27. Naïve

Very special thanks to Andrew Griffith for letting me use his comic for this story. This is what inspired this whole thing way back in July. (You can check it out at http:// glovestudios. deviantart. com/art/Split-Decision-81505666)

In a way, Sideswipe was glad it had happened when it did. The Autobot raiding party had busted in with smoke grenades and within nano-kliks he couldn't see a thing. Amidst cries of, "You're all under arrest!" and shrieks of rage and pain, Sideswipe had turned and grabbed for his brother. Sunstreaker had reacted instantly. The next thing Sideswipe knew, his twin's fist flew out of the smoke and smashed into the side of his face. He'd staggered back as Sunny swung wildly and then Sideswipe caught himself, catching Sunny's next punch and dragging his brother forward.

"It's me, bolt-face! Stop freaking out!" he said.

Sunstreaker had huffed and said, "I'm not freaking out!"

But then another shape had loomed out of the fog. Sideswipe caught one glance of the red Autobot decal on the mech's shoulders and shoved his brother out of the way.

"Go!" he said.

A net flew out, grazing Sideswipe's helm and he spun around, slammed himself into his transformation sequence, and tore out of there. The Autobot shouted something after him but he didn't slow down to catch what it was.

He nearly ran Sunstreaker over. The arena was filled by then. He couldn't see his own hood and sensors were being scrambled. One moment he was tearing across the floor towards where the exit should be, the next he saw a flash of yellow, picked up the energy signature of his twin, and twisted away. Sunny must have sensed him or heard him or something because he turned and his optics widened and he threw himself to the side. Sideswipe screeched to a halt right past him.

"Hey!" Sunny said.

The smoke was starting to clear. Through the thin wisps Sideswipe could make out the outline of the door and he said, "Get on!"

Sunstreaker looked at him as if he'd just rolled in his own lubricant. "The frag I will! You can't—"

Another group of Autobots had spotted him and started in their direction. Sideswipe didn't give his brother time to finish whining. He plowed forward, hitting Sunny in the knees, flipping up onto Sideswipe's hood.

"You slag-sucking pile of—"

"Hang on!" Sideswipe said and then threw himself forward. Just in time, too. One of the three converging Autobots leapt, his outstretched hands grazed Sideswipe's aft fender. The he was out, Sunstreaker cursing and sliding around as Sideswipe shot out into the corridor, past another startled Autobot who plastered himself against the wall. He noticed the large transport sitting right outside and cranked a hard left. Sunstreaker dug his hands into Sideswipe's joints and he almost tumbled right off. Sideswipe didn't quite make the turn, smashing into the side and scraping along, leaving behind a trail of red and yellow as more Autobots emerged from within, screaming at him.

"You fragging glitch-face! You got my arm!" Sunny howled.

Sideswipe ignored Sunny's ranting and the punches that followed and focused on losing themselves in the dark streets of Kaon.

That Megatron character had more than a few bolts loose, Sideswipe decided. Killing a senator? He'd have to be glitched to think he could have gotten away with something like that.

He was fairly certain that no one had been able to get a good enough look at either of them to be able to identify them. But it worried Sideswipe. The Autobots had staged a full-out raid, which meant that they knew exactly where the rally would be and when, which meant that they'd been investigating the fights. Which meant that there was a good chance that they'd been conducting long-term surveillance. Maybe enough to spot Sunny or him. And with the nasty turn Megatron had taken, his so-called recruitment meeting…

"Hey, Sunny," Sideswipe said, "I think it might be a good idea if we laid low for a while."

Sunstreaker snorted but didn't turn around. "Why?"

"Because I think the Autobots are going to be cracking down on the fights."

"So what?"

Sideswipe reached out and grabbed his brother's shoulder, spinning him around so they were face to face. "So they're gonna be looking for mechs who got involved. You saw what just happened. This is a big deal!"

"Oh please. They can't stop this. This is bigger than a few stuffy legislators."

Sideswipe drew back a little. There was something in Sunstreaker's posture, something in his optics, a dark sort of excitement. Sideswipe didn't like it. He hadn't been paying much attention to his brother during Megatron's little death rally—he'd been too transfixed by the spectacle taking place up on the stage. But now, as they stood face-to-face in one of the back alleys, he was.

"What if we were seen at that rally, huh? You think they'll just let us go?" he said.

"Well we can't throw in with the Autobots, that's for sure," Sunny said.

"So we're terrorists, then?"

"Terrorists?" Sunstreaker said. His optics narrowed and he grinned. "Or revolutionaries."

That stopped Sideswipe's energon pump. "Are you glitched? You've seen what Megatron is willing to do. You know what he's capable of. He almost murdered a senator for no reason!"

Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong. Where the slag had this come from? Sure, Sunny had always been egotistical, cocky, even. But now he was standing there, his usual smirk morphing into something a lot nastier.

"And what's the alternative?" Sunny said. "Join up with the Autobots? I'm better than that!"

"Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe couldn't help it. He was suddenly feeling very small and helpless in the face of whatever madness had gripped his brother. He tried to reach out, pull the glitching dolt back but Sunny shrugged him off and turned and for the first time since their creation, Sunny's sneer was directed at his twin.

"If you can't join me, brother," Sunny said and started to turn away, "then this in one thing I do alone."

And then he was stomping down the alley and Sideswipe let his hand fall down to his side.

He doesn't mean that. He can't mean that, he thought. They'd never been separated before, not for more than an orn or two at a time. He'll be back.

Sideswipe watched his brother continue down the alley, watched his back fade into darkness.

He'll be back.

Ah, crashing. Brings back some memories. Good times. I didn't get a chance to go in and send individual replies (thanks to the crash over the weekend) so I'll just give a massive THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has reviewed and favorited and alerted this story. You guys are the reason I post this. See you again on Friday for the very last chapter: Playing With Kids.

And yes, cmdrtekk, this story does tie in to 'Infiltration', 'Escalation', and 'Devestation'. It's AU because of the 'Spotlight: Sideswipe'.

WAH! Only one more to go...