Slipstream wasn't keen on many things in life. One of those things in particular was school! She hated it. Not all of it mind you, but most of that damned Pit-hole ticked her off to a higher plane of existence. Her brothers went to the same school, though Thundercracker and Sunstorm were 2 years higher than her. Ramjet and Dirge were in the same year as she was, while Thrust and Acid storm were a year below her, and Skywarp in the second lowest year.

For most of her classes, she was with Ramjet. She didn't mind at first, it was nice to have a familiar face around, even if it was her annoying and lying little brother. Eventually, his negative aspects got the better of her and she ended up ignoring him half the time.

Dirge was only in her science classes, but he almost always hogged all the Chemistry and Biology equipment. Though he hated physics.

The only time she got a class to herself was gym class; where they were separated into boys and girls groups, much to her relief. She loved gymnastics, and despite being a seeker (her wings sometimes getting in the way), she was incredibly good at it! She was even invited to the after school P.E. club, which got together every Wednesday and Friday. It was her only friend Nightbird who invited her. Slipstream envied Nightbird's sleek movements, the femme was the perfect gymnast!

Every Wednesday, Skywarp would be waiting at the side of the hall for her. He'd often cheer for her when she got up onto the beam or whatever. He went to a homework club on Wednesdays and their father ordered Slipstream to walk him home afterwards. Skywarp was Slipstream's favourite brother, so she could stand walking all that way with him.

One of the main things she hated, by far, was the boys! She despised them! She was one of the most beautiful femmes at school, which had a mix of Autobots and Decepticons (whoever thought that would be a good idea should be shot) and all the mechs there seemed to fall madly in love with her. This is a good thing, or it should be, but not to Slipstream. All the mechs at her school were absolute aft holes! If you went out with them, you were never allowed to talk to anyone else until you broke up with him. Slipstream, for one, didn't like that constricting agreement.

When most mechs asked her out, she'd say no. They'd be upset or embarrassed for a while, but then they'd get over it and go after someone else.

… Except, for Oilslick. Primus, that guy was persistent! Slipstream had kept a tally of how many times he'd asked her out in one single year. She'd lost count at somewhere around 72.

Oilslick was smart, witty and charismatic. But he had an ego problem, almost as bad as Thundercracker's. Along with his obsession over his rivalry with one of the school pretty boys, Prowl, made people question his sexuality. Until they saw him with Slipstream. From the moment he saw her, he was addicted to her presence! He would often shove Dirge out of the way in science to be her partner! (This usually ended in a brawl between the two mechs, with the teacher sending both outside and Slipstream going with Nightbird).

Slipstream liked him. Sort of. He wasn't that bad looking, it was just his personality she couldn't stand. Which was understandable, as he was quickly becoming her stalker. Where ever Slipstream went in school; Oilslick would be there.

Lunch hall with Nightbird and her friends; Oilslick was at the table next to them. Library studying with Ramjet; Oilslick was staring at her from behind a book case. It was quickly tiring and freaking her out! And only Ramjet, Dirge and Skywarp knew about it in her large family.

Ramjet often shot Oilslick threatening glares across a room, which Oilslick ignored. Dirge got into one sided fights in class with him, which Oilslick always won. And Skywarp... well, he tried to get Slipstream to tell on him.

"You have to tell mum! Or dad! Or teacher! Someone big sister!" Skywarp pleaded Slipstream as they were walking home one day. Slipstream huffed and turned her head away from her youngest brother.

"I can handle it Sky! I don't need their help with this!" She spat nastily. She didn't mean to, but it was so easy to take her frustration out on Skywarp. He didn't argue back like Thundercracker. He didn't automatically agree with her like Sunstorm. He didn't lie like Ramjet. He didn't snap at her like Dirge. Didn't give her a snide comment like Thrust and certainly didn't punch her like Acidstorm.

Skywarp was the only brother she had that could actually give her a conversation worth having. To some extent.

"But what if he gets serious! He might hurt you, o-or worse!" Skywarp stammered nervously. He could quite clearly see Oilslick coming around the corner behind them, and without any of their brothers there, he began having one of his panic attacks.

"If he does, I'll kick his aft!" She hissed, also knowing full well the other mech was there. Though she did quicken her pace a little. Skywarp, who was much shorter than his sister, had to scamper along to keep up.

"He scares me Slips'..." He whimpered. "I don't like him being around without Acid or TC near by..."

Me neither Sky... Slipstream thought to herself. She'd never admit it, ever, but Oilslick creeped her out. Scared her even.

