18.Mar.06

Stolen Virtue

By: Sinead

Author’s Note: Many, many kudos, brownie points, cookies and thanks to Lady Venom for helping me find out what the Pit to do with this chapter, ’cause otherwise, it wouldn’t’ve happened. And for those of you who question my fashion taste for guys? I formally apologize. It’s just that I think one of the characters would’ve looked really cute in the style. Hah! Didn’t spoil it for you, nyah!

Chapter Thirteen: Break it Down

Shuddering away from her touch, Dinobot lurched out of bed, moving to stand before the window that overlooked the back part of the clearing, towards the large stream. Again, the dream. Again, the pain renewed.

Sinead followed him, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. She started speaking before she was halfway across the living/dining room. “Something the matter?”

“No.”

“You’re lying,” she said through a smile, chuckling kindly. “And that’s insulting me.”

“Fine. Something is the matter,” he snapped.

“At least that’s a start. Now what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“I told you not to lie to me,” she said, all seriousness now, eyes no longer alight with teasing.

His dark gaze met her own. “I have no wish to tell you, all right?”

“Why not? We’re married by Cybertronian terms–”

Not exactly . . . he thought.

“–so why can’t you tell me what’s bothering you?” She rested her hand upon his elbow lightly, but he snatched it away, eyes wide, scared, angry and tense.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Dinobot!”

“No! No, please Sinead, you don’t understand . . .”

“I would if you would just open up!”

“But you–”

“I what?” Sinead snarled back, leaning closer. “I’ll tell you what. I’m here for you every single day, every moment of the day. You’re pushing me away for some reason.” Her voice only grew angrier. “I’ve given everything I have towards you in your favor. I’ve moved here, I’ve managed to get a good job here, and I’ve been more than generous in how I’ve been giving you every spare second that I can gather.” The woman was too angry to stop now, and that anger and tension needed a release. “And I can’t even allow myself to relax and have a good, stress-relieving cry because I’m keeping strong for both of us! And you know what, Dinobot?” He saw as bright tears welled up within her eyes, giving them a feverish look. “I’m sick of being the strongest. I’m sick of how I’m holding both of us afloat. It’s your turn.”

Turning, she pulled a thick Irish-knit cardigan over her head, shoving her feet roughly into slip-on sandals, and left the house, every movement laced with vehemence.

Dinobot was shocked, but . . . he knew he deserved it. He returned to the bedroom, hearing Sinead return about an hour later, feet dragging, tired. He didn’t watch the bedroom door, but listened, hoping she would do as she had always done before and come to talk with him.

Something hit the floor with a sliding “fumph,” and Dinobot figured it was the cardigan. Then came the double-clunks of the heavy sandals, closer to the bedroom. Silence. The couch squeaked, and he heard Sinead sigh as she settled herself out there.

He turned over, looking out through the crack between the shutters, and suddenly realized that something was far more wrong between them than he had first thought.

And he knew it had to do with how far he had allowed the Bonding to go.

Which wasn’t very far at all.

Closing his eyes, Dinobot whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Silence met him.

He fell asleep.

“So it was a bad idea after all.”

“Not by my standards.”

“I’m not how I would have pictured myself! This doesn’t look like how I should!”

“That didn’t make sense at all, but if you’re worried about your looks, don’t worry; you’re gorgeous. But it’s not like I knew what was going to happen.”

“Neither did I!”

“I never said that you did!”

The two humans stared at each other. Hacker blinked first. Depth Charge, newly-Bonded, newly-human, sighed, reaching over hesitantly to touch her hair, feeling it with human skin for the first time. He tried a smile, but it came out looking saddened. “I’m sorry. I’m . . . not that good with sudden change.”

Hacker leaned into his palm slightly, lowering her gaze, blushing, and looking back up at his face. “It’s all right. Hey, uh . . . let’s get you something to wear, ’kay?”

“Uno!”

“Uno? That’s bull, Rattrap. And wrong game.”

“Huh?”

“I was outta cards almost a full minute before you were.”

“Wait. You had ta be outta cards?”

“This is called ‘Speed.’ It’s almost like ‘Snap,’ but you don’t hit the pile you want. You just have to get outta cards before your opponent does, then you start it over again.”

“That’s . . . not fair . . .”

“I explained all the rules before we started!”

“Aww, Sinead!”

“Don’t ‘Sinead’ me!” the young woman said, laughing. “You weren’t the one listening! You were watching Sapphire!”

