Optimus and Ratchet were carrying Barricade into the area that Ratchet was using as a med bay, what really stunned Daniel was the fact the Barricade was still strapped down to the wrecker

Author's note: I have been checking the reviews, and I will correct chapter one as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for all the kudos Folks. More notes at the end of this chapter. In the mean time I hope that you enjoy this installment.

Optimus and Ratchet were carrying Barricade into the area that Ratchet was using as a med bay, what really stunned Daniel was the fact the Barricade was still strapped down to the wrecker! Bumblebee was helping the injured Ironhide to hobble in to the room as well.

Chinook? Hah, he was bouncing from one open window in the truck to the other, popping his head out the windows, looking down at Daniel to make sure that he was still following his wrecker. The poor wolf was definitely confused, for one thing, what was his ride doing floating twelve feet in the air? Another thing that had him thrown for a loop was the fact that these trucks could WALK! Now he knew that the truck that he was in belonged to him! There was no doubt about that, and he also knew that no weakling human was going to get anywhere NEAR his truck without being chewed to shreds. The problem was humans weren't carrying his truck, other trucks were, and that just defied what he believed to be the natural order of things. Trucks existed to give him and his human a ride, to go when they wanted to go, and to go where they wanted to go. So he did the only thing he could do, run back and forth trying to watch everything that was going on, and guard his truck.

Daniel couldn't help but snicker at the wolf's confused antics; after all, the entire situation had him more than a little on edge as well. When Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps had passed their weapons to another soldier to be placed back in the weapons locker and invited him to join the entourage heading to the improvised med bay, His confusion had grown by leaps and bounds. He didn't want to think about the small locked interrogation room that he knew, just KNEW was waiting for him sometime in the very near future, so he decided to go along for the ride and see what happened.

Bumblebee had helped Ironhide to an over sized platform so he could sit down. Meanwhile Ratchet and Optimus un-strapped Barricade and gently moved him on to a raised platform that would serve as a bed for the damaged mech. Daniel took full advantage of the opportunity to look at what else was in the room, more than half expecting to see something similar to a warp core straight out of Star Trek. What he did see was a pair of silver mechs laid out on nearby platforms like the one now getting occupied by Barricade.

Without being to obvious about it Daniel took a closer look at the larger of the two silver mechs. It appeared to be somewhat smaller than the Camero known as Bumblebee, but he really couldn't tell since it had been somehow ripped in half, and was still in a state of semi repair. Shaking his head and turning his attention to the smaller of the two silver mechs, he saw that, whatever the hell it was, it was definitely a weird looking little thing. The entire thing couldn't have been more than four feet long and on closer inspection appeared to be missing more than half of what it used for a head. Then the blasted thing nearly scared the shit out of him by trying to speak.

"Gkk gkk oh shit kkkkk shitshitshitshit occcck okt!" Frenzy stated trying to repeat the last words he had spoken before losing all motor functions.

Taking all of this in at once was a bit much for Daniel, but he chose to play along until something woke him up. Turning to Ratchet, who was doing some preliminary checks on Barricade, Daniel asked him, "Looks like you could use a good mechanic, do you want an extra pair of hands to help out around here?"

Before Ratchet could form a response, Ironhide piped up with a question, which he actually asked politely for once.

"Since you busted my knee would you mind fixing it now, so I can get back to my duties?"

Daniel considered both the question, the one asking the question, and the tone of voice, before making his reply.

"Sure, why not?"

Ironhide was not happy right now; first, a HUMAN of all things had caught him completely off guard. That a Decepticon of similar size would never have survived long enough to get that close to him, was one thing, but when he considered that fact that his cannons were out, charged, and ready to fire, and the human had been twenty feet away and had STILL gotten the drop on him was humiliating to say the least.

That he had been entirely in the wrong was also bothering him, but there was no way he would ever apologize to anyone, it just wasn't in his nature. He could however, try to start over by asking the guy nicely to fix his leg, because even Ironhide had to admit, that taking down a mech of his size would not be easily done, especially with that crow bar, unless you knew exactly where and how to strike. Add in the fact that Barricade was still alive three days after receiving a lot more damage than he had ever seen anyone survive proved that he knew a few things at least.

As Daniel started over to where Ironhide was seated, the Autobot noticed that he was still packing his crow bar, and his optics widened to three times their normal size, and he couldn't help but wince at the thought of what the human could do with that thing.

Noticing the mechs reaction, Daniel couldn't suppress his snort of laughter.

"Relax, I'm just gonna pop that knee back into place and you'll be good as new, won't take but a second."

Ironhide couldn't help but feel some trepidation as Daniel examined the damaged knee, and he was too busy watching Daniel to notice that everyone else in the med bay had turned to watch what was going to happen.

Daniel took a close look at the busted knee joint and sure enough, one of the hydraulic lines was repositioned to prevent movement, much like having a tendon out of place in a human knee, it wasn't serious just incapacitating.

Carefully positioning his crow bar into the knee, Daniel looked up at Ironhide with an evil grin and told him, "Feel free to scream at any time." Then before Ironhide, or anyone else for that matter, could react, Daniel began. With a quick wrench of the crow bar to the right and cackling like a maniac he dove for cover, the hydraulic line was back in place, and sure enough Ironhide screamed in agony as he jumped around holding his knee, that he was also using the knee in question didn't occur to him for several seconds, until he heard Ratchet roaring in laughter.

Ratchet was scanning Ironhide's knee even as Daniel hauled on his crow bar and dove for cover under the platform that Ironhide was just sitting on, finding that the hydraulic lines were indeed back in place and that Ironhide's knee was once again functional, Ratchet couldn't help but laugh at the antics of the Weapons Specialist.

It wasn't that Ratchet was cruel, because he most certainly wasn't. He just didn't like being put to extra work because of stupidity on the part of someone else. Had Daniel deliberately caused further damage to Ironhide's knee, Ratchet would have come unwound. What Ratchet found funny, was that although the technique that Daniel employed, while admittedly painful, was faster than and just as effective as the method Ratchet himself would have used. Still, it wasn't necessary to cause a patient further pain while treating an injury.

