Chapter 8:

Nicole POV

I helped Lennox and Epps to their feet(again). "I told you to land on your feet."

"I would've liked a warning better." Epps said rubbing the back of his head.

I shrugged. "Well, Ratchet is about to kill my mechfriend, so I'm in a hurry."

I looked at the big doors that lined the hallway. It was easy to tell which one was the interrogation room, because they all had little signs on them. Only an idiot wouldnt be able to tell which was which.

That, and the fact that one of the doors was ajar and you could hear yelling from within it.

Ratchet must've gotten here quick.

I started to run towards it, but a hand grabbed my arm and spun me around. Lennox looked confused. "Mechfriend?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mechfriend, boyfriend. It a long story that we don't have time for now."

I pulled out of his grasp and ran into the interrogation room. Then promptly stopped because of what I saw.

Ratchet was practically jumping over a big metal table, shouting a lot of nasty things in Cybertronian(yes, I could understand him) and waving his wrench around like a mad mech. Optimus was trying his best to hold him back without getting whacked in the helm with that deadly wrench.

Then there was Barricade backed against a one-way mirror. He had a panicked expression on his faceplates, and aside from a few dents in his helm, was pretty much okay.

If you called being terrorized by a homicidal medic with a wrench okay.

And then there was Ironhide.

He was sitting in a metal chair in the corner looking pretty happy. When I say happy, I mean he was laughing his helm off at Barricade. Fragging weapon specialist.

I transwarped onto his shoulder and smacked him in the audio receptor. "Why aren't you helping Optimus?"

He winced. "Ow. And what do you mean?"

"Don't ask me what I mean! You know perfectly well what I mean! Go help Optimus restrain Ratchet!"

"Why?"

I smacked him again. "Because Ratchet is trying to kill Barricade!"

He snorted. "I don't see what's wrong with that." Then he sighed. "Fine. Get off my fragging shoulder and I'll fix the problem."

I transwarped to the doorway and watched as Ironhide got up. His servos transformed into cannons and for a second I worried that he would shoot Ratchet.

But then he walked over to Barricade and whacked him over the helm with one of the large cannons. Barricade's eyes dimmed and he fell to the ground.

For a moment everything was quiet.

The I glared at Ironhide. "I said take care of the problem! Not knock out Barricade!"

He pointed at Barricade on the floor. "I took care of it!"

"BARRICADE IS NOT THE PROBLEM!" I transwarped to Ratchet. "AND YOU!"

I began yelling at Ratchet, about how he should've listened before he ran off. I told him the whole story of what happened the day that Barricade hit me. And, surprisingly, he just stared at me.

When I stopped, I was breathless and panting. "So do you understand now?"

They all continued to stare at me like I had grown an extra arm.

I looked at each of them. "What?"

Optimus leaned down to me. "How did you learn to speak Cybertronian, youngling?"

"Cybertronian?" I asked.

Ratchet's optics were wide. "Your leg healed in a few days?"

Ironhide looked downright furious. "He ran over you?"

I face-palmed. "Crap…."

Then we heard a groan from the floor. I ran to the edge and transwarped, but I could've jumped. Ratchet was watching.

I ran to Barricade and tapped his helm. "Are you alright? How many fingers am I holding up?"

He groaned again and his optics onlined. "What the Pit happened?"

I smiled. "You're okay. At least, for the moment."

"What the frag is that supposed to mean?"

I laughed and leaned down to kiss his metal cheek. The second my lips met metal, I felt a shock.

I jumped back, my hand flying to my lips. Barricade apparently felt it, too, because he jumped into a sitting position.

I opened my mouth to ask him what that was, but just as the thought crossed my mind, he said, "I don't know."

Then his optics went wide and I felt….something.

I couldn't tell what it was. I guess it was….confusion. But here's the catch.

It wasn't my confusion. It was Barricade's.

I closed my eyes for a moment and tapped into the AllSpark memories. A whole flood came back, and for a moment it overwhelmed me and my knees nearly gave out.

I gasped as the knowledge flooded my mind. Symbols, phrases, names, locations….all of it passed in front of my eyes.

I clenched my teeth and willed it to go to the back of my mind. Slowly and painfully, it subsided, but I could feel it waiting to flood my mind again.

I opened my eyes and suddenly I had a headache. "Oww….." I muttered rubbing my temples.

Then I looked up at Barricade who was fully standing up now. "What did you find?" he asked leaning down and opening his servo.

I climbed into it and sat down. "How did you know that I was looking for something?"

He struggled for an answer. "I….felt it."

I nodded. "I felt your confusion, too. So, I looked it up, and guess what it is."

"A spark bond?"

I nodded. "Exactly."

"But how? You would have to have a spark."

I shook my head now, which hurt my head. "I don't know, Barricade. I don't know."

Barricade POV

I looked back at the Autobots. Prime and Ratchet were talking quietly, and Ironhide was glaring at me.

