Hello my dear readers! Wow, I can't believe the story had grown so much in only a few short months! Thank you for all the support thus far! Please, enjoy this mostly fluffy chapter! Rated for language and suggestive content.
A special thanks to my reviwers, ReadsToMuchALot, Edges05, Cinematronix, and CherryVanillaCake.
Enjoy!
Erin felt like a dog heading to the vet. She knew of her impending destination, but was trapped in the vehicle taking her there. Even after Sideswipe let her out so he could transform, the mech kept an annoyingly close optic on her, as if knowing she hoped to escape.
Erin recognized the wash racks from first seeing them a few weeks prior, the same day she first teamed up with the twins. But as she fully stood in the room, it seemed much larger. Nothing would be within reach of her. Whether it were the large wheels which appeared to control water temperature and pressure, the empty shelving on the walls, or the incredibly high shower heads, which seemed to be numerous hoses zip tied together. The only thing on the concrete floor, which appeared to be coated in water-proof resin, were large drain grates. The iron was close enough together that her feet would not fall through, and thick enough to withstand the weight of a cybertronian.
In the corner where the light did not quite hit, stood Sunstreaker, arms crossed. In Erin's opinion, he did not appear to be in any need of a wash, but he hardly ever had so much as a spec of dirt on him. Most noticeably, Sunstreaker's attention seemed to be fully focused on Erin. She couldn't think of any particular reason why he would be upset with her, if he really was, besides her organiciness.
"Hey Sunny," Sideswipe greeted, either not noticing or not caring about the unspoken tension in the room. "Mrs. Lennox really set us up." He gestured to the large crate Erin held.
At that moment, her cargo almost felt like an offering to the angry, narcissistic sun god.
"Don't call me that." Sunstreaker naturally responded, never even looking at his twin. He stepped forward towards Erin. Unlike most 'bots, when he approached her, he paid little heed to their size difference and the effect it had on her neck. He stood only a few feet away and promptly plucked the supplies out of her grip. "I've changed my mind, squishy. You're off the hook. Just go rest or something." Just like that he dismissed her, walking off and depositing the crate on a high shelf.
She should have been relieved, that was precisely what she wanted. However, for some god-forsaken reason, she was irritated instead. "Oh, no. I made a promise and I intend to keep it." She stated firmly.
Sunstreaker scoffed, back turned towards her. "I don't need a squishy's help."
"That stuff is for human sized users." She reasoned.
"I can manage." He replied shortly.
Erin was not one to give her ground, though. "You know what? No. I'm doing this, deal with it. I don't want you to just give me an out. And I'm not your delivery girl. If you wanted me to pick up these supplies for you, then you should have asked. But instead, you demanded a wash and that's what I'm going to give you. Now shut up and transform."
There was a pregnant silence. Erin and Sunstreaker maintained eye to optic contact. Neither looking away, while Sideswipe's optics flashed between them. He seemed ready to jump into action, inching towards Erin, as if ready to protect her. Erin herself twitched her hand near her energon pistol.
After a long second, Sunstreaker closed his optics and sighed, "You better not get any of your organic oils on me."
"Promise" Erin kept a serious face.
"And what if you mess up?" He questioned, brow raised.
It was Erin's turn to scoff. "It's a wash, human clean cars all the time."
Sunstreaker crossed his arms. "Not to my standards."
Erin regained her serious expression. "Mrs. Lennox told me everything I need to know, besides, Sideswipe can help me."
The yellow mech motioned towards his brother, "Practice on him first."
"Really?" Erin asked, tone indicating both her belief and annoyance.
"Really." Sunstreaker replied, a slight grin appearing on his faceplates.
"Yay!" Sideswipe cheered, "Great idea, Sunny!"
"Don't call me that!" He snapped.
Erin raised her head towards the ceiling and rubbed her eyes, as if trying to wipe away her irritation. "Fine. Sideswipe, can you transform?"
"Sure thing, squishy." He chirped.
