Con-sent
A rethink of this prompt: tfanonkink .livejournal. com ?thread=14863509#t14863509
Warnings for sticky and a wide range of consent.
Solutions and further nuisances
Just two Earth-days before, Wheeljack couldn't have imagined that they would be shipping the defeated Decepticons to Cybertron anytime in the foreseeable future; and any of his co-workers could tell that he had a wild imagination. He had to laugh: it was the 'Cons' own malice that landed them behind the energy bars. In the final battle, which neither sides intended to be the last, the Autobots raided a Decepticon research facility where they were holding human hostages. As it turned out, the new weapon the 'Cons were making had neutralized the targets' repair nanites, but (and this detail was unknown to either parties) it didn't incapacitate them directly, so the shot Autobots could still beat the Decepticons to scrap.
Only when Blaster had heard Starscream accusing Megatron of senselessly reconverting all their guns into nanite-killers did Optimus Prime's crew understand the full gravity of the situation: if they attacked at that point, they would find even the most fearsome warriors relatively unarmed. Whether or not they had called off the siege after securing the humans, their nanites would be so reduced that their self-repair would literally take forever. So Optimus called in the last of their reinforcements, risked a final defeat, and got his reward in capturing all the Decepticons on the planet: Megatron, Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave with four cassettes, the three Insecticons, and even Reflector. The triple-changers escaped to outer space as soon as Megatron's defeat was obvious. The Constructicons were not so lucky: in order to shake off his pursuers, and to get rid of some dead weight in his hold, Astrotrain dropped them out before they got as far as the Moon.
"I'll check on Skywarp, back in a moment." Wheeljack stood up. Now their task was to get this shipment of captured 'Cons and a cargo-full of energon to Cybertron. Splitting up the prisoners was the only secure way of transporting them. Optimus was, obviously, personally overseeing Megatron's transportation onboard the Ark. Jazz was responsible for fetching Starscream and Reflector on a ship that was mostly crafted out of Earth materials. Prowl was the captain of the Victory, the former Decepticon warship. His cargo included two Seekers and a looming dark blackmail specialist/third in command.
Wheeljack picked up his scanners and ran a full check on every wall.
"Fuel..." one inmate begged.
"Energon, please..."
"Just a small can of oil? We've been in here for five entire orns, and we weren't properly fueled at launch!"
"Only for my cassettes, if nothing else."
Wheeljack took a deep in-vent.
"It's not my fault that we had to load you in such hurry, and you would break out as soon as I switch off the energy rays. No, guys. Sorry. We're arriving sometime tomorrow, and I called forward so that a galant dose of mid-grade will be waiting for you in your cells." No security breaches, the orders were clear. And as much as Wheeljack hated to look into those thirsty optics and visors, he would have hated even more to find yet another Autobot shredded by the same mechs. The Decepticons were defeated, the war was over, things would slowly get back into normal. Slowly.
He wondered what the Dinobots were doing on their island. Whatever that was, he'd imagine that as 'normal' and use it as a reference point.
Strange that he had to resort to this.
"Query: what next?"
Soundwave was looking at him from the furthest corner of his cell. All four cassettes were inside him to preserve energy. From this angle, Wheeljack couldn't see the dented back-plates, nor Ravage's battle damage, but he knew they were there. Every problem was there, even when he wasn't looking. He hadn't even seen Ravage, only heard that Soundwave was willing to surrender on the sole condition that he would get to pick up the catformer first. At that time, Wheeljack had more burning issues to deal with and hadn't asked about the wounds. Now they were stuck on opposite sides of the bars with the no-contact policy in place. Otherwise Wheeljack would have at least asked if he could help, although Soundwave would likely have declined.
"Pardon me?"
"We arrive on Cybertron. Get fuel in the cells." Soundwave's voice echoed. "What happens next?"
Wheeljack wouldn't be the one to make a false promise.
"I honestly don't know. We will see what we have. As an engineer, all I can promise is that you won't be left to rust in those cells if there's another option."
"Engineer" Thundercracker spat. "You mean we will be collared and reduced to slaves."
"I mean that's all I can throw in at the meeting. If somebot has better ideas, it's not past me to support them. We will work something out."
"That's very reass..."
A loud BANNNNG shook the Victory in the middle of Skywarp's sentence. A moment later, the main energy lines went dark, and the ship started spinning around its longitudinal axis.