Author's note: it's public holiday in Vietnam so I have a few days off to finish editing chapter 9. :D Thank you so much for all of your support!

Misfit-kiwi: I always happy to see and read your comment, my friend. And I'm really really really happy to know you like my story 3. The last cliffhanger was pretty cruel, yes, indeed. And I'm very sorry for making you feel that way D: and I have a feeling you're gonna fly through the computer's screen to slap me when you reach the cliffhanger of this chapter. But anyway, thank you so much for making my day! 3

canikostar99: Skywarp always knows how to mess things up, doesn't he? ;) The twins is about to face the inevitable truth about their relationship and it's not going to be pretty D:. Thank you for your comment! XD

Instinctive Art: thank you! I'm glad to know you enjoy reading the story! XD


Chapter 9

"Ugh..."

Chromedome winced as he saw the Enforcers getting all of the parts that used to belong to a mech out of the waste container. The unfortunate mech had been dismembered and thrown into the container, waiting to be dump into the melting vast in a recycle factory somewhere. If it hadn't been for Sideswipe and the constructions here, that vision might have come true already.

The Enforcers put all of the parts onto the ground as they assembled them together in order to find out the mech's identity. Fixit was there, joining servos in helping them. Meanwhile, Prowl was talking with Sideswipe and the constructicons. The three of them had to respond to the emergency call and rushed here, but they didn't leave Bluestreak alone back at the hospital. Prowl had made sure to tell the security guards as well as doctors to keep an optic on the young mech and they must not leave him alone. Skywarp might have thought he had destroyed all of the necessary data but there was still a chance he found out not all of Bluestreak's codes had been erased.

Chromedome approached Fixit as he scanned the mech's energon type and his spark signal, all of the lethal wounds on his frame that led to his demise, and then collided them into a datapad. The doctor turned to look at his fellow Enforcer and gave the datapad to him, "Prowl might want to see this."

The orange mech nodded and took a look at the datapad. Fixit was right, Prowl would want to see this. He thanked the doctor and turned to walk towards to Prowl. The white Enforcer was still getting statements from the mechs that had found the corpse, including Sideswipe and Hook. Hook claimed that he didn't know there was a corpse in the container. His intention was simply doing his job and dumping the waste like any constructicons would do when the container was full. In his words, "I'm a victim of circumstances". And it was weird to see Sideswipe here at a construction site. The constructicons said that Sideswipe had a personal conflict with Hook and wanted to cause troubles with him here. Although Prowl suspected there were more to that.

"Why did you come here, Sideswipe?" Prowl asked the red mech.

Sideswipe glared at the constructicons, "To have a little chat with Hook. His friend hurt Sunny and I need to know who he was."

Prowl sighed, "You do know you're not allowed to come in here?"

"I know. But this is something I have to do," the red mech crossed his arms.

The white mech frowned, but didn't say anything and just typed into the datapad in his servo. He only stopped when he heard Chromedome calling his designation and received the datapad from him. Prowl quickly assigned his current task to another Enforcer and turned away. His digit surfed up and down on the datapad, letting the information pouring into his CPU.

"Energon Type-D. Burned marks on the neck. Cause of offline: damaged CPU. So that means we can't extract the data from him," Prowl hummed, "Faceplate was damaged beyond recognition. Helm was sliced into half. Dismemberment for easier disposing. Spark was missing so his Spark signal can't be traced."

"Whoever did this had done a throughout job," Chromedome added, "Without the Spark signal, we can't find out who this mech was. See here?" he swiped the screen and let Prowl see the images of the burned marks on the neck of the unfortunate mech, "These are burned marks from an electric rod. He neutralized the victim and then damaged his CPU. Weapons for these kinds of injuries aren't falling from the sky. This wasn't a normal attack, Prowl. Someone had planned for this to happen. This was definitely the work of an assassin."

"You mean Skywarp."

"Who else?" Chromedome shrugged, "But he blew this off in the last cycle. He should have known that scraps inside waste containers will be examined before recycling and the victim will be found nonetheless. Unless,..."

Chromedome looked at Prowl, as if waiting for him to finish his sentence. The white mech frowned, quickly picked up where his partner had left, "...Unless he wasn't the one who hid the corpse."

"Exactly. This mech might be the one who actually shot Bluestreak. Skywarp stayed behind to erase Blue's data but was stopped by us. By the time we got there, this mech had brought the corpse away to the construction site. Blue must have not only seen the murder scene, but also the identity of Skywarp's partner as well."

