Chapter 3 for you guys :D Lots of fun and drama and angst and humor in this one XD The lovely Daerenys Starcatcher and I had some hold up due to computer problems on my side but mostly fixed now :) So here you go!
Disclaimer: Not ours. I wish. I want a mini Sunny
Edit: Missed an entire paragraph right at the end, but fixed now :)
Enjoy :}
"Ha!" Sunstreaker crowed in delight, watching his 'car' outrace Rumble's on the glass screen. It had taken some explaining after the Twins had awoken that they were okay here, but once the intial confusion and fear had passed, they were more than happy to intereact with these mechs who were the same size as they were. Rumble had immediately snagged one of them, which turned out to be Sunstreaker, and had set him down to teach him how to play the 'video games'.
Once Sunstreaker had gotten the hand of it, he was a natural.
"Ya gotta be slaggin' me!" The lilac cassette groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead.
Sunstreaker giggled and curled further into Ravage who had wrapped herself around the youngling. Sideswipe was curled up beside his brother, watching with interest. It wasn't like he had much choice. The last time he'd tried to get up to explore, Ravage and stuck her paw out and tugged him right back down.
He looked longingly at the lyraharp, wondering if one of them played it. "Hey, Frenzy. Who plays that?" He jerked his thumb at the lyraharp, tilting his head.
"Our creator." he said, disinterested. Soundwave's tastes in music definitely did NOT coincide with his creations', even though they all had the same perfect pitch that their creator enjoyed.
"I wanna play it." Sides insisted. Ravage shook her head in the negative and placed a paw on Sideswipe's legs, prohibiting him from getting up. He sighed deeply. This sucked. He wasn't any good at the games that Rumble and Sunny were playing, and Frenzy was busy working on something involving many small packets of paint.
"You won again! Not fair! You've played before, haven't you?" Sunstreaker just shook his head; no, he hadn't played it before. Not much chance to play weird looking games on the streets.
"Ah, slag you then." Rumble huffed, then yelped when the curse earned him a swipe from his sister. "Cut it out, Rav!"
The cat-cassette gave him a very unamused look.
Sunstreaker snickered, hiding his face behind the contorller when Ravage turned the look on him evena s he tried desperately to mute his giggles. Sideswipe took the distraction to wriggle away and bolt across the room to where Frenzy was, climbing up on the chair to see better.
"Whatch'a doin'?"
Frenzy glanced up at the youngling, giving him a wicked grin. "Making paint balloons. To get those sla- er, jerks back fer what they did to ya." He amended when Ravage hissed from her position.
Sideswipe's optics lit up. "I'm good at payback. Can I help?"
Frenzy looked carefully over at Ravage, then nodded cautiously. "Yeah. But don' tell her, or else...yeah, she's sat on me for worse."
Sideswipe nodded slowly, his optics wide. Ravage was big, that might hurt!
"See, you need to put the paint in here like this, then I'll heatseal it, so we don't get all messy with it too." Frenzy explained quietly.
"I don't care if I get messy!" Sides declared.
"If you got paint on you, they'll know you did it! When means big trouble, the kind that gets you squished when it comes to the fraggin' Combatis." Frenzy said, his optics narrowed. "You don't know much, do ya?"
"Do too! I know that if you kick a mech 'tween the legs it hurts like the Pit." Sides said sagely.
Frenzy snorted, offering the sparkling a lopsided grin.
Silence fell shortly after that, everyone absorbed in their tasks.
Sunstreaker proceeded to defeat Rumble six rounds straight in the racing game, which frustrated the cassette twin to no end. Sunny just smiled slightly, feeling relatively at ease around mechs his own size. And Ravage was warm.
He giggled softly, quietly documenting the different and creative words that the lilac cassette was spouting off until he got firmly whacked upside the helm by a black paw. He spent the rest of the time scowling. Ravage seemed satisfied with the silence and tugged the golden sparkling closer just as the door to their quarters slid open and two bird-beast mechs glided in to land on the big berth in the corner, followed by a big blue mech.
Sunstreaker's optics widened and he tried to scramble up and away, failing because of the cat-cassette that refused to let him go. He whimpered and buried into the warm plating instead. Sideswipe, feeling his brother's distress, turned and stared at the new mech, helm tilted to the side. His legs were tensed, however, as if prepared to jump and make a run for it.
The large blue mech did not look surprised at their presence here, which in itself was sort of odd. Sunstreaker figured that they must have told him somehow, using the comm. He didn't hear them do it, though...
"Ravage: well done." he said in a voice that was almost toneless; metallic, even. Sideswipe's optics widened further at hearing it; he sounded like a dumb machine, not a mech!
"Rumble, Frenzy: cease pranking and/or game activity for the moment and gather the twins." he ordered, and the cassette twins each rushed up to grab a hand, with Rumble urging Sunny forward, while Frenzy was dragging Sideswipe.
The red visor flashed, and the large mech stared down at the trembling little ones. Sideswipe squeaked. "Didn't do nothin'!"
"Sideswipe: aided brother in escaping custody of Conehead Trine."
Sides didn't understand some of the words, he talked like a teacher!
Sunstreaker pressed close to his brother and glared up defiantly even as he shook. "Leave 'im alone." He growled.
The visor flashed again and while Sunstreaker couldn't see the optics behind the visor, he could definitely feel them looking at him. He flinched a little, but his lips pressed together.
"Jus' wanted to go 'splorin..." Sideswipe mumbled, twisting his fingers together.
"Those OTHER seekers were stupid afts!" Sunny said firmly, and the cassette twins giggled at this. The large mech, for once, did not correct their language.
"Designation: Soundwave." the large mech said, pointing at himself. "Current location: my quarters. Companions: my creations."
Sideswipe's optics widened even more at this...Soundwave had five younglings by himself? He couldn't resist, though, he wanted it, wanted it, wanted it.
"'S that your lyraharp?" he asked timidly, pointing to the instrument.
Soundwave looked over at it, then at Sides, almost as if considering. "Yes."
Sunstreaker wondered what glitch made him /talk/ like that.
"Can...can I play it?" He stopped, remembering. "May I please play your lyraharp?"
"Sideswipe: proficient?" Soundwave asked.
"'S 'ficient mean?" Sideswipe was confused.
"Can ya play the slaggin' thing, he wants to know." Frenzy translated.
"Um...I'm...a little 'ficient." Sideswipe said softly.
Soundwave looked at the little youngling, who began to fidget under the stare, but never looked away. Then, Soundwave nodded. "Sideswipe's request: Granted."
"Huh?"
Rumble rolled his optics under his visor and pushed at the red shoulder slightly. "He means ya can play it."
Sideswipe beamed, but before he could run to it, the large blue hand stopped him. He looked up confused, and wary. It wouldn't be the first time an adult told him one thing only to take it back and laugh at him.
"Sideswipe: Will not handle it on his own." Soundwave said. "Condition: Myself or Frenzy is with you."
The red halfer nodded in understanding. He could do that. "'Kay. Can I play now?" He paused before adding, "Please."
other, and then to the casettes, who both nodded encouragingly. "Pops won't hurt ya." Rumble said.
