Hey guys! Sorry this took a while but we had to re-find the muses but let me tell you, once we did it just FLOWED. So we hope you enjoy. We're particularly proud of this chapter.

Disclaimer: We own nothing though we wish it to be so.

Enjoy~

Chapter Six

Sideswipe sat, huddled on the berth with Sunstreaker clinging to him while trying to make it look like he wasn't clinging. The loud white and red mech who they had decided was too loud to be nice was working on the machines and running tests. Sunstreaker was glaring with all his impressive rage for one so small while Sideswipe fretted about experiments and where Sky was. It had taken enough time to get them calmed though far from cooperative and Ratchet had realized belatedly that swinging a wrench around would not work on sparklings the same way it did on adults.

In fact they reacted with more fear than if they had been adults. What had this war done that he was out of touch with the side of him that (rather embarrassingly) doted on children?

"Everything looks up to specs." He sighed, tilting his helm to stare at another screen. "And you look fed enough..."

Astral Singer

"Not hungry now, but I want Skywarp!" Sideswipe said for the twentieth time. He didn't like medbay, he didn't like the smell or the looks or anything else...and he certainly didn't like these Autobots who'd, just as they'd been told they would by Starscream, had hurt Skywarp and kept him away.

Sunstreaker just glared. He didn't have to talk if he didn't want to, and he really didn't want to. He was worried about what was going to happen to them in this place. The jets here weren't like his Star or even like Thunder and Sky. They talked funny and it was all too weird. They acted like they knew him and Sides.

"And I've told you we can't do that." Ratchet resisted the urge to snap. "He is undergoing an extreme medical procedure due to his injuries." The look of confusion on Sideswipe's face should not be that endearing. "It means we're fixing his hurts."

"You were the ones who hurt 'im!" Sunstreaker burst, getting a worried look from his brother. "Well you won't get me! I can take you!"

Ratchet sighed. Sighed twice, in fact. But he'd get his aft in a sling if he so much as let the twins peek in on the Seeker. "It's the rules." he said finally, finishing the scans. They were remarkably well taken care of, and the alterations in the forms were skillfully done, even to Ratchet's practiced optic. So he asked.

"Who did your upgrades?"

Sunstreaker once more clammed up, little golden optics glowering. Sideswipe's own became rather hard as well and he crossed his arms in front of his chassis, refusing to answer. Ratchet fought the impulse to slam his head against the console.

"Sparklings who are uncooperative with their doctors don't get candy."

"We don't want your slaggin' candy and you're not our doctor." Sunstreaker grumbled.

"Yeah! the quack is!" Sideswipe inputted. "Can't lie to us!"

Ratchet stared at them. "Pardon? Who's your doctor?"

"The quack." Sideswipe looked as if he were talking to someone stupid and even said it slowly. Ratchet decided taking offense would be counterproductive.

"Does he have a big hook on his back?"

Sideswipe nodded firmly. Sunstreaker scowled. And then both of them were staring like he'd lost it when he suddenly doubled over in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Sideswipe pointed at Ratchet and said one word, solemnly. "Glitched." Sunstreaker nodded firmly.

First Aid took that opportunity to approach the laughing medic and handed him a datapad outlining the treatment plan for Skywarp. They'd gotten him back into root mode, but he wasn't transforming anytime soon. Comms, weapons, propulsion, and even his warp generator were offline, for which Ratchet was somewhat grateful. He wouldn't be escaping.

First Aid looked at the twins with compassionate optics. "I can take them, if you like?"

Sunstreaker stared at the other red and white mech who seemed much more... Like Breakdown in their limited world experience. Timid, shy... They would tear him apart. As he'd heard Star say. Sideswipe seemed to be thinking the same thing and they smiled almost simultaneously, the grins gone as soon as the two doctors turned to look at them.

"For now, no. I want to keep them overnight, just in case of something hidden." Ratchet said, managing to gather himself, though the occasional snicker still made it's way through. Quack! That was one for the insult books.

Well, slag, he was going to ruin all their fun. Sunny glared at Ratchet and even Sideswipe frowned. "Don't wanna stay here!" he whined, looking with piteous optics at First Aid. "Please let us go out of here, we won't be trouble, cross our sparks an' hope to die!" Sunny elbowed Sides sharply at that statement; they weren't supposed to say that.

"No." Ratchet snapped. "You'll be staying here with a room all for yourself."

In other words, he had to talk with command and see what they were even going to do with them.

