AN: Near the end the two incidents mentioned (about the list and Wheeljack's lab) are stories I have seperate from this one. You can find them by just going to my profile page, of course. "Left to their own devices" is Sam and Miles with an Offlined Wheeljack. "A list made by Sam and Epps" is a 'you know you're spending too much time with the cybertronians when:' kinda thing. You don't have to read them to stick with this story, but it will add to it.
I have the next chapter all ready to upload IF I get one more review. I have the other four, I want one more. I know a lot more than five people read this
Bookworm Gal: Thanks!
cascadenight: I'm glad you like this story. I hope you continue to enjoy it, and thanks for the review!
writergurl616: I have to agree, I don't think Prowl will be going anywhere near Miles willingly, or at least on his own.
Noella50881: Glad you enjoy Miles bugging Prowl! Thanks for the review.
Autobot Firekat: I think a lot of humans would make Prowl's glitch activate. We're just too "illogical" for him.
LionLover190: Here's your update! Glad you enjoy it and thanks for the review!
And I bring in Mason! Mason is Miles' Mastiff, if you don't remember him from the '07 movie.
The mission group had arrived back already, but the debriefing hadn't happened yet. Instead the first few hours of the morning where spent making sure everyone was fed, washed, and as healthy as Ratchet would like. He spent the most time on Jazz and Miles respectively, Miles being the only human to be noticeably hurt, and Jazz having just come back from the dead. They decided to hold the debriefing in Will's office, this meaning the Cybertronians had to use their holoforms. Optimus Prime, Barricade, and Bumblebee were already in there, along with Sam. Mikaela had already gone home to help her father with the car shop.
Jazz and Epps walked in together, Jazz having based his holoform off of Epps. The skin tone was exactly the same, and the hair was dark brown, but besides that Jazz was taller and had his own looks to him. Miles followed soon after with Fig and Will, and behind them came the holoforms of Prowl and Ironhide. First Aid, Inferno, Wheeljack, and Trailbreaker had been allowed to skip the debriefing, and Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been dismissed to show the four new 'bots around. Optimus sat behind Will's desk for the moment, and those from the mission all stood in front of it.
"It is good to see you back, old friend." Optimus said, addressing Jazz. "I do have to commend you on your choice of holoform, it will help us blend in more if we diversify our looks."
Jazz grinned, "Glad ta be back, Optimus."
Optimus let his holoform's gaze sweep across the seven in front of him, before landing on Miles. "I've heard that you had quiet the time. I am unsure whether to question why you took on Ravage on your own, or if I should be weary of the answer. So instead, how is your prognosis?"
"Just fine, Optimus." Miles said, grinning. "And that was kind of a miscalculation on my part. I forgot that just because Sideswipe said kitty did not mean I would see Ravage the same way. Honestly, I was more afraid of tentacle pron."
"Tentacle pron?" Optimus asked, raising an optic ridge.
"Do not look that up under any circumstances, Prime." Prowl said dryly, standing straight at attention. "It is a rather odd idea from the humans and picturing the Decepticon Communications Officer Soundwave doing such things is… unpleasant, to say the least."
"Not my fault you took it upon yourself to imagine it right after you looked it up." Miles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Optimus tried not to look as amused as he felt. "I see you two have been…" He paused as he considered his word choice. "Getting along well."
"I fully commend Decepticon Neutral Barricade on how long he has put up with Civilian Miles Lancaster. I thought all Decepticons were programmed to kill anything they found annoying, and yet Civilian Miles Lancaster still lives." Prowl replied, eyes narrowed as he glanced back at Barricade.
"Hey!" Miles cried indignantly. "Are you calling me annoying?"
"So he still hasn't figured out that Jazz put you up to it yet?" Will asked, letting it slip before he could stop himself.
The room went silent for a moment as Prowl turned and looked to Jazz, who was doing his best to look innocent. The look on Prowl's face was an odd one; a mix between anger, confusion, and why me. Miles was the one to break the silence, surprisingly, as he looked between Prowl and Optimus with a slightly nervous gaze.
"He's technically my superior officer so that means I was just following orders. I can't be put in the brig for that, can I?" Miles hesitantly asked, causing Epps to start laughing.
Optimus let his face mask drop down to hide his amusement. "I believe Prowl might have to work on a rule book that covers Cybertronians and humans working together, but no, you won't be put in the brig."
"Alright!" Miles grinned, going and leaning against the wall near Barricade, Sam, and Bumblebee.
"We will have a talk later in my office, Jazz." Prowl said, seeming to ignore Miles and his Prime.
"Aw, Prowler, Ah was jus' havin' some fun." Jazz said, a smirk coming onto his face as he got ready to play his trump card. "Comin' back from the dead an' all, Ah jus' wante' a sense of… normalcy."
