AN: Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy this new chapter! And yes, I enjoy the thought of Red Alert and Mason being bestest buddies evar. Some minor smexings, but I don't get too involved, so use your imagination if you really want.


Red Alert walked briskly, keeping an eye on the canine currently running ahead of him. Dogs were one of his favorite earth creatures, if not the favorite. Humans were nice, but the Security Director already had enough craziness to deal with when it came to his Autobots, he didn't need to worry about a smaller organic kind of craziness. The dog helped calm him sometimes, even just by being there, and he'd actually started using his holographic projector even to just pet the dog.

He'd done some research and found out that pets had a naturally calming effect on humans, and it seemed that the Mastiff could have one on him, as well. Mason was wonderfully predictable, something Red Alert love, and the Security Director had even figured out around what times the Mastiff would need to use the bathroom. His research had shown that pets seemed to be able to hone in to their owner's emotions, and he'd never expected the Mastiff to be able to tell his, the dog had eventually managed to figure out some of it, which pleased Red Alert even more. He'd had to deal with both sets of twins less and less because Mason had taken to barking and growling at them, even going under their peds, when they took to 'playing' with Red Alert. Both sets were terrified of stepping on the dog, though whether this was over Miles' or Elizabeth's reaction, or what Barricade would do to them because his organics were upset, Red Alert wasn't sure.

He was going to Wheeljack's lab, one of his most hated parts of the week. After so many explosions it was evident that a pair of outside optics needed to come in to say what looked safe and what sounded sound, and who bet than a Security Director? Even after all this time Wheeljack could still surprise him, and it had only gotten worse now that the Inventor had Skyfire to scheme with. It was rare that he ever left the lab completely happy with what he'd seen, though the times where he'd just shorted out as soon as he had entered had gotten fewer and farer in between. Skyfire might have encouraged Wheeljack, but he was also a naturally safe mech, which balanced out most of Wheeljack's careless tendencies.

Satisfied that Mason didn't have the urge to run around wildly to use up some energy, Red Alert focused on the data pad he was carrying. Putting in a certain code let him have access to the private camera feeds he'd set up for Wheeljack's lab, and although he could see the building clearly and was less than two minutes away, he didn't want any unfortunate surprises. He'd entered just as a machine had gone wrong before and had been out for a week because of it, not something he was looking forward to.

"Oh, look." Red Alert knew, of course, that even though Mason understood a few English words, like sit or dinner, he would have no actual idea what he was saying, it was still nice to talk to the canine every now and then. "Miles appears to be in there."

He could add Miles to the list of words that Mason knew if the way the dog barked happily was any indication. That now made about twenty, which was impressive. The canine was nowhere near as smart as a human, had no chance of getting close to a Cybertronian, but Red Alert found him undeniably enjoyable none the less.

Red Alert grinned down at the happy canine, though his joy quickly disappeared when he heard Skyfire shout to turn it off. That couldn't be a good sign, and thirty seconds later there was a loud rumble that startled Mason and shook the ground under his peds. This was followed by a loud bang, and the lab being torn apart by an explosion. Red Alert barely had time to grab Mason up and enclose the dog safely in his servos before he was knocked flat by the same wave of power that had caused the lab's destruction in the first place.

:Call to all mechs! Explosion at the lab, Miles was in there! I repeat, organic caught in the rubble!:

Red Alert vented sharply as he sent the base wide communication, sitting up slowly. He slowly opened his servos, relieved to see a scared and whimpering, but whole, Mastiff. He scanned the dog quickly, satisfying himself that the canine wasn't hurt, before putting him down and hurrying over to dig in the rubble.


Motorhead and Rollerforce stood together, talking through a private comm link as they watched several mechs attempt to clear away the rubble of the lab to get at who had been inside. Motorhead might have helped, but he would have gotten in the way more than actually helped, Autobots already surrounding the rubble. And Barricade, there next to Bumblebee. It looked like the Scout was even attempting to calm their old commander down, to no avail, though.

:Well,: Rollerforce tilted his helm to indicate their old team leader, :If he's this freaked out we can know for sure that he really does care for the organic.:

Motorhead sent the older mech a glare. He really was normally a happy and joyful mech, but it was kind of a blow to find out your old love interest, who had never given him the time of day besides what he gave the rest of the team, suddenly enthralled with an organic. He was over Barricade, had been for a while now, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. Stupid organics.

