Author's Note: Holy bologna, you guys. You guys are reading and reviewing faster than I can write! I'm loving every minute of it, though, and I praise every good(and constructive critic)-review you guys write! I'm very pleased to hear that you guys are so fond of my story already. Yes, it does get a little creepy, but hang in there with me. After this, everything goes back to normal…if hanging out with some diabolical alien is going back to normal.
And don't worry, too, I have some good action coming up as well! This story, actually, has the most action I think I've ever produced and I'm very pleased with it. Enjoy!
I'd like to thank Hot Shot's girl for my inspiration in her Alexis/Starscream story for producing my own. It's a very fluffy fiction, and if you'd like to read it, give me a hollar! (Her profile signature is in my reviews as well. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.
Chapter 3: The Claiming
Iris:
Crying out, the black-haired girl was dragged to the frigid outside, completely exposed and completely petrified.
She hadn't meant for this to happen! She didn't want death!
Of course, she didn't bother to struggle against his might, as she knew it was futile. Tears built up in her throat as she wiggled uncomfortably in his clutches, her whole body shaking so badly that her teeth chattered. The face of the robot drew close to her own, the warmth of his shell and his internal heaters exhausting onto her. Swallowing, she attempted to not burst out crying that moment. It was her normal life she was envying once more.
"Not so interested in serving now?" the creature snickered, shaking her a little.
Iris said nothing. She was simply too afraid, too cold and too shocked to even stay awake, but managed it through sheer will power. If she fainted, she would finally be prey to his might, and that was something she couldn't let be. He had shattered her trust by dragging her out like this, and it would be the last thing she did to let her guard down again. The robot only chuckled at her horrified expression, bringing his face back as he suddenly drew long, terrible-looking fangs in his mouth. Like a vampire. Ready to take the last bit of innocence Iris ever had. For some reason, the very sight and idea of that forced Iris into a state of absolute panic, making her lose control.
Screaming, she beat at his fist in vanity, managing to squirm through his fingers quick enough to leap from his hand. The solid ground met her in a rush of pain and reality, the frosty grass offering no comfort for her fear. Nevertheless, she was on her feet in mere seconds, biting back the ache as she then sprinted off as fast as her bare and freezing legs could take her. The creature behind her laughed again, sending another cold shiver shooting down her spine. "A chase! Excellent, girl! Let's see how far you get before I take what's mine!" he called after her, only feeding her horror.
What he meant didn't nearly bother her as much as he acted like it was a game of cat and mouse. Then she knew her destiny was set, that whatever purity and sanity she had left would be gone this night. Forget her life, that's not what mattered anymore. It was what she had deep down inside that he wanted. Pushing the thoughts aside, Iris concentrated only simply making it to the village. If she could get there, she at least had a slim chance of getting help, which was better than none at all. Frigid air filling her lungs, Iris did everything in her will power to keep herself going, no matter the pain. She raced through the forest, her feet turning numb with cold, her body following gradually after.
Fear provoked her further as she heard the thunderous steps of the robot, surrounding her, chasing her, haunting her forever. He was everywhere—in the forest and in her very thoughts. It could felt in the harsh wind, in the freezing air that threatened to shut her body down completely. But she couldn't give up. Not yet. She didn't want to…die just yet.
A clear opening suddenly appeared before Iris, showing the dim glimmer of the town's lights, but not before the shaking trees that came from the other side Iris was facing. Gasping, she only had a moment to pivot her heel before the alien came bursting through the trees, growling as he did so. The girl wasn't even able to recollect herself before she was once again in the hands of the robot, tears now falling freely down her face. "Please, don't hurt me!" she cried, through sobs, "I beg of you, don't hurt me!"
"That's it, beg," the robot hissed, using both of her hands to pry open her curled up body. "I want to hear it, scream for me!"
Iris cried out in horror as he lifted up the material of her shirt, exposing her flat, white stomach to his appeasement. Once again, he bared his teeth as long fangs were revealed, making the girl continue to scream in terror. Snarling in dominance one more time, he brought his mouth down to the curve of her body, drinking in her life force without reservation. White-hot pain arched across Iris's body and she struggled out another cry, her voice cracking. Time brewed on as she lost her resolve to struggle, her very essence being drained from her body. The more he took, the more she felt like drifting off, her body becoming limp in his hands.
Finally, he drew up from his mark and red, glowing eyes stared down at her, Iris quietly moaning as she fought unconsciousness.
