New chapter quickly cause we're strikin' while the iron is hot. Fun chapter this one. You get quite a few big secrets right off the bat! We're putting a lot of thought into this story! Round of applause for Daerenys Starcatcher! She's amazing! And fun to work with :3
Disclaimer: Still not ours. But some of our dreams are coming true!
Enjoy~
The twins remained recalcitrant, though at least the physical violence had stopped. Starscream carried them both, as they refused to let go of each other, to their shared quarters on the Nemesis.
No sooner had he arrived and deposited the squirming sparklings on the floor, he received a comm from Megatron.
::Report to the briefing room. Now. I expect a very good explanation.::
Starscream rolled his optics and gestured to Skywarp. "You have sitting detail; i have to go try and explain this slag to our glorious leader." his wings flicked and he exited the room, leaving Skywarp and TC alone with the angry twins.
Starscream paused outside the command center, gathering his thoughts before he strutted in, chin high and sneer on his beautiful faceplates. "You called for me, Oh mighty Megatron?"
The silver tyrant was sat on his throne, getting an arm wound tended to by Hook. He glared at his Second in Command, denta bared in an unamused snarl. "I am not in the mood for your insubordination, Starscream."
*Tough slag.* Starscream thought to himself, before looking to ensure that Soundwave wasn't nearby to pick up that little tidbit. "I wouldn't dream of it, my Lord. What brings you to call me here, even while you're being tended by medstaff?" He barely gave Hook a glance; the Constructicons were far from his favorite team, as they refused to listen to him unless strictly necessary.
"Explain what you brought back here, you insolent fool." Megatron might have been war-hungry, he certainly wasn't the best planner in the universe...but he was far from stupid, and Starscream knew it.
"There was...a weapons malfunction. On the Autobot side." Starscream snapped. "What its original effect was supposed to be, I couldn't tell you, but the result is that the damnable frontliners Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were rendered into sparklings. Sparklings, I might add, with no memory of their time with the Autobrats."
Megatron's optics flickered. "Go on."
"They are fierce warriors...even you and I can admit that, don't you agree?" He didn't wait for the agreement or denial, he just moved on. "Seeker programming includes an intense drive to protect and nuture younglings. It's not our choice." he spat. "If my trine raises them...raises them to be /good/ Decepticons..."
Despite himself, the Decepticon Leader looked... intrigued. "I see." He said, optics glinting. "You make a compelling argument." He frowned. "But I will not sacrifice half of my air fleet here on earth to watch over sparklings."
Starscream smirked. "I'm sure we can work something out, My Leige."
Megatron sat back, in thought. He was weighing the pros and cons of this. On the one hand, he had two of the Autobot's most dangerous warriors confined here as helpless sparklings. It would be no trouble at all to be done with them. But... If they could have that kind of power for themselves it would be a great help. But there was also the matter of the vorns it would take for them to grow into capable warriors. Or that during said vorns, the Autobots would more than likely be trying to take them back.
He gnashed his denta.
"Yes, you make a compelling argument Starscream. But I am still completely unconvinced. The trouble seems far more than the benefits."
Starscream was not going to allow Megatron to harm these sparklings, over his dead, smoking, slagged up frame.
"I am also going to study the effect used on them. If I can find a way to accelerate their development, then I will use that, in conjunction with my careful indoctrination program." Starscream said pompously.
Megatron knew that his SIC was a scientist as well as a warrior; that was part of the reason he still put up with the insubordinate pain in his aft. He rolled the idea around in his meta, and finally, he nodded.
"You have permission to study them and raise them...but you have a time limit. One Earth year. If you have no definitive results by then, then they will be disposed of as drains to the Decepticon army. In addition, you will ensure that their care does not interfere too much with normal duties. Is that clear, Starscream?"
Starscream nodded, his wings flaring out wide at the thought of 'disposing' of sparklings as if they were garbage. "It is, Lord Megatron."
"Get out of my sight."
Starscream scowled, but bowed slightly before turning on his heel and marching out of the command center.
"Nooooo!" Sunstreaker screamed, scrabbling away from the hand that had reached behind the terminal he and his brother had shoved himself behind. They pressed further into the wall corner. Skywarp, for his part, winced at the audial shattering sparkling screech. He pulled back, audials ringing.
"Owww... Little brat!"
"Skywarp. That is NOT productive." Thundercracker snapped, his wings twitching slightly.
"Frag it isn't, my audials are ringing?"
"And they ring every time you and-" Thundercracker clapped a hand over his mouth; you don't talk like that in front of little ones.
Skywarp LAUGHED, long and hard. This made Sideswipe look up at the funny Seeker, and he poked Sunny. "Glitched." Sunny nodded firmly.
