AN: An idea I had because of a family of cat's moving in under my porch. For some reason this sprang up, and I like Miles knowing about the Cybertronians, and what better way then through our favorite police 'con?
Might continue based on reviews. If you like this idea so far please say so, I already have an ongoing story and I'm not sure if I want two.
Barricade, fearsome and cunning Decepticon warrior, was in an extremely rare situation, for him, anyway. He had absolutely no idea what to do, and usually he at least had straws to grasp at that weren't that bad. Now he had nothing that couldn't end unpleasantly for him.
Thinking about it, as he had more time then he wanted to think, he was torn between two mechs that he could blame this on. The first was the Autobot Scout, Bumblebee, who had kicked his aft and made him skip out on Mission City to lick his wounds. Then there was Starscream, who, after the defeat of Megatron and the Decepticons in Mission City, had become the new leader of the Decepticons. Barricade had refused to accept him as such, and Starscream took advantage of his weakened state to thoroughly kick his aft even more than it already had been. Then the Seeker had taken Barricade's weapons, called him a traitor, and threatened that if the Autobots had not offlined the 'con before he returned, then he would do it himself.
So, Barricade had been left severely damaged, drifting off into stasis lock so his systems could try to repair themselves. During that time a female cat had found him, found a way to get inside of him from a wound Starscream had given him, and decided that he would make a wonderful nest.
Imagine his surprise when he finally woke up from stasis, feeling three fuzzy organics in his back seat.
To make it worse, all he could do was remain where he was, and think. He didn't dare access the internet, figuring if Soundwave was around and he decided to listen to Starscream he might be keeping a lookout for Barricade's signal. This gave him plenty of free time, and he spent a lot of it thinking, and some of it actually paying attention to the organics that called him home.
They were endearing and cute in their own simplistic way, though Barricade had only thought that exactly once before getting rid of those notions all together. Without meaning to, the Decepticon felt himself getting attached, even if he couldn't interact with the organic creatures. Both of the kittens were varying shades of orange, with some white. The one who was braver, more adventurous, and curious, he took to thinking of as Brightspark, and he was easily told from his brother by having only one white paw. His brother he had dubbed Softspark, this kitten usually letting Brightspark take the lead and hiding behind his brother or mother when there was something new or scary around. The mother he had started to call Swiftspark, having seen her hunt nearby and chase a large dog away all on her own. He could only assume she didn't belong to anybody, as she had no collar or tags, but he wasn't sure where her mate was.
He couldn't explain how he got attached to them, but he did. It was almost embarrassing, a fearsome killer becoming attached to two tiny kittens and their femme creator. It's not like they could respond to him intelligently, but if he talked he thought it was almost like they listened, and he at least knew they knew their names, somehow. Either that or it just worked out the right way. They reacted to his touch as if they were pleased, purring most times. He half wondered if they could be trained, like a dog, and set about preparing to do that just a little bit.
Admittedly, their bathroom tendencies were disgusting, and he took to cleaning himself out thoroughly dairly while Brightspark and Softspark explored.
Slowly he got them used to him doing things. He talked through his radio, played songs, moved the seats, his seatbelts, opened his doors, drove a bit forward and back. And then he finally transformed, almost so slow it was painful so he could avoid hurting any of them. Through it all they returned, and he took just a small bit of enjoyment from stretching out on the ground in bipedal form, Softspark and Brightspark laying over his spark chamber and purring, while Swiftspark was away, doing whatever it was that she did when she left her kittens and Barricade behind.
And then one day Swiftspark didn't return. Barricade waited, keeping Brightspark and Softspark safe inside of his alt mode when she missed her regular appearance to check on the kittens. After a few hours he went to look for her, scanners searching for her energy signature, and finally finding her in the middle of the road with a bird laying nearby. She had been run over, though after catching the prey or in an attempt to, he couldn't tell. He knew this was bad, that Softspark and Brightspark still relied on her for milk. They hadn't been weaned yet, and he had no idea what he could do to feed them even if he had been able to.
