-1Sweet Child of Mine - 6
A/N: Okay, so this chapter was kind of hard for me to write. It's not often that I take bits and pieces of my past and integrate them into my stories, but this time I did. Marital abuse is a crime… and it happens far too often and, more often than not, no one wants to know about it and the victims don't want to believe it's happening either. The thing is, sometimes the victims have their own world they live in where everything is just fine even when it's not. I know these things only from personal experiences. So… this chapter, while hard to write, kind of had to be written in order to answer several people's comments and questions about Sunstreaker…
Also, my thanks to Dex for getting me through a couple of these scenes.
Prowl, Sunstreaker, Prime and the others returned to base as quickly as possible in order to start trying to find out where the Decepticons had taken Bumblebee and Stormfire. Prowl had radioed ahead to Ironhide who was waiting for them in the main hall as they returned. He moved to Sunstreaker and Sunstreaker went to him letting the older mech hold him briefly.
"They took her… and Bee… and I couldn't get there… in time to save… them…" Sunstreaker whispered against Ironhide's shoulder.
"We'll find 'em, kid. I promise." Ironhide rubbed his hand on the back of Sunstreaker's helm before stepping back. Sunstreaker nodded and pressed his forehead against Ironhide's for a brief moment before stepping away.
"Thanks." He turned to move towards the conference room when he saw Sideswipe step out of Mirage's room. He stopped and just stared at his twin, unable to say or do anything at the moment. Ironhide turned and saw Sideswipe walking towards them, apparently unaware of what had happened.
"Where have you been?" Ironhide asked quietly as Sideswipe walked over to his twin.
"Busy. What's up?" Sunstreaker looked at him and slowly shook his head. Sideswipe stepped closer and put a hand on Sunstreaker's shoulder. "Sunny? What's wrong?" Sunstreaker shook his head again and collapsed against his twin, his body shaking violently.
Prowl stepped forward, resting a hand on Sunstreaker's back as he did so.
"Bumblebee and Storm were attacked, Sides. They've been taken by Barricade and two Seekers. We couldn't get to them in time." Sideswipe's arm came up around his twin, holding him tightly, his gaze locked on Prowl.
"Do we know where they were taken?" he asked, voice deadly quiet.
"Not yet," Prowl told him quietly. "I'm going to get Jazz and Smokescreen to start helping me track them down. I need you to take Sunstreaker back to quarters for now. I think you need to stay with him."
"Yeah, of course," Sideswipe said, pulling Sunstreaker closer to him. "You'll let us know when you find them. We're not staying behind."
"Of course," Prowl said quietly. He stepped closer and leaned in against Sunstreaker. "Sunny, we're going to find her. I promise you."
"Thank you," Sunstreaker whispered softly against his brother's shoulder. Prowl stepped back and looked at Sideswipe intently.
"I'll come by to check on both of you later," he said, tone low and serious. Sideswipe nodded and turned, pulling Sunstreaker with him back to their quarters. Prowl turned to Ironhide.
"You want to help?" Ironhide nodded.
"Yeah. You know I do." Prowl nodded and led Ironhide towards the surveillance room, calling Jazz and Smokescreen as he did so. Prime watched them go and watched Sideswipe pull Sunstreaker back to their quarters. His gaze narrowed slightly but for now, he let them go. He'd check on them later as well.
Sideswipe pulled Sunstreaker into their quarters and closed the door behind them, locking it as he did so. He settled his twin's protoform on a nearby couch, sitting next to him as he did so.
"What happened?" Sideswipe asked quietly. Sunstreaker slowly shook his head as he stood and began to pace the room.
"I was out on patrol. I knew Storm was going to the lookout with Bee and then either to the lake or back here. They were at the lake when they were attacked by Barricade and two of the Seekers. Bumblebee called back here to base for backup. I heard the call but I was too far away…" Sideswipe stood up and moved closer to Sunstreaker, stopping the yellow twin's ability to pace any further.