She lost.
--
Starscream:
That had been an interesting experience.
For so long, he had been without a mate to play such a game, and it was still as pleasing as it was some thousands of years ago. Grinning, he watched as she collapsed in his hands, looking deathly pale. With this, it would be extremely easy to track her, through her DNA and her scent, besides the tracer he placed in her body while he was taking her blood sample. The brand of the Decepticons was now imprinted on the side of her stomach, like a dark bruise against the whiteness of her flesh. The blood itself trickled out of the two places Starscream had bitten her from, where her innocence had been so brutally taken from her.
It was amazing how quickly he could take such a thing away, especially when humans were so renounced for being 'more than meets the eye'. The girl ended up being a quicker runner than he expected, but he was always quicker. His will always prevailed. The girl herself proved it, and now she was limp within his grasp. So, so easy.
Starscream was then aware of how whitish she had truly gotten. Considering a moment, he rushed off back to the cabin, half noticing the damage he made to it, before he took the quilts and the blankets from her room. Wrapping her up, he then forced the blood through his system, down to his very hand where he placed a thumb on her lips. Groaning in protest, she turned her head away from the smell. "You will take this," Starscream snapped as he shook her somewhat.
Pressing the metal sheet of his thumb against her mouth again, she finally obeyed him. She took as much as he dared to give, eventually making her gag, but her color was much better. It would be no good to have her die the very moment he bound her to him. Grunting with satisfaction, he drew her close to his chest for warmth. Once she got well again, she would be very useful to his commands.
--
A few days later…
Optimus:
"Have you gotten any signs yet, Ironhide?" the Autobot leader asked, glancing at his comrade.
The weapons specialist simply shook his head with a doubtful expression. "No readings whatsoever, Optimus. The mountains are blocking the signals necessary to find Starscream's trace."
Ratchet sighed beside them. "This is going to take forever unless we can manage to find another way. We've been walking in these peaks for several days and we've come up with nothing."
"Maybe it wasn't him at all," Ironhide grunted, shrugging his shoulders. "Starscream is well known for being the best flier of our kind. I just don't see the logic of his hitting a satellite and smashing back down to Earth. That's just not him."
"I must disagree," Ratchet countered, shaking his head, "The damage he sustained after the fight with the humans was well enough that he could've made it a mistake. We can't just let this slide, even if it isn't him. I, actually, would prefer to see it just be some space rubble. We must do this."
"You mean to say that you can't find anything at all?!" Sam Witwickey exclaimed, shoving past a thicket of bushes and into the clearing. He stared up at the blue and red Transformer, his breath making a cloud before his red face. "Nothing?"
Optimus sighed. He hated bringing the humans along, especially since it was getting closer to being winter. However, with Bumblebee assisting with the search, Sam and, of course, Mikaela absolutely refused to let them go off alone. It took awhile of convincing on their part, but they finally manage to beat Optimus with enough logic and emotional additions until he agreed. The leader had also disliked the Americans' soldiers supporting the scout, but he had also been beat at reason with that one. They now carried a caravan of at least fifteen people, including Sam and Mikaela, which was too much as it was. They brought supplies for two months for twenty people.
"I'm afraid not, Sam," Optimus replied, glancing back at the wide space of the forest. It seemed like a spiky, endless ocean of green…with enormous grey waves poking out and attempting to kiss the blue sky. It was so beautiful…and yet, so very unfortunate. The mountains themselves posed a serious problem with trying to find Starscream, if he was even there. Colorado was several hundred miles across, no roads, unpredictable terrain, and even more unpredictable weather. It was expected to snow in the closing weeks of November, and there were no positive signs of Starscream anywhere. It seemed like a futile feud, trying to attempt such a mission so late in the year.
However—it was necessary, for the sake of the humans. If Starscream were to get reinforcements, the Autobots would be sincerely screwed.
"We should just keep going for now. We're closing in further to the Rocky Mountains and he's got to be in there somewhere…unless he managed to be able to move by now. It's highly doubtful, however, with his sustained injuries, it would take him at least two weeks to get up and moving again without help or tools," Ratchet stated, gazing off into the east.
"And how long if he did?" Optimus asked, not wanting to risk anything.
Ratchet paused a moment, his expression stoic as he considered the possibility. "As you realize, Starscream is neurotic. If you recall in previous battles, he could go on for days in battle even with sustaining life-threatening injuries. With human tools and assistance…that time could but cut by three fourths. Maybe even less."
