FINDING HOME

CHAPTER 4

BY VOODOO QUEEN

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, Dear Readers! I hope you're having a lovely day. Thank you to all who have taken the time to read and add this story to their alerts and faves. Extra special thanks to Mywinx14, IcebreakerCoco, Edges05, Adelphe24, Autobot-Bre-Lightblast for taking the time to review. To answer Mywinx14's question, Side's look is based off Bayverse. I like the idea of one twin being silver and the other bein "gold". The story will have some elements from other continuities, like G1, as it progresses. I hope that clears up any confusion.

This chapter was updated on 10/23/2021 to correct spelling, grammar, flow, and other things my editing software missed.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN TRANSFORMERS, JUST MY OWN ORIGINAL CHARACTERS AND PLOT.

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"What did you do?" Anger radiated off Sunstreaker's bright armor in waves as he paced the small berth room he and his brother shared. His fists were clenched at his sides so hard he could feel his finger joints creak under the strain. "What in the Pit did you do, Sideswipe?"

"I'm not really sure, to be honest." The silver twin sat upon his berth looking thoughtful and rubbing a hand over his chest plates in contemplation. "It just sort of happened."

"This does not just sort of happen, you fragging glitch!" Sunstreaker yelled at his brother. He was livid and the only thing stopping him from putting his fist through Sideswipe's face was the fact that the mech was literally his other half and the only other being in the universe besides himself that he could honestly claim that he loved if anyone were to ask. "Primus, do you have any idea what this means, dumb aft?"

"Uh," Sideswipe shrugged, "that we're going to have to request better accommodations? This room is a little tight as it is with just the two-"

Enraged, Sunstreaker whirled on the mech. His frame trembled with barely restrained violence. "Better accommodations? Do you think this is funny?"

"Funny?" Sideswipe chuckled, completely ignoring the fact that his twin looked ready to tear him limb from limb. "No, not especially, but you have to admit that it's a little different." He pressed his hand over his spark chamber and looked at his brother seriously. "I don't get why you're so pissed off. I know you can feel it through our bond. This is a little more serious than just simple chemistry. I thought you'd be more, I don't know…excited."

"Excited?" Sunstreaker snarled at his brother in disbelief. "How glitched are you that you could think that I would be happy about this?"

"Well," Sideswipe started, "I mean, we used to talk about this kind of thing all the time before the war. We always said we were going to save up some credits and get out of the gladiator pits. We'd get as far away from Kaon as we could. We were going to find a place of our own. You were going to focus on your art and once we were settled someplace, we'd start thinking seriously about maybe finding-"

"No!" Sunsteaker bellowed, cutting the other mech off. "This is nothing like what we discussed! Nothing! Do you hear me? Look around you! I never wanted to be stuck on a fragging filthy planet full of disgusting, squishy organics. I certainly never wanted my twin brother to start fraternizing with them! I don't know what you've done to yourself, Sides, but I want no part of it! Do you understand me? I want nothing to do with it!"

"We're twins, Sunny." Sideswipe sighed, "You know as well as I do that it doesn't work that way."

"Stop talking!" Sunstreaker seethed, "You're going to keep this slag to yourself, got it? I don't want to know anything about it. Do you understand?"

"But, Sunny…"

"Hey!" Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door. "Open up! What's going on in there?"

"This conversation is done," Sunsteaker hissed at his brother as he stalked over and wrenched open the door. Still angry, he snapped at the mech on the other side of the threshold, "What do you want?"

Prowl, Prime's Second in Command, was unaffected by the mech's aggressive stance. His expression remained impassive, door wings held high, as his sharp optics swept over the berth room taking in its condition and occupants with intense scrutiny. "Is there a problem here?"

"No," Sunsteaker grit out, irritated at the mech's presence. "No problem."

"Good." Prowl eyed the other mech for a moment longer before continuing with his reason for being there in the first place. "Both of you get down to the hangar. We're getting ready to brief the new troops."

"I'm on my way." Sideswipe jumped up from his berth eagerly upon hearing that the newbies were being brought over and sidled his way out of the room passed his brother and headed off in the direction of the hangar. "Thanks, Prowl!"

Sunstreaker watched his brother go with a look of disgust plastered on his face plates. He shouldered his way roughly passed the SIC, slamming the berth room door behind himself, and shot the mech a death glare. "Yeah, thanks a lot, Prowl."

#

"This place is huge," Monroe whispered. "Do you think they really keep giant robots here?"

