sparkling bye,
we're a family.
I'll try to take my time with you
And slowly let you see,
That I'm a child
With feelings too.
When I cry, late at night,
It means that I love you.
Red Alert onlined with a violent click as he stared ahead into darkness. How long since he had heard that song? How long since he had sung that song? He had only sung it once, just before he had been taken to a sparkling home and abandoned.
Slowly he dragged himself out of his recharge bunk, optics online, and the memory of the song still lingering. I wonder why I would dream of this now? He wondered, placing a hand on the door.
Red Alert didn't go through the door, fearing that if he did the noise would chase the memory of the song away. With a soft, inward groan, Red Alert spun away, reaching for a datapad, not caring if it was already full.
Quietly he scribbled what lyrics he could onto it, and then began struggling to remember the tune. He remembered the song, bit by bit, until it lay in front of him (if he could see it) complete and ready to be sung.
Red Alert contemplated singing it out loud, but instead tucked the data-pad away. Sleep was always in short supply for Red Alert, and babysitting the twins cut it down even further. He was lucky if he got through a single cycle without hearing a boom, explosion, or screams of some sort.
Red Alert climbed back onto his booth, and fell once more into recharge, his dreams haunted by the soft song.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Sideswipe nudged Sunstreaker as he said, "Aww, c'mon, this will have to be interesting! If we don't allow Red Alert any sleep, he'll glitch. We need to target others."
Sunstreaker nodded, sighing. His idiotic brother wasn't going to let him rest unless they pranked somebody today. "Fine, but I want to do something artistic."
"Hmm, I think I can do that."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Red Alert was awakened by a rude pounding on his door. Blearily he opened it, to be met with the furious base commanders face and the twins. "Sir. What's-"
"Take these two, and keep them out of trouble for the next few vorns until I peel all of this off!"
The commander turned to stalk away without waiting for Red Alerts reply. And Red Alert had to fight to keep his own face straight.
The back was completely covered in odd objects, glued and painted onto the back to make an almost pretty collage. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, what did you two do?"
"Super fast drying glue certainly has its merits."
Red Alert shook his head, and sighed, his stomach gurgling mournfully. "Well, I suppose while I come up with something to punish you with you can come on inside my room to make sure that you don't get into too much trouble."
Curious and surprised at the offer, the twins entered into Red Alerts room. Red Alerts room was one of the biggest mysteries on base, for nobody had seen the inside as of yet. Not even the commander. Red Alert waved to his bunk. "You'll have to sit over there."
The twins looked around. It was almost completely bare except for a single multi-colored ball, a couple of robotic bat wings, and a torn off tail from a rat. Red Alert noticed them looking, and shrugged. "I never had many friends, still don't as a matter of fact, and I never liked collecting things. The ball is the last gift my creators gave me before they abandoned me, and the other stuff is what I gave myself on my creation days."
"Wow Red Alert. It's not like you to suddenly go telling us about your past, let alone invite us in here."
Red Alert shrugged, a weary sigh escaping him. "I'm too tired to deal with this. Moreover, I just went to a doctor who said that he did something to suppress my glitch, but-"
Red Alert rubbed his helm, wincing. "I now got a headache worthy of Primus. Now, look you two. Be quiet, and I won't have to throw you in the brig, because I don't think I could walk that far."
"Aww, surely you can!"
Red Alert shook his head. "Forget it." He drank down an entire cube in one gulp, and motioned briskly to them.
Sighing, the twins slipped off the bunk, and they left the room.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Red Alert had not been lying when he said that his CPU was giving him trouble. The twins could see that as Red Alert staggered down the hallway, trying to keep on a brave front, but failing miserably. "Umm, Red Alert, we can take you back to your room and go to the brig ourselves." Sideswipe volunteered, feeling slightly uneasy.
For too long he had seen Red Alert as unconquerable and unfeeling. To see him now, staggering in pain with every step, tugged at some small, almost forgotten part of the twins spark. Red Alert peered at them, and shook his head. "The crazy thing is, I almost believe you two would."
"You can check the cameras if you wish. Afterwards."