"Am not, you little-"
"What happened in here? Can you two not take care of two tiny mechlings while I am out?" Starscream said, exasperated.
"Everything is under control, Starscream." Thundercracker said through clenched denta, reaching down to retrieve the twins by an arm each.
"OWOWOWOW!" Sides screeched, and Sunny tried to kick TC and wriggle out of his grasp.
Thundercracker growled, and as soon as he had pulled them out far enough, he siezed the scruffs bars on their collars and hefted them into the air. Sunstreaker immediately curled into a tight protective ball, little sniffles leaving the miserable youngling. Sideswipe hung there limply, playing dead in a sense. It had worked before. And he'd only come out with a small crack in his foot.
Skywarp wilted from his ire at the pathetic side, rubbing one of his audios still.
"Afts! Why am I trined with a pair of ignorant afts?" Starscream whacked each of his trinemates upside the back of the helm in turn, glaring.
"You are scaring them half to death. You are likely hurting both of them, Thundercracker." At this, TC wrapped an arm around each, letting go of the collar fairings.
Sideswipe almost snuggled close, then caught sight of his twin still curled up, trying not to touch the blue Seeker, so he did the same, a scowl on his little face.
"Don't like you, let go, let go!" he said.
Starscream rubbed his forehead as if a massive processor-ache was coming on. This was going to be a very long year.
He sighed and took the twins with surprisingly gentle arms. He cooed at them, rocking softly and slowly coaxing them from their tightly curled balls. Sideswipe was first although he remained stiff and watchful. Sunstreaker took a bit more patience and even then he continued to shake and tremble, optics turned down.
"There." Starscream said softly. "Was that so hard?"
The younglings remained silent, although it was obvious that the rocking was having an unintended, but very welcomed effect. It had been a long hour for such small Cybertronians and they'd done a lot of crying and being scared. They didn't mean to, but they curled into the red and white plating, each falling asleep.
Skywarp kept his tones relatively soft, because he really didn't want to hear that shriek again. "You have a knack for this, don't you?"
Starscream nodded, laying the twins down on Thundercracker' berth very gently, so as to not wake them. "I've had...practice. Not recently, but I have."
"Starscream used to take care of his creator's second mate's little ones, when they had to go away." Thundercracker offered. He'd known Starscream far longer than Skywarp had; they'd virtually grown up together.
"Shut up, you two, or they'll wake up!" Starscream hissed. "Over here." The Command Trine had larger than usual quarters, not only because there were three of them, but because of their rank. Starscream dragged his trinemates over to the far end of the room so that they could discuss matters.
"We have one Earth year to civilize these younglings into something resembling Decepticon warriors. I had to promise Old Bucket Head that I'd attempt to age them artificially, or else he'd have 'disposed' of them." Starscream finished, rather bitterly.
"Disposed. Surely you don't mean-" Skywarp's optics flew open wide.
"Yes, it's exactly what you mean. They are a drain on the Empire's resources."
"But... They're sparklings!" Skywarp hissed. "Or just barely out of sparklinghood!"
"Megatron doesn't care!" Starscream hissed back. "He wants warriors and he wants them as soon as he can get them or he wants them gone!"
Thundercracker looked disgusted. "Artificially aging them. That's... That's just not..." There were no words for it. "Surely we can do something else!"
"If you have any other ideas, I'm all audio." The tricolored Seeker's gaze shifted back to the two little groundlings. He was caught in an odd moment. These were two of the Autobot's most feared warriors. Or they had been. And they'd been shooting at each other a mere hour ago...
"Hard to believe they were trying to kill us today..." Skywarp murmured. "They're so tiny now. They didn't even reach my knee!"
"They're cute." Thundercracker admitted quietly, looking at their recharging forms. "They are on my berth, though. Where am I going to recharge?"
Skywarp looked at his trinemate and opened his mouth.
And Starscream shut it for him, clapping his hand over it. Ruby optics flashed in equal parts annoyance and humor, and Skywarp peeled Starscream's hand away.
"Yeah, yeah." Skywarp grumbled. "We'll figure something out. They need a proper berth, though. It's cold on the floor..." He looked shocked at himself, to be saying that. Skywarp was extremely selfish by nature, and tended to be rather uncaring about anyone but himself.
Starscream and Thundercracker gave him odd looks. Skywarp scowled until they looked away.
"How old are they, do you think?" Thundercracker asked at large. "And do you think they remember anything?"
Starscream shook his helm. "Not at all. They're memory cortex's are going to be too small and underdeveloped now to hold all those memories. My guess is that they only have the memories of everything that happened up to this age. As for their ages... maybe 24 vorns."
"Primus. Why so young?" The blue Seeker looked at them again.
