Alexis tapped her fingers restlessly against the counter as she looked at the glass of hot tea Emily had left on said counter when she had gone after something in another room.
Today Bumblebee had told Ratchet that Alexis was taking a day off because her nerves were 'fried' from the events of the conundrum of Jasper. Unfortunately for her Ratchet had agreed and sent her out of the Medbay as soon as she had walked in that morning.
"Damn it," Alexis muttered letting out a sigh. She looked around at her surroundings before an idea hit her. Sunstreaker had the day off too didn't he?
Hey Sunstreaker?
There was barely a moment of hesitation before she got an answer. Yes?
You busy?
Why?
Want a wash?
There was a momentary pause again. Excuse me?
I'm bored, and Bee made me take a day off.
So is this your way of propositioning me?
Alexis pursed her lips at this and received an odd look from Emily who had just walked back into the room as she did.
I'm asking you a question. Alexis snapped back. If you don't care for one just say so, I could ask someone else.
You're asking me because I'm the only other one with a day off, and if you do any type of real work your little Bumblebee will be hauling your ass back to quarters.
Do you want one or not? Alexis commed clearly getting agitated. Emily raised an eyebrow at this and then tapped her neck over her pulse point indicating that Alexis needed to calm down.
Why not? Sunstreaker commed after a moment. Better than having to do it myself.
Fine, where are you?
Mine and Side's hanger.
Be there in a few then.
Hey can I get a wax out of you while you're being so generous?
Don't push your luck Sunny.
You're the one asking me, Lexy.
Alexis rolled her eyes at this and then turned her attention to Emily who was still watching her friend curiously.
"You had best not have been trying to talk Ratchet into letting you work this afternoon!" Emily said hands on her hips her face flushing. "Bee said no work!"
"I'm not going to work Em," Alexis said with a little smile. "Gonna go bother Sunstreaker,"
Emily paused at this before raising an eyebrow. "So instead of working you're going to go irritate the most volatile mech on base? That's as bad as offering to help Wheeljack with some experiment!"
"Sunstreaker's nothing but a big softy," Alexis said waving Emily off. "I just need something to do with my hands, so I offered to wash Sunstreaker's alt. That okay warden?"
Emily looked at her for a second then shrugged. She then moved to pick up her glass from the counter and walked into the living room.
"Bee didn't say anything about you not doing that," Emily said and Alexis grinned. "Besides I think if you stayed here all afternoon you would drive me nuts."
"Bee will appreciate you babysitting me so well," Alexis said sarcastically and Emily laughed.
"You never have been good at taking orders unless you had someone around to help enforce them."
"Yeah yeah!" Alexis said with a laugh and walked out heading towards Sunstreaker.
Alexis paused pursing her lips a sponge hanging limply in her hand suds and water dripping onto the floor. Sunstreaker's holo looked over at her from where he had been sitting painting while she had been cleaning his alt.
"You're dripping water," Sunstreaker pointed out sullenly after a moment before turning his focus back to his painting. "And you're not supposed to be thinking about Jasper, Bee forbade that today remember?"
"I can't help it really," Alexis said absently before stepping over and dipping her sponge in the bucket of water. "What I don't understand is why Jazz has shown up so dominantly in Jasper? Why didn't that happen to me as well if we are a split off of the same spark? And Anderson? If he is our 'twin' does he have a part of Jazz in him as well since the spark is from the same source?"
Alexis then plopped the sponge down on Sunstreaker's trunk with a wet plunk her lips pursed as she worked through the factors in her head. Sunstreaker in turn glared at her when she did that.
"Seriously?" Sunstreaker growled turning back to her. "I can feel that you know,"
"Does Anderson just have a split personality he doesn't show in front of us? Or maybe the Cons found a way to keep the spark but get rid of the part of Jazz?" Alexis continued without pause or care towards Sunstreaker's comment. "Could the personality quirks of Jazz just assimilated into Anderson's own personality? Or is it just the fact that since Anderson and I are both splits of the spark we had the ability to be separate mechs and since Jasper holds the original spark from Jazz that he got Jazz too?"
