The speedster's helm lifted when he heard the brig door open.
Swiftly, he sat up and rubbed his optics.
He couldn't let whoever it was that was coming know that he'd been lying on the floor in recharge.
Exhaustion was seen as a form of weakness in some mecha's optics.
Dimly, he recognized the pedesteps of the incoming mecha and relaxed.
This one, while not exactly the kindest mecha in the Autobot ranks, wasn't necessarily cruel to him.
A pair of red optics looked in at the speedster through the small, barred window.
"Yo," Steeldust said with a wry grin. He then frowned, noting his voice sounded off from lack of use. "What's up?"
"I've been sent to come and get you," Sunstreaker said quietly. Reaching in subspace, he brought out a key.
Steeldust perked up at the sound of the lock turning, but didn't get up.
Opening the door, Sunstreaker looked expectantly towards his fellow Autobot.
"Are you coming?"
Tilting his helm, Steeldust studied him carefully. "Are ya for real?"
With a scoff, Sunstreaker shook his helm, entering the cell. "I'm not like Cliffjumper, you idiot. Come on."
Steeldust took Sunstreaker's extended hand and let him pull him to his pedes.
If it weren't for the former gladiator looking at the other young mech's faceplate, he would've missed the momentary wince of pain as he stood.
"Are you alright?" Sunstreaker asked, glancing at his hand and back to the other mech.
He'd assumed that the dried energon covering Steeldust was from the mission he was on before he got thrown in the brig. Not his own.
Or at least not mostly.
But the frontliner wouldn't be surprised if there had been a minor injury overlooked or unknown by the Prime and the bodyguards who had chucked Steeldust down here.
Or that Ricochet kicked him around first.
Steeldust, caught off guard by the question, shook himself. His signature grin and casual attitude returned, hiding whatever momentary surprise he had had.
"Same as always, Sunstreaker."
He passed the other young mech, patting him on the shoulder as he went.
"Thanks for coming to get me. Say, what day is it? Being in here always screws with my internal clock."
"It's Tuesday," Sunstreaker replied with a frown, following his friend and wiping the dried energon off of his hand and shoulder.
"Huh, it's only been a day then," Steeldust said quietly, not looking away from the brig entrance. "Weird."
Sunstreaker said nothing, just followed.
It was none of his business what the ops 'bot did and how often he got himself in trouble.
And he knew that Steeldust knew how to avoid trouble.
The frontliner shook his helm as the pair left the brig and headed to the rest of the base.
That was one of the things that he didn't get about the spec ops 'bot. And his own brother.
Both Sideswipe and Steeldust seemed to thrive on running to trouble.
Except in Steeldust's case, when he was caught it didn't work well for him.
Sunstreaker quickly found himself losing the limping, fast walking speedster.
"Steel," he called. "Wait up a minute."
It took a few seconds, as if the special op needed to decide whether or not he was going to stop.
But he did, turning his helm to look over his shoulder at Sunstreaker.
Closing the distance with several steps, the frontliner leaned forward, speaking in a whisper.
"I need your advice. And maybe your help."
Steeldust rose his optic ridges, turning fully to face the taller frontliner.
"What is it?" he asked in a curious whisper.
Hesitating, Sunstreaker frowned. He'd thought about whether or not it was a good idea to ask Steeldust for help.
And he still wasn't sure.
But Steeldust was one of his few friends.
And one of Sideswipe's.
Leaning closer again, Sunstreaker decided to go for it.
Steeldust froze as he whispered three words in his audio.
"Sideswipe isn't dead."
///
The Vosian captain paused from his observation of the troops, looking towards the ship's entrance. His young companion, one of the Commander's trinemates, noticed this.
"Sir?" Skywarp inquired, curiosity in his tone.
The older Vosian turned to the younger one. "I need to attend to something, Skywarp. Please ensure the Eradicons finish this drill. You all can be dismissed afterwards."
