Side Job

Universe: (slight)AU Prime

Story Rating: MA+/R

Part Rating: MA+

Warnings: Sexual content; Depressing content.

Pairings: DreadwingxRatchetxSkyquake

Description:Ratchet, in search of a job to pay for medical school expenses, ends up at a Nightclub called Friction. He finds himself enthralled by the underground world of dancing and performing along with two of the bouncers.

He looked so different.

His body, once so beautiful and lithe, was now covered in bulky, overbearing armor. There were scars just on the surface and underneath that only I could see through his beautiful optics that were dim and smudged from mistreatment. The way he walked around the small valley, miles away from any civilization, I could see the hateful blows the war had taken at his body and spark. Optics, once full of life and hope, held only worry and stress now.

So much promise, so much potential, lost in a war that had no end in sight.

My spark clenches as he makes another turn, obviously deep in thought. I continued to hide behind the large canyon rocks that protected this valley, watching but never making a move closer. Seeing him brought back memories that hurt deep in my spark. My brother and I never forgot him...never forgot the feelings that no other mech or femme could place in our sparks again. Had we had just a little more time together, it would have blossomed into love, I was sure.

Thankfully, it had been stopped before it could slip into that stage.

I think that but...the more I watch him tear himself up internally...the more I want to go down and comfort him. The emotions still ran so deep and it helped to cover the aching hole Skyquake left. Did I want to go down and comfort him...or let him comfort me? Megatron thought I didn't care that my brother had died...thought that it didn't affect me and never bothered to ask. I was just a cold-sparked individual who could survive without my insanity driven brother to everyone in the Decepticon ranks.

Ratchet would understand; he would know just what to say.

Maybe that's what pushed me to reveal myself, maybe it was just the need to speak with him. We hadn't seen each other in...centuries. He wouldn't attack me and he knew I would never shoot at him unless provoked. His turn is sharp but he doesn't seem surprised to see me standing there, just on the other side of the valley. Blue optics take me in, slowly, running down my frame then up again, looking for something I can't name.

"Ratchet," I whisper, the name familiar but long-lost.

"Dreadwing," he responds, just as breathless.

We stand there for a long time, watching each other in shock. I was unsure now that I was here; should I just walk over and touch him or would he reject me? Fear was not something I was accustomed to but it was a sudden rush that kept me where I was.

Thankfully, Ratchet breaks the silence. "I thought you were dead," he whispers, faceplate twisting with a pain that ran just as deep as mine. I had known he wasn't dead through correspondence with Megatron but he didn't have the luxury. "You weren't with Skyquake..."

My spark clenches in pain. "He was driven insane a long time ago," I explain, the pain so terrible that it spread through my entire form.

Ratchet moves forward slowly, hesitant, until he reaches out to touch my shoulder with his servo. The contact was like fire that slipped through my form, burning the pain away. "I miss him too," he breathes, staring into my optics.

My servos grab his bulky hips to jerk him forward, pressing our bodies together. He releases air from his oral vent as my derma grow so tantalizingly close to his, just barely brushing. The touch of his metal against mine was my undoing and I could barely stand on my own as grief slashed through me. My form crumples against his but he doesn't let me go; his arms wrap around my body to pull me into his embrace so that we can slowly slip down to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

"I'm here," I hear him soothe, stroking the back of my helm as I bury my faceplate in his shoulder. It was the first bit of weakness that I had been allowed to show to anyone since this war started and it was addictive. Ratchet did not judge me, he didn't see me as anything less as I took sweet comfort in his arms. Skyquake's spark going out had been the most painful experience I had ever been through and it still ached to feel that void there.

I pull Ratchet into my lap, letting my faceplate hide in his spark chamber. The pulsations were comforting...to know this mech was alive and well was addictive. Skyquake was usually the one to comfort me in the times when I just needed to be vulnerable but since he started working for Megatron...he changed. Instead of being wickedly intelligent and fierce, he became something insane and desperate for any fight. Megatron had corrupted my brother's spark until nothing was left but a processor-less drone that could think of nothing but energon-shed and violence.

