AN: Okay, so my computer broke. I'm alternating between my mom's and dad's, which makes writing these chapters a huge pain in the ass now! I was originally going to have this as two separate chapters, but combined them instead. I actually wrote the last part of this first, and boy was I having a hard time with that.
Reviews: Thanks to all who reviewed! (CrazyNutSquirrel, shadowhaseo, MissShelz, shadow-dog18, MissMary, SilentPerson, electro moonlight, Tsume28)
AN2: These chapters are already unbeta'd, and coupled with the craziness of switching computers every few hours there might be more mistakes than usual. Please put up with it! x_x
Chapter 56
One Shall Rise, One Shall Fall
There was a tense silence in the Medbay. Optimus Prime and Miles lay on separate berths; Ratchet working on his Prime while the teen was connected to a heart rate monitor so the Medic could keep track of his vitals without having to constantly scan him. Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Barricade were the only other mechs in the room. The only organics in the room, not including Miles, were Epps, Will, and Sam.
Sam sat in his Guardian's servo, and had fallen asleep at some point. No one could blame the teen; it had nearly been a whole day since the attack had happened, Ratchet working tirelessly to repair his Prime. Before he even tried to figure out the whole mess with the missing Spark, Ratchet had to make sure Optimus was whole again. It would do him no good to have a Spark if he would just die right after.
Epps and Will were used to long hours and they weren't fazed in the least when Ironhide had tried to order them to sleep. Ratchet was too busy with Optimus to really pay attention to anyone else, even Miles, terrified that if something went wrong and his Spark suddenly came back that he wouldn't be able to save his Prime. Everyone and mech just accepted that whatever was going on was thanks to Miles, since absolutely nothing was wrong with the teen.
When Ratchet finally finished piecing his Prime back together, he leaned back and vented heavily. Working on the Spark chamber was extremely delicate work, but with the mech he was working on not actually needing it at the moment, it went a lot faster. Still, Ratchet took his time to make sure there were no minute faults or any of the like. He would not bring death just because he wanted to rush life.
"How do we get his Spark back?" Ironhide asked once he made sure the Medic wasn't just taking a break.
If he interrupted Ratchet he knew he'd regret it. The Medic had already screamed poor First Aid out of the Medbay when he'd suggested that Ratchet took a break, wrenches flying after him. Everyone and mech else was smart enough to keep their mouths shut. Ironhide was strong enough to take down a good few Decepticons on his own, but everymech and femme in their right mind feared a Medic in a bad mood.
"If I knew I would be doing it, Ironhide." Ratchet said shortly.
"Here," Prowl said, offering the Medic a cube of Energon. "Drink it; you've missed your daily requirement now."
Ratchet took it with a small nod of thanks, optics never leaving Optimus and Miles.
"We all know that it is literally impossible to survive without a Spark, or it should be. And yet Optimus is living proof that it can be done, if you can call what he is doing living. This is going in the records, and Medics everywhere will officially hate Miles." Ratchet sounded somewhat bitter, but then again what Medic wouldn't? An organic who could keep a mech alive without a Spark, as unthinkable as it was all Cybertronian Medics would love to do that very thing.
"I get the feeling that Miles isn't going to wake up unless the boss 'bot does, but that leads us to the same question again." Epps was perched on Jazz's shoulder, and looked thoughtful. "How do you wake a 'bot who's missing his Spark?"
"Ah'd say try stimulation…" Jazz trailed off, "But there ahn't nothin' to stimulate."
"Barricade?" Bumblebee asked, drawing the ex-con's attention from Miles. "Can you contact Miles through your bond at all?"
"No. The bond is there, but I can't pick up anything from the other side."
"That's more than me 'n Epps got." Will said with a sigh, "We can't even feel him right now. Sam's dead to the world, so we can't even ask him."
Ratchet slammed a servo down on one of the empty berths, "Slag it! Barricade, why can't you keep a better optic on your charge? He was supposed to be helping you with the supplies in the human medbay, how did he end up with Optimus?"
"Miles was the one who ran, actually." Epps said, Prowl nodding. "So you really can't blame Barricade here. Though come to think of it he ditched us too."