"Nice repair job, but next time I suggest that you deactivate his pain receptors first." Ratchet told himafter Ironhide finally quit his yelling.

"You know that ain't a bad idea. Why don't you show me how to do that one day?"

Daniel quipped in reply. Then turning his attention back to Ironhide he said, "You and I got off to a very rocky start, and what's done is done, we caint change it, but what we can do, is move on from here." Daniel pointed his now infamous crow bar at Ironhide as he continued. "You and I seem to have at least two things in common, we both have a serious attitude problem, and we both have hair triggers. Now if things keep going like they're going now, then one of us is gonna get messed up bad, and I'll be flat honest with ya, I'm gonna make damn sure it ain't me. So what do you say to putting this mess behind us and startin' over?" Daniel asked Ironhide.

After some thoughtful consideration, Ironhide responded guardedly. "That's fine with me, as long as you keep that crow bar away from me!"

"Fair enough." Daniel replied. Then to Ratchet, "OK what's next?"

Ratchet seeing that he now only had three patients to deal with instead of four; decided that he might have some decent assistance after all. "You can get up here and help me with Barricade."

At this Daniel gave Ratchet a very dirty look and said,"What, you expect me to fly?"

"Would you accept a lift?" Optimus asked kneeling down and holding out his hand.

Looking askance at the massive hand that Optimus was offering, Daniel would have sworn that it was a good five feet across, which meant that those fingers were about a foot thick. Talk about HUGE! With a negligent shake of his head, Daniel stepped into the large hand that was then slowly and carefully lifted to a level even with the platform on which Barricade lay.

After stepping onto Barricade's improvised operating table, Daniel started to once again asses what parts would be needed and what substitutes could be used. After getting some up close looks at how an INTACT Cybertronian was articulated, he now had some more informed ideas on what needed to be done to get Barricade up and running again.

"OK, where do you want to start?" he asked looking up at Ratchet.

"We need to start with the primary and secondary energon lines, but the problem is I can't seem to find suitable manufacturers for replacement parts online." Ratchet told him.

"Hmm, YO! Bumblebee, can you hand me that tool box off the back of my truck?" Daniel asked the yellow mech while still looking at Barricade's damaged energon lines.

Bumblebee being the type that is ever willing to lend a hand, looked at the truck with some amount of confusion, there was only one tool box on the back of the wrecker positioned just in front of the winch, and he had no idea how the human would be able to carry it. It was the kind of toolbox that went across the entire bed of the truck. With a negligent shrug, the sturdy mech grabbed the truck box, not the specified toolbox that was inside the truck box, and set it on the platform next to Daniel.

"Here you are."

"Mm, Thanks." Daniel said intending to reach down and open a toolbox that was much smaller than the one that was beside him. Seeing his truck box sitting there beside him was surprising to say the least, but undaunted, he opened the chest and got out a smaller tool box that was actually human portable, and holding it up to show the yellow mech he said with a smart assed grin,

"I can carry this one." Before snickering ruefully. "I'm gonna have to remember to be a little more specific with these guy's." Daniel said to himself.

Setting the smaller toolbox down and opening it up, he grabbed a small black case that was five inches wide by eighteen inches long and a half-inch deep. Opening the case he brought out a precision dual micrometer, which could measure both internal and external diameters in increments of 1/1,000 of an inch. Ratchet was unable to suppress a look of surprised interest as he spotted the precision instrument. Daniel started by measuring undamaged portions of both sizes of energon lines. After getting those measurements, he looked up at Ratchet.

"You didn't even think to check the auto part sites did you?" He asked with some humor.

"Yes I did, and there are no lines available that are an exact match for what we need." Ratchet responded irritably. What? Does he think that he can just show up with less than ten vorns of lifetime experience and teach me how to repair Cybertronian systems? The gall of this human! Those energon lines need to be able to tolerate high pressure under certain conditions, and the materials are going to be second rate at best! Ratchet thought, becoming more than a little angry at being spoken to like a sparkling.

"They don't have to be an exact match, just close enough to use a compression fitting to form a coupling. Then we can take the time to make proper replacement parts that DO fit properly." Daniel said.

"But can they hold up to high pressure tolerances? I don't need him blowing an energon line the first time he tries to move." Ratchet queried.

"We use 'em all the time on high pressure hydraulic lines for bull dozers, back hoes, and drilling rigs. So yeah, it'll hold up fine. They just need to be replaced every couple of years, but these are just temporary until we can make more permanent parts right?"

Ratchet was silent for a few moments as he considered the both the suggestion and the possible complications involved. Ratchet was also contemplating the man himself, as he accessed the web for various reasons. He was not only checking up on parts, materials, and available specs, but also checking out Daniel in specific and junkyard operators in general. The information he found only caused him more confusion and questions. He decided that this example of salvage operator was an exception to the rule, an anathema if you will. Deciding that his questions would have to wait, Ratchet turned his attention back to Daniel.

"OK what parts do we need and where do we get them?" He asked.

"Well that's gonna depend, I mean, how are you guys fixed for cash?" Daniel asked in return.

Completely misunderstanding the question, to say that Ratchet got pissed would be an understatement for the history books, both human, AND Cybertronian!

"WHAT? ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU INTEND TO CHARGE US FOR REPAIRS AFTER YOU FIXED HIM? WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO DO GET HIM JUST ONLINE ENOUGH TO TALK TO HIM SO THAT YOU COULD THEN EXTORT MONEY OUT OF HIM! THAT IS BEYOND DISGUSTING AND DESPICABLE! NOT EVEN THE MOST HONORLESS OF THE DECEPTICONS HAVE EVER STOOPED SO LOW! IT'S OUTRAGEOUS! AND I AM COMPLETELY DISGUSTED BY THE THOUGHT THAT I WAS BEGINING TO LIKE YOU!" Ratchet bellowed in pure rage.

