Chapter 10:

I first transwarped to the cafeteria, startling several people close to me, and Red Alert, who yelped. Emptying the trash from my arms into a trash can, I gave the soldiers a quick smile, then transwarped again, to Barricade's room.

I happened to land on Barricade's chasis, as he was laying down on the berth. He jumped, but when he realized it was me, he smiled. A smile that was reserved for me.

"Hey, babe." I said, smiling. Barricade's presence was like a warm, relaxed, loving atmosphere. Our energy fields brushed, and I saw in his mind for a brief flash.

Barricade cupped his hand around me, and he sat up, shifting me so that I was still pretty much on his chasis and he was sitting up looking down at me. After a few moments of staring at each other, he said, "It's so quiet."

"Yeah, it is." I agreed softly. "Peaceful. Unlike this whole day."

He did something that sounded like a snort. "This is probably the last peaceful moment we'll have together for a while. A long while."

I nodded, not saying anything. Then, "Did you know that I was the Host?"

He looked surprised. "Host?"

So no one had told him. Great. Well, thanks everybody who had the chance to tell him and didn't. Now I get to explain my own death. Remind me to send out 'Thank You' cards.

I sighed. "There….is a legend. About the AllSpark choosing someone to host. That person would be able to control the AllSpark. And…."I hesitated. "I'm that person."

He just watched me quietly.

I closed my eyes. Like that would help. "Supposedly, I'm to save the universe, or destroy it."

Barricade fixed me with an intense stare. "Okay, so we just make sure you don't get drunk and make bad decisions or smoke crack or something like that-"

"No, Barricade!" I shouted. It was probably the first time I had ever raised my voice at him without him shouting first. "It's not some stupid joke. Well," I said, wiping me eyes, "Maybe it's some kind of sick joke of Fate's. But the point is….there's a catch."

"….Go on."

I sniffled. Tears were rolling down my cheeks now. I didn't have the control over them like I did after my parents died. That was out the window. But still, I forced myself to look up into his red optics. "I'm supposed to die, 'Cade. Die."

For a moment, he just stared at me like I said I was the alien. Then he held me up to his face and kissed my forehead as gently as he could. Then he looked me in the eyes. "Nicole, I will not let that happen. Ever. I swear on it. Whatever it takes, you are staying alive."

I just sobbed. "But, 'Cade, what if-"

"Nicole, I would rather offline myself that let anything happen to you. If it comes to that, so be it. But you will live to see your best friend's wedding, your 25th birthday, your first sparkling, and much more."

I stared at him, no longer crying. I was shocked and touched. "You would really do that for me?"

He nodded. "Without a second thought."

I smiled, and wiped away the tears. "I would do the same."

He smiled softly. "I know. That's why I have to make sure we don't get into life-threatening situations."

I just smiled at him for a few moments. Then, "I….love you, 'Cade. A lot."

"I know. I love you, too." He studied my face for a moment, an almost sad expression on his faceplates. "Please, whatever happens, don't forget that."

I stared at him. "I would never forget, Barricade. You are my soul mate."

For a few minutes the silence covered us. Then Barricade laid back down, with me on his chasis. I felt the thrumming of his spark, I heard his systems whirring, I heard his vents cycling. This was how it was supposed to be. Calm and peaceful, me and 'Cade.

Then Barricade laughed, disrupting the silence. "What?" I asked.
He shook his helm. "Everything. I'm here at the Autobot base, half-guest, half-prisoner, you're sentenced to death, there's only two mechs on base that trusts me, not including you and Taylor, I'm fighting against my old faction, you've got a dead mech in your head, I'm probably Traitor #1 at the Decepticon base, and Taylor might be in love with Sunstreaker."

"You noticed, too, huh?"

"I noticed it like how I would notice Starscream singing 'Poker Face' outside of the base hangar."

That made me laugh.

He smiled. "It is nice to hear your laugh again."

I laid my head down on the warm metal. "Thanks, Barricade."

Barricade seemed to hesitate. Then he asked, "Nicole, if you don't mind me asking, where did you transwarp when you left Prime's office?"

I didn't say anything.

"You don't have to tell me."

I shook my head. "No, you have the right to know. I….transwarped to my parent's graves."

He left it at that.

We were silent for so long that I had thought he had fallen into recharge. I jumped when he said, "I talked to Prime."

"Optimus?" I said in surprise. "What did ya'll talk about."

"You sound like Taylor."

