Good morning all! I have news (and not good in any way): my little brother just got a drum kit. Said little brother is twelve. 12 year old + drum kit = annoying bangs and noises all day long. Pity me! T.T

This chapter has a little angst and a little OOC sunstreaker. I comfort myself with the fact that because he's human and was raised by the Autobots, how he'd feel about them and his reactions and responses to them would be a little different. We're about halfway through he first arc, and when the first movie is over, I can start working on a little sub-story I've had in my head! Can't wait! And I'm pretty sure ya'll like it too :)

Only two reviews? That's shameful! But thankyou to those two reviewers, and thankyou to everyone who's faved/alerted this story!

xxx

MissShelz: yes, Ratchet and his wrenches. I was chuckling at the mental pictures as I wrote it. My family thought I was insane! And I'm glad you like the gifts- they just seemed... right at the time :)

The everchanging: I'm glad you like it! And the twins are just plain awesome, whether they be robotic, human or butterflies :D Thanks for your review!

xxx

Listening to: Mr Know-it-all, Kelly Clarkson

The Autobots transformed and rolled out of the alley, the twins shrinking against the wall so they wouldn't be seen. They waited until the last sets of headlights were out of sight before they ran back to their cars and started the engines. The purrs of twin Lamborghinis were heard as the cars pulled out of their spots and back onto the highway.

"So Sam's Grandfather wasn't a madman after all. I knew those symbols from the article were familiar!" Sideswipe voiced through the radio after a few minutes of tailing the Autobot signals in silence.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Sunstreaker muttered. Sunstreaker's patience was wearing thin, and to be honest, he was worried about what the Autobots would do once they found the Allspark. Would they leave Earth to rebuild their planet, leaving himself and Sideswipe in a foster home? Or would they take the twins with them? Probably not the latter- they had no way of supporting humans or their lifestyles on Cybertron and they could hardly bring enough supplies so as to sustain them for the rest of their lives. So the only option left would be the foster home, and truthfully, the idea really didn't appeal to Sunstreaker.

There was a burst of static, and then Sideswipe retorted "I'm just saying. Trying to lighten the mood, not acting like I have a storm cloud hanging above my head, unlike somebody I know."

"Hey-"

"Will you two shut up? Don't fight now!" Ironhide's gruff voice emitted from the radio of both Lamborghinis.

"I wasn't aware this was an open line," Sunstreaker snapped. "If I want to fight, I'll fight."

"…Sunny?" Sideswipe's voice was soft and hesitant. "Are you alright?"

Sunstreaker sighed and took his hand off the gearstick for a few seconds to fun it through his hair. "I'm fine, Sides. Why on Earth wouldn't I be? We've almost got the Allspark back, whoop-de-doo," the words were harsh but Sideswipe wasn't hurt by them. He could tell that his twin wasn't angry at him, but rather, at something else that he wouldn't talk about through the comms.

"Fix your 'tude, youngling. We are almost at Sam's house. Stay hidden. Ironhide out."

Sunstreaker ignored most of Ironhide's words and focussed on the road. He turned off his comms and just listened to the sound of the engine and the traffic rushing past. Ironhide's words were true, they had reached Sam's house quickly. The twins parked in a small back-street behind Sam's house and quickly turned off the engines so they wouldn't draw too much attention. The back-street was visible from neither the road, nor the houses so the Lamborghinis were safe. They double checked they had all of their gifts/weapons before locking the cars. Sideswipe slipped into a back gate, which lead to behind Sam's house. Sunstreaker followed, not really paying attention, so when Sideswipe's hand grabbed his forearm he had to physically stop himself from knocking his brother out. Sideswipe looked directly into his brother's eyes, which were flickering beneath the light behind Sam's garage.

"What's wrong? You can tell me anything," Sideswipe said, and his concerned expression was what made Sunstreaker break. There were only a few times when Sideswipe acted his age, and at that moment he was going above and beyond expectations.

"It's just," Sunstreaker started, and Sideswipe nodded him on in encouragement. "I'm scared. I'm scared that the Autobots are going to abandon us, just like our birth parents did when we were born."

"Sunny," Sideswipe comforted, his expression caring. "You know they'd never leave us, they promised us, remember?"

