Chapter 16:

Barricade POV

Ratchet stared at me with wide optics. "You want me to what?"

"I want you to change my optics to blue."

He continued to stare at me. "…..Blue?"

"Yes, Ratchet, blue."

I was afraid that I had made him crash when he didn't react. Then he shook his head, startling me. "About time." I heard him mutter.

It was my turn to stare at him. " 'About time'?"

"Yes, about time. I thought you would've changed by now. Now I can tell Nicole I told you so."

"You were talking about me?"

"Don't look so shocked, Barricade. But, yes, I will do it. I just hope you're prepared for everyone's reactions."

I stared at my servos, thinking over what he had said. "Why can you tell Nicole I told you so?"

"Because she thought you might stay neutral forever."

"Oh." I said quietly, not quite believing that Nicole had thought I would remain neutral forever.

"What made you finally change your mind?"

I sighed. "The way she kept avoiding my gaze. My red optics reminded her too much of Megatron, I guess. I hate it that she's scared of me."

"Idiot, she's not scared of you. She's scared of Megatron. Your optics just reminded her of that. Now come here so I can change the color."

I slid off the berth and stood in front of him. He went behind me and started fiddling with something on my helm. Suddenly my vision went black, but then there was a small click and I saw a flash of blue before my vision cleared.

"There. Now, get out and go show Nicole. Your scans are perfect."

"Thanks, Ratchet."

He didn't say anything, instead turning back around towards his office. I sighed and was just about to shut the door when Ratchet said, "Barricade, I'm glad you finally changed sides."

Nicole POV

"Stop staring at us."

"I can stare at you if I damn well want to."

"Bitch."

"Fraggers."

"She-devil."

"Pit spawn."

"Retard."

"…..Jerkfaces."

"Jerkfaces? What the frag is that?"

I threw my hands up, glaring at the twins. "It was the only insult I could think of!"

As part of our punishment, Prowl had thrown the twins and I in the brig. I was still glued to the chair, too. Thankfully, my hands had started sweating and had came off the chair. I was in one cell, one that was designed for transwarping 'Cons. And now a transwarping human, too. The twins were in the cell across from me, still red and yellow. There were glowing blue Energon bars separating us.

We had been in here for three hours. And we still hadn't resolved the prank war, like I guess Optimus and Prowl wanted us to. Now it was going on nine o'clock. Surely Barricade was out of the Med Bay now and trying to get me out….I huffed and crossed my arms. The least they could've done was give us something to eat.

Obviously Sunny, who had been glaring at me the whole time, saw this and smirked. "What's wrong, Nicki? Mad that Barricade hasn't come and bailed you out of jail yet?"

I told him just what I thought of that while cursing Jazz for starting that nickname.

At this point, I heard the thumping of footsteps. I winced. My head had been hurting since I hadn't meditated in awhile. As it turned out, it was Bluestreak who had volunteered to come down and give us something to eat. With him was Willow and Taylor who carried my food.

Bluestreak deactivated the Energon bars. While he gave two Energon cubes to the twins, Willow and Taylor walked up to me with a tray of food. They both glared at me. I threw my arms up. "What now?"

Taylor just gestured to her pants. She was wearing new ones. I shrugged. "Wow, you changed clothes."

Taylor gaped at me while Willow came up behind me and smacked me upside the head.

I winced. "I guess I needed that." When they didn't say anything, I stared at them. "Seriously, are you giving me the silent treatment?"

They turned their backs on me and walked through the Energon bars. After setting a tray of food down. Five feet away from where I was.

Gee, thanks so much.

After they were done with me, they both walked up to the twins cell to where Bluestreak was doing what he does best, talking.

"Sunstreaker. Sideswipe." Willow said coolly, interrupting Bluestreak. I grinned, knowing the twins were about to be told off.

Instead of saying anything, Willow flipped both them off with each hand. Taylor just stuck out her tongue, because she was too nice to flip someone off.

I saw both twins wince as the two girls stomped off the way they had come. "Ouch," I said loudly enough for the twins to hear. They both glared at me.

"Why did Willow just stick her middle finger at Sunny and Sides?" Bluestreak asked innocently.

The twins and I stared at him for a moment before Sunny and Sides burst out laughing.

I shot them a glare. Personally, I held a special spot for Bluestreak in my heart. The little gunner was sweet and as innocent as you could get. Unlike the bozos in the cell across me. Bluestreak was just…..so Bluestreak.

