This chapter is one a very few dark ones in this story!
Showing a side of Barricade that is rarely seen!
I won nothing but Tai!
Onward!
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What if it makes you sad?
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It was the same dream. Believe it or not, Cybertronians did have the ability to dream. Sometimes they were good, about the glory days of their home planet before it was destroyed by this pointless war over power. But most of the time, they were bad. Really bad. Reliving the moments when their planet became ravanged by death and despair, watching those they cared about get slaughtered.
One particular mech was having on those dreams. It was pitch black, save for an orange emergency light flickering in the next room. Dark, red optics glanced around the room, trying to find any forms of life.
'Tai?' He called, hoping she'd answer back. Was she somewhere in the building? That wouldn't really make much sense, she was afraid of the dark.
He felt something wet on his servo. Wet and sticky and warm. Switching his optics to a better lighting, he saw what it was.
Blood.
Gasping in horror, he quickly shook it off of him, sending it splattering onto the far wall.
A putrid smell reached his noseplates, causing him to reel back slightly in disgust. It was an intense odor yet a familair one. It smelled like blood and rotting flesh.
It smelled like death.
Looking down, his optics widened in terror at what he saw.
Bodies.
Lennox, Epps, Sam, Miles, Leo, all the rest. Lying on the floor, heads torn open, bodies ripped, blood pooling around their rotting corpes, a abandoned heart was pumping feebly on the floor, spewing bright red blood in small splatters onto the already stained tarmac.
'What the frag?' He gasped out, backing away from the mess. 'Tai! Where are you? Please, answer me!'
A small whimper reached his receptors. Turning his head slowly, his optics fell on the dying figure of the person he cared about more then himself.
Tai was laying on the floor, a huge gaping hole in her midsection, her small spark pulsating weakly as she struggled for air. Barricade walked slowly over to her, before falling to his knees by her dying form, reaching out for her carefully. She tried to talk to him but it only came out as a painful cough, blood splattering onto his outstretched fingers.
'C-Cade...' She gasped out.
Gently scooping her up in his clawed servo, he stood up, her blood and energon pouring from her wounds and running down his huge metal arms.
'Who did this?' He asked in a panic. 'Who killed all the humans? Who hurt you?'
What she did next, he didn't expect.
Raising her human hand, she pointed at him, her eye and optic looking at him accusingly. He felt his spark stop.
'H-how...could you...do this...' She coughed out, blood pouring from her mouth by this point, her eyes getting heavy. 'I...I thought w-we...were..friends...' And with one final gasp, she went limp in his servos, her chest falling down with her last breath. It didn't rise again
'Tai?' She didn't respond. She felt cold as he held her closer to his spark, hoping it would wake her up. It didn't work, she was gone.
A pain not like any he had felt in his life gripped his spark. Falling to his knees, he clutched his lifeless charge to him tightly before reeling his back and screaming to the heavens:
'NOOOO!'
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He jerked awake with a yell.
Tai! Everyone...
Was alive. He heard the hustle and bustle of all the humans out in the Recreational room, eating, talking, getting ready for the day.
He sighed in relief when he heard Tai talking with Optimus. She was alive, not dying because of him. Sitting up on his recharge berth, he took deep breaths through his intake vents, the dream still haunting his processor. It had seemed so real, vivid and horrifying. He didn't want to admit it, but it had scared him to his very core.
The human sized door flew open and there she was, looking full of life and happy. Her hair was swept to the side, revealing the buzzed parts of her scalp.
'Morning, 'Cade!' She said cheerfully.
'Morning.' He said in a gruff tone, his processor still running the images from his nightmare. His worst nightmare.
Tai frowned slightly at his attitude. Usually, he responded with a snide remark but so far, nothing. Something was eating at her guardian and whatever it was was most likely very bad.
'What's up with you?' She asked, climbing up onto his recharge berth to sit next to him. 'You wake up on the wrong side of the berth or something?'
'It's nothing.' He grumbled, not looking at her. How could he? All he could see was her torn flesh and hear her dying words. 'Just a bad dream.'
'Wanna tell me about it?' She asked, looking concerned. 'I'm your charge, I can most likely help you on this one! What's the deal, banana peel?'
