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Shadows of Tomorrow	By : Breech_Loader Category: Transformers > Transformers: Animated > Het - M/F Views: 1756 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
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- 13
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Shadows of Tomorrow

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

~~~

Harley: Well, let’s see... people seem interested in why Hotwire became crazy. At least, DJ does. Well, it’ll be a while yet but I’ll just tell you now, that it’s not a good excuse. She didn’t get raped or anything, if you’re hoping for that. I’m sick of fics where the character has something lousy happen to them and they go insane and then just as soon as they fall in love everything’s great again.

Froggy: More sex in this chapter, but don’t worry, there’s a point to it all.

~~~

Chapter Twelve: Real Gone

Once again, Barricade and Hotwire found themselves on the road. This time, like the time before, they didn't have Frenzy along for the ride to annoy him with their presence, and they both started to miss him. It beat those uncomfortable silences that came between them ever since Barricade had brought up the subject of bonding.

Hotwire was still deep in thought over the suggestion. She hadn't said much ever since she had tried to kill Barricade. What made her feel uncomfortable was how much she cared. It was a new feeling. She glanced at Barricade. They had been on the road now for several hours, and she was wondering if he was regretting suggesting the bond with her.

From what Barricade could tell, they were entering Oklahoma now. He kept his sensors alert for any motorcycles that Hotwire could scan, but so far, there was no success. Asides from that, his thoughts kept drifting to Hotwire herself. He had mostly forgiven her for trying to make his head a part of the floor, but he still anxiously waited for her answer about the bonding. He couldn't keep his mind off it, and he longed for her to say yes so badly that his circuits ached. The Decepticon grunted, trying to free himself from that cycle. It wasn't going to do him any good to dwell on something he couldn't change. They had more immediate concerns. They always did.

The best place to find a police motorcycle would logically be a police station, Hotwire reasoned. Although there was the option of creating a disturbance to attract them. She did a scan of the nearest city on the Interstate 40. Barricade was quiet now, and the absence of Frenzy was telling, "You spend a lot of time with Frenzy, don't you?" she asked Barricade suddenly, to break the silence.

Barricade considered the question, "Scouts are often far away from the support of comrades while on a mission, often for a long time,” he explained to her, speaking for the first time in hours, "You come to depend on your partner, both for the job and for staying sane. Although he did his best to do otherwise."

Hotwire smiled mentally, "You don't seem that bad," she said, "A little angry sometimes, but otherwise..." Barricade was reminded of when Frenzy had accused him of being angry all the time, "I've been isolating myself for years now. It was easier than picking a team, at the time..."

Barricade frowned; Hotwire seemed oddly open all of a sudden. Second thoughts? Feelings of guilt? "I sure hope I'm alright,” he replied with a soft chuckle before continuing, "I've always preferred to be... away from most people. I don't like being alone, but I only want to have a few with me. Do you understand?"

Hotwire gave it some thought, "Well..." she started, and then fell silent. Understanding other people's points of view wasn't exactly one of her strong points, at least beyond manipulating them, "Anyway, I want to be with you. I'm just not sure about the rest of it..." She looked up suddenly at a passing police motorcycle, "That's the type we want!" she said sharply.

Barricade wasted no time in changing course and pursuing the motorcycle, trying not to be too obvious about it. This was one of the main reasons they had gone in this direction, and they weren't going to miss the opportunity, "Alright, Hotwire. This is your chance,” he said to her.

Hotwire scanned the motorcycle, as well as the human on it so that her hologram would fit. This meant she had to drop all previous transformation data on the BMW R1200RT. She then pulled over in a lay-by, "Blast, there's nowhere private to transform!" she snapped, irritably.

Barricade thought fast. They could just keep driving into the next city or town, but he knew how hard it could be to hold that data until then. She could just transform there on the road, he considered, doubting that the humans would even notice the brief change, but he had the feeling that the solitary, paranoid Hotwire wouldn't go for it. So instead, he came to an in-between solution, pulling off to the side of the road. "Do it behind me,” he said quickly.

"Don't look," Hotwire said. There was the sound of rearranging metal. About thirty seconds passed before she finally announced, "Done." When Barricade looked she was identical to the R1200RT-P model in every way, "I can't wait to be able to actually stand up," she commented to him.

"It shouldn't be long. We're almost to the next city,” he told her, pulling out of the ditch and back onto the road. Privately, he wondered why she didn't want him to watch when he had seen her in a far more intimate position before. That was femmes for you. He made no mention of that. Instead, he took a good look at her new police variant disguise and chuckled, "Now we look like a team,” he added.

