-1Code of Honour.

Summary: When Sam intervenes in a situation he feels is unfair, and in doing so saves Barricade's life, Sam discovers that even some Decepticons have a code of honour.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro and Paramount/DreamWorks. I'm just playing with the characters. I'll put them back when I've finished, honest!

Code of Honour.

Sector Seven Rogues

Sam and Bumblebee only overheard the conversation that started it all by pure accident.

Bumblebee was practicing his covert scouting skills, to keep his mind sharp and his skills honed, and Sam had been delighted to be invited to come and watch. It had proved, however, to be very boring, as Bumblebee explained that even a human whisper could be picked up in certain situations, thus covert work included a lot of staying silent, even if there were no enemies in sight.

Bumblebee was in the process of showing Sam how he could deploy a powerful but virtually undetectable listening device, providing Sam with a tiny wireless earpiece that stuck inside the ear. He quietly told Sam he could use some signals to communicate with him - raise fingertip for record, lower fingertip for stop recording, finger to ear for listen, all fingers spread for signalling danger, plus the human shake or nod of head for yes or no.

Sam was listening when he overheard some students relating some humorous anecdotes and telling dirty jokes. He raised his fingertip, and Bumblebee tolerantly began recording the conversation for his human friend. He began burning the information on to a CD for Sam. As the students began to move away, Bumblebee followed them at a distance.

About twenty minutes later, they moved off the street and headed for a building Sam knew would be out of range. As Bumblebee moved to try and get as much as the conversation as he could, Sam heard a new conversation begin filtering in over the earpiece. He had been about to dip his fingertip to end the recording, but the content of the conversation instead had him bringing his fingertip to his ear: the 'listen' signal.

"……know that one of those monsters is still around, that police car, the one numbered 643. If we can trap it and immobilise it, we can do for it good, even its reinforced armour won't stand up to the heavy-duty crusher our organisation has." one voice said.

"Simmons told us to watch and observe, nothing more." came another voice. "He said there was to be no intervention unless it threatens human life or property."

The first voice spoke again.

"Simmons need never know, he's too busy renaming and burying our organisation even deeper than it was before. We'd be doing this planet a favour. Even if we do get found out, all we have to do is prepare a story that we all learn and stick to, stating that it was threatening a human, who ran off and whom we can't trace."

The voices began to fade and Sam pointed his finger at a right-angle to his palm and pointed it forwards. This was not a prearranged signal but Sam's request was obvious to Bumblebee: he slowly eased forward as silently as possible to keep the men in range: They were in a darkened car somewhere ahead. The second man spoke again.

"Yes, I guess it'll work, but we don't know where it'll be at any one time and we don't have access to the helicopters or ice-guns any more." The first man spoke again, sounding impatient.

"I have considered this. There are other ways to deal with these things than by freezing and roping them down, and I have been observing this thing since I realised it was still hanging around here. It's developed a routine, pretending to patrol the area, and I know exactly where it should be at seven-thirty tonight: down-town by the disused warehouses. If we're down there by seven, we can surprise it and feed it to the crusher before it can recover and escape." As the voices faded totally as the car ahead sped up, Sam put his hand over his mouth, trying to stop himself from barfing.

Barricade was certainly no friend of Sam's, far from it, but as Sam had got to know the Autobots over the last six months, he had also come to realise that, like humans, they could experience fear, loss, grief, and joy. He had also come to learn that sensors in their metal hide and internal systems could register sensations - tickling, pleasure, pain….

Sam fought the urge to gag again, because foe though Barricade was, knowing what he did about the Autobots, and knowing that only ideology and beliefs divided Autobot from Decepticon, the thought of Barricade being fed into a crusher while still alive and conscious evoked the same reaction he would have had if someone suggested doing the same thing to Trent. He didn't have to like someone to feel revulsion at certain possible scenarios involving them.

"'Bee, did we really just hear that?" Sam asked, bringing his finger down, signalling to end the recording.

"Yes, but as horrible as it is, Sam, it would be too dangerous for us to intervene." Bumblebee said. "If we're spotted, what's to stop them deciding to put me in after Barricade, and ensure you have an 'accident' or just go missing for good?" Bumblebee asked. "That's assuming that they'll succeed in their plan, which is by no means sure, Barricade's a tough 'Con, he can probably look after himself, and if we're there, and they underestimate him and he kills them, he'll get rid of us because he won't want any witnesses, and we're his enemies. I'm sorry Sam, horrible although their plan is, it would be too dangerous for us to intervene. It would put you in danger, and as your guardian, I cannot allow that to happen. Barricade will have to deal with this himself."

