STEEL ANGEL
After I finished "Unwavering", I felt the overwhelming need to write another Transformers story, featuring Blurr and Melly. After this, I'll likely do another story. Then another, and then another. Ah, what the heck? I'll write about them whenever the ideas strike! And don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on my Narnia and Disney stories. Far from it! You'll just be seeing more robots along with the fauns and the unicorns and the talking animals.
The standard is the same, people: read and review, and go easy on me. I am only just barely getting the hang of this Transformers stuff.
Characters (excluding Melly) © Hasbro and Entertainment Rights
Melly and Story © unicorn-skydancer08
All rights reserved.
Melly was hurt. While the poor girl was in the emergency unit of the Cybertron Sanatorium, Blurr, along with Sari, Bumblebee, and several others, waited anxiously to receive word of her welfare.
Blurr's emotions were a relentless vortex of fear, worry, heartsickness, and sheer, undiluted guilt. He knew it was all because of him that Melly was here in the first place.
Earlier that same day, while they were engaged in a vicious combat with their sworn enemies, the Decepticons, Blurr had foolishly gone after Megatron, thinking he could defeat the Decepticon leader single-handedly and secure the victory. Melly, who'd cut in unexpectedly and was taking part in the battle with them, had immediately gone after Blurr when she saw him and realized his intentions. When Starscream, armed with a deadly ray gun, took a blast at Blurr—aiming for the blue bot's All Spark, the very core of his life force—Melly intervened, which resulted in her getting blasted instead. Had she not been wearing her exo-suit at the time, the shot would have obliterated her instantly.
Even so, that didn't save her from critical injury.
In the end, although the Autobots managed to capture several Decepticons, most of them got away; Megatron and Starscream were among the escapees.
"Don't think this is over between us!" Megatron swore to the Autobots just before taking his leave. "We'll meet again—sooner or later!"
Blurr was extremely upset with himself for making such a horrible botch of things.
But knowing that he'd brought great harm upon Melly, his poor love, however inadvertently, was a thousand times worse.
He remembered finding her after the rest of the Decepticons had dispersed, and things had begun to quiet down somewhat.
The force of the shot from Starscream had easily knocked Melly a considerable distance, as if she were a child's doll. Now she lay on the ground in a sad, crumpled heap, unmoving. Bumblebee had gone to the girl first, but then Blurr rushed up a second later and, quite roughly, shoved the younger bot aside. Everyone quickly gathered around Blurr in a semi-circle as he dropped frantically to his knees next to Melly. Mercifully, Melly was still alive—they knew from her faint, ragged breathing—but she was a grim sight. Her protective covering, once a brilliant, pristine white, was now soot-black. Beyond that, her glasses were badly cracked, several ghastly burns covered her young, pretty face, and she was bleeding profusely. Bumblebee covered his eyes to avoid looking at her, as did several others. Even Optimus Prime, who was accustomed to terrible sights, turned away briefly himself.
Blurr hesitated to touch Melly at first, and then his large hands, with exceptional care, slid underneath her and lifted her up from the floor.
Melly opened her eyes for just a moment, and Blurr felt the tiniest spark of hope in his hard drive when her gaze met with his.
"Blurr?" Melly's voice was barely more than a croak. "Is that…you?"
"Yes, I'm here," he whispered to her as he knelt there and cradled her. There was a note of tenderness in his tone that everyone seldom heard before, and though the blue bot was known for talking a mile a second, he spoke quite slowly and clearly. Despite her obvious agony, Melly managed the faintest smile, then she closed her eyes and blacked out.
Still holding her, Blurr bowed his head in sorrow and shame. "Oh, Melly," he groaned. "What have I done?"
Optimus Prime, being the leader, quickly took charge of the situation. "We must get help immediately," he declared. "We must take Melly to the Cybertron Sanatorium, where they have the staff, the equipment, and the overall medical expertise that we need. Blurr, you're the fastest of all of us; you'll be the one to transport her there."
Blurr was only too glad to oblige. And so he transformed on the spot into his ultramodern racecar shape, they carefully laid Melly inside him, and then they all took off together, with Blurr leading the way.
Once they reached their destination, Blurr carried Melly very gently into the infirmary, where a band of doctors that consisted of both bots and humans took her away at once.
It pained Blurr to let his love go, even to the medical team.
