Hey peeps! I'm happy to be back (again), as I always do, ready to continue with this story! I'm so glad you've kept up with me and this fic, it means a whole lot to me, every single review, favorite and follow. So thank you all for this.

Now, since I've come to chapter 70, I think I deserve to pat myself on the back, because I think I did pretty good job on keeping this story alive for a whole year. Hasn't been easy at all.

I think that I'll be having internet troubles like last year, so don't expect updates for three weeks at most. Sucks, I know. :( Which is why I'll try to upload 2 chapters for you! :)

So that's pretty much all I have to say (for now), so we're gonna start reading the rest of the story, shall we?

They were keeping her warm. Trying to, at least. They could easily put on a dozen blankets over her, but she needed to be comfortable, even if this could have been her last hours.

The cure was working. Everyone was relieved, but there was always a danger factor, that somehow, something could go wrong and she could die. It was always a possibility, and they had to keep it in mind for a long time.

Melissa was sleeping, her body unable to process the energon and keep her awake at the same time. The team had gathered in her room, discussing all possible ways of finding shelter for them.

Some suggested building a new shelter, but it would take too much time. Some suggested that the femmes should park their alts in Ironhide's trunk, to consume less space and leave more for another bot.

Someone also had to figure out where to put Sam, Mikaela, Carly and Leo. The house was filled with humans and bots, and it didn't have enough space for either of them.

So later that day, Optimus left to meet with the government, far away from the city. He was supposed to negotiate with them about their shelter, being banned from Diego Garcia by Galloway and having no right to use the military bases here, they had to go somewhere. Optimus would call in the results after he got them. Hopefully it will all turn out alright.

But back home, things were quite different. Some were sleeping on couches, some we sleeping in warm cars and some were sleeping in the beds. All the humans were very tired, some from travel and some from worry.

Bumblebee was out with the Lennox's still. Some of the bots were trying to fix the ripped off door, trying to put it back together, but had no luck in doing so. The Arcee sisters were outside, talking to a lot of Autobots. Leo was sleeping on the couch downstairs, covered by a blanket that Nicole put over him. Mikaela was here too, sleeping in Jolt's alt.

Even a new Autobot had showed up, Que, a scientist. He chose a blue Mercedes E-Class for his alt mode. Carly was sleeping in there, along with Sam. She didn't like the Autobots, but had to accept them either way. She was part of a military family, for her brother had died in Vietnam only a couple of months ago. She knew the importance of keeping secrets, especially military ones. That, and the fact that Will actually knew who her brother was. He knew they all could trust her.

Nicole's exhaustion soon caught up with her, as she was finally sleeping on the couch next to Ironhide. Her head was resting on her hand, which was crossed across her chest, serving as a sort of pillow. At one point, her body slipped from her position in which she was sitting in, so she was leaned against Ironhide. He moved away from the couch, giving it to Nicole entirely, gently putting her to lay down.

Ironhide, who was present alone with Ratchet and the sleeping Nicole in the room, walked quietly towards Mel. She was sleeping. As he was standing in front of her, his hand drifted to the side of her face as he crouched down. His thumb gently pressed the soft skin of her cheek, in a form of affection.

He wanted her to be healthy, so much. For this long battle to finally be over, to result in a victory.

He just needed to be patient. One more time. To wait, just a few more days, maybe a week at most, and everything would be okay again.

She would be okay.

"She is doing just fine, Ironhide." Ratchet assured. "The machine is pumping out energon from her system slowly, and I'm giving her the blood she needs. The plan is in motion and is working perfectly." He said with a pat on Hide's shoulder.

Hide nodded. "This is good news. When will she awaken?" he looked at Ratchet.

Ratchet thought about it for a moment. "In less than six hours, probably."

"Probably?" he gave him a look.

"It's never completely sure with Melissa, Ironhide, you are, again, forgetting this."

"I'm not forgetting Ratchet, I'm expecting you to come up with a definite answer." He swiftly answered.

"Well, as big as your expectations are-"

"They are not."

"I simply don't see myself having the power to foresee when she will wake up. If she was of our kind, then I could tell to the last nanosecond. Since she isn't, we have no other choice but to wait." Ratchet finished.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard. Ironhide scanned the house for who it could have been. It was Mikaela.

She quietly knocked on the door, and then entered the room.