"Alright, and how long do you two plan on staying down their?"
"Usually you give us a recharge cycle, so why not? It's not like we have anything better to do, and if an attack came-" the twins smiled ferally.
Red Alert leaned against the wall, watching the two with shaded optics. "I believe that you actually would go down to the brig by yourselves."
Red Alert shook his head, and began walking back to his room. "Half a cycle. Because you for once don't have to clean up your mess. Or make me clean it up."
The twins exchanged stunned glances. Red Alert must really be hurting more then they expected if he would actually agree, and cut their sentencing down to half. But, they weren't about to complain.
Both made a beeline for the brig to get it over with, as Red Alert painfully made his way to his room.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Red Alert moaned softly to himself as he staggered down the hallway. A passing medic stopped, took one look, and said, "Medbay."
"No."
"Do I have to drag you down there?"
Red Alerts tired, aching CPU recognized a threat when he heard one, and he tensed, falling into a fighting or fleeing position. The medic couldn't decide which. "Primus." The medic muttered, looking Red Alert over. "Ya look like you've been dragged through a slag heap and you still don't want to go to the medbay?"
Red Alert took a step back, and gasped in pain as his CPU seemed to explode in response. The medic chewed his lip worriedly, realized what he was doing, and hissed in frustration.
The twins came strolling up. "Red Alert, feeling better?"
Red Alert collapsed right onto Sunstreakers feet.
"RATCHET! What's wrong with him?"
Ratchets optic ridge rose as he looked at the giant twin. The closest he had ever heard the twins to becoming worried about another's health was when the other was hurt. This was unusual. "I'm not sure. Get him into the medbay. I didn't want to have to use another's medbay while visiting, but it looks like I'll have to. Do you two know anything that might of set it off?'
Sideswipe gathered Red Alert as tenderly as a sparkling, and Red Alert moaned in agony, optics onlineing as he slowly struggled to online. "Twins?"
"Don't worry Red, we'll have you fixed up in no time."
"Pha! Stupid doctors. Dead…"
"Doctors? Dead?" Ratchet was puzzled, and so was Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. "Don't know Hatchet."
CLANG! "I told you two to not call me that. Now, give me the lowdown on what's happening lately."
The twins explained the various antics they had been up to, and when they were nearing the point when they made a collage out of the commanders back, Sunstreaker suddenly said, "That's right! Red Alert said something about a program that was supposed to suppress his glitch, but he got a CPU-ache."
Ratchet stopped. "he has a glitch?"
"Yeah, paranoia. Believes everyone is out to get him."
"no wonder the program didn't work and he collapsed. Alright you two, set him down into one of the bunks and I'll purge the program from his databanks."
"Will their be any side effects?"
Ratchets surprise was growing in leaps and bounds. Never before had he heard the twins sound like they actually cared about someone other then themselves. "Why do you two ask?"
"He's the only one who's been able to dodge half our tricks Ratchet! Even you fall for all of them, but he can avoid them! And he knows whether or not we did them as well. Even if someone copies our style, he knows that it wasn't us who did it! Ratchet, I so totally want to break this mech."
What-what kind of concern is that? Ratchet thought, staring at the two, and slowly he shook his head. "Out of all reasons to become concerned about a mech."
The twins smirked, looking at each other. "We know, oh boy do we know.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Alright, the programs being purged as we speak, but I have to go now, my shuttles leaving in two breems."
"Thanks Ratchet. We'll be sure to tell Red Alert what happened."
"I called the other doctor, but I don't know if he'll come. It sounds as if he doesn't think much of Red Alert-"
"Ah, he's been mad since Red Alert came into his medbay. He doesn't like sullying his hands with a glitchy mech. If Red Alert glitches in the middle of the purging we'll drag him back kicking and screaming."
Ratchet nodded, and hesitated. "Red Alert, is that his name?" The twins nodded, and Ratchet continued. "Red Alert will probably babble some very unusual things, so if you really are going to watch, I suggest you don't pay attention to what he says. Most of it will be disjointed fragments of past memories."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
They were in front of him, so small and helpless, both of them curled in the peace of sleep. Ten, the yellow one twitched, and he frowned. They both began tossing, and he tossed a look over his shoulder.