"Why does that crackpot scientist do anything?" Starscream asked disdainfully.
"Cuz he can." Skywarp offered. "Bet he was aiming for Megsy, or one of us. Dumbaft."
"They're likely to run if they think they can get out." Starscream cautioned. I suggest locking the doors before we all go into recharge, or else we'll have a pair of twins running loose. Primus alone knows what they'd get into."
Sideswipe rolled over, a small cry coming from his lips. Three helms turned automatically to see what was the matter; finding nothing, they returned to their conversation.
"Thundercracker, berth with Skywarp." Skywarp grumbled some, but eventually nodded. "We should get some rest."
Starscream pinged the room with the command to turn off the lights, and a few moments later, a piercing shriek rent the air.
"Sides! Sides! Where's the light? No dark!"
Thundercracker tumbled off the edge of the berth in surprise as Skywarp shot up to slam his hands over his audials again. Starscream had the lights on again immediately, sparing only enough time to be grateful that their quarters were soundproofed before rushing over to see what the matter was.
Sunstreaker was a sobbing mess, faceplates scrunched in distress as his brother clung to him, crying again as well. Sunstreaker had his optics shuttered tight, wailing into his brother's chest, and Sideswipe turned watery optics up to Starscream the blurry image of the winged flier all he recognized. He flung a tiny arm out, equally tiny fingers curling over Starscream's index finger and grasping tight. The other arm held his brother securely to him.
"No go. No go kali!" The little mech hiccupped, red chassis jumping with each hiccup. "Sunny's scared!"
"...why are you..." Starscream trailed off, while Skywarp managed to snicker lightly. Starscream grabbed Sunstreaker and held him against his cockpit, an odd whistle coming from his vocaliser. It leveled into a quiet trill, as Starscream cradled the terrified youngling until the sobs levelled off into something more manageable.
"He thinks you're his carrier." Thundercracker said. "Which means..." He pondered, "That these twins have had close contact with a Seeker at one point in their young lives."
"A caretaker, perhaps." Starscream said flatly, stroking a little helm. Sideswipe's vision was still unclear, he held on tightly to Starscream's finger as if it were a lifeline.
"Up. Kaliiii...up!" he demanded.
And so Starscream ended up with a lap full of twins, comfortably resting.
It took some time of cooing, trilling and rocking for the twins to fall into recharge again, but Starscream managed it with some relief. However, neither twin relinquished their grips and Starscream was forced to carry them to his berth and lay down with them tucked into either of his sides.
Looks like Thundercracker got his berth after all.
Sideswipe woke up, and it felt weird. The air smelled funny, and the warm body next to his was way too big to be Sunny's.
It was that weird flying guy from yesterday. He was nice, though...Sideswipe shook his head. They had to get out of here.
He carefully, carefully slipped down and around to where his twin lay recharging, and tapped him on the arm, squinching his optics really hard to talk the special way.
::Sunny. Up. Gotta get OUT of here.:: he thought, very hard. He added a tap to his twin's arm; sometimes the special talk didn't always work.
Pale blue optics flew open and Sunstreaker jerked away, making Starscream stir just a bit in his recharge. "Sssshhhhh!" Sides said. "C'mon!"
Sunstreaker nodded in the dim light that they'd left on after last night's debacle, and the twins slid off the berth, holding hands.
It was mostly quiet, the sound of the weird fliers' recharge systems powering their sleep filling the room and not much else. The Twins glances around. Sunstreaker clung to his brother.
"Where?" He whispered, optics falling tensely on the purple flier as he suddenly flopped over with a grumble, one arm dangling over the side of the berth and face presssed against the very edge make one cheek look fat. Sunstreaker stifled a giggle.
Sideswipe glanced around the room, the blue mech on his berth lying on his back and perfectly still. Aside from the occasional wing twitch. "There!" He pointed to the door, pulling his brother to it. "Come on, Sunny. Gotta climb."
Sunstreaker made a face. "Nuh uh. I'll get scratches."
"Not now, Sunny!"
"But I dun wanna!"
"Fine! You climb me!"
This seemed far more acceptable to the younger twin and he quickly clambered up on his brother's shoulders, reaching for the door panel. They were still too short. His fingers only grazed the edge.
"Slag!" He cursed, quite loudly before clapping a hand over his mouth and glancing back.
The Seekers did not move at the exclamation, so Sunny screwed up his face and jumped just a little, trying to slap the door panel...and missed, landing hard on the floor with a loud clunk.
Crimson optics watched this and their owner laughed softly, as his trinemates could literally recharge through a bomb dropping on the ship (they had, at the beginning of the war).
"Nice try, little ones. Now, back to the berth." Starscream said an odd smile on his dark face.
