Chapter 5

I'm back again! I'm sorry for not updating in a while and I'm sorry that these chapters are so short, but those are the results of me not having a lot of material. It's a little hard for me to write this story for some reason. Well, I'm not gonna bore you with words, so here's the next chapter.

Ratchet stirred from his recharge at the feeling of warm, soft lips on his neck. He opened his optics groggily and looked at the larger mech next to him, long red and blue arms around his waist. He smiled at his lover who smiled in return before moving his lips in closer for a soft, good morning kiss.

"Hi," the medic murmured. Optimus grinned at him and tightened his hold.

"Good morning, sweetspark," he replied. "Did you recharge well?"

"Mmm… actually, I did. You?"

Optimus woke up from his recharge and sat up slowly, wincing at the creek his joints made from lack of use. The Prime looked around and dimly realized that he had been dreaming of Ratchet again, dreaming of waking up next to him after a night of passionate interfacing or a just a night of laying in their berth, enjoying each other's company. He was hoping that we he awakened, he would see that the entire thing was a dream. But he was disheartened to see that instead of waking up clinging to his Ratchet, he woke up in hell. The Prime sighed and hoped that Ratchet and his Autobots were faring a whole lot better than he was. He knew that Megatron in all his cold-sparkedness sent a video feed of the abuse that they put him through just to mock their cause. Of course, he saw that coming and hoped that it didn't faze them as much as he knew it probably would. And as he thought about that, he cursed Megatron and the Fallen. Ratchet had probably already been worrying about him as it was, and now he had to worry about how much pain they left him in after the round of torture was over.

It hurt Prime's spark to know that it was his own carelessness that led him into his situation. It almost made him smile to think about how Ratchet would react to seeing him blame himself constantly for something that wasn't his fault, but that smiled disappeared when he thought about how much he missed that. And he looked up when he heard footsteps coming closer to his cell. His battle mask snapped into place and he took a few seconds to realize his surprise at the fact that they had not already tried to remove it from his faceplates. Optimus's body tensed when the shadow of the figure came closer and closer, but he sagged when he saw that it was only Starscream.

The Seeker, who had been leering at him at first, scowled when he saw the Prime literally deflate at his presence. "What? You don't think I'm a threat, Autoscum?" he asked.

"You are not as much of a threat as Megatron or the Fallen," the Prime replied coolly. The 'Con's scowl deepened at that as he quickly inputed the code to the cell door and opened it viciously, almost ripping it off its hinges.

"I'll have you know, Prime that I am just as much of a threat to you as the fool of leader and that wretch of a Prime!" he snarled, walking menacingly to the Autobot leader. Optimus was less than surprised to hear Starscream say that about Megatron, but he was surprised that he had the ball bearings to say that about the Fallen. He'd heard some of the rumours around the 'Con base, like the Fallen being able to hear your thoughts or listen in on your private comms. He pushed his thoughts aside, however, when he remembered that he'd been able to disable the Energon cuffs around his wrists. He glared at the Seeker before lunging up, drawing a surprised yelp out of him. Starscream growled and tried to push the Autobot leader off of his body, but he was surprisingly stronger than him. He knew that it had been a good few days since he'd last been given Energon, so he cursed himself for underestimating the power of a sane Prime.

Optimus took Starscream's arms and pinned them down, even as the Seeker continued to struggle. He growled as he took his servo and grabbed one of the 'Con's wings, bending it back painfully. Starscream howled and tried to buck the Prime off of his body. Quickly, he got up and ran to the cell door, closing it and leaving the Seeker in the cell to writhe in his pain. Optimus knew it was a bit of a low blow, going for a Seeker's wings, but he wanted out of the base. He wanted to get back home to his soldiers, to his human friends, to his lover. He was thankful for once, that the cell could only be opened from the outside. Optimus bolted down the hallway and took a sharp left turn. He knew that Starscream had already called in reinforcements, so he was on his guard. Hook disabled his weapons chip when he was brought in from the capture, but he could still fight with his fists. Optimus was thankful for that too. He ran into two Decepticons that were patrolling and quickly silenced them before either got a chance to alert them of his location. Growling, the Prime kept going, taking several turns that he wasn't quite so sure about.

Once again, he ran into more patrolling Decepticons. These two were a bit tougher than the last, and before he knew it, he was in a small battle with them. They were both shorter than him, so that gave him an edge, but before he started to make his attacks lethal, he went for both their comm links to prevent them from communicating with any other nearby Decepticons. Optimus ducked a punch from an outraged 'Con and threw one of his own, connecting his fist into the abdomen and faceplates of the opposing Cybertronian. He threw him down onto the floor and using the sword the Decepticon had equipped, he rammed it into the chest plates of its owner. The other injured Decepticon shivered and looked at the Prime with slight fear in his optics, but held his ground. He brought his blaster and charged it, but the Prime was faster. He moved at quick speeds and put his hand over the barrel of the weapon, shocking the Decepticon. He pushed him back and he fell hard on his back. Optimus almost felt sorry for the 'Con, but that was short-lived as he took the sword out of the downed Decepticon's chest plates and sent it first through the other's helm, and then through his spark chamber, effectively silencing him as well.

Optimus wasted no time and continued to run down the endless halls, killing more and more 'Cons as he went. After taking countless amounts of turns and weaving through the ever-ending halls of the base, he finally found the exit. Relief and shock went through him as he ran faster, reaching the door with a sigh of happiness. But before he could open the large door, he fell to the ground with a pain-filled yell. He turned around and saw Megatron, whose weapon was emitting smoke from the barrel, and Starscream who had a murderous look on his faceplates, as well as a dented wing. Optimus growled and pulled himself up, trying to open the door again. Megatron wasn't having it and he stalked over to the Prime before yanking him up by one of his antenna.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Prime. Trying to escape? After how well we've treated you?" Megatron said with sarcasm dripping from his voice. Optimus growled and clawed at the hand painfully gripping his antenna. The Decepticon leader snarled and let of the antenna, only to grab his arms just as painfully.

