So before this next chapter starts, I just wanted to let y'all know of a correction I made on a pretty big mistake...
So I went into Google Earth and drew a path between where I think the general area of my fictional airstrip is in California, and connected it Diego Garcia. I was...quite a long way's off from the actual flight time when it was stated in the last chapter that the flight would be two hours long. I have corrected my mistake, and have updated the last chapter to reflect a flight time that is A LOT more accurate to how long it could actually take.
Anyway, time to get back to it and see how things play out. Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR MY DUDE'S!
Chapter 9: A new place with new faces
Somewhere over the Indian Ocean
The next day
Two C-17's bathed in afternoon sunlight drifted above the Indian Ocean as their Pilot's continued flying the last leg of their sortie, and neared their destination. That being an island in the British Indian Ocean Territory that had been militarized by the U.S military after it was given up by the British. The base's primary mission is to act as a forward hub for possible U.S offensive activities. The Island was home to squadrons Air Force B-1 Lancer, B-52 Stratofortress, and B-2 Spirit strategic bombers. Joining them was a transport squadron that operates C-17 and C-5 transport aircraft. Along with the Air Force units are various Navy and Marine units stationed at the Island. Along with these groups, various contractors' hired by the U.S military were stationed around the Island.
The Island was very secluded from the world, the nearest significant land mass being the island of Sri Lanka which was about 930 nautical miles away. But that was good. That meant that the U.S had an "Unsinkable aircraft carrier" out in the middle of the ocean that could reach out and touch people. It also meant that the Island could almost completely escape the preying eyes of the world. That was the most important part because the Island had become the new home for some inhabitants that some very high up people in the U.S government didn't want to be discovered.
After all, you don't start screaming to the world that aliens exist and are on the Earth after the very same aliens just rendered a city into a abandoned ghost town. However a grand operation of mass disinformation was already working on that incident and just maybe the cover story of it being some mass industrial catastrophe would have a hope in hell of turning the world away from what actually just happened on U.S soil.
Aboard the trailing Globemaster, the aircraft's Copilot finished measuring the remaining distance the two jet's had. He then converted that into a chronological measurement before giving a relieved sigh and leaning back in his seat.
"Thirty minutes...thirty more minutes. Oh thank you Lord." he said as he closed his eyes and rubbed his face. His partner, a Captain, and the one flying the jet chuckled.
"You do realize this is going to be a regular thing for us right? We're the main transport squadron for the Island right now." he said as he looked at his partner with a raised eyebrow.
The younger Second Lieutenant faintly nodded. "I know Sir. It's just something I'll have to get used to." he said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm in his voice.
Behind them the Pilot's guest couldn't refrain from giggling at the Copilot's pain. The Lieutenant turned around and shot his guest an accusing look. "What's so funny to YOU, huh?"
"Nothing!" they quickly answered as they turned away and covered their face.
"Hm, that's right. Ya know, you're pretty lucky we let you up here and even let you fly our bird earlier. not many people get that chance." the Lieutenant said with mock arrogance.
"Ah lay it off Bishop!" The Captain replied while shaking his head. He turned and looked at their guest out of the corner of his eye. "Don't listen to this guy, eh? He just thinks he owns the world because he flies this beauty of a aircraft."
Just then the voice of the lead Globemaster's Pilot drifted through the radio. "One to Two. Captain Lennox want to talk to your Marine. Can you get him on the radio?"
The two Pilot's glanced at each other before the Captain flying keyed his mic. "Two here. We'll get him, standby."
The Lieutenant looked behind him to his guest. "Better go wake your bro up. Someone wants to talk to him." The Pilot's guest nodded with a "Yes Sir." and went to exit the cockpit and head to the cargo bay.
Marcus' POV
Poke
"Fleshbag..."
Poke Poke
"Hey. You need to get up big bro."
I sluggishly took a deep breath and rubbed my eyes as I came back to consciousness. "What's up kiddo? We there yet...?" I murmured as I vaguely sensed myself being raised up in my napping spot of Barricade's driver seat.
"That Captain Lennox guy wants to talk to you. The Pilot's need you up front." she softly said to my left as I checked my watch and saw that it was 3:47 PM. So I had been napping for about two hour's.
"Alright." I replied as I cracked my neck and and rolled my shoulders out. "How are you feeling?" I asked as I pulled myself out of Barricade and into the C-17's cargo bay. She rubbed some places on her body, probably where the restraints were attached to on her actual body and looked at me with a tired look. "I'm just ready to get all of this stuff off of me."
I quickly knelt down and pulled her into a hug. "It'll be over soon sis. Just hold on for a little longer." I said on her left shoulder. She pulled me a little closer and burrowed her face into the right side of my chest with a tiny keen.
To be honest, the flight had blown pretty bad. I had never really experienced jet lag before, so I was getting crushed by it in a pretty gnarly way right now. It didn't really matter what I did, I just constantly felt tired. The crew on the jet was also feeling tired too, but that was because they had been running constant sorties ever since the "conclusion" of the crapshow over in Mission City a few days ago.
Barricade, the poor kid, was just as tired as me, however it was worse for her since she had to be tied down the entire flight. It didn't matter what we did, she just couldn't escape the feeling of having those restraints tied to her in the back of her mind. She had become increasingly restless now that we were at the tail end of the long flight, but she had remained surprisingly strong given her apparent age. She had gotten a little twitchy in her restraints every once in a while, but it was usually something small that didn't last long. A few times she started to get a little distressed, and all of us hopped in when that happened and did what we could to help her out. We even went as far as temporarily loosening the restraints for a little while to give her some breathing room.
We hugged each other for a few more seconds before she reluctantly let me go so I could get up to the cockpit and figure out what was up. I assumed that Captain Lennox was going to brief me or something in regards to our destination or what would happen once we landed, but honestly I had no idea since nobody could really tell me anything due to OPSEC.
I stood up and closed her door before reaching down to take her right hand and move for the cockpit. It still felt weird to consider that I was thousands of feet in the air as I walked through the cargo bay. The only times I really remembered that I was way up in the sky, aside from looking out of a window, was when we'd hit turbulence. Thankfully we didn't hit much of that, and it was only minor turbulence for the vast majority.
We made our way to the cockpit door which wasn't too far away. I opened the door and let Barricade through before going through the doorway myself and closing the door behind me. Lieutenant Bishop turned around and gave me a nod before reaching up and moving his headset's right earmuff off of his ear. "Captain Lennox wants to talk to you Sir. " He then pointed to the headset that was secured and hung above the right jumpseat on a little rack. "We've got him on the horn right now. Just throw that on and you can talk to him."
"Got it Lieutenant." I replied as I put the headset on and sat down in the jumpseat, Barricade taking the other one to my left.
"Captain, you wanted to speak with me?" I said into the microphone as I looked past Bishop and over to the lead C-17 off to our ten-o-clock.
"Yeah. We're about thirty minutes out, so I wanted to give you a little bit of a rundown of what you're about to get into." Lennox' voice replied through the headset.
