Author's Notes: I didn't realize this until I looked at my outline, but after this I only have a couple chapters left to go on this story. I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a long time since it's the beginning of an exciting climax, but at the same time I'm not sure how well I did conveying what I wanted. Eh, it still turned out okay, and the next chapter will probably be even better...Hopefully. Anyway, thank you so much for reading this story, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter of "Can't Look Back" :)
Chapter 8
Burning Bridges
The Present
Breakdown couldn't get it out of his processor. The events of the previous day replayed in his mind on loop. Even as he buffed Knockout's spinal struts and waxed his tires all he could think about was her.
How could Enamel still be alive? Nothing about any of this made sense, and seeing her with the Autobots aiding Bulkhead was even more infuriating. She should've been his all those vorns ago! Bulkhead was the one that left her, and Breakdown was the one that stayed and supported her through her time of crisis. If she had never rejected him then he would've never had a reason to turn her in to that Decepticon prison ship. Now she was back...back with Bulkhead.
Breakdown hated Bulkhead with every fiber of his being, that much he knew. There were a lot of contributing factors to the end of their friendship, the most important of which being Bulkhead joining the Autobots instead of the righteous Decepticon cause. Megatron's rhetoric was that of liberation, while the Prime's was yet another attempt at maintaining unity among the castes. Till all are one...that phrase always infuriated Breakdown.
As much as he hated to admit it even in his own spark, Breakdown had to come to terms with the fact that the Decepticons were not the only reason he hated Bulkhead. He could still recall the desperation his former mentor felt as she struggled to pay bills, lost her home when she had to take time off work to raise the sparkling, and the stigma that came with not naming the sire on her child's birth records.
She had stated that as a mixed caste youngling her son would never fit in, but if he were perceived as of the same caste as her then he could have a chance at a real life.
When she moved to the same apartment complex as Breakdown it was the happiest orn of his life, but soon it all came crashing down when he was arrested for practicing medicine. He spent 100 vorns in that prison camp, and would've rotted there for the rest of his life if it wasn't for the Decepticons freeing the prisoners from their oppressors. He wouldn't see Enamel again until that day...
"Ow! Breakdown, be careful!" Knockout interrupted his train of thought, "Seriously, you nearly broke one of my neck cables!"
"Sorry, Doc," Breakdown replied apologetically.
"What's gotten into you?" Knockout asked, "Normally you're so careful. Is something wrong?"
"No. Just thinking," Breakdown shrugged it off.
"Well stop it. Too much thinking isn't good for you," Knockout snarked, "I think that's good enough for now. I'm going back to work. You coming?"
"Uh, yeah. In a klik, Doc," Breakdown replied with fake levity.
Breakdown sighed in relief once Knockout went back to work. This was getting out of hand. Now thoughts of Enamel were interfering with his job. He had to do something! Him not being able to have Enamel was one thing, but allowing Bulkhead to get back together with her after everything he'd done? That was unacceptable! He would have to find some way to get rid of Bulkhead once and for all.
That was when an idea began to form. Bulkhead now had not one, but two weak spots. Breakdown could force Bulkhead to come to him, and then he could crush that overgrown wrecking ball like a tin can.
For the next couple weeks the Autobot base seemed to fall into a comfortable routine. Enamel found her place working alongside Ratchet and learning how to use the human computer system they were stuck with. Bulkhead and Enamel weren't exactly friends, but they no longer expressed animosity toward each other.
Bulkhead was glad that he and his ex had finally come to an understanding, but he noticed that Miko was avoiding the red femme whenever she could. Enamel was good at pretending this didn't bother her, but Bulkhead knew Enamel had grown to like the teenager. He felt bad about the unspoken animosity between Miko and Enamel, and he wanted to do something to help them get over it.
Bulkhead found Miko under the stairs leading to the platform sitting on the ground and tuning her guitar.
"Hey, Miko," Bulkhead greeted her in a friendly tone of voice.
Miko immediately perked up when she saw Bulkhead looming over her and smiling down at her.
"Hey, Bulk!" Miko replied jovially, "You wanna hear my new song? It's called Oceans of Energon. It's about when you tore those ten Vehicons apart during that fight a few months ago."
"Sounds great," Bulkhead said as he sat down next to her, "I've never had a song written about me before. Well, I take that back. Seaspray wrote a drinking song about me once, but it wasn't very flattering."
"Seaspray?" Miko asked.
