Because starting even more multi-chaptered fics is exactly what I need to do in my busy schedule, right? To be fair, I'm the only person who ever does anything for this couple, even though they kissed in canon. (I'm not making it up!) So I figure why the hell not? I have to give them some love! Though if anyone else ever wrote a Hardhead and Blurr love story, you would make me a very very happy girl! Please? Anyone?

Well, this is also an answer to a prompt at the tf bunny farm on LJ. So, yes. And it may not get another chapter if no one likes it. I have some ideas, though. We'll see.

I don't own any of the characters. I don't even own the name "Silvermist" which is used a couple times - I saw it in a costume catalog!

oOo

There was more to Blurr than other Autobots realised. Most saw him running by one day for a split second - barely enough time to make a lasting impression - and dismissed him as an extremely fast, if slightly panicky young bot. That's all he was to them was the runner. No one questioned his reasons. Which is just how Blurr wanted it.

Had they asked, what would he say? They wouldn't understand if he tried to tell them what happened. Nobody understood that he was running from these memories for a reason. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want...

oOo

"Sh," his creator had told the blue youngling, hiding him in an energon storage pantry in hopes that the strange, winged mechs that were ravaging the city - Decepticons, they had called themselves - would not find the hidden young mech.

Blurr hid, being quiet like his creator had instructed. He didn't yell out when three Decepticons burst into his home. Didn't make a peep as he watched them tear his creator limb from limb, blue fluids splattering the walls. He hid, systems feeling cold with the fear as he tried to back up even further into the tiny pantry, to get as far away from these monsters as he could. That they could take another life with such ease and such laughter frightened the youngling so much that even if he had wanted to scream, he wouldn't be able to.

Unfortunately, he had backed up a bit too much, knocking over a few energon cubes in the process. The clear cubes hitting the ground had never sounded so loud in his audio receptors before that night.

One of the fliers walked over, opened the pantry door, smirked -

"Hey," the flier had leered down at him, eyes glowing viciously. "Look what I found."

He had tried to run, but he hadn't been fast enough. The three fliers had laughed as they tossed him between one another roughly. They laughed when he protested, when he squirmed as they shoved each other, each trying to plug into the youngling, to have their way with him.

They spared his life. Even as a youngling, he wished they'd taken it. And, about two joors later, when an old, light green mech found him there starving and scarred, he still wanted to die.

The old veteran Kup didn't allow it. He took Blurr under his wing, trained him to become a soldier to fight those cruel, sparkless Decepticons. And once he found a new purpose to live, Blurr stopped starving himself and began to consume more fuel than he had back home. Now that he had been upgraded, he could have pure energon. The energy coursing through his systems allowed him to run faster than ever before. That was when Blurr discovered he had a gift. So he focused more and more energy into developing the gift of speed, using it to escape his past.

But soon energon became harder and harder to come by.

"You can't hold out like this forever, lad," Kup had warned him. "Energy's not what it used to be."

The Autobots - for that's what those fighting the Decepticons had began calling themselves - looked for energy traces all over the universe, even losing a ship called the "Ark" in the process. Blurr was placed on a squad under a mech called Ultra Magnus when they detected an energy source on a planet called Byrelios-14. When they'd gotten there, it had looked like energon flowing in the geyser. And it had been. Just... not the same energon they were used to back on Cybertron.

"Blurr, don't!" the next-youngest on their squad, excluding himself - a femme called Arcee - warned him as he ran down, hardly believing his optics. He passed her too fast to hear the rest of her warning, "It's too unstable! You could get hurt!"

"Soldier, come back at once! This stuff is useless; we're going back to Cybertron!"

He soon found himself wishing he had listened to Arcee and Ultra Magnus.

oOo

"Blurr, right?"

"Gah!" the speedster jumped up. He had been so lost in his thoughts there in the alleyway in Autobot City, he hadn't heard anyone else coming. Lifting a hand to his face briefly to make sure he hadn't been crying - Frag, he had - he looked at the other mech - and was surprised at who he was.

