Chapter 19:

Nicole POV

"Well, that was fun."

"Fun for you, maybe."

"Wadda ya mean?"

"Jazz, you went through the car wash six times. I think the first time was good enough."

"We didn't have those kinda things on Cybertron, so it was a new experience for me!"

"Hate to break it to you, but here on Earth you go through them once, and that's it! Despite the fact that it was a new experience!"

I peeked around the corner curiously at the slightly raised voices. I had spent another hour or two with Prowl in his office, just pretty much talking. The fever that I felt but no else could feel was still there. I had been on my way back to the Med Bay when Jazz got back. Apparently he took Willow with him.

As they walked around the corner, Willow threw her hands up as best as she could, because they were full of groceries. "That isn't the only thing. You spent thirty minutes in the music department. When I left for four seconds, I came back just in time to see some woman slap you because you asked her when she was expecting a baby!"

I had to admit, Jazz looked pretty funny carrying a bunch of groceries that were gathered in his servos. I just hoped they hadn't bought any eggs. The saboteur shot a glare at the human woman walked in front of him. "Well, she had human infant supplies in the cart and looked pregnant! And it wasn't me tha' kept shovin' free samples in my mouth!"

"Dude, if someone offers you free samples, you don't say no! Only a bloody idiot would do that! Also, that wasn't even her cart! And if there's three things you don't mention to a human woman, it's her weight, appearance, and age!"

Jazz seemed to think about that for a second for grinning wickedly and asked Willow, "Hey, Willie, how much do ya weigh?"

At this point Willow screamed, whether out of frustration or because Jazz was driving her crazy, and took off down the hall running. It actually looked pretty funny, because her arms were laden with bags and that made it that much harder to run.

We watched her disappear around the corner in silence. Then I looked up at Jazz. "Nice. You just managed to break one of the most level headed people I know."

"On the bright side, she didn't crash like Prowler."

"I guess." I didn't bother pointing out that the closest thing to crashing for a human would be fainting. Instead I gave the Wal-Mart bags a pointed look. "What's in those?"

Jazz gave me a cheeky grin. "A surprise fer tonight."

I nodded, still eyeing the bags. "Uh-huh." My curiosity got the better of me. "What else did you do at Wal-Mart?"

Jazz hmmed. "Let me jus' say tha' you humans have lotsa weird stuff in the health department, some kinky stuff in yer clothes section-'specially you femmes-, an' tha' staff don't care how many items ya got when yer in the twenty items or less lane. And tha' Tampons are absorbent when stuck in fish tanks."

Palm, meet face. "I am never going shopping with you. Ever. One question, though. You went through the twenty items or less lane? And you've got, like, three hundred?"

Jazz shrugged. "Actually, I started counting how many the humans in the lane had."

"You probably looked like an idiot. Can't you tell me what's in the bags?"

"Like I said, it's a surprise. Ya wanna help me get the party ready?"

I hesitated. "I'll have to ask Ratchet."

Jazz nodded. "Hold on a sec, Nicki." His optics dimmed. I tapped into the comm. frequency like I had with Mirage. ::Hey Ratch. Jazz here.::

::What, Jazz? I'm busy. The Chevy twins decided to have a wrestling match and somehow managed to dislocate each others arms.::

Jazz winced. ::Ouch. But I was goin' ta ask if Nicki could hang with me fer a while. She's gonna help me with some stuff.::

::This 'stuff' better not result in her being stuck in the Med bay again, got it?::

::Aww, come on, Ratchet. She's wit' me.::

::That's what I'm worried about.::

::Tha' hurt, Hatchet. Bad.::

::I'm sure it did. Ratchet out::

Jazz snorted when he cut the line. "Bots around here seem ta think tha' I'm irresponsible or somethin'."

"Surely not." I said dryly.

Jazz shot me a grin like I never said anything. "Ratchet gave us the go. Firs', I gotta go see Blaster an' see if he can help us set up. I also gotta ask him if he's got a karaoke machine. Then we'll pay the Twin Terrors a visit an' see if they can make some their high grade. After tha', we can start settin' up."

I transwarped to Jazz's shoulder and sat down. When he was sure I wouldn't fall off and kill myself, he started walking again. "Where's yer bondmate, Nicki? Tall, dark, and gloomy go for a drive or somethin'?"