"I don't know," Doe whispered back quietly as they followed the small herd of new NEST recruits into a cavernous plane hangar that had been outfitted to look more like Mission Control at NASA than a place to park aircraft. "If they were going to keep them, though, this would be the place to do it. You could fit an entire carrier in here, easy."

"Hey, look over there." Monroe whispered excitedly as he pointed to an area in the back of the hangar where an assortment of expensive-looking vehicles sat parked. "I'm telling you; these guys are making serious bank."

"Yeah," Doe nodded. She noted that the group was moving closer to where the cars were parked, and she took a moment to really look them over. At the front of the group was a giant blue semi with red flames painted on it, next to it sat a Dodge Charger Pursuit police car, followed by a black GMC Topkick, and a red Ferrari 458 Italia. At the end of the row of vehicles, closest to where she and Monroe came to stand, and much to her discomfort, sat the two Lamborghinis, one silver and the other yellow. A cold shiver worked its way through her body even as the heat in her chest bloomed.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. If I could please have your attention…"

Doe sighed in relief for the distraction and diverted her attention over to the Army Captain that had climbed up onto a catwalk running the length of the hangar in order to address the crowd.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome each one of you to NEST. My name is Captain William Lennox. I'm hoping this morning that I'll be able to clear up some of the rumors I'm sure you've all heard floating around base and break the proverbial ice, so to speak..."

Doe tried to listen to the Captain as he outlined the core values of NEST, the team's mission, and his expectations for its members. As she stood there, however, the intense feeling of being watched returned with a vengeance. It very nearly made her skin crawl and she fidgeted uneasily, unconsciously moving closer to Monroe and bumping into his side. The man glanced down at her curiously, questioning her with a look, but she shook her head, indicating that he should be listening to what Captain Lennox was saying instead. Once he'd refocused on the briefing, Doe allowed her eyes to wander over the vehicles assembled in the hangar, specifically, the two Lamborghinis.

Doe felt the warmth in her chest begin again the peculiar tingle she felt for the first time when she'd touched the silver one. Absently, she pressed a hand above her heart and wondered at the strange reaction as she let her gaze drift over the car's exterior. She supposed Monroe was right. It was a very nice car but quite possibly a safety hazard judging from her experience the previous evening. An electrical problem, perhaps? She let her eyes wander over to the yellow one. She wondered if she would get the same kind of zap if she touched it, too. Her fingers twitched at the thought and she had a sudden urge to march over and slap her palms down on its hood to see what would happen. She quickly squashed the notion. That car frightened her, quite honestly, and she really didn't want to be any closer to it than necessary.

With some difficulty, she managed to rip her eyes away from the two vehicles and refocused on Captain Lennox. She grimaced upon realizing that the man was wrapping up his speech and that she had likely missed information of some importance. Luckily, Monroe looked like he'd been paying attention. She'd have to question him about what all was said later. As it was, she barely managed to catch the Captain's closing remarks.

"Again, we're extremely pleased to welcome you all as members of our NEST family. Right now, I'd like to turn it over to my colleague in command of the other half of our team here who has a few words for you of his own. Optimus?"

On cue, the semi that had been quietly sitting off to the side began to literally unfold before the crowd's eyes. The sounds of shifting metal and the whine of hydraulics filled the hangar. Awestruck, the assembled group of new recruits found themselves staring up into the face of a metal giant that stood where the semi had once been parked. The silence was almost deafening in its intensity as the huge man/machine surveyed the group appraisingly with a pair of glowing blue eyes.

Seemingly finding whatever it was he'd been looking for, the huge mechanical man turned to the line of vehicles and commanded in a smooth baritone, "Autobots, transform."

The group's silence turned into gasps and exclamations of surprise as, one by one, the other vehicles began to reconfigure themselves into similar metal humanoid shapes, though none as enormous or as awe inspiring as the semi had been. Doe watched the events with an ever-increasing level of apprehension as each subsequent vehicle revealed its true form. Sooner than she would have liked, it was the Lamborghinis' turn to shock and awe the crowd and she found herself wishing that the floor would open and swallow her whole.

The two transformed in tandem revealing, not identical, but a very similar build and design. Doe thought she was going to faint when the silver one immediately locked eyes with her upon completing its transformation. Its metallic features hitched up into what she could only assume was a grin as it lifted its hand and waved at her. This action had earned it a non-too-gentle cuff to the back of the head by the yellow one. The sharp clang of metal hitting metal startled Doe, as well as a few of the other recruits who'd been watching, completely transfixed, but wasn't nearly as frightening as when the yellow one decided to direct its attention her way as well. If looks could kill, there was no doubt in her mind that she would have been a very, very dead woman.

