As always this chapter is dedicated to my sweetie who is a wonderful beta even when dealing with a crying, hopeless author at ten pm after a twelve hour shift. Love you darling! Now, on with the story!

Catalyst Chapter 5

"I told you not to touch his bandages!"

"But he was pulling at them…"

"Yes and now you have needlessly exacerbated his pain!"

Leaning against the wall nearest the doorway to their apartment, Thundercracker watched with narrowed optics as Starscream alternated between scolding Skywarp and attempting to sooth the small body mewling thinly in the silver seeker's large palm. The tiny form continued to twitch and whimper and leak in an absolute disgusting display that made the blue Seeker's optics narrow, his dente grind against one another in rage, and Thundercracker had to cut power to his vocalizer circuits to keep from yelling at his trinemates. It was taking most of his self-control to keep from reaching out and hurling the disgusting organic thing against a wall but he couldn't risk touching it, couldn't risk becoming… infected with whatever virus was contaminating the rest of the Decepticons in the base.

Well, all the Decepticons except Thundercracker and a certain lowly grounder.

The blue Seeker's optical shutters spiraled wide before narrowing down to pinpricks as he silently left the room, pede falls loud in the empty hallway as he set out with only vengeance in mind, armor panels flaring and weapon systems priming unconsciously.

Barricade's HUD was cluttered with pain signals and his stabilization gyros were screaming with error messages. The scout's A/V feeds were blank, leaving him deaf and blind to the world around him as he automatically scrabbled for purchase, unsure which way was up but desperate to be on his pedes before anything else happened. His phalanges ran into something and Barricade gripped it automatically in the hopes of intending to use it for leverage but a sharp blow to the side of his chassis sent him rolling sideways into an irregular surface, probably a pile of rubble since there was plenty of it around.

Large blunt hands wrapped around his door wings, the metal wrenching under the rough handling, and Barricade let out a garbled howl of pain as the appendages were first used as a handhold to drag him across the floor then as a lever to hurl him through the air. Barricade sailed into an unyielding stone and landed in a heap against it, body spasming in agony.

"…worthless light frame!" Brawl's abrasive voice was a weapon in and of itself, stabbing at the delicate sensors of Barricade's audio circuits as they abruptly came back online. "Can't even take one little close range blast!"

Actually, to be really to be accurate, Barricade had taken several close range blasts since being placed on renovation duty with Brawl since the larger mech liked to detonate charges without warning. It also wasn't much of not a surprise that the scout was taking heavy damage considering that Barricade's primary function was to infiltrate, sabotage, then run like the Pit from the scene not stick around for the fireworks he'd created. He was built for speed, for chasing down targets over ground, so his frame wasn't reinforced with redundant circuitry or multiple layers of armor like Brawl's was.

"I fragging hate you." The scout muttered thinly, actuators in his neck hissing noisily as he turned his head to glare up at the demolition expert. "Gonna mine your slagging recharge!"

It was probably a testament to how badly injured Barricade was that he didn't catch on to how absurd the threat was until Brawl sneered, armor plates flaring in disdain. "That mouth of yours is gonna be the end of you one day."

Or, you know, today because the heavy frame was just that impatient and just that much of a slagger. Pulling a charge from a subspace pocket, grinning sadistically, Brawl prepped it before setting it next to the scout's head and backing up a few steps to watch the show

Primus hates me. Barricade thought as he forced himself into movement, desperately clawing at the floor for purchase, trying to put distance between himself and the innocently blinking bomb. The Pit-slagging thing was one of Brawl's favored proximity bombs and many mechs had fallen victim to it throughout the war. They were designed for usage in close quarters to inflict maximum damage on the unwary at the slightest tremor depending on its sensitivity setting. In all honesty, Barricade was surprised the fragging thing hadn't already gone off but he wasn't about to stick around and waste his luck; his talons wrapped around a rocky outcropping and the scout used every override he knew to push more power into the limb, making circuits blow and gears whine as he hauled himself upright, fighting for every inch of progress. His back armor plating had already shifted to cover as much of his frame as possible but even so he would still take considerable damage when the bomb went off. Barricade sank his talons into the rock and started stepping sideways, following the wall toward the main hallway and relative safety. Frag Brawl and frag Megatron, too, if the slaggers thought he was going to put up with this shit any longer-

His left leg abruptly buckled under his weight, making him land in an ungainly pile, and it took several precious nanokliks for the infiltrator to sift through the surge of agonizing error messages to figure out that Brawl had shot the appendage out from under him. "Fraggin' hate you!"

