Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers
Hasbro owns Transformers
So, sorry once again for the late update. I have come to peace with my update speed deciding quality over quantity. Every time I have a day off from work I sit down in the morning and write as much as I can before my brain gives out. So I'm being patient with myself as I continue on with this story and as I grow more into an adult life. So far it's working out and I'm really happy with the way my writing turns out when I do this. Balancing life and writing is just an act of patience and learning to love the time you have. Annnnd speaking of adulting, I recently had an interview for a managerial position and I'm currently training for it, so updates will be slow. I have a second interview with the head of the training program, so its very exciting and nerve wracking but I think I can do it. So there's that!
I have also planned out a good chunk of this story in a divine sort of an epiphany one night and scribbled it all down on my white board like that guy from "It's Always Sunny". Other than that I have a few chapters of these two planned before we return to Sunny and Felicity and carry on. So sit back and enjoy.
(PLEASE READ) I just want to warn my audience towards the end of this chapter there is a rape trigger warning. It's not as blatant per se but there are themes of it in there so please please skip over if this truly disturbs you. I will place a (***) right before and after the section to avoid.
Chapter 7 The Romeo And Juliet Part 7
Millions of years ago
Cybertron
The process of moving to another office, now away from her friends, was easy enough. She had only a few crates of belongs and a few nick knacks that decorated her once small cubicle.
Getting used to her new surrounding was the hard part.
Now, having a desk and her own computer and matching datapad and hologram set up was something to get used to. It was farther away from the cubicles and down where each desk had it's sectioned off room. There were no doors but instead it simply was missing a section of the one wall.
Her next door neighbor liked to listen to their music, and the other liked the entertainment news castings. Celebrities and whatnot… At least with Pyro and Stardust they would be quiet and all they would hear were the occasional low musings and murmurs of others and the tapping of clawed fingers against data pads as they did their daily quota and entered information into the company's databanks.
It was lonely here, even though Pyro and Stardust were still on the same floor and visited her. But despite it all she tried to do the best work she could. Here she created the databanks for other employees, such as Pyro and Stardust, who were lower than her, to fill. It was like taking instructions from the machine, rewriting them into simpler sections for those to write those sections into other ones. Then that information would get bounced back the opposite way.
It was now her job to oversee that process. The cog in the machine.
Odyssis folded her leg underneath herself and sat. She took her cube of energon to her lips and drank, never breaking her optics away from the screen. From over the edge of the computer she could see someone knocking on the wall.
"I need that report from section four sent as soon as you can Odyssis. They were supposed to be sent last cycle."
"If section four didn't have a no show then I would have sent them earlier, Stats. I can not work miracles." She answered back evenly, setting down her cube and now typing with both hands.
"Sass will not get you far."
"Neither will threats. Remember I have the power to screw up your numbers." She smiled lightly, blue optics flicking up to him finally.
The little mech set his jaw, defeated.
"I will have them done soon. The number's are not adding up, it's worse than a pile up on the main line to downtown Kaon."
"Just..." An exasperated sigh. "Get it done."
She rolled her optics.
He walked away after a moment, watching her. She raised her cube and turned to her hologram moving a graph to forecast an estimation of the overall profits in section four. Loss was worse this quarter and it was a major alarm. Assets were no longer held in much value. Where the frag was…?
There was another knock at the wall. "Go away, Stats. I told you, you will get them when-."
There was an arm wrapped around her chest and the other covered her optics. "Now, I hope I get a warmer greeting than that…," was the rumble that vibrated her audio.
Her hands were held up in shock before they lowered and a smile came to her lips. "If I had known it was you, I'd wish I had a door to hide what I would have done."
A kiss was planted to her neck and she was released from the grip held around her. She spun in her chair and was greeted with the sight of Zion.
It had been over five cycles since she had been able to last see him.
"Zion..." She stood and looked him over. The last fight had been rough on her mech. She wrapped gentle arms around him and sighed deeply. "You shouldn't see me when you're still healing."
"It had been so long since I had last seen you. I did not want you to worry."
She backed away and held his face in gentle hands."You have my com frequency." She offered a quick peck on his lips. He dipped his helm, and pressed back, resting clawed hands on her hips.
"I had to see you in the metal." His lips curled into a knee wobbling smile. His charm was undeniable. It still did funny things to her tanks.
She sat down and offered him the rest of her cube.
"Did anyone see you come in? Specifically Pyro? She has this complex for you. Ever since your buddy dropped her."
Zion stiffened but she didn't bother to ask. "I told you he went to another arena."
"I didn't know there were more Pits."
"Not as infamous as Kaon."
She looked to her data pad and then back to Zion. "Was the trip hard?"
For the champion of the pits, office visits were not always the most comfortable of things. It was hard to stay in public for long for the fear of being noticed. And when noticed it made things very awkward and uncomfortable. Usually he stuck to the less busier routes when traveling to Odyssis office or unit. Without an alternate vehicle mode, travel times were longer.
