I owe most of this chapter to Khalthar, who helped me muddle my way through this chapter. While I would give you all excuses as to why ti took me so long to update, I'll just say that's it's been a bad couple of months. The end. Moving on...
Disclaimer I don't own Transformers
Many thanks to my beta Khalthar. The rest of the thanks are at the bottom
Word count is in around 3600
Previously in BnB since it's been slagging long since the last chapter posted...
~x~
~Sideswipe~
~x~
You need to swear to me that you will listen to what he has to say before you guys do anything rash!" Cassie said as she pointedly glared at Ironhide who's cannons were primed.
"Cassie-"
"Swear it." Cassie's voice took on an echo as her eyes paled to a light grey. And now even Crescent is defending the fragger...
"Cassandra, I give you my word that we will not cause any harm to Barricade until we have heard him out." Optimus said solemnly. The girl relaxed her grip on her captors servo, and Sideswipe plucked her out, holding her tightly against his chassis as he backed away, his engine growling angrily as he glared at Barricade.
He exited the clearing as he relaxed his stance before glaring down at Cassie. "What the frag is wrong with you? He could have killed you and you freaking defend him?!"
"This is more of a screwed up mess of unfortunate circumstances, Sideswipe... He really needs to speak with Optimus but you guys are always gunning to shoot him first and then ask questions. What were you planning to do when you found me? Cut him down? If you had you would have taken an innocent life in the process."
"Barricade is far from innocent." Sideswipe spat as he neared the fall back area where Ratchet was waiting to scan her.
"Yeah well the sparkling with him is." Cassie shot back.
Sideswipe froze. "Wait… Did you say sparkling?"
~x~
Chapter 21
~x~
~Ironhide~
~x~
Silence ruled the grotto as Ironhide glared at Barricade, the black and white mech's armor was flared as he regarded them with narrowed optics. "Well, are you gonna speak or not? Cause I've got no problem beating your aft from here to Cybertron."
"Ironhide."
:I'm just telling the truth. After all I wouldn't doubt that this slagger didn't some how coerce Cassandra into getting your word...: He replied over the comm as his engine grumbled in his chassis.
"Barricade. Why did you abduct Mrs. Witwicky and Miss Cooper?" Optimus asked quietly. Red optics narrowed in on the Prime. The con muttered something in Cybertronian under his breath.
Ironhide shuttered his optics as he blinked at the con. "Come again?"
"... I need your help." Barricade said through clenched denta.
A loud outburst in the direction from where Ratchet, Sideswipe, and Bee were in echoed though the night.
"You realize you could have merely tried to talk to us. There was no need to resort to this tactic." Optimus said as he stared over the Con who scoffed loudly.
"Yeah right. Your scout's hackles rise every time he's within sensory range of me. Sideswipe would rather cut me down without a blink of an optic, and your bodyguard right there is still contemplating on whether he should shoot me anyway." the Con sneered as he glared at Ironhide.
Ironhide turned his head away. He couldn't deny that the thought hadn't crossed his processor several times. Ratchet burst into the clearing, and the Con let loose a snarl as he backed closer to the tree line, his armor locking tightly on his frame, his engine growling. Ironhide frowned at the mech... Why did the way the glitch was acting seem familiar?
"Ratchet hold up!" Cassandra nimbly made her way back into the clearing on the medic. Sideswipe cleared the tree line shortly after.
"Slag it Cassie get back here!"
Ironhide shook his head. :How did you let your charge beat you back here?:
:... I am not going to answer that.: Sideswipe glared at him before trying to scoop Cassie up.
"Tell me she is trying to yank on my crankshaft." Ratchet glared at Barricade. "Tell me that you really don't have a sparkling."
Optimus' optics widened, and Ironhide snapped his head around to stare clearly at the mech. Barricade shuffled uneasily under their gazes, his stance tense. "And if I do?"
Another silent stare down fell upon them once more as Barricade's glare now included the yellow medibot who looked ready to pounce on the ex-enforcer.
After about three minutes Cassandra threw her hands in the air. "Oh for the love of cheese and crackers. Barricade kidnapped me and Aunt Judy because he needs energon for the sparkling and his supplies have become scarce. He's too damned proud and a little scared to ask you for help. And it's not like he could really ask his people for help. It's either ask you or watch the sparkling and himself starve."
"Is that true?" Ironhide asked quietly.
The Praxian nodded his helm. "I willfully offer myself as a Prisoner of War so long as you help me with the sparkling."
