Four weeks later…

It was a couple weeks before her classes would actually start, but Saphira was pretty much all packed up and ready to go. She had sold all but two of her cars, it was rather hard to let those cars go. But, she made quite a sum for the five cars she sold, and they would be put to go use at the local raceways. The house was pretty much empty too, she sold what she wouldn't need at college and kept the bare minimum for the last few days. The kitchen appliances and vacuum were the only things she would leave behind because they all belonged to the landlord. She had her Nissan and Daytona loaded into a truck to be delivered in Princeton a week ago as well, she had already made connections in Princeton through her racing friends in LA and the vehicles would be delivered and stored in a rented garage Saphira had found. It was pretty easy to find one, she would likely stay in the garage getting to know the city and fellow raceway members before she would officially start college. To her, it was a good plan. She still thought about Optimus though. Waking up to his picture beside her everyday…it brought her some happiness…yet it also made her sad at the same time. She did not realize she miss the commander when she first met him. Not this terribly. Perhaps it was the times they spent alone together that made her feel this way. After all, he treated her as though she was a fragile thing, and opened up to her about somethings, and she opened up to him…it felt natural. She wanted to say it was just a fling…but she was not so sure.

She was due to fly out of LA in the next day, she was packing up her clothes and toiletries. She separated the clothes she would wear to races from her casual wear and ensured her makeup was all secure and would not spill on the flight. She made sure to keep one pair of clothing set out for the next day so she could change and get into the taxi. Her landlord already was aware that she was leaving and everything was settled. Saphira sighed, smiling as she gazed around the bedroom. It was practically empty except for the sleeping bag and pillow she had on the ground. She was glad she had this place for a year. She looked at the in-built wardrobe, there was still one set of clothing she has not touched in an entire year. The same shirt and jeans she had worn the day of Mission City. She did not really know why she kept it, maybe it was sentimental in a way because it was a memory of her saving the planet and saving Optimus's life. She did not think there would ever come such an important day again.

Still, she decided maybe it was time to get rid of these clothes. She was never going to wear them again, and she doubted she could fit in them right now she had grown a little in the last year. She took a deep breath and stepped up to the wardrobe, grabbing the hangar and bringing it out, looking at the outfit, her thoughts roamed back to when she first met Bee, Optimus, the autobots and everything that happened during that time. She even wondered what happened to Simmons after Sector Seven was shut down. She knew about it since Lennox mentioned it to her. As far as she knew, he was not part of the government anymore. Which was good in a way, she didn't know how he became an agent. But…not everyone who works for the government were necessarily smart or sound minded.

Saphira shakes her head, turning the hangar slightly to gaze at the holes in the shirt and jeans, though as she gazed at them a glimmer caught her eye. She grimaced a little from the glare and glanced down, widening her eyes in shock at what she saw. She placed the hangar back into the wardrobe and knelt down to pick it up. It was a metal shard of something. Something she had seen before. It was the length of her pinkie and the markings on it were not of Earth, but of transformers. She realized this was a shard of the Cube! She didn't know how a piece of it ended up stuck to her clothing all this time, as far as she knew there was only one piece left and it was kept under guard by the government. Now, she had this piece in her hand.

But as she held and stared at it, her mind suddenly felt as though an overwhelming amount of information was filling it and the shard suddenly sparked as it grew hot very quickly in her fingers. She gasped and dropped the shard, licking her fingers to soothe the burning feeling while glancing down. To her shock, the shard melts through the wood and it quickly began to burn. She stamped on the flames quickly to put it out and rushed to the bathroom to fill a cup with water and pour it on the smouldering wood. She inspected it and she was glad the whole was not massive, but she hoped the landlord would not notice and have her pay for it.

But she had an even bigger problem, and she knew it. She looked through her toiletry bag for a small, metal, empty cannister she had packed that held a comb in it. She emptied the cannister and ran out of the room to locate the shard, though she would need something to pick it up with. She had pliers in the shed she could use. However, when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she widened her eyes when she saw all the small appliances looking back at her as tiny decepticons.

