I do not own Transformers, Nor do I own any other brands, shows, or patented materials that I may mention in this story now and in the future chapters.

Big Thank You to; SunnyandSidesexcellentadventur, GreyGranian, Lil-B-Rebel, Raven The Fox, Mango-sama, Vinnal, PyroPanda24, cartoon lover 2016, AutobotSeeker98, Snowball A.K.A. WinterWolf, DawnofShadows256, Reikal, Grimm-Winter13 and Shmop for Following this story!

Big Thank You to; Observer and Scholar, Red Rose Cat, Vinnal, Vangogh27, cartoon lover 2016, DaisukiHaru, Snowball A.K.A. WinterWolf, Kenzie605, DawnofShadows256, Vilu Talvi, Grimm-Winter13and Shmop for adding this story to their list of Favorites!

Major thanks to; lizziecats, Jynx Fang Nemesis, JessicaBelleHolmes andCosmicUnicorn for Following me! I appreciate it!

Major thanks to; lizziecats, Jynx Fang Nemesis, JessicaBelleHolmes and CosmicUnicorn for adding me to their list of Favorite authors! I appreciate it!

Autobot-Bre-Lightblast: You are welcome. I'm glad that it helped! I hope that you like this new chapter! Let me know what you think!

Hearts Tempo: I'm glad that you got a laugh out of it! And of course I'm glad that you enjoyed it! I hope you like this chapter!


Sideswipe had gotten the two through Iowa quickly and was slowly making their way into Nebraska when he looked over at his guide. She had eaten and then fallen asleep but only for twenty minutes. She had woken with a soft startled yelp before she looked around silently. Sideswipe wasn't much for silence. He didn't mind cold silences, after all he was subjected to them with his twin most of the time they were together. But there was nothing worse than a forced silent drive. His guide had quietly watched the other vehicles pass by as well as the scenery barely saying anything at all and it was beginning to wear on the frontliner. He thought back to the conversation he had had with her the day prior. What kind of planet forced younglings to live with negligent and abusive care givers?

"Hey, um. You okay? Do you need to refuel?"

He asked using his holoform to look at her. She sighed and stretched slightly before looking at him with a small kind smile. "I'll be okay. A…are you okay?" She asked shyly. The temporarily silver mech shrugged. "I'm fine, aside from my still damaged hip strut, communications system, gps, and lack of twin." He said angrily. He wasn't angry at her for asking, but he was angry that he was in the situation at all. She looked sorry for a moment before she curled back into his seat and continued to watch the cars go by. He cursed himself for making the situation worse before he tried again. "So, why did those other organics not put you with a good family unit? What is it based on and why didn't they understand that they were doing more harm than good? Are your adults that dense?" He asked barely able to contain his rage. This femme was fragile, not only in personality but physically. He watched the other migrating organics and they seemed…bigger than her. Even the younglings appeared to be portlier than her. He could have sworn he saw her spinal array as well as her hip struts through her flimsy armor when she was in recharge. Her skin clung desperately to her frame making her look gaunt and weak, and her pale skin didn't do much to help her.

She sighed before she sat forward, looking at a sign as it passed. "Turn down the next exit please. I…I…need to make a pit stop." She said almost embarrassedly making Sideswipe look at her in confusion. "You need to make a what?" He asked as he continued to get off the highway. "I…need to go to the bathroom." She said as her cheeks turned red again. "Didn't you bathe already?" He asked as she directed him to a building where strange noises could be heard. Sideswipe remembered them to be the baying of hounds, but they sounded much sadder, mournful in a way.

Once Sideswipe was parked, Lilac jumped out of him and jogged into the animal shelter. She really did need to go to the bathroom, and it was only convenient that the animal shelter had appeared after he had asked her that question. "Excuse me, ma'am? May I use your restroom?" She asked apprehensively. With a kind smile the volunteer led her to the restrooms, leaving Sideswipe to stand alone in the lobby.

He listened to the odd noises and looked around at the pictures and wares. "Adoption fair?" He said under his breath as he wandered into the next room over. Sideswipe was shocked to see a handful of kennels all filled with hounds varying in size and breed. The smell put him off, but only for a moment as one hound in particular caught his attention. It was the largest animal the facility had, and his displayed paper work showed that he was also the oldest. Said animal wagged his tail happily when he saw Sideswipe and gave a loveable yip when the frontliner looked at him.

Lilac had been in the bathroom longer than she wanted. The food that the kind people at the truck stop had given her upset her stomach. "Too much grease." She mentally moaned as she began to look for Sideswipe. She eventually found him playing in an adoption pen outside with a large Siberian Husky. "I really hope he gets adopted today."

