Pain. That is was consumed his body as he was dragged through the halls of the Decepticon's ship. Ratchet was cuffed behind his back as Skywarp violently pushed him forward- sometimes into the grasp of a mech who shamed and poked fun at his weight. His belly was slapped, pinched and punched as hurtful words were shouted at him. If it weren't for the fact he was to watch where he was being shoved, the medic would have simply off-lined his optics.
However, he was also keeping a lookout for First Aid. Since being teleported off the Lost Light, Ratchet had no clue where his companion was or if he was OK. All his inquiries of where Aid was were left unanswered. No matter how hard he searched or what direction he looked, all he saw were taunting Decepticons. No First Aid.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Ratchet was finally uncuffed and thrown into a cell. He stumbled and landed on his hands and knees as he gasped for air.
"What a disgusting, fat slob!" Skywarp muttered to a snickering mech.
"No wonder the rest of the crew left," a screechy voice said, clearly naming its owner as Starscream. "They probably were starving and needed to find more food since this pig ate it all." The seeker took a few steps forward and landed a swift kick to Ratchet's belly, knocking the wind out of the medic and causing him to collapse on the floor. "Disgusting! Typical Autobot- so gluttonous! Thinking it's OK to hoard the energon, stuff yourself silly while denying other's their share." He crossed his arms across his chest. "Some things never change, do they?" There was a pause. "Let's go. I am sick of looking at this filth!" The pair of seekers left, leaving the captured medic all alone.
Ratchet rolled himself over and scooted himself against the wall. Taking a look around, all the other cells were empty. Slaggit! He was hoping to at least find his assistant who Ratchet knew would be freaking out right now. Aid had been captured and tortured by the 'Cons before, and the older medic was just afraid of the damage- psychological damage, that is- that would be done the second time around. He let out a huff of air, reset his optics, and rubbed at his achy belly. He didn't know what hurt worse; the physical pain his body was in, or the fact he knew the rest of the crew won't realize what happened for a few more orns. Looks like he would be stuck here at the mercy of the 'Cons for a few days.
For the remainder of the evening- at least what he thought was the rest of it, Ratchet sat in that cell worrying. He hoped Aid was alright. He hoped Rodimus and the rest of the team would return soon and discover they where missing. The flaw in this was he had absolutely no clue where this ship was. His optics grew heavy and no matter how hard he attempted to keep them on, recharge eventually took over.
The banging of the door woke the medic from his sleep. Groggily, he on lined his optics, blinked a few times to un-blur his vision, and once again, saw Starscream standing before him. The seeker's arms were crossed as he stared at his prisoner.
"Where's Aid?" Ratchet asked.
"I don't think you are in the position to talk." Starscream spat. "Now, where have the ragtag crew of yours go?"
Ratchet gave a smirk, a chuckle and a shake of his head as an answer.
"If you don't answer me, you won't get any breakfast," Starscream said as he pointed to a tray that contained a small glass of poorly refined liquid energon and a bar of one that was solid. "Although, I am sure you can go without food for quite a while." Starscream sneered at Ratchet. "You must be starving! Just tell me what I want to hear and you can eat up."
"Really Starscream?" Ratchet mocked. "You call that an equal exchange? One tiny glass of sub-par energon and what is probably a stale block of scrap. You'll have to do better than that... Though, it doesn't surprise me. You are known to fall incredibly short, after all."
"Why you..." Starscream flared; eyes fiercely squinted and hands balled in a fist. With some form of control, Starscream stopped there, and just gave a smirk. "Fine, You want to be that way, go right ahead." The seeker used his pede to push the plate closer to the cell, but just out of reach of the prisoner. "You'll get hungry. Trust me." With a final grimace, Starscream exited the cell, the door swooshing closed behind him.
With a sigh, Ratchet rested his helm against the wall. Primus, how humiliating was that? The 'Con's thought it would be easy to bribe him with food? How low do they really think he is? He has a bit more honor than that. His stomach growled- he was hungry, and cursed that Starscream left the plate of cruddy food outside the cell.
It felt like ages! Ratchet tried not to even look at the energon, but no matter what, the fact that he was hungry couldn't be ignored anymore. His belly rumbled more, and he gave into his urge. Ratchet stood up, stretched really good and walked to the bars of the cell. Even though he was embarrassed with himself, he knelt on the ground. Sticking an arm through the bars, he reached as far as he could- reached until his shoulder clanged against the metal bars.
