AN: Holy... this is just the longest chapter in the existence of ever that I have done! Like BAM. Enough people objected to the idea off Sam and Miles as Pretenders that they're both still humans. I had some parts written where they had been, so you might catch mistakes.
AN2: This is basically the end of TC. I plan on making a new story to continue it, which hopefully will not be solely focused on Miles and Barricade like this one pretty much turned out to be. It will be the sequel, so it's not the end, but this already has 50+ chapters and I don't feel like lengthening that.
AN3: Will add last chapter, an Author's Note, when I have the first chapter of the sequel up. It will tell the title and answer reviews.
Chapter 58
Saving the World
Sam blinked, looking around himself slowly as he tried to figure out how he came to be there. Where there happened to be he wasn't quite sure, but he had a feeling that it was nowhere on Earth. It was similar to the place where he, Epps, Will, and Miles had gone, but different at the same time. The inky blackness seemed to be closing in on all sides, and the only things holding it back were the large, almost intimidating, bodies of the Primes that surrounded him.
A ball of light suddenly darted in between the legs of one of the Primes, zooming over to Sam and circling him so fast that he grew slightly dizzy. It put him in mind of a large lightning bug, the color a light gold. It came to a stop just over his shoulder, nearly touching his cheek, and pulsated warmth at him in a friendly manner.
"Slag it!" One of the Primes growled, surprising Sam and turning his attention from the ball of light to the Prime. "You get back here!"
The ball of light seemed to flicker in amusement, "Pbbt!"
Sam blinked again, was that a raspberry?
"Why you-!"
The Prime reached for the ball of light but it darted away before the mech could get anywhere near to it, and Sam watched in amusement as it whizzed around the Prime in a taunting matter, close enough to dart in for a touch but fast enough that the Prime had no hope of touching it. The Prime growled again, trying to grab it, and muttered, appearing to try to argue with the ball of light. Besides the raspberry it didn't seem to be capable of any speech, nor did it seem to care that the Prime was attempting to order it around.
"Brother, you should just let him go." Another of the Primes spoke up, only to receive a sharp look. He sighed, looking down at Sam. "He's our Medic."
"Huh," Sam tried not to laugh, "I thought he seemed a bit like Ratch."
"Yes, well, apparently all of the best Medics have horrible bedside manner." The Prime replied with a small smirk, shrugging in a very human gesture.
Sam smiled, slightly relieved. Somehow he had thought the Dynasty of the Primes, or the number that was in front of him anyway, would be much more stoic and proper. Then again, they had been dead for a very long time. He supposed that would give anyone some time to adjust their personality, even Prowl.
There were seven Primes in the place with him, which confused Sam slightly. The Dynasty of the Primes had consisted of thirteen Primes in the beginning, and while the Fallen would naturally be excluded because he was still very much alive but also for being a traitor, that didn't account for the other five Primes. Then he realized these were the Primes who had been left alive after the Fallen's betrayal, the ones who had weakened him and their sacrificed their own lives to create the Tomb of the Primes in an attempt to forever hide the Matrix from their fallen brother.
All seven of them looked different from what he would have expected, but then again all he had to base on for Prime looks was Optimus. Their entire frame was a lot less bulky, their heads more of an odd elongated oval shape, too. They gave off a more predatory air, and somehow came off as more dangerous than their Cybertronian descendants, more intimidating despite their lack of bulk. He knew now that the one attempting to talk to the orb of light was a Medic, and the others had to have specific job descriptions too, then. Balance the work load.
"What is that lightning bug, anyway?" Sam asked, and once he mentioned it the ball of light zoomed back towards him, flying around him once more.
The Prime appeared confused, "Lightning bug?"
"An Earth insect, their afts light up to attract mates." Another Prime explained, and Sam took this one to be a Scientist from the matter of fact tone and the way he was the only one who knew.
"Indeed?" The Prime asked softly, his gaze returning to Sam. "That is a Spark, young Samuel. Both of you appear as Sparks and nothing more to us in this place, but to make it easier on you the sight of your own body is what greets you."
"Fuck, does that mean I'm dead?" Sam groaned, "My mom and Bee are so not going to be happy about this."
"Yes, you are." The Prime replied, sounding amused. "Both you and the other organic, Miles, are dead. For now."
"Miles?" Sam asked in surprise, eyes immediately darting to the gold ball of light and widening. As if to answer his suspicions the orb nuzzled his cheek in an affectionate manner.
"Yes, that is him." The Medic Prime scowled, "The little slagger does not know his place."
Another raspberry came out of the orb of light, followed by it whizzing up to the only Prime who had actually been making sense to Sam. He supposed this must have been the head of the Primes, or at least in this situation, because the ball of light flew up to his face plates and nuzzled his cheek in much the same manner it had just nuzzled Sam's, flickering in a pitiful manner.
"Brother," The Prime instantly chastised, giving the ball of light an affectionate pat. "He knows no better, leave him alone."
Sam had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, the Medic Prime giving the ball of light a look that would have made it keel over if it wasn't already dead. He had to keep reminding himself that this was Miles, apparently, finding that a hard to grasp concept.
"Uhm, is there something I can help you lot with or…" Sam trailed off, unsure if was just here because he had died and they were trying to bring him back or if they actually need him.
And wasn't that one of the weirdest things he had ever thought? He was dead, and it wasn't even bothering him in the slightest. Well, that wasn't true. Some part of him would have been freaking out if the Primes hadn't already said they were going to bring him and Miles back. What was bothering him more than being told he was dead was the reactions he was bound to get when he came back. He doubted Ratchet would let him escape the Medbay for a week, and then Bumblebee being extra protective of him for months. Not to mention his mom yelling at the Autobots for letting him die in the first place.
"Yes!" The Medic Prime cried immediately, waving a servo in the air and an image forming just like that. Sam looked at it, and he could have sworn it was an exact replica of an image from his ninth grade health book. The mech pointed to one of the organs, "What the pit is that?"
