Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers, I just like to write about them.
The Price We Pay
Chapter 4
From across the battlefield, Sideswipe felt a change in his brother and started running. The fight was almost over and his interest in it evaporated as he realised how serious things were.
Since joining the Autobots, Sunstreaker had felt like a tight ball of red-hot rage when he was fighting, but this was different and so cold it terrified the red twin. He'd convinced himself that this side of his brother had disappeared when they had first met Bluestreak. Their lives had changed that night, the warmth the younger mech had shown Sunstreaker had soothed away the fury, but whatever it was that had altered had undone all that Bluestreak had built.
He was almost to his brother's side when he saw a mangled body and his spark froze as he recognised both the mech and his twin's handy work.
"Did you know him?" Ratchet asked as he came up behind him.
"His name was Stormrider and he was…" he trailed off before he turned to face Ratchet. "We were friends up until we left Perihex. Sunstreaker killed him."
"Your brother did this!" Ratchet exclaimed, "He didn't just kill him, he tore him apart," he added looking for an instant as if he was going to purge his tanks.
"He's not himself right now," Sideswipe whispered, but anything else he was going to say was forgotten as Jazz flew towards them and landed with an uncharacteristic lack of grace a few paces away.
"What the pit?" Ratchet cursed as he started running towards their friend.
Sideswipe headed in the direction that Jazz had come from at top speed. "Don't touch him," he commanded the small group of mechs that circled his brother.
Prowl turned to face him with a furious glare. "Do you know what your slagging brother just did?" he demanded.
"Go to Jazz," Sideswipe advised, "I can handle Sunny."
"You'd better," Prowl hissed before he turned in the direction of his bond-mate.
For the first time, Sideswipe looked at his brother, taking in the tightness of his posture, coiled and ready to lash out at anything that got too close. Energon leaked from several wounds and sparks flickered worryingly in the more serious gashes.
"Sunstreaker! Override code: Sideswipe. Stand down," Sideswipe ordered.
To everyone's amazement, Sunstreaker reacted instantly. He pulled back from the others and turned to face his twin, but his harshly lit optics barely focused before he stumbled and fell into arms that Sideswipe only just managed to bring up in time. "Ratchet!" the red twin screamed both aloud and over the comms.
The medic drew level with him a moment later, quickly running scans over his brother and starting work without hesitation to deactivate the malfunctioning circuits and staunch the broken energon lines.
"How bad is he?" Prowl asked as he rejoined them.
"Not good. I need to start working on him now," Ratchet informed him, "Let's get him to the shuttle."
"He's in a bad way isn't he?" Sideswipe asked quietly once they were alone in one of the smaller cabins.
"Sides, I need to concentrate," Ratchet snapped.
The red twin leant heavily on the nearest wall, as he didn't trust his legs to hold him upright any longer. "He's dying," he whispered.
"No," the medic hissed, "I'm not letting that happen."
"Let me help."
Ratchet fixed the red twin with a glare that would have sent most mechs running before he spoke again, "What can you do Sideswipe?" he demanded.
In answer, the warrior shoved him out of the way and pulled his brother into his arms. "I'm not ready yet Sunny, so you're not going anywhere either," he snarled.
He wasn't really sure what he was doing or how he knew how to do it but somehow his spark did and it reached out for the other half of itself. Bracing it, feeding it, healing it, the flickering that had filled Sideswipe with dread steadied to an even glow and only then did he dare to look up at Ratchet.
"I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted to forestall any questions, "But I don't think I can do it for very long."
Ratchet, who had been staring at him slack-jawed, shook himself and started working feverishly to seal the wounds and set up an energon feeder from his field-kit.
Sideswipe felt himself beginning to falter after a while, having given everything he could keep his brother alive and all he could do was hope that it was enough as he pulled away. He sagged back against the nearest wall and asked, "How is he?"
"Stable," Ratchet replied evenly.
That was the only word Sideswipe needed to hear and if the medic said anything else, it went unheard as he fell into a deep recharge.
Ratchet sat back a few breems later, as there was nothing further he could do for Sunstreaker until they were in the med-bay. He'd already commed Perceptor to get everything he could think of ready for the repairs and when he had realised how low Sideswipe's energy readings were, added in an order for an extra berth for the other twin.
