HAPPY NEW YEAR! And, oh, what's this? An update? LE GASP! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but life has been kinda hectic (christmas, helping my aunts move, ect). I'm still in Brisbane, and I don't fly home 'till the 6th, so I won't be able to right as much as I want to. How was everyone's christmas? Got any new year's resolutions? Mine are to practise Sax and Piano more.

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MissShelz:thank you, and I am having a great trip, it's been fun catching up with the family. And as you are the only one who said anything about what story I post next, your wish will come true! I will be posting the SunnyxOCxSides story some time after Valentine's day, so keep an eye out! Thanks for your review :D

WestAero13:don't worry, there's plenty enough brotherly love and some angst in this chapter, though next chapter is gonna be filled with all that stuff, along with them and the Autobots talking, bonding, ect. And Sides is a loveable idiot... kinda reminds me of a teddy ;)

xxx

So, after this chapter, there's one more of the first movie, and then onto the 'Familiar Strangers' arc (which I'm sure you're all gonna love). Next chapter is gonna be pretty intense as well, because, well... you gotta read this chapter, and it also will tell you the real reason why the Autobots raised the twins (and it wasn't because Ratchet thought they were cute). Plenty of angst, fluff and drama in this chapter and next, so be prepared!

Listening to: New Divide, Linkin Park


The next few minutes were a blur as the twins were shoved into Bumblebee with Sam, Mikaela and the cube, quickly escaping the hoover dam base. There was an awkward silence after all the scrambling, Mikaela and Sam obviously wanting to pelt the twins with questions.

Although they didn't particularly feel like answering questions, they knew it was inevitable. "Go ahead," Sideswipe muttered, breaking the silence, "We know you want to ask."

The first question that came out of the brunette teenager's mouth was the most obvious. "How do you know about the transformers?"

Sunstreaker sighed before answering; making sure the cube was secured by Bumblebee's seatbelt. "Seventeen years ago, a special ops team of Autobots arrived on earth. They had specified a set of co-ordinates for their rendezvous point. The first to arrive at the co-ordinates which happened to be an abandoned alley was the medic. He was going to slip into recharge –their sleep- when he picked up a life form from the bottom of a dumpster. The medic –who you have probably guessed Ratchet- found a set of twins abandoned at the bottom. The others arrived, and after a little deliberation, they decided to take them in. The end product is what you see before you," he explained, gesturing between himself and Sideswipe.

The other teens nodded slowly, taking it in. "So you and Xan-" Mikaela started but was interrupted.

"Call me Sideswipe, and him Sunstreaker," Sideswipe intoned, "We respond better to those name and if we're…" he drifted off. They were all nervous about what was about to happen, the battle that would inevitably come.

Landscape zoomed by and all four teens stared out the window, mentally preparing themselves. It was then that they saw the semitrailer heading in their direction, followed by an odd envoy of cars. "It's Optimus!" The outburst was unneeded from the brunette but definitely not unwanted. They all felt relieved with the presence of Prime and the rest of the Autobots. Smoke came out from underneath the truck as it slid in a handbrake turn, and somehow ending last in the procession of vehicles.

"Bumblebee, have you commed the others and told them the situation?" Sideswipe asked, once again serious and responsible. In his mind, there were times to act like a complete goofball and times to grow up and do what's right. Sam and Mikaela were surprised to see this side of him, but Sunstreaker knew he had it in him. 'Maybe he'll grow up after this…' he thought but then mentally shook his head, 'If he's not an idiot, he's not Sides.' In his mind, the yellow tip twin heard his brother say 'thanks bro', with a twinge of sarcasm. He had to smirk at that.

"~Already ahead of you~" came the reply from the radio. The line was from a movie, but none of the teens could figure out which one.

The sound of sirens greeted their ears and Sam turned around in his seat to look out of the window. "Crap, it's the same cop!" The twins turned around to look and saw Sam was telling the truth. The cop car that had been chasing them the previous day was once again on their tail. 'Can this day get any worse?' Sideswipe thought, rubbing his head. Nox scurried from where he was sleeping in Sunstreaker's pocket onto Sideswipe's shoulder and curled up under his neck. The silver sparkling chirped cutely but in a reassuring way, his red optics wide. Sides relaxed a little, but didn't completely sink back into the seat until his twin put a hand on his shoulder, sensing his anxiety.