"Appendix," Sam replied instantly.
"What's it do?"
Sam hesitated now, "Er, well, I don't think it actually does anything. Kind of like our tailbone even though we don't have tails anymore, it's a vestigial organ. So no use, really."
"WHAT?"
Sam jumped at the bellow, and it apparently startled Miles too, because the ball of light darted over to Sam again and far from the Medic in the process. Before Sam could ask what the problem was the ground fell out from beneath him, and then he wasn't aware of anything at all.
All six Primes sighed at their seventh brother, shaking their helms in unison. Years of death in this in between plane had made them all what others might see as unstable, which is exactly why not many others saw them. It was extremely hard to put yourself in somemech else's peds when these mechs were dead but neither in the Well of Sparks nor the Pit, mere conduits of Primus. If Primus wanted the important organics to remain amongst the living then it was their job to make it so, but the decision of organic or something better was unfairly left to them.
They existed on their own little plane, somewhere in between the Well of Sparks where Primus rested and the plane of the living, but far from the Pit. Close enough that Primus could tell them his will and they could do their best to have it done through the living. Having the Allspark land on Earth had been their doing, already knowing of the strange little planet from their deaths there. Archibald finding Megatron when the ice cracked, and then finally Sam's destiny with them were all things they had influenced in the living world to help finally end the war and bring their descendants back together.
No matter what they or Primus wished, there were always multiple paths for the future to take. If Optimus had not caught Sam in Mission City, if Bumblebee had not rescued Sam from Barricade when the ex-con had first interrogated him, and then there had also been a few possibilities where after everything Sam had decided to drop contact with the Autobots in an attempt of normalcy.
Miles had always been included, but more as an afterthought as just the organic best friend of the most important organic. The possible outcomes where he actually even found out about their kind was so slim that he wasn't worth paying much thought to, but of course Primus must have known they wouldn't, because he had seemed to enjoy their amazement and confusion greatly. To put it lightly, they had been almost as surprised as Sam and the rest of their kind when Miles not only found Barricade but decided to work with him, and that when Barricade woke up he didn't just kill the fleshling, instead going down a path that none of the Primes had thought possible.
But it was one of the best they had seen so far. Having Sam or Miles die could be disastrous for the bright future that was just around the corner, especially if both of them died. Organic bodies were so fragile though, showcased by the trouble the teens had gone through after they had gotten separated from Epps on the return from talking to Bluestreak. And then Starscream had to go and crush one while the other was defeated by a mere explosion, something that had been completely out of their hands for the most part, considering Miles had accepted his fate to save Starscream in his stead.
"Ten weeks of vacation says Miles and Barricade Spark."
This was spoken in such an old version of Cybertronian that no mech on Earth but the Fallen would have been able to understand it. It was their preferred language if they weren't talking English. Five Primes, minus the Medic and the one who had spoken, groaned. Given their current predicament, vacation for them meant time spent in the Well of Sparks with Primus, their Sparks getting a well-deserved rest and break for a set amount of time before they were sent back to work. It was the main thing they could wager as they really had nothing else.
"Whenever I do get him up and running!" Their Medic snarled, "You try fixing all the slagging damage that glitch has done to him!"
The Harvester had been activated, and it was a race against time to turn it off or destroy it. Every second was precious, a countdown until the Harvester reached full power and started to draw energy from the sun, the very sun which powered the life on Earth. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe fought against Megatron, desperate to keep the Decepticon leader away from their Prime. No one knew how strong the Fallen was, but neither twin wanted their Prime to have his servos anymore full than they already were. If they could manage to keep Megatron at bay long enough for Optimus to kill the Fallen, then they could easily switch places and one or both twins go to deactivate the sun harvester.
"Die!" The Fallen hissed, "Like your brothers!"
"They were your brothers too!"
"Yes, unlike those pathetic organics you insist on protecting!" The Fallen sneered, "I've been told my mechs have taken two of those pathetic creatures out already, good riddance."
Sam and Miles might not have been soldiers, or even Cybertronian, but they were Autobots, Optimus' Autobots, and he wouldn't stand for an ancient half mad mech to bad mouth them. The Fallen moved forward to tackle the young Prime, but Optimus would have none of that. He quickly aimed at the older Prime's Spark chamber, blasting him back and then giving him no time to recover as he jumped on and sent them rolling, the two trying to tear pieces of armor and metal off the other until Optimus kicked the Fallen off of him, tossing him into the stone wall of the Pyramid. The Fallen picked himself up quickly, digging his claws in and dislodging a large chunk of brick, tossing it at Optimus. Optimus easily dodged it, bringing out his Energon blade and shoving the Fallen against the pyramid, using the blade to slice right through the thin metal of his faceplates.
The Fallen grabbed the blade, twisting it and snapping the tendons of Optimus' wrist as he did so, shoving the younger Prime back and un-subspacing both his staff and a little vial. Energon began leaking from the severed lines immediately, but Optimus just sent a quick command to turn his pain receptors off, immediately picking himself up only to be smacked so hard over the helm by the staff it made him stumble, barely managing to grab on to the end of it and use it as leverage to pull the Fallen closer to him, wrenching his own staff from his servos and slapping him with it before stabbing it through his shoulder, bending it so it wrapped around the back of his neck. Optimus drew it upwards harshly, catching the Fallen's faceplates on it and ripping them off entirely, leaving a wretched leaking mass behind.
"Kill me, little Prime!" The Fallen laughed even as his lifeblood leaked from his mouth, "My death has always been written, but tell me, what of your own?"
The Fallen grabbed the wrist he had broken, pressing the vial into the open wound and breaking it. Optimus never felt the pain it would have caused, barely felt it at all with his receptors off, shaking the Fallen off and then using his good servo to smash through the older mech's chassis, into his Spark chamber and then beyond, extinguishing the ancient Spark even as the Fallen coughed and laughed his final laugh.
"Wow," Sideswipe remarked in a breathless voice, though he had no need to breathe. "That was easy."