"Excuse me?" Her head snapped down, hands on hips in an authoritative stance.
Sideswipe grinned. "I'm acting like Sunny."
"Don't call me that." The real Sunstreaker replied.
Sideswipe, giggling madly, transformed to his corvette form. Sounds of laughter changed to light engine revving and rocking of his alt mode. Sunstreaker returned her cleaning supplies promptly.
Erin pulled out the vacuumed questioning why she even insisted on doing this. Right as she reached for Sideswipe's driver's side door, he reversed a few feet. This was starting to feel rather familiar.
"What are you doing?" she questioned.
"I don't want you oils all over me!" He whined petulantly.
"I don't sound like that!" Sunstreaker snapped.
This was going to be a long day. "Come on, Sideswipe, just hold still." Erin's next attempt was meet by more evasion.
"Hold still you fragger!" Sunstreaker lunged forward and tackled Sideswipe, hands gripping his back wheels to keep him from moving.
Sideswipe laughed maniacally before shouting out, "No! Humans are icky!"
"I don't sound like that!" the yellow warrior repeated.
"This is starting to feel offensive." Erin rumbled, arms crossed. "All right, Sideswipe-"
"I'm not Sideswipe! I'm Sunstreaker! The prettiest 'bot in the universe with only mild sociopathic tendencies!"
"Shut it, fragger, before I tear out your vocals!" Sunstreaker snapped.
Erin smiled slightly, deciding to play along with Sideswipe's game. "Ok, Sunny-"
Pseudo-Sunstreaker laughed, "Don't call me that!"
"I won't touch you with me skin, alright?" She pulled off her shoes and tucked them to the side. "There, no dirt will get in your interior." She also grabbed a cleaning mitt and placed it over her left hand. "See, you're perfectly safe." She spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone, as if trying to calm a child.
Sunstreaker grumbled something incoherent.
Sideswipe, on the other hand, finally opened his door and his twin released the firm grip he was holding.
No matter how childish Sideswipe got, Erin knew she'd be safer starting out with him than daring to touch Sunstreaker.
The vacuum was surprisingly quiet. Erin made quick work of the floor areas. There wasn't much to clean up anyway. All the 'bots seemed to keep themselves in a neat condition. Sideswipe did try to make it difficult for her, giggling as she set about her work.
"What's so funny?" She asked, trying to keep her serious demeanor against Sideswipe's chipper tone.
"That tickles!" he laughed through the radio, frame shaking slightly.
"You guys are ticklish?" This was new to Erin. A wicked smile crossed her features. She poked around Sideswipe's interior, checking for different responses. Once the sucking action hit the bottom left of his center console, Sideswipe erupted into loud, boisterous laughter. His alt shook so hard, Erin lost her balance and she fell under the steering wheel. A small shot of pain echoed through her recently obtained injuries.
Sideswipe tried to regain his composure, "You… haha! You aren't supposed to touch me, remember?"
His laughter seemed to be contagious as Erin started her own little giggling fit. "Sorry, Sunny." She ghosted the vacuum back over the same spot, earning another outburst of laughter from the mech.
Chuckles interrupted nearly every word he spoke, "Don't… don't call me that! Please! Rin, mercy! Please!"
At the desperate sound in his voice, Erin relented and turned off her weapon. Both mech and human still giggling while Sunstreaker watched silently.
Erin retreated to grab one of the spray bottles. "Now," she grinned, mood lightened thanks to Sideswipe, "you better hold still this time."
Sideswipe seemed to obey her orders, only sinking slightly on his axels when she started whipping the cleaner off his seats. "Rin," he moaned, "that feels so good."
A flash of pink lighted the soldiers features. Doing her best to ignore the occasionally perverted mech, she started cleaning his radio face, hearing a disappointed sigh. Apparently, he was less sensitive there. Mrs. Lennox did say some of the 'bots treated seat cleaning like a massage, as weird as that sounded.
