Had some really bad days this past week, which is why I didn't update sooner.
Just can't write when I'm crying every five sentences....
You have my sister to thank for this chapter, after she prodded me to write
Barricade Enroute... I was in a Transformers mood and wrote over a chapter in KS. ^.^
Next update should be soon, maybe the end of this week.

And does anyone know where Frenzy's Decepticon symbol is? Research has turned up nothing.

Short chapter, next one should be longer and the end of the fight. (maybe?)

"First target marked. Bring the rain!"

"Gunners?"

"Ready, sir."

"Then fire!"

"That's one down."

"And a lot more to go."

"Oh, Lord, he's getting back up! Fire! Again! Again!"

"That was four sabot rounds. Four f***ing sabot rounds before that thing when down."

"They just don't die!"

"Steady... Next target marked. Fire!"

Chapter Thirty Six

Something nudged Katrina's arm and she looked down in surprise at the silvery blue CD player sitting on the ground.

"Frenzy? What are you doing here?" she whispered, glancing at Sam and Mikaela with a frown. Please don't let them notice him.

"Barricade-go-and-fight," said the little mech angrily, transforming and waving his arms around in indignation. "Sent-me-to-watch-you. I-want-to-fight!"

"If he's fighting the Autobots, why protect me?" Katrina asked bitterly. "Megatron still wants me dead."

"Barricade-not-fighting-Autobots."

The girl rubbed one ear, sure she'd misheard. "Barricade's on the Autobots' side?"

"Not-on-Decepticons'-side," Frenzy muttered.

Katrina shook her head, still not believing her ears. "But why?"

The mech shrugged. "I-don't-know-ask-him."

Katrina managed a small smile. "I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." She rubbed the back of a hand across her eyes and sniffled, wishing she had a tissue. "I'm glad you came back."

"Wanted-to-take-you-and-run," grumbled Frenzy. "Barricade-decided-to-fight."

Unsure how to respond, Katrina merely nodded, confusion warring with gratitude in her heart.

Mikaela chose that moment to glance over at the younger girl, and gasped.

Before the teen could protest, Katrina did, jumping to her feet. "Mikaela, I've told you, Frenzy won't hurt me." She winced when weight landed on her sore ankle, and shifted to a more comfortable position.

Frenzy hid behind the girl, spinning shurikens in his hands. "Not-you-others-maybe."

Katrina frowned at the little mech. "Frenzy, they're my friends. Don't hurt them." Folding her arms, the girl turned around, freezing the advancing teens in their tracks with a icy glare. "Leave him alone, he's on our side."

"He's a Decepticon, which part of 'deception' don't you understand?"

"Not-Decepticon." Frenzy pointed at his chest. "See? Symbol-gone."

Sam frowned and Mikaela shook her head. "That doesn't mean anything."

Throwing up her hands, Katrina started to walk away. "Come on, Frenzy, I'm not going to waste any more time arguing pointlessly."

"Katrina, you're going the wrong way," Sam said. "They're battling over there."

"I know," she said without turning around.

"Can't-go-to-fight-Barricade-have-my-head," Frenzy cried in panic.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

The ex-Decepticon grabbed her left arm and dug in his heels. "Not-going."

"I thought you wanted to fight?"

"Barricade-said-protect-you. Not-disobeying-orders-again."

Remembering the scene out in the desert, Katrina grimaced. It was my fault he didn't do as Barricade said, and he still got punished more than I did. "All right," she said, sitting down on a convenient rock. "I give in. Okay?"

"Surrender is such a better way to put it, but 'give in' will do."

Sam and Mikaela screamed, their voice soon joined with Katrina's as she looked up. A half-transformed jet with red eyes was hovering in the air over her, smoke trailing from its left wing.

"Humans," the Decepticon grumbled. "Always making so much noise."

"Skywarp." Frenzy crouched, ready to attack at the slightest movement from the other mech, not caring that the Seeker was several hundred times his size.

"I'll deal with you later, you puny little traitor," Skywarp said. "Oh, that rhymed!"

"Congratulations," Sam said with as much sarcasm as he could muster while being stared at by a huge Decepticon.

