Pulse (30, Always, Sunstreaker/Sideswipe)
Title: Pulse
Prompt: 3.0. Always // Don't ever leave me
Fandom: Transformers
Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Ratchet
Word Count: 1470
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: This is set in the original G1 series, towards the beginning of the series. Italic dialogue indicates private communication between the twins.
-Pulse-
System rebooting.
Sideswipe gave a groan as his processor was pulled back online. His optics flickered on, taking a moment to let the sensors adjust to the light of the Autobot medical bay. He lifted one hand to shield his optics from the light as they adjusted, then pushed himself up.
“Don’t you even think about getting off that berth.”
Sideswipe tilted his head so he could see the medic who gave the order. Ratchet was on the other side of the med bay, busily welding what looked to be a panel of Sideswipe’s armor. The red melee fighter looked down at himself and saw that his entire hood had been removed. Internal wiring and circuitry, even his spark chamber, lay exposed. He could see the extent of the damage he’d taken and the repairs that Ratchet had already made. He gave a wince at the memory of the shot he’d taken and who he’d taken it for.
“Where’s Sunstreaker?” Sideswipe asked.
Ratchet looked up from his work. “Prowl had him taken down to the brig.”
“What?” the red mech demanded, twisting to face the medic.
Ratchet held up his arc welder, pointing it at Sideswipe with a glare. “You lay back down this instant. If you pull any of those cables out of place, I’m welding your aft to that berth.”
“Why was Sunstreaker taken the brig?” Sideswipe insisted, stubbornly refusing to lie down until he got an answer.
A sigh escaped the white medic. “When he saw you take that shot, he went wild. Started attacking our own, trying to get to you. We had to put him down there for his and our own safety.”
“He’s not going to be happy when he gets out.”
“We’ll deal with that when it happens,” Ratchet said, going back to his work on Sideswipe’s hood. “For now, it keeps him out of here and out of my way. Now lay down before I have to come over there.”
Frowning, Sideswipe did as he was told. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he let his optics flicker back off and shutter closed. Concentrating, he felt along the connection he shared with his brother and pushed at the bond. Being that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were twins, they had always been able to communicate in private ways. One such way was an unspoken exchange of pulses sent from their very sparks. The resonating pulses could only be picked up by the other twin. It’d been explained to them once--something about their sparks having been one and the same before splitting during the bearing cycling. They’d never really paid attention to the explanation.
Each pulse Sideswipe sent over the connection to his brother meant a different thing. They’d worked out a language of their own at an early age, translating each word of the Cybertronian language into pulses and using those pulses to communicate in secret when they were supposed to be recharging, to keep their creators from overhearing of secrets they shared. They continued to use it now, as adult mechs, for the same reasons as they had when they were younglings; it was their secret language. No one else could use it.
“Sunstreaker?” Sideswipe asked, using the pulses to call his twin’s name.
He felt the jump of his brother’s spark before the other responded with pulses of his own. “Sideswipe! You aft! I’ve been trying to connect to you for over a joor!”
A smirk appeared on Sideswipe’s face. Despite the irritation he could feel through their bond, he knew that Sunstreaker had been worried. “I’ve been offline.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” The force behind the pulses relayed the snappy response.
Sideswipe quickly sent a wave over their connection in an attempt to sooth the anger his brother was feeling. “I’m online now. Are you alright?”
There wasn’t an immediate response. After half a breem, Sideswipe repeated the second part of his message, only to get an irritated wave in return.
“How can you ask me that? You’re the one who took a direct shot from Megatron’s cannon.”
Sideswipe paused, feeling the sudden concern that washed over the connection from his brother’s spark. He waited, keeping his response held back. He pulled his lower lip in, emulating a gesture of anxiety that he’d seen a few humans demonstrate as he waited for Sunstreaker to say something else.
“Why did you take that hit?” Sunstreaker asked, the pulses forming the question slower in their relay, indicating that the yellow twin was upset. “He was aiming for me.”
“You’re my brother,” Sideswipe replied. “I wasn’t going to let him take you down.”
He could almost feel the angry snarl that Sunstreaker surely let out at that. “So you let him take you down instead?!”
Sideswipe gave a sigh, prompting a curious look from Ratchet. The medic had never seen the twins when they were communicating through their sparks, so he had no way of knowing that was the case. He came over, having just finished with the welds on Sideswipe’s hood and did a diagnostic run on the red twin, checking for anything out of the ordinary before he began replacing the panel.
Sideswipe ignored the medic as he went about replacing his armor and concentrated on his twin again. “Sunny, I wasn’t going to let him take you away from me.”
“And what about you? Did you think I would want him taking you from me?”
Sideswipe paused at that. He hadn’t thought about that. Granted, the only thing he had been thinking at the time was making sure that blast didn’t hit his brother. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to continue functioning without Sunstreaker and it wouldn’t be any surprise if Sunstreaker wouldn’t be able to go on without him. They were, after all, twins; two parts of the same whole. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with. Apart, they were just two more mechs.
