Work Text:
Warpath didn't want to believe it, but he knew what he saw at that neutral bar the other day. He had seen Thornstriker – his childhood friend and the femme he had been attracted to for Vorns – with that same bastard Decepticon that tortured her. He thought his optics had been deceiving him, but when he saw the Autobot insignia on the scientist's chassis, he knew it the truth. It was a truth that did not make any sense, a truth that shouldn't have been one.
He remembered how broken, how destroyed Thornstriker was after what that violent mech did to her. She became so afraid of everyone, even her own friends. The only one she could turn to was Airstream. Eventually, she turned to Warpath for support, but that was because they had been such good friends when they were younger. Thornstriker trusted him and that was why Warpath never said anything about his feelings to her. He didn't want to make the femme afraid. He wanted to protect her from everything and anything.
He did notice how things were becoming odd with the smaller femme. Despite her timid and shy personality, she seemed to enjoy going out to neutral territories and clubs. It made no sense since Thornstriker had told him once before how she didn't like loud places and how she wasn't a fan of drinking. She also started doing a lot of outside research; just a few decacycles ago, he brought back an entire research file on techno-organics, which was thought to be all lost. She never explained exactly how she obtained it, which many found suspicious but left alone.
Well, all but Warpath. He just knew something wasn't right and after following her to that bar that one evening, he found out exactly what was wrong. Bloodshed had to have been blackmailing Thornstriker somehow. There was just no way the little femme would willingly be around the mech who hurt her. It was impossible.
He thought about telling Airstream and the others, but what if Bloodshed threatened to kill Thornstriker if anyone found out? It seemed possible. Primus, if that were the case, he had to help her. Thornstriker was clearly no match for a warrior as powerful or as violent as Bloodshed. She needed help, something that Warpath would give.
He had followed Thornstriker down toward the caves that were on the outskirts of Cybertron. From what it appeared to be, the location was an old and abandoned energon mine. The green femme appeared to be nervous, afraid even, as she glanced around the area before ducking inside the cave. Warpath quietly and quickly followed her inside, spotting her walk slowly down the mineshaft.
"Thornstriker," he whispered out to her.
The scientist jumped and gasped, turning around with wide and terrified optics. "W-Warpath…?!" she cried. "W-What're you doing here?!"
This wasn't right. Why was her friend here? No one was supposed to have known that she came here. Oh Primus, she had to find a way to get him to leave before Bloodshed arrived, which she knew would be soon.
"Thornstriker, it's okay," he said softly, walking up to her and crouching down so he wasn't towering over the femme. He gently took her small servos into his own, stroking over them in a comforting manner. "I… I want to help you."
Thornstriker blinked, completely confused. "Help me…?"
Warpath nodded. "I… I saw you. You… and the fucking Con... at that neutral bar a few Orns back." His expression darkened at the memory of his friend in the mech's lap, Bloodshed kissing and stroking over her body as if he owed her. The thought was disgusting.
The scientist paled. Warpath saw them? No – not her friend. This couldn't have been possible. No one was ever supposed to know that she and Bloodshed were seeing each other. Primus, what would others think of her if this got out? She knew Warpath wasn't a tattletale or anything, but this was different. She was seeing a mech who had tortured her, a Decepticon. Not only would others be horrified of her choice, but they could see it as treason, even though the two of them never exchanged any factional information. She doubted if anyone would believe that though.
Warpath noticed the mech's trembling, reaching out and gently stroking over his cheek. "Thornstriker… Calm down. It's okay…"
"P-Please…!" he choked out, trembling uncontrollably. "D-Don't tell anyone I'm seeing him…! I'm not a traitor, so…! Please, Warpath – don't let anyone know! Don't let others know I'm with him…!"
"With him?" he repeated, optics going wide as his servo dropped from the scientist's cheek. "Wait… He's not… forcing you?"
The scientist blinked and stared up at his childhood friend. Warpath didn't know that she was with Bloodshed now? Damn it – had she had known that, she could have used that to her advantage. Now she had just blurted out something that didn't need to be said. She covered her mouth with her servos and slowly backed away from him, shaking violently as Warpath stood up, his shocked optics locked her.
Warpath couldn't believe it. In reality, he didn't want to believe it. There was just no way that Thornstriker was willingly with a mech that hurt her. This had to be a lie. It had to be. Then again, Thornstriker was the universe's worst liar. And right now, if what she was saying was true, it also made the brilliant scientist the universe's biggest idiot.
"You're lying," he said in a hush voice. "You're not… willingly with that bastard… Are you?"