“Not my fault I was distracted.” He leaned in, face dually incredulous and disbelieving. “Are you saying dat you don’t catch Choppuhface lookin’ at ’ya as you’re stretchin’ out fer a duel?”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Hah! My pink butt it is! It ain’t one bit different!”

Sapphire was laughing at the exchange, but saw Lady Venom and Hacker approaching. “Hey, did you find those other decks of cards, Lady V?”

“Hah! Yep. And a piece of trouble while doing so.” She pondered for a moment, then added, “But it’s also good news.”

That caught everyone’s attention. Dinobot was in beast mode, and had been silently watching the game from the couch. His wife and Rattrap were known to be two of the loudest arguers in the group, at this point. That was almost scary. The ex-Predacon turned his gaze slowly to Lady Venom. “And that would be?”

“Someone was Bonded last night. And Depth Charge needs clothing.”

Happy chaos ensued.

Depth Charge was being checked out by all the girls in the group. Sure, they said that it was for sizing and who could contribute what item of clothing, but honestly, there were more than a few comments upon his almost-sea-green eyes, his build, and whatnot. Thankfully, he had been given a pair of swimming trunks, and didn’t have to worry about any other comments upon places that even he didn’t want to think about just quite yet. Finally, after Hacker had written down the sizes, she shooed them out of their room, smiling up at him. “You feeling all right?”

The look on his face was priceless. “Sorry, but I’m unused to being cooed over.”

Laughing, Hacker smiled, holding up the neatly-folded clothing that had been lent to him. “But you’re really cute. And your voice is almost the same as it is in your robot mode: deep, mysterious, enchanting . . .”

“Gag me.”

That caused the Bonded young woman to laugh harder. “Oh, come on, Depthy, it’s not that bad.”

“I didn’t say that it was,” he muttered after a pause. “I just . . . have to adjust. With you.”

Smiling, blushing, Hacker handed him the clothing. “All right, change into those–”

“How?”

“What?”

“How do I change into these?”

“You’re kidding.”

“Least it proves that I wasn’t peeking on you.”

“Look, I said that I was sorry about saying that!”

“It caused me hell with Rattrap!”

“I said I’m sorry!”

The human Depth Charge grinned. “And I’m sorry for teasing.”

“. . . oh, you jerk.”

“Tips on dressing?”

Sighing, Hacker held up the jeans. “Tags go in the back, closures to the front.”

“That’s backwards.”

“To you, maybe. Not to us. Anyway, that shirt there slips over your head, arms through those holes there. Good so far?”

“Why the Pit are there so many layers?”

“Because we said so,” the author replied, not losing a beat or pausing. “This shirt here, called a ‘button-down’ for an obvious reason, slips on over the arms, the open side to the front.”

“What’s that?”

“Belt. It slips through these loops here, holding the pants up.”

“Finally. Something semi-logical.”

“Socks slip on over the feet, then shoes, and then you’re done.” She pranced out of the room, but poked her head back in to smile at him. “I’ll be just outside the door, ’kay? Call if you have problems.”

Depth Charge looked back at the items before him. “Hey. What about this thing?”

Hacker looked in again, and proceeded to blush lightly. “Those’re boxers. They go on before the pants.”

“Over what I have on now?”

“No.” She disappeared again.

Depth Charge smiled, understanding her embarrassment, then started to change.

Before long, he was dressed in the items that everyone had pulled together and walked out the door to meet Hacker. She tugged at his collar slightly, straightening it gently. He shrugged a little, letting the fabric settle around him, then looked at his . . . his Bonded. And smiled for her.

Almost everyone  was in the main cabin, watching a card game called Thieves be played by Sinead, Sapphire, Rattrap, Lady Venom, Starath, and Megatron. After Megatron had been dubbed winner, Lady Venom groaned, letting her head fall to the table. “And I was sure that I had him that time!” Her words dissolved into language too foul to be translatable.

Laughing, Sapphire reached to the counter behind her to pick up her drink and sip at it. Sniffing, Lady Venom looked up. “I’m bored. Let’s go into town and see what kinda clubs are there.”

“You’d have more luck in Boston,” Sinead replied, distracted with sorting the cards back into their respective fifty-two-count decks, two Jokers in each.

“Yeah, I know, but . . . Woah, here, you know of clubs in Boston?! And here I was, thinking you were a good girl!”