Prowl tapped his chin, then lowered his voice for only Chromedome to hear, "A mech with a mini cannon. Coming to the construction site at night...," his optics strayed to the red gladiator standing not far from him, still answering questions from an Enforcer, "...I may need to talk to Sideswipe."

"Sideswipe?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Prowl quickly said as he understood what had caused the surprise of his partner, "I want to know what happened between him and Hook. Maybe he knew something about Hook that can help our investigation. Don't forget, that constructicon is the first one to approach the waste container."

"And now we have the Opidium smuggler, Skywarp and his friend to go after. Wonderful," Chromedome raised his servos up.

Prowl was about to say something but stopped as he saw a big, white and light green vehicle drove into the investigation scene. The car stopped and transformed into his root mode, a mech with the same color of his Alt mode and blue mask with red visor; the symbol of Kaon Enforcer stood out proudly on his shoulders. Both of Prowl and Chromedome sighed as they noticed he was approaching them. "Sir," they quickly nodded at him - the Head Enforcer of Kaon.

"What have you found? Have we known the identity of the victim yet?" the mech quickly said.

Prowl gave him the datapad, "Not yet, sir. We only know that his murderer had damaged his CPU and stolen his spark. So we might have to resort to other methods to identify this mech."

The Head Enforcer took a quick look at the datapad, "Anything else?"

Prowl and Chromedome exchanged a quick look before they answered at the same time, "Nothing else, sir."

The Head Enforcer stared at the two mechs, as if trying to know if they were lying. Finally, he sighed and gave Prowl back the datapad, "Inform me immediately if you two find anything. I've had enough of mechs didn't listen to me and get themselves into troubles."

Quickly after that, he turned and walked towards Fixit and the Enforcers who were still working on the victim. Chromedome looked at the Head Enforcer, then at Sideswipe before turning them back at Prowl, "So... you wanna talk to Sides now?"

"Not now. Later," Prowl firmly stated, optics still fixed onto the back of the Head Enforcer as he was now talking with Fixit.


Megacycles later, back at the Nuts 'n' Screws...

Sunstreaker shivered as he felt a gentle touch on his cheeks, waking him up from his restless recharge, He slowly onlined his optics, longing to see the familiar faceplate of the red gladiator he loved, but disappointment filled his spark as he saw Lockdown instead.

"Rise and shine, Sunshine," the black and green mech grinned, "I have something I need to tell you."

The yellow mech grunted and sat up. Lockdown leaned forward to kiss his nose then continued, "You won't have to serve any mechs for awhile."

"...What?"

"I temporary closed down the brothel and sent all of my employees home while you were still recharging. It had something to do with my business so you don't need to know. I'm not sure when I'm going to reopen but for the time being, I can have you for myself."

Lockdown widened his grin and wrapped his arms around Sunstreaker. The yellow mech was still deadpanned because of what he had just heard. Temporary closed the brothel? His business? Did this have anything to do with the Opidium smuggling?

"Your business?" Sunstreaker repeated his words.

Lockdown let go of the yellow mech and climbed off the berth. He stood up, optics looking down at Sunstreaker, "Listen, Sunshine. I'll be honest with you. I don't trust you."

Sunstreaker gave him a glare.

"Both you and I know that you are stubborn, dangerous, grumpy, unstable, can be violent, and-"

"-I know what you mean."

Lockdown let out a laugh, "So you see. I don't trust you," suddenly he bowed down to stare into the yellow mech's optics, "But you're such a beautiful and feisty plaything that I can't ignore."

Sunstreaker tried so hard not to punch Lockdown, "Is that all I'm to you? A plaything? A mech to frag?" The yellow mech asked, wearing his sad and hurt faceplate. Sunstreaker couldn't help but noticed how hesitated Lockdown had become when he saw this faceplate of his.

And he wasn't wrong. Lockdown lost his confident and lopsided grin almost immediately and instead, was now looking back at him with a serious and regretful faceplate. Truthfully, whatever kind of answers Lockdown was about to giving him, Sunstreaker wouldn't care. He only wanted to get his trust and hopefully to dig some dirt that could send the slagger in a prison somewhere away from here. But what Lockdown said in return had really surprised him.

"No, you're not," Lockdown ran a digit on Sunstreaker's cheek, "I'm sorry for saying so."

Sunstreaker frowned again, "You're... sorry?"

"Sunstreaker...," Lockdown said in a serious tone, "It might seem weird to you but... I hurt you because I love you."

"You don't hurt the ones you love," Sunstreaker grunted, remembering his time with Sideswipe and the gentleness they had given each other.

"I know. But sometimes we don't have a lot of options to choose," Lockdown looked away, "I'll need to do some works in my office. See you later."