Both twins startled and Sideswipe, whirled from trying to help his brother up, to stare in fearful surprise. In consequence, Sunstreaker fell back on his aft again and cursed once more, giving his brother a dirty look before turning it on the Seeker. "No." He said petulantly.
Starscream raised an optic ridge, sitting up. "I am afraid you don't have a choice, sparkling. It is the offcycle. Therefore, it is time to recharge."
Sunstreaker shook his helm, standing and crossing his arms. "Nu uh. Dun like you!"
"You don't have to like me. You do have to listen to me. You won't like me any more when I'm upset." Starscream explained calmly. He was going to be slow and worn out, if they didn't get back into recharge soon...
"Frag off." Sunny said, glaring.
"I am going to wash your mouth out with cleanser if you don't stop cursing like that." Starscream said.
"Ha!" That was Sideswipe, sticking his glossa out. "Not tired."
"Get on this berth now." Starscream ordered, his patience held in check only by those damnable programming strictures.
"No!" Sunstreaker shouted and when Starscream stood up with a growl, both twins darted away to various parts of the room.
Sunstreaker was faster slightly and had made it back to the terminal, worming his small golden frame underneath and to the back. Sideswipe raced and dove underneath the mess that was under Skywarp's berth, finding a box and crawling behind it, pressing himself to the wall.
"You little pitspawns!" Starscream shrieked. And that did wake up his trinemates.
"Slaggit, Star, can you not wake us up by slagging the sparklings? Really?" Skywarp virtually whined, his optics dim from being forcibly awakened.
"I am not slagging the..."
"Is!" a little voice cried. "He beat me up!" Sideswipe yelled from under Skywarp's berth.
"I most certainly did not-"
"Starscream, you wouldn't." TC said reproachfully. "They're just younglings!"
"I DIDN'T HIT HIM." Starscream screeched, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"Wow." Sunstreaker said from behind the console. "Yells lounder'n me."
A laughing noise could be heard beneath Skywarp's berth, along with a twitching foot. Skywarp reached down and yanked, but not too hard, pulling the red twin out and up onto the berth before he knew what hit him. The violet seeker smirked.
"If you go to recharge like you're s'posed to, I'll show you somethin' awesome when we get up for day cycle."
Despite himself, Sideswipe was curious. "What?"
"I can go from here to there without walking, and I'll take you with me."
"Me AND Sunny." His tone was firm.
"Okay, fine. You and Sunny. But he has to go to berth too." Skywarp eyed his trinemates, daring them to say a word.
And neither one would. If it got them to be quiet and recharge, then they would give them fragging sedatives. Sideswipe stared at the terminal, optics shuttered and faceplates screwed up in concentration.
::Come on, Sunny!::
"No!" Sunstreaker had yet to get much of a hang for their special way of talking and disliked using it. "He's lyin'! All 'dults lie!"
"I'm not lying. I'm barely even an adult. Come on, Sunny. I got rust sticks, too." He took two out of his subspace, and waved them around in a tantalizing fashion.
Sideswipe's head lurched in that direction, and he reached out for one without thinking. He loved candy, and rust sticks were good. And he hadn't had one in...He didn't want to think about how long. Or who gave it to him; that hurt a lot.
"Sunny. Please?" Sideswipe said, feeling very tired and not all that bad on Skywarp's berth, not with a yummy stick in hand and a warm body near him.
There were several moments of silence before a quiet voice, shaking with uncertainty asked, "'M not gonna get hit?"
Three Seekers felt their sparks melt at that, and Thundercracker walked over to the console. "No. You aren't. Starscream told you that we don't hit. That goes for us, too."
"Better not. Or I'll slag you up!" Sunstreaker said, crawling out of his hiding place.
"We have got to do something about his language." Starscream muttered. "But not tonight."
Skywarp held out the stick to the golden twin, offering a hand up. Sunny looked at the stick, looked at Skywarp's hand, and looked at Sideswipe before making his decision...he would not be separated from his twin, no matter how scary the fliers were. He allowed himself to be lifted up, and he snatched the stick, scooting next to Sides but as far away from Skywarp as he could get.
Everyone settled into their berths again, the lights dimming once more, but not completely off. Skywarp watched the twins, who watched him back, little blue orbs glowing in the darkened quarters. Slowly, they dimmed and then winked out as the younglings cycled down into recharge once more and Skywarp sighed in relief as he reinitiated his own.
Only the first night and he was already having his doubts.
The Command Trine awoke to the usual blaring call over the internal comm system, and Starscream cursed, still feeling tired because of his interrupted recharge last night. He onlined his optics slowly, running the various subroutines that would keep him relatively alert today...and saw an adorable sight.