A worker said as she replenished the dog's water. "Poor guy's been adopted and returned so many times. Breaks my heart." She said walking over to said husky petting him lovingly. "Isn't that right Yukon?"

"Why would anyone return him? He's awesome!"

"Nobody knows why he keeps returning. People just drop him off and leave. I think he was adopted from here as a puppy, and then the family had to move and couldn't afford him, so they left him with us. Then he got re-adopted to another family that left him at a day camp for pets and never picked him up. That was his second time coming back to us, and the most recent was someone leaving him chained up outside for weeks on end with no food or water. He finally put the weight he lost back on. Poor guy's seen a lot." She said sadly as she rubbed the dog's belly.

It was at that moment that Sideswipe saw the look on Lilac's face. It was a look of understanding, but her eyes told a vastly different story. She knew what that animal had been through. The fear, pain and sorrow in her eyes confirmed it. Quietly Sideswipe pulled himself off the ground and came over to her, silently guiding her out of the pen and through the rest of the festivities. He made sure she had something to drink and something to eat, seeing how flushed her skin seemed to be as they looked at all the animals.

Though neither planed it, the spent the majority of their morning at the animal shelter, and watched as the pound grew emptier and emptier. Sideswipe circled back to the husky many times seeing other humans playing with him, but noticing those same humans later driving away with smaller hounds, typically described as "puppies". Sideswipe didn't understand. The dog was very loveable and friendly, and far superior to the other smaller hounds in terms of protection and in size. It was the most logical choice.

Lilac watched Sideswipe grow more and more confused about why the Husky wasn't adopted, and so when the staff placed it back inside its kennel, she pulled him into the room and stood against the wall. Waiting. There was only one other dog in the room, and it just so happened to be the last of the litter of puppies.

"I don't get it. He's bigger, friendlier, and smarter than the other's here. Why hasn't anyone picked him?"

"Because he's too old."

"What?"

"Nobody wants him because he's too old."

"He's only three earth years old!"

"Exactly. Sideswipe, people don't want dogs like Yukon because they think that he's set in his ways. They think that they can't change his behavior if they don't like it, or that due to his friendliness that he'd be too hard to control."

"But, that shouldn't matter. He deserves a chance! Not only that, but he could better protect a family unit than those baby hounds that everyone seems so fond of! His charts even say that he's potty trained! Whatever that means… unlike the other little ones. And he's smart, he does what you tell him!"

"That doesn't matter. People want something small, cute and trainable. They want to raise the dogs how they want and to do as they specifically say. They don't pick dogs like him because they want to raise a puppy into what they want it to be. To mold and shape it into exactly what they want. A puppy is a blank slate that they can do anything with. Yukon isn't."

She said with an edge. Sideswipe got the feeling that she and Yukon might have a lot in common. Just by the way she was speaking made Sideswipe upset. He was upset because she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Like she was the one passed over time and time again. Just as he felt this, an energetic five-year-old came running into the room squealing about how excited he was at getting to pick the new family pet. "Oh, he's totally gonna get adopted! Look at the youngling! They're perfect for each other! They both have lots of energy, and he looks like he loves to play!" Sideswipe said excitedly seeing the child run up to the Husky's kennel. Yukon yipped playfully at the child and bowed wagging his tail. For the extra appeal he sat when the boy asked, and he howled playfully, making the boy squeal with excitement. "See?" Sideswipe said smugly as the kid's parents walked in mid howl. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! I want this one!"

"I don't know. He's awfully big isn't he?"

"And look at that fur! He must shed year round!"

"Oh, but I'll feed him, and brush him, and play with him!"

The kid said petting Yukon from between the bars. The dog seemed to give an earnest whine as he slowly wagged his tail. He liked the little human a lot too. "Oh but look at this one! Aww look at her! Isn't she cute?"

The women cooed. She had discovered the puppy, who in turn whined adorably up at her and wagged its tail playfully. "See son? This one has much shorter fur! And you can teach it any kind of tricks you like!"

"But what about- "

"Sweetheart, that dog is old, he probably doesn't want to learn any new tricks. And besides look at her, she already likes you!"

The woman said looking back to the puppy that rolled onto her back with a sweet yip, presenting her belly to be rubbed. The child looked to the puppy and smiled.

Sideswipe watched sadly as the manager took the puppy and the family unit to another room to get acquainted. "I don't get it. Why didn't they want him? He was perfect for them!" He said angrily as another worker he had met earlier walked into the room. "I know what you mean. Unfortunately, Yukon's time with us is almost up."

