Alright, so I admit, I should be working on my first Transformers story. But I couldn't help myself! D: This one was just begging to be written, and I couldn't stop thinking about it while working on the second chapter. Well, here you go!

I own nothing, kids. Except my O.C. I own her. Oh, and my story idea. I own that too.

9 years ago...

A small little girl stood outside under the stars, sobbing quietly and pacing back and forth. She clutched a pillow tightly to her chest, hanging on to it for dear life. As if it could protect her, as if it would save her. There was the sound of glass shattering inside the house she was pacing in front of, and it caused her to flinch and sob a little harder. More muffled shouts filled the quiet night around her. Her little heart hammered madly in her chest. She wished her mother would hurry up! A loud thud from inside caught her attention, and before she could think she was running back into the house, abandoning her pillow on the dewy grass.

Her mother lay on the floor, feet raised into the air, as if she had just fallen over or was trying to get up. Her father stood over her, almost towering over the defenseless woman, his hand balled into a fist and raised as if he was ready to hit her. He looked up at the sound of a small gasp, locking eyes with his small daughter. She hiccuped and clasped both hands over her mouth, eyes going wide. She had been seen. She was a witness to her mother being struck by her father. She didn't know why she thought this of her father, but she had a feeling he was going to do anything in his power to silence her. Just like he had done before.

She shivered at the cruel words.

"You're a damn liar. That never happened." He had ground out icily, turning to leave the room. She remembered being confused, afraid, and angry. Oh how she had been angry. She hadn't made it up; he had tried to touch her in places she shouldn't be touched. Especially by her own father.

Her mother was back on her feet now as she snapped back into reality. She was trying to prevent her father from going after her. But his bleary, drunk eyes were locked on the little girl, and he looked angry. She knew that look before. She could and never would get that image out of her mind.

Natural fight or flight instincts kicked in when her father struck her mother down again with surprising ease, and the little girl took off running in the other direction, leaving the house. Forgetting the over night bag cast carelessly on the ground, she ran for her life, heading right past the house, past the neighbors' house, past the barn next door, and went straight into the woods that she had never once ventured into before.

Lightning began to flash around her, temporarily letting her see where she was going. Her little lean legs pumped furiously beneath her feet, jumping over tree branches she didn't even know were laying on the ground. The wind whipped around her for a moment, before ceasing. Thunder rumbled loudly, signalling the start of a thunderstorm. She didn't care. She knew she had to get as far away from that house as she could. A simple storm wasn't going to stop her.

After what seemed like forever, she came into a small clearing of the woods, one that had been visible from her home. She wanted to stop. She wanted to keep going. But she knew standing in a clearing like she wanted to do during a thunderstorm wasn't the wisest of decisions, so she kept running as if her father was right on her trail. She knew he hadn't followed. He could barely walk right, much less run. She continued to run for her young life when she entered the second set of woods, oblivious to the rain falling around her now.

She came to a sudden, abrupt stop when she fell into a large crater in the ground, which was shaped like a bowl in the side of the steadily climbing mountain-like hill. The mud was still warm from whatever had impacted the ground, but was slightly wet from the light rain falling from the sky. She whimpered helplessly, trying her hardest to stand. The ground rumbled, but there was no thunder. She stood up on shakey legs and gasped when she caught sight of a pair of glowing red lights that looked suspiciously like a pair of eyes. Lightning flashed brightly around her, and she caught sight of a huge humanoid being that looked mechanical. Gasping again, she fell back onto the wet ground.

"W-who are you?" She called out, hoping it could hear her over the loud thunder rumbling around her. She heard a mechanical whirring and the red lights got closer to her.

"Ugh. A human fleshling..."A metal object that felt like a claw poked her small form and she squeaked in surprise. "A human...sparkling." It almost spat. "My designation is Barricade. I am a Decepticon seeker, sent to uncover the hidden location of the All Spark." It said, it's voice sounding mechanical.

"W-what...? I..don't understand..." She mumbled the last part, standing up and looking at the ground sadly. She wasn't used to talking to people, aside from her mother and occasionally her father. Other kids weren't exactly nice to her, and teachers didn't like her because of her ADHD; because of it, she had a tendency to move around the room without permission, to talk when she was not supposed to, and had a hard time paying attention. She took medicine for it...but it wasn't good enough to them.

"I did not expect you to. I do not know much about you fleshlings, but I know that no sparkling should be unattended in a storm." Thunder grumbled loudly, almost shaking the ground. The girl covered her ears and whimpered. The storm was getting closer, the rain was starting to pelt the ground like a thousand fists. The girl looked up at the red glowing lights timidly.

