Hello Dear Readers! I hope this chapter helps keep you in good spirits! These are my therapy characters so I certainly enjoy writing them! In case anyone was wondering, my dog is doing great! It was touch and go for a while but she's now fully recovered. Unfortunately, I lost my job… again. I'm sure plenty of people have been going through similar troubles during the pandemic. Hopefully the next place I go to doesn't shut down. As such, I might slow my writing a bit to focus on finding new work, but I'll do my best to still update regularly. With that in mind, please enjoy this next installment!
Thank you to my wonderful reviewers; T. Rychbar, Rachel0420, ImpartingAbyss, Anonymous, Spoffen, and .Princess
Chapter 42
The pathetic organic filth underneath blocked Starscream's sensors during his search. Why the humans didn't do away with the slimy green and brown protrusions, the seeker would never understand. He had lost the signal he was tracking just as it entered the atmosphere. Shockwave managed to generate approximate coordinates, but the search grid was still painfully large.
Apparently, the scientist was too important to join the search, leaving Starscream- Lord of all Decepticons, the red grounder, and his lowly insecticon warrior to find the source of the signal. It had landed half a solar cycle earlier, but there was still no transmission over any of the known Decepticon comms. That meant either their new consort, whoever he was, had to be injured, offlined, or captured. If and when he found the 'con, he'd make sure he knew better than to put his Lord and Master through so much work again. He was just lucky the Decepticons were low enough on forces that Starscream was willing to personally collect him.
If only he could find the worthless fragger.
Heat emanated from the landing site as Erin peered over. They were lucky to have found the spot, considering the coordinates were so broad. Mere seconds before the mech in question hit the atmosphere, N.E.S.T caught its traces, leaving only time for wide range tracking. The best they were given was a crash site somewhere between Sarrenbourg and Baden-Baden in France. Considering the French government, which was cooperating with the retrieval mission, did not report any public sightings of a mech, the Forêt de Haguenau was their best bet.
There were six search teams sent to scour the area and it seemed Erin's was the lucky one. All three were on their guard. There had been no indication whether the mech was 'bot or 'con, thus why coordinated and heavily armed teams were organized.
The crater had slashed through the earth, visibly tearing thick tree roots and melting stone. It appeared as if the mech hit the ground so hard, it started to tunnel, getting covered in earth which forced him to crawl back out of the hole. Erin wondered how Cybertronians could survive such impacts. She turned towards the twins to ask, but the words got lost in her throat. She had decided she would no longer gather information for Division and she refused to even expose anything that might be used against them. Squashing down her curiosity, she returned her focus to the surroundings. A faint aroma of fuel vapors hit her nose; it was a scent she had grown to recognize. "I smell energon." She announced.
Sunstreaker leaned forward. Although his optics displayed mere glassy panes, Erin could tell he was scanning from his expression. "You're right," he replied, "Whoever landed was injured. I'll comm Hatchet."
"I'm not surprised." Sideswipe commented, surveying the crash site, "His angle was off. I'm surprised he didn't leave a few pieces of himself lying around here."
"If he was injured, he couldn't have gone far, and there's no vehicles for him to scan." Erin glanced around, "Can you scan any trail?" she asked.
Sunstreaker stepped around the site, "I only have traces and it's soaked too far into the soil, Primus-forsaken organic scrap."
Luckily, Cybertronians were large and Erin knew the basics of tracking, a skill the twins had dismissed in the past. She glanced up and spotted marks on one of the thicker trees, ten feet in the air. "Up there." She pointed at the marks where sap appeared to be seeping through. The mechs looked up, obviously past the spot. "Down for you guys." She corrected.
Sideswipe stepped up to the marks. "You think he made these?"
They were fresh enough, and reasonably deep in the wood. Erin directed the silver mech, "Go to the tree next to it and grab it like you're trying to balance."
Sideswipe obeyed and the resulting scraping was close to what Erin found. She saw pieces of bark fall down once Sideswipe removed his servo. Approaching the tree in question, she found similarly sized fresh chunks of bark. Looking past the tree, at the same height, there was a branch that's tip was broken and hanging down. She followed the path, noticing another branch with missing tips, as well as depressions in the earth or plants recovering from crushing weight. The further they went, the more apparent the signs became.
