Author's note. This was done as a request for EclipsePrime1 who wanted a short story about the difference between punishment spanking and abusive spanking.

Special thanks to the-writing-mew who suggested how this story should end.

Enjoy and please review.

"For goodness sake!"

The former Enforcer had exclaimed as an ominous noise echoed through his office's vents and small clouds of what looked like dust began to puff out of it. Ever since there had been minor seismic activity recently, the volcano their ship had crashed into so long ago had become more active. Even on a good day, the close proximity to hot magma meant the Ark was always warm and thus, they needed a good venting system to ensure the circulation of air to prevent overheating.

And now thanks to the volcano rumbling more than it normally did, the ventilation system wasn't working properly. If it wasn't spewing out dust or making a loud racket, then most of the rooms were getting hotter. The corridors were only slightly better, having a better air flow in general but most bots were spending as much time outside as they could.

Meaning there was a higher chance of bots getting into trouble, especially if the Decepticons got wind of this. He'd already received several reports from Red Alert about the strong probability of sabotage that would surely occur once Soundwave let loose his little terrors into their base. And Prowl was very aware of how true this was, the bad situation with the vents had caused a lot of chaos and it wouldn't be so hard for them to slip in.

Hoist had stated his opinion that the vents would be more dangerous for the cassettes to move about in but Prowl still believed something would happen and the anticipation was becoming rather distressing. He'd tried working out ways to combat this but none were satisfactory. It was just another load on top of the huge pile he already had, going over reports he'd been handed by various Mechs, human organisations, it was never ending.

Mouth twisting with displeasure, Prowl picked up yet another data pad. He hated all of this, things breaking down all around him, struggling to complete his work and dealing with all of the tomfoolery of the crew. It seemed as though most of them, now they were on Earth, did not take things very seriously and did not care if they caused trouble.

"Damn dust," he muttered to himself, he'd have to clean that up again and knew there would be a lot more when he returned to his office the next day. It was the same pretty much all over the base, even his own quarters were suffering. But he couldn't keep getting cleaning drones in here, those were needed for more urgent parts of the base, such as the Med Bay and Communications room. So like everyone else, it felt as though he was constantly cleaning up, a never ending task that was really wearing him down.

Putting down his data pad for a moment, he started rubbing his temples, his head was already aching and it was just going to get worse. Perhaps he should break soon and get himself a fresh cube of Energon with a few stimulants, that would help give him a bit more energy…..

The lights flickered and suddenly died with a strange humming noise.

"This is futile," he cursed loudly, now he couldn't even see his reports properly. He stood up but with his optics adjusting to the sudden gloom, he accidently knocked over a half drank container of fuel which spilled all over his datapads.

"Argh!" he practically yelled, this was the limit.

Activating his emergency light, he shone it on the mess he'd made and felt his very wires sizzle with anger and frustration. Yes, the fuel had successfully coated just about everything in sight and was also dripping onto the floor. He started trying to wipe it all up but the vents let out another rumble before releasing an even bigger puff of dust which naturally landed on some of the congealing energon.

"Frag it all to Pit!" he snarled, almost on the verge of tears, this was just too much. Gathering up as many data pads as he could, he stormed out of his dark office and into the better lit corridor, ignoring the dust he found there.

Right, he was going to get some Energon, give himself a chance to relax and then gather up some cleaning supplies…..no wait, he should get these data pads cleaned first. Where was the nearest supply closet, his usual one had suffered an accident, so which was best….

"What the….?" He suddenly exclaimed as a burst of noise broke his concentration.

"Watch out Prowl," Bumblebee laughed as he run past, almost bumping into the officer.

"Bumblebee!" Prowl exclaimed but was forced to dodge as Bluestreak also charged past.

"Sorry Prowl," he apologised, kicking up a big cloud of dust which caused Prowl to cough and step backwards, trying to avoid inhaling any of the stuff. "Gotta go Prowl, we're late."

"You…..don't run!" Prowl yelled after them. "You're making the dust worse."

Of course, they didn't listen to him, just continued on their merry way without a single care in the world. It probably wasn't even something important they were running to, knowing some of these bots, they were probably messing an episode of their favourite human show. It was all just a big joke to them, there might as well not be a war on, this was just one never ending holiday.

