I’m lying again?” B-127 couldn’t help but say, “What if this is another of my elaborate ploys to get you to bend beneath my blade I and finally to take it and plunge it into your spark chamber for real this time? What if you’re wrong?”

To which Starscream said very simply: “Well are you?”

“No,” B-127 said softly, so much that he could scarcely hear himself say it. “No, I’m not lying. Not about this. Not right now.”

“Then it’s settled. Come, we should go help unpack.”

B-127 followed behind with a sensation somewhere between complete astonishment and a crushingly deep feeling of gratitude.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

“You might just have the worst case of stupidity I’ve ever had the misfortune of being directly associated with. Seriously Starscream, are you glitched? This might be the worst decision you’ve ever made!” Skywarp didn’t hold back the bite in his tone, finally animated after sitting completely still while Starscream had relayed what B-127 had revealed to his trine.

“You could stand to be a little nicer about it ‘Warp.” Thundercracker smiled softly at Starscream but even he could tell Thundercracker wasn’t on his side of this argument.

“No actually, I don’t think I will. I knew I was trine bonded to a glitched idiot but this is a new low! Did the attack on the train really destroy your processor that badly?” Skywarp threw his servos up in the air, shaking his helm in disbelief.

“Skywarp!” Thundercracker snapped. “This isn’t helping and you know it.”

“No, he’s right. I can’t explain why I said what I said or did what I did. But it happened and I won’t take back my offer to B-127. As much as I hate it, I feel indebted to him and if this is how I pay him back then so be it.” Starscream let out a long ex-vent, focusing on a very uninteresting patch of paint on his forearm that was beginning to peel instead of looking directly at either of his trinemates.

“You very easily could take it back, you just won’t because you’re a fragging idiot. Do we even know how many times he tried to kill you? Will we ever know? Do we even want to know just how many times you got out alive because he’s taken a strange liking to you? He’s Sentinel’s pet, how do we even know he won’t turn on you again when he’s decided to go crawling back to his Prime?” Skywarp’s optics burned as they fell on Starscream even beneath his visor, Starscream was just glad he couldn’t see the deep scowl that Skywarp was surely wearing.

“I don’t know how many times I was at his mercy, he did give me a number but I can’t say if that’s the truth, but does it really matter? He never went through with it and something tells me he won’t. Don’t ask how I know that, it’s just a feeling. B-127 was doing what he had to because he felt he had no choice, we of all mechs should understand that notion intimately. It seems we’ve given him an opportunity to choose and that’s something no one with half a processor would take lightly. I don't believe he's willing to forsake that.” Starscream could tell he was in a losing battle against his trine but he didn’t want to admit that allowing B-127 to stay was a bad idea, even if just to himself.

Skywarp spluttered, “Wha– ‘does it really matter?’ Are you hearing yourself right now? Primus, this is worse than I ever thought. I’ll comm Shockwave right now to scan your processor for damage.”

Thundercracker laid a steady servo on Skywarp’s shoulder and looked between Skywarp and Starscream. He always was the more emotionally stable of the three and Starscream was incredibly grateful for that right now. “I'm sure if B-127 truly wanted Starscream dead he would've gone about it a different way. There's no way he would've expected Starscream to keep this confidential or even that Starscream wouldn't be extremely wary of him after confiding this to Star. He's smart, I think that much is clear and maybe we keep a closer watch on him but I don't think he's a threat to Starscream or the rest of us.”

Starscream didn't miss the wink that Thundercracker gave him as Skywarp buried his helm in his servos. He didn't know what it meant but it wasn't a look to be trusted, not while Thundercracker was involved.

“You're both glitched.” Skywarp groaned, his face still tucked in his servos.

Starscream didn't disagree but stayed silent, his processor unhelpfully bringing up the visual of B-127 surrounded by the pulsing crystals. He’d looked so vulnerable in a way that Starscream could sympathize with, and maybe if B-127 was to be his downfall it wouldn't be such a bad way to go.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

B-127 dreamt of crystals; shimmering and pulsing with that iridescent glow. Starscream was there too, standing tall and proud in the foreground. He must've seen B-127 because he tilted his helm ever so slightly and gave the yellow mech a soft smile. B-127 felt his spark pulse just a little harder and himself return the smile. It was silent save for the gentle tinkling of crystal chimes. Starscream was saying something, his intake moved but no words reached B-127’s audials. He found himself mourning the loss of whatever Starscream might be saying. 

Starscream’s dermas stopped moving and he slowly reached out a servo to B-127. A deep rumble shook the ground and the crystals, ripping open where B-127 had stood. The surface swallowed him up and he was falling, falling, falling, looking up to where Starscream was soundlessly crying out to him as B-127 fell deeper still.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

The move had an unexpected boon of granting everyone a private space for a makeshift berth and any personal items a mech had happened to collect throughout the cycles. Plenty of cave offshoots had allowed that– the more space of the cave system the High Guard filled, the more protected it seemed. Even after everything B-127 had told Starscream he was still given his own space and nothing was discussed about his freedom being cut short.

But the solitude tasted different after spending so much of his time surrounded by others. Before coming to the High Guard he’d always been alone, he’d existed alone, killed alone, even believing he would always be alone. Yet now, B-127 could admit it was nice to be noticed, to be looked at and actually seen instead of seen through. 

It was strange not being punished for admitting to everything, laying out the truth as transparently as he could and still he was allowed independence. Were this Sentinel, a collar would be placed around B-127’s neck cables and he really would be just the Prime’s pet, reduced to nothing but a violent beast meant only to kill for Sentinel Prime and he alone. But Starscream wasn't Sentinel and that really was the issue. Starscream listened to his High Guard, took their safety and well being extremely seriously and would do anything to protect them. He was a good leader. He was everything Sentinel claimed to be but never followed through on.

In the back of B-127’s processor, he wondered if Sentinel ever would've kept his word. If B-127 had killed Starscream could he say with absolute certainty that a fixed cog was within sight? His mind went back to what had happened to the miners, they’d made no such deal with Sentinel and yet they’d been fragged the worst– a vacant hollow where their cogs had been stolen before they’d even known they were meant to have a cog. Was B-127 truly that special to Sentinel to expect better treatment? Even after all he’d done for the Prime something within himself doubted he would be any different.

He hadn’t seen Starscream since their talk among the crystals but it had only been a little over a full solar cycle and with his health much more stable than it had been in a long time, Starscream was very busy. It still felt surreal, like he’d dreamt the entire conversation and B-127 was still burdened with a truth much bigger than he could manage to carry without stumbling for much longer. He still half expected to turn around and find a blaster trained at his back, to be outcast or killed for the truth finally escaping from B-127’s tight clutches. But the truth had already been revealed and he’d been granted sanctuary against all odds and logic. It seemed Starscream was a much better mech than B-127 could ever strive to be.

“Hey!” Orion bounded up to B-127, a foolishly large smile plastered on his faceplates. “Thundercracker said to go find you, he wants you to run through some training with us. And by us I mean Dee, Elita and I.”

That was enough to shock B-127 back to reality, he was accepted here– regardless of all his faults and maybe even because of them.

Chapter Text

Perhaps Skywarp was right. Perhaps Starscream was glitched and his processor just had a strange way of showing it, in ways of trailing around their new home in search of B-127 in moments where he had no reason to and memorizing the shape of B-127’s frame until he was visible during recharge and in the darkest corners of Starscream’s vision. But that didn't seem like an issue if Starscream was being honest.

He was healing well and couldn’t help but be reminded of the yellow bug every time he or someone else took notice of how his plating had finally lost the dullness and moving no longer felt like a reprehensible crime against his struts and pistons. Starscream told himself that it was because he didn’t like being in the debts of others. That it was because B-127 had gone out of his way to retrieve necessary medical supplies to help Starscream. That it was because B-127 was the only reason he was still online to think about any of this. And when he no longer felt indebted to B-127, he would surely vanish from Starscream’s thoughts instead of constantly residing in them because he was certain it was just a product of B-127 saving him. But even the mere thought of B-127 not being around in thought or reality made Starscream’s spark skip a revolution and his vents catch in his chassis– like somehow that was the worst thing that could happen. It shouldn't be but Starscream felt as though getting dropped into a chasm with his wings bolted to his back would be the more pleasant option.

