(Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers; just Anwen and any other characters I may or may not have mentioned)

(Authors Note: Hello readers, thanks for the support thus far. I'm so glad you're enjoying this FF because I love writing/editing it. I apologize for not uploading this chapter sooner but I've been working on other FF's lately as well as catching up on some of my hobbies. Like video games and knitting...so much knitting :D Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and I look forward to posting more in the future. Until then, stay safe, stay sane, stay warm and stay awesome!)

"English/French"

'Mental thoughts'

"Flashbacks" (and sometimes sarcasm)

{Cybertronian}

::Sparkbonds::

:Speaker talk:

::Comm. Link::

Chapter 6

Sunstreaker felt a painful tug on his spark and emitted a regretful sigh before his Comm. link cracked to life and his twin's voice sounded in. ::Sunny, what happened?! Why are there feelings of guilt in my spark, and why do I suspect that it has something to do with Anwen?::

*sigh* ::I don't want to talk about it.::

::Oh no...Sunny, no! What did you do?!::

::I said I don't want to talk about it!:: He dismissed the Comm. before transforming into his alt mode and parking along the wall where he began to brood. He tried to forget his encounter with the young ginger, but her face kept appearing in his processor: her amber eyes were wide with fear as he grabbed her thin, delicate arm and applied pressure, hoping to scare her away. Oh Primus, did he accidentally hurt her?! She was already small and fragile-looking compared to most of her fellow fleshbags. Who's to say he didn't possibly break her arm? He ground his denta together while his spark furiously rattled inside it's casing as if yelling at him for hurting its apparent 'chosen one'.

Within seconds, Sideswipe pulled up alongside him and angrily revved his engine, ::What in the Pit did you do to Anwen?!::

Before he could answer, the very human of their discussion walked around the corner followed by Ratchet. Her sleeve was rolled up, her arm was bandaged and she was applying a cold pack to her appendage. A heavy weight settled in Sunstreaker's spark as she mumbled something to Ratchet before approaching and kneeling in front of him and his twin while the CMO protectively stood nearby.

A small smile graced Anwen's face as she glanced over at the silver twin, to which she reached out and gently rubbed his grill, "Bonjour Sideswipe. J'ai besoin de parler a ton frere pendant une minute, mais tu es le bienvenu (Hello_. I need to speak to your brother for a minute, but you're welcome to stay)."

:Merci, Anwen.:

She gave him a nod before facing the golden twin: her amber eyes narrowed and her smile turned into a frown, "Sunstreaker, Je suppose que tu sais pourquoi je suis ici (_,I assume you know why I'm here)?"

He didn't answer but made a small rumble of his engine in acknowledgement.

"Je voulais juste te faire savoir que je te pardonne; cependant, cela ne veut pas dire qu'il est normal d'agir si impétueux (I just wanted to let you know that I forgive you; however, this doesn't mean it's okay to act so brash)."

Sideswipe slightly revved his engine in anger at his twin, to which Anwen gently rubbed his grill before continuing, "A l'avenir, je veux juste que vous réfléchissiez à vos actions et a la façon dont elles pourraient affecter votre entourage (In the future, I want you to think about your actions and how they might affect those around you)." She then carefully stood up and gave a slight bow of her head, "Bonne journee, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe (Good day to you,_ _)." With that, Anwen then turned on her heel and walked off with Ratchet; leaving the twins behind.

Once they left, Sideswipe angrily vented to his twin, ::What did you do to her?!:: Immediately after asking, he was filled with waves of emotions that bled through the bond as Sunstreaker relayed the exchange between himself and Anwen, as well as his thoughts after the ordeal. From what Sideswipe could tell, he was deeply upset that he physically harmed the young femme, even if it wasn't life threatening. His spark was heavy with regret and he mentally wished he could take it all back.

