A Trip to the Skate Park

A Trip to the Skate Park

5. Gramma and the Wolf

He knew everything that happened, of course. Starscream had sought him, amongst others, out immediately after the battle at Mission City, and informed them all that the great Lord Megatron was defeated by a mere organic youngling.

A youngling.

Surely, there must be treachery afoot. What organic could possibly defeat the Lord and Master of the Decepticon''s? It was impossible, and his circuits could not process such information. In fact, they threatened to crunch that tidbit into bits of worthless data that would be erased from his system.

But that was illogical. He didn''t have Shockwave''s cold logic, and sometimes that was a nuisance. Sometimes, it was an asset.

Like now.

They would find Megatron, and restore him to his former glory, but first, the organic filth would PAY.

Dearly.

Shockwave wouldn''t approve of such actions. They were revenge oriented and therefore illogical, but Shockwave wasn''t around, and here HE was, sooo very close to earth.

Starscream, was second in command, and therefore, his commanding officer, but only in title. Starscream was cunning and sly, but his conniving could only carry him so far.

Real power came from fear. And he knew he was feared. By all except Megatron himself. As it should be.

Just as it should be.


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The truce was uneasy, but kept. For the most part anyway. Cade and Bee threw each other frequent filthy glares, and there was the time Sam came outside to find Bee and Cade''s holograms feverishly kicking the hell out of each other''s tires, but they didn''t do anything too serious to each other. Not so far, at least.

“Close your eyes, Sam. It''s a surprise. And NO peeking!”

Sam grumbled to himself, but complied. Barricade had shown up in his driveway today, declaring that he wanted to show something to Sam. Sam went willingly enough, he never had a problem spending time with Barricade. Though, he hadn''t failed to notice the look on Cade''s holo when he''d gently rubbed Bee''s hood goodbye.

His face flushed thinking of his best friend. Bee had been true to his word, it seemed, and forgiven Sam. He never made any mention of what he''d seen, or what he was sure to know happened while he was washing Cade at Mikaela''s uncle''s shop, but still. Sam felt guilty on many levels. Most of all, he wondered what the hell he''d been thinking at the over look, when he''d kissed Bee, and further more, how could he have been disappointed when Bee just stood there? Like he had any right to ask for more? Hell, did he even WANT more?

He honestly didn''t know. Sam spent hours mulling over that question in his head, but nothing. And worse, what if he did? What would he tell Cade? He supposed it didn''t matter anyway. Bee had no interest in him, at least not like that, he''d made that painfully clear that day at the over look.

Barricade''s alt form coming to a slow stop interrupted Sam''s thoughts, and he asked, “Can I look now?”

“NO. You need to learn patience boy. Sit there.”

Sam snorted, “Yeah, like you can talk.”

Sam sat there with his eyes closed, and listened to the sound of Cade''s passenger door opening. He was right in the middle of wondering how Barricade expected him to walk anywhere with his eyes closed when he was suddenly hoisted out of his seat, and thrown over Cade''s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Barricade chuckled at Sam''s unmanly shriek of surprise, warned him again about peeking, and from the feel of it, started carrying Sam up a flight of stairs. Unable to resist, Sam peeked. For all the good it did him. All he got was a glimpse of a dimly lit staircase that did nothing to tell him where he was at, or what they were doing there. He really hoped it wasn''t anything illegal. Sam had had quite enough of being arrested, thank you very much.

The backs of Sam''s eyelids turned red as a light came on, and Cade set him gently on his feet, steadying him with a hand on his shoulder until Sam regained his balance. He heard Cade whisper to him to open his eyes, and while he didn''t really know if he''d been expecting anything, he sure as hell knew he wasn''t expecting this.


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Bee knew that multi-tasking was a lovely and glorious thing. If it weren''t for the cybertronian ability to process and maintain several functions at once, Bee would simply be sitting in the driveway woolgathering, instead, he was simultaneously scanning sectors of the town for Decepticon activity, playing World of Warcraft, drooping over the currently miserable status of his personal life, and using his hologram to help Judy Witwicky in her garden. Judy had been exceptionally thrilled to find out about Bee''s hologram. She knew the ever polite ''bot would be happy to help her in the garden; something Sam had no interest in.

Sam. Bee sighed. It seemed as though his thoughts always managed to come right back to him, no matter what other activities Bee was currently engaged in. Bee figured he was stuck in the proverbial rock and hard place. He didn''t want to prevent Sam from spending time with Barricade because he thought Sam would resent that. On the other hand, the more time Sam spent with Barricade, the closer they seemed to get. It was a problem he couldn''t quite wrap his CPU around. For Primus'' Sake, how was he supposed to fix that? He wished Mikaela was home, and not working. She''d be great to talk to. Plus, he still wanted to try talking her out of the decision she''d made. He thought he might have a chance if he threatened to tell Ratchet of Mikaela''s crush on him. Maybe. Then again, maybe she secretly wanted to be ratted out.

Bee''s talk with Mikaela while she''d been making his repairs had been quite... enlightening. Most especially, her reason for breaking up with Sam I the first place. She told Bee that she''d left Sam because she noticed Sam''s attraction for Bee, and she felt it best to end things there, as opposed to letting their relationship carry on.

“I felt it would be less complicated that way,” she''d said.

“Did you tell him why, exactly?” Bee had been extremely interested to know that answer.