Logically, it felt wrong to want B-127 close. Time and time again, after being shone in a new light, B-127 had proven himself to be a threat. To Starscream specifically. Almost exclusively Starscream! But in all the times Starscream had been alone with B-127 since the confession he hadn’t felt unsafe or at any risk. In fact, he’d never truly felt any danger when it came to B-127, and maybe that was a problem in itself. He felt inexplicably drawn to B-127’s presence in a way that hadn’t happened before with anyone else; he had felt that for much longer than he should’ve. Starscream was growing too soft it seemed.

“You’re brooding again.”

Thundercracker appeared at the very edge of Starscream’s vision like a spector, a knowing smile plastered on his faceplates.

“I am not!” Starscream shot back instantly. “You would know if I truly was brooding, but I don’t like it when you look at me like that. What are you up to?” Starscream glowered at Thundercracker, which only proved to widen his grin.

“Nothing you need to be concerned about. Oh! Did you hear about the fight D-16 and Orion got into? Very juicy stuff…” Thundercracker trailed off, tilting his helm to the side.

“Whatever you’re playing at I want no part in and leave me out of your gossip. Isn’t that B-127’s job to get an audial full of your gossiping nonsense?”

Thundercracker clasped his servos together, mock pouting as he spoke. “I haven’t had the time when he’s always with you. We both know you don’t share very well.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about!” Starscream spluttered, his expression shifting to further annoyance in a feeble attempt to distract from his rapidly heating faceplates.

“Sure, sure. Just keep telling yourself that.” And just as quickly as he appeared, Thundercracker walked off, happily humming something to himself.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

There wasn’t much B-127 could do to tamp down the rising paranoia creeping into the edges of his processor, fraying his resolve. Sentinel wasn’t done with him, that much was certain. Whatever safeguards Sentinel had put in place, the tracking device was only just the beginning. The itch that engulfed his frame was becoming commonplace, never quite going away completely. It was spark deep and ever persistent– the sensation was always just enough in the forefront of his processor to be a hindrance. 

Sentinel Prime himself was looming over B-127’s frame like a distorted shadow and there was nothing he could do to rid himself of the lurking dread of being found once more. Because it wasn’t just a fear, it was an inevitability and B-127 was simply biding his time before he was sought out to be destroyed.

B-127 could feel it. Feel him forever reaching and grabbing for B-127, vying for control over the blade that B-127 had been shaped into. Whatever B-127 was, Sentinel had made him that way and that was good enough a reason to claim the assassin as the Prime’s personal blade– an extension of his will as Prime not a bot with his own agency and feelings. He had never been a bot in Sentinel’s view. With Sentinel, there was no hope of freedom, as was becoming increasingly clear– just a life of obeying the Prime’s orders like the good pet B-127 had always been. Like he no longer wanted to be.

Unadulterated hatred flooded B-127’s lines and it burned like acid– white hot and terrible from the inside out as he thought further on just what he was to the Prime. He was never going to be free, not truly, not in a way that mattered or in a way he could touch and feel. Not if Sentinel could help it. This would only ever end with one of them dead and B-127 wasn’t eager to be the one greyed out at the other’s pedes. It was Sentinel who deserved to die more than any other mech B-127 had ever personally assassinated by the Prime’s own decree.

So many had died at B-127’s pedes because Sentinel wanted it done. There was no regret for what he’d done, not really. He’d done it to survive and maybe one day it would’ve let him live if Sentinel was a mech of his word, but he wasn’t and B-127 was stained with no chance of ever scrubbing himself clean. But maybe that was okay so long as Sentinel was added to his kill count.

He longed to watch energon stream down Sentinel’s frame in glistening rivulets, hear him beg for mercy that would never be granted, watch him collapse from the energon loss and the pain. B-127 wanted to be the one in control for once. He wanted to make Sentinel Prime pay with pain and in his death– that was the only way B-127 knew he would ever be satisfied.

 ⟡ ⟡ ⟡

It was not the first time B-127 found himself seeking out Starscream with no particular reasoning behind the urge, only that he felt drawn to the seeker’s presence. He could even accept that it would not be the last time he would walk through the maze of tunnels, peeking into rooms looking for that familiar frame. But what he wouldn’t do is try to figure out why , why he was drawn to Starscream, why he had challenged his entire worldview just to try and fit the seeker inside his life. He didn’t think he was ready to handle whatever revelations would be uncovered if he decided to traverse that particular thought tree.

For now at least, B-127 would stay within the scope of known truths. Being around Starscream felt safe and was enjoyable, and that’s all he really needed to know right now. Maybe eventually he would feel brave enough to delve into the why.

He found Starscream in a secluded corner of the mess hall, obviously zoning out as Skywarp and Thundercracker bickered. 

Thundercracker perked up at the sight of B-127 and waved him over. He hadn’t spoken in depth to either Skywarp or Thundercracker since his talk with Starscream, but there was a near certainty they’d been informed of B-127’s past and near betrayals. What they may think of him now was not something he was looking forward to uncovering.

“Oh Bee, good. I was gonna look for you, there’s something I wanted to have you show me. Meet me in the training area for a spar, I’m curious to see just how much you’ve been holding back from me.” Thundercracker smiled, shoving away Skywarp’s servo as he tried to covertly nudge the blue seeker.

B-127 felt his spark drop to his pedes, not only from the implications of his words but the… nickname? That was several steps away from the strangeness he had grown used to with the High Guard. Was this a test to see where his loyalties lie? Or did it simply mean he was a familiar presence now? He nervously glanced at Starscream who was now watching him with a keen interest.

“Yeah, okay. I guess I owe you that much.” It felt wrong to admit to any capacity that he was capable of more than what he’d shown them, what he’d told them in place of the truth. There were so many lies that now amounted to nothing more than relationships built on a faulty foundation. B-127 hadn’t been abandoned yet, but could he live up to whatever new perception the High Guard had of him?

Thundercracker shook his helm, “It’s not about that– not anymore. I just want to see what you’re actually capable of. Without self imposed restrictions and tales of being a maintenance bot. Whatever Starscream’s decided, the rest of us will follow. I just want to know why he’s decided what he has.”

“Whatever happened to trusting my word?” Starscream scoffed lightly, rolling his optics. “But I’d like to watch this spar, I am curious what all you’ve been hiding from us… B-127.”

There was something about the way Starscream said his designation. The way it rolled off the seeker’s glossa, like the designation itself, was a challenge Starscream was waiting to take him up on. It made B-127 want to hear his designation come from Starscream’s intake more often.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

An odd sort of lightness filled B-127 as he stood in the center of the new training grounds. He felt free, finally the weight of everything he’d been holding back from the High Guard, from Starscream, had been lifted from his shoulders and he was freer than he’d ever felt before.

Thundercracker stepped into the ring, flexing his wings with a grin. “You ready for this?”

“Whenever you are,” B-127 gave Thundercracker a nod and began a slow circle around the ring, carefully watching the seeker. He took a step forward as Thundercracker ran at B-127, aiming a punch at his helm. B-127 deflected the punch and ducked down, directing all his weight at Thundercracker’s midsection. The momentum carried both of them to the ground, Thundercracker threw B-127 off and quickly got to his pedes just in time to dodge B-127’s kick.

Whatever anxiety B-127 had about no longer being accepted melted off with every hit Thundercracker aimed at him and every hit of his own that landed. He couldn’t help the slight smile that betrayed his focused expression, it just felt good to have somewhere to belong and to feel like that meant something.