For a few moments, I let myself get lost in the embrace of the mech in my lap. For just a second, I envisioned us back in our house on Cybertron and Skyquake was just out on an errand, not gone. I let myself ignore the aching hole in my spark that his death had caused and just enjoyed Ratchet's warmth, his soothing words. His fingers danced across my helm, washing away my pain with his scarred, aching servos that had seen more energon and death than anyone else in this war. I could see every death weighing on his soul, even Skyquake's. He was too emphatic to not feel every single life-force go out under his servos every time he woke up.

"All this armor," I whisper, touching the bulky pieces slowly. He didn't feel the same but the smell, the heat were very familiar.

He looks down at me with a sad smile, touching my face gently. "It's a war, Dreadwing, I have to be protected," he tells me without any humor even though he was laughing. I let my optics glance down his form, hidden behind so much protection. Somewhere, under all of that metal, was the sleek, sultry mech that I had fallen for. "You have your own armor too."

His fingers, delicate and uncovered, slipped across my shoulders and arms. It was amazing how such a small gesture could light me on fire just like old times. He may look different but his touch still did things to my body that no one else but my brother ever could. "I've always had armor," I chuckle, feeling the pain dissipate the further his fingers explored. "You're beautiful curves are covered by all of this...metal."

His smile had a little more life to it when his legs easily wrap around my waist, shifting to a more comfortable position. "I wouldn't wear it if I didn't have to," he shrugs, a little bit of that glint lighting his optics again.

Even with all of the armor, I couldn't help but find him beautiful. He still had some curves, they were just a little different and his faceplate was still the same even after so many years. My feelings, even after so many years, was still the same, no matter what he looked like. He could have a faceplate riddled with scars and I would still find him beautiful. "I missed you," I admit finally, watching the heat redden the mech's faceplate. He was older, more mature, but he was still easily embarrassed.

"I missed you too," he responds, pressing his forehead against mine slowly. Then, something changes. "But I can't be here with you."

I knew what he meant and I had to agree but it still hurt my spark. "I know but let's just stay a few minutes longer," I plead in my own way, tightening my grip on him. He tenses for a second before relaxing into the embrace, wrapping his arms around my neck and holding me firmly.

Silence is a welcome luxury, one that I don't often get to indulge in. I thought there would be so much to talk about, so much to tell him, but I found that the silence was much better. We could talk about depressing war stories later; instead, I could stay in his arms like this forever. I could rust and my spark go out but I would die happy. It was strange and no one would believe that I had a soft side because no one would see it except for Ratchet.

"I have to go," he whispers, hesitant.

He didn't pull away though and I needed just a few more seconds to get his scent, his feel back in my memory. This would tide me over until I could see him again. I lean back to stare into his optics before closing the space between our derma. His kiss was so familiar, like a long-lost delicacy from Cybertron, and he fell easily into our rhythm again. I kissed him not just for myself but for Skyquake too. When the war began, we would keep an eye out for the Medic on the battlefield and there were times when we would protect him. Megatron wasn't an idiot, he knew what was going on and had us punished for our traitorous actions. He separated us even though he understood the consequences; he drove Skyquake insane.

His servos were trembling when I pulled away, his faceplate flushed with emotion. "I-I have to go," he mumbles again, even more hesitant.

Standing, I easily set him on his pedes. "I know," I smile sadly, cupping his faceplate in my servos. "I'll see you again." It was a promise and he looked skeptical. With one last kiss, I pull away and transform to take off towards the Nemesis.

It didn't escape my attention that Laserbeak was just a few miles behind me.

All according to plan.

Pain lances through my body as I skid across the floor of the main bridge. The singe on my armor stung but it could have been a lot worse; Megatron seemed to be pulling his punches by turning down the power of his cannon. Had it been on full blast, it would have punched a hole straight through me, easily. The pain would be worth it in the long run, I promised myself as I got to my pedes. Megatron was advancing on me slowly and I needed to be ready for the next hit. He wasn't going to kill me; he needed me.

"For all your talk of loyalty, I find it hard to understand your reasoning in seeking out the Medic, again," he comments calmly. I could hear the dangerous, volatile anger just under the surface; I needed to handle this as carefully as I would a pack of scraplets. "I thought the first punishment would make things perfectly clear but I see that I was mistaken."

I stand my ground and pin the mech with a level gaze. "I request permission to explain my actions, sir," I finally speak up with a calm tone. Megatron had always had an unpredictable temper but since he had taken on dark energon, it had become something uncontrollable. Too bad he didn't see it like the rest of us did.

