Chapter Twelve:
Lyn had strained to learn to use her powers through her cybernetic arm so much that she'd collapsed on the bed in exhaustion. She couldn't bear the thought of going on anymore…she was as tired as she could possibly be. Barricade had been checking up on her off and on for the entire day, and had told her he was going into recharge soon, that he would be unreachable for the rest of the day, someone else, however, would be on patrol and would assist her if she needed anything.
Lyn didn't hold too much faith in the unknown mech that would be her watcher while Barricade slept. After all, most of the mechs on the ship hated her…they agreed with Blackout, she should be leashed and wielded like the weapon she was. She knew, she'd heard them talking. Of course, none of them knew she could understand what they were saying. And she wasn't about to tell anyone that she was slowly learning to understand Cybertronian. It was part of her power, part of her gifts, she was omnilingual. That meant that she could quickly learn and decipher foreign languages. Over the time she'd been around the transformers, she'd picked up pieces of their language, and now, she almost…almost had it all deciphered. There was still an odd phrase or word that she hadn't figured out yet, but she pretty much understood everything they said. Lyn sighed and closed her eyes, letting herself fall into a comforting sleep.
When the door opened, Lyn was so far gone in her exhaustion that she hadn't heard the hiss of her door opening, or the sound of footsteps as someone approached her bed. Her intruder chuckled darkly as he watched her lying there on her bed. "It would be so easy…" He muttered, but instead of doing anything, he lowered himself to the floor beside her bed and contented himself with watching her sleep. She twitched occasionally, her cybernetic arm twitching with the rest of her in perfect harmony with her body. He smirked. The arm suited her. She'd practically sold her soul to Megatron when she showed him what her powers could do, and now she was starting to resemble the puppet she had become. She was Megatron's little lackey. She did his every whim and his every desire.
His smirk widened. How long before Megatron pressed her into doing other things? He was well known for his cruelty. It was only a matter of time until he showed her his darker side. He chuckled again. "Only a matter of time…" He muttered out loud to himself as he flipped off her light.
Lyn tossed restlessly on her bed, she kept feeling as though someone were watching her. She could feel the maliciousness of someone near her. Her dreams were plagued by visions of Blackout coming and attacking her and once more, her powerless to stop him. Her power never responded when he came near. He was the one thing that terrified her beyond anything she'd ever known. And she'd been scared before, but this was truly terrifying. Finally, unable to handle the horrible nightmares anymore, she opened her eyes and darkness greeted her.
She froze. She hadn't turned off the light. She'd fell asleep before she could even use her power to hit the switch…so…who had turned it off? She strained to see in the darkness, but even with the soft light the digital clock gave off and the various other small lights in the room, she couldn't penetrate the darkness. She reached out with her powers to hit the lights and found her power still recovering. She sighed, there was no way she could reach the lights without her powers. The Decepticons hadn't been completely nice to her and made things very easy. She couldn't open the door on her own, and she couldn't hit the lights unless it was with her own powers. "Perfect…" She breathed softly.
But loud enough for the intruder to hear, the hairs on the back of Lyn's neck rose as she heard a deep chuckle. She swallowed hard. She hadn't known Blackout for very long, but the voice had seemed to sound the same. Lyn froze, she could feel a cold wash of terror start to slip into her. She struggled to keep her breathing steady and to control her suddenly racing heart. Since there were no other fleshlings on the ship aside from herself and Blackout's toy…she knew without a doubt that this was a mech. He would be able to easily read the fear in her by her vitals, so she desperately tried to calm herself, but the thought of being alone in the room with Blackout was beyond terrifying!
"Are you so afraid of me?" A soft voice sounded from in front of her. She felt her eyes strain harder to make out even a faint silhouette of her intruder. Just barely, she thought she could make out a shape, but it could also have been her fear imprinting the image as well. The eyes could be deceiving after all. Hadn't she told that to Dawn several times when they were little and she saw monsters in the shadows?
"I'm not afraid of a coward who hides in the shadows." Lyn said, struggling to not let her voice betray the fear she was feeling.
A deep chuckle greeted her ears, then something unexpected. The mattress moved, as though someone had climbed in next to her, before she could think of what it might have been, she felt hands roughly grab her shoulders and shove her into the mattress and felt someone climb on top of her. She blinked in confusion. Her hands flew up to try to throw off her attacker, but all she managed to do was feel the hard muscles of her attacker before the hands grabbed her wrists and held them over her head with a single hand. A deep chuckle sounded from above her. She winced as the grip tightened as her attacker leaned down to put his face next to her ear. "You're mine, little one. And if I were you, I wouldn't make a sound. I can snap your neck before you can scream for help."
Lyn swallowed hard. "Megatron would be most displeased if I were killed. Killing me isn't worth the wrath you would get for doing it." Lyn said softly, afraid to raise her voice too much for fear of his threat.
He inched closer to her ear and she could swear she could feel him smirk. "Who said I'd kill you, princess?" Lyn felt her blood turn cold in her veins. "Maybe I'll just mangle you so Bonecrusher has to replace more of you? Make you look more appealing." She felt him shift his weight, then felt something much like a cord wrap around her wrists and pull tight, he released her wrists and put either of his hands beside her shoulders. "Don't move your arms, princess. Keep them where they are."
Lyn nodded, unsure if he could see her, but unwilling to say anything for fear of what he'd do. This wasn't Blackout. It wasn't his style, it wasn't his voice. She hadn't heard his voice before; this was someone new, and evidently someone who didn't like her. She heard him inhale slowly next to her neck, moving slowly up. She shuddered.
