A/N: You know all my disclaimers. I don't own Transformers, never have and never will. I hope you like this chapter. Everything gets better from here on in. And a thank you for all my reviewers.
Turning Point – Chapter 2
Soundwave felt his pedes lightly touch the desert dirt. He looked up and sighed in relief.
There in front of them was the Ark, gleaming it's dull orange in the haunting moonlight. He could hear behind him as Thundercracker mumbled something to Skywarp before taking the black Seeker in his arms to carry him. He sought his own reassurance by placing a hand over his chest, where behind the glass all six of his cassettes were curled up in an uneasy recharge. Starscream hobbled over to him and whispered, "It's odd."
Soundwave did not reply, wanting the Seeker to clarify.
And without fail, Starscream went on in a slightly wistful tone, "That I feel safer standing here than I ever did locked in my own quarters away from the world."
Soundwave couldn't really reply to that. He couldn't remember a time where he had felt truly safe and secure. And now he felt shame and humiliation. To be taken advantage of when he had all his abilities, to feel hurt from one he had glorified.
No, all he could feel was shame.
Starscream did not seem to mind his silence as he rasped out, "We should get moving. One of their sentry's should see us and raise the alarm. Surprised they haven't noticed yet."
The communications officer bowed his helm in acknowledgement, but felt dread seep into him. The painful ache in his groin area had not faded. In fact, it had only intensified. It did not help that his components were bared as his interface panel was no longer existent. It also did not help that there was a cold wind biting at their plating and slimy transfluid was still sliding past his sore sensors and seeping out of his valve. At least the Seeker's had the fortune to have their interface panels intact, even though in Starscream's case they were beaten to within an inch of their life.
They all moved forward, going as slow as possible. Starscream was still finding it hard to walk and his thrusters had been disabled earlier so he could not fly to aid him. And Soundwave was faring no better. It was slow going, but going nevertheless.
"Finally!" sighed an exasperated Thundercracker as four pairs of headlights came out of the Ark and headed straight for their location. For the blue Seeker, it was a relief. Skywarp, who was exhausted from both inner turmoil and two large warps, had begun to shiver from both the cold and from what had been done to them.
Soundwave unknowingly began to shudder.
Although it had been habit among the Decepticon ranks to jest at how 'soft-sparked' the Autobots were, Soundwave felt a thrill of fear pass him. After all the things he had done, would they treat him with mercy? He doubted it. But this was his best shot. If only he could just get to Blaster before they decided what to do with him.
The rev of engines reached their audials and the little group stopped, waiting for the Autobot's to reach them. Before long, four Autobot's pulled up and transformed, revealing the forms of Ironhide, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Optimus Prime.
"Starscream, what are you and your trine doing here…" Optimus began, but as he stepped forward, his headlights shone on the four forms and he glimpsed their conditions. He instantly stepped back and the words he had been intending to say did not leave his lips, recoiling at the sight.
"Yeah, I think this is pretty self explanatory," Starscream spat bitterly, spreading his arms wide to display his grisly injuries, not knowing that he was also displaying the stains of energon and transfluid on his thighs.
The Prime could only stare in horror as his processor put the pieces together. Who had done this? He was about to ask this when he caught sight of Soundwave, who was turned side on as if to hide.
But it was futile as Optimus saw the torn off metal underneath his valve.
Ironhide and the twins had pointed their weapons at their perceived enemies, but now lowered them, expressions of horror slowly taking over their faceplates.
Optimus quickly turned and ordered, "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, get Ratchet, Skyfire and Blaster. Once you have alerted them, stay at base. Until the Decepticon's are repaired, they are granted amnesty and no one is to harass them." The twins nodded, transforming quickly and speeding off into the night and back into the Ark.
There was silence after that one moment of action, and none of the mechs wanted to break it. They waited awkwardly together in the cool air. The knowledge of what events had taken place was more than enough to sustain that silence.
And then came the sound of a speeding shuttle engine roaring through the sky. Starscream snapped his gaze up, watching as Skyfire transformed and landed. The tricoloured Seeker was hoping to be somewhat dignified – regardless of his current state – at this meeting, but as he saw the concerned faceplates of his once friend, something inside him began to crumble, walls breaking down. New tears appeared on his faceplates and he couldn't explain why. His limbs acted of their own accord, and before he knew it, he was hobbling frantically towards Skyfire.