"Block him, block him!" Optimus and the others did just that, zooming in front of the demonic cop car. They were just about on the home stretch to the city when a big crash stole their attention. A massive mine clearer was using its fork to lift cars up and throw them to the side. The vehicle was extremely out of place on the freeway, creating havoc and explosions everywhere, leaving no doubt it was a decepticon. It transformed and smashed through a bus, the explosion that followed was loud and flames now were littered on the Decepticreep's armour. Prime transformed and started to fight the thing. When they rounded the corner in Bumblebee, they lost sight of the two.

During all of this, the twins were gripping the seats tightly and though their faces showed no expression, they were both terrified inside. There was no doubt about it now- there will be a battle, and it will take lives.

When they finally stopped in mission city, it was a flurry of activity. The soldiers cleared out a pawn shop and set it up as their base of operation. The twins followed the soldiers to help them out. They found Lennox talking to Epps, handing him some radios.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" the dark skinned man asked with disbelief colouring his voice.

Lennox looked at Epps before replying quickly "They're radios. Use them." The response was slightly sarcastic. The twins stared at the radios in Epps' hands as if they were fossils. To them, they were. Nox chirped curiously, now sitting up on Sideswipe's shoulder, but otherwise stayed put.

"These are like Radio shack dinosaur man-"

"Give them here," was all the warning Epps got before Sunstreaker snatched the radios straight out of his hands. Working quickly, he took them over to a counter, Sideswipe passing him a screwdriver he found under the cash register. They both took apart the casings and rapidly worked on the interior. Once they were both satisfied, the casing was screwed back on and the radios were handed back to Epps. All of this took place in about thirty seconds. "We rewired them so now they can pick up the public Autobot comm signal and increased the range to around fifty miles." That was the explanation to the curious stares.

"And all of that with only a screwdriver, some copper shards that we conveniently found and our wits," Sideswipe interjected proudly.

Both Lennox and Epps looked like they wanted to say something, but the captain shook his head. "Questions later, we have to get ready." The others nodded in agreement. They ran outside crouching behind cars and other various shield like objects.

The twins stood behind a Furby truck in silence, waiting. That was, until, Sideswipe decided to open his mouth. "Sunny… if I don't make it, I want you to know that you're the best brother in the world, and I love you." His eyes were anxious and scared, mirroring his brother's perfectly.

Sunstreaker, having the same fears as his brother, grabbed Sideswipe for a quick, but emotional embrace. "Love you too, Siders."

"IT'S STARSCREAM!" Ironhide's shout made the twins jump apart quickly, glancing up at the sky. The ground around them shook slightly as Bumblebee and the weapons specialist ran towards the truck they were standing behind. "Back up, back up!" The twins heeded the command, and started running as the two lifted up the truck. There was the sound of cannons firing, and then-

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

The scream of pain was the worst nightmare of the other brother. The injured twin had failed to get behind something quick enough, and had flown through the air painfully, landing on the ground with hot rocks and road landing on him.

"NO!" The relatively uninjured twin (who had gotten a few scrapes and bruises from the explosion) ran to his brother, clearing away the rocks and rubble from his body. He had a large gash on his forehead and was wheezing slightly. Burns covered some of his arms, where the gloves and shirt didn't cover them. They weren't third degree, but they looked painful. Little scratches made spots on his shirt and jeans slightly red and torn. "No…" He whispered again, lifting his head onto his lap. Bright blue eyes opened slowly and looked blearily at his brother.

"S'alright, bro," Sideswipe said hoarsely, trying to sit up more before wincing. "Cracked rib," he muttered. Sunstreaker helped him to his feet slowly, hyper-aware of his brother's injuries, trying to minimize the pain. The red-tipped twin leaned most of his weight on Sunstreaker, before gradually standing on his own. His twin fussed around him, and he smiled (albeit a bit painfully) at the concern his brother showed. Thick, hot blood started to drip in his eye, so he wiped it out, unintentionally stretching the skin around the wound. He let out a hiss of pain, one that Sunny didn't miss. Nox scurried over, having been thrown off Sideswipe's shoulder during the blast. The silver bot climbed lightly up Sideswipe's jeans, transforming when he reached the right pocket and quivering slightly.

