Disclaimer: Six disclaimers later, nothing's changed. I haven't gotten rich and bought all of these rights from Hasbro and Takara yet. Sorry.

Note 1: This one is for Jessangel249, who is nice and patient enough for the real Jettwin cuteness! Okay, so the cute got a bit drowned out in the creepy, but I do have to finish this fic to write the sequel at some point, lol!

Note 2: If you're wondering, the idea of the "cracked-helmet femme" with the wires hanging over her face is indeed a nod to the long-haired women famed in Japanese Horror movies.

Note 3: This chapter was mostly made because, since I'm rewriting Animated history from the Christmas of Season 3 I didn't want to forget about Soundwave's plot. I had to tweak it a bit, so no we're not going to see Humanformers again (sorry), but it will integrate into the sequel fic. I can't say anymore without giving away spoilers for this fanfic.

Note 4: 7 Chapters. 52 Reviews. 3,735 Hits. 32 Favs. 30 Alerts. Those are the stats for this fanfic upon my typing this message. HOLY PRIMUS. I never expected this fanfic to reach this! Thank you so much to all of my readers and fans! Keep reading! Pit, go read my other fanfics while you're at it, lol! They need this much love! X3

Chapter Warnings: A little Jazz/Prowl suggestion, but other than that not really anything.

READ & REVIEW ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Jessangel249 - Again, thank you for your patience! Here's your chapter, and I'm glad you enjoyed the Jettwin cuteness of the last one!
Flarey Phoenix -
Haha, thank you very much! I'm glad you liked that last chapter I did for you, and remember to keep singin' those Christmas carols in July! X3
Stormx -
Oh my Primus, I know, right? No one ever seems to address the "Lockdown killed my sacred sensei" issue, do they? Thanks for keepin' on reading!
Independent.C. -
Why is it that I get asked to do lots of Sentinel bashing every chapter? …oh, yeah, cause he's a jerk and deserves it, lol. Don't worry, there's no Sentinel bashing this chapter (as he doesn't appear), but there will be plenty of it in chapters to come, as well as in the sequel.
DreamFeathers
- Come, now. If you wanted straight bots, would you still be reading this? 8D
The Muffinator 3
- The D'Urbervilles, you say? Can't say I've ever heard of it. Sounds like an interesting read if it's got similarities to my fanfics, lol. --toot toot goes my horn!--
MusicLover48
, dejavu, I play wid fir3, PrancingTiger86, Sena-kun, ShadowedBlossom, flamingmarsh, and Shizuka Taiyou - Thank you for the reading and reviewing! Please keep reading and enjoying, if you so wish! Remember, everyone, I love me my feedback! 8D

Chapter 7
Blackout

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch…"

Five mechs sat around the television, watching Bumblebee's favorite Christmas movie. The twins, Jetfire and Jetstorm, curled up on one side of the large, concrete couch together, Bumblebee sitting on the other side. Jazz leaned back against it on the floor. Prowl snuggled up to him. It was getting dark, not that anyone could tell with the snowstorm.

"So, let me get this straight," Jazz said, popping an Energon snack in his mouth. "So this guy hates Christmas cause people sing durin' it, and he thinks it's loud and annoyin'."

Prowl shrugged, reaching into the bowl. "Pretty much."

"Why does he not simply turn off his audio receptors, like we are doing when Sentinel Prime, sir, is much yelling?" Jetfire asked.

"You do?" Bumblebee snorted. "We used to do that in Boot Camp, too. Then he'd yell at us more for turning them off, even though we still couldn't hear. He'd eventually give up and have us drive laps for ignoring him, but it was worth it."

"That's an old tradition. I used to do that with my instructors," Jazz laughed. "'Cept they had more patience. They wouldn't let us leave unless we could tell them everythin' they just said. So we had to listen."

"Ouch," Bumblebee cringed. He then perked up. "Oh, shh! This is my favorite part!"

"…as cuddly as a cactus, you're a charming as an--"

The television suddenly went off, the entire warehouse being drowned in darkness.

"What happened?" Jetstorm asked.

"Aw, man! The storm must've caused a blackout!" Bumblebee groaned.

