Title: Bad Feeling
Fandom: Transformers G1, AU
Series: n/a
Author: FuziPenguin
Characters: Sideswipe, Ratchet, Optimus
Pairing: n/a
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1438
Summary: Sideswipe wakes up and can't find his brother. He should be there right next to Sideswipe... shouldn't he?
Warnings: There's a potentially (?) triggery twist at the end to this, but I'm choosing not to spoil it with warnings.
Notes: Originally a tumblr exclusive, cleaned up and posted officially.
Disclaimer: This is a piece of fiction. No harm was intended in the creation of this work. All rights belong to the original creators.

Sideswipe onlined with a start, a sense of foreboding washing over him. He stared upwards at the cream-colored ceiling, feeling that something was wrong but unable to pinpoint what.

He shifted around in bed, testing the movement of his limbs. All normal. No alarms, nothing but the normal chatter on the shipwide frequencies.

So why the frag had he been jerked out of recharge?

"Hey, Sunny? You awake?" Sideswipe murmured, sliding a hand out to his side and feeling for his brother. His fingers only encountered cool sheets, and he turned his head to see an empty bed save for his own frame.

So that must have been what had woken him.

Sideswipe blinked, looking around their room. But why had Sunstreaker gotten up? It was their off shift, and they had planned to lay in for most of the day.

He tried reaching out to his twin over their bond but felt only a hazy sort of resistance. Frowning, Sideswipe sat up and swung his feet over the bed, standing and stretching the kinks out. He wasn't exactly worried, because sometimes Sunstreaker blocked him out and vice versa. But that feeling of wrongness persisted and he wanted his twin, or to at least know he was ok.

Rolling his shoulders in restlessness, he left his quarters and stood in the hallway for several moments. He probed his connection with his brother and turned left, feeling Sunstreaker's presence stronger in that direction.

He walked for several minutes, occasionally peering in open doorways and nodding greetings to his comrades.

Sideswipe stopped at the door to Bumblebee's room and stuck his head in side. "Hey, B, have you seen Sunny?"

The scout looked up from his datapad and frowned. "Who? Oh. No, I haven't, sorry. Have you… have you tried Medical?" he offered hesitantly.

"Medical? Why would he be there?" Sideswipe wondered aloud, but MedBay was in the direction his senses were taking him anyway, so he just shrugged and nodded a thanks, continuing on his way.

He asked Jazz when he saw him another minute later, but the saboteur just shook his head while beebopping along with the music blaring from his speakers.

Huffing irritably, Sideswipe continued on and paused in front of the Medbay entrance. Sunny's presence was stronger here but… something still wasn't right. Shaking his head from a sudden dull throbbing at the base of his helm, Sideswipe walked through the double doors.

"Ratchet?" he called. "Have you seen Sunny? I woke up and he wasn't there next to me and he's not answering."

Sideswipe moved into the medbay proper, hearing his voice echo against the empty room. For once, the place was free of mechs. Good. Ratchet could use a break. Poor guy was always so overworked.

A shuffle of sound made him look off to the right to see Ratchet standing in front of his office, staring at him. A shadow moved within the other room and then Optimus Prime emerged, peering over Ratchet's shoulder.

"Hey, Prime! Sorry to interrupt, I just was checking to make sure Sunny hadn't hurt his fool self. Can't seem to find him," Sideswipe explained.

Ratchet shot a glance over his shoulder at Optimus before slowly walking forward, gesturing to the nearest exam table. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Sideswipe smiled, propping his hands on his hips as he popped one out to the side. "Oh no, I didn't come in here to get trapped in a random exam; I'm just looking for Sunny."

"Sunny's not here. But you are, so hop on up," Ratchet instructed. Sideswipe's smile faded as he watched Ratchet move… oddly. Almost warily. Behind Ratchet, Optimus watched silently, optics looking sadder than usual.

"Ratch? Is something wrong?" Sideswipe hesitantly asked. Oh Primus, was Sunstreaker here, in one of the isolation rooms maybe? Did something happen to him? Was it something bad?

"No, nothing's wrong," Ratchet said softly. Which rang all sorts of warning bells in Sideswipe's head. Ratchet only spoke quietly when someone was on death's door.

