Work Text:
June Darby walked out of the grocery store, finally rebuilt after the Decepticon attack on Jasper, balancing a bag of groceries on her hip while she fished her keys out of her pocket. The parking lot was only about half-full: a lot of the survivors had moved away, and the influx of new people – members of and support for Unit E mostly, plus a handful of alien conspirators – didn't make up the numbers.
June had just put her groceries in the trunk and closed the lid when a car pulled up just behind her, at the edge of her vision, and sat there idling. Great. Even in a half-empty parking lot, you just had to have that one jerk impatient to get a closer parking spot.
"Juust be patient, buddy," she muttered to herself.
"Hey. You. Human."
No. No. Nonononono….
"Knock Out," she said, somehow managing to keep her voice even. "What do you want?"
"I…" Knock Out sighed in annoyance and his voice took on a sulky tone, "I need your help, human. Again." There was an irritated rev of his engine, and he muttered, "unfortunately."
Just a few months ago, Knock Out had been caught by MECH and fixed with some sort of device that prevented him from transforming. June had saved him from MECH, since Decepticon or not, no one deserved the fate they'd have in mind for him, and wound up with the control brace for the device locked around her own wrist. Knock Out had wound up quasi-kidnapping her and using her to get hold of Ratchet to get them both free. Knock Out hadn't wanted to go back to the Decepticons for help, hadn't wanted to say why, and June hadn't asked. Now here he was, wanting her help again. Pretty bold, considering he'd full-out abducted her once, hadn't exactly been Mr. Charming the second time, and his method of 'helping' her get the MECH brace off had involved no warning and a giant chainsaw.
June's car was blocked in on three sides by other parked cars and on the fourth by Knock Out. There was no getting out by just driving off, and he'd probably follow her anyway. Well, at least she'd only picked up dry goods on this trip. She didn't have to worry about the ice cream melting at any rate.
"What do you need me for?" she asked, slipping her hand into her purse, on the side away from Knock Out, and tapping a special icon on the smartphone Ratchet had customized for her.
"For exactly what I presume you're doing now: getting hold of your Autobot friends." June could practically see his smirk. "You didn't think you were really pulling off some sort of sleight of hand there, did you? Don't quit your day job, whatever it is."
June's phone rang, meaning she didn't have to answer Knock Out. Thankfully, it was Ratchet.
"Nurse Darby, I received your signal. Are you able to speak with me?"
"Yes, that isn't a problem." June took a deep breath. "Ratchet, I'm here with Knock Out."
"You're what?"
Once June had explained why Knock Out had tracked her down, Ratchet gave her instructions to lead him to the outskirts of town to meet Wheeljack and Bumblebee. Then, he ground bridged the lot of them back to base. Arcee separated June from Knock Out by simply stepping between them.
"June," Arcee asked, barely glancing back over her shoulder. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Arcee," June assured her. "He didn't even threaten me." And wasn't it sad that was her baseline for decent treatment? Of course, Knock Out was a Decepticon. That was probably a pretty good baseline in his case.
"Yes, because stepping into a nest of Autobots after insulting one of their pet humans would work out so well for me," Knock Out sneered, folding his arms.
He's afraid, June suddenly realized. But what could frighten – or, no, worry? What could worry Knock Out so much he'd come to the Autobots asking for their help again?
"Alright, then," Arcee said. "What do you want? Up to something Megatron wouldn't approve of, I'm guessing?"
"Not exactly, no. I – " Knock Out scowled, then muttered, "I need your help."
"Yeah, there's a surprise."
"Arcee." Optimus's deep voice rolled over them all, commanding quiet without using the words. "Knock Out is here because he requires our assistance. We owe it to him to at least hear him out." He turned his focus on the Decepticon medic, who, next to the Autobot leader, suddenly looked much smaller to June. "Why have you come to us, Knock Out?"
"It's Breakdown," Knock Out said, looking up at Optimus. "MECH…" He trailed off.
"We know what became of Breakdown at MECH's hands," Optimus said after a couple of seconds when it was clear Knock Out wasn't about to pick up that sentence any time soon. "Go on."
Knock Out looked a little taken aback – at the patience? the compassion? – but he went on.
