Seven Deadly Sins: Jealousy.
Barricade.
Chapter Nine.
Bumblebee spoke, his voice low and quiet, the dangerous quiet of barely-suppressed anger.
"Where is he? Where have you put Sam?" he said. As Barricade picked himself up, Bumblebee moved his cannon to cover him.
"He has come to no harm, he is now resting. You must know he is alive and well, he has been calling his friends and parental units frequently to assure them of this fact."
"You stole him from me. Give him back!" Bumblebee demanded.
"If you cannot keep your pets that is no fault of mine, Autobot!" replied Barricade.
"You stole him from me with deceit and trickery! Give him back! Sam is mine!" Bumblebee retorted."
"The humans say that possession is nine-tenths of the law, and by that wisdom, the human boy belongs to me." Barricade replied.
"Umm, excuse me, but don't I get a say?" spoke a familiar voice from the open warehouse door. There stood Sam, hair mussed, still in pyjamas, squinting into the light as he peered at the two. "Sorry to correct you guys, but I'm a free American, I don't 'belong' to either of you." He said.
Barricade chuckled.
"Caught by your own beliefs, Autobot. If you continue to lay a claim of ownership on the boy, you go against the freedom your side professes is so precious a right to all. As a Decepticon, I have no such problems with claiming him for myself. So, what is it to be, youngling? Will you follow your beliefs and stop fighting, or go against them and take away his freedom? Either way, you lose, one way or the other?"
Bumblebee could see the problem. If he stopped fighting, there was no way he could stop Barricade from simply taking Sam again. If he claimed Sam like a pet or possession, he would lose the boy's trust, and compromise everything he believed in. He could only think of one thing he could do.
"No, Sam, I will not compromise your freedom, I can only hope that Barricade will allow you choice as well." The yellow scout folded down into Camaro form, flipped open his door.
"The choice is yours, Sam. You can come home with me, to your parent's house, or you can stay with Barricade and I will leave." The scout's voice was heavy, he feared the choice Sam would make. He had been living with Barricade for more than two weeks, and Bumblebee had been warned by Ratchet that a dependency might have been formed – a dependency that might have skewed Sam's perspective so much that there was a real risk he might choose the Decepticon police cruiser over his Autobot friend.
"Why does it have to be one or the other?" Sam pleaded, looking between the two, because he was torn. "Can't we come to some sort of compromise, rather than one or the other? There's enough love in me for you both, and I know from what you've told me, Bee that three or more in a relationship is not uncommon amongst your people. Can't we –"
Sam's mouth continued moving and both mechs were able to read his lips as an ear-piercing screech of jet engines hit their audios. Bumblebee physically rolled back and Barricade jumped back towards the warehouse as a huge pair of feet thudded to the ground between them.
"I see you have not been idle while I have been absent gathering more followers, who will be with us within a day, Barricade." Starscream stated. "I have brought back nine loyal Decepticon followers, five of whom are fliers, including my own wing-brothers. You, Barricade, have caught the squishy who killed Megatron and his Autobot keeper. I can destroy them both now, the squishy and the useless Autobot youngling! What a coup that will be for me – for the Decepticons, that is. What we could do with my new followers and with one less Autobot to worry about. Perhaps I will leave the youngling's body outside their base as a visual reminder of the fate that awaits them all." He turned purposefully towards Bumblebee who was still in car form: belatedly Bumblebee opened his other door in readiness to transform, although he knew he would not stand a chance against Starscream alone, let alone against the Seeker and Barricade working together.
"Bee, no!" Sam cried, about to run towards his Autobot companion, but he felt a hand seize him. It was Barricade.
He felt himself lifted, then put on the floor between Barricade and the Seeker.
"Why kill the scout first, Lord Starscream?" Barricade asked. "You know, do you not, that he was appointed first by Optimus Prime as the boy's guardian, then chose to stay with him in that capacity? Kill the squishy first, let the scout see his failure to protect the human, and then kill the scout as well, let him have no hope that the boy can be saved." Barricade turned his head to give Bumblebee a disdainful look.
"Why, what a splendid idea, Barricade!" Starscream said, turning away from Bumblebee to face Sam. Barricade raised his hands suddenly to his sensor crown, flicked one optic shut and open again briefly, shuttered both optics, and turned his head away. All this took only a second, a movement Starscream barely noticed as his attention was fixed on the cowering human in front of him – and Bumblebee suddenly knew what was happening, and what he needed to do.
