Last chapter everyone! Aren't you all excited? Oh, I feel like I have been waiting so long to give these two the closure they properly deserve! I hope you all enjoy my attempt at such...

The cure seems so obvious, you guys will probably hate me for not making them realise it sooner...

I don't own any of the characters.

oOo

Blurr was hardly listening to what Perceptor was saying, babbling on and on as he coated him with the slightly-slick substance. Not that he usually understood half of the scientist's scientific jargon anyway, but even so it was hard for him to focus on anything. He was so excited and anxious, his thoughts were for once going faster than even he could keep up. How long had he been afraid to do anything but run, for fear of being any slower and accidentally bumping into someone? How long had he sat alone at night, hands clasped together so he could pretend that maybe this was what it felt like to have someone hold his hand? How long had Hardhead, and even before that, Kup, watched him as he broke down, unable to provide him the contact his body so desperately craved?

None of that mattered anymore. Not if this worked.

"...called Corrostop," Perceptor was saying. "I had invented it sometime ago for the purpose of the removal and prevention of corrosion of any sort. Naturally, the entire base is coated with it, which I would suppose is why you're generally able to walk about and leave it unscathed. It's regrettable nobody thought to try it on someone like yourself sooner, but we haven't exactly had a specimen like yourself."

Blurr nodded numbly. As if he knew what any of that meant. Did it matter what it meant? It meant he would finally have some hope of anything that vaguely resembled "normal". With Hardhead. Who he loved, he was sure of it.

"Now, you must realise this isn't permanent. You'll be needing to come see me monthly for treatment as the radiation will eventually eat at even my Corrostop."

He shuddered slightly as the microscope, still babbling on scientifically, stopped the continuous spray, then waited for it to dry completely.

For the first time since he'd been walked to the lab, Blurr spoke:

"Isurehopethisworks. Reallyreallyreally - Idon'tknowhowmuchmoredisappointmentIcanhandle..."

Perceptor looked away with an unreadable expression. "...I know, Blurr."

oOo

At first, Blurr - feeling anxious to see just what he could do coated with this junk - was confused as to why Hardhead wasn't in the room waiting for him, until he checked his internal clocks and remembered it was Carly's birthday. Not so long ago, Jazz may have thrown a wild party. Since the deaths of Optimus Prime and the others, however, Jazz kept to himself and that duty mostly was left to Blaster. Though maybe not as wild as in the past, there would definitely be a party going on. Now that he was listening for it, he heard traces of music coming from the Rec Room after all - Elton John, maybe. Carly liked him.

Upon entering the Rec Room (Yes, it was definitely Elton John playing), his optics searched the dimly lit room. He saw the twins playfully teasing each other, Rodimus nervously chatting up Arcee, Blaster talking to some minibots... and there, in the back corner of the room was the stoic green tank he had come to so adore.

He was leaned against the wall inconspicuously where no one would really think to look, sipping from a cube of glowing bright pink, presumedly high grade - Blurr made a mental note to try and break him of that habit. His visor was still cracked, but the crack was covered with a makeshift eye patch, out of what looked like one of Spike's old shirts or something.

The blue used his speed to his advantage and ran across the room unnoticed, slowing down enough to jump into the other's arms and get himself properly entangled, cube of liquid knocked to the floor as his eager young lips searched out the other's, coated in high-grade energon. Kissing the green was nothing like he had imagined - it was better.

For one, Hardhead didn't melt. Blurr felt like he was going to, but in a good way.

When he had gotten his fill - for now - Blurr pulled away, chuckling nervously, but not taking his arms off the other. It was too dark for anyone who wasn't really looking at them to tell anyway. Besides, now that he knew he could touch the other again, he had no intention of stopping. "Sorryforthat..."

"Don't apologise," a smirk graced the tank's hard features. Blurr briefly wondered if the other was drunk, but didn't really care at the moment, as high-grade tended to make Hardhead open up and talk a lot more anyway. Still, he couldn't help but point his chin at the cube he'd knocked to the floor, contents splattered on their feet.

"Justhowmanyofthosehaveyouhad? Chromedomesaidyouwereanannoyngdrunk. Notjustannoying - irritating, obnoxious, superduperannoyingtothemax!" He was babbling, really, for lack of anything to say.

