Chapter Text
Every sentient being possesses the capacity for change.
Those words resonated inside Knockout’s spark, leaving him speechless and in awe of the most selfless act Knockout had ever seen. Which in itself wasn’t a huge accomplishment, considering the bots he’d surrounded himself with for most of his life. Knockout had never quite understood the intense (and terrifying) rivalry between Optimus and Megatron, but with the serene look that Optimus sent over his shoulder before he jumped, paired with the everyone can change mantra, Knockout thought of Starscream.
Megatron, the biggest and baddest of the big and bad, had changed—and maybe… Maybe Starscream needed someone to believe he could change, too.
The autobots started to gravitate closer together during the fireworks show but Knockout didn’t join them. He wasn’t one of them, even now, so he took a step back. And then another. Bumblebee’s voice crackled over the comm after he’d transformed an sped away, sounding weary.
“Where’d you run off to, Knockout?” he asked, and Knockout felt like there should maybe be a little more suspicion in his voice, but he’d probably destroyed his bad guy cred forever. Or maybe losing a leader that you were actually devoted to was exhausting. Knockout wouldn’t know.
“I have… I need to take care of something. I’ll be back,” he hedged, and there was a moment of silence before Bumblebee switched the comm off. He supposed that was all the acceptance he was going to get, but didn’t bother disabling his communicator or tracking device in a show of good faith. Or something.
He didn’t think they’d follow him to where he was going, anyway.
Knockout had thought Darkmount would be deserted and silent, totally devoid of anything—and therefore an ideal hiding spot for Starscream—but as soon as the tower was visible it obviously wasn’t deserted.
Knockout’s spark stalled for a terrifying moment at the fire that engulfed the top of the tower—there was only one bot on the planet who could make fire like that, and that bot had a very compelling reason to want Starscream dead. Knockout revved his engine and pushed for more speed, for once in his life regretting being a grounder. Just as Knockout was realizing with dread that he was too late there was—a shape. A dark shape against the brightness of the fire, coming towards Knockout and when he squinted it was the shape of a seeker.
Predaking rose up behind him, roaring in outrage, flanked by the other two predacons who would be on top of Starscream in a matter of moments. For once Knockout ignored the obvious danger, ignored the wall of death moving towards him at alarming speed and concentrated on what mattered.
Starscream was badly injured, his turbine coughing smoke and energon--one more direct hit would no doubt snuff out his spark. Knockout focused on Starscream and transformed out of his alt mode, stepping once, twice, and leaping into the air into the air.
“Starscream!” he yelled, and the seeker immediately veered toward the sound of his voice, and Knockout spread his arms as he rocketed towards Starscream. Predaking was right there, his throat glowing red as he prepared the final blow. Knockout didn’t let himself think about that fire as he caught Starscream mid-transformation, wrapping his arms tightly around Starscream’s chassis and letting his momentum carry them right towards Predaking’s red-hot mouth.
Starscream was screaming, and Knockout couldn’t blame him because damn Predaking was hot, and not in the colloquial human way either. At the last moment Knockout kicked out, landing one foot right between Predaking’s eyes and managing to launch them right over his head just as fire erupted out of Predaking’s mouth. He ran down Predaking’s back and then jumped off, Starscream still yelling in his ear as he wrapped himself tightly around Starscream and prepared for their landing.
He rolled as they hit the ground, sparing Starscream from the brunt of the force. They skidded to a stop and Knockout reluctantly loosened his hold on Starscream to lay him gingerly on the ground. Starscream was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes, which got wider when he glanced over Knockout’s shoulder. He was badly scorched and leaking energon from a nasty cut on his jaw, and no doubt had worse injuries but Knockout didn’t exactly have time to give him a full checkup.
“You,” Predacon growled, and Knockout turned to find Predaking dropping out of the sky and transforming to tower over Knockout, “Have you come to have your spark snuffed out alongside your comrade?” Starscream made a terrified little noise behind him and Knockout stepped forward, trying to exude the confidence and deadly force that he didn’t necessarily possess.
“No,” Knockout said, fighting the urge to fidget under Predaking’s piercing glare, “I came to convince you to leave his—to leave both of our sparks intact.” Knockout had to fight back a totally inappropriate giggle at the look of disbelief that came over Predaking’s face. The look of disbelief was quickly replaced by his piercing glare again, but at least he wasn’t actively trying to kill Starscream now.
