A/N: The response to the last chapter was like, WOW. You guys really do rok out loud. It was all the motivation I needed to start THIS chapter. I actually paid attention to what ya'll told me, and most of you wished the last chapter had been longer. As a result, this chapter is about three times longer Chapter 7. I tend to streamline stories and take out most of the stuff that doesn't further the plot in some fashion. I didn't do that this time, I let some of the day-to-day stuff stand. Oh, and this chapter dips it's big toe into the smutty cesspool from which it was born.

::Looks innocent::

A Trip to the Skate Park

Chapter 8: Unknown Sender

Bumblebee was listening to really sappy country music. Hearing how someone had managed to somehow lose his woman, his truck, and his dog all in the same day really wasn't helping him cheer up much. Maybe he should surf the 'net for some old Jerry Springer episodes. At least then, he could watch with smug superiority, knowing no matter slaggy his life currently felt, at least he hadn't sunken to the level of announcing it on national television. Giant Alien Robots That Love Too Much, next time on Jerry Springer. Primus. At least that was vaguely amusing. The country music was just making him brood more. If he had had a beer, there would be a tear in it.

And, he had so much to brood about. Bee loved Sam. Sam loved Barricade. Mikaela wanted to tell Sam that Bee loved him (definitely Springer material, all they had to do now was throw chairs at each other). Life used to be so much simpler. In some ways, he longed for a much simpler life, the one he used to have on Cybertron. Oh sure, after he got old enough to fight in the war (and by that time, it was really cooking good) life was plenty complicated. Before that, when he was younger, still considered a sparkling, life had been soooo much easier.

He didn't know much of his true creators. He'd been raised by the Autobots, Ironhide in particular. They did not try to take the place of his Creators. Indeed, they made it clear that none of the Autobots had created him. Not out of cruelty, but out of respect for his true Creators. Bee had precious few memories of them, and the Autobots wanted to make sure he cherished those memories, and respected his Creator's sacrifice. He'd been rescued from a Sparkling Care Facility after the last neutral city in Cybertron had fallen to Decepticons. He'd been pulled from the wreckage by Optimus Prime himself, and for the longest time he'd follwed the Autobot leader with an obvious case of hero-worship.

He'd trained of course, as a sparkling, well once he got older, and bigger. He'd always known that he wanted to fight for the Autobot cause. His Creators had died rather than join the Decepticons. It didn't even matter if he died for the cause, because without the Autobots he wouldn't have a life to give. But back then, his days had been fairly routine. After lessons, he'd run around the base with a sparkling-strength energon cube, always under the watchful eye of whomever wasn't on duty. There was always the fear that someone he loved wouldn't come back, but his caretakers, now his commrades, had always tried to make sure he was as insulated from the realities of war as possible, at least until he got older.

His love life was a lot less complicated on Cybertron. He'd had a huge crush on Arcee when he was smaller, something she never failed to rib him about now. He'd constantly made her the weirdest presents, and she never failed to ooooo and ahhhh over them, as if she could actually tell what in the pit they were supposed to be (she couldn't, she'd admitted that when she arrived on Earth).

After he was 'grown' as a human would put it, he'd of course spark-melded on several occasions. Cybertronians, and Bee by default, didn't look at sparking the way humans tended to look at their sex. For humans, it was mostly physical, for Cybertronians, the melding of sparks was all about sharing the other person's feelings and memories, and the overload that resulted was just a happy side-effect, it wasn't necessarily the goal. For them, femme or mech didn't matter, all that mattered was friendship and caring.

Bee knew that Sam would be horrified to find out that he and the other Autobots had spark-melded with each other on numerous occasions. Which is why, of course, they didn't tell them, they'd learned enough about human culture to know it would be considered promiscuous or taboo.

Perhaps he should seek out one of the others. It would be nice to share in someone else's happiness and even their pain. It would help him forget about his own for awhile. Most anyone would be game, except for maybe Optimus. He'd never melded with the Prime... Now, there was something to think about. Optimus had never initiated that kind of bond with Bumblebee, but then again Bee had always kind of, sort of, shied away from the very idea.

