Hello dear readers,

I hope you are enjoying the story so far!

I would like to give a big thanks to my reviewers, (Guest), Cinematronix, CherryVaillaCoke, RatchetsGirl1, ImpartingAbyss, THE Ellie, SoulusPrimeLightBlast, KEZZ 1, and Starimus Prime

Chapter 24

Sideswipe tiredly onlined his optics. His systems were slow to recalibrate, but soon the error messages started to disappear. The first thing he sensed was Sunny's presence. He was not with him, but he could feel his twin's acknowledgement of his onlining. Stoic relief flooded the bond, tampered slightly by the yellow warrior's own exhaustion.

Sunny sent him a data pack to jog his memory. He had been injured, that much was obvious. That also explained why Sunny was feeling so tired. His own spark was working overtime to keep them online. Sideswipe's brother sent a query, offering to join him back in the med bay. Sideswipe insisted he rested in his own berth, he needed it. Besides, Hatchet only allowed them to stay together in the med bay if both were injured. Something about destruction or too much of a racket or something. It didn't take much to convince Sunny; Sideswipe could feel him quickly slip back into recharge.

He also remembered Rin. With that thought, he jolted upright, worry flooding through his systems. There, on a tiny berth across the room, propped up in the middle of a 'bot-sized medi-berth, was the femme. Sideswipe jumped from his own berth, disconnecting the energon drip attached through an armor seem on his shoulder. In a couple massive steps, he was by the soldier's side, scanning her.

She slept quietly, curled up on one side, with a hand under her pillow. Her chest rose and fell evenly under the large, thick comforter that encompassed her and the berth. Relief mixed with Sideswipe's own amusement. Sunny must have gotten the blanket from his prank stash. As long as Captain Lennox didn't see it, he should be in the clear.

Not wanting to wake the femme, Sideswipe went back to his own berth to rest. He probably wouldn't be able to fall back into recharge, but his frame was still exhausted from his injuries. Instead, he unsubspaced his data pad and, making sure it was on silent, started up a video game he made which melded Crashlands and Grand Theft Auto.

Part of his processor still replayed images of the battle. Insecticons were naturally powerful predators. Only top warrior class autobots were even approved to engage them in battle. While formidable, they lacked individual ambition. Insecticons follow a master. Megatron was the sole mech who commanded them. With him pushing up lug nuts, someone else would have taken command.

Could the decepticons be establishing a new hierarchy? The autobots had hoped to hunt them down before they organized themselves once more, but they had taken too long. The reemergence of this old enemy spelled trouble, and Sideswipe couldn't help but feel a mix of apprehension and anticipation; this is what he was built for, the rush of battle. But still, he had seen glimmers of peace that left him with a feeling of longing.

After an hour, Sideswipe's scanners picked up on some movement on the other side of the room. Rin stirred awake, tired eyes blinking around, taking in her surroundings. When eyes met optics, Sideswipe felt relief flow warmly through his energon lines. His frame relaxed as previously unrealized signs of tension faded away.

"Hey," his vocalizer crackled, still not recovered from the battle, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." She mumbled, sleepiness still grasping at her.

Sideswipe smiled fondly, her guard was down, a rare sight for him. She looked cute all curled up like that. "What happened to the insecticons?" he inquired.

Rin remained relaxed, explanation lacking the usual serious stiffness she carried around her, "Sunstreaker trapped two of the 'cons and Wheeljack and Ironhide finished them off. One of them got away, the one who lost a leg."

"After you blasted it off." He added with a wide smile. Sideswipe couldn't help but notice that she left out her own contributions. Sunny said she was the one who hatched the plan to capture the 'cons.

Rin continued on as if he said nothing, "We lost 13 men, all human."

Sideswipe allowed a moment of silence to creep in. Although he wasn't particularly close to any of the humans, aside from Rin, he still respected them.

When he got a moment to himself, he would find out their names, see if anyone he knew had been lost, but that was for another time. He didn't think about death in the company of others. So, he pushed on, a sympathetic smile on his faceplates, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." She answered quickly, obviously not wanting to remain on the subject. "What about you?" she inquired more intently.

