The Female Of The Species.

Chapter Two.

A/N. I shall now use "she" to refer to Megatron, although the characters may still refer to her as "he". It will make for ir less confusion of all the 'he's'. One breem=8.5 minutes.

"Scrap!" Ratchet exclaimed as Megatron ripped open Barricade's chest armour, exposing delicate internals and the spark-chamber beneath. She pressed one hand to it, digging her claws in slightly. Ratchet set his circular saw going, and moved in to sever Megatron's joints again to save the black and white frontliner, but felt somebody grip his arm and around his chest, restraining him and stopping him.

"Don't," Ironhide commed him quietly. "There's more to this than is apparent. Barricade's not resisting or struggling. It looks like a power display. It's a Decepticon thing, and Barricade is safer if no-one intervenes." It was obvious to Ratchet that Ironhide had said the same thing to Optimus, for although the Prime took one step towards the two Decepticons, he then stopped.

He was right, Ratchet realised; although Barricade was conscious, he had gone limp and was not even attempting to stop Megatron. Sharp silver claws dug in and energon welled up as the bigger Cybertronian's claws punctured minor lines.

"You implanted me with a spark, Barricade, and now I am a prisoner of the Autobots. What do you have to say?" Megatron asked. Barricade jerked his chin down as much as the restraining hand would allow, and looked Megatron in the optics.

"We both consented to the interface, and had you not been carrying, you would now be dead. It seems to me that there is some benefit as well as disadvantage to your situation, my Lord," Barricade replied. Megatron dug her claws in a little deeper, and Barricade flinched.

"You understand that if I choose, your life is mine to take?" Megatron replied, curling her digits as if to tear the frontliner's spark from his frame.

"Yes, I understand, and if that is your choice, I will not resist or attempt to stop you from doing so," Barricade said, looking Megatron in the optics for a long while, before shuttering his optics and letting his head drop back on his neck. "You must do what you think is appropriate."

Megatron paused as if considering, then relaxed the hand over Barricade's spark and withdrew it. Energon welled up as she did so, and Megatron said "Your loyalty is worth more than your spark to me at the moment. Be certain to ensure it stays that way, for your sake." She quickly slid her arms under Barricade, smoothly moving him from the floor to the worktable. She looked up at where Ironhide was still restraining Ratchet.

"Medic, does your treaty extend to my companion?" he asked. "Will you also repair him as you repaired me? Does your Treaty cover that?" Ratchet recognised the mocking tone, and fought to keep his temper down.

"Yes, it does. The writers of the treaty did not foresee this sort of situation, but medical care for your companion is covered. Move aside and let me repair him, I don't approve of murder in my medbay."

"Very well, I shall abstain from killing while I am here", Megatron said.

"Maiming doesn't sit well with me either, it just gives me more work to do," Ratchet said. As Megatron chuckled and stepped back, Ironhide released Ratchet, who moved forwards and began taking the frontliner's armour sensors offline to deaden the pain as he sealed off any large bleeders. Ironhide watched Megatron as Ratchet set to work, not trusting the Decepticon leader.

"How did you know he'd spare you?" whispered Ratchet as he bent over Barricade.

"I didn't, but my loyalty and my life are intertwined at this stage and resisting his hold, or begging, would have been seen as disloyalty, meaning certain death," Barricade replied at a normal conversational vocal level. A chuckle from behind Ratchet told him that Megatron had heard and approved of Barricade's response.

Ratchet found that Barricade's earlier statement of his medical status was true; although there was damage from the battle and from Megatron's assault, there seemed to be no old damage waiting for repairs, and nothing worn or fatigued in his armour or frame.

Ratchet repaired the frontliner, sealing off the holes in the damaged lines and filling the punctures in his armour with sealant, and then he put both Megatron and Barricade into a short recharge. Once he was certain the two were in their recharge cycle, he drew Ironhide aside.

"Okay, how did you recognise that as a Decepticon custom?" He demanded.