I sighed. "For one thing, he's not gloomy. Just…..quiet. But I don't know. Optimus, Prowl, Barricade, and I had a stupid meeting with some woman who acted like a bitch. She said some pretty harsh things, though some of them were true, and Barricade got mad and walked out. I haven't seen him since."

Jazz was quiet for a moment. Then, "Ya worried, Nicki?"

"Yeah," I said equally quietly.

"Don't worry 'bout 'im. Jus' needs ta blow off some steam. Can ya tell where he is now?"

"Well, he's not on base, if you're wondering."

At this point, we had reached Blaster's quarters. Music was blaring inside and it sounded like some kind of rock song. Jazz shifted the groceries so that they were in one servo and press the chime. How Blaster heard it, I had no idea, but the door swished open to reveal a grinning Blaster who was dancing along to the music. "Jazz-mech, Nicki, what brings you to my humble abode?"

Blaster lowered the volume as Jazz said, "Hey, mech. Prowler gave me the go for a party tonight. Nicki here," he tapped me on the head with silver claw and I called him something very unpleasant, "was gonna come help me. Ya wanna help, too?"

Blaster grinned widely and shut the music off entirely. "Sure, mech, just let me get a few things."

As he dashed back inside, Jazz called after him, "What about a karaoke machine?"

"Red let me install a program in the TV in the Rec room. All I gotta do is press a few buttons and the TV instantly changes to a karaoke machine." The Communications bot came back out with his arms filled with speakers, wires, and other electronics. "Ready?"

I smiled mostly to myself as Jazz and Blaster sang along (loudly) to Michael Jackson's Thriller that was blaring from both or their speakers.

I was sitting on a table in the Rec room, using paint to make posters advertising the party, both human sized and Transformer sized. I had no idea where Jazz had gotten the paint; probably Sunny(Jazz said that he had gotten permission, but just by the grin on his faceplates I was leaning towards the theory that he had hacked the twins quarters…). Blaster and Jazz were supposed to be putting together a track of all kinds of music from both of their libraries…..But I didn't see how they were getting that done and singing Thriller at the same time. Oh, and I mention that they were having a dance off, too?

Wheeljack had made Transformer sized Wii sticks. You wouldn't believe how many games they had for the thing, and they also had a Playstation, Xbox, and other game consoles.

This was the general picture in the Rec room: The couch, chairs, and tables pushed back to make a clear area. On the TV screen it showed Just Dance 2. Jazz and Blaster were dancing to Tik Tok by Ke$ha, even though they were singing to Thriller.

To say it was a strange sight was an understatement.

As the song came to an end, Jazz got a little too excited and threw his arms up. The joystick flew out of his servo, went over my head ("What the-"), and sailed towards the door. Where it hit a certain SIC square in the faceplates.

The only sound in the room was Jazz and Blaster's speakers still playing Thriller.

It was broken when Prowl muttered, "Ow."

Blaster and I succumbed to laughter, while Jazz just stood there with his mouth hanging open. He snapped out of it and grinned somewhat sheepishly. "Uh….Sorry 'bout tha', babe."

Prowl made a rumbling sound that could've been laughter, and reached up to massage his slightly dented nasal plates. "Apology accepted, Jazz."

By the time the SIC had walked in, I had tears rolling down my cheeks and could barely breathe. Blaster wasn't much better. I gasped, trying so hard to stop. "Jazz….there's a reason….they….tell you to….wear the strap."

In response to that, Jazz tapped me on the head again.

"Fraggit, Jazz-!"

Before I could aim a highly charged burst of AllSpark energy at him, he literally danced over to Prowl, grabbed his servo, and twirled him around. "So, Prowler, ya gonna dance wit' me tonight?"

His bondmate looked frazzled as his equilibrium reset. "I don't dance, Jazz."

"I'm could teach ya!"

"As much as I appreciate it, I can't. Like the humans say, I have two left pedes. The only way you could ever get me to dance was if I was over-energized and that will never happen again."

"Again?" I echoed, while Jazz put on his best pout face. "Please, Prowlie?"

"Primus, that's even more annoying than Prowler, Jazz." The black and white muttered. "But my answer is still no." Before his bonded could open his mouth again, he said quickly, "I came here to tell you that Mirage wanted to go over some intel he gathered last time he snuck into the Decepticon base with you. He's waiting at your office."