Well, he's THE PRIME for Primus' sake, and I'm just a lowly, peon scout. He gives me complexes. Like, how I'm short.

Bee grumbled to himself, and shifted on his shocks. He needed to get over that. He was older now, not some sparkling looking at Optimus in the grip of pure awed amazement. He knew that Optimus wasn't the shining, untouchable pillar of pure noble that Bee had considered him to be when he was a sparkling.

Well. Yeah. He was.

But still, the years had changed Bee, he'd grown not only in height and age, but in experience, and he could look at things more rationally. He was close to Optimus, and if he was going to be honest with himself, his own past skittishness would have been a big old STOP sign for Optimus. He would never do anything to cause Bee discomfort. It was worth thinking about. It wasn't as if initiating a spark-meld with the leader would be the equivalent of pledging life long romantic love, quite the opposite. Bee thought it would comforting, and really, Optimus looked like he could use some comforting of his own these days. He was always so busy, and so tired.

Definitely worth thinking about. But, Bee was going to save it for another time. He was tired of sitting out here by himself brooding. It sure as hell wouldn't do him any good. He'd have to trust that the situation with Sam and Cade would work itself out as Primus saw fit. He would not tell Sam how he felt (even if a little piece of him wanted to), that was certain. It would only serve to complicate issues further, and to make Sam feel guilty. And well, if Mikaela did it, he'd deal with the situation, and then he'd spill all the juicy beans to Ratchet!

It was still fairly early. He would go and spend some time with Ron and Judy, if nothing else, those two were usually good at making him forget his problems, and they didn't even know they were doing it. With that in mind, and with a poofof suddenly displaced air, his holo-form appeared on the Witwicky's front doorstep. He knocked.

Judy answered the door. "Oh, well Bee! Come in, come in! You don't have to knock, this is your home, too. Oh and look at you; you look so sad. Do you want some cookies?" Then she turned, facing the living room and yelled, "RON! Bee's come in to visit us!"

That shout was answered by one from Ron, "Well tell him to come into the living room, maybe he can figure out how to set the clock on the DVD player."

Judy ushered Bee into the living room with her arm around his, and Bee suddenly found himself thanking Primus that he was naturally a being of few words because so far, he hadn't even had the chance to say 'hi'. As soon as Ron got the word 'player' out of his mouth, Judy continued her steady stream of chatter--

"We just got that one. It has all these fancy things on it, our old one was much more user-friendly. Not this one. And the clock is so annoying. If it just said 12:00 a.m. it wouldn't be so bad, but it has to keep flashing all the time. It's almost enough to drive you crazy. Are you sure you wouldn't like some cookies? You look so thin, dear--"

By this time, they'd gotten into the living room and Bee was handed off to Ron, who interrupted Judy's chatter with his own.

"--Judy. Would you quit harassing him with cookies? He's a machine, for Christ's sake, you can't fatten up a machine. Let him look the way he wants to," and without missing a beat he turned to Bee and brandished the DVD player's instruction manual, waving it in the air in front of Bee's face, "This might as well be written in Japanese for all the good it's doing me. Can you see what you can do with this thing before all that damn flashing drives me crazy?"

Bee took the manual from Ron, and read the part about setting the clock. He didn't really need it, he maintained a 24/7 wifi connection to the internet, it would only take him seconds to download the entire manual for nearly anything that had a manual. Given the circumstances though, it just seemed easier to look at the paper he was given. It didn't seem that hard. Just hold down this button, and press these other buttons to set the time. Simple. It should take him no more than a few seconds to complete entire operation.

Thirty minutes later....

Bee turned around to look at Ron from his place on the floor: In front of the devil DVD player. "I believe this particular player is substandard. You should buy a new one."

"GREAT!" Ron threw up his arms and started pacing back and forth behind the coffee table in frustration, "That's just great! You can't set it? What the hell kind of robot are you? Isn't that thing like your second cousin twice removed or something?"