"So, you let out daughter off base with Bumblebee and no other protection and then, when she needed help, you couldn't find it in your ability to get to her in time. Is that what you're telling me?" Sunstreaker looked up at his twin slowly.
"I… I'm sorry… She's never been in trouble before… I mean… what am I supposed to do, Sides? Keep her on base her whole life?"
"You were supposed to protect her!" Sideswipe yelled at him angrily. "We agreed when she came online that one of us… one of us would always be with her. No. Matter. What!" He shoved the yellow warrior away from him angrily, stalking after him as he did so. "You could have told me where she was before you left base!"
"How?" Sunstreaker yelled back at him. "I didn't even know where YOU were! You're never here anymore! It's like we don't exist to you unless Mirage is busy elsewhere!" Sideswipe grabbed Sunstreaker's arm and jerked him closer, their faces just inches apart.
"Don't you dare blame me for this. I didn't let her go off base alone." His voice was deadly calm when he spoke and Sunstreaker shivered at the implications behind that tone. "You better hope we find her soon."
"Or what?" Sunstreaker whispered. "Isn't it enough that you've torn us apart to be with Mirage? What more damage could you possibly…" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when Sideswipe threw him against the nearest wall. Sunstreaker felt the side of his head hit first and he threw his hands up, bracing his body as he did so. He came up, shaking his head a little but Sideswipe had already grabbed him by the throat and slammed him back into the wall once more. Sunstreaker felt the pain surge through him as the back of his helm slammed the wall hard.
"I didn't do any of this, Sunstreaker. You're the one who told me to either end it with him or leave. You're the one who gave ultimatums here. Not. Me." Two more times the yellow twin was shoved against the wall. The last time, his optics flickered slightly.
"I'm sorry," Sunstreaker whispered softly, his hand reaching up to wrap around Sideswipe's wrist, trying to make him stop. "You're right. I'm sorry. Just… stop…" Sideswipe growled at him and pulled him away from the wall before shoving him towards their bedroom, stalking after him as he did so.
"You're always sorry until the next fragging time," he snarled angrily as he kept pushing Sunstreaker ahead of him. "I'm done with this. I'm sick of the tantrums and the damn apologies which you never fragging mean!"
"Sides, I swear… I'm sorry… I didn't mean for it to happen. I tried to get to her…" Sideswipe's hand came up, connecting with the side of Sunstreaker's face as hard as he could, sending the yellow twin to his knees, energon dripping from his mouth.
"You didn't try hard enough and now… now some slagging 'Con has our daughter and Bumblebee and is doing Primus knows what to them both!" He reached down and pulled Sunstreaker back to his feet, pushing him towards the bunk. Sunstreaker fell against it and pulled himself up as quickly as he could, sitting against the warm metal where they slept the nights Sideswipe came back to him. Sideswipe watched him for a moment then slowly shook his head and walked out of the room, the door to the bedroom slamming behind him as he did so. Sunstreaker didn't dare move until he heard the main door to their quarters open and then close loudly. Only then did he allow himself to begin shaking, arms wrapping around himself and tears staining the golden warrior's face…
Deception Base - abandoned warehouse just outside the city
Bumblebee's optics came back online slowly and he quickly looked around, his battle mask dropping down over his face as he did so. He was in a make-shift cell and he wasn't alone.
Stormfire lay on the floor nearby, her optics still dim but she looked relatively unharmed. The battle mask retracted and he crawled over to her, pulling her into his lap, holding her carefully. He didn't know how long they'd been there or how long he'd been unconscious, but he didn't hear much going on around them.
Bee brushed a hand down the side of the femme's face, keeping her close, trying to link with her systems to see if she was injured but he didn't think she was. She was merely unconscious. Being so young, she still wasn't able to stay online for long bouts of time like he was. He could only hope she would wake soon.
The sound of heavy footsteps made him look up as Barricade appeared just outside the door to the make-shift cell and glanced inside. Bumblebee met his gaze but said nothing. Barricade glanced around him then opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind him and moved closer to Bee and Storm and knelt near them.
