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; transformers101ed, TheNarnianMugglebornAvenger, iceblossom98,QuietRose-13, Ikune, LaurenA007, WishingWanderer, golden-priestess, ApocalypticSquirrel, zalladane-nyx, Rebekah Redwolf, Wolfenden, Alice Gone Madd, YaoiPrincess12, Jazzfan0217, CamoCountryGirl, shapeshifterlover, MidnightHowling4, Silverleone, LapisLazuliRose, bloodydarkangel, , ChinaDang, Tatsuhiro, Starworksrly, srjsunsat, Hero-100, werewolffang61, Eeirany, strikerstrike and chelsieraykaz for Following this story!

Big Thank You to; nuku nuku6, transformers101ed, iceblossom98, QuietRose-13,LaurenA007, ApocalypticSquirrel, HalfwayParanoid, Jazzfan0217, ReaperVandreadxProwl, zudebaby, shapeshifterlover, MidnightHowling4, Silverleone, , MysticFire101, Starworksrly, YaoiPrincess12, Hero-100 and strikerstrike for adding this story to their list of Favorites!

Don't judge me I'm a Fangirl: Your guess was really interesting! I hadn't noticed that it spelled that out before I wrote it! But it wasn't quite correct. Thank you for the compliment on the chapter! I try to write them as fast as possible! I'll explain what the license plate means at the end of this chapter. I hope you are well, and that you like this chapter!

Guest: Thank you for your understanding! It took 15 weeks but I finally finished this chapter! And thank you for your kind words! I try to write some humor into this story, The scrap yard scene was meant to be funny, at least from a human point of view, given that rust is almost harmless to us. Too bad it isn't for them! Plus Sideswipe isn't as vain as Sunstreaker, but he does have his moments and I wanted to show that in a funny way. Same with his opinions on humans crying. I love to make people laugh! And thank you for saying what you did about Lilac. I wanted to make her as deep of a character as I could, and you'll learn more about what she's been through in a few chapters. But hopefully you'll find this chapter funny! I hope you are well and that you like this chapter!

MysticFire101: I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you sooner. The plate was using trivia that can be found online. I hope that you can forgive me! School got in the way! I know what the plate means and I will tell you what it means in the author's note at the end of the chapter. Please forgive me! Thank you for your opinion of the chapter! I really do appreciate it! I hope you are well, and that you like this new chapter.

Flightstrike: Thank you for the compliment! I hope that you like this chapter, and that you are well!

Autobot-Bre-Lightblast: You are welcome for the update! Here is another chapter! Actually, it was Sunstreaker who stepped on the Pizza. Ratchet was the one who analyzed it. However, this will be the beginning of Ratchet's irritation with food, and believe me we'll see it in the next few chapters! I hope that you are well and that you like this chapter!

Hearts Tempo: Thank you! I'm glad that you found the last chapter to be cute! I hope that you are well, and that you like this new chapter!

Maria B: I'm glad that you think that this is a cool story! I hope that you'll stick around for all of its chapters! I will do my best to keep up the good work! I hope that you like this chapter and that you are well!

jgoss: Somebody has figured out some of it, but not all of it! Yeah, leave it to the S7 agents to try and continue operating in the background, but not for long! You'll eventually find that Lilac is very very smart and the reasons as to why, but that will come in the later chapters! She and Sideswipe are getting along better now, but I can't say that there won't be any more hiccups with them getting to the base. You'll have to read on and see! I hope that you like the chapter and are well!

LaurenA007: Thank you for the compliment! I'm glad that you like the story so far and are enjoying it! I will try to keep up the good work! I hope you are well and that you like this chapter!

Seeker3: You are the closest to the exact answer of the license plate! And I hope you mean it was a dual surprise…if not, I'll try harder to surprise you! :) Thank you for your guess! I'll explain more in the author's note at the end of the chapter! I hope you are well, and that you like this chapter!

the everchanging: Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it! And I loved writing that part of the chapter! I was laughing so hard picturing it in my head! And believe me, there is a lot more humor to be had at his expense later! But for now I hope that you will find humor in this chapter! I hope that you are well and that you like this chapter!

LapisLazuliRose: I'm glad that you are looking forward to the rest of the story! I work really hard on chapters, and I'm glad that you appreciate them! I hope that you love this chapter, and stick with me for the many more that will come! I hope you are well as you read this and that you like this chapter!

LaurenA007: New update below! Read away!


Ledgend

"Text" = Means internal thoughts

XXXXX= Means new scene


Sideswipe was panicked as he drove. It was late, and his guide seemed to be out of commission. It was all his fault. Prime did say that the humans were fragile, but he didn't know they'd be this fragile. She was either in need of more fluids, or she was in need of fuel. Perhaps both. But the first thing he needed to do was change his appearance. The local enforcers would be looking for them, so he scrambled the letters in his license plate to read something more obvious and appropriate. He then quickly scanned the next vehicle he passed, which conveniently was a few model years newer. He was still a corvette, but now he held a frame that was made in the 80's, was a two door as opposed to his last one having four, and now, he was a dark shade of emerald green. The cops completely disregarded the roadster as it passed by the checkpoint, only pausing to snort at its license plate. "2fst-4yu…I swear kids these days."

"I know Paul." They said chuckling to themselves, completely unaware that they had just let the two people they were looking for pass them. Looking to his guide's backpack, he quickly opened it and began looking for the map. Sideswipe was surprised at the contents of the bag. It seemed to be where she stored her possessions as well as her spare sets of armor. Inside he saw a box that contained a collapsible building, a stuffed…creature, and lots and lots of papers that were neatly filed. He also saw a picture of someone. She looked a lot like Lilac, and she had a very big smile on her face. He'd have to ask her about the photo later, right now he needed to fix her, as well as stay on course to get to his twin. Looking at the map he huffed. "Straight line my aft! There's two different routes I can take!" He grumbled worriedly as he came to the literal fork in the high way that he was currently reading about. If he continued going north, he'd eventually leave Nebraska and enter Wyoming. However, if he changed course and went south he'd end up in Colorado. "Hmmm…That way!" He said veering from their course and heading for the Colorado border.

Sideswipe drove at a constant speed all night, wondering just how long the lunar cycle would last. At 4 am he stumbled across a what looked to be a rundown business with lots of cars and trucks parked around it. A lone neon sign reading food glowed in the dirty window. It looked open, but even he had to admit that it didn't look entirely safe. But looking at his guide he made his decision. The bright moon made her seem even more pale, and Sideswipe took a moment to look her over, stunned by the electric blue veins he saw under her visible skin. She looked so…delicate. Using his sensors, Sideswipe looked into the bar. There were several large male organics, all of which were doing rather odd and nasty things. Some were grumbling, others swearing and banging on counters for service. One opened his mouth and let out the most disgusting and obnoxious noise Sideswipe had heard since coming to the planet. "Gross! Did he just backfire out of his oral cavity?!" He thought with horror. His horror grew as the man next to him vomited up some form of liquid into a waste receptacle before yelling at the staff to bring him another drink.

