#m.e.c.h.

The door to the med bay slid open easily for him. He stopped in the entryway and glanced around the room. On the medical table, Breakdown was deep in recharge. Danny looked up at the readings on the monitor to make sure he was stable before glancing around the rest of the room. Knockout wasn’t here.

“Knockout?” he whisper yelled, not wanting to wake Breakdown, but there was no response.

Danny frowned. It wasn’t like Knockout to leave Breakdown unattended, not with how he’d been acting since the injury. He had been constantly checking readings, tweaking equipment, doing anything he could to keep his processor busy. 

Danny tapped his foot on the ground as he was thinking. Breakdown was asleep, so Danny couldn’t really hang out with him anyway. And right now, Danny was more concerned as to where Knockout could be and what was so much more important than Breakdown. He sighed deeply before turning on his heel out the door. Time to find himself a Decepticon Medic.

-

It didn’t take too much searching to locate the red sports car. Danny found him in a research hub-type room with a small desk and large monitor just a few doors down from the Med Bay. It seemed the Con still wanted to be close to Breakdown after all. 

Knockout, hunched over one of the terminals, had his optics fixed on the screen, completely engrossed in whatever he was doing. 

Danny stepped forward, curious about what had captured the medic’s attention. “What are you doing?”

Knockout’s servos twitched, but he didn’t jump. “Must you always sneak up on me like that?” He muttered, his tone sharp. His optics flickered briefly down to Danny before he returned his gaze to the screen.

Danny tilted his head, stepping beside Knockout to get a better look at what was on the terminal. “What’s this?” 

Knockout sighed heavily, leaning back slightly as his field pulsed with a mix of frustration and something… darker . “I’ve been working on tracking down the human scientists responsible for Breakdown’s condition.” His voice was laced with bitterness, and he gestured toward the screen. “I think I’ve found something—a warehouse they may be hiding in.” He gestured vaguely towards the screen.

Danny crossed his arms, not liking where this was going one bit. Knockout wanted revenge, and he was going to get himself hurt in the process. “And what, you’re just going to go down there? Alone?”

Knockout’s optics narrowed. “Of course I’m going down there,” he growled, his EM field flared with pure hatred. “They took him apart. They nearly killed him. I won’t rest until they’re nothing but scrap.”

Danny’s field mimicked the sentiment. But he needed to keep a level head here. Someone had to. “Knockout, you’re going to get yourself killed. If they can take down Breakdown, they can take you down, too.”

Knockout’s engine growled in irritation. “I’m not Breakdown. I’m faster, smaller, more precise. I know how to fight them now. They ambushed Breakdown when he was hurt. If they had fought him head-on, they would have lost. I won’t make the same mistakes.” He glared at Danny as if he was the source of his problems. “And I’m not staying here while those humans walk away unpunished.”

Danny let out a long sigh, shaking his head. “Alright, then.” Danny stretched his arms over his head. “I guess I’m going with you.”

Knockout blinked, his optics flickering with confusion. “What? No. You’re not. You’ll get yourself killed down there, human.”

Danny shrugged, his voice calm but firm. “If you’re going, I’m going. I’m not going to let you get yourself torn apart. Besides, what good are you to Breakdown if you end up dissected in some lab, too?”

Knockout scoffed, his tone bitter. “And what makes you think you’d be any help? You’re fragile.”

Danny sighed. “If I’m there, I can make sure you don’t get yourself killed. Plus,” he added, “I’d hate to be the one to tell Breakdown that his husband died trying to defend his honour.” He looked up at the medic with a raised eyebrow. 

Knockout said nothing, just glared, but Danny could sense the conflict in him. “And maybe,” Danny continued, “I want to get some payback too.”

Knockout’s optics softened slightly. “You’re either very brave or very foolish.”

Danny grinned, “Probably both.”

–

Danny and Knockout stepped through the groundbridge, the swirling green portal spitting them out at the edge of a dense forest. The trees surounded them, casting shadows as the sun began to set, leaving the air cool and damp. Ahead, just visible through the tree line, was a massive, gray structure that looked to be some kind of old military base. Obviously, the place they were looking for. 

