To say he was startled was putting it mildly.
Eight shots later and with an empty clip, Darian Carpenter was clicking the trigger on the bullet-less gun and swearing as he stared wide-eyed at the large metal aliens. Sunstreaker was also swearing, curses against the tiny nicks now adorning his frame. Face going red, Shay tried to calm down her father with soothing words but a few blistering vulgarities slipped in as she was rapidly losing any patience she had for the lot of them.
The only one not swearing was Sideswipe. Oh no, that little glitch was sitting on his aft and laughing.
"Geez Shay, what is it with your family and shooting people four times your size?" He giggled and then started to cackle at the expression on Darian's face.
"Shut up slagger," A heated hiss from the woman as she put her hands on Mr. Carpenter's arm, "Dad, Dad it's okay. Put the damn gun down."
"Shay..."
He trailed off, still staring at the Twins. Wary eyes flicked to Ironhide and Jazz in altmode. They were hanging back but drove up cautiously as the man started to calm down. "They're Autobots."
"Yes. So you're not allowed to shoot them. Put the gun away before I take it." Hands on her hips, the daughter gave Darian a stern look with one eyebrow raised.
Slowly, heartbeat falling to a calmer pace, he tucked the gun into his back pocket. The fact that he'd brought his gun wasn't really a surprise to the woman. Him shooting the bots had not however, even crossed her mind. Hazel eyes studied the metal titans with no clue as to what he was thinking. "You're friends with Autobots."
The Twins grew quiet and waited as the father and daughter conversed, tension radiating from their body language. Her mouth twitched in irritation. She took a calming breath before speaking, "Yes, I am. Deal with it and apologize to the Twins please."
"They surprised me! And nearly ran me over!" Muted anger flashed across the man's face.
"You shot them and they did not run you over. Trust me, Sunstreaker wouldn't want the blood on him." Her teeth ground together as she retorted, "If you can't have a civil conversation I'll ask Ironhide to mediate. And he settles things with his guns. So go apologize."
The glaring contest lasted several seconds before Darian rubbed the bridge of his nose, "You got your stubbornness from your mother."
"And my authority issues from you."
Sighing, but not disagreeing, the man turned to the silently watching lambos sitting on the grass. It was a good thing the park outside of town was pretty empty, otherwise someone would have been concerned about the gunshots. "Sorry for shooting you. I wasn't expecting giant robot aliens." He inclined his head stiffly.
Shay narrowed her eyes and rumbled lowly, "Mechs dad, not robots."
"Aw, that's okay! It kinda tickled." Sideswipe butted in easily with a good-natured grin, "I'm Sideswipe. Autobot, frontliner, and Best Most Awesomest Warrior in the Universe."
"Oh yeah? Says who, 'cause I saw ya runnin' from Prowl this mornin' like yer aft was on fiah." Jumping to root-mode, Ironhide tried to stare down the red mech while Shay and Sunstreaker groaned. At least this time Darian didn't flip out. The woman marched over to put herself in front of Mischief and started late introductions.
"Alright Dad, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker." She pointed to Sides and then the scowling lambo. He was not happy about the scratches. Her hand waved to the other two. "That's Ironhide. Ask him to show you his guns. You'll like them. And that is Jazz."
The Porsche transformed in a dizzying move and landed as a mech to give a graceful bow as the woman continued, "He's a tricky bastard but a good mech. Just don't play games with him."
"Hey!" A sharp protest as the Twins chuckled.
Darian nodded to each of them before turning to his daughter. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his mouth turned down in worry. "Why do I think you're not coming home this time?"
"I am not."
It was a quiet but firm answer as the giants around them shifted uneasily, feeling as if they were intruding. All except Jazz that is. The special ops mech's job was to listen in on just about everything. Taking off his ball cap, the father ran a hand through short hair before blowing out a tired sigh. "You know, I was real worried when you left. A note isn't really enough, you know? Especially when you don't answer your phone and I don't know what's going on. But you came home and I thought it'd be okay but you left again."
"And South Carolina is pretty far but you're a grown woman and I knew where you were and could come see you. And you just up and took off again with only a short warning and without really saying where you were going. I hoped you'd come home but you didn't and..." He trailed off, looking determinately at the ground. "I just don't want to lose my daughter."
"Dad...," struggling for words for a second, Shay knotted her fingers before grabbing his hand, "I am sorry. I could have done things better and I'm sorry for making you worry. But... you are right. I am an adult and I just needed to go. And I will always come home. Just not to stay."
Gray-blue eyes bore into his pleadingly before he pulled her into a brief hug. Pulling away, the two straightened as if the short lapse into emotions hadn't happened.
