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“Hm,” Ratchet knelt in front of the door, frowning at the lock. “Yep, just give me a second. It’s a quarantine seal, but as the CMO, I can disable it.”
“See?” Red Alert hovered anxiously, just far enough out of Ratchet’s reach that he couldn’t be swatted away. “I knew something was up! Why else would he—”
“Calm down,” Rodimus crossed his arms. “We don’t know what First Aid and Rewind are doing in there.”
“But Rewind hasn’t responded to a single comm ping in hours,” Chromedome said, looking just as nervous as Red Alert. “What if something happened to him?”
“They’re probably just watching more of Rewind’s snuff collection, and they can both have rivet duty for viewing contraband and for misusing a quarantine seal,” Rodimus said. “Ratchet? Can you hurry it up?”
“It’s open,” Ratchet said, stepping away from the door.
Rodimus, who’d earned the right to grand entrances by virtue of being captain, entered the morgue first.
He’d expected something creepier. Maybe all the lights would be out, and there would be gross squelching sounds and the metallic smell of spilled energon everywhere. Maybe a single pair of optics would creepily stare at him from the black, as First Aid hissed dramatically, like a sparkeater.
Instead, the morgue was brightly lit, and had a very strong, clean smell of disinfectant. Which only made it easier to understand immediately what was happening.
One of the slabs had been pulled out from the wall, and Rewind was laid out on it. His visor was blank and dead, but his camera was still recording. His camera had also been neatly detached from his frame, threaded to a long cable, and placed where it could watch the whole scene. First Aid knelt behind Rewind’s aft, gloved hands covered in energon, holding Rewind’s legs up and at an angle so that he could thrust his pressurized spike through the flash-drive’s thighs. There was transfluid and internal energon decorating Rewind’s still, lifeless body, oozing out from a large crack all the way up his plating.
First Aid looked at Rodimus, and the small horrified crowd standing behind him in the door. Then he looked down at Rewind’s body. Back to Rodimus. “Okay,” First Aid said, “I know how it looks, but we can explain—”
Red Alert tackled First Aid off the slab and wrestled him into cuffs.
The impromptu disciplinary hearing was held in Ultra Magnus’s office. Ultra Magnus made an imposing presence in his office chair. Rodimus sat on the corner of the desk, one leg propped over the other, leaning one one arm in a way that he thought made him look cool. In front of the desk stood Chromedome, looking very upset, and Red Alert, who was holding First Aid, whose hands were still cuffed behind his back. Ultra Magnus ordered Red Alert to remove the vocalizer-disabling magnetic clamp from First Aid’s neck, allowing him to speak. First Aid coughed a few times, bringing the system back online.
“This hearing has been called to discuss disciplinary measures against medic First Aid,” Ultra Magnus said, “up to and potentially including revocation of his medical license and removal of his Autobot badge.”
“What?!” First Aid yelped. “But we weren’t even—”
“ You can be silent, prisoner!” Red Alert said. “You’d better pray to Primus that Rewind pulls through.”
“Of course he’s going to pull through,” First Aid said. “And if you’d let me finish with him—”
“Finish?” Chromedome looked angry enough to blow a fuse. “ Finish?!? You’d already ‘finished’ all over his chestplate by the time we caught you! If we hadn’t—”
“Please respect the proceedings of this hearing,” Ultra Magnus said. “Where is Rewind at this moment?”
“Ratchet took him back to the medibay, and is trying to bring him back online,” Chromedome said, glaring at First Aid.
Ultra Magnus nodded. “It is slightly out of the norm to use vid-call to summon a witness, but if Ratchet is amenable to it, his testimony would be useful.”
Rodimus flicked on the vid-screen, and called the medibay.
“What,” Ratchet said as he flickered into view. “I’m busy.”
“Hey Ratchet!” Rodimus waved. “Just checking in if Rewind is dead yet or not.”
Chromedome made a sound.
Ratchet glared, but answered. “Most of the damage looks superficial and easy to repair. The biggest problem is reconnecting his camera. It’s deep-wired, and the installation is heavily linked to Rewind’s brain function. First Aid did a hell of a fine job of surgery on it.”