The twins fanned out on either side of her, keeping pace, their optics watchful. They needed to not only catch the mystery mech, but avoid human contact as well. Erin had managed to memorize the main trails and roads in their assigned cross section, but it was always possible for a traveler to stray from their path.
The signs showed they would probably hear the mech before seeing him, given how clumsily he was moving. Unfortunately, the twins weren't so quiet either. Sideswipe managed to adapt to his solid pedes but Sunstreaker's weight caused sticks to shatter, plants to whip up after suffering his weight, and the ground groan as it compressed down. She hoped the injured mech wouldn't have the energy to set a trap, because he would likely hear them coming.
"By the height of these brakes in the branches, I'd say he's twelve feet tall." Erin stated. That would make him substantially shorter than any other Cybertronian she's ever seen. Not that he still wouldn't be over twice her height.
"I just told the rest of the team." Sideswipe replied.
Looking at the divots in the earth, Erin stopped and went over to see Sideswipe's pede steps, since he was lighter. "The compression at the back heel was lower for the mystery mech, so he was slower moving." She stated.
Sideswipe nodded. "So we'll catch up to him before he reaches a populated area."
"He does have a fourteen-hour head start, but he's injured." Sunstreaker countered. "We'll see." The mech had a point. Though their target had time to gain distance, the evidence showed he might not have made it out of the forest. In fact, he was going deeper in, away from any towns.
The path stretched on for miles as the terrain became rocky and fragile stones shattered like glass under the mechs and it was apparent their query struggled as well. The hills gradually became steeper. Eventually, the ground slid under Sunstreaker's pedes and he hit the earth, cursing.
"He took the high ground, could mean he's more afraid of grounders than seekers." Sideswipe stated, watching his twin find his balance.
"That looks like a good place to keep a vantage spot." She glanced around. "It seems less rocky on either side around the hill. We should spread out and surround him."
"No." Sideswipe's optics stared hard at Erin, exposing his worry.
"Stop treating me like glass, I can take care of myself, same as you." She retorted. "I can get up there quietly, but you'll give away our positions. This mech's injured and likely scared. If he hears us approaching, he could fire before we see him. I can try to sneak in and check out the situation while you guys cover the exits."
"Alright." Sunstreaker responded before Sideswipe could, shooting his twin a pointed look. At least he seemed to have faith in her.
Sideswipe looked like he wanted to argue, but reluctantly stepped away. Erin took the advantage of their separation to go at her own pace, quicker and quieter. She managed to move up, keeping to stable paths on the hillside, following the evidence of recently crushed stones and sliding marks. At the top of the hill, the plants provided ample cover.
It was apparent the target was weakened by his trek up. The path was far more damaged from clumsy steps. He wouldn't be able to get much further. Brandishing a pistol and e-blade- a generic one rather than her own- courtesy of Mrs. Lennox and Que, she crept forward. Some gunmetal gray was visible through the tree line.
Ducking down, Erin approached the form. It was clearly a small mech, by Cybertronian standard, even shy of Jazz's size. He was curled on the ground, servo gripping his side where dried energon painted his armor. Offline optics made Erin wonder if he had succumbed to the injuries. During her measured approach, she noticed what appeared to be a rifle, nearly as tall as he was, leaning against a tree within his reach. Choosing to angle herself from the opposite end, she knew he'd have to turn to fire at her. Folded behind the mech were what appeared to be large door wings. Was he Praxian? Erin got close enough to see an insignia on the mech's helm crest, autobot.
Quietly, Erin sheathed her weapons and pulled out her data pad, pulling up a large autobot symbol on the screen. Showing it in clear view of the mech. "Hey," she called out, not sure what to say, "wake up!"
Navy blue optics shot open as they zeroed in on her, the mech lurched from his position and reeled back against the tree that blocked his escape path. He made a motion for his rifle but the servo quickly moved to grip his injury, which started sparking after his erratic movements.
Erin got on one knee, trying to look nonthreatening, and used her free hand to point at the autobot insignia. "It's ok, I'm friendly." She stated quickly. The mech froze, fear apparent on his faceplates. Erin activated her comm link, "Stand down, he's an autobot but he's scared. Let me talk him down." Erin knew she wasn't the most qualified for this sort of thing, but she couldn't risk the twins spooking the mech and him injuring himself further.
