Here it is, a little latter than I anticipated, but an extra update for all you wonderful reviewers! Speaking of which, thanks to Edges05, SkyenhaMarisa, SwordOfTheJedi, Ratchet'sGirl1. and shelby20125!
Now, without further ado...
Chapter 16
Erin fully awoke as a dim light shone through the canopy overhead. She never fully fell asleep, needing to be ready to defend herself at all times. The fire beside her was smoldering, a few small embers still shined in the black soot. An odd chill hit her, forcing her to shiver. She rubbed her hands together, intense heat emanating off them. Lifting one shaking hand to her forehead, she felt waves of heat greet the clammy skin. She was getting sick, fast.
Standing took more effort than she thought should be necessary. Walking would be even more difficult. However, even her clouded mind knew staying put was too dangerous. Erin stomped out the last of the embers and followed the brook. Her bruises and scrapes screamed in protest while the rest of her body called for her to lay down and give up. She felt like a wreck. The purplish marks on her left were manageable. The scrape, however, appeared to have reopened. A small trickle of blood dripped down her right arm and back, mixing with the fresh wounds there. Dirt clung to the exposed flesh. She'd have to sanitize it somehow. If only her head was clear enough to figure out how. She didn't have a medical kit. A stupid mistake.
Carefully trekking forward, she kept an eye out for friends and foes. Hours ticked by as she continued her unstable walk. There were no signs of the enemy, although the blazing light nearly blinded her from part of her path.
Was the sun really that bright? Her head was swimming and her eyes stung from the light and air. Was that the sun? Why was it on the path? Shouldn't it be in the sky?
Erin physically slapped herself, the new found pain snapping her back to reality. It was the sunrise, she was walking towards it. The map she studied showed twin lakes eastward of the hidden bunker.
Continuing onwards, her confused mind tried to plot out the distance between the bunker and lakes. Could she crossed such a distance in a couple of days? How long had she been walking? The search for answers kept her mind on task. As long as she stayed alert, she would survive.
At that point, her hearing was the best sense she had. It remained sharp, so she put most of her focus on that. There was something, off to the left. She could hear it getting louder. It was an uneven sound, unlike a machine. It was too loud for an animal. She could hear branches cracking and bushes being pushed, or simply stepped on. A stealth team would not make so much noise.
She couldn't help but smile was she heard a telltale, "Frag!". The twins.
Starscream gracefully soared through the sky. How he pitied the lower life forms that roamed the ground. Flight was a true sign of preeminence. The fact that the autobots could not perform such a feat proved that decepticons were innately superior. But even beings such as him had to occasionally stoop to lower levels, for tactical reasons.
Had it not been for the humans, Megaton would not have been destroyed and his living brethren would not be in hiding. While their very existence infuriated the seeker, if working with these organics provided the autobots with such an advantage, Starscream saw it fitting to form his own alliances.
Spotting his destination, Starscream swooped down, only decelerating slightly as the earth quickly approached. The fall was always more exhilarating with speed. At the last moment, he transformed and landed with grace, power, and precision. Unfortunately, his ever stoned faced associate looked less than impressed.
"Well Silas," he drawled out the organic's name, wanting to spit at the taste of it in his mouth, "how did the job go?"
The human looked directly into his optics, no semblance of fear. "The mission was a failure." He stated, voice offering no remorse.
"What?" Starscream's wings dropped momentarily before shooting back up, tight behind his helm. "What am I supposed to tell that maniac hockwave now?" He visibly shivered at the thought.
"Setbacks such as these have little effect on Mech. We have the resources for other means of capture." He replied in what Starscream took as a defiant tone.
"And what about that little ace you were talking about?" He mocked the human, "Didn't I say a human femme would be unreliable, hmm?"
"The girl wouldn't take the bait. It seems she'd loyal to N.E.S.T." Again, the man didn't even flinch at Starscream's taunting. It was a bit unnerving.
"Ugh. Sounds like an autobot." Would he never get any relief from the autobot-human alliance? "Tell me, Silas, where are the twins now?"
"We lost track of them outside the temporary operations bunker. The forest is too dense for an attack force to hunt them down. Although, we had commandeered their transport before the start of the fight. And the silver one received damage that likely affected his t-cog." He raised his brow, "They will likely be on foot, if you want to strike."
The seeker tapped his pede in frustration. "Those infernal twins are always strongest when backed into a corner. Catching them by surprise is the best and perhaps only option."
