PLACE
Shattered Glass Chapter 2

The right corner of his mouth turned up. Amy had seen that smirk on Ironhide before. Bots got hurt when he smirked that way. "So, you think you know Ratchet?" His smirk drew the corner of his mouth up higher.

Amy would have gulped if she could.

"Let's take a walk." The intonation of his voice made Amy slowly slide away from him, but didn't get very far as she hit the opposite side of her cage.
A heavy click indicated something unlocking on the roof of Amy's cage, and then the top opened up. Red Ironhide reached inside, grabbed Amy by the ankle of her damaged leg, and lifted the femme up until her face was almost level with his.

Amy couldn't muffle her painfully pathetic whimpers as Ironhide held her up. His optics were uneven as Amy remembered them, one appearing to be swollen shut. The femme shook her head slowly, unable to make herself believe this was really happening. Ironhide turned, and dropped the femme on the ground then replaced the cage hood. Amy gave running some good, hard thought, but just didn't have it in her to try. Her leg felt like it would pop off any second, and now her back hurt like the dickens, too.

Ironhide grabbed Amy by the back of the neck in his vice-like hand. Something popped, and Amy was sure it was something valuable and functioning. Amy flailed as pain crept down her back, and twisted her sensor clusters into knots, eliciting screams she didn't recognize as her own.

Ironhide glanced at the dragging femme as they turned down a corridor. "Hound and Mirage said you can do better than that. I got Energon bet on your vocal capacitor, so you better open up those valves."

Before the mech's unbelievably callous statement could really sink into Amy's processors, Ironhide squeezed harder, several somethings snapping in Amy's neck, and twisted slowly. A satisfied smile spread across his face as the metal screeched, and Amy's scream climbed to petrified heights.

Just as Amy thought she would pass out from the pain, and stress to her vocal processors, Ironhide dragged her into a room full of sadistic laughter.
"Called it!" Hound exclaimed, no more jovial than a brick. "I believe the bet was half your Energon rations, Ironhide!"

Black Bumblebee shook his head. "I'll be slagged. We could hear her screams all the way from the prison block." He sounded impressed in a Nosferatu kind of way. He turned, and nudged a navy blue mech. "Ain't your average piece o' work, eh Jazz?"

The navy mech nodded. "Still spineless."

Hound continued to laugh.

Jazz's arm transformed into a gatling, and he pointed it at Hound. "But that does put me out two whole solar cycles of Energon rations." He raised an optic ridge at Hound, and fired overkill into the mech's head.

Ironhide laughed.

Amy shut her optics, and let out a pained gasp.

"Fraggin' 'Cons. Can't even stomach fighting the war they started." Black Bumblebee sniggered. "I found this one just wandering around like a scrap-head I the middle of the city. No sentries, or back up."

"Astrotrain?" A silver mech asked.

"I said there was no one else, Sideswipe!" Black Bumblebee punched Sideswipe.

Sideswipe retaliated by extending a blade, and cutting off Bumblebee's offending arm. Bumblebee shouted an oath, and clutched his now dripping socket.
Another door into the room opened, and standing there was a mostly white mech with black crosses on his shoulders, and various red accents. He chewed on what looked like the remnants of a red cigar that spewed black smoke.

"Sideswipe chopped off my fragging arm!" Bumblebee roared angrily.

"What do I look like, your personal repair bot?" Ratchet waved, and both Sideswipe and Bumblebee were tossed out unceremoniously.

Ratchet picked up the discarded arm, and tossed it onto a pile of various parts in the corner. "It's on my to-do list." He tossed away the cigar butt, and pulled another from a slot on his chassis. He took his time lighting it, took a deep puff, and exhaled black smoke. "Uranium oil cigars. Nothin' beats it." He approached Amy, and crouched down. "Maybe slicin' up a skinny little Decepticon." He winked at her, and Amy would have shuddered if she weren't in so much pain already.

It's a nightmare, Amy told herself. I'm dreaming, and any minute I'll wake up, and be home where everyone is nice, and Autobots don't torture people.
"Hook 'er up." Ratchet said in a placid tone.

Ironhide lifted Amy up by her neck, spun her around, and slammed her against what felt like a vertical exam table. The red mech strapped Amy against it then turned to Ratchet. "Prime wants this one in perfect condition."

Ratchet stood by with a knife in one hand. He glanced at it then at Ironhide, and frowned. They stared at each other then with a sarcastic growl, the supposed medic said. "Ya don't say." His red gaze dragged over Amy in a calculated, sadistic way that made Amy think he wasn't to keen on cleaning her up. "You're sure about that? I wouldn't mind hanging this one on my wall." He smirk sent chills up Amy's spinal column.

Ironhide growled something in Cybertronian, and Ratchet waved a nonchalant hand, "Alright, alright. She'll be up and running, don't let Prime get 'is actuator in a knot."

Ironhide glowered at Ratchet then turned, and bellowed at the others, and they all walked out laughing. One mech with wide shoulders, and a gunmetal gray exterior remained, and approached the white mech, not giving Amy a second glance.

"How long this gonna take?" He folded his arms.

Ratchet didn't look up as he examined each of several disturbingly-shaped tools one at a time, holding them up to a dark light then setting them down. "Depends on how loud she screams." The smirk he cast Amy's way was enough to freeze her in her place. The femme wanted to cry, and almost did except she knew it would give the medic too much pleasure, no doubt.

The gray mech actually chuckled at that. "You sure you won't get a bit distracted for a few cycles?" He glanced at Amy. A glint of something in his red optics made Amy take pause.

Ratchet raised one optic ridge. "Are you slagged?" He looked at the mech, and he frowned. "Who the frag are you anyway?"

The gray mech removed a device from his side, and shoved it into Ratchet's torso, electrocuting the medic until the mech fell to the floor with a thud.

"Ow, shit, my foot." He tugged his foot from under the heavy white mech.

Amy started. "That's a human word." She said before she could stop herself.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, just kinda sticks with me." He stepped over Ratchet, stowed the device, and started unhooking Amy. First her right ankle, then her left ankle, and then her right and left wrist.

Amy kicked the gray mech in the head, feeling something grind painfully in her back, and she cried out as the gray mech stumbled backward. The device the mech had used to stun Ratchet clattered at Amy's feet, and she quickly bent with a sickening crunch to pick it up then stood up quickly again.

"Wait, wait! I'm a friend!" He raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Like hell you are!" Amy held up the device, pulling the trigger, and it sparked. "Who are you? Where am I?" She lunged at him, but he grabbed her arm, and kneed it so she would release the device. "AAA!" Coolant pricked the corners of her optics as pain shot up her arm, and became muddled and twisted in her back and shoulders.

"Sorry. You'll thank me for this one day." He lifted Amy over his shoulder, and made for the door. "Think of it this way, if you scream, they'll come, and then what choice do you have? I'm trying to help you."

Amy started at that. Those bots had tried to kill her, or were getting her ready to give to a bot who would kill her - she wasn't sure.

He stopped. "Dammit, where is he?" He crouched down, and peered around a corner.

Amy looked at his armor somewhat upside down from her position, and this close she recognized him from her battles back home. "You're Starscream." She murmured, and thought about shooting him in the back, but her cannons wouldn't respond. "You're a Decepticon." Confused, she continued. "And you're helping me."

"That's right, I'm with the good guys." Starscream said almost happily.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Good Starscream? I dunno whether to be relived or even MORE worried.

TBC, so stay tuned!

R&R

~Zex