Hand cannon transforming back into its usual appearance, Brawl shrugged his massive shoulder assemblies nonchalantly before stretching a pede out to lightly kick the mine, sending it skittering across the floor toward Barricade. "Hate you, too, slagger. Say hello to the Unmaker for me."

Barricade's cortex became a veritable cacophony of shrieking panic as the bomb's indicator light began blinking rapidly, the explosive sliding nearer, closing in on the scout until a well placed laser blast sent it flying into the wall where it detonated. The crater marking its demise was the size of Barricade's head.

A large, wedge-shaped blue pede appeared in front of the scout as his rescuer stepped over his huddled form and stood between the scout and the demolition expert.

"Your responsibility was to supervise his punishment detail, not kill him, Grounder." Each word was precise, the syllables crisp and clear, delivered in a voice so haughty and contempt-filled that Brawl's paint job should have been blistering. Keeping a wary eye on Brawl, Barricade followed the long line of leg upward and felt his optics momentarily shift out of alignment in surprise. A grounder saved by an air frame? There was no way this would end well for the scout and Barricade began to crawl away from the pair as surreptitiously as possibly, damaged leg useless as it dragged behind him.

"He was recharging on the job." Brawl declared dismissively, pulling another bomb from a subspace pocket and hefting it showily. "I was teaching him a valuable lesson."

Lying fragger! Barricade ground his dente in an effort to keep his vocalizer quiet as he inched his way steadily into and down the main hallway out of audio range of the duo. If he kept following this route, it should take him back to the living quarters where he'd hopefully be able to hide out in his assigned room without anyone noti-

Why in Primus' name did everyone keep treating him like a piece of luggage?

"Put me down!" The scout howled indignantly as he was hoisted up and thrown over a blue armored shoulder. Barricade banged his fist against the swell of the Seeker's nearest turbine, startling momentarily at the clear, bell-like sound that resulted. Curiosity getting the better of him, the scout flicked a phalange little lower on the same turbine and listened to the lower tone before striking a bit higher to produce a higher note. Well, that was… interesting. Shaking his head and a bit annoyed at his inability to concentrate, Barricade began kicking and thrashing, determined to be a defiant hostage to the very end. "Lemme go!"

"If I put you down it will be to return you to Brawl." The jet stated, heading up the hallway and completely ignoring the infiltrator's attempts to get free. Considering that Barricade was half the jet's size, this probably wasn't too hard to do and the scout ground his dente angrily in mortification, optics studying the Seeker's turbines intently. "I wish to talk with you, Grounder, and have no need of an audience."

…That so didn't sound pleasant for Barricade. Right- didn't matter how he did it, the scout had to get away from the Seeker before the reached the more remote areas of the base and if the jet wasn't going to let the smaller mech go willingly, then there was only one alternative for the infiltrator to exploit. Swallowing what scraps remained of his dignity, he resorted to playing his ultimate trump card: Infuriation.

"Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb!" Barricade faithfully began tapping out the musical sequence against the jet's turbine as he sang, dutifully ignoring the jet's order to stop. "Mary had a little lamb and its fleece was white as SNOW!"

"Imbecilic grounder!" The jet roared, one massive hand rounding a massive shoulder and trying to swat Barricade's head, the scout evading every attempt and continuing to caterwaul the Earth rhyme. "Cease that immediately!"

Almost! Just a little bit more and freedom! "AND EVERYWHERE THAT MARY WENT, MARY WENT, MARY WENT EVERYWHERE THAT MARY WENT THE LAMB WAS SURE TO GO! IT FOLLOWED HER TO SCH-"

The song abruptly cut off as the jet jerked the infiltrator off his shoulder and rammed the smaller mech's head into the nearest wall. Barricade's HUD lit up with critical damage reports in a blinding display before going dark, the scout going limp as consciousness fled.

