Hello everyone. So this chapter was actually meant to be split, with the second half starting what will be chapter 14, but I decided to meld them together.
I would like to thank rybakoi, Edges05, Cinematronix, Guest, and ladybug1995 for reviewing!
There is a lot of different forms of communication here, so just to clear things up:
"Normal conversation"
:Bond talk:
-Comm link-
Sign Communication
The song used is Hurt by Johnny Cash. I honestly wasn't sure whether or not to give her singing parts, but I have two reasons for doing so. 1) the real-life person who is my muse for Erin is an amazing and successful singer and 2) it actually falls into the plot- way into the future of the story.
Chapter 13
Erin knew how to deal with tough situations. She knew how to deal with sharpshooters, interrogations, hand to hand combat, and she could even diffuse land minds. This, however, was not like any of those situations. She had no clue how to diffuse a giant, alien, time bomb.
She, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker had advanced in their team skills more than anyone could have imagined. The twins and her played on each other's strengths. Sunstreaker was the literal strength of the group. Sideswipe had speed and his own level of cunning, he was also able to diffuse a cybertronian bomb. Erin was the strategist, not to brag, her intelligence helped change the twins' hit-it-'til-it-breaks strategy into one that would leave off three of them virtually unscathed. Of course, before teaming up with Erin, the twins still had extremely high battle success, but her quick thinking and analytical skills left them with fewer dings to bang out at the end of the day. This, of course, pleased a certain shiny yellow mech and a slightly less grumpy medic. Their team was not without its flaws. At least Sunstreaker had not squished Erin yet, and that was a win in her book.
Their predicament was to diffuse an energon bomb made by Wheeljack, the explosives expert of the autobots. Erin had almost no contact with the scar-faced mech, but he seemed to be a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was willing to give Erin a quick explanation of how his explosives work. All of it went over her head, but she recorded the information for later use.
The bomb they were meant to diffuse was powered by energon, but the explosion would be contained. Should the detonation occur, there would only be a healthy splattering of paint. That, of course, would piss off Sunstreaker. While the team of three had to diffuse the weapons, Mirage and Wheeljack were defending it- at a distance.
The pair of 'bots knew that Erin could not do anything with the bomb, so their attacks were focused on her teammates. Erin needed to distract one of them long enough to let the other 'bot through. While Sideswipe would be preferable, Sunstreaker could do the job if the twins communicated through their bond.
Sideswipe was held up by Wheeljack, both their twin swords slashing, creating large sparks upon contact. The silver mech was fast and his weapons could tolerate more abuse, but Wheeljack had skill and experience. The mostly white 'bot tended to stay on the defensive, keeping himself protected from the silver mech's relentless onslaught. However, if Sideswipe tried to get past him, the older mech would go on the hunt, pulling Sideswipe back into the duel of swords. It was unlikely Sideswipe would be able to get past Wheeljack without Sunstreaker's aid.
Said yellow mech was in a similar predicament. Mirage used his cloaking device to become invisible. Even his shadow disappeared. Sunstreaker was blindly swinging for his target. If he tried to make a move towards either the bomb or his brother, the invisible mech would strike, only hard enough to distract the mech. He would then turn on his heels and claw at the air behind him, shouting various insults in both cybertronian and English. Honestly, if Sunstreaker really wanted to get Mirage, he could. He'd be fast enough with a round of cannon fire. But without being able to see the mech, there was a chance he could accidentally hit a vital spot and kill the red 'bot. Being forced to hold back was not something the mech appreciated. Still, Sunstreaker was their best bet.
Erin ran to his aid, not that he would want her help. Once she was in his optic range, she showed him a flurry of hand signals.
I distract-Trick. Help Sideswipe-Switch. Go to bomb
If Mirage thought Sunstreaker was going to help Sideswipe, it might put him off enough so that Sunstreaker could get a head start on the bomb while Erin held Mirage back. Wheeljack might even fall back a bit if he thought he was going to face each twin.
The yellow mech scowled. "I don't know what that fraggin' means!"
Of course he didn't. Why would Erin think he'd actually cared to memorize the hand signals they'd practiced? "Just… go to the bomb!" Erin yelled as she ran nearly under Sunstreaker's pedes, blade unsheathed.
A few feet to her left, she saw the slightest displacement of dust. Quickly, she pulled out her gun and fired a shot at what turned out to be a fist heading for Sunstreaker. The paint only splattered for a second before disappearing. That moment was enough to alert Sunstreaker of the oncoming danger so he could dodge. With a furious growl, he slammed the side of his fist against their invisible foe. A crash sounded and dust lifted up. It appeared that Sunstreaker had knocked the mech over.
"Go!" Erin urged.
"You think you can take him?" Sunstreaker scoffed disbelievingly as he slammed a pede down where Mirage should have been. Instead, he crashed it down into the ground.
"We don't have time to argue." She reasoned.
Sunstreaker gave Erin a stern look. She had known him long enough to get a feel for his moods. The soldier could see pride and reason swimming around through his facial expressions. His optics, which were solid blue, like lenses, showed nothing as usual. After a second, he silently turned away and sprinted towards the goal
Erin saw another movement of dust and lunged with her E-blade. She met with hard resistance, his armor, but at the last second, there was the slightest give. Hopefully, that would slow him down. Erin's eyes tracked the sparking and barely there dribble of blue fluid as it circled her. He was going to stay and fight.
The sparks and energon disappeared just like the paint did.