"Yes, Sir," Skywarp replied smartly, grin wide on his faceplate.
It was not very often that the captain let him lead the training drills.
Nodding once and returning a smile to the eager young mech, the captain swiftly took his leave of the rest.
Entering the ship, he headed towards the lab.
Something had made his son distressed. Ironshadow could feel it through their bond.
He had an inkling of what was the cause.
Also, through a much fainter bond, he could feel another family member's distress.
The Vosian captain did know one thing for certain.
His daughter was present aboard the Nemesis.
And she likely was not here for good reasons.
If Iron Blade was involved, then Ironshadow needed to move quickly.
"My children still get along like much younger children," he thought to himself as he strode down the halls.
Various groups of Vehicons, noting that the captain was on a mission, moved silently out of his way to let him pass.
"Unfortunately, both Iron Blade and Skyshadow have grown much more dangerous in their fighting."
Uncertainty about Skyshadow's latest reason for sneaking onto the Decepticon ship made Ironshadow uneasy about the outcome of their newest fight.
For even though he had not made it to their location, he knew that they were likely locked in combat.
///
"What do you mean, he's not dead," hissed Steeldust, narrowing his optics at the frontliner. "You said he was. He's been missing since- You know."
Sunstreaker glared, lifting a finger to his mouth. "Not so loud, idiot. I'll tell you more, but not here."
Crossing his servos, Steeldust returned the glare.
Even Sunstreaker had to admit, with the scar that ran from the speedster's optic ridge, across his optic lid, and down to his cheek, he looked intimidating.
"Okay," snapped Steeldust.
Turning, he beckoned for Sunstreaker to follow him. "This way."
Knowing that the other 'bot likely was taking him to a place where they couldn't be overheard, the frontliner followed.
Despite his longer legs, Sunstreaker soon found himself hustling to keep up with the swift speedster.
It turned out that Steeldust intended to stop at the wash racks first, seeing he was still partly covered in a bunch of Decepticon energon.
Sunstreaker didn't actually mind the delay. He himself hated getting dirty.
Waiting outside the wash racks, leaning against the wall, he suspiciously watched the mecha passing by in the hallway.
Something about what happened to Sideswipe didn't add up. And it was bothering him.
One mecha paused when he saw him, drawing near to Sunstreaker's distaste.
"What do you want?" the frontliner demanded with a scowl.
Blurr seemed mostly unfazed by the threatening tone. He stopped in front of the other mech, quick optics darting about before opening his mouth.
"Have you seen my brother?"
Before Sunstreaker could reply, a certain mechling opened the washrack door and joined them outside.
"Looking for me?" Steeldust asked, a smirk on his faceplate.
Turning his helm to his brother, Blurr looked him over once.
"You're injured."
Steeldust shrugged. "I'm fine. It's just a scratch and a few bruises."
The older speedster narrowed his optics. "Ricochet?"
Ignoring him, the red and black speedster turned his attention to Sunstreaker. "I'm gonna grab some energon and then we can go."
"Go where?" inquired Blurr, furrowing his optic ridges. "You two are not on patrol today."
Sunstreaker sent another glare towards Blurr. "None of your business."
"My brother is involved," Blurr replied smoothly, crossing his servos over his chest. "Therefore, so am I."
"Maybe he doesn't want you involved at the moment," hissed Sunstreaker, leaning over the shorter mech. "Don't you think you were already too involved this week?"
Knowing that Sunstreaker was hinting that he had had a hand in getting Steeldust thrown in the brig, Blurr bristled.
Thrusting a finger forward, the intelligence officer jabbed the frontliner in the chest.
"That was not my fault," he hissed.
"No?" asked Sunstreaker with a sneer. He brushed Blurr's hand away. "You had nothing to do with it?"
Steeldust's helm turned back and forth as the two continued to argue.
"How bout the guy who actually was involved has a say?" he protested with a snarl.