Now, the only thing left to do was to wait. Blurr sincerely prayed, with every circuit inside him, that somehow, in spite of the odds, Melly would be okay.
It was a miracle she'd even survived this long.
As a robot, Blurr could abide severe pain and torture; he had fallen from tremendous heights, received more blasts than he cared to number, and overall, gotten himself banged up in essentially every way possible. He was even crushed into a cube once, not so very long ago, and yet he survived. But Melly, being a human, was much more vulnerable. She got hurt much more easily and was at far greater risk for damage and death than Blurr was.
If she perished…Blurr was at a loss of what he would do.
Time crawled. Blurr paced back and forth so many times his companions started to worry that he would wear a groove in the floor. Sari remained close to Bumblebee the entire time, and the yellow bot took hold of the girl's tiny hand, wanting to say something that would lift the mood of the room, but wondering what he could say. All of the others were scattered randomly about the room, like strewn jacks. Some stood, some sat with their heads resting in their hands, and a few others, like Blurr, walked restlessly up and down the length of the room.
Let Melly be all right, was Blurr's constant inner mantra. For the love of Primus, let her be all right.
Sari and Bee were just as distraught; Melly was their best friend. She had always been there for them. Neither of them knew how they would get along without her.
"She was like the sister I never had," said Sari at one point. "She never yelled at me, and she never made me feel like some puny, pathetic kid. And she had the best advice in the world. I could go to her for anything."
"And no matter what she was doing, she was never too busy to take time to hang out with me," Bee added wistfully. "We always had a great time together."
Blurr couldn't believe they were referring to Melly in the past tense. It was as if she were no longer alive, no longer in earthly existence.
Something inside the blue bot's processor snapped, and he unthinkingly lashed out at his companions. "I don't believe this!" he shouted, making Sari and Bee jump at the same time; the others gave a bit of a start as well, including Optimus. "You act as though Melly were dead, already!" Blurr fumed. "You make it sound like it's a lost cause, that she doesn't stand a chance! I can't believe you would give up on her as easily as that!"
Sari's face instantly went pale, and Bumblebee stammered, "N-no, we didn't mean it like that—"
Blurr wasn't listening. "How can you be so stupid?" he raged on. "Am I the only one in here who hasn't abandoned hope for Melly? Am I the only one who truly cares about her?"
He'd hit right where it hurt, and Bee shrank back slightly, looking as if someone had just slapped his face.
"Blurr—" Sari began to protest.
"I hate you!" Blurr burst out savagely. "I hate the whole lot of you!"
With that, he turned his back on the entire group and was gone from the room like a streak of blue lightning.
He didn't run at full speed—lest he crash through the walls—but he went fast enough that few people or robots would be able to keep up with him.
He raced through several corridors, weaving his way through the elaborate maze of the clinic, until at last he came to a stop in a private alcove.
There, he sank to the floor and dropped his head into his hands.
By this time, his anger had gone, and deep, painful remorse came to take its place. He honestly hadn't meant to lose control of himself back there. Now everyone must be angry with him, even hate him.
After an episode like that, it would be a miracle if Sari or Bee ever came within ten feet of him again, let alone spoke to him again.
Blurr's optics brimmed over with fluid. Most people would never have believed that robots were capable of crying…but they were. Autobots, in particular, were equipped with a special component that produced a clear, watery solution, which very much resembled tears. Blurr's whole body trembled with emotion he fought vainly to suppress, and he slid his hands entirely over his face.
Up till this time, he'd maintained a reputation of being a strong, fearless fighter. He was renowned for facing his enemies valiantly and maintaining a level head under pressure. But now, alone in the shadows, isolated from his friends, with the girl who had come to mean so much to him somewhere between life and death, Blurr felt his bravery and strength begin to crumble. He felt small, vulnerable, and afraid…more afraid than anyone could imagine. He felt lost, as if he were trapped in a dark tunnel with no way out. After everything that had transpired with the Decepticons, now he felt weak, utterly powerless. Silent sobs racked his frame, occasionally yielding to considerably louder ones, and his tears slipped steadily between his fingers and off the heels of his palms, falling to the floor like rain. How long he remained in that spot, he had no idea; he lost all sense of time. But ultimately, he sensed that someone was standing over him.
Had one of the bots come to rebuke him? If so, Blurr knew he deserved it. Very slowly, he dared to lift his dripping face from his hands, to discover Optimus Prime there.