Jazz gave an over exaggerated sigh. "Do I have ta?"

"Yes, you do." Prowl said with an air of finality and gave him an affectionate tap on the helm with his doorwing. "I'm sure you'll survive." He nodded to me and Blaster. "Good afternoon, Nicole, Blaster."

As the door swished shut behind him, I asked, "What happened last time Prowl was over-energized?"

Both Jazz and Blaster snorted. Bending down to get the dropped Wii consol, Blaster said, "It was right back on Cybertron. Prowl started dancing on the tables in the Rec room. Jazz encouraged it."

Said saboteur crossed his arms. "I did not. I jus' merely made sure he didn't do nothin' too crazy."

"By getting on the table and dancing with him." Blaster said flatly.

"Hey, mech, when I got the chance I took it-"

"I wish I could've seen that." I said before they could go on arguing.

Jazz grinned cheekily. "I bet I could get 'im over-energized 'gain."

"For some reason, I sincerely doubt that."

"Ya willin' ta bet on tha', Nicki?"

Somewhere in my mind, I knew this was a bad idea. But wherever that was, it was far, far, far away.

I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "I am."

Jazz cackled evilly. "Great. Now, here's the rules. If I win, ya gotta wear roller skates for a week and…." He thought about it for a second, then said, "….ya gotta sing a song at the party."

I blinked, not sure if I had heard him right. Then, "What?"

"Ya heard me."

"No, I am not going to sing."

"Ya backin' down, Nicki? Do I heard a surrender?"

I glared at him. "Fine. I'll do it if you win. But, if I win, you have to give me your iPod for a week," Jazz looked horrified, while Blaster snickered at his expression, "and change your paint job to neon pink."

Jazz stared at me for a moment. Then in a flat voice he said, "Really hung up on the pink thing, aren't ya?"

"I just really hate pink, and you'd look fabulous in it."

Jazz looked down at his silver frame. "Ya really think so?"

I face palmed. "God, this place is full of idiots." Then I looked at Blaster. "No offense to you, though."

He shrugged, grinning. "None taken. I know just what ya mean, femme."

'Finally, a sane person. Or…..bot.' I looked back to Jazz. "The deadline is by the end of the party tonight." I stuck my hand out. "Deal?"

He held his servo out. "Deal." I shook his clawed digit.

Sometimes I can be a real idiot.

Barricade POV

"That one." I said to the human man behind the counter.

He smiled and nodded, before reaching in the case to get what I had requested. As I watched, I heard my comm beep.

::Barricade here.:: I said into the comm, walking a few feet away from the counter.

::Barricade? Mech, where ya been?::

::Jazz? What's wrong?::

::I don't know, jus' that yer bonded is worried 'bout ya since ya took off without tellin' anyone where ya went.:: There was a pause. ::But like I said, I don't know.::

I winced. ::Can you just tell Nicole not to worry? I'll be back in a while.::

::Mech, ya better give me a damn good reason not ta go find ya and drag ya back by those wing-things on yer back-::

::They're not wings.:: I snapped. ::They're just sensory panels on my back, like your audio horns.::

I heard Jazz snort. ::Tha' don't change the fact tha' ya look like a fraggin' fairy.::

::And you look like a minibot.::

::Hey, I heard tha'-::

::Look, just tell Nicole not to worry. I'm getting her a surprise.::

There was a pause on the other end. Then I heard Jazz giggle. Fragging immature saboteur. ::Awwww, tha's so sweet, 'Cadey!::

::I swear, Jazz, if you even think of telling Nicole-::

::Hold up, mech. I ain't gonna tell. Swear on my spark. Or, I would, but I'm tryin' ta get Prowler ta drink this high grade…::

::High grade?::

::Well, let's jus' put it this way. If I win the bet, and I will, then Nicki's gonna have a surprise for you.::

Nicole POV

I sat at one of the human sized tables, watching the party in progress.

And still no Barricade.

We had finished preparing the Rec room for the party, with lots of banners hanging from the ceiling, Blaster as acting DJ, music blasting out of speakers, different bots and humans taking a shot at Just Dance 2, refreshments for both the bots and humans(the twins rigged one of the Energon dispensers to give out their special brew, and I suspected they had spiked the human punch after tasting it), and the tables and couch were pushed out of the way to allow partiers to dance comfortably.