Sideswipe's optics narrowed into small golden slits...and he just nodded. They'd gotten good at getting around, and this afthead thought they were little bitty sparklings. Fine. They'd show him. Where rooms were lay vents, and vents meant freedom.

Sunstreaker continued to glare and he even folded his arms across his chest.

Sideswipe remembered something then, and he thought very hard at his twin.

::Thrusters.::

Sunstreaker shot a sharp look at his brother. They didn't know how to use them yet. He shook his helm firmly. And then glanced up at the CMO clearing his throat.

"Alright boys, we're moving to a private room." He said gesturing. Sunstreaker suddenly seemed to quail, keeping a tight hold of Sideswipe's hand. Sideswipe did the same, and they got down at the mech's insistence and followed him to a small room in the corner of the medical bay. "Here you go boys. We'll have better accommodations for you tomorrow."

"Frag you." Sideswipe said defiantly. He was gonna lock them in, he just knew it. And Skywarp was somewhere around here, he'd heard the others talking about it. He was locked in too...and Sky wasn't bad at all! This was totally unfair. Star was right. Autobots were mean.

Sunny kept close to his twin, not trusting the situation one bit. He'd rather have gone with the quieter medic. And Sides' suggestion about thrusters was stupid. They'd end up going splat, and not even Star to rescue them.

When the door closed, he turned to his twin. "This sucks."

Joors later, Sideswipe had checked over every nanometer of the vent, and the thing was NOT budging no matter how hard he pulled on it. He cursed and kicked, pried and pulled, but nothing would move it. And the door was locked tightly.

"Sunny, I don't want to be here." he said somewhat unnecessarily.

"No slag, Sides?" Sunstreaker nearly spat. He felt uneasy and scared, but he didn't want to say it. Plus, he was hungry. They'd forgotten to bring them energon.

Sideswipe rattled at the vent again with a small whine before trudging back to the berth and climbing up on it. He sat forlornly beside Sunstreaker, feeling the press of the unfamiliar walls that hurt his optics to look at, they were so orange. So he looked at the ground. Not much better at all.

"I wanna go home." He muttered, hands in his lap and shoulders slumping.

Thundercracker would be helping them put their learning things away right now. Skywarp should be winding them up even as Starscream and TC yelled at him to knock it off or they'd never sleep. Sideswipe would be giggling right along with Sunny while Skywarp whined and got lectured at.

Then Star should be putting them down on their own little berths, making sure to hug them so Sideswipe didn't start complaining that he couldn't sleep with out a proper goodnight.

Sunstreaker's own shoulders slumped. "Me too..."

"I really don't think locking them in a room is going to do much good." Perceptor said absently, sitting across the meeting table from Ratchet, helm tilted to the side.

"You haven't spent all day with them." Ratchet grumbled. "I thought there was nothing worse that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker after a few cycles of inaction. I was wrong."

"Aw, from what I saw, they were pretty slagging cute." Wheeljack chuckled.

"Until Sunstreaker freaked out and Sideswipe quickly followed."

Wheeljack said gently, "They're sparklings. What do you expect?"

"They're still the twins, and that much is painfully obvious!" Ratchet snapped, tired and out of sorts. "And I still have to go fix that purple glitch in isolation room four!"

"Not today." Perceptor said. "He likely will not online until tomorrow at the earliest, anyway. You should take this time to recharge-"

"No time." Ratchet said, physically waving the idea away. "We're gonna have Seekers at our door very soon, looking for their younglings."

"'Their' younglings?" Wheeljack quetioned.

"Yes, their. Can't you see it?" Ratchet snapped. "Those Seekers upgraded them with the same care they'd do their own little ones. They've been cared for, taught, treated right. Those Decepticons didn't torture or mistreat the twins after they jerked them off that battlefield. They're raising them, and the fool who steps between a Seeker and his creation is a bigger fool than I."

"Well they can't return." Prowl said shortly. "Returning them to Decepticon servos is out of the question."

"Then we're going to have to keep two younglings under lockdown unless and until Wheeljack can reverse the process, because they're going to come." Ratchet said. Sometimes Prowl's logic was a pain in his aft, and this sort of thing...logic was no good for it at all.

"Is there any way we can protect them?" Optimus asked.

"Already on it, sir." Prowl replied, looking down at his datapad, steadfast.

Red Alert sat back, grumbling about sparkling proofing and extra security and other protocol risks and Jazz looked rather relaxed. "Very well." Optimus sighed. "Next item, we need caretakers for them."