Upon thoroughly listening to Sunstreaker's account, Sideswipe reached through the bond and sent him a reassuring pulse, ::Look...I'll try to work on damage control with Anwen. You just keep your distance for the time being, but you should to apologize to her soon.::

Sunstreaker didn't respond, but Sideswipe knew he understood the gravity of the situation. With that, he transformed and slowly rolled across the hangar where he spotted the young ginger now sitting atop the walkway with her legs dangling over the edge and her arms casually draped across one of the bars. Once again, she was speaking with Ratchet, but he figured that they were just continuing their conversation from earlier. Regardless, he wanted to speak to her now as his spark was demanding that he do so in order to mend some of the damage his brother inflicted.

Seeing the younger mech out of the corner of his optic, Ratchet reached out to him in a private Comm. ::I'm assuming you wish to speak to Miss Bleu?::

Sideswipe emitted a sigh and answered, ::Yes. I wish to talk to her for a few minutes...please. I know what Sunny did was uncalled for and wrong on so many levels, but I just want to make sure she's okay. Can I speak to her for a little while?::

::I'm not the one you should be asking, but I'll give you two some space. I've been meaning to talk to Bumblebee about the new improvements to his vocal cables.:: He then dismissed his Comm. and turned his attention back to the young ginger sitting atop the walkway, "I apologize for cutting our conversation short Anwen, but I believe Sideswipe would like to speak to you for a minute. I'll be across the hanger if you need me."

She gave him an understanding nod, "That's fine. Thank you for everything Ratchet. I'll see you later."

"Take care of yourself young one." With that he turned on his ped and headed off in the opposite direction, to which Sideswipe casually approached the walkway.

Anwen tilted her curly head and offered the frontliner a small smile, "You wanted to see me?"

He gave her a nod before venting out a sigh, "Ani, can we talk for a minute...privately?"

She gave him a slight nod and placed her cold compress inside her flannel pocket before carefully making her way down from the walkway while Sideswipe transformed and opened his passenger door. Upon dismounting the ladder, Anwen stepped over and entered his vehicle form before gently closing the door and leaning back into the seat. "I'm assuming you want to talk to me about what happened between myself and your brother?"

:Here and there,: his voice sounded through the speakers. :But mainly, I just wanted to offer my deepest apologies. I'm not apologizing on my brother's behalf, but I am sorry for what he did to you. He shared your exchange through our bond and honestly, I still want to knock a few dents into his frame for putting you through this whole ordeal. However, he has expressed his regret to me and he truly feels guilty for everything that had transpired during your encounter.:

She emitted a sigh and gently rubbed the armrest, "I don't believe he truly wanted to harm me, but I can't say that I approve of his actions. I don't. However, I think I'd be willing to accept his apology if he offered it to me and was sincere about it."

:Really?!: He didn't want to sound too excited, but he was glad to hear that statement. This was good.

She faintly smiled and gave a nod, "Oui, I would. I believe there's a decent mech underneath his hardened layer of anger and frustration."

:You're not wrong there, sweetspark,: he smiled even though she couldn't see it. :Sunny tends to come off as brash and callus, but underneath that grumpy persona is one of the bravest and most loyal Autobots to ever come out of Cybertron.:

"Well, I hope to see that side of him one day; but for now, I'll have to take your word for it," Anwen stated as she looked into his rearview mirror, seeing as how she couldn't see his optics or his face at the moment.

:I guarantee you will, Ani. Knowing how guilty Sunny feels for treating you like slag, he'll probably want to apologize to you before too long.:

"Oh, he can think about his actions a little longer until he's ready. I don't want his apology to be rushed and meaningless, but rather, I want him to understand how his actions can have harmful consequences if he continues to behave this way towards others." She pulled the cold compress out of her pocket and placed it over her arm with a frown. "Hey, Sideswipe?"

:Yes, Ani?:

"Do you mind if I stay here for a while longer?"

:Not at all, sweetspark. You may stay here as long as you like.:

"Merci."

