Author's Note- After some thought I have decided to post censored versions of my work on site and, if you would like to read the full versions
the link to my A03 account is on my profile. Chapter Four is up in its entirety and my other fics will be reposted as soon as I work through them.
Hello this is my first fic of this dark a nature so I would ask that you read the warnings carefully before reading and no flamers please. It's AU so you can imagine it however you want.
This story was partially inspired by Kami Count D's 'Crime and Punishment' fic and I would recommend you all to read it if you have not already (also if you like Starscream/Ironhide as a pairing 'Crime and Punishment's' companion fic 'The Enemy You Know' is also a very enjoyable read).
Unbetaed.
Disclaimer- I do not own Transformers or its characters.
Warnings (full uncensored version on archiveofourown- the link is on my profile)- Rated MA. Non-con/graphic rape, violence, perhaps some slight gore and mutilation near/at the beginning, there may be consensual slash in later chapters, Transformer swearing, angst, depression, death, trauma, mentions of masturbation.
Units of Time:-
Astrosecond- 1 second
Klik- 1 minute
Cycle- 1 hour
Orn- 1 day
Decacycle- 1 week
Meta-cycle- 1 month
Solar cycle- 1 year
Vorn- 1 million years
Italics- Flashbacks/thoughts/memories/link speak.
Bold- Comm speak.
Recognisable lines are borrowed/paraphrased from the 2007-2011 movies, accompanying games and other Transformers media.
I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review.
Acid Rain
Chapter One- Gathering Clouds
It started so finely that the brawling combatants barely noticed the bite of it into their frames, energon-lust blinding many to the growing danger.
However, noticed first by the mechs of the air, it soon began to fall in earnest, extinguishing the sparks of the severely wounded and causing agony even to the uninjured.
Retreat! Decepticons, retreat! Starscream bellowed through the comm lines. Move, move!
The Autobots seemed to be following suit, running from the battlefield with injured comrades slung over their shoulders.
Some damaged Decepticons were lucky to have bonded partners, family members or close friends fighting beside them who picked them up as they fled.
Some, but by no means all.
As the screams following them were lost in the roar of the rain, a Seeker dropped from the sky, his armour lost to the liquid fire and protoform beginning to crumble. His optics searched the sky for his trine but he quickly closed them as drops pounded into the two pools of red, burning them terribly.
Shrieking and flailing, unable to help himself, the young flier was relieved to feel a strong pair of arms wrap around him and a frame shield his against the relentless rainfall.
A few more were lost as they urgently headed for home, the nearest shelter for members of their faction.
They burst inside, engines revving, tanks churning and sparks dancing with relief inside their chambers.
Breathless, metal scraped on metal as they clanged to the floor together in heaps, the doors banging shut behind them to protect them from any more pain or fear.
For all but one.
Starscream landed, vents heaving with exertion, and laid out his charge on the floor.
The half-blinded mech stared up at him in shock, 'Air Commander…'
The older Seeker nodded and turned away, 'don't expect it to happen again,' he returned curtly, wings sending waves of torment across his entire sensor net.
'No Sir… th-thank you.' The smaller mech's vocaliser broke into static and he shuddered.
Starscream was saved from having to say more as the mech's two trinemates came running up, chirping and cooing in reassurance to their third as they reached him, and he backed out of the loving scene.
Aching for his own wingmates, he flitted from one group of soldiers to another, taking in their status and sending information to the approaching medics through the comm line.
As the few medical professionals they had, including Hook, their CMO, reached the wounded, the SIC left the area completely.
He needed some time to compose himself alone before the inevitable summons from Megatron even if it meant his own injuries were not treated until later.
The mission had failed. The mech they had attempted to assassinate still lived and they had not gotten the information they had set out to.
Regardless of why or how, Starscream knew from past experience, even as he hoped otherwise, that the Commander would ultimately blame him for the loss and so take his frustrations out on his second.
Over the past two solar cycles that the flier had been SIC, Megatron had grown steadily more abusive and Starscream more cowed in response, each hurt cutting more deeply than the last.
