They say never judge a book by it's cover. Well, you'd be more than dead if you tried to judge me by my appearance. I maybe small, but I pack a mean punch if you mess with me and my team... Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude... hey there! I'm Windswept! And boy, have I got a story to tell you. Well, what are you waiting for?! Get over here and get ready for my adventures on Team Prime!

Surprise! Part 3 of this Sick Mind/Out of His Head saga is here! The last part too, I shall add! It was fun writing these three chapters to dig down and reveal Windswept's true past. I look forward to writing the prequel to this when I'm finally able too as well to share more light on my own character and her friend's histories too.

Thank you to Starlit Storyteller for following and favouriting this story. And two extra thank yous to Mia prime and Angelwings2002 for leaving reviews as well. It makes me feel very blessed when people take time out of their day to look out for this story. These recent three chapters in the last few days are dedicated to everyone who sticks with this story. Thank you!

- Transformers Prime does not belong to me. All rights go to the people and brands who were able to create this show.
- Windswept and the other OC's belong to me.

I didn't get as much rest as I wanted over the last week. My mind was plagued by the nightmares of the ordeal I had just been through… But it was more than just having a Warlord inside my mind, controlling me and hurting the people that I care about. While I will never get rid of Megatron's piercing red optics or his haunting chuckles of evil laughter, the thought that I had allowed Megatron to lie to me and my sister for so long during our young lives was much more terrifying.

I can't believe I let him get away with so much.

I think I only got a maximum of two Earth hours of recharge per night, which, according to Carly, simply wasn't good enough. Optimus would try to get us to rest throughout most of the night if we could. But sometimes patrol got in our way, so he deemed that at least four or five Earth hours of recharge were good enough. Though I suppose it depends on when we went to our berthrooms to rest.

I looked at the only small window in my room. Each room had at least one small window to show us when it was time to start preparing for the new day. Of course, we had our clocks stashed away somewhere for us to check the time.

But it was nicer to wake up to a lovely sunrise every morning.

Some of us, more so Sunburst, Starlight and myself, enjoyed the Earth sunrise in the mornings, going so far to even sit outside in silence together and just watch as the bright yellow orb to greet us for the day. The silence was peaceful, and I guess familiar. We normally stood in silence a lot whenever a comrade of ours was killed in battle, paying our respects to him or her with a silent goodbye and a thank you for the memories and their part in helping our cause.

We did that quite a bit on Cybertron.

Starlight stood to full height, stretching her arms with a yawn, "Same time tomorrow?"

Sunburst nodded beside me, looking at Starlight and beginning a discussion with her.

I guess my thoughts about the sunrise and my fallen comrades took over my mind more than I had realised. I can't remember coming out here so quickly.

Though, too much has been on my mind.

I didn't pay attention to the conversation Starlight and Sunburst were having when my attentions turned to my brother-in-law. Did he know about all of this? Did I actually know him longer than I had first thought? And what about Whirlwind? Had they known each other longer too?!

I wish I didn't have so many questions and not enough answers.

There was a bump on my shoulder, bringing me out of the thoughts that I had been plagued with since Megatron dropped the entire truth bomb on me. I looked at Sunburst and Starlight, both who were looking at me with concern. I shook my head and looked up at the standing pink and white femme with a confused look, "Did you say something?"

"I asked if we were gonna watch the sunset tonight?" Starlight replied with a questioning tone, "Sunburst said that he couldn't since he has patrol tonight."

I didn't even realise we were thinking about the end of the day already. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it was already morning.

"Uhh, mmmm," I stuttered, "Maybe. We'll see."

Starlight and Sunburst exchanged a nervous look before the former just sighed, "All right well, I've got a scouting mission to do with Bumblebee. I guess I'll se-"

"Wait up a minute," Sunburst interrupted the femme before she could take any steps away from us. He looked at her with a teasing look, "How many scouting missions have you two had together over the last few weeks?"

Hang on a second.

Am I missing out on a potential growing romance between two of the youngest Autobots in this base?

It wouldn't be a surprise to be honest. They've been getting along since day one when Starlight first arrived. And they've been getting pretty close since then. Especially since the Scraplet incident a while back.

They couldn't keep their servos off each other!

But… that was more like a 'saving your life' thing than a romantic thing.

"Relax, Sunburst," Starlight cooed gently with a sarcastic roll of her optics, "It isn't what you think it is."

"Then what is it?" I asked innocently, knowing very well that Starlight is picking up on the fact that I'm following Sunburst's lead.

"Awh, not you too 'Swept!" The pink and white femme groaned, throwing her arms about, "Look, me and Bumblebee are just really good partners and teammates. And come on, everybody seems to have a close friend. Aquastrike and Bulkhead, you two… why can't I have a close friend and not be judged by it?"

Sunburst and I are siblings now. And I've been thinking that Aquastrike and Bulkhead have been getting really close lately too. Though I'm not really sure if they're close because they've been bonding over their shared time in the Wreckers before the aqua blue femme left, or maybe they have just been growing back together again.

Starlight and Bumblebee don't know each other. Star only knows him by reputation, like everyone, which was him being well known for being the one who stood up against Megatron and survived.

There's only a small list of Cybertronians who have been able to fight Megatron and live.

I looked up at Starlight with a shrug, "I'm just saying that you guys have been getting pretty close, that's all. We've all got people that we've been getting close to recently. It just seems that you two have been making the most progress."

