Haha yeah, it does kind of seem like the Universe is out to get Charlie or something with the bad luck she's having, but don't worry, her bad luck won't last long :) Anyway, thanks as always for the awesome reviews, I love you guys for it, no joke; Sunstreakers Squishy, emzydatffan, HeartsGuardianSol, Xarine, Lunarburst23, xVentressx, TatteredAngel42, DarkshadowsXsunny-sides, electrorider (haha, I'll be sure to do that), 99luftballonsx.o.x, Bee4ever, Guest, and Transformers HM. By the way, that was an awesome review, I kept laughing through the whole thing, lol so funny!

I'm actually quite happy how this chapter turned out! Oh, and it's longer than usual so hey, that's good :)

Chapter Seventeen: Long Talks

My eyes snapped open, looking across the room briefly before I remembered where I was, and then sat up, stretching as well as yawning. I could hear the steady spray of water from the shower, and a small, muffled voice from inside the closed door and quickly assumed that Jenna was up and taking a shower.

For one moment, I felt good. Pleasant. And then all the memories came colliding back with such force that it could have knocked me right off the couch. I remembered getting my parents letter, Sunstreaker threatening me, convincing Optimus to have my family here, telling Sideswipe to stay away from me, and then to top it all off, finding out about crazy Bird-Con and oh so many more threats. Greeeaat.

I sighed, flopping back on to the pillow. I didn't even wanted to be me right now, I just wanted a break. Was that seriously too hard to ask for? How did I get sucked up into this anyway? It all started after that "talk" with that damn golden twin. Now everything seems to go from bad to worse.

Tell someone, a small voice inside of my head suggested, you're in way over your head, Charlie. You can't keep hiding this.

But what if they hate me for not telling them sooner? What if Bird-Con finds out and kills Jenna? What if he kills me?

If this continues, someone is going to end up dead. This is no longer about Sunstreaker bullying you. There is a dangerous Decepticon lurking around base, and that is far more dangerous than he will ever be. You know this, Charlie. Stop being controlled by fear, and start standing up for yourself. Isn't that why you're training anyway? To stand up to him?

I sighed, the inner voice in my head did have a point. But where would I even start?

You can start by alerting Optimus to the Decepticon's presence, the voice said.

Optimus? For some reason, unease grew in the pits of my stomach at the thought of speaking to him about it, even though I didn't know why. Optimus is understanding, and by far the nicest giant robot I've ever met, why did it feel so...unnerving when I talked to him? I tried to shake the thought out of my head, but the uneasiness only intensified. The voice inside my head didn't say anything, so I guess the small pep talk was over.

Groaning, I got up slowly from the couch, "Hey Jen, thanks for letting me crash here, see ya around lunch?"

"Okay!" Was the muffled response from the shower.

I needed a shower anyway, that and a therapist.

I shut her door, and began walking down the hall towards my door, only to stop at the sight of platinum blond hair and bright blue eyed holoform that I knew too well.

"Sideswipe?"

(Sunstreaker's POV)

Stupid femme.

Stupid human fragging femme! I swear, I'll squish her the next time I see her! I understood that Optimus was everything's-sentient-and-deserves-life kind of Bot, but Sides was not. So why did he put so much effort in trying to befriend that stupid slagging piece of scrap? Why does he care so much about her?

Growling wildly, I lunged into Jazz, which he artfully dodged just in time to bring his elbow down on the middle of my spinal strut, and my face collided hard with the ground. Which only served to piss me off even more. Another growl, and I was up on my feet, ignoring the way my helm swayed a bit before returning to it's normal vision.

Narrowing my optics at the silver mini-bot, I faked a hit to the right but ended up going left. He still ended up blocking the blow, dipping to his feet and the next thing I knew, my aft was back on the ground again. Snarling fiercely, I pushed myself back up to my feet, unsheathing twin blades from my wrists and charged again, fully decisive on wiping the fraggin' smirk off the glitches face.

A sharp dagger was pulled out of his subspace as he met my left blade with a metallic clink. Snarling, I pushed down with all my force, and Jazz grunted loudly, but kept pushing back. I swung my other blade, which he somehow managed to maneuver to dagger so that both of the blades were pressed up against them. Bad move. Grinning wickedly, I pressed down with all my force, satisfied when Jazz grunted again, his arms shaking as my blades slowly moved closer and closer to his face.

Jazz's visor was dark as he struggled, and then they brightened as a calculating and devious flashed in his neon blue optics before he helm-butted me, hard. Growling as a small stab of pain hit my processors and clouded my vision, before I felt my legs twist and them weight thrown on top of me, which I knew was Jazz's. Both of us hit the floor, and I groaned as sparks exploded in my vision, and pain pulsed inside my helm. Jazz snickered gleefully, and my optics finally online again to see him holding the dangerous dagger right near my throat.

