Author's Note:
Hate to give away a big beautiful spoiler, but...
The crux of this chapter has been truncated due Fraternizing being reported. This was... the best, most shocking, and hard chapter because Nightstalker is raped in this chapter. There were high levels of rape, and I tried to depict rape in the worst way. Before this scene was truncated, I had received many many compliments for not sugar-coating this scene or toning it down. It was gruesome and nasty, and I did not hold back writing it.
In other words, I believe you are missing out on one of the best parts of the story that leads into an emotional arc if you do not read the original chapter before it was truncated. PM me if you are interested in the original chapter.
Otherwise, enjoy the cute cute fluff in the middle of this! ^^
"Scrap."
Nightstalker and Cliffjumper transformed as quick as Jumpstarters when Megatron gave them that fair warning, off like bullets shot from a gun. Spark slamming hard in her chassis, Nightstalker zipped down the halls at top speed and almost broke her thrusters when she braked to a halt when she spied the escape pods.
That was perfect!
Nightstalker transformed, stumbling to an abrupt halt as she lunged for the pod. "Cliffjumper!" she burst. "Over—"
The rest of her sentence died on her glossia. She looked behind her to find him, and she was met with an empty hall.
Scrap! Scrap! Frag me flying, scrap!
Nightstalker transformed again, cursing herself for forgetting Cliffjumper was a wheeler while she was a flier—half as fast, not even half as fast! Her burning thrusters brought her back to Cliffjumper just in time to see Megatron towering over him, blade raised high for the kill.
With a shout, Nightstalker transformed and threw her full bodyweight against his leading arm. The breath left her in a whoosh, and she hit the ground hard when Megatron threw her down. Both she and Cliffjumper blinked up at furious red optics.
Cliffjumper yelled, and he lifted his twin three-cylinder cannons and open fired on Megatron in close proximity. The war lord roared in pain, blasted away, and Nightstalker jumped up and transformed with Cliffjumper as he bellowed, "Run! Run! Run!"
Still, Nightstalker refused to go any faster than Cliffjumper could drive. "Get out of here!" he shouted up at her.
"I didn't save you from this ship the first time just to have you come back and die!" Nightstalker snapped right back. Half a second later, she heard the roar of engines right before something crashed into her side.
The world tipped and spun. Her right side smashed into the wall, and she fell with a stunning crash, flipping and turning. With a pained cry, Nightstalker transformed again, servos scrabbling on the smooth ground for a grip. The floor burned up her side.
Cliffjumper braked with a screech of tires. "Nightstalker!"
Nightstalker lifted her woozy head, optics blinking rapidly to calibrate and clear up from the static fuzz. She stumbled in the general direction of Cliffjumper, and when her optics finally cleared up, her spark leapt to her throat at Cliffjumper trying vainly to fight the towering Megatron. The Decepticon leader's servo clamped down over his face, and he slung the small warrior into the wall. Cliffjumper staggered, servo groping wildly for a handhold before Megatron backhanded him so hard he crashed to the ground with a heavy grunt.
Nightstalker dug in her heels. She pumped her legs as hard as she could as she ran towards Megatron, spark beating a panicked beat inside her chassis. When Megatron raised his sword again, Nightstalker leapt, whips blazing to life with electricity, and she slashed them down as hard as she could over his back.
Megatron arched and roared as the volts ripped into his system like lightning. Cliffjumper wiggled away and started to scramble up, but Megatron drove through the pain, hacking into his leg. Cliffjumper howled when the blade pierced his metal. Nightstalker gritted her dentures and lashed both whips over Megatron's leading arm. The arm spasmed a moment, and Megatron whirled on her.
Her spark leapt to her throat. Nightstalker backed away from his deliberately approaching steps, and she slapped the ground with her whips, sparks of electricity flying up in clouds to intimidate him. To her mounting horror, his optics danced, incensed by the tease.
Several hard shots from behind had Megatron whirling on Cliffjumper again. Nightstalker, panicking, raveled up her whips and yanked out the last vial of Airachnid's venom. Opening it, she aimed and threw it. The glass vial landed neatly on Megatron's upper back, bright green liquids dribbling down him and into the wires.