"Yes, they did then, but what about now? Sure, they promised us then, but what about once they have the Allspark? You hear them talk about it! They're always going on about how with the Allspark, they can give life back to Cybertron! But to do that, they need to go back, and they sure as pit won't be able to take us with them." To his own horror, Sunstreaker felt a hot tear rolling down his cheek. "I don't want to be abandoned Sides…not again. They're the only family we know." More tears slipped through, and his mask cracked. His face held an expression of utter hopelessness and sadness, with a little anger.

"Sunny…" Sideswipe muttered, and then pulled Sunstreaker into a tight hug. Sunstreaker's shoulders shook slightly as he cried out his fears, his insecurities. Although he never acted like it, Sunstreaker cared a lot for the Autobots, and thought of them as family. The five that raised them held a special spot in his cold heart, almost as close as Sideswipe. To lose them would be a tragedy. Sideswipe rubbed his back softly and let Sunstreaker soak his shirt. These moments that his twin showed weakness happened very, very rarely, but when they did, he was always there to comfort Sunstreaker, just like Sunstreaker was always there to comfort him in his times of need.

"I know it's not much," Sideswipe whispered after Sunstreaker's tears had slowed, "but for what it's worth, you'll always have me. That's a promise." He knew that he couldn't promise the Autobots always being there for them, because there was a large possibility of Sunstreaker's fears happening, but he would always stand by his twin, even to the death.

Sunstreaker pulled away from Sideswipe and gave a small, but real, smile. "I know," he said and wiped away all traces of his tears. His eyes were still a little red, but other than that, he looked perfectly fine.

Their brotherly moment was interrupted by a flash of lights and the ground shaking, as if there was an earth quake. There was a quick whirr of sirens and then quiet.

"What…was that?" Sunstreaker asked.

Sideswipe peered out behind the shed to see what just happened. He wasn't sure whether he should laugh his head off or be extremely frightened. All emotions aside, he still picked up his phone from his pocket and took a picture. He chuckled evilly and turned back to his twin. "Ratchet tripped over the power lines and got shocked, and by the looks of it, buzzed at the same time. Total blackmail material, and great to know for a prank." Sunstreaker's eyes widened and pushed his brother aside so he could see for himself. He sniggered weakly, slowly returning back to normal.

The next few minutes passed in silence with the twins, waiting anxiously for news. After about another ten minutes, there were more sirens, but the twins just wrote it off as to being Ratchet again. They didn't notice that these sirens were slightly different. There was the sound of running footsteps, and before the twins could do anything, they were cornered by men wearing black. Sideswipe smirked but hid it quickly- it was not time for a Men In Black reference, no matter how ironic it may be.

"Well, look what we found here," one of the men snarled and grabbed onto Sunstreaker's wrists. He tried breaking free, but the man's hold was too strong. There was the unmistakeable click of handcuffs' locks and both Sunstreaker's and Sideswipe' hands were locked behind their backs.

"Who are you?" Sideswipe snarled.

"What do you want?" Sunstreaker asked, giving a death-glare. The man leading him hesitated for a second in fear, not immune to the cold twin's harsh eyes, but then continued dragging him. As much as the twins dug in their heels, the men were too strong. The men took them to a line of black vehicles, where Sam and his parents and Mikaela were struggling against their bonds, the adults being forced into a separate car.

"Hey boss, look what we found snooping around out back!" The man leading Sideswipe said to a Hispanic-looking guy in a black suit, who was standing next to the car Sam and Mikaela were forced into. The guy in the suit looked at them, and gestured towards another agent, who was already in the car. He passed him a strange device, which 'Suit' pointed the twins. The machine beeped rapidly and then started smoking. 'Suit's' eyes widened and stared at the twins.

"Off the charts! Take them too!" The twins were then forced into the back with Sam and Mikaela, a tight fit seeing as the car was only able to hold three in the back. Sam and Mikaela both looked at the twins incredulously, trying to come up with reasons as to why the twins were there.

"Xan? Zac?" Sam asked once the car had started moving.

"The very same," Sideswipe replied almost tiredly. The day had taken a lot out of him- first there was the fitful sleep with the nightmares, the training, then the car chases, the his twin becoming an emotional wreck and now this. He was going to need a very long holiday once this was all over.

"So… Ladiesman217. That is your eBay name?" 'Suit' asked Sam, interrupting the would-be conversation. Sam shifted in his seat, looking awkward as Mikaela lifted an eyebrow. Both twins were emotionless, which startled both of the normal teens. Sam had expected at least Sideswipe to laugh or poke fun at his name.

"Well, it was a typo and I just ran with it," Sam said quickly, but 'Suit' wasn't really listening.