"'Swept, I do not intend on even thinking about some sort of relationship with anyone, especially 'Bee. This is war, not some kind of love island."

At least Starlight's mind was indeed still on the main issue at hand.

"Did you hear that, 'Swept?" Sunburst teasingly asked, bumping his elbow into my arm multiple times while his optics remained on the pink and white femme, "I didn't realise you had a nickname for him already."

Starlight threw her arms up with a huff and began to walk away from us to the elevator that would take her down to the inside of the base below.

Okay, maybe we should have left Starlight alone. But I suppose in my defence, I haven't been able to annoy anyone about anything in the last couple of days. It only felt right that it was time I started getting back to myself and back into a normal rhythm that I started to produce before the trauma with Megatron deciding to take refuge in my mind for a little while.

Hmm, maybe I should change things up a little bit. Who knows what that Warlord exactly found out while he was in that helm of mine. If he did find anything interesting in there, he wasn't exactly going to straight up tell me about it. He would use it for personal use in the future.

Hmmmm, what if h-?

"Hey." I looked at Sunburst when he bumped my shoulder with his elbow, looking at me with concern and, indirectly but thankfully, distracting me from my thoughts, "You all good in that small helm of yours?"

I gasped in fake disbelief, my lips instantly curving into a smile, "My mind is not that tiny!"

"I'm being serious."

"So am I!"

"'Swept, just answer the question."

I sighed in defeat, nudging my brother playfully in the shoulder, "Yes Sunburst, my mind is clear from any bad people."

"Good. I was jus-"

Something began clicking in my audio receptor. I instantly could tell that someone was trying to get into contact with me through the comms. Probably a good idea not to ignore it. The last time I did, Starlight arrived.

Sunburst must have gotten the same call as he answered almost straight away, "Sunburst to Optimus, what do you need? …" The yellow and white-striped mech looked at me with an almost glare-like stare. He began mouthing something to me, 'Answer the comms.'

Nervously, I accepted the incoming call from, who I presumed was Optimus, "Windswept to Optimus, what's up?"

"I would like to speak with both of you later this afternoon," Optimus told us almost immediately after I responded, "I have checked both of your patrol and scouting mission schedules. Both state that you are available for discussion."

I was very nervous when Optimus requested our presence later on this afternoon. But what made me that little bit more nervous was that Sunburst beside me was nearly shuddering as if he knew why Optimus wanted to see us.

Did he know what Optimus wanted to discuss with us?

Was it about my past?

Our shared past, I should say?

"Of course Optimus," Sunburst nodded, collecting himself together once more, "Windswept and I will meet you later on before I leave for patrol."

I was starting to glare at my brother-in-law. There was something that he wasn't telling me. And there was also a good chance that whatever him, Optimus and myself were to discuss this afternoon, he knew about it.

"Yes Optimus," I nearly growled through gritted denta, "We'll see you soon."

With the call disconnected, Sunburst wasted no time standing up on his pedes and beginning his stretching routine, "Ahhhh, wish we could have done this every morning." He raised one arm over his helm, "You know, I was thinking about going for a drive just to kick up some dust. Maybe you should come with me. Unless, you know, you do have someone you meant to be going to see right about now."

I narrowed my optics at him. Rule number one when that mech is not telling me something he should is continuous babbling about Primus knows nothing. And 'kick up some dust'? That's not something that he would say - I would know after all, he is my brother. And yes, I should go pick up Carly, but she can wait for just a few extra minutes.

Or maybe sixty of them depending on how long it takes for me to get what I needed to hear.

"Sunburst, do you know what Optimus wants to discuss with us?"

There was hesitancy in the mech's next movements. It was very obvious when he went to lift his arm back down and instead let it float for a few seconds in mid-air before crashing to his side. It seemed to muck up his routine a little as he went to stretch his other arm. I could the strain in his optics.

"Sunburst?" I pressed further. I was not going to let this go now.

"W-What makes you think that 'Swept?"

What makes me think that?! Sunburst, you are a by-the-book mech when it comes to rules and what you can and can't tell us. And yet somehow, when it comes to the people you really worry about, like myself of all people, you seem to break them for us and you do tell us what's going on.

"You're weak when it comes to people you care about," I answered him simply.

There was an evident sigh from Sunburst as he rested both arms on his sides and looked down at me, "Shouldn't you be going to get Carly?"

"I-" I interrupted myself halfway through, looking back at the sun that continued to rise up ahead of me. Yes I needed to go pick Carly up, but that's not what I was talking about. Ughh, that blasted mech's trying to steer me off into a new direction. I went to look back up at him, "Ha ha, Sunburst, I see what yo-"

Dammit Sunburst!

He had slipped away from me before I could even stop him.

And knowing him, he may just turn off our personal comm to stop any calls from going to him.

Sunburst is too smart sometimes. He knows me far too well.

Guess I should go pick up Carly while my mind continues to clutter about the discussion this afternoon.

Blasted Sunburst…

NO ONE'S P.O.V

Megatron stood in front of the control panel, looking at the monitors to see if he could spot anything worthy of noting down to check. His hands were folded behind his back like his normal posture would, his back straight to keep his stature to full height while his infamous red optics continue to dart around the screens ahead of him.

He was now back into his role as the true leader of the Decepticons. And he had wasted no time in making his first movements when he had regained his position – try to understand exactly why Starscream had decided to pluck out the Energon he needed to live. His second movement?