"Should I..be worried..Captain?" I hesitantly replied, not really getting a good feeling about what he had just said.
"Oh no, I don't mean it like that." he quickly apologized. "It's just that there's a lot of stuff going on right now. What you're about to see would probably make any normal person freak out on the spot."
"With all due respect, Captain. Are you saying I'm not normal?" I jokingly asked, picking up on his casual tone.
"Well for one; you're a Marine, and two; you've got an alien police car following you around like a lost puppy...so yeah, I wouldn't say you're completely normal." he replied pretty matter-of-factly. The two guys up front began to quietly snicker as I myself had to choke back some laughter while Barricade gave me a very confused look. I saw Bishop turn and say something to her, but I didn't hear exactly what he said. Whatever it was, it made her laugh.
"Fair point Sir, but I've got a feeling there's more here than just us two." I said, bringing us back on topic.
"Yeah. All joking aside, things are quite complicated right now and you're probably going to be overwhelmed by the end of the day." Lennox says, his voice losing the casual tone and changing to a serious one.
I sigh into the mic and nod my head, trying to get myself ready for what's about to be said.
28 minutes later
"Garcia Approach. Titan 1-2 is on two is on three mile final, in from the Northwest. Angels one."
"Affirmative Titan 1-2. Runway is clear, and you're cleared to land. Winds inbound from the East at five knots. Contact Garcia Ground on freq. 118.400 once down, Garcia Tower."
The crew of Titan 1-2 prepared to finally land and get their feet back on the ground. Titan 1-1 had already landed and just cleared the runway as the second Globemaster drifted down. Everyone was now strapped in and all loose items were secured so nothing could possibly go flying around and hit anything if something happened during the landing sequence.
Marcus was currently strapped in on a bench next to Barricade's left front wheel. He had all of his gear back on, minus his radiopack, which was strapped into the Saleen's passenger seat. The Marine looked down at his M4 as he had it slung around him and held on to it with his right hand. He didn't know exactly what was going to happen once the jet had landed and everyone was off. Lennox said that they'd find somewhere for him and his sister to stay, but it was going to take some time since things were moving pretty quickly on the Island. The Captain explained that the group he was with was literally just formed two days before, so they were still in the process of setting up at their new duty station.
Apparently the Captain and his men were originally sent on on leave after Mission City, however they had to be called back from wherever they were due to something new popping up in the city that everyone thought was cleared out and abandoned. It wasn't Marcus, that's not what Lennox's group was formed for. It was because one of the previously-thought bad guys had popped back up on the map, and was in the city. Marcus remembered the radio conversation he had with the Captain's men and thought he knew what was going to come next. He was, however, completely surprised when Lennox informed him that the "hostile" they were after, was Barricade.
That just didn't make sense. She was just a kid after all, how could SHE be considered hostile. Lennox was just as confused when he found the two last night. He explained to Marcus that this "other" Barricade they were after was NOTHING at all like the one they ran into. For one, the alien they were after was a guy.
This dude was one mean bastard by the sounds of it. He was a "Decepticon", or in other words, he was one of the assholes that had taken part in the attack on the city. This Barricade was one of, if not the best hunter and scout the enemy had. And he was also brutal, BY GOD this guy was one sadistic bastard. Lennox told him that the good guy's he had been working with, "Autobots" as the called themselves, had stories about the sick things Barricade did to people.
Marcus preferred to just not even think about what he heard about this "other" Barricade. Mainly because it just made him want to find this sick fuck and slowly kill him in the most painful way possible. What Lennox told him made him feel nothing other than absolute bloodlust and hatred towards this other "thing."
He honestly couldn't force himself to call the other Barricade anything other than that. He was just a "Thing", nothing more than some sick, perverted thing that should only be put down like an animal and sent to the depths of Hell to burn for an eternity.
The Marine looked up from his M4 and to the Saleen that was quietly sitting in front of him. Even though Lennox said that everyone had already been briefed on what happened, and the mysterious emergence of this new Barricade, he was worried about the kid. Who was to say one of these Autobot's wouldn't flip once they saw her? Marcus could easily see one of them only seeing the sick bastard that had caused so much torment for so many, and just going for the kill on the spot instead of trying to process what they were seeing.
Regardless, Marcus WOULD protect his sister. And that meant that he'd engage anyone who tried to harm her, be it human or alien.
"Are you okay..?"
Marcus snapped back to reality and realized that he had been clenching his fist's with a scowl on his face. He could mentally see the worried look on Barricade's face. "I'm fine. I just got caught up in my thoughts and emotions for a little while." he replied, trying to hide the emotions inside of him as he spoke.
"You're worried about me, aren't you?" the Saleen quietly asked.
"Yeah." Marcus sighed while nodding. "I mean, it's my job to worry about you since you're my little sis, but I'm also just weary about what we're about to get into."
Before Barricade could respond, there was a thump as the C-17 made contact with the runway. The engines had wound down, however they quickly screamed back up to full power as the thrust reverser's were deployed to aid in slowing the transport down.
"Well. Here we go..." Marcus said after he took a deep breath. "Lennox said that we'd get briefed on what's going on and get some introductions in, then we'll be taken to the medical bay and get checked out to make sure we're not dying or anything, and then hopefully we'll get somewhere to crash. I don't know how long everything is going to take. I just need you to hang in there for a little while longer, alright sis?"
"Um..okay big bro." the Interceptor replied with a noticeable amount of hesitancy in her voice. The two were quiet for a little while as the C-17 was taxied off of the runway and driven towards the four large hangars located on the apron near the Southeastern portion of the runway. Marcus wasn't near a window, but he could feel that they were getting close to their stop. Despite the jet lag, the Marine was still ready for a fight if it came to it.
"Marcus?"
Pakowski glanced up "What's up?"
Barricade nervously shifted in her restraints. "Do you think they're going to be nice to us..?"
"I don't know sis." Marcus honestly replied. "But whatever happens, I'm NOT going to let them hurt you." he firmly stated with a look on his face that said he was ready to kill.
"I just hope nothing bad happens. You've been through a lot, and I don't want you to go through anymore bad things." The Saleen replied, wishing she could give him a hug right now. One as her actual self, not in her Holoform.
The Marine quietly grunted in agreement and nodded his head. He then clasped his hands together and bowed his head, which confused Barricade since she still had no idea what he was doing.
Marcus took a deep breath to clear his mind and slowed his breathing down as he began to pray. He thanked God for getting him out of Mission City and for putting Barricade in his life. He asked for the strength to protect her as they moved forward, and he asked for guidance in regards to making sure he was a good big brother for the kid.
He then asked him to protect the kid and watch over her through all the craziness of her life so far. Pakowski then asked that his fallen Marine brother's and sister's be welcomed through the gates of Heaven, and that their families are assisted in dealing with their tragic losses. He asked that the Lord watch over his father and to make sure he doesn't fly too hard up there, and to also keep watching over his grandfather and the rest of his passed family.
