They never really talked before. Never had a decent conversation that involved more than Sideswipe bragging about himself or his brother, or her trying to deflect whatever questions the Autobot could come up with.

Alexis didn't think the Autobot was capable of such simple exchange of words, ideas and thoughts, or that he had a unique humor that would have her eyes crinkling, her mouth trying to respond.

She'd almost forgotten how nice it could be to talk to someone that actually listened, to care about what they had to say. And as they continued to talk, sometimes her even more than him, Alexis couldn't help but feel that he thought the oddity of their shared words was as remarkable as she did.

And then he made the conversation even more memorable when suddenly with a jerk of his wrist and a fading of lights, sounds erupted and flashed all around, a realistic simulation of rain enveloping the confined space they were in.

She could actually feel the sprinkles against her skin, smell the striking change of humidity that announced the shift in air pressure.

"I can..."

Alexis saw the blue of his optics, the orbs hovering high above. Sideswipe still had a knack for odd timing and the things he did were sometimes unconventional, but she could truly say that he never bored her.

"Yes," she eased out with no effort at all. Pleased when the small sprinkles erupted into a full-blown downpour.

What was occurring around her should have felt ridiculous or strange. They were on the brig of all places, just a few long feet away from captured Decepticons that still resided inside the cramped cells. The Decepticons could have heard all that she and Sideswipe had been talking about, and it wasn't just her imagination that some of them were watching them, first with locked intent and then frustrated silence.

But what was truly remarkable was that Sideswipe knew that she loved rain. Something she had told him long ago before so many things had occurred, so long ago that the idea that he had actually been listening to her all those cycles ago had her reevaluating the Autobot above her.

The rain slowly faded and the comforting sounds of repressed thunder died away.

"That was amazing," Alexis gushed with sincerity. Her clothes were soaked, her hair was wet and her shoes squeaked with each step. She found the discomfort oddly wonderful. She hadn't witnessed or felt rain since she left Earth. Memories came of times with her family, of other experiences that were and always would be unique to her home planet.

"I've forgotten what a smile does to you," was his long belated reply. There was a hushed quality to his tone, a rumble in his vocals that drifted along the small space and vibrated between Alexis' toes. "You're soaked."

"Rain does that." She twisted her hair in her hand, squeezing some of the liquid out before taking her shoes and socks off and trying to do the same. Alexis could just imagine the messy sight she made, and couldn't help but remember the last time she had been forced to go barefoot during a very dangerous time. She had a sudden thought.

"Are you trying to distract me, Sideswipe?"

The lights regained some of their brightness although the area still remained dark and damp.

Sideswipe didn't answer her. He appeared frozen in place with his optics dim and focused on her exposed feet. His hand was firmly planted on his chassis, fingers tracing a fine groove. She noticed that he was remarkably dry, his metal frame shimmering and immaculately clean.

"Sideswipe?"

He didn't seem to hear her, and it took several very long, working on uncomfortable minutes before he even bothered with a response.

"When I said you weren't beautiful, weren't intelligent," Sideswipe began with astonishing hesitation, "I spoke the absolute truth," he told her gruffly, an arm now folded around his middle, idly scratched by his other hand.

His mouth pressed together and then opened again, a resolve murdering his ephemeral uncertainty as he spoke with unwavering assurance, "You transcend the very idea of beauty, and as for your intelligence, I admit, for a human, you comprehend much more than I would have thought possible."

"And you get all this from my feet?" Alexis remarked in a deceptively jaunty manner as she tried to deflect and incapacitate his highly praising words.

The Autobot jerked and his optics lifted away from her body, a surge of blue washing above and around them before fading entirely away.

Rearranging himself until his composure was smooth and implacable, he answered as if the question had just left her mouth, as if what he was speaking about was common and simple.

"I admit, your feet, the slimness of your ankle, the nakedness of your sole, it makes me want to do highly inappropriate things considering the circumstances we are under." His voice reverberated with an air of sensual delight. "Makes me wonder about what else is hidden underneath all those clothes of yours."

The Autobot shook his head and cringed, no, tried not to smile.

"Slag. I really do need to learn to filter my mouthpiece. I know I make you uncomfortable and there is a part of me that wants to, that really needs to get under your... skin because..." Sideswipe shut his mouth tightly. That didn't last long. "I just can't stop, it's too deeply set in who I am." His optics sharpened along with his tone. "But this is who I am, and if you can't tolerate my frankness than what the frag do I think I am really going to accomplish here?" he asked himself.

Shoulder panels dropping hard, his attention fell back down onto the floor she was sitting on, to the water that was still dripping off and around her.

"As tantalizing of a picture you make there all wet and slippery looking, I must..." He bent down and stretched his arm out. The water disappeared. Her hand went though her hair and found it dry.

