Okay, here's the next chapter. I know it's very short, but I had to get this updated so I have less stuff to do. Enjoy!
Sunstreaker dropped Sam off at the local library on a peaceful Sunday afternoon. His charge goes back to school tomorrow and would begin her detention sentence for the next two weeks, so she wanted to get some comic books to keep her entertained. Knowing that she would take a while, he decided to cruise around.
He was a few blocks away from the library when he picked up on a Decepticon signature. His frame shook with anger and he revved his engine and sped off towards the stationary Con. His anger for what happened after Sam's encounter with Sideways still boiled in his circuitry and he felt like tracking him down and taking him on, but reprimanded himself. This Con would just have to do.
As he drew closer, he came to the realization that the Con hadn't moved from its spot. That was strange; it should have already picked up on the Autobot's signature. It must've been expecting him. He grinned smugly to himself.
"This piece of scrap obviously doesn't know what he's getting himself into."
Locking onto the coordinates, Sunstreaker discovered that the Decepticon was on the other side of the city, the place that the humans considered 'the wrong part of town', and completely desolate. A perfect place for Decepticon scum to be hiding.
Clouds began to roll in and block out the sun, giving the once sunny day a dark eminence. There were buildings with graffiti and boarded up windows on one side of the street and train tracks on the other side that goes under a bridge. Sunstreaker pulled up a little ways, checking his sensors to make sure there were no humans before transforming. No one was around in this particular neighborhood. He sensed the Con was slowly making its way towards him and the Autobot waited.
An impatient rev brought his attention to his side and noticed a familiar police cruiser sitting, idly, in the shadows of an alleyway. Sunstreaker narrowed his optic sensors.
"Barricade." He growled menacingly and clenched his fists. Said cruiser rolled out of the shadows and transformed. He stood a distance away, making sure not to provoke the ill-tempered Bot any more than he already was, but it was too late. In a flash, Sunstreaker had his cannons out and had them aimed right at the Con's head. Barricade didn't move.
"Calm down, Autobot. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to negotiate." Barricade said with a tone under lacing his voice to make it sound like he didn't want to be there either. Sunstreaker didn't seem to believe him.
"Yeah, and I'm just here to play with these filthy organics out in the streets." Sarcasm dripped venomously in his voice as he inched his cannons ever closer to Barricade.
"Does your human know how you feel about her species? About her?" Barricade pressed, smirking. Sunstreaker growled. Of course she knew humans weren't his favorite species in the whole universe, but he tolerated them for her sake, after all, he cared for her. She was his charge, but he wasn't about to let Barricade know about his sentimentality, so he changed the subject.
"If you're not here to fight, then why, exactly, are you here?" he asked, not letting his guard down.
"I came here to warn you. I figure, at least, with a little forewarning you would be able to protect her more." Barricade simply stated. Sunstreaker lowered his weapons slightly in a state of confusion. Barricade was warning him? About what, and why would he, a Decepticon, warn him?
"What are you talking about?" he snapped. He pressed his cannons closer to him, they began to whir dangerously. "You better not be toying with me, Con." He spat the word out.
"All I'm saying is that you'd better start keeping a closer optic on your charge if you don't want anything bad to happen to her." Taking it the wrong way, Sunstreaker slammed Barricade up against a building, one arm keeping him pinned, the other with the cannon at his head.
"What the frag do you mean by that?" His growl left no room for games and Barricade knew that he'd better talk or risk being turned into scrap metal before he can even deliver his news.
"Look, I don't like you, but I hate Sideways even more." This seemed to momentarily stump Sunstreaker, but before he could make a reply, Barricade continued. "And unless you want your charge to end up like her mother, then I'd suggest you go back and not let her out of your sight for anything." The Barricade spoke told Sunstreaker that he wasn't lying, and the way he spoke about Sam and her mother made him incredibly uneasy. With reluctance, he backed away from Barricade and put his cannons away.
"Why are you telling me this?" Sunstreaker asked.
"I hate Sideways with every wire in my being, and the idea of being his partner again makes my energon boil. I'm telling you this because I want him offlined, and I know you're the perfect mech for this job."
Sunstreaker couldn't hide is surprise when Barricade told him this. He knew Sideways wasn't very popular amongst the two factions, but the fact that a Con was asking an Autobot to destroy him; he couldn't help but feel his ego begin to rise just a little.
He grinned. "Sure, I'll take care of your little 'problem', but what do I get in return?"
Barricade narrowed his optics and growled. "I'm letting you and your charge live. Count your blessings that I'm not here under Sideways' orders." Knowing that nothing else needed to be said, Barricade transformed back into the cp car and left. Sunstreaker watched him leave for a while, then transformed, spun his tires, and began to head back to the library.
He pulled up and immediately noticed Sam sitting on the front steps, looking impatient. Relieved filled his spark to see that she was undamaged and that Sideways was not in the area. He pulled up and opened the passenger door so she could get in with her bag full of comics; no one was really around so he saw no reason in activating his holoform. He began to pull away and wrapped the seatbelt gently around her waist.
"Where have you been, Sunstreaker? I've been waiting for you. You couldn't have called to tell me where you were going?" she asked with something in her voice. Was it worry, or fear? Whatever it was, relief seemed to overfill it.
"Sorry Sam, something came up and I was in a hurry." He wasn't going to tell her about the encounter with Barricade. "What's wrong, did the little sparkling miss me?" he teased in a baby voice.
She frowned and smacked his dash board. His chuckle filled the cab. Her look became solemn as she turned her gaze outside the window to the passing view.
"No, I just, I don't want you to leave me." She whispered. The Lamborghini suddenly slammed on his brakes, but luckily they were not on a busy street. The seatbelt tightened only slightly as a sense of comfort and security. She looked back to the dash. Something appeared in the corner of her eyes and she turned to see Sunstreaker's holoform staring at her with a serious face. He grabbed her hand.
"I've been your guardian for ten years, Sam. Primus, don't you know that I care about you and would never, ever leave you?"
Her cheeks became flushed and tears swelled up in her eyes, and she smiled.
"I know. Thank you, Sunstreaker."
He continued to stare at her to make sure she was okay, and then he disappeared and continued on his way.
'I'm not going to leave you, Sam.' He thought to himself as he scanned Sam. She was asleep, so he gently lowered the seat so she would be more comfortable.
'I promise that I will protect you. I'm not going to let you out of my sight.' He thought back to Barricade and felt a twinge of gratitude. He began to wonder if Barricade wanted to change sides, but he decided he would keep this to himself. Surely if he wanted to change sides, he would probably do it on his own.
Hoped you enjoyed this very short chapter! Now comes the next pain in the butt of what to write for the next chapter.
And if you hadn't guessed what the little 'message' in the last chapter, (yea, I don't know why I did that), it's that you have to forgive yourself before you can forgive others and move on. I know, it's kind of dumb, but, hey, I was bored and the story needed a little happy moment (even though it wasn't all that happy). I'm going to try and upload as frequently as I can, but it'll be a little while. Thanks!