It had been months since the encounter that had changed their perception of the universe and their place in it. Over a year, in fact, since the most fantastical, terrifying night of their life.

"Ready, Kaoru?" Hikaru asked, pulling his duffel out of the storage compartment.

"Ready, Hikaru," Kaoru replied, slinging his own bag over one shoulder.

Turning and facing forward, they strode off the plane and into the LAX customs area.

Twin Terrors
by K. Stonham
first released 2nd May 2008

They'd expected to be met at the airport, so finding Sam and Mikaela waiting wasn't a surprise. They both looked more or less the way they had that night at Yokosuka, and didn't even bother holding up a cardboard sign the way so many greeting parties did. Sam's easy grin and Mikaela's bright smile were welcome enough to this county.

"How was the trip?" Mikaela asked. She looked behind them. "No luggage?"

"We shipped it all ahead to the house," Kaoru told her. House, not mansion. Haruhi had taught them both a lot about how to interact with commoners, not that Hikaru had listened as carefully.

Not that Sam and Mikaela were exactly "common."

"The flight was fine," Hikaru told their e-mail pen pals. "How have things been here?"

"Same old, same old," Sam replied with a shrug. "Things've been pretty quiet recently. Thankfully."

"Come on, our ride's at the curb," Mikaela said, and led the way.

The twins grinned as they exited the sliding glass airport doors, breathing deeply for the first time in several hours of fresh, non-recirculated air. Sitting idling at the curb was Sam's car, a sleek yellow Camaro with black racing stripes. They'd seen the vehicle in another form, an alien warrior, and knew that it was definitely more than met the eye.

They didn't expect the two cars that pulled out of the circling traffic and bullied their way into the two spots right behind the Camaro.

Gleaming gold. Shining scarlet.

As one, their breath stopped for a moment, then started again.

"I thought-" Hikaru started.

"They never wrote," Kaoru accused.

"You really think we didn't all figure out why you two picked colleges in L.A.?" Mikaela asked.

The drivers' side doors on both Lamborghinis slid invitingly upward.

"Go on," Sam urged. "We'll see you at your place."

Almost unwillingly, the Hitachiin brothers took their first steps back toward their first cars.

There was a moment of silence after Sunstreaker's door closed before he pulled out into traffic, driving himself. Finally, Kaoru spoke. "I thought you were off on missions, chasing down Decepticons or something."

"We have been," the Autobot replied, taking a right out of the airport and going under the runway. "Bumblebee's humans said you were arriving today, though."

"You could have written."

"Why?" Sunstreaker asked, following the Camaro onto a freeway.

"Because we're..." Kaoru stopped and tried to find the word he wanted. Nakama, comrade, wasn't quite the right word. But they weren't tomodachi, friends, either. "Because," he finally said weakly, defiantly.

Sunstreaker was quiet for a moment. "Do you know why I hate the 'Cons?" he finally asked.

"No."

The Autobot's voice held barely repressed rage. "I was an artist. Sides was a trader. Then their army swept into our city and made us all slaves. The lucky ones made it into the gladiatorial rings. The rest were smelted for parts." His voice was low and murderous. "They put a collar on my brother."

Kaoru was silent. "Hikaru's the only person I would die for. He's also the only person I'd kill for. And I'm never going to tell him that."

Another brief silence. "Maybe you can understand, then," Sunstreaker admitted.

Hikaru stared out the windshield. "Are all American freeways this wide?" he asked. Seven lanes stretched away before them, either direction.

"Ha! Slag, no," Sideswipe retorted. "Even this one doesn't stay this wide for long. So why CalTech?" he asked abruptly, changing the subject.

"It's one of the best universities in the world for Electrical Engineering, and Kaoru wanted to study fashion at FIDM, and we were not going to end up on opposite sides of the planet," Hikaru answered, leaning back in his seat and looking out at the road that seemed to stretch on forever on either side. He glanced at the dashboard. "I didn't know you were interested in what we were studying," he said levelly.

The alien robot winced. "That was Sunny's idea," he replied. "We really didn't think we'd see you again, and... clean breaks are easier."

Hikaru frowned a little, the reminder of their war and what Sam and Mikaela had hinted at all the Autobots having lost dragging his mood down. "We're kind of hard to get rid of," he pointed out. "I don't know if we'll be any help, but we've been taking shooting lessons for the last year."

