Author's Notes: Hi everyone, and welcome back to the story! I think this is the most consistent I've been with updating a fic in quite some time, which surprises me since this was never meant to be a grand project. I suppose keeping things casual with this fic has been helpful for making me want to write it. I've had a lot of fun with this story thus far, and I feel like there are so many directions it can go in. Also, I would like to thank Impressionsguy for helping me come up with the first part of this story describing Breakdown's first official day of work. Hope you all enjoy reading, and please review :)
Chapter 4
The Coil
Breakdown rushed down the halls after his combat training with the other Stunticons to get to the medbay for his second day of work. He had mostly gone over his cadaver report and talked shop with Hook the day before, but on this day he would be expected to help Hook with patients, so he needed to know what he was doing.
When Breakdown got to the medbay he noticed that the massive room was empty. Scavenger had been discharged from his curtained-off part of the room, and Hook was nowhere to be seen. Breakdown smiled in relief, realizing he was early. He decided to pull out his data pad and look over the information one more time so he wouldn't look like an idiot on his first day.
"Alright, let's see where we left off," Breakdown muttered to himself as he sat down on a berth with the data pad, "According to this, 'The cause of death appeared to be a heart attack, and he was only discovered after the cleaning lady barged into his apartment despite the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door.' Huh, this must be a scenario puzzle. Let's see, uh...'The FBI raided his home after death in the hopes of discovering plans for a death ray. He was 86 years old.' Wow! That's young. Poor sparkling. Wait a minute, isn't a heart a human organ, like the mucus tube or something? Why am I- Aw, scrap! This is Dead End's book on Nikola Tesla!"
Breakdown facepalmed when he realized he had grabbed the wrong book from the Stunticon common area. That meant Dead End was probably rifling through his medical textbook at that moment. If he was lucky his brothers wouldn't delete his files just to annoy him.
Just then the doors opened and Breakdown nervously turned around to greet his new boss, only to see that it wasn't Hook at all. Skywarp had come into medbay clutching his neck cables and looked around for the medic. This could only end badly.
"What are you doing here, Skywarp?" Breakdown asked, and then realized he might have sounded rude, "Uh, not that I mind that you're here! I mean, you're my superior officer, so you can be wherever you want, right? Heh heh..."
Skywarp opened his mouth to say something, but the noise that came out was a strange bouncing static, like a glitching sound effect in a video game. Breakdown cringed at the odd sound, and then Skywarp helplessly pointed to his neck cables.
"Is something stuck down there?" Breakdown guessed.
Skywarp nodded rapidly and sat down on the berth quickly, expecting the young apprentice to help him. Breakdown winced when he saw Skywarp lay down; knowing he wasn't ready to work with a real patient without Hook yet.
"You're gonna have to wait," Breakdown told him, "Hook should be here soon."
Skywarp tried to protest, but all that came out was that same skipping static noise. Breakdown didn't know what to do, and Skywarp was looking at him. He hated it so much when mechs looked at him. He always feared they were plotting against him, or were about to get mad at him, or were secretly readying themselves to steal his soul. He didn't know if mechs had souls, but if they did he wanted to keep his where it was thank you very much.
"What do you want from me?" Breakdown whined helplessly.
Skywarp forcefully pointed to his neck cables again, and looked annoyedly at Breakdown. Clearly Skywarp wanted to be fixed and he wanted it right now. Breakdown knew this was a terrible idea, but he didn't want Skywarp teleporting into his room to steal his mech-soul, so he cautiously approached the mute seeker.
"Okay, so how did Dead End and I get to Lucille's vocalizer?" Breakdown asked himself, and Skywarp shot him a quizzical look, "Stop staring at me!" Breakdown yelled before continuing his train of thought, "Okay, we clamped the cables on either side and used a small laser scalpel to open the tracheal tube. Okay Skywarp, I know what to do. Just hold still."
Breakdown then rummaged through Hook's tools trying to determine which laser scalpel would be the best one for the job. He settled on one that was kind of large but not so huge that it would scare his patient. Then again given how annoying Skywarp was, Breakdown wondered if it would be okay to use a large butcher knife just this once. He shrugged and decided against it, however.
Breakdown leaned in close to Skywarp to concentrate on where he would make the incision, and then he began to cut at the metal tube shielding his vocalizer and intake systems. Skywarp felt the hot tip of the blade and intense pain shot through his body. He bolted upright, knocking Breakdown in the face in the process and causing the Stunticon to drop the scalpel; which skidded under some cabinets.
