"Why are you doing this?"
The quiet question interrupted his concentration, and Depth Charge jerked his head up in surprise. "OW!" After rubbing his head where he had hit it on the computer panel, he slid out from underneath it and lifted his head again. He wasn't sure what he expected to see.
Emerald optics looked back at him, shadowed with emotions he wasn't used to seeing in them: uncertainty, doubt…gratefulness? That last might have been his imagination. The crab held the husk of an energon cube in one hand, so he had obviously been awake for a little while before deciding to speak, just watching Depth Charge work. He had propped himself up on one elbow, but the ray couldn't tell if he was simply too weak to sit up fully or not.
"Why?" Rampage repeated, and his voice was wary. For once, he wasn't trying to manipulate his old friend in any way. He just wanted an answer. Like he had been back at the Center, he was weak and at the mercy of something he couldn't control and didn't entirely understand. Unlike then, he could ask questions.
A thousand answers ran through Depth Charge's mind, but he tried seem casual as he thought them through. First, though…
His hand reached out slowly, his optics locked on the crab, and he lifted a familiar item into view from where it had been by his side. He had carried it around faithfully ever since he had rescued Rampage from the Center because in this, the Center had been right. There had to be a reliable way to control someone like Rampage, even if Depth Charge couldn't agree with how this particular method had been refined. Rampage's optics widened, then narrowed, something like respect showing in them…or perhaps it was hatred? Depth Charge dismissed it as unimportant for the moment.
"I want something from you," he said finally, choosing that answer as the one Rampage would probably believe the most.
Rampage tore his optics from the box holding the captured core of his spark. "You?" He laughed, the sound containing more shock than amusement. "YOU? Want something from ME?" But he relaxed by a tiny bit as he said it. This was something he could relate to. This was Predacon reasoning, and he had been a Predacon ever since Megatron had forced him to join the ranks. Saving someone so a favor could be claimed later was understandable. But what could Depth Charge want that he had done all of this? "What?" he asked curiously, making himself a little more comfortable on the hard shelf serving as his bed.
The manta ray climbed to his feet, and Rampage's curiosity grew as he felt a tinge of fear from the other 'bot. Not of him, as he had thought before, but it was fear nevertheless…how strange. "Do you know what Rarmet is?" Depth Charge asked, and Rampage frowned.
"A planet, right?" He thought for a nano-second of adding that he had wanted to visit the place for a day of killing or two, but if that made the ray angry…Rampage was essentially helpless at the moment with lack of energy. Besides, he didn't know if it was even a colonized world. And he was still curious. If he made the ray mad, he might not learn what Depth Charge wanted. "That's all I know," he added when Depth Charge kept waiting for more, and the admission was grudging. He knew his knowledge of the known universe was sorely lacking. He just didn't like having to admit it, especially to this 'bot of all 'bots.
But Depth Charge merely nodded. "It's a world that's made its name through information," he said slowly, seeming to think his words through as he said them. "There's a very loose government that's mostly in charge of the military, but the rest of the planet is dedicated to newsgroups." He nodded his head again when Rampage's optics gleamed in speculation. "If I can reach Rarmet, I can expose the A.L.H. Research Center to the entire universe. I know the Maximal High Council was behind the Proto-" He stopped as Rampage shifted resentfully, and the ray was reminded of how Dr. Kilju and Admiral Jirex had never referred to Rampage as anything other than an experiment. It was a little detail, but he had to admit that it would be something that would wear on his own nerves if he had been talked about like that. "The Maximal High Council was behind your creation," he said instead, and Rampage shifted again, this time in surprise, "and there has to be some kind of agreement between the Predacons and Maximals in order for the Center to be operated jointly like that. With the recordings of the crew abductions from onboard this ship and my own account of what the Center was doing, Rarmet can expose everything."