Thornstriker said nothing, looking off to the side, as if she were ashamed of the truth.
"No…" Warpath whispered, shaking his helm. "No, Thornstriker… You can't be serious… He tortured you… And you're telling me that you're willingly seeing him?!"
The smaller Autobot flinched back as her friend's voice suddenly increased in volume, noting the fury and disbelief in his voice.
"Are you out of your fucking processor?!" he shouted. "How can you be with him willing?!"
"W-Warpath, please, I–"
Warpath pressed her against the wall, making the little green femme shriek in fright. "How stupid can you be, Thornstriker?! Why are you with that bastard?! Are you two mates now?! Are you Bonded now?!"
"N-No…!" she squeaked out. "W-Warpath, let me explain! Please!"
The warrior growled but backed away from the femme, his expression hard as he glared down at his friend, a femme that he loved. Damn it, this just couldn't be true. He didn't want to believe that the Autobot was willingly with that same Decepticon who had hurt her so badly. It just didn't make sense.
Thornstriker swallowed, trying to slow her shakes. "Warpath… Please. We're not Bonded and we're not mates… We're just… meeting." When Warpath just continued to give her a hard and questioning look, she sighed in defeat and looked at her pedes. "Bloodshed… After he… he did that to me, he always… saved me. Primus knows how many times I would've been killed on the battlefield if it weren't for him…"
"So you're simply seeing him because he saved you?!"
Thornstriker shook his helm, biting his bottom lip. "Warpath… Bloodshed… He… He loves me. He told me he loves me… That he regretted what he did… If he could take it back, he would, that he had no idea it was me during the interrogation, but… He can't undo…"
Warpath's optics widened. Bloodshed loved Thornstriker? That was a lie. He refused to believe that. Whatever type of "love" Bloodshed had for the femme, it was either a twisted version of the word or he was just bullshitting the scientist so he could interface with her.
"He's lying to you," the Autobot warrior growled. "No one does that to someone they love."
"Bloodshed didn't know it was me," she said softly. "I-I was wearing a disguise-! He… He never would have done that if he had known. And he does love me, Warpath. I know he does… Pl-Please, I've already forgiven him, so–"
"You forgave him?!" Warpath shouted, which caused Thornstriker to flinch back in fright. "Primus, you have to be joking, Thornstriker! He nearly killed you! Did you forget how much pain he caused you?! Did you?!"
"N-No…! Warpath, I will always remember what he did to me, but I–"
"But nothing!" He seized the femme's wrists and pinned her up against the wall, causing her to shriek out in fright. "Are you stupid or something?! Primus… You're so much smarter than this, Thornstriker! He hurt you and that's all there is to it! You can't forgive something like this! You can't!"
"I-I know…! But I just do! I just do!"
"Do you love him?" he growled. "Is that why you forgave him? Because you love him?!" Damn it, was this just Stockholm syndrome? That had to be it. It had to be Stockholm. Whatever Bloodshed was doing to her was messing with her processor. He had to find a way to help her if that were the case.
Thornstriker grew quiet and looked down at her pedes, avoiding the glaring look on her friend's face. She bit her bottom lip and whispered, "I… I don't know if I do… I just…" But she couldn't finish her sentence because she had no idea what her feelings for the red Decepticon were.
"Damn it…" Warpath hissed. "Why? Why him…?! Out of all the mechs in the world that would be able to love and cherish you, you chose the one that hurt you!"
"I-I'm sorry!" she cried. "I-I can't explain it either! But I…! I can't hate him! I can't just leave him alone!"
"You should be with someone who loves and cherishes you, Thornstriker! Not wasting your time courting someone you don't even know if you love!"
"He does cherish me! He does love me!"
"Not more than I do!" he barked, throwing his servos in the air and stunning the scientist into silence. "I'm the one who cares about you most, Thornstriker! I've always - always - have been there for you! I love you, Thornstriker! I would never do anything to hurt you!"
Thornstriker just stared up at her friend. Warpath loved her? Her friend from childhood loved her? When? For how long? This just wasn't possible. She and Warpath were just friends. They had always been just friends. She started shaking, pressing back against the wall, as if she were afraid of the warrior, which only made him angry.
"What?" he growled. "I can't love you – your friend who has never done anything to hurt you – but a bastard mech like him can? Does that even make sense?!"
"Y-You… you love me…?" she whimpered, still trying to wrap her processor around the idea.
