The Autobot base was rather quiet until a loud crash echoed through the halls, a cuffed and muzzled femme had bashed one of the bots escorting her into the wall. The other mech grabbed her and tossed her into a containment cell locking it and waiting for the one who was to guard the prisoner.
Soon enough a sound of hasty footsteps announced the guard's arrival, however the Autobot soldier at the cell's door would rather expect somebody else to relieve him, not the tactician's assistant himself. Yet it was the ever-helpful, bright green mech who stood before them. The two soldiers saluted quickly and the officer saluted back.
"I've heard our patrol stumbled upon an enemy near the city."
"Yes, sir. This Decepticon femme. She severely injured the two patrolling soldiers and attempted to escape but ran into the second patrol. The interrogation officer is on his way, we got orders to keep her locked 'till then."
The tactician noodled and moved closer to the cell to take a look at the state the said femme was in.
She glared back at him, she was in perfect condition except for a few nicks in her armor. Then she growled lowly bashing her cuffs against the electrically charged bars making them spark before she undid her muzzle tossing it to the side, rubbing her jaw.
Outride carefully watched the prisoner's action. The femme had some fight in her that was for sure. He wouldn't dare to get too close to the bars, she was a Seeker after all and he knew all too well how dangerous and unpredictable Con's like her could be. He had seen many Seekers in action, he hadn't met a Seeker femme yet though.
"You two are dismissed for now, I was ordered to ask the Con a few questions," he informed the other Autobots.
The pair of soldiers walked away, Outride followed them with his blue optics and when they disappeared behind the corner he turned to the prisoner once more.
She was not as fragile as he had imagined a Seeker femme to be but still much less bulky than most of the grounders including himself. Her armor was black and crimson red, her bio-lights shone like red dwarf stars in the dark. His gaze lazily travels from her legs to the top of her wings. And those big, pointy wings of hers, he had to admit, were truly impressive.
He turned away his head afraid she might somehow read his thoughts, if he looked at her for too long.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snorted looking around the containment unit mapping out any and all possible route to escape as her wings flicked in agitation. Spotting none she sighed crossing her arms and drumming her claws on her arm, making a light tapping similar to a scraplet's steps.
The little smile grew on the Autobot's face as he noticed that the prisoner still hoped there would be a way to escape her cell. Oh, how naive of her to believe things were just that easy. They were at the one of the biggest, remaining bases on the northern hemisphere. And if that wasn't enough, the femme was still cuffed and behind the electro-shock bars.
"I have all the time in the world," he assured her, "you're not going anywhere anytime soon."
"True. Allow me to try again: Stop staring like a creep!" She huffed cracking her neck before sitting on the cell berth mumbling to herself and looking over her cuffs as her wings flattened out.
Her comment had hurt him a bit. Who was she to judge him? Just a pitiful, low-ranked deception soldier who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. And yet she dared to tell him what he could and could not do. Outride would have laughed at that, if only his tactical mind didn't make him think about things twice.
The femme had a point, he shouldn't stare like that or even talk to her for too long – all of those actions might come across as very suspicious, as if he was trying to fraternize with the enemy. Instead of chit-chatting with her he had to ask her what his boss wanted to know and if that failed, well, then he had a reason to go ask her again.
"Listen, Con," he made the last word sound like an insult, "I'm not here for entertainment. Answer my questions or I'm out of here, calling other guards who won't be as polite as I am. Your name, your rank, your reasons to be in this area, those are things I'm interested in – nothing else."
She chuckled at that.
"Oh sweetspark, calling me a Con isn't an insult. And why should I tell you? After all, I'm just a captured Con. Save your breath, I'm about as useful as a drone. So as they screw off, I'd like to rust in peace," she said turning her back to him and flaring her wings. "And your little interrogators won't get anything out of me, my mind will be fried the minute I go to give any information."
The very moment she turned around presenting her black wings, he felt the strange urge to touch them or rather to grab them and run his fingers over their metallic surface, testing whether they would twitch under his touch or not.
He held himself back from doing that of course. It would be the dumbest thing to do right here and right now.
"So you're saying, you have a virus installed in your processor? In that case I will have to inform our medics about it, maybe that can be helped."
"You're a fool to think it wouldn't activate the moment your medics start poking around in my helm." She snorted before noticing he was eying her wings. A nasty smirk appeared on her faceplate. In no time she decided she could toy with him for a little bit, swiveling her wings like she were simply getting more comfortable.
"Not able to share any information you're as good as dead anyway," he told her with a cold and formal tone, trying his best not to pay attention to the movements of her wings. "It will be a pity to just execute you, wouldn't it? So maybe try to think of a way to cooperate with us."
