When he got no reply, the warrior looked his brother over and noticed the color draining from his usually bright red armor. He shook his head, and tears fell.

“Sideswipe!!”

“C’mon, bro! Let’s think this through, should we really do this?” The red twin asked as he gazed down at the can of pink paint in his hands; it was his first prank with his elder twin and he was nervous. Of course, his brother gave him support…

Sorta.

“Of course, you idiot! How many times do we have to hear ‘you hooligans are going to get what’s coming to you’ before we give him what he deserves?!” His brother snapped back, snarling slightly. They heard the door latch open and Sunstreaker put a finger to his lips.

As their commanding officer – a large, black tank mech with stormy blue optics – pounded out of his office, both twins grinned and threw the paint and glitter all over him. As he tried to figure out what had happened, the twins ran for their lives, laughing and grinning boastfully.

“We did it, bro.”

“I told you it would work!” Sunstreaker snorted.

Sunstreaker downed another shot as he continued to stare at the empty berth that his brother had once occupied. The tears had stopped less than a month ago, but he still couldn’t get over the loss of the one person he shared everything with. He had drifted away from his friends, his comrades, after Sideswipe’s death and hadn’t talked at all, only mumbled to himself at times. He had resigned himself to living alone and never smiling again.

The only time he did was in his sleep, when he saw his face again. Heard his voice and experienced all of the changing points in their lives again. He knew Sideswipe was gone, even in his sleep, but he just told himself ‘enjoy it while it lasts, Sunstreaker’ and held his brother at least once in every dream he had. He missed his brother terribly, and nothing would change that.

Nothing at all.

He downed another shot of his famous high grade and his optics dimmed. The shot glass slipped from his fingers and he hit the berth, falling into a deep sleep.

It was dark, too dark. Sunstreaker looked around nervously as he tried to make his way through it, hands out in front of him. “Sideswipe?” He called, sensing his brother nearby, “Sideswipe, are you here?”

“Sun…Streaker….lp…e…” Sideswipe’s voice called; it was soft, quiet…and Sunstreaker knew his brother was in trouble.

Without thinking twice, the yellow melee warrior started to run towards his twin, optics ablaze. He looked around and then called out for his brother. He was rewarded with a slightly louder answer and transformed, speeding towards the voice again.

He found him lying in the middle of the darkness, optics flickering with pain and worry. Instantly, Sunstreaker transformed and walked over to his brother, lifting him into his arms. “Siders? Siders, can you hear me?”

“Sunstreaker…” He looked over at him and smiled slightly, a trembling hand reaching for his face. “You found me…”

“Yeah, yeah, I did, Siders…I’m here. I’ll never leave you…”

Sideswipe’s optics flickered, “Don’t let me go, Sunny. I don’t want to be in this darkness alone again.”

“I won’t, brother…I won’t.” With that soft promise, sunstreaker held his brother even closer and dared to hope that he would keep it.

Sunstreaker kept true to his promise. His last battle was the next morning, shot through his spark. As he drifted offline, unable to feel any pain, he heard his brother calling out to him.

“C’mon, bro! Prowl’s here! You know what that means?”

His lips curved into a smile, and his faceplate was forever plastered with that look. His optics dimmed and he chuckled low before replying.

“Prank time.”

~End