They hobbled over to Bumblebee together, where they could be relatively safe. The sight that greeted them, however, was heart-wrenching. Sam was standing in front of Bumblebee almost in tears. The bot himself was holding himself up from the ground using his arms, his legs from the knee-joint down were blown off. There was pain in his baby-blue optics, until it dimmed when he shut his pain receptors off. The injured mech and twin both gasped when they saw each other, saddened that the other had been injured this early in the fight.

The next few minutes were fuzzy for Sideswipe, who was probably losing a little too much blood. He knew they found a tow truck, which Mikaela hotwired, and they had started to strap Bee to it. Sights, smells and sounds were blending together, twisting reality. He only snapped into proper awareness when Lennox approached their small group.

"Where's the cube?" he asked them and Sunstreaker pointed in the general direction of the Cybertronian artefact. "Sam! Get over here!" Despite that the soldier only asked for Sam, Sunny and Sides also approached him. "You see that building over there with the white statues on the roof?" he asked the brunette teen once he got to them. "I want you to run up there with the cube, smash the end of this flare to signal the Blackhawk to pick up the cube." He handed Sam the cube and a flare and shoved him the direction of the mentioned building, despite Sam's protests.

"B-but I can't-"

Lennox, having no time for hesitations grabbed Sam's shirt to pull him down to his level (Sam was standing on the bed of the tow truck). "Listen kid, you're a soldier now!" Sam gulped, looking into Lennox's ferocious eyes, before nodding.

"We'll cover you, Sam," Ratchet said, making the blade of his saw spin threateningly.

Sideswipe nodded. "So will we," he added. Sunstreaker looked at him like he was going to object, along the lines of 'you're injured', but the look on his brother's face stopped him. There was so much determination and confidence in his eyes, that Sunstreaker had to believe him.

"Fine."

And so they started running, Sideswipe pushing through the pain, trying to ignore the stabs in his chest. As they ran, bullets went past them, landing in the pavement and the road, chucking rock and bitumen at them. There was the scream of something going really fast, like a missile, and the ground shook as Ironhide leapt over them to shield the group from what came to harm them.

"Run Sam! Get to the… building!" Ironhide yelled in slight pain, before running off to battle more decepticons.

The group ran even faster, but Sam stumbled, and in that moment, he dropped the cube, the energy going to six things. Some went to a passing car, a mountain dew machine and a X-Box 360. Some went to Sunstreaker's pocket, to his iPhone (Sideswipe's was damaged beyond repair) and the rest seemed to disappear in thin air, the twins having no idea where it went. Nox, who had transformed when he briefly felt the allspark energy, ran up to clutch at Sideswipe's shoulder. He screamed high-pitched chirps into his ear, warning him of the X-Box (now X-Bot) who had scurried past them quickly. There was a sound from Sunstreaker's pocket and a sparkling who seemed comprised of iPhone parts, ran under Sunstreaker's shirt. They had no time to worry about the new bots, because:

One, they had to keep running from the decepticons and get the cube to safety,

Two, the mountain dew vending machine transformed and started shooting cans of soft-drink at everyone in sight, and

Three, not only being shot at with soft-drink, but also deadly bullets of plasma and other such types from the insides of Decepticons guns makes you want to run really, really fast.

Sideswipe winced but put on a burst of speed, the pain just a message telling him he was still alive. At last they made it inside the building that they were aiming for, but it really was of no relief.

"I SMELL YOU… FLESSSSHLINGSSSS!" The voice was harsh and it sent shivers up Sideswipe's spine. He stumbled and almost fell flat on his face, but Sunstreaker noticed and gripped his forearm before he could fall. The cynical twin was growing increasingly concerned for his brother and extremely worried he wouldn't come out of this alive. His breathing was becoming ever more ragged while they ran and his stumbles more frequent. They ran further into the building and finally reached a flight of stairs.