She slammed a completed deck down on the table. “I am!” was her reply.

“Then how do you know of the good clubs there?”

“Concerts, friends, that kinda stuff.” Sinead shrugged, shoving another deck into its case.

“Yeah, right. Anyway, let’s go club-looking!”

“We also need to go shopping,” Starath piped in. “I need some new jeans and shirts.”

“Depth Charge needs a wardrobe.”

“No kidding.”

“I need to get new shoes and belts.”

“What happened to the four belts that you got earlier this month, Megs?” Miss Special asked. She had arrived during the night, and hadn’t bothered telling many people about it. “You know, the pink and purple sparkly ones that Starath said looked too adorable on you?”

His face turned purple with anger, but Starath laughingly held him back, sitting on him so that he wouldn’t move.

Her job done, Miss Special leaned against the counter, Inferno by her side. “Besides. I need to get some shampoo. And hunting knives. They sell those over here, right?”

Dinobot watched the conversation silently, then turned and left the main cabin, taking a walk through the thin woods between the main cabin and his and Sinead’s. He continued walking until he came to the edge of the gully where the stream from the swimming hole ran though. Following it back up towards its source, he listened to the distant laughter. It was too painful to watch them all together like that. Oblivious to the pain of the world. To the atrocities that happen every day to someone, somewhere. Oblivious.

If only . . .

Sighing, he looked down into the waterhole, then across it and towards the almost-abandoned Mainframe cabin. All but one voice actor had returned to their homes, summer vacation over.

If only it was different.

“Dinobot?”

Turning, he looked down at Sinead. “What is it?”

“We’re heading out soon.”

The human man nodded once. “I will go get ready.”

“All right,” she replied softly. “We’re all going to be meeting in ‘Axalon,’ so when you’re ready, all right?”

He nodded, and walked back to their personal cabin. Alone.

Sinead watched him, sensing Lady Venom walking up beside her, rather than hearing or seeing. “Something up, Shin?”

“I don’t know.”

A brief silence passed between them. “He all right?”

“No.” Sinead sighed, rubbing at her nose. “Not at all. And I can’t get through, this time.”

Sapphire joined them. “Everyone’s ready to go.”

“Not yet,” Lady Venom replied. “Dino-butt’s not his usual idiot self.”

The page-mistress of Beast Wars International looked at Sinead. “What happened?”

“I honestly don’t know. He won’t respond to something I’ll say, sometimes, like I’m not even there. He’ll stop in the middle of a sentence, and walk off, looking like someone kicked him in the gut.” She sighed. “What’s worse, is that some nights, he won’t even let me touch him. Not casually, not at all. Something’s wrong, but . . . what?”

Lady Venom bit her lip, then shook her head. “I . . . I think we’ll just have to wait on that. C’mon, shopping time! Cheer up! Spend money!” She winked. “Especially on things that you know could be . . . shall we say, useful?”

“You sick monkey!” Sinead laughed, playfully pushing Lady Venom, chasing her back into the house.

“Hey! I resent that statement! I’m no monkey!”

Sapphire followed at a more leisurely pace, stopping beside Rhinox, who was talking with Meara. Both looked at her, pausing their conversation. “Something wrong?”

“Dinobot’s regressing into himself,” she said softly, not wanting to be overheard.

The two elders looked at each other, and Meara embraced Sapphire. “We’ll help handle things when it gets bad. Don’t worry. Things will turn out all right.”

Sapphire only wished that it were so as she piled into the van, seeing Sinead waving to the people who would be staying behind.

Strolling through the center of North Adams was fun. Since all the humanized ’bots were gorgeous, they attracted stares and girls no matter where they were. The three who attracted the most attention were Rampage (obviously), Megatron, Inferno (surprisingly), Rattrap, Depth Charge, and Dinobot. Just as Starath came out of the changing room with an especially-good-looking shirt on, she saw about five girls standing around Megatron. He saw her and walked over, kissing her lightly while making a scene about how beautiful she looked in the shirt.

Miss Special laughed, walking out of the changing room she had been in, showing Inferno the pants she knew she shouldn’t get: black, with flames around the hems and traveling up the outside of her legs, ending mid-thigh. “Whatcha think, sweets?”

“Perfect!” he replied in his elegant British accent. “They are most becoming upon you, my dear.”

“Well, I’m not getting them.”

“Oh?”

“They’re at least fifty bucks.”

“Only? Then it is my treat.”