Grinning, Bee brushed a lock of blond hair away from his face and said, "Evidently, we weren't all that close when we were growing up together."

Ron moved to join Bee and after another few minutes of plotting and scheming hunkered down in front of Bee's uncooperative second cousin twice removed, Ron and Bee found a solution: They stuck a piece of duct tape over the clock. They stood in the living room, chests puffed out, pleased that they had managed to conquer Bee's relative, and admired their work.

"Duct tape will fix anything," opined Ron, clapping Bee on the shoulder. "If you ever dent that car body of yours, let me know. A hammer and a little duct tape will fix ya right up."

Bee (with good reason) looked worried by that statement, but was saved from comment by Judy, who was less than impressed with their clock-setting skills. She stood staring at the player with her hands on her hips. "For goodness' sake, Ron. That's the best you two could come up with? You'd think a grown man and an alien robot could manage to set a little clock."

"It's not flashing anymore, is it?"

In the end, they decided to settle down and watch a movie. Death Proof was one of Judy's favorites. Before the opening credits were even finished, Bee recieved an internal communication from a sender whose ID he didn't recognize. The message was short and to the point. Decepticons have Sam- followed by cooridinates.

Without a word of explanation to the Witwicky's, with all his newly found cheerfulness crushed under the weight of panic, Bee's holo disappeared, and his car-alt tore out of the front driveway. He caught the Witwicky's mailbox with his back bumper, denting himself and crushing the mailbox, but he never even felt it. He broadcasted a blanket message to the Autobots, repeating the message and coordinates he'd gotten. He prayed they wouldn't ask him how Sam could've have fallen into the Decepticon's clutches, not right now. Right now, he couldn't bring himself to tell them he'd knowingly allowed Sam to leave with Barricade. With a Decepticon. He just couldn't; he was too ashamed.

Within seconds, Optimus sent him another message. A different set of coordinates, very close to the ones Bee had recieved from the unknown sender, and the message, "We meet here. You are not to go in alone."

They thought it could be a trap. And the possibility was there. Bee didn't know the sender. He also didn't give a shit. If it was a trap, and Sam was actually safe, they would deal with it. If Sam was really a prisoner, they'd slag the Decepticons and as far as Bee was concerned, he'd owe the unknown sender a piece of his soul.

Thankfully, they didn't waste time with questions. They knew that if Sam being taken wasn't a possibility Bee wouldn't have sent such a frenzied message. The others were a little closer to the location than Bee was. The other Autobots should arrive before Bee, but if they didn't, Bee was going to find out if Sam was in danger, even if he had to do it alone.

If Barricade were human, he'd be sweating bullets. Primus this was awful. He looked at Sam, stripped to his boxers and shivering on the table. Sam. Hishuman. His spark felt like it was ripping itself to pieces. More than anything, he wanted to scoop him up, to get Sam away from here, to save him. And he couldn't. Not if they had any hope of getting out of this alive. The Decepticons were under orders not to kill the boy, but they'd much rather see him dead than let him escape; Barricade had no delusions. Orders would only stretch so far.

He sometimes wondered why he hadn't stuck to his original plan. After the failure at Mission City, Barricade had considered going AWOL. He could hide his signature and block his communication channels as well as anyone. He'd planned on fading into the background. Just becoming another police car, one of thousands. Of not being a Decepticon, or an Autobot, or anything. But, well, he'd gotten lonely. There wasn't much companionship amongst the Decepticon ranks, but at least he'd had Frenzy, and Barricade had liked the spazzy little hacker. After Frenzy died though, he had no one, and after awhile, it began to eat at him.

Then he ran into Gramma. That was a human with serious audacity on her ass. He could squish her like a bug, and yet, she talked to him like he was a badly behaved child when it suited her. Granted, he wasn't sure she knew he could squish her, but he was sure she suspected he wasn't human. Why else would she talk directly to his car alt, as though it was a person? He still thought it was funny how she'd unflinchingly cheat at cards if she thought she was going to lose. He called her out on it once, to which she'd replied, "Well, I'm old, boy. I'm fixin' to die any second! Do you really want me to drop dead and the last thing I did was lose at Gin?"

