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Chapter Fourteen : Panic.

There are times when one has no room to panic. Now, my friend, is that time. ~ An old friend.

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It was a chilly morning, and the resident horses at 'The Magnolia' weren't up yet. The two humans who lived among the horses, however, were wide awake. It wasn't even dawn yet, and the new ritual between Nell and her brother had begun. Arguing. The two argued a lot more than Nell wanted. Cole kept finding things to argue about. It drove her nuts, but if she didn't defend some things, like a certain ninja, she'd feel bad about it later. "...have you told him yet?" Cole asked, looking sadly at his sister.

Nell glared at him. "Told who what?" Not this crap again.

Cole winced, then spread his arms out to her, fingers down. "Come on, you know what I mean! I know it isn't exactly easy to talk about, but..." He swallowed before continuing. "I just... I just don't want you to get hurt. You already know how I feel about Prowl..."

Nell frowned. She loved her brother, but she could handle this. She had been hurt before, and if she got hurt again, well then, she should have seen it coming. "Why do you think Prowl is going to hurt me? He isn't even into me. That, and he's a Ninja. I don't think Ninjas can even get mad, like he would." The short female said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah? Well, he could have fooled me. Maybe if he didn't hog you...I'd...be..." Cole blinked, and leaned to the side, looking past the angry woman. His face changed from a look of irritation to one of confusion. "Uh... Nell?"

Nell poked him in the chest, glaring up at him. "Don't you even change the subject with me, young man. You may get away with back talking me, but you don't ever talk that way to Prowl. He's a nice bot, and you keep trying to bring out a temper I don't think he has." She was pissed off, and Cole knew it, but he was more interested in what was going behind his sister.

"Nell, there's uhm!" He pointed behind her, hopping from foot to foot in urgency. Why wasn't she listening?

"Oh, what? You gotta piss now?"

"MATTIE!" The blond teen shrieked, pointing behind the woman with both hands, jumping up and down.

"WHAT?!" She yelled, low and deep. Cole blinked. Nell hadn't yelled at him before. He frowned, grabbed her shoulders, and spun her around. She had to see this to understand. He put his chin on her left shoulder, pointing to what he was seeing over her right.

"The trees are on fire." As he said this, a loud, clanging sound erupted from the trees, and a shower of sparks flew just barely above the tree line. A second later, there was a loud, pain filled scream, high and loud.

Nell stared for a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke. "Well... shit..." The woman ducked out from her brothers hug-type-thing, and ran into the barn. The woman grabbed a fire extinguisher from the barn entrance, and handed it to Cole. "Hold this. Someone probably crashed into the trees doing donuts in my spare field again! I need electric fences, I swear..." She dashed to opened Champ's stall, climbing onto his back. She kicked his ribs lightly, and the beast moved out, ears back and head held high. "Get on, dude! We gotta go." She leaned forward, pushing Champ's neck so that he bent down. Cole, after a minute of staring, climbed aboard the gelding. "Hang on, bro!" Nell called before kicking the horse, sending him into powerful and smooth gallop.

"Where the hell are we going?!" Cole yelled in his sister's ear, the fire extinguisher between his legs, holding Nell's waist for dear life.

"To put out the fire, duh!" She said, leaning hard to her right to guide the beast under her hips. Champ turned, smelling the air. Smoke, oil, and something else. He snorted, before looking for an opening in the tree line. Despite his size, Champ picked his way through the trees, stumbling here and there as he went. The third or fourth time the male human squealed, he snorted at him in disdain. Why were male humans always so noisy? The Belgian was no mind reader, he was just a very lucky draft horse who knew what his master wanted from him. He carefully emerged on the other side, snorting at the thick black smoke flitting through the air. Nell dismounted, helping Cole down. "Back up, bro!" Nell said, spraying the tree limbs with white foam.

Cole looked around for a car or truck that Nell claimed had started the blaze, but found nothing. "Nell, I though you said there was a truck out here?"

Nell looked at the teen, frowning. "It could have been a truck. I don't see anything."

"Maybe it crashed through the trees?"

"If it had done that, we would know!" Nell yelled. She was getting frustrated with her little brother.

