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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
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Shadows of Tomorrow

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Leaving you hanging is the point, DJ. This chapter elaborates a little more on Hotwire’s past and Barricade’s having trouble controlling himself. Oh, and come Saturday something else I’m working on will be going up here.

~~~

Chapter Eighteen: Your Brain On Backup

Ratchet frowned as he stared at the disc he’d picked up in the surgery. It was a simple matter to read the data on it, since it wasn’t encrypted or even password protected, but considerably less comforting to actually read it...

Confidential Data File 394562659
Mental Evaluation on Neutral-femme Hotwire-23B9
Battlefield Medic, First Class, Incomplete Training
Evaluation by
Three-Pin

My attention was first drawn to Hotwire when associate Scrape requested me to talk to a patient he was having trouble with. In Scrape’s opinion Hotwire displayed some, but not all of the traditional sociopathic qualities. Despite this she still displayed undesirable traits that made her unsuitable for Autobot society; the society she had been created for. Naturally I was curious as to why and how such a ‘bot existed.
In keeping with the model for sociopathic personalities, Hotwire turned out to be a femme of much charm, a trait she seemed to use mostly to exploit others. She was happy to talk about her past, and I learnt that her creators were not both Autobots. Research dictates that while she did not actively choose her function as a medical unit the way most Autobot younglings are encouraged to, most of her youth passed without event.
She displayed only anger that she had been expelled for her behaviour from the final year of Medical Training, and believed the blame rested entirely on her tutor for not recognising her abilities.
She displayed no empathy towards her patients, other inmates, or those she killed or caused to suffer while employing Advanced Triage, a classic sociopathic trait. She found her failure to plan ahead often got her into predicaments but her impulsiveness and general recklessness prevented her from overcoming this trait.
Throughout her life Hotwire explained that she consistently found it difficult to hold down relationships with others, finding it considerably easier to be on her own. She claimed to have never been in love, and did not believe anybody would ever truly love her. She believed nobody could ever accept her and when we first talked, had decided that it was pointless to try. This belief had caused her to become bitter and resentful, resulting in brief berserk rages.
Occasionally Hotwire suffered from Psychotic Episodes brought on by confusion and fear, during which she would often damage herself unwittingly.
In a later interview she proudly informed me that she knew the location of both the deadly Oblivion Virus and its antidote, but showed no evidence of caring about the countless deaths that would occur if the wrong hands were to acquire it, or considered that she herself might one day use it. She merely continually insisted that it was safe in her hands.
With no historic cause of her condition that is often found in other sociopaths, but a deeply private desire to fit in, I recommend that diagnosis be put on hold and a period of twelve months of intensive therapy and constant reviews of her condition-

Ratchet shuddered. It wasn’t that Hotwire had tricked them, exactly. Sociopaths were notoriously good at pretending to be normal. What was genuinely disconcerting was that they had a neutral sociopath and a Decepticon who was also a jerk in the base. What was worse was that Hotwire knew the location of a deadly virus.

Time to tell Prime. With any luck nobody would be dead by the time they decided what to do.

~~~

Barricade grumbled to himself as he rested on his hands and knees, searching the floor for any sign of the lost data disc. It was nowhere obvious, not under anything he could see... "Are you sure it was in this room?" he asked.

"This was the last place I took it out, I put it with all those other discs, except you knocked them over, it should still be in here!" Hotwire scolded him, "It couldn't just walk out, could it?"

Barricade grumbled again, not liking the insinuation that this was all his fault, although technically it was, "I'm starting to wonder,” he replied sarcastically, "It's not in here!"

Hotwire glared at him, "Well discs don't just walk out, no matter what you think," she said, "It must be in this room somewhere and-"

"Looking for something?" a low, calm voice asked them. Hotwire turned around to see Optimus Prime looking down at both of them apathetically.

"It's none of your business, sir," Hotwire told him, rudely.

Barricade glared up angrily at the leader of his enemies, feeling a silent bit of satisfaction at the way Hotwire could say the word ‘sir’ and still make it sound like an insult.

"My apologies. I just wanted to help. How is your patient doing?" Prime asked, despite the fact that Barricade was practically at his feet.

Hotwire stood up - she was at least seventeen feet shorter than Prime - and glared, her entire focus on the Autobot, her arms crossed over her chassis, "Barricade's improving, as you can see," she said, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"He'd be doing a lot better if you left,” Barricade answered for himself, staring at Prime with barely contained hate.