Proceed to punish him for the costly error that Starscream had made.

He certainly wasn't light with his punishment, however. He wasn't surprised that Starscream was yet to awaken.

Maybe that'll teach the mech to never mess with him again.

However, as soon as Megatron had been filled in on what had occurred while he was in his coma, he quickly noticed a few things. Three of them were the new arrivals of Moonlight, Knock Out and Breakdown. Two of those names he had met briefly multiple times during the war on Cybertron. And Moonlight… His apparent second-in-command...

The silver and purple Warlord let out a sigh.

The rumours were false. Almost every single Decepticon, and Autobot too probably were led to believe that there was a femme that the Decepticon Leader had 'by his side' during the war.

And 'by his side', most of those who had heard those rumours would've thought they meant that the femme was either 'underneath him' or 'on top of him'.

The mech knew exactly who had started those rumours too.

He wasn't stupid.

"Lord Megatron?" Megatron growled when he heard the doors slide open to reveal the exact femme he was thinking about.

As the pink and black Decepticon began walking up to him from behind, she quickly noticed her leader's tense posture. Moonlight was immediately worried about her leader. After all, he wasted no time reminding everyone who exactly was the leader of the Decepticons. The true leader of their cause.

Maybe it was too soon for him to fall back to his original position.

…Or maybe he needed someone to help him feel less tense...

"You seem to be quite stressed. Are you having a hard time fitting back into the role as Lord of the Decepticons?"

The silver and purple mech refused to acknowledge her presence, continuing to face his back towards her, "It seems that there have been multiple changes while I've been… resting."

Moonlight nodded quickly in understanding. Of course! There had been so many things happening while Megatron was recovering! Such as her arrival, Knock Out and Breakdown turning up, Rebecca having turned a new age and starting her training into becoming the world's most powerful human, her own arrival, Slipstream's sudden disappearance…

Did Moonlight say she had arrived?

"I entirely understand what you mean, Lord Megatron. It is a lot to take in during a small amount of time. Perhaps I could fill you in on what has been happening?"

"There is no need to 'fill me in', Moonlight," Megatron insisted, turning around to finally face the femme properly for the first time since Cybertron. He was baring his denta at her as he dropped the tone of his voice, "I know exactly what has happened."

Moonlight gulped.

Did that mean what she thought he meant?

Her rich red optics stayed glued on Megatron's own red pair, refusing to let down her guard about anything, "What are you referring to exactly, Lord Megatron?"

"I know Starscream tried to rid of me by plucking out my only life force from my body. I know that you and Knock Out attempted to gain power by sucking up to Starscream. And I also know that you talked Starscream into attempting to exile my true second-in-command from the Decepticons!"

Moonlight took a few steps back in fright when the Warlord raised his voice at her.

How did he know?!

Flashes from the final few days with Starscream still in power came into her mind, reminding her of when she went up to Starscream and demanded that he should consider getting rid of his twin sister. After all, she was the one that nearly gave Megatron his life back when she still had the Dark Energon shard.

"But Starscream! We can't have her running around here with knowledge of that Dark Energon! She'll tell the entire warship!" Moonlight remembered attempting to reason with her former leader.

"Hmmm, ridding her with such knowledge would make these fools believe in me more without comparing me to her." Starscream, she recalled, was quite hesitant in the decision, however, "But regardless, she is still, unfortunately, my sibling. I could never exile her away from the winning team she has been with from the very start."

"Unfortunately Starscream, changes need to be made. Eventually, bonds break. The bond between my sister and I was broken when she was born. And that may seem different in this situation, I believe it is time for you to step away from your sister's shadow. And how better to do so than to get rid of her. Once and for all…"

Moonlight didn't regret that she had compared her and her sister's relationship to Starscream's and Slipstream's. She knew far too well that their broken bond would come in handy one day. And probably many more days to come.

The Decepticon brought herself back to reality, looking up at the seething Warlord still baring his denta at her. She took another step backward, attempting to remove herself from the anger she could feel radiating off her leader's body, "I-I have no idea what you are talking about, Megatron. I respect Slipstream greatly-"

"Respect? You were threatening her position the second you joined the Decepticon cause!" Megatron spat out.

Moonlight inwardly shrugged. There was no way she would've pulled off that big, fat lie.

"Slipstream has been my faithful second-in-command the second she joined the cause. She and Soundwave stood by and helped my army grow," Megatron explained, "You only joined my cause for the revenge you craved on your sister!"

"Megatron, I...The Autobots would have never wanted me to join them if they knew the truth!" The femme argued.

"The truth? The truth?! I know exactly the truth you are referring too, Moonlight."

The Decepticon gasped and widened her optics, "You remember the fallout of th-"

Moonlight was cut off when she heard the sounds of the doors sliding open behind her, letting her and the Decepticon Warlord know that someone was entering the room. The Decepticon watched as her leader looked up at the doorway with a pleased look.

"Slipstream, it's about time that you have returned."

"My apologies, Lord Megatron." Moonlight turned to find the blue and purple Decepticon standing back up to full height after bowing at her Lord. Her optics locked with Moonlight, narrowing dangerously, "It had come to my attention that perhaps I needed to take a small sabbatical to clear my thoughts and figure out where to go next for the Decepticons." A small, evil smile appeared on her face as she began walking further into the room, the doors sliding shut behind her, "I was so very glad to hear that you are now back to full health once more. Aren't we, Moonlight?"

