Serendipity
"I'm looking for someone," He finally admitted. "Me too," She replied softly. Sunstreaker was just trying to find his brother when a blonde haired girl decided to use him as a hiding place. TransformersTWD
Because crossover's and unpopular pairings are my life.
And because when you're stuck in Japan for a month with spotty Wi-Fi you find yourself writing a lot to pass time.
I own nothing but this idea I had on a whim.
Serendipity: Luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for.
"Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together?
Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences."
― Emery Allen
Sunstreaker couldn't believe Optimus had left them, had left his brother, in this primus forsaken planet. When the planet first came down with the Lazarus virus(1), the Autobots and NEST had spent weeks trying to find a cure or counter plan to the rising epidemic.
When the Navy and Army branches fell, they decided to just Napalm the nearest cities and hope for the best.
When the Airforce and Marines fell, they began to plan an escape route, one that required the spaceship the Autobots had been provided at the start of their contract with NEST.
It was only after D.C. fell that the Autobots rounded up their humans and took off into the depths of space.
Sunstreaker stayed back because Sideswipe, fragging Sideswipe, left on a recovery mission to Georgia to pick up Epps and his family. But Epps ended up at NEST on his own, family in his car, and all the MRE's he could fit in his trunk.
Sideswipe missed his return date and all his communications had been shut off. The only thing that reassured Sunstreaker that his brother had not been off lined was their twin bond and his continued life.
Sunstreaker spent days trying to get a message out to his brother through their bond and through the Autobots communication systems. But Sideswipe responded to neither.
As the days dragged on, with no response and no apparent cure in sight, Optimus finally ordered that it was time to leave.
"You're just going to leave him here?" Sunstreaker had growled at Optimus as they began loading the ship with last minute items. The humans were all hunkered down and packed away inside, like little retrorats.
"We must leave now, for the human's sakes." Optimus responded, much to Sunstreaker's fury.
"Frag the humans!" He yelled. "You're going to leave one of your comrades, one who placed all his trust into you, behind!?"
Optimus remained silent, and in a burst of anger Sunstreaker reached out to deck his Commanding Officer in his face. He left amongst his friends angry yells, body shifting mid stride until he was once again a golden Lamborghini.
His wheels screeched as he peeled out of the hangar, his anger driving him until he finally reached Georgia. But Georgia was a fragging mess when he got their, cars piled together and blocking the roads, the Lazarus infected walking through the destruction of it all.
Sunstreaker couldn't drive through the streets at this point so he reverted to his bipedal form and retreated to the woods. Even though there was no government to scold him for revealing his form, it still drew the attention of the zombie people.
Sunstreaker preferred not having to step on any that got in his way.
But the woods were a different obstacle, branches catching on his joints and animals skittering under his pedes. He traveled like this for a while, impatiently flicking any infected humans that got too close while simultaneously cursing them for being slimy and overall disgusting.
He is still a few days out from Sideswipe's last signal point when his systems blare to life with warning.
He has been operating for six days straight and is in desperate need of recharge. He looks around the area he is in and settles next to a solitary tree, shifting seamlessly into his alt form again.
He takes a moment to set up an override system in the case someone tries to enter his form while he is recharging before finally succumbing to some much-needed rest.
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.
They had taken her when she exited the funeral home. Had come from behind her and restrained her easily. She fought back, arm getting caught in the door of the car when they tried to slam her in. It cracked under the force and she cried out in pain, just as one of them struck her in the cheek. She blacked out for a second and when she came to, it was daylight again.
She wasted no time in unlocking the door and rolling out to her freedom. It hurt but she persisted, running hard and fast.
Her breathing is erratic and choppy as she sprints through the towering trees. There is a dull pain in her ankle from where she'd caught it in the bear trap and a persistent sting under her eye and resonating in her wrist.
She knows her hand is useless when her fingers refuse to obey and instead tucks it into her side as a meager form of protection.
There are loud stomps behind her, leaves and branches jostled and echoing loudly in the dense foliage.
Beth sprints harder, almost breathless with terror, and lets loose a terrified scream as a walker comes around the bend of a tree and collides with her.
She stretches her hand out to brace her fall and screams again when the pain in her wrist intensifies. She has a second to reel in her pain and regain her bearings before she scrambles back to her feet and runs from her pursuers and now the walker that she has attracted.
Reaching at her thigh, she is reminded that she is weaponless as her hands grasp at nothing.
She sees another walker come from the woods to her far right and runs in the opposite direction.
She continues to run, eyes stinging with her growing weariness, until she comes upon a small clearing. There is a lone Lamborghini parked under a solitary tree and the queer sight baffles her for a moment.
There is rustling behind her and she is quick to run to the pristine automobile and tug on its handles. They are locked. The rustling gets louder and, making a split decision, she quickly shimmies under the car, hoping beyond any hope that she will be safe.
Hidden under the automobile and paralyzed by fear, she does not feel the heat emanating from the Lamborghini nor hear the thrum of the nearly silent engine as it awakens from its slumber.
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.
.
It is the tug against his door handle that alerts Sunstreaker and thrusts him out of recharge. It takes a moment to reboot all his systems and another to become aware. When he does, he finds himself looking at a petite human, hair a messy disarray of blonde strands, and a large gash under her cheek.
She is clutching her arm protectively and doing a superficial scan he can see that it is fractured. She is also dehydrated, malnourished, suffering a sprained ankle and positively filthy.
There is a rustle behind her and Sunstreaker's sensors pick up two Lazarus infected and two living men further back. The girl panics before diving under his undercarriage and sending him into a fit of disgust as he feels her brush against his frame.
He's had animals try to take shelter under him before, but a simple burst of high frequency noise would send them scattering.
This time he knows that such tactics would do nothing but cause problems so he staunchly pushes down his distaste, and watches silently as the Lazarus infected enter the small clearing.
They amble aimlessly, eyes spotting him but finding no desire to come towards what they know they cannot eat. So instead they walk around the clearing, noses up as they try to sniff out their prey.
Another rustle and two men enter the clearing. The Lazarus infected amble to them, recognizing them as food. One of the men grins largely and pulls out a large hunting blade to take care of one. The other man frowns and uses a baton to beat in the head of the other.
They are both wearing police uniforms, a job that usually meant protection. But Sunstreaker smelt the fear coming off the girl, felt her tense up under him.
The grinning man's eyes lit up as he took notice of him and Sunstreaker had to stop his frame from rocking in unbridled anger when the human came forward to place his hands on his hood.
"Look at this beauty Sheppard!" The man cooed as he continued to caress Sunstreaker. The frowning man, Sheppard, darted his eyes around the clearing uneasily.