Rampage stared at Depth Charge with unblinking optics as the ray paused, and Depth Charge wondered uneasily if this would be for nothing. His hand tightened a bit on the spark box, though, and another thought occurred to him. Could he force the crab to work with him? Megatron had tortured obedience from him back on Earth…but would he be any better than the Predacon if he did that? Yet if he didn't get to Rarmet somehow, the Center would keep experimenting and murdering innocent ship crews…
Meanwhile, he put the spark-box down on the nearest computer before he crushed it in his grip, continuing doggedly while his mind wrestled with the new problem. "Most of the universe looks at Cybertron as an honest member of interstellar trade agreements and alliances, but if the Maximal High Council is shown to have been behind a facility that violated most of Cybertron's own laws the damage to the Council's image will most likely throw the current people in power into prison. The Center will almost certainly be shut down, and the scandal will make Cybertron's allies very unwilling to trust those responsible for supporting it. There are several alliances that are shaky to begin with, so there are some that will collapse, and more will probably follow if there's an investigation into what's been happening. Do you understand my reasoning?" he added when Rampage only stared at him.
The crab bent his head in a slow, thoughtful nod.
"That's why I need to get to Rarmet. And," he took a deep breath, noting the interested look that lit Rampage's face when he tensed, "I need you to help me do it."
The crab had seen the state of the starship bridge and guessed something of what Depth Charge wanted, but what interested him more was what the ray had said. "Why is ruining Cybertron so important to you?" he asked quietly, wondering how far he could push the ray. "You've never expressed any desire to join me in destruction before…"
Depth Charge stiffened, his eyes narrowing. The anger subsided almost as soon as it was provoked, though, and the ray dropped his optics to the floor. He slumped against the wall, finally showing how tired and worn he had become. Despite what Rampage had been picking up from his old playmate's frayed emotions, the physical evidence came as something of a shock, and he sat up fully to watch the ray. "The Center killed everyone, did you know that?" Depth Charge asked without lifting his optics from the floor. "The entire crew of this ship. Optimus, and everyone else from Earth. The Admir--Jirex would have killed me off, too, if I hadn't acted like I didn't care about anything else but keeping you contained. And nobody cared. It was just an everyday thing to the Center. It happened with enough frequency that nobody cared any more…and the Maximal High Council has to know about it. If it's happening, then the government I put my trust in for so long has sanctioned it, and that means it KILLED MY FRIENDS!" Depth Charge realized he had shouted the last words, and a brief glance up showed that Rampage was mesmerized by his outburst. Furious enough not to care that he was making a spectacle of himself, the ray paced back and forth across the wire-littered floor. "For what they did to stop Megatron, they should have been hailed as heroes, not killed and their murders covered up! This isn't a just government, it's not-not-it's not FAIR!"
Frustrated, angry, and only gaining momentum as he ranted, he kicked part of a console out of his way and took another turn around the bridge. "Rattrap almost made it out. If we hadn't reworked the plan to get you out too, he would have made it!" Actually, he didn't know that for sure, but his deep-seated hatred for the killer silently watching him was finally boiling over. Everything that had gone wrong could safely be blamed on this one 'bot. "If not for YOU, he would have survived!" Depth Charge shouted. "If not for the Council, the Center would have never existed, and the other Maximals would still be alive! Captain Venara would be standing here instead of me, and you…" His voice trailed off to a malevolent hiss as he whirled to face the crab, unaware that his fists were clenched and his optics were brilliant with grief. "YOU would be DEAD."
Rampage cocked his head to one side, emerald eyes faintly amused. Raising his hands, he began to clap them slowly. "Bravo, Depth Charge," he chuckled, and the ray tensed, impossibly, further. "After all this time chasing me, you've reached the inevitable conclusion." He smirked, drawing out the moment until it seemed that Depth Charge would lunge across the bridge at him. Since he knew he wasn't strong enough for a fight yet, he reluctantly finished his thought. "You've finally realized that it's all about vengeance."
Depth Charge's optics went blank as the crab's words hit, but then he stumbled back, his knee joints weakening as his fury left him abruptly. "No." But deep down he knew it was true. "No," he repeated, helpless as the truth stole his anger. "It's not…I want justice. It's not vengeance. You're wrong."
"Then why ruin Cybertron's reputation? Why expose the Maximal High Council's dirty little secret to the entire universe?" Rampage pressed, taking in the ray's sudden pain with a triumphant smile. "There's no need to drag both Maximals and Predacons through the mud. I'm sure you could find another way to punish the Council if that's what you were really after. But it's not that simple, is it?" he asked with an edge to his voice that made Depth Charge flinch. "You want revenge. You've ALWAYS wanted revenge. You can dress it up with words like 'justice' and 'fairness,' but you didn't chase me across galaxies after I was captured for justice, now did you? I was already locked away, but you hunted me down anyway. What would you have done, Depth Charge, if my pod hadn't brought me back online? Would you have held your own trial for me before killing me? No," his voice fell to a soft, dangerous growl, "because that's not what you wanted."