"What?" I snapped.

"You ran over her."

"And you knocked me out."

He growled.

I growled back at him.

"Will you both just shut up! I'm so tired of you acting like five year olds!" Nicole shouted.

We both looked at her.

She pointed at Ironhide. "You! I'm tired of you acting like you have to control me! I can take care of myself. Living in foster homes forces you take care of yourself!"

I smirked at Ironhide. He glared at me.

But then Nicole pointed at me. "Don't even start feeling smug, Barricade! Your just as bad! At least try to get along with him!"

Then she sighed. "I'm…going to go with Optimus for awhile. So I can explain everything to him. Can you get along for just a few hours?"

We looked at each other, then nodded slowly.

"Good." Then she turned to Prime. "Hey, Optimus, I'll explain it all to you in your office. Ratchet, can you show Barricade to his quarters?" She looked at Ironhide, as if daring him to protest against me living here.

When he didn't say anything, she continued. "Try to take like a backway. I don't want him to be killed because of his past records."

Then she vanished in a flash of blue light and reappeared in Prime's shoulder. She said something to him that I couldn't hear, and he nodded.

Prime turned to Ratchet and Ironhide. "You are welcome to join us later." They both nodded. The Autobot leader walked out, with Ironhide following.

Ratchet sighed. "Come on."

I followed him out into the hall, and we started back the way we come. I had started memorizing all the turns when the medic laughed.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his helm. "Earlier I asked Nicole if she really loved you."

"Well, what did she say?"

"What do you think? She said 'What kind of question is that? Of course. Otherwise I would have said blast him to pieces.'"

I winced.

Ratchet laughed again. "I told her that it was so unusual for an ex-Decepticon to fall in love with a human. It's actually never happened." He cast me a suspicious glance. "That's why it's so hard for me to trust you, Barricade. A Decepticon meets the Host of the AllSpark, and he just happens to fall in love with her."

I stopped in the middle of the empty hall. "I don't want you to like me. I just want to earn your trust."

He slowed down, but then continued walking, so I ran to catch up.

A few minutes later, we arrived at a door that looked brand new, and it was in a hall that was empty. Ratchet opened the door.

Inside was a berth in the corner, a desk against a wall, and a chair in the corner.

I walked inside. "Thank you, Ratchet."

He didn't say anything, so I assumed he was gone. But then he sighed.

"Barricade, I already respect you and trust you. When Nicole screamed in that forest, it was like Unicron himself was chasing you. You took off faster than any of us, and I pretty sure it wasn't because you wanted to hand the Host off to Starscream. For that, I trust you. But, it will take others who weren't there a while longer than me. And Ironhide may never trust you."

I stared at him. "Umm, thanks?"

He smirked and shut the door.

I sat on the berth, trying to figure out what had just happened. Then what Ratchet called Nicole registered. 'The Host'.

I rushed to the door and opened it, but he was already gone.

Nicole POV

I sat on Optimus' desk and sighed. I had just gotten done explaining things, and now they were asking questions.

Fingering the shard, I closed my eyes. My headache had only gotten worst, and I was waiting for Ratchet to get his aft in here.

I heard the door open above the noise of Optimus and Ironhide talking. "Yay, Ratchet's here with those wonderful painkillers…"I muttered.

But I was disappointed to see that when I opened my eyes, the mechs who had come in were Prowl and Wheeljack.

I waved at them to get their attention. "Hey, would any of you happen to have painkillers?"

They both looked at me. Prowl looked surprised and Wheeljack looked happy.

"Hello, Nicole." He said, bending down a bit. "I'm glad to see you again."

"Nice to see you, too, Wheeljack. Would you happen to have any aspirin?"

"What's aspirin?"

"Never mind. So, what are you doing here?"

"Prime called both of us here. To ask us about something that had to do with the AllSpark."

"The AllSpark, huh?" I murmured.

Optimus looked up from his conversation with Ironhide. "Wheeljack, Prowl, thank you for coming here. A very important matter has presented itself. Nicole, pay attention. This involves you, too."

I looked up warily. "Just how would this involve me? Does it have to do with the AllSpark?"

Optimus looked amused. "Would you please show Wheeljack and Prowl what you can do?"

I sighed. "They've already seen. But, incase they forgot the one human who can transwarp, then fine."

I got up and picked a random spot to appear. Which just happened to be a drawer in Optimus' desk.

With a thud, I landed in a pile of papers. I laid there, hoping they wouldn't have heard it. I might take a nap while they search for me.

But karma must hate me. Optimus opened the drawer and carefully pulled me out.

He looked worried. "Is something wrong?"

I started to nod, but instead shook my head. It felt like I had someone in my head bashing my brain with a sledgehammer.

"No. Just tired. And I want some answers."

Optimus nodded. "I think it is time you learned what this is all about." He set me down and I criss-crossed my legs.

