~Knocked-Out~

Day 1

Day 1

"Ratchet, any change in Knockout's condition?" Optimus walked into the room. Ratchet looked down at the Prime, and shook his head solemnly.

"Unfortunately not. Everything seems to be normal, other than the fact that he isn't waking up, or responding." Optimus looked at Knockout's face, which was now calm, collected. He clenched his servo in anger. Why hadn't he seen the signs? The extreme depression, the spark-broken visage on his face, all signs they have overlooked. He sighed. 

"He must of had deep feelings for her to have developed Sparkinice. You and me both know how rare it is."

"Yes, I just wish I had noticed the signs, so I could've prevented it." Ratchet looked down. 

"All of us missed the signs, you are not to blame." It was silent for a moment. Echoing ped steps alerted them that Knockout had a visitor. 

"How is he, doc?" Arcee walked in, eyeing the still-unconscious bot. 

"Stable, yet critical. This is one of the most severe cases I have ever experienced, in all my years of being a medic."

"They must have really loved each other." Arcee looked down, thinking about how lucky she was to have gone through two spark-breaks, and not have gotten the disease. She thought of Tailgate, and Cliffjumper. They would've gotten along so well. Her spark started to fill with sadness, as a single tear slid formed in her optic, trickled down her faceplate, bounced off her arm, and landed on the ground, forming a heart before it was soaked up. 

"I...am sorry, Arcee." Optimus comforted. She wiped any forming tears away, and suppressed any weak emotions. No, she was stronger than this; what happened has happened, and there was nothing she could do about this. 

Besides, she had Bumblebe...NO! 

She had made a promise to herself that she would never ever love again. Yet, whenever she was around Bee, she  felt so happy, light, she felt like herself. Her fun giddy self, not the tough emotionless bot she pretended to be everyday. Arcee forced herself only to think of it as a friendship. 

Little did she know Bee thought of it as more. 

Without another word, she walked emotionlessly out of her room. Knockout was in good hands, and she didn't need to waste her time worrying about his recovery. 

The rest of the day was slow; all the patrols ended with empty trunks, and the weather outside was bleak, cloudy, intermittent light drizzles, rare weather, being in the desert. They didn't have the kids to keep them company; out on a school field trip, which Optimus had so reluctantly let them attend, since it was in a big city, and they couldn't exactly be attacked by a giant 5 story alien robot without being spotted. The hours went by too slow; everybody just couldn't wait to go to their berths and get the day over with; at least in recharge, the time goes by quicker in your mind. At about 6 pm, Arcee had just enough of the silence, and decided she needed to smell something other than the scent of motor oil and gasoline. So, while Bulkhead and Smokescreen were lobbing, and Bee preoccupied with something, she slipped into the elevator, and headed up to the top. 

Looking out to the cloudy sky, the humid air only added to the gloominess. For miles around, not including the small town of Jasper, she saw nothing but auburn rock and light orange sand. It was so...boring, dead. Not a single moving thing in sight. It was at times like these, when she would think back to Cliffjumper, how this was the very place she finally accepted him, and the place she joined Team Prime. Those were such happy memories. Now, thinking back to them, they're always coated with a thin layer of sorrow and tears. Then, there was Tailgate. It always brought a slight smile to Arcee's lips whenever she thought of him, and their first date. Because, for some strange reason, he took Arcee, for their first date, to the Sea of Rust.