Hello Dear Readers! I'm sorry for that hiatus. I've been dealing with a case of writer's block. And even though its taking me a while to work on the story, I promise to stick with it until the very end.
Thank you to the people who PMed me and the reviewers; .Princess, THE Ellie, TomRiddlesTwin, Katie, Anonymous, Scar;ett279. Becka3490, mary123ciel, (Guest), BITCH YHEET, KayleeChiara, Starimus Prime, KEZZ 1, Cinematronix, SolusPrimeLightblast, and The Story Teller Sentinel.
Chapter 28
Erin's legs itched for movement. After hours of stiffness, she just wanted to go on a run or head to the training field. Because she skipped her evening jog, all of her pent up energy was about to burst. It was the middle of the night when the young specialist was thrust from her bed for questioning, along with every other soldier in the barracks. With the sun visibly high in the sky through the narrow windows, it was evident that her morning workout had been missed as well.
The interrogations did not bother Erin too much. Each question was broad, signifying that the command was just trying to blanket for information. When asked for her whereabouts the previous day, she was able to provide a precise timeline with only a couple small gaps in a verifiable location, including the time between facing Sunstreaker and being found by Franky, along with the initial walk to the autobot barracks after Sideswipe disappeared. From the look in her interviewer's eyes, the location and time did not align with what they were searching for.
Still, she was questioned in thirty minute intervals by varying members of the command staff, some of which, Erin did not recognize. Between each session, she waited in a packed room full of silent soldiers. The air of seriousness and authority scared the words out of the men, but Erin could tell that a few of them were getting impatient.
"Specialist Brook?" Captain Lennox's grim tone pulled Erin out from her internal thoughts.
Stiffly, she pulled away from the wall where she was leaning and followed Lennox's guidance as he ushered her into a hallway, away from the offices which had been converted to interrogation rooms. Instead, they entered a familiar space, one which Erin had seen a handful of times, Captain Lennox's office. It was one of the two he used, the latter being on the autobot side of the base.
Erin noticed how fluidly the Captain moved, his eyes upset but his face calm. He didn't analyze her, nor did not take a defensive stance. This could be to put her at ease and get her to lower her guard, or it could mean he didn't suspect her of anything. Deciding to use the prior tactic herself, Erin relaxed in the seat Lennox offered her.
Erin could tell that the Captain was distraught and it appeared he hadn't slept the night before. His voice was tired but none of the frustration seemed directed at her, "I'm sorry you had to deal with all that questioning," he started sounding genuinely apologetic, "we had to speak to everybody." He explained, eyes meeting hers. "Rest assured, though, I don't suspect you one bit. But I do think you can help us figure out what's happening."
Erin couldn't be sure whether this was all an act, but Lennox's words seemed genuine. Seizing the opportunity, she asked a question herself, for the first time that day, "And what exactly is happening, sir?"
Lennox's eyes downcast and, for a moment, Erin feared he wouldn't answer. Ever since she woke, Erin had endured hours of questioning, but never received an answer as to what all of it was for. He answered solemnly, "We believe… Mirage has betrayed the autobots and stolen a dangerous device." Erin's eyes widened but she remained quiet, allowing the Captain to continue. "Prowl has found evidence that a human may have initiated this infiltration, likely through Mech. We have been trying to find who Mirage's contact was."
Erin sensed the question in his words. "Captain," she started, carefully choosing her words, "while I understandably know the autobots more than some soldiers, Mirage was always distant from me. I've only see his speak to humans a handful of times, mostly you."
While her tone was calm, her thoughts were frayed. Prowl had been acting suspicious around her for months! Lennox said he didn't suspect her, though. But it sounded as if the 'bots had only just shared this information with him. Did he know Prowl suspected her? Did Prowl still suspect her? That would explain why Jazz acted so oddly around her, he was trying to scan her reactions. A lot could be read from a person's facial expressions alone. Emotions, ability, training… She was promoted to Team Prime so quickly, after what happened with Mech, a skilled soldier such as herself would obviously bring in unwanted attention. If she was in Prowl's place, she would suspect somewhat such as herself as well. Suddenly, Erin felt less safe than ever on base. She'd alienated Sideswipe, her most willing ally. However, Lennox seemed to trust her, so did Ironhide. She just needed to convince the rest of them that she was innocent.
Keeping her features schooled, she pressed for more details. "Are you sure Mirage is a traitor? What did he do?"
