I don't know if anyone else noticed, but there was this problem with the reviews, and I couldn't see them. It's been fixed, and it was driving me crazy because I really wanted to know how you guys felt about ch 23. Glad y'all love Quickshift, I sure do.

Thank you's for awesome reviews goes to; Agent-CheeseCake, Guest, duchesseduo, Xarine, Guest, xVentressx, lizy2000, jgoss, wolfimus prime, TFHM, LGTracy, CastieLunaWinchester, Bee4ever, Graceful- But-Forgetful-Writer, and Kahlthar!

And to answer LGTracy (I couldn't PM you for some reason) Laserbeak wasn't chewing on anybody. It was an intentional trap for Charlie, because he wanted to reveal himself to her. Hope that clears up the confusion, and if you still are confused you can PM me!

Warning: contains a lot of angst.

Now, onto the chapter!


Chapter Twenty-Four: Aftermath

"Abso-fraggin'-lutely not." He growled, crossing his tiny red arms.

I frowned, "Why not?"

"Cuz I said so."

"Please?"

"No!"

I sighed loudly, blowing strands of hair out of my face, "C'mon Peanut, you need to work with me."

He scoffed, "Not if ya keep callin' me Peanut!"

"Quickshift, for christ's sake! All I need you to do is reattach two wires!"

"Why can't you do it?" He cried out in protest.

"Because you are smaller, and energon is not human friendly." I batted my eyelashes, switching to a different tactic, "You vowed to be a better guardian for me. You don't want me at risk of getting radiation poisoning again, right?"

His shoulders slumped as he let out a dramatic sigh, "Fine." He skidded off to go get a smaller welder off the workbench.

"Jesus," I muttered, pulling out my hands which were shoulder-deep in Sunstreaker's hip. The big, golden twin made a low rumbling sound, shifting ever so slightly in response to my hands out of him.

Wait, that sounded wrong.

Let's rephrase that. My hands out of his hip, and I wiped my fluid-covered gloves on a rag. Damnit, that sounds wrong too! Furious heat rushed to my cheeks as I took off my gloves, and wiped my moist forehead. It didn't help that Sunstreaker was watching me carefully the whole time.

"Such manipulative creatures." He muttered, crossing his arms, and leaning back against the wall.

I've been repairing him for two days, and I was almost done, except for some wires that were too far out of my reach that were still severed. Also in this time, my scars were nearly thin, fading lines now, almost can be unnoticed to the eye if you weren't really looking for them. My legs were still a little shaky, and I couldn't stand on them for more than an hour, but I was proud of the fact that I no longer required the wall's assistance.

"Yeah, well sometimes being manipulative get's the job done." I responded, stepping off of a locked chest I used as a stool.

He grunted in response.

Quickshift skidded back over, with a welder in his hand and a grimace on his metal lips. I gave him an apologetic smile, lifting him up and letting him crawl through the hole where Sunstreaker's hip plating should be. The sound of the welder turned on, and Sunstreaker made another low sound from his engine, his glare told me just how uncomfortable he was with a tiny transformer inside his body.

I was mildly surprise he didn't outright protest like Quickshift did. He just stayed cooly impassive as he glared down at nothing in particular, except when every once in a while his hands twitched, before clenching into fists.

"Fixin' a stinkin' Autobot..." I could hear Quickshift's rant as he worked, "...for the pretty lady. Slaggin' wires...I hate weldin'."

I shook my head at his rant, before turned my attention back up to the yellow Autobot, "What time is it?"

"Half past noon." Was his gruff reply.

Use to his terse behavior, I rolled my eyes and walked back over to my sad pile of pillows and blankets. I had Quickshift go out and get me some more pain relievers the other day, and I could feel the distant pain throb in my legs which told me I needed to sit down. It still bothered me that I was so vulnerable like this. It's been at least a week since we were stuck in this warehouse, and I couldn't help the anxiety that rose in my chest every time I thought too much about my family.