I turned and smiled at Bluestreak's confused faceplates. "Bluestreak, sweetie, don't mind them. They're idiots who couldn't tell left from right. But what Willow was doing was….." Oh boy. What was I supposed to say to a mech who never even uttered a single curse word.

"What Willow was doing was saying bye to the twins."

Bluestreak seemed to think that over, then smiled. "Oh. 'Kay, well, bye Nicole! Bye twins!" Then he flipped off the twins and me.

I groaned and face palmed while the twins wheezed from laughter across from me.

"Is it….an armadillo?"

"No. An armadillo doesn't eat flies, stupid."

I threw my hands up. "Than I give up, Sides. What was it?"

Sunny sighed. "It was a spider."

Sides shot him a glare. "No fair, you used the twin bond."

His twin smacked him on the back of the head. "Well, don't take so fragging long on some stupid game."

"We've only been playing for an hour!"

"Two hours."

"Two hours." I agreed. I sighed and turned and looked at the security camera. "Hey, Red Alert! Tell Prowl that we've learned our lesson. Please?"

Like every time I had said that the past three hours since Bluestreak, Willow, and Taylor had came, I got no response from the stupid camera. I pretty much growled out loud at that moment and turned back around to face the twins. "I'm going to die of boredom here."

We sat in silence a little longer before the twins started to communicate over their bond. I glared at them out of jealousy. Prowl had obviously convinced Barricade not to try and talk to me throughout the spark bond.

I got a little worried when Sideswipe smiled….looking at me.

I got even more worried when he nodded at Sunny and their optics went dim. Their holoforms appeared in my cell, right next me.

"Uh…twins? What are you doing?"

They got on either sides of me and lifted the chair. Realizing what they were doing, I started screaming obscenities and trying to smack their holoforms. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful. The twins were about to tip my chair over whenever we heard footsteps.

They dropped the chair, which sent me tumbling backwards with a yelp. The breath was knocked out of me. Gasping, I muttered, "Stupid twins."

I could hear them snickering from the other cell.

When Prowl and Jazz found us, they stared at me for a few seconds. I reached out towards them. "Help?"

Jazz just snickered as he and Prowl turned on their holoforms and put the chair up right. Once I was upright, I glared at them as they turned off their holoforms. "About time. What took you so long?"

Prowl frowned. "We….were distracted."

Sunny and Sides gaped at them from the other cell. "So, in other words, you forgot about us?"

Jazz grinned. "Yep."

Prowl shot his sparkmate a glare. "I'll let you ask Barricade what was so distracting."

Barricade? I asked my self. Out loud, "So you're letting us go?"

Prowl shook his helm. "No, just to letting you out for an hour. You did, after all, say please."

"I did?"

Jazz nodded. "First time I've ever heard ya say it, Nicki."

I scowled at him as he and Prowl deactivated the Energon bars. Whenever the twins stood up stretching, I crossed my arms. "Well?"

Both Prowl and Jazz had also forgotten that I was still stuck to the frigging chair.

After cutting myself out of the chair in the bathroom(I didn't really mind that I had ruined those pants; what really aggravated me was how hard it was to cut them off), I changed into some jeans and a black t-shirt. Then I found Barricade in our quarters, seemingly in recharge.

So it scared the hell outta me when he said, "Finally."

Oh, Barricade. You know how to scare a girl to death with your one-word sentences.

"Hey, babe." I said, still trying not to look at his optics while throwing away my ruined pants in the trash can.

"Nicole, turn around."

I did reluctantly, still holding the shirt I had worn all day in the cell. "What-"

My jaw hit the floor around the time my shirt did. "What the hell happened to your optics?"

Barricade, who now had cobalt blue optics, sat up on the recharge berth and regarded me with a cool gaze. "I'm now an Autobot."

I continued to stare at him with an open mouth. My mind was blank. So I said what first came to mind. "What the hell, Barricade?"

My sparkmate glared at me. "What?"

I threw my arms up. "You could've told me! You know, like a little warning. 'Oh, hey, Nicole, just thought you might want to know, I'm going to become an Autobot while you rot in a cell with the twins for six hours'!"

"Well, you know what, Nicole? It was nice to find out just how much faith you have in me!"

I flinched involuntarily. "What are you talking about?"

Barricade stood up, his blue optics smoldering. "I talked to Ratchet. He said you thought I would remain neutral forever."

"I didn't say that! I said that I hoped you wouldn't stay neutral forever!"

"That's the same thing! You thought I would, but you hoped I wouldn't."

I scowled, looking at the ground. He was right. "I…didn't mean it that way, Barricade."

"It sure sounded like it!"