"Then they'll likely be returning to their base once they can call for support."
"No doubt knowing of your treachery against them. Such a troubling position to be in." Watching others' misfortunes was one of Starscream's greatest entertainments. Seeing Silas fail in the wake of his past blunder, was especially delightful, for the moment at least.
"None of this would have happened had you provided a live specimen." Silas reminded him.
"Arcee was a tough fighter." Starscream paused to regain control over his voice which momentarily took on an adolescent-like screeching quality. "It was either terminate or let her escape. And with my decision, it wasn't a complete loss. You still got your research subject. And you will get two more, to share with soundwave of course."
"Why don't you just provide one of your underlings?" Apparently Silas had been listening when Starscream bragged of the forces of decepticon warriors under his command. At the time he acted like he couldn't care less.
"You could have shockwave, it you could get too him." He muttered. Really, he would be better off without the scientist, but he was forced to work with him. Mech's researchers were able to figure out a way to process earth's fossil fuels to energon. They also had the resources to obtain the necessary materials without alerting human authorities, something the decepticons lacked. But in order to make the process more efficient, they needed to dissect a live cybertronian to study the way energy it converted in their systems. Thus, the attempt on Arcee. But even though the femme terminated prematurely, her husk was still used for mech's research. Soundwave was brought into the fold to exchange weapon designs to keep the deal with Mech alive. But he wanted the twin autobots for his own research. Starscream was stuck trying to satisfy both parties in order to get the vital lifeblood of his race. Without the energon, he couldn't survive, let alone take over as supreme commander and eliminate the autobot survivors.
"Capturing a live autobot is our main priority." Silas stated, "Taking those two in particular would be a bonus for mech. If you want your energon supplies to continue, I suggest you use the forces under your command to get what we want."
"My legion of warriors are scattered among the stars, for the moment. Although, I have made contact with some of the most powerful beasts that resided on Cybertron. They will arrive soon enough." He grinned, already imagining the energonshed to come.
"They better."
Finding the twins was a lucky shot, too lucky. She knew better than to be so underprepared. The promise of an simple job eased her into a feeling of security. Not to mention her misplaced overconfidence.
Sideswipe seemed overjoyed to see Erin. That was quickly replaced by concern over her deteriorated condition. While she didn't have a mirror to see herself in, his faceplates painted a pretty clear picture. Erin tried to assure him that she would look better once she got cleaned up, but admitted that she was coming down with a fever.
Her explanations did not satisfy the mech however, as his hands hovered near her, ready to catch the soldier should she pass out. "Are you sure sweetspark?" he asked, voice full of concern. Sunstreaker scoffed at the mech's tone.
"I'm fine." She tried to reassure him. "I've been through worse before. Now, tell me about your status, and have you commed base yet?"
Sideswipe fidgeted. "Uh, well, you see,"
Sunstreaker interjected, "Let's just say our situation is a pile of scrap."
Erin was too weak to come up with any kind of witty response so she just grumbled, "Care to elaborate?"
Bright blue optics stared her down. His posture may have been able to hide the mech's weariness, but his faceplates could not. He snarled, "Our non-vital systems are offline. Comm links, scanners, and Sides' weapons and transformation, alt-mode, and subspace, it's all scrap!"
Ignoring his tone, she pressed him, "Can you access the internet?"
"No." Sideswipe sighed, perhaps disappointed for other reasons that Erin would be.
"Navigation?" She continued. Knowing their exact status would help her come up with a plan.
"Don't you get it, squishy?" Sunstreaker snarled, "Everything is offline! If you don't see it, we can't use it!"
Erin tried to steady her own breath. Enraging the yellow mech would not help their situation. "I don't mean to push, I just want to know what we have to work with. This forest is big, but we shouldn't be more than fifty miles out from a main road. We can follow the water eastwards. The map I studied showed several possible escape routes in that direction. If we walk, we'll get there in a few days. From there the two of us can drive to a camp or store where I could borrow a phone."
"I am not driving you anywhere, squishy." Sunstreaker glowered down at the woman, cutting her apart with his optics.
"You will if you want to get out of here." She challenged, trying her best to stand tall under his intense glare. "If Sideswipe can't transform, then you'll have to do it."
"We'll see." the mech huffed but said nothing more.
Deciding their argument was over for the moment, Erin moved on to the matter at hand. "Let's go, we're burning daylight just standing here."