This was Erin's first time facing Mirage, but she had already collected data on him. He had the ability to turn invisible. On top of that, he was extremely quiet. He could also emit a light invisibility field outside of his body to hide foot prints. Erin could see the dust move because it had been kicked out of his range, signifying him moving quickly and attacking. He was not a fighting 'bot. His job was infiltration. He only had light weapons- for a cybertronian- to use for defense. However, they were loud and he could not shield the light emitted before firing so he was unlikely to use them. Besides, any 'bot would have no trouble taking down Erin in hand to hand if they got a single hit in. He was most likely going to do a physical attack, leaving him open for Erin to use her E-blade. A gun would do her little good in this situation since her weapon was only designed to work if a vital spot was hit, which would be nearly impossible given her situation. She could not depend on her sight, it was unlikely he'd kick up any dust near her. Mirage could just bend over and plant a finger on her to take her out, like Ironhide sometimes did. Her hearing was also practically useless.
She'd never fought an invisible opponent but she had fought in the dark before, creating a similar effect.
Erin closed her eyes and centered herself. Her tactical senses became the focus of her thoughts. Mirage's cloaking device had to emit some kind of 'wave'. She felt the hairs on her arms prickle. It was faint, but past the wind and thundering of the other two titans battling, Erin could notice two distinctive movements in the air. One was quick like a strobe light, the other was slightly slower. It blinked on and off at the same rate it took for Mirage's energon to disappear from sight. All Erin had to do was find their collective center, strike at the point where her instincts scream for her to avoid.
The signal strengthened. Left. Shoulder. Fast!
Erin dropped to one knee, ducking the invisible arm and swung her blade up. At first, she only hit thick armor, but she had a new advantage. The vibration in the blade painted a picture of her enemy's position. In the blackness she encased herself in, Erin could feel up Mirage's arm. A quick twist of her blade let her slide it into a portion of his elbow, slicing the joint. The offending limb recoiled as Erin pulled her blade out.
"Frag! Merda!" a now visible Mirage screamed out. His glossy red armor was like a massive target.
Without missing a beat, Erin reintroduced her knife to the portion of his ankle she first attacked. The energon was free flowing as he took two massive steps back. This was another one of Erin's weaknesses. If the enemy avoided her, she would be too slow to reach them. Mirage seemed to take this act into consideration as he folded down into a shiny Ferrari and bolted towards Sunstreaker.
"Sunstreaker!" Erin called over her short distance radio, "He's coming to you."
"Nice job distracting him!" came the sarcastic retort.
Erin booked it towards the bomb that Sunstreaker had begun working on. He had torn off and chucked a side panel and was picking through a series of black wires. Erin ran past the tossed aside panel just as the Ferrari unfolded and Mirage hurdled towards Sunstreaker. Without missing a beat, the yellow mech turned and grabbed the infiltrator, slamming him to the ground. The red mech then rolled forwards and toppled over the explosive. An odd sound emanated from it as Sunstreaker bent back over it frantically.
The sounds of Sideswipe and Wheeljack's fighting ceased. "Sunstreaker," his twin called, "you dislodged the energon fuel lodge!" The two sideline mechs transformed and cleared away as well as Mirage. Sunstreaker cursed and changed into his alt-mode, peeling towards Erin.
For a moment, she thought he was going to get her clear of the area. That was a very brief moment. Then she realized that, although he was speeding towards her, he was not going to stop. Erin jumped out of the 'bot's way as he made it towards a safe distance.
He left her. Could she outrun the blast? Probably not. It was just paint, but still… She sprinted back the way she came. The panel Sunstreaker had chucked caught her sight. It was about the same size as she was. Desperately, she grabbed it. It was heavy, but she could still carry it. She pulled it against a boulder and wedged herself between the two objects. Not a second later, and incredible force beat against her metal shelter, she felt crushed against the rock. Her body did not have enough time to process the pressure she was crushed under. Her shoulder scraped mercilessly against the rough boulder. A wave of heat nipped at her skin, accompanied by nearly blinding light. As soon as it started, the chaos ended.
Erin collapsed, half under the leaning metal panel. Her whole body hurt. Her face felt sticky as she laid in some off-pink substance. Paint.
"Was that much energon really necessary for a paint splatter?" Erin could hear Sideswipe chuckle. She grit her teeth, wanting to take that jovial sound and stuff it down his throat.
"What? You scared of a little boom?" Wheeljack's cocky voice spit back.
"What if Erin had been in the blast radius? It could have hurt her. Where is she anyway?"
Erin was not in the mood to call out to the silver mech. She tried to mentally gather herself. She felt each injury, most of which were superficial. Her left shoulder would probably be black and blue for a few weeks. Bruising was already starting to form along her side where the panel hit her. She also had a pretty bad scrape on her right shoulder where she rubbed against the stone. Rubbed, meaning tearing her uniform and skin away, exposing red flesh as warm blood oozed down her arm and back. The injury must have been five inches long. Overall, the wounds were not life threatening, but still hurt like hell.
Erin was pulled back into the 'bot's conversation when Sideswipe shouted, "What do you mean? You left her!"
Sunstreaker was quick to retort, "It's her own fault her being so slow! Besides how was I supposed to know scar-face over here added an extra charge?"
"This is a battle simulation," Wheeljack growled, no doubt seething over Sunstreaker's quip, "Even if the thing was not rigged to go off, you should have helped your teammate out."
"This coming from the mech who can barely work with his own partner!"
"I may be a mech of solitude, but I would never leave a 'bot behind."
"In case you haven't noticed, the squishy is not a 'bot!"
"The point still stands. You're stuck with her, so deal with it."
The pair continued to argue from a distance as Erin pulled herself onto her knees. The rattling in her bones had subsided, leaving her with a sharp ache.
"Rin!"
Erin looked up to see a relived looking Sideswipe kneeling over her. Well, at least he looked for her. The mech didn't seemed concerned with the paint covering his planted knee or wheeled pedes, the only parts of him tainted by the pink substance.