I watched gloomily as couples danced together to slow lulling music. Lennox was dancing with his wife, both of them smiling. Earlier I had seen Epps trying to woo a woman in a soldiers uniform. Optimus and Elita, Ironhide and Chromia, and Hound and an invisible Mirage were all dancing. Inferno had convinced Red Alert to finally get out of the monitor room, but the Security Director looked like his expected someone to come up and attack him.

Heck, even Wheelie was dancing(even if it was with a Barbie Doll).

I sighed and tried to reach through the bond again. I could still feel Barricade, but he had managed to block his location from me.

Just for Barricade, I had actually dressed up. Okay, well, I was sort of forced into it (by Taylor and Willow), but now I was wearing a fragging black dress, one with spaghetti straps and it came down just below my knees. Simple, but elegant, was what Taylor had said. She had also let me borrow some black high heels that I had already twisted my ankles in three times. I had even let Willow use her artistic side and put mascara on me(which I was really not enjoying). Willow had also done my hair and pinned it up in a bun, letting a few bangs hang down so she could use the curling iron to curl them.

When I had looked at the end result, I couldn't help but thinking I actually looked really pretty. I had hugged both of them and thanked them, while Taylor was crying her eyes out and Willow was snapping pictures. Willow said it was a once in a life time thing to get me dressed up, so she was taking advantage of the moment; I nearly broke my leg trying to aim a smack to her head.

"Are these seats taken?" A grumpy voice asked behind me.

I turned to see a very grumpy looking Willow and Taylor.

Willow's hair was dyed silver and straightened so it went a little past her shoulders. She wore a silver sequined mini-dress and I could see her eye shadow was a gray-silver mix, while her nails where also silver. Taylor had let her curly hair be curly, and she had on eyeliner and a shimmery golden eyeshadow. She wore a gold sequined mini-dress just like Willow's and carried a gold hand bag.

I blinked, then simply said, "No."

"Good." Willow huffed, before plopping down on my left and Taylor sat on my right.

There was a tense silence, before I asked, "Do…..the colors of your outfits mean anything?"

Both of them looked down at their outfits, before looking back up and saying, "No."

At this point I started laughing.

They both glared at me the whole two minutes I was laughing. By the time it was over, I was coughing and trying very hard not to cry and ruin the make up. "What?" They both snapped.

I coughed again, smiling, before saying, "Oh, I don't know…Just that you aren't with the twins….and you look mad…..and your outfits match their armor color."

Willow groaned and let her head thunk on the table. Taylor tried to stay mad, but that lasted a whole two seconds before she deflated, looking miserable. "Is it that obvious?"

I felt bad at laughing at them just by the way she looked. "Sort of. Okay, yeah, it is."

Taylor sighed. "They know we like them, and we know they like us…..But they keep running. It's so stupid."

"They're bloody idiots." Willow added helpfully, not looking up.

"Since when do you use 'bloody' to describe things?" I asked.

"Since I watched that funny British movie…..with Sideswipe."

I patted her shoulder sympathetically.

Taylor stood up, sighing. "I'm going to go get a beer. Want one?"

"Sure." I said.

Willow sat back up and shook her head, silver hair swishing. "Ugh, no thanks. Just get me Coke."

Taylor shrugged and left.

Willow and I sat in a silence for a few moments before she laughed. "What?" I asked.

She shook her head, smiling. "Nothing. It just reminded me of prom. My date ran out on me after he drank too much spiked Coke and threw up." She sighed. "Was I expecting too much of Sideswipe?"

"What do you mean?""Do you think I expected too much of him? Like, you know, to ask me to dance?"

I stared at her uncertainly, then, "Willow…..I don't know much about relationships. I only dated one guy, and that was Barricade."She sighed again. "I wonder how many guys I'll have to go through to find The One. You're one of the lucky ones."

"Lucky." I said quietly. "Yeah." Lucky, I though bitterly. Right. I found my true love, only to lose him just as quick as I realized he was the one for me. But, as I looked at Willow's miserable expression, and Jazz's words echoed through my head, I realized that maybe I was lucky to have Barricade, if only for a short time.

Taylor came back holding three red plastic cups. After getting the right drinks to the right person (Willow took a drink of a beer and spit it out, nearly ruining her dress), I held my glass up. "To a better future?"