"Leave it Gorman," He ordered tersely. "It's in too good of a condition to have been abandoned." Gorman pursed his lips unhappily and sighed dramatically.
Sunstreaker was pleased when he took his hands away.
He was less pleased when the man darted his arm under him to grab the girl using him as a hiding place.
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"Well hello there, little miss," Gorman says pleasantly as he drags a violently trashing Beth from her hiding spot. She screams, legs darting out to kick at him in whichever way she can. Gorman laughs at this, batting her legs away easily.
"C'mon now, don't be like that," He says softly, chuckle leaving his mouth as his hand runs up the length of her thigh and settles provocatively on the curve of her hip. He is dragging her closer, body bending to leer over her.
"We only want to help you," He tells her, a leer in his tone.
Beth is beyond terrified at this point and she trashes at him even more. The man chuckles again as he brings her under him. His legs settle over hers, his hand pins both hers down, and he leans in close to smile at her.
"Daryl!" She screams desperately as she thrashes under the man. "Daryl!"
"Shut her up," Hisses Shepard as his eyes dart around the area. She feels Gorman place his sweaty palm over her mouth and she quickly bites down, the coppery tang of blood lingering in her mouth after the action.
Gorman yelps and rips his hand away. He is not smiling any more when he looks down on her.
"You bitch!" He growls and brings his injured hand down to strike her roughly.
Her head bounces against the floor and she is momentarily discombobulated. Another strike and she feels her forehead split open. A third strike and she thinks she is about to black out.
She thinks she may have already when she hears a curious noise of grinding gears and feels a dark shadow settle over her. Gorman gasps in surprise and that is the last noise he makes before he is ripped off of her person.
Beth is able to make out what looks like a giant robot crushing Gorman in his grip before she finally blacks out.
When her vision comes back, she finds herself looking at the robot again, only this time he is splattered in little droplets of blood.
A scream gets caught in her throat and she sits up abruptly.
"Calm down," The robot snaps at her, voice sounding oddly human. The command shocks her into silence and she is left observing the golden robot. It is a he, she thinks, voice too deep and actions too masculine to be anything but.
He is tall, she can see. How tall, she doesn't know, as he sits under the shade of the tree, legs bent at the knee.
He is also a brilliant, eye catching gold, which she thinks suits his imposing frame. He pulls a giant cloth from seemingly nowhere(2), and points a digit at it. His digit bends and slides back, liquid spurting forth to douse the fabric.
She waits and watches silently as he cleans himself, wondering if he will kill her. She doesn't think he will seeing as he spared her, and possibly saved her.
Finding Gorman and Sheppard's mutilated remains and she is sure that he saved her.
"T-thank you," She stutters out and the robot seems to grimace.
"Don't thank me," He said acidly, rubbing the cloth against his arms and then his chest. It is a deep red at this point. "You still got hurt."
Beth feels the throbbing of her cheek and the sting against her forehead but feels no anger towards the robot. She knows it would've been worse without his intervention.
"Thanks anyway," She says instead. He stops his ministrations and looks down at her carefully. She meets the pale blue of his eyes bravely and he snorts as her. He flicks his hand and something again materializes out of nowhere into his palm.
"Here," He says and tosses down a strange tool to her. She catches it awkwardly. It looks like a hot glue gun and Beth stares at it in bemusement.
"It's for your laceration," He tells her, resuming his cleaning process. "Drag it across them and it'll seal it. Like stitches." She does as told, hesitant enough to show proper weariness, but ultimately knowing it would not matter.
If the robot wanted her to die he would've killed her already.
Cool relief starts at the point of contact and she sighs contently when her wounds are sealed neatly with what feels like a thin layer of paste. She touches it experimentally and pulls back to see no substance on her hands.
"It dries instantly," The robot informs her as he reaches out for the tool. She passes it to him, along with her heartfelt thanks.
"Whatever," He mutters and vanishes the tool and his cleaning rag. Beth feels a question at the tip of her tongue but holds it back when the robot finally gets to his feet.
He is tall, she thinks, as she gazes up, up, and more up.
"Wow," She breathes out and the robot looks confused.
"You're taking my presence rather well," He tells her, thinking of the memory file Bumblebee had sent him after the meeting between he and Sam. He expected her to scream, to run, to pass out from sheer disbelief.
Not to gaze at his form with awe.
"Well, when the dead start to rise again you stop being surprised by things." He ponders on that and shrugs in agreement.
"What are you anyway," She asks, eyeing the red decal on his chest. "Are you like a military project?"
"Hardly," He snorts. "Your human technology is nowhere near advanced to have created a specimen as fine as me."
"Human technology…so you weren't man made?"
"No," He tells her curtly and sees the questions just brewing in her brain.
"I'm from a very distant planet, far past this galaxies solar system."
"So…you're an alien?" She says, sounding fascinated, eyes looking upon him again with piqued curiosity.
"Cybertronian," He says, reminded of the government's classification of his people. "Don't call me an alien."
Beth nods her head in a placating manner.
"My name's Beth," She tells him, as if he really cares. "Do you have a name?"
He looks down on her and wonders why he even gives this primate the time of day.
"Sunstreaker," He finally says after a lengthy pause. "My name is Sunstreaker."
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.
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She had been trailing after him the past three breems. Usually he could ignore such annoyances, but after the eighth branch gets caught in his knee joints and the frustration of not finding his brother builds up, he finally snaps.
"Why are you following me?" He spits out, turning abruptly in his stride and causing Beth to stumble so as not to run into his leg.
She looks surprised at his voice, having spent the entire time in silence.
"You're safe," She tells him immediately and then feels a blush rise to her face. "…You're the only person I know right now who doesn't want to hurt or eat me."
"That's hardly an excuse to be following me. Where are your people?" He asks her and she becomes defensive at his tone.
"I don't know. I'm lost. Where are your people?"
"They're gone." He says, sounding more hurt at the fact than he intended. Because it did hurt. To be left behind so carelessly by people he'd fought and spilled energon with. Orns spent in their company and he and his brother were abandoned so easily.
Beth is quiet as she observes him, clearly picking up on his emotions.
"Then why are you here still?"
A heavy silence descends upon them until Sunstreaker breaks it.
"I'm looking for someone," He finally admitted.
"Me too," She replied softly.
He grows silent at her words and mutely turns around to resume his pace.
He says nothing as she continues to follow after him.
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.
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"Where are you going?" He asks as he sees her attempt to hobble off into the woods.
They had just settled down to make camp and Sunstreaker is annoyed to realize he did it for her sake. He had slowed his pace with her, letting her hobble after him pathetically until he finally felt guilty enough to stop altogether.
