CHAPTER 37
The Inside Mech

Riley shifted in the cage quietly, swallowing hard. The fear in his body was more than painful, it was lonely. The problem being that Riley, after all these years, was used to the loneliness. What he wasn't used to was this kind of loneliness. The type where you knew someone was out there looking for you, and knowing all you could do was wait for them to find you. Airachnid had left a while ago, where to, he wasn't sure, he didn't much care either, he just wanted to avoid the Decepticon at all costs.

Riley trembled slightly as a chill moved through the air, he could hear the sound of footsteps, and felt his body tense. All Riley could do was try to be quiet, just as he had every time that Airachnid spoke to him. But out of the corner of his eye, he quietly noticed who it was, and could not, in all reality believe his eyes. "BREAKDOWN?" He shouted.

The mech's good optic hit him in moments, looking just as surprised to see him. Riley could even detect a hint of anger as he watched Airachnid enter as well. "Riley?" He questioned, then turned to Airachnid "Let him out of that cage." He snapped.

Airachnid smiled cheekily, chuckling to herself. Riley could slowly feel his heart sink as the reality of this truly hit him. Breakdown, someone he had considered a friend, and whom he trusted, had never turn coated. This was all a ruse, and the way he acted was a ruse too, he knew it had to be true. "I told you that your findings had given me what I needed." He noted.

Breakdown narrowed his good optic at the Decepticon, anger lifting in his spark. "I won't let you hurt him, Airachnid. Using him was never part of the deal." Breakdown snapped, his optics meeting Airachnid's "You swore to me that you wouldn't hurt him. Our fight's with-" He began.

"Breakdown, don't tell me you actually like the human?" Airachnid chuckled, amused "Would you like to keep him as a pet."

Breakdown had cared about only a handful of people in his many centuries of life. Not many had honestly cared about him either, so he supposed it may have been bitterness. But he would be lying if he didn't say the thought of Riley wearing a collar and being his pet sickened him to the core. "You're sick. He's a human being, a child." He noted.

"An animal." Airachnid jested "Come now, Breakdown, he'd look good with a cute little-"

"Let him out." Breakdown demanded.

"No."

Breakdown could hardly contain the anger building up in him at the moment. Anger, it had been a long time since he had last felt that, but he sure as hell felt it now. Eyeing Riley, he could imagine what Airachnid already had planned for his young friend. He didn't like any of the options, and he knew that child of their enemy or not, he wouldn't let harm come to Riley. "Fine, play it that way. I'll take him as a pet." Breakdown spat "Now let my pet out of that cage."

Riley couldn't believe the angry side of Breakdown he was seeing. He had always figured an angry Decepticon was a dangerous thing, but he'd never before imagined that he'd get this angry. And about... Him? Riley wondered what had come over the Decepticon, but he couldn't quite wrap his mind around what it might be. "Very well." Airachnid sneered, making her way over, and opening Riley's cage "I'll just have to make them believe I'm holding him here." She plucked the boy out "He'll never be hurt." She noted.

As she dropped him into his hands, Riley found him held protectively against the mech's chest. Even though he was unsure of what had just happened, he knew he in the safe hands of a friend and not an enemy now. "And you can call off that collar." Breakdown grunted.

Breakdown had him out of the room faster than Riley could blink. "You're working for them?" Riley stood in his palm, staring up "That's why you live by Dad. You've been spying on us." The mech was silent, guilt in his optic "I trusted you." He explained.

"Riley, calm down, and shut up until we get to my quarters."

Though Riley wanted to argue, the harsh glare that Breakdown gave told Riley his best bet was to listen. Breakdown's quarters weren't far away, they reached it within moments and he found himself gently set on a table. "Okay, we're here now, start talking." Riley snapped.

Within moments, Riley finally understood what was going on. Breakdown had reached into his oversized desk, and brought out what was the Autobot equivalent of a badge, which read clearly "AUTOBOT RECON FORCES". Riley's eyes moved up towards the mech, stunned out of his mind. "You mean... You're...?" Breakdown nodded his head a little "But, Dad even called you a-" He began.

"We had to keep up my cover." Breakdown spoke quietly "As long as they thought I was still on their side... The easier it would be to bring them down from the inside." He took a long, and deep breath "I knew I shouldn't have told them about you, I should have known they'd... Ugh, I hate being new at this thing." He rubbed the back of his helm slowly "You're bruised." He noted.

"That Lockdown guy dealt me one hell of a beating." Riley muttered "Does my Dad-?"

"Yeah." Breakdown replied simply "He knows how deep in I am too, which is why no one could know. He probably knew exactly where we were the second Airachnid talked." Riley made an "oh" shape with his mouth, still stunned "I turn coated the moment that whole business with Knock Out went down. But I've been undercover ever since." He added.

"So that's why you were so concerned about me that night on the road."

Breakdown nodded his head slowly, there was no question that he had developed a loyalty to Optimus Prime. Though he had not been the first mech he was loyal to, he stood far more for his ideals than he once had stood for Megatron's. "I get out of character sometimes, I guess." Breakdown sighed "Don't worry though, with Prime on his way I won't be in-character for long." He noted.

"In-Character as in... How you used to be?" Riley questioned.

Breakdown nodded his head slowly, not afraid to admit that as a Decepticon, he had not been a "good" mech by any means. "Don't worry though, I won't hurt ye. I just need to put up a ruse long enough to get you out of here before the fighting starts." He shook his head slowly "And believe me, with your Dad coming there is one hell of a fight coming." He explained.

"Him and Ironhide." Riley muttered.

Breakdown groaned. "Oh great, he doesn't like me at all either." He muttered "But don't worry kid, you don't have anything to worry about now that I gotcha away from her." He pointed to himself with a thumb cockily "Nothing's gonna get past me." He explained.

"But you'll blow your cover." Riley raised an eyebrow.

Breakdown shrugged his shoulders a bit, indifferent to that. To be honest, he had grown very tired of pretending. He was tired of a cause he didn't even care for anymore to begin with. At the end of the day, he did, in an odd way, look forward to just being an Autobot. "I'm tired of being a soldier enough as-is kid." Breakdown noted "Trust me, I look forward to just being a civilian Autobot for a while." He noted.

"I can't imagine that will last long." Riley replied.

"Probably not." Breakdown shrugged "Hence saying "for a while"."

Riley nodded a little in response to that, understanding his standing on the subject. He rested his body against the large desk as Breakdown calmly checked the blaster pellets within his gun. "Listen Riley." He turned his head slowly towards the mech "I just want you to understand one thing. If anything happens to me before this whole thing is over. You just keep going, alright?" He noted.

"What do you mean?"

Breakdown knew that Riley wasn't catching onto the fact that he might be killed in the battle. Perhaps it was the boy's simple naivety, or perhaps it was something else, but the mech couldn't help but sigh. "Forget it, kid. Just... If we have to separate, or if I'm hurt." He carefully finished loading in a few more pellets "Your safety comes first in this whole thing, being a civilian, alright?" He explained.

"Yeah, I get it." Riley nodded.

The sound of a blast and an alarm nearly made Riley jump out of his skin. But within moments, he had found himself atop Breakdown's shoulder, clinging onto the crevices of his plating. It didn't take rocket science for Riley to quickly realize that both mechs had arrived, and they had done the exact opposite of Airachnid's demands. "Hold on tight, kid." Breakdown turned to the boy "Things are about to go straight to the pit." He added.

As Breakdown charged from his quarters, Riley could only hope that would end up being nothing more than a figure of speech.