"Under the circumstances not even Prowl wrote me up." Barricade pointed out, sending both the soldier and the SIC a look that told them to shut their mouths.
"What happened?" Bumblebee asked, because Sam would want to know. And he was curious.
Epps would have answered him if Sam hadn't suddenly sat up in Bumblebee's servo, barely looking like he was awake and already talking.
"We need to go to Egypt." Sam said tiredly, stretching. Too tired to think that there needed to be clarification.
"Egypt?" Bumblebee asked, looking down at his Charge.
"Egypt." Sam sounded annoyed that he needed to repeat himself.
"Why Egypt, Sam?" Prowl asked.
"We have to get the Matrix of Leadership before the Decepticons do." Sam frowned, "If they get it they will activate the Sun Harvester, and we will all die."
"And how do you know this?" Prowl asked again.
"Miles told me." Sam said this as if it should have been obvious, but then again by this point it should have been. "Optimus is with him, I guess because if his Spark actually passed on to the Well of Sparks then it would be harder to bring him back. The Fallen needed the last descendant of the Primes to die before he could rise, but I guess he didn't count on Optimus playing possum."
All of the mechs had to take a moment to look up just what playing possum meant via the internet, but Will and Epps already knew. Jazz laughed.
"Thas Cybahtronian meetin' human, tha' is. Ah guarahntee tha' Miles thought of it. Ahn't no possums on Cybahtron."
Will nodded, "Where in Egypt do we have to go, and when do we have to go by?"
"The Matrix of Leadership and the Sun Harvester are in two different places. I'm not sure how close together they are, but the Decepticons are already on their way to the Sun Harvester. The Fallen will be able to locate the Matrix of Leadership from there. The exact location of the Matrix of Leadership I don't know, but I will when we get there." Sam looked down at Miles, "We need to go now."
"Now?" Will blinked at him, before climbing down off Ironhide and walking outside the Medbay. "SKYFIRE! WE NEED A RIDE TO EGYPT! AND GET KELLER ON THE PHONE, WOULD YOU?"
"What have you been teaching him, Ironhide?" Prowl asked, raising an optic at the Weapons Specialist.
Ironhide shrugged, "Yelling gets stuff done. Next lesson is how to bellow."
As it would turn out Will was the Captain for a reason, and rounded up several military issue cargo planes that would be able to cart a good deal of them over to Egypt in under two hours. Four hours later and they were loading mechs and soldiers up. Not all of them would be going, and Trailbreaker and Graham were dealing out straws. The mechs with the shorter ones stayed.
Skyfire would be carrying Miles, Ratchet, Optimus, and Barricade. Everyone and mech else would be on one of the military issued cargo planes. Will, Epps, Fig, Graham, and up to ten other soldiers were going. Sam was the only civilian without counting Miles, and Mikaela had pitched a half hour fit before Trent managed to calm her down enough that the others could escape. Ironhide, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Groundhog, Soundwave, three cassetticons, Jazz, Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap, and also Trailbreaker would be going.
Ratchet stared at Barricade throughout the flight, the ex-con becoming increasingly annoyed by it. Barricade hadn't said a single word, while Ratchet had been pleasantly chatting with Skyfire. Skyfire had eventually fallen silent, and the now bored Medic focused all of his attention on Barricade. Sure, he was still checking on Optimus, but he wasn't even bothering with Miles anymore. Barricade would say something if any of the teen's vitals changed, of that he was certain.
"Prowl told me what happened," Ratchet said idly, "What're you gonna do when he wakes up?"
Barricade glared at Ratchet, "I do not see how that is any of your business."
"What happened?" Skyfire asked, his voice filling his cargo hold.
"Miles kissed Barricade."
"Oh? That's interesting."
"Very interesting. So interesting, in fact, that it would be rude of Barricade not to respond, don't you think?"
"Oh, yes. Some response is required after something like that. If you two do get together, may I perform a few scans?"
"You are both a bunch of busybodies!" Barricade snarled, slamming his servo down on the floor. "And no, no ifs, no scans, no responses."
A snort from Ratchet, "I think he's in denial."
