Chapter Ten

Storm sat in the rec room trying hard to focus on the data pad in front of her and not think about the battle that the others had gone out on. Her wing was still healing and Ratchet didn't want her flying out on it until it was fully healed. Stupid Starscream. She thought bitterly. She wanted to be out there with them, taking those seekers down and putting them in their place. Her expression softened slightly as she remember what Thundercracker had told her when he'd found her after she'd run from the Ark. 'Of course I care, I'm your brother.' There was no denying that seeing him again had brought both happiness and sadness to her spark. She was overjoyed to see him and hear that he still cared for her but at the same time it sadden her because it meant something that she tried desperately hard not to think about, the loss of the mech that she used to know as her beloved brother. She'd known all along that the attack on the settlement was not his fault or that he had nothing to do with it but to know that he had sided with a faction that could do that type of thing, that's what broke her. She'd seen the worry and fear in his optics when he landed with Skywarp that fateful day, she had wanted to go over, yell and scream at him for choosing such a side. She had held herself back though, if she had gone over to him that day what would have happened? Would she have become a Decepticon? She shook her head at that, no, she despised the Decepticons and all they stood for. So with a heavy spark she had turned from him and after locating Solarflare headed off blaming him for everything that happened and convincing Starlight of that fact too. She often wondered if her friend would hate her if she knew the truth. The jet was pulled from her thoughts when the doors opened and mechs flooded in, many of them with scrapes and dents that signified the battle was over. She assumed that they'd won from both the happy looks on their faces and their cheerful tones. What surprised her though was that when she was spotted by them virtually everyone came over, apologised for their behaviour towards her and Starlight and proceeded to say how glad they were the flyers were with them. "I didn't think Starlight had it in her." she heard one mech say as the crowd gradually moved away from her. "It took a lot of bravery to fly into something like that, especially with Skywarp coming up behind her and shooting her like that." Another said. Storm froze at what she just had heard, Starlight had taken on Skywarp? "Wish the move hadn't of taken her life though." The white and ocean blue femme could have sworn her spark stopped at that very moment. "Starlight? Gone?" she whispered out "no." she turned her head away from the 'happy scene', her optics offlining and her hand around the datapad grasping so tight it shook. "No. She can't be, I promised…"
Flashback
"Hi Lazer, I'm Solarflare. Nice to meet you." The magenta and silver femme said happily holding a hand out.

"How do you know my name?" the turquoise femme asked surprised.

"My brother's Skywarp." Solarflare said matter-of-factly as if that was the only explanation needed.

Lazer gave a small smile and chuckled, she remembered Thundercracker telling her Skywarp had a twin. She shook the other femme's hand.

"I see the two of you have finally met." Another voice said catching both femme's attentions.

"Did you plan this?" Lazer asked slightly humorous her smile becoming bigger as she turned to her brother and seeing Skywarp next to him.

"We've been meaning for the two of you to meet for a while but 'Flare tends to get a bit shy when meeting others." Skywarp said.

Lazer looked back at the femme in front of her to see a blush on her face. She looked back over at Skywarp, "she's nothing like you." She joked making Thundercracker chuckle.

"Wait until you get to know her better, Lazer, then tell me you think that." Thundercracker told her humorously.
End flashback

Thundercracker had been right of course and as the years past Lazer and Solarflare had become close friends, then the war came. "I promised…" Storm whispered out again.

Flashback
"The two of you will be safe there." Thundercracker said as he tried to reassure the turquoise femme.

"Why do you have to join this war, come with 'Flare and I." Lazer said not understanding.

"Lazer we've been through this." The blue mech told her trying hard not to sound annoyed.

"I'm sorry TC, it's just that I don't want to lose my brother. He means everything to me." She replied sadly looking away from him.

"You're not going to lose me."

"But…" she began looking back at him tears starting to brim her optics.

Thundercracker placed a hand on his sister's shoulder and gave a small smile, "I want you to promise me something."

"What?"

"That you will take care of Solarflare while Skywarp and I are…away. She'll be looking to you now." He said.

"I'll try, but I'm not as strong as you." Turning her head away from him once again.

Thundercracker gently turn Lazer's head back to him and cupped her cheek, "you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Lazer." He kissed her forehead "promise you'll do that that for me."

"Only if you promise to come back alive." A tear falling down her cheek.

"I will, I promise you. Both Skywarp and I will back with you both before you know it."
End flashback

Storm felt a hand on her shoulder, she onlined her optics and looked over. "You okay?" a voice asked, it took the jet a moment to realise it was Inferno her processor still in memories of the past. "Fine." She replied softly looking away from him only to look back a minute later, "tell me," she began not wanting to ask but needing confirmation "I-is Starlight r-really…g-gone?"

"She's in the medbay, along with Lightning." The fire engine replied gently surprised at the jet's stutter and soft tone. She'd never used a calm tone except with Starlight and Lightning, and even then it still had a harsh undertone to it. So to see this side of the femme was truly a rarity.

"But is she…"

"That I am unsure of. To others it probably looked like she died after Skywarp's shot and the explosion from Megatron's machine flew her back after she shot it but those who got to her first say she was still clinging to life." Inferno informed.

Thundercracker stood at Skywarp's door after hearing from Starscream what had happened, the air commander had found it immensely funny and ironic that the ones he'd try to take out himself had fallen to someone who would have never been able to do it. The blue seeker didn't see the funny side, he thought it a horrible twist of fate that it fell to Skywarp to take out his own sister. The black seeker hadn't come out of his quarters since they returned worrying him greatly, so here he now stood wondering what he could say to his friend that would make things seem better. Of course it didn't help that Starscream seemed to think that setting him upon his own sister would be the best way to go instead of taking her on himself. Slowly lifting his arm up Thundercracker knocked on the door. "Skywarp?" no response, this wasn't good. "Skywarp, you need to let me in." still nothing "we need to talk about this so you can get over it." The door opened instantly and there stood a very irate seeker.

"I don't want to 'get over it'." He said with pure malice. Thundercracker placed a hand on the black seeker's shoulder only to be surprised when they shoved it off. "I don't want to forget about it, got it. I killed my sister, and all because I didn't want anyone to know she was mine. All because she was an Autobot…" his optics narrowed at the mech in front of him. "All because you convinced me that she would be safer out there with Lazer than with me here. I wish I never listened to you and took her with me."

"We both know that's not true." The blue seeker told him annoyed "she wouldn't have lasted five minutes with us, it wasn't who she was."

"Stop pretending you know Solarflare better than I do! She was my sister not yours! She was my responsibility not yours! You had your own sister to worry about yet you always cut in on my time with Solarflare and now she is gone because of you!" Skywarp spat.

Thundercracker sighed and looked away deciding it was time to admit to something he didn't think he'd ever tell anyone, not even Lazer knew. "I loved her." He said quietly.

"You what?" the black mech asked in complete shock and received a nod in reply. He looked away from his long-time friend for a moment before heading back into his quarters not caring if Thundercracker followed him or not. He sat on his berth back to the door. "Did…did she feel anything for you?" he finally asked as the door closed.

"I…don't think so. If she did she never let on. I was trying to protect them both…protect all of us, guess I failed."

"Why didn't I see it?" Skywarp asked himself "all the signs were there but I just didn't see it."

"Perhaps you didn't want to." Thundercracker offered as he walked over and placed a hand on his trinemate's shoulder, this time it wasn't shoved off. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you went up against her."

A small smile came to Skywarp's lips, "hm. You had your own things to worry about, plus I would have to have face her eventually."