Lastly he asked that his mother be watched over, and that he could return to her sometime soon to introduce her to the newest member of the Pakowski family. He finished up with an "Amen." and made the sign of the cross, coming back to reality.
Almost right on cue the C-17 was brought to a stop and parked. Everyone got up and began moving around to get things done as the Pilot's dropped the cargo ramp and began to run though their shutdown checklist's while the ground crew outside set the wheel chocks. Marcus got up and got his radiopack out of Barricade before heading for the ramp with his M4 at the ready. The Marine racked the charging handle of his Carbine to load a round into the chamber, he was ready to sling lead if it looked like someone was going to try to hurt his sister.
Pakowski got to the ramp and was honestly surprised by what he saw. There wasn't really a large crowd of people or anything. Lennox was standing on the tarmac with a few guys with him, but that was really it. What Marcus was surprised by were the five robots standing near the Globemaster.
One of them was easily taller then the rest. This dude was red and had blue flames going across his body and stood with a very composed look. Marcus guessed that this one was the C.O of the group. Based on what he saw, it looked like this guy turned into a semi. A Peterbuilt 379 if Marcus was seeing everything right.
To his right was the second tallest of the bunch. This guy was all black, and looked like a beast. He vaguely reminded Marcus of Staff Sergeant Martinez or his squad's Support Gunner, Private Anderson. Maybe it was because he just looked that intimidating, just standing there like he was ready to wipe out an army single-handedly. Or maybe it was the two huge weapons he had attached to his arms that looked like bastardized turbine engines. Marcus couldn't really tell what this one turned into. Probably a truck by the general looks of it, obviously something made my GMC based on the three red letters that were prominently displayed on the dude's shoulder pauldrons.
Over to the left of the largest one was this older looking one that was mostly yellow. Although it looked like there was a red heartbeat line you'd see on EKG machines going along his arms. Marcus took a wild guess based off of that and classified that one as a medic or doctor of sorts within the group. He couldn't really tell what this one turned into. Maybe something that could go offroad based on the various lights he had on his chest and shoulder's, and the type of tires he had in his shoulders and hips.
Joining those three were two smaller one's standing off a little bit from the yellow one. These dude's seemed to move around on two wheels instead of having feet. One was a kind of gold-looking shade of yellow while the other was silver. Both of them looked similar and seemed to have the same relaxed posture, however the yellow one seemed to almost be glaring at Marcus. Based on what he saw on the two, the silver one turned into a Corvette. A Sixth gen by the looks of it. And yellow one looked like he tuned into a Lamborghini. Although Marcus didn't know his Lambo's that well, so he couldn't pick a specific model.
All of them seemed to curiously look the Marine over as he stood guard. Marcus tried not to notice them observing him, but every once in a while he'd make eye contact with one of them before quickly going back to scanning sectors. Lennox occasionally looked at him, but it was a look of understanding more than anything else. He definitely seemed to pick up on Pakowski's defensive nature when it came to his metallic sibling. Marcus guessed that the Captain was either a father, or an older sibling based off of that observation.
Marcus heard an engine fire up behind him and saw that the C-17's crew had gotten Barricade's restraints off. There were no obvious signs, but he could tell the kid was very relieved to have all of that stuff off. He turned away from the ramp's exit and began heading for her. The Loadmaster came up to Marcus and gave him the good news that the kid was feeling a lot better and he said that she thanked everyone for all they did. Marcus thanked the Airman and saluted him before continuing on towards the Interceptor.
The Marine patted Barricade's spoiler when he got to her. "Feeling better sis?" he asked as he looked her over to make sure nothing looked wrong.
"Yeah. I feel a LOT better now that I don't have all of that stuff tied to me." she replied in a relieved tone. Pakowski nodded and glanced behind them. The crew had moved out, so it was the moment of truth. "Alright kiddo. I think it's time we got you out of here. Can you get yourself out of here, or would you prefer me to do it."
The Saleen opened her driver's side door. "Can you do it, please?" Marcus nodded and temporarily took his radiopack off as he got in and shut the door. He calmly wrapped his gloved hands around her steering wheel and gear shift, and let himself sink a little further into her seat. "Are you ready for this kiddo?"
He felt her shift around a little uncertainly below him. "I don't really know, but it's not like we can back out now." she told him. Marcus nodded with a small chuckle and patted the Interceptors wheel. "Yeah...yeah I'm not feeling to hot about this either...But you're right, we can't back out now." he admitted.
Marcus felt the seat wrap itself around his body as much as possible and gently squeeze him in a hug as the black leather comfortingly warmed around him. "We'll get through this together. I've got your back and you've got mine, right big brother?" Barricade asked with an encouraging tone. Pakowski couldn't help but smirk as he got the two shifted into reverse.
"Sure do, us against the world." he said with a hint of arrogance in his voice.
"Well we're gonna kick the world's butt!" the Interceptor confidently replied with a small rev.
Marcus looked in the rearview mirror down the cargo bay and onto the tarmac beyond.
'This is it buddy. No going back now.' he told himself. He took a deep breath and got as ready as he could for whatever would happen next.
"Let's do this." he said as he began backing out.
The two carefully backed out of the C-17 with a definite feeling of nervousness between them. Marcus got Barricade turned around once he had enough space and drove a little towards the group, who was around 200 feet away from the Globemaster.
He stopped the Interceptor about thirty feet away from the group and got out with his hands automatically going to his M4. He stepped a few feet in front of his sister and watched for any kind of movement that could indicate someone going for a weapon.
Barricade transformed behind him and shrank in on herself a little as the five mainly studied her. She was actually a little taller than the silver and yellow one's, however the rest were taller than her. The thing that most obviously stood out to her was that all of them had blue eyes, while her eyes were red.
She looked down to Marcus and saw that he was holding his M4 tightly and had his upper body leaned forward a little bit, much like the way he did when she first saw him when he was clearing out the building she was hiding in. She could somehow feel how tense and alert he was as he stood there in front of her, guarding her from everyone in front of them. She tried to mentally reach out to all the tension she felt coming from him and attempted to "hug" him with some calming warmth. She didn't know if it would work, or why she could feel his feelings, but it was her job to help her brother out and comfort him in times like this.
Marcus starred the five down and waited for something to happen. Something did when he saw Captain Lennox step forward out of the corner of his left eye.
"You can relax Marine. These guy's aren't going to hurt her." he said in a calm voice as he stepped between the two groups. Marcus didn't fully trust the five, but he trusted Lennox. However if Barricade was iffy about it, he wasn't going to relax. He half-turned around and looked up at her to see if she was okay with it. The two made eye contact. Nothing was said, and nobody made any motions, but Marcus could tell by the look on her face that she was okay with him standing down.
The Marine flipped his Carbine's safety on and relaxed out of a readied posture as he turned around. "She's fine with it..so I'll stand down." Marcus said as he looked towards Lennox. The Captain gave a relieved sigh and nodded. "I guess we should get on with the introductions then. Why don't you two start it off." he said, motioning towards Marcus and Barricade.