Knockout took a step forward, his bright red frame standing out against the greenery. His optics narrowed as he surveyed the scene. Danny could feel the aggression flowing off of him in waves. Danny bit his lip and looked up at the buzzsaw-happy Con.

"Alright," Danny said, clasping his hands together. "We need to do this with minimum casualties."

Knockout scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest plates. "Minimum casualties? What was the point of coming here then, if not to destroy them?" He asked incredulously, his voice filled with venom. “Im not just going to not hurt them because you care about their lives. Not after what they did,”

Danny sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He had expected this reaction. “Look, as much as I’d love to see them all gone, I need you to trust me. If we kill a bunch of them, it’ll only make things worse.”

“How, exactly?” Knockout snapped, his frustration growing.

“These organizations, ones like M.E.C.H ,” Danny gestured vaguely towards the warehouse. “They get their funding and support by showing their benefactors that there’s a ‘threat’ they need to handle. You kill their soldiers and they’ll have all the proof they need to go to their backers, show the damage, and say, ‘Look, this is why we need more weapons, more experiments, more funding.’ I’ve dealt with groups like this before—"

Danny sighed before continuing. “I’ve learned that the more attention you give them, the more justification they have for their horrible work. We need to  take them out without creating a mess that makes them look like the victims.”

Knockout’s engine rumbled angrily. “So what? We just let them get away with torturing Breakdown?” His field buzzed with indignation.

“No, not exactly,” Danny replied. “What we do instead is this.” He held up a USB stick for the mech to see. ”We upload a virus into their systems. One my friend and I designed years back. It'll destroy everything they’ve got on Breakdown, wipe all their data, and crash their networks. It’ll also let us track their other bases so we can go after them again if we need to. That way, we dismantle them from the inside out.”

 "And here I thought I could at least enjoy dismembering a few of them," Knockout grumbled.

Danny ‘hmmed’ thoughtfully before smiling slightly. “Dismemberment’s still on the table, but they have to survive it.”

Knockout let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “You're impossible.”

Danny grinned. "Just practical." He paused before giving Knockout a serious look. “I’ll be the distraction, take out a few guards quietly, and get us into the building. You stay here, and once I signal you, you come in, make a second distraction, and I’ll handle the tech.”

Knockout grumbled but didn’t argue. He could tell Danny had thought this through. And, as much as he hated to admit it, there was logic in what the human was saying. “Fine,” Knockout relented, his tone dripping with reluctance. “But if you die down there, I won’t feel bad.”

Danny chuckled. “Sure, sure.” He placed a Fenton earpiece into his ear and connected it to the direct comline through his phone to Knockout’s comm. Luckily, after some modifications, he made the large, clunky, bright green thing much more discreet than his parent's design.

Then Danny transformed into his human form in a flash of bright light. Knockout had seen it before, back when they’d gone racing together. The transformation still intrigued the medic, but now wasn’t the time for curiosity.

“Alright,” Danny said, taking a deep breath. “I’ll make sure to be quick. You just make sure you’re ready to do your part when I need you.”

Knockout nodded, but his focus was already on the warehouse. His optics tracked the human guards, watching their movements and patterns. His field buzzed with tension and hatred. He wanted nothing more than to charge in and start tearing things apart, but he waited, trusting—for now—that Danny's plan would work.

–

Danny slipped through the shadows, careful to keep out of sight as he navigated the perimeter of the base. His heartbeat thrummed in his ears, but his movements were swift and deliberate. Just ahead, another guard stood by himself, seemingly focused on a comm unit. 

Danny crept closer, his feet barely making a sound on the gravel, and phased his hand through the back of the guard's head. His fingers tingled as he used a trick he didn’t often employ—sending a light electric pulse through the guard’s neural system. The man crumpled to the ground, unconscious but unharmed. Danny stepped over the limp body and continued forward repeating the action with every other guard he came across.