"His life signs came back when C.Y.L.A.S. was activated, but just recently, I became aware that his spark signature is still active. Was," he amended. "Was still active. I lost the signal again, but I'm not convinced Breakdown's spark has been extinguished."
"And Megatron won't let you search for him, just like he wouldn't rescue Breakdown the first time MECH captured him," Arcee concluded. "So you're hoping we'll do it for you, again, right?"
Knock Out glared at her, but it lacked some of his usual edge. "Something like that, yes. I mean, that is what you do, isn't it?"
Optimus broke up a potential argument between Arcee and Knock Out by saying, "no matter his affiliation, we cannot in good conscience leave Breakdown in MECH's hands. Ratchet." Prime turned slightly to address Ratchet, who had been silent but watching Knock Out, Prime, and Arcee's interactions sharply. "Can you scan for Breakdown's spark signature?"
"If Knock Out provides the frequency, I can certainly make an attempt. The scanner we salvaged from the Harbinger is operational. But, Optimus," Ratchet went on, "are we sure this is a wise move? Breakdown is a Decepticon, and a formidable opponent, after all."
"The last time we met, you said Optimus would approve of preventing suffering," Knock Out answered instead, without any of his usual flair or arrogance. "I'm hoping you were right because if Breakdown's spark is still in MECH's hands…"
"He is at great risk of suffering indeed," Optimus finished.
"I agree," Ratchet put in. "The question is if Breakdown's life signs went offline when his spark was removed from its original structure, how did MECH manage to mask them? I doubt they have the skill to put a Cybertronian spark into stasis, not to mention the difficulties they would encounter trying to bring it back online."
"Starscream mentioned once that MECH had been attempting to create their version of a Cybertronian. They've probably managed to stumble their way into installing Breakdown's spark in one of their," Knock Out shuddered, "knockoffs."
"But, would that even work?" June asked, curious despite knowing she should be trying to avoid Knock Out's attention. "A Cybertronian spark in a human-built body? Wouldn't there be compatibility issues?"
Knock Out waved a dismissive hand. "Breakdown's spark would overwrite and replace the inferior programming and materials, as well as performing what repairs it could. It might take decades or even centuries, but eventually, Breakdown would have a nearly pure Cybertronian form, even if it did still have some Earth influence." Knock Out added thoughtfully, "I suppose if it's based on some kind of sports car, it might be acceptable. You fleshies do make some fine-looking automobiles. Breakdown would prefer something with some muscle, of course."
"Breakdown's preferences won't come into it if we can't get him out of MECH's hands," Ratchet pointed out. "The frequency, if you please, Knock Out."
June was distracted from Knock Out and Ratchet by Optimus kneeling down to address her. She wasn't on the platform where the kids' couch, TV, and game system were, so he still loomed, but June appreciated the gesture.
"Are you unharmed, Nurse Darby?" Optimus inquired.
June smiled reassuringly. "Oh, yes. He startled me a bit, but he didn't hurt me." She looked over at what must be the scanner, where Ratchet and Knock Out were already bickering. "So. Breakdown. Do you think you'll be able to get him away from MECH?"
June still had nightmares about her own experiences with that group, even more than she had about being abducted by Knock Out. Being tormented at the hands of her own species seemed to be what made it worse. You expected Decepticons to be evil.
"While I cannot say for certain what condition Breakdown is in as a result of his trials at the hands of MECH," Optimus said somberly, "I can promise that we will do everything we can to free him. What he does after that is his choice."
"Right. Well," June glanced over at Knock Out and Ratchet again. "Let's hope he makes the right one."
Ratchet's patience was wearing thin faster than usual by the time the scanner coughed up something that could have been Breakdown's life signs.
"There!" Ratchet said triumphantly as the signal, fuzzy and weak, appeared. He cross-referenced the coordinates with Google Maps – the humans made useful things sometimes – to get the location. "According to this, Breakdown is located at the site of an abandoned super collider project. He – oh." Ratchet frowned deeply. "His spark signature is gone again. As it's done this before, I would suggest he's been put into stasis or some other form of low-power mode in whatever structure his spark is currently occupying."
