Archive of Our Own ^beta

Scarsaber once believed in Primus.

Maybe it was a fool’s dream that some benevolent leader would rise and claim all these warring mechs. Some sort of great booming voice tracking in from the stars themselves, calling out to stop the war and lay down laws for all to follow.

Scarsaber once believed in Primus, but now he only knew he could trust three mechs to ever be reliable: Chillwing, his loyal second trinemate, and Azure, the spunky young seekerlet that dying creators begged him to raise.

The same seekerlet that currently was between him and Chillwing, carried on their shoulders and barely any more alive than his creators. An insecticon, wretched thing, managed to latch it’s fangs into the young flyer and eviscerate his wing and side. A grounded seeker is a dead seeker.

“Do you think this is wise? It could be an Autobot trap. Lure the last of us out to destroy us.” Chillwing, always the voice of reason. Or pessimism, depending on which other trinemate you asked. Azure, despite the war, managed to keep his cheery disposition and compassion for other things. If there was a suitable trainer, the boy would make a fine medic.

Or perhaps an artist, like he wanted. Always painting their warship yard with bright patterns, using his meager wage to buy new and interesting paints that faded quickly in the harshness of space but he always painted over. And over, and over again until Scarsaber called him away to refuel or for a mission. Lord Megatron never liked to wait.

Megatron, Scarsaber corrected. His free hand went to his face, gored by war and Megatron. Once, Starscream took a whip to him, but that had been deserved. Direct disregard for orders, insubordination to the Winglord. He had been ordered to whip Azure, and for all his brutality in the war refused to beat the peppy sparkling that clung to his leg for spitting childish insults about Starscream and Megatron.

After that incident Scarsaber received a transfer to the furthest warship yard they had despite being the best of the best at crafting and upgrading them. Starscream convinced Megatron that Autobots may try to steal him for his knowledge. It was an act of mercy, repaying his debt of pain to Scarsaber under the table.

He used to be a bright, feisty seeker not unlike Starscream. His cherry red and white wing pinstripe along the edge faded to dull red and a grey-tan. Rust constantly plagued his wounds, warped and raised plasma burns from guns no other seeker dare flew at. His yellow glowing accents across a rather broad chest for a seeker reminded many of the Mad Doctor, minus the headlights and annoying tendency to complain about his paint.

Scarsaber prided himself on nothing but his skill now. And that skill wasn’t enough to save Azure from danger. The young seeker’s bright slate blue, mixed with silver-white and red accents on his knees and shoulders was marred and scratched now. Chillwing called it stupid, Azure just stuck his tongue out and continued to paint. Now Chillwing mumbled something about hoping this Autobot trap had paint.

The one thing he loved to paint more than anything was other mechs. Revitalization of moral, he called it; using his own money to buy mech-quality overcoats and touch up any worn seeker that flew into the little mess hall for a scrap of fuel. Regardless of their fuel percentage or not, any that trusted Azure’s hands left looking like they just walked out of Praxus or Vos a few days ago rather than possibly millions of years.

Veering around a moon the trio looked down on the world Cybertronians knew of as Earth. They had been there before, not this trine specifically, but ancestors. Scarsaber looked at the swirls of color and gently lifted Azure’s drooping head. Bright blue optics weakly opened before a smile crossed his battered features.

“Looks like Chillwing… In the north.” The icy mech nodded, noting the true blue of ocean pressed against a white-grey snowy icecap. The only thing missing was his red eyes.

“It does. Perhaps, when we get home, you can paint me to match.” Chillwing smiled, an awkward feature on a face Scarsaber never recalled making it before. Not even teasing his dying victims, or laughing. Azure frowned and shook his head a bit, wincing and letting it drop against his chest.

“No, Chilly…You don’t have to…” And the rest faded to mumbles. A trail of glowing blue followed behind Azure, energon that leaked from a tourniquet around gnashed pipes and lines.

Scarsaber instantly pinged down to the planet for a pick-up, stating they had an injured seekerling. The reply was undoubtedly Starscream, setting his mind somewhat at ease. Before the link cut Scarsaber heard the sound of Knock Out’s voice, probably coming to assist.

“Chillwing, behave yourself. If the going gets rough, I’ll take them on while you get Azure out of here.” The stoic mech looked conflicted but nodded. A slight flash of pain entered his face as Azure was placed in his arms so Scarsaber could be ready.

“Scarsaber.” He said quietly, and the pair exchanged a strange look of hope mixed with some kind of love neither investigated then fell to Azure. “I’ll keep the kid safe.” Scarsaber nodded and floated over in the dark void of space to look at those deep red eyes.

