Knock Out is reaching a critical level of confused frustration.
Arcee and Smokescreen have a chat and a problem.
AN- This chapter's flashback is actually just integrated into the present, so no specific scene occurs in the past.
"Now. We still need to talk. Smokescreen, get over here."
Here it came.
Ratchet prowled closer and Knock Out failed to hold his ground despite his smarting feelings telling him to bristle out. Curse autobot softness for rubbing off on him and making him cower-
"Yes?" he drew out the word, face a fabricated caricature of innocence.
The older medic didn't buy it.
Bouncing over in a way that hinted he had no idea what was coming, Smokescreen slid up to Knock Out's side. The rookie grinned at him and ribbed him with his elbow.
Bad move. Knock Out glared.
"See this?" he gestured to himself. "It takes time and effort to reach this level of perfection and it's too easy to mess it up."
Since the other didn't seem to understand what he meant, the medic thought to express himself in simpler terms:
"No touchy."
It seemed that whatever he'd said was funny, at least to the other speedster. From what interactions they'd had together on Cybertron before Smokescreen had been assigned to visit radio-dead colonies, Knock Out figured he probably was amused. The medic adjusted his face to be smiling just like the rookie's was.
It was a chameleon expression, but he'd been using that method since staying with the bots on Cybertron.
...a lie, of course. Life had always been about acting. The real decision for the idealist was deciding which acting troupe to join.
Well, Smokescreen was far from the role model that Optimus was. But in the moment, it seemed best to latch to him. Of course, the last time he'd done that he'd just about had a spark attack facing down Soundwave and falling from an airship. Maybe hanging with Smokescreen wasn't the best of ideas.
The rookie ribbed him again and laughed. Knock Out elbowed him back.
Besides, it was fun. It had been on Cybertron and it was here.
The only downside really was just the glare Ratchet was shooting at them and all it entailed.
"If you two are quite done yet..." the medic growled and both younger mechs straightened to exaggerated attention.
"That little stunt you pulled with Raf still needs to be discussed. We're all about to embark on a mission to revive our home; neither of you get to mess around like you did there. Smokescreen, you're new here. You haven't gotten the chance to discover how we operate. We don't go taking stupid risks like bringing Jack to the same location Megatron is or running around on the decepticon warship!"
Knock Out snickered (he always had enjoyed watching the dressing downs on the Nemesis, so long as they weren't addressing him or Breakdown), although the noise stopped as soon as Ratchet had turned to him.
"And you-" the cranky mech started.
Scrap. His turn.
"You should know better."
Dammit, he sounded so sad. But that didn't work. It didn't make sense. This Ratchet didn't have any of the stake in him that the other Ratchet had. Did he?
They'd barely interacted in the medbay. The only emergencies they'd worked together on were Breakdown, but only in the forest on-scene, and Bulkhead, that time Wheeljack had snapped at him.
In a way, it felt like that just precluded all this.
I thought you were the first to accept me
But they didn't mind turning on him.
Wait, wait- all this was an overreaction. You should know better? That just meant Ratchet did believe in him!
Why did he have to feel both crushed and elated at the same time? That sort of bogus dissonance should be illegal. The omega lock needed to hurry up and revive Cybertron so that Knock Out could give Primus a piece of his mind about his emotional design. Ugh.
That entire train of thought just derailed in so many areas it made his head spin. What even had been his original point? Ratchet kept talking before he could figure that out.
"You've been here longer than Smokescreen; you should have remembered what Optimus's first rule here is." Ratchet ran a servo down his own face in frustration. "No putting the humans in danger. They've already got enough risk just by being so small and unprotected. And you broke my rule as well: no putting yourself in stupid danger."
Once, when the older medic had been paying a visit to Cybertron in the earlier days after the war, Knock Out had caught him sitting on the very edge of the Well. Too close.
'Put the damned thing in his spark,' the mech had said. 'In his spark. Like a fool. He knew that was a one way fix.'
There hadn't exactly been any wiggle room in interpreting that statement. The defector had awkwardly sat down next to his new mentor and wondered what, exactly, the autobot thing to say would be.
