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There wasn’t anything to do. The cell was empty of anything. Anything Ratchet could do was to either lean against the wall, lie down, sit on the flat floor or just watch the doors. So now he just watched the doors. He couldn’t hear anything from outside, and with no stimuli of any kind he was growing restless. Having his mind dissected for information by Shockwave seemed pleasant compared to the sensory deprivation he was experiencing now. Ratchet was very well aware that it was very possible that the next time the doors opened, he could be simply executed before it had even registered to him, yet he kept watch. Being alone was not the problem, the main problem was having nothing to do. Mental exercises only went so far, but the silence and the monotony of the environment were constantly there, ready to turn anyone insane after prolonged exposure.
He didn’t flinch when the doors opened. But instead of Shockwave or Megatron or just some Vehicon lackeys, he was surprised to see Knock Out at the doorway. He quickly considered escaping, but with his hands in cuffs he couldn’t transform or fight. Knock Out being flanked by two vehicons also made Ratchet dismiss any hope of escape.
"I would ask if Shockwave forgot anything while digging through my mind, but we both know he’s quite thorough." Ratchet said, wondering why Knock Out was there.
"I am not here because Shockwave asked me to." Knock Out said. It appeared that mentioning Shockwave had managed to trigger something in him. It was obvious that Knock Out didn’t respect Shockwave at all.
"Then why are you here?" Ratchet asked. "What more can you hope to get out of me?"
"I came here to give you something to do." Knock Out smiled. "I know that sensory deprivation can be quite taxing on bots, especially those that always need something to do." He quickly turned on a datapad and did some operations on it.
"I’m going to disappoint you and say no. I won’t help Decepticons." Ratchet answered and turned around.
"Believe me when I say that you won’t be assisting anyone by taking a look and telling me what you think." Knock Out said. "We’re not in need of a medic greater than me at the moment."
Ratchet turned his head just slightly so he could see Knock Out from the corner of his eyes. He was surprised to hear that Knock Out flat out admitted that Ratchet was better than him in any aspect, even though Ratchet had a great reputation for his medical expertise. He saw Knock Out waving the datapad just slightly to bring attention to it. “What is it?” He asked, turning fully around.
"Have a look." Knock Out said and held it in front of his face. It was a bit closer than Ratchet would have wanted but he could read it. With a slight gesture Ratchet got Knock Out to hand him the datapad which he complied without any fuzz.
It was a medical report. A quick look at the header told Ratchet it had been generated by the Nemesis’ computers scans of the patient. And it was terrifying. Most if not all the damage had been done internally, some organs avoided and some destroyed.
"Who is this?" Ratchet asked aghast. He hadn’t seen anything like this before. And it was clearly not purely battle injuries. He had attended to several autobots and even some decepticons that had been horrifically injured in battle, but some of those injuries paled to what he was looking at.
"I see you’ve not seen the crown jewel of this." Knock Out said, and he wasn’t as self-assured as before, not as smug or full of himself, which was a bit unusual as far as Ratchet knew.
Ratchet continued reading, and he saw what Knock Out meant. Crude removal of the right optic. “Breakdown.” He muttered as he now managed to have a clearer picture of what he was reading. And everything fell into place. It was a crude exploratory surgery, only to know what was beneath the metal. Strange-looking organs, at least strange looking for humans, were left alone while systems that looked unimportant were severed. Ratchet had only seen Breakdown’s detached eye, and Bulkhead had not spoken much on the state he had seen Breakdown in. And as reading through the injuries, it was a wonder that Breakdown could even function after all that.
"Good. I was afraid you had failed to pay attention to what your human allies are capable of." Knock Out said.
"MECH are no allies of Autobots." Ratchet looked up from the report and glared at Knock Out.
"Don’t be so sure." Knock Out said. "Last time I remembered, when Autobots captured Flatline he was spared execution in exchange for the data from his experiments on Autobots. I’ve learned that humans have done the same kind of deals in the past. So why wouldn’t your allies offer the same deal to MECH?"