The Decepticon femme's jaw dropped slightly, attempting to figure out what to say next. But she struggled to pick her jaw up to form even the smallest of words, "Uhhh, hmmm." She turned around to face Megatron only to find him edging his form closer to her, having bent down to face the femme.

"We are done here, Moonlight."

Said Decepticon straightened her form and stormed away from the two Cybertronians.

Slipstream watched her disappear from the room with a smirk. Everything was going back to normal. Her position was no longer threatened. Not with Megatron back in charge.

"Slipstream, how was your trip away?" Megatron asked, his voice still with an angry tone.

The blue and purple Cybertronian released a sigh, "Megatron, unfortunately, I do not wish to speak to you about my so-called 'sabbatical'. Rather, I have more important matters to tend to. It involves my currently recovering brother, Starscream."

Megatron bared his denta knowingly, "Ahhh, yes. I believe it is best that you should visit him to see how he is resting."

Slipstream nodded and turned around to leave the room again. Yes, her matters with the injured Starscream were important. So important that she hoped that those matters wouldn't leave her mind for quite some time. So she could use them to remind Starscream exactly what happens the next time he messes with her.

WINDSWEPT'S P.O.V

So that was a waste of time.

Here I was sitting just outside the Esquivel garage waiting for my dear charge Carly to come and greet me before we could make our way over to the school for her to begin her day peacefully. You know, everything was fine. Nothing was wrong.

And then Raf popped out from his home to go see Bumblebee.

Without Carly.

It turned out that Carly got picked up by Jack and Arcee this morning. Jack and Carly apparently had an argument last night and so their trying to patch things up by going to KO Drive-In for breakfast before heading off to school.

I'm not pissed off at all by that. No, not really. It was the fact that Carly had tried to contact me to tell me that she wasn't going to be needing a ride this morning to school…

At the same time that Optimus had commed Sunburst and I this morning.

Now that bit pissed me off.

I worry about my charge enough as it is. But it worried me knowing that I missed a call from my charge and there could've possibly been something wrong with Carly that I needed to get to! Come on, 'Swept! You're better than this! You've already let her down so much recently! You can't keep doing this!

I was furious with myself, absolutely livid. Carly is my charge! I am her guardian! I can't keep dropping the nine-ball or whatever it is like this!

"WOOOAH!" The scream I suddenly heard behind was followed up by a BANG! noise.

By Primus! What the frag was that?!

I skidded to a stop, making sure that my holoform was still activated, which it was, and flicked my mirror around to see what was going on.

I nearly burst out laughing.

Poor Bulkhead had crashed into a power pole.

I think that's my bad.

I drove up to the dark green, off-roading vehicle parked awkwardly in front of the power pole, having removed himself from the darn thing. There were a few grunts and groans coming from the vehicle.

Scrap, I hope Miko's not in there!

"Bulkhead?" I whispered through the comms, "Are you alright?"

"Phewww, yeah, I think so," Bulkhead answered loudly.

Not speaking through the comms.

"Bulkhead!" I almost scolded, "Use the comms!"

"Why? There's no one here." I flicked my mirrors around the area we were at.

The incident that had just taken place was at a four-way intersection, with no cars or people in sight. The traffic lights that were pointing towards the road that I had just come from were blinking a bright red. The traffic lights that were facing Bulkhead's previous direction were flashing a bright green.

Yyyyeeaahhhhhh, that one's definitely on me.

Though I think I might get away with that one.

There's never anyone around during the daytime in Jasper.

"Sorry Bulk," I apologised sheepishly, "Got a few things on my mind."

"Maybe I can help! Whatcha got on your mind?" Bulkhead asked me as we began driving away from the scene that had just taken place.

I was silent at first. I didn't really want to tell him I was having doubts about my position as being a good enough guardian for Carly. I didn't want him to worry about himself and his charge Miko. I mean, what if my doubts and thoughts and feelings impact the way Bulkhead takes care of Miko? I don't want to do that to him.

"Hmm, fine. Don't tell me," Bulkhead pouted jokingly, "Hey I was gonna go do some off-roading just outside of Jasper if you're interested."

Hmmmm, off-roading eh? I mean, I'm no off-roading vehicle of some kind or anything. But I reckon I could do with some kind of distraction. But I am just a motorcycle, not a big four-wheel drive like my bulky friend driving alongside me was.

But hey, why not? I got nothing better to do.

"Sure!" I would've taken the offer with both servos if I was in my normal Cybertronian form. I kicked my speed up a few gears when Bulkhead and I were driving just out of the small township of Jasper, "Meet you up there, Bulk!"

Bulkhead chuckled loudly, catching up with me quickly, "Well you can go speed away to where you want to go. I'm going this way." The green off-roading vehicle turned to a slight left, "At least I know where I'm going."

It might help if I knew where I was going.

I went down a few gears and followed Bulkhead quickly with a chuckle, "Lead the way, big guy."

NO ONE'S P.O.V

Slipstream wasn't in much of a rush to visit her recovering brother. He wasn't going to be going anywhere far in the next while. As she casually walked to the Nemesis medical Bay, she began thinking about what she was going to say to the traitorous Decepticon Seeker.