Twins, curled around Skywarp, using his abdominal plating as a pillow. They lay close to each other, the sticky remnants of their late-night snack still on chins and hands, hands that were entwined. Starscream smiled, a gentle smile, feeling something loosen within his spark.
Thundercracker was already up- that one was always an early riser, first to the 'racks and usually returning with their morning's ration by the time the other two climbed from their berths. In fact, the door slid open, revealing Thundercracker with am exasperated expression on his face.
"The whole ship knows by now, Starscream." he said, unsubspacing three normal-sized cubes and two smaller ones. He added something to those two, mixing it with a finger.
"What did you just put into their energon, Thundercracker?"
"Supplements." he said flatly. "I assume you thought something else?" he said scathingly. "I can no more harm them than you can, so keep your programming in check, Wingleader."
"Where did you get them?" The tricolored Seeker demanded, rousing both younglings before whacking the still snoring Skywarp.
"Where else?" Thundercracker said flatly. "Hook, obviously."
"Are you sure there is nothing else in there?"
"Give me some credit, Starscream." He growled. "I watched him and tasted them myself."
Astral Singer
Owwww you fragging fragged up reject junkpile!" Skywarp yelped.
That, of course, set both twins to giggling loudly, with Sideswipe saying in as an authoritative manner as possible, "Wash his mouth out."
"SKYWARP." The dark Seeker jumped as his trinemates leveled glares on him. "Sor-ry. Sheesh." The twins laughed LOUDER at this; glad it was /him/ in trouble and not them.
"Rations." Thundercracker said, holding out two cubes.
The twins stared. How long had it been since they'd seen a whole cube, just for them, not having to share? Too long.
::'s it a trick, Sunny?:: Sideswipe asked, concentrating.
Little tanks rumbled noisily at the sight, and Sunstreaker looked longingly at the fuel.
"What's wrong, don't you want any?" Starscream asked, curious as to why they were reacting this way over something so simple as morning fuel.
Sunstreaker cast suspicous optics at the three Seekers. " "S bad, isn' it?"
"Bad?" Skywarp asked in confusion. "Energon isn't bad." He took his own ration and drank deeply, letting the energy surge his systems. "Go on. You need the energy."
The two younglings glanced at each other before taking the cubes meant for thema nd staring at them. Sideswipe was brave enough first, taking a small, careful sip. A look of surprise washed over his faceplates, little optics going comically wide before he was tipping his helm back and drinking almost desperately.
Sunstreaker followed his twin's lead, although he was much more reserved about it, not guzzling the liquid messily. It tasted good. And it soothed his tanks for the first time in a long time it seemed. His optics offlined and before he knew it, it was empty. He looked at the empty cube, considering and remembering the rust sticks from the night before.
"If we're good, do we get more tomorrow?" He asked quietly.
Starscream was speechless for the first time in recorded history. He wanted to ask what Sunstreaker had meant by that, but a sinking feeling in his tanks told him that he already knew. Part of him wanted to use that, to tell Sunstreaker yes, but...he just couldn't.
"You get more tonight, same as we do. Twice a day." Thundercracker said quietly, having realized what the problem was.
"Are you still hungry, guys?" Skywarp said, offering the twins half of his cube. TC and Starscream just stared at him, and Skywarp gave a funny little smile and stared right back.
Sideswipe nodded silently, taking the large cube and tipping it up with difficulty, taking a long sip before handing it back.
"I'm s'posed to say thanks." he said, elbowing his twin in the side.
Sunstreaker shot his twin a nasty glare before mumbling, "Thanks."
Starsceam nodded finishing the rest of his cube. "Alright, we have alot to do today. The two of you are to stay with us and not to go wandering of, is that clear?"
Sideswipe's optics brightened slightly. "We can go out?"
"Only with one of us." Starscream insisted.
"What are yer names. So we can ask if we get lost."
Primus the innocence was smothering. And the thought of the two of them lost in the nemesis didn't bear thinking about. "I am Starsceam."
"Skywarp!" The black seeker waggled his digits.
Thundercracker sighed. "I am Thundercracker."
"Star, Sky, and Thunder. Gotcha." Sideswipe said, smiling. He was a whole lot happier with these three; they'd fed them and not been mean about it, it was warm here, and Sky was funny. It was better than the hole.
And Sunny was here. And they were together. This was almost as good as it was...way back then. Not quite, but close.
Sunstreaker scowled deeply. He didn't trust these fliers, not one bit. He'd let them feed him, because he knew he needed that...
*To grow big and strong, like your sire...*
He shook his head rapidly, trying to shake the memory away.
There was something up here, and he didn't like it.
"What's that?" Sideswipe pointed to the Decepticon insignia on Starscream's wings.