"Ah, Thundercracker!" Starscream greeted pleasantly, Skywarp trailing behind him and waving enthusiastically at the lone jet as the pair approached. They stopped just shy of the blue Seeker and peered at the limp form flung over the large shoulder with unabashed curiosity. "There you are! And I see you have anticipated our needs as always, though I had wished to reach Barricade before Brawl became… vindictive."

Armor plating unconsciously clamping tight to his frame, Thundercracker stared stonily at his wing mates and inwardly cursed his luck at being found so quickly. It had to be due to some sort of safety back-up built into the virus Barricade had masterminded that had activated when the odious little grounder off-lined.

Yet another insult to strip out of the little fragger's circuitry once they were alone.

Optics intent on Barricade, Starscream closed the distance separating them and Thundercracker had to fight the desire to step back, to get away so that he could avoid contamination. He did not know why the virus had thus far been unable to spread to him but the Seeker also had no desire to test his luck. There were just too many variables to consider and test and, if Thundercracker had his say, he would have all of them quarantine until a vaccine was found. At the very least, he had a responsibility to his trinemates to find a cure and return them to their usual selves but, until he could accomplish his task, Thundercracker would have to pretend that there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Acting had never been his forte and secretly the blue Seeker sincerely doubted that he could convincingly feign obliviousness for a significant amount of time, especially so since there was the additional constraint of not knowing the time period for incubation of the contaminant.

Damn you to the Pit, Barricade!

Starscream's voice brought him back to the present and the blue Seeker struggled to choke down his anger. Taking the additional weight as easily as Thundercracker had, Starscream picked up the scout and settled him against his chassis before heading back the way he had come, Skywarp chirping happily as the dark Seeker led the way. "He will reboot shortly and, though his self-repair systems will be sufficient for most of his injuries, I believe he will be in a less recalcitrant mood if the superficial damage has also been attended to."

Thundercracker balked and couldn't help the grinding sound of irritation that escaped him as he realized what Starscream had planned. "You intend to repair him?"

"Yes." Starscream said simply, tilting his head as he looked over his shoulder at the other Seeker. "I require his assistance with Sam and this will be the most effective means of securing it."

"What's the matter TC?" Skywarp asked as he draped himself over Starscream haphazardly, making the latter stagger a bit until he accommodated to the additional mass. "You don't like Barricade?"

No, no Thundercracker did not like Barricade and up until a few orns ago, Skywarp would have had the same sentiment. The blue Seeker could feel his control slipping and fought valiantly to get a hold of himself by running a full ventilation cycle before answering, reminding himself that he had to remain calm or all was lost. Verbally sidestepping Skywarp's question, Thundercracker once again pointed out the obvious. "He is a grounder."

His trinemates simply looked at him expectantly and Thundercracker felt his wing flaps twitch as his temper flared, fanned to new heights by his frustration. No! Calm, calm, calm! Voice carefully measured, he elaborated on his previous statement. "Airframes do not waste their time repairing grounders."

The pair frowned and one of them, if not both, began clicking in irritation before they looked at one another in unspoken consensus.

"Thundercracker," Starscream said, tone authoritative and unyielding. "We must work together if we are to thrive on this planet and continuing to nurture these petty divisions will only work to undermine our efforts. Skywarp and I will return to our quarters to conduct repairs while you," The volume of the Air commander's voice rose to drown out Thundercracker's garbled protests. "Are going to patrol outside. I believe a good flight will help cool your head. You may return to the room when you are in a much more cooperative mood."

And then, nodding in agreement with the order, Skywarp tightened his grip on the silver Seeker and engaged his teleportation system, making the pair vanish and leaving the blue Seeker alone with his mounting anger.

Thundercracker ground his dente so hard his HUD became peppered with error messages. He was being denounced by his trinemates for maintaining an attitude that had been the norm for centuries. Said trinemates, the elite of the elite, were being debased to the point that they were reduced to little more than nursemaids for not only a grounder but also a pathetic organic and, a final insult, he had been ejected from his room, his spot taken by the very grounder responsible for this mess.

Stalking through the base, Thundercracker reached the entrance and practically threw himself out of it as he shifted into his altmode. His turbines screaming loudly, the seeker had little recourse but to do as his leader had bid, circling the surrounding area in a blind rage.

The little grounder was going to pay, oh yes he was. Barricade was going to beg and plead for deactivation long before Thundercracker was through meting out justice for the humiliation he and his trine were being forced to suffer!