After that, he walked away from the berth, only stopped when he heard Sunstreaker asked, "Can I... go out?"

Lockdown thought for awhile before answering, "You can go out of your quarter. But not out of here. It's just for now, alright?"

After that, Lockdown left. Sunstreaker stared at the closed door, wondering what his ex-lover meant when he said he hurt him because of love. No, whatever reasons Lockdown had it wouldn't excuse for every thing that had happened to Sunstreaker. The yellow mech would never forgive him. He convinced himself this was some kind of a trick that Lockdown was playing on him to shut him up, or to weaken his will, or whatever it was.

Sunstreaker would never trust him again.

The yellow mech lied down on the berth and looked up to the ceiling. He pushed Lockdown away from his processor as it was now wandering to the memories zone of his two orns off, and to his panic of the possibilities that Sideswipe was his twin brother. What would happen if Sideswipe was truly his twin? Did that mean Sunstreaker will have to let him go, will never be able to kiss him and hold him again? Incest was considered a taboo within the Cybertronian society, because of the high chance that the offspring of a pair of brothers might carry bad codes. Of course Sunstreaker didn't intend to carry any sparklings soon, but loving his own twin was still wrong.

No, Sideswipe couldn't be his brother.

Sunstreaker sighed, kept convincing himself that it was just a coincidence, and that they came from different backgrounds and they didn't look alike much. His spark calmed down a little, but soon whined in longing for the red mech. Sunstreaker traced back to Sideswipe's message, memorizing his comm link signature and wondered if he should call him. How was Sideswipe feeling now? Did he miss him like he missed him even though they hadn't seen each other for just couples of megacycles? Sunstreaker wanted to comm him, but at the same time he was hesitated. Hearing Sideswipe's voice would break his spark, knowing how he had hidden his agreement with Jazz from him, how he had seduced Lockdown. It made Sunstreaker feel like he was a cheater but he couldn't let Sideswipe know what he was doing, because Sideswipe wouldn't agree to all of this.

But in the end, he sighed, offlined his optics and started to comm the mech he loved most. Maybe just for one last time before he disappeared to continue with his scheme against Lockdown. Kliks later, Sideswipe replied with a chuckle, ::Sunny? Miss me already?::

::Well... yeah... you can say that::

::Aw ~ Miss you too, Sunny. I'm going to stop by the brothel to see you now::

::Sides... Lockdown temporary closed the brothel::

Sideswipe stayed silent for a few kliks, ::Well, that's a good thing, right? You don't have to serve anyone and that means you can have some time off?::

Sunstreaker sighed, ::It's... It's complicated. I'm still not allowed to leave::

::What rights does Lockdown have to imprison my lover in that place? He has closed down the brothel that means you have your time off to do whatever you want:: Sideswipe's voice was filled with irritation, ::That's it. I'll go there and have a little chat with Lockdown::

::Sides, wait,:: Sunstreaker quickly said, ::There's something... I need to do. I may not be able to see you for some times::

::What? What do you mean?::

::I can't tell you. But this is something I have to do,:: Sunstreaker sighed, ::Let's... let's not meet for awhile::

::Sunny...,:: Sideswipe raised his voice. He stayed silent for a while, as if was trying to figure what to say. Finally, he said, ::I... I'm going to Iacon in tomorrow's morning and I won't come back until the end of the CGT. So... can I see you at least one more time before I go?::

Sunstreaker widened his optics and his spark pulsed in sadness at what Sideswipe had just said. Diuns of separation. Full of restless recharges and waiting megacycles. But didn't that what he wanted? Sideswipe would be away from Kaon and wouldn't know what Sunstreaker was doing with Lockdown. By the time he came home, Lockdown would be locked up in a prison somewhere and Sunstreaker would be freed from his lifetime contact and then the two of them could be lovers. But still... the thought of not seeing each other for a long time...

Sunstreaker knew this was not the most proper time to meet Sideswipe but the stubborn gladiator would personally drive here to see him if he said 'no'. And it would complicate things. A lot. Sunstreaker sighed and told himself he had to do this.

::I want to see you, too:: Sunstreaker finally said, ::I'll have a talk with Lockdown and comm you later::

::Are you sure you don't need my help in convincing him?::, Sideswipe joked, although Sunstreaker could still feel sadness in his voice.

::Let me deal with him. I know a few things or two that can make him tick:: Sunstreaker said firmly, ::What about you? How are you doing?::

::Just found a corpse and had just been released from the Enforcers HQ. Now I'm bracing myself since Ironhide is on his way to pick me up::

::You found a corpse?:: Sunstreaker repeated his words with surprise.

