I was really happy with the last chapter and how it turned out with the twins being so thoughtful and sweet when they proposed to her. I swear I was fangirling a bit! Anyways there's going to be a lot going on in the next few chapters and I won't spoil any of it for you! This one is a tad bit dark! Also does anyone want to beta this story for me! I need someone to help some with grammar and some minor spelling errors! Let me know! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

(Sunny's POV)

It just didn't look right!

Not one fragging sketch of the crown I was trying to design came out the way I wanted it to! I'd been sitting on the couch in my studio, sketching all morning, to absolutely no fragging avail! I wanted something that was perfect for my intended mate, and so far every attempt had been sub-par at best!

What shape would best accentuate her chevron and features? I wanted something that swept under her chevron, but that was about as much as I knew right now! Whenever I tried to work out a full design it ended up… wrong somehow! Athena deserved the absolute best and I couldn't even give her something that was worthy of even touching her!

I was beyond fragging frustrated right now! So fragging slagged off and frustrated that I was about to blow a fraggin' gasket! No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get this right and it was just… aggravating me to no end!

"Fragging inspiration had to leave me right when I really need it!" I cursed quietly. Athena was the only one home besides me, but I didn't want her to get curious and peek in to see what I was doing. Her mating gift was supposed to be a surprise! But at this rate we'd never be able to give it to her, or mate at all, because I couldn't work out what I wanted it to look like!

Maybe I should ask Sides what he thought when he got home? It was a gift from both of us, so we needed to make it together, and his input was important. Not to mention he was actually pretty good at helping me when I was in a slump, and while he wasn't artistically inclined in the same manner Athena and I were, his active processor often inspired me when mine had locked up. He could help me figure something out… hopefully…

I slammed my sketchbook shut and sighed tiredly. "I'll keep working on it later. There's plenty of time…" We hadn't yet chosen a date for our mating yet so as far as I knew at present I had as much time as I needed to work on this. But the sooner Sides and I finished this, the sooner we could actually get on with the actual bonding! I didn't want to slack off and waste unnecessary time! I wanted to be bonded to Athena as soon as possible! Frag… I was just further aggravating myself right now!

With another exaggerated sigh, I stood after putting my sketchbook in my subspace and made my way downstairs to see what my intended was doing. I'd neglected her most of the morning by being so busy with what I was doing, and knowing her she was either playing a game, drawing, or reading something.

At least one of my assumptions proved to be true when I walked in and she was curled up on the end of the couch with her sketchbook in her lap. I was pleased to see her getting back into her art after she'd gone so long being too stressed to even touch it. It hadn't escaped my notice that she was also working on the piece she was going to give me. By instinct my optics drifted away from her, climbing up to the painting of her that I'd hung over the back of the couch. I really needed to do another painting of her now that she'd changed her paint. Or maybe I was entertaining the idea because I loved to stare at her? Yeah probably.

"Sunny?"

My gaze snapped back down to meet the curious one of my intended, who had pushed her sketchbook aside and now had her helm cocked to the side. "Yeah sweetspark?"

Her cheeks slowly burned a steady trail from one end to the other, like they'd taken to doing after I'd started calling her sweetspark. She put her drawing materials away and sat up. "Um, you've just been standing there for a while…"

I shook my helm and sat down beside her. "Sorry sweetspark, I was just a little lost in thought."

"It's ok. I was just worried that your processor had locked up or something." She joked.

A playful growl escaped me as I reached out and tugged her onto my lap. "The day my processor freezes up is the day you'll have to face the dismal prospect of life without me."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and giggled. "And what a dismal prospect it is! Life without my handsome, talented, arrogant, loving mech! I shudder at the very thought!"

"You should be very afraid femme! Now that you have me you'll never want to go back to life without me being in it."

Her small servo came up to stroke my cheek languidly, bright blue optics sparkling with mischief as she further teased me. "Oh definitely not. I would be so sad and lost without you."

"You shouldn't tease me femme." I told her seriously. The way she sometimes acted was enough to drive me crazy with lust, and I still had quite a few ways that I had yet to take her. I still had yet to introduce her to my personal favorite position… which was essential for our bonding night, because I planned to have her on her servos and knees for a large chunk of it.

"What are you going to do if I keep teasing you?" She challenged playfully.

"I'll have to teach you a lesson."

We leaned in to kiss each other, only to suddenly jerk apart when one of the stream gliders shrieked, the sound quickly being followed by a loud crash. Athena turned and her door wings shot up at the sight of one of Sides' speakers laying on the floor, with Sparky chewing on the back of it.