'Maybe there was a way to get rid of the Matrix of Leadership without sacrificing his own spark. If it could change Orion into Optimus, certainly the process could've been reversed. But he didn't give me time to find that way. He didn't give me time to fix anything. I could have done something. I could have saved him. He didn't let himself get the chance to be saved. Damned fool. Always such a stupid idealist when it came to sacrifices.'
It had been odd to hear complaints about Optimus from someone who wasn't a decepticon.
Even weirder to hear him insulted by the one bot the Prime had always seemed closest to, judging by the stories.
Arcee had agreed that it wasn't really about insults. 'Believe me, he's more upset than he is mad. Ratch, he...he just happens to grieve like this. Getting mad. Telling the person he feels like he's failed off for being stupid. It's deflection.'
'It's guilt.'
Of course Ratchet's number one rule would be for the team to keep themselves out of danger. He was the one who got most upset when someone got hurt.
Knock Out wished he could empathize to that strong a degree. It was something impressive, even if it did seem to shoot the old medic in his own pede more often than not.
"Who do you think fixes you up when you go decide to pick fights with Soundwave or jump off an airborne warship? Hm?" Ratchet was pointing at both of them and Smokescreen started to make a noise that sounded suspiciously like a drawn out 'ohh'.
"Wait," the rookie frowned suddenly. "I'm hearing what you say, but that doesn't match up. If Optimus says we can't hurt humans, why did you get rid of all that Tox-En instead of giving it to Airachnid-"
"We don't take risks!" Ratchet snapped, cutting Smokescreen off. "This team does not!"
Liar, liar- Knock Out resisted the urge to say the taunt out loud. That was what he'd do if he was still on the con warship. Not here.
"I'm just wondering why we're being lectured by you about this, and not-"
It seemed Smokescreen had pushed too far. Ratchet's expression had gone cold with fury. He pointed out of the medbay with a shaking finger.
"Get. Out."
Apparently, living in dissonance between words and actions wasn't something only Knock Out had to go through.
Ratchet preached a good talk, but he didn't follow up on it. His reasons were good and rational and meant to save more humans and cybertronians...and they still made him far from the perfect one to do the lecturing, didn't they?
A part of Knock Out figured that Optimus was the only one who could truly give a lecture without some measure of hypocrisy in play.
The other part of him felt crushed at the mere idea of Optimus giving him a lecture. No thank you.
Speaking of the Prime...
Optimus wanted everyone to convene together by the groundbridge. Up on the ramparts, the three human kids watched the proceedings. Agent Fowler had joined them, frowning from where he stood.
Filtering in late, Breakdown and Bumblebee seemed to be attempting to sneak in without disrupting anything. Someone really ought to tell the big blue mech that 'sneak' was not a technique he could rightly attempt.
"Autobots. We now embark on a mission of utmost importance." Optimus looked over each of them gravely. "The other relics we have found pale in comparison to the omega keys; we must act as swiftly and diligently with these final four relics as we did with the former weapons."
Most of the bots in the room nodded.
"I have decoded the first of the four coordinates," the Prime turned to look at the main screen, where the Iacon database was open. "You will divide into teams and await my signal; the first team should be ready to depart now. I must not waver until I have decoded them all; the future of our home world depends on it. Understood?"
This time, the nods were less absent and more purposeful responses to a nearly rhetorical question.
"Good," Optimus gave one of his rare little smiles.
"I'm on team one!" Smokescreen raised his arm quickly. "Who's with me?"
Not Knock Out, that was for sure. Falling through the sky to his ever approaching doom was the last time he'd ever go with the rookie on a mission.
"I'll go," Arcee stepped up, lacking all the hyperactivity of her partner.
With those two volunteers, Optimus gave a nod of his own.
"Then Arcee and Smokescreen will travel to the desert region of Egypt to retrieve the first key. Bulkhead and Wheeljack will bridge to the second set of coordinates when I decode it. Knock Out and Breakdown will retrieve the third."
Wait-
This...this was the first mission he'd officially been sent on without another autobot's supervision! So despite his little mishap with Smokescreen, the doctor was still trusted enough to not just run away with the key?