Taylor smiled bitterly. "One with a boyfriend."

Willow snorted. "One with a lasting relationship."

"Amen to that." Taylor said.

All three of us laughed, before taking a drink.

Then Willow stared at Taylor and me. "How old are you?"

"Twenty." We said simultaneously.

She continued to stare at us. "You know, the Nevada age limit for drinking is twenty one…."

We stared at her.

After a moment, she blinked, then said, "Right…..Should've figured you wouldn't care."

"How old are you?" Taylor asked.

"Twenty one."

"Lucky, you're a year older than both of us. Though I'm older than Nicole by a few months…."

Willow and Taylor started a conversation about ages, but I drifted out of it and instead began searching for the twins energy signatures with the AllSpark. I closed my eyes and winced as what seemed like thousands of energy signatures bloomed right in my head. Slowly, I sorted through them until I found the two I was looking for, over in the far corner.

I opened my eyes and looked at Taylor and Willow. "I'm going to go see if I can find something to eat, 'kay?"They just nodded, barely glancing at me before continuing their conversation.

I transwarped (which felt really weird doing it in a dress) right to the Transformer-sized table where the twins were sitting. They both jumped in surprise at my sudden appearance and stared at me. I stared back at them. Sure, Sunny's armor always looked more than clean, and Sides at least looked better than Hound or Trailbreaker did after a patrol on a rainy day, but…. Wow. Both of them had shined their armor to the point that I could see my reflection in it. It also looked like they had both had new paint jobs, as their silver and gold colors gleamed more then ever.

"Trying to impress someone?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"Are you?" Sideswipe countered.

Sunny was still staring at me. "What the frag are you wearing?"I huffed and crossed my arms. "Oh, please. It's not that shocking I'm dressed up."

"Yes it is." They said simultaneously.

I glared, but let it drop. Back to the reason why I had come over here in the first place. "So, when are you going to make a move?"

They both jolted involuntarily, like I had slapped them, but Sunny asked, "What?"

"Don't act stupid with me, Sunstreaker." I snapped. "I know you both like Willow and Taylor. When are you going to grow up and ask them to dance?"

"We don't like them," Sideswipe said, scowling.

"That's bullshit, and you know it, Sideswipe. Both of my best friends are over there, hurting because they got all dressed up for you, did their best to impress you, all because they like you. And you act like you don't give a damn. Now, march your afts over there and dance with them, before I make you."

The twins stared at me in something that may have been shock.

"Today would be nice!" I snapped, pointing towards the table Willow and Taylor sat at.

Sunny and Sides got up and did as I said with out protesting. As Sideswipe passed me, he muttered, "Yes, mother."

I nearly threw one of the high heels at him, but the sight of a certain mech made me drop the high heel.

Standing in the doorway of the Rec room was Barricade, looking better than Sunstreaker and Sideswipe combined.

He fidgeted for a moment, looking nervous. I watched as Jazz bounced up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling Barricade towards me with chattering. As they got closer, I heard Jazz's babble.

"….and here she is, 'Cade, yer beautiful sparkmate." The saboteur finished, grinning.

Barricade stared at me. "Wow….You look beautiful, Nicole."

"Don't she?" Jazz bounced a little on his pedes. "All thanks ta Tay and Willie."

"Thank you, Jazz. Now if you don't mind…." Barricade trailed off, looking pointedly at the Solstice.

It was like he had never spoken. "When Willow and I was shoppin', Willie thought of pickin' out some dresses-"

"Jazz." Barricade said flatly.

"-an' she also got some make up-"

"Go away, Jazz."

"Right! Going away…" Jazz flashed one more quick smile before disappearing in the crowd.

I turned to Barricade and looked up into his cool blue optics. "So….," I said awkwardly. "Where'd you go? Mexico or something?"

Barricade smiled and moved to sit down in one of the seats that the twins had been occupying earlier. "Actually, I just drove around for awhile, trying to…well, cool off, I guess."

I frowned. "I really don't like Director Fenner."

Barricade's expression mirrored mine. "Neither do I. But don't even think for a second that what she said is true, Nicole. You're not endangering anyone anymore than Taylor is when she's shopping. And Prime knows that I can be trusted."