The silver mech put on the best airs he could, considering he was still sore from his wounds, "I'm fine." He parroted. "Really, it looks worse than it is." He glanced down at the open gash through his chest plates. Hatchet had expertly welded together vital components, and left the rest to heal on its own. Sideswipe knew he was in no danger, if he was, Hatchet would still be by his side.

The look in Rin's eyes told Sideswipe that she didn't believe him. "Really, I'm fine." he added petulantly, "Just bored out of my processor!"

The human appeared to have zero sympathy for Sideswipe's anguish and laid on her back, appearing to settle down. "Try to get some rest, you need it." She mumbled, but the sleepiness had left her voice. She appeared to be once again fully alert. Sideswipe knew she wouldn't be recharging any time soon.

"But, Rin, I'm not tired." He whined, his grin growing at her irked expression. "Entertain me!"

She shot his a steely glare, the cloud of depression that had seemed to cover her was lifting. Sideswipe smiled victoriously.

He continued, in a more subdued tone, "Let's just talk for a while."

Rin sighed in apparent defeat. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?"

Sideswipe didn't particularly care what they discussed, he just wanted a comfortable conversation, not obsessing over anything in particular. That was how Sideswipe liked it, calm with nothing at stake. They both needed a break from the stress of their duties.

Erin's attention drifted to her own berth. It seemed that she finally noticed the blanket that encompassed her was not the usual starchy military sheets. Sideswipe let slip that it actually belonged to the Lennox's.

"Why do I have their comforter?" Rin asked, shooting him an accusing glare.

Sideswipe raised his servos in a placating gesture. "Sunny must have taken it from my storage unit."

Her gaze hardened, but she didn't look surprised that he would do such a thing. "And why do you have this in the first place?"

The mech smiled mischievously, "'Cause the one they're currently sleeping with is filled with sprouting grass seeds."

Rin's eyes widened slightly before she broke out into a light cackle. Her laugh was so adorable, it brought Sideswipe himself to chuckle at the sound.

"You're crazy." She stated finally, but her smile was bright and genuine.

Sideswipe dipped his head in a bow, "I aim to please."

She shook her head, struggling to fight her growing smile. "You must have been a handful growing up."

"Nah," he shrugged good naturedly, "our sire had a great sense of humor."

There was a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. "Sunstreaker mentioned him earlier." She stated casually, thinly veiling her interest.

Sideswipe didn't mind. She was a naturally curious person and he desperately missed his sire. Of course, Sunstreaker didn't have the best relationship with him, so there was no one Sideswipe could confide in, a rarity for both him and his brother.

Although, knowing Sunstreaker, he may not have been the most diplomatic in discussing their creator. "What did he say?" the mech asked cautiously.

"Just that he had a bar, and you use his high grade recipe." She reported, the words sounding awkward in her mouth as if she wasn't sure what she was talking about. Her next comment confirmed this, "Is high grade the cybertronian version of alcohol?"

"It's similar," Sideswipe confirmed, "at least I think it is." Rin looked as if she wanted to ask more, but she could wisely tell the subject may be sensitive. "What do you want to ask?" he added with a hint of amusement, "you've never held back before."

After a moment, she spoke up with more of her recognizable confidence, "What was life like for you on Cybertron?" she quickly added, "Or what was it like there in general?"

The question was certainly not unexpected. Slowly but surely, Rin's curiosity had been shifting from practical subjects to more personal ones. While there were some things Sideswipe would be unwilling to share, it was comforting to have someone who cared not just for his abilities, but for his history and opinions.

"What do you know so far about our history?" he asked.

"Not much," she shook her head, seeming dismayed by her own lack of knowledge, "Autobots and Decepticons fought until the planet became unsustainable, then you came to earth following the all spark."

He wasn't sure all that she wanted to know, but he decided to start with the basics. "Well," he began, "at one point in our history, during the Golden Age, crime and poverty were low and technological advancements were accelerated, but eventually, greed and corruption creeped in. The Rebels were the first to fight against this. They were the heroes and martyrs during the firsts period of separation. Megatron was their leader."

