Old Brothers: Put Back Together
Welcome all to the second installment of Old Brothers. I originally thought of only doing one story but I decided to extend it. So...here ya go! Enjoy!
The former Autobots had been trying to figure out what to do for the rest of their lives. They couldn't go back to Cybertron, they still hadn't revealed themselves to the world and...how to get Starscream and Soundwave to stop whining. Optimus and Ratchet were busy talking to each other in the main room. Bumblebee and Barricade were watching Jack and Raf play a racing game. Miko was out with Bulkhead to a monster truck rally and Smokescreen and Arcee were racing around the desert.
"COME ON JACK, SCRAP HIM!"
"YOU GOT IT, YOU GOT IT!"
Barricade and Bumblebee were yelling at Jack and Raf who were tied so far in the race. Raf was very determined but Jack was acting like he was some professional. Ratchet shook his head in annoyance.
"I'm telling ya Optimus, those two combined equals chaos in the base!" Ratchet grumbled.
Optimus seemed more relaxed and more talkative since the war was over. He even began to smile more as he showed Ratchet one.
"Ratchet they are both young. Even they deserve the attitudes they have. There wasn't any time for laughs during the war...not ever!" Optimus said camly.
Ratchet looked back at the two, one was cheering, the other was face-palming. He let out a chuckle.
"I guess your right Optimus!" Ratchet said accidently letting a grin out.
"You cheated!" Barricade grumbled to Raf.
"I don't think you can cheat on this Barricade!" Raf chuckled. Jack shrugged.
"Come on Barricade, like you could do better!" Bumblebee snorted in beeps.
Barricade gave Bumblebee an evil glare and turned to him.
"Oh really, wanna bet?" Barricade snarled getting in Bee's face.
Jack and Raf looked at each other nervously. Ratchet and Optimus watched.
"I can beat you anyday!" Bumblebee shot back.
"Alright then, how about we step outside for awhile?"
"Sure why not, Ratchet activate the groundbridge!" Bumblebee actually demanded surprising Ratchet.
"Bumblebee, you don't ever tell me what to do!" Ratchet growled making the two mechs...and Optimus jump.
"Yes sir!" Bumblebee and he and Barricade ran off.
Little did Ratchet know, Optimus had a huge grin on his face but he quickly hid it when Ratchet turned to him. Ratchet gave him an unsure look.
"Ratchet, we have not known much of Bumblebee and Barricade's past...but it may be wise to learn more. It's possible they acted this way long before the war. Probably back to where they were sparklings." Optimus assured hearing laughter from the brothers.
Ratchet sighed and felt defeated. Nobody had even cared to ask about Bumblebee's past life. It's possible Bumblebee could be secretly mad that they never did. The only thing they ever knew was Megatron crushing his voice box. Arcee and Smokescreen arrived through the tunnel and transformed.
"Nothing like a little drive to make a bot feel great!" Arcee sighed walking up to Optimus.
"We raced around the desert, I never thought I would get so dirty from there!" Smokescreen said brushing himself off.
"Where's Bumblebee?" Arcee asked.
"Goofing off with Barricade!" Jack said continuing to play games with Raf.
"Should've known, you know that Barricade may have been here for a week now, but I'm still not sure about him!" Smokescreen said crossing his arms.
"What's wrong with him?" Raf asked.
"It's just that...he was a Decepticon! Evil! So, it's just uncomfortable!" Arcee said.
"Better not let Bumblebee hear that!" Ratchet warned.
"So...where exactly are they goofing off at?" Jack asked.
In the training room, Bumblebee and Barricade were sparring. They had a love of sparring since they were sparklings. They seemed to be evenly matched although Barricade did use his claws a few times. Arcee and Smokescreen walked by simply watching them.
"If I had money, I would bet Barricade to win." Arcee shrugged.
"Naw, Bumblebee's got it...they did have to fight each other in the war didn't they?" Smokescreen asked.
"Nope, not once!" Arcee said. "They probably wouldn't dare hurt each other if the war was still going on."
Just then, Barricade accidently punched Bumblebee too hard in the face knocking him into the wall face-first. Arcee and Smokescreen gasped. Barricade ran to Bee's aid in horror.
"OH PRIMUS BUMBLEBEE YOU OKAY?" Barricade asked helping up Bee who had fell to the ground.
Bumblebee beeped in pain as his optics dimmed a bit but he wasn't mad.