"Are you ok?" he asked, surveying her form and the superficial shelter she used. "The blast wasn't supposed to be that strong." His optics landed on the blood pooling down her arm. "Oh, Rin. You're hurt." He suddenly went from a twenty foot alien to a mother hen. He kept a worried hand hovering over her, but not touching. "Let me take you to Hatchet."
"I'm fine," Erin tried to wave him off, not quite comfortable with the term he used for the autobot medic, "and no offense to the doc 'bot, but I think I'll go to the human med bay." Erin had, admittingly, adopted one of Ratchet's nicknames.
"He'll want to see you anyway, so you might as well go there to begin with." Not taking no for an answer, Sideswipe transformed into his alt-mode and opened his driver's side door for her. The move caused a small spray of paint to flick against her hair, and up his doors and the sides of his tires.
"I can walk." she replied shortly.
Sideswipe only revved his engine and held the door open. This caught the attention of the other mechs who's optics all darted to Erin. Not wanting to be any further involved in their argument, and feeling exhausted, Erin relented and stepped into Sideswipe's alt-mode; He automatically adjusted the seat, making her more comfortable. What a gentlemech. She resigned herself to being ferried to the autobot med bay.
She was not having a good day.
The injuries truly were superficial, not worth the autobot medic's time. That, however, did not stop Ratchet from lecturing both Sideswipe and Erin on how fragile humans were. As if Erin was not already painfully aware of that. Poor Sideswipe got a couple of dents from Ratchet's wrench whenever he made a cheeky comment.
While under the medic's care, Erin internally admitted that, for someone so large, Ratchet was skilled with precision work. The scrape on her shoulder was embedded with pebbles and dust. Ratchet somehow changed one of his hands into a set of large tweezers with a minuscule tip, almost like two needles. The other hand became a hose-like device that let out a dribble of water to wash away the dust and blood as Ratchet carefully picked away the larger particulates.
The wound did not truly start to hurt until after it was clean. With what seemed to be dark amusement, Ratchet sanitized the injury, causing Erin to let out a string of profanities, much to Sideswipe's amusement. That was where his second dent came from.
When all was said and done, Erin was bandaged up and icing her sore and bruised body. Sideswipe stayed beside her through it all. She had told him several times that he did not need to remain, but he persisted. The silver mech had pulled up a large stool to sit by the mech-sized berth Erin laid in the middle of. The exact middle of, as far from any edge as possible. He chattered on about whatever came to mind and dramatically freaked out whenever she admitted to have never seeing certain movies or hearing popular songs. All the while he tried his best to clan off the pink mess left over from training.
If Erin was being honest with herself, then she would admit that speaking with the mech was easy and even calming. Conversation flowed between them more easily than it did between her and Ironhide or Franky. This autobot, while annoying, wasn't too bad.
"Now, Ms. Brook," Ratchet interrupted Sideswipe's chatter, "I'm going to perform a deeper scan. Please hold still for me." He stood back a bit and Sideswipe cleared the general area around her.
The scan was not the worst he'd done, but it was still enough to make her bones rattle slightly. She mildly worried that he was slowly radiating her. The mech hummed to himself as his optics dimmed, no doubt closely studying the results.
"It seems," he started, "most of your injuries are superficial. As long as you keep the cut clean and don't worsen your bruises, you should be fine. Just to be safe, I want you to take a couple days off from training. Light workouts are acceptable, though." He leaned in close, "And when I say 'light' I mean a jog, stretching, and light weights. If I see you anywhere near the sparring field I will strap you down to that berth for a week. Understand?"
Erin nodded, "Yes, sir." She could see in his optics that this mech wasn't bluffing.
"Good." He leaned back to a more comfortable distance. "Now, I can see that you've finished ovulating. Tell me, has your cycle been regular? Are you experiencing excessive pain, bloating, changes in appetite not normally associated with menstruating?"
Erin's face turned a pink hue, her mouth agape. "Ratchet! Have you ever heard of doctor-patient-privacy?"
Her eyes darted to Sideswipe, who's optics dimmed slightly- a telltale sign he was searching the internet, before brightening and shooting open. He then seemed to find the ceiling very interesting at that particular moment.
Ratchet followed the soldier's gaze to the very silent mech. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with it. I don't see why you're so embarrassed."
"Just," Erin massaged her temples, trying to contain herself, "everything's fine. Ok? Nothing to report, if there was you would definitely be the first person I came to."
Ratchet didn't seem to catch her sarcasm, or he simply chose to ignore it. "Very well, Ms. Brook. You'll be free to go once I finish your medical report." He turned and headed to his desk where a data pad was located.
Sideswipe muttered to himself. "Scrap." He turned back to Erin, the previous conversation seeming to have been forgotten. "It looks like Prowl wasn't too pleased with what Sunny did during training, he's in the brig."
Erin could not say he didn't deserve it. Even in a training exercise, abandoning a teammate is pretty low.
"He'll be looking for me next. I'd give him a good chase but," his optics looked resigned, "I promised him I'd be good for the time being." He stood and gave Erin an apologetic smile. "Hopefully we won't be there long. See ya later, Sweetspark."
"Wait!" Erin's call managed to stop Sideswipe in his tracks. "Why are you going to the brig?"
The silver mech smiled and cheekily responded, "Aww, you don't want me to leave?"
Erin turned away from him, not able to meet those egotistical optics, "I never said that."
Erin hear the door to the med bay open and reclose. He left, just like that.
"Ratchet," she questioned the mech, still looking at the door, "why does Sideswipe think he needs to go to the brig?"
The medic casually glanced up from his data pad. "It's because they're twins, of course."