Thundercracker grunted as he took a punch, smiling back at B-127 before trying to sweep the yellow mech off his pedes. “Where’ve you been hiding all this from me?” He jumped back to avoid B-127 countering the attack, growing a little more desperate in his movements. “Showing up to the train only to find you’d handled it makes a lot more sense now.”

“Less chatter more defending, Thundercracker! You’re getting your aft beat!” Starscream goaded, the amusement clear in his words.

The seeker was on the defensive now, rolling with his wings tucked to try and get behind B-127. He let Thundercracker do just that, waiting with his back to the seeker right up until the moment before he was tackled to the ground where he spun and used Thundercracker’s weight against him, bringing him toppling to the ground. B-127 pressed his servo in between the seeker’s neck plating in place of using a blade.

“Yield! I yield.”

B-127 removed himself from Thundercracker and offered him a servo to help him up. “Well?”

“That was fun, makes me glad you’re on our side.” Thundercracker flashed his denta as he took B-127’s servo. “I might just have to promote you to helping train the miners, I don’t think you’ve ever needed my advice.”

“That might be a good idea, they could use someone without wings to help. It could give you something to do as well,” Starscream said, stepping into the center. It was difficult to read his expression, but something seemed like it might be bothering him. “I’ll see you two later but good work to you both.”

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Starscream quickly made his way out of the caves, his entire frame itched with the urge to fly but he still hadn’t been cleared to do so and wasn’t about to make a fool of himself again so soon. He also wasn’t eager to face his trinemates’ ire if he were to go and get himself injured again over something trivial. But he could walk perfectly fine now and no one could deny him a walk outside at this point in his healing.

He just needed space away. Away from B-127 specifically because that damned bug was showing up in his thoughts more often than anyone had a right to be thought about. Watching B-127 spar with Thundercracker had done something to him. Since the start of the spar, Starscream had been wholly unable to look away. In a strange way it reminded him of the attack on the train, most had been a blur but he had been conscious enough to see the aftermath of B-127’s precise violence. How their attackers had laid in shredded pieces at B-127’s pedes after he was finished with them. Starscream’s spark betrayed him, pulsing strangely as pictured B-127 with his frame drenched in a foe’s energon. How peculiar to put a focus on that.

He felt too hot, his fans kicking up a notch. It was a good thing that B-127 proved to be a highly capable fighter and it certainly made the near assassination attempts feel more real. Being told B-127 had been close to killing Starscream on multiple occasions was one thing, but truly seeing his would-be assassin fight without needing to hide his physical prowess was another thing entirely. Watching B-127 in action without restraints should’ve made Starscream more wary of what he was capable of, but all he could truly think about was just how gravitated he was to that infuriating bug.

It would be easier to claim that B-127 had just impressed Starscream and that was the reason he couldn’t get him out of his head. At least that would make sense. He knew that wasn’t it, and maybe he was choosing to not think about what B-127 meant to him, but could he be blamed for not wanting to confront whatever he might find in doing so? He didn’t think so.

Whatever he felt in regards to B-127 could wait, maybe forever if Starscream got lucky. He just didn’t want to think about it right now. It was better that way.

Chapter Text

Solar cycles kept passing without incident and still B-127 felt like he was waiting at a precipice for it all to come crumbling down around him. Yet here he was, working side by side with Thundercracker in training the miners.

He watched D-16 and Orion spar, keeping track of their movements to help give them tips to improve. Pretending to learn how to fight had stirred up far fewer memories of his initial training to become an assassin than assisting Thundercracker in training seemed to be doing. It had been with relentless brutality and no other option because not learning how to fight would end in his death that B-127 had learned how to fight, how to kill. There had been no constructiveness— it was do it well or suffer the consequences of failure.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"Get up!" Darkwing growled, jamming the tip of his training spear into the back of B-127's helm.

The taste of his own energon welled in B-127's intake, the inner mesh splitting from the impact of the spear. His limbs felt too heavy to move after the joors of relentless training, he would be running on fumes soon but he knew Darkwing wouldn't let him rest yet.

"Get up, I won't tell you again."

Another rough prod to B-127's helm and he forced himself up, dismissing the numerous warnings about damage to his struts if he kept going. There was no choice, he would keep training because Sentinel told him he must. Because Sentinel Prime had given him a chance at a better life he knew he didn't deserve and there was no way he was going to squander it even if that meant visiting the medbay a little more frequently. At least he had the ability to visit a medbay now. Sentinel was being incredibly generous and B-127 would do anything to stay on the Prime's good side.

His legs wobbled, struts creaking in protest as he lowered himself into a defensive stance and Darkwing came after him once more. Again and again and again. Hit, block, dodge, repeat— over and over and over.

It always came to a point where B-127 was badly dented and his joints creaked when he moved from repeated strain and overuse and only then, when he could barely stand on his own accord, that Darkwing ended their training and allowed him to visit the medbay.

The pain was a reasonable price to pay for a freedom he never would've been afforded otherwise. He just needed to keep reminding himself of that fact.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Everything was quiet so deep in the recharge cycle, the passageways and common areas empty save for the few bots on patrol near the entrance to the cave and the surrounding area. The stillness brought a comfort that B-127 felt himself lacking elsewhere. Helping train the miners had given him some distraction from his own mind but Sentinel Prime still loomed over him in all aspects of his functioning.

B-127 trailed a servo over the cave walls as he made his way outside to watch the stars. Hopefully the vast expanse of the sky above would help calm him down, provide him with a clarity he desperately needed. There was an overhang looking down on the stretch of land that B-127 had found himself going to when he needed to clear his processor. It was so different from the ruins the High Guard had inhabited before but even this part of the surface was so beautiful.

His HUD blinked with an incoming comm message, opening on its own before B-127 had a chance to read who the sender was.

[We need to have a little chat.[]

Ice flooded B-127's lines as he stared at the message and the coordinates attached to the comm. Sentinel was demanding to see him. He knew that there would be no getting out of this, that he would have to show up to meet Sentinel or risk endangering every single member of the High Guard.

Not once in B-127's entire time as an assassin had Sentinel ever commed him personally, especially not during a job. Communication on a job was done through middlemen or not at all— and usually it was the latter. For Sentinel to not only to contact him but comm him directly was a warning in itself. There would be no more grace periods, no more leniency. Sentinel wanted the job done and up until very recently, B-127 would've been bending over backwards to succeed in just that. But he was no longer willing to be Sentinel Prime's blade and he refused to bend to the Prime's will any more.

He cycled his vents in an attempt to steady himself and sent a low priority comm to Thundercracker saying that he was heading away from base for a little bit to attend to some business. Hopefully the comm wouldn't drag Thundercracker out of recharge and B-127 would already be back before he could even read the message, it was just a small precaution in case he wasn't back before everyone was up.

Weariness clung to his frame like a heavy fog but he pressed onward, he had a Prime to meet.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Sentinel Prime leaned against a crumbling pillar in the center of a ruined building's atrium, straightening with a twisted smile as he noticed B-127's approach. "I'm so glad you could make it to chat with me. You're stretching this timeline quite far, don't you think?"

"I'm still waiting for a clean shot. I can't risk the entire High Guard coming after me if I strike at a bad time. I might be good at my job but I'm still only one bot. I can't take on the entire High Guard at once." B-127's entire frame tensed, struts becoming too rigid to move from where he stood. He just had to stall and buy some more time, keep Sentinel off any suspicion until he could figure out what to do to keep Starscream alive. He would not fail now.

The Prime nodded, humming in agreement. "Yes, of course. There is however one small issue I've come here to address. I'm sure you're aware of it, yes?"

Frozen in place, B-127 could only watch as Sentinel sauntered up to where he stood. There was a detached hunger in his optics as he looked B-127 up and down.

