As my Irish grandfather always says, Nollaig shona dhaoibh (Merry Christmas!) To those who don't observe this holiday, I offer my respect and a cheerful Happy Holidays instead. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you enjoy this fic.
I started writing a similar story last year, and lost interest around a few hundred words and forgot about it. Yesterday I began to write this story, then discovered the old one, from which I managed to salvage a bit of plot, which I then embellished heavily. I am not pleased with how the summary came out, but my mind is exhausted from writing this fic, so it will have to do. Also, please note that I do not write slash, nor do I support it. Barricade and Jazz are friends, nothing more.
Thank you for reading! Please help yourself to the complementary hot chocolate and cookies, courtesy of Wheeljack (don't worry, I helped bake them so nothing should blow up) and if you have the time, leave a review to let me know what you thought. I love to read your opinions! As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Also, in the spirit of the season, flamers will not be roasted – instead they will be shipped to the North Pole to help out for a year or gift-wrapped and sent to Megatron. Their choice.
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. However, any OCs are mine and permission is required to use them.
Christmas Secrets
Sometimes, Barricade didn't understand humans at all. Take, for instance, their holidays. It felt like there were hundreds of them, and a brief session of research revealed there were many more than that. But why go through so much bother, so many times a year? Stressing themselves out making mountains of food – which they then stuffed themselves (and usually family and friends) with – and in several cases, buying gifts or wreaths or flowers or pins...the list went on and on. If his calculations were right, Barricade estimated the average country's economic stability would deteriorate into chaos were these holidays to ever be canceled. Yet, despite all the havoc and mayhem involved, humans seemed to care a lot for their holidays.
It was ridiculous. Completely alien in concept. Completely...human. Which was the problem. Venting air, Barricade wished he could comm Jazz and request help, but the other mech was away on a covert mission. The same mission that had gotten Barricade into his current predicament in the first place. Which was why his altmode was parked outside a shopping mall, rather than in the garage at their home.
"Jazz, I hate you." The muttered voice came from Barricade's hologram, and he didn't care if the humans hustling past in droves heard him or thought he was crazy for talking to himself. Maybe the feeling he had wasn't quite as strong as hate, but he did have a lecture for the other mech when he came by again.
"Are-we-going-in?" Frenzy asked, all but bouncing in the front passenger's seat with excitement.
Another, slightly lesser headache of his. Barricade had only given in to Frenzy's demands to come along when it became clear the little mech would not take no for an answer and would probably follow him to town in bipedal mode if necessary, which would cause more problems than the Neutral wanted to deal with. Especially at this time of year.
Break-ins and shoplifting were both up, along with patrols near the more important establishments like the banks and a toy store that was collecting for charity. Barricade's guise as a police officer had never been so difficult before. He was being run ragged with overtime by his department, since he had admitted before – erroneously, apparently – to not celebrating holidays. Everyone else who could be was on leave.
It was tempting to take the time off, Christmas or no, but Barricade's professional pride kept him working. Which was why he had come to the mall on a Friday evening, just after his last shift of the day. Apparently, it was a good day to be out, as everyone in town seemed to have congregated within the mall's parking lot. Lines were going to be long, tempers high from stress, and shoppers nearly as bad as they had been on Black Friday – a memory bank he did not want to access any time soon. It was only two days before Christmas, after all, and those who had left their shopping to the last minute were desperate to get done before the stroke of midnight.
Well, he wasn't desperate, but he didn't want to sit in the parking lot all night, either, waiting for the crowds to die down. Straightening his hologram's uniform, a nervous habit he had picked up a while ago, Barricade stepped out of the car. "Stay here," he warned Frenzy.
"But-you-said-"
His hologram shut the door, and he took the conversation to their commlink. "I said you could come with me, but you can't come inside. It's too suspicious to be walking around with a CD player, and you don't have another altmode, or a hologram system sophisticated enough to hide you properly."
Frenzy grumbled something in reply, but Barricade knew he had won the argument when the smaller mech curled up on the front seat, scowling. "You-better-let-me-help-pick-out-the-tree."