Hardhead had only arrived at Autobot City two Earth-months ago. Blurr had never spoken to the green tank, but knew from gossip that they were polar opposites. Springer had called the tank "Steady as a rock - with about as much personality as one too!" The others had been a bit nicer about it, calling him words like "blunt", but remarking on his abilities on the battlefield.

"Hardhead," Blurr acknowledged the other, feeling embarrassed as he wiped tear streaks from his face. Not even able to look the other in the visor, he blurted out, "sorryifIbumpedintoyouonmywayouthere, I, uh, didn'tmeanto... itwon'thappenagain... oh, andIsupposeyou'reprobablywonderingwhyIcameouthere, well, uh, thatis-"

"I don't care why you're out here," the green mech shrugged.

"Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything."

Not knowing how to answer that, Blurr changed the subject, "IhavesometrainingexercisesthatItoldRodimusI'ddo, soifit'sallthesametoyou, I'lljustgonow-"

"Stop," Hardhead hardened his expression, somehow making it very clear he saw right through Blurr's lie. "Sit."

"But-"

"Do I frighten you?"

"Wellnonotreallybut-"

"Then quit trying so hard," the tank sank down to sit against the wall. "Sit."

"..." For once, Blurr was at a loss for words. He sat back down, sniffling pathetically, then feeling stupid for doing so.

"It doesn't do any good to hold it in."

Blurr nodded, taking in those nine words, before burying his face in his knees and letting the sobs wrack his frame. Hardhead made no move to comfort him in any way; instead just waiting it out. When the crying finally subsided, the speedster wiped his face, but didn't say anything.

"You don't have to explain it," Hardhead told him.

"But..." Blurr tried to wrap his head around the words. Before, if someone had happened to catch him in a flashback, they'd always want him to open up to them, which of course, due to what had happened before, he just couldn't do. "Ifyoudidn'twanttoknowwhathappened, thenwhy-"

"I'm not sparkless," the tank answered with a shrug. "If I see a comrade who needs something, I give it to 'em."

Not really knowing what else to do, Blurr muttered "Sorry..."

Hardhead gave him a long stare. "Stop apologising. You aren't doing anything."

He still had no idea how to reply to it, but the awkward silence was unbearable, so the blue speedster sighed and looked up. "There'sanawfullotofstarsouttonight."

"Hn," Hardhead grunted.

Blurr sighed again. The other clearly wasn't one for idle chatter. "Tobeperfectlyhonest, Ineversawwhyanyonelikedstarssomuch. Myroommatecan'tstandthataboutme. Thenagain, I don'tthinkmyroommatecanstandanythingaboutme. Mostofthetime, though, Idon'treallymindit. Alotofmechsdon'tlikemeverymuch, butthat'stheirproblem, right?" He chuckled nervously when Hardhead hesitated to reply.

The green mech pulled a datapad out of his subspace compartment, and scribbled something on it before handing it off to Blurr. "If you ever need anything, that's my room's access code." With a final nod, he stood and left Blurr to wonder what the slag had just happened.

oOo

Blurr never used the access code Hardhead had given him. Arcee, when she found out about it, teased him, but what did she know? She didn't know what had happened to him. She didn't know, didn't understand why Blurr didn't care that so many mechs hated him so. He'd rather them be annoyed with him than hurt them with all his secrets.

It was better this way, Blurr told himself as he made his way to guard shift. Hardhead was a good guy - which is why Blurr didn't want to get involved. Or at least he told himself he didn't.

Nobody told whoever was in charge of assigning shifts, though.

"Hardhead!" Blurr was surprised at who he was working with that night. "Youhaveguardshifttonighttoo!?"

The other didn't answer, just gave him a look, gesturing for Blurr to sit down if he wanted to. Timidly, the blue sat, keeping his distance just the same. The silence seemed like it lasted for vorns.

"Feeling better?" Hardhead finally asked.

"Yes!" The blue forced a smile, nodding vigourously.

The tank gave him a look. "You're lying."