Knock Out clenched his fists. "They're experimenting on him!"
"We don't know that for certain," Ratchet said automatically, then relented when Knock Out gave him a disbelieving look. "But, it does seem likely, given what we know of MECH," he admitted.
Knock Out's fists tightened further. "We have to save him. Open a ground bridge already!"
"We will save Breakdown," Optimus said reassuringly, standing and crossing over to put a big, comforting hand on Knock Out's shoulder. Well, some fingers at least. "But MECH has proven itself to be a dangerous opponent, and we must plan before we act."
"I - !" Knock Out visibly re-thought his response. "Oh, very well. But try not to take too long, will you?"
Three joors later, Knock Out paced the floor with growing impatience. The Autobots were still coming up with a plan to rescue Breakdown while minimizing the risk to humans.
"I don't see why you're bothering," he complained. "These humans are the ones who put Breakdown at risk!" He growled in annoyance and muttered, "Decepticons would have already been in and gone by now."
"No matter what their allegiance or actions, Knock Out," Optimus said reprovingly, "we do not harm humans."
"Besides," Bulkhead, leaning against a wall with his massive arms folded, "you're only here because the Decepticons won't rescue Breakdown. Might wanna try showing a bit more gratitude."
"You - !"
"Bulkhead." Optimus didn't need to say anymore. It was all in his voice.
"Ah…" Bulkhead cut short his grumbling and pushed off the wall. "I'm gonna go train. Come and get me when you need me."
Knock Out waited until Bulkhead was safely out of audial-shot before examining his talons and muttering, "the better mech won. Just get over it already!"
Not even a curious glance. Either Bulkhead had already told them, or everyone was ignoring him. Well, fine then.
Knock Out went back to sulking. It was easier than worrying.
Another joor later, the Autobots finally had a plan together. It seemed to involve a lot more sneaking and a lot less direct action than a Decepticon plan would, but at that point, if it worked, Knock Out didn't care. There was just one major problem with it.
"What do you mean I have to stay here?" Knock Out demanded. "I'm the one who came to you about this in the first place! Breakdown will expect to see me!"
"Breakdown is still offline as far as we can tell," Ratchet pointed out. "Adding you to the operation would mean putting you at risk – unless you think Breakdown would react well to waking up surrounded by Autobots?"
"Oh…Fine! But I'm still going to be his primary physician, I don't care whose medibay," a generous term, Knock Out thought, "this is. Breakdown is my patient."
Ratchet waved his attitude off dismissively. "Yes, yes, of course. I'm opening the ground bridge now."
And it was back to waiting again. Honestly, Knock Out thought, who would have believed a rescue mission could be so dull?
Without anything else to do, he set about getting Ratchet annoyed and wound up. A mech had to do something to keep the boredom at bay, didn't he?
Arcee approached the building from the side under cover of night, actively scanning for traps and doing her best to avoid attention while creeping across a flat plain. The tall weeds helped a little, and there was enough wind that night that their movement shouldn't look too strange. A nearby driving school used the roads in the area for driving training and that had let Optimus scout the facility earlier in the day. It wasn't easy, but she went slowly and carefully, and she managed not to attract MECH's attention.
Not yet, anyway.
Arcee reached her target, a roll-up door, and carefully pushed it up as quietly as she could, ducking down to peer underneath and scan for hostiles. Empty. Good. She slipped under the door and closed it again, relying on her non-visual sensors to get an idea of her surroundings. It seemed like the place had been stripped when it was officially shut down, and MECH hadn't done much to make it look used since they moved in. The hallways were tall enough to let her walk upright, and she hugged the wall, still in stealth mode, the gain on her audials turned all the way up for even the slightest noise. She didn't know where Breakdown was being held, exactly, but a flyover and scan from low orbit by Wheeljack in the Jackhammer earlier had shown significant activity in one of the lower levels. The action was spread over more area than would be needed for just Breakdown, and the Decepticon's signals hadn't come back online, so she'd have to check rooms until she found him.
Arcee hoped she'd get it right quickly. This place was creepy. It wasn't big by Cybertronian standards but by human ones it was, plus it looked utterly abandoned in a way that could only be intentional. It was going to take longer than she was comfortable with to scout and find Breakdown, but it wasn't like there was much choice.