::Here, let me tell you everything...::


At the same time, at the Kaon Enforcers HQ...

"It's Hook."

Prowl's words made Chromedome turn around, away from the window and the view below, in which Sideswipe was standing in front of the HQ, a servo in his audial.

"So... you've asked Sideswipe," Chromedome said and pulled the chair next to Prowl's working desk to sit down.

Prowl nodded and took a quick look around the office, at the other Enforcers who were gathered around the Energon dispenser, chatting and laughing with each other. After making sure no one was listening to them, Prowl sat down on the desk in front of his partner, "I commed him after they finished getting statements from him. It turns out the constructicons allowed him to go the construction site but only at night. They didn't tell this to us because they were afraid of getting into troubles with their boss. Sideswipe had confirmed he saw Hook with another mech at the construction site during the night Blue got shot."

"Did he know who that mech was?"

"Sideswipe said that he was the mech that had hurt Sunstreaker," Prowl shook his helm.

"Hurt? Be more specific, will you?" Chromedome frowned.

"Rough interfacing."

"Oh."

Prowl looked around for a few kliks and then continued, "Sideswipe also said that Sunstreaker didn't want to talk about it so he didn't press him. But if there's anyone know about that mech well enough, it's Sunstreaker."

"Then I guess we need to have a chat with Sunstreaker," Chromedome said. Suddenly he noticed the hesitation in Prowl's optics, as if he had just said something wrong, "What?"

"Sideswipe also said that Sunstreaker was stubborn and ashamed of what had happened. He won't say anything."

"Great," Chromedome frowned and said sarcastically.

"That's why Sideswipe said that he would try to ask Sunstreaker out and be there when we asked him about that mech. He'll convince him to talk about him."

"...great," Chromedome commented again, without any sarcasm.

"But, only if we agree help him," Prowl raised a digit, "We need to help him getting Sunstreaker out of the brothel. Sideswipe said that Lockdown had tricked him into signing a lifetime contract and that he knew important mechs that could easily dismiss the case."

"I'd like to see him try. But this isn't the first non-consensual contract case. It's going to be hard. But I'm onto it," Chromedome nodded.

Prowl smiled, "Anyhow, we finally found the link between the Opidium smuggling case and the murder case."

"A 'Hook' to connect them together," Chromedome snorted, "The irony never ceases to amaze me."

The white mech laughed and jumped off the desk, "We'd better get to work then. Let's finish up our reports for the Chief and get out of here. You'll find and deal with Hook while I'll go with Sideswipe to meet Sunstreaker."

He walked back to his desk, only stopped a moment to turn around to look at his partner, "Oh, and remember to comm Fixit and tell him to meet us at the Central Hospital. We'll ask him to look out for Blue while we go after Hook and this mysterious mech."


Lockdown buried his helm in both of his servos, elbows resting on the desk. His processor kept replaying his previous time with Sunstreaker. The yellow mech had let him kiss him, embrace him, love him like the old times. Although there had been so many times Lockdown almost crumpled down and cried and asked for Sunstreaker's forgiveness. He had tried so hard to keep up his sadistic, intimidating and the worst of the worst things a mech could have. He had tried so hard to smile, to mock, to insult the mech he loved most while his spark hated himself and screamed at him to stop fragging lying. It wasn't exactly the right time for touching Sunstreaker like that but Lockdown couldn't hold himself against the sight of his ex-lover seducing and submitting to him.

He checked his communication logs and received a lot of concern messages from his employees, asking about his sudden order of closing the brothel. "Personal business" was the only response he gave them. Lockdown didn't consider himself to be a good mech but he did care about his employees, whether they were pleasure mechs or simply security guards or other staff. After all, they had helped him a lot throughout the stellar cycles he had been doing business with this place. No one knew about his real intention of doing this kind of service, or about Sunstreaker, though. That was one of the reasons why he closed down the brothel.

Because he knew everything was about to come to an end. And it would also mean his disappearance, his disconnection to everything in this city.

Even Sunstreaker.

The foremost reason of closing down the brothel was because of Sunstreaker. He saw no other reason to let Sunstreaker serve strangers after his previous display of affection. How? How could he let others touch him after he kept telling him he loved him? It could be a lie and Lockdown knew it too well but what if it was true? Even though he had a camera inside Sunstreaker's room, he had never used it to watch his ex-lover being touched by other mechs. It was too painful to watch. The Credits for the Opidium were being taken care of and Sunstreaker wouldn't need anyone else but Lockdown now, thus minus the need for a brothel.