"Wellnotexactly," Blurr admitted. "Imean, Ihaven'thadanotherflashbacksinceyoufoundmethatnight. Ineverthankedyouforthat, didI? IguessIshouldthankyounow, though, sothanks. Anyway, it'snotthatI'masbadasIwasthen - I'mnotusuallythatmuchofacrybaby - anditisn'tthatIdon'tgetalongwithArceeandSpringer, but..." he trailed off. "Forgetit. It'sstupid."

"Does it bother you?" Hardhead used the tone of voice one might use with a child, and Blurr twitched, but answered honestly anyway:

"Yeah. ButI'musedtoit."

"If it bothers you then it's not stupid."

"Youdon'tunderstand. It'sbetterthatIdon'tgetclosetoanybody. Iknowthatbetterthananybodyhere. Itdoesn'tstopmefromgettinglonely, though. ArceeandSpringerhaveeachother. Me, evenmyroommatehatesme!" Here, Blurr sighed. "Itoldyouitwasstupid."

Hardhead gave Blurr an indescribable look, not really knowing what Blurr was talking about. It was obvious to the soldier that the young speedster had some sort of fear of getting close to others. Impulsively, he reached out to place a comforting hand on Blurr's shoulder...

No sooner had he made contact did he draw back in pain and shock. What the slag...?

Blurr looked up miserably. "Unlessyouwantyourhandmeltingoff, orwhateverhappens - I'mnotthatsure - Idon'tthinkyoushouldtrytouchingmeagain. Sorryaboutthat."

The tank looked down at his throbbing hand, then back to Blurr. After the pain had mostly subsided, he asked, "Is that why you're afraid of everyone?"

"I'mnotafraidofeveryone!" the younger mech protested. "I'mjustafraidofwhatIcoulddotoeveryone. HaveyouheardoftheunstableenergyriftonByrelios-14? Well, Iwasinthesquadthatdiscoveredit."

"The energy streams there are supposed to be deadly," Hardhead nodded. He'd heard about it.

"Theyare," Blurr squirmed uncomfortably. "Silvermistwasdeactivatedtryingtogetmeoutofthere. Idon'tknowwhyPrimussparedme. ItmakesmefasterthanIeverdreamedpossible, andIdon'thavetotakeinmorefuelthanaminibot, butIcan'tgetclosetoanyone. It'sjustaswell, Iguess. I'mnotstupid, youknow. IknowI'mannoying."

"You don't annoy me," the green tank answered. Blurr was so taken aback, he just gaped for a few breems before composing himself.

"That'sextremelyniceofyou. ButIwouldn'tbethatoffendedifyoukeptyourdistance."

"You still have that access code?"

"Yeah?"

"Like I told you," the tank began - "If you ever need anything, you-" He was cut off by the sound of jet turbines overhead.

"Decepticons!" Blurr jumped up.

"Sound the alarm; I'll hold 'em off," Hardhead instructed. He didn't need to tell Blurr twice. The blue mech ran towards the alarm, but instead ran smack into one of the sweeps.

The last coherent thought he had before being knocked out was 'slag'.

oOo

"Blurr? Can you hear me?"

He struggled to move his head. Why did it feel so heavy? Slag it, he didn't want to move it anyway. He was too tired and his CPU ached too much.

"Blurr, stay with us. Do you hear me?"

His head was so clouded, he couldn't recognise the voice. He slurred, "Silvermist? Izza'you?"

"Blurr, Silvermist died vorns ago!" another voice - no, it was the same one. He was beginning to come to his senses. "Can you online your optics?"

He powered them up to find he was in the Med Bay. "Arcee? Whattheslaghappened?"

"He's still talking a mile a minute, so we know he isn't too damaged," Springer was there too. Of course. He was never far from Arcee lately.

"Scourge and the sweeps happened," Arcee answered. "Hardhead was able to hold them off til Springer and the others-"

"Hardhead!" Blurr shot up, then clutched at his head, immediately wishing he hadn't. "Isheokay? He'snottoohurt, ishe? Imean, he'sagoodfighterso..."

"Um..." Arcee looked down, gesturing with her hand towards a nearby berth.

"Hardhead..." Blurr gaped.

