Sequel to the Heart of a Prime.

Three years after escaping the ambush set by the military, Saphira had feared all connections with the autobots were lost. Especially to her sparkmate. She believed they were never coming back, and that she and Barricade were all that was left as they live quietly in the state of Wyoming. They hope that they are not to be found by anyone.

However, when a familiar Prime eventually returns, with all of her old friends and new faces, she did not want to believe it. In fact, she almost down rights rejects them. Even when they tell her what really happened the last few years. She had been hurt and let down so often in the past, and she believed it would only continue.

But with some wisdom from a man she barely knew, and the love she still carried for Optimus Prime, she finds herself following them back to Chicago to find out answers to questions. All the while, Saphira's dreams were plagued by a mysterious figure. And it seems that this same figure has begun to whisper into Optimus's processor. To the point where she didn't know what to believe.

At least until the horns began to rise from the Earth.

Hey readers! Here is the sequel to Heart of a Prime. If you have not read that one yet, please go and read it before proceeding with this one.

This story will be based around Age of Extinction and the Last Knight. Changes will be made to suit the flow of the story. Optimus Prime and my OC, Saphira, will still have a relationship with some minor Barricade x OC at the start of the story. This takes place 3 years after the end of Heart of Prime.

Rating for the story will involve: Violence, coarse language, blood, smut, sex scenes, assault scenes, medical torture, mental torture, trigger warnings and minor possessiveness. Please enjoy the second story.

Staring at the world around her, all she saw was metal rubble. Burns stained the surface of the metal as visual scars of war from the past. The air was cold and dry, and yet she was somehow breathing. This world appeared to have no trees. It was desolate, and there were bodies of transformers everywhere. This seemed to be Cybertron, but she only knew what it looked like based on what she has been shown. But this was no dream, this is a nightmare.

Saphira frowned as she gazed around in despair, searching for signs of familiar bodies in the hope there was a way to save them. That is what she felt like she had to do. She could see familiar bodies of decepticons laying around this place. She could see Megatron, Starscream and many others laying around. Their optics were dark, and their protoforms were completely bare from their shell, making them look a lot like skeletons.

Saphira knew who she was looking for. After all, she had been waiting for so many years. She needed to find him, and ask where he has been. She wanted him to come her, but it felt like he was nowhere to be found. After all, she had no felt anything from him in years. She craved to have that feeling back, but she could never find it. It always brought her a dead end. Sometimes bringing her to the body of Sentinel Prime and the Fallen, all of which haunt her upon seeing them this way.

"Keep running, that is not going to save you. And it won't stop me from getting what I want." Saphira tensed upon hearing the deep, feminine voice fill the air. She stopped and looked around for the owner of the voice. "You stopped me once from achieving my goal. I will not allow it again. You are nothing but a parasite in my way."

Saphira spotted the figure in the distance. A floating, feminine figure that she has seen only in her nightmares. She had no idea who this is, and why she has seen her a lot. "I don't even know you, or what you are. You are just some dark manifestation of my mind, as far as I am concerned. Leave me the hell alone, bitch!" She turned away from the figure angrily. "This is only a dream…"

The being just laughed and Saphira shivered, widening her eyes as the world ahead of her was blocked by a metal wall. "You keep saying that. But you will know who I am eventually, human. You should have stayed out of it the moment the autobots showed up. You wouldn't be here if you had made the right choice."

Saphira clenched her hands as she was irritated. This figure has repeated that more than once. She did not know why. It annoyed her to no end. "Not like I had a choice. That fate fell into my lap. You're just annoying me with something that cannot be undone."

She was forced to turn around, feeling the tendrils of the being holding her tightly as she was pressed against the wall. "It is true it cannot be undone, but I can prevent what the future holds. But I promise that I will destroy you. You are nothing but a little child. You will die, but not by my hand. But by the one who should have been following my orders from the start, but he turned his back on Cybertron for a weak sparkmate like you. A sparkmate who could not even protect her own sparkling."

