Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it.

When Arcee returned with a red mech trailing behind her, Chromia knew that Elita had been correct in her assumption that their little sister had been sneaking off to see a mech. Of course, the fact that said mech had a very strong resemblance to Bumblebee did cause her to optic ridge. There was nothing wrong with it of course, after all many Cybertronians shared the same frame design, but it was still a slight surprise.

"Hi 'Mia," Arcee greeted as she walked up to the blue femme.

"Hey there 'Cee, who's your friend?"

"This is Cliffjumper. Where's Elita at? I was wanting introduce Cliff to her, and we have something to ask both of you."

"She's talking to Optimus and 'Bee. It might be a while before she's done, so why don't you go ahead and ask me whatever it is."

"I'd really rather wait for Elita to finish."

Now that really made Chromia wonder what Arcee was going to ask. Normally her little sister wouldn't be so adamant about having both of her older sisters around so she could ask them something. It had to be something big. Either that or she was worried that Chromia wouldn't like what she was going to say and would go off on her. The blue femme couldn't deny that being a possibility. Of the three of them she was the one with the biggest temper, and lately it had been easier to set her off than usual. Elita claimed that it was a side effect caused by her separation from Ironhide. She would take her word for it, because Chromia hadn't bothered to do any research into it at all.

"Alright, fine, but you know how long she can spend talking to them."

"Why aren't you talking to 'Hide?"

"I talked to him earlier, and I can talk to him again later. Bumblebee is getting ready to start scouting, so it could be a while before Elita can talk to him again. Wait, does he know?" Chromia gestured in Cliffjumper's direction. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she needed to watch what she was saying when it came to Bumblebee and all of their relations to him.

"Yes, I told him, but Cliff has promised not to say anything. Haven't you Cliff?"

"Secrets safe with me."

Part of Chromia felt annoyed with Arcee for actually telling someone about Bumblebee without even letting her or Elita know about it. Sure, the pink femme clearly trusted the mech, but it was still sensitive information to be passing out. It was dangerous and could potentially put Optimus, Elita, and Bumblebee all in danger. They were certainly going to have to have a talk about it later.

"When did you two meet?" she asked, changing the subject.

"A little while ago. He helped me out on a mission before and we've been meeting up whenever we can ever since. Sorry that I haven't told you or Elita about him, things have been getting in the way."

Now that Chromia could understand. Ever since Tyger Pax, everything had practically been a whirlwind. Almost every orn something was going on. The Decepticons seemed to be getting restless in Megatron's absence. Actually even some Autobots were getting restless. Being on a rapidly dying planet, having the main faction leaders off world, Chromia was certainly glad that she didn't have to deal with the pressure of being in charge like her older sister did.

"What have we not been told about?"

Chromia turned around to see Elita walking over to them. Well that conversation with her sparkmate and youngling certainly ended faster than she thought it would.

"Oh just that our little sis here met Cliffjumper and that she told him about Bumblebee, but don't worry he's promised not to say anything."

There was a slight look of worry on Elita's face with that news, and Chromia was beginning to wish that she hadn't mentioned it. True the purple femme would have to learn about it eventually, but she could have waited for a time when she wasn't already under so much stress.

"So how are Optimus and 'Bee?"

"Fine. Bumblebee is a little nervous about his scouting mission, but he's excited about it too. Both of them are hoping that they'll be able to return soon. But enough about that. It's nice to meet you Cliffjumper, I'm glad that I finally know why Arcee was sneaking off."

"You knew?"

Chromia let out a small laugh, "We're your older sisters. Did you really think we wouldn't notice when you go missing for a while? Now weren't you wanting to ask us something?"

"Oh right. Well you see, Cliff's team has a ship and he was saying that they could continue searching for Sunstreaker even after our ship leaves. He's asked if I could go with him."

Both Chromia and Elita were silent as they processed Arcee's words. Truthfully they both knew that one day that their sister would want to go off to do her own thing – especially since their original unit was now down to just the three of them – but it was still a little hard for them to imagine. Arcee wasn't a youngling, she hadn't been for a long time, so really there was no main reason why she couldn't go. Though truthfully Chromia could think of a few other things.

She and Elita were already having to deal with strained bonds, did they really need to add in their bond with Arcee to that? Actually she was really worried to see how Elita would handle it. One strained bond was bad enough, but that would be three for her – that could not be a good thing at all.

