Jetfire and Jetstorm flew through the polluted air of Detroit as they continued their patrols over the city. Decepticon activity had been slow, no battles for almost eight orbital cycles, or eight days in human language, but Sentinel Prime believed that they should still run daily patrols for precaution. The twins hated it though, mostly because they were the only ones who actually had to do it for megacycles (hours) on end. The others did it for maybe one megacycle, and they'd go out and have to patrol for maybe three or four megacycles. However, since Sentinel was their leader, they had to obey his every command.
"Jetfire, Jetstorm, report!" Sentinel said through the transmission.
"No Decepticons are being sighted Sentinel Prime, sir!" Jetstorm replied.
"Yes…it is being very quiet!" Jetfire chimed in. They heard a huff on the other side of the link as their leader thought for a moment which surprised the two because he rarely ever thinks. Usually, he just jumps right in with anything, but not this time.
They heard him sigh, "Yes…too quiet. Well, just in case…maybe you should stay out there for a little while longer-"Jetfire almost groaned when he heard Jazz's voice in the background.
"Sentinel, are you jiving me?" the ninja-bot exclaimed, "Those two have been out there for way too long! They need a break…" The twins transformed into their robot forms as they listened to the link. Jetstorm could feel the hope radiating from his brother through their bond while they waited.
"Excuse me…are you the leader of this team?" There was silence, "Nope, didn't think so! Those two will stay out there for as long as I want them to until I think that everything's fine outside! You got that?" Footsteps…Jazz was walking away, and that crushed the twins. No break for them now. When the transmission was ended, Jetstorm looked up at his brother who was barely hovering in the air. They were both tired and wanted to go back to the Autobot's base to relax, but they couldn't. They got their orders and were expected to follow them.
The blue bot patted his brother on the shoulder, "Come on brother…we should be going." He transformed but didn't fly off as he waited for his orange twin. He didn't transform or make any indication that he was going to follow him though. He just floated there in mid-air. Sadness drifted from the orange bot to Jetstorm as he remained silent. The blue bot let out a sigh before transforming once again and turning to his brother.
"Brother…I want to go back," Jetfire whispered as he stared at the ground that was thousands of feet below him, "I am not wanting to patrol anymore…if we are still, then I may be falling out of sky because of exhaustion." Jetstorm's faceplate softened before he hugged his brother who happily hugged him back.
"I am knowing brother. I am being tired too, but we are having to keep patrolling, or Sentinel Prime may separate us again for disobeying orders…" he explained, "…and I am not wanting for him to do that. Besides, if you are falling, you are knowing that I will be catching you…I am promising." The orange bot smiled up at his brother before nodding his head. Another megacycle passed before they finally got the call from Sentinel that said they could go back. Apparently, due to much arguing and chewing out of the leader, he gave into the other Autobot's pleas for him to allow them time to relax.
Joy spread throughout both twins as they flew with the strength they had left to the Autobot's base. They thanked Primus more times that cycle than any other time in their lives. As they flew off, a figure made himself known behind them, but neither of their sensors went off. The maroon colored jet hovered there for a second, his arms crossed in front of his chestplating. A low chuckle escaped his lips when the twins continued flying down towards the city, already a hundred-fifty feet away.
"Looks like these two twin turbos are back…Cybertron's secret weapon? I'll be the judge of that…"and with that, he flew away. Starscream had been watching them for quite awhile, and he realized that they stayed out for almost four megacycles a day, and when they were done, they were too weak to even fly at their top speeds. It would have been a perfect time for him to attack them, but the Autobots would be expecting them, and if they didn't return when they should, they would know something was wrong. The sky above him was beginning to darken as the sun began to set. Tomorrow, he would make his move; tomorrow, he would destroy the Jettwins.
Landing was killer for the twins. As soon as their stabilizing servos hit ground, they both almost collapsed, but they supported one another before walking into the base.
Bumblebee and Bulkhead sat on the make-shift couch in the living room playing video games, Eli sitting atop the arm of the chair, while Sentinel, Optimus, and Ratchet stood near the computers talking about "older bot" business, and the ninja bots of the team were nowhere to be found.
Brother…can we be going back to room? I am wanting to recharge…Jetfire asked his brother through the bond. The blue bot nodded his head in approval before walking through the room and to the doorway that led to the main hallway. No one acknowledged them as they were too "busy" to do so, but as the twins were beginning to make their way into the hallway, a booming voice echoed off the walls of the entire base.
"JETFIRE! JETSTORM! Where do you cogs think you're going?" Sentinel exclaimed, causing the twins to jump. They spun around on their heel struts to face their leader.
"We were going back to our room…sir…" Jetstorm explained as the two jets continued to hold each other up. At this point, Eli decided to finally look up. She also smirked when she noticed that the twins were going to get chewed out…again, but something made her stop. Further analysis of the two bots showed that they were on the verge of breaking down before all of them.
"Stand up straight!" Sentinel commanded, "And why are you not saluting? Aren't I a higher ranking then you?" Brother…I cannot, Jetfire whimpered in his thoughts. "Are you two listening to me? Do you want me to separate you again?" Two pairs of optics widened in fear at that last statement. At that moment, being separated was the last thing either one of them wanted. Brother…we are having to…Jetstorm replied, looking at his brother apologetically. Both attempted to stand at attention, finally succeeding, but neither could stop the trembling that overtook their systems. This didn't please their hotheaded leader at all. "Will you two quit your shaking? You're seriously asking for it, aren't you?" They shook their heads as they tried to still their body frames.