"Most fleshlings smell disgusting…but you…you have a different scent. I like your scent." He said right next to her ear, so close she could feel his lips brush her earlobe. Fear swirled in her stomach so fiercely she felt her muscles clench. He chuckled softly. "You are so beautiful, and soon, you will be even more beautiful. All we need is to acquire the Allspark and you're beauty will become much more appealing."
Lyn swallowed back the lump of fear in throat and spoke softly. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're beautiful as a fleshling." He said, his lips brushing against her cheek. "But you'll be even more beautiful as one of us." He finished, his lips moving across hers with a feather light touch.
Lyn felt hot tears spill down the sides of her eyes, she struggled to keep the sobs in, but her breathing had become ragged and unsteady. "What do you mean by that?" She repeated, she couldn't fathom how she could ever become like them…she was a fleshling, one just couldn't change, could they?
He chuckled darkly, and held himself up on one hand and let the other one trace the side of her face gently, tracing her jaw down to her neck and then tracing the line of her shirt down on her chest. "You'll find out soon enough, little princess."
"Stop calling me that! I have a name…" Lyn snapped, then nearly whimpered the last as the hand tracing her front grabbed a tight hold on her throat.
"I call you what you are. You are a princess, perfect and mighty. Your powers put you on such a pedestal that no one will ever be able to stand next to you without being in your shadow. Except for your masters, and you will learn quickly who they are." He told her, his hand squeezing ever so slightly harder as though to emphasis the point. He continued to squeeze until Lyn nodded her understanding, then he released her, gently fingering her throat and back down to her cleavage which showed through her the v-cut in her shirt.
"Please…don't touch me…" Lyn whimpered as his fingers touched the uncovered skin.
"If you didn't want to be touched, you wouldn't wear such provocative things." He replied, his fingers still brushing her with a feathery touch. Lyn felt more hot tears slip down from her eyes and down the sides of her face, she was grateful for the dark, she closed her eyes and tried to put herself somewhere else. Trying desperately to not feel his touches, even though they weren't in forbidden places, they were still intimate, and Lyn feared it. "Why do you fear touch so?" He murmured softly in her ear, his lips brushing her earlobe.
Lyn couldn't suppress the shudder that coursed through her. "Please get away from me?" She whimpered, no longer trying to hide her fear from him, since it was obvious that he could see it clearly anyway.
"You are avoiding my question." He said softly to her, she closed her eyes as tight as they would shut until she felt her eyeballs ache with the pressure.
"I don't like being touched. That's all. Nothing else. Please, stop!" Lyn begged as she squirmed uselessly underneath him.
"Hmm…I like it when you do that." He said with a throaty laugh, Lyn immediately stopped moving. He laughed at her. "Struggle all you want, it doesn't bother me a bit." He said with an amused smirk that Lyn could feel even though she could not see it.
"Please…just go away…" Lyn begged softly, tears streaming down her face steadily as his hand continued to caress whatever exposed flesh it could find. She was grateful for one thing, this was most definitely a hologram, or whatever projection they made that was tangible. At least it couldn't become aroused like a real man would. She didn't have to fear rape from him.
He seemed to sense her thoughts and his smirk widened. He leaned down so that his lips were brushing her ear as he murmured softly. "I can do everything that a male fleshling can do, my dear little princess. Everything. And I don't tire."
Lyn felt the blood drain from her face, cold fear swept through her. She forgot about the futility of struggling and redoubled her efforts to get out from under him. But none of it worked, in fact, he shifted his weight to press himself against her harder. She sobbed out loud as she felt the one thing she feared the most. She could feel that her struggles had aroused him. "Please! Just leave me alone! Please!" She begged, sobbing, wanting to do nothing more than to curl into a little ball and cry until she had no more tears. And at the moment, she felt that such a feat would take days, that and a bath, something to wash the feel of him from her body.
He chuckled and ground his hips against hers, causing a soft wail of despair to come from Lyn, although she was careful to stay quiet, she believed his threat of causing her much pain before she could raise her voice loud enough to be heard. "Is this what you're afraid of?" He pressed his hips hard against hers, setting her into fierce sobbing. "You'll be a fun one to break. But I alas, I must go. I've had fun toying with you, princess. I look forward to our next meeting. Perhaps I will have the time to enjoy you more than I have today. Take it another step forward." He sat up once more, straddling her hips and ran his hands down her front, dragging his fingertips along her chest and stomach.
Suddenly the pressure of him was gone. She heard the door hiss and a light flared in the room before casting it into darkness once more. Lyn still had her eyes closed tightly, so she could not see who her attacker had been. She only knew she would definitely be telling Megatron and Barricade and Bonecrusher about this! She didn't want this to happen again!
She lowered her arms and tried to get her hands loose from the cord that held them tightly bound together. Her flesh hand was losing circulation and had long since been in agony from the 'sleep' feeling. She cried harder the longer she tried to get free. But it was hopeless, she couldn't loosen the binds. She felt warm trickle down her wrist and her forearm and stopped her struggles. All she was doing was making it bleed, that wasn't going to solve anything. She raised her knees up to her chest and put her hands to her face and lowered them against her knees and cried with all her heart. She felt dirty, scared and violated. Memories of the past ripped through her, forcing her to face what she'd buried down so deep she'd almost forgotten about it. The reasons she'd wanted to destroy the military and their stupid government that had refused to protect her and her sister. The abuse they'd had to suffer because they were different…what they'd done to Dawn…
Lyn let herself fall to her side, and scooted up to her pillow and buried her face in it while she cried. The agony of what he'd done was more than he could have hoped for, that much she was sure. All she wanted to do was have someone's arms to crawl into and be comforted. But that was the one thing here on this ship that she would never have. No one here would comfort her like that. She was only barely taller than five foot; the smallest mech she'd seen was at least twelve feet tall. No one here would comfort her anyway, they were all hardened warriors. They had no time to coddle a female, especially one that was supposed to be strong and self-confident like her. She dared not show her weaker side to Megatron, for fear of what he'd do to her.