His optic ridge quirks and his dangerous gaze takes me in suspiciously. "This had better be worth my time, Dreadwing. I would hate to lose another First Lieutenant so quickly," he pauses in his advancement toward me. His bulky arms cross over his spark chamber, waiting.

My red gaze stays steady. "Ratchet and I have a past," I state the obvious for a moment. "We were casual lovers back on Cybertron and I wondered if I could get him to trust me again. I only did it for you, My Lord, and the cause."

He is silent for a long time before he uncrosses his arms. "It looked a little more than a casual relationship to me," he comments, obviously itching to use his cannon and end me.

"I was a different mech back then, My Lord," I explain, holding his steely gaze confidently. "It probably would have become more than casual had it gone any further. Ratchet is the one that holds the Autobot base together and Optimus has been persistent in asking me to change sides."

It suddenly clicks in the Decepticon's optics and a slow, ugly smirk crosses his derma. "I understand your goal but...next time make sure you communicate your plans to me," he commands with a dark look in his optics. I could see the gears turning, so to speak, and it all fell right into my plans. The commander turns and starts to exit the bridge, stopping by his Third who, like always, stood stoically in the shadows. "Keep a vigilant watch on him."

It was just loud enough for me to hear but I couldn't help the brief smirk at how well everything was falling right into place. I waited for a whole minute after the door closed before I turned to the silent mech standing in the darkness, watching me from behind his mask. "Phase One: Complete," he speaks out with the very rarely used vocalizer that even after all of this time I wasn't used to.

"Without a problem," I smirk, walking over to the tall, lanky mech. "Continue onto phase two."

"Affirmative."

"I was worried you wouldn't show up," I chuckle as the Medic transforms into his bipedal form just a few feet away. His optics take me in with a wisdom that was born of age and pain.

He places a servo on his hip, standing with an attitude that was foreign to me. There were some very obvious changes in his personality but the more I met with him, the more I was beginning to enjoy them just as much as when he was a student in medical school. "I tried to convince myself just that before I left," he states, crossing his arms over his spark chamber defiantly.

My derma quirk into a smirk, walking forward to physically unwrap his arms from across his chest. "Admit it," I whisper, throwing his arms over my shoulders and pulling his hips against mine. "You can't get enough of me."

His form grows tense but he eases his arms around my neck and allows me to run my servos down his hips. He felt so wonderful to have in my arms when all I got on a daily basis was grief and violence. "Yeah, whatever helps you recharge at night," he mutters, even as my servos slip down to squeeze his aft. "Dreadwing!"

I chuckle at his protest and futile struggles, keeping him pulled tightly against my body. "Ratchet," I drawl, kneading at his aft deliberately. "You can't tell me you don't feel something for me still."

His vents hitch and I can feel his interface panel heat against mine. My heat rocketed when he squirmed just a bit, rubbing our panels together. Still, he tried to pull away. "What happened to your loyalty for Megatron?" he questions, looking everywhere but my optics. "I can't help but think this might be a trap."

"It would be an effective trap…" I leer suggestively, grinding our panels together. I watch as he bites down on his lower derma to hold back a moan, feeling my spark throb with pleasure. "I could seduce you…" I run my derma across his jaw line all the way to his audio receptor. "I could frag you until you give me all of the information voluntarily…"

He jerks at my words but he knows full well that I'm joking. "No amount of interface could convince me to-ah!" he jolts as my glossa runs across his sensitive receptor spines.

I smirk against his receptor; his weaknesses hadn't changed. "Like that?" I breathe hotly against his neck cables. Pulling back, I stare down into his optics, taking in the lust and the need that were familiar yet in an older faceplate. He hadn't changed all that much after all.

"Shut up and kiss me already," he grumbles before pulling me down to do just that.

His imposing warmth was a welcome sensation that overwhelmed me and stole the last bit of logic in my processor. Those derma, so familiar, took the breath right out of oral vent and his servos easily played my pleasure like a finely tuned instrument. My legs trembled even as he shoved me against one of the canyon walls so that I wouldn't fall over.

