Nosferatu News: Sorry for going Bravo Six on y'all in regards to this story. I guess I got burnt out and needed to try some other things...and I neither deny nor confirm that I may or may not have also gotten hooked on some other fanfics, that's also partly why I dropped the rating to T. There's some gnarly stuff that happens in other stories that make Derek's experiences look mundane.

Gonna modify my original vision for the timeline of the story for some story reason's with this chapter. Our pilot needs that cast off before he can get back up in the air anytime soon.

Now we get to see how the arrival of Starscream goes down. This oughta be interesting. There's also gonna be some more of Derek's past being revealed towards the end of the chapter.

Finally, for those of you (if any) that are digging the whole "yes those two see each other as siblings" thing and all that fluff, some stuff will happen towards the end. You're welcome...? I guess..?

Chapter 20: Seeker

The Warehouse

Four days later

Noon

Derek was currently stuffing his face with lunch after a two hour session making some more minor repairs on his Warthog. The original meeting with the new Decepticon leader was supposed to take place four days ago, however some stuff had apparently kicked up at his end and forced him to postpone meeting this new seeker after dropping off a molecular repair set. "A bunch of fraghead's deciding to beat up on each other for multiple days straight because some mech got their feelings hurt or something like that" was the reason for postponing the visit...well that's how Barricade put things to the pilot. After learning some more about how Decepticon's act, he honestly didn't see a reason to disbelieve her explanation as she herself had quite the temper at times. Regardless, Derek didn't mind the visit being put off since he finally got that cast off two days ago. He quickly got re-adjusted to having all his movement back.

The big Decepticon emerged from whatever thing she was doing over in one the underground storage rooms. Derek downed his current bite before glancing over in the direction of the emerging Decepticon, "You have fun down there bud? You were down there for like five years." Barricade snorted a laugh out at the pilot's comment before replying, "Nah just doing inventory. Oh and by the way fleshbag, I was only down there for an hour and a half." Derek took another bite of his pasta MRE before asking about something he had been curious about since he got up five hours ago, "So what's the deal with Starscream?" She seemed to get a little uncomfortable upon hearing the pilot's question, "Oh yeah...about that...I wanted to talk to you about that sometime.." Derek finished his lunch off with one more bite before chunking the empty pouch into a trashcan to his left near the table. "What's up man?"

Barricade walked over to Derek and awkwardly leaned against one of the warehouse support columns. "I don't really know how Starscream will react to you. If I'm being honest Derek, I'm worried he might try to harm you when he lays optics on you." Derek never expected the next Decepticon he meets to play nice, so he wasn't surprised at all over Barricade's concern. "Alright, how do you want to handle this." Barricade seemed to lighten up a little over the pilot's reaction, he could definitely read a situation. "Well, obviously I can't hide you from him, he'll inevitably discover you, and I know you won't hesitate to jump in if he tries to harm me...so I was thinking you could use a bigger gun.." Derek's eyes lit up a bit. He always loved getting to handle more firepower whenever he had an excuse. "I'm listening." A chime sounded somewhere in the warehouse. Derek recognized it as the auditory alert the fabricator shot off whenever something was done being made. Barricade flicked her head towards he fabricator, "I think my little present to you is ready."

Derek followed the Cybertronian over and waited for her to open the machine's access door to reveal whatever was inside. Derek was waved closer and offered a hand which he hopped on onto. Barricade brought him up to the door with her right hand while she reached for the door with her left hand, "I think you might be familiar with this weapon. You seem to have an affinity for it in Call of Duty and Battlefield." The door was opened, revealing what Derek considered to be his favorite Battle Rifle of all time. The pilot was stunned and slowly faced Barricade, "No. Freaking. Way." Barricade snorted a laugh out at the pilot who looked like he had just opened his first Christmas present. "Heh, yep, that's real fleshbag. Your own Mark 17 Battle Rifle. Custom made by your's truly, of course."

