Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers. Warning: This chapter contains torture and character death.


Sideswipe slumped against the wall, wondering how the plan had gone wrong. He had somehow been captured by the Decepticons, along with his brother. They had taken Sunstreaker away and locked him up in this cold, dark cell.

It wouldnt've been so bad if Sunstreaker had been there with him. Sideswipe couldn't feel his twin at all through their bond. Sunstreaker was alive, that was for sure, but then...he shuddered at the thought of what they could be doing to Sunstreaker right now. Images of seeping energon and severed limbs flooded his processor.

Sideswipe's thoughts were interrupted by the cell door creaking open. He looked up and nearly offlined in shock and fury. Starscream calmly walked into the room with Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker was lying limp in Starscream's not-so-loving arms. His optics were dim, barely online, but beautiful all the same. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the rest of his body. His shiny, golden frame had been slashed and dented all over, and much of the paint had been scratched off. Sideswipe was relieved when he saw no major injuries.

He probed at Sunstreaker's end of the bond until it came alive again. A swirling hurricane of emotion hit Sideswipe- anger, sadness, relief, but one stood out like no other.

Fear.


Sunstreaker was afraid.

Fear was not an emotion that often struck the yellow warrior. He could hardly remember the last time he'd been afraid, or even a little nervous.

But at that moment, Sunstreaker was so scared he would've purged had Starscream not stabbed him through the tank and drained all the energon.


::Sunny?:: Sideswipe sent through the bond. When he got no answer, he tried again, probing harder.

::Sunstreaker! Can you hear me? Talk to me, Sunny!::

::Sides?:: came the weak response.

Sideswipe would've grinned if Starscream hadn't been in the room.

Unfortunately, he was. Starscream dropped Sunstreaker, letting him crumple to the ground with a crash and a whimper.

Sideswipe hissed in fury, before pouring his love and comfort through the bond to Sunstreaker.

Starscream smirked. "Serves him right, that little pit-spawned son of a glitch."

::I'm here, Sunny, it's okay:: Sideswipe told Sunstreaker, although it couldn't have been more obvious that it was absolutely NOT okay.

Starscream picked the groaning form of Sunstreaker up again by the back of the neck. He caressed Sunstreaker's facial plates with his claw-like servos, leaving scratches that soon started bleeding green energon.

Sideswipe scowled, both in hatred of the Seeker and dread of what was going to happen to Sunstreaker.

"What do you want?" he demanded.


"Me? What do I want?" Starscream rasped. "I want to just kill you two fragging rustbuckets. All the times you've injured me."

Starscream's voice took on a dangerous edge.

"Bothered me. Humiliated me. Of course I want to kill you! But what does it matter what I want? I am under the command of Lord Megatron."

He spat out the last sentence as if it were an organic squishy hard-shelled creature.

"What does he want then?" the red Jet Judoist piped up again.

It annoyed Starscream.

"He wants to know just one thing."

Starscream poked a hole in one of Sunstreaker's optics.

"Where is your base?"


"Why should I tell you?" growled Sideswipe, angry at Starscream's treatment of his brother.

He had a bad feeling that he already knew the answer.

"You already know the answer," hissed Starscream, transforming his right servo into a dagger.


Sunstreaker knew that Sideswipe loved him more than anything else in the entire universe. Most of the time, it was a comforting thought. But right now, it was a deadly weapon.

For the Decepticons.

Sunstreaker glared up with his one working optic into Starscream's crimson ones.

"I will-" he began.

Sunstreaker felt a prick at his throat.

Protesting didn't seem such a good idea anymore.


"DON'T HURT HIM!" bellowed Sideswipe the astrosecond Starscream's knife touched Sunstreaker.

"Well?" Starscream demanded.

He received no answer.

"So the deal is," he continued. "You either tell me, or he dies."


Sideswipe's processor was a flurry of thoughts. Where did his loyalties lie, his twin or his faction?

If he betrayed the Autobots, the loss of life would be greater than of he let Sunstreaker die. But that one life, or rather, half a life, mean more to him than the rest of the Autobots put together.

Sideswipe didn't want to be a traitor, but it seemed he had no choice.

If he told Starscream where his base was, they had a chance of survival. But if he didn't...Sunstreaker would die for sure, dragging him down as well.


Sunstreaker suppressed another moan as Starscream stabbed him in the arm with his dagger. He couldn't cry out in pain. He couldn't just give up and die. He had to stay strong, for Sideswipe and the Autobots.

Starscream returned his blade to Sunstreaker's neck cables.

::Sunny, it's okay, I'll find a way out of this::

As if.

::Sideswipe, listen to me. Do NOT tell Starscream where the base is::


::Sideswipe, listen to me. Do NOT tell Starscream where the base is::

Then the bond fell dead.

"Go on, speak," growled Starscream, pressing the knife further.

Sunstreaker choked and struggled against Starscream, who was still holding him by the scruff. He was rewarded for his efforts with a quick jab in his other arm.

Sideswipe felt like screaming and attacking the Seeker, but his weapons had been removed, he was chained to the wall and had a feeling that shouting wouldn't do Sunstreaker a bit of good at all.

He tried to reach Sunstreaker, but his efforts proved ineffectual.

Sunstreaker's last words to him through their bond told him to not tell Starscream. But he couldn't bring himself to betray his twin, even if the latter wanted it.

"Are you going to talk or not?" demanded Starscream. He forced his dagger down harder.

Sunstreaker choked, gasping for breath.

Sideswipe offlined his optics. "Sunstreaker, I'm sorry..."


No! Sideswipe couldn't be doing this! How stupid was he? Telling Starscream where the base was?

But what had been done had been done, and could not be undone.


Starscream listened as Sideswipe told him the locations of the base, and everything else he wanted to know. He relayed the data to his Commander and proceeded to stab Sunstreaker's tank(again.)

"What are you doing!?" asked the red idiot.

"Killing him," replied Starscream. "What else?"

"But..."

Starscrean sneered. "No buts."

Sideswipe couldn't help the tears that clouded his optics. Through the haze, he met Sunstreaker's remaining functioning optic.

Dull Prussian blue. Not accusing. Not betrayed. Loving. Forgiving.

Then the optic offlined as their owner prepared to die.


"Please don't kill him," begged Sideswipe.

"Why not?" cooed Starscream.

"I'll do anything! We'll do anything! Just please, please don't kill him!"

"Mmmm," mmmed Starscream, revelling in the pleasure of torture.

"I'll tell you anything!"

Starscream turned to face the bot chained to the wall.

"Okay," he sassed.

Relief filled Sideswipe's optics.

"Tell me, how would you like it, for you to watch your twittering sunflower die?"

Starscream smirked triumphantly and drove his blade home, into the yellow warrior's throat.

Said warrior collapsed to the ground without a sound.


His brother wasn't so quiet. He shouted out, his optics horrified and betrayed.

"But you promised-"

Starscream smiled mirthlessly.

"Tell me, Autobot, since when did you ever take a Decepticon's word?"

He started advancing towards Sideswipe, dagger at the ready.

"Now it's your turn."

Starscream plunged the weapon into the frontliner's chest.

But he needn't have bothered; Sidewipe was already following his brother on the pathway to oblivion.