"We're certain," Lennox replied, "his comm signal is offline. A cargo plane that left yesterday evening has lost contact with us and its tracking systems are unresponsive. We believe he used this to escape."
"What if," the soldier suggested, "the plane was a diversion? He could still be on the island. It's not like we can see him."
He shook his head. "He took the power core from Wheeljack's ship, it has a unique energy signature, one that the 'bots could easily track. We'd know if he was still on the island."
"Are you certain he stole it?" she asked.
Lennox signed, obviously not wanting to believe one of the 'bots had betrayed them. "The Jackhammer had security scanners only Mirage could get past."
"Then why are you questioning humans?" With an air of caution she added, "Even if he had a Mech contact on base, he could still have an alibi." It was dangerous to suggest this, since it would put her alibi to question, but she trusted Lennox not to use that against her.
The Captain didn't seem to notice Erin's inner turmoil. He continued, "Someone had to help get Mirage through the locked passageways. Mirage would have used autobot codes to disable them, but a different virus was used, one which seemed to be developed by humans. We believe the accomplice accompanied him in with the theft. And since all soldiers are accounted for, they most likely joined the ranks after sending Mirage off."
Erin considered the likelihood that Mirage had taken codes from the human and done the infiltration alone, but she shelved the thought, for her own sake. Instead, the soldier change subjects, "What can be done with the power core?"
"In Mech's hands?" Lennox answered, "Who knows."
She tried to analyze possible plans. "If it's so easily traceable, couldn't this be to our advantage?" she suggested, "If Que could design a strong enough tracker, maybe we could find Mech's headquarters? I bet Sideswipe could create a tracking program compatible with satellites as well."
Lennox smiled briefly, "I'm glad we're on the same page." He replied. "Que has already started his work. I'm not sure about Sideswipe, I'll talk to Prime about it." He added, "And thank you, for your cooperation. You're a valuable asset to Team Prime." The Captain stood and signaled for Erin to do the same. "You're a sharp kid, keep your eyes open for anything suspicious and report anything you see immediately."
"Yes sir."
Sideswipe ducked low, gathering his bearings. Without his scanners, the mech was forced to focus on his audio receptors. If he moved based in what his optics caught, it would be too late. Normally, he would have little difficulty relying solely on a single sense. Sunny and he would bounce information between each other, doubling their range and capacity. However, his yellow twin held the bond tightly closed, as he had been doing for the past week.
The silver mech crouched behind a half-blown building. All the glass from the windows had since been ground to dust on the asphalt by heavy pedes. Instead, freshly blown masonry and flattened rods of rebar scraped against the cracked ground as Sideswipe wheeled behind his sparse cover.
Even with his brother's silence, Sideswipe could still detect his presence across the block so he decided to focus his attention elsewhere. Even in the mood he was bearing, Sunny wouldn't be aft-headed enough to not alert Sideswipe during an attack.
An equal distance from both mechs, Erin signaled her position with two slow flashed of light reflected off a broken pane of glass. That meant the femme was North-North East, Sunny was North-North West, and Sideswipe was dead south.
Jazz was smart enough to avoid getting trapped between them so Sideswipe trusted that his back was safe. The saboteur would know that in that situation, where both twins had their scanners disabled, Rin would most easily detect him, eliminating the mech's element of surprise. And everybot knew better than to sneak up on Sunny, especially with the attitude he'd been displaying. That meant Sideswipe would be the first target of the match. He would have to come from the south, west, or at a very close eastern angle.
Jazz was a master of the silent kill, biding his time until the last moment. Luckily, in this particular game, the trio had already survived the first thirty minutes, leaving only five for the mech to strike. Without a weapon or a single defense, Sideswipe could only avoid the smaller 'bot. Even with the team seeming to be in turmoil at the moment, the three of them had developed a solid defense over the past few months. If they weren't the most formidable team before, they had certainly become so by then.
With a prickle of satisfaction, Sideswipe heard a distinctive double knock in the distance. In such a battle-torn former city, falling stones were not uncommon so communication by knocking, though primitive, was a reliable method when all forms of communication had been cut off. And as the 'bots had learned too late, Mech was capable of forcing them in such a situation. Sideswipe knew that Rin was warning him of movement. He responded by picking up and dropping two stones, one fell with gravity and made a light cracking noise, the second he threw down with light pressure, changing the sound. Rin was the one who taught them to speak through such methods. That was one of the way in how they had become so successful in training.
Like partners, they had become in tune with each other's styles, but beyond that, their communication was superior to the other teams on base. They shared sign language, comm systems, and code for the comm systems, as well as the simplest forms of communication, like knocking.