Most of the anger had visibly left Prowl at that, he kept his glare at Jazz for a moment before turning back to Optimus. He ignored Epps, who was snickering, and the fact that his Prime was hiding his beyond obvious amusement.
"When I do write that rule book Miles has helped me think of many things to add to it." Prowl said, not even looking at Miles. "No pretending to have a speed radar to scare humans into behaving the law, no gum, no sending a Cybertronian to search for something that will cause any glitch they have to kick in, and no 9,001 cubes of energon on the wall."
Sam smirked, "Why 9,001?" He knew exactly why, of course, but that didn't mean he couldn't get enjoyment out of asking.
Epps, Will, Miles, Jazz, and even Bumblebee ended up saying "Because it's over 9,000!" at the same time. Sam broke into laughter, while Ironhide and Fig just shook their heads in amusement. Barricade rolled his eyes and Optimus smiled behind his facemask. Prowl merely looked confused.
If nothing else, he was happy to see that his 'bots had been taking to the human culture, and even enjoying some of it as well as getting along with Earth's most dominant species. He would be sad to see the day when their current human allies had to pass, and generally tended to push the thought out of his processors. He knew how close some of his 'bots were getting to them, especially Bumblebee and Ironhide. He'd hate to see their reaction when they died.
He coughed, drawing everyone's attention to him again. "If you would begin the debriefing, Prowl. I'm sure most of us would like to be somewhere else."
"You got that right!" Epps said, stretching his arms above his head. "Miles and me stayed up the whole last day just to drive Prowl bonkers. I'm getting too old for that without my blood mainly consisting of coffee."
Prowl pointedly decided to ignore that remark, and started to talk. He went over which human had been in which Autobot, where they stopped, what time they stopped, and what they stopped for. Any purchases that the humans made and actually brought into the Autobots were mentioned. How they had abused his alt mode most of the way to get their faster, but still ending up a day late. The battle with Soundwave and the cassetticons, how he took out Rumble but was offlined by the rest of the mini 'cons. That Fig, Will, and Epps deactivated Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, and that Miles had gone after Ravage and had eventually worked with Prowl to deactivate the animalistic mech. He went over any wounds that had occurred, and how long it took them to get to Oklahoma. He included that Epps was the one to put the Allspark shard in Jazz's spark chamber, and that First Aid had looked over the 'bots and humans a bit. Then he included the ride home.
By the time he was done about an hour had past, he was nothing if not thorough. Epps had begun shifting from foot to foot, discreetly taking out his phone and occasionally texting Will. Will did his best to ignore Epps until the Sergeant started to kick him in the shin to get him to reply. Fig pulled out a paper back from his pants, though no one could figure out how he had managed to stuff it in there. Ironhide and Jazz just let most of their consciousness return to their real bodies, accessing the internet, cleaning weapons, and talking to people outside of the office. Barricade and Optimus just staid still and listened, though both wandered off in their own thoughts. Miles had fallen asleep standing up, and Bumblebee and Sam were currently throwing pieces of paper at each other.
It took everyone a moment to realize that Prowl had finished, well those still alert, anyway. Jazz and Ironhide snapped back to their holoforms, Will and Epps put their phones away, Fig stuffed the book back in his pants pocket, and Sam and Bumblebee brushed little pieces of paper off themselves. Sam didn't notice that Miles had fallen asleep until Barricade had nudged him, and gestured to their mutual friend.
"Thank you, Prowl. You, Sam, Bumblebee, Barricade, and Miles may go." Optimus said, effectively dismissing them before he turned his attention to the others in his office. He told Epps, Will, and Fig he expected a report from each of them, and the same to Ironhide and Jazz.
Sam got up with a grin on his face, going over to Miles and pushing him into Barricade. "Here, you can have him."
This naturally startled Miles into waking up, panicking as he stumbled and started to fall. He began to wish he hadn't fallen asleep around Sam just as Barricade stepped out and grabbed him. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, his mind still dusting away the cobwebs of sleep.
"Barry!" Miles exclaimed, grinning up at the holoform's face. "I heard you were a good boy while I was gone. I'm very proud of you."
Barricade scoffed, glaring at Miles as he let go of the teenager. "It's amazing how quickly you make me wish I had dropped you."
Sam snickered while Miles put on a pout. "Aww, Barry, you know you missed me!"
"Think again, fleshling." Barricade growled, leaving the room.
"He missed me." Miles told Sam, smirking at his friend.
"I'm just happy you haven't been killed yet." Sam replied, throwing his arm around Miles' shoulders. "We need to keep you away from Cybertronians with cop car alt modes, my friend." He steered his friend out of Will's office, Bumblebee following behind them.
"I have to agree with Samual on this one, Miles. I am pleasantly surprised that Barricade has restrained from deactivating you." Bumblebee teased, smirking slightly.
Miles huffed, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two. Soon as someone does kill me for being obnoxiously annoying you'll both be sorry!"