"Oh." Erin knew the twins shared a lot. Sideswipe had already explained that split-spark twins literally shared a single life force along with thoughts and emotions over their bond. Ratchet had reiterated that point, as well as Ironhide… and Prowl. It seemed that every 'bot thought being split-spark made the twins trouble. Erin just couldn't see the connection. Sure, Sideswipe was mischievous and Sunstreaker had anger issues, but was that really because they were twins? It sounded more like an excuse to her. 'They're split-spark so they're hopeless. Nothing we can do.' That just didn't settle right with her. It was cruel, and the other 'bots did not seem like the cruel type. Well, aside from Ratchet and occasionally Ironhide. And Wheeljack if he was pushed. But not Prowl and definitely not Optimus Prime.
Erin was not sure why, but she felt the need to confront the issue. It didn't really have any effect on her, whether Sideswipe was punished or not. She could still train with Ironhide until they were both released. Yet… it didn't make sense! Nevertheless, her body moved towards the edge of the berth.
"Am I free to go Ratchet." She asked shakily, peeking over the edge.
The mech mumbled something akin to 'sure'. Just then, Ironhide stepped in through the front entrance. Erin could hear his lumbering footsteps approach her, everything else was blocked out by the sense of vertigo swirling around her skull. There had been stairs there at one point, right? Were they still there? She couldn't tell.
Theoretically, she could easily jump the distance, she had the skill to land a much higher fall. However, without the presence of adrenaline to streamline her thoughts, panic could set in. The ten feet because fifty. A heavy thumping sound frazzled the air like static. It had a staccato rhythm, beating down through her uneasy stomach. Another wash of nausea hit her, accompanied by the sickening vibration of her bones. The feeling was familiar. The thumping turned to more of a thrumming as the sound slowly gained volume and intensity, followed by another wave of vibration and nausea. The feeling, was it Ratchet? Yes, he must have been scanning her.
Erin lifted her head from the ever-sinking ground and the noise because clearer. "Ms. Brook! What's wrong, your heartrate is rising."
"Erin." Ironhide's deep voice seemed to pull Erin out of her stupor. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on Ironhide's concerned features. He asked simply, "Would you like help down?"
Full awareness came back to Erin as she stared into his optics. They weren't human eyes, but she could see the understanding in them. She did not know how she interpreted it, whether it was his relaxed brow, or even the spinning segment around those blue glowing orbs, but she knew what she was interpreting. Silently, Erin nodded her head.
The large mech offered a hand. He did not just scoop her up and plop her on the ground. Instead, he was going at her pace. She carefully stepped onto his hand and knelt to keep her balance as he slowly lowered her to the ground so that Erin could quickly jump off.
She stood to her full height and gave the mech a grateful nod. She knew it would be better not to stay and say anything, he wasn't that kind of mech. "I have to get going." She turned and jogged out the human sized exit.
As she headed down the hall, she wondered what Ironhide was doing in the med bay to begin with. Didn't he say he was helping Que with a new weapon design? He didn't seem injured. Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Prowl exit the door leading to the brig.
"Prowl, sir." Erin called out.
"Greetings Ms. Brook. Are you feeling better?" He held his hands behind his back, door wings high.
"I'm fine, just a couple of scrapes." She dodged the question. "I wanted to ask you where Sideswipe might be."
His wings twitched slightly. "He's in the brig along with Sunstreaker. His actions today could have caused you serious injury."
Her brows furrowed. "But why is Sideswipe being punished?"
"They are twins." He answered as if it should have been obvious.
She stared directly into his optics. "So they have to share the responsibility."
"Yes." He raised a optic ridge questioningly.
Erin straightened herself and attempted to avoid a demanding tone, "If they have to share Sunstreaker's punishment, then so should I, sir."
The mech seemed taken aback, a rare change in facial expression augmented by surprise. "Pardon me?"
"Teammates share responsibility, at least that was how I was trained to believe. I'll be joining them in the brig." She stated firmly, this time not leaving room for argument.
He looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. Erin could have sworn she saw a small spark from the back of his helm. "Well, Ms. Brook. While you are under autobot jurisdiction for combat purposes, punishments must be carried out by human supervisors using their own methods. I cannot send you to the autobot brig." Another slight spark emanated from behind his helm. Erin had never seen him glitch, but she had certainly heard of it.
"Then I'll send myself." She stepped past him and through the human sized door to the brig.
Sideswipe had fully expected to be bridged with his twin. That was the way things worked. They shared a spark, which meant they also shared duties, punishments, femmes… Honestly, he didn't think he would ever want to be in the brig without his twin or vice versa. That being said, being brigged was not particularly enjoyable, especially after having to leave his other comrade in the med bay to deal with Hatchet. Sideswipe needed stimulation, more than whatever entertainment he could find from the internet. His brother was not much different.
Sunny was not a particularly jittery mech. Sure, he needed movement, if he went too long without a fight he'd get… agitated. But he did not mind sitting still, as long as he had a paint brush or polishing cloth in his servo. At the moment, he had neither so agitated it was.
:Come on Sunny: Sideswipe sent to him, feeling frustration rolling off his twin in waves. Had they been placed in the same cell, he would have patted him on the shoulder, but several bars and a hallway separated their 'cages'. :Prowl won't keep us here too long.: Deep down, Sideswipe knew that was not the reason behind Sunny's anger. He was upset because of why they were imprisoned, for abandoning Rin.
Sideswipe could not particularly argue aainst Prowl's decision. Sunny should have helped her. Instead, he nearly ran her over just to save his paint job. Sideswipe loved his brother, but sometimes he was downright selfish. And his attitude towards Rin would have to change one way or another.
