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The business with the Sharkticons had been a mess.
Thundercracker couldn't remember much of the attack after the Nemesis had been shot down, a black burning wreckage blotting out the sun. There'd been flashes of blaster fire and explosions, gnashing teeth and roars and the clang of armour colliding, then a long cold dark nothingness...
When he'd woken properly, the battle was over. His legs were hanging by their wiring and his mouth tasted like ash, but Skywarp was pulling him from wreckage, chewed up and jet black from all the soot in the air, but alive, somehow. And alone.
The Sharkticons were gone.
And so was the Nemesis.
"He left us behind." Skywarp muttered miserably, head down as bulky fingers struggled to work on Thundercracker's battered legs. A job usually for Starscream's clever hands.
Thundercracker didn't bother to argue that Starscream hadn't abandoned them. Not when all evidence pointed to the contrary. "We should go after him."
"And stuff his head in a trash compactor, yeah." Skywarp sat back and wiped his brow with the back of his hand, smearing the soot enough to reveal the pale facial derma underneath. "But we're not going anywhere. Not till you're fixed."
"What about you?" Thundercracker spied the puncture wounds littering Skywarp's external armour. Teeth marks. Thick though his plating was, most punctures were glowing blue with leaked energon.
Skywarp gave his wings a cursory glance. "Should see the other guy," he shrugged, then pointed somewhere behind Thundercracker. "Left him somewhere over there. Or his head, at least."
"Do you think Starscream's okay?" Thundercracker couldn't help but worry. Starscream was the smallest of their trine. A skilled warrior, fast and clever, but no good in a brawl. "Those things would have bitten him in two."
"He's not here." Skywarp murmured, ducking to continue with his repair work. "I've been looking."
Thundercracker surveyed the dark, cold expanse of land, littered with armour and fuel and dead metal, fires out, but smoke still billowing. He wondered how long he'd been unconscious, and how long Skywarp had been looking.
"We'll find him." He promised.
"It's a big galaxy." Skywarp muttered.
"We'll find him." Thundercracker repeated, letting his helm fall back and rest on the wreckage he was propped up against. "Someone's gotta watch his skinny back."
Thundercracker never would have expected to find Starscream on a water planet (what with such a high risks of contracting rust) but even if the signal they'd followed here lied, the trine link couldn't. He was here. Somewhere. They flew over miles of rolling ocean to find land mass, transforming out of jet-mode and landing on the earthy ground with a thunk.
The planet was bright and beautiful and loud with life. Thundercracker found himself smiling.
Skywarp breathed in, and grimaced. "What is that smell?"
"Oxygen." Thundercracker frowned, peering down at his pedes. Tall green grass tickled the sensors of his treads. "Organics need it to breath."
"No way is Starscream here." Skywarp protested, kicking at the ground and sending a earthy lump of grass flying. "This planet is infested."
"What's the signal strength?" Thundercracker asked tiredly.
"For him or for energon?" Skywarp jabbed the screen on his wrist. "Because there's a radiation spike fifty miles north from here and I don't know about you, but I am starving."
"Starscream is our priority."
"He's aboard the Nemesis, a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Skywarp pulled a face. "You wanna fly back to him in style and give him pit for dumping us? Or crawl up to him on your hands and knees from fuel deprivation?"
"There'll be fuel on the Nemesis."
"Yeah, and we won't need it." Skywarp smirked cheekily. "Or have to listen to Starscream's gloating. We survived this long on our own, abandoned-"
"We don't know that he-"
"No one came back for us!" Skywarp snapped, playful demeanour sharpening, "To them we were dead, or as good as. Starscream didn't care enough to even check, too busy living it up as 'Second in Command'. So excuse me if I wanna do a 'Starscream' and think about myself for once in getting enough fuel so I have the energy to punch him in his smug face when I see him again!"
"You're not going to hit him." Thundercracker felt exhausted.
"I am."
"You're not." Thundercracker followed him, conceding to finding fuel first. "One look at those wide innocent optics of his and you'll melt."
"That doesn't work on me anymore. I've built up an immunity."
"You haven't built up slag."
Skywarp huffed, and jumped into a transformation sequence before blasting into the air. Thundercracker shook his helm, and followed.
The energon spike was an open mine. Thundercracker and Skywarp landed at the top and peered down into the perfectly circular hole that had been cut into the Earth. To perfect for the planet's native species.
Below, moving in and out of tunnels, mining drones were pushing carts full of glowing blue energon. Skywarp licked his lips.
"Guess we know why they picked this planet." Thundercracker commented, watching as cart after cart stacked with energon was lined up, ready for pickup.
"Let's go down there." Skywarp said, too eager for common sense. Before Thundercracker could stop him, he jumped.
"No, Warp!" He cried, having no choice but to vault after him.
Skywarp landed in the centre of the mine, using his thrusters to ease his descent and blowing an enormous dust cloud up. The mining drones shielded their optics, shying away, but the warrior-class guards cocked their weapons, aiming for Skywarp.
"Guys it's me!" He exclaimed, just as Thundercracker landed next to him. The arrival of a second unknown intruder was too much for the trigger happy Vehicons, and all pit broke lose.
A blaster bolt hit Skywarp's left wing and the force of it span him around in clumsy pirouette. Thundercracker shot back, defending his trine-mate, but the guards had them outnumbered ten-to-one and surrounded. Blaster bolts started flying from all directions. Skywarp grabbed the back of Thundercracker's armour and yanked him behind the energon carts, shooting blindly over the top of them and hissing at the scorched, sizzling damage done to his wing.
"Fragger," he scowled, transforming the armour of his wing to temporarily seal off the damage. "I just fixed that!"