He was ignored, Blurr and Sunstreaker now yelling at each other.
Narrowing his optics at the two taller mecha, Steeldust frowned.
"You're hopeless," he muttered. "I'm going to get something to drink."
Stomping away, he continued to mutter as his friend and his brother continued to argue.
About something else other than him now. Likely stuff he didn't care about.
Once he got closer to the energon hall, his keen audios picked up loud chatter of multiple mecha.
One voice in particular, made Steeldust's annoyed expression turn into a snarl.
Entering the room, he quickly located the mech.
"I tell you all, that Blurr is something else," the short mech said from behind the bar counter.
Apparently, it was the annoying chatterbox's turn to man the bar side of the energon hall.
And of course, talk about how awful he thought Blurr was.
"He struts around like he's better than the rest of us," Swerve continued, earning a few nods from the nearby mecha. "Both him and that stuck-up spy Mirage.
"We'd be better without them. Did I tell you all what that dumb speedster said to me the other orn?"
"No, but you probably deserved it," someone spoke up from nearby.
Swerve and his buddies turned to see what newcomer had decided it was a good idea to interrupt.
Some quickly turned back around, finding their drinks suddenly very interesting.
Steeldust stalked closer, optics flashing with anger. Reaching the counter, he stopped in front of the current bartender.
Swerve glared at him from across the counter. "You think so, huh, punk? Then maybe you're just like that worthless, stuck up brother of yours."
A nasty snarl crossed Steeldust's faceplate and before anyone could do anything, he moved.
Decking Swerve square in the faceplate, he watched as the surprised minibot fell to the ground with a clatter, taking several nearby glasses with him.
At the sound of shattering glass, suddenly everyone's attention was on the young speedster.
Not that he cared.
"You sure you wanna talk about my brother like that, Swerve?" Steeldust asked, tone deadly cold.
Swerve sat up, bringing a hand to touch his faceplate, drawing it back when he felt energon. He glared up at the younger mech as he staggered to his pedes, helm still reeling.
The surrounding mecha watched silently, waiting to see what would happen next. A few readied themselves to intervene, but stayed where they were for the moment.
"It's called freedom of speech, brat," Swerve hissed, placing his hands on the counter to steady himself. "And I'm entitled to my opinions. Now buzz off."
He half turned, grabbing a broom to sweep up the broken glass. Glancing back at the speedster, he continued, "You don't have any business being on this side of the room anyways, since you're still underage."
Steeldust crossed his servos and scoffed. "I wouldn't drink even if I was of age. And you talk too much to deserve the right to speak freely about whatever you want."
Swerve whirled around, pointing a finger at the speedster. "Hey. You can't say that- "
"Fight me."
Opening his mouth to say more, Swerve lifted his broom. "Willingly. I hope you- "
Just when the end of the broom was about to collide with the side of his helm, Steeldust reached up and caught it with a hand, halting it in its place.
Swerve tugged at his end of it, but before he could do much, the speedster had a knife in his other hand.
With a swift strike, the broom handle was cut in half and Swerve took a step back as all resistance was gone.
He stared at the sheared end of his broom in shock, then turned his attention back to his opponent.
A sharp smile appeared on the special op's faceplate as he twirled his half of the broomstick.
"Still wanna fight?" he inquired.
Swerve didn't get a chance to reply.
Blurr and Sunstreaker, having ceased arguing when they realized Steeldust had disappeared, made their way to the energon hall.
At the open doorway, they halted when they saw what was going on inside.
Swerve was desperately waving around part of a broom while trying to run away from Steeldust, who was beating him over the helm with the other half.
Various mecha present were cheering the fight on, while others tried to push them out of the way to get to the fighting mecha. Still others were trying to ignore the whole thing.
"Get away from me- Ow! You stupid- Ow!" Swerve yelled, raising the broom and his servos over his helm.
Blurr raised a hand to cover his faceplate. "He hasn't been out of the brig an hour."