"It was an idea, Mattie!"

"My name is Nell!" She shouted. And so, the second argument of the day had begun.

Champ shook his massive head, small ears flattened tightly against him. His master and the loud boy were busy yelling at one another. They did that too much for his liking. The big gelding didn't care about the fire, he was more concerned about the crater. Didn't the humans smell the smoke coming from it? Someone was in his home, and he had to know who. Champ slid down the short slope to sniff the strange, metal creature. He knew it was like that metal person that came by his home, but it looked different. This one was a light blue, and looked like it had been in a bad fight. The gelding stamped a heavy back hoof, snorting. The metal person flinched, looking pleadingly up at the beast. Champ brayed, and backed up, mouth wide open. He didn't think it was alive!

"Champ! C'mon boy!" Nell yelled at her companion. The massive gelding didn't budge, seeming to glare into the crater. Why hadn't she noticed the crater before? Nell approached quickly, leaning over to look, backing up when she saw a bot in the crater. "Holy hell..." she mumbled. Nell flipped open her phone, and dialed 911. "Hello, I need to talk to the Autobots. ...No, it's not a joke, please patch me through... this is an emergency! ...ugh, okay, okay, I'll hold." for about three minutes, Nell stood there, looking between the horse, the human, and the bot, tapping her foot as fast as it could go. "Come on, pick up!"

"This is Optimus Prime. State your emergency."

"Optimus! Holy crap, it's you!" she wasn't sure who would pick up, but she was glad it was him.

"Nellie? What's going on?"

Nell closed her eyes, trying to think. "There is an injured bot out here. I can't tell if it's one of you or one of them, whoever they are. Get everyone out here. He looks like he got crushed by a very big brick or something!"

"Can you describe him to me?"

"Very. Big. Brick. He's light blue, and he looks kinda pointy."

"We'll be right there. Try to keep him from recharging."

"Okay, I'll do what I can." Nell said, hanging up her phone. She looked over at her troubled looking brother, frowning. She looked into the crater again, and sat down, sliding down to reach the bot, standing when she was on level ground. The damaged bot twitched and screamed, sparks flying from a heavy rip in what used to be his chest plate. Nell winced, bitting her lower lip, her hands reaching out to his face. "No, no, no, shh.... it's okay. Don't move." Nell hit her knees, carefully touching a part of the bots face that wasn't cracked or leaking. "It's okay now... We called for help. It'll be okay." he seemed to be looking at her, but his optics were so dark she couldn't even tell their color. Her heart went out to this being. She swallowed. "Do you know your name?"

The robot shook and twitched, trying to say something. His voice seemed high, and he chocked, spitting up some black and green substance. He looked at the creature touching his face, lip components twitching. "Are..." He shook heavily, like he was going to empty his tank. "Are y-you real?" His voice was terribly shaky, he hardly heard it himself.

Nell smiled sadly at him, rubbing her hand on his face. He whimpered at her, but it wasn't a sound that said to stop. "Yes... I'm real." She swallowed, and placed her other hand on what looked like a dark blue spike. "Try again, okay? What is your name?"

"Uh...uh...uh... B-blurr.... m-my-name-is-Blurr!" He said, making a heavy creaking noise in a vain attempt to move. He screamed again, coughing up more fluid. This time the thick black was streaked with bright blue. Sparks flew from tears and gashes. Nell winced, bitting her lower lip. If she believed in miracles, then this bot, this Blurr, was a big one.

"...what happened to you?" Nell muttered, crawling close to the heavily injured bot. She didn't know what to do to calm him down. His head was far too heavy to hold in her lap. She had no idea what the fluids would do to her. But she knew very well that this bot needed comfort. He looked like he'd been through a blender. "Don't move... don't move..."

"Nell, please! Get away from him! You don't know what he could do! You're gonna get killed!" Cole yelled. Champ stomped at the young humans outburst, shaking his mane. Why was this human so noisy? His master was at least trying to help the metal person. The beast shuffled on his hooves, eying the young male.

