The entire way back into the city, Knockout didn't say a word or take his hand off of the stasis cell. His feelings were still all a jumble, and he was uncertain how things were going to play out once he and the bot were both conscious and looking at one another.

The two were seperated for only a short time as the cell was taken to be defrosted and opened. Because of the nature of the stasis his son had been in, it still would be an hour or so before he'd regain consciousness, which allowed Knockout to mentally prepare himself.

Knockout stood across the room from his son's limp frame, lying on the medical berth silently as his systems slowly began to awaken. The medic stroked his chin, whispering quietly to himself. "...'Look, I'm not mad...' Oh who am I kidding? I'm furious!" He hissed, rubbing his temples. "...I can do this. Hold your tongue, and be civil Knockout... Stay calm..."

It was cold. His joints ached whenever he even thought about moving, which considering the amount of pain he was even already, wasn't often.

"Wakey wakey Wildbreaky…"

Wildbreak's processor snapped him back into wakefulness at the sound of that voice. He knew it almost as well as he knew his own. His optics opened, staring blankly at a bright light above him.

What had happened…? Oh yes. He'd been on Earth's moon with the rest of his crew, trapped as Menasor to crush the Autobot combiner, but failed…

"Wildbreak…"

The singing tone came again; that same, smooth voice that he used to nod off to sleep listening to. He hadn't seen the owner during the battle, so either he'd been back down on the surface, the Autobots bringing them there…

…or more time had passed than he'd realized.

The blurriness of his visuals cleared, and he was able to make out the light of a medical examination room, and his entire chassis ached from the hits he'd taken. Surely they'd have healed by now…or he'd been in stasis the whole time.

The light vanished as an arm pushed it out of the way, then replaced by a mech's head appearing in his vision. "There are those yellow optics…"

"You…" Wildbreak's optics stared at the crimson bot looming over him. He had hardly changed, aside from a few new scars on his chestplate. "…You're here."

"Yes, I am. Now hold still."

Wildbreak waved a hand to bat away the medic's hand, sitting up on the medical table. "I'm fine, really."

"I'll be the judge of that…"

Wildbreak jumped as the medic grabbed his left arm tightly, his voice lowering to a hissing whisper. "You are fitted with a transformational inhibitor which prevents you from activating vehicle mode as well as any weapons you are fitted with. There are also two guards directly outside of that door that will bust in here and restrain you if you make any attempt to attack me, plus four more positioned down the corridor in case you manage to escape this room…Got it?"

Wildbreak nodded, his optics wide as saucers as the crimson bot slowly backed away from him, going to a scanner. "…How long has it been since Earth's Moon?"

"Weeks, months…How should I know? You're back on Cybertron, though…" He overlooked the scanner, and then picked up a tool. "Open up."

Wildbreak hesitated for only a moment, and then his chest plating folded back, revealing his inner components still covering his spark chamber. "You really don't have to worry about me; I can take care of myself now."

"Oh really? If you can take care of yourself, then how come just a few cycles ago, you were locked up in a stasis pod after being arrested for theft, destruction of property, illegal street racing off-planet and several other offenses?"

Wildbreak grimaced, not just from the medic naming off offenses on his record, but also as something organic was yanked out of his components. "You know about that?"

"Did I forget to tell you that I have a pretty good relationship with Lieutenant Bumblebee and his team back on Earth? And our new High Council, for that matter!" He slammed the wrench down on the table, "Yes. I know."

Wildbreak opened his mouth to speak, but the words left his processor, leaving just a hard sigh as his chassis slumped. "…I'm sorry, Knockout."

"Well that's not going to cut it, Tiny." Knockout replied, "And what did I say about calling me by my official designation?"

"…Sorry, Dad."

Knockout paused, picking up the tool again and looking down at the floor before his grip on the wrench tightened and his chassis creaked as he trembled. "…What if you'd been seriously hurt out there? I can't lose the only other bot I've ever really cared about… I've lost one; I'm not going to lose you too! And on top of that, you know you have a condition! You can't be putting yourself under stress all the time."

"I know… I tried to tell them, but they didn't seem to care."

"Well there's Stunticons for you… They don't care about much of anything except fusing together into…whatever."

"…How bad is it?"

"I don't much care what Motormaster and the rest of them got for sentences…" Knockout smirked, "…But I used my good looks and charisma to negotiate a lesser punishment for you… Seven Stellar Cycles of Community Service."

"That's lesser than they intended!?"

"Yup… Significantly lesser."

Wildbreak slumped on the table further. "…I'm sorry…I just wanted company…It was lonely after you…You were banished."

Knockout sighed, closing up Wildbreak's chest compartment. "…It's a good thing that got sorted out, too…"

"That day…I didn't know what to do. I wanted to go with you, you wanted me to stay."

"Well it turned out to be a good thing you stayed. If you'd been with me, you'd have seen me fall into pieces." Knockout took a few steps away, looking at the floor. "If they hadn't found me, I don't think I'd still be online…"

He was quiet for a moment, and then chuckled. "I was so focused on finding a way to revoke my banishment, to get back here to you, that I completely ignored taking care of myself. That should tell you how much I wanted to come home."

Wildbreak looked down at the floor, "…I'm sorry…If there's any way I can make it up to you-"

"You can start by letting me finish examining you…And then we're going to get that nasty Decepticon symbol off your chest. It completely clashes with your coloring!"

"…You haven't changed."

"No…And really, neither have you…Now hold still."

Wildbreak held still for his father to continue checking him over, but he paused as a whistle came from the hall. Knockout placed his tools down, giving a hard sigh. "Can I help you, Girls…?"

A pair of young, twin femme bots poked their helms into the room, giving big grins. "Are you always this intimate with your patients, Doctor…?" One teased.

The medic resumed his work. "Depends on what needs to be worked on… Aren't you two supposed to be studying?"

"Oh we are…!" The other replied, her optics closing a little as she looked at Wildbreak and then gave a wink while the other wiggled her eyebrows.

Wildbreak's fans burst into overdrive as his systems started to heat up, and he placed a hand over his spark as he looked away.

Knockout must've noticed, because he turned and pointed out the door. "That's it. You're flustering my patient. Out."

The twins giggled and then hurried off down the hall and out of sight. "Sorry about that…Don't mind the twins, they do that for fun."

"Do they…Do it often?"

"Unfortunately…Alright, hop off."

Wildbreak climbed off of the table, grimacing as his joints creaked. He took a few limping steps, stretching his legs and arms a little before giving a yelp as the wrench smacked him in the back of the helm. "OW!"

"And don't ever be that stupid again, Wildbreak... I mean it."

Wildbreak rubbed his helm as he looked at his father's glare. "...Yes sir..."