Pakowski came to attention and rendered a crisp salute. "Private Marcus Pakowski. United States Marine Corps. First Battalion Fifth Marines, Apache Company." he calmly and confidently stated. The leader of the group returned his salute, and the two then relaxed. Marcus then motioned to his sibling. "This is my sister, Barricade. We found each other in Mission City a few days ago, and I've been watching over her and acting as her guardian in the absence of her parents since then."
That seemed to surprise all of the five to varying degrees, and they all looked at each other like they were talking amongst themselves before turning their attention back to Barricade and Marcus. The leader of the group stepped forward and knelt down, now bringing himself down in height to around Barricade's chin. He turned his attention to Pakowski, making the Marine shy away a little just due to how large and intimidatingly his size was.
"Private Pakowski." he began, his voice a deep baritone radiating a kind warmth that betrayed his intimidating initial appearance. "My name is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of the Autobot Resistance." He then bowed his head and his left hand against his chest in a fist. "I've heard about the recent loss of so many of your brother's and sister's in arms. It is a tragedy, and I wish to offer you my sincere condolences. I promise you Marcus Pakowski, their sacrifices were not in vain."
Marcus was honestly surprised by the gesture. He would have NEVER expected a complete alien to care so much about his Marine family, and he was taken back by what Optimus said, as it seemed like what had happened was a mass casualty event.
"Um, t-thank you Sir." he fumbled. "They're...in a better place now." he sighed. He then looked up at Prime with a very heavy feeling deep in his gut. "Sir...do you know how many casualties were taken..?"
Prime looked completely surprised by the question. "I was..under the assumption that you were already debriefed in regards to the battle, Private." he explained, his eyes narrowing and his metallic brow furrowing in confusion.
Marcus shook his head. "No Sir. I've basically been in the dark this whole time. Is...is it bad..?" he finished uncertainly. Optimus closed his optics and sighed. "I believe it would be better if you asked Captain Lennox about the aftermath of the battle." he replied with a heavy voice.
Pakowski micro-flinched as his eyes darted around, almost like he was looking at the tarmac in front of him for some possible explanation as to what Prime just said. He got himself focused back in and turned his head back up to look at Optimus. "Understood Sir, I'll ask the Captain later about it, but I think he already planned on debriefing me."
Optimus nodded and stood back up with a quiet hiss of hydraulics. "I believe I should introduce you to the rest of my team." He motioned over to the large black one that was to his right. "Private Pakowski, this is my Weapon's Specialist, Ironhide." The black one stepped forward and looked down at Pakowski with a nod. "Greetings Marine." he said with a deep and gruff voice that had a very-English sounding accent to it. "I have heard that your group are called "Devil Dogs." Why is that?" he curiously asked.
"Well it's a name we gained during the first World War, and it's a story I might tell you later on once I have some downtime." Marcus answered. "Suffice it to say; we'll fight tooth and nail until the last man against the enemy." he explained. Ironhide grunted with a nod. "I'd definitely like to hear that story sometime." he commented as he stepped back into line.
Optimus then motioned to the yellow one that was to his left. "This is my Chief Medical Officer. His designation is Ratchet." The Medic nodded and glanced over at the two. "I would like you two to come to my medical bay once we are done here. I want to run some scans on both of you to make sure you are in good health."
Barricade shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her brother for guidance. Marcus turned around and looked up at her. He made a thumbs up and then shrugged, nonverbally asking if she was okay with it. She brought her right hand up a little bit and rocked it back and forth while keeping her palm flat.
It was a gesture she learned that meant someone was in the middle of a given decision, or in this case, she was uncomfortable, but not outright saying no.
Marcus turned back around and looked at Ratchet. "We're both a little iffy about it, but we'll do it if you really need it."
"I promise the scans will not be invasive in the slightest. The whole process should only take a few minutes at the most." Ratchet assured the two before nodding at Prime to continue on.
Optimus then pointed to the last two, who were standing a little away from the main group. "These two are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe." he said as he motioned to the yellow one and the silver one respectively. "They are two of my Lieutenants and are similar in role to that of your Rifleman class of warrior, however these two specialize in asymmetric warfare."
Marcus nodded and shot a small salute at the two. Sunstreaker just huffed and glared at him for reasons unknown. Sideswipe noticed the glare and moved forward. "It's nice to meet a fellow warrior. Don't mind my brother. Sunny here just has a stick up his aft." he said with a playful shove against Sunstreaker's right shoulder. The yellow mech forcefully shoved his brother back in response. "Don't call me "Sunny" you afthead!" he growled. Marcus couldn't help from snorting a laugh at the mech's temper, causing him to be pinned by a hostile glare.
"What's so funny to YOU, meatsack?!" Sunstreaker snarled through clenched teeth.
"Hey!" Barricade snapped, "Don't talk to my brother like that, mister!" she warned at the affront to her brother.
Sunstreaker clenched his fists and leaned forward. "Oh?! And what are YOU going to do about it, you OVERGROWN SPARKLING!" he snapped back.
Marcus quickly set his left hand against his sister's foot as she bristled and began to growl. His right hand went to his M4's pistol grip and he immediately put his finger on the trigger in preparation for something possibly going down. Prime quickly stepped in before anything could happen.
"Sunstreaker! Stand down, and have some respect for our guest's!" he warned with his voice now becoming commanding and powerful.
The yellow mech did do as commanded, however Marcus could've sworn he heard him growl something under his breath about a "Fraggin' Con" and a "Stupid Squishy." He bit his tongue and had to use a lot of willpower to refrain from saying or doing anything in response, just so the situation wouldn't go to crap.
Captain Lennox cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Hey Optimus. I'll finish getting these two settled in, why don't you guy's go back to what you were doing?"
Prime nodded. "That sounds like a wise course of action, Captain." he replied. He then looked around at his squad. "Mech's, you're dismissed." With that everyone began moving out, with the exception of Lennox, Pakowski, and Barricade.
Lennox looked over at the two, both of them still looking a little ticked. "Are you two alright..?"
Marcus sighed and irritably shook his head while Barricade huffed and crossed her arms.
"Mister Sunshine over there seems like a REALLY cool dude..." Marcus drawled while glaring in the direction Sunstreaker went.
"Yeah, he's a big jerkface!" Barricade agreed with a matching glare.
The Captain quietly chuckled to himself, he could clearly see why the two considered each other to be brother and sister. "Let's get you two finished up with everything. I think I'll be able to quickly find places for you two."
The siblings nodded. Barricade picked Marcus up and plopped him down in the usual spot on her left shoulder. She then offered to carry Lennox and eventually got him to agree with some help from her brother. The three then moved out with Lennox giving directions.
The three got over to Hangar 4. It was one of the four largest hangars on the airbase and had been given to the Autobot's as their new home for the time being. The Hangar had room for personal quarters, the aforementioned med bay, a briefing room, a small recreational room, and some storage areas. It wasn't too roomy, but that really just made it like every other place on the Island.