She was thorough, whipping every seam and cornered, making sure her skin touched nothing, even though Sideswipe himself wouldn't mind. Sunstreaker was watching her like a hawk. Thus far, he said nothing so Erin assumed she was doing an acceptable job. Military style precision seemed to pay off. Almost done with her task, Erin wiped off the gear stick.
"You gotta grip it hard, sweetspark." Sideswipe rumbled, voice dropping an octave.
Her hand shot back as if it had been burned, face turning scarlet.
Sideswipe's alt-mode rocked with silent laughter, having successfully gotten a rise out of his target.
"Don't worry, sweetspark," he said in a teasing tone, "I'm just kidding. Mine is way bigger."
Erin closed her eyes and pinched the ridge of her nose, trying to center herself. "Ok, I need no more details. And I think you're clean enough." She said hurriedly as she climbed out of his cab.
Sideswipe sink on his tires, "No! Please don't stop. I'll be good, I promise!" he begged.
Erin eyed him suspiciously.
"If he acts up again," Sunstreaker interjected, "feel free to stab him, the interior is more sensitive than the armor." His arms were nonchalantly crossed as he leaned against the wall, looking more relaxed than Erin had ever seen him.
Sideswipe rolled back a bit, "Don't give her any ideas, Sunny."
"Don't call me that." He snapped back.
Erin sighed, "You better behave this time, or I'll heed his advice."
"I will!" he promised, alt bouncing slightly with excitement.
And he did. Erin was able to completely clean his cab with little movement or comment from the silver mech. For a moment, the soldier even forgot she was inside a living being. When she was done, he smelled like a mix of the cleaning products and his own natural. Smoky scent, like freshly blown out candles.
"That felt great!" Sideswipe commented after Erin stepped out.
The soldier sighed, wiping off her hands on a spare towel, "Do you always make such a fuss when someone cleans your interior?"
"No one has ever done it before." Sideswipe replied, "Our servos are too big so we try to get what we can with a normal wash."
Sunstreaker moved from his nearby spot, kneeling down to glance into Sideswipe's cab. His critical optics scanned over his brother, judging Erin's performance. "You did pretty good squishy." He conceded. "I'll let you work on me, then."
Erin smirked ironically "Why thank you so much" she made no effort to hide the sarcasm in her voice.
Sunstreaker, with only a grunt of acknowledgement, gracefully transformed down into his alt.
"What about my wash?" Sideswipe asked, still waiting in his vehicle mode.
The yellow twin replied, voice coming from God-knows-where, "You shouldn't have wasted so much time messing around, fragger."
It was kind of surreal watching two cars argue with each other.
"Don't you want her to practice the armor first?" Sideswipe said suggestively.
Sunstreaker snorted, "You can help her with that."
Ready to move on and finish her commitments, Erin interjected, "You wash your armor while I get Sunstreaker's interior. Please, I owe this to Sunstreaker and could really use your help."
"But-"
Erin interrupted, "Don't argue." Her tone left little room for that.
Sideswipe transformed and sulked off to a distance shower head, sullenly turning it on for his regular wash.
Erin was a bit more confident being in Sunstreaker's alt the second time around. It was still dark, with the windows being tinted to black, but the open side door provided enough light. Erin was careful not to let her skin touch him. Taking the first step was harrowing, even knowing he asked for this, she still suspected that he might lash out. But nothing happened. Having stepped in though the side door, she reached over the console and vacuumed the other side first. She could had sworn she felt him shiver slightly when her mitted hand rested on the opposing seat. At the very least she would pretend he didn't mean anything offensive by it.
Erin took her time, ensuring not one spec was left, knowing full well Sunstreaker would have a way of finding it.
Although he was, technically, a car, the soldier couldn't help but notice how stiff he seemed compared to Sideswipe. She didn't know whether it was the physically tougher seats or just the air around him. But when she moved on to the black bottle cleaner which Sideswipe enjoyed so much, she finally noticed a difference. Sunstreaker, ever so slightly, sank lower on his wheels. The padding under her hand also softened. The mech may not have been as openly expressive as his twin, but Erin got the sense he was actually enjoying this. She found herself smiling, it was about time the front liner relaxed a bit. After that, finishing up his interior felt like a breeze. Her caution remained, but she also felt herself relax a bit in the rhythm of cleaning. She was able to finish, unscathed, a success in her book.