Optimus calmly returned the stare, "This is my base, Barricade, and you would do well to remember that. If it were not for Hotwire, your stay here would be permanent."

Hotwire's fingers flexed irritably, as she glared up at Optimus, "Don't worry, sir," she said simply, "I don't plan to stay here any longer than necessary. You've been very useful."

Optimus Prime gave a tired sigh at Hotwire's snappy reply. He had been hoping for some gratitude from the neutral, considering the lengths he had gone to in order to save a soldier of the enemy camp, but that must have been too much to hope for, "Is that all I have been to you? A tool that was convenient for you to use and then throw away?" he asked.

Hotwire hesitated, and under her visor her expression became one of puzzlement, as if Optimus had asked her what purple smelled like. She tilted her head to one side, obviously giving his words thought, "And why shouldn't I?" she asked him finally, "That's what people do."

"Not all people,” Prime replied with a shake of his head, "But I'll appreciate that you might not understand that."

Barricade growled at Optimus, getting to his feet. The smug, self-satisfied leader of the Autobots was really getting to his head now, "Don't you dare talk down to her,” he spoke in a menacing tone.

Hotwire looked offended, "Are you saying you think there's something wrong with my view of the world?" she asked Prime, glaring at him, her temper rising to the occasion, "I for one don't care what you think."

Optimus was tempted to flat out say yes, but to his credit, he maintained self control, "I think you should be more grateful for what we have done."

Hotwire looked genuinely nonplussed. Optimus Prime had ordered her practically hunted down across the country, and she was supposed to feel grateful for being in this situation? The suggestion confused her, and she was getting angrier by the moment.

"Yes, she should be very grateful for you allowing those humans to catch me so you could persuade her to join you when you saved me!" Barricade snarled at Prime, memories of his recent torture flooding his senses, his wiring burning red hot through the bond.

"There's no need to-" Prime started.

"YES THERE IS!!!" Hotwire exploded, and her power tools slid out as she leapt at Optimus, losing it completely, "DON'T YOU EVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!"

Optimus stepped back slightly, shocked by the considerably smaller robot that had attacked him. He knew that Hotwire was unbalanced, but this was something of an extreme. Defending himself, Optimus shoved the smaller machine off of him before she could do any damage, sending her tumbling across the room. That was the action that set Barricade off, his anger getting the best of him as he let out a metallic war cry, launching himself at Optimus Prime. That blow was a lot more painful.

Hotwire sat up, still furious and slightly disorientated, and looked up at the two robots. It took only seconds for her to realise that if the two of them went on fighting, somebody was going to get badly hurt, and a few more seconds to realise that somebody had to do something about it. It was a few more seconds before she realised that somebody would probably have to be her. She stood up and looked around for some way to stop the fight, knowing there was probably no way in the Pit that she could just crack their heads together, even though that was what she wanted to do.

Optimus and Barricade slammed into the wall behind them both, struggling to overpower each other. Had Barricade been thinking clearly, he would have realised how badly outmatched he was by the far more powerful Prime, but the higher functions of his mind had taken a backseat to emotional release.

"Oh dear," Hotwire ran out of the room and down the corridor. The first person she collided with was Bumblebee. He'd have to do. She grabbed his shoulders, "Prime and Barricade are trying to kill each other!" she shouted in his face.

Bumblebee was quick to react, "Where are they?" he demanded, "Take me there!"

Meanwhile, Barricade's back was getting introduced to the wall while his fist was getting better acquainted with Prime's face. It was extreme close-quarters, too close for their ranged weapons... but in this case, that was exactly what he wanted.

Hotwire grabbed Bumblebee's wrist and dragged him back down the corridor at high speed, and the two of them arrived back at the laboratory turned surgery just as Barricade was being slammed into the wall. Hotwire grabbed Barricade while Bumblebee went for Prime, and the two of them tried to pull the two combatants apart.

It was not difficult to pull Optimus back; he didn't want this fight to begin with. Barricade, on the other hand, still clawed for Optimus as the Autobot leader stepped back. Unthinking, Barricade lashed out at the closest thing to him. In this case, that happened to be Hotwire's face.

Hotwire squealed in pain as Barricade's claws shattered her visor and scratched her face, and she let go of him, stepping backwards, one hand rising to her cheek, which was now showing three ugly scratches down the right side.

