-1Sweet Child of Mine - 10

Stormfire opened her eyes and found herself walking in a large field. She knew where she was; she'd been there often enough. She heard the roaring of the water fall and the sounds of other mechs nearby. She turned and walked off to her left, finding the dirt path that she'd walked more than once.

Storm walked around a small gathering of trees and found her fathers just beyond, standing next to each other, watching the sunset, arms wrapped tightly around each other. She recognized this place now… the lake where Bumblebee often took her when they both had free time to spare. She hadn't realized it before now…

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Barricade standing there. Never before had he physically approached her in her dreams before. This was… new.

"Why are we here?" Barricade asked quietly as he looked past her towards where the twins stood. "Or, better question, why are they here?" Storm looked up at him and frowned slightly.

"Why wouldn't they be here? It's my dream… they are my creators. What I don't understand is why you're always here." Barricade nodded slowly.

"You got me there, kid," he answered quietly, looking back at her. "It is, after all, your dream. Why dream about me… and what the frag is up with giving me a sparkling? Do I look like I have time to raise a kid?" Stormfire gave him a look that clearly said she wasn't amused.

"I don't choose where the sparklings go, Barricade. I'm just the vessel. They go where they are predestined to go." Barricade frowned slightly.

"What are you saying, child? Are you telling me they come from you and you have no say in who co-creates them?"

"Something like that," she said quietly. "It is why I was created. My fathers didn't realize it at the time. They still don't…" She trailed off and looked over at the twins. "They are the last twins alive. Only through their spark could I be created. And it's the parts of their sparks inside of me that help me create life." Barricade shifted until he was standing in front of her, blocking her view of her fathers.

"And what happens when the sparklings that you carry within you have all been brought into creation?" Stormfire gave him a sad smile.

"Then my life is complete and I will return to the Matrix…"

Barricade woke with a start and sat up quickly on the bunk where he'd been recharging. A quick glance around the room told him he was back inside the Decepticon's temporary base but he still felt… off. Pushing himself to his feet, he left his room and walked down to Soundwave's lab, pushing open the door and walking inside.

In a corner of the lab, lying on a table, was an unfinished protoform in shades of black and orange. Next to the unfinished protoform was a casing box within which lay a new sparkling. Barricade walked over and pulled a chair with him, sitting between the table and the counter. He didn't touch the box but he didn't have to… he could already feel it.

He should have known… should have trusted his own instinct and Bee's pleadings and gotten him and the child out of the base sooner. But he hadn't been able to do so and now he had this… and part of him felt guilty.

Barricade knew he wasn't going to recharge again anytime soon. So, brushing one finger against the casing, he stood and walked out of the base, transforming into his alt mode and heading away from the base and into the city. He seriously needed time to think…

Two sets of vehicles were sitting out on the desert road, their drivers laid out on the hood of one of the vehicles when the black Mustang blew past. Neither of them paid attention at first; they were too caught up in each other. But then the red haired one looked up and his gaze narrowed.

"That was Barricade," he said quietly to the blond.

"We can finish this later," he answered. The red haired one leaned down, kissing his blond twin harshly.

"Definitely later." The holoforms disappeared and the two Lamborghini's took off down the road in pursuit of the black Mustang. Since Sideswipe had been cleared by Ratchet after the medic had finally found the chip Red Alert had put into Sideswipe's neural systems, the twins had been finding time to be together, but never on base. The restraining order was still in place. Sunstreaker and Storm were still in their own quarters and Sideswipe was in his. But the twins had found ways to try and heal their relationship without anyone's permission. They could only hope they wouldn't get caught.

They chased after Barricade… they'd seen the pictures in Prowl's office earlier in the week and they wanted the Mustang… they wanted revenge and they wanted answers. Barricade was going to give them one or the other. The twins didn't care which.

Barricade knew he was being followed but he didn't know who was following him or why, exactly, they were doing so. But he knew they were getting closer. A bioscan told him that his followers were the twins. He mentally shook himself and immediately slowed down, giving them the opportunity to catch up to him before headed for an abandoned warehouse district. He began transforming back to bipedal mode before he even stopped good, waiting on the twins to do the same.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe came to a halt, transforming as they did so. They both looked at Barricade a little unsure of what had happened and why the mustang had led them here instead of running from them.

