Crack in the Pavement
Chapter 10
Anyone else getting encoding errors from Fanfiction?
Crazy is only a state of mind.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers; I'm just prostituting it for my amusement.
Summary: Megatron uses Ironhide to get his revenge on Prime. Multiple minor side pairings, see list in fic.
Warning: Graphic rape. Torture. M/M robot slash consensual as well as NON-CON
Pairings: Non-con Megatron/ Ironhide, Con Optimus/ Ironhide. Established Jazz/ Prowl, Twins/ Ratchet, Mirage/ Cliffjumper
"That wasn't what I meant when I said to recharge," Ratchet's voice woke Optimus. His optics took more than a minute to fully focus. Just as Ratchet came into focus, Optimus remembered last night."
"'Hide woke up," Optimus said, as if Ratchet could not have guessed given the mech in question was sleeping against his chassis.
"I gathered that," Ratchet replied. "You didn't call me."
"You needed your own rest," Optimus said. "As you said, you owed the Twins."
Ratchet frowned at that statement. The frown shifted quickly into a scowl. He walked carefully, stiffly over to Optimus and Ironhide. Optimus watched him move; he raised his face mask to hide his smile.
"Don't say a slagging thing," Ratchet growled.
"Perhaps you'll think twice before avoiding them again," Optimus said in spite of the threat.
"Slag off," Ratchet replied. He didn't look Optimus in the optics as Optimus stood and they eased Ironhide back on the berth. Ironhide shifted but didn't wake. Optimus could feel the heat pouring off of Ratchet. The medics engine hummed loudly as it rushed coolant through his circuits.
"I gave him a cube of energon," Optimus said, still smiling.
"Good," Ratchet said. He took a few steps back and sat back, carefully, against the berth beside Ironhide's.
"He knew me," Optimus added. "He looked at me and said my designation."
"That is something to celebrate," Ratchet said, smiling for the first time this morning. He stood up fully again, winced and walked stiffly over to his office, only to return with two cubes of high grade. Ratchet handed one cube to Optimus before returning to the berth across from Optimus. They drank leisurely. Ratchet grimaced a few times as he tried to relax.
"Did they at least let you recharge?" Optimus asked once he was halfway though his cube.
"Eventually," Ratchet said. "I'm too old for them."
"Age is a state of processor," Optimus replied sagely.
"Heh," Ratchet huffed and rubbed his lower back. "I need to lie down a while. When I come back out here you had better be recharging."
"Yes, Ratchet," Optimus replied. "How are you and the Twins anyways?"
"They're going to start living with me," Ratchet said. "Just as soon as we can move out my berth and move in theirs."
"I'm happy for you," Optimus said, smiling broadly.
"Yeah, thanks," Ratchet smiled back. "We'll see how it works."
Ratchet let the door to his office slide shut behind him and he limped the last few steps to his office berth. He could have used a long soak in his wash racks but there was no guaranteeing the Twins wouldn't find a way to join him. He'd only given himself just enough time to clean up properly, while the Twins had still been dragging themselves up. Those two did not like mornings. The Twins had hand washed him as he fell into recharge in the night but the pouring water from the wash rack shower had soothed a little bit of the ache of his over used body.
Optimus wouldn't talk about his state; he didn't gossip with the ranks. Ratchet was not willing to be gossip fodder. The Twins wouldn't talk, but they would probably be strutting around far to pleased with themselves. That could illicit some talk but nothing specific. No one would be teasing him about getting 'faced so hard he could barely walk if he could just avoid anyone noticing.
He groaned as he laid back on the berth. It wasn't even so much that they'd 'faced him too hard, not that they'd been gentle about it; it was more that they'd been insatiable. They'd 'faced him until he was strutless, optics glazed over, and too spent to do more than lie there and be 'faced. The thought made his valve ache more, but not entirely unpleasantly. His ports still tingled from the hours long connection. Ratchet fidgeted, his systems were running hot again. Slag his back hurt, and his hips weren't that much better. They owed him a massage. If he could trust them to leave it at a massage. Well, they weren't sadists, but they were 'face-crazed. Well, he'd see them after his shift. Maybe after a little more rest he wouldn't be so achy.
