AN: My dad turned on Transformers while I was on the stairs. "Is that Transformers?" "Yes." *listens to epic music* "First movie?" "Yes." *epic music, some transformation sounds* "Where they all meet?" "Yes." I felt accomplished :D
Reviews: Thanks to BrowneyedShamer, MissShelz, Noella50881, DarkHunter643, Sharta, and supergirlprime for reviewing!
AN2: Things will get more heated in the next chapter, promise! I know it's been building up, and what's coming next is actually even more build up. Mwahaha. This chapter is mainly just breaking the tension that's starting because of what may or may not be happening to team Alpha Minor B, and then talking about Barricade's feelings.
Question: A facebook page for this story? The main reason would just be to make it easier if anyone has any questions, comments, suggestions, etc and wants to voice them. FF does have PM's, but those only go so far.
AN3: supergirlprime has pointed out that they want to see more of Orion, so I'm thinking about writing a sidestory featuring the sparkling. It obviously wouldn't be my main concern, but if I got a cute idea I'd update it. Like or dislike?
AN4: If anyone has any requests/suggestions you can certainly make them! Like the one with Orion, which I actually plan on doing at this point. If I like it enough, or get an idea for it, then I might do it. No promises, though!
Chapter 48
Beneficial friends
After the base wide alert about team Alpha Minor B, everyone had been rushed awake. Optimus, First Aid, both sets of twins, Inferno, Blurr, Ironhide, Blaster, Soundwave, the Cassetticons, Wheeljack, and Trailbreaker had gone to meet the call. Soundwave and the cassetticons had been taken just in case they could negotiate any other defects, or if Soundwave could talk sense into Megatron, to tell him the war was over. This left Barricade, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Jazz, Prowl, Skyfire, Red Alert, Wheelie, Orion, Groundhog, and the Dinobots as the only 'bots left on base.
Sam, Miles, Epps, Will, Trent, Mikaela, Wheelie, and the holoform's of Bumblebee, Skyfire, Groundhog, Barricade, and Jazz sat around one of the cafeteria tables. Ratchet had Orion with him, and Prowl, Graham, Fig, and Red Alert were watching over the command center. They sat in silence, each waiting to hear any news, to hear the call. The call bringing good news of rescue, or the call bringing bad news of loss or severely wounded.
Of course, the team going to meet up with Alpha Minor B had to travel into space first, and establish a better connection with the small Autobot fleet. Depending on complications, this could take more than one day. The team was supposed to report back every six hours to check in, and give a status update. Until then no one, or mech, had much to go off of. The NEST organics had even less than their Cybertronian counterparts, seeing as they didn't even know that the Cybertronians had an easy means of traveling back into space. Almost all of the organics had spoken up, wanting to go along. That notion had been shot down fairly quickly, though.
Skyfire glanced around the table, taking in the anxious faces of the soldiers, and the tired but worried ones of Trent, Sam, Mikaela, and Miles. Jazz and Bumblebee were surprisingly silent, while Barricade just seemed to be in one of his no talking moods. Groundhog seemed fairly awkward, as if he was unsure how to act in this situation. He hadn't been around long enough to be that close to any of the 'bots, especially since he was mainly working on getting reacquainted with Barricade, and getting used to tiny organics. Besides Barricade, he was actually fairly partial to First Aid, a fellow mech in training who was used to being in a team.
Skyfire was a mech of science, and this generally involved a lot of talking. Sitting around and worrying whether or not one of the 'bots that went out might eventually be fighting Starscream, that his old friend might be killed by one of his new friends, wasn't nearly as productive as if he spent his time asking questions he had stored away for a time when people wouldn't be so busy. This appeared to be such a time, so he decided that he would be the one to break the silence.
"Samuel, are you and Bumblebee friends with benefits?" Skyfire asked, turning to look at the teen and his Guardian, who sat beside him.