"Look, can't we just drop it? I haven't exactly had a great day."

"No, we can't just drop it! Sparkmates are supposed to trust each other, Nicole. I thought you of all people would've known that, being the Host of the AllSpark."

My anger flared up again. "Don't call me that! I hate that name! I don't go swimming through the AllSpark memories just for fun, you know. It gives me one hellova headache. And I do trust you!"

"You can't run from fate, Nicole. You can't just transwarp away and hope when you come back that everything will be normal again."

I glared at him, getting even angrier. "Well, what would you do if you were just told you were supposed to die because of some stupid legend, huh? Did you expect me to be cheery, or throw a parade? Hooray, I'm going to die! How can you not expect me to be scared, Barricade? Hell, I was terrified!"

Barricade was silent for a moment. "I thought you knew me better, Nicole."

"I do."

"If you know me so well, you would've understood why I changed my optics."

"I didn't want to pressure you into something you didn't want to do!" I snapped.

Barricade's servos clenched into fists. "If you knew me better, you would've known I would do anything for you! Regardless if I wanted to or not!"

"Well, I thought I knew you. But I guess not." I said quietly. "You know what, Barricade? The whole damn time I was in that cell I though you would come down there and get me, but I guess you were too busy sulking to think about it!"

Barricade flinched, but hid it quickly. "A lesson needed to be learned, Nicole. I agreed with Prowl."

I gaped at him. "But I'm your sparkmate!"

"I know!" Barricade snarled, and for a moment, I saw the Decepticon in him. I was ashamed to say that I actually backed up a few feet. Barricade growled and started pacing. "I know I'm your sparkmate. Which why I thought you would've had more faith in me when it came to whether I was going to become an Autobot or not."

I was stung by that. My own words thrown back at me. Not a good feeling. Steeling my nerves, I looked Barricade in the optics. "Look. We both just need sometime to cool off. I've got to get back to Prowl or he'll think I've ran away again." I didn't mention that I still had 45 minutes left till he made us get back in the cells.

"Jazz told me you had an hour out. You've still got 45 minutes left."

"Well, I'll be early for once, then." I snapped. Thanks, Jazz. "Good night, Barricade."

"Good night." He said coolly, not looking at me.

Another pang of hurt. But Barricade wouldn't feel it. I had already blocked the bond by the time I transwarped.

"…..and so that's why I'm pissed off now!" I shouted, finally finishing my rant.

I was in Jazz's office, which, for once, I had found the saboteur doing some datapads. When I had asked him where Prowl was, he said that he had gone to make sure the twins didn't bale during the one hour freedom. He had asked me what was wrong, obviously being able to read my face. And so began my long, angry, hurt rant.

Jazz, who had his pedes propped up on the desk and his arms crossed, stared at me for a moment before shaking his helm and sighing. "Nicki, every couple gets inta fights."

"Jazz, I'm in the only relationship that involves a human and a Transformer. Unless you count Willow and Taylor, but that doesn't count since they aren't even with the twins yet!"

He shook his helm again. "That's not what I meant. Every couple, Transformer or human, get inta fights. Look at me and Prowler. We get inta little spats all the time, but always get back together."

I threw my hands up, feeling tears begin to spring up in my eyes. "But, Jazz! It was, like, a really bad fight."

Jazz sighed again before his pedes dropped off the desk and he leaned forward. "Nicole, listen ta me. Look at me." He waited until I was looking into his visor. "Yer bondmates fer a reason. Do ya regret the fight?"

"Yes! Absolutely! With all of my heart!"

"Do ya wish it had never happened?"

"God, yes, I do, Jazz! Stop acting like Dr. Phil!"

Jazz smiled. "If ya regret it, wish it had never happened, and all that scrap, then it'll turn out okay. Primus, I'd be worried if ya didn't fight. No relationship is ever perfect."

I stared at him. "You have the weirdest logic. I seriously don't get how Prowl doesn't glitch every time he's around you."

"What I meant is, no relationship is ever perfect. Sure, ya and Barricade are the perfect match, like Prowl and me, Hound and Mirage, Ironhide and Chromia, Red Alert and Inferno, Optimus and Elita, and plenty of others. But the relationship is gonna have kinks. If yer in a relationship where there ain't no fights, then ya need ta get outta it as fast as ya can. Ya see what I mean?"

"Let me get this straight. If you're in a relationship where there's no fights, it's a bad relationship. And if you're in a relationship where there are fights, then it's a good relationship?"

"Exactly." Jazz said, sitting back with a grin.

