Thundercracker lands, sending a resounding shake through the ground, and lets out a tremendous roar of rage. They instinctually duck further down behind the boulders when the Winglord's fierce yellow optics slowly scrutinize the surroundings, while the seeker's olfactory sensor inhales deeply, scenting for them.
::See! See! He's going to kill us. Well done, Sideswipe, I hope you're happy now!:: Sunstreaker admonishes heatedly in growing panic as they watch Thundercracker turn around in a controlled circle. The large wings sweep and flicker, clearly searching for the intruders Thundercracker knows are there.
It is only a matter of time before he senses them and kills them.
::But-… He can't!:: Sideswipe protests and then, to Sunstreaker's horror, his brother steps clear of the boulders, facing Thundercracker directly. He can only watch as Sideswipe moves towards the blue seeker with open arms.
Sensing Sideswipe the instant the red twin steps clear of the boulders, Thundercracker turns around on the spot, another tremendous roar emerging from his vocalizer. The force of the sound shakes the whole area. Sunstreaker ducks further down behind the boulders when the reverberating sound crumbles the rocks surrounding his hideout and sends debris raining down on him.
Thundercracker's blazing yellow optics shine hellishly in the darkness as they zero in on the red grounder moving towards him.
"Hey there, Thundercracker," Sideswipe greets the seeker, unfazed by the threatening roar.
The large blue wings flicker at the sound of the red frontliner's voice and Thundercracker crouches down into an attack position, his wings menacingly spreading wider and higher on his back in an obvious warning to back-off.
Full of his naïve faith, Sideswipe completely ignores Thundercracker's threatening posture and takes a step closer to the large seeker instead of backing off. Sunstreaker's horror grows into true fear as he watches Thundercracker's response to his brother's naivety, and he is seriously contemplating to shoot Sideswipe then and there. It would be more merciful than what Thundercracker is going to do to them before they die.
Thundercracker responds to Sideswipe's careless dismissal of his threat with a threatening snarl and a rattling flare of the wings, which spreads them to their full wingspan. It is a breathtaking sight that more than doubles the Winglord's already impressive size, and Sunstreaker would have loved to relish in the sight of it, if not for the dire situation Sideswipe has put them in.
"You don't want to hurt me." Sideswipe continues to speak as he takes one more step towards the seeker, disregarding the danger he is putting himself in.
Thundercracker narrows his optics when another threatening display to make the grounder back off is carelessly dismissed, and releases a continuous dangerous growl, while his lips begins to quiver threateningly and show his menacing fangs.
Anyone sane would take this final display from Thundercracker as the threat it is and carefully back down, but not Sideswipe. He is so confident in his trust in the Winglord, that he ignores the countless warnings and steps closer, his arms still spread wide open as if he is offering himself up to Thundercracker.
::Don't do this, Sideswipe! For frag sake, he is about to attack. Back down!:: Sunstreaker roars in angered frustration, hiding his rising panic behind his anger. Tears of desperation begin to press in behind his optics as he stares at Thundercracker and notices the seeker's claws beginning to flex in preparation for an attack. He curses his own powerlessness in the situation, but what else can he do? Thundercracker is about to attack and his brother doesn't even care.
Completely disregarding Sunstreaker's plea, Sideswipe takes another step closer to the seeker and is now within reach of the deadly claws, should Thundercracker decide to strike.
"I know you won't hurt me. You saved me. You're the good guy. I trust you." Sideswipe's voice is as calm as ever, Thundercracker's threatening display not even causing him to waver the least in his faith.
And then the impossible happens.
With the next step from Sideswipe, Thundercracker takes one back and stares confusedly down at the red grounder as Sideswipe, despite the threatening displays, completely fearlessly faces off against him. The menacing and threatening growl silences and Thundercracker straightens, his height towering above Sideswipe as the frontliner takes the last few steps separating them and leans in against the powerful frame, resting his helm against the seeker's large cockpit.
It's…
It's completely insane.
Once again Sunstreaker doesn't know what to believe.
Thundercracker keeps surprising him. By all means, his brother should be dead right now, but he isn't.
::I told you he isn't going to hurt us.:: Sideswipe sounds confident and Sunstreaker stares in disbelief as Thundercracker slowly lowers his wings, almost as if in defeat. All aggression bleeds from the large blue frame and Thundercracker stares bemusedly down at the grounder hugging him around the waist.
::He can still turn violent.:: Sunstreaker reminds his brother, but he nonetheless steps free of the boulders and carefully draws Thundercracker's attention.