Sunstreaker smirked, crossing his servos as he watched the show.
Steeldust looked like he was rather enjoying himself.
After several minutes of the one-sided fight, one mech sitting on a bar stool stood.
"ENOUGH!" he roared.
Immediately, everything stopped.
Mecha returned to their seats at various paces. Swerve ducked under a table, not wishing to face Ironhide's wrath less than he wanted to be continually beat over the helm. Steeldust stayed where he was, crouched on his haunches on top of another table.
Ironhide scanned the room, eyeing each mecha before meeting the gaze of the two troublemakers.
Swerve laughed nervously from under the table, shrinking under the warrior's stare. Steeldust, meanwhile, showed no emotion, levelly returning it.
"You two, get over here," growled Ironhide.
"Oh no," muttered Blurr.
Quickly, Steeldust flipped off of the table and strode over to stand in front of the mech, Swerve following cautiously behind.
"What have you been told about infighting?" Ironhide demanded, leaning over the pair threateningly.
"To not to," Swerve supplied nervously.
Steeldust smirked.
"Shut up!" roared Ironhide, making the minibot cower further. "I didn't ask you for an answer!"
"But you asked a question!" protested Swerve with a frown.
"I didn't want you to answer it! Did you not just learn anything? You don't think about what comes out of your mouth before it does!"
"But- "
"What did I just say?"
Steeldust tilted his helm, looking up at the bigger mech. He gestured a hand towards the minibot. "May I?"
Ironhide rounded on the speedster, who didn't so much as flinch.
"Please do!"
With that, he turned and stomped back to his seat, the remaining few in the nosy crowd that had returned parting for him.
After Ironhide was seated, everyone else turned their attention back to the middle of the room.
"What did he mean?" Swerve asked, arching an optic ridge. He jerked his helm away from Ironhide to look up at the speedster. "What did you mean?"
Steeldust only smirked and drew a servo back.
The minibot's optics widened. "No! No more, please!"
His pleas were ignored and Steeldust decked him once more, knocking him to the floor. Unconscious this time.
Relaxing, Steeldust glanced around, noting everyone was staring.
"Whatcha looking at?" he asked casually before walking away from the fallen minibot.
Joining Blurr and Sunstreaker at the doorway, he tilted his helm, flicking a doorwing.
"You two need something?"
Blurr sent him a disapproving look but sighed and moved out of the way, shaking his helm.
"You are lucky that Ironhide likes you for some reason," he hissed in a whisper.
The red and black shrugged and exited the room with Sunstreaker following him.
"Nice job."
"Thanks. Hey, ya think I should use a broom handle to fight Decepticons? It's pretty effective," Steeldust said with a smirk.
Sunstreaker returned the smirk. "Maybe. But I think your blades are more effective."
"True. Now let's find a place to chat."
Blurr was soon left behind, watching the pair walk quickly down the hall.
He hadn't heard all of what they were saying, but he knew they were up to something.
Not only as his brother but as a fellow ops with a higher rank, Blurr could, and really should, follow Steeldust and demand where he was going and what he was doing.
But the intel officer didn't want to have to report to the Prime about something his brother was up to.
Blurr has done that once.
And never would do it again.
Every time he looked at his little brother, there was a reminder of what had happened when he'd gotten him caught.
And Steeldust hadn't even been doing anything that bad.
Just potentially traitorous.
It had almost cost him an optic.
Blurr was thankful it hadn't. And also, that his brother didn't know that it was him who had ratted him out.
For if he knew, the older brother feared that Steeldust would break their bond and disown him.
They were at times, barely hanging on to each other as it was.
Steeldust had every right to never acknowledge him again, but Blurr knew he would become even more reckless with grief and pain.
For his sake, perhaps more than his own, Blurr hoped he never found out that he was the cause of Steeldust's scar.
///
"Tell me where she is!"
"You don't want to know."
