Author's Notes: I am sorry I did not post yesterday, but up until an hour or so ago I was madly animating for a deadline for tomorrow. Even if I had had time, I wondered if people would think I was piss taking for April Fools seeing as I have done so in the past on here...aaannnywhooooo...

Enjoy!

Chapter 11 - Bound To Be Trouble

The red optics onlined slowly, but recognition was far away.

He looked around lazily, unsure of where he was. Grumbling softly, Knock Out rolled onto his side, hissing a little as he felt a slight stiffness throughout his frame from the forced stasis.

Something was different, but he wasn't sure what.

His vision was hazy, but that didn't really bother him either. After letting out a slight whine as his chassis jerked, indicating he'd been electrocuted into stasis, he felt something brushing his plating.

Glancing up, he blearily made out some yellow optics in the darkness.

The claws...yes, definitely claws...continued to stroke him gently, making him feel a tickling warmth in his spark. Giving a light moan, he wondered why the being before him wasn't doing more.

"Do you know where you are?"

He recognized the voice, but his laggy processor only continued to waylay anymore information. Shuttering his optics to try clear them, Knock Out squinted lightly at the being, managing to make out the black chest plates.

"Pred-" was all he managed to say though.

"Yes, I am here" Predaking answered, uncaring of whether Knock Out could speak right now or not.

The red optics traced back up to the yellow ones, a slight confusion evident. Sighing lightly, the predacon carefully pulled Knock Out up into a hug, finding the red mech barely move.

"Do you know what happened?" the beast continued as he overlooked the still confused mech.

Knock Out frowned slightly. "I'm...here" he shook his helm, a little bit of static in his vocals as he looked around hazily once again. "How did I get here?"

The predacon continued to watch him carefully, aware startling him would only cause him to crash in this state. "I brought you here"

"Why?"

"My precious Knock Out" Predaking stated lowly, gaining optical contact once more, "Something told me to rescue you...and it was correct. The autobots were only going to cage you like a monster and probably experiment towards curing you"

And then his processor kicked in. He remembered feeling funny, and apologizing to Smokescreen...but then...nothing.

"But...I have to go back..." Knock Out spoke quietly, attempting to clamber out of Predaking's arms, but finding himself further restrained.

Giving him a sympathetic look, the predacon stated equally as quietly, "They said you can only return if you can control this"

He whined softly, burying his helm in the black chest plates before him. "Bunch of slaggers..." was all he muttered.

Shushing him, Preadaking pulled him higher into the embrace, creating a muffled purr as Knock Out hugged round his neck immediately. Smiling, the predacon spoke softly. "I am here for you, I will look after you"

"I love you" Knock Out mumbled, making Predaking pause for a moment.

Though both knew the other loved them dearly, neither had ever said so to the other before. He let out a deep purr, resting his chin atop the beautiful red helm of the mech in his embrace. "I love you with all my being, desirable Knock Out"

This made the red mech smile, nuzzling Predaking's neck in affection. "Predaking..." he whispered, feeling happier than ever before.

The beast chose not to respond, merely content with embracing the one he desired so much at that moment. Feeling Knock Out shift his helm to look up, he moved his own so he could gaze down at the little red mech.

Smiling warmly, Knock Out seemed to choose his words carefully. "Do you think...we could...sparkbond?"

Surprised, Predaking mulled it over. Predacons weren't known for sparkbonding, hence why they marked their mates with venom, but they did contain sparks much like other Cybertronians...so it was possible, if not highly probable, that they could. Not much thought had ever really gone into such an act.

"I do not recall predacons bonding like that, but for you...I would be willing to try it" he stated evenly, finding Knock Out pull him into a deep kiss the moment he had uttered those words.

The pair continued the kiss, Predaking stroking the red plating carefully while Knock Out clutched onto his black plating tightly. Breaking away, Knock Out smirked, suddenly parting his chest plated and revealing his spark chamber.

Predaking stared in astonishment, watching in awe as the silver spark came into view, the glass covering sliding out the way to allow him access. Thinking carefully, then soon having to concentrate more as the action did not appear natural to him, Predaking managed to mimic the action, his spark almost double the size of Knock Out's and fiery orange.

With a handsome smirk, Knock Out shifted himself downwards a little bit, still able to gaze at Predaking. "You ready for me?" he asked cheekily.

"I always am" Predaking purred, leaning down and kissing the red mech desperately.

Not wasting a moment, the red mech quickly pressed his silver spark against the larger fiery one, feeling intense energies overcome him as he did so.

All in that moment, there was no doubts that they both truly loved one another, as their sparks revealed everything to the other. In an instant, Knock Out could see as Predaking had. How he had stood out compared to the other mechs on the Nemesis, how he almost glowed in comparison... It made his smile widen, as he let out a small purr as they continued to kiss through the bonding.

Predaking on the other hand was seeing Knock Out's memories...how he'd been terrified by him at first mostly due to the sheer size comparison, how he had noticed the dragon watching him all along, how he had never seemed too unfazed by the idea of the predacon's advances...there was a lot Predaking was glad to know. He even found the red mech had missed him quite a lot after battling Unicron for Cybertron.