That was enough for Sideswipe to reverse out of the parking lot and get back on the road. "Slag that place!" He thought as a shudder went through his frame. He was convinced that the smoky air, the foul odors, and the general brutish behavior of the male organics was in no way beneficial to his guide's health. Dragging her into a place like that could offline her! So, he continued to drive until he found another truck stop. This one looked very similar to the one they had driven to shortly after they met. Only this one didn't have wash facilities. But it did have a re-fueling station for the both of them. "Denny's…maybe he can help her." He said softly as he found a parking space. "Lilac…Lilac! Wake up! SLAGIT FEMME! WAKE UP!"

"Mmmm…Sideswipe? (Yawn) What's wrong?"

"YOU'RE FUNCTIONING!"

He cheered with relief as his holoform hugged her tight.

"Functioning?"

She asked tiredly. Slowly the events of the day prior started to come back to her more clearly. She had fallen asleep in Sideswipe's arms after yelling and crying at him about..." Oh." She whispered softly as a smile came to her face. "Not so funny when it happens to you is it?" She said into his chest, taking notice of the faint gasoline scent he held. He looked down at her puzzled before realization kicked in. He smiled sadly at her as he answered. "No. It sure as pit isn't funny. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. You didn't know about…all that." She said with a shrug as they let go of each other. "Where are we?"

"At Denny's. I brought you here for repairs, since we can't trust enforcers or most medics."

"We?"

"Well yeah. I'm not letting any slagger take you away. Pit after what I know now? And after all we've been through? I'd be insulted if they tried. Now come on! Let's see if this Denny person can repair you. And then we can get you fuel and a disguise." He said urgently as she laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I swear, you slay me sometimes!"

"I…kill you?"

"Figure of speech. It means you make me laugh."

"Oh. Why do you humans say weird stuff like that?"

"Why do you take everything so literally?"

"Never mind! We need to get you repaired."

"You should know that there's nothing wrong with me. But I thank you for the concern."

She said before she felt a tingling sensation. Blinking she looked at Sideswipe only to see him smirking smugly. "You are dehydrated. And you require fuel." He said. "How do you know that?"

She asked as her stomach growled. "Your tanks always do that when you require fuel. Now come on, we need to find this Denny person."

"Sideswipe, "Denny's" is just the name of the business. I don't think he actually works here. But I can get something to eat while we're here."

"If that is the case, then why is this place named after him?"

"Because we often name things after people, places or things we like."

She said as she got out and began walking into the building. Once inside, the two were seated by a waitress in a booth facing the parking lot, and handed menus. Sideswipe cocked his holoform's head to the side in curiosity.

"You humans have so many different types of fuel."

"Food. It's called food. And yes, we do have a lot of different types, although, we've become very good at making the same thing in different ways."

She said softly as the waitress came back up to them with their complimentary waters.

"You two decided in what you're getting?"

"Oh! Um…I'll have- "

"The grand slam? With orange juice? Good choice! And you're having fruit with it. And for you young lady- "

"I'll take the Lumberjack slam…. also with some fruit."

"And some milk. I'll have that right out for you folks. HEY BERRY! WE GOT AN ORDER!"

She shouted as she walked toward the kitchen. Sideswipe sat stunned. He didn't even get to choose his meal!

"What the pit just happened?"

Lilac laughed softly at him. "I think we can try to change it if you want…."

"No, no its fine. It's just that the other humans at the last truck stop were so nice…and she- "

"Has a lot of sass. You run across waitresses like her every now and then. She chose our food because she thought it was what was best for us, whether we like it or not."

She giggled mentally thanking the fact that they were almost completely alone. She'd have to talk to Sideswipe about the words he used in public.

"What is a "Grand Slam" anyway?"

"Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage."

"Is it good?"

"Ummm. I think so. I haven't really had much of this kind of stuff in a while…so based off of memory yeah. It's good."

"Okay…"

He said as the waitress brought their drinks. Sideswipe took one sip of the orange juice and visibly blinked. "Sugar…and acid? It makes my glossa tingle. I like it!" Lilac shook her head with a smile. "You mean sweet and sour? Yes, orange juice is often like that. And its tongue, not…whatever a…glossa is." She said softly as a couple of truckers walked by, both shooting them a perplexed yet happy smile after overhearing Sideswipe.

It wasn't long before the food arrived. Sideswipe gawked at the large meal Lilac had ordered, and almost asked if it were physically possible for her to eat it all. He stopped himself remembering that she was not only smaller than many other organics, but that she had also purged her tanks the solar cycle prior. It was only logical of her to consume a larger portion now to over compensate for what she had lost the day prior.

Much to his own surprise, Sideswipe found everything he ate to be incredibly delicious. His favorite were the so called "pancakes". He liked how soft they were, and how the sticky stuff called syrup made them taste sweet. The butter added a nice sensation and flavor too. And when the pancakes were consumed, and then washed down with that white substance…milk, it was even better! He still liked the orange juice though. The fruit was aesthetically pleasing, and sweet, but still not as good as the pancakes!

Once the two had cleaned their plates, and paid the bill, they made their way back to Sideswipe's alt, and got on the road again. Before long Lilac was redirecting the frontliner onto a different route. Instead of taking the 76 to Denver and then taking the 70 straight through Utah eventually getting on the 50 and getting to Nevada, they decided instead to avoid the major city and all of its cops by taking the 76 to the 80, quickly going through Cheyenne and taking the 80 all the way through Wyoming, down into Salt Lake City Utah before taking the 93 and reaching their destination.

With the route decided, Lilac unrolled her window and kicked her shoes off. The rolled down window was something that Sideswipe was grateful for. Her peedes stunk! Moreover, they looked so…odd. Her peedes looked completely different from his own. And for that matter, from any other bot's he'd known. Despite having wheeled feet, both he and his twin could subspace their tires if need be for stealth missions or when dealing with extremely treacherous landscapes and environments. But even their own peedes didn't look so…unique. She had five round, (yet oddly also square) spindly toe stabilizers, and a circular heel. Jutting out of her toe stabilizers were oddly shaped pieces of keratin, each looking relatively neat and clean. "Do all human peedes look like this?" he idly thought as she curled her toes. When he last saw them, Prime only had two toes, and a heel stabilizer, Bumblebee had a single toe-cap and two stabilizers, as did Jazz. The Hatchet (the cranky old bot!) had one toe-cap that connected directly to his heel, with two stabilizers per peede on the sides, and O'l Ironaft had what looked like two toe stabilizers, but was really four stabilizers and a heel stabilizer, probably to help keep the old mech better balanced.

After a few more breems, Sideswipe's curiosity got the best of him and while still driving, he quickly reached over and grabbed one of her feet off of his dashboard. Lilac squeaked in surprise as the frontliner began to poke and prod at her foot and its toes.

"Sideswipe! AH! Wha…ha! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Relax! I just want to look at them! How do they move like that? Do they have some other function?"

He asked innocently as he continued to manhandle her foot before noticing a brown dot roughly the size of thumbtack on her sole. "What is this thing? You have a spot! Does it come off?"

He asked as he scratched at the freckle mercilessly, causing poor Lilac to erupt in laughter, further perplexing her unintentional tormentor. "What's so funny? Is this another side effect of your fue- food?"

"AHHHHH! Nohohohohoho! NO! Oh ho ho stop it! Sideswipe! THAT TICKLES!"

She squealed.

"Tickle?"

