If it was one thing Sideswipe and his brother was extremely capable of, it was impressing others. Whether by their good looks, their blinding personalities or the way they always managed to handle themselves in any situation.
But now, being surrounded by the humans day in and day out, weeks and then months, he saw there was fear as well, or a wariness that strained along the edges of their fleshy bodies, showing signs of stress and mistrust.
He was ready to change that. Not all Cybertronians were alike. And while he knew it was small minded of them to mix up their emotions regarding the invading Decepticons with the intrepid Autobots, he was ready to move beyond that. He didn't need to, and he usually wouldn't have bothered. But now that Sideswipe was decided on that point, there was no stopping him.
Knowing how most people functioned and what they put their values in, he took the small group of humans to the supply rooms. It was stuffed and filled and sorted with everything a human could possibly ever need or want: food, supplies, equipment, electronics, clothes, shoes, anything they could think of and more.
The humans quickly began to scour through the items, a chatter of happy voices filling the storage bay as they helped themselves to whatever they wanted. Yes, he knew it wouldn't take much to gain their trust, or at least take the edge off some of their misconceptions. He wasn't a Decepticon. He was an Autobot and...
Scanning the activity below him, he saw it was missing a couple of the humans. He found them easily enough. They were arguing outside the supply room. Josh was trying to calm his sister while Amanda watched at a short distance.
Alexis noticed Sideswipe. She huffed loudly and took off in a quick sprint of a walk. He followed, despite Josh telling him not to, despite Amanda telling him it was only going to make it worse.
He found her soon enough. She had wandered into a nearby empty bay and settled behind a long abandoned semi-trailer that perhaps she had hoped would hide her from anyone coming after her. Sideswipe stood there for a good five minutes, watching her as she breathed slowly and stared ahead at the less than appealing wall in front of her.
"How long did you know?" she suddenly spoke out, her voice soft and filled with undefinable blame.
So, she knew he had followed her, which made things even more interesting. But her question as tense as it was led him to nowhere that held an answer, for he didn't know what she was talking about.
"About what?"
With that, Alexis got up from the floor she had sat on, moved away from the back of the semi-trailer and came out to look up at him. It was dim inside the empty bay. A light source twenty feet away was the only thing that illuminated the large area in order to preserve energy.
She was upset and even more tense than he had realized. He knew he had a knack for unnerving and provoking her, but he hadn't seen her so angry in a while.
"All those supplies, all the things you guys collected... that took time... took an effort. Also meant that you knew exactly what was coming a lot longer than you have allowed everyone to believe. So, I ask you again, exactly how long did you know what was going to happen to my planet? Long enough for us to have tried to do something about it? Or you think us so incapable that... that..." her voice broke apart, and she placed her hands stiffly across her chest.
"Your species couldn't have done anything to prevent what was to come. Informing you humans would have only alerted the Decepticons. We did what we could. We did what we had to."
"You took the decision away from us. You stole our opportunity to try to stop..."
Sideswipe bent down and swiped a digit over her head to cease her excessive speaking. He cut in with force, "Stop you from what? You had no chance of stopping the Decepticons. Your people were divided and outnumbered, faced with a technology you didn't understand and an enemy that has bested far smarter and more advanced creatures than yourselves. You are alive because of us. Remember that."
"Why bother training us? To pass the time or to show off?" she questioned with further unease and a quaking voice.
"A little bit of both," he answered with the unrestrained truth.
She narrowed her eyes and dropped her arms from her body, then moved past him and walked away. Sideswipe stood there for a couple of moments afterwards and replayed back the most interesting exchange.
Sideswipe had done a little research about the humans, finding out they were capable of transforming into a semi-vehicle mode, he found the devices needed and went to Josh. It didn't take much effort to convince the humans to come with him. Although Alexis, who had avoided him for over a week, only came because of her brother's prompting.
He watched them prepare themselves and attach the things to their feet. Sideswipe had led them to the southeast corridor, an area on the ship that wasn't used very much, but would do.
"I haven't skated in years," Amanda spoke up as she smiled. She was the first to get the skates attached to her feet and was already moving back and forth among the small group.
Alexis chose a different pair than Amanda. The wheels were attached to each corner of the skate instead of in a straight row. She tested her balance and the slickness of the floor, her lids scrunching up in concentration as Alexis slowly began to move.
Not long after that, the four humans were racing through the hallway, round corners, and back through the main corridor, repeating the loop as they challenged and yelled out at one another.
Sideswipe watched from above. More humans joined in and created a patch of human-like vehicles going through the hallways.
All the time he had spent with the humans, and the only other time he could ever recall the humans having fun is when Sideswipe and his brother had allowed them to have what the humans called a picnic. It was an activity that sounded boring and trivial, but it was also the first time he had interacted with them as a human not because he had been forced to, but because he wanted to. And even if he had been called away by his brother who became disgusted with his display, it did allow Sideswipe a little time for personal interaction.
It was seeing her really smile for the first time in two months since her arrival on board ship that had him following and watching her engage in the social activity. Mostly, she held onto Amanda's hand or her brother's arm. She didn't attach herself to the Bobby male, but she still talked to him as they skated side by side.
When she separated herself and went off to get some water for herself and the others was when Sideswipe approached her. His plan had worked out well. She wasn't as guarded as she had been nor so tense.