Beth had let out a quiet sigh of relief but no sooner did they stop did she begin to stumble away from him.
"I need to gather firewood," She tells him, as if it were obvious.
"Why?" He asks, because it is not obvious to him.
She continues to look at him incredulously.
"Because it gets really cold at night. And I might freeze to death…?" He is silent for a moment, before there is a familiar grinding of gears and Beth is left staring at a golden Lamborghini again.
The backseat door pops open and Beth can only stare at Sunstreaker in quiet amazement.
"Hurry up and get in," He barks and Beth jumps before quickly complying. Sunstreaker contains a shudder when she slides in, because while he can tolerate Beth he still didn't appreciate humans touching him.
"Thanks," She says, being careful not to touch him excessively. He is vaguely amused when she decides to sit rigidly, hands tucked nervously in her lap. He is less amused when he sees the way her hand curls protectively over her wrist.
"It's broken," He tells her, and it takes a second for her to realize he is talking about her arm.
"Oh, yeah—I think so." She says and tenderly touches the swollen appendage. He hums in a disinterested fashion before turning up his heater. Beth relaxes into the warmth, eyes drooping down until she is finally asleep. Sunstreaker observes her silently until he finally allows himself to fall into recharge.
When Beth wakes up the next morning, she is surprised to see a golden cuff around her injured wrist, a red jewel at its center. It holds her fractured bones in place, acting as a makeshift brace. Beth stares at Sunstreaker's steering wheel but the Cybertronian says nothing at her probing stare.
In the back of her mind she wonders how he was able to place the cuff on her until later that day she is introduced to his holoform.
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"Where are you going now?" He asks her in a disgruntled fashion as she attempts to break away into the dense foliage. The tree's are becoming thicker and closer and Sunstreaker can no longer wander through the woods as easily as he did before.
"I'm hungry," She tells him, hand coming up to her stomach. "I haven't eaten anything in a while." He grumbles at this, having temporarily forgotten that Beth was a human, and as such needed fuel regularly.
He subspaces a pack and drops it near her feet.
Beth reaches for it and is surprised by its contents.
"Granola bars?" She asks, delighted, as she rips open one and bites into with gusto. She digs around some more and finds some water bottles, beef jerkey, packs of dried fruit and nuts, and a small assortment of MRE's. There is also a medical kit at the very bottom.
"Why do you have all this?" She asks around a mouthful of granola. Sunstreaker doesn't look like he requires food and water, but then again she has no idea what a Cybertronian needs to survive.
"Just one of the things we were ordered to carry around for the humans." He says distastefully as he watches her eat.
She wonders at his words because they sound like he'd worked with humans while he was here. But she also knows he is hurt and doesn't wish to bring up what might be a touchy subject.
"What do you eat then? Or drink?"
"Energon," He says and Beth raises her brows at him.
"I've never heard of it."
"Your planet doesn't have much of it, so most of what we have is synthesized." He tells her, and then produces a cube of some strange glowing substance. Beth looks at it and thinks that looks very toxic actually.
"How often do you need energon?"
He shrugs at the question.
"It varies. One cube could last me two weeks. Some a month. Others two days."
"What happens when you don't have anymore?" She asks curiosity piqued.
"We go into stasis lock—a coma, to reserve our energy." Beth nods her head at this and chews on her food thoughtfully.
"The person you're looking for…did he go into stasis lock?" Sunstreaker becomes tense at her words and Beth immediately regrets her question.
"Sorry," She apologizes, knowing she has crossed a line.
Sunstreaker doesn't say anything, instead looking around the woods. He transforms down to his alt mode and Beth says nothing at the abrupt transformation.
She does let out a tiny scream when a man materializes out of nowhere. She fumbles with the hunter blade she stole back from Gorman.
"Relax," The man snaps at her and she halts at the sound of his voice.
"S-Sunstreaker?" She asks, baffled. He gives her a look that says, 'Who else would it be, idiot?' that solidifies in her mind that it is indeed Sunstreaker.
"You're…you're human?" She says, unable to wrap her mind around this new occurrence.
She watches him thread a hand through blonde hair, and finds her eyes tracing down his frame. Realizing what she's doing she darts her eyes back up to his face, mortified. He peers back at her with inhumanly pale blue eyes.
"It's a holoform," He explains brusquely while walking towards her. She feels her breath stutter when he gets nearer because he really is quite handsome. Instead of coming to her, he walks right past and goes through the trees, his body instantly swallowed up by the surroundings.
"Sunstreaker?" She calls out confusedly, looking hesitantly towards his car form. She debates on following after him, and just as she's made up her mind, he is back.
"There's a clearing not too far from here."
"A road?" She asks hopefully, thinking of how much easier it'd be to spot a member of her family.
"No, railroad tracks. We need to travel on that from now on. My form can't fit through these trees any longer."
She looks to the forest and silently agrees. But she also knows that his Lamborghini form is very eye catching and his robot form more so. She looks to his Lamborghini form and then again to his holoform.
"I don't…um, can you transform into something less conspicuous?" She asks and Sunstreaker is disgruntled by the question. He had never once purposely altered his form into something less than perfect.
"No," He told her flatly. She rubbed her forearm nervously and Sunstreaker begins to feel annoyed. His annoyance soon dissipates and he sighs and disappears, once more placing his consciousness into his Cybertronian frame.
With a shift of his gears he changes his form, growing smaller and smaller until he is less than a tenth of his original size(3).
When he is done he is now but a simple pair of golden headphones. He again appears in his holoform and Beth jumps at his sudden re-entrance.
"Here," He says and reluctantly hands her his alt form. He has to hide a grimace as she places her hand on his frame. Beth is still organic, oils secreting at every touch and dirt and filth coating her fingers. He wonders if he will ever get used to physical contact with her.
"You want me to carry…you?" She asks, sounding unsure.
"I can't carry myself. My systems will scramble and try to send my consciousness back into my real frame." She nods her head slowly and places the headphones around her neck.
"You know, with you like this, we could probably travel through the woods still," She informs him as he reaches down to grab their supplies. She wants to be out in the open because the chances of her running into a familiar face are more likely. But she also knows that such exposure is bad for them, having already run into many bad people.
Sunstreaker turns to regard her with piercing blue eyes before calmly shaking his head.
"You said you were looking for someone too," He reminds her as he grabs their pack, somehow making it disappear, and turns to walk towards the rail.
Beth feels a smile light up her face as she races to walk at his side.
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"Who are you looking for anyway?" Beth asks after an hour of walking along the trail. Sunstreaker is silent, but she sees the muscle in his jaw tick and his hands clench at his sides. Knowing he is angry she quickly diverts the conversation back to herself.