Eli hopped off the couch before crossing the room to Optimus. She tapped him on his shoulder before he finally turned around to look at her, "Yes Eli…what is it?"
"Optimus, you need to go over there," she gestured to the three bots near the hallway, "and get Sentinel to stop…those two are in no condition to be yelled at." The red and blue firetruck looked over at the said bots.
"Look, Eli…they aren't my officers, they're Sentinel's…and I can just walk over there and tell Sentinel what to do. You know how he gets," he explained, "Besides, those two can handle-"
"Brother!" All bots in the room turned their heads towards the twins before gasping. Jetfire was passed out on the ground while Jetstorm weakly held him in his arms, and he looked as if he was about to faint too. He did his best to not black out as fatigue hit him like a swinging fist from an oversized Decepticon. Eli and Ratchet quickly ran over to them, Sentinel just watching as they carried the two twins to the medbay, but the pink bot didn't leave without a final glare to the twin's leader.
Ratchet laid Jetfire down on one of the berths, Jetstorm the other before beginning a systems check. Eli stood in the corner, watching the medbot work. Every now and then, her gaze would fall on the blue twin whose pained form would almost bring oil tears to her optics. She didn't notice as Ratchet started speaking when she saw something outside the window.
"Eli?" She shook her head to release her from the daze she was under before gazing up at Ratchet.
"I'm sorry, Ratchet," she apologized, "What did you say?" She looked back out the window but realized whatever was there before was now gone.
"I said that they should be fine after a nice recharge," he replied, "Damn Sentinel overworked them today. Do you remember how long they were out?" She shook her head,
"No. I don't remember an exact time, but I know they were gone for several hours." He shook his head in disapproval, gesturing for her to follow him.
"Come on…we should leave them here to rest. Right now, we need to go talk to that aft-head Sentinel," he growled, but she didn't follow right away. She walked over to Jetstorm before pressing a light kiss to his forehead. Turning on her heel struts, she walked out of the room with Ratchet. When they stepped into the main room, they realized that Sentinel was already having a nice chat with Optimus and the two ninja bots.
"You what?" Optimus questioned.
"You heard right," Jazz said, "Sentinel, here, made those two stay out there for four megacycles. I tried to get him to allow them to come back, but he wouldn't listen!" Said bot glared at the white ninja bot.
"Look, those two need to understand what it's going to be like later in their lives," he explained, "They're going to have to patrol for megacycles on end! I'm just preparing them!"
"But they're just young bots Sentinel," Ratchet shouted from the doorway, causing the other bots to turn to him, "They can't handle that kind of work! Yes, they're young, like I said before, so they should have more energy than us older bots, but they just got thrown into all this war business without warning. You need to lay off of them a bit."
"I don't need to do anything," Sentinel sneered, "They're my officers, and they do what I tell them! I don't need to listen to you!"
"Sentinel," Eli cut in, "If you don't stop overworking those two, you aren't going to have any officers to do your damn work! You'll offline them by the end of the orbital cycle(for those of you who forgot what that means…its day)! They can't take it…"
"Shut your mouth!" the arrogant leader exclaimed, "I don't need some weakling femme telling me how to take care of my officers! Now, why don't you just walk away and leave all this to the big mechs?" Eli ground her dental plating. He was seriously asking for it. "Go on…go play video games with your friends over there like the good little femme you are!" That was the last straw. In a matter of nano-kliks, Eli had Sentinel pinned on the ground, his face in the floor, and his arms held behind his back by the pink bot. Everyone stared in shock at what just happened, and Bumblebee and Bulkhead did their best not to laugh.
"Go ahead and say that last line for me Sentinel because I swear, I'll fricking rip your arms out of their sockets!" she threatened through gritted dental plating.
"Cog, I'll have you court marshaled for this! Now let me go!" She put more pressure on his arms, both ready to give up and snap from their wiring, but Ratchet and Optimus quickly grabbed the bot before she could completely tear him limb from limb. Sentinel stood up, glaring at the femme. "Why you little glitch! I could have you arrested for assaulting an officer!"
"Well, you should be arrested because what you are doing to the twins is a type of abuse! I'm pretty sure they have laws against that on Cybertron, right?" Eli struggled against Ratchet's grip as she tried to break free, so she could beat the living slag out him, but the medbot kept a firm servo on her.
"You'd better control your team Optimus," Sentinel said, looking up at the red and blue bot, "or I swear, I'll lock them up faster than you can say protoform!" With that, he stalked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Ratchet released Eli who rubbed her arms where he had held her.
"Eli, what were you thinking?" Optimus asked, "You know better than to do that!" She shook her head.
"I'm sorry Optimus, but he was seriously asking for it!" she exclaimed.
"That may be, but it doesn't give you the right to go attacking other bots!" She muttered a whatever under her breath before walking out of the room to her bedroom.
"By Primus, what are we going to do about those two?" Ratchet asked aloud.