She didn't know what to say if she had to be honest. Her brother, her own brother, exiled her from the Decepticons! Of course, it was the best play for Starscream in order to maintain leadership without having to worry about the threat the Decepticon possessed to him. But it still shocked her that her own twin brother would make such a choice.

Even though Moonlight was behind the idea in the first place.

It didn't matter any more. With Megatron back in power and with Starscream, Knock Out and Moonlight back in the places they've should've originally been in, it allowed herself, Soundwave and Rebecca to reclaim their positions in the Decepticon ranks... Well, she was still going to have to share the second-in-command title with Starscream. But regardless, nobody, not even Starscream, was going to force Slipstream out otherwise.

Next time, she won't budge a single step.

The Seeker arrived at the med-bay after much thought, spotting a couple of familiar faces taking care of her twin resting unconsciously on the medical berth.

Slipstream hummed. Over a week ago, Megatron was still in a coma on that exact berth, showing any sign of life through his brainwave activity.

The doors slid open to let the occupants, apart from the unconscious Starscream, know that someone was about to make their presence known.

"With Starscream now out of the leadership frame, I guess this means you'll be heading out to do some more street racing with the locals?" The small human known as Rebecca Rose asked the other occupant in the room with a bored tone. She was standing on the medical berth beside Starscream's side, overlooking the Decepticons recovery.

"As much as I would love to return to the fun lifestyle of showing the humans how to race, the thought of Megatron doing more damage than Starscream did if he disallowed me to has me convinced otherwise," Knock Out mused in his reply, looking down at his chassis before shuddering at what Slipstream presumed were flashbacks of Starscream's punishment.

She suppressed a shudder. Even she cringed at the thoughts of the punishment Starscream had inflicted on the Cybertronian grounder.

But that's how things were done on the Decepticon side. Screw up, and you'll be made sure of never doing it again.

Slipstream thinned her lips, a thought springing to her mind. Allowing Knock Out to go to what he loves doing would really tick Starscream off if he were to discover it and not be able to do a single thing about it. Now with Megatron back in charge, maybe the Decepticons may get away with one or two extra things that the traitorous former leader wouldn't let slip past him.

"I won't tell if you don't." Knock Out and Rebecca looked up at the second-in-command, both slightly startled by her sudden presence.

The vain red Decepticon took a few steps back in realisation of the Seeker's words, "Uhhh… I-Mmmm…"

"Consider it a present from my celebrations of being put back into my rightful position," Slipstream shrugged as she stood in front of the medical berth.

Knock Out rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Uh-hmm, r-right." He began walking away from his station, preparing himself to leave. But he turned around suddenly behind Slipstream, take a step toward her, "Just so you know Slipstream, had I known my old partner was exiled by our former leader, I wouldn't have been so quick to jump onto his train. Please, allow me t-."

"Spare me your regrets, Knock Out." Slipstream wasn't going to have it today. She wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone coming to grovel at her feet for forgiveness. Her head looking over her shoulder, the corner of her left eye barely catching sight of Knock Out, she sighed, "Go wreak havoc among the humans before I decide that I do tell."

Knock Out chose not to argue, almost spinning on his heel immediately to walk out of the medical bay.

Slipstream's audio receptors perked up at the sound of a small snort of disbelief. She looked down at the human, her arms crossed and still looking at the unconscious form of Starscream, "Exiled, huh?"

Rebecca wasn't one to let things go so easily. When something had happened or was going on in the background, the brown and red-haired girl made sure to bring it to the spotlight. Unlike Knock Out, she didn't fear the second-in-command.

But Rebecca didn't fear a lot.

It was why no one really attempted to go anywhere near the superhuman. She was a lot stronger and faster than the Vehicons and she could almost definitely outrun Megatron. Even that thought alone made the others fear her.

The Seeker narrowed her optics at the girl, "You keep your mouth shut, I'll fly you out there."

Just because Rebecca was able to strike fear into her enemies, that didn't mean that the abnormal human couldn't be taken down a peg or two.

The girl's face neutralised, showing no emotion at the comment that her Decepticon friend had made. She wasn't going to allow herself to be affected by the prospect of the idea being hung over her like she could see it dangling in front of her own two eyes.

It had been a long time since she paid her respects to her fallen family.

Rebecca swallowed, darting her head up towards Slipstream, "You better hold up your end of the deal, Slipstream."

Slipstream let out a noise between a laugh and a snort, rolling her optics with a smirk lifting the corner of her mouth, "You know me, Rebecca. I always hold my end of the bargain as long as you hold yours."

The superhuman shrugged and leapt off the medical berth. Silently, she walked away, leaving the short Cybertronian to continue her stare at her lookalike. She threw one look over her shoulder before the medical bay doors slid shut, leaving her to wonder just what her Decepticon partner was planning.

Now alone, Slipstream was finally able to get a good look at the injured Starscream lying unconsciously on the medical berth. He had multiple tubes connecting to his body, helping him continue his recovery from the brutality of Megatron's punishment. Most of his silver body had multiple scratches, a few particularly on his face, close to his closed optics.

The Cybertronian nodded to herself approvingly. Megatron definitely made his message to Starscream quite clear.

"Funny, isn't it? How things change, huh?" Slipstream hummed at the unconscious mech, "Over a week ago, things were different. You were the king of this mess, I, the queen. Queen turned princess turned servant in a matter of moments. And now, you know what it's like." Her optics narrowed at her twin, edging closer to the berth, her black, small servo drifting around the edge of one of the tubes.

