Chapter Text
It was a dark and stormy night. The Nemesis drifted serenely in the gloomy grey atmosphere, its occupants busy with chores and other more recreational activities. As everybody knew, the Vehicons were huge fans of Earth's culture and human hobbies. They were easy entertainment, after all. ST3V3 had a rather adorable habit of leaving out knitted scarves for Starscream, and V1CT0R enjoyed displaying his art pieces in the Vehicon common area.
His art wasn't bad. The thing was, the Vehicons lacked proper art materials like canvases and easels, so V1CT0R had to paint his works directly on the walls or risk exploding from a buildup of creative inspiration. It was unfortunate, obviously, and as a result Megatron often pretended that V1CT0R didn't exist, ignoring his presence when choosing members for mission units. ST3V3, as someone who managed to get Starscream off Megatron's aft with his deliciously warm and cottony scarves, curried their leader's favour and was therefore commonly seen in the field.
Knock Out and Breakdown were in the medbay as they so often were. Because of patient confidentiality , Megatron had insisted that Soundwave didn't plant bugs in there. Starscream often came strutting in for no reason, proclaiming that Megatron was so keen on patient confidentiality because he had weaknesses within his plating that he wanted to hide. Knock Out neither affirmed or denied this belief, merely nodding wryly and giving Starscream just enough attention so that he would leave.
They would have much preferred to talk in their private quarters, but their quarters weren't actually private . Soundwave watched the ongoings of the Nemesis everywhere but the medbay, all the time. Knock Out liked to joke that it was flattering, Soundwave admiring his highly polished finish as he recharged, but they both knew that Soundwave was simply suspicious of everybody, even his own. Nothing happened without him knowing about it.
"We can't keep him in the medbay forever, Knock Out." Air cycled through Breakdown's vents as he exhaled tiredly. "We get too many patients for him to remain fully hidden. What if he cries, or does something that alerts others to his presence?" He glanced down at the tiny protoform in his arms, worry clouding his optics.
Knock Out wasn't tall enough to reach his conjunx's shoulders, so he settled for wrapping his arms around Breakdown's waist, gently stroking the seams of his scuffed armour. Yeah, he needed to give his mate a thorough buffing soon. He leaned his helm against Breakdown's side. "Little Wildbreak is gonna be fine , Breakdown. He's too behaved to make trouble for us." With their EM fields mingling with each other like this, Breakdown could feel that Knock Out was on the verge of a breakdown, trying desperately to keep himself calm enough that he didn't freak Breakdown out as well. It was counterproductive, since Breakdown could feel Knock Out's roiling emotions from both their sparkbond and their connected fields.
Wildbreak squirmed restlessly in Breakdown's hold, large golden optics blinking up at them. He beeped with concern, sensing Knock Out's distress. "Shh, Knock Out's fine," Breakdown soothed, bouncing the sparkling a little. "You're fine, right, Knock Out?"
"Yes." Knock Out moved away to rearrange some tools he had already neatened a few minutes earlier. Somehow, having Wildbreak in the open made him want to organise things. Breakdown called it his nesting instinct, saying that other parents did it as well, although they were mostly Seekers.
Breakdown put Wildbreak down on a padded berth and caressed the sparkling's cheek with a thumb. "Do you still remember how you got your name, Wildbreak?" It was one of Knock Out's favourite things to recount. Across the room, Knock Out cycled air through his vents in a huff, but he was smiling and that was what Breakdown wanted to see. "Knock Out chose 'Wild' for you. He thinks you're going to grow up fast like him. Maybe you'll even become a racer and visit Velocitron for a bit." He returned Knock Out's smile. Velocitron was Knock Out's home planet, a planet where being fast was everything. "I think he would like showing you around."
A hint of joy crossed their bond. Velocitron was a sensitive topic for Breakdown because he was a slow cargo worker and therefore deemed useless on Knock Out's home planet, so it pleased Knock Out when he was willing to talk about it.
"He added 'break' because, I quote, I insist on incorporating my dearest conjunx into his name . And being the gentlemech I am, I let him do it."
"Mm," Knock Out agreed, coming back to kiss Breakdown softly, a quick peck on the lips. Breakdown pulled him in for a proper kiss. "A true gentlemech indeed." Wildbreak chirred and beeped some more, playfully experimenting with his vocaliser. He was beginning to look like a mix of the two of them despite being adopted, but sparkling protoforms did mould themselves to look like their main caretakers. With the many sounds he made, it was a miracle that he hadn't been discovered yet.