Thinking on that thought, she hiccupped as she realized she couldn't tell Megatron about what had happened…if he sensed she had weakness…maybe he would give her to Blackout…maybe he would decide that she wasn't good enough to keep around freely. That she would only be useful if she were leashed and kept as a pet. She'd heard rumors and listened to stories told to the new mechs she'd created about Megatron's legendary temper and his whole temperament. He was cruel, vicious and prone to being provoked no matter how small the offense. She'd seen that first hand when she'd inadvertently questioned his judgment. She hiccupped again, her sobs coming fewer and fewer as realization dawned on her.
If I tell Barricade, he'll tell Megatron, and then Megatron will think me weak. I can't tell anyone…it will always get back to Megatron…I can't afford to have him thinking I'm weak. I don't want to become someone's pet. I want to remain free for as long as possible…what am I going to do? She thought as she stared at the digital clock across the room. It was early morning. Barricade would be coming to check on her soon. I will hold my tongue. I will bear this burden alone. I am stronger than they think! I will prove it! She thought with determination as she felt her eyes droop. She was still extremely tired, and now that the adrenalin from what he had done was wearing off, her exhaustion was slowly seeping back in. Soon, she was asleep again, though fitfully and uncomfortable due to the lack of circulation in her right hand, but asleep none the less…
Barricade strode down the hall toward Lyn's room scowling. The mech who had been on patrol had decided to leave her alone and hadn't check on her at all. That didn't bode well with Barricade. He'd used his status as Elite to teach the mech a few lessons in obedience. Sometimes being a Elite had its advantages. Mainly, he could slag whoever needed slagging and get away with little more than a stern look or a lecture on conduct. He punched in the code to Lyn's door and opened it. It was dark. He frowned and growled lightly under his breath. Lyn always slept with at least one light on when she was entirely alone.
He walked to the back of her little apartment and flipped on a light, then walked to her where her bed was. Looking down at her he scowled. Her hands were bound; her flesh hand was slightly discolored. "Lyn. Wake up." He said softly, touching her with a finger, gently nudging her.
Lyn stirred and looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. "Barricade?" She asked sleepily.
"Yes. What happened?" Barricade asked as he used his sharp fingertip to cut the cord, Lyn winced as it slightly cut her right hand, but didn't complain, the cord had been wrapped very tightly and there was no way to avoid at least some injury in removing it. But with as little circulation as she had in the hand, the pain hadn't been that bad, just a phantom sensation of pain, then gone.
"I don't want to talk about it. It's nothing." Lyn said as she sat up and straightened her shirt. Aware that she was only wearing her long shirt, it usually didn't bother her to be around Barricade or Starscream, and Megatron never came here until it was later in the day, almost late afternoon, so he never caught her half dressed. But after what her attacker had done, she suddenly felt uncomfortable being so scantly clothed.
"You were bound so tightly I'll probably have to take you to Bonecrusher to make sure your hand is still going to be fully functional. How long were you like this?" Barricade asked, hoping she'd give him at least some small piece of information he could report to Megatron. After all, Lord Megatron would be most displeased to find that his precious pet had been so crudely treated. He wanted to have something to tell Megatron so the wrath did not fall upon his shoulders.
Lyn looked at her digital clock and winced. "For about five and a half hours." She said in a small voice, so soft it could have been a whisper.
Barricade grunted. Whoever had done this had struck shortly after the shift change, they'd waited until he'd gone into recharge before attacking. "Did you see your attacker?" His memory flashed to her room being completely dark. "No, I imagine not." He cycled a heavy sigh, and then lowered himself down beside her bed. "Lyn…please, can you tell me anything about your attacker?" Barricade placed a finger gently against her cybernetic arm.
Lyn shivered at the touch, it was warm and somehow made her feel tingly and excited. She looked up at Barricade's face. "It was dark. I couldn't see him. All I know is that he used a hologram or whatever it is you guys have that is solid and can become my size…" She trailed off, then frowned at him, a look of worry crossing her face. "Barricade? Is it true that in your hologram you can function as though you were a fleshling like me?"
Barricade looked at her suspiciously. "We can make our holomatter into whatever form or shape we desire. As long as we have scanned it we can copy it."
Lyn shifted nervously. "Can you make it function like a fleshling?"
Barricade narrowed his eyes at her. "Function as in how? Because we can move and interact with the world as you do with our holomatter."
Lyn looked slightly more nervous, her face slowly started to blush. "Can you…umm…can you…mate and things like that?" With the last said, her face turned a deep red.
Barricade looked at her in shock for a moment. Then laughed a rich laugh, causing her face to redden more. He stopped laughing and cocked his head to the side to look at her in a different perspective. "Yes, if we know enough about the anatomy of the form in which we take, yes. We can mate. We can bleed, mate, and anything a fleshling can do we can do. Only we don't tire, don't need sleep and don't require food or drink. We have all the perks and none of the disadvantages."