After two hours of being jostled by nearly every person in sight, Barricade gave up and returned to his altmode in a foul temper. Slamming his door, he let his engine roar to life and squealed out of the parking lot, swerving around any shoppers foolish enough to get in his way.
"You-didn't-buy-anything," Frenzy noted in surprise, then squeaked and clutched the seat when Barricade took a hairpin turn on two wheels.
"This is stupid," Barricade growled in response.
"For-Katrina," Frenzy pointed out. "That-makes-it-not-stupid. Remember-what-Jazz-said?"
A loud growl from Barricade's engine answered that question without words. The Neutral had not forgotten what Jazz had told them, and while the last thing Barricade wanted to do was turn around, he did so, the silver mech's recalled words still ringing in his head, describing a scene that had taken place not too long ago.
Jazz stared down at his charge, stricken with silence by the words she had just uttered. It took a moment for him to fully process that simple sentence, then he repeated it back like a broken record, hardly believing his audio receptors. "What d'ya mean, ya never had Christmas before?"
Katrina shrugged, eyes downcast. "It was unnecessary at...where I came from."
"Your parents didn't even get ya presents?" Judging by the sheer amount of Christmas-related things he had been seeing in stores months before December arrived, Jazz was positive this holiday was the most celebrated in America, possibly the world. That his charge had never participated in the celebration made his spark flicker in sympathy even as he wished he knew where her parents were so he could pay them a quick visit in order to deliver a few choice words. Then, realizing from a quick internet search that there were several other holidays taking place around the same time, Jazz added, "did your parents celebrate somethin' else instead?"
"No." If they celebrated anything at all, Katrina had no idea. All she could remember about past Christmases was an occasional lack of staff – many were given leave during that time, and sometimes there weren't enough interns to go around. "It doesn't matter, I'm not interested. Christmas used to symbolize something that meant a lot to many people, now it's been commercialized."
"True," Jazz agreed, and dropped the subject as he could tell it was making the girl uncomfortable, but he could tell from the look in her eyes – not quite hunger, more like a hopeless longing – that her critical remarks about the holiday were simply to hide her real emotions. How many times had her feelings been hurt by these parents she occasionally mentioned? It was enough to nearly anger even Prime, who Jazz contacted immediately about this newest problem.
"Her comment regarding the commercialization of the holiday is correct, but I think you are right thinking she wishes to celebrate the holiday. However, you should not pressure her into it," his leader said after a moment's thought.
"She sounded like she was quotin' somethin' when she said that, Prime. Like someone else told her holidays like Christmas weren't important so many times she got brainwashed. Wish I knew who her parents were, they could use a good talkin' to."
"Although I have looked for information regarding their whereabouts, I have found nothing that the government officials are willing to share without more information than I am willing to give them."
"Well, if ya do, let me know."
"Of course, Jazz. What are you planning to do?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm not doin' nothin'. Poor kid deserves a chance t' enjoy it b'fore she decides she doesn't like it."
"I agree. How are you doing for funds?"
"Not bad, actually, thanks t' 'Cade's job." Jazz snickered to himself as he used the other mech's nickname, knowing how annoyed the Neutral would be if he knew Jazz still called him that in private.
"Still, I will have some money transferred to your account. It is my understanding that gifts are important for this holiday – please select something for Katrina from the Autobots."
"Sure thing. Anythin' in particular you'd like t' get her?"
"I am unsure what she would like. As her guardian and someone who knows her far better than I, I will trust your judgment."
"I'll choose wisely."
"Thank you."
Convincing Barricade of the necessity of celebrating Christmas had been the next big task, but Jazz had an ace-in-the-hole to pull out if the other mech refused.
"For Katrina?" he pleaded. "I can't do it without your help, Barricade."
And, venting air, the other mech grudgingly agreed.
Cooling fans kicked in as Barricade's systems began to overheat with fury. "Where's my help, Jazz?"