Hotwire smiled, "That's right, we do," she said, "Do you think it was all an accident?" she continued thoughtfully, "All the things that happened to bring us together... it doesn't feel like mere coincidence."

To Barricade, it felt like nothing but coincidence. A chain of lucky occurrences that he felt grateful for. For the most part, anyway, "I didn't think you were the kind to believe in fate,” he spoke casually, driving along.

"I don't know," Hotwire admitted, "Fate? I wouldn't have called it that. I have complete control over my own life, I wouldn't want some nonexistent entity to be controlling my life. But it does feel like... more than chance. I'm happy around you. That's new for me."

Barricade smiled, driving slightly closer to the other robot, "It's a first for me, too,” he admitted, "I don't know if this was fate or chance. It doesn't really matter. I'm just glad it's happened."

They continued to drive. Hotwire had become silent again, passing things over in her mind. Some analysis of her new form meant she realised she'd probably look different in bipedal form too. But she didn't want to risk trying it in the open. They'd have to get to the city first. Still, two police vehicles would be a lot less obvious than a civilian vehicle and a police cruiser together, "Maybe we'll manage to shake the Autobots off now," she said hopefully.

"We can hope so,” he agreed. They were less likely to be noticed this way. As usual, disguising themselves as authority figures meant that humans would try to avoid them, which was exactly what they needed. The Autobots would have a harder time tracking them. Of course, there will still the matter of Frenzy to consider, but that was a concern for later.

~~~

By the time they pulled into the small, unimportant town some way west of the state of Oklahoma, Hotwire was feeling a lot more comfortable with her modifications. Nobody paid any attention to a police motorcycle and a cruiser, whereas before a BMW touring bike as an accompaniment had drawn a few raised eyebrows, "You know, I guess we really are partners now," she commented to Barricade.

"Heh. Of course we are,” Barricade replied, slowing down and seeking somewhere to stop for a rest. An abandoned gas station was soon found. Between changing their appearance and fleeing this far east, he was sure that they had lost whatever Autobot pursuit was after them. "Now we have matching paint jobs,” he added.

There was no-one around. Hotwire unfolded, stood up and poked him, "There's one thing we're not matching," she said, prodding his Decepticon logo.

She was basically the same shape as she had been when in her previous form - a round, rather childish face that belied her life. It was coupled with a body that would have been skinny for somebody half her height. But apart from the new paint job there were a few more alterations. A visor covered her blue optics and made it even harder than usual to read her emotions. Three metal cables were plaited meticulously all the way down her back, and the plait itself twitched slowly, more like a tail.

"You like?" she asked Barricade.

Barricade’s optics scanned up and down her slightly altered body. The stark black and white paintjob was both more intimidating and more... neutral. The way her visor covered her face and some of her plating had been rearranged reminded him of a human wearing riot gear, also fitting for her new transformation, "Oh yes,” he rumbled, unfolding, "I like."

"Well," Hotwire sat down next to him, "Did I ever apologise for trying to kill you?" she checked, "It's a bit of a blur now..."

Barricade nodded his head. "Yes, you did apologise, but a little more wouldn't be bad,” he answered her, "It makes my head ache less."

"For what it's worth, usually when I go nuts there's nobody around to apologise to," Hotwire said, "People run for it. I appreciate you staying."

"There's no need to thank me. That's an old habit,” Barricade explained, "A scouting pair must rely on each other to survive. Not only is abandoning a partner considered stupid, it's also... bad manners." The Decepticon chuckled.

Hotwire smiled again, "I didn't know Decepticons cared about manners," she said, poking Barricade again.

"Only if you don't want to irritate someone,” he corrected her, poking back, "But I suppose that doesn't matter as much to a neutral, hmm?"

"I guess not," Hotwire said, "And... I've been thinking about your offer too. I guess maybe you caught me off guard... maybe. I mean... nobody wants me... for me..."

"Except for me,” Barricade gently corrected her again, leaning back and relaxing, "I understand if my offer surprised you. Still... what do you think of it now?"

Hotwire sat back. It wasn't that the decision was hard in itself. It sounded like a great idea. But what if she lost him? Then it would hurt even worse. They were still being chased by the Auto-basts, right? And the meatbags, "It's a big choice," she said finally.

"It is a big choice,” the larger robot agreed casually, glancing over at his companion, "It's a big risk, too, but I'm willing to take that risk. Like I said before; I like dangerous." He smirked at Hotwire.

Hotwire's smile twitched and she raised her visor, "Still?" she asked him, looking him in the optics. She lowered the visor again, "This is just about the first time I've contemplated something so... risky."

"There are no gains without taking risks,” Barricade told her, reciting something a Decepticon instructor had shouted at him over and over again until his head rang. It was, after all, the key to his success, to be willing to take certain calculated risks.

Hotwire nodded, "I'm not against taking risks," she said, smiling as if she was aware of the irony of the rest of the statement, "I just like to think them out properly first."