"And now the water is trailing down my back bumper." Sunstreaker commented listlessly. "Not all that comfortable you know?"
"How did they even manage to keep all three sparks stable long enough to force them into myself and Anderson?" Alexis continued again ignoring Sunstreaker. "I know they created Anderson before they created myself, but if they created Jasper before Anderson then why did they need to create Anderson in the first place?"
"That's going to leave water spots," Sunstreaker said mild irritation now starting to filter into his voice.
"And more specifically why would they force a spark that still had the original carrier's coding in it into another already living human's heart? Were they trying to bring Jazz back?" Alexis said tilting her head to the side. "They could have maybe been trying to get Autobot secrets out of him? That would make sense; Jazz was the second in command, he would know just about everything that would need to be known about the Autobots, but bringing a Mech back from the dead? That should be impossible!"
Sunstreaker let out a sigh realizing that Alexis was now trapped in her thought pattern and the only way to actually pull her out of it was to do something either to her or drastic around her. He looked over at his paintbrushes before picking one up.
"She better be glad I actually kind of like her." Sunstreaker muttered before dipping the brush he had picked up in some of the paint on his paint palette, bright pink to be exact.
Sunstreaker then stood up and walked over to where Alexis stood. Before she could even really process why he was standing there he brought his hand up and swiped the paintbrush across her face. The cold wet paint jerked her back to reality and she blinked a few times before focusing on Sunstreaker whose eyebrow was raised.
"What was that for?" Alexis questioned mildly surprised.
"Water spots," Sunstreaker said pointing to the sponge Alexis still had her hand on. "You got distracted genius."
"Oh," Alexis said looking at the sponge then back at Sunstreaker. "Sorry."
"Besides, didn't your overprotective Sparkmate say no Jasper thoughts today?" Sunstreaker said crossing his arms over his chest the paint brush held up between two fingers and away from himself.
"I just," Alexis sighed. "I want to figure this out."
"Yes, well unfortunately, Bee is right." Sunstreaker said after a beat. "You need to step away from this problem at least for a small amount of time, otherwise your nerves are not going to be the only things that get shot." Sunstreaker then tapped on her forehead. "Focusing on this so much has knocked you off your game, what happens if there's an attack and you're too frazzled to help Ratchet? Want that on your processors?"
Alexis sighed. "You're probably right." She then turned back to the sponge. "And water spots, wouldn't want that on your otherwise perfect frame,"
"I would appreciate it if you didn't mess up his shine," someone else said and Alexis and Sunstreaker turned to see Sideswipe walk in. "And when you get done with him wanna do me?"
"Get in line bro,"
"You're off shift early," Alexis said picking up the sponge finally.
"Yeah," Sideswipe said with a shrug. "Finished up and Ironhide told me to get the hell out before I drove him nuts. Bee wondered if you were gonna come over here,"
"I needed to do something while he was working." Alexis defended herself with a slight huff.
"Is that why you have bright pink paint on your nose?" Sideswipe questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Pink?" Alexis questioned turning back to Sunstreaker who grinned. "Pink? Of all the colors you have, you chose to swipe pink across my face?"
"Thought it would look good with your skin tone." Sunstreaker quipped and Sideswipe laughed. "Now are you going to finish what you started?"
"Bastard," Alexis muttered before flinging water in his direction.
"You were the one who was bored." Sunstreaker reminded her.
"Besides soon as you finish with him I am stealing your attention for a while!" Sideswipe interrupted the two.
Alexis laughed before shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the twins. At least now she would be following Bumblebee's order not to work today.
Two and a half hours and two washes and two waxing's later, Alexis sat next to Sideswipe leant up against Sunstreaker's wheel as the two watched Sunstreaker concentrate on his painting.