"Shit!" Saphira cursed and ran out of the house just as the decepticons hiss at her. She wanted to try and create as little shots fired within the house as possible. "Come and get me!"

The tiny bots hiss and chatter angrily, they run after her outside the house and Saphira hid behind a large tree. She grabbed off the bracelet and pressed the green stone to transform it into a gun. At least these things were small, she could take them. She knew the shard must have caused this, she didn't feel any pulse though, so she was not sure. She was super glad that her cars were not there. She glanced around from the tree and saw the bots approaching her. She took a deep breath and stepped around slightly to fire at the toaster first. It was her least favourite appliance anyway. The decepticons squeal loudly in surprise as she fired at them, she managed to destroy the toaster bot almost instantly. But the other bots scatter and cover themselves to fire at her. Saphira dropped to one knee and yelped as bullets rush past her. She was lucky none of them hit her, but she was not taking any chances. She sprayed more bullets at them, shooting at the microwave bot and vacuum bot as they were closer to her, she did not even see the coffee machine, electric mixed and blender bots moving to the other side to flank her. At least, not straight away. Saphira moved back to hide behind the tree, wincing as a bullet rushed past her shoulder, slicing her blouse and breathed deeply to try and calm herself.

Damnit! If only I had direct communication with Optimus!

Saphira heard a hiss and glanced to her right, yelping as the blender bot swipes it's blades at her and cutting her forehead just above her eyebrow. She held a hand to her head and shot at the small bot, causing it's chest to explode and she ran towards the shed to hide behind it. She screamed and skidded, falling onto her backside when she saw the Mustang cop speeding towards her. He transformed and jumped over her. He lands and kicks the coffee machine bot and shot at the others. Saphira glanced up at him briefly before scrambling to her feet and running around to the back of the shed. She skidded to the ground again and ripped off some of her blouse to press onto her forehead, the blood was getting into her eye and causing it to blur and sting slightly. She took deep breaths, she realized that the shooting was already over and heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching quickly. She yelped and scrambled to her feet just as Barricade rounded the corner and fell to the ground as she tripped on a rock.

"Saphira…" Barricade began as Saphira looked at him with wide, fearful eyes and scrambled backwards until her back was pressed against the shed wall. He dropped to one knee, leaning closer and looking at the injury on her head. "Hmm…looks like I got here just in time."

"W-W-W-Wha…What do y-y-you want?" Saphira stuttered nervously, holding her forehead again and pointing her weapon towards Barricade. "Y-You shouldn't e-e-even b-b-be here. They w-w-will find you."

"I'm blocking my signal, you have no need to worry about a fight between myself and Optimus Prime," Barricade responded calmly with a slight exhale through his vents. "I did not expect to find you fighting small bots. How did that happen?"

Saphira blinked a little, she almost wanted to say something about the shard, but he was a decepticon…so, she knew not to. "I don't know. They must have entered the house."

"They are not the usual small spy bots…" Barricade rubbed his chin thoughtfully, glancing towards the house for a moment before glancing back at Saphira. "And just for the record, if I wanted to hurt or kill you, I would have done it already. So you can stop acting nervous. That weapon is not necessary."

She glanced at the weapon and frowned slightly at him. "I am not acting."

Barricade shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I suppose I should deserve that, after all you still think I am a decepticon. I just saved your life, you should at least thank me for it."

Saphira knew she should, but she still did not trust him. "Thank you. Though…saving me once isn't going to make me trust you, Barricade. No one knows what you've been doing this past year."

"I've been trying to make a mess among the decepticons," Barricade responded, he takes a seat, he was still glancing at the injury on her forehead as he worried it was worse than what it looked. "I have been under the false pretence of still working for them…only to find out more information. It seems they have a plan to revive Megatron…and there is a plan to enact it soon. It all has to do with the shard the government has. Though…Soundwave has detected a second shard…no idea how he picked that up."

