Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. All recognizable characters are the property of HasTak. All unrecognizable ones are the intellectual property of yours truly; their theft is punishable by severe voodoo-induced pain in any and all sensitive organs of the body, followed by eternal damnation.

Because, you know, stealing is wrong.

Title: Schism

Summary: Sparkbearer Saga: Part II. Alien invasions, possessed vehicles, language barriers, government conspiracies, family drama, supermarket tabloids, and tomato wars... Welcome to Earth.

Rating: T

Warnings: mild cursing, mild gore

Author Notes: Several people mentioned that Skywarp's teleportation isn't meant for such long distances. I agree, but according to my research, there was an incident in the IDW 'verse where he teleported from America to the Middle East. Here, I'm framing it as something that doesn't happen often due to the strain on his systems.

Now, onward!

Transformers: Schism

Chapter Ten: Interlude

Al Powell: What's this about?
John McClane: Oh, just a feeling I have.
Al Powell: Ouch. When you get those feelings, insurance companies start to go bankrupt.
– Die Hard II

(Primus help me, would you stop that?)

Sideswipe froze. He had been contemplating the state of the parking lot, scanning the multitudes of cracks marring its surface, and pondering whether it would be worth it to attempt a quick recharge before his next assigned patrol. Parked beside him, Sunstreaker revved his engine moodily.

(Um… what?)

(Stop it. Whatever you're doing, stop it now.)

(… you want me to stop looking at the pavement?)

(You're twitching.)

Sideswipe mulled that over. (I was not.)

(Yes. You were.)

(Not.)

There came a subtle thump along the bond. (In here. You're twitching. Stop it.)

Sideswipe thumped back, because it was practically a required response, and said, (My mind is twitching?)

(Yes. Whatever you're worrying about, knock it off. I'm trying to recharge.)

(I'm not worried.)

Silence and a thick feeling of disbelief filtered through the bond. Sideswipe hunkered low on his tires. (I'm not.)

Thump.

(Stop that!)

(That's for lying.)

Sideswipe revved his engine and pulled up and over into a different parking spot. He turned his attention very determinedly back to the much-abused pavement.

There was a brief period of blessed silence, broken only by the passing of cars on the nearby highway and the distant hum of the city.

Sunstreaker eased into the spot next to Sideswipe.

(What's wrong?) Gone was the growling and teasing. Nothing but utter seriousness and, faintly beneath that, concern came across the bond.

Sideswipe could not formulate an answer in words. He was restless, but no amount of action or exploration eased it. He was tired, but recharge did nothing. He was worried, but there was nothing to worry over – when they met the 'Cons, they would take care of it as they always had, fierce and swift as they were created to be. Until that time came, worry was useless, but it still plagued him like a bit of rogue code that he could not quite catch hold of to delete.

He bundled everything up in one messy ball of thought-feeling-memory and pushed it toward his twin, and then he waited while Sunstreaker deciphered the muddle.

(You're worrying about nothing,) said Sunstreaker at last, flatly.

A cold chill seemed to creep through his circuits, and he upped his battle programming by a level, scanning his surroundings.

(Sunny, I'm serious, something is wrong.)

(I've got nothing on my sensors, Sideswipe.)

(How can you not feel that?)

It was like the world itself was pressing in all around him. He sent the feeling to Sunstreaker and felt his brother increase energy to his own sensors, scanning their surroundings.

(Sideswipe, there's nothing—)

The energy registered on his long-range scanners like the distant flare of a star, so abrupt that he sat there dumbly for a moment and stared.

(The frag?) Sunstreaker snarled, and his engine was roaring loud enough to rattle his plating, and the comm came alive in a burst of chatter that flooded his audios.

:What in the name of…:

:Prowl, you seein' this?:

:Primus in the Pit, why would she…?:

:That can't be right! There's no way!:

Prowl's voice cut through the chatter like a beam-saber. :All of you, on the road and en route immediately! We'll rendezvous on the way. Jazz, I need a comm line to Mirage.:

:No can do, Prowler. 'Raj is shut down tighter than Red's office during anti-virus updates.:

:Fine. Sideswipe? Sunstreaker?:

To Sideswipe's astonishment, Sunstreaker replied. :On our way.:

And putting action to words, the yellow twin peeled out of the parking lot like the Unmaker himself were after him, and Sideswipe followed a moment later. They did not merge into traffic so much as plow through it, picking openings that no human driver would dare take and speeding through the confining streets of town in a manner that left utter chaos in their wake. Blue lights twinkled distantly in their rear-views, swiftly left behind.

Sideswipe followed in his brother's tracks, feeling as though something massive were looming over him, waiting to strike.

End Chapter Ten