"…!" Optimus's optics widened in shock, his Spark flaring to life. Though it seemed heavily doubtful that he could pull off such a stunt, especially with his personality, the possibility was still there. It was suddenly and extremely necessary to find the Decepticon, and find him quick.
He just begged to anyone Starscream crossed paths with, that they would live to tell the tale.
--
Iris:
Groaning, the girl turned over, feeling a bitter wind bite her face.
Why was she outside…? She couldn't feel the pavement…it was soft, but cold. Her body was warm and tightly wrapped up in something, but her side burned. That's right…she went on vacation. That meant she was in the mountains, right? Yes, that's what happened. All her friends told her to take a break to get her mind off of work and Peter, her ex-boyfriend. Only that she hadn't been able to. She continued thinking about that jerk until…something else happened.
Slowly opening her eyes, Iris attempted to take in the scenery around her. It was extremely bright, the pale sun beating down on her with merciless force. Cloudless, windy, the girl could only see some of the environment from her blurry vision. She felt heady, almost sick. Maybe she was just hungry, but every time she thought of food, her stomach clenched. She felt so light, so distant from where she was…what had happened…? The vacation, getting her mind off of Peter. Attempting to pick up the broken pieces of her memory, she suddenly felt the ground rumble with disturbance. The noise frightened her, and then all at once, the horrible nightmare returned to her.
The alien.
Gasping, she remembered it all. He had crash landed into the mountain base, broken, shattered. Then she had offered her help, begged to keep her alive. He agreed. Thus, she'd done everything she was told, in hopes of managing to wiggle her way of the situation. To return to her normal life. But naught—the creature had taken her without reservation, stabbed his teeth into her soft flesh , stole her life force and burned his brand on her for forever. And then, lastly, he had forced her into submission by something else: drinking her blood back. She felt sick all over again when she thought about it. Swallowing, Iris moved her hand up to the place where he had bitten her, feeling the puncture marks with a nauseating feeling. They were already healing quite well, but there was another thing.
Oddly enough, just to the left of the mark, was a bruise. She whimpered as she touched it, feeling it burn beneath her fingertips. Knowing that it had a specific shape, she risked to tried to picture it in her mind. Alas, she couldn't. That robot must've done something else to her, too.
Another wash of queasiness consumed Iris's mind, making her slump back with a moan. Her whole body began to tremble again, enough so to make her teeth chatter. The ground finally stopped moving, and a shadow lurked over her body. The alien. 'Master' as he so deemed to call himself. Trying to turn away in fear, he simply took her chin with the point of his long claw to make her stare up at him. Still yet, her vision was fuzzy and it helped in not being able to see the horrific monster. If her body was working properly at that moment, she probably would've fainted on the spot.
"You will eat," the alien thrummed, pressing something to her lips.
Iris managed to squirm an arm from its confinements to try to see what he offered her. It was smooth and round, and had something sticking out of it. An apple. How…odd of him. Of course, Iris took no second invitation to take a bite into it, feeling the juices quench the dryness of her throat and made her feel a little better. Once done with that, he offered her something else. A pear. What did he do, raid a fruit stand or something? In November? Iris didn't even want to know. Nevertheless, she ate all four fruits that he offered to her, feeling far better than when she did waking up.
Yet, she still couldn't move. Even when she had tried sitting up, he roughly had pushed her down.
"You're too fatigued, human," he said, "Don't even bother for the next few days. We're going to be traveling anyways."
She nodded. Though Iris wanted to ask questions, she refrained from doing so. Not only would it get him annoyed, but it would do nothing for her situation. It didn't matter much anymore anyways, since she was now under his beck and call. To tell the truth, she wouldn't mind a nice, normal day of work…but it seemed highly doubtful she would ever get something like that again. Maybe I was destined for this to begin with, she mused to herself, drifting off to sleep again, That someone like me wound end up being a little slave to some crazy, bad attitude alien.
Well, if that were the case, she had no choice but to accept it. This was what her life had become, and it would be necessary, for the sake of her own sanity and life, that she would do the things he asked. Perhaps even if they didn't seem right. But she had chosen to save him, and now it time that she accepted her actions. Hopefully it wouldn't end all too soon.
--
Starscream:
As the human fell asleep, he picked her up once again.