"My master will show how we deal with those that try to escape," he whispered darkly. Starscream was still looking at him with murderous intents, but he now had a smirk on his faceplates. "The hard way."

Ratchet whimpered as he sat on the ground of an unknown location, bound by Energon cuffs, watching his lover and Prime being tortured by Megatron. The 'Con had slashed several parts of his armour, putting in large scratches and dents. He'd also severed multiple Energon lines, causing a lot of it to run down the Primes strong chassis and continue to run down his thighs. The 'Con had his body bound and his legs spread wide as he looked back at him malevolently and rubbed at the Prime's interface panel, not breaking optic contact with Ratchet, much to the two Autobots' protest. Optimus cried out in what sounded like a mix of pleasure and a pleading stop. Megatron ignored him and only rubbed at his panel harder, eventually causing it to warm up under the touch of his pointy servos. Ratchet growled at the sight of someone else causing his mech pleasure, a 'Con no less.

"Keep your servos off him, Megatron!" he growled at the Decepticon. Megatron looked back at him with dark humour in his optics.

"Or what, medic?" he taunted. Finally, after a few more brutal strokes, Optimus's panel opened, revealing his moist valve and half-pressurized spike. Optimus and Ratchet's optics met, the former's filled with fear and slight arousal. He mouthed the words help me, but Ratchet knew he could do nothing to save his mech. Megatron fingered the moist valve before sliding two sharp digits into the quivering valve. The Prime's optics widened as he arched from the berth he was laying on, crying out in pleasure and, somehow at the same time, discomfort.

"Ratchet!" he yelled. Said medic's spark nearly shattered into a million pieces at hearing Optimus cry out his name as his valve was being penetrated by the fingers of a filthy 'Con while he tried to get away from them. Ratchet struggled to get the cuffs from around his wrists, but knew that he was trying in vain. All he could do was sit there and watch Megatron force himself on his Prime, just as he wanted him to.

"Please help me!" Optimus cried. Oh, how much he wanted, how much he wanted to kill Megatron as slowly as possible for doing what he was doing to him, but he could not and that angered him greatly. "Ratchet!"

"Ratchet!"

"RATCHET!" someone yelled. The medic snapped up and looked around, taking in his surroundings while taking in large amounts of air through his vents. Ironhide was in his and Prime's quarters, looking at him with a surprising amount of worry. Ratchet merely sighed and sobbed at the dream he had been awakened from.

To say Ironhide was shocked was an understatement. He hadn't expected to walk in on Ratchet in the thralls of a nightmare, nor did he expect him to call out Prime's name in a saddening desperation that he'd never heard from his friend. But had been even more surprised to see Ratchet break down. Officially, Prime had been missing for seven and a half Earth days, which was a considerable amount to those who cared about him the most. Of course, some of the humans that were higher up didn't give slag about it, which angered all of the Autobots, but there was nothing that they could do to make them care.

Cautiously, Ironhide walked over to Ratchet and cradled him gently, stunning himself. He carefully stroked his helm and clicked to one of his oldest friends, trying to calm down his frazzled circuits. The weapons specialist knew that nothing would be enough to make Ratchet feel better, except the miraculous appearance of Prime himself, but he only held onto Ratchet tighter. For the medic's sake, he hoped that Prowl came up with an idea fast.

Because of his attempted escape, Megatron dragged Optimus back to the Fallen. Once they reach the throne room, they saw the corrupt Prime's sneer, as well as the angry glint in his optics. His blood red optics darted to Starscream and the look he gave probably made the whiney Seeker wilt. Starscream noticed the gaze and looked at him, bowing his head in attempted respect. The Fallen knew better and growled at him.

"How could you allow him to escape, Starscream?" he asked. Said mech looked up at him before falling to his knees and begging for his forgiveness. Optimus nearly snorted. He knew that all of things he normally said behind Megatron and the Fallen's back, he would never actually say to their faces. And there the coward was, on his knees, begging to be spared. Optimus thought that it was a little pathetic, but chose not to say anything for the sake of his own life.

"I'm sorry, master!" the Seeker screamed. "It will never happen again! I swear!" The amount of desperation in his optics made Optimus sick.

The Fallen snarled at the traitorous Seeker. "See to it that it doesn't. Megatron!" he barked. Immediately, the Decepticon leader bowed out of respect for his master. "Bring him to me."

He got up quickly and dragged his younger brother up to the Fallen, who looked down at the Autobot leader with disgust in his optics. The Fallen reared back and backhanded the other Prime once again. Optimus flew back and landed on his back struts, keeping his groan of pain in as he spat out a few drops of Energon. "Fool. How dare you try to escape?! There is no escape for you, Prime!" he spat. Megatron frowned at the treatment his brother received from his master. He wasn't sure why, but he was almost angry at seeing the Fallen injure his sibling. He shook his helm and tried to think like a warlord again, but he couldn't bring himself to it. Internally, he winced when the corrupt Prime smashed his brother's helm into the ground with brute force, drawing out a hiss from him. For some reason, Megatron was uncomfortable with harming Optimus. What was his problem? Maybe it was the damage done to his processors after the battle in Egypt, but he wasn't quite sure. He made a mental note to visit Hook after his master dismissed him. Hopefully, he could start thinking like a Decepticon again.

Well, I'm proud of the length of that chapter. Leave a review, follow and favourite if you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter.

Denali Prime out!