Their spark energy surged more as they began to reach their peak, making Knock Out arch his back and break the kiss, still purring in content. Growling, Predaking could feel overload starting to take them both over, their systems attempting to synchronize to each other.

Knock Out whimpered lightly as the energy assaulted him, feeling Predaking pull him once again closer. Managing to lock his now flickering optics on the yellow ones, Knock Out managed a slight smile before screeching out in overload.

At that moment, Predaking growled before letting out a powerful roar, shuddering violently as his spark split off from Knock Out's so suddenly.

He flopped down a little, less energy than before, but gasped slightly as Knock Out clattered to the ground heavily.

"Knock Out?" he asked quietly, his whole chassis feeling heavy as it tried to regain energy.

"I'm fine" Knock Out moaned slightly, "Just...tired"

The beast let out a sigh of relief, carefully moving to lay next to Knock Out. The red mech shuffled into his side and let out a small sigh, feeling a deep warmth in his spark as Predaking gazed at him lovingly.

He sent a small wave back before offlining his optics with a small huff. It wasn't long before he was back in recharge.

Also forced to relent staying online, Predaking made sure Knock Out was cuddled safely into his chest plates before falling into his own recharge.

Unfortunately, due to lack of energy, the beast had not noticed the ominous invader in his domain. The red optics twisted as the figure smirked at his chance.

"Fools"

Moving forward, they gently managed to pull Knock Out from Predaking's embrace, and then gave the predacon a once over.

"You know, I could extinguish your spark right now beast...but I've got something to settle with both of you, so it would be much too kind to you"

Onlining, Predaking felt his chest plates were still open, so with a huff, closed them. It was only then he noticed that he was alone.

"Knock Out?" he asked gently, not getting a single response. Jumping up, he looked around quickly, but still did not spot the red mech.

This was odd, considering the red mech should still be in recharge...but he could half expect Knock Out to wander off...couldn't he? Then again, in all the time he'd known Knock Out, the red mech had never left him, even when he awoke first.

With a slight growl, the predacon carefully left his private area, quickly noticing signs of disarray in the main lab. Rushing in, he was relieved to find the other predacon clones were still okay, but some of the equipment had been tossed around and the rest stolen.

"Darksteel, Skylynx" Predaking grumbled, finding the underlings before him within moments. They remained silent as the leader brooded for a moment over the situation, "Did either of you notice anything out of place within our home?"

Laughing slightly, Darksteel smirked, "Apart from your pretty mate?"

Skylynx was quick to get back on topic, attempting to smooth over any anger that Darksteel's comment may have caused their king. "I thought I heard something earlier in the lab, but I assumed it was merely Knock Out"

"It couldn't have been" Predaking stated with a hiss, "He was in recharge"

"Um...maybe he woke up and went home?" Darksteel suggested, still seeming a bit lax about what was going on.

Turning a deep glare on the silver and blue predacon, Predaking trembled in clear anger. "Do you not comprehend the situation?! Knock Out was kicked out by the autobots for they feared him, and now he is MISSING!" he yelled, his yellow optics never once flickering away from the less serious of his underlings. "AND YOU TRY TO TELL ME HE JUST LEFT?!"

Skylynx frowned slightly in thought, moving away and and leaving Darksteel to the angry king.

"Um...it was just a suggestion" Darksteel flinched at the look, trying to edge away, but failing as he stumbled over something on the floor. "WAIT!" he screeched as Predaking approached, quickly picking up the datapad and looking at it. "Was this always here?"

Shuttering his optics, Predaking silently took the device, clicking a button but soon growling louder. "HE DARES TAKE MY MATE!" he roared, throwing the datapad back at Darksteel. "I WILL DESTROY THAT SEEKER!"

"Starscream?" Skylynx questioned from his spot, "I thought we left him for dead"

Darksteel snorted as he scrambled up, "Must have had one pit of a time recovering though"

Ignoring the comments, the king continued as he straightened, "Predacons, we must retrieve Knock Out" he turned to face the pair with an angered expression, "We can not allow that torturer to further exist"

After a small nod, Darksteel transformed and sniffed about, easily catching Starscream's scent. Giving a slight screech in confirmation, the others transformed and they all began tracing the rogue seeker.

Predaking flew up first, roaring in aggression. He may not understand the bond yet, nor know how to use it to his advantage, but one thing was clear...Starscream was openly threatening his mate. He had come back and deliberately stolen Knock Out to get at both of his foes.

He only hoped they could find him soon, for Predaking did not know what the seeker's plan was, nor what lengths he'd go to torture both of them.

More Notes: Dunn dunn dunn! I said scrap was hitting the fan from last chapter onwards. What does ol' Screamer want? Heh heh.

Also, I'd like to say I've never seen sparkbonding as anything highly sexualised, hence why it's present without a rating change...I work on the basis, if I can tell my childlike minded sister (who is freaked out by kissing for pete sake) about it and she doesn't freak out, then it's okay...and spark bonding she's fine with, so yeah.