He shook his helm. "I like seeing the outside world. Reminds me that I have something to live for."
"And...will you be staying the night?"
Sadness crept into his expression.
She sagged her shoulders and rolled her helm in exasperation. Now, she wished there truly was a door. "Zion..."
"Odyssis, I-."
"How long do you plan to live this double life?" Their meetings were always heavy like this. The double life he tried to balance stood in the way of what they could have. Or what she wished. She just hoped he felt the same...
"I did not come here with the intentions of arguing with you."
She placed her hands on her desk firmly. "This isn't arguing. This is you making a decision. You promised me you would win your freedom anyhow and anyway. I need you to be with me. I want you to be happy. I want you to be free."
Their voices were hushed but they were beginning to become hissed and harsh in attempt to squander the rising anger they both felt. Frustration made her spark ache.
"Zion..." She looked behind him to see Stats.
"I thought-."
"Leave..." She hissed lowly, daring to challenge her boss.
He scurried away. The heated gaze was turned to the mech before her. He shrank underneath it. A mech was still a mech and hell hath no fury like a femme's heated glossa. Nothing. Not even the brutes of the deca quadrant or Alvoria the Fair.
Eventually she willed her anger to ebb away. "I don't want to be selfish..."
"You want us to be happy. I'd say that is far from being selfish, Odyssis." He reached forward and held her hand. She looked back up to him and creased her optic ridges.
She hoped...he wanted the same as she… Her spark grew heavy. "I need to talk to you about something very personal Zion. I need to share it with you before I lose my processor."
"Anything."
"Tonight. You are staying."
"I told-."
"You said there was no match so why are you avoiding me…?"
"I am not. There is something that Licinius is plotting. He stays quiet when he does so. I rather have you not circled into it."
Odyssis's spark clenched. That dammed mech. The bastard. There were no words to do that mechs sins justice. If she had a say in this life, she would torture him just as he did to poor Zion and countless others he, no doubt, used. He was a filthy waste of metal. Her hands clenched his hand. He flicked his optics down to her hands and smiled despite it all.
He raised her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Still fiery as ever." Was the rumbled voice.
"Do not distract me." It was working. As it always did. She tried to remain angry but couldn't. His voice was the water onto her fire. "Stay Zion. Please. I need you tonight. Just for tonight. It has been so long..." It was only five cycles she reminded herself. But everyday away from him felt worse and like torture. Her spark yearned for something more. He had been seeing her in secret for so long. They knew what they had. They knew what they wanted, she did at least.
"Who am I to deny my femme..." His shoulders dipped down in defeat. He gave in and with it Odyssis sighed in relief as well. "What is it you need to speak to me about?"
And that is when the fear came back again. She knew what she wanted. But that didn't mean sharing it with him would be also reciprocated. After that faithful night, Odyssis had learned the truth about him and the pits. She had learned everything that was his history and sad damnation to the pits.
Since that night they had tried to live with his double life. Trying to live the normal one he so dreamed of and the one that kept him, chained him away from what he wished for most.
She had remained faithful to him, keeping him to the promise he made: to always come back. Him, laughing over the com when he awoke from a medical stasis or recharge, joking of the moments where he could smack himself with his own hand because his arm was cut off. Moments where she would do more than that because he so loved to flirt with death.
Moments of drinking energon and talking about nothing in particular until it led to interface that made both of their sparks sing on end. The closeness...there had to be more.
Their sparks were meant for each other.
She was afraid to ask. She was afraid to suggest.
It wouldn't work. Not if it remained this way.
She looked away from Zion. A watery smile crept to her lips. "Nothing." Oh, how weak was that of her to say? How pathetic.
"Right, and experience with femmes in the past have led me to believe that is a lie." Another dashing smile that made her grumble a sound of distaste and shake her helm.
"Quit that." Her voice was a halfhearted threat.
"Odyssis!" She looked over Zion's shoulder and growled.
It was Stats looking impatient. "I need those-."
"Your numbers can wait, mechling. We are tending to important matters as of now. Be gone if you wish to keep your bifocals upon your nose and not somewhere unpleasing." His voice was a low rumble, dangerous and yet humored. Zion of Kaon? Threatened by this tiny mech? As if. Odyssis sighed placing her face in her palm.
She slid her hand down so only her had was covering her mouth. Odyssis looked back to her gladiator. Always so ready for a fight. It made her lips quirk into a small sort of smile.
"He's right Zion I have to get back to work. It's overdue." Her voice was heavy and saddened
And in return when he turned back towards her, the same expression as if of a kicked petrodog. She held his hand and kissed him lightly. "I will be home before the rush. Make yourself a cube and wait. Relax." Another kiss. "You know you are always welcome."