Tugging at his wrist, the young woman pulled him toward Ironhide, "We'll catch up in a few minutes. Don't turn down a chance to see really neat guns."
The man's eyes lit with a glint of curiosity as the big mech straightened proudly, happy to show off. Shay gave Jazz a look but the black and white just flashed his denta in a smile and sat back. He would be content to watch.
Sunstreaker leaned over to grumble in her ear, "You owe me a polish."
"You two are in such big trouble, I can't even describe it." she hissed, face calmly blank in case her dad looked over. Sideswipe snickered quietly as he crouched on her right.
"We didn't know he would shoot us. That was funny."
Shay tilted her head to flash pale eyes for the briefest of seconds, "You drove within three feet of him and transformed before I could warn him. You did that on purpose." An unrepentant huff blasted from the gold mech's vents while the red devil chuckled again. Shaking her head at their antics, the woman rolled her eyes.
"When we get back to base, you two are dead mechs."
.
.
The low burn of chatter in the recreation room was actually quite soothing to listen to. Shay did not do well with people, that is to say, she often found herself uncomfortable when interacting with others. But that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy being around them. And since the woman was slowly but surely getting to know the bots of the Ark, then it just made things a bit easier.
Humming along to the music Blaster was dancing to, she typed on the human-sized datapad full of paperwork. Quiet footsteps drew her attention. Shay glanced up to see Hound trying to sneakily set a potted plant on the table that was her current seat.
"Hello Hound." She greeted mildly, the corner of her mouth ticking up as the green jeep startled.
"Oh,... uh, hi Shay. How are you?"
Abandoning stealth, the mech slid the flowers to the middle and smiled at her. A perplexed eyebrow raised, "I am fine. The plant...?"
"Hyacinths." Hound answered. He pulled out a small watering can and wet the soil before moving to the table next to hers to set down another pot. "Carly convinced Optimus to let us put them in the rec room for a day because they smell nice. But they have to go back to the greenhouse room tomorrow or they'll start to wilt because of the wrong lighting."
Shay hummed in agreement and stood with a stretch. Going over, the woman sniffed at the violet stalks. "They do smell wonderful. You sure do have a lot of wonderful plants in there. I'll have to come by sometime to see, if that's alright."
The mech nodded eagerly, optics lighting up at someone else's interest in his hobby. "Anytime. Trailbreaker and Beachcomber help with those often too. We can show you some of the alien flora from other planets."
Movement at the door halted their conversation. Prowl stalked into the room with what seemed to be a single-minded focus on the energon dispenser. Unfortunately for the black and white, two people were intent to catch him before then. Not even three steps in and the Twins barreled forward. Sliding to a stop right in front of the affronted Autobot, Sideswipe started saying something that Shay couldn't hear. Prowl and Sides seemed to be having a whispered argument while the golden twin looked on. His optics flickered to Shay and stayed there for a moment with unreadable thoughts before returning to the other two.
Now thoroughly distracted from their conversation by the spectacle, Hound bid Shay a good day, "I'll see you later. I still have a few more pots to set out."
She merely nodded and watched as Sideswipe made some smooth hand gestures. Based on prior events, he was most likely saying he was innocent or 'I've got this'. Strangely, it looked more like the latter. In return, the Praxian just stared up at the mech with THE LOOK. It grew quiet as everyone watched to see what was happening. Frowning, Shay got the sneaky suspicion everyone else could hear what was being said. Stupid human ears weren't as good as audios.
Staggering back in mock horror, Sideswipe gasped loudly and clutched his chestplates before dramatically falling to the floor. The audience around the room clapped at the performance until Jazz shouted, "He's dead Jim! He's dead!"
Cheers turned to outright cackling even as the Praxian narrowed his optics. "My name is Prowl. Not Jim."
The mech flicked a doorwing and then tilted his helm at the still-standing frontliner. Sunstreaker rolled his optics and sighed, the weary kind that comes from daily practice, before grabbing his brother by the armor near the back of his neck and hauling him up. Attention dissipated as Prowl returned to his mission for energon and Sunny dragged his twin toward the human.
Half clinging, half hanging limp in his brother's grip, Sideswipe sing-songed cheerfully, "Shaaaayyyyyy!"
Eyes turned frosty.
"Awww, come on. You're not still mad, are you?" A steel ball the size of the woman's pinky nail smacked him in the forehead, leaving a tiny scratch in the black metal. The mech yelped in surprise and rubbed his helm with a pout.
"Of course she's still mad. And that did not hurt, you big sparkling." Dropping the red mech, Sunstreaker snorted. He glared resolutely at the wall and muttered. "Ask a stupid question."
Shay frowned as Sunny avoided her gaze but replied promptly while setting down the slingshot, "Anger is such a strong word. I prefer temporarily aggravated." She had asked them to behave. Just for the first meeting. Of course that couldn't happen.
