Title: Ashes, Ashes
Author: Kookaburra
Universe: G1
Ratching:R
Summary: An alternate take on events at the end of and after Auto Berserk. Red Alert and Inferno are captured by the Decepticons. Red Alert is tormented by Starscream, leaving Inferno with an unthinkable choice. Originally written for the Transformers Kink Meme.

Warnings: rape/non-con

A/N: This was the very first piece of Transformers smut I ever wrote, back in 2008. Thanks to anon_decepticon for helping me clean it up enough to take it out in public.

Red Alert rebooted with a groan. His processor ached. What had he been doing that was so painful? As his circuits began to work again, he looked through his recent system logs and memory files. With growing horror he watched himself run away from his comrades and steal the Autobots' new weapon, the Negavator, with the help of Starscream. His last memory file depicted the Decepticon Air Commander flying at him with murder in his optics, before everything went dark.

"Red!"

The shout made him snap on his optics and jerk in surprise. His shoulder rotors ground in protest - his arms were restrained painfully behind his back. He was on his face, and all he could see was deck plating.

"Red, are you alright?"

"Inferno?" Red Alert asked cautiously, as he attempted to turn his face towards the voice. "Is that you? Where are we?"

"Just stay still Red. We're in the brig of the Victory. Are you hurt?

Red Alert attempted to roll himself on his side, but it seemed that the motor circuits in his lower limbs had been deactivated.

"I'm alright, Inferno," he answered. "I'm just-"

Red Alert was interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open. Heavy steps approached his position, and his enhanced sensor net read the vibrations as a Seeker's gait. He had a sneaking suspicion about who it might be.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to reboot," said a distinctive, sneering voice. A sharp pede-tip poked Red Alert in the side and he was roughly rolled over. Starscream stood above him, smirking haughtily and resting a thruster on Red Alert's chestplate.

Red Alert craned his neck to look towards where Inferno's voice had come from. Inferno was pacing behind an energy barrier, one side of his face blackened as if he had taken a blaster hit at close range, a look of desperate worry on his face.

"Stay away from him, Starscream!" Inferno yelled.

"Do you know, I don't think I will," Starscream replied with affected nonchalance, moving his pede to Red Alert's neck and turning Red Alert's head to and fro with the tip. His thruster pressed into Red Alert's main energon line and vocoder, making it impossible for him to speak. "You look so...vulnerable like this Red," Starscream said sotto voce as he knelt down and brought his face close to Red Alerts.

Red Alert bucked and thrashed, trying to throw the seeker off of his frame. Starscream was caught off balance and teetered back, but quickly recovered, grabbing Red Alert's shoulders and slamming his frame hard into the floor. Red Alert cried out in pain as his helm hit the decking. "So, you like it rough, do you, Autobot?" hissed Starscream. "That can be arranged."

Starscream threw one leg over Red Alert's pelvic unit, stilling his struggles with his much larger frame. Red Alert's spark twisted in fear as he realized what Starscream was after. "No, don't-!" he cried. "Get off of me!" Red Alert twisted, trying to free himself, but with his legs offline and his arms bound, his struggles were ineffectual. Red Alert had never felt so helpless and alone - to be used like this and worse, to have Inferno see him like this was too much. He had been feeling more than friendship for Inferno for quite awhile now, and couldn't bear to have him be a witness to this.

"Starscream, stop!" Inferno yelled. "Leave him alone!"

"Aww, isn't that touching?" said Starscream sarcastically as he groped beneath Red Alert's spoiler. "And so typically Autobot, to try and save your friend instead of thanking Primus that it's not you who's about to get 'faced through the floor." He turned his attention back to Red Alert, who trembled at the predatory look Starscream was giving him.

Red Alert twitched and cried out in fear as Starscream's fingertips sought out all of the secret and sensitive crevices they could find on Red Alert's chassis. "Starscream, no, I don't want this, please-" Red Alert begged. Starscream lowered himself atop Red Alert's body, increasing the contact and bringing himself into a position to whisper into Red Alert's audio.