Sideswipe was quiet for a minute, then replied almost gently, "Friends aren't just people who help out, you know."

"No," Hikaru replied. "But they're people who want to."

The keening whoop of a siren startled Kaoru and he sat up straight, glancing by instinct in the mirrors before remembering that he wasn't actually driving. He twisted to look out the Reventon's tiny glass-slatted back window. "Is that...?" he asked hesitantly. It didn't look like the police car that had chased them back in Japan, but that probably didn't matter for Cybertronians.

"Bumblebee, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe," a familiar voice cracked out from the Reventon's speakers with the precision of a whip, "I would expect you to have better sense by now. Do human speed laws mean nothing to you?"

"Yeah," Sunstreaker's voice sounded resignedly from all around Kaoru, "that would be Prowl."

Behind the black-and-white police car that chased them, a second vehicle of the same model followed, decked out in white and tan colors, but given it was flashing sirens as well, it was doubtless some other law authority. Or alien robot pretending to be one. "Hey, did you get them from the airport okay?" an unfamiliar voice asked via Sideswipe's speakers. "How was their flight? I've never been on a human aircraft-do you think they fly a lot differently than the ones back home? They don't make very good time, but then humans are pretty fragile so I guess they can't travel as fast-"

"Bluestreak," Prowl's voice cut over the stranger's, with just a hint of... what, chagrin? embarrassment? Hikaru didn't know what to call it.

"Sorry, Prowl, I just really really want to meet Sunny and Sides' humans. They sound really interesting and it'd be nice..."

"Is he always like that?" Hikaru muttered almost under his breath.

"You have no idea," Sideswipe replied at the same volume.

"Sam," Mikaela's voice carried up from the courtyard. Hikaru and Kaoru paused inside the hallway, near a window, listening.

"Yes?" her boyfriend replied.

"I thought your parents' place was nice."

"Mm-hmm," he agreed.

"This place is fraggin' unbelievable." Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged a glance. It was an okay summer home, if a touch small. Well, small by their standards. It was bordered about by tall eucalyptus trees, though, sheltering the property enough that the Autobots had been able to transform once the two of them had given the staff the rest of the day off. The robotic aliens were now lounging about the paved courtyard with their human friends.

"I think she's been picking up Ratchet's vocabulary," Sam's voice said to someone else as Hikaru and Kaoru shrugged at one another and continued toward the outer door.

"I think you're right," Bumblebee agreed.

"Hey, Mikaela," Hikaru called as they reappeared out in the bright California sunshine. One hand toyed with a keychain.

"What?" she called back up to him.

"Catch," Kaoru instructed as his twin tossed the keys into the air. They spun, a glittering silver shuriken that she snatched out of the air and looked at confusedly. They grinned identical Cheshire grins at her. "You're the one going to university across the street," Kaoru continued, gesturing to the east.

"Our home is your home," Hikaru explained, with an open-handed wave that included Sam and all the Autobots as well.

"Our six car garage is your six car garage?" Kaoru asked his brother.

Grinning, "Our wax is your wax!" they concluded together, having confirmed that that shipment had also arrived.

Sideswipe's optics went wide. "You didn't."

They let their smirks be his answer. Bribery, as Kyouya had taught them, worked. Even on people from different planets. They benevolently gestured as one at the garage on one side of the paved courtyard.

Bumblebee turned what could only be described as pleading optics on Sam and Mikaela.

"What's wax?" Bluestreak asked his brother.

With a surprising delicacy and care, Prowl touched Bluestreak's arm, his nigh-omnipresent frown melting away. "You'll like it," he promised gently.

"Five cars, four pairs of hands," Sam calculated out. "This could take a while."

"You got anywhere better to be, LadiesMan?" Mikaela teased.

"Pit, no."

Author's Note: I'm an Angeleno (does it show?). Yes, the 405 freeway right at LAX really is seven lanes either direction. The Hitachiin house in LA is in Bel Air (as in, "Fresh Prince of"). This would be because I ended up driving past a bit of it on the way to a summer course I took at UCLA. It really is that freakin' posh. I'm figuring that at this point in the story Bluestreak is still pretty newly rebuilt so he hasn't gotten too much experience of life on Earth. His alt mode (as well as Prowl's at this point) is a Crown Victoria. I figured if Prowl went for traditional police markings Bluestreak could go for Highway Patrol colors... And, no, I didn't bring Jazz back. Unlike Blue, he gets to stay dead.