In a sense, the flier was much as his own Starscream had once been in that respect.  Beneath the scheming and the power hunger, beneath the desperate need for attention and recognition, his own trine leader was a scientist at spark.  He too might well have taken to studying the inert crystals in private, just as an exercise in curiosity, even though they apparently offered no more power.

  That thought flew from Thundercracker's mind the instant the other's attitude changed, shifting into something more concerned.  Wings flicking, he tensed as if bracing himself.  "I’m fine."  The answer was a stock one, a reflexive one . . . the one he'd learned too well eons ago to give no matter what was going on internally.  In that moment, though, he found he couldn't meet the other's optics.