"Skyfire!" Starscream cried out, gathering what remained of his strength and launching himself at the larger mech, relief filling him as large, warm arms caught him.
Part of him berated him for looking so weak and pathetic in front of the Autobots, but it was overruled by the feeling of safety that he felt engulfed in Skyfire's arms.
"Star, wha-?" the shuttle asked in a confused tone, holding the Seeker tightly on pure instinct.
"Don't let me go. Safe…yes, safe," Starscream babbled, clutching onto white plating and pressing tighter.
Skyfire's concerned expression turned into one of dismay as he spied the energon and the damage inflicted on the usually pristine plating of the tricoloured Seeker. Looking up, he saw the state of Soundwave and the rest of Starscream's trine, correctly identifying some of the stains as transfluid, and everything clicked into place. "Oh Star," Skyfire mumbled to the distraught flier in his arms, "Oh Star, how did this happen?"
Starscream's reply was to whimper and curl into the warmth that Skyfire offered.
"It would be best if he stayed with you, Skyfire. You knew him best," Optimus said gravely.
The sound of another engine coming attracted their attention, and Ratchet sped up, letting Blaster out of his alt-mode before transforming.
Soundwave, who had been as silent as Skywarp or Thundercracker, spoke before anyone could get a word out.
"Code: F123RE747E, Blaster," he said, just loud enough to be heard by all.
Blaster had finished transforming and had looked around, bewildered at the scene, before he heard what Soundwave had said. His expression turned into one of joy and he asked excitedly of his counterpart, "Ya mean it Soundwave? Ya truly mean to use it?"
Soundwave nodded, not outwardly displaying any sign of his discomfort.
"Blaster?" Ratchet asked, now confused himself.
"It means Soundwave's defecting. It's the code I gave him and told him if he ever wanted to defect and meant it, he should use," Blaster said happily, stepping forward, arms outstretched as if to give Soundwave a hug, but was stopped by the navy mech flinching away from him. Blaster glanced around and took stock of the situation, seeing energon stains on Soundwave's legs in long streams from his thighs. And then a trickle of transfluid slid from Soundwave's valve, drawing Blaster's attention down to that region. The orange mech stared at the wounds to the navy mech's valve, before dragging his gaze to his once rival's visor.
"Who did this to you?" Blaster growled, anger flooding him as he registered just why Soundwave could not cover his intimate parts.
Soundwave could not believe how Blaster had went from rival to ally in the space of a few seconds. And now the orange boom box was acting as if not a day had passed since they had broken their friendship and gone separate ways, that same concerned tone in his voice there now as it had been on that fateful day. That blue opticed gaze bored into him. And Soundwave skimmed his thoughts, finding rage for the perpetrator and protectiveness for him.
Protectiveness. Blaster…had…forgiven him…and the revelation broke down all his walls and made crumbs out of his resolve not to display any emotion whatsoever. He retracted his mask, vodocoder slipping out of the way.
And then in a low, broken whisper, he whispered, "Megatron."
Blaster stared at him in disbelief, shock plainly written on his face.
Ratchet growled and threw a wrench into the night in his sudden anger.
Ironhide sputtered as he heard the statement.
And Optimus Prime was the most outwardly horrified of them all. It was a sight to watch as the Matrix bearer drew himself up to his full height, anger colouring his tone as he said, "How dare he. How dare he abuse his soldiers like this!" Without knowing it, his hands clenched and shook in rage. "How dare Megatron violate others with such an act!"
"Optimus!" Ratchet barked, pointing to where Thundercracker was carrying Skywarp. The black and purple Seeker was cowering in fright from the angry tone Optimus had been using.
The large mech sighed, and released his fury at Megatron…for now. With great care, he moved to Skywarp and said gently, "Skywarp, I am sorry. No harm will come to you while here on the Autobot base."
Thundercracker stood warily as the Prime made his statement to his lover, but sensed the sincerity of the word. Skywarp must of too, for he nodded his helm once before nestling it back into Thundercracker's neck and whimpering softly. Optimus nodded gravely, moving back and looking expectantly to Ratchet, who by now had performed superficial scans on each Decepticon.
"Prime, we need to get them all back to base, I can't work on them here like this. And clear the hallways. I don't need my patients to be gawked at like animals in a zoo," snapped Ratchet, going into full medic mode as he transformed, holding his ambulance doors open invitingly for one of the injured mechs.
