Autobot in Shining Armor
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, Beast Wars, or any of the characters affiliated with either series. As always a huge thank you goes to my lovely beta Blackwing.Rose for all of her help.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay, I've been busy getting ready for my finals. Finals are still about a week away, but I felt like this needed to be put up. Hopefully I'll have the next one up pretty soon. Thank you for your patience and please enjoy the fic.
AN2: There are a few notes at the bottom of the chapter to help clear up a few things in this chapter.
Warnings: Contains violence and mild OOCness.
Chapter Seven: Never cross an Autobot
He'd been careless. He had underestimated Barricade's willingness to do whatever it took to get a job done, and it had cost him. He had thought the Saleen was ready to get out of there and backed off to allow him to do so. Instead he'd given the hunter enough room to use his long range weapon and shoot out the ceiling. As several tons of concrete and plaster came tumbling down around them he frantically prayed that Maggie was somewhere that she wasn't going to be crushed. One of the larger pieces of concrete struck him across the back of the head and he went down. For awhile he knew nothing more, but was then jolted back into consciousness by the pained screaming coming from his charge.
He wasn't sure how he got clear of the debris, nor how he'd gotten across the room so fast that Barricade hadn't had the time to react. He'd grabbed the Decepticon by the neck with one massive hand, and he couldn't even recall how he'd gotten to this point. It was all a blur of pure rage in his mind. He could vaguely remember a chilling roar echoing from his person, the sound made all the more frightening because of the roar of his engine. For some reason he didn't fear this change in himself. He remembered having gotten this way once before, when Megatron ripped Bumblebee's vocal processor clean out of his body. At the time he'd been so pissed off that it hadn't mattered that the Decepticon leader was larger than he was or that he was already gravely injured, he'd handed Megatron his aft.(1)
Now, with a cold rage settling into his processors, Optimus could only think of one thing to do. He was going to tear the Saleen apart, protocol be damned. It was sheer stupidity to attack one of the Autobot's charges, suicide to attack the charge of Prime himself. Even Bumblebee had admitted to getting particularly nasty with the Decepticon hunter when Sam was in danger, something he hadn't understood at the time.
Optimus Prime was not normally a violent mech. Under normal circumstances he appalled such extreme violence, but these were not normal circumstances. The black and white had crossed a line that had been made very clear when Bumblebee had taken on Sam Witwicky as his charge. There was something about these humans that caused the Autobots to become almost violently protective of them. Even he, the leader of the Autobots, was not immune to this strange phenomenon.
His hand twitched reflexively where he still held Barricade by the neck, his focus returning to the task at hand. The hunter was completely still, as if he was waiting for something. Maggie was still clutched in his unrelenting hand, her fragile body lying limp. He gave her a brief scan and was relieved to find that she'd merely passed out. Perhaps the Saleen wouldn't have to die after all.
"That was a bad idea." He bit out lowly, mildly startled that he sounded so similar to Megatron during a bad day. He and his brother shared many common traits, but he hadn't thought this was one of them. Optimus had always stubbornly believed that the malevolent energy that surrounded the larger mech was a result of him being who and what he was. It also occurred to him that he'd used these same words before, both with Maggie and with Sam.
His focus had narrowed down to just this moment, just this confrontation. He was much larger than the mech he now held partially aloft, but he'd seen Barricade take out mechs twice his size before and knew now not to underestimate him. He was finished giving the psychopath the benefit of the doubt. So it came as no surprise when the black and white tossed his blonde haired charge forcefully towards the wall, forcing Optimus to either drop his prisoner or loose his charge. There was no choice, but he didn't have to take it lightly.
Using as much speed and force as his frame allowed Optimus bodily chucked Barricade in the same manner as the Decepticon had done to Maggie, except he dove to catch said charge right after he'd made the motion. He barely managed to grab onto her limp form, and knew from the sickening sound she made when he did that something was wrong. The rage from before spilled forth again, rekindled by the realization that Barricade had very likely killed the one he'd promised to protect. It had been slowly seeping out of him as time had worn on, but now it was back with a vengeance. Barricade would pay, and by Primus if she died….the Saleen's life would be forfeit as well.
