Author's Note: So, the moment of truth is finally here…What did Starlight do in her past that is causing her so much grief? Read on to find out! As always, thank you for your reviews, because I sure am glad to see that I do have some readers after my hiatus. Also, I don't own Sunstreaker, Sideswipe or Prowl. CrissCross and Starlight on the other hand… Enjoy! ~Mrs. Sunstreaker

It was less than a few kliks later when there was a firm knock on the door to Socket's quarters. Knowing who it was, Starlight's friend went straight to the door and answered it. "Well, hello handsomes," she murmured playfully, seeing both of the twins standing there, looking like their usual handsome, cocky selves.

"You know," Sideswipe said with a grin. "My brother is the one that is bonded…Me on the other hand," he drawled, letting the end of his sentence linger as he spoke.

"Yes, I know," Socket said cheekily. "The thing is, sugar…I don't think I can handle being with someone that gets himself into as much trouble as you do," she murmured. "I mean, you would probably spend more time in the brig, rather than in our berth," she teased him.

"That's why you need to make sneaky, surprise visits to said brig late at night when Red Alert is half in recharge. I swear he doesn't know what the frag is going on around him. I'm pretty sure that you can convince him that he's a femme when he's in that state," he murmured.

As the two of them bantered back and forth, Sunny stepped into the room and past them. He smiled when he saw his Starlight. Walking over, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, leaning down to nuzzle against the side of her neck tenderly. "And how is my beautiful sparkmate doing?" he murmured in her audio receptor.

"She's doing quite well, now that she has the most handsome mech on base wrapped around her," Starlight teased him back, her eyes meeting his as her head turned to the side.

"Well, now, you say that like that's not a place for said mech to be," he murmured. "I would think that would be the furthest thing from the truth especially since said mech is one's sparkmate," he explained, liking the way the word sparkmate sounded, rolling off of his vocals.

"Oh, I think said mech is exactly where he needs to be," Starlight murmured, leaning forward to kiss his lips gently. Placing her hand on his cheek, she turned around in his arms. Only when she was facing him did she wrap her arms around his neck, standing up on her tiptoes to draw him closer as she deepened the kiss between them. "What do you say you and I skip this meeting and go back to our quarters?" she murmured in between kisses. "We can try and reenact what happened last night," she murmured with an impish smile in his direction.

As she said that, Socket tensed up, a slight look of irritation crossing her optics because she knew why it was that her friend was even suggesting that they skip meeting the recruits in the first place. Socket had to hand it to her friend that she was very determined when she wanted, or in this case, not wanted something to happen. Stil, she couldn't quite see Sunstreaker really going along with this entire thing. Surely, he had to know something was up by now.

Turning back away from her friend, she noticed that Sideswipe was watching her intently. The look on his face suggested that he was probably trying to figure out why she had somewhat zoned out just now. "Something wrong, sugar?" the Red Twin asked.

Thank goodness Sunstreaker came to her rescue, although he didn't know it. The Yellow Twin spoke up, chuckling at Starlight. "As much as I would love to indulge you in that, sweetheart, we really do need to be there. It's good manners and what not…"

Sideswipe laughed before adding, "What he means is, that Prime is making us go, because it would make the new recruits feel more welcomed," he murmured. "Sunstreaker doesn't have a welcoming bone in his body unless it includes the people that are in this room," he added.

"Alright," Starlight said, nodding and choosing her words carefully. Thinking, she decided that she needed more time to plan and sort things out in her head. "Why don't you two start down there, and Socket and I will catch up with you in a few kliks? There are still some things for work tomorrow that she and I need to finish up," she explained.

"I thought Prowl gave you the day off?" Sunstreaker asked, arching an optic ridge in her direction.

Starlight's panic was increasing by the second. Yep, she'd forgotten about that tiny little detail. "Well," she said, trying to buy time by the seconds. "What I meant was that Socket and I need to look for something that we need, before we go out," she explained, hoping that Sunstreaker bought it. "It shouldn't take too long," she said. "It should be right around here," she explained, looking around the room with a bit of haphazard confusion.

