CHAPTER 26 - POV Knockout

Knockout arrived back at base a lot later than he anticipated.

Rylee was supposed to pick him up again at 5 AM. When she hadn't appeared, the inspectors needed him out of their garage for other inspections, and decided to take the drop-off into their own hands. He was now within a car carrier trailer, hopefully on his way back to base. Or they could be trying to steal me. I really, really don't have the patience for that right now. I might just have to step on them.

Knockout's mind was littered with questions, though. First of all, how did they not notice he was… obviously not a real car? Did they just not care? Or were they foolish enough to not see the differences? Whatever, it didn't matter now. But the real question that plagued his mind was why Rylee had not picked him up. Sure, she may have overslept, or may have got caught up with something else, but it was 9:30 AM. It's been four and a half hours. Where was she? Did she... forget about him?

That was another thing that pained him. Being away. Sure, it was torture being stuck in a strange garage alone without anyone to talk to, but he worried for her sake as well. He never mentioned it to her, but he noticed her nervous breakdowns at night. Was she fine without him?
Of course she was. She's got Smokescreen and Thundercracker and all the kids there with her. Why would she need you? It's why she never picked you up, Knockout. She doesn't need you anymore.

Knockout shook away the foul thoughts as the car carrier stopped, and gently let him down in front of their hangar. The workers cautiously knocked on the door to the hangar, and after a minute or so a very tired Miko opened the door. She blinked, the sunlight blinding her. She obviously just woke up.

"We've got a car for… er… Rylee Amari?" the worker asked, looking at a clipboard. "Is she here?"

"Um…" Miko rubbed her eyes. "Is that Kno- I mean, the race car? You can leave him - it , I mean - here."

"Yeah, but we need to see her to have her sign off on -" the worker began. "You know what, whatever. Sign here, it's your responsibility now. It's her fault for not picking up the car hours ago." Miko gleefully picked up the pen and put her signature down on the paper, a wild mess of jagged turns.

"Here's the keys. I -" he looked closer at the keys. "What is this? This isn't even the same brand as the car?"

"But it works, bro," Miko responded. "Just trust it." The worker shrugged and passed it off to Miko, who stuffed it in her pocket.

"Are you even old enough to drive?" He finally asked, taking his clipboard back. "How are you going to get it inside?"

"Wow, you think I look young? What a compliment," she said apathetically. "Thank you for the car, and goodbye." She curtly closed the hangar door. Knockout internally rolled his optics. Miko! Get back out here!

The workers shrugged and took off, and after a few minutes of making sure there was nobody else around, Knockout transformed into robot mode and snuck inside, closing the door behind him.

"Miko! You just left me out there?" Miko was back in her sleeping bag, drifting off to sleep already.

"Yes?" she responded, eyes still closed. "I can't drive , can I? Do that yourself."

"Even I know it's suspicious to leave an expensive race car just stranded outside." Knockout scanned the room.

Miko giggled. "'Expensive' race car. You really know how to compliment yourself."

"Are we actually talking about this ag-" Knockout froze. Nervousness slowly found its way into his spark. "Miko. Where's Rylee?"

"Huh?" Miko looked up at him, squinting.

"Where's. Rylee?" Knockout asked, getting closer. Not only was her sleeping bag empty, but it was haphazardly thrown about, like she left in a rush.

"I don't know. I just woke up. She isn't here?" Miko sat up.

Knockout walked past her. "Jack. Jack, wake up ." Jack was fast asleep, next to Rylee's empty sleeping bag. After ignoring his orders, Knockout got fed up and lightly pushed Jack with his foot. "Jack. Wake. Up ."

Jack jumped awake, and a minute later found himself staring up at Knockout, who was crouched in front of him and frowning. "Wh. What? What'd you kick me for?"

"Jack, where is Rylee ?"

Jack blinked for a moment, getting his bearings. When what Knockout said finally hit him, his eyes grew wide and he turned to the sleeping bag next to him - empty.

"What? She's not here?" Jack asked frantically. He grabbed his head. "Oh god… did I fall asleep? I fell asleep. This is all my fault."

"What? What did you do?" Knockout growled.

"She asked me to stay awake for her." Jack got up and started searching around the hangar. "She wanted me to stay awake until Thundercracker got back, because she was afraid. And I stayed awake… for a little but… but I guess I fell asleep because now I'm waking up and both Rylee and Thundercracker seem to be gone and -"

"'Got back ?'" Knockout asked. "Thundercracker went somewhere? Did he tell you where or why?"

"Ah… no. He just left. He just…" Jack grabbed his head again. "I can't believe this. Do you think Thundercracker did something with Rylee?"

"Wherever Rylee is, she's in danger," Knockout said sternly, heading to the hangar door. "We have to go find her and -" Just as Knockout got to the door, the loud noise of a jet echoed above the hangar, and in a few seconds it could be heard landing right outside. Knockout's optics grew wide, and he quickly threw open the door. There was Thundercracker, right in front of the hangar. And climbing out of the cockpit was…

Rylee?

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Thundercracker said quietly. "What if things get tense and -"

"I'll be fine, Thundercracker," Rylee said quietly in response, a certain solemnity in her voice. "What I need now is privacy."

Rylee's feet touched the ground and Thundercracker took off, now a speck in the distance. She walked toward him, but wouldn't look up at him.

"Rylee!" Knockout ran toward her, full of nervous joy. He had no clue what was going on, but she was back and safe and that was all that mattered. "You're alive! We were about to start looking for you!"

"Yeah, I'm alive," Rylee said bitterly, not looking up at him still. There was something in her voice he couldn't quite place… it sounded as if she'd been betrayed . What happened?

She walked right past him, to the entrance of the hangar. Finally, she looked up at him. But somehow that made everything worse. Because those eyes were filled not with hatred… but of hurt . She looked at him in a way she had never before.

And slowly… Knockout realized… it was because she was looking at him . The real him. For the first time. Anxiety gripped his spark… he didn't want to believe it. But deep down he knew. He knew that she knew.

"Knockout?" Rylee breathed out, that one word trying to contain an expanse of emotion. A look of hopelessness. Her face then hardened, her eyes taking on needles that stung him. "Knockout," she locked eyes with him again, a certain remorseful resolve. "We need to talk."

Author's Note

Sorry I took so long to update but I'm back! Thanks for reading!