Knock Out never liked thinking about this, but he sometimes wondered what would happen if they were to die in a battle. Nobody knew about Wildbreak, not even Soundwave. Or so they assumed, but if he knew, he hadn't said anything even to Megatron. Despite their pathetic numbers, the Autobots had a way of winning skirmishes. It went unsaid but the Decepticons feared deactivation at their hands. The Autobots were nearly stronger than them, and with each new member they only gained more power. A full army versus a handful of stragglers, and the stragglers were on par with them. Pathetic. "
Breakdown sighed suddenly. "We can't afford to have Soundwave bring Wildbreak to Megatron. He'll be killed." He didn't want that to happen. He was very attached to the sparkling, had no wish to see him offlined because Megatron was a major aft. The wheels on Knock Out's back twitched in agreement.
"He's too cute to give up," Knock Out remarked. "If Soundwave tries to take him, we have to plead with him or run away. You know, defect." Wildbreak chirped curiously, pawing at Knock Out's field. Breakdown's flared in shock.
"Defect?" Incredulity pulsed across their bond. Technically, there was nothing holding Breakdown back from leaving the Decepticons ever since his gestalt had died, but so much of his life had been spent with them and he couldn't bear the thought of not listening to Starscream stomp in the hallways or not seeing the Vehicons' antics. To live with Optimus Prime and his merry band of human-defenders... yeah, it wasn't working. He couldn't see it.
Knock Out let Wildbreak grip one of his sharp digits. "We can join the Autobots. Ratchet could use more helpers and Prime won't kill a sparkling. I can't say the same for Megatron, however," he scoffed, rolling his optics. Wildbreak immediately tried to copy him. "Can you imagine Prime ordering Bumblebee to extinguish a sparkling's life? He'll be safer with the Autobots. They're soft, but that works in our favour right now."
Yeah. Breakdown couldn't imagine that Prime would kill Wildbreak. "But you know we're not going to be welcomed, especially with the history between me and Bulkhead. And you and Bumblebee and practically every Autobot."
"I suppose we did piss them off more than a little."
"Understatement of the millennium. The only Decepticons they hate more than us are Megatron and Starscream."
Knock Out looked up. "Not Soundwave?"
"He hasn't really harmed any of them, has he? Only threatened their humans." Breakdown groaned. "We'll have to deal with those pesky fleshbags. Do we really have to do this? They'll just accuse us of joining to spy on them. Well, that's what Bulkhead and Wheeljack will say, and I don't want to hammer anyone's faces in in front of Wildbreak."
"If you attack them, we'll definitely be kicked out."
"I'll only attack if they accuse us of some random scrap!"
The wheels on Knock Out's back were pressed downwards in frustration. "We have to find a way, Breakdown. For Wildbreak. We can't let him die."
"Saying that doesn't make it any easier. We can test the waters, try to estimate if Megatron will actually kill him." Worry and anger were seeping into Breakdown's tone again. Wildbreak grabbed his finger as well in comfort.
Knock Out shook his helm. "There's nothing else we can do. We can't flee into space. There will be no shelter and no steady source of energon. No friends or companions." His optics flashed with determination. "We have to defect."
Breakdown sighed. "We could always keep him a secret until this stupid war is over," he offered, though he didn't believe it was possible. Wildbreak would grow, though they could show him to Megatron once he was grown and ask if he could help the Decepticons
"There's no way we can keep a full mech hidden from Soundwave," Knock Out argued. "Especially if he turns out to be as adventurous as we think he's going to be."
"Especially if who's adventurous?" Starscream strolled into their medbay, smirking sickeningly at the doctor and his conjunx. Breakdown, thinking quickly, subspaced Wildbreak and hoped he would remain quiet. "What were you talking about, Knock Out, Breakdown? Is there something I— Lord Megatron should know about?"
"Perfect timing, Starscream," Knock Out greeted the obnoxious Seeker. "I was about to go look for you."
"What for?" The Seeker turned his round optics to Knock Out, relieving Breakdown of the close scrutiny. The blue mech had been growing uncomfortable with how Starscream gazed at him. When Starscream turned away, he took out Wildbreak and put him in his secret space, a cavity in the wall.
"A medical checkup. I don't think you've been here for awhile. It's a good habit to make sure your components are still working as they're supposed to," Knock Out responded smoothly, beckoning the flier to the centre berth. Starscream forgot about his earlier question as he lay down, and Knock Out started doing his doctor stuff, asking questions to make sure Starscream completely forgot what he had heard them saying. At last, he was satisfied, and sent Starscream on his way.
"Annoying," Breakdown grunted, glaring after the Seeker as the doors hissed shut. Knock Out wriggled his back wheels in assent, and after one final check on Wildbreak, they started making plans to defect.