She gave it a small tug, slightly pulling her towards her unconscious brother's face, gritting her denta, "The next time you dare just try to exile me away from the Decepticons again, I hope like Unicron that I do far more damage to you than what Megatron has." Optics narrowing, she glared hard at Starscream.

A sudden noise outside the med-bay quickly grabbed her attention, grip loosening on the tube and slowly taking a step away while from the berth. She threw her head over her shoulder to see if anyone was at the door.

Slipstream didn't really fear anyone coming and seeing her talking to her brother. They all probably would've thought she was hoping that Starscream would get better soon.

If only they knew.

No more noise was made, allowing Slipstream to look back at her brother, her claw-like hands still wrapped around one of the tubes connected to Starscream. The talons caught her eye midway through her head turning back to the Decepticon, hand slipping away from the tube, overlooking her sharp clawed-hands. Just like her brothers.

Slipstream had never realised just how sharp her hands were before.

"You know, Starscream. I could do just what you did to that Autobot." She raised her clawed digits towards the unconscious Decepticon threateningly, seriously considering to bring harm to him.

Slipstream couldn't believe that she was standing before Starscream, considering bringing her own form of punishment on him. Was she really about to harm him? Was she really going to be like him?

Be as traitorous as him?

Slipstream sighed, placing both arms at her sides, "But I won't." She leapt away from the medical berth.

She was threatening Starscream. He had no idea that Slipstream was threatening harm upon him…

And worst of all…

"Great, now I'm beginning to sound like you," Slipstream muttered to herself as she shook her head, "Talking to a motionless Decepticon and everything." She continued to shake her head as she walked away.

In the small space that looked like a mirror on the medical bay doors, the Seeker peaked her eyes through it in case there was anyone just outside the room who had heard her threats to the unconscious Decepticon behind her.

The doors slid open, allowing her to walk through the doorway and out of the medical bay without a second glance at the unconscious Decepticon behind her. No one seemed to be around, which was a good sign for her.

But it didn't matter. If anyone knew Slipstream well enough, they would know that those threats would apply to anyone who was listening.

And they would know that Slipstream follows through on her end of the deals.

Always.

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I have a funny feeling that I probably will never be going off-roading of any kind again while I'm on this planet…

Bulkhead drove us out to the site where he first took Miko off-roading the day after Team Prime and the humans met. He told me about how she had had a blast that day, after making sure that she was safe and that the downhill section wasn't going to hurt her. They continued to come out here every chance they could, be it after or even before school. It's how their bond continued to grow, he had explained.

They sometimes go out to different areas around Jasper to find a secluded area to do more off-roading and downhill activities. Sometimes they even use the Groundbridge to sneak out for some fun!

I guess that's why Ratchet isn't too keen on Bulkhead much. Or Miko for that matter.

We edged closer to the edge of the hill that we were resting at. I took one look at the downhill slope. The terrain was uneven, like some sort of downhill staircase, but each stair was sometimes wider and larger than the previous one. And sometimes, there was the one odd stair that was smaller and much less wide than the previous one or the one after it.

I swallowed hard.

This is what Miko and Bulkhead call fun?

Well, it might be fun for them. But for me? Who transforms into a motorcycle? Who isn't built for this kind of off-road action? It made me feel quite uneasy.

"Nervous, 'Swept?" Bulkhead taunted teasingly, his side mirror closest to me twitching in my direction.

I laughed uneasily, "Hah, me? Nervous? You do realise who you're talking to, right Bulk?"

Yes, you do realise who you're talking about Bulkhead? I'm that person who's fought Slipstream countless times and survived. I've been to death's door and back 'cause of that wretched femme. I've seen war at it's worst and I've lost countless friends and partners.

And I'm the descendant of a Prime. And a niece of both Opti-

Stop it 'Swept! The entire point of being out here was to clear your mind from all this mess. You do not need to be allowing it to play in your mind further…

Right, now with that little rant to myself out of the way…

"Bring it on, Bulk!" I challenged him confidently.

Bulkhead revved his engines and before I knew it, he was speeding down the hill, crowing and cheering with excitement. He looked so happy to be going down the slope like it was the only thing that could keep him happy despite the depressing war that surrounded us.

My front tire gently peaked over the edge of the downhill slope once more, preparing myself for the fun that was about to begin.

… Well, I still wasn't sure if this was going to be fun for me…

"Come on 'Swept! What are you waiting for?!" I heard Bulkhead yell out. He was nearly more than halfway down the slope. I guess he saw me in his rearview mirror and saw that I was yet to take the plunge.

...Yes, plunge. I'm sticking with that.

With a sigh, I rolled my front tire off the ledge, the bump I felt when I landed onto the next ledge making me feel queasy. My back wheel soon followed and once I made sure I was safe to continue, I dropped my front tyre down the next ledge with a bit more speed. I felt my back wheel follow after quickly. The more I picked up speed, the quicker and faster I was racing down the downhill slope.

I guess this wasn't so bad. I found myself a nice comfortable rhythm with each bump I felt every time my front wheel fell of the next ledge. Despite my stomach turning over multiple times every couple of seconds, I didn't feel like being sick at all. The rush of the wind blowing past my motorcycle form was amazing. It was pretty much like how I would feel when I speed down the highway on the Jasper roads.

I was speeding down the hill at alarming speeds, quickly starting to reach Bulkhead, who was now at the bottom of the cliff and waiting for me. I started to apply the brake gently to slow myself down so I wouldn't crash.