"Scrap!" Ratchet muttered as the plate was just out of reach. Starscream sure knew what he was doing! Perhaps if he lowered his body he could gain a few inches and snag the edge of the dish and pull it towards him. The older medic gave it a shot, but once again, his bulky shoulder got in the way. He pressed with all his might, and he did jolt a little further- but now his fingertips literally just missed the plate. "Dammit!" However, that was more towards the fact that he was now stuck. Part of his shoulder plating squished between the bars, but now the bars held tight.
The clicking of the door locks was heard and Ratchet had just enough time to stare wide eyed as the door opened. He expected to see Starscream laughing at how he was stuck in the bars trying to get the food. To his surprise, it was Thundercracker who emerged- not that it was much better, mind you. But at least Thundercracker didn't sneer at him. The blue seeker did suppress a chuckle, and looked as if he smiled a bit as he walked in front of Ratchet.
"Look at what you got yourself into," the deep voice cooed. "All that just for this crappy food?"
"What do you want?" Ratchet muttered as he tried to free himself before the flier could crush his hands or something.
"Just checking in on you." Thundercracker said as he squatted down and inspected the stuck shoulder. "How in the pits did you manage that?" The medic just exhaled and tried to move as far away from the Decepticon as possible. "Let me help."
Ratchet tried to protest, but before he knew it, the blue seeker was pushing at the shoulder. With a bit of force from Thundercracker pushing and Ratchet pulling, the medic was freed with a minorly bent shoulder.
"I really don't think this meal was worth all that, but since you went through that effort..." Thundercracker said and pushed the plate under the gap of the bars into the cell. Ratchet looked at it as if it was poisoned, and the seeker frowned. "After all that, you don't want it?" Ratchet didn't answer. "I don't blame you."
"Where is First Aid?" Ratchet shouted as he stood on his feet. He instantly regretted that when he caught the other mech staring at his belly. "Answer me!"
Thundercracker threw his hands up.
"And you expect me to tell yous where my crew is, right?" Ratchet shouted.
"No. I don't expect you to tell me anything at all." Thundercracker said calmly and leaned against the bars.
"Why are you here then?"
The seeker just shrugged and looked a little embarrassed. "I thought..." The blue mech started, but ended with opening up his subspace compartment and retrieved a box. He opened them and inside where some colorful pastries. "Thought you might be hungry." Thundercracker smiled. "And would like something that actually tastes good."
Dear Primus they looked so good! Ratchet caught himself nearly drooling over the treats, and he immediately felt guilty for wanting them. This was clearly a trick to get him to talk. Thundercracker was making it hard by grabbing one and stuck his hand through the bars. Ratchet just looked away. "Let me guess. You poisoned them."
"No." Thundercracker said and pulled his hand back through and took a bite out of the pastry, chewed and swallowed. "See?" Once again, he offered the treat to the medic.
Why did they have to be cream filled? Why did he have to be so hungry? Thundercracker frowned, placed the treat back in the box, and picked the plate of the low grade food and dumped it out. Placing two pastries on the dish, he slid it under the cell and backed himself against the wall.
"Look, if you think Starscream, or any one else, is going to give you good food-any food, you are mistaken." Thundercracker said. "They are already taking bets on how long you'll go without food before you'll crack. Enjoy them while you can, eh?"
"Why?" Ratchet questioned. "Why should I?" Thundercracker shrugged. "Why give these to me?"
"Because I know you'll appreciate them," Thundercracker answered and Ratchet laughed in disbelief. Ratchet stared at him questioningly. "You know, every 'Con you Autobots captured were taken care of."
"It's not a hospitality I expect from you 'Cons," Ratchet threw back.
"Exactly," Thundercracker stated. "Either eat them, or be hungry. It's your choice. But what do you have to loose?"
Ratchet eyed him leerily as he couldn't comprehend why Thundercracker would care. True, it would be a little more odd if Megatron provided him with a full course meal, but still. Everyone knew the 'Bots treated their prisoners-slag, anyone- better than the Decepticons treated theirs. In the end, how could he trust this seeker to not have laced the energon treats with something? Now, if they didn't look so good, it wouldn't have been such a temptation. That was a lie, after all, he got himself stuck in the bars trying to get the plate of nasty energon food.
"I'll make a deal with you," Thundercracker said as he crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.
"What?" Ratchet spat. Primus, he never was good at making decisions when tasty food was involved.
"Try them, and I'll let you know what I can about First Aid," Thundercracker said.
"Sure, that will work out just fine- for you!" Ratchet grumbled. "In the end, it comes down to trust. Can I trust you? I don't think so."
"Perhaps you can make an exception?" Thundercracker said as he walked to the cell's bars again. "I'll take your word you'll try the delicious food I brought you. I will tell you how your buddy is doing first."