He leaned in close enough for B-127 to feel the Prime's soft vents brushing against his own frame. In a low voice, sharp enough to cut through vital cables, Sentinel spoke into B-127's audial, "You've become such a disappointment. First, it was delaying the inevitable, now you've tampered with what's mine. Don't think I didn't notice. I know what you've done. I will say it was quite the surprise to get a ping alerting me my prize was offline. Only to find out you're perfectly fine and you were just playing with things not meant for you."

Even with multiple manual overrides to his vocalizer and more than one forced reset, B-127 remained speechless, unable to defend himself against Sentinel's sudden vitriol. The tracker— Sentinel knew. It was foolish to have thought there would be no consequences but B-127 had been so relieved to be rid of it at the time he hadn't expected anything else to come of it.

"I made you from nothing and this is the thanks I receive?" Sentinel towered over B-127, his frame seeming to grow and grow until he blotted out the dim moonlight above. He raised his servo and hit B-127 across the cheek hard enough for the clang of metal on metal to ring across the crumbled ruins they stood in. There was nothing for B-127 to do, his frame refused to respond to any of his prompts and commands and desperate pleas, forced by his traitorous frame to remain completely inert.

Sentinel hit B-127 again, harder— he stumbled back, just barely managing to stay upright. The pain barely registered and B-127 felt himself fall to the ground from another blow to the helm but none of it felt real. He was not here and Sentinel was just a figure in his processor, just a torrent of overwhelming thoughts and emotions manifesting into a familiar specter eager to haunt his every move.

Something hot and sticky bubbled up from B-127's abdomen and only distantly did he recognize a blade in Sentinel's clenched servo dripping with something pink. His vision blurred, the sticky feeling coating his plating and seeping in between his cables and seams.

"You were the perfect weapon, enacting my will so beautifully. We made such a good team. What happened, B-127, to change that? You tried to reach for heights far above your standing, and now you'll learn what it's like to fall." A wet squish and at last pain bloomed from below B-127's spark chamber, traveling up and down and out until every fraction of his frame was in pain and he was nothing but the pain he felt. He twitched weakly, futility, nothing came of the movement— he was stuck in place. Having all the combat training in the world had made no difference when faced with Sentinel Prime. It never would make a difference.

Sentinel's pede connected with his helm, the crunch of plating echoing in B-127's audials until even the sound of Sentinel's cold laughter seemed distant and muted. The impact had cracked one of his optics, the visual feed from it going haywire until it cut completely. The critical warnings flashed more frantically in the corner of his HUD in a desperate plea for him to fight back, get away, do anything but lie frozen on the ground.

"You were nothing until I made something of you, it would've done you well to have remembered that. A true shame really. Farewell, B-127."

The blade sank back into B-127's protomesh, piercing both his fuel pump and puncturing the casing of his spark chamber. His spark stuttered in protest at the intrusion and another barrage of warnings flooded B-127's HUD. He wouldn't last much longer with the rate energon was pooling underneath his frame.

B-127's optics flickered offline to conserve the remaining power he had left, there was no denying his fate now. He was to die here and it was entirely his own fault.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"He what?" Starscream reset his audials, then reset them again just to be absolutely certain he hadn't misheard Thundercracker. B-127 was just gone, left in the middle of the recharge cycle and even knowing that small amount of information made his spark tumble painfully in its chamber.

"The comm was sent low priority so I didn't even see it until now. I don't think he's gone for good otherwise I doubt he would've commed anyone at all. So then where did he go and why?" Thundercracker frowned, stepping further into Starscream's room.

Starscream chewed at the inside of his intake, worrying the mesh between his derma. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"I don't either. I think the comm sent to me was a precaution not meant to be needed. But no one's seen him since the recharge cycle, and he's yet to return."

The pain in his spark was starting to migrate, it took everything in Starscream to not clutch at his chassis but he resisted the urge and pushed past Thundercracker. It would've been one thing if B-127 left without warning in a clear attempt that his departure was permanent, it would've been a shock but everyone would've gotten over it, they'd all been through worse. Starscream had been through worse. But every alarm bell was going off in his processor, the entire situation felt wrong, off in some way that he couldn't fully articulate. What he did know, was that he was going to find B-127 and demand an explanation.

"Starscream wait—" His trinemate trailed behind him as he stormed through the caves.

"I'm going to find him, stay here. I'll comm if I need back up." He didn't look back to judge Thundercracker's reaction or wait for a reply, transforming and taking off the moment he was outside.

This was the first time he'd attempted to transform with the intention of flight since before his injury. Fortunately, his flight protocols hadn't suffered from the lack of use and after a shaky take off he felt confident in his ability to stay airborne. He turned on every sensor he could think of, just anything to try and locate B-127. The way his mind continued supplying him with countless worst case scenarios about what had happened was not helping his spark steady, it continued with its erratic pulsing that made his entire frame ache. He pushed himself a little faster, ignoring the pain in favor of finding B-127 as soon as possible.

An unstable energon signal pinged as he flew over a stray cluster of rubble, something that once upon a time might have been a group of buildings. He dipped down and the signal pinged again growing a little stronger the closer he got to the ruins. It was probably better to continue in root mode. Next to a fallen pillar was a blur of yellow, stained in enough energon to barely make out the bot's paint job. Starscream's spark dropped to his pedes, twisting painfully all the way down.

In a puddle of energon much too large to be considered healthy, B-127 laid in a crumpled mess completely still. Starscream couldn't help himself, breaking out into a run as he commed his trine to come help.

"No, no, nonono." Starscream felt his vocalizer crackle and pitch strangely but he didn't care, the world shrank down to a pinprick until all that remained was B-127's awkwardly angled, too still frame on the ground.

Several large gashes littered B-127's abdomen, one was far too close to where his spark chamber would be. His helm was partially concave and far too much of B-127's internals were visible. Starscream dug though his subspace, desperately looking for something to patch the wounds or stop the leaking. B-127's plating was already dulling, color slowly leeching from his frame. What wasn't coated in energon was nowhere near the vibrant yellow Starscream had grown accustomed to seeing.

He was still alive— B-127 had to still be alive. Starscream refused to believe anything else. With shaking servos, he applied a nanite patch to the deepest looking wound. A strangled gasp of a groan escaped B-127 and Starscream felt his spark leap.

"Bee—" Starscream could scarcely hear himself speak, his vocalizer didn't want to work. He let himself shatter at the sight of B-127's broken frame. It was never supposed to be like this.

B-127's far too dim optics briefly flickered online before powering off again but the action granted Starscream with a dangerous swell of hope. He wouldn't let B-127 die here, he wouldn't allow it.

"Just hang on a little longer, I'm not letting you die on me." He placed a servo on B-127's pauldron in a placating gesture, more for himself than the barely online bot in front of him.

The telltale thrum of Skywarp's warp drive cut through the heavy silence and at last, Starscream's trine appeared, immediately rushing over.

"Primus, he's still leaking pretty bad, I'll comm Shockwave to be ready for us." Skywarp crouched down next to B-127, giving him a once over before getting ready to lift him up. "I'll come back for you and TC."

"No," Starscream managed to croak out, "take me with you. I— I can't leave him."

Thundercracker shared a look with Skywarp but nodded, nudging Skywarp with his pede. Neither of them said anything but Skywarp looped an arm around Starscream and activated his warp drive, bringing Starscream with him.

The lab was empty, save for Shockwave who was waiting with a soldering iron in his servo and a cart of medical supplies next to him. He didn't ask what happened, said nothing as he helped Skywarp set B-127 down on the medberth and got to tending what he could.

There was nothing Starscream could do but watch as monitors were hooked up to B-127 and sparks flew from the soldering iron. Numbly, he wondered if B-127 had felt a similar way when it had been him in Shockwave's lab for repairs on the brink of death. Skywarp gently grabbed him by the shoulder and tugged him out of the way and he let himself be led out of the lab and towards his room.

"Thundercracker's on his way back, I'll tell him to meet us in here." Skywarp looked like there was something else he wanted to say but was holding back. Starscream barely felt attached to his own frame, let alone probe his trinemate for answers.

