Breakdown stood just inside the cave watching the miners drill into the mountain, slowly but surely uncovering glittering veins of blue. The deposit wasn't the largest, but every scrap counted. And if they took it all that left nothing for the Autobots. He'd been assigned to the oversight for two solar cycles and dust coated his cobalt armor as well as some fine new scratches from where he'd helped roll some of the larger boulders out of the way so the miners could get their equipment through. The job was easy and he was bored. He knew Starscream was punishing him for not reporting Knockout's comings and goings, but it was only a matter of time before Bulkhead showed up and then he'd have some fun.
Leaning back against the cave wall with a small smile playing on his lips he watched the miners excavate. Sunlight didn't reach far into the cave but a few muted slices warmed part of his arm and leg. He wasn't claustrophobic like the flyers, but being stuck underground for two solar cycles was starting to irritate him. He'd rather be on the open road with Knockout as they sped around curves and blew past slow humans. And occasionally shoved them off the road. Smile widening, he almost laughed at the memory.
A low purring rumble he would associate with only one mech so long as he lived drifted into the cave. When he looked out into the bright day he found Knockout already transformed standing in bright sunlight with a hand on his hip. He arched one optic ridge while a sly smile played on his lips. Leaving the miners to their work Breakdown walked into the light and sighed when the rest of his frame was finally touched with sunlight.
Stopping half a step in front of the petite mech Breakdown lifted his own optic ridge. Knockout lifted his hands to Breakdown's chest, bracketing his spark. Breakdown would allow no one else to touch him like that. Knockout's claws that could slice like razors didn't even scratch his paint. "How much longer will you be playing in the dirt?" Knockout murmured, his thumbs stroking over the heavy armor protecting Breakdown's spark.
"How much longer are you going to irritate Starscream?" Breakdown countered. A full wicked smile lit Knockout's face, the barest hint of fang slipping over his lower lip. Flattening his hands against Breakdown's chest he closed the distance between them so his small lithe frame pressed against Breakdown.
"I suppose," he purred, "when it stops being fun." Dainty long fingered hands stroked Breakdown's chest wiping more dust away.
Settling his hands on Knockout's hips, Breakdown rubbed small circles over the glossy finish. He was warm from the sun and the drive over, his body like warm silk against his own and in his hands. "I'm glad one of us is having fun," Breakdown said without heat. He'd rather be supervising the miners than listening to Starscream rail and preen.
Knockout's laugh was a caress of its own. His true laugh had become a rare thing to hear over the last few hundred centicycles. It reminded Breakdown of Kaon, before everything had gone to Pit. Those precious few summer evenings before the cold closed in again sitting with Knockout on club patios, drinking and laughing. And there were the many brisk mornings picking up breakfast before they went to work. Knockout had laughed a lot in Kaon. He had smiled more then as well.
Gentle fingers touched his jaw bringing him back to the present and the small mech in his arms. "Where did you go?" Knockout asked. Clear bright optics like the stained glass that had adorned Kaon's Temples of Primus watched him curiously. The fingers stayed on his face, stroking his jaw and down the delicate line of his neck. Claws ran across the thin exoform covering his mainline but didn't draw energon. They had never drawn his energon and they never would.
"Kaon," Breakdown murmured, sliding his hands all the way around Knockout's body and holding him close. Knockout rested his audio over Breakdown's spark and snorted. "The good part of Kaon," Breakdown clarified, stroking one hand up Knockout's back. Knockout sighed and let his proud shoulders lower.
"Can't remember the good without the bad," he said.
Breakdown kept one hand around him and used the other to lift his chin. Catching his mouth in a deep kiss he felt Knockout's claws curl against his chest as his body melted against him. Knockout made a low sound in the back of his throat and stood on his toes to reach Breakdown better and deepen the kiss.
Breakdown broke the kiss before it became something more but didn't pull away. "Wasn't all bad, was it?" he murmured. Sultry red optics like the blazing winter sunsets over the city met his and a playful smile turned up Knockout's lips. And for that fleeting moment he looked like he had on the balcony of his apartment as they stood watching the suns slide behind the distant mountains and paint the city gold and purple. He hadn't seen that mech in a very long time. "Let's go for a drive," Breakdown said not wanting to let the moment go. It had been centicycles since he'd seen Knockout smile without a hint of fang or rage darkening his optics to rubies.
"It is a beautiful day," Knockout said, lifting his mouth to Breakdown's once more. Breakdown returned the kiss, taking his time, enjoying the warmth of Knockout's mouth and his familiar taste. Wrapping a hand around Knockout's nape he kissed him deeper. Knockout shuddered and pressed his body harder against his. Breakdown broke the kiss again, intakes unsteady. "I think you have more than a drive on your mind," Knockout said, smooth voice roughened just enough by the kiss Breakdown didn't stop the satisfied smile that spread across his face.
"Is that a yes?" he asked, echoing one of the first things he'd ever said to the beautiful, deadly mech in his arms. Knockout's smile kicked him right in the spark like it did every time he saw it. He'd been rendered speechless the first time he saw that smile, the one he'd never seen Knockout give anyone else in the eon they had been together. For the moment, the rage that always burned in Knockout was banked and Breakdown could almost pretend that they were who they used to be. "I love you." He hadn't said those words in a very long time. Not since Knockout stopped smiling, not since the good times ended.
Knockout searched his face, his brilliant optics shadowed, like the soot that had eventually covered those beautiful stained glass windows as buildings fell and mechs burned. "You do?" Quiet, hesitant words. A flicker of rage that was never far from him igniting his optics to ruby red. "After all of this?"
Breakdown's arms tightened around him. "The only thing that matters is us." That had been the only thing that mattered for a long time. When the world turned to ash around them and there had been no way out, it was those optics, even shadowed with fury, that had kept him going. And now again as the world shifted and faltered beneath their feet, it was that brilliant smile that still stole his breath that kept him here.
Gentle fingers, sharp claws, stroked his jaw line. "I forgot you could be poetic," Knockout said, the flicker of anger buried under pain that had aged and become more potent over the eon.
Anger he could deal with, but it was the pain that turned Knockout's optics almost black that tore him bloody on the inside. "I got it from a book," he said, quirking a corner of his mouth in a smile. That beautiful smile lit Knockout's face again and his optics cleared. His laugh was louder but still would only reach Breakdown's audios.
"Let's go for a drive," Knockout said, a smile still playing on his lips. Breakdown would be happy holding him for the rest of eternity, but he reluctantly let him step back. Gently taking the hand Breakdown had on his waist Knockout lowered his optics for a moment before he looked up. No shields, no barriers, no anger, just Knockout as he had been in Kaon; quiet and vulnerable. "I love you, too," he whispered.
Breakdown pulled him close and dipped his head to catch Knockout in a softer kiss. "I know."
oOo
A/N: I listened to William Control's song Noir for probably two and a half hours straight today and I had to write this little oneshot. I absolutely love Knockout/Breakdown and eventually I'm going to write a "How BD/KO Met" story.
Thank you for R/R/F/F!