A/N: Hello! Sorry it took so long… again. I guess I'm just a slow updater. Sorry to those that wanted different bots but I had already decided a while before I posted the last chapter that I was going to stick to the ones in the movies. Still don't own transformers.
Sam was so bored. All the autobots had gone to meet the new arrivals hours ago and he had been told to wait at the base. If he thought about it, it was a smart thing to do. Who knows how the new arrivals would react either to humans or to him destroying the Allspark. He wasn't sure when they would be getting back. He also couldn't talk with any of the soldiers either since all the ones he actually knew were busy preparing to meet them when they got back.
Sam headed to his favorite hanger. There was a raised platform there that was unofficially his. He hated to admit it but he still couldn't sleep alone. The 'bots would take turns letting him sleep near them if they were doing something quiet during the night or if one of them actually needed recharge they would take him with them. Because of this he didn't have his own room for the times when he was at the base. The platform was a good height for talking and interacting with the 'bots. At this point even the soldiers considered it his. Over time it had gained a table, a few chairs, two shelves, both cluttered with books and trinkets, and a lockable trunk.
When Sam got to the hanger he saw what had to be one of the new 'bots beside his platform staring at something in his servos. They must have gotten back while he'd been aimlessly wandering. The 'bot was silver, a few feet shorter than Bumblebee, and had wheels for feet. Sam walked a bit closer and realized with a start that the new bot was staring at his most recent sketchbook.
Sam wasn't ashamed of his art but it had always been a thing between just him and his sister. After her death Sam had kept it to himself not sure if he wanted anyone else to see it. Not even his parents knew that he liked art or could play piano. One of the things they'd done most often together had been climbing some ridiculous height and painting or drawing whatever they felt like that day. The expressions on people's faces as they wondered how they had gotten there had always been priceless. The 'bot seemed to notice him then as he snapped his helm up and stared at Sam instead.
"Do you know who's this is?" the 'bot asked, holding up the sketchbook.
"Yeah, it's mine. What're you doing looking through my stuff?" The 'bot kneeled down very slowly in a way that made Sam feel like he was being examined.
"Forgive me. It was on the table and I was curious." Had he left it on table? He was usually more careful than that. "You look like a civilian, are you Sam?"
"Uh, yeah, Optimus already briefed you guys?" The 'bot nodded.
"It's strange to think," he said quietly, still studying him "that Megatron and the Allspark were destroyed by such a fragile little organic, light-years from home."
"You believe it?"
"Of course, Prime wouldn't lie to us. Besides," he smiled softly "I've seen the impossible happen before."
"You're not mad?" Sam asked quietly. Learning what the Allspark was to them had to have been the worst emotional thing to have ever happened to Sam. It felt worse than even his sister's death to know he had doomed an entire race to extinction. He had spent the next week completely avoiding all them, including Bumblebee. At the end of the week though, through a combined effort they managed to corner him. Sam had immediately broken down sobbing. Repeating over and over 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.' The soldiers who had no idea what was going on were worried for the kid, having only seen him get hunted down by the four bots and get carried away to one of their private hangers. It took several hours of convincing that they didn't hate him for it, that it was going to happen anyways regardless of the fact that he was the one to do it, before he calmed down.
"No, it is a terrible blow of course. But I understand that the situation demanded it and that it could have been a lot worse."
There was a pause as the 'bot looked back to the sketchbook. He carefully flipped through the many pages of the 'bots, some of the soldiers and few of his sister. "You're really good."
"Oh, thanks." The 'bot nodded. Flipping back to the page he'd been staring at he turned it towards Sam.
"This one's my favorite. Who is it?" Sam looked. It was a girl with dark, wavy hair that flowed a little past her shoulders. She wore an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She was leaning on the left side of a door frame; her right hand was in her pocket. The girl was partially turned away, watching something unseen with sad eyes but a genuine smile. It was one of the more detailed ones he'd done and one of the few in his book he'd taken enough time on to give a background.
"My sister. She's the reason I draw."
"What's her designation?"
"It's called a name, not a designation, and I don't even know yours." The 'bot seemed amused by this response.
"My name is Sideswipe. I'm swords master and know all forms of Cybertronian martial arts. Now will you tell me her name?"
"In my opinion we're even now. We know each other's names and a little bit about each other. If anything you still know more seeing as how no one else knows I can draw."
"Not even her?" Sideswipe asked, pointing at the picture. Sam looked away.
"She… died; almost six years ago now."