:Can't last long. Little squishy is either dead now, won't last long due to injuries, or will die in just a few of these Earth decades, anyway.: Motorhead vented, knowing he was dangerously close to sounding like a petulant sparkling who's favorite toy had been taking away, and that would just get Rollerforce mad at him. :And even if he does care for the little insect, that doesn't mean they'll be able to bond.:

:They already did bond, once.: Rollerforce informed without thinking, :Remember Barricade telling us how close Shockwave had come to offlining him? Groundhog said the only thing that kept him there was Miles forming a bond with him.:

:WHAT?:

Rollerforce regretted telling Motorhead this little tidbit, processor ringing from the volume the yellow mech had used. :Yeah, but it broke in Egypt when the organic died.:

:Well, isn't that just wonderful? We can bond with freaky little Primus blessed organ-: Motorhead cut himself off, knowing he really did sound petulant now and not caring, instead noticing something else that caught his attention. He shuttered his optics and looked at Rollerforce to make sure he wasn't seeing things. :Isn't that the Seeker trine with the organic who's supposed to be under the rubble?:

:You noticed too, huh?: Rollerforce had caught sight of them flying in when they had forced walked over, doing a customary scan and finding Miles' unique organic signature inside of Starscream.

:You noticed! Why didn't you say anything?:

:It's funny as hell to see the Autodolts scurrying around like ants, even funnier when Barricade's with them.: Rollerforce shrugged, :Besides, I thought they'd notice them eventually. You know how Barricade is with Starscream.:

Motorhead was torn between irritation and humor, not all that surprised by Rollerforce's decision not to say anything. Out of the two of them, Motorhead was a lot more kind. If anything Rollerforce was Barricade's Starscream, always trying to outdo their Commander and thinking he was better, though unlike Starscream and Megatron, Barricade and Rollerforce were actually friends at the end of the day.

"Mechs?" Motorhead called, ignoring the amused look Rollerforce tossed him. "I don't think we have to worry about the ins-organic. He's over there with the trine. It must have been a holograph."

The resulting pause in work as all mechs turned to confirm this was short lived, most of them returning to trying to free the two scientists under the rubble, and only Barricade and Bumblebee actually stopping. Barricade because he was pissed, and Bumblebee because he knew Barricade was pissed and that it probably wasn't going to be a friendly welcome back from wherever he'd been for Miles.

"I'm going to kill him." Barricade growled, stalking to where he could see Miles and Starscream heading inside his hangar.

"Barricade, no!" Bumblebee scrambled up and chased after the ex-con, hurrying to try and cut him off.


Miles was so relieved to be back on base and away from the 'really big hole in the ground', as Skywarp had called it, that he could have cried. Starscream decided to stick with him while Skywarp and Thundercracker decided to go and discretely explore, though somehow Miles could only see that ending in a minor government cover up and tax payer money going to buying people's silence.

He'd never managed to get his phone, and seeing as Barricade was no longer in his hangar, he decided to do so now. Miles didn't need to go and check to see where his ex-con was, either, because on the way in they'd all seen the ruins of what had once been the lab, and the mechs working on it. He'd been a bit surprised to see Barricade not just standing and watching, but he figured Bumblebee must have roped him in to helping.

Miles led Starscream to the hangar, the Seeker having to bend a little to fit in, but he was fine once they were inside. Some of the soldiers had been nice enough to set up a little sleeping area for Miles whenever he wasn't sleeping in his and Sam's room, and that was where he kept most of his stuff now, seeing as Barricade would have no interest in borrowing any of it like Sam did.

He heard Barricade and Bumblebee enter, but didn't greet them right away, trying to reach his phone, which had somehow fallen under his bed.

"Where the pit have you been?" Barricade snarled, and Miles blinked up at him in surprise, slipping his phone into his pocket. The teen was sure he hadn't done anything to precedent getting snarled at like that today, and he glanced around in a somewhat helpless manner, wondering what he was missing. Surely someone or mech had to have known that he was off with the trine.

Starscream sneered at him, cutting Miles off before the teen could speak. "Someone had to take care of the poor organic while you were busy with your little reunion. If you had been smart enough to send out a comm Skyfire would have been more than happy to tell you where Miles was."

"Actually," Bumblebee stepped in before Barricade could snap anything, "Skyfire is the one buried under the lab, with Wheeljack. Red Alert had been coming to do his weekly checkup of Wheeljack's lab when it happened, and he thought he saw Miles in there with them."

"Oh," Starscream glanced out the door of the hangar with a new look, slightly concerned. "Skyfire had his holoform preset to look like Miles."