Megatron roared in agony, dropping Cliffjumper and servos scrabbling at the venom that seeped down his back. Cliffjumper transformed down with a pained cry, and Nightstalker followed him as they left behind a furious Megatron. Nightstalker landed in front of Cliffjumper, pointing rapidly to the pods.
"Cliff! Right here!"
Cliffjumper transformed, and Nightstalker shrieked and ducked when a blast from Megatron's ion cannon crashed above their heads. With a staggering jump, Cliffjumper shoved her inside the pod and followed. The pod disengaged with a heavy clang, and they fell from the NEMESIS.
Nightstalker panted, and she tensed up as she saw Cliffjumper bleeding all over the floor. He looked out the pod window as she stammered, "C-Cliff—your leg, you—"
He scooted over and brought her in his arms. She squeaked at the sudden change. "Landing," he muttered.
True to his words, the pod landed with a hard crash, jostling them inside. Nightstalker fell against Cliffjumper who set his jaw and pushed her behind him. He blasted the pod open, and Nightstalker coughed on the smoke; when she left the pod, she coughed on the dust.
Cliffjumper craned his head around the narrow and deep, rocky crevice they had fallen into. "All right," he said, immediately deducing that her wingspan was too wide to fit, "I'll give you a boost up on the pod and you'll have to pull me up. Then I'll give you another boost—maybe a throw—to the top. All right?"
"A-All right," she stuttered. He easily helped her to the top of the pod. When Nightstalker reached down for him, it took all of her strength to help him up, especially with his bum leg. Jets screamed above. Both Nightstalker and Cliffjumper looked up. Megatron blotted out the skies.
"PERISH!"
A volley of shots from his ion cannon rained down on them. Nightstalker screamed when they crashed above, causing the walls of the crevice to crumble in a waterfall of rocks and debris. Cliffjumper grabbed her, protecting her from the heavier stones as they filled the cave, up to the pod, up until it began to cover their peds. Even when the rocks crushed in on his ruined calf, Cliffjumper merely gave a pained scream and lifted Nightstalker up.
Instinct grabbed her. Nightstalker reached to Cliffjumper's neck, praying and praying he would forgive her as she grabbed the correct wire and pulled. His screams cut short, drowning in a burst of static as if he had died, and Nightstalker swallowed all her sounds of fear as the rock slide fell about them, debris blocking out the sun. When Cliffjumper continued to wrench and shake in pain and fear, Nightstalker grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. His panicked venting shuddered and he pressed his face into hers. She pressed back, drawing his strength.
The roar of falling debris slowed to a halt. In the silence, Nightstalker shivered, afraid to even breathe an intake when she heard Megatron land on top of the rubble. Cliffjumper's intakes seized in pain and fear, and he wrapped and arm around Nightstalker. Her servos reached up and gripped at his chassis as Megatron stomped on the top of the debris. Shots rang out. The debris rumbled and shuddered threateningly, but didn't fall on them. They held each other as Megatron continued his scrutiny.
Finally, when he either determined them dead or buried alive beneath without a way out, they heard a kick of his thrusters as he took off and left. Even then they shivered, terrified beneath the heaped debris.
It was concern for Cliffjumper that finally brought Nightstalker to action. With a shaking servo, she reattached the wire she had disconnected. Cliffjumper gasped with a wince and a twitch, and after a fizz of static, asked,
"Was that really necessary?"
Guilt choked her throat. "I—It—You . . ."
He gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I know, my screaming would have certainly tipped him off."
Nightstalker ducked her head, in cycles hitching with impending tears. "I—I'm sorry," she finally managed tightly. "I—I'm sorry, this is my fault. If I hadn't—"
Cliffjumper looked up, and his servo took her shoulder. "Nightstalker, don't—"
"But I did!" she interrupted harshly, hot tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. "I went back! Like a fragging miss-clock kite! And because of that—"
"Stop it," Cliffjumper cut in. He grabbed her by her helm, shaking her slightly. "Nights, stop it. Don't even go there. I know what I was getting into, And I know you—you wouldn't have gone back without good reason. Now stop it. Calm down." His thumb traced over her cheek in their cramped confines, wiping her tears away.
Nightstalker shuddered, sucking in a breath and choking on the dust. She coughed several times to clear her in cycles, biting her lip to hold back the rest of the tears. Cliffjumper gave a broad grin.