(Ratchet)
He came back online with a throbbing ache in his head and the distinct feeling that something terrible had happened. The part of him that the war had made into a warrior forced him to pull himself from the rubble and take a defensive stance. The stronger more natural part of his programming, the part of him that wanted to heal more than harm, gave him a very different message. While he knew that he was still in danger so long as Barricade was in the vicinity, he was still a medic and someone was injured. He could feel it.
Electric blue eyes scanned over his surroundings, a strong surge of horror hitting him when he realized that the roof had been brought down while he'd been unconscious. Was Miss Madsen trapped somewhere in all of this mess? His fear of this abated momentarily when he found her biosignature with Optimus. Despite his own injuries the medic went right to his leader's side, stopping a few paces away when he realized that something was wrong.
"Optimus, sir?"
The look he received when he spoke the larger bot's name had him flinching and moving back a step. It was a look he'd seen on Megatron many a time, usually right before he tore someone apart painfully. The look said, quite plainly, that someone was about to die. Ratchet had a pretty good idea of who that someone would be too.
Wordlessly the medic held his hand out, not surprised when a fairly lifeless Maggie Madsen was set into his offered hand. She seemed, even to his scanners, like she had gone offline permanently, her life snuffed out. A second, deeper scan, told him that she was still alive though fading. Both of the bones in the upper parts of her arms were fractured from exposure to extreme pressure, she had several cracked ribs, and there was bruising to her spinal cord that rose several alarms in his mind. If she was to survive, he needed to get her back to base.
His leader was in no mood to talk right now, and so Ratchet set straight to work repairing what injuries he could deal with in the field. He focused entirely on his work until the screaming started. He looked up in time to see Prime with his hand buried deeply into Barricade's chest, digging for his spark.
Medical training kicked in as he examined the damage done to the Decepticon with a neutral eye. There were multiple dents lining the thick black armor that made up Barricade's hide, many of these where fist shaped. Superficial injuries, mostly. The next thing he saw, however, was not so superficial. One of his optics had been shattered by what had to have been a fist to the face, his head partially caved in where Optimus must have tried to crush it. One arm hung loosely at his side, energon leaking from a severed line and dripping down onto the floor. His other hand seemed to only be partially functional, and was held in a death grip on Prime's hand where it was entered into his chest. Part of his chasis had been ripped open, and he could see the flickering pulse of the Decepticon's spark as he tried frantically to get loose. Optimus was so enraged that he was actually going to crush the hunter's spark.
He felt a sense of horror wash over him when those red optics looked to him as if he could do anything. Fear, pain, and then finally resignation settled into those optics. Barricade was a fighter, but even he knew when the situation was lost. Ratchet felt his spark turn over at the sight. Enemy or not, no one deserved to die like this. He couldn't allow this to happen, wouldn't allow his leader to cross the same line that had lead to his brother's ultimate decent into insanity.
"Optimus, you have to stop! If you continue you will extinguish his spark!"
His words were rushed out, frantic. He could still see those pleading eyes, could still see the silent message they conveyed. Images of a different time, a different mech assailed him, making him more desperate to keep this from happening. Not like this, not again. Seeing that look in a comrade's face had been horrible enough. Even reflected in an enemy's optics it still deeply disturbed him.
"Please, don't do this. Do not let your rage turn you into Megatron!" His voice became strangled, almost causing him to choke on the next words. "Don't make me watch you do to him what your insane brother did to Cliffjumper!" (2)
That seemed to get through to the enraged Autobot, because he dropped Barricade and removed himself completely from range. Said Saleen made a low sound of pain, followed by a loud roar when he forced himself into his alternate mode. It had to be the most painful transformation ever endured, and Ratchet was amazed when he not only managed to complete the transformation, but also tore out of the warehouse as if he were being chased by something Pit spawned. With the sort of injuries he'd sustained there was no way he'd survive, and it seemed as if Ratchet's plea would be for naught. Without proper medical care, and soon, Barricade's spark would go out.
Ratchet shook his head and returned his attention to Maggie. For now, he had to deal with the patient he could treat, instead of the one that would die because he wouldn't accept the aid of an Autobot. Everything else would have to be dealt with later.
Notes:
1: I believe this to have happened during one of the more violent battles the Autobot's had to fight, Tyger Pax.
2: Also took place during Tyger Pax, and refers to Megatron doing the same thing Optimus is doing.
Again sorry for the wait.
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