Self-preservation took over and Doe slowly backed further into the group of recruits, trying to blend in with those around her and melt into the crowd. She side-stepped around Monroe. The man was too dumbstruck by the giant robots to realize she was attempting to use him as a human shield, a fact she was most thankful for. Using the man's superior height and breadth as a barrier wasn't ideal concealment and wasn't quite enough to get her out of the beings' direct line of sight but it was better than nothing. She chanced a cautious look back in their direction from the corner of her eye. The yellow one seemed to have lost interest in her, thankfully, and seemed to be silently brooding. The silver one, however, still had its undivided attention focused on her and, much to Doe's horror, managed to catch her shy glance once again and responded with a wink. Doe's chest burned/tingled with renewed ferocity and she suddenly decided the toes of her boots were very interesting and focused her eyes there instead.

"My name is Optimus Prime," the former semi spoke, drawing the attention of all who were present. "We are a race of autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, but you may call us Autobots. We are both humbled and honored to reside and work here amongst you, but our presence has, unfortunately, come at a high cost. Most of you are no doubt familiar with the tragedy that befell Mission City..."

Doe knew she should have felt rapt attention at the alien leader's words. Her mind, however, was acutely aware of the two giant beings looming right on the cusp of her periphery. It put her on edge, and she was just barely able to restrain herself from screaming and running from the hangar like a crazy person. Instead, she scooted as close as she possibly could to Monroe as was decent given the situation and without drawing the man's scrutiny. This wasn't what she'd signed up for. She wanted the safety, security, and familiarity of the CIC she'd spent the last two years of her life in. She wanted routine and stability: two things that had always been sorely lacking in her life prior to enlisting. There was nothing stable about this scenario and, for the first time, she genuinely wished there was someone there to assure her that the situation would get better, even if it wasn't the truth.

"Only by working together can we overcome the obstacles set before us. Together we can assure that planet Earth does not meet the same fate as Cybertron at the hands of the Decepticons. On that note, I'd like to introduce you to the other members of my team..."

Doe perked up slightly at those words. Knowing who the giant robots were could be vital information. Taking great care to avoid looking anywhere in the vicinity of the former Lamborghinis, she watched, trembling, as the one called Optimus Prime introduced the others one by one.

"Prowl is my Second in Command," the police car/robot stepped forward as Prime spoke. "He is a masterful tactician, brilliant in coordinating mission logistics, vital in overseeing the integration of our two teams, and ensuring day-to-day operations run smoothly."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," the black and white mech spoke in a professional tone, giving the crowd a crisp nod of acknowledgment before falling easily back into formation.

"Ironhide, our weapons specialist," Prime continued, indicating the next robot in line. "In addition to constantly maintaining and improving our weapon systems, he also coordinates our mech/human combat training exercises. Those of you rotating through the ground team will have a unique opportunity to learn from one of the finest soldiers Cybertron has ever produced."

The large, black robot stepped forward; the enormous cannons mounted to his arms humming menacingly. "Don't get any funny ideas."

"Ironhide," Prime warned before moving on to what had been a red Ferrari. "Mirage, our infiltrator, excels at stealth and plays a key role in our gathering of intelligence behind enemy lines."

"Buongiorno," the robot said in an Italian accent as he gave a slight bow. "Please, call me Dino."

Optimus continued down the line, "Sunstreaker and his brother Sideswipe, are two of our most formidable front-line soldiers and our foremost experts at close quarters combat. They are respected and feared even amongst the Decepticons for their efficiency and lethality on the battlefield."

Doe's heart nearly stopped, and she immediately looked back down at her feet. She hadn't been fast enough to miss the way that the yellow one, Sunstreaker, adopted an intimidating stance as he surveyed the crowd, seemingly daring them to dispute this prowess on the battlefield, or the way the silver one, Sideswipe, threw a couple punches into the air like a boxer warming up for a prize fight. There was no doubt in Doe's mind that the two were powerful warriors. There was an aura about the two that seemed to scream danger, the yellow one especially. The heat in her chest churned and tingled incessantly at her thoughts.