"In the Golden Age, faction wasn't an issue, and when building bridges I worked with both Autobots, neutrals, and Decepticons, and saw some interesting customs from all sides, " Ironhide explained. "I also spent time as part of the Cybertronian Defence Force, and we had some Decepticon members there, I saw some scenes like this then. Nobody, in any of these events, went quite that far, but did you notice that Barricade didn't seem too scared? I'm guessing this is not the first time this sort of situation has happened, and Barricade knows the right responses to make."

"Do you mean he did know Megatron wouldn't kill him?" Ratchet asked.

"He didn't know that, no, but he knew what were the right responses to make. He's a high ranking, well trained mech who is fiercely loyal to Megatron, who has proved his worth time and again. The Decepticon ranks are scattered through space, some may have absconded, or been killed, and the bottom line is that Megatron would prefer not to to kill off someone that loyal and that useful, no matter that he's made Megatron a carrier. A lower ranking mech, in a different situation, maybe, as an example to others in his ranks, but he doesn't have many troops on Earth, and he doesn't need to prove anything to us. Barricade took an educated gamble, and won."

"Well, I believe we should discuss these new developments, and what it means for the short term, and potentially the long term," Optimus said. He called Mirage and Cliffjumper to man the medbay and guard the two recharging Decepticons before leading Ratchet and Ironhide to his office.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

"Thanks, Miles, I owe you one," Sam said to his best friend Miles as he climbed out of the passenger side door of Miles' junker car. He gave it a firm shove to close it, making Miles jump slightly.

"I could take you straight to the garage for you to pick up your own car, Sam, it's really not much further out," the young blonde man replied.

"No, bro, that's fine, I could do with the exercise, to tell you the truth, gotta keep fit now I've got Mikaela, can't let myself go, or risk losing her", Sam said as he mentally cursed the Non-Disclosure Agreement he'd had to sign that prevented him telling Miles any of the truth. This was why he was telling Miles that his own car was in for repairs after a prang, to explain Bumblebee's current absence, and his need for a lift. Sure, Sam could have waited for 'Bee to return, but he wanted to see the rest of the Autobots too. And he could walk the mile or so to the Autobot Base from where he'd got Miles to drop him off.

"I guess she's not the evil jock concubine I thought she was, but that seems a bit shallow," Miles remarked, and then caught sight of the look on Sam's face. "Sorry, bro, force of habit. Maybe that's why you have a girl, and I don't. As long as you're sure, bro," Miles said, as Sam gave him a wave. Sam walked off down the road as Miles turned around and drove off to wherever he was going next, and only when he was out of sight did Sam switch direction so he was headed towards the Military base that had been set up on the outskirts of Tranquility a few months' earlier.

Sam knew this was a rare occasion: Bumblebee had left Sam a message earlier telling him he was headed for a battle, so wouldn't be around, something that had only happened one other time.

As he approached the Base he was stopped and challenged, and Sam showed the temporary clearance pass Lennox had managed to obtain for Sam. The soldier nodded and stepped aside, letting Sam in, calling the next soldier at the entrance to tell him the boy had clearance and was on his way.

The second soldier checked Sam's pass again and let him in, heading back to his post. He paused, then moved over to the intercom. He should probably let the 'bots know their friend was visiting.

Sam walked in, looked around, and headed towards the med bay. If there had been a battle, it was probably wise to peek in and check who was being patched up. If 'Bee was there, he's wait somewhere out of the way, and if not, he'd ask someone who wasn't too busy to contact his yellow friend. And perhaps another time, when the medic wasn't too busy, he could ask Ratchet to install a SIM card, or adjust 'Bee's communication reception, or whatever he might be able to do to allow Sam to call 'Bee on his cell.

Peering in, at first he couldn't see anybody, so he walked in, cautiously calling Ratchet's name, not wanting to risk annoying what could be an already irate medic if he were operating. He kept within the white lines drawn on the floor marking paths for visiting humans next to the walls, the safest place to stay. All the 'bots steered clear of these lines as none of them wanted to squash any of their smaller allies, albeit unintentionally. Sam could hear relaxed talking, and peered around to see one red mech and one taller blue and white mech chatting together. As he waved to get their attention, (their sensors would pick up the motion) the two broke off their conversation to turn and look at him.

