AN: This idea bit me in the ass and would absolutely not let go. The Autobots and Decepticons have been at war for so long! It's interesting to think about where an individual mech/femme might draw a line and how that could make them act afterwards. So, basically I got really interested in looking at morals and introspection, and who better to mess with than Barricade? I have vague ideas of continuing this, but nothing concrete for now. I like it enough as a standalone that I wanted to post it. ...If I did continue it I'd probably lean towards Bee/Barricade, at least for some spark shenanigans.

Title inspired by the song Cocaine Jesus, which I listened to on repeat as I wrote this.

Barricade looked up as he heard the sound of an F22 Raptor approaching. It took another minute, but Starscream appeared overhead and then took a sharp dive right at him. Barricade didn't flinch, entirely too used to the way Starscream messed around, and sure enough when there was only about three feet between them Starscream banked hard to the right and transformed into his bipedal mode.

There was a high pitched shriek, and Barricade's attention was drawn to Starscream's servos. A young organic was held in each one; Sam Witwicky wasn't a surprise, but the blonde human in Starscream's right servo was.

:After all the trouble he gave you, I expected Bumblebee to put up more of a fight.: Starscream sent him through a comm message, :Taking him out was almost laughably easy! This is the organic that killed Megatron-: he lifted his left servo to shake Sam around a bit, :-and yet the Autobots only leave that pathetic scout with it for defense!:

:Why is there a second human?: Barricade asked, ignoring the insult. He refused to be baited into a fight he knew he would lose.

:The second one was in Bumblebee, too.: Starscream walked over to the container that they had made for Sam and dumped both of the organics into it. Both of them yelped in pain and Starscream laughed, :It didn't do anything in Mission City from what I recall, but it's another human to play with. A two for one, as they might say, and you know how I love a good deal.:

Barricade didn't bother to respond to the last comment; Starscream loved to hear the sound of his own voice.

He moved closer to the container and examined it carefully. It had been created with Sam in mind, but not his comfort, and so there may have been just enough room to lay down in one direction if he bent his knees but he wouldn't be able to stretch his arms out at the same time. With his little friend next to him even that was no longer an option, and Barricade did some quick mental measurements to make sure that the pair wouldn't be able to reach the top even if they did climb on each other.

Barricade wasn't sure what material Starscream had used, but the walls of the container were left clear so they could see Sam easily. Sam stood just in front of his terrified friend, as if blocking him partially from sight could actually protect him, and he glared up at them. Recognition nigled at the back of his processor, and Barricade was sure that he did know the blonde teen, but he must have been deemed unimportant because his name and anything about him outside of a connection to Sam had been deleted.

:Did you kill Bumblebee?:

:No,: Starscream sneered.

:Guess he's better than you thought,: Barricade commented.

Starscream whirled on him and Barricade fought not to take a step back, :The little glitch managed to get away while I was figuring out how not to squish those things. I injured him quite badly, though, so if he made it back to wherever their little base is I'd be surprised!:

:Probably dead in the desert, then.: Barricade tried to appease him.

:Exactly,: Starscream gave him a cold look. :I'm going to go out and do some recon, so watch the organics.:

And just like that, Starscream left. Barricade waited until he couldn't hear the sounds of him flying anymore and then allowed himself to relax some. He scolded himself, because he knew better than to poke at Starscream. There was a fine line he had to walk, he just had to remember to be better at it. He had no doubt that the second he got too annoying or was no longer useful he would be disposed of. Starscream was stronger and faster than him, and he wouldn't delude himself by pretending he could outsmart the crafty piece of scrap, either.

When it became evident that nothing immediate was going to happen to him or his friend, Sam began to slap the palm of his hand against the container.

"Let us go!" Sam yelled.

Barricade turned off his auditory processing unit. He wasn't in the mood to listen to two crying organics.

An hour later, Barricade turned his hearing back on. Part of it was curiosity, but most of it was sheer boredom. He didn't have much to do outside of playing organic-sitter, because Starscream would throw a fit if he left.

Barricade had gone to sit at the opposite side of the room. The two teens had situated themselves so they were sitting back to back, and this had made it so Sam was staring directly at him. Like this, Barricade could barely see the blonde one. He wasn't sure if that was something Sam had intended, or if the blonde one just couldn't handle looking at his horrible reality for a bit.