“You should also remove the inhibitor claw on his neck when you have a minute,” First Aid said. “And his camera is—”
“You put an inhibitor claw on him?” Chromedome grabbed First Aid by his shoulder pauldrons and shook him.
“Please show any amount of restraint, for the sake of these proceedings,” Ultra Magnus said. “And will someone please confirm the charges against First Aid?”
“He raped Rewind,” Chromedome fumed. He only reluctantly let First Aid go. “And he was going to kill him!”
“Both of these are very serious charges,” Ultra Magnus said. “First Aid, is there anything you’d wish to say in your defense?”
“Yes, of course!” First Aid said, straightening to his full height. “First of all, it’s not true. What Rewind and I were doing, well, it may not have been fully safe or sane, but it was being done consensually.”
“Rewind would never!” Chromedome shrieked.
“Yes, he would,” First Aid said, calmly. “And I’m sure he saved the proof to his hard drive, so as soon as Ratchet finishes cleaning up my very careful work, we can just ask him. And I'd like to be let out of these cuffs.”
“Not until we have that proof, if it exists, sicko,” Red Alert said.
“Wait,” Rodimus frowned. “We’re doing all of this because First Aid had a BDSM scene with Chromedome’s conjunx? Talk about a waste of time.”
“I’m telling you, Rewind would never agree to this!” Chromedome protested. “Treating him like that, raping him…it’s worse than he’s ever had, even from back when he was disposable. It’s objectifying. It’s cruel.”
“The only reason Rewind asked me,” First Aid preened, “is because he asked you and you said exactly that.”
Ultra Magnus had to actively intervene to hold Chromedome back before he could seriously hurt First Aid.
It was decided, for multiple reasons, that First Aid would be sent to the brig, and the hearing would resume when Rewind was able to communicate normally again.
Ratchet lifted Rewind’s head, gently, and detached the inhibitor claw, before lowering him back to the med-berth.
Rewind groaned. “Can I move my arms?” he asked, voice raspy from the after-effects of the claw.
“If you’re able,” Ratchet said. “Far as I can tell, they’re perfectly fine.”
Rewind covered his face with both hands. “Domey is going to kill me.”
The session was reconvened. First Aid and Rewind sat next to each other awkwardly on a bench on one side of Ultra Magnus’s office. On the other side, Ratchet, Red Alert, and Chromedome shared another bench. Rodimus stood in the middle, pacing.
“Can’t I just confirm what First Aid said, that it was all consensual, and we can dismiss the case…?” Rewind asked.
“Oh, not a chance,” Rodimus laughed. “We went to all this trouble, we are going to see the full tape.”
“For the purposes of proving that it was consensual?” Ultra Magnus asked.
“Yeah, sure! Whatever,” Rodimus said dismissively. “Rewind, show us the footage.”
Rewind had been busy while Ratchet repaired him. The footage was already partially edited together.
It began with Rewind approaching First Aid at Swerve’s. Rewind slid into a booth across from him. The camera picked up Rewind’s reflection behind First Aid, so both of their frames were visible in the shot. It was very artistic—premeditated in its execution.
“There’s no easy way to say this,” Rewind said.
“Did Red Alert confiscate your snuff porn stash again?” First Aid only sipped at his drink from under his mask. “So much for movie night.”
“Actually, I’d like to make a new addition to the collection,” Rewind said.
First Aid said, “No. There are rules about that kind of thing. I would never hurt a patient, and never willingly allow the exploitation of a patients’ remains.”
“Not a patient,” Rewind said. “A partner.”
First Aid laughed. “And who exactly are we supposed to find that will agree to let me rearrange their guts while you watch?”
“Me,” Rewind said.
The camera feed went black. The audio was just slow breathing, echoing off close walls. First Aid’s voice came as a voiceover: “---once you’re on the slab, you can have it close automatically. Probably better to attach the inhibitor claw once you’re fully inside, just so you don’t accidentally close a finger in a gap or something.”
It became clear that the camera was looking up at the inside of a morgue chamber. The breathing noises remained slow and even.
A voiceover from Rewind said, “I can edit the patient information on the external screen before I get in, to list my name, a cause of death, maybe a few other patient notes. If you want.”
“Really?” First Aid again, voice breathy and excited. “That would be hot.”