Saphira immediately tensed and grimaced at the mention of her lost sparkling, feeling the pain of that loss rippling through her body. She had never forgotten the loss of her sparkling, and she wished that it had not been killed. "Shut up! I did not lose the sparkling, it was killed! Shut up!"

The figure just smirked with a light huff of amusement. "You know I am right, Saphira Dawn…"

"Stop it! Shut up! Let me go!"

Saphira shot up with a shriek, opening her eyes to the dark room of her bedroom. She took deep breaths as sweat dripped from her forehead, and her heart was racing within her chest. She gripped the quilt around her body and she pulled it tighter around her body as she realized she had woken up. She looked around before glancing at the window. The light of the moon was filtering through the window, even though there was a fog outside and a light dusting of snow was falling.

"Saphira?" She turned her head upon hearing the calm, gentle voice. She looked at the door to see a pair of ruby red optics looking back at her with concern. "Did you have another nightmare?" She nodded and began to sniffle as tears fill her eyes. Sighing, he walked towards her and turned the lamp on, making her squint from the bright light of the bulb. "You've been having this nightmare for months now. Why do you keep dreaming about it?" He sat on the bed as she shrugged and pulled her legs up to hug them. "And now you have been sick for a few weeks. You need to rest, Saphira. You won't get better if you keep waking up like this."

Saphira sighed as she hugged her knees tightly. Her emerald, green, eyes filled with tears as she thought about the nightmare. "I can't help it Barricade. I…I don't know why I've been having this dream. I really don't." She sniffled softly and he smiled at her, lifting his hand gently to move several strands from her face. She gazed back at him, staring at the holoform of the former decepticon in front of her. "I'm sorry that I am worrying you, Barricade. I really am not meaning to."

He smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her forehead gently, making her flinch slightly from the contact, though she allowed it as he rubbed her cheeks gently with his thumbs. "I know. I wish I knew why you seem to be dreaming of Cybertron, and seeing the dead decepticons and autobots, and I wish I knew who it was who speaks to you in the dream. But I assure you, it is nothing more than a nightmare." She did not respond and he placed the back of his hand of her forehead. "Your fever is still very high. Are you sure you don't want to run into town to get the medicine, Saphira? You have been able to get the cash from your grandfather's friend, so I think you should buy it."

She shook her head. "My face is all over the place right now, Barricade. I'm not sure why it has taken three years before the government has put out a warrant for people to report my location. It has been three years…and I turn…twenty-three tomorrow…" Barricade moved closer, and Saphira looked at him with a frown. "Please don't push yourself right now, Barricade. I am still not sure if I want to proceed, so don't kiss me. Alright?"

Barricade softened his expression as he had wanted to try and kiss her. Their relationship had changed in the past year. It wasn't heavily romantic, but the last three years have been hard on Saphira. Around four years ago, Saphira had gone through some of the hardest moments of her life. Optimus Prime, her sparkmate, had travelled to the moon to retrieve an old mentor of his. Sentinel Prime was brought back to Earth and revived, in the hopes that he would be another warrior to fight against Megatron. But it turned put that Sentinel and Megatron had made a deal. Which resulted in the autobots falsifying their deaths, and it caused Saphira to lose dignity and her unborn sparkling at the hands of Megatron.

A near year after that, on Saphira's twentieth birthday, Optimus and the autobots had brought Saphira to a location where Optimus had brought her way back when they had just met. He had stumbled across it on his drive, and both he and Saphira had fallen in love with it. It was a former emerald mine, and there were pieces of unpolished emeralds all around the area, and Saphira even found a large emerald in the shape of a heart to give Optimus. It was a wonderful present.

But for Saphira, that memory had been stained. For whatever reasons they were ambushed by the human military. They were forced to flee and separate, and Saphira tried to call William Lennox for an explanation. But he never answered. She did reach Charlotte Mearing, only to learn that Mearing had been stepped down from her position as Director of National Intelligence. That pretty much made them lose the only voice they had in the government. And, unfortunately, it was the last day both Saphira and Barricade had seen any of the others.