Derek picked the custom rifle up. It was all black instead of the normal khaki, a combination IR and laser pointer was mounted behind the front folded-down iron sight. A flashlight was mounted on the left side of the handguard rail right above an underslung M203 grenade launcher. A combination ACOG/mini red dot sight was mounted on the top rail about right above the ejection port. All the markings and lettering on the rifle were in white, along with an Air Force roundel on the side of the ACOG scope, and Derek's personal emblem above the magwell. The serial number of the rifle, labelled "Mk 17 Mod 1" was the same serial number as Derek's Warthog: "84700" There were also some Cybertronian glyph's right under the serial marking's, however Derek had no idea what it meant. Derek rotated the rifle around in his hands, the most striking thing about the weapon was how light it was. Normally the Mk. 17 weigh's 8.2 pounds unloaded, this thing with all the attachments felt like it was only six. "So what's so special about this rifle, I mean aside from all the fancy stuff and the stupid weight of it?"

Barricade set the pilot on her right shoulder and leaned against a wall next to the fabricator with her left, "Well for starter's, I made the thing entirely out of Cybertronian materials, so it's a lot lighter and a lot more durable than the human-made version of that rifle. The barrel is a lot more accurate than the base model, that's only improved with the custom compensator I've mounted on the end of the barrel, and I've dropped the weight of the trigger to pull to that of your GAU-5. I've also added some custom markings to the gun which I see you've already noticed. On top of all that, the ammunition the rifle fires is higher powered and has better armor penetration. You can punch through Cybertronian armor with a few shot's now-" A smug grin appeared on the Decepticon's features as she continued on to the next part. "...and if that isn't enough destructive power for you, I've made my own custom energon-infused grenades for the grenade launcher. One of those things has the equivalent power of one of your A-10's cannon shells...you're welcome fleshbag."

Derek laughed, Barricade was definitely a character. "So what's with the markings and the glyph's...?"

"Oh that? Well I DID make this rifle for you. The glyph's spell out "Phoenix" in Cybertronian, the serial number is a reference to your jet, and the model tag is that way because this is my own version of the Mk 17."

Derek sat there taking everything in. He started drifting off in through before a quick poke from a metal talon brought him back to reality, "You want to go fire it?" The pilot's eyes lit up as his inner little kid came bursting out at full force, "Oh my god yes!"

Thirty minutes later

Firing Range

Five mags of ammo had been made for the gun, along with five 40mm "Slammer" grenades as Derek had named them, over a span of ten minutes. Ten more minutes were spent getting used to the rifle, it's controls, and the way it handled. Derek had gone through three mags so far dialing himself in to how the rifle acted at varying ranges, the ACOG/Mini RDS combo was a huge upgrade from the iron's of his GAU-5, he could snap to target's up close a lot faster, and could now easily reach out to 400 meter's without too much bullet drop. Needles to say, he quite liked his new Battle Rifle. Derek popped another mag in and hit the bolt release. The bolt flew forwards and locked with a satisfying metallic clink.

Derek brought the rifle on target and popped one of the metal plates seventy-five meters out. The rifle's report was a throaty, deep staccato crack, a dead giveaway that it fired deadly 7.62x51 mm. ammo. The pilot's only "complaint" about the weapon was that there was a noticeably increase in vertical kick compared to the GAU-5, however this was to be expected given the Battle Rifle fired a larger round. In all honesty, the pilot preferred the beefier Mk. 17 with it's superior firepower and attachments. Derek fired off four more rounds before he got lightly whacked on the shoulder by Barricade's holoform. He had honestly forgotten that she was with him as he got used to the new rifle. Derek jerked around with a yelp after the whack to see Barricade bent over hysterically laughing "You jumped around like a fragging terrified SPARKLING! THAT'S THE BEST THING I'VE SEEN THIS WEEK!" Derek thumped the top of her helmet in retaliation to the jump scare "The crap was that for?!"

The Decepticon took a few more seconds to regain her composure before reaching for the grenade belt that was around her waist as she pulled a 203 round out, "Well if you're done with the peashooter, I figured you oughta' try the boomstick out. Only normal HE rounds for now, I don't want you blowing yourself up with a Slammer." Derek reached to take the round, however Barricade's hand shot backwards. "You ever fire an M203 before fleshbag?" Derek shook his head "Nah, but it's been on my to-do list." Barricade shot her free hand out towards the rifle slung around the pilot's shoulder "Fork it over fleshy." Derek unslung his rifle and handed to Barricade after she set the 203 round on the table.

The Decepticon immediately began talking at him like he was a little kid as she "explained" how the grenade launcher worked. He however, wasn't about to let Barricade have her fun, and cut her off midway through explaining the "boom/no boom switch", the safety. "Hey bolt for brains, I'm twenty-five. Quit talking at me like I'm a kid."