I stared at my high-heeled feet. "But what she said was true. We all know that you've changed, but I am endangering people, Barricade. The reason the 'Cons have been attacking the base so often now is because I'm here. Director Fenner has the right to take me to Diego Garcia."

There was a short pause, and then Barricade's holoform was there in front of me, his hand lifting my chin up to look him in the eyes. "That's her opinion."

"But everyone is in danger when the Decepticons attack, and they all have to go into battle because of me-"

"And I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way. Nicole, the bots and humans here do care about you. They willingly go into battle. You're not just a Host for the AllSpark, you're their friend, part of their strange family. Some bots here probably even consider you as their adopted creation. They fight for you because they care about you, and you would do the same for them, would you not?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I would."

Barricade's holoform smiled. "Good." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Now, turning to more cheerful subjects…". He stepped back a few feet and turned around slowly. "How do I look?"

Only now I noticed that my sparkmate had not only cleaned his armor, but had changed the clothes on his holoform. Now he was wearing a black dress jacket and black dress pants, a crisp white shirt, and his hair had been groomed so that it actually stayed down instead of the wild look.

I smiled and pressed my hands to my mouth, feeling the sudden urge to cry. "Oh, Barricade…..You look wonderful."

"I could say the same for you." His arms slid around my waist. "I'm glad you like it."

I bit my lip, still smiling. "There's just one thing…..". I reached up and messed his black hair up until it had that wild look again. "There, perfect."

He snorted. "Thanks."

"Your very welcome." I smirked, then stood on my toes to give him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Barricade smiled wider, and I felt nervousness and love filter through the bond. "I didn't just drive around, you know."

"Oh?" I asked, one of my eyebrows raised.

"Yeah…I actually….sort of…..got you something…," Barricade trailed off, looking more than a little nervous and afraid. "Um…well, here, just look."

His holoform suddenly disappeared, and his optics relit. He opened his subspace and took out a plastic bag and dropped it on the table. Then his optics went dark again as his holoform reappeared beside the bag. Barricade reached in the bag and took out something small, but hid it behind his back so I couldn't see what it was. He smiled. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

I did as he said, and two seconds later, I felt something soft pressed into my open hands and a kiss placed on my lips. "You can look now." I heard Barricade's voice say into my ear.

Smiling, I opened my eyes. A small black velvet box sat in my palm. Hands shaking, I opened it and gasped.

Sitting on a cushion of white silk was a silver ring, with a small but bright blue sapphire embedded in the band.

"It's beautiful, Barricade." I whispered, my voice hoarse. "Thank you."

"Hey, now. No crying." He said softly, reaching up to wipe away a tear I hadn't even known was there.

I laughed, but I reached up and wiped my eyes. "Good thing the make up is water proof, huh?"

Instead of replying, he took the box from my hands and carefully pulled the ring from the box. Barricade gently grabbed my left hand as if it was made of glass and slipped the silver band on my ring finger.

I took a deep breath to avoid sobbing as different emotions hit me. "It's so beautiful."

"Especially on you." Barricade whispered. He kissed the ring that was now where a wedding ring would be on my left hand.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and just pulled him into a crushing hug. For a moment, it was just me and Barricade in the universe. All of my troubles were far behind. The death, sorrow, grief, pain, hate, and depression was wiped away. I was in Barricade's arms, the one place I truly felt safe in the universe, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was so swept away in love that if you had told me there was a time I had been sad, depressed, worried, or in pain, I wouldn't have believed you.

Because Barricade made the world seem perfect, something that would never be true.

"Promise me something, Nicole."

Barricade's voice pulled me back to reality, and as it came crashing in, I wanted so badly to just cry until it came back.

Instead, I said, "I'll promise you anything."

Still holding me in the warm embrace, Barricade whispered, "Promise you won't ever leave me."

Unconsciously, my arms tightened around my sparkmate. Oh, how badly I wanted then to just scream. Scream at the unfairness of it all, the irony, the pain, the sorrow, the knowing. The knowing that I couldn't keep that promise, because I would die, and Barricade would be left alone in the world. He was asking me the one thing I couldn't promise, and it was tearing me apart, inside and out.

I was so glad Barricade couldn't see my face. If he had, he would've seen the pain I was going through and instantly have been worried because he cared about me.

Why did he have to care so fragging much?