"I'm looking for my family," She tells him. "We got separated a while ago when..." She thinks back to the prison, of all the gunshots and blood and carnage and fear permeating the air. Of her father and how he looked at she and Maggie before his life was ended in front of their eyes.
"…Yeah," She says somberly. "I'm looking for my family." Sunstreaker gives her a look and she knows he has detected the change in her mood. She thinks that is the end of their conversation and is surprised when Sunstreaker responds.
"I'm looking for my brother." He says curtly and Beth smiles at the revelation.
"Brother!" She exclaims in excitement. "I didn't know robo—err Cybertronians could have relatives."
She finds herself thinking of the mechanics of having a Cybertronian and wonders if they are birthed or built.
He is silent for a second, as if debating on whether or not to continue.
"We're twins," He says hesitantly and now Beth is even more intrigued.
"Oh, wow, twins! That's amazing. Is it very common for Cybertronians to be twins?"
"No," He says softly, perhaps the softest she's ever heard him speak. "It's very rare. I only know of one other set of twins like us."
She nods her head.
"I can see now why you're searching so hard," She says a smile curving her mouth as she reminisces on something fondly. "I had a brother once." She tells him and Sunstreaker looks at her sharply.
"He died a couple years ago…one of the first to get infected. He and my mom." Sunstreaker stops in his walking, causing Beth to stop as well. She casts him a confused look as Sunstreaker seems to struggle to form a response.
"I…am sorry for your loss," He tells her haltingly, unused to such expressions and shows of empathy. But Beth just smiles at him.
"It's okay," She tells him. "I'll see them again one day." She looks to the sky when she says this and Sunstreaker is reminded of the Well of Allsparks.
"Besides," She continues when she looks back to him. "I still have my sister Maggie, and my brother-in-law Glenn, and then I have Daryl, Judith, Rick, Carl, Carol, Tyreese and—" She stares straight into his eyes, blue clashing against blue.
"You," She says, smiling. "I still have you too."
And something sharp hits his chest, a weird sensation that sends tingles down his sensory outputs and makes him feel light and heavy at the same time.
He mumbles in Cybertronian, feeling oddly flustered, and searches for a topic changer.
"Tell me about them," He asks her and Beth smiles, delighted.
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They travel for an entire day in a half in which Beth tells him all about her family. He tells her some stories in exchange, even covering some topics about Cybertronians such as the war and the allspark.
He even explains to her the complexities of his bond with Sideswipe, and how it is physically impossible for him to be without him.
"We share the same spark," He explains to her while she listens, enraptured. "Split at birth and settled into two different frames."
"Like soul mates," She says in awe and he nods his head at the comparison.
"Yes, and when one spark dies, the other spark dies as well."
"So what happens if you find someone you want to be with? Like have a family with?" She asks him.
"It's almost impossible," He tells her. "Because you don't just choose one twin. You choose both."
She furrowed her brows at that and seemed to ponder on it for a while. Sunstreaker knew humans were unsettled by a lot of Cybertronian culture and especially on the idea of Polygamy. So he was rather surprised at Beth's response.
"That makes sense," She said while nodding her head.
"It does?" He asks her, skepticism bleeding into his voice.
"Well, yeah. I mean, you guys share the same soul. Your wif-err mate?"
"Spark mate," He corrects her with some amusement.
"Yeah, your sparkmate. Well, if she loves one of you, then that means she must love the other one as well. Because you're the same person deep down right?"
"Me and my brother are very different," He tells her, sounding dubious. She laughs.
"I'm sure there are a lot of differences. But you two are probably more alike than you realize." He hums in a way that implies that he disagrees and Beth laughs more.
"You're telling me there's never been a girl—"
"Femme."
"There's never been a femme that's loved you both equally?" And Sunstreaker thinks of all the femmes he and his brother had been with individually and together and thinks, no.
"No," He says. "My brother is very good at charming femmes but…I am what people call the 'deal breaker.' I've never been good for more than interfacing." And he's not bitter, not really. He isn't good with other bots, other people in general. He knows that and it has never bothered him.
But Beth looks at him with something like heart break in her eyes and says,
"You can't truly love someone unless you love their flaws as well."
And Sunstreaker gets that tingly sensation again, the one that makes him feel strange and uncomfortable. He pushes down the feeling and runs a diagnostic on his system before responding to Beth's words.
"I'm flawless." He tells her flatly and Beth giggles at the seriousness in his tone.
They travel in good spirits for the rest of the day until they come across a sign on the side of the rail.
It is instructions to a place called Terminus but that is not what has caught their attention.
"Maggie wrote this!" Beth exclaimed excitedly while gesturing to her sister's name.
Her eyes lingered on the words, reading it once then again, before her happiness slowly melted away to settle on something akin to a kicked puppy. He looked over her shoulder and seemed to find the reason why.
Her sister failed to mention her name in the message.
Sunstreaker frowned to himself at the realization. He looked down to the small girl, trying hard not to focus on the way her eyes watered or the way her lip trembled because he didn't care.
Right?
Right.
But then she's rubbing her arm against her face discreetly and Sunstreaker feels his brows furrow and his spark break for the girl, because he knows without a doubt that if the roles were reversed Sideswipe would stop at nothing to find him.
To think otherwise is unfathomable.
"I don't blame her, you know." She said softly, voice sweet despite sounding very sad. "I'm not very strong; I don't think she expected me to live after our home fell. I wouldn't look for me either if I were her."
She sounds bitter and resigned, brightness withering and receding into herself.
He's not sure what to say but knows that he should do something to comfort her.
"I would look for you," He finds himself saying and is startled by his own words.
Startled because he was not one to give sugarcoated words or soft appeals. He told the truth, even if it was cold or harsh or mean and cruel.
He would look for her. That was the truth.
Beth gives him a teary eyed look and he thinks maybe his systems got fragged when he feels that same weird tingling sensation resonate in his spark chamber.
"Do you want to go to Terminus?" He asks. "To see your sister?"
Beth looks at the sign, to the map and its directions to Terminus before looking back to Sunstreaker.
"No," She told him confidently, pain and sadness gone as if they were never there.
"Maggie should be fine in Terminus. Let's find your brother instead. When we find him we'll come back for my sister."
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Sunstreaker leads them on the tracks for a while until they cut through the woods again and find themselves at a road.
Beth can see a neighborhood from this distance, rows of houses lining up and branching out to form a small community. Far past it lies the remains of a city, it's crumbling and burnt buildings visible even from this distance. Surprised, she turns to Sunstreaker.
"Your brother is in that neighborhood?"
He shrugs, eyes roving over the apparent destruction from the napalm bombs. His brother had been there before they set those off. What if he had been caught in the blasts?