"Perhaps he does not wish to think of it with Miles in his current condition." Skyfire responded thoughtfully, "When things appear to be taking a turn for the best then you should give it due thought, Barricade."
"I will jump out." Barricade threatened, glaring at the floor. Skyfire couldn't see his glare and it would never faze Ratchet.
"And leave Miles?" Ratchet taunted, "What if something changed?"
Barricade growled, wishing they were there already. He'd take sand in his armor and in his joints over dealing with a gossiping Medic and Seeker.
Sam sat against a wall of the cargo plane he was on, staring blankly ahead. A story was writing itself out in his mind, and he could do nothing to stop it.
"Sam?" Bumblebee asked gently, nudging his Charge softly with one large finger.
Sam didn't flinch, didn't react at all except for the fact that he began to mutter to himself.
"The Tomb of the Primes is where the Matrix of Leadership is hidden." Sam muttered, "The Fallen was originally a Prime, one of the first in the Dynasty of the Primes. The Matrix of Leadership was made to power the Sun Harvesters, but the Dynasty of the Primes avoided any suns that might have sentient life depending on them. They found our sun, and despite the vast amounts of energy it could have produced refused to use it because there was us. There was Earth."
Sam looked up at his Guardian, voice cracking. "He betrayed them, Bee. They were his brothers and he just betrayed them all! He killed some of them, just killed his brothers just like that! They managed to weaken him, and then made the Tomb to hide the Matrix."
"Sam, it's okay." Bumblebee cooed gently, getting out his holoform so he could place it beside the teen. He was already sending all the information he got to all of the mechs on his commline, and they would tell the organic soldiers.
"No, it isn't! He was going to just let us all die, was content with murdering his brothers, and wants us to die now! He's even worse than Megatron! How are we supposed to beat a mech like that?"
Bumblebee sighed, pulling Sam close and holding him there as his Charge shook, attempting to hum a gentle tune to get him to calm down as he stroked his hair. This wasn't the first time he wished that Sam had never had anything to do with the Allspark energy that was inside of him, because there was no other explanation for what Sam was saying. He was angry at Primus for using his Charge as a chess piece, even if it was in a beneficial way for them all. Sam was too young to be dealing with all of this, too young for war, and certainly too young to see the possibility of those around him dying.
But Bumblebee could only protect him from so much.
Sam's heart was in his throat, the wind nearly deafening as he stared at the ground that seemed so very, very far away. He was strapped to Graham, the British soldier wearing the parachute that would be keeping them from going splat. Next to them were Bumblebee, Skids and Mudflap attached to his chassis, the Scout wearing the parachute for them.
After they had reached a certain point Sam had just known that this was the spot that he needed to go. But he would have preferred if the cargo planes actually landed instead of having his first ever experience of skydiving.
"Are you ready?" Will was screaming at him, but Sam could barely hold him.
Sam gulped, "I think I should use the bathroom again!"
He could literally feel Graham shaking, but was unable to hear the soldier laugh. Skids and Mudflap both looked just as terrified as he felt. As embarrassing as it would have been, he almost wished that he would have been facing Graham instead so he could cling to the older man and not have to see the sand below them. But no, his back was against Graham's stomach, the soldier having one arm wrapped around his waist just in case.
Graham probably thought he was joking, but Sam was fairly certain that despite the fact that he'd just emptied his bladder he was going to piss himself.
Will gave a thumbs up, and Sam could have sworn his heart stopped, he certainly wasn't breathing as Graham moved them forward. He knew he probably should have been walking, but luckily enough for the both of them Graham was strong enough to support both his weight and Sam's. Give him Megatron chasing him through Mission City, Shockwave and Hook experimenting on him, being kidnapped by Skyfire. Anything he could handle, anything but this.
He really hated heights.
Within seconds Graham had them up against the edge, and for a moment they just teetered there. Sam didn't know why until he saw Bumblebee race past and jump off, the twins screaming in terror so loudly that it was the first thing Sam could hear clearly. And then Graham jumped, and Sam was screaming too, clenching his eyes shut and grabbing on to Graham's arm so tight he was sure his nails were breaking skin.
