It wasn't quick, and it wasn't easy, but going through the tunnels was the only option they had at the time to get Thunderhoof to the Rescue Bots' med-bay without alerting the public. Everyone agreed that they couldn't risk the residents of Griffin Rock knowing about Thunderhoof just yet, especially not with the state he's in. Yes, he is tough, and even now, he can still cause quite a bit of damage, which may be appealing to certain folk, like...
"Bumblebee, are you okay?" Blades asked. "You've been sitting here motionless for hours."
"Y...Yeah, I'm fine," Bumblebee lied, not wanting to admit what was plaguing his thoughts. "I am still concerned for Thunderhoof and the pup's safety, though. I was hoping to discuss things further with everyone. Do you know when you'll be done?"
Blades hummed and looked over his shoulder. Boulder was checking the monitors on the other side of the medical slab, giving a clear view of its occupant. Thunderhoof was deep in recharge, looking more peaceful than he has all day. His frame stopped twitching, and according to the scans, his core temperature had returned to normal.
"We're mostly done, but that hoof has proven difficult," Blades admitted. "We aren't equipped to handle a procedure as delicate as this one. I'm sorry to say that we can't do anything about it."
"A delicate procedure, huh?" Bumblebee vented and rose to his pedes. "I know someone who can help. Let the others know what's going on. I'll be back in a bit."
***
"You know, when I said that this is an urgent matter that couldn't wait, I expected you to hurry."
"Sorry, but I was held-up," Knockout apologized, an edge to his voice.
"What happened? Did you get in trouble with Ratchet again?" Bumblebee asked.
Knockout laughed and crossed his arms behind his helm.
"I'm not the one who's in trouble with Ratchet!"
At that moment, someone else exited the portal. Knockout walked away, smirking, as he listened to Ratchet berating Bumblebee for constantly borrowing his assistant without his permission.
***
"I knew today was going to be a long day," Kade grumbled, taking a swig of coffee.
After surviving Ratchet, Bumblebee introduced him and Knockout to the Rescue Team and vice-versa. Blades and Boulder guided them to med-bay, filling them in on what they've done so far, and what they couldn't. When they saw things for themselves, Ratchet admitted that Bumblebee made the right call in asking for Knockout, but decided to stay and help, too. While the medics worked, everyone else gathered around for a meeting.
"If you say something along those lines one more time, I'm going to smack you," Heatwave threatened.
"You know you could kill or seriously injure me by doing that," Kade said.
"Fair point. How about I ask Dani to do it for me?"
"I wouldn't mind," Dani said, holding her own cup of coffee close to her chest. Kade just took another sip of his.
"What'd you want to talk about, Bumblebee?" Cody asked as he pet and rubbed and scratched and gave all sorts of attention to the white pup in his lap.
Steeljaw's daughter wanted to stay with Thunderhoof, but the medics didn't want her around any equipment, for fear she may accidentally break something. When she was removed from the room, she made the most pitiful sounds any of them have ever heard. They all tried to calm her down, and all but one failed. Cody was the only one who could get Steeljaw's daughter to stop crying. She quickly warmed-up to him and started playing with him.
At first, nobody could believe it. Bumblebee and Chase still didn't believe it, not until Heatwave and the others explained how relaxed Thunderhoof was around Cody. Perhaps, Steeljaw's daughter trusted Cody and felt comfortable around him because that's how her guardian was.
"For starters, it comforts me to know that the pup will be fine..." Bumblebee released a tired vent as his frame sagged. "However, there's something that is more concerning to me..."
"The 'Con?" Heatwave interrupted.
"Thunderhoof, Heatwave. You're going to have to get used to calling him by his name. I know you don't like it, but for the time being, you're going to have to deal with it. Now, back on topic. Yes, Thunderhoof is an Ex-Con, but he has been through tough times recently."
Heatwave was about to interrupt, but Bumblebee didn't give him the chance.
"I know he's not the only one, but for the sake of this discussion, we're giving him the benefit of the doubt."