The only thing Saphira really had left were the two items Ironhide had given her. A bracelet that would give away Saphira's location at the press of a button. And a necklace that could transform into multiple weapons. And that weapon had actually been useful to Saphira. Mostly because she used it as she had been trying to live as self sufficiently as she could. As she and Barricade have fled into the center of the country. They were in Wyoming now, and that is where they've been for the last three years.

Saphira had been lucky enough that Edmund Burton, a man Saphira had gotten to know before going into hiding, had his servant, Cogman, inform her that a property had been purchased under Edmund's name in the state. It was a small farm that provided enough shelter for Saphira. She never told Barricade how she knew Edmund, as she didn't want to give away what her grandfather, Everett Dawn, had done as a job in his lifetime. Especially as that job had been past down to her. But as she has had to go into hiding, she hasn't been able to work on it. She at least knew that her wealth was being protected though. That was the reassurance she had from Edmund.

Barricade sighed softly, rubbing her cheek gently with his index finger. "I only want to make you feel better, Saphira. This nightmare you have been having seems to be mostly your mind. Especially since you stopped sensing the bond a year ago." She frowned at him and immediately slapped his hand away from her face. "I can only assume that, when you stopped sensing him, your mind has been going through that stage of pain and grief."

Saphira let more tears fall from her eyes. It was true, on her twenty second birthday, the spark bond felt like it had been cut off suddenly. Before that, she had briefly felt fear and pain, and now she did not know what it meant. She didn't want to know what it meant. While she had been sitting in this farmhouse for the last three years, she has been waiting for the other autobots to find her. During the first two years, Saphira could feel the bond between her and Optimus. It is a permanent bond that was for life. She did not feel his feelings all the time. But he would send her warmth, love and comfort through the bond. But he never came to find her.

She had pressed the button on the bracelet to alert the autobots to her position five times since arriving in Wyoming. But there had been no luck. She had given up on trying to get their attention. As far as she knew, they were either dead or never coming to find her. Barricade has tried to reassure her that they would be here if they could. He's tried reaching out to the other autobots, but he only received a message from Ratchet one year ago, a week before her twenty second birthday, and Barricade had actually been afraid due to the message. He never told her what it was, but he said there was a good reason why they weren't able to be here.

But on her twenty second birthday, something happened. Just before she blew the candle of the cupcake she had bought for herself for her birthday, Saphira felt cold. It wasn't an external feeling that could easily be dealt with. It was an internal chill, that scared her. And when she realized she couldn't sense the bond anymore, Barricade confirmed that was likely the case. This made her feel like her birthday was nothing more than bad luck now. Bad things seem to happen on her birthday, and she hated it. She didn't even want to celebrate her twenty third birthday.

But Barricade has been her rock since than. It was only two weeks after her twenty second birthday that Saphira had started to grow closer with Barricade. He was surprised as they had always remained friendly. But Saphira sought out his comfort, and he was happy to provide it for her. And Barricade was happy to know that she could love him. She did, but she still considered him a friend. Though he did wonder if that was still true, considering everything that has happened.

But in the last few weeks, Saphira had come down with the flu. And she hasn't been able to get over it. Barricade has done his best to help her. He's even learned how to cook rather well. Especially soups. Saphira has appreciated his help a lot as she often felt too weak to get out of bed. She only got out for the bathroom or if she wanted to walk around. Most of the time she was sleeping, or trying to sleep. The nightmare has hindered her recovery, and now she's refusing to get the medicine she needs.

"I would appreciate it, if you did not bring that up, Barricade." She sniffled as her bottom lip trembled. "It still hurts to think about it. Especially…especially since we don't even know if…if…you know…" Saphira did not want to say it as it was too painful for her to say. "I can't do anything about this nightmare, Barricade. It just feels like…like I'm trapped and I can't get away from this."