She felt him sink his shoulder's and release the tension in his frame. He nodded once. They stayed like that for a moment longer before the mech decided to stand fully. He dipped his helm in a respectful sort of goodbye before he made his way out of her office. She watched after him with a hand under her chin.
No matter where she was or who she was with nothing would change her optics from looking away from his frame that held so much power and grace. He walked with purpose, helm held high and arms strong by his sides.
Even as he walked past Stats, he shrank away a bit. A glance from Zion that was calculated and somewhat threatening made him smile nervously. She laughed quietly before turning back to her numbers and graphs.
The smile dropped from her lips and she looked to her lap. Once again her thoughts became heavy. She fiddled with her fingertips under her desk and remained unblinking at the datatpad. The fear of being denied what she wanted with Zion. Or the selfish want she needed of him.
Would he feel the same? Would he be scared off? Her spark ached within her chest the more she thought about it. She was a femme that was beginning to go well past her prime.
Was this need something natural? Was it something she felt secure with him? Was it just her spark and mind playing those tricks on her again?
The numbers remained where they were.
Odyssis still lived where she had since her creators trekked here. Primus knew where they were now...she promised herself to not think of them often.
Her unit was what she called home and a place to rest but nothing more. It wasn't impressive nor something she could boast about. But when she walked into her unit and saw Zion resting upon her couch, frame halfway hanging off the furniture, it felt like she had everything in the world.
Gently she closed the door and set down her armful of energon cubes on the nearby table. She watched as he continued to recharge. His mouth was slightly open, allowing gargled sounds to come from his vents as he cycled air.
She had to pause and admire him like this. Such a graceful and so called deadly mech so very lazy and relaxed before her. At any moment could this picture be thrown away if she made the slightest of wrong movements.
But it would not. Zion of Kaon felt as ease here. He felt safe and protected enough to receive the much needed rest he deserved. She walked over to him and paused from reaching out to his forehelm and brushing her fingers over his helm.
Who knew how coil tight he would be when he awoke. Wanting to avoid the predictable, she gathered her cubes and made her way into the kitchenette. She opened the cabinet and found that her energon cubes had been untouched. She sighed dropping her shoulders. He never helped himself, not unless she was present and forcing the energon down his throat.
She herself took a cube and made her way to the front of the couch and lowered herself in front of him. She was surprised she had not woken him up already. Many times before she had woken him with a terrible start, almost loosing her helm the first time. It was not something she thought of until after that incident.
He was a gladiator and living in the pits was a kill or be killed world, something she could never understand or ever imagine. A mech or femme never knowing who would be trying to kill the other in their recharge.
She sat on the floor crossing her legs. Perhaps it was the fact his very spark or frame knew who she was and saw no threat to his well-being. With that thought her spark leapt and her lips turned into a fond smile. Odyssis turned to simply watch as he recharged and sip her enrogn.
It was intimate moments as these that made the femme's spark as ease, swirl and pulse with a rhythm she had never known. Moments like these she always wished would last forever, so when they happened she enjoyed them. Watching him recharge was something she wouldn't take for granted. At times she hoped he did the same with her. Watching...protecting...
This was a side of Zion no one would ever see. His gentleness, his caring nature, the way he acted like such a gentlemech in that old fashioned way that made her turn her nasal sensor up with a cheesy laugh.
His smile and charm.
What did he see in her? What did he see in her that made his spark feel the same? Was it her fiery temper? Her quirkiness? Her smarts? The numbers he still could not figure out for the life of him?
It was something so much more and she berated herself for but a moment. Of course not. He had told her time and time again. It was the way she looked at him, never seeing a monster or a killer. He saw bravery in loving him, she never once shying away from his anger or easy to temper nature because of enhancers. She never shied away from the fact his hands had done so much. Killed.
Now, after she had learned the truth, it only made her love him more. The decision to love him despite his past and profession, if it was to be called that, was brave. And time and time again he reminded her of this.
In all of her musings she hadn't seen the mech awake from his slumber. He was quiet looking at her, looking at him. It was only when he gently reached out to cup her cheek did blues lock onto crystal ones.
"What is troubling your pretty mind, my love?"
My love. She had to fight a little sound from her throat from escaping. Her tanks flipped upon his groggy voice, husky from the lack of using it for a while. She leaned into the touch and placed her own hand upon his.
"A lot." She whispered.
He sat up, hydraulics hissing quietly. He placed a kiss atop her helm and brushed his nasal sensor across her own. "I have time, a femme has me trapped here for the night."
"The door is right there. I'd say you are not trapped but very comfortable from where that femme sees it."
He smiled, a gust of air from his vents puffing onto her. It was a gesture. Old fashioned as him. It was a way to mark who were theirs of sorts. "Odyssis..."
"Did you recharge well? I didn't want to wake you up."
"Do not change the topic." He sighed, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her closer. "But yes, the best I've had in a long while."
