Author's Notes: Well, I actually feel kind of guilty about this one. I wrote about 70% of this chapter months ago, but for whatever reason I got distracted and therefore it took way longer to finish than it should have. Sorry about that, everybody. Anyway, this fic is back and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter of "Cannot Stand" ^_^'

Chapter 10

Two Is a Crowd

Cyclonus was unconscious, but his spark was still slightly aware of the pain he was experiencing. He knew his life's energy was slowly seeping out of his Byzalite casing and wafting into the ether. His subconscious wondered briefly if this was how he was to die. He considered how short his life had been. It had only been a couple stellar cycles since he had been forged by Unicron to serve Galvatron, and an even shorter time since Galvatron had returned from the planet of lava to lead the Decepticons to glory. It was a good life, but it was too short.

As these thoughts strayed through Cyclonus' subconscious processor, he suddenly felt something near him in his spark. This was a strange sensation, but it felt as if another presence was there with him within his very core. He sometimes could feel Scourge this way when the other herald was in pain or distressed. It was a faint yet fraternal bond he had with Scourge. Now he felt another; a strange entity within his spark bond.

He panicked, fearing it was Unicron come to torment him and the other heralds once again. He knew hiding would not make the new presence go away however, so he tentatively prodded the bond to see what was there.

The first thing Cyclonus felt from the other presence was shock at being approached. Next was confusion that was very similar to his own. He sent a questioning surge, and he received apprehension in return. He tried sending a stern warning, and in return he got an emotion he didn't expect; joy.

It didn't make any sense to Cyclonus, but the other being was elated for some reason. He questioned it, and received relief, joy, curiosity, and love.

Love? That was unusual to say the least. Even Scourge never sent anything that felt like that. This new presence was warm, welcoming, and happy. Cyclonus couldn't remember any feeling this raw before, and yet his spark told him that this was how it was supposed to be.

Suddenly sharp pain spiked through the bond, and at first Cyclonus thought it was his own, but then he realized the other one was in pain as well. He sent questions, and the other sent comfort and reassurance that everything was fine. Everything was clearly not fine. Cyclonus felt his spark ebbing away and it hurt. He realized though that the other one was in pain as well. He probed to see if he could tell what was wrong with the other. The other resisted, but Cyclonus' will was stronger and he soon learned that the other had sustained potentially mortal damage. His other was dying just as he was.

Cyclonus' logical mind would have tried to assess the situation, but he didn't have access to anything except his spark and his subconscious, and his spark cried out to save the other. It didn't matter that Cyclonus had no idea who or what this other presence was. The other was warm and loving, and Cyclonus' spark wanted that feeling more than anything. The sensation felt like home, and he desperately needed it to remain.

"That's not something you should joke about, Autobot," Sun Vulture growled upon hearing Bumblebee's revelation.

"It's true. This is my mother," Bumblebee insisted, "Her name is Ophidelle, and she was a Decepticon spy. My sire's name was Leodox, and they lived in-"

"Hold it!" Sun Vulture interrupted him, "Leodox?"

"Yes, Leodox. He was my sire," Bumblebee repeated.

"Mother often spoke of her late bondmate," Sun Vulture told him, "I've never heard the name Ophidelle, but I don't see how you could know about Leodox any other way. Tell me, do you know what happened to him?"

"He was killed by Starscream," Bumblebee replied; his expression hard at being forced to remember that awful day.

"Wow...So you're like, my brother," Sun Vulture whispered in amazement, "Well then, I'm glad I tried to turn you in for that bounty."

"What!?" Bumblebee exclaimed; offended.

"If I hadn't then I never would have met you," Sun Vulture replied with a cheeky smirk, "Hm, I wonder how come Mother never mentioned you. I didn't even know I had a brother."

"What I can't help but wonder is why she never bothered to contact me," Bumblebee pondered bitterly, "She was alive this whole time. I could've communicated with her, seen her, helped her. Why didn't she just...? She knew I was on earth. Sure, I left for missions on Moon Base 2, but I was mostly on earth. She could've found me, or she could've come to the Autobots in the first place. They would've forgiven her, I'm sure of it. I just don't understand..."

Bumblebee then kneeled down to be next to his mother's prone form. She was turning more and more grey by the minute, and it looked like she was fighting a losing battle against whatever attack she had sustained. He couldn't believe Cyclonus could cause so much damage, but then again he had to remind himself that his mother was trained as a spy, not a warrior.

A few breems later Medallion returned to the room with a gold and green Byzalite casing for Cyclonus' spark. Bumblebee looked at it angrily, thinking how unfair it was that Cyclonus could be fixed so easily when his mother was still dying. Medallion went to the large Decepticon jet and made a disgusted face before beginning the operation that would save his unwanted patient's life.

