Shattered

Chapter Four

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.