His frame went slack, like the strings holding him together had been cut loose as Skywarp pulled him down into his berth. He hated this. He hated how he felt like his spark had been wrenched from his chassis and all that remained was gaping, sparking chasm in the center of his frame.

"He's not allowed to leave— not like this." Starscream mumbled into Skywarp's shoulder, suddenly feeling like he was being crushed by an invisible weight. He didn't even know why he cared so deeply. B-127 wouldn't be the first bot he'd ever lost, not by a long shot. Countless bots under his command had perished in his long tenure as commander. But somehow the potential loss of B-127 cut deeper than he felt it should. Realistically, he should be glad that B-127 could be out of the picture, another threat would be out of the picture and everything could go back to the way it had been before B-127 showed up. But Starscream would rather anything else happen than face a world where B-127 wasn't in it and by his side.

"I checked in with Shockwave, he's weak but slowly stabilizing for now. He lost a lot of energon and his fuel pump will need replaced soon. You found him just in time, hopefully everything will be okay." Thundercracker appeared in the entrance and crawled into berth, hugging Starscream. "We should be able to see him once Shockwave's finished with his repairs."

Every bit of strength had vacated Starscream's frame, he didn't want to get his hopes up because he knew better than any of the High Guard that their resources were scarce and there were dozens of things that could go wrong at any point but the relief he felt was still dizzingly intense. At least B-127 might actually have a chance now.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

He thought that maybe being launched helm first into the Pits would be less painful than how his frame currently felt. Power was still exclusively routed towards vital functions, leaving B-127 devoid of any sensory input other than the pain. He experimentally diverted just enough power to grant him blurred vision, finding the world around him different from how he had left it. Somehow he wasn't still lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere in a puddle of his own energon.

Something touched his servo and B-127 flinched hard, battle protocol gearing up despite his inability to move and the intense aching pain emanating from every part of his frame. His audials came online just as an achingly familiar voice began to speak.

"—you go? Primus, Bee just a couple more groons later and…" The sentence didn't get finished.

The spark pulse monitor beeped a little faster as the nickname and the sound of Starscream's voice registered in B-127's fuzzy, pain-addled processor. His optics traced over the Starscream colored blob to his side. He wasn't intended to survive that encounter with Sentinel, yet somehow he was relatively safe with Starscream sitting by his side and using nicknames for him. Maybe this was an illusion created by the Well of Allsparks. Maybe he did go offline and his greyed out frame was sitting exactly where he'd left it.

The touch moved from his servo a little farther up his arm, the contact too warm and solid to deny that it was real. He willed his servo to move, mercifully it did, chasing the touch that had trailed up his arm.

Starscream scoffed lightly but did return his servo to B-127's, linking their digits together. The physical contact was the only thing keeping him grounded to reality.

Quietly, Starscream asked, "It was Sentinel wasn't it?"

B-127's servo tightened around Starscream's and he managed to rasp out a simple, "Yeah," before his vocalizer crashed and he was forced to reboot it. "He— I had to go. I had no choice. He would've used that as a reason to officially hunt down the High Guard and kill you all."

"I was the one who found you. I saw what he did. You were never meant to survive that."

"I know."

He knew far too well he should've died to Sentinel, he most certainly would've without intervention. Without Starscream's intervention. But he was now more convinced he was truly still alive and that meant Sentinel was bound to find out, maybe not immediately but there would be no keeping B-127's status from him for too long.

Slowly, full power was routed back to B-127's optics but only one of his optics was feeding him visuals.

"I think one of my optics had cracked." Carefully, B-127 touched his left optic, feeling for any physical damage only to find none. The glass was smooth and completely unmarred, like nothing had happened.

"Yes, about that. Shockwave had to give you a replacement optic due to the physical damage it underwent. We didn't have any optic color matches unfortunately I hope your enjoyment of yellow extends to optic color. Unfortunately that means you'll be stuck with multi-colored optics until we can somehow find a replacement that will integrate better."

B-127 ran a command to sync his visual feeds and this time it did work, the world returning to normal focus and granting him the sight of Starscream's digits still laced with his own. His gaze wandered the rest of Starscream, flecks of pink smattered his frame— was that B-127's energon?— and a deeply weary expression etched onto his faceplates.

"You look exhausted."

Starscream scoffed, humming softly, "Yes, I do believe the stress of finding one of my mechs missing, badly damaged and barely hanging on to life does tend to have that effect. It's not like I've had the time to recharge peacefully."

"Why?"

There was a beat of hesitation before Starscream scoffed again, this time a little weaker in delivery. "Why what? Why bother rescuing you? I do believe I just said you're one of my mechs. You're part of the High Guard now, meaning you're under my command and I don't take kindly to one of my own disappearing under concerning circumstances. If someone like Dirge or Acid Storm went missing I would've done the same. Don't start thinking you're uniquely special because I sought you out. You're simply my responsibility now."

It was hard to focus on anything other than the warm buzzy feeling emanating from his spark. He felt unsteady despite the fact he was still lying down. Starscream's servo slid out from B-127's and he immediately missed grounding warmth.

"You should get some recharge, let your nanites get to work. I'm sure Shockwave will be coming back to check on you shortly." Starscream left abruptly, leaving B-127 alone with an aching frame and a too full processor.

Chapter Text

Pain was familiar, an old friend that had been there for it all. It had been there for it all as he built into an assassin— he'd received countless injuries from Darkwing during brutal training sessions; either from a slip-up or the mech's relentless combat style, never once adjusted to where B-127's skill level had been. He had learned to push past the pain, to keep going beyond when his struts wobbled beneath him and his processor was run rampant with an influx of sensory data.

It was because pain had never stopped him before that B-127 shoved Shockwave's reminders about his fresh welds still needing time to integrate with his frame, particularly those closest to his spark chamber, to the back of his processor and left the quiet of the lab. His welds felt too tight and irritated and the steady throb of pain hadn't stopped since coming back online in Shockwave's lab but he needed to be anywhere but lying on a berth being unable to think of anything but Sentinel and the knowledge that there would be no second lucky break for him once the Prime found out he was miraculously still alive. He hadn't died this time but Sentinel wouldn't stop unless he really was dead.

His chronometer read that it was well into the recharge cycle but there was still a small stream of light coming from the training area and the tell-tale clanging of metal against metal from sparring. D-16 rushed at Orion, landing a hit to the side of his knee to unbalance the red and blue mech who teetered backwards but managed to hook his servo under D-16's chassis plating before he fell and brought them both crashing to the ground. He laughed, dodging a cuff to the helm and shoved D-16 off from on top of him when he saw Elita-1 motioning with her helm to where B-127 observing from the entrance.

"B-127!" Orion faltered as he approached with Elita. "Should you be walking around yet? Your welds still look pretty delicate."

B-127 lightly grazed his welds with his servo, flinching from their soreness. "I should be fine, I'll be careful. What about you? Couldn't wait for training?"

Orion looked back towards D-16, "We kinda heard what happened. I mean, it's just good to be prepared. Especially now."

"It was Orion's idea but we wanted to train more too. Not that training is enough on its own, not against Sentinel anyway." Elita had her arms crossed against her chassis but she smiled softly at B-127 as she talked.

He knew everyone would eventually find out about the attack, B-127 had been badly damaged and word travels fast when it comes to anything related to Sentinel. However, that did nothing to stop the wave of panic that followed Orion's words.

"I don't really know why Sentinel was after you, but it doesn't matter. Why he went after you isn't the most important part of this. He's been past the point of going too far for a long time now." Orion shook his helm with a frown.

"But you do deserve to know the 'why' as well—" B-127 collected himself, surely this wouldn't go as well as it had with Starscream but they deserved the truth from him. It was the least he could do. "Up until very recently I was working for Sentinel as an assassin. When I finally chose to fight back he very nearly offlined me for my insubordination, killing me was clearly his intention even if I still live now. I don't expect forgiveness but you deserved the truth from me, take it as you will."

