Remember that I promised a fast update? Surprise surprise, I did this time! Thanks to iratepirate for correcting my grammar so fast and make it possible for me to post today.

Enjoy :o)


Chapter 9

The other doctor's opinion

Defeat was always a bad thing.

It tasted twice as bitter if it was inflicted by Bulkhead, the Autobot that Breakdown hated the most. They both had a very long history on the battlefield, so much so that they had reached the tacit agreement of considering themselves sworn enemies. For vorns, neither of them had cheated on the other in that respect, and every time they met they honored their relationship, the only rule being to try and snatch the spark out of the other's chamber.

Prior to his arrival on Earth, Breakdown had won most of those encounters, but the inopportune intervention of the Autobots had prevented him from finishing the job. He didn't mind much, though; a war with Bulkhead to fight with was a more interesting war. During the vorns, almost killing or getting killed by his most hated nemesis had given some purpose to Breakdown's own war, rather than just the mindless destruction most of his comrades-in-arms loved to label as their cause.

So having lost to Bulkhead was not the problem; having lost Knock Out was. It had sounded so simple at the beginning. "Let the Autobots believe I fell into their trap and voilà, we zap the female and extract the other half of the virus from her deactivated body."

Yeah, quite simple, only that neither he nor Knock Out thought that the whole Autobot team would be there. More than the hits inflicted by both Bulkhead and Optimus Prime, what hurt Breakdown the most was the fact that he had returned to operational status alone, accompanied only by the certainty that his partner was being stripped down at that precise moment.

Hopefully Knock Out would survive… hopefully. The Autobots were not keen on offlining their prisoners, although the possibility existed that Bulkhead could make an exception in order to pay back some of the harm Breakdown had inflicted on him in the past. If that happened, Breakdown would make sure to avenge his friend, hunting Bulkhead through the entire Universe if necessary and dissecting him into as many pieces as Knock Out said a body could be dissected into.

"Breakdown."

Just the voice he didn't want to hear, not at that moment in which he was still furious and at high risk of disregarding ranks and slagging a certain arrogant, unnerving Commander Starscream.

He turned around, frowning at the two red slots that watched him from the shadows.

Oh, how he hated to be observed. Once, when his frame was considerably smaller and his strength was a joke, he had been paranoid. Now, many vorns later and when he could defeat ten mechs like the weakling he used to be, he managed to control his psychosis every time he felt somebody was staring at him. Still, the sight of Starscream's piercing optics was very annoying, and definitely not the kind of welcoming committee he was expecting after returning to the Nemesis… defeated. Somehow he had hoped to go unnoticed, but that was too much to ask when Starscream was sneaking around every corner.

"A little late to be returning from your reconnaissance mission," the raspy voice said, irony and mockery blatantly present.

Don't you have something else to do other than spy on whatever slag the others are up to? He would have loved to respond according to his mood, but there was one thing that Breakdown had always respected, and that was hierarchy.

"I lost track of time," he said curtly. That was a lie, an embarrassing lie; he had been offline for at least two breems thanks to Optimus Prime. Coward Bulkhead… he had needed the help of the Prime to take him down.

"I'd say that time was not the only thing you lost." Starscream stepped into the light, pointing toward Breakdown's marred chest plates.

The big Decepticon gave a disdainful look to the scorch marks and dents on his frame. "I found opposition."

"Autobot opposition, I presume."

Aren't you a genius, you scrawny piece of junk? "Is there any other kind?"

Starscream seemed not to like the answer, because his malicious optics narrowed again. "Why didn't you report the incident? You know there is a protocol to follow."

I would have followed it, but I was too busy being in stasis lock! "I was about to do it now."

Starscream folded his arms behind his back and gave the big Decepticon a very scrutinizing look. Breakdown was sure that he was doing it only to disturb him. Starscream was one of the few mechs that knew exactly the kind of paranoid mech Breakdown had been – or still was?

"Oh, spare me. I'm not in the mood to stand another of your torturously-written reports, Breakdown, especially if it will be as full of lies as it will of spelling errors. So what do you say if we avoid the protocol this once and you tell me exactly what I want to know? Where is Knock Out?"

As Knock Out himself would have said: uh-oh.

Breakdown was not really afraid of what Starscream's sharp talons could do to his grille, but he knew that it was not a good idea to fill the Air Commander with the whole truth. Starscream was a devious creature, always looking for anything he could use to his advantage.

"Well, um, have you checked in the medbay?"

Wrong answer, again. Starscream could be a traitorous glitch, but he was no fool, that was for sure.

Breakdown couldn't help but lean backwards when the Second in Command reduced the distance between them. Sizes didn't matter at that point; the fragging slime ball was intimidating.

"WHERE IS KNOCK OUT?"