"Has it bonded to you?" The black mech met the crimson optics with his own blue ones.
"She has."
"Let me see her." Ratchet held out his servo to Barricade. The black and white mech's armor flared slightly as he glared at the lemon yellow servo. Several moments passed before Barricade vented a sigh and the sound of shifting plates as his sparkling chamber opened. Pale blue dots of light peered from within the darkness of the hold, their owner quivering slightly under the gaze of the new strangers. Barricade made a soft clicking noise as he tried to coax the sparkling out on to his servo. The sparkling vehemently shook its helm.
"It's okay little spark. They won't harm you."
A low whimpering chirp echoed from the Praxian's chassis. Barricade's doorwings drooped as he vented a sigh. "I know I told you to never come out when there were other's present... but please little spark, they won't harm you."
Another trill came from the sparkling.
"Where did you find her anyways?"
"... Mission City. She was one of the last few sparklings created by the Allspark. She was only one left online." Barricade said darkly. "The others had perished by the time I had found them." He said as the tiny sparkling gave an inquiring chirp and crawled out on to his waiting palm. The sparkling was looking off to the side at no one in particular, chirping. Barricade tipped his hand, causing the sparkling to tumble out of his servo and into the hand of the medic.
She blinked as the medic swiped a quick scan over her, tiny optics wide as she blinked up at them for several seconds before wailing at the top of her processor. All of the mechs winced, as the sparkling screeched and tried to get out of the medic's grip. Ratchet quickly returned the sparkling to Barricade, and her screams reduced to whimpering and chirps, her little form quivering in terror as her guardian gently ran a servo down her spinal struts.
~x~
~Cassie~
~x~
Cassie was rubbing her ears as she tried to get the ringing in them to stop, glad Judy had stayed behind with Bumblebee. She blinked up at Jazz who was cooing and also trying to soothe the obviously scared sparkling.
The whimpers died down, as Cassie noticed that the sparkling really was looking at Jazz. "Huh. would you look at that..." All of the bot's attention snapped to Cassie and back to the sparkling before she continued with, "If I'm not mistaken, I believe she can see and hear Jazz."
"Because she's looking right at him. He's been trying to help Barricade to calm her down." Cassie crossed her arms.
Jazz glanced over at her with a raised optic ridge. "Ah doubt that Ol' Ratch got a good scan o 'er. Maybeh Ah could get 'er ta go to ya."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea-"
"Sure it is." Crescent said from her current position on Sides' shoulder.
No comments from the peanut gallery.
"Get Sideswipe to put you down, and Ah'll coax her to the ground."
"No- Argh damn it."
"Cassandra?"
Cassie sighed and tapped Sideswipe's servo. "Put me down, the peanut gallery wanta try something. Jazz doesn't think Docbot got the chance to really scan the sparkling right."
~x~
~Barricade~
~x~
It took him a while, but Jazz was finally able to coax the little sparkling down to Cassie. Surprisingly, Barricade remained silent as the tiny femme slowly made her way down his frame to sidle up to the human.
Up until a few klicks ago, he had hated this miserable planet. He'd been left to rust, and his brother had been offlined. Now he knew for a fact that his brother wasn't in the pit or in the well, because against the odds, he was here. Somehow, this fleshling was able to see and hear his brother, and that was one reason to actually like this world, but to learn that the sparkling he'd been caring for could also see and hear his brother was almost like a gift from Primus. It was very hard for him to believe that this fleshling would even bother trying to help him after the way he'd kidnapped her and threatened her, but there she was.
It was strange that Jazz apparently liked her, or he'd never have listened to her command to stop messing with his sensor panels. It seemed that the sparkling also liked Jazz too, because the timid little femme was slowly going to the human named Cassie.
As soon as the sparkling was in her arms, Cassie turned to face Ratchet. She knew immediately when Ratchet made his scan, because of the weird tingling feeling that came with it. Instantly, the sparkling went from nervous, to shrieking.
Cassie clapped a hand over the sparkling's mouth which barely helped to lower the noise enough for her to be heard. "Hey, just relax will you? That didn't hurt did it? I didn't think so… so why don't you quit with the screaming already?"