"And they'll do what these guys want?" The blonde one asked, "These… Autobots? Even though you're a human?"

Barricade watched Sam close his eyes and clench his fists.

"Yeah, of course!" Sam put a cheerful lilt to his voice even as he lied. "The Autobots are seriously amazing, Miles. They'll get us out of here in no time."

He was lying. Sam didn't believe a word of what he said, and yet he said it anyway. He wanted his little friend to have hope even though he didn't.

And Sam was right to not have hope. The whole point of taking Sam was to try and use him as a bargaining tool, because the Autobots had a sliver of the Allspark and Barricade and Starscream wanted it. Barricade knew full well that Optimus Prime would never agree to the exchange, but he figured Starscream had some other plan that he just hadn't bothered to explain yet.

He hadn't argued with Starscream over taking Sam because there was no point. Even if Barricade didn't see the sense in wasting time and resources on the human, Sam had delivered the killing blow to Megatron. It was inevitable that some Decepticon would try to kill him for that alone.

"And I'll have you know I'm actually an honorary member of the Autobots," Sam kept up the cheerful tone. "Bumblebee became my guardian, and outside of protection it's also their way of labeling someone an honorary Cybertronian. I even legally have dual citizenship, it's super cool."

"So, what, you get a break on taxes if you move to their base or whatever it is?"

Sam forced a laugh, and Barricade turned his hearing back off. He didn't want to listen to the pair try to comfort each other anymore.

"My name is Miles Lancaster!"

"Miles, please." Sam let out a long breath, "His hearing is off. He cannot hear you. But I can, so before I rip out my own eardrums, shut up!"

It turned out that Miles was a talker. This annoyed Sam greatly, but Barricade found it slightly amusing. Stuck as he was doing nothing more than sitting on his aft, it gave him more to focus on then just staring at the wall. He could listen as much as he wanted to and wasn't expected to reply like he would be with Starscream.

"I didn't know anything about you ugly fucks!"

Miles had no fear of insulting Barricade when he thought he wasn't being listened to. It was actually quite interesting to hear all the different things that a human teen could come up with, and it gave him a bit of insight into what Miles found scary about him. His pointy face, pointy denta, and four red optics had featured heavily.

Barricade hadn't spent much time on the planet, but humans had proven to be interesting so far. Primitive and weak, but they were still young. Violent and all too eager to fight amongst themselves, but that was no different than his own kind. There was still so much room for the humans to grow—unlike the Cybertronians, who had seemed to stagnate.

"I have to pee!"

"I will kill you," Sam threatened.

Slag. Barricade had forgotten how gross humans could be. They constantly had to expel waste because their bodies were incapable of using everything they ate, and said waste usually smelled. How inefficient.

:What are you doing?:

Barricade nearly lost his grip on the bucket handle as he raised it up out of the container. Two days and not a single sign from Starscream, so of course the slagger would take the opportunity to sneak up on him. And he knew what Starscream would say when asked, something about just testing to see if Barricade had gotten any better at surviving.

:I am allowing them to relieve themselves,: Barricade straightened up and turned to see Starscream watching him with narrowed optics.

:Why?: Starscream actually sounded confused, :Just let the squishies go on themselves or in a corner.:

Barricade didn't know what to say to that. He could point out that, because of the size of the container, there was no corner that the two wouldn't immediately step in. He could also point out that just because they had kidnapped the pair didn't mean they had to rob them of every last shred of dignity. None of that would matter to Starscream.

And the truth of it, that Barricade could remember cramped corridors and no privacy back when he was a newspark and so he was actually capable of basic empathy, would just get him laughed at.

:My olfactory receptors are better than yours,: Barricade reminded him. :They already smell bad enough, I don't need them to percolate.:

:Oh, right.: Starscream laughed, suddenly pleased. :And yet your processor isn't advanced enough to turn them off.:

Barricade decided to cut to the chase, :Did the Autobots respond to your message?:

"Ah, yes." Starscream began to speak out loud in English. He wandered over to the container and dragged a claw along the top, peering inside. "The Autobots responded to me yesterday."