"Slag," Sunstreaker muttered but started up the stairs, grabbing his brother's hand to help him. "Keep running," he muttered and his twin nodded. Sam was trailing behind slightly but sped up when they heard a large crash. They ran even faster when they heard the sound of giant footsteps.

The floor beneath them cracked and soon the floorboards where flying everywhere. "Slaging, glitching, motherfragger-" Sides yelled when a giant hand came their way. Sam stumbled but Sunstreaker pushed him with his free hand.

"Run Sam!" They had reached another set of stairs, one that seemed to go on forever. Just one at a time, Sideswipe told himself as he winced once again in pain. His chest felt like it was collapsing –it probably was- and all this running and screaming wasn't helping. He felt his brother squeeze his hand when he faltered and he squeezed back. 'I've got to keep going… for Sunny…'

About halfway to the top, Sideswipe slipped and put his free out so he wouldn't be knocked out on the stairs. This proved to be a bit of a mistake, though while stopping him from getting a concussion, the one hand was not strong enough to hold his own body weight, and therefore it was sprained. Sunstreaker ran to his step, his hand still holding Sideswipe's other hand and pulled him back up. The red-tipped twin was panting unevenly and there was even a drop of blood at the corner of his mouth. "I-it's alright Sunn-ny. I can keep going." Sunstreaker was very much doubtful of that, but there was no stopping now. As if to prove this point, there was another yell.

"FLESHLINGSSS!"

"C'mon, we have to move!" Sam told the twins and started moving again. For Sam to see what had just happened was a big shock to the system to him. The twins always seemed so graceful, so untouchable, so… invincible. Before that day, Sam had never seen Sunstreaker show so many different emotions, and now he was seeing determination, concern, anger and even fear. Sideswipe likewise, while he was popular and funny, he never let anyone close to him, as if there was a shield. He never showed any weakness or seemed so serious and yet here he was, in pain yet making them all keep on going. It was an eye-opening experience for Sam, and for the first time, he saw the twins as human beings.

Through all his musing, Sam didn't notice when he finally sprinted to the top. The only thing that shook him out of it was the bright sun blinding him for a second before his eyes adjusted. The twins were following him a couple of meters away, and Sunstreaker gestured to Sam's left hand, which held the flare. 'Oh, right.'

Still sprinting, he smashed the end of the flare against the wall and it ignited in a series of red sparks. "HEEEY!" Sam screamed, holding up the flare high and still running, trying to get the Blackhawk's attention. "HEEEEEEEY!" They all ran and ran, pushing clothes, boxes various other obstacles out of the way, sometimes jumping over them instead. Without noticing, they had all reached the edge and had to physically stop themselves from running off. With arms flailing, the three teens stepped back a couple of steps, and it was a good thing they did too.

The whup whup of a helicopter's blades were heard before it rose to meet them. A soldier reached out to grab the cube and Sam stretched to try and get the Allspark to him, but the distance was just a little too far between them and Sam didn't want to risk throwing the cube to him. Sunstreaker heard a shot the same time Sideswipe did and their eyes widened in unison.

"GET DOWN!" They screamed together, seeing the missile coming their way. Sam whipped his arms back to his chest and rolled into a ball. The missile struck the chopper that was covering the Blackhawk Sam just tried to deliver the cube to. It hit and made it spin out of control, making it crash against the Blackhawk. The Blackhawk spiralled towards them, the tail missing them by centimeters.

As soon as they were clear of the tail, the teens stood up and started their sprinting again. Sweat rolled down Sideswipe's head as breathing his breathing became more laboured. Despite how he felt and all his determination, he knew that he couldn't keep going like this for much longer. He was starting to fear he wouldn't come out of this alive. Just as he was about to fall again, Sideswipe received a foreign burst of energy. It refreshed him a little and gave him what he needed to keep going. Instinctively, he sent a little nudge in his mind towards where the energy came from and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sunstreaker stumble.