"I wanted justice," Depth Charge protested, but his words sounded like an excuse even to himself.
"And now? Is that what you want for Rattrap's death?" The ray stared at him with anger lighting up his optics again, but Rampage probed the new wound in his playmate ruthlessly. "Is one robot's life worth all of this? No. I'm sure the government has done worse things in the name of Cybertron, after all."
"Shut up," the ray snarled.
"Even a couple starships full of innocent crews aren't really that much if the government decides the project is worth their lives. You forget, old friend," and Depth Charge made an ugly noise as he called him that, "that the government you serve is the one that decides what justice really is. They judged me, and now they've judged you."
"Shut up." A little louder, but more uncertain.
Rampage shook his head in mock sorrow. "You're outside of your own law now, Depth Charge. Do you realize that, I wonder? You've broken the law in your search for justice, and I'm sure the Center will try and bring you full circle. We might even have matching cells."
"Shut up!"
"Perhaps you should just admit that justice is only what you make of it. A thousand billion sentinent beings in this universe making up their own version of justice; who says that your version is the right one? By what right do you judge an entire planet? Your plan might bring down Cybertron's current government, but for what? For a few Maximals you were stranded on a planet with? For a starship's crew?"
"Shut UP!" Depth Charge howled. "It wasn't fair, it wasn't-"
"The government obviously thought it was fair," Rampage interrupted relentlessly. "You're only one 'bot against an entire planet, and what you think is fair and just is an individual opinion. Much like the one you hold about me. I'm certain that Rattrap's motives were much simpler."
"ENOUGH!" the ray shouted, then glared across the bridge at the other 'bot, panting slightly. An odd mix of anger, despair, grief, and bewilderment filled him. Their encounters were almost always like this: the monster peeled away layers of him even as they fought, and Depth Charge never knew WHY… "What do you want from me?" he demanded more quietly, but the question had a strange note of pleading in it.
Rampage looked at his old friend, his old playmate, his old victim, and he saw what had been made from the Security Chief of Omicron he had known so long ago. The everyday normal emotions of an everyday normal robot had been stripped away into a core of titanium that was beautiful in its simplistic complexity. Unnecessary emotions lingered, but they highlighted the edges instead of dominating the design. Strong, determined feelings remained, a personality that would accept no more outside manipulation carving away at it. Still, there was one thing left that was needed. "Admit that it's vengeance you want," Rampage coaxed. "You can disguise it all you want to anyone else, but I know the truth. I just want you to say it."
Depth Charge stared at him, silent with something that was more like recognition than surprise. This entire conversation had been a reversion back into what things had been like between them before the A.L.H. Research Center. Every time, every single slagging time after they fought, he would realize that the crab had forced him to see something about himself that he hadn't wanted to. Maybe it was willful blindness, but he had to admit that it was better to know these things than to let the crab use them as a weapon. It had puzzled him back on Earth, at least when he wasn't furious enough not to think about it, that in Rampage's game of psychological warfare he kept on giving away his most potent weapons.
Now his shoulders relaxed in a slow movement, the fierce mix of emotions bleeding out of him steadily as he considered Rampage's words. Actually considering them, not just reacting to them. Blissful ignorance of his own motivations was folly, and he knew it.
It didn't mean he had to like what the ignorance had been hiding.
Depth Charge looked down, away from the emerald optics that glittered with laughter at his expense, and he stared at his clenched fists. With a conscious effort, he opened his hands and flexed them. "Vengeance," he said thoughtfully, and he wondered in a distant way if he really believed that the immortal would answer anything honestly. "What is vengeance?" he mused almost under his breath.
Rampage slid his legs over the side of the metal platform and tested his feet against the floor. Grimacing, he decided he was still too weak to try and get up. "Vengeance is the act of returning pain for pain inflicted," he said after a moment, and he could tell that the ray was startled he had bothered to say anything. The question hadn't really been aimed at him.