Envying and hating the others for their freedom to release their fear, the Air Commander walked down the dark halls of Megatron's dwelling, a lavish base resting on top off a cliff with nothing but bare fields and open spaces below.
There had once been a thriving city but the Decepticon Lord had pulled back this section of his army into the central base and levelled all that remained to render a sneak attack by the Autobots impossible and to minimalize the chances of a spy infiltrating their forces there.
Lightning and thunder shook the base as the rain settled in for what would surely be a decacyle's long falling, Starscream cringed inwardly at the implications.
He and the others were grounded until the skies cleared.
And they would all probably go hungry as well as their stocks might not hold up under the stress.
Shivering, the winged mech stopped and leaned heavily against the wall.
I can't do this, the familiar sensations of a panic attack rose up through his systems, please Primus. He desperately tried to cycle air as he strained to ventilate, don't call for me please, have some mercy in your cold spark and leave me be this once, please.
A sob crackled through his vocaliser as the once proud self-assured mech slumped to the floor.
Trying ineffectually to force his systems to function properly, he wrapped his arms around his legs in a tight ball and for a few precious kliks there was no sound in the corridor but the whirr of Starscream's internals and his deep and heavy ventilations.
Starscream!
The flier gave a whimper at his leader's vicious tone, curling up even more to make himself appear smaller.
Get your worthless aft to my quarters before I come looking for you, the larger mech snarled, a hint of a slur in his voice.
Frame wracked with tremors, Starscream dragging himself up to his pedes by clawing at the wall with his talons. C-coming Master.
A growl struck at the SIC through the comm. 'C-coming Master', the once gladiator imitated cruelly, vile little coward.The connection slammed shut and the Seeker crept silently towards Megatron's quarters, unconsciously trying to blend into his surroundings so he wouldn't be noticed.
As to be expected with the pandemonium in another part of the base, the areas he crossed were empty and soundless, apart from the muffled steady patter of rain on the reinforced roof.
It sounded so deceptively innocent.
Eventually coming to a flight of stairs, Starscream clutched at the railing as if it were a lifeline and ascended apprehensively to the top.
Then his pedes travelled along one more large corridor to the ornate double doors at the end.
They were easily treble the flier's height and, when closed, quadruple his width. They were gold with a rich purple Decepticon emblem in the centre which spilt exactly in half when the doors opened.
As Starscream approached, one side opened outwards towards him and, as he passed inside, it shut with a sense of finality to seal him in.
Leaning on it, wincing at the pressure on his scorched wings and frantically working to calm himself with his breaths coming in sharp gasps, he bit clean through his lower lip component to stop a terrified shriek escaping when he heard Megatron forcefully snap out his name from deeper inside.
Placing one pede in front of the other, Starscream advanced a few paces and turned to the left to face the tyrant's desk and office space. Directly behind it was a door out onto Megatron's balcony where he could see for miles unhampered.
The Seeker himself had only been permitted out onto it a few times but found the magnitude of open skies with the clear plains beneath them breathtaking.
To one side there was another door leading into the Decepticon Lord's berthroom and another access point to the balcony through the back of it.
Behind the SIC lay Megatron's living area which, along with the expected furnishings (tables, chairs, couches and other pieces), was dominated by a massive and exquisitely detailed map of Cybertron.
The Commander's chair had its back to him and the door leading outside was wide open allowing the Warlord to safely watch the destructive rainfall in the usual darkness of his rooms.
The only illumination was provided by short sharp cracks of lightning, like an energon whip striking the sky.
Starscream forced himself forwards another few steps before his bravery completely failed him and he dropped to his knees, shrinking in on himself as much as he was able, being as unobtrusive as he could.
'You fail me yet again Starscream.' It was almost a whisper and filled with threat.
The Seeker couldn't see his Commander but still cringed as though he was standing over him. 'I'm sorry Master, but not even Soundwave predicted the rain-'
'Don't you dare blame Soundwave for this! I put you in charge so it's your responsibility.' Megatron cut him off and stood. He turned to face his second and slammed his cube of high grade into his desk where it shattered at the same time another bolt of lightning struck.