"Good. You know I don't do that tears business. Now, better?"
She shook her head, and his smile fell away. He sighed, hooking a finger under her chin and lifting up her head when she tried to hang it.
"Look at me," he murmured to her. The darkness was lit only by their optics as she did so. "This isn't your fault," he told her in no uncertain terms. "Don't do that to yourself. All right? You're better than that, and you know. I know it. Now breathe. Easy does it." His thumb brushed slowly again, this time over her bottom lip. Nightstalker felt her intakes still. She watched his optics dip lower than her optics. "Easy does it . . ."
When he leaned forward, Nightstalker's spark rate rocketed through the roof and she jerked back, knocking her helm on the rocks behind her. Cliffjumper chuckled, reaching his servo behind her head and holding her, thumb soothing over the bump. "Easy does it . . ."
His lips pressed softly to her, and Nightstalker felt the breath steal away from her. In their grave of stone, lit only by the glow of their optics, Nightstalker tasted bliss for the first time. They parted, and Nightstalker gasped irregularly, struggling to find some air.
Cliffjumper's mouth tipped into a cheeky smile. "Easy, Nights! Am I that good a kisser? Kiss you breathless?"
Nightstalker nodded. "Yeah," she said back without any preamble. That made Cliffjumper laugh freely. She looked up with hopeful orange optics. "Could you . . . I mean . . . Could you do it again?"
He grinned. "Could I ever." He leaned forward again, and this time when he pressed his mouth to hers, he traced his lips up to her audio receptor. "Like that?" he husked.
She nodded quickly again, struggling to find her breath. "Y-Yeah. Like that." She took in several breaths to steady her intakes before she looked up into Cliffjumper's optics again. "I—I've never been kissed like that before. I—I mean—Megatron. H-He never kissed me like that before. I've never . . ."
She trailed to a halt at the sadness that stole over Cliffjumper's gaze. She swallowed guiltily, but he merely cupped her cheek with his servo, murmuring, "Megatron could never kiss you like this. He doesn't understand what . . ."
Cliffjumper trailed off. When he did, Nightstalker looked up at him curiously, asking, "Understand what what is?"
Cliffjumper's neck bobbed. He leaned in until his breath was just as whisper across her face. "He doesn't understand . . . what this is . . ."
Before she could ask what "this" was, Cliffjumper's mouth had taken hers again, gently, pressing with a type of cherishing affection Nightstalker had never felt before. His lips were gentle, moving over hers skillfully as his fingers ghosted beneath her jawline, lavishing generous and sweet attention to her lips that made shivers run through her systems.
When his lips parted from hers, Nightstalker shuddered in a gasp, nerve endings practically singing through the tips of her toes to the tips of her wings. Her wings fluttered a little, scraping against the wall. "C-Cliffjumper," she whispered breathlessly, "I—I've never felt this way before. But I mean—I—I like it. I like it . . . a LOT."
His lips pulled into a soft smile. "Well good," he teased her lightly. He kissed her quickly again for good measure. "Cause it's going to be happening a lot more." Then, he looked up. "Once we get out of here."
Nightstalker looked up too. Her happiness deflated as all she could barely see through the darkness was a ceiling of rock. "How?" she asked plaintively.
Cliffjumper threw her a grin and a wink. "Guess I'll just have to dig us," he said. In saying so, he reached up and began to dig. When the rocks creaked and groaned forebodingly, both Nightstalker and Cliffjumper winced and cowered.
"Not a good idea," Nightstalker finally said flatly.
Cliffjumper scrunched his face up at the ceiling. "Well, if you've got a better idea than to sit here and leak to death . . ."
Nightstalker bit her lip. "Can we contact Ratchet?"
Cliffjumper shook his head. "Nope. Already tried it. The rocks have to be blocking the signal."
"Scrap." Nightstalker paused, gnawing on her lip. "Well . . . surely there's a better way."
"While you think of that, I'll be busy getting my other hand free."
So, while Cliffjumper twisted and turned and squirmed, working up his arm from between a rock and his hip, Nightstalker debated their situation—without much luck. By the time Cliffjumper had got his arm free, she still didn't have anything. So he began to dig again.
