Last time, Elizabeth hit Knockout with a paper ball and Knockout remembered the time Breakdown contemplated the meaning of the multiverse. And so it continues.
Megatron's POV
The last thing the Vehicons could have expected was a human marching around the ship. With Knockout trailing behind her, no less.
I was monitoring the Vehicon's work when I heard the door open. At first, I only saw Knockout's form in the door frame. He motioned downward, and that was when I saw the human standing there. I had used excess force that day, and the wound on her leg was not fully healed. Her footsteps echoed throughout the room as she approached the bay.
"Have you no respect?"
She stopped at my words, her face radiating in anger. She backed up a few steps, then stooped down to a bow. "Permission to enter, Lord Megatron?" Her words had a syrupy consistency, the sarcasm all too thick in her speech. She returned to standing position and waited my response. Knockout bowed as well, though he said nothing. He had been in the bay too many times that bowing was enough.
"Permission granted, Elizabeth." I drawled her name out as long as I could, making sure to emphasize the syllables. Knockout stifled a smile.
She narrowed her eyes. "Megatron, I came here on the account of a problem."
Her wording caught me by surprise. She usually swore like a soldier whenever I tried to interrogate her, and she said nothing as soon as she was done. "So the human finally says some decent language. Don't tell me Knockout had to teach it to you." I could see the anger almost spilling over.
"Why do you have connections with MECH? Someone as high-standing as you shouldn't be associated with the same race they are trying to kill off." Knockout had told the human? I shot a disapproving look at the medic, who slightly shrunk back at my gaze. "MECH provides us with materials we otherwise cannot obtain through normal means. Why does this bother you so much?"
She stood her ground, her fists clenched as she glared up at me. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? MECH has been on the bad side of the government for years! Who says they won't be the same to you?"
Starscream started, "How dare you speak to Lord Megatron like that!"
"Silence!" Starscream stopped abruptly. The human had not changed position, nor seemed to comprehend what Starscream had said. She was focused on me, and for good reason. I decided to let her continue. "Go on. Why shouldn't I trust them?"
"They pretended to side with our government, giving us profit and taxes. They claimed to be in Weapon Engineering, and we believed them without any investigation. Only when staff started showing up MIA did they begin to question. MECH began to ask for volunteers. The government asked my unit to partake in the service, so we did.
At first, they seemed nice enough. They gave us a place to stay, a sense of false security. We didn't even question why we were there anymore. Then, one day, they tried to kill us off.
They killed most of my team, and I was one of the only ones who made it out alive. Who says that you won't go down the same path as I did?"
A few moments of silence ensued. She continued to hold eye contact, her breaths short and shallow.
"What makes you think that MECH can take on a Decepticon? We are much more powerful than a human." She blinked, "That may be true, but MECH knows this planet better than you ever will. Not to mention, they have a huge force behind them. As strong as you are, there is no-"
She suddenly doubled over, her arm covering her mouth. A few hacking coughs shook her frame, blood dripping from her mouth. She took care not to drop any on the ground, and took a minute to recover. Slowly, she returned to her standing position, though her mouth was now covered by her hand. "Heed...heed my warning. You won't...you can't afford to be...fooled." She did her best to bow, and walked out of the room. Knockout heeded his goodbyes, and trotted after her. I turned back to my post, the Vehicons returning to work after the outburst. My mind was slowly grasping what she had said. She seemed sincere, yet no one could ever tell when it came to humans. Especially those who served for them.
Elizabeth's POV
Upon entering the medbay, I felt my thigh throbbing through the bandages. Only now did I realize how bad off I really was. Knockout was fuming, lifting me up back onto the table. He slammed his hand in the surface, his red eyes glowing.
"Do you have any idea how stupid that was? Approaching Lord Megatron and questioning his motives is a sure-fire way to get yourself killed! Believe me, I would know."
I glared up at him, "I'm sorry, since when was I invisible here? I know MECH better than anyone else on this stupid ship. Megatron doesn't know who he's dealing with! MECH isn't a Cybertronian base, Knockout, and this isn't Cybertron. This is EARTH."