"Cliffjumper when will your team be leaving?" Elita questioned.

"Oh it'll still be a few orns before we would be able to start searching. We're making sure that we have enough supplies before we head out."

"Good so we have time to discuss this and make sure that it's a good idea for 'Cee to go with you," Chromia spoke up, earning a small look of annoyance from Arcee.

"You know, you could have just said yes or no to him then, you didn't have to act like you don't trust him," Arcee crossed her arms as she sat down in front of her sisters.

"Well we did just meet him," Chromia retorted.

"Arcee, we don't know Cliffjumper as well as you do, therefore our trust in him isn't as strong as yours. I just hope that you are right in your trust. I know you didn't mean any harm Arcee, but I do wish you had come to me before you told him about Bumblebee. You could have put my youngling in danger by doing that."

"Elita you know that I would never do anything that I thought would put 'Bee in danger. Cliffjumper won't tell anyone else, you don't have to worry."

"I always have to worry when it comes to Bumblebee."

It was the truth as far as Elita was concerned. As long as the war was going on, she had to worry about Bumblebee constantly. There was no way to possibly know when an attack was going to break out or where everyone would be when it happened. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time could cost you your life. And then there was the worry of the Decepticons finding hers and Optimus' relation to the youngling. Sometimes she truly wondered how she and Optimus would be able to adjust to not having to worry as much once the war was over.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner about that."

"It's alright Arcee, I know you didn't mean any harm by it. Now, lets move onto what I know you're wanting to talk about. Do you truly want to go with Cliffjumper?"

"I do. He's nice, sweet, and funny. I love being around him and I hate being away from him. I know that's not exactly the best reason for me to go with him and his team, but it does play a role in it. It would also be good for there to be someone that knows Sunstreaker around in case we do find him."

Elita glanced over at Chromia, "That is true."

"Can you handle another strained bond?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that. I'm sorry Elita, I didn't realize I would be adding another strain."

"No, it's alright Arcee. You don't have anything to apologize for. I'm sure I can handle one more strained bond. It's not going to kill me."

Neither of them looked very convinced.

"Now honestly you two, if I say that I'll be fine, I'll be fine. Arcee if this is something that you really want to do, I don't see any reason to tell you no."

"Are you sure that you'll be alright if I go 'Lita?"

"I will be fine Arcee. I'm sure that Chromia will keep a close watch over me if that makes you feel any better."

"You know I will."

"Well in that case, I think I'll go."

"I have a condition for her though," Chromia gave a small grin. "She has to tell us if she and Cliffjumper get anymore serious."

"I think that's fair enough," Elita agreed. "Arcee?"

"Fine, fine, no more secrets from my older sisters. But I had better not be teased a lot about Cliffjumper."

"Now you're taking the fun out of it. You teased me with Ironhide and we both teased Elita with Optimus. You don't get any special treatment for being the youngest. Now I'm going to make sure that I contact you every day that we're gone to pester you about it."

The pink femme let out a small groan that caused her older sisters to start laughing.

Five orns later, Arcee left to join Cliffjumper's team and ten orns after that the Xantium was complete and they were ready to leave Cybertron. Elita had ensured that Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Topspin, Skids, and Mudflap were already on board before she and Chromia went to fetch Jolt and Sideswipe. The young medic was going to try to bring the silver twin out of stasis, and Elita was already dreading to see how Sideswipe was going to react. Hence why she wanted as few of them there as possible.

"You think we'll be able to get him on the ship?"

Elita glanced over at her sister as they walked towards Jolt's med bay.

"I don't know. I'm hoping that we'll be able to, but I'm expecting that he's going to react badly when he discovers Sunstreaker isn't here."

"Maybe we should wait and tell him after we get him on the ship. At least then we have him locked in and won't have to fight him to get him on."

The purple femme shook her head, "No, we're going to tell him the truth upfront. He deserves to know."

Elita desperately hoped that they would be able to get Sideswipe to go with them willingly. She wasn't sure if they would be able to force him on board without having to have Jolt to sedate him. When they had informed Ratchet of Sunstreaker's MIA status, the medic had informed them that they would have to keep a close watch on Sideswipe once he was out of stasis. Each twin had half of one spark, and as such twins naturally depended on each other to keep their sparks functioning properly. If a strained bond happened between them, their sparks could start to fluctuate – and if left strained long enough, could end up killing them. They had to make sure they could keep Sideswipe stabilized long enough for them to find Sunstreaker, and they had to hope that the gold twin would not be too bad off.

