wildernesstales | TF: Celebrate Good Times… Or Not (Reply)

Rating: PG-13
Series: G1
Pairings: Shockwave/Ratchet
Summary: After everything, Shockwave finally has something he wants to celebrate with Ratchet. But does Ratchet want to celebrate it?
Warnings: Dark themes, possible dub-con (if you view it that way)
Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I’ve forgotten… Title is corrupted from the Kool and the Gang song ‘Celebration’
Authors Notes: For the tf_rare_pairing July Challenge – Celebrations. And yet again Casha interprets the prompt loosely. Oops?
Yes, it’s another one in the same series as Experiments in Emotion and With Time and Distance.
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

“So what’s the oh-so logical one doing for your anniversary?” Crosswave nudged Ratchet’s arm.
“I don’t know. I don’t think we’re doing anything special.” Ratchet shrugged. It had been a year since they first committed to their relationship and everyone seemed to think they should be celebrating. Yet Ratchet wasn’t so sure; not with the populous on the verge of war.
“You’ve got to do something, I mean, it’s been a year. I can’t believe you’ve spent a year with him.” Crosswave did a good approximation of rolling his optics. “I couldn’t stand more than a cycle with him I think.”
“Well it is a good thing we are not together then.” Shockwave’s voice froze Crosswave in his tracks.
“I didn’t mean anything, I mean I… frag.” Shaking his head Crosswave trudged from the room, hoping that Shockwave wouldn’t report him for insulting an officer, even if it was accidental.
“What are you doing here?”
“A pleasant way to greet me.” Shockwave intoned, optic twinkling.
“You know what I mean.” Ratchet shrugged off the joke. “I thought you were on duty tonight?”
“I was. Plans have changed.”
“Oh…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shockwave dragged Ratchet away from his work, using his seniority to blackmail the head medic into letting his lover leave early.
“I can’t believe you just did that.” Ratchet murmured, glancing back over his shoulder.
“Why not?” Shockwave couldn’t see the problem with what he’d just done. Fine, he shouldn’t have intimidated the senior medic, but how else was he to get his workaholic lover away from his work? On today of all days?
“I just… wasn’t expecting you to.” Ratchet shrugged. Once Shockwave had told him he was working that night, he’d given up all hope of any sort of celebration or romantic get-together to celebrate their anniversary. He told himself he didn’t mind, but deep down he would have preferred something to mark the occasion. Now it seemed, he was getting his way.

“I just thought that we should celebrate the date.” Shockwave explained.
“I understand why you did it… I just… I wasn’t expecting you to.” Ratchet stopped, turning to face Shockwave. “I wasn’t expecting you to think about celebrating our anniversary, particularly after you said you had to work.”
“I may have not been entirely truthful with you.” Shockwave admitted.
“Oh?” Ratchet stepped a little closer, one hand resting on Shockwave’s chestplating. “Are you telling me, Mr Logical, that you lied to me?” For all his words, Ratchet didn’t sound annoyed, more amused than anything.
“It would seem you are rubbing off on me.” Shockwave retorted.
“Hah!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shockwave led Ratchet back to their quarters, pausing only long enough to grab a container he wouldn’t let Ratchet look in.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere special.”
“Oh?” Intrigued, Ratchet tried pressing, wanting to know where they were going.
“If I have to blindfold and carry you Ratchet, I will.” Shockwave mock-threatened, his tone showing he was only teasing.
“You would as well.” Ratchet retorted, giving up on trying to find out where they were going and just contenting himself with hanging on to Shockwave’s arm.

Eventually Shockwave led them to a small crystal garden, away from the main city.
“It’s beautiful…” Ratchet whispered in awe, looking around him.
“Just like you.” Shockwave murmured, pulling Ratchet close. “Happy anniversary my love.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Why that anniversary was the first thing Ratchet thought about when he onlined back in the cell, he wasn’t exactly sure. He winced, the damage to his plating making itself known. A myriad of warnings flashed in his cortex as he ran a systems scan. He tried to remember what had happened. He remembered the battle, waking up in this cell and then Shockwave… He sat up, vocaliser letting out a burst of static as he tried to groan with the wave of pain. He remembered the machine, remembered the searing agony as it cut into his plating, burrowed its way into his very spark.

It was only then that he became aware of Shockwave. Not that the purple mech was standing nearby. He could feel him. Bringing one hand up to cover his windscreen (and his spark chamber), Ratchet stood up and staggered towards the cell door.
“I know you’re there.” He cried out hoarsely, vocaliser still damaged from his earlier screaming.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shockwave watched the scene from his control room. If he had been able to smile, he would have. The experiment seemed to be a success. He should have perhaps fixed the damage, but he didn’t want to waste the resources if he didn’t need to. Maybe, because it was Ratchet, he should have. But that was in the past, no sense in worrying about in now. Now was the time to look to the future.
“I think perhaps a celebration is in order.” He mused to himself. He dispatched a drone to fetch energon from the storage rooms before turning his attention back to the monitor. Ratchet was pacing as best he could around the cell, calling out for Shockwave, convinced the mech was nearby.
“Ah Ratchet…” He touched the screen, tracing the medic’s figure. “You are mine now forever, whether you realise it or not.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ratchet’s vocaliser had finally given up on him, and he didn’t have the energy to expend pacing the cell. He’d sat back down on the berth at the back, curled up as best he could without causing himself any more pain. He could feel Shockwave, even though he knew the mech wasn’t nearby. Even Shockwave couldn’t be that callous as to ignore his pleas. Not for that long. His very spark seemed to ache, and he had a horrible notion that he knew exactly what Shockwave had done.

