Gravity

Disclaimer: Good day ladies and nonladies-and whatever the hell category fans fall under-lol. Here is a sequel to the fic "Mnemonic" for your reading pleasure-at least I hope for your reading pleasure anyway-that will take place a little bit after season one-and an AU fic again! Am I abusing the AU? LOL. Maybe.

"The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches."

-Unknown Quote

"A sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier times."

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

By: VampireQueenAkasha

"Now, there's nothing louder to me than the silence."

-Arcee, Transformers Prime

Portal to Reality

"My liege! We've received an SOS."

Megatron rarely enjoyed interruptions while he observed the space bridge's ascension to space from the Nemesis, but the drone's message intrigued him and he frowned impatiently. "An SOS?" he said, "And who would be so eager to beg me for help?"

"I don't know, sir," the drone said, "But we've pinpointed its location precisely; it originates from Iacon City on Cybertron."

Megatron vaguely reacted with interest and approached Soundwave who was already at work trying to decipher the message and find the Decepticon responsible. "Soundwave, what do you have for me?" he asked, already knowing that Soundwave would have quickly found the answer.

Soundwave stopped typing long enough to raise one long digit at the screen, just as an image of Barricade appeared. Megatron smiled broadly at the sight. "Ahh. So it seems that Barricade survived the battle in the mine and made a little unplanned trip through the space bridge." He looked down at Soundwave who silently awaited his Lord's command as always. "Send Barricade our response and we will retrieve him shortly."

Knock Out listened to this with a disgusted frown. Megatron rarely ever wasted time when it came to the retrieval of his comrades if it required too much energy or time. But he was dropping everything to save him. This irritated him because many times, Megatron would often leave him on the bitter end of the blade simply for petty mistakes. The fact that Barricade was suddenly so "special" definitely ground his gears.

Back on Cybertron, Arcee and Barricade waded through an entire field of garbage and scrap, digging around for particularly useful items.

"You know, scavenging through a garbage fill isn't my idea of a good time," Arcee muttered, digging through a container of small gears.

Barricade shook his head, peering one optic into a pipe. "We all have to work sometime, don't we, Arcee?"

"I work all the time," Arcee argued, "But work that involves getting my aft scratched up by sharp objects doesn't exactly constitute as enlightening."

Barricade arched an optic ridge and smirked at her. "I scratched your aft quite a bit the previous day. I certainly heard no complaints."

"Barricade!"

He laughed quietly and ducked from a container tossed at his shoulder. Arcee watched as he scaled his way down a pile of rubbish before her smile disappeared. Regardless of their recent-what did Jack call it?-kiss and makeup, she knew eventually, their time together would probably come to an end. Arcee wasn't always one to look at things in such a dreary manner, but that was how life seemed to go for her. It was bound to end and she could hear it whispering away at the back of her central processor.

"Arcee, are you coming?" Barricade called from below.

She snapped out of her reverie and shook her head. "Yeah!"

She slid down the pile and nearly tripped, but Barricade stopped her from doing so by catching her in his arms. "That's fine," she said, "We can head back. I'll probably be picking pieces of rubbish out of my body anyway."

Barricade chuckled. "I can always help you with going over your body if you'd like."

"Sounds like a plan," Arcee countered, giving him a challenging look, "But this time, it'll be my turn."

"For?" He looked intrigued.

"To dominate."

Barricade arched his optic ridges and his chest rose with his deep growl of pleasure at the thought-she had honestly expected otherwise. "Ooh. Having a mighty femme on top of me, gracing me with her lovely body? I think that might be rather promising."

Something about Barricade's words always made Arcee feel hotter even without him touching her. "Don't you think it's a little strange how one minute we're trying to kill each other and the next we're fragging one another?"

Barricade grinned broadly. Either he didn't really think about it or just didn't care. "Not in the slightest."

O

They returned to the bath house and Arcee made true on her word; she teased him to the point that he threatened to counter her moves with a "physically stimulating to the point of certain death" one of his own. Of course, he was helpless once she found the spot he had always enjoyed in the past-just along his sides. The response was his near choking sobbing sound that nearly caused her to overload at the sheer sound of it. She dragged out his pleasure long enough so that when he finally overloaded, it was the most spectacular sight she had ever seen.

When they finally relaxed, Barricade seemed comfortable enough to fall into recharge in her arms. She spent the time lying awake and brushing his head-crest with gentle fingers. That charming snore he always did made her smile, but it slowly disappeared when she touched the Decepticon logo on his chest. The sight of the marking made her remember that this marvelous dream was soon to end. It always had to.

She decided not to dwell too much on it and slipped into recharge while keeping her arms wrapped around him. He shifted slightly in his sleep, mumbled a little and slipped an arm around her waist in the process. It was a comforting sight.

Once their recharge was over, Barricade was the first to awaken with a deep, mighty yawn. He smiled at Arcee when she awoke. "Waking to you is much better than waking alone in a pitiful bed chamber on the Nemesis." he remarked.

Arcee chuckled softly. "Really? I'll take your word for it."

Barricade could only shake his head before he took her hand in his and kissed it gently before they looked up to the glass ceiling, to the stars above. "It's quite something, isn't it?" Barricade marveled at the sight, "Endless...A vast universe filled with possibilities."