“No, don’t you even think about it.”

“Aah, let ’im,” Nurannoniel replied, her bought clothing in a bag. “He’s loaded. Got a great job out here, and makes a ton of money.”

“Therefore, my treat,” the pyromaniac reiterated. “After all, nothing can match your beauty; the items you wear can only enhance it.”

Miss Special blushed, and looked at the girls who were watching her with disgust. She grinned at them. “Want him, girls? Over my dead, drawn and quartered, charred, and scattered-to-the-winds body.” She kissed his cheek, sweetly adding, “So deal with it.”

Starath was in fits of giggles, watching the girls huff off, saying what a rude such-and-such Miss Special was. Nurann looked over her shoulder at the handsome-but-thankfully-semi-plain human Optimus. “Thank God I don’t have their problems.”

“Thank Primus that I have you to scare them off if that happens.”

“Sap.”

“Romantic.”

They grinned to each other. “I love you.”

“Primus, make this torture end,” Megatron muttered.

Meanwhile, Sinead was in a furniture store, looking around for a bedside table with a lamp attached. Her Mum had one, and it had been relatively inexpensive, and easy to put together. Dinobot was behind her, trailing along with Rattrap, as Sapphire was looking for a coffee-table, and she was discussing with Sinead what style would go best with the cabin she shared with Rattrap. Rattrap caught up with the two, putting in his two cents and pointing in the direction of where he had seen something. Just as Dinobot was about to follow them, something from the corner of his eye dragged his attention to the right. It was a small room, looking like the store was redecorating it. Only a single light was on, its glow dim and not reaching all the corners.

A lone table occupied the room, the side facing him.

Nothing on the walls.

Someone must have hit a switch somewhere, because all the lights in the room burst to life, causing Dinobot to flinch slightly.

Dinobot heard the dark laughter just before the lights snapped on, nearly blinding him. Megatron leaned over his once-comrade, and said smoothly, “I had said that I would be back, now didn’t I?”

“No,” he whispered, rubbing at his eyes. “Not here.”

Rampage towered behind the overlord, emerald optics glinting in amusement and anticipation. “Scream, Dinobot. I want to hear you scream.”

“Not now.”

“No, Primus, no, don’t let him near me again, Megatron!”

He turned away, trembling, walking over towards where Rattrap was trying to convince Sapphire about a coffee table. The shorter man saw Dinobot and thumbed over towards where he could see Sinead’s head bobbing around near the other side of the large, large room. As soon as he was close to her, he rested his arms around her, pressing his nose and forehead against her shoulder. He knew she could feel him shaking. He knew she would ask if he was all right. He knew he would reply that he was, even though he wasn’t.

And so it happened as he knew it would, and they ordered the table, then moved on.

Lady Venom caught up with Sapphire, Rattrap, Sinead and Dinobot just as they were about to enter a coffee shop. “Hey!”

“Hey!” Rattrap replied. “Where’s da crab?”

“Lugging all our crap home in the van. He’ll be back to pick us up later. What’ve you four been up to?”

“Furniture shopping,” Sinead replied.

“And we found the perfect table! It’s gorgeous, and it’ll fit in so well with the rest of the room!” Sapphire gushed. “The best part was that it was on clearance!”

“Bargain! Score!” All five walked into the small shop, getting in line for a warm drink. “Anything else happen?”

Sinead didn’t mention Dinobot’s weird behavior, instead talking about the new side-table, and how it was gonna save room. Once their drinks were handed to them, they were out of the store again, walking towards the Wal-Mart, seeing Hacker, Depth Charge, Starath, Megatron, Nurannoniel, Optimus, Miss Special and Inferno walking towards them. The group met up, talking about flocking fangirls everywhere they went, fun things they saw, items that could be birthday or Christmas presents, hinting to the guys as they did so . . .

They entered Wal-Mart, all pitching in to get Depth Charge workable clothing, since he had already agreed to pitch in with building cabins and helping out with grounds-keeping. Miss Special went off on her own, looking at the hunting section, then came back, claiming that they didn’t have what she was looking for. They exited, seeing Rampage in the van, listening to oldies. Which wasn’t about to be lived down for a long while, as Rattrap even said that he had been singing along.

Dinobot didn’t even enter into the conversation, instead trying not to think of how they had to run through the hardware section of Wal-Mart to grab more nails, hammers, screws, screwdrivers, bits for the electric screwdriver, and order a few other tools, including the circle-shaped saw for their table saw, since the old one broke a tooth, and new bits for the scroll saw and stationary drill. He hadn’t had another flashback, but instead had a sense of unease start to spread through him.