Peering into the container like he was, it was hard to tell if Starscream was talking to Barricade or the humans. Barricade knew that this was just to mess with the organics, but if he didn't play along he would be the one suffering for it. Miles looked worried, but Sam just kept up the same glare he reserved for them.

"And?" Barricade prompted, since Sam and Miles had opted to stay silent.

"They said no, of course!" Starscream laughed.

"Liar!" Sam denied immediately, "They'll come for us!"

Starscream turned from the container, bored by Sam's response. Barricade had no doubt that Starscream thought it was blind loyalty to the Autobots that made Sam say such things, but Barricade knew the truth. Sam just wanted to try and keep Miles from knowing there was no escape.

"Soundwave found out exactly where the Autobots are keeping the Allspark remnant, and Ravage is certain that he can grab it without issues," Starscream divulged. "Their security is a joke!"

Barricade hadn't been aware that Soundwave or Ravage had made it planetside. Starscream liked to keep those around him operating an information deficit. He preferred to know the most, because that ensured no one could do to him what he so liked to do to others.

Barricade switched to Cybertronian, "Then let us kill them and be done with it."

"Oh, my dear Barricade!" Starscream gave him a disappointed look, upset that Barricade would try to ruin his fun of terrifying the organics. "Where is your imagination? We can't just kill them!"

"They are of no use to us if we cannot bargain with them," Barricade refused to play along.

Starscream made a tsking noise, "No imagination at all, what a shame! We're looking at Megatron's killer, Barricade. We can't just let that slide by killing it! It deserves to suffer for what it did."

"It's almost a shame it wasn't you, you ugly fuck!" Sam spat.

Barricade's tanks churned. Hearing what Starscream wanted to do to him wasn't enough to make Sam drop the false bravado, and Barricade almost wished he would be smart enough to stay silent. The less of a reaction Starscream got, the less fun he had, and the faster he'd stop.

"If you wish to waste your time torturing him then you can do so on your own," Barricade didn't bother to keep the disgust out of his tone.

"What's wrong, grossed out by squishy bits?" Starscream taunted. "It's true that these creatures are disgusting, but even I have to admit that sometimes they have good ideas. I watched one of those moving picture things the other day and it documented a kidnapping where the human who did it actually sent a piece of the kidnapped human to their loved ones! How horrifically fun."

Sam went to say something else, but his blonde friend slapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head.

"It's about time we went native, Barricade!" Starscream smirked. "And just imagine how crestfallen Optimus Prime will look when he hears of this! Perhaps it will even make him change his mind, and then we could have two pieces of the Allspark!"

Barricade knew that it wouldn't make a difference. Optimus had to look after the Autobots and their best interest; no matter how much he personally cared for Megatron's killer, he couldn't prioritize him.

And that was what Starscream wanted, in the end. He just wanted to make everyone as miserable as he possibly could. Psychological warfare, the humans would call it. The Cybertronians had never advanced enough to label it as the terrible thing it was.

"I will not be joining you, " Barricade reiterated. "I have no wish to get organic bits stuck in my claws."

"Your loss, then." Starscream shrugged.

And then he reached into the container and plucked Sam out of it.

Sam was screaming. Starscream had taken him into the other room, but his voice could still be heard loud and clear. Miles was screaming, too, but his screams were ones of rage. He tossed himself uselessly at the clear wall of the container he was in, banging his fist against it again and again. His knuckles were bloody, and yet he continued. The container didn't so much as budge, and yet he continued.

Barricade tried to ignore the yelling. Miles' yelling made him uncomfortable, but his pleading was even worse. He tried to find something interesting to look at in the building they were in, some kind of old tire warehouse. But it had been gutted pretty well before it had been left abandoned, and Barricade had already had plenty of time to memorize how it looked. Barricade considered turning his hearing off again, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

If he had any kindness left inside of him, he would just put Miles out of his misery. Starscream would grow bored of Sam or accidentally kill him at some point, and even though Miles hadn't done anything to them he had no doubt that Starscream would torture him as well. He could make it quick, practically painless, and then Miles wouldn't have to deal with the fear anymore.

"Leave him alone!" Miles begged, "This isn't fair!"

Barricade looked away from where Miles rested his head against the wall of the container, tears dripping down his cheeks. He was angry, but he didn't know who he was angriest with. Starscream for not just killing them and getting it over with, Miles for trying to get to Sam so desperately, Sam for never shutting up or backing down, or himself for being okay with two more casualties of war.