Gramma's (he knew her name was Alice, but didn't dare use it) son was years in his grave, yet Barricade envied him. He hoped her her son, Bobby his name was, knew how lucky he was to have such a formidable woman as his mother. Barricade had never known his creators. He did know they weren't Decepticons, and that at least gave him some measure of peace, something to take pride in. Barricade, along with about twenty other sparklings, were taken from a Sparkling Care Facility, to be forced into the Decepticon army. From the begining, they were treated no better than soldiers, often, much worse.

He remembered, right after they'd been taken, he and the other sparklings had huddled, miserable and frightened, on the metal floor of some huge hall. Megatron came to inspect them. He walked around them, his eyes measuring them all, and finding them all lacking. Most of the sparklings, like Barricade, had been scared into silence, but there was one that wailed, hysterical. With but a gesture to one of his soldiers, Megatron had put an end to that. Barricade didn't know whom it was, but some nameless Mech simply walked across the hall, to the hysterical sparkling, and rather than comfort the child, had merely crushed the sparkling beneath his foot, grinding the pathetic metal body into the floor. Just a few days (funny how easy it was to start thinking like a human) earlier Barricade had taken his first steps.

Then there was Sam. When he'd gotten Sam into the car for the first time as he was walking home from the skate park, Barricade had not expected anything to happen. When Sam responded to him, wanted him, Barricade told himself that it would just be that one time, just that one time to find out what it was like to be touched, if not with love, then with wanting and free will. Then he would leave. Disappear into the sunset and start life over as a free agent. That hadn't worked. Sam easily lavished affection on him, and he soaked it up like a desert would absorb rainwater. No one had ever actually cared about him before, wanted him before.

Decepticons were not allowed mates. Megatron saw love as a weakness. They were not allowed to spark-meld even with each other. Decepticons were only allowed spark-melding with prisoners, and as a result, Barricade had never sparked before. The thought of forcing it on some pitiful prisoner, of turning something that was supposed to be pure into a parody of evil and hatred was utterly repulsive to him. Let the others take delight in their despair and misery, Barricade couldn't. He took a lot of heat for that, near constant ribbing, but on that one thing, Barricade wouldn't bend. He would not rape. He wouldn't wallow in another being's hopelessness.

Sam had shown him what it was supposed to be like with another. Not the spark-melding, obviously, as Sam had no spark, but all the rest of it. What it was like to care about someone, and have it returned. There was no way Barricade could walk away from that. He could have walked away from the Decepticons. Covered his signal and blocked his communications as he'd planned, only stayed in the area. He'd considered it. He wanted to do just that. But, what if... what if he did those things, and they decided to launch an attack on Sam? They would have found him one way or another. If he went AWOL, he wouldn't see the attack coming. Sam might die.

Intolerable.

So when he'd gotten his orders, he'd come on the fly, like a good little Decepticon. If he'd known it was Soundwave issuing the order, he would have stayed away. He knew Soundwave hadn't touched down on the planet, and therefore hadn't thought he would be a problem. Barricade was now fairly certain that Soundwave had latched on to a human satellite, piggy-backing it like some grotesque parasite.

That was bad.

Soundwave was a telepath, and the satelite seemed to give him the ability to focus his powers, making him even more formidable than he was in person. Most disturbing. Barricade's only saving grace was that Soundwave wasn't an empath. He could scour one's CPU, read memories and thoughts like a book, but was unable to sense the emotion behind them. Thank Primus for that. Given the wrong context, all of Barricade's actions could be construed as merely using the boy and the old woman as a way of gaining trust and having a bit of fun in the process.