Odyssis held him close as well, chest to chest. His spark was so strong. Felt so close to her own spark as it called out to him. She took in a deep vent and took in his smell. It was an odd scent. Metal, and cleanser mixed with the ever lingering smell of energon. It was him. Entirely so.
She offlined her optics, curling her arms under his own and latching her hands upon his shoulders.
He rumbled something but in all honestly she wasn't listening. She wasn't listening to anything else but his spark that she hungered for. She placed her cheek upon his shoulder and moved her lips to his neck where she placed them against a main energon line that glowed underneath armor and against dark protoform.
He spoke again, but it was a rumble in the distance. Instead his actions spoke as he held her tighter. She offlined her optics simply loving how close they were. Touch was important to her. It reminded her that he was still alive as he promised every match and battle. Reminded her that he was hers and in turn. The thrum of pumping energon under her lips pulsed with life.
"Odyssis...tell me." His words were clearer as they were murmured into her audio. His lips were pressed to her temple, forcing her to tilt her helm. "You can tell me anything."
"I need you."
"In what way, love?"
It was as if she had been shot through her spark. She knew that tone. It was lower, hungrier. This time around, the want that she would have felt wasn't there as well. She didn't feel such a fire right now. Fear overruled anything she wanted. She didn't want to release the hold she held around him. She didn't want this to end. Her spark was so close to what it wanted to hold.
Odyssis was being pulled away and she released a keen, a sound so unexpected it made him freeze. He cupped her chin and looked into he optics that she refused to meet.
"Please, femme." Concern now laced his voice.
"I'm scared."
At this he canted his helm and narrowed his optics. He tensed up so much she thought he would recoil or stand into a quick pose. "Are you breaking up with me?"
She looked up to him and met him with a questionable expression. Then the question set in and she wanted to curse at his stupidity. "No! No! Zion..." She sighed in exasperation seeing that stupid smile upon his lips. She pushed his helm away with a huff but he remained close to her.
"Zion, I've told you time and time again that I need you in a way that both our sparks want..."
He listened never moving and intent on listening to whatever she had to say. He was a good mech like that. He never interrupted and when he did it was something she never took offense by. So with his silence it was permission to keep speaking.
So she did. She felt safe within his arms but it was something that could not calm the fear she felt. "I want...I..." She tried to start but her words were failing. Such a good mech, he was still patient.
"Zion...I am a femme past my prime and...and." She bit her bottom lip. This question was asked so many times to mates. Oh, but that is where the similarities already stopped. She wasn't a mate to Zion. She wasn't even merged with his spark.
And that pain brought her sadness.
She wanted that with him. She wanted to be his mate and have their sparks permanently given to one another. From the start the signs were there. Their sparks pulled at one another like magnets. They sparked when so close, like a fire ready to ignite.
She wanted…
"I want a sparkling." The words were blurted from her lips. She sucked in a vent and she pursed her mouth into a flat line. By Primus she said it. By Primus.
She didn't dare to look up to the mech holding her. He remained still for a long while and she did as well, not having the nerve to look him in the optic. Slowly, he began to move and slide to the floor next to her. It was then she relax enough for her helm to shift towards his general direction. He took her hands into his. They were slow and calculated, the sharpened tips dulled for her.
Outside, the traffic continued to grow in sound. The daily rush to get home was beginning. Even those sounds couldn't drown out the silence.
She felt it grow too loud. His lack of a response made her so uneasy.
He was thinking and she knew it.
So of course she had to blurt more words. "We're...we're not even bonded but..." Her vocalizer felt tight. She moaned out in frustration. The gates were opened as tears came to her optics. She was past her prime and settling down would be nice. More than nice. "Who else but you Zion…? I l-"
A hand was placed over her mouth and she widened her optics. It was strong but it wasn't crushing, it scared her. Did he not know his own strength? She fought the urge to raise her hand to clench it.
He was fully turning towards her now, helm bowed looking at the hand he held withing a gentle grip. So opposed tot he tight one he held over her moth. A smile grew upon his lips but it wasn't joyful. It was mocking.
Slowly he raised his helm looking up to her. Odyssis's vents froze. She fully saw that smile. It was hurting to pull off, this she knew. If was like a crude joke had been told or he had tasted energon that had spoiled. It was as if it was forced. She wished to speak more but the words were muffled against his hand. She raised her own to rip it away from her mouth, she couldn't look at that smile. A tear fell and slipped down her cheek and Zion watched this. It fell and spread upon the edge of his fingers.
Upon this the smile dissipated. He didn't speak for the longest time but she knew he was thinking. Again. Always the one to think. And right now she was under a stress she never knew or felt before. That smile told too much. She realized what the fear was now. She didn't want to lose him. She didn't want to scare him away.
A rational thought slipped into her mind then. If he was true he would not have been a coward and ran off. He was still here and he was thinking of a way to respond.