Barricade knew that. But he still wished she could be free from it. "You still need to consider whether you want me to get the medicine you need. You know I can modify my holoform, and you have enough cash. I won't take long…"

"But it could be long enough for you to leave me alone," Saphira interrupts as she looked at him. She had become afraid of Barricade leaving and never coming back. That was another reason why she wasn't letting him go into town on his own. "I worry that you will be recognized, and they would find you." She sniffled as she looked at his ruby, red, optics, dark blue, shoulder length hair, rectangular face shape and his broad, muscular body. "I don't want you to leave. Please stay…I will recover."

Barricade was well aware of Saphira's fear. She developed the fear of losing Barricade over a year ago. And that fear only grew once she lost touch with the bond. But he was tempted to just ignore her and go into the nearby town to get her the medicine. Plus, they were getting low on food. Saphira was not out of meat, as Barricade and Saphira had learned how to track and hunt the elk that migrate through Wyoming. And they have only had to bring down two elk to keep Saphira fed with enough meat for the last few years. It has helped with the deep freezer she owned.

As for other food, Barricade had actually made a special greenhouse that runs on energon. He had made an engine that didn't need a huge amount of fuel to ensure that a greenhouse would survive in Wyoming. Generally, Wyoming was too cold to grow most things. But this greenhouse he made ran just fine. It keep the air inside warm to grow things all year round. Saphira did still have a garden around the house, so she could grow things like carrots, broccoli and a few other things that do grow in the cooler climate of this state. But inside the greenhouse, she could grow everything else she needed. Her knowledge of gardening helped Barricade learn the skill, and he has grown to enjoy it.

Aside from the greenhouse, he also made a small area to house some animals. Saphira was able to buy some chickens, a rooster and a couple goats a couple years ago, and they have provided her with eggs and milk, while also growing in number. Saphira had been happy with his inventions as it made life easier. Aside from hunting for elk, there was a river near the farmhouse that ran through the acreage. Here, as long as they break the ice, they can catch trout and there were a couple traps for the calico crayfish. It has been a great learning process, and she has not been to the store for many years. She stocked up in flour, rice and pasta, and she still have plenty available to her. She also had stocked up on shampoos, conditioners and so on. She just did not stock up on medicine.

Barricade smiled at the girl with a reassuring expression. "Saphira, the town is only thirty minutes away. It means I will be back in just over an hour when the sun comes up. This flu is not going away." He flinched as she began to cough suddenly, and he moved closer to rub her back as she tried to settle her cough. "I honestly think it is getting worse. You were complaining about head congestion and not be able to breath. The flu seemed mild a few weeks ago. There's only so much I can do. I am no doctor."

Saphira shook her head as she grabbed his wrist tightly, letting out another cough. "An hour can turn into forever, Barricade. Just…I can't lose you. We don't know what happened to everyone else." She sniffled as she thought back to them. "The last time I saw Sideswipe and Dino…and explosion blinded me…I am not even sure if they survived. I fear they didn't."

Barricade kissed her forehead gently, gazing into her eyes with his optics glowing gently. "Saphira, you know I don't plan on leaving you. We have achieved so much in the last few years. You don't even rely on anyone else. We have food to feed you, animals that have been easy to look after and they provide you with additional protein and calcium…" She sighed and leaned against him, feeling tired from the coughing fit. "At least we need to do is get you medicine. The herbs in the soup need help from the medicine, Saphira."

She shook her head. "No…no…" She was blinking slowly as she leaned against him. "I know the others didn't leave because they wanted to. We had to flee. But it is my birthday is tomorrow. Wait at least until after that day passes. I don't even want to celebrate it." She sniffled as Barricade smiled at her kindly. "Don't even wish me a happy birthday. I only ever remember pain now on my birthday…I just want to forget it."

"Alright…I can do that for you." Barricade had planned a small surprise for her, but he could see that Saphira may not want it. He shifted to get off the bed, and Saphira panicked slightly. "I am not going to leave the property, Saphira. You are tired." She rolled her eyes and sneezed suddenly. "Come on, get yourself comfortable and I will tuck you it. It is just after one in the morning."

