OH MY PRIMUS I HAVE WAY TOO MANY UNFINISHED STORIES.

But I'd like to point out that, for once, this was NOT my fault. Nope. It was my friend's fault. Same as "Nothing Personal" was his fault. We were talking about Dreadwing and Skyquake, and he started randomly making up a backstory for them. So I was all "STFU THANKS NOW I HAVE TO GO WRITE THAT." And apparently I did. I can't let these things go, okay. XD

So, um, here we have it. The start of the Seeker twins' past. Warning, there WILL be OCs here, so if you don't like that, you has two options! Click the back button (I won't be offended) or give them a chance! 8D

Dreadwing: Trust me when I say she's being completely serious. I don't even think she could be sarcastic right now if she tried. She's on too much of a sugar high.

Skyquake: Isn't that why we love her?

Dreadwing: She may be an idiot, but she's the DECEPTICONS' idiot.

Me: *snaps fingers* OKAY~

Anyway. Being totally serious here, this first chapter is rather sad. Good thing? You tell me! I love feedback.

Also, did you like me putting a TFP version of Darkwing in here? He was one of the two that combined to actually form Dreadwing in G1 (the other being Dreadwind) and I happen to like him just a teeny bit more. I thought it was creative, what do you guys think?

Which reminds me, I OWN NONE OF ZEE TRANSFORMERS. I own Sharpshoot, and that's it.

Hope you all enjoy!

The only thing that registered in Skyquake's audio receptors was the sound of explosions. The ground shook beneath him and white flashed across his vision, not giving him a chance to look around. He could barely keep his balance, being pitched to the ground. Not knowing what else to do, he just curled up into a ball and trembled, an instinctive action that didn't comfort him as much as it should have. All he wanted was his brother. Where was his brother?

"Dreadwing," he whimpered, not able to raise his voice any more than that. He knew his brother probably wouldn't be able to hear him with that pathetic volume, but his audial sensors were already rough and hoarse. It was all the dust, he thought; getting into his intakes and scratching at his audials.

He could feel the fluid pushing at his optics, but he didn't want to cry. He could be strong like Dreadwing, and that meant he couldn't cry over everything. Dreadwing probably wasn't crying even now, when neither of them knew what was going on. He wasn't crying, yet he certainly didn't feel strong, and he wanted Dreadwing to come find him so they could be strong together. He needed Dreadwing to be strong. He couldn't do it all himself.

"Skyquake!" He heard his brother's vocal pattern hissing beside his audio receptor, and arms wrapped around him. Dreadwing wasn't quite strong enough to pull Skyquake off the ground, so when he landed on his knees, he just pressed himself against his twin, almost curving over across the other's body. "Skyquake, what are you doing? We gotta hide!"

Something whistled and flew overhead, and the brothers shrieked as Dreadwing tried to cover as much of Skyquake as he could. Another blast rocked the ground, and Dreadwing fell down beside his brother, barely managing to grab Skyquake and draw him close. "W-What was that?" the jade-painted twin asked, feeling as though he couldn't hold back his tears much longer. Not if all this kept up.

"I don't know..." The sounds emitted by Dreadwing cycling his vents were fast, heavy, and anxious. He carefully put a servo on his brother's wing, in a probably vain attempt to calm him down. There wasn't much else he could do. "A bullet or something? But it missed us..."

Skyquake felt his vents hitch, and fluid collected at the bottoms of his optics. "Th-They aimed at us?"

Dreadwing pushed himself up a little, then made the effort to stand while guiding Skyquake up to his pedes as well. He couldn't see very well, there was dust and dirt everywhere. He could even feel some of it clouding up his optical sensors, gritty and offending and painful. He quickly offlined and onlined his optics again, though it didn't do anything to help. He still couldn't see who was on the other side of that shot. "Yeah..."

Sharpshoot could barely keep up with her sparkmate; she'd never seen him run so fast in all the stellar cycles she'd been with him. Everybot could say what they wanted to about him - he was depressing and not much fun at parties, which may have been true - but there was no denying that he rose to the occasion. What did it say about her, then, that she was eating his dust in the middle of a battle? She was nowhere near as skilled as he was, yet she wouldn't even entertain the process of letting him go alone. Other femmes took up arms, so why not her too?

