Seven Deadly Sins: Barricade.

Jealousy.

Epilogue.

Six Months Later.

Barricade watched intently as Cliffjumper and Ratchet both worked on the small piece of instrument in front of them. He was tense, his body literally vibrating with tension as the ex-craftsmech and the medic both brought their micro-welding tools to bear on the piece.

It had taken him this long to entrust the broken piece of instrument to them, but he supposed it was fitting: an Autobot, albeit accidentally, had been the one to damage it, it was fitting that Autobots should repair it. However, he couldn't help worry that they would mess it up and make it worse, even if one was a medic and the other a trained craftsmech.

He had told them that he'd make them a deal: if they could repair it so he could not feel the join, he'd join the Autobots, if they couldn't improve, he'd stay neutral, if they made it worse he'd likely kill them in a blinding rage. The risk was up to them.

Ratchet had talked the idea over with Cliffjumper, although not before telling Barricade that his promise to join the 'bots would not be necessary. If they did it, it would be because they wanted to, they didn't need to be bribed. Barricade had nodded but he had already made his mind up that he would do as he had said. They had, after looking at the piece, agreed it was well worth a try. The chances of improvement were greater than the risks of making it worse.

They were certainly careful, he noticed as he watched them at work: there was no rushing, they took several hours to complete the repairs, there was very precise application of the micro-welders, and the piece was inspected and viewed from all angles after the first few stabilising welds. They spent as much care as Barricade himself would have, he noticed, and he certainly could not see the join afterwards, not once Cliffjumper smoothed and polished it and rubbed it with some special wax he had in a tin that came in his tool roll.

He vibrated with even more tension as the two 'bots examined it, having to restrain himself from leaning over and snatching the piece of his beloved instrument from their hands. Once they had finished, and Cliffjumper had given it an extra buff with his polishing cloth, he handed it to Barricade, who took it with a light but steady grip, care of his hydraulics, and brought it up to his optics.

He couldn't see the join although he knew it was there, ran a thumb over where he knew the break had been but could not feel it, and blew air through his vents. He didn't know how they had done it, but they had managed to make the break undetectable to normal vision and feel. He had no doubt that his sensors could probably detect the break, and magnification of his vision would likely show the minute join, but he didn't want to spoil it with that. It would not be noticeable now when he played and that was what mattered. He slotted it in it's place in the rest of the instrument, tuned it, and played a brief piece of music on it. This would be the real test, to see if it sounded right. To his relief, it played true, there were no sour notes to evidence a slightly off-true weld.

"Thank you." he said, inclining his head. Dismantling the instrument he put it back in it's case and then re-subspaced it. He checked his internal chrono. "I must go and see Sam now." He and Bumblebee, although not yet comfortable enough to engage with Sam together, had worked out a timetable of sorts. There was time when Sam did his own things, like school and homework time, or when Sam wanted some time to himself. He and Bumblebee had divvied up the rest of the time equally between them. Often Barricade would meet with Sam when Bumblebee was on duty, Bumblebee met Sam during his off times. It was an arrangement that worked well.

The two 'bots nodded, aware of the arrangement. As Barricade went out onto the corridor, the so-far blank yellow shield he'd replaced the Decepticon badge with rippled and changed to become the red Autobot logo. He had promised Ratchet and Cliffjumper, even if they said it wasn't necessary, and he wanted to keep his word, if only for one other very good reason.

Sam was going to wash him in robot form today, and it was something new for Sam to discover.