He stares into the yellow optics for only a few kliks, but it feels like a lifetime, and his spark pulses fearfully until Thundercracker tilts his helm in a way Sunstreaker only can describe as curious.
"Come on, Sunny. You have to feel him," Sideswipe encourages from where he is caressing his servos along the blue plating.
"You are insane, Sideswipe," he answers, but steps closer nevertheless.
He watches Thundercracker closely with every slow and careful step he takes, prepared to step back at any sign of threat from the Winglord, but nothing happens and before he knows it he is so close to the large seeker, that all he needs to do is reach forward with his servo to touch the blue plating.
He stares incredulously up into the yellow optics, swallowing hard when Thundercracker mercilessly fixates his gaze on him.
Most of the fierce fire in them is gone, replaced with a bemused curiosity that eases the growing fear in his spark.
If the Winglord is curious, then he isn't going to attack, right?
Gathering his courage, he slowly reaches a trembling servo towards the blue plating, and his optic contact with Thundercracker breaks at the feeling of the scorching hot plating beneath his digits.
Is he really doing this?
He stares incredulously at his own servo touching the powerful seeker.
He moves it slowly, feeling the smooth plating and the humming of systems beneath it. The thrumming coming from the large frame this close speaks volume about the power this seeker possesses and for a moment he is awestruck that he is allowed to feel this.
"Lean in," Sideswipe murmurs beside him and he turns his helm to stare at how his twin almost is trying to melt into the Winglord. "Do it, Sunny. He feels so nice. You have to feel it. It is amazing," his brother encourages eagerly.
He must be insane!
Thundercracker has yet to move one inch from where he is standing, and Sunstreaker idly wonders what the blue seeker must be thinking about them.
Definitely insane.
But he leans in and almost offlines his optics at the feelings and sensations filling his whole frame at the close contact.
Oh!
A soft sigh leaves him as he unconsciously mirrors the way Sideswipe tries to melt into Thundercracker.
This…
This is like the home they never got because of the war.
They remember very little from the time before Starscream found them and what they do remember is full of pain and hurt because of the war and the loss of their creators.
But the sensations filling him from Thundercracker are so soothing, so calming, so warming, so addicting... It is like coming home.
He never wants to let go.
But he has to.
Reluctantly, he moves away from the comforting frame, almost stumbling when the physical contact between them breaks, and it is only then, that he realizes that he is crying, tears running down his cheeks in rapid streams.
Touching a digit to his faceplates, he stares incredulously at the wet shine covering the surface, and the sight opens the floodgates completely. Mourning everything he has lost and the sparkling-hood they never really got, he collapses to the ground and sobs shamelessly in front of his brother and the seeker.
He feels so cold in his spark, the strange aura of the Winglord releasing its comforting grip on him, and he just cries louder at the loss, all the horrors of their lives returning in full force. For once he lets loose all the feelings that he usually doesn't allow anyone to see, not even his brother.
It all gangs up on him in that very moment, and Sideswipe and Thundercracker are completely forgotten as he drowns in misery and the deep empty feeling of loss within his spark.
Thundercracker chirrs bemusedly at the sight of the crying grounder, unable to understand what is wrong with it.
Then he feels a gentle encouraging pulse of energy from within the Winglord essence, and the next moment he is gently pushing Sideswipe aside before he kneels in front of Sunstreaker. His large blue wings move to shield the crying grounder in a comforting embrace, while one of his large claws reaches forward to impossibly gently draw away a running tear.
Sunstreaker's breath hitches at the touch to his cheek and he freezes. Tears are still trailing down his cheeks, but his frame is completely frozen, the shock of the touch paralyzing him. To have the large fearsome seeker touch him this gently with the dangerous claw only adds to the insanity of the whole situation.
He watches in deep shock as Thundercracker curiously studies the wet shine covering the tip of the claw, before the yellow optics refocus on him, and the sight that greets him in that fleeting moment when their optics meet startles him. He has never before seen such depth in a seeker's optics beside Starscream's.
The genuine care he recognizes in the depth of the yellow optics reassures him that, despite the violence committed earlier, Thundercracker is still the same and it further tells him that even if the Winglord is the nightmare of any Autobot and Decepticon, he isn't as cold, ruthless or evil as they all believe.
This new insight fills him with a strange sense of calm and he stares unafraid into the yellow optics as Thundercracker clearly studies him.
And then Sideswipe shatters the moment between them with his awestruck voice.
"Ho-ly Primus, Sunny. I think he is trying to soothe you," his brother exclaims excitedly and the utter insanity of the situation once again catches up with him. The feeling of loss returns and forces a tortured sound from his vocalizer before he breaks down completely.
