The next few days Barricade spent alone, watching movies and TV shows. He found he actually enjoyed some of them, despite his original hate of Earth and its inhabitants. For the first two days Miles had texted him a simple "Good morning, Barry", and after school had ended whether or not he would be able to join the Decepticon. He would also send him a "Good night, Barry" before going to bed.
He'd found out quickly that the teen was surprisingly easy to handle if he placated him just right. He was rue to admit that he'd gotten the idea from the teen himself, when he'd mentioned training some inferior organic species, but it came with good results. The teen was easier to handle if he used his name, insulted him less, and even if he growled less frequently. And if he was nice enough for an extended period of time then the teen didn't even tend to question him when he ordered him around.
By Thursday Barricade surprised Miles by texting him in the middle of school, causing his phone to go off loudly and get him detention that night. Once he had gotten home he had angrily texted Barricade and told him off as well as telling him appropriate times to text him if he wanted to text. The next day Miles turned his phone on silent, and just smirked when he checked his phone at lunch to see that the Decepticon had texted him again. He quickly texted the 'con with a smug reply, before putting his phone back into his pocket and acting like the good little student he was.
He brought his phone out again later on while waiting for his annoyingly late bus, texting the Decepticon to complain as well as just to talk. Slightly amused, as outside of the good morning's, goodnight's, and whether or not he could join the 'con Miles had avoided talking to him a lot through the phone. It seemed that Barricade getting him detention and texting him outside of their schedule had shown the teen that he could text the 'con more. Barricade texted the young fleshling back, occasionally poking fun at his slow typing skills. When Miles abruptly stopped texting he was annoyed at the teenager. When Miles didn't text him his normal "Good night, Barry" and then night turned to morning with no "Good morning, Barry", he couldn't help but wonder what was up.
He wasn't worried about the young teen, Primus forbid. He was merely curious as to what would cause the fleshling to change his normal routine so suddenly, or so he told himself. There was no way he was going to admit to enjoying being around a fleshling, or having any feelings remotely close to friendship towards the fleshy. If he was going to admit to anything that led to having feelings to Miles, it would be that the fleshy was like an entertaining pet he kept around, always returning to it's master without him having to call. Naturally he would wonder what was keeping his pet from him, he told himself.
Aggravated, Barricade wanted nothing more than to drive free of the little forest shelter he had surrounded himself in and find the fleshy and yell at him. He only managed to calm himself by thinking that Miles didn't have school on Saturdays, and while he did live close by, the bumbling Autobot was staying in Tranquility with Witwicky. When Miles appeared not even an hour later with a black and badly swollen eye he was surprised, and irritated.
"What did you do to yourself, fleshy?" Barricade questioned with a growl, driving the few feet closer to Miles.
Miles just grinned, "Oh, this? Tripped and fell on to a door knob, most embar-"
"Do not attempt to lie to me, fleshling!" Barricade snarled, effectively cutting Miles off as he transformed to glare down at the teen.
"No lies?" Miles asked, sighing and running a hand through his blonde hair. "Okay, the resident school cool guy asshole, Trent, was sitting near me at bus dismissal. He never liked me or Sam, and liked Sam even less when Sam 'stole' Mikaela from him. So he sat there bad mouthing the both of them and I eventually got angry and yelled at him. He gave me a black eye and broke my phone. I kind of dread seeing Trent on Monday, but at least Sam won't be there. Oh, and after Tuesday we have the rest of the week off. Cool, right?"
Barricade barely listened after Miles said Sam wouldn't be there that Monday. That meant the Autobot wouldn't be there, and he grinned inwardly as he formulated a plan against Trent. He ignored Miles' rambling as the teen continued to ramble on, tuning him out as he hacked in to police records and the like to put his plan in motion. He wasn't surprised by the small surge of protectiveness he felt towards the young teen-when one made as odd and desperate of a connection as he was with the teen then it was only natural he wanted to protect it and give the teen reason to stick around.
By the time Monday morning rolled around Miles was reluctant to get out of bed, face still sore although the swelling had gone down, and he had the oddest feeling that something was going to happen that day. He couldn't tell if it was good or bad, but after almost missing his bus he was starting to dread that it was something bad. When lunch came around and nothing else had happened he stopped worrying, never seeing a familiar police cruiser pull into the parking lot. When the bell rang to go home he took his time, not wanting to run into Trent or one of his lackeys with his eye still so noticeable, knowing that while he might not get hit again it was likely that he'd get laughed at.
When he went outside he was met by a large crowd of very loud students. Some were laughing and pointing at something Miles couldn't see, and others were whispering amongst themselves. Miles shoved his way through, stopping as he saw Trent's precious blue truck being towed away and two police cars. Trent was yelling at one of the policemen, trying to explain that he didn't know how he had gotten all those tickets and other misdeeds that they were accusing him of.
