Let's not think about Starscream's sacrifice later 🤫

It's late and his helm is pounding.

Bulkhead was injured and Ratchet had to rush overtime just to make sure he hadn't entered stasis lock from energon loss.

Ratchet sighed and scrubbed his servo over his optics when his vision feed blurred momentarily.

Once the moment passed he continued to type glyphs across the board.

He had work to get done. He couldn't stop just because his frame was having second thoughts on getting through the entire cycle after the excitement calmed down.

That's exactly why when another moment of vertigo hit him, he shook his helm side to side and squeezed at his own temples.

The moment eventually passed and he waited for his wits to fully return, before he continued on typing out the recoding for the system after Bulkhead's impromptu surgery.

He'd had to start working immediately. Cutting corners cruelly. Not being able to even take a moments time to reroute Bulkhead's pain receptors. Bulkhead had assured him he could take it and to just make sure “he didn't meet Primus, when they still had a war to win.”

Ratchet loathed the fact of the matter that he wasn't fast enough to do something so- simple before struggling to get Bulkhead stable.

There was a lot of that recently... Not being skilled enough to meet the needed assistance the others required while risking their lives every confrontation.

Bulkhead's gritted noises of pain replayed in the back of his audials.

...

Ratchet sighed so deeply his plating slacked and his pauldrons slouched.

His HUD that he'd already dismissed more times than he could count pinged once again. Except rather bizarrely when his focus flicked from his HUD from his workspace, his visual feed glitched. Slowing and chopping up the actual happenings in front of himself.

Instinctively his servo reached for his optics. He somehow failed to calibrate the distance correctly and ended up touching his own chevron instead.

He cycled his optics rapidly, hoping it would force them to adjust and stop their current glitch in progress.

Ratchet glanced down at his servos, and the action suddenly had his balance deciding it was going to malfunction as well. He stepped backwards once, then twice, to catch himself before he would fall.

His equilibrium suddenly spun inside his frame and he felt as if his pede slipped out from underneath himself.

"Ratchet-!?"

Ratchet registered his back thudding against the ground before everything cut out.

His HUD booted up slowly. Very slowly. Having to undertake the very long cycling of multiple issues.

But eventually his systems started functioning at operative levels and his senses began to gradually return to him the longer time passed.

Ratchet sighed when his motion returned before onlining his optics. His vision flickered for a moment before it corrected.

When he had a clear view, Ratchet’s optics cycled as he stared up at you.

You were leaning over him and when you realized he'd gotten his wits about him, your optic ridge raised. "Hello, my stupid stupid Conjunx. How are you?"

Your words made his faceplate crease as his processor gradually caught up to the rest of himself.

Only to jerk upwards remembering exactly what had happened. You pulled back before he almost slammed his helm into yours. He swung his legs over the edge of his berth but thought better then to attempt to stand when his world of reference lurched.

His servos flew up to his faceplate to steady himself some. You simply sat down next to him.

His helm fogged and his HUD warned him his fuel tank was close to empty. He dismissed the warning and slowly vented.

The spinning slowed and his senses re calibrated.

Realizing he still needed to answer you, he forced himself to focus. "Functional." Ratchet settled on an answer that didn't both sound terrible and simultaneously like a complete lie.

You hummed "That so? Cause me and Optimus were freaking out trying to figure out what was wrong. Before we scanned you and realized you blew a fuse working yourself down to your struts."

Some form of guilt gnawed against his processor at the image of both you and Optimus panicking over his unresponsive self. Only to discover stress of all things was what took him down. He was trying to do more for the team- not hinder you all further.

You sighed deeply and cursed underneath your vents before reshuffling your own plating to something more casual. The frustration that had ruffled it up in the first place had it twitching here and there since he'd onlined.

Your optics found his again and he looked away.

"Ratchet. You can't be doing this."

"I... have to." Was what he allowed himself to admit.

"No. You don't. And don't try running your mouth on and on like you do when you get upset-!" You injected before he could do exactly that. His jaw shutting closed with a soft clink. You'd leaned into his space your digit pointed at him. "Okay, it may come as a shock to you! But I like my Conjunx not collapsing on the ground due to stress, overworking, and low energon levels.”

Ratchet froze at your words, something cold settling in his frame when you reveled what you knew.

While you just raised an optical ridge. "What? Yeah, I know about your habit. So-" You slid closer to his side and threw your arm over his pauldron and pulled him close towards you.

Ratchet’s optics cycled when you shoved a half full energon cube up against his chassis. "Refuel."

"That's-"

"Half of my ration from today." You pulled it back from being right up against his chassis so you could gently swirl it in the cube. "I'd have saved you a full one, but I just know you'd have used it as an excuse not to take it from me."

Ratchet’s optics darted from you to the cube pressing against his front again.

Apparently he'd taken too long doing that and your expression worried some.

It made the cold settled in his frame sink it's claws in even deeper than before.

"Love, take it before I sit on you and force it down your intake like a bitlet throwing a tantrum."

Ratchet's optic ridge twitched. "You wouldn't."

"Respectfully I think I can in fact overpower and hold down our energon deprived medic very easily, thank you very much. And-" you glanced at the entrance of his habsuite before looking back at him "If you want I can call Bumblebee and Arcee and have them help me hold you down while I manually pour this down your intake."

Ratchet scoffed at the idea, he couldn't help it. "Like they'd agree to that."