Though he had been speaking to himself, his forgotten passenger spoke up as though the question had been addressed to him, rather than a mech not currently present. "I-can-help." Frenzy's tone was an accusatory one – how dare Barricade imply he was useless?
"Of course you can," said Barricade, regretting that he had unintentionally taken his anger out on the smaller mech. "We can go hunting for a tree when we get back." He and Jazz had agreed earlier to cut a tree down on their property, rather than buying one. The Autobot had argued at first to get a 'fake' tree, as it was more environmentally sound, not requiring the death of an evergreen every year, but Barricade had surprised both of them by insisting that Katrina's first Christmas should be authentic in every way possible, down to the tree.
"No point in doing a half-aft job," was his reasoning.
Though Barricade regretted those words now, he could not, he decided, go back on them. He had chosen guardianship of a human over his hard-earned place in the Decepticon ranks, and despite the occasional problems he had – such as the one currently being turned over in his processors – he knew he would make the same choice if given the chance again. The past six months had brought a change in Katrina that made Barricade's spark glow bright with happiness. She was still quiet, and rarely asked for anything, but there was something in the way she moved and spoke, and a light in her eyes that he didn't remember seeing when he first met the girl.
Yes, for Katrina he would make this Christmas one to remember. Even if it meant heading back into that uncivilized mob of a mall. Pushing aside the temptation to bring Frenzy along, Barricade parked in what the humans called 'the back 40', there being no parking spaces closer to the massive sprawl of buildings.
The last day before winter vacation ended the same as any other school day for Katrina. Homework was shoved into her backpack with books she would need to study over break, then she let the excited, cheering crowd push her toward the front doors. A quick scan from the top of the steps told her neither guardian had come to pick her up, which meant taking the bus. Sighing, she got into line and filed onto the bus behind laughing, joking, cheerful duos and threesomes who had no doubt been friends since preschool.
Though she sat near the front of the bus, few people spared her a glance. Katrina preferred it that way, but something made her wish to be noticed, to be spoken to, that day. Another sigh escaped her mouth as she leaned her head against the window, one hand resting on her backpack, the other tucked into her pocket around the cell phone sitting there, waiting patiently for them to return home. Morse never complained about being stuck in a pocket all day, but Katrina wished she could offer her friend a better arrangement. He refused to stay home, however, and even Barricade agreed that having a direct contact to her guardians at all times was a good idea, just in case something happened.
A soft vibration against her fingers brought a quick smile to her face, and she squeezed her fingers, very gently, to let Morse know she had felt his gentle comfort. Suddenly, the laughter surrounding her didn't hurt so much. Who needed human friends, anyway?
Disembarking the bus at her stop, she was startled when the bus driver gave her a friendly smile and wished her a "Merry Christmas!"
Mumbling the greeting back, Katrina hurried off the bus, backpack barely settled upon her shoulders before she started the short run up the driveway to her house. No sign of Barricade's altmode, which struck her as slightly odd, since he should have been off-duty by then, but this wasn't a normal time of the year. He was probably working overtime again.
Unlocking the front door, Katrina pushed it open and called out, "Frenzy?"
There was no reply; Barricade must have taken the little mech with him that day. With a shrug, Katrina headed for the kitchen, where she dumped her backpack on the table, then pulled Morse from her pocket and set him down as well. At once the tiny mech transformed, wriggling his legs singly, then in pairs as he worked out kinks from being in altmode for so long.
"Let's see if anything good is playing on the television," Katrina suggested, assembling a plate of cookies scrounged from the cabinet and a large glass of frothy milk. Morse beeped in cheerful response and hopped into his friend's shoulder, heavy enough to knock her off balance had she not braced herself. As they headed into the living room, voices could be heard in snatches from the television – Morse had memorized the pulses used by the remote to change channels and could switch them faster than Katrina could push a button.
Daytime soaps, news stories, and several Christmas movies were passed over before they settled on the choice of a rerun episode from an old television series.
"Spock reminds me a bit of Prowl," Katrina chuckled, her smile growing when Morse nodded in agreement.