That seemed to be what he was feeling, Depth Charge admitted to himself. "And is that what you want?" he asked cautiously. He had to find something to get the crab's cooperation…
The question made the other robot look up quickly from contemplating the computer parts strewn across the floor. It genuinely appeared to surprise him. "Why do you care?" he temporized, and Depth Charge saw the brief hesitation before he answered.
"I want to know why this is so important to you," he answered, not adding that he was looking for a weakness, for leverage, anything that he could use to his advantage.
The crab looked at him, then shrugged and nodded. "Perhaps," he said in a neutral way. "There has been a lot of pain in my life." Anger flashed for an instant across his face. "I can certainly think of some people I would like to get revenge on." A sly look entered his optics as he watched Depth Charge. "But you avoid the question of your own motivations, my friend."
That earned a searing glare. "Why do you care?" Depth Charge snapped back at him.
"Hmm. Turnabout is fair play, I suppose." Rampage leaned back, optics narrowing as he thought about how much he should tell his old playmate. He had never suspected they would end up like this, apparently trapped together on a crippled ship. Or so he assumed from looking at the wreck that had once been the bridge of a starship. After the shock of realizing that he really wasn't at the Center any longer, the situation had moved him into bemusement. Teasing Depth Charge had been an automatic defense as he tried to figure out what was going on. He felt little besides a vague satisfaction that the Maximals and Predacons he had known were dead, but there was a lot of anger. Vengeance? He hadn't thought of vengeance as a motivation for killing anyone for a long, long time…the ray's question had reminded him of that, reminded him of a time when…
He shook himself from that memory, ignoring the strange look that brought him from Depth Charge. He had no illusions about how hard he could push his body at the moment; right now he was at the ray's mercy. Depth Charge needed his help--that much was clear. That he was desperate enough to resort to talking to him was interesting enough, and he might be able to use that to his advantage…and the question was, how much could he tell the one who had hunted him across space and time?
Emerald optics narrowed further, the mind behind them thinking, planning.
"Surely you can see that no matter how you try to cover up your true purpose, you want revenge, not justice." Rampage held up a hand when Depth Charge started to say something. "Don't try to deny it, Fish Face. You want the High Council to pay for what happened to Rattrap, right?" The ray glared for a moment more, then jerked a nod. "How did he die, anyway? No, nevermind. Maybe I can find out later if it was as painful as the death I had planned for him." Rampage chuckled, continuing before the ray could find the words to yell at him, "It doesn't really matter. What matters to me is that you admit that it is really vengeance you want. Quite simply, once you admit that, there's no reason for you to deny me MY revenge. If you get revenge, then I insist that I get mine. Is that what you wanted to know?"
Depth Charge blinked, incredulous. "Do you really expect to be let go after everything you've done?!"
Rampage smiled a bit. It amazed him sometimes how other people's bloodlust blinded them. Perhaps living with it for so long had gotten him used to it, but it was amusing to see Depth Charge reacting like any other robot. Couldn't he think beyond his need for revenge? "I didn't expect you to grant that. What I want is revenge on Jirex and Kilju."
"What do you mean?" The ray's own optics narrowed in suspicion, but also in speculation.
"What would happen if I helped you and we arrived in Rarmet? What then?" Rampage shot back.
Depth Charge resumed pacing around the bridge, but this time more slowly, stopping to pick up a half-repaired piece of console. "I'd turn over the recordings of the crew abductions and testify," he said as he examined it. "It should be enough evidence to sway the public."
"Ah, yes. Public opinion. And what if the public is set against you, Depth Charge? Why would anyone listen to a criminal who's probably just trying to save himself?" Rampage smiled as the ray turned to look at him. "You broke out of a government facility, remember? I'd bet my spark the Council has a warrant out on your life."
He wanted to deny it, but unfortunately…the crab was right. He hadn't thought beyond the fact that what the Center was doing was wrong. But he had seen it happen before and had considered the people that had testified on Rarmet to just be lying trash. The recordings would only sway those people who hadn't already convinced themselves that he was in it for his own sake. If he was being hunted as a criminal, then everything he was trying to do would only convince a few. "Slag," he muttered without even realizing it.
"There goes your plan, Fish Face. But there's another way…IF you're willing to take it."