"Nicole?" Barricade's voice, full of caring and worry, cut through my dark thoughts like an Energon blade.

My arms still around him, fists clenching and crumpling his jacket, I said, "I promise, Barricade."

"Good." He said softly.

My heart tore in two.

That was not a promise to make, youngling.

'Cade pulled back, smiling. "Do you want to dance?"

I smiled a little. "Sure, 'Cade."

Barricade and I had just came off the dance floor and sat back down at the empty table in the corner. I was still admiring the silver band that seemed to almost glow in the dark room when Jazz bounded up, pulling Prowl behind him.

"Heya, Nicki, 'Cadey!" Jazz said happily. The way his visor glowed made me wonder if he had maybe a little too much high grade. "We aren't interruptin' anythin', are we?"

I smiled and said, "No…..But you missed something earlier when Barricade practically proposed to me." I held my left hand out to show him the ring. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"That's just fragging great…..". Prowl slurred. Only now did I look closer and see that his optics were even shinier than Jazz's. He swayed a little unsteadily on his pedes, and I suddenly had a very bad feeling that I should be worried about how much high grade Prowl had drank, not Jazz.

Jazz pumped his fist in the air. "I knew it! So tha's what ya were gettin' when I talked ta ya earlier-"

"Jazz." Barricade said threateningly. "Remember what I said earlier? About not telling her?"

Prowl grumbled, then hiccupped. "First you bonded without telling us…," His doorwings fluttered lazily, "and now you've practically married her in human terms. Next thing you know, there'll be sparklings running around."

Both Barricade and I froze at that, but Jazz giggled and pulled his taller bondmates chevron down so he could plant a kiss on his faceplates. Prowl smiled and purred, seemingly forgetting what he had been grumbling about two seconds before. "Prowlie, yer too funny!"

"I don't think he was joking." Barricade rumbled darkly from behind me. I snorted quietly in agreement.

Jazz leaned down to me and stage-whispered, "See, Nicki? I got 'im over energized! Ain't he cute?"

I stared at him. "Jazz, I'm pretty sure the only being in this room who thinks Prowl is cute like that is you. The rest of us think it's just plain scary."

Jazz either didn't hear me or just flat out ignored me. "Anyways, I won!"

"Won?" Barricade repeated.

"Won?" Prowl echoed, a hazy look in his optics. "I swear, Jazz, if you messed with the lottery system-"

"Wait, wait, how come Prowl sounds like regular old Prowl if he's over energized?" I asked, hoping to make a last ditch attempt to not lose to Jazz.

Jazz smiled sheepishly. "He's been over energized fer a while now…..and it sorta startin' ta wear off….."

"Just how long?"

"Five hours…Give or take a few."

I stared at him. "What the frag has he been doing this whole time then?"

"I don't think ya really want ta know, Nicki, but if ya want I can go show ya his desk-"

I slapped my hands over my ears. "Oh God, that was something I so did not want to hear!"

Jazz glared at me, his arms crossed, and Prowl flopped down in the chair next to Barricade and muttered, "Fraggit, my helm hurts…" Before promptly passing out leaning on my spark mate's shoulder.

I snorted and Jazz frowned at his bonded. "Slagger passed out on me."

Barricade glared at both of us, but didn't look very threatening with a snoozing tactician leaning on his shoulder. "What the frag are you talking about?"

I sighed. "Earlier, Jazz and I made a bet. Jazz bet that he could get Prowl over energized, and I bet that he couldn't. If I won, Jazz would've had to give me his iPod for a week and paint himself neon pink. If Jazz won, I would have to wear roller skates for a week and sing."

"An' I won!" The saboteur said, looking smug. "As ya can see." He nodded at the passed out Prowl. Then he leaned down to me. "Nicki, I always win." As if to prove his point, he tapped me on the head.

I flipped him off.

He snickered, before taking something from his subspace. It was only when he dropped them in front of me did I realize that it was roller skates. And they were painted pink.

Jazz turned on his holoform and pulled his iPod out of one of the roller skates. "Now, let's just set this thing on Shuffle and while I'm doin' tha' ya can start puttin' the skates on. I painted them specially for ya."

I flicked his holoform's head before sitting down on the surface of the table and taking off the borrowed high heels. Inside one of the roller skates was a pair of my socks. "You went through my clothes." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yep." Jazz said, not looking up from his iPod.