"I see." Sideswipe seemed to be internally debating something. "My spark twin is an artist. One of the best before the war broke out. He was declared missing a while ago but I know he's out there. Your drawings remind me of him." Sam was somewhat humbled and at the same time saddened by that. Ratchet had already taught him about the various types of bonds. If Sideswipe was a spark twin he was likely in physical, and undoubtedly in extreme mental pain without his twin. To be compared to someone so close to him, who was apparently very skilled was an honor.
"Did he draw people a lot too?"
"No, I can only remember a handful of times he ever did a portrait. That's almost all his inspiration did though." Sideswipe's optics flickered indicating that he was either using his com or being commed. "Ratchet says it's my turn for my medical exam and Prime wants you to meet the others in his office. If you want, some time I can tell you about my brother and you can tell me about your sister." Sideswipe handed Sam his sketchbook, standing and skating to the entrance. Just as he was in the doorway Sam called out,
"Christina Faye Sholtz." Sideswipe turned back, another soft smile gracing his face.
"Sunstreaker." Sideswipe then transformed and took off in the direction of the med bay. Sam climbed up to the platform to put the sketchbook in his trunk before going to leave too. Sideswipe would definitely be the first of the new arrivals to get in his sketchbook, for now though he wanted to meet the rest of them.
XoXoXoX
Sam walked into Optimus's office to find three new mechs and three new femmes in addition to Optimus. Hesitating when he gained their attention he stopped just inside the room. Optimus came over and offered him a hand, which Sam gratefully accepted.
"Sam, this is Jolt," Optimus pointed to a blue bot, larger than Bumblebee but smaller than Ratchet or Ironhide, "Mudflap," this time he pointed to a rather short, for them, red bot, "his brother Skids," a green bot that otherwise looked exactly like the previous, "and Arcee." He gestured to the three femmes. Autobots, this is Sam. Sideswipe claims to have already met you." Sam nodded in conformation.
"Dat's da ting dat killed Megatron?" Skids exclaimed.
"Yo! Optimus said t' be respectful t' it! Calln' it a ting ain't respectfull!" Mudflap responded hitting his brother upside the head.
"You jus' called it a it an' ting is jus' as respectful as it!" From there it quickly deteriorated into a physical fight that the three Arcees had to separate. Sam could hear Optimus vent above him, their version of a sigh.
"For obvious reasons we request that you not be caught alone with the frame twins until they become more accustom to having humans around." Sam frowned in confusion.
"Frame twins?"
"A pair of brothers that online close to the same time and end up with the same frame. In Cybertronian we have two completely different words for a single spark with two frames and brothers with the same frame design. On Cybertron it could be considered a rather serious insult to mix the two. Your language only has one word for it so we must specify." Answered Optimus.
"Ok, so they're frame twins and Sideswipe's a spark twin. Got it." Sam had already decided that he liked Sideswipe and it was nice to know things like that. Jolt seemed shocked.
"Sideswipe told you he had a twin?" Looking around the others seemed surprised as well.
"Was he not supposed to?" All Sam got in response was seven incredulous stares. Not liking the awkward tension he tried to direct the attention away from himself. Looked back to the three Arcees he asked,
"How are all of you one person?"
"Experimental technology." The Arcee not currently holding Skids or Mudflap answered tightly. Sam took the hint not to ask for elaboration. Uncomfortable with the further increased tension, still focused on him, he tried turning it to a mech not in the room.
"What was Sideswipe doing in the hangers instead of here with you guys?" The Arcee's moods seemed to improve a little.
"He somehow managed to slip away when we got to the base." She said with fond exasperation. "I don't know how he does it."
"I wanted you to meet the new arrivals first but now that you have we are due to meet with Secretary Keller and Major Lennox." Said Optimus, taking Sam back over to the door and letting him down. "The others should be free if you wanted to find one of them."
"Ok," Sam turned back to the others with a wave, "nice to meet you guys," before taking his leave.
A/N: Yeah, I struggled with the second part of this chapter. I'd had the first part pretty much written before I posted the last chapter but I just couldn't get the second, I'm still not overly happy with it but I'm not sure what else I want to do with it. I don't plan on writing Skids and Mudflap much; I just know that I'm going to struggle with their personalities and accents. I feel like I should write a couple chapters on stuff that happened over spring break but I'm truly at a loss on what to do so don't be overly surprised if I take a little bit to update, though that wouldn't be that different from normal would it? Sorry… Um, I think that's all. Hope you're enjoying this!