When Sunstreaker asked him how he could silently sit in his office and let that mech drugged and fragged him against his will, Lockdown had wanted to say that he didn't know because he couldn't bear to look at the screen. Only when he gathered enough courage to turn on the monitor had he realized it had been too late.

"Lockdown?"

Sunstreaker's voice from outside of the office woke Lockdown up from his drowning sorrow. The black and green mech sighed, rubbed his forehelm and then quickly acted as if nothing had happened.

"What is it, Sunshine?"

"Can I come in? I want to talk to you."

Lockdown frowned, didn't know if he should let the yellow mech in the office. He didn't even figure out why Sunstreaker suddenly grew attached to him, his best guess lied in his two orns off being with Sideswipe. Had the red mech done something to him that made him return to Lockdown? Or was Sunstreaker simply trying to get something from him? The latter seemed to be more suitable with a mech like the yellow bot.

Maybe, Lockdown could play along with Sunstreaker to see what his real intention was.

"Come in, Sunshine," Lockdown replied, then activated the remote to unlock the door.

Sunstreaker walked in as soon as the door slid opened. He looked around, eyeing every object in Lockdown's office like a sparkling who had just gone to a new world. Lockdown let him finish beholding his office before let out a chuckle, "So? What do you think?"

"Could have use more colors. Yellow would be nice."

Sunstreaker commented and approached Lockdown. The black and green mech laughed, shaking his helm, "Remind me next time I redecorate my office," he looked at the pleasure mech, who had just sat down on a chair opposite of him, "Now, what do you want to talk about, Sunshine?"

"It's about Sideswipe," Sunstreaker spoke after a few kliks of silence.

That seemed to have caught Lockdown's interest.

"He wants to meet me," the yellow mech continued.

"'Wants'?" Lockdown raised his voice.

"'Wanted'," Sunstreaker quickly corrected, "Well... before I returned here, he told me he wanted to see me... one last time," He didn't think letting Lockdown know he had Sideswipe's comm link signature was a good move.

Lockdown scratched his chin, "So... you want to see him?"

"Just to tighten some loose ends," Sunstreaker shrugged, "I want to see him so that I can tell him to frag off."

Or to tell him how much I love him. Sunstreaker thought. Of course, Lockdown mustn't know that.

The black and green mech stared at Sunstreaker, trying to find some signs to show that he was lying. But then, why didn't he let Sunstreaker go see Sideswipe and he could follow him behind? In that way, he could easily find out about the yellow mech's intention with him and to see whether he and Sideswipe were actually over. Even if they weren't, Lockdown would still see it as a good thing because Sideswipe would be more determined to purchase Sunstreaker and give him the Credits he wanted. If they were truly through, then Lockdown still had his ways to persuade the gladiator to buy his ex-lover's freedom.

Either ways worked for him.

"Of course," he grinned, "You can go see him. Just remember to tell him that you're mine now."

Sunstreaker nodded, "Will do."

Lockdown stood up from his chair and walked towards the pleasure mech, "When do you want to see him?"

"How about tonight?"

Lockdown was about to reply but suddenly his comm link pinged. He frowned at the designation and stood up from his chair, "Hold up. I've got a comm," he said, then turning his back on Sunstreaker to face the window. He knew for sure Sunstreaker would try to observe him and it was best that he should avoid his look when he was in a comm. Especially in a comm with that mech.

Sunstreaker sat still on the chair, staring at Lockdown's back then at the stack of datapads on his desk. Cautiously, the yellow mech glanced at the datapad at the top and back at Lockdown again. As quick and silent as he could, he grabbed the datapad and lowered it down onto his laps and behind the desk so that when Lockdown turned around, he wouldn't see what Sunstreaker had taken. Being subtle wasn't Sunstreaker's specialty but he kept telling himself to try. For himself and for Sideswipe. For their dream of being together. He looked at Lockdown, who was still answering the comm, then at the datapad on his laps. A digit slowly turned the datapad on and luckily it wasn't password protected, probably because Lockdown was reading it.

The information was... interested, to say the least. Although they weren't anything that could prove Lockdown was involved in the Opidium smuggling, Sunstreaker was still surprised at the data. These were all about his vitals, his Spark signal and his innards. It was weird to see Lockdown kept these kind of information and it was even weirder to notice there were more than one files, recorded every orn. Lockdown had been monitored him, no, monitored his health to be more exact on a daily basis. Sunstreaker knew Lockdown did care about him in some degree but to monitor and keep these kinds of things. It was a little disturbing.

But the surprise didn't stop here since Sunstreaker found two more files belong to another two mechs on the datapad. One was labeled the name "Crawler" while the other...