Lyn's face went from dark red to white in less than a heartbeat. Her worst fears had just been confirmed. "Oh." Her feeble response brought Barricade's attention into sharp focus.
"Why do you ask that? What happened, Lyn?" Barricade asked, prying as hard as he could without grabbing her and squeezing until she talked. But he knew that such actions would only cause her to stay more silent, so he chose this approach. "Please, tell me. You know you can confide in me. Let me protect you."
Lyn looked at him and he saw the tears forming in her eyes. "I can't. They'll think me weak." She said, her voice wavering slightly as she struggled not to cry in front of Barricade.
He moved his finger up and down her left arm, gently reassuring her. "No one will think you weak. Trust me. Just tell me what happened?"
Lyn looked at him as though judging whether or not he was telling the truth, then sighed. "Yes, I was attacked, that much you already know. No, I didn't see him. He used his holomatter to pin me down and tie me up, said that if I screamed he'd do horrible things to me before I had the chance to get help to me. So I stayed quiet. He threatened to…to…do things to me. He…touched me…" She trailed off, a shudder going through her as she felt his hands on her body again. Desperately she wanted a bath, or anything to erase the feel of his hands on her skin.
Barricade leaned back slightly, taking in all of the information. If she was implying what he thought she was, then there could be a problem. "What else happened?" He dreaded what she might say.
"Nothing. He left me saying he'd come back to play more and go farther next time." She looked at him with fearful eyes. "I don't want him to go further next time! I don't want to be touched like that!"
The distress in her eyes caused his spark to ache for her. A feeling he thought had died long ago. "We must talk to Lord Megatron. He needs to know about this. It's the only way to insure your protection." Barricade told her softly.
Lyn's eyes went wide in fear. "No! We can't! It will give him a reason to think me unable to live freely! I don't want to become a slave!"
You already are. Barricade thought as he thought about how reliant she was on them to do everything for her. She couldn't leave her room without one of them to open the door for her; she couldn't get back into her room without one of them to open the door. She had no access to anywhere on the ship without someone to help her. Yes, she was already a slave. She was just deluding herself into thinking she was free. "If we do not tell him, I cannot ensure your protection. He might be able to do what he has threatened to do. Please, let's go to Lord Megatron? He doesn't expect you to be able to protect yourself from us; you are only a fleshling after all."
Lyn shook her head. "No! I won't do it! I can take care of myself! I just couldn't last night because my powers were so drained. With rest and light usage, I will be able to use those powers on him next time to show him I am no weakling!" Lyn said with a defiant lift of her head.
Barricade sighed. He hated it when she got like this. He knew she was no match for one of them, even with her powers. After all, holomatter couldn't be affected by her powers. But he decided to let her delude herself. Some lessons had to be learned. Better she learned this one fast and learned to accept help when it was offered. After her attacker came back and fulfilled his promises out on her, he'd try to encourage her again to seek out Megatron for protection. "Very well, if that is your wish, then so be it." He knew he should force her to go to Megatron. But she would likely be punished for having to be forced to tell him what had happened. Then things would get ugly. The likelihood of her being given to Blackout or someone else to learn obedience was high and he didn't want to see her get hurt like that. He'd grown to like her, even though he would admit it to no one.
Barricade cocked his head to the other side, looking at her differently. "Why do you fear touch?"
Lyn immediately sobered up, and cast her eyes down to her hands in her lap. She idly fingered the metal on her left hand. "Just something from my past…" She said softly.
Barricade moved his finger to gently press her chin up to force her to look at him. "What happened?"
Lyn gave Barricade a sad look and frowned as she remembered. "They hurt Dawn. They wanted to make me suffer for what I'd done. So they hurt her in front of me. I had to watch them hurt her…" Lyn stopped, looking away again.
Barricade moved his finger back to her left arm, gently stroking it reassuringly. "Hurt her how? Like beat her?"
Lyn shook her head. "No. The soldiers…they…" Lyn trailed off and looked directly into Barricade's eyes.
Understanding hit him. "They raped her." He finished, she nodded solemnly. "You fear touch because you don't want to experience what you watched your twin go through."
"Sorta…" Lyn muttered, looking away.
Realization hit him again. "You felt her pain, didn't you? You could feel what she felt. It was as if you were being raped as well. And there was nothing you could do to stop it." Again, Lyn nodded, her eyes cast down at her hands again. He sighed. "Sometimes we experience things in life that we wish we couldn't. But that doesn't mean that every touch is going to be bad. Someday, when you find someone you truly care about, you'll want them to touch you. You'll see. You shouldn't fear touch. While they can hurt your body, and touch you physically, they can never touch your soul."
Lyn looked at Barricade in a new light. "Wow. That was deep." She smiled at the small joke, he let a smirk cross his own lips and shook his head.
"Are you certain you will not speak to Lord Megatron about this? Without his knowing this is going on, you will likely get what your sister got, and much worse." Barricade tried again to get her to see reason. But she shook her head. "Very well then, do you want to leave your room? Or stay here for a while?"
Lyn frowned. "Are you going to be busy?" Barricade nodded. "I know Starscream is preoccupied…he's been preoccupied ever since his team mate was captured." Barricade nodded his agreement. "Then I guess I'll just stay here and clean, maybe exercise a little, get used to this arm." She held up her left arm to emphasize.
Barricade took the opportunity to change the subject before he left. "Does it still bother you? Hurt?"
