Disclaimer: Yeah... not mine.
A/N: So, not entirely pleased with the pacing of this chapter, and I know very little about robo-torture so - yeah. Let me know what you guys think!
Warnings: Torture/angst
Chapter Seventeen: Of Blame and Barricade
Optimus glanced up in surprise as his finest spy and saboteur entered the make shift 'briefing room'. Most of his mechs were out scouring the woods on search missions or patrolling the perimeter, and he hadn't deemed it necessary to waste a soldier by placing them at the entrance to this particular area. Perhaps that had been an unwise decision.
"Mirage," he said. "I am glad to see you on your feet. I was unaware that you'd been cleared for duty."
Scowling, Mirage replied, "Ratchet's not here to say otherwise."
Optimus 'hmmed' and scrutinized the mech. While he was obviously not fully recovered (dents, fresh welding marks, a very mild limp) it was equally obvious that he would not be going back to berth-rest willingly (squared shoulders, clenched jaw components, narrowed optics). Optimus was almost tempted to release the weary groan weighing on his spark, but he held himself in check. Instead, he said as gently as he could, "You will do no one any good by further damaging yourself, Mirage. Astrid least of all."
Mirage looked so tense that Optimus feared he would strain his gears.
"It is my duty to be here," said Mirage.
"It is also your duty to follow orders."
"There has been no order confining me to my berth."
"Don't make me give one," Optimus said.
There were about five seconds when Optimus feared Mirage would physically lash out at him. But then he suddenly drooped, as if the chords keeping his parts strained had been severed.
"It's my fault," he whispered.
"Could you repeat that, soldier?"
Mirage glared at him, but he obeyed. "It's my fault that Astrid was out in the woods," he said louder. "She came to see me, and we had an argument. She was out there because she was angry with me."
If there was an extra soldier in his ranks for every time he had heard one of his soldiers blame themselves for something entirely out of their control, the Decepticons would never have stood a chance. Granted, in this case Mirage's temper was slightly to blame, but Optimus decided to ignore that fact for the moment. Should both Mirage and Astrid survive this encounter, then he might suggest that Mirage bring his concerns up with his charge, but for the moment he couldn't have one of his best warriors going on the fritz. "And were you so angry with her that you knowingly sent her into the path of the Decepticons?" he asked
"No!"
"Then I fail to see how Astrid's abduction is due to any fault of your own."
Some of the angry spark came back into Mirage's optics, and he slammed his fist into an (thankfully) empty crate. His metal digits left a clear impression on the metal. "Don't play that game with me, Prime! If I hadn't been so condescending, if I had just listened and not let my frustration run off with my processor..."
"Then perhaps we would not be having this discussion," said Prime. "Yes, I know. So do you. Let it end there. Pursuing this train of thought any further will only damage you, and it will not help your fellow Autobots rescue your charge and our medic. My best spy, however, working at optimum capacity would be of great assistance."
Mirage blinked once, and his parts fell into the practiced stance of a solider. His jaw components were still tense, and his servos were clenched, but the strain in his shoulders was due only to the rigid stance of a warrior reporting for duty. "Tell me what to do, sir."
.O.O.O.
"How adorable, the Autobot and his pet cuddling."
The voice jerked Astrid awake, and for a moment she thought the ceiling was falling, then she realized that it was just Ratchet's fingers pressing down over her. There had been ample space for her to crawl out of the strange tent when she went to sleep, but now she was totally encased by the yellow Autobot's hands. Ratchet growled so loudly that the noise vibrated his entire frame.
"What do you want, Barricade?" Ratchet demanded.
"The fleshbag. Hand it over."
Astrid's world shifted as Ratchet moved into what Astrid assumed was a more easily defendable position. Fighting while lying on one's back was next to impossible, especially when bound. "Over my dead body."
"Give it time, medic. If your precious Prime doesn't hand over the Allspark you get your turn with Soundwave. But, really, why make things even more traumatic for the little piece of slag? Just hand it over quietly and avoid a lot of pain for the both of you."
