Family - Masterpiece side story
Disclaimer: do not own Transformers.
Summary: 07AU, G1 characters, Sideswipe POV, Masterpiece series. Sideswipe finds himself in a rare thoughtful mood.
Rating: T
Author note: After all this time, this bunny has come back from the 'finished' bunny nest and enchanted my muses yet again…Vicious, tricky bunny :(
Family
He sensed them come in, slipping in through a crack in the door that was supposedly locked. One of Banes’ hands was holding onto Witwicky’s, the other resting on the hilt of the charge blade at her belt. Witwicky maneuvered easily through the darkness, his eyes wide and watchful.
They didn’t always sleep with them, and they were often gone before he came out of recharge, and during the course of the day he didn’t know where they were half the time, but it never seemed to bother his brother if they simply weren’t there. His brother just didn’t worry about things like that. His brother trusted them to take care of themselves and of each other, and besides, he was confident that he’d be able to stop anything before it happened to them.
Sometimes his brother was too smug for his own good.
With his optics barely brought online, he watched as Witwicky and Banes made their way into the recharge berth on the other side of the room, where his brother was waiting for them. There was a low murmur of voices, and then silence.
He hated to admit it, but he found himself more relaxed, knowing where they were.
Other Autobots were probably whispering behind their backs, wondering what, exactly, Sideswipe felt towards Witwicky and Banes, two strangers intruding on the special bond between spark-split twins. Surely he must hate them; surely he would have preferred if his brother had not seen them on that fateful day, laughing in voices high and howling. Surely they would prefer if his brother was a non-split mech, so that way they wouldn’t have to share him.
But it wasn’t like that, and anyone who dared imply otherwise would find themselves in itty-bitty pieces, courtesy of his brother. If they were lucky, Banes or Witwicky would find out first and then they’d only have to lose an optic.
The only reason why he hadn’t told them yet was because he was curious how long it would take his brother to find out. And besides, not telling them would make Banes and Witwicky’s reactions just that more entertaining.
He turned over in his berth, paying attention to the hushed voices, a curse and then a creak of the berth as his brother made room for them in only half-reluctance.
Even if he couldn’t see it, he could sense it: how Witwicky rested in his brother’s hand, and how Banes would lie against him, their Allspark marks glistening slightly in the darkness, just like the marks of the mech who held them with what little tenderness he knew.
And when they were all in light slumber, his brother’s hand would curl just slightly, and Witwicky’s hand would tangle in Banes’ hair, and Banes would clutch with almost painful force to Witwicky’s shoulder, and their arms would wrap around his brother’s fingers, and anyone who saw that would know what didn’t need to be said.
He didn’t quite know what he felt towards them. It was an attachment of some kind, to be sure. He wanted good things for them, he liked them alive, he wanted them to be happy, and if they were hurt, he’d be rather pissed off. He sometimes found himself wondering how much of it was his own attachment to the two crazy humans and how much of it was his brother’s emotions, filtering through their twin-bond.
At the end of the day, they were two distinct beings, but they were still from one spark. Maybe there just wasn’t a fine line between where his brother ended and where he began.
It was all part of the package of being a twin.
He figured he could live with that.
He waited until they had settled, and was about to start setting his systems into stand-by, when he sensed someone, hovering in front of the door. He barely registered the sound and the movement of the worried ‘bot pacing in front of the entrance when he knew who it was.
Bumblebee.
Bumblebee’s feelings towards the two humans were a bit complicated, too.
He overrode the stand-by commands, turned over in his berth, and waited.
Bumblebee stopped pacing. He could picture the mech, staring forlornly at the door.
Bumblebee was always there, in the background, just bordering on stalker issues. He worried about Witwicky and Banes when they were gone, he didn’t trust them to look after themselves, he freaked when they went against drones that were laughable toys to even a non-Allspark-effected human. He called Banes “Mikaela” and Witwicky “Sam” even though those names seemed alien to them, now, and they’d look at him in confusion until it eventually dawned on them that he was speaking to them.
Sideswipe thought that, despite what they said, they cared about Bumblebee, too, even if it was in a vague, clumsy kind of way.
That was the only explanation that Sideswipe could come up with as to why they let Bumblebee talk them into working with Ratchet and Blaster, even though they belonged outside with many others of their kin, splattered from head to toe in processed energon.