The small autobot zeroed in on the insignia, seeming to think things over. Then, his optics final lifted to Erin. He immediately started to ramble in Cybertronian, too quickly for Erin to entirely keep track of. "You must be a …. I've heard about your kind, you are allies with the autobots, right? It's kind of … that we are … to hide ourselves when you are our allies, … that's what the order said. So not all … must know … right? … you are so small, not all … would like … us walking around. I didn't realize how small you …, but you walk … like most mechs, which is …. I heard it's … for organics to walk …. But I guess it's not ... By the way, my name is ... I'm a sniper and … met Optimus Prime once before, not that I expect him to recognize me. I saw other autobots responded to the… who's gotten here? I know Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, and Bumblebee had already arrived. I know Jazz and met Ironhide once. Has Prowl arrived yet? I... I hope he's here. Is there anyone else? … how many … know about us? You're a soldier, right? Is that why you know about us? …sorry, I guess I'm talking too much. Usually mechs can… me when I get carried away, but I guess you don't have a comm system, since you're organic. Wait, you can't speak Cybertronian can you? My … was damaged on the way here so I … to scan the local language yet."
Erin stood dumfounded for a moment. It sounded as if he was referring to her as a human, but the way he pronounced the word was unfamiliar, probably an advanced modifier she hadn't learned to listen for yet. The mech seemed to be relaxed at least. Gathering her thoughts, she turned to her data pad and started typing in Cybertronian. With so many glyphs, it took her a moment to come up with a response. When she finished, she showed it to the mech, slowly approaching so he could read it. "I am human and I work for the United States military in partnership with Optimus Prime. I can understand some Cybertronian, but can't speak it. My partners, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are on their way to take you to Ratchet for medical attention.
The mech shuttered his optics in what appeared to be surprise. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe? I didn't think they would like organics. Not that there's anything wrong with being organic, but it's … different for us Cybertronians. It's cool that you know Cybertronian, I thought organics weren't able to learn the language. But I guess that's … of … to say, I'm sorry." He rubbed the back of his helm, looking embarrassed. All the while, he didn't seem to notice the fresh energon he smeared over his armor.
Erin activated her comm link. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, it's safe to move in."
She could hear the mechs long before seeing them as they fought the fragile hillside so they could climb to the top. Once their optics were within site, Erin could see them widen with surprise.
"Bluestreak?" Sideswipe called out.
So that was his name.
The twins approached from either side, quickly closing in and kneeling before the mech. Sunstreaker pulled out what Erin recognized to be adhesive padding for Cybertronian wounds. He tucked it in tight to the gashes on the mech's side, earning a warbled yelp from the smaller 'bot.
"Hatchet is on his way, he said not to move you." Sideswipe stated, earning a blank stare from Bluestreak. After a beat, the mech repeated the statement in Cybertronian, getting a nod in response.
Erin felt a sudden wave of relief. The autobots had been hurting after losing so many. Every new addition would count.
Sunstreaker managed to give Bluestreak some minor first aid while Sideswipe provided a much-needed ration of energon. The mech seemed friendly, chatting constantly with child-like innocence. The twins were incredibly patient as well. Erin did her best to follow along, but her understanding of the language was still too basic. Apparently, they had a history, having fought side by side while on Cybertron. But, for how long was that? She wasn't able to tell their ages on sight, but the small mech reminded her of the picture Sideswipe showed her of the twins in their earlier frames.
"Sideswipe," Erin called the mech's attention, which he readily gave as usual. "How old is Bluestreak?" she asked directly.
The mech gave her a sad look. "He's pretty young. Still in his second frame."
Erin equated that to being a teenager. She eyed his rifle, concern sprouting. She didn't think it was the autobots' style to use child soldiers. But no society could ever be as perfect as they believed they were.
Sideswipe's optics dimmed before he straightened back up. "Hatchet says he's too heavy to make it up the hillside. We'll have to meet him at the bottom."
"Did either of you find a solid path on your way up?"
"It looked better on my side," Sunstreaker replied, "but we still might slide down on our afts."
"Better than nothing." Erin commented, following the yellow mech as Sideswipe acted as Bluestreak's crutch.