He was beaming so hard that he barely heard the rest of Optimus's orders. "...will wait until the last set is decoded and then he and I will head for it together. Ratchet will remain with the groundbridge."
"I'll get us started then," the older medic said, stepping to the bridge controls and entering the coordinates for Arcee's team.
Smokescreen waved forward at the tunnel and flashed Arcee a grin. "After you, sir! ...ma'am. Commander?"
The two-wheeler walked right past his blustering and into the summoned vortex.
It was a peaceful area on Earth. A real slice of ideal forest beauty, like the type of place he'd see in a human romance movie. Or maybe a slasher film. There were quite a few of those set in the middle of isolated woods.
There was a still lake reflecting the cloudy sky and not a sound could be heard.
Well, that probably just meant that they were the only ones in the area. After all, not many cybertronians were good at being quiet and humans were always obnoxiously loud.
Knock Out let the arm holding his staff relax. It looked like there wasn't going to be a fight after all. Next to him, Breakdown also let his hammer drop a bit; though not enough to show he actually was relaxed. Knowing him, the guy probably wanted a fight.
Truth be told, the doctor was itching for one too. In the old days, the two of them could go head to head with Optimus Prime himself. They'd done it at that Greek museum, hadn't they?
Those days weren't exactly the 'good old days', but they certainly had had their perks.
"Hey-" Breakdown started up.
He didn't exactly elaborate.
"Yes?" the smaller mech had to prod.
This time, his partner did continue. "I've been thinking lately."
Already, the blue mech's tone had him nervous.
"Isn't that my job?" Knock Out tried for a laugh.
Instead of hearing banter back, Breakdown quickly said a simple: "Yeah."
Oh.
Turning away from the device working on pinpointing the relic, Knock Out faced his assisstant down.
"I was joking," he said. Breakdown looked unimpressed.
"Why?"
Well, that wasn't the question he was expecting.
"I just mean," his assistant tried, swinging one hammer back and forth. "You do do the thinking for us. You make the decisions. That part is as normal as always."
Of course it wasn't! Knock Out had been very good lately about not making all the decisions.
"So why do you keep acting like everything is different?" Breakdown continued. "Why don't you let me act normal around you?"
Not long ago, on the top of the base, he'd said 'You're right'. And what had Knock Out's response been? 'of course I am, but what about?' That was a prime example of them acting 'normal' around each other (and here he'd been trying hard to not be his version of normal and instead be more like the bots version of the word; if that conversation was an example of a failure, then it happened more often than not. So why was Breakdown whining?).
"Because-" the medic started up loudly, stalling as he realized he didn't know what to say. "-Because I'm trying-we're not-I'm better now. I'm listening to you when you do think. Haven't I been?"
Obviously he had. That literally was a part of this new conversation.
The other mech still looked odd. Distraught, even. Or mildly so.
"Why'd we have to change?" he asked. "Weren't..."
As an impatient mech, Knock Out wanted to rush the other forward to finish whatever thought he'd left hanging.
But he didn't. Because he was better than that. Because he could do this.
He could bottle every damn thing up so that he was talking about others.
All the time. Discussing their problems. Making sure they were okay.
Until he just about managed to explode-
"...We were good, weren't we?"
They were. They were delightful. Sympatico, Brainstorm would say (had said, far too many times in fact; the weird seeker was a fan of the word). Because they'd always done what Knock Out wanted and never had an issue with it.
But that wasn't actually ideal. Doing that just meant the medic had longed for his partner to get another lease on life so that he, Knock Out, could discover what it would be like to have Breakdown talk about himself.
They were unhealthy and one-sided.
They were friends and Breakdown missed that. He missed that.
How was he supposed to only make one of those 'were's into a 'still are' without dragging the bad along with it? Especially when it seemed like his partner missed that mess more than he liked their current duality?
Knock Out looked at the tree behind his assistant and mumbled: "The best."
He only accepted the best, after all.
Alright, so he was with one of Optimus Prime's top lieutenants and she didn't look altogether happy with him.
