~Knocked-Out~

The Kiss

He promised not to let her go. 

He had promised her, no matter what happened, he would hold on. Through the rocks, the rapids, the storm, the kiss, he promised he wouldn't let her go. Not for a second. 

He promised. 

And he never did. 

As the two plummeted down towards the white swirling foot of the Waterfall, not once did Nightstreak not feel the warmth of Knockout's body, his servos around her waist, or the softness of the kiss. Not once did she feel scared she was going to loose him. He was always there. For the first time, Nighstreak had someone there for her. She was not alone. 

She would never be alone again. 

At first, the sudden kiss had startled Nightstreak. She had thought "How dare he kiss me at a time like this?" At first, she had the urge to push him away. But then, she realized, she wanted it, she wanted him. This might be the last time she had the chance to do so, and her anger melted away like fresh snow, as she fell deeper into the kiss. She didn't even feel the water disappear from under her, nor the air rushing quickly as they fell. She didn't even feel the coldness of the water falling next to her. She only felt him, and was all she wanted to feel. They never broke the kiss, until they crashed into the water. The force was so great, it forced their lips apart, along with their servos. She felt as his grasp started to slip away. 

"NO!" She cried, and cringed as her mouth was filled with water. She looked straight into his optics, worried and straining. She stared back with pleading optics. 

~~~~~

Knockout had quite enjoyed the kiss. As he pressed his lips to her, his spark had jumped, and he started to feel angry. 

"No, you doofus, what are you doing?" He had told himself. He noticed Nightstreak's optics widen with shock, and he prepared for the pushing away. 

But, it never came. Instead, he felt a calmness in the femme, and her protesting lips turned into wanting. Her grip on him had tightened and her features had softened. Knockout was filled with joy when he realized she was accepting him. When the water under him had disappeared, and the air around them tried to pry her away, Knockout held on tighter. 

He had promised not to let her go, and he planned on keeping that promise. His lips connected to hers was their connection, their bond, the one thing that compelled him the most to hold on.  It wasn't until they had crashed into the water that the force had been strong enough to pry them apart. 

"No" He thought. She was being taken away. Again. The fire inside of him burned harder than it ever had. He felt is energon pumping, his spark fill with determination. 

"No, I will not lose her again, I will not." RIght before her servo slipped away from him, he grasped it, squeezing it as hard as he could. The force of the water sent them tumbling all over the place. He locked optics with her, and noticed fear and pleading in them. That did it. Mustering all the strength he had hidden away, he pulled her to him, locking his arm around her waist, and the other around her back. He would not let her be taken away. 

He would not let his Nightstreak be taken away. 

His Nightstreak. 

His. 

 She was his, and no one else's. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again in their previous position, and with the water finally calming down, they were finally able to relax. 

Usually, they would be too heavy to stay afloat, and  would sink to the bottom. But this water was so thick with debris and mud, it was able to keep them afloat. As the two clung to each other, expecting another force to try to pry them apart, they only felt calm. The crashing of the waterfall disappeared behind them, and it was silent, calm. Cautiously, Knockout lifted his head up, and looked around. All around them, there was water. Calm water, flowing sweetly, nothing that would be troublesome to them. He looked around for someplace to get out of the freezing water, but his river ran directly against 2 rock faces, too smooth and steep to get up. They had no place to go but forward. Knockout had nearly forgotten about the shaking body in his arms, until she whimpered. She was clinging on to him, her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist. She was shivering like crazy, from fright, and coldness. She whimpered again. Knockout smiled, and whispered into her audio receptor, "We're ok now, I'm here." She stopped whimpering and looked up at him, still shivering. She smiled weakly when she noticed his smile. Slowly, she released her legs from around him. Knockout froze, then grabbed her leg and brought it around him again. 

"Please, It feels safer that way." He murmured, and she smiled, wrapping her legs around his legs. She rested her head on his shoulder, listening to the calm splashing of the water and his sparkbeat. Her optics felt heavy, as they started to close, and she started to fall into recharge. Kockout noticed, and tapped her lightly. 

"Nightstreak." She shifted in her position and looked up at him with tired eyes. "Hm?" Knockout was going to tell her that she couldn't fall into recharge, that they were still in a river, until he noticed her optics. They were tired, wet, and obviously painful to keep open. They were pleading. The soft "Hm?" she had given him told her she was exhausted, from the running, the swimming, and the grabbing on. She had cried a lot and needed her rest. 

"Sweet dreams." He finally said. She smiled again, and fell into recharge. There was really nothing else for Knockout to do but to hold onto her, and look straight ahead, hoping to spot a place to get out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bumblebee scanned the area. After searching the flower field with no sign of Knockout, he had started towards the wooded area. It was here when he spotted some ped steps in the soft mud. 

Knockout's 

Bumblebee  followed them to the secret cave where they had been in earlier. Stepping into the cave,  he noticed an ample amount of dirt scattered on the cave floor, as well as mud tracking further back. Bumblebee followed the mud, into the deeper room. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and noticed all the Decepticon parts scattered around the place. He noticed the mud ran around the parts, and into a dark corner of the cave, where it disappeared. Avoiding the parts, Bumblebee walked over to the dark spot, and noticed it went further back. 

He had found where Knockout had gone. Being so much smaller than Knockout, Bumblebee was able to get through the rocky terrain much easier than Knockout had. As he stepped into the oasis, Bee gasped. It was beautiful, like one of those mirages Raf had told him were in the desert. A large area of thick green vegetation with a pond in the middle. Bee spotted Knockouts ped prints scattered throughout the place, along with a set of smaller ones. Bee didn't recognize them. 

"He must've been attacked." He thought, then noticed the crystalized energon in the oak bed. 

"Bumblebee, have you found him yet?" Ratchet's voice echoed through his comm. Thanks to continuous tinkering, Ratchet had been able to extend the comm range to reach the area. 

"No, but I did find his ped steps, along with others." He beeped then added. "And some energon, it seems to have been crystalized." 

"Is it Knockout's." Ratchet asked. When a bot joined the autoboots, a sample of their energon was taken, so they could identify it. Bee took out the sample of Knockout's energon in a glass vile, and held it up to the puddle. 

"No, it's not."  Then, he noticed the transfuser, and the energon droplets in it. 

"Hold on, Ratchet, it's Knockout's transfuser." Bee held the energon sample to the droplets. "It has Knockout's energon on it, along with some of the crystalized type, though it's still liquid."

"That means he's been there along with the other mystery bot recently. Keep looking, Bee." As bee looked around, he noticed tire tracks leading into the vegetation, and followed them. Very faintly, he could hear the whirring of an engine, then soft muffled voices. 

Knockout's, along with one of a femme. Then, he heard screaming, and a splash.