It seemed impossible, but Ratchet's grip on Astrid actually tightened, though nowhere near hard enough to hurt her. "I will not simply hand over my patient."
"Have it your way."
There was a resounding clang and Astrid was knocked against Ratchet's chasis as the mech tumbled back to the ground. With his hands tied he was unable to defend both Astrid and himself, and clearly, he'd chosen to defend his patient. There was a horrible shriek of metal as Barricade's fingers began trying to pry Ratchet's away from the prize, the noise of armor tearing against armor sending chills down the girl's spine. Astrid felt Ratchet's body jerk and heard another, louder, clang followed by a grunt of pain and suddenly light flooded in on her as Ratchet's hands were clawed back. Barricade's face loomed over her and Astrid made a run for it.
It took Barricade all of two steps to catch up with her. She shrieked as she was plucked up, and Barricade gave her a hard shake that left her head and stomach spinning.
"I warned you, fleshling, do not try my patience," he said.
Ratchet groaned from the floor, and Barricade was sure to give him a quick kick to the helm on his way out.
.O.O.O.
When Astrid was returned to Ratchet's cell she was shaking like a leaf and a thin trickle of blood was dripping from her nose. The medic comforted her as best he could, but there was very little he could offer her.
The first time the girl tried to answer Ratchet's questions, she broke down shaking and shivering, and for a horrible minute Ratchet believed that she was slipping into shock. Once she'd calmed down again and the shakes had subsided, she told him that Soundwave had taken charge of the 'demonstration' for this round. There really wasn't anything else she needed to say. Unlike last time, there were no marks from Ravage's claws, Ratchet could find no broken bones and there was no structural damage to Astrid's nose - it would not have been hard for the Decepticon communication officer to modify his audio interrogation techniques to target an organic's delicate senses.
He comforted her through the night, laying her to rest once more over his spark, and gently covering her with his fingers. When she needed noise to distract her, he spoke, when she needed silence to collect herself, he was still. Ratchet still wished he had access to proper medical facilities, however. Although the cold was not a problem so long as Astrid was with him, he feared that she might develop the human condition of hypothermia if they should be parted for any great length of time. And, of course, Primus only knew what sorts of bacteria had found their way into her open wounds. At that point Ratchet would have happily killed something in order to get some decent disinfectant.
"Ratchet," Astrid croaked. "My throat hurts."
Although he ran a quick scan to confirm his belief, Ratchet had little doubt what had caused the discomfort. It wasn't exactly something he wished to bring up, however, so he merely 'hmmed' and pretended to do more scans.
Astrid chuckled, although the sound obviously hurt her, judging by the grimace on her face. "Don't worry, Ratch, I figured it out for myself a while ago. Must be from all the screaming."
"That is... most probable."
"Yeah." She was quiet for a moment. "I think I'd give about anything for some water by this point."
"I know, sparkling."
The door slammed opened then, revealing a grinning Barricade, flanked by two other mechs. Immediately, Astrid tried to bury her face in Ratchet's armor.
"Playtime, slaggers."
.O.O.O.
By now, Astrid was beginning to expect the same ritual every time she was brought to the control room: Prime appeared on the screen, Soundwave made the usual demands, Prime refused the usual demands, and then she got hurt. Simple pattern.
But this time things were different.
To begin with, when Soundwave established the link Prime wasn't alone on the tremendous viewscreen. Prowl and Jazz stood on either side of him, silent, still and unreadable. As happy as she was to see another familiar face, though, Astrid wished that Jazz at least had been excused from the 'discussion'. Knowing that he was watching just made it all the worse. Maybe he'd seen the previous video feeds, but at least she hadn't had to watch his reactions.
Astrid wasn't alone on her end, either. Ratchet had been hauled in along with her, fighting and snarking all the way, still bound hand and foot - well, the mech equivalent of hands and feet at any rate. The Autobots made no indication that either of the prisoners were even there.
Soundwave's monotonous voice announced the third deviation from the established routine: "The demonstration will begin immediately: bring the medic forward."