We turned back to Wheeljack and Prowl.

Wheeljack's optics were wide. "I thought it was just a legend…" He muttered.

Prowl optics had been dim, but they suddenly onlined again. "The Host of the AllSpark."

Now I was very confused. "What?"

Optimus sighed. "It was a legend that was rather popular on Cybertron. The AllSpark cannot be destroyed, but transformed. It was said that a Host would be chosen, and the AllSpark would drain it's power into that Host. Old writings predicted that the Host would use the AllSpark power to either destroy the universe or save it."

I stared at him for a moment. "So….What does this mean?" I asked quietly, though I already knew the answer.

Prowl answered me before Optimus. "Nicole Witwicky, you are the Host."

My head throbbed. I shook my head. "No. No, you've got the wrong person."

"Nicole, he is right. You are the Host." Wheeljack said quietly.

"Stop calling me that! It sounds…Wrong!" I shouted standing up.

Optimus looked sympathetic. "Calm down, Nicole-"

"Frag it all, Prime!" shouted Ironhide, who had been quiet this whole time. "Don't tell the girl to calm down! She has a right to be upset. You haven't even told her the rest!"

"The rest?" I asked almost too afraid to ask.

Ironhide glared at me. "I'm not gonna hide the slaggin' truth from you. Your destined to die, Nicole."

My heart froze.

No. That had to be wrong. I shook my head, then gasped. The head ache was worst than ever now.

I shook my head slowly. "I'm sorry. I have to think for a while."

And with that I transwarped.

Nicole disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"Slag." Ironhide muttered.

Barricade POV

I jolted awake.

I had been in recharge when I felt it. The distress.

Nicole's distress.

Then, just like that, it spiked to an all time high. And then it was gone. That was what woke me up.

If I couldn't feel the spark bond, that meant that Nicole had somehow severed it. Or she was….offline.

I jumped out of the berth and was halfway across the room when the bond reappeared. My vents went into overtime.

But I wasn't fully reassured because the bond felt more distant. Like she was farther away.

I was definitely still worried.

So, I set off to find the one mech in this base that I knew trusted me.

Nicole POV

I landed on my knees, making grass stains on my jeans. My head was hurting so bad that I couldn't think straight.

And for the first time in 13 years, a tear rolled down my cheek.

I lifted one hand to try to wipe the tear away, but all I succeeded in doing is falling on my side. A sob escaped my lips, and I laid my head on the cool grass.

Death. All because of some stupid legend.

I would lose everyone. Barricade. Taylor. Spice. Ironhide. Optimus. Ratchet. Sunny and Sides. Lennox and Epps.

More tears rolled down my cheek, down my nose, and into the grass.

Grass. Where was I? Slowly, I raised my head and froze.

All around me were tombstones. I looked at the nearest one and read it. And read it again.

Of all places, I had transwarped to my parents graves.

Trying my best to ignore the pain, I sat up. "Momma, Daddy…."

I wiped the tears off my cheeks, but they were replaced by more. "Did you know this was going to happen? Did you know that when you gave me the necklace, it was going to ensure my death?"

I sobbed. The pain increased and I gasped. My head felt like it was splitting open.

I looked at the sky. "God, just kill me know!" I screamed.

And then the pain hurt so bad that my vision turned white, my body went numb, and I blacked out.

Bumblebee POV

Before I got to base, I planned to stop by Sam and Mikaela's graves. Optimus had sent me the address, incase I did ever come back.

I pulled up to the gates. They were still open.

I activated my holoform and was going through the gate when I heard the scream. "God, just kill me now!"

I took off running in the direction of the scream. I looked down aisle after aisle until I saw a crumpled form on the ground.

"Ma'am? Are you okay?" I shouted. The form didn't move. She didn't even look like she was breathing.

I ran to her and turned her over. I nearly dropped the young woman.

She had long black hair and a face just like Mikaela. Her eyes were barely open, but I could see that her hazel eyes were glazed over.

I backed away. It was Nicole.

Me: Hey you guys. I hope you liked this chap. And as for what's wrong with Nicole, you'll have to find out in the next chapter.

Nice me: Awww, isn't that nice!

Me: What?

Nice me: You told them they'll find out in the next chapter! That was very nice!

Me: *face palms*

Abusive me: Wow. There's actually someone stupider than Liar me.

Liar me: Hey! I am not stupid.

Me: You lie all the time, right?

Liar me: No.

Abusive me: Yes, she does.

Liar me: I do not!

Me: So if you lie all the time, that means that you just called yourself stupid.

Liar me: Uhhhh….

Nice me: Oh, she's not stupid!

Me: *throws a toaster at Nice me*

Abusive me: Nice shot.

Random me: AHHHHH, FLYING TOASTERS!

Abusive me: Where'd you come from?

Me: I may have just developed another personality.

Random me: WWWEEEEEEE!

Me: A really stupid one.