"I'm going to kiss you now, dear Red. If you try to bite me I will personally put a blaster bolt through Inferno's processor."

Red Alert immediately stilled.

"Please Starscream, don't hurt Inferno," Red Alert choked out.

"That depends on you, dear Red," said Starscream huskily before he dove down and captured Red Alert's mouth with his own. Red Alert's processors raced in denial of what was happening to him. He could dimly hear Inferno yelling and threatening Starscream from the nearby holding cell as the seeker plundered Red Alert's mouth. When Starscream pulled away, Red Alert's internal fans were venting overheated air as fast as they could. "Why Red," Starscream smiled. "It almost seems as if you're enjoying this!"

"N-no!" gasped Red Alert. He couldn't deny that the seeker's touches were inflaming his sensor net, but every caress disgusted him and made him want to purge his fuel tanks.

Starscream continued to probe and explore Red Alert's chassis, laughing all the while at his helpless and desperate cries. Eventually he found the access panel he was looking for on Red's midaxillary line, and tweaked it playfully. Red gasped and squirmed as the sensor nodes beneath his access port flared at the stimulation.

As Starscream worked the panel open, Red Alert managed to lift his upper chassis up towards Starscream to beg, "Please don't, please please please, don't do this-" Starscream easily pushed him back down.

Suddenly there was a loud ZAP and a clang from the corner and Red Alert turned his head in time to catch Inferno ricocheting off of the energy field that imprisoned him. "Inferno!" he cried out in alarm.

"Ha! You'll never get out, ground pounder. You'll just have to watch as I put your friend in his place," said Starscream.

"Red" Inferno picked himself up slowly and crawled to the energy barrier, trying to reach through it. "Red, I'm sorry! I'm here, I'm here!"

By now Starscream had yanked Red Alerts data cable out from its niche and was working on configuring his socket to match Red Alerts Autobot plug pins. Red Alert tried desperately to rearrange his port geometry ahead of Starscream, to prevent the sadistic seeker from forcing him to plug into him. Starscream soon lost his patience with Red Alert's attempts to thwart him and fired a low level null ray at his unguarded chest plate. Red Alert went completely limp, unable to move or speak. His head flopped to the side, and he could see Inferno's anguished face gazing at him from across the room.

Then Starscream forced Red Alerts data plug home, and Red Alert couldn't even scream at the pain. His systems became peripheral to Starscreams, his glitch-weakened firewalls offering no defense as Starscream ruthlessly battered past them and began rummaging around in Red Alerts memory files and CPU.

No, no don't look in there, that's mine- Red Alert tried to keep his most intimate thoughts and secrets away from Starscream, but the electrical glitch hindered his attempts, and within moments Starscream had full access to his systems.

Starscreams energy assaulted Red Alerts circuits and his spark, burning through his relays, making him scream in pain. Worse; he could feel Starscream's pleasure in his agony, echoing over the link.

"RED! RED!" Even though he was looking directly at Inferno, Red Alert was only distantly aware of his agonized cries, numbed by a haze of pain.

Red Alert could feel Starscream poking through his CPU, violating and exposing him. For the first time, he understood the human concept of nakedness.

Ah, now this is interesting, Starscream sent along their link. Red Alert was only able to whimper and try to jerk away. With dull horror he realized that Starscream had hacked into the portion of his memory core that housed his hidden feelings for Inferno.

Do you really think that Inferno would want someone as glitched up as you Red? sent Starscream. Red Alert could only cower in a small corner of his processor, trying to protect his core personality code from Starscream's invasive presence. All of his private fears and insecurities were laid bare before him, flung in his face as Starscream gleefully rifled through them.

Inferno is a big strong mech; do you think he deserves a traitor? You came with me willingly; everything that's happened is your fault! Starscream continued. And now you're 'facing a Decepticon! Do you think Inferno wants a defective, a loose-plated piece of aft like you?