"Oh yeah, well I'M one thousand five-hundred and ninety-six years old. So yes, you are a kid." Derek couldn't see the face behind the balaclava, but he could tell by the shine in her eyes and smug tone that Barricade thought she had him beat...she didn't. Derek immediately went for the kill, "You know if I remember correctly, you said that you were nineteen in earth years, so actually you're the kid" He then tilted his head upwards and scratched his chin to look like he was deep in thought as he continued, "...and I'm pretty sure you've referred to me as YOUR BIG BROTHER before, so yeah, you're definitely the kid." Barricade shot off a defeatedly snarled "Frag you!"

Derek immediately knew how to respond, now he was the smug one. "Sorry, but I'm not into technical incest, not my thing." The Decepticon said the beginnings of "What the frag is incest?" before she went completely rigid as she found the definition. Her eyes instantly shot a warning flash as she ripped the grenade launcher ammo belt off and threw it on the table, along with the rifle before her holoform fizzled out suddenly. Derek knew what would come next: Barricade's infamous temper. He began reaching for the rifle and grenades as he expected to just get thumped on the head, however the roar of an engine and telltale sounds of tires skidding across dirt made the pilot freeze for a split-second before he did what any rational person would...he ran.

Derek sprinted for the back of the warehouse and made it around the corner by the time the engine started nearing the firing range. He kept running down the back wall until he hit the next corner, which he sprinted around before stopping to peek down his path of travel. Derek just barely peeked around the corner expecting to see the police cruiser coming around the corner, however that didn't happen.

"DEERRREEKKKK!" The pilot heard the pissed off scream, accompanied by furious engine revs from the general direction of the firing range. The pilot quietly put more distance on as he crept towards the front of the warehouse, making sure he didn't accidentally trip or nick the wall next to him. He was about to turn another corner and sprint for the open warehouse door's when he heard another rev...behind him. Derek sprinted for the doors but was intercepted as he felt something slam into him and send him ragdolling up into the air before ungracefully slamming back down. The pilot heaved himself up against the one of the warehouse doors and found himself staring down at Barricade as she sat a few feet away from him firing off more angry revs. 'Thank god I made a habit of wearing this helmet' he thought to himself.

Derek leaned against the door as he felt the car glaring him down. "Looks like you got me." Her response was an angry rev. "What?" another rev. "You going mute on me or something?" there was more revs, accompanied by the front end slowly dropping down. She was definitely glaring at him. Derek gave a slightly annoyed sigh, "Look, it was a joke man, A JOKE, don't take it so literally." Barricade slowly transformed to where she was crouched down while still remaining right in front of him, a dagger-like glare shooting at him. She sat there deeply venting for what felt like an hour before she started talking, prodding the pilot with her right index finger occasionally, "If YOU EVER say THAT again, I"LL string you UP from the CEILING! You UNDERSTAND me?!" Derek rolled his eyes, "Why don't you go cool off and get your panties untwisted before I go call Starscream to come over and meet me?" Barricade continued sitting there glaring at Derek before snarling and mumbling something about him being insufferable as she trudged off into the warehouse.

"You want to say that where I can hear bud?" Barricade whipped around and screamed from inside, "I SAID YOU'RE AN INSUFFERABLE RODENT!" Derek just laughed. "Oh yeah, like YOU'RE any better with that temper? Go watch TV or something you big baby." He got another snarl before she screamed "I WILL!" over her shoulder. Derek wanted to slam his head against something as he turned for the firing range to get some trigger time with the 203. 'She is literally just a big moody teenager...a big moody teenager that's like a thousand five-hundred years old...'

2:30 PM

Derek walked in from the firing range after blasting quite a few 40mm. HE grenades down range, and two Slammer's. The 203 was very easy to use, no fancy controls or sight's, just throw a round in, line up the sight's to your selected range, and fire. The HE grenades packed quite a wallop, however Barricade was right about the Slammer's, those thing's actually turned out to be a little more powerful than a 30mm. cannon shell from the GAU-8. Slammer's were identified by a glowing blue ring at the middle of the warhead that showed the exposed energon. Derek quietly went over to his table and stripped his gear. He turned and saw Barricade watching...Cops? Derek quietly snickered to himself, "Oh that's just hilarious. A police car watching a police show." Evidently he was heard since Barricade whipped around with a hint of glare. "Really? You're still pissed about that joke?"