"Shouldn't you be getting your butt kicked over there?" Mikaela asked, pointing toward the distant fight.

"Starscream sent me to make sure there weren't any witnesses. Alive, that is. I didn't expect to find Frenzy here, though." Skywarp sounded confused. "What are you doing with these humans, Frenzy?"

"Barricade's-pets-are-not-to-be-harmed."

Mikaela had a hard time swallowing her complaints, but the little mech was trying to protect her and Sam as well, without orders to do so. She managed to keep her mouth shut giving Sam a look that warned him against arguing.

Katrina clenched her hands into fists as the Decepticon continued to float in the air. He appeared to be thinking, but she wasn't about to stand around waiting for him to decide what to do.

"Are you going to kill us or not?" the girl demanded.

Frenzy almost groaned. No chance of talking their way out now, Katrina had supplied Skywarp with a clear solution.

"Well, if you're Barricade's, it's okay to slag you because he's a traitor, too." Skywarp hesitated. "How shall I do it? I could use missiles or pick you up and drop you a few thousand feet, or warp with you to the moon..."

Sam's face grew paler with each suggestion, but he latched onto something the Decepticon had said. "What's 'warp' mean?"

"You don't know? That's strange, I thought everyone knew." Skywarp suddenly vanished and reappeared behind them. "That's warping."

"Genius," Mikaela said with mock admiration.

"Teleporting," murmured Katrina as the Decepticon began warping back and forth between the two spots, showing off. This is so not good. We run and he'll catch us instantly.

Skywarp was so focused on warping that he didn't notice Frenzy moving until it was too late. The little mech jumped, using Sam's shoulders as a springboard to land on Skywarp just as he shot back into existence for the umpteenth time. Before the Decepticon could react, Frenzy became a cell phone - having kept the information for that altmode since Hoover Dam - and fell into the larger mech's inner workings.

"The little glitch!" Skywarp began twitching, then shuddering as Frenzy began his assault. "Stop that, it hurts." The Seeker began to moan and shake even worse, then did a nose-dive, landing on the ground hard enough to knock the humans off their feet. "Make him st-" The Decepticon went limp, eyes fading to black.

"Frenzy?" Katrina called.

Frenzy crawled out, more jittery than usual. "Almost-got-crushed-more-times-than-I-can-count."

"Is he dead?" asked Sam, resisting the urge to prod the Decepticon with a toe.

"No. Forced-recharge," Frenzy said proudly.

"You put him to sleep?" Mikaela translated. "It sounded a lot more painful."

"Had-to-cut-some-wires. He-won't-fly-for-a-while."

Deciding that she didn't want any more questions answered, Mikaela's attention moved to Katrina. "Would you mind not saying stupid things like that when there's a Decepticon around?"

Katrina's face reddened. "I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking."

"It's okay, just don't do it again." Mikaela sighed. "Obviously the fight will come to us if we don't go to it, so votes for or against joining?"

"Are you crazy?" Sam yelped, staring at his girlfriend as if she'd suggested Megatron was a good guy at heart. "'Bee said stay here."

"And you always do what Bumblebee tells you? I remember having to sneak bags of chips to you when he was on that health food binge."

Sam began ticking points off on his fingers. "We aren't trained to fight, we don't have weapons, Mom will have 'Bee's hide if anything happens to us and Barricade will have our hides if Frenzy gets hurt."

"I-won't-get-hurt."

"Says the thing whose head I cut off."

Katrina flinched. "Mikaela? You cut off his head?"

"Well, he was attacking us and all I had was a... Nevermind," the teen said, shaking her head at the younger girl's pale face. "Well? Who's in?"

"I am." Katrina stepped forward.

"That-means-me-too."

"Can't let you go by yourself," Sam said, wrapping his arms around Mikaela before kissing her.

Katrina covered eyes. "I did not need to see that. Let's get out of here, Frenzy."

"Get-a-room," Frenzy called over his shoulder.

Sam growled. "You..."

Laughing, Katrina and the ex-Decepticon scampered away from the irate teens. A huge explosion brought their mirth to an abrupt halt a few minutes later. Flames began licking the air, rising from the fallen corpse of a large Decepticon.

"Oh my god," Sam said. "They got him."