Hello, spottedpath here! I would just like to thank everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed. This is really exciting, especially since it's my first story ever. I was so excited I shot out another chapter. I don't think I will be able to make them so quickly in the future, but I think that I can manage to get them out on a regular basis.

I would like to clear up a few things that I may have left out earlier. While this story occurs four years after the first Bay movie, it does not include events from the next movies. Not that I like or dislike them, they just don't fit with the story I was hoping to make. There may also be some Primeverse elements. You may have noticed that I made Wheeljack and Que two different 'bots. I really like the inventor but I also love how Prime handled the Wrecker. Que will be the inventor and he'll look like he did in the third movie. Wheeljack is the warrior from the Primeverse.

I was also trying to decide how the relationship between the main characters will end up. Right now, I believe I'll include hints of SSXSS but I have not decided how far I will take it. This fanfiction is rated for language and some sexual themes. Ratings may go higher.

Ok, I hope that clears most of it up!

I do not own Transformers, only my OCs.

Chapter 2

After receiving information on base basics such as a map and list of times and places where each recruit was expected, the group had headed to their barracks. There, Erin learned that she had her own room. It was small for a bedroom, but had more than enough space for a soldier. She had a bed, a nightstand, and even a desk with a filing cabinet. Erin reasoned that her room was meant to hold someone of much higher rank. However, she was assigned it to avoid her sleeping in the bunk with the men, not that she cared. Soldiers were housed per rank and station. She happened to be to only female recruit in an actual combat position. Erin did not mind, she liked her privacy.

After unpacking, which was rather quick considering she only had a few uniforms, exercise clothes, and toiletries, she glanced at her dossier. Breakfast was between 0500 and 0800 hours, and she was only expected for her daily activities from 0800 hours to 1500 hours. Recruits had duty nights in which they performed whatever menial tasks leadership hands out. Her duty nights were Monday through Wednesday. Erin knew that, although she and the others were technically 'recruits', everyone else had been in the military for at least two years before going to Diego Garcia. They were just called such because they were new to this kind of war. She had expected something of a stricter lifestyle, not that she was going to complain.

After a few minutes, Erin began to feel restless. She settled for doing a few crunches. There was just enough floor space for her to fit comfortably by the bed without worry of hitting any of the furniture. After about two hundred crunches, she got bored and started doing pushups. She counted out two hundred of those, wishing she could go to the weight room. Unfortunately, it was already 1700 hours and the weight room closes to lower level soldiers at that time. She decided that, after dinner, she would go for a nice long run.

Erin did not care to change her uniform before heading out of her room and towards the exit of the barracks. She was out quickly, considering she lived on the first floor and only a few yards from the exit. She headed to the mess hall, feeling the still hot air frizzing the hair that was pasted across her wet neck.

She entered the mess hall and quickly got in line. The food was decent enough. She got a turkey club sandwich and a salad, then grabbed a water bottle before heading directly towards a table with no occupants. Just short of her destination, Erin was cut off by Franky. He gave a coy grin before slightly nodding at her to join him at the still empty table. Not wanting him to cause a scene, she complied and joined him. She settled at the end seat while he plopped down next to her.

"Soooo…" he drawled out. "What happened this morning?" He leaned on the table, a textbook display of acting casual. Erin looked directly at him, she studied his features, his positioning, all of it looked fake. There was something about him that she did not trust. Erin had learned to read people well, but everything she saw in him was artificial.

"You mean with the robot?" she questioned. Slowly becoming more interested in figuring the man out.

"Yeah, Sideswipe's his name, right?" Franky smirked, happy to have Erin's attention. "Didn't even blink when he transformed and then you chatted him up like he wasn't towering over you." He leaned in closer. Erin sensed the question in his statement.

"He wasn't threatening me, besides, I'm a girl in the military, everyone towers over me." She stated matter-of-factly. It was, of course, not true, she did feel threatened by the alien's presence. She could tell how dangerous it was, and self-preservation warned her to stay weary. The latter part was true, though, Erin looked rather unassuming. She stood at 5' 6" and while she was fit, she was outweighed by most military men by at least 50 pounds.

