TITLE: Consequences
SERIES: Imperfection Deviation – Off Balance
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
FEEDBACK: Loved
SUMMARY: Things get tricky...



It shouldn’t have been possible.

At least medical science told him that, as far as he knew about that particular field anyway.

Scavenger felt the explorative touch, the gentle caress, over the open interface circuits, then the connection was made and he was embraced by the familiar warmth and flowing energy of the split spark he was still getting to know.

Sideswipe had a lot less reservations than the Constructicon would ever have believed, and he would seek out the other mech when he was in the area. Sometimes he would come just for this occasion. Scavenger felt the healing scars of the split spark and he knew he was doing a lot to further that healing. Sideswipe had been through a lot throughout the final stages of the war and he had probably lost more of himself than Ratchet realized or wanted to believe.

Scavenger had never known the twin before his arrival on Earth, damaged and scarred. It was a different kind of scarring than his brother’s, who had arrived a few months ago. Sunstreaker had scraped by and pulled himself out of the abyss, had survived against all odds on a battlefield littered with dead shells, and he had made it this far.

And Scavenger was suddenly interwoven with both of them in a way he had never thought possible. Well, Sunstreaker wasn’t linked to him directly, only through his twin, but there was a connection that wasn’t based on sharing or touching the twinned spark directly.

It had been Hook of all mechs who had approached him and offered a scan. The engineer and architect who was always so absorbed in his work that you could blow up the lab and he wouldn’t even notice, had told Scavenger that this needed monitoring.

‘This’ being his involvement with the twins.

“I share, Hook. I’m not ‘involved’,” Scavenger had told him. “You spent too much time with Tony.”

It got him a glare. “Call it what you will, but this is far more. You shared with a split spark. No one has ever done that before. Not in the recorded history. Might be because split sparks are more rare than bonds. Five confirmed pairs of twins in our known history. What does that tell you?”

Scavenger had relented and given in to the scan.

The result had been… disconcerting. He wouldn’t go as far as to say frightening. It was… not what he had expected.


Running a hand over the armor protecting his spark, he tried not to see it too negatively.
Sideswipe’s hand grabbed his own, his blunt fingers in sharp contrast to the more taloned ones. Those blunt tips caressed the nodes, playful. It was so at odds with how the Autobot usually appeared. Scavenger shot him a questioning look.

Sideswipe didn’t say anything, but the expression in his optics was meaningful.

“Want to stop now?” Scavenger asked, voice even.

“I don’t think I… we… can anymore.”

It was like a blow to his spark chamber. Scavenger’s optics flared as the other mech said what he had been thinking about.

“We both know it, Scavenger.”

Yes, he did. Still…

“There are other mechs willing to share, Sideswipe,” Scavenger said carefully, repeating what he had said weeks before. “This isn’t a sensation bound to me.”

“It is. You feel good.”

“How would you know? You never shared before.”

“And I doubt I want to share with anyone else. It’s either you or not at all.”

Scavenger’s mind was reeling. This was crazy! It wasn’t a bond, but it wasn’t a simple sharing any more either.

Sideswipe pressed closer, sinking into the contact, their circuits fizzing slightly with the interface’s pleasure. Scavenger realized he didn’t want to let this go either.

Something new. They had created something terribly new and unexplored. A spark connected to a split – twinned -- spark.

Not a bond.

A bond meant a deeper understanding of each other. He understood nothing of those two, aside from what they let on.

Blue optics darkened and the playfulness was back. Scavenger let his systems give in. Sideswipe pushed harder, more sure of his actions than in the beginning.

“Do you want this?” Scavenger asked, sounding a bit strangled.

“Who wouldn’t? It’s good.”

“But wrong.”

It got him a laugh. “Maybe. I’m not listening to anyone about this any more.” It sounded almost teasing. “I like it. I want it.” The circuits closed completely. “And you want it yourself.”

Yes. Badly. A lot.

Scavenger pulled the other spark toward him, let the rush of energy take over and white out his system.

So, so badly…