Disclaimer: I own nothing

Warning: hints at domestic (Sideswipe) and child (Rad) abuse.

Chapter 3

"Blurr stop that!" Optimus yelled finally managing to pull Blurr off of Spindle. Optimus had expected to find Blurr and Spindle engaging in 'fisticuffs' as that book he'd borrowed from Alexis had called a reasonably tame fistfight. What he hadn't expected was to see Blurr pinning Spindle up against the wall while repeatedly punching him in the face.

"Move Prime!" Blurr hissed.

Optimus felt a little bit of shock that Blurr would to him speak that way but he got over it quickly. "Blurr," the edge in his voice conveyed the order that Blurr wisely decided to heed.

"Whoa," said Sideswipe, nearly running into Optimus's back as he came flying around the corner.

Blurr nearly went at Spindle again when he saw the way the other mech looked at Sideswipe. The slagger was looking at him like he was a piece of meat. Optimus noticed the look too.

"Spindle, you quarters are the last door on the left. Go wait there," Optimus ordered. Right now Sideswipe, Spindle, and Blurr needed to be separated so he could deal with the current situation without further bloodshed.

He then turned back to Blurr and Sideswipe. "What was that about?"

Blurr just mumbled, "Nothing." Obviously he wasn't going to say anything in front of Sideswipe.

"Sideswipe, Hot Shot's probably worried. Go see him," Optimus ordered. Sideswipe looked like he was going to protest but Rad came around the corner. Giving the boy a significant look, Sideswipe took off for the Rec room with Rad following close behind.

After he was sure the two were out of ear shot Optimus turned back to Blurr. "Well?"

Blurr looked away.

"Blurr. What did he say that got under your skin that easily?" Optimus asked.

"He said a few things about Sideswipe."

"What kind of things?" Optimus asked. Nobody talked bad about his troops, especially the younger ones like Hot Shot and Sideswipe. Blurr mumbled something still refusing to look at him.

"Blurr," Optimus said sternly.

"He basically accused Sideswipe of being a prostitute," Blurr finally admitted.

'We have prostitutes? Curse you, sheltered childhood' Optimus mentally cursed. 'Wait, did he say-'

"What!"

"He said Sideswipe was a prostitute when they met," Blurr ground out wanting to either get off the subject or go off and kill Spindle.

In the Rec Room Sideswipe and Rad huddled around Alexis' PDA —which Rad 'borrowed' from her and hadn't gotten around to returning— listening to Blurr and Optimus through Lazerbeak.

"There are prostitutes on Cybertron?" Rad asked.

"Yeah," Sideswipe said somewhat sadly.

"Were you one?"

"No… but I hung around a lot of them," Sideswipe sighed. "We were all in the same boat as far as things went. Refugees were always low on supplies so a lot of them did what ever they had to to get them," Sideswipe explained. He didn't say that the only reason he didn't have to resort to prostitution was because he was, in the words of his brother, 'a damngood thief.'

Optimus weighed his options. One, he could allow Blurr to kill Spindle, secondly, he could discipline Spindle himself, or finally and most logically, investigate to make sure Blurr hadn't misunderstood or find out if Spindle's charge was true.

As much as he wanted to trust Sideswipe, Optimus knew option three was his choice. He couldn't discipline Spindle for saying something that was true, although he wouldn't hold it against Sideswipe for doing what was necessary to survive. While Optimus led a sheltered life before joining the Autobot military, even he couldn't be oblivious to the fact that the war had pushed many refugees and neutrals to less than respectable means such as thieving and the like.

Optimus sighed. The only way he could really 'investigate' was ask Sideswipe. The 'Bot was usually honest but would he really reveal something like that?

"Where the slag did he get off to?" Hot Shot asked out loud. He'd been looking for Sideswipe since Optimus had run off to see if Spindle and Blurr were trying to kill each other and hadn't found him yet. Hot Shot had to stamp down the urge to go back and yell at Red Alert again. For the love of Primus, Sideswipe faints and then Red Alert just lets him walk out of the infirmary like it's nothing? In his weakened state Sideswipe could be kidnapped by Decepticons or assaulted by Blurr or something. Really, was he the only one who thought of these things? It was a wonder that Sideswipe was still alive and relatively well with as many chances the other Autobots took with his health.

"So rock climbing it is?" Hot Shot stopped walking when he heard Rad's voice coming from around the corner.

"Yeah. I need to clear my head before I go talk to Blurr," Sideswipe sighed just as he came around the corner—and stopped short upon seeing Hot Shot.

"Why do you need to talk to Blurr?" Hot Shot asked suspiciously.

"Umm… Those rocks aren't going to climb themselves!" Sideswipe exclaimed before turning tail and running.

"Huh?" Hot Shot asked, confused. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Rad said running after Sideswipe.

Spindle sat on his bunk staring lazily at the wall with a cocky smirk. It had taken him so long to find Sideswipe, mostly because of that slagging, son of a toaster, Sunstreaker. Not only had he interfered with his and Sideswipe's relationship, he also helped Sideswipe vanish into the Autobot military. Of course Sunstreaker had been paid back for that in full. A few of Spindle's friends had paid Sunstreaker a visit right after Spindle left for Earth. Yesterday he'd gotten a message from those friends telling him that Sunstreaker was duly taken care of.

Spindle frowned. He hadn't expected Sideswipe to have jumped into a new relationship just like that, which if he read Blurr right, Sideswipe had. It was another obstacle. So was Hot Shot. Those two were the most likely to interfere with him getting Sideswipe back. Stupid idiots. They wouldn't be in the way for long. He'd get rid of them just like he got rid of the others who dared to stand in between him and what was his. The fools who thought to take Sideswipe for themselves.

Come the next battle there would be a few more casualties than usual.

AN: R&R

Brigg: That took you long enough.

Xandra: Well I'm sorry but in the past few weeks I've had an emotional break down in the middle of class, had to play midwife to a cat, been yelled at by my dumbass uncle for taking MY bike without asking my cousin first, and been dealing with unbelievably horrible grades.

Brigg: I thought you destroyed public education.

Xandra: Stupid timeloop makes me have to go to school.

Brigg: Timeloop? I could use that to go back in time and stop you from becoming Empress!

Xandra: You tried that already. We ended up married with three kids.

Brigg: Where are the kids anyway?