Chapter 6

Ratchet was exhausted by the time that he keyed in the access code to the door of his quarters. The combination of a lack of rest coupled with the fact that Fireflight had once again collided with one of his brothers in midair—this time the unfortunate Silverbolt—was causing him to think that he might be better off visiting the twins after getting in some recharge.

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the slaggers to think he was still mad at them, after all.

He quickly realized that the decision had been taken out of his hands the moment that he stepped over the threshold of his room, however—for there, sprawled deep in recharge across the 'charge pad like the World's Biggest Puppy Pile, were Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

How long had they been waiting for him (and how had they gotten past the lock)?

I'm gonna need a bigger berth, he thought, watching the pair in bemusement, and sighed. Turning, he wandered around the room, making sure the two heathens hadn't disturbed anything—if they had, they had hidden it well—then flopped down into the office chair in front of his terminal with a soft groan of relief. He swiveled around in the seat, thinking he might just drop offline right there—and came nose-to-chestplate with Sunstreaker.

"Primus!" he yelped, nearly knocking the chair over in his startlement. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Sunstreaker regarded him grimly for a moment, head cocked to one side, then unceremoniously hauled the medic to his feet and pulled him over to the 'charge pad. "You'll get stiff if you recharge over there," the yellow twin said gruffly, shoving him down to lie beside a sleepily amused Sideswipe.

"Got a way with words, don't he?" the red Lambo snickered, scooting over to make room for the medic—and his brother, who squashed both of them further against the wall in order to fit his own frame into the rather overcrowded berth.

"Shut up, you," Sunstreaker snarled, reaching across Ratchet to thwap his brother on the head. The white 'Bot tensed, hoping he was not going to be stuck in the middle of a brotherly war; he was abruptly reminded that Sunstreaker could be quite savage at times even with his own sibling, and he so did not want to be in the line of fire, thank you very much.

"Hey, relax," Sideswipe murmured in his audios, shifting around to cuddle up closer to the medic. "We're not going to eat you."

"Then what exactly are you doing?" Ratchet could feel the yellow twin making himself comfortable against his back.

Sideswipe made a show of yawning, imitating human behavior. "We're recharging. What does it look like?"

"Uh-huh. You have your own quarters for that, you know," Ratchet replied dryly.

"Get on with it, Sides," Sunstreaker muttered, voice muffled against the medic's shoulder.

The red twin's expression became stubborn, and he opened his mouth to reply, but Ratchet cut him off.

"If you're going to try to seduce me again, please wait until I've had a decent night's rest. Or at least until your brother is out of the room, if you're that desperate."

Sunstreaker made a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter while his brother protested his innocence.

"And I'm not desperate," the red twin finished mulishly, glowering at nothing.

This prompted another guffaw from Sunstreaker. "Oh, you are so! You've done nothing but gush about it all day," he said, still snickering.

"Have not."

"Have too."

"Have not."

"Have—"

"All right, that's enough," Ratchet interrupted, embarrassed both at the thought that Sideswipe had been gushing about him and the twins' display of childishness. "Look, can't you two argue about this somewhere else?"

"No," Sunstreaker replied calmly. "I got dragged into this by bit-brain here—"

"Hey! I didn't twist your arm, you know!"

"—and we're not leaving until everything is fixed," he finished as though his twin had never spoken. "And as for the matter of me leaving the room, the only reason I wasn't there last time was because I was lying unconscious on a medbay table after being put back together." He pushed himself up on one elbow to glare at Sideswipe. "You could've waited for me, you know," he growled.

Ratchet's optics widened as that little revelation sank in.

"No I couldn't! It was very spur-of-the-moment, after all," Sideswipe protested. "And you were too laid up by Starscream anyway."

"Uh, guys?" Ratchet ducked a little when two sets of optics turned to him.

"What?" they demanded simultaneously.

"I'm right here. This whole arguing over me right in front of my face is a little unnerving."

They regarded him for a moment, then promptly ignored him.

