A story of Sparks and Men

Rating: M (for non-con, swearing and remake of a rude song)

Disclamer: Nope. Don't own them. Had I had them… every episode would have been like this story.

Author note: I'm not an experienced fanfic writer. Feed me, so I can improve! Also, I wrote Barricade's character the way I see him. After all, there has to be a reason to his choice of shape. Also, I'd like to thank my beta, Artoni, for the constructive criticism, and my husband, Dim, for sitting without crying when I dragged him to see Transformers. Squee, Frenzy!

Part 1: Us vs. Them

"Come on, Annabelle, let's go for a ride." Will Lennox picked his daughter up and smiled. She was such an angel (mostly).

"Just don't forget to be back for dinner!" His wife called after them. "Ironhide, you are in charge."

It was over a year since Lennox returned from Qatar and the following battles. Ironhide chose to follow the now-retired soldier home, and after the initial shock wore off, he was accepted as part of the family. So now, he was assisting 'his' family by delivering both the father and the daughter to a near-by shopping center, to acquire supplies.

The road from the farm was pretty long, so the old soldiers passed time comparing tactics and exchanging degrading stories about the commanding officers of old times.

"And then Prime said 'Do I look like a sex-giant?' and Ratchet replies 'More like a giant...' Out of respect for Annabelle I won't finish this story."

"Out of fear from my wife is more like it."

"Too true. She can be quite the … FRAG! Get out, now!"

It took Lennox a second to register the change of tone, a second he didn't have. The vehicle shook badly around him, and all he could do is thank god for Annabelle being in a baby chair, secu… red? A pain shot in his neck and the world went soft and black.

"Captain Lennox! Wake up!" The voice reached him through the haze.

Lennox cracked one eye open. One his sight cleared a bit, he checked his surroundings.

"Shit!"

He sat up abruptly and immediately regretted it. His whole body ached, but the worst was the pounding in his head.

"Where?" He asked, trying to ignore the pain.

"At a Decepticon hideout." The same voice that woke him replied. Now he recognized the speaker. Sam Whitwicky.

"Not that. Where is Annabelle?"

"Your daughter was with you?" Now Sam was worried. "I hope that Starscream…"

"Don't even say that." Ironhide's voice joined the conversation. "What are we doing here?"

"I don't know." Sam said. "I've been captured two days ago, according to Bee's timer. They bring me food, but they ignore Bee. I wonder why."

"Probably to create animosity, to make Bee jealous." Lennox said. The pounding in his head eased enough for him to start analyzing the situation. Old habits die hard.

There were two cells, one holding the humans, the other holding the Bots. The human cell had a mattress inside, and a small shower. The Bots cell was barren.

It was fun to see that his friends' spirit was strong, but still, no sign of Annabelle. Another glance told him that there were cameras outside the cells, observing every corner of the cells. It also showed plenty of burn and explosion marks on the wall of the Autobots' cell. Apparently Bee wasn't the cute helpless 'Bot everyone took him for, especially with Sam in danger. But some of those marks looked familiar. Very strange indeed.

"It looks like Ironhide her edidn't go out without a fight." Lennox muttered.

"Yes. And you missed a glorious battle." Sam said. "It took three of them to disable the guns of one drugged Ironhide."

"Eventually they succeeded." Ironhide added.

"'Cause I got high." Bee added.

Lennox smirked, before growing serious again.

"The starvation and animosity are age old tricks. They know Autobots won't allow such simple tricks to affect them. I think they are testing Sam. Humans are a new concept to them after all." He suggested. "Bumblebee, status report!"

"Shut up, just shut up…" (Black eyed peas)

"Again? Sometimes I don't know why Ratchet bothers." Ironhide muttered.

"You touch my tralala. Ooh, my ding-ding-dong." (Gunther and the Sunshine girls)

"He's not enjoying this!"

Despite the grave situation, the humans started laughing at the bicker.

"Fine! Sam, status report." Ironhide growled.

The laughter died.