" 'Cade. Answer the question. I swear you get sidetracked easier than Taylor, and that's saying something."

Barricade chuckled, but did as I had asked. "When Ratchet and I heard that you had transwarped, we had to meet in Prime's office. There we tried to figure out where you were, and how to prevent the AllSpark from taking over your mind. Then we learned that Bumblebee had found you. We started to leave to wait for you, but Prime stopped me, saying that he wanted to talk to me."

He was silent for a moment. "And?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"And," Barricade said teasingly, "he asked me how in the world I put up with you."

I mockingly glared back. "Sure he did, Barricade."

My spark mate laughed, then got serious again. "What he really asked was how I met you. Again."

"What was his reaction?"

"Well, at first he flinched when I said I hit you. Then he laughed when I-"

"You so did not tell him about the phone call."

He didn't say anything.

"Oh my God." I said, horrified. "You did."

Barricade snorted. "Yeah, and he laughed."

"He did not."

"He did."

I glared at him. "Thanks, Barricade."

"Your welcome, love."

I couldn't help it. My face split into a smile. "So what else did you talk about?"

"Prime asked me why I decided to quit the Decepticon cause."

This was something I had been asking myself for a while now, too. "Why did you quit?"

Barricade sighed. "This war has been going on for too long. I have forgotten what we are even fighting for. Cybertron is a dead planet. When we left, the planet had just begun to heal itself. It will take many more years for Cybertron to heal itself fully. And even then, I would not return."

"Why?"

His bright red optics bore into my eyes. "Because I have you." He said softly. "I would not leave this planet for Cybertron if it meant leaving you here. And even if there was a way you could go with me, you would be unhappy."

I gave him an indignant look. "How do you know?"

He smiled softly. "Would you leave Taylor? Spice? Your human friends? Your home?"

I realized what he meant. I wouldn't be able to leave the place I call home, my friends, or any of it. I would miss the air, the water, the trees, hell, probably even the grass.

Propping my head in my arms, I looked at Barricade. "But don't you miss Cybertron?"

He looked wistful. "I do. Cybertron was once a beautiful planet. It may have not had any of the foliage like Earth does, but it was beautiful."

The longing in his voice made my heart ache. I wished with all of my heart that I could do something to help Barricade. There was too much sadness on the other end of the bond.

Suddenly his optics brightened. "But, as I said, I would rather stay here on Earth with you than return to a dying planet. I have grown to love Earth as I did Cybertron." Barricade looked at me. "Don't ever think I would leave you for anything."

"I don't." I whispered. "You care for me Barricade. I see that. You care for me unlike anyone else ever has. I care about you like I've never cared about anyone."

He closed his optics. "You're right. Love is a different kind of caring. A special kind."

Now it was my turn to close my eyes. I listened to Barricade's internal systems. The sound of life was soothing, and soon I was asleep.

For the first time since I found out about the Autobots, I slept without dreams.

It was so peaceful, I was disappointed when I woke up. I remembered where I was, then looked at Barricade. He was still recharging. I smiled. He looked cute when he was recharging. The stress, worries, and problems of daily life were gone, replaced by something I didn't see very often on 'Cade's face.

Pure relaxation.

I slowly eased myself off his chasis(I was surprised that he hadn't rolled over and, well, you get the point). Luckily, he didn't wake up. I jumped from the berth(I could just see Ratchet's glare in my mind) and made my way to the door.

I didn't transwarp. No, I needed to save all my energy for bringing Jazz back. If what Jazz said about me draining my life force when I tried something so big was true, I wanted to save up as much energy I could. I noted happily that my energy levels were full.

Then I stopped. I sounded like a mech or femme would check their Energon levels. Maybe Prowl was right for worrying about the AllSpark taking over.

Only as I started walking through the halls did I notice how quiet and empty the base seemed. I stopped. What time was it? I checked my phone. 2:38 a.m.

Briefly I wondered if it was a bad idea to do it so late. Or early? Then I dismissed the thought and continued to the storage room. I'm sure the procedure wouldn't be that loud.

'Could ya call it somethin' besides procedure? Tha' sounds….painful.'

'Quit your whining, Jazz. I know what I'm doing.'

'Actually, ya don't.'

I ignored him.

On the way there, my thoughts began to wonder. Would it hurt me when I brought him back? Would it hurt Jazz when he came back from the Matrix?

'Prob'ly.' I heard him huff.