For a brief moment he allowed himself to watch over the brothers and consider them. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been the first set of twins he had ever met, and when he had realised that they would be part of his life for a while, he had studied all the information he could find. There hadn't been much, and he had learnt a lot more first hand, but they still found ways to surprise and amaze him once in a while.
That one could keep the other alive was a completely new discovery as far as he knew and also a comfort to him. If they were together (and they nearly always were) then they could keep saving each other and maybe, just maybe they would stand a chance of living long enough to see peace.
They had been so young when he had first met them, he mused, but so much more worldly than Bluestreak that he had worried about the younger mech becoming involved with Sunstreaker. As their relationship progressed he had been forced to admit he was wrong, as the yellow twin had never shown his lover anything but care and fierce, unwavering loyalty.
As the war continued, they had become two of the most fearsome warriors he had ever seen. Ratchet doubted that many others had seen the price they had paid to do that.
Sunstreaker had always been the quieter, less sociable of the pair, but he had become more withdrawn as time had gone on, pushed away most of the mechs who tried to become his friends, and even the few that had managed to get close to him found him difficult to deal with some cycles.
Sideswipe on the other hand, had become louder, his antics regularly landing him in trouble with the officers and in the brig, Ratchet hadn't understood why until the red twin had confessed everything to him over a canister of high-grade a few vorns earlier. A lot had changed between them since that night, they had found sanctuary in each other and reminded themselves what they were fighting for.
Slowly Ratchet rose to his feet, laid a hand in his lover's helm, whispered a quick prayer to Primus and left the cabin.
Wheeljack was waiting for him just outside. "How are they?" he asked quietly.
"They both need work but they'll make it," Ratchet assured him.
The engineer nodded sympathetically, "Keep an optic on 'Raj for me and I'll watch over them 'til we get back to Iacon," he offered.
"Deal," the C.M.O. agreed but a slightly puzzled frown appeared on his faceplate at the same time.
"I don't know what they were thinking, but if they hadn't turned to fight, Mirage might not have got away," Wheeljack explained, "Now go on, there are others that need you."
"Aren't there always?" Ratchet asked tiredly, "Thanks 'Jack," he added gratefully and he moved off, summoning up the anger he needed to keep himself going and wearing it like a mask to hide his worry.
As he placed the last item Perceptor had requested on the table, Bluestreak couldn't help wonder what was taking so long. He knew that the battle had ended breems ago, that the casualties should start arriving any moment and that his lover was among them but the scientist had refused to tell him much more than that.
Mentally he cursed the lack of his arm. If it wasn't for that, he would have been able to join Prowl's unit and he would already be back with Sunstreaker, but Prowl had refused to give ground despite his protests, "Any news on Sunny, Perceptor?" he asked hesitantly. The last thing he wanted to do was annoy the scientist and get himself kicked out, but the silent med-bay was starting to bother him.
"Not at this time," Perceptor responded, though not unkindly, and he nodded towards the main door just as Jazz limped in with Prowl's arms supporting him.
"Primus," Bluestreak muttered, "What happened? Are you alright?" he asked quickly.
The saboteur gave him a tired smile and sank gratefully down onto a berth, "I'm fine Blue, just a shot to the leg, nothing to worry about,"
"Although I doubt getting thrown across the battlefield by Sunstreaker helped any," Prowl snapped angrily, "I should…"
"Sunny did what?" Bluestreak blurted out before the tactician could get any further.
Jazz shot his partner an unreadable look that was probably accompanied by a few choice words across their bond before he looked back to the younger mech, "I don't know what happened Blue," he admitted, "He was fragged at something, I stepped in to try to calm him down and he lashed out, sent me flying. Ratch and Sides are with him now, they'll all be here in less than a breem."
"Maybe you shouldn't be here Bluestreak," Perceptor suggested, "It's going start getting busy soon."
"Not 'til I see Sunny," the gunner snapped stubbornly.
"Perce is right Blue, you don't want to be here," Jazz began.
"Maybe not," Bluestreak interrupted, "But I need to be."
"Bluestreak," Prowl said in a commanding tone.
"Prowl please, I know you're mad at Sunny, but you can't deny that he's calmer when I'm around, I might be able to help."
"He's got you there," Jazz said with a hint of a smirk on his lip components.
No one was given the chance to say anything else as Wheeljack came in at that moment, all but carrying Mirage. The engineer took one look at Bluestreak and said, "You shouldn't be here."
