Chapter 9: Fragmentation

-Flashback: Barricade's Version-

"Please step back!" Moonmetal backed into a corner holding a sharp blade in her hand right over her wrist. One of her wires was exposed, barely attached. If she were to slide the blade across the wire… "I'm warning you! BACK OFF!"

Barricade didn't know what to do. His sister, cornered with a blade pressed against her wrist waiting for quick release. He understood she wouldn't instantly die but she would lose all functionality in her left arm. Moonmetal glared at the Decepticon, eyes narrowed into slits. She told herself she was going to do it! It was the best solution at the time when she couldn't get a rifle. Cornered, frightened and at the edge of madness, she wanted to end it all! Her blue and red optics glanced down at her mangled legs then moved her attention to the Decepticon.

Barricade released a huff of smoke slowly backing away from the enraged femme. Placing his hands up, he showed her he had no concealed weapons. He hoped his gestures were enough for the femme to understand he was no threat but then again, any robots with red eyes were not considered 'trust-worthy'. He watched her move the blade away from her wrist eyeing the Decepticon wearily.

He knew he had to say something soon. "Moonmetal," he began. "Do… you remember me?"

"The brother that didn't come when I needed him most? Who could forget?" she snapped, blue and red optics flashed. Her processor conjured up images in her head—lies to make herself feel better every moment of her existence. She imagined her brother coming to save her, shield her from evils and bring her home.

Guilt swarmed his processors. He tried and tried to find his sister but no matter how much he searched, she got farther and farther away. Staring directly into her optics he said, "I'm here now." His tone was strong declaring to the femme he—Barricade as her brother returned to save her.

"Too late," the blade was made its way deep into her open chassis piercing her Spark Core.

-End Flashback-

"MOONMETAL!" Barricade shot out of his sleep-like state looking around. His memories were too real. Placing a hand over his face, he questioned: how many times must he need to relive this nightmare? Every time his optics switched off, his processors kicked in, playing tricks with his already torn mind. It was a game he was willing to give up on.

Feeling a nudge from below, the Decepticon gazed down meeting his partner's multi-blue optics. Frenzy understood Barricade's pain although the larger 'con would never admit his weakness. He was a Decepticon and Decepticons have no weakness! Every Decepticon abide by those rules, except Barricade who was tormented by his memories. If he wanted to, he could turn those memories into fragments but Barricade could never force himself to perform such a feat.

The sound of shuffling caught his attention; there he saw his nemesis, an Autobot at him.

"What?" Barricade snapped pushing himself off the wall. "Contemplating of sawing my head off while I recharge?"

Ratchet grunted, "I'd love to but I do not perform such feats unless I'm tempted to. And speaking…" Ratchet snipped at the Decepticon, "I'm very tempted right now."

Rubbish talk. Barricade thought approaching the medical officer carefully. Behind Ratchet was the body of Maiden lying on the table, ceasing to move. Only the slow, rising and falling off her chest indicated she was alive. "How is the fleshling?"

"You? A Decepticon concerned for a human's well-being?" Ratchet questioned, quite dumb-founded by the Decepticon's concern. Turning around to Maiden he replied professionally, "As suspected, she's been through a lot mental and physical trauma, without question. I am unable to examine her physical condition without the right equipment. It doesn't take a miracle worker to tell she's in extreme pain and anguish. Would you mind telling me what exactly happened?"

Could he? Remembering what he saw, he told the Autobot everything. He was forcing himself to seal away the memories of his sister also; he did not want to mix up both stories, even though both were eerily similar.

"I see," Ratchet spoke after ten minutes, information absorbed. Looking down at Maiden he said, "If I were you I would take her to Mission City and seek proper, medical attention. There are options for her."

"I cannot do that," Barricade said watching Maiden intently. "I cannot…"

"So you just want to leave her be? As she is?"

Barricade lowered his head. "If she's in so much pain, why not let sleep release her?" This was the only thing he managed to think of; if she was in so much pain and torment, wouldn't it be best for her to sleep it off? Never again did she need to wake up to daytime nightmares. Never again did she need to struggle to survive…

Ratchet's fists balled. He recalled: Barricade traveled all this way into Autobot territory knowing full well he was an easy target. And then what? He was just going to give up on the human and let her die? No doubt about it, the girl was in a bad position—suffering even but it wasn't his choice to decide her fate. It wasn't his choice to take away her life, like he did with others. Ratchet always believed: there would always be light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark the tunnel may be. The thought of allowing the girl slip through his fingers was unbearable.

Ratchet moved his blue optics back down to the girl. He was surprised when Frenzy managed to contact him via a hidden, emergency channel. At first the Autobot assumed it was a trap but then something along the lines made Ratchet reconsider Frenzy's words:

Help! Female need help! Ratchet save female life! Meet Barricade at sunset at nineteen hundred hours!

