The Autobots' reactions were photo-worthy. Sideswipe took a mental picture as his teammates gaped at him.
"Knockout's your guardian?!" Fix-it screeched, one optic twitching erratically. Apparently, the realization was challenging his damaged processor. Russell patted his back reassuringly to try and keep him from crashing.
"You never told us you had a guardian," Grimlock commented.
"It…never came up," Sideswipe said lamely, rubbing the back of his helm. Even that small movement was painful—Knockout had fixed him up well, but his frame still ached from the abuse it had taken. The welds and patches would be sore for at least a few days. All things considered, though, he supposed he'd gotten off easy; few mechs could survive tangling with a Predacon. Knockout had come out worse-his leg would need extensive repairs before it was fully functional again.
The medic currently sat next to Sideswipe, the aforementioned leg in a splint. He'd insisted on coming clean with the team before taking care of it. He surveyed the gathered bots with the impassive mask that was his usual expression. Sideswipe wasn't surprised—Knockout had always been too "cool" to let his feelings show. Strongarm's feelings, on the other hand, were quite obvious from the way her face was scrunched up.
"Sideswipe was raised by a Decepticon?" she scoffed, not trying to conceal her disgust. "That explains a lot."
Sideswipe scowled at her, but Bumblebee stepped between them before he could retort. "That was out of line, cadet," he said sternly, giving Strongarm a pointed look. "Past alliances don't matter. Knockout's proved that he's as much an Autobot as anyone on this team. We're lucky to have him."
"Glad to be of service, Herr Kommandant," Knockout said drily. "Primus knows this team needs me..."
"Good to have ya here, doc!" Grimlock said cheerily, slapping Knockout on the back. The friendly gesture nearly toppled the medic over. He righted himself with a wan smile.
"Yes, well… Now that we've gotten that settled—" Knockout pushed himself to his feet, using his deactivated energon staff as a makeshift cane. "If there's nothing else to discuss, I've got a surgery to perform on myself, so if you'll all excuse me—"
"Do you need help?" Sideswipe asked with thinly-veiled concern.
Grimlock gasped and waved his hand in the air. "Ooh, I'll help ya! I like helpin'!"
"Er—I'll be all right, thank you," Knockout assured the eager Dinobot. "If you'll all just avoid injury for a few hours, that will be help enough. And make sure Sideswipe doesn't do anything stupid."
Sideswipe spluttered at the remark. Knockout ignored his indignant reply and hobbled away, leaving the youngling with a group of curious bots converging on him.
"Is there anything else you want to tell us?" Fix-it demanded with a fierce glare—or at least, as fierce a glare as he could manage. "Are you a Seeker in disguise, too? Or secretly one of the Thirteen Primes?"
"Well, actually—" Sideswipe smirked as Fix-it's optics bulged even further out of his head. "I'm just kidding, Fix-it. Chill out."
"So is Knockout the one who taught you how to fight?" Grimlock asked excitedly. "Was he in the Great War? Was he there when Megatron died?"
Bumblebee stood back and listened as questions were asked and answers given. But his mind wasn't on the bots in front of him. After a few minutes, he quietly slipped away and headed for the medical area. Knockout was there, as expected; he sat on a berth with his damaged leg stretched in front of him, poking around his knee joint with a soldering iron. He glanced up as Bumblebee approached.
"If you don't mind, Bumblebee, I'd appreciate some privacy. This is a delicate operation."
"Maybe you should have someone helping you, then," Bumblebee countered. Knockout stared at him for a second before resuming his soldering. After a few seconds, he gestured to a stack of boxes several yards away.
"Get me the forceps out of that top crate, would you? There are rocks stuck in my gears."
Bumblebee obligingly went to the indicated box. The whine of Knockout's soldering iron grated on his audials as he searched the crate. After a little rummaging, Bee found the forceps and handed them over.
Knockout spoke as he took the tool. "You're here to tell me off, aren't you?"
Might as well get straight to the point. Bumblebee leaned against the berth, crossing his arms. "Why didn't you tell me, Knockout?"
"You didn't need to know," Knockout replied simply as he coaxed a piece of debris out of his leg. "My personal life, and connection to Sideswipe, had no bearing on your mission."
Bumblebee glowered at the medic until Knockout met his gaze.
"Look, Knockout—I know we're not close. I know you don't like to open up to other bots-you never have." Bumblebee leaned closer, pinning the medic with his glare. "But you can't close yourself off like that. Not here. A small team works best when its members are up front with each other—hiding things makes it harder to trust and more difficult to communicate effectively. And, despite what you may think, this does affect my leadership. Now that I know you're Sideswipe's guardian, it changes how I can expect you to interact with him and react to certain situations."
Bumblebee rubbed his jaw meaningfully. "I need to know that if I want to avoid getting punched again."
The shadow of a smirk flickered across Knockout's face.
"Fine," he said finally. "I apologize if I made your job more difficult. I'll strive to communicate better in the future."
"I'd appreciate that," Bumblebee said. He gestured at the medic's damaged leg. "Can you take care of this alone, or would it help to have an assistant?"
"I'd prefer to handle it myself."
"I'll leave you to it, then." Bumblebee pushed off the berth and made to leave. He stopped when Knockout called his name.
"Bumblebee—"
Bee turned back to face Knockout, noting the drop in the medic's tone. All traces of jest had vanished from Knockout's face—he was dead serious now.
"As long as we're being honest, I want to make one thing clear. I'll do my best to help your entire team, but Sideswipe is the reason I'm here." The medic frowned. "At this point, I think I'd have to drag him kicking and screaming to get him back to Cybertron, so I'll let him stay—for now."
Knockout met Bumblebee's optics with a stony expression. "However—if you lose control of the situation here… if it's a choice between your mission and his safety… I will choose him, even if I have to throw the rest of you under the bus. Understood?"
Bumblebee held Knockout's gaze as the ultimatum sank in. Then he nodded slowly. "Understood. But I hope it doesn't come to that."
Knockout's stone-hard expression softened somewhat. "So do I. Believe it or not, I do consider you a friend of sorts—at least, one of the few Autobots whose company I can tolerate."
"Gee, thanks," Bumblebee said sarcastically. Then he got stern again. "But seriously—I'm going to do everything I can to keep my team and this planet safe. I promise that. Will you trust me to lead?"
"If I didn't, I would have taken Sideswipe away as soon as I got here," Knockout responded. He turned his attention back to fixing his leg. "You're my Kommandant—I'll follow your orders."
Bee nodded again in acknowledgement. He left Knockout to his repairs, wandering farther into the junkyard. Though the exchange had cleared some things up, it left him unsettled. He knew where Knockout stood now, and it was an understandable position—but it worried him.
I will choose him, even if I have to throw the rest of you under the bus…
The words echoed through his mind like a warning bell. Bumblebee silently prayed to Primus that he'd never have to deal with that possibility.
The End!
This is the first long story I've ever finished, so I'm pretty proud of myself right now. Thank you to my faithful beta-readers for editing my work, and thanks to all of my readers for the reviews, follows and favorites. I feel so loved. :3
I'd like to do more in this universe-I'm pretty attached to the idea of Knockout as a dad. My next project is extending "Softened Spark" into a series of one-shots, showing Sideswipe's childhood and Knockout's progression as a parent. So look out for that.
I'd also like to do a sequel for this story, but I want to finish "Softened Spark" first. Feel free to suggest story ideas if you feel so inclined.
This is Sidekicks-Anonymous, signing off. Til all are one!