"I'm not letting you go free," he snapped.
"You don't have to," Rampage insisted. "But your problem is that you're still thinking that I WANT to go free." The finned robot's optics went wide with surprise, and the crab allowed himself an dangerous snarl that reminded Depth Charge, however unnecessarily, that he was talking to a psychopath. "I know that with that in your hand," he nodded pointedly at the spark-box still resting on a computer top, "you can keep me locked away forever if that's what you want. I'm not stupid, after all. It's in my best interest to go along with what you want, but what you're trying to do won't work."
Taking the precaution of striding back across the bridge and picking up the spark-box, Depth Charge turned to give his enemy/ally his full attention. "I'm listening," he said curtly.
A change from how things were normally, Rampage thought. Then again, was anything in this situation normal anymore? Why not just admit that they were in new territory? "Like I said, I'm not stupid. I've seen the kind of firepower Jirex and Kilju surround themselves with. I might be able to get through their security eventually, but the odds are against me. There are, however, other ways of getting to those two." The dangerous snarl showed itself again. "I'm a convicted criminal, and I have nothing to lose. If I testify-"
"WHAT--?!"
Rampage held up his hand again, his optics locked with the ray's. Reluctantly, Depth Charge subsided. "Let me finish. If I testify on Rarmet IN YOUR CUSTODY, it will be clear to anyone who knows anything about you OR me that I have nothing to gain." This time the snarl was of anticipation. "If nothing else, I'm evidence that the Maximal High Council IS hiding something. People will listen to me where they would scorn you."
Depth Charge stared at him, half-stunned by the logic…and the fact that this logic was coming from Rampage. "H-how will that get you revenge?" he stammered after a moment of trying to unscramble his thoughts.
The crab smiled unpleasantly. "Their careers will be ruined. That will bring me almost as much satisfaction as tearing them apart with my own hands. You might not have had to listen to them gloat about their status, but I had to. Every single slagging time I saw Jirex, he brought up his rank, and Kilju just LOVED to play doctor on me, didn't he? A scandal the size of the one we could create would send the Council hunting for scapegoats to throw to the media, and the first ones they would find would be my DEAR friends back at the Center. It would only be a delay in the process of tearing down the Council itself, but from what I've seen of reporters…" The smile turned back into that snarl full of predatory anticipation. "Those two will be torn apart in a way far more painful and humiliating than anything physical." Rampage cocked his head again, studying the blue-silver robot standing across the bridge. "Dare you deny me that sweet revenge if you would seek your own?"
For a minute, Depth Charge refused to look up and meet his prisoner's gaze. Instead, he turned the spark-box over and over in his hands, looking into the depths of the shimmering spark trapped inside. It seemed too pretty, too perfect, to be able to control someone. Inside it he saw Silverbolt and Blackarachnia holding each other; Optimus, Rhinox, and Cheetor laughing as they walked down the corridor towards a shuttle ride they wouldn't return from; Rattrap desperately trying to fly a ship he couldn't handle alone. He saw a hundred slaughtered robots in a colony called Omicron; body parts thrown carelessly to the floor in Starbase Rugby; a government official telling him that the Maximal High Council's decision had been to put Protoform X into statis, then into exile on a barren planet. There were memories of the Beast Wars on ancient Earth; the grim hatred during the hunt for an immortal killer; the helpless anger as Admiral Jirex and Dr. Kilju tortured a 'bot who could only scream silently in agony. Someone had to call the ones responsible for this to justice, but everyone else was dead. That left only him to bring an entire government and everyone involved A.L.H. Research Center to justice; did he have any right to do it?
No. He didn't. In the end, his rights were determined by the Council, and it was him against the Council. The Council would win if he tried to do this through proper channels, taking out only those he could directly implicate. But he didn't want only those he knew about to take the fall. He wanted EVERYONE who had brought this about to pay the price.
Now he finally looked up, tearing his gaze from the sparkling orb inside its crude trap. "I want to return the pain to those responsible," he said clearly, no doubt or shame in his voice. "If that's what you call vengeance, then it's vengeance that I want. I, however, see it as justice."
