AN: Miles is starting to feel like Ravage and Barricade actually aren't going to leave him. He's starting to think that maybe he won't chase them off even if he stops playing nice. The pair will suffer for it. Ravage is going to be thrilled, tbh.

Miles woke to an empty bed and a quiet house. Instantly a strong feeling of dread filled him—something must have happened during the night to make Barricade and Ravage leave his side. His first thought was that Barricade and Ravage had finally seen the light and left. His next thought, which struck him as far scarier and far more likely, was that the two had some sort of bright idea that they were currently implementing and he would soon see the horrible outcome.

He got up and went about his routine like he used to before two alien robots came into his life, doing his best to try and pretend like the silence didn't bother him. Miles finished getting ready for work in record time and went out to his truck with a mug full of coffee. He unlocked the door, opened it, put the coffee in a cup holder, got in the truck, and had just closed the door when something in his brain hit him with an overwhelming feeling of wrongness.

He sat there for a second, trying to understand why he was feeling the way he was as goosebumps formed on his arms and he got the inexplicable feeling that he was being watched. Miles locked the doors and peered out through the windows, but he couldn't see anything. Not even a deer or a raccoon. He turned to check the backseat just in case and there was nothing there. It wasn't until he turned back around that he remembered that the backseat shouldn't be empty—he'd had a jacket back there as well as a Stephen King novel.

He peered around the interior of the vehicle and noticed a few other oddities. Last summer he had forgotten an unopened can of Dr. Pepper in the front cup holder and it had exploded. He hadn't cared enough to take his truck in to get it detailed, so the persistent stickiness had remained on the gear shift and caused countless crumbs to become somewhat caked in. These were all gone now. Miles peered down at his feet and realized that the quarter he had dropped there a month ago was also missing, and it looked like the mats had been freshly vacuumed.

Someone had broken into his truck! Someone had broken into his truck and… cleaned? Miles couldn't imagine why, and he couldn't even think to accuse Ravage or Barricade. Ravage liked to mess with him, but she enjoyed watching his reactions as she did so, and she was nowhere in sight. Barricade had never shown any inclination towards cleaning outside of caring for the puppies.

The seat he was in felt different, too. The cushion was more comfortable and the seat was slightly warm, which was weird because he didn't have heated seats and the truck should have been much colder since it was below freezing outside. It was then that everything came together: the feeling of being watched, the missing items, everything being cleaner than it had twelve hours ago, and the warm seat.

"No," Miles said out loud as realization struck him. He unlocked the door and opened it, "Absolutely not."

Barricade pulled the door closed again, "I'm safer than that contraption you drive."

"Absolutely not!"

Barricade had transformed himself into a pretty faithful replica of Miles' truck. Miles didn't know if he should be impressed or annoyed.

"Where's my truck?"

"How did you figure it out?" Barricade complained. "I even did the scratches on the right fender!"

"Where is my truck, Barricade?" Miles tacked on his name this time, hoping it would somehow make a difference. "I'm not driving you to work!"

"You won't be driving me."

"Barricade."

"You're late already, do you really want to waste time?"

Miles glanced at the clock on the dashboard and realized with horror that Barricade was correct. If he left now he might be able to make it before Jessica unlocked the front door, but if he wasted time trying to pry information out of Barricade then he would definitely be later than he wanted.

And Mondays were surgery days, too. Damn.

"Fine," Miles gritted out. "But this is not happening again."

"Whatever you say!" Barricade said cheerfully.

This was turning out to be one of the most uncomfortable car rides that Miles had ever suffered through. It was weird knowing that he was riding inside of a giant alien robot. He didn't know what to do or say, and he didn't want to upset Barricade. His left leg was starting to fall asleep and he desperately wanted a drink, but he didn't know how sensitive Barricade's interior was and he didn't want to risk distracting him. It also felt a little rude to move around as he wanted when he was inside of someone, especially since he was being personally chauffeured.

And then Miles realized how odd that line of thought was. Barricade wasn't doing him some huge favor. Miles had never asked for any of this; had tried to argue against it, in fact. So what did he care if he moved and made Barricade uncomfortable or annoyed? Barricade had been the one to force the situation. He had obviously assumed Miles wouldn't be thrilled at the idea of riding around in him, so he had waited until Miles' back was turned and then pretended to be his vehicle when Miles was too pressed for time to really fight it.

A new thought struck him: wasn't it about time he stopped playing nice? Barricade and Ravage had become full time roommates and part time annoyances without much say on his end. He'd come to appreciate this more than he wanted to admit, but he was tired of trying to walk on eggshells around them just because he didn't know everything and they didn't care to tell him. He had been holding himself back, afraid that if he pushed too much or did the wrong thing that he would lose them. He had been trying to respect their boundaries, but he thought it was time for a change. A test, perhaps.

They were the ones who had made the choice to stay with him, not the other way around. They would soon learn that Miles could be just as gleefully annoying as they could be.

Miles looked around and made sure there were no other cars around them. He grabbed Barricade's steering wheel and moved it to the left, curious to see what would happen. Barricade swerved and let out a startled word that Miles didn't recognize, though given the circumstances it was obvious it was a curse. Barricade quickly forced himself straight again.

"What the frag are you doing?"

Miles adopted his best innocent tone, "I just wanted to see what would happen."

And because Barricade didn't know better yet, he believed him.

Five minutes later, Miles put his hand in the middle of Barricade's steering wheel and pressed down. A horn went off just like it would in any other vehicle.

"Don't do that!" Barricade hissed.

Miles did it again just to spite him.