“Sideswipe, I thought I was going to lose you. Don’t you ever do that again. Don’t you ever leave me.”
The wave of anger, pain and, to his surprise, fear that Sideswipe could feel resonating from his brother left Sideswipe speechless. Sunstreaker, his strong, better-than-thou brother, was scared. Sideswipe had never felt that from his twin; Sunstreaker had always been the fearless brother, the one who went charging in with guns blazing and grin on his face.
“Sunstreaker,” Sideswipe told him, sending a wave of assurance over their connection. “I’d never leave you. You’re my twin and I love you. Always.”
Sunstreaker didn’t respond. Sideswipe almost thought that his brother had cut him off, but the connection was still strong. He was about to push at the bond again when Ratchet finished replacing his armor and told him he was clear to leave. Sideswipe shifted, pushing himself off the medical berth and, ignoring Ratchet’s gruff mutter of “I don’t want to see you in here again for a deca-cycle,” headed out of the med bay and through the corridors of the Autobot base, keeping the connection between him and his twin open, in case Sunstreaker broke his silence.
He made his way through the base and down to the brig, walking past an irritated Ironhide and to the holding cell where Sunstreaker sat. He stood in front of his brother’s cell and looked through the glowing bars of energy that separated the two of them.
“Sunstreaker?”
Sunstreaker looked up, then stood and stepped towards the entrance of the cell. Sideswipe spared a glance at Ironhide, who gave a nod and hit the button on the controls to shut down the energy that made up the barricade between the twins. Sunstreaker stood there for a moment, waiting for Sideswipe to take the first step toward him. Sideswipe approached his brother and slid his arms around Sunstreaker, silently burying his face in the crook of his brother’s neck. Sunstreaker pulled him close and returned the gesture.
“Promise me you won’t do that again,” he demanded, his vocalizer quiet as he spoke. “I never want to see you hurt like that again.”
“I can’t do that,” Sideswipe replied. “I told you. I’m not letting you be taken away from me.”
“And I’m not letting you be taken away from me. You’re all I have.”
Sideswipe pulled away from Sunstreaker. “Then we’ll have to watch each other’s back. You’re all I have, too, you know.”
“I know,” Sunstreaker said. He pulled Sideswipe back to him, bringing his twin close and pressing his lips against Sideswipe’s for a long moment.
A pulse accompanied the kiss. Since Sunstreaker’s mouth was too busy to say it, the pulse said it for him: “I love you, Sideswipe.”
Sideswipe smiled into the kiss and sent of pulse of his own.
“I love you, too.”
-Fin-
Prompt: 3.0. Always // Don't ever leave me
Fandom: Transformers
Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Ratchet
Word Count: 1470
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: This is set in the original G1 series, towards the beginning of the series. Italic dialogue indicates private communication between the twins.
-Pulse-
System rebooting.
Sideswipe gave a groan as his processor was pulled back online. His optics flickered on, taking a moment to let the sensors adjust to the light of the Autobot medical bay. He lifted one hand to shield his optics from the light as they adjusted, then pushed himself up.
“Don’t you even think about getting off that berth.”
Sideswipe tilted his head so he could see the medic who gave the order. Ratchet was on the other side of the med bay, busily welding what looked to be a panel of Sideswipe’s armor. The red melee fighter looked down at himself and saw that his entire hood had been removed. Internal wiring and circuitry, even his spark chamber, lay exposed. He could see the extent of the damage he’d taken and the repairs that Ratchet had already made. He gave a wince at the memory of the shot he’d taken and who he’d taken it for.
“Where’s Sunstreaker?” Sideswipe asked.
Ratchet looked up from his work. “Prowl had him taken down to the brig.”
“What?” the red mech demanded, twisting to face the medic.
Ratchet held up his arc welder, pointing it at Sideswipe with a glare. “You lay back down this instant. If you pull any of those cables out of place, I’m welding your aft to that berth.”
“Why was Sunstreaker taken the brig?” Sideswipe insisted, stubbornly refusing to lie down until he got an answer.
A sigh escaped the white medic. “When he saw you take that shot, he went wild. Started attacking our own, trying to get to you. We had to put him down there for his and our own safety.”
“He’s not going to be happy when he gets out.”
“We’ll deal with that when it happens,” Ratchet said, going back to his work on Sideswipe’s hood. “For now, it keeps him out of here and out of my way. Now lay down before I have to come over there.”
Frowning, Sideswipe did as he was told. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he let his optics flicker back off and shutter closed. Concentrating, he felt along the connection he shared with his brother and pushed at the bond. Being that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were twins, they had always been able to communicate in private ways. One such way was an unspoken exchange of pulses sent from their very sparks. The resonating pulses could only be picked up by the other twin. It’d been explained to them once--something about their sparks having been one and the same before splitting during the bearing cycling. They’d never really paid attention to the explanation.