The tip of her pede hit something - a rock, she assumed - and she shouted angrily as she went plummeting to the ground. The fall was short, but it was also rather hard. She'd been running nearly as fast as she could, so the force was something to be reckoned with. She even slid a little as she went down. "Darkwing!"

"Sharpshoot!" Oh Primus, he knew this was going to happen. He had just known something awful would happen to either him or his mate. Why couldn't it have been him who tripped? Why did it have to be her? "Sharpshoot!" He skidded to a stop and turned around, racing back to help her. He didn't care about going forward and attacking, not right now. If she had gotten disoriented and she stayed down long enough, she'd be shot.

The femme groaned and raised her helm, trying to push herself up on her elbows. It felt like something was pinning her legs down - did a rock fall on her pede or something? She was relieved when she saw Darkwing running toward her, quickly kneeling down and putting a servo against her stomach plating before pushing in an attempt to pry her loose. "I was afraid you didn't hear me," she muttered, clawing at the ground and trying to free her legs.

He chuckled, crawling backward to try and find the rock through the poor visibility. It was that dark little mirthless chuckle, the one she loved so much. Almost like a wordless version of There's no hope in this world, but if there was, it would exist in you. "Not hear you?" She felt his claws brush against her leg, searching for the rock, and it brought up the memory of when they sparkbonded. A wonderful memory. "The only time you were louder is when our mechlings were brought into existence."

She pushed herself up a bit, wincing when the couter at her elbow scraped against what must have been a particularly pointy rock. "That wasn't my fault. I thought there was only going to be one hatchling. I thought it was over."

"You know, they're twins." Darkwing vented, curse this dust! He couldn't see anything to figure out where the rock was to get it off her. "Created from a single spark that split in half - it's almost like we only have one."

Sharpshoot snorted bitterly, trying to wiggle her legs as if it would help. "You weren't sparked with them for a stellar cycle and six deca-cycles. You didn't have them extracted from your abdominal chamber. Believe me, Darkwing, we have two."

He laughed again, but it was far more unsettling. There was actually some emotion put into this laugh - he was impossibly nervous. "Sharpshoot... I-I think I found the rock, sweetspark. It's heavy, but I'm processing that I might be able to get it off..."

She clenched her denta when he moved it slowly, probably making a scratch on her leg armor. Dust would get into it, and it would get infected... well, she couldn't think about that now. If they yelled loud enough, maybe Hook would hear them and come to help. He owed her a favor anyway. "I-It hurts, Darkwing..."

"I know, I'm sorry. I can't help it." She heard him groan, felt his servos shaking as he tried to move the rock. "Am I getting you out?"

"Yeah, I can move a little now..." She squirmed, testing out how well she could get herself out, if at all. The results looked promising, she could almost twist herself out. "If you can move it just a bit more, love..."

"I've almost got it, dear. Don't worry, you're going to be-"

It was a mistake for either of them to have been relieved for such luck, even for a split nanoklik. That brief hope of reprieve was probably what sealed their fate, tempting the universe with a big Here we are, come get us! sign. At first Sharpshoot had thought it was just a fleeting flinch of Darkwing's claws, a nervous fumble of movements. He'd been known not to do well if anyone he cared about was in danger. But not a klik later, he let out a spark-wrenching, energon-chilling cry.

And she'd sworn that just before that she'd heard something else. A cracking sound.

"D-Darkwing!" she stammered, frightened and not knowing what to think. It was a stupid thing to wonder if he was okay, because it was clear from the noise that he wasn't. "Darkwing, what happened?!"

Her mate stumbled forward, collapsing next to her. He was coughing, like his vents had virtually given up cycling themselves, and there was bright blue energon spilling everywhere. There was a large, jagged wound across his chestplates now, exposing his spark chamber. It was ruptured, and the electricity in his spark was flickering. Fading.