"He liked us by the end of it. And I apologized!" The red lambo crossed his arms like a petulant child. His brother pinched the bridge of his nasal ridge and refused to comment. Giving the frazzled bot a sidelong look, the human relented.
"It ended better than it started. If I hadn't vouched for you there would have been trouble." Sunstreaker was still avoiding her gaze. Tense blue optics flickered from the wall to the empty space next to them to the other occupants of the room and then back. Putting her hands in her pockets, Shay finally questioned, "Is something wrong?"
"No."
Not believing the flat retort, she looked at Sideswipe only to find that he also suddenly found everywhere else more interesting. It was moments like these that the loss of the link was shoved to the forefront of her mind. Three week without and the odd feeling of something missing still snuck up on her. Three weeks and counting. It hurt Shay that she couldn't tell what the problem was.
Which left doing it the old-fashioned way: asking and stubborn bribery.
"Boys...?"
"So, we have something to ask you..." Started the red mech at the same time Sunny poured out, "We were wondering..."
They look at each other, communicating silently before Sideswipe nodded at his brother. Sinking into a seat so they were closer to eye level, Sunstreaker tried again, "Cosmos picked up Autobot frequencies in a galaxy that's not too far. Omega Supreme is taking us and some others to go check it out. It's a... four month trip."
"A mission out in space..." Shay repeated quietly, dread pooling in her gut. Four months without the Twins. Four months without Sunstreaker's barbed insults and Sideswipe's jokes. Even though the female slammed a stone mask onto her features, some little note of despair must have shown.
"Your coming with us." Giving a hard stare that dared her to argue, the yellow bot crossed his arms.
Instantly, the human's eyes flashed and she seemed to puff up in indignation, "Excuse me!?"
Sideswipe stomped on his brother's foot and hissed, "That's not asking! You're supposed to ask!" He turned to the woman and pleaded, biting his bottom lip. "You're coming with us please?"
Huffing, Shay relaxed her shoulders, "Thank you, that's much better, wait... Space! You want me to come with you out there?!" Her mouth dropped open in surprise. The idea of going with them hadn't even crossed her mind. Space was dark. It was a cold never-ending void. And although she wouldn't admit this aloud, the Twins already knew the woman was scared of such a place. There were no trees and mountains and sky. There was no stability for her.
"Please?"
While the red twin was the one to say it, she could see the hope lurking in Sunstreaker's optics too, along with caution and the beginning dregs of disappointment. He'd been so hesitant to bring this up because he was afraid she'd say no.
Licking her lips as she searched for an answer, Shay mumbled, "It's... it's so big, and..."
"Everyone will be keeping an optic on one another. No one will get lost or left behind." Sideswipe reassured her.
"I have work." Not an excuse but a worry, as she looked down at the datapad. While paperwork was not her forte, she liked helping the Witwicky's as an Autobot-Human Relations representative. And the Dinobots would be disappointed that she wouldn't come read them a story every other evening. The giant metal lizards had grown fond of the books and had even started to bring their own favorites for her to read to them.
The red mech grinned, "They did just fine before you came. They can handle themselves. Prowl said you could go too. I was just afraid he'd mention it before we got a chance to, actually..." He scratched the back of his helm while Sullen remained silent and waiting. At least now Shay knew what that whole episode earlier had been about. The staring between the gold mech and the woman commenced and held for a long moment when she didn't immediately reply. Truthfully, her head was spinning around all the possibilities and remained unsure of what to say.
Finally, Sunstreaker leaned in and asked quietly, "Have you ever seen nebulas give off excess charge when they interact with magnetic solar flares?" A suspicious look answered.
"You know I haven't."
"Well, they put earth storms to shame. You'll love them." The mech stated, still expectantly waiting for her acceptance or refusal.
She sighed and rubbed her face. Now it was her turn to try and avoid eye contact. A whisper slipped out as she buried her head in her hands. "My place has always been here, where the maple trees and wild raspberries grow."
"We'll be there the whole time."
Raising her head at Sideswipe's reply, she scratched at her hair and finally nodded. "Okay. I'll go out in the huge fricking void that absolutely terrifies me," she emphasized, "and if I end up dead, I'm haunting your afts."
The Twins whooped, Mischief louder than his twin, and yelled at Smokescreen that they owed him some credits because she'd agreed. Groaning at their immaturity, Shay leaned over to whack them both on their arms. Sideswipe just flopped onto a seat and used his arms to drag her over for a hug. Growling about public displays of affection, the human looked at Sunstreaker for a rescue only to see him smirking.
