Hiiii all of you wonderful people on the internet! You can call me Snowy; a little background, I've had this story in the works for several years and have only recently really gotten back into writing it. I have yet to write out the full story, as I'm the type of person who likes to write out different snippets from different parts of the story so I can get an idea of how to best structure the story for if I decide to write a full fledged one.
I'm posting this little snippet as kind of a test, to see if this story would catch anyone's attention and if people would be interested in reading the full story. If enough people are interested I might just write out the full story and post here on Ao3 :)
A little background to this story; this will eventually turn into a Barricade x human female OC (so if that's not your thing you can duck out now, no hard feelings!). Grace Witwicky was captured by Barricade for information on her brother, Sam Witwicky and is kept as Barricade's prisoner for information/ransom against the autobots and their human allies. But over time they develop a friendship that blossoms into something more.
Sooooo here is that little snippet, and let me know what you guys think! Barricade is my favorite character from the bayverse continuity and I'm hoping I do him justice. Thank you all for stopping by and enjoy, if you read! :)
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Grace was sitting in Barricade's passenger seat as he drove around, scouting out the nearby area to make sure it was clear and safe for the both of them. They were in the process of moving abandoned buildings again, and he needed to make sure they both would be undetected should he decide to use the abandoned warehouse just on the outskirts of this town.
She was quiet as she stared out the window, she had a lot on her mind at the moment. She sank down in the seat just slightly as he took a sharp turn. She was used to his rash driving by now as this was just his normal driving even though to her it was pretty reckless.
"Barricade?" She finally asked after he took another turn onto a deserted dirt road.
"Yes?" He answered through the radio. His human form wasn't active in the front seat at the moment, sometimes he would activate it in a highly populated area but now it wasn't necessary.
"You think I can stop and get something to eat?"
"Of course. I will stop at a nearby gas station for you once I am finished scouting."
"Thanks." She replied quietly before resting her head back on the head rest. As she closed her eyes a memory suddenly flashed back to her.
"You will tell me where he is, now!" His human form was pinning Grace against his vehicle form. He had both of her wrists in his one hand as she tried to kick and get away from him.
"Let go of me you motherfucker!"
Barricade had enough of her fighting back and roughly smacked her across the face where she was injured, sending her to the ground.
"Enough!" He kicked her in the side as she rolled over in pain, she was holding back tears as her face throbbed. He knelt down beside her as he pushed her against his vehicle form again, "Where is your brother?" He growled.
"I don't know! How many times do I have to fucking tell you?! I couldn't get in touch with my parents or my brother for a few days now! It's like they fucking disappeared!"
"Then you are useless." Barricade retorted in a dark tone as he stood up and contemplated on what he should do next.
Grace laid on the ground in pain as she put a hand to her forehead; she was bleeding again . 'He's gonna fucking kill me..' she closed her eyes tightly at that thought. 'Please.. I'm not ready to go..' her exterior was as calm as ever but inside she was thinking this was it.
When she heard unusual mechanical sounds coming from the vehicle she looked up to see the human form of this alien was gone. She figured this might be her only chance to try and get away, so with whatever strength she had left she got up and just ran.
She didn't make it far, as she only got a few feet before Barricade transformed and smacked her with his hand, sending her into the windshield of another car in this abandoned lot.
Grace felt herself go in and out of unconsciousness as Barricade strode menacingly towards her.
'Please don't kill me..' She thought as she felt herself slipping into sleep.
'I'm never gonna see my family ever again..'
'He's gonna kill me..'
The last thing she saw before falling into unconsciousness was Barricade's red optics as he stood above her.
Grace was deep in thought as that memory played back in her mind; she was still staring out the passenger side window as said memory continued.
Grace awoke in the backseat of that police car several hours later, she was tightly strapped in as the alien was driving along a highway.
She was alive?! She thought for sure he was going to kill her..
"So you're awake." Came through the radio. "Seems you aren't as weak as I thought."
"Where are you taking me?"
"None of your concern, fleshling."
Grace suddenly kicked the driver's seat, "Tell me you bastard!"
The vehicle suddenly swerved rather sharply as he sped through the exit off the highway. It took him only about a minute to drive into another abandoned lot with a bunch of damaged vehicles before he threw her out of the vehicle to transform.
She groaned as she hit the pavement hard.. she didn't think she could take much more physical injury to her body like this.
When Barricade was suddenly hovering above her she tried backing up on her hands and knees, only for his foot to go down behind her, making her jump but she didn't scream. 'No emotion.. no fear..'
"One more act of disrespect and I will end your life before you can blink, insect. If you were not of importance for information and a ransom I would have offlined you on the spot earlier."
"So you will do everything I say to the letter if you wish to continue living, or I will defy my orders of keeping you alive."
"What do you want from me?! I don't know where my brother is!" Grace yelled in anger that masked fear.
"Perhaps you don't. But you can be useful in other matters." Barricade activated his melee weapon just to intimidate her, "You are my prisoner now. The moment your usefulness ends is the moment your life ends with it. Remember that, fleshling."
"Are you alright Grace?"
