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Thornstriker tapped at her cube, watching the remains of her Energon swirl back and forth as she continued to play with it. She hardly noticed the orange mech behind the bar come up to her.
"Miss?"
She looked up slowly at the bartender, who was cleaning an empty cube. His servos worked diligently at it as his yellow eyes looked into her own blue ones.
"Are you alright, Miss?"
"Ye-yes. Just waiting for someone."
"Would you like me to get you some filtered Energon?"
"Y-Yes, I would like that a lot."
Thornstriker went back to her cube as the bartender went to get the young femme some Energon to help her stabilize herself. He had seen her there for a while drinking down a few cubes of rich Energon and he didn't want her to be overcharged while waiting.
As he placed the cube next to her, she took a sip of it as he took the empty cube from her. As he set it back into the cleaning unit below the bar, he noticed how she turned to the crowd as if looking for someone.
"If I may, who are you waiting for?"
"My... friend. He said he was going to run a little late because he had something important to do."
The bartender brought up the glass as he began to dry that one. "Is he usually late?"
"No. He generally arrives before I do."
"Are you new around here? I have a tendency to remember those who stop by."
The small, green femme blushed, her dark green face plates turning lighter from her embarrassment. "N-no, actually. My friend wanted to take me here because of the Energon. He had heard this place had some unique filters of Energon in this sector of space."
"Why indeed we do." The bartender smiled as he place the glass down. "An old couple experimented with their Energon supply a while ago to change its taste and such. They came up with some new ways to make very rich Energon without losing a lot of it in the filtration and electrical charge process. This was actually their bar when it was first opened."
"Really?" The femme seemed interested in the subject. "How did they do that?"
"Sorry, miss. Trade secret. Otherwise we'd lose our business to all the other bars across Neutral space."
Thornstriker chuckled lightly. "All right, I won't ask anymore. But may I try some of it?"
"Sure, I could get you a small amount from the back. It's a bit expensive, but I'll let you have a sip since you've made my night."
She only blushed in response as the bartender moved to the back. Punching in a code and allowing his optic to be scanned, he entered the secure storehouse and looked for the container that he thought would suit her best.
Formula 14-B67. No, too rich for her and she had some cubes before this.
Formula 37-ST0. Less potent, but very bitter for many. The femme had drunk some of the light-flavored Energon they had, so this wouldn't suit her taste circuits.
Ah, he let out as he came to Formula 65-K3. This was one she would like. Not too powerful and not too extreme on taste.
As he left the storage with the smaller cube of the good Energon, he stumbled upon the sight of the femme being surrounded by three mechs.
Uh oh, he thought. He knew these three. They were a trio of wannabes who went on about how many bots they killed in skirmishes. Of course, everyone in Neutral territory knew that these three were too wicked to have been with the Autobots and too weak to have been in the Decepticon ranks. But their modifications from scrapped mechs had made them a force to reckon with.
"Come on, sweetie, we'll show you a tour of the valley. We can show the best parts of it."
"I'm sorry, b-but I'm waiting for someone, but thank you for the offer."
"Don't be like that. You look so lonely sitting here at the bar. We can show you a good time."
Scrap. These mechs were not the types he would wish any femme or mech to go with. They had harassed others for so long that almost no one could stop them when they were on a mission.
The bartender wasn't sure what to do. He had never been able to successfully stop them, but he couldn't just leave the poor femme to their perverted selves. He had to try something.
"Excuse me, miss. Here's your drink."
Luckily, his interruption had drawn their attention away from the femme. As she tried to turn away, she felt the grip of the blue-brown mech on her arm.
"Hey, scrapheap. We saw her first. Why don't you do your job by getting us some shots as well?"
Thornstriker tried to pull away, but the grip tightened around her arm. The mech's scratched up face leaned down to hers. "Don't be shy. I bet you've never had someone as packed as me. Want a sneak preview?"
He pulled the femme's servo to his panel, the hot plate obvious to what the mech's desires were.
She felt like puking. Already the fear began to shut down her form as the nightmare of those touches came back. Looking to her side, she saw the bartender who had tried to help her being threatened with what looked to be clawed hand from one of the other two.
Her intake valves hitched as she felt a sharp, dirty hand come up to feel her figure, gliding slowly over her small form and fondling the breast plating.
"Bloodshed," she weakly called out, "Help... me."
"Oh don't worry babe," she felt his sharp servos hold up her chin, "Once I get started, you'll be screaming my name instead."