He continued to stare at me for a good minute, his mouth tightly closed. I glared back, my nerves standing on end with all the irritation. He seemed to be thinking, after all that he did for me why would I say such a thing. Then, out of nowhere, a flash of sadness. His expression softened, and he slowly stood straighter. He broke eye contact and turned away from me
"You're right."
I blinked. What did he just say? His voice seemed to crack a little bit.
"You're right. This isn't Cybertron. And unless the Decepticons crush everything you love and know well, it will never be. Megatron will never stop trying to gain this planet for himself, and yet Optimus will never stop trying to protect it. We're stuck."
He turned to me, "If anything, you are the one better off here. You have a home, a family, something to remember..." He picked up a scalpel, observing the sharp edges. "We don't have anything. We have images, broken pieces of nonsense and useless scrap. Megatron has memories, but even those are dark and worthless to try and remember. I came here because I was the best medic to have, and I was raised on an evacuation ship." He came towards me, the scalpel still in his hand. "We all have nothing. The Autobots have nothing, the Decepticons have nothing. And that," he paused, closing his eyes, "is the only thing we will ever have in common. Ever."
And with that, he left me on the table, heavy-ridden with guilt and a heavy heart.
Knockout's POV
I filed the reports and sent them to Megatron, my fingers numb from all the tapping. I checked the time, and stretched. It's around pickup time for the human. A sharp pain echoed throughout my mind. I exploded in front of her, and she didn't even talk to me afterwards. I didn't know exactly how to feel about it. Should I feel angry or sad, depressed or resolute? I shook my head as I walked into the interrogation room.
The large room was dark, with a single light from the ceiling. Chains draped from above, twisted and curled around each other. There were numerous tools lying around, some covered with crystallized Energon and others with fresh human blood. I stopped short when I searched the chains. There, in a tangled mass, laid Elizabeth.
This time must have been absolutely terrible. Her arms were splayed, numerous cuts crossing her arms. Her leg wound was reopened, if not made even worse. Her face was hardly recognizable, with all of her bruises and cuts and scrapes. But out of all that, what really stopped my heart was her sliced abdomen.
Just like what mine was.
I wasted no time, taking her figure from the chains. She was breathing, but she seemed to choke on her own air. I went as fast as I could through to the medbay, carefully setting her down on the table. She tried to right herself, but her abdomen caused her too much pain. I reached for everything I thought would be of help. Bandages, stitching, needles, and an IV. Her figure kept struggling, her breaths becoming even thinner. Just as I lifted her hand to feel her pulse, she looked up at me. Her eyes searched my face painfully, her mouth slightly open in her attempts to breathe. She choked on the next words, but I heard them all too clearly.
"Help me."
And with that, she passed out.
She woke up a few hours later, though she didn't look like she slept at all. Her eyes had dark purple circles, and her mouth was dry. She made no attempt to move from her position. I worked close to her table, keeping an eye on her throughout the day. There were hardly any patients in the medbay, so it was an easy day.
"You shouldn't have saved me."
I started so hard I dropped the needle I was holding. It fell to the floor, clinking before resting. I picked it up slowly, staring at the limp figure on the operation table. She had turned her head to see me, her eyes large and sad. I composed myself before answering.
"What are you implying?"
She turned her head back up at the ceiling. "After all that earlier, after everything I resurfaced. It's painful, right? I know how you feel, and I should have considered that. But I was so selfish and angry about MECH that I completely forgot about you." She shifted, her shoulders cracking. "When I was in service, I had to travel all the way to the other side of the world. I saw friends die, whole villages destroyed, and innocent people ripped from their families. And it hurt. But coming back home, back to Jasper, that got rid of the pain. Being back here was my best chance if calming down and recollecting my sense of direction. But when you kidnapped me, tortured me, and made me ridicule your leader-"
I raised my hand to stop her, "Ah, that was entirely your choice."