Embarrassment was not an emotion Barricade felt often, but he was certain he had never felt it quite so strongly as he did now. After being pestered by more sales attendants than he could count, he had finally allowed one of them to talk him into letting her help him pick out some clothes. Unfortunately, due to some misunderstanding she thought at first that Katrina was his girlfriend, and by the time he had sorted that business out the sales attendant's face was as red as his optics.
"Perhaps I better try somewhere else," he said, trying to maintain the civil tone he had held during their discussion. "Thank you for your time."
"Anytime," the woman replied, fluttering her eyelashes, and Barricade left hastily, having a feeling that mentioning he did not in fact have a girlfriend had been a bad idea.
"Barricade-how-much-longer-it's-been-hours!"
His chronometer told him it had been less than fifty minutes, but Barricade was feeling the same stress-caused time-stretch that his companion felt. "Soon, Frenzy. I just need to get decorations. And food. We also need gifts for Katrina, including, I quote, 'a nice one t' be from Prime and the other 'Bots'. Suggestions are welcome."
"Not-clothes," Frenzy said, having been privy to the not-so-internal ranting Barricade had done as the difficulty with the sales attendant had escalated. "What-about-jewelry?"
Katrina never wore that stuff, Barricade knew, but after a moment's processing he realized that might be because she didn't have any to wear. "Good idea." Then a quick scan of the closest jewelry store made him choke involuntarily. The engine sputter from a deserted police car drew curious looks from several passersby, but they were all in a hurry and did not even spare him a second glance.
"Frenzy, how much do you actually know about jewelry?"
"Not-much-why?"
"For one thing, it seems to be expensive, at least a lot of it is. Also, do you know how many different things humans can wear on their bodies?"
"Pick-something-simple?" Frenzy suggested, already accessing the web in order to learn more about this apparently complicated subject. "Maybe-earrings?"
"Are her ears pierced?" Barricade replied, already ahead of the smaller mech. "I don't remember seeing any holes."
"Right." Frenzy did a little more searching. "How-about-a-necklace-or-a-bracelet? Nothing-too-fancy."
As his answer, Barricade sent the mech an image straight from his hologram's eyes – the dazzling displays of precious metals and faceted rocks that humans were so fascinated by.
Being on-site would make picking something easier, but Frenzy gave it his best shot and sent recommendations back almost as fast as he received pictures from Barricade's hologram, which was wandering around the jewelry store, pointedly ignoring the man trying to interest him in this or that diamond-set piece that would be 'sure to stun her'. A few of Frenzy's choices were shot down for being too expensive – why would someone pay nearly a thousand dollars for a necklace? – or too fancy – such as the filigree ring the little mech kept returning to. The simple metalworking would have been nice if not for the huge diamond set into the top.
After almost an hour of arguments between the two mechs, and the shop attendant growing ever more impatient with his silent customer, Barricade and Frenzy settled on a simple silver necklace with a heart-shaped locket. It was set with tiny amethysts that were almost the soft violet shade of Katrina's eyes and had tiny picture frames inside.
Paying for it was simple; Barricade used the debit card he had gotten as soon as he opened a bank account. It was a bit pricey for his tastes, but he liked the necklace and hoped Katrina would as well, already planning to put his and Frenzy's altmodes into the picture frames, their actual forms being too much of a security risk.
"Joint present all right with you?" he sent to his companion, heading out of the store. "Jazz said he got her something already, but I still need to find something for the Autobots to give her-" he paused, realizing how crazy that sentence sounded, how ridiculous his current situation was. An ex-Con buying presents for a human, including gifts that were to be from the Autobots. Shaking his head, he walked by a perfume counter, then hesitated and backpedaled a bit. "Perfume?"
"Yes-to-joint-present-no-to-perfume," Frenzy said. "Well-maybe. Anything-nice?" He couldn't sample the scents himself, but Barricade sent him a list of the available choices, and he studied it when the hologram gave a few the sniff test.
