Chapter 6: Driving with Robots
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I shiver as I squirm out from underneath Barricade for the last time. Quickly taking a clean cloth and wiping down the Mustang, I grab my hoody and shrug it on. The stars twinkle coldly as I examine my work and smile. Cade looks good as new, almost all of the dents gone, and I even took a little time to fix his paint job.
"And it is," I say with an Italian accent and acting like I'm blowing a kiss. "Finite!" Barricade rolls forward and back on his wheels.
"I'm surprised, fleshy; you didn't make it worse," he says, sounding shocked. I glare at him.
"Why thank you," I say snarkily. Some of the sarcasm is lost as my jaw splits in a yawn.
"Get in, bone-sac, we need to get moving," Cade states, popping open his passenger side door.
"Firstly, don't call me bone-sack. Second, I can't drive right now, Cade, I need sleep," I reply, stumbling towards my tent.
"I'll be driving, fleshy; just get in. We can buy you more supplies later," he says, pulling up between me and the pile. I scowl at him.
"Fine," I grumble. "Just let me collect my personal stuff and we'll leave." Barricade rumbles threateningly but moves back far enough to let me get to the jumble of equipment. I've started rummaging through the mess, looking for stuff I don't want to leave behind, when I hear the clicking and grinding of moving metal. Freezing, I stand up, keeping my back to Barricade, and turn around slowly. My neck cranes up and up and my eyes go wide as I take in his true form for the first time.
He's at least fifteen feet tall and covered with black armor. Red streaks run along his sides, just like they do in his car form, and end at the doors sticking out of his back like short stubby wings. The door-wings twitch, stiffening and moving up slightly. My wandering eyes find his face, and I take a quick breath. Red optics dominate his face, which appears to be made of surprisingly expressive plates of metal as they stretch and shift in a small, relieved smile. A small red chevron pokes up from his head like the crest on a bird. The creature stretches its arms above its head, completely ignoring me, and rolls its shoulders like I do when I've been sitting folded up in a chair for too long, which I guess is kind of what happened to him.
"Barricade," I ask quietly, hating the tremble in my voice. He drops his arms instantly as his bright red optics land on me.
"What," his gruff voice rumbles from the machine in front of me, sounding much louder now that he's in his true form. I shrug, trying to stay casual when faced with a fifteen-foot-tall, able-to-squish-me-without-trying, used-to-be-an-evil-minion robot that can transform into a car and hide in plain sight.
"Just making sure it's you," I respond. It takes all my courage to turn my back to him, but I do it and continue going through the stuff. Soon I have most of the food, a change of clothes, and the sleeping bag stuffed in the book bag and my purse over my shoulder. I turn back to Barricade, saying, "Ready." He nods and seems to shrink into the form of the Mustang, a car I had thought of as big before now. The passenger side door pops open and I get in, settling the purse and book bag at my feet.
"What is your malfunction, femme," Cade asks as his engine revs and we pull out of the clearing.
"What mean do you," I ask, wincing as my verbal tick decides to make itself known.
"Your frame is shaking. Why," Barricade presses. I flinch slightly.
"I'm not shaking," I snap, crossing my arms after putting on my seatbelt.
"You think I don't know what goes on in my cab," he asks flatly. I press my lips together and look out the window. He's already managed to get back on the road and we're quickly moving through the forest. I glance over at the empty driver's seat.
"You better put your holoform thingy in the seat," I remark. "It wouldn't help us to get chased by the cops."
"My windows are tinted too darkly for any human to see inside. As if they could catch me, anyway," he scoffs.
"Note the word 'chase," I say with a smile. "I said nothing about them actually catching you. Where are we going anyway?"
"I haven't chosen a destination yet," he answers as I watch the steering wheel turn on its own, adjusting minutely for the changes in the road.
"Do you know where the Autobot base is," I ask.
"I think it was somewhere in Nevada, but from what I've heard they've moved to an island base. Stupid move for the grounders. They probably still have a token force at the base in Nevada, though, so we should avoid that," Barricade answers.
"So we're just wandering around the United States," I ask, looking over at the steering wheel and raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," he replies, a trace of amusement in his tone. I smile wryly.
"Well, at least that will make us harder to track," I remark, leaning back in the seat and adjusting the seatbelt. "Wake me when we stop," I order him, turning on my side and curling into the seat. I catch a glimpse of the stars in the sky speeding past before I'm out like a light.
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No one's POV
The rumble of powerful engines fills the clearing as a Porsche, Topkick, and Ducati pull into the circle of trees. They had followed the trail of leaking fluids to this spot. The sound of twisting metal rings out as the three transform into their bipedal modes. Arcee looks around, quickly identifying the pile of human belongings on the ground beside the boulder and the clawed up earth of a Cybertronian's footsteps.
