"Soundwave! I promised I'd go alone!" Twenty Three huffed. She was supposed to meet Barricade in twenty minutes for their drive.
"Negative. Escort required."
"What, don't you trust Barricade?" she accused, and he agreed.
"Barricade: Unpredictable."
"He's my friend, Sounds. He'd never do anything to hurt or endanger me. And even if he did, I'd be able to look after myself."
Soundwave glared at her. Her welfare was in his hands, and she was not making this easy for him.
"Escort necessary," he persisted.
"No!" she shouted. "I obey almost all commands, Soundwave, but not this. Your smothering me is most certainly not necessary. I trust Barricade."
"More reason for escort," he shot.
"You're not coming," she said with finality.
"Take Ravage," he insisted.
"No, Soundwave. We need to talk alone. As in without any one else being there. Do you understand this term?" she asked sarcastically.
"Term: Understood. Situation still in need of escort."
She kicked his foot, making a loud metal on metal clang.
"Disrespect not appreciated."
"If you want respect, respect me!" she growled.
"Negative. Respect is earned. You are a sparkling."
She narrowed her eyes at that.
"What is with you, Soundwave?" she asked, hurt. "We were getting along fine before."
"My duty is to protect you," he answered honestly. "Let me do it."
She sighed.
"I don't need protecting. Not from Cade. The only real protection I need is from myself," she answered sadly.
"Barricade is not equipped to protect you," Soundwave argued, gently touching one of her replacement arms. "I do not wish for you to sustain more damage."
She put a hand on his finger, and sighed, looked into his optics.
"Listen, Sounds. I'm going to be fine. I'll come straight back here upon my return. I'll keep strict control over myself. I promise."
Soundwave shook his head. "Report immediately on return," he reminded, and gently stroked her cheek, watching her leave. Once the door closed, he ejected Laserbeak.
"Laserbeak: Follow them," he ordered.
Laserbeak nodded, and left the building, waiting for them to exit.
--
Twenty Three actually arrived a couple of minutes early.
"Hey, Cade?" she called, opening the door. "Can I come in?"
He seemed to hurriedly put away what looked suspiciously like a tin of wax. He certainly was shinier than that afternoon.
"Sure, come in, come in," he got up, and opened the door wider for her to enter.
She looked sadly around his rooms for the second time, only really taking them in now.
The walls were white washed, and everything was very simple and functional. It didn't seem a very personal area at all.
"We should get you a giant lava lamp," she commented wryly, and he grinned in response, remembering the awesome invention he'd discovered on the internet.
"Let's get going, alright? My wheels are itching to get on the road," he told her fondly, picking her up and placing her on his shoulder. "No running, I promise."
Now it was her turn to laugh.
"Cade, I've missed you. I haven't spent nearly enough time with you recently," she said regretfully.
"Obviously not," he sighed. "I suppose you've been too busy with Frenzy or Soundwave," she caught the jealousy easily. "I've missed you more than you could know."
"Come on, Cade. We'll talk when we're on the road," she sighed patting his shoulder.
He nodded and punched in the security code to open the main gate.
He transformed and opened his driver side door.
She got in carefully, and the door closed with a smart click.
They remained silent as Barricade raced out to the nearby bush. They didn't say anything as he pulled up beside the lake, nor as he turned off his engine and lights.
They both sat sadly, thinking of everything they'd been through.
She'd defended him with her life, she'd almost killed him, she'd pulled herself together long enough to heal him, he'd fallen in love with her and she'd chosen his only real friend over him…
Just what could they say?
"Cade," she sighed in misery. "How did I screw everything up?"
He paused. What exactly had gone wrong?
"It's not beyond fixing," he answered softly. "You have to understand how I feel about this… I love you completely, Twenty Three. I only want you to be happy. If I can never be your mate, I'll be the best friend I can be without complaint. But understand, I don't grow close to people easily. There is no replacement for you."
She stroked his leather seat comfortingly.
"It makes me sad to see you alone, Cade. I can't be your mate though… I'm still in love with Frenzy. I don't think I'll ever stop loving the jerk," she sighed for the umpteenth time. "Isn't there anything I can do for you?"