Rampage smiled. Then he began to chuckle. Soon he was laughing outright. "Very well," he said when he had recovered enough to talk coherently. "Then I guess I can claim that that I seek justice instead of vengeance." Still smiling, he nodded as if he had reached a decision. "I will help you get to Rarmet. Beyond that," he held up a warning finger, "I promise nothing. You have my cooperation, not my enslavement. I will not go back to tests and doctors!"
Depth Charge blinked, taken aback by the abrupt rage in the crab's voice. Not that he could be blamed. Not after what had been done to him. "No. You won't," he said, and his own tone of voice made the words a grim oath.
The crab considered the promise of death held in those words, then chose to ignore it for the moment. He'd heard worse. "So?" he asked instead.
"So what?"
He sighed impatiently. "Fish Face, I've been locked up in a cell most of the time since we left Earth. I have no idea where we are, why this place is looking like this, and what happened that prompted you to break me out. Beyond some very vague hints that you've been giving, that is. Would you mind explaining what the slag is going on?!"
"Oh," the ray said a bit lamely. He hadn't thought about this…
"And, um," Rampage looked down at the empty energon cube sitting next to him. He had put it down, but the husk was a constant reminder of how low he was on energy, even if his internal computer didn't keep telling him the same thing. "I hope that you're not planning to starve me, too."
"No!" Depth Charge frowned and strode across the bridge to where he had put a few extra cubes to replace the one he had been intravenously feeding the crab while he was offline. "Why didn't you just ask if you wanted another?" he asked as he turned back around.
Rampage's optics were locked on the cube in his hands. "Asking has never helped me before," he said absently. The cube's progress across the room halted, and he raised his optics from it to see that Depth Charge had stopped in his tracks, staring at him. "What?"
The ray shook his head and didn't answer as he handed over the cube, but he wondered if Rampage was even aware of how tragic that statement was, either because that was what the crab really believed…or, because of what had been done to him, it was completely true.
The room slowly came into focus.
Rampage breathed in just as slowly, letting the air run through undamaged filters to support his beast mode. He lifted one hand, turning his head to watch the fingers flex and curl. There was faint pains at each joint as they bent that warned him not to overexert himself, but the fact that the lingering fuzziness at the edges of his vision was gone told him how much he had recovered. He turned his head to look at his other arm, where he sensed there was something attached to him. It turned out to be a narrow tube.
Ah, yes. Depth Charge had told him he was going to put that back in. His systems had almost rejected the sudden energon influx earlier, and his internal computer began insisting on shutting down. It had been interesting to watch Depth Charge as he had reported what his body was trying to do; apparently, the ray had researched what to do with starvation victims, but he had thought that once Rampage had woken up he could have as much energon as he needed. Too late, he had realized that wasn't true. The most he could do was replace the I.V. line and let the crab recover on his own.
He followed the tube with his optics and saw the mostly-empty cube above him on a shelf. The cube was familiar. Once stabilized, energon left its crystallized form and was collected in cubes like that. Not long ago, he would have done anything to get even one of them.
Starvation does that to a 'bot.
Rampage wistfully looked at the remaining energon in the cube and sighed softly, deciding to leave it alone. The urge to grab the cube and gulp it down was almost overwhelming, but he suspected that it was mostly instinct from his beast mode. The semi-organic stomach deep inside him was completely empty, and it kept insisting to be filled when the rest of him could function just as well with energon no matter how it was received. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd actually indulged his crab form and eaten something…
That was probably because one of the experiments done on him had planted a virus in his internal computer. It had wrecked havoc on his coordination and sense of time, and even after it had been purged from his systems later, his internal clock remained a little off. It was disturbing not to know how much time had passed since he had last regained consciousness. His memory of what Depth Charge had said to him was clearer than the last time, though.
It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't where he had been when he'd woken up before. It had been light there, and here it was a more comfortable darkness. There had been broken computers and open spaces, but here there was a table and a couple of chairs. And now that he thought to look beyond the energon he craved, he noticed that the room was much smaller. So…was this one of the ship's crew quarters? He assumed that Depth Charge had put him here to get him out of the way, but he had to wonder why he hadn't been put in a cell. Perhaps as a gesture of goodwill?
