SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs
"Tell us!" Sideswipe begged Red Alert. Red Alert glared back in response, grumbling to himself about younger brothers who refused to leave him alone. Sunstreaker pointed out, "We'd leave you alone if you'd tell us."
Red Alert slammed the energon cube down, nearly spilling its contents. "Twins, you've kept me up for the past week. Can't I get at least a little peace?"
"What do you mean week? We've only been doing it the past month." Sideswipe said, easily getting sidetracked. Or at least pretending too. Red Alert sighed, and pulled a datapad towards him when Sunstreaker snatched it right out of his hands.
"Sunstreaker-" Red Alert said warningly, optics narrowing.
Sunstreakers own optic ridge cocked. Red Alert would have to fight hard in order to get the data pad, and Sunstreaker had an ally on his side. There was no way Red Alert was going to be able to defeat both of them to get the datapad. "Twins, please. I'm too tired-"
Without knowing it, his horns sparked slightly as his glitch began screaming something at him. He flinched, head coming down into his hands as his exhausted CPU attempted to think up counter-arguments to his glitch.
The twins dropped the subject, and Sideswipe easily picked up the glitching security director to hurry him off to the security room which would be empty. Sunstreaker was supposed to be on duty, but had run off in the middle to get another stylus, and gotten a little side-tracked. Red Alert didn't know, thankfully.
The room was still empty when they got in, and they forgot to lock the door.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Red Alert sighed, optics staring off at nothing as the twins flanked him on either side. The soft hum of computers and the screens in front of him calmed and soothed his glitch, but nowhere near as well as Inferno-
Red Alert broke off that thought, huddling further into himself. A hand was placed on his back, and a worried voice asked, "Red Alert, what's going on with you? You aren't acting like normal."
Red Alerts optics offlined, a deep painful sigh dragging its way out of him. "Inferno."
"He hasn't done anything-" Sideswipe began, his voice dark and angry. Red Alert could hear the two beginning to tense and he hurried yelped, "NO! He helps me! My glitch!"
Confusion reigned supreme in their tones as they asked, "What do you mean Red Alert?"
Red Alert mumbled, "Every time I'm with him, my glitch calms down. It isn't as loud anymore, and I can ignore it easier."
Red Alert could feel through the brotherly bond they shared a wave of stunned surprise. He onlined his optics to see both of them staring at him oddly, and he looked away. "And what do you think about Inferno?"
"None of your business!" Red Alert said hastily. Too late.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were on him like a lodestone, and Red Alert knew with a sinking spark that unless he told them what was going on, Inferno would be sure to be on the receiving end of several nasty pranks. Pranks nasty enough to drive him away. That thought alone was enough to make Red Alerts spark grow cold.
"I… like him." He admitted in a small, terrified voice.
The twins caught onto the fear, and both drew nearer, optics concerned. "Then why don't you tell him?"
"I'm a glitch! I'm probably one day going to fry my own CPU and die! I shouldn't even be near him, I'm not-" Red Alert choked on his words, old, ugly memories rising of kids drawing away simply because he had a glitch.
Two pairs of strong arms wrapped around him. "you're fine Red."
"Ah twins." Red Alert whispered, snuggling into the embrace. "I don't deserve his friendship, and I can't ask for any more. I don't want to loose what I've got."
The twins looked at each other, and words that needed no speaking aloud passed between them. Red Alert shook his head as he caught their look. "I'm not going to tell him anything, and don't you two even think of laying a finger on him, or your punishment is going to be a record harsh."
0o0o0o0o0o
"I wonder where Red is?" Inferno wondered aloud, looking around. "he's not in the Rec. room, nor is he in the cafeteria."
He wondered for a moment about going to the security room, when his stomach gurgled painfully, reminding him that for the past, grueling cycle he had had nothing to eat. I'll just pick up a cube on the way to the security room. Inferno thought, quickly moving towards the cafeteria.
Once there he grabbed a cube, and headed towards the security room. To is surprise, the door was slightly cracked open. Curious he peeked in, and nearly dropped the cube.
Red Alert sat inside, being hugged by the twins when he could only seem to barely tolerate Infernos touches, and smiling slightly as they whispered something in his auditory receptor, optics offlined. The twins were grinning at each other, and Inferno felt as if his spark had dropped right out him as he backed away from the door.
NOOOOOOOO! His CPU wailed silently, Red can't be claimed by the twins! Infernos gaze looked at the energon cube he held in one trembling hand, and he fled to his room, attempting to sort out what he had seen. Some inner part of his spark demanded that he go back and fight the twins for Red Alert, but… he knew he wouldn't win.
The twins were well renown for their fighting skills, Inferno couldn't even begin to measure up. To fight them would be like fighting death. He could draw it out as long as possible, but he would loose in the end. His spark twisted at the memory of Red Alerts slight smile as he sat, wrapped within the twins embrace.
Hiw feet dragged as Inferno decided to do something he very rarely ever did when he liked someone. He would fade into the background and allow Red Alert his happiness with the twins.
0o0o0o0o0o
Red Alert masked a snort as the twins described childhood experiences, pranking their creators, and neighbors. They had let go of Red Alert by then, and Red Alert was happy enough to just sit still and listen. With them hiding their relationship to each other it made it hard for them to talk about anything serious. Finally, Sideswipe ran out of stories, and Sunstreaker asked, "Why did our creators abandon you?"
