Chapter 2

"Move it, piece of scrap!"

Ratchet stumbled with the harsh shove dealt to him by one of his 'escort', Brawl, he remembered. The combaticon seemed to be impatient for whatever reason, while Barricade followed along in a calm, relaxed silence.

The dirtied autobot mumbled under his vents, attracting Brawl's unwanted attentions for a second time.

"What'd you have to say?" Brawl snarled, spinning Ratchet around by a shoulder strut and shoving him up against the wall of a newly rebuilt building. Brawl's violence wasn't unexpected, and Ratchet successfully evaded the urge to flinch, tilting his helm up in defiance while refusing to answer, further frustrating Brawl. "If you were mine, I'd show you your place right here and now." The tank snarled.

Ratchet fought the urge to shudder, the Decepticon's words carrying a frightening truth to them. While in captivity, he had had the "privilege" to helplessly watch the rape and beatings of several of his comrades. Some he even attempted to care for after the assault, though it did no good. They would only be ripped apart again.

"Just leave it, Brawl." Barricade grumbled, stepping up nice and close into Ratchet's personal space, the medic flinching when taloned digits grasped his chin, jerking his helm up until he was forced to look into the Decepticon's optics. "He knows better. As a berth warmer, you know how to behave, don't you Ratchet?"

The demeaning tone was enough for Ratchet to leer back up at the black and white Datsun, who let out a bark of laughter, the digits gripping his faceplates tightening to the point of pain. "Defiant, eh?" Barricade's tone took on a deep purr. "I've always wanted one with a little fire.~" The black and white mech whispered, Ratchet trying to pull away as the Decepticon nipped at his lip components.

"Are you crazy?" Brawl's shout startled Ratchet as the tank shoved the police cruiser aside, anger, lust and a hint of fear present on his faceplates. "Do you know what Megatron would do if he caught you trying to use Titanium's toy?" He hissed causing his comrade to smirk widely in amusement. "I Don't think he'd care much." Barricade responded, though he made no move towards Ratchet again.

"But just to be on the safe side, we might wanna hurry." The cruiser added before turning towards the orange and white Autobot, Ratchet shaking where he supported himself against the wall, optics wide as he attempted to calm himself down, the bigger mech grabbing his shoulder and shoving him forwards. "Keep walkin' Autobot."

Ratchet stumbled and nearly fell when Barricade slapped his aft but caught himself at the last moment, casting a glare back at the Decepticon before hurrying forwards. He was by no means in a hurry to reach their destination. The uncertainty of what the remainder of his life would be like as the pet of Megatron's own daughter was more frightening than being in the presence of Barricade and Brawl. Both of which were predictable.

Thinking back to when the war ended, Ratchet wished he had been one of the ones to fall, alongside Optimus and Ironhide… With Bluestreak and Inferno. It was too much to think of all of his friends that had been lost in one battle, the memories of a black and blue seeker tearing into Optimus' back, turning the fight in the Decepticon's favor as Megatron took the seeker's distraction to his advantage, snuffing the spark of his enemy… The very thought that he was going to be handed over to the femme that had had her servos stained in Optimus' energon when he fell was nearly overwhelming.

Then there was the retreat, the remaining Autobots fleeing before their enemies. Decepticons shooting and capturing most before they got very far, Megatron giving orders to take them alive… Kneeling before Megatron and his soldiers on the Nemesis, the divvying out of sentient mecha as toys for ruthless soldiers… Ratchet shut his optics in an attempt to block out everything that happened between then and the present. It was too much.

"Here we are. Just a little more, and you'll be able to serve your new owner." Barricade leered at Ratchet, the medic keeping a tight reign on his EM field and the roil of emotions passing through it. If Barricade was so willing to rape him… What would a warlord's daughter be willing to do?

Ratchet pushed away all thought and locked away as much of the fear as he could while looking upon a massive building, half of which was still under repairs… It looked like what remained of the Towers. An obvious choice for a seeker, but dozens of families had lived there before the war... Surely several Decepticons stayed there?

Too caught up in his surprise Ratchet failed to dodge Brawl's next shove before he nearly sprawled on his faceplates, the tank jerking him back to his pedes by an elbow, muttering under his breath about 'weakling Autobots.'

Biting his lower lip component, Ratchet allowed himself to be hustled up the long walk and through the open doors, one of which hung from a loose hinge. The inside was looking much better than the outside, cleaned so carefully that it looked as if it had never been destroyed by millennial of war.

Ratchet frowned as their pedes echoed in the overly silent hall, his guards stopping on either side of him and looking around in curiosity. Why was it so quiet? Surely Titanium had dozens of neutral servants? And where were the workers that had been doing the outside repairs?

All thought left Ratchet when a familiar black and blue seeker appeared at the top of a winding stair, looking down at them, wings high on her backstrut and tense. The blue visor kept the medic from seeing what the femme could've been thinking since the rest of her faceplating was carefully schooled into a neutral expression.

