Sideswipe jumped as he felt the servos grab him from behind.

"It's ok it's me." said Strongarm. "I know you didn't do it your reckless and are always breaking the rules but I know you and I know you'd never kill someone."

Sideswipe relaxed a bit then Strongarm who he could tell was still recovering from getting beaten up the night before lead him inside one of the buildings where Knock Out was waiting for them.

"Sideswipe please tell me you didn't kill Pharma?" Knock Out asked him.

"I didn't." Sideswipe answered fighting back coolant tears. Then suddenly Knock Out hugged him.

"I believe you." Knock Out told him.

"You do?" He asked.

"Yes I spent enough time around Decepticons to tell when a bot is lying." Knock Out explained. "And I can tell your not."

"And I wouldn't be aiding and abetting a fugitive if I didn't think it was the right thing." Strongarm added.

"Thanks guys." Sideswipe said glad at least two of his friends believed him and were still on his side. "So do either of you know what happened to Bee?"

They both shook their helms. Now Sideswipe was worried he had been framed for killing a mech and the only possible witness was missing. He explained everything he remembered which wasn't much to Strongarm and Knock Out.

And they all agreed the others would take some convincing and unfortunately Sideswipe didn't have a very good case.

So Knock Out got out some paint cans and gave them to Sideswipe and told him to repaint himself so it would be easier for him to slip past the others.

"But why will I need to slip past the others?" He asked.

"Because Knock Out and I are gonna try to prove your innocence and find out what happened to Bumblebee while you hide in Vos where they can't arrest you." Strongarm explained.

Then Sideswipe went and applied the paint Knock Out gave him. And came out sporting a new silver paint job.

"Looking good." Knock Out told his younger cosine.

"Not bad I hardly recognize you." Strongarm told him.

"Which is good since that's the goal here." Said Sideswipe. Then he thanked them both before leaving to get to Vos before the others could catch him.

While Strongarm and Knock Out tired to decide what their next move should be in proving his innocence.
_                                                                       

Sideswipe drove and fortunately no one recognized him in his vehicle mode except for one.

He saw Windblade land near him and could tell by the way she looked that she knew it was him. He braced himself getting ready to floor it if she called the others to arrest him.

"I have a visual on Sideswipe he's heading towards Kaon you all better hurry if we're gonna catch him." She said over her com-link then winked at him. He was heading for Vos which new location after being rebuilt was nowhere near Kaon.

"Good luck." She said to him before flying off.

Sideswipe was glad to know Windblade believe him and was still on his side too.

Then he hurried on his way to Vos. Hoping Strongarm and Knock Out would be able to prove his innocence soon.
_                                                                     

A few very suspenseful hours later he was in Vos. He was glad he would finally be able to relax for a few moments.

But unfortunately it was short lived and a group of seeker started ganging up on him calling him ground pounder and telling him to leave.

Until a rose gold femme ran over and started standing up for him and it looked like there was gonna be a fight especially when the femme reviled herself to be an outlier when she let out a scream that made the lights flicker and forced everyone to cover their audio receptors.

Then he saw a familiar jet flying over and seeing who it was and giving what their last encounter had been Sideswipe suddenly felt worried.

He had played a big role in stopping Starscream's plan with the minicons and helping with his capture but now he was in Vos Starscream's city that he was the leader of and here the seeker held all the cards.

"Hey attacking visitors is no way to keep the peace with the rest of Cybertron." Starscream scolded the group of seekers who had ganged up on Sideswipe.

They all apologized and left. Then Starscream asked if anyone had been hurt. To which everyone said no. And Sideswipe could have sworn he saw genuine concern and then relief on Starscream's faceplates.

The whole time Sideswipe was trying not to make eye contact thinking if Starscream recognized him there would be trouble or he might kick him out of the city.

"So why are you here and what's with the new color scheme Sideswipe?" Asked Starscream.

"Well the jig is up." Thought Sideswipe. Then he quickly explained everything that had happened and what his situation was.

"Can I please stay here they'll arrest me and I'll never be able to prove my innocence otherwise." Sideswipe almost pleaded.

"Let me think about that." Said Starscream. "I thought about it OK."

"Really?" Asked Sideswipe.

"Yeah I understand what it's like to have everyone against you." Starscream told him. "And what better way to spite Team Prime for how they treated me during the war?" But he didn't say that part out loud.

Then Starscream not only aloud him to remain in Vos but set him up with a place to stay.

And the femme introduced herself as Screamout and they could tell she wasn't like the other seekers and she explained she was a seeker and velocitronian high breed because the Allspark had glitched when she was made and it had given her coding from both as well as her outliner ability and she was actually a triple changer with a car and a jet mode.

And both Starscream and Screamout decided to help Sideswipe clear his name anyway they could.

To Be Continued.

Hope this chapter turned out OK it was all I could come up with. I'll try to get the next one up soon. In the meantime feel free to send feedback.