"No!" She quickly turned back around "...maybe...OH LAY IT OFF I KNOW YOU'RE STARING!" Derek shook his head as he went to get some water from the fridge, "You are literally a teenager, you know that...?" He heard a little pained whimper from off in the Decepticon's direction. Derek chugged some water as he watched from a distance, one word immediately came to mind. 'Crybaby'.

The next day

11:50 AM

Ten more minutes until Starscream was supposed to arrive through the ground bridge, ten more minutes to get prepped and get braced for a potential crapshow in Derek's case. Derek had his flight suit on with a new chest rig that had magpouches for six of the bigger Mk 17 mags. The chest rig was in the same Multicam patters as his flight suit with a black and white low-vis American flag I.D patch. It also had the same equipment on it as his original chest rig. Derek was currently loading the twenty-round 7.62x51mm. mags in as one of the last things he needed to do. Barricade silently watched the pilot, no, her brother, gear up. He looked ready for a war. "Derek."

The pilot looked up as he was putting the last few mags into the magpouches when he heard the soft voice, "What's up?" Barricade seemed a little hesitant about the coming arrival of Starscream, he could somehow feel it. "I..I'm just a little worried about you still. I don't want him to hurt you." He stopped loading up and turned towards Barricade, speaking with a comforting voice, "He won't hurt me, and he won't hurt you either. I won't let him. Were siblings Cade', siblings look out for each other. Always." Derek then brought his voice up to something you'd use for giving a pep-talk, "Now come on, you're a big scary Decepticon! Get mean, we got this!" That seemed to do the trick, Barricade lost any hint of uncertainty and straightened up. She then cracked her knuckles and hopped up and down like a boxer a few times to get hyped up, "Yeah! Yeah you're right! We'll kick his aft if he tries something!"

Derek got back to loading up and doing final checks before loading his rifle and throwing a Slammer in the 203. He checked his watch, two more minutes. The pilot slid his helmet on, bought the visor down, and strapped the mask on. It would be a little more difficult to breath with the oxygen mask on, but he didn't care. He was doing it for the anonymity and possible intimidation factor. He looked like some kind of soldier from the future, and he felt pretty badass if he was being honest. Barricade evidently notice this as he walked up to her, "You look deadly." The pilot chuckled as he grabbed the rifle and flicked the safety off, his voice sounding alien through the oxygen mask, "I aim to."

Derek stepped up behind Barricade's left leg so he would be hidden from Starscream until signaled to come out. The only noise in the hangar was his controlled and calmed breathing through the mask. Barricade reached up and tapped something on her left wrist a minute later. "He's coming." Derek patted the back of Barricades calf as he got into a low ready while the ground bridge came online. The portal sounded like a rush of air as it opened into a swirling mass of bright green and blue light. A figure began to emerge out of it, Starscream. He carried himself with a sense of nobility he walked out of the portal, while also giving off a sense of deadly precision. "Ah Barricade, it's been a while." Barricade remained relaxed, although Derek could feel her tensing up. "Yeah it has 'Screamer. You got the stuff?" Starscream motioned to some pack on his back, "Yes, right here." His optics then narrowed onto Barricade, "Where's this seeker you spoke of?" Barricade waved her left hand forwards, the signal for Derek to show himself.

'Well, here goes...' The pilot slowly strafed left from behind Barricade's leg, his posture and body language indicating his state of reediness. The pilot's hidden eyes were focused on Starscream the whole time with his right index finger on the trigger on the Battle Rifle, and left one on the trigger of the M203, ready to swing the rifle up in an instant and fire a Slammer round right at his face. Starscream quickly brought his gatling gun online and pointed at the human, Derek responded in kind by bringing his rifle up, but not pointed directly at the seeker. Tension within the room spiked. Starscream spoke in a cool and deadly voice, "Barricade...Why is there an insect by your foot?"