"I know why you're after me," Barricade said quietly. "But I didn't do anything to her."

"We saw the picture she drew about what happened," Sunstreaker growled at him angrily. "You telling us she lied?" Barricade shook his head.

"No, but I didn't touch her," he said adamantly. "I was in the room while Soundwave was with her. He never touched her. I don't know what happened or how it happened, but one minute she was offline and he was checking her neural banks. The next minute everything went black. When I woke, there was a sparkling in my hand and the femme was awake." Sunstreaker looked at his twin who looked shocked.

"Sunstreaker and I had been apart for almost six months. When he came home, we were… together… and we both blacked out. Sunstreaker woke first… Storm's spark was in his hand when he woke." The twins looked up at Barricade. "Where's the new sparkling?"

"At the base," Barricade answered quietly. "Soundwave has been working on the protoform…"

"Is it a femme?" Sunstreaker asked, his voice so soft Barricade had to strain to hear it.

"Yeah," Barricade answered quietly. "It is…"

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe made their way back to base, arriving just as the sun was beginning to rise. They'd been out all night, most of which had been spent together, the rest of which had been spent with Barricade. Inside his alt form, Sideswipe was carrying the casing for the new sparkling. Barricade had gone back to base and had taken it from Soundwave's lab. He didn't want the sparkling hurt.

The twins drove just to the entrance of the base and transformed back into bipedal mode just as Prowl and Prime walked out to meet them. Sideswipe held the casing in his hands and looked up as the two older mechs approached, stepping in front of his twin as he did so.

"Before you both start, he's fine, I'm fine, we have a new sparkling, it's Barricade's and yes, I feel like my normal self. Does that answer everything?" Prowl and Prime looked at each other and Prowl slowly shook his head before turning back to the twins.

"Take the sparkling to Ratchet then the two of you can report to me," Prowl said, his voice devoid of all emotion at the moment. The twins sighed heavily and walked past their leader and sub commander, headed for the infirmary. Prime turned to Prowl.

"What are you going to do to them?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing to harsh," Prowl answered. "Thing is, the restraining order still stands until Ratchet can produce proof that Sideswipe is no longer a risk to his twin or his daughter. I just want to gently remind them of that. I don't want them separated if they're working things out but neither do I want there to be more problems." Prime nodded.

"Where are we concerning Red Alert?" he asked as they walked back towards the office wing of the base.

"He's in solitary, refuses to talk, won't give up anything or even admit to what he did or said. For the moment, we don't have any proof except for the chip Ratchet removed from Sideswipe, but even then… there's no proof Red Alert put the chip in him."

"Find something. I want to either lock him up for a certain time period or give him a conditional release. We can't just leave him down there indefinitely." Prowl nodded.

"I'll see what I can find… after I talk to the twins."

Barricade opened his eyes with a start and quickly came to his feet, looking around. It was dark, there was no moon out, but there were a few stars. Still, he knew where he was. He just didn't know why.

And then he saw Storm walking towards him and she looked upset. She was crying. He growled and quickly glanced around. If someone had hurt her…

Storm looked up as she approached and her steps quickened until she was just in front of Barricade who reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it? What's happened?"

"Don't you know?" Stormfire asked softly. Barricade slowly shook his head.

"No… why am I here? This isn't the normal dream." Storm slowly shook her head.

"No, it's not," she whispered softly as she reached out and rested her hand just above his chest. He looked down and stepped back in shock.

"This… Primus… I went back…" Storm nodded slowly, tears running down her face as she dropped her hand slowly. "I turned the sparkling over to your fathers and then I went back to base… Starscream was waiting for me…" He stumbled and fell to his knees. Storm knelt in front of him and reached out, pressing her hand against the gaping hole in his chest.

"He took your life because you protected our sparkling," she whispered softly. Barricade nodded slowly, his own tears falling down his face. "You did the right thing."

"I know," he answered quietly. "I don't regret my decision. She's safe and she'll be raised with those who really can love her and protect her." Storm nodded slowly then leaned closer and slid her hand into his chest just as her mouth hovered above his.

"It'll be okay," she whispered softly. Barricade's optics slowly dimmed and he bowed his head.

"I know," he answered just before her mouth covered his and a blinding light covered them both…

TBC…