Well, damn.

Jazz's visor flashed again as he leaned in close, "You're unusually distracted this orn."

I narrowed my optics at him before trying to wriggle out of his grasp, "Frag off!"

"Tell meh Sunshine, is it tha femme?" He asked curiously.

I growled at him.

"So it is tha femme." He mused thoughtfully.

Finally, I managed to throw him off me, and I swung my blade at him again, only for him to defect it with a blow of his own. Jazz sighed, shaking his head tauntingly, "Ya should really stop tryin' ta fight meh when you're distracted, you ain't gonna win."

"Shut up!" I grumbled, trying to swing for the slippery silver bastard.

He dodged it, rolling under the blade and snickering while he did so before popping up again only to land a blow right in the chest, and I staggered backwards, but thankfully didn't hit the ground.

"It bothers ya that she's spendin' so much time with you're twin, huh?" Jazz intoned, raising an optic ridge.

"No!" I growled.

"You're lyin'."

"So?"

"What good is it ta feed yourself a lie ya don't even believe?" He asked, once again meeting my blade with that damn dagger.

I narrowed my optics, "She's a human, Jazz. A fraggin' organic!"

"And you're a fraggin' egotistical Cybertronian, there, now that we've stated tha obvious." Jazz retorted, his visor flashing again mischievously.

I couldn't help but roll my optics, "That's not what I meant. I meant that she's apart of a puny, primitive race. Sides has barely known her and will probably forget her when she dies, why does he care so much about her?"

"Maybe it's because she fixed him up, maybe it's because she was tha first person he encountered on this planet after crashin', who knows?" Jazz said, shrugging carelessly, "However they've formed a friendship is beyond meh, but that doesn't matter. What does is that they trust each other, Ah've never seen a human trust one of our kind so much tha way Charlie does. And since our world's a slaggin' wasteland, it's quite likely we'll be here for a while. And in order for us to do that, we need tha humans trust. We need them ta trust us as much as Charlie trusts Sides. That's why they're friendship is so important."

I stared at him for a long time. Trust? How could you even tolerate such weak, squishy beings that secretes all kinds of fluids from Primus-knows-where? Why is Jazz saying all these things? I narrowed my optics, how can Sideswipe still "trust" her so much? Especially after she told him to never see her again. Yet it still bothers him, his processor endlessly running on possible reasons why Charlie would never want to see him again. I should know, he keeps fragging waking up at night and sits there and thinks about it!

And it's slaggin' annoying!

What could that femme offer to me anyway? Why would I want her trust? Her lifespans only the blink of an optic in ours, she can't possibly understand how deep trust runs between Cybertronians, none of the humans can. They're devious and vile and filthy. Humans turn their backs on each other all the time, always have weapons aimed and ready to fire at one another at a moments notice.

They can't possibly begin to understand the meaning of trust.

"Now that philosophy time's over," Jazz drawled, snapping me out of my thoughts, and grinning wickedly, "Let's fight."

And I grinned back, charging as our blades met with another metal clang.

(Charlie's POV)

Sideswipe turned at the sound of my voice, his eyes flashing bright in astonishment before a nervous chuckle escape him as he rubbed his head sheepishly, "Oh. I thought you were in your...uh room."

"I slept over Jenna's." I said, fidgeting with my hands nervously.

The silence ensued, and I only became more nervous.

"At least tell me why." He suddenly said, and I lifted my eyes to face him again.

"What?"

"Tell me why you hate me, and then I'll go, I promise. I...I just want to know why." He said, his cobalt eyes swelled with melancholy.

I sighed, my heart lurched in my chest at the crestfallen look on his face, and it just killed me all over again as the conversation replayed in my head. He was probably remembering it too.

Tell someone...the voice was back, echoing in my head.

"Okay look Sides, I didn't mean any of that. Well, I did, but it was only because he told me to do it. I'm sorry, I never wanted to stop hanging out with you, really, I didn't...I was just," I paused, exhaling before starting up again," I was scared, no beyond scared, I was terrified. So much to the point that the fear controlled me, and it still does. I'm a coward Sides, and idiot for doing that and a major asshole for treating you like that, I'm sorry. Just know that I don't hate you, and I really missed hanging out with you, a lot."

I didn't like that I couldn't read the look on his face, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Was he angry at me? Upset? Sad? I couldn't tell, and it was frustrating.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk to me anymore," I ended up blurting out, "I wouldn't blame you. I'm a terrible friend."

"No you're not," He quickly defended, his facial expression still unreadable, "I don't hate you at all. I thought you hated me."