Mikaela told Bee no. “I just told him we''d be better off as friends. If I''d told him that I thought he had feelings for you, it wouldn''t have gone well. I would have been pretty much saying ''I''m leaving you because I think you''re gay'' and that would have been cruel, especially for a guy his age. I figured he''d come around to his own conclusions, but I never expected this.”

Neither had Bee. He''d told Mikaela everything, editing out some of the more graphic details, including his decision not to tell Sam of his feelings. Kaela hadn''t agreed with that one so much. She felt it was Bee''s pride more than anything holding him back, and didn''t see how it was bound to do anyone any good.

And then, on the drive back to Sam''s house, after they''d parted ways with Barricade, Bee got a text message from Mikaela.

If Sam doesn''t come around on his own, I''m going to tell him how you feel.

Bee''s tank had dropped. He was surprised he didn''t find it dragging around on the ground somewhere. But still, he didn''t tell Mikaela no. He didn''t beg her not to. He kinda had an idea that even if Kaela called him right now, at this very instant, he wouldn''t follow through on his idea to blackmail her out of telling Sam. Maybe he did want Sam to know.

Maybe he just didn''t want to be the one to tell him.


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Sam opened his eyes to find himself standing in a bright and cheerful kitchen, complete with a red and white checkered table cloth and matching drapes over the sink. There were even cookies on the table. Oooo, chocolate chip!

Dazed, Sam wandered around the rest of the small apartment, taking in the bright happy space of the living room, and the simply decorated bedroom.

The bathroom was decorated with cows.

Stunned, Sam turned to look into Cade''s grinning face. “Cade, you didn''t off some old lady and take her house did you?”

Looking completely serious, Cade said, “Sure I did. Do you like?”

Sam looked sick. The green look quickly turned to an annoyed red when Barricade''s laughter boomed out at him. “I wasn''t being serious. This is Gramma''s garage apartment. My alt form is parked below us.”

“Gramma?”

Cade looked slightly defensive. “She''s my friend. I thought maybe it was time you met her.”

Still more than a little stunned, Sam asked, “How did YOU meet her?”

“I offered her a ride.” There was more to it than that, way more, and as Cade tried to explain he looked away from Sam, out the window. This was the only part he felt uncomfortable with. How was he, a Decepticon, supposed to explain how lonely he was all by himself? He didn''t know how to explain to Sam that he''d seen Gramma walking down the sidewalk to the store in her usual painful looking rolling gait, hands perched on canes while the sunlight glinted off the cumbersome metal braces on her legs, and admired her tenacity and courage. So yeah, this squishy was more feeble than others, but she''d taken her lot in life, and he could look at the cheerful and kind expression on her face and know she wasn''t resentful or bitter.

When he''d offered her a ride to where ever she was going, Gramma had looked right into his sunglasses and said, “Young man, did it ever occur to you that I don''t need a ride?”

Her reaction startled Barricade into honesty and he replied, “Did it ever occur to you that I might just want some company?”

Gramma looked at him hard for a few moments, as if she could read his intent in the lines of his artificial skin, then said, “Well, since you put it that way, everyone calls me Gramma, and I''m going to the store.”

Sam was really dumbfounded now. “Doesn''t she know that''s dangerous? Getting in the car with strangers? Especially ones that look like you?”

“You got in the car with me.”

“You threw me in the car with you.”

“... A minor technicality. Besides, she knew I meant her no harm. Gramma seems to just... know some things.” Cade thought for a minute. “I''m quite sure she knows I''m not human. She never comes up here looking for my holo, instead, she just goes in the garage and talks to my car alt.”

Gramma (that''s what everyone calls me) was nothing like Sam expected. She was clearly quite old, with long, thick white hair, but she had a spryness to her that didn''t quite mesh with the heavy braces on her legs. She caught Sam looking at them and informed him that she''d contracted Polio as a child. I was one of the lucky ones, she said. I lived.

Sam figured she had a point there. She''d endeared herself to him in more ways than one, mostly though, by managing to make Cade blush. As soon as Sam got all the way down the stairs, her face lit right up and and she said, “Why, you must be Cade''s special friend. Sam. I''ve heard all about you.”

Sam raised an eyebrow in Cade''s direction, but the ''Con didn''t see it as he was too busy looking at his own tire. They took her to the hothouse to buy some new flowers, and while she chatted on the way, she was never boring.

She also owned them both in a game of Hearts.

On the way back to Sam''s house, he told Cade, “What kind of super, advanced alien robot lets an old woman beat him at cards?”

Cade gave Sam a look that reminded Sam of a wet cat, then said, “She''s tricky.”

“So that''s where you go when you''re not with me?”

“Most of the time, yes. I enjoy her company.”

Sam could understand that, he did, too. “I''m glad you took me there Cade, I really like her.”

Barricade pulled into Sam''s driveway, and pulled Sam to him for a sweet, brief kiss. “So do I.”

Sam wrapped his arms around Cade, pulling him close. God, why did everything have to be so complicated? Sam wanted everything to be simple, to be able to make Barricade happy. “I want to invite you in... but...”

“I understand, Sam. I do. I will see you soon.”

“Very soon?”

“Yes.”

Cade watched Sam enter the house, flashed his lights at Bumblebee, as much to taunt him as to be friendly, and pulled out of the driveway. He would go to Gramma''s and park for tonight.

He hadn''t been on the road long when he received a message over his comm-link. Puzzled as to whom it could be, he opened the comm and had to stop himself from shuddering as he felt Soundwave''s presence over the link. First, a set of coordinates, then:

Barricade, Decepticon designation number 11008, you are to report to me immediately at the previously disclosed location.