I stared at him. "We need to call Ratchet and get your processor checked."

Jazz gave a loud sigh through his vents. "If you've got no one ta butt helms with, then the relationship is gonna get boring, leading ta a break up. Ya'll never take it further than just bein' boyfriend and girlfriend. But if ya do fight all of the time, then it is a bad relationship. Occaisionally is good. All the time, bad. Got it now?"

"Oh. I guess." I sighed. "But still. I can't go back right now."

Jazz just watched me sulk for a minute before holding his servo open. I shot him a curious look. He smiled.

"Ya look like ya need ta blow off some steam. Do ya know how ta shoot a gun?"

I fired one, two, three bullets at the target. Two of them hit the mark, one missed.

Jazz clapped. "Gettin' better, Nicki."

I just grunted, examining the BB gun. "So, the little ball things-"

"BB's." Jazz corrected me.

"-BB's in here are specifically engineered to strong enough to puncture a mech's armor?"

"Yep."

"Sweet. So…If I shot you-" I said, turning and pointing it at him.

In response to that, Jazz ducked and rolled to the side. When he looked back up and saw me laughing, he glared. "Primus, I swear yer're an idiot sometimes."

I just snorted, trying to stop laughing. "Jeez, Jazz. I was just kidding."

The Solstice just snorted and stood back up arms, crossed and looking anywhere but me. I stared at him. "Come on, Jazz. Don't tell me that scared you."

Jazz glared at me again. "No."

I just smirked. "Whatever you say. But, I was going to ask, if I ever needed to defend myself against a 'Con, would this be able to protect me?"

"Yeah, but I'd still recommend usin' a real gun. More efficient and lethal."

"Well, why didn't you give my a real gun in the first place?"

" 'Cause I didn't want ya shootin' my helm off."

"I wouldn't purposely shoot you! I'm not that stupid."

"I know, but, still. If anyone's gonna teach ya how ta handle a real gun it's gonna be Ironhide, Lennox, or Epps."

"Thanks so much, Jazz-"

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the base and I fell to the ground, still clutching the gun. I looked at Jazz who had also fallen. "Please tell me that was Wheeljack."

Then suddenly an alarm rang through the base.

Jazz grunted, his visor darkening. "Don't sound like it. Sounds like-"

"Decepticons, attack!"

"Exactly." I heard him mutter before, too quickly for me to see, he had stood up and grabbed me in the process. I squeaked because, well, do you know how unnerving it is to be sitting on the ground one second and suddenly in the servo of a running Autobot the next?

I tried to hold onto my lunch as Jazz shoved a carton of BB's into my hands. "Take these." He said while sprinting towards the door. "I'm gonna take ya ta the brig."

"Brig?" I shouted over the alarms.

"It's gonna be the last place they look. I hope, at least."

It all was a blur as we ran through the halls of the base. I saw Autobots and humans running to their posts and loading their weapons. There was shouting and explosions. I could literally feel the vibrations of battle through the air. The AllSpark pulsed wildly against my throat. I started rubbing it, trying to calm my fears about Barricade and everyone else I loved going to fight. And the fact that I didn't know where any of them were drove me crazy. I felt so….helpless.

At one point, the wall beside us exploded, most likely from a few missiles. Jazz was literally thrown through the air and with a sickening crash smashed into the wall. I was flung from his servos, the gun and carton still in my hand. I fell to floor, which wasn't exactly made of pillows and cushions. I hissed and rolled over so I could check on Jazz. His visor was dark and it looked like a few pieces of shrapnel and what not. I heard him groan.

"Jazz! Jazz, are you okay-" My air was sucked away as I was suddenly picked up from the ground. The carton fell to the ground, but I thankfully held onto the BB gun. When the world stopped spinning, I looked into the red optics of a Decepticon. Blitzwing, the AllSpark informed me.

He grinned wickedly, and I saw madness in his optics. "Hello, girl."

If he was going to say anything else, he never got to. A few rounds from Jazz's cannon blew half of the mech's faceplates off. While Blitzwing was distracted by the pain, Jazz quickly twisted the arm that I wasn't in around his back and slammed him into a wall before pulling out an Energon blade(which I didn't even know he had) and driving it through his chasis into the wall.

The whole plan was beautiful(well, the way it was executed was beautiful; all of that Energon really didn't help my nerves). Except the part where I fell out of Blitzwing's now limp servo, nearly scaring me to death.

Thankfully Jazz caught me before I went splat.

As we started running again, I thought I heard Jazz mutter, "Not today, damn 'Con."

