Crack in the Pavement
Chapter 21
Seriously, that chapter was the beginning of Ark 2. Do you really think I'm going to jump
3-7mths in a couple of chapters? No, no, no.
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
"What the slag were you two doing?" Starscream asked. The instant they had all returned to the base and Megatron had finished railing at them all, Starscream had dragged his Trine back to his lab. "You two are unbelievably lucky that none of the others noticed what you were doing."
"Base programming," Skywarp replied, not exactly concerned about what Starscream was saying. "It can't be denied."
"What does that even mean?" Starscream asked, his optics narrowed. He looked to Thundercracker, not Skywarp, for an explanation.
"He's sparked, 'Screamer," Thundercracker explained. "Ironhide."
"Oh slag," Starscream almost moaned. He placed his servos on his thighs and slumped over looking at his peds. When he straightened, he asked: "You're sure."
"Base programming," Skywarp replied. "A Seeker knows. If you'd gotten close enough even you'd have known."
"Well this is a nightmare," Starscream stated grimly. "When Megatron finds out he's going to make us raid the slagging Ark just for that mech."
"He wasn't sparked when I left him in the desert," Skywarp said. "Maybe it was someone else."
"Sometimes sparklets go into stasis when their carriers are to weak to support them," Starscream explained.
"But Ironhide was awfully, you know, yucky," Skywarp said, gesturing with his hands. "Holey and energon leaking and one step from rejoining Primus."
"Nonetheless, sparklets can pop up in the most unlikely of circumstances," Starscream replied. "But it is possible that there could be someone else."
"After Megatron?" Thundercracker asked. "This soon? Who'd want to 'face after that?"
"It would probably depend on the mech," Starscream replied, thinking.
"You mean Ironhide?" Thundercracker asked. "You think he can just banish those memories that easily."
"No," Starscream replied. "I would bet my rations that Megatron haunts Ironhide. But what I mean is the mech who he'd 'face with. It depends on that mech."
"Who'd he 'face then?" Thundercracker asked. Skywarp cocked his helm, curious for the answer as well.
"Hmm," Starscream hummed. "Optimus. It would have to be Optimus."
"Optimus?" Thundercracker and Skywarp asked incredulously in unison.
"Of course," Starscream replied, rolling his optics.
"How can you know?" Skywarp asked, doubtful.
"Because it was obvious?" Starscream replied. "The looks on his faceplates after battles before he was able to confirm Ironhide was intact. You two have always been too distracted with each other after battles."
"True," Skywarp replied, looking lecherously at Thundercracker. Thundercracker nodded his agreement but rolled his optics at Skywarp's open display of lust.
"Heh," Starscream made a sound of disgust. "Haven't you noticed the way Optimus has been fighting since Megatron had his way with Ironhide? He has been doing his very best to kill any Decepticon that crosses his sights. He hasn't been wasting shots simply trying to disable. He's only been trying to kill. Megatron's spawned in him the hatred only a mech in love can feel."
"Oh," Skywarp said and frowned. "Oh we are all slagged then."
"We're fliers," Starscream reminded him. "We just need to stay out of his range. It's Prime. His blood lust will cool. We just need to stay alive until then."
"What about Megatron?" Thundercracker asked. "What about the sparklet."
"We aren't going to tell Megatron anything," Starscream replied. "Our biggest concern is the Conehead trine. If they listen to their base programming and discover Ironhide's secret, they'll tell Megatron."
"So we can't let them find out," Skywarp exclaimed, and then paused. "Right?"
"Yes, you fool," Starscream replied. "A good place to start would be not drawing attention to Ironhide on the battlefield. Keep the Coneheads away from Ironhide when we meet him in battle. Can you two manage that until that medic keeps Ironhide from battling?"
"We'll do our best," Skywarp promised.
"Good, now get out," Starscream ordered. "I have work to do."
