Alrighty now! Chapter 9! I'm glad I have all the reviews that I do. :) I look forward to getting more and more in the future. Your reviews keep me going and make me want to write more and more. Anyway, I don't think you need more encouragement from me to review. I'll leave you all to it!


Barricade shook himself as his self-repair mechanism finally kicked in, his systems whirring to life. He was sitting in an abandoned parking garage in his alt mode, making sure he kept himself well out of sight from prying eyes. The leaking energon would definitely be a warning sign that he wasn't a normal car, and he couldn't afford to be discovered at his weakest point. He shivered again, this time in rage.

Starscream.

He was going to murder that fragging mech with his bare servos the second he got the chance. He had dropped Barricade from several hundred feet in the air, not caring if the humans noticed him dropping the police car from high in the atmosphere. He remembered falling to the ground, the pain that racked his body. He remembered the sadistic laughter that had met his audio receptors. But the most prominent sound had been a scream, and not from Barricade or a near by civilian.

"BARRICADE!" Jessica's shout was still echoing through his processor, her voice cracking as if she was putting all her might into the shout. His spark throbbed slightly at the memory of the sound. Frenzy had been right; he was going soft. So soft that the femme he'd promised to protect was in the hands of none other than Starscream, and she was most likely going to be tortured for the pleasure of the 'Cons and then used to get the Autobots right where the mech wanted them. Not that he minded their destruction, he just wanted his charge left out of it.

Repairs were complete then, much to his enjoyment. He gave a loud growl and transformed into his bipedal mode, gripping one of the concrete pillars. His claws sank into the hardened substance as he heard Starscream's voice over his comm link.

Decepticons. Mobilize.

Barricade wasted no time. In a split second he was back into his alt mode and on the road, tires squealing. He had heard the small whimpering of a girl on Starscream's end of the comm link and knew he had to get to the location provided for him by Starscream and quickly.

Barricade En Route.


"Let go of me!" Jessica shouted at the top of her lungs, struggling to get out of the cock pit of the fighter jet. She tried pounding her fists against the glass above her, but to no avail. She sat back in the seat and began to kick the glass, and when that didn't work, she kicked the controls that she knew were there just for show. "Let me go!"

"SILENCE!" Starscream shouted through a radio that was hidden somewhere. Jessica tried to cover her ears to protect them from the noise but found it useless; her ears had already popped. "Now. Pay attention. You are going to be a good little bargaining chip, aren't you?" He sounded like he was sneering at her and it made her shiver. Those red optics...they were no different than Barricade's but yet they were; his had never had the malice in them that Starscreams' had. She felt she wouldn't be able to look Barricade in his optics anymore...if she ever saw him again. "Fleshling, I'm speaking to you!" She started at that, shaking the thoughts from her head. "You are going to do exactly as I command you when I command you to do it. Got it?" She nodded weakly, tears falling down her face again as she started trembling. Starscream chuckled, and it didn't have the same type of amusement Barricade's had held. "Good."

Without warning Starscream began to transform, flinging her out of his cockpit as he did so. Before she could get too far away for him to catch, he plucked her from the air and held her upside down by her feet.

"Now. Scream." She didn't have to be told twice. Hell, she didn't even need the first bit of encouragement. She screamed at the top of her lungs, people running around below her like little ants. "Ahh...music to my ears." Starscream cackled, shaking her around a little as if he was dangling a worm in front of a bunch of hungry baby birds. "Keep it up, fleshy. You're doing wonderful." He hopped down from the building he had been standing on, Jessica not missing a beat.

"Let her go, Starscream!" A new voice rang out over the screams. Jessica stopped screaming then to look at the owner of the voice, much to Starscreams' irritation. Standing a few feet away was a black and silver mech, but he looked different than Barricade, Starscream and Frenzy. He looked a bit kinder, minus the large cannons sticking out of his arms and aimed right at them. His bright blue optics were glowering furiously at the mech, occasionally shifting down to her and then back up at her captor.

"But what fun would that be, Ironhide?" Starscream drawled, wriggling her around again. "I've come to offer you a deal."

"We're not interested in any deal you have to make, Deceptiscum!" Ironhide growled, his cannons whirring dangerously. "Now put the girl down!" Starscream tutted at him much like he had done with Barricade earlier, taunting the mech.

"I don't think it's in this humans' best interests for you to refuse. My deal is this; hand over the All Spark, and she goes free, unharmed." Ironhide shifted his weight on his large feet uncomfortably, looking from both Jessica to Starscream, and then back at her again. "Time is ticking, Ironhide. I'm beginning to grow bored with her." He let one of her feet go, dangling her as high in the air as he could reach. This caused her to start screaming again. "It's your choice, Autoscum." His fingers began to loosen their grip on her leg, earning him a startled, fear-filled choke from Jessica as she tried desperately to secure herself somehow. "Oops. My fingers are slipping..." He suddenly released his hold on her, watching with glowing red optics in amusement as she fell.