"Hey! I said hold still!" Breakdown snapped at Skywarp.
Skywarp tried to yell at Breakdown, but it still came out as glitching squeaking static. It would've been funny if Breakdown wasn't worried about losing one of his boss's tools. Breakdown knelt down to try to retrieve the scalpel while Skywarp yelled at the inept Stunticon in static language.
Hook came into the medbay just in time to see Breakdown reaching under the cabinets and Skywarp squeak-yelling at him from across the room. Hook didn't know what this meant, but judging from the clamps still holding Skywarp's neck cables in place it could not be good.
"Breakdown!" Hook shouted, and Breakdown screamed and jumped up on his feet, "Breakdown, what is going on here?"
"Um, uh, you weren't here sir, and uh, uh, Skywarp, he needed help, and uh..." Breakdown stuttered nervously, "...Skywarp made me do it!"
Skywarp tried to deny it, but he still didn't have his voice back.
"I've heard of the devil making you do something, but this is the most literal example I have ever heard," Hook sighed, "Breakdown, wash the handle of that scalpel and then observe as I operate on this teleporting buffoon. If I ever catch you circumventing my authority again you will be forced to give sponge baths to the other Constructicons for a year. Do I make myself clear?"
"Ew," Breakdown replied in disgust, "Oh, uh, I mean, yes sir. Crystal clear, sir."
"Don't mention the word crystal in this medbay, soldier. Oh, and wash your servos as well as that scalpel," Hook ordered.
"Yes sir. Right away sir," Breakdown replied while he walked quickly toward the sink.
Hook then led Skywarp back to the berth, and while the seeker was reluctant at first he did as he was told once Hook assured him that Breakdown would not perform the actual surgery. Skywarp accepted that answer and obeyed. Breakdown returned to Hook's side, and Hook explained where Breakdown went wrong.
"Alright my blue brutish pupil, first of all you must restrain the patient," Hook explained in an even tone as he activated energy cuffs for Skywarp's wrists and ankle joints.
Skywarp screamed a static-filled scream as he struggled to break free, but Hook didn't even act like he noticed.
"Next thing you do is administer a painkiller to the patient through their IV," Hook continued his lesson, "Part of our job is to alleviate the pain of our patients. Of course this only applies to Decepticon patients and not Autobot prisoners. Are you with me so far?"
"Yes, sir," Breakdown nodded, "Sorry I didn't do that, sir. Lucille didn't need pain killers, sir."
Hook arched a brow ridge at that comment, but then decided he didn't need to know. He continued the operation by waiting for the painkillers to take effect and then carefully making the same incision Breakdown tried to make. Breakdown carefully watched every move Hook made, and hoped Hook didn't mind the way he hovered over his shoulder. Once Hook peeled away the layer of metal shielding the area he immediately found the problem with Skywarp's vocalizer, and frankly even Breakdown would've been able to see this one.
"Is that a spring?" Breakdown asked incredulously, "What kind of moron swallows a spring?"
"It appears to be from a human's mattress," Hook noted dispassionately, "Now, do you know the best way to remove this from the speaker area of a vocalizer?"
"Um...Use your digits to hold back the mesh and then slowly uncoil the object in a twisting motion to remove the offending screw?" Breakdown replied uncertainly.
"Screw? Let me guess, you're quoting your textbook?" Hook surmised.
"Yeah," Breakdown replied sheepishly, "Hey, better my textbook than Dead End's. Otherwise I would've waited for Skywarp to die and then broke into his room to steal his death ray."
"His what?" Hook asked; puzzled, "Oh, never mind. Just watch what I do."
Hook then slowly twisted the coiled spring out of Skywarp's vocal mesh, and when the pointed tip got hung on the sensitive area Hook rubbed a little grease on his digits to make the object come out in a smoother manner. Once the spring was out there remained a small hole, which Hook had to fix using aluminum thread for stitches.
"Wow, you made that look so easy," Breakdown said in awe, "I could never be that calm when looking at something that gross."
"Maybe not now, but you will be comfortable with the process someday," Hook assured his pupil, "For now just gather as much information as you can, and don't try to do this on your own just yet."
"I won't. I promise," Breakdown replied sincerely.