"I can't be seeing a thing," the blue and yellow twin complained.

"Holding on," Jetfire replied. There was a clicking sound as he snapped his servos a few times. Finally a small flame appeared at his servos.

"Whoa, that was cool!" the yellow bug said.

"I am seeing it on Earth internet show about tiny organic and big metal brother last time we are being here," Jetfire grinned.

"Hey, where'd Prowl go?"

Jazz shrugged. "He'll be back."

The flame at Jetfire's servos suddenly went out. "Oh, shoot. Holding on again." He snapped a few more times and it lit again.

Bumblebee yelped, Prowl all of a sudden being in the spot next to Jazz at Bumblebee's pedes again. "I hate when you do the ninja thing without warning!"

"If I warned you, I wouldn't be a very good ninja," Prowl grinned slyly. He then held up a device like a Cybertronian-sized lantern. "I thought we could use a little illumination." He clicked it on and it brightened the small area they were in, casting eerie shadows on the rest of the room. Jetfire put out the flame.

"I could only find two. Here," Prowl gave the other lantern to Bumblebee. "Remember they have limited power. Don't leave it on when you recharge."

"I won't, mom," Bumblebee muttered.

"Would you like us to find you two a place to recharge?" Prowl asked the twins.

"That is being okay, Prowl, sir," Jetstorm waved him off.

"We can recharge here," Jetfire added. "But thank you."

"SP'll probably recharge in his pseudo-office he claimed here," Jazz said. "But I think I know where I'm rechargin'." He grinned at Prowl.

Prowl half-smirked. "Oh, do you?" he asked. "And what makes you think I'll let you recharge where you think?"

"Because you wouldn't let me recharge cold…"

"You seem to be under the impression that I'm generous," Prowl teased.

"I'm going to recharge before you get mushy," Bumblebee muttered. He turned on his lantern and left with a, "Good night."

Prowl chuckled. "Perhaps we should check in with the others. Then we'll hit the berth." He started to leave as well.

"Sure," Jazz stood up. "Night, guys."

"Good night, Jazz and Prowl, sirs!" the twins chorused.

The room was once again plunged into darkness as the cyberninjas left. In the silence, wind howled and the warehouse creaked. Jetstorm stretched across the length of the sofa, Jetfire laying with his head on his brother's chestplate.

"Brother?"

"Hmm?" Jetstorm lifted his head, visor glowing soft blue in the dark.

"We are being very far from home."

This time Jetstorm sat up, Jetfire sliding off of him. There was something odd about how he had said it. "Yes, but we have been here before."

"But last time we are having things to do. Catch traitor. Fight Decepticons. Now we are just waiting. Now I can thinking of where we are. And… it is very far."

Jetstorm sighed. He'd known there was something wrong, he always did. And he knew it had something to do with where they were. "I thought you are liking Earth."

"I am, very much!" Jetfire assured him quickly. "But… I was liking it better when we were recharging on our berth in this ship. In here it is being very different."

The blue and yellow twin made a confused face in the dark. So much had changed in the last few stellar cycles that a little change in environment couldn't be bothering his brother. And for the first time in centuries, Jetfire had actively severed their bond. "Brother. We are promising no secrets," he said sternly.

Jetfire didn't speak for a few moments. He knew he shouldn't keep anything from his brother. But he didn't want him to worry. "It is just… it is being dark, and cold… and too much like days in Energon Refinery."

Jetstorm sighed. They finally reached the root of the problem. He should have known. The dark, cold room. Huddling together against a small space, in this case the concrete couch. Eerie noises filling their audio receptors. It was all a lot like trying to recharge at the Energon Refinery they used to work at. They'd never asked to be refinery bots. They didn't ask to be soldiers, either. They had control over nothing in their lifecycles, and the fact that it included poor Jetfire's flamethrowers didn't help. They'd spent their entire short lifecycles being thrown into tasks without a choice, ordered around by such bots as Hammer Drive and Sentinel Prime without rest. At least with the Elite Guard the living conditions were, well, livable. The refinery was the worst, being worked almost to offline, no other mechs than themselves to call friends, being constantly exposed to dangerous environments where an accident was almost sure to happen. Then again, if it wasn't for an accident that did occur, they never would have become what they were. Never would have met such bots as maternal Red Alert, patient Perceptor, or cheerful Wheeljack.