"Okay, 'Bee, I understand." Sam said. Bumblebee was relieved that Sam saw his point, and hadn't even argued about it. He would have been a lot more concerned if he knew that Sam had decided that if Bumblebee wasn't going to help him, he'd have to do it himself. He understood Bumblebee's reluctance to risk confronting either Barricade, or the (obviously rogue) S-7 agents after his experience at the Hoover Dam, but Sam knew that their plan was just wrong, and if there was anything he could do to at least give Barricade a fighting chance, he would. Although the thought of another encounter with the fierce 'Con scared the shit out of Sam, he could not stand by with the knowledge he had and do nothing.

He would have to take a risk tonight, and try to warn Barricade.

At six, after lunch, Sam slipped out over his back fence, to avoid Bumblebee noticing his departure. He had with him the CD Bumblebee had made, plus a portable CD player and some speakers: although Sam had a feeling that Barricade could probably decipher the CD media himself, it made sense to be certain.

Sam headed for the area he was sure the S-7 agents had mentioned-the area where he had first encountered Barricade when Bumblebee was trying to protect him. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a strangely dull-coloured, wheeled car crusher and a portable magnetic clamp vehicle both hidden around shadowed corners. Shadowy figures sat in the cabs, and Sam was thankful he was wearing dark coloured clothing as he slipped around, himself using the shadows as cover.

He crept further down the main street - it was now ten to seven, it had taken him a good fifty minutes to walk to here from his parent's place - and then he saw the Saleen. Barricade had become complacent, Sam realised, had fallen into a routine, which made it vulnerable, which is why he was here now, risking his life.

He double-checked, using the number to confirm it - yes, it was number 643, which meant it was either Barricade, or the car Barricade had copied - and stealthily, not wishing to startle Barricade, he approached.

Bumblebee, unbeknownst to Sam, had been thinking over the conversation in his processors. As he did, he came to a realisation that, unless he deliberately disobeyed Optimus' orders to protect humans from Decepticon activity, he would have to intervene. The S-7 men, rogue although they were, still counted. Although the thought of facing anyone from S-7 made Bumblebee nervous, he had to act, he had to go there and try to stop them, or at least protect them from Barricade's wrath.

However, that did not mean he had to involve Sam.

Quietly engaging his engine, he slipped out of the Witwicky drive, and then headed off down the road, only just observing the speed limit. He had to hurry….

Sam almost got within ten feet of Barricade when the Saleen suddenly drove at him, knocking him down and growling at him. Although still in car form, this was only a slightly less scary situation than being on his back in front of Barricade in robot form.

"Here without your Autobot guardian, fleshling?" Barricade said in a low but still fierce voice. "Not a very clever thing to do, what's to stop me from squashing you like the insect you are?"

"I came looking for you, I knew it was risky, but I have information you should know." Sam said.

"Then speak, fleshling." sad Barricade. "If the information you bear is of use, I may permit you to live this time."

"Sector-7 are here, they know you're here, they've got a heavy duty crusher and a grab, and they want to immobilise and then crush you." Sam said. "If you don't believe me, scan the vehicles at the corners of the road." Sam said. "Then get the heck away and vary your route every week or they'll work out where you go again!"

Barricade did scan, but before he could say anything, voices across the road were raised.

"There it is! Get it!"

Sam saw the magnetic grab, the crusher, and men with what looked like two of the freezing guns start moving towards them. The road lit up, and Sam saw there were other vehicles moving into place, both in front of and behind Barricade.

Shit! Barricade was boxed in!

Barricade backed off a little, so Sam could scramble to his feet. The Saleen's front passenger seat opened.

"Get in, fleshling, or suffer the consequences." Barricade commanded. Sam, seeing few other options open to him at the time, did as he was told. Barricade lit up the inside of his cab so that the approaching men could see Sam inside, and then raised his voice.

"I have one of your own kind in here, fleshling weaklings. It is a non-combatant and by your standards, a child. If you attack me, I will be forced to transform. The consequences for the child could be painful, messy, and will be lethal."

"You've just given us the excuse we need, NBE whatever number you've been given. If there is a civilian casualty, we'll be hailed as heroes for getting rid of you. Civilian casualties are regrettable but, hey, this is war!"

Sam noticed that Barricade had a CD player in car form. He took a chance, getting out the CD, and pushing it in the slot. "Their entire

conversation is on there. See if you can use it to your advantage." he said in a low voice.

"The door is not locked. Wait three seconds and then get out." Barricade replied in an equally low voice.

Surprised, Sam did as he was told as the Saleen first reversed, and then speeded towards the S-7 men. Sam realised Barricade was giving him a chance to escape, maybe hoping that by sparing Sam the S-7 men would spare him, but Sam knew that nothing Barricade would do or say would stop them from trying to kill him, and Sam, as a witness, would still be in danger himself from them. Sam ran out between Barricade and the S-7 men: Barricade only just managed to avoid hitting Sam, and Sam was glad that Barricade's brakes were so good.