"This is near where his last signal broadcasted from and where his destination point was," He told Beth. "If my brother isn't in there or the city, I don't know where he is." She nods silently, knowing Sunstreaker is on edge at this point.
They are careful as they enter the small neighborhood, Beth more so than Sunstreaker. It is when they are getting to the heart of it that Beth realizes that the place is oddly silent.
"There aren't any walkers here," She states slowly.
"There are," He assures her, looking to the houses. "Most of them probably wandered to the forest when they couldn't find any food."
They meander through, mindful of any potential zombies, until they finally stop at one house in particular. A large flag hangs at the front porch, a portion of it burnt off, its frayed edges hanging limply in the stale air.
Its front door is open, a screen door hanging precariously from its hinges on the other side.
Beth peered in curiously.
"This is Epps' house," Sunstreaker said softly, not bothering to explain who that was. "Sideswipe was sent here to retrieve him."
Beth looked to him at the other's name. "Sideswipe?" She probed quietly.
"My brother," he said and wasted no time climbing the steps and entering past the threshold. Beth followed at his heels.
Sunstreaker was meticulous in his search, going through every room with his scanners to see if his brother was there in a new alt form. Each room yielded nothing. Angry, he punched a hole in the wall.
"Hey," Beth chided him instantly. "That isn't going to help you find Sideswipe any faster." Sunstreaker ignored her, content to stew in his frustration. Beth sighed, knowing he was in no state to talk to. Instead she headed for the only room he hadn't looked at; the garage.
Beth wondered why he hadn't looked there first. Then again she didn't understand half of Sunstreaker's motives.
Reaching the garage door, she turned the handle and tried to push it open. There was some resistance, like the hinges were gunked up somehow, so she shoved at it bodily.
The door swung open with a mighty slam and Beth froze at the sight that greeted her.
A hoard of walkers had been stashed in the garage and the nearest ones instantly ambled towards her.
Beth screamed and tried to pull the door back but the door didn't give and Beth had to leave before one of them could grab her.
"Beth?" Sunstreaker yelled and she saw him come out of the room he was in, just as she was running out to the hall. He saw the group of walker's at her back and instantly jumped between them and her.
"Run outside!" He yelled to her and she was instantly reminded of her and Daryl's last moments together.
"No!" She shouted out, angry that she was put in this predicament again. She pulled out her hunting blade with her good hand and got into the defensive. Sunstreaker had different plans, however, as he pushed her towards the door.
"I'm not human, remember?" He told her, not even caring that there were zombies looming directly behind him. "I need you to leave so I can set off one of my grenades." An object materializes into his palm and she gets a brief glimpse of a strange device before he is again shoving her towards the door.
"I'll be okay," He told her and she was forced to sprint away just as the walker's descended upon him. She got maybe ten feet out the front door before a bright light lit up the entirety of the house, shattering all the windows.
Beth watched in silent awe, completely oblivious of her surrounding before she suddenly felt something hard collide with her side. Her body was tossed like a rag doll through the air, the golden pair of headphones—Sunstreaker, she thought brokenly, her fingertips stretching out to grasp him— slipping off her neck during her flight.
The last thing Beth saw before her head cracked hard against pavement was Sunstreaker's horrified face. Then she blacked out.
.
.
.
"Beth!" He yelled, spark beating hard against his chest. The car he saw hit her skidded some distance away and Sunstreaker wasted no time in using his holoform's defensive pieces. A plasma gun materialized in his palm and he blasted at the back of the car, not even paying attention as it rocked up with a small explosion.
His eyes were on Beth and the blood that was slowly pooling around her body. She was painfully still when he got to her, body looking so much more fragile than he remembered.
His hand trembled as he reached out to her; feeling for the life that his scanners alerted him was already gone. Her skin is still warm under his palm and he realizes, like an after thought, that this is the first time he has willingly made contact with her.
"Beth," He murmurs again, fingers still searching for a pulse. But there is no pulse, no beat against his flesh, and he wonders why his eyes are so blurry all of a sudden. A drop of moisture hits her skin and he looks up stupidly, looking for the rain that is surely there, only to finally realize that he is crying.
Crying for an insignificant scrap of a girl who did nothing but pester him. He'd shed less tears for his fallen comrades, he reasoned with himself, why should this girl be any different? But still the tears came.
And as he gazes at her lifeless form, a memory pops into his helm with sudden clarity.
"When a bot is injured or in critical condition, you must alert a medic immediately. If there is no medic available then you must do what you can in their stead." Ratchet had told the gathered group of Autobot soldiers.
"Like what?" Mirage questioned.
"Superficial wounds can be left alone, as can injuries involving severed limbs. However, if there are any fluid leaks, they must either be clamped or welded shut. A sudden depletion of energon can send some bots into shock which can extinguish a spark."
"And what if someone is dying in front of you?" Ironhide asked darkly, clearly recounting something from the war.
Ratchet looked to him quietly at that, and it was Wheeljack who stood at his side who answered.
"There is a type of practice that only the desperate do. It's a transfer of energies(4)."
"A transfer of energies?" Smokescreen repeated from the crowd, intrigued.
Ratchet nodded his head slowly.
"Yes, though it's not advisable to do on a battlefield."
"Why not?" Asked some other bot he couldn't pinpoint.
"A transfer of energy is just that. You transfer your energy to the individual, thus sapping your own reserves. When this happens the bot doing the transfer can be ambushed and killed, too weak to protect themselves. Other times the transfer isn't enough and the injured bot dies regardless. Commonly, the bot transferring the energy uses all of his reserves and dies."
There is a moment of silence as the other's mull over that. Who would be important enough to them that they would sacrifice themselves? Sunstreaker knew it would be Sideswipe.
"But it's possible to transfer energies to them?"
"I'd like to transfer some energies to a femme, if you know what I mean," Sideswipe had whispered loudly to him and he had snorted at his brother's antics, others near them chuckling as well.
"Listen you slagging glitch heads," Ratchet barked out suddenly. "I'm teaching you this because one day I might not be here to help you if you get slagged up."
The group sobered up then, each one knowing how possible that statement really was.
"What if we want to try and heal one of the humans?" Bumblebee piped up and Sunstreaker couldn't help but cast the scout a disgusted look. Working with the primates was one thing, but touching them as well? He felt a shiver go up his frame and he stopped that thought process from getting any further.
Ratchet looked thoughtful at the question.
"A transfer of energies has never been tested with an organic before, so I'm unsure how well it'd be received. Then again, Samuel was revived due to the Matrix, so perhaps the idea isn't too far fetched."
Sunstreaker had zoned out, not interested in the topic.