Barricade chuckled and smiled again at Hotwire, watching as she dealt with the risky decision, "Then think it out properly, and decide when the time is right, but be careful not to be paralysed by thinking." He should have known better than think that of a battlefield medic, though.

"It's hard to trust," Hotwire said, "I'll just say what I'm thinking - I want to, but I don't want to lose you."

Barricade flexed and tightened the metal fingers of one hand, doing his own thinking about the subject, "I don't intend to be lost,” he rumbled deeply.

"Does anybody?" Hotwire asked him casually, "I've seen more deaths than you can shake a Gatling gun at, and those people didn't intend to lose themselves. Some of them had bondmates too."

"So what are you saying?" Barricade asked the neutral medic, sitting up straight and looking her in her blue optics, "Should we not try to live life to its fullest because one of us might get killed?"

"Hey, that's not what I said," Hotwire snapped, "I think I love you, and I've never, ever been scared of doing anything before! That includes heading into active battlefields and being shanghaied by Autobots and Decepticons to replace their previous medic!"

Barricade stayed silent, his gaze never breaking away from her face. It wasn't his intention to offend her. It was his intention to make her really think.

Hotwire raised her visor again, this time pushing it right up where it stayed, "That's right, I'm not scared of anything, but I'm scared of losing you," she said, sounding angry.

Barricade understood what she meant. People had praised him for his skills before. Some people had even liked him. No one had ever been afraid for him, "I've never heard kinder words in my life,” he finally spoke.

Hotwire smiled. She still looked uncertain, but... it was as if her decision was changing, "I do want to be with you, Barricade," she said, "Whichever team you belong to, and whatever happens to them, I don't care about that. But I care about you. Which is... strange."

"And I care about you,” Barricade replied softly, moving closer to the smaller robot and placing a hand on her shoulder. This was the one thing in the world that he could not take and could only be given, "Will you bond with me?" he asked her again, "P... Please?"

Hotwire looked up at the older, larger mech. For a moment the perpetual madness in her mind wondered what life would be like if she said no. If she did the crazy thing, like she always usually did despite her claims of sanity and sensibility, and turned away from this one, final chance.

And in a million worlds that was the choice made. Hotwire drove away and she never saw Barricade again. The bitterness swamped her and nothing could stop it this time, for there was nobody and nothing to cushion the blow. All the horrible things that happened after that seemed more like justice, really.

But for the choice to be made, there had to be worlds where it could happen. Even one would be enough.

"Yes, I will," she said softly.

It took a moment for the answer to register in Barricade's mind, and then the larger mech smiled broadly. He would never admit that he was afraid she would say no, but he supposed that soon, she would know that anyway. The idea of never being able to have anything totally secret was unusual, but with Hotwire, it was something he was more than ready to accept.

Hotwire smiled at his expression, "I bet you didn't think I could still surprise you, huh?" she asked him, and kissed him softly. As they kissed she grabbed her metal plait and found a USB interface cable in it, "Now, where's yours?" she asked him.

Barricade's spark flared in response to her words and closeness and the realization that this really was about to happen. The nervous little fear at facing the unknown was squashed beneath his desire for this. Reaching up slowly, Barricade unsheathed his own access port and connective cable, stripping away armour plating and then stripping down past that into his internal electronics.

Hotwire located the appropriate port on her lower torso. Shifting her bodywork with one hand, the other wrapped around Barricade's shoulders, she smiled and started to move aside the plating on his chassis.

Barricade smiled and murmured happily, reaching over to let his hands slide across her chassis, returning the favour and sliding a few plates aside, exposing the more delicate technology beneath it all. One finger stroked her access port, something they had never used for mere merging.

Hotwire giggled awkwardly, "I... I've never bonded before," she said, somewhat unnecessarily. Her hand wandered down Barricade's body and rubbed his access port, while she herself never broke optical contact from him.

Barricade held that optical contact with her, continuing to stroke her port. This was going to be different from merging. This would involve a hardware connection, a permanent one. Barricade watched her lovingly as he pulled away more panels, almost entirely exposing her circuitry now. The mech drew himself closer to her, drawing Hotwire into an embrace.

A hardware connection, and a merge, at the same time... Hotwire knew she was trembling with excitement. He was going to know everything she ever felt. Actual thoughts were processor controlled, but their sparks were going to merge and it was never going to end...

Barricade brought himself against her, pulling Hotwire into a heated kiss, his hands caressing her sides and down her legs, coming back up to rub against her chassis and spark casing. He reached to touch his own connection port, checking it and preparing his systems, dropping all his protective firewalls.

