-1Sweet Child of Mine - 9
Three weeks later…
At Prime's orders, Sideswipe had turned himself over to Ratchet for a full medical scan. Prime had held out hope that Ratchet would find a glitch or a programming problem somewhere but there was nothing in the scan. The senior staff noted, however, that as long as Sideswipe was away from Sunstreaker, he wasn't angry or violent and that he behaved much as he had before Stormfire had been created. Prime, however, still wanted Sideswipe to talk with Smokescreen and Sideswipe readily agreed. He wanted his family back and he'd do whatever it took to have that.
Three weeks had passed since Stormfire and Bumblebee had been brought back to base and Sideswipe had begun undergoing medical assessments. Now… now he was beginning to talk with Smokescreen and the grey mech wasn't sure what to think of anything he'd read or heard.
"So, let's start off with something easy," Smokescreen said quietly one afternoon as they sat in his room. Sideswipe leaned back in a chair and nodded slowly. "When did you first notice that you were getting angry with Sunstreaker?"
"Not long after Stormfire came online," Sideswipe answered softly. "About two months after, we argued and it was the first time I'd hit him. That night, we were laying in bed and I apologized, told him it would never happen again… that I didn't understand why it had happened."
"But it did," Smokescreen said carefully. "More than once or twice." Sideswipe nodded slowly. "When did it go beyond just hitting him once or twice?"
"I'm not sure. The memories are vague at best. But it always started out as an argument that escalated into something more." Smokescreen nodded slowly.
"Tell me about the last argument…"
Prime had given Stormfire the last three weeks to recover, wanting to make sure she was physically and emotionally stable before he called her into his office to talk with her. He'd been putting this off out of fear for the child's emotional well being but he knew he couldn't put it off any longer. He had to know what she'd heard or seen and how she felt about it all.
He knew, from Prowl, that Storm had Sunstreaker's artistic abilities so he'd brought several data pads into the office along with human art supplies in case she felt safer using her holoform in his office. Maybe letting her just draw would help her talk about what was going on. If not, then Prime figured maybe he'd be able to read something out of her artwork.
She showed up about five minutes after he'd called for her and she was in holoform. Prime switched his on in order to make her feel more comfortable. She smiled up at him but she'd never hugged him since that first day, after which Sunstreaker had told her to never do so again. Prime figured he should make that first move. He stepped towards her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her gently. He wasn't too surprised when she latched on tightly, burying her face against his shirt.
He held her for a little while before she stepped back and looked up at him, smiling a little. He returned the smile and stepped back, closing the door to his office.
"So, I was thinking that you and I could talk for awhile if you don't mind," Prime said quietly, moving to a chair and sitting down as Storm walked over to a table finding the art supplies there and sitting down.
"What about?" Storm said softly, sitting down and sifting through the paper on the table.
"Well, I was thinking you might like to talk about what you've been doing the last few weeks since you came back," Prime said, deciding to start with something easy. Storm pulled out a sheet of paper and picked up a box of colored pencils, emptying them onto the table, picking up a green pencil, coloring on the paper as she did so.
"I've been with Sunny a lot since I got back," she said softly after a couple of minutes. "Saw Sides to for a little while, but he doesn't stay long. Sunny says it's cause he's not feeling well but that he'll be back with us when he's okay again." Prime nodded slowly, just listening, but watching her draw as well.
"What about Ironhide?"
"He's quiet a lot. Sometimes him and Sunny are talking and Sunny looks like he's been crying afterwards and doesn't want to talk much. Usually, that's when I like to sit in his lap and just let him hold me."
"Does that make him feel better?" Prime asked softly. Storm nodded, switching out the green pencil for a yellow one.
"Makes him stop crying. Sometimes, when Ironhide has to go to patrol, Sides comes and talks to Sunny." Prime raised a brow slightly. That was going against the restraining order.
"How often does that happen, Storm?"
"It was only twice," Sideswipe said softly as he paced Smokescreen's room. "I felt his pain, I felt his despair and I was scared he would do something to himself. I had to see him and I had to make sure he was okay."
"Sideswipe, that's against the restraining order," Smokescreen said quietly.
"I know," Sides whispered, "but I was scared and I never hurt him or yelled at him while I was there."
"Where was Storm during all of this?"
"She was either in the room with us or in the next room over, but never very far away," Sunstreaker said quietly, watching Prowl move closer to him, sitting against his desk. "I would never have let him hurt her." Prowl nodded slowly.
"Sunny, Prime put that order in place for your protection as well as Storms. You do understand that, right?" Sunstreaker nodded slowly.
"Something's wrong with him, Prowl. How long have you known us? Since we first came online? He's never been violent like that. Never. Something's happened to him and it's my fault that I didn't see it." Prowl slowly shook his head and reached out, resting a hand on Sunstreaker's arm.
