Author notes: ~ It's the fic that never eeeends ~ It goes on and on my friiiiiends ~ You started reading not knowing what it was ~ And you'll read on forever if only just because ~
..It had to be said. Even I know this thing is dragging on too long. I am so sorry. ... And also a little glad.
Holy crap did I get a lot of reviews last chapter. O_o
RESPOND TIME. YAAAAY.
To EVERYONE who guessed Bumblebee: I'm sorry to disappoint. I hope the reveal isn't TOO bad, though. ;)
GreyLilly: Have you seen the Allspark Almanac entry for Cliffjumper? He was apparently too angry and had too much of a temper to be a spy. Think about that. The military decided he was too violent.
KyuubiSango: Tintinnabulation? It means, simply put, a ringing noise. XD Oh, online thesauruses, how I love thee..
Zaran: Even though I doubt you're reading this, as you said you stopped, I have to say.. Why did you start reading in the first place despite ample warning of the subject matter? XD This thing WILL end eventually. ... Eventually.
Reka1207: Very carefully. And you shall see.
Peacewish: For once, there is no giant wooden horse involved. XD
Dream Story Weaver: Oooh.. You, my friend.. You are GOOD. You noticed the subtle detail, there. Kudos to you, my friend! =D
Black Moon Dragon: I.. Actually have no idea. In my head, they were very shadowy and only barely had any form at all. Probably because, as 'background' characters, they really weren't all that important. ... But my brain says one might have been Springer. o_O
On candy stripe legs, the spider man comes
Softly through the shadow of the evenin' sun
Stealin' past the windows of the blissfully dead
Looking for the victim shivering in bed
Searchin' out fear in the gathering gloom
And suddenly a movement in the corner of the room
And there is nothing I can do when I realize with fright
That the spider man is having me for dinner tonight
Quietly, he laughs and shaking his head
Creeps closer, now, closer to the foot of the bed
And softer than shadow and quicker than flies
His arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes!
-- 'Lullaby', The Cure
Souvenir: Chapter Thirty-Five
The walk towards Shockwaves' quarters seemed to be much longer than usual. Cliffjumper couldn't be certain if the extra distance was real or simply imaginary; it was certainly possible that the halls passed between the meeting room and that strange storage facility could have added quite a bit of time to the journey. Still, every step seemed to take an eternity to complete.
The mech clinging to him was certainly a distraction from the numb haze he could ordinarily fall in to; the similarly leashed and collared bot shook and trembled and likely would not have been able to walk without the support he offered. Cliffjumper didn't blame him; he could still recall his first few solar cycles in this place and all the terror that came with it.
The normal occurrences -- the distant screams, the cries of pain from nearby slaves and the chortles of malicious Decepticons -- were still in place. Each and every sound set off a new bout of trembles and a few barely audible whimpers from the yellow frame; wide blue optics continuously glanced around in panic.
Still, the yellow bot never once tried to run or pull away from Cliffjumper; the former secretary wondered if the young bot knew by now that there was no way out. He wondered if the the new slave knew what fate awaited him at the end of their walk.
In the elevator, they finally had a chance to pause, even if only for just a moment. The brief few seconds of inactivity proved to be the final straw; yellow stabilizing servos finally collapsed from underneath a trembling frame.
Cliffjumper gasped and tried to lift him back up; the elevator door slid open before he could properly get the shellshocked minibot back to his pedes. A pull on both their leashes only brought about more difficulty; they both stumbled at once, near identical molds falling halfway inside the elevator and halfway out.
Shockwave stopped and glanced back. The expression on the Decepticon's angular faceplate was as unreadable as ever; still, he appeared to be waiting for them. Unwilling to test the cyclops' patience, Cliffjumper moved hurriedly and grabbed at shaking yellow arms with more force than was likely necessary.
It took a long few seconds to complete. Shockwave maintained silence the entire time and didn't begin to walk again until the red minibot securely held the yellow mech with one bright yellow arm over a red-plated shoulder.
From there, it was barely a few cycles more before they were inside Shockwaves' quarters. Claws grasped at their collars as soon as they were inside. Cliffjumper simply waited for the metal to be unlatched; the yellow bot, however, jolted at the contact.
The collars were set on the shelf before Shockwave turned to leave. "I will return at the usual time." With that, he walked away. The door slid and locked behind him with an audible click.
As soon as he was gone, Cliffjumper looked to the mech he continued to support. "Are you okay?"
Wide optics stared. After a moment, the bot nodded; intakes came in short, fearful breaths.
"Come on.." Cliffjumper sighed; he moved towards the chaise, knowing the other mech was in no condition to make the short climb on to the top of the chair. "We have a few hours before Shockwave gets back."
As soon as he was on the plush sofa, the yellow Autobot practically collapsed on the comfortable lounger. He then curled up and optics shut down in a clear attempt to calm himself; the only sign that he hadn't slipped in to recharge were the fast-paced movements of his own intakes and the occasional hiccup.