He made a grumbling sound, his headache was starting to get worse, he could not tolerate much more of this. Sighing loudly and brushing dust off of his chest, he headed for the end of the corridor and turned a corner. Only to trip on a wire and have what seemed like a dozen flashes erupt in his face causing him to yell in shock.

He landed hard on the ground, his head now pounding furiously with pain. Dazedly, he was aware of several bots around him and someone helped him to his feet. Briefly, he swayed, his calibrators were have trouble adjusting appropriately. His optics focused and unfocused several times before he finally could see again.

At first, all he could make out was a strange red blur before him but it soon materialised into the recognisable form of Sideswipe.

"Whoops, sorry Prowl," said bot in front of him exclaimed, hands up in surrender. One half of the terror twins, who were always in trouble and constantly winding him up. "Didn't mean to hit you with that. You're okay right?"

"You were aiming for Ironhide, weren't you?" Air Raid offered with a grin as one of his brothers said. "Long as it wasn't Jazz."

They all laughed heartily at this, even as Sideswipe smiled sheepishly at his commanding officer, knowing he was probably going to get it.

An uncontrollable rage suddenly coursed through Prowl's circuits. He was just so sick of everything and this was the very last straw. He was going to exact some discipline and he was going to do it right now.

"Sideswipe," he barked and the young red Mech's jumped, surprised at the harsh tone. "Room 3E, now!"

"Um, okay," Sideswipe said uncertainly. "Uh, what are we….?"

"Now Sideswipe," Prowl ordered and thankfully, Sideswipe obeyed. The Autobot SIC did not know what he would have done if he'd been further disrespected.

Prowl marched forward, the sound of Sideswipe slightly hesitant footsteps behind him. He ignored all the looks he was receiving from various bots, they didn't concern him right now. Normally, he would have taken Sideswipe to his office, that was usual procedure for officers if they were punishing a bot, but right now, it was in no fit state to have anyone in it.

So instead he was taking Sideswipe to a deserted but relatively well maintained room that sometimes served as an office. He knew there was a desk and at least one chair which was all he needed. As soon as they arrived, Prowl tapped the button to open the door with more force than he would normally employ and they marched in.

"….Why are we here?" Sideswipe couldn't help, in complete innocence but it only served to irritate Prowl further.

"Because Sideswipe," Prowl said with a bite to his tone. "You caused deliberate trouble and require discipline. Of the physical kind."

"What, you're gonna spank me?" the frontliner exclaimed in disbelief. "Aww, Prowl…"

"Don't 'Aww, Prowl' me," the former Enforcer. "I am not tolerating this kind of nonsense any longer. Over my lap, now!"

"It wasn't that bad," Sideswipe stated mulishly, he didn't think his little prank warranted a spanking.

Sitting down on the swivel chair, Prowl fixed a hard stare on his subordinate and growled.

"If you do not place yourself over my lap this instant, you will find yourself bent over that table!"

Sideswipe yelped and practically threw himself over his officer's lap, being bent over a table meant a harsher spanking and it would involve a paddle. And that was something no bot ever wanted, especially if they'd previously experienced it.

"That is better," Prowl said with satisfaction, he was most assuredly not in the mood to be further denied dealing out some well-deserved punishment.

He grasped one of Sideswipe's arms and pinned it to his back, making it easier to hold him in place. The red front liner shook just a tiny bit, he knew what to expect but he still wasn't looking forward to it. He still felt Prowl was overreacting a bit but it wasn't unusual for the former Enforcer to implement a punishment rather than 'letting it slide'.

It wasn't as though he threw you over his lap for every little offence, more often than not, he assigned extra duties or chores like monitor duty. Sometimes, they would be put in the brig, it really depended on what they had done. And how much said offence fragged off the officer in question.

He braced himself for what was about to occur, he could sense Prowl raising up a hand, ready to bring it down on him. This was usually the worst part, waiting for it to start….

Smack!

"Ah!" he couldn't help but gasp, that was a pretty sharp smack.