"Rumble: 'Pops' is not Soundwave's designation." It wasn't said cruelly, though, and Rumble just laughed it off, so Sides thought that it was okay. He slowly walked over and looked up at the lyraharp. It was bigger than the one he remembered, but Soundwave lifted him slowly and put him on his lap, handing the red twin a set of fingerpicks...a small set, obviously made for smaller hands.
Sunstreaker watched every move the large mech made.
Sideswipe, with some fumbling, remembered how to put them on, and looked up for permission again before touching the strings lightly. It had been so long, especially for a little one, but as he offlined his optics, he remembered another voice.
*Sides, this string is called the A. It's first, and it makes this sound. Every chord is just sounds, mixed together to sound pretty. Just like Sunny mixes his fingerpaints to make those incredible reds and golds. Now. Touch it like this...*
Slowly, the little hands strummed at the strings, sliding softly as he tried to remember the simple tune his kali had taught him a ling time ago. It really was a simple one, using only a few notes over and over, but he fell into the happy rhythm of memory and practice.
Sunstreaker, satisfied now that the big mech wouldn't do anything to hurt his brother, sat down and wrapped his arms around his knees as he listened.
Eventually, Soundwave brought his own hands up, tugging Sideswipe's away. Disappointment flashed through him for a moment, replaced by confusion when all the bigger mech did was reposition them.
Soundwave guided Sideswipe's hands for just a little while, showing him something almost as simple, but a little more... Ripply was the best word Sideswipe could come up with to explain it. His glossa poked outside his lips as he tried to watch and master what Soundwave was showing him, and when he thought he had it, he looked up into the red visor and nodded.
Sunstreaker found himself swaying slightly to the music; he hadn't heard the sound in a long time, and even though he had less than no talent in that area, he could and did like hearing it.
Soundwave lowered his hands, and Sideswipe tried the small piece on his own. There were a few mis-struck notes, at first, but Soundwave didn't stop him; Sideswipe started over on his own, and finally he got it. His tiny fingers danced over the strings he could reach, the sound not as full as it had been when Soundwave had been doing it, but larger hands could press harder on thick strings.
Sunstreaker felt pride well up in his spark, pride...and good memories, memories of a winged someone doing this with his twin, helping him make the melody.
His little faceplates twisted and he buried his face in his knees, want and sadness welling in his spark. Sideswipe continued to play, until the very last note, smiling softly, but looking like he was about to cry. Soundwave stroked the little black helm soothingly, and then the door chime buzzed.
The Decepticon Third in Command sent the command to open the door, and in stepped three very worried looking Seekers although Starscream's optics flashed when they landed on Soundwave. Soundwave made no reaction.
"Staaaaaarrrrrrrrrr." Sunny said, being uncharacteristically emotional in his happiness to see the Seeker. Starscream oofed lightly, tackled by a little yellow ball. Sunny hugged his legs, and pointed over to where Sides sat on Soundwave's lap.
"Sides can play! Listen to him!"
Sideswipe looked at the trine as if he might be in trouble, and Soundwave just didn't move.
Skywarp walked over to the two, and looked at Soundwave, a desire to snatch the youngling up warring with the desire to let Sides show what he could do. Finally, he settled on just standing nearby.
Thundercracker never took his optics off the cassettes; he couldn't stand them, young creations or not. He stood near the door, listing the dents and locations in his head that the Coneheads were going to receive for losing track of the twins.
Sideswipe's smile widened. "Star, Sky, Thunder! Listen!" He began to play again, and Starscream recognized the tune for what it was, a teaching-song for those beginning to learn the lyraharp. It wasn't a common instrument, but apparently the youngling had been exposed to one long before his time in this room. His little optics were squinched tight, and he swayed a little to the beat, his fingers moving with a skill that indicated that, with practice, he could be quite good indeed.
The little tune finished quickly and Sideswipe looked up, hopeful smile on his face, most likely waiting for his due praise. Skyward did take /that/ opportunity to snatch the mechling back and nuzzle at his faceplates. "Excellent, Little Red!"
Sideswipe's smile was so wide, Sunstreaker was surprised his brother didn't break his face in half.
Starscream stroked Sunstreaker's backplates before handing the sparkling to Thundercracker and moved to talk to Soundwave. The blue mech had gotten his fingerpicks back and set the instrument back up against the wall.
Sunstreaker watched his brother chat away at the ebony Seeker, something nagging at him. He turned wide, blue optics on Thundercracker. "Are we in trouble?" He asked quietly.
"A little." Thundercracker said, not one to lie to a youngling. "But we still won't hit you, won't deny you your energon...which you probably will be wanting soon...or leave you alone. Scrubbing our washracks sounds about right as a punishment, because even if the Coneheads were irresponsible enough to allow you to escape, you should not be running around the ship. How /did/ you get here, anyway?"
Sunstreaker shook his head, a little upset about having to scrub the 'racks all by himself, with on one but his twin to help him. But...
"Can I have a bath afterwards?" he asked softly. TC nodded firmly. "You're all dusty. You need one." Sunny smiled a little, then, less upset now.
Starscream approached the communications officer warily. "Soundwave."
The red visor flashed. "Starscream." he said, and Star thought he could hear a touch of sarcasm in his tone.
"Where did you find them?" Star asked, concerned.
"Twins: resting in Soundwave's quarters when shift concluded." Soundwave decided to forestall the rest of the question, since Starscream's voice was decidedly atonal to Soundwave's sensitive audials, and he disliked hearing it more than he had to. "Combaticons Vortex and Swindle accosted twins in hallway directly south of this location. Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage: retrieved twins, ensured safety here. Combaticons: not stupid enough to cross Soundwave."
Starscream's wings hiked up high and he nodded. "Very well. I am sure you have important things to be doing," The tone in his voice clearly stated he did not think so. "So we will get out of your way."
He turned, strutting across the room and to the door. "Thundercracker, Skywarp, bring the Twins. We are going."
Sideswipe's face fell a little. "Can we come back and play?"
Starscream snorted, but before he could say anything, Thundercracker answered.
"We will see, Sideswipe. For now, we need to get you back for your evening energon."
The red twin nodded, smiling and waving from Skywarp's arms as they left, "Bye! See ya soon!"
"Ya better come back!" Rumble called after them. "I still gotta kick Sunshine's aft at that slaggin' ga- OW! Fraggit Rav! Cut that out!"
The door shut on the quickly escalating sibling quarrel.
The Seekers carried the only slightly-protesting twins back to their quarters, and Thundercracker promptly served them their evening, smiling at them as they clambered up onto the table to have it.
Starscream tried to look stern. "Why did you run away from the Coneheads?"
"Cos they're stupid." Sides said promptly, sipping his ration far more sedately now that he knew he'd get it regularly.
"Their punishment has been named, Starscream." Thundercracker interrupted. "After rations, instead of art time or vidscreen, they will clean our newly repaired 'racks. And then take a bath."
Starscream nodded, Sideswipe whined. "No bath!"
Sunstreaker, while he didn't look particularly thrilled about cleaning anything, did seem to perk up more at the prospect of the bath.
"You're getting one." Starscream said sternly. "Look at you, you're absolutely filthy!"
