A Promise Kept (Ironhide)

[Barricade]

((14 August 2027, 2130 HLT))

Barricade sat boredly in his cell, his holoform active as he attempted a game of chess against himself, which wasn't all that fun. He'd been trying to keep himself entertained the entire day, anything from internet games to simply pacing his cell. His systems were rested enough that he didn't need to recharge the entire day, which had left him with his entertainment attempts. This was the second round of chess he'd started, and he'd been going at it for nearly an hour.

[Ironhide]

After leaving Red Alert's office, Ironhide had gone to see Ratchet for an unscheduled checkup, which was unusual to say the least, except that the reason had been because Ironhide's tanks were growing increasingly more sensitive and getting unsettled more easily of late. After a careful flushing of Ironhide's holding tanks and secondary burn engine system, Ratchet had discovered large amounts of rust and metal filings in the burly mech's system, leaving him with a very upset fuel burning system indeed. Ironhide dealt with the indignities of having his internal tanks cleaned out and gone over to make sure there were no ulcerated patches that could lead to ruptures in his tanks and even worse problems, but Ironhide kept inwardly telling himself that at the end of the day, Barricade would be waiting for him.

So he took it all in stride, thanking his long time friend and companion once Ratchet finished, did his usual rounds, and by around 9:30 pm, Ironhide went to search out some Energon for himself and Barricade, finding two full Energon nodes to take to the brig. He was in a surprisingly good mood as he headed in through the main door, locking it securely behind him and checking the security feeds, hoping to shut down the ones for Barricade's cell before heading into the cell chamber beyond.

[Barricade]

Barricade's head popped up when he heard the main brig door open, the holoform and chess board disappearing as he stood up. ~"Ironhide?"~ He called, figuring it was the burly black mech once more. ~"You all done for the day?"~

Red Alert spotted Ironhide entering the brig, and typed some commands into the console in front of him. The screen displaying Barricade's cell flickered, both in the brig and in front of Red Alert, and the feed was set to auto-delete. The screen in the brig monitoring station continued to flicker a bit, acting as though it was an equipment malfunction.

[Ironhide]

Ironhide smiled as he saw the screen for Barricade's cell flicker maddeningly and he spared a glance at one of the cameras, offering a bit of a smile and a slight nod of gratitude. "Thanks Red..." he whispered faintly, then turned to head into where the cells were when he heard the younger mech call out to him. He shut the door behind him and walked up to Barricade's cell with a warm smile. ~"Yeah, I'm all done fer the day. Want some Energon?"~ he asked casually and opened the cell door, going inside and locking himself in with the smaller mech. He had made a promise to Barricade, several in fact, and he had every intention of keeping those promises, even proving that he would keep those promises in any way he could. He sat down on the berth next to his dear friend and offered him one of the two Energon nodes he had brought. ~"Here, is a full one, I made sure o' that fer ya."~ he offered softly, though he very much wanted to just wrap his arms around Barricade. But that would have to wait, there were things they had to discuss for the moment, and Ironhide was not one to leave important things to linger unresolved or undone.

[Barricade]

~"Not about to turn it down after not having any for the past two decades."~ Barricade responded, sitting down and accepting the offered node of Energon, hooking it up to the line under his armor. ~"Anything new and interesting happen in the outside world?"~ He was a completely different mech around his old friend. To others, he would snap and throw attitude and sarcasm at them by the bucket load, effectively pushing them away from him. With Ironhide, however, that was all absent. He was as civilized as he could be, though that didn't keep the occasional bits of snark from coming out.

[Ironhide]

Ironhide let out his own Energon feeding tendril, leaning back against the wall and venting a sigh as it gently re-energized him. ~"A bit, actually. Went n saw Ratchet. My tanks'd been gettin' more n more touchy the last several Deca-Cycles. Couldn't figure out why n with the war I just... mostly just ignored it. Somethin' came up n I couldn't ignore it no more."~ he began, letting out a soft chuckle at the irony of that last statement. ~"Debris was causin' problems, buildin' up in there, causin' rust ta build up n upsettin' my tanks. Ratchet flushed em out n made sure there weren't ulcerous spots er imminent ruptures startin'."~ he added assuring Barricade he was alright. He looked at Barricade for a moment, gathering his thoughts and trying to figure out how to tell Barricade without upsetting or frightening him.

[Barricade]

Barricade laughed. ~"Never were the best at seeing the medics, if I remember correctly. Though, with what I've seen and heard of Ratchet, especially since the start of the war, I don't blame you at all."~ He leaned back a bit, his primary set watching the Energon node as his fuel system drew in the Energon and his secondary optic set watching Ironhide. ~"But, that's not everything. You got something on your processor there?"~

[Ironhide]

Ironhide lowered his gaze and nodded a bit. ~"Yeah, I do... I went ta see Red after I left here. Found out he'd gotten in n reactivated the security feed. He knows, 'Cade, 'bout us."~ He vented softly then and looked at the Energon node in his hands. ~"Thing 'bout Red though, his paranoia, ain't nobody gonna know if he got anythin' ta say 'bout it."~ He reached over and laid a hand on Barricade's shoulder then. ~"He's protectin' us, protectin' our secret. Much of a glitch as he is, I trust 'im."~ he assured his dear friend. He then lowered his gaze and vented a sigh. ~"He knows 'bout what happened t' ya, Combat Control, the Dreads... what ya told me bout it... The look on his face when I showed 'im what I saw... yer... interface module... looked like he was gonna purge his own tanks... He knows what ya mean ta me, 'Cade... When I told 'im, explained ta 'im... my tanks couldn't take the stress n... well... that's how I discovered how bad a shape my tanks were... all on Red's office floor..."~ he shook his head then and closed his optics, letting his head rest against the wall he was leaning on.