His superior officer wasted no time in bringing down his hand again….and again. Sideswipe gritted his denta against the flurry of slaps against his aft, Prowl must be in a really bad mood to be spanking him. When he'd seen who he'd hit, he'd expected to be either thrown into the brig or assigned to scrub the corridors. With all the mess floating around, that was the officers' favourite punishment at the moment, his brother absolutely hated it.

Lucky him, he was away for a few days, otherwise he might have been waiting for his own turn over Prowl's knee. Primus, Sunny was bound to rib him for what had happened.

"Hnn," he grunted as the smacks continued to land squarely on his rear, Prowl was always very precise. Ironhide just tended to wallop anyone who ended up over his knee and Jazz? Well, the saboteur could be extremely creative when it came to corporal punishment, nobody wanted to end up on his bad side.

Ratchet of course would yell and berate anyone he had to punish, by Primus, his audios were left ringing after a session with that crazy medic. Not to mention all the threats to reformat them into various human junk like toasters. At least it was funny to see how alarmed the humans got when they witnessed such events.

And they hadn't even seen Optimus when he truly got fragged off…..

He was brought back to reality to a particularly hard smack and realised he'd lost count. It didn't really worry him, that often happened and thankfully, none of the officers ever demanded that they count each smack. Unlike the Cons, there was a rumour that Soundwave did exactly that and adding extra if his victim did not do exactly that.

He idly wondered if Prowl mentally counted how many he dished out, that was just the sort of thing he would do. Sideswipe wondered what number Prowl had reached and if he ever had a total in mind when he started a punishment.

Sideswipe's aft was feeling distinctly uncomfortable and he longed to give it a good rub but that was never permitted until the punishment was over. It wasn't that he couldn't handle it but currently, he could think of nothing else. And then the flurry of smacks ceased and for a moment, he was surprised and relieved. It was finally over and had not been too bad really.

Although he should probably avoid annoying Prowl for a while, he always spanked harder if he had to dish out another punishment too quickly.

"Sir, are you….?" He started to say, twisting round slightly to look at Prowl. And froze at the look in the Autobot Second in Command's optics. It was both furious and….satisfied. Primus, he'd never seen anything creepier in his whole life and he was starting to get a really bad feeling about this.

"C-can I go now….sir?" he blurted out. That was a mistake.

Prowl's face hardened angrier and he said furiously. "We are not finished yet."

And he brought his hand down but instead of delivering another smack, he started to fiddle with Sideswipe's armour. There was only one reason he would do that.

"What….? No!" Sideswipe yelped, unable to stop himself from bucking slightly. "Prowl, you can't give me a bare aft one…..!"

"I can and will," Prowl growled at him, optics blazing, he seemed to be getting angrier by the moment. "I will not tolerate this….this anarchy any longer!"

He succeeded in removing Sideswipe's protective aft plating, revealing the bare protoform below. Fear started to stab at Sideswipe's spark, he'd been spanked on the bare before but always for more serious offences and never with Prowl acting like this. Prowl always acted stern but calmly, he might be very fragged off but always conducted himself with rigid discipline.

"Prowl….please," he pleaded, something he didn't normally do but in this situation, he couldn't help it.

"Be still," the second in command ordered sharply, his grip tightening almost painfully on his arm. Or you will receive worst!"

Sideswipe swallowed heavily, he couldn't believe this was happening. He wanted to scramble off this lap and run for his life but he knew Prowl would pursue him and then things would be far worse.

"I'm sorry," he exclaimed, knowing that Prowl was about to begin. "I didn't mean to hit you like that."

"Then you should have thought of that sooner," scolded Prowl, making sure he had a tight grip on the miscreant, there was no way Sideswipe was getting away.

He raised his hand and brought it down sharply, hearing a satisfying slapping sound and a small yelp of pain. This would teach him not to mess around in the public space, Prowl was going to set a firm example. He set a fixed rhythm in place, smacking the aft below him and then raising his hand to shoulder level before bringing it down hard. Sideswipe was jerking with each blow, small gasps of pain escaping him.

Prowl couldn't help but experience some pleasure at the sounds cutting through the air, it made him feel…..powerful. In control of something again, a sensation he hadn't felt in so long and which he'd dearly missed. His spirits seemed to lift with the knowledge and a small smile spread across his face as he spanked the bot across his lap.