Now he wished with every fiber of his being that he had payed more attention.
But Ratchet had showed them the fundamentals of the process, and Sunstreaker tried to mirror what he had showed them.
He brought his hands down, placing one over her still chest, the other over the crown of her head. Focusing, he gave a start when energy collected under his hands. He hesitated after that, wondering if this femme was worth his life—worth his brother's life—when a memory of her smile popped into his helm.
"You," She says, smiling. "I still have you too."
She was worth it. She was worth it.
With a shuddering breath he let the energy run past his palms and flow into the small body of Beth.
"C'mon, Beth," He pleaded softly, while pouring out more energy. The girl didn't respond to his pleas, still deathly still under his hands. Frustrated he poured out more and more until he began to feel weak from the continued process.
"Wake up," He growled out, feeling one of his systems shrill with warnings in his processor. More of his systems blared out more warnings but he ignored them, eyes watching her, waiting. He was coming to his last reserves and he could feel his systems begin to shut down, his holoform unable to stay active.
He felt her heart stutter under his palm, gasping breath hitting his audio's before finally he was thrown back into his true form where he blacked out from the energy depletion.
.
.
.
The police cruiser pulled up to the devastated car, before its ignition shut off.
Two men dressed in police uniforms exited, frowning at the scene before them.
"What the hell happened?" Asked one of the men. The other shrugged as he walked up to the car. The driver, another man dressed in uniform, was dead his head caved in from the back.
"I don't know but it looks like Carlson is dead."
"Dawn's not going to be happy," Muttered the first man as he walked around the area. He stopped short when he came upon a girl lying in a pool of blood. He thought she was dead at first but soon noticed her chest rising and falling with her breaths. Coming closer he could see she was pretty banged up. Pressing a finger against her neck and he could feel that her pulse was strong.
"Hey, Bob. You should come look at what I found…"
.
.
.
Beth woke up in a strange room in a strange place. She also woke up feeling very strange as well. There was a constant humming under her skin, a type of buzzing in her veins that made her jumpy and energetic and desperate for Sunstreaker's presence.
She didn't understand this feeling and she found herself constantly reaching towards her neck for a pair of headphones that weren't there.
She wasn't able to sleep the first night in the place known as Grady Hospital, too restless from this strange anomaly that made lights flicker over head and machines whirr out of control with her approach.
The people there didn't seem to notice such occurrences, but then the people there seemed more preoccupied with doing their work.
The second night she got perhaps two hours of sleep before she was up again, eyes still reeling from the dreams she had of a place made of metal, the name Cybertron lingering on her lips.
Beth didn't trust the people at Grady, and rightfully so after Dr. Jenner's treachery and Dawn's beating. She didn't understand why they were so content with this way of life, and she didn't like the system that was set up. She did, however, like Noah.
And it was with Noah's help, and some bribing that they finally managed to break out under the hospital's oppression. The buzz of energy prickled under her skin, growing stronger and stronger as they neared their escape.
When her eyes settled on the rows of vehicles parked outside, the buzzing drowned out all other noise and Beth found her feet moving.
"Beth," Noah hissed as he limped after her. "Beth, we have to go!"
"Leave without me," She said calmly and Noah balked.
She was peering at the hood of each car frantically, hands pressing against the metal of them before becoming dissatisfied and moving onto to the next one.
Noah turned and saw a few guards come out from the entrance.
"Leave, Noah," Beth repeated and Noah deliberated before his face scrunched up with pain. He limped off to the exit as Beth continued to search. Just as she was beginning to lose hope, she finally saw it.
The little symbol Sunstreaker wore proudly on his chest was there, staring back at her from the hood of a red corvette.
She breathed out at the sight, entranced, energy buzzing all around until it seemed to blur her vision and fill all her senses.
Serendipity, a voice that sounded strangely like her father's whispered in her head.
It was instinct that led her to place her palms on the hood. The energy in her buzzed to an all time high until with a crash they descended upon the car all in one fell swoop.
The engine roared to life, a buzz of static over it all.
"…kzzt…sun-n-n-y…"
And Beth smiled at the voice, relieved that the brother's would finally be reunited.
Then she passed out, exhaustion finally taking hold of her.
Miles away, another bot groaned to life after four days of recharge, a name blaring out of his speakers while one stayed close to his spark.
"Sideswipe."
Beth.
.
.
.
When Sideswipe fully gains his bearings he is propelled into instant battle mode as he feels humans approaching with weapons. Transforming was instinctual, just like disarming and killing the humans was instinctual. Picking up the unconscious girl that buzzed with the residue of his brother's energy was also instinctual, and he managed to run on pure instinct alone for miles until the rest of his systems finally rebooted and he is left with sense again.
Only now he is left with a conscious processors and a little human in the after math.
"The frag," He mutters and prods the curious human with a digit. The girl remains unresponsive and Sideswipe runs a scan over her. It is indeed his brother's energy signal but the reason why the girl has it is baffling.
What else is baffling is the strange and seemingly random urge to protect her. He thinks on the curious feeling before he carefully transforms around her until he is back in his corvette form, the girl draped across his front seat.
Searching through his twin bond he is disheartened to find that his brother seems unresponsive, but happy that he is merely miles away.
He drives through the roads, past the Lazarus infected and the city limits, until finally he makes it to the little neighborhood where his brother's body, still in the form of headphones, lay.
He materialized as a holoform, hand pressed to the gold of his brother's paint.
"Yo, bro," He says and runs a short burst of energy into him.
Sunstreaker materializes with a start.
"Sideswipe," He gasps out before he reaches to pull his twin into a bone-crushing hug. Sideswipe is surprised but not too surprised to return the actions. They stay that way for a while before Sunstreaker is reminded of Beth.
Sideswipe picks up on his brother's worry through their twin bond and reassures him.
"She's inside," He says and points to his alt mode. Sunstreaker grabs his true form and walks to his brother's.
Beth sleeps soundly and he feels stark relief course through him, the emotions carrying on to Sideswipe through their bond. The flux of emotions is a curious thing for Sideswipe who'd never once experienced his brother feel such a way over someone else. The fact that it is a human is even more baffling.
"So," Sideswipe says when he reaches his brother's side. "We have a human now."
And Sunstreaker laughs because never in a million orns would he have ever thought such a thing would occur.
"Yeah," He says, tone mirthful. "We have a human now."
.
.
.
Sunstreaker shifts back to his Lamborghini form and the two bots travel down the desolate road side by side for half a day before Beth awakens.
Sideswipe wastes no time in using his holoform to scare her senseless and Sunstreaker uses his holoform to bash his brother over the head.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Sideswipe," Beth told the black haired twin after he finally realizes who it is. She smiles and a holds out a hand in greeting.