His creators were trying to sleep. Quietly he slipped over the side of the crib that separated them, and hesitantly touched the yellow one. Both of them instantly stilled, but only for a moment. Then, once again, they started whimpering, threatening to wake up and start bawling for their creators.
He thought desperately for something to do, when he remembered a song, and he opened his mouth and softly began to sing.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Hush abye, sparkling bye/ We're a family."
The twins jumped violently as Red Alert softly sang, his voice clear and strong despite the fact that when he had been muttering before his vocalizer had made it soft and muted. Now, he was singing.
'I didn't know he could sing."
"Shhh! Listen to what he's singing."
The twins listened, feeling as if the energon was draining out of their bodies. "Sides, he's singing moms lullaby."
Red Alert fell silent at the end of the song, and hissed softly in pain as he attempted to wake up. "Whoa their Red Alert!" Sunstreaker quickly said, CPU struggling to deal with the knowledge. "Go back to recharge."
Red Alert balanced on the edge of awakening for a moment, and fell back into recharge. "Sides, there is no way he can be related, right?"
"I don't know Sunny, mum and dad…"
"Their dead now. So we can't ask them. But, Red Alert said he was abandoned-"
The two exchanged confused looks, and reached out to each other through the bond that they shared. Then, they turned their attention to Red Alert. "Do you think we could reach him?"
"I don't know Sunny, we never knew him until now." Sideswipe said, voice muted.
Sunstreaker shrugged, and by some unknown agreement, both reached out, trying to catch a hold of the tiny part of the spark that would represent Red Alert. For a brief moment, they thought they had failed, but something latched on, and the twins grinned as Red Alerts confusion flowed back through to them.
"Well, looks like he is our brother."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"hey, Sunny, I'm bored. I thought being on the Ark would mean that we wouldn't be bored anymore."
"Then lets go bug Red!"
Both stood up to find and torture their younger brother. "Remember his face when we told him that we were related?"
"Oh yes, I thought he was going to blow a gasket."
"I agree with him saying that no one else should know. Though our reasons are probably completely different."
The twins snickered gleefully, following the bond they had with Red alert to the cafeteria. The door slid open to Red Alert and a fire truck sitting together. Alone.
Instantly all 'protective brother' instincts flared up, and they stared a little hostile at the fire truck. Red Alert didn't even bother to turn around. "Inferno, meet the twins. Biggest pains in my aft since I met them."
Inferno. The name was filed away, and the twins grinned as they picked up their own cubes of energon. "Hey, Red Alert?" Sunstreaker asked, optics focusing on Inferno. "Isn't it your turn for security duty?"
"No. Unfortunately." Red Alert snorted as he stared morosely at the energon. "Prime and Prowl ejected me from the room, and I now currently have nothing to do."
"What happened to all of the lit pads you usually take?"
"They were destroyed when one of the supply ships coming up." Red Alert sighed, glaring at his energon as if it was the reason why he seemed cursed with some rather bad luck. "What are you two doing anyways?"
"Well, we were getting bored, and it is nearly that day-"
Red Alert froze, and Infernos expression grew confused. "Twins, if you dare repeat that again, I'll string you up and toss you into a black hole!" Red Alert snarled, glaring at them. "Once was horrible enough."
"How were we supposed to know that your auditory receptors were that sensitive-" Sideswipe began, when Sunstreaker elbowed him. The twins fell studiously silent as Inferno spoke up for the first time. "What are you talking about?" He had a thick, heavy accent that seemed thicker from the confusion inside of it. "Red Alert?"
"Hmph. Nothing."
The twins looked at each other. Was it their imagination or was Red Alert blushing? Inferno grumbled something softly, but he sipped at his own energon as he peered at the twins keenly.
In three seconds, battle lines were drawn. The twins on one side, Inferno on the other. "By the way, I never got your names."