"That is the badge of our army. We all wear it to show who we work for." Starscream said patiently.
"Why d'ya work for an army? Is it like the 'rena? Cause Sunny an' I are gonna fight there someday!"
Starscream's optic ridges shot up. He'd known the twins had been ex-gladiators. That was common knowledge. But he never figured it had started so young. His own suspicions were beginning to make his tank feel a little unsettled. "Whatever for? It is dangerous there."
"So you know!" Sideswipe said, eagerly. "'S cause then we can push other mechs down! I don't like bein' small. Big mechs pick on you! But they don't if you knock them down first!"
"And what do your creators think about that?" Skywarp asked, curious.
Sideswipe clammed up, his mouth closing and his optics looking down. Sunstreaker wouldn't meet their optics either. Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker looked at each other before Thundercracker knelt and place two big hands on the small red shoulders. "Sideswipe. Where are your creators?"
Sideswipe still wouldn't meet their optics, but he shrugged, one little pede kicking at the ground.
"Gone." Sunstreaker said harshly. "Now don't touch 'im. My brother!" He ran to impose himself between TC and Sideswipe, shoving his way in. "I'm stronger. Put your hands on me. Not him." Sideswipe drew back, afraid now.
"Haven't seen 'em since that day." Sideswipe said. "They was taken away and we were there alone." He shrugged again, not liking to remember it. His hands twitched nervously, though, and he stood close to Sunstreaker the whole time.
"You aren't gonna fight until you're big enough to not be used as a projectile yourself, sweetsparks." Starscream said automatically. Skywarp positively cracked up at the endearment, pointing at Starscream and nearly gasping in laughter.
"Shut the frag up, idiot!" Starscream snapped.
"Thought we didn't say frag." Sunstreaker reminded Starscream.
Starscream scowled, but said nothing. "Very well, if our little drama morning is over with, we have two younglings to take to the quack job."
"What's a quack job?" Sideswipe asked as he was picked up, but then he spluttered the next moment when a damp cloth was pressed to his face and wiping off the sticky remnants from the night before. Sunstreaker was being given the same treatment, helm held in place by a gentle grip on his head fin by Starscream. Thundercracker finished with the red mechling with a sigh.
"Yuck stop thaaaat!" Sideswipe yelled, squirming more. Sunstreaker, on the other hand, stayed perfectly still, even helping in places by turning his head this way and that. He held out his hands for a wipedown as well, staring Star in the optics until he got the hint. Starscream chuckled lightly, and went to get another cloth, this one dipped in solvent. He carefully wiped the golden mech down, getting the dust and dirt from his frame. Sunstreaker was smiling by the time that Starscream was finished, holding out his arm to look at the pretty gold plating.
Skywarp nodded eagerly. "Sweet, Sunshine."
"Don't call me that." The frown was back, and he glared daggers at Skywarp. Sky put up his hands and said, "Okay, okay. Is Sunny alright?" Sunstreaker nodded absently, trying to figure the Seekers out. Something was up, he just knew it!
"I want to give that one baths." Skywarp declared, pointing at Sunstreaker. "He behaves."
Thundercracker snorted, placing the now cleaned Sideswipe back down. "Alright Starscream. What are we doing first?"
"Taking them to Hook for a checkup. I suspect that they've been S-T-A-R-V-E-D for a long time, and there's probably effects we don't know about." Starscream spelled the pertinent word, just in case it upset the twins. His trinemates nodded, and each one scooped up a twin.
"Hey!" they shouted, almost in unison.
"Not gonna walk around right now, not with the Combatis running loose. Vortex'd step right on you and only gripe cuz he got stuff stuck in his pedes." Skywarp said to Sunstreaker. He swung him up, his legs settling next to Skywarp's shouldervents, sitting on Skywarp's shoulders behind the back of his helm.
Sideswipe cackled at this; he faintly, faintly remembered seeing his twin like this, but he wasn't sure...it could have been a weird recharge flux, so he didn't say anything. He tugged on Thundercracker's hand. "Me too?"
TC couldn't resist that smile. He placed the red twin carefully on his shoulders, and Starscream shook his head, half in exasperation, but mostly in an odd feeling he wasn't at all familiar with. It threatened to spill out of his spark and through his lips, but that would be weakness...
"Come on, let's go." he said, somewhat roughly.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both kept very silent as the big seekers walked down the hall. Any time someone came too close they would flare their wings and hiss until the mech backed off. Sunstreaker kept his face buried in Skywarp's helm while Sideswipe stared warily at each mech that passed.
Odd looks were the order of the day, it seemed. Onslaught passed the Seekers, then stopped and looked back again, not sure if what he'd just seen was real, or some odd sensor-echo. "Are those...sparklings?" he asked.