"Nuh-uh! Been dirtier! One time I fell in that black sticky stuff they make the roads with and Sunny thought I got my paint changed!"
"You're still getting one if Skywarp has to sit on you." Starscream said, prompting a loud "HEY!" from Skywarp. Sky stuck out his glossa at his trineleader, and Sideswipe giggled hard, blowing bubbles into his cube.
"Don't play with your ration." Thundercracker said, rolling his optics. "And the longer you delay, the longer you will be cleaning. The supplies await you."
"Frag." Sideswipe said sourly.
Starscream just raised a single optic ridge. "Soundwave's younglings can say it!"
Starscream promptly said, "Soundwave's younglings recharge in his chest during nightcycle too. Do you want to do that as well?"
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker looked at each other in surprise. Then, as one they turned and asked in perfect syncrocy, "You can do that?"
That prompted loud guffaws from Skywarp and BOTH eye ridges raised on Starscream. Thundercracker looked amused and like he was trying to hide a smile behind his own cube.
"Er, well, they can." Starscream clarified.
Sideswipe moves up on Skywarp and peered into his cockpit glass. "Would I fit in there?"
Skywarp laughed hard. "Um, no. Not in this form. But if I turned into my jet form, you could. Both of you could."
In unison: "WE WANNA!" Even Sunstreaker was loud about this. At the idea of flight, both of their little sparks started whirling in their chests, and they felt excited.
"If you're good." Starscream said, giving Skywarp a long look.
"And if you finish your punishments without complaining." Thundercracker added. Both twins made a face, but didn't comment, instead quickly finishing their energon quickly and making to climb down. Skywarp snatched them back up, smiling. "Remember that trick I was gonna show you?"
Sideswipe nodded, Sunstreaker trying to remember. Skywarp's optics lit with amusement. "Hold on tight."
Before Thundercracker or Starscream could protest, Skywarp activated his warp drive and disappeared with the Twins in a flash of purple and loud VOIP. Then they could hear squealing excitement coming from the washwracks. Starscream sighed.
"He's going to be just as much of a problem as the Twins are turning out to be." The trineleader grumbled.
The twins actually grinned as they picked up the cleaning solution and rags, cleaning the not-very-dirty washrack with much splashing and shrieking. Like most younglings, they turned it into a game. Starscream peeked in and found the twins working busily, their plating starting to shine from the work they were doing. Sunstreaker had turned on the hot water, supposedly to aid in the job, but was sneaking long "breaks" under it, looking very pleased and content.
"They're really something, aren't they?" Skywarp said.
Starscream turned to Skywarp who was leaning by the door, optics riveted on the scene, and gave his trinemate a questioning look.
"I mean," Skywarp waved an arm at them. "Not 48 joors ago, they were hardened, battle ready-to-rip-off-our-wings Autoscum and now..." He trailed off, crossing his arms in front of him, looking thoughtful. "I guess I never pictured just what their life must have been like... Or even what they were like so small."
"What their lives were like was...unthinkable, Skywarp." Thundercracker noted softly from where he had followed Starscream. "That is probably a large reason as to why they were the way they were. Maybe they had an innate hatred of Seekers, due to perceived abandonment by one...? I don't know. What I do know is this..."
Thundercracker stood and gazed toward the twins. "It won't happen this time."
Sunny shrieked as Sideswipe hit him in the face with a wet towel, and he retaliated with a handful of suds from his bucket, watching the grime slide off red plating in a sludgy stream. He wrinkled his olfactory components. "Yuck, Sides."
"What?"
"Your dirt is dirty." Sunstreaker pointed out. "Look."
Sideswipe giggled. "Dirt cannot be dirty. It is dirty. Or something. Are we done yet?"
The racks didn't quite sparkle, but they smelled better, and the twins themselves were a lot cleaner than when they entered. Skywarp peered in and motioned Thundercracker over to check, since he'd been the one to assign the punishment.
TC looked around and nodded; good enough for younglings.
Sunstreaker grinned and reached up for Thundercracker without even really realizing it. The blue Seeker bent down and lifted the youngling up, snagging a rag from one of the shelves. "Well, now that the washwracks are cleaned, let's get the two of you cleaned as well."
Sideswipe's happy cheer at being done cut off with a squeal and he made a break for the door, only to be snagged by the collar fairing and hoisted up by Starscream, who promptly handed him over to Skywarp. His purple and black wingmate scowled at him, but dutifully trudged with the squirming sparkling back into the washwracks.
Starscream watched for a moment, Thundercracker with the very content looking Sunstreaker who was letting his blue caretaker scrub him down and Skywarp wrestling with the very loudly protesting Sideswipe. He shook his helm with a frown and retreated to his berth where he picked up the census records again and skimmed through everything they had already crossed off.
This was getting to be a problem. How was it that they could not find a Seeker with a grounder mate and possible twin sparks? Even if the Seeker had moved out of Vos, it was entirely possible that records were still kept at least on the sparklings as citizens born to his city-state.
And maybe that was it.
Maybe they were looking under the wrong categories. Perhaps they should stop looking at mated history and start looking at medical records.
Starscream's optics lit up with his sudden epiphany and he quickly accessed the long forgotten medical records that only the Wing Lord was privy to aside from medics. Once he had pulled those up he input two words.
'Split Sparks'
There were, to his knowledge, no twin-sparked seekers. However, Seekers bearing grounder twin-sparks... The datapad bleeped at him and he looked down at it, a smile forming on his face. There were exactly two entries.
One pair was obviously not these twins. The creators, Blade Wind and Warhammer, had lost their split-spark twins upon attempted transfer from their carrier to their new frames. This was not uncommon; it was the single leading cause of nonsurvival of spilt-spark twins. They ended before they ever got really started. He skimmed over Blade Wind's delivery records, and shuddered at the clinical explanations of the loss of two new lives.
The second, though... The sire, a large grounder known as Burnover, had taken his Seeker mate away from Vos shortly after their twins had been placed into their frames. The Seeker, a musician whose designation was Zephyr, had had a difficult time with the delivery, and had been rendered unable to carry without significant danger to his own functioning.
The records said little about personality, but there were some odd notations, a history of minor accidents in Zephyr's regular checkup visits. Nothing serious, on the surface- twisted wings from misjudging corners and walls, occasional loss of balance, and whatnot.
Starscream hmm'ed at all this, his lips forming a thin line. Then he was interrupted by a damp, but incredibly shiny, yellow presence demanding lap space. He smelled of wax and had a grin bright enough to rival the stars themselves.
"Thunder waxed me a little, Star!"
"Did he now?" Starscream smirked, the sparkling's excitement contagious. "Well you do look quite a bit shinier now that I look."
Sunstreaker preened under the attention, just like a Seeker would. Starscream fought a chuckle, and set the sparkling more comfortably in his lap and unsubspaced a rag to finish drying him off. "How is your brother doing?"
The yellow halfer grinned. "Sky's all wet now! And Siders got held upside down which made him laugh and he got a buncha water in his mouth 'cause of it, but Thunder didn' like that too much."
That had been quite the speech coming from Sunstreaker. "Oh really?"
"Nope. He said that if Sky dropped 'im he would pin 'im up by his vents."