XXXXX

Around 1200 the N.E.S.T. crew and staff were given the all clear to return to their duties. Thankfully, Anwen had finished all of her urgent work beforehand because now all she had left to complete were a few minor tasks that required little to no effort whatsoever. However, she had a tendency to treat every assignment as if it were a major issue and was always thorough with her work and performance.

Upon reviewing and replying to the last e-mail in her work inbox, Anwen was approached by Marcus, "Hey, Bleu cheese, you got a minute?"

*sigh* "I suppose so. What do you want?"

"Well, due to the storm earlier, I've been backed up with my assignments and was wondering if you could help me out with something. It's not computer related or anything technical, but if you could just shred these old forums for me that'd be greaaaaat," he then placed three large boxes of old/outdated paperwork outside of her cubicle along with a shredder and several paper sacks.

"Bien. Tu es juste chanceux j'ai fini mon quota de travail pour la journée (Fine. You're just lucky I finished my work quota for the day)," she huffed as she began the tediously mundane task of shredding papers to be recycled.

"English, Bleu cheese. I can't understand you when you speak French. Regardless, thanks for lending your assistance."

"Peu importe (Whatever). Now, could you please leave me alone so I can focus on the task you've assigned me with?"

He smirked and leaned against her cubicle wall, "Is that what you really want, Bleu cheese?"

"Oui. I want you to leave me alone and return to your own work that you are apparently behind on."

"Very well." He then headed off and returned to his own cubicle, leaving her with the task of shredding old paperwork and recycling it.

Anwen really didn't mind assisting her coworkers, but Marcus was starting to get on her nerves. He always seemed to pawn extra work on her at the most inconvenient times, but what she hated most about it was that he did it intentionally. She rolled her eyes and emitted an annoyed sigh as she went back to her current task.

XXXXX

Upon shredding the last forum and dumping the bin of paper strips into the last paper sack, Anwen checked her clock and smiled when it read 1555. Just five minutes left before she could clock out for the day. With that bit of good news, she unplugged the shredder and returned it to its proper place before labeling the large, paper sacks as 'RECYCLABLE MATERIAL' and placing them beside the green recycle bin for the cleanup crew to dispose of over the weekend.

Returning to her desk, Anwen decided to double check her inbox to see if any new messages were sent to her while she was shredding old forums. Thankfully, it was empty and no new assignments had been sent to her. With that, she decided to clear out her junk folder before removing her converse and adorning her rollerblades.

Looking back at the time, Anwen discovered that it was now 1600, to which she logged out of her computer and clocked out for the day. Upon adorning her coat, helmet and backpack, she casually rolled out of the office and down the hallway leading into the hangar where she made quick work of dashing across the floor and exiting through the (now open) main entrance. Seeing as how she missed her morning swim due to the inclimate weather, Anwen decided to head over to the pool to partake in a few laps. After all, Maggie wasn't expecting her until 1800 and she had nothing better to do with her time than indulge in a bit of exercise. Thankfully, she always carried a spare swimsuit and a towel in her backpack just in case she ever felt the desire for a dip in the pool.

After entering the fitness center, Anwen rolled into the locker room and removed her backpack to retrieve her swimwear before undressing herself and placing her clothes, lanyard, blades, helmet, coat and backpack inside her locker and removing her flip flops before closing it back up again. Afterwards, she unwrapped her bandages from earlier and frowned upon glancing at the large, purple bruises that marked her fair, freckled skin.

With a sigh, Anwen tossed the wrappings in the waste bin, adorned her itsy bitsy, teenie weenie, yellow polkadot bikini, grabbed her towel and slipped on her flip flops before exiting the locker room and making her way over to the pool. Admittedly, she was a bit nervous about wearing this particular swimsuit because it was spaghetti strapped and a bit more revealing than the others she had in her wardrobe. However, it was really cute with its yellow base color and red polkadot pattern. Regardless, she held her head high and stepped over to the swimming area with an air of confidence about her.

