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“So. The Autobots.”
Skyfire nodded. “Perceptor was, at least, a friendly face. And as impartial a historian as I was likely to get now. After a few weeks, I wasn’t sure I would have been safer with you in the Decepticons, based on my own observations.”
“No.” Starscream sighed. “I don’t suppose you would have been. Megatron’s lost his mind, you see. And we–”
“Not just because of Megatron, Starscream. This war has changed you, too.”
“It changed us all.”
“I know.” Skyfire echoed the Seeker’s sigh. “It’s even changed me, for all that it’s only been a few months.”
“Not much.” Starscream stepped forward and touched Skyfire’s cheek with gentle fingers. “Not yet.”
“Thank you.” Skyfire smiled weekly. “You defied your superiors for me again. Perhaps you aren’t as changed as everyone believed.”
“Oh no, I am.” Starscream drew away, turning so that his former partner couldn’t see the expression on his face. “Perhaps more, even. What kind of xenobiologist turns his expertise to weapons of mass destruction?”
“The kind that was angry and grieving the loss of someone dear to him.” Skyfire took a step closer and put his hands on Starscream’s shoulders. Star wanted to believe it wasn’t comforting, but he’d done the same thing so many times before, that his cables were relaxing without any input from his processor. “The kind that was trying to find some kind of meaning when the people he trusted betrayed him. And perhaps it’s foolish, but I forgive you for that.”
Tears built in his optics and for the first time in longer than he could remember, Starscream didn’t even try to hide them. They tracked down his cheeks when he blinked, though they were replaced quickly enough.
He knew he didn’t deserve forgiveness, but he would be a fool not to accept. To not take the escape Skyfire was offering. “Perhaps someday I can forgive myself, as well.”