"Sun Vulture, do you know what kind of part our mother needs to survive?" Bumblebee asked; almost afraid to know the answer.

"I do, actually," Sun Vulture replied solemnly, "She has a lot of damage, but the biggest problem is her dual-intake toxin regulator."

"Her what?" Bumblebee asked, not familiar with medical jargon.

"It's an old part that keeps her body from corroding," Sun Vulture explained, "She was built back when triple changers were still a new concept, so they had a lot of parts that would wear out in new atmospheres without dual-intake toxin regulators. This is especially important for Mother thanks to her fang acid. The part isn't manufactured anymore because most Cybertronians that were built with them have already died. She's...pretty old, actually. I know a lot of Cybertronians are, but most models built for the Third Cybertronian War have already died. That's what war does, I guess. I found a mech that will sell me the part, but he wants 47,000 credits for it, and I don't have that kind of cash. I sold a lot of my jewelry, but that still wasn't enough. I saved up my bounties, but that wasn't enough either. Selling you and that pink femme was my last shot. Now I don't have enough time to try again."

Bumblebee didn't know what to say to that. He looked first at the forlorn face plate of Sun Vulture, his little brother apparently, and then back down at his mother. She hadn't moved since they got there, and if they didn't get her that part she would likely never move again. Bumblebee didn't know what to do though. He didn't have the credits she needed either. Most commissioned Autobots didn't need currency.

Suddenly, on the other side of the room, they could hear Cyclonus coughing as Medallion backed away from the Decepticon in trepidation. Cyclonus' arms twitched and his chassis heaved as he hacked up energon. He turned onto his side and coughed up more energon before onlining his optics and staring blearily around the room.

"Well, it seems the casing transfer was a success," Medallion commented as he stood as close to Sun Vulture and Bumblebee as possible to avoid being too close to Cyclonus, "He should be fully alert any moment now. Hopefully he won't rob us blind again."

Cyclonus then stood up and staggered closer to the group of gawking Cybertronians, and reached out in a daze like a zombie in a horror film. Sun Vulture noticed that the purple Decepticon's attention was on his unconscious mother, so he pulled out an energy pistol and aimed it at the 'Con's newly repaired spark.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll blast you!" Sun Vulture barked commandingly.

Cyclonus stopped, and seemed to notice Sun Vulture and the others for the first time. His intakes sounded ragged and his body sagged. He didn't really look well enough to do any damage, but Sun Vulture would take no chances.

"The...other..." Cyclonus croaked out, his vocalizer barely audible, "...I...feel it. There..."

"Is he hallucinating?" Bumblebee asked Medallion.

"I don't know," Medallion replied shakily, "Just please help me find something to sedate him. He's a danger to our colonists."

"Warm..." Cyclonus rasped; barely above a whisper, "...Help. Dying..."

"You are no longer dying, Mr. Cyclonus," Medallion assured him begrudgingly, "We have stabilized your spark and you will make a full recovery. Now, you really should go back to recharge. You need your rest."

Cyclonus didn't know what to do. He felt like he was in caught between two roads of oncoming traffic with no way out. He knew he needed to return to Galvatron and the Decepticons, but his spark wanted to find the other. He could sense that he was close and that the other would die without help, but no one understood him. He didn't even fully understand the situation himself. All he knew was that someone had reached out to him, and that this someone was close.

"I want...to recharge," Cyclonus finally said; feeling feeble and childlike as he uttered those words.

Recharge. He was unconscious when he found the other. Maybe if he was in recharge he would find the other again. Maybe this time he could save them. Maybe the other was another former herald. Either way he had to find them again, and reach out to them.

Cyclonus was too disoriented to guide himself back to the berth, so Bumblebee reluctantly took him by the arm and led him to his cot. Once he was laying down again, Cyclonus drifted off in search of his other.

...

Once Cyclonus returned to the innermost sanctum of his spark he immediately felt the other desperately grabbing for him; the spark still in tremendous pain. Cyclonus took hold of the spark signature and held tight; sending as much assurance as he could manage.

He wanted so badly to communicate with the other, but he didn't know how. Scourge was the only one that held a family bond with him, and neither of them took any time to explore the limits of their bond very often. He didn't understand what he could and could not do, and therefore didn't know how to help the other.

The pain intensified, and then he could feel rather than hear the spark of the other screaming. It was such an intense pain and fear that Cyclonus felt overwhelmed by it; as if a physical wave of pain was battering him against the walls of his sanity. He vaguely wondered if this was what Galvatron's spark would feel like; madness mixed with pain and fear. Galvatron's would probably have some anger too, Cyclonus decided.

