TITLE: Random Intervals, 5
SERIES: Imperfection
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are...
FEEDBACK: Loved
BETA: okamimyrrhibis

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"You let him do what?" Jazz exclaimed.

"Work off his emotions."

"Are you out of your mind?! He could have torn you apart!"

Barricade sneered. "Hardly."

The silver mech shoved his black counterpart against the wall. Hard. It rattled a few of Barricade's systems.

"I know what Ratchet had to fix! What's wrong with you?! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"That it's in our mutual interest to work off frustration."

Another hard shove. "Ironhide's close enough to the edge to confuse friend and foe!"

"He didn't have to confuse me with anyone."

"Barricade!"

"I see it as a rather extended sparring session," his partner said coolly. "No harm done. And he has calmed down. I rather enjoyed it."

Jazz pushed away, shaking his head in disbelief. "Is this some Decepticon tactic to deal with frustration?"

Barricade laughed darkly. "No. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Jazz. I know how to defend myself and Ironhide wasn't in full battle mode. Otherwise he would have taken out more than a few dead trees."

Jazz hissed softly, still furious. "I think you developed a strange way of showing your loyalty, Cade," he finally growled.

The former Decepticon frowned, optics flaring briefly. "I have no loyalty to the Autobots!"

"Right! You just help, protect and save our friends, and you let Ironhide use you to work off his temper for no other reason than that it is fun!"

"It was fun. He's a worthy opponent."

Jazz glared. "He could tear you apart."

"He would have to get me first."

"What? He did get you, Cade!" Jazz exploded. "What in the name of Cybertron are you thinking!?"

"That it furthers no cause to suppress your emotions when there is an outlet. His worry about the human clouded his logic processors."

"Lennox is our friend. Ironhide likes him. He's allowed to feel bad about it all."

Barricade laughed harshly. "I keep wondering how you lot survived until today."

Jazz gave him a rough shove. "Because we care," he snarled.

The other tilted his head, studying his silver partner. "Growing attachments to such perishable creatures is foolish."

"According to you, attachments of any kind are foolish," Jazz said sharply. "But you did it anyway! And don't tell me you protected Sam out of the goodness of your spark."

Barricade caught one wrist and held that arm, meeting the enraged blue optics. "I form my attachments by necessity," he said levelly. "I protect who I see fit." His voice lowered. "And what we share is neither a simple attachment, nor just necessity."

Jazz felt his muscle cables relax a little. "I wasn't…"

"You were. I told you before, I don't care about the others. Not the way I care about you. They are an attachment to you and I deal with them. Ironhide has never trusted me and never will. His actions concerning me were born out of that distrust, his anger, his fear and his memories of the war. I wouldn't let any of your friends kill me. You can be sure of that."

Jazz was silent for a moment, then slumped next to him. His inner uproar was still muttering and bitching, but it was quieting down. He rarely lost his temper, but Barricade had managed to make him do so quite quickly.

"You know, maybe dying once made me sappy," he murmured. "Or getting you back on the same side was too much of a good thing. I think I'm getting system glitches. I can't remember ever being so… so… emotionally flaky."

Barricade chuckled. "You were always the more emotional." He leaned closer. "Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I never complained."

Jazz quirked a smile. "Yeah."

"Autobot," Barricade added, voice filled with mild teasing.

"Lunatic."

It got him a terrifying grin.

The former Decepticon released his hand and Jazz regarded his companion. Ratchet had done good work hammering out the worst, but there were enough scuff marks left. Barricade would need some energon and enough time to work out the last problems.

"C'mon," Jazz sighed and pushed away from the wall. "I need to get out of here."

Barricade transformed as Jazz did and both drove away, seeking out one of their regular spots. Barricade didn't fight his companion's nearness as their sparks slid closer.

What he had done hadn't been some falsely understood act of charity. He hadn't let Ironhide beat him up just because the Autobot needed it or because Barricade was smaller. Size didn't matter. He could take the weapons specialist apart and not strain a muscle cable if he wanted to. No, this had been mutual. They had worked off their difference in more than verbal sparring sessions and dark looks. Ironhide had put as much of his hatred of Decepticons into this as Barricade had burned off his aggressions.

It had been… extremely satisfying.

He smirked and felt a shift in Jazz's presence. His companion curled closer, rattled by the latest events concerning the human, and Barricade let him. He could argue he did it to appease the other mech, but truthfully… it just felt too good.