"Hey." She greeted them. They nodded in return. Her hands folded in small fists as she walked slowly towards her, almost shyly. Her fists rested on her thighs, as she was standing in front of Mel. "I haven't even got a chance to meet her." She looked at her sadly. "How is she doing?"

"At the moment, quite good. She's positively responding to the medication."

"You know, Jolt has been teaching me how to help humans and you guys."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. He was assigned to not only guard you, but to help you in your medical studies. He was my apprentice for a while, after all."

"Yeah, I know. He helped me a lot." She managed to make a smile. "So what's going to happen to her?"

"She will wake up and be good as new." Ironhide said. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, I came here because I was sleeping Jolt's alt. Now he wants to recharge."

"So why don't you go down and help him recharge." He surely wanted to be alone with Mel.

"Because Jolt sometimes spasms during his sleep and he's afraid he might kill me while he's sleeping."

"Spasms?" Ratchet asked. "He never reported those."

"He didn't want to bother you." Mikaela answered.

"Bother, my aft." Ratchet huffed. "Mikaela, take care of Melissa, I'm going to check on Jolt."

"Ratchet, you're going to leave Mel's life in the hands of a human?"

"This human has a name, Ironhide, and it's Mikaela. Besides, she is training to be a medical doctor in human university." Ratchet scolded him.

"Charmed." Ironhide uninterestedly said.

"Be nice, Ironhide." Ratchet scolded once more, before his holoform disappeared.

A couple of moments were spent in silence after that. Mikaela was examining the machine, checking up on Mel's body temperature and looking for any signs of danger. Everything was going smoothly.

Ironhide was keeping an eye on her. Sure, she meant well to Mel, but he still didn't like humans. Melissa was an extreme exception. Almost all humans were, up to a point, tolerable.

"How are you doing, Hide?" Mikaela asked, turning towards him. "It's been a while."

"I'm fine." He was taken back by the question, but didn't let it show. "Yes, it has been multiple years since our last encounter."

"Yeah… How's Sam doing?"

"Sam? I hadn't seen him since a couple of years ago."

"You mean, he hasn't been living here for the past week?"

"No." Ironhide thought better than telling her that Sam was spending his college days with his new mate, Carly.

"Oh, I didn't know that." she said, crossing her arms, glancing from Mel to Hide. "So you're her guardian?"

"Yes." He kept it short and simple. He wasn't a very good guardian, by his standards. Melissa suffered a lot, more than she ever should have.

"That's good." She added. "So… Jolt hasn't really told me much about the plan."

"Which plan?"

"Why all of us were brought here."

Ironhide thought of the quickest possible answer, "Optimus is going to find shelter for all the Autobots, and when he does, he wants us all in one place so that we can later move to our shelter destination." That pretty much covered it all.

"It makes sense." She said, taking a chair from behind a desk and quietly dragging it to the side of the bed, to be next to Mel. "You know what I think, from my point of view here?"

Ironhide couldn't have cared less, but let it slide any way. "What."

"I think Melissa went through a lot more than all of us did, since we met each other."

It took only seconds for Ironhide to think about what she was talking. Being a robotic being, superior to the humans in almost every way, had its benefits. His mind could go through all his memories, from the time Optimus had introduced the team to Sam and Mikaela, to this point, in mere seconds. His mind ran through the memories of Mel laying in bed for months, during all the years he was with her. Too many times had she been hurt by his negligence. And she still stood by him, regardless.

Ironhide stopped thinking about the memories. "Agreed." He didn't feel like thinking or talking about it, especially with humans. Instead, he commed Ratchet to come back up. Mikaela would only ask more questions, being the curious being that she is.

But Ratchet was out examining what was happening with Jolt and his recharge spasms. "Perhaps you need Mikaela to tell you more about those." All Hide ever wanted in this moment was a little alone time with Melissa, just to tell her some things. He didn't know if she could hear him or not, but it would certainly help him.

"If she leaves, Melissa might die."

"She isn't going to die, Ratchet."

After a short pause, Ratchet answered. "We'll make this short."

"Good." He answered. "Ratchet wants you to go outside, he needs assistance with Jolt."

"What's going on?"

"You should go and see." It was like he was making a big deal out of it. Mikaela walked out of the room, leaving Ironhide and Melissa in complete and utter privacy.