It took a full forty-five kliks and two wrong rooms before Arcee located the room where Breakdown was being held.
The fake Cybertronian structure was strapped to a framework in the middle of the room, the upper right quadrant of its chest open. From inside the chest cavity, Arcee could make out the faint, unmistakable glow of spark-light. She scaled the wall, hiding near the ceiling, and made a comm call.
'Arcee to extraction team. I've located the package. The mission is a 'go.'' She included a set of coordinates, ones that were located inside the room.
A series of acknowledgement pings answered her. An explosion a few nano-kliks later told her that the operation was underway. A klaxon sounded, and inside the room, she could see MECH scientists shutting things down, removing leads and monitors from Breakdown. Soldiers, probably under orders from their scientists, started to pack things up and bring cranes into action.
'They're getting ready to move Breakdown,' Arcee told Bulkhead. 'Need you down here now, Bulk.'
'I'm on my way!'
Arcee swung down from the ceiling, crashing through the door at the same time a ground bridge opened up next to Breakdown, a smoke grenade bouncing through. The humans were disoriented for just a few nano-kliks, but it was enough. Wheeljack provided suppressive fire, careful not to target any humans. The size difference between humans and Cybertronians came in handy here; the soldiers were far enough below his natural line of fire that they were almost automatically safe. Arcee tucked and rolled out of Wheeljack's line of fire and came back up with her weapons live and ready. Bulkhead got Breakdown up, braced by Wheeljack on the other side, and yelled for her.
"Arcee! Now!"
Arcee backed up as fast as she dared, into the ground bridge tunnel, keeping the other three covered until she was safe inside the base and the ground bridge shut down. Bulkhead carried Breakdown into Ratchet's domain and got him settled on a bed while Knock Out darted anxiously after him. Wheeljack transformed his guns away and slouched against a wall, all-too-casually sharpening one of his swords.
'Package retrieved,' she broadcast to the rest of the extraction team. 'You're cleared to withdraw.'
Acknowledgement pings received from all parties, Arcee let herself relax. Mission complete.
Knock Out hovered, frustrated, around Ratchet until the other doctor finally barked at him to settle down or make himself useful. Apparently, there was some scrap that needed sorting to see if there were anything useful in the pile. It was a measure of just how much he needed a distraction that Knock Out went and did it.
He didn't even complain. Not too much, anyway.
But when the Wreckers went through the ground bridge, Knock Out couldn't pretend to anything other than worry. Knock Out didn't make an attempt to join the battle – he had some grasp of strategy and tactics, thank you – but oh it was tempting! At the same time, the closer he got to seeing Breakdown again, the more he fretted about what the humans might have done to him. They were only assuming MECH had put Breakdown's spark into some kind of robot. Who knew what those butchers had really done? Or how?
It was only a mild relief when Bulkhead ran back through the ground bridge with a mech-shaped structure over his shoulder.
Despite his earlier insistence that he was Breakdown's physician, Knock Out didn't make any objections when Ratchet stepped forward to perform the first scan.
"Is he - ?" Knock Out asked.
"His spark is showing some unusual readings," Ratchet said slowly. "But yes, Breakdown is alive. The support the MECH-built structure is providing will require some alterations but is adequate for now."
"'For now?' What does that mean?" Knock Out demanded and immediately interrupted himself to push past Ratchet, saying, "oh, never mind. I'll look myself," and ignoring Ratchet's splutters of indignation while he ran his own scans. "Hm. Hnh. Well...I suppose you're right. It will do for now. I can make some upgrades using what I have on the Nemesis, but it will take time to move that much materiel without attracting the wrong kind of attention."
"You're not taking Breakdown back, then?" Ratchet asked.
Frustrated by Ratchet not seeing the, to him, obvious, Knock Out flung out a hand in Breakdown's direction. "Look at this! It can barely transform, and I wouldn't trust that knockoff t-cog to stand up to a fight. Megatron would never accept a warrior in this condition and Breakdown would be vulnerable to anyone looking to move up to his position."
"What about Breakdown's original structure?" Ratchet wanted to know.