Sam stared at Skyfire in shock, while Miles burst out laughing. Bumblebee gave the scientist an incredulous look, while making a mental note to make sure he have a talk with the mech about using google before asking his questions out loud. Mikaela immediately looked slightly guilty, holding Wheelie on her lap. No one really seemed to notice; Will was too busy trying not to laugh, and Epps and Trent were silently shaking. Barricade and Groundhog just stared at Skyfire.
"Where did you even get that?" Trent questioned while he looked at Sam, who still appeared too shocked to answer.
"Mikaela, Sarah, and Maggie were talking one night, and I heard it mentioned between the three of them."
"No, Sky. Bee and I are not friends with benefits." Sam grumbled, glaring at Mikaela. His ex-girlfriend made a point of not looking at him, and Sam couldn't bring himself to get angry at Skyfire. The mech was just like a gentle giant, if not a bit too curious.
"Oh, I see." Skyfire replied, before looking at Miles and Barricade. "Are you two friends with benefits?"
That stopped Miles laughing almost immediately, while Barricade just stared at the scientist. The ex-con had decided that if Miles saw fit to deem that question with a response, then the teen could respond however he wanted. Barricade would just ignore the mech.
"Not nearly as funny when it's pointed at you, is it, buddy?" Sam asked, smirking.
Miles glared at his friend, "Skyfire, please look up the term friends with benefits." A pause, before he continued heatedly. "And I swear to Primus I do not care if you like learning things without the help of the internet, because there are just some times where you are better off googling!"
Skyfire looked a little put out, but googled the term anyway. The humans took a moment to be surprised by how expressive the Cybertronians could be. They tended to do this when mechs like Skyfire, Soundwave, Ironhide, or Barricade were more expressive than usual. Soundwave was the favorite, though, mainly because it annoyed him by how interested they were.
"Oh, I see. I apologize; I seemed to have crossed a social line." Skyfire said softly, before looking back at them. "But you did not deny it."
Miles let his head hit the table, while Sam, Bumblebee, Epps, Jazz, and Trent snickered. Groundhog contemplated looking up the term, before deciding against it. Humans could be such odd creatures, after all. Barricade looked torn between amusement and annoyance.
"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, Sky." Jazz intoned, grinning widely. Neither Groundhog or Skyfire had been there for the particular incident the saboteur was referring too, but everyone and mech else knew what was being hinted at.
"Jazz, so not helping!" Miles groaned, unsure how much the two mechs had been filled in on, or whether Jazz would bother sending them a databurst to fill them in. Both Groundhog and Skyfire tried to look up the meaning of Vegas.
"Holy frag!" Poor Groundhog sounded startled, drawing all attention to him. He was still what everyone else counted as new to Earth, and even Skyfire knew what sites to avoid. Groundhog, however, had not stumbled on any really bad ones until just now. Ratchet had programmed in a fail-safe when dealing with human websites, no mech sure if a human virus could do any significant damage to a Cybertronian, or if it could mutate to affect a Cybertronian. So if the site would give the mech a virus, or had already given the mech a virus, then they would be unable to get out of said site, and somemech would need to help them.
"Oh, Groundhog, get off whatever site you're on and scan yourself." Miles ordered, frowning at Groundhog's holoform.
"I can't get off it!"
Barricade snorted, "Told you we should have set parental controls on him."
"Barry!" Miles scowled at his Guardian, "You would have been beyond pissed if we did that to you. Now just help him, he might pick up a Trojan virus, and it'll be me answering to Ratchet if he does!"
"But-"
"No buts!"
Everyone, and holoform, watched this in interest, Skyfire especially. The others were just really amused by it, and Sam, Trent, and Epps were trying their hardest not to laugh. Barricade went about actually helping his teammate, too amused to be angry about how stupid Groundhog was.
"My question is," Will interrupted the slight quiet, "If they break up, who gets custody of Groundhog?"