The sight of the wounded Hotwire broke through the rage-filled haze of Barricade's mind, freezing him to the spot. It was just long enough for Optimus Prime to push forward, "Restrain him!" he ordered, pinning Barricade to the wall, Bumblebee joining him in his effort.

Hotwire still looked shocked, but she stepped forward and pushed past them both, doing it on her own. Barricade narrowed his optics, and she swung a hand towards his cheek. Barricade caught her wrist, and his face didn’t look the way it normally did. It looked... smug, in a way. As if somebody else was controlling what it was thinking.

“Well done,” he smirked. She swung her other hand, and he caught that wrist too, “Very well done!” But now he was out of hands, and Hotwire always had a knee in reserve. Barricade’s optics crossed as she kneed him in the bolts, and he made a noise best written as ‘Nghi...’ “Mag... nificent!” he whimpered softly as he folded up to the floor.

Hotwire helped Bumblebee and Prime hold Barricade down, "Just because I'm crazy doesn't mean you have to join in!" she scolded him, looking straight into his optics.

He looked back at her in a mix of shame and anger, his mind rebooting from the... glitch that had taken control. He had nothing to say immediately, but his struggles stopped, allowing the three Cybertronians to restrain him, “I didn’t mean to... I just...” he managed, his vents cycling air wildly.

“Social disorders are not an excuse, they are just an explanation,” Hotwire informed him, and sat back again as he stopped struggling, “And you really don’t want them to start controlling your life, because one day you’ll realise how little you care.”

The idea of that didn't really bother the Decepticon. Realising that he had struck Hotwire in anger, however, was much more disturbing, and no excuse he could come up with fit. It was madness, pure and simple. Optimus and Bumblebee roughly pulled him to his feet again and shoved him against the wall, pinning his arms behind his back.

The bond felt uncomfortable suddenly - Barricade was suddenly aware of how Hotwire was quietly boiling. You couldn't talk properly when Prime was right there looking smug, especially when he would pounce on any display of emotion and try to use it to suggest that oh, you're not really all that bad, join us. The femme turned away from Barricade and faced a reflective surface, touching the deep scratches on her cheek. Without even flinching, she switched on her own welding laser and started to fix the cuts, which were now leaking Energon. It had to hurt, but she didn't seem to be allowing any emotion with the repairs, most likely to spare Barricade the pain.

"Hey, are you alright, Hotwire?" Bumblebee asked of the wounded medic as she tended to the wounds on her face.

Optimus quickly got the attention of the younger robot, "Stay focused, Bumblebee. We need to sedate him."

Barricade growled fiercely upon hearing the mention of sedatives, but he still refused to say anything. He didn't have to, for Hotwire. His confusing torrent of emotion hammered her mind, filled with anger and shame and embarrassment.

Meanwhile, she continued to block off any emotional pain she was feeling, finishing the welding, and turned around. The leaking had stopped, but now there were three neat slices on her cheek, and the glass visor would take a few hours to heal up again, "Barricade's not a danger when you're not around, Prime," she said cuttingly, "I thought you said I was going to treat him, not your people."

"Then treat him,” Optimus Prime snapped at her as he kept a firm grip on Barricade. The last thing he needed was some Decepticon losing control and hurting one of his people. Barricade had always been rather touchy by reputation.

"I don't need sedatives to treat him," Hotwire snapped back, "If you're so worried about him, just open one of your blasted cells and play it straight and put me in with him!"

"That can be arranged,” Optimus replied, dragging Barricade away from the wall, "If he cannot behave if he so much as sees one of us, then I have no choice but to put him in a cell," Prime frowned at her, "Are you sure being in the same cell as him is a good idea?"

"I'm not scared of anything, and I'm definitely not scared of Barricade," Hotwire replied, despite her shattered visor and cut cheek, drawing herself up to her full height, which was still somewhat lacking in comparison to the mechs in the room.

"As you wish,” Optimus Prime said, dragging Barricade along towards the cell block.

Barricade looked back at Hotwire as she followed them both, but he quickly looked away again, unable to meet her optics.

~~~

Harley: End of Chapter. Well, obviously. But not the end of the fic, not right yet. Everybody’s still a fucked up mess. Yeah, well that was the point.
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Shadows of Tomorrow