-1Sweet Child of Mine - 13
Barricade tore through the desert, the motorcycle that his daughter had chosen as her protoform proving to be much faster than his Mustang form had ever been. He was impressed. He was also pretty much pissed as hell about all that had happened.
He turned east and headed back to the Autobot base. No doubt by now Stormfire had woken and had told the others that he was on his way. He had to come up with a plan of some sort. They had to take out Starscream or any other Sparklings Stormfire created would be forfeit the moment Starscream found out about them. He had to wonder if the twins had figured out their daughter was the All Spark come back to life yet or not.
He'd figured it out when she'd come to him during his last moments. He'd known then that she would save him but that she couldn't release him until it was time. Well, it had been past time. Barricade knew he'd done a lot of horrendous things in his past but prior to the war, he'd done many good things as well. He knew better than most that children were a gift and that they should not be exposed to the horrors of war and should not die young. Starscream had never learned that. Barricade was about to teach him.
Barricade was just approaching the base when twin Lamborghini's pull up on either side of him. They said nothing, didn't even slow him down. So they knew then. Good. As they reached the entrance of the base, the three mechs transformed into bi-pedal mode and Barricade waited for the inevitable jokes from the red twin, but nothing came forth.
"We're sorry," Sunstreaker said quietly and Barricade looked at him in shock. "If we'd gotten there sooner, maybe Thunderstrike wouldn't have had to die." Barricade nodded slowly.
"It was inevitable," he said quietly. "They knew about the spark's creation. Starscream would have come for her sooner or later. While I mourn the loss of my daughter, at least her creator is safe and still alive." The twins nodded slowly in agreement. "Tell me, my twins, have you figured out who she is yet?"
"The All Spark," Sideswipe whispered quietly. "We just haven't yet figured out how." Barricade nodded, following them inside.
"That may yet take awhile to understand. How's Ratchet?"
"Alive, but barely," Sunstreaker answered as they headed for the infirmary. "They left him bleeding out energon in the desert. We were lucky we found him when he did or he'd be gone." They entered the infirmary and Barricade quickly found himself being hugged by Stormfire who buried her face against his chest plates.
"I'm fine," he told her. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more for her." Storm looked up at him and gave him a soft yet sad smile.
"I know. But you're here now and we can do something to make sure no other children are ever harmed again." Barricade nodded slowly.
"Yes we can."
Prime looked up as Barricade entered. The voice was that of the 'Con's but he was trapped inside his daughter's protoform. Prowl had heard the voice as well and looked up sharply, grabbing Jazz's arm as he painfully pushed himself to his feet. Barricade looked over at his brother and sighed heavily. He pulled away from Storm and walked over to Prowl slowly. In this new form he was about a head shorter than his brother now and it made him just a little nervous.
"I know I can never hope to make up for all the pain I caused you, brother," he began quietly, "but I hope that, if nothing else, you'll at least accept my help for now." Prowl looked down at him and nodded slowly, reaching out to rest a hand on Barricade's shoulder.
"You're help would be most welcome… brother." Off to the side, Prime smiled quickly before looking away to where Wheeljack was still working on Ratchet. Barricade turned back to Storm.
"You could just heal him and be done with it, you know," he told her quietly. She looked at him curiously.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Barricade moved and pulled her over to Ratchet, pushing Wheeljack back for a moment.
"You're the All Spark, Storm," he said softly. "All you have to do is touch him and think of him as whole again and he'll be whole. Trust me." He stepped back as everyone else turned to watch. Stormfire put one hand over Ratchet's open chest plates and dimmed her optics. She pictured Ratchet as he had been earlier, before all this had happened, whole and healthy. Blue sparks shot from her hands into Ratchet's open chest plates, around his casing and through his body. After a moment, Storm stepped back and Ratchet's optics slowly came online.
"Oh, my fraggin' head," he moaned quietly before he focused on where he was. "What… why am I on a bunk? What's going on?" he yelled.
"Heh, guess he's fine," Sideswipe said with a quick chuckle.
Prowl and Prime both turned to Barricade, looking at him curiously.
"How did you know she could do that, Barricade?" Prime asked quietly, moving closer to the black and orange mech.
"She's the All Spark, Prime," Barricade answered, looking up at the leader slowly. "When she came to me just before I died, I saw it around her, the runes, the energy, the heat. I felt it when she touched me. I knew then that she could keep me alive and, when the time was right, she could release me again. Course, I didn't think this was how it would be done, but…" he trailed off, shrugging slightly. Prime looked back at Stormfire who seemed a little shocked at what she'd just done. Sunstreaker walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly, whispering to her softly as he did so. Prime looked back at Barricade.