The rest of the Autobots, although they might have had similar feelings on the matter, were stunned by Ratchets outburst, which was unusual even for him.

Digging a finger into his right ear in a futile effort to dispel the annoying ringing that followed Ratchet's roar, Daniel was still nonplussed as he squinted up at Ratchet and clarified his question.

"I was referring to the cashiers at the parts stores, because they're not going to let you have anything on looks. Although Ironhide would be a different story, especially if he starts waving those cannons of his around, then they'd probably just pass out and let him walk out with the stuff."

Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps fell on the floor laughing their buts off and holding their sides. The Autobots for their part were dumbstruck with shame; even Optimus had experienced a brief urge to kill the human when he too misunderstood the question.

For his part seeing that the ringing in his ears was NOT going to go away anytime soon, Daniel just stood there laughing at the dumbest expression that he had ever seen.

Ratchet was mortified, not only had he misinterpreted the humans question, and intent, but had actually thought of several methods of killing Daniel, the only thing that had stopped him from actually doing so, was the indecision over which method to use.

This was the scene that greeted the eyes of Agent Bannacheck and Secretary of Defense Robert Keller, as they entered the room flanked by a bevy of aides.

Looking around and seeing the sheepish expressions on the faces of the Autobots, and the humans laughing their heads off, SOD Keller, was mystified.

"What in blazes is going on in here? I just received a report that we have another one of those Decepticons in custody, and here I find, I don't know what, but it doesn't look good. Now I want to know what's going on." SOD Keller demanded.

Needless to say, all laughter was cut short, along with any comments that the Autobots had been about to make as everyone turned towards the speaker.

Turning to look at the new comers, Daniel did a double take. It took him a few seconds to recognize just who this was, and when he did, he realized that he might just end up over his head. Never one to back down from much, Daniel asked him, "Do you want their long version or my short one?"

"Your short one will do fine after you tell me who you are." SOD Keller said agreeably.

"Name's Daniel, and three day's ago I saw Barricade here get his ass turned into scrap for tryin' to talk some jackass called Megatron from wiping us off the planet, because he didn't like wagin' war on civilians. So Megatron handed him his ass, after shooting it off with some damned BFG straight out of a video game. Now me an' Ratchet here are gonna fix him up and let him join our little party." Daniel told him bluntly.

Seeing that Daniel wasn't the type to blow smoke up someone ass to try and curry favor, SOD Keller laid it out plain and simple.

"Look these folks have been at war for several million years, from what I've heard, and I don't think there is any way that any of 'em are gonna change over night. Now I appreciate what you think you saw, but unless you can show me some kind of proof, then I don't wanna discuss a damn thing other than how to keep him under wraps for good." SOD Keller replied candidly.

"Fair enough." Daniel said. Turning to look at Ratchet, he said, "Don't move!"

Before Ratchet could respond, or question the order, Daniel promptly proceeded to use the big medic as a makeshift ladder to climb down from the platform, and walked over to his truck. Once there, he reached into the front seat only to jump back as if he'd been struck by lightning. Chinook could be clearly seen by everyone in the room lunging at Daniel in an attempt to cause serious bodily injury if not death! Daniel had barely reacted in time to keep his arm and now stood looking at the wolf/shepherd mix waiting to be recognized. Once Chinook saw who it was reaching into his truck, he laid his ears back and wagged his tail. Daniel patted him on the head and scratched his neck before reaching in to grab a video camera from the front seat, along with another Full Throttle.

Walking over to SOD Keller's group, Daniel held up the camera, and asked,

"Will a video of the entire conversation and following ass kicking from hell satisfy you?"

"You got it on tape?" SOD Keller asked in disbelief.

"Yep. The whole thing, an I'm gonna warn you, it ain't pretty, even if it does look like some reject from a George Lucas movie." Daniel said seriously.

Turning to one of the aides, Agent Bannacheck gave orders to retrieve a TV and RCA cable from an adjacent room, then turning back to Daniel, Agent Bannacheck decided it was time for some quick introductions.

"I am Agent Thomas Bannacheck, and you might recognize the Secretary of Defense Robert Keller." He said reaching out to shake hands.

Tucking the camera under his left arm Daniel shook hands with each in turn.

"Nice to meet you." He said being polite for once.

The aide returned wheeling in a large TV with a 52' screen on a roller cart and set it up in a corner so everyone, Autobots included could easily see the screen. Daniel connected his camcorder, and before he hit play, he decided a second warning was in order.

"Like I said a minute ago, this is kinda gruesome, especially when you consider that the victim is laying on that giant table over there still alive." He told them, just before he hit the play button.

As everyone watched the tape, the initial reaction was one of anger. As they heard the conversation, this quickly turned to horror as they watched Megatron, using his fused arm cannons, continued to fire mercilessly at Barricade more than a dozen times after he was down, trying to literally blow Barricade in to tiny pieces.

There was a shocked and horrified silence in the room when Daniel stopped the tape.

"Pits of Cybertron! I don't think even (untranslatable) could take a pounding like that and survive." Ironhide said in a hushed voice, awe and horror clearly vying for dominance.

What had been witnessed on the tape was so shocking in fact, that Optimus actually had to sit down on the floor before he fell over. Looking around the room, the humans noticed that ALL of the Autobots were having trouble dealing with what they had seen.

Some of the people present were unable to understand the reaction, since Barricade was still the enemy. Seeing the confused expressions, Daniel came up with an analogy that they would understand.

"Hmpf. Try taking the ten year old son of the most hated world leader, skin him alive one small piece at a time, treating each fresh cut with salt water. Then after you've removed all the skin, you take a red-hot knife and carve his guts out slowly. Now strangle the kid using his own intestines. Then you might have a fair human equivalent of what they just saw."

Daniel said softly.

"Me and Ratchet are gonna try to make repairs, but getting parts will be a little bit of a problem." Daniel stated.