Lennox directed Barricade through the partially-open main hangar door's and over to the back right corner of the building where the medical bay was. "Alright, you can set me down now. This is my stop for now until you two get done. I'll be waiting outside so we can get everything else squared away and find somewhere for y'all."
Barricade gently set the Captain down and looked at him. "How much more do we have to do after this Mister Lennox?" she asked with that innocent voice Marcus had come to know very well by now.
"Pretty sure we'll just have to get his weapons checked in at the armory and then get him some things for his personal quarters. Clothing, toiletries, that sort of stuff." he replied. "Also, you can just call me Will." he added. The siblings nodded and Marcus thanked him for the help before he moved on and left the two standing in front of the large metal doors to the medical bay.
Marcus sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Let's just hurry up and get all of this stuff over with. I'm ready to just crash somewhere and relax." he said with some of his fatigue slipping into his voice. The Interceptor reached up with her right hand and rubbed her brother's sore back where she could since he still had his radiopack on. "Yeah. Let's get this stuff finished. I'm ready to go take a really big nap somewhere." With that the two moved for the door's, which slid open for them, and walked into the med bay.
Ratchet was near one of the six obviously Cybertronian-sized berths and looked up from a data pad he was holding when he noticed the two walk in. "Ah, it seems the new arrivals have found their way to my domain. Please, just pick any berth you'd like and I'll get you two looked over."
Barricade nodded and plopped herself down on the nearest berth. Marcus climbed down from his perch and sat down on the edge next his metallic sibling's left knee. "So why are you the one checking me out instead of a human medic? No offense Sir." he asked out of genuine curiosity.
The Medic placed the data pad down on a berth to his right and looked towards the Marine while crossing his arms. "Well the most obvious reason is that I have both of you here right now. Secondly is that the accuracy of my diagnosis is multiple orders of magnitude greater than any of my human counterparts."
"Okay...but I mean we're like two entirely different species." the Marine reasoned.
"Are you implying that I haven't already become an expert on human anatomy?" Ratchet haughtily snorted.
"What? No." Marcus flinched with subtle annoyance. He reached up and rubbed his face. "Sir, it's not exactly like there's any way for me to already know any of that. I'm still pretty much completely in the dark right now. I didn't know that ANY of you besides Barricade existed until literally today."
"Oh." Ratchet replied. It was starting to become clear to him now, this Marine really had been kept in the dark about their existence. He could sense from his rising blood pressure and the way that his body had tensed that the human was becoming agitated. Honestly he couldn't blame Pakowski for his behavior, he himself would have most likely acted in just the same manner if someone had spoken to him in what appeared to be such a condescending manner.
He picked up his data pad and began to scan the Marine's body in search for any damage. "I apologize for my comment Private. I assumed that you had been informed about us in detail, however it appears that you weren't."
"It's fine Sir. All I've been told have been very general things, nothing about any of you in specific detail." Marcus replied as he felt a weird tingling sensation emanating from the blue scanning light that had begun to wash over the lower part of his body. Ratchet nodded, but he didn't say anything. It seemed like he was heavily focused interpreting the data he was receiving from his scan.
He was silent for a minute as the scan continued and eventually completed. He continued to observe what he was seeing on his data pad for around thirty more seconds before sighing and setting it down. "You've been through some Pit, Marine..." he quietly said with sympathy evident in his voice.
"Pit..?" Marcus confusedly asked.
"Pit is our version of your Hell." Ratchet explained.
"Oh...Well, I guess I have.." Marcus sighed. He felt the talon-like fingers of his sister's hand gently wrap around his body, and leaned against the warm and comforting metal. Barricade looked down at her brother and gave off a tiny, sad whine. "My big brother's been through a lot since he got sent into Mission City with his friends." she told Ratchet. "Is he okay..?" she worriedly asked the Medic.
Ratchet gave an assuring nod and glanced down at his data pad. "Don't worry about your brother youngling, he's very strong." he told her. "I can tell that he's tired, and my scan also showed the same thing. His body seems to have been through a lot, so he need's to take it easy for a few days. He is also slightly dehydrated, so he needs to drink plenty of water so his body can regain the nutrients it's lost."
"I'm fine Sir. I'll rest when I know she's okay." Marcus said from down below.
"No." the Interceptor sternly told him. Her voice then went to a soft and caring tone. "Your body's been through a lot Fleshbag. You need to rest, and you need to drink some water."
Ratchet chuckled and looked down at the human. "I'd listen to her If I were you, Private." he said with a smirk.
"Look, I'm fine. I'm not resting until-" Marcus stubbornly began, however he was cut off by a low growl from behind him. He sighed and turned around to look up at Barricade. "Kid, I told you, I'm your guardian, and I don't rest until I know you're okay." he irritably told the Interceptor.
"Well I don't care Fleshbag! You're my human, and I care about you!" Barricade countered with a glare. "He said you need to rest and drink water, so you better! And don't give me any excuses mister! I'm bigger than you, and I'll make you rest!" she told him.
Ratchet laughed and just shook his head at what he was witnessing. It was very humorous for him to watch the exchange. He could easily get used to this new Barricade.
"I'm just going to tell you this now Marine, you ARE NOT going to win out against her." he told Marcus with a very amused smile on his face.
The Marine in question scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever, you win!" he conceited. His metallic sibling huffed with satisfaction "Thank you Mister Ratchet. My big brother can be a big stubbornhead sometimes."
"You're welcome youngling." Ratchet replied. "Now let's get you examined." he then said while picking up his data pad. The Saleen complied and sat still as Ratchet began to scan her. She curiously tracked the blue beam as it began painting over her legs and slowly tracked up towards her torso. It tingled a little, and she vaguely felt the same feeling coming from Marcus when he was getting scanned. It started to feel really funny once it get near her chest, almost like she was being tickled very lightly. It got to a point where she couldn't resist the feeling anymore and she slightly flinched with a small giggle when the light brushed over her spark.
Marcus gave an amused chuckle from below her, however Ratchet didn't seem to have any reaction. Instead, he seemed to be entirely focused on what he was seeing on his data pad. He remained silent for the rest of the scan, and intently examined the data once the scan had been completely finished. The siblings quietly waited on Ratchet once he was done. Barricade's scan took a lot longer than the one Marcus had received, but that made sense since she was a lot larger than him.
The Marine tried to remain still, however he started to worry as the seconds ticked by. Eventually his mounting worry overrode his will to remain silent and still.
"Sir. Is she okay?" he spoke up.
The Medic remained still for a few seconds before he responded. "I can tell you that she's doing a lot better than you, but both of you have something that needs correcting." He set his data pad down and looked at Marcus. "Private, have you tried to feed Barricade in any way?"
"Yeah.." Marcus hesitantly nodded. "She was really hungry when she first met me, so I took her to a gas station and let her drink the highest grade stuff the place had. I figured it might work since she turns into a car, but it was really just a guess out of desperation."
"I see..." Ratchet commented as he typed something down on the pad. "Are there any other kinds of nutrition you've given her?" he asked with a raised optic ridge.
