Lizard: This is just a really short piece I wrote after coming across the quote below. Something about it just begged writing, so I decided to pick on Sunstreaker. But only because I love him so.

Disclaimer: Transformers and all related material does not belong to me. Nor does Thomas Fuller.

"Some have been thought brave
because they were afraid to run away."

-Thomas Fuller

Part of him hated the war.

Even though he was built for it and loved every second of battle, he still hated something about all the gruesome fighting.

He relished the madness and fire of battle, and he thrived in its passionate heat. Killing was not at all an aversion to him, and he did not fear death to himself. The roars of explosions and sharp fusillade of gunfire didn't even distract him; they were as familiar and comfortable as the steady thrum of his own systems.

Of the two, he could never be seen as the saner brother, but his twin had something he did not. He had knowledge, a desire, for peace. Now he loved battle just the same, but he understood that that was not how it should be. And he could just as easily enjoy the simple pleasures of socializing as he could the deafening chaos of battle.

He himself could not.

He wasn't sure why, but something about just talking to someone rather than shooting at them didn't sit right. And that was obviously wrong. Thus he was, in a way, trapped by his own mind. Which made him blame the war that had shaped his existence, had trapped him, forcing him to fight for something he didn't want. He had never truly known peace, and he wasn't sure what peace even was. Where he was quick and efficient on the battlefield he was awkward and stilted in normal conversation, unsure how to properly proceed.

When it came down to it, he simply did not know how to survive when survival should be easy.

He was made to fight for his life, to thrive in the desperate situations of impossible odds and hopeless strategies. Not to live the dull life of a domestic mech in the city with a mate and 1.5 sparklings with their pet turbopuppy.

Maybe to some that was appealing, but he couldn't find anything more foreign.

And foreign couldn't be more frightening.

Many of the Autobots, no matter their opinions on him personally, could not deny that Sunstreaker was brave, and he would most likely lead them to regret it if they tried. But the golden warrior knew fear, but it wasn't of death or pain or even defeat. No, Sunstreaker was afraid of what he didn't understand. And he didn't understand peace.

He didn't fight to win.

He fought because he was afraid not to.