Sunny had apparently decided to ignore his twin and wallow in his own self-pity. Sideswipe had something productive to do at least. He took another look at the syphered message Prowl had intercepted a few weeks prior. Unfortunately, he could not fully match it to any decoding algorithm. He did not have enough data and Prowl had not provided any information. It in no way matched any decepticon or autobot coding he had ever seen. On the other hand, aside from the obvious characters, it was more similar to human codes. Sideswipe had shared his findings with Prowl, but the 'bot didn't seem too convinced that humans could trick autobots with complicated coding. Sideswipe, on the other hand, had been slowly realizing that there was more than meets the optic with the organic species in question.
As Sideswipe was working through his decoding program, the entrance to the brig opened. The last person he expected to see come through the door was a little human.
"Rin?"
Sunny looked up from his brooding, Surprised to see her as well. Prowl was right on her heels.
:Maybe Prowl will let us out,: he suggested upon seeing said mech follow the human into the room, :if you apologize to her.:
:Not happening.: he deadpanned.
The human barley acknowledged Sideswipe or Sunny as she stepped up to the nearest open cell and looked at the SIC expectantly.
:What is she doing?: Sideswipe questioned, although Sunny would not be able to see the femme from his angle in the neighboring cell.
Prowl looked almost uncomfortable as he deactivated the lock for her. For a moment, Sideswipe though the mech was going to glitch. Normally, watching sparks fly from his helm moments before he shuts down would be entertaining for the silver front liner, but considering he held the key code to their freedom, it was not a preferable circumstance. Sideswipe could just try to hack into the lock, but then he'd get bashed by 'Hide and thrown back in with stasis cuffs, as Prowl had threatened earlier. Decisions, decisions. Then he'd lose even more time he could be spending with Rin.
Sideswipe watched in silence as Prowl locked the door behind Rin and gave her one last look before heading towards the exit.
"Wait!" Sideswipe called the SIC's attention. "Why are you locking her up?"
He turned to Sideswipe, having revived his calm visage, "She insisted on it." He quickly turned and left, silently clicking the door closed behind him, but not before one more spark lit the hall ahead of him.
The silver mech faced the human who was casually leaning against the back wall in her oversized cell. "Why would you ask to be brigged?" Sideswipe was not sure what to think. 'Is she crazy? Is she messing with us? Why am I smiling?' He was, in fact, grinning madly at the odd little organic. 'What an odd stunt'. His mischief must have been rubbing off on her. And from the look in her eyes, Sunny's stubbornness was also present.
"Because," she explained, "If you're getting locked up for being Sunstreaker's twin, then I will get the same treatment for being your teammate." Aside from the light smirk that adorned her lips, she looked passive, as if the answer was obvious.
He shook his helm, pleased with this breakthrough. She seemed to really care about then, this was good. They were making progress. "You didn't have to do that."
Her smile broke, as if something internal disrupted her thought process. "Actually, I did." Suddenly, the soldier's tone turned hard. "You two need to learn what being a part of a team means. We win together, we lose together. Each member's decisions affects the others."
Sideswipe could feel ripples of anger coming from Sunny. He tried to reason with the yellow mech, :She's right, you know.:. Her words stung a bit. So she didn't share their punishment out of caring. In a way, this was a part of it.
Sideswipe felt something he did not experience often, guilt. He may not have been the one to abandon her, but he put her in that situation. Here was a femme, she was a small human for primus sake, but she was also brave. That was a quality Sideswipe admired in anybot. She was determined to do her part for her military. Meanwhile, Sideswipe was using her as a source of entertainment and an excuse for a status bump. He was working to get close to the femme, but for himself, not for the sake of friendship. He was so bold to think that she would be lucky to team up with him and Sunny, but there she was, in the brig, carrying the weight of their so called team. He felt lower than scrap.
:Sunny.: He called out, pleading through the bond.
:Don't call me that.: He let out an audible growl.
:She deserves an apology.: He stated firmly.
:Why?" the question felt weak. Sunny had been probing through Sideswipe's thoughts and felt a tinge of his guilt. It was small, like the grainy particulate that covered this planet's beaches, but it was still there in the yellow front liner. :Just 'cause you feel bad, doesn't mean I should apologies to a squishy. A Private at that, she she's just a low ranking organic who shouldn't even be allowed to speak to us that way.:
Sideswipe felt himself snap. :Will you cut it with that Cybertronian pride! Here we are on their planet, working with their military. If it wasn't for the humans then we would be floating around in space! No detailing wax, no comics, no microfiber rags, no washracks! Show some fragging gratitude for once!: Primus, he sounded like Ironhide. :She may be human, but she's a good femme. Admit it, I know you don't hate having her around."
Sunny wouldn't fully admit it, but Sideswipe could feel his twin's conflicting emotions. His pride did not seem to fit with liking a human's company. After a few moments, Sideswipe lost hope in his brother trying to make things right.
"Look squishy," Sideswipe perked at Sunny's uncomfortable address of Rin, "I shouldn't have left you, drill or not." Rin may not have been able to face Sunny, but Sideswipe could see her surprised expression. "And," he continued, "you're not that bad. For a squishy, I mean. You can keep up with us 'bots, so.. I guess what I'm trying to say is… welcome to the team."
Sideswipe almost alighted, seeing Sunny and Rin's matching shocked expressions.
A tense moment followed before Erin took a breath and replied, "Thank you, Sunstreaker." A small smile played on her lips.
Sunny just grunted to himself, but said nothing more.
The three fell into a slightly awkward silence, as Sideswipe laid back, feeling extremely pleased. His joy was dulled by a sight on his arm, a small splattering of red dots. Human blood. Rin's blood, from when he drove her to the med bay. Humans were so fragile. Sideswipe glanced over to the femme who looked relaxed. How could something so small be so strong? How could something so strong be so fragile? Sideswipe could see the darkening bruises that covered her left side, crawling down her arm and ribs. A basic scan showed the discoloration covering nearly 23% of her body. She was a mystery.