He couldn't help but grin at his charges choice of words. 'It was just a really bad dream.' He didn't really want to talk about, he just wanted to forget about it.
'I've had my fair share of those.' Tai responded, nodding in understanding. She really did understand nightmares. She's been having them constantly since her human Dad was killed.
'Yeah? Well, how about this one...I'm by myself in the dark, I can't see anything, I can't hear anything, it's just me and the never ending shadow of dark.'
'I hate the dark.' She interupted. 'But I had no idea you hated it too.'
'No, no, woman! Not the actual dark but what's in it...' Barricade grunted. 'My hand felt wet and sticky..and if you say giggity, I will throw you out of here by force!...my hands are covered in blood, human blood. Red and warm, like my...' He gulped slightly. 'Like my times as a Decepticon.'
Tai gulped at this point but the car kept on: 'I saw everyone on the floor, Lennox, Sam...all dead and torn apart and covered in blood. I couldn't find you there so I assumed you got away safely. But then I hear a whimper and turn around, and guess who I see?'
Tai quirked her head. 'I give up, who did you see?'
His dark red optics fixed on her, looking tired and...helpless?
'You.' He said, his gruff voice sounding anxious. 'I saw you.'
Tai felt her eye and optic widen slightly. Okay, this was serious if everyone else was dead in this nightmare.
'What was I doing?' She asked cautiously.
'You were dying, barely breathing but you managed to say my name, I asked you who killed everyone...you..' He closed his optics as the image of her pointing at him, her torn face looking betrayed and hurt.
'Barri, what is it?' Tai asked, placing her small human hand on his large metal arm.
'You pointed at me, then you stopped breathing.' He said, his servos clenching into fists, his shoulder panels shaking. '...'
'What?' Tai asked, leaning forward to hear him better.
'I KILLED YOU!' Barricade roared, his old temper flaring as he literally broke his door in his rage. Tai jumped back in shock, feeling frightened. 'I KILLED YOU! That's what my nightmare was about! Killing you and everyone else! I KILLED YOU!'
Nearby soldiers jumped back in shock as Barricade snarled in pain and anger, stomping out into the hanger, Tai following him cautiously.
'Dude, calm down!' She exclaimed, holding up her hands in a 'Take a breath and end this psychotic episode!' gesture. 'It was a goddamn nightmare! Nothing more!'
She slowly approached her hurting guardian and looked up at him, her optic flaring with blue light. 'You aren't like that anymore. You know that, I know that, everyone's freaking mother knows that!'
Barricade continued to exhale heavily, the pain of losing her in the nightmare gnawing at him like a bad case of rust. She was his everything by this point. His best friend, his comrade, his only reason for putting up with the other humans and the Autobots. But he was terrified.
'But it still haunts me.' He growled out. 'It haunts me until the day my spark is torn out. The sight of you not breathing and bleeding to death...'
Tai sighed as she felt despair. 'Barri-'
'Don't patronise me, Tai!' He snapped. 'This my own problem! I don't need your help or anyone else! It's my fault for letting these nightmares get to me! I hate them...'
The hurting mech then stalked off, leaving a very hurt and angry Tai in his wake.
'Where you going?' She yelled after him. 'Fine, then...just walk away, asshole!' She flipped him off angrily, herself fuming by this point before she stalked off to the game room.
Optimus Prime and Jazz were nearby, having overheard the argument between guardian and charge.
'This may be a problem.' The Autobot Leader commented.
'So, whose gonna talk to who?' Jazz asked.
Optimus gave his Second in command a look.
'Got'cha.' The silver mech said, heading off after his sparkmate.
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As the red and blue mech drove down the beach side, it wasn't hard to find the black mech, who sitting on the sand, looking out over the ways. He was no doubt thinking of his disjointed loyalities, his friendship with his daughter, and what those nightmares of his imply...
Optimus drove over to where he was and transformed, he himself staring at the waves. Barricade glanced at him before rumbling softly in response.
They were silent for a moment before the Prime stated: 'Barricade, I believe we need to talk.'
'What's there to talk about?' Barricade snapped. 'I clearly haven't changed.'
Optimus sighed. Why did he have to be so stubborn? 'Barricade, everyone has fears. Including me.'
'Ha. What't the Great Optimus Prime afraid of?' Barricade scoffed. 'You are legend and warrior supreme.'
