ROH Chapter 12

As Maigan sat in the driver's seat of the huge black truck known as Ironhide, her thoughts kept wandering back to her uncle's promise to fix a BBQ. She didn't care for his attempts at grilling too much, but if he decided to smoke something over a mesquite fire? Oh yeah. She knew it was going to be good. She knew that Daniel was only good at grilling a very few things, so much to her disappointment, that was something he kept trying to do. Even as she watched, her uncle came out of the store with a basket full of plastic grocery bags, and she knew right away that all of them were full of high quality meats.

Daniel was humming quite happily to himself as he transferred the load of meat from the shopping cart to the trunk of the former Decepticon. He didn't care that he was humming off key, considering the mood he was in; there wasn't much that would bother him at that point. His niece wanted a BBQ, and that's exactly what he planned to give her. He had gotten a rather fun idea for something to do while throwing this BBQ and that idea was what had put him in such a good mood.

He finished loading the trunk and climbed in the police styled Mustang, and Barricade immediately started his engine. Daniel reveled in the looks he got when Barricade revved his engine and that loud rumbling exhaust quickly got everyone's attention. Suddenly heads were turning another direction as Ironhide revved his engine in response.

There was a look of disbelief on Daniel's face as he looked over at the large black Topkick parked a few spots over. His foot hit the accelerator in an almost instinctive reaction as he responded to the challenge. When the massive engine of the Topkick revved louder, he goosed the gas pedal again. Barricade responded with a deep throated rumble that would have made a NASCAR mechanic turn green with envy.

Ironhide heard his nephew's engine reverberate through the parking lot, and would have grinned if he'd been in standard mode. He made sure that the noise of his exhaust was at least a good fifteen decibels louder than that of the former Decepticon. When Barricade revved his engine even louder, he decided to pull out the stops. The windows of the store began to vibrate in their frames and car alarms began to go off around him as the harmonic rumble of his exhaust set them off.

Barricade found himself wishing that there weren't any other humans around so he could switch to his other engine. Ironhide had set off every car alarm for a dozen yards, but that wasn't going to be good enough to win. Barricade let it all go as he blasted his exhaust out through his tail pipes, and suddenly every car alarm in the parking lot was going off as the sonic vibrations of his exhaust set them off.

People and customers were emerging from the store to see what had set off the alarms on their cars. When they saw the causes of the problem, they weren't happy at all. Those who had been standing outside and watching this strange competition were now holding their hands over their ears in a vain attempt to save their hearing. Even though she was enjoying this little round of competition, Maigan was smart enough to realize that their time for fun was over when she spotted one of the irate customers pull out a cell phone to make a call in spite of all the noise from the two mechs.

"Hey! We've got to go! Someone's calling the cops because of what you guys are doing. Now come on, and let's get out of here." Maigan burst out in a near panic.

Ironhide was about to stubbornly continue the game of noise, when he realized that Maigan WAS beginning to panic. Unwanted, unwelcome, and unbidden, the image of Jazz delivering his silent warning rose up in his processors, and Ironhide knew that he had to discontinue his little game with his nephew and get Maigan out of the area.

The knowledge that he had to place the safety and well being of Maigan above his own wants or enjoyments irked him greatly. However, it didn't matter how irritated he was at the situation; he had a very clear memory of Jazz making a promise to protect Maigan, and a second memory of Jazz warning him about the girl's safety. Ironhide did NOT want to find out what Jazz would do if the girl were to be placed in jail because of Ironhide's actions. Putting his transmission in reverse, Ironhide backed out of the parking spot quickly.

"You two may want to vacate the area. One of the humans is attempting to summon their authorities." Ironhide sent over his com system.

"The broad's calling the cops! So let's get while we can!" Maigan yelled loudly.

Daniel grabbed the short throw shifter to Barricade's transmission, and as before he didn't even bother to give the customization of it a second glance. Shifting into reverse, Daniel laid rubber amidst a truly impressive cloud of smoke that completely destroyed any chance of reading the license plates on the vehicle he was in. He left the parking lot fairly fast, but even so, he still found himself staring at the Autobot insignia on Ironhide's tailgate.

Not needing any directions to the place since he'd been there before, Ironhide made a few turns down some side streets before heading towards the southern outskirts of Mission City where Daniel's salvage yard was located. He moved to the side to allow the Saleen Mustang into the lead since Daniel would need to open the gate. Ironhide remembered the security precautions on the perimeter of the salvage yard, and while his frame could easily handle that much electricity, the human passenger in his driver's seat most certainly couldn't.

He turned down the volume on the music that he'd been playing for Maigan to calm her down after she'd panicked. It didn't take long for Daniel to shut down the power and open the gate. He waved both Ironhide, and Barricade through before he closed the gate again.

"I'm just gonna leave the power off until I leave, 'cuz I've got a lot of things to do here before I return to the base, so you two will probably head out a couple of hours before I do." Daniel told them as they passed through the gate.

Daniel got back into Barricade's driver seat and followed Ironhide down the winding backtracking trail of pea gravel that led to the shop at the center of his salvage yard. When the two mechs stopped in front of the shop, Daniel got out and looked around quickly. His eyes scanned the yard slowly and thoroughly as he looked around.

"What are you looking for now?" Ironhide asked out of curiosity.

Maigan snickered. "He's looking for anything out of place or missing. And believe it or not, he'd actually notice something missing. He knows what he has, and he usually knows where it is too. Me? I wouldn't be able to find ANYTHING in this mess even if I knew where to look for it!" She told them bluntly.

