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Obligations
They fought; not because they wanted to, but because they had to. They were two soldiers in two different armies that happened to be against one another. One fighting for the freedom of Cybertron, and the other fighting for universal conquest. Their fates had intertwined long before the war had begun, but their pasts and origins had forced them apart. Millions of years later, they were amalgamated once again. One was assigned to guard, the other to recall, and both orders happened to regard the same human, a teenage boy named Samuel James Witwicky.
Bumblebee was Sam's guardian, and he knew what he had to do the moment his systems sanctioned Barricade's signature. Though they hadn't bonded in several millenia, the connection between their sparks was still strong, and until death would never be broken.
Barricade found himself knocked to the ground suddenly, and was greeted with a familiar voice in his internal communication link.
"Barricade."
When Barricade rolled upright again he found that Bumblebee had taken the boy with him, and got angry. He was so close to catching his prey, and Bumblebee was going to turn this into a game. He quickly transformers and chased after his bond mate.
"Bumblebee.." Barricade growled through the communication link, and he could have sworn he heard a light chortle from his partner. His engine revved violently in response, and he gently bumped Bumblebee's back bumper with his front as a warning.
"Hand over that boy, Bumblebee." Barricade hissed in rough Cybertronian.
"I was obligated to protect him, Barricade."
"Well I was obligated to retrieve something from him." The police-disguised transformer continued his high-speed pursuit until he momentarily lost Bumblebee in a large maze of buildings. When they found each other, Bumblebee had whipped passed Barricade's rear bumper narrowly, thrown the humans out, and transformed. When Barricade caught sight of Bumblebee, his spark jumped within his chest, and he increased his speed. The Autobot was still as beautiful as he remembered, even with the shoddy yellow armor. Barricade quickly transformed, jumped, and knocked Bumblebee over, apologizing through the communication link as he felt the pain through their bond. Barricade remembered his mission, though, and released Frenzy from his chest to retrieve the boy, and turned his attention back to Bumblebee. A few moments and a couple of hard hits later, Barricade found himself on top of Bumblebee, the younger mech writhing beneath him, trying to escape. Barricade smirked.
"What's wrong, Bumblebee? Don't you miss this?" Barricade asked, a wicked smirk on his facial plates. "Forget the boy, let's bond right now." He continued, pressing his face close to Bumblebee's, silently cursing Bumblebee's mouth protector keeping him from those beautiful metallic lips. Though Bumblebee said nothing, Barricade could feel the anger rush through their bond.
"I can't. I have to protect the boy." Bumblebee fought, finally slipping from Barricade's strong hold. Bumblebee pushed Barricade off of him roughly, and instead straddled his partner's hips, momentarily catching the Decepticon off-guard, long enough to deliver one powerful shot to the chest with his plasma cannon, short-circuiting the larger mech's right leg and left arm. Only minor damage. The mech would be able to repair himself in less than an hour, and Bumblebee was satisfied with that. Barricade groaned, and fell heavily against the ground. In a silent apology, Bumblebee flattened himself onto Barricade and nuzzled his face against his partner's. Their optics met, and Bumblebee shyly smiled at him. Barricade ignored the pain for a moment to pull Bumblebee closer with his functioning arm, gently stroking sensitive plating on his partner's back with long, sharp fingers. They caressed for another minute, before Barricade's arm fell back and Bumblebee hesitantly stood up. The Autobot turned towards where he noticed organic movement, but kept his gaze on Barricade as he began walking away. He retracted his cannon, and shifted his gaze to the two teenage humans. He conversed with them for a minute, and then drove away with them.
"I love you, Bumblebee." Barricade whispered through their bond weakly, falling back once more, joints sparking. A few moments later, he received a response.
"I love you too, Barricade. Always will." Bumblebee replied gently, sending a strong wave of affection through their bond. And as Barricade began shutting his systems down to allow himself recovery time, a small smile crept onto his face, and he let himself forget his obligation... for now.
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Chapter completed 6-26-09.