Work Text:
There was a porthole sized window in the door to the interrogation room, the only way to view the occupants inside. It's size made it difficult for more than one mechanism to use it at a time, and unsurprisingly, Prowl was hogging it.
"What are they doing now?" Bumblebee pestered, encroaching on his personal space.
"Sitting." Prowl scowled.
"What's Optimus doing?"
"Also sitting." Prowl's optics rolled towards him. "As they were the last time you asked. And the time before that."
"Maybe if you weren't hogging the window..." Ratchet grumbled.
"As a member of High Command it is imperative I remain informed of the ongoing prisoner situation."
"Defectors," Ratchet corrected. "They're defectors. Not prisoners."
"That remains to be seen." Prowl said darkly.
"...And what's Jazz doing?" Bumblebee piped up again, balancing on his toe-pedes to try and see.
Prowl sighed loudly.
"Don't like this." Ironhide said from where he was leaning against the bulkhead, brooding. "Ain't no good gonna come of this. No good at all."
"Think it's one of Megatron's schemes?" Wheeljack asked.
"If it was, he would've sent more believable traitors." Ratchet answered before Ironhide could open his mouth. "Thundercracker, I can see. But Skywarp? Defecting? You'd sooner see Starscream wearing an Autobot badge."
"Yeah but," Bumblebee thumbed towards the door. "Skywarp is defecting."
"Exactly why you should be suspicious." Ironhide argued.
"He would be useful though." Wheeljack pointed out. "A teleporter. Imagine the possibilities-"
"No." Ratchet snapped. "The last thing anyone needs is you getting your servos on warp-drive schematics. No one wants teleporting explosives."
"Forget it, Ratch'," Ironhide interrupted. "S'not like either of them are actually gonna be Autobots. Prime's not gonna fall for the the old 'I wanna be one of the good guys' ploy. Cons have been playing that one for centuries."
Ratchet's scowl had grown fierce. "Not every defection has been lie."
Ironhide snorted, "They always go back to their roots."
Ratchet looked close to hitting Ironhide, so Bumblebee quickly spoke up again. "I believe in second chances."
"That's nice." Ironhide smiled, not quite genuinely. "Skywarp'd be on his fiftieth chance-"
"Better make that fifty-first," Prowl bemoaned, stepping away from the door as it rolled open on its track.
Everyone straightened up as the occupants of the room stepped out into the corridor. Jazz seemed content and Optimus proud. Behind them, Thundercracker looked nervous. And Skywarp-
"Oi, we boring you, seeker?" Ironhide snarled at the yawning Skywarp.
"'Hide," Optimus warned softly. "Our guests have had a long day-"
"Yeah and it's a real drag having to listen to your Prime lecture me about sentient life and stuff," Skywarp added, snide and unintimidated. Next to him, Thundercracker held a hand up to his face, embarrassed.
“Yes, well.” Optimus cleared his vocaliser, "After discussing their situation at length, Jazz and I have decided to grant temporary amnesty to Thundercracker and Skywarp, pending further investigation. For now, we believe their intention to better themselves is genuine.”
"You remember last week when Skywarp ripped out Silverbolt's transformation cog and teleported it to the top of the Chrysler building?" Wheeljack cut in angrily.
Optimus sighed wearily.
"What, you didn't find that funny?" Skywarp laughed, looking genuinely surprised. "You know he's scared of heights, right? Hilarious. He had to climb all the way up there to get it back." Skywarp elbowed Thundercracker, still grinning. "Remember, TC? I got you to set off all those sonic booms and he nearly fell off-"
"We'll apologise." Thundercracker said quickly, looking a little grey. "To Silverbolt. Both of us will-"
Skywarp scoffed, "Like sla-“
"Wonderful." Prime interrupted with a sudden clap, mercifully cutting off Skywarp. "Already we see old grievances being mended."
Ratchet was looking at Optimus as like he thought he might have forgotten to scan his processor for degenerative virus's during his last check up. Wheeljack looked like he thought much the same.
"And what are we to do with our ...guests in the interim?" Prowl demanded sternly, looking the seekers up and down like they were something unpleasant Hound had tracked in from a local farm. "You're not planning on letting them wander the base?"