"What?" Miles asked, confused. "Why? He had his own holo look."

"To help Thundercracker and Skywarp get used to organics he took on an organic form, yours. He probably never thought to change it back. You, outside of Samuel, were the only organic we actually knew, and well… Even I needed some help learning human limitations, that way I don't kill you again and again whenever I pick you up."

"Appreciated," Miles said dryly. At least now the teen knew why he was in trouble with Barricade, though he couldn't be very happy about it. Maybe now the ex-con could calm down, and Miles grinned at him. "Well, it wasn't me, so no worries, right? All we gotta do is dig up Skyfire and Wheeljack now."

Barricade glared at him, and Bumblebee looked from mech to organic with a frown. The Scout decided it was safer to suggest that he and Starscream aid in the excavation instead of sticking around to see what would happen, and both quickly left. Miles took out his phone again, finally bothering to glance at all the messages. Mainly text messages, the latter group of them asking where he was, obviously either because he hadn't been on base for most of the day or because of the lab exploding again.

"That still doesn't explain why you were with the Seekers." Barricade finally said, spitting out the word Seekers.

"Starscream invited me along so I went, what's wrong with that?" Miles asked, frowning up at the ex-con

Barricade growled, and decided to switch tactics. "Why did you go so far away?"

"I wasn't driving 'em!" Miles ground out exasperatedly, "They just went!"

"You should have stayed here, Megatron's not dead yet and there's still more Decepticons."

"And do what? You were busy with your friends, and I couldn't bother you or them because two of them don't like me very much!"

"That doesn't mean you go frolicking around with those Seekers!"

"What is with you and Seekers?" Miles cried, "Skyfire's one of them so I know you don't think all of them are bad, and these three just joined our side!"

"Just because they joined the Autobot cause does not mean you can trust them!" Barricade snarled, and Miles half felt like ripping his hair out.

The teen had a perfect retort on the tip of his tongue, something along the lines of if that were true then he couldn't trust Barricade either, but he kept it there, quickly weighing his options. Miles didn't know how to deal with a Barricade who was slowly becoming more and more protective of him. Back in Wheeljack's lab with Skyfire getting the virus it had been evident that Barricade was afraid of losing him, and then dying in Egypt had shown the ex-con the reality of it, and the teen knew that if he had been in Barricade's peds, then he certainly would have amped it up a bit more. So Miles had been expecting it to a certain extent, but that didn't make it any less annoying to deal with. Especially when everything always seemed to end in anger with Barricade, which led to a fight.

He wasn't in the mood to fight with the mech and then end up ignoring him for a week. He tried to find something to quickly diffuse the fight, but nothing he thought of would do any good, so he did something else to end it. He turned on his heel and walked away. Or, he tried to, anyway. He got about three steps before a pair of arms were wrapping around him and pulling him close, something unusual and not at the same time.

"I just don't want to lose you again."

Well, there went any anger. He'd only really been annoyed in the first place and not in the mood to deal with it, and Barricade had to go and get mushy on him. That was so totally unfair, because the mech was rarely if ever mushy and it always managed to catch Miles by surprise when he was so blatant about it.

"You're going to give yourself a spark attack if you keep worrying so much, Barry." Miles sighed, leaning back into the embrace a bit.

"Prowl or Ratchet will go first."

"Sure, sure. Maybe we should try getting the bond again that way you at least have a better guess at whatever's going on with me." The teen paused, "Not counting when I freak over a dream."

Barricade snorted lightly, and Miles rolled his eyes, slipping out of the holoform's arms.

"Lay down and open up," Miles waggled his fingers playfully, "Skyfire told me how to work some magic."

Barricade listened and dissolved his holoform; assuming the teen meant Skyfire had told him what to do in a normal manner. He was a little surprised, then, when Miles moved his hand a certain way and pleasure flooded him. He vented sharply, finding the teen smirking at him, and growled in response, activating his holoform again.


"Ow!" Miles squirmed in Barricade's grip, hand momentarily pausing in the mech's spark chamber. "Did you just bite me?"

"Yes." Barricade's voice was slightly strained, the mech having to make more of a conscious effort to talk through his holoform into Miles' ear instead of through his real body, never mind that the teen would be able to hear him either way. "Elizabeth insisted that I have some know how when it came to this, so she showed me some videos."

"You watched porn with my mother?" Miles asked in disbelief, hand stopping completely now. The mother part was just all kinds of no.