"I'm okay, just need to see Ratchet! But it's not your fault!" Bumblebee chuckled as Barricade walked him out of the room.
Arcee and Smokescreen quickly scrambled away before they could see him. Ratchet luckily wasn't busy so he checked out Bee's face while Barricade sat on a box nearbye seemingly thinking. Optimus could see the worry in his optics and walked over.
"Barricade, is everything okay?" Optimus asked.
"No...I don't think so! It's just that I've never hit Bumblebee that hard. Never! I just want him to be okay!" Barricade said with his optics lubricating a bit.
"Barricade, Bumblebee will be fine. We are not familiar with your past with him!" Optimus asked sitting on a box next to Barricade.
"Me and Bumblebee have loved each other since we were created. We were there for each other no matter what! We always got along even though we were different. Then the war just destroyed us. Tore us apart, Megatron forced me to be a Decepticon. It made me lose my enforcer job on Cybertron and lose Bumblebee's chances of exploring. Curse Megatron for ripping out his voice. And you know what? I hated killing all the Autobots. I hated being away from Bumblebee. I hated my life. I mean look at me! Don't I look like someone who would be hard to get along with or get used to after a long time?" Barricade explained looked up at the giant mech with confusion.
Optimus sighed feeling sorry for him. He knew what it was like to lose someone to something insane, like Megatron. But before Optimus could speak again, Barricade got up and left.
"I need to be alone!" Barricade said walking away.
Barricade stayed in his room for at least an hour before he recieved a knock at the door!
"Bumblebee?" Barricade asked opening the door.
He was disappointed when he saw Arcee and Smokescreen at the door.
"I hope you're real proud of yourself!" Arcee said crossing her arms.
Barricade knew exactly what they were talking about and groaned.
"I know what I did and I don't feel like talking about it!" Barricade said getting annoyed already.
"What kind of brother just...does that? You could've knocked his optics out!" Smokescreen said sternly.
"I don't need to me reminded!" Barricade sneered through gritted teeth.
Barricade hated it when people reminded him up of bad things. The problem of worrying about Bumblebee and people accusing him was causing massive stress to the point where Barricade was about to snap.
"You don't belong outside a cell, you're just like Starscream and Soundwave!" Arcee sneered.
"Yeah, mabye even Megatron!" Smokescreen added.
That did it. Barricade roared and smashed Smokescreen against the opposite wall.
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! MIND YOUR OWN FRAGGING BUSINESS! I'M IN ENOUGH PAIN OF MISSING OUT ON BEING AROUND BUMBLEBEE AND I DON'T NEED ANYMORE MECHS OR FEMMES GETTING ON MY NERVES!" Barricade growled scaring the energon out of Smokescreen.
"BARRICADE BACK OFF OF HIM!" Arcee yelled.
"QUIET! I DON'T NEED THIS! I'M GOING FOR A DRIVE!" Barricade snarled and shoved Smokescreen to the ground.
Barricade transformed and raced down the hallway towards the main room! Optimus and the others wondered what the loud engine was when they saw Barricade come screeching into the room. Bumblebee had just gotton off the bed perfectly fine.
"Barricade what's wrong?" Bumblebee asked as Barricade transformed.
"SOME TEAM HERE OPTIMUS! They don't give a scrap about me!" Barricade said walking towards a wall.
"What did they say?" Jack asked.
"They said I don't deserve to be here! They said I need to be in a cell!" Barricade snarled and punched the wall cracking it startling everyone.
Bumblebee ran over to pull him away from the wall.
"Barricade wait, why would they say that?" Bumblebee asked.
"Apparently they can't accept the fact that we belong around each other!" Barricade said punching the wall again.
"Barricade calm down it's okay!" Bumblebee assured.
"No...it's not! I'm sorry, I need to go out for a bit!" Barricade said pushing past him to transform and left.
Once he was gone...Arcee and Smokescreen walked in recieving angry glares from everybody, including Optimus.
"What happened?" Smokescreen asked.
"YOU MISERBALE..." Bumblebee's fists were clenched tightly.
Ratchet had to run towards Bumblebee and hold him back before Bumblebee could get near them. Bumblebee jerked his way out of Ratchet's grip only to transform and race out of the base leaving the others speechless. Jack and Raf could see the angry look on Optimus' face and they decided it would be best to leave the room.
"Uh...Ratchet...can you mabye bridge us to Bumblebee's location?" Jack nervously asked.