Knock Out looked away. "It's – not available. The point is, Breakdown can't go back - not till his spark's had a chance to work on...this, or we find a protoform he can be transferred into, and I'm not going to pause refuelling while we wait for that to happen."
"It does seem unlikely," Ratchet agreed. "We certainly don't have the capability here!"
"Neither do I. The drones are built, like the cold-constructed, not protoformed."
Ratchet glanced at him sharply. "I thought the Vehicons were cloned."
Knock Out waved off the question of where Vehicles came from irritably. "They're - it's not important right now. The question is, what can we do right now for Breakdown?"
"I'll have to machine a few parts and perform some software adjustments," Ratchet said absently, checking his scanners. "But since this is human-based technology, I'll need some assistance."
Knock Out frowned. "From whom?"
Ratchet told him. Knock Out's optic ridges shot up in disbelief.
"Oh, come on!"
Raf loved getting to work with Ratchet. Getting to work with Unit E's advanced technology was great, but getting to work with Cybertronian technology was amazing! Only, he usually didn't have to worry about a snappy, anxious, Decepticon stalking around worrying about his – well, Raf wasn't entirely sure what Breakdown was to Knock Out, but he was sure it was more than a friend. Boyfriend? Something like that, anyway.
Raf almost forgot about Knock Out once he got into the code MECH had written to make human tech work with a Cybertronian spark and programming. (Ratchet had never explicitly said that sparks included programming, but Raf didn't see how they couldn't. Sure, there was more to them than just code, but they had to be a kind of operating system, at least in part. Just...an operating system that was infinitely more complex than anything Raf could even visualize even though he wished he could. He wondered if you could translate a human soul into code the way you could a Cybertronian spark, or vice versa.
It took a few hours, but eventually, Raf was able to isolate the code MECH had written to make human tech work with Cybertronian. Having Knock Out hovering around and making 'suggestions' didn't help. Raf had always had trouble concentrating when he was nervous and, well, who wouldn't be with a spiky red Decepticon looming overhead? Raf liked Miko, but he was kind of glad she wasn't there just then. He wasn't sure Knock Out's temper would take being hammered with questions while the Decepticon was already on edge. But nervous or not, Raf managed eventually to figure out a way, with Ratchet's help, to make MECH's software run much more smoothly with Breakdown's. Ratchet said that Breakdown's spark should be able to overwrite it now in about half the time he had initially estimated, and they were ready to bring Breakdown back online.
Raf would have liked to stay and help monitor things while Breakdown powered back up, but Ratchet insisted Bumblebee take him home, and Raf didn't argue. Breakdown's last memory file was probably pretty traumatic, and even with his weapons off, 'traumatized Decepticon,' and 'small fragile human' wasn't exactly a good mix.
At least Raf got a promise from Ratchet to text him (and you could hear the quotation marks when Ratchet said the word 'text') and let him know how things went. Raf really wanted to know how well the code worked once it was up and running! That part wasn't always as predictable as he'd like, but if it didn't run the way it should, he had some ideas.
"Do you think Knock Out and Breakdown will stay, 'Bee?" Raf asked as they exited the ground bridge just outside of Jasper. "With the Autobots, I mean?"
Bumblebee said he didn't know, but if they asked, Optimus would probably let them.
"Would you be okay with that?"
Bumblebee wasn't sure, but he wanted to believe people could be redeemed, the same way Optimus did.
"Yeah," Raf said, wrapping a hand around the seatbelt crossing his chest and looking out the window as his new neighbourhood began to roll by. "That would be nice."
Raf wanted to follow Optimus's example, but he couldn't help wondering how things would change with ex-Decepticons hanging around the base. Whatever happened, Raf just hoped everything would work out okay.
Knock Out hadn't wanted an audience when Breakdown came back online, and Ratchet seemed to agree. The Autobot medic chased everyone who wasn't himself or Knock Out away from the medical area – could the humans not even give them a dedicated building, for Primus' sake? – before he'd even consider bringing Breakdown back online. Just as well. They hardly needed an audience for this, and it wasn't like this imitation structure would be any real danger to them, no matter how strong MECH thought they'd made it.