"We've been through this and I'm staying," Bluestreak said fiercely.
"Sunstreaker's off-line," Ratchet snapped as he entered the med-bay closely followed by four mechs carrying the stretchers that held the twins, "Come back later."
"How bad are they?" Bluestreak asked, folding his arms stubbornly as he looked at the medic.
"Sides is just drained, a full rest cycle, some energon and he'll be fine. Sunstreaker's injuries are serious but he is stable," the medic reported.
"That's good," Bluestreak nodded, "But it doesn't explain why you aren't yelling."
Ratchet stared at him then smiled weakly, "You're starting to understand me, aren't you?" he said thoughtfully. "Something happened to him while he was fighting. Sideswipe was pretty vague about it, but I could tell that he was worried. I think the best I can do is keep Sunstreaker off-line until his brother is able to tell us more, unless you know something I don't. Sides mentioned a mech named Stormrider, he said they were friends when they were in Perihex, does that mean anything to you?"
Bluestreak shook his head, "I never heard of him, but Jazz told me that some of Sunnys friends from back then weren't good 'bots," he looked over to the saboteur.
Jazz was laying almost full length on the berth, leaning back into Prowl, their hands laced together across his chest plate and if he wasn't already in recharge he was close to it. If there hadn't been just a trace of worry on Prowl's face Bluestreak would have been sure that the pair of mechs were just as relaxed as they looked.
"I know you want answers Blue, but he's worn out," Prowl whispered, "As soon as his leg's fixed I'm taking him back to our quarters for some recharge."
"Shouldn't leave Blue," Jazz mumbled.
"You've done enough for now," his partner responded, "I'll come back once you're off-line."
"No," Bluestreak said quietly, "I'll be fine, but Jazz needs you."
"He's right," Ratchet put in, "Besides you all need to rest if you want to be of any help to the twins. Blue, if you don't want to go back to your own quarters, there's a berth in my office you can use."
"But Ratch…" the saboteur and the gunner both began.
"My med-bay, my rules," the C.M.O. snapped, "Don't like that, go fix yourselves and don't come to me for the parts."
Jazz lay back in Prowl's arms obediently, but he shot Bluestreak a grin once he was sure the medic wasn't paying them any attention.
Much later, Ratchet finally excused himself from the med-bay. The last of the repairs were done and he needed to escape to his office, where he sank down on his chair. He was too tightly wired to face his friends and in his hurry to get away from them he forgot to lock the door, having never thought that someone might come after him and so, was surprised when Bluestreak stepped into the room uninvited a few breems later.
"Are they alright?" the medic asked instantly.
"As good as they were when you left them," Bluestreak answered, "But I'm more worried about you right now."
"I'm fine Blue," Ratchet tried to assure him, but the younger mech wasn't having any of it.
"That's what Jazz says when he doesn't want to tell me what's wrong with him," the younger mech said quietly, "It's a strange thing, on the battlefield no one thinks twice about my age, but when we're off-duty those same mechs treat me a fragile sparkling, the only one who always remembers is Sunstreaker."
"What are you trying to say Bluestreak?" Ratchet asked him tiredly.
"I'm not a youngling anymore Ratchet. Haven't been for a few vorns now, so there's no need for you to treat me like one."
The medic considered him for a moment, seeing both the sparkling he had first met and the mech that stood before him. "I'm sorry Blue," he said sincerely.
"It's not your fault," he shrugged, "Everyone does it, and I am the youngest 'bot on the base, but it can be frustrating sometimes, especially when I see a friend of mine suffering because he thinks he's alone when he's not. You're not the only mech who's in love with a twin, who cares about them both, that's the thing with them, you can't just love one, the other works his way in too."
"I hadn't really given much thought as to how much they affect each other until recently," Ratchet admitted, "I knew all the facts, but that's not the same thing, is it?"
"No," Bluestreak agreed, "Hits hard, doesn't it?"
The medic nodded, "How do you deal with it?"
"I tell myself that if they weren't twins, they wouldn't have lived this long, and that's the reason why nothing can beat them. When one of them is weak, he finds strength in his brother."
The medic nodded in agreement and relaxed in his seat, "I guess that helps. Thanks Blue."
The younger mech flashed him a grin, "You take the berth Ratch, you need the rest more than I do."