"Yeah, Seaspray was a Wrecker during the good old days when it was just us verses the 'Cons on Cybertron," Bulkhead recalled fondly, "He wrote a song about how much fuel I guzzled after a fight. Ol' Barnacle Butt sure did love his sea shanties. To be fair though Wheeljack got him back for that one."
"What did he do?" Miko asked conspiratorially.
"He sanded down Seaspray's paint in his recharge," Bulkhead snickered; keeping his tone low in case anyone else was listening, "When he woke up he found out he was the same dull grey color as Starscream!"
Miko laughed out loud at the description, and Bulkhead allowed himself a good chuckle at the memory. It seemed like yesterday, yet it seemed like forever ago. It was closer to the latter.
"Listen Miko, what I really came here to talk to you about is Enamel," Bulkhead told her once the laughter died down.
"Oh yeah, what'd she do this time?" Miko asked bitingly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Miko, you can't keep this grudge forever," Bulkhead chided.
"Why not? She's a self-serving skank," Miko argued, "Besides, she obviously hates being here. She barely talks to anyone, even Ratchet. It's like being around my teachers all day when she's around. Why should I hang out with her?"
"I'm not saying you two should be best friends," Bulkhead replied placatingly, "But she's still a member of Team Prime, and I think she could use a friend right now."
"Then let her hang out with Raf," Miko huffed, "She's a science geek, he's a science geek. It works."
"Raf's a good kid, but you know more about how the world works than he does," Bulkhead replied, "Just give her one more chance Miko. For me?"
Miko looked up at those tiny cyan optics and that hopeful smile, and she sighed sharply in futile protest. There was no way she could resist Bulkhead when he gave her that puppy dog look.
"Argh, fine! I'll do something with Enamel," Miko finally agreed, "But if she makes one snide comment I'm walking home!"
"That's my girl," Bulkhead replied warmly as he wrapped one of his large fingers around her to hug her.
Miko didn't like the idea of spending any amount of time with Enamel, but she knew this was important to Bulkhead. Besides, if Miko kept her busy then maybe Enamel wouldn't have enough time to ruin Bulkhead's life.
Miko found the medic at her usual station calibrating equipment and testing cubes designed to deliver intravenous fluids to mechs that were incapacitated.
"Hey, Enamel," Miko called up to the busy femme.
Enamel looked down at Miko, and smiled a disarming smile that almost made Miko want to turn around and leave.
"Do you need something, youngling?" Enamel asked kindly.
"Um, I was just thinking, if you've got time, maybe we could do something," Miko shrugged; hoping Enamel would refuse so she could get back to comfortably hating the femme.
"I always have enjoyed the social scene," Enamel replied as she wiped her clean servos with a rag.
What a germaphobe... Miko thought derisively.
"Perhaps we could look up concert schedules online," Enamel suggested; piquing Miko's interest, "I don't know much about earth music, but I've found that keeping an open mind can lead to some remarkable experiences. You find something obscure and open, and we'll take the ground bridge to wherever we need to go."
"Um, okay," Miko replied, unsure how to react to what seemed like a great idea from such an unlikely source.
Miko searched for a half hour before she found something that still had tickets available for that night. It was some random folk group in California, and Miko almost decided to skip it since it wasn't metal. Then again, Enamel did say keeping an open mind could be good, so after a few moments to think about it Miko purchased the cheap tickets online and told Enamel they would need to be there by 8:00 pm.
The concert had been more fun than Miko would've thought. It was an outdoor concert with lots of stands for snacks, merchandise and T-shirts. Enamel stayed in the parking lot in her alt mode while Miko explored, and was likewise able to hear the soft melodic music wafting from the stage.
Enamel remembered the last time she went to a concert. It had been with Bulkhead on Cybertron, and the music there had been much more forceful than this human music. She remembered they got dirty in the sludge-covered grounder tracks, the highest seats where the seekers were glowed with neon lights and mechs holding glow sticks, and Bulkhead had taken her to a jeweler's booth where she got some gold piping welded onto her scruff bar. It had been a exhausting but exhilarating night.
Miko came racing back to the red Buick with bags full of merch and a wide grin splitting her face. It was 12:30 am, and the concert had not been over long.
"You wouldn't believe this one joker in the front row!" Miko laughed as she slid into the passenger's seat, "He threw a veggie burger on stage and shouted 'Side effects may vary!'. Whew, that was great. Were you bored just sitting here all night?"