“I am curious to hear what reasoning you could possibly have to convince me not to destroy one of the bots responsible for the destruction of my kind—and may I remind you that you are not exempt from that number?”
Knockout gulped, his resolve slipping a little because Predaking could probably tear the spark out of his chest without breaking a sweat. He glanced down at Starscream, looking from the terrified, exhausted look on his face to where he had his digits pressed over a wound in his side that was sluggishly leaking energon. No—he had to do this. Knockout turned back to Predaking and squared his shoulders.
“I know he’s… He’s not…” Knockout clenched his digits into fists, trying to think of a word that could accurately sum up Starscream’s personality, “He’s made mistakes. He probably doesn’t deserve another chance but… Look, I won’t pretend I know what’s it’s like to be the last of your species but I—I know what’s it like to lose everything. And he,” Knockout jabbed a digit behind him at Starscream, emotion clawing its way up his throat, “Is the last thing I have left. And I’m not ready to give up on him yet.” Knockout glared back at Predaking, who looked a little taken aback, his shoulders slouching a little. He looked carefully at Knockout, then at Starscream, and made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat.
“You would risk your life for someone you say doesn’t deserve a second chance?” Predaking asked, and Knockout swallowed audibly. He shrugged, uncomfortable suddenly.
“Yeah, well, I never claimed to be a genius,” Knockout said, scratching the back of his neck. Predaking stared him down for a moment longer and then stood up straight again.
“Very well. I will spare you this time,” Predaking said, and Knockout held back a whoop of triumph, “Neither of you would be much of a challenge in any case. But if I ever see either of you again, I will not be so generous.” Predaking glared pointedly at each of them in turn and then transformed and flew off, his two—sons? soldiers?—in his wake. Knockout watched him go and exhaled a breath, his knees going out a little as the danger passed. Then Starscream made a small noise behind him and Knockout turned, hesitating for a moment before dropping to Starscream’s side to inspect his wounds.
“Knockout,” Starscream whispered, his voice tired and raspy and Knockout finally looked at his face. His optics were dimmed and far away, probably slipping into shock, and Knockout wondered if he had actually heard that speech or not. Starscream reached up with digits stained with energon and touched Knockout’s chest, tracing scuff marks from their less-than-graceful landing.
“You scuffed your paint. For me,” Starscream said, his voice awed now. Knockout had no idea what to say to that, mostly because it was true, and he hadn’t given it a thought at the time. Now a thread of panic ran through his spark because he’d been more preoccupied with Starscream’s life than his own paintjob, which was something of an… Anomaly. Knockout was saved from constructing a response a moment later when Starscream’s optics offlined and he slipped into unconsciousness. Knockout sighed, glancing over Starscream’s injuries and pushing his panic away to be dealt with later. Even if he did have any tools on him Starscream had lost a lot of energon. Knockout reluctantly turned on his comm.
“Uh, Ratchet? I need… A groundbridge. And also your medical tools and some energon,” Knockout said, wincing while he waited out a long moment of silence.
“Knockout?” came Ratchet’s voice, “Are you injured?” Knockout wondered briefly if he could get away with getting medical tools and energon from Ratchet without telling him it was to fix Starscream. But then, even if he did manage to pull that off, Ratchet was so much more experienced in healing bots. Knockout’s experiences tended towards the opposite of that. He also wondered if being included in a blanket statement about leadership from Optimus Prime made him count as an autobot, then sighed and bit the bullet.
“No, it’s… Starscream. Predaking tried to kill him,” Knockout said, wincing when the line was silent again.
“And you… stopped him?” came Bumblebee’s voice and Knockout sighed in frustration.
“Look, I get it, but Starscream’s offline and you can—you can tie him up, I don’t care, you can tie me up if you want, but just don’t let him die,” Knockout said, horrified to hear the waver in his own voice. For a moment there was only silence again, and Knockout was sure they weren’t going to help, they were going to leave Starscream to die— And then a groundbridge whirred to life not far away and Knockout breathed a sigh of relief.
Knockout gathered Starscream up in his arms (which took a little longer than it should have, but Starscream was so pointy) and stood, only managing a couple of steps towards the groundbridge before Ratchet was coming through. The older bot stopped a few steps away and looked at Knockout carefully, like he expected the prone form in his arms to spring to life and try to kill him. It wasn’t an unreasonable concern, Knockout was sure, but they should maybe get on with the saving-Starscream’s-life thing.