Thundercracker's chirr of distress drowns in the sound of his crying, and Sideswipe is struck silent with shock at the sound of his brother giving in to his spark-deep misery.
He has never before experienced Sunstreaker broken like this.
"Sunny, what's wrong?" Sideswipe asks, worried, walking around the cocoon the blue wings create around his brother as he searches for a way in.
Finally, after a few breems of futilely searching for a way in, the wings begin to slowly unfurl and reveal his brother, and he waits desperately and impatiently for Thundercracker to release Sunstreaker.
However, Thundercracker has other plans.
Sideswipe is only given a brief glimpse of Sunstreaker before Thundercracker straightens, with his brother cradled protectively against the large cockpit, and fluidly takes off into the sky. And he can only stare powerlessly after them as the Winglord flies away with Sunstreaker. Soon Thundercracker is completely out of sight, vanishing into the darkness of the night, the faint glow from the powerful thrusters the only indication that the seeker and his brother still are up there.
Sunstreaker is slowly dragged out of his misery at the gentle feeling of the wind caressing his plating as Thundercracker swiftly carries him higher into the sky. The feeling of the powerful thrusters working to keep them airborne and the thrumming of the systems supporting them in their flight are strange sensations.
He can feel the minute changes Thundercracker makes and it awakens a thrill in his spark.
Sunstreaker is familiar with the sky, playing around with Sideswipe and using his parachute to defy death when he falls towards the ground from high above, but the feelings the seeker's flight instills in him are deeper and more intense.
It is the feeling of true freedom.
Then some of the giddiness fades, and he looks up and meets the yellow optics, unsure about what Thundercracker is planning to do with him. What he sees in them fills him with reassurance; the soothing aura filling him from the Winglord does the same.
No matter how crazy it seems, he feels safe and secure in the clutches of the large predator as Thundercracker soars higher and higher into the sky.
He relaxes in the strict but gentle hold on him and stares with a contented sigh up into the night sky and the millions of visible stars.
He could get used to this.
When Thundercracker lands at the top of the volcano a breem later, the trip feels too short, and he is not ready to let go of the soothing presence the Winglord exudes. He refuses to willingly leave the comforting embrace when Thundercracker kneels and gently releases the constricting hold on him, and he completely ignores the danger to himself as he stubbornly clings to the dangerous claws trying to remove him.
A soft coaxing tune from Thundercracker has him just shaking his helm fiercely, and he snuggles more firmly into the strong blue frame at his back.
He doesn't care that he is being completely ridiculous, he doesn't want to let go of the strange soothing feeling the Winglord fills him with at their close contact.
"Sunstreaker, you need to let him go," Starscream scolds with a smile in his voice as he moves to stand in front of Thundercracker.
"Sunstreaker?" Another presence moves into his line of sight, and Sunstreaker lifts his helm at the sound of Ratchet's unsure voice.
He has to offline and online his optics several times to be sure that what he sees is true.
Ratchet has wings.
What the frag?
In his shock at seeing the fanning wings on Ratchet's back, he lessens his grip on Thundercracker and the blue seeker gently brushes his digits away before lowering him to stand on the ground.
With a series of chirrs, trills and intonations, Thundercracker launches into the air again and blasts away.
"Thundercracker is bringing Sideswipe up to us, Sunstreaker. Now, can you tell me why you're out here risking your lives?" Starscream asks and crosses his arms over his cockpit, a stern look in his optics.
Sunstreaker sighs in exasperated frustration.
"I tried to stop him, but Sideswipe didn't want to listen to me. In all his naivety, he believes that Thundercracker is on our side and that he won't hurt him. I'm sorry, Starscream; I couldn't stop him before Thundercracker had already descended upon us." He apologizes, and Starscream's stern expression slowly eases at his explanation.
"I should have known that he'd cause trouble when he woke up. You're lucky that Thundercracker didn't go through with his intentions. This is the second night he's had a disturbed recharge cycle and it can make him a bit cranky and rash." Starscream chuckles good-naturedly.
"He is Sideswipe." Sunstreaker adds to Starscream's chuckle and smiles humorlessly at the deadly joke. Then he warily glances to Ratchet and the medic's changed frame.
"So, I guess this is why we haven't seen you yet?" he asks the CMO, bemused, unable to not stare at the wings. Granted, they are not as large as Starscream's or Thundercracker's, but they are there and they are impossible to ignore.
The medic laughs nervously and the wings on his back twitch in response.
