Got this written sooner than I hoped... The words are flowing this month for everything.
Hit the 10,000 word mark for NaNoWriMo - out of 50,000 - and it's only the fourth!
This means I will have more time to work on other stories, like KS. ^.^

Note: The DocEdit is acting weird tonight, apologies if the formatting is messed up...

Enjoy!


"Well?"

"We...lost him, Lord Megatron."

"My best Seekers and you can't follow a single mech?"

"We'll keep searching-"

"No, leave him for now. He will come out sooner or later. I can deal with him then. We must prepare for battle."

"I thought you were facing Prime alone?"

"We shall see."


Chapter Twenty Eight

One of the Decepticons would make a low hissing sound every time Katrina opened her mouth to speak. After several minutes, the girl grew tired of impersonating a goldfish and sank into her seat with a quiet sigh.

"Ssssss!" Frenzy held a finger in front of his mouth.

Katrina closed her eyes and clenched her teeth against the hysterical laughter threatening to spill out. He'd gotten the motion right, but had used the wrong finger.

A moment later Barricade announced, "We've lost them for now. Probably gone crawling back to Megatron to beg for mercy."

"Why?" The girl folded her arms. "I want some answers, you two. How did Megatron find out that I'm alive? Did you guys attack the Autobots to get me? Where are we going and why did you rescue me after-"

"Will you be quiet!"

Katrina flinched back, eyes wide, startled by the Decepticon's shout, which she'd not been expecting. Did I go too far? He could have Frenzy shoot me right now and I wouldn't know until it was too late.

"I'll answer one question if you promise to shut up."

"All right," the girl said in a small voice, running through her mental list. There were so many she wanted to ask. "Will you help me help the Autobots?"

"No."

Sighing, the girl turned her gaze to the nearest window. The sun was directly overhead. She should have been hungry, but food was the last thing she wanted to think about. An immense feeling of loneliness washed over her, and she curled up, head resting on the door, eyes staring into space. I miss you so much, Morse.

As if he'd read her mind, Barricade asked, "Where's the insect? I don't sense him."

Katrina rubbed her eyes roughly with the back of a hand, refusing to cry. It wouldn't change anything. "I left him with Sam. Didn't want him to get hurt."

"Stupidinsectdeservestobeblownup," Frenzy muttered.

"He does not!"

"You two are going to walk to Arizona..."

Katrina barely caught herself in time. Why are we going to Arizona? she wondered, wishing she could ask it, but she had a feeling Barricade was not joking.

Frenzy couldn't resist having the final word. "Stupidinsecthasverydirtymouth,calledFrenzylotsofbadnames."

The police car squealed to a halt and the front passenger door flew open. "Out."

"She started it!"

Did not! Katrina bristled with indignation, barely restraining herself from protesting out loud.

"I'll be back for you later. Maybe. Out."

Cursing, Frenzy shot the girl a murderous glare. On a split second decision, she motioned with her hand and mouthed, "Back here."

He glanced at the open door, then dove for the back seat, transforming in midair. Katrina clutched the cd player's handle, a smug grin on her face. The grin would have been a look of horror if she'd heard the transmission Barricade sent.

"Frenzy, I've warned you about following orders."

Barricade slammed the door shut and went from zero to ninety in two seconds, leaving the town behind in a cloud of dust. When he slammed on his brakes Katrina flew forward, crashing against the locked seat belt. Gasping for breath, she did not notice the door opening until it was too late. An invisible force threw her and the cd player she was still holding from the car, which tore off before they'd hit the ground.

"Barricade,wait!" Frenzy screamed over their link.

"I might come back for you later." Barricade terminated their link, something he rarely did. The shock silenced Frenzy for almost a minute, giving Katrina's brain enough time to realize what had happened.

"Ow," the girl moaned, every bruise sending warning flares to her brain. I'm surprised I haven't broken anything yet.

Spitting words from a strange language, Frenzy jumped to his feet and shook a fist after Barricade, who'd vanished down the road. Unable to vent his anger on its perpetrator, he then turned angry blue eyes on Katrina.

"Stupidhumanshouldn'thavemeddled!"

"Believe me, I won't next time," she grumbled, getting to her feet and swaying slightly - every muscle, including ones she hadn't known she had, was resisting movement. "That hurt."

More unknown words.

"What language is that?" Katrina asked. Maybe now that Barricade was not there to order silence every five seconds, she might get some real answers.

"Cybertronian," Frenzy snapped in English before lapsing into the other language again. He sent pulse after pulse toward Barricade, but the link remained dormant.