He cared about Witwicky and Banes in a way that could never be reciprocated, and Sideswipe almost felt sorry for him.
He actually surprised himself. Even though he was the friendlier twin, most mechs thought that he didn’t have enough in him to feel sorry for another being.
But sympathy wasn’t why he wasn’t going out there, into the hall, and had a nice long talk with the Autobots’ star-child. He didn’t tell Bumblebee to back off because, though Bumblebee wasn’t like the twins in many respects, he was just as stubborn as they were. There were some things he would just have to find out the hard way.
And he didn’t tell the two humans in question, because they knew already, and they didn’t know how to deal with it but would never admit that to anyone but each other. They would just look up at him, their eyes as wide an innocent as those of a newly-sparked cassette, knowing that he knew that they knew.
And he didn’t tell his brother what half the base knew and what the other half ignored. It wasn’t that he was afraid of his brother doing something brash in a fit of jealousy; jealousy required that one be in fear of losing one’s partners to a fellow mech, and his brother had no such concerns. Bumblebee was no threat to him. In the most twisted way possible, his brother was incapable of jealousy.
Sideswipe didn’t talk to anyone about it, because he already knew how it would turn out. The issue had ended already.
Because Bumblebee wanted the children of before instead of the survivors of today.
Because Bumblebee thought something needed to be fixed, and his brother thought that nothing was broken.
But, most importantly, even though Bumblebee would do anything to make them smile, his brother wanted to make them laugh.
And that, he knew, was why Bumblebee had already lost.
Bumblebee left after awhile, because though he always hoped that Banes and Witwicky would choose differently, the logical part of him knew that they would be staying with them on nights like these.
And he, staring into the dark, despite feeling sorry for Bumblebee, felt glad.
He was glad because, despite the whispers behind his back, he knew that Witwicky and Banes were right where they belonged. And he was where he needed to be, too.
He listened, for awhile, to the steady breaths of his loved ones in half-sleep close by him, and then, finally, he started sending his systems into stand-by.
We’re family, Sideswipe thought, coming to the surprisingly simple conclusion. He gave a slight smile of amusement. And everyone can just deal with it.
Summary: 07AU, G1 characters, Sideswipe POV, Masterpiece series. Sideswipe finds himself in a rare thoughtful mood.
Rating: T
Author note: After all this time, this bunny has come back from the 'finished' bunny nest and enchanted my muses yet again…Vicious, tricky bunny :(
Family
He sensed them come in, slipping in through a crack in the door that was supposedly locked. One of Banes’ hands was holding onto Witwicky’s, the other resting on the hilt of the charge blade at her belt. Witwicky maneuvered easily through the darkness, his eyes wide and watchful.
They didn’t always sleep with them, and they were often gone before he came out of recharge, and during the course of the day he didn’t know where they were half the time, but it never seemed to bother his brother if they simply weren’t there. His brother just didn’t worry about things like that. His brother trusted them to take care of themselves and of each other, and besides, he was confident that he’d be able to stop anything before it happened to them.
Sometimes his brother was too smug for his own good.
With his optics barely brought online, he watched as Witwicky and Banes made their way into the recharge berth on the other side of the room, where his brother was waiting for them. There was a low murmur of voices, and then silence.
He hated to admit it, but he found himself more relaxed, knowing where they were.
Other Autobots were probably whispering behind their backs, wondering what, exactly, Sideswipe felt towards Witwicky and Banes, two strangers intruding on the special bond between spark-split twins. Surely he must hate them; surely he would have preferred if his brother had not seen them on that fateful day, laughing in voices high and howling. Surely they would prefer if his brother was a non-split mech, so that way they wouldn’t have to share him.
But it wasn’t like that, and anyone who dared imply otherwise would find themselves in itty-bitty pieces, courtesy of his brother. If they were lucky, Banes or Witwicky would find out first and then they’d only have to lose an optic.
The only reason why he hadn’t told them yet was because he was curious how long it would take his brother to find out. And besides, not telling them would make Banes and Witwicky’s reactions just that more entertaining.
He turned over in his berth, paying attention to the hushed voices, a curse and then a creak of the berth as his brother made room for them in only half-reluctance.
