Their Pet (TFP Fanfic)

19

"You're quite... An anomaly of a human." Starscream said quietly, leaning back again in his chair to gaze down on me in the darkness. The red glow of his optics and slight reflection of his armor from the desk light made him seem menacing like a monster ready to devour me from the darkness.

I could look past that primal fear though and read the quiet, hidden sadness that he radiated. I had watched countless times before as he was thrown down and brushed off by Megatron. That kind of treatment makes people apprehensive and cold to the rest of the world around them. I never thought much into it besides hoping for him to come out unharmed. A silent war raged on behind his hooded optics, and I could feel it. The silver gray mech before me puts on a facade day after day, like a shell to protect his damaged spark. Something I've had to do before as well.

"... Starscream"

His helm tilted to the side slowly to indicate he was listening, while his optics never left mine.

"You're in pain. I can see it. I'm not a soldier or an officer in this war, I can't hurt you and won't judge you for it."

I watched in silence as his optics took a moment to readjust, zooming in then out. Starscream blinked once, his dermas set in a thin line. Very slowly, a flood of emotions spilled onto his faceplate and his wings began to lightly shiver. He brought up a shaky servo to his face and covered his eyes, leaning further back with his helm tilted to the ceiling. I heard as fans somewhere inside of him spun to life in a quiet drone and he pulled air In through his slightly parted lips.

I made sure I was facing him as I sat on the desk, my knees to my chest and arms rested on top. And I watched in a respectful silence as he let his walls fall down before me.

A thin line of glowing blue ran quickly down his cheek from his covered optics. More came a second later as his chest began to shake.

Absorbing the strong negative emotions he emitted, I could feel my own walls falling as I shakily stood and moved over to the servo still resting on the desk beside me. A few tears of my own slipped out as I took a deep breath and laid my hand on his, beginning to gently rub circles over it in a comforting manner.

I may not know why he's feeling it, but I knew the loneliness and emptiness I saw in his face. Memories ran though my head of every foster home I was passed off to, every foster parent who treated me like dirt or acted like I was worth nothing but their next state pay check. The times when I had to act as an older sibling and step in for some of the other foster kids if the parent was abusive. You never had a place where you really fit if you were a foster kid. Out of all the kids I saw who got someone to take them in, I was never wanted.

I closed my eyes as my dams broke and the empty feeling I pushed down so often reared its head and slammed into me like a weight. Taking a deep shaking breath, a quiet sob slipped from my lips and my hands lost their smooth rhythm on his servo. I was shaking too much now and leaned into his warm metal skin.

Feeling as he shifted beneath me, I was cupped and lifted by one servo while his other moved towards me. Quickly wiping my eyes ads trying to regain control of my breathing, I looked up at the metal monster that was the Decepticons second in command. Using his free digits, he moved back some of my hair to stare into my puffy eyes. I sniffled and he tilted his helm, thin lines of energon tears remaining on his face while his optics looked dim.

"You really are peculiar. If you were any other human I would have squished you by now. How is it you can reach our sparks with such ease? Its disturbing and disgusting." He looked away towards his shelf.

"I just care about you all. A single act of kindness and trust can change someone's heart, you know." The edge of his mouth twitched and I smiled.

I leaned back into his digits as emotional exhaustion started setting in. "What does that medal stand for anyways? The one that says ESFC."

I lifted my hand to point at it as his optics followed by gaze. And rested on the silver medal resting on the high shelf. Using his free servo, Starscream swiped away the blue streaks on his face and cleared his throat. "That would be a badge of status that I gained on Cybertron. ESFC stands for Energon Seekers Fleet Commander. That title doesn't mean much to anyone anymore though. Now it just occupies a space on my shelf and in my mind."

Gently, I patted his palm and he looked back at me. "It sounds like you really cared about it. What was it exactly?"

"Our fleet was tasked with scouring the planet in search of any source of energon. We were the fastest of the Seekers and had to know every tell of the land and map out everything we found while fighting off enemies looking to steal the energon out from under us. There were others in my squadron but they didn't survive the first few decades of war. I'm... Alone now." His voice was full of pride when he started but empty by the end.

"Im very sorry. It sounds like you miss them a lot." He lifted me higher and I reached out, placing a hand on his face.

Starscream turned his helm out of my reach. "I don't need pity from a fleshling like you. I am Starscream, second in command and future leader of the Decepticons!" He let me slide off him hand quickly back onto the desk as he stood. "You humans have a saying. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."

He took a step back from the desk standing taller than before, that glowing spark back in hos optics as a menacing grin spread over his face plate. "It just happens that they were my eggs."