[Barricade]

Barricade vented softly, closing his optics. ~"If you trust him, I guess..."~ He finally spoke after a little bit. It hurt a little that Ironhide had told another bot about secrets that Barricade had kept guarded for more Ano-Cycles than he could keep track of, but Barricade could understand the reasoning. ~"I haven't told anyone any of that in so long...it's just...I don't know."~ He vented once more before opening his optics. ~"What you saw on my module...is only a small fraction of what they did. I couldn't begin to tell you how happy I was to take a new alt, new armor. 'N they threatened, so many times, to do worse to you if I didn't listen and didn't behave. If I'd 've stayed there any longer, I don't think I would have left, I...I was...."~ He choked on the words, the fighting part of him refusing to verbally admit how close he'd been to accepting life as the Dreads' "pet," how close he'd been to remaining "Squeaker" for the rest of his life. ~"I almost forgot who I was..."~

[Ironhide]

Ironhide opened his optics and looked at Barricade then, his laser core cracking in his chest. He could see just how close he had come to losing Barricade forever to the Dreads then and he sat up, setting the depleted Energon node aside and gently, slowly reaching out to the younger mech, one hand gently rubbing his upper arm, his other hand running along Barricade's back. ~"'Cade I... I'm sorry... I... I never woulda said anythin' ta anyone, 'cept he already knew, he saw us t'gether, n I... I had ta tell 'im, ta make 'im understand... he knows 'bout us before the war, he's the only one who knows..."~ He lowered his head and slowly wrapped his arms around Barricade then, his hand moving from Barricade's arm to run across his chest, his other hand curling around his side gently. ~"I can't lose ya again, 'Cade. It hurt so much the first time, I dun think I could take it a second time."~ he whispered softly.

[Barricade]

As Ironhide wrapped his arms around him, Barricade moved so that he was almost sitting in the larger mech's lap, his hands moving to rest on Ironhide's. There was a slight trembling in his frame, which started to still as he found protection and comfort in Ironhide's embrace. ~"They....There's no way they were creations of the AllSpark, of Primus, or even another mech. Even how they acted towards each other...They weren't friends, or brothers, or lovers; they owned each other."~ He leaned back, turning a little bit and pulling his legs in close. ~"But they're not here. They're still back on Cybertron, I think, or maybe they're even dead. I wouldn't mind that, but it would be too good to be true..."~ He shivered, and huddled closer to Ironhide. ~"I want to talk about something else, but I don't know what..."~

[Ironhide]

Ironhide held Barricade close against him, cradling him tightly, tenderly, rocking him soothingly. ~"They ain't here, but I am, 'Cade, n I always will be."~ he offered softly trying to reassure the younger mech in his arms. ~"I remember how we were before, how I'd just hold ya so close. I remember how scared ya were when I first took ya ta Iacon, ya were ready ta run like a scared petrol rabbit in a Nano-Klick. But I knew how ta handle ya, how ta calm ya down, even then, just holdin' ya n lettin' ya listen ta my Spark. Seemed ta help ya so much then."~ he reminisced softly. ~"Much ofa warrior I am, I'm tired o' fightin' tired o' the war... I just want it all ta go away, ta end, ta rebuild what we lost that day, the accident... better than it was. I never shoulda listened ta 'em, I shoulda just stayed there in Kaon n waited fer ya ta come ta me. I shoulda believed in ya, in what we had then. But I do believe in ya, I trust ya, 'Cade. N I wanna go home, n I want ya ta go with me."~ he said to Barricade then, offering his dreams to the younger mech, or at least the start of their awakenings.

[Barricade]

Barricade nuzzled a bit closer to Ironhide, placing one hand on the larger mech's chest. ~"I wish that, at the least, this stupid war never happened, 'n this was just a holding cell in Iacon. You're the only real family I've ever had, Ir'nhide, even if you weren't related to me at all. You cared about me, 'n even some of the other "lil' scraplets" out there on the streets of Kaon, when no one else seemed to."~ He vented softly, closing his optics, listening to the humming of Ironhide's Spark for a little bit, though it was faint and quiet to him, because of where his had was. ~"I've wondered more than once what happened to them, after I left. Ground Hog, Roller Force, 'n Motorhead..."~

[Ironhide]

Ironhide hugged him, rubbing his back, rocking him. ~"They moved on, enterin' the Defense Forces. I think they're still alive out there, somewhere. I ain't seen any of em in a long time."~ He nuzzled Barricade's head lightly. ~"I always had a soft spot fer Sparklin's, I could never hurt lil ones.I went ta Kaon hopin' I could save some o' ya, some o' the little ones, abandoned ta the streets o' that place. Ya didn't deserve ta be abandoned ta die alone like that. I wanted ta take care o' as many o' ya as I could. I remember what Kaon was like long ago, before reunification, it was brutal then to."~ He looked at Barricade for a moment then, smiling softly. ~"I never thought I'd find a home anywhere but Cybertron, but here, somehow, I did. Humans, their Sparks're so bright fer such short lives. Some've become my family too, n I can't leave 'em. I'll miss 'em, when their time ends n they return to their own Great Spark... But you're part o' that too, 'Cade, I won't abandon ya, n I... I want ya ta be part o' that... with me..."~ he said to the smaller mech, kissing his forehead gently.

[Barricade]

Barricade gave a light snort at the mentioning of humans. ~"Haven't really been able to get used to being around the fl...humans."~ He stopped himself from using his general term for the humans out of respect for Ironhide and the ones he cared about. ~"Mostly just ignored them, or gave them a scare when they got too close."~