Hotwire was making similar preparations, not wanting to run out of guts before they interfaced, merged and bonded. If she thought about it she'd do what she always did - the stupid, crazy thing, "I'm not scared," she told Barricade, "Please keep distracting me so I don't end up lying."

He reached in and felt through her circuitry and wires, pinching one here and there, setting off as many sensitive pressure sensors as he could, knowing how much she enjoyed it. The larger mech pushed on her body, guiding her down to the floor as he climbed on top of her, a pleased rumble emitted from his speakers.

Hotwire's heels dug into the cement under them. She traced her fingers over Barricade's now-exposed spark casing, then his port, before plugging her USB cable into him.

Barricade hissed in pleasure and plugged his cable into her, feeling his systems begin to sync up with hers, data streaming between them and verifying what they intended to do. Barricade held himself heavily over her, bringing their exposed spark casings against each other, rubbing their steel bodies together.

Hotwire gave a low groan as Barricade plugged his interface cord into her port, then again as their sparks met. This was intense. She'd thought merging was emotionally fulfilling, but this... this was so...

"Hotwire..." the other mech moaned as the bond began, starting with the merge they had become familiar with. His spark flared and overloaded, energy crackling between their steel bodies, stressed sensors processing pleasure, and data streaming between their processors.

"Careful..." Hotwire gasped, "Don't want a system crash now..."

Barricade could feel her emotions and as a result, many of her random thoughts - mostly anger and bitterness, but also excitement, memories of past patients that were packed in Long Term Data, old grudges and emotional pain, more pain than he remembered from merging. He grimaced as he processed her pain, and memories of his own began to cross over to her, memories of the thrill he had on his successful deep behind enemy lines scouting missions, the frustration of suffering Decepticon defeats, and pain there, too. The pain of his battles against the Autobots, the pain of his steel being warped and torn by blows and weapons, the pain of having circuits and sensors fried.

Hotwire gritted her teeth, "I... don't care what I have to share to be with you," she gasped, "And... I'll take care of all your pain..." Her hand stroked his face. The merge was going deeper, dredging up memories that they had both put behind them and transferring data.

His hand came up to rest on hers, giving it a squeeze. Barricade was seeing more here than he dreamed of, her successes and failures, her hopes and fears, the quirks and pieces of madness in her personality. He loved every bit of it. More of him transferred to her. His pride at joining the Decepticons. A more recent memory: the hopelessness he felt at being unable to reach the battle fast enough. An older, fonder memory of him and Frenzy working together. She even got to see her first meeting with him from his own perspective.

Hotwire's heels dug into the cement again and she gripped Barricade's hands, "We'll find him..." she managed, "And... nnngh... almost... there..." More memories - intimate and private and incredibly complicated - and some of them involving merges with other mechs - came into Barricade. It was like swimming in treacle, and he had to get past them all to get to her.

He had to get through them, though, had to get back to her. He pushed through the data streams, absorbing them to his own memory banks as he sought her out, clung to her, allowed himself to melt into her. Their sparks were burning out of control, and their sensors had given up trying to give them accurate readings. Now, they were all that was there within their steel shells, holding onto each other, close in a way they couldn't have imagined before.

Hotwire gasped a few more times, then they synchronised even as she kissed him. This time they wouldn't have to stop feeling each other right there, and for now, even through the shock and pain and rage, it was such a wonderful thought.

Barricade moaned loudly into the kiss, electricity sparking off his chassis, their sparks coming together and combining, their thoughts and feelings linked up with each other. It was incredible, beyond description. No matter how far apart they moved, he could feel Hotwire there. There it was, the sense that he would never be alone again. Her feelings flowed through his wiring, and her thoughts whispered in his processor, just as his did with her.

The merge was over, but the bond was complete, and it would never break, "Barricade..." Hotwire groaned, "I... I feel... really different... well... not really... but slightly... enough..."

"Me too..." Barricade spoke, static in his voice, the large mech holding himself over her. They were no longer merged, but in a way, they still were, their processors working in sync. He reached down, smiling and caressing her face.

Hotwire smiled and nuzzled her cheek into Barricade's hand, unplugging herself from him and sliding her bodywork back into place. Suddenly she embraced him close, holding him tightly.

Barricade paused in surprise, but then returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her firmly, holding her in their embrace. The words 'never alone again' kept spinning through his mind, and he couldn't tell if they were his thoughts, or Hotwire's.

And for that matter, he didn’t care.

~~~

Harley: Okay, so that’s how a bond is different to a merge. There was a point to that, too.
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Shadows of Tomorrow