"Yes, but it's mainly because I now have a Winglord I need to ask permission from." Ratchet explains, gesturing into the darkness of the night to where they can hear the sound of Thundercracker's thrusters.
"Another reason is that I don't know how the others are going to react to the sight of me. It isn't just the wings, Sunstreaker. My whole frame is changing, turning me into a seeker. When Thundercracker came to me something happened and I ended up carrying. I am going to have a creation of my own, born from my frame and mixed with Thundercracker's coding," he warily elaborates, wings lowering in a mix of confused feelings.
He looks away as he waits for Sunstreaker's reaction to his words, afraid of being rejected.
"You are going to have a young one, just like Starscream's?" Sunstreaker exclaims in surprise and turns to look at Starscream. The tricolored seeker nods in answer and withdraws his seekerling from the cockpit.
Hope blooms in Ratchet's spark at the light entering Sunstreaker's optics at the sight of the little seekerling in Starscream's servos, and he suddenly knows that the yellow frontliner isn't going to reject him.
"Yes." He answers Sunstreaker's question and smiles when the frontliner is unable to take the optics off of the adorable sight in Starscream's servos.
"All seekerlings, whether they turn into dominants or submissives, look like this during their first four vorns. They begin to gain colors when they mature into the seekerlet stage and their plating begins to harden, turning into some of the densest armor on Cybertron." Starscream explains at the sight of the curious look in Sunstreaker's optics. He gently nuzzles the seekerling's wings and it responds with a series of happy chirps at its carrier's playfulness.
"Can I hold it?" Sunstreaker asks in awe. In the darkness, the seekerling's spark shines clearly through its little frame and the tiny pulsing inside the translucent being marvels him. It draws his full attention and for a moment, he forgets everything else around him.
Starscream's optics turns distant for a moment and he stares into the darkness of the night at the sound of approaching thrusters before he returns his attention to Sunstreaker with a nod.
"Thundercracker has given his permission. Let me show you how to hold your servos to prevent it from wriggling free. It needs to feed soon, so don't panic if it begins to cry or complain loudly. All this activity is keeping it all too aware and curious," Starscream answers and gently lowers the seekerling into the frontliner's open servos. Sunstreaker instantly folds his servos around it to prevent it from wriggling free and stares fascinated at it.
Watching Sunstreaker marvel at the wonder of the seekerling in his servos, Ratchet is relieved that the twins are the first to discover the truth about him.
He still doesn't know how he is going to face the other Autobots.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are, because of their close friendship with Starscream, the least prejudiced among the Autobots. The thought of having them by his side and on his side when he meets with the rest of the Autobots fills him with an reassurance that neither Starscream, nor Thundercracker can provide him at the moment of confrontation.
Hearing Sideswipe's loud whoop of joy as Thundercracker moves closer to the precipice just strengthens his belief in the two frontliners, and he chuckles silently at the clear delight the red twin finds in having Thundercracker act as taxi.
There is simply nothing that can throw them off, not the fact that he is changing, or that he is carrying. They might ask questions, but they won't reject him because of this.
He is overtaken by a flood of sentimental feelings, the stress of the day and the feelings he has suppressed surfacing in full force, and the next moment he is desperately hugging Sunstreaker against his frame as if the frontliner is a lifeline and he is drowning.
"You don't know how good it is to see you, Sunstreaker. Thundercracker might not be ecstatic, but I am so happy that you are here. I desperately need some support. Starscream is a source of strength in all this, and so are Thundercracker and Skywarp, but you and I both know how some of our comrades are going to react to this new me," he murmurs against the yellow frontliner's plating, while he tries to keep the tears threatening to fall at bay.
"We'll have your back, Ratchet. Don't worry." Sunstreaker reassures with fierce determination, and reciprocates the hug as much as he can with the wriggling seekerling in his servos.
"I know. And it eases my worry for the future to have you and Sideswipe with me in this." Ratchet smiles, sniffing when he isn't able to hold back the tears anymore.
"Sideswipe is going to love your new look, Ratchet. He is going to be so overjoyed." Sunstreaker grins, breaking the hug and securing his hold on the slippery seekerling before it manages to wriggle between his digits.
Thundercracker chooses this moment to land, and whatever Ratchet had been about to say drowns in Sideswipe's exuberant exclamations when the red frontliner jumps down from the blue seeker even before Thundercracker has managed to kneel and ease his way down.
"Thanks, TC! Sunny, isn't it just amazing! Hi, STAR! Heya, Skywarp!"
Then he freezes, staring with wide optics and open mouth at Ratchet and the flickering wings on the medic's back.
A special thank you to T'Reilani for betaing this chapter.