Sideswipe stood off to the side, pouting about his interrupted wash. And while Erin couldn't see Sunstreaker's face, she felt a sense of smugness coming from him. The mechs were just using her to mess with each other. Who gets to play with the squishy next? Still determined to complete her promise to Sunstreaker, Erin felt a hint of regret in not taking the out he provided.
Erin faced the silver warrior, who perked upon noticing the attention directed towards him. "Could you help me finish up?" she asked, trying to give him a honied smile.
He saw right through it. Sideswipe crossed his arms and cocked a brow. "Sweet and tender isn't your style, sweetspark."
Her expression fell flat, shoulder's slumping. "Just get your aft over here. You can reach his hood easier than I can."
"You can reach it just fine." His response seemed indifferent, but Erin's sudden change in tone brought the silver mech's smile back. At least he was amused again.
"Not without rubbing my oranicines all over your brother." Erin gestured to herself, as if pointing out all the flaws Sunstreaker envisioned. She'd stopped feeling affected by the way Sunstreaker described her and her kind. As such, she used the same language rather casually.
Sideswipe grinned, optics narrowing sensually. "Oh, I'll watch.'
"Pervert." She shot back.
The warrior's tone changed to something more age appropriate, "I'll help you if you join me for monitor duty tonight. You have nothing else going on, right?"
Erin busied herself, getting the soap and bucket ready. "Are you just assuming that if I'm not training with you, I'm not busy."
"I'm just saying, you spend almost all your free time with either us or Ironaft." Sideswipe's observation was painfully true.
While he made a good point, it still left her room for a true excuse. "Now that you mentioned it, I did agree to meet Ironhide in about two hours from now."
"I don't start monitor duty 'till 1900." Damn it.
"What if I promise to strongly consider it?" Erin asked. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around the mech, his company was rather enjoyable. However, her healing body left her tired and the her leave provided the rare opportunity for extra sleep, something which she constantly craved.
"Nope." Sideswipe said in a sing-song voice.
"Fine, I'll give your company, happy?" She replied shortly, like Sunstreaker would.
"Very much." He gave her a cheeky smile as he approached, hose in hand. It appeared to be adjacent to the other pieces that made up the massive showerheads.
Erin half expected him to soak her with it just for laughs, but instead he aimed it for his brother. The light spray that rebounded and hit Erin informed her that the water was warm.
He ended up being of more help than she had originally given him credit for. With practiced precision, he helped wash, wax, and polish Sunstreaker. It was apparent that he had done this many times before. In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy getting handsy with his twin. His servos practically danced across the yellow mech's armor. Meanwhile, Sunstreaker remained silent as he was pampered to shiny perfection. And afterwards, Sunstreaker even offered a short 'thank you' to both human and mech.
Overall, it wasn't quite as harrowing as Erin had feared. Still, she didn't plan on doing this again, for either mech.
Ironhide typed his chosen selection of glyphs into his data pad, sending them to the holographic projector sitting on the rec room table. He watched as Erin studied them closely. Humans may not have the same abilities as Cybertronians for learning, but the femme already had expertise in multiple human languages. As such, she seemed to be grasping Cybertronian easier than he originally expected. Still, the language was more complex than any on earth.
The specific dialect he was teaching her was his own native Tarnian, which was also the most universal and the main dialect on the base. Only Mirage, who used the very similar Iaconian, differed from this trend. Even Prime who was native to Iacon, and Ratchet who lived there for many vorns, switched to Tarnian.
This was the first lesson Ironhide was giving the young soldier. As such, he was starting with what he considered to be vital information; any type of distress signal, sign of allegiance, or warnings of danger. This was not where he started with Annabelle, but Erin was a soldier working on an autobot team, so at the very least she should know these things.