Sunstreaker sneered at Megatron, "And he was your great master? Skids and Mudflap could have taken him on!"
Megatron snarled, trying to shove the red twin off him while he attempted to shoot the yellow menace who dared mock his Master, only for his own blaster to be grabbed and turned towards his faceplates as he let off a round, howling in anger and pain as it hit. The anger fueled him just enough to knock the red frontliner of him, then blast the yellow one in the knee joints, snarling as he ran a few steps and transformed.
"DECEPTICONS! RETREAT!"
Sideswipe immediately went for Sunstreaker as his brother's leg gave out from the blast, catching him and setting him down gently. He would have stayed right there if Optimus hadn't walked up, looking down at the both of them with worried optics as he checked them over quickly.
"Sideswipe, go and turn off the Harvester. Use whatever means necessary, destroy it if you must." Optimus sounded tired, kneeling beside Sunstreaker to look at his knee. "Do it quickly."
Sideswipe was up and scaling the pyramid so fast he could have almost rivaled Blurr. He too, along with Sunstreaker, had a Charge here, a precious organic who would die along with their sun if the machine was allowed to do what it had been built for.
When Starscream first woke up, he almost wished that the tiny ground pounder had killed him for killing the precious organic. Almost wished, because that would have been a cowardly thing to truly wish for.
Many things in his processor were hazy, but he had the gist of almost everything that had happened. Anger filled him, and if Shockwave hadn't already been dead then he would have been soon. If Starscream would have been able to he would have gone after Megatron too, his oh so glorious leader. How could any mech with an actual Spark do what Shockwave had done to him? How could any mech approve what Shockwave had done?
Everything had been a lie. Even some of his fellow Seekers had been fooled, following their Air Commander blindly without truly knowing him. Starscream had never wanted that title in the first place, though he had preened at the attention and glory it had gotten him, but he'd never wanted the responsibility of it. And it had caused so many Seekers to go over to the Decepticons, though most would have gone over anyway.
Then came the thought of his own trine. Before the war Starscream had been so wrapped up in going through school, becoming a Scientist, and then following in Skyfire's ped trails to try and someday match the bigger seeker and become worthy of his attention, that he had never formed a trine. During the war it had been Shockwave who had sought out Thundercracker and Skywarp, two already mated Seekers, because without them Starscream's Spark would have become too unstable over the stress of him fighting the Reprogramming. Thundercracker was a Decepticon, the main reason Skywarp joined, but Skywarp was just as much of a Decepticon. How would the two react? Would they stick by his side, or abandon him?
A trine bond, once formed, was almost as important as a Sparkmate bond to Seekers. Seekers were naturally high energy mechs, constantly using or possessing so much energy that it often needed to be shared through merging of Sparks, or gotten rid of through overload. If Starscream overworked himself then Thundercracker could give his Commander an extra edge, or if Skywarp's warping abilities were needed then both of them could give the warping Seeker an extra boost. Trines could all become Sparkmates, but as close as Starscream had grown to the two, he had never liked them that much, and the two had never liked him that much. The humans would call them friends with benefits, comrades in arms that helped relieve stress, etc., but a trine bond was all that and more. Breaking it off could literally kill a Seeker. Very few Seekers could go without ever forming a trine bond, though Skyfire had been doing a good job of it.
"Hey, Will, it's awake."
Starscream was slightly surprised by the sentence, turning his helm to see two organic soldiers, only one bothering to look at him. Well, the one was glaring at him really.
"I am a mech, organic, not an 'it'." Starscream corrected without thinking, sitting up to survey his surroundings better.
"Will, it's talking to me. Get Skyfire."
The other organic, the one called Will, sighed. "Epps, be nice."
"Telling you to get Skyfire was being nice," The other organic, now Epps, grumbled, glaring at Starscream still. "Fine, I'm Robert Epps, prefer Epps. That's Will Lennox, he prefers Will. He's the Captain and I'm the Sergeant, and you can probably see why now. You are going to keep your mouth shut so I don't have to hear you anymore."
"You have every right to be angry at me orga-Epps." Starscream vented softly.
Will frowned, "Sky says you were under some code thing that Shockwave did to you, made you act differently. That's not your fault."
"No, I may not have been in control of myself fully, but it was still me. He corrupted my thinking, planted thoughts in my head, but most of the actions I took were ones I decided based on them. Killing Megatron was what this me, and the me under Shockwave wanted, but it is not the only thing we have in common. What I could do under Shockwave's control I could do now, I'd just never want to."
"Dude, if you start a fucking oh-woe-is-me-because-I-might-actually-be-who-they-wanted-me-to-be thing up I really am going to hate you." Epps growled, "It's over, it's done with, good luck on not getting shot full of plasma and sabot rounds by the Autobots."
"Thank you." Starscream wasn't sure if he should be amused or annoyed by the soldier's gall. He stood up, seeing Skyfire's large frame start coming for him immediately.
"Oh, Starscream, thank goodness!" Skyfire came to a stop beside the smaller Seeker, scanning him. "Are you okay? Has your processor returned to normal?"
"I am fine, Skyfire." Starscream sighed, but allowed the larger scientist to look him over anyway.
"If you two Spark, can I watch? Ratch said that's the only way I'm going to get a course on Cybertronian sex."
"Epps!" Will looked aghast at his best friend.
"Of course, Robert." Skyfire said pleasantly, smiling at the tiny organic.
"Skyfire!" Starscream nearly shrieked, smacking the larger mech on his chassis. "We're not even together, you cannot give him permission to watch us!"
Skyfire shuttered his optics in confusion, "But as we are not together it does not matter if I give him permission, does it not?"
"Not the point." Starscream growled, before venting heavily. "Come, I have a trine I need to talk to."
Epps and Will watched the pair walk off, both noting how Skyfire was still checking over the smaller Seeker in a worried manner. Neither were surprised by Skyfire doing this, Miles had told them how much the larger Seeker seemed to care for the smaller one, and it had only been proven by Skyfire's slip up with the bit of data he had pulled from Shockwave's brain in his desperation to either prove Starscream had been reprogrammed, or to find a way to fix what had been done.
