Hello dear readers! Here's another chapter for you.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers; (guestx3), Cinematronix, ImpartingAbyss, uadadominguez4, .Princess, and Teletraan

Chapter 37

Sideswipe stared down at his data pad screen, not really reading the words displayed. It was a new manga he had been waiting for, but his interest was quickly lost, his processor wandering. Rin hadn't contacted them like he hoped she would. The idea of her being alone didn't sit right with the mech. He may not have known the male who killed himself well, and he knew Rin wasn't nearly as close to him as she was to Sunny and himself, but, she still considered him to be a friend. Sideswipe didn't like seeing her deal with loss of any kind. He wondered whether there was anything he could do to make her feel better. He had wanted to see her as soon as he heard the news, but Jazz, who had informed them, told them to give her space. It was almost an order.

"I know what you're thinking, and you should leave her alone." Sunny called out from the end of the berth. He sat, his back facing Sideswipe, polishing his armor. "Jazz was right, the squishy is the kind of person who would want to deal with this stuff alone."

"I didn't say anything." Sideswipe muttered, knowing full well he had been projecting through the bond.

Sunny turned just enough to give Sideswipe a sidelong glare. "Quit worrying yourself. She's a grown femme and will call if she needs anything."

"I can't help but worry." Sideswipe retorted, feeling chastised and upset. He set down the data pad and straightened himself on Sunny's berth. "How can you not?"

A sudden bolt of rage shot through the bond as Sunny threw his rag to the ground and jumped to his pedes. "Of course I'm worried!" he fired back. "I'm not sparkless! I just don't want to make things any worse." Sunny seemed to cringe at his own words as he looked away, staring at the far wall.

Regretting his choice of words, Sideswipe sent an apology through the bond and got up to meet his brother. "Sunny," he paused for only a second as his twin growled in response, "you wouldn't make things worse." he supplied, setting a servo over yellow shoulder armor.

Sunny's optics met his, most of his anger having already melted away. "I still think we should let her come to us." he finished, sounding sincere.

"She isn't one to usually ask for help." Sideswipe replied, unconvinced.

Sunny shook his helm. "This isn't a usual matter." He retorted, "She's smart and she knows herself better than we ever could."

That statement didn't sit right with Sideswipe. He knew what his brother meant, but he wanted to be able to say he knew Rin just as well. Discomfort flowed into his spark. He didn't like sitting still while she suffered alone. But he couldn't figure out how to approach the situation with the femme.

"You need a distraction." Sunny said decidedly. He projected his thoughts clearly through the bond. The neutral statement was as close to a proposition as the warrior would usually make.

They had barely touched each other since two weeks before, when his processor strayed towards Rin, and Sunny beat the slag out of him. He'd absolutely missed feeling his twin's spark, and the other perks as well, but they still hadn't settled the matter between them. And both were too stubborn to apologize. Instead, after Sunny made up with Erin, they acted as if nothing had happened. It worked for a while, but Sunny had never tried initiating anything after that and Sideswipe didn't want to do anything until they talked things out.

"Now isn't really the time." Sideswipe supplied, not ready to open another issue with his brother.

Sunny's optics narrowed. "It isn't like you to turn me down." There was more worry than disappointment behind his words. He yanked his brother's servo and forced him faceplates to faceplates.

Shaking his helm Sideswipe quickly explained, "I just can't stop thinking of her right now." He didn't need to elaborate. Sure he couldn't stop worrying about her, but he also couldn't stop thinking about his attraction to her. At least not long enough for an actual frag.

There was a long pause where Sunny didn't let go. He could see his brother processing, through his sharp, glass-like optics. "Then don't stop."

Sideswipe wondered whether his processor was short-circuiting. "What?" He shuttered his optics, not sure if he understood his twin.

"You don't have to stop thinking about her," Sunny reiterated, holding his gaze, "just quit all this depressing slag."

Dropping his shoulders, Sideswipe muttered, "Last time we fragged, you beat the scrap out of me for that."

Finally releasing his grip on Sideswipe, Sunny crossed his arms. "You can't just swing that on a mech all of the sudden, fragger."

The silver mech still couldn't quite process what his twin was allowing. "So you don't mind?"

Venting loudly, Sunny growled back, "I just want to get to fragging already!" It was clear both mechs had been pent up far too long. Without having actually done anything, Sunny's frame was already heating.

At that moment, though, all Sideswipe wanted was for his brother to admit it. "Say it."