Sideswipe noticed the surprised look on Rin's face. During war, pure hatred for the other side made the fighting easier. Most of the 'bots, Sunstreaker included, depended on that in order to live with that they've had to do to others of their kind, all for the sake of survival. On the battle field, Sideswipe employed this same technique, but when Rin evoked the memory of his sire, he remembered how he taught the history of their people.

He continued, "However, his ambition led The Rebels down a similar path to the Elite Counsel that ruled our planet. Eventually, The Rebels split into two factions, the Decepticons and Autobots. When Sunny and I were first sparked, the Elite Counsel was still in power over the planet as a whole, but the Decepticons were slowly taking over more land. Sunny and I lived with our sire in a city state called Kaon, the Decepticon capital. Autobots were entirely outlawed there. Neutrals, like us at the time, lived under the rule of the decepticons. They created laws that made it difficult for us to live. High taxes were placed on essentials such as low grade, the energon used to feed sparklings. In order to care for us, our Sire learned how to create his own low grade. As we grew older, he modified his still to make high grade and became a bar owner."

Sideswipe smiled proudly, "He did well, given the circumstances. We had a roof over our helms and energon in our tanks. We couldn't afford an education so Sire taught us what he could. I also learned from some of the patrons that came by." He decidedly left out the part where hustlers taught him how to hack in exchange for free drinks. She didn't need to know that. However, the spark in her eye told Sideswipe she had already made some assumptions of her own.

"I didn't know any other way of living, so I liked how our lives were. As long as we stayed out of the way of decepticons, we'd be fine. Sunstreaker didn't take it as well. He refused to speak with anyone but me and our sire. And the two of them didn't have the best relationship." Sideswipe found that he wanted to divulge more to her, but that wasn't his story to tell. So he continued, "When we were about to get our second frames, the fighting between 'bots and 'cons got worse. The decepticons became suspicious of neutrals, demanding they join their faction or be offlined. We were too young to join the fighting, so we were spared, but when our sire refused…" he couldn't bring himself to say it. Rin nodded in understanding, for which Sideswipe felt grateful.

"We were on the streets for a while. I had no idea what to do, I just wanted to curl up and whine. But Sunny stepped up. He found us odd jobs, learned how to work the streets in our favor. He always made sure I was safe." Sideswipe would always feel grateful for what Sunny did for them. Only Primus knows what would have happened without his courage.

Rin, who had remained quiet while Sideswipe told his story, looked down, her face out of Sideswipe's view. Concerned, he got up from his berth and cautiously approached the femme. He bent down, so that they were at the same height, and saw liquid glittering in a small stream down her face. "Rin!" his spark filled with concern, seeing her leaking from reddened eyes, "Are you hurt? Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head, sniffling a little. "No," finally she looked up, seeming to be a bit more composed, "it's just the way you were talking about Sunstreaker, it reminded me of Cora." She smiled weakly. "You are lucky to have him, just as I was to have her."

Sideswipe felt as if his lines had run cold. He didn't know all that she had gone through in her life, but he did know that she had someone like Sunstreaker who took care of her. Only now, she was alone. He knew that he would never have to live a day without Sunny by his side. But he could imagine how horrible Rin felt being reminded of her loneliness.

In an attempt to comfort her, he cautiously rubbed a digit over her shoulder. She didn't protest the gesture, but neither did she lean into his touch. She remained rigid, staring just past him. Not getting the desired effect, he scooped her up and held her to his chassis with one arm.

Rin let out a muffled squeak at the sudden motion. Her arms trying in vain to push herself away from his grasp. "What are you doing?" she muttered.

Sideswipe chirped, "You needed a hug!". Instead of putting her back down, he returned to his own berth, still holding the femme in his gentle but firm grip. He settled back down, curling around Rin, who seemed to be becoming increasingly upset.