"Just ignore him. He'll stop following us when we get to our street. Daddy scares him!" She assured her brother. To be honest, everyone was scared of their father, Megatron. Understandably, as he was very protective over his large family. He was strict, Thundercracker could back me up on that! However, he was also understanding, and he most certainly loved all his children in every way.

Sure enough, as soon as the two reach Metroplex street, Oilslick peeled away and scurried down an ally way in the opposite direction. As soon as he was gone, both seeklets sighed a breath of relief. They glanced at each other.

"... Race you home?" She smiled weakly. He smiled back timidly and nodded. In truth, both just wanted to get inside as quickly as possible, and so they dashed down the road at top speed. Slipstream quickly swung the door open and Skywarp slammed it shut as soon as they were in. Both were panting and shivering, as their house was on the other end of the street.

Megatron looked up from the TV, one arm around Acidstorm while Thrust sat in his lap. The grey and red mech blinked as his two children caught their breath. "Where's the fire you two?" He remarked.

"We... raced..." Slipstream panted, throwing her bag down and running upstairs passed Starscream, who was just coming out of the kitchen. Skywarp placed his bag more gently on the ground and went to sit with Thundercracker, whom he found great comfort with.

"Sky, why were you two racing?" Starscream questioned with a raised optic. "You hate running." Skywarp looked around the room nervously. He wasn't as good at lying as Ramjet or Acidstorm, but he tried anyway.

"Slips' said it would be good for me..." He mumbled, climbing onto the couch and pressing up next to his eldest brother. Thundercracker grunted and raised an arm to curl around Skywarp's tiny form. Starscream blinked.

"So why'd she run upstairs?" Megatron asked for his bondmate. Skywarp, who'd already buried his face in Thundercracker's abdomen, shrugged at both his creators.

"Homework?" Thundercracker answered for him, still staring bluntly at the television. Both Starscream and Megatron glanced at each other.

***Slipstream's room***

The aqua and violet femme hugged her giant blue teddy to her chest. Her face plate was vaguely stained with tears as she trembled on the edge of her neatly made bed. She fiddled with the teddy, whose name was Wilson, making him dance on her knees slowly.

What if Skywarp was right? What if Oilslick did end up hurting her? Or worse...

She buried her face in Wilson's forehead to cover up a loud sob, curling up and lolling over on her bed. She was scared, no, terrified to think about it. Oilslick was part of the boys' judo club; he was stronger than her. He could hurt her and she couldn't "kick his aft".

But... she was too scared to tell her parents or teachers, heck, she couldn't even bring herself to tell Nightbird and she told her everything!

There was a knock at the door.

"What?" She spat. The door opened and Acidstorm wandered in with a tray of food.

"Mum told me t' bring this too yah." He slammed it on her desk with unnecessary force. He was always so aggressive.

"Thanks Acid..." She sighed. Acidstorm blinked at her.

"You cryin'?"

"Don't be stupid! I never cry!" She snarled, whipping her optics in a position he couldn't see her face. Acidstorm frowned and walked over to her bed. Climbing up and crawling up onto her pillow, he rested his cheek in his hand.

"I ain't th' stupid one 'ere! I dun use an ugly teddy as a shield!" He growled, trying to keep his Spark awful temper under control.

"Wilson isn't ugly! He's beautiful!" She retorted, sitting up straight, her legs crossed. Acidstorm could now see the residue of tears on his sister's cheeks.

"Huh... he's aft ugly if yah ask me! In fact, I've seen war wounds prettier dan 'im!" Acidstorm liked war movies and cartoons. Most of his book shelves were occupied by war wound records and weapon catalogues.

"I don't care what you think! He's my teddy and I love him!" She hissed, leaning forward threateningly. Acidstorm winced as he saw the red rings around her optics; she'd been crying for quite a while.

"Oh really?" He sported a challenging frown. "I cin make a much more loveable face den 'im!" He snorted. He reached up to his own face and pulled at his cheeks, stretching his mouth out and showing his glossa. Slipstream blinked and then started giggling as Acidstorm proceeded to pull funny faces at her. "Nya! See?" He smirked, putting his glossa back in his mouth. She pushed down more giggles then gave him a bright smile.

"Yeah, you're right." She sat Wilson against the wall and lunged forward, grabbing Acidstorm in a hug and kissing his cheek. "Wilson's got nothing on my baby brother!" She laughed as he squealed and rolled off the bed.

"Ew! Yuck! Gross! Femme germs!" He yelped before running from the room screaming. "Bleh! Mum! Slipstream kissed me!" He screeched, running down the stairs. She giggled after him, then moved to her desk where he left the food. She didn't eat much, as she still felt sick from the walk home, but she did her best to make his mission seem useful.