"I have a feeling that you're tougher than you look. Hell, I was terrified and I work in intelligence, you won't believe some of the shit I've seen."

Erin held his gaze. "Intelligence?" she inquired.

He sighed, "yeah, information gathering mostly."

"Like a spy?" Erin snorted and turned away to face her food.

"Trust me, it's not as glamorous as it sounds. I'll be spending most of my time working at I.T. I'm just support staff, after all." he said as he started eating.

They continued their light banter for a while, discussing nothing in particular; the humid weather, what state's they are from. Erin had to explain that Oregon was not all hippies like Franky reverently believed. She did not, however, allow the friendly conversation to chip away at her guard. Eventually, Erin asked, "Do you remember the guy in our group with curly hair? He used some good moves when getting out of Sideswipe's way."

Franky didn't miss a beat, "His name is Private Adam Walker, top of his ROTC unit in physical stamina and top student in his school. This father is Charles Walker, an important official in the CIA."

Erin raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know all of this?"

He shrugged, "Wouldn't you like to know." After a few seconds under her intense gaze, however, he conceded, "I chatted with him on the plane, not that he really says much, before I spotted a certain beauty sitting alone."

Erin rolled her eyes. "Well, I think it's about time I head out, see ya." She quickly got up, ignoring his protests and only mildly agreeing to meet him for breakfast the next day. Perhaps if she played her cards right, he'd be of use to her later.

After heading back to her room, Erin quickly got changed into her running clothes and headed out towards a path she saw on a map. She had to admit that the beach on Diego Garcia was beautiful. The sun was beginning to set and the bright yellow reflection on the water faded to near pale as it climbed closer to the shore before blending in with the sand under Erin's feet. After about thirty minutes of running alongside the beautiful view, she trekked closer to the road and continued through a thick grove of palm trees.

Running always made Erin feel better. It reminded her of how strong she had trained herself to be. It also helped her feel secure, knowing that she could run away. Unfortunately, she never ran, she endured years of abuse but never took any of her opportunities to escape. Lost in thought, Erin remembered a time when she had the perfect opportunity to escape, but she never took it, all she would have had to do was run. She could have even fought if need be, why else go through the effort of training her body if she didn't use her skills for self-defense? The regret made her run even harder. She left the palm trees and continued on the path back towards the barracks, only sparing a quick glance towards the silver glint she caught in the corner of her eye.

-POV Change-

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker where getting back from yet another uneventful patrol. Sunstreaker cursed at the dirt that was gathering in his undercarriage while Sideswipes laughed at his pettiness.

:Don't worry, Sunny, you can spend all night in the wash racks if it makes ya feel better.: After a moment, he added, :I'll even give you a wax…:

Sunstreaker scoffed, : I'm only covered in this fragging stuff because you decided to pull another prank and got us in trouble. And usually, when you offer me a wax job I end up even more scuffed up than before… And don't call me that!:

:You know you love i-: Sideswipe cut himself off in a moment of distraction. He slowed to a near crawl as he saw a tiny figure run out of the palm trees. Even in the dark glow of the night his sensors could easily pick up a certain human femme.

Sunstreaker backed a bit, having been initially caught off guard by his twin's sudden deceleration. :What?: He asked.

Sideswipe snapped back to reality and revved his engine as he continued towards the autobot barracks. :Oh, it's nothing. I just met that human femme earlier and she was kinda interesting.:

Sunstreaker stayed silent, however, Sideswipe could feel his anger over their twin bond.

:Now, Sunny. Don't get all jealous just 'cause I chatted with a fleshy this morning.:

:Don't call me that! What were you thinking fragger? We don't need to have anything to do with the squishies. Why would you even want to talk to them?: It was no secret that Sunstreaker did not like humans. He wasn't about to go con and kill all of them, but he still considered them to be pests. They were just necessary evils during their temporary stay on earth.