"No," he let his suspension drop a little. "Don't even try messing with my love life. Or lack there of. Just… Promise me you'll at least keep being my friend."
"Always, Cade," she vowed. "I'll never stop being your friend."
"Good," he sounded a little happier. "So what'd you do with the femme?"
"No one wanted her, so I gave her to Devestator. He'll look after her for a while."
Barricade snorted.
"I wouldn't have left such a noob with the likes of Devestator," he warned her. "Next time you see her she'll be in pieces."
"Dad said he wanted fighters," she yawned, unconcerned. "If she can't even handle Devestator, how'd she last in a fight against the autobots?"
Barricade laughed. "You're cruel," he told her fondly. Obviously, he thought it was a compliment.
She shrugged.
"It's not cruel, it's life. I had much harsher training than she'll ever get," she informed him mildly. "Everyone seems to think femmes are weak. Hopefully she'll be able to prove them wrong. Otherwise she's scrap, and I'll move onto a better model. Dad explained it to me clearly."
"What exactly did he tell you?" Barricade asked, mildly interested.
"He told me not to get too attached to any of my creations, as only decepticons matter, and they'll only be decepticons if they pass his judgment. Otherwise he'll offline them himself."
Barricade wasn't surprised. It had always been that way within the decepticon ranks. 'Survival of the fittest' was what they lived by.
"I'm really sorry I hurt you," Twenty Three said softly, still tracing circles on the seat cover.
"I know…" he replied just as quietly. He couldn't stay angry at her for very long. "I forgive you."
"I'm not sure if I deserve it," she whispered painfully.
"What do you mean?" Barricade was confused now. Why – was she crying?
"I don't deserve any of you, Cade," she put her head in her hands. "I wasn't even supposed to live… I was born dead… I… I… killed my own mother… It should have been me, Cade. She created me to protect her. How could I do that?"
"Twenty Three-"
"And now everyone loves me. Why? I can't even love myself sometimes… I don't deserve any of this," she let out a strangled sob.
"Twenty Three," he repeated calmly, trying to get her attention. "You have to stop believing that… You did a very honorable thing, putting your own life on the line to protect us from the Allspark. We would all be dead without you."
"You don't know how much it hurt her. Her own creations turning against her. She trusted me. I promised I'd protect her, and I ended up killing her…"
"Don't dwell on it," he advised. "It isn't productive, or good for you. So just forget it. You should be looking towards the future, rather than living in the past."
"I'll try," she whispered, wiping her eyes. "Can we drive around some more?"
"Sure," he obeyed, playing some classic rock quietly in the background.
"How's things with Soundwave?" he asked her.
"Meh. Could be better, could be worse."
"Care to elaborate?"
"He' a great mech, really… I could be happy with him, if there were no other factors, but…" she sighed, and leaned further back into her seat. "It's the same thing with Zee. He doesn't trust me to look after myself with other mechs, you know? He wanted Ravage to come with us, but I told him to stick it."
"For some reason, it's hard to picture you telling anyone to stick it," Barricade sounded amused.
"It doesn't happen often," she admitted. "I don't like to get angry with people. It's just… Sometimes they can test my patience, no matter how much I love them."
"You love Soundwave then?" Barricade asked dejectedly.
"In a way… But it's the same love I have for you. I'm not in love with him, like I am with Zee. Still, if anything bad happened to him, I'd be heart broken… Does that make sense?"
"Yes," Barricade said slowly. "You are a very caring girl, Twenty Three."
"I know," she frowned. "It sucks."
He let out a laugh. "Still, I like you this way. It's refreshing to be around someone like you."
She smiled shyly at the praise.
"I also take it Frenzy hasn't stopped being a jerk?" he asked a little more seriously.
"No… He's just hurt. I'm planning on talking to father tomorrow about our arrangements," she admitted.
"What would you have happen?"
"Well, I know Dad won't let me give up on Sounds. He is good for me, being telepathic and all. But… I need to be close to Zee as well. At the moment I'm not even allowed in the same room as him unless I have a chaperone. I've spent so long with Zee, and now I'm barely able to talk to him. It's tearing both of us apart…" she gripped the seat unconsciously, not realizing until barricade let out a hiss. "Sorry. It's just… I can't bear to be apart from him. And when I know he's miserable, it makes me twice as unhappy. Not only that, but now he feels he can't even talk to Soundwave. I've torn their family apart… I wish it could just go back to me and Zee, before any of this happened."