Before she could reach the ground, the one called Ironhide had jumped forward and caught her as someone shot Starscream in the back. Ironhide's grip was firm, but not tight as he held just five feet from the ground. He grunted with the collision, but was otherwise unaffected. Jessica, however, was scared out of her wits. From what she had gathered from Barricade, the Autobots were good. They wouldn't hurt her if their lives depended on it, but she was still terrified. All around her bots were standing up, some looking at her with worry, some focusing on Starscream.

"Gotcha." Ironhide grunted, letting her fall to the ground harmlessly. "Go, get out of the way!" He shooed her away as if she was a fly, and she didn't stand around to wait for him to say much else. She ran for her life, mixing with the the civilians who were running away from the other bots and screaming in terror. A sudden cannon blast had her and the people around her falling down on the side walk. For a moment Jessica thought about not getting up. What good would it do for her to run? She wouldn't be able to find Barricade, and he would have a hard time finding her if he was looking for her somewhere. What part did she play in this, other than an inconvenience? That's when she heard the sob.

She turned her head to look beside her and gasped. There, on the ground, was a mother holding her small daughter in her arms, much like Barricade had done with her when Starscream was attacking them, only the girl was on her lap. Big crocodile tears were falling from the sweet, innocent chocolate brown eyes and the mother was doing everything in her power not to break down right then and there. She raised a shaking hand and placed it atop her daughter's head and kissed her soft forehead, muttering a silent prayer. That's when her years of studying and training to become an officer of the law took over. Quickly Jessica got to her feet and put her hands softly on the woman's shoulders.

"Ma'am, come on, you gotta get up." The woman looked up at her with hazel eyes, a look of terror written across them. "Come on, you gotta get up and get to safety. I'm gonna hep you." Hesitating, the woman stood up, with Jessica's help, and looked at her expectantly. Jessica pointed to a barely visible alley way that lead off of the street, noticing that most of the action was taking place on this one street. "Go down that way! Run!" She gave the woman an encouraging push and ran with her to the alley. "Once you reach the end of this, turn right, then left, then go straight until you get to the third alley on your left and go there. It'll lead you out of the city. Go! now!" She shouted over another cannon blast. She reached a hand out and pressed it against the wall of the neighboring building to keep her balance. She flinched when another cannon blast went off and rubble fell around her. Some pieces of brick hit her, but she didn't care. None of it was going to keep her from trying to get as many people to safety as she could.

And that's what she did. She ran around the city, trying to use her general knowledge to navigate people to safety. Some listened to her without a second thought. Some thanked her and called her an Angel of God. Some were too terrified to listen. She had damn near lost her patience when she ran up to a man standing in the way of a bot that looked like its alt mode was a tank and was taking pictures of it.

"Come on, you have to move!" She shouted, tugging on his shirt sleeve. He snapped a couple of shots and turned to her, a glare on his face.

"Outta the way, lady! I gotta get these shots!" He shoved her to the ground, turning back to take more photos of the bot in front of him. "This will bring me a fortune!" Jessica stood up and began tugging on his arm again as the bot stopped in its tracks, turning its red optics on them.

"Dude, come on, we gotta move! That thing sees us just standing here it'll blow us to shreds!" She shivered at the thought. Barricade had told her once that some of the Decepticons would kill humans without a second thought, and this looked like one of those bots. It raised it's cannon and aimed. Right at them. Jessica could swear she could see the shell on the inside of the weapon. All the blood drained from her body when she heard the whirring. The man she had been trying to get to safety obviously picked up on the noise too and slowly lowered his camera, gaping at the bot in front of them.

"Dude...is it gonna shoot us...?" He whispered to Jessica, not taking his eyes off the bot for an instant. Jessica gulped.

"Without a doubt." She murmured, her voice so low he had to strain to hear it. A near by blast caught the bot's attention, and she wasted no time. She grabbed the guys' shirt sleeve and began tugging at it, and much to her relief he followed her without a single complaint. They ran down the side walk, jumping over and running around rubble and pieces of destroyed cars, sometimes pieces of furniture or other items the building nearby had been showcasing. She took him to a near by alley and directed him down it. "First right, second left, third left, first right, fourth right, first left and you're out of the city limits and into the country. Go! And drop that fragging camera!" She paused momentarily at the word that had come out of her mouth.

Fragging? Must have been hanging around Barricade too long. In fact, he was the only person, er, mech, er, humanoid, that she hung around lately. Mentally shrugging she looked around for more people to help. Finding none, she decided to try and high tail it out of there. As she turned the corner of a street and came onto the back drop of the battle field, she was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing her ankle. She looked down and to her relief, it was only a man who's right leg seemed to be horribly broken.

"Please...help me.." He wheezed. Jessica chewed her lip, weighing her options. Ahead of her was the main part of the battle, and they just happened to be flanking the 'Cons. At any moment one of them could turn around and shoot her into oblivion. On the other hand, this man really needed her help. Who was she to refuse? Technically and legally she couldn't, considering her first aid certification. The man looked no older than 45, and he was obviously in a lot of pain. She didn't take long to weigh her options through.