Lyn shrugged. "Sometimes, it's still tender and sore, like a muscle that hasn't been used in a long time, but I guess that'll all change once I get used to it. But honestly, I'm surprised by how light it is. I figured with it being metal that it'd be really heavy…but it's not that much heavier than my original arm."
"You can thank Bonecrusher and Hook for that." Barricade said.
Lyn looked confused. "Hook? Who's that?"
Barricade sighed. "Someone you'll probably never meet. He's another medic. An honest medic, not the stand-in that Bonecrusher is…but he hates the thought of caring for a fleshling. Thinks there a waste of resources, so you'll never have to worry about him, you'll probably never even meet him." Barricade explained. "Now, I've got to get going. If you need anything, just call me. I'll come as quickly as I can." Lyn nodded and he stood and left her sitting on the bed.
She listened to the hiss of the door as it opened and then closed. Again, she was all alone. A chill went up her spine as she thought about that fact. All alone…anyone could come and do horrible things to her while she was here…she jumped up out of bed, flew to her dresser, grabbed a sleeveless shirt and a pair of black pants and flung off her t-shirt and put the other clothes on in record time. She grabbed the communicator off of the top of her night stand and Barricade.
"Is something wrong?" Barricade's voice sounded half a second later.
"Umm…is it too late to change my mind about leaving my room? If not, I'd like to go to the med bay and see if I'm okay. My wrist hasn't gotten any better." Lyn replied, which wasn't really a lie, it still throbbed and the welt where she'd been struggling to get free was still looking nasty and red.
"I'll be there momentarily." Barricade said before he shut down the link.
Lyn sighed in relief. She didn't want to be alone right now. With Starscream so preoccupied, Megatron doing whatever he always did and Barricade on constant duty…there was no one to check up on her regularly and gave others like her attacker last night and Blackout the perfect opportunity to strike. Within a few minutes, her door opened and Barricade came in. "I appreciate this, Cade."
Barricade stifled the wince. It was a nickname she'd occasionally call him, and since it caused no harm and she did it only in private between the two of them, he saw no need to put a stop to it. "I will take you to the med bay. When you are in need of returning to your room, notify Bonecrusher and he will see to it you are returned safely." Barricade told her as Lyn walked over to him to let him pick her up. As small as Barricade was compared to the other mechs, Lyn fit nicely in his hand, most fleshlings he'd seen while impersonating her vehicle would have been too big for him to carry like this, but she fit perfectly. Small and dainty, she seemed so fragile.
Lyn nodded to him as he picked her up and went out her door. "When was the last time you had a day off?" She asked unexpectedly.
Barricade shook his head. He was prepared now for her unexpected questions. "We do not work like you fleshlings. We do not get days off as frequently as you do." He was silent for a moment, giving Lyn time to respond if she wanted too. When she remained silent he spoke again softly to her. "You know…not all touch is bad. It can be good."
Lyn turned herself slightly to get a better look at Barricade's face. "I don't think so. Every time someone has touched me like that its hurt or felt bad…I don't think there is such thing as a pleasant touch like that." She said softly, turning away to watch where they were walking. She was still trying to memorize where everything was, but it seemed hopeless, every time they went somewhere they seemed to take a different route.
Barricade was silent for a moment, then stopped and looked around. There was no one anywhere near them. Lyn turned and looked at him, clearly confused as to why they stopped. "Should you ever decide that you want to learn that touch is not always bad…I will assist you in that discovery. So long as you tell no one." He spoke so softly Lyn barely picked it up.
She nodded suspiciously. "Alright, but I don't think I'll ever be taking you up on that offer. And if I did, I certainly wouldn't want anyone to know what I was doing…that's sorta private stuff anyways." She said with a wrinkled nose.
Barricade nodded and resumed his walking towards the med bay, he'd taken a short cut due to being pressed for time, but it was still taking a while to get there. "Remember my offer. It will stand forever. No matter what."
Lyn nodded. "Okay. I'll remember that."
The rest of the walk was done in silence. Lyn mulled over what Barricade had told her. She was touched at his offer, but she didn't think she'd have the courage to take him up on it. But she understood the magnitude of his offer. It wasn't something that he'd offer just anyone. Barricade let her brood over her thoughts, satisfied that he'd finally given her the offer he'd wanted to give her for a while. He hoped that one day she'd give in and let him show her what touch was supposed to feel like. But until then, he'd have patience.
They reached the med bay doors and were greeted with the sound of whimpering and Bonecrusher growling. Lyn flinched, she'd hoped that the male fleshling had healed and was gone by now, but she was starting to understand just how seriously Blackout had hurt him. Barricade walked past several empty berths and set her down on the one across from Blackout's toy. "I have to leave now. Take care, little Lyn." He said softly, he brushed her left arm gently before leaving quickly.
Lyn watched Bonecrusher administer another shot to Blackout's toy. She waited patiently for Bonecrusher to get finished. He seemed in a particularly foul mood today, and she didn't want to test her luck with him. It was an agonizing procedure to watch the guy go through…she'd been injected with nanites before, and it was painful and extremely disconcerting. She didn't have to ask what was being done, she could tell from the tool Bonecrusher was using.
Finally, Bonecrusher glanced over at Lyn and grunted. "What's wrong with you?" He growled.
Lyn flinched. His eyes were a darker shade of red, almost a crimson color today. She figured that meant he was really upset. "I got hurt this morning." She showed him her right wrist. He looked at it in silence for a moment, and then activated his hologram beside her. He took her hand in his and gently probed the welts, Lyn hissed in pain as he brushed the injury.