In a move so fast it was barely visible she was up off my lap and across the room. "Sparky no!" She snatched her pet up and carried him back over to his cage. "Oh… Sides is gonna have my aft now! You broke his speaker!"

Sparky just chittered at her innocently as she put him back in his cage and locked the door.

"Don't fret too much Athena. Sides can always go out and buy another one later."

She ignored me in favor of getting down on her knees so that she could look over the damage, and in doing so she shifted onto her servos and perfectly presented her aft for my viewing pleasure. I licked my lips as I eyed her oblivious form hungrily. My sodpiece puffed up when my spike pressurized, pressing against the restraining piece of armor in a desperate attempt to get free and seek out what I so obviously wanted.

Well she was teasing me a moment ago… so obviously she wanted something. Maybe it was high time to give it to her?

I stood up while she was still fretting over the remains of Sides' speaker, slowly approaching her while being careful not to make a sound to alert her to what I was doing. Once I was close enough I got down on my knees and scooted up behind her, then in a lightning fast move I grabbed onto her shoulder with one servo, the other moving down to her valve cover, while I simultaneously ground my covered spike against her aft.

As soon as I touched my sodpiece to her, she suddenly released an audio piercing scream and practically threw herself against the wall in a desperate attempt to get away from me, wings all but snapping down to cover her soft spot. She tripped and nearly fell onto the broken remains of the speaker, some parts stabbing into the breaks in her armor as she scrambled into the corner and pulled her knees to her chassis, only stopping her loud screaming once she was tucked against the wall.

I sat stock still, staring at those wide optics staring back at me, cooper colored coolant spilling over the edges while she sat there shaking and emitting a terrified keening sound. Surprise was coursing through me so strongly that I couldn't do anything other than stare for a few kliks, while wondering what had caused such a reaction in her.

But when her keening suddenly increased in frequency and volume I snapped out of my blank staring and slowly got up to approach her.

I hadn't even made it more than a step when a sudden commotion echoed from the entryway, then Sides came racing into the living room. He'd probably sensed my sudden distress, and what it was caused by, thus the reason he stumbled into the room in a flustered daze.

Unfortunately, the sound startled our intended, or maybe it was my approach that caused her to jump to her peds and shoot up the stairs like a rocket. Either way between one astrosecond and the next she was gone, and we were left staring at the stairs that she'd run up.

Sides whirled on me as soon as she disappeared. (What the frag was that all about?!)

(I don't know! I just… pressed myself against her aft and she just freaked out!) If anything I was as confused and lost as he was! More than that, I was concerned about her.

(You were trying to frag her doggy style?)

(Yeah. You know how much I like that position! I thought maybe she'd like it too. But obviously not!)

He shook his helm. (I'm going to go up and talk to her. Maybe you should give her some space for a few kliks, at least until she calms down.)

(I want to talk to her too!)

(You just scared her for some reason! Just give her a few kliks to calm down before you come up ok? That way I can try and figure out what it was all about!)

I hated to admit that he was right… (Fine! Just let me know when she calms down so I can come up!)

(Ok.) With that he turned and disappeared upstairs as well.

Leaving me standing there next to the remains of the broken speaker that had caused this whole mess…

What did I do wrong this time?

(Athena's POV)

I couldn't stop remembering now…

The feeling of somebot looming over my back…

Tugging at my wings and valve covering…

Ripping at my soft spot until I couldn't move, but I could still feel every intense, agonizing moment of what was happening.

Feeling something rubbing at my aft as my valve covering was finally ripped off…

No barrier to protect me from what was about to occur…

I slammed his servos against my audios and keened loudly in an attempt to dispel the memories and shove them into the darkest recesses of my processor where I kept them locked up. But no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get them out of my helm, and I couldn't calm the frantic racing of my spark.

It felt like it was trying to jump out of my chassis and run away, while something was literally squeezing the life right out of it! My vents were rattling loudly in the quiet room, along with the clacking of my armor as it shook against my protoform.

I couldn't stop…

He scared me so much when he got up behind me like that… For a klik or so I hadn't even realized that it was him! My processor just conjured up the faces of all those who had hurt me, and it was all I could see or think about.

It wasn't until I was alone that I could even think somewhat clearly. Everything between that and when I found myself in the wash racks was a complete blur of fear, pain, desperation, and disgust. Now I was sitting in the corner of the tub, shaking, crying, and feeling overwhelmed by everything.

Why could I never have a period of consistently good thoughts and emotions? Did something always have to come up and destroy my happiness when I was feeling truly overjoyed with my life? It seemed like whenever something good happened, something bad came along and slapped me across the face and tossed me back into despair.

