A/N: First of all, welcome to this humble tale of mine. I do not own Transformers.

To be honest, I am anything but a Transformers expert and I don't have the patience to rummage through all the Transformers stuff out there. English is not my mother language, but it seems that I have some kind of a kink with writing in english. I tell you right now that my writing is not even close to correct – you have been warned! :D

This story is loosely based on the first Transformers movie from 2007, but mostly it is pure brain fudge that occurred to me while listening to some special music...

Well now, for those of you who are still reading this, don't take it too seriously, go on and please enjoy.

"talking"

thoughts

::: comm talk ::::

-Prologue-

Megatron was dead, killed by a human, a human that was still half a child. In the boy's successful attempt to kill the decepticon leader, the all-spark had been destroyed, too.

In an act of pure rage and revenge, Megatron's most loyal subordinate misused the decepticon's newest invention to send out a massive EMP impulse down to earth, paralyzing all of the human's electronic devices. There would be no resistance when Shockwave would wipe these insects out, once and for all. And as a further benefit, the autobots would be out of service for a short period of time. But the invention had a side effect – inexplicably, the impulse did not only threw humankind back into Middle ages, it also seemed that it somehow let mankind disappear.

For the decepticons, retrieving the all-spark had been the goal. But now it was lost to them, as well as Megatron was lost to them. They were devastated, aimless, and without a leader. Megatron's second in command, Starscream, took his place. Of course, he had dreamed of this for eons – but it was not supposed to happen like this.

It was soon clear that Shockwave had initiated this, Starscream knew that he would have to make new plans and it seemed to be logical to leave earth, taking time to consider which path to go now, without Megatron. Organics were of no use, merely collateral damage in this war – and letting them disappear to an unknown place or maybe even have killed them all, certainly would bring the wrath of the autobots upon them. The autobots, as well as the decepticons, were low on energon – the last few reserves were in the autobots' hands and it would be reckless to engage in more unnecessary fights with them.

But there was another issue that bothered Starscream – his science officer and best scout was still missing. Had he been captured by the autobots? Or what was more plausible, had the EMP Impulse put him into temporary stasis-lock?

Starscream yet had no answers to these questions, but he refused to believe that the mech was lost. Yes, he would search for him – maybe not now for it was too risky, but soon. He would not leave Barricade behind, not after what they have been through together. Not after all that they had to endure under Megatron's merciless claws

somewhere, in the northern Canada...

One week. One whole week, and Annalise had not seen another human, had not heard anything of the events that had led to this. She still had no clue what had happened, no matter how hard she tried to solve that mysterious riddle. Only five days ago, she left her small apartment to go to work, wondering why the bus stop was so abandoned, or why there came no bus at all. That day, she almost overslept because of her not-working alarm clock.

She just stood there and waited, almost for an hour, but then it dawned on her, so very slowly – no other people, no bus, no cars, no alarm clock, no television, no radio... Standing at the bus stop, panic crept into her, an uncomfortable feeling took over her, much like the feeling one gets watching one of those apocalyptic blockbusters.

Shivering, Annalise grabbed for her cellphone, only to have her greatest fear confirmed – no signal, worse than that, the phone was dead.

That can't be happening, I can't be the only one? What the fuck am I to do? She thought fearfully, not able to move or think straight. Similar to the function of an autopilot, her feet just started walking back to her flat again, walking up the stairs, opening the door to her apartment and shutting it behind her. Annalise dropped into a chair, staring at a wall. She tried desperately to find a logical explanation for the situation, maybe the internet would provide some information? Oh, of course, internet didn't work, too... Sighing, Annalise slumped into her bed, so many thoughts invaded her mind and she was just not able to make sense.

Now, 5 days later, there was still no sign of other humans, and still no electricity. It was odd, but somehow she had developed something like a daily routine – getting up, leaving her flat, searching for others, searching for food – the stores were empty and she just took what she needed. For hours, Annalise just sat in one of the big parks or public places, hoping someone would see her, anyone...

There was one theory that seemed to be convincing – well, it wasn't a real theory at that, but maybe it could have something to do with the current situation. Only a few weeks ago, it became public that some kind of extraterrestrial robot lifeforms were living on earth, they have been here for some time, and after that particular battle between the two factions who called themselves 'autobots' and 'decepticons' it was impossible for the government to hide their presence on earth any longer. It was all over the TV, every channel had it's own theory about them and their intentions.

Annalise had always been someone to adapt quickly to new situations, always believed that humankind wasn't alone in the universe, but who would have thought of intelligent, sentient robotic lifeforms? Unknown to her yet, she was about to run into one of them very soon.

To say that Barricade was pissed was clearly an understatement. His systems on-lined way too slowly for his liking, and the upcoming processor-ache made him even more exasperated. What the frag had happened? The last thing he remembered was Megatron's death... and Starscream's annoying voice in his audio, telling him that Shockwave had fragged up big-time and needed to be punished. Then, everything went black. Next thing he knew was that he came to consciousness again, in the middle of an empty highway in his alt-mode, his systems hurting and the communication device broken. He felt awkwardly alone, disconnected. Long-range sensors were not working, too, and Primus only knew why he was feeling like he'd been off-line for centuries.

Cursing quietly in cybertronian, Barricade's short-range sensors alarmed him of a presence near – it was organic. Of course, a squishy was exactly what he needed now, just as much as that damn processor-ache.

'energon level low, 37 percent remaining, suggesting refuel soon' Barricade's check-up systems warned him, making him snort in annoyance. Pretending that he was just an average police car, he made no move and just watched the human slowly walk along the street, stopping here and there to take a closer look around. Much to his disliking, the squishy came closer, but yet 'it' had not noticed him.