"They stunned both Bee and myself, and then brought us here. Starscream runs the whole operation. And they succeeded in repairing most of the 'Cons I know. The little spiked git included. Haven't seen Megatron, though."

"The git has a name, Frenzy. Though git fits just as well." Ironhide corrected Sam.

"I wouldn't call someone who's in charge of your sparkling a git." An annoyed voice came from the entrance to the cell block.

Bee played an ice cream truck song, notifying others about Starscream's entrance.

"As a soldier of the US army I demand explanations as to why we are held here." Lennox stood up, 'military mode on'.

"As a leader of the Decepticons I don't care about your demands." Starscream mimicked Lennox.

"Where's my daughter, you bastard?"

"She's safe. You chose a proper second name for her, Grace. You can be comforted by the thought that no self- respecting Cybertronian will destroy a sparkling. Too bad same can't be said about you."

"What do you want?"

"To see you all suffer, especially Ironhide. I still owe you one and you know for what."

Ironhide cringed visibly at the memory.

"I didn't know! And I tried to help…"

"More like clean up your own mess. But enough of it. As a gracious host…" Starscream emphasized the word 'gracious'. "I see the need to provide you with entertainment."

Lennox barely restrained himself from swearing. No need to agitate a violent giant robot without a good reason.

"I'll return in several hours to see to your discomfort." With that the 'Con turned to leave.

"Wait, please!" Sam called.

"What is it?" The 'Con smiled nastily.

"Don't, Sam. Don't degrade yourself!" Lennox hissed.

"He was addressing me, not you." Starscream shot a weak charge through the bars, barely missing Lennox. "Now, you were saying?"

"Could you please provide Bee with nutrition? You can starve me instead. He barely has energy left."

"Such a brave little squishy. Alright, I'll give your friend some Energon, on one condition."

"Name it!"

"You carry the container to him, with your own bare hands." Starscream sounded like he was enjoying Sam's emotional turmoil.

"Agreed. Show the way, fearless dealer."

"Sam, no!" Ironhide yelled. "It's…"

Starscream silenced him with a shot, aimed to hurt, not to kill, and then shut down the energy grid that held the humans inside.

"I dare you to try anything, Captain Lennox." He spat the title with utter contempt.

Sam left the cell and the grid came alight behind him. Starscream gestured for him to follow and so he did.

"What was it about Energon you were about to say?" Lennox asked the 'Bots.

"It's poison. Poison running through my veins." (Alice)

"What kind of poison? Is there an antidote?"

"Atomic…" (Blondie).

"Radiation poisoning? Holy mother of…" Lennox returned to the mattress. A slow, terrible death was in store for the boy. "Why would anyone wish such a torture upon Sam?" An idea struck him. "This goes beyond warfare; it's personal, isn't it? Ironhide, what happened between you and Starscream?"

Ironhide averted his eyes.

"Well, WHAT?" Lennox yelled. "This is a serious situation and every bit of info is crucial."

"It was many thousands of human years ago. Starscream wasn't half this crazy then. We spotted him and Megatron near one of our bases. I was a dumb youngster myself, a trigger happy one too. So I shot first, asked questions later. And the answers were terrible. They discovered a Spark ready to take form and tried to take it to their base. It was too weak so they had no choice. Starscream, as the weaker Mech, linked with it, while Megatron guarded him. A Mech linked with a spark is helpless. And I shot Starscream. His pain nearly destroyed the Spark."

"It's like shooting a pregnant woman." Lennox said. "But you couldn't know…"

"I could check first!" Ironhide said. "Besides, you heard what Starscream said! No self-respecting Mech will harm a sparkling! There were other battles, other insults and grudges, and they all mixed with this one, Starscream has plenty for me to account for."

"Who else knows?"

"Megatron knew. Prime knows, so does Ratchet. I called him for help. Now you know too."

"And Starscream will torture Sam, as the closest payback he can do without harming a sparkling himself?"

Ironhide turned away from Lennox, only to see Bee's optics, full of despair.