Ratchet was silent. He didn’t want to answer that question. He continued reading with renewed interest, hoping to learn what MECH had gleamed from Breakdown. While no one had heard of MECH since the incident with the satellite, no one had thought them all eradicated.
"I’m not Nightbeat, so why won’t you tell me why you are showing me this?" Ratchet said just before the silence would become unbearably uncomfortable. The answer came a bit too late for Ratchet, who looked up from his reading, seeing Knock Out avoiding looking at him. With no answer coming Ratchet decided to break the silence, looking back at the datapad. "I didn’t get to take a look at Breakdown when he was captive by MECH, but I’m amazed he managed to function with those injuries."
"His pain receptors were disabled." Knock Out said. "The only reason why he managed to focus enough to escape from MECH."
"How did they know how to do that?" Ratchet asked. "As far as I know Breakdown was the first Cybertronian MECH managed to inspect."
"I don’t know either." Knock Out shrugged.
"Still, why are you showing me this?" He asked again.
Knock Out took the datapad from Ratchet’s hands and did couple of more operations on it. “I want a second opinion.” Knock Out said, handing the datapad back.
Ratchet accepted the datapad and looked at it again. Now for each injury listed there was now listed with what had been done to fix said injury. “Why?” Ratchet asked as he read it over, going to the more serious injuries first.
Knock Out didn’t answer at first, a scowl on his face as confronted with that very simple question. “Because -” He said, though not continuing the sentence until Ratchet finally looked up, clearly waiting for the rest of it. “- I want to know if I could have done any better.” He admitted.
"MECH managed to capture Breakdown when he was in peak shape." Ratchet said. "With a blind spot and lack of depth perception Breakdown was probably easier to capture the second time." Ratchet didn’t realize it until after the last word escaped his mouth that he was comforting Knock Out. Battlefield medics often struggled with the fact that those that they discharged got themselves killed, and they often wondered if it were their fault. That they hadn’t done good enough job or had overlooked something. Ratchet had to deal with a similar case of guilt as being unable to fix Bumblebee’s voicebox after Megatron crushed it. But it was a bit surprising to see that kind of sentiment from a decepticon.
"It wasn’t MECH." Knock Out said.
"What?" Ratchet looked back up from the datapad. "But MECH had his body."
"It was Arachnid." Knock Out said. "When Dreadwing got out of her trap he couldn’t find Breakdown’s body. We assumed you had his body until we saw him again." Knock Out avoided looking in Ratchet’s eyes.
"The injuries Breakdown suffered at the hands of MECH were too severe." Ratchet finally said. "Even if his optic hadn’t been removed some of the injuries suffered crippled him permanently."
"But what about the injuries that didn’t cripple him? What could I have done to get him back into good shape?" Knock Out asked, confirming it for Ratchet that he was feeling the same kind of guilt as several other field medics during the war.
But Knock Out was a decepticon, and Ratchet was very well aware of his handywork. And if he were to assist him it would only serve to strengthen the decepticons and harm the autobots.
Ratchet took one short and last glance at the datapad, then looked up at Knock Out. “Plenty.” Ratchet simply answered without any fanfare or emotion and handed Knock Out the datapad back.
Even before Ratchet realized what happened he got dealt with heavy enough blow to lift him off his feet and be propelled halfway across the cell, sliding on the floor generating sparks. As he whimpered from the sudden and surprising pain he heard the doors closing. He looked back quickly, worried that he was stuck in the cell with his tormentor. But he was alone again. Alone and in pain.
Ratchet carefully stood up, a great deal given his pain and the cuffs. He looked back at the doors, now worried at the prospect of them opening again. But he was alone again, in the damned room and its damned silence. So he turned inwardly, listening to his inner systems. It took a while for his body to calm down and recover from the blow, and soon he was back again in the maddening silence.