Chapter 12

Aloha

Aloha stumbled into the kitchen the next morning feeling like she'd been slam dunked by a giant. She scrubbed her hands through her hair and frowned at how gross it felt. Right, breakfast first, then a shower. One thing at a time, and she'd make it through the day.

Her dad was up and sitting in the wicker loveseat, a cup of hot coffee in his hand and eyes closed in bliss as he sipped from it. Aloha made herself a cup and squeezed in beside him. He smiled warmly at her, "Good morning, Alo."

"Good mornin'." Aloha exhaled slowly after her first sip, trying to expel all of the negativity with it. She closed her eyes when his hand pressed to her forehead, pulling her hair from her eyes. If he noticed her poor hygiene, he didn't say anything.

"Would you like to meditate this morning?" He offered, superb dad senses catching that she wasn't in the best state of mind.

Aloha seriously considered it, wondering if Barricade would let her get away with it. Since their 'fight', he'd chilled out a little but there was no telling when he would start jacking with her again. She also needed that shower in a bad way, and today her dad would be going to work.

She hesitated for a moment longer, wondering which she needed most before slowly shaking her head. "No. I really need to take a long shower today. But maybe we can when you get home?"

"Sounds perfect."

Aloha leaned against him with a heavy exhale. They finished their coffee together in silence. He stood up to make himself a bowl of cereal. Aloha stayed where she was, staring into her empty mug. "Hey, dad?"

"Yes?"

Aloha fought to get her thoughts in order. It was hard to think of a way to ask without spilling the entire story to him, which he was thankfully unaware of. She looked at him and found his soft, dark eyes on her. Calm, trusting, accepting.

"What if theres something you want more than anything, but you can never reach it. So you start making bad choices on purpose to get it, until one day you wake up and you just don't know anymore. You don't know if its worth those choices, or if its worth the next choice you're going to make, or you don't even know what you are after you make them?"

"Hm, that ones a bit heavy." He poked at his cereal with the spoon. "You should be encouraged to pursue what you want out of this life, even if it feels unlikely to actually happen. But, Alo, there are solid limits you have to place for yourself."

"What good is accomplishing your dream if you lose who you are in the process?" He finished, "you have a very strong spirit. It should pull you to your goals, not be broken into pieces to reach them."

Aloha nodded slowly. She sifted through his words. "I will find another way," She said to herself.

"There is always a path waiting for you, you simply have to make it open to you, without sacrificing yourself."

She stood up to put her mug in the sink. Aloha kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks, dad."

He smiled brightly at her. "Any time, baby."

She returned to her room, moving quietly when she found Barricade sleeping in. Clean clothes in hand, she took her shower and returned fresh and clear-headed. Her dad was gone, and her giant, grouchy roommate was becoming aware.

Aloha towel dried her hair, coming to stand nearby him. As always, his field reached out to her. She wondered if it was an impulse, like saying 'hello' when you answered a phone call. She just couldn't picture him so warmly embracing her, on purpose, with his energy every time she decided to walk past.

Twisting the towel into her hair she leaned against his passenger door and said, "Barricade, you said something about leaving a few days ago."

"Suddenly you're interested?"

Aloha rolled her eyes, "Good to see you're back to your usual sassy self. Where are you going?"

"Its not any of your business," He leaned up on his axles a little, raising her up with him.

Aloha mimicked his snob-like tone, "For the sake of conversation, say it was my business."

"There are a few locations on this continent that I need to see."

That told her almost nothing. Aloha shifted and plopped down his hood. He rumbled at her irritably, but admitted, "I am low on energon, and I need to refuel before my reserves are depleted."

"Energon?" Aloha blinked at him.

Barricade unleashed the loudest, most dramatic sigh she'd ever heard, "Energon is what we consume for fuel. It provides nourishment for our frames and ammunition for our weapons. It is vital to us."

"So, like food."

"Not quite."

The details of broody, alien cars were so confusing. Aloha laid back across his hood, with more care than when she initially sat down. She wanted to know if he'd come back, but she didn't want to ask in case it made him puff up like a pea cock. Especially not after their little spat a few days ago about whether or not she was attached to him.

Instead, she said, "If you know where these locations are...can I go with you to one? The closest one?"

"Why would I even consider letting your aft touch my interior?"

"Because you let my 'aft' touch your hood."

Barricade grumbled something under his breath, "No. I don't want you anywhere near me when I leave this pit-forsaken garage."

Aloha rolled over to her side to peer through the glass, "you realize that I've seen what goes on in your head more than once now, and that I know when you're lying through your teeth."

"I realize that that means nothing to me."

"OH." Aloha sat up, "so I'm not allowed to say it means nothing, but you can."

"Yes," He said, "I can."

"You're such a child."

He 'harrumphed' at her and settled back down to his normal height, "Why do you even want to come?"

"I've never left this place. Well, I've been a couple towns over but I've never actually left."

"Then leave."

"I don't want to go by myself. And I won't get far on my bike."