I sighed and put the skates on. They actually fit pretty good. "This is going to be hard to do in a dress." Barricade let me grab one of his claws so I could stand up with out falling over. My legs felt wobbly and I tried scooting forward. Which resulted in me almost falling on my butt.

Did I mention how hard it was going to be in a dress?

Jazz dropped the microphone in my hands. "You're up, Nicki!"

I was too nervous to glare at him. The Solstice had dropped me on the platform where Blaster was working his magic with the speakers and lights in the room. Barricade had opted to stay and watch from the table (it wasn't like he had much of a choice; Prowl had latched onto his arm with one hellova grip and not let go). The song that had been chosen was Fences, by Paramore ("This song is going to make me sound like I'm crazy." "But, Nicki, I thought ya were crazy.") I kept fidgeting in my dress, twisting the hem of it in my fingers and trying to keep my balance in the roller skates.

From where I stood, I could see that the twins had followed my advice (okay, so I threatened them) and turned on their holoforms. Sideswipe was dancing with Willow and Sunstreaker with Taylor. Both of my human friends looked very happy.

"You ready, Nicki?" Blaster asked me.

I turned and nodded at him. "As ready as I'll ever be."

He smiled and turned his microphone on, at the same time turning the music off. "Ladies and gentlemen, femmes and mechs, would you please turn your attention to the front, for a little performance by the wonderful Nicole Witwicky."

Every optic and eye turned towards me, and my breathing hitched. My palms were suddenly feeling very sweaty, and the mystery fever I had had all day suddenly sky rocketed to an all time high. At the moment, I wanted to just drop through the floor, or be invisible at least-

A little shock went through me, and all of the hairs on my arms stood up. I blinked, then looked down at my arms-

Only problem with that was that I couldn't see my arms. Just a microphone hanging in mid air.

What the-

Several things happened at once.

A human woman screamed. Everyone started shouting. Barricade was suddenly standing right in front of me, and was looking very panicked. Blaster was still staring at me…..or, where I had been. Jazz pushed his way through the crowd and up to the platform. "What the frag just happened?"

"Where is she would be a better question!" Barricade snapped, starting to run his servos over the platform.

I had to jump back as Barricade's servo went right over the spot I had just been in. "Hey, man!" I shouted. "I'm still here!"

Since I was still holding the microphone, the sound echoed through the room. Everyone seemed to freeze at the sound of my voice. Then Jazz asked, "Nicole?"

"Who do you think, dumb-aft?" I said angrily, waving the microphone around. "I'm right here!"

"We can't see you, though." Blaster said.

I looked down at where my body had been, and using my invisible hand, I poked my invisible stomach. "Neither can I. But my body's still here…."

Suddenly Mirage appeared right beside the platform, dropping his cloak.

"It's a new power. Invisibility."

Me: Well, howdy-do, to all my wonderful readers!

Abusive Me: I hate you all.

Me: Don't pay attention to her. It's that time of the month for her.

Abusive Me: *snarls and stalks away, thinking up more ways to kill me slowly and painfully*

Me: Where was I? Oh, yes. Well, it's been a wonderful weekend, with me being in Mississippi on a special trip to visit family, and as I type this we are on our way back to my home state in my car. It's also raining, but I like rain, so it doesn't bother me much.

Random Me: AHHHHH! HELP! I'M MELTING! NOOOOO!

Liar Me: It's Opposite Day.

Random Me: I'M NOT MELTING- Wait, you lie…..so that means it's not Opposite Day. But if it's Opposite Day that means you don't lie, which would mean it's Opposite Day. Okay, I get it now. Returning to theatrical scene…..I'M NOT MELTING!

Me: Okay…..that gave me a head ache.….Back to author note. When I was writing the Barricade/Nicole moment, I cried. To me, that was the best part of the chapter. I don't know why I cried, really…..Guess it was just an emotional moment or something. Over all, I really thought this chapter turned out great. By far one of my favorites…..

NEXT CHAPTER: PROWL HAS A TALK WITH NICOLE ABOUT THE RING AND WITH HOLDING CERTAIN INFORMATION. WHEELJACK AND PERCEPTOR TRY OUT THEIR ANTI-GRAVITY THING…WITH NICOLE. AND SHE'S STILL WEARING ROLLER SKATES.