The truth hurts so bad,

Wouldn't you say,

So why tell it,

If ignorance is bliss,

Then I'm in heaven now. - 3's and 7's by Queens of the Stone Age

xxxxxx

"I have a question."

The leader of the robbery looked up from his rifle at Sam's voice. The kid was growing bolder, he had to admit.

"As your question."

Sam sighed, forcing himself to say the words that would either make or break his theory.

"When I asked you whey you took us as hostages, you told me that it was because there are people out there who don't get what they need. You used the military as a prime example in saying that they don't get the equipment that they need. You say that you do it for the people as a way to get media attention. But as you tell me this, I noticed that you've already shot at officers and killed that innocent security guard. How am I supposed to believe that you're doing this for the better of the people?"

The leader was grinning at him. "Smart kid. You're right, what I fed you before was complete and utter bullshit." He leaned forward, placing his rifle on the table, his tone going from amused to deadly serious. "Now you listen to me, your roll in this whole mess is to talk to the fuckin' cops. Do not worry yourself with my motives." He leaned back, the rifle remained on the table. "Besides, all those ideas in your head are not good for you, they tend to make things cluttered - I may be forced to air your head out if that happens."

Sam shuttered to himself, knowing his was treading on some seriously thin ice. But if he was going to get any kind of information to Will over the next call, these were things he had to do.

"Okay, okay. I get it, you don't want to tell me what's going on. But, can you at the very least, tell me why you shot that security guard? He was compliant!"

"He was armed." Was the simple, uncaring, reply.

"No he wasn't!" Sam shouted before he could stop himself, feeling enraged that they had killed someone who wasn't doing anything wrong.

The leader simply rolled his eyes, grabbing a pistol from the holster of the robber standing next to him. He ejected the clip from it, removing each bullet before sliding the clip back into it's place, handing it to the robber who moved to place it in the security guard's dead hands. "Yes, he was."

Remembering what Will had taught Sam about weapons, he realized that the leader had just made a fatal error.

The only question was, would Sam be able to take advantage of it?

xxxxxx

"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait before they'll ask for a escape vehicle?" Ratchet asked, keeping his voice low so no one outside of their little circle would hear him.

"Who knows?" Will answered with a shrug. "But just about every bank robbery in history has had some kind of escape vehicle demand, either that or they brought their own. Saying as how I don't see any cars in the parking lot that would fit them and their gear, it is safe to assume they were dropped off by someone."

"As much as you won't want to hear this, Ironhide, I believe we should enlist Barricade's help for this plan of yours."

"What?!" Shouted the Weapons Specialist before he could contain himself. Then in a much quieter voice. "Why?"

"Because, even if we go along with this plan of yours, it would be way to dangerous for us to just swoop in and transform on them. What if Sam is with them? They could injure him before any of us have a chance to do anything. I think if I can convince Barricade to change his camouflage just long enough to tail them to an out of the way place then we should be okay."

"I'm still not sure I follow." Will interrupted, shaking his head. "How would putting Barricade in all this make it okay?"

Ironhide answered, though the hologram's eyes didn't leave Ratchet. "Because, Barricade's hologram is a cop in uniform. If Barricade follows them in a different 'skin' and then revert to his normal self in time to pull Bumblebee over, the robbers will be most interested in him to worry about Sam."

"Which in turn gives us plenty of room to maneuver and get Sam out and capture these bandits." Ratchet said, nodding. "I know you don't like it Ironhide-"

"You bet your aft I don't like it." Ironhide growled. "But Sam's safety comes first and foremost. So... do what you can Ratch."

xxxxxx

Ratchet walked out of the command center, looking around before he spotted Barricade parked across the street, his hologram leaning against the door nonchalantly. Ratchet crossed the street, moving to stand just a few feet away from the cop car.

"We need your help with something."

"You," Barricade answered, not bothering to take his eyes off Ratchet. "Are wasting your time by coming over here."

Ratchet ignored the taunt. "The robbers are going to ask for a getaway car. We're going to supply them with Bumblebee through Sam, but that's where we hit a wall." Ratchet waited to see if Barricade would say anything. Not getting a response he continued. "We would need you to change your look a little to look more like a regular car then a cop car. Just until we can coral them into an isolated area, at which point you can return to your cop car status and pull them over. They'll be paying attention to you and not us."

Barricade seemed to be considering the preposition for a moment.

"And what's in it for me?"

Ratchet considered that for a moment. "Well... you said you wanted to protect those cops right? Well if you cooperate with us, I can get you neutral status. We won't keep track of your movements, you can do whatever you want and not have to worry about us shadowing you."

"That all?"

Ratchet sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "We can turn them over to you for their arrest, on the condition that you get them to the police station alive."

A sleek grin appeared on Barricade's lips. "I can do alive."

Ratchet sighed, shaking his head. "And able to move."

Barricade chuckled, looking from the bank to the medic. "No one said another about a clause. I thought all I had to do was get them there alive."

"You have to get them there alive and uninjured. However," Now Ratchet was grinning. "Scared out of their wits and needing years of therapy are acceptable as well."

Barricade nodded, looking back to the bank. "Good to know we understand each other."

xxxxxx

'How you holding up, kid?'

"About as good to be expected." Sam answered, taking a quick look around him. "I asked them why they took us hostage, but they won't tell me anything, Will. I don't have a clue about what's going on anymore."

'Easy kid, one step at a time. For now, just take it slow. What can you tell me about them so far?'

"Well," Sam started. "For one thing, I feel like I'm working with you again in Mission City. I mean, that whole thing was just bad-ass. I still remember working with your team."

'Alright, good, good. What about demands, anything new?'

"No." Sam said. "No new demands. I think we're going to just sit tight right now, though I really just want to be out of here."

Will chuckled over the line. 'I bet you do. Is there anything else you can tell me?'

Sam shook his head. "No, I don't think so. The whole bank is just locked down. Figuratively, they really Jazzed up the place really good."

'Alright, Sam. Just hold on a little longer. We're working things out.'

"Alright. I'll call with any demands." Sam said, hanging up the phone, hiding a grin on his face.

xxxxxx

Will turned to the negotiator. "There are six robbers in the bank and Sam says they move like they are military trained, and creative. They are holding them all in one room, so it will most likely be the storefront. Also, there is one hostage already dead."

The negotiator just stared at him. "How did you get all that in a few short words?"

"Well," Will started. "Sam said he feels like he's in Mission City again, working with my team. My original team was a six man team, including myself. He said that "we're" going to sit tight, meaning that he's in the same room as the other hostages. He stressed the syllable 'Fig' in the word figuratively. Figg was the name of one of my team members downed over seas, meaning that there is someone down in the building. Sam also added that they 'Jazzed' up the place. Jazz was the code name for a good friend of mine killed during the Mission City attack. He was very creative."

"Thus the part of the dead hostage and how creative the robbers are."

Will nodded. "Exactly."

The SWAT commander rolled his eyes. "Man, you military types and your code words."

xxxxxx

"What was all that?" One of the robbers asked Sam.

"What was what?" Sam asked, looking over at him. The leader walked up next to him, glaring at Sam.

"All that fancy talk you just did." There was a pause. "Were you giving them information?"

"No, I was talking to them and telling them that they cannot raid the bank without getting us all killed. That's it!"

The leader sighed, shaking his head. "Keep an eye on that one." He said to his comrade, turning around and walking back into the vault.