"Cut it out, Ratch!" Sideswipe said hotly. "If something's wrong, just tell me. Is it Sunny? He's here isn't he? Is he in stasis? Is that why I can't feel him?"

He took a few steps forward, trying to peer around Ratchet towards the hallway that housed the isolation ward. Ratchet moved forward too, reaching out to put a placating hand on Sideswipe's chestplate.

"We've had this conversation before. Don't you remember?" Ratchet asked, looking up at Sideswipe with a dejected gaze.

"What are you talking about?!" Sideswipe exclaimed, a little shrilly. This was it. This was the foreboding feeling. Something was wrong with Sunstreaker, and they hadn't told him!

"Now, Side… " Optimus intoned in that deep voice of his, coming up behind Ratchet. "You know Sunstreaker doesn't exist…"

The Prime fiddled with something in his hand, and Sideswipe tried to bolt even before the alien concept of Optimus holding a syringe registered in his processor.

"No! You don't know what you're talking about!" Sideswipe yelled, only making it two steps before strong arms came around his waist and hauled him back against a wide chest. "Stop it! Let me see him! I know he's there! What is wrong with you! Sunny! SUNSTREAKER!"

His legs flailed as he tried to get free, his own arms pinned against his sides. "No. NONONO!" he screamed, thrashing his head and hearing the sound of a crunch as the back of his helm impacted against Ratchet's face.

"Shh… shh…" Optimus hushed, ducking Sideswipe's wildly kicking feet and gripping Sideswipe's chin. The large mech loomed over him, making Sideswipe's panic soar higher. What was happening?! Sunstreaker not existing? Sideswipe could feel his brother in his very spark, how could he not exist?!

A sharp sting in his arm made him look down to see Optimus removing a syringe, the needle tip balancing a drop of clear fluid on the end of it. "What is that? What did you… what…"

Sideswipe felt his processor come to a shrieking halt as warmth spread out from the puncture site, lassitude quickly following. He flailed again, instinctively knowing that if he was to find his brother, his time was limited.

But the drug was potent and within moments, he was sagging in place, Ratchet's strong embrace the only thing keeping him upright. And then Ratchet was lowering him to the ground, Sideswipe's knees folding beneath him as if they were made of jelly.

"It's all right, son. It's all right," Ratchet kept murmuring into his ear.

"But Sunny…" Sideswipe whimpered, looking up at the tall form of Optimus in a dull sort of rage.

"It will be all right. Let the drugs work… shut your eyes… it will be better when you wake up," Ratchet whispered.

Despite everything, Sideswipe trusted Ratchet. Maybe something was wrong with Sideswipe's processor. Maybe it was all a mistake… maybe… maybe it would be better if he just went to sleep for a little while…

—

As Sid's eyelids finally closed, Orion knelt down and offered his handkerchief to the other man. "Are you all right?"

Head Nurse Ratched nodded his head, grimly taking the cloth and applying it to the trickles of blood leaking from his nose. "He got lucky. Poor kid," he said, looking down at the pile of gangly limbs in his lap. "He's getting worse, Dr. Pax. These delusions of him being some kind of robot… and his twin. Sid's an only child for Christ's sake!"'

"Yes," Orion said, sighing heavily and reaching forward to help shift the patient into a more comfortable position. He noticed that Ratched still kept a comforting arm wrapped around Sid's waist. Ratched was fond of this one, Orion knew. Despite the other man's bluster, he had a heart of gold, and sometimes it was hard for him to keep distance from certain patients. Oh, he always did what was right and without hesitation, but some of them kept him up at night.

"I will have to take another look at his record, think about some different medications," Orion added. "He was doing so well there for a while…"

Orion liked this one too. Such an open, bright smile with a wicked wit… when he wasn't going on about his delusions. The robot thing was inconsistent, but the feeling of being a twin… that was constant. And frankly heartbreaking. Orion himself was quite close to his older brother, Ron. He couldn't imagine how it would feel if one day someone told him Ron had just been a figment of his imagination.

Orion nodded to himself in determination. Back to the drawing board.

~ End