"Ah, I think they'd be plenty willing to help me if I tell them exactly what you've been doing in regards to your rations, love." You were smiling. Smiling while you were threatening him. And you were very serious about said threat. "Now... easy way or hard way, Ratch?"

His frown deepened as he stared down at the energon. He could see it reflecting his own faceplate back up at him. His optics were dim and all the general scuffs and nicks he'd acquired sat on his plating.

...

Ratchet finally sighed- his plating slacking before he got himself to take the cube you were pressing against him. He watched it slosh inside the cube before he managed to raise it to his derma and swallow a bit of it. "Good bot." Your em field which had been kept to your side flexed over his frame with warmth. He almost choked on the energon when you did it.

You leaned closer against him when he pulled the cube away from his derma. A quarter remained inside the cube.

Your servo slid off his pauldrons to instead slink down to where you were pressing against his side. Your servo found his and you linked your digits together before settling more relaxed this time.

"You scared me."

Ratchet paused when he was in the middle of glancing back at his cube. "You can't be doing that to me, love." Your servo squeezed his tighter. Your other servo reaching across your own frame to grab his arm too. "Especially not like that." The back of his throat cables caught a line of emotion and they felt tight suddenly.

The cold in his system was the only thing he felt for a moment.

But your em field rolled back over his frame again. Secure. Tight. Warm. The heat of it slipping underneath the gaps of his plating and settling in deeper too. Crawling through his fuel lines till it was what he couldn't not focus on. His plating slid open a touch which had your em field spill into those gaps as well.

The tension of the guilt and shame bled out of him slowly. Not disappearing no. But fading into the background instead. More focused on you pressing against his side and worrying the back of his knuckles with your digit pads.

Ratchet looked back down at his reflection in the energon.

His optics were a slightly more acceptable level of brightness already. His derma set flat and his optical ridge no longer pressing against his expression. The scratches and nicks still remained exactly where they'd been a moment ago.

He still looked utterly terrible.

The weight of your frame reminded him you were there settled next to him. He glanced from his reflection to down where your servos were intertwined.

Ratchet slowly curled his and your arm upwards before he brought your servo up to his derma.

Before he kissed the back of yours.

Your servos fell back down to rest between you both. He sighed, his em field slowly and gently curling up against your own frame. Ratchet couldn't find the strength to apologize and also mean it as much as he should. So he settled for his field to do the work for him. Pulsing back a remorseful mood and squeezing your servo back. The warmth swimming in his frame and dragging along his own plating.

Ratchet’s spark twinged something warm back to you when you moved and kissed him on the cheek.

Divider credits: @/cursed-carmine

Cybertronian! Insert/Reader

Knockout prefers bigger bots, yknow, the 'heavy duty type'. That doesn't necessarily mean taller bots. Though if you're shorter, he'll definitely tease that.

Maybe it's a security thing, but he prefers bots who can left more then their own share. [Bigger, better]

Just like his frame type, he likes his relationships to develop fast. Sure he'll slow down if you prefer that, but he'll make his feelings and desires known. So LOTS of flirting.

Clingy, and one for PDA, mostly as a dominance thing to scare other bots off. Territorial? Maybe.

Likes to glide his pointed servos over your shoulders and back when passing by, not hard enough to leave scratches, but enough to feel a flick of static electricity trade itself between you two.

Will slide his servos and digits between the gaps of your hips and lower back when simply loitering beside you. He tends to fidget absent mindedly with the mesh and wiring- similar to squeezing a partners love handles or sliding a hand over your lovers ass.

Will expect to be pampered and loved on, though ironically gets flustered with PDA directed towards him.

Human! Insert/Reader

It takes KnockOut a while to even consider being JUST FRIENDS with a human.

Best way to this mechs spark is stroking his primus-forsaken ego.

Still a bit iffy about you touching him, even when you get close. This is due to your natural oil, which he TRIES [not really] to explain nicely that your dirty little mits are covered in. Though soon enough he starts seeing them as little marks he can wear with him when he's not around you! Not that any other bot notices...

He's the type of mech to treat his lil human F/O like a purse dog, SORRY. He carries you around, coz he doesn't want you stepped on OR getting dirty.

Drive in movies are a MUST and he loves having someone to talk to about said movies. Breakdown rarely accompanies him to said movies, so its a welcome change.

He may or may not convince you to pamper the shit out of him. Relating back to point three, he may just say it's what you owe him for getting him covered in your little oily finger prints.

Probably would love to pamper you back, whether not it's healthy, he sees your presentation as an extension of himself. He'd probably somehow get his hands on the finest [most likely red and gold] clothes and accessories.

Would probably pick and prod at you, pet you and overall be all over you.

HUGE flirt, and uses human movies as education on how to court you. It's cringe as fuck, but some how works with his charisma.

Human-ish/Changeling! Reader

Most of what Human! Insert applies to Changeling! Insert. He views you as a interesting "specimen", but ultimately finds you easier to relate to then a plain human due to the shared ability to change forms.

Would be really interested in your species mimicking abilities, and if they also apply to mechanical life [it does, just takes a hella lot of practice!].

With your ability to change form, the size difference that would be seen between a human and a Cybertronian can easily be bridged. Though frankly he prefers when you're smaller, since seeing an organic as big as a Cybertronian, no matter the form is a bit... disconserting.

Doesn't let you out of his sight much. You're not exactly safe around your own kind [humans] or Cybertronians, especially if it's known of your abilities.

He would NOT trust other scientists around you, and especially not human governments. If Megatron or Soundwave knows you're a changeling, then KnockOut is even more fretful.