He was a patient mech to the point of being torturous.
Slowly, ever so slowly he took his hand off of her mouth to brush the tear slipping down her cheek away.
"Do not say those words unless you mean them truly, my femme." His voice was heavy and deep.
His voice...it almost broke her delicate, crazed spark. It held a hope she had never heard before.
It was then why he smiled in such a way. It was as if to be polite after hearing that crude joke to not be rude. To keep the peace. Was she a joke? A flash of anger. "Why would I ever come to you and ask of you these things if I didn't?!" She bit.
She clenched her hand around his own into a fist. She hoped her grip was as harsh as her words. "You are an idiot if you thought otherwise."
"And you in turn if you thought I would deny what you wanted of me." The response was so immediate it caught her off her rant she was about to preach.
In turn it fell dead on her lips. Her spark pulsed, so out of control. It was beginning to be too much. "Zion?"
"Do you know of the many times I have dreamed of being with you? The times I wished you were mine and only mine to call my other half? And now here you are asking me what I have dreamed of the most with you?"
His words were of melancholy along with the curve at his lips. His optics dimmed as if witnessing a dream he just remembered only to be forgotten as the cycle went on. All hope vanished.
"But Odyssis...we can not have what we want..."
She threw the hand he was holding away. "Don't say that."
"Odyssis, I can not be free from the pits. It is a life sentence that can not-" His voice grew.
"Liar." She whispered harshly. "Excuses." She hissed.
"I think Odyssis. I think when I lay in berth and listen to the screams of the damned. I think of the life I would lead if it were to be split between you and the pits. I think of the life we could have if I didn't hold these chains. Of the family we could be. A regular life outside the pits."
Coolant continued to impair her vision. She shook her helm firmly. "You are only making up excuses! You are the only one stopping yourself from what you want. You are the only one stopping yourself from the happiness you deserve!"
He was still smiling that sad smile that broke her spark more and more. She felt her spark ache and break. She wasn't angry because of his answer. She was angry because of his reasoning. He deserved so much more than death and energon and credits on his helm. He deserved a happy life that she wanted to be with. To be part of.
"You are a damned fool to think you are stuck in whatever fate has dealt to you."
"And you are a fool for being sad for this gladiator's soul."
She growled frustrated. "I am sad for you because I love you!" She hissed. Not being able to take anything anymore she pulled his face in close and kissed him hard. It was lips crashing on lips and heated hiccuped sobs that made her break away.
"I love you." She said again, firmly.
Zion remained where he was and was once again thinking. Processing what words to say again. It made her livid. "Do you love me…?" Her voice cracked as she urged him to say something. Just to say anything...
And the silence that came after hurt her but it was reconciled by the voice that was small and quiet. "More than ever, Odyssis. You are the sun that I come home to, that I live for. You are but the very thing I only have purpose for..."
"You are my happiness and seeing you hurt, saddened or angry because of me only hurts my spark more because I am the source of your pain. If anything, it should have been me to come to you about bonding. Sparklings. I am a fool to allow it to come to this. A mech is a mech in the end. A fool when it comes to love, fumbling over words and emotions when the answer is so simple."
"I do love you Odyssis. So very much beyond what I could have ever imagined with another being. Beyond what I could ever feel. I have felt pain and joy. I have felt fear and excitement. I have felt hurt and disgust all because of what you do to me."
"Knowing that I have someone to be there no matter what is such a foreign concept. One that I grew without. Usually those that grew close would only drift away but you…" His voice cracked. "I wish to do whatever it takes to make you happy. In someway and no matter how, I will. Because a mech is still a mech and needs to love his femme as she does for him."
He drew closer to her, raising his hand to cup the back of her neck. "If it is a bond you wish for then I will fulfill it. If it is a sparkling you desire I will comply because I believe...deep down despite the pits, despite the danger, despite everything, I wish to be selfish and have these things with you. And if...if I can never make it out of the pits either by death or if fates decide it to be...I will be there for you and the sparkling."
His words were everything to her. They were true and genuine, said in a way that a vow would have been declared. Her spark still did those strange and funny things and her tanks felt heavy within her. But one thing remained true. Her tears never stopped. "Don't do this if you don't want it, Zion. Don't do it just for me." She murmured, her voice cracking.
"If...if you stay in the pits promise me...promise me you will come home. Promise me, Zion. Promise me you truly want this just as I do..."
His other arm wrapped around her tight and brought her close once again. He bowed his helm placing his chin upon her shoulder. She melted against his strong frame, listening to the spark she wanted to hold so close to her own.
His vents cycled a deep huff of air. "I do."
There was a light when the spark bonded with another. It was unique from person to person. Some said it was a glanced into the wells itself or how life became to be. It was too poetic in his mind. This light he was witnessing made his spark was brave. The mech sought and got a hold of what he, himself, always dreamed of. He was stupid. A fool as well.