He, too, had once raged against the unfairness of it all. He had wanted things to change so badly, to no longer be treated horribly, and to no longer be terrified of those who held more power than him. When exactly had he become so okay with bloodshed? When did he start to see death as necessary?

Had Starscream just killed them, Barricade would have been fine with it. Acknowledging that he would have been fine with two pointless deaths was unsettling, but at least with Sam he would have been able to ignore it. Sam had worked against the Decepticons and had helped to kill Megatron, so he had stepped into their war and allied himself with the Autobots. But what about Miles? All he had done was been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The same could be said about Sam, really. He had inherited something that made him a target, and he had chosen what he thought was right with the little information he had. That was why Barricade had done little more than toss him around and scare him. It would have been easy to maim him a little, even outright kill him, but there had been no reason for it.

Barricade was allowing himself to get too worked up. His spark felt too hot and it was spinning too fast, his systems overreacting to how terribly he felt because they didn't understand that it was just emotionally and not physically. When had he become so okay with innocents suffering? Wasn't that what he had fought against in the first place? He wasn't sure he recognized himself anymore, and that was terrifying.

Miles had nearly screamed himself hoarse by the time Starscream brought Sam back in. Sam was limp in his servo, and the shirt he had been wearing was now wrapped around one of his hands. It was quickly becoming red with his own blood.

"I think I can play with it one more time before it breaks," Starscream mused as he went over to the container.

And like that, Starscream dumped Sam out of his servo and into the container. Miles did his best to catch his friend, but he half fell under Sam's weight and banged into the back of the container hard as he was forced to his knees. It took him only a second, but he gathered Sam to his chest as best he could and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't," Miles choked out. "Take me instead!"

"Awe, are you volunteering?" Starscream cooed. "How sweet."

"No," came Sam's weak voice. Barricade had believed him to be unconscious, but now he turned his head to look up at Starscream. His face was pale and his gaze was unfocused, but the anger and desperation on his face was still clear. "Leave him alone. Do… do what you want with me."

"Shut up, you idiot!" Miles sobbed.

"Wow, I'm really touched," Starscream said sarcastically. He even put a servo to his spark to fake it, but then he cackled. "Too bad it's not your decision to make, but maybe I'll be nice and even have you two hold hands next time!"

Sam didn't respond again. Barricade couldn't tell if it was because he had lost consciousness or if he was just too out of it to do so. Since Miles was of no real interest to him yet, Starscream turned to Barricade.

:Try to make sure it doesn't die while I go make a delivery,: Starscream ordered.

Barricade wasn't given the opportunity to protest. Starscream shifted into his alt mode and left through the ceiling, leaving him behind with an injured organic and one that was nearing hysterics. He looked at the two in the container, watching as Miles tried to get Sam to respond to him. It didn't work.

As much as he hated to admit it, Sam had impressed him. It said a lot about his character that he would be willing to suffer for another even after getting such an intimate look of what that suffering would involve. Sure, he cared about Miles, but that didn't always make a difference when it came to self-preservation. It had been a useless move, of course, but that Sam had tried anyway was admirable.

Would Starscream do that for one of his trinemates? Barricade didn't think so. Would Barricade have done it for any of the mechs he had called friend? He'd like to think he would have, but he knew better. He had never been that close to anyone even when he labeled them a friend, and he knew for a fact that none of them would have done it for him.

Sam was braver than he was. Sam had more honor than he did. He cared for others better than Barricade ever had. What did that say about Barricade? He had set out to better himself, to free himself of the shackles of functionism, but at some point he had lost his way.

He had never managed to better himself. He had just become apathetic and complacent.

Hadn't he wanted to make things better for everyone? Hadn't he wanted to make sure that no newspark had to go through the same horrors he did? And yet here were two beings in front of him, little more than newsparks themselves, but Barricade did nothing but bring them pain and terror. He wasn't as bad as Starscream, but that didn't matter if he didn't do anything to stop what was happening.

Killing the two humans was the easiest solution. Starscream would get angry, but Barricade didn't care. He could take some punishment and ridicule if it meant not having to watch an innocent be tortured. It was entirely likely that once Starscream was bored he would find some excuse to punish Barricade anyway, so he might as well like why it happens.