However, as he lost focus on what he was doing, Sideswipe twisted around again and saw the little smile. His spark almost stopped, if he hadn't been creeped out before, he certainly was now. Prowl….he was enjoying what he was doing and this really shocked him. While someone like Ironhide could look very satisfied as he made you go through gruelling exercises or a little gleeful like Jazz when dishing out his highly creative punishments, Prowl usually looked stern while disciplining somebot. Never that he was really enjoying it.

The pain in his rear was growing, Prowl was really laying into him and Sideswipe had a nasty feeling he wasn't going to stop any time soon. With his free hand, he held onto Prowl's leg as hard as he dared, being too rough was not permitted. He was just glad he didn't have claws, Jazz had told them stories of what happened when some of the clawed Decepticons had dug in too much while being spanked, it wasn't pretty. Primus, Jazz loved his stories….

"Ah!" he gasped out when Prowl smacked his sit spots, they were rather tender.

His fuel tanks felt all twisted up with the treatment he was getting, he often felt discomfort when being spanked but this was far worse than he could remember. He still didn't understand how his little prank warranted such a harsh spanking, his aft was stinging like crazy, he wasn't going to be able to sit properly for the next few cycles.

Oh no, there was the burn, just below the sting, it was steadily increasing and his optics were starting to fill a little with fluid. Each ringing smack against his aft caused the burning pain to flare up before briefly dying down again. He was unable to stop himself from squirming madly, trying to decrease the pain but of course failing. Prowl hold on him kept Sideswipe from moving around too much, thankfully, he didn't spank harder in response to all the wriggling.

"P-please," he couldn't help but whimper out. He said it so quietly, he wasn't sure it was heard over the sounds of smacking.

It wasn't going to end, the Autobot Second was surely going to continue until he lost all feeling…

"There," Prowl announced, delivering one final hard smack before stopping completely.

The young red Mech was trembling all over but Prowl did not seem to notice. Instead, he took the discarded plating and deftly reattached it, ignoring the sharp wince Sideswipe made. He then nudged him pointedly, saying. "I hope I will not have to do this again. You may go."

Sideswipe pulled himself off the lap but did not immediately leave.

"S-sir?" he mumbled, trying not to let any tears fall.

Prowl got briskly to his feet and headed for the door.

"That is all," he said before leaving Sideswipe all alone in Room 3E.

…..

"Sorry sir."

Optimus frowned behind his mask as Sideswipe dodged around him. They had almost collided in the corridor, Optimus had been a little distracted so the almost collision was his fault. And yet instead of dodging around the larger Mech with a merry laugh, Sideswipe had ducked his head and given him as wide a berth as he could.

This wasn't like Sideswipe at all, he almost never acted nervy and Optimus was confirmed by it. Things were not great on the base and everyone was under a lot of pressure but bots like Sideswipe usually very chirper despite situations like that. Was he perhaps missing his twin? Sunstreaker hadn't been gone for that long and all reports indicated he was doing well, maybe things around the base were taking their toll on the red Mech?

Optimus didn't know and thought he'd keep an extra optic on the young Mech, see if he perked up at all.

However, he did not perk up at all and by the next day, Optimus was becoming concerned. It was by chance that he was given a clue as to why when he witnessed Sideswipe come into a corridor where Prowl was standing examining a series of data pads. The young red Mech did a double take and quickly retreated, fear flashing across his expression briefly. Optimus did not speak to Prowl about this, instead, he watched carefully for any other instances where Prowl and Sideswipe met.

Each time, Sideswipe either walked away without coming into contact with the Autobot SIC or made excuses so he wouldn't even have to communicate with him. The young frontliner was still very subdued and he did not appear to be improving. So finally, when evening was reached, Optimus sought out his SIC.

"What has happened between you and Sideswipe?" he asked without preamble.

Prowl blinked up at his leader before saying.

"What do you mean sir?"

"He has been very down all day," Optimus explained, watching the smaller Mech closer. "Do you know why that is?"