Soundwave had bought the lie. Unfortunately, once Soundwave knew exactly where Barricade was, it was easy for Soundwave to keep track of him. Barricade had to keep acting the part he'd created. If he slipped up, either by trying to run away or by going to the Autobots, or if he'd in anyway warned Sam, Soundwave would have simply fried Barricade's CPU, leaving him a hollow shell, and taken Sam anyway. By 'tricking' Sam into going with him, and taking him to the Decepticons himself, Barricade ensured that he had some control over the situation. By Decepticon custom, the one that caught the prey got the first go at it, so all he had to do was take his time and give the yellow Autobot time to act on the internal communique Barricade sent him. The Autobot, of course, didn't know it was Barricade that sent the message- he hadn't had time to follow proper protocols. He just hoped action was taken quickly enough. If worse came to worse, Barricade would get Sam to safety himself. He was sure he could bring the boy out alive. Barricade didn't think he would survive the ensuing battle, but that didn't matter. As long as Sam was safe, nothing else mattered.

He knew exactly what they had planned for Sam. They wouldn't kill him. They wouldn't even torture him much, not like, cutting or burning. But there were worse things. They wanted to break him, mind, spirit, and soul. Barricade thought they would succeed, eventually. Holo-projectors ensured that rape could be far worse than anything regular humans could do to one another. To be raped by a human or robot form would be bad. To be raped by say, a rotting corpse, or some slouching beast from a different planet that was never meant to be seen by human eyes, what would that do to Sam? Barricade thought of Sam, broken and listless, his mind obliterated, trapped beyond all reach inside a perfectly healthy body that leaked silent tears from vacant eyes. The mere thought was enough to make Barricade not only welcome death, but to seek it out like an old friend.

Barricade traced his claws over Sam's body, as if deciding on a location to start cutting. Unable to stand the look of pain and humiliation on Sam's face any longer, he used the game they played with each other, and started tracing the words "Trust Me", letter by letter onto Sam's skin. Sam opened his eyes, and turned his head, staring mutely at Barricade. He knew that Sam wanted to believe him, he could see it all over the boy's face, but at the same time, he could see the fear. Fear that this was just another trick, another small cruelty. For the briefest of seconds, Barricade shifted his body, blocking the view of his left hand from the other Decepticon's and transformed it, just for a second, changing his fingers from wicked claws to the gentler, blunt fingers Sam had grown so accustomed to. Then with a barely noticeable snick of metal on metal, he changed them back to claws.

It was enough.

Sam's eyes widened, and he gave Barricade the barest of nods. I understand. The Decepticons around them, busily leering and jeering, didn't see anything. Keeping his metal body close to Sam, Barricade activated his holo, and in one fluid motion, he was straddling the boy's hips. He grabbed a handful of Sam's springy dark brown hair and pulled his head back, biting him in the exact same place he'd bitten him the first day they were together, hoping that Sam picked up on his silent meaning.

You had nothing to fear from me then, you have nothing to fear from me now.

A subtle press of Sam's hips against his holo's thighs let him know the boy got the meaning and luckily, Sam was quick on the uptake. He writhed and thrashed, yanking at his bonds as if trying to get away. Sam gasped and moved, but didn't cry out, and even as Barricade's spark swelled with his pride in Sam, it filled with self-loathing, that he hadn't been able to spare Sam from this situation. He worked his way down Sam's shoulder and chest, biting his way downward, and Sam played his part well, jerking as if the bites hurt far more than they really did.

Barricade was starting to worry. He needed the Autobots to get here five minutes ago. He had no intention of having sex with Sam right here, it would be too humiliating for him, and Barricade couldn't put him through that, even if it might prolong his life. And he could only stall for so long...

Time was a cruel thing. Most of the time, it dragged on endlessly, but now, when he needed time more than anything else, minutes seemed to fly by, rushing away in great clumps. He was dawdling as much as he could, taking his time, but he could feel the change in attitude from those gathered behind them. They went from stark anticipation, to restlessness, and they were starting to slide into suspicion....

Time was up.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? Get ON with it, already!" shrieked Starscream.

Sam knew that Barricade was purposely dragging his feet. He didn't know exactly what Cade was waiting on, but Starscream's less than pleasing voice pretty much meant that time was up. If my voice sounded like that, thought Sam, I'd cut my own vocal cords just so I wouldn't annoy myself.

