Disclaimer: Me no own TF. Sowwy. Just Al 'n' O. HT's, again, LS', but she's nice. Ty's hers as well. She lets me use them!
"Is she going to be okay, Ratchet?" A worried, familiar voice asked. It sounded near, but…so far away…it was almost dreamlike. Alpha tried to lift her hand to reach for it, but found it felt far heavier than it should, even though it, itself was free from the chains that had once bound them.
A new voice, this one irritated and tired, sighed. "The damage to her internals was extensive and I'm worried about her state of mentally being when she wakes up, but she should be fine…mentally…" It said quietly; that voice was, too, familiar. Why couldn't she place them?
All of a sudden, she felt someone messing with her wires and circuits and started to panic. She shook and struggled, feeling Soundwave pulling and cutting wires, Laserbeak firing at her and breaking windows in her frame as well as Ravage biting and clawing at her while ripping what he could. A wire was pulled and Alpha cried out pathetically. Another whimper tore itself from her lips as she felt hands start to go through her chest. She trembled and shook in fear, finally giving into fear.
"S-Stop…please!" Alpha begged softly, trying to get away. "Oh Primus! Stop!" She tried to push the hands away, but they merely relented for a second before continuing. "Stop!"
"Someone, get her still!" The second voice she had heard barked as the hands in her chest pulled away.
"Please! Stop!" Alpha begged, trying to cut on her optics, but failing completely. Her arm shot out and slugged someone's jaw. Hard. "I beg you…no more!!"
"Alpha! Calm down!" A new, stern voice said, but Alpha was so lost in her mental instability that all she heard and felt were her torturers.
Tears rolled out of her offline optics and down Alpha's dented cheeks. She felt someone pin her right arm above her head and screamed, struggling harder. Her leg lashed out again, kicking someone square in the chest and making them stumble backwards, but someone grabbed her ankle and pinned it down with such a grip she couldn't break it. A sob tore itself from her throat. Two more people, stronger mechs, grabbed her remaining free limbs and held them down tightly, but gently.
"Please!" Alpha begged, trying to struggle as much as she could, but all she could do was arch up and toss her shoulders and head. "Megatron, make them stop for Primus' sake! …Please…have mercy…"
Someone came up behind Alpha and grabbed her shoulders comfortingly, but it didn't help her at all. She could still feel Soundwave and Orcus messing with her and heard Megatron demanding the codes. The truck femme sobbed softly and whimpered, whispering, "Make them leave me alone…"
The mech squeezing her shoulders moved to stroke her forehead tenderly and she whimpered again. After a few tense cycles, Alpha sobbed again and finally ceased struggling as she cried gently, wanting to be left alone.
"What's wrong with her?" A soft, gentle voice asked.
"The trama probably." The second voice said, sighing heavily, "I told Omega her mental stability wouldn't be normal after all that." He didn't bother to mention that almost being raped twice would scar any normal mech, not just a small, teenage femme. "Hold her still," he ordered, "I need to reconnect her optics so she can see where she is…maybe that'll work."
"You got it, Ratch." A new voice, on with a Cajun accent, said.
"It'll be okay, Al," The voice that was stroking her forehead said gently, "You just gotta trust us. "You're safe. Don't worry."
Alpha shook her head the best she could; why were they doing this to her? First physical torture, then Orcus nearly…now this? Making her feel safe? What were they going to do to her once the trick was over? A sob came from her throat, "Just let me go…please…"
The mech holding her left wrist squeezed her shoulder. "Don' worry, Alpha. We're gonna help ya. Jus' trust us. Please." The disembodied voice said softly.
The femme felt someone touch the wires in her chest and whimpered, but didn't fight; she had given the hope of getting away up a while ago. Even though she knew the Decepticons probably did have her, she felt a surge of hope bubble its way to the surface, past the sea of fear that surrounded her spark. The hands instantly felt like Soundwave's when they touched the exposed wires that he had slashed and she cried out, but rather, more in fear than in pain this time. She threw her head back and let out a soft, short heart-breaking wail of fear. Something inside her activated and Alpha knew that she could now online her optics, but that didn't she mean was going to.