Both mechs would have frowned as they took in the haphazard piles of stuff strewn everywhere.

"This is NOT a mess! It's an ordered chaos! It's like this so I can find what I want but no one else can." Daniel said in a smug tone.

"No. It's worse than a mess; it's a freaking disaster area. THAT'S why it's called a JUNKYARD!" Maigan retorted.

"My question is; if this is a junkyard, then why are you so defensive of it? I would almost swear that some of these fortifications are deliberate." Ironhide asked curiously.

Daniel gave the truck an odd look before he answered. "First of all. EVERYTHING is deliberate! The electric fence is just the first problem. After that, there's the pea gravel to get past, and you can't without making some kind of noise, and letting me know that you're coming. Then there are the scrap piles. Unless you want to try climbing over one of those unstable piles, you have to follow the trail, and I'll know EXACTLY what direction you're coming from! And just in case someone IS stupid enough to try climbing one of those piles, well, they're stacked so that everything will come down on top of who ever tries it. After that, you got the wolf..." Here Daniel paused and shook his head. "HAD the wolf. He loved a human chew toy! He'd chew a trespasser to pieces, and with him being deaf, there was no way that he could hear anyone try to call him off. After that... they had to deal with me, and by that time, I DAMNED sure wasn't inclined to invite 'em in for coffee." Daniel finished with a malicious grin.

"You sound almost as paranoid as our head of security!" Ironhide groused.

"Well, I don't know about being a head of security, but I can tell ya that a few hundred pounds of copper wiring will bring a lot of quick cash at a recycling yard, and that's what dope heads are always after. They don't care who they hurt, or what they fuck up as long as they can steal what they need to buy their fix." Daniel said irritably.

"Well, speaking of valuables. Shouldn't you get that meat out of his trunk?" Maigan asked with a gesture at Barricade to remind her uncle about the BBQ that she'd been promised.

"Good point! You wanna help me get him unloaded?" Daniel replied as he opened up the garage door to his shop.

Maigan grabbed her ice chest out of the black truck and set it on the ground, before she headed over to Barricade. She saw the trunk open without a sound, and it was obvious that Barricade wanted the stuff removed from his trunk. She grabbed a couple bags and carried them into the shop where Daniel was opening up a chest style freezer.

"Just put the bags in there for right now. They ain't gonna stay long enough to freeze before I put 'em on the pit anyways." He told her.

The two had the bags stored in the freezer rather quickly. Then Daniel grinned and headed across the salvage lot. He jumped in his backhoe and started it up. He drove the machine over to a large flatbed trailer and used the bucket to lift it up. Then Daniel used the backhoe to pull the flatbed trailer over by the garage. Setting the front of the trailer back on the ground, the salvage operator moved the backhoe to an out of the way spot and turned it off.

Two mechs and one human teen could see a very large grin plastered on the man's face as he walked back over to join them.

"Think that'll get the job done?" Daniel asked his niece as he pointed out the large steel box that was permanently mounted on the front of the trailer.

Walking over to the trailer so she could get a better look, Maigan eyed the contraption warily. "What is it?" She finally asked.

"That." Daniel stated proudly. "Is a smoker that will hold an entire side of beef, and a hell of a lot of trimmings!"

"THAT'S A BBQ PIT?" Maigan yelled in disbelief as she stared again at the eight foot long steel box that had a smaller three foot long box at the front of it.

"Nope! It's a smoker. There's a difference. On a pit, the meat is directly above the coals. With a smoker, it's the hot smoke that actually cooks the meat. It makes sure that anything cooked in it is completely saturated with the flavor of whatever kind of wood you use, and I got a shit load of mesquite just for this." Daniel finished with a grin.

Maigan's mouth was already watering at the thought of the meal she'd be having later.

Daniel opened up the firebox on the smoker and went into his shop. He came out a minute later with his arms full of mesquite logs, which he dumped into the firebox. He made six more trips like that before he came out with a small camping sized propane bottle with a torch tip on it. He lit the torch and adjusted the flame until it was nearly two feet long. Then the salvage operator began using that flame to ignite the wood in the smoker. He kept it up until he had the top layer of wood burning good and steady.

Closing the lid of the firebox, Daniel went into the shop and started rounding up some of the items that he thought he'd need in working on the Cybertronians. The ⅛ micron filter was one of the first things to get loaded on the back of the trailer. That was shortly followed by tool boxes filled with specialized torch tips, welding rods, and flux pastes. Daniel was loading everything he had for customized metal work. He'd thought about getting one of the mechs to load the king scan unit onto the trailer, but decided against it, figuring that the sensors Ratchet had were better.

In the meantime, Maigan was in the house packing suitcases. She already had six of them loaded with her clothes, and now she was concentrating on stuff for her uncle. She was mostly packing things like his video game systems, controllers and games to go with them, but she was also gathering some of his clothes as well. She grabbed everything out of the bathroom and stuffed that into an overnight bag so she could find it easily. She knew her uncle tended to think a little differently when it came to most things, and his appearance was NOT one of his priorities.

The two humans had the trailer loaded up in about two hours. Daniel checked the firebox in the smoker at the front of the trailer, and decided that it was time to put the meat on. That took another forty five minutes. When he got done getting the BBQ ready, Daniel noticed that Ironhide was staring intently at something. Walking over to see what the mech was looking at, he looked in the same direction and saw the large iron cross that he'd erected for his friend, Chinook.