B-127 watched as D-16's optics darkened, his faceplates shifting ever so slightly before he stormed past him and into the passageways.

Orion hesitated, looking between where D-16 had gone and where B-127 stood, "Ah, I'm sorry— for what it's worth, I'm glad you're on our side now. I should— I'm gonna go talk to him."

"I should probably be around to clean up after those idiots but I'll see you around." Elita sighed, leaving B-127 alone once more.

It was hard to tell how that had gone, maybe the shock would grow into resentment, maybe not. Regardless, it was out of B-127's servos now. Any restlessness he'd been feeling before was overcome by spark-deep fatigue, a weariness that wasn't fully brought on by overworked nanites and self-repair protocols alone.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"I want an increase of patrol rotations, we can't risk Sentinel getting close to finding us again. Whether he thinks B-127 is offline or not, I'm sure he's just itching to finally get rid of us. We need to eliminate any potential weak spots, we cannot allow him an advantage." Starscream flipped through the map Soundwave had provided, hoping to find something they could use to their advantage.

"Does this mean you're preparing to strike back?" Skywarp asked.

"Sentinel has forced our play. B-127's execution— putting aside that it was unsuccessful— was as much as a message to the High Guard as it was to B-127 himself. We shouldn't strike back yet, but we will eventually. We have to." Starscream pressed his digits into his protomesh hard enough to feel the brightness of pain as it curled around his vision until a servo on his shoulder urged him to stop.

Thundercracker stood behind him, gently squeezing his shoulder until Starscream withdrew his own servo and clenched the table instead. It was difficult to not see Sentinel's attack as personal and that only further stoked the rage burning inside his chassis. While B-127 played a large part in why it felt personal— it was still hard to accept that yes, Starscream did care a great deal about the former assassin— but a threat against one of his High Guard was a threat against them all and that was something Starscream would not stand for.

"I know we're all raring for a fight but we should still play this smart, there are much fewer of us when we could potentially be up against all of Iacon. We still need to push back but we can't afford any mistakes. Hitting the energon trains more should be a good start. But what comes after that…" Thundercracker trailed off, removing his servo from Starscream's shoulder.

"What comes after that will hopefully be a better life for us all. We were driven out by a megalomaniacal Prime killer and I for one don't want to let him keep getting away with all this slag." Skywarp grumbled, slamming his servo on the table.

"We never wanted to let him get away with anything, but we've been beaten down with very few resources available while we lick our wounds. It's gone on for long enough. We'll be careful but Sentinel will pay. I'll make sure of that." Starscream said. He knew his High Guard and he knew that Sentinel would fall one way or another.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"Your welds are looking good. Any issues with vision?" Shockwave asked.

"Occasional latency issues but a recalibration clears it up." B-127 leaned back, wincing from the fresh welds. It still hurt to move around and he was growing increasingly agitated with the restrictions on movement.

"That should become less frequent the longer you have the new optic installed. Everything else is running smoothly?"

"Processing fuel is a little painful but no reported leaks, just a stabbing sensation when my fuel pump starts running."

Shockwave nodded. "There might be an over responsive nerve cluster near your fuel pump. I can upload a patch to override the sensitivity to make it less painful until we can get the repair to integrate fully. Open your medport so I can give you the patch."

B-127 shifted his wrist's port cover out of the way, offering up his wrist to Shockwave. Access to even the most basic repairs still felt like a luxury he shouldn't be afforded having spent most of his functioning relying on his self-repair systems and the meager first aid skills he'd taught himself.

"The patch should go into effect right away but come back if the pain is still an issue."

He nodded, dismissing the patch alert as he hopped off the berth. Thundercracker had mentioned he was going to have the miners participate in scouting missions and patrols now that they were increasing security measures, something that was hard not to feel guilty about despite it being necessary for multiple reasons. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as walked down the halls past mechs who he knew were looking at him differently since the attack but he found he couldn't care about that.

The blade pulled back, energon gushing out of the wound with a wet squish and the pain overtook all higher thought processes. There was only pain and panic and the knowledge that Sentinel would get the last word in and B-127 would die at the end of a blade just as he'd done to others countless times.

"Bee?"

B-127 looked up from his servos, the nickname snapping him out his thoughts, the pain and the feeling of stickied plating from energon faded to a dull hum in the back of his processor as he met Starscream's concerned optics with his own.

"Are you alright?" The concern had traveled beyond Starscream's optics, to the small frown he wore and the way he held himself; wing flaps flicking back and forth in a quick, thoughtful rhythm with his frame drawn tight like he was anticipating to spring into action.

"I'm… fine. Just got caught up in my thoughts." B-127 looked away from Starscream, trying to avoid the way the seeker's gaze sharpened like he was trying to assess the words for their underlying meaning. He wasn't even sure what Starscream might find.

Starscream hummed, "Walk with me?"

It was a simple request, one that B-127 was more than happy to oblige with. They went deeper into the cave system, past the places the High Guard had populated. It was easy to get lost in the stretches of networking tunnels but B-127 recognized where they were going long before he saw the shimmering light spill out from a fissure. Starscream had taken him back to the crystals.

Iridescent light reflected off both their frames as they entered, the blue and purple lights of the crystals danced along Starscream's frame and it was hard to look away, B-127 stood entranced by the bot in front of him.

"I haven't told anyone else of this place. I wanted to be selfish and keep it between just us." Starscream said softly, running a digit along the edge of a large cluster of violet crystals.

"It's easier to enjoy them this time around. But I never did get to properly thank you, so thank you. I would've died without you showing up." Heat creeped across B-127's plating as he spoke, the vulnerability felt foreign but not entirely unwelcome— not here with Starscream at least.

Starscream smiled and the crystals behind him pulsed a little faster. "Now we're even."

"So we are."

"Before Sentinel stole the Matrix we fought a lot. Our ideals differed so much I guess it was only a matter of time before he did what he did. He was never truly part of the High Guard despite working with us often and I think that got to him. I wished I killed before any of this happened, before he found you, before he killed the Primes. So much would be different if only he were dead." Starscream let out a heavy sigh, "I know there's much about your past relationship with Sentinel I don't know and maybe I never will, but you deserve more than he gave you."

There was a lot that Starscream didn't know both about B-127 himself and his dealings with Sentinel. He'd never been close enough to anyone to feel like he could entrust himself with another person but he found himself wanting to trust Starscream like that. He wanted to offer himself to Starscream more than anything, so much so it scared him.

"Would you want to know?" B-127 asked hesitantly. Anything Starscream wanted of him, he would give it.

Starscream nodded, the expression he gave B-127 was enough to crumble any remaining hesitations the yellow mech had over telling Starscream about his past.

"I came online with a cog but I was forged with faulty mechanisms, I was never able to transform or gain an alt mode. Because of that I spent my first few cycles online living off what I could find but cog repairs would've forever been out of reach on my own. Somehow that led Sentinel to me, he proposed I work for him, kill for him and return I could earn my way to access to the best medical care in Iacon for my cog. That was dangled over me as I was melded into an assassin, training was… brutal. It didn't end until I bested Darkwing or I was carted off for repairs. I didn't see much of Sentinel during that time, he came around occasionally to remind me of what I was working towards.

"Everything he told me I believed, he'd never given me reason to doubt him and here he was, this great Prime showing such kindness to a bot that came online faulty. I didn't feel like I deserved his supposed kindness. Only very recently did I really understand what he was doing, just how he was using me. I don't think he was ever planning on letting me get my cog repaired. I was more useful to him broken." B-127 scoffed, bitterness clawing at his chassis. He'd been nothing more than a tool for Sentinel and he despised that he had looked at the Prime during that and thought of him as a savior. He looked at Starscream, searching for… something. He wasn't sure how he wanted him to react, there had never been anyone to voice these new thoughts and feelings. The newness of everything was overwhelming.