Once he had knocked out the patrolling guards, he didn’t have much time left before someone would notice. He approached the rear entrance to the warehouse. The door was locked, but that didn’t do much against a half-ghost like himself. He phased his hand into the keypad, the lock mechanism sparking momentarily before the door swung open with an eerie creak.

Danny stepped inside, immediately noticing the clipboard on a nearby desk. He snatched it up, tucking it under his arm, and walked in with casual confidence, as if he belonged there. The interior of the warehouse buzzed with activity: techs working on various machines, computers beeping, and soldiers moving crates of equipment. Danny rounded a corner, his breath catching when he spotted a man standing tall at the center of the room, overseeing the operation.

White hair, no mask, smug expression. He didn’t need an introduction. Breakdown spoke enough about the pain caused by this human for Danny to know immediately.

Silas.

The sight of him made Danny’s skin crawl. He clenched his jaw, biting back the snarl that threatened to escape . Danny's mind flashed back to others like Silas—men who thought they could do whatever they wanted to people with no repercussions. The room quieted as several operatives spotted him. Simultaneously, multiple guns raised, with clicks of the safety being turned off, barrels trained on his chest. Danny raised his hands in mock surrender, his voice smooth and nonchalant.

"Hey, hey, guys! What's the problem? I’m just here about the new weapons shipment.” The guards seemed slightly confused. 

“We aren’t expecting a shipment.” One of them called out. 

“I’m with Fenton Tech. We were looking for a new business opportunity, so I was told to come in here and bring you some of the newer models. Don’t shoot me. I’m just the delivery boy.” Danny shrugged. The clipboard is still in his raised hand.

Some lowered their guns slightly, confusion replacing hostility for just a moment. Silas, though, was not so easily swayed. He stepped forward, his icy gaze locking onto Danny. Danny felt the urge to glare back with all the hatred he was feeling. But he knew he couldn't. 

“Fenton Tech?” Silas asked, his voice sharp. “As in the ghost -hunting equipment?”  

Danny froze for half a second but quickly recovered, forcing a cocky grin onto his face. “The one and only. Our gear doesn’t just work on ghosts—it works on robots, too. Figured an organization like yours would be interested. We’ve got a pretty solid track record with the Guys in White if you need references.”

Silas stepped closer, each step deliberate and predatory. Danny fought to keep the false confidence in his stance as Silas moved into his personal space, close enough that Danny could feel the man’s breath. Silas’s smirk was razor-sharp.

"Is that so?" Silas murmured, his tone dripping with skepticism.

Danny tilted his head, trying to keep it light. “Yeah. I mean, hey, it’d be a shame not to use our equipment for something a little more… exciting, right?”

For a tense moment, Danny thought Silas might actually buy it. Then, with a dismissive wave of his hand, Silas turned to his men. “Get him out of here.”

The undertone was clear: kill him .

Danny’s muscles tensed as one of the guards moved in to grab him. Without missing a beat, he twisted, snatching the gun from the man's holster. In the same fluid motion, he phased through the guard’s grip, and fired a shot into the man's knee. The soldier crumpled with a shout, and Danny was already moving, firing two more shots into the legs of the guards nearest him.

The room exploded into chaos. Silas dove behind a wall, pulling out his own gun while the other operatives scrambled, shouting commands as they trained their weapons on Danny. Bullets whizzed past, and Danny ducked behind a large piece of machinery, using it as cover.

“Alright,” Danny muttered into the comm, dodging another hail of bullets. “Officially distracted. You’re up, Paint Job. Come in swinging.”

It didn’t take long before the Decepticon barreled through the main hangar door, sending it flying off its hinges before the agents even registered his presence.

“Doctor in the house,” Knockout quipped, his voice dripping with amusement as he surveyed the chaos. 

Danny groaned, facepalming as he ducked to avoid another spray of bullets. “Really?” He hissed into the Com.

Still, Knockout was the perfect distraction. Now, in full panic, the operatives shifted their focus to the towering mech, firing uselessly at him with regular bullets. They bounced off Knockout’s armour, only leaving a few minor scratches. Danny winced, knowing full well Knockout would complain about that later.