Then, amid the inaudible cries of the spark bond, Cyclonus heard something coherent from the other, but he still couldn't make sense of the word...

SKYWARP!

The crew of the Porcelain Throne had spent two orns in a holding cell in Autobot territory. They all knew they could very well spend the rest of their lives in prison, not because they were bounty hunters but rather because most had war crimes on their records as former Decepticons.

Barge knew it was her responsibility to get her crew out of this mess. Sun Vulture would've likely already thought of a plan to free them by now if he were there and still alive. Barge had to believe he was still living. He was too clever and too proud to let himself be offlined by a bunch of plug ugly squid monsters.

Barge observed the guards' behaviors and routines, but she didn't learn as much from this as she had hoped. She never saw the same mech or femme twice, and none of them seemed particularly lazy. Breaking out of this prison was going to be harder than she had originally thought.

/Hey cap'n?/ Chamber Lock addressed her from another cell via the comm, /I think I see a blind spot in the guard's patrol./

/Oh, really? And whar's that?/ Barge asked with equal parts curiosity and skepticism given that Chamber Lock was kind of an idiot.

/'Tis by Sunspot's cell,/ Chamber Lock replied, /No one checks on Sunspot because he be a former Autobot. We need to pass him somethin' to short out his energy bars with. Anybody got anythin'?/

/Nothing,/ Roughhouse replied in disappointment.

/Nope. Nada,/ Their crewmech Butcher replied.

/Sorry. They emptied my subspace,/ Navigator reported.

/I've nothin' either,/ Barge lamented.

/I have something!/ A motorcycle-former named Scythe exclaimed, /Will a small laser pistol work? I hid it in between my leg armor and my protoform. They didn't even check!/

/At least it wasn't up yer tailpipe,/ Barge remarked, /Alright then Scythe, scoot it across to Navigator, and Navigator will scoot it diagonally over to Chamber Lock, and then Chamber Lock will scoot it to Sunspot. Sunspot, ya need to shoot at yer cell door quickly and precisely. Then start releasin' the crew. When the Autobots start runnin' for ya, then get outta there. Even if there's more of us still trapped, run! Ya understand me, younglin'?/

/Yes sir!/ Sunspot replied in clipped formal tones, /I won't let you down./

/Good, now start scootin', Scythe,/ Barge ordered even as she looked around both sides to make sure no Autobots were coming for them.

The mechs did precisely as ordered. The crew was an efficient unit and before long that laser pistol had been scooted across the floor like a hockey puck until it finally slid into Sunspot's cell. All that was missing was for someone to mark the goal on a scoreboard.

Sunspot was careful as he jammed the laser pistol into the wedge between the energy bars and the door facing. Once the bars went dead a warning klaxon immediate began to blare, and Sunspot wasted no time in running down the corridor and shooting the locking mechanisms on every cell he came across. He couldn't get to every cell, so those that were freed went back and unlocked those Sunspot couldn't reach.

It only took a breem before Autobot guards were on their tail. Barge and the triple changers bowled over the Autobots in their way and the smaller crew members ran behind them once the path was cleared. There were Autobots behind the ruffians running after them, so the crew members all transformed except for Barge who knew her boat form wouldn't help her out of this situation.

/Roughhouse,/ Barge spoke gruffly through the comm, /We're looking fer the Porcelain Throne. They have it impounded around here somewhar. Listen mech, if they catch me, then yer in charge. Understand?"

/They won't catch you, ma'am,/ Roughhouse replied resolutely.

/Eh, as long as you know,/ Barge sighed in resignation.

The crew eventually got separated while evading the Autobot guards chasing them. Each one searched the various rooms in search of their ship. It was Butcher who was the first one to spot the impound lot and alert everyone else over the comm where the coordinates were.

Butcher ran into the ship and soon heard Autobots storm into the room to guard it against intruders. He waited with stalled intakes for something bad to happen, but fortunately they didn't search inside the ships, so Butcher was safe. The rust colored seeker watched and waited for his crew, and a few breems later he saw a pair of motorcycle-formers make a break for it and get shot down by the Autobots. He tried to warn the others via comm link, but there was too much interference.

Five more crew members were taken down and returned to their cells before a mob of bounty hunters led by Barge mowed down the guards in short order. Butcher was relieved their first mate and several crewmechs had returned safely, but unfortunately they had to leave the other seven behind. The Autobots would at least keep them alive, but Sun Vulture's life was in grave danger as far as they knew, and they had to find him before it was too late.