"Well, why don't we just wait for you?" Sunstreaker countered, crossing his arms over his chassis and looking at his sparkmate with marked curiously. "If you say it won't take long, then we can wait. A few minutes isn't going to kill us. The shuttle isn't due to land for the next klik or so…"

Starlight's panic was in full gear now, and she did her best to not let it show on her face. She knew that Sunny would be able to pick up on it if she didn't keep her feelings to a minimum. Starlight glanced stealthily at Socket, willing her friend to help her out of this debacle, but Socket turned her head away, avoiding Starlight's optics at all costs. The way she saw it, this was Starlight's battle to handle.

"Well, it's not important anyways," Starlight said, changing her tune. "We…can go now," she said quietly. Turning, she started to head to the door, her mind whirling. Frag it all to hell, she thought to herself. Why do I always manage to get myself into these kinds of things?

The walk down the long hallways felt like the Death March to Starlight. She could barely make her legs move in the right direction. Her processor was screaming at her to turn around and run in the other direction and never look back. She knew that she couldn't do that though. Sunny meant too much to her, and her life with him meant too much to her.

When they reached the ramp that led out to the landing strip, she felt Sunstreaker's hand on her arm. Slowly, he tugged her back and held her there, letting his brother and Socket go first. He needed to talk to her for a moment. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked her, concern mirrored in his dark blue optics.

Starlight looked at him, nodding her head. "Of course I'm alright," she said. "Why wouldn't I be?" she asked softly.

"You just seem a bit off, sweetheart," Sunstreaker said with concern in his voice. "Are you sure that there's nothing you want to tell me?" he asked the smaller femme.

"No, of course not…I don't keep secrets from you. You know that," she said, trying to convince herself of that fact rather than convince him. She leaned up to give him a kiss, but was cut short as a feeling of complete dread ran through her body upon hearing a voice behind her.

"Starlight…Is that really you?" CrissCross's voice cut in from behind her. She jerked her head up to look at the other mech, and Sunny looked up, a scowl on his face, no doubt not very happy at being interrupted from his trysts with his sparkmate.

Before she could react and move away, the black and red mech ambled over. "Primus, it really is you," he said, reaching out to touch her faceplate.

Sunstreaker growled and intercepted the smaller mech's hand, leading it away from the path of his sparkmate's body.

"I think you may have me confused with someone else," Starlight said stoicly, refusing to meet the other mech's optics. "I have no recollection of meeting you," she said, praying to all higher beings that he would take the hint and leave it alone.

CrissCross frowned and spoke up. "How can you not? You were our customers favorite choice back in the brothels of Iacon," he said, trying his best to make her remember.

Sunstreaker started to see red right away. "Did you just say brothels?" he hissed.

CrissCross regarded him with a calm, almost practiced demeanor. "Yes," he explained. "Starlight was a pleasure bot back on Iacon…" Looking back at Starlight, he eyed her up and down with an appreciative look in his optics. "And a fragging good one if I do say so myself. The things that she could do with her mouth and her hands made even the hardest of mechs overload within not even a klik."

Pausing, he turned and looked at the yellow Lamborghini that stood off to his left. It was obvious that this was probably one of Starlight's friends, one who didn't really know about her past, not that he could blame her for not telling the poor mech. Still, it was nothing for her to be ashamed of. She was good at what she did, and she was willing to let her know that the first chance that he got. "And who might you be?" he asked, turning to look at Sunstreaker.

"Well, I was her sparkmate," he said, his tone cold as he turned and walked off in the other direction.

A/N: Well, there you have it. That's what she's done in her past. And now, Criss is back, wanting her for himself. I guess, the poor mech missed the memo that Starlight is now bonded to Sunstreaker….*evil cackles* Although, he might have a chance now, since we don't know if Sunstreaker would want her after this….*le gasp* I hope you all liked this installment…Please read and review…That's what keeps me going with these stories! ~Mrs. Sunstreaker