"That was not there when we first came here." Ironhide said bluntly.

"You're right. It wasn't. I built it the day before yesterday, when Chinook died. I couldn't think of a better way to tell him goodbye, so I did that for him." Daniel stated casually.

"Are you referring to the canine that lubricated on my foot?" Ironhide asked curiously.

"Yeah. The one I would've killed you over when you tried to hurt him. He lived more than twice as long as wolves in the wild. He gave it one hell of a run, and he was damned good friend to boot. He came close to taking my arm off a few times, but that was just him. He'd bite first and check later. It was funny. That old wolf would take care of any kind of animal ya put with him like it was his own kid, but he'd chew up a person in a heart beat. He'd be sneaky about it too! He'd jump up, lay against the fence, put his ears back, and whine like he wanted ya to pet him. The only damn thing that'd give away the fact that he wanted ta use you as a damned chew toy was the hair bristled up on his back. He had the intelligence of a wolf, and the mean streak of a German Shepard. Don't think I'll ever find another one like him, and I ain't gonna try." Daniel said with a genuine smile as he recalled some of the wolf hybrid's antics.

Ironhide was about to make another comment when he heard a noise behind him. Turning to see what it was, he saw that Maigan had tears in her eyes and more than a few running slowly down her face.

"What's wrong?" The black mech asked her.

"I'm just gonna miss him." Maigan said with a slight shake of her head as she started to wipe the tears away. "He was a pest sometimes, but he was a pretty good friend too."

Maigan noticed her uncle nod to her, but not say anything. She didn't have to ask how he felt, because she knew. During the time that they'd spent together during her summer visits, they had often talked about a lot of things, and Maigan found that she could trust her uncle with any secret she wanted, and never have that trust betrayed. She'd often asked questions about her uncle's brain damage and how things felt to him, so she understood him better than anyone else did. She knew that Daniel hadn't said anything to her about crying for Chinook, because he was actually glad that at least someone was able to greave for the old hybrid.

Maigan wiped her eyes again, and headed back into the house to see if there was anything she'd forgotten. While she was doing that, Daniel was trying to get Ironhide to scan a trailer hitch so the salvage operator could get him hooked up to the trailer.

"Why do I need to be the one to pull the trailer? Why can't you have Barricade do it?" Ironhide groused angrily.

"Because a Mustang isn't designed to pull a seventeen foot trailer! They aren't built with the suspension, the frame, or the drive train! That's what they built trucks for. If Barricade gets seen pulling that trailer, he's gonna get stopped by every damned cop between here and the base. They won't even take a second look at you doin it, because you're a truck!" Daniel retorted.

Ironhide growled wordlessly and scanned the hitch assembly from a nearby vehicle, but not the one Daniel had indicated. He transformed back in to his alt mode and allowed Daniel to begin hooking up the trailer. He was more than ready to leave when Maigan finally came out of the house.

Maigan saw the trailer hooked up and apparently ready to go. She saw her uncle watching her and knew right away what he was watching for. She smirked as she began walking around both the truck and the trailer to double check everything to make sure that nothing would be lost during the trip.

The ropes, straps, and even the load of their personal belongings was firmly secured to the trailer, but when she got to the hitch where the trailer was hooked up, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Maigan looked from the hitch assembly to her uncle and started laughing even harder. Bracing herself against the trailer because she was laughing so hard, she looked at the hitch again and had sit down on the trailer because she was laughing even harder.

Daniel was snickering as he walked over to his niece. "I told him to get the hitch off the Ford, but he snagged the one off the Dodge instead. So it looks like you're stuck with it." He said starting to chuckle.

"I don't understand. What is so slagging funny about being forced to pull a trailer?" Ironhide complained angrily.

Barricade walked over to see what the humans were laughing at, and when he saw what was beneath the trailer hitch he too burst out laughing uproariously.

"Well... I ... I can't argue... with him having 'em!" Maigan exclaimed before she started laughing even harder.

"What the pit is so slagging funny?" Ironhide demanded with a bellow.

"You got a pair of Truck Nutz hanging from the hitch!" Daniel said with a snicker.

"Well it proves he's got balls!" Maigan cackled merrily.

"The question is does he have the bearings to keep them!" Barricade challenged laughing.

Ironhide hit the web to look up these Truck Nutz and found them to be an accessory made for nothing more than appearance, but the slogan 'tough enough to take a licking' nearly fried his processor when he realized that the plastic scrotum was already in place.

"Where in the hell did you get those anyway?" Maigan asked her uncle when she finally started catching her breath.

"They were on an old Dodge Dart that got wrecked, so I put em on a truck. I did point out a different hitch for him to scan, but Tackleberry apparently had another idea. I doubt that anybody's gonna argue about him havin em though. Cuz any truck that damned big has DEFINITELY got to have some balls!" Daniel answered.

"No kidding! I can see the jealous looks now." Maigan said with a smile.

"Just remember. NO RACING! That trailer ain't built to handle more'n eighty. So keep it there or slower. I want you two to head on back to Nellis, me and rust bucket will be along shortly." Daniel said seriously.

"Wait! You're not coming with us? Why not?" Maigan asked quickly.

"Yeah, why AREN'T you coming with us?" Ironhide demanded suspiciously.

"Look, I got almost one and half million dollars worth of copper layin around out here, and I'll be damned if some fuckin dope head just walks in an' steals it! They're stealin that shit off of poles, breakin into houses and strippin the shit out of the walls, so you can damned well bet that they won't leave my shit alone if they see it!" Daniel retorted angrily.

