A/N: Alright, here is the revised version, as promised! Thanks to P.A.W. 07 and her lovely help, this is what we came up with. Enjoy!

*Note: Just so all of you know, I will be bumping the rating up on this story. Since it is still in it's first stages, and ain't telling which way it's gonna go, but to be safe, it may jump all the way up to M.*

The world in itself and the life on it is, perhaps, an unexpected accident. Earth probably did not suspected or even comprehend in its earlier years that one day her dry, barren lands would support life. But, as one can tell by the trees that tumble upward to the skyline and the soft grasses that hug the dirt, she was more than happy to embrace the little accident.

Barricade can claim no different on the subject as well.

It had been about a month after the Autobots had made themselves known to Sam and Mikaela. To say his life was turned 'upside down' was the understatement of the century. His parents now knew that his car was actually a sentient robot, and although, at first, they were frightened of Bumblebee, they soon warmed up to him.

So, with his parents okay with his new 'friends', Sam had been busy with the Autobots more often than not. He actually often chose to stay at the makeshift base with them some nights rather than have Bumblebee drive him all the way home. Especially, if he was only going to return the next morning. Of course, there were times that Bumblebee had to go to base without him. Tonight was one of those cases and Sam hoped that his friend would return soon.

Sadly, his private ride hadn't returned in time for the boy to have a ride home. So, the teen decided to rough it and walk home. Yet, it seemed that his walk that night was going to be a little more exciting than expected.

Something had caught his attention tonight, his feet stilling and his breath holding as the sound echoed from the warehouse. For a moment, the metallic nature of the sound, Sam had thought the building was going to fall down and took a step back. The boy felt a little foolish afterwards and was going to keep going when something, distinctively not 'human' echoed from the warehouse.

Swallowing any tint of fear, the boy found himself walking closer. It was upon this closer inspection that he noticed a collection of strange lights reflecting in the grimy windows. The nature of the moving light almost seemed to be as if someone was using a welder. Now he knew damned well that the place was not abandoned. Out of human curiosity, the boy found himself pulling closer and watching the light show with an odd fascination.

Yet, that curiosity turned to surprise and Sam stopped dead in his tracks as he heard something that sounded like a screech coming from the building. The sound alone frightened him and he jumped, startled. Deep down he couldn't help but wonder if Decepticons were in there beating on another by the horrific pitches that were starting to come from inside the decrepit building's clutches.

He knew better, however. All of the Decepticons had been eradicated. So, what was the noise coming from the building, he wondered.

Curiosity getting the better of him as the lights continued dance just behind the windows, and he snuck up to the side of the building, hoping to find a crack in the wall so he could peer in. If anything, he could report it to the Autobots if there were any Decepticons in the building; if not, he could at least see what was making the light show.

As he made his way down the wall, the sounds became more erratic as well as the light show; Sam could have sworn he heard what sounded like electricity zapping. The sound alone made him cringe and jump back, afraid the bolts might hit him. Then he remembered there was a wall, so hitting him was impossible. So, his safety assured, the human snuck his way back to the wall and slid across the side until he reached a door. Low and behold, there was a sufficient crack, one that he could look through and hopefully not be discovered.

Sliding into position, Sam couldn't help but gasped when he took in the sights. There, in the empty building was the Decepticon Barricade. He had heard the Autobots say that his body was never recovered so he shouldn't have been surprised, but the strange thing was … Barricade was alone. So why was he screaming like that? His question was quickly answered, though, when what appeared to be lightning jumped over Barricade's form, the mech nearly collapsing in a heap.

'What the hell is going on in there?' Sam thought to himself as he hunched down to get more comfortable and to see what he could see. He knew something was going on in there and he wanted to find out what.

He wanted to rear back as he saw where the electricity was though, Barricade letting out another very alien-like screech. The teenager couldn't tell what was going on with the Decepticon because Barricade's back was to him. He quickly started to wonder if something was horribly wrong with the 'Con. Another ear splitting screech, the mech's whole form shivering as it threatening to collapse, was all Sam needed as an incentive to call the Autobots to let them in on what he had found.

"Ye-yeah, it's freaky, I mean, there's all kinds of lightning and he's making these most god awful sounds!" Sam whispered into the receiver of his cell phone as he glanced back at the mech in the building and then around the area to make sure no one else was around.

"We cannot make it out tonight, Sam. Ratchet and I will come early in the morning to assess the situation with Barricade. Thank you for letting us know. Personally, we all thought he was dead or had retreated."

Sam flipped the phone off and continued to peer in on what he was watching. If he had paid close attention, he would have seen more than just Barricade's discomfort. It was unusually bright in there, like the light of a small sun had been revealed to the world. But he did manage to see something drop to the ground when the Decepticon fell on all fours.

The next day, Ratchet and Optimus appeared at Sam's house, early as promised. Sam led them to where he had found Barricade the night before, his movements nervous. After a few minutes, Ratchet confirmed that Barricade was still in there, though his spark was weaker than it should be, as if it had been overtaxed. Glad to have the information, Optimus then ordered Ratchet to see what the 'Con was up too and let him know what was going on. If something was really wrong with the mech, Ratchet would repair him so they could see about talking the 'Con into defecting; the war being over and all.

Ratchet merely nodded at the other's request and started to walk his way around, telling Optimus and Sam to remain where they were as he assessed the situation.

Quickly finding the doors, the medic crept inside, on guard. That guard was quickly dropped though when he caught sight of the mech in question. Barricade was huddled in the corner with his back to the medic, murmuring to himself in Cybertronian. To Ratchet, that was another sign that something wasn't right. Barricade was most certainly injured in some way.

Ratchet slowly took another step into the building, which finally caused Barricade to turn his head and react to his presence, a snarl echoing over the confines of the building. The medic put his hands up in a sign of peace and took a step backward. Though his slight retreat, Ratchet was curious however as to why Barricade would be in this building, giving off a light show, and now huddled in a corner mumbling to himself. The medic quickly did a low rate scan on Barricade and wrinkled his nose at his findings.

Preposterous!

At first, Ratchet had considered that Barricade might be repairing Frenzy, but he didn't see the spindly Decepticon anywhere, nor did he pick up his signature. He took another step forward and this time Barricade turned around fiercely and knelt in the same place his back was to, growling like some feral animal. Ratchet reeled backwards when Barricade brought out his flail, the metallic weapon glinting in the dull light the building's windows dare offer.

"Back off Autobot," Barricade growled, spinning the flail dangerously. It was a sheer warning that if Ratchet did not heed his threat, he would wear it across his armor instead.

"What are you hiding?" Ratchet asked, scanning around the Decepticon, hoping to find a reason for his odd behavior. Usually, the 'Con would retreat or at least attack, but he seemed to be guarding himself.

"Nothing, leave!" Barricade demanded harshly, lurching forward slightly, flinging his flail at the medic as a dangerous incentive to back off.

Ratchet continued to scan if only because of the strange behavior. It was then that he finally caught something suspicious; however, he wasn't quite sure what it was until he ran over it with a scan again; this time using a third class scan. At first he thought he had picked up a second Spark and he had scanned again to confirm his thoughts.

As his systems told him what it was, his jaw dropped and he backed up further and turned, bolting out of the open doors. Barricade merely turned back around in his corner, feeling no threat once again

Outside, Ratchet stood there a moment, staring at the building in shock. The Autobot leader tilted his head in question, wondering why the medic was acting the way he was. It was unusual for Ratchet to act shocked like that.

When the medic was finally able to clear his thoughts and said simply to the mech before him, "Optimus … Barricade's a femme."