"What?"

Sideswipe's stare hardened. "Say you want to be with her, you know I do."

The yellow mech's trademark anger and stubbornness flashed in his optics. "Letting you indulge in your fragged-up fantasy doesn't mean anything."

"You didn't deny it." Sideswipe shot back, holding his gaze. "You care about her, right?"

"Obviously." Sunny snorted, not making optic contact.

That wasn't enough for Sideswipe. So, he pushed harder. "And you want to be intimate with her?" he asked, choosing his words carefully.

Pausing for a moment, Sunny processed before slowly replying, "She's organic" as if that answered everything.

Finally, Sideswipe's patience started to shred away. "Why can't you admit your feelings towards her?" He said a bit too loudly.

In classic Sunny fashion, he took Sideswipe's frustration and threw it back tenfold. "Because they're wrong!" Rather than physically attacking, he sent a shockwave of emotions through the bond; anger, shock, mistrust, disgust, hope, and lust all tumbled through with no clear target or motivation.

Sideswipe sat still for a moment, busy climbing through the load Sunny just unleashed. His anger was replaced with sympathy. "Does it really feel wrong to you?

"Of course it doesn't 'feel' that way," Sunny turned and started pacing around the berth room, "but any 'bot with half a processor knows it would only cause problems to actually be with her."

To Sideswipe, the consequences were too far away to think about. The only thing he could be sure of, what how he felt. "Does she feel like a problem to you?"

"No!" Sunny turned on his brother, "You know I didn't say that!"

Sideswipe pushed even harder. "I love her. Is that a problem?"

Sunny seemed taken aback by the admission, but Sideswipe felt no regret. The yellow warrior looked away. "It should be."

"Should?" Sideswipe knew Sunny couldn't lie to him, but he was wondering how much longer he would lie to himself.

"Imagine, just for a moment," Sunny stated, "that she reciprocates this… thing. Ignoring the fact that that is nearly impossible, what are the chances she's feel the same about both of us?"

It didn't take a genius to know what Sunny was referring to. He still didn't trust that Rin would like him as much as Sideswipe. The silver mech exvented, "You afthelm! Do you really thing she wouldn't be in to you? You've already been on a date with her!" To accentuate the point, he shot back the very image captures Sunny had shared with him of the night the pair spent together; from the drive to the picnic to her swimming and laughing.

Sunny waved his servo, as if physically pushing the images away from his processor. "The purpose of which was to make up for threatening her!"

"And you made up!" Sideswipe shot back as if it proved his entire point. "You learned from what happened and improved your relationship with her."

Sunny, in response, turned away and looked down in silence.

Sideswipe could feel him trying to subtly clamp down the bond, but Sideswipe wouldn't need it to understand his twin. "You think you don't deserve her."

The silence stretched on.

A self-deprecating smile flitted over Sideswipe's faceplates. "I wonder what she thinks of us." He almost whispered. He could see he caught a bit of his brother's attention. "There's such as vast difference between us and her. She's always trying so hard to catch up. She constantly makes herself stronger and refines her skills." he explained, grinning. "I can't help but admire her for it. But you know she only works so hard because she recognizes we are intrinsically on a different level. What if she feels the same way you do?"

Sunny finally looked back up. In a subdued tone, he replied, "A femme as smart as her wouldn't even consider us. Humans have short lifespans, she shouldn't waste time with us."

"Can you imagine her with any other males?" Sideswipe asked.

"I'd rather jump in a smelter." Sunny muttered, making Sideswipe's grin widen. Finally, the last of the yellow mech's anger seemed to evaporate. But, he couldn't seem to help one more jab, "All right, you can shut up now, slag munching fragger."

Sideswipe, however, was far from finished. "Can you imagine her with you?" He asked, reaching for his twin "Why don't you show me."

Sunny studied his faceplates, not yet responding to Sideswipe's touch. But, it was clear to the silver mech that his twin was feeling around their bond, still unsure of something. Not even Sideswipe knew what he was searching for. Whether it be Sideswipe's own uncertainly, or some other emotion, he wouldn't find anything. There was nothing he felt more sure of in that moment than how he wanted to share Rin with Sunny.

Exventing, Sunny finally leaned in. "I don't even know what you're looking for. It's not like anything we would want is possible."

"I thought you artist-types were creative." He whispered challengingly.