"Soundwave?" Saphira said with a frown.

The decepticon nodded slowly. "Soundwave's been here for a long time…longer than I have. He and his pet Laserbeak have been recruiting humans to do their dirty work for a long time. You could say they have quite a reputation here on this planet. Unfortunately…it always ends with their puppets being executed when they are of no more use to them."

That did not sound good. She didn't know who Soundwave was, nor did she know about Laserbeak. However, Barricade gave this information so willingly. He has mentioned humans working for decepticons before, so…maybe he was not lying. She pulled the fabric away from her face and dabbed her fingers on the injury to see if it was bleeding a lot. Thankfully, it was not.

"You know Optimus is not here for you to tell that information to," Saphira said in a slow, calm tone. "You should reach out to him and tell him this, not me. I am not even going to be here soon. I am trying to have a normal life."

"College right?" Barricade asked curiously with a slight tilt of her the head. "I have heard that is what humans do in this country after they finish high school. What city are you moving to?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know."

The decepticon frowned slightly at her. "Even if you try, just be aware the Fallen will rise again. There is another source of energon on this planet, the Cube was supposed to lead us to it. But now that it is mostly destroyed, the decepticons are after the second shard to use in order to find it. Although, apparently it will be easier by allowing a human to absorb that information."

"Who is this Fallen?" Saphira asked curiously with a frown. "Do you even know who he is?"

"I only know that he is a very, very old being," Barricade responded as sincerely as possible. "He is the first decepticon, and he is also one of the original Primes long ago. I do not know much more than that. In fact, I am not even fully aware of the reason why he became a decepticon and why his brothers had to fight him for the Matrix of Leadership."

Saphira felt as though she was going to have a headache. She still did not trust Barricade though. She moved to stand up, she placed her hand against the shed to steady herself, even though the decepticon did over his hand to her. She ignored the offer and walked around the shed and saw that the ground was quite damaged.

"Hmmph…I am going to need to buy new appliances…" Saphira grumbled…and she had no car to use.

"I can help you with that," Barricade said to her calmly. She turned her head slightly to glare at him. "Look…I already told you, if I wanted to hurt or kill you, I would have done it already. I don't want to do anything but help. I know you won't want me to help you with that injury to your head, but I can take you into town to get the appliances. Which I assume were the ones that had been transformed."

Saphira grits her teeth and rolled her eyes. "I will consider it…but considering you haven't exactly shown to be trustworthy to even sit in the car with yet, I might just call a taxi. I can afford it and it won't be difficult."

Barricade had expected Saphira to be stubborn about it, though he knew there was likely no way to convince her. "Very well…I will be waiting out here in case you change your mind. I had only wanted to stop by to see how you were doing. After all, I know humans can go through post-trauma after something like Mission City."

Saphira couldn't help but feel surprised by that. She did not think Barricade would even care about that. That made her wonder maybe he has changed his loyalty…although given he has admitted he was still communicating to the decepticons…that was still a concern. She was glad at least the damage on the ground was dirt and blue metal which can be racked and smoothed out to hide the shots that were fired. However, the tree she hid behind couldn't had the same treatment. She doubted the landlord will notice…but she wasn't going to hold her breath.

"Well…" Saphira began and stopped with a deep breath before turning to face Barricade. "I will accept your offer of taking me into town. But after you return me with all the items, you will leave. I am not really interested in spending time with you. I have to leave early tomorrow."

The decepticon smiled at her, she blinked in surprise because it was actually a rather warm smile that he gave her. "That brings me so much joy. Thank you. I will not do anything that will harm you. I know that weapon you have can hurt me, even kill me if you know how to power it up enough."

She smirked at him. "Don't give me a reason to do that."