When Barricade arrived with Maiden in his hand, Ratchet was mortified; Maiden suffered cuts, bruises not only externally but the Autobot caught a foul scent from inside her; there were definitely injuries from within. He assumed Maiden was gang raped before Barricade eliminated the threat. Ratchet questioned: How much could one person take before they truly, believed they could let go of all their pains? How much could one person take through times of suffering? Humans were strong, no doubt about it but… sometimes, things were too bleak. But she proved something: although fragile, she was strong enough to breathe with each passing second.

Shaking himself out of morbid thoughts, he noticed something peculiar on Maiden's left wrist: cuts. The scars healed over the weeks and maybe, this was a hypothetical thought, maybe with the arrival of Barricade and Frenzy, she stopped tormenting herself.

He questioned what made her push herself off the edge several times? It was not his to say nor was it his place to ask. He was here to help her regain her health; that was it. He wished he had proper medical facilities to treat humans but even he, a well known and well respected medical officer, didn't quite understand the mechanics of a human being.

The way the Decepticon acted piqued Ratchet's curiosity; there was something about Barricade that showed great concern toward the human. Maybe it may or may not be linked but during the years on Cybertron, he recalled hearing about neutrals enrolling into the Decepticon army, right before war broke out. He remembered hearing a neutral whose home was destroyed by Decepticons taking away his sister. As rumor went, the bot was left to wander what happened to his sister… but rumors were rumors. Ratchet then wondered: could that bot be Barricade who may have had lost his sister? Staring back at Maiden, the Decepticon showed great concern toward this human in a brotherly manner.

"Barricade," Ratchet moved to the table picking up a damp warm cloth. Bending down, he instructed Frenzy to clean Maiden's arms. Returning his attention to the large Decepticon he continued, "I know it is none of my business but why do you express such concern to a human? It is very un-Decepticon like,"

Barricade knew where Ratchet was going with this. "You are right on one thing: it is none of your business. Why I take interest in the human is none of your concern."

"Does this relate to your past?" Barricade tensed. "I do not know if you remember the rumors on Cybertron on how a bot lost his sister before the war."

"What of it?" Barricade snapped, trying to hide his secret. Yes, indeed that bot was him. He didn't want to relive the past through the Autobot's words.

Ratchet crossed his arms, "You express a very brotherly attitude toward the girl and—"

"Drop it," Barricade walked away from the Autobot crossing his arms, staring at the night's sky. "Who wants to hear old stories when it means nothing? Do your job and fix her. That is why I seek you."

Ratchet wasn't going to argue. "Very well. But just so you know Barricade," Ratchet stressed his name bitterly, "If anything else befalls on his human and I hear of it, consider your life to be very, very painful onwards."

Barricade snickered at the threat, "I'll keep that in mind."

The nights got slower; Ratchet radioed Bumblebee to bring along Sam and Mikaela. When the trio arrived, Bumblebee was ready to blast off Barricade's head but Ratchet intervened; now was not the time to fight, Ratchet warned. Hesitantly, Bumblebee agreed but kept a close eye on the 'con. Sam and Mikaela approached the table eyes falling on the weak form of Maiden.

"Who is she?" Mikaela asked.

"A girl Barricade rescued," Ratchet replied. The humans looked in disbelief. Since when 'Barricade' and 'rescue' could be placed in the same sentence?

"Oh," Mikaela moved her hands holding Maiden's left hand, taking notice of the healed slits on her wrist. "I guess she had a very hard life in order to do this."

Sam found it difficult to speak. Laying in front of him was a girl who possibly was younger than him sustaining injuries he only saw in crime movies. What made him sick to his stomach was the amount of blood covered on her ripped jeans.

"Sam, Mikaela," Ratchet looked down at the two. "I'm going to give you a list of things to get for me. It's nothing much but it'll help the girl. Do you accept?"

"Yes, of course!" Sam replied. "I'd hate to see her like this…"

"I'll write out a list of medical supplies and such," the teens looked at each other. Ratchet weakly smiled, "No, no, I didn't mean expensive medical supplies, kids. Household First Aid things, like that."

"Oh, sure," Sam replied.

Crawling from behind Ratchet's leg was Frenzy. Sam tensed, fists tightened, sweat beads rolled down his forehead. Ratchet relayed the information to Frenzy who picked up a piece of paper translating everything into English. The small 'con cautiously approached the two teens. He remembered when Sam kicked his head. Giving the paper to Mikaela, Frenzy dashed to his silent partner. The teens nodded at each other, signaling Bumblebee to transform back into vehicle mode. As the teens left, Ratchet held Mikaela back for a moment. Placing his large hand on the ground, she hopped on.

Raising her to eye level, as quietly as he could he said, "Do not forget to pick up Plan B pills and a pregnancy test. If you have clothes that may fit her, bring them back here as well. And please do not tell anybody about this."

Mikaela nodded. Her face reflected pain and sadness. She thought to herself: how much could one person take? Ratchet placed Mikaela down, watching her run to Bumblebee. Just like that the trio was out of sight. Barricade shuffled, turning his head around gazing at the Autobot, arms still crossed. Although he hated to say it but… he'll let it slide, just this once.

"Ratchet, I thank you…" he broke off thinking of his next words carefully. "Please save her, she's the only thing left linked to me."