Still locked in Barricade's grasp, Astrid struggled to keep an eye on the proceedings as Ratchet was dragged towards the viewscreen. Once he'd reached Soundwave, the two mechs doing the dragging forced him to his knees. None of the mechs on the screen so much as flinched, but Astrid cringed enough for all of them.
This time Soundwave's torture was silent. Instead of blasting the mech into a shaking pile of spare parts with his sonic weapons, he extended a small pair of scissor-like appendages from one finger and placed them over one of the exposed wires in Ratchet's neck area.
Clip. Ratchet tensed, but didn't cry out or try to jerk away. Clip. Another wire. Clip. Then another. Clip.
Slowly but surely, Ratchet began to respond to the abuse of his systems - first there was a grunt, then flinch, then what might have been a lunge away from the dainty torturing device if it weren't for the mechs restraining him. After a bit of clipping these smaller - and clearly sensitive - wires, Soundwave moved on to bigger targets. With a single jerk, he tore back a piece of Ratchet's armor and clipped what Astrid could only assume was a coolant line, judging by the color of the fluid that came rushing out.
It was not in Ratchet's character to scream and beg - especially during the very first torture session since his imprisonment - but it was well within the range of his personality to curse fluently in both Cybertronian and Earth languages as more and more damage was inflicted on his unprotected wiring. Up to that point Astrid had never realized just how fluent Ratchet was in English swear words and unsavory phraseology. The larger the wire or fluid line that was severed, the more colorful the language.
Astrid shared none of his qualms, however, about appearances and mech-liness, and took it upon herself to scream for him. By this point, Astrid figured that she'd screamed enough to lose any reputation she might have had to safe guard, so there was no point holding back when a friend was in need. It didn't take long, though, for Barricade to grow annoyed with her, and he gave her a dangerously hard squeeze before rumbling quietly in her ear, "You will scream enough soon, fleshling. It would be better for us both if you were to save your screams for me, and not waste them on the medic. He has no need for them." Fear silenced Astrid's tongue in a way that nothing else had ever been able to. Fortunately, Ratchet's suffering did not last much longer.
After cutting into a few more wires and one or two more lines that Astrid hoped were secondary, Soundwave seemed to tire of tormenting his victim. With one more savage clip that made Ratchet shout a very colorful explicative, the Decepticon's tool reverted to a normal extension of his finger, and the two guards hauled Ratchet back a few paces.
"No permanent damage has been inflicted on the medic. Continued refusal from Autobots will result in greater damage to the higher ranking hostage."
Barricade seemed to take this as his cue and stepped forward with Astrid.
"Refusal to present time will now result in increased damage to the lesser hostage," Soundwave continued. "Barricade, proceed."
The metal around Astrid's rips suddenly disappeared, and with a shriek she plummeted to the surface of the crate beneath her. Her knee twanged on impact along with several other sensitive points along her right leg, causing her to utter a Ratchet-like oath. Two black hands slammed down on either side of her, and Barricade's ugly scowl bore down on her like an angry titan. Before she could even try darting away, one of the hands pinned her down to the hard, slick lid. Astrid's breath left her lungs in a whoosh and while she was still struggling to recall the proper method of drawing in air, something sharp slammed down and pierced through her shoulder.
Any breath she had left was expelled by her surprised scream.
Though she could no longer see the screen - only Barricade's devilish red optics - Astrid could dimly hear one of the Autobots shifting and one or two anxious words in the strange, dial-up sounds of Cybertronian. Ratchet's curses were coming through loud and clear, though.
"You Pit-spawned slaggers! What are you doing? Get that slagger off of my patient!"
As the air slowly crept back into Astrid's chest, she felt a faint muzziness clouding her head. Her shoulder felt wet, and her body had completely relaxed, like all muscle and bone had melted into nerveless goo. Was this what shock felt like?
It didn't last long.