Barricade remained calm on the outside as she answered, "That's the seeker." Starscream remained deadly cool and kept his armament on the human, "That INSECT is a seeker?" Barricade slowly got into a defensive stance, "Yes, he's the seeker, and he is NOT an insect." Starscream seemed to flare up a little bit now that Barricade and the Human looked ready to fight. "Explain, before I exterminate him..." Barricade's voice went icy just like Derek's when he meant something, "That seeker is Phoenix. HE is my BROTHER, and if you even try to harm him, I will not hesitate to engage you." Starscream slowly grew a little arrogant at the potential challenge, "Maybe I should offline you for harboring that-" He was cutoff by Derek's ice cold voice, "You try harming MY SISTER, and I will waste you in a heartbeat Starscream! I'll drop you cold just like I have with other's of your kind!" Starscream noticed the patch on the human's left shoulder, this had to be Phoenix. "So you're this "Phoenix" I keep hearing stories about? The "Screaming Death"...? Derek slowly tracked the seeker's optics to the patch on his left shoulder: the patch of his personal emblem. The diving, gatling-gun-weilding Phoenix was surrounded by two things. His callsign, "Phoenix 1-1" curved around the top of the circular patch in gold lettering. "Semper Protegens", Latin for "Always Protecting", curved around the bottom of the patch in the same gold lettering. Derek returned his eyes back to Starscream's face, "So I am."

Starscream barely lowered his cannon, still pointed at the pilot. "Tell me human, what is it that you "protect"? Why do you fly?" It was more of a mocking sneer instead of an actual question, but Derek didn't budge. "I protect the innocent and weak from all those willing to do evil..." His eyes zeroed in at the seeker under his visor, "...from any form of evil, INCLUDING those of an extraterrestrial source." Starscream slightly un-tensed. "That still doesn't answer why you fly human." Derek slightly tightened his grip on the rifle and spoke with venomous fire, "I fly because the sky is my HOME, and I'll FIGHT TILL MY LAST DYING BREATH if it means I can save a life, even if my wings have been clipped!" The masked pilot's response wasn't as much him talking as it was the collective voice of every human military aviator, living and deceased projecting from one source.

The two stood there silently staring each other down, silently waiting for the other one to make a mistake. Barricade could somehow feel the raw emotion radiating from the pilot: the memories, the experiences, the fire burning within him, the internal repetition of his oath to defend against evil...it felt like some kind of link. She was legitimately curious if he felt the same feeling, however that would have to wait till later. She needed to stay focused on the current moment.

Starscream was the first to break as he lowered his weapon and brought it offline. "You may be right about him Barricade. He seems to have a stronger will than most Decepticon's. Where's the aircraft?" Barricade pointed towards the ramp that led to the underground storage rooms "Down there, follow me." The two Cybertronian's started heading for the underground, however the pilot remained a statue in his spot, robotically tracking the seeker. Barricade noticed this after a few steps and turned as to wave him forward, "Come on Derek. We have a Warthog to fix." The pilot remained bolted in place. Barricade decided to try something else. She non-verbally tried speaking to him through the "link".

"Come on Derek. He won't hurt us, trust me."

It seemed to work as the pilot began silently following from the rear after a few more second's in place, however his alert posture remained.

The three eventually got to the Warthog's storage room. Starscream began scanning the Aircraft to see what damage remained, audibly shooting an amazed whistle after the scan was done. "He LANDED this thing?" Barricade answered for the pilot who was leaning up against the door frame, hands still firmly holding the rifle in a low ready. "Yeah he did, although I still have no idea how he pulled it off, or how he survived the landing." Starscream pulled the pack off of his back and motioned for Barricade to bring some jacks to lift the jet off of the ground. He then turned to the pilot after the jacks were set up, "This is going to take a few hour's. There's still a considerable amount of significant damage." The pilot remained silent. He turned to Barricade, "He doesn't talk much, does he?" Barricade briefly glanced at Derek before facing Starscream. "No, not when someone he cares for get's threatened." Starscream slightly winced at the mention of how his arrival went down. 'You stupid fraghead...'

He turned and slowly put his hands up where they were clearly visible, "Derek is it? Listen, I've known Barricade for a long time, we go way back. I didn't actually mean what I said back there. I wouldn't hurt her, swear on my spark." Nothing. Barricade joined in now, "Derek I'm fine, trust me. You can drop your guard now, I'll kick his aft if he tries anything." That earned another wince from Starcream who gently rubbed his right wing, apparently she had whooped him in the past. The pilot remained motionless for a few more seconds until he finally shoved off the wall and exited the storage room to head back up, muttering something along the lines of, "I'll waste that bastard if he tries anything..." just loud enough to be heard.