"Sideswipe"?

Sunstreaker widened his optics at the file's name. He opened the file and found the information on Sideswipe's spark signal as well as his background. How come Lockdown have these kinds of information? And why did he keep these?

Did he intend to do something to Sideswipe? Sunstreaker's spark jumped at the thought. His digit swiped up and down on the text about Sideswipe. Whatever reasons Lockdown had, he had done a throughout research about the gladiator. And Sunstreaker's spark throbbed as he noticed the piece of information about Sideswipe's real home city.

"An orphan from an Orphanage named 'Second Chance' in Iacon and was adopted by Ironhide."

Sunstreaker almost dropped the datapad.

He remembered when he was young, sitting on his caretaker's laps with wiggling legs and curious, brightly shone optics as he asked him, "Where are my sire and carrier? Where did I come from?"

His caretaker laughed at the innocent questions, petting his helm fins, still being so little at that time, like ears of a newborn turbofox. With his husky voice, he said, "You don't need them. They left you at a place called 'Second Chance'. And I'm the second chance you need to give you the life you deserve."

Sunstreaker was also an orphan from 'Second Chance' Orphanage in Iacon.

Terrified of what he had just read and memories of the past, Sunstreaker tried to hold his breath. Questions of uncertainty about the true relation between him and Sideswipe kept dancing around in his processor.

Same frame. Same home city. Same background of being orphans. Same orphanage. Same feelings.

Was Sideswipe really his brother?

No, no, no, it can't be. It can't be. It must have been a mistake or a coincidence. Sunstreaker tried to calm down and convince himself that he must not trust these information. There were no credibility in these, and Lockdown could have made them up. Yes, these were just his assumptions or whatever they were. He slightly jumped as he saw Lockdown turned to take a glance at him then turned away again. It seemed to be he hadn't noticed the missing datapad on the desk, but Sunstreaker knew he had taken too much time on this. Knowing Lockdown would end his comm anytime soon, Sunstreaker quickly turned off the datapad and put it back to its old place.

And it was just in time, too. Because couples of cycles later, Lockdown finished his comm and turned back, facing the yellow mech. He narrowed his optics and for a klik, Sunstreaker almost feared that he had seen what had happened. But there was something weird in the way he looked at Sunstreaker. Something that was almost like... guilt... or even regret.

In just about less than half an orn, Sunstreaker was able to see more sides of Lockdown than in stellar cycles.

"Lockdown?" Sunstreaker frowned. But the black and green mech kept his optics on him.

Finally, after awhile, he replied, "Comm me when you want to go and see Sideswipe. Now, if there aren't anything else, I have work to do," after that, he turned away and pointed a digit towards the door.

Now, that was weird. Sunstreaker thought but didn't object. He stood up and walked towards the door, only stopped after a few steps to look back at Lockdown, then continued to leave the office, couldn't see that behind the locked door, Lockdown had dropped down on his chair and had both of his servos wrapping around his helm, faceplate winced in anger and shame.

Couldn't see that behind the locked door and buried in servos, Lockdown silently sobbed.


Nightfall, at The Illusionist...

"What are they doing here?"

Sunstreaker gave Sideswipe a scowl as he looked at Ironhide and Prowl. Couple of cycles ago, Lockdown had kept his words and let Sunstreaker out of the brothel after he had commed him. The yellow mech had predicted the possibility that Lockdown sent mechs to follow him and had been cautious of his surroundings. But he knew his plan would be destroyed if Lockdown knew he still loved Sideswipe. So the yellow mech had come up with an idea to trick Lockdown. But this would also mean tricking Sideswipe as well.

Sunstreaker would have to really act like he didn't love Sideswipe anymore and wanted to end their relationship.

But how? The question didn't limit to how he was going to do that, but it was more about how he could bear Sideswipe's sadness when he told him they were over. Sunstreaker had told himself he had to be strong; because once Lockdown had been caught he would return to the gladiator and tell him the truth immediately. But it was easier said than done. Because now when Sunstreaker get to their meeting place - The Illusionist, he found out Sideswipe didn't go alone. He could understand why Ironhide was here, probably wanted to protect Sideswipe, but what about the white Enforcer that was sitting next to Sideswipe?

"What? You want Sides to go alone so that you can hurt him?" Ironhide crossed his arms and stared at the yellow mech. Sunstreaker could see the old mech was still pissed about how Sideswipe had left him to go after Hook alone.

"You want to see me and him fragging again that much?" Sunstreaker glared back at Ironhide.

"Again?" Prowl mumbled.