Communication was not the only way Rin had better prepared them. Rin had even suggested they carry some equipment outside of their subspace, in case Mech used their virus weapon again. Sideswipe also started holding some human supplies with him, aside from the stolen blanket he always had, he also carried a human medical kit and rations for his companion. Whenever, wherever, or however they meet Mech again, they would be ready. They were not going to be caught off guard again.
Sideswipe focused all his attention on where he knew Jazz had to be. Slowly, he eased away, heading towards Sunstreaker's position. If he hooked back around toward Rin, he'd be more safe between his teammates and Jazz would be discouraged from attacking.
He just needed to survive four more minutes.
Even without the excitement of battle, his spark was racing. Being found was equivalent to being offlined. It was Ironhide who designed this form of training. With their enemy knowing how to disable their every advantage, aside from size of course, the 'bots needed to learn how to survive, not just attack and defend. When Sideswipe, Sunny, and Rin were stuck in the forest after Silas's betrayal, they had been defenseless. Their weapons pierced his armor and disabled his systems. Ever since he landed on Earth, he'd always thought he was too strong for the planet, that nothing from their could hurt him. That experience had proved him wrong.
So, even though he moved with such care, raw excitement churned in his tanks. It was exhilarating, battling his own instincts to fight.
Three minutes remaining.
A faint scraping came from only a few yards away, Jazz was making his move.
Not allowing himself to be put off, the former gladiator maintained his careful pace. His larger size and weight forced him to put more care into his steps than Jazz would need. There was a chance the saboteur still had not caught his exact location. If he panicked and ran, he'd have no hope.
Two minutes.
Sideswipe could sense the gap closing between his pursuer an himself. Jazz was skilled and patient, he certainly had a plan to reach Sideswipe before the time ran out. The sound of glass cracking under light feet echoed from the second floor of a nearby building.
Rin. She had to of come to assist Sideswipe. Catching the hint, he sped his pace in the opposite direction of the sound. Rin had approached so slowly, Jazz would assume the sound had come from Sideswipe instead.
Forty seconds.
There was no grand fight, no clashing of armor and weapons, but when Sideswipe's chromometer informed him that 35 minutes had passed, Sideswipe kneeled down in exhaustion. Staying silent and still was far more difficult than fighting.
As he picked his way out of the city-scape, Sideswipe saw Sunny, already at the edge, standing a distance away from Ironhide. They'd hardly spoken ever since the incident. Just the thought of it made Sideswipe's spark burn. He wanted to follow his feelings, but not if it led to contention between him and his twin. He understood why Sunny was upset. Even Sideswipe was unsure over how to proceed. He'd even tried apologizing. It wasn't his intention to bring up Rin during such an intimate moment. However, Sunny wouldn't hear any of it and he held the bond firmly closed.
Instead, Sideswipe turned to Rin, she was quickly exiting the training field and making a line for Ironhide. Taking his chances, Sideswipe skated up to the femme. "Good job out there." He chirped conversationally.
She didn't even use the energy to glance is way, instead she breathed out in a heavy sigh, "Not now, Sideswipe."
The mech stopped dead in his tracks and his human continued forward to the weapon specialist. Ever since he left her to see Sunny all those days ago, she had barley even looked at him. The femme turned down his every invitation to hang out, refused to allow him to drive her to training, and wouldn't even speak with him off the field. What he did to her must have been overtly offensive. Rin was not the petty type, at least not the kind to pull the silent treatment for an entire week. For all he knew, he could have done some kind of human taboo the last time they spoke. But he had no way of knowing, and the his internet searches just further confused him. Everything he read about 'angry females' and 'how to get forgiveness from female' seemed contradictory.
He was blocked off on all sides and it was his own fault.
Ironhide watched as the twins and Erin approached. He felt a tinge of pride in their progress. As individuals, they were each formidable. However, their growth as a team would turn into an asset for the autobots, at least that was what he believed. The trio had come a long way, in his opinion.
Yet, something wasn't quite right.
Normally, the black mech would order them to hurry their pace and stop wasting his time. Instead, his optics scanned the mechs and femme. They were quiet. It wasn't uncommon for Erin to go through times of silence after training, as she was always mentally analyzing her performance. Sideswipe, on the other servo, always chatted with whomever would appease him. His optics were downcast as he only chanced quick glances to Sunstreaker or Erin. The yellow warrior was Ironhide's main concern. While it was commonplace for Sunstreaker to go through his destructive moods, scowling and snapping at anyone who approaches, his precarious state of mind had lasted far longer than usual.