"Keep still. I'm going to take your shirt off and use it to bind your legs, alright?" The man nodded in understanding, sitting up a little and helping her remove his button up shirt. She ripped it in half with her bare hands and looked around for something to use a splint. She caught sight of two shredded pieces of wood and grabbed those. She propped them up against his leg and ripped the two shirt halves into thirds, then began wrapping the leg as best she could. Makeshift splint finished, she helped him to his feet. "Stay off of that leg as much as you can, alright? I'm going to try and get you somewhere safe." The man nodded again, coughing up what she assumed was dust from the concrete and wood, and began to help him limp in the opposite direction.

She turned the corner and let out a squeak, taken completely by surprise. Barricade slammed on his brakes in front of her and the holoform appeared as the doors opened.

"Here, help me get him out of here. I can't just leave him." Barricade wordlessly helped her get the man into the back seat of the car. Once he was strapped in and secure, he turned to look at her, ruby eyes roaming over her face with obvious worry.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" She shook her head, still trying to catch her breath from all the running and shouting.

"No. He just scared me half to death and nearly dropped me. That's all." Barricade pulled her into a tight, brief hug, letting out what she guessed was a sigh of relief, then let her go and tugged her to the car.

"Come on. We have to get out of here." She gave him a look that read "no duh", but climbed into the passenger seat anyway while his holoform climbed into the driver's seat. He burned rubber as he pulled a U-Turn [Jessica had to chuckle at the bent "No U-Turns" sign near by; she didn't think anyone would care right then, though] and began to drive around people and rubble as cannon blasts shook the ground and gun shots pierced the sky. Just as they were driving around the battle zone, using buildings as their cover, a large, claw hand slapped the side of Barricade's vehicle, sending Jessica and the man flying out of the car and onto the littered pavement. Barricade wasted no time in transforming into his bipedal mode, standing defensively between Starscream and his charge.

"Barricade, how you disappointment me." Starscream drawled, tutting at him like he was scolding a child. Barricade growled lowly at him in response. Jessica looked around her, hoping to find a means of escape or protection in case they started fighting, and noticed that they had caught the attention of the soldiers and the Autobots, who were looking on in confusion.

"I'm sure you'd know all about disappointment, Starscream. I'll bet Megatron wasn't happy to find out you failed him." Starscream growled and kicked a car out of his way as he approached the slightly smaller mech.

"No! It was you who failed him! Who failed me!" He spat, anger obviously rising. Jessica silently ushered the man to his feet and began to help him get away from the scene, using most of her weight to support him as he limped carefully through the debris littered area. "Step aside, Barricade. That insect has taken control of your mind! She prevents you from doing your duty to me, to Lord Megatron!" Barricade snarled dangerously, taking a step backward.

"I assure you, I still have a clear processor, Starscream." He snarled. "Don't you dare come closer." He brought his mace out, swinging it lightly, warningly.

"Why do you bother to protect a human, of all the things? You are the best Decepticon seeker we have! Why fight for a race that is puny, weak and meaningless?" Barricade allowed himself a second to look behind him as Jessica helped the injured man onto the sidewalk and towards the Autobots. Across the street where the opposite faction stood a group of human medics were rushing toward them with a gurney, occasionally watching the stand off cautiously. He turned to glare at Starscream, leering at the mech.

"Because they are a strong, resilient race. They may be weak, they may be puny, but they are powerful and capable of more than we and even they know." Starscream chose that moment to attack, but before he could even lay a hand on Barricade he was flung to the side. Without bothering to see who had hit him, he transformed into his jet alt mode and took off into the sky, soon becoming just a memory. Barricade turned and was surprised to see Optimus Prime himself standing before him, regarding him with a look of confusion.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked, his low, deep voice causing Barricade's chest plates to rattle with the magnitude of it. "About protecting the humans?" Barricade looked out of the corner of his optics again, watching as Jessica helped load the man onto the gurney and watch him get carried away, a look of pride about her. He turned back to Optimus and gave a curt nod.

"Yes." Relief seemed to wash over the taller bot, but he didn't show it much. If Barricade hadn't been watching his facial plates closely he would have missed it.

"Barricade, I do not normally offer this, but I believe after what you said to Starscream, you would be in great danger, as would your charge." Optimus looked to the side and caught a glimpse of Jessica who was standing at a bent street light, watching the two bots warily. "I understand you are a Decepticon, and have been for some time, so I will let you have the choice. You can join with the Autobots, or protect her on your own. The choice is yours." Barricade looked at Optimus, then looked at Jessica. She had obviously heard the conversation, for she was looking at him expectantly.

What now?


Oh goodness! What's Barricade going to do? D: Honestly, I don't know. Let me know in a review what you want Barricade to do; defect to the Autobots? Or go off on his own with Jessica? Either way I can still have a story off it, but I want to know what you guys think, because I can't choose. xD I'm a horrible decision maker.