Thundercracker caught him before he twisted around to shoot at them again. "Warp, what are you doing?! There're on our side!"
"You're the one who shoot back first!"
"Because you were- Never mind!" Thundercracker peaked his head over the top of the carts. The Vehicons were cautiously closing in on their impromptu shelter, guns raised.
He waved a hand at them in surrender, "Hey, we're not-!"
A blaster weng off and a ray of purple light passed inches from his finger tips. He yanked his hand down again, pressing himself flat against the carts, optics wide. "Have they always been this jumpy?!"
Skywarp shrugged and hefted his gun again. "Just let me-"
Thundercracker grabbed the barrel of his weapon. "Shoot our own soldiers?! It's going to look bad!"
"It already looks bad!"
"What's Starscream going to say when he finds out you've killed all his workers?!"
"Good point." Skywarp smirked nastily, pushing him off and starting to rise, "All the more reason to do it-"
Thundercracker scrambled to stop him, but Skywarp twisted and rose in one smooth movement, both guns extended-
And froze.
Skywarp's shocked face had Thundercracker pushing up and peaking over the top of the carts too. The guards still had them surrounded, but they'd been joined by a new-comer. A slim, gangly, silver slip of a seeker, with missiles pointed directly at Skywarp in a stand off, face pale and optics huge.
Despite the new (uncharacteristically plain) paint job, Thundercracker knew those big optics anywhere.
"Starscream!?" He straightened hurriedly, brushing the dust and dirt away from his frame and opening his arms.
They hung empty and ignored. Starscream didn't move.
"I thought you were dead!" Starscream accused, weapons shaking.
"Only on the inside, Screamer." Skywarp held his steady. Stubborn as anything, Thundercracker despaired of them both.
Starscream was vibrating from the tips of his wings all the way down to those riddiculous heels he'd adopted with his reformat. His pale complexion wasn't helped by the light silver paint job. It was probably to help him blend into his new environment, but Thundercracker missed the vibrant red and blue.
Surrounded by taller, bulkier Vehicons, he looked small, and though Thundercracker knew otherwise, helpless.
Thundercracker slapped Skywarp's arms down, knocking his weapons away.
"Hey!"
"Starscream." Thundercracker opened his arms again and stepped forwards, eager for their reunion.
But Starscream stepped away, optics comically wide with alarm and vocaliser jittery.
"Back!" He snarled, thrusting his weapons forwards, a nervous twitching mess, like a cornered animal. "Whoever you are, back off!"
"It's us!" Thundercracker insisted.
"No," Starscream shook his helm. "No, I saw-"
"Yeah, you saw me get chewed up." Skywarp barged Thundercracker aside with his heavy shoulder. "Thanks for jumping to the rescue, by the way-"
Starscream's arms began to sag, his weapons lowering with them. He was still shaking his head, but it wasn't about denial anymore. His expression was fraught, "How did- but- I didn't-?"
Skywarp made a noise of pure frustration and stomped forwards. Fearing he was about to make good on his promise of punching Starscream, Thundercracker grabbed at him, but Skywarp was taller and stronger and shrugged him off. Even the Vehicons standing around Starscream inched back at his approach.
Starscream stared up, seeming to shrink in Skywarp's shadow, still stuttering, wings shaking. Skywarp frowned down at him, before sighing, shoulder slumping.
"C'mere loser," he grumbled, reaching around Starscream and hauling him into a hug.
Thundercracker watched as Starscream disappeared into Skywarp's arms, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then long lanky limbs lifted to fold around Skywarp's wide back to return the hug. Thundercracker slumped in relief, smile slipping onto his face as he saw arms tighten and cling.
Skywarp's hugs were always the best hugs.
Some of the Vehicons were awkwardly shuffling away, unsure whether it was safe to witness such an open display of affection between Decepticon warriors. Skywarp was grumbling backhanded reassurances into the top of Starscream head, but Starscream's expression was hidden against the thick armour of Skywarp's chest, narrow wings folded down and laid flat against his back, a submissive, helpless gesture.
He had grown neurotic in their absence, their separation having taken a far greater toll on him than it had them. At least they'd had one another.
Skywarp's arms tightened when he looked up and shared a glance with Thundercracker, one filled with relief and protective affection.
"You're all talk." Thundercracker whispered, inserting himself into the hug, squeezing under Skywarp's arm to nuzzle close to Starscream's scrawny shaking form. "So much for punching him."
Starscream emitted a static filled noise of protest into Skywarp's chest, but didn't lift his gaze to them. Thundercracker let his field brush Starscream's, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Starscream opened up, letting their emotions mingle. A wave of longing, relief, and shame washed over Thundercracker, and he answered Starscream with happiness, and completeness.
"Missed you." He mumbled into the top of his head.
"I thought you were gone." Starscream said, voice low and rough.
"Without you?" Skywarp laughed and gave him a boisterous squeeze, one that had Starscream finally lifting his head just to scowl in irritation. "No chance."
And before Starscream could duck for cover, Skywarp caught his head in one big hand and pushed a rough kiss to the side of his face. Starscream cringed and tried to pull away, only for Thundercracker to come in from the other side.
"Unhand me!" He demanded shrilly, wriggling violently, trying to claw his way to freedom. "Guards! Attack!"
No Vehicon seemed willing to challenge Skywarp with the warning glare he was shooting them as he continued to smoosh their commander in whatever undignified practice he could think of, and Starscream was left to fend for himself.
Good, Thundercracker thought, tugging Starscream's narrow frame to his arms next, because when it came to smothering their neglected trine mate, he wanted no distractions.