"Those days are long since being over," Jetstorm assured his brother. "We are not in Refinery anymore, we are being heroes. This is simply being… lull in heroic work."

There was a silence, but Jetstorm's worry melted away when he felt his brother press himself into him again. "I am knowing…" he muttered as they lay back down together again. "Am simply… being paranoid. I am being fine, promise."

"No more secrets?" Jetstorm asked before shuttering his optics.

"Promising, no more."

"Good. Because if you are keeping them again, I will be thumping you." Jetstorm smiled, falling into recharge.

But Jetfire found he couldn't, not even with their bond reinstated. It was soothing and nice, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was like Red Alert had said, even the twins didn't agree on everything. And one of those things had always been the refinery. Jetstorm didn't like it either, but he somehow managed to make it work for him. He had accepted it was what they were probably going to be doing for the rest of their lifecycles, no matter how they objected, and just went with it. Jetfire could never accept it, though. All of those silly little dreams he had of the cyber-circus he used to keep himself from becoming depressed. But Jetstorm never understood the point of imagining being something he couldn't. Not many bots did. Jetfire had asked Perceptor about it once. The scientist said that it wasn't in a bot's natural programming to want something he could never have. But he then assured the orange and white twin that there was nothing wrong with being different than other bots. It simply made him special.

CLICKCLICKCLICK

Jetfire pushed himself off of his brother again, being careful not to awaken him. He knew the place spooked him, but… that couldn't have been his overactive imagination circuit. Could it?

CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK

The sound was softer and faster this time, but it was definitely there. "Bro-" Jetfire stopped. No, he didn't want to worry Jetstorm. He was already worried enough about the orange and white mech. No need to alarm him over a sound so small.

It was too late, though, as Jetstorm sat up again, looking groggy. "What is it being, brother?" he asked, lifting his visor and rubbing his optics.

"It is nothing. I… I thought I heard something."

Now Jetstorm was more alert. "Are you sure? Should we be checking?"

Jetfire hesitated. 'No secrets, I was promising,' he reminded himself. "Sure, but I am sure it is being nothing." With a snap the flame appeared at his servos again. "I am hearing it this way."

The twins made their way slowly down the hall, Jetfire lighting the way and Jetstorm watching their backs.

CLICKCLICKCLICK

Jetfire stopped, looking back at his brother. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes."

"I was afraid so. Now I cannot tell myself it is being imagination circuit anymore."

"What's going on out here?" Bumblebee stuck his head out of his room. "Oh, it's you guys. Are you making that annoying tapping noise?"

The twins shook their heads. "No," Jetstorm said. "We are following it."

"Cool, I'll come, too," the yellow bug grinned. He disappeared a moment, then came back with his lantern. "I've been too excited to recharge, anyway." He turned it on and replaced the dim light of Jetfire's flame.

"I am thinking this way," the orange and white twin pointed down the dark hallway. They continued down, staying close to each other. "What is being down here?"

"Just the factory part. We usually use it as training. Well, Prowl does anyway. Sari and I use it to compete. Bulkhead doesn't like going in there. I wonder how they're doing, anyway?"

CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK

They jumped all three jumped, clinging to each other. In the dark, creepy warehouse the light taps sounded as loud as thunder to them against the howling wind outside.

"Th-this is just like in C-Cold Steel when the young b-bots were wandering the old refinery, and the femme with a c-cracked helmet and the wires hanging over her f-face attacked and offlined two of them by d-dragging them into the sh-shadows…" Bumblebee gulped.

"I-is just a h-holovid! Th-there is no c-cracked-helmet f-femme!" Jetstorm stuttered out.

"R-right," Jetfire nodded. "I-it is p-p-probably nothing."

CLICKCLICKCLICK

The noise receded back to the factory. The three relaxed, pressure releasing from the vents in their chassis' with a WHOOSH.

"We are being ridiculous," Jetstorm determined. "Being nervous about a silly holovid. Is not real."