Far from looking angry or displeased, however, Optimus looked down upon Blurr with gentle concern.
The first thing he said was, "May I sit with you?"
Blurr said nothing, but bowed his head in acceptance. So Optimus settled quietly onto the floor alongside him.
The two bots sat like that for a time, in total silence. Blurr ended up being the one to break the ice.
"Well, go ahead and say it," he muttered, unable to meet Optimus's gaze. "Say that I'm a fool, an idiot, a gasbag, a mental defective, the biggest, most inconsiderate jerk in the entire cosmos."
"No, you're not," Optimus contradicted mildly. "We know how much Melly means to you, how worried you are about her. We understand this has to be the most difficult for you, out of all of us." Placing a benevolent hand against one of Blurr's lofty shoulder blades, he went on, "Everyone has a tendency to spout things they don't truly mean when they're in a state."
Blurr managed to look up momentarily at Optimus, then he immediately looked down again.
"I…I'm afraid, Optimus," he found himself confessing. "I'm so very afraid." At that, he promptly turned away in shame and buried his face in his hands once more.
"Fear is not a sign of weakness, Blurr," said Optimus sagely. "You would be foolish to not ever feel it."
"Melly doesn't deserve this," Blurr moaned, without looking up. "She's somebody special. I—I can't lose her, Optimus. She's done so much for me; I owe my very life to her, in more ways than one. Who knows where I would be right now, this very moment, if it hadn't been for her? Beyond that, she's simply too young, too precious to die." Keeping his face covered, he shook his head woefully from side to side. "This is all my fault," he lamented. "I should never have gone after Megatron. I should never have dragged Melly into this in the first place."
"She willingly sacrificed herself, for your sake," Optimus informed the devastated bot. "She was never one to stand by and allow harm to befall you. Do you think it would be any better if this situation was reversed, if you were the one who was hurt and Melly was the one worrying and fretting about you?"
"N-no," was all Blurr could find to say. He would never have wanted Melly to feel the acute pain, the soul-wrenching grief, the sickening fear he was experiencing now.
At length, he lowered his hands and lifted his head again, so that he was facing Optimus more properly. His optics gleamed with a fresh layer of moisture, and it moved Optimus to the lowest of his circuits to see the despair, the pure anguish, emanating from the other bot's face. "But how can I survive without her?" Blurr protested. "What will I do?"
"Take courage," Optimus encouraged him gently, offering an amiable pat on the back. "All is not lost yet, my friend. The odds may appear slim, but Melly is yet alive—and so long as there is life, there is always a chance. If anyone deserves the right to life, Melly is the one. She's an extraordinary girl, indeed…the very best human I have ever had the privilege to know."
These words did very little to dispel Blurr's grief and guilt, but they eased the painful tension inside him to a considerable extent, and helped him feel less afraid.
The blue bot managed to sit a little taller, hold his head somewhat higher.
Recalling the ugly scene from earlier, he peered up meekly at Optimus and asked timidly, "Do…do you think Sari and Bee will forgive me, for the awful way I treated them?"
Optimus suggested, "Why don't you come back to the main room with me and find out for yourself?"
Blurr was hesitant to show his face to the rest of the gang again, after what just took place, but he nodded and said tremulously, "A-all right."
So he returned to the others with Optimus. Thankfully, they were all still there when they reached the main room, including Sari and Bumblebee. They looked somewhat surprised to see Blurr again, but no one appeared to be angry. If anything, some of them seemed quite relieved that Blurr had come back, that he was okay. "Oh…hi, Blurr," said Sari, somewhat awkwardly.
"Are you okay?" Bee asked, with a note of apprehension.
Blurr nearly faltered in his resolve, but he somehow managed to stand firm. Rubbing the back of his neck uneasily, he said contritely, "Er…Bee, Sari? Listen, I…I'm sorry, for the way I acted earlier. I…sort of lost it for a while."
He paused briefly, before forcing himself to say it. "Will…will you…forgive me?"
"Sure, we forgive you, Blurr," Sari said without hesitation.
"We're just sorry we gave you the wrong impression," Bee added, looking and sounding rather ashamed himself. "We didn't mean to make it sound like Melly was a goner."
"That's all right," Blurr reassured them both, and he meant what he said this time.
While things were no different with Melly, it lifted Blurr's spirits to know that he was forgiven, and Bee and Sari were both deeply relieved and heartened to know Blurr forgave them as well.