Ever since Erin joined the twins on Team Prime, Ironhide begrudgingly watched both mech's personalities round out. Sideswipe hadn't ceased his juvenile activities, but they were certainly subdued, causing far less risk to himself and the humans on base. Sunstreaker had made the greatest change. He became a more willing participant in training and Ironhide even witnessed him talking to a human aside from his partner. As an added bonus, the human only appeared to feel mildly threatened.
Over the past few days, though, the weapons specialist had noticed a change in the way they interacted. Off the field, they hardly spoke a word to each other. During training, Sunstreaker seemed distant while Sideswipe was overly eager to plan with Erin. Ironhide had tried to be subtle in diagnosing the issue between them, but Erin only sidestepped the issue. As a result, his patience was running thin. By the name of Primus, he was not going to let them backtrack all the progress they had made.
"You did well," he announced once the trio and Jazz were assembled, turning to Jazz he added, "though you went too easy on them."
The small silver mech shrugged, a casual smile gracing the half of his faceplates not covered by a visor. "They threw plenty of false trails and guarded their flanks well. There wasn't much of an opening."
"Mech won't be as patient as you are, Jazz." He argued
Said 'bot crossed his arms and leaned forward, "You want us to go another round?"
Ironhide shook his helm, he had other things to take care of, mainly tracking down Mirage Ever since Que finished his highly calibrated photonic energon tracker, mechs had been taking shifts watching the scanners. "I think we should call it a night. Besides, don't you have monitor duty soon?" He quirked an optic ridge at the TIC.
Jazz snapped his digits in mock disappointment, "Saw right through me, didn't you, 'Hide?"
The black 'bot allowed an amused grin to slip through. "Take care." He dismissed the commanding officer as he transformed and drove off towards the autobot hanger.
Not a second later, Sunstreaker transformed and revved his engine ferociously. Ironhide watched the mech peel away, his vehicle-mode like a flash of light across the base. Sideswipe's optics followed his brother, a forlorn look morphing his faceplates. With a resigned sigh, he too abandoned his bipedal mode and followed his twin's path at a more subdued pace.
Ironhide wanted to automatically hunt the two mechs down and beat them to the ground for charging off like that. However, with everyone else gone, Ironhide could turn his attention to Erin. She was waiting for a formal dismissal, but it was apparent that her attention was elsewhere.
"Erin," he addressed the femme, "do you have a moment to spare?"
Recognition crossed the soldier's face. She knew he had taken notice to the changes around her. "Yes, Ironhide." She answered crisply, using formality as a barrier between the two of them.
He regarded her for a moment, thinking his words over. This was not his forte. Then, abandoning all tact, the mech growled, "Cut the scrap, youngling, what's going on with the twins?"
Surprise flashed over Erin's features before smoothing out slightly, but not entirely. "I do not know what you mean, Ironhide."
Careful of his worn hip joints, the mech kneeled down so he wasn't as imposing over her. "Come on, sparklet, anybot can see you've had a falling out. If you tell me about it then… maybe I can help." Ironhide did not completely believe that himself. We would rather use his cannons than his words, but Erin needed to know that this was important. "I know you've been trying to ignore the problem, but that won't make it go away."
Ironhide could visibly see the femme lower one of her internal barriers. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, and a hint of sadness creased her eyes. "I'm not ignoring it, I'm just trying to move on."
Erin was not well versed in sharing her emotions, but Ironhide had known her long enough to read what she was showing. "Look, youngling," he started with determination, "either you tell me what happened or I beat it out of one of those two cog-suckers. Your choice."
She regarded him for a moment, unafraid to hold optic contact. Eventually, she sighed and looked down. "I'm not exactly sure what happened myself. All I know was that I was talking to Sideswipe one moment, and the next he's in a panic, driving off to Sunstreaker. When I next saw Sunstreaker, well, he sought me out…" She paused, eyes searching as if she was watching the scene from afar. "He said if I tried to associate with him or Sideswipe again, he'd kill me."
Ironhide's optics softened in sympathy. He should have known this could have happened. It broke his spark that the femme seemed so broken about it, though it was well hidden, her sudden shift in attitude explained everything. Ironhide attempted to speak softly, but his tone slowly turned to that of rage. "Look sparkling, this aint your fault. Whatever that slagger's got going through his helm is not on you. And I'll beat the rust off him if he thinks it is."
