Stingray meets Starburst.
The incessant chime of the ringer to the habsuite sliced through Starscream's processor. Bumblebee looked up from his datapad.
"It's late. I don't know why anyone would want an audience with you."
Starscream stood from the berth and made his way to the door. It slid open, and his tanks churned. In front of him stood none other than Wheeljack. Holding his bastard sparkling. Starburst.
"I can't do this anymore. He needs you, Starscream! I'm not your fragging nanny for your spawn!" Wheeljack cried, vocaliser tinged with exhaustion and exasperation.
"But...I..." Starscream inhaled and grounded himself.
"I want nothing to do with him. I already have my servos full with Bumblebee and Stingray! I can't look after him." It was only a half-lie, really; Stingray took up a lot of his scarce free time. But the ugly truth reared it's head in his processor- no matter how much he tried to crush it down, it kept rising up. It's Megatron's offspring. You can't keep him around.
"You can, 'Screamer." Wheeljack's drawl broke him out of his thoughts. The youngling at his side looked up at him.
"Please? He needs his creator."
Starscream's spark clenched.
He held his servo out for the youngling to take. Small fingers curled around his own, and his spark sang.
As he entered the main room of the hab, the sparkling let go of his servo.
"What?" He snapped as he span aroung on his thruster.
Starburst shrugged. The sliding of a door led him to spin around again.
"Star? Wha's going on?" Bumblebee was leaning against the frame of the door. Starscream felt his internals clench.
"Bumblebee. You, uh. You might want to sit down." He waved his servo at Starburst, who scampered to his side.
"This is Starburst. My first sparkling."
He nodded and his wings drooped.
"Before Megatron left. We...had a relationship. Starburst is the result of that."
"So, in a sense," Starscream continued, "he's Stingray's half-sibling."
Bumblebee's helm drooped and pinched the bridge of his olfactory.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Did you want me to list all the reasons? 'Oh yeah! By the way Bumblebee, I had a bastard child with slagging Megatron! Hope that doesn't put you off carrying!' Was that what I was meant to do?!" Starscream's voice rose a few octaves. Starburst shrank back, and Bee shot to his pedes.
"Don't slagging yell at me, Starscream. You promised that we'd be honest with each other in this relationship. Slag, it took me forever to fragging trust you! Now you just think I'm gonna take this layi-"
A whoosh of a door stopped his rant.
Bumblebee and Starscream's mechling, Stingray, sleepily rubbed his optics at his creators.
Starscream crossed the room to kneel in front of the younger mech.
"Stingray...me and your carrier just had a little disagreement. But there's someone I'd like you to meet."
He rose to his pedes again, offering his servo to the youngest bot.
"Stingray, this is Starburst. He's your older sibling."
Starburst's olfactory wrinkled at the sight of the brightly-coloured mechling in front of him.
"'M Stingray! Sire says you're my sibling!" The younger bot bounced on his pedes. Starburst took a step back.
"I see. I'm Starburst. Don't touch me!" He shouted as the yellow bot lunged forward to hug him.
"Don't touch me! I don't like you!" He shoved Stingray off him.
"Don't hurt him!" Shouted Bumblebee, coming to the side of his young.
"Is okay, carrier! Me 'n Starburst are gonna be bestest friends soon!" Stingray grinned up at Bumblebee before getting to his pedes. Starburst looked up at Starscream.
Primus help me, he thought.