Starscream stayed silent. His plating had flared out at some point and his anger was reflected by the rapid pulsing of the crystals surrounding them.

"I've killed so many mechs for him thinking it was the path to my own freedom. Death stains my servos and I'll never be able to scrub that away. I was good at what I did, I even enjoyed it to a certain extent. Now I look back and it makes me sick knowing the bots who died by my blades probably didn't deserve it. What if that makes me a monster too?" B-127 felt himself shaking, he hated this, hated feeling like he'd never really been in control and only realized that fact recently.

"Don't you dare." Starscream hissed, his plating snapping tight to his frame. "You said you killed out of necessity, because you felt you had no choice. Sentinel made the call on who you killed and only gave you the illusion of choice. If you weren't doing his bidding to try and earn a functional cog he would've found something else to get you to kill for him. If it had been completely your choice, would you have killed the same mechs?"

"No."

"Then that settles it. The situation you were thrust into was complex but you don't deserve to blame yourself for it. You've made your own choices and that's what counts the most."

The shaking had only grown more intense and B-127 clutched his arms to try and calm himself. His optics burned from the coolant threatening to spill. He watched Starscream step closer little by little until they were almost touching, the space between them was still, like even the air was asking for permission.

"I won't claim to understand how you feel but I want to help. If you want it." Starscream's optics softened.

That was more than enough to break him, the emotions were too much to keep to himself and everything bubbled violently to the surface. B-127 felt the first tears track down his face and let himself fall into Starscream as the anger and pain ran their course. He wanted to tear Sentinel limb from limb until he was nothing but a pile of parts and even that wouldn't be enough to satisfy the rage. His shoulders shook as he cried and Starscream held on just a little tighter. It felt nice to be held like this, even through the anger. The weight of someone's frame against his own was comforting, the sensation of Starscream's soft venting against his plating was enough to keep him in his frame.

Starscream didn't say anything as B-127 drained his systems of its coolant, crying until he felt too exhausted to even move. He buried his helm into Starscream's shoulder as the seeker ran a servo against his plating.

"We should find some coolant for you." Starscream said as B-127 finally pulled himself away. The crystals had also calmed, their pulses much slower and steadier than they had been before.

B-127 wiped the remaining tears from his face and nodded. "I'm sorry, thank you."

"There's nothing to apologize for. Come on." Starscream nodded his helm towards the fissure and led B-127 back the way they came.

Chapter Text

Starscream's mind kept going back to their second time in the crystal cave— back to B-127 in particular. It seemed he was unable to think of much else. Replaying the memory in his mind over and over until he knew exactly what happened every klik they had been in there. There were things to do— patrol routes to map out, energon and supplies to allocate. He shouldn't be thinking about B-127 at all but he was. Very much so.

He scowled as he walked to go find Skywarp and Thundercracker, more out of frustration that he was unable to control his thoughts than anything else. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy spending time with B-127, he did, perhaps a little too much but it was still enjoyable despite that. But maybe it was just the level of vulnerability the former assassin had shown him that had gotten his processor tripping over itself to replay the interaction over and over again. It shouldn't mean anything but at the same time it felt as though B-127 baring his very spark to Starscream would've been less of a show of vulnerability.

It felt even more special knowing just how little of himself B-127 had shared up until that point. Everything Starscream knew about the mech pointed to someone who trusted few and was vulnerable to even fewer, much like himself but perhaps to a stronger degree in certain ways. It was something he understood very well, the less people you exposed yourself to, the fewer points of weakness you had. So of course, someone who had been forcibly molded into an assassin knew the importance of limiting weaknesses very well, something that he had likely exploited to go after his targets as well.

Even that didn't feel like the threat it should be. Really, it just compelled Starscream more. He wanted to learn more about B-127, he wanted him to trust him. Starscream already trusted B-127 more than was likely rational for who they both were and what had already played out between them. But he'd already long since thrown out rationality when it came to anything to do with B-127.

Thundercracker smirked at Starscream as he entered the small cave offshoot serving as their armory.

"What are you looking at?" Starscream couldn't help but be annoyed. His stupid trinemate had been acting weird ever since Sentinel's attack on B-127.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all." The idiot shook his helm, still smirking. "We were going over the plan right?"

"Hotlink and Slipstream reported sighting Airachnid and two members of Sentinel's guard in the canyons. They're planning something." Skywarp sighed, leaning on a crate.

"We don't have the resources for an outright assault, if they're planning something we'll just have to wait and see. There's nothing we can do to stop them with what we're working with. The plan will have to wait until we can gather enough energon. Make sure everyone understands to not engage unless they do, we can't risk any losses." Starscream felt the agitation brought on by inaction as much as everyone else but they couldn't do anything right now. It was infuriating.

"Okay, so forget any plans for and now what? Wait for Sentinel to find and kill us?" Skywarp asked, he was just as restless as Starscream felt.

"Yes, but we don't let him kill us."

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"Let me go out on the next patrol."

Thundercracker pressed his derma into a thin line, pausing his work sorting supplies. "It's not that I don't trust your skill, you're clearly capable of handling yourself. But think Bee, as far as we can tell Sentinel doesn't know you're still online. That's an advantage to us and I'd prefer we keep it that way. We'll stick to patrols in small numbers and keep you out of sight. Besides, you're still healing."

It was a perfectly rational response and B-127 understood perfectly that Thundercracker was entirely correct and that he should stay out of Sentinel's sights for as long as they could maintain such a feat. But B-127 felt a simmering beneath his plating that yearned for spilled energon and the sensation of his blades sinking into protomesh that staying on the sidelines could not sate. He would rather tear himself apart than have to deal with the overwhelming craving for violence without an outlet for much longer.

Just then was the first time that B-127 questioned just where that urge came from. Had he always been so prone to violence? Was there ever a time when B-127 could look at a mech and his first thought was not how he could best eliminate them in that exact moment if or when necessary? Had there once been a time when he considered the spray of another mech's energon covering his frame a thing of disgust and a tragedy instead of instilling a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction within him? B-127 wasn't sure there was an answer to his questions, he wasn't even sure if he ever wanted to find it.

"I understand." The words fell heavy from B-127's intake even if he truly did understand. He'd never had to hold himself back like this— it wasn't enjoyable.

"It must be weird, huh? Having to stay back from the action like this." Thundercracker's optics flicked up to meet B-127's.

B-127 shifted on his pedes, the question felt more strange than it should but he had no reason to lie to Thundercracker— not anymore at least. "A little. I don't like feeling useless when I'm part of the reason we're in this mess."

For some reason that made Thundercracker laugh softly. "Yeah, maybe, but it's not like we had a stellar reputation with Sentinel to begin with. He did want you to kill my trinemate and leader."

"But I didn't do it." B-127 said a little too harshly, a little too fast; he regretted his tone as soon as the words came out.

"Right," Thundercracker immediately agreed, "which is why I still trust you. You're a friend and comrade, as you have been for quite some time. What I mean is: you're with us in spite of Sentinel and I'd like to use that to our advantage. When the time is right we can use your skills, but keep resting for now, okay?"

B-127 nodded. After everything he'd done, he refused to let himself be a burden. He would repay the High Guard for everything.

"D-16 will be joining Skywarp on the next patrol. The miners all asked to be placed on patrols after you came back. I think it'll be good to have grounders going out as well. You might go find them, I heard Orion and D-16 got in another argument and as much as it's entertaining for me, letting D-16 go while he's in a sour mood isn't ideal."

B-127 cringed slightly as he recalled D-16 refusing to speak to him after he learned the truth. "I can't guarantee I'll be wanted company but I'll at least try."

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

"Dee just listen to me." Orion begged, his voice pitched high from strain.

"No! No, you don't get to tell me that! Not anymore." D-16 stormed past B-127 in the entryway, calling out over his shoulder, "I'm done with this conversation, Pax."