"Listen to this," he pressed a button on a phone and Sam's voice started streaming rapidly through the speaker.

"Yeah, that sounds like Ladiesman," Mikaela said.

"Last night, you told the officers at the police station your car transformed. Enlighten me."

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe paled visibly but kept silent. "No-no, here's what I said," the brunette teenager stuttered, trying to play off the whole situation. "Because this total situation is a whole misunderstanding. You see, my car had been stolen."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, but it's fine, it's cool, because it's back now, it came back," Sam tried amending.

"But not by itself, because cars don't do that," Mikaela said, trying to fix the situation. Sam laughed loudly as if it was a funny joke, and Suit and Mikaela laughed along with him.

"So what do you kids know about the aliens?" Like that, the fake laughter froze, Sam's face falling rapidly.

"Like, what? A Martian? E.T?" Sam stuttered, nervousness climbing higher and higher.

"It's an urban legend," Mikaela added.

Sideswipe could resist no longer. He whistled, as if he was impressed. "You guys are some rich conspiracy theorists," he said, indicating all the black vehicles holding the hired hands.

Suit glared at him and pulled something from his pocket. That something turned out to be an official looking badge. It was not one the twins had seen before- which was saying something because they had made it their mission in life to find and memorize the different official (and unofficial) federal badges. "You see this? This is a do what I want and get away with it badge. I am going to lock you up, forever," Suit threatened.

"Naw, don't listen to him. He's just pissy because he has to get back to guarding the mall," Mikaela snarled.

"You said it sister!" Sideswipe cried.

Suit glared at them. "You, in the training bra, don't tempt me. Especially with your daddy's parole coming up." Sunstreaker's and Sideswipe's eyes narrowed while Sam looked on in shock.

"Parole?" Sam asked in shock.

Before Mikaela could respond, Sunstreaker butted in. "That was low, even for a slimy government conspiracy theorist like you," he snarled in a voice filled with venom.

Suit glared at him before turning to laptop that was sitting on the dash. After scanning whatever page he had up he turned back to the twins. "And you! You unnatural…freaky… Xan and Zac Autober. Wouldn't want the world finding out that you technically don't exist."

Now both Mikaela and Sam stared at the twins. None of the inhabitants of the car noticed the device up the front start to beep furiously until it was too late. The car smashed into what could only be described as a giant foot. Massive digits grabbed onto the car and lifted it right of its axels. There was a foreboding snap and the roof separated from the rest of the vehicle, causing it to fall back to the ground.

"You a-holes are in trouble now," Sam said to the two agents rising up from the front of the car. "Gentlemen, I want you to meet my friend…Optimus Prime." The twins let Sam have his moment feeling like the big guy, because it was guaranteed that he wouldn't feel like it for much longer.

"Taking the children was a bad move," Optimus said, his deep voice sounding darker than usual. "Autobots! Relieve them of their weapons!"

The command was followed out almost happily. "Gimme those!" Jazz called, extending his hand and activating his magnetism, the guns flying straight to him. Ironhide's cannons spun threateningly and Bumblebee's battle mask slipped down as he activated his own guns.

"Whoa, whoa! Big guys with big guns…" Suit muttered.

"You do not seem surprised to see us. Are you not afraid?" Optimus asked, almost curious.

"Well, there are S-7 protocols. Technically, I'm not authorized to communicate with you, except to tell you that I'm not authorized to communicate with you," Suit stuttered.

"Get out of the car…" Optimus growled. "NOW!" The twins jumped out of the car quickly- they had never, ever heard Prime sound so harsh, not even when Sideswipe took a prank too far, nor when Sunstreaker disobeyed him to the extreme. They ran to stand between Ironhide and Ratchet, both of whom were glaring.

"I thought we told you to stay hidden!" reprimanded Ironhide. Sideswipe kicked a pebble that was lying on the road while Sunstreaker glared back.

"Sorry for not being super-advanced beings with superior senses that can hear things that are miles away," Sunstreaker shot back sarcastically, before paling almost comically. "You- you heard everything I said back there, didn't you?" he stuttered.

Ratchet bent down so he could look at Sunstreaker eye-to-eye. "Yes youngling," he said softly.

Ironhide grunted and also bent down. "You have been holding these fears in your spark for quite a while, haven't you, Youngling?" the weapons specialist asked kindly and Sunstreaker had no choice but to nod. "I will admit, we were careless when we practically shouted out our grand plans for rebuilding Cybertron, but rest assured- we will never abandon you. Cybertron has been dead for a few millennia, it can stay like that for a couple more vorns. Even if Primus himself came to drag us back to Cybertron, we would fight 'tooth and nail' before we went."

