"Are you in a rush?"

Sunstreaker perked his head up at Sideswipe's question. "Yes, I am. Ironhide asked if I wanted to look at the shooting practice at 11 AM," I stated. "Really? When did you talk to him?" Sunstreaker asked. "The previous day." They exchanged a look but I didn't wait for a response and pulled my shoes. I left and headed for the shooting range. Ironhide gestured to me to follow him. It was a small team of four people. "Two soldiers have the flu, so it's just them," Ironhide said. "This is Amethyst. The twins are her guardians."

I smiled at them. "Nice to meet you, Amethyst. I am Jake, this Lucas, Benjamin, and Liam," he said. "Nice to meet you," I replied. Ironhide handed me a gun. A couple of hours passed and we were at the end of the less. "Hey, Thyst? Why don't you come with us to the cafeteria?" Benjamin asked. I smiled and nodded, handing the gun back to Ironhide. "Thanks, Hide." He hummed and watched me leave with the group.

"Thyst?" The twins walked up to me. "Are you coming?" Sunstreaker asked. "To where?" I asked. "Lunch, in town," Sideswipe said. I looked at the group. "It's alright, Thyst. We will catch up with you later," Jake said. "Okay."

I watched them leave before turning towards the twins. As much as I wanted to hang with them, I didn't want to stop spending time with twins. "You made new friends?" Sideswipe asked as he wrapped his arm around my neck. "Y—yeah." I hopped in his alt-mode and buckled up. Sideswipe drove after his brother towards a lunchroom somewhere in Washington DC. He parked a little further away and cut his engine. I watched Sunstreaker, he always wore his leg holster, with a knife and gun. He's so good-looking and intimidating. Sideswipe is handsome too, but not as intimidating as his brother. Especially Sunstreaker's icy blue eyes are sometimes so scary.

We walked inside and both brothers settled in front of me, removing their leather jackets. Across the room, I spotted a girl. Also 18 years old, dark blonde hair but she looked so much better than I do. She wasn't underweight and she actually looked beautiful in my opinion. I studied her for a moment. She was perfect in my opinion. I bit my lip and caught the twins staring at me. "What?" I asked. "You are beautiful too... you don't need to look like somebody else," Sunstreaker said. They obviously caught me looking at the girl. "I was just scanning the room... I wasn't comparing her with me..." I sulked. A complete lie of course and they knew but I felt the urge to defend myself.

"I am not gaining any weight... I do eat regularly but I stay the same and I hate it," I muttered under my breath. "Give it time, Thyst. Ratchet said you are healthy, isn't it? You're not sick... don't worry, you will gain some weight," Sunstreaker assured me. "What if I don't... what if I stay this skeleton for the rest of my life?" I asked. "Stop making fun of yourself. You're not a skeleton," Sideswipe said and gave me a look. "In comparison with you two... I am a twig."

"It's not going to help you if you keep comparing yourself with others, you know. Believe me, you are going to be just fine," Sunstreaker stated. I gave a small nod and sat back in the seat. "Anyway... what do you recommend here?" I asked. "Oh, you can pick whatever you want," Sideswipe said, handing me the menu card. "From the most things on the list... I don't know what it is, that's why I asked," I explained. "Sideswipe usually takes the club sandwich here and I take... sometimes panini's there really good here or sate. You can have a taste from us if you'd want," he said. I gave a small nod and passed them the card so they can have a quick scan but soon, they had made their decision.

"How did you get that scar?" Sideswipe pointed at my shoulder. "This? I got hit by a truck two years ago," I replied and shrugged. "How did that happen?" Sunstreaker arched a brow. "There was this teenage girl, 13 years old... Lisa and she were in trouble. This guy was holding a gun so I jumped to help her but the guy was faster and pushed me towards the road at the exact same time a truck passed by."

"During that time... we knew your foster parents but they never said a word about that," Sideswipe said. "That's because they didn't know it happened. After I was hit, they brought me to the hospital where I had to undergo a 6-hour long operation... I tore my spleen and I had a nasty cut on my stomach... so all my intestines were falling out. It's a gross story, sorry."

"It is... but, you recovered fully?" Sideswipe asked. "Hmm, yeah... a couple of weeks later I was wandering around on the streets again. It happened more often I leave the house for a couple of weeks and return... I have been through so much, I am shot, hit by a truck, had several fights, poisoned, stabbed... you know, I do know how to survive. I have people trying to steal my organs."

"That's actually true?" Sideswipe cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, I haven't been a victim of that but people have tried multiple times. I just know Washington DC very well, every alley, every road, and street even the sewer. I have a mental map. I also know where it's safe to go. I have met Barricade a couple of years ago. He captured me... so meeting you guys wasn't a big surprise," I replied. "What did he want from you?" Sideswipe asked a little confused. "I don't really know what he did to me... he tested on me and the pain was too much for me and I passed out most of the time. I escaped eventually after I made a deal with Ravage. I saved his life... and he saved mine."