"Oh," Barricade said thoughtfully. He hadn't thought about it like that… he'd never thought about what Frenzy must be feeling.
"I even came between your friendship with him," she continued. "And now Rumble's been dragged into it, not knowing whether to side with his twin or his creator… He's constantly with Zee, but he's obviously worried as well. It's like he's on suicide watch or something."
"You don't think-" Barricade gasped, and she shrugged helplessly.
"I actually talked with him earlier today," she revealed sullenly.
"How was he?" Barricade asked guardedly. He was a little concerned despite himself.
"Miserable. He still loves me, but he doesn't believe it's mutual. I'm afraid I've really hurt him… I just hope he'll take me back," she whispered.
"Hey, you haven't done anything wrong," Barricade argued, but she shook her head.
"He trusted me. He thinks I just left him," she said miserably.
"I'm sure it will work out. If he gets a chance to take you back he'd be an idiot not to."
She smiled a little, and stared out the window at the scenery. They seemed to be in a suburban area now.
"Hey Cade," she said suddenly, peering out the window. "Isn't that Bumblebee with his humans?"
"You're right," he noted with surprise. Why hadn't he noticed them?
Said Camaro pulled up in front of them and flashed it's lights.
"Think he wants to talk to us," Twenty Three said, sitting up straighter. "Let me out."
He slowed to a stop and opened his driver side door for her. She got out and met Mikaela half way, Sam remaining by his guardian.
"What's going on, Mikaela?" she asked curiously. "You wanted to talk?"
"Just a catch up, yeah," she smiled, looking around a little nervously. "Where's Frenzy?"
"We're kind of quarrelling," she said edgily. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Oh, sorry!" she put her hands up in defense. "What are you doing these days?"
She shrugged. "Not much. I was in confinement for a while."
She looked shocked. "Why, what happened? Did Megatron do it to you?"
"Megatron would never do anything to hurt me. He is my father. My confinement was voluntary. The Allspark wanted to destroy everyone… I had to kill her."
"Oh," Mikaela said again, uncomfortably. What did you say to that. Time for a change of topic. "Hey, do you want to come hang with us later? The dinobots have been asking when they can see you again."
"I did not create the dinobots. I do not know them," she stated coldly. "They took my arm from me."
"They what?"
Twenty Three lifted her sleeve to show a metal arm.
"Then again, my limbs are much stronger now," she noted. "I have eliminated my weaknesses. The next time they fight me, I will destroy them."
"What?" Mikaela gasped. "Hey, why do we have to fight? I thought we could still be friends, you know?"
She shook her head.
"The autobots attacked me," she said, glaring at Bumblebee. "That means they are my enemy."
"You attacked us!" Bumblebee insisted.
"The last thing I remember was offering to wipe your memory of the incident at Sector 7. I was unconscious after that, until I woke up with strange mechs surrounding me," she informed him. "My mother took control during this blank period, and I still do not know what happened, as she refused to open that memory file and it was destroyed."
"Do you need Ratchet to check you over?" Bee asked, a little concerned. "You don't sound so well."
"She's fine," Cade growled menacingly, advancing on the autobot.
"Cade," she rested a hand on her friend's hood. "Calm down. We are not here to fight."
She turned back to the Black and Yellow autobot. "Soundwave is looking after me. I am in good care. How is Ratchet?"
"Depressed," Bumblebee sighed, his suspension lagging. "The Allspark basically told him he was worthless, and wanted to deactivate him."
Twenty Three's eyes widened marginally. "My mother was a bitch," she hissed. "I found this out myself. Tell Ratchet he is an amazing mech, and should be proud of who he is. Even if he chooses to be my enemy, I will still respect him. My promise to him still stands. I will not kill him, nor you out of respect. Prime, Ironhide and the rest are still fair game."
Sam walked up and slung his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder.
