Mnemonic

Disclaimer: This idea has utterly PLAGUED me from the start of Barricade being announced in the Prime game. The game hasn't been released as of yet, but dammit, I can't wait. So let's keep this fic at an AU status, just to be safe. Hell, crack pairings are definition of AU. LOL. Anyway, there may be some little naughty bits in here, but we'll see where that goes. This is based off of his design and since I really hated how they disposed of some of the cast, it'll take place between season one and two.

"The heart that truly loves never forgets."

-Unknown Proverb

"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

-Kevin Arnold

By: VampireQueenAkasha

"So much for closure."

-Arcee, Transformers Prime

Taking Risks

Barricade's optic pupils flicked back and forth as Ratchet shined a light into them, ordering him to follow.

"His sense of perception seems fine," Ratchet replied.

Arcee shrugged her shoulders. "He doesn't remember anything. What do you think caused it?"

Ratchet frowned thoughtfully. "Barricade took a nasty fall at the summit. That may have been what caused his amnesia."

Barricade looked at them both in confusion. "I remember climbing out of that gorge," he said, "How did I even get there?"

"I shot you," Arcee replied, rather bluntly.

Barricade looked shocked now. His optics widened. "Why would you do that?"

Ratchet looked at her expectantly. Arcee glared at him before she stared at Barricade. She took a deep inhale before explaining. "Look, you're supposed to be the enemy here," she told him, "I shot you because you tried to kill me."

"I did?" Barricade asked, stunned.

Arcee looked at Ratchet. "We could take him back to base and hide him there."

Ratchet stared at her in disbelief and held up two hands. "Are you insane?" he snapped, "Regardless of the fact that he has lost his memory, he's still a Decepticon! What makes you think bringing a 'con back to our base is a good idea?"

"It's that or leave him to be captured by MECH or seen by other humans," Arcee argued, "Look at him."

The two looked over at Barricade as he started exploring the warehouse of its abandoned contents. He picked up an old bumper and studied it in his hands. He held it up to the two with a smile of pride on his face. They returned the smile half-heartedly and nodded, indicating that they also shared the sentiment with him, even though a simple vehicle bumper was really nothing to be proud about in the slightest.

"He's a walking disaster," Arcee continued, "We can't have him running around."

Ratchet gave her a skeptical look. "And you're sure that this has nothing to do with the fact that he was once your former lover?"

Barricade smiled at Arcee; he was standing beside them now. "I was?"

"Yeah, you were," Arcee replied, staring up at him, "But that was before you decided to turn on me and choose the life of my enemy instead."

Barricade's smile faded and he looked guilty now, even though he didn't know what he was guilty for. "Oh...Um...I'm sorry."

Ratchet scowled at Arcee now. "Even if I somehow found this insane idea credible, we can't risk having him learn the secret to the location of our base!" he snapped, "And we would have to discuss this with Optimus and the others first."

"Alright then, let's have them brought here."

Despite Ratchet's argument, the other Autobots were summoned to the warehouse. Not a single one of them could believe Barricade's condition and Bulkhead was the least gullible to fall for it. Optimus appeared to be doubtful and Bumblebee was of course completely against the idea of having Barricade brought back to base. However, Optimus seemed more willing to hear about the plan rather than toss it out entirely.

"While Barricade may have suffered amnesia, bringing him back to the base is highly questionable," he said.

Arcee nodded her head. "I understand. But having him walking around causing trouble isn't exactly a choice either," she pointed out, "The 'cons may or may not have already ruled him out as dead, so we don't need to worry about them and a memory lapsed Barricade all at the same time."

Bulkhead sighed, disappointed with that. "That's true..."

Optimus looked at Barricade for a brief moment before he nodded his head in agreement. "Very well. Barricade can come with us."

The other Autobots looked stunned.

"Optimus, you can't be serious!" Bulkhead exclaimed.

Bumblebee uttered a collection of beeps and whirring sounds, expressing his shock as well. Optimus looked at them briefly before he turned his attention to Arcee.

"Barricade will be monitored constantly and kept under your watchful optics, Arcee," he told her.

Arcee looked momentarily surprised. "Optimus, I'm not a babysitter."

"Those are the rules if he is to come with us."

Arcee heaved a sigh. "Fine."

O

Barricade couldn't stop gaping when he stepped into Autobot Outpost Omega One. Jack, Miko and Raf were equally shocked by his arrival, but more about the fact that a Decepticon was standing in the Autobot base more than anything.

"So...he really doesn't remember anything?" Jack asked.

Barricade leaned forward, studying the human children with intrigue. His optics landed on Jack. "So this creature is a 'Jack'?" he questioned.

"Well, his name is Jack," Arcee explained, "He's a human. And the other two are Miko and Raf."

Miko waved cheerfully. "Hello!"

Barricade continued to study the human in front of him for a long moment. Jack seemed to be a bit uncomfortable with the intent, violet stare and frowned up at him.

"What?" he asked.

Barricade arched an optic ridge and tilted his head. "You're so small."

Miko and Raf giggled at that. Jack simply blushed with embarrassment.

"Okay, Barricade," Arcee said, gesturing with a flick of her head, "Come on. Let me show you where you'll be staying."

Barricade nodded his head and straightened, following her down the hall. The others watched them go; they looked so strange together, walking side-by-side. Barricade appeared to slouched a bit, fidgeting before he looked down at her.

"I am grateful for your help, Arcee," he said.

"Whatever," Arcee replied coolly.