"It's nice to meet you too, babe," Sideswipe said, ignoring her hand completely. Instead he reaches forward to cup the back of her head and pulls her in for a kiss on the mouth. Beth blushes brightly as Sunstreaker again bashes his brother on the head.
"Sideswipe," He growls at his brother as the other mech laughs.
"Sorry, babe, it's how we greet people in Cybertron."
"No, it's not! Quit filling her head with scrap!"
And Beth smiles at the interaction between the two, taking notice of how relaxed Sunstreaker is in his brother's presence.
"I need to find my family," She tells them after they are done ribbing one another and they easily agree to her demands because what their human wants, she gets.
So they set out to Terminus to find her sister but our disheartened when they find a demolished building in its stead. They retreat back to the forest where Sunstreaker shifts back to his headphone form and Sideswipe shifts to a cellphone.
They venture though the woods for a day and a half before Sunstreaker officially runs out of food for Beth.
"Sorry," Sideswipe says when Sunstreaker asks for his pack. "But I actually carried humans in my alt mode. And they were some hungry humans." Sunstreaker grumbles at that but stops grumbling when Beth attempts to enter the forest to find some food for herself.
"No way," He snaps and tugs her gently back. "You're staying with Sides while I find some food." Beth looks quietly amused by his order.
"Do you even know what human's eat?"
"Yeah, you eat…rodents and what not." Beth laughs at that.
"You sure you want to handle some bloody carcass for me?" And while the idea of handling such things bothers him, the idea of her venturing out by herself bothers him more.
"I'll be fine," He tells her. "Besides I'll pick up living creatures more easily with my scanners." And Beth can't argue with that logic so she quietly sits down by the black haired twin under the shade of the tree while the blonde haired twin uses his scanners to find Beth something to eat.
And it was purely by accident that Sunstreaker stumbles on to Beth's group as he follows a squirrel right trough the entrance of a church.
Beth would've called it serendipitous.
Sunstreaker just thought it was annoying.
.
.
.
"Who're you?" Growled the man with the crossbow as he raised his weapon up threateningly. Sunstreaker ignored him at first, eyes instead following the animal that skittered across the floor in fright until it was finally sliced in half by a katana. He scowled at the man, attention finally settling back to him.
"Daryl," Another man with a scruffy beard warned as he reached out a hand to push Daryl's weapon down. That caught Sunstreaker's attention.
"Daryl?" He repeated and looked to the bowman. It certainly looked like the man Beth had described. He peered at the group and saw all the people Beth had described, each one looking content and not like they were searching desperately for their missing member.
A flash of anger ran through his systems.
Feeling a bit vindictive he stoically said, "She was screaming for you."
That seemed to catch everyone's attention and Daryl pushed past the other man to grab a fistful of Sunstreaker's shirt.
"Who was screaming for me," He growled out, shaking him by his collar. Sunstreaker snarled.
::Are you okay?:: Sideswipe questioned through the bond, feeling Sunstreaker's rage. Not waiting for his response, he dragged out his recent memory files. Sunstreaker felt his own brother's anger at what he'd seen then and it spurred him on.
"Take a look and tell me who's missing from this group." Daryl's eyes widened before they narrowed in fury. He raised his crossbow up to Sunstreaker's head.
"Talk!" He yelled. "What did you do to Beth?"
A girl with short brown hair jumped at the name and shouldered past the rest of the group to stand up front. An Asian male quickly followed at her heels and Sunstreaker guessed that this was Beth's sister and brother-in-law. Another wave of fury passed through him and he found himself glaring at the girl who was supposed to protect Beth.
But that wasn't her job anymore, was it?
"I'm surprised you all still remember her name," He bit out.
"Why you little—" There is a shift of air, and Sunstreaker catches the fist before it makes contact with his face. He glares at Daryl's face, angry. Angry at this group and the fact that Beth had wasted all her time looking for them when they hadn't looked for her.
"She talked of you the most Daryl Dixon." The man dropped him at that and Sunstreaker found every weapon pointed at him.
He laughed despite the situation. Sideswipe was less amused and he could see through the bond as Sideswipe grabbed Beth's hand and marched off to his location.
"Where's Beth?" Another woman with short gray hair asked as she held a gun up to be level with his head.
"Why do you care?" He asked.
"She's one of ours," Growled the woman with the katana. He saw in the background as the men with the priest robe moved further back from the group to stand by a boy holding a baby in his arms. Another, much larger man, stood at the boy's side.
"She's ours now," Sunstreaker told them and was rewarded with a shot to his shoulder courtesy of the girl he was sure was Beth's sister. The shot didn't hurt as his pain receptor's were shut off, but it still bled like a real wound and Sunstreaker was annoyed by it.
"Where is she?" The girl, Maggie, demanded shrilly.
"I'm right here."
Everyone turned to the door.
"Beth," Maggie murmured breathlessly as she saw her sister peek out from behind a man with black hair. The man at the door looked positively livid as he saw his companion's state. But he also stood in front of Beth protectively, one hand held back to keep her from moving forward.
"Beth," Maggie said again, trying to catch her sister's eye. But Beth only had eyes for Sunstreaker and the wound in his shoulder. Sideswipe still blocked her path so she nudged him to the side.
"Move your butt, Sides," She said nudging again. He reluctantly made room for her to pass through.
"Are you okay, Sunstreaker?" She asks when she is near enough to touch him.
"I'm fine," He said, watching as the humans regarded them carefully. "I found your family."
And Beth smiles at him, arms coming up to wrap around his neck.
"Thanks," She whispers against the crook of his neck.
"Hey, where's my thanks?" Ask Sideswipe from behind. Sunstreaker sees Beth's family tense as Sideswipe comes from behind to wrap the two of them in his embrace.
"Thanks, Sideswipe," Beth tells the black haired twin.
It is Daryl who breaks the silence.
"What the hell is going on?"
.
.
.
When Beth's family finally calms down they are still wary of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe which shows in their face and body language. Beth makes a big show of sitting between the twins and Sunstreaker smirks at the way some of their eyes narrow at the gesture.
Sideswipe, ever the person to get on someone's nerves, grandly throws an arm over Beth's shoulder.
"So what's the deal," Asks Rick as he settles across from them. Daryl sits to his right and Michonne to his left. Sunstreaker is able to pick out Carol, Sasha, Tyreese, Glenn, Maggie, Carl, Bob, and Judith.
He doesn't recognize the red haired man, the guy sporting the mullet, or the other two women nearby. He also doesn't recognize the man with preacher's robe.
"The deal is we're leaving this mud ball planet." Sunstreaker says. There is a brief silence before the man with red hair breaks it.