At this SOD Keller spoke up, anger clearly present in his voice, "Good! I don't care what it takes; you get him up and running again. Anyone that takes a pounding like that in defense of civilians can't be all bad. Let's make one thing clear, you work for me, and will answer only to me, or Agent Bannacheck, if you need something, or think you need something, you just speak up. From now on, your top priority is to make sure these folks are taken care of, that means keeping 'em in top shape, safe, and secret. Understand?"

"Absolutely! Speaking of secret, these guys aren't gonna be able to come and go from here without someone taking notice eventually." Daniel replied.

"What do you have in mind?" Agent Bannacheck asked with interest.

"I have a nice sized chunk of land about fifty miles from here that will be perfect. Secluded, off the beaten path, and easily secured."

Daniel said with a grin.

"And just how secure is this place, and what makes it better than this location?"

SOD Keller asked.

"It's an old nuclear missile launching facility that was decommissioned two years ago; I bought it at a Govt. auction last year. It's out in the middle of nowhere, complete with fuel storage tanks that meet current EPA regulations. In addition to being designed to survive a nuke attack, the halls and main structures are all big enough to accommodate our over sized friends here. Plus, I have just about all the fabrication equipment that we'll need to get these guys running again." Daniel said a bit smugly.

"Barricade can not be moved in his present condition, and I will not have you or anyone else jeopardizing my patients just because you want to keep us a secret!"

Ratchet said in his typical grouchy manner.

"OH, I agree that he can't be moved anytime soon. I'd have preferred that he stay at my shop, but that static pulse you guys picked up scratches that option. But it still doesn't solve the problem of parts and fabrication equipment. Waitaminute!"

Turning to Ratchet Daniel asked with some excitement,

"You said that Megatron jackass got killed. Where's the body? We can use it to at least get the basic materials even if we have to re-fabricate the parts from scratch."

"The remains of the dead Decepticons are being dropped into the Laurentian Abyss, even as we speak." Said Agent Bannacheck.

"Well put a stop to it! We'll need those snot suckers for spare parts!" Daniel replied.

"That's a damned fine idea; they can be organ donors for our friends here." SOD Keller said nodding in agreement, and pulling out his cell phone to make the call.

Ratchet not being to keen on cannibalizing parts from dead Decepticons voiced his complaints to Daniel.

"That has got to be the most barbaric thing I have ever heard, I doubt even Megatron would do something like that. Have you no respect at all?"

Thinking carefully before opening his mouth because he knew that the big mechs tended to take things a little too literally, Daniel pulled out his wallet and took out his driver's license, and showed it to Ratchet.

"Do you see the little red sticker that says 'Organ Donor'? That means that if I get killed or injured to the point that survival is not possible, then the Doctor in charge is going to get what ever is still usable and give it to someone else that needs it. So far we can transplant the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and even bone marrow. This program is completely voluntary and saves hundreds of lives every year, and I will feel better, knowing that my death may help several other people have a better life. Now if that is what you consider barbaric then go ahead and call me 'Crow Bar the Barbarian'!"

Daniel was putting up his ID and wallet as he waited for Ratchets response.

Ratchet stared hard at the human in utter disbelief. That fragile organic tissues could be recycled in such a fashion was not only a novel concept, but also one that would never have occurred to the Autobot medic. Still not quite believing that the human could possibly be speaking the truth, Ratchet hit the web. What he found there astonished him. Not only was Daniel telling the truth, but also had seriously understated the number of lives saved or improved by the program. It was thousands, not hundreds as he had been told!

As Ratchet was considering the implications of the Organ Donor program, SOD Keller finished his conversation and closed his cell phone.

"Well, unfortunately they've already dumped Megatron over the side, but I put a stop to that real quick. So we have three dead Decepticons left to use as spare parts, and the remains are on the way to this location and will be here in two days time." SOD Keller announced with satisfaction.

"Good! Now all we need to do is keep Barricade going until more permanent parts can be made." Daniel said as he pulled out his cigarettes and lit one.

Daniel had taken three drags on his smoke when Ratchet started roaring at him.

"WHAT IN PRIMUS ARE YOU DOING?! DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCEPTUAL CLUE AS TO HOW MANY DETRIMENTAL AND POTENTIALLY LETHAL TOXIC SUBSTANCES ARE CONTAINED IN THOSE FUMES??"

As cool and casual as can be, Daniel calmly looked up at Ratchet for a few seconds before making any reply.

"Yeah, just under thirteen hundred nasty chemicals including cyanide gas, and ammonia." Daniel said nonchalantly.

Even Ironhide was horrified as he asked,

"Don't you know that can kill you?"

"Yup, It's a proven scientific fact that each one of these things takes ten minutes off the end of my lifespan. Now if you have a problem with it, well, I still have my crow bar handy in case you want to step out side so we can settle this man to machine." Daniel stated matter of factly, as he picked up the implement in question.

"You truly are insane!" Ironhide said aghast.

"Damn! Figured that out all by yourself did ya?" Daniel said with more than a touch of sarcasm as the rest of the humans in the room started laughing and shaking their heads.

When he was finally able to contain his laughter, SOD Keller just had to ask.

"Son, are you one of them bonafide rednecks?"

"Yes Sir. American by birth and a Texan by the Grace of God." Daniel answered quite proudly.

Turning to Capt. Lennox, SOD Keller said, "Just be sure to keep him away from the weapons locker and for God's sake don't EVER give him any guns!"

"Shit! He don't need any damn guns any ways." Sgt. Epps put in, checking the still painful knot on the side of his head.

"No kidding! He's dangerous enough with that pit spawned crow bar!" Ironhide interjected as he once again checked the functions of his right knee.

"Hey, any time you want a rematch, I'm up for it." Daniel said in a good-natured tone, just to see the reaction he would get.

SOD Keller got the shock of his life when he saw a multi ton robot armed with some of the most powerful plasma cannons available to Cybertronian technology take a step back.

"Nope! No! No way! You aren't coming anywhere NEAR me with that thing EVER again! Once was more than enough." Ironhide protested vehemently.