Why not? He always scapegoats me. Starscream thought desolately, flinching at the loud crashing noises. 'I-I-'
The Seeker blinked and his Commander was looming above him, 'you, you what?'
The SIC began to shake violently, 'please.'
Megatron gripped him by the throat and raised him into the air, other servo clenching into a fist to start punching Starscream's chassis, directly above his spark chamber. 'You incompetent, worthless, cowardly imbecile.'
Energon rose in the flier's throat and dribbled down from the corners of his mouth, he scrabbled desperately at the servo holding him, silently pleading.
Edited to fit TOS.
The rain was still falling strongly as Megatron raised his aching helm cycles later, processor severely hung over from his orn's worth of drinking.
Blinking harshly he lifted his frame off the surface he had dropped into status on, bringing a servo up to rub his helm and burning optics. After a few moments his vision cleared and he froze, nausea gripping his spark, when he saw his second slumped on his desk in front of him.
Energon dripped down onto the metal, staining it a dull purple.
Starscream…?
There were light tremors running through the SIC's frame but not a sound emerged from him.
Megatron found his sight drawn to liquid, a mixture of dark purple energon, yellow medical lubricant and pearly white transfluid running down and sticking to both their legs and glistening on his spike.
The tyrant stepped away, unable to avert his gaze, as the need to purge rose in his tanks.
No! No! I wouldn't have, not to one of my own soldiers. It had to have been willing, it must have been!
Lightning flashed outside and it glinted off a piece of metal on the floor, catching his attention.
Bending over, he picked it up delicately between two claws to examine the warped thin strip of material.
His optics flicked from it, to Starscream's wings which were illuminated by a second flash, to his silent Seeker.
Turning completely to face his second, he crouched by the desk and extended a servo to stroke one of his SIC's, 'Starscream? Starscream, it's alright now, I'm going to repair you. Don't… don't be frightened.'
Gently he eased his second off of the desk and cradled the smaller mech to his chassis, carrying him through his berthroom to his private washracks.
Unlike the other mechs of the army, he had an energon bath which when bathed in repaired most injuries.
As he ran it and the energy glittered up at him, he looked down on his Seeker in his arms and bit at his lip components, wondering how he was going to do this.
Strangely reluctant to put Starscream down, he stepped into the bath and lowered himself and his second into the energy, less a tangible thing than a subtle change in the air.
Warmth.
The flier squeaked softly as his frame dipped into the rainbow of colours, internal and external injuries healing or, if too serious to be entirely repaired through the energy alone, simply soothed.
Megatron, feeling his Seeker shiver as the sparkles touched him, used his engines to massage Starscream's frame in what he hoped was a calming manner.
Seeing his SIC curl into him, the tyrant's tanks rolled as he finally realised how small the scientist was in comparison to him, the drastic differences in everything from their respective weights to their strength.
Since Starscream had been promoted, Megatron had mercilessly mocked any display of fear the Seeker had made towards him…
Of course he gets frightened, you're much stronger than him and you're not exactly renowned for your kindness are you? Optimus's voice berated him in his mind. He used to look up to you, admire you; Primus knows why but he did, now look at what you've done to him!Resting a servo on the smaller mech's helm and stroking it gently, Megatron began to think back on things, picturing Starscream how he had been a couple of solar cycles ago.
A truly beautiful mech. Intelligent, confident, self-assured, curious…
Unique.
His armour had been rich in red, white and blue and it shone, catching the optics of all he passed, his voice sweet and a joy to listen to.
When Starscream had flown with his trine it had looked like the most skilled of artists performing.
Deadly, perhaps my best soldier.
The SIC, apart from the initial noise of surprise, had yet to make a sound and had barely moved causing Megatron to grow more anxious with each passing moment, spark swirling wretchedly in its chamber.
He had been told, just before he made Starscream his second, that the best way to keep the Seeker's ambitions, personality and, at the time only minimal, rebelliousness in servo was to occasionally physically reprimand him. Soundwave and a couple of mechs who knew the flier intimately had confirmed and assured him of it and, for a while, it had worked well.