He simply nodded and transformed back into the cop Mustang as Saphira walked into the house. She glanced into the kitchen and located the shard on the island counter. She thought about putting it in the cannister, but she did not have the right tool to put it into it. So, she went upstairs to clean herself up and get changed. She applied ointment to the scratch and placed a long, clear, band aid on the scratch to keep it from getting dirt in it. She hoped that the pulse when the shard transformed the appliances was not detected by the decepticons, the last thing she needed was another to show up.

Once she had a new one shoulder blouse on, she threw out the bloodied blouse and made her way back to the kitchen to write on a notepad of what she needed to buy. She listed them and made her way out to Barricade. She had not transformed the weapon back into the bracelet yet and when she walked out of the house, she stopped a few feet from Barricade. She actually could not believe she was about to get into the passenger seat. She glanced away from the car nervously, she didn't know if she should just call a taxi. The door opened and she looked at the car, blinking in surprise when she saw Barricade's holoform sitting in the driver seat.

"Hop in miss," He said to her politely. "We don't want to be late."

She groaned a little before forcing herself to step into the car and sit down, although she did not relax as the door closed and she heard the engine start. "No funny business."

"Relax, Saphira," Barricade said in a near frustrated tone as he drives away from the house. "I am not going to do anything. I don't really know what I can do to prove it to you."

"Simply by doing nothing," Saphira responded bluntly, looking ahead as she clutched the weapon in case she needed to use it. "When I get back in one piece with no injury, I will consider trusting you."

Barricade let out a sigh, and his holoform melds with the alt form as he continued driving. Little did Saphira know, the decepticon was thinking on the fact he didn't realize how hard it would be to get a human to trust him. Although…he knew the reason. The decepticon badge made him seem untrustworthy. It wasn't fair in his mind, but he would continue proving himself. Plus, his own feelings for Saphira…he has noticed she has matured since he has last seen her. It definitely caught his eye.

Though he and Saphira did not speak to each other as he drives into the city. He realized he didn't like his current alt form, he didn't want to be noticed as a police car anymore. He spotted a dark, blue, 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 parked on the side of the road and scanned it. Saphira gasped when she felt Barricade transforming, the loud roar of the engine filled her ears and she drew up her knees, holding the weapon towards the dash, only to realize he had changed his alt appearance. She blinked in surprise, he no longer wore the police badge and removed the words To Enslave And to Punish from his body. His body was now a dark blue, still slightly reminiscent of his old alt form.

"Hey, no need to point that," Barricade said to her through the speakers bluntly. "I was only changing my uniform."

"You could have warned me," Saphira responded with a roll of her eyes. "You scared me."

Barricade said nothing more to the girl. He knew trying to comfort her was pointless. However, he found himself enjoying the new feel of the alt form and he hoped Saphira liked it too. He knew she had a keen interest in muscle cars. Saphira did not compliment the choice though, she liked the ride of course, but she kept that to herself. Barricade soon finds a store where Saphira can buy the appliances and parks in the parking lot. She transforms the weapon back into a bracelet and stepped out of the car.

"Alright, please wait here until I come back," Saphira said to him softly. "I really don't have anyway to contact you…but if you are not here. I'm getting a taxi and you'd better not bother me again."

"I understand," Barricade responded calmly through the speakers. "I hope you will give me a chance."

"You already have your chance, you know it. But I still do not trust you." Saphira turned away from the car and walked towards the store.

She grabbed a shopping cart to use as she did not have enough arms for every appliance that she needed. She did not remember the brands of the appliances that the landlord had, but she made sure to buy the high-quality brands and sent a message to the landlord letting him know that when she went to use the toaster to have toast for lunch that it caused the house to blackout and some of the appliances had died. She reassured the landlord the power was back, she just had to turn the switch back on in the power board and she was replacing the appliances right now. Her landlord was thankful for that, even though he said he would take care of it. Saphira still felt responsible for touching that shard. She still didn't know how it got stuck on her shirt…although considering how she held the Cube when she pushed it into Megatron's chest…perhaps it made sense.