"Is this a joke?" He asks incredulously. The others look equally dubious by the statement.
"Nope," Declares Sideswipe as he leans heavily against Beth. Chancing a look to her he can see that she is equally stunned by the news. "We're leaving Earth and taking you guys for the ride."
"I've heard enough," Says the red haired man as he stands up abruptly. "I'm heading to D.C."
"D.C's gone," Sunstreaker cuts in. "I would know."
"Look kid—"
"Kid?" Sunstreaker repeats, looking annoyed. Sideswipe laughs at his expression.
"I don't know what kind of pot you've been smoking during this apocalypse but there is no possible way to—"
"Just show him." Beth intervenes, giving the brother's an exasperated look. They look to one another before shrugging.
"Show me what?" Abraham demands as the three stand up to walk out of the church. Beth lays the headphones and phone on the ground.
"Show me wha—" He stops mid speech as the twins disappear and the devices on the floor grow up and expand to form two large robots.
"What's up?" Sideswipe says with a smirk as Sunstreaker scowls down at them all.
It was a bad way to reveal themselves if the multitude of bullets pelting them was anything to go by.
.
.
.
When Beth's family calm down once again the twins repeat their offer to take them off the planet.
"The dead are taking over," Declares Sunstreaker. "There aren't enough living to retake the planet."
"We can't leave!" Exclaims the man now known as Abraham. "We need to stay here, we need to stop the virus and—"
"There is no cure," Sunstreaker cuts him off. "All of the leading scientists'—of your people and mine—couldn't come up with a cure. What makes you think you simpletons can?"
Abraham bristles at the remark, hand gripping hard against his rifle. Rick lays a calming hand atop his shoulder.
"Even if there isn't a cure, we can't just abandon our home, our race." Sunstreaker looks down on the person who spoke, Glenn. A cold fury welled up in his spark at the reminder of the death of his own home, of his own people.
"Your planet is dying," Says Sideswipe, an edge to his voice from feeling his brother's pain through their bond. "Your race is on the verge of extinction."
The girl they find out is named Tara fumbles and looks towards them and back to her group. "Well, we have to-to try and group whatever's left together and—"
"I do not care about any survivor's, neither do I particularly care about you. I made this offer as a favor to Beth, otherwise I wouldn't even be talking to you primates."
They are all silenced at his acidic tone, each one squirming as he let his optics rest heavily on their forms.
"Regardless of whatever decision you make, Beth will be leaving with us."
The group quickly voices their objections, and even Beth is surprised by their response. She watches silently as her sister draws herself to her full height and glares daggers at the twins.
"Who the hell do you think you are to think you can leave with her?" She demanded angrily, hand poised on her hip where her gun rested snugly. Neither twin were intimidated, both knowing the small gun would do no actual harm to them.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sunstreaker asked disdainfully, eyeing her down the tip of his nose. Maggie bristled at his tone.
"I'm her sister—"
"Oh?" Sunstreaker cut her off, expression twisting to show his rising anger.
"The one who didn't look for her, not even once, not even after learning she was still alive?" He growled out and Maggie grew silent at his words, mouth pursing into a guilty line. She looked to Beth who quickly looked away. Sideswipe looked disgusted at the news, shocked that Beth's sibling had simply forgotten all about her.
His resolve to take Beth with him was strengthened.
"We saw the signs," Sunstreaker whispered harshly and was pleased to see Maggie hunch into herself, ashamed.
He waited for the others to make their own objections but when none stepped forward he scoffed, unimpressed.
"Beth leaves with us," He said clearly, looking at each of their faces until his eyes finally settled on Beth's. "No matter what you decide." But Beth's makes her choice very clear when she follows after Sunstreaker and Sideswipe when they retreat to their camp.
.
.
.
"How long?" Beth asks, indicating to the beacon of light shooting from Sideswipe's wrist. He calculates in his head for a second.
"Four breems. About half an hour."
Beth is silent as she gazes at the night sky and Sideswipe settles next to her.
"Are you okay?" He asks and jumps when he feels a rock thump against the back of his helm. Sunstreaker sends him an annoyed feeling through their bond.
::Leave her alone.:: His brother snapped at him. But Sideswipe is well versed with people and he knows that you shouldn't let someone stagnate in their thoughts.
"I'm fine," Beth says, catching both of their attention. "Just…disappointed I guess." And Sunstreaker grumbles with the reminder of those people. But he is also reminded of his people and how they'd left him behind as well.
"I forgive them though." Sunstreaker looked vexed at that statement.
"You forgive them?" He repeated incredulously.
"They're my family," She said and looked up at the twinkling stars. "I don't want to be angry with them because one day they won't be there. I don't want to let my hurt feelings end my relationship with them."
Sideswipe crouches down over her.
"But they hurt you. They let you get caught. They abandoned you."
"Yeah," She says with a smile. "But if it weren't for that I would've never found you guys." And there is a deep feeling in their sparks, one that makes them look down at the girl with new optics.
"I'm in love," Says Sideswipe as he scoops Beth up and presses her against his cheek. Beth laughs, delighted.
"I love you guys, too." She says and Sunstreaker feels his edges soften as she meets Sideswipe and then his optics.
"I love you as well," He says in Cybertronian and Sideswipe smirks at his brother's admission while Beth pesters the both of them on what he said. They laugh until their optics and her eyes finally catch on a shooting star that grows bigger and bigger, until they can finally make out that it is a space ship.
There is a quiet rustle at their back and Beth turns to see her entire family approach.
"Well?" Sunstreaker asks expectantly.
"We're coming too," Rick says confidently, eyes latching onto the ships descent towards them. "We're ready." Maggie looks to Beth hesitantly and the younger girl gives her a bright smile in return.
I forgive you, she mouths and Maggie gives her a watery smile.
There is a nudge against her side and Beth turns to see the large space ship finally break the atmosphere, descending fast, before slowing down as it landed softly a small distance away.
"Are you nervous?" She hears Sideswipe ask and she looks from one twin to the other.
"No," She says, thinking of her journey and her struggle before her serendipitous meeting with these brothers. "I've got you two with me."
And they smile at her beautifully as the large door to the space ship lowers for them and their new journey forward.
END.
1. Because I'm sure not everyone called them zombies or walkers.
2. I'm not sure if Bayverse Transformers can subspace objects but G1 transformers can!
3. I've only seen a few transformers transform into alt modes that are significantly smaller than their root mode. I don't know if the ability is limited to them or if subspacing allows all of them to do it.
4. This I made up. This is purely fanfiction with no evidence to back it up.
Thank you for reading now please review! Critiques are welcome and greatly appreciated!