Being as they were just tiny kittens, he had panicked when he realized he couldn't access the internet without the chance of Starscream finding him. Without the internet's knowledge the kittens could die, but with it, if Starscream found him through it, they could still die, and it would be all his fault. He thought about it for hours, and during that time the kittens had began to show their distress. They were hungy, and they missed their mother. Even the calming and soothing voice of Barricade they had become adjusted to, though no one outside of them and Frenzy had heard it, didn't help them all that much.
Finally, in a desperate moment of thinking, he remembered the address of where Ladiesman217, aka Samual James Witwicky, lived. He knew that the Autobot Scout would most likely be there, but he decided to risk it. If nothing else, Barricade could hopefully get a few words in before Bumblebee tried to offline him permanently. Autobots had always been ridiculously soft hearted, and he figured if the scout scanned him and found he wasn't lying, it would give him good enough reason to pause. Perhaps he could at least ask the insect to make sure the two kittens were well taken care of, even if Barricade couldn't remain around them.
He went just as the sun was beginning to set, though he had no idea what day it was, or what month. He could only guess it was fall. He circled the block a few times, masking his signal, and noting how Bumblebee sat in the Witwicky driveway, playing the non-sentient car. His third time around he saw Sam come out with another teenage boy, one Barricade didn't know about, and didn't care about. Fourth time around showed this new boy waving his arms around in an excited manner, then kicking the Autobot's tire. Sam looked torn between anger and trying not to look angry, which led Barricade to assume that the second organic had no idea Bumblebee was alive. That interested the 'con.
He was lucky the police made it an often occurence to circle the neighborhoods of Tranquility every now and then, or Bumblebee surely would have thought something was up. His seventh time around he noticed that Sam was alone now, and was talking to Bumblebee, rubbing a hand on his hood. Barricade assumed he was apologizing, and drove on. By this time it was dark, and he just barely noticed the figure of the organic who had been with Sam as he went to turn the corner. Thinking quickly Barricade turned on his siren, activated a hologram, and had it run directly in front of Miles, and continue going until it was out of sight. He activated a hologram inside his alt form, and pulled over, stepping out and going to the teen.
"Which way did he go?" Barricade growled, trying to play the cop after the bad guy.
Miles gaped at him, taking in the cop's appearance. Surprisingly pale and skinny, but tall, with black hair. The teen, not usually thinking himself as short, had to look up to look the cop in the face. When he opened his mouth to talk it looked as if his canine teeth were a lot more pointy then they should be, and the teen swore the cop's eyes were as red as blood. The voice was a deep baritone, and slightly ruff, as if it was trying to decide whether it wanted to actually speak or not. Altogether the teen got the impression that this man could do some serious damage, and dancing on the thin line of his bad side and his good side would be an extremely bad idea. His first thought was somehow he had ran into an actual vampire, before chalking that up to the fact that it was October and nearing Halloween, and that he was just being paranoid. He figured the red eyes could be colored contacts, worn to help scare his pre-future prisoners.
"That way, dude. Good luck, he was runnin' like a bat from hell was after him." Miles replied, pointing in the direction of the person he had saw running go in.
"Can you do me a favor son?" Barricade asked, waiting until the teen nodded slowly. "I can't take my vehicle, he's going through the yards. I got some precious cargo in there, and I'll leave it running if it has someone watching over it. Can you do that for me?"
Miles nodded again, and before he could blink Barricade was already a few feet away from him and running the way the other person had went. The teen watched the cop go, surprised as he leaped over a chain link fence as if it was some plain hurdle. He whistled to himself, heading to the saleen police cruiser, and getting in. He left the door opened, almost a bit nervous to close it, as if someone might thinking he was stealing the cop car. He sat awkwardly, torn between thinking this was either going to be an awesome night, or a let down, when he heard the soft mewing coming from the back seat.