"Not that she'll ever know your name."
The mech didn't even see the punch coming as his helm collided with the cube on the table, shattering the frames of his left optic. The mech could only scream in agony as he turned to face the one who had punched him.
Whom the sight of made the blue-brown mech freeze. A mech much taller and obviously much stronger than him glared down at him with his red eyes, servos clenched into fists as the mech seemed to be holding back.
It didn't help that the Decepticon logo was quite obvious on his chest plating.
"Oh scrap, what-?"
"If you want to walk out of here with your pride and limbs intact, get out. And if I ever see you again anywhere near her again, I'll rip your spark right out of your chassis."
Frag, this was the mech she was waiting for? The injured mech was not one to take on those he knew he couldn't face, but he had his two buddies behind him and it had been ages since a beauty like this had come by. No way was he going to let this bastard get her.
"Too bad, but I got here first. Why don't you go find another bot to shag?" He reached out to pull the shaking femme towards him...
... Only to have his arm pulled into a painful position as the red mech put himself between the other mech and Thornstriker. The other two forgot about their victim to help their leader.
The bartender quickly jumped into action, grabbing the green femme and pulling her behind the bar as the fight escalated. He kept her down in the safety of the shadows while he peeked out to see what was happening.
He was proudly given a front-row seat to the most lopsided bar brawl he had ever seen. The red Decepticon made quick work of the Neutral pests, ripping off the leader's arm and disabling the other two. One had his claw arm crushed and a hidden gun (which was illegal in most areas of this Neutral space) was used to blow out the knee socket of another.
In a short period of time, the bastards were left lying on the ground as the red mech stood over them, intake valves working overdrive as he gave the leader a good kick to the panel (every mech in the place flinched) before coming over to the bar.
The bartender wasn't sure what to make of him when the mech stopped to look over at the green femme he was keeping down.
"Thornstriker."
The femme reacted immediately, standing back up and allowing herself to be held by the other in a tight grip. The bartender watched as the mech whispered into her audios, helping her to calm down as his servo came up to pat her helm.
As the noise in the bar caught his attention, the bartender let the couple be as he moved to get the situation cleaned up. Before the couple realized what had happened, the three menaces had been taken to a clinic and the local authorities for this space had been contacted to deal with the illegal weapon. The mess had been cleaned up and everyone had been given a drink on the house to apologize for the fight.
As the mech helped the femme sit down, the bartender was already back to serving and cleaning behind the bar.
"I'm sorry for all that. I can pay for the disturbance if that'll cover the cost."
"No need, sir." The bartender held up his servo. "We've been having problems with those three for ages. Though we did take some losses, I'm sure this'll be better for us in the long run."
"Thank you." Thornstriker lightly let out as she kept close to her 'friend'.
"It's nothing. And I still owe you a drink. How about some cubes of our finest formula? It's on the house."
"N-no, you don't-"
"I can pay for it if it's-"
"Please," the bartender interrupted the couple, "It's the least we can do for you for taking care of those pests."
Both didn't argue after that. As he brought them more cubes, both became more open and less rigid. The red mech was still careful around the femme, but he still brushed his servos across her arm and cheek every once in a while. The green femme starting giggling more, leaning further into the other and even holding his servo by the third glass.
As the night cycle rolled on, the bartender watched as they became a little more intimate, hands gently ghosting over each other. The red mech still held back, but he seemed to more willing to accept the other's touches when he had been very hesitant about it before.
Thinking they were almost out of it, the bartender offered them a room in the inn above the bar. It was usually only for important Neutrals who had to travel a lot, but they had rooms available and these two did take care of the valley's most prominent problem.
After he led them up to a room, he left them to their privacy. As he closed the door, he paused to see them locked in a sweet kiss. It wasn't demanding or passionate, but gentle and filled with nothing but love.
The bartender closed the door out of respect. As he walked back to the bar, he finally realized that the green femme was an Autobot. That meant that she and the Decepticon were in a forbidden relationship.
If anyone found out about it, those two would probably be punished as traitors. The red one would most likely be tortured and/or killed while the green one would most likely be imprisoned rather than executed.
But he was the only one who noticed the Autobot insignia on her. No one would make the connection here and in Neutral territory, no one cared your faction as long as the war wasn't brought with it.
He would have to make sure those bullies were taken care of to prevent anything from happening to the couple.
But for now, as he returned to his station, he had his duty to his customers.
END