"She's a sparkling," Barricade said quietly. "Where did she come from and how did she get here? Surely she could not have survived the travel from our home world to here." Bumblebee slowly shook his head and Barricade nodded slowly. "The All Spark is gone. How was she created without it?"
"I don't know," Bumblebee answered quietly. Barricade gave him a look that showed he clearly did not believe that answer. Bumblebee sighed heavily. "Why would I tell you anything?"
"Because I will help get her out of here," Barricade answered quietly. "When we picked up your signal, I did not think to find you with a sparkling, much less a femme. It proves to me that not all hope is lost if we can still create without the All Spark. I won't see her destroyed. Now. How was she created, youngling?"
"I honestly don't know," Bumblebee said quietly. "What I know is that it was a spark bonding that created her." Barricade nodded slowly.
"Soundwave will be here shortly. He will take her. You must let him for now. I will be there at all times. I assure you, he will not harm her in body. He wishes only to find out what she knows regarding her creation and who her creators were."
"You can't let him harm her," Bumblebee said softly, still holding Storm in his arms. "She's too important, Barricade."
"That much I do know, little Bee. I'll do what I can…"
Sunstreaker had waited almost an hour before moving away from the bedroom and back into the main room of their quarters. His protoform was drained and he moved into his holoform, not that it looked much better. He looked into the mirror and brushed fingers down the right side of his face where the bruise was darkest and the cut at the corner of his lip was somewhat swollen as well. He moved slowly, picking up the area, trying to put it back in order before Sideswipe returned.
Mirage was looking for Sideswipe, and as usual, he walked into the quarters the twins shared, stopping when he saw Sunstreaker's holoform. Mirage pulled out his holoform, watching the blond twin, eyes narrowing at the bruises on his face. While he hadn't seen Sunstreaker lately, he had heard what everyone said, about how he was always getting hurt. He'd refused to believe what they'd said about Sideswipe though, and still did not believe it even now.
"Sideswipe isn't here?" Mirage asked it casually.
Sunstreaker turned around at Mirage's voice and swallowed back the words that had first threatened to come forth. After a moment he turned away from the other man.
"No, he's not. I'm guessing he's gone to check in with the others on how the search and rescue is going regarding Bumblebee and Stormfire's capture earlier today."
Mirage saw Sideswipe's reaction, and ignored it for now. He took a sharp breath at the mention of the capture, the first for him; he wouldn't have come here looking for Sideswipe.
"I am sorry to hear about that." He took a step back, but kept his eyes on Sunstreaker, who couldn't possibly be clumsy enough to cause that kind of damage. But he hated thinking that Sideswipe was capable of that. He sighed. "I'm sorry." He motioned at Sunstreaker, not quite coming out and saying that he felt partially responsible for the abuse now that he actually saw what was going on.
Sunstreaker turned to look at him, the look in his eyes clearly saying that he didn't believe the apology at all.
"You're sorry?" he said quietly. "Sorry for what, exactly, Mirage? For betraying my trust? For taking my twin from me all these years? For having absolutely no regard for my daughter or me during this past year? Or are you just sorry that I'm still around to pose even a small threat to your continued relationship with my brother? What, exactly, are you sorry for?" He stepped closer to the other man, the bruises on his arms more evident now and they were most definitely new bruises... recent.
If Mirage were honest, he would say that it would be for having no regard for the fact that Sideswipe had a family now. But he simply had not understood what Stormfire meant to the twins.
"For not giving Sideswipe back to you when he had other responsibilities." He scowled as he saw more bruises. "And just in case you haven't heard, everyone else knows what is going on between you two." He stared at the bruises on Sunstreaker's arm, shaking his head. "How can you keep her with him?" The only reason Mirage had stayed with Sideswipe was that he had convinced himself that Sideswipe couldn't possibly be harming his twin. Sunstreaker looked at him intently for a moment then stepped back from him slowly.
"What everyone knows and what actually goes on are never the same story," Sunstreaker said quietly. "You of all people should know that. I don't keep her with him, Mirage. I keep her with me." He turned away for a moment as if trying to compose himself before he truly lost it. "I stay with him because he is my bondmate. He is my brother and I love him. It's not his fault."
