Chapter 10
I do not own anything from Transformers.
Looks like I got a little confused about my chapter labeling in the last one. Oops, sorry for any confusion.
Anyway, I have something to reveal. Orianna is modeled after Daenerys Targaryen aka Khaleesi from A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones for all of you TV fans. Just to give you a visual of what she looks like in human mode.
Anyway, this story is jumping to an M rating after a few more chapters. I will put this disclaimer in future chapters before I jump it, just as a reminder.
Back to Present Time….
Optimus and Gabby were having it out, and Barricade loved every moment of it.
Optimus Prime was refusing to accept that his mate had changed during the almost two years they were separated, and this whole thing was not over yet. Gabby was insisting she had to still survive and keep the funds coming, and Barricade had to agree with her.
She had not become a bad person, no, that was not Gabby at all, it was just that she had to do bad things to keep Lockwood, and the rest of the government in on those experiments off of her trail by way of her contacts. It was what it was, and Optimus needed to accept it until this all blew over. Then she promised to stop what she was doing, and Barricade believed her.
Gabby had one more favor to do in Albuquerque, New Mexico for one of her informants, and it was definitely something the honorable Optimus Prime would not approve of.
Optimus only saw his world in black and white, good and evil, and it drove Barricade crazy. Now, it was his mate who had gone from that black and white to many shades of gray. Barricade wanted to laugh out loud at the Prime for his frustration, but he would wait till the right moment to finally step in.
Gabrielle Ryan had been through human hell from the moment those humans had harvested her eggs from her reproductive system to having to lie, cheat, and steal to survive and keep off the grid. Among other things that Barricade never knew Gabby was capable of. If they found her, they would kill her on the spot. That already almost happened once.
The disappearance of her daughter was now another factor. Barricade knew deep down that Gabby could have gone without committing crimes to survive for how long she did, but he had another theory about it, and why she did it.
He had been processing it as he sat there and watched her as she argued with the Prime.
A black cloud has overtaken her heart. Look at what she had been through the last few years. It would change even a human saint. Her sanity, and everything else is being tested.
It wasn't greed or fear that now fueled her fire. No…..it was resentment…..pure seething resentment…..the kind that forms, due to poor treatment, due to the knowledge that she, is better than the treatment she has received, better than everyone who has somehow gotten the better of her all those times. From the time that she met them both to now. It wasn't that she was resenting the Transformers; it was the fact that she was resenting that her own people turned on her when she needed them the most. Right now she was a woman without a country, and Barricade came to the conclusion that she would never go back to who she once was, unless a certain sparkling came back from the cosmos. Even then he still thought that Gabby would be questionable, because she would do anything to keep Orianna safe. Anything…..
All in all, it was beautiful, but still horrifying when one thought about it long enough.
Gabrielle Ryan was sick of being stuck being a stepping-stone and doormat. She was no longer taking anyone's shit, and frankly, Barricade couldn't be more proud of her.
He sat there and chuckled quietly the Prime's horror of what Gabby was going to do.
…
"I cannot believe I am hearing this from you!" Optimus almost shouted, as they stayed overnight at the New Mexico border, but tried to keep his astonishment in check.
Optimus was in robot form and kneeling to Gabby as she paced back and forth in obvious frustration.
"I made a promise and I intend to keep it," Gabby said as she finished her latest phone call from her throwaway cell phone.
Optimus couldn't even process what Gabby was going to do. He figured that all of this was all over now that Gabby and he were back together. She would not have to pull these jobs to be protected.
Optimus' eyes were glowing so brightly from being incredulous that he was bathing Gabby in a shade of blue.
He almost shot at Barricade as he heard him laughing in the background, but ignored him for now.
"Optimus, this does change everything, but I still have promises I need to keep. I have been kept safe for almost two years by doing these things, and this will be the last time," she explained trying to plead with him. "I can't just drop it. This is on the way anyway, and will only hold us up for another week until we meet with the other Autobots."
"Gabby you do realize what you're doing is hurting other humans right?" He asked trying to jar her that way.
She stood and shook her head in disbelief. "There are worse things I could have been doing, trust me on that."
"I don't understand this, couldn't they get someone else?" He asked trying to keep his patience. Boy, did he need holoform right now to shake some sense into her.
"They asked me, because I can cover my tracks and cover theirs," she answered. "Despite what you think, I am pretty good at it."
Finally, she stopped and angrily walked up to his faceplates.
"Optimus you are either with me or not. This is my last job. I was able to tell Mearing that I located you, she said to stop all jobs from her and she will let everyone else know. That's right; Mearing has been behind all this. How do you think some of these agencies get their funding? Taxpayers? Yeah right….."
Optimus' optics widened. He was always suspicious of the way all these governments got their funding. It was from people like Gabby. It didn't surprise him, but it was just another human disappointment.
Gabby softened a little and said to him, "I promise you, this will be my last job. These two guys pulled me out of a bind, and I was almost discovered, but they helped me. I owe them. Mearing knows about this, and she knows this is personal for me."
Optimus shook his head, but continued to kneel in front of his human mate. It broke his spark knowing she had to do all of the things she did to find him. He would carry that guilt forever.
He tried one more time, and tried to stop her, but she was not having any of it.
She stomped and said, "Optimus, I can't live off of your love alone. You want to stop Lockwood, well, your mate needs funds to do that."
I can't live off of your love alone.
Those words resounded through his processors and were like a laser to his gut, putting a hole in it.
Optimus knew defeat when it stared him in the faceplates. He could tell that Gabby was just as eager as him to get going, and he knew deep down that she wanted to defeat Lockwood just as much him, but she was still willing to take this risk.