"It is not your fault. And Ratchet has run test after test on him. Nothing comes up on any of them. Whatever's happened, it's not a glitch or some internal injury." Sunstreaker looked up slowly.
"And yet, I'm the only one he lashes out at, Prowl. I'm the only one he hurts physically."
"How does it start?"
"Sometimes they're fine and then Sunny will say something or do something and Sides gets all mad and starts yelling. I leave the room when they yell." Prime kept watching her draw. She'd moved on to a new picture now, a red pencil in her hand.
"Has Sides ever yelled at you or hurt you?" Prime asked softly. Storm slowly shook her head.
"No. Sunny won't let him near me when he gets mad. Red says it's my fault though. That neither of my dads were like this before I came online. He said they brought it on themselves." She looked up slowly at the older man. "What does that mean?" Prime slowly shook his head.
"I'm not sure, Storm, but I can promise you, I'll find out." Storm nodded, apparently happy with the answer and turned back to her picture. Prime watched her, feeling a cold sense of dread surge through him. Moving to his feet, he walked over to his desk and pushed his com button.
"Ratchet, this is Prime. Can you come to my office please?"
"Of course, Prime. On my way."
"Thank you." Prime turned and walked back over to where Storm sat at the table. She had finished the second drawing and looked up at him smiling. Prime smiled back at her and watched her start on a third picture. A knock on his door caught Prime's attention and he turned as Ratchet stuck his head in the door. He held up a hand to the medic then looked back down at Storm.
"Storm, I'm going to talk to Ratchet right outside, okay? I'll be back in just a few minutes."
"Can I stay here and finish drawing?" she asked softly. Prime nodded.
"Absolutely. I'll be just outside." Storm nodded as Prime turned and walked out into the hall with Ratchet.
"How is she?" Ratchet asked worriedly.
"Holding up amazingly well," Prime said softly. "But we've got a bigger problem."
"What?"
"Storm said Red Alert told her that the twins fighting was her fault and that what was happening to Sides and Sunny was something they'd brought on themselves. Has Red Alert done any medical exams on either of the twins this past year?" Ratchet nodded slowly.
"A month or two after Storm came online, I'd been called away and Sideswipe came in for a routine exam. When I came back, Red Alert said everything was fine, that Sideswipe had checked out okay." Prime nodded slowly.
"That's about the time when Sideswipe started getting hostile with Sunstreaker," Prime said quietly. "Pull Sideswipe back in and do a more thorough check. Take him offline to do it if you have to do so, but I want a full neuro sweep done this time." Ratchet nodded slowly.
"I'll find Sides now and bring him in. What about Red Alert?"
"I want him turned over to Prowl. Immediately."
"Understood." Ratchet turned and walked off as Prime walked back into his office. Storm was sitting at the table where he'd left her and she was still working on the third picture. He sat back down next to her and began looking a the first two pictures.
"Hey, Storm?"
"Yes?" she looked up at him.
"Tell me about this picture," he said softly, handing her the first picture she'd drawn. She smiled and set down the pencil in her hand, taking the picture and looking at it.
"That's me and Sunny there," she said pointing to it. "And that's Sideswipe there." Prime nodded. The picture showed the three of them inside what looked like wide open field. "Who's this?" he said, pointing to a darker looking figure.
"That's the mech that let Bee and me go," she said quietly. Prime nodded slowly.
"Do you know his name?" he asked quietly.
"Barr'cade," she answered with a grin. Prime chuckled softly.
"Barricade," he said slowly. "And why is he in the picture and why's he holding a weapon?"
"Cause he's protecting it," she said, turning back to her other picture.
"Protecting it? Storm, honey, protecting what?" Prime asked again gently. Storm turned back and pointed to another part of the picture.
"The new sparkling," she said with a grin. "Silly Prime." Prime looked back at the picture and sure enough, near to where Barricade was standing was what looked like a small ball of energy.
"Storm, last question, I promise. Who's sparkling is it?"
"Barricade's…"
Prowl stood in Prime's office looking at the pictures Storm had left behind as Prime paced the office around him.
"She said the sparkling belonged to Barricade?" he asked worriedly.
"That's what she said," Prime answered. Prowl looked at the next picture.
"And she said this was how he got the sparkling?" Prime nodded slowly.
"That's the picture that bothers me the most," the leader said, leaning against the edge of his desk.
"It would explain why Barricade was so insistent on getting Storm and Bee out of their base. Maybe he was acting out of conscience."
"He still has one?" Prime asked and Prowl slowly shook his head. "Hey, he's your brother."
"I don't claim him anymore," Prowl reminded him, still studying the pictures. "What about this last one. What is this one about?" Prime took the picture from him and looked at again.
"Storm says its from a dream she's been having ever since she came back," Prime said softly.
"More like a nightmare if you ask me," Prowl said, moving to stand next to Prime, looking at the picture as well. "How do you spend night after night dreaming about your own death…"