“I know that. And I’ll keep you safe.” The distant pulse of EM fields searching in the darkness, high frequency, impulsively activated Scarsaber’s desire to save his trinemate and he replied strongly. A small cloud—no real other way to describe it—of seekers and two massive carriers came toward them. Starscream was nowhere to be seen.

The first seeker to approach was familiar, Thundercracker. And he looked happy to see them, at least as happy as Thundercracker could get. “We thought you starved at the outpost when Megatron ordered us to abandon it.”

“There was enough kind-sparked souls to leave us with bits of their rations. We got by.” Scarsaber informed, then Chillwing showed him Azure. “We are fine. It’s the boy that is about to meet Primus.” If Scarsaber believed in Primus. Azure did, so he respected that.

Instantly a shuttle came over and transformed, staring with such pain and fury at the sight of a half-dead seekerling that Scarsaber knew it had to be an Autobot. “I’ll keep you all together. I’m good at smooth atmospheric entry.” He transformed back and opened his cargo bay. “I know you don’t want to be locked in but I did bring a medic.” Knock Out waved them down and already had a table set to strap Azure to, along with medical tools Scarsaber couldn’t name.

The trine wearily landed in the cargo bay, freezing as it clicked closed but with Knock Out’s help got Azure strapped down. The Mad Doctor instantly began to stabilize him, setting up energon drips in two places along with a stasis drug. “It looks like Devastator got a hold of him.” The medic commented, looking up for explanation.

“Insecticon.” Chillwing informed and Knock Out grimaced.

“You’ll be happy to know any of them on Earth have been exterminated. You’ll also be happy to know that this cargo shuttle is Starscream’s mate.” A slight grin at the embarrassed beep from the shuttle. “Skyfire is an Autobot. If that pair isn’t proof enough the war is over and you’re safe here I don’t know what else to tell you.” Knock Out worked quickly to cauterize tubing, preventing any leakage though causing narrowing of the tubes.

Scarsaber took in the information and looked around at the inside of the cargo bay. “A very large carrier class.” He stated bluntly. “Yes, you would be Starscream’s type.”

“I hope so. We did have…Something before the war.” Skyfire informed quietly. A soft-spoken, soft-sparked shuttle if he ever heard one, Scarsaber thought. There was no chatter until they cleared the atmosphere, all content to just worry over Azure.

When they landed, they were held in the cargo bay for ten minutes to allow Skyfire to taxi them into the city. “I warn you, it can be a bit overwhelming at first.” But Chillwing and Scarsaber already steeled themselves against the idea of a humanoid city shared by cramped quarters for mechs.

When the cargo bay opened and they finally got out to see, they both stared for eons at the sight. A glistening mass of metal and glass, marked with balconies for seekers and underground garages for grounders and everything in between for them to interact. In the distance there was a prison, guarded by a mech that certainly made macro class in size if not larger. The apex of their hidden excitement was the sight of the Seeker’s Nest.

Taller than all buildings, mostly glass to allow constant visual of the sky, and with a balcony and take off pad for each apartment. Skeptically he glanced at Knock Out who pointed at the third floor of the structure. “We got a space there that should fit your trine. It may be a bit cramped but we’ll get the constructicons to add another floor.”

Another floor. These mechs ran out of space for his trine, and instead of splitting them up they decided to build another floor. Scarsaber chuckled, then broke into a harsh laugh that made Knock Out flinch. “Oh this is rich… The war ends and utopia follows? Primus has to be real.” He laughed again and Chillwing came over to smack him rather abruptly. “Ah…Thanks, Chillwing.” The mech nodded and moved to inspect the sidewalk of all things.

“It is not quite a utopia, but we do our best to make it as close as possible to Cybertron before the war.” That smooth voice made two sets of wings flare in aggression and weapons were powered online. Familiar face, familiar eyes that they were told to blast on sight so many times that it was ingrained. “I hope you decide to stay, after your seekerling recovers. I saw the damage.” And to their shock Azure was gone, rushed off to the Medical Sector. They began to growl and Optimus Prime put his hands up. “I will not fight you. If you are concerned about your seekerling, you are welcomed to go see him in the Medical Sector. Welcome to Xenogen.” And with that the Prime they learned to hate left, back turned and completely vulnerable.

Chillwing glanced at Scarsaber and then grabbed the nearest bot. “You. Take us to the Medical Sector.” A dumb nod followed and the yellow grounder waved them along.