Quickly, Erin shook her head and seemed to recompose herself. "No one can control him." She stated firmly. "Please, just let it go. I can still do my job, regardless of what he does."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Ironhide tried to explain. He trusted she would do everything in her power to get the job done, but he cared about more than that. "When your life depends on another mech, you gotta trust him."
"Then what would you do?" she challenged, eyes narrowing. "Through him in the brig? That will only piss him off more. Taking him off missions would be a tactical error. The only intelligent response would be to take me off the team." she added with determination, "But I won't give up like that."
"Sparkling, I don't expect you to give up. You're too stubborn." He explained, "But I won't let you be in danger from your own teammate." He stood back onto his large pedes. "I'll deal with the slagger. Go take the rest of the day off. Go for a run, it'll clear your helm." Before the femme could protest, he added, "That's an order."
He turned and headed to the autobot side of the base, not wasting a moment to hail the twins. Sideswipe responded with his location but Sunstreaker remained silent. He'd deal with those rust processored creation of scraplets. The autobots had lost enough mechs, they needed to work as a cohesive unit if they were going to survive.
The mech transformed and drove, as quickly as his front-heavy alt would allow, to the silver warrior's location.
Sideswipe was sitting in the rec room, staring down at his energon. He swirled it slowly, the thick waves barley under the edge of the cube.
He didn't take notice to Ironhide's approach, regardless of his heavy pede steps echoing through the large space. The weapons specialist slammed his fist down on the table, causing Sideswipe to jerk and his energon to slash over his servo and the dull metal surface underneath.
The former gladiator looked mildly peeved, but his processor was on other things. "Watch it 'Hide! Humans hang out here, you want them to melt their afts off when they sit here?" he gestured to the mess before him.
"Then clean it up." He growled, not even pausing a moment before switching back to his task, "Where's Sunstreaker?" he asked, acid seeping into his vocalization.
The silver mech only lagged for a moment before solemnly stating, "I wouldn't bother him right now, he's not in a listening mood." He raised the cube and gulped down the remaining energon before standing up.
Before the mech could take a step away, Ironhide clutched his shoulder under a tight grip. "I don't give a frag what mood he's in, neither of you have a place messing with Erin."
Even as the metal under Ironhide's servo screeched from the pressure, Sideswipe didn't show any sign of the pain he was feeling. Instead, he sighed and rolled his shoulder to shake off the black mech. "Look 'Hide, I know I messed up, I didn't mean to offend the femme." Then he promised, "I'll take care of it."
Ironhide huffed at the youngling's boldness, "You're not the one she has a problem with."
For the first time, Sideswipe seemed to really pay attention to the older 'bot. He paused, optics searching Ironhide's faceplates. "Wait, what do you mean?" he asked, a hint of fear in his tone.
"I mean Sunstreaker taking his slag out on her."
Sideswipe's optics widened on horror. He barely manage to whisper out, "What happened?"
Ironhide paused a moment, the look on Sideswipe's faceplates told a different story from the one he had played in his helm. "You don't know?" he questioned, some of the fury melting into surprise.
The silver mech raised his servos in exasperation, "He hasn't spoken to me for a week!" The fear was still there, not for his own sake, though.
Not through with his fit of anger, Ironhide snapped at the youngling, "Your fraggin' brother went off on the femme and threatened to slag her!"
Sideswipe seemed to become hollow at that moment. Words tumbled out of his vocal processor, but Ironhide had the feeling he wasn't registering what he was saying. "Hide, I… I didn't know. I thought she was just mad at me for… Oh Primus, I…" he added with a sudden bolt of urgency, "I have to talk to Rin."
Before Sideswipe could run off, Ironhide stepped in his path, "The two of you have done enough." He stated, "Stay here and tell me where Sunstreaker is."
"He's… By the beach. Past the first checkpoint." The youngling's optics were downcast, glancing around as if watching a different situation before him.
Ironhide knew that as soon as he left, the silver mech would go after the femme. But he couldn't force the youngling with him, not if his confrontation with Sunstreaker would go how he thought it would. So, he had no choice but to leave Sideswipe so he could hunt down his twin.
Sunstreaker paced furiously, the soft earth around being pressured down under his continuous weight. Sides had finally stopped pinging him and he could feel his silver twin recede from his part of the bond. For once, he had some peace to think by himself. If only he felt peaceful. For days, Sunstreaker's thoughts had been a tumulus mess of frustration.