She started muttering various human curses, as she did whenever he 'kidnapped' her. But she didn't seem to have enough energy to fight for long. Her straining arms only pushed back halfheartedly. And Sideswipe couldn't help but notice how she seemed to avoid putting any pressure on his wounds, not that she could hurt him. After a couple moments, Rin gave up altogether. Satisfied, Sideswipe pulled her even closer, soaking up the comfort from the soft contact.

He held her in silence, sensors tracking her calm heartbeat. He knew she wasn't really upset with him, not when she was so relaxed. After a few moments, she whispered, so quietly he had to strain his audios, "Thank you, Sideswipe." What surprised the mech even more was how she then burrowed her face into his armor, sighing contently.

Satisfied, he relaxed his grip and she slid to lay wedged between his arm and chassis. In his other servo was the comforter, which he flicked over the femme, tucking her in comfortably.

"You're a good friend." She murmured.

"Feeling better?" he asked in a subdued voice.

"Yeah." She breathed, adjusting slightly to get more comfortable.

One thing was for sure, he had no intention of letting her go for the rest of the night. They laid there silently, neither falling asleep. Sideswipe was content just to curl around his friend, hoping she was as comforted as he was. With a small jolt, he realized it had probably been a while since she had last been hugged.

Rin was so distant from her comrades, always keeping a professional air around them. Even the two humans which Sideswipe thought she might consider to be friends didn't initiate much contact with her, from what he saw while spying on them. The rest of the humans regarded her with a bit of apprehension. Any human who worked directly with the autobots was treated differently, as far as he could see.

Everyone needed a bit of physical interaction every once in a while. Sideswipe got plenty from Sunny, and vice versa. Even stick-up-the-aft Prowl had Jazz clinging to him. The thought of Rin's solitude drove Sideswipe to pull her closer, ever so slightly. She made no protest.

As the silence stretched, and Sideswipe felt recharge ebbing at his consciousness, Rin asked curiously, "Can you tell me more?"

The mech had to blink himself back online, trying to remember what she was talking about. "Uh, where did I leave off?"

"You said you and Sunstreaker lived on the streets." She prompted.

"Oh, right." Regaining his bearing, he continued, "We got good at surviving and found ways to earn credits, but we also had to learn how to defend ourselves. Sunny was already stronger than most mechs our age, and before we were ready for our third frames, we were known for our skills as well. Eventually we were approached by a mech named Dragstrip. He introduced us to the Pits."

"The gladiator arena." Rin stated. "Ironhide told me about it."

Sideswipe felt a hint of shame, he knew Ironhide distrusted them because of their history, fighting for credits, and he knew the old mech would try to impart some of those ideas on the femme whom he'd been mentoring. "It was the best way to get off the streets." he said defensively. "We got really good at it. It's nothing we were proud of, but we wouldn't have become the front liners we are now without it."

"I understand." She state simply. "You did what you had to do to survive. There's nothing wrong with that."

Sideswipe felt a stab of guilt. He had spoken to her with venom directed towards someone else. Rin had never given any sign that she judged them because of their past. "We should get some rest." He redirected quickly, "I'll tell you more later."

The femme didn't argue. She let out a muffled 'mmhmm'. The sound made it apparent that recharge would soon claim her.

Aside from her attention, there was one more thing Sideswipe craved at that moment. "Rin, could you sing something?"

It was hard to see her face from his angle, but it seemed that her eyes were cast down, a rare self-conscious expression pressing a frown over her lips. "Maybe some other time." She muttered.

Sideswipe pressed on, though. "Please, just one song?"

She paused for a moment, before finally, "Fine, what do you want?"

Sideswipe felt a hot wave of excitement wash over his spark. He had been longing to hear her sing again, but every time he asked, she refused. Something must have changed. He also realized in that moment, he had just forced himself to be once again alert. He'd never fall into recharge at this rate. "How about something calm, good for recharge?" he suggested.

Rin sighed deeply, gathering her thoughts. The silence stretched on and, for a moment, Sideswipe was worried she'd changed her mind.

But his patience was soon rewarded.

"Little child, be not afraid, the rain pounds harsh against the glass like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here tonight." She sounded so gentle, like a carrier soothing a sparkling.