I so dearly hoped they were safe. They meant the world to me, and it was killing me that I couldn't get a hold of them. I didn't try much after the first time...when someone cut the power. A tiny shiver ran down my spine at the thought. My first thought was Sunstreaker, but I wasn't so sure why he'd want to cut the phone line. He keeps raising two fingers to his head, which I knew from watching Sideswipe, mean that they were communicating. But every time he did, he'd scowl and start growling out curse words.

Which I assumed meant this communication technique failed. Then there was Quickshift, but I dismissed that one instantly. It didn't make sense, and nothing was adding up. But I kept the thoughts to myself as I swallowed the pills down with some water. Quickshift carefully made his way out of the hole, and dropped back down the cement floor of the warehouse.

"There! Mr. Sunshine is fixed." Quickshift smirked, at the almost immediate reaction.

"Call me that again and it will be the last thing you ever say, little bot." He snarled.

"Oh yeah? I'd like ta see ya try, Auto-glitch."

"Hey now," I warned, "What did I say about name-calling and death threats?"

Quickshift sighed dramatically, crossing his arms, "Fine. I'm sorry...that I didn't call ya an 'Auto-glitch' sooner!"

"You little-!" Sunstreaker growled, hands swooping down to grab at the red mini bot. The said mini bot snickered, dodging and maneuvering around his grabs for him skillfully. This only made Sunstreaker even more pissed as his engine growled loud enough for Canada to hear. "- pit-spawned slagger!"

Quickshift dodged another swoop, grinning wickedly, and I sighed. Two days ago he wouldn't go near ten feet of the large Autobot, now he takes every oppurtunity given to get on his nerves. If anything, his behavior reminded me of Sideswipe.

"Retreat!" Quickshift yelled, wheeling past me as Sunstreaker got to his feet, nearly crushing the support beams that made up half the ceiling in his haste.

"Get over here you little glitch!" He growled.

Quickshift transformed down into tiny tiny red race car, zooming under Sunstreaker's feet before parking himself right behind me. Sunstreaker brought his murderous glare to me, and I vaguely wondered if he smack me out of the way to get to the little red bot. Usually I'd doubt it, but right now it seemed like he was just about ready to rip some heads off. His short temper is probably the reason Quickshift liked to bother him so much.

"S-Sunstreaker." I warned calmly, even though my lips trembled.

He glared at me for a long time, still looking homicidal as his breaths were short and heavy. Finally, the anger seemed to evaporate, and his shoulders slumped as the fury faded from his cobalt eyes. All that was left was mild annoyance...and longing?

I blinked, making sure what I was seeing was true. For a moment, when a scowl wasn't marring his features, I could see the true, barely-veiled pain in his eyes. There were s many emotions running through them, I could only imagine what he was going through. But just like that, the moment was over and his optics dulled.

Just like that, the trance was broken. And his scowl returned...but less intensifying as they usually were. He transformed down into the beautiful golden Lamborghini, even though the paint was chipped and faded in many places.

"I'm going out to require more resources. I will be back in a few hours." His radio crackled through the open window.

"Could I...come with you?" I asked quietly, in hopes of getting out of the warehouse. It was starting to become claustrophobic.

There was a lone silence, before his radio finally crackled again. "No."

I bit my lip to hide my disappointment. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I walked over to the lever, which I had found during my explorations, that opened the large doors to the warehouse automatically, and the sounds of the abused metal from all the time Sunstreaker forced it open screeched as it opened, and the golden Lamborghini raced out without another word.

"Don't sweat it Charlie," Quickshift said, transforming again, "He's just a big sparkling."

"That's not it, though." I answered solemnly, "He has a twin, his name is Sideswipe. Their split-sparks, so they depend on each other a lot. I think it's just hard for him...especially since he just got him back."


(Sideswipe's POV)

"No signal?" Ratchet asked, a sad glint in his optics.

I shook my helm, staring down at the glossy floor of the Med Bay. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

I felt Ratchet's servo on my shoulder, "Sideswipe, it's not your fault. None of this was your fault. This was all Starscream's doing-"

"But I could've stopped it!" I snapped, wrenching away from his grip, "I should've had his back! Starscream detonated the bomb... and now, he's gone."

