selfless | knockout

10

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You woke up with a start, your body flinching at the coldness around you. Nothing was in your line of sight, only a wall of darkness that kept you cornered. All you recall was falling asleep with Knockout close by, but right now no such mech was in sight. Then you remembered you were inside his seating area, but why was it so dark? Even if Knockout was in stasis his lighting that decorated the small space would still be on.

Unless...

No. That wouldn't be right. He asked for help.

Did they get there in time?

Here you felt your heart beat pick up in pace, what if Knockout had shut down and you wouldn't be able to get out? Would you be trapped here forever? As your panics arose, you didn't notice footsteps approaching in the outdoor world.

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The Prime closed his optics as he walked back over to Knockout. His team right behind him, but were not displaying pleased behaviours with his choice to bring Knockout into the base where the Autobot's roamed.

"Are you serious? You brought Knockout back?" The olive green mech known as Bulkhead commented, holding his servos out in exaggeration. Bumblebee, the yellow and black mech that had no form of speech except a collection of mechanical sounds, beeped dramatically as well, looking to the smallest of them all- Arcee. She had a servo to her forehelm, staying hushed for now.

"Whilst this may be trap, which myself and Ratchet and established- we as of now have a high rank Decepticon in our restraints," The Prime smoothly protested. His engine exhaled in small annoyance when the backlash renewed.

"Look, Optimus. With all due respect we have Jack, Miko and Raf coming to the base any minute now. What if Knockout has some sort of weapon and-"

"That won't be a problem," Ratchet intervened. "I've checked his systems and even shut them down. It will make this procedure a lot less painful whilst I fix him,"

"I-I'm sorry, I think I misheard you," Arcee responded, eyes narrowing in emphasis. "Did you say we're fixing him?"

"No, I'm fixing him," The Autobot medic replied. "Whilst I have my suspicions and disagreements, I know when to follow orders," He huffed and stopped his reading to turn to the others. "If Optimus asks us to keep Knockout here as our captive, or even as our friend- then we all must adapt and respect his requests,"

All optics turned to the Prime now. Whilst he made no reaction to Ratchet, he glimpsed back at his team in a manner that made them all feel slightly guilty.

Smokescreen, the rookie of the team, rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled before speaking. "You know what? The old mech's right, as much as we dislike the orders we're gonna have to put it aside and just get on with it," He turned to Optimus. "Sorry for the disrespect, Sir," After this Smokescreen had triggered the other Autobots to apologise too, and once they had rolled through Optimus merely nodded his helm their way and turned back to Ratchet.

"So, have you determined whether you can fix him?"

"I can definitely deal with the scratches and dents," Ratchet started. "Maybe his servos, but his leg? I'm not so sure. I don't have the right equipment to reattach limbs,"

Optimus looked to Ratchet and located a servo on his shoulder plating. "We all have faith in you, old friend. We are all here assist if you need a helping hand,"

Then, out of nowhere, there was a peculiar thudding noise. It echoed across the sudden silent base and caused all the bots to turn to alert behaviours.

"What was that?" Bulkhead was the first to talk.

"It sounded like it came from unconscious boy over there," Smokescreen stated, squinting his optics in high suspicion.

"You're definitely sure that he wasn't carrying a weapon?" Arcee asked next. Afterwards, Bumblebee made his usual whirring, but given the rise in pitch, it was obvious he was asking the same question.

"I'm certain, do you really think my own scanning systems would fail-?" Ratchet was cut short as the thudding started again- it was a lot more frequent and a lot more panicked- as if something was stuck in some sort of containment.

Optimus furrowed his opticbrows. This was odd indeed, as Ratchet was right. His scanning systems had never failed them once. "Autobots? Be on your best guard," He informed as his gun emerged on his arm instead of his servo. The Autobots followed his actions, holding postures in preparation for any sort of battle. The Prime though approached the silent Knockout, who lay peacefully in front of him, despite the thud that reoccurred every now and then.

Optimus then found himself leaning down to Knockout, turning his helm as he listened to the noise, to find a certain spot that was closest. His audio receptors brought up nothing until he was close to Knockout's chassis. He stayed still and non-responsive for a few seconds, his Autobot companions watching him closely.

It was then Optimus got kicked in the side of his helm.

He recoiled back, not that it hurt, of course, the impact being extremely weak for some sort of danger. Optimus turned his helm in the direction of threat, his gun aimed at Knockout's chassis. A firm expression present for whatever danger the Prime's comrades could be in. But once he was educated by the sight before him, Optimus silently, though still quite in a state of shock lowered his weapon.

There, sitting in Knockout's chassis. Was a girl. A human girl. Her eyes were stretched with fright as she looked at the Prime, her chest falling and rising with panic whilst she watched his every movement. Her breaths were extremely distinct as well. On her face lay a scar that peaked from her temple to her jawline. It was still healing, now just a long faint pink line on her face. Though the top appeared as though it had re-opened and was smudged with a collection of brown, dried blood. Her clothing was also torn, neglected and stained, the only thing on her was a shirt and leggings. She appeared to be shivering as well.

Optimus took a few seconds to process this information before his gun transitioned back to his servo. The others noticed and lowered theirs as well, but kept themselves armed. Optimus gently moved his arm towards this odd discovery found in Knockout, holding it out in means for this girl to step onto his diligent self. When she didn't, the Prime softened his expression and nodded his helm reassuringly.

"Do not be afraid human, we are not going to hurt you,"

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