'Hey,' I thought, annoyed, 'Do you wanna live or not?'

I heard him curse at me in Cybertronian, huffing still. I smiled, knowing I was right.

After maybe 10 minutes, I found my way back to the old storage room. On the dust covered floor were the footsteps of Lennox, Epps, and my self. This time I had to transwarp up to the table Jazz was on.

I frowned at the dust covering Jazz's prone body. Too bad I hadn't brought a rag or something. After thinking about it for a minute, I took my sweatshirt off and started wiping dust off every part of bare armor I could see or reach with it.

When I was done, I observed my work. He certainly looked better. The whole thing had taken about 7 or 8 minutes. 'Well, Jazz? I couldn't reach inside the armor or vents, but I doubt there was much dust in there anyway.'

'Hmm. Not bad.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Your welcome, idiot.'

'I am not an idiot.'

I ignored him and crawled on top of Jazz. It wasn't that hard. He was fairly small for a Transformer. I had a weird feeling that I had to open up his chest plates. 'Jazz? A little help would be nice.'

'Jus' touch the platin''.

I frowned at the weird advice, but did as he said. As my hand neared the silver armor, I felt the necklace heat up, and then a surge of energy raced through my arm. Small little bolts of blue electricity shot out of my fingers.

The bolts made contact with the armor, and I scrambled backwards as Jazz's chest plating opened with a hiss.

For a moment I just stared at the now open chasis. Then I asked out loud, "Can I shoot lightning out of my eyes, too?"

Jazz was silent for a moment. Then, 'What the frag gave you that idea?'

"No, I'm serious, can I?"

'No, Nicole, you can't.' He said with a sigh.

"Oh. Well, that sucks, I guess. But I can send lightning through my fingers?"

'No. All ya can do is send electric shocks powerful 'nough to knock a mech out.'

"That's cool. Can I try it on you when you're alive again?"

'Pit no.' Then as if it was an after thought, he asked, 'Are you twisted, crazy, or kidding?'

"All of the above. Okay, Jazz. Here's the big moment. Be waiting at whatever door or gateway or, well, whatever it is that you have to go through to get here."

'Are you sure ya wanna do this?'

I ignored him. Instead, I focused on poring as much energy I had in me into my hands. This took concentration, so I closed my eyes. I pictured blue liquid energy flowing out of the necklace, through my arms, and into my hands until I had a bright blue ball of energy in my hands. All the while, I was watching my energy levels drop.

Then I opened my eyes, and almost dropped the ball of energy I was holding.

I did it. I really did it.

I studied the ball. So this was what Jazz's new spark was going to be. A bunch of energy from me. There was always going to be a piece of me in Jazz.

Carefully, I leaned over the spark chamber. I knew that once I let go of Jazz's spark, I would probably pass out. It seemed that I was doing that a lot lately.

Lowering the ball of energy, I took a deep breath. Then I let go of it.

There was an immediate reaction, in both me and Jazz.

The second the ball left my hand, I fell over to the side of Jazz, closest to the door. All of the energy and will that had kept me going was gone, now in the form of Jazz's spark. I could tell that I was moments away from, once again, passing out.

I had fallen on my side, so that I could see Jazz's side. As I saw the blackness began to close in, I watched as Jazz's body started jerking and bucking as all the systems turned back on. His wiring glowed beneath his armor with a weird blue light, and for a second I worried that something would go wrong and no one would know but me. And I would be passed out. Not much help.

I closed my eyes.

'For Prowl's sake,' I thought, 'I hope this work's.'

Then I passed out.

Jazz had been right to worry. About a lot of things.

First thing he had worried about:

It would hurt like Pit.

And it had. Leaving the Matrix and rejoining the onlined felt like being burned from the inside out. Painful for sure. All of his systems rebooting, what Energon he had left pumping through his tubing, his systems struggling on that Energon.

It was unlike anything he'd felt before.

Second thing:

Nicole would kill herself in the process.

It sure looked that way. He'd seen her fall sideways in a crumpled heap the second she let go of the ball of energy. In fact, he thought he had seen a white streak form in her hair faster than possible when she had been pouring the energy out of herself.

Jazz hadn't known that was possible. In fact, it shouldn't be.

And third:

What the slag was he supposed to do when he saw the others again?

Oh yeah, just walk into the Med bay, "Hey, Hatchet! Miss me? I know I been offlined for twenty-somethin' years, but, hey, 'm better now!"