All eyes, be they simulated or not, turned to look at Will, and then back at Barricade, Miles, and Groundhog. Fortunately, Groundhog had been rescued from whatever disturbing organic site he had got himself trapped on. Unfortunately, he happened to hear Will's comment, and stared at the Captain completely confused. Groundhog once again found himself at a point where he was unsure rather to be offended or freaked out. Considering it meant that he was referred to as the child of an organic and his old team leader, again, and this time not even by the one of the two, he picked freaked out. Miles and Barricade simply looked at each other, and then spoke in unison.
"My mom."
"Elizabeth."
Laughter around the table and for a moment the previous tenseness was forgotten. Them speaking in unison only managed to freak Groundhog out even more, the mech knowing nothing about Miles' mother.
Groundhog vented softly, "If she's anything like her son, I believe I am screwed."
"Should've stayed with the 'cons, dude." Sam teased, grinning. Then he got up, looking to Miles. "C'mon, Wheeljack said he finished our shoes and left 'em on our beds."
Barricade looked to Bumblebee, "Go with them. I don't want to clean up organic chunks later."
"Barry, they're watching us." Miles said, looking up from the chess board, and glancing over.
Bumblebee, Groundhog, and Sam sat on another couch, the group having moved to the rec-room and lost some of it's previous members a while ago. Miles and Barricade sat facing each other on the floor, a chess board in between them. Bumblebee, Sam, and Groundhog all were looking at them.
Barricade grunted, "That they are."
Miles rolled his eyes, before moving one of his pieces. He stayed silent, but kept looking pointedly at Barricade, and then at the others. Finally, Barricade grew annoyed enough to turn to the other three in the room.
"What?" Barricade snapped, while Miles grinned.
"You're training him to talk?" Bumblebee asked, snorting.
"I won't be there to ask his questions all the time, Bee." Miles replied, ignoring the glare he got from the ex-con. "Now why are you three staring? I know I'm hot, but Sam already has pictures of me to drool over."
Sam snickered, "Narcissist, and Groundhog brought up a question a while ago that has us all wondering. Just how did you survive being alone with 'Cade without him killing you for so long?"
"Truthfully?" Miles asked, speaking before Barricade could get a sarcastic remark in. "I let him think he could train me."
This remark took both Groundhog and Barricade by surprise, but Bumblebee and Sam not so much. Sam had long ago accepted the fact that his friend would always be strange, but it seemed to help him when it came to taming Barricade, so he didn't mind. Bumblebee had merely accepted all humans as strange creatures.
"Excuse me? You let me think that I could train you?" Barricade asked in disbelief, staring at Miles.
"Barry, that's the main reason I really talked about Mason in the first place." Miles stated calmly, trying hard not to grin. It was rare when he could get Barricade so off guard, especially in public. "I thought mentioning the training system might have a good effect, because I was really hoping for an easy way to deal with you, and it worked like a charm. You were a lot easier to deal with if you thought you were 'training me'."
Both of them had treated each other differently back when they had first met. Miles had been a lot more cautious, though Barricade probably didn't think so. Barricade held a lot more respect for the squishy organic now.
"He tried to train you through rewards? That's priceless!" Sam laughed, "How'd he do it?"
"Well, he couldn't exactly give me treats, so he started calling me by my name more. He also referred to the organic race as a whole in more pleasant ways, and let me touch him more. It made dealing with him a lot easier, since he was a tad more pleasant. Besides that, I did it so he'd have an easier time adjusting to the fact he only had a tiny organic who he couldn't kill as company, but I think it worked out well for both of us in the end. But I also think that's what caused our fight just before I went with the Allspark shard retrieval group, so that was a drawback."
Barricade cursed loudly in Cybertronian, startling Miles and drawing all eyes to him. The ex-con growled at Miles, "You were training me when I thought I was training you, you little son of a glitch!"
Sam started to laugh again, and Miles smirked. Bumblebee was attempting to help Groundhog understand everything, so they reacted very little. When Groundhog was all caught up, he looked between his old team leader and the organic that had befriended him first.
"You were lucky enough to be found by a very smart organic, Barricade." Groundhog said, sounding as amused as he actually was. "What I'd like to really know, though, is when you started feeling towards him as something more than a mere being you had to put up with as a means to reach a preferred end."
