A/N: If I can think of what the macaroni & cheese incident is beyond a funny joke, I may write a one-shot. But it was mostly meant as a one-liner, just to be clear. :)

...

CHAPTER 10
The Truth of the Past

Breakdown already wished he could leave the meeting before an hour had even passed. Most of the former Decepticons that had shown up were the ones that had remained neutral, and while that was fine, they were a rather eccentric group. Most of them didn't really socialize outside of the meetings, being among those who were mostly shunned by society, belonging to neither faction and being known to be less-friendly. Though Breakdown had, during his time in recon ops, had pretended to be one of them, over the years, he had come to realize he had very little in common with them.

Taking another cube of high grade, he groaned to himself quietly. If, perhaps, any of his actual former-Decepticon friends were there, he may have actually been partying. But to say the least, he didn't plan to talk to any of them, but rather remain spectator in this meeting. I wonder if it's too late to go pick Luke up early? He thought inwardly with a sigh.

"Breakdown!"

Breakdown nearly rolled his singular optic at the voice, of course, he'd be here. Taking a deep breath, and cursing under his breath, he quietly turned his head towards Barricade with the fakest smile he could muster. In human terms, Barricade was the only brother he had, and much to his disdain, the rather irritating mech had far from become a neutral, he'd stuck his nose in the Autobot faction and never left. "How have you been little bro?" Barricade asked, half-dazed, clearly a little drunk "Didn't know you were coming." He added.

Breakdown shifted a bit, for a moment, silently wishing he wasn't related to the rather drunk mech.. His optics meeting his much larger brother's own dimly red ones, he grunted a bit. "Good, I uh... Have had a couple of complications in my life as of late, but they've been for the better." Breakdown shrugged his shoulders a bit "I've had a house guest for the last couple of months."

"The femme kind of house guest?" Barricade questioned with a cheeky grin.

Breakdown frowned, shaking his head a bit at the mech. Of course, as per usual, Barricade was oblivious to the fact that Breakdown had never been that type of mech. Though he had often been in relationships before, it had never been anything that serious, and that wouldn't change anytime soon in his opinion. Though the older mech and him had never had a great relationship. He did love his brother, who obviously did annoy him, but he had never had a big impact on his life other than convincing him to join the Decepticon cause to get away from his Mother. He shuddered at the thought of her, while his Father had been a cold mech at times, he had at least tried to be a good Father when he was sober.

His Mother on the other hand had left them after he was born, and returned when said-Father died, only to treat him like a burden. In some ways, Breakdown was glad she had disowned them both when they had joined up with the Decepticons. Yet, even if Barricade had saved him by doing so, it hadn't actually helped that at the same time, Barricade had been gone nearly the same amount of time as his Mother had been, except perhaps, a visit here and there. And even after they'd joined up, Barricade had not made much of an effort to build a relationship even then.

"More like a ten year old human boy." The look of shock on Barricade's face was unbelievably priceless "I took in one of the human kids from the center I work at, his parents were abusing him and... I'd kinda grown attached." He explained, though he was sure the mech only got half of his explanation "I'd been meaning to call and talk to you about him." He added.

"Well slag, never thought I'd be an uncle!"

Breakdown was surprised by the grin on the mech's face as he clapped him on the back. Barricade had never been the type to get excited about family, but then again, neither had Breakdown. Family for them had always had some serious repercussions, and he had even mentioned the boy was of a different species. "Well, you're not legally one technically." Breakdown explained calmly "I haven't adopted him, and I'm not sure I will." He admitted.

"So?" Barricade brought an arm around his brother calmly "Foster Uncle, legal Uncle, point is we have more family than our..." He nearly spat as he prepared to say the word "Mother." He finally spoke "So, when do I get to meet the little tyke?" He questioned.

Breakdown eyed him calmly, noticing the sincerity in what he said. Though he knew the mech was drunk, he also knew how to tell when he was being serious. Looking down, and sighing softly to himself, he nodded a bit. "You still live in Vegas?" Breakdown nodded his head a bit "Sober up, and come by my place in the morning, I'll be happy to introduce you two. But tonight, I think I'm gonna bail on all of this and pick him up. I'm tired, and honestly, this isn't what I was expecting." He explained.