"Prahm, Ah volunteer - "

"Someone not in command, Ironhide." Optimus sighed. "As much as I wish to let you, and I know you would do well, I cannot spare any of my officers."

"If you choose someone with Seeker coding, it may be helpful." ratchet grumped. This entire situation was starting to stink.

Wheeljack spoke up. "Skyfire. He's big enough to ensure that they won't come to harm, he has a bit of that coding you speak of...and a history with Starscream."

Prime nodded, surprised at Wheeljack's recommendation but more than willing to go along with it. "Make it so. Inform him of his duties after the meeting. Perhaps he will obviate the need to keep them confined."

"Let's not ask for the impossible." Prowl muttered, revealing that dry sarcasm he very rarely showed.

"So. Who wants ta see how the twins react ta Skyfire?" Wheeljack said cheerfully.

"Do NOT overwhelm them!" Ratchet growled threateningly.

"I'll take 'em." Jazz offered. Not even Prowl could deny him that; they'd be as safe as safe could be with the Ops mech nearby, Seekers or no Seekers.

"Not tonight." Ratchet said firmly. "I'm keeping them under medical observation because of that crash. They were unconscious when we found them and I want to make sure nothing was damaged permanently."

"Fine." Jazz said, as cheerful as ever. "Say first thing after daycycle starts? I'll let Skyfire know tonight."

"Fine." Rathcet agreed, grudingly. "Let them sleep first. And AFTER I slagging check them over in the morning.!"

The twins finally had fallen into a restless recharge, and medbay was quiet.

Too quiet, Skywarp decided. He couldn't rest. He knew they were close; he'd overheard them yelling earlier, and overheard Ratchet trying to talk sense into them. He'd given several silent cheers at their tenacity, but the fact remained: he was a prisoner and so were they, technically speaking.

He couldn't move off the berth; Pit, he couldn't even comm anyone. He had a call button that he could activate if he slapped his hand against it hard enough, but that wouldn't do any good except to possibly get him another dose of that painkiller...not a terrible idea, but he wanted to be alert.

That didn't stop the walls from closing in and his claustrophobia from flaring up. He fought the whimper and focused on his intakes for several kliks before turning inward and assessing his own damage.

Comms: Useless. Legs: Slagged to pit as well as his wings. He invented deeply again. Teleportation: Well yeah, he'd heard them talking about disabling it temporarily. Even the Autobots couldn't do it permanently. Only Starscream could. Okay, Chrono: Working fine, slaggit. He didn't need nor want to know the time.

Final status: One fragged Seeker. Skywarp inhaled sharply, trying very hard not to think about this /tiny aft/ room. It wasn't completely dark, which was a good thing, but not being able to move made it so much worse. He tried to speak and a series of squeals and clicks came out instead. Fine, no speech either. His vocalizer must have been a casualty as well, or that damned medic had offlined it preemptively, remembering the last time he'd been here.

Not for the first time he wished that they'd renewed their trine bond recently. Then he /might/ have been able to get some kind of awareness or message through, if he was lucky. They hadn't done that in vorns, though, so the faint awareness was just that- faint, and hardly even there.

Skywarp thought sourly that if he ever got back, he'd mention it to them.

"They should have been back by now." Starscream said, pacing in their quarters. There had been no sign of Skywarp and he was joors late. Thundercracker looked up from his datapad and held up a hand. "Star, he will be home soon."

"What if there was trouble?"

"Then he would have commed." TC said logically.

"What if he couldn't?" Star shot back.

"You worry too much."

Starscream knew that that was the truth. He still couldn't let it go. "And you don't worry enough."

Thundercracker sighed. Truth be told, he didn't want to think about it or the worry in his own systems would threaten to take hold. Skywarp wasn't stupid. He could take care of them. Would take care of them. They were their young. "He will be fine. Give it one more joor. You know how Skywarp is."

Starscream scowled and resumed his pacing.

"That's what I'm worried about, TC." Starscream said, finally sitting down. "What if something happened and they're out there laying deactivated on this slagging mudball? They're not yet used to their new systems!"

Thundercracker stood and did something that he hadn't done in a very, very long time. He knelt next to the chair Starscream sat in and took his hands in his own, looking deep into overbright, worry-strained crimson optics. "Star. Look at me."

Starscream did, surprise clear on his face.

"Even if something's wrong, Skywarp will take care of them unless he can't. I'll go out myself to see if I can find him, all right? You stay here in case they return." He squezed his trineleader's hands before letting them go, and it was then that Starscream knew that something had fundamentally changed between the trine since the twins had come.