My body shudders as his glossa runs down my neck and a talented servo massages my panel in easy strokes. "Open for me," he commands, nipping at my neck cables teasingly.

My panel snicks open without further prompting just before a finger is pressing into my lubricated valve. "A-Ah!" I gasp as his large digit teases a patch of sensors far within my core. My servos jerk out to grab his shoulders for support even as he is adding another finger to stretch my valve further.

His derma captures mine in a searing kiss that fries my processor easily. I yelp when his servo is gone and pulling me up so that my legs wrap around his waist. I'm not a light mech but it makes me even hotter to feel his strong servos pick me up so readily. He braces himself with one servo on the rock wall right next to my head and uses the other to guide my hip across his spike tip.

Pleasure, hot and overwhelming, courses through my body as he lowers me along his spike. "Dreadwing!" I moan, clenching his shoulders tightly as he bucks his hips up into mine to fully sheath his spike in my valve.

I pant as he presses his faceplate into my neck cables, thrusting slowly. My sensor net exploded with beautiful pleasure as I felt every inch of his long spike drag across my inner most nodes. "Primus, you're tight," he breathes against my neck, speeding up his thrusts.

My fans were whirling as my body heated, my charge building until my optics could barely stay online. It had been centuries since I had overloaded and my valve was more than willing to oblige. "Dreadwing," I whisper, desperately groping at his shoulders as my back gritted against the wall with his thrusts. "Please!"

"Ratchet!" he growls into my neck as my charge breaks and I overload. His thrusts are shallow but rock me further into a stronger, more explosive release until he finally follows.

We stayed where we were, suspended in time, for just a few precious moments, enjoying our afterglow. It was pure perfection to stay in his arms and I enjoyed the feel of his warmth, his spark-beat as it wrapped around my form, intoxicating me. He gasps when I pull my spike away and we easily slip to the ground; his arms were still wrapped around my neck and he fit so nicely in my lap.

"Things are about to change, Ratchet," I whisper into his audio receptor. It was quiet enough that the spying Laserbeak wouldn't overhear my words. He doesn't move from the spot but I feel the small amount of tension slip into his body.

"Why do I feel like this is good-bye?" he breathes out, sounding worried.

His concern made me smile. "Just trust me, okay?" I ask, pulling back to stare into his optics. He looks for something in my faceplate before nodding silently. "Good."

We seal the deal with one final kiss and I make sure he understands every ounce of my feelings in it. It wasn't a good-bye kiss, necessarily, but I wanted to make sure I had one last taste of the Medic before I finished my plan. This was just in case I didn't make it through my final phase and I needed him to know that I did this for him and for Skyquake: The only two mechs that had ever given a damn for me.

It was hard to separate myself from him and head back to The Nemesis. I could feel his optics on me as I flew away but I couldn't look back; if I did then it'd be my undoing. Primus only knew how this would all end and it was hard to think that I might not see him after this. The plan was flawless but I had to finish the deed, which was the hard part. It wasn't guaranteed that I would win; it wasn't certain that this would end the way I wanted it to...but, I had to do something. I was tired of being idle.

Soundwave was waiting for me when I transformed on the landing pad inside the Nemesis. "Everything ready?" I ask as Laserbeak swoops in to take his place on the stoic mech's spark chamber.

"Affirmative," he states in his reverberating monotone.

"Commence with the final Phase," I whisper, patting the tall mech on the shoulder lightly. "And, Soundwave, the objective is vital...let nothing stand in the way."

"Meaning: Understood," he confirms before I continue on my path. "Dreadwing." I hadn't expected him to say anything more so I turn to cast a curious glance to him. He had his faceplate looking my way but, as always, I couldn't see through his mask. "Good luck."

It was an uncharacteristic gesture that made me smirk with a confidence that I wasn't sure I had. "It'll work," I reassure the mech before starting for the main bridge. Just one pede in front of the other, focused on the task at hand. Even with all of my mental chanting, the screeching siren make my spark jolt. He was right on time, as always, and I was right at the door to the main bridge.

I entered just as the Overlord was trying to get into contact with Soundwave. "Soundwave, report!" he was shouting even though he could use his comm.-link silently. He was an intelligent mech, a master of strategy and war, but the ship was Soundwave's domain; without his Third's input, he was effectively crippled.