“He’s unconscious, and he has one large wound on his side but I think more internal injuries but I don’t know for sure without…” Knockout trailed off, looking down at the energon smeared over Starscream’s face, “Please help me.” Ratchet scoffed but didn’t answer, reaching out to turn his scanner on Starscream and frowning at the results. Then he gave Knockout one last, long look, and turned back towards the groundbridge. Knockout followed him through, studiously ignoring the autobots’ staring as he laid Starscream out on a berth.
Starscream’s injuries weren’t all that bad--or at least, they didn’t kill him, as long as he sat still for a few days of recuperation. Ratchet handled most of the actual healing, leaving Knockout to act as nurse-slash-assistant, which he opened his mouth to object to but fell silent when he caught sight of the energon smeared on his own hands and all down his chassis. Some things are more important.
They worked in relative silence, the other autobots leaving to-- do something, have a party maybe, or organize a funeral. Ratchet was quiet, and Knockout had no idea whether or not that was typical, but it was obvious that his own silence was making Ratchet uneasy judging by the increasingly suspicious looks he kept shooting Knockout.
Knockout also didn’t object to the stasis cuffs that Ratchet attached to Starscream’s hands and feet, because after all Starscream had all but declared one-bot war on the autobots.
Knockout leaned heavily on the edge of the berth and bowed his head, realizing how exhausted he was now that Starscream was stable.
“You should go recharge.” Ratchet said, and Knockout almost laughed when he turned his head towards him because Ratchet himself looked like he’d need a solid week of recharge before he started looking chipper again. What was it Ratchet had said? Something about losing the bot he cared the mostly about?
“So should you,” Knockout said, and then held Ratchet’s gaze as he stared. Ratchet glanced away, towards Starscream, and very obviously changed the subject.
“Why did you go back for him? I thought you said he was rude,” Ratchet said, and Knockout looked over at Starscream too, listening to the low, steady hum of his engine.
“He is rude. And obnoxious. And will probably take the first chance he gets to stab me in the back,” Knockout paused, for the first time considering the conversation they would have to have when Starscream was conscious, “But… It was what Optimus said,” Ratchet visibly winced at the name, and Knockout pretended he hadn’t seen, “Every sentient being possesses the capacity for change. And he was right, about Megatron, all along. And I don’t know if it was Optimus that got through to Megatron or what, but… I think Starscream can change. And I know I don’t have the power of the Primes or anything, but he’s never been like Megatron. Not where it counts.” Knockout fell silent, staring at Starscream’s face, relaxed and quiet for once. Ratchet was quiet, and Knockout left him to it, figuring the bot liked his space. He looked over when Ratchet spoke up, sounding far more fond than Knockout had ever expected to hear from him.
“I used to think he was naive,” Ratchet said, and then at Knockout’s curious look he clarified, “Optimus, I mean. He never stopped believing that there was good inside of Megatron. Even when he probably shouldn’t have.” A small, private smile came over Ratchet’s faceplate and Knockout did his best to not get unnerved by the expression. After a long, quiet moment he shook himself and looked at Knockout again, "Yesterday, I wouldn't have let Starscream anywhere near my medbay. But Optimus wanted this. He was the best of all of us, and he hated fighting more than anyone. He would have given Starscream a second chance, or a third or a fourth. As many as he needed. If you think there’s something inside him worth saving, then I think… Good luck.” Those words could have easily sounded sarcastic or patronizing, but they weren’t, and no matter how exhausted and devastated Ratchet looked, in that moment he was… Optimistic. Hopeful. Like maybe he was starting to believe that they really did have this chance to see their world beautiful and alive again.
Knockout ducked his head, embarrassed by the sentiment, and found himself staring down at Starscream again.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, “I think… I think out of everyone, he needs saving the most.” Knockout couldn’t meet Ratchet’s gaze again, too embarrassed about having such a personal conversation, and thankfully Ratchet only made a thoughtful sound and then fell silent. Knockout heard Ratchet moving around in the medbay behind him but he paid it no mind, focusing instead on the steady thrum of Starscream’s turbine and the monitor that proved his spark was beating.