"Not really," Enamel replied contentedly, "Your planet's music is intriguing."
"Ah, that was just the wimpy stuff," Miko waved away the comment, "You should hear Slash Monkey in concert! Now that's a real band."
"Perhaps we can go to one of their concerts sometime," Enamel suggested.
"Yeah, and we can bring Bulkhead with us!" Miko replied excitedly.
"Yes, I am sure he would enjoy that," Enamel agreed; not liking the idea but willing to go through with it for the sake of the youngling, "Would you mind if I drove for a while before we call for the ground bridge? I do enjoy the open road."
"Sure," Miko replied, "Can we go off-road?"
"We'll see," Enamel told her, "Wherever I can go fast, I'm satisfied."
Enamel pulled out of the lot and took off down the road. She wrapped her seatbelt around Miko to make sure she wouldn't get hurt when they got out onto the empty road and started going faster. The crowded roads soon gave way to forested curving roads. Enamel weaved through them gracefully, and Miko whooped in delight whenever Enamel would hug the edge to show off.
After a few minutes it started to rain, so Enamel was forced to show down. The curves soon gave way to straighter roads that had fewer trees around them. Enamel turned on her radio so Miko wouldn't be bored, and it started playing an old country song.
"Ew, turn it to something else!" Miko demanded as she made a disgusted face.
"Very well, Miko," Enamel replied agreeably.
She adjusted her dials until she found a swing channel, and Miko shouted that the song was likewise too old. Enamel tried again, and this time she found a jazz channel that sounded a lot like the swing channel to Enamel.
"Ugh! Is this road near a retirement home?" Miko groused, "Every station sounds like it was made for old people! Too bad Bulk didn't tell me the words to Seaspray's song."
"Who is Seaspray?" Enamel asked curiously.
"Eh, it's not important. Just turn the radio off," Miko replied defeatedly.
Enamel did as requested, and soon the surrounding area was filled with silence. Miko yawned, tired from their long night at the concert. The time was 1:45 am, and Enamel was grateful in that moment that Miko's host parents thought she was at a sleepover. In a way she kind of was, since she would be sleeping over at the Autobot base. She only hoped that the humans' couch was clean. For small creatures they certainly made big messes.
Miko soon fell asleep, and Enamel tried to drive more carefully so she wouldn't disturb the recharging sparkling. Enamel was glad Miko finally forgave her. She loved the human children and was especially fond of Miko since she was so close with Bulkhead. It was like having a sparkling of her own again.
Enamel suddenly lurched when she saw the ground bridge appear in front of her. She didn't call for Ratchet or even give away her location, so she knew that bridge wasn't from the Autobots.
"Uh...What's going on?" Miko asked groggily as she tried to stir herself awake.
Enamel saw Breakdown coming through the ground bridge, and he had his hammers out and a wicked grin on his face plate. She knew then that this was an ambush, and she had to get Miko to safety!
Turning around with a screech, Enamel drove away from Breakdown. Breakdown then proceeded to transform into his alt mode and pursue.
"Call the others!" Miko shouted as she looked behind them at Breakdown getting closer.
Enamel tried the comm system, but all she got was static.
"The signal is jammed," Enamel replied hurriedly, "Hang on tight, Miko!"
Breakdown was stronger than Enamel, that much was true, but she knew she was faster than the hulking brute. She forced as much of her fuel reserves as she could to get away from the jamming frequency and her pursuer, but soon she had to slow down when the curves showed back up. She maintained as much of her speed as she could, but these roads were unfamiliar to her and she didn't want to damage Miko. Breakdown used this opportunity to drive up next to Enamel and ram into her side! Enamel transformed before she hit the side of the mountain, and she gently tossed Miko into some brush to keep the girl safe. Breakdown transformed and stalked toward Enamel, and Enamel looked back at him with a mixture of shock and anger.
"You...You struck me!" Enamel exclaimed in outrage.
"Yeah, and if you don't come quietly I'll do it again," Breakdown bluntly replied.
"You want to attack me? Fine, then prepare to see your own fuselage, you uncouth barbarian!" Enamel roared as she charged toward the much larger mech with her tiny scalpels and drills replacing her digits.
Breakdown dodged Enamel's impromptu attack and dove into the brush where he found Miko, who was still watching what transpired without leaving Enamel's side. He quickly grabbed the girl, and Miko yelped as she was lifted up into the air by his massive servo.