"They've already left," Ironhide points out the obvious. Jazz crouches next to the churned dirt and touches it with a finger.
"Well, this grass is still alive, so they can't have been gone more than a day," he says helpfully.
"Can you tell anything else," Arcee asks.
"Nah, I ain't Hound," Jazz replies, looking down at the dirt regretfully. Arcee nods and kneels next to the jumble of items, sharp blue optics picking out tools, a pop up tent, and food wrappers.
"At least the Con is keeping her fed," Jazz remarks, coming over and examining the pile for himself through his bright blue visor. The pink femme nods distractedly before standing back up and walking away. Jazz waits for her to be out of site before pulling a small device out of subspace.
It looks like a giant sized Nintendo DS. He presses a few buttons and the screen lights up, displaying what looks like the inside of a bag. A few more twitches of his fingers, and the angle shifts until it is looking out of the purse. A girl with brown hair is sleeping peacefully, the angle revealing that the camera is at her feet. Jazz smiles and subspaces the device again before standing and going back to his team.
"So, what's the plan," he asks casually. Arcee vents loudly and shifts her weight on her pedes.
"They obviously stayed long enough for Barricade to force the human to fix him. Now he's gone and he has a head start, a hostage, and a way to hide his spark signature and we have a pile of human belongings," she says flatly. "We've lost him. All we can do is return to base and keep an optic out for any sightings."
Ironhide grumbles, unhappy at leaving a human, much less a girl, in the clutches of the Cons before taking out his anger on a tall pine tree. It topples after a single shot, but he continues to shoot until it is no more than a pile of ash resting at the bottom of the trench created by his weapon. Arcee, for once, doesn't scold him. They both transform and start to drive out of the clearing. Jazz shifts on his pedes as Arcee stops and turns around to look at him.
"I'm gonna patrol around here for a while," he explains. "See if there's anythin' we missed."
"You did all you could, Jazz," the femme says softly. Jazz nods.
"I know, I'm just gonna drive around a bit. Catch ya later, 'kay?"
"Alright. I'll inform Prime," Arcee relents, driving after Ironhide. Jazz smiles and pulls the camera screen out of subspace again. It still shows the sleeping girl. He presses a different button on the side of the device. The screen shrinks and the camera view is shifted to the top right corner of the screen. The rest of it shows a green map of the United States with a triangle at Jazz's current position. Far away, almost in a different state, a darker green dot blinks steadily. Jazz nods to himself and, sliding the device away, transforms and drives off towards the road.
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Teresa's POV
I yawn hugely and blink tired eyes, trying to focus. The seatbelt is cutting into my leg, so I sit up straight and look out of the windshield.
"Where are we," I ask sleepily as I rub the grit out of my eyes.
"Somewhere on the same continent," Barricade answers blankly. The sun has risen, and, according to Cade's clock, it's almost ten o'clock. Tall pine trees line the sides of the road and the median, making it impossible to see the cars on the other side. A broad green sign informs me that we're close to Raleigh, North Carolina, and heading west.
"Have you figured out a destination yet," I ask casually, adjusting the bags at my feet and my seat belt so that it goes behind me instead of across my chest.
"Not at this time," Barricade rumbles, and I notice that his holoform is turned off.
"You should probably activate that holoform now. Even if you leave the windows tinted, it will just make us look suspicious," I mention, keeping my face towards the scenery. A short sound, like static, and the black haired man is sitting in the driver's seat. I examine him out of the corner of my eye, and am glad to see that, while he's still thin, the bandages are gone, and he doesn't seem to hold his jacket quite as close. His red eyes even seem to shine a little brighter.
"Why is your holoform so thin," I ask, not considering that it might be rude. The male glances at me irritably, and I shrug simply before turning to look out the window again, propping my head up on one elbow. After a while I get bored of staring at trees and sigh deeply.
"Mind if I turn on the radio," I ask, left hand inching towards the dial in the middle of the dashboard. I don't have to touch it as the little screen lights up and the knob spins on its own, stopping on an old rock station. I look at the dashboard thoughtfully and with no small amount of surprise.
"Huh," I huff, and shrug to myself before going back to staring out the window.
"What," Barricade asks, holoform turning its head towards me. I shrug again.
"I don't know, I just wouldn't have thought that you would like Stairway to Heaven," I answer. Cade grunts.
"If there are two things you organics make right, its cars and music," he says, looking back out the windshield. He winces suddenly like he smelled something bad and glances at me almost reproachfully. "Most of the time, anyway; I don't know what you humans were thinking when you allowed that Lady Gaga femme run loose."