No, no, no, no was all Red Alert could send down the link, unsure if it was a denial of Starscream's claims or an answer to his question. Suddenly his glitch flared, sending voltage coursing through his circuits, polarizing them and making him moan in agony. His CPU housing felt like it was going to split in two. He was vaguely aware of Starscream moaning above him in reaction to the extra jolt of electricity he had just received.

"Oh Red," Starscream said aloud for the benefit of Inferno. "That little 'malfunction' of yours has been going to waste." He leaned in closer until he was almost touching Red's lips with his own. "Do that again, but this time moan for me."

"P-please Starscream, I c-can't," Red Alert stammered. He screamed as Starscream grabbed a door flap and twisted it, the shriek of tortured metal mingling with Red Alert's cries. "PLEASE! I can't control it, please don't hurt me, I can't" he babbled.

Starscream vented overheated air in frustration, forcing more energy into Red Alert's circuits in a violent surge that slammed Red Alert back against the deck plating. "Then I want to hear you moan for me like the piece of freeware you are!" Starscream hissed into Red Alert's audio. "Moan for your precious Inferno!" Starscream forced more energy pulses into Red, and backhanding him when the Autobot remained silent.

"Mmoh, oooh!" Red Alert tried to force the sounds out from his vocalizer, but his auxiliary systems had practically shut down in terror, and static was all he could produce. A particularly vicious surge made him give a hoarse, harsh groan.

"Starscream! Let him go! Stop this, please!" Inferno called out from his detention cell. Starscream laughed at the fear in his voice. "He's malfunctioning, his systems can't take it!"

A sly smile spread over Starscreams faceplate, and he ceased his electrical assault on Red Alert's systems for a moment. "As if you would know what his systems can take you've denied yourself the pleasure of 'facing him."

"You're sick, Starscream! I would never touch Red like that!"

Red Alert's vents hitched as Inferno's words hit him like a physical blow. He had always known in his spark that Inferno would never return his silly crush, but hearing his friend deny it was still incredibly painful.

"See Red?" Starscream said, turning his attention back to the helpless mech beneath him. "Your precious Inferno doesn't want you! Nobody does, and when I'm through with you, no one ever will! How dare you even presume to hope that a mech like Inferno could ever love you?" Red Alert moaned, both in physical pain and shame at hearing his deepest secret spoken aloud.

"What do you mean, Starscream?" demanded Inferno.

"Didn't you know, Autobot? Red here is in love with you!" Red Alert increased his squirming as Starscream once again began to download data from his hard drive. He stared in horror as Starscream effortlessly perused the files he had carefully constructed of fantasies involving Inferno. "He's constructed quite a few pseudo memory files of you and him swapping paint. Let's see, I think the most entertaining one is where you tie him up and 'face him silly in your ship's monitor room"

"Nooo, no no, please Starscream please-" Red Alert whimpered piteously. Would Starscream leave him no dignity? Being exposed like this was the worst torture he could imagine.

"Quiet, you!" Starscream subdued Red Alert with a sharp energy fluctuation, which felt like a full system slap to Red Alert. His pleading lapsed into quiet whimpers. Starscream grabbed his throat and forced him to turn and look at Inferno while the seeker began to rattle off more of his private fantasies. Though I will admit that the one where Red seduces you with quality energon, emulsified joint lubricant and a full-chassis waxing is sweet, if sickeningly trite."

"Red, I'm so sorry; I never knew" Inferno tried again to reach out to him, but the energy barrier stopped him with a sharp crackle. Red Alert switched off his optics, unable to bear the sight of Inferno's pained face. What good would an apology do? He was the one who should be apologizing to Inferno, for daring to hope that their friendship might become something more. Inferno himself had said that he would never want to be with Red Alert like that, and now after what Starscream was doing to him, no one would.

Another glitch ran through his circuits, lighting up both Red Alert and Starscream's systems. The effect on the two joined mechs was very different Red Alert screamed in pain, Starscream in pleasure. Overcome, Starscream increased his electrical oscillations, each wave more violent and intense than the last, until Red Alert felt as if he would shake apart from the force; as if his circuits and relays couldn't contain that much energy. His overheated processor knew that he had to overload in order to get rid of the excess charge, but with Starscream in control of his systems, he couldn't switch off the fail safes that would allow him to overload.