Sideswipe wished he could take that voice and wrap it around his spark. He'd never feel lonely or fearful again. Instead, he felt content to just listen as her music lulled him into the most peaceful recharge he'd experienced in vorns.

Days had passed since the battle with the insecticons. Sideswipe was the first to be released from Ratchet's care. Erin was kept on observation for an additional twenty four hours. That didn't stop the twins from visiting her, though.

It was surprisingly pleasant having their company, although Ratchet eventually kicked them out when he caught the silver mech riffling through his desk. Franky and Adam also stopped by, the former of which greatly surprised Erin. She knew the older man was terrified of the autobots and kept a reasonable distance from them. Adam, on the other hand, was more used to working with them, Ironhide especially, and barely batted an eye when the weapons specialist came lumbering in, making the visit from her human comrades short lived.

Ratchet was fascinated by Erin's resilience to energon. He was quick to deduce that she had poison exposure therapy, allowing her to build an immunity to various toxic chemicals. Luckily, that may have saved her life after her blood was contaminated with the blue substance.

With her permission, the medic had tested energon on samples of her blood to see how her cells would react. He later reported that light exposure was neutralized, although the base chemical structure of the energon remained safely in her system. However, as he added more, the immune reaction was quickly overtaken and her blood practically separated as her cells were torn apart and clotting factors were activated to create clumps of dried cells floating in plasma. It was apparent that any more than a few drops would have caused far more damage.

The burn on her forehead also appeared to be healing slowly. It would probably leave a scar, one of many that covered her body. Erin didn't mind it too much, although she would have preferred it not to mar her face. Fortunately, once healed, it would only leave a small white indent.

Once Erin was finally released from Ratchet's medical grip, she and the twins were given light duties while they healed.

Optimus Prime had caught up with Erin, commending her on her ingenuity in trapping the insecticons. The soldier was surprised to hear this, considering Sunstreaker was the sole witness of her act, and Erin had stated it quite plainly on her report. Perhaps the yellow mech elaborated on her contributions. At the same time, she heard nothing of her faults during the battle. She took the compliments as they came and did not correct the leader. It didn't benefit her to let him know of her mistakes.

Immediately after being released, Erin continued her normal exercise regimen, minus any sparring. It wasn't until five days after the battle that she and Sideswipe were approved to take part in combative exercises.

The silver mech still had a thick patch over his chassis where his armor had yet to fully fill back in. A mech with as much juvenile energy as him should not be banned from exercise for long, though. In the time it took Ratchet to give his medical approval, Sideswipe had gone on a pranking tirade. No one was safe.

Erin heard about how the tv in the human rec room randomly changed channels, usually from sports or news to kid shows or adult movies. Ironhide was found with a bumper sticker reading, 'Big Alt, Little Spike'. The door leading to Optimus Prime's office had a sign left in Cybertronian which Erin learnt had read, 'Relocated to Room C12', which was Que's lab. Finally, Sideswipe was nearly pummeled after Wheeljack found his downed ship, the Jackhammer, painted entirely orange. Starfish orange. It took two mechs to drag him off of Sideswipe. He was lucky he used water soluble paints, otherwise he would be scrap metal.

Eventually, the reign of terror was brought to an end, though, when Ratchet determined that Sideswipe would resort to more harmful ways to get his energy out, like starting random fights with healthy mechs.

Erin's blade was unrecoverable after the battle. Que had offered to design her a new blade, which the soldier readily agreed to. He even allowed her to give him some design requests. Until he finished his work, all she'd have would be her energon pistol. She missed the weight of her favorite weapon on her side.

At the training field, the mechs were practicing standard servo to servo contact while Erin mainly worked on her dodging reaction time. Mirage was paired with Sideswipe while Sunstreaker took on Bumblebee. The young mech's human friends watched on at a safe distance. Erin was left with Jazz. The smallest of the mechs was far quicker and analyzed Erin's movements with ease.

From the very beginning, it was clear that Jazz was just playing with Erin. He blasted some electric pop song over his speakers and half danced, half fought in rhythm with the beat. Each step he took was projected, but even so, he countered each of her reactions cleanly. She was trapped near his tapping pedes, unable to slide or roll way. He would strike within inches of her, never causing damage, but making it apparent how many times he could have killed her.

