Monkey See 4
A Transformers Prime Fanfiction
Answers
Knockout glared sullenly at the wall in front on him. The paneling in question offered very little of interest, just a few dents made by Bulkhead's crews. He gave a long exvent and rolled his shoulders stiffly. In less than an hour Jack would be out of his meeting with Bumblebee and the Ultra Magnus. Knockout still had time to make up his processor. That wasn't the issue. Nor was it really a question of whether or not he would say yes. After all Arcee was looking fabulous. There was no way in the Pit he wasn't going to avail himself of something that did that to living mesh. He had done far worse over the course of the war to keep looking good.
No, the problem was that all those millennia of being a Decepticon were screaming at him to say no. Those were instincts that had kept him alive. He hadn't yet learned to ignore them. The world was changing and his habits were going to have to catch up eventually. For now they screamed that it would be showing weakness, accepting charity.
"The war is over," he muttered darkly to himself.
Knockout stood as his chronometer showed it was time to go meet Jack. He stashed the chit with the measurements of his current mesh health he had taken in a storage fold on his arm and sauntered to the barely erected biodome. He wanted hard evidence of any improvement.
Granted that Cybertron's atmosphere had been remade in an almost perfect imitation of Earth's it was still a wild and wooly place. The biodome offered a near perfect environment for humans. Not quite tropical conditions with a blue sky and a small lake in the center. More importantly the human friendly decontamination suite that unlike the main one at the spacebridge was almost never used.
"Knockout," Arcee greeted him as he rounded a corner.
"Arcee," he returned, and flashed her his most charming grin. He was disappointed she was here but hardly surprised. It was not as if a few years of peace could just wash away generations of war and the distrust that created. "May I expect the pleasure of you assistance my sweet femme?" he queried with a smirk.
Arcee gave a derisive snort and flared her armor in aggression but there was no real malice behind the automatic reaction. Knockout turned his attention to the airlock and stepped forward with a cocky strut. Despite what Jack and Arcee thought this wasn't his first time. Within the bare and utilitarian chamber Jack was standing in shorts and a tee shirt and holding a single bucket and wash cloth.
"You ready for this," he asked with a grin.
Eager to please. Knockout's inner voice offered. Just like Benny. He ruthlessly stomped down on the thought and then hesitated. Here at least, with an Autobot who understood devotion to a human far better than he, it might be safe to allow such thoughts. Just like Benny. Wanting only to help. He gave a tired exvent and folded down into his alt mode to cover the pang in his spark. Stripped of his uniform and rank Jack did look like just another human boy. A little taller, a little better muscled, perhaps…but it's been nearly three years now since you've seen him, whispered the voice, three long years since you abandoned him. He will have grown.
"Well," Knockout demanded, unable to completely cover the irritation in his voice. "Get on with it."
"Watch you tone," Arcee cut in with a growl from the corner. "Jack is doing you a favor."
"Easy Cee," Jack murmured and he began gently stroke the damp cloth over the maroon mesh. "We are all friends here," Arcee flickered her field at that but subsided.
Jack struck up a conversation about a small race course he had been following. It mostly catered to motorcycles of the frame type Arcee favored but ran a few car races. Knockout eagerly joined in. Though it stung a bit to admit Jack was far better at the cleaning than either Benny or his grandfather had been, before too long Knockout was relaxing into the touch. There was the same sense of care, of wanting to please not just because they expected some reward but because they found joy in giving others pleasure. At some point Knockout let his processor drift.
The rain battered down against his windows and wet swirls of wind swept under his frame. Knockout shuddered a little but endured. He had bartered and threatened and begged his way free of the Nemesis for one glorious day. Unfortunately it happened to be a fall day when the whole of North America was bathed in rain. He might have tried to outrun the storm but there was nowhere to go. He might have sought shelter but…
"Ash!" a joyful voice squealed as eighty-seven pounds of human slammed into his side.
Knockout snapped open his door and let the child scramble in. "By Route Sixty-six!" the Decepticon snapped, trying to sound irritated and only partially succeeding. "You are dripping organic contaminants all over my floorboards. On the towel, towel! Oh NO! You too you mutt!"
Obediently the boy scrambled over to where Knockout had draped a large fluffy towel across his seats. The young sheepdog that had jumped in joined him and to the Decepticon's relief they were both soon dry. Benny disappeared completely in the soft white terrycloth and only the small mass and slight rocking on his shocks told Knockout the boy was still there. Finally a rumpled head of brown hair poked out of the towel and grinned at the dashboard.
"Some nor'wester huh?" Benny demanded brightly.
Despite the rain and cold Knockout felt warmth spread over his spark. It was mostly to do with the large, old pickup truck that rolled to a stop beside him and blocked the majority of the wind and rain. An old man stepped slowly out of the driver's side and moved painfully to the side of the car. Knockout respectfully opened his door and endured the onslaught of rain until the old man had positioned himself.
"Gramps!" Benny exclaimed excitedly from where he was leaning forward to examine the display. "Boy do we got a classic today! They are showing "White Zombie"!"
"Now that was a good one," the old man nodded tiredly. "Classic."
As was par for the course Knockout kept up light chatter with Benny over the speakers while the Grandfather pretended to sleep. The Decepticon carefully altered the display on his windshield so it looked like the outdoor theater screen was visible through the rain. In reality it wouldn't have been but Benny never seemed to notice. Tonight, as the movie opened with a funeral scene overlaid with chanting, the boy scrambled into the passenger seat and leaned back, eyes wide with fascination.
"Zombies!" he shouted gleefully with the carriage driver when the titular characters appeared.
Knockout gave a pleased exvent that managed to clear most of the rain from his vents and settled down on the asphalt. The movie was free online and he had seen it more than once. But Benny was enjoying the tired old thing and his Grandpa was snoring away peacefully. No one needed him on the Nemesis. For the moment life was good.
"Ready for the wax?" Jack asked, jerking Knockout abruptly back to reality.
His mesh was literally humming with life and renewed energy, the energon coursing through it freely.
"Am I ever!" he enthused. "You were right. I don't know what sort of magic touch you have Cadet Darby but it does work amazingly."
"It isn't just Jack," Arcee offered, and Knockout noted that she had relaxed greatly. "His family would wash me a lot too. And Raf's family as well. They all liked spending time with a real life alien I guess," she explained with a soft smile. "I was more buffed and polished this trip than I have ever been I my functioning."
"Well I for one think I will stick to the expert," Knockout hummed in appreciation of the warm feeling of the wax spreading over his mesh.
"Enjoy it while you can," Arcee warned not unkindly but with a touch of distress, "he heads back to Earth tomorrow."
"If you have any communications requests I can carry them for you," Jack offered. "Save you the credits for an official communication."
"What makes you think in need to contact anyone on Earth," Knockout demanded stiffening.
"I don't know," Jack shrugged somewhat taken aback at the sudden shift in attitude. "Orders for specialty wax?"
Arcee had bristled slightly her field spiking in warning and Knockout hurriedly smoothed his own field out to a non-threatening posture.
"Sounds good," he admitted. "I'll think about it."
All too soon the session was over and they parted ways. Granted a proper scientific study would require reputation but Knockout was satisfied that there was something in the careful attention of a human. Something he had been missing ever since he had abandoned Earth and the secret life he had built there. Now that he thought about it his mesh had always been at its best after Benny and Gramps had gone over it.
"The magic touch," Knockout muttered to himself. "Humans!"