Once Hook was finished with the procedure he welded Skywarp's tracheal tube back together and put his neck cables back where they belonged. Hook then deactivated the restraints holding back the flighty seeker. Skywarp got up from the berth and rubbed the area Hook had just fixed, then smiled approvingly.
"Thanks, Doc," Skywarp said; grateful to be able to speak, "Well, gotta run."
"Wait a breem," Hook ordered dryly, "Skywarp, how did you get a spring stuck in your vocalizer?"
"Rumble dared me to eat it, along with some other stuff we found at a junkyard," Skywarp replied casually, "I made 50 credits."
"Get back on the berth," Hook demanded in a longsuffering tone of voice.
"What? But why?" Skywarp whined.
"Because if you ate more metallic objects then your tank won't be able to digest them and they will sit in your system until they rust, which will make you very sick," Hook explained, "Trust me, I know. Scavenger has eaten some things that would make you purge your fuel tanks. Now, on the berth!"
"Yes, carrier," Skywarp replied mockingly, but did as he was told.
"You're gonna open his fuel tanks?" Breakdown asked apprehensively.
"Don't worry, Breakdown. This procedure doesn't require any welds," Hook assured his protege, "I simply unlock the mechanism on Skywarp's cockpit that allows me to remove it from the floorboards to the roof. Once it's off I'll have access to his inner workings, including his fuel tank. I simply remove it, empty it of all contents, and then put it back inside his body. It's a job that requires heavy lifting but no surgical precision. In fact, this might be something you can help me with."
"Don't let him help!" Skywarp protested, "He almost killed me!"
"He gave you a booboo," Hook dismissed Skywarp's claims, "Breakdown is still learning, and if you want to avoid an infected tank you will lay still and allow us to do our jobs."
Skywarp grumbled but had little recourse. Hook was the only real medic on the ship, and if Hook wanted his intern sticking around and hauling his cockpit like a mule then Skywarp couldn't do anything about it.
Hook used a small wand with a red light at the end to get Skywarp's cockpit loose. Breakdown tried to remember the technical term for it, but he couldn't. He could only remember it held some sort of medic's override code that allowed them to access high security areas in a mech's body. Breakdown knew that was an incredible responsibility, but it still made him fear Hook. After all, he literally had the keys to every Decepticon on the ship. What if Hook used that power for evil?
Once the cockpit was loose Breakdown was ordered to carry it to the other side of the room, which he did without hesitation. He was just glad to be useful so that maybe Hook would forget he screwed up. Once Breakdown returned he could see that Hook was already lifting a large metal cube out of Skywarp's body.
"Is that his tank?" Breakdown asked.
"You tell me," Hook replied knowingly, "You removed one of these from your protoform, didn't you?"
"Oh yeah," Breakdown smiled as recognition hit him, "Yeah, that is the tank. How are you gonna get the stuff out?"
"Simplicity itself," Hook replied confidently.
Hook then showed Breakdown a closed-off hole with a sliding door on the upper side of the fuel tank. This was where the feeding tube would connect Skywarp's fuel intakes to his tank. Hook used his wand to open the little sliding door and then dumped the offending small objects out of Skywarp's tank and into the sink. Once the task was complete, Hook reattached the tank and ordered Breakdown to bring him back the cockpit.
"That was really fast," Breakdown commented.
"It all comes with experience," Hook replied, "And Skywarp. I expect you to stop taking dares from Soundwave's brats."
"But it was 50 credits!" Skywarp argued.
"Yes, 50 credits, which I will expect from you," Hook replied impishly, "You forced me and my apprentice to waste our time on you. I expect full compensation. I'm keeping the things you swallowed and I want those credits."
"Yeah right, you can't make me," Skywarp scoffed.
"I can't, but Devastator can," Hook blackmailed the haughty seeker.
"Oh, alright!" Skywarp snapped as he went through his subspace to find the credits, "Here, take 'em. Con artist."
"Decepticon artist," Hook proclaimed proudly, "Oh, and I do hope to not have to see your aft in here again anytime soon."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Skywarp grumbled as he left the room.
Breakdown couldn't help but laugh at seeing the purple and black seeker walk away with his metaphorical tailpipe between his legs. Even though Hook scared Breakdown as much as Motormaster and Megatron, he had to admit that working with Hook was more fun than he expected. The older 'Con seemed eager to teach and grateful for Breakdown's help. He didn't get that from anyone else, and for once in his life Breakdown felt good about his work.
