TFP: Alone

Chapter 13: "Nothing in this life is for free."

Sideswipe's P.O.V.

Kup was much better now! He was moving around, the infection wasn't as bad, and he was in a better mood.

He doesn't know that we got the cubes from a friend at the Learning Center, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. I was strutting into my first class and I smile when I see Legacy at her desk reading on her datapad as she normally does. I head to my seat and sit, spinning around to face her.

She looked up at me with dim optics and dark circles under them. Her lips were in a frown and I noticed that her picture of the humans was displayed on her datapad.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I'm just tired." She shrugs.

"I'm smarter than that. Tell me." I urge.

"I got into a fight with my sire last night." She sighed.

"What about?" I inquire.

"Well, it was about our bond. It...um, it broke and he won't let it rebuild." She takes a shaky intake.

It broke? That must have been painful. That kind of thing only happens when a Bot dies. Must've been her carrier because she never talks about the mech or femme.

"I'm sorry." I say sincerely. She gives me a nod and I turn around to face the front. She probably doesn't want to talk.

That was odd though. If I were a sire, which hopefully I'll never be, I would want to rebuild a bond with my creation.

::She's a sparkling.:: I hear Sunny sneer.

::Imagine the pain she went through if their bond broke in the first place.:: I respond.

::Everyone loses somebody at some point in their life.:: He says coldly.

::Why do you have to be such an aft?:: I punch him through the bond, which he returns with a flare of anger.

::She has everything! We don't have a Sire or Carrier. We have each other.:: He growls.

::What about Kup?:: I ask.

::You know he's going to pass at some point. And if it's not from the infection, it's be from his recklessness.:: Sunstreaker says.

::How can you say that?! He's always been there for us! He's practically our Sire.:: I cry. He huffs and closes the bond.

Sunstreaker resents her because she's had a good life. Better than ours. I imagined that when she was a youngling, she was sitting in the lounge with her creators and a cube of energon in her servos.

When we were younger, it was either training for a pit fight or sitting all together or all three of us sharing an energon cube. It wasn't the best life, but we had each other.

::We watched Bot's all around us starve. We've watched Bots slowly waste away and we fought for our rations. What has she ever had to fight for?:: Sunstreaker seethes.

::Doesn't matter. She's my friend and she helped us. She deserves some respect.:: I tell him before I block him.

Sunstreaker's P.O.V.

I had set up shop in a new area. Enforcers were closing in on me. They noticed that there were Bot's in the area that we're on speeders and they started an investigation. With all the energon coming in, I could feed my twin, Kup, and myself. I had even had enough to get my paint fixed!

I walked though the slums confidently. My new paint shinned and was absolutely perfect. My optics were bright and there was a pep in my step. I dealt the circuit speeders and I raked in the credits. I had my energon and speeders stored by the smelting pit and I was confident that the Enforcers couldn't trail me.

This is the best thing I've done since fighting in the pit. I got to see that there were Bots who were living a life worse than mine, I got the energon, my paint, and I was feeding Kup and Sides. I felt powerful. They depended on me. Not just my twin and Kup, but the Bots who came to me everyday for their fix too.

Kup and Sideswipe still didn't know how I was getting the enrgon. I told them pit fights. Sides believed me, but Kup was harder to convince.

"I don't believe that." Kup says grumpily.

"You don't have to. I'm telling you what it is and if you don't believe me then that's your problem." I shrug.

"We never got that much before. How is it you're making so much?" He asks.

"I fight everyday." I say.

"Where?" He looks at me with a serious expression.

"It's in the slums." I answer simply.

"I'm going to one of your fights." He declares.

"No you're not. It's too far for you to travel when you're healing." I say. He huffs angrily and ignores me.

"I know you're lyin' to me. Just promise me that you'll keep out of trouble." He says sincerely.

"Okay." I respond simply.

So, Kup kind of knows, but he isn't gonna say anything. Good, I don't need Sides on my conscious. He'll say something like, 'you're contributing to them starving' or 'I thought you'd do better than that'. Whatever. He doesn't know how much better off we are.

I watched Kup as he wasted away, and we do have the femme to thank for him staying alive, but I'm the one who's gonna keep us alive.

She doesn't care about us. She'll probably want something in return for her 'kind deed'. Nothing in this life is for free.

A/N: I know that this is a glum chapter, especially for a holiday. I wanna wish everyone a Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! 'Till next time! XD