By the time my mind caught up with Jazz, I was scared out of my wits. Watching Jazz like that….I felt something warm on my arm, and I looked. Then wished I hadn't. It was Jazz's Energon on me.

That when I guess you could say I just pretty much just shut all my emotions away and went on autopilot.

I set my hand on Jazz's armor and closed my eyes, trying to focus. The AllSpark seemed to do a quick scan and showed me what injuries Jazz had acquired. I sent out pulses of energy to those spots, not totally healing them but sealing the leaking Energon.

Jazz nearly stopped in surprise. Instead, he just shot me a confused look and continued running and dodging Autobots in the hall.

It all passed in a blur. One minute we were in the halls, the next Jazz was setting me down in one of the cells. "Ya gotta promise yer're gonna stay here, Nicki. Promise?"

I looked at my hands. They were shaking. "No, Jazz. I can't promise that. If I think that someone is going to be hurt, I'm not going just sit here and wait."

Jazz smiled, but it was a dark, sad smile. "Then I'm sorry, Nicki, but I gotta do this." With that, he took a step back and activated the Energon bars.

I glared at him in shock. "Jazz! Don't-" But it was too late. He was already running back, cannon charging up.

I screamed at him to come back until my throat was hurting. Something between a sob and growl of frustration escaped me. I was stuck here, in this cell, safe, while everyone I loved was fighting and in danger.

The lock system. Disable it.

"How?" I pretty much screamed at the AllSpark.

Instead of answering me, the AllSpark made me move my feet until I was standing next to the wall that had the lock system installed into it. I watched my hand move to the wall. I wasn't doing this. A surge of energy pulsed down my arm and into the wall. Then it was like I was looking at the lock system. I studied it for a moment before disabling it.

The Energon bars disappeared. I silently thanked the AllSpark before grabbing the BB gun.

There were still explosions as I transwarped from one place to another. It seemed that the Decepticons hadn't managed to enter the base yet, save those few lucky ones who blew up the wall to get in, like Blitzwing. Most of the fighting and explosions were out side, but that didn't mean that the inside was chaos.

I didn't know what I was really looking for. Or who. I just randomly transwarped from place to place inside the base. A part of me was afraid of going out side, while the other part of me was telling me that I was a coward and that my friends, family, and sparkmate were outside dying.

Eventually, that side won.

I staggered as my poor ears were assaulted by the scream of jet engines. Without looking up, I already knew that Starscream and his trine were dropping missiles. Taking a few seconds to glance around, I found that I was at the front of the base. Autobots were fighting in hand to hand combat, while humans in tanks tried to shoot out any 'Cons in the sky. Then I spotted Prowl. He had taken out his rifle and was shooting long range.

Just as I was about to shout his name, Prowl staggered, and I think he screamed, but I couldn't hear it. As Prowl fell to his knees, I saw what had made the tactician fall.

There was a hole in his door wings, still smoking from the shot and now leaking Energon.

A dark gray mech stepped up to Prowl, grinning like the Chesire Cat. I don't think he noticed; he was in too much pain. I sure noticed though, and I'll be damned if I was going to watch Prowl die.

I acted before my mind caught by with my body. I transwarped right in front of Prowl just as the 'Con raised his cannon and fired. I felt something like ice course through my arms, and I watched as everything seemed to slow down. My hands raised like I was trying to defend myself. A glowing blue spark fell from my hand before my hands literally turned blue. Then, as if I had blinked, there was suddenly a shield right in front of me.

In regular time, the shield must've appeared in a millisecond. But I had seen it all appear in what felt like years. The important thing was that the cannon fire from the mech was stopped. Partially. My shield barely held out. I felt the heat of the blast burn my hands, but I didn't feel any pain, just a tingling.

The shield dropped and suddenly I was staring into the optics of the Decepticon. He looked shocked. Then mad. And then he was pointing his cannon back in my face.

Primus and God smiled down on me at the same time, because someone had spotted the mech in front of us and shot him three times, once in the helm, twice in the side. The 'Con went into stasis lock so that his self repair system could do repairs.

I turned to thank the bot. Whoever it had been was already back in the fight.

Then my attention turned to Prowl. He had already went into stasis lock to make repairs. The most serious injury he had was the gaping hole in his wings. Forcing everything to the back of my mind, I started to try and do what I could with the AllSpark energy. I was worn out by the time I had stopped the leaking Energon.

I bit my lip. "I'm so sorry, Prowl." I whispered to his dim optics. I looked around and found who I was looking for.

"First Aid! Prowl needs help!" I shouted to the junior medic who was firing at Starscream and his trine in the sky.