Warpath said nothing, his expression softening. This wasn't exactly how he planned to confess, if confess at all. He looked down at the scientist and nodded once. "Yeah…" he said in a softer tone. He released her wrists, stretching a servo to her cheek and stroking over the now blushing femme. "I know we didn't see each other much in the Academy because you were under the science department while I was practicing under Yoketron-sensei… But I always thought about you and cared about you. It wasn't until the war broke out did I realize that you were more than just a friend to me."
He rested his forehelm against the other's, closing his optics as he whispered, "I love you, Thornstriker… I am so much better than him. You don't need to do this to yourself… I can protect you from him, from anything… Please. Don't do this. Don't see him."
"Wa-Warpath, I–"
But the scientist was never able to finish her sentence. The mech suddenly leaned down and pressed his lips against her, making the scientist gasp. Warpath took it as a golden opportunity to slip his glossa inside the scientist's mouth, gently thrusting his glossa in and out of that sweet cavity. Primus, she tasted divine, so sweet and so small. It was like he was tasting a bit of heaven itself.
Thornstriker had no idea what to do or how to react. It was so much different than how Bloodshed would kiss her – she simply didn't know how to handle it. She didn't know whether to push or to pull, not wanting to reject nor accept him. She loved Warpath, yes, but it wasn't that kind of love. He was simply a friend and nothing more. She had to push him away.
"Thornstriker?"
Both Autobots froze at the sound of the voice. The green femme broke away from the kiss, looking up and seeing two bright and wide red optics locked on her and Warpath. Oh Primus, she had completely forgotten she was meeting Bloodshed here. And now Warpath was here as well. She had to act now or else–
The scientist was never able to finish her thought as Warpath, his entire face now filled with anger, pushed away from her and pulled her behind his back, aiming the weapon on his chassis straight at the Decepticon. Bloodshed reacted too, pointing his own gun right at the mech's face, blood boiling with rage at what he just saw. He had been kissing his beloved femme. Just who the fuck did this mech think he was? Primus, he would kill him.
"Stop it!" Thornstriker cried, running in between them. "Both of you – put down your weapons! Now!"
"Thornstriker, get out of the way," Bloodshed growled, his weapon still aimed at the scientist's friend.
"No – not until you put the gun down."
"I don't think that's negotiable," Warpath said darkly.
"Damn it, put yours down too, Warpath!" she screamed. "It doesn't have to be like this, now stop it!"
"We're in the middle of a fucking war, Thornstriker!" Warpath shouted back. "He's a Decepticon! We're Autobots! It's going to be like this whether you want it to be or not!"
"I don't want to see either of you dead!" she shouted. "Put down your weapons, both of you, or so help me, I will beat the hell out of both of you!"
"As if you could do that–"
Thornstriker aimed one of his forearm guns at the mech, whose optics widened in shock. "Do not tempt me, Warpath." She pointed her other one back at Bloodshed. "Both of you… Drop your weapons."
Bloodshed and Warpath exchanged bitter and furious glances, but slowly did as the green femme asked. It wasn't that they couldn't just push or knock Thornstriker out of the way. They both knew the femme was stubborn at times and she would probably just end up getting hurt if they proceeding with their fight, something neither mech wanted.
The scientist let out a sigh of relief as the two slowly returned to normal stances and withdrew their weapons, though she could tell that they were glaring at each other viciously, obviously wanting to claw each other's throats out. She bit her bottom lip and looked at the other Autobot. "Warpath… I'm sorry, but… I don't love you like that."
"But you love a monster like him?" he spat, glaring at the red mech, who seemed to flinch back at the word " monster."
Thornstriker frowned. "Yoketron taught you better than to throw around petty and jealous insults like that, Warpath."
"You think this is petty jealousy?" he growled. "Primus, Thornstriker, it's was he is. After what he did to you… He is a monster. He tortured you. It doesn't matter if you've forgiven him – he's the bad guy, the monster."
Bloodshed twitched a bit at the insult again, each word hitting his spark hard. He knew what he was. He always knew what he was and normally, he could give a shit. But when people called him a monster, especially when they were referring to what he did to Thornstriker, it practically burned him. The Decepticon would always remember what he had done to the green femme, always. It pained him to be reminded, as though he were going to cave in on himself and as if his entire world was on the verge of collapsing.
"Warpath, that's enough," the older femme warned, walking up to him.
"I'm trying to open your optics!" he snarled. "Look at him, Thornstriker! Look at him! He hurt you, destroyed you…! He's a fucking monster!"
Neither mech was prepared for Thornstriker's reaction. The scientist slapped Warpath hard acrossed the face, which caught him off guard and knocked him back a bit. He clutched his cheek, as though trying to be sure if Thornstriker actually hit him or not, before he realized his plating was aching in pain. Both of the warriors stared at the green femme with shocked and wide optics, Thornstriker glaring hard at the mech.
