Honey and Blood

Disclaimer: Alas, another idea with Barricade! Only this time, it has pairings from the film. I decided I liked the idea of Mikaela and Barricade and wanted to try it out. I may use quotes from the movie, so if you see them, I do not own them. I thought it best to do that as a means of establishing the film's chronological order, just as I had done with In Too Deep. This little fic was inspired by the art of "down boy" by prisonsuit-rabbitman.

"The honey in the flower or lotus does not crave for bees; they do not plead with the bees to come. Since they have tasted the sweetness, they themselves search for the flowers and rush in. They come because of the attachment between themselves and sweetness. So, too, is the relationship between the woman who knows the limits and the respect she evokes."

-Sri Sathya Sai Baba

"Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones."

-Henry David Thoreau

By: VampireQueenAkasha

"Autobots, foul Autobots, here we come. Let our long war resume-and let it end here."

—Barricade, Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday

Epilogue

Tranquility

Banes Scrap and Repair

Five Months Later

The Banes family shop had been fully repaired by Stucky, Pudge, Sam and the rest of Mikaela's friends. She now had the courage to reopen it and take her father's place. A sign outside read not exactly what Mikaela had in mind.

"All customers welcome!" and in parentheses it read "Except homos and Jews". Another statement in parentheses. "And strippers get half off". She rolled her eyes and glanced back at Stucky and Pudge, who wore bright, goofy 80's clothes.

"Okay, I can tell you right now this sign ain't staying up." Mikaela snapped.

Pudge and Stucky flashed her broad grins and shrugged. They did not see Trent walking up behind them until they turned around. He was mildly bandaged up now and still seemed a bit jittery around the house knowing Barricade was still around.

"M-Mikaela?" he said.

Mikaela turned and smiled, very fluid in her motions. She didn't seem at all deterred by the sight of the football player there. "Well hi there, Trent," she answered, pleasantly, "Nice to uh...see you I guess. What do you need from me?"

Trent bit his lip, struggling not to lose his temper right there in front of her where he could get attacked again. He glanced at the two boys and managed a mocking grin at their outfits. "Nice outfits." he said, "Were'd you get 'em?"

Stucky grinned and pretended to think. "Off some whore. I think it was your mother." he joked, laughing. He slapped Pudge a high five and the shorter twin joined him in laughter.

Trent pursed his lips tightly with anger. "So, then I guess you guys think you're really amazing now, don't ya'?" he snapped.

Pudge and Stucky continued to taunt the football player. "Haha, that's funny I didn't know am-a-zing had three syllables in it...that's just really ama-za-zaing." Pudge sneered, glancing at his twin brother in delight. He sniggered.

Trent tightened his lips with a growl, but immediately lost all bravado as he heard the shrill sirens of Barricade coming around the corner. With a groan, he quickly rushed off down the alleyway, out of sight before the robot could see him.

Barricade pulled up at Mikaela's side and she could not resist the laugh. "Do you always have to scare that guy?" she said.

Barricade chuckled softly. "Oh, no, my human." he murmured, "I have other bigger ones to irritate." He transformed and sighed deeply. "You informed me to ignore that brute Ironhide. However, I find it difficult to ignore someone when he's shouting nonsense."

"Oh nooo..." Stucky murmured, off the side.

Barricade glanced at him with annoyance.

"Oh, don't you spend all your free time worrying about him, Barricade." Mikaela said, laughing. "I guess he's still a little uptight in his smoke pipes about the idea of a Decepticon moving around freely in the Autobot ranks. He'll come around."

Barricade was quiet for a while. "How is Sam taking it?"

Mikaela bent down to pick up a case of beer and chuckled a bit. She knew that eventually Sam had grown fine with their odd relationship. So they had agreed to stay friends seeing since Barricade made her so happy. Sam was saddened by the idea, but he wanted to still see her all the time. And...secretly, she knew he was scared of the Decepticon.

"Well...we agreed to stay just friends. I told him if we can all just learn to get along and not be so dodgy around each other, it's good enough for me." she replied, "Besides, it'll work out much better that way, Barricade. Everyone's cool."

Barricade seemed to know what she was saying and sighed deeply. "You love me more than I deserve." he murmured, softly.

Mikaela put the case of beer down on her truck and flashed a grin as Stucky and Pudge snatched it up. Her cat decided to roost on the truck's hood and she laughed. "Pudge, Stucky...don't go and get hammered on me again." she advised, "I don't want to drag you back home like that Christmas party last year at Uncle Lou's house."

Pudge laughed and glanced down at Mikaela's cat, giving it a gentle pat. "Wow. Hey, I love cats. They taste like chicken."

"Get outta here, you two." Mikaela laughed, pushing Pudge aside.

They laughed and rushed off with the beer to leave Barricade and Mikaela alone. Barricade rumbled something under his breath and relaxed. "Perhaps we should leave this little place and go for a ride." he suggested.

Mikaela flashed a smile. "Alright."

The two drove off into the town and Barricade found a spot by the lake, where she had told him about the party Trent had taken her.

"Do you like it here, Barricade?" Mikaela asked.

Barricade did not understand the question entirely. "Well, the scene is rather peaceful and the water seems clear enough for you to bathe in, although the microorganisms and protozoa possibly flourishing in it makes me question why humans - "

"No, I mean, here," Mikaela interrupted, "With me."

Barricade was silent for the longest time. "Yes," he finally answered.

"Will you stay here this time?" Mikaela asked, hopefully. She leaned back and rubbed the seats, making the Cruiser beneath her rumble softly. "Promise me you won't leave."

"Hm. Very well, Mikaela." Barricade said, softly, "I promise."

Mikaela seemed relieved and leaned forward against his dashboard. She stroked and petted him. "Thank you, Barricade." she murmured, against the dash. "Thank you." She gasped and felt something, looking up.

Barricade had deployed his human holoform and had his hand on her back. Mikalea sat up and met those reddish, almost-human eyes. She gently touched the holoform's hand, interlocking their fingers. Mikaela knew her young, perfect skin would eventually grow old, fill with wrinkles and leave Barricade with more heartache once she died. But for now, she had to embrace what she had.

Barricade seemed to sense what she was thinking about and leaned forward, connecting his human mouth with her own. "Don't think about it." he said, against her lips.

Mikaela relaxed and accepted that mouth against hers, catching the back of his head with her hand.

While the pair were together at the lakeside, Pudge and Stucky watched them from a tree. Pudge smirked.

"Well, my dangerous bro, tomorrow is another day...and those metal dick weeds that hurt our friends will get their asses kicked." he said, in a dramatic voice. Finally, he resumed a goofy one and grinned and Stucky. "Slurpee?"

Stucky nodded in agreement. "Dude."

Pudge laughed and prepared to scale down the tree. "We're outta here!"

The two boys tried to climb down and ended up falling onto the ground, flat on their faces. Mikaela and Barricade glanced back, Mikaela laughing at their antics. The two boys flashed a thumbs up. Barricade just watched Mikaela's laughing expression.

Lord Megatron is gone, as is the Decepticon army.

Starscream continues to try and destroy me for my apparent betrayal. However, I feel as if I did not betray the Decepticons. I remain loyal to my heritage and my destiny as a Decepticon, not to Starscream. And I have the human who I know will remain at my side until the end.

THE END

O

Note-Well, I ended the fic here. I know this may deterr some of those who like it. I apologize. But I felt there was no need to keep going on with it. I felt it was perfect to end here, partially because it seemed to make sense. I will rewrite it eventually, so tell me if there's something I could have done.