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Breakdown was on another routine patrol after being sent out by Megatron to collect some fresh energon nearby. The source was located near the outskirts of Jasper, so the drive there hadn’t taken too long.
He slows to a stop, making sure to take a quick scan of his surroundings before changing into his bot mode. He’s not too worried about being seen however considering that it’s quite late at night and he doubts any humans would still be outside at this hour.
The wide mech takes out the energon detector he’d been given and turns it on. A faint beeping can be heard as he walks in the direction of the red dot lit up on the device’s screen.
After walking a few more feet he reaches his destination where he finds shards of bright blue energon peeking out from beneath the Earth. A proud smirk appears on his faceplate.
“Bingo.”
The next 10 minutes go by slowly as he takes his time mining each individual ore of energon with his hammer carefully. He’s ex-venting heavily by the time he’s done storing them in his back trunk.
Breakdown is just about to switch back into his alt mode and head back to base when he hears the snap of a twig followed by a squeak nearby. He quickly readies his cannon as he snaps his helm to the side, only to come face to face with a small human looking back at him in fear.
“Scrap," he curses to himself.
The mech lowers his weapon as he stares at the small organic before him. Their eyes are wide with shock, mimicking the look of a deer caught in the headlights.
Breakdown ponders on what to do as he taps his pede against the ground anxiously. They don’t appear to be one of the Autobots’ humans which is a big relief to him.
He could always get rid of them with a single blast of his cannon, but he didn’t necessarily like the idea of harming an innocent organic who just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
While he continues to ponder, he doesn’t notice them trying to run away, only to slip on some gravel and fall head first into a large rock knocking them out cold.
The Decepticon is broken from his thoughts at the loud thud. His optic detects them lying on the ground unconscious as blood starts to drip from their head. He frowns at this as he goes to gently pick them up in his servos, now cradling their limp body against his chassis.
Breakdown can’t help but take a minute to look at their smaller form next to his. He’s not too sure why, but he can’t help but find their squishy self almost...cute.
He lets out a deep sigh before sending a comm link to Soundwave.
“Hey Soundwave. Yeah, I’m gonna need a spacebridge asap.”
“You did WHAT?!”
Megatron’s voice can be heard throughout the Nemesis as he glares menacingly at Breakdown who starts to fidget with his digits nervously.
“Apologies master. I take full responsibility for not being careful enough and getting spotted by a human as a result," he says as he bows his helm in shame.
“That’s not what I’m upset about you imbecile! Tell me why you decided it would be a good idea to bring a human onto our ship!” The warlord seethes angrily, balling his servos up into fists.
Breakdown scrambles to come up with a good explanation.
“I-It’s just that they were bleeding and unconscious. I didn’t want to leave them there in case they died from blood loss...” he trails off weakly, too afraid to make eye contact with his boss who’s surely glaring holes into his helm right now.
“Well you better do something with them, or I’ll take it upon myself to personally dispose of them," Megatron says with a menacing tone, causing the mech to shiver.
“Yes sir.”
With that he takes his leave, slowly making his way towards Knockout’s med bay located on the opposite side of the Nemesis. When he arrives he finds the red mech busy at his workstation typing away on a datapad as he hums to himself.
He turns his helm at the sound of Breakdown approaching him, giving the other a smug look.
“I take it the boss didn’t like your explanation?” He idly asks to which he receives a tired grumble from the larger mech in response.
“For a moment I thought Megatron was gonna rip my helm off in rage. I think this is the angriest I’ve seen him since the one time Starscream failed to destroy the Autobots’ base.”
Knockout nods in agreement as he goes to grab a blanket from one of the storage cabinets beside him.
“How’s the human doing by the way?” He asks anxiously.
The smaller Decepticon gestures to the medical bed on the opposite side of the room. There their small body lies, their head injuries now bandaged up and clean. Knockout gently wraps them up in the blanket he grabbed before turning towards Breakdown again.
