Work Text:
It had been a tight squeeze past Soundwave, but Knock Out didn’t regret connecting his tires to the rough earth and tearing across it. The dark shielded him as he slipped back aboard through an energon tunnel. He transformed and brushed himself off, just stepping aboard the dark ship-
Scrap, Optimus Prime was standing right there.
No, not Optimus. Orion. OrionOrionOrion. Mustn’t forget to call him that.
Scrap! He could report me!
Orion looked up from a data pad. His optics were heavy, almost disoriented. “Officer Knock Out,” he greeted, respectfully straightening his posture. “...How was patrol?” he asked awkwardly.
Knock Out withheld a snicker in his relief. The poor Prime hadn’t suffered any small talk in the last thousand cycles, had he? Still, Knock Out couldn’t resist standing up straight and soaking in the illusion of rank.
“Quiet. One might even say dull. And what are you doing out of your barrack?”
“My apologies,” Orion sighed pitifully. “I was unable to induce shutdown.”
“...Hm. I could get you something from the medbay.”
“Thank you. However- I just needed to clear my head.” He grimaced, optics clouding between anger and just- sadness. “There has been… tremendous change during my absence.”
Knock Out studied him clinically, asking himself how much he dared in one night. “Well, I’ll escort you back,” he decided. “Can’t have an old friend stumbling around these halls.”
What could Knock Out say? He would bend over backwards for a mech who said thank you.
Still, it was weird walking side by side with Optimus Prime, the giant wearing an unassuming posture and taking soft footsteps.
“Orion,” Knock Out finally said, forcing a relaxed, unsuspicious tone from his throat. “It would be wise to warn you, should the Autobots ever sneak on board- they can be deceptive.”
Orion chuckled darkly. “I am aware.”
“...Then you must know that a few solar-cycles ago, a mid-ranking officer was seized by a group of humans.”
Orion grimaced, but didn’t seem entirely shocked that such a thing could be accomplished.
Knock Out had started digging himself into the hole, so he would finish the moat. “We… didn’t have the resources to quickly fetch him. When we finally did, he had been delivered out of harm’s way by- wait for it- one of the Autobots.”
Orion nearly halted, but remembered his manners and continued with Knock Out. “In hopes of… putting him in their debt?”
“Something along those lines,” Knock Out muttered. “The officer- never seemed sure.”
Orion was quiet for a moment. “There may be a few soft sparks among the Autobots, even if their cause is destructive.”
“Just so you know,” Knock Out shrugged.
They had arrived at Orion's barrack. Again, Knock Out was thanked for the escort.
“Officer,” Orion added before retiring. “Please give my condolences to the officer’s team.”
“Who says he’s terminated?” Knock Out blurted out, grinning in alarm.
“You were speaking about Officer Breakdown, correct?” Orion asked, faltering slightly. “I heard of his lost signal from some of the vehicons.”
Knock Out laughed in disbelief. Those bleeding sparks, handing out laments for a bot who was thick-headed enough to go into a fight with one optic against an enemy who had eight. But he lifted his chin with a cool smile. “Don’t worry about it. We’re still on the winning team.”
Primus knows one of us deserves it.
Orion smiled uncertainly, and said goodnight.