Dislocated rubble rained down on them, getting grit in their systems. And, though it grumbled and moaned menacingly, the ceiling held. Nightstalker counted it as sheer luck while Cliffjumper accounted it to a higher level, but either way, they were on the first steps to getting free. Cliffjumper eyed his handiwork when he couldn't reach any higher without straining his caught leg, a leg Nightstalker was petrified was going to get infected at this rate.
"All right," Cliffjumper finally said. "I'm going to give you a boost up. If you lay your wings flat, I'm sure you can squeeze up there and dig the rest of the way. Then, when you get to the surface, you can contact base, give them the rundown, get the team out here to dig me out, and viola! We all live happily ever after. Right?"
Nightstalker looked up at the narrow passage Cliffjumper had dug out. "Right," she said with failed bravado. "I can do that."
"Course you can," Cliffjumper said with a wink. "Could I bribe you with another kiss?"
Nightstalker looked up at him and looked back up at the ceiling. She pushed an unconvinced sound from her lips. "We'll just see about that . . ."
Nightstalker's little frame was easily given a boost up, and she pressed her wings flat. The walls scraped against her wings, but she began the upwards dig while squinting through the dust. When she stood on her toes, Cliffjumper grabbed her ankles and boosted her up to stand on his shoulders. When she stood on her toes on his shoulders, he grabbed her ankles again and boosted her up further. When she couldn't move her wings she got a severe case of claustrophobia that Cliffjumper had to talk her out of, but otherwise, things proceeded smoothly for having their fate riding on Nightstalker's scared shoulders.
Light began to trickle in. Empowered, excitement spread through Nightstalker, and she tore at the rocks quicker, bursting, "Cliff, Cliff, we're almost out!"
He gave a hearty laugh. "Atta girl, Nights! We're outta here!"
Nightstalker grinned when her servos broke into the air, a last shower of rocks and dust falling down. The sunlight blinded her a moment, and then, a hand snapped around her wrist.
Nightstalker screamed when she was yanked none-too-gently from their prison of rocks, and Cliffjumper shouted after her. Nightstalker shrank at the sight of furious red optics that promised to cut the energon out of her.
"What was it you said to me?" Megatron growled. "Raped you, did I?" His vice-like grip tightened until it literally crushed her wrist, and Nightstalker shrieked, splintering fires racing up her arm. "It seems to reason that the lying energon of a Decepticon still flows in you, AUTOBOT!"
When Nightstalker instinctively attacked with her free hand, he easily caught her attack. He gestured angrily to the three Vehicons behind him. "Get that imbecile out of those rocks and shut him up!"
As a unit, all three Vehicons began to dig for Cliffjumper, and Nightstalker cried out his name when she heard him scream as he was yanked out. Two Vehicons slung Cliffjumper to the ground, the third kicking his wounded leg. A hoarse scream cracked from his articulators.
Nightstalker was about to call his name when she felt herself lifted and slung. The breath left her in a painful whoosh, and she struggled to breathe when his servo slammed into her throat so hard he nearly broke it with one irate blow.
"Nightstalker! Nights!"
She barely heard Cliffjumper's worried yells as her one good servo pulled uselessly at Megatron's inescapable grip. His hellish red optics glinted in her line of sight, and he snarled, "If you thought what we had before was rape you are SORELY mistaken. You want to know what rape is, you little glitch? Well, now you'll get it!"
Nightstalker had enough time to widen her optics, feel his clawed hands sink into her pelvic region, and a violent RIP.
Nightstalker bucked and shrieked in agony when he ripped her interfacing panels aside and cast them off like vile offal. Her central processor, fritzing with pain, could barely understand Cliffjumper's infuriated and terrified yells.
"You keep your hands off her!" he bellowed. Struggling up as much as he could, Cliffjumper transformed his servos into his ion cannons, and the instant he did, the three Vehicons attacked. The first kicked his wounded leg, easily bringing him back to his knees. The second blasted a laser through his left cannon, ripping his arm asunder and jamming the gun and his arm's transformation sequence. The third grabbed his neck and slammed the muzzle of his laser to his helm with the threat to shoot if he tried anything again.