Before anyone had a chance to say anything more, one of the medical bots appeared just then.
They knew right away that he was here about Melly, and Blurr was the first to approach him.
"How is she?" Blurr asked anxiously. "How bad is it? Will Melly be all right? Were you able to fix her? Has she made it? Will she be able to make it?"
To all of these rapid, breathless questions, the medical bot replied quietly and calmly, "Her condition is critical, yet stable."
To the rest of the group, he explained, "She is fortunate enough to have survived the assault to begin with. Precious few humans can endure such intense physical abuse, and she would have died immediately had she not had some protection. We managed to treat her wounds and moderate the bleeding, but she has not, as of yet, regained full consciousness. We've done everything we could for her. Now, all we can do is wait and hope for the best."
"Oh, man," said Bee in a hushed voice.
Sari shook her head and said dismally, "Poor Melly."
It grieved Blurr to no small degree to hear this, to think of his Melly in her horrible condition. But he was glad and profoundly relieved that she was alive, and that the girl still stood a chance.
"If you wish to visit her at this time," the medical bot continued, "you may do so. But I would advise no more than one or two visitors at a time. I doubt you'd all fit in there," he added wryly, regarding the size of their group and the varying vastness of the bots themselves. "Furthermore, you must be very quiet; while the girl may not move or speak, she is still receptive to sound. Talk softly to her, talk gently. Let her know of your presence, but keep it as low-key as possible."
After giving them directions to the chamber in which Melly was staying, he turned and left them without another word.
Slowly, one by one, the entire procession made way for the appropriate chamber. When they found it, they could see, through a glass partition, Melly herself lying upon a bed with clean white sheets, surrounded by all sorts of odd equipment with numerous tubes and wires. Whether Melly was still wearing her suit, or even wearing anything at all, it was impossible to tell, for a heavy layer covered her entire body, revealing only her face. She was not wearing her glasses. A special liniment had been applied to the cuts and burns on her face, and someone had given her strawberry-blonde hair a decent trim.
Despite her sad state, Blurr still considered her the most beautiful girl in the world.
He wondered if this was the way she'd felt about him when he was ground into a cube.
Since it was quite obvious there wasn't enough space in the room to hold them all—Optimus would barely be able to squeeze in himself—they decided to stay with Melly individually.
All agreed that Blurr ought to pay the first visit. Blurr was at once surprised and immensely grateful, and he didn't hesitate to take up on their offer.
"Tell Melly we're all here for her," Sari told him just before he went through the sliding doors. "Let her know that everything's going to be okay."
Bumblebee said, "And tell her that once she's out of here, we'll hold a one-on-one race on the longest, widest stretch of road we can find."
Blurr only nodded, knowing, with a hint of amusement, that Bee could never outrace him.
After all, they didn't call him "Blurr" for nothing.
Once he was in the room, leaving the others on the other side, he approached Melly's bed, trying his best to walk peacefully. Melly did not stir. The only signs of life in her were the subtle rise and fall of her chest, and the consistent bleep-bleep of the heart monitor. Because there was no chair big enough or sturdy enough to support him, Blurr sat down on the floor alongside the bed. Tentatively, he reached for Melly's hand, which hung listlessly from below the sheet.
"Hi, Melly," he said softly, hoping the medical bot was right about her retaining the ability to hear. "It's me, Blurr. I'm here, honey…right here." He made sure to speak as slowly and plainly as he possibly could.
Of course, she made no response.
"I'm sorry I got you into this," said Blurr penitently. "It's as much my fault as if I had been the one behind the shot. Forgive me, Melly. Please forgive me."
He sighed, wanting nothing more than to hug Melly on the spot, but he feared he would make it worse for her by doing so.
So he contented himself with simply holding her hand in his, and running one giant finger on the other hand very lightly along her cheek, taking care to avoid touching her wounds. "You can't go yet," he pleaded with her. "You have so much to live for. You have a beautiful future ahead of you. Sari, Bee, and all the rest of the gang are missing you, waiting for you. Stay with us, Melly. Please…please stay."
Melly remained silent, but Blurr could swear he caught a trace of a smile on the girl's lips.
He managed to smile just a little as well, in spite of himself.
"I love you, Melly," he declared solemnly. "You were always there for me. Now, it's my turn to be there for you."