See Prologue for disclaimer. Some serious scenes with dubious consent.
Chapter 52: The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
It took awhile for her to stop crying, but gentle reassuring touches and exhaustion made her calm down a little more. Tears still ran down her cheeks, but she was no longer screaming and sobbing loudly. Inside she was chastising herself for showing weakness to mechs she didn't know and didn't trust.
Well, she was starting to trust Thundercracker a little more but she didn't want to think about how Starscream would react to this. Eleaniris pushed deeper into his servo when she saw Skywarp start to reach for her, fingers outstretched to pluck her up. She almost felt bad when Skywarp's faceplates fell, disappointed that she had cowered from him and didn't want him to hold her, and his servo dropped back to his side.
She clutched Thundercracker's chestplates, making the Seeker jump a little, "Do you want to stay with me, Eleaniris?" She nodded, making an effort not to look at the crestfallen Skywarp.
Thundercracker looked at Starscream, whose faceplates had remained emotionless and mysteriously guarded in a way that made her feel nervous and fearful. Starscream looked like a mafia boss that was debating what to do with a prisoner. "Take her." His voice didn't tell her anything about what he was thinking either. Great.
The midnight blue Seeker nodded, moving to go to the door. "Not yet." Starscream's voice sounded again and the Seeker holding her stopped. "Bring her here."
He obeyed, though reluctantly, and tilted his palm to slide her into Starscream's servo. "Perhaps," a lewd grin crossed his faceplates, making her optics widen in fear, "we can make her feel better first."
"W-what do you mean?" Eleaniris shuddered, wishing she was back in Thundercracker's servo.
"I mean this." Starscream's lips met her own and smothered her face in the sloppy kiss. She squeaked and tried to push away, but the movement was futile. He had her pinned against his lip components, leaving no room for her to avoid him. She wriggled in protest, trying to turn her helm from the unwanted touch. Megatron would have left me alone by now.
Starscream pulled away, purring as his optics flashed. "We'll show you how Seekers make love. Just relax, and you'll enjoy it. I promise." He turned and went to lay her out on the platform, pinning her underneath a servo.
"You won't be needing these," he growled, roughly taking off her pelvic plates and making quick work of her chest ones afterward. "They make you smell like him." Above her Skywarp nodded in agreement, leaving her to wonder how it could be there if a) she had taken a bath, especially with Skywarp's scrubbing and b) if Megatron hadn't touched her.
No. Even if their smelling sensors were better than hers, there was no way that the scent could be there. It was just some stupid comment about the attire he had torn off and cast out of her reach.
"So beautiful and all ours," Starscream bent to sniff at her and she growled at him angrily, trying to kick out since her servos were pinned. Skywarp's fingers came down over her legs to hold them down, his face hovering to her left.
"You're really pretty, Squeaker." Skywarp smirked, kissing her side briefly. "Megatron didn't deserve you."
"Why don't you open up, Seekerlet?" Starscream purred lustfully, making her want to shudder and crawl away to hide.
"O-open w-what?" Eleaniris asked fearfully, not wanting to know what they were referring to. If someone told me two years ago that I would be trapped in the Hoover Dam and about to be raped by three aliens, I would have had them tried for insanity.
"Your panel, Squeaker." Skywarp crooned, tapping on what she assumed was her "panel" at the apex of her thighs. "Just send a command."
"W-what if I d-don't?" She asked, hating the fear that she continued to show these monsters. Her gaze moved to settle on Thundercracker, her optics wide in a silent beg. Please! To her disappointment he didn't move, his faceplates only sympathetic.
"You will eventually," Skywarp purred, lowering his servo to somewhere on his own underbelly. Starscream saw this and moved his own servo, two simultaneous clicks sounding.
She writhed even more underneath Starscream and Skywarp, crying anew and screaming. "PLEASE!"
"Please what, little femme?" Starscream purred, eyeing her unclothed body.
"St-stop!" Eleaniris squirmed, the pulse in her chest growing faster and unhappier. It was making her long for Megatron all over again, and she had to admit…
She would rather be with him right now. He hadn't tried to rape her again since the first time, he hadn't tried to force himself on her, besides a few occasions where he got carried away.
They were in the training room, the cavernous space lit up by the orange afternoon sun. As usual no others occupied the space and it was silent except for the clash of their blades, clanking and groaning of their moving gears, hiss of pumping pistons, and heavy venting as air swished in and out of their bodies to cool their heating frames. There were no spoken words until he broke their fragile truce, grinning as she tumbled between his legs and tried to slash at his back, only for him to turn halfway and block her swipe.
"Good." The shrunken Megatron congratulated, knowing full well that "good" was not enough for her anymore. "Good" was not sufficient if next time one of his followers insulted her she was going to bury a dagger in one of their fuel lines. If she was lucky, the toxin in them would have a hangover-like effect.