They'd made them into a family again.

Star decided he'd be damned to Unicron's deepest pit before he lost this again. "Th-thank you, TC." he said, and the blue Seeker glanced in surprise at those rare words. He nodded once, and then left in search of their other brother and their younglings...the rest of their family.

Thundercracker moved down the hall, and to the command center, hoping to catch one of the other seekers at the monitor, maybe Soundwave. He needed the tower raised and fast. Thankfully, at this time of the cycle, they were relatively clear and there was nobody to get in his way. He wasn't sure Motormaster or Brawl would take too kindly to a wing in the chassis because he was in a hurry.

"Very well, Prime."

The bitter voice of the Decepticon Warlord caught his attention and he frowned, wings twitching. What was Megatron doing talking to Prime at this joor? He inched closer to the command room doors, which were cycled open.

"What is it you wish to negotiate?"

Prime's voice, unflappable and solid, drifted back to him. "The terms and trade for the return of your Command Trine member, Megatron"

Thundercracker's energon ran cold.

He froze, just listening.

"Which command trine member, Prime?" Megatron was confused. None of the three were scheduled on patrol for...he checked...another cycle at least, and as far as he knew, they were holed up in their quarters with those sparklings.

Thundercracker couldn't see the Prime's face, but he could hear the surprise in his tone. "You can't even keep track of your own forces, Megatron?"

"Lord Megatron: Skywarp is absent from the Nemesis." Soundwave supplied almost silently.

"What do you want for the errant teleporter?" Megatron said, almost boredly. He'd slag the glitch for getting himself captured on a slagging pleasure trip.

"Use of the space bridge un-harassed and a guaranteed ceasefire for the next week."

Megatron snapped back, "He isn't worth that. You can keep him if that's what you require." He knew damned well that holding on to Skywarp was a lot harder than capturing him.

"I see. Then we will use the disabled teleport unit and study it. It would certainly help us either way." Optimus said steadfastly.
Megatron made a distinct sound and Thundercracker could see the snarl on his faceplates.

"Fine. I want him delivered within the cycle." He knew he couldn't afford to have them study Skywarp too closely, for several reasons. So he did an about-face. Soundwave's visor flashed, and even Thundercracker thought that he may have given in too easily...but if Skywarp was captured, where were the twins?! His coding forced him to walk in and he faced the screen, much to the surprise of his commander.

"Prime." Thundercracker said softly. "Where are my younglings?"

Behind him, the Warlord scowled dangerously in response to the audacity of the Seeker. Optimus studied Thundercracker for several moments before he supplied, in a sincere tone, but one also brooking no compromise for the moment, "They are safe and healthy. I will not tell you more than that."

The protective instinct that welled up in the blue Seeker was enough to make him actually dismiss his Lord Commander, and he literally snarled at the screen. "You /will/ give my sparklings back to me, or so help me Primus I will take that ship apart to get to them." Garnet optics flared with more anger than Thundercracker had felt in a very long time, and even when Megatron snarled an order at him, he actually waved it away.

Optimus Prime then got to see a bit of how Megatron handled discipline on the Nemesis when Thundercracker went flying face first into the bulkhead, courtesy of the Decepticon Lord's fist. He pressed another button on his chair, not breaking off the conversation with Prime.

"Starscream, if you do not remove your glitch of a trinemate from my presence, you'll be needing a new one."

To say Optimus was sickened by it was an underestimation. But he was not surprised. He'd heard the rumors. Starscream was to the bridge quickly, face in a perfect snarl only faltering when he saw Thundercracker clutching his ruined nasal ridge with energon dribbling over his fingers where he held them against his face and the ruined bulkhead behind him.

"Remove him from my sight, Starscream." Megatron said dangerously and though Starscream wanted to scream at him and put a laser through his core, his more pressing priority was Thundercracker.

Starscream said not a single word, only leading his trinemate off the bridge. He didn't take him to medbay, either; he took him back to their quarters, where he prepared his first aid kit. His lines froze when Thundercracker was finally able to speak, though.

"Autobots. Twins. They have them. And Warp." he said through the energon that had been choking him.

The tool in Star's hand clattered to the floor. "We have to go. We have to go now."

Thundercracker shook his helm, snatching a cloth from the kit and holding it to his leaking plating. As much as he'd hate to credit anything to Megatron, the punch to the face did help him clear his mind.