Awareness returned slowly for Barricade, audio and optic sensors delivering only static-fuzzed data at seemingly random intervals. He knew that this should bother him deeply but the scout couldn't seem to scrape enough processing power to really care, too preoccupied with enjoying the pleasant feeling fogging up his cortex.

"Barricade, can you hear me?" Barb-tipped phalanges skittered lightly over his helm and Barricade heard the long drawn out sound of an ex-ventilation come from his chassis. The noise made him giggle, which made the pleasant feeling intensify, and the scout relaxed, luxuriating in the sensation of long held tension leaving his frame in a rush.

"Primus, Starscream, is he alright?"

There was a rumble of a laugh from above the scout, the vibration rolling through Barricade's frame in a tingling wash that made him wriggle in response. "He is fine, Blackout, I assure you. I was merely rather liberal when applying the sensor-block prior to starting his repairs."

"Liberal, huh?" There was a thoughtful pause before the faux helicopter continued. "Have to remember that for the next time he gets cranky."

"Cranky?" Barricade didn't recognize the voice, fear chasing the pleasure away until someone decided to spin his left shoulder assembly tire and the scout was momentarily reduced to a quivering, incoherent mass of grounder. "Oh neat!"

"Yes, he is quite the curmudgeon under normal circumstances." Starscream replied, tone and voice fond as a hand settled lightly on the infiltrator's cranial plating. "You will find that it is one of his most endearing qualities."

Barricade's optics chose that moment online, his HUD cycling through a quick start-up diagnostic before synchronizing the four video feeds into a cohesive picture, revealing that the scout was sitting in a large unfamiliar room with three flyers. Barricade didn't like to think about his age much but he had been around long enough to learn a very fundamental rule in the Decepticon Army: helpless, outnumbered grounder plus air frames always equaled very bad things. It did not matter that he knew two of the flyers-Barricade's personal sense of self preservation began screaming at him immediately, panic seizing him, and the infiltrator started thrashing, his spoke weapon deploying automatically as he fought for freedom from the hands that suddenly descended on him.

The fight, if it could even be called that, didn't last very long and Barricade found himself pinned to a broad chassis by large forearms, the scout's smaller hands gripped separately by Blackout and the unknown flyer.

"Barricade, I just finished repairing you! Kindly do not undo all my hard work." Starscream tskd loudly as the scout's chassis heaved, ventilation system struggling to cool overheated structures, pain making itself known now that the sensor-block was wearing off.

Barricade's processor ached.

"I surmised as much," Starscream continued conversationally, making the scout realize that he had inadvertently spoken aloud. "And I would do something about it but I need you to be clear headed."

"What'd you do now?" Barricade shuttered his optics in confusion then ran a systems check on his vocalizer since his speech sounded slurred.

"'Do now?'" Tipping his head to the side in curiosity, the dark jet released Barricade's hand, looking from the scout to the silver Seeker.

"We had to ask him for help before." Blackout explained before Starscream could speak. The helicopter also released his hold on the interceptor and, now free, Barricade pulled both hands out of easy reach, testing the mobility of each phalange. "Turns out he's really good at looking after sparklings like Sam."

"Fragging hate you." Barricade muttered, pulling ineffectually at the arms around his waist trapping him in Starscream's lap.

"Yes, yes, your view has been duly noted." Starscream sounded exasperated and Barricade felt the Seeker's arms tighten pointedly. "But this does nothing to change the fact that we once again require your assistance in caring for Sam-"

"Hello!" The dark seeker leaned forward until he was external olfactory sensor to external olfactory sensor with the scout. "My designation is Skywarp!"

Barricade shuttered all four optics slowly in succession before answering. "Uh… Hi."

Skywarp's pleased expression fell and behind the scout, Starscream started clicking in disapproval.

Oh for the love of Primus..! Cycling his ventilation, Barricade stuck his hand out to the new jet. "Hello, I'm Barricade. I specialize in infiltration, information gathering, and being a smart ass. Pleased to meet you."

Clearly puzzled but smiling nonetheless, Skywarp mimicked the scout, sticking out his larger, darker hand in Barricade's direction. With a small ex-vent, the infiltrator grasped the offered appendage and pumped it twice, effectively demonstrating how to shake hands.