One hour later

Derek was running through Outskirts on Halo 2 when he heard the sounds off the two Cybertronians walking back up the ramp. He immediately paused the game, shot up from his chair, and brought his rifle back into a low ready as he swung around to face Starscream and Barricade. Both flinched up at the pilot's snap-turn, it looked like he did it all instantaneously. Both bought their hands up to try to calm the pilot down, Starscream is the first to speak. His voice is filled with a little bit of fear in regards to the pilot "Okay I get it, I messed up alright! Just...drop the gun...please?" The pilot didn't budge, now Barricade tried. Her voice was calmer, but had a hint of worry in it at the pilot's suddenly intense state, "Derek you can relax, seriously. We talked it out while were were repairing your jet, I explained everything to him. It's all good now." The pilot was still for a second before the rifle shot up with Derek aiming it squarely at a cowering Starscream. His voice growled out one word through the mask, "Apologize." Starscream perked up a little, "Huh?" The pilot then screamed the word, voice full of malice, "APOLOGIZE!" The Seeker cowered away again before he slowly turned to Barricade, "Barricade...I apologize for threatening you..." Barricade quickly turned to Starscream and accepted the apology. The pilot lowered the rifle and turned to walk for the door that led to the firing range. Starscream gave Barricade a puzzled look, "What's he doing?" Her answered was quick and to the point, "Firing range."

"Is he angry..?"

"Yes Starscream...he's angry...if fact this is the most pissed I've ever seen him...I think we should give him some space for a while, I want to give you all the data I have on him anyway."

1:30 PM

Barricade spent another hour filling Starscream in on Derek: After Action Report's, HUD tapes, Letter's in regards to the pilot from those around him in the military, everything she had. The staccato of rifle fire, and crack of M203 rounds exploding in the distance hadn't ceased since the pilot walked out with a five-hundred round box of 7.62 in one hand and a box of 40mm. HE in the other with his rifle slung securely around his shoulder. Starscream was watching another HUD tape, this one being an intense CAS mission Derek was part of in response to an urgent sounding Troops in Contact call in the mountain's of Afghanistan. The pilot's skill and intense drive to protect other's, even if he put his own life at risk became blindingly obvious through all the documents and tapes he had seen. Derek easily had the characteristics of a Seeker, even if he was human.

Barricade got up and started heading out the front door to go check on Derek, notifying Starscream of her intentions as he continued to watch the HUD tape. She attemped to quietly approach the pilot, however he had to still be on guard as he quickly whipped around and took aim, only to see Barricade approaching. The pilot un-tensed and returned to firing on more targets. He seemed to be fine, but Barricade could feel something was very wrong with him under the mask and visor.

"Derek." Nothing

"Derek, talk to me bro." Nothing again, just another crack of the rifle going off. She was about to transform and activate her holo-form, however the pilot seemed to sense her intentions and suddenly put a hand up, "No, I want to see the real you Cade'." His voice sounded...off, the words almost came out strained. She quickly walked over to the pilot and sat down cross-legged, concern starting to show on her face. "Derek what's wrong?" The pilot slowly unslung the rifle and set it on the table, along with the two mags he had in his chest rig. A pile of brass and spent M203 casings were stacked up next near his right foot. He slowly walked over to Barricade and clambered up her right thigh and to her chest, coming to a stop right in front of her face.

"I can't let it happen again...I just can't." His strained voice shot a huge surge of concern through Barricade's circuits. She reached forwards and gently slid his visor up. His eyes were red, and it looked like there were tear trails going down his face. "Derek...were you crying?" He gave a slow nod, eyes getting a little wet. She quickly put him in an embrace and tucked her head down against his right shoulder, quietly speaking into his left ear, "I'm here for you Derek. Tell me, please." The pilot sniffled once before choking his next sentence out, "You know...I had a sister before...I still see her face in my dreams every once in a while..."