The door closed behind me with an almost inaudible click as it was locked by a wireless manual override. Thanks to Soundwave, Megatron and I were trapped in this room until one of us died or the ship crashed. "The ship is going down, Megatron," I speak up, catching the raging mech's attention. He jerks around to look at me, understanding dawning slowly in his corrupted optics. "It's just you and me."

A disgusting, ugly smirk crosses his derma confidently. "So Optimus succeeded in pulling my Second-in-Command out from underneath me after all?" he questions smugly.

"No," I state confidently. "This has nothing to do with the Autobots, Megatron."

His optics widen in shock. "You're trying to take over my position!" he roars, his cannon humming to life. It was a soft harmony to the sirens that were still going off as the ship's core was shut down.

"Wrong again," I glare, charging my own cannon as a warning. "I joined your cause for one reason and one reason only, Megatron: Equality. I believed in your boistrous cries for freedom and your speeches on taking over the government." My spark clenches as the ship jostles slightly. "It used to be about earning our freedom...now, now it's just about you taking out Optimus because of your damnable pride. Megatron, can't you see what this war has done to us? Look around yourself and see where you stand! We've had to seek out another sustainable planet to live on because we killed ours! Cybertron is dead because of our petty war!"

Megatron's snarl is dangerous even before the ship creaks mournfully. "You don't know anything about slavery and revolution, Dreadwing. You were a bouncer at a night club. I worked my servos to the struts in the mines and fought in the Pits until I had had enough! This is the closest we've ever been to freedom!" he shouts passionately but I had long since became immune to his preaching that meant nothing.

"No, your freedom has become exstinction, Megatron. How many more sparks are to be lost before we come to terms with the fact that this has killed us!" I reason with him even if it was hopeless. He was beyond reason, beyond sanity. His processor was gone; his compassion, love and enthusiasm was dead.

"You have lost sight of the goal, Dreadwing," he shakes his helm, giving me an almost sympathetic look. "I pity you but I do not envy where I am going to send you."

He rushes me and my battle systems hum to life just as the ship tilts dangerously, knocking us to the side. His first shot flies off wildly as I crouch down to grip onto the bridge, halting my fall. Raising my cannon I loose my own shot but he is already sliding further down the tilted ground and disappearing off the side. I follow him off the edge, landing just a few feet from him at the lower level where the loud shot of a cannon has me diving blindly to the side. The pain of a quick brush was easily handled but it didn't help me when the giant mech lunged for me.

Using the tilt of the ship as my momentum, I tossed the monster away from me. I smirked at the satisfying crack of him denting the far wall as I get to my pedes. I had to end him before the ship crashed or I was going to die with him. That was supposed to be my last resort but as the ship careened closer to Earth...it might be my only chance at ending all of this.

Even as I was making my move, Megatron's powerful voice filled the air. "All of this is pathetic, Dreadwing! You cannot defeat me!" he roars out as our bodies tumble in a fight that was now about pure brute strength. "Why fight when you cannot win!"

My knuckles give a satisfying twinge of pain as my fist collides with his faceplate. "Because," I start, taking another swing at the mech. My forearm blocks one of his own blows as energon splatters across the ground beside Megatron's head. "I owe it to those who did nothing to us! Skyquake and Ratchet were innocents in this!" I bash his faceplate in, watching as the hits deform him until he looks like his spark, ugly and disgusting. "They fought for what you believed and have only gotten hurt!"

The thought of my lovers solidified my rage as I took the next swing with my blade.

"Optimus, you might want to come see this!" I shout as the computer goes haywire. The Nemesis was not only uncloaked but falling right out of the sky. The team formed around me in a tight circle just as a transmission came in. "It's from...Knockout?"

"Patch him through," Optimus says confidently.

"Autobots, I'm so glad to be speaking with you," the sultry, sarcastic voice flits through the speakers much to the dismay of the team.

"Cut to the chase, Knockout!" Arcee snaps, crossing her arms over her spark chamber.

"Testy, testy," he tsks the femme before sighing. "Thanks to the combined work of our Second- and Third-in-Command, the Nemesis has been compromised with Megatron on it. Soundwave would be speaking to you right now but...well, you know."

My spark pounded as I watched the updates on how quickly the ship was sinking out of the air. "If Soundwave's with you...where's Dreadwing?" I ask, a icy sliver of fear slicing through my spark.