"Help me clean up this berth Skywarp was on," Hook ordered Breakdown, "We have to sterilize the berths whenever there is a lull in our patient traffic. The cleaning fluids are in that cabinet over there on the top shelf."
"Why are they up so high?" Breakdown asked curiously.
"Mixmaster," Hook replied as if that explained everything.
Breakdown didn't know much about Mixmaster, but he heard people say that the Constructicon chemist was rather mad. Actually, when Breakdown thought about Mixmaster's personality, it kind of reminded him of his own brother; Wildrider. He wondered if Hook had to deal with psychotic outbursts from his brothers the way Breakdown did with Motormaster and Wildrider.
"What was Mixmaster like when he was new?" Breakdown suddenly asked while they were cleaning.
"New?" Hook asked in confusion.
"Yeah, like, new. Like my brothers and me," Breakdown clarified.
"I didn't know him then," Hook told him, "My gestalt brothers and I weren't like you and your gestalt. We met as adults when we all applied to the same construction team on Cybertron, and we didn't become Devastator until we joined Megatron and became Shockwave's first experimental combiner unit. Decepticons invented combining and Autobots stole our idea. Never forget that."
"I won't," Breakdown replied, "So, you weren't always with your brothers. What was your life like before that? I don't know much about Cybertron, and anything you can tell me about living there would be cool."
"Well, to give you as short a version of my life story as possible," Hook began, "I was born in the city of Altihex to an aristocratic family from the medical caste. In my time only certain mechs and femmes were even allowed to work in the medical field, and we were paid quite handsomely to do so. I was a socially isolated sparkling and focused most of my life on books. I enjoyed learning about politics, medicine, and architecture. I was close with my carrier and respected my sire, but that all changed in my adult life when I decided to change careers. You see Breakdown, despite my family's wealth and status, Altihex was a city comprised of mostly poor working caste mechs and femmes. Even after I became a medic I saw how they struggled, and though I offered a discounted price for my services I felt that I could do more. Then the earthquake happened."
"Earthquake?" Breakdown asked nervously, "Was everyone okay?"
"No, sadly not," Hook replied, "There were quite a few deaths, but more than that there were hundreds that were displaced from their homes. When I volunteered to donate replacement limbs as well as my services as a surgeon, I met the construction crews that worked on rebuilding the city. That was when my passion for architecture was reignited, and I decided to switch careers from medicine to construction. My creators never forgave me despite the grand projects I would go on to create. I and my fellow Constructicons even built the Crystal City."
"The Crystal City?" Breakdown interrupted, "What's that?"
"The Crystal City, otherwise known as Praxus, was essentially a playground for the rich and influential," Hook explained, "It was an environmentally stable and beautiful city made of over 100 types of naturally grown Cybertronian crystals. Scrapper was the true brains behind that operation, but we all worked together to build it."
"Wow," Breakdown gasped.
"We were also the ones to destroy it," Hook told him.
"Oh," Breakdown replied awkwardly at that bombshell.
"Like I said, I also cared about politics and the plight of impoverished mechs," Hook continued, "When my friends and I had the opportunity to do something constructive about the situation we leapt at the chance. Megatron was a hero to mechs and femmes that felt as if they had no voice and no power in our society. The citizens of Praxus were blithering dolts that had no idea what most of us went through just to survive. The situation hit its peak during the famine. That was when we truly could take no more."
"What's a manin?" Breakdown asked obliviously.
"A famine," Hook corrected him, "Is a period of time when there is not enough fuel for everyone. Cybertron has been unable to sustain its growing population for eons at this point. That is why we travel to planets such as this one to search for more sources of energon. You're very lucky to have been born here, Breakdown. Your tank is always full and your processor gets everything it needs to thrive. I've seen many mechs go mad, and others even die because of lack of fuel. Meanwhile the citizens of Praxus would bathe in energon even while the common people starved. The beauty of Crystal City became an ugly reminder of those that had left us to die. It had to be torn down so that its sparklings might know our suffering."
"Whoa, that's pretty intense," Breakdown remarked, "I've never torn anything down to say anything before. I just break things because it's fun."
"This isn't fun, Breakdown," Hook warned him, "This is a fight for survival. The Autobots destroyed our way of life once, and we must not allow them to do it again. Either we survive, or they survive. Those are the only outcomes left to us. Now, let's go over the different sizes and functions of the scalpels again..."