"What do mean by that?"

"Sideswipe, it means they're going to euthanize him."

He gave the two a blank stare, unaware of what they meant.

"Animals that come to this shelter can only stay for a certain amount of time before we have to dispose of them humanely. Most pounds across the country kill off the animals they can't get people adopt. It's a sad fact." The worker said watching the family interact with the puppy through the window.

"What?! No! No! Can't you guy spare him or something?!"

"I'm afraid not. He's been here too long."

She said sympathetically as the manager walked by with the family and their newly chosen puppy. However, her expression changed once they were alone in the room. "Do you guys wanna help me? And Yukon?"

"Yes!"

Sideswipe said hastily before Lilac could open her mouth. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do; there happens to be a husky rescue nearby. My dick of a manager wouldn't let them adopt Yukon for whatever reason. But what I can do is make it look like you adopted him and then sneak him to the rescue. I hate to ask but- "

"We'll do it. I don't care where it is, give her a map we'll find it. He is not going to die today."

Sideswipe said firmly. It took them three hours in total to get Yukon out of the pound and to the Husky rescue that was a few counties away. Turns out the rescue had changed locations and gotten themselves more land and better facilities for their animals. Once Sideswipe saw that Yukon would be properly cared for, and that he'd have plenty of female huskies to play with as well as male, he consented to Yukon becoming a part of the rescue. Both parties were a little sad, but after one last belly rub and lick to the face, Yukon galloped off into one of the many play yards with a happy departing howl.

In turn, Sideswipe and Lilac were given a business card with a link to the rescue's website. There they could watch Yukon all they wanted and learn about his progress in their biweekly newsletter. With their good deed done for the day, the two ventured back onto the road.

To make up for lost time, Sideswipe began speeding. Poor Lilac still wasn't feeling too well, and the fair food wasn't helping as he took wild turns around corners. He was also talking a mile a minute; "Three years old? That's crazy! I knew that you organics were short lived, but to fragging kill a creature off at fragging three years old?! That's just cruel!"

"What do you…mean by short lived?" Lilac managed to ask after a well-hidden burp. That greasy slice of pizza was certainly coming back to haunt her. "Oh, well one of your lifespans is basically one year on our planet. Give or take a few years mind you. To us they're called vorns." He said cheerfully as he swung around a bend at 120 miles per hour. Lilac internally groaned and looked at the sky. The blurring road lines and scenery was making her nauseous. She watched as a fancy military jet flew overhead seemingly doing aerial acrobatics seeing as it flipped and flopped every which way before it sped off and disappeared from her view. Sideswipe was still talking as she absentmindedly wondered how she always seemed to be in places with lots of trees. She was trying to think of anything to keep her from throwing up again. "-And so by human standards I guess you could say I act closer to a 15 or 16-year-old, but in reality I'm much older than that!"

"R…really? (Urp) How…how old are you?" She asked trying to control her dry heaves. She was losing the fight to the pizza quickly. "Oh about 1,328, give or take a year or two. My twin and I are amongst the youngest of the bots on earth, Bumblebee is a few vorns younger than us. He's about- "

"Pull over."

"What?"

"PULL OVER!"

She shouted as she slapped her hand over her mouth. Sideswipe pulled to the side of the road amongst the trees, watching as his guide ran from his alt and purged her tanks. "Her distance was impressive." Sideswipe noted to himself. The undigested food left her body and landed about a foot and a half away from her. After a few more gags, and some hard coughing Lilac stood up and popped her back. "Okay…(sniff) Can I have my backpack?"

"The frag?! You just purged your tanks and you want your bag?! What the pit?! Are you okay?"

"I'm good. I only really need to throw up once and then I feel fine. Although if I have a virus or something, that isn't always the case. But I feel better now!" She said as Sideswipe cautiously handed the backpack to her. She needed to brush her teeth. "Primus! I knew that some humans found old age to be revolting, but I wasn't expecting that!"

"That's not why I threw up. The food I ate made me sick." She said after she spit out the mouthful of water and began brushing her teeth. "That slag made you sick?! Frag it! I didn't know that your own source of fuel could do that! Slag! We'll have to find you some more, and we'll have to make sure it isn't poisonous or whatever!" He said as he rolled back and forth in an odd sort of pace. Lilac smiled internally as she saw this. At least he seemed to care about her. She watched Sideswipe continue to mother hen and noticed something out of her corner of her eye. The jet from earlier was flying closer to them, and it seemed to be getting lower and lower. She spit out her tooth paste and was rinsing her mouth again when she swallowed hard, choking. The jet had disappeared and then reappeared only less than a mile behind Sideswipe. Her choking made him panic more as she grabbed her throat and began pointing behind him. "Holy frag! Are you- "

"S…S…SIDES! DE PLANE! DE PLANE!" She hacked out before she began to run in the opposite direction. "De what? OH SLAG- "

He grunted as the jet slammed into him, forcing him back ripping and breaking through the trees. Lilac screamed from where she was hiding behind a rock. Suddenly the area grew quiet. She listened to the sounds of dark laughter and the sounds of a transformation sequence. "Well well well. Would you look this. One pathetic Autobot out all on his own."