With each symbol, Ironhide also spoke the word, which Erin then recorded and stored on her data pad for later study. The most recent glyphs were distress signals, basically an SOS. All of which were very similar, bar a few small details which Erin seemed to pick up upon.
"All the glyphs mean extreme distress," Ironhide began, "but as with almost every word in Cybertronian, there are several different ways to convey it." He pointed at each glyph in descending order. "This one means they are severely injured, while the next one tells of minor injuries. The following one says someone else is severely injured, and a companion has minor injuries for the next one. The more tics over this curve, the more panic the individual is in. As you can see, this one had six tics, which is the maximum. The angle of this line here represents the age of the mech sending the message. Anywhere from twenty degrees to the left, representing first frame, to twenty four degrees to the right, representing late in their third frame."
Erin, sitting cross-legged on the table, typed her notes diligently; only asking questioned every so often, knowing better than to be an interruption to her own lecture. The femme was, admittingly, quite intelligent. Once he taught her something, she almost always recalled it. The Cybertronian language was complicated because each glyph and spoken word can have incredibly specific meanings. Emotion, time, personal circumstances, frame type, and even local weather can be portrayed in a single sound or symbol. As such, for humans who use far simpler means of communications, it was no easy feat to learn it.
After Erin mastered the vital information, Ironhide planned to give her a closer education to that which he provided to Annabelle. The femme, however, already seemed to be noticing certain rules behind his native language and whenever she spotted a new one, she would confirm it with Ironhide, then store it on her data pad.
"Ironhide," the soldier spoke, pointing towards a lower glyph, "why is the middle bottom line straighter on that symbol than the others?"
The question made the weapons specialist smile. "That, youngling, was something I put you there to, as you humans say, trip you up. Though, it seems you caught it. Because of that small detail, this glyph means nothing. It shows that the Cybertronian language is extremely precise. Penmanship quirks are nearly nonexistent among our kind."
Erin grinned knowingly, happy she passed his test, and continued to type away at her growing list of notes.
She was an excellent student. He just prayed to Primus that the twins didn't corrupt her.
It was risky, the plan Division had set forth. 56's original mission had been to infiltrate, gather information, and leave. The agent knew additional orders would be provided; N.E.S.T information was just another asset to Division. An organization as powerful as her employers could gamble with their assents for a chance to gain even more. It was like investing. There was risk, but even if the N.E.S.T mission failed, Division would be unaffected. Still, 56 was lucky things panned out so far.
The agent had already met with the target, and the seeds had been planted.
While going about normal business, acting as any other soldier, the agent happened upon Mirage. The proud mech was not one to interact with humans often, luckily, 56 happened to have enough prior conversations with the 'bot, that the agent was not ignored when greeting the giant. It was not difficult to understand what made Mirage tick, in a figurative standpoint, anyway.
If one listened to enough chatter around the base, they could learn that Mirage wasn't pleased with the direction the autobots were going in, and those around him took offensive to it. The former member of Cybertronian elite society thought he was above the conflict itself, also, he believed that a peaceful resolution between autobots and decepticons was still possible.
The agent prompted a conversation with the mech, who argued that humans, such as the agent, weren't necessary. 56 was well versed in the art of manipulation and Mirage was, in reality, no different than any human the agent had dealt with.
"You see, Mirage, humans can be of great use to you. Think of it this way, for humans, if we get a broken bone and it does not heal properly, a doctor will rebreak it and set the bone themselves. With the conflict ending like it has, Cybertronians are improperly healing from eons of fighting. Understand what I'm saying?"
Mirage stared back quizzically. "Humans, as a terzi parte- third party- should 'rompere l'osso'? Break the bone?"
"It would put both sides on equal terms. It may be their only opportunity to heal together."