The squishy had done just as he demanded, avoiding both him and Sideswipe at all turns, aside from training of course. She would never let anything get in the way of training, Sunstreaker thought fondly. But his anger had not subsided.
With a bolt of realization, Sunstreaker physically shook his head, banishing those thoughts. She was the one who got them in this mess. Everything was fine before she showed up.
And why was she so cool and collected? That really pissed Sunstreaker off. All throughout training, she would keep to herself, but still look at him head on, unflinching, defiant, fearless. She knew a fleshy like her was no match for a cybertronian like him. Although she could take on Ironhide. And Prowl. And Wheeljack. And Mirage, before he fragging turned traitor. Toughaft femme. With a growl, Sunstreaker once again tried to fight off his own mind.
Didn't she realize he wanted nothing to do with her? She's a human and humans were disgusting. Sunstreaker committed to his mind the idea of humans' filthy, oily, frames. Although the femme always seemed clean. Just a meaty sack of flesh. But she seemed well built. He could always see her muscles at work, every movement carefully calculated. And they all look the same. But Sunstreaker could spot the femme from anywhere in a crowd. He could always notice how her facial expressions barely let emotions slip out. He had to try so hard to read her, staring deeply whenever he thought she wouldn't notice.
Sunstreaker swung his clenched servo at the nearest object, which happened to be a very unfortunate tree. It splintered to pieces where he made contact, and a crack formed along the surviving trunk. Sunstreaker tried to hate her. He searched for every detail that would justify his anger. Instead, his last confrontation with her replayed in his processor. The look on her face as he chewed her out, threatened her. She tried to school her features, but he could see the fear in her eyes, and the way her mouth was slightly agape. Any human with descent survival instincts would fear him. It was the one sign that the species has intelligence. Aside from the squishy, she was pretty smart.
As the memory barraged his thoughts, her face was at the foremost of his mind. A failed attempt at calmness, and fear. And something else. Anger? No. Surprise? Yes, she was shocked. The image made Sunstreaker's spark curl painfully. Of course she wouldn't expect him to have said what he did. She didn't know what had transpired. Sunstreaker's servo twitched oddly as an uncommon feeling bloomed in his core. He felt guilty.
For a second, he considered making amends, just to ease his internal turmoil. But he quickly gave up on it. Even if the squishy didn't deserve this, it was better that she keep her distance. Aware or not, her presence is a threat to his brother and himself.
Sunstreaker nodded to himself, satisfied with his own reasoning. This was the best possible path.
Just as he turned away from the beach, he could hear the distant roar of a heavy engine. Before Sunstreaker could even see the old rust bucket, he could tell how pissed he was. The yellow warrior growled in annoyance, giving half a thought to just driving off. But he didn't want Ironaft to think he was retreating. So, he stiffly stood his ground as the black truck rolled up, spraying dust and scattered bits of sand at Sunstreaker's pedes. He barely concealed his sign of contempt.
The black mech quickly transformed, pedes stomping on the ground, hard enough to shake the earth. He stood menacingly, although his helm was only at Sunstreaker's shoulders. A mere couple feet stood between the two mechs who stared challengingly into the other's optics.
Finally, Ironhide quietly growled at the younger mech, "What in the name of Primus do you think you're doing to Erin?"
Surprise, which Sunstreaker quickly tried to mask, washed over the gladiator. He thought Erin might react to his threats, but Ironhide wasn't the envoy he was expecting, especially so long after the act. But, rather than showing how put off he was, Sunstreaker resorted to an easy avenue, anger. "I don't know what the frag you're talking about." He replied.
"I know what you did to the femme!" He snapped.
Defensively, Sunstreaker shot back, "What happens on my team is not your business." Roughly, he shouldered past the black mech. "Just frag off." He muttered.
A strong black servo planted on Sunstreaker's shoulder, its strength crushing the outer armor. Ironhide's tone, though rough and furious, morphed into disappointment, "I really thought you had learned something. Anything. Was all that work for nothing?"
"What the frag are you ranting about?" Sunstreaker turned on the 'bot only to pause at the soft look in Ironhide's optics.
The mech dropped his servo from Sunstreaker and sighed, "You were doing so well. She's a good soldier. Can't you get past the package she comes in?"
Sunstreaker stood frozen. He had expected a fight. Not this. The guilt that had formed earlier welled up inside him. "I want to." The words slipped out before he even thought about them. The warrior only realized what he said after seeing the surprised expression on Ironhide's faceplates. The feeling that had settled in the pit of Sunstreaker's spark was radiating painfully. He took a step back, focus shifting away from the beach front. Numbly, he said to Ironhide, "Brig me later, if you want, but I have to go."