SOD Keller looked at Daniel suspiciously, "Son, I'm getting the impression that your short version of a report was a little TOO short. Now why don't you just tell me what it was you did to terrorize these folks like this."

Knowing that he was about to get his ass in a serious crack Daniel figured that it would be best to shift both the blame and the focus to someone else.

"It's not my fault! I swear, He started it!" Daniel said pointing at Ironhide.

"That is not entirely true Mr. Keller." Optimus said seriously. "Daniel was going to attack Ratchet with the crow bar first, but I will admit, we were in his home uninvited, and he did seem to calm down after we introduced ourselves, and proved our legitimacy with the introduction of your military personnel. It was when Ironhide tried to terminate Barricade that Daniel disabled him with the crow bar, and was going to terminate Ironhide when Ratchet and Sgt. Epps intervened in order to restrain Daniel. I am sorry that Sgt. Epps sustained a minor injury in the process of restraining Daniel."

"Hey! I already apologized for that, and besides, it was an accident!" Daniel said defensively.

"Now look here, your job is now to help these folks, not send 'em to that big scrap yard in the sky! Do I make myself clear? Now I hear any more bout you busting these folks up, and your gonna be swappin' that crow bar of yours for a sledgehammer bustin' rocks for the next fifty years. Got it? Good! Now what do you need to get your hands on to fix that boy up there, what ever it is, you just tell Agents Shultz, and Hopkins here, and they'll have someone to fetch it for you. I want these folks in top shape, and back to factory specs pronto. I DO mean faster than ASAP! Understand?"

"YES SIR!" Daniel said a little loudly, grinning at the blank check he'd just been given for parts and equipment.

Turning to Agents Shultz, and Hopkins, Daniel started rattling off a fairly long and impressive list of parts, tools, couplings, fittings, and fabrication equipment.

"OK, Buddy, let's see if we can't get this scrap yard reject looking like he just rolled off the factory assembly line. IT'S TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!" Daniel said to Ratchet finally starting to feel the effects of the massive amount of caffeine.

Daniel followed Ratchet back over to the platform on which Barricade lay in stasis lock. When he got there, Daniel climbed up Ratchet's leg as if he was a set of monkey bars. Once he got up to Ratchet's shoulder, he swung himself over onto ratchet's forearm and stepped onto the platform. Ratchet needless to say was less than amused. The rest of the Autobots were looking with double sized optics at the clearly deranged human with an apparent death wish.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO SUCH A THING AGAIN! I AM NOT HERE FOR YOU TO CLIMB ON, NOR AM I HERE FOR YOUR FRAGGING AMUSMENT! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FLESHY LITTLE SLAGGER?" Ratchet bellowed at the human before him as his optics narrowed to mere slits in his rage.

With a mischievously evil grin, Daniel looked up at the seething Bot before him and said in an innocent tone of voice, "But, but you have all these really convenient and nifty looking hand holds. I just HAVE to try them out."

Capt. Lennox and Sgt. Epps burst out laughing, as the other Autobots knowing Ratchet's temper, braced themselves for the storm to come.

That was IT! Ratchet was fed up. With a wordless roar of rage he raised his arm and tried to bring his fist down hard on top of the annoyance that was pestering him. As Ratchet made his swing Daniel jumped off of the platform and landed on the floor. When Daniel hit the floor, there was a loud wet sounding pop from his knees. Daniel immediately jumped to his feet, and everyone heard the sickening grinding sound that emerged from his knees as Daniel put some distance between himself and the pissed off Bot, laughing maniacally the entire time.

The disturbingly abnormal sound that originated from Daniel's knees caused Ratchet's medical program to enter priority mode. Ratchet was forced by this Program to initiate a full scan of the human for damage. What he found really concerned him. To begin with, the human was not operating with an intact processor! 23 of the human's brain was damaged and malfunctioning. There was evidence of a prior skull fracture now healed. Right clavicle had been broken and improperly fused. Partial joint separation in both shoulders had often resulted in strained musculature, along with pulled ligaments and tendons. There was a small piece of glass embedded in some scar tissue in the right forearm. In the abdominal area, Ratchet found that both the spleen and appendix had been removed early in life. The pancreas had a rubber tube inserted into one of the bile ducts to prevent it from swelling closed and shutting that organ down entirely.

The lumbar spine demonstrated evidence of two fractured vertebra and three herniated disks. The swollen disks applied pressure to a nerve that caused spinal muscles to contract ceaselessly, which no doubt was a constant source of pain. The knees had very little cartilage, and this deterioration caused the ossial formations of his legs to grind against one another. This ossial grinding had been the source of the sounds that had caused Ratchet's scan.

Primus! No wonder this human is so ornery and annoying! He must live in a constant state of agony, which may cause him to attempt to make others as miserable as he feels. Ratchet thought. Then came what to him was a horrible realization. I could have killed him! If he hadn't been able to ignore the pain levels that he must surely be experiencing, I WOULD have killed him! And the damaged portion of his brain is responsible for emotion control and response! He may be completely unable to experience fear at all! And by Primus, why is he still laughing?! FRAG IT ALL TO THE PIT! Why do I always have to deal with a maladjusted personality? Ratchet thought irritably as he studied the still giggling human.

Seeing that Ratchet was about to blow a circuit, or some type of fuse if he didn't calm down, Daniel chose to lay off just a tad. Looking back at the group of aides still gawking at the scene before them Daniel said, "OK since the grumpy old saw bones here is getting tired of being used as a walking jungle gym even if he IS built for it, why don't one of you guys get a set of roller stairs in here?"

The aide soon returned with the movable staircase and put it in place before locking the wheels.

"Good! Now I can find out how bad he tore up the table." Daniel said, as he moved towards the stairs.

As soon as Daniel started up the stairs, his knees resumed the horrible grinding noise that could be easily heard throughout the room.

"YO Man! Doesn't that shit hurt?" Sgt. Epps asked.