Skywarp virtually growled at the mech, and Starscream fought the urge to get away as fast as he could. "Yes. Now go away." he said. Onslaught raised a single optic ridge and continued on, resolving to tell Swindle /all/ about this new development.
The door to the Constructicons' large hangar bay was locked, as usual, and Starscream pinged it impatiently. It finally slid open, allowing the trine inside, and Sunstreaker peeked around at everything, looking at the bins of spare parts and at the large crane-mech that stood near a table. He wasn't sure he liked this place.
Sideswipe kept silent, able to feel his twin's ambivalence through their bond, just for a second. He stared holes into Starscream. "Who's that? Why does he have a hook there? Is he gonna hang us on it?"
"I do not hang anybody from it." Hook said stiffly. "It is a waste of proper machinery."
Sideswipe's face screwed up at the bigger words. " 'Kay, then how come ya got it?"
Hook gave the sparkling a flat look from under his visor before turning to Skywarp who was pulling a very quiet Sunstreaker from his helm. "Did they drink all of their energon?"
"Yes." Starscream interjected, scowling. Hook was not supposed to ask Thundercracker or Skywarp these things, he was supposed to ask him. "They drank it all."
"I see. Place them on that berth."
Sideswipe was set down with no trouble, the red youngling far too much into looking around and pointing and asking questions that Hook answered with surprising patience. Sunstreaker on the other hand pulled his legs in, curling them to his chassis and clung to Skywarp like his life depended on it.
"No!"
"Sunny..." Skywarp said, trying to set the mechling down.
Sunstreaker shook his helm, little blue optics looking up and pleading with crimson ones. "No! You're gonna let 'im take us apart!" Tears were forming in his optics again.
"...what?" Starscream wasn't sure he'd heard the youngling right. "No, I will not!"
Hook sighed through his vents. "I do not take younglings apart unless I have to...or if they misbehave to the extent that it is required."
Skywarp jumped up and rushed for the twins, bristling at the apparent threat. "You so will not, Hook, or I'll kick your aft so hard you'll be bangin' dents out of it ten vorns from now!" The look in his ruby optics was deadly serious.
Sunstreaker was crying even harder; he could see it now, sometimes Sides didn't know how to be good, and this aft was gonna take him away and take him apart! The tears turned into anger, as much anger as a little youngling without even an altmode could have, and maybe more.
"NONONONONONO!" he yelled, causing Skywarp to wince again. "Star! Sky! He'll hurt Sides!" Starscream scooped the yellow twin up and held him close, glaring at Hook, who stood there impassively. "If you harm a nanometer of their plating, I will make you wish you had never been sparked." he growled. "Do you understand me, Constructicon?"
Hook could feel the malice, and he belatedly recalled that Seekers plus sparklings tended to be messy for anyone who interfered. "Clearly, Air Commander."
"He will not harm you youngling." Starscream soothed, but Sunstreaker still refused to be put down. He may not like these fliers very much but he certainly trusted them more than this purple and green mech.
"No! He will! He wants to take us apart and study our sparks!" The yellow mechling wailed.
Starscream frowned, rocking and patting Sunstreaker's back. "Then how about I hold you while Hook looks at you. Will you let me do that?"
Sunstreaker paused, shoulders shaking before he nodded very slowly. Sideswipe clung to the still fuming Skywarp who sat on the berth himself and plopped the sparkling in his lap.
"This is going to make the scan harder." Hook said flatly, but he gave it up as a bad cause when he realized that Starscream wasn't going to budge. He took a handheld scanner and ran it across Sunstreaker's form, very aware of ice-blue optics boring through him with every move he made.
"That stare is very disconcerting." Hook finally said, lowering the scanner.
"Do not tell me you are afraid of a youngling." Thundercracker snorted, standing near the door as if he were guarding.
"Absolutely not." Hook snapped. "Only that he seems to be staring through me."
Starscream gently stroked the golden mechling's helm through the scans, turning him around when Hook needed to see his backplates. Hook frowned at some of the readings, but shook his head when Starscream asked for a report. "I'll give them both at the same time. Skywarp, bring the other one here."
"I-I have a name. Sideswipe." Sides decalred in a shaky voice. His courage was bolstered by Skywarp, who he really was starting to like.
"Sideswipe, then." Hook said, humoring the mechling mainly because the Seekers might get off his aft if he did. "Let me look at you."
Sunstreaker stared even more intently at Hook as the examination was repeated on his twin; he was determined not to let anything happen to him at all.