Everything seemed so easy when it came to her, and it was rather refreshing after being with his comrades for so long. The Decepticons were absolute in their rule, and when one leader seemed unworthy of the title, others would fight him for the place. It was the way things were done, therefore not one Decepticon trusted the other. They constantly trapped and challenged and learned to always prevail. Starscream was able to achieve this, until he met Megatron. And then he learned his position. Second place became mandatory while Megatron was present, and that's why he became so enthralled when Megatron had vanished to search for the Allspark. Then, Starscream was the leader. Indeed, he had been questioned, but he always reigned. Always.
But not with Iris.
Rather, his rule was absolute to her place in this. She didn't question, didn't give excuses, didn't even bother to defend her status. He called her a maggot. She called herself dirt. He liked the way she worked. Grinning, Starscream continued with his route, heading out of the mountain range and back to California, where he could get a signal out for the Decepticons. On the way, he could kill a few of the Autobots and maybe lead some more unsuspecting and obeying little humans to join his cause. It was a nice start compared to the idiot move that could've been so easily avoided. Crashing into a satellite was a deliberately stupid move on his behalf, and a setback that might cost him more than what was necessary. He could've already been back to his home ship, Nemesis, and gathering forces to destroy the Autobots and take over this measly little planet.
But nooooooooo.
He had to go and do something so irrational, his best servant at this point was a pathetic human girl. Weren't they the weaker of their race, anyways? Nevertheless, she hadn't been completely useless in his ventures. If she hadn't brought such necessary supplies, he probably would've bled to death by now. Without supplements for his gears and his body, to keep everything lubricated, even his Spark couldn't function properly. Though he despised at the very taste of truth, he had to admit that she had done enough to save his life. For that, he wouldn't kill her. For now.
Making his way to the west, Starscream spent several hours passing through the thick forest. It was rather annoying, actually, being so large and bulky, and he had a tough time passing through the thin routes of the trees. Of all the bloody places he could've fallen on this forsaken planet, it had to be a place that gave him the most trouble passing through. Figures. As Starscream brushed through another pasture, the girl groaned.
Curious, he lifted her up to his vision and saw that she had broken out into a sweat. Was she losing her immunity? With that in mind, he ran a scan of her body temperature and noticed that it was growing. Dammit. Humans were so useless. Growling, he wrapped her up again as best as he could and made way to look for shelter. It was growing late in the day, anyways, and he had to find a place where it wouldn't be too cold and windy. No doubt the illness which she might (and probably) sustain was from his negligence to not finding a suitable atmosphere for her to recover. Without so much blood, her bodily function couldn't do their job.
Starscream spent another good hour looking for the appropriate environment when he stumbled upon a small crevice tucked in the back lodge of two smaller peaks. A cliff spiked at the very back of the cul-de-sac, receding into a larger mountain that offered a substantial amount of protection. It was a bad place if he were to get attacked—he would have nowhere to go but straight up. However, he doubt that even if he did get detected, that there would be no possible way to get into the mountains for some days. Even if they could find him in the mass wilderness to begin with.
As the Decepticon entered into the circular premises, he found that the wind did exactly as he wanted—bypassed the area completely, and inside it was relatively warm. At least for this time of year, and it was necessary if Iris were to ever get better. Sighing, Starscream eased himself against a thick tree, being sure to avoid his tender booster. The walk today had more of a toll on him than he suspected. His leg was doing somewhat better, but it still throbbed with the pain of having pressure on it for too long. If only he had more advanced tools…he wouldn't even have to be hurting at this point. Nevertheless, he would have to make do with what was given to him.
Placing the girl on his chest, Starscream attempted to let himself go into a more shut-down mode to repair himself faster. It would make him extremely vulnerable, as his Spark would travel throughout his body for a more healing effect, but it would also bring warmth to the girl. Just one more thing Starscream did to help her get better quicker, since he was such a swell guy. Then something happened that he didn't expect.
"Mmmn, thank you…" the female moaned, snuggling in closer to him.
"What…?" he asked, half to himself.
"You're warm," she replied, still somewhat induced in her dream world.
Starscream said nothing, his face becoming scrunched with frustration and thought. Why did she just give her gratitude? Wasn't it him that had just stolen her freedom? Why would she just…which reminded him, why would she give her services so freely as it was…? It was nice, sure, but up till now Starscream hadn't considered that she might be doing it for her own benefit (which was who know's what), rather than to appease him. Or, could it possibly the other way around…? She could very well being doing this all for him, and nothing for her own gain. Complete acceptance. Complete obedience. Something that he yearned for.