Barricade watched in disbelief as the sparkling slowly began to calm down. He couldn't tell if it was strictly the fleshlings actions, or if his brother Jazz was somehow assisting. It didn't matter whether or not he wanted to believe the human's story about being able to see and hear the spirits of those who had been rendered offline… he had no choice but to believe her. This fleshling femme had easily provided information that only his brother could have known. Then there was the way the Autobots acted in regard to her mention of Jazz's spirit, and the possibility that the sparkling might see him as well. They simply took it as a given. There was no argument; no debate, and no questions; they merely accepted her observation as an uncontestable fact.
~x~
~Cassie~
~x~
"I suggest that we continue with any care the sparkling might need once we are back at the base." Optimus announced firmly.
"Fine with me. I can ride back with Barricade." Cassie said quickly.
"What? NO!" Sideswipe bellowed angrily.
"Really? You're gonna yell at me? Forgive me if I have a little bit of self preservation when it comes to riding in you. Besides I'm sure that he won't go over the speed limit like somebot I know."
"And just how do you know that I won't kidnap you again?" Barricade asked curiously.
"Yeah, how DO you know?" Sideswipe demanded.
"Simple. If he tries anything, then Jazz can just possess him and take complete control just like Crescent sometimes does with me." Cassie said calmly.
"Uh Cassie Ah don't know how ta do that!"
"Yeah, and I don't think I'll have time to teach him, either."
Sideswipe appeared to think for a moment, probably because he distinctly recalled Crescent actually doing just that. "Fine, but I'm going to be right behind you two!"
"Good! That means I don't have to double up on my anxiety meds today. Riding with you scares the holy crap out of me."
"Hey! I'll have you know that I happen to be one of the best drivers in existence!"
"Okay, first, I believe you've said this before and Secondly, so was my father, but that didn't stop some other idiot from killing my sister and my mother now did it?" Cassie snapped back. "Accidents happen whether you're prepared or not Sideswipe. And being a speed demon is asking for it. Of course maybe you're just trying to give me a heart attack hm?"
~x~
~Sideswipe~
~x~
Sideswipe cringed slightly at the girl's retort, noticing the disapproving glares he was receiving from his superiors. He opened his mouth to apologize to her when Optimus cut him off.
"That's enough… both of you. Cassandra, you may ride with Barricade and he will accompany us back to the base. The order will be Bumblebee, Barricade, Sideswipe, Ironhide, Ratchet, and then myself." Optimus said firmly.
Sideswipe was actually glad that Optimus had broken up the argument that way, because he really had no idea what to say to Cassie. She'd told him how her sister had died, and he'd even looked the incident reports up online. The other driver had been completely at fault, and it didn't seem to help any that he had also been killed in the crash.
Open mouth insert pede... he sighed before he followed the others out of the grotto.
~x~
~Crescent~
~x~
Once everyone had transformed, Cassie climbed in Barricade's front seat, with the sparkling sitting behind the steering wheel. She saw her aunt Judy climb into the ambulance with the eye burning paint job. Then, Cassie couldn't stop from giggling at the sparkling's antics as she kept looking over the back of the driver's seat at Jazz.
"I think she likes you." Cassie said grinning.
"Ah think she does too."
"Am I the only one here still worried about Pedocop?" Crescent demanded irritably as she hugged Cassie tighter. Cassie shifted in the ghostly grip but didn't complain. The bond between them was weak, and this was the closest thing next to possessing Cassie that would strengthen it quickly, but heck if she wasn't transmitting her weariness to her twin. Cassie grumbled something over the bond about the drain.
"Cade ain't gonna do nothin'. He gave his word, an that's all there is to it." Jazz said without looking away from the sparkling. "He may be a Con, but he's still got a sense of honor."
~x~
~Judy~
~x~
"You're joking." Judy whispered in the silence of the ambulance's cabin.
Ratchet's holoform stared down at the little woman with a nonplussed look on his face. "I am not. My scans are very conclusive, and I've compared it to other data to ensure that it wasn't a mistaken parasitic-"
Judy held up a hand to cut him off. "Shut up." she hissed as she glared up at him. "You just shut up."
"Mrs. Witwicky-"
"You can't be seriously telling me that I'm pregnant. You can't because I've already hit menopause. There is no possible way that you are sitting there telling me THAT I'M FUCKING PREGNANT!" She was yelling at the end but she could have cared less by that point. She was glaring up at the medic who shifted uncomfortably under her hazel gaze.
Several minutes passed between the two of them. Finally Judy broke the stare off by sighing and ran a hand down her face.
"Um... Congratulations?"
"Yeah thanks..." Judy said in a very sarcastic tone.
