Well, the results are in for what Barricade is going to do! I took everyone's reasoning and advice into account, and...well, I really hope you guys like what I did! I was really pumped to write this chapter this morning; so much so that it was in my dreams. xD So needless to say, I was pumped to write this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it! :D
Barricade looked uneasily at Optimus, unsure of what to do for the first time in a long while. On the one hand, if he were to join the Autobots, he would get his repairs completed. He could feel it in his legs every time he shifted his weight that there was still something wrong, something his internal repairs would not be able to fix on their own. He had issues flexing one of his hands, but it was a subtle issue that could wait years if need be. He would also have extra protection for Jessica; he was sure the Autobots would do anything to protect a human. But on the other hand...his thousands of years of Decepticon training and way of life had him second guessing himself. He was a 'Con, a killer of mechs and humans alike. It wasn't in his nature to be kind to humans, aside from the girl who had touched his spark when she was still a child, and he wasn't the most patient of mechs. He didn't know if he could safely deal with living around humans and fighting against his faction until the end of his days. One thing was for sure, though; Starscream would return, and he would have reinforcements. After his open betrayal, he was fair game. In Decepticon optics, you were either with them or against them. If you were against them in any way, you were killed. No questions asked. No mercy would be shown, despite your past service or your pleas. He looked down at Jessica, who was looking up at him expectantly, her legs beginning to tremble slightly. Venting loudly, he looked at Optimus and gave him a nod.
"I...will join you." He sputtered out, his voice sounding as if he was being tortured. "But, I do have some conditions." Optimus nodded and shifted his weight on his feet.
"I'm listening." Barricade knelt on one knee and held his hand out for Jessica to climb onto, which she did with slight difficulty. Her muscles were giving her a hard time from being over exerted, and now that the adrenaline was gone from her system, the reality of the situation was beginning to hit her like a ton of bricks.
"I am not to be referred to as an Autobot, for starters." He said as he stood once she was secure on his hand. "She is to be protected at all costs. And I wish to remain as her...guardian." Before Optimus could comment on his demands, Ironhide stepped up to them, cautiously stepping around rubble, cars, and bodies.
"How does a Decepticon end up with a human charge?" He snarled, his cannons itching to be brought out. Optimus may have had his guard down around the mech, but Ironhide wasn't about to be blinded. It could be a trap. To all three's surprise, Jessica cleared her throat and stood up, holding on tightly to one of Barricade's fingers as she faced Ironhide.
"When I was a little girl, about 9 years old, I ran away from home. My...dad was abusive, and I seen him hitting my mom. I didn't know what else to do...so I ran. I ended up stumbling across him most likely within a few minutes after he landed on earth. I...I don't know why he chose to protect me. Maybe it's because I was a little kid. Maybe he felt sorry for me." She shrugged. "I'll never know. But from then on, he's protected me." Barricade sighed gratefully when she left out that he had killed her father and her mother. He didn't think the bots would welcome him with open arms after that fact. Not...that he wanted them to.
Ironhide just snorted while Optimus looked impressed. It was easy to see who believed her and who didn't. She just gave them a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her head shyly.
"So...what's going to happen to me?" She asked quietly, looking up at Barricade this time. "I can't go home; Starscream kind of made it explode when he came after us earlier." Optimus answered her, a soft smile on his face plates.
"I do believe I can fix that." He gestured for them to follow, which Ironhide did without a moment's hesitation while Barricade proceeded with caution. He knew the Autobots were nothing like Decepticons and wouldn't ambush him, especially with Jessica in his servos, but he couldn't be too careful. When he stopped, he was surprised to see the boy he had gone after standing in front of Optimus, looking up at him. He looked like slag; his hair was a mess and his clothes were filthy and had holes in them. He was clearly wounded and out of breath. "Sam, I need to ask a favor of you." Sam just nodded, a slight smile on his face...which disappeared almost immediately when he caught sight of Barricade.
"Oh no no no no no, no man, no! What's he doing here! He tried to kill me!" He rushed out, scooting back until he was met with Ratchet's foot. Optimus just held his hand up, silencing the boys' complaints.