With a growl, he shoved Sideswipe down onto the berth, his servos worked from memory as he got the silver mech ready, teasing and pulling, while his processor scanned through the possibilities within his imagination. The silver mech watched Sunny's thoughts through their opened bond. Sideswipe quickly provided image captures, which would act as the base of their little fantasy. It was clear that most of them weren't of Rin, but Sunny quickly overwrote the details with his own memories. Sideswipe expected at least one moment of revulsion from Sunny, instead he seemed determined, mentally crafting images of Rin. Excitement started to pool up in Sideswipe and he feared he wouldn't make it as far as actually fragging. His vents hitched as his fans worked overtime to cool his smoldering frame. Sideswipe had to close his optics, the stimulus of seeing his gorgeous twin's concentrated expression mixing too easily with the preparations over the bond.

At the edge of his audials, Sideswipe heard a soft rasping at their door. He wanted to pretend he hadn't heard anything, but the frustrated growl from Sunny told him that the sound was, in fact, real.

Sunny begrudgingly got up, making Sideswipe instantly miss his presence. Sideswipe had just enough time to sit himself upright before Sunny shoved the door open, barking "What?" into the hall.

Sideswipe couldn't see past his twin, but he clearly heard the reply, "Hey, Sunstreaker." The femme's voice squeaked, sounding more unsure than fearful.

Sideswipe jumped to his pedes as Sunny glanced down to find Rin. Worry once again shot through him, and Sideswipe could feel it bounce over the bond as well. She looked exhausted and weak.

Sunny quickly stepped aside. "Get in." he ordered the femme, closing and locking the door behind her.

It was a bit surreal for the mech, suddenly having the object of his affection standing there at such an awkward moment, but that was replaced with concern. Both Sideswipe and his brother moved in, scooping the femme up in the white comforter from his subspace and depositing her on the nearest berth. Sideswipe placed a gentle servo over her shoulders while Sunny stood between them and the door, protective protocols activating automatically.

"Hey, sweetspark." Sideswipe finally greeted, optics scanning over the femme.

"Hey." She muttered back. "Thanks for letting me in." she leaned against Sideswipe's servo and he mech felt happy to be of some comfort.

"Any time." He replied honestly. "Is there anything you need?" It was evident she didn't want to mention the reason for her visit, since it was obvious enough.

She seemed to ignore Sideswipe's query as he leaned forward, her fingers grazed his chest plates. Initial anticipation washed away as her face contorted to that of concern.

"You feel warm." She stated.

Sideswipe remembered what risen temperatures meant for humans and felt awash with embarrassment. He struggled to explain Cybertronians didn't get fevers, but all that could come out of his vocalizer was a shaky, "Oh really?"

She searched his optics for a moment before retreating her touch. "I interrupted something didn't I?" she asked, fully comprehending the situation. "Sorry guys, I should have called first." She got up and tried to step around Sideswipe. "I can go."

Sunny stepped forward, blocking Rin from jumping off the berth. "No." he stated coolly.

Sideswipe reached for her again, gently making her turn back towards him. "You're what matters right now, Rin. We want to be with you right now." He could say that with complete honesty, at least.

She shook her head. "It's ok, I'll be fine."

"Yes, you will." Sunny retorted. "Because you're staying right here." Rin looked as if she was going to argue, but the yellow warrior quickly shut her down. "You look like absolute slag right now, femme. So sit."

With a weak sigh, Rin complied and seated back over the comforter. Sideswipe took the initiative to wrap one edge of the fabric over her shoulders. She stared down at the berth, silent. In the few hours since Sideswipe had last seen her, she's changed alarmingly. Her eyes, normally an odd greyish blue, almost appeared darker. Her shoulders slumped as if exhausted. As Rin grabbed the blanket and wrapped it tighter around herself, Sideswipe noticed her head fur was damp. It hadn't rained outside, so she must have at least taken the time to wash up in the barracks. He wanted to ask her what she had been doing all alone, but the words wouldn't leave his vocalizer.

As his train of thought zeroed in on that moment, watching her sit quietly, the silence in the room became defending. He needed to do or say something, but he still didn't know how to help. He chanced a glance to Sunny, whose optics were focused on Rin. That left Sideswipe to initiate things.

"Let's get more comfortable, sweetspark." He said gently, climbing into the berth and gently pulling the comforter to bring her closer to his chassis.

Rin seemed to relax, lying down and pressing herself close to him. Despite her apparent misery, Sideswipe's spark secretly soared. He got to be close and offer comfort to Rin. That trust was what he had been craving. He knew he'd be able to help Rin through this.