Barricade's voice shook her back to reality as the memory ended in her mind. She looked back at the radio and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." She lied.
Barricade knew for a fact she wasn't fine, but wasn't going to pry at the moment. Instead he just watched her as he drove, wanting to help her but not wanting to dig information out of her.
About 20 minutes later he drove up to a gas station and stopped the vehicle. Grace was still deep in thought as she hadn't taken her eyes off the passenger side window.
"Grace?"
Again his voice forced her out of those difficult memories as she turned and looked over at the driver's side, to see his human form sitting there. "Sorry. I'll be quick." She said when she realized where they were.
"I was going to ask if you wanted me to go in for you, my dear. You seem out of sorts at the moment."
Grace bit her lip as she looked down, "I just.. have a lot of my mind."
"Allow me to go in and acquire what you need."
"You don't have-"
"Text me when you need, my dear." He wasn't taking no for an answer as he stepped out of his own vehicle and walked inside.
"You really didn't have to do that." She knew he could still hear her, he was the vehicle himself after all. But she did text his comm link what she wanted, as she was hungry and in need of food.
"I insist. Will you tell me what's bothering you?" Came through the radio of the vehicle.
Grace sighed as she sunk down into the seat again, "I'm just.. thinking of when we first encountered one another."
Barricade went quiet, now in thought himself. He hated to think of when he mistreated her when he first captured her, but it was something he'd have to face eventually so they could both move past it. He had developed feelings for her over time, and he knew he couldn't even begin to tell her that until he made up for his mistakes in whatever way possible.
"I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have said anything." She suddenly said.
"Tell me what you are thinking of regarding it."
"Um.. I guess how scared I actually was, even though I denied it and kept a cool exterior. I had accepted that death would be my fate eventually, and deep down that terrified me.. but, I somehow kept it together and forced my fear down into submission. But it was still there.. I couldn't really get rid of it. I guess because I did that it.. festered."
Barricade thought about that response for a bit before replying, "Every being, no matter human, cybertronian, or any other species, is programmed to exhibit fear. How we handle ourselves despite that, is a true show of character."
"You.. feel fear?" She asked hesitantly.
"I would be lying if I said I did not. Though due to my position and millennia of war, I have forced myself to not show such emotion at all. That does not mean I do not have it."
Grace was surprised, but figured it made sense. She just didn't think of him ever being afraid of anything, being a giant alien robot and all.
He continued, "Despite your fear, you have been admirable throughout this past year with your resilience and courage in difficult circumstances. I know I have caused said difficult circumstances, and I cannot simply apologize to you for my actions to make up for what I did when I first captured you. I can only continue to prove to you that I will take care of you and keep you safe from the prospects of this war we have forged on your planet. I will not let you down like that again, you have my word."
"Thank you, I.. appreciate that." Grace simply answered. "So you.. really meant it when you said I'm not a prisoner anymore?"
"You are not, my dear. If anything you are now my charge, under my protection. I may be a decepticon and serve under a warlord who wishes death upon all humans, but I will not let him or anyone harm you, no matter the outcome of this war."
"Thanks." Grace replied before continuing, "You.. have really looked out for me lately and it's meant a lot. You were there when I was jumped.. when I've been sick.. when I needed supplies."
"And I will continue to do so. With whatever you need." He added in gently.
"I just.. I get these flashbacks of the beginning, when we first met and.. I can't seem to shake it off when it happens. I can't help but manifest that fear from then.. I don't know what the fuck's wrong with me."
"You are experiencing symptoms of trauma, my dear. There is nothing wrong with you."
Grace again bit her lip, so there it was.. even he knew she was having symptoms of trauma, "Am I weak for it?" She suddenly asked quietly.
"Not at all. In fact, I would say it makes you that much stronger, that despite the trauma you experienced you continue to persevere. And I will continue to take care of you to the best of my ability, and while that can never make up for what I did, I can only hope within time I can help you overcome the fear."
"You're doing a pretty good job right now." She added in with a slight smile. "You've shown me I can in fact trust you, I guess I just.. need time, like you said."
Barricade felt his spark warm just a bit when she said that, that he was actually making progress and helping her feel better. "And you can have all the time you need." He replied softly.
His human form came out a few minutes later and came to the passenger side, to which the vehicle's door popped open and he knelt down to hand her what she asked for. "Here you are, my dear. And for extra measure I added in one of those hot drinks that you like."
He handed her a mug and she smiled, "Oh you mean hot chocolate?" She giggled a little.
"I think that's the term, yes." His spark warmed a little more at her giggle.
"Thank you. I definitely could use that right now." Grace smiled at him, "I really appreciate that gesture."
His human form smiled back, before he gently moved her hair out of her face when the wind blew. Grace felt herself smile a little more as they both sat in silence for several moments, enjoying the company of the other.
"Let us head out?" He asked about a minute later.
Grace nodded, and because there was currently no one around to watch them, Barricade's human form vanished into thin air as the passenger door shut and the mustang peeled out of that parking lot.
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Let me know what you think! And again thank you for stopping on by :)