He shook his helm, dismissing the claim, "Humans are sided with the autobots. They can't be indifferente"
"Humans may claim to be sided with them, but do you honestly have any doubts that our government is not holding you down? Keeping vital resources from you? Think of yourself, you are a member of high class society, forced to slum it out on an organic planet with the likes lower 'bots. But it is because you have lost so much, that you are uniquely qualified to help fix this problem. By losing it all, you are ready and willing to heal, all you need is some help. The entire autobot side may as well already be broken. All that's left is the 'cons."
The mech's interest was visually peaked. "And you think humans can do this?"
"I know we don't measure up to your kind, but we are suited for what you need. In fact, its best that our kind does it. Even if both sides end up hating us afterwards, we are a species you can forget about while you move on in peace."
Mirage looked swayed, but not enough. "Cosa c'è dentro per la tua specie? What's in in for your kind?"
"Having our world back to ourselves. Once the cybertronian conflict ends, and both sides move on to rebuild together, there will be one less threat to my kind."
The skepticism remained on his faceplates, but 56 could tell the mech was almost won over. "I am... interessati. But is this not what N.E.S.T attempts to do?"
"N.E.S.T is not aiming towards peace, but rather eradication of the other side. I know of a group whose goal is to foster the eventual peace you wish to achieve, but, they do not think N.E.S.T would be willing to help them."
Mirage's social elite started to come out, during the course of this short conversation. "I am here under orders of Prime, not N.E.S.T, I do not care what human organizzazione umana, human organization, does it, only that we get comprensione reciproca, mutual understanding."
"Would you betray Prime to reach our objective?"
"I join the autobots because I had to pick a side or be attacked by both, distrutto. Gli autobot sono il mio presente, non il mio futuro." At that moment, Mirage made the decision to join the dark side.
"Excellent."
It had been simple. Plant the seeds of dissent in the egotistical mech, and lead him to Division. Mission accomplished.
It was Erin's first time in the monitor room. She'd served shifts in the surveillance tower before, which basically served the same purpose but for humans. This area had been constructed only a couple of years prior, after the autobots moved to the base. Like all else in the autobot hanger, everything was mech sized. There were three seats, only one of which was occupied by the silver prankster himself.
He leaned back in his seat upon seeing Erin enter. "Rin! I'm glad you came. Monitor duty is always better with company."
Erin continued to inspect her surroundings as she walked forward. "I didn't have anything else to do. But shouldn't you be paying attention. I don't want to distract you from your duties."
He scoot his chair back. There was just enough room from the other wall for him to stand. While the area would be rather large for a human, there was not even enough space for two mechs to stand shoulder to shoulder between the server and back wall.
"Don't worry, sweetspark. I can multitask." He knelt down, offering her a servo.
Erin eyed him and the chairs. She could climb, but if Ratchet found out she was stressing her injuries, he would through a fit. She could survive a few seconds. She nodded to him and he smiled as he gently wrapped a servo around her waist and lifted her up. With both speed and care, he set her back down on the alien keyboard. There was an open space between the various keys that was the perfect size to fit a petit human.
Erin could instantly recognize the fact that this monitor room was filled with alien technology. From her new vantage point, she could see the keyboard was like a giant touch screen. Alien script glowed in intercrossing triangles all across the board. On the monitors were images from various live cameras on base. More blue script ran over the screens either from right to left or bottom to top. Erin could only guess what data was flashing over.
Sideswipe settled himself back down, a happy grin on his faceplates even as he glanced over the mundane view of empty training fields. "So, what's it going to be this time?" He rested his chin in a servo as he periodically glanced between his duties and apparent entertainment.
"Pardon?" Erin quirked her brow.
He gave her a knowing grin. "Every time we're together, you ask a series of questions which I answer and it eventually devolves into me telling stories about the other 'bots from since we arrived here. Am I wrong?"
"I've told you many times, if you would rather I didn't-"
"I never said that. In fact, I like your curiosity, it's cute." He leaned further over the keyboard, bringing himself closer to her eye level.