"I assume you have a plan?" Barricade nodded slowly.
"Yeah. I do…."
Two days later…
Mirage was in a light recharge when he heard the door to his quarters slide open and then shut again quickly. He heard footsteps and knew by the sound that it was Stormfire. He let his optics come online dimly as she walked over to his bunk and scooted over, giving her room to lie down next to him. He knew the last two days had been hard on her and he'd been out on patrol until earlier that morning so he hadn't spent much time with her or with the twins.
Prowl and Barricade had been working on a plan to take out the remaining Decepticons as quickly and brutally as possible. There would be nothing left when they were done if they had their way about it. Mirage had not heard Prime say much to them but he didn't think for one second that their leader was going to let his sub commander and Barricade kill anyone in cold blood.
Meanwhile, Ratchet had been working with Storm on honing the All Spark's powers as much as possible in hopes of creating more Sparklings as time went back. Mirage could feel the tension from the young femme and rubbed a hand along her arm and side, pulling her closer.
"I'm still me," she whispered softly after a few minutes of quiet. "I'm not some cube." Mirage nodded slowly in agreement.
"I don't think Ratchet means to make you feel like that, Storm," he whispered back. "The powers you have, though, have never been contained in a mech form before. He's intrigued. Give it time and he'll calm down. Guaranteed." Storm nodded and turned, shifting slightly until she could rest her head on Mirage's arm, facing him now.
"So how come you don't treat me any differently?" she asked him.
"Ah, well see, that's because I know better," he told her with a quick smile. "I'm not about to get my aft kicked by your fathers." She chuckled softly then and he smiled. At least she was relaxing a little more. "When was the last time you slept?" he asked her quietly.
"Uhm… not since Barricade got here," she answered almost sheepishly. Mirage shook his head and tucked her in closer to him, her cheek against his chest as he did so.
"Then rest, little one. You'll need it, I daresay, if Prowl and Barricade have their way with all of this." She nodded, her optics dimming just a little as her hand slowly slid across his chest plates. Mirage didn't dare move. He wasn't sure what she was doing but he wasn't going to encourage it. He really enjoyed living. The twins would kill him if he did anything to their daughter.
"I'm not going to hurt you," she finally said before shifting to look up at him. "And they won't kill you. Besides, they know I spend most of my free time with you and they know I spend the nights in here from time to time."
"True, m'dear, but they also know I keep my hands to myself because if I didn't, you can be sure they'd make sure I did in the future." But he knew he was fighting a losing battle as her fingers slipped beneath his chest plates and brushed against the sensitive wiring found there. "Storm, sweetheart, you can't do this…"
"Why not?" she asked, such child-like innocence in that one question that Mirage groaned quietly.
"Because I'm not sure you understand what you're doing," he whispered softly. "And I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't," she told him adamantly just before her fingers tugged at the wire she'd found causing Mirage's body to shudder and forced another groan from his vocal processors. His hands moved, tightening around her back, pulling her closer against his own will.
"Storm," he whispered softly before finally deciding he was not going to win this argument with her and leaning his head down to kiss her gently. She responded softly at first, her hands moving more against his chest plates now before she pushed harder against him. He groaned again and let his own hands slid along her sides, fingers delving into crevices, brushing against the wires there. She whimpered softly just before her fingers brushed against the wiring beneath his chest plates that led to his spark.
"Are you sure?" he asked, moving back enough that he could see her gaze. She nodded slowly.
"Very much so," she answered quietly. Mirage nodded and reached beneath his chest plates to move the switch that would open them, revealing his spark to her. Her own chest plates opened as well and she reached out, brushing the tips of her fingers against Mirage's spark casing. Mirage shuddered almost violently, bringing her closer to him.
The locks on his casing came open, his spark now completely open to her. She reached out, feeling the heat and the energy coming from his spark and released the locks on her own casing.
"Thank you," she whispered to him just before he pulled her close enough that their sparks could merge, forcing heat and energy through them both. Mirage bit back the cry that felt as if it could rip his throat apart with its intensity. Storm clung to him, feeling everything he felt on top of her own overload, her hands tightening against his chest plates just before they were both thrown into full overload, off lining before either of them could say anything more…
"Are you sure she was going to stay with Mirage tonight?" Sideswipe asked Sunstreaker as they walked down the hallway towards Mirage's room.