They landed safely on the ground after a lot more time in the air than Sam would have liked. As soon as Graham released his half of the harness his knees gave out beneath him and he was kissing the sand, happy to feel it behind him. Skids and Mudflap were doing something very similar, while Bumblebee just shook his helm with a grin.
"You blokes are pansies," Graham commented idly, arms
"Tha' ain't cool, man." Skids protested.
Mudflap continued, "Yeah, 'bots ain't made tah fly! Thas a Seekers job!"
Sam pushed himself up off the sand, going over to Bumblebee and putting a hand on his leg plating as he looked up at the sky. Skyfire and the military issued cargo planes were already just small blobs. He took a deep breath, looking around. He had no idea what way to go.
"Which way, Sam?" Bumblebee asked, looking down at his Charge.
"Uh…"
Both Bumblebee and Graham gave him a sharp look, Graham adding a growl. "You said you'd know when you got here!"
Sam shrinked back, knowing this was too serious of a situation to pout. He closed his eyes, inhaling as slowly as he could and trying to clear his mind. Clearing his mind was extremely hard to do with Skids and Mudflap as close as they were, which was only fifty feet away. Everyone and mech were fairly sure that the Twins minor didn't even know the definition of quiet.
"Yo, me 'n 'Flap are gonna go check out tha' there mountain sculpture thingie."
"Yeah, tha' shit was on the discovery channel! Tha there means we in Petra, yo."
Sam's eyes snapped open and he looked at where the twins were already racing off to. He started chasing after them, Bumblebee and Graham watching in confusion. He waved at them.
"Come on, that's it! That's the Tomb of the Primes!"
Bumblebee drove through the open archway of the Tomb of the Primes, Skids and Mudflap already waiting for him. He let Sam and Graham climb out before transforming, activating his high beams and shining them around the open room to light the area more. If they had been a normal archeologist team maybe the ancient Earth hieroglyphs and painted pictures might have meant something, but as they were looking for something considerably less Earthen, they meant nothing.
The room was empty.
Sam looked around with wide unbelieving eyes, and Graham frowned. The soldier did a cursory lap of the large pillared room, looking for any tiny entrances or hidden doors. But there was nothing. Sam slumped against a wall, sliding against it until he hit the floor and put his head in his hands.
"It looks like humans have been here before, perhaps we removed." Graham said gently, trying to provide some sense of the hope that had just been lost.
Skids snorted, "Yo, we came here fo' nothin'! Ain't no way we beatin' the scary dude now! We all gonna die with the sun!"
"Bro!" Mudflap growled, punching his twin on the chassis. "Ain't no need ta be such a pessimist!"
"Punch me again an' yo gonna get an ass whoopin!"
"Oh, like this?" Mudflap punched his twin harder.
"Thas it!" Skids tackled his twin, wrestling him to the ground and then rolling around with him. Mudflap managed to pin him, and Skids growled, kicking his twin off and into a the wall just beside Sam.
"Watch it!" Sam yelped as he dove out of the way.
Mudflap groaned as he slid to the floor, "Tha' hurt!"
"Thas supposed to, thas an ass whoopin!"
Mudflap growled and quickly went at Skids again, Bumblebee getting annoyed and grabbing the both of them by the back of their helms and then tossing them outside like they were nothing more than trash. He turned to scan his Charge to make sure Sam was okay, but Sam was examining a hole in the wall that Mudflap had created, sticking his head in.
"Bee, shoot here! I think this is it!"
Sam scrambled back and out of the way while Bumblebee transformed his arm into his plasma cannon, taking aim and firing several plasma bursts at the damaged wall, furthering the damage as several pieces just fell, a large gust of wind leaving the room that had been hidden behind it.
While Sam and the others played around in the Tomb of the Primes, Skyfire and the military issued cargo planes landed in a tiny little outcropping of a village that was near to the pyramid where the Sun Harvester was located. Skyfire was evacuated, Optimus placed in the sands and covered with a tarp. It wouldn't do much to hide the large frame of the Prime, but it would provide a little protection from the heat scanners that the Decepticons could do to see if he was alive.