Okay, I got it. You won't repeat it again. "Mm… I don't really know."

Well, that wasn't exactly a lie. Of course, there were very few places the Autobots could have taken his partner rather than their base, but Breakdown hadn't been conscious to see it, so technically he was telling the truth.

His audio modules cringed when the screeching, extremely annoying sound of Starscream's talons scratching the wall broke the peaceful hum of the Nemesis. If walls could talk, that one would scream. A lot.

"Let's rewind and see if we can find the missing part in the equation, shall we?" Starscream outlined two circles beneath the deep gash he had created. "Wherever Knock Out goes, Breakdown follows. Whatever Knock Out decides, Breakdown approves. Whatever Knock Out says, Breakdown does… Should I continue, Breakdown?"

Frag, how in the Inferno could such a weak creature have such sharp talons? Breakdown was sure that those talons could even trespass his reinforced armor.

Yeah, you forgot the 'Whenever Knock Out gets ambushed by Autobots, Breakdown will be there to smash them to junk'. But he didn't dare to voice his thoughts, not only because Starscream would laugh about his loyalty to his friend, but because he had failed Knock Out. He had allowed the Autobots to capture him.

So he rolled his optics instead. "We both were ambushed by the Autobots. They took Knock Out with them."

"They did?" Starscream narrowed one optic, showing that the information was not taking him by surprise at all. At least he removed his fraggin' talons from the wall. "And why would they do that, I wonder? If engaging the enemy in order to take them into custody had been their purpose, why didn't they capture you as well?"

Just how much did Starscream know about the whole virus affair? Everything, one of Breakdown's inner voices replied. He knows everything, and he has a hundred zillion cameras pointing at you all the time.

No… he had to stop. He couldn't afford to lose himself to his paranoia, not at that moment.

"I suppose they needed… a sample of that substance Knock Out found."

"The virus, you mean? The virus which Knock Out himself was infected with?"

Why? Why, by Unicron's horns, did Starscream have to play his sick games all the fraggin' time? There was no wonder why half of the Decepticon army wanted him dead. The other half just feared him. Breakdown still had to decide which side he belonged to.

"If you knew the whole thing, what's the point of this charade?"

Breakdown must have talked more menacingly than intended because for a moment Starscream seemed to cringe. However, he reduced the space between them again and resumed his game.

"I would advise you to be careful with the way you address a superior officer, Breakdown, especially if said superior officer happens to be your Commander."

And future Lord, he was sure Starscream was dying to say. But that would never happen; the only Lord of all Decepticons still functioned, and functional he would remain, Breakdown was sure. Knock Out had said a lot of things about not having been able to deactivate Megatron because of Soundwave's constant surveillance, but Breakdown knew better. He knew that his friend had had plenty of opportunities to put Megatron down permanently, but the doctor was also playing with Starscream. Why couldn't things be like they used to be, when the Decepticons fought as one against the threat of the Autobots? Those were the good, simple times. These days it was all about treachery and power struggles.

"My apologies… Commander," he finally said, trying to ease the tension a bit, even though he knew the worst was about to come.

Starscream eyed him suspiciously before signaling to follow him. "I understand that Knock Out examined the sample of the virus the same day he was infected."

"Yeah, I guess he did."

"And I suppose that you, his assistant and –yuck– friend are aware of the results of that examination."

"Not really."

Breakdown hurried to elaborate when Starscream stopped and turned to stare at him again. "I'm not the scientist type, okay? I wouldn't have understood a bit."

One of Starscream's optic brows did that annoying movement before he resumed his pace through the corridor with his hands folded behind his back. "Yes, I suppose you wouldn't have… But still, Knock Out must have told you something."

"No, only that he suspected that his half of the virus was the carrier of something else, Technicalties, mostly. I didn't understand—"

"Half of the virus?" Starscream sounded so threatening that Breakdown forgot that he had mispronounced a word, as he did every time he got nervous.

Stupid, stupid frag-head, you just told him everything! "Um, the Autobot female. She…"

Breakdown, you're a lost cause!

"Yes, Knock Out mentioned something about that." Starscream grabbed his chin, finally seeming more interested in the theme of the conversation than continuing to torture Breakdown. "If he felt it so urgent to retrieve the genetic information of the part of the virus the Autobot is carrying, that means that he must have started to experience the effects of his own half… perhaps a mutation."

Now that word managed to make Breakdown feel a hint of the foreign impulse others called fear. He had seen Knock Out having an attack caused by that thing, his body so cold and his vital functions so unstable that Breakdown had feared the worst… Yeah, feared.

Was that the time to come absolutely clean? There was not much he could do on his own to help his friend, and slagger or not, Starscream was actually a scientist.

"Em, Knock Out had a weird episode yesterday. Would that be because the virus mutated?"