They group made their way down, Sunstreaker slipping over the loose stones as he predicted. When he stood, cursing, Erin froze as she saw apparent scrape marks on the mech's rear. She tried to motion to Sideswipe to keep quiet about it; the mech wisely nodded in agreement. They didn't need a fight to break out, potentially knocking Bluestreak down the entire hill. Instead, they focused their sight elsewhere and made their descent with care. Sideswipe didn't even laugh at his brother's fall. Ratchet had made his way around the hill to meet them when they reached more solid ground. He quickly shooed the twins as he started his examination of Bluestreak.
Erin turned to her mechs, seeing their concerned gazes. They were just as disturbed seeing the youngling injured. Ratchet tried to take Bluestreak's rifle, only for his optics to go wide and pale as he jerked away. His babbling in Cybertronian was too fast Erin to comprehend, but she managed to get 'please'.
Ratchet answered sharply in their native language, "It will get in the way of my… hand it over."
He reached out his servo, but upon seeing the fear in Bluestreak's eyes, Erin stepped forward. "Ratchet, wait, you're scaring him."
The medic turned sharply towards her, displeased with her interference of his exam. Luckily, he hadn't pulled out a wrench yet. "The youngling can manage." He answered shortly.
"How about," the woman tried not to shudder at the glare shot her way, "Sideswipe holds it for him? He seems to trust the twins."
Ratchet muttered something about Bluestreak needing to trust his medic, but offered her compromise to the young mech. The grey 'bot still looked concerned, but Sideswipe offered a calming servo over his shoulder plate. After no further comment, he gently removed the rifle but kept it within Bluestreak's immediate reach.
Though not seeming pleased, the youngling managed to calm himself enough not the flinch during Ratchet's scans. The medic muttered to himself in Cybertronian as he started to carefully go through Sunstreaker's field patch. With each motion, the youngling seemed more wound up. His servo twitched towards his weapon, as if needing it as his security blanket, but he didn't grab it. Instead, he kept his optics flashing between it and Ratchet.
Erin felt as if her blood was full of sludge, going through her heart. The poor mech was clearly terrified, even among friends and allies. Erin wished Ratchet would just put him in stasis, but didn't dare interrupt the medic again. His armor seemed to compact tighter against his frame, making him look even smaller. And without the shine of paint, the young mech seemed desolate and broken. Lines of dried energon ran up his side and even smeared across his faceplates.
Ratchet managed to coax him to lie down, even as his frame seemed to clench. His servo made grabbing motions as if missing the feeling of his rifle. The mech was about to have a panic attack.
"Ratchet," she called, just loud enough for him to hear. Not getting any response, she continued, "perhaps some music might calm him down?" she was surprised by the concern in her own voice. There was something simply wrong about such a large being seeming so terrified, though. It practically hurt to watch the display before her.
The medic didn't look her way, but a grumpy hum was enough permission for her. "Sideswipe, think you could play something soothing?" she asked
The mech's optics softened in response. "That's a good idea, sweetspark. But I think it would be even better if you sang. It always calms me down."
Taking a deep breath to force away the blush from her cheeks, Erin was about to argue his radio would be fine, but Ratchet interrupted her. "Do what you want." His words seemed uncaring, but his tone was far from it. Cursed curiosity was prevalent. Damnit, Sideswipe.
"Do you know any songs that aren't depressing?" Sunstreaker muttered above her.
Unable to come up with a good retort, she replied lamely, "It's not like he would understand the lyrics anyway."
"So that's a no." he grunted, an amused expression gracing his features. At least someone found something to grin about.
"Fine, I know one." She relented. "I'm not very good at it, so Sunstreaker, can you play some instrumental?" Since he had chosen to take the jab at her, she would make him be her assistant.
"What song?" he asked with slight hesitation.
Make it dammed polka music and see how he liked it. But no, she had another in mind. "That's the Way it is… by Celine Dion."
Sideswipe raised an optic ridge. "Celine Dion? Didn't know you could branch out like that."
"For your information my sister had me sing it for her." She replied indignantly. "It seemed to make her happy so of course, the damn song would come up."
"If you three are going to keep bickering, I'm kicking you out." Ratchet groused.