"Barricade has decided to remain with us. However, until we can establish a base, his human charge requires a place to stay. Her home was destroyed by Starscream prior to our battle." Barricade lowered his hand to the ground and Jessica stepped off, smiling at the boy. He was younger than her, but he looked nice enough. When he wasn't spazzing out.
"Hi. I'm Jessica." She said sheepishly, holding out a hand. Sam looked at it for a second, but took it after a while.
"Sam." He said, nodding to her and twitching his lips in a weak smile.
"So...giant robots huh?" She said, laughing lightly when Barricade snorted and stood up. Sam looked up at the bot and gave a slight jump, but looked back at her quickly.
"Yeah. Crazy stuff, right?" She snorted and giggled, eyes twinkling with amusement. It felt nice to be able to talk to someone about her predicament. Even though Barricade had only been in her life a considerably brief amount of time, it still sucked to have to keep him a secret. Especially with them becoming close like they were.
"Definitely. How'd you get mixed up in all this?" He gestured to a yellow and black bot who looked considerably younger than the ones around her and strapped to the back of a tow truck. Her heart sunk in sympathy when she noticed his legs were missing and he was letting out sad whirs of pain as a lime green bot she assumed was their medic looked him over.
"Bought a car that turned out to be an alien robot." He shrugged as if it happened every day. "You?" She was the one to shrug this time.
"Meh. Ran away from home when I was little because my dad was a douche bag, came across 'Cade's landing spot." She grinned up at him when he snorted again in irritation. Sam just gaped at her. "What?"
"What did you call him, just now?" She blinked at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying, and gave a slight jump when she finally caught on.
"Oh! Ha, I call him 'Cade. When I was little I had a hard time remembering his name, so I just shortened it to 'Cade. Don't call him that though; he might squish you." She snickered when he gave a low, dangerous warning growl of agreement that had Sam going pale and taking a couple of steps back.
"Yeah I-I-I see that." He stuttered, causing her to giggle again. He sounded almost like Frenzy when he did that. "So." He cleared his throat, catching her attention again. "You, uh, need a place to stay?" She nodded, letting out a small sigh.
"Starscream kind of blew up my house." Sam thought for a minute, before nodding.
"I think my parents will let you stay with me." A black haired girl that was covered from head to toe in dirt but was still somehow managing to be beautiful stepped forward then, having been working on the yellow and black bot behind her.
"Who's staying with you?" She looked from Sam to Jessica, then back at Sam with suspicion. "Sam?" Jessica stepped up then, noticing the discomfort in Sam's eyes.
"Hi, I'm Jessica. You don't gotta worry about me taking him from you if he's your boyfriend or anything like that. I just need a place to stay. See, this giant, ugly metal dorito decided to blow up my house and everything I owned...so." She shrugged, holding out her hand. The girl looked at her for a second then took her hand and shook it.
"I'm Mikeala. I'm Sam's girlfriend." Sam looked at her in shock which she returned with a smile. Jessica blushed and looked away; they looked like they needed some alone time.
"S-so..I'll just...give you two a moment." She cleared her throat and backed up a little. Mikeala giggled.
"Don't worry. It won't last long. We just...have something to discuss." She looked back at Sam and wrapped her arms around his neck as if they weren't standing in a ruined city. Jessica felt her heart sink. They looked so cute together, like they belonged with one another. Would she be able to have that sort of happiness in her situation...? She backed up another step only to find herself running back-first into a familiar chest.
"Going somewhere?" Barricade asked, amusement in his voice. Jessica turned around and smiled slightly at his holoform.
"I didn't hear you transform." He just winked at her and held out a hand.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. I know where he lives, so I'll bring you by there after a moment." She took his hand, and, without saying a thing to the others, she got in the car with him and let him take her out of the city.
"Any particular reason you took me here, 'Cade?" Jessica asked suspiciously, tearing her eyes away from the gorgeous sunset in front of her to the tanned holoform beside her. She was sitting on the roof with her legs and arms crossed while Barricade was leaning against his alt mode's side, watching the sunset with her. He just looked at her, ruby red eyes glinting in the fading sun light.