Nell glared at her brother. "Cole, he's hurt, he can't move, he hardly knows his own name. He couldn't hurt a flea! Go through the trees, wave your arms, and wait for the Autobots. Don't come back until they come into view, alright?" Cole did nothing. "Go! Take Champ if you have to, just go!" Cole blinked, and quickly picked his way through the trees. Champ snorted, and walked along the tree line.

"I-told-you-already-that-my-name-was-Bl-" the bot coughed, bringing up more of the fluid. "uh...Blurr...Blurr...my-name-is-Blurr." He looked at, or at least he tried, the creature petting him.

Nell grimaced, trying to make eye contact. It scared the hell out of her to see someone's optics and not know if they could even look back. "Listen to me. I don't know your kinds bodies too well, but don't move. There's a medic coming. His name is Ratchet. He will help you, but you've got to not move." the woman tried to get close again, spreading her bent legs. Nell couldn't take his head in her lap like she would with a hurt horse or human, but she could get close. The woman continued petting him, biting her lip.

Blurr's optics opened wide when he felt the creature place its legs on either side of his helm. "No! You're-going-to-get-energon-burns-if-you-aren't-carefUH!" Blurr coughed again, but nothing came up this time. He was getting on Nell's nerves now. The human didn't notice the blue splotch on her arm and leg.

"Be smart, and don't move, okay?" She blinked at him, feeling his gaze shift her way. It unnerved her to see someone so beaten up, but still moving. He looked like he had been stepped on by a really, really big boot. He looked like so many things had happened to him, it made the woman furious that someone could do this to another.. "Try to talk if it doesn't hurt... go slow...please?"

He looked at her, optics almost black. He couldn't see the organic too well, but he knew she was human. "What...is...your...name?" The beaten bot huffed between words.

She smiled softly at him. "My name is Nell."

He panted, closing his optics. "Glad-to-meet-you-Nell-I'd-shake-hands-with-you-but-I-don't-think-I-have-one-anymore." The pale blue bot huffed, struggling to talk again. His words sounded garbled, but they made it through. "I-wish-we-could-talk-more-but-I-am-really-tired-so-good-night." He was so tired. He was going into stasis lock.

"Blurr?" He said nothing. "Blurr, don't you even think of dying on me." The woman said, tapping gently at the base of his dark blue head spike. Nell was starting to panic. "Look at me, look at me. Keep talking to me. If you sleep now, you may not wake up." When he did nothing again, Nell made a fist, knocking on his helm. "...wakey wakey, sleepy bot!"

The bot groaned at her, and opened a darkened optic. "You-are-very-hard-to-ignore-for-an-organic-did-you-know-that-Nell-because-if-not-then-let-me-be-the-first-to-say-that-you-are-a-very-hard-organic-to-ignore!" He said, half panting, half yelling.

"And you talk too fast for an organic to ignore." She smiled sadly at him.

"Nell! They're here!" Cole called through the trees. There was the sound of truck engines, and a grouchy white and red medibot crashed through the trees. Champ snorted and trotted out of the womans sight to the far end of the field. She'd get him later. Champ was a good horse. They all were, but Champ was special to her.

"Please-don't-go." Blurr mumbled, flexing his half intact hand. "You're-the-first-living-thing-I've-spoken-to-in-a-long-time-and-I-really-don't-want-to-be-alone-again."

Nell rubbed his cheek. "It's okay, Blurr. I won't go anywhere if I can help it, okay? I can't promise anything... but I can try."

Ratchet crashed into view, and Nell waved to him. "Sweet, merciful Primus!" He yelled, charging over. Nell hopped out of the crater, letting the medic do what he had to do. She backed up to where Prowl stood, standing by his leg. She was pretty shaken, and Prowl took notice of it. He carefully put his hand on her back, and she looked up at him.

"What happened here, Nell?"

The woman shrugged, shaking her head. "He landed here, I guess."

The dark bot whirred. "Are you alright?"

The woman swallowed, then reached up to pat his arm. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." She smiled faintly at his fingers rubbing her back.