Without another word, he transformed and sped off. Sunstreaker didn't care to check whether he was being followed, but he heard no engine except his own.
Each passing second felt like an orn as stress and anticipation pooled his thoughts. He considered going to Sideswipe, but he quickly squashed the idea. This was his mess, he wasn't going to recruit his brother to bail him out.
The yellow mech was nearly at the barracks where the squishy lived. That would be his first place to search for her. He had no idea what he would say, or what he even wanted to convey to her. But he just wanted to get it over with. However, Sunstreaker could hear the telltale sound of Sides' engine purring nearby. He tried to send a data pack to his brother, asking that he let him handle this himself, but Sides just bounced it back. His side of the bond was closed. The silver form quickly approached as Sunstreaker banked away. He didn't want to have the conversation he was planning to have with his brother in the open like that. Sides would just have to wait.
His twin, however, had different plans. Sides suddenly accelerated, ramming squarely into Sunstreaker, knocking his alt-over and forcing the yellow mech to transform.
Sunstreaker regained his balance and paused, shocked by his brother's sudden burst of hostility. Sideswipe transformed, already stepping forward before his frame straightened out, and swung a clenched servo straight into Sunstreaker's abdominal plating. The blow left Sunstreaker dizzy as energon momentarily stalled flow within him.
Sunstreaker could feel his gladiator programing instinctively activating, but he tried to fight it off, focusing on his brother, instead of the apparent fight they were in. "What the frag, Sides'." He choked out.
Sides' optics were nearly white with rage. He swung again, but Sunstreaker managed to dodge it. He roared at his brother, "Why can't you just be happy for once in our miserable lives!"
Quickly, the silver mech transformed his wheels to pedes and planted a hard kick to Sunstreaker's knee, causing it to buckle. Before Sides could land another kick at his brother's exposed faceplates, Sunstreaker dodged forward, missing the pede and planting into the gritty earth. He continued his forward motion to propel him back onto his pedes behind Sides. In a swift movement, he wrapped his arms around his twins' back and held him under a tight grip while Sides flailed in his arms.
"Calm down, Sides! Let's just talk." The yellow warrior tried to sooth his brother, but all calming waves sent through the bond were quickly bounced back.
"Talk?" Sides laughed humorlessly, "You haven't wanted to talk for days! You just shut me out."
Sunstreaker winced at the venom in Sideswipe's voice. He had been the one who pushed his twin away, and shut out the bond so even he couldn't feel Sides' growing anger. "I know I was wrong." He tried to explain, slightly loosening his grip on Sides. "I was fragged in the helm, but I want to make it right. Just let me talk to her-"
"Talk to her!" Sides exploded from Sunstreaker's arms as he turned sharply and landed a punch straight to Sunstreaker's helm. The impact cracked painfully, causing warnings to appear on Sunstreaker's hud. Still, he fought off his programming, keeping his optics as dark blue as possible. Sides continued his tirade of attacks, both physical and verbal. "I already know you 'talked' to her last week. Why would I ever give you the chance to do that again?" He landed another hard blow on Sunstreaker's shoulder, forcing to mech back on the ground.
Finally, the yellow warrior's concentration broke. He felt deeply engrained programming taking over his conscious thought. Energon rushed to his helm as he applied battle analysis tactics, formatting dozens of attack strategies, each deadlier than the previous. Each movement around Sunstreaker was considered in the processing. Sunstreaker caught Sides' next blow, and landed his own fist squarely against the silver mech's side, causing him to stagger. Not wasting a tic, Sunstreaker landed another blow, then another. He beat back his brother until they were both on their pedes again, attacking and dodging in near unison. Pure instinct governed their movements, forcing them to fight harder.
Just as the programming was about to completely take over, Sunstreaker caught a small glimmer of movement near his pedes, something that did not belong to Sides. "Stop!" he heard a scream pierce his concentration. Both he and Sides met optics for a moment, their vision clearing just enough. In tandem, they looked down at the squishy, who stood inches from both of their pedes. Her arms were raised in a white-flag gesture. With his battle programming still activated, Sunstreaker's highly tuned scanners picked up all her vitals, including her quick heartbeat which screamed of fear, and her quick eye movements, scanning for any dangerous movement.
Sides was the first to react. "Rin! What are you doing? We could've crushed you!" He stepped back, giving the femme some much needed space.