"We really did try to save your planet," Sideswipe told her, watching the muscles in her neck pinch as she stiffened, her hands gripping to the refrigerator that held the cool beverages. She had walked out on him last time, not giving him an opportunity to speak for himself. Something he wasn't used to but wasn't going to allow to happen for the second time. "Heroes don't always win, nor does good always prevail. And before you try to dismiss our attempt at saving your planet again, or complain that we didn't allow you in on the fight, you should understand that we lost a lot in the attempt, both sparks and resources."
She released her firm grip on the fridge and allowed the door to shut. Alexis slowly turned to look up at him with absolute attention.
He felt disturbed in his matrix by her sudden transition of manner, but didn't analyze why since he was also pleased with her change toward him. "We lost our world too. Only we had to stay and watch ourselves lose more and more of it every day," he said bitterly, his words hard and his remembering causing his vocal levels to increase. "Watch as the Decepticons took over our capital, watch as they destroyed cities and decimated our strongholds, watch as they perverted our sanctuaries and defiled our homes. Watch as everything was taken from us bit by bit until the only thing that remained was twisted metal, broken streets and the remains of our fallen comrades."
"You'll always miss your planet. Always think about it and always wonder if..." his voice trailed off when he felt a small touch against his leg. Alexis had placed her hand there, her large eyes filled with understanding and an emotion that made his spark liven and twist within its casing.
"I'm sorry," she breathed out, truly meaning it. "I thought you didn't care. But you miss your world as much as I do my own."
"Cybertron was my homeworld," he said defensively. "Of course I do."
"You didn't have to tell me all this. You didn't need to, but you did. I'm not saying that things make perfect sense now. I'm just glad to know that someone really tried to stop the Decepticons, even if it wasn't us humans," she told him in a low whisper of deliberation.
Sideswipe had told her more than he had meant to, revealed more than he had to any of her kind. Emotions brimmed through his Energon and heated his chassis. Suddenly, he was angry at her, angry because Alexis made him think about things he hadn't bothered with in a long time, upset because truly it was none of her business.
But the way she looked up at him, those green eyes steady, the feel of her hand on his leg, even though it was no longer there, the way she identified the rarity of his outburst but didn't hold it against him, made him almost pause and consider things.
He didn't go down to the human level as much as he had. His brother's level of tolerance was wearing thin, and every time he became human, Sunny's objection became worse. But Sideswipe had no need to go down there anymore. Everything was now done on levels where Cybertronians were more suited for, the humans working alongside them.
His brother avoided them and for the most part, acted like they didn't exist. And while he could understand Sunstreaker's mindset, he no longer agreed with it. Yes, becoming human was disturbing, but not as much as it had been. And yes, interacting with the humans could be frustrating, but the creatures easily adapted and did their best to compensate for their many lackings.
But Sunny couldn't avoid the humans today. And as he felt his twin's agitation grow as his silence spanned the space of their link, he waited alongside him. They had finally reached the Trion port and it was time to disembark. The rules in place and the conditions stated, most of the humans were leaving the ship to see another side to reality that had opened since the destruction of their isolated planet.
"They are late," Sunstreaker groused, his arms stretching over his chassis, his optics firmly planted on the floor below. "Let's leave them. We have better things to do."
"I hear them coming."
Sunstreaker huffed and shifted off the wall he had been leaning against; he waited with further impatience.
"We're here. Sorry we are late," Josh said. Amanda and Bobby were with them, Alexis no where to be seen.
Strong disappointment took root inside the Autobot, and his brother stared sternly at him.
"Go ahead," Sunny mocked through their link. "Ask where the female is. You know you want to." His lack of a response had Sunstreaker continuing, "Wanting the company of a female, especially that of a human, is below you, brother."
"She fascinates me."
"Yes, as I already know. Should've never let you listen to all those stories of her. But you would be wise to remember exactly what you are and what she is, and stop lowering yourself to such mediocre..."
Sunstreaker didn't get to finish. Or maybe he did, but Sideswipe stopped listening. Alexis suddenly appeared. She was breathless, her chest heaving and her face flushed. Her brownish red hair was pulled back into a ponytail with thin strands floating along the side of her face. She looked at the two and frowned when she saw Sunstreaker and then seemed to mentally consider not going.
"I don't know what your culture believes in, but in mine, keeping someone waiting is rude and all together bad behavior," Sunstreaker said evenly.
"It's my fault," Alexis spoke up, but she didn't look at his brother when she said it, but him. "It won't happen again."
Josh came up alongside her, tugged on her shoulder and led her back, defending his sister. "I already said I was sorry, Sunstreaker. If you want to cancel this..."
"Cancel this? After waiting as long as we did..." Sideswipe said with riled astonishment. "Instead of arguing, why don't we get a move on. We are already the last group to leave."
"Must we go with them?" Alexis whispered to her brother, unaware that both he and Sunstreaker heard clearly. "I'd rather not go."
Fortunately, her brother wasn't taking no for an answer.
"You think we want to..." Sideswipe quickly interfered, nudging his brother away. His brother didn't move off but remained at a distance and watched his twin with livened interest.
"Remember the rules. An Autobot must accompany every group," Sideswipe enforced, trying hard not to smile when he realized how much it suddenly benefitted him. "So, you still want to go, or do you want to remain behind and miss your first encounter of what lies beyond the great blue planet of yours?"
The humans looked at one another, but it was clear what their decision was as they began to follow him.
"Remember though," his brother spoke up with perverted gusto, not bothering to slow down or look at the humans as he did so. "You are accompanying us. We are not your babysitters, so watch your steps and try not to get slagged."
With those words of encouragement, the Autobot was surprised that any of the humans continued.
But they did.