Unaware of the silent drama, the girl shrugged and filed that bit of information for future reference. All right, maybe she'd been too optimistic. The little robot was in no mood for chatting. She watched as he started pacing back and forth, still babbling in Cybertronian.

"How long until he comes back for us?"

Wrong question. Frenzy lived up to his name as he began gesticulating wildly, the constant prattle turning into a continuous shriek. Grimacing, Katrina covered her ears. It did little to block the noise.

"Frenzy, stop!" she yelled, pulling her hands away from her ears and clenching them into fists. If she had to, she'd strike the robot. Better an aching hand than damaged eardrums, at least the former would heal.

The shriek became a thin wail and Frenzy huddled on the ground, quivering.

"Frenzy?" Katrina grew worried when the little Decepticon didn't react to his name nor the gentle rap she gave his head with her knuckles. "Barricade will be back soon, let's walk down the road so we can meet him."

"NONONONONONONONONONONONONO!"

The girl took a step back, uncertain what to do. It looked like Frenzy was having a nervous breakdown, which made her nervous.

"Come on," coaxed Katrina, walking backward in slow motion while beckoning. One of her ankles twinged and she grimaced, hoping she hadn't twisted it, or worse, gotten a sprain. "We'll just go a little ways, far enough to find some shade. I don't want to get heat stroke." She noticed her duffel lying on the ground nearby and groaned. There was no way she'd be able to carry that much weight at the moment. The Decepticon hadn't moved, though he'd fallen silent, and Katrina sank to the ground beside the duffel.

I give up. The sand was hot on her skin, despite the scant protection of her jeans, but she didn't have the energy required to move. Heat rays were rising from the nearby pavement and Katrina could feel her vision blur. She closed her aching eyes. The low rumble of a distant car made her sit up fast, but it was coming from the wrong direction.

"Frenzy, you've got to change now!" Katrina ordered, voice sharp with fear. If someone saw the Decepticon, they might panic and drive off the road or stop and ask questions.

The Decepticon shuddered, then collapsed into his other form. Katrina forced herself to her feet and shouldered the duffel, then picked up Frenzy and started shuffling along a few yards from the road's edge. I'm on the wrong side of the road, should be facing traffic, she thought absently while a red car drove by. It didn't even slow down, and Katrina relaxed. After checking both ways, she walked across the road and continued plodding along. Every step was an effort and between the duffel and Decepticon she felt like she was carrying her own weight, but movement kept her mind occupied. There were so many things she didn't want to think about.

Mouth dry, she stopped and managed to unzip the duffel with her free hand, only to remember she'd left her water bottles in the shopping bags. As far as she could recall, they hadn't been evicted from the car, which could be a good sign, but Barricade might have dumped somewhere else. She couldn't remember whether she'd seen them on the seat or not. Taking a deep breath, she zipped the bag and trudged on, hoping to find shade soon. More than anything she wanted sleep, despite the time of day. Her stomach growled. When had she last eaten? Oh, yeah, the chocolate at the gas station, right before Prowl rammed Barricade and she got into the wrong - right? - wrong car. If I hadn't returned to the Autobots, they wouldn't have gotten injured... But Prowl wouldn't have gotten there in time to stop Optimus...

Sighing, Katrina brushed her jacket sleeve across her forehead, remembering the conversation she'd had with Sam a week ago about the Lion King. Put the past behind you. I thought it would be easy, but it's not, not at all.

Rocks, scattered in small heaps, appeared in the distance, and the girl increased her pace by a small margin. Her trembling legs gave out the instant she reached a large shadow cast by one of the large piles of stone. Katrina collapsed on the ground, her limp fingers freeing Frenzy. Duffel serving for a pillow, the girl passed out.

"Stupidhumannottimetosleep," complained Frenzy, prodding Katrina's arm with a sharp finger. "Wakewakewake!"

"Buzz off," she mumbled, swatting at his hand as if it were only an annoying bug. "Wanna sleep."

The Decepticon wisely decided not to pursue the matter and returned to his cd player shape, deciding to get some rest himself. It had been a while since his last recharge.

When Barricade returned thirty minutes later, he wasn't sure if he was annoyed or amused. He felt guilty about severing contact with his sidekick, but Frenzy was in a peaceful recharge, showing no sign of distress. The little mech had even remembered to stay in his alt form. As for the human, except for a slight case of sunburn, she looked fine and was even smiling a little in her sleep.

Barricade almost regretted waking them with a sharp blast of his horn.