-Zooms In With Popcorn And An Intense Eagerness To Hear More- PLEASE DO GO ON, I WILL READ THIS!!!

-Zooms in with popcorn and an intense eagerness to hear more- PLEASE DO GO ON, I WILL READ THIS!!!

Ahhhhhhh I can see Starscream freaking the fuck out after Skyfire attacks Megatron to protect the seeker. Like "Why in the name of Primus did you do that?! Now Megatron's going to want your head! He's going to see you as the enemy!" And Skyfire just replying back with "He made himself my enemy the moment he tried to hurt you. I know you can protect yourself and you can take a hit, but you're my friend. I refuse to let that psycho hurt you again, not without a fight." Ahhhhhhghghgnvnrefjnc and then they talk and Starscream feels safe for like the first time in so long!!! -incoherent giggles-

Aghhhh I love it!!!

Oh my god, imagine if we had gotten Skyfire in TFP instead of Smokescreen?

No hate to Smokey fans, I'm just asking to picture an AU where if we had to add a new Team Prime member late in the game, it could have been Skyfire. (Please bear with me, I'm mostly just jotting down ideas so it's a bit all over the place)

Idk I just have this very specific dynamic in mind, like:

Skyfire: So I crashed here a gazillion years ago when I was exploring with my science partner.

Arcee: What happened to them?

Skyfire: I... don't know. You didn't find anyone else with me?

Bulkhead: 'Fraid not...

Skyfire: ... Oh.

Bumblebee: *beep boop bwee*!

Raf: Yeah! We'll go back and help you find them!

Skyfire: Really?? But... aren't you guys too busy to mount a search and rescue for a stranger? I don't want to be a burden...

Optimus: Even if you two are strangers to us, we will not abandon a fellow Cybertronian. Saving a life is always worth the effort.

Skyfire: Thank you, Prime.

《LATER》

Ratchet: The medbay is prepped to warm up your friend once they're brought in.

Skyfire: Thank you all again!

Arcee: So what's our perimeter? Did you see where they landed?

Skyfire: Well, no, I crashed before he did.

Bumblebee: *breep bworp*

Skyfire: I suppose it's possible he could have survived...

Miko: Couldn't you look him up in some sort of Cybertronian phonebook and just call?

Skyfire: I did try to reach him, but it seems he's changed his com line. Which makes sense, I suppose. So much has happened...

Bulkhead: Hm... oh! What about the N.A.I.L. census? I know it's super out of date, but...

Miko: Hold on, "Nail" census? Is there a census for sledgehammers too?

Fowler: N-A-I-L. It stands for Non-Aligned Indigenous Lifeforms. They're the Cybertronians who didn't pick a side.

Raf: So... they're neutral? Not Decepticon...

Jack: ... or Autobot.

Ratchet: A census was created and distributed among the N.A.I.L.s so they would be able to find eachother after the exodus. They planned to regroup and form their own colonies off-world.

Optimus: Hm. It would be a good idea to exhaust our options that avoid risk.

Skyfire: Agreed! Let's check out that census.

Arcee: I can pull it up. What's your friend's name again? You guys were from Vos, right?

Skyfire: Mhm. And his name is Starscream.

Team Prime: ...

Skyfire: ... Do you want me to spell that for you, or...?

Miko: I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, because I could have sworn you just said Starscream.

Skyfire: Uh yup. That's correct.

Arcee: *closes out of the census*

Skyfire: ... is there a problem?

Ratchet: Oh, there are several problems!

Cue Team Prime explaining all the things Starscream has done, and Skyfire has a hard time believing it, so he sets out on his own to see Starscream for himself.

Once they see each other and spend a bit more time with each other, Skyfire can see how much Starscream has changed. But he still cares for him. He thinks Starscream can be better than this, deserves better. He doesn't like the Decepticon culture, the way Starscream has become so paranoid and twitchy and violent, constantly looking over his shoulders and not trusting anyone. That's no way to live!

But as Starscream is about to go back to the Decepticons, he starts a spat with Skyfire. (In his own way, Starscream is just keeping Skyfire out of Megatron's servos, because he knows the shuttle will end up following him.) So Skyfire goes back to Team Prime and is like... "I don't want to take up your brand, but if you'll allow me to stay here I can use my skills to assist in the med bay and help look for energon to share. I don't have it in my spark to go into battle. Of course, I know some basic self-defense, but I just don't want to be involved in this war's violence. I'd much rather heal and help others, and... if at all possible, I want to try to rescue my old friend." and Optimus agrees.

Cue an energon mining mission where Team Prime + Skyfire fall under attack by some vehicons/insecticons or whatever, and Skyfire is able to show off his quick thinking skills and brute strength in front of everyone to save the day! This could be especially impressive to anyone in Team Prime that may have thought N.A.I.L.s were cowards or unable to fight.

Fast forwarding a bit, Skyfire has tried many ways to lure Starscream away from the Decepticons, but the seeker continues to rebuff him, yelling at him to stay away from him, saying cruel things, and renouncing him as a friend. But Skyfire doesn't give up. He explains to the kids when they ask him about his persistence later that he knows Starscream is hurting/is in danger, that he's always been duplicitous when it comes to his true feelings.

Going back to Starscream... imagine if Soundwave presented evidence to Megatron that there's a new face among Team Prime these days. "A new member?" Megatron ponders, but then looks a bit closer, "Hm... they wear no brand. So the Autobots are hosting a neutral? How interesting..." Then Soundwave reveals that Starscream has known about this new arrival, but hadn't reported any of his encounters. What's more, it appears they know each other. "... How very interesting indeed."

Team Prime stumble upon an energon deposit that's already being mined by Decepticons (including Starscream), so they hang back to decide if they should use the element of surprise to strike, or if they should try their luck elsewhere. While observing this mission from back at the base, Skyfire sees Megatron make a surprise visit and confront Starscream. Starscream tries to deny that he even knows him that well, and claims that Skyfire isn't very skilled so he won't be much use to the Autobot's cause. But Megatron doesn't buy it. He grabs Starscream, intent on beating the truth out of him, but Skyfire commandeers the groundbridge and bridges right to their location. We get to see more of that brute strength in action as he hits Megatron from behind, yelling at him to let Starscream go. It disorients Megatron long enough for him to grab Starscream and run off with him, telling him he won't let Megatron hurt him anymore. Skyfire and Starscream don't return to their bases that night.

And that's all I got for now! I figured they'd hide out on earth, possibly in that old ship Starscream had once visited in the show. Maybe they straight up disappear for the rest of the show up until that time where all the kids were captured and had to get exchanged for Omega Keys, or at the end where everyone has to defeat a Unicronified Megatron. Like I want them to show up as Science Bros Who Are Here To Kick Ass And Help... double bonus if things are dire and Wheeljack gets roped in for science stuff too. You'd really have a Moment of a former Decepticon, an Autobot Wrecker, and a Neutral working together and that would just be Neat.