Even if he couldn’t see it, he could sense it: how Witwicky rested in his brother’s hand, and how Banes would lie against him, their Allspark marks glistening slightly in the darkness, just like the marks of the mech who held them with what little tenderness he knew.
And when they were all in light slumber, his brother’s hand would curl just slightly, and Witwicky’s hand would tangle in Banes’ hair, and Banes would clutch with almost painful force to Witwicky’s shoulder, and their arms would wrap around his brother’s fingers, and anyone who saw that would know what didn’t need to be said.
He didn’t quite know what he felt towards them. It was an attachment of some kind, to be sure. He wanted good things for them, he liked them alive, he wanted them to be happy, and if they were hurt, he’d be rather pissed off. He sometimes found himself wondering how much of it was his own attachment to the two crazy humans and how much of it was his brother’s emotions, filtering through their twin-bond.
At the end of the day, they were two distinct beings, but they were still from one spark. Maybe there just wasn’t a fine line between where his brother ended and where he began.
It was all part of the package of being a twin.
He figured he could live with that.
He waited until they had settled, and was about to start setting his systems into stand-by, when he sensed someone, hovering in front of the door. He barely registered the sound and the movement of the worried ‘bot pacing in front of the entrance when he knew who it was.
Bumblebee.
Bumblebee’s feelings towards the two humans were a bit complicated, too.
He overrode the stand-by commands, turned over in his berth, and waited.
Bumblebee stopped pacing. He could picture the mech, staring forlornly at the door.
Bumblebee was always there, in the background, just bordering on stalker issues. He worried about Witwicky and Banes when they were gone, he didn’t trust them to look after themselves, he freaked when they went against drones that were laughable toys to even a non-Allspark-effected human. He called Banes “Mikaela” and Witwicky “Sam” even though those names seemed alien to them, now, and they’d look at him in confusion until it eventually dawned on them that he was speaking to them.
Sideswipe thought that, despite what they said, they cared about Bumblebee, too, even if it was in a vague, clumsy kind of way.
That was the only explanation that Sideswipe could come up with as to why they let Bumblebee talk them into working with Ratchet and Blaster, even though they belonged outside with many others of their kin, splattered from head to toe in processed energon.
He cared about Witwicky and Banes in a way that could never be reciprocated, and Sideswipe almost felt sorry for him.
He actually surprised himself. Even though he was the friendlier twin, most mechs thought that he didn’t have enough in him to feel sorry for another being.
But sympathy wasn’t why he wasn’t going out there, into the hall, and had a nice long talk with the Autobots’ star-child. He didn’t tell Bumblebee to back off because, though Bumblebee wasn’t like the twins in many respects, he was just as stubborn as they were. There were some things he would just have to find out the hard way.
And he didn’t tell the two humans in question, because they knew already, and they didn’t know how to deal with it but would never admit that to anyone but each other. They would just look up at him, their eyes as wide an innocent as those of a newly-sparked cassette, knowing that he knew that they knew.
And he didn’t tell his brother what half the base knew and what the other half ignored. It wasn’t that he was afraid of his brother doing something brash in a fit of jealousy; jealousy required that one be in fear of losing one’s partners to a fellow mech, and his brother had no such concerns. Bumblebee was no threat to him. In the most twisted way possible, his brother was incapable of jealousy.
Sideswipe didn’t talk to anyone about it, because he already knew how it would turn out. The issue had ended already.
Because Bumblebee wanted the children of before instead of the survivors of today.
Because Bumblebee thought something needed to be fixed, and his brother thought that nothing was broken.
But, most importantly, even though Bumblebee would do anything to make them smile, his brother wanted to make them laugh.
And that, he knew, was why Bumblebee had already lost.
Bumblebee left after awhile, because though he always hoped that Banes and Witwicky would choose differently, the logical part of him knew that they would be staying with them on nights like these.
And he, staring into the dark, despite feeling sorry for Bumblebee, felt glad.
He was glad because, despite the whispers behind his back, he knew that Witwicky and Banes were right where they belonged. And he was where he needed to be, too.
He listened, for awhile, to the steady breaths of his loved ones in half-sleep close by him, and then, finally, he started sending his systems into stand-by.
We’re family, Sideswipe thought, coming to the surprisingly simple conclusion. He gave a slight smile of amusement. And everyone can just deal with it.