Gone! The word bitterly echoed inside my processors, and my spark burned in longing for him. Half of me was missing, probably somewhere under the rubble suffering all by himself. My spark burned in agony, and I deserved it. I deserved every aching minute of pain, because I betrayed him. I left him.

I deserved all of it.

"I can't even feel him anymore." My voice was quiet, as I glared down at the ground, my fists clenching as anger and despair thrummed in my spark, "This isn't how its meant to be! I should be dead, Ratchet!"

"Just because you can't feel him doesn't mean he's gone, Sideswipe." Ratchet said, trying but failing to soothe me. "If he was actually offlined, you would be too."

Tell that to the burning agony in my spark.

"It's all my fault..." My voice broke off in static, as rage and pure hatred filled inside me, "Because of me, Sunny's gone! I can't find him! I'm pit-spawned glitch, Ratchet! I don't deserve to live! I don't want to live without him!"

"Sideswipe..." His tone took on a warning.

"No!" I growled, slamming my fist into the wall hard enough to out a hole through it. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

The energon under my plating was boiling, kicking my cooling fans into high gear to try and cool me down. But I didn't want to be cooled down, I wanted my twin! My vision seeped red, and I snarled, lunging for Ratchet. With a gasp, we both crashed into the floor, and Ratchet grunted as he struggled to get me off of him. I punched, kicked, grabbed, sliced, and crunched any armor I could get my hands on.

Suddenly, Jazz, First Aid, and Optimus himself came rushing into the room, pulling me apart from Ratchet.

"The pit is wrong with'cha, Sides?!" Jazz growled.

I snarled, and tried to swing at Jazz, but he managed to duck the blow, pulling both of my hands painfully behind my back and slamming my face-plates into the ground. I growled again, wriggling in his grasp, until I felt something sharp being injected at the back of my neck cables, and my whole body went limp. Heaviness filled my already clogged-up processors and I twitched.

My optics closed.

I onlined again, my systems sluggishly booting up as well as I took in the new enviornment. It was dim, much dimmer than the bright fluorescent Med Bay, and the lingering smell of burned air particles filled my olfactory sensors as my optics fully booted up.

I was in the brig.

I sat up immediately on the hard, metal berth. My processors ached, and the right side of my face plate throbbed in dull pain. The blue energon bars buzzed brightly, illuminating the dark cell in an eerie glow. I was trying to pull up recent memories, but my processors ached too much.

How did I end up here?

There was the sound of someone entering a code in the locking pad, before light pede-steps filled down the hall, till the silver mini-bot with a bright blue visor stopped right in front of me. His posture radiated anything but friendly.

"Jazz?" I asked quietly.

He nodded his helm stiffly.

"What happened...?" I trailed off, motioning around my cell again.

And that's when it happened. Everything came back to me all full speed, nearly making me fall off the berth from the impact. I lost Sunstreaker, and in returned nearly lost it myself.

"Slag." I cursed quietly.

Jazz nodded, "Slag indeed."


(Charlie's POV)

The sun was almost set by the time Sunstreaker did come back. Quickshift and I were watching one of my favorite childhood movies, The Lion King, from a holo-vid he displayed from his chest. I was curled up in the blankets, with the little red bot leaning on my lap comfortably. We both turned our attention to the big, yellow Autobot as he transformed, bringing out a bag of what looked like take out and set it down next to me. Along with some clean clothes and a large jug of water.

"Thank you." I said softly.

He didn't respond, but instead transformed back into his Lamborghini form, and rolled up carefully behind us. I was mildly surprised, but quick to hide my expression as he sunk down on his axles. I then turned my attention back to the movie, relishing in the peaceful silence that seemed to take over. I made a promise to myself that I'd be there for Sunstreaker, and he'd have someone to confide in...because he was hurting, whether or not he wanted to show it.


Haha, sorry not a cheery ending! Anyway, a little glimpse into the aftermath of the battle with Sideswipe, and I promise it will be clear soon. Please review!