Starscream couldn't help but smile at this mental image, and he didn't doubt for a second that Thundercracker would do it, too, if Skywarp dropped the little one. Starscream dried the mechling carefully so that he didn't streak the fresh wax; he was willing to bet that Sunny would be quite upset if he did that. He decided to ask Sunstreaker something while he sat.
"I have a question, Sunny, that maybe you can answer for me." He rubbed the younling's back with the cloth, buffing out a scratch that TC had missed.
"What, Star?" Sunstreaker was in a very good mood; he was willing to try and help.
"Have you ever heard the name Zephyr?" Starscream tensed slightly, hoping there wouldn't be a negative reaction.
Sunstreaker's little faceplates screwed up in concentration for a moment. "Nuh-uh. Don't think so."
Starscream frowned slightly. "How about the name Burnover?"
The little body froze, going stiff and straight before beginning to tremble. Sunstreaker curled in on himself just as quickly as he had stiffened, tiny voice frightened. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sire! I'm sorry!"
Thundercracker came running out of the 'racks to see what was wrong. What he saw was Sunstreaker huddled as if absolutely terrified, both toward and away from Starscream, arms up as if warding off a blow. He kept shrieking at the top of his voice.
"I'm sorry! Sorry! Don't hurt him! Don't hurt him! Please! Please sire, he didn't mean to! It was me. I did it! Was me!" He almost literally rolled off Starscream's lap, scurrying like a glitchmouse to the corner of the room, his optics almost white in fear, unseeing.
The datapad cracked in Starscream's grip, circuits smoking slightly and filling the room with the odor of scorched wiring.
Thundercracker stared, bewildered as a confused Skywarp dragging a very pouty but clean Sideswipe followed shortly after. Sideswipe's expression changed from angry pout to instant worry when he saw and heard his brother and Skywarp was quick to put him down in fear of dropping him as he flung himself towards his brother.
"Sunny! Sunny, what happened? Sunny!" Sideswipe's voice was quickly edging to hysterical.
"HIDE, Sides!" Sunstreaker yelled. "Is him! Red and yellow! Burnover's here somewhere and he's gonna...no not again... Gotta run!" Sunny looked blindly for an exit, any exit. In his fear, all he saw in front of him was a tall winged figure, and his mind supplied the rest, his memory telling him that he needed to help...
He grabbed Skywarp's hand. "You gotta come on, kali, or he'll get you again. I'll 'tect you. I'm your strong mech, 'member? C'mon, go! You and Sides. Now!" Tears ran down his face when Skywarp, standing there stunned, didn't move an inch.
"S-sunny... Is Sky..." Sideswipe said, absolutely terrified and having no idea what was going on with his twin. He'd heard Burnover, the name of their sire, but he wasn't here. Skywarp wasn't their kali. Kali was pretty white and green. And was bigger than Sky.
"C'mon kali, c'mon!" Sunstreaker cried, barely able to see through the coolant.
He shrieked when he was lifted into the air, curling in on himself as if expecting to be struck. Instead he was tucked into a firm embrace and a soft but scratchy voice sang in his audial and a hand rubbed at his back. His shrieking quieted down until his vision cleared to look at red plating and golden cockpit.
"... Star?" His voice was so weak and unsure it broke the Seekers' sparks to hear it.
Starscream swallowed. "Yes, bitlet. It's me."
Sunstreaker shook and then wailed; burying his face in Starscream's chest and holding onto plating desperately.
Starscream's motions were gentle, his touch soothing...but the look in his crimson optics promised slow death, and even Sideswipe knew that nobody in this room was the target. His trinemates were stunned, particularly Skywarp, who'd been involved in Sunstreaker's horrible flashback.
"What was-" Skywarp started.
"Don't, Sky. Please." Starscream said softly, the murder in his optics fading to pain, a spark-deep sadness at the realization of what had happened to these two and what they'd probably had to witness in their short lives. "Later."
Skywarp just nodded, uncharacteristically silent and subdued. He picked Sideswipe up and placed him on his berth, handing him the squashed Seeker plushie that Sides had unearthed the previous cycle. "Time to recharge, Little Red. Okay?" Sides nodded, optics wide, and looked at his twin. He almost never ercharged without him, but... He bit his lip. He'd try, for right now.
Sunstreaker's sobs were evening out a little, but not because of calm. It was exhaustion and emotional overload that finally claimed the mechling, pushing him into a restless recharge, and still Starscream held him close, unwilling to put him down until Thundercracker looked pointedly at his trineleader.
"You have bridge duty in half a breem, Starscream." he said softly.
"Frag duty, frag Megatron, and..." Starscream grew quiet as Sunstreaker stirred slightly, a frown on his handsome little face. He relented, placing him next to his wide-awake twin brother, whose optics offlined almost immediately after his twin's warn frame was pressed next to his.
Starscream cast a look over the two younglings, faceplates darkening once more in anger. Things were starting to click into place, mannerisms (even as adults) making more sense then they ever had before. He turned to his trine. "Thundercracker, search Decepticon records for any mech called Burnout." The Air Commander seriously doubted the mech would ever have become an Autobot if what he was thinking was true. "If the mech's lucky, he'll already be offline. I'll be on the bridge."
And he left, without an explanation, leaving a cracked, smoking and barely flickering datapad on the small table by the door.
Skywarp and Thundercracker just looked at each other, stunned by Sunstreaker's outburst as well as by their trineleader's. It was obvious what had happened to the twins, and to the twins' carrier as well...used and broken by this 'Burnout' mech. Thundercracker immediately set to work, sitting at his station and accessing Decepticon records to discover what he could.
The black and violet Seeker stood, walking over to the berth where the twins lay in their fitful recharge. He placed a hand on each of them, not really knowing what to do- he'd never been around younglings before, not since he himself had been one. Skywarp wasn't very old to begin with- he was the youngest of the trine by more than a few vorn, and it showed in both his inexperience and his attitude. War matured him somewhat, but Skywarp still longed for what he'd never really had- a true young life. This civil war had stolen that from him...yet now, after seeing the aftermath of something far worse than he'd ever experienced, he considered himself lucky, compared to the younglings.
When TC finally decided to take a break from his search, he found Skywarp knelt on the floor next to the berth in full recharge, each hand being firmly held by a twin, with his head across their laps.
The eldest of the trine blinked in surprise and then shook his helm with a small smile. This, if nothing else, would teach Skywarp the meaning of responsibility. It was their luck that he had taken to it so well. He walked over himself, brushing a servo gently over Skywarp's helm and wing then moving it to carefully wipe at Sunstreaker's still-wet faceplates. He settled on the edge of the berth, watching the three as they recharged, the younglings instinctively curled into Skywarp and each other.
He contemplated as he watched, one thumb absently smoothing over one of Sideswipe's audio horns. The sparkling shifted, but otherwise didn't stir although his small engine seemed to purr. The blue Seeker's grin widened.
When Starscream returned, the scene before him consisted of two large Seekers who were going to be quite sore when they onlined- Skywarp still flopped half over the berth, and Thundercracker curled up on the end of it as if guarding the three of them even while unconscious. A smile touched Star's lips, at that- and he couldn't resist taking an image capture, keeping this moment for all time within his meta. He moved quietly, noticing that Thundercracker's screen was still on and dimly glowing. He moved toward it, seating himself at the desk chair, and swore softly as he read the information contained therein.
