It was known amongst most of the decepticon ranks that Barricade suffered a personality glitch. It wasn't often that his actions would be hindered or dictated by it, but every so often his optics would flash and suddenly he would be consumed in an internal battle that left him exhausted. Starscream had been the only witness to the one time his personality glitch had come out in full rousing new questions and suspicions on where the mech had originated from and which personality was the glitch.

Barricade was quiet and did the tasks asked of him to the best of his ability; he pointed out holes in their plans that were overlooked and was the first to descend to earth after the autobot spy without question. Rarely had he ever questioned Starscream and the times he did he had liable arguments to back up his words. It was his usefulness that kept him alive; if it hadn't been for that Starscream would have offlined him vorns ago.

Having that glitch act up now, when they were trying to go undetected by the autobots while gathering reinforcements, was very inconvenient. If the autobots were to find him that would be it. Starscream couldn't risk having a weak link.

"Starscream, Barricade reporting." It nearly startled the seeker when Barricade's voice filtered through the communications link. His optics narrowed to slits before he responded, annoyance coloring his tone.

"Insubordination is not treated in kind Barricade." The words held an unspoken threat Barricade read all too easily. Several long moments passed before he spoke again; his tone betrayed nothing.

"I was not in the right state of mind at the time." Starscream released a blast of air through his vents in exasperation.

"You have impeccable timing," he snarled. "Need I remind you that the autobots are on high alert?" Barricade transmitted a sound that could only be described as annoyed. He was well aware of their situation and did not need reminding.

"It will not happen again."

"For your sake I hope not, because if the autobots find you…you're on your own." It was said in a 'no arguments' tone that had Barricade silenced. Once he received his orders the link was cut and Barricade was left to stew. That slip up had been the first since before he arrived on the small planet and he was determined to make it his last. He could see Starscream's decision to let the autobots have at him should he be caught. He would be a liability and rescue would be far too risky. Starscream was the only reason he was still online and once his protection was removed Barricade would be left to fend for himself.

For some reason his glitch was prone to act up when the autobots were near. The time on earth spent before the rest of the autobots arrived, though boring, had been a wonderful respite. He didn't have to carefully monitor every move he made and the looming threat of his glitch had faded into the background. Now he had to be extra cautious lest he become scrap metal. He did a slagging good job of it by himself without help from the trigger happy autobot, the new scratches on his armor being proof. He couldn't recall clearly what happened after speeding away from the autobot base, but he had awoken to a badly damaged parking garage with large chunks of rubble littering the ground. It wasn't the first time he couldn't remember what had happened, but he had never been so enraged as he had been that night. He hadn't attempted to destroy anything when his glitch acted up before.

It was all too quiet for his taste as he rolled down the interstate; low fuel warnings flashing in the corner of his vision. After he was partnered with Frenzy he became accustomed to the small mech's aimless chatter. There had been something familiar about the way Frenzy would simply ramble, as if to take the lager decepticon's mind off of his pure boredom as they stayed close on Bumblebee's tail long before the Witwicky boy had been located. Ghosts. It felt as if he were constantly chasing ghosts the way those feelings came and went as they did.

'Slag,' he thought as the low fuel warnings became more persistent. He pulled into a gas station, not for the first time wishing energon was available on the primitive planet, and shut off his engine. A low humming sound emanated from the police vehicle and a light blue glow appeared within from somewhere beneath him. Several moments later a blue-eyed male clothed in a police uniform stepped out. On his face and neck, the only visible parts of his body, were strange glowing white markings; the red markings on his forehead disappeared into his hat. His very body appeared to ripple as he grasped the gas nozzle, but it did not slide from his grip.

The strange gas machine was the easiest thing Barricade had to hack during his time on earth. Whether anyone noticed was unknown to him. Once the nozzle was back in its holder the man slid back into the vehicle before promptly disappearing.

How very fortunate I came across you…the damage you took was incredible…designation soldier!...Barricade….yes….

Barricade's system re-booted with a jolt.

III

I know these are short, but I merely write for my own enjoyment and if short is what my muse gives me then yeah.

Transformers (c) Hasbro I still have to buy my TF figurines like everyone else so that sums it up eh?