"Nah, only when I go up eight or nine flights nonstop." Daniel replied.

"Hey guy, you really ought to get something done about that." Cat. Lennox told him.

"If you think I am gonna go through a DOUBLE knee replacement surgery just to save everyone else's ears, then you're crazier than I am." Daniel replied with a chuckle.

Upon reaching the top of the platform, Daniel looked around and said, "OK, there is way to damn many distractions in here. I want everybody out, NOW! Except Shultz and Hopkins as long as they can keep their yaps shut. That goes for you too Big Rig, and take Ol' Tackleberry, and Buzz Boy with ya."

This last comment got him a VERY stern look from Optimus. Ironhide was grumbling about not knowing whether being called 'Tackleberry' was an insult or not, and Bumblebee thought the entire situation was just too funny for words. As they were leaving the room Ironhide rounded on Bumblebee and demanded to know who this 'Tackleberry' is. Once the room was cleared Daniel and Ratchet were finally able to get to work on Barricade.

They started by removing all of the damaged armor. Most of it being so mangled and slightly melted that it had to be cut into smaller sections before it could then be pried off of the badly damaged mech. The two had been working on removing destroyed armor nonstop for about twenty-six hours straight when a whole line of people started coming in, bringing some of the parts, tools and equipment that Daniel had ordered earlier. The former Sector 7 personnel had been hitting the auto parts stores, Sears, Harbor Freight, Lowes, pawnshops, and in one particular case even a garage sale in order to find everything that was on the list. But find it they did.

Now that he had a better variety of tools to work with besides what he had brought with him in his truck, Daniel was able to make short work of getting the rest of Barricades armor off.

Four hours later when Daniel had just removed the final piece of Barricades armor, he had to yawn. He couldn't help it. He couldn't stop it. And it didn't matter how much he hated admitting it, or how badly he wanted to fight it. He was tired. Looking up at Ratchet he noticed that the big medic's eyes weren't glowing as brightly as they normally did.

"Is there something wrong? Cuz your eyes are looking like your batteries are going dead or something." Daniel said to Ratchet.

"My optics are fine, unless you consider that I need to recharge so badly that I am almost seeing double." Ratchet replied.

Daniel had to chuckle. "I know what you mean, I'm so damn tired, I'm almost seeing double as well. The worst part is we aren't any further towards getting him online again, than we were when we started." Daniel admitted stifling another yawn.

"I suggest that we stop for now, and resume when we are better suited for detailed work. Because the rest of this process is going to get difficult rather quickly." Ratchet informed him.

Since they were knocking off for the night, Daniel needed to check on Chinook, but his wrecker wasn't where he had left it. Wondering if he had lost what was left of his mind Daniel took off at a run looking for his truck, and more important to him, his wolf. As Daniel entered the NBE-1 chamber, he spotted his truck sectioned off by a hastily erected fence. Someone had apparently picked up his truck carried it in here and put this fence up. There was a gate that he could get through, and inside the gate was water for Chinook who was out of the truck, sleeping near the gate.

"You and Ratchet were so engrossed in repairing Barricade, that I thought it best to try and provide for him. I had to use one of your smaller crowbars to work the door handle, in order to let him out. I did remember you telling me that he normally attacks, and when I mentioned this to Agent Bannacheck, he said to cordon the wrecker off so that your wolf could have a little freedom." Said Optimus from behind Daniel.

"Thanks I really appreciate that." Daniel replied as he entered the enclosure to check on the sleeping hybrid.

"I am sorry to inform you, but he appears to be reaching the end of his lifespan." Optimus said gently.

"Yeah, I know. In the wild if a wolves only live to be seven maybe eight years old if they are lucky. This boy here, well he's almost sixteen, so he's made a good long run of it. He's also been a good friend, even if he has been obnoxious at times." Daniel responded as he squatted down next to the sleeping animal.

Waking up the sleeping wolf was a delicate process to say the least, since he tended to bite first and ID later. Once he was awake Daniel petted him, scratched him in the preferred areas, and then went to the truck to get the spare food bowl and bag of feed that he kept there for emergencies.

Certain that Chinook was well taken care of Daniel cracked open the last of his Full Throttles and lit a smoke. Climbing into the cab of his truck he sat down to rest and relax before catching some sleep. He was beat, and the events of the past day had drained him mentally, as well as physically. Reflecting on those events, led Daniel to consider Barricade's condition. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it first appeared. Granted, all of the wiring would need to be replaced along with the energon and hydraulic lines, but that was where the minor problems were. I few of the joints would need some grinder work to get the molten armor drippings out, but again a minor problem. The REAL problem was going to be the intracranial circuits which were most likely damaged, if the shattered optics were any indication.

Finishing both his smoke and the Full Throttle Daniel lay down in the seat of his cab and went to sleep, knowing that the caffeine wouldn't let him get much more than six hours even as exhausted as he was.

Ratchet emerged from recharge to the sound and sensation of someone tapping a rapid beat on one of his feet. He also could have sworn that someone was singing VERY badly. Activating his optics he saw Daniel tapping away rapidly on his left foot with a pair of box wrenches, and singing "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back. I want my baby back, baby back, baby back. I want my baby back, baby back, baby back."

With a wordless snarl of irritation Ratchet pulled his foot away from that supreme annoyance, now known as Daniel. "Frag it all, I am trying to recharge and I still need another three and a half hours. Go bother Ironhide, besides he deserves it more than I do." Ratchet said sounding for all the world like he was half asleep.

"Come on Bones. We got work to do, you're a doctor not a Rip Van Winkle. Get the lead out." Daniel said as he finished off a one liter Mountain Dew to start the morning.

Irritatedly scanning the human Ratchet found MORE caffeine in his system.

"PRIMUS! How the PIT can you handle that much caffeine?" Ratchet demanded.

"I live on the stuff!" Daniel said with an almost manic grin.

"URRGH! Just go away." Ratchet said as he shut back down to complete his recharge cycle.