"Darkwing!" Sharpshoot wrestled her legs free, not without difficulty, and kicked the rock away with her heel struts. "Oh good Primus, my darling!" She swung his arm round her shoulders, her other servo pressing over the one he had on his chest. She lifted him up as best she could, claws trying vainly and desperately to curb the flow of energon. She knew it was no use; once his spark had been injured like this, there was nothing she or even the most skilled medic could do.

At least she could take comfort in the fact that he'd go offline in her arms, with her servo over his spark. Like they promised each other they'd be forever.

"Oh Primus, I-I'm so sorry, Darkwing." It was all she could do not to simply break down crying right then and there. Why had it been him to get shot and not her? Why did he always have to be right? He'd turned to help her when she was down, which was what you were supposed to do when a member of your team was in trouble. You were supposed to help them, and that was what he did. So he got offlined for doing his duty to her? That didn't sound like justice at all to her.

"Fragging Autobots...!" She tightly offlined her optics as she supported his weight and tried to drag him back. Maybe there was somewhere they could hide, at least until he was offline. Then she'd go back out, guns blazing, and terminate all those slaggers herself. They wouldn't get away with taking Darkwing away from her. "How could they do this to you?!"

"'Cause we're Decepticons, that's how," he mumbled, trying feebly to get his pedes on the ground. "It doesn't matter now, Sharpshoot. I told you, there's no hope. We have to find Dreadwing and Skyquake." His vents drew in a deep cycle, but it was raspy and impeded, and he couldn't even keep himself from coughing. "I don't think that shot was aimed at us. The fact that it hit me was just luck."

She tried not to let her emotions overcome her, no matter how hard it was. She couldn't hold all of this in, it was impossible. She was a mother first, a soldier second, and she couldn't believe what his words meant. "They aimed at sparklings!" She went as fast as she could, trudging over the ground and taking her sparkmate with her. "You're monsters!" she screamed, hoping those micro-brained Autobots heard her. "Every last fragging one of you!"

Oh Primus, she couldn't see. Where were her children? Where did they go? Were they safe? Scrap, if they'd been hit too she would offline all the Autobots one by one. Was it not enough that they'd taken her sparkmate away, they had to aim for her sparklings as well?

Darkwing looked up at his mate, and even though he knew he was going offline soon, he had to smile just a little. Through his now blurry and dark vision, he could see Sharpshoot. She was just as beautiful as the day he'd met her... she always had been.

He remembered every single klik they shared together. He still remembered. The first time they were alone together, shy and awkward. Their first kiss, warm and sweet. Their sparkbond, which had left them both vulnerable; the process had been a bit painful at first, but it was worth it. The first time they physically showed their love, and the tingling afterglow of it. Then when Dreadwing and Skyquake were created, an unexpected surprise born that day. He remembered that was the day his life had really changed - instead of just having to protect himself and Sharpshoot, he'd gained two more little beings to protect. And he did so gladly. He loved those sparklings just as much as he loved Sharpshoot.

He wanted to see them one last time. He wanted to say good-bye... she had to find them. She was going to, he knew she was. She was good with that sort of thing.

"Don't worry," Sharpshoot vented, trying to see through the thick dust. She couldn't even tell where they were anymore. Was she going in the right direction to where she'd last seen Dreadwing and Skyquake? "We'll find them, Darkwing, we'll find them, I promise..."

All of a sudden, she heard another cracking noise. It sounded closer this time, and before she knew what was happening, a burning pain spread through her chest. "Oh Primus!" Frag, they'd gotten another lucky hit in. Feeling like her spark and everything surrounding it was on fire, she tumbled forward, falling in what must have looked like a scrapheap on the ground. This time she let herself cry, and scream.

But she still refused to let go of her sparkmate. If they were going to go offline, they were going to go offline together.

"Danni!" Oh Primus. Was that just her mind comforting her on the way to the Well, or was that really her sweet Skyquake?

Dreadwing and Skyquake first were shocked when they heard what sounded like Danni shouting. She sounded so close! Was she coming back for them? But then they squealed and held onto each other when she fell in front of them, along with Opi.