"This is all you're good for," Starscream repeated into his audio, voice thick with feedback and static. "This is all anyone will ever want you for; this is all your Autobot 'friends' will do to you if you go back to them," he continued. Something about Starscream's assertions seemed wrong to Red Alert, but his glitch latched onto the idea and presented him with all sorts of terrifying scenarios that could play out if the rest of the Autobots did decide that he was only useful for sinking their circuits into.

Finally, Starscream overloaded and collapsed onto Red Alert, his heavy, overheated frame crushing Red Alert's body beneath it. Red Alert still hadn't overloaded, and sparks jumped from his plating as his systems tried to shed the excess energy. It was excruciating, the excess charge creating static along his joints, making them feel stiff and throb with pain.

"Red, Red Alert! Are you alright? Red!"

He could hear Inferno calling to him in increasingly desperate tones, but could not bring himself to respond, to face Inferno after all of his secrets had been exposed.

After a few kliks, Starscream rebooted and lifted himself off of him. Red Alert remained limp and unresponsive, save for a tiny cry when Starscream unplugged himself, jerking Red Alerts data cable roughly in the process.

Starscream gave Red Alert a quick sensor sweep before grabbing him by the upper arm and heaving him off the floor. With his lower limbs still switched off, all Red Alert could do was hang helplessly in Starscream's grip, his access panel swinging open and his data cable dangling.

Looking up at Starscream, Red Alert murmured, "Please, Starscream- m-my circuitsoh p-please they hurt" He hung his head in shame for what he was asking for, but it wasn't like he had anything left to lose. "Please let me overload, there's too m-much-"

CLANG

Red Alert went crashing to the deck as Starscream slapped him across the face. With his hands still secured behind him, Red Alert was unable to break his fall.

"As if a little tramp like you deserves an overload!" Starscream snarled. "Though we'll see if any of my fellow Decepticons think you deserve to have one" Starscream picked him up again as Red Alert cried out in fear and horror at the implications of that statement.

"No, please, have mercy! Please Starscream, PLEASE!" he begged as Starscream dragged him towards the door.

"No! Don't do this!" Inferno called after him, his yells growing more and more frantic as Starscream reached the door and punched in the code to open it. "Red! No, not to my Red!" Inferno hurled himself against the energy barrier again and again as the door shut behind Starscream and Red Alert, screaming, Red! RED ALERT!"

Inferno slumped despondently against the wall of his cell, his spark aching. He had offlined for awhile after trying to break through the energy barrier. Seeing Starscream force himself on poor Red Alert was more than Inferno could handle. Red Alert's screams echoed through his processor, and Inferno vowed that if they ever got out of this, he would show Red just how much he was loved. Inferno had harbored feelings for his friend as well, but since it had taken him so long to gain Red Alert's trust as a friend, hed assumed that any advances he made would frighten Red Alert away. Inferno had resigned himself to being content with friendship, keeping his thoughts of anything more tightly under control.

Something deep inside Inferno's chassis twisted painfully when he recalled the look on Red Alert's face when he had blurted out that he would never touch Red Alert intimately. If only he had known! If only Red had said something! Inferno checked his internal chronometer. What were the 'Cons doing to him? The Unmaker himself could not have devised a more painful torture for Inferno, waiting, wondering, and having his vivid imagination conjure up horrifying images of what might be happening to his precious Red Alert

Inferno blamed himself for this. If he had stayed with Red Alert in the bunker, Rumbles rocket might not have hit him. If he had been just a little faster, he might have been able to catch Red Alert before his glitching friend ran into Starscream. Or if Inferno had been running sensor sweeps while chasing Starscream after he had abducted Red Alert, he would have seen Dirge and Thrust closing in on him, and he wouldnt be a helpless prisoner now

Inferno had slipped into a power-save mode when Red Alert was brought back in, this time completely limp, half-carried, half-dragged by both Starscream and Ramjet. Inferno scrambled to his pedes, his gyros reeling at the sudden movement after the prolonged time on the ground.

