Author's Note: After watching the Transformers Prime series I've pretty much convinced myself that Breakdown and Knock Out are best friends, but I like to ship them together :) How sad K.O. must have been when Breakdown died! :( That's partly the reason why I hate Airachnid.

He wasn't sure when he started loving Breakdown.

All the Decepticon medic knew was that they had been involved in another of Megatron's devious plans. One that involved reckless action and brute strength. Both of which Breakdown possessed, while Knock Out himself did not quite have. Knock Out wasn't often called to the field – his area of expertise demanded that he stay behind and fix the broken mechs who had taken a pounding from the Autobots after each clash between the warring factions. This job, which he was so used to, was what he was currently doing abroad the Nemesis. It had been another clash with the Autobots, which meant that the moment the troops got warped back by the GroundBridge, they would be hobbling off to Knockout's medical bay, spewing Cybertronian profanities. Which was exactly what happened.

Knock Out had the habit of asking who had caused such damage to a mech whenever he repaired one of the wounded Decepticons. The Vehicons would often answer "Sunstreaker" or "Sideswipe" – Knock Out was familiar with these two Autobot frontliners. They were reckless and powerful. On the occasions that Megatron did choose to stumble into the medbay, his answer would usually be "Optimus Prime", and the name would be ground out with vengeance, on the rare occasions that the Decepticon's injuries were too severe for his self-repair systems. And it wasn't infrequent that Starscream would limp into the medical bay, despite his ability to fly and get away from uneasy situations, and whenever he was questioned the second-in-command's answer was always a myriad of Autobots' names. It seemed that Starscream was the easiest target on the battlefield.

Tonight was no different. The Nemesis loomed over one of Greenland's many icy fields, snow whirling around the Cybertronian ship. Knock Out had just finished the last of the repairs and had sent the ailing Vehicon back to rest. The medic was now sitting hunched over a pile of medical reports, when he heard the pneumatic hiss of the medical bay doors.

Who could that be at this un-Primus-like hour, the medic groused to himself. I've already repaired all the Vehicons. If one of them got their visors smashed again I'm certainly not going to do the job, I've already replaced them once and no matter what Megatron says they're really hard to construct – he stopped ranting to himself when he noticed that it was none other than Breakdown who was leaning wearily against the doors, holding his left arm in his right.

"Breakdown," Knock Out murmured, relieved to see the mech. "Slag – what in the name of Primus happened to your arm?"

"Autobot," Breakdown grunted as a way of explanation. "Had a real tangle with Bulkhead."

"Sit," Knock Out sighed, motioning to a berth. "All right, let's see what he did this time. You really have to be careful during these battles that our Master insists on having, Breakdown." Transforming his fingers into welding tools, the medic watched as the mech sat on the berth, hunched forward, and began to work on the said appendage. As Knock Out worked, Breakdown leaned forward into the red automobile, nuzzling the medic's neck, optics half-shuttered from fatigue.

"This time it's a servo," Knock Out chided, "the next time it could be something like your spark, and Primus knows I can't fix that." He brushed a warm hand softly against his assistant's cheekplate, and huffed softly before continuing his work. Although neither of them would willingly admit that they had entered a serious relationship a few vorns back, Breakdown often showed signs of affection towards Knock Out. These gestures were often replicated, but only in the privacy of their private quarters.

"It wouldn't be in this condition had Bulkhead not slammed my shoulder with his wrecking ball," Breakdown groused, his cheek resting against the medic's side. "He's getting better at it, though."

"And that is why you should be careful," Knock Out rumbled.

"I know Autobots. They'll wound you but they won't tear out your spark chamber," Breakdown laughed softly. "They wouldn't dare kill me. It's okay, K.O. Sometimes you worry too much."

"I have a right to," the medic rolled his optics. "Every slagging time there's a battle it always ends up the same way – Megatron and Starscream and the Vehicons hauling their afts down here to get themselves fixed up, and sometimes you'll come and sometimes you won't, depending on the degree of your injuries…" the mech paused. "You get my point."

"I'll be careful," Breakdown murmured, pressing his forehead into Knock Out's flank.

Once Knock Out was done with the repairs, Breakdown flexed his newly fixed servo, testing it. The medic shook his head, clicking softly at the mech before returning to his desk full of datapads. All this had to be done – as unusual as it was, Megatron was a sucker for paperwork. Every datapad had to be shelved accordingly, each report submitted punctually to Starscream, who would vet through the reports before handing them over to the Decepticon commander. And, at the moment, he had a medical report to compose, listing out which patients he had tended to and their injuries.

Something nuzzled the sensitive cabling on his neck. "Surely you can leave all that for tomorrow?"

Knock Out sighed, allowing his lover to nip at his jaw. "I can't fool around tonight, Breakdown. I need to pass this to Starscream as soon as possible."

"Define soon," Breakdown grinned, baring his dentals as he wrapped his servos around the Decepticon medic, a possessive gesture. "Come on. You need recharge. You can't keep staving off rest. Megatron would want you functional instead of drowsy and looking like you just downed five cubes of high grade."

The medic took a long look at the stack of datapads before he frowned. "Let's compromise. I get to bring my report back to work on in our quarters. You get to snuggle while I finish up my report."

"Agreed," Breakdown grinned, scooping his partner up from where he sat.

Author's Note: Please read and review :) It's quite fun to write Breakdown and K.O. fluff :)