"What happened bro?" The pilot completely choked up and started losing his self control as he buried his face into the left side of Barricade's neck. "She died, my whole fucking family died man!" Barricade tightened her embrace around the now sobbing pilot. "Derek what happened to them?" The pilot choked the answer out painfully, "They were in Mission City...got stuck in traffic when it went down...there..was a Raptor pilot that got shot down, he tried...to bank away from the highway...he couldn't...they couldn't get out of the car as he smashed into the highway...my mom, dad...and my damn sister died instantly!" His voice was already on the ragged edge, he just screamed the next sentence into Barricade's neck, "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF A FIGHTER PILOT CAN'T EVEN PROTECT HIS OWN GODDAMN FAMILY!?" Barricade felt her spark want to rip clean in half at those words, she pressed the pilot closely against her chest and gently rubbed his back with her thumbs. She wasn't at all prepared for what the pilot choked out next "...I'm nothing...can't protect my own family...fucking worthless.." She gently plucked him away and lifted his drooping her head up to where he was looking directly into her optics. His eyes quickly darted away in shame. She spoke up with a comforting, but firm tone, "Derek, look at me." He slowly looked into her optics. "Don't you EVER call yourself worthless Derek Hernandez. You're worth more more than any mech I've ever known. You're my brother Derek, you're OUR brother. Never forget that." He managed to get off a nod through the convulsions. Barricade gently pointed her right index finger at the pilot's heart, "Your family isn't gone Derek, there right here, where they always have been." He slowly looked down when the talon gently poked his chest. She gently brought his head back up, "And you know what else?" He croaked out a "What?" Barricade pointed to her spark and smiled at the pilot, "They're right here in my spark too, and you're right there with them. Brother."

At that moment Derek didn't see Barricade as some metal alien from a different planet, not a crimson eyed, Decepticon, he saw her as HIS sister, one that cared deeply for him. He croaked out a "Thank you" before stuffing his face into her shoulder and squeezing the ever-living life out of her as best as he could. She responded with her own embrace as she pulled him close and gently wiped his tears away after un-hooking one of the oxygen mask straps. The two sat there gently twisting back and forth in an embrace until Derek calmed down. The events from the day suddenly crashed onto the pilot, he suddenly felt extremely exhausted. He was about to say something, but had a talon put up to cover his mouth as Barricade quietly whispered to him, "Shh, I know Derek. I can feel it. Let's get you some rest." She carefully got up with the pilot still in her grasp and turned to head back inside. Starscream had apparently seen the whole thing and shot his head back around the corner as he skittered back inside when he was noticed.

Barricade carefully took Derek's flight helmet and chest rig off before putting the now asleep pilot onto his cot. She placed his things on the table before going back to the firing range to retrieve the rifle. She put that with the rest of the stuff on the table and walked over to Starscream, who was trying to look like he wasn't just spying on them earlier. The Seeker slowly turned his head to look at her when she sat down next to him, "Sooooo...you're not mad at me...?" Barricade shook her head, answering with a casually stated, "Nope, maybe later I will be for spying on us."

He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, "I never figured you for the soft and caring type.." He quickly found a glare shot at him as Barricade heatedly whispered at him, "ONLY to him because he's my brother! Now keep it the frag down, he's sleeping you glitch!" Starscream shot his hands up defensively and whispered as his wings cowardly drooped, "Alright, Alright! I'm sorry, that never came out of my voice box...please don't punch a hole in my wing again.." Barricade just looked at him for a few seconds before slowing bringing an hand up and making a fist with her talons to scare him. He immediately covered his face and leaned away for the incoming blow, however it never came. He slowly uncovered his eyes to see Barricade smugly grinning at him with her hand still in a fist, however she quickly brought it back down.

"I'd do it, but then I'd wake him up, and I DON'T want to do that."

"...why?"

"Because it would be rude you slagheap!"

"...point taken."

The two sat in silence for about twenty minutes after Barricade threw Cops onto the main viewscreen and dropped the volume to a near whisper so as to not disturb the sleeping pilot. After the current episode Starscream quietly broke the silence, "Um, Barricade?"

She shot a glare at him for making her pause the show right as the opening theme came on,"What do you want now 'Screamer?!"

He was hesitant for a second before answering, "I want him to be a seeker."

"You're joking?"

He shook his head, "No I'm being serious. I don't care what the other's say. As leader of the seeker's, I SAY he has all the defining qualities of a Seeker. Honestly, he's more of a Seeker than a majority than the one's I've met." Barricade just sat there dumbfounded at what Starscream said. A HUMAN Seeker? That just wasn't how that works, right...? Starscream motioned for the confused enforcer to re-start the show. The two fell back into silence as the show went on, waiting for Derek to wake up so they could tell him the news.

Not gonna lie, I kinda teared up a bit while writing some of this. (I'm sure y'all can tell where it happened) I guess I'm really starting to connect with my character's now. That's a good thing right...? Ah whatever.

See y'all in the skies-Your local Nosferatu Pilot