"This was not how Yoketron trained you to be," she hissed, ignoring the pain in her servo from the slap. "You are not this petty as to go on insulting him like that… You're not a sparkling, Warpath." Then she took a deep breath and shook her helm. "Bloodshed isnot a monster or a bad person. A bad person doesn't regret what they've done. A monster doesn't feel remorse for their actions. If anything, they enjoy it. Bloodshed isn't like that. He regrets. He hurts. Bloodshed… He isn't a bad mech. He's just done bad things."
Both mechs stared at her, shocked by her response. In truth, Warpath was hurting. He was upset by the fact that Thornstriker couldn't love him and forgave Bloodshed for his crimes. Some of his anger was jealousy; some of it was just pure disbelief. He couldn't believe that Thornstriker was defending this bastard, the same one who had hurt her. Still, in a way, she was right. This was not how Yoketron trained him to behave. But as to what she said about Bloodshed, he didn't know to also believe that.
In the end, he huffed, holding up his servos as if he were surrendering. "I get it."
Thornstriker's expression instantly softened, a guilt-filled pang hitting her spark. She didn't mean to hurt her friend's feelings, but it was the truth. At least that was her truth and how she saw it. She stroked over the plating where she hit. "I'm sorry, Warpath…"
"It's fine." He stood up, looking down at the green femme with rejected optics. "I… I won't tell anyone about what I saw. I don't want to get you into trouble. Just… be careful, all right?"
She gave him a gentle smile. "Thank you, Warpath… You're a good friend."
Warpath said nothing, pulling away from the femme. Then he glared over at Bloodshed, pointing at him. "If I find out that you hurt her in any way… I will fucking kill you."
Bloodshed said nothing and simply glared back at the mech. Warpath gently touched his beloved's shoulder before transforming back into his vehicle mode, driving pass Bloodshed and out of the cave, leaving the two alone. Thornstriker let out a soft sigh and walked over to the red mech, hesitantly stretching up a servo to his cheek. "Are… Are you all right?"
The Decepticon huffed and nodded. He gently seized the older bot's servo – the one she had hit Warpath with – to look over it. He winched a bit at the sight of the blood and scrapings on it. "I'm fine, though your servo doesn't look good."
Thornstriker glanced at it. "It's not a big deal. I've had far worse injuries and I've seen worse than this on other bots…" Her sentence trailed off as Bloodshed brought it to his lips, his glossa flicking out over the bruised and scratched knuckles. She blushed a bit, biting her bottom lip with her frame trembling.
"I don't think I've seen you get so defensive before," he murmured softly, pulling away from the servo but not letting go of it.
The Autobot nodded. "Y-Yes… I don't know. He… He doesn't know you and when he was saying those things about you…" She let out a sad sigh, taking her servo away from the bigger mech. "I know what you did to me, Bloodshed. I will always remember it, but… I will also remember the guilt and grief you expressed to me when we met again. He doesn't know you, Bloodshed, but I do… And I know you're not a monster."
The two of them just stared at each other for a few moments, Bloodshed studying over the seriousness on his beloved's face. Fuck, the femme was like an angel to him and Thornstriker had no idea. Everything about her made Bloodshed feel like everything was right. Everything just made sense, despite the slight pain of knowing that Thornstriker was unsure of her feelings for him. Still, sometimes when he was with her, he didn't feel like a monster.
Gently, he seized the sides of her face and titled her helm up, pressing his lips on the other's. Thornstriker shuddered a bit but complied, parting her lips to allow the bigger mech access to her mouth. Bloodshed purred in approval, thrusting his glossa inside, running it over the other's glossa and mouth. Thornstriker soon found herself pushed back up against the wall, but she didn't reject the mech; instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, Bloodshed's servos going to her hips and holding her against his frame.
The scientist couldn't help but to moan softly, her mind flashing to her kiss with Warpath. It was nothing like this; Bloodshed's kiss was just so much more passionate than her friend's. It made her body feel weak and tremble. Primus, she simply couldn't describe it.
Bloodshed's lips moved to her neck cables, nipping at the soft metal. "I love you," he whispered softly. "I practically worship you, Thornstriker… I love you so much."
The green scientist mewled a bit and nodded. A part of her wished she could say something back to him, but she just couldn't. She didn't know what her feelings were and she didn't think she would ever know either. She simply knew she cared about Bloodshed, the mech who regretted everything he did to her, the mech who she knew wasn't a bad mech, who wasn't a monster.