As an answer, music started to play from Sunstreaker's radio. She took a breath, counting the beat. "I can read your mind and I know your story. I see what you're going through. It's an uphill climb, and I'm feeling sorry. But I know it will come to you." Compared to other songs, she struggled more with this one. The song's original star was far more vocally skilled, but Cora made her sing it so often that Erin was well-practiced.
As Erin sang, she noticed Bluestreak staring at her from where he laid. He seemed to have relaxed, transfixed on the sound. His fear of Ratchet's touch wasn't gone, but it was certainly subdued. Seeing that as a success, she continued the song, too embarrassed to see either of the twins' expressions. After she finished singing, she noticed Bluestreak was still staring at her.
Unable to speak to him, she quirked her head to the side, showing she was listening for him. Luckily, his request was simple enough for her to understand. "Can you do that again, please?"
Erin sang one more song for him before Ratchet finally decided to put the poor youngling in stasis, satisfied that he was properly stabilized. The trio shadowed the medic long enough to ensure Bluestreak would be fine. Once they got confirmation, Ratchet finally tired of them and ordered for them to give him more space. A trailer was being sent to the edge of the nearest trail to carry Bluestreak to the Étain-Rouvres Air Base where they had first landed. Apparently they would spend the night while Ratchet worked on Bluestreak. Their plane would depart in the morning, bringing the mech to his new home.
Finally, Starscream found deep tracks in the soil below him. It matched the distinctive Cybertronian signature. And, it was big. Stylishly banking to land, the seeker looked at the grooves before him. Whatever had arrived was far larger than a single 'con in a space pod. The damage was easily six times his wingspan. A ship, perhaps?
Either way, he pinged the location to the rest of his forces before following the trail on his pedes. Cautiously, he armed his null ray. His audio receptors picked up plenty of commotion. Just as the top of a ship came into view, the seeker heard clearer voices. He paused to listen, quickly recognizing one of them. A confident grin came to his lip plates. He strode into the scene to see four sets of optics quickly turn to him.
The setting wasn't quite what he had envisioned. One grey and purple mech was crouched on the ground, guzzling energon that leaked out of the pitifully damaged ship behind him. Many thin wing-like appendages twitched excitedly as the blue liquid dripped from his mouth. He only gave Starscream a quick glance before continuing his feast. Two others were holding the massive fourth mech down. The large white- what seemed to be- shuttle howled furiously at his captors. One of which was Starscream's source of recognition.
"Thundercracker! What is going on here?" he questioned arm sweeping over the scene in front of him.
"Screamer?" The blue seeker responded as he gave the mech below him another shove. "Octane here tried to steal our supplies and make a run for it. He even let our prisoner escape. Figured you'd want him alive." Despite the struggles below him, his tone stayed calm. Ever the level-helmed one, Thundercracker was.
Starscream lowered the power of his hull ray and fired at the struggling white mech. He went limp under the seeker. Thundercracker didn't so much as thank him as he stood and assessed the damage around them.
"Is this really all the decepticon forces have to offer?" Starscream hissed, expecting more from his most trusted wingmate.
"I gathered the ones I knew about." He explained, unphased by Starscream. "Haven't been in contact with any others in a while. I did resend your message deeper into space, in case there were others. I heard in your transmission you have Shockwave and the seeker twins. Anyone else?"
"An insecticon and an autobot traitor have joined our midst." The sleek seeker huffed. "Unfortunately, our set of twins were… disposed."
Thundercracker appeared disappointed in the news, but quickly changed subjects. "An autobot turned sides? Which one?"
"The one called Mirage." Starscream explained. "He has a rather useful invisibility upgrade, as well as other important information." Evaluating their company, he asked, "What of these miscreants?"
"This is Dead End." The blue seeker motioned to the other mech who help down Octane. "He's a warrior-class. And the one on the ground over there is Vortex. Somethings wrong with his energon processing and he can't seem to stop refueling. He needs a medic."
As soon as Octane went limp, Dead-End had scrambled away and wiped at the filth over his armor with an old and torn rag. He muttered to himself, oddly in a Tarnian dialect, but a guttural Kaonian accent. In fact, he sounded as if he were from Slaughter City. That information would have been promising, had there not been the clear anxiety in the mech's features as he futilely scrubbed at his armor. Miscreants indeed.