"We need a plan. We can't just fly in there. We'll be shot down and then where will they be?"

"We need to go. That tin-plated fragger will deal for Warp, but not for the twins..." Starscream said. He looked at Thundercracker, and the look on his trineleader's face was... One he thought he'd never see. Starscream could almost hear Sunstreaker sobbing his little spark out, and he...just couldn't. He'd promised to protect them.

"Star. Please." TC said. "I want to go just as badly as you do...but we can't risk getting deactivated. We need to figure something out."

Just then, a knock came on the door.

Starscream stood, wings flared and ready to defend his wounded trinemate for the first time in a long time. He answered the door, reeling back in surprise when Soundwave's masked face greeted him.

"What do you want?" He sneered.

"Soundwave: Has a plan."

Morning came and it wasn't the suddenly the very bright lights that woke the twins up. No, it was the grinding of hungry tanks as Sunstreaker shot up, startled by the feeling and sound.

Sideswipe, jostled by his brother, shot up as well, rubbing at his optics groggily as Sunstreaker cursed at the very rude and sudden awakening. The yellow halfling growled and glared at the figure standing at the door, the red and white loundmmouth behind him. The mech was smaller, his demeanor more relaxed and his black and white frame leaned against the door with an ease that the twins felt wasn't entirely truthful. A blue visor gleamed cheerily even as a low whistle left the white faceplates.

"Frag, Ratch. He swears almost as fluently as you."

"Oh shove it, glitch."

Sideswipe giggled, but quickliy caught himself when Sunstreaker shot a glare at him. Glitch pushed off the doorframe and stepped into the room, followed closely by Loudmouth.

"How're you boys doin' this mornin'?" Glitch asked.

"Shove it up yer exhaust and turn it sideways." Sunstreaker said immediately. "Nothin' to say to anybot who doesn't feed us."

"Yeah, frag off!" Sideswipe chimed in. "Autobots are mean, starving younglings! Star an' TC an' Warp are gonna frag you up so hard yer afts'll be where yer heads used to be!"

The blue visored mech gave Ratchet a Look. "Ya didn't feed 'em? Primus, Ratch, it's not like we don't have plenty and it's not like ya ta ferget-"

Ratchet racked his processor. Surely he'd told someone to bring them fuel last nightcycle, and then this morning...

Well Loudmouth had a name now. Ratch. What a weird name.

Jazz sighed dramatically and then turned to the younglings. "Ah apologize few mah friend here. He's a little scatter processored sometimes." Ratchet scowled behind him. "Well, as it just so happens, ah happen to have two youngling sized rations on me! Good ol' Jazz always thinks ahead."

And now Glitch had a name also. Jazz was much better than Ratchet in both twins' opinions. Still, they eyed him warily as he produced two cubes from out of subspace. "They ain't poisoned. Trust meh. I'll even try it mahself if ya want."

"Do it." Sunny said, scowling. He'd had bad energon before, and even though it looked good, they'd fallen for that trick before. It was how they'd gotten Sunny into that house... Sunstreaker shivered slightly, and it wasn't because of the temperature. Sideswipe grabbed his hand, sensing the tension in his twin's frame and spark, watching.

Jazz merely shrugged and took a big sip from each cube in turn, placing them both in full view of the twins as they waited silently. After a few moments when Jazz hadn't keeled over or began purging, Sideswipe grabbed the cubes and gave one to his brother, drinking it almost greedily. They'd gotten used to regular rations.

"How are you feeling?" the one called Ratch asked the twins, and they only stared at him.

"Where's Sky?" Sideswipe asked in a challenging tone.

Ratchet sighed as he moved to check the monitors that he'd secretly installed while Jazz dealed with the dual glares of doom. Though they looked more like pouts on such cherub round looking faces.

"Ya don't gotta worry 'bout 'im. He's gotta get fixed. He was hurt worse thant you two were. An' he's still sleepin'."

"I don't believe you." Sunstreaker said stubbornly, hard to take seriously with an energon moustache of sorts.

"We wanna see him. Not gonna do slag for you until we do." Sideswipe said, speaking for them both.

Jazz was inclined to allow it; after all, Skywarp was deep in medical stasis at the moment, being prepped for surgery. Ratchet gave a quick shake of his head, though, and sent a comm for good measure.