Bastards.
"'Good' isn't enough," She bounced up and parried his own blow, jumping backwards to avoid his slash even though she knew that he never tried to hurt her. The blades he used were purposefully dulled so that they would leave minor scratches, if he hit her at all.
"It's enough for me," he purred, optics flashing as she whirled yet again. She had noticed that they were coming to a wall, keeping all of her focus on the mech in front of her.
"I beg to differ," she tried to snarl but ended up gasping from the lack of air in her vents. She was starting to get realllllly hot.
"Don't you always," he purred again, swiping both of his blades at her abdomen in opposite directions and forcing her to jump backwards from them. His whole demeanor told her that this was child's play for him, making her angrier. He was humouring her, for his fighting right now was nothing compared to what he had done in those gladiator tapes.
If he wanted to kill or hurt her, he could do so faster than she could bat an eye. If she had one to bat, that is.
"Perhaps." She lunged forward, one dagger out to stab at his side which he had left unguarded for an instant. Megatron chuckled and swept upwards to block, making her retreat even further and hit the wall squarely with her back and making a sharp clang. He had left himself open on purpose as a ploy to get her to come closer.
He approached her so that there was less than a foot's difference between them, a deep rumble from his chest making her want to shrink back. "Okay, you've won." She dropped her daggers to the black, thin padding of the floor with a dull thud. "Now give me some space."
Megatron's chuckle infuriated her as he continued to advance, stopping when she could feel his exhaust on the top of her helm. It came down in hot puffs, like snorts from an enormous dragon. He kissed her crown gently, his servos gingerly but firmly pinning her arms against the metal wall. He must have subspaced his blades.
"I hate you," she muttered, glaring at his chest since she couldn't see his optics; he was too tall, even as her own "size."
He crouched so that he was at optic level with her, locking gazes for a moment before diving in to nuzzle at her neck carefully, placing a few kisses there and muttering, "I don't hate you." She felt him vent inwards sharply, probably analysing her scent, before giving her a little lick.
Megatron stepped back to look at her, purring like a huge cat before stealing a kiss from her gaping lips. Even though her mouth had been open in a gasp of mortification at his behaviour, he did not take advantage of it. The kiss was chaste yet passionate, betraying all of the lust he felt for her but also some strange kind of… respect? Nah. It couldn't have been.
He was the one to break it, staring deep into her white pools with his red ones and nuzzling her faceplates gently, rubbing their nasal ridges together and offlining his optics for the shortest of moments. Then he retreated, typing into the subspace mass distributor on his wrist and restoring his old size.
She scooped up her daggers and resheathed them hastily, anticipating the moment when he bent and picked her up gently. The whole walk up was silent except for his steps and the occasional greeting from a subordinate. How dare he kiss her like that? How dare he?
Her optics wandered downwards and she got a glimpse of something hugging the undersides of both Skywarp's and Starscream's respective bellies, but she shuttered them as soon as she realized what they were.
And that they were not going to fit. Not without splitting her like a rotten piece of fruit.
Was this really worth it? Was Megatron so bad to her that she would allow herself to be taken this way? He's not someone you should cry out to for help, a part of her snarled at the unsure part, he's your enemy, for God's sake!
But is he really, whispered the weak voice of the submissive side of her she had stifled since she was a Senator. Remember what he said about these things?
She had just asked Megatron for humanity's freedom and his adamant, permanent refusal had sparked another argument between them. At this point she had surmised that it would take more for Megatron to hurt her than to hurt others, even those in his Command. If any of them or a human slave had mouthed off like she had, she was sure that they would have been pulverized by one of those huge servos on the first transgression. As it was, however, he would simply refuse her Energon or keep her locked up in his apartments.
Mild punishments, to be truthful. He would always give her Energon the next morning or let her out after a few days. There was no doubt in her mind that it was just another ploy to get her to give in; once she succumbed to his "big softie" displays and let him seduce her, that would be when he got around his no-rape rule and made her his sex slave forever.
"Eleaniris, I have told you already that it is the place of humanity to serve us. Relax, precious, and enjoy the luxury you live in." He said this nonchalantly, pouring another glass of high-grade Energon for himself from the huge decanter-like container. "Not many femmes have had this opportunity."
"How can you say that?" She stomped her pede on the surface of their dining table, gesturing angrily with her servos and making her skirts billow slightly with movement. "It's just so wrong."
"How so?" Megatron took a sip from his drink, his optics only slightly narrowed. Does he really not get why? How dense is he?
He swallowed crisply, venting contently as he said, "Besides, humans have enslaved each other prior to our incorporation." He always called the Invasion and destruction of her home "incorporation," like he had bought out Earth and added it to his corporate Empire. It always got under her metal skin to prick at her heart with its sharp needle. "In fact, the United States Government sanctioned the practice, precious. The government you used to run allowed it." He raised an optic ridge at her and took another sip from his glass in a self- assured way, as if he had already won.