While Erin did not take a liking to being called 'cute', she had accepted the way these beings might see humans, so it wasn't too offensive. She pointedly did not react to his statement. He would not get a rise out of her this time. "Fine." she closed her eyes and tried to think of something. Maybe she could trip him up. "What's your favorite color?"
Sideswipe paused. "Really? My favorite color?"
The incredulous look on his faceplates made Erin smile. "You wanted a question. You didn't specify as to what it had to pertain."
"Nothing about combat ability or subspacing capabilities?" he quizzed, analyzing her reaction, searching for her intentions.
"Would you prefer I ask about that?" she questioned sweetly.
"No, this is fine." He still looked suspicious, as if the innocent question was a trick. "It would either have to be yellow or gold."
"I wonder why." Erin muttered to herself, rolling her eyes.
"My turn." Sideswipe chirped.
"Hm?"
"I want to change things up as well." The mech reasoned, adjusted himself in his massive seat. "Ok, have you ever pranked anyone before?"
Erin started, not at the question, but the memories. Her feelings flashed between amusement, shock, anger, and guilt. Trying to keep the mood light, Erin gave a weak grin. "When I was really young, I used to prank my caretakers all the time."
"Really?" Sideswipe visibly perked, this was something they definisley had in common.
"I was quite the delinquent." The soldier chuckles lightly to herself. "It was nothing fancy. I couldn't get my hands on much in terms of supplies. But I loved to mess with the adults around me."
Sideswipe looked like a kid in the candy store. "What were some of the pranks you pulled?"
Erin paused for a moment to think about it. It had been a few years, and she did so many, it was hard to choose which ones to talk about. "Well, I'd mess with their food a lot. My foster siblings and I weren't allowed to have treats but our caretakers would still eat them. So I would do stuff to them, like stick raw garlic cloves into brownies or replace frosting on cupcakes with mayo."
Sideswipe's optics dimmed as he searched all the humans food terms. Once he found what he was looking for, his nasal plates scrunched. "That's both awesome and disgusting. What else?"
Erin felt oddly relaxed, reminiscing about when she was less of a hard ass. The pranks may have been in response to her caretaker's abuse, but they were still fun times in her mind. "I messed with the water system so hot water would run cold and vice versa. I also unscrewed the door handle to the bath-er-washroom so when my caretaker tried to step out, the handle fell off and they were trapped."
By them, Sideswipe was grinning madly, listening to Erin's stories. "What happened? Why'd you stop?"
Erin's eyes widened suddenly. The question made her heart skip a beat. She remembered why she stopped. Why she started acting like the ideal role model under her caretaker's eyes. "I just grew up, that's all."
Sideswipe obviously caught the change in her tone. His smile fell and he sat straight in his seat, the security monitors forgotten. "Rin, what happened?"
Erin was, by nature, a closed person. She did not let emotion show or control her. Her features and action were all carefully manipulated. However, in a way, she felt liberated by the sense of comfort Sideswipe offered. He made her forget. They were a team and she was meant to depend on her teammates. A slip of the mask wouldn't hurt anything. "Well, growing up, my caretakers weren't the best of people. Fostering orphans was a business for them, nothing more. So they didn't exactly care about us." She began, giving his some background. "Whenever I would prank them, the punishment was severe, but I always thought it was worth it. That was until they decided to punish someone else for my actions. At that point, I decided to stop."
Sideswipe's optics narrowed. "That's just cruel."
"You and Sunstreaker are punished together, that's what happened last week." Erin countered.
"Yeah, but we're twins." Sideswipe shot back. "Honestly, I would rather be in the brig with Sunny than free without him."
It seemed selfish to her, they are known for misbehaving individually, and they know the other will shoulder the burden. "So you do pranks even if you have to share the punishment?"
"It comes with being a twin." He shrugged.
Erin's eyes grew distant in her own memories. "Share everything you have."
"Yup." Sideswipe didn't seem to notice the change in Erin's mood. His tone remained cheery.
"You really do love each other." She said mostly to herself.