"We'd still accept you back with the autobots," he told her. "If you just came back-"
"I will never leave the decepticons. They are my family."
"But they're evil," Sam argued. "They-"
"They are my family," she growled, raising her gun arm to his face, the barrel opening in her palm.
"No!" Bumblebee and Mikaela shouted simultaneously.
Glancing at Mikaela, she lowered her arm. "If he is important to you, I will refrain from killing him now. Control your mate in the future."
Sam seemed to be gulping for air in shock.
"Look, Twenty Three. I wont give up on you. What are you doing for Christmas?" Mikaela asked desperately, wanting beyond reason to befriend this poor deluded girl.
"I am not familiar with the term."
Mikaela blinked.
"It's a holiday, a celebration where you get together with all your friends and exchange presents. Everyone drops their differences for that one day, and thinks about all the things they are thankful for," she explained. "Come on, you could spend it with us. It's next week. What do you say?"
"The last party I attended didn't end up so well," she grimaced in remembrance.
"Why, what happened?" Mikaela asked, intrigued.
"I slept with Starscream."
"WHAT?" the humans and autobot exclaimed in unison.
"How does that even work?" Sam rasped, grossed out.
"Well, it was Mother. She changed Screamer into his human equivalent for the night."
"That's probably enough, Twenty Three," Barricade interrupted nervously.
"Yeah… But you can see why I'm skeptical, right? I've got Soundwave to watch me now, but drinking with the autobots? What if I did the same thing with Ironhide? Or Prime?" she poked her tongue out. "Not the best way to spend a night."
"I'll tell them you said that," giggled Mikaela, now finding the situation hilarious. Bumblebee was still speechless. He kind of wanted to see a decepticon party now…
"Well, we should get going," Twenty Three stretched, yawning. "I gotta get back to Soundwave."
"What's the deal with you and him?" Mikaela asked curiously.
"We're kind of mates," she observed her with one eye.
"But what about Frenzy? Is that why you're fighting?"
"I said I'd rather not talk about it. I'm still sorting it out," she turned and got back inside Barricade. "See ya."
The cop car started his engines, and zoomed down the road.
"Why did you even talk to them?" Barricade asked, annoyed.
She shrugged. "Should I not have?"
"It doesn't matter. Are you really going to look up this Christmas thing?"
"Nah, it sounds like a useless human tradition. I want to leave everything human about me behind," she explained. "If we do kill them, I might keep Mikaela as a pet. She's nice."
Barricade grunted non commitantly.
"Kind of what I wanted Silverstreak to turn out like. I guess I'm not that great at fine tuning the personalities," she sighed. "Oh well, I'll get it eventually. Sounds could help me with the next."
--
Twenty Three was confused. Soundwave was glaring at her and she had no idea why.
On top of that he refused to tell her why.
"Sounds, this is ridiculous. Is it because I wouldn't take you with me?" she prodded his toe.
"Negative."
"Then what?"
"Information: Unimportant."
"Well it is if it means you talk to me like this," she glared straight back. "What did I do wrong?"
Instead of answering her, he ejected Laserbeak.
"Playback," he ordered, interrupting only after the exchange with the autobots had taken place. "Explain."
He turned back to the humanoid, only to find pure fury on her features. He began to feel a little nervous.
"I told you I didn't want to take anyone with me," she growled.
"Not important. Why were you fraternizing with the enemy?"
"Don't you dare try to avoid this. You deceived me," she shouted. "I promised Barricade I'd come alone, so for once we could have some privacy, then you send your spies to keep an eye on me! How dare you!"
Even Laserbeak, who had now ejected himself cowered back.
"Barricade: Unpredictable," he repeated his earlier sentiments.
"I trust Barricade. He has done nothing wrong," she spat, advancing on him, but he stood his ground, if somewhat nervously.
"Then why did he want privacy?" he parried.
"To talk, slag for brains. What else? Did you see anything dodgy going on? Noooo," she mocked him.
"Disrespect not appreciated."
"You know what, Soundwave? You're being unreasonable. I like you most of the time, but until you stop being such a bastard you can go frag yourself," she said, and stormed out. Soundwave and Laserbeak simply looked at each other in confusion.
--
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