Ironhide's fluxes were more coherent now. He felt safe, comfortable and warm. It had been nice, so nice dozing in Optimus's arms. He knew he was sleeping alone on the berth again. It wasn't as nice as sleeping against Optimus, hearing his spark pulsing in his chassis but he wasn't entirely alone. Ratchet and Optimus talking acted as comforting white noise as Ironhide fell into a deeper recharge.
Sunny and Sides did their very best not to grin like the supremely happy idiots they were. Ratchet would be irritated if the gossip got too loud and too smutty. Still, they were both on a high better than high grade and it was hard to suppress their mirth. And what they were about to do would cause some chatter. Mechs couldn't just move in and out of each others quarters without clearing it with Prowl. Hence why they were hunting down the mech in question. Prowl had snuck himself back on the duty roster. Ratchet hadn't noticed because he'd been preoccupied with Ironhide and them. He shouldn't care one way or another if they roomed with Ratchet or not, but if for whatever reason he decided to oppose, the Twins had excellent blackmail.
They found him in his office, no great surprise there. He was a sight to see. He shined. Jazz had done a thorough job repainting and waxing every single inch of Prowl, including his newly repaired doorwing. Since the brothers weren't privy to how Prowl felt about his new look, but they kept their opinions to themselves. Sideswipe sent the thought of approval over the relay. Prowl was no Ratchet but he certainly cleaned up nice. Perhaps when safely out of Prowl's audio range they'd give Jazz their compliments.
"We want to move in with Ratchet," Sunstreaker said when Prowl asked them what they needed.
"And he agreed," Sideswipe added to dispel any confusion.
"He's finally agreed to co-habit?" Prowl asked. "I have no reason to disagree."
"We don't have a patrol today, and we want to move our berth in and his out," Sunstreaker said. "Can we?"
"We want to surprise Ratchet," Sideswipe explained.
"Just don't run anyone over with either berth," Prowl said. "Expect to need any help?"
"If we do we'll snag someone from the common room," Sideswipe replied.
"Good enough," Prowl said. "Get to it then. It would be best if you finished before the next shift change."
"Thanks," Sideswipe said. The Twins hurried from Prowl's office.
"Brave mech," Prowl said of Ratchet once the Twins had left him alone. He smiled slightly and chuckled a little before returning to his work.
Ratchet didn't know what he expected to see when he left his office after an hour's nap, Ironhide sitting up in his berth with Optimus's helm in his lap was definitely not it. Ratchet didn't even know he was staring until Ironhide stared back at him, mouth set in a straight line. The corners curved up on that mouth and Ratchet shook his head and did stifled the urge to let out a whoop of joy. He move far quicker than his still aching body wanted but Ratchet was next to that berth in seconds with his diagnostic scanner in hand.
"I need you to check my spark," Ironhide said in a low voice. He had one hand curved protectively over the side of Optimus's helm.
"What?" Ratchet asked, looking up at Ironhide's optics. Despite being guarded, Ratchet could see how haunted they were.
"He was tryin' to spark me," Ironhide said. "Check. Now. Please. Check now."
"Primus, I'm checking," Ratchet said, his intakes hissed. He changed the settings on his scanner and pointed the device at Ironhide's spark. It took several seconds to flash with the results.
"Nothing," Ratchet said, looking up from the scanner and into Ironhide's optics. "Just your spark. Given your condition when you arrive here, I don't think your reproductive protocols would have activated. This isn't a guarantee yet. I'll run another scan in a week or two but I think you're safe."
"Thank Primus," Ironhide said. He shuttered his optics. His posture was rigid. Optimus seemed to sense it in his recharged and he began to shift about. Ironhide forced himself to relax. He soothed his hand over Optimus's helm and willed him to keep recharging.
Ratchet walked away as Ironhide did this and returned with an energon cube. He held it out to Ironhide. Ironhide took it, resisted the urge to gulp it down and instead drank slowly. Slag it, his arms felt heavy and it was hard to muster the strength to hold the cube up to his mouth. Ratchet's optics were bright and all seeing. Beneath the surface, Ironhide seethed under those eyes. The anger surprised him. Ratchet was his friend, and his medic. He had no reason to be upset because he was being examined. But he was. He felt exposed.