It really hit him at that moment that his Gabby had changed, and it was not for the better. She was still in that now tough exterior, but it was different. She had always been strong and been a fighter, but this was not what he remembered, it was another part of her that he just didn't understand.
She was still human, and humans were wired different from his kind.
He kneeled a little closer to her and finally said, "I will watch and protect you, but I will not be part of this madness."
He could see the hurt in her eyes, but he had to still stand for what he believed in too. She bowed her head a little and nodded. "Ok," she whispered.
Finally, he heard Barricade transform. He knew what was coming, and knew he could not stop it.
"No worries, you have my full cooperation," he said sneering at Optimus.
Optimus had to walk away. He would not hear this conversation anymore, but listened anyway. He was finally reunited with his mate, and it was not going well. He heard her try to hide her tears as she spoke to him on her plans.
"We're going to steal a barrel? One lousy barrel? That's it?" Optimus almost smiled at Barricade's disappointment.
It was what was in the barrel that was another matter.
Gabby said something else, and Barricade answered.
"Thermite?" He asked.
Gabby shrugged. "That's the easy part."
"Of course it is," Barricade said.
…..
Gabby and Barricade staked out the storage facility for about three days before the big night came. Optimus cooperated, but still detested what they were doing.
He agreed to drive the perimeter and make their way to the meeting point from there.
Gabby and him hardly spoke the whole time, and he still couldn't believe he was agreeing to be part of this even it was just small.
Did she even realize what this chemical did to humans and the suffering it caused? He did research on the drug it created, and could not believe what he was seeing. It was terrifying.
Barricade was in holoform as he and Gabby made their way into the desert and closer to the facility.
Gabby jammed the signals of the alarm system through another of her contacts. She said the place had been robbed before, and they had upgraded their security. It would not turn off the security, but just play the same tape over and over again so they could move undetected.
Barricade was enjoying this too much, and Optimus hated that he was encouraging her.
One thing he COULD be grateful for is that Gabby made it clear to Barricade that they were not to put any human lives in danger. That was one thing she kept for what she had been through. As much as he was angry with humans, he could still see the best part of them in his mate.
She said there used to be one security guard, but now there were five, and it was Barricade's job to incapacitate them for the time being.
"No hurting them!" She emphasized.
Optimus was still riding the perimeter when he heard something that almost made his spark glow.
"No matter what, I still love him. No matter what you think and what you want," Gabby said to Barricade as they made their way to the fences, and Barricade disabled the electricity.
"He will never see things your way," Barricade warned her. "I do."
"No 'Cade, you will only see things your way," she answered as they landed on the ground inside the fence.
"Gabby…." Barricade began.
" I said no 'Cade….you need to accept that. Just like he needs to accept what I did to get back to him," she answered quieting him.
Optimus smiled inside vehicle mode. He knew Barricade was stewing over what Gabby just told him, but he would still doing anything for her, and try to convince her why Optimus was not good for her.
Optimus felt the first pang of guilt of being so hard on her.
Anything for you….
Optimus knew they were in as they continued to speak. The guards were now knocked out, but unhurt.
Barricade picked up the barrel easily, and they met with Optimus, and were on their way. It would be morning before they knew they were far enough for someone to come looking for them.
The way Gabby planned that theft was amazing. She covered everything, made her phone call on her throwaway phone, and smiled when she knew they were in the clear.
That night they drove to another remote part of the desert near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
There was a recreational vehicle for them. Optimus didn't want to raise suspicion so Gabby drove up to it in Barricade as a mustang, and Optimus stayed out of site over a hill they met at.
He scanned the area, but could find nothing out of the ordinary.
Optimus could not believe his optics as both men stepped out of the RV, and met with Gabby.
She greeted them both warmly. They were not only an odd couple, but also not what Optimus expected with what they did for money.
There was an older gentleman, and a younger one about in his early twenties.
The older one looked sickly, so Optimus was shocked when he scanned just him and found him to have lung cancer. He seemed to have about a year to live, if that.
Yet, he was not anything like the typical criminal you would see on the human television or movies. No, this guy was a man with a family and a career.
The younger guy was more like the profile. He admired Barricade in vehicle form as the older man examined the barrel with Gabby. The younger man would turn to Gabby and smile at what she was "driving." Optimus wanted to roll his optics as Barricade wanted to show off.
"Stop," Optimus warned through the commlink.
"This human has good taste," Barricade said chuckling. "Too skittish, so I won't do anything.
Optimus scanned the young human again, and realized he had a lighter substance in his system.
"I don't care about skittish. I care that Gabby gets out of here without harm," Optimus answered.
"Nah, these guys are cool with her," Barricade argued.
"They are involved in one of the murderous businesses on this planet. Anything could set them off even the older man who is ill," Optimus argued. He was getting annoyed with Barricade. "See those bullet holes?"
"Fine," Barricade answered and signed off the commlink.
Gabby was then handed a brown bag with lots of money in it, and then said her goodbyes.
Optimus got ready to go, and met with her and Barricade after the men were back in their RV and doing what they needed to do.
After they reached the highway, they were on their way to meet with the Autobots. Gabby did not say much as she counted the money they paid her.
"This is it," Gabby said after a while.
Optimus sighed. There was so much they needed to do, so he and Gabby needed to work out their differences before then.
"I hope so," Optimus said.
Gabby took out her phone, broke it and threw it out of the window.
…..
I wonder if anyone knows whom I paid homage to in this chapter. =)