Surprised, he turned and peered into it, finding two tiny orange tabby kittens. He could only assume that's what the cop had meant by precious cargo, and couldn't keep the grin off his face. He cooed, "Aw, who thought creepy vampire cop would have two little cuties like you hidden away? Here I was thinking he looked like such a hardass. Wonder what your names are?"
He shifted, knees on the front seat and body entirely in the cruiser as he leaned over the front seat, reaching for the back. Brightspark met his touch happily, purring, but Softspark was a bit more cautious. He petted Brightspark, gently scratching between the kitten's ears, when the door he had left open slammed shut, causing Miles to jerk in surprise and hit his head off the ceiling as he looked around wildly. There was nothing, and he sighed. His mind supplied him with the idea that a strong gust of wind had crept up, and the door had slammed shut due to that.
Grinning once more, he reached in the back, picking up first Brightspark, then Softspark, and bringing the two kittens into the front seat with himself. He leaned his back against the door, stretching out in the front seat, as he let the kittens sniff and climb all over him. When he heard a soft clicking sound that signalled the doors locking, he sat up, thinking he had accidentally pressed a door lock button, and not wanting a repeat in case the cop came back and yelled at him over touching things he shouldn't in a police officer's car.
He watched the two kittens silently for a moment, before wiggling his fingers enticingly in front of one of their face's, and smiled when both of them jumped at the chance to play, doing their best to attack his fingers.
"Their names are Brightspark, he's the one with only one white paw, and Softspark. Brothers." The cop's deep baritone rang out, causing Miles to jump once more, and look around with wide eyes. He didn't see the cop anywhere, and his eyes drifted to the radio. Cops had those walkie talkies, and he figured that the cop was using that to talk to him.
"Woah, that's cool. Talkin' to me from far away." Miles laughed, shifting so he was sitting normally in the driver's seat, holding the two kittens. His hand rested slightly on the gear shift. "Catch the man you wanted?"
He jerked when the gear shift moved of it's own accord, and the engine followed up by giving a loud rev. The entire cruiser started shooting down the road at a fast pace, the wheel moving on it's own. Miles stared wide eyed, unsure of what to do, and about to try to contact the officer, when out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw the cop materialize, and the teen whipped his head around.
Barricade leaned in close to Miles, looking directly into the teen's frightened eyes as he snarled. "Yes, he's right here."
Miles screamed.
"C-cat food?" The teen's voice rang with disbelief.
"Yes, go buy some. Now." Barricade snarled in reply.
Miles silently weighed his options inside of his head, before scrambling out of the car and running inside the petstore with Softspark in his arms.
"I got the goods."
Silence.
"So... what are you? You're obviously not human. I'd love to know what I was kidnapped by."
A scoff. "You were not kidnapped, fleshling."
"Forcing me to go somewhere against my will is kidnapping."
"So you wouldn't help out two tiny kittens willingly?"
Miles shut up. He knew he had lost that round to the... whatever the hell it was.
Miles stared up at the tall form of Barricade, in all his Decepticon bipedal glory. His mouth had dropped open in shock, and absentmindedly the teen figured that it was on the ground by now. He held Brightspark and Softspark close to his chest, and on the ground beside him lay the bags of cat supplies he had gotten from 'All Your Needs and More, Your Neighborhood Petstore', which was more commonly referred to as The Petstore, even by it's owner.
Carefully, eyes never leaving Barricade, the teen set the two kittens down. He continued to stare at Barricade, taking in slightly scary appearance. The giant metal thing was just so pointy and harsh looking, even though it looked like it had seen better days. The 'con had given his name, and short description of what he was. A non-biological extraterrestrial being, mostly made of metal, but similar to humans. Their sparks were just like a human's heart. If it was taken out they would die.
A soft purring sound snapped his eyes towards the ground, and he saw Softspark rubbing up against the giant metal robot's foot. He looked up at Barricade's face, then back to Softspark, and repeated that a few times. His mind tried to wrap itself around that a cute, tiny, and innocent little kitten was rubbing up against the foot of a giant, terrifying, and not overly-friendly, alien robot. And purring.
Then Miles Lancaster began to laugh.