"Hm? Oh, our commanding officer is keeping our Lord busy," he comments as if it were completely normal.

"He's still on the ship?" I snap before setting some coordinates on the pad. "What the frag is he thinking?" My teammates exchange looks behind my back just as I activate the bridge. Uncharacteristic as it was, I transformed and hauled my tailpipe into the green light, coming out to a desolate desert much like that of Nevada only hotter and drier, if that was possible.

I transformed into my bipedal mode just as the air was rocked by a monsterous explosion coming from the core of the ship. "No!" I shout into the quiet desert, watching as another section exploded. The mountain surely took care of the rest as it collided and took my spark with it. My chest hurt as I witnessed the ship destroy the last half of the only spark I had truly loved. "No."

My energon ran cold even as I felt the strong, familiar servo of my Prime squeeze my shoulder, trying to comfort what couldn't be soothed away by anything but time. "Ratchet," I heard him whisper softly but I was beyond speaking. I wasn't sure I could think properly as a grief so strong took my spark until I was nothing more than pain.

"Don't! Just...don't," I grit out, transforming and driving. I didn't know where I was headed but I just let my tires take me away. I didn't want to feel the heat of that great fire or the icy slip of depression; I just needed the warmth of my lovers. How had things gone so wrong? Why hadn't he let me help him? Could I have done anything? Was this what we had been reduced to? Suicide missions that lost a good, decent spark for one that was twisted and deformed?

I don't think it was much of a coincidence that the crash was just a few mere miles away from Skyquake's grave site and that was where I ended up, staring at the small memorial I had set up. No one knew about it except for me and I'm sure Dreadwing had been here because there was a new gravemarker right beside the one I made. It had both of their names on it and I couldn't help the desperate scream that escaped my vocalizer.

"You idiot! You slagging idiot!" I shouted at the gravemarker knowing he had crashed the ship here on purpose. "We could have done this together! We could have succeeded together!" My spark implodes on itself and my shoulders slump with burden that was heavy. So heavy, everything was so heavy!

Clawing at my armor, I start to throw the pieces away from the hidden form beneath. I didn't want it. I didn't want the armor, the weight of it was crushing my spark. I wish I had some kind of outlet like humans; I wished I could cry, manifest my sorrow in the form of...something! Anything! All I could do was throw my armor in a fit of rage befitting a small sparkling and frag if it didn't feel good to stand in the open air in nothing but my protoform!

My armored helm was the last to go and I turned to throw it but don't.

Frozen, I stare in shock at the mech standing just a few short steps away. He was singed and his armor was covered in energon but he was there, smiling at me. One optic had been destroyed and I felt doubt slide to take the place of my pain. No, it couldn't be. He was dead. I had just watched him go down with The Nemesis; I had watched him go up in flames. My processor was playing nasty, cruel tricks on me and this was just a hallucination standing there.

"Frag, you're sexy when you're angry," he chuckles and it snaps something in me. I rush forward, dropping my helm without thought, and tackle the obviously wounded mech. He didn't seem to care as his arms wrapped around my waist, holding my smaller, leaner form against his, burying his faceplate in my neck cables.

"You idiot," I sob into his shoulder, clinging helplessly. I was glad no one else was there to see me breakdown but I knew I could with Dreadwing. "You slagging idiot."

"I know," he whispers and I can hear the pain in his vocalizer. "But I did it for you and for Skyquake. I just wish it had been sooner...maybe I could have saved-"

I cut him off with a kiss, stealing the words right out of his mouth. "Don't, you slag-head," I growl roughly, staring up into his optics-well, optic-with a glare. "He's happy. He's happy where he is."

His pain flashes through his optic but dims as I kiss him again. "I know," he breathes into the kiss, holding me tightly. "So am I."

The End

A/N: So, I was originally planning to kill Dreadwing but I couldn't do it! D: I'm such a sucker for a happy ending! Besides, I love how this turned out in the end!

Thanks for all of the comments and feedback! :D I really enjoy hearing from everyone!

Next Pairing

RatchetxEradicon/Vehicon

OR

RatchetxLambo Twins

(I haven't decided so I'll just start writing both and see where they take me! xD)