"Much better." Starscream murmured, removing his restraining arms from around Barricade only to settle his hands on the scout's hips. "Skywarp is my trinemate along with Thundercracker, who is currently on patrol. I would appreciate it if you were… not as disagreeable as you usually are when interacting with Skywarp."

"No promises, jet." Barricade said, putting a hand to his cheek flares and rubbing the chrome tiredly, sagging against the Seeker since there was no point in letting a good seat go to waste. He began sorting through his data logs and was surprised when he began scanning his repair reports. "Studying to be a medic in your spare time?"

"A good commander works to better himself in all areas." Starscream replied mildly but the scout could hear the smug pattern in the jet's frequencies.

"I helped!" Skywarp said, preening when Barricade turned in his direction. "'Screamer says I'm good at popping dents!"

"Yes you are." The helicopter agreed, making Skywarp even more pleased with himself. "If I hadn't seen them myself, I would never have known Barricade had been knocked around so badly."

:::I needed to keep him occupied while I fixed his wing.::: The police car felt air against his back as the jet ex-vented quietly. :::We ran into an Autobot patrol when I collected my wingmates after planet fall and they were most persistent in their attempts to prevent us from leaving. I am glad that Blackout did not befall the same fate when he went to fetch the Constructicons.:::

"Thank you, Skywarp." Barricade put his head in his hands and concentrated on his ventilation to keep from whimpering in fear. At least he now knew where Blackout had been earlier and why Barricade could dimly hear activity further down the hallway.

"Blackout, may I have Sam please?"

Blackout, still colored outlandishly in white and orange, shifted slightly where he sat in the doorway of the room, his bulk making an intimidating barrier as he passed over a familiar tiny form. Barricade stiffened in Starscream's grip, spark-deep dread making him want out of that room before he could set optics on the human, and ignoring the pain, swung his legs to the left, intending to dismount from the Air Commander's lap until Starscream shoved his large hand in front of the scout's facial plates. Barricade felt his mandibles go slack before he could help it, inwardly cursing as his optics took in Ladiesman217's current condition.

As was continuing to be the theme each time the human was in anyone's company other than Barricade's, Ladiesman217 was in poor condition though not to the extent he had feared. The heavy sedation the scout had been using to keep the squishy comfortable had apparently worn off and some fool had stripped away the blindfold, totally undoing the faux police car's admittedly half-aft attempt to keep the human calm should said squishy wake and realize where he was. Ladiesman217 was breathing harshly and Barricade could see the muscles under his skin jumping, the human's limbs twitching into movement despite the effort he was expending to hold still to keep the pain to a minimum. The human was also sweating heavily, his skin sickly pale where it wasn't mottled by injury and contrasting sharply with the dark rings around his eyes, making the green shade of his irises stand out as his gaze darted between them all franticly before settling on the scout.

Oh, yeah, the squishy not only knew exactly how dangerous his situation was but he also knew who would keep him alive.

Slag it, this was not his problem- it was NOT! – but Barricade couldn't ignore the intelligence burning brightly in Ladiesman217's eyes and in that moment the scout hated everyone and everything in the known universe, himself included.

"Please?" Starscream whispered silkily in his audio, as if sensing Barricade's mood. The jet grasped the scout's hand and turned it palm up so that he could place the human on it gently. "Please help us care for him?"

"Please?" Skywarp asked from his left and, in front of the scout, Blackout looked at him imploringly while nodding.

Barricade felt a small sharp tug on the plates of his palm and shifted all four of his optics down to look at the human that was staring up at him, shivering in his grasp even as the squishy struggled to hold still, the phalanges of one fleshy hand partially hidden under the metallic paneling in mute appeal.

The scout wondered when he had become such a soft-sparked glitch.

"…Fragging hate all of you." Barricade grumped, augmenting his ventilation flow to direct warm air over the human as the infiltrator got to work, transforming his free hand into its thinner, more versatile form in front of Ladiesman217. The human didn't take it well unsurprisingly, who responded by jerking in alarm then mewling piteously as his wounds were disturbed. "Hey, I'm gonna need some water shortly."

"What are you going to do?" Skywarp asked, scooting over noisily, drawing the human's attention and Barricade used the unexpected distraction to dose the organic. "Oh, he's quiet now."