Still, Knock Out didn't argue when Ratchet activated the restraints. Better safe than sorry, after all.
Ratchet brought the monitors online and began the activation sequence. The readings all showed green, but Knock Out only felt himself start to relax when Breakdown powered up and tried to speak.
"Uhh…"
Knock Out took a hasty step forward and put a hand on the structure's chest.
"Breakdown? Can you hear me?"
"Nnn…Knock…Out? Where…? What…?"
"It's a long story," Knock Out said hurriedly. "Can you move?"
"I – yeah – it's…weird, though. Something's…something's not right."
"I'll explain everything soon," Knock Out said, hoping he sounded as confident as he felt. "For now, I just need you to do a basic diagnostic."
"Ah…I'll try. My-my HUD's wrong and my systems aren't right. I think – yeah. Okay. I think I found it. I think it's running."
Knock Out glanced over at the monitors and saw that Breakdown was right. There was a diagnostic running, or what passed for one anyway, even if the processing speed was slow and clunky.
"It's running," Knock Out said. "Looks," weird, not precisely Cybertronian, but more or less acceptable, "good."
"Okay," Breakdown said uncertainly. "If you say so." He paused. "Hey. This isn't the Nemesis's medibay."
They'd left his optical array and most of his proprioceptors offline to avoid having him panic, but his lidar had evidently come online, letting him know his surroundings didn't match what he'd expected.
"Yes, well, I had to seek out a …alternative facility," Knock Out hedged. "And – some help."
"Alternative? Help?" Breakdown frowned.
Knock Out sighed. "Ratchet."
"Ratchet!" Breakdown surged upward, or tried to: the restraints creaked but held. "What's he doing here? Where are we?"
"I'm," Ratchet hesitated very briefly, "assisting Knock Out with your repairs. You're in an Autobot-occupied facility." He didn't give Breakdown a chance to say anything else before continuing. "What is the last thing you remember before you woke up here?"
"I'm not telling you any – !"
"Breakdown!" Knock Out interrupted. "Ratchet is helping me. Us. Just work with him, okay? For now."
Ratchet muttered something behind him, which Knock Out chose to ignore.
"Well…okay," Breakdown agreed. "I guess. The last thing I remember – it's not really clear, but – Airachnid attacked me, got me pretty good, and then I thought – must've been a memory glitch because I thought I saw Silas."
"I'm afraid it wasn't a glitch," Ratchet said quietly.
"Huh, I – that why I feel so weird? MECH take me apart and put me back together wrong or something?"
Knock Out hesitated, exchanging glances with Ratchet. Finally, he said, "they took you apart and – it might be easier just to show you. Ratchet?"
"Show me? Whaddya mean?"
While Breakdown was talking, Ratchet moved to a console and disengaged the block keeping Breakdown's optics offline. It took a nano-klik for Breakdown to realize he had control back, but then he activated his visual systems. Optics, a sickly yellow that seemed to mock Breakdown's original bright gold ones, flickered online.
"Just take it easy," Knock Out said, trying to sound soothing. It wasn't precisely his natural state. "It's nothing we can't fix. Eventually."
Breakdown was still restrained, but he craned his neck to look down at himself. His optics widened in shock. "What the fragging Primus-damned…"
The invective went on for a while. Breakdown had been a member of the Wreckers and then a Decepticon and had travelled the galaxy to boot. It had all given him quite the profanely expressive vocabulary. Even Ratchet, who Knock Out would have bet real money on having a profanity lexicon that encompassed petabytes, looked somewhat impressed.
"What happened to my old structure?" Breakdown demanded as he wound down.
"It's not available," Knock Out said, repeating his earlier words to Ratchet. He'd…explain things to Breakdown later. It wasn't like he'd have damaged the structure that badly with experiments if he'd known Breakdown was still alive!
Breakdown snarled. "I'm gonna kill Silas! I'll rip him apart!"
Knock Out wanted to tell Breakdown that he'd taken care of that already – so to speak - but the Bots would probably look down on that even if the human in question was Silas, so he kept quiet. He could tell Breakdown later, once they had some privacy. Hopefully, hearing Knock Out had taken revenge on his behalf would make him feel better.