"See, thing is Prowler," Jazz slung an unwelcome arm over Prowl's shoulders, causing the tactician to stiffen like he'd just taken a stun bolt. "Skywarp here's a teleporter..."
"It would be difficult to restrict their movements," Optimus nodded. "And unnecessary. Thundercracker and Skywarp have given us their word that they will not venture outside of communal spaces and crew quarters."
"Until we get bored." Skywarp said.
"He's joking." Thundercracker amended quickly, and with very little confidence. "He's just joking."
Prowl made a deeply unhappy noise.
And he was about to become even more unhappy.
Red Alert turned into the corridor up ahead. "Prime!" He called, drawing their attention as he speed-walked towards them, flustered and out of breath. "Another Decepticon just turned up! He's at the perimeter! I engaged security measures but he knows the other seekers are here. Says he can have Skywarp just teleport him in-“
”Slag off, I’m no taxi.” Skywarp argued when accusatory glares were fired his way.
Optimus looked between the seekers. Thundercracker looked genuinely surprised, while Skywarp was standoffish. "Were you followed? Did anyone know what you were planning?”
"I didn't tell anyone." Thundercracker protested, narrowing his optics at Skywarp, who threw his arms up defensively.
"Oh yeah, like I was gonna advertise it-!"
"It's Starscream." Red Alert told them.
"Oh crud, yeah I might mentioned it..." Skywarp rubbed his neck guiltily.
Thundercracker used both hands to cover his face. He looked like he was about to burst into tears.
Hoping Red Alert had somehow made a mistake and the Decepticon Second in Command was not loitering on his doorstep, Optimus strode towards a nearby security console, activating the feed for the exterior cameras. Below long he found one displaying a seeker, who was stood by the entrance of the Ark, his hands on his hips and his pede tapping impatiently.
”It’s Starscream.” Optimus’s sighed.
"Great." Huffed Ironhide.
"Pretend we're not home." Ratchet murmured at Optimus's shoulder.
Tempting, but Optimus ignored him, activating the microphone.
"Starscream." He greeted.
The seeker looked up, annoyed, as if he was the one being inconvenienced. "Prime. It's about time. Open the doors, let me in."
"Don't let him in." Prowl said sternly, like Optimus would have been stupid enough to comply.
"What do you want, Starscream?" Optimus asked.
"Isn't it obvious?!" Starscream snapped. "I'm an Autobot now."
Ratchet dived for the microphone, "Like slag-!"
Optimus managed to get it away from him, wrestling it from Ratchet’s surprisingly powerful grip after a fierce but brief struggle.
"I find that hard to believe." He panted, keeping his tone as diplomatically as possible.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'd make the perfect Autobot. Better than that simpleton, Skywarp, and if he can get in..." Starscream pulled a disgusted face at the camera. "Besides, with me on your side, you’ll have this planet conquered in a matter of weeks. Of course, I expect to be compensated for my efforts. The Southern hemisphere should suffice."
Optimus was at a loss for words.
"Sounds like a good offer to me," Skywarp encouraged, giving Optimus a thumbs up.
"If you let Starscream in this base, I'll defect." Prowl threatened.
"You should have known this would happen," Ratchet hissed furiously, gesturing to Thundercracker and Skywarp. "Seeker's move in trines! Where one goes, the others follow, like an Insecticon hive-"
"Hey!" Skywarp shouted. "I came here on my own free will! It had nothing to do with Thundercracker-"
"Just a weird coincidence then?" Jazz smiled.
"Yeah!" Skywarp lifted his chin proudly, just as on the security monitor Starscream started waving his servos around for attention.
"-listening to me? Open the fragging door, it's getting cold-!"
"You might as well let him in," Thundercracker said to Optimus quietly, looking weary beyond his long, long years. "As long as he knows we're in here, he's not going anywhere."
Starscream, on the monitor, was still ranting, "-and you'd better have a decent cube waiting, I haven't fuelled in hours-"
Optimus wondered how best to convince Thundercracker that maybe the Decepticons weren't so bad after all...