Nightstalker, however worried about Cliffjumper, was frozen in rising fear at the immeasurable fury in Megatron's optics. Vaguely, she heard the click of something, and Megatron bared his teeth at her.
"I hope you enjoy this as much as I do," he hissed malevolently. A chill swept over Nightstalker's circuits. Her energon tanks rolled with sudden, sickening clarity of how horrible this was going to be when she felt his spike press against her valve. Her vocals fused with terror; Cliffjumper's horrified shouts rose in panic.
"No! Don't you do it, you sick fragger!"
Instinctively, Nightstalker tried to get a hold of the base. She toggled and dialed and redialed, but something was jamming her signal—frag, what—what—Ratchet! She tried to scream, but nothing came out but an airy rasp.
*scene truncated*
At this point, she wasn't sure what was hurting more—the rape of her body or her mind. Things were eerily quiet at this point, and through the rushing of energon in her audio receptors, she was aware that Cliffjumper had finally given up his pleading for Megatron to stop. He wouldn't stop. Not until he was satisfied. And when would that be? Nightstalker didn't know. Maybe when she was dead.
When Megatron finally tired of her, he smirked at Cliffjumper's bowed head and Nightstalker's unresponsive form. Her optics were still online, flickering in pain and disorientation, but when he waved his servo in front of her, she didn't even seem to notice it. Bemused, Megatron turned off the signal jammer. He accessed her communications, leaning his face in close to hear and speak through her lines.
"Nightstalker," he heard Optimus say strictly, and his smirk widened at the stress in the Prime's voice. "What is your status? What has happened to you and Cliffjumper?"
Megatron's lip curled. "Much more than you know, Prime," Megatron hissed into her communications line. In the base, Optimus froze, a cold chill settling in his circuits. Megatron gave a dark laugh. "Come and collect these wretches you call soldiers. I'm sure there's enough energon spilled here that you can trace them."
Megatron tossed Nightstalker over his shoulder, and she flopped like a rag doll, too weak and exhausted to help herself. With a gesture, two of the Vehicons lifted the distraught Cliffjumper and dragged him forward. A second later, the Autobot ground bridge opened up and Optimus, Bumblebee, and Arcee all rushed out with weapons drawn.
"Megatron . . ." Optimus growled darkly. His optics grazed over Nightstalker and to Cliffjumper. The Vehicons threw him forward, and he fell face-flat into the ground, uncaring. His blasters were mangled while one arm was bleeding profusely, and his damaged leg was gushing energon too, filled with dirt and infestation. With shock, Optimus saw his shoulders shaking and could hear his weeping.
Megatron's facial expression was picturesque of sadistic evil. With a toothy smirk, Megatron said, "Take these wretches. You can watch this one waste away and die." Saying so, he tossed Nightstalker on her back in front of the Prime, turned, and took off with his three Vehicons.
Optimus's gun followed Megatron mechanically, but his optics dropped to Nightstalker as a wave of sickening horror washed over him. Bumblebee's shriek lambasted across his audio receptors in despair, and the scout sank to his knees and covered his face, so revolted by the sight that he couldn't even move to help her. Arcee stared, almost uncomprehending of the disgusting sight presented to them.
Cliffjumper's despairing sobs punctured through the silence.
"I just watched . . . all I did was watch . . . I couldn't do anything . . ."
Nightstalker's legs were spread akimbo at awkward angles, evidence of her hips being broken out of alignment. Pools of sticky energon seeped into the dirt from her valve, and her chassis was a messy array of bloody energon lines ripped asunder. Her wrists and arms were twisted, mangled, and energon gushed profusely from her chassis, spark beating in plain sight. Her delicates were raped and torn, wirings sliced and ripped and cut, an incomprehensible mass of mutilated parts.
Optimus's energon tanks rolled with the urge to purge, but he fought it down.
Ratchet does not need this on top of what has happened to Bulkhead . . .
Snapping into action, Optimus approached the critical Nightstalker, and he was astonished to find her still online and lucid. Her optics stared listlessly up at him as he knelt down, servos hovering uncertainly and shaking.
"You were right," she whispered. A humorless laugh left her. "I was a fool. You were always right . . ."
His palm rested against her cheek as his spark surged protectively. He quaked. "I didn't want to be," he whispered. He shook his head. "Not this time . . ."