For twenty minutes or so, everyone, Elite Guard included, stood by and watched Ratchet and Sari do what they could for the field agent. Ratchet said that Blurr wasn't stable enough for the key yet, but he would be, soon enough. He was doing the most important repairs now, so that when he got the bot back to the plant, he would be handling an empty shell. Cole stood by Jazz, arms crossed at Prowl and Nell. Jazz looked down at the human, frowning. "What's gotcha down, dude?"

Cole pointed halfheartedly at the black and gold bot standing next to the human female.

"Prowl? Nah, man, he's gotta be the most easy going cat I've ever met. What? Don't like him talking to your sis?"

"Bingo." Cole said, seeming to deflate.

Nell had decided to sit down by Prowl's foot. After ten minutes of standing, it seemed like a good idea to her. She felt a slight tickle on her arm, and shook it. When the tickle began to hurt, she flung her arm to the side, as if trying to fling off a bug. "Ow... ow!" Nell yelled, shaking her arm. Prowl whirred in alarm at her outburst. "Uh... I think something bit me... ow!" Nell shook her left arm again before thrashing around like her limbs were on fire. "Get it off! GET IT OFF!"

Prowl's visor widened. He grabbed Nell by the shoulder, and gasped at the reeling human. "Ratchet! Nell has energon burns!" There was a large, blue ring around a gash in her arm. There was a circular gash on her arm about the size of a base ball! Prowl scooped Nell into his arms, visor wide and raised in the center. He didn't think his visor could widen any further, but it did when Nell screamed, swinging her right leg. There was another hole growing in her leg. It looked like the skin had been scraped away, leaving a raw and bloody gash.

"What?!" The medic yelled, loading the somewhat stabilized bot into Bulkhead. He transformed, flinging open his back doors. "Get in! We have to move before it gets in her systems!"

Sari, hearing Nell's screams, raced over to the two with a bottle of water. "Prowl, set her down!" She said. The ninja bot set Nell down, trying to not bite his lower lip component. The techno-teen poured water over the gaping wounds, teeth bared. "Easy, Nellie... hold still..." She said, but the smaller human wasn't listening. Prowl had had enough of her flailing around, pinning her down by the hips and shoulder with his hands. Cole, unsure of what was happening, but sure that Prowl had his sister pinned down while she was screaming, bolted.

"What did you do?" he growled at the ninja bot. Prowl's visor narrowed to nearly a slit at that.

"I did nothing." the bot growled back, frowning deeply.

"Yeah right! Get off her!" Cole snapped, then tried to shove the ninja bot's arm.

From below, another hand came up, grabbing Cole by the shirt. He looked down to see a pissed off woman, her eyes half open. "Enough." Nell mumbled, jerking the fabric to make sure he listened. "Leave him alone, okay? Just... just back off." She let her hand go slack, frowning at Cole. "...well?" The blond blinked, eyes wide at his sister's outburst, mouth a flat line.

The blond's look of shock turned into a hurt gaze. "Fine. See if I care." He turned around, and walked away. About half way back to the other bots, he gave Nell the finger. Prowl whirred loudly at the teen.

"Someone needs a hug." Sari shook her head. "Okay, I rinsed you off, but you'll need a shower when we get to the base. Lets go!" the techno-teen yelled before running to an already transformed Optimus.

Nell snorted as Prowl lifted her up, running toward the medic. "That kid needs an ass-whoopin' is what he needs..." she muttered to herself. She smiled up at Prowl. "Brothers..."

"Hang on." Prowl said as he set Nell inside the medic. The doors weren't even shut before he had leaped over the trees, transformed, and waited for Bulkhead to plow the trees down. The entire group headed for the plant, sirens blaring, Optimus and Ultra Magnus leading the way. Prowl drove beside Ratchet, hologram active and sirens blaring.

For several minutes, Nell didn't move from her place on the gurney. "Is Blurr gonna be okay?" she finally asked.

"He should be alright in a day or two, long as Sari I keep working on him. He'll need an energon transfer from one of us." He sighed, "He's lucky to be online after receiving that much damage. Glad you found him, Nellie."

The woman looked blankly at the steering wheel before responding. "Same here, Ratchet."

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Yes, I made a cliff-hanger! Please remember to Read and Review! Thanks again, see you next update!