Both soldiers had at least some personal right to hate Starscream besides him being the Second in Command of the Decepticon army, or used to be SIC, because the Seeker had killed Miles. Epps might try to play angry and hateful enough for the both of them, but neither would hold it against the Seeker forever. But they were just two organics, while Starscream would also have to face down countless Autobots and even his own 'allies' if he wanted to get his life back on track the way it should have gone. Epps bad mouthing him a bit would be the least of his worries.
"We need a break after this," Epps said finally. "Leave all this crazy shit to the young'uns."
"For once we agree."
The battlefield had gone dead silent, all optics turned to the two Seekers currently facing off. The Second in Command of the entire Decepticon, also the Air Commander of the Seekers, had just walked right up to the battle and addressed his Seekers, saying he was defecting from the Decepticons and joining the Autobots instead. Said bluntly, because this was Starscream after all, as if he expected all the Seekers to just walk over to the Autobots with him.
His trine mates, Skywarp and Thundercracker, had frozen at this nonchalant message, before a stormy look came over Thundercracker's faceplates and he whirled on his trine member. But Starscream was so much more than just a trine member, given all the titles possible of the highest respect. Trine leader, Air Commander, Second in Command. Starscream getting to be trine leader, while not necessarily bothering Thundercracker, did grate on his nerves occasionally. Then again Starscream just grated on his nerves occasionally, and it was a wonder to everyone but himself how he managed to put with Skywarp if he got annoyed at Starscream.
But Skywarp had never dropped the metaphorical bomb on them, saying they were just switchingg sides. And as their protocols would dictate, Starscream being trine leader, Air Commander, and their higher up in the ranks in general, they would have to listen to the Seeker. But Thundercracker had joined the Decepticons for a reason, and Starscream had no influence on that. Why should he be influenced now?
Two organic soldiers, Epps and Will, were both ignored as they came out to see what was going on, standing at Skyfire's peds.
"What the frag do you mean you're going to the Autodolts?" Thundercracker snarled, preferring to use Cybertronian if he had the choice. "Have you hit your helm?"
"You could say that." Starscream replied, an optic ridge arching in amusement. "Shockwave thought it necessary to force his way into my processor and use me for his and Megatron's will. I have been freed."
"Oh, come on!" Thundercracker tossed his servos in the air in anger, "Do you really expect us to believe that? You're saying you were Reprogrammed! That was banned, all files erased. It's just a Sparkling's tale."
Skywarp looked between his mate and his trine leader, "We both noticed how unstable his Spark was, 'Cracker. You yourself wondered why Megatron put up with all the death threats, attempts at being overthrown, or Starscream messing up our plans so the Autobots won. His Spark never did feel right, did it? You just chalked it down to him not being our mate."
"So you knew?" Starscream asked in surprise, looking at Skywarp with appreciative optics.
"'Course I did!" Skywarp grinned, "Might not have known what exactly, but I had my suspicions. Who do you think distracted Megatron from half your beatings? It's why I targeted so many pranks on him, or at least ones big enough to gain his attention. I brought it up with Soundwave and he only confirmed my suspicions."
"Soundwave?" Both Starscream and Thundercracker asked together, before Thundercracker sent another glare at his trine leader.
"Affirmitive." Soundwave spoke up from his place next to Barricade and Groundhog, "Starscream's processor: jumbled, hard to read. Residue left: Shockwave not good at cleaning up his tracks. Evidence: erased completely, but clues left."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Thundercracker growled, turning to glare at Soundwave now too.
Skywarp shrugged, "'Cracker doesn't like big surprises. But oh well, I always thought being an Autobot would be fun!"
"You can't be serious, 'Warp!" Thundercracker gawked at his Sparkmate.
"Dead serious, 'Cracker!" Skywarp replied cheerfully, stepping over to Starscream's side and sliding in between him and Skyfire. "Now we can get Sunstreaker and Sideswipe for their jet judo and Ratchet won't kill us! And besides, Skyfire's with them! I want to place bets on when he and Screamer will get it on!"
"'Warp, you can't go over to the Autobots!" Thundercracker hissed, "There's no way they'll accept us! It won't be safe to recharge, we'll have to watch our backs!"
"They treat Barricade, Groundhog, Soundwave, and his cassettes well, 'Cracker!" Skywarp whined, crossing his arms and pouting at his mate.
"I had a human willing to vouch for me, Soundwave got brownie points for helping out the Sparkling and two organics, and Groundhog was relatively safe because by that point I'd wormed my way in and my organic would vouch for him if I did." There was no word for brownie in Cybertronian, so Barricade just used the English version of it. His usual growl or snarl was gone, stating this matter of factly because he couldn't be bothered to put emotion behind it. "You three I imagine would have more trouble, Starscream especially. However, most of the 'bots on Earth are already used to this. I'd say you wouldn't get much trouble unless we get a new arrival. Ironhide might act like he hates you, but he's actually right up there on the Prime's command list, and not just as Weapons Specialist. Ratchet will fix you up no matter who you are."
"See? Barricade's been with them the longest, he'd know!" Skywarp grinned at Barricade.
"Barricade's a filthy ground pounder." Thundercracker snarled, "Why should I listen to him?"
Barricade ignored the insult, and Groundhog glanced at his ex-leader anxiously. "Most of the Autobots tend to avoid you if you're new and they're not sure about you, same with the organics. Unless you go to them then they're not going to start something, and even then they probably won't. I only ever had trouble the once when I dumped all of Sunstreaker's paint, the other set of Autobot twins telling me Sunny wanted that done, and then Sideswipe held him back until I explained myself."
"Still coming from a ground pounder, but at least this one isn't an organic loving ground pounder." Thundercracker sneered at Barricade.