I just wanted it to all go away…

My helm suddenly shot up when I heard a knock on the wash racks door. "Princess? Can I come in?"

Sides…

For a moment I just sat there debating whether it really was a good idea to let him in when I was like this. It would no doubt raise more questions than were already running through their helms right now. Most of which I didn't want to answer…

Another, more insistent knock came. "Please open the door Ati, otherwise I'll override the lock and come in anyway."

"Just go away Sides!"

The last thing I wanted to do was explain why I'd reacted that way! Why I'd lost control of the memories I was normally so good at repressing, and screamed like that! Or why I'd run away like I did! And if he came in here and asked me I didn't know if I could keep it a secret!

Unfortunately for me no sooner had I told him to go away the soft swishing sound of the door opening was audible, followed by soft ped steps echoing around the otherwise quiet room. I buried my face in my knees and huddled further into the corner I was occupying.

The shower door creaked slightly as it slid open, then I clearly heard my intended step into the tub with me. An astrosecond later his frame invaded my space. He slid in between me and the wall of the tub that was closest to the door.

I tensed minutely when he gently touched my shoulder. "Ati? Love are you okay?"

Was I ok? Could having an onslaught of memories of events that had forever traumatized me be considered ok? Was running away from my intended mate screaming as loud as my vocalizer could handle ok? No! None of it was ok! I hated being reminded of it!

How could everything go from being so perfect to just being ruined in astroseconds?

I cupped my face in my servos and dug my digits into my optic shutters until they started leaking.

Sides quickly yanked them away and pinned my wrists together. "Stop that!" He scolded me with surprising gentleness, but there was still a stern quality apparent in his tone.

My optics started overflowing, coolant raining down far more quickly and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I just couldn't stop thinking about it right now! The last thing I wanted was for my relationship with my intendeds to keep being tainted by memories of my past. I didn't want to compare the things they did to the things 'they' had done to me when I was younger. I just wanted this relationship to be unclouded by the taint of my past.

But it seemed like that would never happen, and despite how happy being with them made me, it once again made me question whether I was being selfish by staying. I couldn't leave though… I didn't want to… I wanted to be happy and they gave me that.

"C'mere Love." Sides crooned softly, servos gently sliding around my shoulders and under my knees so that he could pull me onto his lap. He cradled me, slowly rocking me back and forth as I started sobbing. "Hey now… you're far too pretty to be crying like this. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

I buried my face in his shoulder and clutched at him desperately. I felt him switch his hold so that he was cupping the back of my helm, while his other arm wrapped around my waist. He tightened his grip until he was holding me so tightly that I almost couldn't vent properly, but I didn't even care because I felt an immediate sense of relief in having him hold me. Not that it stopped me from crying out of disgust, fear, pain, and guilt. The first three because of what had happened to me, and the last because I never wanted to react that way in front of my intendeds. Logically I knew that they weren't like 'them' but sometimes certain situations made it hard to keep that knowledge clear in my helm. It made me feel guilty for even grouping Sunny with those bots when he was so much better.

"Look at me Ati." Sides suddenly demanded, and when I didn't comply he cupped my chin and forced me to look up at him. His expression was soft, worried, with a little frown tugging at the edges of his mouth, and optics that were darker than they should be. "What happened down there? Why did you run away from Sunny like that?"

"I'm sorry!" I choked out instead of giving a suitable answer. It was all I could really think to say at the moment.

(Sides' POV)

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed out in desperation, thick streams of coolant cascading from her optics and marring her beautiful face.

I tilted her helm back and wiped away what I could while shushing her. "Don't be sorry! Neither Sunny or I are made at you Princess. We just want to know what's wrong!"

"I-! He-he…!"

"Go on…" I encouraged her gently.

"s-scared m-me!"

"He scared you because he was behind you? Ati, he holds you from behind all the time Princess."

She shook her helm as more coolant spilled from her optics. "N-not like t-hat! I-I don't w-want to interface l-like that!"

So she was afraid of the position in which Sunny had tried taking her, not of him exactly? Normally I might assume that she was afraid because she hadn't tried that position before, and a lot of femmes that Sunny and I had been with were nervous about trying it for the first time, but Athena was clearly different. It didn't take a genius to speculate why she was reacting so badly to it.

The answer was clear in her reaction, and the way she had her legs pressed so tightly together, and her wings were pressed tight against her back to cover her soft spot, while she sat curled up in a ball in my lap. Quite a few things clicked into place in my helm at this moment, and the realization I came to had me fighting back a wave of intense anger. Some bots were really sick…

"Then you don't have to interface like that." I placated her after getting my thoughts in some semblance of order.