Upon entering the facility, Anwen noted that there were seven men (including the lifeguard) in the vicinity; however, upon closer inspection, she realized that only four of them were actually human. The other three were holoforms. The first was of a handsome olive-skinned young man of twenty nine with thick, shoulder length black hair, a toned muscular body, pointed nose, cleft chin and a charming smile.

The second holoform was a fair-skinned, blonde haired boy of sixteen. Like the first, he too was well toned in body, but had a slightly smaller build. His eyes were a tad bigger than his companions and had an innocent look to them while his face was absolutely adorable and youthful looking.

The third was also fair-skinned, but had slightly broader shoulders than his companions and sported a pair of wing tattoos on his back. His face was also youthful looking and he appeared to be around nineteen years of age. His hair was short like the second's, but it was a dark grey in color and slightly curly.

Bumblebee, Bluestreak and Mirage were casually conversing with their human comrades around the shallow area of the pool when they spotted the young redhead approach. "Ah, saluti signorina Azzurra (_, greetings miss Bleu)."

"Bonjour Dino, Bumblebee, Bluestreak. I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure of seeing your holoforms in person before; but I do remember seeing pictures of them in your files."

At that, Mirage gave her a charming smile, "And I'm sure you'll agree that they are much better looking in person than on paper. Yes?"

"Bien sûr (Of course). But then again, almost everything is better in person."

"Agreed," stated Bluestreak. "By the way, Anwen, what did you think of the storm we had earlier? I myself don't really care for them as they make it difficult to drive through, but from what I understand some people find the heavy rain to be quite soothing and peaceful but I'm not really sure how one can find peace in the constant thundering noise."

She gave the young sniper a kind smile and shrugged, "I didn't mind it too much considering that I got most of my work done before the sirens went off and we were required to take shelter." Out of the corner of her eye, Anwen noticed one of the humans eyeing her body which prompted her to call him out: "Hey, buddy, my eyes are up here. Quit undressing me with your mind!"

"How can I not when you've done most of the undressing for me, sweetheart," he replied with a cocky smirk, to which one of his comrades spoke up:

"Dude, she's 19 years old. Leave her alone."

"Why? She's legal. Besides, I ain't touching her: I'm just admiring the view."

All three Autobots moved in front of the young ginger before Bumblebee spoke up, "She doesn't want to be eyed like a trophy. You can either turn around and leave her alone, or you can leave the vicinity. Make your choice, and do it wisely, human."

"Ptt, whatever, she ain't that attractive anyways: at least not with those unsightly scars along her legs."

At that, Anwen felt her face heat up in anger, to which she stepped out from behind the Autobots and boldly stood before this asshole, "Um, excuse me, but you don't get to decide how attractive I am! That judgment lies with me: Not you! And for your information, my scars are a part of me and I've come to fully embrace them because I am a fucking goddess regardless of my appearance or what others think of me!"

"Yaaaas, tell it queen," one of the other humans replied, to which the man just rolled his eyes at the group:

"Whatever; I don't have time for this bullshit." He then got out of the pool and left the vicinity, leaving Anwen with the remaining humans and Autobots.

XXXXX

Despite the pool incident, Anwen had a nice time visiting with Mirage, Bluestreak and Bumblebee, as well as Carl, Greg and Ryan (the three humans). But sadly, she had to cut her visit short as she needed to get ready to meet up with Maggie. Looking down at her watch, she noticed that it was now 1715. Sure, she had time, but there was still the matter of getting home and packing her overnight bag.

Upon saying her goodbyes, Anwen headed out of the pool and into the women's locker room where she didn't bother to change out of her swimwear. There wasn't enough time to try and peel off the wet, clingy bikini, so she figured that she'd wear it on her commute home.

No problem.