Maigan gave her uncle an odd look before she just had to ask.

"Why haven't you sold it then?" She asked him.

"Just waitin for the price to go up some." Daniel replied with a grin.

An hour later, most of the copper was buried beneath huge piles of scrap metal. The process had gone quickly because after seeing what was being done, Barricade had lent his considerable strength to the task. The salvage operator was stupefied by the sheer strength of the former Decepticon. The back hoe that he was using had larger hydraulics on it, but those that were built into Barricade's frame were obviously far more powerful despite their much smaller size.

"Come mere!" Daniel bellowed as soon as he shut down the back hoe when they were done.

Barricade looked over at the salvage operator and tried to figure out what was wrong with him now. Anger, confusion, curiosity, and surprise were all flowing to him through the bond he shared with the human. He walked over to see what the demented little man was upset about now.

Daniel didn't say anything as he started looking over the former Decepticon thoroughly.

"What the pit are you looking for?" Barricade finally asked irritatedly.

"I'm checkin your ass for busted lines you dumb assed bucket of bolts!" Daniel retorted.

Barricade sighed in irritation. "I did NOT exert myself! Nor did I use my full strength. Unlike you; I happen to know what my limitations are, and I didn't even come close to approaching those limits!" Barricade said as he moved away from junk yard owner.

Walking over to a 1968 Buick Roadmaster that had been crushed flat, and was being used to line the drive way, Barricade picked it up and held it casually over his head. The former Decepticon chuckled darkly at the dumbfounded look on the human's face as he easily put the two and a half ton vehicle down.

"Cybertronian systems are designed and built much better than your terrestrial counterparts." Barricade said smugly as he walked back over to the human.

Daniel was examining both the hydraulic system and the lines on Barricade's frame when he looked up at the sound of jet engines.

"Barricade! There you are. Wait what are you doing with a squishy? That IS a squishy right? Why haven't you squished it yet?" Said a large purple mech as it changed from an F-18 into a large robot.

"Don't call the human a squishy. You'll only make it mad, and if you do that, then I'll have to clean up the mess it makes out of you." Barricade warned, not wanting a fight when he actually had VERY few weapons available. He knew that Ratchet had removed and deactivated most of them, but the Autobot medic hadn't found them all, and what was left, wasn't really good for a fight against an aerial.

At the term 'squishy', Daniel had immediately stepped a few feet over to a pile of scrap and grabbed another of the numerous crowbars that were scattered about the junkyard in various places for easy access.

"Mind tellin me your name before you call me a squishy one more time?" Daniel said with a malicious grin.

"My designation is Skywarp. What's it to you Squishy?"

"Don't do it 'Warp! That human is not operating with a full set of processors." Barricade warned again.

"I thought that's what everyone says about me. Are you saying this squishy is worse?" Skywarp asked Barricade before turning back to the human.

Getting down on one knee, Skywarp leaned down so that his face was only inches from that of the junkyard owner.

"What? Doesn't the little squishy LIKE being called a squishy? If you don't like being called a squishy, I could always step on you and PROVE that you're a squishy!" Skywarp taunted gleefully.

Daniel didn't say a word as he tightened his grip on the four foot crowbar in his right hand. Instead, he looked the mech right in the optic as he quickly shoved the curved end of the crowbar up the mech's nose.

Daniel was prepared for the mech to pull back, and he was even prepared for the mech to raise up some. What he was NOT prepared for was to have the mech stand completely up to his full height. Even as he felt himself being lifted off the ground, Daniel got a firm grip on the crowbar with his left hand as well. Suddenly everything the salvage operator knew to be a solid immutable law of reality was turned inside out, as he experienced the absolute WEIRDEST sensation of his life.

Barricade had been surreptitiously bringing the few weapons left in his arsenal online. He was ready for a fight to break out. In fact, he'd been expecting one from the first time Daniel had been called a squishy. What he was not prepared for, was what actually happened.

Skywarp stood up to his full height, but unfortunately for him, the curved end of the crowbar had hooked into a passage in his nose, and did not release when he stood up. That meant that he now had not only the pain from the crowbar, but the added weight of the two hundred and fifty pound salvage operator dangling from his sensitive nostril. It was far more pain than he'd been prepared to deal with or even experience and his basic combat programs reacted instantly to extricate him from that pain.

FWOOP!

"GET!"

FWOOP!

"IT!"

FWOOP!

"OFF!"

FWOOP!

"GETITOFF!"

FWOOP!

"GETITOFF! GETITOFF! GET IT OFF!"

FWOOP!

"PLEASE!"

FWOOP!

"PRIMUS!"

FWOOP!

"GETITOFF!"

Barricade was so stunned by the constantly teleporting apparition, that he could only stare stupidly at the purple seeker who had a human dangling from his nose like a massive black clad organic booger while he blinked in and out of existence.

On the ground, in the air, all over the junkyard; Skywarp was popping in and out so fast, and so randomly that Barricade's battle computer was completely unable to determine where the seeker would show up next. Finally, the seeker popped out and didn't return.

Instantly Barricade felt the fluids in every one of his lines turn to ice. His spark fell even as he felt a horrible sinking sensation in the pit of his tanks. Whether he would admit to it or not, he'd actually started to like the unorthodox salvage operator, and the fact that he was now Primus alone knew where, and in the company of a seeker who was reputedly almost as deranged as the human was, all added up to a VERY bad mess. It was not a good situation.