With the agents thoroughly distracted, Danny took his chance. He sprinted toward a nearby computer terminal, weaving between the chaos. He jammed the USB stick into the port and started typing rapidly, the virus already loading into M.E.C.H.'s systems. But before he could finish, searing pain shot through his hand.

A knife had pinned his hand to the keyboard.

Danny hissed in pain, looking up to see Silas standing above him, a smirk on his face.

“I’m not stupid, kid,” Silas said, voice low and dangerous. “I know a distraction when I see one.”

Danny chuckled, though it came out more like a growl. “And here I thought…”

“Save it,” Silas interrupted, stepping closer, his presence menacing. “I’m going to enjoy this. First, we’ll dismantle your little friend over there, piece by piece. You’ll get a front-row seat. Then, once we’re done with him, you’ll be next.”

Danny’s eyes narrowed, core seething in anger, not for himself, but at the thought of them hurting Knockout. "You scientists are all the same. Evil freaks. Torturing innocent people just because you can." His voice dripped with disgust. “You’d kill a newborn if it gave you scientific readings.”

Before Silas could respond, Danny spat in his face, his disgust clear. Silas wiped it off, a dark chuckle escaping his lips. But before he could say anything more, Danny phased his hand through the knife, ignoring the pain as he grabbed the blade by the handle, pulling it out of the terminal.

In an instant, Danny lunged at Silas, tackling him to the ground. He pinned the man beneath him, with the knife at his neck. “You’re going to pay for what you did to Breakdown,” Danny snarled, his voice low and dangerous.

Silas, ever the psychopath, smirked, his voice calm despite the situation. “It was fun, you know. Experimenting on him. Seeing how far I could push…”

Danny’s eyes blazed with green energy, his fury rising. The urge to lash out was overwhelming; he had told Knockout no killing, and now he was getting close to breaking his own rule. Silas focused on Danny’s face. More specifically, Danny's eyes. 

"You're a little scientific marvel yourself, aren't you, kid?" The man chuckled. “I would love to find out what makes you tick.” Danny narrowed his eyes, trying to ignore the comment. But then – his gaze shifted to Silas’s right eye. 

“You know what they say, Silas…” Danny’s voice was almost calm, cold, as he tilted his head slightly. “An eye for an eye, right?”

Silas’s eyes widened, realization dawning just a moment too late. Panic flashed across his face as Danny’s hand phased into his skull. There was no hesitation. With a swift motion, Danny pulled out Silas’s right eye—the same eye that had been taken from Breakdown.

Silas yelled in pain his hands flew up to desperately clutch at his now-empty socket, slick with his own blood.

Danny stood, looming over him. “If you ever hurt someone I care about again,” Danny growled, voice cracking with energy. “I’ll come back, and next time, I’ll drag you to hell myself. Am I clear?”

He turned away, leaving Silas on the floor, Danny’s bleeding hand still gripping the knife. He had more work to do.

Danny sprinted back to the panel, checking the status of the virus—it was done. The screens flickered, and data was rapidly disappearing from M.E.C.H.’s systems, just as planned. Danny yanked the USB out and slipped it into his pocket. The mission was a success.

But as he turned around, his gaze landed on Knockout, and Danny’s stomach churned. Knockout’s servos were smeared with an unsettling amount of blood, more than Danny had expected. He grimaced, his eyes shifting down to his own hands, stained a gory red from both the stab wound and where he’d torn Silas’s eye out. 

I guess that's what you should expect when you bring a Decepticon to a human fight.

Danny stepped over several unconscious—or at least he hoped they were unconscious— M.E.C.H. agents scattered across the floor, most of them sporting burn injuries from Knockout’s electric prod.

“Knockout!” he called up to the towering medic, standing amidst the carnage, his optics still gleaming with a dangerous energy.

Knockout's optics snapped to Danny. He looked almost ready to attack him, but quickly pulled back when he recognized him. As their eyes meet, the whirring of Knockout’s buzzsaw slowed to a stop.