Miles grinned, thinking that Trent deserved whatever had happened. The grin quickly faded as one of the police cars pulled up in front of him and popped open the passenger side door. Eyes narrowed, he watched as the person inside beckoned him to enter. He could easily recognize Barricade's holoform, though the eye color had changed to brown. He could also recognize the cruiser as Barricade's alt form, though the Decepticon had changed the slogan to "to punish and bring justice", thankfully. Miles could hear the large group of students go mostly silent, just knowing a good deal were already looking at him, so he quickly hurried into the passenger side and slammed the door.
"What did you do?" he hissed, taking off his backpack and putting it on the floor between his legs.
"You should really buckle up, it's the law." The holoform chuckled, though the voice seemed to come from all around Miles despite the way the holoform's mouth moved.
Miles glared at the dashboard, buckling up. He turned his gaze to the holoform, "Well?"
"I simply decided to punish the human designated as Trent. From what you told me he deserves it." Barricade replied, amusement evident in his voice as he pulled away from the crowd of high-schoolers and out of the school parking lot.
"I wondered why you seemed to ask so many questions about what Trent had done. I don't even want to know how you did it. More important than that, though, what if you had been caught?" Miles huffed, sinking into the passenger seat.
"You told me that Witwicky would not be there on Monday and that naturally led me to assume that the stupid Autobot wouldn't be sitting in the school parking lot due to that. Though, I do wonder how you knew he wouldn't be here today. I thought you two didn't talk that much anymore?" Barricade wasn't even bothering to open his holoform's mouth now, so Miles assumed the voice was coming from the radio.
While Miles was happy that the Decepticon felt more comfortable asking questions and taking a vested interest in his life, this wasn't exactly what he had expected from that. He couldn't be too angry about what happened to Trent, though. The jock really did deserve it.
"His mom called my mom and asked if I could bring any homework he might get for Monday early Friday morning…" Miles trailed off, gripping the edge of the seat as Barricade pulled a sharp u-turn. His stomach dropped as he realized they were taking the way to Sam's house. "I-I can just deliver the homework on my own time, Barricade! There's no need for you to take me there! What if they're already back?"
Barricade just smirked, "Come, fleshling, what's the fun of not taking a few risks? I scanned the area, it doesn't seem like the Autobot is there."
Miles cursed inwardly, taking a shaky breath to calm his sudden nerves. He liked the 'con and was more than willing to admit that, but the thought of Sam realizing he had befriended what he would see as an enemy made him nervous. He didn't even know if they could count as friends anymore with the way his fellow teenager had been acting, but he still felt as if he had crossed the line of loyalty. They had been friends since elementary school, and while they did have other friends they were closest to each other, or had been until late last school year. In a weird twist of fate he almost felt closer to Barricade now.
They pulled up to the Witwicky household all too soon for Miles liking, and he slowly dug Sam's homework out of his backpack, getting out of the police cruiser and making his way to the front door. He raised his hand to knock on the door, hesitating as he stole a glance back at Barricade. His holoform was sitting smugly in the front seat, a lazy smirk in place as he left one hand on the steering wheel. Miles had no problem thinking he was a smug bastard that needed a scare in the form of a certain yellow Autobot coming back, but the teen doubted if he could take that himself. He took a deep breath, knocking on the door. He was more than a little relieved when Judy Witwicky opened it.
"Oh, Miles! Thanks a lot for getting here with Sam's homework, he's not back just yet, but I'll make sure to tell him to thank you… Oh, who's that?" Judy smiled, waving at Barricade's holoform, before taking the homework from Miles.
For a brief moment, as the teen glanced back and saw Barricade give a polite wave back, he wondered just what Judy would think if he told her the truth. Then again, Judy was like a second mom. He wasn't sure if this would be enough to get officially disowned from the Witwicky family and he never wanted that to happen.
He put on a smile, "Oh, that's a friend of the family. He was nice enough to pick me up from school today. And thanks for watching Masey again, by the way."
"Oh? That's nice, and anytime, darling. What happened to his police car? It looks kind of damaged…" She leaned out the door a bit as she scrutinized the cruiser. "To punish and bring justice? Haven't seen that before."
"Just some punks hassling the local law enforcement. And that's… his personal touch, as a joke. Seeing how long before they make him change it." Miles explained hastily, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go now. He's gotta get back, and I gotta go home."
"Of course, have a nice day, Miles." Judy smiled gently, shutting the door.