"HOLY SHIT!" Daniel finally exclaimed, as the weird feeling of being turned inside out and thrown sideways finally stopped.

Suddenly, he felt himself falling. "Oh fuck!"

He ended up on the ground with the breath knocked out of him. It took him a minute or two to catch his breath, and when he did, he looked over at the purple mech who was lying on the ground flat on his back, and apparently out cold. Daniel shook his head and got up rather stiffly, he knew he was going to be sore tomorrow, after that little mess, but he figured that he'd worry about it later. Going over to the downed seeker, Daniel reached in to the neck juncture and shut the thing down. Climbing on top of the seeker, Daniel retrieved his crowbar, and sat down on the shoulder to have a smoke and try to figure out where the hell he was.

Daniel reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his smokes. He lit one up, took a drag, and looked around. He and the mech he was sitting on seemed to be in a ravine of some kind. The desert terrain was similar to that of his junkyard, but then he knew that the same terrain could be found anywhere within three hundred miles of his junkyard as well, so that was no help. He knew from the way everything looked that he could be anywhere in a one hundred and fifty mile radius of Mission City, if he wasn't somewhere else on the planet entirely.

Daniel was pretty sure that the purple mech had somehow teleported, but he had no clue as to how it had been accomplished. He pulled out his cell phone and checked to see what his signal strength was. Seeing zero bars on the screen was no surprise.

Just my damned luck! Daniel thought sourly.

He stuck his cell phone back in his pocket and got ready to light another smoke and figure out what he was going to do, when the left front pocket of his jeans started buzzing loudly. Surprised and more than a little confused, Daniel stood up and reached in to the pocket to pull out the portable scanner that Ratchet had given him but had never requested back. Daniel stared at the device stupidly for a few seconds before he finally activated it.

"Damnit human! Where in the forsaken pits of the slagging matrix are you? Why don't you answer the damned comm unit?" Barricade's voice demanded angrily.

"I forgot that I still had this damned thing!" Daniel retorted through the scanner.

"Well just wait there. I just got your location through the scanner and I'm on my way." Barricade replied.

Daniel didn't even have time to finish the second smoke he'd lit when Barricade came rolling up the ravine followed by an impossibly huge cloud of billowing dust. Daniel started coughing and hacking as he choked on the dust that Barricade had brought with him.

Barricade transformed quickly and looked down at the human sitting so calmly, and so nonchalantly on top of the notoriously impossible to catch seeker. With all the irritating bravado that the human had shown, Barricade was certain that he would never shut up about this one.

"I completely forgot about this damned thing." Daniel said holding up the portable scanner and comm unit with his left hand while still using his right to smoke.

"Well it's a slagging good thing I didn't, or you could have been stuck out here! I would have tried your cell phone first, but I don't have the frequency to it." Barricade retorted.

"Wouldn't 'ave made any difference anyways; damned thing ain't got signal." Daniel shot back.

Barricade looked at the teleporting seeker who was lying on the ground. There wasn't a single sign of visible damage to the seeker. Curiosity prompted the black and white mech to run a scan over it. Other than a somewhat low power level that was rapidly being replenished, he couldn't find anything wrong, except for the fact that the mech was deactivated.

"So what are you going to do with him now?" Barricade asked cautiously.

"I don't know." Daniel said in a thoughtful tone as he turned and looked at the mechs head, before looking back at Barricade. "Hadn't really thought about that part of it. Can you drag this big bastard back to the junk yard?"

"Not without help. I may be strong enough to lift his actual weight, but for some reason an unconscious mech feels like it weighs much more than they actually do." Barricade replied honestly.

"Yeah. Dead weight's a bitch ain't it?"

"What? What do you mean by dead weight? He's not dead yet you little slagger!" Barricade retorted angrily.

Daniel sighed heavily. "It's called dead weight. Maigan might weigh about a hundred and fifteen pounds. I can carry her weight without much problem by putting it on my shoulder, but trying to carry her while she's out cold, would be almost impossible for me, because she'd be dead weight. It's a fact of life that an unconscious body doubles in weight, and there ain't a damned thing you can do about it."

"That happens with humans too?" Barricade asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yup. So, I guess this means we got to head on back to the yard, and get my dozer to drag him back there." Daniel answered as he finished his smoke.

"Then what?" Barricade demanded suspiciously.

"Hell, I don't know!" Daniel said with a puzzled expression. "I guess we could load his big ass up on a flat bed, cover him up with some tarps, and then, maybe I could borrow a rig from a buddy of mine, and we can haul his ass back to Nellis and see what Big Rig wants to do with him."

"Or we could just offline him and you could sell him for scrap like you keep threatening to do." Barricade retorted with an evil smirk.

Daniel looked up at Barricade as if the mech had lost his processors in a bet.

"You're kiddin me right? I wouldn't have a fuggin clue as to where in the hell I'd even sell alloys like the ones he's made of! Although I'd find a use for them damned hydraulics REAL quick!" Daniel finished with a grin. "Anyway, he can't tell us what he knows if he's done been busted up."

"Hmm. You do have a point. Since he IS a member of Starscream's trine, he would know about what is currently happening among the Decepticons. That is information we can BOTH use." Barricade mused with a grin.

"An if he don't wanna talk, then I can scrap out his limbs one at a time until he DOES talk!" Daniel added with a menacing smile.

Barricade snickered as he transformed back into the Saleen Mustang. He was really beginning to like this human. Willing to share with those he considered to be friends, but as utterly ruthless as even the meanest of Decepticons towards his enemies.