"You can put your shoes back on now," Sideswipe informed her. He suddenly smiled wide, his optics thoroughly drifting down her form. "When this is over, I am going to teach you about Cybertronians, about their functions and mechanics." He paused and deliberated, the cadence of his tone quickening with elation. "I am also going to teach you how to drive me. You are fascinated by my species, fascinated by tech." Tires rotating on his arms slowly, his door panels shifting, his bearing eased toward easily rendered smugness. His chassis rising, arms dropping along his sides to give her a clear view, he gave her an eyeful of his angular armored profile. "I am the ultimate combination of both. And you, Alexis, you will teach me how to dance in return."

Flabbergasted, it took her a moment to catch up and process all that he had just said.

"I don't really know how to dance."

"I've seen humans dance before, In different variations, always to different rhythms and tunes. I think my favorite is when it is slow, when the female practically melts against the male, both moving like this." He brought his hands together, both rubbing together at a leisurely rate until he bent his fingers forward on his right hand, knuckles caressing his palm.

"I've definitely never danced like that." Alexis found her eyes stuck on his still moving hands. The movements and motions reminded her of something all right, but not dancing. "And right now I'm not really big on contact," Alexis told him honestly, a subtle warning. She wasn't sure where he was going but wanted to stop him from taking it further, which most the times was a wasted effort. As if a button had been pushed in her brain, her thoughts turned morose.

"Well then I'll teach you first, and when you are ready, we can..." He stopped and Alexis was vaguely aware of him stepping closer.

She was used to the sadness, even was adapting to being alone again, but that didn't stop her mind from racing as she thought of all the things her and Airaih would never do. They would never dance, never adapt to one another or their families, never have children. Never grow old together. No future, barely a past. And yet the memories of what they did do together still hurt too much to linger on.

Shaking herself out of the powerful remorse and regret, she found the Autobot now towering above her, his mouth clenched shut, envious, knowing optics softening as their gazes collided.

"I think I would like to take you up on that offer, in time. Although the dancing part, I..."

"I know, even more time for that," he interrupted with bitterness. "Just how long does it take for you humans to get over a loss? You don't live long. Time is a valuable commodity to someone with your lifespan. It's already been three months since he died. And I don't believe Airaih would want you tormenting yourself over him."

He didn't give her room to respond.

"I'm not like my brother," Sideswipe suddenly told her, his words quick yet defensive. "I know how he treated you, but he would have never hurt you." He cringed and shook his head. Both knew that wasn't true. "That is he would have never forced anything from you, and neither will I. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, Alexis, let me give it to you."

Alexis spoke solemnly, "Things are so complicated, so hard right now, and I know I haven't been... easy on you, but..."

He shook his head and cringed tightly, his gaze shifting away from her. "You won't be hurting forever. And I can wait," he said, almost like he was trying to convince himself more than here. "Don't dismiss me completely."

The Autobot seemed to come to a decision. He sighed with heavy disappointment. The lightness of his words did not hide the seriousness of the situation. "I think it's time I let you know. Decepticons boarded the ship twenty minutes ago."

Evading Decepticons was a far more treacherous task than trying to avoid The Line.

Deciding to head for the landing bay to commandeer a shuttle and meet up with the Autobots, the two made their way along a sporadic pathway of evasion. Sideswipe muttered to himself, obviously not accustomed to fleeing a battle.

When they were cornered by a group of Decepticons in the hallway that led directly to where they were heading, Alexis knew she didn't imagine the sheer delight on Sideswipe's face from the impending confrontation.

The Autobot activated his shield and placed her on the floor, sliding her away and behind him, around the corner that was covered by the nearby wall.

Weapons' fire commenced before she reached the safety of the corner. A blast fired so close to her body that her shirt singed and the smell of burned cotton drifted up her nostrils.

Alexis heard more shots, a scuffle, grunts, impacts, heard other sounds that she couldn't identity and probably didn't want to. Just when worry tried to work through the tangible fear, Sideswipe reappeared with his hand stretched down toward her.

He covered her completely this time, not allowing her to see what had been done. She smelled something familiar but not forgotten, spilled Energon. The scent was pungent and made her cover her mouth, Alexis' mind providing her with imagery of the savagery that had been employed by the one that now held her so carefully.

He let her down after they entered the docking bay. His force field crackled and collapsed and then died, the energy coming off in a wave of strong static shock that made Alexis' hair rise and her body involuntary quiver.

"That was easy," Sideswipe told her, and it was then that she saw the dents and bruises on him, the thick scratches, the patches of spilled Energon on his armor and the awkward angle of his left pediform.

He began to laugh then, loudly, freely. When he did, the relief came, for that was when she understood that they had just survived The Line and the Decepticons and that she wanted to survive. Her mouth curved and then opened and it wasn't until the tears prickled at her eyes that she identified the forgotten sound of her own laughter.