Several seemed quite nice to Barricade, but he wasn't sure if Katrina would like the sharp spice of Cinnamon Twist or soft lavender of Twilight's Fall. He might have asked the woman in charge of the counter for advice, had his recent bad experience not been enough to make him avoid humans' help for a bit, and had she not been busy with a giggling couple who apparently needed to test every perfume before eventually making their selection.
The mixture of scents was starting to overload Barricade's olfactory sensors, so he turned them off and gave Frenzy a soft prod over their commlink to give him some ideas.
"Aroma-de-Apple," the little mech said immediately. "It's not extremely strong and reviews seem to be good. And she likes apples."
That was true – apples were Katrina's favorite fruit. Barricade had the woman package the small bottle in a gift bag, wishing he had thought to ask the jewelry store's attendant about gift-wrapping. He added wrapping paper and tape to his shopping list.
Looking at the two small bags he held, Barricade sighed. So much effort and time spent, and he only had two gifts. Granted, he had only planned on buying the two, but an image of a standard Christmas tree, its base surrounded by packages of all shapes and sizes, rose unbidden to his mind.
Almost four hours later, Barricade's hologram made its way slowly toward his altmode, laden with bags. How he managed to fit everything into his trunk, he wasn't sure, but it did and he let his hologram collapse on his front seat, looking as exhausted as he felt. Shopping was mentally and physically draining and he wanted nothing more than a nice long recharge cycle.
"The food can wait until tomorrow," he told Frenzy. There was no protest from his companion, who was already recharging in his altmode. Barricade shifted into gear and pulled out, heading home. The tree could wait as well, for that matter. Maybe Jazz would even be back by then, and could take over the whole operation.
Flicking on the radio for some company on the way home, Barricade found most of the stations were playing Christmas songs and those that weren't were blaring something that may have once borne a slight resemblance to music. He turned it off and resigned himself to a boring trip.
"Officer Cade! Are you available?"
"Yes," Barricade replied promptly, though he groaned inside. The problem with always being available and willing to help was people came to expect the 'always' part. At least this would give him an excuse as to why he was home late, something Katrina might remark upon – or might not. "What is it?"
"We just received a report of attempted robbery on Denver Avenue, house number 48."
"I'll check it out." Barricade did an illegal U-turn – no one was around to arrest him, and he was a cop, anyway – and headed back the way he'd come. Frenzy continued to rest peacefully, and the Neutral would have sworn he heard a soft snore coming from inside the little mech, but that had to be his imagination playing tricks.
Speaking of which, Barricade was going to have words with Jazz when the silver mech returned from wherever he had gone. Prime's request for Jazz's assistance had come far too soon after their conversation about celebrating the holiday, and the Neutral had a nagging feeling that he had been tricked into the whole thing by a scheming saboteur.
Or maybe he was reading too much into it and there really was some emergency that couldn't be dealt with by a different Autobot, one who didn't have a charge he was supposed to help watch over. Barricade let warm air puff out of his vents in a quiet sigh. That wasn't fair to Jazz, who often expressed his desire to be around more often. Unlike the Neutral, he still had duties to his faction and they remained at war – would continue to do so for who knew how many more vorns. Barricade didn't come back, laughing off new scratches in his paint job or hiding injuries from Katrina, who saw more than she let on but respected her guardians' privacy too much to ask what had happened.
Katrina...Barricade suddenly realized he should have been home hours ago. It was already past eight, she might be getting worried. No sooner had the thought crossed his processors than his comm link picked up Morse's signal. He accepted the contact, opening the connection with a simple, "Hello."
"Where are you?" Katrina's voice came out of his speakers unintentionally, waking up Frenzy, who transformed and began to stretch as Barricade replied.
"I'm sorry, work kept me out late today."
"Hi, Katrina!" Frenzy called out, knowing Barricade would pass the message on. "How was school?"
At least one of them was thinking straight, and had switched the topic to something safer. Barricade relaxed and allowed the two to chat over his commlink, throwing in the occasional comment here and there. When he reached the target house, he sent his hologram inside to speak with the distraught owner, an older woman who seemed frail at first glance but met the door carrying a hunting rifle.
