-1Mostly an exploration into Barricade's motivations in this fic.
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The next few months were peaceful, no Decepticon attacks or anything. It was a great surprise for Sarah and the rest to find that Barricade had been telling the truth after all, as was demonstrated by the fact that he actually visited the area several times to tell them what Starscream and the rest were up to. Generally he would tolerate only the presence of Megatron or Sarah… and Rumble, as the case seemed to be whenever she tried. The spastic little Autobot always called him Scary Car and never let Sarah out of his sight whenever Barricade was near. Barricade wouldn't even come close to the base if anyone else tried to talk to him. Strange as it seemed, especially after all the fighting between the two sides, Sarah was actually getting to know the Decepticon.
The way Barricade told it, he'd never considered Starscream a good leader, but he'd been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when they all thought Megatron dead. Upon learning of Megatron's survival he'd been all for handing the role of leader back to him, but Starscream would have none of it. And so he had waited for a chance to make his move, to aid his true leader in or out of battle. He knew his chance had finally come the day Starscream brought Sarah into the base. Her confirmation of the rumors he'd heard only proved what he'd already begun to suspect; that Megatron had found a new way, a way opposed to Starscream, and that if Barricade wanted to continue to serve Megatron he would have to switch sides. What came next had come naturally… the girl was the All Spark, after all, and he had sworn to do whatever it took to either help Megatron obtain the All Spark or to obtain it for him. And so there had been no hesitation, no doubt in his mind, as he smuggled her out of the Decepticon base and returned her to the Autobots. So this was the real Barricade… not the false front he showed to all the world but who he truly was. It boggled her mind how such an honorable soul could end up walking the path of evil, but he was loyal enough to risk everything, to give everything, and so she could see him following his chosen path to the bitter end, no matter what it took.
Things were changing at the Autobot base… at least they were in regard to how things were between Megatron and Sarah. The only ones oblivious to this were the two of them. After all, it seemed so natural that they were spending more time together, laughing and chatting, joking around, having their usual target practice contests, flying side by side… And sometimes they would just sit together as they were doing at that moment, her comparatively tiny form seated upon his knee, Rumble fidgeting as he sat beside her. "…And that was when Dean pulled the fire alarm. Literally everybody poured out of the office… straight onto the waxed floor." She pantomimed someone running, their legs slipping out from under them, almost completely flipping over before landing on their head. All three of them laughed at the image that generated, Rumble included.
What they didn't know was that someone was watching them. A pair of eyes stared from around a corner as someone listened in. Disgust filled the watcher at the sight of the living incarnation of the All Spark getting friendly with none other than the one who had practically destroyed their homeland. The girl… and the All Spark within her… had forgiven him? The thought brought on a storm of rage. How dare he! How dare he act as though everything was all right… as though he thought his sins would go unpunished! How dare he act like anything other than the depraved lunatic he was… the despicable monster he had to be! He said he wanted to repent, to make up for what he had done, but didn't he realize that he could only atone through death? He deserved it, oh yes, deserved to die slowly and painfully, utterly alone, abandoned by those he dared to act as though he trusted. If Megatron didn't understand that only his death would make up for what he had done, the watcher swore to show him. And if he wasn't willing to die for his sins, the watcher would make the choice for him. He was a criminal, and crime had to be punished.
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Oh dear, looks like somebody has it in for poor Megatron… But who could it be?