"C'mon, Wave. We'll fix ya up real good," Blaster coaxed softly, gesturing to Ratchet's open carriage.
Soundwave closed his mask back up, hiding his grimace as he transformed, knowing it was the only way he could get to the Ark. It added even more to his hurt, but he resolutely ignored it. Now was not the time to break down completely. Blaster caught him, and he couldn't help but flinch yet again. He cursed his altform for being so small, for being claustrophobic once hands held him to safely deposit him in the medic. The methodical shifting of gears told him Blaster was transforming too, and his proximity sensors told him the boom box had landed a foot away from him. It gave him an odd comfort, but it was an abrupt one. His processor could still not wrap around the fact that Blaster had accepted him back as a friend just like that. Without any of the hurts or the anger he had been expecting.
Vaguely, he heard the sounds of the rest of the mechs transforming, with Skyfire carrying Starscream in his hold and with Thundercracker carrying Skywarp, and they set out for the massive hunk or orange metal embedded deep in the earth.
Ratchet marched into his medbay, faceplate held in such a determined and set expression that all followed his orders.
"Skyfire, put Starscream in ICU 1, Blaster, guide Soundwave to ICU 2," he ordered swiftly, not looking at those who he was directing, but pointing at the required rooms as he went for his tools and getting the required suppressants. He would fix this all on his own. True, it would have been better for First Aid to be there, but the fact that he and six others already knew of this mess…well, those were enough for now. He would not make the four Decepticons feel any more victimised if he could help it.
Grabbing a sedative, he went over to the two remaining Seekers with a slight apologetic look on his face.
"This will sound harsh, but I cannot attend to Skywarp until I have finished with Starscream and Soundwave. And I would rather be the only medic to work on you all," he said firmly, but went on, "However, if you want a sedative until I am done I will give it."
"Yes," Thundercracker responded back to the medic immediately. "'Warp needs it."
Ratchet shot him a warning look, before turning and asking Skywarp directly, "Would you like a sedative?"
The black Seeker nodded, looking at Ratchet with despairing round optics. The gaze reminded Ratchet of a scared sparkling.
His tone was milder as he said, "Alright. Thundercracker, please place him on that berth while I hook this up."
Thundercracker nodded and did as he was bid, depositing the younger Seeker gently on the padded surface and making him comfortable while Ratchet watched his actions. The blue flier couldn't care that he was being watched. Skywarp was his priority and he wanted to make his lover feel better.
Ratchet couldn't hide his little smirk at the touching scene, before he stepped forward and patched an IV line into the black Seeker's systems, feeding the sedative straight into them. While that was happening, he carefully gathered the ripped up wires, bunching them together with a large cable tie so they would not tangle around the mech's neck. And then with deft fingers, he cleaned the energon and the transfluid stains carefully from around the younger flier's neck and mouth. He felt Thundercracker's optics on him, but he did not stop until Skywarp's face was clean. The medic was rewarded by Skywarp's crimson optics flickering at him weakly in a surge of gratitude, before the sedative claimed the black flier and he fell into forced recharge.
"Thank you," Thundercracker said lowly.
Ratchet snorted lightly, "I'm a medic. It's my job. I need no thanks." He turned to leave to tend to the other damaged mechs but was halted by Thundercracker saying gruffly, "What you did was your job but how you did it says otherwise. So take my thanks before I slag you."
Ratchet chuckled without mirth, shaking his helm but deciding not to reply as he disappeared into ICU 1.
"Star, shh, shh, it's ok," Skyfire whispered desperately to the distraught mech clinging to him.
He had tried to put the air commander down, but instead blue hands only clawed deeper into his plating so they would not let go. And now he was sitting in a large visitors chair with Starscream on his lap, trying to calm his friend, soothe him – but knowing that this would be a long road to recovery.
Ratchet opened the door, softly stepping in and taking stock of the situation.
"Starscream," the medic said gently, moving forward in such a way you would think he was approaching a wild animal, "I am sorry, but I need you on that berth to tend to you. You will be more sore otherwise."
The tricoloured Seeker briefly turned his tear-stained faceplates to Ratchet for a second before shaking his helm and clinging tighter to the shuttle. Ratchet sighed sadly. For Starscream to react like this, to have a complete personality turnaround, indicated that this was not a onetime instance of violation. No, this was a classical sign of ongoing, but perhaps infrequent, rapes. It was a good signal, however, that Starscream was allowing Skyfire to hold him and to be in contact. It was a vast difference to Soundwave, who had been flinching while inside his altmode involuntarily.