Ratchet sneered at that. "And what do you have to loose? Nothing. How do I know there isn't a virus in there that effects ground- bound bots? Or you have to eat more than a bite for the poison to kick in? You are risking nothing Thundercracker."
"Is that so?" Thundercracker mused. "What do you think Starscream will do to me if he finds out I am sneaking you in food? Like I said before, they want to watch you starve. Starscream gave the commands that no one is to feed you, and by giving you these sweets, I am disobeying orders. And I am sure you can guess how he'd react to that."
It didn't take long for Ratchet to know what the Air Commander would do. Hell, he may get booted off the trine, or at the very least, have his aft handed to him. His concern for First Aid rose, and before he knew it, he agreed.
"So, is First Aid alright?" Ratchet asked.
"Fared a bit better than you," Thundercracker said. "Minor bumps and scratches, but not as bad as you."
"Where is he?"
"In a separate holding cell." Thundercracker replied and took out a data pad. He flicked it on, searched through some files, and pulled up the the live servaliance feed. He showed it to Ratchet, who eagerly looked and confirmed what was said was true.
"Can't you let him go? Keep me instead?" Ratchet pleaded.
"That's out of my hands," Thundercracker said. "This will be weird, but I wouldn't worry too much about him. It's mostly you they'll come after."
"That's real nice to hear," Ratchet scowled.
The seeker just shrugged and kicked the plate closer. "You gonna keep your side of the deal?"
As much as he would have squelched, Ratchet at least knew First Aid was alright. And he couldn't resist the cream filled pastries much longer. With a sigh, he picked up the plate containing two of the treats. "They better not be stale." He muttered as he took a bite and immediately hummed out how good they where.
"They better not be, seeing as I just made them." Thundercracker spoke.
Ratchet looked at him in disbelief. Once he swallowed, he questioned the flier. "You made these?" He couldn't refrain from laughing.
"Yes," Thundercracker said rather bemused. "I enjoy cooking in my free time." Ratchet gave him a doubtful look but still polished off the first pastry. "For real. I wanted to be a chef, was an apprentice on the verge of a premotion, but then the war broke out..."
"Well..." Ratchet said, not sure why he suddenly felt bad for him. "They are rather tasty." The cake was moist and the creme was so sweet! These ranked up there as one of the best things he ever tasted. He actually was a little disappointed as he swallowed the last bit and licked his lips.
"Want another?" Thundercracker asked as he held the box out that contained two more and smiled when the red and white mech grabbed another. While Ratchet chewed, clearly enjoying eating what he had baked, Thundercracker attempted to slip his hand in and grab at the medic's pudgy belly. Unfortunately, Ratchet saw at the last second and backed away with a scowl on his face.
"You don't have to poke fun," Ratchet growled.
"I'm not!" Thundercracker whined. "I... Um, I just wanted to touch... You know?" Ratchet just shot an angry glace as he finished up the pastry. "Want that last one?" Thundercracker held out the last one and discarded the box on the ground.
Ratchet went to reach for it, but the seeker just pulled it away. "I only ask two things."
"What?" Ratchet said with concern.
"Well, one- let me feed it to you," Thundercracker said. "Second, let me touch your belly."
Ratchet grimaced at him, but his belly growled. Primus, he was still hungry. All the tasty treats did was make him more hungry. And who knew when his next meal would be? Feeling a little ashamed of himself for not having more control didn't stop him from walking to the cell's bars. Feeling a little humiliated didn't stop him from opening his mouth and letting Thundercracker feed him the last pastry. Feeling a little guilty at enjoying the 'Con's baked goods didn't stop him from letting the seeker grope at his belly.
"See, not that bad, huh?" Thundercracker cooed as he shoved the last morsel in the waiting mouth. His hands roamed over the other's belly, pinching at the soft squishiness of his sides, and jiggling the front. Ratchet couldn't help but shiver as fingertips tickled their way down, ending in a firm pat. "Nice," Thundercracker whispered as he brought his other hand to join in the fun.
A bout of static ran through the Thundercracker's comm system, and soon Starscream was yelling at him. You could always count on him to ruin a good moment. His trine leader demanded his presence, and was quite angry that he couldn't find him. With a sigh, Thundercracker agreed to meet him in the navigation room, and then clicked off his comm's.
"As much as I'd love to stay," Thundercracker said, giving Ratchet's pudgy belly a final rub. "I have to go." Ratchet didn't really respond, just walked towards the back of the cell and sat down. "I'll be back when I can," Thundercracker said. "I'll bake something real good for you, OK?" With a final smile, Thundercracker left the cell and headed towards the front of the ship.