The Replacement

Verse: Pre-earth G1 AU

Rating: M for triggery references. Seriously.

Warnings: WILL contain semi-graphic mentions of past physical abuse, rape, torture, etc. If any of these are trigger topics or squicks, I would advise turning back now. This is a prequel to S.A.F. but it is not necessary to read to understand that story except to add depth to certain characters. I'm serious, I do not want any flames for not having warned you, so BE WARNED.

So, this story started out as a sorta humorous friendship plot bunny, but that bunny decided to go off and have a one-night-stand with a crack bunny. The resulting bunny wanted an off-the-wall variation of the original story. So I wrote it. However, before I could post it, the friendship/crack bunny decided to accept courtship from a dark-fic bunny. They insisted that I change the fic to suit their whims or they would not give me anymore material to work with, my muse sided with them. The end result was a story that starts innocent, dives straight into the dark, comes back up for some crack, and then goes for an odd medium of friendship with a side of darkishness.

Chapter 1:

It was tradition when a new Prime ascended that he replace the entire command staff of his predecessor. It was done for a number of reasons: First, it prevented power struggles between entrenched officers and those who desired more power; second, it kept the new Prime's policies and personal habits from being compared to 'The Old Way'; and lastly, it removed any potentially corrupt members from having any further detrimental effects on the governing of Cybertron.

However, such a process was not expected to occur over a single dark-cycle. The old officers were typically kept around for a few decacycles to ensure a smooth transition and to give initial training to their replacements if needed.

The newest Prime however, having been a lowly dock worker and therefore unaware of the tradition, had not done this. This was the conclusion that Prowl finally came to after much processor-wracking deliberation. The Prime simply did not know what was expected of him and as the former Second it was Prowl's duty to rectify that lack of knowledge. It needed to be done quickly too, the rest of the officers were becoming jittery with every passing orn that did not bring news of replacements.

When Prowl entered Optimus Prime's office he appeared stoic, calm, every bit the emotionless tactician the common soldiers believed him to be, but on the inside he was a mess of trepidation and nervousness. Sentinel Prime had always made it pointedly clear that no one was to question his orders. Ever. Period. And even though Optimus Prime had yet to issue any orders, it still felt like the few times that Prowl had dared to even comment on one of Sentinel Prime's decisions.

The Praxian was unsure of what reaction he would garner. Would he be received well, an uncharacteristic happenstance, but still hoped for; or would he be treated to a verbal dressing down like when Sentinel Prime was irritated; or would the new Prime share in his predecessor's anger at being questioned and give the SIC a reintroduction to the physical punishments that Sentinel Prime loved to bestow when he felt Prowl was being insubordinate.

The punishments tended to vary by the former Prime's level of wrath. Mild upset simply got Prowl a few hard pinches on the tips of his sensitive doorwings with one or both being nearly dislocated by the brutal handling, but never in a way that would show on the outside. Midlevel anger meant that the black and white would be chained to the office wall by his front and Sentinel Prime would take an electroprod to his internal's, again, there would be no signs of abuse on his exterior. The worst punishment could be derived in one of two ways, either by outright angering the blue and gold Prime, which Prowl had not done since his early days as SIC, or by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The latter occurred often after a visit to the Council Chamber when one of Sentinel Prime's proposals was denied, thus arousing his ire. The former Prime would storm back to his quarters with his hapless SIC in tow. Once there, he would strap the Praxian to the berth and use him until his rage was sated. Prowl would be left covered in dents, scratches, scrapes, gouges, and various other wounds, not to mention an erratic and misfiring spark-pulse from the nonconsensual actions. However, he was always repaired by the Prime's personal physician before being permitted to leave, and the doctor was sworn to secrecy on pain of being declared a traitor.

It was for these reasons that Prowl felt neither regret nor sadness when the blue and gold Prime was assassinated. However, a Prime was chosen by the Matrix for their characteristics, which meant that it had condoned Sentinel Prime's behavior and logically would have selected a successor with a similar personality.

For a moment Prowl considered letting the new Prime function in ignorance and remaining mute on the traditions. The thought of finally being free though, was so tantalizing that the black and white was willing to endure the prospect of one more round of abuse.

Optimus Prime sat at his desk feeling dwarfed by the stately trappings and regal adornments that represented the achievements of the former Primes. The icons and decorations gave the office an almost hallowed air and it made the newest occupant feel sacrilegious for daring to aspire to his precursors' accomplishments. He had no clue what possessed the Matrix to think choosing him would be a good idea. Orion had been a rough, course-mouthed dockworker who knew nothing about how to go about running a planet. The sheer magnitude of the task before was almost enough to fritz his processor (he had actually crashed in shock when Alpha Trion first told him the news, had scared the old mech into thinking he had performed the reformatting incorrectly), and made him want to hide very far away where no one could find him. The Matrix kept whispering that it would help if only Optimus would let it, but Optimus had had enough of the relic's 'help' to last him for quite a long time. He had been naïve enough to accept it's aid after Megatron had destroyed the warehouse and look where it had gotten him, a farce of a Prime likely to ruin his own planet with his ineptitude. Matters were also not helped by the fact that the command staff seemed to be afraid of him and extremely unwilling to give him any advise whatsoever. Even the SIC, whose emotionlessness and stoicism had been touted far and wide, would subconsciously twitch his doorwings down as if to protect them.

The distraught young Prime was broken from his lament by an entry-request ping. He sent an acceptance signal to the door and the Praxian SIC entered the room. Optimus could see by the faint twitch in the left doorwing that Prowl was ill at ease. Optimus tried to smile reassuringly at the mech only to remember that the Praxian could not see it thanks to the blasted irremovable battle mask Alpha Trion had fitted him with. To cover his blunder he politely asked Prowl to be seated while trying to put as much friendly emotion into his optics as he could. As soon as the doorwinger was comfortable Optimus asked what he could do for the SIC.

Prowl was barely holding himself together, and when he received a harsh glare from the Prime ust after his entry, it was all the doorwinger could do to keep from turning tailfins. It was too late to retreat however, as the Prime had already ordered him to sit. Thankfully, the large mech had stopped glaring, but now he was practically leering with bright, eager optics. If Prowl were a less controlled mech he would have been quaking where he sat. Now firmly resigned to the fact that this Prime would be just like his predecessor, the Praxian hesitantly dug his own smelter pit by explaining the neglect of traditional protocol.

Prowl was shocked when the Prime not only accepted the news, but seemed very pleased to be reprimanded, albeit gently, by his subordinate.

Optimus was ecstatic. Finally! He had something useful he could do! He was also joyful that the stoic mech seemed to be warming up to him enough to share his thoughts on proper procedure.

After thanking Prowl profusely for bringing the matter to his attention, he excused the smaller mech and immediately called a full staff meeting for that very evening.