"Suggestion: keep organics out of this." Soundwave, surprisingly enough, spoke up, though whether it was in Barricade's defense or Miles' was unknown. "Humans: similar to us in many ways. Many Autobots have accepted an organic, or organics, as their Charge. Insulting love of or organics themselves will only end badly."
"You honestly expect that the Autobots will just take us in like that? That most of them will treat us kindly? The very idea is laughable at best!"
"You forget our past, Thundercracker." Starscream said softly, "We all used to be one. There were no factions, no Autobots or Decepticons. Our friends, our family, we were made to choose between some and even leave others behind. The war has torn us apart, but Cybertron was never meant to be split in two. That's why our planet is now dead. We have a new chance here, on this new planet. We could become one again."
"Then I challenge you."
Starscream shuttered his optics in surprise, "You challenge me?"
"If you win me 'n 'Warp will go to the Autobots. If I win you either leave our trine or you stay with us, but we will not be joining the Autobots."
"Fine," Starscream narrowed his optics, stepping closer to Thundercracker.
"Go 'Cracker!" Skywarp cheered, "Go 'Screamer! Kick each other's afts, woohoo!"
Thundercracker got in a defensive position, waiting for Starscream to start the attack like he was sure to, but was surprised when Starscream paused, looking at Ravage. It was evident they were communicating through comms when the cat mech got up and walked away from Soundwave and his cassette brothers, heading for where Skyfire, Starscream, and the two organic soldiers had come from.
And then the battle began. Halfway through Megatron could be heard flying overhead.
"DECEPTICONS! RETREAT!"
His order even got a reaction from Starscream, the Seeker barely stopping himself from going after his ex-leader as he had done for so long. Thundercracker and Skywarp were the only other Decepticons to stay, Skywarp watching the battle between his mate and trine leader anxiously.
When Miles first woke up, he was fairly out of it. This was shown by the fact that the first thing he did was take notice of how wonderful the sky looked, a nice light blue with those wonderful fluffy white clouds. He closed his eyes and yawned, figuring a few more minutes couldn't hurt. Then he took note of the fact that there was a heaviness on his chest, peaking an eye open and noticing it was Ravage. That was all good, he'd woken up to the cat mech in his bed or cuddled up to him if he ever fell asleep somewhere odd and Barricade wasn't around a few times before. Ravage let out a light purr, stretching and kneading at Miles' chest a bit, tail flicking back and forth in a lazy manner. Miles patted the cassetticon on his large head, getting a deeper purr when he did so.
"Thank Primus you finally woke up," Sam frowned at his friend, "I was half afraid you weren't going to."
"What's going on?" Miles asked, completely confused. "The last thing I remember is dying."
"Oh, you both died. Certifiable, heart stopping, coffin needing, dead." Ravage purred, startling Sam so bad that he jumped, and Miles blinked at the cat mech on his chest in surprise.
Miles sat up, not bothering to care that he was knocking Ravage from his perch, noticing the look on Sam's face and nearly laughing. Sam looked momentarily flabbergasted; apparently just as surprised that Ravage could now talk as Miles was. Miles had only ever heard Ravage through comm links before; it was a pleasant surprise that Ravage was now able to talk to them normally. It was a bit odd that Ravage didn't need to actually move his mouth to do so, but then again why would he have to? Most of the Cybertronians only did it to fit in more.
"Wow, Rav, about time you got your own voice." Miles grinned at Sam, "Pussy, Rav was just talking to us."
"And that makes you the official second luckiest human in the world, LadiesMan217."Ravage said, amused optics focused on Sam.
Sam frowned, "Just Sam, please. Second luckiest?"
Ravage chuckled, "Both of you can now talk to the wonderful moi. As for the second luckiest, you're stuck with one of those bleeding hearts while the little one has a Decepticon."
"Bleeding hearts?"
"That's how he tends to refer to the Autobots," Miles explained. "Better than some of what Barry used to call them."
"Barricade's not a Decepticon anymore, and neither are you, though." Sam pointed out with a frown.
"You can never stop being something, Samuel. Just become a part of something else. We are Decepticons, which will always stay with us. But now we are Autobots too. Just don't expect us to go saving any infants from burning buildings."
Miles laughed, "Oh please, you love it when Will lets you curl up with Annabelle!"
"I believe miraculously coming back from the dead has left you delusional."Ravage flicked his tail in annoyance, turning his helm up at Miles.
"He just doesn't want you to know that he likes the little mousey toy that Sarah bought for him," Miles mock whispered to Sam.
Sam snickered, appreciating the fact that he could now communicate with Ravage. So far the tiny mech seemed to have a good personality, slightly sarcastic, almost putting Sam in mind of an older brother. Then again, considering how he was the oldest out of all the Cassetticons, which might just be how Ravage saw himself.
"How did you know to come find us, Ravage?" Sam asked, and tried to not be annoyed when he did so. He had woken up first, and had attempted to communicate only to get a helpless shake of the helm. It wasn't until Miles had woken up that Ravage bothered to reveal he talk.
"Starscream just told me to come here and wait. Sure enough I find you two, and then you both awaken." Ravage tilted his helm slightly at the two boys, giving a wide toothy smirk. "I can't wait to see how your Guardians react to you two rising from the dead. Can we surprise them? It'll be purrfect."
"They think we're dead, Rav. Pretty sure it's gonna be a surprise no matter what." Miles pointed out dryly.
Ravage just gave him a sour look for ruining his fun, "I will contact Starscream, then."
Starscream walked up to the group completely unnoticed, or just ignored by those who did notice him. Only Skyfire gave him a sideways glance, and even then the usually perceptive Scientist didn't take any notice of the two figures Starscream was carrying in one of his servos. The Seeker came to a stop about twenty feet behind Soundwave and Skyfire.
By the time Sam had woken up the battle had basically ended, and an hour later when Miles woke up Ratchet had been tending to what wounded he could and the others had been chasing off or killing any Decepticons still around, though most had fled when Megatron had called the retreat. It was only a little later that Starscream went to retrieve the duo, Ravage going back to Soundwave and his cassette siblings. The cat mech wouldn't say a word to anyone or mech about it, instead waiting so he could enjoy the reactions.