"Skywarp."

"Oh…Even better! What happened to your prissy twin? Don't tell me! He's left you alone and is off having a spa day at the local car wash?"

"You're gonna fragging pay for that con!"

"Oh? And who's gonna make me?"

He asked right before he warped away. Lilac blinked rapidly at where the petrifying being once stood before she felt a chill slink down her spine. She swallowed hard and turned around, trembling. The sight that greeted her made her blood run cold. She subconsciously added what she was seeing to the lengthy list of things that appear in her nightmares. Blood red optics stared down at her from a face that looked as though it had seen better days, if the scars were any indication. The creature was surprisingly filthy, especially since it flew around. She knew this due to the indescribable odor, and the ashy streaks amongst the purple highlights on his armor. He smiled sinisterly showing an array of stained teeth and allowing the stench of his breath to make her hair stand on end. Oh yes, this thing was most certainly going to be rearing his overly sharp features in her nightmares. Assuming she lived to have any. "And who is this? One of the Autobot's squishy pets?"

He said as he lifted her off the ground by the collar of her shirt. Sideswipe snarled as he tackled the seeker making him throw Lilac. Thankfully Sideswipe caught her and dropped her closer to the ground so that she could run away and hide.

Lilac ran for her life or at least she tried. She was caught up in watching the battle from where she sat in the tree she had inadvertently scaled in her rush to get somewhere safe. Surely falling from a tree was safer than getting stepped on.

The two titans snarled and yelled at each other, the red eyed one making what seemed to be snide comments in what Lilac had to guess was Sideswipe's native language. He in turn snarled as he charged at him, drawing what looked like two very large triangular swords from his wrists. The monster in turn, drew what looked to be a very large gun out of nowhere. Sideswipe dodged the first few shots skillfully, but growled as one scuffed his paint. This had the other laughing at his vanity, but not for long. Sideswipe slashed at the creature drawing some form of blue liquid and making it howl in pain. After that Lilac couldn't tell who was doing what. They had kicked up enough dust and dirt so that she couldn't see. All should could hear were laughs of triumph, howls of pain and the odd insult in either language. She wasn't sure how long the two were fighting until there was a mighty shriek of pain and then silence.

"Here fleshy fleshy fleshy! Come out come out where ever you are!"

Lilac paled. The red eyed demon was looking for her.

XXXXX

Sunstreaker was furious. He and his twin were supposed to land together, but no, that slagger had to intercept the asteroids protecting both him and Jolt from being damaged and taken down. And he had the gall to say "Don't worry, I'll see you there! Say hi to the Hatchet for me!" before he was knocked into the atmosphere, and before he and Jolt were smacked into by more asteroids! Nobody knew where he landed. His locating beacons were down, and who fragging knows what else was damaged in his fall? To make matters worse, he can't even feel his twin. He could fragging feel his twin when he was stationed in Iacon and Sideswipe near Polyhex. And that was a far larger distance and Cybertron was far larger than earth! Yet somehow he couldn't feel his twin now.

Sunstreaker gave an unsettling snarl to the humans that wandered a little too close to his wheeled feet. That was another thing. He wasn't just stuck on some mud ball of a planet, he had to learn to work with the primitive, annoying, fleshy inhabitants of said planet as well. "Primus, you must love to torture me." He thought angrily as he skated into the rec room, if that's what you called it. A few couches and tables for the soldiers and, somehow they had found furniture big enough for them too. "Seriously where the pit did they find a Prime sized couch, let alone tables, chairs, and a fragging desk for Primus sakes?! It's barely been a month after Mission city!" He snarled internally.

Once he had his cube of Energon he skated to the main hanger. Sure he and his twin could walk, they did have normal peedes like everybot else, but using their tires to skate got them places faster. Which is important on the battlefield even if the humans don't know it yet. "Sunstreaker, any word on Sideswipe?"