Burnout was still alive. He had in fact become a Decepticon, listing his status as 'unbonded without dependents' when they still cared about such things. Nowadays they handed you a gun and warned you not to get your aft shot off. He had been assigned to General Strika's forces, which he took to not at all; he was reprimanded countless times for disrespect to his superiors, earning himself brig time, ration reduction, and likely far worse in his tenure.
Then he was made second lieutenant of a small raiding team, and something had happened. No one knew what, because Burnout wasn't talking and the other five mechs were deactivated, and deactivated messily at that. Burnout has been caught with their fluids still on his hands, their bodies lying haphazardly about their temporary quarters, and yet he said not a word, allowing them to take him to tribunal.
At this tribunal he was sentenced to death, and this was still during a time when a true Decepticon warrior was still offered death at the hands of his Lord. Megatron, for reasons unknown to anyone, had commuted his sentence, placing him indefinitely into the Detention Center on Cybertron, where, according to Shockwave's obsessive records, he remained.
A small whine drew his attention to the berth where Sunstreaker was stirring, twisting and trying to unwind himself from the others. Starscream immediately pushed the displeased anger away and crossed to the berth, carefully moving Skywarp's helm from off Sunstreaker's legs and picked up the small yellow thing. He situated him in the crook of one arm, staring down as his optics onlined dimly and he stretched with a small sound.
"Awake, bitlet?" He chuckled, stroking down the small grey cheek.
"Mnf..." Sunny groaned, swatting at the hand softly and making Starscream chuckle again.
Starscream carried him over to a much less crowded berth, seating himself so that Sunny could stretch out, or curl close, as he wished. The small, warm frame felt right in his arms, and Starscream vowed yet again that the mech who had harmed these two would most certainly pay for it, with his life...but only after he felt the fear that Sunny had felt while trying to protect his carrier from him.
"Nnnnn...kali...tired..." Sunny mumbled, rolling over slightly...and Starscream almost broke. He gathered up the tiny golden frame and held him close, wanting to cry...but that had been lost to him for more vorns than this one had seen.
When one had hurt for too long, you stopped remembering how to cry.
Starscream intended to ensure that Sunstreaker still could, when he grew up.
Starscream leaned back, letting Sunstreaker wake up on his own time, and he did so rather quickly. soon his optics were bright and blinking blearily at his surroundings before focusing in on Starscream's face and a small, hesitant smile formed. Starscream smiled back and the tiny smile widened, a little hand reaching up to touch Starscream's face before he seemed to realize that he wasn't supposed to be happy right now and he snatched his hand back with a small frown.
Starscream sighed internally. It would take more work, but he was determined to get through it. "Hello, Sunstreaker. Awake now?"
Sunstreaker's gaze lifted from his hand to Starscream's face again and he nodded.
"'M hungry." Sunny said clearly. This was a change from the mechling who'd hissed at his brother not to ever ever say such things, and Starscream acknowledged it for what it was, lifting the halfer up and onto the table. He prepared morning rations for everyone, seeing as Thundercracker was apparently recharging late this cycle. He stirred in the supplements that were kept on a shelf, and Sunny pointed.
"What's that stuff?" He wrinkled his olfactories.
"Same stuff that's been in your rations since you've been here, little one. The medic said that your frame was missing some elements, and these replace them. You don't taste it, do you?" Sunny shook his head, sipping at his cube. "Nope. Tastes good. Not like sl- um, not bad." he corrected himself.
The others were beginning to stir, with Sideswipe looking briefy panicked until he saw Skywarp's head on his legs and could see/sense Sunny on the table. He sat up, stretching, and looked at TC curled up at the foot of the berth. He giggled softly. "Looks like a big ol' blue cybercat, he does."
Starscream grinned, Sunstreaker just watching his brother over the edge of his cube as he drank at it. Sideswipe managed to worm his way out from under Skywarp with some effort, but he looked proud of himself when he managed. His grin was bright and cheerful, and his otics twinkled. Starscream was easily picking up on the Seeker traits much quicker now that they knew.
"Would you mind waking up the 'cybercat' for me, Sideswipe?" He smirked, mixing the second little cube. "He has work this cycle. And so does your purple and black menace."
Sideswipe giggled and crawled across the berth to Thundercracker, patting at his face. "C'mon TC. Gotta get up. Star says so!"
Thundercracker grumbled, wings twitching back, but otherwise not moving and Sideswipe frowned, looking thoughtful before his face lit up in wicked glee and he stood, arms spread wide. "CATCH THE SEEKER!" He squealed, jumping and practically faceplanting the seeker's face.
Thundercracker almost, almost threw Sideswipe to the floor in what would have been a reflexive, but still painful maneuver, but he remembered at the last moment and grabbed the mechling, swooping him in the sky as if he were flying. "My face is not your airstrip, young one." he noted softly, sitting up. "Come, fly for your rations. I need to visit the 'racks before my shift. Skywarp needs waking, though." Thundercracker smiled and placed Sides on his feet on the berth.
Sideswipe nodded quickly and pounced on Skywarp, standing on his back in what seriously reminded TC and Star of their jet judo practices. "Up, Sky. UP. Star says. So get up." Skywarp mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'go frag yourself with a freight train', but he quickly shut up when he onlined his optics to the shining, smiling face of what was quickly becoming his favorite little companion.
He scooped the red twin up, and 'flew' him next to his brother, sitting at the table with a hard thunk of his head. "Never rechargin' like that again, I hurt on top of my hurt!"
"Don't be ridiculous." Starscream snorted in amusement, the purple and black seeker waving him off with a 'whatever'. Sideswipe prodded at his helm while he drank his morning ration before declaring loudly, "I'm gonna be jus' like you Sky!"
Starscream and Thundercracker both choked on their rations, Starscream spluttering as he coughed to clear his intakes and Thundercracker looking horrified at the idea.
Skywarp's helm tilted up with a beam. "Oh really?" He grinned. "Takes a lot of work to be me, Little Red."
"I c'n do it! I'm good at hard work!"
"Can you do what I do, though? And I still haven't forgotten to take you flying." Skywarp said, nodding to emphasize his point. "Just can't do it now, because I have stupid monitor duty."
Thundercracker asked Starscream, "Did you find the-"
"Yes." And Star's tone was so cold that it would have likely frozen fire. "I have it. And I will remember it." He glanced at his trinemates warningly. The twins seemed to be okay for the moment; ruining that would do none of them any good.
TC nodded shortly and headed to the 'racks, and Sunstreaker looked longingly after him. He gulped down the remainder of his ration and cocked his head. "May I..." Starscream nodded and Sunny ran off to join Thundercracker in the 'racks; the larger Seeker might finish first, but Sunny was old enough to take care of himself.
Skywarp continued to frumble about his shift, thinking to himself how much he'd rather stay here and play with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker until Starscream chased him out.
Sideswipe's happy giggles followed him out the door along with the image of a very content and clearly waxed Sunstreaker as he came out of the washwracks just as he left. Skywarp smiled to himself, likeing the feeling of floating on air despite being miles below the ocean. He thought over the morning with a happy haze that not even the dread of boring monitor duty could get through and then he stopped, optics widening in surprise.
