Chapter 1

She was on a mission.

Stalking through the darkness, she went over the objectives in her processor. Again and again, until they were memorized. The floor was cold but she pushed it aside as she found something she could climb. Up she went. It was a very long climb, with loose footholds that shook and slipped beneath her claws, but she was very strong and very quick.

Mere minutes later, she was at the top. Luckily the surface was flat and wide, so she could hide herself from any unwanted optics if she huddled down in the center. She stared out from the shadows, waiting in silence for her prey like the perfect predator. She was lethal. And dangerous. And deadly.

Time passed. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into an hour...but she did not move. She stayed frozen, optics dim so they wouldn't alert him of her location. Finally, after so much careful planning and waiting, the door slid open, and in walked the massive black mech. The lights turned on when he made his entrance, revealing a long table with tools and half-built weapons.

He turned to one, a large cannon-like weapon. Even from way up there, her sharp optics could make out the tiny details. How long it must have taken him to create something like this...Don't attach yourself to the enemy, she thought harshly, he is prey.

She shifted forward slowly, claws making no sound. She tensed her body, focusing her strength into her legs, and leaped high into the air. She spiraled down silently in a fluid motion, spreading her claws for the attack. Below, the monstrous mech was pulling the half-made cannon towards him, picking up tools to continue his work. He was completely oblivious as she fell upon him with a snarl.

She slammed into is scarred armor, locking her claws around a plate of it. She opened her jaws, but was forced to give up her assault. For such a big mech, he reacted quickly and she found herself caught up in his hands. She growled and struggled as he pinned her much smaller body to the table with just one. He stared down at her with cold blue optics, and spoke the words, "Do you yield?"

With a sharp vent, she managed to slip between his fingers. She moved as fast as she could, jumping up his arm until she was on his shoulder. The look on his face was priceless as she dropped down his armor and locked down on the plates in the very center of his back, the one place he couldn't reach. She grinned when he tried to anyway, and countered, "Do you yield?"

After another moment of pointless efforts, he answered, "Do I have a choice, sparkling?"

Her grin grew, and she unlocked her joins and climbed back up to perch on his shoulder, "I got you that time, huh, 'Hide?"

"Don't get cocky."

She settled on his armor, looping her tail over his thick neck for support, "You couldn't even reach me."

"One time opposed to how many failures?"

"I'm getting better," she started, tone defensive, "I bet you didn't even know I was in here."

He grumbled something like he was aggravated, but he made no attempt to remove her. She watched him work on the cannon in quiet for a minute before lowering her red optics to the multiple scars scattered over his armor. She traced her claws very lightly over a deep gouge in the plate she was sitting on, "I wish momma and daddy would come back already...I really miss them."

"They'll return soon."

"Yeah...hey, 'Hide?"

"What."

"You're going to be there when I get my wings, right?"

He grunted a response, but she knew him well enough to know it was a 'yes grunt'. He understood that it was very important to her, or she hoped he did. She knew that she bothered him most of the time, but he had wonderful stories of battle and heroism that she loved. Jetfire, too. Outside of her dad and Optimus, they were her two favorite mechs. The older one had already promised her. Even if he didn't say it, she believed that Ironhide would be there also.

She shook a little. Her body felt too tight, and there was a great emptiness inside of her where the wind and the skies should be. She belonged up there, high in the clouds. It had been her dream for as long as she could remember. When her creators returned, they'd have her second frame, and with it her first set of wings.

She could hardly wait...but they'd been gone for several days now. Optimus had sent them on an 'emergency scouting mission' last week. She was tense, and as patient as a sparkling could possibly be. But not worried. She never worried about them, because both, her mom and dad were the strongest bots she knew, and when they were together they were even stronger. It was why Optimus always sent them out together, because he knew they'd take care of each other.

"Tell me a story, 'Hide," she said quietly, laying down. He started, dividing his attention between his weapon and speaking easily. This one was about the very beginning of the war, the autobots were still reeling from the first decepticon assault...

She sunk deep into it, imagining every scene in her processor. Sometime half way into it, Chromia entered. Her optics softened when they fell upon them, and she said nothing the entire time he was talking. She took her place on the other side of the table, working on her own project.

Near the end, the door slid open again to reveal a rather exhausted Optimus. The tiredness left his face when he spotted her on the weapon specialist's shoulder, "I've been searching for you all day, Sundance."

"Optimus!" She slipped over the black mech's shoulders and jumped, small body clearing the distance between them. He was surprised but he caught her, fingers curling around her protectively. She dropped her head and nuzzled into his palm, "I've just been here with 'Hide! I wasn't doing anything wrong! Honest!"

"Other than causing a distraction," Ironhide added. She ignored him, running up the taller mech's arm and over his shoulder. She settled in a safe place where she couldn't get squished by his armor, "Are they back yet?"

"Not yet," he nodded towards the other two and walked back out, "but Jolt sent in a report and asked how you were."

It was then that her mech creator pulled on their bond, reaching through and wrapping her up in his love. Sundance huddled down in her spot and smiled, warmth flooding through her as her mother did the same. 'Soon, Sundance,' she said through the bond, 'I miss you.'

'I miss you more,' she sent back. She reached back to them and gave them a big hug with her spark.

"What story did Ironhide tell you this time?" Optimus asked once they were back in what everyone called his 'office'. Sundance poked her head out of her safe place and put it on his shoulder armor. She ran through what she could remember of the tale in her processor before starting. He never interrupted, and even left his work alone in favor of leaning back in his chair to listen in comfort.

It's four years after 'Dear Sister'. Sundance is still in her first frame but she can talk fluently now...as you can see she's developed a 'best friend' relationship with trigger-happy Ironhide and 'rust-in-my-arse' Jetfire. :D she loves Optimus and has a strong bond with both parents...

Sometime while writing Dear Sister, my brain pulled a fast one on me and made up this image of Ironhide telling Sundance a story about the wars(the less gruesome parts, anyway)...so I had to put it in there somewhere...Jetfire, too. I think Jetfire would be a good story teller if he could just remember things and stop scratching at rusty armor...but then again, those are what makes him who he is, so maybe not...

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it! Much love to you!

Sundance and the story belongs to me. Transformers does not.