"Stop this, he may be a Decepticon, but this is wrong!" Sam said.

"Out of the way, kid." said one of the men. "We're gonna do this whether you help us or hinder us. You're expendable."

"You would destroy one of your own younglings, merely to try to destroy me?" asked Barricade, and Sam could hear-was that disbelief?- in Barricade's voice. "Even few Decepticons would sacrifice a youngling to destroy an enemy!"

"In matters of national security like you, freak, yes we would. We do what we have to, that's war. We are not Decepticons!" Although Barricade did not flinch, Sam himself did.

"National security, my arse!" He yelled. "You're not even acting on Simmon's orders! This isn't justice, it's a personal vendetta! It's wrong! You're right that you're not Decepticons, but if they revere children more than you, then that makes you worse than the Decepticons, and I never thought I'd ever accuse a human of that!" Sam cried.

"Why would you care, kid, you're no friend of the Decepticons, he threatened to kill you just now, that's all the excuse we need. The only good Decepticon is a dead one, so why should you care?"

"Because this-is-wrong." Sam said again. Then he heard a familiar sound behind him and scrambled forward: he had heard that particular noise often enough by now to know exactly what was happening: he had no desire to be accidentally crushed as Barricade responded to the threat by transforming.

A shadow fell over Sam as Barricade straightened up into his full sixteen foot and two inches of menacing alien robot. Barricade took two steps forward-an action that put him between Sam and the S-7 men. As if it were a cue, the two men on the ground turned on their ice guns, and Barricade flailed in confusion.

"No!" Sam cried, dashing between Barricade's legs and knocking over one of the men with the ice guns. As he did, the other man's gun sputtered and stopped.

"Shit! I thought these guns from the dump would have a bit more in them than that!"

'They're almost empty!' Sam realised and changed his tactics: instead of trying to wrest the gun from the man's grasp, he tried to hold it up and away.

His attention was drawn by a clang: the disorientated and cold Barricade had been picked up by the magnetic clamp. As dazed as he was, Sam wasn't sure if Barricade was aware of where the real threat was: the dull and oddly innocuous looking crusher that was now approaching.

Sam pointed at it, ignoring the man he was grappling with. "Barricade! The crusher! Destroy it! Without it they can't kill you unless they have Sabot rounds!"

"Shut it, kid!" said his opponent, trying to pin him to the ground, but Sam was too fast and wriggled away.

Barricade looked at where Sam was pointing, and there was a blur as he used his long-range bladed weapon to shred the crusher as the drivers scrambled out and fled. Then Barricade used it against the magnetic clamp holding him: as it was turned into twisted metal, it lost its grip and dropped Barricade.

The last ice gun sputtered and stopped, as Barricade dropped down between Sam and the S-7 men. As he stooped, reaching out a clawed hand towards a car, the S-7 men fled. The men in cars that could fled immediately, with men pursuing them and some only just getting in: those that could not get in a car fled on foot. As the engine sound died away, Sam realised that the rest of the street was deserted: the street was empty of all but one human, and one Decepticon in robot form.

Barricade took two steps away from Sam, then turned one hundred and eighty degrees, and took a step back towards Sam. Sam tensed, as Barricade bent down in front of him, bringing down a hand as he did.

Bumblebee burned rubber as he headed towards the location the S-7 men had spoken of, hoping he was not too late, especially as, having phoned Sam's parents to make sure Sam was still at home, they had informed him that Sam had slipped out an hour earlier.

He dreaded what he would find, especially if Sam, unprotected by his guardian, was in the vicinity of an extremely pissed-off Barricade.

This fear was reinforced when some erratically-driven S-7 vehicles -scanning and detecting the technical equipment in them confirmed that they were S-7 vehicles - passed him, their drivers panicking. He had seen panic in Mission City: although humans in this state tended to hurt themselves or others in this state, there was usually a good reason for the panic. He abandoned the speed limit, and turned the corner by the warehouse with a screech of tires. What he saw before him made him begin transforming on the spot.

Two S-7 vehicles were shredded, destroyed, by Barricade's ranged weapon. Barricade was in robot form, crouched in front of Sam, who looked small and vulnerable and was way too close to Barricade for Bumblebee's liking, half-standing, half-crouching. Barricade was also crouching, on both back legs and using one arm and hand to support himself in the crouch.

The other hand was drawn back, ready, it seemed, to be brought forward in a vicious slap, slash, or grab. If Barricade were to do so, Sam would be right in it's path, and Bumblebee knew, even as he transformed, that there was no way he could get to Sam in time.