Unforeseen

Chapter 47

I do not own Transformers, only my OC's.

Chapter 47

My spark was ready to extinguish. I could feel little beyond the tangled knot of emotions… and the nearly lifeless woman I loved in my arms.

Melry was warm now and slept with eerily content. Only a small crinkle in her brow spoke of the fear I had witnessed a few hours ago. Idiot, I thought, hurt hammering at my spark. She had placed too much faith in me.

How was I supposed to help?

"I don't understand." Ratchet sat back with an unsettling expression. "Why is the energon acting so erratic?"

The energon was shifting, perhaps even spreading. I couldn't be sure. No longer did it assault her shoulder. Instead it sprawled from cheek to cheek and splattered her lips, chin and only parts of her neck.

And it was still moving.

It crept slowly across her skin, so minutely that unless optics were strained it was undetectable. But given time the movement could be measured.

"I've never seen anything like it," Ratchet said.

We've never witnessed a contamination, I thought miserably.

"There has to be something you can do," Will pleaded.

"I expected a relentless assault, but this…" Ratchet shook his head heavily. "I'm certain it's caused her coma."

My optics dimmed. I had deluded myself into believing Melry was simply fatigued. Now I knew I had only been cruel; hidden beneath her sleeves were darkened bruises. She had barely reacted to each pinch, even at the beginning of her decline, but I hadn't wanted to accept that fact. I still didn't. It was too hard to image the energon had cut off her nerves before her mind.

"Can't you extract it?" Will pressed.

"If that were an option I would have done so hours ago," Ratchet shot. "And if I knew why it was moving I might be able to stop it." He brushed a finger across Melry's cheek. "Her muscles are weakening with prolonged exposure. It's possible the destruction of cells are creating passageways, but the amount of decay is too small to allow for such rapid movement. There's something I'm missing and I can't figure it out."

I had a feeling Melry knew, or, at the very least, had an idea. Her final words, my jaw clenched. What did they mean?

I couldn't think of a single slagging Cybertronian 'art' form that would help and Melry couldn't have known herself. She didn't know enough of our culture and energon was a new concept to her.

What could she have picked up on?

"How long do we have?" My voice wavered.

Ratchet sighed. "A day, at most."

My optics shut off. Melry… I held her tight, breathing in the sharp earthy smell of her hair. It was not the scent I knew; the light hint of strawberry mixed with her body's natural pheromones. Would I ever enjoy it again?

"I was hoping for more time," Ratchet murmured.

No more of this. Primus, no more.

I was accustomed to death, knew it too well. I had lost more friends and comrades then I wanted to remember, but never a spark mate. Never a lover.

'I don't mean to steal you away Ratchet,' Optimus's voice came over the comlink, 'but we could use your assistance down here.'

The medi-bot took in a long, slow intake of cool air. "I'll be there shortly."