Sam understood Cade's silent messages. Despite the gravity of his situation, Sam felt uplifted, his heart about to explode with joy. While he was still worried (understandable given the situation), he was no longer in the grip of terror, grief and shame. He was almost happy. No matter what happened, hell, even if he died, at least he knew he hadn't been betrayed, Cade loved him. Cade also had a plan, Sam just didn't know what the plan was.

Sam knew what the Decepticon's plan was, though. They expected Cade to rape him. He'd been trying to buy time, but now that time had run out, Sam was afraid Cade would do something stupid, like try to force his way out of there with Sam, rather than humiliate him in front of his enemies. Sam trusted Barricade to get him out alive, but the bottom line was this: There was one of Barricade against six or seven Decepticons, Sam wasn't quite sure on the number. Barricade wouldn't survive the fight. Sam decided he'd rather do the deed and hope that it bought enough time for whatever help Cade was waiting on to get here.

And, there was another thing. After his fear faded to the background, Cade straddled his hips. Sam pretended the 'bites' Cade gave him hurt, but actually, it didn't, they were sucking little nibbles that were driving him crazy.

He'd always known that his little head probably had less sense than the average penis, but up until now he hadn't realized just how stupid it was. At the first sign of Sam's erection pressing into his ass, Barricade had rolled his eyes up to Sam's face and given him a look that clearly said, "You've got to be shitting me." Sam managed a brief sheepish look as if to say, "Well, I can't help it!"

But that had been some minutes ago, and still buying time, Cade had continued straddling him, 'biting' him, and even as he pretended to be in pain, it wasn't exertion or fear that was making Sam pant. He tried thinking of everything from dead kittens to his great-aunt Joan in an effort to control his body, but it hadn't worked. He was rock hard, and Cade's every movement caused the thin silk of his boxers to slither against the sensitive underside of his shaft, his balls rode high and hot in their sac, and he was leaking lubrication, he could feel it gathering in a warm puddle on his stomach. Sam was on a serious hair trigger.

He could feel himself building up to an orgasm. Just great. All he was wearing was a pair of silk boxers. His clothes were a shredded ruin. At the rate he was going, if the cavalry did rescue him, he'd have no way to hide the stain, and the Autobots would know exactlywhat it was. That was an explanation of the embarrassing kind, that he really, reallydidn't want to make. On the other hand, he really didn't care what the Decepticons thought of him, and if Cade kept dragging his feet Sam was pretty sure the 'Cons would kill them both.

Sam pretended to fight back, whipping his head around and sinking his teeth into Cade's ear. In barely a whisper he breathed, "Do it."

Barricade stiffened slightly, and Sam could read the obstinance in him. It seemed to roll off Cade's holo in waves. He repeated himself, "Do it. Or they kill us." He nudged Cade slightly with his hips, "Please. I'll be alright."

Bowing his head for just a moment, Cade slid off Sam, and walked a few steps down the table. He paused then hooked his fingers in Sam's shorts and jerked them down. Trying to make a good show of it, Sam tried futilely to scoot away, whispering, "No, don't, no, no, please." Freed from the confines of his shorts, his arousal stood up, giving everyone a full view of his condition. The Decepticon's suspicions vanished and they roared their approval. They didn't really care about the sex, they thought Sam was not only being humiliated, but being forced into enjoying his humiliation, making his shame even more complete, and they relished it.

Far from humiliated, looking only to prolong his life and get a little relief in the bargain, Sam thought crazily, Dear Lord, if I survive this, you owe me YEARS of therapy.