"Well, I was forced to spank him yesterday," Prowl said slowly. "I did not realise he might be sulking so much about it."

"It did not look like sulking," the Prime disagreed. "He seems almost….afraid of you."

"Afraid?" Prowl repeated in shock. "Forgive me sir but that is ridiculous. I have spanked him plenty of times before and he has been fine. It must be something else."

"Perhaps….but I believe you should speak with him, make sure all it well," Optimus said and while it was phrased as a suggestion, it was clear to the former Enforcer that he was expected to do it.

"Of course sir, I will seek him out now but I'm sure it's nothing," Prowl declared confidently.

He did exactly as asked, searching for Sideswipe until he found him. Prowl did not like to leave something for later that could be done right then. Spotting the red Mech in question whose back was to him, he smiled and strode right over.

"Sideswipe," he greeted, lightly touching the other bot's shoulder.

The reaction was instantaneous. Sideswipe flinched violently before spinning around, taking several steps backwards as he did so. Prowl stared in shock, he had not expected such an extreme reaction. What on Cybertron was wrong with the bot?

"P-Prowl," the red Mech stammered. "W-what…do you want?"

"To speak with you," Prowl said in his soft tone, starting to feel a lot less assured about his notion that Sideswipe had merely been sulking. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the other Mech said shortly, optics darting about a bit. As though he was looking for an escape. Prowl didn't like it at all.

"Sideswipe," he began again.

"Excuse me sir, I'm due on patrol," Sideswipe interrupted, brushing past his commanding officer and heading quickly away.

Prowl frowned but didn't stop him. This wasn't like the young front liner at all, usually, he had a cheeky grin on his face. Had he really been too harsh? Sideswipe was certainly subdued…no, maybe he'd given him a few too many but the young Mech needed to learn he couldn't mess around so much. After all, a sore aft was nothing compared to what the Decepticons would happily do to him.

With a very uneasy spark, he walked away to meet Red Alert.

…

It was an incredibly hot day when the Decepticons attempted to raid a solar power station, a relatively new build. It might be a clean fuel source but there was nothing clean about the fighting going on between Autobots and Decepticons. A breeze meant sand was blowing over everything, irritating the delicate joints they managed to work their way into. There were splatters of energon and life force everywhere as the bots battled each other, several of them in hand to hand combat.

Optimus had transformed and thrown himself into battle as soon as he arrived, all the bots he'd brought fully suit. He wasn't able to reach Megatron straight away, several Decepticons had gone for him and he'd been forced to delay and fight them off. His target was some distance away, barking out orders and making deadly use of his fusion canon. Optimus grunted as he threw Dirge off him, the jet had been trying to gouge chunks out of him.

They'd barely started this battle and already, he was feeling the depression of the fight settle across him. So much life force spilled, so many good bots injured and for what? To fight to the death over a few scraps of fuel? They waged war on this organic planet while their people continue to starve on their home world. When was all of this going to end?

He started to surge forward, he had to reach Megatron and distract him from inflecting more damage. He punched and knocked any Cons who attempted to stop him, assisted by his loyal Ironhide.

"Go get him Prime," the old solider encouraged, ducking a swipe from Astrotrain and hitting him in the face with his blaster, earning a howl of pain from the shuttle.

There was no need to answer, just focus on the task ahead. But in the confusion of battle, Optimus got left behind, fighting off several more Cons who converged on him. He managed to keep going forward, getting closer and closer to Megatron but he didn't have a clear shot at him. The Decepticon warlord had noticed him and with a wicked grin, raised his fusion canon and took aim.

Optimus tensed, ready to throw himself out of the way but he already knew he could not dodge the shot entirely.

"Prime!" Ironhide cried, charging forward and lunging between his leader and Megatron just as the latter fired.

"Ironhide!" Optimus exclaimed, unable to help himself as his bodyguard crashed down with a grunt of pain.

Megatron let out a bark of harsh laughter as Ironhide lay injured and for the moment, out of action. Optimus hurried to defend his solider, protecting him from further harm. But that didn't stop the grey Mech from gloating.

"Poor Prime, so helpless to protect those he cares about," Megatron sneered mockingly, an ugly smirk on his face as Optimus lifted Ironhide up. "So righteous and….optimistic, but no matter how hard you try, you fall short."