"I'd actually like to know that, myself." Miles leaned back, studying the board. "I'm pretty sure I only got more annoying when I realized that you wouldn't kill me. Especially when I realized we had a friendship in the making."
Barricade grimaced, "It was not a friendship in the ma-"
"If you're still going to deny that you like him, especially when you are actually his Guardian now, I think I'm going to bitch slap you." Bumblebee deadpanned and then paused, Sam laughing at his side. He continued, "In both holoform and bipedal form!"
"I'd pay to see that," Groundhog smirked, "But I'd pay even more to find out when Barricade started getting emotions."
"You are all pathetic," Barricade sneered, "And there is no way of escaping this, is there?"
"Nope, it's time to talk about your feelings!" Miles grinned, sitting up in interest, and to have a better look at the ex-con.
"It was the formulation of several things." Barricade got a pillow tossed at his face for that, courtesy of Sam.
"C'mon, Barry," Sam used his best friend's favorite name for the ex-con, "Further your explanation of 'several things' and do so in as much detail concerning the particular event as possible!"
Bumblebee looked at his Charge, and Sam just shrugged, saying Barricade couldn't possibly misunderstand the newest instructions. The teen completely ignored when Barricade snarled at him over the nick name, not caring in the least. If Miles hadn't been afraid, and still wasn't afraid, then Sam wouldn't be afraid, either. Didn't mean he'd make a habit of it, htough.
Besides the snarl, Barricade stayed silent, moving a piece on the board.
"I was making sure I had a good enough knowledge about the customs of this planet. At that point I still really wasn't into having lengthy conversations with the fleshling, which meant he was just sitting around. From boredom, I assume, he ended up falling asleep on me."
To Sam and Miles, this didn't really seem like much. To Bumblebee and Groundhog it explained a lot, however.
"That? Well, I guess to you it might have been revelation inducing, but I was just really bored." Miles huffed, having been hoping for something a little more heartfelt.
"I could have, well I still could, kill you in a second flat, and you still were stupid enough to fall asleep on me. It was almost endearing, in an extremely naïve sort of way. And then I got disgusted and shoved you off, managing to hurt you because I hadn't yet learned how fragile you fleshlings are. Of course, you woke up thinking you had done it to yourself, you never even suspected me."
Miles looked up from the chess board in disbelief, "You pushed me? Barry!"
"That you were stupid enough to believe that you yourself had just rolled off was even more revelation inducing, along with the fact of how fragile you organics are, so you should be happy." Barricade replied, before glancing at the teen. "And you're not allowed to get angry at me over that when it was months ago."
Bumblebee shook his head in amusement, while Groundhog snorted at his old leader. Sam was looking between the two, torn between amusement and exasperation.
"Okay, well, what about you, Miles?" Sam asked.
"Before the aft got me detention, I know that. I can't really pinpoint where, exactly. Unlike Barry, I had feelings before I met him." Miles grinned, and when Barricade went to protest he corrected himself. "Alright, feelings besides anger, irritation, exasperation, boredom, hatred, etc. Probably some neutral ones, since you did have the RTP team."
"You got him detention?" Bumblebee asked Barricade, raising a finely simulated blonde eyebrow.
"I texted him during school. The glitch had the sound on, not my fault." Barricade didn't bother looking at the Autobot, just taking his turn.
"Ruined my perfect record, but he did get Trent back when he was still pulling the evil jock." Miles moved a piece while talking.
"Hmm," Groundhog leaned back in his seat, thinking. "The whole thing was a lot less… epic than what I had been imagining. Kind of a letdown, actually."
"I know what you mean; I always thought Miles had to have pulled some amazing feat to get 'Cade to like him. It's all been a lie!" Sam sighed dramatically, grinning. "Guess we should have been there to see that amazing first."
"Speaking of firsts," Miles smirked, "Checkmate, Barry."
Barricade eyed the board, before sighing and grumbling under his breath. "Damn."