"There. Her optics are fixed." The second voice grunted as the hands relented from her chest area.
"But they aren't one." Someone pointed out.
"I said they're fixed; doesn't mean she activated them." He explained and was right. Alpha didn't open her optics because she was too scared to; she didn't want to be anywhere other than the Ark.
"C'mon, kiddo," A voice with a Southern accent tried, "Open yer optics. Let us know yer okay…"
Alpha whimpered softly and shook her head, not wanting to. She finally did, though, when the mech stroking her forehead kissed her gently. At first, her vision was blurry, just shapes and shadows, but then it cleared. She looked around and saw a yellowed mech holding one arm while a mech with a mask and ear panels held her other; her two legs were being held by two different white and black mechs. The only two Alpha recognized was Optimus Prime, who was glancing at her battered and beaten frame from the door of the med bay, and her own brother, who was stroking her forehead.
"Unngg…..ugh…." Alpha tried, but she couldn't seem to make her vocalizer work; all she was able to do was lay there and wonder who all the mechs, other than her brother and Prime, were.
"Easy." The white mech with a black headband said, "Let 'er go now. She can see she's no longer at the Decepticon's base."
As the others stepped away, Omega continued to stroke his big sister's forehead; Alpha could feel waves of sadness and regret rolling off of him. He had failed to protect his big sister and now felt oh so sorry because of his failure. He kissed her forehead gently. "You okay, sis?" He asked.
"N-Not…r-really…" Alpha managed. She glanced at the other mechs, a confused and worried, not to mention somewhat scared, look on her beaten face. "Who…who are…who are they?"
Everyone glanced at each other and then at Alpha. "What did you just say?" One, the black and white with red visor, asked, amazed.
Alpha curled up slightly in Omega's arms as her brother sat down next to her; her head was now on his chest and his arms were around her tightly. "I-I-I said…who…who are you?" She whispered, not wanting any of the 'new' mechs to strike her like the Decepticons had whenever she refused to answer their questions or not answered them the way her interrogators had wanted them answer.
"Soundwave did something to her memory." The white mech with black headband said softly. He glanced at Prime with an unreadable look on his face.
"Can-Can you…can you fix me?"
Ratchet looked at the femme and nodded. "I can. It'll take time, but you'll be back to normal soon." He assured his 'apprentice'.
"…Good…" Alpha whispered.
"Don't lie to the poor girl. It may take more time than you're lettin' her know," A new, female voice said. Alpha turned and saw a dark gray femme walk into the room, "It would take weeks, Alpha."
Alpha nodded slowly. "I know."
"Maybe months, depending on exactly what Soundwave did to you."
"I know." The pick up said again. "But I want my memories back. I don't wanna walk around, not knowing who's around me…I need to know…"
The new femme nodded. "Alright." She agreed. "Just t' help your memories get a jolt start. I'm Ty. That's Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet, and Wheeljack." She pointed to them. "And Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."
"Him, I remember. Him and my brother." Alpha assured her, smiling slightly.
"Good."
Ratchet grunted and then glared at everyone. "Alright, out. We've got work to do. Everyone, out!" He ordered them. Soon afterwards, everyone cleared out, but not before Omega gave him a god growl and snarl. He turned to Alpha. "Get some rest. We'll start working on your memories tomorrow." He lied. As soon as Alpha was out, he'd give her a sedative to make sure she stayed asleep so he, Ty and First Aid could work on the femme the best they could.
Alpha nodded and waited until the medic had turned the lights off. Once he had, she whimpered softly at the darkness and then laid down, curling up slightly. It didn't take long for the femme to fall asleep, only problem being her dreams were wracked with nightmares of Soundwave and Orcus' tortures.
It was around midnight when the tank snuck into the repair bay; the only sign of his prescience was his glowing red optics as he tried to creep across the darkened room to where Alpha lay on one of the repair berths. He smiled faintly, and ran his hand down her arm from her shoulder to her hand, and clasped it gently. "For a damsel in distress, you certainly put up one hell of a fight." He knew she couldn't hear him; she was asleep. "Wheeljack told me you kicked him really hard." His smile widened ever so slightly. "Don't let anyone tell you you're weak. You're stronger than you think, Alpha. You've got more will than a lot of the mechs around here." He leaned down, and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. He jerked upright at the sudden sound from the doorway behind him.