"Drove him off with this," she said in a shrill, accusatory tone. "Wouldn't have had to even do that if you boys spent more time patrolling these streets."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, listening to Frenzy, Katrina and Morse giggle as he transmitted their conversation through his speakers. Their amusement kept him pleasant even though the woman ranted on for a good fifteen minutes before finally calming down and agreeing to keep her doors and windows locked – a suggestion to which she first replied "Back in my day, we trusted our neighbors not to rob us blind the moment we turned our backs."
Barricade wondered what she would say if she knew how old he was; perhaps it would put an end to her calling him 'young man' every other sentence. At last she retreated into her house with the gun, which apparently had never been loaded, and the hologram was free to make its way back to its projector's altmode.
"I'm headed home," Barricade told Katrina, pulling away from the curb. "Do you need anything? I could pick up something for dinner."
"I already ate, but thank you for the offer. I'll see you two soon."
"Yes," he replied, and let the connection terminate. "Frenzy, remind me to pick up groceries on the way home tomorrow."
"Maybe-we-should-go-tonight-once-she's-asleep-tomorrow-is-Christmas-Eve-and-it-might-be-even-more-crazy-than-today-was."
The thought was enough to send a shudder through Barricade's frame, but his hologram shook his head anyway. "I seriously need to recharge. Shopping is harder than fighting."
Frenzy scoffed at the idea, though he had been recharging himself not all that long ago.
With no school taking her away from home, Katrina decided to spend her day outside. Though it was cold enough, there it had been little snow so far, but she managed to gather enough for a brief, one-sided snowball fight with a tree, Morse cheering her on from his perch on the shoulder of her winter coat. Curiosity about the lure of snowballs satisfied for the moment, the girl removed her sodden gloves and left them beside the tree, a bright spot of blue among the dead leaves and white snow. Hands tucked into her coat pockets to stay warm, Katrina set out on a short walk that looped through the trees, around a small field and back to the house.
By the time she returned, her nose was bright red and her ears freezing despite the warm hat pulled over them. Katrina retrieved her gloves, which had frozen stiff during the time she had been gone, then headed inside for some hot chocolate and cookies.
Morse gave a scolding click when she piled a plate high, but the girl simply laughed and headed for the living room. "It's vacation, Morse! We should celebrate."
VEGGIE DINNER, came the sharp reply, followed by a skidding sound when Morse moved too quickly over the wooden floor and slipped, sliding to a stop against the wall.
"Sorry," Katrina said, dropping her treats beside the couch and hurrying to save her friend. "We should buy some rugs."
Morse beeped in agreement, though they both knew the house was probably as furnished as it would ever get.
A few hours later, bored with the television and finally warmed through again, they headed back outside. Katrina tried to build her friend an igloo, but it collapsed on the little spider, causing him to whip out his guns and blow holes through the white powder until it melted.
"Careful!" Katrina scooped him up, watching the water run from her friend's frame in small drips. "We better get you dried off," she said, and headed inside, receiving no disagreement from the shivering mech, who had had enough of the cold for one day.
When Barricade's alarm went off, reminding him that his shift had finished, the mech actually breathed a sigh of relief. It had not been a problematic day, thankfully, but his processors had been distracted with planning a human meal and the need to get his shopping done and over with had been fluttering just outside his consciousness. No sooner was he freed from duty than he headed toward the nearest grocery store.
With strict instructions for Frenzy to stay put, Barricade sent his hologram inside. It wasn't quite as bad as he had feared, but the lines were still stretching down the aisles and he spent more than an hour gathering what he wanted, asking Frenzy to look up substitutions when he couldn't find the exact thing he wanted – the ingredient list on the cranberry sauce horrified him, so he had his companion search for a recipe as well, before finding a package of cranberries with a instructions for making sauce printed on it. Humans could be quite intelligent when they wanted to be, he mused, before asking a store helper where he could find lemon juice.