"You drove me to it. Anyway, being here is like going back to the lines. And although human soldiers and Cybertronian militiamen are entirely different, they are still people." She took a shaky breath. "I guess what I wanted to say was I'm sorry. I'm sorry for thinking I was the only one and being selfish because of it." She turned back to me, guilt and apology nearly seeping through her face. "I'm sorry."
This kept me silent for a good long while. I slowly went back to working, cleaning the place up and such. She relaxed on her table, seemingly happy that she got all of that out. I, on the other hand, I was thinking.
Had she really meant what she said? What she said before did hurt me, but I never thought she noticed her harsh words. I had always thought that humans were crude, defenseless creatures, unable to feel any remorse aside for their own kind. Elizabeth did not only challenge that theory, she assassinated it. I felt my spark do a flip when I thought of her face, full of regret. I quickly felt my forehead, and checked my vitals. Good.
Then what was that feeling I got? Now that I think about it, I get that feeling whenever I talk or listen to her. Or when I picked her up from the interrogation room, or when-
"Knockout?"
I stopped, looking over my shoulder at Elizabeth. Her face held an essence of questioning humor. "Unless you dissected a rotting corpse on that table, I think you polished it enough, don't you?" I glanced down, the table I was wiping down almost a mirror. I simply continued to the next table, pretending that she didn't point it out. She returned to her looking-up position, smiling slightly.
I really hope she doesn't notice that my spark is completely out of control.
Elizabeth's POV
The worst part of interrogation is being forced to give information you obviously do not know. Even though you try to tell them this, all they hear is the same thing you said last time for the stuff you probably knew. Either that or your one hell of a dumb person.
The best part? Sleeping. You're in so much pain from all the injuries that you pass out into a dreamless limbo, where you just drift into peaceful, warm darkness. A week and a half of interrogation and dreamless nights left me in a state of routine philosophizing. As I slept, or occasionally passed out from the pain, I would sift through my mind's photo album and see all my memories and favorite moments.
One of these dreams, however, told quite a different story.
I was floating through space, my mind clean, crisp and clear. Out to the right of me was a glowing light. Curious, I slowly ventured towards it. It appeared to be...a person? A woman!
She had long black hair, her skin fair but toned. Her figure was aged, but she was elegant. Her face was tired, but her eyes held fire and flashiness within them. She wore a suit of strange armor, and in her right hand carried a magnificent hammer, as long as she was tall. As I approached her, she smiled knowingly.
"So you are the one they know as Elizabeth."
Who are you?
"I am Solus Prime, one of the Thirteen. I was summoned to see you by the great Primus himself. They say that you are quite the human."
Who are they?
"They are the other Twelve. We Primes live among the stars and inside the spark of every Cybertronian online. We are the reason they walk, fight and live to this day."
Why did you have to see me?
"I came here on the account of preparation. Very soon, you will join us, body and mind. You must be ready."
What do you mean?
"The man that refers to himself as Cylas has plans for you. He wishes to continue the procedure he believed had to be discontinued. You must swallow your medicine once more."
Why are you telling me this? What about the Autobots? The Decepticons? What about Knockout?
"The Autobots do miss you in your absence, however they have no idea where you actually are. The Decepticons, especially Megatronus, know well that you hold no intel sensitive to his plans. As for the medic..."
She held a sphere of light in the palm of her hand, which displayed an image. It showed Knockout hunched over me during one of his operations, working as fast as he could to keep me alive. "He cares for you, a little more than he should. His decisions will cost him his spark if you do not intervene."
What do I intervene?
She smiled sadly, her blue eyes sparking with knowledge she did not share. "You will know in due time. For now, sleep. Primus knows how brave you've been."
I felt my eyes close on me, the eyelids fighting with increasing gravity. I saw her drift away, her figure fading into the darkness. The last thing I saw before total darkness was her hair, a glossy curtain of night.
So he does like me.
Yippy-ki-yay, another chapter done. Honestly, typing the personal moments was rather tough, especially when they weren't 'connected' yet. I just have to remember: Elizabeth suspects, and Knockout tries to hide it. Yep. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and expect he next one to come.
Over and Out, guys!