Thundercracker and Skywarp left for their own quarters immediately beside Starscream's lab. Starscream probably assumed that that they were going to fall into their berth. They didn't. Even if Starscream was confident that the other possible sire to Ironhide's sparklet was Prime, they were not so easily convinced. Both of them wanted to hear it from an Autobots mouth.
"So we catch one," Skywarp said, lounging against the wall along the head of their berth.
"Which one?" Thundercracker asked, leaning back against the wall along the length of their berth.
"One of the scouts," Skywarp suggested. "They're the only ones who ever go out far from the Ark alone."
"True," Thundercracker agreed. "Alright, we'll lie in wait near the dam Soundwave and his Casseticons will be leeching power from. We'll catch the scout going to investigate."
"Perfect," Skywarp replied. "Now come closer TC. We can't do anything until tomorrow."
"And what if I'd rather recharge?" Thundercracker asked coyly.
"Then I'll have to tease you awake," Skywarp replied. "Now would you rather recharge?"
"No," Thundercracker admitted and climbed on Skywarp's lap. "But I wouldn't mind being teased."
"I've just received a request from the Canadian government for aid," Blaster announced, stepping into the War Room where the officers were all gathered. "There's been some Decepticon activity on the west coast in the province of British Columbia. The provincial power authority detected unusual power seepage at one of their dams. Apparently the first thing they expected was some sort of large grow op in the area."
"What is a grow op?" Optimus asked, confused.
"Some people grow psychoactive plants called marijuana, the secret operations are called grow ops," Blaster explained. "To smoke the leaves."
"Why?" Jazz asked. This seemed like a strange choice of recreation.
"For fun," Blaster replied. "The growing of these plants is illegal. So is the smoking of them. The people who run these ops leech power from the electrical grid. No dam has ever been tapped. No grow up has leeched that much power. They weren't sure what to expect but what they found wasn't a grow op. They found Soundwave. The Casseticons chased the hydro electrical employees and the police away. Since then, the military has cornered off the site."
"They haven't tried to fight off Soundwave?" Jazz asked, surprised.
"No," Blaster said. "They seemed to realize they couldn't hope to take on a group of Decepticons. The Stave Lake Dam provides power to thousands. The best they could hope to do is destroy the dam to destroy Soundwave and they cannot do that. That's were we come in. They've asked us to get rid of Soundwave for them, and they've specified that they need the dam left intact. If it fails, the flood could wipe out multiple communities."
"We can't go running out there guns blazing then," Prowl commented. "Not that we ever do but we need to employ added caution."
"Do people live near this dam?" Optimus asked, his first thought was of the safety of civilians.
"Yes," Blaster replied. "And they've already been evacuated."
"Good," Optimus replied. "Well Prowl, what's your first thought?"
"Send in a scout," Prowl suggested. "Jazz knows them best and can choose who. Give the scout the specific order to appraise the situation and then return here and report back what he's seen."
"Hound," Jazz said, after Prowl brought up a map on the projectors of the War table. "The area is remote, mostly forest. His speciality."
"Brief Hound, Jazz," Optimus ordered. "Have him ready to go at first light. Blaster, inform the Canadian operative that we are planning a counter attack against Soundwave and in order to insure we do not damage the dam, we must take our time. Ask them to please have patience."
"I will, sir," Blaster said, and waited to be dismissed, he wasn't.
"It is interesting that the Decepticons have taken interest in a Canadian dam," Prowl said with a slight frown on his faceplates. "The Decepticons have never been active in Canada until now?"
"Too cold?" Jazz teased. "Americans are always commenting on the Canadian climate."
"Possibly," Prowl said. "But according to climate charts the southern most reaches of the country have a similar climate as the northern states. Much of Canada is uninhabited wilderness. It may be that it seemed too remote, not enough gain for the effort of getting to the resources. Except, perhaps now that remoteness is being seen as a benefit. Soundwave's activities went unnoticed for longer in Canada than they would have in the United States."
"Clever Decepticons," Jazz murmured. "A dangerous precedence."
"Indeed," Optimus agreed. "We cannot assume this is the only Decepticon encroachment to Canada. Blaster, tell the Canadians to watch for any other unusual activity."