And sometimes, his train of thought continued as Barricade found out from another helper that he had been sent to the wrong aisle and that the lemon juice was in aisle three on the opposite side of the store, humans could be extremely stupid.
Katrina glanced at the clock and sighed. It was already nine in the evening, and Barricade had just called to tell her he would be working another late shift. "No point in you staying up," he had said, and for once the girl agreed. A long day of playing outside in the cold turned out to be more exhausting than she had expected.
A yawn split her face as Katrina headed upstairs, Morse curled up in her hands, already recharging. She set him carefully on her pillow, then went to brush her teeth and change into pajamas. After checking the front door to make sure it was locked – Barricade didn't want anyone breaking into their house when he wasn't home to deal with the intruder – she returned to her room and soon fell asleep, completely unaware of what day it was, or what surprises the next day would bring.
Soft lights glowed outside her window when Katrina woke, jolted out of her dreamless sleep by the sound of a slamming door. Had she imagined the noise? A long moment's listening told her there was no perceivable movement in the house, and Barricade would catch any human invaders before they made it to the front door.
Relaxing, the girl had almost fallen back asleep when she noticed the white glow in her window. Frowning, she glanced at her clock, which read just after midnight. Even if their nearest neighbor's house was visible through the trees – which it wasn't – its Christmas lights wouldn't still be on at this time of night. Katrina hesitated before crawling from underneath her warm blankets to tiptoe across the floor, where she peered out, gasping in surprise at the sight that greeted her.
Christmas lights, alternating blue and white, were strung along the edge of the roof and around the windows. Though the door was not in her line of sight, she would bet a case of energon that it too was surrounded by lights. To her sleepy mind, the unexpected sight was almost magical in nature. She knew who had to be behind it, though.
"Thanks, Barricade," Katrina murmured, a warm smile spreading across her face as she padded back to her warm bed. She would thank him properly in the morning.
Outside, Frenzy and Barricade held a whispered conversation, unwilling to use their comms in case the girl heard them.
"You-woke-her-up," the little mech scolded.
Barricade shot a glare at the garage door. "I didn't mean to jostle the closing mechanism, and I certainly did not expect it to close like that. Aren't there supposed to be safeties on these systems?"
"Not-if-you-break-the-safeties," Frenzy grumbled, remembering the solid crunch the metal box had made when connecting with the larger mech's much tougher helm. "We-should-hurry."
A light scan told Barricade their fears were unfounded. "She went back to sleep. No harm done."
Frenzy cast the girl's bedroom window one more hesitant glance before turning back to the tree they had been in the process of dragging out of the garage when Barricade had stood up too fast and caused the door to slam. "The-tree-is-too-big."
Opening the front door with his hologram, Barricade was forced to agree. While he had measured the living ceiling and hallway angles carefully, and knew the tree would fit standing up, there was the slight problem of getting it inside. His hologram wasn't made for carrying such a heavy weight and Frenzy couldn't handle it alone.
"I'm not cutting another," he said aloud, and moved the tree to a spot next to the door before turning the work over to his hologram. Careful with the door involved this time, they managed to get the tree inside with only a few snags – literally, as the string of Christmas lights around the door caught several times on the long tree branches.
"Never-again," Frenzy moaned, once they had finally wrestled the tree into position.
Barricade gave a slight grunt in reply, deciding that next year they would buy a fake tree, and a small one at that. Next year... He laughed at himself, surprised he was already planning ahead. Someone had to, he supposed, and if Jazz got called away again, it would be better to be ready before the last minute rush.
This year, though, the natural evergreen filled their living room with the fresh scent of fir, and the stand they had bought did its job well, holding its occupant upright. Barricade sent Frenzy for water to fill the bucket with while he began to bring in the boxes of decorations.
An hour later, the two Neutrals took a step back and admired their handiwork. Tinsel, colored balls, crystal snowflakes, multicolored lights and a gold star to top it off – the tree looked perfect. Almost. There were still no boxes underneath, and dawn was only a few hours away. They would have to work fast if they wanted to recharge at all.