Ratchet's nervousness only intensified as Titanium began to descend the stairs until she was standing only a few meters away, seemingly studying him from behind her visor. Averting his gaze, Ratchet continued to look around the room as if he was interested in his new surroundings, and not at all thinking up different images of what could happen to him once he was left here alone with the Decepticon.

"We brought him as you asked. Untouched." Barricade purred from where he stood, giving Ratchet a little shove, the medic casting him a heated glare.

The seeker studied Ratchet for another moment before her helm turned in the direction of the other two mechs. "You will leave him with me." She responded, tone soft and calm… Was that a slight tremor? Ratchet frowned and his focus was now fully on Titanium as Barricade stepped towards the femme. "So soon? No thank you?"

Titanium's expression seemed to cave, and she took a step back away from the bigger Decepticon. "Thank you." She responded, tone still soft, almost meek. "But may I remind you I'm not out of my sire's favor at the moment." She bluffed, the Decepticon snorting and turning away. "Whatever. I got a little toy to get back to anyways." He rumbled.

Ratchet tensed when the police car's taloned servo landed on his shoulder, caressing it in a false parody of affection. "If you tire of him, let me know." Barricade grinned towards the nearby femme before leaning in close to the autobot's audio. "I'll make you scream." He whispered, pulling away as Ratchet shuddered.

With those parting words, the two big mechs left the building, pedesteps slowly receding into the distance while Ratchet just stood where he was, optics locked on his pedes as he attempted to avoid acknowledging the nearby femme.

Silence passed for several long moments as Ratchet waited for something, anything to happen. An order, a strike, an insult… But none of them came, and he finally mustered up the strength to nervously glance up at Titanium, who was looking away from him.

"Follow me."

The words were spoken so quietly Ratchet was sure he had imagined them, but then the femme turned away from him and began to ascend the staircase, not once glancing back.

Ratchet hesitated. He could run, but Barricade and Brawl were nearby no doubt, and would catch him before he got far. But even if he did escape, where would he go on a Cybertron under Decepticon control? Where his very symbol marked him as a pet?

Venting softly, Ratchet began to follow the femme up the winding staircase, Titanium glancing back at him only once as she led him down a hall and into a room.

Once inside, Ratchet was pointed towards another door. "Clean yourself up." Titanium ordered, again, tone soft and almost meek before she moved away from him, back towards the door. "I do not wish to collar you… If you run, I cannot be held accountable for what the others do to you." She stated before she vanished from the room.

Frowning deeply, the thoroughly confused autobot opened the door into a medium-sized washrack, stepping into it and shutting the door behind him, Ratchet leaned against the wall and attempted to calm his fluttering spark. Did Titanium want him clean before she did to him as he had witnessed happen to so many others?

Ratchet attempted to ignore the trembling of his hands as he found the controls and activated the solvents, adjusting the temperature to a bearable heat before stepping into it.

Biting back the groan wanting to make itself known, Ratchet used one servo to steady him against the wall of the washracks, optics shuttered as he basked in the feeling of hot solvents washing into every seam of his armour and down to his aching protoform. It felt good, almost sinfully so, and Ratchet wished he could spend the rest of his existence here in the relative safety of the washracks.

"Not much of an existence." Ratchet muttered to himself, again thinking over what the remainder of his life would be like… Mostly pain and fear he supposed. There was very little else unless he was allowed to live his existence in relative peace, and please his mistress well enough that she wouldn't consider selling him to a mech like Barricade.

Ratchet put a halt on that train of thought before it could root in his processor, quickly scrubbing himself up until it nearly hurt, taking as much time as he dared. If Titanium were unhappy with him, he was certain he wouldn't like it. So, with a vent, the autobot climbed out of the washracks and stood beneath the dryer for the allotted time needed to dry off. He hadn't bothered to polish himself, willing to defy the Decepticon officer in every little way he could.

Standing before the door, the old medic schooled his features to keep from showing his fear and distress… Showing weakness now would do him little good.

Letting out a vent, Ratchet opened the door into the berthroom, coming to a stop almost immediately. Titanium was nowhere to be seen, and there was a full cube of mid-grade on the desk next to the berth.

Wary of a trap, Ratchet refused the hungry growl of his tanks and moved to sit on the berth, remaining still and keeping his optics on the ground. Kliks passed. Nothing.

Ratchet stood up again, glancing around the room before moving over to the door and trying it… It was locked. So Titanium wasn't in the room with him at all? Then that must mean that the energon was either drugged, or merely left there for the sole purpose of refueling.

Hesitating for only a brief moment more, the orange and white mech moved over to the desk to pick up the cube and carefully study it from all angles. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. No strange colour tint or any flakes of unknown particles floating around. He sniffed it. Nothing off there either.

Carefully, Ratchet took a small taste of it, swirling the liquid around his mouth to taste for anything out of the ordinary, and again, found nothing.

Relief washing down over him, Ratchet quickly drank down half of the cube before hiding the rest beneath the berth. It would serve to have a little extra in case Titanium decided to starve him at some point in the future.

Somewhat satisfied now, the red and white autobot climbed into the berth, taking another quick look around before offlining his optics and powering down into defrag.

With his need to refuel out of the way, recharge was now the most important task.