Although it really bugged him, Barricade couldn't help but observe that certain squishy more closely. He was a scout, it wouldn't hurt to... investigate. During the decepticon's stay on this planet, Barricade hadn't really shown interest in humans, they were boring, short lived and damned annoying – one could say that they were just in the way, an obstacle. But Barricade wasn't the average decepticon, he had secrets, and he would rather off-line himself than let anyone know. But who was he fooling anyway? Barricade was a perv, and every single decepticon secretly suspected that - not that he cared.

The squishy was obviously a femme and looked quite average, he assumed. Not only had Barricade lost contact to his comrades, it seemed that all the squishies were just gone – except of this single female. The city was empty, and he couldn't receive any of their stupid radio shows or news. This situation required more thorough investigation. A sudden warm and soft touch ripped him from his thoughts, and he realized that the squishy femme was standing right in front of him, actually groping his hood! The look on her face was hard to read, but she seemed to like Barricade's alt-mode. She hummed in appreciation as she walked around him, slowly, still touching him. And then, as a highlight to his already fragged-up day, the squishy dared to climb in the Saleen, smiling as she traced his steering wheel with careful fingers.

The Mustang was utterly dumbstruck. He knew that she thought he'd be just another, average car, but her filthy hands on him were outraging. How dare she... fondling him like that? And that warm, gentle hand, slowly brushing over the seats, the dashboard...

Holy Primus! It took everything to control himself, torn between blazing anger and embarrassing arousal - this just reminded him that he was indeed some kind of a freak, and when she gripped his gear-shift, Barricade couldn't take it any longer.

The Saleen popped the driver's door and simply tossed the human out, making her land ungraciously on her rear while he noisily transformed into his bipedal mode. He pounced on her and growled, fiery red optics staring down into green, human eyes.

"What do you think you are doing, human?" A deep, sonorous and unnatural voice boomed at her, wheels wildly spinning much too close to her body. Annalise's jaw dropped, her eyes fixated on that alien face, wide with terror and awe. She crawled backwards, but the Mustang grabbed her ankles, pinning her in place easily. It was then that she realized that he had actually two pairs of eyes, if one would call them 'eyes'.

"Hey, hey, easy! I didn't know that... I thought you were just a car, alright? I'm sorry!" Annalise panted, slightly relaxing when he let go of her and she heard him vent heavily. He took a few steps back and regarded her, crouching down onto the asphalt. The silence between them was awkward, Annalise used the moment to take a real look at 'him'. She assumed he was about 15 feet tall, covered in mostly black plating, but one could still see the white door-wings of a police car. His hands were more like claws, and the tires right above them were still spinning slightly. It was true – that 'thing' was some kind of a giant robot, just like those she'd seen on television a few weeks ago.

Annalise managed to get up on her feet and approached him, very slowly. "Look, I didn't mean to offend you, guess I just have a thing for... Mustangs." She smiled weakly as he studied her quietly. "I apologize, what I did was inappropriate. Do you... do you know what happened here, where have all the other humans gone?"

"I would not waste my time with you if I'd know anything! I on-lined only minutes ago, am not fully functional. No contact to my base, to anybody. What do you know about all... this?" he questioned inquisitively.

"Honestly? Nothing. I left for work in the morning a few days ago, and everybody was gone. There's also no electricity, everything is dead. I hoped... I hoped that you may have an answer." Annalises's voice was calm and shaking a little.

The big robot snorted and stood up, approaching her. Annalise backed up, she was still unsure if he meant danger for her.

"Calm down squishy, I will not harm you. It is of no use."

She looked up at him and blinked, the light of the dusk stung in her eyes. "What are you...and, what is your name, if you have one? I'm Annalise, by the way."

"I am a mech, little femme. An intelligent, sentient robotic being from the planet cybertron. Designation: Barricade. Scout and science officer, faction Dec..." Oh, wait, Barricade suddenly thought, I am low on energon and need to refuel very soon. Damn Autobots would probably shoot me on sight, but maybe, if I have a squishy with me... and Primus, this planet is boring, could use a little company. Barricade cursed inwardly but continued, "I'm an Autobot." he stated dryly.

"So, you're one of the good guys?" Annalise asked hopefully.

"Err... yeah, right." he rumbled back at her.

"You think the other Autobots are out there? I've heard they are protecting humans, you think we could go there and see if they have answers, maybe there are other humans, too? I mean, you surely want to go back to your comrades?"

The thought made him almost purge, but it had to be done. In company of a squishy, the autobots would not harm him – at least not instantly, and maybe not at all if he could just convince her that he's a 'good guy'. Of course, Barricade would never convert to those pit-spawned 'bots, but he'd do everything to get out of this mess. He pushed the possibility that maybe he'd been abandoned here as far away as possible.

Barricade transformed back into his alt-mode and let his engine rev loudly, popping his door. Annalise raised a brow, not quite sure if he meant what she thought he meant. "Get in already, squishy. I may have lost my far-range sensors, but I do know where to find the 'bots."

Annalise hesitated for a moment, did she really wanted to do this? It was exciting, yes, but what did she know about Barricade, could she even trust him? But what choice had she left? She'd rather risk something instead of waiting here, maybe for the rest of her life. She sighed and climbed in carefully, sitting down in the passenger seat and folding her hands in her lap.

"You better keep my interior clean, squishy, I can get very...unpleasant." He rumbled out of the radio and drove off into an uncertain tomorrow.

First chapter is more like a warm up, next ones will be longer :D