But that didn't work. I pressed on the brake as hard as I could but my speed did not slow.

"'Swept!" Bulkhead called out with a warning tone.

There was nothing I could do as I prepared myself for the last few ledges. I needed to find a way to slow down before I reached the last ledge. When I normally slow down after going at racing speeds, I usually perform a skid to slow myself to a complete stop… and to make myself look good while performing one too, of course.

Maybe it might work here.

I slammed the brakes on hard and twisted my motorcycle form to perform the skid. Nearly immediately, I felt the force of going downhill feel a lot more slowly as I fell down to the final ledge.

To be very honest, I have no idea what happened next. But I practically vowed in my mind that I would never downhill like that again.

I transformed into my normal Cybertronian form and shook my head with a groan. Above me, Bulkhead just chuckled, "Wanna go another round?"

My helm shot up to look at the bulky green mech, my features showing nothing but pure horror at the thought of heading back up that fraggin' hill and doing what we just did again.

"No. Way."

Bulkhead laughed loudly once more, "Might be the wisest choice you've made all day."

I was about to protest when I realised that he may have had a point. With my mind elsewhere over recent revelations, I guess taking a break and clearing my mind has made me think properly today.

"Thanks Bulk," I smiled at him as I stood onto my two feet.

The bulky mech seemed a little taken back by my words, "You know I was being sarcastic, right?"

I rolled my optics, "I mean, thanks for the ride." I looked at the ragged hill with narrowed optics, "It helped me clear my mind." And also made me realise that down-hilling like that is probably the worst idea I've agreed too. But I'm not telling Bulkhead that.

"Oh. Well…" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Glad I could help."

I nodded at him. Bulkhead didn't exactly understand what I meant by that. But it's probably better off that he doesn't know my dramas. We've all got enough on our plates as it is.

"So I guess I won't be seeing you doing anything like this again anytime soon?"

Now it was my turn to laugh, "Oh absolutely not. But if the mission requires me to do something like that, I'll be sure to comm. you straight away."

Bulkhead chuckled slightly before his voice became serious, "Oh, by the way, Sunburst commed me." My optics looked at Bulkhead sharply. "He said that you were needed back at base as soon as possible. Something about you and him meeting Optimus."

Damn it. I must have been having way too much 'fun' going downhill that I didn't hear him try to make contact with me.

"Cheers again, Bulk. I guess I better go see what's going on." That part I said in a lie.

He and the team will learn soon enough about my true background. I just have to deal with it myself first before they can know.

"Have fun with boss bot and Sunshine," the green mech winked with a grin before transforming and speeding off to get ready for another dose of down-hilling.

No more of that for me today – or ever. I've got a 'little' issue to deal with.

So here we were. Me, Sunburst and Optimus. The three of us standing in the main room, waiting for someone to speak. But it just wasn't going to happen, was it?

Optimus had cleared Ratchet out from the main room and down the corridor so he could work on his new project in peace. He also arranged for Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee to keep Raf, Miko, Jack and Carly busy for the next little while until he commed them. And as for Aquastrike and Starlight, well, they, surprisingly, seemed quite eager to be heading out for a scouting mission. Maybe Sunburst had let them know that there was an important talk that was going to be had.

I looked up at Optimus' face before looking at my brother-in-law's. The look on my face was dead serious and was practically saying 'don't you both speak at once'.

"Windswept, Sunburst. It has come to my attention as of late that there have been recent – or not so recent – developments." Our red and blue leader looked at Sunburst when he said that last part. "Is there anything you two wish to tell me?"

I was so close to spitting out everything I had learned from Megatron to him. About how him, Optimus and I were all connected. That we were all practically family! And that included Sunburst considering that he's spark-bonded to my twin… oh man, I was so close! I just couldn't get the words out.

"I'm not just your leader. But I'm also your friend."

Yeah, sure. A friend…

"Optimus…" I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose helplessly. I saw Sunburst give me a look out of the corner of my optic. That was when I knew I had to come clean. "While Megatron took refuge inside my helm, he told me things that I didn't know and that I feel that I should've known…" I closed my optics and let everything out, "Why didn't you tell me that we were related, Optimus?"

When I opened my optics again, Optimus had barely flinched like it wasn't even news to him! Well, of course, he knows for Primus sake, but, you know, a little hint to show his knowledge of it would've been nice.

Sunburst, out of the corner of my optic, was fiddling with his servos. It was a sign of nervousness when he was around important figures such as Optimus during important times like this. He did it around Alpha Trion now and then too when he was nervous around him.

I looked between them. Something, I didn't know what was making me feel stressed. Neither of them had said a thing. I just want some answers!

"Don't you two speak at once…" I sarcastically quipped, crossing my arms. My voice had risen like it normally does when I'm stressed.

"Windswept, I was unsure if you knew. Megatron doesn't speak much truth to his team."

Well, that was obviously true. He never told me any truth while I was on his side on Cybertron. Had I not broken away from his lies that kept me trapped on the Decepticon side, I might've still been there today.

"I apologise for not telling you sooner. But now that you know, it is time we make decisions over what we do with this information."

"What do you mean?" I was totally confused. Who said anything had to be done with this information? And what are we exactly doing with it?

"He wants the team to know so that there isn't anything kept from them," Sunburst explained to me.