I sighed breathlessly, almost like a desperate laugh, as I shook my head, "I could never hate you Sides. You're too...well, you."

Suddenly, that casual smirk was back on his lips, "I'll take that as a compliment."

I chuckled softly. It wasn't a laugh, but it still felt good.

He smiled at me as I chuckled, before his smile slowly started to falter, and then he asked, "Who is he?"

I stopped chuckling, and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You said you stopped hanging out with me because 'he' forced you to. Who is he?" He asked, and sudden dread filled me again.

Could I even tell him?

Yes! The voice in my head suddenly snapped, and I had the urge to put my head through a wall, just so the voice could leave me alone. But instead, I sighed deeply before looking back up at him, "Okay, I'll tell you, but you got to swear to me that you won't get mad."

He shook his head, "Not promising anything until you tell me."

I glared at him, "Swear it, Sideswipe."

"I can't-"

"Swear it." I interrupted.

He leveled me with a glare of his own, and I glared right back at him. For the longest time we just stood there in the middle of the hallway, glaring at each other, neither of us refusing to break contact. I knew he wasn't mad at me, but he didn't want to back down because his pride demanded it, and so did mine. So we stood there for another long moment, glaring at each other until finally his facial features soften up as he let out a long, defeated sigh.

"Fine."

I smirked and stuck out my tongue.

He just rolled his beautiful blue eyes, "Alright, I swear I won't get mad."

Finally I dropped my smirk and then let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, it's Sunstreaker."

"I knew it!" He snapped, his beryl eyes growing darker with anger.

"You swore," I reminded him, crossing my arms, "Now hear me out."

Once Sideswipe calmed down from the sudden rage, he sighed again, "Fine, but can we go inside your room? I'm tired of standing out here."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the small smile that tugged on my lips. I truly missed that silver Corvette's antics. Unlocking my room, I opened the door and Sideswipe rushed past me yelling, "I call the bed!" And then he threw himself on to the bed, the mattress coils squeaking lightly as his face pressed into the mattress, before he flipped on his back.

I shook my head at his antics again, before that ominous feeling of being watched seeped over me again, my muscles stiffened and I froze out in the threshold of the room. Slowly, cautiously, my eyes glanced to the shadowed corners of the hall, making sure there was no red-eyed Bird-Con. When I was relieved that there wasn't, I relaxed again.

"Charlie?" Sideswipe called out, and I looked back at him to meet his curious gaze. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I said, stepping inside and shutting the door quickly.

His eyes narrowed, "So what did Sunstreaker tell you?"

I shook my head, "It's wasn't all that bad; he just threatened to kill me if he ever saw me around you."

Sideswipe's face contorted into a look of rage again, and I sighed as he shouted out, "He what?!"

"You swore." I reminded him, once again.

Sideswipe was off the bed, and right next to me in the matters of a second, "Why didn't you tell anyone?!"

He was still angry, which made me a little irritated in return. "I didn't want to make things worse! If I told on him, he would've been punished and what would that accomplish? Nothing! All it will do is want to make him kill me faster!"

He sighed angrily, before pinching the bridge of his nose, "Look Charlie, this is something important. You can't keep him bullying you a secret! Especially from me!"

I frowned, looking back down at the ground, "Sorry..."

"I didn't mean to get mad again, I know I promised, I'm sorry." He quickly apologized, before adding, "But you will tell me the next time Sunny does something, understand?"

I nodded sheepishly, still staring down at the ground. And then I was startled as I felt warm, long fingers slid under my chin and slightly tilting me up so that I was looking right up at Sideswipe's handsome holoform's face.

"Hey," He said softly, "Don't be sad. I don't like it when you're sad."

"I'm sorry." I said again.

Without warning, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. I smiled at the thoughtfulness, before wrapping my hands around him as well, resting my head between the place where his neck and shoulder met. We sat there, for another minute hugging, before I felt something wet and slimy in my ear. Snapping my eyes open, I sprung away from him, gasping loudly as he chuckled deviously.

"Sideswipe," I nearly screamed, "Did you just give me a wet willy?!"

All he did was wink, before opening the door and running out, laughing wildly.

"I'm gonna kill you!" I shouted, racing out the door, laughing along with him.

*gets umbrella and waits for the rain of FINALLYS to come in* Yeah, I know, Charlie FINALLY told somebody about Sunstreaker bullying her, and made up with Sides. Of course, there's still the problem of Laserbeak...oh well, baby steps for Charlie.

I also loved writing the Jazz/Sunstreaker fight scene, and the part where Jazz get's all mushy with the "trust" speech :)

Thumbs up for cute Charlie/Sideswipe moment! And don't forget to review!