Now that they were relatively safe, Cliffjumper finally had a good look at the bot he would likely spend a great deal of time with. He had been correct in earlier assumptions; the yellow Autobot sported the exact same protoform mold in a bright, sunny yellow with black highlights. Even his windows had a dark tint, although the mech's faceplate sported a pale yellow hue. Nothing else appeared particular spectacular; rounded sensory horns instead of the atypical point appeared to be the only real diversion from the standard layout.
After nearly ten minutes of general silence, blue optics slowly lit up again. Finally, the yellow mech glanced around and appeared to take stock of where he was.
"This.. This is the weirdest cell ever." The words came hushed and bordered on a sob.
A saddened smirk crossed Cliffjumpers' faceplate. "Trust me, it's as bad a prison as the Stockades." The smirk vanished as he looked to the curled up mech.
He didn't even know where to begin; he had absolutely no idea what he could or should say.
The yellow mech stared back with wide, terrified optics. "You're.. An Autobot, aren't you?"
Cliffjumper winced at that. "The red optic wasn't my idea, kid. I'm an Autobot 'til the cycle I offline."
A sudden hiccup erupted from the yellow mech. "Wh.. What are they gonna do to us? Why are we here?"
The moment of truth; Cliffjumper gulped and tries to formulate a proper response. Carerra's words returned to haunt him again; had Hubcap felt this way when he had to explain what was going to happen?
Carerra had said she had been glad for the warning; he had to give this young bot -- and his mannerisms certainly hinted at youth -- the same courtesy. He had to know what was going to happen to him.
However, Cliffjumper found the words difficult to grasp.
"Why did.. Was that Shockwave, you said? The Shockwave? Undercover spy, one of the most wanted Decepticons, deactivation-on-a-stick Shockwave?"
That last nickname was new; Cliffjumper couldn't help but stare at the yellow Autobot in faint amusement. "Yeah. Yeah, kid, that's him."
The mech gulped. "..Why are we here? This looks like someone's.. House."
"It is. It's Shockwaves' personal quarters." A deep frown crossed a red and gray faceplate. He opened his mouth to continue with the train of thought, but the words escaped once again.
Blue optics stared at the former secretary with fearful anticipation.
"..I'm Cliffjumper. What's your name, kid?"
"F.. Furao." The yellow Autobot gulped. "My name's Furao."
Cliffjumper blinked at that. "..Furao?"
"It's a weird designation, I know." Yellow shoulder guards shrugged. "My drill sergeant really liked organic languages and things. One of my boot camp buddies got stuck with the name Battle Unicorn, so it could've been worse." A small smile. "Once we found out what a unicorn was, we didn't lay it down 'til we graduated." He then stopped; the smile suddenly dropped. "..Why am I talking about this?"
Cliffjumper gulped. "Kid.. Furao.." He had a feeling it would take a while to get used to the bizarre designation. "Shockwave, he.." He looked away, unable to look at his new cellmate. "..We're his spark slaves. That's why we're here."
He didn't have to look at the pale yellow faceplate to know that horror must have overtaken him. The shaking that quickly took over the nearby frame could be felt even a few mechanometers away.
"No. No, no, no, no." Furao trembled and whimpered. "No, no, that.. Please tell me you're kidding me!"
"I'm sorry." A deep, shaky intake was taken. "I'm so sorry, kid."
"Is there a way to stop him?!" The yellow mech's voice began to pitch. "Isn't there something we can do?! Please tell me there's a way out of here or, or something!"
"I've tried, Furao." Pain filled optics looked back to the terrified yellow bot. "How do you think I got this optic and these servos? I tried to kill the slagger and get out of here before. A few times, even."
"Those servos aren't --" Furao gaped at realization. "..Oh, dear Primus." Trembling hands covered his faceplate beneath saucer-wide optics. "Oh my Primus.. Oh, Primus, he's.. He's really going to.." His intake hiccuped in a slightly different manner.
Cliffjumper let out a deep breath. He rushed to the same trash bin that Blurr had vomited in to in those early days and brought it back as quickly as he could.
Furao grabbed it as soon as he was able and repeated the same actions the previous captive had all those months ago; this time, Cliffjumper did not wince at the sound.
The yellow mech held the garbage can with both arms wrapped around it; his entire frame shook as he heaved inside, helm all but buried in to the molded plastic. He didn't bother to glance up when he eventually began to speak again.
"He.. Shockwave.. He did.. That to you, didn't he..?"
A deep shudder coursed through a red frame. "Every.." He couldn't stop his own intake from hiccuping. "Every solar cycle since I got here."
Blue optics gazed over the top of the rim. "How long..?"
The former secretary was only slightly surprised that he had to think about it. "Nearly.. Seven months now. Just about."
"Primus.." Furao breathed again; he buried his face back inside the bin to dry heave further.
"Kid.." Cliffjumper frowned. "..Shockwave is going to come back in.." He glanced at the clock. "..A little under two megacycles. When he does, he's going to sit on the bench you're on for three quarters of a megacycle to do some reading. Sometimes, he likes it when I'm.. When one of us is sitting with him, but, most of the time, he's going to leave us alone. After that, though.." A deep intake. "After that, though, he's.."
Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to say the word. Despite enduring the horrific crime for months on end, the former secretary found that he couldn't talk about it; it was difficult even to warn the other Autobot. He had once worked with words and compiled hundreds of reports; he had never known simply speaking could be so terribly difficult.
"And.. And he's going to.. Keep doing it?" Furao sounded ready to sob. "Every.. Every solar cycle?"
"To one of us, yeah. It'll change. Whoever isn't.. Picked spends the night in the cage-tank thing over there."
Furao had to glance up to see what his cellmate referred to. "It.. It's transparent." A moan as he buried his faceplate in to the bin again. His words came out in a wail that was barely muffled by the plastic. "Oh my Primus, I'm going to get fragged by a sick 'con..!"
Then, the yellow mech finally began to sob. His frame shook as he barely clung to the trash bin, body still hunched over with his faceplate buried inside.
Cliffjumper simply set both hands on a yellow arm in the attempt at comfort.
No matter what Cliffjumper thought to do, Furao would not calm down. He supposed it was an impossible task to calm the yellow mech; not on this first night and not when they both knew what was coming for them.
So, he did the only thing that seemed proper for the situation; he kept tabs on the time. The hours ticked by in a slow, sickening churn of one whimpered cycle in to the next; the trash can hadn't even been set back in it's proper place until nearly two hours after it had been picked up. The new captive had clung to it as if it were a lifeline; he only allowed it to be set back when the stench of partially processed energon had become too much to handle.
Before the alarm clock had a chance to sound off a warning bell, Cliffjumper nudged his depressed and terrified cellmate. "He's going to be here soon. I usually sit in the corner while the slagger reads." He paused a moment in thought. "..I can't actually think of a reason why it's better to sit there, but it just seemed better to be as far away from him as possible before.." A saddened breath.
Furao continued to tremble, but he nodded slightly. "O-okay. Sounds like a good idea to me."
The red minibot didn't hesitate to help his new friend to the corner by the washrack door. The alarm finally did set off a bare second after they both sat down; expectedly, the yellow mech jumped at the noise.
"Just the clock." Cliffjumper smirked sadly. "I hate that thing. It's good warning, though."
Before Furao could reply, the door slid open. Shockwave walked in, quiet and aloof.
The trembles already wrecking havoc over a yellow frame only increased at the sight of the towering purple mech. The young minibot physically slid down and tried to hide behind an unsurprised Cliffjumper.
Shockwave didn't spare them so much as a glance. He simply picked a datapad from the shelf and sat back on the chaise.
Throughout the hour of waiting and knowing, Furao curled up and trembled behind a red-plated back. Whimpers erupted from the frightened minibot every few seconds but didn't appear to bother the Decepticon sitting a few mechanometers away; at least, Shockwave gave no sign that the noises bothered him. He simply continued to read, the only movements being a single talon pressing a button on the datapad he held.
When the alarm sounded again, Furao's optics lit up in sheer terror. Even as Shockwave only moved to set the novel back on the shelf, trembling yellow hands grasped hold of a red arm and clung on tight.
Cliffjumper frowned slightly. Still, he moved in to a protective stance; it was the same protective mode he had slid in to when Blurr had been there. He doubted it would do any more good than it had with his old friend; however, he couldn't allow himself not to try.
Cloven pedes neared; every step echoed in the near silence. A slitted optic peered down at both prisoners, glancing from the quiet, stoic figure to the trembling mess of metal. It didn't take long before a decision was made.
One claw grabbed hold of each arm and pulled them apart. Furao screamed in fear; Cliffjumper simply gasped in confusion. The latter quickly found the reason why they were both seized when he found himself thrust in to the transparent cage. The door was shut and locked in quick order; he didn't bother to try and open it.
Outside of the plexiglass tank, screams and pleading erupted from the yellow mech being dragged to the berth. Furao struggled fiercely, kicking, yelling, and even going so far as to bite the claws that held him. Of course, none of it worked; Cliffjumper knew it wouldn't. He had tried it all before, after all.
He couldn't bear to watch; it may have been months since he had last been in the cage, but his processor automatically moved him to the same spot he had occupied when Blurr had been forced to the berth. The former secretary laid down with his back to the torture and shut his optics offline.
There was simply no way he could slip in to recharge with the screams of terror so close. The screams quickly evolved in to shrieks of pain and pitched pleads for mercy. As a last ditch effort, he covered his audio receptors with what had become his servos; it barely helped to muffle the sounds.
Even when the pain-filled cries had quieted and silence finally reigned after what seemed to be a very long time, recharge wound up being impossible to find.
"Be still, be calm, be quiet now, my precious boy
Don't struggle like that or I will only love you more."
For it's much too late to get away or turn on the light
The spider man is having me for dinner tonight
And I feel like I'm being eaten
By a thousand million shivering furry holes
And I know that in the morning
I will wake up in the shivering cold
And the spider man is always hungry..
-- 'Lullaby', The Cure
Author notes: ..Who saw THAT bot coming? :D He exists! Look him up on the TF wiki!