He laughed again, deliberately goading the Autobot leader and they all knew it. Ironhide's face was contorted with pain as he pressed a palm to the nasty wound which leaked life force. Optimus stared at it, watching how the vital fluid seeped in a continuous flow across Ironhide's armour and down into the sand below.

Something deep inside the Autobot Prime ignited, a spark of rage which steadily grew, fanned by the flames of Megatron's insults. There was a difference about this rage though, he had unconsciously tapped into the Matrix's power and it was infusing him with an incredible energy. His blue optics glowed intensively until they were almost white with fury as he allowed First Aid to take hold of Ironhide.

"You will pay for that Megatron," he growled in a strangely soft way.

"And pray tell, how will you make me?" Megatron scoffed derisively, his stance indicating that he knew Optimus was going to lunge at him.

The Prime didn't answer, instead he did indeed lunge for him. But rather than grabbing him around the middle, he aimed straight for Megatron's feet which took the other a little by surprise as he swiped at his enemy. As soon as he had hold of the grey Mech, he used the momentum to knock his opponent off his feet and throw him to the ground. Even while Megatron was crashing, Optimus was already moving and the Decepticon leader soon found himself pinned to the sandy ground, face firmly being grinded against it.

Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, Megatron somehow managed to sneer even as he tensed and bucked against his enemy.

"What now Prime? Will you end my life?"

His tone implied that he extremely doubted it.

"No Megatron, I won't," Optimus growled into his audio, still pinning him down.

This earned him a scoff but he wasn't done.

"I am going to teach you a long overdue lesson," the Prime promised, his grip tightening on the arm he had been digging into Megatron's back.

Before Megatron could retort, Optimus brought forth a pair of cuffs and slapped them on the hand he held. This earned him a lot of thrashing, Megatron had no intention of allowing Optimus to tame him easily. Both Mechs were strong and highly experienced in combat but Optimus currently had the advantage and the Matrix fuelling him with power so it only took him a few breems to have Megatron's hands cuffed behind him.

Gripping the back of Megatron's neck tightly and holding the cuffs in the other, he dragged the struggling, snarling grey Mech to a rocky outcrop and sat down on a suitable flat bit which also happened to include a back. Megatron's arms might have been immobilised but he was still lashing out with his legs and trying to use his upper body strength to free himself.

"Stay still," Optimus snapped at him, his nemesis was most assuredly not an easy Mech to handle but the Prime was very determined this cycle.

"Frag you Prime!" Megatron snarled furiously at him, he didn't actually know what Optimus was up to but he defiantly did not like it.

"Not today," Optimus muttered darkly, pulling Megatron over his lap and then pinning him in place by lifting one massive leg and pressing it down hard on the back of his prisoner's knees.

"What in the Pit do you think you're doing?" Megatron roared, enough to get just about everyone's attention. A few had seen that Optimus had got Megatron pinned down but had not really thought much of it, usually, if one of the leaders was losing, one of their bots would help them. Things were very different today.

"Teaching you a lesson," Optimus stated coldly, his heavy hand now resting on Megatron's vulnerable aft.

This caused the grey Mech to let out a bellow of rage that attracted even more attention but it was too late. Optimus had him where he wanted him and had no intention of letting him go until he was good and ready. Raising his hand high, he brought it down sharply, earning a snarl of rage.

He did not stop there, setting a furious pace, he spanked hard the aft below him.

What happened next was in a way, rather comical. One by one, the bots of the two factions noticed what was happening and froze in complete shock at what they were witnessing. Hands holding blasters became slack and dropped to their sides, a few weapons even ended up on the ground. Bots who'd previously been wrestling paused in what they were doing, apparently hypnotised by what they were seeing.

Even Starscream appeared to have nothing to say, he simply gawked at the sight before them.

For his part, Megatron was thoroughly enraged at the situation and continued to thrash madly, cursing all the while. He wasn't begging however, or calling for help, that would have been far beneath his pride to do so. But there was a reason no Autobot wanted to be punished by their leader, he could turn any bot's aft sore within a few whacks. And he had already delivered several with no intention of stopping.