Cade slipped his hand lower, ghosting his fingertips over Sam's balls. He rolled them over his fingers gently, just barely brushing them, then gave them a soft squeeze. They tightened up even more, like hot stones. The feel of his own fluids dripping down his shaft and over his balls was driving Sam insane. He fought a small war with himself and just barely managed to NOT scream at Cade to quit screwing around and fuck him already. Cade moved again, this time positioning his fist so that it was just over Sam's tip, but not quite touching. Sam got the idea. If he wanted it, he had to work for it. Seeing Cade so close to his skin, teasing by not touching, made Sam feel like he was going to jump out of his skin. With a low growl, he pistoned his hips forward, pushing himself into Cade's waiting fist. With a cry of frustration he realized that bound as he was, spread-eagle, without the proper leverage, he couldn't get himself in the right angle, or the right depth to provide relief. He moved faster, ass bouncing off the metal table, riding the edge of release but unable to attain it. Dimly he heard snatches of conversation from some of the Decepticons:

"--he's well trained."

"--make a good pet."

"at least until we have to kill him..."

"...yeah." In a slightly depressed tone.

Later, Cade told Sam it was Constructicons talking, and pointed out that they weren't really known for their brilliance. Now, Sam didn't give a shit either way. Though he didstop for one brief moment to shoot them a shitty look at the casual mention of his impending doom. Cade chose that moment to become an active participant, sliding his hand down and squeezing. Sam froze, his tattered control abandoning him completely. His back arched and his eyes bulged. He writhed, struggling for breath as his climax crashed over him...

Before the final spasms even had a chance to stop, all hell broke loose.

All at once, Cade was moving his true body and his holo-form at the same time. His holo yanked Sam's mercifully unstained boxers up, as his metal body hunkered over him, as if shielding him from something. One swipe of Cade's claws freed Sam's wrists, another swipe, and his legs were free. In the next second the 'something' became clear as the far wall exploded inward, showering Cade with chunks of metal and cinderblocks. Dust filled the air, making Sam's eyes water, making it hard for him to see. He thought he saw the dim outline of Optimus Prime standing in the hole where the wall used to be, and he thought, Well at least I know what Cade was waiting for.

The Prime moved with a quickness usually reserved for smaller beings. A long glowing sword cut the first Decepticon he came across in half, and in less than a second, Sam saw Bee and Sideswipe coming in behind Prime. Sideswipe was still in car form, and he heard Prime say "Sideswipe, get Sam to safety." Bee was already transforming, then Cade was shoving him towards Sideswipe's open silver door. Sam fought back, screaming, "I won't leave you!"

Cade whispered desperately, "Go! You have to get to Gramma! They'll kill her now." And then he nearly threw Sam to the silver Corvette. Sam hit the concrete floor just a few inches shy of Sideswipes open door, scraping the skin of both knees, and one hand, but barely noticed. In an instant, he turned and saw Bee, fully transformed, slam into Barricade. Sam surged to his feet, trying to get between the two of them before they killed each other, but he felt iron strong hands lock on each of his shoulders. He struggled to no avail. Sideswipe's holo hauled him none too gently into the 'Vette's black leather interior, slammed the door shut, and hauled ass for open air.

"We can't leave him!"

Not realizing that Sam was talking about Barricade, Sideswipe said, "Bee will be fine, Optimus will look after him."

They were streaking down the road, buildings flashing by in a blur, and Sam realized that Sides was probably taking him back to base. He clung to the leather seat, gripping it hard enough to turn his fingertips white, staring out the back window, trying to see some hint of what they were leaving behind. With horror, he remembered Cade's warning about Gramma, thought of her frail and old body crushed under Starscream's foot and shouted, "Sides, we have to get to Gramma!"

Sideswipe gave Sam a once-over. "I hate to break it to ya, but you aren't really dressed enough to go making social calls."

"Nononono, you don't understand. They know about her. They'll kill her when they get the chance. We have to keep her safe."

Slag. Sideswipe was not liking this one lick. First, he wasn't really comfortable with humans in his interior, especially a human that was dirty, sweating, bleeding, and mostly naked. And, Optimus had told him specifically to take Sam back to base. Not to some old lady's house, back to base. But, well, he could sense Sam's desperation, slag it, he could analyze the fear in the mix of chemicals Sam exuded, and it wasn't like Sideswipe had never been in trouble before.