Even if Starscream did begin to lose faith in himself.
That had been the intention after all, to keep his servant in his place.
But then it seemed to swing too far the other way and the Seeker started to consistently fail in his tasks as his confidence faded.
Megatron began to see, now that he was focussing on nothing else, how things had escalated.
It had started off with a small slap the first time Starscream and he had met immediately following the flier's promotion and had deteriorated from there.
Little flashes burst through his processor, flicking back and forth through time as he remembered them.
The first time he beat Starscream publicly to teach him a lesson about slacking off and hiding things from his leader only to find out later, while the Seeker lay in critical condition in med bay, that the scientist had been designing him a new energon sword as a gift for the annual celebration of the creation of the Decepticons.
The horrible rattle the flier had made after his first serious punishment and only betrayal, near-death.
Starscream's forlorn faceplates when he returned from a mission to find that Megatron had sent his trinemates elsewhere and that he was forbidden to see them.
The Seeker crying in front of him for the first time when he destroyed the scientist's life's work.
The pleading look in his second's optics when Megatron granted Soundwave access to his mind in a punishment so Starscream would have no refuge during it.
The sadness in his second's demeanour when he had broken and burnt the flier's carefully constructed models of Vos.
The humiliation pervading Starscream's frame when Megatron had forcibly repainted him a dull silver and made it an order than he must stay that way.
The terror when the tyrant had threatened the Seeker's wings for the first time.
The twice almost madness when he had grounded his second for long periods of time.
The devastation and ensuing loneliness when Megatron labelled Starscream a whore for accepting suitors and banned anyone from courting him.
The hurt bewilderment and embarrassment when he had forced his second to lick his pedes clean after a lost battle.
The silence after he had crushed the winged mech's vocaliser and ruined his beautiful voice.
Beating after beating crossed his processor until guilt drowned his spark. Megatron had never planned things to go like this, had never wanted for his Seeker to suffer so much. He had simply desired his second's obedience and loyalty.
A sad small smile crossed his faceplates as he remembered the first time he had met the scientist, all alone in his lab…
'Starscream.' He smirked at the startled flier, knowing he had his trinemates in Decepticon custody, 'working late are we?'
The Seeker stood and stared at him contemplatively, 'I was just about to go home Sir. As you say it is rather late and my family is expecting me.'
Megatron smiled at him, crossing the space with quick long strides to stand barely an inch from the flier, 'I have your trine my little trine leader.'
'I know,' they were so close the Warlord could feel Starscream's light ventilations on his frame, 'they told me in our link.'
'Not quickly enough to warn you, though,' Megatron couldn't help but point out.
'Yes, they contacted me several kliks ago. If I had wished to leave I would have had plenty of time to do so Sir.'
The tyrant raised his optic ridges, 'you're a good actor. You'll make an excellent Decepticon.'
Starscream sighed sadly, 'I have little choice I suppose. I do not wish you to harm my trinemates.'
Megatron lifted the Seeker's chin to promise, 'as long as you serve me I will never hurt you, any of you.'
Starscream followed him tentatively hopeful from the lab and enlisted before the orn reached its end.
He had been intrigued by the flier right from the beginning and he knew Starscream's curiosity had also been piqued in return by his apparent contradictory nature.
Megatron had been flattered to see when Starscream was lower in rank and far younger, on his private security cameras that he kept located around the base, that the Seeker would occasionally reach completion while self-servicing shouting out the tyrant's name.
Of course, Starscream believed that the Commander held no answering desire and Megatron saw him tell Thundercracker and Skywarp as such when they had warped in on their trine-leader in the act.
Countless punishments, even more opportunities to seduce Starscream properly...
What a fragging waste, he snarled at himself, self-hatred growing in him as his anger at his own actions increased.
Realising that the energon bath had done as much as it was going to do for Starscream, the Warlord stood with him and returned to his berthroom, carefully tucking his second in between the sheets of his berth and sitting down on a nearby chair to watch over him.
Outside, the rain still fell, destroying everything it made contact with.
It showed no sign of ever stopping.
Thanks for reading and please review.