She led them onward. The trip wasn't exactly stealthy. They had to move slowly through the trees, partially because of the 'bots' bulk and also partly because of Erin's subdued strength.
"I can carry you."
Erin glanced up to Sideswipe, his faceplates full of concern. "I'm fine, besides, I can move around more easily than you can."
The mech looked less than convinced. "I don't need scanners to see you're sick. Your face is pale and you're leaking all over your skin." His pede moved ahead of her, to block her path.
"I'll be fine, Sideswipe." She sighed, her head aching.
"I promise I won't drop you." He chipped in.
"I'm not scared of being dropped. And I'm not being carried, end of discussion." Erin trudged forward a bit to get some breathing space.
She half expected Sideswipe to scoop her up anyway. Instead, he respectfully let her go. It was odd behavior coming from him. Erin did not dwell on it for too long, focusing more on her surroundings, trying to detect danger. Ideally, she should stay between the two 'bots, or actually be carried by one. She would be safer from any Mech soldiers. Although, putting the issue of their height aside, Sideswipe's trouble walking through the forest on his wheels had Erin concerned. And being in Sunstreaker's arms sounded riskier than cliff diving into a puddle.
As the light of the day once again ebbed, Erin found herself facing the prospect of either continuing on or sleeping for the night. The topic had never really came up between them. In fact, they were mostly silent. It wasn't a much of a tactical advantage, considering the ruckus her partners were causing, but it gave them each time to think. Unfortunately, her thoughts were not on the mission. It must have been the fever messing with her mind, but she was somewhat distracted. The twins plagued her thoughts. She was, to be honest, rather cold towards them. They worked together because it was their job. She went along with Sideswipe's socializing antics, but only on a whim. She almost felt guilty for the way she treated them. And Sunstreaker, yes he was an ass, but his apology a couple of days prior completely caught Erin by surprise. Perhaps he did hold some level of respect for her. Although, whenever she started coughing, her lungs feeling as if they were in a vice, he would give her a disgusted look. So he probably didn't respect her much as an organic, but a soldier at the very least.
A sudden movement caused Erin to instinctively reach for her e-blade. In a swift motion, she sent it flying ten feet away towards the base of a tree. A small squeak announced her failed shot as a small brown form fled the scene. Her aim was off. She was deteriorating.
"What the frag was that?" Sunstreaker questioned, disgust apparent on his faceplates.
"Did you have to try to kill it?" Sideswipe asked, clearly seeing what she had been aiming for. A flicker of pity shone in his optics as he stared down the path the rabbit had fled on.
"I didn't know you were such an animal lover." Erin commented as she retrieved her weapon.
Sideswipe's mood seemed to lighten as he winked at her. "I'm a lover of many animals, sweetspark."
Sunstreaker scoffed, seeing Erin's unimpressed expression. "Even I know humans don't like to be called animals, fragger." He crossed his arms in a teasing way and almost grinned smugly at his brother.
Wait. Sunstreaker was judging the quality of the flirting itself? What happened to his hatred of interspecies fraternization? Erin had grown to look forward to his snappy comments! And she was too dilutional to comprehend all of what she just heard.
"It could have been food." Erin explained, sounding more rational than the level her mind was operating at. "Humans can go a while without nourishment, but I'm already down on my strength." She admitted grimly, waiting for an insult from Sunstreaker.
It didn't come. Instead, Sideswipe jumped back to his full height and took a quick step back. "What? You were going to consume it, just like that?"
"Yes?" Was that odd?
"That's fraggin' foul, squishy." Sunstreaker scrunched his nasal plates.
"Humans eat other animals." Erin shrugged.
Sideswipe muttered, "So you would just kill a defenseless creature." Her looked down at his wheeled pedes, not meeting her gaze.
Oh. Oh. The sorrow in his optics was genuine. She wasn't looking at the crazed warrior itching to shed energon. In front of her, was a different side of Sideswipe. The kind that thought it was wrong to harm those who couldn't protect themselves. He really did have an autobot's spark.
"Look, Sideswipe." She tried to placate, "There is a cultural difference you need to keep in mind. Earth is full of predators that consume prey. That's just how we're made." She substituted the last word over born for the mech's benefit. "Besides, it's not like I would have killed it for fun. To humans, it is considered disrespectful to kill a creature and leave its body. By consuming it or using the body for other things such as clothing which provide warmth, it gives a purpose to its death. We humans consider that to be respectful. Also, it wasn't exactly defenseless," she continued, "animals evolve with different defense mechanisms. For rabbits, speed is one of their greatest defenses. That's how it got away. Armor and weapons are not the only tools there are."