For the first time in vorns, there hadn't been a fight between the trine as they started their days.
Starscream pondered things, then realized that there was only one solution. He called to the twins. "Sideswipe. Sunstreaker. Would you like to visit Rumble and Frenzy?"
The twins both nodded vigorously; that sounded like fun. "Sure!" "Better'n those Cone-fraggers."
"Sideswipe." Starscream warned, and the red mechling looked embarrassed. "Sorry. Star."
He led them out of their quarters to Soundwave's, where four cassettes and Soundwave himself were 'relaxing'; it was their off-shift this cycle. Star cursed under his breath and eyed the telepath. He opened his mouth to speak-
"Query: May younglings visit with cassettes?" Soundwave asked. Starscream just stared at Soundwave and nodded; this made things easier, as he didn't have to /ask/. The two halfers ran under Starscream's legs, heading to the Ravage-free pillow pile to play video games. Soundwave spoke once more. "Query: Permission to continue instruction on lyraharp?"
"Yes." Star said, surprised that Soundwave would even offer.
Soundwave nodded once to show he had heard and appreciated the consent before he shut the doors. Starscream scowled at them, but really couldn't find the time to be angry over the telepath shutting them in his face. It saved him from any awkward thank-you's.
That taken care of and Thundercracker's update from where he had joined Skywarp on monitor duty, Starscream strutted down the halls of the Nemesis, searching for his prey.
There wasn't a Combaticon present anywhere. Starscream queried the central system and got a null result; not uncommon, not when Vortex was doing something he shouldn't, but Starscream headed to their personal area on the Nemesis, his temper having plenty of time to stoke itself and seethe.
He didn't bother pinging the door; as SIC, his overrides were more than sufficient to gain entrance, and since he was a far better programmer than Megatron was unless Soundwave had rewritten the Slag-Maker's own overrides, Starscream's were better than even his. When the door slid open, he caught sight of Onslaught and Blast Off lounging around, not doing much of anything. Swindle, Vortex, and Brawl were nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the glitches?" Starscream commanded, cycling a bit of power to his null-rays. "Where are the glitches who think it's hilarious to torment small mechlings...mechlings under my protection?"
Onslaught regarded the SIC with something akin to distaste. "I'm afraid I cannot answer your question, Air Commander." He said rather calmly.
Starscream growled, wings flaring higha nd optics glinting menacingly. "Really, Onslaught? You're going to play stupid with me? I really don't suggest it." He took a step closer although this only seemed to amuse the Combaticon.
"They're in rec room three." Blast Off said flatly, visor locked on the datapad he was still reading.
Starscream shot him an odd look, questioning underneath all the menace. Onslaught was displeased and it showed. Without another word, wings flared as high as they would go, Starscream turned to stomp from the room, stopping only when Onslaught made a very rude noise in the back of his throat.
"You should not have said anything." Onslaught growled dangerously. It was not normally Blast Off who was the problem.
The shuttle former snorted, shoving the datapad at his gestalt leader. "I do my research."
Onslaught blinked, and read over the pad quickly. "Huh." He mumbled, setting it down. "That explains quite a bit."
"Indeed. If you;ll remember Wildrider two or three cycles ago?" Onslaught nodded. "I was on monitor duty. The Stunticon barely even touched him. And that landed him in the medbay with a missing arm and optic." he paused in the silence that followed. "And what we both know from Swindle and Vortex..."
"They dug their own grave." Onslaught said shortly, not at all pleased. "As long as they don't die, I don't care."
I'm not going to offline them. Bruticus is still needed by this army. But by everything that's still sacred, they are going to regret fragging with my younglings." Starscream said coldly, stalking out of the room toward Rec Room 3.
"His younglings?" Onslaught said questioningly to Blast Off as the door shut.
"Seekers imprint on younglings nearly as quickly as younglings imprint upon them. And once one of the flying menaces decides that the bitlet is theirs, well..." Blast Off shrugged with one shoulder. "Only a fool would get between them and their charge."
"Vortex never was known for his processing speed." Onslaught said flatly.
This door, by necessity, was not locked. It was sparsely occupied, though, and the three gestaltmates dominated the worm-looking couches that the Constructicons had been bribed to make. The television was on, blaring some inane action movie, and Starscream held out his arm and fired on it, the null ray immediately severing delicate electronic connections and rendering the thing useless.
"What the frag-" Vortex turned, and if he hadn't been wearing his facemask Starscream would have seen the look of dismay.
He stopped, taking in the aggressive stance of the SIC. Huh, so the Screamer was spoiling for a fight then. Not that he could remember doing anything to frag the Seeker off, but whatever. Brawl stared sadly at where the useless television hung on the wall, smoking. Swindle, of course, was far more vocal in his displeasure.
"Do you even know what this /cost/ me?" He cried, hands gesturing wildly. "I had to barter for that!"
He shut up immediately when another null ray blast missed his helm by a fraction of an inch, smoking in the wall above his helm.
"I don't give a flying frag at a blazing comet what you paid for that thing, Swindle." Starscream hissed, advancing on the smaller mech to pick him up by the neck.
"How does this feel, I wonder? To be lifted by one larger than yourself, to be at my mercy? Because if you try a single...fragging...thing, I will blast a hole in your processor large enough to put my hand through." Swindle immediately stopped moving, and even Vortex stopped- Starscream was apparently serious about this.
Brawl advanced on Starscream until another shot grazed his foot, and he backed off in a hurry, eyeing the SIC as if he'd lost his mind.
"What do you want, Commander?" Swindle gasped, the compression on his main energon line causing his vision to fade in and out. "I can get you anythi-"
"Leave the twins alone." Starscream said, slamming the slimy mech down onto the floor, the sound of something breaking almost deafening in the small room. He turned to Vortex, whose visor lit up warily. "Now, Starscream..." he said, hands out wide.
"Shut the frag up, Vortex." Starscream moved, then, but it wasn't for the copter's neck. Vortex was too large for that. It was for his blades, and Starscream grabbed one in each hand and bent, anger giving him strength. To Vortex's credit, he didn't cry out. It had to hurt like Pit, though, especially when the top third snapped off in Starscream's hand, the broken bit dripping energon from where it had cut the Seeker.
He didn't even notice the injury.
Instead he slammed his elbow into the Copter's face, visor shattering and mask denting with the surprising force from the slight frame. Swindle pushed himself up, scurrying backwards for the door and the Seeker whirled, kicking him solidly in the stomach. Swindle fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning.
"If either of you ever touch my younglings again, you can expect far worse." He said voice soft and almost snakelike.
"Uhuh. Got it. Right." Swindle groaned, writhing on the floor. Brawl was long gone, having decided that the company way a just a little bit too insane for his liking (and that was saying something, being gestalt-bound with Vortex).
Vortex couldn't speak through his mouth, but his comm worked just fine. ::Don't leave 'em alone, Screamer.:: he hissed, beyond angry. Starscream raised an optic ridge and slammed his fist into the copter's face again, causing him to fall. He kicked the Combaticon about a dozen times, staring at Swindle the entire time.