The squishy lowered her arms. "Well you weren't listening to me, it was either this or shoot your afts." She panted, eyes wide as she glanced between the brothers.
All sign of battle readiness left Sides. His shoulders slumped. "You were watching?"
The squishy looked exasperated. "You didn't hear me screaming at you guys?"
Sides dropped to his knees as his pedes simultaneously transformed back into wheels. "I'm so sorry, Rin. I didn't want you to see or hear that."
The femme hissed back, "Hear what? I couldn't understand a word you said."
Sunstreaker realized for the first time that he had been speaking Cybertronian the entire time, in the Kaonian dialect. One which Erin wouldn't know, even after her lessons from Ironhide.
They were speaking decepticon. The thought of that crushed Sunstreaker's spark. What the frag was he doing? He fought his brother and alienated his partner.
With desperate optics, Sunstreaker looked to his brother. "Sides," he pleaded, "I want to make this right. But you've gotta give me a chance."
For the first time, Sides seemed to understand what his brother ways saying. His optics rounded with surprise, and a glimmer of hope. He glanced down at the squishy for a second before returning his gaze to Sunstreaker.
The yellow mech could recognize the expectant look on his brother's faceplates. He wanted to hear the apology. For the first time in days, Sunstreaker was able to connect to Sides through the bond. :I'm sorry Sides.: he started, :I shouldn't have taken all this out on you, or her.:
Aside from their injuries, all signs of the fight vanished from the pair. Sides shot back to his twin, :You know I'll always love you bro,: he answered genuinely, :and I'm not the one you need to apologize to.:
Sunstreaker nodded in understanding and appreciation. Only a second ago his brother was trying to tear him apart. Yet, he had such a capacity for forgiveness. One Sunstreaker did not deserve. :I love you too. But I need to do this alone.: he sent a pleading feeling, along with pent up guilt over the bond, hoping Sides would understand.
The silver mech looked apprehensive, but nodded anyway. He stood straight and started to wheel back. Sunstreaker knew he wouldn't go too far, but at least he had some space.
The yellow warrior could see a flash of fear across the squishy's face as Sides retreated, leaving her with Sunstreaker. The sight of it made him wince. He had been the one to do this to her, and even as he tried to justify his actions, everything he had done felt wrong to him in that moment. Sunstreaker kneeled down to be closer to the femme. He tried to ignore the feeling of the earth particulates in his joints or fading the shine of his armor.
Her face went stone cold as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Look," she started, hand flinching towards her pistol, "I only got involved because you're next to human quarters," she gestured to the barracks where the walls were coated in a layer of dusk, kicked up by the fight, "you leave me alone and I do the same for you, that was the deal, right?" she snapped at him, traces of fear being replaced with a glare of defiance.
Sunstreaker couldn't help but feel somewhat impressed by the femme's burst of boldness, he only wished it was directed at a true enemy, not her perceived one. He vented inwardly and cycled the air out slowly, trying to gather his thoughts. "Squishy," he started, automatically kicking himself for the nickname, it was not the right time to sound demeaning. But, he persevered onward, "What I did and said last week had nothing to do with you." he lied quickly. Over the bong, Sunstreaker could feel Sides inwardly screaming at him, but he pushed it aside. Making things right was not the same as telling the truth. "I was fragged in the helm and took it out on you." He met her eyes with pleading optics, trying to see just a glimmer of forgiveness in the grey-blue orbs. Rambling, he continued, "I was frustrated and let my fragging mouth run off. I'm sorry I let it go this far, I was wrong, and too proud to do anything about it." He shuttered his optics, unable to maintain optic contact any longer, "I'm sorry."
There was a long pause of silence, during which Sunstreaker did not dare to online his optics. After what seemed like stellar cycle, he heard the femme sigh. "I don't understand what led to this." Sunstreaker finally glanced at the squishy. Both her eyes and voice softened.
A cool wave of relief flooded through Sunstreaker. It was not forgiveness, but there was hope. "I was an aft and I took it out on you, that's all."
She looked down to her feet, the first sign that she was letting her guard down around him. Sunstreaker could sense that she was not going to accept his apology that easily. Instead, steeling his determination, he asked, "Let me make it up to you. I want to prove that I have nothing against you." He added quietly, "I don't want you to be afraid of me, and I know you don't trust me, but I want to try to change your mind."
She looked back up to him, eyes searching for something. Sunstreaker didn't dare look away. After a long moment, she sighed. "Let me think about. Okay?"
Sunstreaker nodded while his spark ached painfully. "Take as much time as you need."