He would have every Autobot on base after his aft, thinking he was either a ghost or Decepticon phony.

And he really didn't want to be shot at by Ironhide. Not right after waking up.

But despite all of that, he was alive. He really couldn't complain.

After a few minutes, he could online his optics. Jazz couldn't feel anything but the occasional twitch. All he could tell was that he had stopped jerking.

So, Jazz waited.

Every now and then he would try and move. After five minutes, he could move his helm. After ten minutes, he could wiggle his digits, and twitch his pedes. At fifteen minutes, he could slowly bend his arms(it hurt too much to move them fast).

Then Jazz tried to move his legs. No such luck. He huffed, then winced. Nicole had been wrong. There was a lot of dust in his vents, circling through every time he blew in or out. Very uncomfortable.

Jazz tried sitting up. It didn't work out to well. He heard his back armor creak, and was fairly sure something snapped. Jazz fell back on the table, mindful of the human girl beside him, and waited for a few more minutes.

Prowl was the only one awake at this hour, doing datapads that weren't due for 6 days.

He had taken a small break, something he hadn't done in a long time. Thinking about Jazz, he glanced at the small screen focused on the storage room.

He did a double take.

Why was it...black?

Sure, static filled the screen already, but that was only because some wire in the camera was loose. The camera was still on, just not broadcasting. For it to have gone black meant it went dead, or was drained of energy.

Prowl checked the halls outside storage room. Empty and dark. Wait, dark? All of the lights ran on a generator, and even if that shut off, there was an emergency generator.

The Praxian checked the other hallways surrounding the room. He measured the distance, and found that the lights in the halls were off in every direction for 100 feet. But when it hit 101feet, the lights were on.

Strange.

Then Prowl looked closer at the footage from the outside hallway of the storage room. Wait, there was blue light…coming from under the door of the storage room.

Something was going on here.

Prowl's first logical idea was Decepticons.

Without a second thought, Prowl was walking towards the storage room weapons drawn.

Not four minutes later, the tactician was outside the door, and he could hear small, strange, shuffling noises. He reached for the door, but paused. Should he comm. Optimus and the others. It was most likely Ravage, or some other 'Con spy. Still, it wouldn't hurt.

Prowl was just beginning to think of what he would send when he turned the knob and walked in, cannons poised to kill.

Then what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

A silver mech with a bright blue visor was sitting up on the table, kicking his legs back and forth over the side as if trying to regain feeling in them. Beside him was a crumpled heap of Nicole.

Jazz.

Jazz, who was supposed to be offlined.

Jazz, his would-have-been bonded.

Jazz, who was sitting alive in front of him.

Prowl felt so many affections at once, he couldn't count them all. But the ones he noticed the most were joy, confusion, and longing.

Then the silver mech froze, as if realizing that someone was in the room with him. He looked up, surprised at who had walked in. "Oh, heya, Prowler! Miss me?"

Prowl could feel the glitch coming.

He remembered to send the comm. just as he felt his battle computer glitched out.

Jazz sighed, frustrated.

So far, he still couldn't walk, Nicole was still passed out, and now the mech who found him was not only his sparkmate, but the only mech he knew with a battle computer that tended to glitch out at the worst of times.

Jazz sighed again. He just hoped Prowl was okay…..

And that he had sent a comm. message to someone.

Barricade POV

I onlined my optics at the beeping of a comm. message.

I sat up when I saw who it was. ~Ratchet?~

~Yes, now get your aft over here. We have…..a situation.~

~Decepticons?~

~Uhh…no. But you might want to come check on Nicole.~

I froze in mid step on my way to the door. ~Nicole? What's wrong with her?~

~She may have….er….Well, just come see for your self.~

~Fine. Where?~

Jazz was still trying to figure out why he hadn't regained feeling in his legs. Everything had started working perfectly, with the exception of his legs.

He leaned down and checked the wiring. Ah, there was the problem. A few wires on each leg were cut. Chewed through was a better term. Jazz shuddered at the thought of an Earth mouse crawling over his frame. Well, Ratch wasn't going to be happy.

At that moment the lights in the hall came back on, and he could see Prowl better. His sparkmate was lying half way in the room and half way into the hall.

Then he heard voices, then the voices turned into shouts, and then he heard the thundering of many footsteps. Jazz watched as Optimus, Ratchet, and Ironhide stopped beside Prowl's still body.