"Hn," Hardhead nodded to the best of his ability. His face looked like it normally did, but his body looked as if it'd been splattered with acid. Or with Byrelian energon.

"He carried you here," First Aid, who was currently working on the tank's damaged circuitry, confirmed what Blurr had already guessed.

"Why?"

"It wouldn't be very Autobot-like to just leave you out there," the pink femme answered for the tank. "He had no way of knowing."

"Buthedidknow! Itoldhim!" He turned to the damaged soldier. "Itoldyounottotouchmeorelseyou'dgetdamaged! Why'dyougobackforme!?"

"Quit yelling," Hardhead answered. "I told you if you needed anything, I'd be there."

"You can go, Blurr," First Aid informed the speedster. "Other than a nasty bump on the head, you actually weren't damaged that bad."

"...anything?" Blurr had totally ignored the medic while processing Hardhead's comment.

"Didn't I tell you that four times?" the tank on the nearby berth sounded half-annoyed and half-bemused.

Choosing not to say anything in return, Blurr slid off the berth and, as slowly as anyone in the room had seen him move, calmly left the Med Bay.

oOo

It took three Earth-days for First Aid and the medical team to repair Hardhead. And of course, they had to do his legs last. The first thing he wanted to do when he was able to walk was either get over-energised, or go recharge. In the end, he chose the second option, and made his way back to his quarters.

When he got there, he was mildly confused. Why did his room smell like energon goodies and... oil?

"FirstAiddidareallygoodjoboffixingyou."

He whirled around to see Blurr sitting on the floor, nibbling on an energon goody and periodically looking at it, as if he were trying to chew it into a certain shape. Looking at the plate in front of the racer, Hardhead could see why - Blurr appeared to be making tiny mech-shaped edible sculptures.

"I'msorrytobargeinherelikethis, butInevergotachancetothankyouforbringingmetoMedBay, and..." he trailed off, avoiding eye contact.

"'And'?"

"MyroommateandIgotintoafight..." Blurr looked down at his energon-and-oil mechs sadly. "Iwaskindahopingyou'dletmecrashhere, justfortonight..."

"You can move in if you want," Hardhead shrugged, pointing out the spare berth with his chin.

"Really? Afterallthathappened? Whataboutyourroommate?"

"Don't have one. Figured you'd rather be with someone who likes you than the glitch you complain about now."

"You... youlikeme?" Blurr was unable to stop the corners of his mouth from turning up a bit. Hardhead realised it was small, but nonetheless the first genuine smile he'd seen on the younger mech. "Ithoughtnobodylikesme..."

"You calling Arcee, Kup, Springer, and me nobody?"

The blue mech's smile grew as he held up one of the energon-mechs he'd been working on. "Imadeyou. Youcantellbecauseofthebigshouldercannon."

Being careful not to let their fingers touch, Hardhead took the edible version of him, inspecting it and realising the second one must have been Blurr. The real Blurr had been trying to shape an energon goody to resemble the crest on his helm.

Suddenly, Hardhead smirked, the most emotion Blurr had ever seen on the tank. He scooped up the energon-Blurr and lightly kissed it on the nose before returning it to its namesake.

"Whatthefragwasthatfor?" the real Blurr gave Hardhead a strange look, feeling heat rise to his faceplates.

"Because I can't kiss the real you," the green mech answered pointedly.

"You'reactingweird," the racer laughed.

"I'm probably still recovering from all that medication," Hardhead nodded. "You don't like it?"

"IjustneverthoughtI'dhaveanyonewantingtodothattome. EspeciallyafterfindingoutaboutByrelios-14."

"So you don't want to kiss me?"

Blurr looked at the green mech's visor, smiling. "Iwanttokissyou, Hardhead."

Hardhead lifted the energon-and-oil version of himself. "Then do it."

Lip components curving into his own devilish smirk, the blue speedster lifted his on energon-mech and pressed it to Hardhead's, making the two edible mechs kiss.

And for the first time in a very long time, he felt happy.

-fin?-

Ugh, this could have been better. Oh well. What'd you think? Should I continue it or leave it as is?

Leave kind reviews!