Rule of Madness

Defeated

"Move it, piece of scrap!"

Ratchet stumbled with the harsh shove dealt to him by one of his 'escort', Brawl, he remembered. The combaticon seemed to be impatient for whatever reason, while Barricade followed along in a calm, relaxed silence.

The dirtied autobot mumbled under his vents, attracting Brawl's unwanted attentions for a second time.

"What'd you have to say?" Brawl snarled, spinning Ratchet around by a shoulder strut and shoving him up against the wall of a newly rebuilt building. Brawl's violence wasn't unexpected, and Ratchet successfully evaded the urge to flinch, tilting his helm up in defiance while refusing to answer, further frustrating Brawl. "If you were mine, I'd show you your place right here and now." The tank snarled.

Ratchet fought the urge to shudder, the Decepticon's words carrying a frightening truth to them. While in captivity, he had had the "privilege" to helplessly watch the rape and beatings of several of his comrades. Some he even attempted to care for after the assault, though it did no good. They would only be ripped apart again.

"Just leave it, Brawl." Barricade grumbled, stepping up nice and close into Ratchet's personal space, the medic flinching when taloned digits grasped his chin, jerking his helm up until he was forced to look into the Decepticon's optics. "He knows better. As a berth warmer, you know how to behave, don't you Ratchet?"

The demeaning tone was enough for Ratchet to leer back up at the black and white Datsun, who let out a bark of laughter, the digits gripping his faceplates tightening to the point of pain. "Defiant, eh?" Barricade's tone took on a deep purr. "I've always wanted one with a little fire.~" The black and white mech whispered, Ratchet trying to pull away as the Decepticon nipped at his lip components.

"Are you crazy?" Brawl's shout startled Ratchet as the tank shoved the police cruiser aside, anger, lust and a hint of fear present on his faceplates. "Do you know what Megatron would do if he caught you trying to use Titanium's toy?" He hissed causing his comrade to smirk widely in amusement. "I Don't think he'd care much." Barricade responded, though he made no move towards Ratchet again.

"But just to be on the safe side, we might wanna hurry." The cruiser added before turning towards the orange and white Autobot, Ratchet shaking where he supported himself against the wall, optics wide as he attempted to calm himself down, the bigger mech grabbing his shoulder and shoving him forwards. "Keep walkin' Autobot."

Ratchet stumbled and nearly fell when Barricade slapped his aft but caught himself at the last moment, casting a glare back at the Decepticon before hurrying forwards. He was by no means in a hurry to reach their destination. The uncertainty of what the remainder of his life would be like as the pet of Megatron's own daughter was more frightening than being in the presence of Barricade and Brawl. Both of which were predictable.

Thinking back to when the war ended, Ratchet wished he had been one of the ones to fall, alongside Optimus and Ironhide... With Bluestreak and Inferno. It was too much to think of all of his friends that had been lost in one battle, the memories of a black and blue seeker tearing into Optimus' back, turning the fight in the Decepticon's favor as Megatron took the seeker's distraction to his advantage, snuffing the spark of his enemy... The very thought that he was going to be handed over to the femme that had had her servos stained in Optimus' energon when he fell was nearly overwhelming.

Then there was the retreat, the remaining Autobots fleeing before their enemies. Decepticons shooting and capturing most before they got very far, Megatron giving orders to take them alive... Kneeling before Megatron and his soldiers on the Nemesis, the divvying out of sentient mecha as toys for ruthless soldiers... Ratchet shut his optics in an attempt to block out everything that happened between then and the present. It was too much.