"Yes, sir," Blaster replied.
"Thank you, Blaster," Optimus said. "You are dismissed."
Blaster nodded and left, leaving the officers to consider the potential ramifications of the most recent Decepticon activities. They had been stretching out their reach, attacking the resources of more and more different countries. What it meant, no one could say yet. But it was a grave concern.
"If I may, Optimus, I'd like to take the time to investigate if there is a pattern to the recent Decepticon movements," Prowl said. "I've discovered that the Decepticons were planning to manufacture energon within their base on Mt Black horn. They were collecting the energy from magma beneath the mountain. It's an extinct, or rather dormant, volcano. It is possible that they are searching out a new place to make a second base."
"Make that investigation your priority, Prowl," Optimus replied. "The Decepticons cannot be allowed to built another fortress."
They couldn't be allowed to built another place to keep Ironhide. Optimus was under no illusions that Megatron had had his fun and would now leave Ironhide be. No, the Tyrant didn't think that way. Now that he gotten the idea to torture Optimus through Ironhide, Megatron would never give it up. He would probably become even more fixated if he learned that Ironhide was with spark. Megatron would assume he was the sire, and try to steal Ironhide and the sparkling for his own. It didn't matter what Megatron thought, the sparkling was Ironhide's and as such he was Optimus's and Optimus would not allow Megatron to ever lay a digit on either of them ever again.
The meeting left an unpleasant chill in his spark, though. It may have been conjecture but Optimus had a sinking suspicion that Prowl's concerns were legitimate and Megatron was only biding his time before he tried to take Ironhide again. Optimus reached out a servo and held Ironhide's wrist. He would never allow Ironhide to fall into Megatron's grasp again.
"Can we get a cube and talk for a minute, Optimus?" Ironhide asked. "In private?"
"I have a few cubes stored in our quarters," Optimus said. Seeing the raised optic ridge Ironhide gave, Optimus explained. "You do need more energon. I want to have it readily available whenever you want it."
"Attentive sire," Ironhide replied, fondly. "Let's go then."
Ironhide said nothing else as they made their way to their quarters. He didn't actually look at Optimus either. The tension of his jaw cables told Optimus that Ironhide was distressed, and just waiting until they were alone before he let go. Optimus never let go of Ironhide, even as they entered their quarters. Rather than release Ironhide's arm he led him over to the low table with drawers and opened the drawer containing the cubes. He handed one to Ironhide and took one for himself and then let Ironhide direct him where he wanted to sit. Optimus had a couch along the wall opposite of the berth. Ironhide ignored the couch and led Optimus to the berth. He sat down. His back was straight and stiff; Optimus sat next to him, concern obvious on his faceplates. In an attempt to offer comfort, he slid his servo down Ironhide's wrist and held his servo. Optimus wanted to hold Ironhide, comfort him that way but the way Ironhide was sitting held him back.
"I told you Megatron was trying to spark me," Ironhide said, looking down at his servos. "I didn't tell you what he said to me. He said a lot of things in between... In between rapes. When he plugged his cables into my ports I heard his thoughts, his plans for me."
Optimus squeezed Ironhide's servo gently. He held his glossa. Ironhide didn't need him to speak, and he probably didn't want him to.
"He told me why he was doing it," Ironhide explained. "He wanted to punish you. He said he'd been yer favourite once and he didn't like that an old mech like me was his replacement. Don't say anything Optimus, it's okay. It doesn't matter what you two were. He said he'd been watching me, those Casseticons. He knew I was mooning over you. Said even though you didn't moon back that I was still yer favourite and I needed to suffer for daring to want you. Sometimes he said it was because of you that he was raping me. Sometimes he said it was for my audacity of wanting you. He wanted to ruin me for anyone else. He was as rough as he could be without hurting himself. He wanted me to be irreparable. He wanted it to never stop hurting. He talked about giving me back to you once he'd broken me. Once I was just a husk, after I'd given him a few heirs. But sometimes he'd think, while he was 'facing me, that he might just keep me and send you another video after he taught me how to service a mech like the lowest sort of pleasure bot. He liked the way I felt. He liked my pain. He liked it when I cried. He licked the tears from my faceplates. And I still couldn't stop myself from crying. Even when I was in and out sometimes I could hear him. He liked me okay when I was out but he liked me best when I was fighting and screaming. I tried not to scream. But I couldn't not."