Placing her flip flops underneath the bench to dry overnight, Anwen opened her locker and removed her clothes, backpack and gear before sitting down and drying off her legs. She then adorned her socks, rollerblades, lanyard and helmet, stuffed her clothes and raincoat into her backpack and wrapped her towel around her waist. Sure, she could have worn her clothes over her swimsuit, but they would have been a bit difficult to put on at the moment due to the dampness of her bikini. That, and she didn't want to linger any longer than was necessary. All she wanted was to make the 20 minute commute home, remove her swimwear and hang it up to dry, and ready herself for girls-night with Maggie.

Upon exiting the fitness center and crossing the tarmac, Anwen dashed over to the security gate and presented her I.D. to Carol (Tim's evening replacement). "Took an afternoon swim, Bleu?"

She gave her a nod, "You could say that. I know I must look a mess, but I have a good reason for it."

"I'm sure you do sweetie. You have yourself a nice weekend."

"Merci Carol. You too." With that, she rolled off in the direction of her apartment.

XXXXX

After nearly ten minutes of skating, Anwen spotted a familiar pair of Lamborghini's rolling alongside her. Quickly taking the towel off her arm and wrapping it back around her waist, Anwen tried to hide the blush that threatened to consume her face as she skidded to a stop and turned towards the pair.

:Fle, er, Anwen, can we speak for a minute...please?: Sunstreaker's voice sounded through his speakers.

Wanting to move past this morning's incident, she offered a polite nod in response to his question, "Very well; but I cannot linger for too long." She then watched as he suddenly transformed and knelt before her while Sideswipe also transformed and stood nearby.

"Look, what I did to you earlier was completely inappropriate, hurtful and uncalled for. I see that now. I know you said that you've forgiven me, but I can't forgive myself for what I did to you. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry." He vented a sigh before continuing, "If I could go back and undo everything that had happened, I would do so in a sparkbeat."

"I'm sure you would," she agreed. "After all, you're an Autobot and swore an oath to protect the innocent. I wouldn't expect you to dishonor that oath…"

"But I did," he growled at himself in frustration. "I brought unnecessary harm upon you and caused you physical and emotional pain. You deserve to be angry at me. Pit, you deserve to hate me for my actions."

"I don't hate you, Sunstreaker." Taking a chance, Anwen softly placed her hand against his shin, prompting him to look at her, "I could never hate someone who has given up everything to protect this planet and its inhabitants. I understand your frustration, and I agree that some of Earth's aspects and inhabitants aren't that great; but that's no excuse to insult every organic you run into."

A faint smirk crossed his metal lips, "If I recall, it was you who nearly ran into me."

"Même chose (Same thing). Regardless, I'm willing to forgive you; but only if you can forgive yourself."

*sigh* "I will try."

"Do. Or do not. There is no try," she smirked, to which Sideswipe mentally shook his helm and emitted a soft chuckle:

"Really, Ani?"

She looked over at the silver twin and shrugged, "What? It's a classic. Besides, this situation called for some Yoda wisdom." Anwen then looked back at the golden mech and smiled, "I want to put the past behind us and start anew, but only if you are willing to accept what happened and move on from this morning's incident."

He gave a slight nod and responded in a gruff yet gentle tone, "I am. For your sake, mine and Sides, I am willing to move past this and start fresh."

"Good. Now, I don't want to keep you both, but I should head home for the night. I'll see you two again on Monday or sooner if I happen to run into you at some point during the weekend."

"Alrighty. We'll see you around, Ani," Sideswipe replied with a smile while his twin gave a nod in response.

Anwen politely bowed her head and turned to leave, skating off towards the apartment building with a smile on her face. Once she was gone, Sideswipe turned to his twin and grinned, "I think that went pretty well, don't you Sunny?"

He narrowed his optics at the use of his stupid nickname, but nodded his helm in response, "...Better than I expected honestly."

"Exactly! Soooo, do you admit that she's not like the other humans we've encountered?"

*sigh* "I still have my doubts about this whole sparkbonding thing, but you're right about her being different than the rest of them."

"Aww, you're starting to like her."

"Shut the frag up, Sides," he growled with an annoyed huff.