All's Fair

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. They belong to Hasbro and Takara. I am merely taking them for a short spin.

Sideswipe was one of the few Autobots still left in the rec room. It was late. Very late. He was throwing back high grade like there was no tomorrow. Already was tomorrow, or today, or whatever, he reflected. He'd watched Autobots leave as the party wound down. Most had duty in the morning, and he was one of the few who didn't. A rare weekend off. Perfect opportunity to raise some hell with Prowl gone, but his spark just wasn't in it. Sunny was driving him nuts and thanks to about a half hour ago, he had another reason.

Sunny's recent antics regarding a certain Prime had him hitting the high grade first, then the second thing. If Sunny had laid another hand on Prime, like he had the other day, Sideswipe decided he was going to remove the offending appendage himself. Sunny would not accept that the way to Prime's spark was not by grabbing his aft.

Sideswipe sighed. Looked like that wouldn't be a problem anymore, but still. He was more than ready to strangle his twin. Sunny's preoccupation with Prime, Sideswipe knew, stemmed partly from boredom and the fact he'd pretty much given up on attracting the mech he'd been trying to attract for months. Nothing Sunny tried would work, and Sideswipe had told him time and again that particular mech would not respond to just a handsome face or his twin's abrasive ego. Hell, I'll go talk to Wheeljack in the morning, Sideswipe thought.

Hah. Wheeljack. Who would have thought it would be Wheeljack? Everyone thought the twins were a package deal but not necessarily so. There had been a few cases of mutual attraction over the years but the two of them had their own separate tastes and distinct personalities. Except some Autobots chose to see them as twins most of the time instead of two Autobots as themselves. Yes, they did share a spark and were closer than a bonded pair. But they were also two sides of one coin, balanced each other out.

Another aspect of being a twin that drove Sideswipe crazy was that sometimes, Sunstreaker tended to get noticed first. He was flashy, egotistical, abrasive, homicidal, and beautiful, all things that got him noticed. Sometimes it was like they didn't see him, Sideswipe. Didn't bother him much anymore, but sometimes. . .like now. But then again, he'd had years to do something about it and now he'd lost his chance.

Prime had left with Arcee, hand in hand.

Sideswipe sighed, threw back another shot of energon. Regret was an emotion he did not want to become acquainted with.

-----

Sunstreaker sat up on the berth in his cell. Something was definitely wrong with Sideswipe. He could feel a dull ache in his spark, his own echoing the pain his twin was feeling. If somebody had hurt 'Sides. . .no, this wasn't a physical pain, but an emotional one. What the hell was wrong with his normally upbeat twin?

:'Sides:

:Leave me alone Sunny:

:What's wrong?:

:We'll talk about this later:

:'Sides. . .'Sides. . .damn it Sideswipe, answer me:

Nothing.

Sunstreaker sighed, laid back down. He'd have it out of Sideswipe when his twin was ready.

-----

Arcee walked back to her quarters, shaking her head in disbelief. So much for spending time with Prime, she thought. She'd left the rec room with him, even though he was a little unsteady on his feet, but he somehow managed to make it to his quarters. They'd sat down on his berth to talk for a bit (not like Arcee would take advantage of a mech when he was drunk off his aft) and after about five minutes, she'd watched her leader fall over sideways, unconscious. So she did what any decent femme or mech would do--she made sure he was comfortable and left.

Although he really was adorable in recharge. . .and she could have tried to pry off that battle mask but she didn't. If she was going to see what his face looked like, she was going to earn that right fair and square.

-----

Springer stared at the ceiling from his berth while he tried to ignore Hot Rod, who was sitting up on his, reading a data pad.

"What's so interesting you're reading it in the middle of the night?" Springer asked, sitting up.

"A medical text," Hot Rod said.

"What? You're serious?" Springer said.

"Yeah, Ratchet said I could access more when I'm ready," Hot Rod said.

"Gonna paint yourself white and become a medic?" Springer asked. "Or is there someone you want to play medic with?"

"Spring, shut up," Hot Rod said, picking up a rock on the shelf by his berth and threw it at Springer's head. He grinned when he heard it make contact.

Springer threw it back and Hot Rod reached out, catching it without taking his eyes off the data pad.

"Damn you," Springer said. "Why do you have to keep those things around anyway? Rocks and pieces of metal aren't that interesting."

Hot Rod ignored the comment, setting the piece of granite back on the shelf. Most of the pieces were from planets they'd visited, physical reminders that there were other inhabited worlds out there, that Autobots and humans were not alone in the universe. Although pieces like the granite, a hunk of quartz and some rodochrosite crystals were all gifts from Perceptor, who assumed Hot Rod had an interest in geology, which he did now that he'd been on Earth a while. There had to be more to life than fighting, right?

"I've never complained about your collection of antique weapons," Hot Rod said. "So you can shut up about a few hunks of rock and metal."