The silver mech looked less than convinced, but he let it drop. Humans and Cybertronians were, in fact, very different species. They would have to learn to live with those differences if they wanted to get along as a team.
She sighed as another chill wracked her body. She wasn't going to last much longer. "Do you think you guys could start a fire?" She asked mostly Sunstreaker who might have the tools necessary, considering Sideswipe was nearly out of commission.
He snorted, "What do I look like, a fire starter?"
Sideswipe, seeming to bounce back from the morbid discussion, prodded his brother. "Come on Sunny, just use your cannon, it'll only take a second."
"Don't call me that." he barked as his hand transformed into the very weapon he aimed at Erin so often during their training sessions. He pointed it at the base of a fallen tree. Within a second, splinters were flying through the air and a small flame had erupted from the chaos. "There, you have a fire. Happy, squishy?"
Erin's head spun from the sound of the blast, her mind was getting weaker. She looked down at her hand, it blurred and doubled in her sight. Her body felt heavy. She needed some rest. She'd be better after some sleep. Right?
A sudden scraping sound, followed by a crash shook the ground under Erin and she stumbled to the side, nearly falling on the pitiful fire Sunstreaker had started.
She looked over to the prone form of Sideswipe. "Did… he just..."
Sunstreaker's dark laughter burst through the canopy, scaring off what few animals were brave enough to venture within earshot of the 'bots. "Ha, serves the fragger right!" He quirked an optic ridge at his unconscious twin. "He's been holding off this system defrag ever since he woke up yesterday. Looks like his CPU decided to take care of things for him."
"Well at least he isn't dead." Erin muttered.
"Yes," Sunstreaker grinned, "at least that. He'll be fine. He may even fight off that virus those squishies infected us with."
"Let's hope so." She muttered then to Sunstreaker, "Do you need to do that, uh, defrag thing as well?"
"No. Already done." Sunstreaker snapped at her.
Catching the hint, Erin decided to back off and tend to the fire before it went out. Sunstreaker probably wouldn't be willing to help her with another one.
Sideswipe onlined, systems once again flashing with errors, perhaps fewer this time, though. He pushed them all away and sat up. The feeling of soil creeping up through the crevasses in his armor made him shudder.
"Welcome back to the land of the living."
Sideswipe looked around to see Rin sitting a few feet in front of a small fire. Her face was even paler. He attempted and failed to scan her, his systems were still fragged. Her eyes looked shallow and dark and she leaned dangerously close to simply falling over. Something was definitely off with her, and it wasn't just exhaustion.
"Hey," the femme managed to cough out, "you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied, focusing more on her ailing form. Rin wasn't the kind of femme to ask for help, but he knew she needed some. What he didn't know was what he should be doing. He still didn't have the internet so searching for answers was out of the question.
Sideswipe could feel Sunny's optics on him. He turned to see his twin settled right near where his helm had been. Sunny always watched his back. Sideswipe could feel hints of concern and amusement coming from his twin, but his faceplates displayed nothing.
"That was some show you put on." His twin growled. "You gonna glitch if we see Mech again?" he teased.
"Pay no mind to him" Rin added, coughing between pauses, "he was worried half to death, coddling you like a mother hen. Well, after he stopped laughing of course."
"Shut it squishy!" the yellow mech snapped.
Rin laughed weakly. Even in her current state, it sounded musical. It reminded him of when she sang for them in the brig. It was odd, but at that moment, Sideswipe would have rather been back there than in their current situation.
"What's so funny?" Sunny growled back.
"Nothing," she shook her head, "You just remind me of someone." He words started to slur a bit, "she was aggressively protective, just like you..." She became increasingly quiet until Sideswipe had to strain his audio receptors to hear.
Rin blinked tiredly as her body slouched forward, like a sparkling fighting off recharge. Only Sideswipe knew it was something more severe. The femme fell over and curled into a tight ball, no longer able to fight off the illness that afflicted her. Sideswipe leapt forward and prodded the femme, hoping to stir her. Her breathing was shallow and ragged and a clear line of sweat formed on her forehead.
"Sunny! She's sick." Sideswipe made no attempt to hide his concern over their bond.