Almost immediately they were under attack, a good deal of Decepticons crawling around on the sand already. They split up into two teams. Will and Epps, with Miles piggybacking on one of their backs, ran to what little protection the village offered, and it was also closer to where Sam, Bumblebee, Graham, and the twins minor would be coming from. Barricade, Groundhog, Soundwave, his three cassetticons, and Skyfire followed after the three organics.
Ratchet, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz, and Trailbreaker were the other team. Trailbreaker stayed next to the frame of his Prime, a force field already activated and cast over his fallen leader to protect him that much more. They were joined by Fig and the ten other soldiers that had been brought along, guns and ammo already at the ready.
They were all going against their fair share of Decepticons. In the distance the NEST organics and Autobots could see that Megatron and the Fallen were climbing the pyramid the Sun Harvester was in together, trying to scale to the top of it with their claws. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe went after them, while the first team got Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and a few other Seekers.
Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Fig, and the ten soldiers were left with Motormaster, Drag Strip, Dead End, Breakdown, and Wildrider. On their own the five Stunticons would pose no problem, but together they could combine to become one of the Decepticons deadliest weapons: Menasor.
"We need back up! Send in more 'bots!" Fig yelled into his radio as soon as he saw Menasor, before making the sign of the holy cross over himself and mumbling a prayer.
"I'm too old for this slag," Ratchet muttered, transforming one servo into his feared buzzsaw and the other into a cannon.
"Is there any way that you can save Starscream, restore his processor so he's no longer Reprogrammed?" Miles asked, glancing up at the Primes who now surrounded him. "Skyfire really likes him. Really likes him."
Miles had just been chilling out with Optimus one second, and then found himself surrounded by a group of extremely pointy looking mechs. He knew them to be the Primes without them needing to introduce themselves, but the introductions they had given him were nice. He had given his own, but that had only appeared to amuse them.
Miles would quickly find out that it had been the Primes pulling all the strings behind whatever happened, though they claimed it was all for Primus. He was told the story of the first thirteen Cybertronians, and how they formed the original Dynasty of the Primes. How the Matrix of Leadership came into play, and what Sun Harvesters did with the energy they harvested. How the Fallen, once a Prime himself, had decided to go against what the Dynasty of the Primes stood for and try to use a Sun Harvester on a sun that had a planet with sentient life. The ensuing battle where the Fallen killed his own brethren, and then was weakened when they retaliated, but not defeated. How the Primes had sacrificed any chance at living to create the Tomb so they could hide the Matrix from their fallen brother.
He relayed everything that he was told to both Sam and Optimus, seeing as the only living Prime no longer had Miles to keep him entertained.
The Primes seemed to share a look, before one of them nodded.
"Little one, Starscream will soon be grabbing you and attempting to kill you." The Prime said bluntly, "The Allspark energy inside of you will be used to save your life."
"There's a but, that's the only reason you're telling me this."
"The Allspark energy could be used to override everything Shockwave has done to Starscream, restore him to his right mind."
"And then he and Skyfire could be together!"
"Yes, but the chances of all of the Autobots being welcoming is very slim. He is the SIC of the entire Decepticon army."
"But that's not his fault! He was Reprogrammed, he never wanted to do any of that!"
The Primes looked amused, and Miles shut his mouth. He was just telling them what they already knew.
"So you're basically saying that the Allspark energy can either be used to save my life, or be used to save Starscream and make Skyfire incredibly happy. Alright."
"Alright?"
The Prime who said it sounded baffled, mirroring the expression of bafflement they all wore. It was hard to tell which Prime spoke, but it didn't really matter since he was answering to all of them. He knew without needing to ask that they knew about Barricade, of course they would. They apparently knew everything already, knew his feelings for the ex-con, and probably even knew Barricade's feelings for him.
Miles smiled a little sadly, "Barry's never going to be happy with me, even if he does return my feelings. I get hurt too easily, and I'll die too soon. If we got too serious he'd be left broken hearted. I don't want to do that to him. Skyfire never had a chance with Starscream Reprogrammed, and I think after everything they both deserve a little happiness once your damned war is finally over."
"Starscream, put Miles down!" Skyfire demanded, sounding more like he was begging the Seeker than anything else.
