"There is something wrong with him." Megatron held Starscream by the neck and lifted him like a doll. The seeker pawed feebly at Megatron's hand, his body trembling. "Fix him."
Knock Out folded his arms. Usually Starscream's biggest problem was Megatron, but he ran a quick surface scan of his commander's systems just in case. True, he was giving off some strange readings.
"Hmmm. If you would be so kind, Lord Megatron," he said, and stepped aside to gesture toward the vacant medical berth in the centre of the room. "Set him down and I'll have a look at him."
Megatron moved forward, his steps making the delicate equipment stacked around the lab vibrate and shake. He threw the seeker down on the berth, face-down.
Starscream muttered and turned himself over. His wings were hiked up high and his optics were feverishly bright. Knock Out stepped forward.
"Were you intending to stay for the examination, my lord?" he asked smoothly. He already had a good idea of what was glitching Starscream's gears.
Megatron waved a hand. "That won't be necessary. Just send him back to the command deck when he's fixed."
Knock Out nodded and gave a lazy salute. "Right you are, sir."
Megatron gave one last sneering look at Starscream before turning and leaving the medical bay.
Knock Out sent a silent, remote command to lock the doors after him.
He set a hand on his hip and shifted his weight, studying the seeker. He raised a brow.
"There is nothing wrong with me," Starscream hissed. He began to clamber off the berth. Knock Out stepped forward and pressed him back with one hand in the centre of his chest.
"Now now, Commander," he purred. He felt the tense vibration in Starscream's energy field, and his fine-tuned medical sensors detected the rise in the seeker's temperature. "I've been given an order, I have to at least give you a check over."
Starscream turned his head away with a disgusted snarl. He sat awkwardly on the berth and crossed his arms. His wings trembled with the suppressed energy coursing through his frame. Knock Out smirked.
"That's better. I'm just going to connect you," he said. He extended a couple of medical cables from the terminal by the berth, and Starscream grudgingly allowed him to connect them to the input ports in the back of his helm and inner arm. Knock Out turned to the terminal's screen to check Starscream's readings. Starscream fidgeted awkwardly behind him. Knock Out licked his lips and let the heat and prickly static of the jet's field wash over him. He chuckled softly as he checked the data.
"What?" Starscream growled. "What is so funny?"
"Nothing, Commander Starscream. In fact, I know just what the problem is."
"I don't have a problem."
"Is that so?" Knock Out rounded on his patient and leaned over the berth, his hand by Starscream's head. "Because it looks to me like your energy levels are off the scale, your core temperature is spiking, and you seem to be giving off a very particular signal-"
Starscream shoved him away with a snarl. Knock Out recoiled and checked his finish. Starscream was on his feet, the medical cables ripped free.
"Starscream," Knock Out said, his voice firmer now. "The issue won't simply go away because you decide you want it to. It's a feature of seeker physiology, and to be honest I think it's fascinating..."
Starscream turned and glared at him. Knock Out cleared his throat.
"What I mean to say is, Commander: either you let me help you now, or you let some other mech take care of the problem for you. Or you do nothing, and burn up from the inside from excess charge. It's your choice."
"I can take care of it myself," Starscream said, still bristling.
"Of course. But a medic's supervision is advisable, surely. Strictly professional, of course."
Starscream rolled his optics and his shoulders slumped. Knock Out supposed he was weighing up his options. A frantic evening alone with his hands, or Knock Out's careful attentions. Or an encounter with some other mech – a drone, an insecticon, Megatron. Starscream swallowed and turned back to the berth.
"Fine. But no funny business."
"Of course not, Starscream. I'd like to keep you hooked up to the machines to keep an eye on your vitals. I've read a considerable amount of literature on the subject of aerial heat cycles, but it's been millennia since I came across a real-life example. I'm not certain what the strain might do to your systems."
"You are not exactly inspiring me with confidence in your medical expertise," Starscream said as he got back on the berth. Knock Out shrugged, smiled, and adjusted the platform's height and angle for his patient's comfort. A flick of a switch extended stirrup-like attachments, and Starscream gingerly placed his feet into them. Knock Out averted his optics while he did so. He tapped at the computer controls, setting up the scans he would be using. Then he crossed to the other side of the med-bay and opened up a low cabinet.
"I have some instruments you might like to make use of, Commander," he said smoothly. He turned. Starscream had his optics closed and was trying to regulate his intakes. There was a heat shimmer around his frame, and his EM field flared in obvious interest. Knock Out smirked. He strutted back to the berth carrying a large case. He set this on a wheeled table and opened it out. Starscream opened his optics and leaned up, trying to peer into the case from between his splayed legs.
"Do you need me to warm you up a little?" Knock Out purred.
"No," Starscream said. There was a crackle of static in his vocals. He was getting close to the edge.