The scout frowned in confusion as he continued to work checking the patch casts and the multitude of other old wounds. What the frag was the Seeker talking about? Apart from the expected noises of distress, Ladiesman217 hadn't made a sound, at least none that Barricade could detect… although he had been blown up recently and it was possible that some of the scout's audio sensors were malfunctioning. He pinned a reminder notification to his HUD to run a full diagnostic later.

"Hey, where's my water?" When the air frames simply continued to look at him in confusion, the infiltrator felt what was left of his minimal patience snap as he unsubspaced the can of soup he'd collected earlier. "If we're gonna do this we're gonna do it right! Blackout! Go get me some water, warm water. Starscream, go get the ambulance from my room. Skywarp, run your turbines for a bit- the room's cold and I gotta cook something. This isn't a spectator sport now get off your aft and get me what I need!"

It still amazed the scout when the three obeyed, but he managed to hide it well as Ladiesman217 was summarily fed, bathed, and tucked into the relative safety of Barricade's chest compartment. The faux police car pinned another reminder to his HUD to not repeat the experience if at all possible; the level of intensity the three flyers were capable of and the resulting silence as they observed was probably one of the creepiest feelings the scout had ever endured.

"Aw! I wanted to play with him." Skywarp whined, optics intent on the closed panel that hid the human from view even as his phalanges fiddled with the rear doors of the ambulance in front of him. "C'mon lemme play with him!"

"No." Barricade said flatly. During the previous process he had chosen to sit on the floor as he worked and he began to absently pick up after himself, tucking the trash into a subspace pocket for later disposal. He felt rather drained now that the excitement had passed and Barricade shuttered two of his optics while rubbing absently at his mandibles as he leaned back against the wall behind him for support. This proved to be a bad idea however when his abused door wings came into contact with the stone and the scout hissed as he sat bolt upright, hands on the floor to help him remain that way.

"Sam is not a toy, 'Warp." Starscream said mildly from his seat on the scout's right, trailing a taloned digit along Barricade's thigh armor. Now that there was nothing for them to do, the three air frames were lounging around the room, making the infiltrator feel outnumbered and distinctly tiny as they encroached upon his personal space. "He is a sparkling, an injured sparkling at that, and must be handled with extreme care. You will be able to play with him once he is stronger and until then Sam will remain in Barricade's custody and, in turn, Barricade will remain in my custody."

"Wait, what?" The scout nearly hurt himself he spun to face the silver jet so quickly. "NO! No! Barricade will be returning to his room and will be perfectly happy there alone!"

"Megatron has charged me with caring for Sam." Starscream said, his condescending tone grating against Barricade's audio, making the scout growl. The Seeker's smirk wasn't helping either. "Performing this duty dictates that I appropriate any and all resources necessary to accomplish my task, ergo, I am commandeering your impeccable sparkling-rearing skills." The smirk widened and Starscream's phalange idly traced the scout's wrist tire. "Thank you for acquiescing."

Ignoring the pleasurable feeling of having his tires fondled, Barricade's felt his mandibles go slack in outrage."You sneaky slagging glitch! Non! Iya! Nope! Na! Pick any language you want but the answer is still no!"

"But he repaired you…" Skywarp began, putting the earth vehicle down, and the scout hastily cut in before the argument could be made.

"What he chooses to do on his own is not my problem and you can't hold me responsible for an action he takes." Sitting there among frames twice his size, Barricade suddenly felt incredibly small but he refused to give ground. He had had enough. He'd already bailed Starscream out of a problem once concerning Ladiesman217 and had had it thrown right back in his facial plates the moment the jet disagreed. Even if he hadn't had experience with the jet, Starscream's reputation for scheming, blackmailing, and backstabbing was well known among the army, especially among self-preserving ground frames like Barricade, and any pact made with the Seeker would be a mistake of epic proportions. "Your argument is invalid and my answer is no."