"So, that's how it's going to be? What exactly are you teaching your daughter when you let him..." Mirage shook his head. Saying it would make it too real. "Is that what you want for her? Stop making excuses for him." Mirage stopped, shaking his head again, sighing softly. "I love him, too. But if he ever raised his hand to me, I'd leave him. And if I were you, I wouldn't leave Stormfire with him." Sunstreaker turned around angrily.
"He has never raised a hand to her. Never. He's never even raised his voice to her. He loves her too damn much. She's his daughter, Mirage. He would never hurt her." Sunstreaker might have said more but the door opened and Sideswipe walked in, his holoform emerging almost immediately. He looked at Sunstreaker, gaze narrowing slightly before he looked at Mirage, his gaze moving between the two.
"Something wrong?"
Mirage couldn't believe what he was hearing. Well, if Sunstreaker didn't want his help, fine.
"Apparently not." He shook his head at Sunstreaker, wanting to say more, to warn him that he shouldn't wait for Sideswipe to turn his anger on Stormfire before he left, but he'd already tried. And saying it now, in front of Sideswipe, would only put Sunstreaker at risk. Even hinting at it might. "I was looking for you." Mirage turned his attention to Sideswipe fully now. Sideswipe raised a brow slightly, looking back at his lover slowly.
"Seems you found me. I was checking in with the others to see if they'd found out anything on Stormfire's capture." He turned to look at his twin. "They don't have anything yet," he told Sunstreaker almost angrily. Sunstreaker nodded slowly.
"I said I was sorry for that..." Sideswipe raised a hand and Sunstreaker stepped back, letting the sentence trail off quietly. Mirage watched the two, freezing as Sideswipe raised his hand... And letting out a breath as Sideswipe refrained from hitting Sunstreaker.
"You better hope she comes back in one piece," Sideswipe told him softly. Sunstreaker nodded slowly, glancing once at Mirage before walking into one of the other rooms. Sideswipe turned back to Mirage. "So, you were looking for me?" he said, with a slight smile on his face once more.
Mirage just shook his head at the last question. "What exactly was that?" Mirage kept his tone carefully blank. "Because rumor is that Sunstreaker's showing up with a lot of dents in his armor. Bruises when he's in holoform." If no one was going to confront Sideswipe, Mirage would.
"Sunstreaker's been putting in a lot of hours, 'Raj. He comes in late, he's exhausted, he's fallen over things in the room at night. He's fine, a little bruised and dented and somewhat, embarrased at his own clumsiness but ask him and he'll tell you he's okay. We're both a little wired, 'Raj. He let Storm off base without one of us going with her and she and Bumblebee were captured. I just want him to understand that it's not something that can happen again and that it could have been prevented if he'd just been paying attention. And since when you do you listen to rumors, 'Raj. Seriously... have I ever done anything to hurt you? Why would I hurt my own twin?"
Sideswipe stepped closer to Mirage, watching him intently. He reached up and brushed a hand down the side of Mirage's face gently.
"I didn't listen to rumors before now," Mirage spoke through clenched teeth as Sideswipe brushed his hand down Mirage's face. "But I just saw you ready to hit him after he apologized for letting your daughter out of his sight. And in case anyone hasn't reminded you, he didn't let her off base alone - she was with Bumblebee." Mirage took a step back, shaking his head. "Your daughter's gone, and you're still-" Mirage cut himself off. "What happened to you?"
Sideswipe's gaze narrowed slightly as Mirage stepped away from him. "I'm not sure what you mean, 'Raj. I wasn't going to hit Sunstreaker. I merely raised my hand to get him to stop talking. He's apologized enough. And yes, I know she was with Bumblebee but Sunny and I had an agreement when she came online. One of us would be with her at all times. If he was going out on patrol, he should have let me know where she was and who she was with. He understands that now. I don't know why you're so upset. Mirage, what people say and what actually happens don't always add up to the same thing. Hell, if you don't believe me.." He turned and sighed heavily.