He looked up as he heard someone approach, knowing even as he did that it was Shockwave. Without his vocaliser, all he could do was glare at the mech.
“I see you online at last.” Ratchet mouthed the words ‘frag you’.
“Perhaps later.” Shockwave correctly interpreted what Ratchet was trying to say. “For now, a celebration is in order. But first I fear we should get your damage fixed.” Ratchet tried to growl at him, but all he managed was a burst of static that ended with him clutching at his throat.
“Come now…” Shockwave’s tone was softer as he disengaged the energy bars. As much as he wanted to, Ratchet found he didn’t have the energy to try and push past Shockwave to escape. He couldn’t do much more than attempt to pull away as Shockwave easily hauled him to his feet.
“Follow me.” He ordered, turning and striding out of the cell. Ratchet wavered on his feet, before he felt compelled to follow Shockwave. He was barely aware of trailing along behind the purple mech, and there was certainly no way he was following which way they were going. Even so, Shockwave took a series of twists and turns through the vast corridors that made up Decepticon headquarters, deliberately to confuse Ratchet and make the medic reliant on him alone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lying on the berth in Shockwave’s laboratory, Ratchet offlined his optics, not watching the drones as they repaired him, cleaning his plating and buffing it to a shine. A celebration indeed.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Shockwave asked. He’d been surprised to see Ratchet waiting outside his office.
“Just thought I’d surprise you.” Ratchet murmured, pressing close to Shockwave. While the purple mech didn’t object to the hug, he was concerned. This was unlike Ratchet’s normal behavior.
“Ratchet?” Shockwave saying his name made Ratchet glance up.
“I passed the exam.” He grinned, unable to keep it a secret any longer. “I’m a fully qualified medic now.”
“Congratulations.”
“You were the first I wanted to tell.” Ratchet beamed up at him, the sheer delight of finally gaining his full crosses clear on his faceplates.
“Thank you.” That Ratchet would come to him first out of all his friends touched Shockwave more deeply than he would have thought. They’d barely started their relationship, so Shockwave was pleased that his younger lover had sought him out first out of all the others he’d known for longer.
“I believe this calls for a celebration.” Ratchet’s grin widened.
“Really?” Shockwave had more credits than Ratchet did, so Shockwave had occasionally treated him to a night out at the energon bars Ratchet would not be able to afford otherwise.
“Really.” He nuzzled against Ratchet before tugging the mech along the corridor. “Of course, we must make sure you are presentable.” He continued, tone rich with promise.

Biting back a sob, Ratchet turned his head away from Shockwave. The mech had stood there and watched the repairs, directing the drones to particular areas as necessary.
“Do not try and hide from me Ratchet.” The tone was soft, and completely not what Ratchet had been expecting. So much so that he jerked back to look at Shockwave.
“You cannot hide from me now. You cannot escape.” Despite the soft tone, the words were harsh; a reminder of the situation Ratchet was in. Shockwave stepped closer, sending repair drones scurrying away from him as he moved.
“You can feel me, I know you can. Just as I can feel you. The way it should have always been.” He rested his hand on Ratchet’s windscreen. Ratchet’s optics widened as the implications of what Shockwave had done sank in. It was only the straps on the berth that held him down during the repairs that stopped him from recoiling in horror.
“You… how could you…”
“As I said, we have something to celebrate now.”
“I hardly think it’s something worth celebrating.” Ratchet spat, though as soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. It was something worth celebrating, but under different circumstances. Entirely different circumstances.
“You don’t really mean that Ratchet.” Shockwave’s voice dropped into a lower range and Ratchet gasped. He could feel his spark reacting to Shockwave’s voice.
“What have you done?” He whispered.
“Ratchet, I thought you were a medic, surely you know what’s happened.” Shockwave trailed his hand around the edge of Ratchet’s windscreen, something that never failed to make him squirm.

And squirm Ratchet did, both in pleasure and absolute terror. The thought that Shockwave would force a sparkbond on him was terrifying. He couldn’t deny that there was a time he would have wanted it. Perhaps he would have been amenable to it even now. But to have the decision taken away from him?

“How could you?” He wanted to yell at Shockwave, but it just came out as a quiet plea. Shockwave lifted his hand off Ratchet momentarily.
“Because I can. And that, my dear Ratchet, is another thing to celebrate.” He grabbed Ratchet’s arm, pulling the medic off the berth. “And celebrate we shall. Just like we used to.” Ratchet struggled to put up some form of resistance, but the newly formed bond seemed to cry out for the attention; needing Shockwave close.

Needing a reaffirmation of the bond.

Authors Notes Additional: What, you expected them to have some fluff? Mwahaha.