Miles practically ran back to the saleen police cruiser, opening the passenger door and closing it just as quickly, hearing Barricade laugh as he buckled up. He glared at the radio as Anxiety by Black Eyed Peas drifted into his ears.
"I don't fear none of my enemies, and I don't fear bullets from Uzi's.
I've been dealing with something that's worse than these,
that'll make you fall to your knees and that's the, the
anxiety the sane and the insane's brought me to my knees.
Lord, please, please, take away my anxiety."
Miles glared at the radio, knowing the 'con was using it to taunt him. After a moment he let a smirk fall on to his face, "Taking a page out of Bumblebee's book? That's cute."
The radio abruptly cut off the music as Barricade snarled in reply. Miles dared a glance over, regretting what he said as his eyes came into contact with furious red ones. He tried not to gulp out of reflex, having realized the first day that the mech had major anger issues. He absentmindedly wondered just when Barricade had changed the color of his holoform's eyes, the dark red definitely more intimidating than brown, and he quickly looked forward again, and then right so he could stare out the window.
"…Where are we going?" Miles asked hesitantly.
"For a drive. I've been in the same place for how long now? I think I can enjoy some time out. Or do you have a problem with that as well?" Barricade growled, a warning there in his voice even if it was obvious he was practically daring Miles to say something, anything, holoform glaring at the teen again until Miles shook his head no.
Miles sighed, leaning back in the passenger seat. It felt surprisingly different from when he had first sat in it, as if it was changing to better adjust to his comfort level. With a start, he realized that it just might be. He tried not to grin to himself as he thought Barricade might actually care, despite how red-eyed and snarly he'd been moments ago.
The next day Trent was nowhere to be seen in the school, and Miles tried not to act as happy as he really felt about that. Just after lunch he stopped somewhere in a secluded hall and pulled out his phone to text Barricade and thank him, realizing he had forgotten to the day before. He jumped when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, shoving the phone away quickly and praying he hadn't gotten caught by a teacher. He turned around, surprised to see who was behind him.
"Geez man, way to give me a heart attack! I thought you were a teacher!" Miles scowled, Sam just grinning sheepishly at him in return. "What's up?"
"Wanna ride home with me today? Micky ain't here, and we could hang out my house. Go to the lookout beforehand and make fun of all the stupid couples, just like old times." Sam grinned, and then looked nervous while Miles just stared at him in shock. "Hey man, there's no need to look so shocked!"
Miles attempted to snap out of it, laughing awkwardly. "Yeah? Okay. So I'll… uh, see you then, I guess?"
Sam nodded, and they parted ways. Miles was surprised to find he felt more nervous than happy. He knew Sam's car was alive, just like Barricade was. He only started to panic as it got closer to the end of the day, and closer to when he'd go see Sam. How was he supposed to act? Should he treat Bumblebee like a regular car even when he knew he wasn't? He didn't want to possibly anger or offend the Autobot.
Worse yet, if Sam brought up Barricade, could he really lie to his friend? He wasn't sure if he could. He felt a surprising amount of loyalty to the wounded mech, but he'd only known him for so long. It was impossible to beat the family loyalty he felt for Sam, right then. If it came down to it, would Miles be able to defend Barricade by saying nothing at all? There was no guarantee that he really wouldn't hurt Sam, no matter how unlikely he thought it was.
The end of the day came quicker than Miles would have liked. He got his homework for the night, and then walked to the shiny yellow Camaro in the parking lot. Miles bothered to text Barricade as he went, seeing Sam leaning against the hood of his car. He warned him that they'd be heading up towards the lookout, unsure whether Bumblebee would be able to detect Bumblebee or not. Shoving his phone in his pocket, he put on a smile, praying he didn't look anywhere close to as nervous as he felt. He watched Sam get in the driver's side, tossing his backpack in the back.
Miles followed his example on the opposite side, glancing around Bumblebee's interior, looking at it for the first time despite having ridden in the Autobot several times before. The only thing he could see that made the Autobot stand out was the insignia on the steering wheel and he pretended not to notice, keeping his hands firmly in his lap. He stayed silent as Sam—no, Bumblebee, he realized when the wheel seemed to turn without any help from Sam—pulled out of the school parking lot. He could see that Sam was just pretending to drive, letting the Autobot actually take control. The two stayed silent for five awkward minutes, the teen unable to keep himself from thinking how obvious Bumblebee's sentience was now that he knew about it.
"Bumblebee," Miles suddenly said, watching in satisfaction as Sam jerked in surprise. If he had actually been driving they would have swerved into the opposite lane, so Miles was thankful the Autobot was actually in control.
"W-what?" Sam asked, laughing nervously and glancing in his direction.
Miles grinned, "Your car. Yellow with black, like a Bumblebee. It's the perfect nickname."