Ratchet wisely decided not to say anything more to the woman who seemed very irritable. The rest of their drive to the base was made in a very tense silence.
~x~
~x~
~x~
Judy was in a very foul mood when they arrived at the base and got out. She noticed the huge one called Optimus looking at her niece before walking over to her. Since Barricade had given her back Excalibur, she felt ready to deal with anything, and that included thirty foot tall robots. Walking over to her niece, she clearly heard Optimus ask his question.
"Cassandra… is your sister present? I wish to commend her quick thinking in notifying Sideswipe of your predicament. Had the situation been anything other than what it was, her actions may well have saved your life."
Judy saw the girl look to her left and smile for a moment before looking back up at Optimus.
"Yeah… she's almost always with me, since I'm about the only one who can see or hear her. But she says you guys REALLY need to learn Morse Code! She could have told you a LOT if Sideswipe had been able to understand her." Cassie said ruefully.
Judy stopped in her tracks and stared. Why were they encouraging Cassie's delusions? Did they want to send her off the deep end?
"I will ensure that all of the bots know Morse Code in the future. Just in case Crescent ever needs to communicate with one of us again. I hope that a need for it will not arise. However, using her abilities to cause her voice to emerge from his speakers was a stroke of brilliance."
"Well I'm glad you did, and I'm really glad it worked!" Cassie said with a smile as she looked to her left again.
"Crescent, I may not be able to see you, but I am aware that you can hear me, you should be very proud of yourself right now. Your efforts have saved several lives today. We would have attacked Barricade without hesitation, and never known about the sparkling until it was too late. I have no doubts that Barricade would have proven to be exceptionally dangerous with a sparkling depending on him. That means you have saved four lives today, including your sister's." Optimus said gravely.
"Why are you acting like her sister is really here?" Judy demanded irritably.
"Because she is. We know that Cassandra is able to see and communicate with those who have died, because she is also in communication with the spirit of Jazz. He was my First Lieutenant, and was killed not long after we first met Sam, so there is no possible way that she could know of him. Yet we know beyond any doubt that she speaks with him because he has been teaching her a form of fighting that has no commonalities with terrestrial martial arts. Learning of Jazz's presence was the reason we revealed ourselves to Cassandra." Optimus answered calmly.
"You're telling me there's proof?" Judy bellowed.
"Yes, there is. There is no other way that she could have known that Jazz and I are brothers, but she did. She knows, because Jazz told her. Jazz told has her things that no bot else has ever known about. She was able to convince me of Jazz's presence in mere seconds." Barricade said firmly.
Judy dropped her bat as she stared at her niece. The mix of heartbreak, sadness, and anger was plain to see.
"You mean every last damned psychiatrist you've seen for the last five years has been doping you up for no reason? Even I thought you were so torn up with grief over your sister's death that you had lost touch with reality. I felt sorry for you because I knew that you had watched her die right in front of you. Now I find out that THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU?!" Judy hissed before finishing in a shout of rage.
Judy bolted forward and grabbed her niece in a fierce hug. She was shaking from the emotions she felt as tears started running down her face.
"I'm sorry. I am so sorry! We're getting you off those drugs as fast as possible. I am not having people think you're crazy when you're not." Judy exclaimed as she held Cassie tightly.
"Yeah well… I think I'll keep my anxiety meds. Especially if I have to ride with Speed Racer over there. I swear it's his goal in life to give me my first grey hair." Cassie answered.
~x~
~Cassie~
~X~
The tears in her aunt's eyes had stopped as Judy let go of her. Cassie watched her aunt walk over and pick up her bat. Then the woman's face hardened in a look of determination as she hefted Excalibur and started towards Sideswipe. Anyone could see that she was about to get really violent.
Sideswipe rolled backwards. "Um now... let's not get too hasty Judy. Really if I must I promise I'll work on being a better driver until Cassie only wants to ride me- Ride in me." he quickly corrected himself as his back bumper hit the wall.
Judy grinned a very toothy and sadistic grin.
"Mrs. Witwicky you need to calm down. Such anger is not healthy for the baby you carry." Ratchet said as he stepped in front of her.
"Baby? Aunt Judy's gonna have a baby? We're gonna have another cousin?"
Cassie looked over at her sister in shock. "Can this day get any weirder?"
"Tha' might be possible, but Ah don't think it's gonna be easy ta do." Jazz said with a laugh.
"Yeah… laugh it up Jazz. This ain't funny."
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