"Don't fight it," Ratchet said. He sat down on the berth across from Ironhide and winced visibly when he sat down too hard.
"What'd you do to yerself?" Ironhide asked.
"Nothing," Ratchet said, he tried not to fidget now that the attention was on him.
"Uh huh, then why are you walking like you're missing parts in your legs?" Ironhide asked. He eyes were partially shuttered, they seemed to glow all the more intently partially concealed.
"Uh," Ratchet said, this was not a comfortable line of conversation to have with anyone. But he really didn't want to talk about interfacing with Ironhide. "Rough night."
Ironhide gave him a long look, shook his head and chuckled dryly. He looked down at Optimus and then back up at Ratchet.
"Need to keep those two on a shorter leash," Ironhide said.
"That's the last thing I need to do," Ratchet said. Depriving the Twins of what they wanted did not work in his favour.
The medbay doors slid open, both Ratchet and Ironhide looked to the door and watched Mirage and Cliffjumper limp in. Ever the obedient patient, Mirage was still using Cliffjumper as sort of a crutch. They paused when they saw not just Ratchet but Ironhide as well.
"We can come back," Mirage said.
"No," Ratchet replied. "Get on the berth."
Ratchet slid off the berth and gestured for Mirage and Cliffjumper to come over. Ironhide watched them intently. What had happened while he was out and... Not here.
"Up," Ratchet said and gestured to the berth. Mirage obeyed. He moved with remarkable grace given his current immobility.
"Glad to see you awake, Ironhide," Mirage said as he arranged himself on the berth. Cliffjumper hovered but turned and smiled at Ironhide.
"Took you long enough," Cliffjumper said.
"Glad to be awake," Ironhide said. Cliffjumper's gruff humour made him feel more at ease, more at home.
"The repairs are holding," Ratchet said. "Looks perfect. Any pain?"
"Slight throbbing but it's lessening," Mirage said.
"You may put weight on it now and you can go back on the duty roster tomorrow, provided the throbbing is gone," Ratchet decreed. "No patrols for another day."
"Yes, Ratchet," Mirage replied.
"Good, you can go," Ratchet said.
"Okay, why isn't Optimus waking up?" Cliffjumper asked. Mirage gave him a stern look.
"Drugged some high grade," Ratchet said non-nonchalantly. "Swoop gave me the idea."
Cliffjumper and Mirage both chuckled as Mirage climbed off the berth. Neither said a word about where Optimus was sleeping.
"Can't see how he would be recharging otherwise," Mirage said. "I'd like to see Cliffjumper off to his shift..."
"Go," Ratchet said. Ironhide nodded, only once Mirage and Cliffjumper left did he resume stroking Optimus's helm.
"Prime's not takin' care of himself?" Ironhide asked in a disapproving tone.
"No," Ratchet said. "You being functional should help that a bit."
Ironhide's spark jumped in his chassis. He felt just a little warm, light. It was selfish but he felt glad that Optimus was that effected by his condition. At the very least it meant Optimus cared for him so he hadn't been brutalized for nothing. Ratchet must have seen something in his expression. Because the hobbled over to his berth and sat at the foot of it.
"Okay," Ratchet spoke in a low tone, cautious and gentle. "We need to talk about what happened to you."
"Slag," Ironhide swore. Despite of himself, he started to shake. "Slag, slag, slag, slag."
"'Hide," Optimus said, instantly awake. He sat up and wrapped his arm around Ironhide's shoulders. Ironhide whirled around and tucked himself into Optimus. He clutched the edges of Optimus's chassis and pressed his faceplates into Optimus's spark casing. He shook violently. Optimus stared up at Ratchet, optics wide with alarm, and he tightened his arms around Ironhide, hugging him while he shook.
Ratchet said nothing. Ironhide's reaction didn't surprise him but it certainly wasn't comforting.
End Chapter 10