Starscream stopped dead in his tracks again. Breakdown didn't notice and almost knocked him down when he hit him on the helm with his chest plates.

"What?" Starscream shrieked, rubbing his sore forehead before addressing Breakdown again. "Why didn't you fools inform me about that?"

"Knock Out said it wasn't a big deal."

"Oh, but it was a big deal, you gigantic dolt! Do you realize what could have happened if that virus had spread through the Nemesis?"

"Knock Out said that the virus wasn't contagious."

"Knock Out this, Knock out that…" Starscream mimicked him. "Would it be so difficult to think by yourself for once in your life, Breakdown? It's obvious that Knock Out was covering his own hide. He perfectly knew what would happen to anybody who jeopardized the integrity of this ship and its crew."

Yeah, Knock Out knew that, and so did Breakdown. Although, to be honest, he didn't give a frag if the entire Nemesis got infected. He wouldn't jettison his friend to space no matter who ordered it.

"You are lucky that I'm in need of Knock Out – and of you, blast me," Starscream continued, not giving Breakdown time to think about a proper, violent answer.

They arrived at a small room with a computer terminal, which Starscream wasted no time in activating.

"This is a serious affair, Breakdown. You and Knock Out violated at least seven high-security directives, jeopardizing not only this ship but our entire mission on this planet. As Commanding Officer of the Nemesis and Supreme Commander of the Decepticon Empire – in absence of our beloved Lord Megatron, of course – I have the authority to execute whatever measures I see fit, such as, for example, court-martialing you and ordering your termination."

Breakdown didn't say anything. He knew he could end up in a lava pit if the rules were followed by the book, but he was more worried about Knock Out than his own fate.

"However," Starscream continued as he agilely punched some keys on the console, "I may be able to dismiss the matter, provided you offer your absolute cooperation, of course."

Right on time, there was the part in which Breakdown was forced to become Starscream's pawn, not to mention slave.

He sighed. Being Knock Out's best buddy didn't pay most of the time, but he couldn't help it; he really cared about the fraggin' doctor. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"The same thing you have been dying to do since the Autobots handed you your aft on a plate: retrieve Knock Out."

At least they agreed on that, although Breakdown was sure that their motives were completely different.

Starscream pushed a button and a hologram that Breakdown didn't understand a bit was displayed. "Despite having very little information about the composition of this virus, I am certain that it was designed to attack cybernetic circuitry. The sudden division of its organic composition must have caused a mutation of incalculable proportions, but yet I can assure you that this virus, when whole, must be able to completely deactivate a Cybertronian."

Yeah, and not just any Cybertronian. Now I see where you're going, aft-hole. You infect Megatron with the slaggin' thing and let the humans take the blame. Sweet.

Starscream smirked. "Which makes the task of retrieving Knock Out twice as urgent, and there, Breakdown, is where you enter the game."

"But how do I find him? It's not like you can find the Autobot base in the yellow pages."

The odd look that Starscream gave him reminded Breakdown that he should stop watching human television.

"There is a way to find him without the need of tracking his energy signal or searching in… yellow pages." The image that appeared on the screen made Starscream's intent explicitly clear, as much as Breakdown disapproved of that kind of filthy antics.

Three human germs, all so disgusting with their tiny soft bodies and that fiber helmet over their heads. Breakdown remembered the female, the one that definitely didn't know how to fetch.

"Get any of these humans and the Autobots will hand Knock Out to us and whatever else we tell them. If Megatron has been fool enough not to take advantage of Optimus Prime's biggest weakness, I am not."

Hunting down worms was not exactly the kind of labor that made Breakdown proud, but if the reward was getting Knock Out back, he was willing to soil his hands.

"You got it," he said, heading towards the exit. "I'll find those humans no matter where they hide."

"Oh, and Breakdown?"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"There is a deadline. Make sure to return with those humans before three solar cycles, or you and Knock Out will regret it."

Breakdown narrowed his optics. "Is that a threat, Commander?"

"Of course it is a threat, but not one coming from me, but from your dear friend's worst enemy: time." Starscream replaced the image of the humans with the hologram that was displayed before. "I managed to decode Knock Out's initial analysis, and I came to the conclusion that the virus is not only mutating, but overriding his auto-repair circuits. In words you can understand, if Knock Out doesn't get a cure soon, he will die."

FEAR! FEAR! FEAR! His inner voices cried in unison.

Breakdown couldn't do anything other than agree with them as a cold chill traveled through his main core.

To be continued.


If you have read any of my other TFP fics, you must have noticed that I like to blink to G1 Breakdown, who was paranoid and also used to mispronounce words.

I also gave a blink to the first time we saw Breakdown in the series and tried to play fetch with Miko. I absolutely loved that scene.

Next chapter is ready, so expect it here very soon.