“We’re all good,” Danny said, motioning for him to stop. “Let’s get out of here.”

Knockout hesitated, his optics scanning the room as if debating whether or not to finish off the remaining agents. But after a beat, he nodded begrudgingly. Without a word, he scooped Danny up, carrying him across the room with ease. Danny noticed the way Knockout stepped over the bodies without a second thought.

When they made it outside of the warehouse through the giant hole Knockout had burst through, the Decepticon quickly transformed, and Danny was dropped into the passenger’s seat as Knockout’s engine roared to life. Tires screeched, and they took off down the road.

Knockout remained silent for the drive, and Danny stared at the blood staining his hands. He clenched them into fists, not sure what to feel—satisfaction, guilt, or something else entirely.

-

Knockout and Danny sped through the groundbridge, screeching to a stop inside the Nemesis. Danny stepped out of the vehicle and onto the purple flooring. Knockout transformed back into his root mode, and his optics quickly zeroed in on Danny’s injuries. His hand was still bleeding from where Silas had stabbed it.

“You’ve been shot,” Knockout stated as he gently scooped Danny up to inspect him closer.

Danny winced, looking down at his shoulder and saw a bullet hole through his shirt that he hadn’t noticed before. “Huh. Guess I didn’t feel that one.”

Knockout’s grip tightened as they made their way to the medbay. Danny tried to ignore the fact that he was currently sitting in blood-stained servos. The doors to the medbay slid open, and Breakdown stirred from his recharge, sitting up on the medical berth. His lone optic flickered groggily as he took in the sight of Danny and Knockout, both bloodied and battered.

“What in the Pit happened?” Breakdown asked, his voice thick with confusion and concern.

“We went to visit the people who did that to you,” Danny said, offering a wry smile. “Nice company.”

Knockout smirked, his tone dark as he added, “Their screams were delicious.”

Danny grimaced, but Breakdown’s reaction was immediate. His optic widened in alarm, and he looked between Knockout and Danny, worry written across his face. “You could’ve been hurt!” he snapped at Knockout.

Knockout, at the very least, had the nerve to look chastised. “It was fine… It was worth it.” He said. Knockout placed Danny down on a nearby bench, turning his attention to the human’s wounds. His servo hovered over the injuries for a moment before he sighed and went to one of his shelves. He pulled out a medical kit—the same one left behind after Starscream had brought a human nurse onboard—and handed it to Danny.

“Since you always insist on doing these things yourself,” Knockout muttered, passing the kit to Danny.

Danny nodded, taking the kit without hesitation. “Thanks.” He set to work, patching up his hand and shoulder.

Once he finished wrapping the bandages around his hand, Danny turned to Breakdown with a grin. “Oh, right. Got a gift for you.”

Breakdown tilted his helm, confused, as Danny pulled something from his pocket. He held it up, and Knockout’s optics narrowed when he saw it.

“From Silas,” Danny said. “He sends his love.”

Breakdown stared at the dismembered eye in stunned silence for a moment, then let out a huff of surprised laughter. “Well, ain’t that somethin’. Didn’t expect a souvenir.” Despite the grimness of the situation, there was a flicker of approval in his expression.

Knockout glanced between the two of them, his EM field still humming with the adrenaline from their mission. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think Silas will be bothering us again anytime soon,” he said, a wicked gleam in his optic.

Danny leaned back, finally letting the exhaustion seep into his body. “Good. He deserved a lot worse for what he did to you.” He glanced at Breakdown, his expression softening. “I just thought… you should have something of his. To know we didn’t let him get away with it.”

Breakdown’s optics met Danny’s, a mixture of gratitude and something deeper crossing his face. “Thanks, kid. I appreciate it.”

-

Notes:

A comment from the last chapter inspired me to make a little crack meme animatic. You can watch it here! I'll also post it at the end of this chapter. (lol, yes, it is a bit jarring compared to the chapter content, but it can be a pallet cleanser XD)