"For now, let's just get you used to your new body," Knock Out said instead. "You're not exactly in any condition to take revenge on anyone right now." He changed the subject, falling back into the rhythm of performing a medical procedure. "I'm going to release the restraints and run you through some basic movement diagnostics." He did so and slid an arm under Breakdown's shoulders. "Try and sit up for me now…"
The specs of Breakdown's current structure were horribly unbalanced, a lot of attention put toward strength and weapons and not a lot to processing power, system maintenance, internal repair systems, and so on.
"This HUD is a joke," Breakdown complained. "What the frag did humans base these controls on? Why do I gotta go to a menu and select something? I should be able to just think about it and have it happen!"
"Yes, well, human technology does have its drawbacks," Ratchet agreed, sounding reluctant to agree with Breakdown on anything. "I'll attempt to develop a software patch once we have a complete baseline on your new structure. That should hold you over until your spark can make improvements."
"How long's that gonna take?"
"I can't say," Ratchet said quietly. "It…could take stellar-cycles. Software patches and physical therapy will help, of course, but mostly it will be time."
Breakdown wasn't happy about hearing that, not that Knock Out could blame him. Even if Breakdown's original structure wasn't nearly as stunning as Knock Out's own, it had been his and still far superior to the one he found himself in now. He was even less happy to learn that the best place for his physical therapy was here, with the Autobots, since resistance exercises were part of it, and the nearest match to Breakdown in size and strength, even now, was Bulkhead. Still, it didn't go as badly between them as Knock Out expected.
"Looks like I'm still helping save you from MECH, huh?" Bulkhead had asked at the start of their first session.
Breakdown had just shrugged. "Guess so."
And that was that. Well. Maybe Bulkhead was over things more than Knock Out had thought. Or perhaps Prime had said something. Speaking of, the big guy didn't try to bring Knock Out, and Breakdown over to his team like Knock Out had half expected he would. Not in so many words, anyway. Repairs, fuel, living space for Breakdown – Knock Out was under no illusion that these were being given out without expecting anything in return. No one did that, not even Autobots. Prime even talked the humans into giving up some extra supplies that might actually do a half-decent job of shoring up some of the internal components MECH had skimped on. Knock Out managed to bring some genuine Cybertronian parts from the Nemesis but not as many as he would have liked and certainly not enough to get Breakdown up to snuff any time soon. What parts Knock Out had been able to scavenge from Breakdown's structure after the, ah, incident with C.Y.L.A.S. had been used to repair Vehicons and Knock Out hadn't been able to figure out a way to get them back without giving something away. Everything else, since it was either damaged, not of immediate use, or compatible with any other Decepticon, had been smelted and recast long since.
Still, substandard human-made structure or not, Breakdown had pounded the Autobot's training room into scrap when Knock Out told him what C.Y.L.A.S. had done. They didn't talk about it after that. Well, Breakdown never had been the introspective type, Knock Out supposed.
Breakdown wasn't a prisoner, apparently, but he also wasn't exactly free. He couldn't leave the Autobot base and Knock Out was sure there were listening devices in the room he'd been given. Still, Knock Out supposed there wasn't much point in using countermeasures. It wasn't as if they were talking about anything incredibly secret. It might even be beneficial. If he could spin things the right way, of course.
"So, what do you want to do once Ratchet lets me go?" Breakdown asked one night, sitting on the Cybertronian bed the Autobots had scavenged from Primus-knew-where (probably the Harbinger) that was the only seat in his quarters. Knock Out was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, not sure if he was welcome that close to Breakdown just yet.
Knock Out frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, are you sticking around, or…?"
Knock Out's frown deepened. Ugh, at this rate, he was going to have to reinforce his faceplates, or they'd shift out of their current perfect alignment. "Why wouldn't I? Where are you planning on going?"
"I dunno."
"Are you going to stay here?"
"Don't know."
Knock Out threw up his hands in exasperation. "Then what are you going to do?"
"I know what I'm not going to do, and that's go back. I can't go back to the Decepticons," Breakdown pointed out, cutting off Knock Out's response. "Megatron abandoned me! Twice!"
"Well, I suppose we don't have to decide right away." Knock Out shrugged. "It's not…so bad here. We can stay for a while, at least."