Bonecrusher grunted. "It needs cleaned out. How'd you do this? This isn't a normal injury." Lyn was silent, her mouth open and working as she desperately tried to think of an excuse. Bonecrusher's hologram narrowed his eyes at her; he moved his mech self back over to the other fleshling to finish his work. His hologram looked at her suspiciously. "What happened, Ashalyn? What caused this?"
Lyn winced at his use of her full name. Even though she had never heard him call her that before she knew it meant she was in trouble. "A cord wrapped tightly around my wrists." She said in a small voice.
"What was a cord doing wrapped tightly around your wrists? It's dangerous to play those types of games. I understand some fleshlings like to have their pleasure through pain, but it is highly ill advised." Bonecrusher told her in a softer voice, Lyn felt her face blush dark red.
"No! It wasn't like that!" Lyn hurriedly started to explain, then realized that there wasn't any way to explain it without telling him about her attacker.
"Then enlighten me. What was it like?" Bonecrusher watched her closely, his expression softened slightly. "Who did it to you?" His voice no longer held the vicious tones it had before.
Lyn tried not to show how much the attack had affected her. "I don't know. He came when I was sleeping. It was dark. He tied me up and…and that's it."
Bonecrusher didn't look convinced, but he didn't press her. "This needs to be cleaned, it's a deep cut. Hopefully infection can be prevented; I don't think you want to go through another operation like the last." Lyn shook her head. "Alright, I'll be back in a minute with what I need." He told her as he gently stroked her right forearm, returning circulation back to her swollen arm.
Just as he promised in a few moments, his mech self came back with the needed supplies to clean out her wound. His hologram took the supplies that he'd laid gently on the berth and sorted through them; he grabbed a few clothes and some disinfectant and wetted a cloth with it. Gently he cleaned her right wrist, even though he was being very gentle, Lyn still had to suppress whimpers that wanted to come out when he pressed into the wound. "You're doing well." He told her reassuringly as he got a new cloth and put more disinfectant on it.
By the time Bonecrusher was finished with cleaning out her wound, it throbbed painfully and the whole area was red and swollen. "That doesn't look like it's gonna get better…" Lyn said skeptically.
Bonecrusher's hologram chuckled lightly. "I know, but it will settle down in a few minutes, you'll see. Here…this will take away the pain." Gently, he rubbed a cream on her wrist over the wound, it stung for a split second, but soon the pain started to disappear. Her hand no longer tingled with the sleep feeling, and her arm was no longer throbbing from the sleep effect either. Now with the pain diminished to almost nothing, she felt good for the first time since she'd woken up.
"Thank you." Lyn said softly, Bonecrusher grunted, and then paused, cocking his head slightly to the side. His hologram suddenly smiled. Lyn frowned, worry creeping into her stomach.
"Since you are already done, how about I put you over there with the other fleshling? I'm sure he's dying to have someone like him to talk to and I'm sure you'd like to have another fleshling to speak with as well. It's been quite a while since you've been around them after all." Bonecrusher said unexpectedly.
Lyn blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected that at all. She figured since he was Blackout's toy and a prisoner of war, he'd be off limits to her. She nodded. "Alright…it's better than going to my room already. I could use a while outside those same drab walls." Bonecrusher nodded and his hologram shimmered away as he gently picked her up and carried her to the berth with the fleshling male sitting there with his eyes closed.
"I'll be in the back if you need anything." Bonecrusher told Lyn as he walked away.
Lyn looked at the guy in front of her curiously. While he appeared to be in a great deal of pain, he was handling it very well. "Umm…hi." She said as she sat down in front of him.
He opened his eyes and blinked at her in confusion, then looked around uncertainly. "Hi." He said after a moment. "I didn't figure you'd want to see me. Not after what happened on the battle field…"
Lyn shrugged. "That was the battlefield. We're enemies, we're supposed to fight each other. All's fair in love and war after all." She said with a smile. "Besides, you're not a warrior while you're here. You're just you, a prisoner and a toy to one of the most sadistic bastards on this ship." She told him as she cocked her to one side. "What's your name?"
"Nicolei." He answered.
Lyn waited for a moment, and then frowned at him. "Aren't you going to ask me mine?"
Nicolei shook his head. "I don't need too. I know your twin. You're Ashalyn. Or Lyn as Dawn calls you. I was supposed to rescue you when we were on the battlefield and take you back to Dawn…but I failed and here I am."
Lyn felt a pang in her heart at the thought of her sister wanting to be reunited with her. But shook herself free of it. "Yeah, well, we've moved along to very different paths. I have no intention of leaving mine, and she can just stay on her path as well."
Nicolei noted the bitterness that was in her voice. "You sound a little upset about that fact. Are you sure that's what you're really thinking?"
Lyn sighed and the anger went out of her. "No…I would love nothing more than to have my sister here with me…but I don't think she'd be able to survive in an environment like this…she's not as tough as I am."
Nicolei was tempted to point out that living without Lyn was hard on Dawn but she was strong enough to pull through that and to succeed in growing in her powers whereas before she had been terrified to even touch them. But he held his tongue about it. "She's stronger than you think. She lived through the same things you did. She just experienced them a little differently, that's all."
Lyn sighed and nodded. "That's true I suppose. But it's still not safe here for her. Not yet at least. Soon, when I get to my full potential, I will be showing these mechs who think they can push me around who is boss! I'll prove to them that a fleshling is more than a weakling!" She proclaimed as she balled her left hand into a tight fist.