Enamel was about to attack again, but stopped when Breakdown held up his prize in one servo and held the hammer servo over the human's head as a warning.
"Now, let's try this again," Breakdown said in an eerily calm tone of voice, "Surrender to me or I kill Bulkhead's pet. Considering what that big green slagger means to you, I'd say you don't want that to happen."
Enamel looked torn between dissecting Breakdown, running for her own life, or trying to grab Miko. Finally however, she hung her helm and approached Breakdown; her body language telling Breakdown that he had won.
Breakdown ordered the Vehicon on duty to send him another ground bridge, and he returned to the Nemesis with two new captives.
It was 6:00 am when Bulkhead onlined. He had a lot of work to do for the day. First he had to patrol the area looking for Decepticon activity, then he had to help Bumblebee refine energon crystals into a usable liquid, and after that Optimus Prime and Fowler were going to give them all a report from the US government. It was going to be a busy day, and earth days were so short. He only hoped he got everything done. He also wanted to make sure to say goodbye to Miko, who had stayed the night with them so she could go to a concert with Enamel.
Bulkhead entered the main area to see Ratchet at the computer console as always. It seemed like the old medic never recharged. He looked for Miko on the couch, but she wasn't there. The blankets hadn't even been messed with. That seemed very odd to Bulkhead.
"Hey Ratchet, where's Miko?" Bulkhead asked.
"Miko and Enamel haven't come back yet," Ratchet informed the Wrecker, "I don't know how long human concerts last, but this seems like a long time to listen to music and scarf down snacks."
"They never came home?" Bulkhead asked; the worry in his tanks growing, /Enamel, where are you? Enamel! Answer me! Where's Miko?/
"Well?" Ratchet asked when he saw Bulkhead was on his comm.
"Nothing," Bulkhead replied soberly, "Something's wrong. Enamel isn't this irresponsible, and Miko would've called me by now. Where are they?"
A few minutes later Bulkhead got his answer when an embedded message came in on a high frequency on their computer. Ratchet was in the storage room, so Bulkhead answered. It was a message addressed to him from Breakdown. It read:
Looking for someone? I have your femme and your pet. If you ever want to see them alive again, follow these coordinates to the Nemesis. Come alone and face me like a mech. Breakdown.
Bulkhead's energon boiled. Things were finally starting to look good for Bulkhead again, and Breakdown had to come along and threaten everything! Miko was Bulkhead's best friend, and one of the few people in his life that truly understood him. Enamel had been the love of his life and was the mother of the son that he never got a chance to meet. They both meant the world to him, and if Breakdown harmed either of them then there was no force in the world that could save him from Bulkhead's wrath.
The Past
When Bulkhead joined the Autobot cause he had no idea that he would ever be considered Wrecker material but apparently his boss, an elderly soldier named Kup, saw potential in him. It was a great feeling. No one had ever seen true potential in Bulkhead before, and he wanted to do everything in his power to live up to the trust his teammates had in him.
Truth be told, joining the Autobots at all had been a tough call. After he moved to Nuon he got a job tearing down condemned buildings, and for the most part it was routine work. The pay wasn't great, and there were some nights he was lonely without Enamel, but for the most part it felt great just to be free.
Well, free was a relative term. He quickly began to see that lines were being drawn in the sand between the oppressed underclass he belonged to and the privileged elite castes that kept them that way. This saw the Decepticon movement becoming more popular, and many of Bulkhead's coworkers wanted to join them.
Bulkhead wasn't convinced, however. It was true that he wanted change, but there was just something off about that gladiator Megatronus. He spoke of equality, but he also spoke about the strong dominating the weak and peace through tyranny. That didn't seem like a better system than what they had now. If anything it seemed worse, and Bulkhead found it frustrating that no one else Around him could see Megatronus for the scoundrel he was.
Things came to a head when the Matrix of Leadership, long thought lost, was recovered and selected the next Prime. It shook up everyone, because the new Prime wasn't a member of the ruling caste. He was a data clerk, a mere nobody! Furthermore, he was a vocal supporter of Megatronus! Against all odds the youngling Orion Pax had been reformatted as Optimus Prime.