She continued sobbing like she didn't even hear me. "Please don't make me!"

Taking her face in my grasp, I forced her to look me right in the optics so she could see just how serious I was being. "Athena, Sunny and I will never, ever, make you do something that you're afraid of, or that you don't want to do. Especially when it's clear that this is something that you're terrified of. As far as I'm concerned you'll never have to worry about this issue with us again. We'll never try taking you that way ok?"

Her optics stayed locked on mine, peering so deeply into them that it was almost like she was looking into my very spark in an attempt to find whatever it was she was looking for. My sincerity maybe? Proof that I really meant that I said when she should've known that I was being absolutely one hundred percent dead serious? Whatever it was she seemed to find it after staring me down for close to a breem.

She nodded shakily, then buried her face into my throat. "Is Sunny m-mad at m-e?"

"No he's not. He's just worried about you." I could quite clearly feel the pulsating waves of anxiety and worry emanating from the other side of our bond. He was extremely agitated and worried about her right now. The only reason he wasn't up here comforting her himself was partially because I hadn't given him the ok, and also because he was afraid that his presence might send her into another round of hysterics.

"I didn't mean to scream at him like that…"

"I know Love. You just startled him a bit, but if you're feeling a little calmer I can have him come up here if you want to talk to him?"

For a moment she tensed, door wings hiking up in a single jerky motion that left them spread high above her shoulders. It made the movement of her bobbing her helm in a single jerky nod that much more pronounced.

"How about I take you back downstairs instead? You could use some energon." She nodded, and I slowly stood up and made my way out of the wash racks with her cradled against me princess style. But I didn't even make it a single step into the hall because Sunny was standing right in front of the door when it opened.

(How is she?)

(She's… still upset. But she wanted to see you.)

He nodded in understanding. "Hey sweetspark…"

Our intended quickly turned and held her arms out for him wordlessly.

Sunny quickly snatched her from me, cradling her in his arms like a newborn sparkling. She quickly buried her face against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hesitated for a moment, before turning and making his way down into the prep room, where he sat down at the table without putting her down. "Are you okay sweetspark?"

"Yes… I was just… you startled me…" She whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok… just please don't do that again…"

He rubbed in between her wings, carefully avoiding her soft spot so as not to set her off again. "Ok. I promise not to."

I leaned against the wall, watching my twin rock her back and forth like he'd never bothered to do with anybot else. The way he handled her still surprised me sometimes. Not that I expected him to be callous with our intended mate, but I didn't expect him to become such a cuddle whore. It warmed my spark to see how loving he was with her, but I was smart enough not to mention it unless I was trying to aggravate him on purpose. If I did he might draw back a bit and that was the last thing I wanted.

My musing was interrupted when our femme's tanks rumbled loudly in the otherwise quiet room. I pushed off the wall to get her a slice of mercury cake and some warm spiced energon. "Here Love. You need to fill your tanks." I sat her plate and cube on the table while Sunny carefully turned her in his lap so that she could eat.

She didn't seem inclined to touch what I'd given her though, instead opting to stare at the tabletop dejectedly.

I pushed her meal closer. "Eat before you collapse from lack of energon Ati."

After a moment of hesitating she picked up her cube and started sipping at it slowly. She turned sideways in my twin's lap and cradled her energon against her chassis, sipping at it periodically while glancing up at Sunny every few astroseconds, only to avert her gaze every time because he'd been nonstop staring at her since I'd stepped out of the wash racks.

I found myself wondering how long he'd hold out before he cracked and asked her what that was all about since I hadn't given him any details about what we'd talked about.

I got my answer when, after only another klik or two of staring her down, he turned her around and pressed them flush against one another. "Athena, please tell me what I did wrong this time. Why did you freak out and run away from me like that?"

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be sorry sweetspark. Just tell me what's wrong! I need to know what that was all about!"

"I didn't mean to scream at you…"

His optic ridges furrowed at the incessant mumbling she'd apparently been reduced to for the moment, then he raised his helm and looked at me for answers. (What is this? What's wrong with her? Did she tell you anything?)

(Not anything overt, but she was beside herself for a good while. She said she didn't want to interface with one of us taking her from behind, and she didn't even act like she heard me when I said she didn't have to. Instead she started begging me not to make her. I'm sure you can guess why she acted like that based off what she said.)