The camera shifted, light spilling into the frame. The camera was suddenly looking up at First Aid, whose plating released slight puffs of steam in the cold of the morgue. “Hello there,” First Aid said, looking down at his ‘corpse.’
The next part of the video was Rewind’s perspective as First Aid painstakingly detached his camera, wire by wire, diode by diode. The negotiation dialogue continued as a voiceover throughout, though the image of First Aid deeply engrossed in his work didn’t speak a word.
First Aid: No, by the time I’d finished uploading my medical training, there weren’t many flash drives left.
Rewind: We used to be everywhere. Everyone wanted a data caste mech in their household.
First Aid: Disposable class.
Rewind: Yeah. Before Dominus, I wasn’t even allowed to talk to higher caste mechs. They used whatever of my processor capacity that they wanted, then sent me back to the racks to recharge with the other drives. The next day, the same thing. We didn’t even get real energon.
First Aid: You want me to treat you like you’re disposable? I don’t know what kind of data I could have you analyze for me—
Rewind: I want you to treat me like I’ve been disposed of. There’s a distinction.
First Aid picked up the camera, and the view spun dizzyingly as he set it off to the side, adjusting it to get a full view of Rewind’s prone, immobilized frame. He returned to the slab, climbing on top of it, until he was straddling Rewind’s hips. With an inhibitor claw properly attached, Rewind couldn’t move, talk, or respond in any way. First Aid ground his hips against Rewind’s front, slowly. The voice over continued, a new topic.
Rewind: Obviously I don’t want to end up offline—
First Aid: You wouldn’t. I’m very precise.
Rewind: Ooh…that makes me feel all tingly. Tell me more. What would you do to me?
First Aid: Honestly…I’m curious what you have under your plating. Do you really not have interface equipment?
Rewind: Oh. That’s not a fun question. Of course I have interface equipment.
First Aid: In your forearms?
Rewind: …yes. I don’t have…whatever sticky things other mechs have between their legs.
First Aid: I’d like to pop your panels off down there. See for myself.
Rewind: It wouldn’t be exciting. It’s not like I have a hole or something that’s just missing the valve lips. All you’d do is hurt me.
First Aid: I know.
Rewind: Oh, you are definitely the right person to come to for this. Keep talking.
The image of First Aid moved, shifting backwards on Rewind’s legs, digging his sensitive medic thumbs into the edges of Rewind’s plating where the joint of the leg met the waist. Rewind, completely immobilized, didn’t even twitch. Couldn’t. Like an offline frame.
First Aid transformed his fist into a series of tools, and began prying up the plate. It looked incredibly painful, the crack widening from the crotch all the way up the sides to the pits of the arms, splitting Rewind in two.
First Aid: I haven’t done much plug and play before. Medical firewalls make it difficult to actually enjoy myself…but I guess we can try it.
Rewind: Do you want to?
First Aid: Sure.
Rewind: Because you don’t have to.
First Aid: What do you mean? I want you to enjoy yourse—
Rewind: Sh. Don’t even finish that sentence.
Rewind’s internals began to be revealed to the cold air as First Aid levered the plating up. There was charge crackling on the delicate, sensitive electronics.
Rewind: I want you to not care if I’m enjoying it.
First Aid: You—
Rewind: Use my frame. Do what you want to do. Fuck, so long as you can clean it out without permanently damaging me, you can come on my spark for all I care.
First Aid: [groan] Rewind, you can’t just say—
Rewind: I’m a disposable, and you’re a medic. I’m not asking you to interface with me to get me off. I want you to use me.
First Aid: [groan] Fuck, I can’t even pretend that’s not hot.
First Aid retracted his panels, spike swinging free as he continued his intimate examination of the inside of Rewind’s frame, fingers dragging over sensitive wiring. His valve was visibly dripping, getting Rewind’s leg sticky with fluid.
First Aid: [gasp] I want… [gasp] Fuck, I want…
Rewind: [moan] Tell me.
First Aid: I want to disconnect your fuel lines.
Rewind: Ah…what? Why? I already won’t be able to move with the claw on me.
First Aid: It’s… [groan] it’s one of the steps of a proper autopsy.
Rewind: [whimper] oh?