"You!" Ramjet yelled. "Back against the wall!" Inferno obeyed instantly, any thoughts of escape fleeing his processor now that he saw Red Alerts condition. Ramjet kept his blaster aimed at Inferno while Starscream released the cuffs that held Red Alert's hands behind his back. Red Alert twitched and moaned as his arms were freed. Starscream then dropped the barrier and shoved Red Alert inside before raising the energy field again. Ramjet lowered his blaster and Inferno ran forward to hold Red Alert.

He pulled back in surprise when electricity sparked between them. Red Alert gave another horrible, hitching moan.

"Listen to him!" Starscream said, watching the tableau with interest. "He sounds just like a pleasure-drone!"

"Don't talk about him that way!" Inferno yelled as he gathered Red Alert into his arms, cradling him gently, heedless of the current that snapped between them. The two seekers laughed as they exited the brig.

A quick scan confirmed Infernos fear Red Alert had not been allowed to overload, and the excess current was overheating his circuits. Red Alert cried out and spasmed against Inferno, his sensor horns sparking as he glitched. The glitches were more violent now, and Hoist's warning about Red Alert's circuits burning out or exploding came back to Inferno.

"Red, Red Alert, please, look at me." Inferno begged, stroking a digit down the dermaplating of Red's cheek. "It's me, it's Inferno, I won't let anyone hurt you any more, I promise, please come online"

Red Alert's optics flickered and booted up. "I-Inferno? Is that you?"

"Yes, Red, it's me. You're safe, I've got you."

"You shouldn't be here!" Red Alert's optics brightened in fear. "This is a bad place, Inferno- you have to leave!" Red Alert grabbed onto Inferno's grille, pressing against him. Inferno shifted his grip to maintain his hold on the panicked Red Alert. As Infernos hand brushed his Red Alert's spoiler, Red Alerts reaction was immediate. Current surged into Infernos hand, traveling up his arm and grounding itself through his substructure. Red Alert arched against him, crying out in pain.

"I-Inferno, it hurts so much, please, please help me" Inferno's spark broke at Red's helpless pleas. There was only one way to help Red Alert get rid of the excess energy, and he didn't want to take advantage of Red, not now, not like this.

"Tell me where it hurts, Red. I'll try to make it better, I promise."

Red Alert took several deep, gulping ventilations, a last ditch effort by his overheated systems to cool off, and said, "Here it hurts so much in here." Red Alert clasped a hand over his spark casing.

"Oh Red!" Inferno exclaimed, pulling Red Alert closer, heedless of the heat generated by his sparking sensor horns. "I'm sorry, so sorry I couldn't stop them, Its all my fault"

"Ngh! Please Inferno, please make it stop!" Red Alert begged again as another spasm shook his frame.

"Alright Red, I'll make it stop, just lie still." Inferno carefully lay Red Alert down on the deck plating. Red Alert whimpered, clearly not completely aware of his surroundings or his circumstances, which made Inferno feel all the more guilty about what he was about to do.

Reclining next to Red Alert, Inferno gently ran his hand over Red Alert's helm, trying to soothe and relax him. But Red Alert was so amped up, every touch made him buck and cry out.

"Shh, shh, Red," soothed Inferno. "Please be still, this will all be over in a few kliks, shh" He reached for Red Alerts data cable, still hanging free. A wave of anger surged through him when he saw how bent and battered the pins were. The astrosecond his fingertips touched it, Red Alert went completely still, and slowly looked up at him, his optics wide.

"I-Inferno?" he asked in a small voice, his hands releasing their death grip on Inferno's chassis to hug himself.

"I'm sorry, Red; we've got to get the charge out of your circuits." Inferno flipped open his panel, revealing his own data ports.

"N-no! No please, no more! I can't, I can't Inferno, please don't!" Red Alert sobbed. "I can't, I can't, it hurts, please no!"

"Red, please forgive me, I have to, Im sorry..." Inferno kept repeating the litany as he positioned himself over Red Alert. Red Alert pushed against Infernos windshield and grille ineffectually, trying to shove him off.