Asked Prime. "What do you think?!" He snarled viciously as he went to a darkened corner to sulk. Ironhide was about to say something to him, but Prime stopped him. Sunstreaker didn't hate his commanding officer. Quite the contrary. He had a deep respect for the Prime, even if he didn't always agree with his ideals (some of these fragging humans were too damn annoying!). In turn, Prime knew why his frontliner was so livid. If Sunstreaker had his way, he'd be out searching for his twin day and night without rest until he found him. But Prime couldn't allow that. What with human relations being so new, the slow disintegration of Sector Seven, (who were hoping to get in on the action, and that the bots wouldn't press some sort of charges for what they did to poor Bumblebee) and not even knowing where his other frontliner had landed. It wouldn't be wise to allow what many began to call "The sociopathic Lambo from hell" to roam across the country freely…at least not without proper supervision by Prime or another officer. He had promised Sunstreaker that they would look for him, and that they had to scavenge for the facilities to do so seeing that there was only a thin line of trust between Prime and the human governments.

Optimus Prime, Ironhide, as well as Captain William Lennox and Sargent Robert Epps, were currently going over the possible trajectory that Sideswipe had taken when Sunstreaker snarled viciously before falling to the floor dropping his cube and clutching at his spark casing. The two humans instinctively panicked, but Prime and Ironhide didn't. Instead they took a few steps closer to him, seemingly knowing what was going on. "Sunstreaker?"

"That son of a glitch."

He chuckled ruefully as he sat up on his knee joints. "He's alive. And he's getting his aft kicked." He said with only the tiniest hints of a smirk. He was still furious, but now he knew his twin was okay. Well, as okay as he could be since he was in danger. "Can you tell where he is?"

"No, I can barely feel him. I don't even know if he feels me."

He growled as Lennox began to swear. "Those mother fu-…sorry sorry." He said realizing everyone's eyes and optics were on him. "Those idiots from Sector 7, just called me! They found a crater, and some odd imprints in- "

"Kentucky? Cause that's where his trajectory said he landed."

"Yep. Get the soldiers ready. We gotta get to Kentucky asap."

Will said as the two dashed off. Sunstreaker sent waves of concern, hope, and strength to his twin. For his sake he'd better survive, or Sunstreaker would personally bring him back just to kick his aft.

XXXXX

Lilac was silently crying. That monster had done something to Sideswipe and was still looking around on the ground for her. The dust had settled, she could see his prone form on the ground, surrounded by a small pool of that blue stuff that she now was beginning to believe to be some form of blood. "Oh fleshling! Where are you?" It sang out from right next to her. She silently prayed that it didn't find her, and nearly cheered when she saw Sideswipe twitch. "Oh there you are!" It called making her scream out in horror. She climbed the tree higher, trying to get away from its sharp claw like fingers. "Now now! No need to fear me! I simply want a pet is all." He said as he leaned in closer to the tree. His back was towards a now slowly rising Sideswipe. "Then again, should anybot find that I have you, it might get you terminated. No matter, there are many of you humans. I suppose I could just go get another!" He laughed darkly as he reached for her again just barely missing. Sideswipe saw this and quickly crept up on the stupid seeker. He reared one of his wheeled feet back and made the tire rotate quickly. Nobody would ever know the satisfaction he got from kicking Skywarp, or from leaving a painful skid mark on his aft and groin area as the seeker flew unassisted, thirty feet up into the sky, where Sideswipe then shot him in both the aft and in his wings.

Skywarp howled in pain and looked down on his now smirking enemy. "This isn't over Autobot!" He snarled as he warped away. His wounds were painful, but he did take satisfaction in the amount of energon that Sideswipe had lost. "He won't get far." The seeker thought cruelly as he made his way back to the Decepticon outpost nearby.

Sideswipe was in pain and he was exhausted. Grabbing Lilac, he barely made it back to the roadside where he collapsed wordlessly. Lilac watched in fear as he transformed back into the old corvette, leaking blue from his undercarriage in far too many places. He popped the severely dented driver's side door open for her with a fading whisper; "Kid, you're gonna have to drive me to Nevada. I don't know if I'll make it."


A/N: Hello! *Hides behind shield as various projectiles hit it* To explain why I didn't post in the last month, two words; Vacation, work. I did write some of this chapter in the spare time I had though! And because it was so long since the last post, I made this chapter longer! This chapter is more serious, and the next might be too, I haven't decided yet. Here's a little Sunstreaker for you! Don't worry, Sideswipe will live!

I hope that you like this chapter! Please let me know what you think, by adding this story to your favorites, following it, or by leaving me a long (please!) rambling review! Remember we authors need reviews to get better at writing, and because they make us feel loved!

Hope you are well!

CLYL!