~Knocked-Out~

Darkness

The base was filled with a silence, so eerie and tense, even the toughest bots would be tempted to break it. While Knockout and Nightstreak were in the medical bay, deep in recharge with the energon fluids, the rest of the team was trying to wrap their helms around what had just happened.

"It's impossible, she offlined eons ago, there is no way that is the real Nightstreak." Ratchet hissed.

"It certainly does seem impossible, but we must not wule out the possibility that she never twuly became one with the All Spark." Optimus said, standing on top of the computer as to gain height.

"But how weird is it that she shows up right as a team member goes missing? It's too much of a coincidence." Arcee countered. "I, for one, don't trust her."

"Knockout obviously does. You didn't see the way he defended her, I did. Those two obviously have something going on. The way she looked at him, it's clear they are more than friends." Bumblebee added.

"Wow, Bee! I didn't know you had a romantic side!" Smokescreen joked, and Bumblebee crossed his arms.

"Have you seen Knockout? Gashes and scratches covering his amour, dents and energon stains, and a chunk missing from his arms, she clearly did something to him." Arcee growled.

"They fell from a cliff, into a river, Arcee. Don't you think maybe that would scratch or two?" Bumblebee snapped back, annoyed at Arcee's impatience.

"And how did they fall off? It was clearly her fault! Knockout wouldn't just jump off a cliff, especially not with a random femme. She clearly wanted to harm him! She's a fake, a con! Knockout isn't capable of love, especially not to a femme like her! They are both JUST LYING DECEPTICON FREAKS! THEY DON'T..."

"ARCEE, ENOUGH!" Optimus' small but mighty voice sliced through the femme's speech, and she glowered at him, then everybody else in the group.

"I...need...some...time..." She growled darkly, before storming off to her berthroom.

~~~

Everybody thought Nightstreak was asleep. No one knew, she was listening. Yes, she had heard the entire conversation, and her optics filled with tears. It felt as if yet another hole was shot through her spark. Such a short time ago, she had been so happy, and now look at her: a pathetic young femme madly in love who's issues destroy her from the inside out. Her energon tank clenched, churning faster and faster. The entire world spun, her head was a carousel, she could feel herself swaying back and forth. No, she couldn't go through this again. She glanced at Knockout, and remembered his words:
"Don't you ever try to kill yourself again, do you hear me?"

She replayed the words over and over in her head, listening for any signal, any sign that would stop her. Nothing. Then, the words filled the room, unmistakable, clear as day.

"THEY ARE BOTH JUST LYING DECEPTICON FREAKS!" She froze, letting the words sink in. Both? She was clearly talking about her and Knockout. Which meant...

She glanced at Knockout, and her tank churned even more. Now she knew, why he had looked so familiar, why she had been so afraid of him the first time they had met. Now she knew why she recognized him.

"Knockout, the Decepticon medic." She muttered to herself, just barely choking it out through all the tears that lodged inside of her. The fire, that inferno that had been trapped inside of her for so long, suppressed by any feelings she had left, was finally set free, consuming her body. She could feel her frame shake, and anger start to flood as she glanced at the cherry mech.

"You..." She glowered, letting the fire take over her without so much as a fight. "You are the reason...the reason my carriers gone..." Growling, she transformed her servo into a canon, and aimed it straight at Knockout's spark.