:Prime is always grinding our gears about getting along with the humans. I mean, Bumblebee willingly plays chauffer for one of them. And don't even get me started on Ironhide and Annabelle. So what if I humored one of them. Besides, for a squishy, she's kinda cute…Well, you know, in a pet-like w-:

Before Sideswipe could finish the statement, Sunstreaker, in flash of rage, transformed and grabbed his brother who was still in vehicle mode. Although Sideswipe was about the same size as Sunstreaker, the older twin was far stronger. While they were gladiators, Sideswipe was known for quick attacks and evasion while Sunstreaker was the 'muscle' as humans would put it. When he wasn't tearing bots apart bit by bit he doubled as a shield for his brother. This strength is the reason why it took Sunstreaker almost no effort to swing Sideswipe into the air and toss him like a lob ball clear across the field. What Sunstreaker did not realize was, that at this point in their conversation, the human had run into the vicinity of where his brother was now flying.

Erin was pointedly ignoring the machines idling a few yards from her, or at least that was until one of them transformed and threw the other straight at her. She glanced up in time to see none other than a silver corvette spinning in the air, blaring its horn as it hurdled to the ground.

The action was so unexpected, Erin did not have much time to react, especially when said car transformed, throwing off her estimate as to where it would land. She hit the ground as the giant mass fell by her. A few yards to her right, it landed on its back before it rolled once towards her. A balled fist landed inches from her head while the other hand landed a few feet on the other side of her. After the robot stopped moving Erin chanced a glance up. Lo and behold there was the autobot called Sideswipe, staring down at her. Its face was a mix of shock and amusement.

Erin turned to lie somewhat on her back, still leaning down to avoid getting in its 'personal' space. The robot was truly huge. Erin had already known this, but to have the giant alien straddling over her was intimidating to say the least. Meanwhile, it held a dumb lopsided smile while she tried to drag herself away from it.

"Well, what are the chances I'd run into you again?" it rumbled. The silver robot cocked its head to the side the same way it had done earlier that morning.

"Do you make a habit of almost crushing people." Erin asked, still awkwardly lying under the bot.

"Naw, but I like to change things up every onc- awk!" the autobot was pulled up to its wheel-feet by the base of its neck. The yellow bot, Sunstreaker as Erin recalled, glared at its twin with fury. The air had a dark miasma emanating from the angry looking bot.

After a few long seconds of the yellow bot staring daggers into the other one, it spoke, "Just get going, fragger." It turned, completely dismissive of Erin, and managed to get a step out before the silver one spoke with a mischievous tone.

"What if I want to stay?" It smirked as the other one stopped dead in its tracks. It stood there for a moment, facing away from the other two. After a long moment, it turned on its heels and swung a fist up, into the silver one's chest. The bot on the receiving end went airborne for a second before falling onto its back, with Erin barley getting missed by its body on one side and arm on the other. The golden bot sank down to straddle the silver one and gripped its chest plates, shouting at it with clicks and whirls. Erin hypothesized that it was cybertronian for a long line of curses.

The silver one push back and to the side, forcing the other one to the ground with Erin stuck between them. The yellow one started punching the silver one while Erin desperately searched for a means of escape. They were moving quickly, so much so that once an opening appeared, it disappeared before she could react. She had no weapons to defend herself with and all she wore for protection was a t-shirt and sweatpants. A yellow knee crashed down next to her and knocked her to the side as it flew over her once again when the bot was flipped over.

A shocking wave of pan hit her moments after the unexpected assault. She tried to scramble away, but the act was in vain.

Sideswipe heard the human femme squeak as she was tossed around by Sunstreaker who, at the time, was not aware of her presence. If he had been, he would have been worried about getting her oils all over his paint job. Sideswipe, however, couldn't just let a human be crushed during one of their sibling squabbles. He would never hear the end of it from Prowl. He tried to send calming feelings to his twin to get him out of his fit of rage. This did not work, of course. Sunstreaker had been on edge for several days without a good fight and his gladiator protocols were itching to be let loose. His optics were a pale shade of blue, lighter than his usual azure shade. Yeah, he was pretty out of control.

Sideswipe managed to pin his brother long enough so he could scoop Erin up and fall back, far enough to keep his brother from making an immediate move. He landed on his aft and Erin cried out in surprise, and perhaps pain.

He dropped her in his lap and looked up at Sunstreaker who was frozen where he sat, glaring at the small form kneeling on his twin.

'Well, that could have been worse…'