Saphira looked towards the window, surprised that it was that early in the morning. She sneezed again and sniffled before she began to move herself under the blanket again. She shivered as while she was warm under the covers, she often felt chills. "I am sorry that I am making you worry for me, Barricade." He just smiled at her as he tucked her in gently. "I really am sorry…" She sniffled as more tears fall from her eyes. "But I am glad you are with me. Without you, I am not sure how I would have managed to cope all these years. Living here, alone, seems almost like a nightmare. Especially now…"

"Shhh, shhh…" Barricade cooed as he brushed some stubborn stands from her eyes as he smiled at her. "Don't think about anything else right now. I will stay with you for a little while. It seems to be the only time you actually rest without a nightmare." She could not argue with that. It seemed him being close to her, be it his holoform or full form, the presence of Barricade seemed to keep the nightmare away. Maybe it was just his presence, she did not know. She smiled at him and closed her eyes. "There, good girl. Let those worries fade away. Focus on sleep, and ensuring that you get enough of it to recover from this horrible illness."

Saphira let out a light chuckle without opening her eyes. "I will try…I will try…"

Barricade said nothing as he watched Saphira quietly. He had been surprised when Saphira had made the advances to him in getting closer with him in their relationship. But she still kept him at arms length. He knew she still loved Optimus. She often stared at the sky when she could. He would hear her speak to the sky, believing Optimus was no longer here. But Barricade was not sure if he was dead. But something has happened to cause the bond to break.

Outside the farmhouse, Barricade's full form was sitting by the shed, staring at the trees that surrounded the property thoughtfully. Snow was sticking the metal armor on his body, and the wind whistled through the trees loudly as it rushed by him, and kicked up the snow around him. Barricade had found that he enjoys living in this place. It was super peaceful here, despite how rough the weather can be at times. But with a small population here and a lot of wilderness, it was easy to stay hidden. He certainly has gotten used to a very quiet life.

He sighed deeply, watching the mist of air form from his exhale as the heat from his body met with the cool air. He was tempted to head into town to get the medicine against Saphira's will. But he did not know if leaving would mean he would not be there if she wakes up again from the same nightmare. Barricade has been unable to recharge properly because of this worry. He wished he knew how to get rid of that nightmare.

Another thing that kept him awake was the last message Ratchet had sent to him. He decided to play it again. "Barricade, this is Ratchet. I am sending this message to warn you. We are terribly sorry that we have been unable to reach you and Saphira. But things have happened. After scattering from the ambush, the military have been homing in on our energon signals. And for some reason, they are working with someone. Someone we all have heard about, and fear. Lockdown. You and Saphira must stay hidden. And ensure she does not press the button on the bracelet. He will pick it up."

That was the last message he heard from Ratchet. Barricade knew very well who Lockdown was. And he was concerned that Lockdown had come to Earth. He did not know what deal had been made, but it was a surprise the humans would even work for Lockdown. Especially as there was obvious signs humans no longer trusted autobots. Regardless, Barricade intended to keep them hidden. He did not want Lockdown to find him or Saphira.

In fact, Ratchet's message was received sometime before Saphira had stopped feeling the bond on her birthday. It felt like a coincidence, but Barricade could not help but think something had happened. He wanted to tell Saphira, but she might have been tempted to press the bracelet. She kept it in a box with the necklace. She has not touched the bracelet in two years. So even if Barricade were to let Saphira listen to the message, she might not press the button. But it was best to not try fate. Especially since she was sick. And trying her hardest to be happy in general.

Disclaimer: Hey readers, so I am due to start a new job very shortly in the coming days. Because of that, posting new chapters may reduce a little bit. It is why I ended up finishing Heart of a Prime so quickly. I will ensure I get the current stories finished before moving onto any new stories I want to write, including sequels. Thank you for your understanding. Happy reading!