Vortex finally had nothing else to say, it seemed, and Starscream bent to whisper. "What was that, Vortex? I didn't quite hear you."
The only answer he got was a low groan.
Starscream turned to the few other occupants of Rec Room 3 and calmly smiled. "All right, everyone, the show is over." With that, he left the room for his own quarters, belatedly noticing the huge gash in his hand from Vortex's rotor blade.
"There ya go, squirt." Rumble grinned as Sunstreaker concentrated on the screen and the controller. "Ain't this a fun one?"
Sunstreaker concentrated on the little blue creature as it curled into a ball and spun really fast to go over an arch. "Shhh! I'm conc'ntratin'! And I'm not a squirt!"
Ravage huffed in amusement from where she was curled around the yellow twin once more. Ratbat curled into the black plating of Sideswipe's helm, shrieking in joy. Ratbat, once introduced, had taken an extreme liking to the Twins. He especially liked riding on Sideswipe's helm when the red sparkling ran around the room and made noises like he was flying. It was so fun!
Until Sideswipe zigged when he should have zagged and tripped over Ravage's tail, flying helm-first into the wall.
"Ow, fragging slagging son of a glitched motherboard and a two-cred pleasurebot!" Sides howled, gaining himself a very appreciative whistle from both cassette twins.
"I'm gonna remember that one, for next time someone slags me off." Frenzy said happily. "The frag'd you learn to talk like that anyway?"
Sides shrugged, petting a very irritated Ratbat gently. "Just did."
"You are too a squirt." Rumble informed Sunny. "I mean, you're tiny."
"So are you." the golden twin retorted, sending his little blue...creature...spinning directly into the path of a REALLY ugly mech-looking thing with a clownlike face. Rings flew everywhere and he cursed softly, collecting all that he could.
"TC, I think I need a little... Help." Starscream admitted, holding one hand tightly in the other. The blue Seeker had just gotten off-shift and he glanced over at Starscream curiously, wincing when he saw the telltale violet drip.
"What the Pit did you do?" he asked.
"Grabbed Vortex." Star said grimly.
"You what?" Thundercracker gaped at his trineleader. "You were supposed to wait for us, Starscream."
Starscream scowled. "Fraggers already got away with it long enough."
The blue Seeker made a wordless noise of frustration then grabbed his trinemate's hand to view the damage. "Well, it went deep, but it's a clean cut." He mumbled, lips twisted into a small frown. "What did they have to say about it?"
Thundercracker snorted. "I checked on them before coming here. They're fine. Playing actually. I was hoping to get more headway on some work."
"Playing? Not those ridiculous human video games." Starscream growled vindictively. "They don't need it. I don't want them ending up like Rumble and Frenzy. I doubt those two have even one complete processing loop between them."
"Well, Sunstreaker was..."
"No! He needs it less than Sideswipe does!"
"..."
"Don't give me that look."
Thundercracker made a motion as if rolling his optics. "Fine, I won't. Regardless they were fine. If you really want to go and get them, by all means."
Starscream headed for the door. He even pinged it to open once he was in range. But he didn't step through. He stalked back over to his small cushioned seat and flopped strutlessly onto it, drumming his fingers on the arm. "Whatever." That was one human expression that Starscream had embraced; it fit him so very well.
After about a breen, Skywarp bounded in, smelling like wind and rain. "Storm's coming!" he said happily. Starscream perked up at this; he loved flying in the storm, and he especially loved flying in the storm slongside Skywarp. He eyed his trinemates. "Thundercracker...?" he said in a soft, rising tone, wheedling.
"No." the blue Seeker said, working on his console busily.
"Why not?" Skywarp joined in, pout already firmly in place.
Thundercracker scowled at both of them. "No. You wanted the sparklings here, now you get the responisbilities that come with it. Which means less of what we usually do and more acting like responisble adults."
Skywarp's face looked pathetic and even Starscream was pouting. "No." The blue seeker said again firmly.
"But TC, how coooome? It's only for a few Earth hours!" The youngest whined.
"You even said so, yourself Thundercracker. The twins are fine playing with the cassettes." Starscream added.
"But did they take responsibility for two little ones, scared and alone, on that battlefield?" TC pressed, knowing he was being somewhat harsh but used to being the voice of reason.
Starscream cursed under his breath and shook his head. "Frag."
"TeeeeeCeeeeeee..."
"No, Skywarp." Thundercracker said, ignoring his younger trinemate.
The door chimed then, ending the argument.
Two small blurs of paint, red and yellow, launched themselves through the door, the red one hitting Skywarp in the abdominal plating, and the yellow one clinging slightly more sedately to Starscream's legs. "Star, Star! I beat third level in the game, Sonic the...what is that thing again?" He looked at Sideswipe, who said nothing as he hugged Skywarp.
Starscream blinked down in surprise, not at all used to this still and glanced back up to the door where the cassette twins were looking rather put out. Soundwave stood with his arms crossed behind them. "Soundwave."
Skywarp had scooped up the red mechling to a delighted shriek, already almost completely forgetting the storm argument. "Whatcha doin' back so early?"
"Twins: Both sets were not teaching the other the best of things."
An optic ridge popped up on Starscream's forehelm as he leaned down to pick Sunstreaker up as well, the yellow sparkling snuggling in and purring his little engine in contentment. "Care to elaborate."
"He says I gotta dirty mouth." Sideswipe chimed, grinning from audio to audio. "But I showed 'im! My mouth is clean! There isn't anything in there!"
Skywarp began laughing uncontrollably at this, while Thundercracker cracked a smile and Starscream just sighed.
"Sideswipe. If you are so enamored of those words, you may write them ten times each on this datapad. Spelled correctly. And neatly." Starscream said, his arms folded across golden glass.
Sideswipe positively /whined/ at this. "Lessons? It's a day off!"
"Now." Starscream ordered in his best 'I am the Air Commander and you will listen to me!' voice.
Soundwave, of course, did not react, though the cassettes looked up at their creator, almost afraid.
"Penance: appropriate. Rumble, Frenzy: will repeat Sideswipe's task in our quarters."
A very distinct "Fragging Screamer" could be heard from the cassettes' direction, but it wasn't clear who said it.
Soundwave tapped his foot and both twins grumbled before marching down the hallway, the telepath following. Starscream turned to the pouting Sideswipe and Skywarp looked torn between not getting a lecture and standing up for the red hellion. "Sideswipe. What about your brother?"
Sideswipe shrugged. "Sunny threw the 'mote at the teevee once."
"I didn' do it again!" Sunstreaker was quick to defend himself, his helm shooting up from where he had lain it against the Seeker's shoulder. "Not after 'Wave said ka- Star wouldn't be happy if I broke it and he had to replace it!"
Starscream tilted his head. He'd caught what Sunny had almost called him, and it...did things to his meta. Things that a Decepticon, the SIC of the entire fragging army, should not be feeling. He tried to ruthlessly push them away, and found that he not only couldn't, but did not want to.
"Only once?" Starscream asked Sunstreaker. The golden twin nodded solemnly. "One time. Not again. Promise."