Another ridiculous sigh, "Now whos being the child?"

Aloha turned over completely to her belly and folded her arms under her chin. She closed her eyes, "Look, it works out for both of us. I want to get away for a little bit, and you need to find this energon stuff. Then we can come back. You drop me off, I can store whatever energon you don't eat in my garage, and you can leave again knowing its safe."

"Careful. You're speaking as if you want me to return."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "No, you dumb dandy. I want you to have a place to return to."

Barricade went completely silent, his field withdrawing from the pleasant touches it'd been making on her skin. The sudden absence was alarming, but she restrained herself from talking again or chasing him. If he needed to think, she'd let him.

It was uncomfortable to lay on him for longer than a few minutes, but she found herself dozing off by the time he spoke up again.

"What about your pathetic mate."

"He's not my mate." Aloha exhaled through her nose. She sensed his interest peak.

"You left him?"

"I didn't like who I was becoming around him." She spoke slowly, revealing the truth to herself just as much as she was to him.

The low rumble of his engine softened, and she fought a smile when she felt his field moving across her skin again, like calloused fingertips tracing shapes on her arms.

"Fine. If you must come, then I will endure it." He sounded like he was going to the electric chair.

Aloha finally grinned. She inched forward, obnoxiously gasped, then exhaled just as noisily across his glass to fog it up. Barricade shot up on his tires like she'd just shoved a cold hand up his exhaust pipe.

"Female!" He snarled, "What-"

"Hang on, you got a spot here!" She rubbed her hand over the cloudy area on the glass, then breathed on it again.

"How dare you!"

"Almost got it!" Again, she blew on him.

Barricade stood up even higher and started to violently thrash side to side. Aloha held on for dear life, laughing until her stomach hurt.

Barricade rumbled at her, aware of her scrutiny as she looked at the holoform inside his interior.

"I'm not gonna lie, Barricade. That is creepier than a rusty kidnapper van." Aloha squinted at it, "you showed this to me before, didn't you?"

"Yes," Barricade said, grinning to himself, "you ran away screaming."

"What else can you do?"

"A lot of things." He huffed, "you have something to say?" He could feel that she had questions.

"Is there any way you can change the way you look?"

"Why."

"Just curious. It might be weird if someone sees a civilian riding around in a cruiser." She shrugged, "and you kind of stand out. Other than the paint job, theres not too many cruisers with this car model, and definitely none with this insignia you've got stamped all over your butt."

"It is not 'all over my butt'." Barricade considered her logic though, for different reasons than she intended. Disguising himself as a cruiser was useful for getting places much faster. Meat bags tended to flee from the planet's law enforcement. She was right, however. The autobots knew who he was. His signature, his alternate mode, the way how he could turn the fast lane into a war zone. By now, they must have thought he was offline, but that didn't meant they weren't on lookout for anything that even smelled decepticon.

Decision made, he accessed the internet and ran a search for different paint jobs for his alternate. He settled on a solid design, navy blue with black details. He also decided to alter his holoform, removing the uniform and replacing it with civilian clothing. He kept the face, including a hat and the same sunglasses so he could continue to creep the female out.

Once he had all of his reference images and scans finished, he rolled away from her then altered the coding. She made a sound of surprise when he changed, his old markings lost into a digital wash across his armor.

He watched her as he changed, smirking at the clear awe on her face. Once he was finished, he feigned boredom, "This good enough for you?"

She rolled her eyes at him and copied his tone, something she had started doing when she knew he was messing with her. "yes, its good enough for me." She paused, then spoke normally. "Blue suits you."

"I'm so glad you approve."

She snorted, "So where are we going and how long will it take?"

"Few states north to Missouri. I don't have an exact location so we will have to search once we arrive. As for how long, it depends on how soon we find the energon."

"Sounds like fun." She flopped down on her seat-bed and opened her lap top, "when do you want to leave?"

"As soon as possible."

"Should've known." Her fingers tapped across the keyboard, "I'll pack and talk to my dad tomorrow. Then, maybe the next day we can leave."

He grunted in agreement, expanding his field toward her.

"I'll pack for a week, maybe. And work out a route to get us there."

"I know where I'm going," He said, "I don't need you telling me what I need to do."

She started to argue but stopped when his field slid over her frame. She shuddered and cut him a look over her lap top. "Really? Right now?"

He didn't answer her out loud, instead pressing more insistently on the roots of her life force. They were thicker now, spun from hers and strains of his energy. She closed her lap top again and returned to him. He enfolded her in layers upon layers, coaxing her into his spark.

They're getting pretty cozy with each other, huh?

Guys...I'm so sorry for disappearing for a few weeks. Had some family issues. (I won't bore you with details)

Someone asked in their review of Chandler hit Aloha-he didn't. He just roughly manhandled her into his car then took her home.

Hope everyones having a wonderful week. Love you guys.

Aloha, her father and the story belongs to me. Barricade and Transformers does not.