He lifted his head and looked around the room again. A small computer terminal was set against one wall, next to the table. The door was in the opposite wall, and he had to twist his neck awkwardly to see it. He wouldn't be able to tell if it was locked until he tried to open it. The computer, however…
Sitting up was an effort, but he forced his body to complete the motion. The room spun, then settled around him, and his hands gripped the edge of the sleeping platform to keep him upright. Weakness was not something he was used to, and he didn't like it at all. Weakness was something the scientists had induced, something Megatron had exploited. For a moment, just a moment, he let himself remember what it had been like for his spark to be whole. The feeling of being complete…there was no doubt in his mind who had been worse, Megatron or Dr. Kilju. The ache of his spark being separated the first time was nothing to this torn, empty feeling he experienced now. And the pain of the spark-box. Pain! Just the memory of it made his fingers dig into the metal they were already clenched around, the anger of a tortured animal boiling inside him.
But Depth Charge had the spark-box now. His old playmate had the spark-box, but instead of using it the ray was ASKING for his cooperation. If nothing else, that was a novelty. None of the others who had held his spark-box had ever asked him to do something that wasn't painful, humiliating, or both.
It distracted him from his weakness and the computer across the room, and he jerked out of his thoughts only when the door to the room opened. A familiar silhouette was framed in the light. "Rampage?"
"I'm awake," the crab answered. He stretched his arms, noting how his joints were still painful, even his beast mode's legs burning slightly. When he was finished, he returned to looking at Depth Charge. The ray had taken a step into the room but hadn't come any closer than that. "Afraid I'm going to attack you, old friend? I thought we had come to an agreement."
That provoked another step forward, just to defy the teasing note in his voice. "Don't call me that."
"What? Old friend?" He shook his head. "No. To me, that's what you are."
"I'm not," Depth Charge growled, walking forward to stand over the seated form of his prisoner-ally. "Just because I've followed you doesn't mean I'm a friend," he spat the word, "and I don't want you to mock the word by using it! I HUNTED you. You're a killer, not someone I would call a friend. Get it straight."
Emerald optics studied him as he towered over the crab. "Oh, I have it straight. I'll call you friend whether or not you consider me to be the same. It may profane the word's meaning as you know it, but you're the closest I have to a friend. If I don't have quite the same definition, does it not make the word still true?"
Depth Charge jerked back, taking a step away before he caught himself. "It's not right. I'm NOT your friend, and I'll never BE your friend."
"So? What other use do I have for the word, then? It's not like I use it for anyone else." He sighed. "But if it upsets you that much, I suppose I can refrain from using it in my vocabulary. After all, we will be working together, and it wouldn't do to create unneeded tension. We have enough as it is." His optics lowered to look directly at the spark-box held in the ray's left hand.
Depth Charge glanced down at it, then nodded sharply. If the crab was willing to drop the subject, then so was he. For now. "Yes. You'll need a while to recover from your relapse, but after that you can join me on the bridge. Just remember that I'll have this," he held up the spark-box, "with me at all times."
A faint, bitter expression crossed Rampage's face. "Did you really believe that I could forget?"
"I will use it," the ray warned, and he turned to leave. He paused when he reached the door, however. "Rampage…"
He had been looking at the energon cube again, aware again of how weary he was, but he turned his head in Depth Charge's direction. "Yes?"
Depth Charge hesitated, newly-awakened curiosity warring with the sense that he'd be better off not knowing about Rampage's life. The crab waited patiently since it didn't occur to him to be impatient when he was this tired. "Haven't you ever called anyone else a friend?" the ray asked finally, his voice harsher than he had intended it to be.
Bright emerald optics dimmed to dull green, and Rampage turned back to looking at the cube. It took a moment for Depth Charge to figure out that he had no intention of answering the question.
The bridge was still a mess.
Rampage glanced at the wire-strewn floor and shot a look at his companion. "Not a tidy person, I see," he commented.
"Don't touch anything," the ray snapped back, but he took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself. Reminding himself that he would have to work with the crab to get the ship's computers online again, he looked Rampage over from head to foot, taking his time. It was an unexpected move for him to make, and the crab tensed defensively. "You'll have to do," Depth Charge said in a tone of voice that conveyed a deliberate amount of doubt for the crab's competence. Rampage's optics went wide in surprise and anger, but Depth Charge had turned away to bend over the nearest computer. "Come here," he ordered carelessly.