It only took a few seconds for them to all look in the now open room.

Jazz waved at them cheerfully. "Hey, guys! Miss me?"

The look on their faces was priceless.

It took them a full minute to register what they saw. Optimus was the first to recover. "Jazz?"

"The one an' only."

They still stared at him like he was a ghost. Jazz sighed. "I know I been offline for twenty somethin' years, but ya need to fix Prowl's glitch and examine lil' Nicky here. And I really wanna Energon cube."

They seemed to snap out of it just as more Autobots appeared. Jazz recognized Arcee, Bluestreak, and Bumblebee.

"What's wrong-" Bumblebee started to ask, then stopped, seeing Jazz. "What the frag? Jazz?"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Ironhide muttered.

Jazz was just flat out annoyed now. "Snap outta it. Focus. Sure, I was jus' resurrected, but could ya get over that for a moment? Long 'nough to get ta the Med Bay? 'Cause I can't walk. Oh, and Nicole passed out here."

That seemed to snap them into action.

Barricade POV

When I got to the storage room, everything was in chaos.

Several Autobots were rushing around, all of them confused. There was a group of human soldiers looking tired and bewildered at the scene in front of them. Bumblebee and a mech named Bluestreak were trying to help a silver mech with a blue visor stand up. Every time they moved away from him, he would collapse. The mech looked familiar.

I looked around for Nicole, but I didn't see her. Now I was worried. The other end of the bond seemed dormant, like she was asleep.

"Barricade! Down here!"

I looked down into the worried face of Taylor. She was dressed in combat clothes. "What the frag is going on? Have you see Nicole?"

She just motioned for me to follow her. Taylor lead me into the storage room, were the lights were on, and in the middle was a table. On the table was Nicole.

She had taken off her hoodie. It was tossed to one side and dirty with dust. She was curled up asleep. Nicole appeared to be fine.

I felt Taylor tap my leg. "'Cade, can you lift me up there?"

I did as she asked, and the second she was out of my servo, she ran over to Nicole and knelt down to her. Taylor shook her shoulder. "Wake up, Nicole. Please."

The black haired girl just mumbled in her sleep.

Taylor made a whining noise, then looked at me. "She won't wake up, Barricade. Is she in a coma? If she is, we need Ratchet to look at her."

"I don't know, Taylor." I murmured. The last time I had seen Nicole, she had been with me in our room. I had thought she had fallen into recharge.

I held my servo out for Taylor. She climbed on, and I put her on my shoulder so I could carry Nicole. After picking up my sparkmate, I walked back out of the room and up to Prime, who was talking to two human soldiers.

Prime saw me, and turned to face me. "Barricade."

"Prime. Where's Ratchet? Nicole needs to be looked at. She wont wake up."

He sighed, looking tired. "He's preparing the Med Bay for Jazz, Prowl, and Nicole."

"Jazz?" I asked. Then the truth about why the silver mech was so familiar hit me. I turned around and stared at the mech.

He waved at me as best as he could, since he had his arms around the shoulders of Bluestreak and Bumblebee. "Yo, Barricade. Nice ta see ya 'gain."

I was still staring at Jazz. "How the Pit are you alive? Weren't you in Nicole's head or something?"

Jazz winced. "Ah, see I haven't really told 'em 'bout tha' yet. But as ta why I'm online, I'll explain tha' later."

I just shut my optics. "Nicole has something to do with it, doesn't she?"

"Uh…yeah, I guess ya could say she had a lil' somethin' ta do with it."

I shook my head, and just started walking to the Med Bay.

We all stared at Jazz, who had just finished explaining.

'We' being me, Taylor, Ironhide, Ratchet, Prime, Bluestreak, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Prowl. Ratchet had fixed Prowl's glitch and Jazz's legs, and they were currently holding servos. He had also scanned Nicole, and found that aside from being low on energy, she was okay. There was now a white streak in her hair. Ratchet said she just needed to rest for a long time.

Bluestreak tilted his head to the side. "So you're saying that your were in Nicole's helm this whole time and that she found your body and then resurrected you and now your alive and she almost drained her life force which is why she has a white streak in her hair and is in recharge?"

Jazz thought about that for a second, then said, "Yea, tha' pretty much covers it."

The only sound to be heard was Nicole's snoring.

Well, I hope this went beyond your standards!

Next Chapter: NICOLE TRAINS WITH PROWL AND JAZZ. WITH AN AUDIENCE.