Nicolei looked at her again in surprise. He hadn't noticed the cybernetic arm until she'd raised it. He swallowed hard at the thought of his failure. Because of his failure, she'd been forced to lose a limb…how much more would she have to sacrifice before she could be rescued from the hands of the Decepticons and returned to her twin's side where she belonged? "Well, until then, if I were you, I'd be keeping a low profile." Nicolei muttered as he looked around the room. "So…they taking good care of you here?"
Lyn nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I have my own apartment and everything, if I ever need anything there is always someone I can call to help me out."
"Uh huh…" Nicolei said, totally unconvinced. "Right…and that's why you have a cybernetic arm? As I recall it wasn't there when I saw you last…"
Lyn's face flushed with embarrassment, she fingered her cybernetic arm self-consciously. "That's a long story…but yes, I am well cared for. I have everything I could possibly want here."
"Except for Dawn." Nicolei pointed out.
Lyn took an irritated breath and frowned hard at Nicolei. "You know, I can see why Blackout beats you for all your worth. You're absolutely infuriating!"
Nicolei gave a small laugh, and then winced, putting a hand to his side. "But you know I'm right." Nicolei countered with a smile.
Lyn sighed, quirking her lips to the side. "I guess your right…but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm here and she's there and there isn't anything that can be done about it. I can't get to her and there is no way she can get to me."
Nicolei was silent while he studied her. While now there was a definite difference between Lyn and Dawn, and he could see just how much their personalities differed…he still couldn't help but to feel sorry for Lyn. She was being used, a prisoner as much as he was. Only she didn't see it. "So do you have full roam of the ship? Whenever you want to go some place?"
Lyn shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. All I have to do is get a hold of someone to take me out of my room or to take me to a specific spot and all's well. I just can't open the doors, they're all passcoded…and I can't reach the keypad, so there's no way I'll ever be able to open any of the doors without help.
Nicolei frowned. "On the Autobot base everything is passcoded as well….but they put a smaller keypad down where we can reach it so we have access to the doors as well….you'd think that if you were so welcome here, they'd make accommodations for someone your size."
Lyn just shrugged it off. "I'm the only fleshling here that has free roam. I don't expect them to alter everything just because of me. Besides, there's always someone available to help me out, so there's really no need to go through all that trouble."
Nicolei swallowed the snort of disgust that was creeping up his throat. Trouble indeed! She was a prisoner here, trapped in silk and roses…they had her on a tight leash and she didn't even know it! Instead, Nicolei just gave a small smile and sighed. "Whatever helps you get through the day."
"So, what's it like where my sister is? Are they treating her well?" Lyn asked, happy to change the subject, her mind had started to doubt the hospitality of her hosts here on the ship…
"Yeah, she's treated like the little princess that she is. She's got an apartment all to herself, a lower panel so she can enter her room without aid, food, fridge, stove, microwave, just about anything you need to live on your own, she's got it. She's also got tons of other stuff I'm not really at liberty to discuss with you, seeing as how you're the enemy." Nicolei said a little stiffly.
Lyn rolled her eyes. "You know…for someone whose probably not going to get the company of another fleshling for most likely the rest of his life, you're being awful not nice." She scolded him lightly.
Nicolei looked hurt. "Not being nice…sweety, I'm being a sweet heart to you. I'm being exceptionally sweet and kind. If I was being mean, or anything like that, trust me…you'd know!" He told her in an injured tone.
Lyn sighed and waved away his comment. "Fine. Fine, whatever." She glanced around trying to locate Bonecrusher. "So, you got a family? Friends? Anyone whose missing you right now?" She asked absently, not really interested in his answer.
"Yes. I do actually. Maybe not the family part, but I do have a wife and friends, but I guess to me their family enough." Nicolei answered, Lyn looked over at him with a strange expression.
"What's it like?" She asked softly, her eyes reflecting the sadness within.
"What's what like?" Nicolei asked.
"What's it like to have someone who loves you? That's not related to you…what's it like to be married?" Lyn asked, expression suddenly guarded, but her voice soft and questing.
Nicolei cocked his head to one side. "Well…it's really nice. They love you no matter what mistakes you make; they love you no matter what kind of day it's been. And more importantly, they support you no matter how stupid your goal might be, although they're not afraid to ground you if you get too high on yourself or if your feet leave the ground, so to speak. But best of all, it's someone who loves you for who you are, no matter what that might be." He said as he thought about his lovely Okelani, a smile playing across his lips.
Lyn frowned, and nodded, looking away from Nicolei. A stab of pain shot through her heart. That was what she wanted. Someone who loved her, someone that accepted her for what she was, whatever that might be…She wanted to have someone to sleep next to at night, someone to hold her when she cried and someone to laugh with her when she was sad. Tears threatened to form in her eyes as she thought about how lonely she was here…there was never again going to be a chance to get married or to have a family…she would be isolated and alone here forever…for however long she might live…
Thankfully for Lyn, Bonecrusher came back wisely to check up on them. He noticed Lyn's elevated stress levels. "I think it's time you went back to your room for some rest." He told her as he one of the grunts who guarded the area. "I will have someone take you back to your room." Lyn nodded.
"Alright." Then she said to Nicolei without looking at him directly. "It was nice to meet you, Nicolei…I'm sorry it was under these circumstances…I hope we get to see each other again before you die…"
Nicolei studied her expression carefully, he saw the tears that wanted to be spilt, but remained silent. "It was nice to meet you too, Ashalyn. I hope to see you again before I die as well…it's nice to have civilized conversation with someone other than Blackout."