He didn’t notice Rampage watching him fixedly, nor how the usually-Transmetal Predacon looked at Lady Venom, his gaze confused.

Next stop was the specialized hunting store. They all piled in there, since some needed ammo for rifles, some needed crossbow bolts, others needed a new string for their bows, and Sinead was even picking up her customized hunting bow from being repaired, as a pulley had jammed, eventually breaking while one of the Transformers had been holding it for her as she had tied her shoe while practicing. Rattrap never really forgave her for that, since he had been whipped in the neck by the string suddenly losing tension. Nor did Cheetor forgiver her, either, since he had been the one that the pulley had snapped towards, hitting him in an unmentionable area.

And Miss Special looked at the hunting and skinning knives. Sinead drifted over to her, picking out one to hold, feeling the balance and weight, then, dissatisfied, chose another hunting knife, and put half of the money for it down to have the store hold it for her until next week.

Miss Special held up a long, thin skinning knife, looking along its edge. The overhead lights from the store glimmered off of its surface. Dinobot looked up at the glint, then watched, along with many of the others, as the author started to flip it around, always catching it neatly, feeling the balance.

He shut his optics off, slamming his head to the left, refusing to look at himself any longer. But closing his eyes would not stop the memories from rising to the surface. Megatron’s face leering above him, Tarantulus’ snickers as the spider had cut him while he did unmentionable horrors to the Maximal hostage . . . and then there was Rampage’s giggles of glee as each whimper and scream was brought forth as every new burst of pain blossomed deep within the Maximal’s body.

Dinobot turned away, feeling sick, and looked at the display of shotguns and hunting rifles. He didn’t feel right. His stomach was turning, flipping. He knew this feeling, but wasn’t about to let it get to him. Breathing deeply, silently, he looked down at the glass display case before him, seeing a display of swords from movies shown there. Mentally reciting the anatomy of each blade, he managed to stop his Spark from trembling as many times as it had been, but he still jumped as Sinead’s hand rested upon his. “C’mon. Time to go.”

He nodded, and they got back into the van. As Rampage now claimed the back seat with Lady Venom, Dinobot sat shotgun with Sinead driving. He watched the landscape flowing alongside the road, occasionally looking up at the mid-afternoon sky.

Dinobot never noticed Sinead glancing at him from time to time.

In the back of the van, Rampage whispered to Lady Venom, “There is something seriously wrong happening with the two in front.”

“What do you mean?” she asked back, just as softly, under the loud discussions that were going on before them.

“Pain. Fear. Sadness.” He paused. “Confusion rules over them all, but for Dinobot . . . he fears something that I cannot find within him.”

“Can you get anything else?”

“No. That is why I am also confused, my Lady. Terribly so.”

But all too soon they were home, Meara waving as she was set down more food on the picnic table for dinner. Rhinox stood behind her, holding two more plates of food. Everyone piled out, most of the Warriors returning to their original forms for a stretch. Dinobot looked up at the sky, heart pounding furiously, Spark shuddering erratically.

Inside the house, Sinead winced, pressing her hand to her chest, taking deep breaths. Starath looked at her in worry. “Sinead?”

“Something’s really wrong,” she gasped out.

“Are you all right?” Lady Venom asked, hands upon Sinead’s shoulders, straightening her back so her breaths would be deeper. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“No,” Sinead replied, scared now. “It’s not me. Something’s really wrong . . . with Dinobot.”

Starath looked out the window, seeing Rampage start moving towards the swimming hole. Even inside, they could hear his voice as he shifted back into his Transmetal form. “Hah! Nobody’s going to touch my food tonight until I’m finished having with having my fun and washing off!”

The door slammed shut, sending pain shooting through his head. Unexpectedly, the lights shut off, and Rampage’s voice was heard through the now-locked door. “Believe me . . . he’ll not touch you tonight until I am finished with my fun with you.”

Everything evened off with Dinobot, his breathing, his Spark, his mech-pump . . . his thoughts.

Purpose filled him.

Sinead gasped again, this time from the shock of everything disappearing.

Lady Venom blinked at her, completely disconcerted at the now-easy breathing of the younger author. “Shin . . . ?”

That was when the trio heard Dinobot’s warcry.