A startled laugh finds its way out of my throat before I can stop it, and Barricade's holoform gives me a strange look. I brush him off with one hand as I swallow my laughter and straighten up in the seat again. He merely rolls his eyes and focuses on the road again. I fight back another smile as Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio.
Almost thirty minutes pass with old rock songs playing on the radio and an only slightly awkward silence between us. I'm about to try and start a conversation when my stomach makes a gurgling noise. My face heats up a little bit when Barricade looks down at my torso like something's about to claw its way out and attack him.
"What the Pit was that," he asks, sounding horrified. I glare at him.
"That would be my stomach," I answer irritably. "It means I'm hungry." Cade looks at me blankly. "You know, fuel?" Cade nods in sudden understanding and makes his holoform look around.
"Pull off at the next exit and I'll find a place to eat," I inform the sentient muscle car, who follows my instructions, stopping in the parking lot of a McDonald's as my stomach lets loose another round of strange noises. I groan at the pang of pain that accompanies it and grab my purse.
"All right, here's the plan: I'm going to go inside, buy some food, and come back out here to eat. If you don't mind food in your interior, we can keep going, but otherwise we can take a break," I say, facing the grill of the car.
"Fine," Barricade growls, and I give him a dry smile before heading inside. One snippy employee and a glaring contest later, I have my food and am heading back outside to eat at the picnic table in front of my Mustang. Cade keeps playing music quietly as I quickly eat my burger and fries. It always surprises me what boys will do when confronted by a hot car.
I just get up to throw my trash away, I'm not even gone for a minute, and when I come back I can hardly see Barricade through the crowd of teenage boys and a couple of girls. Shoving my way through, I manage to get over to the driver's side door and climb in.
"What are you doing," Barricade's voice reverberates through the car, going unheard by the general chaos of the small crowd surrounding the car.
"Sorry, I couldn't exactly get in the passenger's side and have you drive off with no one at the wheel," I explain quickly, trying to avoid getting ejected from the car. Cade grumbles quietly as I pull the keys out of my purse and start him up. The car-rabid teenagers back off slightly at the roar of the engine, and I take a minute to grin at the powerful sound before honking the horn loudly. The people back off enough for me to back up, get out of the parking lot, and back on the highway.
"Whew," I let out a breath. "That was a little crazy."
"Agreed," Barricade's voice seems to come from everywhere at once, mainly sounding from the radio. I bite my lip and look at my hands on the steering wheel.
"Do you want me to pull over or," I trail off hesitantly, reluctant to let go of the small measure of control I now have. Barricade considers for a minute before responding, "You may drive for now, human; I need to rest."
With that statement, there's a strange sense of something fading, and I get the feeling that Cade has just fallen asleep. Allowing years of practice to take over, I keep us on a steady course westward, heading for places unknown. Barricade stays silent for the rest of the day, not even waking when I turn up the radio or stop for supper at a convenient Wendy's. A yawn splits my face in half as I activate the headlights to fight back the growing darkness. Passing a slow mini-van, I continue down the highway.
"Wilmington, twenty miles," a sign tells me, and I sigh gratefully. Pulling off into the city, I find a place to park for a second and, reaching over the steering wheel, thump the dashboard of the Mustang a couple of times. Instantly Barricade awakens, the radio blaring loudly for a second. I frown as, for a split second, lines and seams appear on the inside of the car like Cade's about to transform, only to disappear as quickly as they came. I shudder to think of what would happen to me if I was inside him when he transformed.
"What the slag," Cade rumbles sleepily, sounding the least angry that I've ever heard him.
"Hey, it's night time, we're in a city called Wilmington, and I'm beat. Unless you feel like risking a wreck, you better take over," I brief him on the situation.
"All right," he says. "Get in the passenger seat and I will take control." Getting out of the car, I shiver slightly in the cold air, rubbing my arms before ducking back into the passenger's seat. We get back on the highway, Cade not bothering to activate his holoform, and continue to drive. The cold air has woken me up some, and I look around at the scenery.
Night has truly fallen now, the only light being the spotty glare of random street lights and the almost constant twinkling of other headlights and taillights sparkling like fire flies through the trees. Curling up on my side, I keep looking at the lights that shine.
"You would not believe your eyes," I sing softly. "If ten million fireflies, lit up the world as I fell asleep." "'Cause they fill the open air, and leave tear drops everywhere. You'd think me rude but I'd just stand and, stare," the radio continues along with me, playing softly as I drop off to sleep, a small smile on my face.
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