He had seen this femme too emotionally wrapped up in the gladiator. Enough to the point of actually calling what they had all off that one fateful day. He had watched from afar doing as a good little slave was told to do. In the end his life would merely be guaranteed. He would do as his mater had told him. Like a good little slave.
Even now when he had followed Zion from the pits, as he bore witness to the gentle light that shone through the window of the small and inadequate unit, he knew the news he had to give to his master would be most disappointing. Disappointing enough to cause something to roll into effect.
Hopefully it wouldn't be enough to run down the champion of the pits.
Krystos loved Zion. He was there when all his battles turned for the worse and he in return. He was the only one by his side when the pain became too much. He was there when he lost his own friends. And to thank him, he betrayed him. To thank him, he was the one cog in the machine to his undoing and death. Krystos set his jaw.
...He had given him his fair warning. He had told him not to stray far.
Krystos turned away melding into the darkness as the ritual of bonding continued above in the little unit.
::It takes a few tries::
Indeed it did take a few tries. But the trying was becoming too much. The spark could only handle so much strain from spark mergings. The way spark signatures were exchanged. It had become past the point of even Zion being the one to be the designated carrier.
It was past the point of praying to Primus.
It was past the point of hope.
They needed a miracle.
And a miracle is what they were given.
Zion had come home to the news of her being ill and purging regular grade energon. Med grade was on the counter. And just as she left the washracks, tired and aching, she was met with Zion sweeping her into his arms with a booming laugh that had her laughing and sobbing at the same time.
The mech placed her back onto the ground. "Please, my love, tell me. Is it true?" He held her face with gentle clawed hands. Tears were at the corners of his optics.
She placed her forehelm on his and nodded, optics closed and leaning into the touch. "Yes, Zion, yes…," she breathed. "I'm carrying."
Despite his warnings, despite his word, the mech continued to travel outside the walls that were his damnation. He continued to leave for the femme who held his spark, and for long while, had claimed. Licinius tightened the hands that were held behind his back and faced towards the mech. His chin tilted ever so slightly as Krystos continued to speak and drivel on and on.
So, the mech had been claimed now. His fingers twitched within their own holdings. Hypogeum watched with curious optics, knowing her creator was growing impatient and angry.
"She is carrying-carrying as well..." His words were stuttered in fear. At this Lincinus's hands stilled within their clutches.
His brows furrowed. "For how long?" His sharp voice cut him off.
The fear was now clear in his voice. "...A jour..."
His helm twitched. A finger curled around his other tighter. "And you have only come to me now?"
The mech remained silent.
"Don't tell me your conscience is overriding your will to live now, darling..."
And off he was again. Spewing nonsense to make up for why he hadn't come to him sooner. It was useless. He was useless. A tired sigh escaped him.
A small smile too sinister for her very age crawled across her lips. She giggled to herself causing the gladiator who was speaking to come to a slow stop in his words.
Licinius turned to his femme and raised an optic ridge. She shrugged, jewels upon her cloak to twinkle and chime so innocently.
Licinius offered a small quirk of his lips. "He is humorous isn't he, my spark?" He said as if he were continuing a conversation.
"I beg your pardon, my master?" Krystos spoke bravely. To this Hypogeum placed her lips into a flat line, looking away. No one begged pardon.
"No, you may not, slave." He turned to him finally. The cloths that hung from his shoulders swayed with his motions.
He grew nervous trying to avoid eye contact with the mech in front of him. Licinius walked closer. "The only reason you are alive now is because you still have a chance to do as you were told."
Krystos shrank back. "But the sparkling..."
"Is innocent? Not anymore. You see, when you take what is mine, good slave, it is far beyond innocence, it is a sin. Zion was, no, he still is mine. Take what made him not away from him."
"Well…well, all those that have associated with him have drawn away and know what glutton he is for the coming punishment. You have those loyal to you as I."
"Yes, but they are not my prize gladiator. Do not stray from your incompetence, slave." He reached out to cradle his face in a delicate hand. Krystos released shaky breaths of fear. The Pit Master tilted his helm. "I warned you. I am growing restless. What should have been done that night so long ago should have been reconciled. If you wish to have your life guaranteed, you will do as I say mech. Your motives should be enough to do as you are told."
His thumb shied away from his temple and closer to his optic. It brushed underneath the crystal and shudders that remained unblinking.
"Or do you need a reminder?"
Hypogeum's face lit up.
Zion ventured to the hallways outside of the palace room. He had been here many times before. Knowing what lay beyond made his frame tense and hands held into firm fists. What made him stop dead, from knowing better, was the blood curdling scream that left from behind the doors. He bowed his helm helm and adverted his optics towards the ground. The mech merely moved aside as the footsteps that stumbled towards the door grew louder.
The heavy doors were opened, the body leaning against it weak and sloppy. Zion dared to look up. A quiet gasp left him and his hands released from fists.