"'Hide. Sunny. Please!" Sideswipe raised a servo and looked at both mechs, "Ironhide is just worried about me, Sunny. 'Hide, Sunny and I are lovers. So it's normal if we just want a little privacy, right?"

Both Ironhide and Sunstreaker huffed, still staring at each other. Sideswipe sighed, "Sunny, please ignore Ironhide. And also Prowl is here because he has something that he wants to ask. But I'll tell you later."

Sunstreaker frowned, but didn't say anything. His spark suddenly jumped as he felt Sideswipe's servo touching his. The yellow mech looked down to see that the red mech had hold his servo tight and he kept trying to tell himself to be strong and not to be frayed by the mech he loved most.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Sunny," Sideswipe smiled and tightened his grip.

Sunstreaker's spark almost stopped. Suddenly, he trembled, in fear, in anger and pain as he realized he wouldn't be able to see Sideswipe. But the hardest part wasn't about the time that they were going to be separated, it was about what he was about to say, it was about the inevitable result that could send Sideswipe into the depth of hurt.

And there was only one way to quickly, possibly temporary, end his relationship with Sideswipe.

"We can't be together, Sides. Our relationship... it has to end."

His words surprised not only the red mech but also Ironhide and Prowl. Sideswipe tightened his grip on his lover's servo, feeling his spark panicked at the word 'end', "Sunny, I understand that we can't be lovers for now. I-I'll find a way to get you out of that place."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Sides," Sunstreaker gritted his denta, "We're brothers! Brothers don't love each other that way!"

Sideswipe felt like his spark had just broken into pieces. Shock colored not just his but also the other two mechs' faceplates.

"Wha-what are you saying?" he stuttered, couldn't believe in what he heard.

"Sides... the brother that I've been looking for. It's you. It has always been you," Sunstreaker looked down onto the table, couldn't be able to look at Sideswipe, couldn't be able to contain his pain and shock. To be honest, Sunstreaker wasn't really sure about this information but this was the only reason that he could have thought of to temporary end his relationship with Sideswipe.

The only believable reason that even he wanted to deny how accurate it was.

"No, no, ...please tell me this is a joke...," Sideswipe gasped and begged, shoulders trembling in fear and voice breaking up, "...please tell me this is not true. You said you guys are twins. But I don't look like you, Sunny. Please..."

"It's true, Sides. I found a datapad in Lockdown's office that proves you're my brother. Remember what I said? Twins can feel each other's feelings. I've always been feeling yours. All the time. And your mood-swing?" Sunstreaker sighed, "It happens because of me."

Sideswipe shook his helm, looking down onto the table and unable to say anything else.

"Let me go, Sides. We can't be lovers. We can never be. We are brothers. I'm glad that I've finally found you but..." Sunstreaker lift Sideswipe's servo up and laid a gentle kiss upon it, "...I can't hurt my own brother."

Sideswipe broke down, sobbing and gritting his denta, "You're not hurting me... you've never hurt me... the information you found? It's wrong! There's no way...! We can't be brothers, Sunny... we can't..."

Ironhide gently put a servo on his sparkling's shoulder, trying to comfort him. On the other side of the gladiator, Prowl had been silent. He hadn't been expecting this, and something told him Sunstreaker wouldn't be able to provide the information he needed about the mysterious mech tonight. It was painful to watch Sideswipe, the strong, confident and fearless gladiator, whining in pain and trembling at the realization.

"I can feel your pain, Sides. I'm so sorry for letting you know this. I've... I've pictured a happier reunion between us. I've never wanted this to happen. I've never wanted to fall in love with my own brother," Sunstreaker sighed again, "I don't want to hurt you like this. But... but..."

"You're doing the right thing."

Sunstreaker looked up and noticed it was Ironhide was talking.

"You're doing the right thing. And I'm sorry that you two have to end your relationship like this but... you have also formed a bond closer and deeper than any pair of brothers. Thinking this as a start of a new-"

"It's not fragging fair! I'm sorry but I can't!" Sideswipe tightened his grip again and this time it made Sunstreaker winced in pain, "I can't change my love for you! Suddenly you tell me we're brothers and all of you expect me to stop loving you like the way I do! I can't do that! Please tell me this isn't true!"

He suddenly lowered his voice, "Please don't ask me to do this... I can't... please don't do this to me."

Sunstreaker avoided Sideswipe's optics, kept telling himself after he was done with Lockdown he would tell Sideswipe the truth and they could be together. But it still hurt to hear the red mech's pleas and sob, his beg for this to be some kind of a cruel joke.

He couldn't stay here any longer.

