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Why do you need it? You don't need a Decepticon's help!

[He's here now. What else could the other 'bot need?]

If the waste of energon challenges me, I'm not backing down. I can't.

Ex-Decepticon.

[He locks the feed, looking at him almost desperately.]

I've seen reckless bots go after others, Sideswipe. I've seen them fall in battle.

I need you here, Sideswipe. And if I have to butt heads with you to keep things that way, I will do it.

There is no ex. There can never be an "ex-Decepticon". They're liars and they're murderers and they don't care. You can't trust them!

I am here!

So quit protecting that thing. It's disgusting -- you're better than that! You don't need to go tripping all over yourself for something that's just going to turn around and stab you in the back whenever it feels like it.

Sideswipe! Why would a Decepticon protect me against Shockwave? Put himself against him? I am still as wary of him as you are, but even Shockwave has called him an ex-Con.

mio dio...

You won't be if you keep running off and meeting these challenges! I can't lose you like I lost-

[And like that, he pulls back.]

So he can use you as a shield later or something, I don't know! He wants you in his debt for... something! And you're not nearly wary enough!

Yes, I will. What's the matter with you! You're so damned paranoid. And--

[Wait.]

[What was that.]

... Lost what?

[You can't keep him in the dark forever, Mirage. He notices the change in you. Whenever his safety comes up.]

...Is nothing.

I've been here almost a year, Sideswipe. It gets to you!

... Right. Sure it's nothing. Nice to know you trust me, too.

[There's an irritated little rock on his wheels, an exasperated snort that honestly could have been straight from Ironhide.]

Clearly. Because you've gone from, "Oh hey look at this scrap stunt I can do on the free way la-de-da" to "oh dear All Spark, I must-a play nice-a with the Decepticons!"

[... yes. He did just try and imitate Mirage's accent.]

[It failed.]

[Mirage was usually calm and collected. Flirtatious and fun. Smooth. Now...now he's a shadow of that, ridden with guilt, underhanded deals, and fear.

For one person.

For him.]

I DO trust you, Sideswipe!

...[You did not just--That was the WORST Italian accent he's ever heard. Who are you, Mario?]

...Do you want to know. Do you really want to know?

[He'll hate you more if you hide it from him.]

You've got a damned funny way of showing it.

[He tried.]

[But none of this is right. He's being held back, and, as always, that... just does not sit well with him.]

I want Mirage back. I don't want to be stuck here with a whiny Decepticon fraternizer. I want to be stuck here with Mirage.

That's what I want.

[He shies back from that, as if he's been smacked. Maybe it was that he'd been here almost a year. Or maybe it was a mixture of what was back home. Either way, he was different, in a way he couldn't understand.

To put it simply, he was broken. And Sideswipe wanted a fixed Mirage.]

Sideswipe, do not call me that.

[In return, he stares back at the feed, his engine cycling between angry revs and low noises. He doesn't like this. Doesn't understand this.]

[Mirage was never so skittish. He never bowed or owed anyone anything.]

[It bothers him.]

... I don't like this version of you. All right? What do you want me to say?

[The worst part was, Mirage hated it about himself. It was true, he never bowed to anyone. He took pride in the fact that he couldn't be tamed. This...shell of an Autobot had only one function now. And that was to keep his friends...SIDESWIPE safe.

He couldn't do that and be reckless at the same time. No one could.

Ironhide would have wanted this.]

I believe that is my question. What do you want me to do, Sideswipe?

[He looks at his hands. And...they're shaking.

Anyone who knows Mirage knows damn well his hands are like a doctor's.]

...

[He shrugs. It's a surly, unhappy motion. He can't even put words to it. Part of him knows damn well he crossed a line.]

[Another part doesn't care -- wants to keep pushing.]

[And the rest...?]

[His optics flick, watching Mirage for a long few moments.]

... Tell me where you are right now.

[A line crossed, yes. And it's pushing Mirage to the point of breaking. And all he could see--underneath the smooth accent and the confidence, was a skittish, horrified bot.]

Vector's temple.

[His voice is soft, almost a whisper.]

I mean specifically, where.

I live there too, smartaft.

[Those eyes sharpen, like daggers.]

In our room. There is only one room that applies to me.

[At least this is bickering he knows how to handle. He shuts off the link, though, and the next thing the red bot will hear is Sideswipe shoving the door open.]

[Like a princess.]

Sit down.

[His head snaps up, wings flicking in surprise at the door opening. Sideswipe wasn't frightening in the least, but...he seems more on edge than usual.]

Gerridae.

I don't know what that mean, but if it's not Italy-speak for "sure okay, Sideswipe I'll sit down", then, I don't want to hear it.

[He kicks -- literally kicks -- the door shut, and skates over.]

It is a nickname--perhaps it is because it is without the slurred end of the word to make it seductive.

[And no thank you, he'll stand.]

Italian isn't seductive.

[That's a lie.]

[He eyes him for a moment, before just. Reaching out and grabbing one of those shaking hands. He holds onto it for a little too long, trying to puzzle together what he's seen before.]

[And sort of, awkwardly, drags thick, blunt fingers along the plating and joints of Mirage's hand.]

It's easier if you'd just shut up and sit down...

Sure seems to work on you, Gerridae~

[His optics widen when he feels those blunt fingers grab his hands. They stiffen, for a moment, as the gold tips ever so slowly curl, their tips running along the ones holding them.]

I'm FINE.

[There's a soft wing flutter as his gaze focuses on the hands, chuckling.]

You...you could have just asked told hold them.

[Sideswipe how do you DO that.]

Quit that.

[His grip tightens. He looks Mirage square in the optics... and doesn't let go.]

No. You're not.

[Then it's back to working his hands over Mirage's. Looking back down at them in silence.]

I'm not holding them, am I? I'm fixing them.

Mi dispiace.

[He can't turn those optics away, letting his hands fall limp in Sideswipe's grip.]

...Fixing them, you say. How?

Yes. Fixing them.

[He's probably doing it wrong. But, it's the thought that counts? Right?]

I saw Ratchet do it once. For Ironhide. It worked then.

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