Sideswipe looked up to Sunny, who hesitated for a second before lying opposite to his twin, on Rin's other side. But he didn't move in close enough to touch her. Instead, he was balancing precariously at the edge, trying to give her space.

:Come on, Sunny.: Sideswipe grumble over the com.

The yellow mech shot back a glare and didn't move.

Recognizing a losing battle, Sideswipe refocused on the femme. He wasn't quite sure what he should be doing. She'd barley spoken a word. Begrudgingly, he opened his comm to Sunny, :What now?:

:You're the one with all the ideas.: he supplied unhelpfully.

Rin's exhausted look troubled Sideswipe. "Why don't you close your eyes, sweetspark," he supplied, "we can turn off the light so you can get some rest."

Her breath hitched and the silver mech could sense her own anxiety. "Unless…" he quickly amended, "you want to stay up. We could talk?"

It was unnerving seeing Rin with her guard down like that. "I don't know if I can sleep right now." She stated, not looking up to meet his optics.

Sideswipe felt like an idiot for suggesting it. He'd spent countless nights without recharge after finding his friends corpses throughout the war. He should have known sleep would be the one thing she feared. Perhaps, if she could keep her distracted long enough, she'd be tired enough to fall into a dreamless state of unconsciousness. He remembered how, after the battle with the insecticons, Rin would stay up late with him in the med bay while the two of them recovered. Even veteran autobots were terrified of those things, so he couldn't blame her for the nightmares she ran from after her first encounter. The scar on her forehead was reminder enough.

"I don't mean to be such trouble." She muttered, so quietly Sideswipe wondered whether she was talking to herself.

He frowned, worried. Erin was the smartest femme he knew, and she usually had confidence to match. But there were times when she'd think she was in over her head and lose her self-assurance. Didn't she realize they could help her? Sideswipe was willing to be a tool at her disposal if it meant bringing back the determination he admired so much in her.

Before he could respond, Sunny cut in; "If you were trouble, we wouldn't keep you around." He stated matter-of-factly.

If she processed Sunny's words, she showed no sign of it. Instead, she turned more of her face towards Sideswipe. "I guess your master plan backfired."

"What?" Sideswipe cocked his helm to the side. He honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

"When you gave a reason for inviting me onto Team Prime, you said you wanted to get on Prime's good side so he wouldn't brig you for your pranks."

That seemed like vorns ago to the silver front liner. He remembered he chose her because she was so interesting. She still was. But does that mean it could have been any human? Sideswipe just couldn't imagine it. She was where she was meant to be. He shook his helm, "Plans change, sweetspark. That's nothing to worry about." Moving on, he suggested, "If you don't want to recharge, I could tell you something about Cybertron." Sideswipe sensed a hint of approval over the bond. Rin was always the curious type.

She nodded against the blanket. "That would be nice."

Sideswipe got the sense she wasn't fully present. He briefly wondered whether he should call Hatchet. As he understood it, though the chemical process was different, humans could experience shock just like Cybertronians. He worried she'd need some help.

He must have been projecting the thought because Sunny quickly pushed his worry down. :We don't want to stress her out even more.: he stated clearly. :Let's just keep an optic on her basic vitals and if anything changes, then we'll call the Hatchet.: He turned his focus to Rin as Sideswipe silently agreed with the plan. "Want do you want us to talk about?" the yellow mech asked with a surprising amount of gentleness. Sideswipe couldn't help but smile.

"Could you tell me something about when you were kids?"

Sideswipe's optics shuttered at the question. There was nothing analytical about it. Such queries were rare for the femme. It warmed his spark how she tried to get to know them better. But he felt at a loss for what to say. Most of their early vorns were surrounded by warring decepticons within Kaon. And what happy memories they held, might not be understood by Rin, considering their cultural differences. And he didn't want to fall into long explanations at the moment. Then again, the message wasn't as important as the company.

He remembered a story their sire used to read them. It was for younglings, so she wouldn't have any problems grasping the foreign references. "If you'd like, I could read you a book our sire showed us. I translated it to English a few months ago." he suggested.

She nodded without a word as Sideswipe reached for his data pad. Sunny watched with curiosity as he began to read from "The Carrier of Terth".