"Skyfire, safe, safe, safe, please don't let me go!"
Ratchet was brought out of his thoughts by Starscream's beg, directed at Skyfire, who looked half lost in the situation and half assuring. The shuttle gently ran his hand across Starscream's wings and hummed to him. Ratchet crept closer, discreetly passing another sedative to the large scientist and stepping back.
Skyfire nodded seriously, passing the sedative into the hand stroking Starscream's whip-abused wings, finding a line and injecting the self-inject sedative into Starscream's lines. The jet immediately slumped into him, fingers loosening their hold as the tranquiliser did it's work. Crimson optics dimmed and then shut off as all systems went into a relieved recharge.
"Good work," Ratchet nodded, helping the shuttle get the injured flier on the berth.
"I've never seen him like this," Skyfire whispered softly to the medic.
"He's damaged, inside and out. Physical can be healed, but mental? Not so easy. He'll need your guidance if he chooses to stay," replied Ratchet, hooking up an IV line to Starscream.
Skyfire looked morosely down at his old friend, "Something tells me he will. He's suffered for too long…I don't care what he's done…he's a good mech inside." And then the large white mech reached out a hand and gently stroked the side of Starscream's recharging faceplates. Ratchet barely concealed the smirk he was wanting to wear. He knew the shuttle felt something for Starscream.
"I'm going to go sedate Soundwave now. I have no idea how he's reacting. That damn mask and visor of his keeps me guessing. I think he's locking it all away," muttered the medic. "And you can stay here if you wish. He's going to be out of it for a while though."
Skyfire nodded as Ratchet left, stroking over Starscream's helm affectionately.
Soundwave sat on the berth, facing away from Blaster.
He felt filthy. Filthy filthy filthy piece of scrap. He could barely let his past friend touch him. He would stain Blaster's red and orange plating with his filth if he did.
And the shame.
And the ache.
Not to mention his cassettes were begging to be let out, to help him, to heal him, but he knew it would be no use. He was defiled. He could not call himself their creator, their protector if he could not even protect himself and them. Using his telepathy – and with regret – he enveloped their processors with his own and forced them into a peaceful recharge. He wanted to prevent their suffering. He could not, would not let them out until he was fixed.
"Soundwave? Talk to me, ya have been quiet since we got here," Blaster asked softly.
Oh how he was angry. The chance to have his friend back, and his friend comes back in pieces because of Megatron? No. It was not fair on the both of them. It was not fair on Starscream and his trine either. It fragged Blaster right off. He knew that Megatron was a twisted fragger, but he thought Soundwave would be pretty safe because he was loyal and trusted.
Turns out he was wrong.
"Wave? C'mon, for me?"
Soundwave turned his helm and retracted his mask. His emotions spilled out in his melodic voice as he spoke.
"Shame. I am filthy. I am a fool, an inferior blind fool."
Blaster's spark broke and he said empathically, "No! Not blind, but trusting."
"My fault," whispered the telepath.
Blaster growled lowly, "No, don't ya ever think that, mech! No bot ever wants to be violated. I know you are feeling really unsure right now, but get one thing straight in your processor and don't forget it: This is not your fault. Ya did not invite it. He probably threatened ya life and the life of ya little guys if ya used your mental powers, right?" His optics searched Soundwave's visor imploringly, trying to make the mech see it was not his fault, it was something he could not have possibly controlled.
Soundwave nodded his helm hesitantly.
The door opened, revealing Ratchet with a sedative in hand.
"Soundwave, I'd like to put you under sedition until I have cleaned you up and finished your repairs," the medic said quietly, coming around to Soundwave's side of the berth, making sure not to look down at the navy mech's nonexistent panel.
Soundwave nodded again.
Once the sedative was administered and Soundwave was resting on the berth, Blaster bid Ratchet luck and a good night before leaving the medbay. In one night, a lot of things had changed. And so, he wasn't surprised by Optimus Prime waiting outside the bay.
With a gentle, yet firm tone, the Autobot leader said, "Blaster. We need to talk."
A/N: Thanks to all reviewers, I'm glad you liked the set up! I'd love it if you reviewed again ;)