"S-Sideswipe, stop!"

The sudden yelling and sounds of clanging coming from the med bay was enough for the two femmes to know that Sideswipe was awake, and not in a good mood."

"Where is he!? Where is Sunstreaker!?"

The silver twin wasn't paying a bit of attention to what was happening around him. All he knew was that he was in some med bay and his brother wasn't there. Sunstreaker was always there. Him not being there could only mean that something bad had happened, and he wanted to know what.

"I d-don't know!" Jolt stuttered as he backed away, glancing warily at Sideswipe's swords.

"Sideswipe, stand down!"

The twin turned to see Elita and Chromia standing in the doorway – the blue femme had her blaster trained on him in the off chance that he tried to attack them.

"Where's Sunny!?" he demanded again.

"What Jolt told you is true, we don't know where Sunstreaker is," Elita took a step closer to him. "When we found you, you were badly damaged and Sunstreaker was no where to be found. We've asked around, but no one has seen him. Arcee has joined up with another team to search for him."

"What do you mean no one has seen him? He couldn't have just disappeared!"

"Sideswipe, we think that it's possible that he's been taken prisoner by the Decepticons."

"What?" Sideswipe seemed to shrink as he backed up against the medical berth he had previously been on. "No, that can't be right. Sunny would never let the 'Cons take him..."

"You were in bad shape when we found you Sideswipe," Elita placed a servo on his shoulder. "There's a chance that Sunstreaker was just as bad, and the Decepticons grabbed him when he was unconscious."

"Well then why did they leave me behind?"

"I don't know." She glanced over at Jolt. "Are you ready to leave?"

The medic nodded, grabbed a few things, and walked out the door. Leaving the two femmes alone with Sideswipe.

"Why is he leaving?"

"Cybertron is becoming too unstable for anyone to remain on it much longer, we're all leaving Sideswipe. Our ship is ready to leave."

The twin was deathly silent for a moment, before suddenly jumping up.

"I'm not leaving! Not without Sunny!"

"Sideswipe, I know this is hard for you, but we have to leave. We have 'Bots looking for Sunstreaker."

"Well I should be helping them! My brother needs me! Something is blocking off our bond, because he's not responding to my attempts at contacting him."

"You're not going to be helping him much if you end up getting yourself killed by going off on your own," Chromia pointed out. "You're coming with us one way or another."

"Sideswipe, we're all worried about Sunstreaker, you know that and we'll do whatever we can to find him. But we can't risk everyone's lives by staying here. There's a chance that the Decepticons have taken him off the planet, so we can search for him when we leave. Also we contacted Ratchet, wouldn't it be nice to not have to have him worrying about what's happening to you as well."

Sideswipe's optics dimmed slightly when his and Sunstreaker's guardian was mentioned. Ratchet had taken care of them since they were younglings, after it had been made clear that their actual creators had abandoned them. The medic hid it sometimes, but he really did care a lot about him and Sunstreaker. Ratchet was probably just as worried as he was about his twin. Still that didn't mean that Sideswipe was thrilled with the thought of having to leave without his brother.

(Sunny, they're going to make me leave Cybertron. You gotta tell me where you are so we can come get you too.)

No response.

(Bro, please! Don't make me have to leave you! At least tell me that you're okay!)

Again, nothing from Sunstreaker. Sideswipe hated it. He could sense that his brother was still alive, but he wasn't feeling anything else from him. No emotions, no thoughts, nothing but the feeling that he was still alive. Sideswipe was thankful that he was getting that much from Sunstreaker, though he really wished that his brother could give him some sort of confirmation that he was alright or at least knew where he was at.

"Fine I'll go with you. Doesn't mean that I'm going to be happy about it," he muttered looking at the ground.

"We wouldn't expect you to."

As he followed Elita and Chromia to the ship, he couldn't help but try to reach out to Sunstreaker one more time.

(I'm going to find you somehow Sunstreaker, or maybe you'll find me. Whichever it is, we'll see each other again soon bro.)