"She usually does when we're on patrol," Sunstreaker told him. "Besides, I know for a fact she hasn't recharged since Barricade came and I know Mirage has been gone most of that time. She probably just wanted to spend time with him." Sideswipe nodded slowly.
"And you're okay with that?" he asked softly. Sunstreaker sighed heavily and stopped, pushing Sideswipe gently into an open supply closet, closing the door behind them.
"Look at me, Sides. Please." Sideswipe looked up at him slowly. "We both know that what happened between us after Stormfire came online was caused by the chip Red Alert embedded into your core processor. I know that you love me. I know that hurting me was not something you'd have ever done on your own. I also know I overlooked a lot of things for a lot of years. But yes, I'm okay with this because she's happy and so is he. The question is, are you?" Sideswipe leaned up and kissed Sunstreaker gently, hands sliding along his twin's arms.
"So long as I've still got you, then I'm happy," he said quietly. Sunstreaker nodded and kissed him back.
"Good, cause you're stuck with me for life." Sideswipe smiled up at him.
"Lucky me." Sunstreaker chuckled and with one last kiss, pulling Sideswipe out of the closet and back into the hallway. They walked to Mirage's quarters and knocked on the door.
" 'Raj? Storm?" Sideswipe called out. When there was no answer, Sunstreaker keyed in the code to open the door. The door slid open and the twins walked inside to find Mirage lying on the bunk and Storm, curled up against the wall nearby, her hands closed around something.
"Storm?" Sideswipe said softly as Sunstreaker moved to check on Mirage. Storm didn't move and Sideswipe knelt in front of her. "Stormfire, look at me." She looked up slowly and he saw the tearstains on her face. Next to him, Sunstreaker tried waking Mirage but the other mech didn't seem to be responding.
"Let's get them down to Ratchet," Sunstreaker said as he lifted Mirage in his arms and headed out the door. Sideswipe picked up his daughter and followed twin out of the room and down the hallway to the infirmary.
Sunstreaker entered first and looked around.
"Ratchet!" he yelled, still holding Mirage as the medic walked out and swore under his breath.
"What happened?" he said, leading Sunstreaker to a bunk just as Sideswipe entered with Stormfire. Ratchet saw them enter and commed Prime and Prowl, knowing Barricade would follow the sub commander down as well.
"Don't know," Sunstreaker told him as he lay Mirage down on the table. "We went to check on them and found Mirage out cold on the bunk and Stormfire on the floor, awake but unresponsive."
The doors opened as Prime, Prowl and Barricade entered the room, Barricade immediately moving to Stormfire's side when Sideswipe set her down on the bunk. She looked up slowly and held her hands out to Barricade much like a child might to a parent. Barricade frowned and took her hands, prying them open gently.
"Ah hell," he whispered softly. "I'm going to need another casing." Everyone looked over at him in shock. "It's not mine!" he yelled back.
"Mirage?" Sunstreaker asked softly, looking from his daughter down to the purple and white mech on the table. Ratchet had hooked him up to several different monitors as Wheeljack entered and brought a casing over to Barricade who gently placed the new spark inside of it.
Ratchet watched the monitors for a moment and slowly shook his head.
"What?" Sunstreaker demanded almost angrily. Sideswipe walked over and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"He's alive but only barely," Ratchet said quietly. "His higher core functions aren't online. It's like, his body's functioning but his main processor isn't online. If he were awake, he'd hear us, but he wouldn't be able to respond." He moved over to Stormfire who looked up at him slowly and he reached out, resting a hand on her helm as she curled up against him.
"I warned her to watch her power," he said quietly, running a hand along her back in a gesture meant to comfort the young femme. "I think maybe she used too much this time in trying to create another spark. She was still mourning the loss of Thunderstrike." Barricade had put the casing down so that Wheeljack could monitor it for now and walked back over to Stormfire and the others.
"We have to do something," he said quietly. "That kind of power surge will not go unnoticed. Eventually Starscream and the others are going to figure out what's going on and they will come after her and whatever else she's created between now and then." Sunstreaker nodded slowly, still standing by Mirage's bedside.
"We have to hide her somewhere," he said quietly.
"But where?" Sideswipe asked softly.
"I'll talk to Keller," Prime finally said. "Maybe he'll be willing to help us with that…"
TBC…