His fists clenched, Rampage started forward only to stop short as the distant burn in his spark became a sharp flame of torment. The soft sound of anguish that emerged from his throat was involuntary, and his hands rose to press against his chest above his spark as if he could make the pain stop. Even as he doubled over and moaned, however, he realized that this was a minor pain.
A warning.
"You've made," he gasped, "your point."
"Good." Depth Charge let his hand relax, and the compressed spark expanded again. He could actually SEE the pain leave the 'bot in front of him, and it made him uneasy to think that he'd caused such agony. "Just making sure we have an understanding."
Rampage glared at him, still panting slightly as his body recovered. "I understand completely…" Depth Charge nodded and started towards the computer again, "…Megatron."
The ray whirled to face him again. "What?!"
"You heard me." Straightening up finally, he leaned on the wall and continued to glare at the 'bot who held his spark. "Megatron liked to make sure we had an 'understanding,' too. You remind me of him."
"I'm not like Megatron." A little confused by the comparison, Depth Charge shook his head. "If you try anything, of course I'll use this, but-"
"-but maybe you should remember that it's my SPARK inside that little squeeze-box you're holding," Rampage snarled. "You can crush it casually whenever you want and send me to my knees, and I know it. Do you really think that I can forget that?! Maybe you should find some other way of making sure we have an 'understanding,' because I SLAGGING WELL UNDERSTAND! If you're another Megatron or Kilju, making me scream just because you can, I WILL fight you all the way with this. You want me to cooperate? Fine! I've already agreed to help you! All I want right now in return is that any time you want to make sure I understand something…there are other ways to reassure yourself."
Stunned by his vehemence, Depth Charge stared at the crab. "Like what?" he asked after a moment.
Rampage blinked, uncertain whether the ray actually wanted to know or not. "Try just holding it up," he said with a touch of dry humor. "When someone holds a piece of your spark up, it tends to attract your attention. Or so I've found," he added when Depth Charge snorted skeptically. The crab studied him, wondering if he would…maybe…where no one else had… "Or just ask me," he said in a low, careful voice. He met the other robot's optics squarely, pushing aside his nervousness at what he was daring. The scientists had treated him like the experiment he was. Kilju and Megatron had treated him with degrading condescension, hardly deigning to speak with him. Jirex had only taunted him. They had controlled him, they knew it, and they didn't even consider any other way to deal with what they regarded as a thing. But Depth Charge had never treated him as anything other than another robot. A dangerous killer, yes, but not as a semi-intelligent experiment. Just maybe, someone would finally act like he had a mind…
Depth Charge looked back at him. Was this some kind of ploy to lower his guard? He steeled himself against the idea; he couldn't afford to delay during a critical moment when action was needed instead of words. But if there was something more to this than that..? "I'll think about it," he said neutrally.
The crab was across the bridge, frowning as he ran a line-by-line computer code check on the remaining programming in the memory banks. It was boring, tedious, but necessary work, and Depth Charge had delegated it to Rampage because it needed to be done to discover what part of the computer needed repairs next. From the expression on Rampage's face, it looked like they'd be able to take their pick. That wasn't surprising, but it wasn't exactly encouraging, either.
Depth Charge sighed and turned back to what he was doing. Rewiring was tedious, too, but not really that boring since the thought of what a single live wire could do to him kept him alert. Besides, he welcomed the dull work right now. His thoughts needed the time to straighten themselves out.
Looking back at the last week since the breakout, it felt like he had been living in a dream and only now had woken up. Bargaining for Rampage's help had forced his wits to sharpen again, his mind to regain its edge. Part of him had to wonder if the crab had provoked him intentionally, prodding him on purpose to bring him out of the daze he had fallen into after Rattrap's death. The rest of him knew it had probably just been what Rampage did to him. However it had come about, though, it seemed like his mind had snapped back into focus. The sight of the console where Rattrap had been killed now inspired nothing but a faint sense of grief and a burning need for…vengeance. The fear of failure was gone, replaced with that fiery hunger that refused to acknowledge anything but triumph. Perhaps it had been born out of finally admitting the name for his plan, but he knew that his revenge WAS justified.
Rampage was wrong. When the government was corrupt, it wasn't capable of decreeing what justice was any longer. It was simply in need of it.