Thank Primus he heard me and immediately started to tend to Prowl.

Satisfied that Prowl would be in good hands, I transwarped to the other side of the base. The fighting was even worse here. I saw Optimus fighting Megatron. My mind froze up for the first time since I had gone on autopilot.

Then a certain metal kitty decided it would be fun to try and shoot holes in me.

I ducked as Ravage fired the first few rounds. Two of the bullets hit me, both of them in my right leg. Again, no pain. At this point, I would have to save all of the AllSpark energy for healing, which meant no transwarping or electric shocks. I didn't think I even had enough energy to transwarp without passing out. Fortunately, Ravage was a terrible shot, with the gun being on his back and him bouncing around.

"You idiot, don't shoot it!"

I froze in surprise at Megatron's outraged roar. Ravage even paused in trying to shoot me and turned to look at Megatron with his one red optic. Stupidly(very, very stupidly), I followed his gaze instead of getting the hell out of there. Megatron had managed to push Optimus away, if only for a few seconds.

But those few seconds were enough for Megatron to level his fusion cannon at Ravage, who was only five feet away, and fire.

You, Megatron, are the idiot, for firing in the first place, I wanted to scream.

In those few seconds I calculated the chances of surviving this, with help from the AllSpark. They weren't good.

So, I made a decision in those few seconds, and threw the bond with Barricade wide open.

/I love you, Barricade. I'm so sorry./

Barricade POV

I grunted as a shot grazed my side.

When the Decepticons had first attacked, I was still in our quarters, thinking over my argument with Nicole. As I thought back on it, I realized there were some pretty hurtful thing that I had said, but Nicole had said some things that stung, too. In the end, I regretted the whole thing. Sure, I had been upset that Nicole had thought I would remain neutral forever, but if I hadn't opened my big mouth, there never would've been an argument. Nicole would've calmed down, maybe even been happy about my changing sides, but it wouldn't have led to a full scale argument.

And the fact that the Decepticons attacked right afterwards, when I didn't know where she was, made me regret it more. But the regret was being overwhelmed with terror and fear. A few minutes after the attack began, I felt pain through the bond, but Nicole had blocked it so I couldn't feel her emotions or her location.

Now I was outside of the base, trying to shoot down some of the 'Cons in the sky. A lot of Decepticons had called me insults, the main one being 'Traitor'. Megatron, who was fighting Prime a hundred yards away, had even tried to get in a few pot shots and managed to land one shot from his fusion cannon on my back.

Suddenly I saw a flash of silver. Jazz. I fought my way through the chaos towards the Solstice, who was also trying to shoot 'Cons out of the sky. "Jazz!" I shouted. "Have you seen Nicole?"

He glanced at me before continuing to fire at 'Cons. "I locked 'er in the brig afta they first attacked! Have ya seen Prowl?"

I had, in fact, seen the mech. "He's on the other side of the base!" I shouted.

Jazz just nodded, relief flashing across his faceplates briefly. I continued to stay close to Jazz as we both worked together to shoot any 'Cons. It seemed like Megatron had poured all of his mechs into this attack. He must've been really desperate.

Suddenly Jazz went froze, a look of pain and surprise on his face, before he collapsed on his knees, arms wrapped around him and visor dim. Instantly worried, I knelt down. I hadn't seen him be shot. "Jazz? What's wrong? Where are you-" I broke off as heat and pain flashed across my servos. I stared at them in shock. What the frag? They were completely uninjured, yet the pain continued.

Then it hit me smack in the face. Nicole. It was her pain.

Almost frantically, my helm whipped around, trying to catch a glimpse of her, anything, just to know that she was okay.

All I saw was Autobots and humans fighting Decepticons.

Panic started to set in, but I forced it down and looked back to Jazz. The pain was written clearly all over his faceplates. Then they relaxed and Jazz's visor flickered on. He looked around wildly, a fearful look replacing the pain. He saw me and stood up. "Where's Prowl?" He pretty much screamed at me.

I was just about to reply when Megatron shouted, "You idiot, don't shoot it!"

Both of us looked towards the source of the enraged shout. Megatron had managed to knock Optimus to the ground and had leveled his fusion cannon at…..I followed the direction his fusion cannon was pointed.

Oh, Primus, no, no, no, NO! I screamed in my mind

Nicole was standing five feet away from Ravage, limping with blood running down from two bullet holes in her leg and her hands burned and bleeding.

Time slowed down. Megatron fired. I started running, but I knew I wouldn't get there in time. Ravage leaped out of the way, but Nicole stood there, frozen.