It pissed her off.

Jazz had always seemed to hold himself in check while sparring, adjusting to whatever skill his opponent was at. However, this time he made it known just how different they were. It was starting to become a distraction. Erin's mind was whirling, trying to figure out just what he was playing at. The knowing smile on his faceplates only confirmed her suspicions that something was up.

"You don't seem to be on your game, today." The saboteur casually commented, slowing his movements and reducing the irritating song he way playing. "You been getting enough sleep?" he popped the 'p' as Sideswipe would.

Erin raised her brow questioningly, still taking measures to avoid his pede as it crashed down next to her. She quickly rolled between his legs, only for his other leg to sweep in front of her path. Quickly, she stuck a leg out to soften her impact and kicked off him in another attempt to gain clearance. Her energy waning, she panted out, "I'm fine." Her voice sounded harsher than she meant to.

Her response seemed to interest the mech. He chuckled lightly, still dancing his attacks on her, "I don't think so. You haven't been sneaking off at night, have you?" His visor shined with something which Erin could not identify.

The comment caught her off guard. She missed a crucial second and Jazz knocked her over. She landed breathlessly on her back as the mech loomed over her. Before she could counter, his pede lightly pressed over her chest, keeping her pinned. "What… what are you talking about." Erin relaxed her body, showing that she gave to defeat, but the silver mech did not release her.

Instead his smile widened, "Oh, I'm just speculating. You're one mysterious femme, I wouldn't be surprised if you were keeping a few secrets." After another moment, he finally stepped back.

Erin remained still for another moment, taking in what he said. Trying not to show how startled she was by his eerie smile and odd tone, she schooled her features and jumped to her feet. "I know you're an intelligence officer," she stated casually, "but you should learn to live with a few secrets." She wave him off, hoping he didn't see through her false demeanor. "But, you did kick my ass, how about we take five?" she suggested, wanting to get some distance from him.

"'Aight." He chanted, swaying off.

When she felt that his attention was focused elsewhere, Erin let out a deep breath. Jazz always seemed so cool and collected, but his sudden shift in mood was terrifying. Like a cat playing with a mouse. Something was up.

She glanced over in his direction, to see him speaking with Prowl. All signs of his creepily cheery attitude was gone. He looked like his normal self, reporting to a superior officer. Erin caught the SIC quickly glancing over in her direction. Something was off. It was like Jazz was trying to stress a certain response out of her. Whatever it was, the mech didn't look like he had gotten what he wanted.

A sharp scraping sound pulled Erin's attention. Her eyes shot over in time to see Sideswipe crash to the ground, servo clutching his chassis. Energon flowed from the patch Ratchet had set.

Mirage stood before him, venting heavily, his cooling fans were audible to the distance where Erin stood. He barked at the downed mech, "Watch your glossa, sporcizia!"

A flash of yellow slammed into the red mech, sending him flying backwards.

Sunstreaker stood, battle ready, staring threateningly at Mirage, but he didn't make a move. Erin knew just how high strung the yellow front liner had been since Sideswipe was hurt. He didn't like seeing his sibling so vulnerable. There was no telling whether or not he could hold himself in check.

"What's going on?" Jazz barked, inserting his small frame between the glaring warriors.

Erin took a step back, not wanting to be trampled should a scuffle break out.

Mirage, lacking any decent survival instinct, pointed accusingly at Sideswipe, who was sitting cross-legged, servo against his open wound, "This low vita bassa is the problem!" he spat.

Sunstreaker growled menacingly as Jazz placed a servo against his abdomen, warning him to stay back. It was hard to see from her angle, but Erin thought she glimpsed a flash of white in the larger 'bot's optics.

Sideswipe scoffed, not seeming overly worried about his own condition. "I just asked if he had any skills besides muttering smugly to himself."

"You would know to hold your glossa if your creator was ever around to teach you." Mirage seethed, "But what would you know about carriers, creator-killer?"