"The best he can get is Shockwave. I can't guarantee he'd make it out. But I doubt he'd be of much use otherwise."
"Let's see what resources we have available." Thundercracker quickly reasoned. "You have a scientific background, perhaps you can take a look at his systems?"
"Cybology was never my area of study." Starscream responded. "If he can prove himself useful and not wasteful of our stores, he can continue to function."
That seemed to satisfy the other seeker for the moment. "We don't have many 'cons to spare. What are the autobot forces?"
At least Thundercracker was already assessing their forces. Starscream always considered him to be competent and skilled. If it weren't for Shockwave, he wouldn't hesitate to give his wingmate the position of Second-In-Command. Perhaps he could give him co-command? Focusing on Thundercracker's question, Starscream recalled. "From what I know, there are the Prime, tactician, infiltrator, medic, scientist, scout, weapons specialist, and those infernal gladiator twins. All from Prime's closest mobile force." The mechs Que and Jazz hadn't been confirmed by his own Decepticons, but Mirage had informed Starscream of their presence.
"That leaves us outnumbered," Thundercracker muttered, clearly deep in thought, "even if we get Octane to cooperate with us."
Having a shuttle in their midst would certainly be useful, but not if he couldn't be trusted. "Hmmm. Shockwave is always wanting more test subjects. If he fails to pledge loyalty, I'll leave him to our good scientist."
Sunstreaker resisted the urge to sag on his tires as his brother had done. They hadn't recharged in well over a day and driven 300 miles. The squishy could have rested in Side's cabin, but she refused, going on about all that fairness scrap. If she had been driving with him, he would have knocked her out just to make her get some rest… Well, he wouldn't have hurt her. But tinted windows and a soft lullaby through his radio could have done the trick.
Finally, they reached the squishy military base and just needed to find their barracks for the night. It was just in time, considering the coming rain. Sunstreaker had enough of the mud lately.
He watched as the squishy went over to the smaller male fleshy who met them just inside the base. He greeted her in French, the mech recognizing the language from some sappy romance Sides forced him to watch with their femme.
The squishy did not hesitate switching to the language. "On m'a dit que vous auriez un logement pour nous."
Frustration bubbled in the yellow mech. Why did Earth have to have so many languages! Sides, however, pinged him with translations he was making off the internet. Sunstreaker was able to hear the rest of the conversation.
"Oui, l'appartement C là-bas. La clé est dans cette enveloppe." The mech said as Sides provided, "Yes, apartment C over there. The key is in this envelope."
Inspecting the item for a moment, the squishy pointedly asked in the foreign language, "And what about the 'bots?"
"They can take any parking spaces in the lot, it's unassigned." The male gave them a weary glance before gesturing to a decrepit lane of concrete. Moss and grass shot through various cracks and spray-painted lines were faded beyond reasonable recognition. Sunstreaker scoffed at the mere concept of staying there. He had half a processor to transform and tell the fleshy to frag himself with a chunk of loose concrete. Sides seemed to agree with him as the mech shot back a couple paces, unwilling to even go near the sad excuse for a lot. In his distraction, he missed a part of the conversation.
"Un parking? Il va prendre d'assaut ce soir et vous les laissez dans un parking?"
Sunstreaker was not sure what the femme had said, but she was pointing at the grey sky. The wind was weak but darker clouds were making their way across the countryside and would be upon them before nightfall.
"Aren't they waterproof?" Side's translation provided the male's response.
The squishy's voice was so seething, she lost her accent for a moment, "Why don't you just sleep in a contorted shape in the middle of a storm and see how you feel?" she asked, jabbing a digit towards the male.
"I didn't mean any disrespect, but the only garage available is for the other two. There won't be enough room." The male feebly tried to placate the femme.
Sunstreaker's engine rumbled, but he did nothing else. He didn't want to interrupt the squishy while she had such fire in her voice. "Ratchet asked for a med bay and you gave him a garage! He's going to perform surgery! You didn't think he'd need headspace for that!"
"The garage is just for them to wait for your ride back tomorrow. Can't the uh… surgery wait till then?" Even in the unfamiliar accent, Sunstreaker recognized the skepticism behind the word 'surgery'.
"A mech just crashed into the planet and is bleeding out energon and you want him to wait?" The squishy took a clearly threatening step towards the male. Sunstreaker and his twin watched, thoroughly entertained by the fearful look on the fleshy's face.