"I would but you're always throwing them at me. You're just lucky those antiques don't fire," Springer said.

"Don't remind me," Hot Rod said. He decided to try changing the subject. "Hey, hear who Ultra Magnus left the party with?"

"Was that what you and Blaster were talking about when we got back?" Springer asked.

"Yeah," Hot Rod said. "It was Red Alert."

His revelation was greeted with silence. He could see Springer onlining and offlining his optics in disbelief.

"Did I hear you right?" Springer said.

"'Fraid so," Hot Rod said.

They talked a bit more, neither broaching the subject of Arcee, before turning in. Except Hot Rod stayed awake a while, thinking. They'd been competing for her affection so long. . .and neither had thought that maybe, just maybe, someone else would come along. He and Springer had both agreed, if Arcee chose one of them, that their friendship would not suffer. But someone else? Added a new dimension to their little triangle, one neither of them liked, each for his own reasons. Springer because he wasn't going to lose Arcee without a fight and Hot Rod for reasons he would rather not admit. Not that he wanted to lose Arcee either, but you couldn't lose what you'd never had. If only she would choose between them or even form a trine. . .a trine with Springer and Arcee, Hot Rod knew he could live with. But if she chose Prime, it would hurt them both.

-----

Barely past 4 a.m. and alarms around the Ark were going off. Autobots were running for their stations and Optimus Prime could barely peel himself off his berth. His head hurt. And someone had stuffed his processor with cotton. He was going to kill whoever it was causing the alarms to go off. And himself because he knew he'd done something stupid to chase Arcee off.

He dragged himself in to ops, where Kup was staring at a monitor while Ultra Magnus and Red Alert arrived together. That was interesting, but Prime filed it away for later reference.

"Look who's standing outside," Kup said.

Prime looked at the monitor, which showed Megatron standing outside, pounding on the Ark's closed blast doors, yelling.

"Turn on the audio," Prime said.

". . .Prime I know you're in there. . .come out and face me. I demand the release of my Seekers. . ."

Prime sighed. Why?

"I'm going to go to the brig and have a word with our Seekers," Prime said. "Then I'm going to go kill Megatron."

Kup and Ultra Magnus exchanged a glance. This was not going to end well.

-----

Skywarp sat up when he heard Prime approach. Sunny glared, which Prime ignored while Thundercracker looked like he was sleeping through all the noise.

"What's going on?" Skywarp asked.

"Megatron has arrived, demanding your return," Prime said. "I'm half-tempted to turn you three over just to shut him up."

Then he noticed Starscream wasn't present.

"Where's. . ."

"With Skyfire," Skywarp said.

Oh Primus who had given permission for that? Prime didn't remember approving that request. . .

"I can't believe I'm going to ask this. . .but. . .do you want to go back? In all seriousness, do you wish to go back to *that?*" Prime asked. "I am giving you one chance and one chance only. I know you don't speak for your trine mates, but. . ."

".Back." Skywarp said, with terse, clipped words. He reached over, smacked Thundercracker in the head, who shot straight up.

"Wake up. There's a question you need to answer," Skywarp said.

"What?" Thundercracker asked, rubbing his helm.

"Megatron is here, and he wants his Seekers back," Prime said. "Do you wish to return to the Nemesis with your leader?"

Thundercracker glanced at Skywarp. "Is he serious?"

"I already told him I'm not going back," Skywarp said. "So stay or go, doesn't matter to me."

"In that case I'm staying, too," Thundercracker said.

Prime sighed.

:Skyfire, get Starscream's aft to the brig NOW:

Less than 30 seconds later, Skyfire dragged the squirming Seeker along behind him.

"What is it?" Starscream sneered.

"You have a choice to make. Megatron wants you back. The question is do you want to go back?" Prime said.

"I'd rather pledge my immortal spark to the Chaos-bringer," Starscream said. "Although I would love the chance to inform Lord Megatron of my decision in person, if you would be so kind. . ."

Prime grinned behind his mask. He was going to enjoy this.

-----

Megatron stood surrounded by Autobots who had their weapons trained on him. Not that they were much of a threat. He was waiting on Prime to show and the infernal Autobot leader was wasting precious time.

Finally, the damn idiot made an appearance, flanked by Starscream and his brothers.

Prime stopped and the Seekers walked past him, with Starscream in the lead.

Megatron raised an optic ridge. This was interesting.

Then Starscream began to speak.

"Lord Megatron, it is my regret to inform you we have decided to stay with the Autobots," Starscream said. "At least for now."

Megatron frowned, processing the words.

"What? What? WHAT?" Megatron bellowed, aiming his cannon at Starscream. Autobots and Decepticons alike ran for cover and began to fire back.

Within seconds, Megatron had flown away, leaving the dust to settle.

"Well, that was fun," Thundercracker said as he and Skywarp helped Starscream to his feet.

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