Hook finished and went over the scans, faceplates never changing. "Hmmm, their systems show all the signs that they were cared for properly, but I suspect that is because of the circumstances to their, er, predicament." He waved a hand at the sparklingfied twins. "Physically, they're fine, although they do show signs of degradation. I highly doubt that is from the Autobots, but one never knows. However, their tanks are processing far slower than they should, which is a sign that their bodies remember being starved and - "
"Is starved when you don't eat?" Sideswipe asked, staring intently.
"It is." Hook sounded a bit put off at being interrupted. By a child no less.
"Oh."
"As I was saying." Hook continued when the sparkling fell quiet. "Their bodies remember being starved and it was fortunate that I had the foresight to give you those supplements or they would have purged their cubes back up. However, psychological-"
"We din't eat alot." Sideswipe cut in again, still obviously working through the big word. "Sometimes we gotta share a cube. But most the time we jus' 'charged cause kali said that 'chargin' makes you stay strong. But Thunder says we get two cubes now!"
"You will stop interrupting me." Hook said coldly. "Psychological damage may be hidden, as this is an important time in their development-"
"What's Psy...psych...psologic?" Sideswipe asked, interrupting again.
"Youngling. Silence. Or I will gag you." Hook finally said, earning triple glares from the trine. Sideswipe noticed this and stuck out his glossa, making a loud "pbbbbt" noise.
Hook decided just to ignore it and continued. "In their development, as I was saying. Lack of proper minerals and fuel can cause all sorts of issues later in life, including processor degradation. I almost suspect it has happened to this one already, by his insistence on ignoring proper rules of conduct." He pointed at Sideswipe.
"Slag off, Structie. Sides is perfectly okay. He just thinks you're an aft." Skywarp said unhelpfully. Sideswipe stared giggling at Skywarp's language, and Starscream rubbed his forehead again, wondering if he was ever going to be able to break them of bad language.
Hook rolled his optics and ignored the Seeker; by Primus, he was as bad as the younglings. "Their energy needs are going to be somewhat higher in the near future, assuming you continue the recommended two servings per day. The supplements should be maintained for at least several decaorn; there is evidence of slight loss of mineral structure...nothing serious, but it should be taken care of." Hook was an aft, but he was a perfectionist aft.
"Sides...why do you use the Seeker word for carrier?" Thundercracker wondered aloud.
"What's a Seeker?" Sideswipe countered.
"We're Seekers, little red." Skywarp said with chuckle.
"Oh. He's one too?" He pointed at Hook.
Starscream shook his helm vehemently. "Dear Primus, no! Seeker's have wings, Sideswipe."
"Oh..." Sideswipe considered this. He shrugged. "I dunno."
"Kali had wings." The small voice was Sunstreaker's. "I think he did. I have 'charge dumps about 'im sometimes."
Starscream stared. "Sunstreaker." he said slowly. "Did he ever talk to you like this?" He let out a series of sounds that were almost lyrical, even in Starscream's rasping tones. He continued into what was a song, and Skywarp joined in.
Hook looked rather disgusted at the performance, and opened his mouth to tell them to take the concert elsewhere...until TC pinned him to the wall with his gaze, just daring him to do a single thing. He shut his mouth rather quickly and began fiddling with Mixmaster's bench, for that was where the supplements were kept.
Sideswipe was swaying slightly to the tune, looking rather relaxed and not knowing why. Sunstreaker looked both scared and sad, and his hand shook slightly.
A distressed chirp left the yellow grounder and he buried his helm against Starscream's shoulder, shaking.
Sideswipe's optics had dimmed and he listened until he recognized some of the sounds and duplicated them like he remembered being shown how.
Starscream nodded. He was fairly sure, now. He stopped his song, as it seemed to be distressing Sunstreaker far more than it was helping him, and rubbed his back gently. "I wasn't trying to hurt you." he whispered, earning himself a very shocked glance from Hook.
"Very good, Sideswipe." Skywarp grinned, patting Sides on the shoulder. "You almost know that song, and it's very hard to sing right." Thundercracker smiled, looking at the younglings, until he thought about what had to have happened to them when they really were young, to have these memories. His wings shook with surpressed anger at anyone who would leave two younglings to fend for themselves...and wondered what had happened to the Seeker who had obviously taken care of them at some point in their lives.
Now that Starscream had the facts, it was almost obvious in hindsight. The twins love affair with the air, their feet off the ground more often than on. Their affinity for speed and their ability to nearly predict their flying routes when performing Jet Judo. It was coding deep. He glanced at Hook who was still staring in shock. "Will that be all?" He growled.
Hook startled and shook his helm to clear it before holding out a small cube of greyish powder. "This is the minerals they will need. Mix a spoonful of it into their energon each on cycle. Offcycles are not necessary."
Starscream nodded briskly before taking it and subspacing it. He glared at the Constructicon before stomping out, his mates following him closely, twins in hand.
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