"Cost. I was already eating up most of their income, taking me to hospitals and such. When you two came along they could no longer support us. So…" Red Alert shrugged. "I was taken to an sparkling home and left there. I never thought they would come back, and they never did. But… I forgot about you two. I thought they had just abandoned me. My memory core wasn't developed enough to remember you two from way back then."
"Oh."
00o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next few cycles passed by extremely slow for both Red Alert and Inferno. Inferno kept true to his promise of avoiding Red Alert, and Red Alert noticed. And glitched. Badly.
"Ratchet, what caused him to go over the top this time?" Sideswipe asked, almost exasperated with his older brother for glitching on them.
Ratchet glared. "He's been overstressed, and overworked. His glitch has been off the wall in its power, and I'm surprised that his CPU isn't nothing more then a scrambled mass of fried wires."
Inferno, passing by, stopped. "What's going on?"
"Red Alert started glitching in the middle of a meeting." Ratchet snapped. "Inferno, go tell Prime that Red Alert is to have the next few days off."
"Can we go see him?" Sideswipe asked, and Inferno caught just the slightest amount of worry inside of Sideswipes tone. That caused his spark to plummet another notch, and he went away with a heavy spark, not paying attention to what Ratchet would have to say.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"You glitched because Infernos been avoiding you?"
Red Alert made a slight motion, peering around the medbay as if it was full of decepticons. He still wasn't feeling very well after the quick operation, and it showed itself in his paranoia being cranked up by a notch. "Yes! I've only seen him twicein the past three cycles! A plot by the decepticons-"
"Whoa, calm down Red Alert! What's so strange about that?"
"He always comes at lunchtime to the security room! Always!" Red Alert paused, and sighed. "I guess he doesn't want to be friends." He mumbled, suddenly shutting off from the twins. The twins could feel his heavy depression across their bond however, and their optics narrowed.
"You get some recharge Red Alert." Sunstreaker advised as Sideswipe began scheming several ways to get Inferno alone. "You're going to need it."
As the exited the room, Sideswipe began muttering to Sunstreaker.
It was a rather extravagant plan, one that would call for all their years as pranksters and fighters in order to pull off. But, it was practically the only way to make sure that Inferno would be well and truly alone. They were going to get to the bottom of why Inferno was avoiding their brother if it cost them membership to the army.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Inferno watched as the twins strolled in, highly amused. Inferno glanced around, noticing that they were coming straight for him, and seeing no other mech. In fact, the Ark was nearly silent. "What did you two do?" Inferno blurted, before realizing how paranoid it sounded. Red's rubbed off on me.
"Us? Well, I suppose an unconscious Prime and Ironhide being made up like femmes and dangled from the ceiling is sufficient to distract the rest of the Ark long enough for us to gather them into one part of the Ark and lock the doors on them. I think Ratchet and Wheeljack are the only ones free, but Ratchets with Red alert-"
Inferno winced inwardly, and the twins optics narrowed. "Why have you been avoiding Red Alert?"
"Huh? What do ya mean-" Inferno said weakly.
"We noticed that you used to spend a lot if not all of your free time with Red Alert, even when you knew he was a glitch. Now, you've vanished from Red Alerts presence."
Inferno couldn't take it. He was willing giving Red Alert (not that willingly since they could beat the spark out of him) but he glared back and snarled. "Why would you care? Aren't you three an item?"
The twins jaws dropped, Sideswipes flabbergasted beyond feeling, and Sunstreaker appalled. "Red Alert- us- NO!"
Sideswipe suddenly laughed, even as Sunstreaker finished with the vehement denial. "Us and Red Alert? I'd love to see his face when we tell him that."
"What do you mean?"
Sideswipe was about to tease Inferno, however Sunstreaker quickly intervened. "He's our brother."
Inferno looked at them, comparing the giant, strong, scary twins to the quiet, strong, and glitchy Red Alert. And found nothing that could make them brothers. "Are ya sure?" He asked doubtfully.
"As sure as a mech can get."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Ratchet looked up to see Inferno peeking around the door. He grunted inwardly in approval. He had been wondering when Inferno would show up. "Ratchet, is Red Alert awake?"
"Yes, he is. Go ahead on in, but no physical contact."
Inferno nodded, and the grumpy medic saw the twins high-five each other in the background. "Now, if we can get the two to confess-" Sideswipe said, smirking.
Sunstreaker looked back at Sideswipe. "He still has to pass our test."
"True."
"Twins. I've been meaning to ask you two… Are you two and Red Alert related?"
"Yep! Our older brother!"
"Thought as much." Ratchet muttered. "He paying you back after all those years you tortured him when you all were younglings."
For the first time in Ratchets life he saw both twins quiet and look slightly grave. "No. Our creators left him in a sparkling home somewhere else. We didn't even gro up on the same planet."
Ratchets optic ridge rose. For brothers to find each other after that long, and in this day and age was rare. It was even rarer that they could form the brotherly bonds that usually were only forged during the sparkling and youngling years. "And how did Red Alert take it when he found out?"
"Eh, he was just as surprised as us."
Silence fell, and Inferno came out, sporting a broad grin. He nodded to the twins and floated down the hallway. Red Alert did like him, and he was the brother to the twins. There was still a chance that he could win Red Alerts spark after all.
SsSsSsSsSsSssSsssSsSss
Ok, review people because my hand hurts I've been stuffing envelopes all day. Ahh, my hand!
But, thanks to those who reviewed with ideas, especially Ashen Thorn. I rather liked what you sent me, and that was the longest review I've ever gotten.