Iron Blade glared at his sister, still holding her at knifepoint against the wall.
"Yes, I do. Tell me and I'll tell you where Sideswipe is."
Skyshadow rolled her optics. "Then I'll find him on my own."
"No, you won't," growled Iron Blade. "You won't find him without my help."
"Well, I won't tell you where mother is because you aren't supposed to know," Skyshadow hissed in return. "So, I guess we're at a stalemate."
"That doesn't mean I'm going to let you go!"
Iron Blade was furious. He knew his sister knew where their mother was, but she always refused to tell him when he asked.
No matter how he asked it seemed.
Before he could say more, Skyshadow turned her helm, as if listening. Then, she turned her attention back to Iron Blade.
With a smirk, she said, "Well, well, well. It seems our conversation is about to be cut short."
"What do you mean?"
"You're about to get in trouble," Skyshadow singsonged darkly.
"Huh?" Iron Blade arched an optic ridge.
Then, he heard what Skyshadow must have, just before the lab door opened.
A tall, middle aged Vosian entered the room, almost immediately noticing the siblings. The door slid shut behind him and he turned to face them, servos folded behind his back.
All three were silent for several kliks.
"Skyshadow, it has been some time," the mech said, wingtips twitching as he studied the femme.
He turned his helm to acknowledge Iron Blade. "Is this any way to greet your sister?"
Iron Blade scoffed, not moving from his position. "Trust me, father. She greeted me in a much less polite way."
Skyshadow's optics narrowed. "Would you be so kind as to let me go? I think we're finished here."
"Well, I don't," hissed Iron Blade angrily.
"Enough," commanded Ironshadow calmly. He strode forward, stopping beside his son. "Why have you come, Skyshadow?"
"As I told my dear brother, I only came to recover a missing comrade. However, he's being difficult," she replied.
Ironshadow's optic ridges furrowed. "Iron Blade?"
"Seriously? You want me to take her to him?" sputtered the warrior scientist. "She'll just run off."
"No." The captain turned to Skyshadow again, faceplate stern. "She won't."
Begrudgingly, Iron Blade removed the knife from his sister's throat. Backing away several steps, he kept a close optic on her.
Skyshadow brushed herself off, glaring at Iron Blade.
"I am growing tired of repeating myself," she said in a low hiss. "I will ask once more and if I don't get an answer, there will be bloodshed.
"Where is Sideswipe?"
The two mechs exchanged a look, knowing the younger femme spoke truth.
If they didn't comply, then she would run. And if any Decepticons got in her way while she searched...
"We will take you to him," Ironshadow said. Over their bond, he told Iron Blade, "You should've just done as she asked."
The captain made his way out of the lab, followed by Skyshadow. Iron Blade replied as he brought up the rear.
"But dad, we can't trust her!"
"You seem to trust her at least somewhat. Do you trust her enough to not kill you if you give her the chance?"
Iron Blade didn't reply. He didn't know for sure, but he was beginning to think that she might.
He didn't know if his father knew what Skyshadow for sure would do.
"This is not the way to your brig," Skyshadow noted suspiciously, eyeing their surroundings.
"Your friend is not in the brig," replied Ironshadow quietly.
As Iron Blade followed his father and sister, he wondered what Skyshadow had meant.
"I won't tell you where mother is because you aren't supposed to know."
He frowned deeply. Somehow, his tricksy sister knew where their mother was. And what had happened to her.
There had to be a reason she wouldn't tell him.
The look in her optics whenever he asked told him it wasn't because of spite or revenge for something.
There was something deeper and darker to the mystery surrounding their mother.
Iron Blade began to wonder how much their father knew.
And if either he or his sister would ever reveal to him the great big secret it was.
///
*Just wanted to note, Steeldust's reply to Swerve about drinking is for a couple reasons. As Swerve implied, he's young. And, there are bad memories associated with drinking for Steeldust that I may hint at or write later in the story. So yeah. That's why. :P