"Chromedome is an idiot," Hardhead huffed. "It's only my second. And I hope you plan on replacing it."

"Noway," Blurr smiled, resting his forehead on his partner's chest and feeling a big, strong hand resting on the small of his back. This was so wonderful - he couldn't believe he could really do this. Something that everyone else took for granted was like a dream come true to him! "Howdoyoufeel?"

"Tipsy," the tank answered honestly, without any hesitation.

"But, Imean, I'mnothurtingyouamI?" he moved his head so his chin was now the part resting on the tank's chest, so that he could look up into the partially-coloured blue visor. "You'dtellmeifIwas, wouldn'tyou? Youwould, right? Right?"

The smirk returned to that yellow face. "I'm fine. Perceptor really did it?"

"Isn'titjustthebest?" The speedster beamed. "Ican'tbelievethisisreallyhappening. Imean, itobviouslyis, soIguessIdobelieveit, butIjustneverthoughtI'dbeabletoever... youwannaknowwhatitis? YourememberthatCorrostopstuff?"

"The cure for Cosmic Rust," Hardhead didn't hesitate for even a millisecond with his reply; he was now at the point where he could understand Blurr perfectly no matter how excited the blue was. He smacked himself in the forehead lightly with his free hand. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Before Blurr could think up a suitable reply, the song changed. It was still Elton John, of course, as that was the current CD, but a different song, nonetheless. Normally, he would have paid it no mind except that he'd heard this song before, in a movie or something that Daniel had been watching. But this version was slower, and much prettier.

And then, the normally stoic tank had to go and surprise him by saying, "Dance with me."

"Youwanttodance?! Oh, Primus, youmustreallybeatleastalittlebitdrunkthen, huh? Butwhatifsomeoneseesus?"

"No one will see," the green mech was already swaying the blue back-and-forth in the corner they stood in. Blurr smiled slightly, a little nervous, as he looked up into that blue visor.

"The more I learn," the musician's voice sang melodiously from the speakers, "The more I see, the less the world impassions me."

The blue mech rested the side of his head on the chest of his mate again, just happy to be there and praying to Primus nobody saw them, though at this point most of the Autobots were really to drunk to notice or care. He really couldn't believe how right it felt to finally be in the arms of this particular mech. Underneath the tough exterior, Hardhead was the nicest 'bot Blurr could have ever hoped to get mixed up with!

"The hungry heart, the roving eye, have come to rest, do not apply."

He couldn't even remember how long it had been, exactly, since he had felt so happy. And never - never - had he been held by anybody and had it feel as good as it did when his maker used to.

"The frantic chase, the crazy ride."

The war with the Decepticons, all the fights with Tracks, the dirty looks and insults other 'bots gave him when they thought he couldn't hear them, his resentment that he wasn't allowed to become an athlete, Hardhead's past as well as his own - absolutely none of that meant a thing to Blurr at that moment in time. Because at that moment, there was nowhere he would rather be. Hardhead gave him all the stability he had never had.

"The thrill has gone. I step aside."

"I'd believe in anything," the rough voice joining Elton John's surprised Blurr out of his reflecting. "Were it not for you showing me, by just existing, only this is true..."

"Hardhead?" He turned his head up. Chromedome had been right - his mate really did want to sing when drunk. But he hadn't expected it to be just for him like this.

"I love you," the tank whispered as the singer sang it over the stereo.

Blurr broke into a wide grin. "Doyoumeanthatorareyoujustsingingalong? Because, youknow, Chromedometoldme-"

"Didn't I already say Chromedome was an idiot? And I don't say things I don't mean."

The tank expected him to talk, maybe even babble, in reply; Blurr just knew it. But, perhaps because of the green mech, he was beginning to learn that sometimes actions really did speak louder than words. So, grinning mischievously all the while, he leaned forward and surprised the other with another kiss; his second real one ever.

And nothing else in the universe meant a damn thing to him.

-fin-

I almost can't believe that this is over. It's been quite a ride, and one that I hope you have all enjoyed as much as I have. I do have some plans for a sequel, so we'll see if anything ever comes of that. Hopefully by that time someone else will have written something for these two? Yes? No? Maybe?

And, yes, the title was from a song all along. Links to both versions (slow and slightly faster) in my LJ.