The word wasn't entirely unfamiliar to the Cybertronian in any obvious way. After all, metal didn't really tickle. But he did remember Jolt going on and on about the similarities between their two races. Most notably in the physical department. Humans and Cybertronians were indeed very similar on the physical level, both had multiple senses, but the Autobot's senses were far more advanced than the humans. The average non-military framed bot could see farther, could see in infrared wavelengths as well as a few other wavelengths, could hear conversations as far away as the distance of one human football field, and could break down and isolate smells by chemicals and chemical reactions. Taste was really the only sense they were inferior in, seeing that by scent they could discern what chemicals were toxic to their frames, unless completely unfamiliar with it. However, the one thing that both humans and Autobots had in common was their sensory array. Both species had sensors located all over their frames that allowed them to feel and touch. The humans however, couldn't turn their nervous system off, or at the very least deactivate certain receptors like the Autobots could. Not to forget to mention that they have more sensors on their frame than Autobots do. It was something that Sideswipe barely paid attention to when he was helping Jolt study the anatomy information about humans when entering the atmosphere.

But now, looking back to the information he had learned, as well as what he said when his system rebooted in the cave a few days ago when Lilac was unintentionally stimulating one of his sensors, he couldn't help but grin.

"Ohhh. I'm over stimulating your sensory array aren't I?"

He asked mischievously as he continued to scratch at her foot. Lilac tried to answer back, but was too breathless to say anything.

"Consider this pay back for stimulating mine two days ago!"

"AIIIEEEEE!"

She squealed as he continued his torture of her feet. Before long, Sideswipe had decided to try and overstimulate other parts. Quickly, as Lilac tried to push him away, his holoform's hands darted up and into her armpits wiggling madly.

"AH! AHAHA! NOT THERE! NOT THERE! STAAAAAAAAAAHAHAP!"

"I don't wanna! Who knew you humans were so easy to over stimulate? And in a lot of the same places as us no less! You're easier to over stimulate than a sparkling!"

He said as he darted his hands down to her tummy making her thrash and laugh even harder. It was only moments later that Lilac had tears of forced joy rolling down her cheeks. When Sideswipe saw this, he immediately stopped feeling guilty.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you again."

Lilac simply laughed a little more before wiping the tears of joy from her cheeks. "Heh heh. You didn't upset me."

"Then why are you leaking?"

This had Lilac laughing hard once again. "He has so much to learn!" She thought as she once again wiped the tears from her eyes with a giggle. "Okay, you my large metallic abductor have a lot to learn about humans."

"I am so confused. And I did not abduct you!"

"Technically you did…or wait no you're right. It was all really bad timing on both of our parts."

"Yeah it was! Now why were you leaking? Are you permanently damaged?"

This had her giggling once more. "I am, but not in the way you think. Sideswipe, humans cry for more than one emotion."

"What?"

"Yeah. Humans usually cry for three reasons. You've seen me cry for at least two. We usually cry because we're sad, scared, or hurt. However, we can also cry because we're angry, frustrated, lonely or in my case just recently, happy."

"You cry…because you are happy?"

"In some cases, yes. Like for example; when you hold your baby for the first time after birth, or when someone you love comes home safe from war, or in my case when we laugh too hard, or are made to laugh too hard."

"So…you are alright?"

"Well, that depends on one's definition of "alright". I suppose for someone who is homeless and on the run from the police, that I am "alright"."

"This is more of that sarcasm, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, it is more sarcasm. You'll find that some humans are very partial to it. I find it peculiar that for an advanced alien race you aren't familiar with it."

"We are. To a point that is. Our languages are very different so we find that there are very few perfect translations of our words into your language."

"Is that why you keep saying things like fuel, and leaking?"

"Yes."

"But why? Don't you guys cry?"

"We can, but we really try not to."

"Is it some kind of cultural thing?"

"More like, it's a pain in the aft to replace cleaning fluids or coolant if we were to start leaking about random things frequently."

"And you can't just get more? Wait, your bodies don't make what you expel?"

"Pit no! We don't necessarily make anything within our frames. Well, except maybe for sparklings, but that is a very long and complex conversation."

"I'm sorry, but this is just so strange for me. Most people think that any alien that comes to our planet would…I suppose to some degree be similar to us. Not…well…"

"Actually, that's where you're wrong kid. Our species are actually very similar. Mine is just more advanced. I think the best example there is was that one human…he jumped around, had a blue armor shell on, a red piece of fabric draped on him…had an "S" on his chest…"

"Wait…Superman? You mean to tell me that you're like us but closer to Superman?"

"Yeah. Bigger, stronger, faster…we can see and hear farther than you can, and our olfactory sensors are built to distinguish chemicals and chemical reactions."

"Wow."

Lilac said amazed as she sat back in the seat, idly noticing the farmland scrolling past them on either side. Just as she watched a wheat field roll by, her eyes narrowed at a thought.

"Wait a minute…"

She said slowly as she turned back to Sideswipe and leaned across the seat, further narrowing her eyes.

"What?"

"You don't have a sense of taste, do you?"

She said curiously as the frontliner stuttered for a moment.

"Of course we do!"

"No, you don't…"

"Yeah we do- "

"No, you don't! If you can break down smells by chemicals and their reactions, then why would you need to taste anything? Especially if you had certain smells flagged as dangerous?"

"Well…"

"You don't really, do anything in the same way humans do. You analyze everything that you come into contact with! YOU CAN'T TASTE ANYTHING!"

"WE CAN TOO!"

"No you can't! You said it yourself! You're more advanced than us, and with being bigger, stronger, faster, and with more advancements in avoiding dangers, comes the lack of need for something as simple as taste!"

"That's not entirely true!"

"Oh?"

She laughed as her companion sulked.

"We can taste things. But- "

"Ohhhh."

She said as the realization hit her.

"We have a smaller variety of fuel choices. A much smaller variety. Even your gasoline isn't as favorable to energon."

"So…you taste things…but oh wow. You mean you guys eat the same thing everyday?"

"Well yeah to a point. I mean we have different types of energon, and you can add flavors to it too. Pit, Sunny and I's favorite was copper and magnesium infused high grade. Well you know before the whole planet went to slag."

"Whoa, whoa wait! What do you mean "the whole planet went to slag"?"

"I thought I already told you this in the cave."

"No, you said something about a tyrant that tried to destroy humanity and subsequently got killed by a human. You said nothing about your planet."

"Oh. Yeah, the war that's currently wrapping up on your planet, ultimately destroyed ours and ripped pretty much any usable resources we had out of it, leaving it a desolate wasteland of pitted and burnt metal that will float through its galaxy forevermore."

He said plainly. Lilac stared back in unadulterated horror. "So…basically you're stuck here?"

"Yep."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"It's okay. We'll get used to it…eventually."

He said softly, almost wistfully. "You know, it might not be so bad. After all, you humans have great fuel. Those pancakes were fragging delicious!"

He said with a smile. Lilac looked at him and relaxed a little more. Knowing more about Sideswipe makes it easier to trust him. "I have to admit, knowing that your species isn't carnivorous is a relief."

"Carnivorous?! Ewww! Eugh! Gross! Of COURSE we aren't carnivorous! That is so disgusting! What kind of warped creature eats flesh?!"

"Hello."

Lilac deadpanned with a small smile and a wave.

"Wait…what?"

Sideswipe asked in mild horror.