It was horrifying to see them like that, Dreadwing thought, not strong as they usually were. He wondered what had happened to them, did it have anything to do with that noise? And even worse was the neon energon pooling around them. Upon a more focused look, he noticed that it was coming mostly from their chestplates, and there was something in Danni's chest that they shouldn't be able to see. From the awful, unsettled feeling between his own chestplates, he knew it was her spark. And he assumed it was the same situation with Opi.

Skyquake was scarcely holding himself together, clinging to his twin and almost sinking to his knees. He couldn't believe what he was seeing with his own optics. What was wrong with Danni and Opi? Why could he see inside Danni's chest? "Dreadwing," he sobbed, and finally the tears came leaking past his optics. "What's happening?!"

Danni looked up and her ruby optics met her son's. She tried bravely to push her body up, but it was for naught. Her servo shook as she extended it out over the ground toward him. "S-Skyquake... come here, sweetspark..."

There wasn't any hesitation, and he didn't even have to process about what to do. Skyquake tore away from Dreadwing and threw himself down in front of his mother, wrapping his arms around her gorget. He couldn't do anything but cry and bury himself against her fatally damaged chestplates. He'd always felt so safe with her, in this position, always known that he could run to her no matter what. And now she was leaving him. How was he going to survive if he didn't have anyone to run to?

Danni's arms encircled him, and brought him as close as possible to her. She was still determined and gentle, even though he could see that she was in pain. She was strong. "My little sparkling. Oh Skyquake." She placed a soft kiss on top of his helm, her claws stroking over his wings. Her claws were cold and sticky with energon, but that just made him wish more for her not to leave him. "I love you, my sweet mechling." Her vents began to crash, and her frame shuddered against him, producing the sick sound of metal rattling against metal.

"Danni," he sobbed, tightening his grip and wanting to hold onto her forever. Maybe if he held on with all of the strength in his tiny body, he could keep her here. Maybe this would help. "Don't go. Me an' Dreadwing need you. I want you to stay."

"I know you do, darling." Her claws traced down his back, along the curves of his upper and lower wings. He didn't even care how messy he was getting, that she was tracking her energon all over him - it would be all he had left of her. "But I can't stay."

"Why?" Pressing his chevron against her chestplates, he noticed that they were still warm. That should have made things better, but it didn't. It made things worse somehow.

"Oh, because, Skyquake... it's our time to leave this world." Danni's servo moved slightly up, her claws tapping lovingly against his helm. "Opi and I are joining Primus at the Well of All Sparks. There's no more pain there, and we will always be looking after you." Despite her clearly waning strength, she drew him in as close as she could. "No matter what, Skyquake..." She kissed him again, this time against his bucca. "Stay with your brother."

Skyquake sniffed and brought himself to glance up at her. "W-With Dreadwing?"

"Yes, sweetspark. You're twins - two mechs born from the same spark." She offlined her optics and vented. "There can't be one without the other. You are two halves of one soul. You must always be together with him, and listen to him." A claw on her other servo traced lightly down the length of his bucca. "Can you promise me that, Skyquake?"

He held onto her as tightly as he could, still not wanting to let her go. "Y-Yes, Danni. I-I p-p-promise."

Meanwhile, Dreadwing had run to Opi. This was the normal position for them - Dreadwing with Opi and Skyquake with Danni. They offered different protection, and they ran to the one they felt safer with. And now this was the last time they'd run to them... to anyone? Dreadwing tried first to lift Opi up off the ground, but it wasn't happening. So he settled for just falling to his knees and wiggling into Opi's loose embrace.

"I'm sorry, Dreadwing," Opi whispered into his audio receptor, carefully rubbing a light servo over the child's wings. "I knew this would happen one day. I knew I'd be leaving you." His grip tightened, but not by much thanks to his wound draining more and more of his energy. "I just didn't know it would be so soon. I thought I would... have a little... just a little more time with you and Skyquake..."