I nodded in realisation and understanding. Optimus doesn't want to be like Megatron.

Would the team treat me any different if they knew that I was related to the Prime and a Warlord? I surely hope not. My connections with both Optimus and Megatron weren't a big deal like the other ongoing issues. I don't see why anyone would make it out to be a big deal.

I supposed it scared me a little… to tell everyone that is. Another incident like the one involving poor Sunburst and all hell might break loose. As if it could be broken any further, but you never what could happen, you know?

And then there's Arcee, who's my closest friend that understands so much. Will she trust me if I told her all this new information? Would she believe me if I said that I had never known about this because my mind was wiped? Would she want to even continue working on this team if I stayed and she hated me so much because of all this?

And don't forget about Carly! Oh Primus, what if the Decepticon's decide that going after her will tempt me to join them as long as I knew that Carly was safe? What would the Decepticons do to make me rejoin them? They'd probably kidnap her or something! Force me onto their side...!

Primus, I'm rambling, aren't I?

"'Swept?" I blinked my optics to get myself out of my mind when Sunburst called my name worriedly.

I looked up at him, "Yes?"

"What do you want to do?"

I sighed, rubbing my servo over my forehead. It isn't really the teams business. It really isn't. But if it's what makes us bond and grow stronger, then I guess, at this point, it's probably better off now that they know then find out from someone like Megatron later on. If he told any of our team, he would probably twist his words to make it sound like a bad thing.

If Megatron wasn't around, then it would make things a lot simpler to deal with.

"We tell them, then," I decided, looking at Optimus square in the optic, "Better now than later."

I saw Sunburst looking from me to Optimus from the corner of my optic, "Well, you're the boss. When do we start bringing the bad news?"

I rolled my optics at that comment. Sunburst could be strict when necessary, but he was also quite witty sometimes. It annoyed the hell out of me at Iacon all those years ago and it was still annoying now. But that was never gonna change though. I hope.

"One step at a time."

Everyone seemed to take the revelation about my true heritage alright. In the end, we agreed to go through the team in small groups at different stages. I refused to allow Optimus to be apart of the conversation between Starlight, Aquastrike, Sunburst and myself mainly because Starlight and Aquastrike are two people I wanted to tell personally since I've known them for so long. I also chose to tell Carly and Arcee on different occasions on their own too because they are my closest friends besides the Iacon group. They need to hear it from me.

Carly reacted positively and wanted to know everything. I told her about the time Megatron spent in my helm and how I found out. She was sad that I had that going on inside my helm, but she was happy that I told her. Our guardian-charge bond was growing by the second.

Starlight and Aquastrike, the former especially, were hesitant to ask questions about the whole thing. Can you blame them though? Starlight with a sister on the opposite side and Aquastrike, well, she couldn't really relate in any way but she wanted to. She asked a ton of questions and made it clear that Megatron won't see what's coming for him. Starlight on the other hand... things were tense for a few hours after we allowed it to sink in. But when she came up to hug me later that day, I knew that she still trusted me.

Starlight's always had an issue with trust. So for her to be okay with all the truth now, it was because she deeply trusted me. And I trusted her very much.

The team were a hard group to decipher their reactions. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were iffy, Ratchet shrugged it off like it was old news to him (because it actually was), and the rest of the kids took a moment to realise that they had a former Decepticon, actually half a Decepticon, under the same roof they were in. But for some reason, Bumblebee supported me and I don't exactly know why; maybe because of his personal ordeal with Megatron. Bulkhead thought it was kind of cool to have an ex-con around.

Later on, he asked me if I had any dirt on Breakdown to dish to him. Unfortunately, I didn't really have anything on the Decepticons except for one or two things on certain Decepticons.

Bulkhead's probably thinking up what to do with some newfound info I told him about Breakdown. But as far as anyone else is concerned, I don't know how he got that info.

Upon hearing that I knew a few things about the Decepticons that no one else did, Miko thought it'd be awesome to hear all about them. So she was okay. Raf and Jack were on the fence, but seeing as how Carly was fine about everything, they thought it was okay too.

Arcee was probably the one to take it the worst out of all of them. Like Starlight, she also has personal trust issues and accused me of using my knowledge of her and the team for personal use for the Decepticons. After explaining to her multiple times that I was an Autobot through and through, she still wouldn't believe me.

That hurt the most. I thought Arcee would've understood a little bit more. It didn't make much sense to me and it put a strain on our partnership. I valued my friendship with Arcee so much as she was the first person I really bonded with when I arrived on Earth. She had landed shortly before me with Cliffjumper so us three we're on the same length. We kind of bonded and got to know Earth together.

I hope our friendship can be repaired soon. Seeing Arcee angry at me was horrible. Maybe I should try talking to her again and see if there's any hope.

Wish me luck.

And just like that, this mid-story saga is complete. However, as I said in the past chapter, everything we've learned over these three chapters will still reappear throughout this story and in the future. I hope that touching onto the subject of Windswept's true past now and then is done well.

This is all the LAST original chapter for this story too! Yep, no more pauses in between episode chapters. From now, it's Shadowzone all the way through until the big Unicron fiasco at the end! And speaking of Shadowzone, I can't say for sure when that chapter will appear. I have to make some major edits to it, and that's a big job if I need to do more changes then planned. Hopefully, I can get something out within the next month, but I'm not going to put an exact timeframe on it.

Thank you for reading