She chuckled once more. "Oh well, all I can really help you with are your first questions. Name, NorthStar. Rank, head field medic. Reason for being here, a distress signal." She turned back to face him. "And if you're going to have me killed at least take the cuffs off so I can enjoy my final hours as much as possible."
The mech's facial expression changed a bit as he heard her confession. He didn't expect her to talk, not this soon at least, he also didn't even think of the possibility that she could be a medic sent to help somebot.
Trying to sort out all the new facts about the prisoner inside his head, Outride moved even closer to the electro-bars almost touching them. The bluish light coming from them reflected off his bright, clean armor. In the darkness of the cell room he seemed so shiny and so out of place.
"Thank you," he said slowly, his voice very calm and quiet but his blue optics were burning in the darkness as well. "NorthStar... I will remember your name," he added after a long pause. "Your fate is not for me to decide but... Since you're willing to cooperate," he smiled lightly and as innocent as he could. "I'm sure my commanding officer will feel generous after hearing what you just told me. I believe you will be treated well and judged fairly. I'll go to report now."
With that he was about to move away from the bars but before he did, he gave her one last look.
"I think the cuffs are not needed for now," he stated a bit louder than before, sounding as if he wanted to convince someone else to the rightfulness of his decision. Then he pulled out the key and showed it to the femme. "Come closer and I will take them off."
A ghost of a smile graced the femme's face, there was no mischievous undertone to it, unlike when she had smirked. She got up and walked over to the bars but only close enough for him to unlock the cuffs as she held her arms out. After all she didn't trust this mech.
Her smile made the Autobot lower his head. He did that on an impulse, not wanting her to see his face from such a short distance. She was very close, on the one hand he liked that fact. He liked when she did as told, that she obeyed and that he was the one holding the key to the poor substitute for freedom that she wanted. On the other hand, he didn't like the way she walked and acted. She had apparently figured out that he was fascinated by her and now she was teasing him on purpose. That was a dangerous game to play – especially here in the prison area with all the security cameras on and all the guards that might show up anytime, patrolling.
And then again, he was good at strategic games – the risky ones were always the ones worth winning the most.
Slowly he took her hand in his and unlocked the cuffs with the other hand. She wanted to pull her arms back but he didn't allow it, still holding her right servo in his grip.
"One more thing..." he whispered quickly before she could get too disturbed by his action and possibly attack him. "My name is Outride. Remember that."
Then he just let her hand go as if nothing ever happened.
"Outride?" She hummed softly rubbing her wrists and eying him from helm to ped. Her sharp optics seemed to scan every inch of him, seemingly like how a predator sized up its prey. She knew full well he was a threat and possibly her only ticket out. "Should I look forward to seeing you around or are you going to leave me all alone down here?"
He stayed cool but could almost feel her gaze upon his frame. The pit must have sent this femme in here to destroy his good reputation of a reliable and reasonable bot he had worked on for so long.
Not believing himself, he actually replied to her teasing: "I'm not a security guard but..." he paused looking for the right words, there were things he shouldn't be saying aloud, especially to an enemy. "I'll check up on you the next orn. There's never too many inspections in the prison block. So you better behave."
"Yes sir," the femme said cocking a hip with a mock salute and a Cheshire grin.
He blushed, turned around and walked away not without some hesitation. There were no more reasons to explain his presence there. It was better to go and report – after all the poor, trapped Seeker could wait. He walked down the corridor passing the guards at the exit door. They saluted him too but nothing like her. The way she moved and talked and smiled – all of that got deep under his plating and he didn't think that would change anytime soon.
The report he gave to the Master Tactician pleased the old bot, he even thanked Outride for his effort. Little did he know, Outride was enjoying every moment in the prison. Now he had to think of a new excuse to go there again the next orn.
He thought of her when he went to the canteen, ordering the additional energon ration for the new prisoner. Later he would talk to the soldier at the food serving shift to switch places with him, for now he had other things to take care of. Typing down his daily rapport he still thought of her though. What was that something the Seeker femme got that the Autobot femmes were lacking?
Finally off duty, Outride could take some rest. He marched to his private quarters greeting the soldiers that passed him by in the long corridors. Lying on his recharge berth he thought of NorthStar once more. The mental image of her swaying hip plates, of her high heels, dark lips and her pretty wings filled his obsessed mind like a giant flood. The Autobots wouldn't sentence her to death, he was sure about that but they also wouldn't keep her here in the Macron Gamma base forever. Which meant he didn't have much time for admiring, her regardless of what he had told her before. But he would worry about this tomorrow, for now he should get some recharge. Closing his blue optics he saw her again and somehow he knew his dreams would be pleasant.