This is something of a gift fic I wrote, and realized I hadn't posted this here. Warnings for minor character death, mentions of torture, mentions of Mech (human) experimentation, and general bad stuff. Optimus isn't the good guy here.
The Autobots would have huddled miserably together under the Decepticon guard's watch, but they were all locked in statis cuffs. The cuffs weren't set high enough to keep them from being aware of the activity around them, but they couldn't move.
Strongarm Prime watched the Decepticons as they kept guard- and kept pushing her soldier, Hot Shot, around. She wanted to protest, but she couldn't even move.
One of the guards froze, then nodded. "He's coming. He wants to see if any of the prisoners might be worth keeping."
Whoever "he" was, the guards straightened and quit knocking Hot Shot around, but didn't bother to hide the scuffs and dents they'd left on Hot Shot's plating.
Strongarm shuddered. That meant that who ever was coming didn't care if they played rough, just wanted them to behave when "he" was there.
The door to the hanger bay opened behind her, and she heard a single set of footsteps approaching. Strangely, it didn't sound like the approaching mech was as large as most of the guards.
And, as he came into her view, he wasn't. He would be tall for an Autobot, but generally didn't even come up to the guard's shoulders. Still, the guards clearly respected him. He had the purple Decepticon brand on his left shoulder, and his eyes were as red as any Decepticon. However, his paint was as bright as any Autobot's, in Red and Blue, with silver and yellow accents. He looked… he was a civilian frame.
"Commander," one of the guards greeted him.
"Runamuck" the commander responded. "Any you think are good candidates?"
"I'm not sure, sir," Runamuck responded. "The youngest, he's pretty defiant."
The commander smiled- it wasn't a nice smile. "The defiant ones are always the most fun to break," he mused. "That little yellow one that took forever, he's one of my favorite scouts now."
Runamuck grinned back. "He's the one with the scuff marks- like I said, he didn't like us."
The commander inspected them, pausing at her, before smiling. "Ah," he said. "You would be their Prime. I bet you don't actually care about them, though. They're just cogs, you'd say. Replaceable. Isn't that right?"
She couldn't respond, but it wasn't true. She cared for her soldiers, all Primes did.
As though he could hear her thoughts, he grinned at her and winked before turning to look at the rest of her soldiers. He dismissed Roller, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker, before turning to Hot Shot.
He crouched down and lifted Hot Shot's chin so he could look at him properly. "You're young. You haven't learned just what the Autobots really feel about you- you're nothing to anyone of higher rank. Just a pawn, to be used and discarded at will. No one will even bother coming for you if you survive."
Hot Shot must have managed some sort of response- a glare, or something similar, because the commander laughed. "You- none of you- know who I am, do you? Well, let me introduce myself. I am Commander Optimus, of Team Vengeance."
Strongarm felt the energon in her lines chill. She knew both those names. They were whispered in the halls of headquarters. Optimus had been an Autobot before- before something had happened. Rumors were that he'd killed someone. He'd left and run to the only place that would take him, and had risen through the ranks of the Decepticon army remarkably quickly. He'd then started kidnapping young Autobots. Half of them were never seen again, but the rest… they ended up Decepticons as well.
Strongarm focused. She had to stop him from taking Hot Shot. She tried to lunge at the traitor, but she barely managed anything other than flopping over.
Still, it got attention. Optimus looked over at her. "I see at least one of you knows who I am," he commented.
He looked over the team again. "Those two," he said, pointing at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "Blackarachnia has never had twins to experiment on. And I want this one," he gestured at Hot Shot. "He has enough spirit he might survive."
"And the other two?"
"Take the Prime to interrogation. She might have information or codes we can use. I'll dispose of the last."
"Yes, Commander," Runamuck said.
Optimus considered, before gesturing at the nearest guard. "Blackdown, take this one to the integration block. Put him in with the green scientist." He smiled once more. "Good job with these ones," he said.
He looked up and pressed his servo to his helm, the universal signal for a mech taking a comm. "Yes, Blackarachnia. This group has a couple of good subjects for you- twins, it looks like," he said. He voice was noticeably relaxed. "They'll be brought to your lab soon."
One of the guards picked Hot Shot up and carried him away. Another two dragged the twins out. Optimus paused. "I want the Prime to see her last soldier's fate," he said. He pulled out a small but powerful pulse gun and double checked its settings.
He looked over Roller and smiled mockingly. "No offence to you, Autobot, but you're not high enough in rank for the Autobots to consider ransoming back, and you wouldn't survive my integration program- and my Amica has her new test subjects." Optimus shrugged and glanced at the Prime. "That's life, just not fair. But I'm no sadist. I won't make you suffer any more than you have."
And, in one quick move, he aimed and shot Roller. Roller went gray immediately. Strongarm twitched again and tried desperately to get up and charge at Optimus. Nothing. The stasis cuffs were too strong.
Optimus put his gun away casually, as if he hadn't just killed a helpless prisoner. "I'll see you later, Runamuck. Give the interrogator on duty my regards."
"Of course, Commander."
Optimus turned and walked back the way he had come. Strongarm stared at him as he went, before managing to look at Roller one last time before she was hauled away. She'd remember. And she'd save the other three, and they'd escape.
Notes: Yes, I wrote this little snippet because naiad dreamer way over on tumblr was complaining about the lack of evil TFA Optimus (and Bulkhead, but it's Optimus this story is concentrated on) last week. I wrote it and posted it about a week ago, but forgot about this site.
Anyway, in my mind, Optimus joined sometime after the events of Archa 7, perhaps his punishment would have been worse, so he escaped custody and joined the Decepticons. Probably after going back to Archa 7 to look for Elita's body, only to find her still alive. But they've got a pretty good relationship now, and are both respected Decepticons.