Survivor

“You’ll stay in here for now.”
Sunstorm dropped Miller into a cage without any regard to the human’s wellbeing and the pain jolted his body. "Son of a...." He groaned as he rolled to his side and slowly sat up. His hand rubbed at the sore spot on his back. Pushing to his feet again, he looked around the cage. They could have at least given him his clothes back, he thought. "Are you going to check on Slip now?" He called after the mech.

The golden jet laughed as he locked the cage door. “Check on her? Do you honestly think she’s incapable of helping herself?”

"I never said that she wasn't but...." Miller allowed a frustrated sigh to escape. There was no point in arguing. Sunstorm took one last glance at his captive and turned to walk away, leaving him alone in the darkness; where Miller took a seat off to the side of the cage and brought his knees up to his chest. All he could do was wait now.

o---o

Two Raptors sped across the sky, heading toward their destination at great speeds. “They better not have harmed him!” growled Slipstream. Thundercracker swooped beneath her and rose along her right wing; “Skywarp will not allow harm to the human. He knows you care for him, and would hate to see you upset.”

“But why is he allowing the others to mess with him?”

The blue jet sighed and tipped his wing in a shrug.
“There is no telling why Skywarp does what he does. He has always been like that.”

“Is it true that Nightscream had to chain him to the wall for 30 days?”

Thundercracker’s frame shivered with laughter. “Yes.”

o---o

”What?”

“Slipstream has adopted—”

”I know what you said!”

Skywarp lowered his gaze to the control panel. “She is ignorant… She knows little of her heritage, Starscream.” On the screen before him, the Decepticon Air Commander trembled with rage. Starscream despised humans and would be damned if his own metal and circuits took to Autobot ways. Skywarp made a soft ‘ahem’ and tapped his chin lightly; “I’m just going to get this out—we request that you turn the human into a Transformer.”

He offlined his optics, waiting for the berating that was sure to follow; but nothing came; there was only silence. The dark seeker took a cautious peek at the monitor. Starscream was casting his brother a murderous gaze, the soft tap of his talons against the opposing console being the only sound.

“…’Screamer, think of Slipstream and her brothers; they need someone to complete their trine and she needs a companion—”

”Slipstream is the third.”

“I know. That’s what I thought, but Sunstorm insists otherwise.”

”Nonsense! I will be down there shortly… In the meantime, you and Thundercracker are to keep them in line. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, the screen went blank.
And from within the shadows, Apollo concluded his spying session and teleported back to his own quarters. I believe it’s time to add one more player to this little game… He slowly walked to his computer and proceeded to contact the Decepticon base through a private signal, linking him to one Decepticon in particular.

o---o

Finally, Slipstream and Thundercracker arrived at Skywarp’s “Pent House”—as he likes to call it. “He’s here… I know it.” She walked to the door and attempted to reach for the keypad. “Damn it! I’m still too short.” Thundercracker stepped up behind her and did it instead, pulling her back as the door slid open.

“Hellooo!”

The older jet walked to the prison entrance while Slipstream went around making herself known. He shook his head and punched in yet another combination. Inside, he could smell the human. “He’s in here…” he murmured over their comm. link. The femme came running and paused in the middle of the room; “Miller...?”

Sleep didn't come for him. Miller was far too worried about Slip to do anything more than fidget in his cage. He had just changed his position for the umpteenth time when he heard a familiar voice calling him. "Slip?" He called searching the dark room as he did.

Upon hearing her name, Slipstream rushed over to a row of cages and began to sift through them until she found her human… naked. “Miller! You’re alive!” She squee’d with joy and unlocked his confines, completely ignoring the fact he was in the nude.

Miller pushed to his feet almost running to the cage. A smile spread across his face as he looked Slipstream over. She was okay. "Yeah more or less.." He trailed off absently clasping his hands in front of his groin as he walked out of the cage. "Did...you bring my clothes?" He asked oddly self conscious about being nude in front the femme.

“Huh?” She inclined her head and finally took the time to look him over. “OHMYGOD! I’m SO sorry!” Slipstream ran behind her uncle in embarrassment. Thundercracker’s optic twitched slightly at the scene and reached over to tear a piece off one of the rags hanging on the wall. “Here.” He offered the fabric to Miller in hopes of the human covering his… happy place.

His face flared a bright red. "I-its not your fault." He muttered fighting the urge to cut his eyes at Thundercracker. Him and the other two fucktards were the ones responsible. "Thanks." He muttered as the mech in question handed him some fabric. Snatching it, he tied it around his waist managing to cover both his front and backside. Much better.

Slipstream peeked out from behind the larger jet and snickered.
“Why are you here and without proper covering, human?” Thundercracker asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Upon closer inspection, Miller noted that the larger mech standing there was indeed Thundercracker. He shifted on his feet slightly. "I don't know...Skywarp and those other two bought me here and told me to strip. They were talking about a trine or something..."

“Hm…”

Slipstream looked between the two, confused.
“I will have a talk with Skywarp. You two stay put.” Thundercracker placed a hand upon his niece’s shoulder, earning a gentle trill in return. Even though she was here with Miller, her uncle was her security blanket and she felt vulnerable without him nearby.

Miller wasn't sure if he said too much or not. Really wasn't sure if it mattered. If it got those bastards in trouble, then what concern should he have for it? He nodded simply when Thundercracker turned to leave. Looking to Slipstream, he smiled again. "You had me worried there, you know." He said once the older mech was gone.

“Oh… You don’t gotta worry about me.” She returned the smile and took a seat next to the cages. Miller followed absently leaning against the cage when he came to a stop. "Yes I do. Its what friends do."

Slipstream stared over at him for a brief moment, then averted her gaze. “Right. That is what friends do…” She began to brush her thumb across her thigh armor as if to distract herself, and then spoke once more, yet her tone was more sullen; “But it isn’t right… Humans and Decepticons—friends. I almost got you killed… That’s all we’re good for; killing.”

He tilted his head to look up at Slipstream. "I would have been dead a long time ago, Slip. You saved me." He said softly. That fact alone was a contradiction to what the femme had just said. Decepticons couldn't only been good for killing if they were saving 'fleshies'. "Not all Decepticons are bad."

She returned her attention to the man; “You’re so good with words.” It was meant to be a tease; she was actually trying to lighten things up a bit. Miller chuckled. "I'm just speaking the truth here." He said lightly.

And her smile widened; “Which reminds me, why haven’t you bonded yet? There are plenty of pretty humans around…”

He shrugged his shoulder upon hearing her question. Why hadn't he bonded yet. "Busy I guess...I always had a picture of how my life would be before I sought out a spouse." He answered.

“Ha! Busy… I think you’re scared.”

"Me? Scared, pfft, noooo." He protested. There was no way he was afrai-- okay maybe earth women were scary but...if he could manage not to be killed by a female transformer, he could handle the 'fleshie' ones.

The femme giggled and relaxed against the stiff cages. “You humans are weird…” she murmured. "Look who's talking." Miller chuckled.

She snickered; “Oh! I have another question. Where do human babies come from?”

His mirth switched to a choke. Dear god, where'd that come from?! "U-uh...see...umm...when...man and woman like each other....they....umm...wh-why do you want to know?"

She pursed her labial plates and thought about it for a sec; “Curious? Thundercracker doesn’t like to talk about things like this for some reason.”

Ah curse you curiosity, Miller thought to himself. He ran a hand through his hair with a soft sigh. "I'm not sure I'm the right person to teach you about this stuff...maybe I can pick you up some books when I go into town to get food?"

"Ooh, that would be nice." The femme beamed and lifted her hand to gently pat Miller on the head with her finger.