No one was sure how long the spanking went on, but Megatron's curses were steadily becoming more pained as time went on. His hands were curled into tight fists, no doubt aching to punch something, preferably the bot currently holding him in place. Optimus was not letting up, his grip was just as hard as his spanking. No one could properly make out his expression due to his infamous battlemask but his optics blazed angrily and showed no mercy.

"You brought this on yourself, Megatron," Optimus suddenly stated, causing Megatron to gnash his denta together and spew even more colourful curses. "And now you will face the consequences."

With quick nimble fingers, he suddenly detached his prisoner's aft plate and tossed it casually aside. In fact, he did it so quick and casually that no one could believe what they'd just witnessed and even after Optimus started spanking the bare aft, they didn't fully process it for several breems. When they did, there were horrified gasps and a few Mechs took steps back.

None of them could leave however, it was like some force was holding them to the location, forcing them to witness a Prime's anger.

Somehow tearing his gaze away from the…..scene before them, he found Sideswipe staring with horror at what was happening. No….it wasn't horror, it was…..terror. He was scared but what really shocked Prowl when the other caught his optic was the look Sideswipe had on his face. He wasn't just reacting to the unfolding events, he was having a flashback. And with a very horrible sensation, Prowl knew exactly what that was.

Paying no mind to the bots near him, not even the motionless Decepticons, he headed straight for Sideswipe who had looked back to their Prime. Only a few steps away however, Sideswipe sensed the approach and his optics went wide with fear.

"Sideswipe," Prowl said gently, the young Mech looked like he could bolt at any moment.

"Prowl," the red bot whimpered, taking a step back.

"I'm sorry," the former Enforcer burst out before Sideswipe could flee once more. "I shouldn't have done what I did."

"Then why did you?" Sideswipe demanded angrily, optics darting from him back to Prime.

"I….," Prowl tried before swallowing, trying to gather his thoughts. In retrospect, it all seemed so ridiculous, so petty, how could he fully articulate what he'd been feeling and thinking?

"I'm not sure I can properly justify it," he finally said softly. "You deserve an explanation but I don't have a good one. Everything seemed to be going wrong and I…I was stressed. And I ended up lashing out at you and going way too far."

"So how often is that going to happen?" Sideswipe asked, sounding almost tearful. "You going to wail on me every time I screw up?"

"No!" Prowl exclaimed in horror. "No, Sideswipe, it was a mistake, one I do not mean to repeat."

"So you'll never do that again?" Sideswipe demanded, still looking very edgy.

"I will endeavour to not do so again," Prowl said firmly. "I know what I became and I don't want to become that again."

"So you might do it again," Sideswipe exclaimed almost shrilly, prepared to bolt but Prowl lunged forward and hugged him tightly, stopping him from fleeing.

"Let go!" he cried, struggling in the tight embrace. "What are you doing?"

"What I should have done before," Prowl told him sadly. "What any good officer is meant to do after a punishment."

Sideswipe made a small whine of distress but Prowl didn't let him go, he needed to do this. He allowed his engine to purr a soothing note while rubbing the younger Mech's back. It made him recall the first time he'd carried out a spanking, he'd been internally nervous but had made a huge effort to be calm and methodical. Enforcers did not use physical punishment, if you weren't fine or sent to jail, then you had to take part in community service. The army was different, they did use physical discipline for their cadets up to their officers.

They were at war so army rules and regulations were in place, something civilians and even former Enforcers had to get used to. Prowl thought he had a good handle on the practice but clearly, he needed to re-educate himself to ensure this didn't happen again.

"I'm sorry," he said gently to Sideswipe who wasn't struggling much now but still felt very tense. "You're a good solider and a great bot, you didn't deserve such a harsh spanking."

"You think I'm great?" Sideswipe asked in surprise.

"Of course," Prowl said warmly. "You and Sunstreaker might drive me up the wall sometimes, but you also both make me proud in your own unique ways."

Sideswipe didn't know what to say to that, Prowl seemed to spend so much time scolding or assigning punishment to him and his twin that he didn't realise he felt that way. Or that he really saw them as separate beings, not just the terror twins.