Dreadwing could feel the fluid collecting at the bases of his optics, and he tried to hold it back. He didn't want to cry, because then Skyquake would see it. He didn't even know what to say - the one time he wanted desperately to say something, anything, and he was at a loss for words. "I... we... are gonna miss you, Opi. You and Danni."

Opi chuckled just a little, offlining his optics as he pulled Dreadwing closer, as close as he possibly could. "Oh, Dreadwing. We'll miss you too." His claws stroked lightly over the back of the sparkling's helm, as he felt Opi's vents starting to fail. "I love you both so much. I don't say it enough, but I love you two."

The fluid spilled over, and Dreadwing scooted forward to bury his face against Opi's neck and chest. Were they really going offline? He couldn't imagine life without them. What would he and his brother do? "We love you too."

Opi leaned down as much as he could and carefully pressed his lip components against the side of the child's helm. "Dreadwing... you take care of your brother, okay? You do that for me?"

Dreadwing nodded, trying his best to just stop crying. "I-I will, Opiluk. I'll take care of Skyquake."

"There's my good little mechling. I knew I could trust you." Opi vented, then coughed, and reached over toward Danni, clasping her servo with his. They both looked just a little happy when their claws touched, and suddenly their grips on both Dreadwing and Skyquake loosened. "I love you, Sharpshoot." His vents hitched, and Dreadwing heard his denta grind together. "No matter what I've said about anything... you... you and our sparklings have been the only good thing in my life."

Tears were spilling down Danni's face as her arm began to fall away from Skyquake. Her claws curled around Opi's servo, and she laid her helm down. "I love you too, Darkwing. And no matter what I've ever said... I've never wanted to change you. I love you just the way you are, and I love our family just the way it is."

Their claws went limp, and their vents drew in one last cycle, almost at the same time, within mere nanokliks of each other. Opi gave up one last grin, a rare sight, even though Skyquake knew Danni's optics were offline. "See you on the other side, sweetspark."

A short giggle from Danni. "Not if I see you first."

There was a quick jolt, like an electric charge passing through their bodies, and the twins knew both of their sparks were now extinguished.

Skyquake began to wail. "I-I want Danni back!" He was sobbing and still clinging to her lifeless body, crying against her torn, empty chestplates.

Dreadwing cycled his vents quickly, then lifted his helm. He heard something - the sound of someone's pedes on the ground, maybe more than just one bot. And they were coming toward him and his brother.

He jumped up, somewhat hesitant about just leaving Opi and Danni's bodies there. He didn't want to, but their safety might be in jeopardy. He'd just promised Opi that he would take care of Skyquake - that was his last wish, and he wouldn't let Opi down. He couldn't. "Skyquake!" He snatched his brother by the arm.

The jade twin shrieked loudly and pulled away, more tears rolling down his face. "My shoulder hurts, Dreadwing! That hurt!"

Dreadwing vented and grabbed Skyquake around the waist with both arms, dragging him over behind a rock that had looked like it would hide both of them. They didn't have time for this! "I'm sorry! But we gotta hide! It might be the bots who offlined Opi and Danni!"

Skyquake quieted down at that, and just tapered down to holding onto his brother. Shaking and attempting to hold back any more tears, he didn't even want to look out. What if it was the bots who shot their creators? What if they were found?

Dreadwing didn't want to look either, but he tried to be a little more hopeful. It could be the bots who had shot Opi and Danni, but what if it wasn't? They needed all the help they could get. Still... the noise of the pedesteps sounded confident and intimidating.

They could be in trouble.

Cybertronian Translations... 8D

Opi = Daddy (short for Opiluk)

Opiluk = Father

Danni = Mommy (short for Danniluk, which I didn't use in this chapter, lol...)

NOW CRY. CRY, MY REVIEWERS. AND... reviews as well pwease? *hugs little Dreadwing and Skyquake* You wouldn't want to make these two cry, would ya?

... Because if I don't get reviews, they will WAIL.

*ahem* Anyway, I hope you liked it! Hopefully next chapter coming soon, after I kick my butt in gear and update some of mah other stories.

Review pwease? 8D

Thanks for reading! ^^