"Oh," Sam seemed to sigh in relief, "Yeah, me 'nd Kaela already beat you to the nickname, call 'im Bee. Sorry, buddy.
"Ah, well." Miles said happily, the two lapsing into silence once more.
They pulled up to the lookout, surprised to find no one else was there. Miles started to feel ten times more awkward, but didn't say anything. He stole a glance at Sam, taking a small amount of enjoyment to find that he looked slightly nervous.
"So, uh…" Sam started, seeming to lose the small determination that had started him talking halfway through. "Mikaela said that a cop car picked you up yesterday. What's up with that?"
Miles tried not to feel a bit bitter as he realized what Sam was getting at. He and Mikaela obviously remembered Barricade's alt mode, and even if the 'con had changed the slogan on his side he didn't look that different. It did make sense that Sam might be afraid that Barricade was trying to get Miles to get to Sam, but he wished it hadn't been the reason Sam thought to start talking to him again. It made Miles feel like being a little mean.
"Oh, Officer Ticon?" Miles asked, shrugging a bit as if it were nothing. "I met him a bit ago. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he helped me out of a bad jam. Saved me from juvie."
Sam jerked up in his seat, sitting a little straighter. It was a little mean, but Miles was satisfied at the result it got him. Sam looked absolutely gob smacked, staring at his friend in evident horror and clearly wondering how he could have missed something so big in his friend's life.
"What?" Sam nearly yelled, "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped!"
"When would I have, Sam? We haven't had a decent conversation since you ditched me at the lake party for Mikaela. I'm happy you get her; I mean you've been pining after her for years, but after that you just… drew away. I tried to hang out, you were always busy. I tried to text you or call you and you either couldn't talk, or never said much. I know something happened, Sam! And it's fine that you never told me, I can dig that, but you basically dropped contact with me. And you expect me to rely on you for help after all that?" Miles ground out, instantly regretting how harsh he sounded when he saw Sam flinch out of the corner of his eye.
He wanted to be a little mean, felt it was his right, but he never wanted to hurt Sam. He sighed heavily, getting out of Bumblebee and moving around to the front of the Autobot, leaning against the yellow hood. Sam instantly scrambled out after him, looking at him nervously. Miles glared pointedly forward, before sighing again and dropping his gaze to the ground. If anyone could pull off a kicked puppy look, Sam sure could. He made a mental note to ask him to teach him the look later, if they ever got over their awkwardness around each other.
"I'm not going to apologize for what I said because it's true, Sam. But I will apologize for being so harsh about it." Miles muttered softly, glancing inside of the now empty Camaro. He almost expected to see a holoform there.
Sam nodded, "Look man, I'm sorry. You're right about something happening… What the government said about Mission City was just a cover up. Me and 'Kaela where there, but I can't tell you exactly what happened. It could put you in danger, or something…"
"So was it humongous giant aliens?" Miles asked, nearly laughing at the look on Sam's face. "Nah, I bet it was Godzilla!"
"Haha, yeah…" Sam looked at the ground nervously, "I shouldn't have just dropped off contact with you like I did. I can't really go into details, but I've been busy and preoccupied, so we wouldn't have been able to hang much anyway. I almost wish you would have been there with me, I have missed you…"
Miles grinned, "Aww, sounds like we got ourselves a total bromance in the wings. Sure Mikaela won't get a bit jealous now that we've made up?"
Sam just laughed and shook his head. He had missed Miles a lot, that wasn't a lie. He had a way of putting a light spin on any serious situation and he could always make people laugh. He was amazed by how quickly his friend had melted the awkwardness between them, but was relieved by it as well. When Mikaela had told him about seeing Miles get into a cop car he had nearly thrown a fit in panic. He remembered all too well how threatening Barricade had been, and was scared that maybe the Decepticon was using his friend for something. But now he wasn't worried at all.
"So what happened that this cop had to bail you out of? You never did say." Sam asked, leaning against Bumblebee's hood with his hands in his pockets.
Miles suddenly looked nervous, "I…I'd really rather not say. It's kind of embarrassing how it happened."
Sam looked at his friend curiously, and then shrugged. "Alright, man."
Sam figured his friend had the right to keep a few secrets, especially with all that he was keeping from him. They spent the next few hours just talking, catching up with each other and joking around. Miles felt slightly bad for fooling his friend, but he figured that in this instance the truth would hurt more than the lie. They eventually got back inside Bumblebee, and drove back to Sam's house. Miles called his mother and left a message saying he was spending the night, as he and Sam could easily share clothes and he could just hitch a ride to school the next morning. He then texted Barricade and informed him of the same thing.