Orion slumped into a chair, his shoulders sagging. It seemed like this was a bad time to have picked to check in on D-16.

"I don't even know why I keep trying." Orion confessed, looking up only to acknowledge that B-127 was there. "I'm sorry, were you looking for one of us?"

"It's fine. It can wait," B-127 said.

It didn't seem like a great sign that they were fighting again, most of their arguments B-127 had only experienced as a gossiped retelling from Thundercracker when they refueled together but they always seemed like there was an underlying issue the topic of their arguments never officially broached.

Orion looked frayed around the edges and he kept looking expectantly up at the entrance like he was waiting for D-16 to come back and apologize.

"He's… stressed. We all are. I know." The red and blue mech buried his helm in his servos, giving no other explanation for D-16's behavior. "Will he be alright? On the patrol."

"Skywarp will be with him, it should be fine."

"I know, I just… it's stupid now that I'm trying to say it out loud but we really don't spend that much time apart and I worry about him maybe more than I should. I know we fight and he's with me whenever we're on good terms but I don't want to know what it would be like to be without him." Orion let out a frustrated groan, "Ugh, I'm sorry I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

He was incredibly out of his depth, most of his functioning B-127 had spent alone. The idea of friendships, relationships beyond cold professionalism at all were still novel to him but he did feel bad for Orion, it must be hard for him.

"I'm sure you'll eventually be able to go out on patrol together but right now it's just better to have a flier out there too," B-127 tried, unsure if that was really even what Orion wanted to hear. He was having issues thinking, his too processor overwhelmed by the things happening within to bother trying to sort out someone else's feelings.

For some reason he'd grown acutely aware of an indescribable wrongness creeping in the back of his helm, tucked away beneath circuit boards and delicate inner workings, something was wrong about what he felt but what that was— he was entirely unsure.

Orion shrank back into himself, either mollified or too self-conscious to continue. "Right, sorry. He's a skilled bot, I know he'll be okay. I just can't help but worry." He retreated into the hallway without another word.

Tendrils of unease curled around B-127's spark, burrowing in deep. Just what was wrong with him?

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

Unease had turned to continuous paranoia, dread had morphed into something suffocating. The constant urge to rip and tear at his own plating just to free himself of sensation, to disassemble himself so entirely, to his barest of parts and even beyond that so B-127 could be free of whatever plagued him.

There was a sense of surety in the dread and paranoia as if it was fate he felt like this. The sense that no matter what, he would always eventually feel like this. Like knowing that Sentinel would find him and make him pay long before he'd tried to kill him.

The air on the surface was still in the early light as B-127 sat to watch the sun rise. He was in need of a proper, long defrag but he'd found his newfound onslaught of dread prevented him from entering recharge for more than a few groons. He would always rouse with his battle protocol activated on high alert and the wrongness back in full force with a vengeance. It had come to a point where it was easier to stay fully online until his systems crashed and he was forced to enter a brief recharge just to reboot.

He dug his digits into a gap on his thigh, pressing the blunt tips of his digits into sensitive protomesh with the sole intent to feel pain. He let the pain mask the dread. Just for a little bit.

But the moment he let the pain subside into a dull hum in his sensornet, the dread came back. He was only granted a very fleeting reprieve that only made him activate his pain receptors once more. The sun rose higher in the sky as B-127 continued to seek out any momentary relief he could.

"There you are." Starscream appeared from behind, startling B-127 out his thoughts as he let the pain ebb away, pulling his servo away from his frame.

B-127 didn't reply, he felt unable to. He suddenly wished his digits were sharp enough to draw energon on their own. Maybe the sight of his own energon beading up on his plating would be enough to shock him out of whatever this was.

He watched Starscream carefully, tracing the lines of his frame and the sharp angles of his wings. Starscream was watching him as well. He wasn't sure what Starscream saw but it was enough to pull his derma into a slight frown.

"Something's wrong," Starscream said, somewhere between a question and an observation of fact. B-127 wasn't sure what to feel about that.

He relented, allowing Starscream a small nod because, damn, it was growing hard to hide anything from the seeker. He wasn't even that upset with the revelation. But he also didn't want to become a weak point for Starscream with whatever feelings, sensations, processor limiting nonsense he was dealing with.

"I'll be fine," B-127 eventually allowed. Whether or not that was even remotely true wasn't something he was privy to right now. He wished it was.

A pit of rot had made a home out of B-127's tanks and he would rather be torn apart piece by piece where he sat then to allow the overwhelming paranoia to continue to fester. He needed out of his own mind and preferably before he lost himself to whatever this was.

Starscream looked at him with no small amount of doubt in his optics but didn't say anything further about it to B-127's relief.

"Just— don't be stupid." Starscream said softly, turning his helm away from B-127 sharply and something about that action made the rot dig in deeper; burrowing in between wires and gears and making a home for itself in more of B-127's frame.

Not a small part of B-127 wanted to rush and say that he wouldn't be stupid, that he'd be careful and keep himself from harm but he didn't. Instead, he stayed silent, letting the two of them sit with the strange feelings that always seemed to mingle in the air when they were together.

Eventually, Starscream spoke again. "Are you worried?"

"About what exactly?"

"Him." Starscream replied, there wasn't a need to speak a name, there was not a single other bot who could pose such a threat in the way he did.

"Always." It felt freeing to admit it out loud, but terrifying. "He tried to kill me and almost succeeded and even him being under the assumption that I'm dead isn't enough to stop me from feeling like he's out there, waiting for me. I believed him, believed in him for so long. It's hard to know what I am without being what he made me any more. Going back to what I once was isn't an option, so what am I?"

"Whatever you want to be I suppose." Starscream hummed, his expression drawn and serious. "It's hard to know what anyone is really, because I don't think it's ever just a single answer. What would you want to be?"

Anything you want me to be, so long as it's by your side.

"I don't know. Just not whatever this is." B-127 wanted to have a better answer, but he hoped at the very least he could find a place within the High Guard, a permanent place. "Maybe I just want to belong."

Starscream hummed in thought, the early light catching his plating so that it sparkled, even as battle-worn and scratched as it was. "Would you ever think of staying here, with the High Guard if it weren't for having to stay in hiding?"

If it's with you? I would go anywhere.

B-127 shook off the thoughts, unsure of their origin and unwilling to delve into them further. In a particularly baffling moment of candor, he responded: "If you would allow me, I'd stay."

"Oh?"

He nodded slowly, "I'm allowed to be someone here. I don't have to be just a weapon. It's nice."

There was more he could've said. He didn't.

"Nice." Starscream repeated, turning the word over in his intake.

"I've never been allowed to be just someone."

"Then I'm glad. That you can be someone. You're more than just a weapon."

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

He had been nothing once. A high enough caste to keep his cog but only because it hadn't functioned normally since he had come out of the Well.

He hadn't been meant to stay online with a cog like his.

Sentinel had somehow caught word of a bot onlined with a malfunctioning cog. Had taken him in with the promise of a fix for a price.

"So long as you be my blade I'll ensure you get the best care in all of Iacon to fix your cog. I can give you a future."

Of course B-127 had taken that deal.

In the safety of the hidden away caves with the High Guard surrounding him, B-127 could wonder what would've happened to him if he'd refused. A high-caste bot without a working cog just wasn't a possibility. In all likelihood he probably wouldn't have survived the rest of that conversation, smelted down for parts for daring to refuse such a generous offer.

He knew he'd been very recently forged when he had agreed to become Sentinel's blade. Any memory files he'd possessed before that had been deleted in his reformatting when his servo knives had been installed and his battle protocols had been downloaded.

Before coming to the High Guard he really had never been anything but a weapon for Sentinel Prime, not really.

What might he have been if not what he had been made into? What else might've changed about who he was? What did it even matter now, to speculate on an alternate reality when his path had all been but chosen for him. At least he'd given himself a choice now.

He was the one who wielded himself now. He was his own blade.