The Lights We Burn (tfp Knockout/Breakdown X mech!reader)[on Hold]

8: Break Me Out

"Say prince Y/D, I've got a question for you." Knockout said as we made our way to the command bridge.

"What is it, Knockout?" I asked curiously.

"Have you ever considered getting those scars repaired?" Knockout asked as he gestured to them. I hesitated a moment and traced one of the scars as I carefully thought about his question.

"Sometimes." I said quietly. "I often wonder if I'd feel better about my appearance if I had them removed. Yet at the same time, if I did remove them... I think I would end up losing a part of myself."

"I guess they do give you a sort of rugged appearance." Knockout said.

"Heh, I know you have a thing for rugged bots." I teased, earning a blush from both Knockout and Breakdown.

'Adorable.' I thought to myself only to shake off the strange fluttery feeling in my chassis as we entered the command bridge.

"Sire?" I asked curiously. "You asked for us?"

"Yes, Y/D." Megatron said. "Soundwave recently picked up a peculiar energon signature, one I was hoping you might be able to assist with."

"Heh, sire with all due respect." I said with a sort of half smile. "I'm not exactly the best at identifications."

"It is not the identification we are concerned about. It's the location." Megatron then pulled up a satellite image of what appeared to be an abandoned human city. "What can you tell us from this image."

'Ah, I get it.' I thought in amusement. 'It's one of his mini lessons.'

"It's abandoned for one, located in a remote section of a place called Pennsylvania." I then brought up several references to the location. "It appears to once have been a factory city similar to Kaon back on Cybertron. But something isn't right about it."

"And what would that be?" Megatron asked.

"The city was abandoned around 50 years ago, but there is no record as to why. The fact that an energon signal is being detected there may hint that the humans discovered an energon deposit and evacuated."

"Exactly Y/D, and I intend on siezing it before the Autobots." Megatron said before turning to Breakdown and Knockout. "One of you will go investigate and report back what you find."

"I'll go." Breakdown said.

"May I go as well?" I asked the warlord.

"You are to remain here, Y/D." Megatron said.

"Oh come on, pleeeeeeaaaaase?" I pouted and gave him 'puppydog eyes'. "I've been cooped up here for so long, and I need to stretch my wheels." Megatron snorted as he pinched the space between his optics in amusement.

"Fine, fine, you may go." Megatron said.

"Yes!" I cheered with a fist bump in the air. As I went to head to the ground bridge, Megatron stopped Breakdown and leaned close towards the mech with a dark glare.

"If anything happens to him, I'll turn you into spare parts." Megatron threatened.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him safe."

"Come on Breakdown!" I called from down the hall. "I know big bots are slow, but damn!"

"I'm coming. I'm coming! Hold your horses!" Breakdown called as he left and caught up with me.

"What's a horse?" I asked him as we continued down the hall towards the ground brige.

"They are these weird earth creatures Knockout and I sometimes see in human films." Breakdown said.

"Where in Primus did you manage to get your hands on human films?" I asked as we approached the ground bridge, Breakdown entering the coordinates and firing it up.

"Knockout and I sometimes sneak into drive in theaters to watch them." Breakdown said as we entered the swirling portal and emerged on the other side.

"You guys have holoforms?" I asked curiously.

"Well, um. No, we don't." Breakdown said with an awkward rub of his neck.

"Whaaaa? I'll hook you two up with my extras." I said.

"Wait, you have extra ones?" Breakdown asked as he pulled out the scanner and casually tuned it to the energon signal.

"I have a ton of extras because I keep breaking mine." I admitted sheepishly. "Plus, it's kind of a hobby of mine to program them to be as realistic as possible. Ya know, in case we have to blend in with humans better."

"I wanna see it!" Breakdown said excitedly.

"Heh, okay." I chuckled, shifting forms and activating my holoform. My holoform removed his motorcycle helmet and looked up at Breakdown with a smile.

"Whoa." He gasped in absolute awe, his frame kneeling down and poking my holoform's side.

"Haha! Stop that tickles!" I laughed.

"Wait, you can feel that?"

"Well, yeah, it's solid matter." I said with a smirk. "And I believe I have everything anatomically correct as well. This version allows me to travel up to 10 clicks away from my alt form. Plus, I can't help but laugh at the amount of human femmes I attract. But let's find that energon before my sire kicks both our tailpipes for goofing off." I returned my helmet to my holoform's head and took off riding just fast enough that Breakdown needed to speed walk to keep up.

"I dunno Ratchet." The voice of Bulkhead said, forcing me to skid to a halt. I raised my holoform's arm and signaled to Breakdown to hold and duck out of sight, the pair of us listening in. "You sure there's an energon signal out here? There doesn't seem to be anything b-" he was cut off when he rounded a corner and spotted me. "Oh, scrap."

"What do we have here." I said in a cool and even tone, Breakdown quietly sneaking around and standing behind Bulkhead with his hammer drawn.

"Look, human, I don't want any trouble!"

"Bahahaha!" I busted out laughing as it fully occurred to me that Breakdown thought I was just some random human he stumbled upon. "Oh my goodness, gracious!"

"Uhhh... so you're not scared of me?" Bulkhead asked with growing confusion.

"Why would I be?" I cooed. "After all." I dismissed my holoform and shifted forms, startling Bulkhead significantly. "You're just an overgrown lob ball with a low powered processor. Isn't that right, Breakdown?"

"I'd say so." Breakdown said, causing Bulkhead to turn his helm behind him.

"Oh, scrap."

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A/N and here is Y/D's holoform which is peak gender envy