Daniel got into the Mustang, and Barricade made short work in following the ravine to the back pasture of the junk yard. Barricade knew that Daniel was extremely lucky in that he'd somehow only ended up about a mile away from his junk yard. Barricade thought about explaining about the teleporter's ability, but didn't because he didn't really understand it himself.

As soon as they returned to the junkyard, Daniel began rounding up a ton of chains and taking them over to be placed on the back of a very rusted bull dozer. Looking like it had been built sometime during the second world war, there was hardly any of the original yellow paint left on it, the rest was mostly rust.

"You think that contraption will actually pull Skywarp back here?" Barricade asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah. She may not look like much, but she was built back when they knew how to make things last. She can pull his ass all the way back to Nellis, as long as I keep her tank filled. Although I don't think there'd be a whole lot left of Skywarp by the time we got there." Daniel retorted.

Barricade shuddered at the thought of just how that would sound and feel. "Well, then let's go get him. The sooner we get him back here the sooner we can get back to Nellis." Barricade groused.

Daniel climbed in to the seat of the old dozer and cranked it up. The seventy year old engine rumbled to life with no problem. Daniel put the dozer in gear and started heading back to where he had left the deactivated Decepticon.

Twenty minutes later, Barricade was looking at the bottom of the ravine with a scowl on his face plates. He knew that this was where they had left the mech. There was even the indention in the ground where the mech had fallen. The only problem was; there was no mech.

Daniel shut down the dozer and climbed down looking at the ground. "Well, is this where it's sposed ta be or not?"

"He was here. You can even see the depression in the dirt, but he's not here now." Barricade said irritably.

Daniel and the former Decepticon started looking around the area for any signs or clues, when they both spotted a series of deep imprints in the ground. They led further down the ravine and with out a single word to each other they both began following the strange imprints.

Fully an hour later, Daniel was really wishing that he had one of his drinks with him. At that point he was almost sure that he'd even be grateful for a damned Lo-Bal or a Monster Hammer. Both he and Barricade were intent on finding out just what had happened to the mech when they saw it lying on the ground ahead.

Forgetting his thirst for the moment, Daniel ran up to the downed mech and began looking it over. Nothing had changed, since it was still in a deactivated state, but Daniel shook his head as he tried to understand how it had gotten there. Looking around for any possible clues. The only thing in sight was the enormously huge piece of some kind of underground drilling equipment that was perhaps fifty feet away.

Daniel frowned as he realized that something wasn't right. He walked around slowly looking at both the mech, the strange looking drilling thing that he couldn't identify, and those weird looking tracks on the ground. He had a highly suspicious frame of mind as he walked over to the piece of unknown equipment and started walking around it, looking at it and the ground it was sitting on.

He knew that it was some kind of drilling tool because of the massive drill bit on the front of it. Fifteen feet long and about ten feet wide at the base, it was the BIGGEST drill bit for underground boring that Daniel had ever heard of! The entire assembly was mounted on huge treads that were more than twenty feet long and nearly five feet wide. What ever this thing was, it was huge! Dirt and dried mud were caked everywhere, and Daniel could see that nearly every cover panel on it was thicker than his entire body. He knew instantly that whatever it was had to be close to the maximum weight limit of the two wreckers back at Nellis, if this thing didn't EXCEED that limit! On a guess, Daniel estimated somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty tons, or more.

Suddenly Daniel got a truly nasty realization, and he looked at the ground of the ravine once more. He knew that this dry bed creek hadn't seen enough rain to get more than three inches deep in at least a decade, so where were the tracks made by this heavy monster of a machine. That was when he realized just what those strange indentions were that he and Barricade had followed.

With a mischievous smirk, Daniel turned to look at Barricade as he leaned against the strange machine. He saw Barricade making subtle motions to him to get away from the machine, but Daniel ignored them.

"Damn Barricade! Do you have any POSSIBLE idea just how much this thing is gonna be worth after I get it back to the yard and start cutting it up for scrap?" Daniel asked smugly.

Barricade instantly slammed his right palm into his face, while shaking his head. He knew, just KNEW that this glitch ridden little virus of a deranged human was going to get them both killed.

Barricade wasn't about to use his scanners, because he had instantly known from the size of the tracks that the mech they were dealing with was much bigger than he could effectively handle. He knew from looking at the alt mode that this was one huge mech, and it was also one that he wasn't sure he would be willing to face even if he had all of his weapons available to him. He knew one thing for sure, and it was that he wasn't about to frag this mech off with out a VERY good reason.

"Slag it Daniel! What are you trying to do? Get us BOTH killed?" Barricade demanded angrily.

Before Daniel could answer he was cut off by the sounds of grinding metal, shifting gears, and rocks being crushed.

As soon as he heard that noise, Daniel stepped away from the strange machine, and watched it curiously. Barricade transformed his hands in to a nasty series of plasma charged blades, and stepped back to make sure he was ready for anything.

As the strange mech finished transforming and stood up to his full height, Barricade couldn't help but gape in awe. Even as Daniel only reached as high as mid thigh on him, he could instantly see that he would only be as tall as mid thigh on the mech in front of him. He saw that even Optimus wouldn't reach any higher than the lower part of the mid chest on the mech. The really frightening part was that this mech was actually WIDER than he was tall!