"Ratchet's talking with Prime and Ironhide in his office, Sam", said a red mech Sam hadn't seen much of, but recalled was called Cliffjumper. "There haven't been many injuries because something unexpected occurred in the battle and it was halted: I think it should be up to Prime whether he tells you what it was or not."

Sam was now fairly used to the idea that although he was cleared to be at the Base, that didn't mean he had the clearance to know the ins and outs of what the Autobots or the Military may have been up to. This was fine by him, because he also knew if it was something that he needed to know, Optimus would make sure he was told.

"Hello, Sam, how are you?" The blue and white mech asked. "Bumblebee has told us about you. By the way, my name's Mirage."

"Mirage? Round here, we might say that's a girl's name," Sam said, then clapped his hand over his mouth in mortification, he didn't even know this mech, what if he took Sam's light-hearted comment as an insult? To Sam's relief, Mirage just laughed.

"How many of your femmes can do this?" he asked, suddenly fading out of view.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Sam asked, carefully staying within the white lines on the floor, but looking around in confusion.

"Hey, I'm over here," Mirage's voice said from the other side of him, making Sam jump. He turned in the direction of the voice, as Mirage shimmered back into view. Sam watched as he walked back over to join the amused-looking Cliffjumper. "Cool," he said as Mirage shimmered out again, and then reappeared the other side of Cliffjumper.

"Mirage, huh? It suits you. And in answer to your question, I don't know any girls who can do that!"

"I'll call Bumblebee for you, shall I? He's probably talking about the battle with someone else and asking their opinion," Mirage said, stepping forwards and to the side.

"Sure," Sam said still finding it hard to visualise his fun-loving yellow friend as a veteran of many battles fought since before had even existed.

When he spotted the canopy of one of the recharge units behind Cliffjumper rising, he thought nothing of it, just flicked his eyes back to watch Mirage as the blue and white mech commed Bumblebee. It was only when he heard Cliffjumper's cry of alarm, which was quickly cut off, that Sam looked back up to see Barricade throwing the red mech aside. Before Sam could do more than take a step back, the black and white frontliner had lunged forwards and grabbed Sam in one hand.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

"So, that's my take on the situation, Prime, and I should be getting back, Barricade and Megatron's recharge cycles are ending in less than a breem, and I'd rather be back by the time they wake," Ratchet said.

"The soldier at the gate has told me Sam is here. I will accompany you, Sam may be on his way in, and should be made aware of the situation, and warned to avoid coming here until Megatron has decided when and how to return to his own Base and mechs," Optimus said.

The three mechs got up and headed out of Optimus' office.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Having a system that woke him before any recharge unit had finished it's cycle (or if one of a few trigger words were overheard) had saved Barricade's life more than once. Other times, like now, it gave him a tactical advantage. He became aware of two Autobots speaking quietly, and then a new voice entered the conversation, one belonging to the fleshling he had fought earlier, who had killed Megatron once and destroyed the AllSpark.

He had learned back on Cybertron how to unlock a recharge unit from the inside before its cycle was over, and utilised this skill now, allowing the canopy to lift as he lay still for a short time. He waited, watching the backs of the two mechs in front of him and assessing the best course of action. When he thought he had the best chance of success, he moved.

He had either been louder than he thought, or mistimed his action, for the red mech turned and spotted him, and began to cry out. Barricade swung at him with a fist and struck him hard in the abdomen, the default location of most mechs' reset relays. It seemed the red mech was a standard build: he crumpled, and Barricade threw him aside. The black and white frontliner lunged for Sam with his other hand; his human reflexes were no match for Barricade, and he was scooped up in the silver metal fist before he could try to dodge or say a word.

Mirage's reaction was to activate his disruptor: he shimmered out of view, and Barricade swung for him with the hand he had used to disable and swat aside Cliffjumper. The silver, claw-tipped digits swept through the air Mirage had been standing in, but just cut through the air; the Autobot spy had prudently moved.

"Show yourself, Autobot," he called, moving forwards towards the med bay doors, intending to intercept him. At that moment, Optimus, Ratchet and Ironhide came through the Medbay doors. Barricade held up Sam in his fist so all in the room could see, and began to slowly tighten his grip.

"Stop, Autobots, any wrong moves and I will squash him like the insect he is!"