As Starscream took a menacing step towards Sam, both he and Sam were almost blinded as a bright flare of light flashed from Bumblebee. Sam staggered back, only just registering that Barricade had leaped over him, interposing himself between Sam and Starscream, but Starscream only heard the noise of mech movement, for Bumblebee's flare attack rendered not just optics but robotic sensors useless for several seconds. As Barricade had briefly offlined his own sensors before Bumblebee's attack and shuttered his optics, he was at no such disadvantage as he re-onlined his sensor net – a sensor net designed to aid with fighting.
Starscream knew Bumblebee would be transforming, but what he was not anticipate was Barricade's savage attack. Barricade's claws impacted on Starscream's chest and dragged themselves across it, leaving gouges, and Starscream cried out and blindly lashed out with both of his own clawed hands as Barricade leaped back. The Seeker's reach was greater than Barricade's own, and although one hand missed the other slashed across Barricade's own chest, leaving scratched paint and rough-edged slashes in the metal beneath. It was a serious injury, but Barricade was known as a fearsome warrior, it was said it would take a more serious injury to stop or even slow him, and the rumours were true.
The injury did not appear to affect Barricade, who took one long step back, putting Sam between the cruiser's feet but taking Barricade beyond the reach of Starscream's sharp-edged fingers. However, this left Starscream within reach of Barricade's metal-shredding battle-saw, which was flung forwards on a folding arm whose range rivalled the Decepticon leader's own reach. Barricade was fighting for keeps here, the sharp-edged irregularly-shaped blades sang discordantly as they cut into Starscream's armour, and the Seeker pulled back immediately with a screech of agony and anger, for Barricade's blades had been aimed at the flyer's wing-juncture. A serious injury here could damage a Seeker seriously enough to compromise his flying ability, something few Seekers would risk, for most gloried in their ability to fly.
Barricade took two steps forward, pressing his advantage, although Starscream's sensor-blindness was easing. However, Barricade's attack had left Bumblebee free to complete his transformation into robot form. As Starscream lunged forward in desperation, determined to hurt Barricade, Bumblebee let loose with the most powerful attack he could muster with his cannon, an attack that knocked the Seeker flying, to land on his back with a screech. It was Bumblebee's most powerful solar accelerator attack, an attack that left Bumblebee vulnerable to any counter-attack, but neither Barricade nor Starscream knew this.
Seekers were designed to fly high, face down high in the sky, not lie on the ground gazing up into it, so Starscream acted immediately to rectify the situation, throwing his upper body forwards and pushing against the ground with his hands to right himself, which he did without delay. However, it gave Barricade the opportunity to renew his attack, something he wasted no time in doing, slashing at Starscream with both his bladed saw and one of his hands.
Starscream keened as both attacks found their targets: his wing/body junctures. He lashed out with both upper limbs, Barricade crying out and groaning at the gouges Starscream's razor-tipped digits scoured across his chest. He staggered back but only by one step, then as Bumblebee took a step forwards, his cannon-mouth glowing blue, Barricade surged forwards, attacking the same places again.
By this point, Starscream took one look at Bumblebee, battle-mask down and cannon at the ready, felt Barricade's attack, and decided that he had had enough. He lashed out at Barricade again, his sharp finger edges shaving curls of metal from Barricade's chest before flinging himself the other way, leaping into the air, converting to F-22 form and accelerating out of the area as fast as his thrusters could take him.
Barricade raised his hands to hip level before crossing them at the wrists with a grin: recognising the "talk, not fight" gesture, Bumblebee lowered his cannon, but did not stand down from battle-readiness.
"If you want to talk, than talk." Bumblebee stated. "However, I will not tolerate any threat to Sam or his freedom."
"Then we are in agreement, Bumblebee." stated the Decepticon. "Sam's freedom must not be in dispute: the choice is his."
Bumblebee's round blue optics seemed to get even rounder at this statement, Sam noticed, despite the fact that Bumblebee's optics were naturally perfect spheres.
"Then we should let Sam choose." Stated Bumblebee.
"I believe Starscream's attack interrupted Sam's statement of what he wanted to happen." Barricade said softly. "Perhaps we should ask Sam again?" He looked to the human and so did Bumblebee: Sam wiped his suddenly sweaty palms against his pyjama bottoms.