Barricade got up and walked over to the container, peering down inside of it. Miles responded by covering as much of Sam as he could with his own body in a poor attempt to protect him, and it made Barricade hesitate. How many times had he seen a Decepticon and Autobot do the same? Humans were far more similar to Cybertronians than he was comfortable with.

"Just let us go!" Miles whimpered.

Barricade considered that for a long moment. He could let them go.

It was that thought that really scared Barricade. Now he had gone from insubordination and was treading dangerously close to treason. If he let the pair go, they would tell the Autobots about what had happened to them and everything they had heard. The Autobots would find out that the location of the Allspark fragment was known and then would be sure to change it and guard it better.

Starscream and Barricade wanted what remained of the Allspark to bring back Megatron. How could he dare do anything that would stop the resurrection of Megatron, even if it was just a thought in his processor? How could he think of betraying the Decepticon cause in such a way? He couldn't believe that he would even consider such a thing, and all just because he was a little uncomfortable!

Back on Cybertron, Megatron had been someone to look up to. The Decepticon cause had given Barricade a greater purpose, and Megatron was the one to thank for that. Once they left Cybertron to chase after the Allspark, Megatron had begun to change. He had started to descend into madness and cruelty, perhaps spurred on by or even causing Starscream's gleeful descent into cruelty.

In the privacy of his own thoughts, he could at least acknowledge that it was more than just being a little uncomfortable that made him consider not bringing Megatron back. If Megatron was brought back, he would do his best to annihilate every last human. It wouldn't matter if they had done nothing to aid the Autobots or had never known about what Sector Seven did to him. It wouldn't matter if they were babies, toddlers, kids, or teens—the equivalent of a newspark.

The Megatron that had started the Decepticons never would have wanted to wipe out a sentient organic race. Even if they had gotten in his way, he would have only killed those he needed to and then left the rest alone when he had gotten what he wanted. They were inferior, but that didn't mean they had to die.

And now, much like Starscream, Megatron would drag every last bit of suffering he could out of the humans. He would play with them before he killed them because of the way a few had dared to play with him.

He had never given it much thought, but if Megatron was brought back and had control of the Allspark fragment then it was obvious what would happen. The Allspark would be able to turn the humans' electronics against them, and so they wouldn't be able to help the Autobots fight. Megatron would have the power to build a fresh new army and would kill Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots, even those that gave up and tried to defect. The humans would be wiped out.

And with victory theirs to take, Barricade wondered if any of the Decepticons would even know how to stop fighting and return to peace. With how insane Megatron had become, there was a high chance that it would only be a matter of time before he turned to his Decepticons and saw enemies throughout the ranks.

Barricade felt bad enough with Starscream torturing Sam, would he be able to live with himself if he sat by while the humans were massacred? He didn't like who he had become already, and if he let himself continue down that dark path he would become even worse. He had fought to get rid of functionism, and he had achieved that goal. Cybertron was in ruins and the functionist scum had all been murdered, so what was there left to fight for? He knew the Autobots would never reimplement functionism—there were too many of them that had barely escaped their lives under the functionist regime with their spark still lit and processors intact.

What had Optimus Prime and the Autobots done with their victory so far? There was no shiny new army, nor was there any sign of the human's electronics turning on them. If Prime had any aspirations to take over Earth, he would have done it by now. No, it was far more likely that Prime would look to leave the Earth so that the Autobots could find some nice uninhabited planet to make a new life on.

That last thought was an enticing one. Barricade had wanted a new life for himself and had been willing to go to war to get it; millions of years later and he seemed to be just as trapped in the fight as he had been in functionism. It wasn't the freedom he had imagined for himself, and he saw no end in sight. Not if he kept following Megatron and continued to let bits of himself die in the name of the cause.

Frag. Was he really going to do this? Ten minutes of thinking and he was ready to throw away everything he had fought so hard for? Another glance at Sam and Miles convinced him. If he wanted to be better than he was—braver and more honorable, like Sam—then he had to start somewhere. It's not like the Autobots would kill him for returning one of their own.

"I'll help you get out of here," Barricade told Miles.

He was sure the look Miles gave him then was the same sort of look that he used to give Megatron.