From where I stood the way he clutched at her tighter was clearly visible, his lips curling into a dangerous snarl and he all but buried her face against his shoulder so she couldn't see it. (Her wings snapped down to cover her soft spot when I startled her…)

(She did say that attacking that spot could cause temporary paralysis or overwhelming pain… It looks like she knows from experience…) The more I thought about it, the angrier I got! Raping a femme was cowardly, disgusting, and something only a weakling would do. But assaulting a femme like Athena by attacking such a sensitive spot so she couldn't even try to defend herself… there weren't words… I was especially worked up over it because we loved her more than anything else.

She was also so sweet and loving, so much that I couldn't even bear the thought of putting a scratch on her myself. But somebot else had, and it filled me with fury like I'd rarely felt before.

(I hope I find whoever did that alive so that I can make them suffer unimaginably before I rip their spark out and crush it in front of them while they're still alive and twitching!)

(If he is still alive and we find him, I want to string him upside down from the ceiling by wrapping his internals around his throats and legs, then I want to take my sword and carve into the fragger's interface array… I'm gonna chop his spike off and dangle it in front of his face before dipping it into a pit of acid, then before it's completely dissolved I'll shove it down their throat and watch it melt it from the inside out…)

(But first we need to weld his jaw shut so he can't spit it out.)

(Or punch him in the throat and dent it in so that he can't expel the damn thing!) I all but cackled over the bond gleefully. Oh whoever that mech was… if we ever found him he'd suffer in ways that would make getting eaten alive by a hoard of scraplets look tame…

(Yes…!)

We would've loved to keep spewing revenge scenarios but a soft whimper from our intended put an end to that quick. When I looked back at her she had raised herself up and was nuzzling her cheek against Sunny's while keening softly, her door wings having drooped from where they were tightly pinned against her back, and were now hanging limply in obvious sorrow.

Sunny cupped her cheeks in his large servos and gently tilted her helm back so that he could stare into her leaking optics. "Please stop crying sweetspark."

"Please don't be mad at me!"

"You didn't do anything to warrant me being angry at you. I'm not mad."

I knelt down next to the chair they were sitting on, gingerly placing a servo on her thigh to get her attention, and once I had it I smiled as reassuringly as I could. "Everything's ok Ati. Sunny's not mad at you, and we won't do that to you ever again ok?"

"Promise?"

"We promise. As your soon-to-be mates it's our job to take care of you, and to respect your wishes. If you don't want to do something we want you to, all you have to do is say no and we'll back off ok? We'll never, ever force you to do anything sexual that you don't want. I mean, sometimes we might want to experiment a bit, and you might even decide that you want to, and that's perfectly ok. But if something ever happens that scares you, or that you don't like just tell us to stop. We'll always listen."

She stared me down, then turned to stare at Sunny.

He nodded. "We'll learn together, at your pace, and only by doing things you feel comfortable with babe."

"Thank you."

"It's no problem sweetspark. Now why don't we put this all behind us and get the living room cleaned up so we can have a movie night? That sound good?"

"Yes."

"I'll go take care of it ok?" With that I stood and made my way into the living room to clean up the shattered remains of my speaker. I gathered the pieces up threw them into a waste bin, then I vacuumed the glass and debris up. All in all, it took maybe five kliks to gets everything back in order.

As I was finishing up I heard somebot enter the room, and when I turned to look I saw Sunny plop down on the couch with Athena still in his grasp. He still had her held tightly to his chassis as he grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her, servo trailing up and down her covered thigh gently. "Are you warm enough?"

She snuggled down against him, helm barely visible over the edge of the blanket. "Yes."

I sat down next to my twin after taking care of my cleaning stuff, quickly taking in how cute she looked cuddling up to Sunny like that. "Awww! You look so adorable hiding under the blankets Princess!" I beamed at her.

Much to my pleasure she glared at me like an angry cyber kitten.

"Now there's that feisty glare I like seeing so much Love!" I scooted closer and all but crawled into Sunny's lap so that I could wrap my arms around her and press our fore-helms together, ignoring Sunny protesting about me scratching his paint. Instead I nuzzled every part of her face and helm that was accessible with a purr. "I love you Princess…"

"I love you too Sides… even if you are a goof."

Sunny chuckled when I gave an affronted gasp. "Tell it like it is babe!"

Her lips spread slightly, and she gifted us with a series of soft giggles. "I did."

He pulled her up so that she was trapped in a tight three-way hug. "Our Queen…"

"Our Goddess…" I murmured.

"And our inspiration…" He finished quietly, and then we quickly took turns giving her loving kisses.

We'd always make sure that we loved her the way she deserved… through thick and thin, good and bad, until we all faded into the Well of Sparks together.

Hopefully after a long life in which we showered her with affection…

R&R! Couldn't think of another place to end it! XD