To his surprise, Barricade didn't insist on meeting him then, seemingly still clinging to a small ounce of sobriety. "Sure thing, little bro. I'll be by tomorrow after work." Barricade nodded his head slowly "Drive safely, okay? You've been drinking." He added.

"I should be telling you that. I hardly had half a high grade."

As Breakdown left, as much as he hated to admit it, he felt a little glad he had run into his brother that night.

...

The moment Riley had asked him to sit down when his holoform showed up, Breakdown knew something was up. Taking a seat on the couch with his holoform, the mech half-expected he might need advice himself. Yet at the same time, he knew the boy before him wasn't the sixteen year old he had once befriended in Jasper, Riley was now a well-rounded, and happy adult, with a great family who loved him. He knew that it couldn't be a problem with him, so he could only guess that something had happened that day.

"Luke told me about the trial." Riley sighed quietly, staring into his eye calmly "And I think... Going by what he's said to me, you really need to have a talk with him." Breakdown leaned back a bit, curiously "He told me a lot of things Breakdown, how his parents have pretty much... Convinced him that they're all he had." He took a deep breath "Because they found him..." He began.

"Excuse me?"

Riley peered back up again, confused at the way Breakdown had said that. It was as though he knew something that Riley didn't. "Well, yeah... According to Luke, they found him abandoned in a dumpster..."

The sheer amount of rage that filled Breakdown's face caught Riley off-guard. The boy went silent, knowing that Breakdown would explain it, and also knowing asking would just set him off. "That's a blatant lie. Because I happen to know they didn't." Breakdown said firmly "Because I was the first person to see Luke when he was abandoned, and it certainly wasn't in a dumpster." He noted.

Riley tilted his head, without a doubt, completely confused. "What?"

Breakdown sighed, leaning forward a bit, he eyed the room he knew the boy was sleeping in. "You know how I left the Decepticons after Knock Out off lined, right?" Riley nodded his head slowly, listening "Well, the first place I was stationed... For a very short time before I was assigned by recon ops to pretend to still be on the Decepticon's side... They had what you humans call a "safe haven" law." Riley nodded, knowing about that "Ten years ago, I was doing work there, the usual stuff... When I found an infant boy just outside the base, dropped off, bundled..." He explained.

"Luke."

Breakdown nodded his head a little bit, smiling. "I even got to hold him and take care of him a little bit before social services came. I'd never had the honor to hold an infant before so... Well... It was interesting, but I managed." He explained, taking a deep breath "Later on, after that day, I inquired about what happened. I found out that he'd been adopted, by the family that took him in. But I didn't know much else because it was only a few weeks later that I got my assignment." He explained.

"So when he showed up at the center-"

"I figured it had to be him. Kinda ironic, right? How many people can say that happened. Except maybe that one kid found by the fireman decades ago." Breakdown stood, crossing his arms a bit, taking a deep breath "It's why I attached myself to him quickly. I felt a connection to him, y'know. He was only barely a week old when I took care of him." He grimaced "How could they tell him he was thrown away? Make him feel so unloved by his own parents?" He asked, rather angry.

To tell the truth, Riley was pretty angry too now that he had told him that. There was a big difference between what Luke's parents had done, and outright abandoning him. What Luke's parents had done for him was out of love, not out of spite. "Maybe so that he would really feel no one wanted him?" Riley shook his head "Trust me, Breakdown, he feels that way. Like his real parents didn't want him, and well... They did. Not for the right reason, but they "wanted" him." He explained "And he's afraid to go against them in court because of that."

"I want him!" Breakdown said, quite hurt "I explained that to him." He shook his head "I've cared about him since he was barely a week old..." He noted quietly.

Riley paused a moment, and stared the mech in the eye, sighing. "Then maybe it's time you let him know the truth." Riley told him, being as calm about it as he could "Let him know that not only did his biological parents probably love him... But you do too." He commented "Maybe even let him call you Dad? I know that was big for me when Ironhide let me do that. And Chromia let me call her Mom." He added.

Breakdown was silent for a moment, he looked at Riley, and nodded his head slowly. Riley was right, Luke had the right to know that he had been loved by his biological parents, and loved by him on that level. If it would help not only give Luke the courage to testify, but build even more trust up in him, then perhaps it would be worth it. "You have a good point." Breakdown said quietly "I'll talk to him." He said quietly.

He just hoped it would go as well as he expected.