The group itself was standing in a large circle, Optimus Prime in the middle with Ratchet. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were standing side by side, Skids and Mudflap doing the same, both sets of twins silently offering each other comfort. Trailbreaker was standing so he could separate both sets of twins from the other set, Graham on his shoulder. Epps stood in between Ironhide and Jazz, a scowl on his face. The Saboteur also had Bumblebee standing beside him, who was only naturally flanked by Barricade, the two almost expected to be standing together by this point. Groundhog stood beside his old team captain, and Soundwave claimed his other side, the cassetticons scattered at his peds. Skyfire stood beside Soundwave and Sideswipe, completing the circle. Ironhide was holding Will and Fig. The rest of the organic soldiers that had been shipped out with them were standing at Skyfire's peds.
Ratchet was silent as he examined Optimus, something extremely unusual. It meant things were bad if Ratchet wasn't kicking up a fuss, yelling his head off and using every cuss word in every language he could think of before creating his own colorful phrases with combinations of them.
"Slag it all to the Pit and back," Ratchet couldn't even look Optimus in the optics. "He used cosmic rust on you."
"Cosmic rust?" Graham asked.
"A type of micro-organism, highly contagious." Skyfire began to explain. "The rust on your planet is not strong enough to eat through our metals, but cosmic rust is. It devours Cybertronian metals as easily as you might eat a cherry, and as it had direct contact with Prime's Energon lines then it will likely spread even faster. It will kill him unless we get the antidote for him, though there are means of stopping it from being contagious even without the antidote."
"Then let's get that antidote!" Will said, Fig nodding beside him.
"The antidote," Ironhide growled, "Is with Perceptor, the mech who created it. His location is unknown."
"Then we'll just have to find a way to get in touch with him, won't we?" Sam asked, smirking. All helms and heads shot in their direction, stunned at the sound of his voice.
The two teens shared a grin, both hopping down from Starscream's servo. By now the trio was being stared at in complete shock, all optics and eyes looking at them in disbelief, and one set of optics in amusement. Well, mainly focused on the two now on the ground, no one or mech really caring that there was an amused Seeker standing behind them.
"We come back from the dead and this is the greeting we get?" Sam asked, smirking.
Miles shook his head in amusement, "I know, buddy. This is a bit disappointing. I was at least expecting a bit more yelling."
"SAMUEL JAMES WITWICKY, MILES MILTON LANCASTER!" The angry bellow had both teens staring at Ratchet in surprise, the Medic apparently the first to recover and storming his way over to them, snatching them both up off the ground. "WHERE THE PIT DO YOU TWO GET OFF DYING ON US?"
"Awe, Ratch." Miles whined, squirming.
"C'mon, Ratchet! You could let us see our Guardians first!"
"No slagging chance!" Ratchet growled, already moving. Bumblebee and Barricade would have to wait. "You're both getting checkups immediately!"
"We don't need them!" Sam protested.
Ratchet snarled, "I'll tell you what you do or don't need, and right now you both need a smack to your helms for being stupid enough to die on us!"
"Good going, stupid!" Miles hissed, going limp in the Medic's grasp as Ratchet continued on his tirade.
Sam groaned, both teens resigning themselves to their fate at Ratchet's servos. The Medic stalked over to the cargo plane that Will had called for, planning to do exactly what he had said. Everyone and mech, minus Starscream and Ravage, was still watching after Ratchet, Sam, and Miles with evident shock. Only Soundwave managed to not look completely slack jawed at the newest development.
"Was that Sam and Miles?" Bumblebee asked dazedly.
"Indeed," Starscream said, all optics and eyes flying to him. He shuttered his optics in surprise, before realizing that he was their only source of information on what the pit was going on and that he should really back away.
"What do you mean indeed?"
"Sam and Miles are alive?"
"They're immortal!"
"How can they be alive? Ratchet said they were dead!"
"Yeah, they're humans! Has Ratch lost it?"
"But humans can't come back from the dead!"
"Their scans showed no life!"
"Sam's alive!"
"Now we won't have to face Judy and Elizabeth!"
"Can we not tell Prowl? Everyone on base still thinks they're dead! He'll glitch so hard sparks will fly!"
Everymech was gathering around Starscream, the Seeker trying to back away as he realized it was a very bad position to be in. Everything was being said at the same time, no one giving him any time to get a word in edge wise.
"ENOUGH!" Soundwave shouted over the chatter, and that was enough to stop everyone talking, surprised that Soundwave had yelled, let alone lost his cool over something. "Starscream: explain. Now."
And Starscream did.
Miles barely withheld a sigh, both he and Sam having finally managed to escape Ratchet's clutches. This was only after Optimus had come around the cargo plane, where Ratchet had set up his field Medbay and was holding the two. By then it had grown dark, all the others camped off near the village with strict orders to not bother Ratchet or the boys. Surprisingly enough no one had fought this order.
Miles looked over to where he could see flames flickering in the distance at the camp he had set up, Sam already making his way over there. And here he was hesitating, almost afraid to go to see the others, because he knew he'd find Barricade there.
Offering to die so the Primes could fix Starscream was no heroic sacrifice in the end. It had been true that he wanted Starscream and Skyfire to have a chance, for Starscream to be able to have his life back. But it was also because of what he knew he felt for Barricade, something he hadn't even noticed cropping up until it was too late to do anything about it. Mainly because he had just gone and flat out kissed him, but still.
Barricade had enough trouble accepting the fact that he now had emotions towards mechs and organics that he should hate, something that just a few months earlier the ex-con would have seen as making him weak, how would he handle developing even more intense emotions for one of them? Miles sighed, knowing that he really only had two results he could hope for. That Barricade felt the same, which seemed unlikely, or that Barricade didn't but was willing to pretend that Miles didn't either and they could just stay the way they had been before Miles had gone and gotten himself killed.