And then I staggered as she opened her side of the bond.

Regret. Regret from the fight, from the things she said. Guilt. Guilt that she had even said those things. Hurt. Hurt from the things I had said. Sorrow. Sorrow from her parents deaths, from our fight, again. Worry. Worry for me, Jazz, Prowl, Bumblebee, Taylor, everybody she loved. Grief. Grief from….watching Prowl be shot in his door wings. Fear. Fear of Megatron, of the Decepticons, of me dying, along with everyone she loved. Anger. Anger towards herself, the AllSpark, Megatron, and…me. Frustration. Frustration at herself for not being able to help others, at the fact that she was handed a death contract on short notice. Happiness. Happiness at being with me and her family after all these years. But….most of all, love. Love for her parents, Spice, Taylor, the twins, Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide, Ratchet, Optimus, Bluestreak, Willow, Bumblebee, and…me. Most of all, me. Even after the fight.

Primus. The others would never know how much she loved them unless they bonded with her. She kept all of this to herself. How in Pit did she deal with it?

/I love you, Barricade. I'm so sorry./

/No, no, no, Nicole!/

I was too late. The blast reached her before I did. I almost stopped in my tracks, sure that she was….gone, and not wanting to see her lifeless body. I waited for the pain on the other side of the bond. I waited for the presence that was Nicole in my spark to fade away. I waited for myself to join her.

All I felt was her pain. But she didn't fade away. She was still alive.

Jazz sighed and rubbed a servo over his weary faceplates. Prowl was okay. He was okay. He was alive.

The battle had ended after Megatron had fired at Nicole. Plain and simple. He had shot Nicole with his fusion cannon, realized his mistake, and ordered a retreat.

Now, after the battle, all of the injured humans and bots were in the Med bay. Jazz himself had minor injuries, but Prowl and several other had severe injuries. The 'Cons had fought hard. They had even lost of couple of mechs and a few humans. Thank Primus none of the medics had sustained severe injuries or they would be, as the humans put it, in deep shit. Jazz hadn't seen all of the severely injured, but from what he had heard, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Hound, and Smokescreen had been hit pretty bad. The twins were missing, along with Taylor and Willow. It was suspected that they were buried under the rubble of part of the base that had collapsed after some bombs had been set off there.

Jazz sighed, looking at Prowl's peaceful faceplates from his seat in a chair beside the berth. First Aid had already had most of the damaged fixed by the time the battle was over. The saboteur hadn't been able to get the details clearly, but from what the junior medic had told him, Nicole had seen Prowl do down and had called him to repair Prowl out on the battle field. Apparently Nicole had tried to help speed the healing like she had with Jazz and gave him a good does of AllSpark energy.

Jazz's servos clenched at his lap. That stupid, stupid, stupid girl! Why hadn't she stayed where she was, in the cell? Slowly his anger filtered away to be replaced by guilt. If she hadn't broken out, Prowl wouldn't be here, and neither would Jazz. The saboteur shook his helm. He had seen her damage. It was bad. Very bad. Large parts of her left side, the side that had been turned towards the blast, had been burned. Her clothes now had holes where the blast had burned through them. On top of that, there was also two bullets still lodged in her leg.

Behind his visor, Jazz felt tears well up in his optics. He retracted the visor, rubbing his optics with his thumb and forefinger. He truly, honestly cared about the girl. Seeing her in such a state hurt him deeper than he thought it would. If he didn't know better, he would've thought she was dead when he first saw her, with all of the blood on her clothes….Nicole was becoming more than his charge. She was becoming his adopted creation. Anger flared up in him again. He was her guardian, for Primus' sake! He was supposed to protect her, not let her kill herself!

Jazz could barely imagine how Barricade felt. The sight of the mech after the battle had shocked him. The Mustang's optics were nearly white from terror as he had ran to Nicole after Megatron had retreated. Barricade had picked Nicole off the ground gently, muttering something that only he could understand. He had just sat with Nicole cradled in his arms, rocking back and forth. When Ratchet had tried to take Nicole from him, he had attacked the medic. Apparently Ratchet had suspected something like this to happen. He had sedated Barricade before he could do any real damage and taken Nicole back to the Med bay. A few mechs had taken the now recharging Barricade back to the Med Bay, where he was now on a berth hooked up to several machines.

Jazz doubted that Barricade had recognized Ratchet. The fear of losing a bondmate was enough to set a bot in defensive autopilot mode.