I didn't know he liked painting so much,
Sideswipe's head tilted to the side accepting Alexis's comm without drawing attention from Sunstreaker who was wrapped up in his painting anyway.
He doesn't actually paint that much anymore. I'm surprised he pulled out his supplies while you were here. He doesn't usually allow anyone around when he paints. A lot of times he even kicks me out if he wants to paint. Sideswipe paused before he grinned. And then there's the fact that he actually painted you, which is really funny and surprising at the same time.
"You two can stop discussing me over there," Sunstreaker said without even turning around to look at them.
Alexis smiled at this and Sideswipe smirked. Just as Alexis opened her mouth to say something she was cut off by a loud explosion that rocked the base.
There was a momentary pause as all three looked towards the door of the hanger waiting to see if the explosion was just a common run of the mill Wheeljack explosion of if it might be something to worry about.
Hey Lex? Are you currently busy? Alexis smiled at this recognizing it as Wheeljack's voice.
She's not working today Wheeljack. And that was Bumblebee answering for her.
Damn, Wheeljack cursed and Alexis actually laughed.
You're gonna have to hope Ratchet will help you, Jack, Alexis commed and then turned her attention to Sideswipe who was now watching her curiously.
"Wheeljack," Alexis said and he nodded and Sunstreaker turned back to painting.
There was a momentary silence before another loud explosion rolled through the base. Alexis raised an eyebrow at this as did Sideswipe.
Um Jack?
That wasn't me Lex,
Then who was it? Alexis commed absently before pushing herself up to stand. "That wasn't Jack,"
Sideswipe stood up at this too. "Then who was it?"
"That's what I'm wondering," Alexis said and both walked towards the doorway to look out and see what was going on.
After a beat Sunstreaker followed behind them and stepped out behind Sideswipe and Alexis. There was a moment of absolute silence across the base before Alexis turned back to the twins and shrugged, figuring the explosion may have been a secondary explosion from whatever Wheeljack had been doing.
Sideswiped relaxed a little before crossing his arms still looking out across the base. Sunstreaker didn't seem to believe it was just an secondary and was still trying to figure out where said explosion had come from.
"Who's on patrol?" Alexis questioned after a moment.
"Mudflap and Skids." Sideswipe provided after a beat turning back to Alexis.
"Maybe it wasn't an explosion then?" Alexis said with a shrug. "Maybe they just happened to knock something rather large over?"
"I wouldn't be so sure." Sunstreaker said. "The sound is different."
Alexis tilted her head to the side. If anyone would know the difference between the two it would be someone like Sunstreaker.
"CONS!" someone shrieked and all three turned to look at who it was.
"Look out!" Sunstreaker said instantly grabbing Alexis around the waist.
Sunstreaker picked Alexis up and pulled her around out of the way before pushing her head down shielding her from a blast directed at a building across the street from them. Sideswipe's holo instantly disappeared and Alexis could hear the unmistakable metallic shift of parts as he transformed.
He didn't say anything to Alexis or Sunstreaker rather almost instantly was in the street retaliating with a shot of his own towards the Cons that were headed their way. Within an instant after this there were two blurs which Alexis assumed were Butterfly and Elita-one, followed by Ironhide and then Acree.
"You alright?" Sunstreaker questioned Alexis standing up and letting her go.
"I'm fine," Alexis said with a nod. "Where's Bee?"
As soon as this was said two more blurs passed the two, one a shock of yellow the other obviously Optimus from the size of the alt.
"Go!" Alexis said pushing Sunstreaker towards his alt form. "Go! They need you out there! I need to get to the Medbay! They're here to recollect Jasper!"
Sunstreaker didn't say anything rather nodded at the command and disappeared. The viper instantly roared to life and he tore out of the hanger in a shot past Alexis and out behind the others. Within less than a second Sideswipe had transformed down into his own alt and tore off after his brother.
Alexis turned letting out a deep breath before taking off at a run towards the Medbay.
"Day off my ass."
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