Barricade ripped the tip of his finger back savagely from the fresh hole in Astrid's shoulder, and everything became crystal clear. Her shoulder screamed, and she could feel every piece of armor and every joint in Barricade's hand that was pressing her down. The finger came down again, on her thigh this time, and she had a new sensation of agony to distract her. As he twisted the tip of his finger in her wound, Astrid began beating her head against the crate lid, trying to distract herself, or at least keep herself from screaming again. Her lips bled as she bit down on them, and the hot flavor of her own blood washed over her tongue. The distraction was enough to keep her from shouting again. But Barricade wasn't having any of that, and jerked the claw up to make a fine slit in the skin of her upper leg.
She was past the point of listening to what was going on around her, and she could barely even register her own screaming. The pain made her ears ring so badly that she forgot there was a sound in the world besides that harsh buzz. The claws were everywhere, one reentering the hole in her shoulder and another staying in her leg to hold her in place, but the rest danced like knives over every part of her Barricade could reach. Each slash blazed like fire and doused itself in liquid flames that spread and soaked Astrid's clothes in red.
A single claw slid down her face - almost tenderly - leaving a shallow cut behind to mark its trail. "I told you your screams were better saved for me."
Then the claws were gone from her skin, shoulder and leg, and Barricade's digits once more wrapped her in their crushing embrace. Two digits from his other hand trailed down to toy with the leg he had not stabbed. They pinched it lightly and, with a deft twist, snapped the bone. Astrid cried, past the point of screaming, and wheezed pathetically in Barricade's clutches as she sobbed. Everything hurt. She could no longer distinguish which parts ached from which injury, and when Barricade's fingers began to squeeze her rib cage to the point of fracturing something, she could barely even move one arm to try and escape.
Astrid both saw and heard something crack in her torso - and she finally blacked out.
.O.O.O.
"The status of the Decepticon demands have not changed," Soundwave droned. "How do the Autobots respond?"
Ratchet didn't know how the others would respond, but he was doing plenty of responding on his own. Even restrained, he was proving to be a pain in the aft for the two 'Cons holding - or trying to hold - him. Both had a series of dents and scratches, and while they'd been sure to give back what was given, Ratchet was still fighting strong. The sight of the youngling being shredded in the hands of the Decepticon Barricade was enough to make his fuel lines burn. His optics had brightened to a dangerously pale blue, and his systems kept trying to active his absent surgical saws for a purpose entirely different than their name suggested.
"The Autobots agree to the demands."
Ratchet froze. What?
"Under a number of conditions, the first of which being that Ratchet is enabled to treat Astrid Fenner. Any medical supplies in his possession upon capture are to be returned to him so that he can perform his function."
Soundwave took a moment to process this and then nodded his assent. "Condition: Acceptable." He turned to Barricade and the 'Cons struggling with Ratchet. "Remove the hostages to their cell, and comply with Autobot conditions."
As Ratchet was tugged backwards by his two 'escorts' he made optic contact with Optimus Prime in the viewscreen. His leader's expression said everything he needed to know: We have a plan, your part in it is to keep Astrid and yourself alive. There was no need to reply, and no opportunity to do so, either, as the door slammed shut behind him half a second later.
Astrid was still limp in Barricade's claws, and going from what he could see of her and what he'd witnessed in the control room, he began to make an inventory of her injuries. He also tried to list possible methods of healing or at least soothing the youngling until help could arrive.
An order was an order, after all, and a promise was a promise, even if it was a silent one.
A/N: So, do you hate me now? I know Astrid does. The faster/more you review, the faster the updates shall appear!
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Sammy J: Oh, wow, thanks! Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, too, and hopefully it wasn't too intense for you. That is a HUGE compliment to me, and I thank you very, very much for your prayers, they are appreciated. Unfortunately, ffn erases email and website addresses when you try to email or post them. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter!
GodisGod!Iamnot: Thanks for the review! Yeah, some of these are pretty short, but I think they're fairly intense, so I guess it balances out. There's one coming up that's pretty long, so... hopefully that makes up for the shortness here. Thanks again!