The Marine shifted uncomfortably. "Well..." he slowly drawled. "I...kind of let her eat pizza...twice...Is that bad..?" he asked as he slightly ducked his head.
"You didn't put her in any harm, if that's what you're worried about." Ratchet assured. The Marine gave a very relieved sigh as he continued on. "It wasn't ideal though. What you gave her was essentially what we would consider "junk food", so it wasn't necessarily the best of nutrition choices." He then set hid data pad down and stepped closer to the two.
"Seeing as you haven't been informed about us, I believe now would be a good time to explain some things." He projected a hologram of himself in front of Marcus. "We are called Cybertronians. We are an advanced race of autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, which is lightyear's away from your planet."
The hologram then turned into an alien planet that seemed to be made entirely out of metal. Marcus was amazed since he was looking at the literal homeworld of an alien race. He curiously reached out towards it and flinched away when it began to rotate like he had grabbed a physical object.
"You can manipulate the hologram Private, no harm will come to you." Ratchet informed him. Marcus nodded his head and tentatively reached for the hologram gain. He rotated the little planet around and curiously observed it "This is amazing. The whole planet is entirely made out of metal..." he quietly exclaimed with awe. He looked up at Ratchet. "Sir. It's beautiful."
"Yes" Ratchet nodded, "It was..." he then said with his voice going quiet.
"It "was"..? Did something happen..?" Marcus asked as his brow knit with confusion. Ratchet sighed and looked far off for a little while, turning off the hologram.
"A civil war erupted on out planet. It was brutal. We were so focused on destroying each other that we ended up destroying our planet in the process. Eventually we could no longer reproduce faster than we were dying. We got desperate as our enemies, the Decepticons, just couldn't be stopped. So it was decided to launch this offworld before the Decepticon's could get their servo's on it."
A new hologram was projected in front of Marcus. The hologram appeared to be a metal cube that was covered in symbols. The symbols looked like some kind of hieroglyphics to Marcus, but he had no idea what any of them meant.
He curiously looked the cube over. "What is this?"
"That is called the "Allspark." It has the power to create life." Ratchet replied.
"I remember hearing about this during the briefing I got before I was sent into the City." the Marine said as he looked the cube over. "There was a lot of radio chatter from the guys in the air. They seemed to be primarily tasked with covering the team that was trying to get this thing out of the city, probably so those Decepticon guys couldn't get their hands on it and do God knows what. It sounded heavy..." Marcus then looked down, his eyes being hidden by the brim of his helmet. "It didn't sound like it was going good for the guys...and I heard stuff about pilot's being shot out of their chutes.." The Marine clenched his fist's and pounded the birth beneath him. "Fuckers!" he hissed.
"I know...I was there."
Marcus looked up and found Ratchet looking at him with a look that had sympathy written all over it. "Marine, I am truly sorry for your loss. Your comrades fought bravely, and I'm honored to have fought along side them."
"Thanks...but it doesn't make losing them any easier.." Marcus quietly said. "...Or being one of the "lucky one's" any less painful..." he added barely above a whisper.
Ratchet clearly heard what the Marine had said. He cringed, because he knew exactly what Pakowski was going through. Survivor's Guilt had almost made him commit suicide when he was younger. He would have gone through with it, had it not been for his fellow Autobot's. The Medic stepped forward, gently placed a servo over Barricade's, and carefully patted the human's back with his index finger.
"Marcus. Don't be sad, please. You have to be strong big brother." Barricade pleaded.
"She's right Marcus. Your comrades would want you to keep moving forward. You can't give up, or else their sacrifices would have been in vain." Ratchet added, now using the Marine's first name since he now knew it.
"I know." Marcus quietly said as he shook his head. "But damnnit, it's hard sometimes to find the strength to keep moving on!"
"That's why there were people to help you get through the pain." Ratchet warmly said.
"Not people...just one person." Marcus quietly replied.
The Medic was initially stunned. It all made sense though when he realized who this "one" person was. It was strange to consider that Barricade was the one who had been helping him cope with the pain this whole time, but that was because Ratchet was used to the old Barricade, not this new version.
He also noticed a strange energy reading coming from both of them. At first he didn't understand it, because it didn't make sense. It seemed that the two had formed the beginnings of a bond, however it appeared that Barricade was the one who initiated it since the energy signal was strongest from her. It was amazing to think that a Cybertronian could form a bond of any form with a different species, yet here it was actually happening.
Ratchet slowly reached up and placed his hand on the young femme's shoulder.
"Barricade." he said, opening an internal comm. to her.
She flinched and confusedly looked up at him.
"You can hear me, yes?" Ratchet asked. The Interceptor slowly nodded. "I've opened an internal comm. with you. We can speak with each other this way without verbally speaking." he explained.
"I..can talk?" she tentatively said over the comm.
"Yes." Ratchet replied. "I just wanted to tell you that what you've done is amazing. I believe that you have saved this human's life with the bond you've formed with him.?"
"A bond..? What's a bond..?" she asked with confusion as her optic ridge's furrowed.
"It's a connection between two individuals. Normally it's between two Cybertronian's, but in this case I believe you've formed a bond with Marcus." the Medic explained.
"Well yeah, he's my big brother." Barricade replied. She was still confused by what Ratchet was saying.
"It's more than that, youngling. It means that you can feel his thoughts and feelings, and he can also feel yours. You two will eventually be able to understand each other in a way the no one else can."
The Interceptor continued to quizzically look at him for a few seconds before she looked down at the human in their hands. Her optics then went wide. "So THAT'S what I was feeling!" she exclaimed in amazement.
"He can feel it too." Ratchet then said aloud.
Marcus' head perked up "Huh?"
Ratchet took his hand off of Marcus. "I believe that you two have formed a bond, Marcus." He then gave the same explanation he gave to Barricade, and answered some questions both had about their bond over the span of the next five minutes.
After that he instructed both of them to rest and replenish what they had lost. He gave Barricade two energon cubes, which she hesitantly tried at first, then vigorously drank, one after the other. He instructed Marcus to make sure she drinks at least three energon cubes a day over the next four days to fully replenish her reserves. Then he instructed Barricade to make sure that Marcus drinks the same amount for the same period of time, but in bottles of water. The two were then free to go after that.
45 minutes later
The siblings were sat down outside of the supply building now. Marcus had gotten his weaponry turned in to the base Armory, and was able to convince Lennox to allow him to keep his sidearm, however it took a bit of paperwork. He was then taken to the base supply building to get the rest of what was needed since he had lost the clothing and personal belongings he had left in Mission City. That also took some time, but he was now covered on the essentials, and then also had some extra items added on.
After that they went to the base comms. building so Marcus could call his mom back in California. She was beyond relieved to know that he was alive, and the two talked for around ten minutes. Marcus promised that he'd come home soon, however he didn't mention anything about Barricade.
They then discussed the living arrangement on-base. Originally Marcus was going to be quartered in the building Lennox was in, and Barricade was going to be quartered with the other Cybertronian's. That didn't fly with either of the two since both of them refused to be separated from the other. Marcus refused because he didn't trust that his sister wouldn't be harmed when nobody was looking, and Barricade just outright refused to leave her big brother.