'I am scared about the same things you are.' Prime murmured, eanring him a shcoked look from the Shelby. 'Losing the ones I care about.' The Leader looked out over the ocean as memories of Elita ran through his processor.
Barricade would've smacked himself. Of course, that was stupid of him. In the end, it was everyones fear, losing those they caed about, waking up to find them gone...
'Sorry. That was stupid of me.' Barricade grunted.
'I forgive you. We all make mistakes.' Optimus said with a kind smile. 'Everyone has fears, even the strongest of us.'
'What is your fear?' The Ex-Con asked, feeling curious.
'My fear is that I will lose Tatyana the way I lost Elita.' Optimus let out a sigh. 'The day when she became what she is today still haunts my processor.' He shuttered his optics as those images ran through his processor again, her body torn and mangled, her blue eyes which were so full of life staring at the sky, unseeing and blank.
Barricade remembered that day as well.
'You have changed a great deal from the old days, Barricade.' He said in a kind tone. 'Believe it or not.'
'I stil can't look at her.' The Ex-Con admitted. 'I feel like everytime I see her, I'll just see her like in my dream.'
'Fear and Death are part of us, Barricade.' Optimus said. 'As much as Solace and Life is. You cannot have light without it's shadow, nor can you have one without its opposite. We can only accept this as it comes, no matter how it may hurt. We have all lost friends and family, and we gain new friends and become a new family. It is a never-ending cycle that will continue until all are one.'
Barricade nodded in understanding, his respect for the Autobot leader increasing by the minute. He really was a kind and just leader, willing to help his soldiers solve their problems. Not many Commanders would do that.
'Everyone has nightmares, Barricade.' Optimus continued. 'We all do. They may be terrifying but they help us think. Now, stopping thinking of your past as a Decepticon, and look to the future as an Autobot.'
'I...I guess so.' Barricade muttered.
'You know so.' Optimus rumbled. 'Not once will we be free from fear. I fear for Tatyana's safety, and it surely didn't help that someone metioned that every thirty seconds a human dies.' The Prime grumbled in annoyance but immediatly went back to his regal stature.
'We all must learn to embrace fear, because no matter what we do, it's always going to be there. It shapes who we are.'
'I get it.' The Shelby replied, his sharp features staring off into the ocean again, finding the waves soothing.
'Good.' The Autobot Leader stood up. 'Now I believe you owe my daughter an apology.'
Barricade nodded. 'Yeah, I guess I do.' He stood up, shaking sand from his legs. 'Hey, Prime.'
Optimus turned, his optics soft. 'Yes?'
Barricade looked at his feet, suddenly finding a grain of sand interesting. 'Thanks...that really helped me see things clearly..'
Prime smiled. 'You are very welcome.'
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'Oh sweet, an alien blaster!' Tai said in amazement, once again, playing Fallout New Vegas. 'What! Only 139 rounds of ammo! Lame-o!' She then chuckled at her own little joke. 'I made a rhyme!'
Barricade found her in no time at all. She always played this game, no matter what day or what time. He had sat and watched her, deciding to start his own file. And of course, his character was as evil as he could be.
Tai look up when she heard teh door open, and her expression became weary. 'Hey.' She said in a quiet voice.
Barricade grunted. 'Hey.'
'You...umm..' Tai felt awkward. 'You doing better?'
'Yeah, I am.' He nodded, not looking at her in the eye/optic. 'Learned a few things.'
'Cool, cool.' Tai nodded.
'Listen, I'm sorry for just walking away. I know you would know about nightmares, and I promise next time, I'll try not to get so pissy.'
'That's all I ask. 'Tai smirked her cocky little signature smirk. 'And dude, don't worry about it! Nightmares suck balls!'
'Completely.' He agreed.
'Like all the way down the throat.' She continued, causing Barricade to hold back laughter.
'I get it, thanks for the visual.'
'No problem, it's what I'm here for!' She winked and turned back to her game. 'Fuck! Deathclaw!'
So, bitch. Friend?' He asked with his own smirk.
'Until the end of time, asshole. Or until one of dies in a horrific fiery explosion of carnage.'
'Sounds excellent.'
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Yayy!
I enjoyed writing this!
Review!