"True dat!' Jazz said from behind them and the twins jumped in surprise. "I'd miss you glitches for sure! Ya too much fun!"

"Bumblebee! Stop lubricating the man!" Optimus' order brought them right out of their touching family moment. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe turned to look in the directions of the agents, only to see them all lined up and Bumblebee literally peeing fuel on Suit. The twins cracked up laughing when he stopped and stared innocently at the men. Sunstreaker started towards Bumblebee, intent on congratulating him, whereas Sideswipe stayed with Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet.

"Thanks, guys. I mean it. Sunny's been holding that insecurity for a while, and he only just told me earlier," thanked Sideswipe. Like Sunstreaker, the Cybertronians rarely saw Sideswipe act his age, but that night, he went above and beyond, and it was all thanks to his twin. The two were extremely protective of each other- if one was in harm's way, the other would no doubt be trying their hardest to get rid of the threat. The bond they shared reminded the five Autobots of the bonds between cybertronian twins- it was remarkably similar.

"It was no problem, young one," Ratchet assured. "After all, it was the truth."

"But still…" Sideswipe muttered.

"GUYS! We gotta get out of here!" Sam called.

"Slag," Sideswipe muttered, before running to catch up with his brother. He could faintly hear the sounds of multiple helicopters heading in their direction. Optimus ran under a bridge and climbed up into the supports.

He held down his hand towards Sunstreaker, Sam and Mikaela, muttering "Up you get." Sunstreaker got on first, followed closely by the others. Sideswipe put on a burst of speed and jumped agilely onto the hand just as Optimus was pulling it up. Optimus hid out of sight and the helicopters passed right over them. The teens climbed onto Optimus' shoulders- the twins on the left and the other two on the right. Sam leaned down to get a better view of what was going on beneath them, but then he leant too far. He slipped.

"SAM!" Mikaela screamed, quickly grabbing onto his wrist, but then she slipped too.

"No!" Optimus cried but was interrupted by the sound of a transforming Cybertronian. Bumblebee slid under the two and caught them. Sideswipe shot Sunstreaker a look, before leaping off Optimus' shoulder and into Bumblebee's hand. "No! Not you two as well! What are you doing?"

"Sorry OP," Sunstreaker said, and truly did look sorry. "We've gotta protect Sam and Mikaela," he answered, before jumping off and following his twin.

Bumblebee released the humans from his hold, but as soon as he did, a cable was shot from a helicopter and he was tangled in. Another followed the first, until Bumblebee was dragged down.

"BUMBLEBEE!" shouted Sam, as he rushed to try and aid the yellow mech. Sideswipe went to grab the plasma cannon at his belt, but Sunstreaker's hand stopped him. He glared, but Sunstreaker refused to let go.

"No! What if they see you have alien technology? They'll probably take it and we'll never see the light of day again. We won't be able to help Bumblebee if we're locked up in a cell in some secret facility!" Sunstreaker reprimanded, before Sideswipe pulled his hand harshly out of his grip.

"I hate your cold, hard logic," he glared before a strong agent ran up and pushed them forcefully into the car.

"Why- how…?" Sam asked them once they hit the road again, but the twins didn't deign him with an answer. Instead, Sunstreaker glared out the window and Sideswipe rested his head on his brother's shoulder, quickly falling asleep, and once again dreaming of battles he had never fought. The day had been tiring for him, so Sunstreaker let him sleep, watching over him, glaring at anyone who dared disturb him.

Listening to: Rooftops, A Liberation Broadcast

So, hope that wasn't too OOC. Sunstreaker will definitly be a little different to his robotic counterpart- for one, he hasn't seen the horrors of war yet, and two, being human himself makes him a little more empathetic towards people. Not a lot, but just a little.

I'm not a demanding person, but one of the reasons I posted this story was so I could see how people respond to it, and if I should continue it or not. If I don't get any reviews, I'll feel this story isn't worth continuing and I might just abandon it, and I really don't want to do that. So all I ask for, for the sake of this story, is 5 reviews. Not too hard, right?

Anyway, I'm now on summer break/christmas holidays/whatever else you want to call it, so I should be updating a lot more faster ^_^

Until next time- Greentree Frog

QUESTION: what was the best Christmas Present you've ever recieved? Tell me in a review!