He couldn't bare hearing Sideswipe's cries or seeing his sad and hurt optics.

He couldn't contain all of this guilt and he wanted to get out of here.

"I'm sorry, Sides..."

Sunstreaker mumbled, then retreated his servo from the red mech's grip. As quick as he could, he stood up and ran out of The Illusionist, earning a few curious looks from the mechs in the bar. Sideswipe felt like the world was crumbling around him. The sweet, happy and beautiful memories of him and Sunstreaker kept flooding back into his processor and Sideswipe felt like all of his hope and dreams had been shattered into pieces. The mech he had loved so much. The mech he had cherished so many times, had kissed, had interfaced with, had loved with every he got, turned out to be his long lost twin brother.

It wasn't fair.

"It's ok, Sides," Prowl sighed, "I'll contact you later for Sunstreaker's comm signature. Just... just...," he paused, not knowing what he should say, "...take care of yourself, alright?"

After that, he stood up and quickly commed Chromedome as he left the bar. Prowl then accidentally saw Sunstreaker transformed into his Alt mode and drove away. He couldn't help but feel bad for the two young mechs. It must not be a very pleasant feeling knowing the one they loved so much turned out to be their brother. Not to mention, Sideswipe had had history of being in a troubled relationship. This would hurt him more than anything.

But right now, Prowl's worries slowly shifted to Chromedome as he had waited for so long but his partner still hadn't answered the comm. It took cycles for Prowl to finally hear the Enforcer's voice, ::Prowl?::

::Chromedome, something happened. I'll try to contact Sunstreaker later. What about you? What took you so long?::

::I need backup, Prowl:: Chromedome's voice sounded too hurried.

::What happened?:: Prowl asked as he transformed into his Alt mode.

::Scrapper ambushed me for Hook to escape. They are on the run and I'm chasing them right now::

::I'm on my way. We mustn't let them get away this time:: the white Enforcer said as he quickly drove away from the bar.

Meanwhile, inside The Illusionist, Ironhide had wrapped his arm around Sideswipe's shoulders, trying to comfort him, "It's going to be alright, Sides. You're going to be fine. I know it's hurt right now but you're gonna be okay..."

"Why didn't you tell me I had a brother?" Sideswipe sobbed.

"I didn't know, Sides. When I adopted you, I only saw you there. Nobody told me you had a brother. You think I'd left Sunstreaker behind if I knew he was your brother? I'd adopted you both. I'd raised you two as my own sparklings and wouldn't let Sunstreaker become a pleasure mech," Ironhide frowned, "Had I known... all of this wouldn't have happened."

"But it have...! I love him so much. It's not fair," Sideswipe sighed, "Why did this keep happening to me? Why every mech I loved turn out to be...?"

He gasped and offlined his optics, couldn't finish his own question. Ironhide pull him into a hug, rubbing his back up and down as if Sideswipe was a little sparkling, crying and clinging onto his caretaker whenever his imagination got the best of him, thinking he had seen a monster under his berth. Normally the red mech would push him away and told him he was going to be fine and it was too sentimental for him.

But right now, he didn't care.


::I saw what happened, Sunstreaker. You're doing the right thing::

Jazz said through the comm link as he stood in a corner of The Illusionist, observing the bar and every mech inside.

::Doesn't feel like it. I made it all up to hurt Sides:: Sunstreaker answered.

::I know it must be hard for both of you and him. But the right thing to do isn't always the easiest one,:: Jazz stroke his chin, ::Lockdown had sent a mech to follow you. He'd know you're lying to him if you had showed your love to Sideswipe::

::Of course he did::

::Don't worry. He must have commed Lockdown and told him everything he had seen. And it'll be all about how you broke up with Sideswipe. My partner had also moved in to intercept this stalker. Now you're one step closer to Lockdown::

Sunstreaker sighed and simply said, ::...yeah::

Before Jazz could say anything else, Sunstreaker suddenly said, ::Wait, Jazz. I've just seen Lockdown leaving the brothel. I'm following him now::

::Where is he? Don't go alone:: Jazz frowned.

::I have to be on his trail. I'll send you the location after he reaches his destination::

::Sunstreaker, be careful. Tell me where you are:: Jazz had left his corner and was about to leave the bar.

::I saw it. He's heading to- aAAHH::

Suddenly, Jazz heard a painful cry and the comm disconnected right after that. He froze as he tried to raise the comm again but there were no answers.

What the frag just happened?

::Sunstreaker? Are you there? What happened?::

No replies.

::Sunstreaker? SUNSTREAKER!::

-To be continued-


Thank you for reading till the end!