"Okay, Prince Charming, you can come back in the morning when she's awake and tell her that." A stern voice told the tank; he turned, glaring at having been caught in his 'mush moment'.
Ratchet was standing in the doorway to his office, the light spilling out into the darkened repair bay. Hammertread set his jaw into a decidedly scowling expression. "I'm not leaving." He stated firmly, glaring at the medic. "No matter what you say."
"She needs her rest." Ratchet replied in a stern, yet oddly soft, way. He folded his arms, "We managed to repair most of her internals, but she still needs rest so we can finish working on that and continue working on her memory tomorrow." He and Ty had managed to fix only a small percentage of Alpha's lost memory, but it was better than nothing.
"I'm not going to wake her up." Hammertread insisted, growling slightly, as his red optics narrowed slightly.
Ratchet glared at the mech and pointed to the exit, but Hammertread refused to move. He finally gave up. "Alright! Fine! But I swear, if I find out you woke her up or disturbed her, so help me…" He trailed off and turned curtly. He walked into his office and slammed the door shut.
"Slagger's making more noise than me."
"Dang right." Alpha mumbled, turning over so she was looking at Hammertread; she put an arm under her head like a pillow and moved her optics up to gaze at his face. A soft, tired smile crept over her face. "You know, for a grumpy, snarky tank, you sure do know how to make an injured femme feel a little bit better about all this." She told him.
Hammertread suppressed a snicker. He ran his hand around her jaw line; Alpha couldn't help but lean up into his grip. It felt like forever since someone had not touched her only to hurt her, though it had only really been a week. "You did fine. Better than any of the mechs around here could. They'd probably be crying for their creator in a nanosecond." He glanced at the shut office door and Alpha followed his look there, but then glanced back at him when he gazed at her. "You'll be just fine." He paused for a second, then added, "And just because you need rescuing all the time doesn't mean you don't have the guts to take what the Decepticons dish out."
He reached over and pulled up a chair, settling his bulk into it so they were eye to eye. "Now go to sleep. You need your rest." He chided gently.
Alpha looked at him, and then away from the tank. "I...I can't, HT..." She admitted softly. "I can't close my optics..." The femme managed to wrap her arms around herself slightly. "I'm scared...I keep seeing them...feeling them messing with me..." She curled up and looked away from him, ashamed.
The tank sighed, and wiped a hand across his face. He resisted the urge to say "Do you want me to hold your hand?", but couldn't anyway, since he was already holding it.
"You're safely back here where they can't reach you," He said softly. "And as far as I'm concerned, they never will again." An image popped into his head of slowly ripping a howling Orcas to pieces, but he shoved it out again. He really wasn't good at this mushy stuff. "Just... try to think about something..." He thought for a second, then finally shrugged. "Happier." Hammertread waited for a moment, then added, "Like annoying those humans counting the wall and ceiling tiles of the brig, or the bars... Or the people."
Alpha laughed. "I remember that." She smiled at him. "They deserved every little bit of annoyance they were getting to." She sighed slightly and nodded. "Alright..." She glanced up at him and squeezed his hand, smiling slightly. He's no Prince Charming, She thought as she closed her optics, But then again, who needs a prince? Not me. Not when all they do is save their princesses and keep them out of harm's way.
"Ha. I'd rather be in the fight." She murmured out loud, not meaning to, as she yawned.
Hammertread smirked. "You just got back from the brink of shutdown and you're jumping to fight already?" He teased the tired femme, grinning.
The truck ran her lips over Hammertread's hand gently, "Of course. You know me." Alpha smiled, snuggling into a comfortable position, and hen rubbed Hammertread's hand with her thumb, "Always ready to fight, mud and drink." She said, slipping into recharge. "Thanks, HT...for everything..."
Ta-da! To Lady Starscream, who really helped me out here! Enjoy! I hope she's still helping me! Eep! Anywho, love the fluff! Love the fluff!
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