"Now, Barricade," The Air Commander began, reaching up to spin the tire on the scout's shoulder assembly and frowning when the grounder hastily moved out of range. "There are benefits to be enjoyed in this arrangement…"

Yeah, like deactivation. Ignoring the slew of error messages the action caused, Barricade stood and crossed the room, limping his way carefully over the long limbs in his path before flattening himself as much as possible against the doorjamb to sidle around Blackout who sat in the way, watching the infiltrator in open amusement. The scout needed to get out of here before they decided to force him or the insanity affecting them spread to him or Megatron decided to wander by or the stiff leg that Brawl had shot gave out like it was threatening to do-

Or for an angry blue Seeker to suddenly haul Barricade into an empty room as the scout passed by. Before he could react, Barricade had been dragged inside and pinned against an interior wall, large blunt phalanges digging into the scout's neck cabling until the circuitry of his vocalizer was in danger of being crushed.

"I demand to know what you have done to my wingmates!"

"And I demand to be allowed to recharge but apparently we're both going to be disappointed." Barricade shuttered his optics briefly, processor reeling as he tried to figure out what in the Pit the other mech's problem was, other than, you know, being an air frame. "What exactly am I supposed to have done?"

The Seeker's grip tightened menacingly. "Do not feign ignorance! You are the one responsible for the madness infecting my Trine! Return them to normal immediately!"

"Infect…" Barricade stared at the jet, gripping the larger forearm tightly as all four optics narrowed in concentration on the jet's face. "True or false: Sam the sparkling is actually a human."

The jet blinked then frowned, clicking in irritation. "Of course it is a filthy organic now give me the antivirus, Grounder, before I simply rip it from your coding!"

Barricade sagged in disbelief and the Seeker took a step back, holding him at arm's length as if afraid of catching something, contempt twisting the flyer's facial features. The jet was a jerk but he wasn't infected. He wasn't infected! The scout had an ally if he could just convince the glitch that whatever behavioral change had happened wasn't due to anything Barricade had done. Quickly triggering his spoke weapon as a distraction, the scout wrenched his way free and put distance between them when the jet released him. "What's happened here to all of them? Not my fault."

"Do not lie to me, groundling."

Barricade sheathed his weapon and clenched his hands into tight balls as the frustration and confusion he'd felt for the past few solars roared through him in a storm of indignant fury. "Have you been inhaling your vapor trail or something, slag heap? If I was going to reprogram a bunch of flyers for my own ends, don't you think that I would, I dunno, indulge in my personal desire to get off this slagging mudball not make them think a squishy is a sparkling? I've been here for four full planetary rotations! I want to go home! Megatron's so busy trying to be parent of the year that I bet the idea of returning to Cybertron hasn't even entered his processor!"

The jet's frown deepened and he shifted, subtly using his bigger size to further block the only exit of the room. "I do not agree."

Of course he didn't agree because that would have been just too slagging easy! Barricade ground his dente, his armor plates flaring, puffing up as his frustration with the other mounted. "And why do you not agree, jet?"

"Not 'jet,' you wretch. My designation is Thundercracker, First Lieutenant and Second in Command of the Seeker units." The jet stood straight and tall, obviously proud of his rank and title. Barricade supposed that he might have had the same reaction if he had similar status.

"Yeah, spiffy. Welcome to Earth, home of the weird." The scout said, suddenly tired of having to babysit petulant idiots. Rubbing at his cheek flares, he waved dismissively at the other mech. "I dunno what triggered the personality shift in everyone else but right now you and I seem to be the only ones unaffected."

"But you know how to care for the human." An accusation, as if Thundercracker was still unable or simply unwilling to let that point go and thought it was the most damning evidence against Barricade. "Starscream came looking for you specifically because you could help them care for their… pet."

Ah. Well that explained why Barricade had woken up in the silver Seeker's lap and why Starscream had bothered to repair the damage Thundercracker had inflicted. "Because I've been here the longest, aft. Weren't you listening? I've spent four planetary rotations on this slagging rock doing covert surveillance! That includes learning about the native inhabitants!"

"Your argument is laughable but it has raised interesting questions." Thundercracker said, his ventilation system cycling noisily as the jet folded his arms across his chassis and looked over his shoulder assembly at the hallway beyond. "Very well. I will pursue my own investigation into this matter though do not think that you have allayed my suspicions grounder. I will be watching you."

With that the pompous jet swept from the room for Primus knew where, leaving Barricade to stagger from the room to his personal quarters. It figured that out of all the possible mechs who could have been Barricade's ally in this mess, the only one unaffected would be the most obnoxious and arrogant individual second only to a certain silver Seeker. At least Starscream would only stab you in the back- Barricade feared that Thundercracker had no qualms about being considerably bolder when deciding to eliminate an obstacle.