They reached forward to hold a doubled over Krystos.
"Krystos..." He noted the steady stream of energon that crawled down his forearm and dripped at his elbow. He looked up and Zion's energon ran cold.
Energon seeped through the fingers that pressed against an empty optic socket. With realization the mech set his jaw and growled pushing him away.
Zion backed away respectfully, confused but knowing a hurt mech was not one to be trifled with, especially if it was the doing of the pit master.
Zion stared at the mech as he vented heavily. Anger ebbed away for sadness and regret that was unreadable. Before he could ask anything else the mech rushed away stumbling and knocking into the wall. The mech watched after him in concern. He took a step forward to follow.
"Zion." A voice commanded from within stopped him in his place. He glanced down at the trail of puddled energon.
"Do not waste my time. As you see I am a bit agitated."
Zion considered one last glance towards the mech but refrained. He knew better. Smoothly he turned and walked into the room. It never changed. The gentle breeze, the smell of sweet energon and delicacies, the cloths and plush furniture. It would never change.
He walked numbly towards the pit master. He looked up and watched as the mech wiped his hand delicately, finger by finger of his friend's energon. A slave was cleaning the blood at his peds. His tanks couldn't roll upon the optic so cleanly taken out. Another slave cleaned the energon that had spilled upon his leg.
"Forgive me for the mess Zion, Krystos needed...how do I put it?" He was friendly and nonchalant. Gentle and friendly. He raised his arm to the side, plush cloth in hand, and dropped it. The slave was more than wiling to pick it up.
Zion however was too focused on the optic that was picked up and gone away from his sight. He stopped a good distance away from the the mech.
"Be reminded of his place. His role..." Licinius purred.
Zion flicked crystal blues up to violet. He stood stiffly as he drew closer. "I see..." He murmured keeping his mouth slightly apart.
"Where are my manners? Sit Zion...Sit. After this early fight you must be tired. Although it was a quick match. An easy one it seemed."
Zion narrowed his optics. He was being too kind. Though there was no such thing with this mech. He was acting. He did not sit and to this the mech hummed curtly as if to say, "suit yourself". He walked over to a slave with a tray of small energon cubes.
A giggle came from the far corner. Hypogeum. The pitted femme spawn. She twiddled her fingers at him. "Hello, Zion." She tittered.
He turned his nasal platting up. He did not reply but he should have known better. Licinius turned to him, just about to pluck a cube from the tray. "That is no way to treat a femme Zion, especially mine of my blood." It was a pleasant warning filled with repercussion if not done what he was told.
He swallowed a growl. "Hello...Hypogeum." He tried to make his voice as pleasant as possible despite the difficulty of it.
Licinius hummed, satisfied with his correction. Hypogeum smiled that sinister smile. His tanks rolled. Disgusting little thing…
"You have summoned me." Zion wished to carry on the business, or should it even be called this, that he wanted to have done and over with.
Licinius nodded. "Can I not have a decent conversation with my prized slave, darling?" He sat heavily as if exhausted with his prior meeting. He took a sip of his energon. His voice was sharper. "Of course you still know this do you? You are mine."
Zion remained still and stiff where he was. "Of course." He replied sharply.
Licinius made sure to consider his words, tilting his helm and scrunching his optic ridges in confusion. He stood up, still faking that confusion. He set down the cube and made his way over to the mech. He steepled his fingers as he stopped just next to him. "I have...heard from others you are venturing out of the pits again."
The pit Master made it too obvious. It was a realization that made his spark clench and frame feel heavy.
Krystos.
"And...this worries me very much so. You know how I'd hate to have a repeat of the last time." He turned his helm just so to face him. "Or would I?"
Zion remained still. His mouth closed, jaw setting firmly. He did not reply.
"Is it true?" He purred. "Answer wisely because I think...we both know that I do know the answer." Krystos was just being a good little slave. The hurt and the regret in his expression. It all made sense. Fear came to him but not because for his life, but for his mate and unborn sparklings.
It was wise to not lie. It was wise to play along and not tug on those strings too harshly. Zion remained silent. He finally bowed his helm, vents becoming quieter against their will. "Yes, yes it is."
"Oh, and why is that?" He drew closer to him and Zion did not move.
Zion's mind raced to create a lie. A believable one. "I have tasted what the world is like outside the pits. It is a curious place."
"Ah yes it is, but why venture outside when all you have is here, with me?"He placed a hand on his chest. Zion shifted, backing away from the hand that touched where he was most vulnerable. Where Odyssis had claimed her as his own. It gave too much away and he immediately raced to find recovery from such a fools mess up.
Licinius smiled. It was all over. He knew it. He had optics and audios everywhere. He knew it would come to this. He laughed. It was gentle thing. Surprisingly so.
"Now now, do not think me for a fool. Never would I take your spark."