“Sure. Primus, just calm down. We’ve got the best medics on the case. Ratchet can fix anything.” The yellow grounder led them through streets and pointed out skylanes for them, as well as which buildings had small runways and which didn’t. “I know you can take off anywhere but my seeker buddies tell me runways are fun.”

They listened to the babble, actually comforted in it; this mech was around Azure’s age, maybe a bit older and much more mature, but the babble sounded familiar. As they reached what was clearly a waiting room a small grounder medic stopped the yellow mech.

“Family only, Hot Shot. Come on you two.” He waved them in with shy confidence. “He’s stable, even conscious. I’m First Aid, your sparkling is in my ward until he can go home to the Seeker’s Nest.”

The pair looked between them. Between their colors and builds, one could easily mistake Azure for their direct bloodline. They didn’t bother to correct, just exchanging small glances that assured each other that they were okay posing as mates.

The medical ward was clean and they even had the tables pressed together to support his wings. “You know a lot about seekers for a grounder.” Scarsaber muttered, rushing over with Chillwing to take a hand each from Azure. “Azure.” He said softly, and two dull but familiar blue eyes opened up. A smile crept on his face.

“The medic said if I’m good, he’ll give me candy later. It’s been years since I’ve had candy, Scar!” The two looked relieved and buried their faces in Azure’s hands. It was their crying, no longer able to show tears. Azure frowned and tilted his head. “I’m okay. I’ll be okay.” Such strong words from a little bot and a strong smile followed.

“He’s a very lucky mech. However you two got him here alive, start teaching others.” A gruff voice informed them. “Your ties on his tubes are the only things that kept him alive. Regardless of how, he’ll make a full recovery. Starscream offered to fix his wings personally.” That didn’t surprise Scarsaber, but as the medics got close again his wings went up.

“I want to be alone with Azure. He needs his trine.” It wasn’t a request, and the medics slowly backed up away from the seekerling.

The red-orange and white medic nodded and grunted softly. “If he needs anything, just call for a medic. We have four on his case.” And with that he nudged all the others out, other than First Aid who went across his ward to tend to cleaning and sharpening tools. He pulled a curtain to block the Trine from him, giving them privacy.

Azure pouted and tried to put his hands down. “Meanies, send away my new friends.” But he grinned again. “That old bucket of rust is kinda funny, Scarsaber. Scarsaber?” The red mech was staring at him with those eyes that made him feel like he broke a rule. Azure shifted and looked away. “Sorry.”

Scarsaber blinked and shook his head. “Azure, you almost died.” Azure shook his head stubbornly and growled. “No, you almost died. And I couldn’t help you. Neither of us could.” And in fifteen minutes the bots here had Azure stable and fully conscious. Primus be damned, it was the medics he should worship.

Azure saw differently and grinned. “It’s Primus’ will I live. And it’s not your faults that I wandered off into that part of the facility. I should’ve known better.” The wings sagged against their supports. The streaks of dried energon they left broke Scarsaber’s spark.

“Next time take us with you when you run off. I know we’re old and boring but at least you’ll be safe.” Chillwing scolded gently, and Azure’s hands tightened on their hands pointedly.

“Oh you think… No! I just feel like I get in the way. I’m still young, and you two know so much more that I’ll never learn by just watching.” Azure sighed but squeaked as two sets of arms hugged onto him gently.

Scarsaber sighed and pet his head, something he knew Azure liked. “It’s our responsibility to keep you busy and safe. This city seems safer than our facility… Maybe we can go for a walk once your tubes reseal themselves properly.” A walk; his wings were too damaged for flight. Azure nodded and nestled down into the medical berth.

“’Kay, Scar. Chilly you’re sticking to me.” The cold-cored bot stood and pulled his chest off the arm of his younger trinemate. Sure enough ice had formed. Azure giggled as he wiped it off and more carefully cuddled up to the young mech.

Alone together, other than the medic standing by in the corner, they felt more at ease. They acted like a family more than a Trine but the trine bond was in Azure. They relaxed together, all tired from the journey and discussed quietly if they’d stay. Azure had as much a voice in that as the other two, and it was decided they’d wait and talk to other seekers about it.

Azure fell asleep after the decision and the other two just chuckled and tucked him in before going to get comfortable on the berths pushed together for Azure’s wings. They snuggled their ‘sparkling’ and silently prayed that this city was all it seemed. Scarsaber found himself praying to Primus again, just asking for this to not be a dream or horror created by his war-weary mind. Just for once to give the battered trine faith of life anew.

Scarsaber once believed in Primus. Azure was the only life he’d beg for to a god he didn’t trust.