"Humans eat meat Sideswipe. It's a fact of life. Are we seriously the first creatures you've run into that eat meat?"

"No! But…but…"

"But what? It's not that bad. You should know. You ate meat this morning, and you ate meat at that truck stop."

She said casually, while also trying to keep from laughing at his expense as he paled and began to shudder. Much to her surprise, Sideswipe slammed on his brakes and swerved onto the side of the road. He opened his door, tossed her out and transformed, immediately grabbing his stomach. "Sideswipe? What's wro- "

She started only to be cut off as Sideswipe bent over and purged his tanks.

XXXXX

Ratchet stood over the currently recharging Sunstreaker and sighed. The golden frontliner was in so much pain that he had to sedate him, just to keep him from writhing around on the cave floor and possibly hurting himself more. His spark ached for the mech both in sympathy and in concern for his twin. If Sunstreaker was only feeling the echoes of his twin's injuries, he couldn't imagine what shape Sideswipe was in. Especially since Sunstreaker's processor placed him in emergency stasis to help cope with the pain. Whatever Sideswipe was doing, it was excruciatingly painful and insanely dangerous.

"Ratchet?"

"He's stable. For now. But I fear that if we do not get to Sideswipe soon, his condition may grow worse."

"What the hell is going on?"

Will asked, more frightened for the mech than angry.

"Yeah. Why did he just start twitching like that? And what has it got to do with his brother?"

Epps asked in concern as Prime and Ratchet stepped out of the cave. "Twins of our race are extremely rare."

"Yeah, they are for us too- "

Epps started only to be cut off by Ratchet. "Yes, but even your twins occur more frequently than they do in our race. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are what is known as split sparked twins. The closest comparison your species has to it is identical twins."

"Okay…"

"The reason why the twins are so special Captain is because of the bond they share. Though very little is known about twins of our race, we do know certain important facts of their creation and of their lives."

Optimus said to the two, who stood there nodding their encouragement. "Twins of our race, split spark twins, are unique in the fact that they share a single spark, a single essence between the two of them."

Ratchet began.

"And as you already know, our sparks are our life forces, just as your heart is your life force. Because they share a single spark, the twins have abilities unique only to them. They can locate each other through a bond that they share. This bond when unblocked allows them to communicate with words, and emotions, allowing the other to feel what their twin feels."

"Something tells me that you don't mean that figuratively."

Will said darkly. "I do not. Sunstreaker can quite literally feel and experience what his twin does without being in his twin's presence. We believe that Sideswipe was attacked by something, or someone, and so Sunstreaker felt the pain of the injuries inflicted on his twin."

"Man…that's…that just sounds agonizingly painful…"

"Moreover, with the ability of being able to feel what the other does, comes with a rather unfortunately side effect. If one of the twins were to be captured by the Decepticons, and tortured, they could use the pain to draw the other twin out, for capture, or unfortunately for termination."

The two men swallowed hoarsely.

"If one twin were to offline, the other would soon follow after."

"Wait, what?!"

Will said in horror. "Indeed. The strain of the bond caused by a wide distance is enough incentive for twins not to leave each other's side or to stray too far from each other. But if one twin were to offline, the other now missing the other half of their spark usually follows soon after, because it is not able to fill the gaping hole where the bond of his sibling was, or because individually their sparks are not strong enough to survive without the other, and of course the pain is so great that it is also a common theory that twins simply offline from the pain if their twin offlines."

"This is why it is so important to find Sideswipe."

"The pain of being separated from his twin is already painful, but if something has happened to Sideswipe…"

"We could very well lose two of our best frontliners." Optimus said gravely.

"They really can't live without the other?"

Epps asked. "I can assure you Sergeant, that it is highly unlikely that one would survive such trauma, but there was one documented case on Cybertron. A mech lost his twin in an accident, and miraculously survived for an entire vorn without him. But from what we know, most twins do not last past the first orn of separation."

"That sounds horrible. I can't even imagine how painful that must be. It just sounds…so torturous."

"It is."

A rough and husky voice said from behind Ratchet. "Stay down. I need to check your systems."

"Don't bother. He's fine."

"Sunstreaker- "

"Optimus. You need to see this."

Ironhide called as he walked up. "What is it?" Optimus asked, only to be shown a hologram of a news cast.

"-That's right Bob, I'm here right now at the scene. Nobody knows what happened in this area, but as the evidence shows, something did happen here last night. Entire trees upended, disturbed dirt in strange shapes and patterns, and this strange blue ooze. Whatever happened, one thing is certain, it was not of this world. This is Kathleen Marie, reporting in for action news four."

Optimus groaned wearily as he placed a servo over his optics. "Shit. You have got to be kidding me." Epps cursed as he looked at the fading frozen image. "Don't we all wish." Will sighed as he rubbed at his tired eyes. "You mean that we have to go investigate that shit? Man! We just barely got here and got this shit under control- "

"Epps. Shut. Up. We already have a team and a cover up story for this. As far as the public is concerned, a small satellite part made planet fall, after an asteroid knocked it off of a satellite. We need to get there now. Where was this?"

"Near a small town in Nebraska."

"Alright then. Let's get back on the plane. We have business in Nebraska."

XXXXX

Lilac stood leaning against the post of a fence as Sideswipe quite literally ranted and raved, while skating back and forth in his odd pace. Lilac simply watched, slightly amused at his reaction, and relieved that he wasn't severely hurt…as far as she was aware.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE MEAT! I ATE FLESH! WHAT THE PIT IS WRONG WITH ME?! I CAN'T EVEN! I TOOK AN OATH! "DO NOT HARM SENTIENT LIFE!" AND WHAT DO I DO?! EAT SENTIENT LIFE! AND HOW ARE YOU SO FRAGGING OKAY WITH THIS?! ARE YOU GLIITCHED?!"

He raged, coming to a halt. His cooling fans were whirring in protest as they tried to cool down his rapidly overheated frame. Lilac stared back at him for a moment or two before pushing herself off the fence post. "Are you done?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He was about to answer her when she put her hand up to him, palm forward in the quite literal universal sign of "stop". "Sideswipe, calm down. You are freaking out over nothing. You didn't harm sentient life."

"Then what do you call the consumption of organic flesh?!"

"A good day." She said dryly as she looked up at him as he narrowed his optics down at her.

"Look, I understand that this is hard for you. But you didn't kill what you ate this morning. Unless you own a slaughter house and I don't know it."

"That is fragging vile! I would never own something like that!"

"Okay then. Now- "

"And you humans shouldn't either! I mean that is just gross! Eating flesh?! Eugh!"

"I hate to break it to you, but that is the social norm for a lot of humans Sideswipe." She said in a slightly sing-song voice. "But…why?"

"Well for starters, we as a species are omnivorous. You can tell by our teeth." She said before bearing her teeth in a grin. "The sharp pointy ones, are our canines these help us grip, pull, and rip whatever we bite. These flat looking ones are molars, premolars, and incisors, these help with shredding plant material, gripping, cutting and crushing seeds and nuts. We eat both plants and animals Sideswipe. And we usually kill what we eat first. Then we cook it, so it's even more dead."

"Great. So I ate formerly living sentient creatures, that have been processed."

"So what? You said that we have great food just twenty minutes ago. Does this really make a difference?"

"YES! I was fed FLESH! FROM DECEASD SENTIENT CREATURES!"