"But… they're just machines."
Suddenly switching to English, the femme shouted, "They are as much machines as we are fucking lizards!"
The male sputtered incoherently for a moment, likely not understanding the femme's words. Nervously, he responded in his own language, "Regardless, that's all I can offer. If you have a grievance, you'll have to discuss it with my superiors." With a quick nod of his helm, the mech backed off and practically ran out of sensor range.
Sunstreaker could tell the femme was enraged. She pulled out her data pad, unfolding it along the seams before tapping away. Sunstreaker just sat in his alt for a moment and admired the determination on the femme's face.
Sides, however, was less tactful. "That was hot!" he blurted for all to hear, transforming so the femme could see his wide grin.
Sunstreaker also returned to root mode but the squishy paid no mind as she continued to furiously working on her data pad, but the smallest of smiles ghosted her lips. Sunstreaker could only see it as he kneeled, so he stayed low, focusing his optics on her face. He liked the grit she was showing.
Lost in his own musings, Sunstreaker was pulled back to the present when the femme turned away, data pad folded back down and held to her audio re… ear. She started speaking in French again, but Sunstreaker didn't care to listen. Instead, he watched how she tapped one foot on the ground while a hand rested on her hip. She was clearly upset, but also looked so strong. A small rush of excitement fell in the bond between the twins. Upon consistent, and annoying, nudging from Sides, Sunstreaker privately relented that the squishy did, in fact, look hot.
The femme turned back to the twins; her call having ended. "I'm sending you the new location for where we are staying. I managed to convince one of the asses in charge around here to give us the bare minimum. The first address is to a hanger for Ratchet. Could you send it to him? It's two stories tall so it should have enough space for him to work, if barely." Sunstreaker got the message and could tell Sides had it as well. The latter quickly forwarded to Hatchet. "Now," the femme continued, "the best I could get for the two of you was a covered garage, the one that was originally meant for Ratchet. It'll be crowded, you probably won't be able to stretch out. But I guess you won't want to. The floor is probably filthy considering the ground maintenance around here." A scrutinizing glare swept across the space before them. "At least you'll be dry." She put her data pad away with a disappointed huff as Sunstreaker received the second set of coordinates. "Let's get going, I'm beat." She muttered, pointing in the direction they were to go.
Sides held a servo up before the femme to stop her. "You can go ahead to the apartment, we'll be fine."
She glanced hesitantly behind her before turning to the mech's again. "I wouldn't say it's exactly fair." She stated, a disturbed look in her eyes. "Who do they even think they are, relegating you to subpar conditions right before a storm?"
A warm feeling from Sides emanated over the bond and settled itself around Sunstreaker's spark. It felt good how upset the femme was on their behalf. "We're used to that slag. Besides, it's just one night." The yellow mech replied. He was fragged off, but he didn't want the squishy to worry too much.
Something changed in the femme's eyes as she stated slowly, "You know, given these guy's hospitality, I don't trust them too much. Would you guys be alright if I stayed with you?"
Sunstreaker saw right through her ploy. She always insisted on sharing equal punishments with the mechs, always when she wasn't at fault. And the twins new full well she could go from recharge to kicking aft in a second. She didn't need protection from some fleshies.
Regardless, Sideswipe didn't hesitate to nod his helm. "Of course, you can stay with us! I bet fifty credits my seats are far more comfortable than whatever excuse they have for berths here." He transformed and opened a door for the femme.
Sunstreaker felt a shot of resentment. His seats were better than any other mech's, just like the rest of his frame. He transformed and make the same offer, adding, "Why don't you stay with me tonight?" The bond flooded with bitter curiosity, but Sunstreaker tamped his other half down. "Sides will just keep you up all night chatting, you should get some rest, though." He stated coolly, knowing the femme would agree with his logical assessment.
After the squishy gave him a confused glance, as if wondering how his door could possibly be open, she stepped over to him and carefully sat down. She was stiff, just like every time she sat in his alt, but he paid no mind. Instead, he sent over the physical sensation to Sides as a brag. The silver mech slammed is door shut and shot off, huffing envy through the bond. Sunstreaker followed at a slower pace, happy to take his time for once.