Day 3 - Both Characters Together in the Woods

Author's Notes: Alright, so I'm not off to the greatest start, but that's okay! The good news is I kept plotting and writing; I just didn't finish anything. (Well, for this. I did finish some RL work and a short Star Trek collaboration, so that's something.)

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Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or the prompt.

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Sunstreaker was not convinced. "You're absolutely sure that you can help?" he asked dubiously.

The smiling doorwinger, recently introduced as Smokescreen, who had happened to be traveling along the same path with his companion, nodded cheerfully. "Of course! I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't follow through," he explained reasonably. "Frankly, I think it's providence that we're here to help! We hadn't planned on leaving the city until tomorrow, but you know how things come up."

Sunstreaker grunted in agreement while he eyed the mismatched pair and weighed his options. After a moment (and a pleading poke along the twin-bond), he sighed. "If you're sure, then we really would appreciate the help in fixing this… absolute and utter stupidity," he hissed pointedly, "as quickly as we can."

"It would be our pleasure," Smokescreen assured him. Turning to his minibot companion, he asked, "Huffer, do you still have any of those tow cables I bought recently?"

Huffer, well, huffed. "No, they fell out of my subspace a while back, and I just didn't notice them suddenly showing up in front of me. Of course I still have your tow cables!" he snapped, summoning two lines into his hands as he spoke.

"Yes, I could have phrased that a bit better," Smokescreen mused. "Regardless, thank you! Now, let's lower you down."

Sunstreaker blinked in surprise at this tactic while Huffer trudged to the edge and moaned. "Really? We don't know a thing about them other than that one of them is a moron, and you volunteering to help means that I need to go rolling around in the dirt."

Sunstreaker bristled at the insult to his twin, but he didn't say anything because really, Sideswipe, what were you thinking?! Guilt swept faintly to him along the bond, but Sunstreaker was distracted by Smokescreen clearing his vocalizer politely. "Huffer is more solid than he looks, and I want to make sure that I don't accidentally send him hurtling into the gulley. Could you come over and give me hand?"

"Sure." Curiously, Sunstreaker stepped up in front of Smokescreen and held onto the cable right in front of the other's hands, almost as if they were on the same team in a game of tug-of-war. Huffer grabbed the loose end and dropped it down into the gulley (to the sound of a faint "Ow!"), then started to slowly rappel down the steep incline.

Immediately, Sunstreaker could tell that Smokescreen had not been exaggerating, and he increased his grip. Both mecha focused all of their attention on keeping the rope secure for the minibot's safe descent, and they only relaxed when he bellowed up, "You can let go now!"

Not sure what to do as he stood nearly touching a stranger, no matter pleasant and helpful that stranger was, Sunstreaker searched for something to say as he ignored Sideswipe's surprise and discomfiture at the little mech moving around him with another tow cable. Eventually, he muttered, "Thank you. For helping. You two really didn't have to do this."

Smokescreen's lips quirked back up into his ever-present smile. "No, we didn't, but it would have been small of us to just leave you stranded here when we could help. Besides, I'm not exactly an unknown when it comes to facing the consequences of youthful indiscretions."

Sunstreaker snorted as a yelp rose from the gulley. "Yeah, maybe, but did you ever manage to fall out of a steeled hickory tree that you shouldn't have been climbing in the first place and into a hidden gulley several times your height?"

A faint cry of, "Where do you think you're sticking that?!" came drifting out of the gulley. Smokescreen looked mildly concerned for a moment before answering Sunstreaker's question.

"No, I never managed anything quite like that. My worst moment was probably that adventure I had in Kalis; I'm still not allowed back in for another three-and-a-half centuries."

Sunstreaker blinked in surprise before being distracted by an even louder yell of, "Bad hands, bad hands! That's not supposed to fit there!"

Smokescreen angled his doorwings further toward the pit. "You know, if I didn't know Huffer as well as I do, I would be worried about what's going on down there."

"Me too," Sunstreaker admitted. "But all of this hollering is mostly because Sides is a delicate little wuss who can take falling out of the tree no problem but whines about having anything poking around in his wires."

"We all have our peculiarities," Smokescreen agreed with an amused grin. The cable gave a quick jerk in their hands, and he immediately tightened his grip. "Oh, he's ready to come up! Hold on with me, please."

Sunstreaker obligingly held on, but he threw a confused look at the doorwinger. "How are we going to be able to haul Sides up? We were able to hold the minibot steady, but Sides can't move at all."

"Oh, we won't have to worry about that," Smokescreen said cryptically before they focused their attention on keeping the line steady.

It was more difficult this time around, and Sunstreaker realized why when he saw Huffer shinnying up the rope instead rappelling up. As soon as the minibot regained his footing on solid ground, he held out his hands imperiously, and Smokescreen dropped his part of the rope into his grasp then leveled an expectant look at Sunstreaker. "…Seriously?" he asked incredulously. "There's no way a minibot is going to be able to pull my brother up."

Huffer glared up at him before expertly stabbing his hand into golden knee joints. As Sunstreaker crashed to said knees with a yell of shock, the minibot snatched the cable out of midair, then grouchily informed him, "You're lucky I'm used to stuck-up cretins not believing what I can do." With that, he turned to the gulley and started hauling.

Sunstreaker staggered back to his feet and forgot his anger in favor of watching in shock as the minibot smoothly pulled his brother up to solid ground with no outward signs of effort. Within a minute, Sideswipe had reached the top, and Smokescreen and Sunstreaker hurried to drag him more securely away from the edge. Ordinarily, Sunstreaker would have let his twin stagger along on his own, but Huffer had been very thorough; Sunstreaker was pretty sure that his twin still could not move because of how securely he was trussed up. "First of all, you're filthy; don't touch me," he informed his brother. "Second, are you okay?"

Sideswipe turned his head to stare at Sunstreaker with a very peculiar expression. "I have cabling running through places where it was never meant to run," he told Sunstreaker in a carefully flat, almost dead voice. "And while I appreciate the rescue, get. Me. Outta this!" Not bothering to suppress his unsympathetic laughter, Sunstreaker obediently started to unravel the cabling running through all of Sideswipe's major joints.

"Are you two going to be fine making it home?" Smokescreen asked, sounding just as amused.

Ignoring his brother for a moment, Sunstreaker turned to face the doorwinger, who was thoughtfully standing between Sideswipe's line-of-sight and a very smug-looking Huffer. "Yeah, we'll be able to make it back before sundown no problem. Thanks again for helping; if you ever come back this way, we definitely owe you two a meal and a round of drinks, and if you'll give us just a minute, I'll have your tow cable free."

Smokescreen airily waved a hand. "While I'll keep the meal in mind, don't worry about the cable. We have others, and I'd rather you keep it in case your brother manages to find the other incline we passed on the way here." The mischievous smile on Smokescreen's face did not match the polite bow he made in the twins' direction before he and Huffer started down the path. "Safe travels!"

Sunstreaker waved at their retreating backs. "Safe travels," he called before returning to setting his brother free; he was more than ready to go home.

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Author's Notes 2: Poor Sideswipe! I'm not sure who's worse to him: me or himself. My theatre director always told the parents to not take pictures during the show so that one of the kids never ended up "hurtling into the orchestra pit." Apparently, Smokescreen heard similarly phrased advice. RL hickory trees are fairly tall and very strong.