Red Alert was about to say something, when Sunstreaker cut him off. "I'm Sunstreaker. And that idiot over there is Sideswipe."
Sideswipe glared. Third line drawn between the twins. "Look here you over cocky arrogant-"
Red Alert made a slight noise, drawing the attention back to him. "If you don't mind me pointing out something I am still a security director, and rude comments will be repaid with a visit to the brig."
The twins didn't fall back a step a Red Alert shot an angry look at them that clearly said, 'I can take care of myself!' "Hey Red Alert?"
"Yes Inferno?" Red Alerts sharp gaze softened marginally as he looked at Inferno, and the twins protective brother programming cranked up another notch.
Red Alert had some of the worst luck, and if his luck held like it usually did, Inferno would turn out to be a decepticon or something equally as horrible. "Just wondering what time you need to go back to the control booth."
"Whenever they finally let me back in, and then I'm writing a security override." Red Alert grumbled. The twins took seats at the same table, so that way all four chairs were taken.
"How about until then-" Sideswipe began.
"-we play some games? I know a couple that require four players." Sunstreaker finished, drawing out a pack of mech sized cards.
Red Alert looked on the brink of refusing, but Sideswipe sent a pleading pulse through their bond. With a sigh, Red Alert gave in, and took the cards.
0o0o0o0o0o00
The card game was very informative. Through it they learned that Inferno had met Red Alert in a previous base, just before coming to the Ark, and they had spent the trip together. And yes, Inferno did know about Red Alerts glitch, and Inferno was either one of those amazing few who didn't care, or he simply hid his thoughts well.
Inferno, apparently, was a search and rescue mech as well as a fire truck. Two jobs in one mech. Red Alert had kept silent, noticing how the twins were questioning Inferno, but saying nothing. Finally the twins asked the question. "So, do you have a mate?"
"…No." Inferno said, and weighted them carefully. "Do you?"
"nope."
They turned to look at Red Alert, who sighed and laid down his cards. "I win. Royal straight flush."
The twins cursed as Inferno gaped. "No, I don't have a mate either. Twins, you should know that."
They gave him nothing but angelic looks back. It wasn't their fault that the last three mechs who had expressed even a slight interest to Red Alert beyond normal friendship bounds without their express approval, went off screaming into the night, now was it?
Red Alert stood up, sighing. "I'm off to the racks."
The twins and Inferno watched him go, and Inferno groaned as the image of Red Alert freshly washed went rolling through his CPU- "Hey, what do you think of Red Alert?"
"It's a little early for me to be forming an opinion on him already. After all, first impressions are usually wrong." Inferno replied, guardedly. He had dealt with jealous and protective mechs before, and the twins reminded him immensely of one femme…
"Alright, we'll ask you later."
0o0o0o0o0o0
Vorns came and went quickly. Inferno and Red Alert quickly became friends. Waaaay too fast for the twins liking, but Red Alert ignored any and all comments about it, though whenever they reached through their brotherly bond, he seemed to be embarrassed.
It wasn't until Red Alert agreed to do something for Inferno that normally he wouldn't ever of agreed to do, that the twins realized what was going on.
So they cornered Inferno. "Hey, Inferno, we'll ask you again. What do you think about Red Alert?"
"Red? He's… well…" Inferno stammered, fighting off his blush. "Reds interesting."
Not the answer they wanted. Optics narrowed, but Red Alert appeared at the moment, roaring, "TWISN! I swear, if I catch you you'll wish you had never been sparked!"
"Aww crud, do you think he's already found out about us turning the energon different colors?"
SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs
A second chapter to be done later where Inferno finds out about Red Alerts and the twins relationship.
By the way, somebody drew a pic of my cyber bats here: mugetsu22./art/Cyber-Bat-91149169
So, yes… Check it out if interested, and Oh! make sure to leave lots of comments on how you want Inferno to discover this bond because I have no idea on how I'm going to do it.
And I must thank shoji-san for inspiring to write about these three being brothers. I tweaked the idea so it'd fit in my stories of Red Alert being abandoned, though I think in the next chapter I'll explain more of why Red Alert was abandoned.