Not being able to go any further with repairing Barricade, until the deceased Decepticons arrived, and Ratchet woke up, Daniel was bored.

Walking back to the All Spark chamber that had been converted for use as a med bay, Daniel decided to take a look at the other two damaged mechs. Going first to look at the one that had been busted in half. Daniel could see from the damage that it had been somehow torn apart by a massive force pulling in opposing directions! Daniel had seen that the alloys used in the construction of the alien mechs, were both lighter and far stronger than any terrestrial alloy. So he had a least a vague idea of the incredibly horrific power involved to accomplish such a feat.

He knew then that there could be nothing done for this one until the part donors arrived.

Next up was the still sputtering little job that was solidly strapped to the table. Daniel started to examine the little thing and realized that Ratchet must have been working on it when he had to go out to the scrap yard. Since the rest of the severed head was nearby Daniel went to work.

He started by putting it into stasis lock as he had seen Ratchet do to Barricade. Next he placed both halves of the head fairly close to one another. Then began closing the circuit gaps with some spare wiring that he soldered in. Once he had the basic circuits in place he deactivated the pain receptors. Now he could safely weld the head back together. Getting a splintered piece of Barricades shattered armor, Daniel would be able to use it as an improvised welding rod. Going over to his truck box which was still next to Barricade, he got out his flux paste, welding goggles, and gloves. He hauled the bulky oxy acetylene torch over to chrome little mech and after setting everything up, he went to work. When he finished the welding he lit a smoke to let the head cool off before reactivating the weird looking droid.

Well, here goes nothing. He thought as he hit the switch to reanimate the now (hopefully) repaired mech.

"Oh shit!" That was the first thing out of the little mechs mouth, or whatever it was that he used for one anyway.

"Oh Shit, What?" Daniel asked.

Frenzy looked over at the human that was standing next to him and tried to deploy his shuriken weaponry. When he realized that all of his weapons had not only been deactivated but removed, he repeated his comment. "Oh Shit! Ooooooh Shitshitshitshitshit t t t t t!"

Frenzy knew that he was now in really deep trouble. Not only was he unable to utilize any of his weapons, but he was also completely immobilized.

"Squ squishy kill Frenzy zy zy?" Frenzy asked knowing that Barricade might not be able to save him this time.

"WHAT? I just spent the last two hours breaking my back putting your busted ass back together! Why the hell would I do that if I were gonna kill you?" Daniel asked getting slightly pissed. "Now if you had done something to piss me off, then yeah, I just might get that damn vindictive. But you haven't done anything as far as I know, so your safe for now. And from the way you phrased that first question I'm guessing that Frenzy is your name right?"

"Y y yes. Name Frenzyfrenzyfrenzy. What squishy name?" Frenzy replied.

"I'm Daniel, and I think I might have messed something up, 'cuz you're sounding kinda like me on WAY too damn much caffeine." Daniel said chuckling.


"C c ca Caffeine eine! 7-11 Beanbean juice! Rules all! Dom domi dominate All Spark ark k! Coffee cravings!"
Frenzy sputtered vehemently.

"You dink coffee?" Daniel asked incredulously. "OK I'll go get you some coffee. WAIT A DAMNED MINUTE! Are you tellin me you actually LIKE that shit from 7-11? That's some of the WORST damn coffee on the planet! Who the hell turned you on to that shit?"

"BarriBarriBarricade!" Frenzy said, wondering if the human was telling the truth about the one thing on this planet that he had come to love.

"Looks like I'd better have a few words with Barricade. In the meantime, I'll be back with some GOOD coffee!" Daniel promised.

Knowing that there had to be some kind of break room in a place this size, Daniel started by heading through the human sized hallways. After forty-five minutes of looking for the break room Daniel was getting frustrated. Finally fed up Daniel snagged the next person he saw and asked directions. It was Agent Simmons.

"Where the hell is the damned break room so I can grab some java?" He demanded.

"It's two doors past the entrance to the NBE-1 containment chamber, but you won't be able to gain access without following the S-7 protocols. We have strict regulations here, and those regulations, and protocols have to be followed to the letter." Simmons informed him arrogantly.

Oh God, one of those types. This is gonna be FUN! Daniel thought as he stepped close to Simmons, putting less than an inch of space between them.

Even though Daniel was about four inches shorter than Agent Simmons, he still had a good sixty pounds of weight advantage, not to mention a mean streak that would put Megatron to shame.

"Now you listen here you sniveling little rat. You print me out those regulations, and a copy of yer protocols so I can wrap one set on each end of my crow bar, THEN I'm gonna shove 'em BOTH up your ass along with the crowbar. SIDEWAYS! GOT IT? Now IF you have any kind of survival instincts left in that pea sized brain of yours you will get me to where I can get me some decent coffee, and I mean NOW! Before I go Darth Everybody on your ass!" This entire statement had been more growled than spoken, and was presented very softly with infinite menace and sincerity.

Simmons eyes just about popped out of his head since he couldn't help but realize that Daniel truly meant every last word of his threat.

"OK, OK, just follow me, we'll get you some coffee, whadaya like? Vente Mochacino? Whatever it is we do have it. I can promise that because we have our own Starbucks here." Simmons rambled nervously.

"Good now speed it up. My caffeine has ten percent blood in it and I am about to have a serious withdrawal attack and get radically violent." Daniel snarled.

"Ok, Ok, it's right in there." Simmons told him.

Daniel walked into the designated room and found that it was a typical Starbucks, so he grabbed a box of chocolate covered coffee beans, and walked to the counter to order.

"Gimme Eight Mocha Frappaccinos!" He ordered.

"OK, What size?" Asked the agent behind the counter, obviously and agent since he was dressed like an MIB reject.

"The biggest damned buckets you can put a lid on." Daniel replied happily.

"ID?" The Agent inquired.

"WHAT? For fucking coffee? You gotta be shittin me! Why the hell do I need a damn ID just to get some coffee?" Daniel demanded thoroughly pissed.