“They’re in stable condition. Nothing a few bandages and proper wound cleaning couldn’t fix," he says with a grin.
“However, they're still unconscious. From what you explained to me earlier, it seems like they hit their head pretty hard against that rock. I swear humans can be such fragile creatures.”
The red and blue mech takes in what his friend is saying with a silent nod.
“Really Breakdown, what were you thinking? You’re lucky it was just some regular civilian and not some MECH agent. We would’ve been in real hot water if that were the case," Knockout scolds his friend with a pointed digit.
Breakdown lets out a sigh in defeat as he slumps his large frame on the bench beside him.
“I know I know. I guess I’d just feel really guilty if I left the poor thing out there injured and unconscious with no one around to help them. Very unlike that of a Decepticon, I know," he half-heartedly jokes, causing Knockout to give him a concerned look.
“I dunno Knockout...maybe I’m not all that cutout for this Decepticon business after all. Somedays it feels like my spark is way bigger than it should be for a ‘Con," he mutters with a sad look in his optic.
Knockout puts a comforting servo on his shoulder pad.
“You’re probably the most sympathetic ‘Con I know around here. I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing though. Nowadays it’s pretty hard to come across such genuine Decepticons in the business who aren’t just in it for themselves. That’s what I appreciate about you the most, Break.”
Knockout reassures him with a genuine smile. This seems to put the mech at ease as he grins in return. The two of them are pulled away from their discussion by the sound of someone coughing. They turn their helms to find the small human awake. Their eyes now scan their surroundings nervously.
Suddenly their eyes lock onto Breakdown and Knockout with a gasp. Noticing that they’re too high off the ground to jump and run, they hide themself under the large blanket in the hopes that they’ll be ignored.
Breakdown slowly approaches the medical bed and gently pulls the blanket away from their form. They let out a startled screech in fear before curling themself up in a protective ball.
“Shh hey it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you," he reassures them softly. He extends a servo out to them which they look at cautiously. They continue to stare at it for the next few moments before hesitantly placing one of their small hands on top of it.
“Cute," Breakdown thinks.
They look back up at him with curious eyes. Their nervous shaking seems to have stopped for the time being.
“W-What are you?” They stutter out quietly as they glance between him and Knockout.
Breakdown is about to explain before Knockout interjects.
“Hello little organic, I’m glad to see that you’re awake! I’m Knockout and this is my friend Breakdown. I’m sure you recognize him as the one you spotted before blacking out?” He asks, earning a silent nod in return from them.
“Good good. Well us, along with the rest of the residents on this ship are what you’d call cybertronians also known as robotic life forms which hail from the planet Cybertron. Just like you we need energy and sleep to function properly, albeit in different ways of course. Does that make sense?”
They stare at him blankly as they try to process everything he’s told them. After a long few minutes they finally speak.
“So...you’re like aliens?” They ask meekly. Knockout snorts at this.
“Well that’s a rather crude way of putting it in my opinion but in human terms, yes.”
They nod their head in understanding before turning back to Breakdown. The mech can feel his cooling fans start to turn on from nervousness as they stare at him intensely.
“You’re really big," they state simply. He lets out a hearty laugh in response.
“You’ve got that right little one.”
He turns back to Knockout with a more serious look.
“What should we do with them? The boss told me if I don’t figure something out, he’ll do away with them himself," he explains with a terrified shiver.
The other mech puts a servo on his chin in thought before he turns back to his friend.
“Well considering you were the one who originally discovered them, I think it only makes sense for you to be their guardian until we can take them back to Earth safely. Besides, I think they’ve grown attached to you," he grins, nodding his helm towards Breakdown’s servo where they lay peacefully asleep.
Breakdown can feel his faceplate heat up in embarrassment. Or was it adoration? He isn’t quite sure.
He can’t help the small smile that appears on his faceplate though as he watches them sleep cutely.
“Sounds like a plan.”