/Prowl will annhiliate you if you do, Jazz./

/Oh, Ratch, ya gotta let meh handle 'im./ Jazz returned with his signature grin. /Ah'll tell 'im you know nothin'./

/But-/

Jazz looked at the twins, then put one finger to his lips. "Just for a minute, an' ya can't say Ah let ya." His cheerful tone was firm, and both twins could tell he meant business. After giving Ratchet another wary look, Sunny nodded, followed by his older twin. Jazz then led the twins to the door of Isolation Four to look upon their friend and surrogate creator.

"See. Told ya he was alright." There was a blanket over the seeker's slagged frame aside from his face which was mostly scratched up. It still made the twins flinch a bit. "He'll be fine." Jazz assured, patting them both on the shoulder, though Sunstreaker stiffened.

The main door opened again, admitting a large framed mech. That neither twin noticed until he spoke. Right behind them.

"Oh my... you really weren't kidding."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker whirled around... and then looked up. Way up. Until startled golden optics met rather delighted deep blue ones. "Hello." The towering flier said gently.

Sideswipe moved instinctively back toward Skywarp, even though Warp couldn't do a thing to help him. "Primus." he squeaked. Sunstreaker just stared...he was bigger than even those Arena mechs he remembered!

"Hey, 'Fire. You here for..." Jazz jerked a thumb at the twins.

"Yes...yes, I believe I am." Skyfire said, his tones gentle. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, I would like it if you came with me."

"No!" the twins said in unison.

Skyfire didn't look irritated like Ratch had over their instant rejection. Instead he knelt lower so he wasn't looming over the tiny (by comparison) mechlings. "There is nothing you can do here. Skywarp will be fine, but he needs to heal first. I'm sure you boys are bored, yes?"

"No." Sunny said stubbornly, just as Sideswipe cried "Primus, yes!"

Sunstreaker gave his twin an aggrieved look and the crimson halfer just shrugged; hey, it was true!

"I want to stay with Warp, and I want to go home." Sunstreaker said, and it was then that he looked his true age, like a scared youngling instead of a miniature tough-bot.

"You cannot stay here with him, Sunstreaker. He needs repair, and you would be in the way, possibly delaying it, if you stayed." Skyfire explained, and that made sense to the twins.

"Yer just gonna keep him away from up after though!" Sideswipe declared, upset. Warp was his favorite! He didn't want the 'Bots to make him dead! "You'll make him dead an' I won't see him again!"

Skyfire shook his helm gently. "We're not. I promise."

The twins stared at him dubiously until Jazz chimed in. "Tell ya what. Ya can come back every cycle ta see him so ya know we aren't liars." Ratchet could be heard grumbling in the background about mechlings going to be underfoot, but he went largely ignored. "An' in exchange ya gotta behave as best ya can, 'kay? We won't keep ya from seein' 'im, but the better ya behave, the longer ya can stay." He held out a servo with a wide, warm smile. "Deal?"

Sunstreaker didn't want to touch him...and he also didn't trust him. Golden optics narrowed at Jazz just as Sideswipe gave the visored Ops mech a significant look, almost as if trying to read his intentions from his frame. Finally, he nodded slowly. What choice did they have, really? And if they pretended to behave, and listen and watch, maybe they could escape and take Warp with them. Then Star would be so proud, that they'd gotten away from the Bots and saved Skywarp!

Sideswipe began to smile, and Skyfire tilted his helm. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sunstreaker caught the emotions through their bond and even though he thought it wouldn't work, he agreed- they had little choice, and it was better than being locked in that room.

"Deal." They said in unison, both hands gripping the one and Jazz's answering smile was brilliant.

"Thanks, kiddos. That really helps a bunch." He glanced up at his big friend. "Skyfire, ya wanna show our newest boys the ship?"

Skyfire chuckled. "I don't see why my project can't wait a little longer."

"Project?" Sideswipe said doubtfully. That sounded an awful lot like lessons, and frag if he was gonna do 'em here.

"Yes." Skyfire said patiently. "I am a scientist and work in the labs."

"Like Star!" Sunstreaker cut in, unable to stop himself. He loved going to Starscream's lab on the Nemesis; there were so many interesting things there.

And that was when Skyfire's deep blue optics looked...almost sad, Sideswipe decided. "Yes. Like Starscream." Skyfire said, looking at the wall for a moment. "I knew him a very long time ago."

The Twins' attention was suddenly caught and Sideswipe patted his leg. "Really? Can ya tell us stories?"

Skyfire shook himself from his sudden reverie and looked again at the sparklings. He smiled. "How about we see the ship first. Then we can share stories later."

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