"(Sigh) Sideswipe, what you ate- "

"I knew I should have been leerier of those circular yellow and white things! And the brown and pink looking stuff too! And Primus only knows what creatures had to offline to make those pancakes…a- "

"Sideswipe!"

She shouted getting his attention. "Nothing, died to make your pancakes! They don't have any meat in them!"

"And how do you know?"

"Because my mom…"

She paused. Sideswipe noticed the sorrow in her voice as she mentioned her carrier. "My mom, used to make me pancakes sometimes. There's no meat in them. I promise."

"And the yellow and white things called "eggs"?"

"I'm not sure I want to tell you."

"Just tell me. I'm not gonna eat them again anyway."

"Okay. I'll just break down what you ate for breakfast then, in terms you may understand. Eggs are the unincubated babies of chickens, popular barnyard fowl that is often eaten. Sausage, bacon, and ham come from pigs, who share similar anatomy traits with humans. Milk, is the nursing fluid of cows, another popular animal that is often eaten by humans. Fruit comes from plants and trees, non-sentient life as far as I'm aware, Toast is made out of bread, which is made of flour, which is ground up wheat, water, and yeast, and pancakes are made of milk, flour, sugar and vanilla extract. Well that's how mom made hers. You'll have to check to see the specifics of theirs, but it's basically the same I'm sure." She said bluntly.

Sideswipe just stared at her with horror stricken features. Behind her a cow stood in a pasture grazing. It paid no attention to the two beings standing by the road. It barely looked up when it's calf came over and began nursing. Lilac looked over her shoulder and smiled before pointing. "Those are cows."

Sideswipe just nodded dumbly as she walked over to him and put a hand on his shin. "You okay? I know it's a lot that I told you."

"I…will never… eat human fuel… again. Unless I know for certain that it contains no sentient life."

"So you're a vegan. That's good to know. And Vegans don't eat any food with a face. No animals, fish, eggs. No meat."

"Fine with me. What is all this green slag anyway?"

"Aside from that pasture? I'm pretty sure this is all corn. You don't know what corn fields look like?"

"Pit no. Why would I?"

"I thought aliens made crop circles and stuff?"

"Where the pit did you hear that slag? We don't make crop circles…whatever those are!"

He said mildly insulted. "A crop circle is like some symbol burned into a field of corn. Interesting. Well I guess that aliens didn't do it, and that it was a man-made thing. Or now that I think about it, a prank by some bored- "

"Prank?! Squishy, you are talking to the king of pranks! And if these crop circle things are one of them, then let the master show you how it's done!" He said haughtily as he picked her up, ignoring her screams of fright. Sideswipe un-subspaced his blaster, which freaked his guide out before he set it to the second lowest setting and began writing in the corn. "Wait! What does that mean?"

"Oh, that symbol there is "hello" in cyber standard."

"Wait really?!"

"Yes really. Now quiet! The master is at work!"

He said in a playfully mighty voice as he continued writing. Once he was done in one field, he walked up the street and began in another. He was having fun, writing random things in the corn. Well, to any human or Decepticon they would be random things. This crop circle thing wasn't a bad idea. And just as Sideswipe finished blasting a section of corn, his sensors picked up on a nearby signal. He looked up and around seeing what looked to be a cop car in the distance. "Aw slag! RUN!"

Sideswipe said as he began to skate down the path between the cornfields, only to turn around in horror as the cop car followed them, turning on its lights and sirens. Sideswipe sneered as he quickly transformed around a screaming Lilac. "Pit! Me and my slagging luck! How many fragging Decepticons are on this planet?! I thought they all died!"

"Sideswipe! That's a cop not a- "

She choked as Sideswipe's rear view mirror readjusted to show her the large gun mounted on the hood of the cop car as well as the lack of driver.

"DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!"

She shouted as Sideswipe drove roughly over the landscape, avoiding pot shots from the mech behind him. "I can outrun him! But he isn't making it easy!"

"THEN MAKE IT EASIER! DRIVE FASTER AND DODGE!"

"WHAT THE SLAG DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?! RECHARGING?! HOLD ON!"

He shouted as he drove through a fence and into a muddier pasture. "There's a ditch nearby with a bridge. Get under it and don't come out until I've won!"

"And what if you don't win?!"

"Well then it was nice knowing you! But I've fought his aft before, I'll win!"

He said furiously as he spun around, throwing her out of his interior and closer to the ditch. Lilac scrambled under the bridge just in time to see the cop car transform and tackle Sideswipe to the ground. The two wrestled around seemingly punching each other until they became unentangled from each other. That was when Lilac got a good look at the mech. He was truly a scary sight. He had four blood red optics and some sort of spinning blade. "Really, Barricade? You really think that you'll win against me?" Sideswipe snorted. "You do not have your twin with you. You are easier to defeat alone."

He said as the two seemed to pace each other around in a circle. "My track record alone, should remind you that it doesn't matter." Sideswipe said venomously as the two rushed each other. Sideswipe was right, he was indeed holding his own against his enemy. But Lilac really didn't want to take any chances. She had to do something to help…

Looking around, she found a small piece of thin sheet metal. With a grunt, she took the metal and bent it into a cone through which she could speak. Maybe, just maybe she could lure the bot away and give Sideswipe a chance to knock him out…or something. With another grunt, she lifted the metal to her face. Her throat went dry at the thought of distracting the giant creature, but something had to be done. At the very least, if a farmer walked out and saw the brawl, it could make things way worse. So with a cough, Lilac spoke in a far raspier tone then she had meant to do. This coupled with how the metal was bent, made her voice deeper. "LEAVE SIDESWIPE ALONE!"

She stated in a very calm, yet angry voice. This had both mechs slowing their advances, especially when the one with red optics one looked over. "Prime…"

The mech said in quiet disbelief. Sideswipe seeing his advantage played along. "I never said that I was alone, now did I?"

He said easily pinning the distracted bot's arms behind his back. Lilac seeing the mech's lighting fast wink continued. Thankfully the tunnel and the surrounding hills and fields created an echo that wasn't traceable. "Good work luring him out for capture Sideswipe."

"What should we do with him sir?"

"We will do with him, what we did with the others- "

"Slag that! I am not about to be captured by you filthy Autobots!"

"Was that a jab at my paint job?! I'm gonna make you pay for that! -"

"No Sideswipe! His punishment is already severe enough- "

She began as Barricade broke away from Sideswipe before transforming and driving off quickly away from the two, leaving them alone in the pasture. A few moments passed before Lilac released the breath that she didn't know she was holding, falling onto her rear as Sideswipe began to laugh.

"That…was the single scariest thing, I have ever done. And that's saying a lot!"

"His face! It was so fragging funny! Primus!"

He laughed, once again clutching his midsection. Lilac took a deep breath and shook her head in humorous disbelief as she too began to laugh. The two remained there laughing until finally Lilac pulled herself together. "

"Goodness! I'm sorry, but is everyone out to get you? We barely get a state away from the last monster, and then this one just appears? I really think they're out to get you!"

"Ah, nothing I can't handle! Especially with you here! Good work on the distraction by the way, I wasn't expecting that!"

"Well heck! I had to do something! We got lucky with the first garage! I really don't want to try our luck like that again!"