"I figured we could use some time alone." He shrugged. "I did almost lose you today." Sighing, Jessica scooted across the hood, giggled when Barricade shivered, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"You almost died, too, ya know." He just scoffed. "What? You did." She frowned against the back of his police uniform and gave his waist a squeeze as he placed his hands over hers. They sat like that in silence for a while, watching the giant star falling slowly behind the trees of the park. Barricade eventually cleared his throat, causing her to jump.
"I'm...glad you're not hurt." He said simply, but Jessica knew better. There was something behind that tone of his, something he was being cautious about. Something he obviously wanted to tell her, but wasn't. She let go of him and slid off the roof of the car and made to stand in front of him. She looked at him crossly while he just blinked at her, not knowing what to expect.
"Barricade, you're hiding something. And don't you lie and say you're not. You may not be human, but basic psychology applies to all sentient beings." She gave him a slick smile before settling most of her weight on one hip. "What's on your mind?" That torn look came into his eyes again, his features losing their harshness as he relaxed visibly. Concerned, she stepped up to him and put a hand on his cheek. He looked at her, but quickly looked away, a slight flush coming to his cheeks. She wanted to giggle when she heard the heating unit in the car kick on. So he was hiding something. "Barricade, you can tell me. What is-" She was cut off by Barricade crashing his lips against hers, closing the distance between them.
At first neither of the two moved, both too scared and unsure of themselves to make the first move. In the end, Jessica was the one who relaxed first and melted into the kiss, his lips forming over hers perfectly. She couldn't help but shiver at the chills he was sending down her spine with just this one kiss, the way her body reacted to his arms wrapping themselves around her waist and pulling her against him. She broke the kiss too early for his taste, disappointment evident on his face.
"Wow." She whispered, smiling. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked like a shy little girl all over again, the girl he had met in the forest that night. "So...that's what was bothering you?" Her voice was still low, as if she was afraid someone would over hear. Barricade nodded, wanting to badly to lean forward and kiss her again. He wasn't a mech to show affection so often, but the way she looked with her cheeks flushed, the sunlight hitting her brown hair in just the right light, the way her eyes were glittering, he couldn't keep his hands off of her. She let out a sigh and leaned into his chest. For a moment they just stood there, holding one another as the world around them began to grow dark. Occasionally he would stroke her hair or she would run her nails down his back, but essentially they remained stationary, just enjoying the moment. Then-
"Hey Jess!" Sam shouted out. Barricade nearly collapsed against his alt mode, groaning before he disappeared. Jess looked up at Sam, not knowing if she should be looking flustered or surprised to see him. She decided on both.
"Hey, Sam. What are you doing here?" She asked, taking a seat on Barricade's hood. Sam stopped five feet away from the Saleen, his hand in Mikeala's, looking at the car cautiously.
"There was a guy here a minute ago. Where'd he go?" Before she could answer Barricade's holoform reappeared, and he didn't look happy. Jessica snickered when Mikeala gave him the once over and let out a low whistle.
"I'm right here, fleshling." He growled out. "If you do not mind, I would suggest you leave. We were in the middle of something." Mikeala looked at Jessica curiously, to which she just shrugged in response. Sam cleared his throat and looked down at the ground.
"Um, well, see I'm ready to go home and uh, I think she wanted to go with us..." He gestured to himself and Mikeala, who nodded. She smiled at the black-haired girl as Barricade simply grunted.
"Go. We'll follow." Sam didn't need to be told twice and was soon tugging Mikeala away from his previous enemy and his charge. Mikeala looked over her shoulder just as Barricade was pulling her into a hug and kissing her. She could have swore the girl winked at her before turning back around and following Sam back to a yellow and black car near by that she guessed was the bot that had been legless when she seen him. Grinning against his tanned lips Jessica put a little force into the kiss and pulled away, obviously taking him by surprise.
"So I'm guessing Frenzy was right?" A blush and the heating system flicking on was the only response she got.
Mkay, so I hope you guys liked this chapter! I think it's a little shorter than the others...but. And they finally admitted it! :D I got tired of skipping around their feelings and finally decided to make 'em just kiss each other and get it over with. But I will go ahead and say that their romantic moments will be few and far between for certain reasons, some of them being he's not comfortable showing affection around others, Barricade is still Barricade, and they'll both be kept busy. Anyway, review!