Saphira spent an hour in the store before walking back out with the cart full of appliances. She was glad it didn't include the fridge, that would have taken more time to replace. She walked over to the Challenger and opened the trunk to put the boxes in. Barricade did not make a fuss at least, Saphira did relax some as maybe he did truly want to be her friend. Although…she still had not forgotten him revving at her when he demanded the glasses from her.

Saphira closed the trunk and pushed the cart into the nearby bay before returning to the car. "I guess you have a lot more patience in you. I can't say the same for the second time we met."

"Urgh…you're going to bring that up often, aren't you?" Barricade groaned as she opened the door and stepped inside.

"When I feel like it, of course," Saphira said with a smirk. She did not transform the bracelet into a weapon at this time, Barricade noticed and he was happy because that meant she was relaxing. "Take me home."

The engine roared to life and he leaves the lot to make his way back to the house. "Are you certain you don't want me to stay?"

"Sorry, Barricade. I…I can't truly relax around you right now." Saphira glanced out the window as the world goes by. "I want to say I can trust you…but…I really can't. Not yet…even if I begin to trust you now."

"I get it…well…I will wait as long as it takes for you to trust me. I am not going to force anything you don't like." She raised an eyebrow as he spoke to her. "Even if it takes until you are wrinkly and grey…I will wait."

"You sound like you're in love with me or something," Saphira said with a slight chuckle. "Never will happen in a million years."

Barricade felt his spark hurt when she said that. "And…what if I am?"

He was not kidding. She was shocked when he said that and she frowned slightly. "I am sorry Barricade…but…my heart already belongs to someone else…"

"Optimus Prime right?" He growled slightly through the speakers.

She tensed at his response and her hand moved to the bracelet nervously. "What makes you think that?"

"Apparently, from what I have heard, Optimus seems to be distracted whenever he fights the decepticons he and the military track down," Barricade explained bluntly. "One decepticon even saw Optimus holding something green and shiny in the palm of his hand recently."

The heart she gave him! Saphira wanted to smile, but she kept herself from smiling, although the corners of her lips twitch slightly. "I doubt that has anything to do with me…"

"They are all assuming he has a sparkmate." Huh? Sparkmate? Saphira was confused now. "Everyone knows how Optimus behaved when he had Elita around. They were sparkmates than, and he behaved similar to how he his now. I can only think of you. But, I think it is only because you look like Elita. Not because he genuinely likes you."

Saphira disagreed silently. Optimus has already acknowledged to her when they were at the emerald field for that week that he understands she was very different from Elita, they only shared similar appearance. "I don't think that is something that I am concerned about, Barricade. Besides…I don't think it will happen."

"So where does your heart belong to?" Barricade asked curiously. "That is a genuine question."

"And it is also, none of your business," Saphira retorted angrily. "If you are going to act like a jealous, possessive fool because of that, I don't even want to see you again. You might like me, Barricade, but I am going to think the same reason you believe Optimus likes me is the reason why you like me. My physical appearance. Nothing more."

Barricade knew she had him there. But he has not had the chance to get to know her properly. He wanted that chance. But it seemed she already put up walls to stop him. He decided that maybe it was best to not argue with her about it. In fact, he didn't even say anything. His silence only proved to Saphira he liked her for her appearance. She knew he barely knew her properly, but she wasn't really willing to give him a chance. And she may never give him a chance.

He brought her back to the house and she carried each box into the house on her own, Barricade did offer to help, but she refused. Once the last box was gone, she ordered him to leave. He was reluctant, he worried another small bot would attack her. But she did not back down, even with his concern. He left her alone reluctantly, although he did wonder where she was moving. He suspected she was flying to the other side of the country the next day. Saphira did also finally put the shard into the small cannister, she did plan on passing it to Optimus the next time she saw him. But she needed to keep it hidden for the time being. She went to bed that night and left early in the morning, flying to Princeton to begin what she hopes to be a good, new chapter in her life without any decepticon interference.