Rather than bring peace, however, this news only escalated the conflict that was already bubbling over. Megatronus turned on Optimus and militarized the Decepticon resistance group; turning them from protesters to terrorists. Bulkhead's spark sank at the destruction the Decepticons committed in the name of their crazed extremist leader, and he wasn't going to stand by and watch it happen. That was when he decided to join the Autobots to stop that madmech from killing everyone.
As it turned out many Autobots weren't as strong as Bulkhead or as willing to get their servos dirty as he was. He was quickly promoted to the Wreckers, a group of Autobots that operated outside the typical confines of their faction.
He was accepted almost right away, and quickly made friends. Wheeljack was his best friend, and Brawn joined their group as well. He also liked Seaspray, Kup, Springer, and Firestar. They were strong, open, honest Cybertronians that Bulkhead knew he could trust with his life.
50 vorns later, and the missions became more intense, the stakes got higher, and the enemy's numbers grew. More and more Cybertronians joined the Decepticons out of fear of retaliation, though most that surrendered were culled anyway. Their next mission was the result of yet another surrender gone horribly wrong.
"They attacked a what!?" Bulkhead exclaimed when he got the mission statement.
"A foundling home," Kup reported; melancholy etched deep in his face plate, "They burned it to the ground. Reports say there are still Decepticons in the area, but there might also be survivors. There were 504 sparklings and 47 caretakers in that building. If even one of them survived then it's up to us to save them. I'm sending you and Jackie. Think you can handle it, Bulk?"
"You know it," Bulkhead replied confidently, though inside he knew this mission would scar him, "You can count on us."
When Bulkhead and Wheeljack made it to the site, it was even worse than they thought. For one thing, the buildings were still on fire. For another thing, they could hear the screams of victims even as the 'Cons continued to destroy them. They listened, and they could hear the cries of a femme being cut off by a loud pounding noise. That was where the Decepticons would be.
Bulkhead and Wheeljack ran in that direction but didn't give away their position yet. They slunk near the wrecked and flaming walls in hopes of catching the attacker by surprise. When they got there however, it was Bulkhead who was surprised by what he saw. The Decepticon killing the victims was his old friend and former coworker; Breakdown!
"Breakdown!" Bulkhead shouted before he realized what he was doing.
"Bulkhead, shh!" Wheeljack tried to reign in his friend, but it was too late; they had been spotted.
"Well well, look who it is!" Breakdown exclaimed as he spread his arms out wide; the hammers still in place, "Long time no see, Bulkhead. I see you wear the Autobot insignia now. Why am I not surprised?"
"You did this!?" Bulkhead growled in anger and disbelief, "Breakdown, I know you're greedy and ambitious, but I never thought you'd stoop to killing sparklings and femmes just to make yourself feel big!"
"You have no idea what this is really about, do you?" Breakdown scoffed, "Of course not. You can't see the world beyond your own little bubble. This is a war to end the reign of rich spoiled mechs taking the money and credit for our hard work. We built this world Bulkhead, us, the laborers. Megatron recognizes this, and Optimus Prime does not! What does some data clerk know of our struggles? Of our pain? I hate you, but I'm a fair mech, so I'll give you a choice. Join the Decepticons and take your place in history, or die here and now as a traitorous Autobot."
Bulkhead didn't care about Breakdown's speech. He was too busy looking at the crumpled body of the dead femme at Breakdown's pedes. He had also seen the bodies of sparklings, mechs, and femmes littered throughout this burning rubble. He knew that Breakdown was responsible for this, and Bulkhead also knew he could never forgive him for that.
With a mighty roar Bulkhead charged at Breakdown and collided with him, but Breakdown was sturdy enough to block him. Wrecking ball came against hammer as the two pushed each other in an effort to gain the upper hand.
"You always were soft, Bulkhead," Breakdown grunted as he struggled to stay upright, "Oh, and by the way, I took real good care of Enamel when you left."
That was the final straw. Bulkhead heaved once more with great force, and managed to topple Breakdown over and pin him to the ground with his pede. Breakdown struggled, and Bulkhead prepared to smash his helm in for his crimes against the Cybertronian species, but then a horde of Vehicon troops came rushing in, and Bulkhead had to fight them off. He managed to get away, but so did Breakdown.
Bulkhead met back up with Wheeljack a joor and a half later. Wheeljack had managed to recover 5 surviving sparklings and 1 caretaker from the foundling home, so Bulkhead at least knew their mission wasn't for nothing. It was a historic moment for Bulkhead as well, because it was the beginning of a rivalry that would last for millennia.