"Ironhide, I'm so sorry," Optimus tried to speak but couldn't seem to form words. Rage. It raced through his circuits like energon. It was impotent rage. Optimus could do nothing to erase what Megatron had done. Nothing he could say could possibly soothe the hurt Ironhide was feeling. Oh Primus. Sweet Primus. He tried to think but rage made his processor blank of anything thoughts but those of rendering Megatron into scrap. What could he say or do? Ironhide had survived it, Megatron hadn't been able to thwart Ratchet's skill. But he'd done all that, done more damage that Ratchet had been willing to describe, all in four days. What would Megatron do to Ironhide if he ever caught him again? No, Optimus couldn't think about that. It wouldn't happen because Optimus wouldn't let it happen.
Optimus needed to say something, something to offer Ironhide just a little comfort but he couldn't think of anything. He felt impotent. Ironhide was sitting next to him with his head bowed and Optimus was certain their were tears in his optics. Did Optimus dare even reach to wipe the coolant away with what he knew Megatron had done. Ironhide was aching next to him and Optimus could do nothing. Megatron would die. That was a promise but how could that even comfort Ironhide?
Unable to say anything but unable to do nothing, Optimus tentatively reach out his servo and wiped a tear from Ironhide's faceplates. Ironhide turned his head and looked to him with such a pained expression Optimus felt his spark breaking.
"I was assigned as yer bodyguard almost the second you were made Prime," Ironhide said. Optimus's silence didn't bother him, didn't scare him. There wasn't much anyone could say after what Ironhide had said. Ironhide shuttered his optics and leaned his faceplates against Optimus's servos. "You didn't let me stick to you like you do now. When did you get close to him? You don't have to tell me. I just. I don't know why but I want to know."
"At the beginning. I was unsure of myself, of my role," Optimus explained. "I wasn't comfortable with the idea of a bodyguard or even of the idea of authority, so I kept myself apart from most everyone. Everyone except Megatron. He was Lord High Protector, and he was experienced with power. We became close. But then he showed his true colours that ended. He tried to kill me when I wouldn't join him in madness. You remember what happened?"
"Yeah I remember," Ironhide said. "I threw myself in front of you. First time I got shot protecting your plating."
"The first time you nearly died for me," Optimus added. "I couldn't believe anyone would do that for me."
"It wasn't the last time either," Ironhide smirked a little. "I can take anything for you. But that. What Megatron did to me wasn't for you and it wasn't for me. He's just a sick slagging bastard. And I'm scared Optimus. I'm scared that this sparklet is going to turn out like him. Every time I feel him, the sparklet, I feel my spark flutter and I want him so badly. But then I think about Megatron and I'm scared that he's going to be evil and cruel and I can't want him anymore."
"He's ours, Ironhide," Optimus said. Sorrow overcame anger in his spark. He wanted to soothe Ironhide's hurts and he didn't know how. Helpless to do anything else Optimus placed his servos on the sides of Ironhide's helm and looked into his optics as he spoke. "More than anything he's yours. No sparkling born from you could ever be evil. Your spark is too good.
Ironhide tried to smile. His lips quivered and he threw his arms around Optimus's neck and buried his face against it. Optimus wrapped his arms around Ironhide and held him tight.
End Chapter 21
AN I'm getting worried that I'll have to slow down the updates until I get more written. No. The plot hasn't been lost, I'm just not sleeping enough.
I'll manage, one way or another. I've written 29 chapters, I have another 10 or so planned.
Thank you as always for the reviews. They help organize my brain for writing.