The ones that are abused can possess the kindest of sparks...

-Decepticon base-

"You filthy excuse for a seeker!" Megatron snarled, kicking Starscream across the room.

Starscream grunted at the impact, crumpling to the ground. His damaged wing was still bleeding energon from before, his new wounds adding on to that. He coughed, wiping his mouth and looking up at Megatron. "Megatron... please..!" He pleaded on his hands and knees.

In response to that petty plead for mercy, Megatron slammed his pede down on Starscream's back. He smiled at the satisfying sound of crunching metal. "You're a failure! You're nothing but a waste of scrap!"

"I know I am! Just... let me go!" Starscream was starting to get desperate now. He was beginning to cry again, which only made Megatron angrier.

"You're pathetic! Stupid! Useless!"

"I'm stupid, I'm stupid!" Starscream repeated over and over again, those words burning into his memory.

"At least you realize your stupidity.." Megatron hissed, lifting his pede from Starscream's back and walking away. "Get out of my sight..."

Starscream gasped, wiping the coolant from his face. He was basically covered in energon, which was quite disgusting. The pain from his wounds had dulled a little, making it easier to stand up.

He held on to the wall of the corridor as he limped his way to the barracks, flinching away from the nasty looks that he got from other Decepticons passing by.

He finally made it to the barracks, limping back towards the area that Skywarp, Thundercracker, and himself shared.

Thundercracker looked up from the datapad he was reading and gasped in shock. "Starscream! Did Megatron beat you into scrap again?"

Starscream barely even looked up at him, simply mumbling something under his breath and limping onwards.

"Must've been pretty bad hehe..." Skywarp whispered to Thundercracker, who smacked him on the helm for that comment.

Starscream forced his way into the washroom, closing the door behind him. He limped over to the mirror and looked at himself. "All I see is a failure..." he muttered, frowning at his own reflection.

He swore he could see Windblade in the mirror looking back at him, but he told himself it was just his imagination. He shook his head and turned on the water, washing off his face. Afterwards, he stepped into a wash chamber and began carefully cleaning his wounds free of energon.

As he was cleaning, he heard two other Decepticon mechs enter the washroom, laughing and jeering about something.

"Haha! Did ya see the look on Starscream's face when Megatron kicked him across the room? Hilarious!"

"Swindle..." Starscream growled to himself, trying to tune them out.

"Yeah I know! He called him stupid and Starscream admitted it!"

"Brawl? Seriously?! Idiots..." Starscream grumbled, turning off the water. He stepped under the drying vent and quickly dried himself off.

As soon as he stepped out into the washroom, they became silent.

That is, until Swindle made a rude joke towards Starscream.

"Hey Starscream! Is that your normal look or did Megatron use you as a doormat? Haha!" Swindle laughed, slapping his leg.

Starscream growled louder, storming out of the washroom as they continued to laugh. "Why can't I escape this? Everywhere I go, I'm made fun of!" He huffed, limping at a faster pace down the corridor towards the Medbay.

"Knockout!" He called into the Medbay, looking around.

"One second, Starscream! I have patients that are in worse condition than you! And don't even begin to complain about it, I'm not in the mood!" Knockout replied from the back room.

Starscream groaned, rolling his optics and sitting down on a Medberth. He put his hands on his knees and sighed, staring at the floor. When Knockout finally arrived, he was lost in his own thoughts.

"So what's the pro— woah... that's one heck of an injury there, Screamer. How'd that happen?" Knockout asked, bringing out some tools.

"I don't want to talk about it. Now hurry up and fix my wing. I want to go somewhere..." Starscream replied, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Alrighty then..." Knockout sighed, getting to work on Starscream's damaged wing.

-A few hours later-

"There! You should be ready to go! Just try not to get shot down again, okay?" Knockout chuckled, washing off his hands and putting away his tools.

Starscream rolled his optics, hopping off the Medberth and flexing his wings. "Whatever." He walked out of the Medbay, itching for a long flight. He hated the feeling of being grounded for too long.

Once he snuck to the flight deck, he took off into the darkening sky.