Object of Affection

Chapter 3

At some point, Smokescreen had commed Bumblebee if he could come too. Not seeing anything wrong with that, Bee had send him their coordinates. Right after he did that, a strong wind started up. A very strong wind. The storm winds on earth were nothing compared to those on Cybertron. These were so strong, they could blow a poor bot away. Or a very instable building...

"Frag!" Bumblebee cursed as he saw how the rumble came right his way. He sprinted away from it, almost outrunning it. He suddenly felt a push and he yelped as he rolled over the ground. A scream of pain could be heard along the sound of the building collapsing on the ground with a thunder.

Bumblebee felt the ground shake as he saw his friend disappear. "Knockout!" A deafening silence followed. Bee shot to his pedes and ran to the spot where he last saw the medic. As he began to move red finish and began to dig harder. A green vortex whirled to life not far from the havoc, when Bumblebee pulled Knockout free.

"Smokescreen! Help!" Bee called to his friend as soon as the rookie stepped from the groundbridge. Smokescreen instantly commed Ratchet when he saw the duo between the remains that once was a building. "Bee! What happened? Are you alright?" he asked as he sprinted towards him.

"I'm fine," Bumblebee said as he cradled the red mech close," It's Knockout, h-he pushed me and ended up under the falling building." Knockout's frame was covered in dents, cuts and scratches, energon leaking from open wounds. The worst wounds were his broken audiofin, the gash in his left side and...

"Oh, Primus...Bee," Smokescreen uttered," His legs..." Bee nodded," I know." From the knee joints down Knockout's frame was unrecognizable. What once were his legs and pedes, was now one big bleeding mess.

A groundbridge appeared and Smokescreen and Bumblebee carried Knockout through. Ratchet stood ready with a stretcher on which they lay the red mech. Knockout's optics were closed and his mouth hung open, panting harshly. Ratchet gave him a painkiller then moved him to the medbay.

Smokescreen and Bumblebee followed. "Status," Ratchet said quickly. "I get nothing, a couple of scratches maybe, but Knockout took the blow," Bee said quickly. Ratchet nodded," After I'm done with him, I'll see to you." Bumblebee started to protest. "I will see you!" Ratchet called and the medbay doors closed with a bang. Bumblebee hung his shoulders and Smokescreen took his servo. He softly squeezed the servo and gave Bee a reassuring smile.

The urge to get out of the shadow zone grew with the moment as Soundwave stood frozen before the medbay doors. He didn't even flinch when the rookie and scout phased through him as they left. Laserbeak reminded her master that if he truly wanted to see the doctor, he could simply go through the doors.

Soundwave shook his helm. He didn't think he could take it to see the beaten frame of his friend and love-interest. He decided to fly to the Nemesis and look for a way out of his predicament. As much as he loved the fact that he could get very close to the medic like this, he much rather touch Knockout and feel that he truly was in his arms.

~~~~~~~~

It was late in the evening when Ratchet emerged from the medbay and motioned for Bumblebee to come in. Smokescreen had tagged along and sat in a chair between the berth where Knockout was lying on and the berth Bee sat on.

"Wait here," Ratchet said and went into the adjoining office. "Hey, how are you?" Smokescreen asked the barely awake Knockout. The red mech shrugged. "Still a bit high on painkillers I see," Smokescreen chuckled. Knockout shook his helm, but yawned. That earned him some chuckles, so he stared at them offended.

"Hey, Knocky? Why'd you push me?" Bumblebee asked, referring to the casualty that morning. The medic shrugged. "you shouldn't have done that," Bee said softly. Smokescreen grabbed Bee's servo in his. "If you hadn't, we both would be buried," Bee said. "Exactly," Knockout raspy voice sounded. He started coughing harshly.

All that dust and rubble had not been friendly on his vents. "Hadn't I told you not to talk?" Ratchet said as he walked back into the medbay, scanners in servo. Knockout crossed his arms and turned his helm away from the medic.

"sparkling," Ratchet muttered," Smokescreen, scooch." The rookie stood from his chair and decided that on the other side of the berth where Bee sat was a good place to stand. He took hold of Bee's servo again. Bumblebee offered him a smile. Ratchet eyed the both of them, then set to work.

Laserbeak started giggling and Soundwave let out a little laugh. He had seen it too, he only hoped he could do the same with the handsome cherry red mech. To Hold Knockout's servo would be a privilege.

~~~

Soundwave decided to stay in the medbay, keeping watch over Knockout. He was sort of relieved that the medic was confined to the medbay. Now he had to catch up on all his missed recharge. He knew Knockout was bored, he could see it in his faceplates and the fiddling of his thumbs. Not to forget that hardly anything interesting was happening in the medbay.

A whole week passed without Soundwave really knowing it. He had been content to stay at Knockout's berthside, even if Laserbeak went for a flight once in a while. He felt no desire of being anywhere else but at Knockout's side. Seems that after a week, Knockout was quite done with it all.

Long after Ratchet went to recharge and the lights were turned off, Knockout opened his optics. As silently as he could, he pulled out the energondrip and turned off the sparkmonitor. He let himself drop off the berth. Soundwave automatically reached out to him, forgetting that Knockout couldn't see him.

The red mech carefully walked through the medbay to the doors. His legs hadn't healed properly and it took a lot of energy out of him. Knockout had to grip one of the medical tool tables to keep him steady, before he continued to exit the medbay. Soundwave wondered why nobody heard him clutter through the halls.

Were they on the Nemesis, he had known it instantly. But they weren't on the Nemesis and the Autobots were not like Soundwave. Knockout stood in front of the groundbridge controls, putting in the coordinates and starting up the groundbridge. Soundwave usually didn't follow him to give the medic some privacy, even though Knockout didn't know he was there in the first place.

Knockout had left multiple times before and Soundwave hadn't followed. But, since it was in the middle of the night and Knockout just left unauthorized the medbay, he copied the coordinates and flew there.

To his surprise the coordinates led to the stranded Nemesis. What did Knockout do there? He had already moved all his belongings to his new quarters. Soundwave began to wonder if Knockout had been going here for the past few weeks. He entered the halls and searched for the cherry red mech.

Soon he had found Knockout, standing at some consoles. The medic was typing and clicking on things randomly, as if he was searching for something. Soundwave thought about the things that could possibly be only on the Nemesis computers and not on any other. Knockout kept grimacing until he let out a soft 'aha' when he found what he was looking for.

Though Soundwave didn't exactly understood why he searched for that particular item. Before he could think more of it, Knockout suddenly fell to the floor. Soundwave dashed forward to check up on him, but a groundbridge suddenly appeared. Arcee jumped through and looked around. Very soon, her optics had found what she was looking for, lying sprawled on the floor and looking close to offlining.

She gasped and rushed towards Knockout and picked him up in her arms. Soundwave felt slightly jealous as he watched Arcee carry his red mech through the groundbridge. Although Laserbeak laughed at his jealousy, he could feel her worry for the medic.

Soundwave petted her, telling her that Knockout only fainted because he was using his legs too quickly and that he would be alright. Laserbeak agreed and nuzzled her master's cheekplates. Soundwave petted her again, then transformed and flew back to Autobot HQ.

There was a certain mech he had to keep his optics on.

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