All the surrounding mechs flinched in surprise at Mirage's venomous words. Even Jazz dropped his guard long enough for Sunstreaker to roar past him. Erin barley realized what was happening before Sunstreaker started tearing into the infiltrator, literally.

Bumblebee and Jazz each reached for an arm, trying to pry the furious gladiator off Mirage, but with a powerful turn, he knocked them both to the ground.

Sam called worryingly to his guardian, but wisely kept his distance.

Erin glanced over to Sideswipe who stared at the ground, fury clear on his faceplates, optics paled to Sunstreaker's normal azure, but he didn't join the fight.

Prowl joined in trying to restrain Sunstreaker, but he batted the SIC away with ease. This was a side of the mech Erin had only heard of. With a rush of adrenaline, she sprinted to where he could see her. She pulled out her pistol and shot two powerful bursts to his chest plates, catching his attention just for a moment.

His blazing white optics seared into her, "Back off, meat sack!" he spit.

Sunstreaker's servos were clapped against Mirage's chest plates. Energon leaked from a broken line between his black digits. Mirage's fighting weakened as his optics dimmed. His spark was being crushed.

"Hey!" Erin shouted, hoping to distract him long enough for the three other autobots to tear him off. "Sunstreaker!" Still crushing the red mech, Sunstreaker glanced up. Erin searched for the right words, not wanting him to turn his fury on her, she wouldn't survive. "Who cares what he says!" she reasoned desperately, she couldn't let him kill Mirage. "He's just a pompous aft, no one cares what he thinks."

He looked back down to his victim, it looked as if his servos were releasing just a bit of pressure. She pushed on, "Look at me!" she commanded, willing herself not to flinch under his steely glare. "Get a grip." Erin held his gaze challengingly. "You are better than this," she gestured at the flailing mech under him, "you are better than him. Doing this just proves all the horrible things he says about you."

There was a pregnant pause. She placed a hand on her chest. "I know he's wrong." Erin was shaking, but she didn't know why. Blue pooled into Sunstreaker's optics. "And I know you do as well." Sunstreaker still looked angry, but the fire had melted away from his faceplates.

The warrior looked down at his pitiful victim with a snarl. He pushed himself off Mirage, staggering to his pedes. The autobots stood wearily around him. Sunstreaker glanced over to his brother, who had regained his own composure, energon no longer flowing from his wound.

With a growl the yellow mech transformed and shot off, leaving a mess behind him.

Sideswipe still sat, servo rubbing delicately over his chassis. Mirage had rolled over to his servos and knees; he seemed to be recovering. Prowl, Bumblebee, and Jazz all stared at Erin as a dust cloud kicked up by Sunstreaker billowed over them. The weight of their gazes was almost unnoticed by the soldier who looked back and forth between the quickly retreating front liner and the one sitting before her.

Mirage stumbled to his pedes, venting heavily with anger. "You are all ruffian!" He spat. "Our species has no hope in the servos of the lowly classe operaia, worker class."

Jazz shot his a venoumous look, "Watch what you say, mech, we're all autobots here."

"The only thing the autobots had accomplished is losing our home, and washing us up on this pianeta umile."

Prowl spoke calmly, as if he was unaffected by the treasonous comments, "Let's go, you need to see Ratchet." He nodded to Sideswipe, "You too, come."

He escorted the limping mech off the training field, towards the med bay. Sideswipe trailed not far behind. The silver mech knew better than to stir up trouble at that moment.

Brig time was all but guaranteed for the yellow mech, and should Ratchet clear him, Sideswipe would be joining his brother. It would be best for both of them not to make things any worse.

Bumblebee and Jazz transformed and drove off in search of Sunstreaker. Once he cooled down, they would try to take him to Prime's office for disciplinary action. As far as that goes, it was par for the course.

Erin knew the twins did this to themselves, but that did not stop the worry that pitted deep in her stomach.

*Erin sings Lullaby for a Stormy Night by Vienna Teng

*Sporcizia- filth

*Vita bassa- low life

*Piaeta umile- lowly planet