Barricade felt his spark sink as he realized that if this came down to a fight, there was no chance of him getting through armor panels that were more than half as thick as his entire frame. Who ever this mech was, he had armor the likes of which Barricade had never seen before, and the sheer massiveness of the mech was more than a problem. The huge drill bit that had been mounted at the front of the machine was now split in to four pieces and was mounted on the forearms and shoulders of the huge mech that was now staring down at Daniel.

"Try it ya lil whipper snapper! You ain't no bigger than a corn nubbin, an I personally don't think you have any idea who you're tryin ta mess with!" The big mech said seriously.

Daniel looked over at Barricade and grinned.

"I knew that would get him to transform." He said proudly.

"Sonny, you'd better be real careful about makin comments like that cuz if'n you think I cain't bust your butt till you can't sit down for a whole week, then you got another thing comin! I'll bend you over one of my fingers and break out my razor strop an wear that butt of yours out but good! I didn't fall off of no turnip truck, and I ain't gonna take no lip from you. Understand me sonny?" The big mech said in a near growl.

Barricade listened to the warning that was issued and began to relax a bit. Whoever this mech was, he obviously didn't intend to kill them outright, or he would have done that already, instead of giving a warning. Seeing that there was at least the possibility of befriending this mech, Barricade shut down the power to his plasma blades and transformed them back into his hands.

Daniel pointed his left thumb over his shoulder at Barricade. "Yeah he keeps tellin me that, but for some reason, I just can't bring myself to listen to the Ol rust bucket. So what's your name anyway?"

"Name's Rockhammer, an I been around long enough, that I don't need ta take any lip. Not from you or anyone else either! Now why don't you just tell me what you were plannin on doin with that young 'un there!" Rockhammer demanded pointing at the deactivated form of Skywarp.

"Well, considering that he's a Decepticon, I'm taking him back to my junkyard where he can stay until Big Rig decides what to do with him." Daniel answered candidly.

"Ain't never heard of a mech called Big Rig. So that ain't tellin me nothin." Rockhammer replied.

"Well, the actual name is Optimus, if that helps." Daniel answered.

"That still don't tell me nothin, boy cause, I ain't heard of him either." Rockhammer said sourly.

"You haven't heard of Optimus Prime? He is the rightful and lawful leader of Cybertron, and you haven't heard of him? Where have you been, and how long were you there?" Barricade asked in near shock.

"I been right here sonny! I know some of the Primes personally, and this Optimus of yours ain't one of 'em. Now why don't you just tell Ol Rockhammer what's been going on, cuz I think you two young-uns got some serious explainin to do! An ain't neither one of ya told me why I shouldn't get this here other young 'un up an runnin again." Rockhammer stated in a tone that said he wasn't taking no for an answer. "As for where I've been, I been right here on this here planet for more than five hundred million years. I was assigned to do a deep core prospect on what ores this planet might have, so that we could use 'em to build colonies outside Cybertron's solar system."

Barricade gaped as his processors reeled in shock. There were legends and myths of more than a single Prime, but all of that was supposed to have been near the time of the Original Thirteen. The original thirteen were supposed to be a rumor, but this mech claimed to KNOW them!

Daniel looked up at the big mech with a curious expression on his face. "Okay, if you been here for that damned long, then why in the hell are you showing up now?"

"Don't cuss me boy. I still got my razor strop handy, so I can bust your butt good! I been workin mines on this here planet for generations. I been workin side by side with your miners, an we made a good team. Then this one company buys out the mine, and everybody tells me that I got ta get out while I still can before they find out about me, so here I am. A deep core prospector, with no mine to work. Cain't mine this world cuz according to the laws, there's a civilization here, so this place is out. I was about ta head on back ta Cybertron, when I found the young-un over there." Rockhammer said matter of factly, before he turned dead serious. "Now it's your turn to tell me what's been goin on, and why this one shouldn't be up an runnin!"

"Look. It's like this. The Decepticons want to wipe the Autobots off the face of the universe, so they can take over and do what ever the hell they want. Autobots are tryin like hell to stop 'em. That guy there is a Decepticon, and from what I know, they ain't too damned happy about us humans, and would love nothin more than to kill us as well." Daniel answered bluntly.

"So what exactly were ya planning on doin with him? You gonna kill him in cold blood?" Rockhammer asked with narrowed optics.

"Nope! I'm gonna figure out a way to get him back to Nellis Air Force base, and let Optimus make that decision. He makes the decisions, I do the repairs." Daniel said with a grin. "Speaking of repairs. You look and sound horrible. I'll bet a good blast from a pressure washer would do ya some good. Not to mention a few tubes from a grease gun. Can't do anything about the paint, but I can sure get you cleaned up some, and give you a tune up."

The large mech peered down at the human who wasn't even as tall as his knee. "Son, if you can do that, I'd be much obliged. I can't tell ya how long it's been since my last tune up."

Rockhammer knelt down to get a little closer to the junk yard owner. Suddenly, Daniel ducked in reflex as a rock exploded after being crushed by the mech's knee joint.

"I'm right sorry about that. That's one of the reasons I'm gonna take you up on that offer, if ya don't mind." Rockhammer said sincerely.

He'd remained on this planet much longer than he should have been after finding himself in the midst of other sentient miners, more than two hundred years ago. He'd inadvertently discovered the humans after a cave in of the shaft they were working. His highly developed sensors had detected the vibrations, and movements of the screaming humans through several miles of rock. Realizing that these natives were simply using less advanced methods of mineral extraction, he knew immediately that they had to be sentient. He'd never regretted rescuing those miners, and nothing could ever make him do so, but now it seemed that there might be something going on that could possibly threaten this developing civilization. He needed more information badly, and the only way he could see getting it, was from this human, and his Cybertronian companion.