"Fine. Tell me where to go. But you get to explain this to Prime, 'cause he'll chunk my aft in the brig."

By the burning pit, Barricade was in trouble. The yellow scout, Bumblebee was running on pure, high-octane fury. Once, Barricade considered the scout to be something of a push-over, no real threat. He was quickly learning the err of that thinking. Bumblebee was a skilled fighter, and furthermore, he was downright vicious. As soon as Bumblebee entered the building, he launched himself at Cade, transforming in mid-air, driving him back against the far wall. Barricade barely had enough time to get Sam to the saftey of the silver Autobot, and then suddenly, he was flying without first taking lessons. The Camaro was everywhere, pounding at him furiously, pounding and sawing at Barricade's chassis. The spy wasn't trying to injure; he was trying to rip the Spark from Barricade's chest.

Primus that hurt. Barricade did just enough to hold Bee off of him. He didn't want to harm the Autobot, he was sure Sam wouldn't be too forgiving of that, no matter what the circumstances, but he didn't want to die, either. Also, he didn't have time for this. Soundwave was not omnipotent. He couldn't track Barricade if he didn't know Barricade's location. When he'd shown up as ordered, Soundwave locked on to him, kept tabs on him. Barricade's only hope was to make his escape amidst the confusion, while Soundwave was distracted, and throw up every firewall he had to mask his presence until he'd put some distance between himself and this location. After that, he'd be safe. Soundwave couldn't just look around on the planet and find him if he was masking his signal.

But to do that, he had to get away, and quickly. Starscream was already yelling to the others to retreat. A huge explosion rocked the building. Starscream transformed, using missles to knock out yet another wall. The air seemed to evacuate the building as the Raptor's engines roared to life, oblivous of the fire and shrapnel bouncing off the metal skin. The Decepticon's attempted to surge toward the opening, following Starscream, trying to make a break for it. There was, after all, other work to be done.

Fueled not by rage, but necessity, Barricade gathered his strength and shoved Bee with an almighty heave, sending the Autobot flying. Now, was his chance. He confused the oncoming Autobots, surprising them by heading in the opposite direction of the other Decepticons. He transformed without missing a stride, the black and silver mustang hitting the ground with roaring engines. He laid a track of rubber on the rubble of the cement floor, rushing the Autobots, heading for the wall Optimus destroyed. His passenger door panel caught a cannon blast from Ironhide, and his tires lost traction for an instant from the force of the blow. He regained his balance, and floored it, barely dodging the saw-wielding medic, and then he was free, in the open air, speeding over the roads and into the desert.

The other Autobots were more interested in getting back to Sam, in finding out what happened, than chasing the fleeing Decepticons. Already they would be out of reach.

Except for maybe, one.

Bumblebee knew what happened. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Barricade lured Sam here. Optimus and the others were already communicating with the American government concerning cleanup, and from the sound of it, Lennox was disappointed he hadn't been in on the action. Four 'Cons were killed in battle, their remains had to be disposed of. Lennox didn't like being a part of the cleanup crew. He preferred demolitions.

Bee transformed, his yellow Camaro body flying through what was left of the wall and outside at breakneck speed. As much as it pained him to lie to his leader, he sent the Prime a message over the WiFi: I'm going to the base to check on Sam.

Then he sped off after Barricade. The others would try to stop him if they knew. That was unacceptable. Barricade betrayed Sam's trust, and Bee's. There was no way Bee was going to let him live to brag about it.

2nd A/N: I swear, I have no idea where that bit about Optimus Prime came from in Bee's musings. I haven't been considering that direction at all (I swear) but when I was writing the chapter, it just seemed to come out of the air. I would like to know what you guys think about that. If you have an opinion, feel free to send a PM or whatever ya'll wanna do. I haven't decided anything yet, it may just stay a random part of Bee's musings. I'm not sure.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it wasn't at all hard. The storyline was coming almost faster than I could type it out. I love it when stories do that, its awesome.

Hope ya'll have as much fun with it as I did.

P.S. Wow, the FF spell-checker has problems.