Barricade snarled lightly, effectively distracting Miles from the disturbing tidbit of information by slipping a hand in between the teen's legs.


Miles walked over to join Sam, Mikaela, Trent, and Epps. His experiment had been wholly successful and enjoyed by both participating parties. He was actually sort of happy for Skyfire's sex ed, though he would never tell the Scientist that. There was a lot less for him to figure out on his end, though he had been surprised that Barricade had been subjected to watching videos when he could just google everything in under a minute. Not that he was going to complain about either of those things, seeing as Barricade was Barricade and gave as good as he got, be it witty banter, fighting, or matters in the bedroom.

Trent was in his beloved truck, window down and head out of it to talk to the others. Sam and Epps were loading in buckets of water, sponges, and soaps and waxes of various kinds. The Grand Canyon had been unkind to Skywarp and Thundercracker, mainly because instead of flying Skywarp had tried to scale the side of one of the cliffs and Thundercracker had tried to retrieve him.

Miles wasn't exactly looking forward to it, but he'd already promised Skywarp yesterday after returning that he'd help give them all a special organic wash, to try to get Thundercracker happier with his current predicament. Except now he was dead tired, already planning on sneaking off to go sleep somewhere. He didn't want to sleep in Barricade's hangar as it would be odd without the mech there, but if he slept in his and Sam's room he was a lot more likely to be disturbed.

Miles paused in his debate of where to take a nap when he got to Mikaela's side, eyeing up Trent's truck in memory of what Groundhog had told him. If Rollerforce had scanned his truck and transformed down into it he couldn't wait to see Trent's face, the angry and surprised one. But while he was looking at Trent and his truck, Mikaela was looking at him, and Miles eventually turned to raise an eyebrow at her. He really didn't like that smirk or the gleam in her eyes, but Sam started talking before she did.

"Dude, where the hell have you been? I haven't seen you since yesterday!"

Miles offered a tired half shrug, "Around."

"I was starting to think Barricade had finally had enough and accidentally sat on you," Sam grinned, "Red thought he saw you with Jackie and Sky. Hope he wasn't too pissed that you were okay."

"Nah, we're go-"

"Oh my God, you totally had kinky robot sex!" Mikaela said, dangerously close to squealing.

"How the hell do you know?" Miles gaped while Sam and Epps froze in their work. He'd been trying to act nonchalant and avoid any and all questions. Both had failed, apparently.

"Well, you didn't deny it just now. In fact you confirmed it," Mikaela pointed out, grinning. "And you have a bite mark on your neck."

"What?" Mikaela brought out a pocket mirror and showed Miles, and he growled. "Slag him! How the hell do I explain this to my parents?"

"Say you had kinky robot sex," Mikaela offered none too helpfully, smirking.

"Can we please not call it kinky robot sex?" Sam groaned, and Miles nodded a bit. "Why the hell did he bite you, though?"

"Apparently he watched porn. With my mother." Miles deadpanned, and Sam looked as horrified as he had felt when Barricade had told him. Or would have felt had the situation been different.

"So was it just his holoform, then?" Mikaela asked, "Is Barricade as dead on his fe-peds as you are?"

"No…" Miles knew he'd regret it, but it was better than her bothering Barricade to find out. He wasn't sure if the mech would just ignore her, be honest, or come up with something crazy. "Holoform and mech body."

"So it was kinky robot sex!"

"I think even with the holoforms it would be kinky," Trent said offhandedly.

"Stop encouraging her, DeMarco!" Miles groaned while Mikaela beamed at Trent.

Trent smirked, "Nah, I'm good."

"Trent's just upset because he's gotten his very own 'con now," Sam said, putting on an innocent look when Trent sent him a withering stare. "Pretty soon they're gonna be fucking just like you and 'Cade."

Miles, Sam, and Mikaela burst out laughing at the look on Trent's face, up until Trent got out of his truck and started chasing Sam around. Epps rolled his eyes, the only one bothering to work anymore, though he'd not complain over the teens having fun, especially not after Egypt. And even he was laughing when Trent finally caught Sam and held him in a headlock, giving him a noogie.

"Alright, brats. Playtime's over, you gotta go wash you some Seekers now. Maybe after Trent can go on a double date with his mech, Miles, and Barricade."

"I bet I could kick your ass…" Trent mumbled, glaring at Epps.

"Do that after you finish washing the Seekers." Epps mock saluted, "See ya later!"

"Epps! You're supposed to help!"