Even if Miles could have posed a fight, it would have been useless. Perhaps if he'd been awake instead of in the coma he could have bought himself some time, could have tried to talk the Seeker out of it or alerted someone or mech to the fact that Starscream had gone after him at all. In the heat of battle it had been impossible to keep an eye on Miles' prone form the whole time, and none had suspected any Decepticon would go for it so close to so many of the opposite faction.
But Starscream had known that if he had gone in one direction Skyfire would see him, and Skyfire would never say anything in case one of his comrades attacked his old friend. He'd never expected Starscream to pick up Miles, though. When he saw that he couldn't just not say anything, already feeling guilty that the teen had been 'caught' in the first place, never mind whatever Starscream was planning on doing to him.
Immediately, Barricade had his plasma cannon pointing at Starscream, and even Skyfire had his own weapon facing the Decepticon Seeker. That was all that could be spared on Starscream at the moment, the others doing battle with other Decepticons.
Starscream sneered at Barricade, not even giving Skyfire a momentary glance. "Something wrong, traitor? Care for this little organic a bit too much?"
"Put him down, Seeker!" Barricade snarled, optics watching desperately as Starscream examined the limp organic in his servo.
"Mm, sounds like it." Starscream commented idly, optics glinting dangerously. "That's a mistake."
It took less than thirty seconds for Starscream to close his servo around Miles, drawing it out for the two mechs watching him, and squeeze, crushing Miles on the inside. He was only a little disappointed that the squishy in his servo didn't wake up and cry out while it happened, but supposed the expression on Barricade's faceplates would have to do. He scanned the organic to mark his departure into the afterlife, pleased at how frail they were. One mediocre squeeze and this one was fast approaching death, barely able to draw in breath so Starscream could only assume some of the tiny organic's bones had punctured its lungs.
His scans finally showed him when the heartbeat stopped completely five seconds later, and another second before a bright light blinded him, making him cry out in shock. Internal scanners, different from the kind they used to scan organics and the like, picked up a huge spike in Allspark energy, but his optics shorted out as he felt a tendril of that energy squirm under the armor under his hand and split into two, one darting to his Spark chamber and the other to his processor. In his shock he dropped the organic in his servo, the very source of the spike of energy, before blacking out completely.
All Skyfire and Barricade saw was the light that blinded Starscream, scanners reading a spike in the Allspark energy that Miles held-had held-as it seemed to be leaving him and entering Starscream instead. It seemed that once the Allspark energy left him completely was when Miles truly died, systems coming to a complete stop. Then Starscream dropped Miles' body, Barricade darting forward and catching his organic, while Skyfire darted forward to grab Starscream before the unconscious Seeker crumpled to the ground completely.
Barricade literally felt the bond he held with Miles break, filling his Spark with pain even as he desperately scanned the teen for any sign of life again and again. It felt like his Spark was being torn in two, the physical and emotional loss of his bond almost too much, and he refused to believe it. He refused to believe that the one who had managed to worm their way into his Spark was leaving just like that. He was supposed to be dead, but Miles had saved him. He couldn't do anything to save Miles from Starscream, and there was nothing he could do to bring the teen back, either.
Miles couldn't be dead.
"Get up!" Barricade demanded, prodding the prone form gently, hoping that it would garner some sort of reaction. "Get up, slag it! You can't do this!"
"Barricade!" Somemech was shouting at him, trying to pull him away from Miles, and he couldn't let them, lashing out at whomever it was. "Barricade, enough!"
"Let me go!" Barricade snarled, but now there were two of them, both working together to pick him up and drag him away.
He worked his arm free and punched one of them in the faceplates. Soundwave. The mech would get over it. Groundhog was holding his other arm still, grip so tight it was almost crushing the outside armor. He had been the first one to grab Barricade, and Barricade would have punched him too if he wasn't distracted by Will and Epps taking the chance to dart out and grab Miles' body.
"Get off him!" They were going to hurt him even more, because he couldn't be dead, just in so much pain from Starscream trying to squeeze him to death that only Barricade should attempt to move him. Even he knew that was desperate thinking, but it was better than accepting the reality of the moment, struggling against Groundhog, and Soundwave when the mech finally got a hold on him again. "Leave him alone!"