"I...ran away. Daddy...daddy hit mommy...I seen it...he..." She stumbled over the rest of her words, fear clenching in her stomach. "He wanted to...hit me...I seen it in his eyes..." The ground quaked slightly as the mechanical being shifted its weight uncomfortably. Barricade hadn't come to earth to communicate with fleshlings, to babysit sparklings, but something in her voice had his attention. He researched the terms she had used in her explanation for being outside in a storm and he let out the Cybertronian version of a sigh; this just wasn't his night. According to their internet, her mech creator had hit her femme creator, his spark mate. Even on Cybertron that was highly frowned upon. Decepticon or not...he felt a little sorry for the sparkling. He leaned down again, his face not too far from the small femme.

"What is your designation? Your..." He looked up the human term. "Name." He finished uncertainly. The girl perked up instantly, all traces of fear seemingly gone.

"Oh! I'm sorry for being rude. My name is Jessica!" She smiled. "Your...your name is..." She thought hard, Barricade watching her eyebrows knit together in furious concentration. "I can't remember..." She mumbled pathetically. He sighed again. He was doing a lot of that tonight.

"Barricade." He said. She lit up again.

"Yeah, that's it! Barricade!" She giggled. "That's a funny name." He snorted.

"And your designation is not odd?" He shook his head. Humans. "I must return you to your home. This storm will be getting stronger soon, and you are not strong enough to be without shelter in the middle of it. Sensors indicate this storm will harm you if unprotected." As if to confirm his theory, she sneezed and coughed all in one movement. Gingerly wrapping his claws around her small body, Barricade lifted the human sparkling off the wet ground and held her securely in his claw. As he took a couple of steps, the girl cried out suddenly.

"W-wait...where are you taking me?" She cried. "Please, don't take me there! Don't! I don't wanna go back!" She whined, pummeling his palm with small, angry fists. He didn't listen, and tried to ignore the fit she was having. It wasn't like she was hurting him anyway; her fists felt like gentle pokes on his Cybertronian metal. He almost laughed at her futile attempts, but kept silent. She stopped after a moment, but replaced her screaming at him with quiet sniffles.

"Why are you leaking fluids?" Barricade asked, feeling weary of the sparkling in his hand. She curled up against one of his claws and shivered, and he subconciously closed his fingers/claws around her to protect her from the cold rain falling around them.

"I'm not crying!" She said determinately, wiping her eyes with her muddy fists. "And you talk funny." He chuckled at that, an odd sound for a Decepitcon. He shook his head; if Starscream or Megatron ever caught wind that he was helping out a fleshing and seemingly enjoying himself...he'd never hear the end of it.

"I am not used to speaking with your human terminology. I am not from your planet."

"I figured." She mumbled, curling up into a tighter ball and shivering again. "I...I don't wanna go home. Daddy...he might hit me..." Barricade growled lowly in his throat.

"Your mech creator will do no such thing, sparkling." He said defiantly. His next words nearly had him falling over from shock. "I will...er...protect you." Oh how Starscream would pitch a fit. The small sparkling shifted in his hand and nuzzled her face into his palm.

"Okay..." She yawned. It was late, and the gentle sound of the rain falling around them, clinking against Barricade's metal form, wasn't helping. Before she could drift off to sleep, Barricade was gently sitting her down in the backyard, the dark sky preventing him from being seen. Blue and red lights flashed in the driveway of her home, and this did not get past either of the two. "Why are there cops here?" She asked no one in particular, yawning. Barricade raised his version of an eyebrow. That was the most reasonable question the sparkling had spouted since he met her.

"I am unsure. Jessica." She turned to him when he said her name, and she stared curiously up at his red eyes. Wow, he was tall. "I will be leaving you, but I will never be too far away. If you ever should need me...er...just...shout." She smiled and gave him a thumbs up before taking off and leaving the Decepticon to look up the gesture.

When she got to the front of the house, she was instantly swept up in her mother's loving, protective arms. Everything after that was a blur; the police officers looking her mother over, the paramedics looking Jessica over for injuries and checking her for any illnesses she may have gotten in the rain. She thought she caught sight of a pair of glowing red eyes watching from a distance as her mother picked her up and held her again, hugging her young daughter tightly against her chest. When she went back inside as small balls of ice, "hail" her mom called it, she caught sight of someone sitting in the back of a police car.

Her dad glared daggers at the two women, seething in drunken rage. Jessica shivered; she knew her dad wasn't going to be gone long. He would be back. And he would want revenge.

Alright, so this wasn't the BEST that I could manage. I tried, though! Anyway, I'm going to go work on the second chapter. I really wanna work on this story while I got the inspiration...-pauses- OOh! THUNDER! :D Ahem. Anyway, read and review! Tell me if you liked it or not!