"Sorry but rules are rules, without your government issued ID badge you must PAY for your order." The Agent replied calmly.

I HAVE to be hearin shit! Daniel thought. "Wait, let me see if I got you right, if I get me one of them ID things, I get all the coffee I can guzzle. . . .for free?" Daniel asked the disbelief obvious in his tone.

"OK here, put it on my card." Pulling out his wallet and handing over his debit card.

Grinning like a fox that had been left to guard the chicken farm, Daniel made his way back to the med bay. Walking in to the med bay Daniel said "OK, little guy, I know I promised you the good stuff, and while this is actually pretty damned good, it still ain't the best on the market."

Setting the coffee down next to Frenzy, he walked over to the supplies that had been brought earlier and cut a two foot length of quarter inch vacuum hose. Then going back to Frenzy he said "I can't cut ya loose, but I can give you the coffee. You'll just have to use this hose as a straw."

Sticking one end of the hose into a coffee and the other end into Frenzy's mouth, Daniel got his own beverage out and sat down next to Frenzy to have his coffee and a smoke.

The two of them were finishing off the last of both the coffee and the chocolate covered coffee beans when Ratchet walked in.

"Mornin Bones!" Daniel greeted cheerfully.

"What in Primus is this 'Bones' you keep calling me?" Ratchet demanded typically annoyed.

"Bones, short for Saw Bones, slang for Medic. If you ever get a chance to access the internet look up Star Trek. You remind me of Dr. McCoy." Daniel told him.

Well, Ratchet did exactly that, only he did it right then. Downloading all seventy nine episodes in less than a second, Ratchet accessed them just as fast.

"Hmm, He seems to have saved the ship and crew on more than one occasion. He also seems to have been quite capable in the medical field, and we do seem to share a few common traits." Ratchet replied thoughtfully.

"YUP!" Daniel agreed.

"Besides, it's much better than what the others call me behind my back, and they aren't even aware that I know it." Ratchet said in a conspiratorial tone.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Daniel asked interested.

"Hatchet!"

Daniel started laughing so hard that he didn't even notice as he fell off the table, spilling the last of Frenzy's coffee. Understandably this made the hyper little mech madder than hell. Frenzy voiced his extreme displeasure with unintelligible snarls and growls of senseless rage. Daniel had been blocking Ratchets view of Frenzy until he fell off the table. Now, Ratchet saw that not only was Frenzy still online but once again intact, even if he did have a nasty looking weld across his neck and lower jaw moving up his far left optical stalk. To say that Ratchet was surprised was a mild understatement. He had been trying to devise the tools to complete the tiny repairs with his large hands, when he had been called to Daniel's salvage yard.

"How were you able to work on him when I couldn't? I have been trying to get the materials to machine the tools I needed for more than two of your days." Ratchet asked in surprise.

"I'd imagine that you would need special tools with hands as big as yours, but we have all kinds of tools that fit my hands just fine." Daniel said sardonically.

Ratchet only grunted in reply.

Frenzy was still sputtering in rage when Daniel's left front pocket started howling off all things. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket he then said to Frenzy

"If you'll be quiet while I'm on the phone I'll get you some more" Not even the Marvel comic book hero Dare Devil could have heard a sound emerge from Frenzy as Daniel answered hi cell phone.

"Howdy."

"Hey Daniel, It's Maigan, you are on your way right?" His niece asked.

"Huh? On my way where? What do you mean?" He asked totally bewildered.

"You know, to the airport, to pick me up?" She asked cautiously.

"But you're not supposed to get here till the sixteenth." Then he remembered the three days that he missed.

"OH shit! I'm sorry Kiddo, I will be there just as fast as I can. I am so sorry. How long have you been waiting?"

"It's not that big a deal, I've only been waiting thirty minutes." Maigan answered.

"I'll call you as soon as I am pulling in OK, and you call me if you have ANY problems."

Daniel looked over at Ratchet, while he was thinking. There was no WAY he was going to pick up his niece from the airport in a beat up, dogged out wrecker. Not happening, He had more respect for his niece than that. Then he got an idea.

"Where's Bumblebee?" He asked Ratchet.

"In Tranquility, protecting Sam, in case the Decepticons return to retaliate against him for destroying the All Spark and Killing Megatron." Ratchet replied.

"In that case where's Tackleberry?"

"First tell me who this 'Tackleberry' is" Ratchet demanded.

"Access 'Police Academy' on the internet, the movie, not the schools." Daniel told him.

When Ratchet nearly fell over laughing Daniel knew that he had found the info, and started chuckling.

"That is definitely Ironhide!" Ratchet said when he finally had control of his vocal processor.

"Now, will ya tell me where he is?" Daniel asked.

"On his way, I called him for you." Ratchet said.

"Thanks"

"Morning, Ironhide." Daniel greeted pleasantly.

"Good morning." Ironhide returned warily.

"Listen I gotta pick up my niece at the airport, she is spending the summer with me, and I need a CIVILIAN vehicle that can carry some luggage, since I don't have a CDL, I can't take Big Rig, and I am not a certified EMT, so I can't take Bones here either. I'd use my wrecker but there is no way I'm gonna pick her up in a clunker like that.. So will you do me a favor and give me a lift?" Daniel asked while actually being somewhat diplomatic for once.

"Only if the canine remains here." Ironhide said, thinking this MIGHT be a way of getting on the humans good side.

"DEAL! Lets move." Daniel agreed readily.

First off, I am sorry that this took so long to get out to you, I am starting chapter four as soon as I am done typing this foot note. I don't like ending this chapter this way any more than you do.

I'm SORRY! I wanted to get Barricade up and running in this chapter but the plot demons are in total control right now, and even though I have tried to bribe them with everything from chocolate to booze, it ain't gonna happen. I even had to delete six pages of the repair process because of technicalities and boringly tedious details. :-( I will take a break later tonight and redo chapter one to make the suggested corrections though. I am really starting to hate these plot demons.