Miles knew exactly what he wanted and the only problem was he did not know what Barricade wanted.
"Miles! What's up?" Sam called, jogging back over to him.
"Thinking."
"Thought I smelled smoke." No hesitation whatsoever, Sam smirking at his friend.
Miles grinned, shoving his friend. "You are an aft. Let's go, I think Bee will step on me if I keep you away from him any longer."
"Yeah?" Sam chuckled, both of them heading towards where the others had set up camp. "If he did Ratchet'd tear him a new tailpipe."
They both laughed, bantering back and forth as they walked towards the camp. Halfway there they could see two alt modes heading straight for them, as if their Guardians had been scanning for their arrival, which they probably had been. Sam stopped and grinned, while Miles just stopped, sure that if he still had a heart it would've been in his throat by now. Sam seemed to notice, casting a worried look at him, but Miles just shook his head.
Both of the Guardians came to a stop about thirty feet away, and then Barricade transformed and walked forward. Sam waved up at the ex-con, tossing another worried glance at Miles, before grinning as his own Guardian neared.
"Miles, it's good to see you alive and well!" Bumblebee said, not going to forget about Miles even if he just wanted to race off with Sam.
Miles smirked, "Thanks Bee. I'd keep a tighter leash on him, he follows me everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Can't even escape him in death."
"I'll do my best," Bumblebee laughed, Sam huffing from beside Miles and then walking over to his Guardian. "Good night."
They were all surprised when there was a loud popping noise, Skywarp appearing out of thin air and grabbing Sam in a servo.
"Jazzy said it's time to play keep away from the little insect!" Skywarp sing-songed cheerfully, tossing Sam up and transforming quickly, catching Sam in his cockpit before racing off towards the campsite.
Instantly Bumblebee was racing after the Seeker, cursing loudly in Cybertronian, and Miles turned to watch him leave with some amusement. He almost felt bad for Bumblebee, Skywarp was apparently just as bad as Jazz and the twins, either set, which meant the Autobot Scout would have a hard time getting Sam back. He turned around; realizing Barricade was just staring down at him. He also realized that the ex-con was damaged, though after a fight it should have been obvious that he would have sustained some injuries. It still managed to worry Miles.
"Oh, you're hurt!" Miles frowned, "Are you okay? Ratchet kind of freaked over us, if you were hurt you should have said something so that he could look over you, Barry."
"You died, and you worry of if I'm okay?" Barricade asked, and the tone he used was similar to one Miles had heard him use before.
Miles remembered quite clearly a similar situation in Skyfire's lab after the Scientist had accidentally gotten the virus from Shockwave's files. He'd been worried that Barricade had gotten hurt because of their bond, and Barricade had gotten angry saying that Miles worried too much over everyone else and not nearly enough about himself. The same exact tone the ex-con had used then was being used now.
He swallowed, "Barry, I just…"
"You just what?" Barricade snarled, "Because I 'just' thought I lost you! You died! You left me!"
Miles nearly flinched at the accusation, opening his mouth to say something, but closing it again immediately when Barricade brought his holoform out, watching to see what he'd do. Barricade walked closer, and for a moment Miles almost thought that he was going to get slapped like in those sappy movies when the girl thought the boy had died and when she found out he was alive she slapped him and then kissed him, only without the kiss.
He was surprised when the holoform grabbed him and pulled him close, wrapping him up in a hug and doing the exact opposite of hurting him. For once, Miles was the one left unsure what to do for a moment, glancing up at Barricade's mech form and expecting to see red optics, but no, his optics were shuttered. Barricade was attempting to focus entirely on his holoform instead of splitting his senses between the two bodies.
"I'm so sorry, Barry." Miles whispered, finally just wrapping his arms around Barricade's holoform in a return hug, letting his hands clutch at Barricade's shirt.
What had he even been thinking when he had told the Primes he'd die to save Starscream? He not only just left Barricade, but his parents, Sam, all of the Cybertronians he'd come to call his friend, Epps, Will, Fig, Graham, Mikaela, Trent, the Dinobots. A whole list of people and mechs that he hadn't even spared a second thought to. He could never tell anyone that he'd just let himself die, especially not his parents, Sam, or Barricade. What would they even say? They'd be so angry at him.
As happy as he should have been to be alive, Miles was starting to feel like one of the lowliest scum on Earth. How could he do that to all of them?
He was pulled out of internally beating himself up when Barricade suddenly let go, sitting down and pulling Miles along with him, making him let out a surprised sound as he suddenly found himself in Barricade's lap, the ex-con starting to look him over. It should have been awkward to suddenly be sitting in the holoform's lap, legs on either side of Barricade's waist, but Miles pushed that aside because if that's what the ex-con wanted then that was what he was going to get.
After what he'd done he figured he could let Barricade slip by with a few things without any protests. He willingly subjected himself to Barricade's scrutinizing look over, not bothering to fight like he had with Ratchet. It wasn't like he hadn't taken a good long look at himself. For supposedly being crushed to death he felt decidedly un-crushed.
"See?" Miles asked gently, grabbing one of Barricade's hands and moving it over the area of his chest where his heart would be, so the ex-con could feel the soft beating of it himself. "I'm right here, better than ever."
Barricade hesitated for only a moment, before feeling the beat of the organic heart for himself. Miles was surprised when his heart seemed to skip a beat, an odd feeling starting up. Telling him to reach for Barricade across a bond that wasn't there anymore, making him want it again. It was sudden, and Miles found himself frowning.
"What the hell?"
But Barricade just smirked, "You're already used to having a bond, a link to me. It was cut off when you died, and now you're calling out for it again.
Miles hadn't even thought of the bond, how much it had hurt Barricade to suddenly lose it when he died, Spark sinking a little at the thought. The whole part about him calling out for it again he just glossed over. The bond at all in the first place had been surprising, but then again so had the nanobots, saving Orion, and just giant alien robots in general.
"Oh, God, Barry, I'm so so-"
"You didn't have a choice the first time, but now you do. Do you want it?"