"Why can't we share? You've told me often enough, Bumblebee, that the petty jealousies that exist between human couples do not happen on Cybertron, that relationship-units composed of three or more individuals are common." Sam said.
"That is true, Sam, but the truth is also that Barricade is a Decepticon, I am an Autobot, and for obvious reasons, you are an Autobot sympathiser. It may be hard for you to accept, Sam, but inter-faction relationships are often destroyed by the interplay between love, and faction loyalties."
"What you say is true." Barricade admitted. He abruptly stepped towards Bumblebee, who brought his cannon up to cover the Decepticon. He gave a short laugh.
"You hide it well, but an attack of that power must have exhausted you, youngling. However, there is no need to fight. My loyalty was to Megatron, not the Decepticon cause. I have no great love of Starscream, he is a self-important glory-grabber." Barricade paused before continuing.
"I can think of many a campaign where I did most of the work, sometimes taking orns to wear our opponents down or to get into a position where I could betray them, and then Starscream came in, finished it off - something he could not have done without my work - and then claimed all the credit himself. Now the AllSpark is gone, even Megatron's dreams are unobtainable." He chuckled again. "No, I owe the Decepticon cause - and Starscream as Decepticon leader - nothing, thus my loyalty is free to be given to whom I choose."
Abruptly the black and white mech knelt before Bumblebee, bending his head, all weapons out but powered down in a gesture of trust.
"If this is what is needed, I can fight for a different cause. If it is what is needed to retain contact with Sam, I will align myself with the Autobots, fight for their cause, and protect the humans rather than sow chaos amongst them."
Both Sam and Bumblebee stared at Barricade for a time, but it was Sam who spoke first.
"I can see your reasoning that your loyalty is now free and you don't want to serve under Starscream but why now? You could just grab me and leave, you said as much earlier. Why the change of heart, Barricade, what is in it for you?"
Barricade nodded, and raised his head, red optics meeting brown human eyes.
"You are correct in that I seek more than I have said, Sam, but the answer, I would have thought, was obvious. I have just proved myself a traitor to Starscream by allying with your scout friend to attack him. You heard him, he now has reinforcements, if I were to return to him now it is likely he would have me destroyed. I may have been considered surplus in any case, he stated he had other followers, five of them fliers, two of them of his own trine. Alone I do not stand a chance if they track me down or corner me, it makes sense to ally myself with the enemy of my new enemies." Barricade explained.
Barricade switched his gaze from Sam's face to Bumblebee's.
"If any of you refuse me, I shall leave, and take my chance on my own as you will have condemned me to do." He stopped speaking, holding Bumblebee's gaze until the latter dropped his gaze to the floor.
"Very well, Barricade, I will take you with us into our Base for your own safety." Bumblebee stated. His tone was decisive, not shamed or defeated. There were times Sam forgot that his friend carried the rank of Captain amongst the Autobots, but this was not one of those times. Bumblebee continued to speak to Barricade.
"Nobody can deny that by standing with me and Sam against Starscream, you have made him your enemy, for that one's Spark carries grudges for a long time. However, it is not for me to decide if you join us. You are injured." he said, indicating the chest scratches which were oozing energon. "Can you transform and travel?" Barricade nodded.
"It will be Optimus Prime who decides my fate then?" he asked as Bumblebee folded back down into his Camaro form.
"No, Barricade, it is your choice." Bumblebee said. "We do not demand loyalty to our cause to defend those under threat from Decepticon activity. We are sworn to protect, you could decide to be neutral and we would still protect you. The choice, Barricade, is yours to make but must not feel like a forced choice."
He flicked open his driver's door. "Would you like to come back in me, Sam, or in Barricade? I do suggest that we move from here, in case Starscream comes back."
"I'll go in you for now , Bee, and 'Cade, maybe we can go out again a bit later?" He watched as Barricade wordlessly folded down and activated his Police officer hologram, and Sam leaned forwards to stroke his hood, then climbed into Bumblebee's driver's seat.
"He seems awfully quiet." Sam said to Bumblebee, looking around at the interior of the car that was at once strange and familiar to Sam at the same time.
"He's thinking, I think, Sam, let him think. Everything has suddenly changed for him, he has some working out to do." Bumblebee said. "When he's ready to talk, if he ever is, we will be here for him."
Sam nodded, leaned his head back against Bumblebee's seat rest, closed his eyes, and relaxed as Bumblebee took them back towards the Autobot base.