Lennox thought about somewhere he could put the two, however the only option was a small bungalow that was on the northwestern tip of the island. It was fully outfitted to live in, and there was running water to the small place. There was also a garage next to it that was originally going to be built to service USMC amphibious attack craft, however only one bay was built before the plan was cancelled. It was decided to at least finish the bay off before ending construction, so it was enclosed and protected it's interior from the elements.
This covered where Barricade would stay. It was also big enough for her to sprawl out in her bi-pedal form when sleeping if she wanted too. Lennox said that it should be tall enough for her to comfortably sit inside without being cramped, however the roof wasn't high enough for her to stand upright.
The Marine was looking at a map of the Island that Lennnox had given him while perched on his sister's left knee as she sat crossed-legged and curious watched as people walked by. "It looks like there should be roads leading to this place, but it's kind of out there." he said while holding the map up a little bit so Barricade could get a look.
"It kinda does." she replied. "Hey, can you keep holding that up so I can scan it?" Marcus held the map up a little higher "Go for it kiddo."
Barricade began scanning the map and quickly got it downloaded to her memory banks around ten seconds later.
"Alright, I got it."
Marcus lowered the map and continued to examine it as Barricade pulled it up on her HUD.
"You know, I never knew this island was so big." Marcus commented. "I hope this place isn't too far away from everything else."
"It's not. It's around five miles away."
Marcus looked behind him. "How'd you figure that out so fast?"
"Something you human's have called "GPS." I used it to figure out how far I am from that bungalow thing." Barricade replied. Marcus hummed and nodded. He then began to fold the map up so he could stow it in his map pouch.
Once it was stowed he hopped down. "I guess we should get over there and check the place out. I'm pretty poofed, and I'm sure you are too..well, unless there's anything else you want to do."
The Saleen shook her head. "Nuh uh. I just wanna get to this place and take a really big nap" She then transformed a little slower than normal and nudged her door open for Marcus. "I'll drive us there, get in."
The Marine hesitantly stepped over to the door and placed his hand on the top of the Interceptor's roof. "Kid, you seem pretty tired...you sure that's a good idea..?" The door closed a little and lightly ushered him in. He sighed and slid in behind the wheel after stowing his radiopack.
"Seriously Cade', you sound more tired than I am, and I'm pretty tired." he told the Saleen while strapping in.
"I told you dummy, I'm driving. Now hush and get comfy." Barricade told her brother. "And that's not my name, human!" she added with a slight raise in her voice.
"Human isn't my name either, but you still call me it." Marcus shot back.
"So?! You're human!"
Marcus chuckled and rolled his eyes with a mischievous smirk starting to form on his face. "Whatever you say...Cade'."
"Fleshbaaaaaggg!" Barricade growled with an accompanied snarl of her engine. Marcus snorted a laugh and was thankful the tinted windows hid him from the outside world. The angry rev had drawn some attention from nearby bystanders who had just exited the supply building.
"Alright kid, come on, people are looking." Marcus begged the brooding police car. To his dismay, nothing happened. He reached forward to take control and get the two moving, but the seatbelt suddenly yanked him tightly.
"Hands off Fleshbag!" Barricade snarled as she slammed into drive and shot forward. Pakoski put his hands up and tried his best to not laugh anymore before Barricade threw a temper tantrum. That would most certainly be a very embarrassing to end off the day, and it would make his life a lot more painful once word of it got around.
He could just imagine how many jokes would be made about a Marine having to calm down a pissed off alien kid that was a police car. Marcus made sure to keep his hands to himself and his feet away from the pedals before Barricade got any more agitated. He decided that the best course of action was to stay quiet, stay relaxed, and trust that the kid knew where she was going.
13 minutes later
Barricade was relieved when the dirt path she was driving on finally reached its endpoint at their new home. She drove up to the little wooded bungalow that her brother would be in and quietly looked around.
There were some palm tree's that surrounded the road on the perimeter of their home. A wooden walkway led to the wooden deck that wrapped around the bungalow. Dirt and grass eventually turned to sand as the yard went past the small building and led to the beach that was a little way's behind their home. The bungalow itself was elevated on stilts, painted a light shade of blue with a black, shingle roof, and had white accents around the window frames. It looked like there was a small patio behind the house with some lawn chairs. A little behind that was a stone firepit that looked like it could also be used for cooking.
There was a screen door that covered the actual door to the front of the bungalow, and it looked like there were sliding doors to the back patio, based on what Barricade could see through the place's windows.
She really liked their new home, and she was happy her part of it was a decent size. She could easily hear the waves from the sea. They had a really soothing sound to them. The soft lapping of the waves hitting the shore and the soft rumbling of waves beyond was something she could probably listen to all day and still enjoy.
The Saleen then turned her attention to her passenger. Marcus had fallen asleep during the drive, and Barricade had reclined her driver seat for him so he'd be more comfortable. She didn't really want to wake him up because she knew he was very tired, but she also wanted him to get moved in to his new home before the sun went down. He looked really peaceful as he sat there napping all cuddled up and warm.
It was now 5:32 PM, and the sun had begun to set on the horizon behind their new home. Barricade decided that she'd help Marcus get his things settled so they could get some rest.
She began to gently rock Marcus to wake him up. "Hey Marcus. We're here." she quietly spoke up.
Marcus woke up with a quiet groan and rubbed his face. "Darnit kid. I don't want to get up, I'm too comfortable."
Barricade giggled and got Marcus unstrapped as she stopped rocking him. "My squishy sibling, I have come to a decision on a recent happening."
"W'sup?" Marcus tiredly asked.
"I have decided that I'll allow you to call me "Cade"...but you have to let me call you "my human" without getting mad." she softly proposed with a playful nudge.
Marcus smirked and uttered a barely audible chuckle. "Alright...you got a deal."
"YAY!" Barricade exclaimed with a bounce on her axles. Pakowski laughed and patted the Saleen's wheel. "But first you have to let me stay here for a minute, cause your seat's really comfy and I don't feel like getting out of it yet."
"I'll allow it...but only if you sleep with me tonight and be my cuddle buddy." The Interceptor counter-proposed.
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Define "cuddle buddy" in this instance..."
"It'll be like how I hold Warlock when I'm small and sleep with you, but instead I'll just be holding you while at my normal size." she explained, hoping he'd say yes.
"Well I've never been a big alien robot's teddy bear before...but you ARE my little sis after all...so yeah, I'll gladly be your cuddle buddy." Marcus answer with a smile.
Barricade giggled and wrapped him up in a little hug as thanks. She then rolled her windows down and shut off her engine while her brother got his last minute of comfortable relaxation. She silently observed as Marcus looked around and took in their new home. He really liked it, particularly the tropical feeling of it. She also noticed that he had become very relaxed after he listened to the ambiance of the waves and the gentle breeze that surrounded them.