"Sunny!" Sunstreaker came out from the hallway. He'd changed into a longer sleeved shirt and his hair was messed up just enough that blond locks of hair covered parts of the bruise on his face.
"Yes?" he asked softly, walking over to Sideswipe. Sideswipe reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of Sunny's face.
"I think Mirage is worried about you. Care to tell me why?" Sunstreaker looked at Sides then over at Mirage, slowly shaking his head.
"I don't know." Sideswipe nodded slowly and looked back at Mirage, waiting to see what Mirage would say or do.
Mirage watched Sideswipe parade Sunstreaker out, stomach churning at the show both of them were putting on.
"What do you want me to say?" His voice was blank yet again. This was obviously a charade, and he wondered how Sideswipe could think so little of him to even attempt it. Did he really think Mirage would believe this?
Sunstreaker cleared his throat after a moment of awkward silence and gently pulled himself away from his twin.
"Mirage, I appreciate your concern. It only proves that my own issues regarding you and Sides are unfounded and I apologize for upsetting you with my accusations earlier. I'm sure you and Sides would like some time alone. I think I'll go see what Ironhide and the others have found." He looked at Mirage, silently pleading for the other man to just keep quiet as he'd been doing all this time... to just let it go a little while longer... if for no other reason that to keep another fight from starting. Sideswipe tilted his head slightly.
"He was rude to you earlier?" he asked Mirage quietly, but the tone held a small tinge of anger to it.
Mirage caught the glance, and forced himself not to nod.
"Go and check with Ironhide." He managed to sound a little less frozen. "Not at all. If anything, it was the other way around." Mirage shot Sideswipe what he hoped was a decently embarrassed smile, so unsure of himself at the moment. This had thrown him, and all he wanted to do was get out, and talk to Prime about it.
Sunstreaker nodded and quickly ducked out of the room leaving Sideswipe with Mirage for the time being. Inside the room, Sideswipe watched him go and looked back at Mirage, smiling slightly at him.
"I'm sorry if he said anything that did upset you. He's worried about Storm and it probably just surprised him when you showed up. Listen... I want to spend more time with you, but I really need to see what I can do to help find my daughter. I'll find you later?"
Mirage relaxed, and nodded. "I think that would be best." He actually approved, so he didn't have to dredge up any energy to pretend this time. "Get Stormfire back, then find me." Sideswipe needed to get that done first.
Sideswipe nodded with a quick smile. He stepped closer and kissed Mirage gently, brushing his hand along the back of Mirage's neck as he did so. Stepping back he looked at his lover intently. "Later," he whispered softly before turning and walking out of the room.
Decepticon Base
Barricade stood off to the side watching while Soundwave stood over Stormfire who was lying on a metal table looking every bit as scared as a sparkling might given the circumstances. She had no idea where she was and no one around her was even remotely familiar to her.
Soundwave had one hand resting just over her forehead. The child didn't know enough to even try fighting back and Barricade figured that was about all that was saving her for the time being. Starscream and Thundercracker had gone back out looking for more energy sources. Barricade was glad they were gone. He did not want either one of the Seekers getting their hands on the femme.
After a couple of hours, Soundwave finally stepped back from Stormfire and nodded slowly. He reached out and patted the femme on the shoulder gently causing Barricade to look at him curiously. He'd never seen Soundwave show anything even remotely calming or reassuring in nature. It was a first. Finally, the blue mech walked over to him.
"Analysis complete. Information checked and verified."
"What have you found out?" Barricade asked quietly.
"Creation by spark bonding. Creators: Sunstreaker and Sideswipe." Barricade looked at the sparkling on the table then back at Soundwave.
"The twins are her creators?" he asked quietly.
"Affirmative," Soundwave answered. "Course of action to be taken: she must be returned or she will not be allowed to live." Barricade nodded slowly.
"Agreed," he said quietly. "Retain all information of how she was created and we will see what we can do with it when the others return. For now, we need to get them out of here before Starscream and the others return."
"Understood…"
TBC…