Right now, the Med Bay was dark and quiet except for the symphony of beeps from the machines of the injured that were staying overnight in the Med Bay. First Aid and Wheeljack were going around the injured, making sure everything was right and in working order. Ratchet was in the operating room, still working on Nicole's injuries. Jazz could see the bondmates or lovers or just friends of the Med Bay, like he was right now, sitting in chairs next to their berths. Those bots included Mirage(sitting by Hound, of course), Chromia(by her bondmate), Bluestreak(sitting with Smokescreen, babbling quietly in his friend's audios), and…..Arcee. By Bumblebee.

That was something Jazz was definitely going to watch.

A few minutes later, just as Jazz was starting to 'nod off' as the humans put it, a loud beeping and a commotion startled him wide awake. His visor flared brightly as he saw Wheeljack rush over to Barricade's berth, where the Mustang was starting to wake.

This was not going to go good.

The saboteur jumped up just as Barricade sat up, now-cobalt optics flaring brightly. The mech seemed to be almost confused as he looked around the Med Bay. Then the memories of the battle seemed to hit him. Pushing Wheeljack out of the way, Barricade slid off the berth, staggering, until he just fell to his knees and servos, optics squeezed shut.

"Nicole…." Jazz heard Barricade whisper almost painfully as he got closer.

He knelt down to the mech. "Barricade, mech, look at me. Nicole's okay. Ya gotta get back on the berth."

Barricade just stared at the Solstice as if he didn't recognize him. Jazz pulled his arm gently, trying to get Barricade back on the berth. The Mustang didn't object. Once he was back on the berth, he squeezed his optics shut again and groaned. "Nicole…"

Wheeljack started to shut the alarms on the machine hooked up to Barricade off without a word and began checking his vitals. Jazz watched the mech on the berth, just in case he tried to get up again. Barricade seemed to be living some memory in his processor, as his servos clenched and unclenched. That was, until Wheeljack pumped some more sedatives in his systems.

The engineer stood back and rubbed his faceplates wearily. Then he looked at Jazz, his earfins flashing sorrowfully. "Jazz, we've done what we could for the physical injuries, but….."

"It's the emotional ones that we couldn't." First Aid finished, coming to stand beside Wheeljack.

Jazz just nodded. "I know. I jus' hope Ratch get done with Nicki quick, 'cause the next time Barricade wakes up he's gonna wanna see her."

"I am done, Jazz." Came a tired voice.

They turned to see Ratchet walking out of the operating room, rubbing his faceplates like Wheeljack had done. Sighing, the CMO flopped down into a chair. "There….was not much I could do, besides digging out the bullets and cleaning the burns. I cannot say whether or not there will be scars. If I am right, the AllSpark should heal the scars along with the burns and bullet holes." Ratchet glanced at the now-recharging Barricade. "He hasn't woken up yet?"

Jazz sighed. "Yeah, he did. And he ain't doin' good, Ratch."

Ratchet snorted, then shook his head. "None of us are doing good right now, Jazz." The medic sighed again, the sound tired and worn. "Not good at all."

Me: I know, sucky ending. But, hey, we're over halfway done with the story! I forgot to mention that last chapter.

Nice Me: Oh, it wasn't a bad ending!

Abusive Me: You, Nice, are an idiot.

Nice Me: Why thank you!

Random Me: Who took my cookies? *Starts to freak out*

Liar Me: It wasn't me.

Me: It was Liar.

Liar Me: It so was not.

Abusive Me: Random is having spasms.

Random Me: *twitches on ground* Cookies. *twitch* Cookies.

Me: One of you get your asses up and go to Wal-Mart to get more. We're off track again. Anyway….damn, what was I saying…..oh, yeah. Bad ending, halfway through and whatnot. The last chapter wasn't high in my favorites list, and apparently none of you liked it that much either(judging by the fact I only got four reviews), and I don't blame you. It was a sucky chapter.

Oh, and if you're wondering, when are the twins and Taylor and Willow going to get together, well, hang in there! It's coming! And in the most unexpected ways.

If you have any questions, ask me in a review or PM. Knowing me, I have forgotten to say something right now. And ill smack my head against a wall when I remember it.

Please, please review!

Anika Chancer: Congrats! You figured out what my inspiration for the red and yellow paint was from G1! I was wondering who was gonna figure it out first. Kudos to you!

At the Heart of the Storm: I….love you, too, I guess? *Laughs* Don't go mad! I already have, and it's not as bad as you think.

NEXT CHAPTER: Nicole has some frightening and revealing dreams. Taylor has a problem she's never had before. Willow takes action.