He approached her once more, crouching beside her. He made sure nobody could hear him or see what he was doing.

He knew she could hear him. Even while she was sleeping. He just knew she could.

She had to.

"Mel, you can't believe how good this is, that you're finally getting healthier." He sat on her bed, tucking her in, watching not to touch or disconnect any of the tubes connected to her. "In just a few hours, perhaps even a day, you'll wake up and this nightmare will be over." He assured her, but also assured himself. "I just wish none of this energon and cancer slag had ever happened. You needn't this kind of disease."

He sighed and looked to the side. His hand fell on hers lightly, touching her ever soft skin. "Primus, you've been through so much, you didn't deserve to go through half the things you've already been through." He remembered when Barricade had buried her alive along with Nicole.

He glanced at Nicole, just to make sure she was alright as well. She was in a deep slumber.

Hide remembered the time Mel got shot. Three times. And then had amnesia. How Mel was in a coma more times than she ever should have been in a lifetime.

He remembered the good and the bad times with her. He wished that they hadn't happened, but that made her who she is today. An intelligent, strong, capable and independent young woman.

Despite her physical condition, she was still the Melissa he grew to love and care about. Nothing could ever change that.

His hand held hers strongly, but not strong enough to hurt her in any way.

Ironhide was at a loss of words, having just started to say what was on his mind and spark. "Primus, just let her live through this." He shook his head, look gazing down at her lovely face.

He gazed at it for a while, taking in her eyes, deeply set with purplish circles underneath. Her lips, once red and luscious, now dry and colorless. Her face, once full of energy and bliss, was now slowly fading away.

But it was still one of the most beautiful sights of his life. No matter the beautiful buildings in Praxus, deeply embedded into his mind, no matter the wonderful Earth sunsets, no matter the Iacon relics once treasured on his planet… Even in this condition, he found her more beautiful than that.

His face came closer to hers as he pressed a kiss on her lips. "I love you." He said, as mere seconds later, her eyes started to open.

He looked at her in bewilderment. Her eyes opened on her own. She was awake!

"Hey." She said in a deep and raspy voice. She realized she could talk, as her eyes grew wider, a sudden grin plastered on her face.

Ironhide pressed another kiss on her lips, grinning along with her. "Primus, you're alive." He tried hugging her, but couldn't possibly do it. He was perfectly happy that Mel was awake. She tried to say something, but Ironhide beat her to it. "Don't say anything. It might hurt your vocal strings." His fingers touched her throat, where her vocal strings would have been. The action resulted in a smile from Mel.

Hide immediately commed Ratchet. A second later, Ratchet emerged Mel's room, where she was laying on the bed. "You're awake? This is amazing news."

"She can speak." Hide added, swiftly hiding his excitement and happiness.

"She can?"

"Yes, but her voice is quite raspy."

"Yes, because of the inactivity."

"So now what?"

"Nothing, I will keep giving her doses of blood, keep pumping the energon out and she will be good as new." Ratchet added with a smile. "Just hang in there, Melissa."

"Can you move?" Ironhide quickly asked.

She just looked at him. Hide was a little disappointed, but was happy that she could talk for a start. "Don't push her to move or talk, Ironhide."

"I would never push her into doing something dangerous for her."

"She may need more time than we think, so we don't want to rush with anything, alright? Excuse me now, I still have to figure out what's with Jolt, he seems to be keeping stacks of datapads of his spasm-"

"Goodbye Ratchet." Ironhide waved him off.

Ratchet nodded as he quickly disappeared.

Mel and Hide looked at each other. Their eyes joining in an invisible string, just like they always did. Their connection re-emerged once more. Hide's face came closer to Mel's, until the two's foreheads were touching.

Ironhide let air out of his chest, relieved. "I love you." He said it again, truly believing in the words.

And that's how you end a chapter in a slightly better way than the previous ones! :D Hooray for the sadistic writer!

I hope you guys liked this chapter, because of course, more chapters are to come! If there are any questions about something that you didn't understand, anything at all, you can always leave your message in a review or in a Private Message (PM).

As for the next update, neither Primus nor God know when it's going to happen, just don't think it's going to be any time soon. Internet could be a real problem this time of year. Since I don't think I'll be online on New Year, I want to wish you all a late Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year! I hope you all have lots of love, joy and happiness in the years to come and of course, never stop creating! :D