"Yeah. I don't really want to re-live the last 24 hours. You fully functional?"

"If that means, 'Am I okay?' Then yes, aside from some scrapes and bruises I'm okay. You?"

"Yeah, need a wash, but I'm fine."

"You are a vain mech aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you got really really offended both times those guys mentioned something about you or your twin's paint. Is like cleanliness a major thing with your race?"

"Isn't it with yours?"

"Yeah, but still, we sweat and stuff you don't. …I don't think you do, heck at this point who knows?"

"We don't sweat, but we don't like having muck and grime sliding around in our joints or on our protoforms either. Its…uncomfortable."

Well, in that case, I won't tell you the matter in which you're covered in."

"What do you mean? It's just wet dirt. …Smelly wet dirt at that."

"Sideswipe, that's not dirt. Its manure. Or natural fertilizer."

"So?"

"Ahem, its where manure comes from that makes the difference."

"So stop being vague! Where the pit does manure come from?"

As if to answer his question, a nearby steer mooed loudly whilst lifting his tail. Sideswipe made a face of disgust as Lilac fought off laughter at the animal's natural bodily function. "Sideswipe, that's where manure comes from."

She said with a straight face as the mech began to shudder. "You mean…I'm covered in?!"

"Uh huh."

She said nodding her head in the positive. She nearly fell to the ground laughing at what the mech did next. He started running around the field. While shaking his frame back and forth, and practically dancing around on wheeled feet, he screamed;

"EWWW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET! IT! OOOOOFFFFFFF!"

XXXXX

It took Lilac a solid hour to get Sideswipe to calm down. She learned that getting the mech to calm down was quickly becoming a useful skill, seeing that she has had to do so on at least three separate occasions across three days. It was a fact that startled Lilac. She had spent three days with an alien, and not only was she still alive, but she was also happy. Genuinely happy. Had she not have met him, she would have spent her Saturday in the library, keeping to herself. Yet here she was, at yet another gas station, buying gas, a pink baseball cap and another wash for him. She had to explain in simple terms that no, as badly as she wished it to be possible, she in fact could not use a car wash as a form of getting clean since the chemicals and high pressured water would easily damage her skin while also making her very sick. Speaking of sick…

"So, what fuels are you damaged by? What you consu-ate this morning seems to have had no effect on you."

"I don't know. I think it would be good to avoid most greasy foods."

"And meat."

"No, I never said anything about me avoiding that."

"But its gross!"

He whined as she rolled her eyes playfully. The gas station, like many didn't have the best cuisine, but it had enough. With the remaining three hundred dollars she had, Lilac bought more supplies for her first aid kit, a few week's rations of canned goods, a couple bags of fun size chocolate bars, a few cases of water, a lighter, the pink baseball hat, gas for Sideswipe, a wash for Sideswipe, and Spam. Lots and lots of Spam.

The total came out to be just over 200 hundred dollars. At this rate, she would be able to get gas for him a couple more times, but hopefully they'd be in Nevada by then. Once they had their bags, and after Sideswipe had his wash, (and complained that he preferred the kind with the brushes instead of the no touch system he had just experienced) they hacked another ATM, and got back on the road.

"So why didn't you buy that fruit stuff? It's better for you than…what is Spam?"

"Ham, and pork in a can. Nobody knows why they call it Spam though."

"Oh. Still, why didn't you buy fruit?"

"Because they didn't have fruit Sideswipe."

She said smartly as they continued to drive through the country land of Wyoming. As they drove, Sideswipe saw a sign that said;

"All Natural, fresh organic fruit! Come to the commune! Take the first right in 20 miles!"

With a conspiratory grin Sideswipe picked up speed. "So…if there was a place to get fruit…"

"Sideswipe. Would you be happy if we bought some fruit?"

"Yes."

"Okay. By the way, you look surprisingly good in green."

"What the- Aw slag! I am not staying this color! It looks so wrong on me!"

He whined as his color scheme slowly changed back to silver. He ignored his guide's laughter in favor of turning onto a dirt road, leading him across farmland, and into a tree filled area. He was surprised to see so many people there. All of them looked different but they seemed to be getting along nicely. "Sideswipe? Where are we?"

"A human commune. They sell fruit."

He said as he got out of his interior. Lilac shielded her eyes from the sun as she got out and looked around at the many gardens, stands and people who were milling around. This wasn't just a human commune, nor was it a simple farmers market. This was something similar to what Lilac had run across by accident once before. "Sideswipe- "

"Hey, welcome brother and sister!"

"Huh?"

"Sideswipe, this is a hippy commune."

"Welcome! C'mon dudes don't be shy! We don't bite!"

Sideswipe looked at his guide and watched as a big smile blossomed on her face. He looked back to the male who had spoken to them. He had long blonde hair, on both his head, and on his face. He was wearing a multicolored shirt of some sort, and brown pants. "Why isn't he wearing armor on his peedes?" He wondered as the man and his guide began walking and talking. "So yeah, you guys are totally welcome to hang out and have some goods. We grow everything right here, organic only, free range, we even make our own tofu."

"What's tofu?"

"It's a meat substitute."

"Yeah, man. We respect all here, meat eaters, veggie eaters and all the little critters in between."

"Oh."

"Don't mind him. He's new to all of this."

"Oh?"

"He doesn't live the kind of lives we do. I'm a Hobo, or as he likes to call me, a feral human."

"Ohhh! You're a back to mama earth, flower child!

"Pretty much. I practice pacifism, though I won't lie I do like meat."

"Hey, hey! No shame little sis, if that's how you live, then live and let live!"

Sideswipe furrowed his eyebrows as his guide and the man laughed together, almost as if they were privy to a joke he was not. "So, anyway my name is Cedar, but you guys can call me Ced, I'm not one for formalities and all that stuff. Welcome to our place, like I said you can sit back and kick it. You know? We got lots of room if you guys want to stay a while. We can put you up in the big tree house."

He said as he put an arm around her shoulders. Sideswipe noticed Lilac shudder slightly at the man's touch. Without warning his engine snarled loudly. When the two looked back at him and his alt mode, he turned quickly to look too. "Huh. I dunno where that came from. Anyway, we can't stay long. We're on our way to Nevada and we'd rather get there sooner rather than later."

"Oh, bummer."

The man said looking truly hurt. "But, at least get some goodies and stuff for the road you know? Life's all about the journey after all."

"Uhhh, sure."

Sideswipe said as they continued walking further into the commune. He didn't understand why he looked so hurt. Did leaving this place so soon really upset the man? His answer came in the form of several other organics of varying ages walking up and greeting him and Lilac. She took it all in stride, greeting them back and even asking how they were doing. She showed them the same kindness that she had shown him, and he knew her longer! Well as far as he was aware. There were still some things about humans he didn't know.

Like why they had so many different types of fuel. There were so many different types. "These are blueberries. These are raspberries, and these are strawberries. And this is- "

"Lilac! Why are there so many different kinds?! And what's the point?!"

"Sideswipe, that's just how the world is. Each food does different things. And this food happens to be the best for you in nutrition."

"Well can't you just get some so we can go?"

"You're the one who brought us here."

She said in a sing song voice as she skipped around the stands gathering different kinds of food. Before she knew it, she had a canvas bag full of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. "Good. You have more food. Now can we go?"