Each pulse Sideswipe sent over the connection to his brother meant a different thing. They’d worked out a language of their own at an early age, translating each word of the Cybertronian language into pulses and using those pulses to communicate in secret when they were supposed to be recharging, to keep their creators from overhearing of secrets they shared. They continued to use it now, as adult mechs, for the same reasons as they had when they were younglings; it was their secret language. No one else could use it.
“Sunstreaker?” Sideswipe asked, using the pulses to call his twin’s name.
He felt the jump of his brother’s spark before the other responded with pulses of his own. “Sideswipe! You aft! I’ve been trying to connect to you for over a joor!”
A smirk appeared on Sideswipe’s face. Despite the irritation he could feel through their bond, he knew that Sunstreaker had been worried. “I’ve been offline.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” The force behind the pulses relayed the snappy response.
Sideswipe quickly sent a wave over their connection in an attempt to sooth the anger his brother was feeling. “I’m online now. Are you alright?”
There wasn’t an immediate response. After half a breem, Sideswipe repeated the second part of his message, only to get an irritated wave in return.
“How can you ask me that? You’re the one who took a direct shot from Megatron’s cannon.”
Sideswipe paused, feeling the sudden concern that washed over the connection from his brother’s spark. He waited, keeping his response held back. He pulled his lower lip in, emulating a gesture of anxiety that he’d seen a few humans demonstrate as he waited for Sunstreaker to say something else.
“Why did you take that hit?” Sunstreaker asked, the pulses forming the question slower in their relay, indicating that the yellow twin was upset. “He was aiming for me.”
“You’re my brother,” Sideswipe replied. “I wasn’t going to let him take you down.”
He could almost feel the angry snarl that Sunstreaker surely let out at that. “So you let him take you down instead?!”
Sideswipe gave a sigh, prompting a curious look from Ratchet. The medic had never seen the twins when they were communicating through their sparks, so he had no way of knowing that was the case. He came over, having just finished with the welds on Sideswipe’s hood and did a diagnostic run on the red twin, checking for anything out of the ordinary before he began replacing the panel.
Sideswipe ignored the medic as he went about replacing his armor and concentrated on his twin again. “Sunny, I wasn’t going to let him take you away from me.”
“And what about you? Did you think I would want him taking you from me?”
Sideswipe paused at that. He hadn’t thought about that. Granted, the only thing he had been thinking at the time was making sure that blast didn’t hit his brother. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to continue functioning without Sunstreaker and it wouldn’t be any surprise if Sunstreaker wouldn’t be able to go on without him. They were, after all, twins; two parts of the same whole. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with. Apart, they were just two more mechs.
“Sideswipe, I thought I was going to lose you. Don’t you ever do that again. Don’t you ever leave me.”
The wave of anger, pain and, to his surprise, fear that Sideswipe could feel resonating from his brother left Sideswipe speechless. Sunstreaker, his strong, better-than-thou brother, was scared. Sideswipe had never felt that from his twin; Sunstreaker had always been the fearless brother, the one who went charging in with guns blazing and grin on his face.
“Sunstreaker,” Sideswipe told him, sending a wave of assurance over their connection. “I’d never leave you. You’re my twin and I love you. Always.”
Sunstreaker didn’t respond. Sideswipe almost thought that his brother had cut him off, but the connection was still strong. He was about to push at the bond again when Ratchet finished replacing his armor and told him he was clear to leave. Sideswipe shifted, pushing himself off the medical berth and, ignoring Ratchet’s gruff mutter of “I don’t want to see you in here again for a deca-cycle,” headed out of the med bay and through the corridors of the Autobot base, keeping the connection between him and his twin open, in case Sunstreaker broke his silence.
He made his way through the base and down to the brig, walking past an irritated Ironhide and to the holding cell where Sunstreaker sat. He stood in front of his brother’s cell and looked through the glowing bars of energy that separated the two of them.
“Sunstreaker?”
Sunstreaker looked up, then stood and stepped towards the entrance of the cell. Sideswipe spared a glance at Ironhide, who gave a nod and hit the button on the controls to shut down the energy that made up the barricade between the twins. Sunstreaker stood there for a moment, waiting for Sideswipe to take the first step toward him. Sideswipe approached his brother and slid his arms around Sunstreaker, silently burying his face in the crook of his brother’s neck. Sunstreaker pulled him close and returned the gesture.
“Promise me you won’t do that again,” he demanded, his vocalizer quiet as he spoke. “I never want to see you hurt like that again.”
“I can’t do that,” Sideswipe replied. “I told you. I’m not letting you be taken away from me.”
“And I’m not letting you be taken away from me. You’re all I have.”
Sideswipe pulled away from Sunstreaker. “Then we’ll have to watch each other’s back. You’re all I have, too, you know.”
“I know,” Sunstreaker said. He pulled Sideswipe back to him, bringing his twin close and pressing his lips against Sideswipe’s for a long moment.
A pulse accompanied the kiss. Since Sunstreaker’s mouth was too busy to say it, the pulse said it for him: “I love you, Sideswipe.”
Sideswipe smiled into the kiss and sent of pulse of his own.
“I love you, too.”
-Fin-