"No, no, nonono..." eventually Red Alert went completely limp, head rolling to the side, optics switched off. Inferno configured his own data port to put as little pressure on Red Alerts abused pins as possible, and gently inserted Red Alerts cable into his port.

"Forgive me, Red," he whispered into Red Alert's audio.

Immediately a wave of pain and terror assaulted him from his link with Red Alert. It felt as if his spark had been stabbed to know that he was the cause of Red Alert's fear. He could feel Red Alert's core personality components scrambling around in an effort to get away from his trespassing presence.

Inferno tried to send a data packet that contained comfort and love, but Red Alert's systems once again shied away, treating it as a malignant intruder. His circuits and pathways were too raw to experience anything other than pain.

Giving that up as a bad use of time, Inferno looked through Red Alert's system files to find the fail safes that were preventing him from overloading. All the while, Red Alert kept throwing firewall after firewall in Inferno's way, but they were weak, hastily put together, and Inferno brushed through them easily. As he passed he found evidence of other recent trespassers, their paths marked by maliciously corrupted code. Inferno hesitated, wanting to patch them together, but the damage was too extensive.

Ill get you out of here Red, I promise. Ill get you to Ratchet and Hoist, they can fix you.

No, stop! Please, stop! No more, Inferno, mercy!

Finally Inferno found the fail safe settings. They were surrounded by stronger firewalls which clearly had Starscream's signature on them. They were coded specifically to prevent Red Alert from gaining access to his own systems though, and Inferno was permitted through. He quickly changed the necessary settings, and began to send very light surges of energy to Red Alert.

No, don't! Red sent at him as the first gentle wave hit his systems. I don't want this, please, Inferno, please!

I'm sorry Red, you're hurt, and you need this, Inferno sent back. I know it hurts, but it will let you release the extra energy. Just relax. I've got you, I love you.

You're hurting me Inferno, please, PLEASE- Red Alert's communication dissolved into white noise as his systems succumbed and overloaded. Inferno felt Red Alert's electromagnetic field twist and fluctuate against his as Red Alerts circuits released the pent up voltage in one massive discharge. Red Alert's sensor horns sparked almost continuously, burning Inferno's plating where he held Red Alert close.

They rode out the decreasing waves together, and eventually, with a couple of stray sparks that danced over Red Alert's armor, it was over. Inferno held Red Alert as tightly as he could, vowing to himself that he would make it up to Red Alert somehow. He would make it right.

Red Alert rebooted a few minutes later, and Inferno stroked his face until Red Alert's optics came online. "I've got you Red, you're safe, it'll be alright, I promise-" Inferno repeated as he rocked Red Alert in his arms. Red Alert looked confused for a moment, but to Inferno's despair, a look of abject fear came over his face.

"NO!" Red Alert yelled, struggling violently. Even with his legs offline, Inferno was unable to hold on, and was forced to release him. Red Alert scrambled away from Inferno and dragged himself across the cell on his elbow joints, whimpering in fear.

"Red, please come back, I'm sorry, I had to-" Inferno called after him. Red Alert just shook his head, continuing until he reached the corner of the holding cell. Inferno followed him, but stopped when Red Alert cried out and curled up, trying to frantically to stuff his data cable back into its compartment.

"Please no more, please Inferno, I can't!"

Inferno reached out hesitantly, yearning to comfort him, but he stopped when he saw that his touch was only distressing Red Alert even more. He finally drew back to the other corner of the cell.

Inferno held himself, feeling sickened. He had thought he would be helping his friend, but had he only caused him more pain? Would it have been better to let Red Alert become more damaged than to...allow him to overload?

You raped him, Inferno thought to himself. Call it what it was. He was hurt, frightened, and in pain, and you violated him. You're no better than the Decepticons. Inferno groaned deeply, his spark twisting in pain and remorse. Would Red Alert ever be able to forgive him? Would he be able to forgive himself? Inferno drew his legs up to his chest, burying his head in his hands, and gave himself up to despair.

END