"Leave? But you haven't eaten anything!"

Said an older woman who had children gathered around her skirt. "Yes, but we can eat on the way. We really need to get going."

"Youngling, the world is full of many beauties. If you rush, you will miss them all."

Sideswipe was taken aback by what she said.

"What did you call me?"

"Come here."

She said gently. Sideswipe wanted to walk away. He wanted to drag Lilac with him so that they could get back on the road. But yet he found himself walking towards the woman.

"You are a kind boy. You may not believe it, but it is true. You need to take a moment and enjoy life and all it has to offer. Your destination will not change, nor will it move. Come and rest for the night. We will care for the both of you."

She said softly. Sideswipe wanted to say no. He wanted to scream it to the heavens! But he couldn't. This older femme, though he didn't know her, reminded him of someone from his past. Reluctantly he nodded. They would stay the night. But only one night.

"Okay…"

"Wonderful!"

She cheered as she hugged him tight. Sideswipe stiffened at first, alarmed at the show of affection, but soon returned her hug, since his sensors told him that people were watching. "Frag humans are so strange!" he thought as he tried to back away only for the woman to tighten her hug. He looked over at Lilac and mouthed the word "Help!" Much to his dismay she simply shook her head and walked away joining the other younglings who were walking away.

XXXXX

After the fresh produce was stored in his trunk, Sideswipe drove further into the commune. He was surprised to see Lilac playing with the other younglings. Both the small ones and the larger ones as well. She had a wreath of flowers in her hair, which now had a section in the back that was braided. Sideswipe never noticed, but her hair was long. Like really long. It reached all the way down past her rear end. She could literally sit on it if she wanted to. "Humans are so weird." He thought again as he walked over to them. "What are you guys doing?"

"Playing soccer. Wanna play?"

Lilac asked as she dribbled the ball between her bare feet. "Uh…sure. How do you play?"

"You don't know how to play soccer?! What did you do as a kid?"

Asked one of the older younglings with a puzzled expression. Before Sideswipe could answer, they surrounded him and began teaching the game. It took him a few hours, but once he finally got the hang of it, Sideswipe really liked the game.

As a matter of fact, he was beginning to like everything about the commune. There wasn't any yelling, no fighting, nobody to really tell anyone what to do, delicious produce that he could eat as much of as he wanted…the whole place seemed peaceful. He could see why Lilac liked it so much. There was freedom to do what you wanted, when you wanted, and nobody there said say otherwise. After they got done with soccer, he played hide and seek with the younger younglings, and had a blast! For once he didn't feel pressured to be anything, a fearless soldier, a happy go lucky mech, nothing. He got to wear a flower crown and dance around a decorative pole before dinner for Primus's sake! This place was awesome!

"Dude, how's the organic vegan mac and cheese man?"

"So good dude so good!" He said back to an older male…Shade if he remembered right. They were all sitting around a large fire eating, and sharing stories. "So sister Lilac, what brings you and the Puck to the commune?" Asked an older youngling, one maybe a few years older than Lilac.

"Ah, travels sister Meadow. We're on our way to Nevada."

"Bit early to be heading out that way for burning man."

"No, we're going out that way so Puck can reconnect with his twin brother."

She said coolly as she stretched. Sideswipe wasn't sure what Puck meant, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. From the expressions, the others had on their faces when he had gotten the name he surmised that it was supposed to be fitting. He'd feel a lot better if he knew what it meant. All he was doing was throwing small pebbles at Lilac and pointing at another youngling to say that they did it. Then someone said he was acting like a Puck and the name stuck.

"Twin Pucks? That must be interesting."

"It is. I haven't seen my twin in a while."

"Man, that's awful. Dude, tell your bro hi for me. That totally sucks man!"

"I know dude I know."

He said. He was feeling a little…off. Something just didn't feel right with his bond, and it was something that the others noticed by his visible grimace. "You okay Puck? Too much to eat?"

"No…my…chest…just hurts. I'm fine."

"No you're not. Here have some of this special herbal tea. It works wonders for pain."

Said an older organic…Willow if he remembered correctly. "What's in it?"

"Hibiscus, ginger, green tea leaves and just a small hint of ganja."

"Uhh, I don't know if that's a good idea Sideswipe…"

Lilac said as he began to drink from the cup. He immediately began to feel strange. He felt warm and fuzzy all over. And calmer. He definitely felt calmer.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude…I can't feel anything! Is that bad? And why does my face tingle?"

He asked only to be greeted by gentle laughter. He began to laugh too. "I have no fragging clue what's so funny!" He giggled internally.

XXXXX

At long last, it was time to go to bed. Lilac was happy that the tree house had a working shower. She was done cleaning and was contentedly relaxing in the warm water. That is until- "Whoa, so this is it?"

"ACK! Sideswipe! What are you doing?!"

"I've never seen human wash racks before! Where are the nozzles? And the brushes? Surely you can't clean your whole frame by yourself!"

He said innocently as Lilac continued to cover her body with the shower curtain. "Sideswipe! Please! You're not supposed to see a human without clothes on!" She hissed as she tried to swat at him. With a pout the mech left the room allowing her to dry off and change into the white peasant top and skirt the hippies had gifted her. When she entered the room where she would be sleeping with the other little girls she was surprised to see two of the older girls, Meadow and Rain, singing alongside a video.

"Here on our island the days are a dream! Hanging together we work as a team! And the magic extends, through our family of friends! Here on our island the fun never ends!"

They had finished the song, and the girls were cheering and begging for another.

"Well… there is time for one more."

"Maybe if you all ask nicely, our guest will sing us all a song."

The whole room turned to Lilac, and several girls gave her pleading looks. "Pleeeeeaaaasssse?"

"I don't know…I'm not a very good singer…"

"Pretty please Lilac? Please?"

The youngest, Lila, asked with big blue eyes.

"Well…okay. But I'm not very good!"

She said as the room cheered.

With a deep breath, she chose a song from the video, and began to sing the lyrics as the music played.

"Where is the land I come from? Who lives where I was born? Why do my memories start with a storm? What if I have a family, somewhere beyond the sea? Could there be someone there missing me? Tell me, why I'm not sleeping, and my heart is leaping inside me! Could this be one of those times when your feelings decide?"

She took a deeper breath and continued.

"Why does he look through circles? Why does he hide his feet? Why do I feel shy when we meet? Is this the tree he sleeps in? What can he see from there? Could there be new horizons to share? All these, questions keep turning and churning and burning inside me! What are these feelings I feel when he's here by my side?"-

Lilac kept her eyes closed as she sung. It made her feel better, and a little bit more confident.

- "I need to know these answers! I need to find my way! Seize my tomorrow, learn my yesterday! I need to take these chances, let all my feelings show! Can't tell what's waiting, still I need to go! I need to know!"

Lilac was about to walk away, then the music's tone changed, and someone else started to sing!

"Isn't she just amazing? Daring and bold and sure! Different from girls that I've met before! Do you think she might like me?"-

It was Sideswipe! He was singing! And the girls were encouraging him with excited head nods!

- "How do I look tonight? I just want everything to be right. All these, questions keep turning and churning and burning inside me! What are these feelings I feel when she's here by my side?"

He sung pausing long enough for her to swallow hard before they finished the duet.