Starscream thought about it. "If it was only one time, temper happens. Sideswipe, you swear entirely too much. One time is excusable. Corrupting Soundwave's fragging cassettes is impossible, but it looks like you did it."
"That's ten 'fraggings' for you then, Star." Sideswipe said firmly.
"Nuh uh! Eleven! Cause you said it that once comin' here." Sunstreaker said. Sideswipe looked thoughtful.
"And there were a lot of slaggings..."
"Don't forget the two glitches!"
"Oh! And I called the wall a pleasurebot..."
Starscream literally facepalmed. "Enough!" The twins froze, Sunstreaker looking afraid for a bare moment, but it melted away a lot more quickly than it had before.
Skywarp snorted. "This is all well and good for discipline, but I am fra- um, I am very bored!" Sideswipe giggled as Skywarp caught himself.
Thundercracker had offlined his audials some time ago and was blissfully immersed in his work.
"Very well, only one of each then Sideswipe." Starscream sighed, sitting Sunstreaker on the berth. "And what in Cybertron did you get on your arm, Sunstreaker?"
Sunstreaker's helm snapped to the side to examine his arm. "Oh. Rumble 'n Frenzy shot Ravage with paint."
Starscream sighed again. He got the feeling he would be doing that a lot. "I see."
"It was fun!" Sideswipe cried from where Skywarp had set him in his lap with the datapad and stylus. "Ravage chased 'em around the room!"
"Until bit brain wanted to go 'splorin again."
"Exploring." Starscream said, his tone flat.
"Ravage wouldn't let us. She grabbed my arm in her /mouth/. Yuck!" Sideswipe said disdainfully.
Starscream wondered if Ravage liked gifts; it seemed she was a better sitter than the Coneheads. He revised his optinion of the felinoid cassette and glared at both twins.
"No exploring without one of us with you. Or do you want to run into the Combaticons again?"
"What's a Combaticon?" Sideswipe asked.
"That copter." Sunstreaker said sagely. "I heard Frenzy talkin' about them. Says they're all glitched and worse, that they eat sparks 'stead of energon, and they wanna melt us down for wingcharms!"
Sideswipe's optics grew wide. "Do not! Liar!"
"I didn' say it, glitchface!" Sunstreaker scowled and Starscream made a frustrated sound.
"Why, on Primus' good name, do you think it's okay to swear so much?"
Sunstreaker scowled and looked away with a shrug. Sideswipe stuck his glossa out at his brother. "Adults can do it! And we can take care of ourselves. Like this one time, these big bots came and took Sunny to this weird place. I had to bust 'im out and they kept sayin' that fragging is a good thing."
The red twin barely had time to dodge the stylus Sunstreaker had taken to keeping on him at all times. "Don't talk 'bout it!"
Starscream froze. His mouth opened, and then he closed it very, very slowly. He felt a need to hurt something, though, and he did not want to do it here. He offlined his optics and ran through the log tables about a dozen times before he could trust himself to speak. "Sunstreaker. Please do not poke Sideswipe with your stylus."
Skywarp caught on as well and hauled the red halfer up to do his words. He handed over a datapad and pointed. "Do 'em, and then we'll do something fun." Sideswipe whined and grumbled but slowly began spelling out all his favorite swear words, while Sunstreaker had started to draw something else. Starscream sidled over to see what it was that he was working on so furiously.
He blinked when he saw what was slowly taking shape (albeit in wobbly lines at the moment) on the stylus. Towers that rose high with staging areas in many of them. It made Starscream's spark clench. "Sunstreaker. What is that?"
"Dunno..." Sunstreaker grumbled, very obviously not trying to pay attention to Starscream. He was upset now, thanks to his brother and memories he worked so hard to forget. "Kali took us there once."
"Did he now?"
"Uh huh..."
"I see. Were there many fliers?"
That gave the little one pause. "Yeah. Everyone had wings."
"I see. Why are you drawing this place? Did you grow up there?"
Sunstreaker shook his helm, holding the datapad further away from his face. "Nu-uh. But kali always said that when I'm hurtin' I should draw good things... Cause they make you happy."
Starscream couldn't help himself. He silently dared either of his trinemates to say a word as he gathered Sunny into his lap, looking at the picture, trying desperately to figure out what it was without outright asking for details. "That looks like... Vos." *Sort of.* he thought after he said it. "Were there a lot of towers there?" he asked.
Sunstreaker nodded absently, his glossa poking out from between his lips. "Yeah. Pretty clear one. I liked that one, but I can't get the colors right."
Starscream held out his hand for the stylus. "Let me show you something." Sunny handed it over, watching Starscream intently. Star adjusted the settings using the four small indentations on the side, altering the fade and colorshift. "It will make translucent shades now, Sunstreaker."
Sunny tried it on the pad, and saw a wash of silvery-blue. Impulsively, he hugged Starscream tightly. "That's it! How did you know!"
Starscream had to fight the coolant that threatened to fall from his optics.
"Lucky guess, Little Yellow." Skywarp grinned. Sunstreaker glared.
"M'not yellow. It's gold!"
Starscream took the moment and sudden banter to calm himself. "It's a very beautiful tower Sunstreaker. What were you doing there?"
Sunstreaker turned his frown on the Seeker, ice optics seeming to look right through him as if lost in memory. He shrugged. "I can't 'member too well."
Sideswipe had finished with the words he was supposed to be writing and he pushed the datapad aside to climb off Skywarp's lap and up next to his brother so he could see also. He tilted his helm to the side, considering. "Oh hey! I 'member that place! kali's Kali and Opa lived there! 'Memeber Sunny? They gave you that pretty colorin' pad!"
Sunstreaker thought hard. "Um. Maybe? Was yellow right?"
Sides nodded firmly. "Yep! And I got a set of racing cars that looked like you an' me an'..." He trailed off.
Sunstreaker threw his stylus abruptly. "I smashed that car, y'know." He got down off Starscream's lap and ran into the washracks.
Sideswipe just stared at the stylus. "Don't remember what the other car was..."
"If you want new cars, I'll get 'em for you." Skywarp said quickly as Thundercracker rushed to the 'racks to make sure Sunny was all right.
Sideswipe's optics lit up. "You can do that!"
Skywarp nodded. "Yup. It's not that hard."
"I want a green one with yellow and red stripes... No wait! I want one that looks like that one really fast racer! Y'know! The blue one!" The red twin jabbered excitedly.
Skywarp nodded quickly as Starscream headed into the 'racks after Sunstreaker. "I don't know if they make one of Blurr, but I think I can find something close, okay?" He scratched Sides' helm and knelt to hug him, looking toward the racks worriedly.
The cleanser was running in the 'racks, and Sunny stood under it, shaking. Coolant ran from his optics as he rubbed them, not looking at anyone, even Star.
"Sunstreaker-" Starscream began.
"No." His little voice shook. "Don't wanna talk about it, okay? Please?"
Starscream walked under the spray and held the golden halfer close, rocking him in his arms. He began singing a soft tune, the same one he used to lull him to recharge.
Sunstreaker's vents hitched ane he buried into Starscream's plating with small sobs. The Seeker ran a gentle hand over his helm and let him cry. Sometimes. It was the easiest way to relieve all the built up pain. Sometimes, Starscream wished he still knew how.
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