But he was still in the field! He'd been sent with a really important autobot to retrieve a really important relic!
The only possible conclusion to draw was that Optimus believed in his ability to get the job done.
And Arcee's.
But still.
Smokescreen was delighted.
The scout, on the other hand, seemed less than enthusiastic. She hadn't even told him what her proper title was.
How was he supposed to work with her if he didn't know her title?
Alpha Trion would probably be telling him to get his priorities in order. Smokescreen shook off the thought.
They directed into the weird human triangle thing and the rookie realized that conversation was sorely lacking.
Perhaps it was because Arcee herself was still sore on certain subjects.
He should be a big bot and apologize for those subjects.
"Hey, um, Arcee?"
She didn't glance behind herself. Smokescreen tapped his fingers together and continued nervously. "I-I owe you an apology. I never meant to endanger Jack."
And he didn't! He just thought the guy would have fun going out on recon with him! The human was a cool guy and Smokescreen had wanted to impress him, that was all.
It hadn't really struck him how easily a human could get hurt until he saw the weird dark stuff oozing out of Jack's mom's arm.
"I-Humans...squish...easily," he mumbled, "I get that now."
And he did- so he'd taken another cybertronian on his next mission. No more human sidekicks, never again. Even if he missed having friends he could have at his side. People his age who weren't dead. Like the human teen really had seemed to be.
But he would be good now. He'd limit hanging out with Jack to truly sterile environments. Arcee wouldn't have to be mad at him forever.
"This isn't just about Jack-" the femme spun on him. "Team Prime can't afford any casualties: not human or bot."
Wow, she was serious. Maybe he could ask her to give him some lessons on how to manage his own expressions. No way he'd be underestimated if he learned to glare like that.
"I've already lost two seasoned partners," Arcee's stoic voice gave a slight crack. "I don't need a rookie on my scorecard."
Ohh. Smokescreen felt even worse about putting Jack in danger now.
"Not gonna happen-" he tried to reassure. "Elite guardsman's honor."
Already, Arcee had turned to continue down the human tunnel.
Smokescreen's brain caught up with her words and then he was jogging after her with more questions. "Wait- you lost two partners?"
The femme glared behind herself.
"It's a war, kid. You may have missed most of it while in stasis, but start grasping that now: the cons shoot to kill."
Wh-he-he knew that! She didn't have to treat him like an idiot!
They didn't really spark up conversation again until they'd found the mound of rocks the relic hid under. Then they got to banter a bit and that reassured him that he hadn't made her all that upset. She was pretty cool too; far older than Jack, but still a fun bot to hang around.
And he just didn't want to get on her bad side. That was there too.
The omega key itself was a weird rusty thing. Smokescreen had looked it over and nodded. Yup. That was Iacon craftsmanship alright. Good old beardy did his job well every time. Here he was, saving Cybertron from beyond the grave. Alpha Trion was no Optimus Prime, but he'd been a madly impressive boss regardless.
The two autobots tried to call for a bridge and realized they couldn't reach the base through the rock and sand. Not that it was a huge deal or anything. What exactly was wrong with going back out...side...
Waiting for them on the sand was the last person any autobot ever wanted to see.
The dark lord himself.
Arcee reacted faster than him, bringing her guns out and pointing them furiously at Megatron. The con warlord chuckled.
"The relic," Megatron growled. "Now."
Fat chance. Smokescreen snorted. "Two against one," he reassured his partner, "We can take him."
A different voice interrupted that train of thought. It graveled as it laughed from somewhere behind them. Both bots spun around without thinking, placing their backs to the worst con to ever live. His massive servos landed down on both their shoulders and made their knees buckle from the new weight and fear alike.
And only a short distance away, two red glares pointed down at them from the primed guns of the spindly mech crouched on the side of the pyramid.
"Oh, I assure you," the seeker grinned "-you can't take us on."
AN- Hello again! Just wanted to remind you that this gets updated far slower than the version on AO3. Perhaps that's why the AO3 version has over 700 comments while this one has far fewer. For the two of you that have reviewed, I want to give a big thank you. Your support is greatly appreciated :)