"Unfortunately," Prime continued, "our scout, Bumblebee, is currently on assignment and was unable to be with us this morning. He sends his warmest regards and looks forward to meeting all of you in the near future. My First Lieutenant, Jazz, and my Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet, are currently tied up in the med bay but will make time to come around and introduce themselves to you all later, as time permits."

Optimus wrapped up his words by again welcoming all the new recruits and reiterating how important is was that everyone worked as a team to fulfill their common mission to safeguard Earth and her people. He stressed that they were all on the same side and wanted nothing more than a peaceful coexistence and an end to the conflict with the Decepticons. He went on to say how he looked forward to personally making each and everyone's acquaintance before turning the show back over to Captain Lennox for any final thoughts.

Lennox thanked the mech before addressing the crowd once again. "The rest of your morning is going to be spent in indoc. Getting records turned in, going over the base rules, et cetera. The goal is to have you set up in your new workspaces by this afternoon so that you can get settled in and begin familiarizing yourselves with the way things work around here. Before I turn you all loose does anyone have any questions?" Lennox's eyes wandered over the group, looking for anyone who might have some pressing concern needing to be addressed. Nothing really stuck out to him, just the usual awe and curiosity he was used to seeing in the faces of the newly recruited. "Alright," he nodded, satisfied. "You are all dis-"

"Wait," Sideswipe raised his hand drawing a chorus of confused looks from the humans and Autobots alike. "I have a question, Lennox."

"No, you don't." Sunstreaker snarled and lunged at his brother, hissing, "Put your hand down, fragger."

"Yes, Sunny," Sideswipe expertly evaded his brother's hold, strafing gracefully away on a set of wheels attached to his feet. "I do."

The assembled crowd let out a gasp and backed away slightly as the mech skated his way closer to the group. He came to rest in a low crouch, elbows on his knee joints, directly in front of where Monroe stood with a terrified Doe very nearly plastered against his back. The mech craned his head to the side, trying to get a better look at the woman.

"Hey," Sideswipe tried to gain the human femme's attention. "Excuse me…"

"Uh," Monroe shifted uncomfortably at the robot's closeness and, noticing how the woman was hiding behind him for the first time, he stepped out of the way. "OS2? I think he's talking to you."

Doe suddenly found herself exposed, staring wide-eyed up at the silver mech who knelt no farther than an arm's reach away from her. Her heart beat a staccato rhythm and the warmth inside of her felt as though it was trying to push its way out through her breastbone. She'd never fainted before, but this was probably the closest she'd ever felt to succumbing to sudden unconsciousness.

"There you are." Sideswipe put on his most flirtatious smile, one that he knew from experience that femmes found attractive. "What's your name?"

Doe could feel all the eyes in the room suddenly on her. She never liked being the center of attention since it usually ended in a bad way for her. She opened her mouth to respond, to say something, anything, that would shift attention away from herself, but she couldn't get any words to come out. Her mind reeled for some sort of response that would stop the insanity as her mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She didn't know what the metal creature wanted with her, but it was obviously waiting on an answer to its relatively simple question.

Sideswipe tilted his head thoughtfully to the side. The woman was obviously overwhelmed and confused as all Pit and that wasn't what he wanted. The way she'd unconsciously been rubbing at her breastbone and tugging at her uniform throughout the briefing basically told him all he needed to know for his and Sunny's sake, for the moment anyway. She'd been affected, too, at least on some level. There was no sense in making any further scene out here in the open in front of everyone. Besides, he could feel Sunstreaker's anger and disgust building through their bond and knew his brother wasn't too far off from causing a scene of his own.

The mech leaned in close to the woman, his lip plates barely a hair's breadth from her ear and spoke in a voice low enough that only she could hear. "It's alright. We can talk about it late-"

"Get up!" A pair of yellow and gun metal gray hands seized Sideswipe suddenly and jerked him backwards.

Doe reeled backwards as the mech flailed inches from her face as he tried to regain his balance. A pair of hands seized her, as well, dragging her away from the pair of now pissed off robots that had taken to grappling and shoving each other around the hangar. She very nearly screamed before she realized it was Monroe that had grabbed her. Someone was shouting and it took her a moment to realize it was Captain Lennox ordering everyone out. NEST soldiers responded quickly, moving to herd the recruits outside before someone got hurt. Doe was caught up in the crush of bodies and just barely managed to catch a final glimpse of the two robots being forcibly separated by the black mech, Ironhide, and Prime's SIC, Prowl. The warm tingling in her chest continued unabated.

END OF CHAPTER 4

TO BE CONTINUED...