"I need to know these answers, I need to find my way! Seize my tomorrow! Learn my yesterday! I need to take these chances, let all my feelings show! Can't tell what's waiting, still I need to go! I need to know!"

Everyone in the room cheered loudly for the two as Lilac turned beet red.

XXXXX

After it was clear that everyone was asleep, Lilac crept out to the balcony overlooking the forest where she saw Sideswipe leaning against a tree in his bipedal form.

"You wanted to talk?"

"I thought that you didn't have a family?"

"I don't."

"Then why were they calling you sister?"

Lilac sighed as she leaned against the wall of the treehouse. "Because they meant it as a term of endearment. I am not related…that I know of… to any of these people. But we call each other brother and sister because we care about each other."

"But why? You barely know them."

"Some people are just like that Sideswipe. Some trust easier than others. Some people just care for other people."

She said.

"And I thought you didn't like heights."

He said teasingly. "I don't. But if I have to be in high places, I stay very close to a solid structure. The base of the high place I suppose."

She said as she gently patted the wall she was leaning against.

"Closing my eyes also helps. If I can't see it, it can't scare me."

"That's silly."

"But it works."

She said shrugging. Unfortunately, neither of them heard the small footsteps coming from inside the treehouse.

"Lilac…. what- "

Lila had said as walked out onto the balcony only to freeze at the sight of Sideswipe, who froze in horror at the sight of Lila.

"Lilac…who is that?"

"Oh, uhh. That Lila is the mighty earth spirit! He and I talk sometimes."

"Why is he made of metal?"

"Because he uses earth's resources to take a form! He is very kind, as he protects the earth."

"Is that why he looks like a knight in shining armor?"

"Yes. His armor is made of the metals that are buried beneath the ground. And his eyes are sapphires!"

"Oooo! He's pretty! Oh! I mean handsome!"

The little girl cooed as she looked back at Sideswipe with wide innocent eyes. Lilac looked back at Sideswipe too, only she had a look on her face that screamed play along. Sideswipe cleared his throat and pitched his voice deeper, somewhere between Ironhide's and Optimus'.

"Why thank you child. I am truly glad that someone appreciates me, my beauty and what it is I do." He said nodding sagely, as Lilac playfully rolled her eyes. "Now, I must finish my conversation with Lilac. And I believe that it is far past your bedtime."

"Aww!"

"I know small one. But it is important that you rest. And do your part to take care of your planet."

"Okay…bye mister spirit."

"Come here for a moment."

Sideswipe said surprising Lilac who was slowly walking the girl back into the room. Lila ran to the railing and squealed in delight as Sideswipe picked her up and gently hugged her. Once he returned her to the balcony, she willingly walked inside the treehouse with Lilac. Half an hour later she was sound asleep and Lilac walked back outside.

"That was so close!"

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna call it a night. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Okay. By the way, tomorrow it's my turn to ask you like 80 questions."

"I didn't ask you that many! And besides, they were all explanatory."

"Fine. But I still have a lot of questions for you."

"Fair enough. Good night."

"Good night Sideswipe. Sleep well."

"We don't sleep!"

He hissed as he skated away into the forest.

"Then what do you call it?"

She yell-hissed back.

"Recharging! See you tomorrow!"

He said watching as she nodded her head and disappeared into the structure.

XXXXX

Sideswipe decided that he would take a short stroll through the forest before transforming and settling down on his axels for some recharge. He decided to keep his sensors on high since Barricade could still easily be in the area. That's when he felt the strange burning sensation in his spark again. Fed up with the annoying pain, he sent a mental jab at it only to be angrily jabbed back. Confused, he pushed with more pressure and urgency until finally some of the wall gave way and another presence could be felt. Both Sideswipe and the new presence were still with surprised silence, before the other one nudged him gently and then earnestly before it grew angry and started sending waves of anger, hurt and mental slaps through the hole in the wall. Sideswipe stumbled when he felt the jabs and the feelings. There was only one person who held that much hostility while also holding that much concern.

Sideswipe's presence embraced the other with waves of joy, excitement, and concern while the other did the same. Sunstreaker who had just taken off on the plane to Nebraska after several hours of refueling, talking to the press and sitting around in his alt in boredom smirked under his hood. He and his twin could feel each other again. Though he couldn't hear his twin's voice over the bond like usual, he could at least feel him, completely. The wall blocking their bond was nearly gone, and in time he was sure he'd here his own twin's voice again.

But for now, the two nudged each other's end of the bond happily. Sideswipe had to transform and drive back to where he was parked, and when he got there he felt the recharge protocols taking over, for both him and his twin. He and Sunny knew each other well enough to know not to tell anyone about their bond activity. At least not yet. Not when there was a prank on the officer team to be played, and not when he had ulterior motives for his guide. After all, how often would an opportunity like this come around? He and Sunny could get one over on both the officer team and the humans they would work with! And then he could introduce his friend to them, and she wouldn't have to live alone anymore! With his mind made up, and with one last happy nudge, and with one reassuring one to his twin that he was okay and that they'd talk later he settled down on his axels for the night.

"Good night Sunny, see you soon."


A/N: Hello! I am back from 15 weeks of college! And as many of you know from my last Authors note, I work part time and attend college full time. The good news is that this summer, I only have 3 classes and I will continue to work the minimum allotment for part time! So hopefully that means I will have more time for writing!

Now on to the point opportunity! Seeker3 was the closest correct answer! And so, they win! As a reward, Seeker3 you may ask me anything you want to know about this story. This includes future plot details, sneak peaks of what will happen in the next chapter and possible one-shots that may occur. I will answer your question truthfully and if my answer changes down the line I will tell you first. Just PM me when you're ready to ask. As for these points for info from my story, I'm not sure what I will do with them yet…I may turn them into virtual cookies that go to those who answer the questions. Ideas for what to do with them are welcome!

Now as for the answer…

P is for Pat

L is for Lee

Pat Lee who was a Dreamwave comic artist said that Sideswipe was his favorite character! (As he and Sunstreaker should be!)

84, is the year that Transformers made its debut and our beloved fandom was born!

B is for Bell. Michael Bell was the original sexy voice of our favorite ruby frontliner! (Okay…so he's still currently silver in this fic. But not for long! :).)

9, as in 09 when our bad boy with blades returned without his twin regrettably. (Anyone else still pissed off at that? I am!)

A is for André. André Sogliuzzo was the voice actor for 2009's version of Sideswipe, who is only one part of the inspiration for the Sideswipe you see in this story. (his more serious moments and at times haughty attitude. Not saying that G1 Sideswipe didn't have that…just saying that I had to use some of movie Sideswipe somewhere.)

The red sad face was the Autobot insignia.

*NEW BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY*

A virtual cookie will go to the person or people who can tell me what the songs used in this chapter are, and where they came from!

I hope that you all liked the chapter. Sorry if it feels rushed at times. It took me 15 weeks to write, and I didn't want to split it into two chapters, partially because it is a gift for this fic reaching 1 year in age and because it is my second year as an author anniversary! It is the longest chapter I have written for this story, and possibly the longest chapter I have ever written! So I hope you like it! Please be kind to me, I really did work hard on this!

Please Follow, Favorite, and Review!

Seriously, please review I love to hear from you guys!

I hope that you are all well and I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

CLYL! (Com. Link You Later!)