Lyn gave a weak smile and allowed Bonecrusher to take her away from the berth. He carried her to a berth away from Nicolei's, where she could have privacy and spoke softly to her. "Is everything okay? You are really stressed right now."
Lyn looked up at him with as close to a reassuring smile as she could come up with. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I guess I just wasn't ready to talk to someone like me just yet. Especially someone who has everything I desperately want…" She trailed off, unwilling to tell Bonecrusher what was really bothering her.
He let her brood in silence. "Someone will be here shortly." He told her as he walked off to leave her to her thoughts.
Lyn was sure that it wasn't very long before someone came and got her, although to her it seemed to take an eternity. Nicolei was silent the rest of the time she was there, so she had no one to disturb her from her thoughts. When the mech arrived to take her back to her room, she didn't recognize him, he said nothing to her, simply went straight to Bonecrusher and then back to her, he waited patiently for her to stand up and then picked her up carefully and carried her to her room. No words were exchanged, and Lyn didn't feel comfortable making conversation with the stranger. And in return, he seemed more than happy with the silence.
Once they got to her room, he lowered her to the floor and opened the door, once Lyn walked in he closed the door and was gone. Lyn sighed. "Can't tell if these guys like or hate me…" She muttered to herself as she walked over to her chair and flopped down.
She closed her eyes and reached out with her powers to flip out the light. The back light in her kitchen area kept her from being in complete darkness, but it was dark enough to let her mind wander without interruption of the things around her. As she mulled over Nicolei's words, she started to drift off to sleep.
Lyn looked around her uneasily. The darkness reminded her of her previous dream a while back. It swirled around her like a living thing, its touch made her shudder in both fear and disgust. The darkness radiated the same evil she remembered. She was slightly more used to it now than she had been in the beginning. "What do you want from me?" She asked the darkness.
A deep chuckle sounded right next to her, she spun to face it, but the darkness spun away from her. "I want you, sweet little Ashalyn. I want the real you…not the you that hides and pretends."
Lyn shook her head. "What does that mean?! I'm not hiding and I'm definitely not pretending to be anything other than myself!" She shouted defiantly at the darkness.
Again, another chuckle greeted her in the silence. The darkness grazed against her back, she spun again to face it, and this time froze in horror as she saw Blackout standing in front of her. "You weren't born as you are now…you adapted to the world around you. It is what you were created to do." The voice sounded in her right ear, softly and seductive like a lover's voice. Blackout shimmered away, replaced with Barricade.
"I can show you what touch truly should be." Barricade's soft voice echoed in the darkness.
Lyn swallowed hard. "Why are you doing this to me? What do you want from me?!" She demanded of the darkness.
It chuckled and brushed up against her, sending a trill of its evil across her flesh. She flinched, pulling away, but it pursued her, forcing her backwards a few steps until her back hit something solid. She turned her head to look. It was only a wall. Momentary relief flooded through her. "As I stated before, I want you. I want to own you. You are a prize trophy to find, a true diamond in the rough, as the saying goes. I will have you for my own. You will be a powerful asset to me. Together…we could be unstoppable." Its voice was deep and masculine, just like she remembered it, it was seductive and enchanting, but Lyn was wary of it. Nothing was ever what it seemed.
"You just want to use me like everyone else does!" Lyn shouted defiantly.
Again, there was a chuckle. "Like the Decepticons are doing any less? But wouldn't you like to share in the glory, instead of being in someone's shadow? Instead of being the puppet that is held by strings? Wouldn't you rather be your own master? With me, you could be that and so much more…" It trailed off, leaving Lyn in silence and confusion.
She knew this thing was evil. She could feel its evil radiating all around her. But the offer was more than tempting. For years she'd longed to prove herself to the world, to the universe and this might very well be the opportunity she'd been waiting for. But…if she did as it asked, would she still become just another slave to this creature/person/thing? How could she trust something that radiated such evil? And that sparked the deeper question…SHOULD she even trust this person/thing…
Before she could say anything…the voice whispered seductively in her ear, the tendrils of darkness caressing her face tenderly. "Think about it…" The image of her destroying the planet she'd called home for so long flashed into her mind. She saw herself laying waste to the civilization that shunned her and her sister so fiercely.
A smirk came to her face. But then she remembered what Megatron had told her. She didn't need to prove to others her strength. She knew she could level the entire world if she so chose too, she didn't need to actually do it to prove to them she could. It was just as well that she never returned there anyways, it would only bring back bad memories. No. She didn't need to do that. Although the thought of forcing others to submit to her was an intriguing idea…
"I will give you time to think upon it…" With that, the darkness pulled away, vanishing in the black.
Lyn woke up with a start, her neck ached painfully from the position she'd had it in for so long. Her body was sore and stiff from falling asleep in the chair. She groaned, and rubbed a hand over her face to wipe away the weariness. "Was it all just a dream?" She asked herself, pondering over the encounter. The first time she had it, she had been able to cast it aside, but a second time? Perhaps there was something more in this dream than she was seeing…but then again, Dawn was always the perceptive one when it came to these kinds of things…not her.
Lyn looked around warily, suddenly uneasy. Was she alone her apartment? She stood up cautiously and gathered her power tightly to her, ready to spring it out at any possible intruder that might be in her little apartment. After taking a few minutes to explore the apartment, she relaxed, comfortable in the knowledge that she was alone. But it still didn't shake her feeling of unease. Something was wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint it…