Prowl vented fresh air through his intakes, and filtered it through his cooling systems. A series of calming algorithms filled his processor. He worked through them, trying to avoid glitching. He considered himself lucky, going over two weeks without a serious incident from the twins. Of all the trouble they could have gotten in, this was not the worst case scenario he had imagined. In fact, he could foresee the plausibility of their improvement.
Just a day prior, Sunstreaker worked closely alongside humans, aside from Private Brook, for the first time. And when the yellow mech was brigged, his twin came without order or argument. It saved Prowl a lot of aggravation, something he could not deal with at the moment.
Moments after Prowl learned of Sunstreaker's reprehensible actions, Colonel Bishop had arrived. The Colonel, being one of their greatest benefactors, was a welcomed guest. His political connections aided the autobots in receiving the necessary funds for basics such as fuel, washracks, and twin damage control. The humans was not only an important ally, but straight forward, spoke logically, thus Prowl was always willing to entertain a visit from him. However, the timing was rather inconvenient.
Prowl blamed himself, mostly. He usually saw fit to use whatever means to hide the twins whenever the Colonel, or other important figures, visited the base. That time, however, he thought they would have enough self-control not to misbehave. Sideswipe had been loyal to his promise to abstain from pranking, so there would not less risk of the Colonel being covered in confetti, or returning to his chopper only to find it painted pink. Prowl even considered waiting to punish Sunstreaker, so that he would not be late to the meeting, but rules were one thing he could not ignore, and speed of action was paramount.
The mech kept his back straight and retained a calm demeanor as he hurried down the hall to Prime's office where his leader and the Colonel were waiting. He only needed a brief moment to pause before the door and compose himself, before sharply knocking twice.
After entering with the Prime's permission, Prowl found the mech sitting at his desk, while the man comfortably lounged in a chair seated upon said furniture. Prowl greeted the both before seating himself, one of the few times he ever did in any office other than his own.
"Apologies for my tardiness," he started, "I had disciplinary matters to attend to."
The Colonel waved it off, "I understand how things are. I expect it was the twins as usual."
Prowl allowed his door wings to lower a few degrees, the only sign of relaxation. "Unfortunately."
"You did not miss anything of great importance." Optimus assured him, though he no doubt knew Prowl would want a full report despite that, "We were simply discussing some of the human soldiers on the base, mainly the ones he aided in recruiting. Private Brook being chief among them."
"Ms. Brook is by far the most promising soldier I've sent your way." The Colonel stated proudly, "In fact, the paperwork for her promotion had finally been filed. She was meant to become a specialist weeks ago, but the transfer seemed to muddle things a bit. She should be happy to receive the news. Ms. Brook should climb the ranks quickly, given her expertise."
Prowl spotted his opportunity to gain information on the mysterious woman. "I must say, Colonel, I am admittingly concerned over having a soldier whom I know nothing about."
"My apologies, her service history has been sealed. But might I put your mind at ease?"
"If you please."
He began sounding as if he was reading off an intelligence report, "In April of 2010, Ms. Brook graduated from a specialized program for military based training. Thus her only being promoted to specialist now, considering she has only been serving in an official military capacity for just over a year. But after receiving nearly three years of combat training, she is on track for a few more quick promotions." His lips quirked, "Officially, in June of 2010 she did not go on a top secret mission and did not perform heroic actions in a battle which annihilated the remainder of her squad. And she did not receive the Distinguished Service Cross for actions that saved at least a million lives. At least, not until twenty years from now when the nonexistent records are declassified. I know neither the details of this unreal battle, or much of what she did afterwards. I do know she was indisposed for a few weeks, recovering, and returned to service afterwards. That is all I am capable of telling you. Even Specialist Brook declined to answer any of my questions when I met her."
Optimus looked impressed. "The Distinguished Service Cross is a high honor, is it not?"
"Just under the Medal of Honor." He stated proudly. Prowl knew that the Colonel had received the very same honor when he was a Sergeant Major. Such an award was what led to a quick boost in his career.
"I see." Optimus muttered as he contemplated this piece of information.
Prowl himself was running his logic programming, matching every known military event with the date provided and crossing it with her possible military capacity at the time. Nothing of note came up.
"If I may be so bold as to provide some advice?" The Colonel asked, though not sounding meek in the slightest.
"Please do." Optimus replied.
"Use her in as much capacity as possible, before another company poaches her with promise of quick promotion. Soldiers like her want to climb the ladder quickly, so that they can enforce their own vision."
Prime was known to be loyal to the soldiers in his care. Because Ms. Brook was on Team Prime, he would not assuredly not 'use' them femme. He likely hoped she would be able to thrive within the scope of his authority, and not be 'poached' with the prospect of moving up in the ranks. Nevertheless, he answered diplomatically, "I'll keep that in mind."
"Recruits aside, now that we are all gathered here, I do have a report to make. In fact, I would like to recommend this new team between Ms. Brook and your autobots for a certain mission."
Prowl felt his systems start to stall. "Ms. Brook is otherwise engaged."
The human quirked a brow. "How so?"
Seconds ticked by as Sunstreaker laid in the berth provided in the brig. It was uncomfortable, unlike the interlocking metal pieces that conform to his frame in his regular berth, this one was just a solid sheet of thick metal. At least it was cleaner than the ground. That didn't save his frame, though. On top of that, he could almost feel the dullness of is armor. He felt disgusting.