What do you take me for, some kind of fool? Puh-lease. I took a US History course in high school, aside from majoring in it at Harvard. Although his point was a good one, she had one that was even better.
"Well," she began, trying to keep her composure, "do you know what my political party was founded on, Megatron?" If she was someone else and gave such sass to him, she would be a metal pancake on the table right now.
He looked as if he was searching for something on the internet, his seemingly frozen stare telling her as much. "It was founded upon freeing said slaves. Do you know who our first President was from aforementioned party?"
"Abraham Lincoln, sir. So don't you lecture me about how my government sanctioned this or allowed that. The founding belief of my political party goes against what you've been doing, and it makes you my enemy."
He set down his half-full cube and began with a cruel smirk on his face, "I am not your official enemy, precious." The patient and amused tone hadn't changed at all to her chagrin.
"And why, pray tell, is that?" She crossed her arms and quirked a ridge quizzically.
His chuckle elevated her irritation and he rumbled smugly, "Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 provides that only Congress can declare war, little flower." The Emperor raised a single clawed finger to the underside of her chin, forcing her to look up at his optics. "The President cannot."
If his talon wasn't keeping her jaw closed, it would have fallen open in shock. "How did you-"
"I did my research after our last discussion of Constitutional powers." He dropped his claw but kept the servo it belonged to close to her body. "My point still stands; I am not your official enemy, Eleaniris, because your Congress did not declare war on me." Because you killed them all, bastard, before they even had a chance.
Before any of us had a chance to do anything, really.
She couldn't argue well with his statement. It was the final nail in her coffin. After that she had just shut up, letting him finish his drink in victorious silence with a knowing ghost of a smirk on his faceplates. The discussion never came up again but both agreed that he had won.
When didn't he?
His point had raised serious doubt in her mind. Even though he was both her moral enemy and her political one, his ideas had been good enough to defeat her.
She just laid on the platform, crying and limp and unsure. Skywarp released her legs only to move his servo upwards to poke at her chest, making her cry out at the sharp jabs. He looked oddly concerned for a moment, staring downwards at her pinned form beneath him.
"Are you alright, little Squeaker?"
"No! Of course I'm not!" Her strained voice made Skywarp's decision unsure in his processor. Everybody knew that stressed mates didn't produce strong sparklings, and if they went through with this how unhappy would she be with him? Nevertheless he kept kissing at her, nudging her with his nasal ridge carefully.
Starscream was becoming more rough in his attentions, however, making her body rub against the cement of the platform. "Please! Stop!" She sounded very angry, tired, stressed and scared. Skywarp made his decision and retracted his pressurized spike, as painful as it was, and tried to convince Starscream to leave her alone.
"Come on, Starscream. She won't carry as well if we force her." Skywarp released her legs and moved his servo to the back of his trinemate.
Starscream shrugged him off angrily and pushed Skywarp away, making her shriek and try to curl up into a ball as best as her pinned-down form could. With Skywarp out of the way, Starscream settled himself over her completely, peering down at her with his wicked optics. Eleaniris squirmed even more and kicked her legs, trying not to focus on what awaited her by Starscream's underbelly.
No, she couldn't tell Megatron about this. She wouldn't break and cry to him for help yet again. As if she could, anyway, while she was inside the dam. The four football fields thick of concrete blocked her comm. signals.
Instead she turned her gaze to Thundercracker, again begging for assistance with wide white optics. Something clicked in the processor behind those faceplates and the midnight-blue jet opened his mouth to protest, "Starscream, she's not ready."
The Seeker he was addressing snarled, turning around to glare at his trinemate, "I don't care if she is ready," Eleaniris flinched at both the meaning and screechiness of his words, "She is here, and that is all that matters."
"Besides, perhaps she shouldn't carry our sparklings if she doesn't have a t-cog." Starscream cocked his helm at her, studying her frame with an intense red gaze. "Perhaps she should only be a pleasurebot, a toy for the base to use."
Thundercracker kept helping her, to her surprise. "Maybe she has coding for one, even if she doesn't physically have a t-cog. We should wait until any decisions are made, Starscream." He winked at her, so fast that she wasn't sure that that had happened. "If you force her now, you might damage her psychologically and she won't make a very strong carrier."
"Yeah!" Skywarp supported. He couldn't contribute much to the argument, but he did want little Squeaker to be comfortable with cuddling with him. That was one of the reasons he had decided to leave her alone, along with the fact that her cuddling with him and their sparklings made his spark pulse with satisfaction. The usually cruel mech though it would be just so adorable.
"And besides, maybe you should bond with her in front of Megatron, when you have won, just to prove how weak he really is." The way Thundercracker's optics shifted from Starscream to her and back again told her that his horrifying words weren't true, much to her relief. She had seen that look plenty of times in D.C. in the faces of politicians that were making a false promise in the hopes of being able to get something else. Usually it was reelection, but sometimes it was the first warning of a political backstab.