Miles blinked, for a second unsure what Barricade was talking about, or why the ex-con was suddenly looking at him in such a serious manner. But then he realized Barricade was talking about their bond, though Miles had never actually seen it as not having a choice, since he had been more than willing to try to save Barricade, and the bond that came out of it had been a nice little bonus. And he actually was bothering to ask if Miles wanted that back. Miles breathed in deeply, no matter that he no longer needed to breathe at all, glancing down to where Barricade's hand was still on his chest.
"But then again…" Barricade trailed off, "I suppose you wouldn't."
"What?" Miles asked before he could stop himself, eyes darting up to the holoform's face. "No, no, I do, I want it!"
A snort, and Miles realized Barricade was smirking at him, leaving him even more confused.
"You like me, do you not?"
"Er, well, I, uhm, it's like, uh-" Barricade quickly stopped him, which was good because Miles was doing a fairly good job at making an utter fool of himself with his stuttering.
"That's a different type of bond than what we had before, then."
Miles stared in surprise, before he finally caught on and relief flooded through him, followed by irritation. Of course Barricade had to wait awhile before finally letting him know how he felt in return, even playing with him a little. Bonds were everything to a Cybertronian, and if they could have created even simple friendship bonds with the organics that dominated Earth then they would have. Friendship bonds, Brother/Sister bonds, parent bonds. A variety of mixtures of those combinations. Then what Ratchet had ended up referring to as a boyfriend/girlfriend, crush bond, or courting bond and finally Sparkmates. Not all Sparkmates instantly knew that they were destined for each other, imprinted on each other, or some just needed the reassurance that they weren't rushing head long into things. In Praxian culture it was necessary to court your intended, that type of bond being used, before finally claiming them as a Sparkmate. And Barricade was referring to that, or at least that's what Miles thought.
Miles wasn't a Cybertronian, but for some reason a bond had already been created between them once before. It only stood to reason that both would assume it would happen again.
"You're such an aft," Miles groaned.
"Oh, so you don't?" Barricade asked, smirking.
"No, I do!" Miles huffed, glaring at the ex-con halfheartedly. But he still had to make sure, needing to actually hear it to believe it. "But do you?"
Barricade just kissed him in response, and for one blissful moment they stayed like that, before Barricade pulled back and leaned his forehead against Miles', growling.
"If you ever do anything like today to me again, I swear I will bring you back myself just to offline you permanently."
Miles grinned, "Are you going to keep having these mood swings all the time? If so I might get second thoughts."
Barricade glared, and Miles leaned in for another kiss before the ex-con got angry enough to go off again. A loud pop signaled Skywarp's arrival through his warping abilities, startling Miles and making him pull away to look at the mech in surprise. Both Skywarp and Sam stared back just as surprised.
"Awe, how cute! The organic and the Cybert-" Barricade snarled at the joyful Seeker, and Skywarp actually pouted. "Fine, fine, we're gone!"
Miles watched in amusement as Skywarp immediately warped out of view again, Sam still too surprised to say anything about what he'd seen. He felt Barricade still beneath him, and in his peripheral vision he noticed red optics before they dimmed. Loud laughter and a few yells of disbelief from the campsite drifted over to them, and Miles rolled his eyes.
"What did you just do?"
Barricade did his best to look innocent, standing up and leading the teen over to his mech form. "I just sent a comm to the others saying not to come near our coordinates."
"Oh, wonderful." Miles muttered, "I'm guessing there was a bet?"
"Several, with one major one that I believe they're celebrating over." Barricade replied, "I am not sure what exactly they entail."
"It's no fun when you read bets about you." Miles snorted, "Plenty when it's someone else's life you're betting on. So who won?"
Barricade didn't reply for a moment, and Miles took it that he was comming somemech to see. Then he started to laugh.
"What?" Miles frowned, "Who won?"
"Your mom, apparently."
Miles gaped in disbelief, and Barricade just chuckled at his expression.
:Don't you two dare do anything just yet!: Ratchet's snarled command came across in a comm, Miles looking at him questioningly while Barricade paid attention. :We don't even know if it'd be safe for him to do yet, Barricade. Slag alone time, get him around that fire.:
"The Medic apparently thinks I'm going to break you, and orders us to go with the others." Barricade said, "I do not think he realizes the soldiers will be more of a threat to you than I will."
"Maybe from hugging to death." Miles smirked, "We just can't ever tell my mom Starscream killed me."
Skywarp eventually grew bored of playing monkey in the middle with Bumblebee by using Sam as the thing the monkey was trying so desperately to get, and dropped the little organic off with the organic soldiers. There was the boredom, and the fact that when Ratchet knew what was going on he whacked the Autobot Scout over his helm and grabbed him, forcing him to sit still so he could take care of any damage the Scout may have received during the battle.
"I was a bit surprised to see them kissing," Sam frowned, "I know we joked, but to actually see it done?"
"My reaction exactly, brother." Epps laughed, patting Sam on the back.
"You saw them too?"
Epps shook his head, "Not today. The first day, before Skywarp got you. Me, Prowl, Cade, and Miles were stuck doing inventory for Ratch in the human Medbay. Miles tripped down the stairs and landed on Barricade, and then kissed him. I was shocked shitless."
"He'd already kissed Barricade?" Sam asked, shocked. Mainly because he hadn't heard that Miles had kissed Barricade, and because Miles had never bothered to tell him.
"Oh, yeah. Didn't Bee tell you?" Epps asked, "Prowl told everymech about it on the ride over here."
"BUMBLEBEE!"
Bumblebee jumped when his Charge yelled his name, looking at Sam with wide optics. He would have gone over to him, but Ratchet had a tight grip on one arm, messing with the wiring in it.
"How could you not tell me that Miles kissed Barricade?"
"You don't get angry when I don't tell you he died, but you get angry when I don't tell you he kissed Barricade?" Bumblebee shuttered his optics in disbelief, before giving Ratchet a helpless look. The Medic just snorted.