"Terth is neither in Koriolis or the Kaonian region. Instead, it is a long narrow arête somewhere between the shores of Helex and Polion. In that thin strip where the Mithril Sea meets the Sea of Mercury, warm and cold clash, creating turbulent tides. As the liquid metal bares down upon clear barriers on either land mass, a barometric glow is released. This atmosphere-polluting light obscures everything beyond. But Terth is exempt from this rule. From atop the peak, both the bustling cities can be gleamed with the unassisted optic. But no spark from beyond the ravaging Seas has witnessed the tranquil anomaly."

Starscream flew towards the quardinate points, fashionably and tacticly late. The decepticon wasn't entirely sure who he was meeting. Only that they had something to offer him. It was a risky move, considering he could easily be outnumbered by a small group of surviving autobots. Shockwave certainly wouldnd't approve, thus why he didn't tell the burly mech where he was going. Taking the insecticon wouldn't help either, considering the brute would most likely consume whatever contacted him before Starscream could get any information. And he did want to learn about the source of the singal he received. Not only had he been contacted through an old Cybertronian comm signal, but the message promised aid in destroying the last of the autobot's will to fight.

As much as Starscream hated to admit it, he desperately needed reinforcements. That fool, Megatron has squandered all their resources and allowed what little decepticon forces remained to fall out of contact. Even after all of Starscream's efforts to bring him back, he only lasted a single planetary rotation before falling at the hands of an organic. It was left to the Wing Lord to revitalize the glory of the decepticons and reignite their cause. He was too late in recruiting the insecticons before two perished at the servos of the autobots. And the contacts he found deep in space were still too far. He would not miss another chance to strengthen his forces.

In the repressive darkness, Starscream circled around the set meeting location. Below, his scanners picked up a single human-constructed vehicle with two organics beside it. Seeing no signs of an ambush, the seeker banked down and transformed just before hitting the ground. He surveyed the humans before him. Small as always, and with the same expression he found Silas to have. The mech narrowed his optics. "Well," he screeched, "I'm here. And I don't like to be summoned." he added menacingly.

The humans didn't seem to take notice of his tone, the foolish creatures. Instead, one stepped forward. "We represent an organization that wants to offer you a mutually beneficial arrangement. You may call us Division."

"I've worked with humans before," Starscream sneered, "and I haven't been impressed."

"We are aware of your partnership with mech," the organic replied, "but Silas lacks resources we can offer. And we already have a greater hold on the autobots than Silas ever had."

That peaked the seeker's interest. "And what exactly do you have to offer?" he pushed.

"We have an agent embedded withn N.E.S.T who has a direct influence on the autobots." the human supplied.

Starscream sighed, unimpressed. "Silas offered the same, and never delivered results." The best he got was tracking down the autobot Arcee to eviscerate her. Even then, tracking down one lone autobot was far from a victory in their never ending war.

"Silas lacked focus," came the reply, "and our tools are more honed than his attack dogs." he stated, with a convincing analysis of Silas's forces. "Our agent has gained the trust of the autobots, as well as access to their plans and information on their resources. If you work with us, you will be given control over her movements. And she can obtain any information or item you seek." He continued with a knowing grin, "And we have fusion core batteries, which Mech failed to obtain. They are needed for you to generate your fuel source, correct? We have enough to fill a factory."

Starscream tried not to perk at the thought of fresh energon. "And what exactly do you want in exchange?" he asked, looking at his claw-like servos with disinterest.

"Mech has been a thorn in Division's side for long enough. We could have taken them out sooner, but unlike Silas, we avoid acts that… flashy. In exchange for use of our resources, we want information on Silas's operations. His base locations, bolt holes, and any future plans he shared. As well as the method for generating energon."

"And what use does a group of humans have for Cybertronian fuel?" Starscream asked suspiciously. That fuel was the only thing that could make weapons to reliably use against Cybertronians. It was risky enough abandoning his partnership wth Silas when the human knew so much. Giving out more information to humans could make them a real threat.

"Our organization is involved with many investments," he supplied vaguely, "mainly information. Data on new forms of energy would be beneficial to our operations."

Starscream considered the offer. As they stood, the autobots' had seven mechs, while he stood with three. The advantage would go to the ones who best used the resources on the planet. Should Starscream slay Optimus Prime and destroy the autobot army once and for all, he could gather the scattered remans of his civilization and rebuild Cybertron as its supreme ruler. In order to do that, he had no choice but to side with humans. "I will need proof that this agent is as good as you say."

"I believe you may have already heard of her."