It seemed they were not going fast enough, because Megatron had caught up to them. Sam climbed onto the edge of a statue with the cube wedged between his chest and the stone. "Oh no, no no no no…" the brunette muttered as he looked down. The twins had followed him, and now they were all grabbing onto the small ledge the statue provided high above the ground. They could hear the sirens below, far below.

"Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshies?" the dark voice hissed and Sam cursed under his breath again, the twins tensing up beside him. "Give me the Allspark, and you can all live to be my petsss."

"We will never, ever give you this Allspark, even if Unicron himself was heading to Earth and you were the only one who could save us!" Sideswipe yelled, and instantly regretted doing so.

Megatron paused before answering. "A fleshy who knows our stories? This will prove interesting…" and while he said that, he swiped his hand across and knocked the statue making the teens fall to their deaths.

"AAAAAAHHHH-"

They were caught by something, something hard. It winded all three, and Sideswipe momentarily saw blackness. "I got you, boys," Optimus' deep, reassuring voice said. "Hang on!" The mech tucked his hand to his chest plates and then let go of the building. Their descent was for a moment going to plan, but then Megatron jumped off the edge of the building and crashed into Prime, forcing them both to the ground.

They all landed with a thud which shook the ground. Optimus groaned but released the boys that were still curled up at his chest. The three got off the mech in time to see Megatron flicking away some poor, unfortunate soul. "Sam," Optimus started, pulling himself up a little. "if I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the cube into my chest." The words made the twins suck in a sharp breath. They couldn't lose Optimus, they just couldn't! "Megatron!" Prime yelled, now getting up and facing the leader of the decepticons.

"Prime!" Megatron growled in return. He faced Prime but the teens didn't see anything else because they had just stumbled into a ditch caused by the battles. CLANKS sounded above them a few seconds later, signalling that Optimus and Megatron had begun to fight. Nox and Sunstreaker's iPhone ran out from their hiding places and onto a large, broken pipe.

"Stay here," The twins told the two phone-bots in unison. The sparklings nodded their little heads frantically and Sunny and Sides went to follow Sam. The brunette and the twins climbed up just enough over the ditch to see what was happening and the result was not pleasant. The two leaders were battling it out, and Optimus seemed to be losing. Quite badly, too. Sam began cursing under his breath again but the twins seemed like they were having a silent discussion. When they had reached an agreement, they climbed out of the ditch and stood.

"What are you two doing?" Sam asked frantically.

"Helping." The response was so unexpected from Sunstreaker, Sam almost fainted. When the blades appeared out of nowhere on the twins arms, Sam swore he blacked out for a second, because when he opened his eyes again, the twins were already halfway between the ditch and the battling mechs. It was then that Sam came to a decision.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe charged towards the fight, fear filling every fibre of their body, but also courage. The two were forced to split when a giant foot almost stepped on them both. Sideswipe slashed it with his sword, the armour harder to cut through than the earth metals they had tried. Megatron howled in pain and annoyance, but the twins didn't stop there. Sunstreaker grabbed onto an outstretched arm that was going for Prime's throat, and sliced through some of the cables in the wrist joint. Thanks to Ratchet's lessons, the two knew where all the major energon lines wiere in a cybertronian body, and where the armour was weakest, along with where it would hurt when it was cut.

Sunstreaker dropped back down to the ground and landed in a roll. While this was happening, Sideswipe had been slicing through the armour in the leg and had finally reached one of the major energon lines. However, he was stopped from cutting it when he heard a now familiar sound. He and his brother ran from Megatron as fast as they could, the adrenaline helping them the last few meters.

Explosions wracked Megatron's frame, the missiles hitting him continuously, making the silver warrior fall to the ground. He wasn't dead, but he was critically injured. Sam ran past the twins once the jets had finished their rounds dodging their restraining arms. He slowed to a still between the Prime and the Tyrant, looking between the two.

"Sam, put the cube in my chest!" Prime shouted in desperation. The twins shook their heads even though Sam couldn't see them.

"Don't, Sam!" Sideswipe went even so far as to yelling.