"You'd better open up, then," Knock Out said. He moved around the berth and reconnected the cables, hooking Starscream to the monitor. There was a soft whir, and Knock Out returned to Starscream's feet to see the seeker had opened his panel ready. He swallowed thickly. Starscream's valve was small and neat, the outer folds dark grey, already glistening with clear lubricant. Knock Out reached into his case and withdrew a bottle of medical-grade lubricant to ease things along further still.
Starscream was watching him. "You're not going to frag me?" he said, his optics narrowed. His hips rocked as his body tensed rhythmically, unconsciously. His thighs fell open slightly wider. Knock Out drew a deep intake. He could smell Starscream's fluids and it was making him feel dizzy.
"Not unless you want me to. That wasn't what I had in mind." He lifted an object from the case – a sleek silver toy, designed for streamlined stimulation of a mech's internal sensory nodes. "You can take your pick from my little selection, of course."
"Give me that," Starscream snarled. His body curled as he leaned up and forward, and he snatched the toy from Knock Out's hand. The medic only chuckled. Starscream investigated the faux spike. It wasn't too broad or large, just a slender and functional instrument. Starscream looked like he would be tight, so Knock Out had chosen something appropriate.
Knock Out lifted the bottle of lubricant. "A little something to ease the way, Commander?"
Starscream swallowed. Knock Out could see the conflict in his optics – his desire, brought on by the heat cycle, in direct opposition to his pride. As the medic suspected, Starscream's programming won out.
"Very well." He held out the toy. Knock Out gave a smooth smile, flicked open the bottle, and poured some of the silky, translucent liquid onto his palm and talons. He coated his hand with it, wrapped it around the toy. He bit his lip. The slim shaft was a silvery grey very similar to Starscream's own plating. He pumped the length of it slowly, getting it good and slippery, while his optics flicked down to Starscream's closed spike cover and he thought about what it would be like to do this with Starscream's spike instead.
"There. You should be ready to go, now," he said when the toy was well-coated. He had deliberately been more generous with the lubricant than he needed to, simply because he enjoyed the way Starscream gently writhed and twitched his hips in waiting. The seeker snarled and pulled the toy out of his grasp, and immediately lined it up with his valve.
Knock Out exhaled and leaned his hands on the edge of the berth. He stood between Starscream's legs and focused his optics in the tiny, wet valve. Starscream didn't even seem to notice him – he was too lost in the demands of his heat. The spike slipped into him easily. Starscream let out a breathy moan as it slid home. He tilted his head back, and pushed the toy as deeply into him as he could, the tips of the fingers gripping it disappearing just inside his valve as well.
"Easy," Knock Out breathed. Starscream thrust the toy back and forth rapidly and shallowly, his fingers slipping as he struggled to keep a good hold. "Here..."
Knock Out gently removed Starscream's hand from the toy and gripped it with his own slender claws. "Please, allow me."
Starscream was too invested in finding relief to disagree. He growled and slumped back on the berth, stretching his arms above his head. Knock Out watched him.
He started with a slow, smooth thrust, in and out, pushing the toy as deep as he could and angling it expertly to hit just the right sensor clusters. Starscream rewarded him with a grateful whine. Knock Out liked to think he knew what he was doing. After a klik or two Starscream grew impatient. The little bucks of his hips, the way he pointed his toes and frowned told Knock Out what he needed to know. He got a firmer grip on the toy and upped his speed. He leaned further over Starscream, his hand on the berth by the seeker's waist. He watched him closely, his optics intent. Starscream was barely aware of Knock Out – he was focused entirely on the toy in his valve. Knock Out clicked a switch on the end of it and it started to vibrate. Starscream moaned, his pride and inhibitions swiftly dropped. Knock Out smirked in triumph. He fucked the seeker quicker, working hard against Starscream's tightly pulsing internals. Starscream bucked, gripped the edge of the berth, and came. Knock Out didn't stop until Starscream's shuddering eased, and then he turned off the vibration, slowed the back-and-forth slide of the toy, and pulled it out. He waited until Starscream relaxed down before speaking.
"Feeling better, Commander?"
Starscream onlined his optics and stared at Knock Out with a hazy look. Knock Out checked the monitor. Starscream's inner charge was slightly lessened, but it would take more than one overload to bring him out of the danger zone. Knock Out tutted and shook his head.
"Well, it looks like that took the edge off, but we have a long way to go."
Starscream squirmed restlessly beneath him. Knock Out rested a hand on his thigh. He bit his lip, then, daring himself, moved his hand between Starscream's legs. The seeker didn't protest when he slipped two fingers into Starscream's valve. Knock Out shivered.
"What are you waiting for?" Starscream said. Knock Out almost laughed – though tinged with post-overload laziness, Starscream's tone was as acerbic as ever. He tilted his hips and reached down, and spread his valve with the tips of his fingers. "Hurry up, doctor."
Knock Out dropped the toy, and picked a bigger one from the case. "At once, Commander."