Sides seemed to be in his own daze of introspection. He was absent mindedly rubbing a certain spot on his arm and glanced at it on occasion. His smugness from Sunstreaker's earlier admission faded not long after the fact Since then, his side of the bond was lightly closed. Sunstreaker could have poked through to see what was wrong with his twin, but the mech genuinely looked like he didn't want to be bothered, a rare occurrence for the silver twin. No sounds were coming from the squishy, she only ever spoke with Sides anyway. The problem was, he was fraggin' bored. He'd already gone through dozens of websites of varying interests. However, surfing the web wasn't cutting it. He wanted to move, or hit something. As the seconds seemed to extend, a light buzzing came from Side's cell. It slowly got louder as Sunstreaker was eventually able to identify the sound of a harmonica. Jail music. It quickly became apparent that the silver moron was not planning on stopping. He was even bouncing a pede to the rhythm.
"Cut it out you glitch!" Sunstreaker's sudden outburst caused Sides to flinch and shut off the offending noise.
"I'm just trying to do something," he whined, "I'm bored!"
"Well don't annoy me." He spat back. "Play a game or something."
"I'm tired of that." He huffed. What a sparkling. "You play some music."
"Not. In. The. Mood." He grit out. Honestly, all he wanted was to be back in his berth with some of that new wax he ordered two weeks prior. It was meant to have a longer lasting gloss.
"Hey Rin!" Sides called. "What about you? Can ya sing?"
Sunstreaker cringed at the thought of the squishy butchering whatever song she chose. He would have preferred the harmonica.
The silence from the cell next to his seemed to answer the question. At least he dodged that plasma bomb.
"I don't have many songs memorized." She nearly whispered.
Frag no.
Sides' excitement was palpable through the bond. "Sing whatever you can!"
Maybe it would be best if Sunstreaker just disabled his audio receptors.
A faint humming sound came from the cell next to his. It was light, changing rapidly in depth, testing out the sounds. The smooth tone caught his attention. "I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel, I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real."
He popped his helm up. The song came slowly, and quietly at first. He had to strain his audio receptors. The silvery sound slowly grew louder, though. He looked over to Sides who was staring at her, mouth open like an idiot.
"The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting, try to kill it all away, but I remember everything." Her voice reflected pleasantly off the walls, filling the cavernous brig.
Sides' lip plates moved into a wide grin, before faltering. As the silky vocals reached him, an emotional timber shook his spark. Sunstreaker could feel the bittersweet contentment over their bond.
As for Sunstreaker, he wouldn't admit it out loud, no way. Humans were small, disgusting, insignificant beings. But the sound he was hearing, that was acceptable. It wasn't the squishy necessarily, there must have been good acoustics in the cells or something. Jazz would know about that.
He allowed his optics to shutter closed. Through the bond, he could feel Sides' calmness. That was what lulled him, not the squishy.
She sung, gently, her voice betraying emotion she had never before displayed.
Ok, so the femme could sing. And fight. She might have been a small exception for her species, not that it redeemed her for being organic. But, perhaps, he could deal with her for a moment. While she sang him nearly to recharge.
"Well, Ms. Brook."
Sunstreaker grit his denta as a fleshy stepped past the threshold into the brig.
His voice dripped condescending praise, "I was unaware you had such an angelic singing voice. You are a woman of many talents." There was something about the way he said 'woman' that made Sunstreaker inaudibly growl. Sides' armor prickled slightly.
His interruption caused the squishy to immediately stop singing. Sunstreaker could hear her scrambling, most likely to stand. The interrupting fleshy stepped up to the squishy's cell, out of Sunstreaker's optic range. He was followed by a rather distraught looking Prowl. Heh heh. Good.
The squishy stammered, regaining her normal professional tone, "Colonel Bishop, I uh… I'm sorry you have to see me, well…"
"At ease soldier." The male interrupted, again. "Prowl here explained the situation to me. I commend you for your actions. Sharing responsibility with your men, or mechs in this case. It's soldiers like you that we depend on."
"Thank you, sir." The squishy sounded relieved.
Honestly, that confused Sunstreaker a bit, she typically kept her emotions close to the chassis. The yellow mech grunted to himself. She was just putting on airs with him, nothing genuine. From the tone of Colonel Fleshy's voice, Sunstreaker approved of the femmes actions. He didn't like this human much.
Prowl cleared his vocal processor, "Colonel Bishop " He eyed both Sunstreaker and Sides, "has brought an important mission to our attention and has requested that you three carry it out."
Something about that name seemed familiar. Even with the glance he had of the fleshy, he couldn't particularly recognize him. All humans looked alike anyway. Well, except for a few he knew in particular. But that name reminded him of something.
Prowl pinged him to open his comm link. - I expect you to act appropriately and as a team during this mission. That's an order.-
Sides gave him a cheeky grin. -Aw Prowl, yea of little faith.-
-Whatever- Sunstreaker huffed. He didn't need another lecture.
Prowl proceeded to open all of their cells. At least they would get an early release. Hopefully, he'd be able to punch some 'cons.
Thanks to the fleshies' statures, the group had to slowly walk to the briefing room. Sunstreaker considered just driving there. Prowl liked fleshies for some primus-forsaken reason, he should just take them in his alt-mode. But, instead they walked. Sideswipe seemed interested in whatever Colonel Fleshy was saying or doing. Sunstreaker could not hear anything of importance, just asking about how her training had been thus far, something about specializing or whatever.
He knew this fleshy from somewhere, or heard his name before. Bishop? Sunstreaker remembered a stellar cycle previous when he and Sides were told to go on a long patrol and not to come back until sundown. Apparently there was an important fleshy coming and the leadership did not want him to meet the front liners. His name was Bishop. Sunstreaker suddenly remembered. Bishop was the human that supposedly did something or the other to help N.E.S.T. Sometimes, his name was thrown around when it came to certain soldiers, apparently he recruited them. As a matter of fact, he remembered the squishy saying something about him. Colonel Fleshy must have been the one to recommend her to N.E.S.T.