Bumblebee and Sam laughed, the three meeting up with Barricade near the humans dining facilities so that Sam could grab lunch, before heading to the barracks so Miles could get some sleep.
Miles had gone back to school and caught up with anything he had missed while on the mission. Halloween was drawing closer and closer, and Sam, Miles, and Mikaela were spending as much time at the NEST base as they could. During this time there was only two significant things to happen; these being the list that Sam and Epps started, and the incident in Wheeljack's lab. After Sam and Miles had been trapped in the wreckage of Wheeljack's lab they were now banned from going anywhere near it, much to their chagrin.
Miles was currently at the lake with his dog, Mason. Not many people were there on an early Saturday morning, and he had walked, Barricade still made to stay at the NEST base. Both human and dog were soaking wet as Miles tossed another stick for Mason to fetch into the lake. Both the boy and the dog were surprised when a cop car pulled up, and Mason ran right past Miles to sniff at it.
"Barry?" Miles asked, confusion evident in his voice as he walked towards the Cybertronian and his dog. "I thought they were still keeping you on a short leash?"
"Captain Lennox has something he wishes to talk to you and Ladiesman217 about. Hop in, we're going straight there." Barricade replied, inching away from the Mastiff.
"Mason has to come too, then." Miles said, putting a hand on Barricade's hood. "Knowing how NEST is I won't make it back till late Sunday evening, if I make it into school on Monday, and the 'rents are gone for the weekend. I swear I've never missed school so much in my life."
"That… thing is not getting inside of me. It is wet and muddy, and has claws." Barricade growled, revving his engine and scaring Mason enough to back up towards Miles.
Miles put his hands on his hips, deciding to ignore the fact that he probably looked ridiculous glaring at a cop car. "He is coming or I'm not, and that's that."
Barricade snarled, contemplating just leaving before deciding against it. "If he does anything inside of me it will be you I do things to as I see fit."
"Fine, fine. Whatever you say." Miles said, coaxing Mason closer to the car and inside of the back.
Miles would come to regret not taking Mason home, or at least seeing if Judy and Ron Witwicky could look over the Mastiff. He thought it was bad when Mason had left prints all over the backseat due to the mud on his paws, even leaving them on the window at one point, but Barricade just ignored it. He cringed when Mason did a full body shake, spraying water over most of the things in the vehicle, but still Barricade endured.
It wasn't until he had started to notice the "potty behavior", as his parents deemed it, that he began to get really worried. The drive to the NEST base was about two hours if it was a normal car or the Cybertronian was obeying the laws, and Barricade seemed to be all set for mostly obeying them on this particular day. He supposed it was because this was the first time Barricade had been let off the base, but either way he wished that it hadn't been so. They were almost to the NEST base when Miles knew Mason couldn't hold it anymore, and he desperately tried to get the Decepticon neutral to pull over. Barricade had refused, believing that the animal could hold it for just a few minutes more.
They had just pulled in to base when it happened, and Barricade immediately screeched to a halt as Miles groaned, sinking down in his seat. "No, Mason, no!" He cried, turning to glare at his dog, who just wagged his tail in return.
Sam and Bumblebee, who was in his bipedal form, walked over to Barricade, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly. Sam walked over to the passenger side where Miles was, tapping on the window. When it rolled down he peered inside, noticing Mason in the back and what looked like a huge wet spot. He took in Miles' paler than normal face and made the connection instantly. He opened the back door and let the Mastiff out.
Miles tried to unbuckle his seat belt, but found it stuck fast. "Barry, can you uh, unbuckle me?" He asked softly, not receiving a reply. "Barricade…?"
"No, Miles. You are not going anywhere." Barricade snarled, his engine roaring back to life as the back door slammed shut. His entire frame was shaking slightly from anger.
Miles looked at Sam with wide eyes, clawing at the seat belt. He stopped when he felt it tighten around him, pressing him firmly against the seat.
Sam smirked as he leaned in the window towards Miles, "Don't worry, Fleshling. I won't punish you… too hard." He drawled in a low, husky tone. He was repeating a line that Miles himself had said once when they were stuck in Wheeljack's lab and had decided to have fun with innuendos.
"Oh God, I seriously, seriously hate you, Sam!" Miles squeeked, eyes widening as he became torn between slight amusement and horror over what was bound to happen to him.
"Try to bring a piece of him back for his parents, Barricade." Sam said, laughing as he patted the side of Barricade's alt form and backed away.
He watched as the window was rolled up quickly, effectively stopping him from hearing whatever Miles was trying to say. He waved as the Decepticon quickly backed out, and tore out of the NEST base. He turned around, going over to Bumblebee and Mason.
Bumblebee watched as Barricade left with Miles, slowly playing the Funeral March as he looked back down at Sam.
"Yeah, Bee, he's a goner." Sam replied, trying not to laugh as he bent down and petted Mason.