Arcee smiled. "Yeah. I guess that's something to think about."

Barricade grunted softly in response.

"You know," Arcee said, smiling, "Humans have this ritual where they look at stars and make wishes."

Barricade arched his optic ridges. "What a silly game."

"Yeah, but it's still nice to keep that kind of hope, right? Even if it's silly."

Barricade shifted a little so that he covered her with his body. Arcee felt somewhat vulnerable by his intimate stare, but closed her optics when he lightly touched her lower lip with one sharp digit, savoring the light sensation.

"How could an Autobot bring me such elation?" he whispered, voice filled with wonder.

Arcee opened her optics and just smiled, reaching up to cup his face in her hands. "When you gave me a chance, that's how."

"Would you want to stay here?" Barricade asked, giving her a look as honest and true as she feared.

Oh Primus, he's serious... "Stay here, fighting for our lives every day against those things?"

He shrugged. "How is it any different from back there on Earth?"

Arcee opened her mouth to respond, but found that she had no answer. He was right.

"The only difference here is we're our own leaders," Barricade continued; he seemed a little frustrated with her hesitation, but was making an attempt to contain himself, "I understand that it's madness, but I've learned a little something while being here with you on Cybertron. I'd rather be here with you for the rest of my days and fighting mindless undead than out there fighting for a cause that no longer seems to be my own."

Arcee started to protest, but he raised a claw to her lips. "Let me finish. You may be quite a pain in the crankshaft sometimes-perhaps even too stubborn for your own good-but you're also quite an astounding femme and I've never known anyone like you." He seemed to struggle to speak the truth to his own spark and Arcee felt hers twisting; he had never been this open before in the past and it was both unnerving and sweet in its own way. "Just let me try to speak and get this out for you. You're ama-I'm no fool, I already realize wholeheartedly how absurd this sounds, but I feel as if I've become too involved."

Arcee couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Barricade, I..."

"Primus," he growled, obviously embarrassed by his confession; he shifted and sat up and she did the same, "When did I become so foolish?"

"It wouldn't be a decision I could make so easily, Barricade," Arcee said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "They're my comrades, but they're also my closest friends. I can't just turn around and leave them for myself."

He stared down at her and a fire flickered in his gaze, but it was gone and replaced with anger now. "I cannot offer you anything, I realize that. However, what we've become, you and I..." He shook his head, containing himself. "I simply feel that I could not look away from this anymore. Never have I wanted anything so much in my life. And to have you as my own is what I want."

"Barricade. What we shared was wonderful, but-"

"So you are saying it meant nothing?"

Arcee noticed a sort of resolution to his gaze, almost as if he expected this sort of reaction. "I'm not saying that!" she insisted, "But you know that we can't just hide away! I'll be okay going back to our factions knowing that things have changed between us. And maybe..."

Barricade smiled with contempt. "Really? I don't think so, Arcee," he said, before standing-she mirrored his move, "They have you ensnared in their clutches and you are afraid to bid yourself away from them."

Arcee's optics narrowed. "That's now how it is at all."

Barricade looked like he was going to shout, but instead, closed his optics with a huff. "That's fine. You've made your choice I see."

"Barricade, don't do that pouting thing you always-"

Just then, a beeping sound filled the air, interrupting the din. Arcee looked troubled by the sound. "What is that?" she asked.

Barricade smiled bitterly. "You're in luck. You don't have to answer me. That is Megatron's response to my SOS we sent out. We can finally return to our factions as you so eagerly wanted."

Before she could respond, he was already leaving.

O

The two returned to the Communications Tower in silence and Barricade went to work on the controls, bringing up Megatron's responding message. He worked on typing up a response to which Arcee leaned over his shoulder to see. He would send their coordinates to which Megatron would then bridge them out, but Barricade only mentioned himself and not her. Did that mean he planned on leaving her here alone?

"We will both be transported from Cybertron at the space bridge set up in Earth's orbit," he said, flatly, "There, you will remain hidden while I am picked up by the Nemesis and your team can bridge you to safety."

"Barricade?" she said.

"Megatron is not aware that you were here with me."

"Barricade."

"Your signal will be disguised by my inhibitor until you return to your place of station. It will deactivate once you are there."

"Barricade!"

He stopped and turned, facing her with a frustrated glare. "It's not fair. I have finally discovered something that is mine and I am told I still have no right to it!"

Arcee arched her optic ridges and curled her lips at that. "Careful there, alpha male," she murmured, holding up a finger, "I'm not a possession or anyone's property and you'd better remember that." She softened when he hung his head. "Look, life isn't fair and until we can make this war end, there's nothing we can do about it. But for the time being, we can find ways to see each other again, I promise you that."

Barricade managed a smile and they both closed their optics when a space bridge appeared behind them. "All right then..."

They shared a lingering kiss and for the longest time, neither one of them wanted to part, but had no choice. Finally, when they did, Barricade gave Arcee a half-hearted smile and passed through the bridge first. Arcee lingered a bit and watched as he disappeared before she followed him, her optics threatening to brim with tears.

He's right. This isn't fair...