The Decepticon leader shook off the idea. Humans were self-centered, uncaring of others. What made her so different?
--
A few more days later…
Optimus:
"Optimus! We have a reading!" Ironhide cried.
The Autobot leader's attention snapped towards the black Transformer, Optimus nearly diving towards his comrade. With the tracer in his hands, the familiar sound of a signal being detected filled the quiet valley, and filled the Autobots with hope. At last, they had found the parasite and they could get this done and over more quickly. With a relieved sigh, he turned to his other friends who had crowded around the device before saying, "Let's go take down this last threat. With the resources and power we have now, this mission will be fairly easy."
"We should still not let our guard down," Ratchet stated, but nodded nevertheless. "I just hope he hasn't called anyone else yet."
"Not where he's at," Ironhide said slowly, with a sudden expression of apprehension.
"And where might that be?" Ratchet asked.
Optimus got a bad vibe from that look and Ironhide's reply justified it: "It's a base. I'm not sure what for, but it's definitely human and they definitely have weapons. Major ones."
The Autobot leader was taken back. "Then what is Starscream doing there?"
"He's obviously restrained, but we have no idea with what," Ironhide stated, giving the tracer another weary look. "I don't think this is a very good idea, Optimus. I don't even know if this is apart of the American government."
"Let us take a look," the captain of the squad group, Charles, said. "I know of most stations and there is one around here, but we should just make sure."
The black Transformer nodded as he kneeled beside the human, revealing the radar screen that said it all. Charles, from this, got out a map of the bases that resided within the borders of the mountains. After a few moments of comparing, the man looked grim. "I have no idea what that is," he said, in an unsteady tone. "I don't even know if that's public. I definitely know nothing about it, and I'm into most security issues. If anything, this some private entity. And if you say this big, bad Starscream is being captive there, I'd say we do anything but go near that base."
"But there's another thing, Optimus," Ironhide intervened, catching the leader's attention.
"What is it?"
Ironhide paused a moment as he looked back at the tracer, as if making sure before he shook his head and said, "There are two signals. Of the same type, which means Starscream has a partner-in-crime. It's a far weaker one, but it's one nevertheless. Do you know what this could possibly mean?"
Optimus paused a moment, then his optics went wide with shock. It was impossible! Completely, utterly impossible! He then dashed up to Ironhide, shaking his shoulders in sheer terror as he exclaimed, "Remember back on Cybertron, Ironhide?! Remember the days when we would choose mates to conceive?!"
"Uh, yes, I believe so…what has that got to do with this?" the black Autobot asked, his eyebrow shooting up.
"Remember how we would plant tracers in them so that when they gave birth, we could re-locate them?! REMEMBER?!" Optimus cried, throwing his arms up for emphasis.
Ratchet and the other gasped in realization. Mate tracer + Starscream ?!?!?!?!
"We'll need the cover of night to allow us to see what's really going on at that base," Optimus murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose. Things were getting so confusing…what purpose would Starscream possibly need for a mate tracer, especially if it were in the body of a human? He couldn't possibly require any other of the species on this planet, and it made absolutely no sense that he would now choose a female (hopefully) mate to conceive with. Humans probably couldn't even have children of the same race, so it seemed totally vain that Starscream would have need of any human. Hostage, perhaps? But then it would make no sense that he would be restrained at some unknown human camp. Everything was just too perplexing!
Bumblebee, however, interrupted his thoughts as he began jumping up and down hysterically beside Optimus, tugging and pulling his arm. Confused, the leader asked, "What's wrong?"
Still without a voice, Bumblebee was limited to using body language to get across his message. As his arms and hands spoke, Optimus began to realize what he was trying to convey. Three people. Bumblebee walking away. Bumblebee coming back. Three people missing!!
"Sam and Mikaela are gone!" Ironhide cried before any of the others managed.
"Shit!" Charles snarled, suddenly glancing around. "Where's Patrick, he was with those two!"
Frantically, the group searched in the local area for their friends. Unfortunately, and very disturbingly, they found absolutely no trace left of any of them. All eyes set on Optimus's decision, who sighed in negligence. "We have no choice. We must go to the base…to get our friends back…and to destroy Starscream."