It eased him momentarily. But only for a moment. Licinius had to know of his outside ventures yes. But did he know of-
(***)The thought was cut off as he was thrown towards the ground. He allowed it to happen. Perhaps to protect his family. He allowed the mech to straddle him and cup his face to kiss him.
If it would allow the mech to ease the suspicions off of him then so be it. If it were to calm the threat that loomed over him and his family. So be it…so be it.
When he pulled away, the sweet and poisonous taste of energon still upon his lips, Zion spoke. "Remember I am your one and only mech who-." His deep voice was interrupted.
"Is of use to me? Credits? Oh, yes, I know, but every mech has his downfall. And it will soon come, mech. Soon. For now, I will use you as I please."
He remained on the ground obedient. He remained where he was purposely taking whatever the Pit Master wanted with him. Even as he palmed him he remained unfazed. If it would protect those he truly loved. He repeated this to himself. So be it. So be it...
But even as his reluctant release came, as Hypogeum watched with glee, somewhere in the back of his helm, he knew his reasoning and justifications were not true. Licinius knew. He simply used him to remind him that he was not fully Odyssis's to have. That what he wanted most was always out of reach.
Zion bit back a moan from another reluctant release.
Again Zion scrubbed his plating in the scorching hot solvent that poured over his frame. His legs felt numb and his helm swam from the unwanted overloads that the mech got out of him over and over again. He was shamed in front of his slaves and his creation who watched with a cruel undivided attention. He scrubbed at his pelvic armor, his chest and face where the mech repeatedly claimed him with his lips.
His spike was sanitized. He scrubbed as much as he could without it growing too painful. He kept most of the sobs that wanted to escape him to himself and swallowed them. He kept that shamed feeling to himself as he centered his anger and emotions. He offlined his optics allowing the solvent to run over his frame. Allowed it to run over him until it turned from scorching to freezing. The sensations were enough to distract and box those traumas.
It allowed him to center himself again. It allowed him to think a little more clearly and focus on what was important. If Odyssis had ever knew, if the bond was open then…
How he hid it away from her with a heavy smile and optics. How he did it to protect her. He loved her. So much. And anything that was his burden would not be placed upon her. So he smiled when she smiled seeing him come through the door. So unaware of his trials. He smiled...
He set his jaw, a strangled sound escaping his throat. He clutched his hand into fists moving it to the wall in front of him.
Shame and helplessness was taken over for anger. His spark ached and so his frame.
Odyssis was right. He couldn't do this anymore. He had sealed his fate when he gave her what they both wanted. Something had to be sacrificed. And it would not be his family. It would not be his reconciliation and second chance. He onlined his optics, a fire within them.(***)
There was only one way out of the pits. Everyone knew this. But no one thought of the other. No one thought of the other because credits were not what the Pit Master wanted. He enjoyed the torture, the control, the physiological games he played. He enjoyed the way he broke mechs and femmes alike. He enjoyed the way he could break them all so easily.
But no one, no one thought the third option. Unspoken and not even thought about for the simple fact everyone feared Licinius and his growing spawn. His vents grew heavier and faster.
Everyone was afraid.
But not he.
The third option was growing more and more enticing. Growing ever so within his capabilities and reach. One day it would happened. One day he would not enact revenge, no. Revenge was too foolish and childish. Selfish. Those were emotions only so unintelligent could muster.
No. Zion would enact what the mech deserved. What was due.
He glanced down to his fingers and uncurled them. They were dulled at the moment. At the moment but perhaps they could be sharpened...prepared for that-.
::Zion!::
Everything was stopped within it's tracks. Everything was placed on hold. He looked up as if answered someone just outside his wash racks.
::Odyssis?::
::Zion, please, wherever….wherever you are-!:: A gasp that had him opening the bond. ::Come home!::
Panic welled through him as he searched the bond. She was in pain. Thoughts were rushed. Was she in danger? Was the sparkling? Was it-? Stupid mech, there was no time!
He shut off the water not even bothering to dry. He rushed out of his quarters and down the dark hall.
::Odyssis speak to me.:: He remained strong. A set point as he urged her to cling onto his side of the bond. He opened it as much as he could bearing the pain she felt as his own.
::Zion! It's-the sparkling! I don't know-!::
Like a blade cutting through metal, or a breeze blowing smoke, the bond was curtly cut away. His spark pounded as helplessness and panic set in. He couldn't stop now. His walk turned into a full sprint and then a run. The bond rushed back within his clutches and he held. Something was distorting the bond. The scream that echoed through the bond was something that shook him deeper than anything he had ever witnessed or heard.
A desperate sound came from his throat as he ran as fast as he could. Another pained cry made his energon run cold and his lines freeze. She continued to call for him, whimpering and gasping his name.
::Odyssis!:: It was as if he was seeing into a one way window. He could hear her but not her in return. His spark searched for her through the bond but she remained unresponsive.