"Pardon me, but I am failing to understand what you are trying to say," Chase said.
Bumblebee reeled in his frustration, not wanting to lose control of himself at the moment.
"What I'm trying to say is that Thunderhoof isn't exactly in the best of places right now. He was just granted a second chance at life when it had suddenly been stripped away from him. Not only does he have himself to worry about, but a sparkling – one I know he never wanted to have anything to do with in the first place – as well. He is responsible for her. He has no choice but to protect her for the one he owes his life to, and he doesn't even like the guy! Thunderhoof is prideful, arrogant, and stubborn. He doesn't want others to view him as weak and vulnerable, which is what he is right now. Thunderhoof knows that he can't protect himself or the sparkling, and he hates it. Honestly, I'm afraid of what will happen if the wrong people find out about them. The sparkling may not be able to do much more than hide..."
"But Thunderhoof is big, so he can't hide easily, and he's currently unable to fight or flee..." Graham interrupted.
"Which basically makes him a sitting duck," Kade added.
"An easy target," Dani concluded.
"Then we'll make sure he isn't a target, at least not an easy one," Chief Burns announced, then looked up at Bumblebee. "You can count on us. We'll protect them."
"Thank you," Bumblebee vented in relief. He chuckled as a thought came to mind.
"Although, I'm pretty sure he'll take over protection detail once he's back to normal."
"That may be a bit of a problem," Knockout said, entering the room alongside Ratchet.
"Why?" Bumblebee asked.
"Well, we were partially correct," Ratchet said. "Knockout's servos are perfectly shaped for such a procedure. However, it'd be best if we went a few sizes down."
"You mean someone with smaller servos of the same kind?"
Ratchet nodded.
Bumblebee growled.
"So, what, are you going to look for a minicon to do the job?"
"Not unless you happen to have a shrink ray on hand," Knockout casually mentioned.
***
"You have a shrink ray on hand."
When the Burns' mentioned that they are good friends with Griffin Rock's scientist and his family, and that they have what they need, Knockout didn't believe them.
He is eating those words now.
"Of course we do! It was just a matter of finding the thing!" Doc Greene said as he fiddled with the controls.
"Thanks, Doc, and sorry for the inconvenience. We weren't expecting anything like this to happen today," Chief Burns apologized. He thought about what he said and laughed.
"Then again, this is Griffin Rock. Weird stuff is bound to happen."
"That is quite the understatement," Chase said.
"An understatement indeed!" Doc Green concurred. He finished with the shrink ray and looked up at Knockout.
"All set! Are you ready?"
"Just to clarify, this is safe, right?" Knockout asked.
"It is, don't you worry! I made sure to test this version before deeming it usable."
"Uh, I'm sorry, this version? How many have you gone through?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself over! All that matters is that with this, you will get the job done! No harm no foul, I promise!"
Knockout grimaced. He didn't want to do this anymore. He couldn't stop thinking of all the ways this could go horribly wrong, but it's too late now.
A beam shot out from the shrink ray and reduced Knockout to half his original size.
"Can we go now? It's humiliating being this small!" Knockout whined.
"To be fair, you weren't that big to begin with," Chase said, eliciting a glare from the red medic.
"Okay, time to go!" Chief Burns said, fearing Knockout's soon-to-explode temper. "Chase?"
The blue and white mech transformed and opened the door for his human partner.
When Knockout transformed, it was into a smaller version of his alt mode.
"Oh, now isn't that just adorable!" Doc Green chuckled.
"I'm leaving," Knockout revved his engine angrily and sped out of the lab.
Back at the firehouse, Knockout switched to root mode and, ignoring all the looks he was getting from the normal-sized bots and their humans, walked to med-bay. Everything in the room looked bigger, increasing his irritation tenfold.
How is he supposed to work when he can't even reach the tools at his disposal?
"Need a little help?" Ratchet teased.
"Just let me get to work already!" Knockout snapped.