He chuckled at that, voice lowering suggestively. "More than you know, sweetspark."
"Oh, I think I do." She gave him a knowing smirk. "I am no stranger to the concept of the twin experience."
The mech looked like he had been caught red handed, optics darting away. "So you know that Sunny and I-"
"Fuck?" he interrupted. "Yes. It's pretty obvious. You're inseparable, some of the 'bots describe the twin bond with a hint of contempt and disgust, as to be expected, and you're always staring at Sunstreaker's aft."
Sideswipe rubbed the back of his helm in a rather human gesture "Guilty as charged." He asked curiously, "So, it doesn't bother you?"
"No, not really." She replied nonchalantly.
Realization his the mech like a truck. He dropped his head down and whispered conspiratorially, "Wait, you said you are familiar with the twin experience, so what twins did you experience my little human friend?"
Erin jerked back a bit at his sudden movement. "None. I just know of the concept."
"Come on, you can tell me!" he sounded like a teenage girl begging for the latest gossip.
"Drop it." She growled, hoping he got the message.
However, Sideswipe was not one to be easily swayed. When he took interest in something, he stayed committed. "You know I won't stop bothering you till you spill!"
"I had a sister, alright?" she snapped back a bit too harshly.
"Had?" A thick silence filled the room. Sideswipe looked down at his servos, his optics dim. Erin glanced up to the screens. She couldn't even begin to understand the script, but the cameras showed no activity.
"What was her name?" the question was so sudden, it took Erin a moment to comprehend what she was just asked.
"Cora."
"…"
"…"
"What was Cora like?"
Erin wasn't sure how to answer. She had not discussed her sister with anyone for years. It was too painful. But when she looked up into Sideswipe's earnest optics and gentle smile, she saw not pity, but understanding.
Erin whispered, "Actually, she was a bit like Sunstreaker." Sideswipe stayed silent, nodding for her to continue. "She was strong, physically and otherwise. She was my rock. She would protect and shield me, take on all the burdens she could for my sake, even take my punishments willingly. That's why I stopped messing with our caretakers. Not just because she was getting hurt for my actions, but because of her willingness to take it. It broke my heart." The memories flowed back, prompting a fond smile from the soldier. "She also had a temper. She tended to get into fights, like, all the time. She'd kick my ass every once in a while as well."
"That does sound like Sunny." Sideswipe smiled fondly.
Erin continued, feeling a bit of freedom through her words. "But she was a realist. If things turned south, she'd do whatever it took to protect me, even swallowing her massive ego. I didn't deserve her."
"I may not have known her," the silver mech said gently, resting his massive servo over Erin's shoulders, "but if she really was like Sunny, I know she'd be proud of you for surviving on."
"Thanks, Sideswipe." Erin closed her eyes, taking in the image of her sister as she remembered her.
"What did she look like?" He continued to prompt, seeing the smile form on Erin's face.
"Actually," she grinned fully, "we were identical twins. But she carried herself with so much grace and confidence. She always looked more beautiful to me. I really loved her."
"Still comparing her to Sunny?" he nudged her, bringing some levity to the conversation.
Erin snapped back to the present. "What, what?"
"I'm just joking, sweetspark." Sideswipe said in a teasing tone.
"Frist you flirt, then you lock me up with your twin?" Erin shook her head.
"We are a package deal." He winked to make his point. "So, about that twin experience thing?"
"No, jeez, Sideswipe. We were only kids!" she responded a bit too quickly. "She died when I was sixteen." In truth, Erin really was attracted to her sister. It was a forbidden love that never flowered. Maybe she liked it because it was different, taboo, or maybe it was because Cora would always be there for her. Either way, that was long gone, and all Erin had left were memories and a feeling of longing.
"Sorry, I had to ask." Sideswipe replied lightly.
The night went on, Sideswipe prompting Erin's fondest childhood memories. It was a welcome reprieve. A lifeline away from the harsh realities of the present.
*The last line Mirage said was "The autobots are my present, not my future."