***The next day at school***

"Hey," Oilslick didn't talk all that much. He was the "Strong, silent" type. So when he did speak, it always came as a surprise to people. "Can we talk?"

Slipstream stared at him, optics wide and nervous. "Aren't we talking right now?" She managed. He gritted his denta and shook his head.

"I mean in private. Please?" Slipstream glanced towards Nightbird, who was sporting a cheerful smile and nodded for her to go.

"S-sure." Oilslick gave a triumphant nod and lead her away. Slipstream followed further behind, head bowed low and spark pulsing madly. As she looked to her side, she could see Dirge talking with his friend Powerglide, and Ramjet playing rugby with some other Decepticon kids. This comforted her somewhat, but not fully as Oilslick lead her around the back of the school building. They weren't really supposed to be there, where teachers couldn't see them, but she followed anyway.

"I like you." He said firmly when they had stopped.

"I noticed." She replied sullenly.

"But you don't like me?" She didn't answer. "Why?" Slipstream dared to look up at him. She didn't like the unreadable look on his face.

"... You... you follow me around the whole time!"

"Because I like you."

"That doesn't mean you can stalk me!"

"But you ignore me other wise." She winced uncomfortably as he stepped closer. She took a step back. "Your brothers don't like me either."

"... They just care about me."

"I care about you." She found that hard to believe. Again, he stepped closer. This time when she backed away, her back and sensitive wings touched against the wall behind her. "You're cute, clever and quirky. I don't know anyone else like you, Slipstream." The way he said her name... it made her want to run home and scrub. "And I want you to be with me, so why won't you be?"

"You're obsessive. It creeps me out!" His hands slammed on the wall behind either sides of her head and he leaned forward.

"That's only because you play hard to get. I know how girls act like they aren't interested in a guy when she wants their attention." He stared deep into her optics, boring into her head like he was going to eat her. Slipstream had a very Maximal-caught-in-head-lights look on her visage.

"Didn't you say I'm not like other girls?"

"That doesn't mean you don't pick up tricks from others." He stated, leaning in closer. She squeaked and tried to lean away, failing as her head bumped against the wall. "And I pick up tricks too, Slipstream." Again, she wanted to scrub herself.

Slipstream squeezed her optics shut, screwing up her face in sheer terror as Oilslick closed the gap between them. She felt his body pressed up against her own. She wondered if he could feel how her spark was retracting painfully in her chest, when suddenly, Oilslick was ripped away.

She opened her optics to see Oilslick gagging as light blue servos wrapped around his throat. Thundercracker tossed the shorter mech across the ground, away from Slipstream, then stomped after him. Again, he grabbed Oilslick by the throat and began pounding his fist against his face, torso and chest.

"When my little sister says 'no'..." He grabbed Oilslick's head then smashed it against his bucking up knee with as much force as he could muster, causing an enormous dent and crack to appear across his face plate and bodily energon to pour from his nose. "She means no, aft hole!" He proceeded to smack the younger mech around for a bit, receiving a few dents and cracks himself as Oilslick began putting up some resistance.

The two rolled around on the ground, viciously lashing out and whacking each other. Slipstream panted, still pressed up against the wall when Sunstorm ran around the corner with the rest of her brothers.

"Slipstream! Are you alright my dear and wonderful little sibling?" Sunstorm fussed, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her gently. Before she could think, she latched onto her second eldest brother and clung to him for dear life. Sunstorm jumped at the sudden contact, then hugged back, stroking her back and wings comfortingly.

"He... he was going to kiss me Sunny! O-or... or something worse!" She sobbed into his chest plate. Acidstorm growled and began stomping towards where Thundercracker and Oilslick were still wrestling, before Thrust grabbed his arm.

"Don't even think about it." He grunted. Acidstorm scoffed, but did as he was told.

"What is going on here!" A voice bellowed. One of the head of departments, Sentinel Minor, appeared around the corner. He took one look at the scene and decided who were the culprits; the two fighting on the ground. "You two!" He boomed. Both Thundercracker and Oilslick ignored him and kept fighting. Sentinel growled, stomping forward and grabbing both by the scruff of their necks. "You two are coming with me!"

He turned to the rest of the seeklets, glaring at the still sobbing Slipstream. "Get her some tissue and get to my office pronto! I want a word with all of you!" He snarled, then dragged the two snarling mechs off.

"Come on my lovely sister, let big brother dry those unworthy tears from your angelic face!" Sunstorm cooed, flattering as ever. Slipstream sniffed and whimpered as Sunstorm's thumb wiped away her tears, still clinging to him like a life line.