Jack looked up at Optimus now, concerned. "Uh, Optimus?" he questioned, "I don't want to question your leadership or anything like that, but is it really a good idea to have Barricade here in the base? What if he tries something?"

Optimus nodded his head. "You are right to be cautious, Jack. However, I don't believe that Barricade is currently the enemy as of now." He paused and watched as Barricade and Arcee disappeared into a room. "This may be a perfect opportunity to reeducate Barricade on the difference between right and wrong. If we can spare him from Decepticon hands, then maybe we won't have to be enemies any longer."

Miko frowned thoughtfully. "Wait. Isn't that...lying?"

As they continued talking, Arcee was showing Barricade around his room. He stood in the doorway, observing her as she straightened several old crates and containers. It wasn't much but an old storage chamber that they were originally going to use for Wheeljack, but he was hardly around anyway, so what did it matter? It was better than having him stay in the warehouse where he could be seen or captured by MECH. After she was sure everything was out of the way, she turned to Barricade and gestured with her hand.

"Come on," she said.

Barricade slowly stepped inside. "So you really live here?" he asked.

Arcee nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty much home."

"So you live here with all of them?"

"Yeah. They're my partners."

Barricade frowned thoughtfully, as if he was thinking about that. "Do you belong to one of them?" he asked.

Arcee looked stunned before shaking her head. "No! Not at all!"

He was silent for a while before faintly nodding. A small glimmer of satisfaction seemed to touch his face, though she didn't know why. "Okay."

Arcee was relieved to get that question pushed aside and gestured to the room around her. "Okay, it's time for you to get yourself some recharge," she told him, "You've taken quite some damages, so you need a little more to heal up."

Barricade shook his head. "I don't wanna go to sleep."

"Tough slag," Arcee snapped, "You have to rest."

Barricade gave her a frustrated pout before climbing into a comfortable spot on the berth and sitting at the edge. Arcee moved forward to study his damages. So far, it appeared that his natural biological function was healing them all quite nicely.

"Everything's healing pretty good," she said, "Now, lay down and close your optics."

"No, I don't want to." Barricade protested.

Arcee sighed impatiently. "If you stay awake, you're going to get weaker and weaker."

"I'm not a sparkling," he argued quietly, "I know what could happen."

"Fine," Arcee snapped, shrugging her shoulders in a blunt display, "You can deal with it yourself. I'm not your babysitter."

She turned to leave and Barricade looked at her. "Wait."

Arcee paused at the doorway and frowned back at him. "What?"

"Can you stay with me?" Barricade asked, "Please?"

Arcee looked surprised by the question and felt her spark jerk at the sight of his pitiful, pleading gaze. For a moment, she wanted to indulge his request, but shook that off and inwardly chastised herself for it. Get a grip, Arcee.

"I can't stay, Barricade," she finally said, "I have stuff I need to do."

Barricade nodded his head, though he looked mildly disappointed. "Oh..."

"Now sleep," Arcee ordered gently, "I don't want to have to come back in here."

Barricade sighed and climbed properly into the berth before eventually falling into recharge. Arcee watched him with a weak sensation in the pit of her internals. Despite his amnesia, she remembered that goofy, rattling snore he used to do when they were together. He was doing it now with his hands twitching at his sides.

Primus...why are you doing this to me?

O

The following day, Arcee was left alone with Barricade at base, much to her dismay. Optimus and the others ventured out to an Energon reading and she was ordered to keep watch over him. It wasn't that much of a problem, except that Barricade continued snooping around out of sheer curiosity. She had to constantly tell him to keep out of certain things to avoid having anything broken. He was worse than Bulkhead.

"Arcee..." Barricade said.

They were sitting in the control hub while Jack, Miko and Raf were playing video games. Arcee was trying to watch, but found the game to be utterly boring in comparison to anything else. She didn't see why Bulkhead or Bumblebee liked them so much.

"What is it?" she asked, not looking up.

Barricade stared at her sadly. "Do you hate me?"

Jack blinked and the three kids stopped playing long enough to look up at Arcee to see her reaction. She frowned, conflicted and turned, trying to keep a calm persona. "What kind of question is that?" she asked, her tone harder than intended.

Jack looked at the other two. "Hey, guys?" he said, "Maybe we should go for a walk."

They departed, leaving Arcee and Barricade alone. Arcee hadn't answered his question and shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like how it was making her feel. She wasn't used to feeling so off-base around anyone.

"I don't hate you, Barricade," she snapped.

Barricade shook his head and looked at her with mild uncertainty and sadness in his gaze. It was so foreign on him. "But I can see that you don't like me," he said, "You're angry. I did something to you that I can't remember, but you can."

"That was the past, Barricade."

"Then tell me about it."

Arcee took a deep intake before she shook her head. "We just went out separate ways," she said, slightly more gentle this time.

Barricade tilted his head with interest. "Did we fight a lot?"

Arcee actually smiled now. "Believe it or not, no we didn't," she replied, trying to turn her attention to something else to avoid looking at him; talking about this sort of thing was actually making her uncomfortable, but she didn't want him to see that, "Not at first, anyway. When the war came, you chose Megatron and I chose Optimus."

"So it was mutual?"

"You can say that."

"Hm."

Barricade seemed to consider something before he smiled at her. "I must have been quite foolish then."

"Foolish? Foolish for what?"

"Choosing someone else over you."

Arcee looked startled by that comment. She watched as he made his way into the hall and couldn't hear his request for Energon over the roar of her own pounding spark in her audios.