Title: Can I Have a Refund on This Body, Please?
Author: Leslie
Pairing: Sunny/Sides, Ratchet/Prowl
Rating: RDisclaimer: Not mine, sorry. Please don't sue me.
Summary: Five years after the Autobots arrive on Earth, the Decepticons have returned with a new leader and more reinforcements. The Autobot force is almost complete except for a pair of missing warriors. When the twins are found, what has happened to them may just end the truce between the Transformers and the humans forever.
The auburn haired young man walked across the Mojave Desert carrying a blond haired man in his arms. Both were dressed similarly in black pants, black leather boots and black t-shirts. The auburn haired man looked disheveled and bruised but the man he carried was in far worse condition; unconscious with dried blood on his face and arms. The sun was just rising when the walking man began to give out from exhaustion and dehydration. He knew the man in his arms wasn't fairing any better.
"Hang on, please, just hang on. I'm going to find them and they are going to fix all of this. I promise." He'd heard one of their captors talking about a base in the dessert. For five years now, they'd lived in cages, behind bars, separately except on certain occasions. The auburn haired man was going to murder every single one of them once he got the man in his arms to safety.
As he came across on steep set of dunes, the sun was beginning to move higher in the sky and the auburn haired man saw several vehicles in the distance, one of which looked like an EMT vehicle and the other, which appeared to be what he'd heard called an eighteen wheeler cab. The colors were bright and vivid and he prayed these were the ones he'd been searching for now for several days.
"Help!" he yelled, as he came down the dune, tightening his hold on the man in his arms. "Please! Help!" The EMT vehicle began to move in his direction and it was at that point that he finally lost his footing and went down into the sand. He cradled the blond man to his chest and whispered softly, "hang on… almost there…" The roaring of more than one vehicle made him look up as a man in a military uniform jumped down from a black truck and moved towards him. The auburn haired man became enraged.
"Get away! I'll kill you if you come any closer! You did this to us! You did this to us! Get away!" The man slowed down and the truck transformed slowly as the EMT vehicle and the eighteen-wheeler stopped and then did the same. The auburn haired man looked at them then back at the military man. "Oh Primus… you're not… no, no no!"
"Did he just say…?"
"I think he did."
"Son, listen to me," said the military man as he moved closer. "I am not your enemy. I will not do anything to harm you in any way. Your friend looks hurt. Can we please check him out?" The auburn haired man held the blond one tighter. "You can hold him while I check him out, okay?" He nodded slowly and the military man moved closer and knelt next to him. "What's his name?"
"I call him Sunny," the man said softly.
"…" The eighteen-wheeler knelt down next to the man who was speaking. "And what do we call you?"
"He calls me Siders… Optimus? Is that you?" Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, nodded slowly, his face a mask of emotions. Carefully, he reached down and brought the tip of his finger to the chest of the blond haired man and sighed softly. Behind him, Ironhide and Ratchet stared in shock.
"Primus, what is this?" Ratchet said softly, coming forward and kneeling next to Prime. "Red? Look at me." Siders looked up at him slowly.
"Ratchet?" The man broke down into tears, shaking almost violently as he did so. Prime looked over at Colonel Will Lennox.
"We must get them back to base and find out what happened to them immediately."
"Who are they, Prime?" Will asked, concern lacing his voice as he reached out and tried to calm the conscious man.
"Two of our finest warriors… the only living twins of Cybertron. Their names are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe."
"We were on our way when we got your first message," the humanized version of Sideswipe said softly, as he sat on a metal table allowing a human medic to check him out while Ratchet ran scans on his twin. "We crash landed in some place called Wyoming and were promptly captured by humans dressed much as your friend here. We were put into stasis and when we woke, we were as you see us now, humanized."
"I don't understand how this is possible," Optimus said quietly, looking between Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "How did they make you human?" Sideswipe reached into the pocket of the black pants he wore and handed Will a small disk.
"I made a copy of their hard drive before I escaped with Sunny. He's been unconscious now for almost four days. I'd heard one of our captors talking about you all, about a hidden base in the desert that was protected by the President. I knew I had to come and find you. I hoped you'd be able to help us. or find some way to do so." Prime nodded slowly and bent down to look Sideswipe in the eye.
"We'll fix this, Sideswipe. You have my word." Sideswipe looked over at his brother then back at his leader.
"We've lived in these bodies now for five years, Prime," he said almost painfully and Prime heard the fear that he was trying to hide. "Humans living with more than thousands of years worth of memories. Can you even fathom what that's been like?"
"I can not even begin to understand what you and your twin have been through but I will do everything in my power to make it right, Sides. I promise." Sideswipe nodded slowly as Prime held out a hand to him. Sideswipe looked up at him then climbed into the hand, which Prime brought up to his chest. The red haired twin looked down at his brother as Ratchet and another human medic worked on him then settled into Prime's hand and promptly passed out from exhaustion. Ratchet looked up, scanning the young man quickly.
"He's fine, Prime, just exhausted and probably suffering from hunger and dehydration."
"He's going to need an I.V.," Will said from the far side of the room. "At least for the first twenty-four hours or so." Prime cradled the sleeping twin to his chest and sighed heavily before looking down at his human friend.
"You must find out who's behind this, Will. I can not let this go." Will nodded slowly as he walked towards the infirmary door.
"I'll find everything I can and get back to you as soon as possible." Will left the infirmary just about the time Prowl walked in. He had heard the reports but had not yet had a chance to actually see the twins when they'd first arrived. Now, as he entered the infirmary, he found his bond mate working on a blond haired human and looked around for the other one.
"I have him," Prime said quietly and Prowl looked up to find the auburn haired human asleep in Prime's hand.
"How did this happen?" Prowl whispered softly, not wishing to disturb his lover or the sleeping twin.
"We're not sure, but they've been left like this for five years. They arrived right after the first message went out, probably just after you arrived." Prowl growled softly under his breath, causing Ratchet to turn and looks his way.
"Sorry," Prowl apologized softly. Ratchet nodded and turned back to his patient. Prowl looked back up at Prime. "I'll start sweeping the Internet and see what can be found. I'll have Bluestreak and Mirage start scouting and I'll see if Ironhide fancies a trip to wherever the twins were being held." Prime nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Prowl." Prowl peered into Prime's hand and reached out, his fingertips brushing the auburn hair out of the handsome face.
"What were they thinking doing this to them," Prowl whispered softly before turning to leave. Prime watched him go just as Ratchet finished with Sunstreaker and turned to him.
"Prime," Ratchet called. Prime turned to the medic. "Sunstreaker is stabilized and we've got him on some I.V. fluids and antibiotics. We'll keep him sedated for a day or so until he begins to heal more."
"Can you tell what happened to them?"
"All I can tell you is that whatever happened before their escape, Sideswipe did the right thing by getting them out of there. Sunstreaker was assaulted and I would gather that Sideswipe was too, but not as badly judging by his own injuries. We'll just have to wait and see what happens from now."
"I'll take Sideswipe and get him settled in one of the human barracks. I'll put Bumblebee on alert to keep an eye on him and maybe tomorrow we'll be able to begin sorting things out." Prime gently tightened his hold on Sideswipe and walked out of the infirmary. Ratchet turned back to Sunstreaker and sighed heavily, passing his hand just over the twin's chest, feeling the heart beating beneath it.
"You're home, Sunstreaker, and you're safe. Whenever you're ready to wake, I'll be here like I always am…"
TBC… Heh… new story to read… working on this one and Regarding Sideswipe at the same time. Anywho, read, review and lemme know if you think you want to read more. Thanks!