Starscream peered at her and growled, this one dangerous and mortally threatening unlike the ones Megatron had given to her before, making her want to shrink back into the concrete. "Very well. I will wait to bond with her until Megatron's imminent demise." He purred and his optics flashed brightly in an intense display of passion. Why does he hate Megatron so much?
"But since you're so eager," he plucked her up carelessly and tossed her at Thundercracker, who caught her in a precisely outstretched servo, "You can take care of her."
Thundercracker wasted no time in leaving the room, Skywarp not following them down the passage. He left her skirts behind on the platform, however, in his rush to leave. What made him help me? What made Skywarp help me? The latter has killed millions, but he won't rape me?
She was silent, still shell-shocked when he muttered so lowly that she could barely hear over the boom of his footsteps, "We shouldn't have stayed here." Was he talking about the location of the base or the planet?
She cocked her helm at him, not able to form words at the moment. That was so close. "Humanity was never our true opponent. Humanity was never an honorable opponent." His voice hadn't risen and she wondered if he was even aware that he was speaking aloud.
That notion disintegrated when he lowered his gaze from off in the distance to Eleaniris. "You shouldn't be here, like this. This," he gestured to her metal body, "shouldn't have happened." These are not the words of someone that wants to use me for a voyeuristic display of victory. He saved me by making a false promise, by dangling a carrot in front of Starscream.
"What has happened here has soiled the Decepticon name," Is this really happening right now? Am I dreaming? Could Decepticons like this really exist? "and, madame President, I can't say how disgusted I am by all of this." Madame President? Am I hearing this correctly? Is he apologizing in his own way, because God-forbid a Decepticon say "I'm sorry?"
Her jaw dropped as she gawked at the Seeker holding her. His gaze immediately ripped away and he guarded his expression, making it hard again as he continued on his journey down the passageway. He's still a Decepticon, not wanting to apologise.
Just not a human-hating one.
"Are you ready for this?" Burns whispered to Lennox, suddenly glad that he had left behind the more-than-capable Epps to lead Nation in his (possibly permanent) absence.
"No." Lennox's jaw was clenched in anger, though it was slightly more subtle than it had been yesterday. He was twisting the golden band on his left hand like mad, probably thinking about his recently-rescued wife at the base. "But it must be done, right?"
Burns nodded grimly, looking back at the gleaming palace in the late afternoon sun. If it hadn't been built by their invaders and enslavers, it would have been a truly beautiful place worthy of being called the eighth Wonder of the World.
"So how does this work? We just walk in there?" Lennox asked incredulously, although Burns believed that it was probably rhetorical and just to make a point about how ridiculous all of this was.
Burns crouched and started out of the forest, answering Lennox but not looking at him, "Yup. Come on, soldier, we've got orders."
Lennox, clothes still damp from the purposeful bath in the river, followed in a similar position. He had suggested that they rinse off in the river so that Megatron would not smell Eleaniris on them and get the wrong idea. He might figure out that Eleaniris was with the resistance effort, or wrongly surmise that they had kidnapped her for ransom or killed her somehow.
If they even made it to him, that is. One of his "soldiers" - brutes, if you asked Lennox - might gun them down and put a single laser shot through their brains before they even spoke to him. Another reason why this plan is so stupid, Lennox thought.
They made it to the back door, miraculously, and dove inside the human maintenance tunnel. "You've done this before, right?" Burns asked, watching the corners of the passage for any sudden guard appearances.
"Yes." Lennox answered curtly, keeping his voice low to avoid an unwanted echo. "Do you want me to lead the way?"
"Affirmative, soldier." Burns gave him a grim smile, which Lennox returned only half-heartedly.
Lennox started to creep down the dim, metal hallway, making sure his footsteps were light "Where are we going, exactly?"
"Supposedly he has an office somewhere on this level. If we can find him-" They turned the corner and were promptly met with a few guards, a maid, and a Harley Davidson-looking bot.
Their hands immediately shot up in surrender. Though his heart was pounding in his ears, Burns managed to say, "We have information regarding your missing Queen and wish to see Megatron."
Just a side note: Eleaniris' political party was chosen at the flip of a coin when I was writing that scene. Just so you know. Also, many thanks to sakurawriter for giving me some ideas for this chapter!
sakurawriter - Rumors indeed. Human servants better beware of Knockout! XD Thanks!
TheLionfart - Yes, maybe old buckethead will learn something. Thanks!
nadillaandlaprasthefireandice - lol. Maybe she does. Thanks!
kate - Thanks! Good to know that the trend is constant :D
xxyangxx2006 - Yes! My conversation was okay. Good. Thanks!
Reviews are hardly ever never unwelcome.