Several rolls of wrapping paper and a couple broken tape dispensers later, Barricade and Frenzy began lugging the packages from the garage into the house. This was a much easier task than the tree had been, because the larger mech could fit most of the gifts in his hands, and it didn't take much effort to stand beside the front door while Frenzy unloaded everything into the hall.
Arranging the boxes beneath the tree took a while, but at last they were satisfied with the result. Cleaning up the garage, with the scraps of paper and discarded pieces of tape, could wait until later. Frenzy went upstairs and curled up at the foot of Katrina's bed, leaving Barricade to recharge peacefully once he had warned the little mech to wake him when the girl got up.
When the sunlight shining through her window finally woke Katrina, it was the scent that first caught her attention. The Christmas lights were too dim to be noticeable in the brightness of the day, but the tree on the first floor had spent the night filling the entire house with its sweet smell. With a curious frown, she scooped Morse up and headed downstairs, still in her pajamas. Frenzy took the opportunity to comm Barricade with a short signal that Katrina fortunately did not seem to hear, then hurried after the girl, determined to see her first response to the living room sight with his own optics.
Barricade's hologram materialized in the hall a second before Katrina walked into the living room, and he crept in behind as unnoticed as the silvery blue mech standing just in front of him. For a moment, they watched in silence as the girl stood still and simply stared.
Katrina couldn't believe her eyes, and almost pinched herself to see if it was really there. Instead, she reached out and touched the nearest tree branch, its prickly needles telling her that the tree was there, along with the brightly wrapped gifts. Stunned, she almost jumped out of her skin when three voices said in a chorus, "Merry Christmas!"
Whirling around, she found two holograms and a small mech, two of which were staring at the other in shock, for neither had noticed Jazz's arrival, being too busy watching Katrina's reaction. He chuckled.
"Just got back," he said, arms wrapping around the girl who had flung herself at him. "What d'ya think, Katrina?"
"Thank you!" she said, leaving his embrace to tackle Barricade next. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Her voice was choked with emotion as she turned to hug Frenzy as well.
"This was their doin'," Jazz said cheerfully, waving a hand at the two Neutrals. "I'm afraid I had urgent Autobot business t' deal with so I couldn't help with the plannin'. But I did bring somethin' back from the Witwickys'." He produced two packages out of thin air – or, more accurately, from a subspace pocket – and handed them to Katrina. "Sam requested that ya open his and Bumblebee's first."
Too shocked to respond, Katrina simply stared, first at the gifts she held, then at her guardians, then at the pile waiting under the tree. "All this...for me?" She suddenly looked like she was about to cry.
"What did we do wrong?" Barricade asked Jazz, horrified.
"Nothing." Jazz stepped forward and gave the girl tight hug. "Ya deserve it all, Katrina. Think o' it as makin' up for all the Christmases ya've missed."
"Thank you," she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder as tears brimmed in her eyes.
"Group hug," Jazz announced with a wicked grin, and snagged Barricade's hologram with one arm before the other mech could react. Frenzy immediately joined in, too, and Morse snuggled against Katrina's cheek, chirping happily.
He needed to start the Christmas dinner soon, Barricade knew, if he wanted it to finish on time. And he had several messages from the police department, asking why he wasn't on his shift – they must not have gotten his memo that he was taking the day off. And there was a huge mess in the garage that still needed cleaning up.
Somehow, none of that mattered at the moment, and though he would never admit it out loud, Barricade was content to stand there all day. This feeling that filled his spark, a mixture of joy and something he couldn't quite name, made him certain he had chosen right six months ago. Despite their differences, the Neutral did consider Jazz a good friend, and the Autobot treated him the same. Frenzy was like a brother, the bond between them unbreakable. Morse also had a spot in Barricade's spark, the closest human word for their relationship being something like a cousin. And Katrina, the vital piece to their strange puzzle, was his precious charge. Together, they were a family.
Barricade swore to himself, as they stood by the tree in silence, arms around one another, that he would never allow the others to be harmed. As long as his spark still beat, they would continue to share this companionship that warmed his spark to its core.