"And I know now why you were so scared of me," Prowl continued, letting out a small sigh. "I know I must make up for my actions somehow…..perhaps I should take a turn after Megatron."

"WHAT!?" Sideswipe yelped, gaping at him before shooting a wild look at Prime. "Are you serious?"

"Optimus is my superior and I have done wrong," Prowl stated but Sideswipe was already interrupting him.

"You can't do that….not here," Sideswipe argued, now clutching the other Mech. "Look at him, it's like he's…possessed or something."

Prowl glanced over to his leader, he did not think Sideswipe was entirely wrong.

"It has been a tough time for him," he murmured quietly. "The Autobot femmes suffering that bomb attack, all the chaos at the base, the humans being in so much danger….I think it has all been too much for him. But as frightening as it may appear, I think he is just channelling his stress in a nonlethal way."

"I've never seen him like this," Sideswipe muttered, now accepting Prowl's embrace, making the Autobot SIC feel glad. He knew that he had frightened the young Mech with his actions a few days ago.

"I have witnessed him in a similar state before," Prowl said musingly. "Although never to spank someone. It could be the Matrix giving him this power."

"Primus," Sideswipe muttered making Prowl smile and say. "Indeed."

They both looked towards their Prime who was making fine work of Megatron's aft. Sideswipe couldn't help but wince, Optimus was aiming for the sit spots every other hit, the former gladiator definitely wouldn't be able to walk properly after this. It was simply a sight you could not look away from.

"Will he comfort him?" Sideswipe suddenly asked.

"Comfort Megatron?" Prowl said, that was a sentence he never thought he'd utter. "As strange as it may sound…I hope he does. It's the right thing to do. You should always forgive after a punishment."

"What if he doesn't?" Sideswipe questioned, resting his cheek against Prowl's chest.

"Then we could start a bad cycle," his superior said with a grimace, thinking again of how he'd failed. If more and more officers started a habit of not properly carrying out a punishment, going overboard and then showing no comfort, it could be utterly disastrous for them all.

He stared at his leader who showed no signs of stopping. Something had to be done. Gently releasing Sideswipe with a kind pat on the back, he started towards the two leaders. Sideswipe let out a little gasp and took a few steps forward but Prowl just gave him a reassuring smile before continuing onwards.

Optimus did not notice him until Prowl was standing barely a few metres from him and clearing his throat. The burning optics looked up and regarded him sternly, the spanking hand still connecting firmly with the quivering aft below. Everyone was watching closely, just what was the Autobot Second in Command up to?

"Prime," Prowl said briskly, offering out the plating Optimus had previously tossed aside.

His leader continued to regard him so Prowl continued.

"It is unorthodox but perhaps now might be time for the final step," he said in a very meaningful way.

"Final step?" the deep baritone of Prime's voice rumbled out.

"Yes sir," he said delicately but pointedly.

"Hmm," Prime muttered to himself.

Prowl stayed where he was, he knew this might fail badly but he had to try. For a few breems, Optimus did not react to his words. And then….the spanking ceased.

"Hrr," Megatron growled, releasing that his enemy appeared to have stopped. He didn't say anything, as burning with anger as he was, he was smart enough not to ignite another spanking session.

Optimus's large hand rested on the aft he'd previously been smacking and everyone tensed, what was he going to do next.

And then the Autobot leader moved, taking hold of Megatron and lifting him up until he straddled his lap, facing the Prime. There was a shocked reaction to this, everyone gasping or muttering to themselves but Optimus ignored them all. While Megatron gave him both an incredulous and furious expression, Optimus wrapped his arms around his still bound enemy and embraced him. He did so solemnly, somehow radiating dignity in a situation that other bots would have fallen short on.

Prowl could not help but smile, Optimus had done the right thing. You should never spank out of anger and if you do, must make quick amends. Although by Primus, that did look like one sore aft.

He wasn't going to shove Megatron aside and throw himself across Optimus's lap, that would just spoil the scene entirely. But in the privacy of Optimus's officer….that was reasonable.

Author's note. Hope everyone enjoyed it, this was a fun little one shot to write. I'm open to suggestions for possible future stories. Until next time.