"Yeah, what're we thinking?" Bumblebee laughed it off. "Come on, let's check it out. It's probably a mouse or something taking cover from the storm." Resolve strengthened, he moved on.

The twins followed, Jetfire clinging to his brother. Jetstorm glanced at Bumblebee then put his servo on the other twin's arm, strengthening their bond again.

'You are quiet,' he whispered through their connection.

'I am not liking this,' Jetfire replied.

'What do you mean?'

'I am having bad feeling.'

'This is not about holovid, is it?'

'No, is… different. Something bad.'

'…I feel it too.' Jetstorm squeezed his arm gently in assurance. 'Do not worry, I am being here. Just do not lose control.'

'I won't. Promise.'

"Are you guys frozen back there?" Bumblebee's voice penetrated their conversation. "Come on, we're here!"

Bumblebee pointed the lantern inside the factory. The machines cast eerie shadows. The wind continued to howl. Their pedes clanked against the cement floor as they carefully made their way in, staying close to each other.

"If there's a cracked helmet femme here, now's the time to suck out our sparks…" Bumblebee whispered.

"Shh!" Jetfire suddenly stopped, hydraulics running cold in his tubing.

CLINKCLINK…

They turned slowly, air catching in their vents. Bumblebee cast the lantern but they didn't see anything. They relaxed again and Bumblebee lowered the light.

"Aah!"

The yellow mech yelped at the little blue robot on the ground before them. "I hate these things!" he huffed, bending down. He didn't touch it, though. "Powell made a bunch of these little Soundwave toys. They're based on a homicidal Decepticon that used to be a bigger version of it. Soundwave was destroyed, but I don't trust these things." He stood up, looking serious. "I don't know how it got in here, but I'm gonna get Ratchet. Make sure this doesn't move. And don't touch it."

Jetfire lit his servos again as the light of the lantern left.

"I am not seeing what is so bad about this tiny thing," Jetstorm muttered, kneeling next to it. "It sounds like joke to…" he trailed off, looking at his brother.

Jetfire stood stock still, staring blankly at the toy. The flame in his hand flickered.

"Brother?" Jetstorm cautiously stood up and approached him. The other twin didn't move. Jetstorm tried putting a hand on his shoulder. "Brother!" he repeated forcefully.

"Ah!" Jetfire started, the flame in his hand flaring dangerously.

"Brother, careful!" Jetstorm yelped, grabbing the hand in his servos. A funnel of wind and ice surrounded it and the flame died out in seconds. He sighed in relief. "What was wrong with-?"

CLINKCLINKCLINK

The twins whirled quickly to see the little toy retreat around one of the machines. "Get it!" they yelped at the same time. Jetstorm went one way and Jetfire the other to try and surround it.

Jetfire's processor was racing. What had happened? Almost as soon as Bumblebee had left his processor had… zoned out. He couldn't even feel his brother until they touched. It was… frightening. He'd never felt so alone, not even when Sentinel Prime would separate them for punishment.

He shook it off when he saw the toy. It was standing at one of the machines, then dashed behind it.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Jetfire called after it, following quickly. "Brother! I found-"

He stopped. That sound. It wasn't going through his audio receptors, but instead seemed to cut straight into his processor and numb it. He knew what it was, they heard Jazz and Bumblebee both use it. They'd even been listening to a variation of it during their movie:

Music.

The feeling from before filled him again as the music enveloped him. The empty loneliness.

()()()

Jetstorm rushed toward the sound of his brother's audios. Something was wrong. He was starting to feel dread.

"Brother, where are you?" he called. He'd tried to call through their bond, but something was interfering. He figured Jetfire couldn't have gone far, though. He couldn't go outside, and Bumblebee would be returning soon with Ratchet. That meant the hall was covered, so he had to still be there. "Brother!" he was especially worried when he thought about his unusual behavior earlier.

"Why are you shouting?" Jetstorm stopped and turned to face his twin. It was odd, why hadn't he felt the other's presence? Jetfire was holding the little toy Soundwave in one hand. He had the same blank stare as before. His vocals were low and even. "I'm right here, brother…"