But Sam knew what he was going to do, even before he ran between the two mechs. Turning to Megatron, who was trying to crawl to him and take the Allspark, he ran in front him and raised his arms. The cube turned bright red with heat as it was absorbed into Megatron's chest. The twins could literally see the power pouring into the Mech's spark chamber and winced (Sideswipe briefly noted that it was one majorly painful case of heart burn –or spark-burn). Megatron made a sound like he was choking on something, clutching at his chest plates, before falling to the ground. Dead as a doorknob.

It seemed to surreal for Sunstreaker and Sideswipe- one moment there was a battle of epic proportions, one that would have decided the fate of the world. Now though, it was almost silent. That was, until, Optimus stood and walked over to the fallen body. The twins could see regret and pain in his optics, but they could not place why those emotions were there.

"You left me no choice… brother," Prime's voice was laced lightly with grief as he leaned over Megatron and plucked something from his chest.

Brother… Megatron was Optimus' brother? The twins were completely in shock at this revelation. It made sense, though, in a cliché, Hollywood style way. The reason why Optimus knew so much about him, why whenever he spoke of the silver mech, there was always a faint hint of affection in his voice.

Sideswipe became dizzy again, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Sunstreaker saw this and quickly moved closer to his brother and deactivated his blades. It would be no good for him to accidently stab him while he was trying to help. Sideswipe did the same and leant heavily on his brother. Was it his imagination, or was it getting darker? The world was spinning slightly beneath his feet and that was also putting him off. Sunstreaker squeezed his arm in silent reassurance that he was there.

"Sam, you risked your life to protect the cube," Optimus said, speaking to the human with distinct awe in his deep, story-telling voice.

"No sacrifice," Sam said to the leader, "No victory."

Optimus bowed his head and then turned to the twins. "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe… " There were no words needed to be spoken. The two shuffled awkwardly to him and both wrapped an arm around his leg in an attempt of a hug. They only released him when they heard the other soldiers, both human and autobot alike, come towards them.

"Prime," Ironhide called with sorrow. "We couldn't save him."

"Jazz…" Prime whispered. The twin's eyes widened as they turned to look at the split body in Ironhide's arms.

"NO!" Sunstreaker screamed, letting go of his brother and running towards the weapons specialist. Sideswipe would have done the same, if he hadn't started feeling colder and colder. "Jazz! You can't be dead! WAKE UP!" No matter how much he screamed or yelled, Jazz's optics would not come online. Finally, giving up, he sank to his knees, shoulders shaking. Jazz was like a fun uncle, or an older brother to him and Sideswipe. He was the one who helped fuel their love of pranks, the one who showed them that they had other people (or Cybertronians) to rely on than just themselves. Some of their best memories had been with the silver saboteur. Sideswipe was shaking hard (though it might not have all been grief), yet he stayed latched onto Optimus. He didn't have the strength to go over to his brother, or the strength to scream. The adrenaline had almost all worn off now and the pain in his chest was almost unbearable. Prime lightly picked up Sunstreaker and deposited him back on his feet next to Sideswipe. The two held onto each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces.

"We have lost a great comrade today… a great friend," Prime started and the twins were wracked with a fresh wave of grief. "But we gained new ones. Thank you, all of you."

"Permission to speak, sir," a familiar voice asked, and Sunstreaker faintly noticed that it was the same voice they heard through the comms. The voice was young and it had a British accent.

"Permission granted, old friend."

"Y-you speak now?" Sam asked, proving that he should add 'Captain Obvious' to his list of titles.

"I wish to stay with the boy," Bumblebee proposed though slightly hesitantly.

Prime nodded. "If that is his choice." Sam agreed without any hesitation on his part.

It was at that moment that the world became completely black for Sideswipe, the temperature above cold. With no strength left to hold himself up, he crumpled to the ground. He didn't hear his brother's exclamation, or anyone else's. He didn't even notice when he stooped breathing.


Listening to: Rolling in the deep, Adele

MWAH HAHAHAHAHAAA! You know, I really hate cliffhangers, but they're so much fun to write! The next chapter was fun to write too, but this one was hard. I hate writing action scenes.

I was gonna say something, but I think I forgot...

Until I remember, GreentreeFrog