CHAPTER 21
Mastermind

Luke's eye had long since swollen shut from the beatings, the blood trickled down his lip, and his body hurt all over. It had only been five days, and he'd finally let him off the chain and in the house, not that it had done him any good. At some point in the time, Ridgeway had gone into a deranged fantasy Luke didn't quite understand, in which Luke was still his son, and as a result he had been treated "better" or as better as he could be treated. It was only then that Luke truly realized one fact: Ridgeway had lost his mind in prison, and he was the victim of his fantasy.

"Your Mother should be home soon." Ridgeway commented half madly "Why aren't you eating yet? I thought you loved her cooking."

Luke peered over at Ridgeway, his form blurry, especially being only able to see with one eye. "She's dead, Ridgeway. She was killed in prison." Luke shook his head "Please, I am begging you, just to let me go." He shook his head "You can't keep me here." He finished quietly.

Smack!

Luke whimpered quietly as the fist collided with his stomach. The holoform of Ridgeway smirked quietly, clearly taking great joy in tormenting Luke. Perhaps he wasn't out of his mind, Luke surmised, perhaps he was just trying to make his life hell. It wasn't the last blow either, he felt the fist come down again, and again, the pain building higher and higher. "EAT YOUR FOOD YOU LITTLE VERMIN!" Ridgeway shouted.

The last was a backhanded smack to the swollen side of his face that sent him toppling off his chair. "Ridgeway, please." Another punch, this time, Luke could feel one of his teeth pop out "I'll eat..." Luke sobbed quietly "I'll eat." He added quietly.

Luke dragged himself towards the bowl of stew as the mech form of his former caretaker watched on with great satisfaction. He could barely keep the food down anymore, though he knew better to vomit, lest he be beaten further. The sound of a doorbell made his head shoot up nearly instantly, and though he wanted to cry out, he could feel the boot of Ridgeway's holoform dig into his back slowly. "You shut up." Ridgeway spoke as his robotic form kept his gun out slowly "Don't even TRY to run." He added.

A few days ago, Luke may have given in. But hurt, bleeding, and angry, he found the strength to rise to his feet and run. He could hear the Autobot's footsteps bounding after him, his legs nearly giving out. "Somebody help me, please!" Luke had barely made it to the door, pounding on it as it flew open and nearly knocked him on his butt.

"I told you to rough him up. Not to beat him senseless."

For a moment, Luke was confused, but the next thing he knew a shot had fired, quite loudly. He looked up as Ridgeway collapsed against the ground, the blast in his head had taken most of his face with it. A hand reached down, and ripped Luke to his feet violently. As Luke tried to struggle, he could feel the grip on his arm worsen. "This is what I get for getting the help of a fragging convict." He noted "I wanted to do this job myself." He added.

As Luke finally faced the mech, he knew Knock Out on sight. Breakdown had told many a story about his old friend, the medic, the dead one. But for a dead mech, Luke noticed he looked pretty damn good. "You're dead..." Luke managed to speak out as he pulled against him "Uncle Cliff ripped you in half, you're dead." He muttered.

"I had friends who helped put me back together, luckily my spark had survived." Luke felt the snap in his arm, and screamed "Stop squirming, or I'll break something else." Luke felt as he was shoved violently to the ground "I come back from hiding to find that my old buddy is taking care of you. That he's gone soft on me." He then nodded "That's why I hired him, why I had him bring you out here." He noted "This is my home." He added coldly.

"W-W-Why are you doing this?" Luke cried "What did I ever do to you?"

Kicking the mech for good measure, the red mech turned to look at Luke with a chilling smile. "You're my ticket to getting Breakdown back to the right side." Knock Out replied, his words like venom "Especially when he sees you in this condition. Just barely clinging to life, practically." Luke felt his body shaking "He was never going to come back to me without you. Now he has no choice." He then adds "Because I have you." He then added "Even if it took breaking that lunatic out to do it." He added.

"Breakdown won't join you." Luke replied hoarsely "When he finds out you let this happen to me, he'll-"

He felt a kick against his side, as he screamed as loudly as possible. The next thing he felt was an arm wrapping around him and hoisting him across a shoulder, he was being carried, away from Ridgeway's corpse, down a hallway. Luke could barely make out where he was taking him, but he did know one thing: he wasn't going to like it. "He'll join me. Because if he doesn't, I'm going to have a little fun with you." Knock Out chuckled "Hold on, this'll sting a little."

The feeling of cold metal moved through Luke's body as he was laid on a table just bellow the mech that had once been his Foster Father's best friend. "Stay right there." Knock Out chided as he stepped away "Don't move around too much either, that broken arm needs to heal." He snickered quietly.

"What are you going to do to me?"

The mech smirked slightly, coming upon a small syringe, he carefully looked it over. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you anymore." Knock Out grinned rather maliciously "I just need to put you somewhere until I can get Daddy to co-operate." Luke squirmed violently as Knock Out came closer "Now, now, don't fight it." He felt a prick in his arm "When I'm done with you, you can still be his little pet." He commented quietly.

...

Luke's eyes opened to darkness, at first, he thought he may have been dead. But he slowly realized the four walls that surrounded him, he stared around quietly, trembling, trying to move. His broken arm burned worse as he moved, though he was too scared to really take in the pain. "Luke." Knock Out spoke from somewhere above "Stop fighting, I've sealed that crate pretty tight. You need to conserve your energy and your air." He commented.

And that's when it hit Luke...

Knock Out was burying him alive, and the only way Breakdown would ever see him again was if he joined Knock Out. It was this mech's attention to make sure that if Breakdown didn't join him, he was going to let Luke suffocate. He'd be in some unmarked grave in God knows where, his beaten and battered body probably unearthed decades, perhaps centuries later. He could hear dirt hitting the top as bits of it seeped through the cracks in the wood, his cries drowned out by the dirt that clearly buried him in his wooden prison.

"Help me, oh God, please don't do this." Luke's words barely exited his mouth.

"You have four hours down there." Knock Out sneered from above "You'd better pray Breakdown loves you as much as he claims he does."

He could hear the car drive off, leaving him alone bellow the Earth to wait. To wait in the silence for Breakdown to come, for a miracle to happen. He could only silently wonder if Breakdown loved him enough to give himself over to the enemy for him. If he'd die under there never knowing. The only answer he had was darkness, and silence, as he let out a scream he knew no one would hear.

...

"He's been missing five days Breakdown."

Breakdown peered up at Cliffjumper silently, shaking his head a little bit. "He's not dead, I know he isn't." Breakdown pressed his metal hand against his spark gently "I've known that boy since he was barely a few weeks old. I share a connection with him few can say they have with their sparklings." He then added, quite quietly "I Just know that he is still alive." He added.

Cliffjumper stared at Breakdown with sympathy, though he knew it may have been false hope. He wanted to find Luke alive too, but Primus knew what the boy had been going through the past few days. Chances were they would never see Luke again, and in all honesty, he knew it. "All I'm saying is-" A beep grabbed his attention "Hold on, I'm getting a call." He noted.

Moments passed, and the moment Cliffjumper's optics fell, Breakdown knew it was bad news. "Yeah, I know his new comm line." Cliffjumper told whomever was on the comm quietly "But I swear if you hurt that boy in any way-" He stopped, turning to stare at Breakdown "Alright, I'll patch you though." He noted.

Within moments, Breakdown's comm had turned on, and the sound of a voice he never thought he would hear again filled his receptors. "Been a long time, partner." Knock Out commented with a demented glee.

Inside, the betrayal Breakdown was feeling could not be described in words.

...

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. I needed a little break, and to decide if this twist would happen or not. But either way, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. :)