He picked up her limp body, noting that dots of moisture also formed across her chest. She felt hotter than humans normally got, he thought it was called being feverish. He curled her close to his body, wracking his processor over what to do for her. He tried and again failed to scan her. His optics caught how her paleness accentuated the bruising marring her frame. The injury on her shoulder was crusted with blood, though some of it still shining and fresh. Moving her into his other arm, Sideswipe raised his freed servo and saw fresh blood that was leaking from her back.
"Do you think it's her injury?" he frantically asked his twin. "When Hatchet was checking her out, he said she needed to keep it from getting infected. Isn't that some kind of sickness?"
"How should I know?" He shot back, "I'm not a human medic." Sunny had stood and was peering over his twin's shoulder.
"What about the food? She said she needed it." He suggested, desperate to find the cause of her ailment.
Sunny shook his helm. "She was getting sick before then, remember?"
"It may make her better, though." He looked around frantically. "What do we do?"
"I don't know!" Sunny threw his servos in the air, frustrated with the situation. "Just… give me a moment!" It was not like Sunny to retreat, but he turned and walked off away from his twin and the fire that lighted the area..
"Sunny! Where are you going?" Sideswipe demanded, panic fully setting in. Two helms were better than one, he couldn't take care of her alone.
"Away!" he shot back, leaving his twin abandoned.
Sideswipe gave up on his brother, focusing more on the woman cradled in his arm. She would not wake, regardless of his prodding and begging. They needed to get her to Hatchet, but they were stuck in the fragging forest, all because he and his twin get their afts handed to them by organics! Sideswipe seethed at himself. And Erin was paying the price for their mistakes.
He felt so helpless, cradling the tiny human in his arms. It was odd, caring for such a small creature, but Sideswipe genuinely did not want anything bad to happen to his little human. He wanted to see her standing strong again. He wanted to watch her spar with mechs and humans alike, never backing down from a fight. Sparring like her was almost like a dance. A show, using their bodies to communicate a message. It was beautiful, both watching and working with her. He wanted to play video games with her, and see how determination never leaves her face, even after the fifteenth time her character dies. He wanted to hear Sunny snark at her and see how she just grins back at him. Sideswipe usually had no qualms about going on a mission and after watching so many 'bots offline, he almost became numb to it, at least with Sunny's help. But now both of them faced the reality of their partner being out of commission, and it scared both of them. It was scary, having a friend.
Sideswipe curled down, providing an effective wind barrier for Rin. He couldn't even transform to protect her from the elements, but he could at least do a little. All he could do otherwise was wait and hope she woke up.
Sunny eventually returned, walking with purpose towards Sideswipe. He thrust a servo forward. "Here." He stated plainly, looking away from his twin and teammate.
Sideswipe looked at the small roundish objects nestled in the mech's servo. They appeared to be around four inches in diameter and light green in color. "Are those apples?" Sideswipe made no effort to hide his shock. "Sunny-"
"Don't call me that!" He interrupted. "Just, give them to the squishy already."
Sideswipe gratefully took one and held it carefully between his fingers, offering it to Rin. "Come on, sweetspark. We have food for you." His voice was pleading. "And it's not a live animal, so that's a bonus."
The reward for Sideswipe's efforts was a small moan from the femme. Her eyes blinked weakly but she didn't respond or take the food.
"Just give me that!" Sunny growled as he took the apple back.
The yellow mech settled down, grumbling to himself about dirt and 'organiciness'. Tiny wire-like tendrils of metal separated out of the mech's digit. Sunny typically used them for detailing his artwork, something he hadn't done in a while. He also employed them for… ahem… fun times. They were thin enough to act like knives on the soft fruit. As if he had done it a thousand times before, Sunny peeled each apple into perfect spheres and sliced tiny wedges out of them, ensuring no seeds were left in the fleshy parts. The mech griped about the organic juices that flowed down his servos as he worked, but he didn't stop until all ten apples were prepared. Perhaps it was a bit too much for the one femme, but the mech wouldn't want to take another trip to find more apples, so he probably erred on the side of over preparedness.
Sideswipe reached a servo out for the small pile of fruit, but instead, Sunny used the metal tendrils to pick up the slices and present them to Rin, still cradle in Sideswipe's arm.
Exhausted, Rin only opened her mouth enough to receive the food after the moist fruit touched her lips. She weakly managed to chew on each piece, straining as she swallowed. The mere act of eating seemed to further drain her. Nonetheless, Sunny continued to feed her, slowly.
Nobot said anything. As the night fell, only the smoldering fire and their blue optics lit Rin's small form.