"Miles is dead, Barricade." Soundwave said monotonously, Groundhog sending him a sharp look, but it shocked him enough to make him stop struggling. "He's dead. There's nothing more any of us can do for him."
Barricade felt like he was dying, that was the only way to explain all the pain he felt in his Spark. He was alone again, the comforting knowledge that if he just reached out he could feel Miles no longer there. Even in the coma he'd been there. And now he was gone completely, dead. Barricade had known that organics had short lifespans, but Miles wasn't supposed to have died this soon, only seventeen.
It wasn't fair. He shouldn't have to lose the one person he actually really cared about, more than he'd ever cared about his Race Track Patrol team, despite the relatively short amount of time he'd actually spent with Miles. Not even a full year by human standards, certainly not even the blink of an eye to a being that lived as long as a Cybertronian did. But it felt like it had been forever, and Barricade had been counting on even longer. Something that had been ripped away from him by Starscream.
There was no replacement for Miles. No one else who would react the same way to finding out the car they were trying to wash was alive, no one else who would then try their damnedest to befriend said car, no one else who he'd let get by with calling him Barry, no one else he could cradle against his Spark chamber after they'd been kidnapped by that poor excuse of a Scientist and have it just feel natural to do, no one else he could have a fight with and make up with in the same day. No one else who would grin at him like Miles did, laugh at him like Miles did, tease him or yell at him, be strong enough to admit he was scared and that he wanted to sleep inside of Barricade to feel safe after Shockwave had cut him open, no one else who would do that because they knew it was what Barricade wanted, too, just to reassure himself that much more that the teen was still okay. No one else who had ever cared enough to try and save Barricade themselves when Barricade had been dying, accidentally creating a bond with him. A bond that no one else would have been so happy to have with the ex-con, so happy to treasure. Miles was a one of a kind person, seemingly perfect to Barricade, and now he was gone.
Miles was dead, and Barricade felt like a part of him had died along with the teen.
Oddly enough, he didn't blame Starscream. No, he blamed Skyfire. If the Scientist hadn't been so damned obsessed with Starscream, hadn't been purposefully ignoring where his friend went on the battlefield, then Miles would still be alive. If Skyfire had never downloaded the virus from Shockwave to try to figure out how to help Starscream in the first place then maybe none of this would have happened, and Miles would still be alive.
He tore himself away from Soundwave and Groundhog, and then launched himself at Skyfire, taking the larger mech by surprise.
Skyfire was not a little mech by any means. The Scientist was even bigger than his Prime, in both length and width. Being a Seeker just gave him an added boost in the width department, and being a Scientist meant he kept his frame bulky for exploring on different worlds. Being a scientist also meant he had to keep failsafes, if the inhabitants of a world were particularly violent he had to have a way to protect himself, after all. Not all of the planets they landed on had tiny inhabitants like Earth did.
It stood to reason that a mech like Barricade would pose no problem for him. Barricade was just a step up from being a mini-bot like Skids and Mudflap, roughly the same size as Bumblebee. Bulkier than the Scout was, certainly, but not that much taller. Tiny when put next to Optimus Prime and even tinier when put next to Skyfire.
But when Barricade attacked Skyfire, the Seeker busy checking over Starscream worriedly, it took less than three minutes for Skyfire to somehow be on the losing side. Skyfire immediately got up, Barricade able to just hang on to his frame, and distanced himself from Starscream, trying to shake the angry ex-con off and pry him off forcefully. It took another five minutes before the combined efforts of Groundhog, Soundwave, and Skyfire himself would manage to pry a snarling Barricade off of the Scientist.
"It's your fault he's dead!" Barricade yelled, struggling against Soundwave and Groundhog so he could get back at Skyfire.
"I'm sorry," Skyfire apologized, looking at the angered ex-con with sad optics. He already knew that he was at least partly to blame, and couldn't hold it against Barricade for attacking him. Miles had meant a lot to Barricade.
"Sorry? You're sorry?" That just seemed to anger Barricade more, Groundhog barely able to hold on to him. Soundwave had finally gotten out what the organics referred to as his tentacles, and he had a much easier time of holding on. "You can tell him you're sorry after I kill you and you see him in the Well of Sparks!"