First Aid: I’d…I wouldn't fully break you into component pieces, it would take too long—
Rewind: [moan]
First Aid: —but I’d like to open you up. All the way.
First Aid made good on his words. He was very careful with his work. Every step was completed at almost an excruciatingly slow pace. He sliced Rewind’s cables one at a time. Each one was carefully clamped closed, detangled from the others, and moved aside. It was messy work. Energon pooled in Rewind’s cavities, and stained First Aid’s hands.
First Aid: And you won’t even be able to scream… [pant] Fuck.
Rewind: [moan]
After a long and painful-looking surgery, First Aid loosely tucked the wires and cables back into Rewind’s internals, pressing the panels almost closed back together. Then, lifting Rewind’s legs, he began to fuck the gap he’d made, sliding his spike wet with energon through the panels and into Rewind’s insides.
“Yes,” First Aid moaned, optics shut in pleasure.
“It goes on,” Rewind said, awkwardly cutting the feed, “but I’d rather not show all of you, if that’s okay? Captain, if you want a private viewing—”
“This hearing will be concluded,” Ultra Magnus said, rising to his feet. “The case is dismissed, on grounds that First Aid was obviously falsely accused of nonconsensual interface and surgery. First Aid, you will be compensated for the time you spent in the brig with a commensurate reduction in your next duty shift.”
Red Alert glared at Rewind. “I should confiscate—”
“If you’re going to confiscate everyone’s nudes and amateur interface footage, Rodimus has way more of himself than we made of us,” First Aid said.
“ Amateur? ” Rodimus squawked.
“We have no regulations that allow for confiscation of personal interface footage and intimate images,” Ultra Magnus said.
“Domey…?” Rewind looked at his conjunx. “I’m sorry you’re upset. I brought up the idea a few times but you always said it was disgusting, I thought if I didn’t involve you…”
Chromedome stood.
“Okay,” Rewind said. “I see you’re mad. But—”
“I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt,” Chromedome said, tone as cold as ice. “I was worried about you, you know.”
“I know,” Rewind blushed. “We weren’t going to be there for much longer. If you all didn’t walk in—”
“Then you would have gotten away with it,” Chromedome seethed.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Rewind stood, glaring at Chromedome. “Are we supposed to be exclusive interface partners now?”
“That was disgusting,” Chromedome said. “You shouldn’t be living out these sick fantasies, you should be talking to Rung and working through them!”
“Why not just erase it right out of my brain, then?” Rewind crossed his arms. “How many times did we discuss the concept, Chromedome? Just the two? Really?”
“Get out of this office,” Ultra Magnus said.
Rewind was staying in First Aid’s quarters until Chromedome was calm enough to talk. He projected the rest of the clips ( But this isn’t the final cut, Aid, I think I have an idea for a better ending ) on the wall, and they watched it together.
“How was it for you?” First Aid asked, optics locked on the screen as Rewind’s energon coated his spike.
Rewind had his data cable unspooled from his forearm, and was loosely playing with it, rolling it between his fingers and scraping the fingertips down the sensitive mesh. “Excruciatingly painful,” he said, eventually. “Want to feel for yourself?” he held up the end of his cable as an offer.
“No thank you,” First Aid said, still watching the screen.
First Aid came on Rewind’s chest plate, leaving a handprint in his own fluids where he pressed close against Rewind, still rutting needily against him.
“Dominus had sticky parts like that,” Rewind said, stroking his cable faster. “He never…but if he did…” he bit down on his lip, stifling a moan.
First Aid seemed to notice the situation behind him on the couch. He turned back to the screen. “Come on, either overload or don’t,” he said, as if he was bored. “I’m trying to watch and you’re shaking the screen, you fucking charge sink. ”
Rewind squeezed his cable, hard, hard enough to hurt. He groaned as the tiny overload fizzled in his systems.
First Aid looked back at him again. “We probably won’t get caught this time if we do it here in my room,” he said. “I’ve got some tarps we could put out to reduce the mess—”
“Primus, yes,” Rewind gasped.
“Well, go set up for us then,” First Aid said, leaning back. “You’re the disposable, right? Set up my experiment for me.”
Rewind shivered. Without a word, he did exactly as instructed.