Using his sensors rather than his optics, Rockhammer took a good look at the second Cybertronian he'd seen in more ages than he cared to count. Built for agility and speed, the mech was obviously fast. The armor on the mech wasn't anywhere close to being as durable as his, and could in no way tolerate the extremely high temperatures found deep in a planetary mantle. The arms of the little mech were obviously where the primary strength was located, and Rockhammer shook his head. Never before in his existence had he ever seen a mech like this. He'd seen warrior bots before, but this one... This one had apparently taken fighting to spark. Then a nasty suspicion hit his processors.

"How can you tell that young-un is one of those Decepticons, and how can you tell which side he's on?" Rockhammer demanded of the human pointing first at the Decepticon, and then at Barricade himself.

"Autobots tend to display a red emblem of a different kind of face, and Decepticons wear that purple face. I know what side this guy's on, because he nearly got killed trying to talk someone else into not wiping us out." Daniel answered pointing out the faction emblem on the seeker.

"In that case; I think I need to have a little pow-wow with this Optimus of yours. I got a lot of questions that are wantin answers, an I don't rightly see getting those answers out here in the middle of the desert." Rockhammer said easily.

"Now just what was you planning on doin to get this young-un back to this junk yard of yours, and why a junk yard at that?" Rockhammer asked.

"Well, I was gonna hook him up to my dozer and pull him back, but that was left back where he was. As for the junkyard, well… That's what I did before I found out about you guys, since then, I've worked on more than a couple of you." Daniel said as Barricade started snickering.

"Now just why do you think that's funny son?" Rockhammer snapped at the enforcer.

"He pulled Jazz out of the matrix, and my femme creator Starglide back from the brink of it. I think it's funny that he's not bragging. ESPECIALLY considering how obnoxious he is about everything else!" Barricade replied still snickering.

Rockhammer nodded his head. Then he reached over and grabbed the unconscious form of Skywarp and lifted the seeker to his shoulder before he stood up. "Now why don't you quit starin at me and give the little young-un a lift, since his legs ain't near as long as yours. Cause I guarantee that your short little nubbins are gonna have a tough time keepin up with my long legs, an he ain't gonna be able to do it at all."

Daniel looked over at Barricade as he gaped at the way that Rockhammer had so casually draped the seeker over his shoulder. He'd seen how strong Barricade was, and an unintentional display of strength that would make the mech stare was probably not a good thing if Rockhammer decided to get violent. He waited until Barricade stepped closer to him and then he suddenly kicked the mech in his ankle.

"What in the slagging Pit was that for you rotten little glitch of a fleshwad?" Barricade snarled as he and the human grabbed at their ankles.

"That was for being rude to him by staring, and for mocking me damnit!" Daniel snapped.

Rockhammer watched the two for a second before something occurred to him. "You kicked him with the other foot, so why are you holdin the same ankle he is?"

"That's because the rotten meatbag and I share a stinking spark bond of brotherhood, and if you know of some way to break it without killing us; PLEASE tell me so I can be done with this little glitch!" Barricade groused irritably.

"I'm not gonna ask, cause I'm pretty sure I don't want to know anymore on that one." Rockhammer muttered loud enough that the other two heard it.

Daniel started snickering loudly. "Face it rust bucket, you're STUCK with me!"

"You may be right about that, you over evolved slime puddle, but if I EVER get a chance to be rid of you... WATCH how fast it happens!" Barricade threatened mirthfully as he reached down and picked up the target of his threat.

Rockhammer just shook his head after deciding not to get involved in what was apparently a family issue. "Come on kids. I think we got some places to go, don't we?"

The long legs of the two mechs made good time as they headed down the ravine back towards the junkyard, and it wasn't long before they came upon an old, faded, and rusted D-5 Caterpillar that was baking in the hot desert sun that was beating down into the ravine. Rockhammer looked at the old dozer, before he looked down at Daniel sitting in Barricade's hand. "Is that thing yours?"

"Yep. She may be old, but she runs like a champ." Daniel stated proudly.

Rockhammer made no comment about the old bull dozer as he reached down with his left hand, and easily picked the old dozer up.

"Okay, now how far is it to this junkyard of yours?" He asked nonchalantly.

Daniel and Barricade both gaped at the casual display of strength that the big mech so readily displayed. Barricade knew that the bull dozer was something that he wouldn't have been able to move, let alone actually lift, but somehow this big mech had done just that.

Daniel, who'd owned the dozer for several years, knew exactly how much it weighed. At fifty-two tons, that thing was no light weight piece of machinery. Rockhammer's strength was nothing to be sneered at. Daniel stared for nearly a full minute in stunned silence at the old mech before he elbowed Barricade to get his attention.

"Remind me to NEVER piss that dude off." Daniel said softly.

Barricade only nodded his head as he watched the large mech move with ease while carrying such a heavy load. Then he realized something. "By the way, my name is Barricade, and my human friend here is named Daniel." He stated making a rather late introduction.

"Friend, huh? When the hell did we hit that point?" Daniel ribbed.

"For me, it was when you saved the life of my femme creator, and if you ever tell anyone... I'll squish you." Barricade retorted.

Okay folks, That's the end of this chapter, and I would like all of you to thank Vader's Bane for helping me out with ideas on this. Next chapter is in the works. Also I know that there is no type of Drilling rig like the one described in here, because Rockhammer has kept his Cybertronian alt mode.