"Sides, okay Sides, I'm good. My hug quota is filled for the day." Pretending not to enjoy the sentiment because of the others around them, she straightened her clothing. A thought hit her. Shay frowned, eyebrows scrunching, and stared up at them. "Would this have anything to do with why my treasure box is suddenly not under my bed where it's supposed to be?"
"You mean the junky tool box?" Sunstreaker made his disgust for her possession apparent.
"Well, we were mostly sure you'd agree so... We may have already moved it aboard?" The carnelian lambo grinned with the most innocent expression he could muster. Then bolted.
Spitting wrathful and derisive insults, Shay snarled about people touching stuff without asking. She hopped down from the table and took off after the fleeing and giggling frontliner. As they chased each other around the other Autobots and out the door, Sunstreaker huffed in amusement and got up to follow. He had to make sure they didn't kill each other before their adventure began. They were all going to go visit the stars after all.
.
.
They sped through the streets like eels in water; quick, smooth, and seemingly effortless.
Dark gold metal glowed beneath neon lights and intersections. Behind, the carnelian twin revved his engines and easily maneuvered around every other vehicle on the road. The Lamborghini in front flashed his tail lights, slowing down before speeding up again as if to say: Ha! I'm carrying extra weight and I'm still faster! Engine growling a retort, the other pulled up right behind his smug brother and flicked on his brights.
Laughter.
The human sitting in the driver's seat of the tawny sports car chuckled at the antics. Wind rushed through the half-inch gap of the open window to tangle strands of hair while bringing the precious scents of speed, freedom, and the coming rain. Underlying that was smoke and concrete but it could hardly be noticed when they were moving so fast. Primus knew the lamborghinis loved the feeling of wind on their frames as much as the woman did.
As they passed under flashes of nightlife, a coast around a turn heralded them through the club area. Pulsing beats echoed between brick walls but above it rose a distant peal of thunder.
'There/Yes/Follow.'
Exhilaration sang in energon lines and blood veins as the engines picked up the pace to trail after the thunderheads and growing winds. As others went inside to escape the weather, the three zipped through sparse traffic and under the tall building's glare, intent nearly buzzing around them.
Leaving behind the city, the bots hurtled towards the open road. Lightning crackled overhead while surging clouds moved to cloak the stars.
Down a flat night road going through empty land, they chased the storm.
.
.
.
Music: Satellite – Rise Against
Fin
Author's Notes: (just realized I'm technically not allowed to have a chapter with just author's notes so moving it here.)
A year and half and I finally finish this thing.
So this story started out of hundreds of random ideas that constantly bother me. The idea was that someone ended up with a spark container with the Twin's sparks and was trying to get them safely back to the Autobots while having no clue on what the sparks actually were. And then it snowballed from there.
Shay was just aggressive, at first. She snarled and glared while trying to stay polite because that's how she was brought up but she didn't want anyone near her or the sparks. And trying to figure out her personality along the way was pretty interesting. How she ended up dealing with the Twin's when they got back into their bodies was funny as hell.
You have the cheerful mischief maker, the sullen antisocial warrior and the paranoid grouch. Somehow or another, Shay's personality did not take well to Sunstreaker's (or Ratchets, and I was honestly not expecting that. I thought they would commiserate together.) And somehow their conversations just got volatile. Then Sideswipe decided that Shay being a grouch was hilarious and started to annoy the crap out of her for laughs. The nicknames were a surpise. I did plan on the link being established but the protective rage, the sickness, the Decepticons being Cons and Starscream's toxin and all that just showed up along the way.
So it's been a long and wild ride with ups and downs and learning how to write. This is the first story that I've actually finished that's not just a short thing. A little world building, looking up characters and personalities, researching tons and tons of random things, took a lot of effort and time and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Granted, I think the latter half of the story is probably better than the first half (writing style) but overall, I'm happy with it.
Thank you Tigerlilly, for reading every chapter before I posted it and pointed out things that didn't make sense as well as laughing at the antics. Love you sis.
Thank you to everyone else who reviewed, favorited, or followed because the fact that other people were interested in this crazy story pushed me to really finish it. I'm grateful and I know Shay probably is too (when she's not trying to hunt me down for tossing crazy things in her life. "If I didn't then you wouldn't have met the Twins!" -starts running in the other direction.)
Thanks.
Shay, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe: May you three annoy the hell out of each other, have many crazy adventures, and continue to chase the storms. Love you guys. Thank you for inspiring me.
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Twin's theme song:
Avicii – Hey Brother
12 Stones – We are One
Sunstreaker:
Thousand Foot Krutch – Courtesy Call
Sideswipe:
Fall Out Boy – Centuries
Shay:
Zach Hemsey – Fade Away
Slash Ft. Miles Kennedy – Bent to Fly