"Primus!" Barricade said softly but with feeling as he settled awkwardly on the floor of his apartment. "As if dealing with one self-important Seeker wasn't enough..."

A noise from his chassis caught his attention and, belatedly, the scout remembered the human in his care. Popping the latches on his chest compartment and turning his headlights on low power, Barricade carefully withdrew Ladiesman217 to check the squishy for damage. Thundercracker hadn't been overtly violent earlier but organics were notoriously fragile and if the scout's continued existence hinged on the survival of the human, then the small mech was taking no chances.

"Oh, hey there…" Barricade said, feeling awkward and not a little bit silly as he realized that the squishy was awake and watching him. "So, uh, you… Shouldn't you be recharging?"

The scout was fairly certain that he had administered enough drugs to knock the human out for several orns but perhaps, since Barricade himself had been sensor-blocked, he had miscalculated. Erring on the side of caution, the scout ran a system diagnostic as he triple checked the calculations he was using for Ladiesman217's medication, referencing the human's height and weight to compute the necessary dosage, phalanges idly adjusting the blanket he'd wrapped the squishy in.

"Where…?" It came out slurred and impossibly drawn out but Barricade was still impressed by the fact that the squishy had spoken at all. The scout was still positive that his prior 'stroke-out' diagnosis was correct but maybe not since the facial slackness that had been so prominent before had apparently faded significantly. It was something the scout wasn't totally convinced should have been possible given the previous extent of the damage, and he filed the new information away to consider at a later date.

"Later. Follow this." Tilting his head, Barricade held up one phalange, moving it slowly from side to side then up and down above Ladiesman217's head, gradually changing the simple pattern into something more complex. "Okay. Now how many phalanges?"

"Th-thr…" The organic's eyes fluttered as he swallowed hard but a small hand appeared from under the blanket, three phalanges extended, the same number the infiltrator currently displayed. Huh. Barricade wasn't a medic by any stretch of the imagination but, as far as he could tell, the little fleshbag was not only healing well but also at an accelerated rate despite the continuous setbacks that kept cropping up. He was fairly certain that this should not be possible, that Ladiesman217 should have deactivated long ago, but it was something that the infiltrator would have to look into later since, right now, both of them needed recharge more than anything else.

"Good job." The scout muttered, deciding that a little positive reinforcement wouldn't hurt. He even patted the human on the head lightly. "Good job, squishy."

Though it took him a klik to accomplish, Ladiesman217 shot him the bird, glaring weakly up at Barricade defiantly as the scout laughed in response, tucking the human back into his chest compartment. The scout administered another dose medication to help the squishy sleep then began the monumental task of trying to find a comfortable position for recharge himself.

Stuck on a backwater planet with no way home, surrounded by lobotomized Decepticons with only a self-important aft and an ailing human for company. Barricade wondered if it could get any worse then promptly decided that he just didn't want to know.

A/N: Hello all! It's been quite a while since I've seen you last so let me once again express my gratitude to you for staying with the story! Thank you so much!

Arg! It took me a bit to find Barricade in my head again after such a long break. The snarky little bastard just up and hid on me and I had to drag him back kicking and screaming before I could finish this chapter. Until that was accomplished, he just didn't 'sound' right and I had to keep redoing his dialogue and reactions. Speaking of dialogue and 'sound,' is everyone alright with Barricade's speech patterns? It was pointed out to me that he doesn't always come across as a fearsome Decepticon warrior yet, because he's so damn mouthy, one of the easiest methods to make him distinctive from the others is via his grasp of the local vernacular and vocabulary. By the same token, Starscream's unwillingness to do the same makes him easy to spot in a conversation, as do the avenues each mech takes to accomplish their respective goals; the Seeker a manipulator from the shadows versus the overtly hostile and blunt straight shooter. I try to constantly keep that in mind when writing that particular pair but I don't always know if what I'm trying to get across is, well, coming through so any comments on that are welcome.

The plot thickens! As hinted at in the previous chapter, Barricade is now not the only one in the base wondering what's wrong with everyone though it's debatable how much of an ally Thundercracker is going to be. This ought to be interesting to say the least.