"You said 'we,'" Breakdown said, looking up at Knock Out with a surprisingly vulnerable expression. "You'd still go with me?"
Knock Out frowned again – ugh – and pushed off the wall, going over to Breakdown. The new structure MECH had built wasn't quite as tall as Breakdown's previous one, probably to make C.Y.L.A.S. bigger than whatever troops he was commanding, whatever he'd thought he was going to do with them.
"Of course I'd still go with you. Why on Cybertron wouldn't I?"
Breakdown shrugged and looked away. "Well, you know…"
"No," Knock Out said slowly. "No, I don't. Breakdown?"
"I don't exactly look the way I did when we met. Not as strong, not even really Cybertronian anymore."
Knock Out stared at him in confusion for a moment. Then: "That's what you're worried about? Of all the…Shove over!"
Breakdown looked startled but obeyed and Knock Out sat down and leaned against him. They were silent for a moment and then Knock Out balled up a fist and socked him in the side.
"Hey! What - ?"
"Do you really think that after everything we've been through, everything we promised each other, everything I went through to bring you back I'd leave just because you look different? You…you…" Even the new additions to his vocabulary acquired from Ratchet didn't seem sufficient. Knock Out gave up and socked Breakdown again. "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"
"Uh…no…?"
"You were almost in pieces the first time we met, if you recall," Knock Out said pointedly. "At least you're in one piece now. Everything else is just …just details."
"So, you're sticking around then?" Breakdown asked cautiously.
Knock Out shoved Breakdown's arm up and over his shoulders, leaning his head on Breakdown's chest, demanding physical closeness. "Of course I am! Don't be dense. I know your spark's already brought your processor up to spec. I don't know what I'm going to do about the Decepticons yet, but whatever it is, it involves you. Honestly, the thought that you'd even need to question that…Breakdown, I thought you were dead. I don't know what we're going to do, but I do know we're going to do it together, Decepticons, Autobots, or not. Get it?"
"Yeah, okay, I got it." Breakdown paused thoughtfully. "Well, we could always ask Prime if we could stay here? At least until we can figure out what to do."
"Mm. Prime's beholden to the fleshies, from what I can tell, and I doubt they're going to want a couple of ex-Cons hanging around. They're probably not going to be too forthcoming with more extra supplies once they figure out what's going on." Knock Out drummed his fingers on one arm with sharp little taps of his talons. "Still, Prime is a bit of a soft touch. It can't hurt to ask."
"Yeah, I guess. Wish we could just head out, keep driving like we used to before Starscream called us back to try and fix Megatron up."
"Yes, that was one of the better times we've had in recent vorn." Knock Out sat there, resting against Breakdown, for almost a full klik, thinking. "Actually…why couldn't we? We wouldn't be able to call the Nemesis for a top-up, but we're both pretty fuel-efficient, and we know where the energon mines and pick-up points are. And if one or both of us align with the Autobots, we'd at least have a source of repairs and a base to report back to if we needed to."
"Think it'd work?"
"Well, it certainly can't hurt to try." Knock Out tipped his head back, glancing up at Breakdown. "So…roadtrip? For a bit, at least?"
"Yeah," Breakdown agreed and tightened his arm around Knock Out's shoulders. "For a bit."
June showed up at Unit E on a sunny morning just in time to see Knock Out leaving the base, followed by a heavy-duty vehicle she was pretty sure was Breakdown.
June hadn't been coming by much, not with Knock Out hanging around. She didn't think the Autobots would let anything happen to her, but he'd still abducted her. It was awkward, at best.
"So, Knock Out and Breakdown are heading out, huh? Do you think they'll come back?" she asked Optimus, looking way, way up at the Autobot leader as the two (former?) Decepticons drove off.
"I would like to think so, Nurse Darby," Optimus replied, solemn as always. Knock Out might put her on edge, but Optimus's constant calm made her feel safe. "I must believe no one is beyond redemption, including Decepticons. We can only hope that Breakdown and Knock Out make the right choice."
"Yeah." June folded her arms and looked back out over the road; the two mechs were still visible, faintly in the distance. "I hope so too."