That was also when she noticed, when Sideswipe dropped, rolled and pushed her out of the way, that three Decepticons had been watching them the whole time.

"Did you really think we wouldn't have this area above all others covered?" one of the three asked after firing another shot off at Sideswipe, ignoring Alexis completely.

The Con's head was small for his mass of a body. He had broad wings behind a thin back and the largest gun in his hand that Alexis had ever seen. His companions had similar features, although the speaker had a hint of color along his servos, a stark contrast to the pewter-colored frame.

"Why even bother with hiding, of fighting back. We far outnumber you, Autobot. Your chances of survival are 12.2%. Don't embarrass yourself further. Give up," the Decepticon relayed, his tone seemingly indulgent yet marred with spite.

A blade flew through the air, and it was only because Alexis was watching the area that Sideswipe was now in that she even identified the glimmer of the moving weapon at all. The multi-edged dagger buried itself up to the hilt in one of the Con's necks, the soldier releasing a gurgle of words that were buried in the escaping Energon.

"Perhaps it is you that should give up. Surrender now, and I will even let the two of you live," the aloof tone of Sideswipe echoed. He was lying. But just because she understood that didn't mean the Con's did.

The Decepticon cackled at that, but now at a safe distance and situated behind a barrier of a defunct space craft. "If you knew who I am, you would not be so confident."

"I don't give a slag who you are."

The entire floor shifted beneath Alexis, and it wasn't until she saw the two Decepticons going flying back in an explosion of fire and ice that she recognized the signs of a frice grenade.

They stopped talking after that. And it was when she saw the one in charge make motions with his hand that she knew what they were going to try.

One firing off while the other came up behind Sideswipe. The tactic wasn't exactly brilliant, but was one that she had seen work too many times, in movies and TV at least, to discount its effectiveness.

A keen desperation worked its way through the cloudiness of her grieving brain. A straying away from her self-pity and isolation of grief.

Running away from her space of relative safety, faster than she had in a long time, Alexis winded through the too large landing bay, not stopping until she stood behind the Autobot. She wasn't the only one there.

"Behind you, Sides," she directed, the panic from the need of his preservation steeling her words and bypassing the need for fear.

A three-pronged blade appeared in his hand. Jumping to his feet and then flipping through the air, he twisted his body and evaded the just discharged blaster. Sideswipe landed on his knees, weapon thrust upwards and through the shocked Con's cockpit. The Autobot twisted his hand and the blade expanded, creating a thick gash that burned bright and tore upwards.

That Decepticon fell to his side, optics going black.

Sideswipe turned to her, wiped the spray of Energon off his chassis and the thick coating of it off his blade before retracting it back in his hand.

"You called me Sides," he peered down at her, astounded and pleased and smiling so wide that she was sure his face was going to crack. "You're starting to like me!" he said with cheerful exuberance.

She smiled back at him, astounded by how easy it was becoming. How much he was right. As soon as she did, the smile dropped off his face, confoundment taking its place as he stared at her upturned mouth with obvious intentions. Sideswipe leaned down, hand extending toward her.

Energon splattered across Alexis' face. A tear of a hole appeared on Sideswipe's upper chassis, another following.

Sideswipe fell.

Frozen, the logical part of her brain still functioned, able to identify that the weapon fired had not been the Decepticon's but a projectile-based one that was now being fired at the remaining Decepticon.

"That was... unexpected," the Autobot spoke with shock and surprise. Sideswipe reached for her, his digit smearing the Energon on her face. The other hand was placed in front of his chassis, not stopping the heavy flow of his escaping life's energy.

Feeling the sickening sense of repetition of disastrous events, the image of what had occurred to Airaih flashed behind her retinas. Her limbs drew closer to the Autobot, dropping on her knees, her hands tugged on his unresponsive digits.

"This is it, Lex," he told her, his words so calm and accepting that her body shook from unwanted foresight. "I'm done for. Leave me, get out of here."

Alexis didn't move. She wouldn't leave him. His chassis was burned, bent and ugly, the lack of his usual tangible energy more striking than the terrifying injury. He tried to shove her off his hand. Alexis held firm.

"I won't leave you alone like this! I won't let you give up! What kind of a person do you think I am?" she spoke sharply through the thickness of her tears, the constricting of her throat.

He heaved out a wheeze of air, his head dropping down, his optics flickered.

"A foolish one," he reprimanded thickly, humor softening the words into something else entirely. "This really is it," he repeated, a sense of awe in his declaration, his gaze beyond seeing. "And I, Alexis..., my brother... you will never be alone again."

His hand gripped around her body, his life fading away with a violent burst of light and incomprehensible sensation, a whisper of final words.