"You know," Sideswipe said thoughtfully, "we're all here now…"

Sunstreaker nodded. "Yeah…" He paused. "But it's my turn this time." And before Ratchet could so much as squeak in fury at being discussed so cavalierly, Sunstreaker's fingers were dipping beneath his windshield, and he uttered a strangled gasp.

Not to be outdone, Sideswipe caught his lips in another of those human kisses he seemed so fond of. "It won't kill you to share, brother," he murmured after breaking away.

Ratchet was drowning in sensation as their hands explored every inch of him that they could reach, though some part of him dimly noted that they never actually touched each other except accidentally. "I'm not a toy," he managed to protest, vents cycling furiously to keep his systems cool.

"We know," Sunstreaker breathed into his audios, forging the connection between them just as his brother did the same—and the medic shrieked as feedback from both twins flooded his processors simultaneously.

"Oh, Primus," Sunstreaker moaned raggedly. "Ah—Sides, no wonder you—" He broke off with a shudder, gripping Ratchet's arm so tightly it was sure to leave dents.

"Told you," the red warrior gasped, tangling himself more thoroughly up in Ratchet's arms, while the white 'Bot writhed between them, hands roaming wherever he could manage to touch on both of his lovers.

They all reached overload within moments of one another, warning messages flashing across visuals just before the force of it offlined them.

Hours later, Sunstreaker was the first to wake. He propped himself up carefully on one wobbly elbow, regarding the white and red medic between them thoughtfully. He winced a little when his gaze touched on the hand-shaped dent in Ratchet's upper arm. He had raised a shaking hand to stroke it soothingly when he realized that Ratchet was awake and staring at him.

"It's not a big deal," the medic said calmly.

"Yes it is," the yellow twin replied softly. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't. I wasn't aware of it until just now."

"Look… Ratchet—"

"No; don't worry about it. I mean it. It was worth it, you know," Ratchet interrupted firmly. Sunstreaker 'hmph'-ed uneasily, but let it go.

"Does this mean you're not gonna run away again?" Sideswipe's lazily sated voice startled them both into jumping, and Ratchet swatted him affectionately.

"Yep. Does this mean I'm gonna have to get a bigger 'charge pad?" the medic returned, half-jokingly.

Sideswipe pretended to think about that for a moment, then declared, "Yes!" with the air of having made a Very Important Decision.

Sunstreaker opened his mouth to put in his two cents' worth, then shut it with a frown.

"What's the matter, Sunny?" Sideswipe asked, suddenly all business upon seeing his twin's concern.

"Have you checked your chrono recently, Sides?"

Sideswipe blinked at him stupidly. "No, why?"

"Because Prowl just commed me to ask why we hadn't reported for patrol duty yet."

"Oh, frag!" the red twin yelped, optics widening as he verified that, yes, they were indeed late for patrol. "We are so fragged…" he moaned pitifully, thunking his head against Ratchet's chest. He peered hopefully up at his lover, giving him the best puppy dog face he could manage—except, the medic had long since become immune to Sideswipe's puppy dog face.

"You're on your own with this one, boys," Ratchet said cheerfully, patting Sideswipe on the head. "I'm not officially on duty today, just on call, so I had no reason to set an alarm," he added when Sideswipe's expression turned sour.

"C'mon, Sides," Sunstreaker said wearily, rolling off of the berth to stand up. "You know he'll just come looking for us if we don't go ahead and get our afts up there."

"Yeah, yeah," his twin grumbled, deliberately planting an elbow in Ratchet's midsection as he clambered over the medic to get to his feet.

"You'll pay for that later," Ratchet growled, swinging his legs over the edge of the 'charge pad and sitting up.

"Whatever," Sideswipe waved one hand airily. "Like you could take me," he said teasingly, sashaying over to the door.

"We'll see about that," Ratchet replied menacingly.

"Ooh, I look forward to it," the red warrior snickered. Sunstreaker just shook his head, and, with one last look at the medic, followed his brother out.

Once the door slid shut behind them, Ratchet fell back on his berth with an explosive sigh.

"Those two are going to be the death of me," he muttered.