A tinge of anger flowed into him from Sides' side of the bond. His twin's optics were zeroed in on the femme and male. Finally, the yellow mech noticed what the fragger was staring at, Colonel Fleshy's arm wrapped around the squishy's shoulders.
He mentally shoved his twin. :What are you thinking about, fragger?: It wasn't hard to tell by the emotions spilling over the bond.
Sides winced, his brother having pushed him a little too hard. :What? I don't like that guy putting his servos all over our squishy! He gives me a bad vibe.:
:Let's get one thing straight. She is not our squishy. She is our combat partner and nothing more. Whether or not she fraternizes with other humans is none of our business.: Hemade no outward effort to hide his frustration. Even the squish looked up at him questioningly as his pede steps nearly shook the ground under them.
:You don't really think that.: Sides shot back.
Sunstreaker suppressed a growl. :Yes I do.: He slammed the bond shut, earning another wince from his brother.
Sides prodded the bond. At first it was just a couple of pokes, which Sunstreaker ignored. Then, he started relentlessly tapping on it with growing amusement.
:What!: Sunstreaker asked, thoroughly enraged.
:If you don't care, then why are you staring at them like that?: he asked in a sing-song voice.
Sunstreaker quickly changed his gaze to focus on anything else. :I was not!:
:Sure… admit it, you want her to ourselves, don't you?:
:I don't even want to know what you are thinking about, you sick fragger.: Sunstreaker made his disgust apparent on his side of the bond.
Sides paused for a moment, curiosity overtaking his amusement. :I was talking about hanging out. What were you thinking of?:
:I'm not thinking of anything! You were implying…:
Sides' mischievous grin grew. :I know what you were thinking of! And you call me a 'sick fragger'.:
:So help me primus, if you don't drop it now, Sides, I will beat the ever living scrap out of you!:
As they approached the briefing room, Sides withdrew back into his side of the bond, snickering over what was still bridged between them. Sunstreaker would be sure to beat out whatever sick thoughts Sides might have had whenever they had a free moment.
Optimus and Ironhide were already in the briefing room, the latter looked fragged off.
Their leader greeted them, "Welcome, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Specialist Brook, has Colonel Bishop discussed your mission with you yet?"
Sunstreaker tipped his head, specialist? He thought she was a private or something. He didn't actually know what each of the ranks meant, though. Humans just had too many of them. He just knew Private and a servo full of others.
The squishy saluted, "Sir, he has spared the details thus far."
"At ease." He nodded to her, a smile playing on his lip plates.
"Optimus," Ironhide grumbled, "They're not ready and Erin's still injured."
The Prime considered his friend for a moment, "The twins may be young, but they are skilled warriors, and Specialist Brook has shown every qualification of a capable soldier. And, must I remind you that Ratchet already cleared her for this mission, considering the low risk."
"Sure Erin can handle the mission, I have every confidence in her," he stated with a hint of pride, "But this morning proves that they are not ready as a team. What if the twins' antics injure her further?" Ironhide shot a glare in Sunstreaker's direction. The yellow mech, not one to back down, crossed his arm and stared straight back.
Colonel Fleshy intervened, "If I may, gentlemen, their team makeup is precisely why I requested them for this mission. It is a good opportunity to assess their cohesion. Besides, a successful incorporated team such as theirs would no doubt benefit our alliance."
"I happen to agree with Colonel Bishop." Prime placed a servo on the weapon specialist's shoulder, most likely adding something over the comm. He turned to the team once again. "According to intelligence provided by Colonel Bishop, we believe that a unit which he advises tracked down and obtained Cybertronian weapons in an area called Colville, Washington. We cannot be sure because transmitting images or scans may not be secure." Sunstreaker was not surprised by that last remark, he knew Sideswipe was working on intercepted codes provided by Prowl. The 'cons were becoming more active. "I am assigning you three to inspect these devices, collect them, and transport them back to base. The humans with whom you will rendezvous do not know of our existence so you, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, must remain in your vehicle forms."
"Sir." The squishy raised her voice, receiving a nod for her to continue, "How were these weapons obtained?"
Colonel Fleshy answered, "The unit that found them, the Raptors, were tracking a possible threat and found the devices when raiding a targeted bunker."
"So," Sides asked, "they were in human possession?"
The fleshy nodded, "Yes, however we do not know how they attained such devices, but there is an investigation underway by the Raptors. All findings will be reported to N.E.S.T."
"Wait," Sunstreaker growled, "we are leaving this to squishies? These are not human weapons, we should be tracking the fraggers down."
Prime raised a placating servo, "It was difficult enough receiving permission to move you three. Right now we do not have the resources to perform a sufficient investigation. There are too few of us left. However, Colonel Bishop has requested pulling a few N.E.S.T soldiers to head the investigation. They will depart after you return with an initial report and work with the Raptors on our behalf."
"And just who are these 'Raptors'?" he asked in a slightly subdued, but challenging tone.
The squishy turned to him, Sunstreaker didn't miss the warning look in her eyes. "The Raptors are an elite tracking squad. They have every qualification needed for such a mission. Although," she gave a sidewise glance to Colonel Fleshy, "their deployment to Washington State is a bit odd."
The Fleshy regarded her for a moment, "That information is classified, I'm sure you can understand that, Specialist Brook."
"Of course, sir." She replied. Sunstreaker noticed an untrusting glint in her eye. So, he and Sides weren't the only ones who felt something was off about this particular human.
"Do you understand your orders?" Prime questioned.
All three replied, "Yes sir." Some sounded more firm than others.