It was a little weird to be so connected to him. Normally she'd figure out how he was doing by observing his body language in conjunction with data she got from the sensors her body had around the interior of her alternate form. Now she had recently started to "tune in" to him through the bond she had started to form with him. It wasn't that he thought anything weird, it was just that being able to feel someone else's thought and feelings would take a lot of getting used to.
One minute later Marcus got lightly nudged. "Time to get up lazyhead, you gotta move in to your new home!" the Saleen happily chirped at him.
"Do I have to...?" he groaned.
"Yep!"
"Why..?"
"Cause I'm bigger than you and I said!"
"I'm older than you. I win."
Barricade chuckled. "You know...I COULD just shove you out right now." she slyly informed her brother.
"Fine..." Marcus sighed. "I guess you win this one."
"I always win. I told you Fleshbag, you can't beat me." she confidently declared.
Marcus smirked and shook his head as he reached for the door. He pulled himself out of the Saleen and hefted his pack a little higher on his left shoulder.
"So this is our new humble abode..." Marcus shut the door behind him and walked a little closer to the bungalow before stopping and taking his surroundings in again. "I'll have to thank the Captain for letting us crash here. This place is nice, like tropical vacation nice."
"It's our little tropical escape from the vast nothingness of the world around us!" Barricade dramatically declared as she fizzled into her holoform in front of her real body. Marcus laughed when he saw her. She had the silver visor of her battle mask deployed, so it like she was wearing sunglasses. "Nice shades kiddo."
"Thanks big bro." Barricade then walked past her brother and tugged on his right arm. "Come on, we gotta get you moved in!"
Pakowski gladly followed as his metallic sibling cheerily trotted along in front of him as they walked up to the front entrance. He fished the key to the door out of his left pocket and inserted it into the lock. He unlocked the door and opened it for Barricade, who practically flew through the doorway and started to excitedly explore the interior of the bungalow in a little black and white blur of curiosity.
The place had wooden floors and white walls. The entrance led to a living room area that had two large windows with wooden blinds that overlooked the backyard and the beach beyond. There was a door over in the back right corner of the room that led to the patio. The room itself had a pretty cozy-looking red cloth couch against the right wall with three olive drab pillows on it. The couch faced a 50 inch flatscreen tv with a black frame on a wooden tv stand. The stand had a small VCR on it. The TV had a connection that led to an antennae up on the roof that provided the various channels, although Marcus would later find out that there weren't really that many.
There was a light brown area rug that was partially tucked under the couch with a wooden coffee table on it. A small, square wooden table sat next to the right arm of the couch. Behind the couch was a map of the Island that was modeled to look like an old naval map in a black frame. There were two small lamps mounted on either side of the lower section of the map with dark orange shades. A clock hung on the wall above the TV stand. Rounding off the living room was a white ceiling fan that had two lights in a circular dome mounted to it's bottom.
Moving back, there was a small kitchen tucked away in the left corner of the bungalow with a square dining table made of wood with four wooden chairs accompanying it in front of a window that looked out into the front yard. The kitchen had a gas stove and a generic white fridge to the right of the table with a sink to their left. A small pantry sat to the right of the stove, and some cabinets were mounted along the wall. The space wasn't cramped, and it looked like four people could comfortably sit at the table.
Marcus went into his new house and shut the door behind him. He moved right and went down a hallway. The hallway ended at a bathroom, and there was a single room off to the right about halfway down the hall's length. He entered the room and discovered that it was a bedroom. There was a full size bed against the right wall with a white headboard. The bed had a brown bedspread with sand stone-colored sheets and matching colored pillows. A window was to the right of the bed along the back wall of the room, and a nightstand with a lamp that had a white shade was to its right. A small closet was in the left corner of the room with a medium-sized, dark brown wooden dresser to it's left. Another ceiling fan with and inbuilt light finished up the bedroom. It wasn't really big, but it was just fine for Pakowski.
8:41 PM
Marcus felt his eyelids begin to grow heavy as he watched TV with his sister. He had now gotten all his things unpacked and stowed away. The nineteen year old snagged an MRE out of the box that was in the pantry and had that for dinner around 6:15. He messed around for a little bit after that around the house and in the backyard before eventually turning in for the night around 7 PM. He got a very much enjoyed shower in and was now in his "pajamas" of black athletics shorts and an olive drab T-shirt with "MARINES" embroidered along the chest in black. His M9 rested in it's holster over in his room now that he could drop his guard.
Pakowski glanced up at the clock above the TV. It was way early for him to go to bed, but he was wasted.
"You're ready for bed too, aren't you?"
Marcus looked over to Barricade who was on the couch next to him and leaning against his left side. He nodded with a tired grunt and reached for the TV remote. "Come on kid. Let's get some sleep."
The Interceptor nodded and slid off of the couch as her brother turned the TV off and got up. He headed for the door as she deactivated her holoform and waited for him in her garage.
Marcus didn't worry about locking the door to the house since he knew nobody was going to come around and do something dumb. He kicked on the new pair of sandals he had on the front porch and ambled his way over to the garage where Barricade was leaned up against the back wall. The light from the garage illuminated the grass path for him as he walked on.
"Well...I guess this should be interesting.." Pakowski drowsily commented as he stepped into the garage. Barricade gave a tired chuckle and laid down on her back as Marcus hit the button that was mounted near the entrance on the right wall to close the metal door. He stepped up to her left side and kicked the sandals off of his sock-covered feet. "Where do you want me?"
"Don't care.." the Saleen mumbled.
Marcus began looking for a spot where he could comfortably lie down. The problem was that there wasn't really any place where it looked like that would happen. "Jeez kid, your parents REALLY didn't make you the soft and cuddly type on the outside." he quietly grumbled as he tried tp find anywhere that wasn't pointy or would leave him with a very sore back tomorrow morning.
Barricade uttered something between a low growl and an pained groan. "Just find a spot already Fleshbag, we're tired." she told him.
Marcus sighed and hauled himself onto his sister's torso. He carefully made his way to her left shoulder, since that was really the only place that seemed like it would work. The Marine cautiously lowered himself onto his back and made sure nothing would get caught if the kid moved around. He put his hands behind his head and sighed. "Well...I guess this'll work.
Barricade's left optics drifted down to him. "Are you comfy?"
"Actually, this seems to work out pretty nicely. You're not as hard as you look. In fact, you're just the right temperature for optimum cuddling." he tiredly replied with a small smirk.
The Interceptor chuckled below him and turned the lights off before covering him with her left hand. "Goodnight big brother, love you."
Marcus pulled his sister's hand a little closer and kissed the side of her index finger. "Goodnight Barricade, love you too kiddo."
A very comfortable warmth washed over Marcus as he closed his eyes and joined his sister in drifting off to sleep. He had made it out of the city and had a new home now. Apparently he would also be able to see his mom again over in California sometime soon according to Lennox. He planned on bringing his new little sis along to meet his mom, luck willing. All in all; it had been a pretty good week. Tomorrow was Monday, and Marcus had a feeling this next week would be a lot better than the current one.