Ratchet, without hesitation did so! And Raf and Jack were taken to a spot on the road where Bumblebee would soon pass. Raf called Bee.
"Bumblebee, stop at the next intersection, we want to ride with you!" Raf said.
Bumblebee saw them up ahead and stopped to let them in. It was getting late and Bumblebee was desperately trying to find Barricade. Barricade had shut off his com link. He drove and drove but still there was no signs of Barricade. He decided to call Bulkhead who was still with Miko at the rally.
"Bulkhead, have you seen Barricade?" Bumblebee asked.
"No, but I'll look! What happened?" Bulkhead asked.
"Long story, let's just say he's pissed." Bumblebee beeped.
Bulkhead rolled out away from the ally and looked around. It was pretty silent. He nearly didn't spot a red Aston Martin racing by.
"Knock Out..." Bulkhead sneered.
Knock Out was glad he had escaped capture but upset that he was still at large. He hadn't expect to see a mustang police car coming up behind him.
"Ah, a new racer to tear apart!" Knock Out said.
But instead, the police car raced past him seemingly knowing who he was...or at least heard of him! Knock Out seemed to recognize him right away upon looking at the purple and black paint job.
"Barricade? It's been awhile!" Knock Out purred coming closer to the mech.
"What do you want Knock Out?" Barricade sneered.
"Just wondering what another 'con could be doing here!" Knock Out said.
"Con? I ain't no con! Besides, if I ever wanted to be a 'con again, my brother would pulverize me!" Barricade snarled.
"Brother? Who's your brother?"
"Bumblebee!"
That made Knock Out nearly swerve of the road in shock!
"BUMBLEBEE? YOUR BROTHER?" Knock Out yelled.
"Yeah, now leave me..." Barricade couldn't finish when he heard a familiar sound of two mechs roar up to Knock Out and ram him.
"OW! MY PAINT!"
Bumblebee and Bulkhead were ready for action. Bulkhead watched as Knock Out tried to gain control. Bulkhead decided to take advantage and tackle Knock Out off the road and pin him down.
"GET OFF YOU FRAGGING GLITCH!" Knock Out snarled.
"Optimus, we've captured Knock Out, requesting emergency groundbridge!" Bulkhead said over the com link.
"Understood!" Optimus said as the GB opened.
While Bulkhead took Knock Out away, Bumblebee and Barricade continued to drive, Raf and Jack included.
"Barricade, I'm very sorry for what they said!" Bumblebee said as they rolled back to base.
"Thanks, and I'm sorry for hitting you so hard!" Barricade said.
"It's okay, I've been through worse!"
"I love you!"
"I love you too!"
Raf and Jack stayed silent never interrupting. They smiled knowing things were going to be okay! They continued to talk all the way back about funny moments in their past. Back at base, Knock Out was placed in a cell where Starscream laughed at him while Soundwave stayed silent as always. But even Lazerbeak seemed to be laughing. Meanwhile, Arcee and Smokescreen had been given a piece of Optimus' mind and Ratchet's wrench. Bulkhead went to get Miko, while the brothers returned to talk to Optimus.
"Barricade, Bumblebee you're back!" Ratchet said relieved. "Thank the allspark."
"Barricade, I have personally talked to Arcee and Smokescreen and they will apologize before recharge!" Optimus said looking at the two who cowered beside the computer.
"You gonna be okay?" Bumblebee asked.
"Yeah, just tired!" Barricade smiled.
Bumblebee playfully punched Barricade in the arm, but Barricade punched back. This went on for a minute before they started wrestling in front of a laughing Optimus and Ratchet. Of course the brothers noticed this.
"Oh you think it's funny Prime?"
"Yeah Hatchet?"
Optimus and Ratchet smirked. Ratchet brought out his wrench and tossed one to Optimus.
"WRENCHIN' TIME!" Ratchet snarled.
"SCRAP!" Bumblebee and Barricade yelled as they raced down the hallway.
Later...Arcee and Smokescreen were going to apologize to Barricade but when they opened his door they spotted something unexpected. Barricade and Bumblebee were laughing while looking at pictures on a data-pad that had all of their past memories! Some pictures had them making funny faces, others had them in embarassing moments, pranks and a few with other mechs with them. Arcee and Smokescreen decided to wait till later to talk to them and let them have their moments...
THE END
And there is the next installment. Don't forget the third and final installment is available. I hoped you all enjoyed this sequel and please check out the last story!
