I dowloaded all the data on my computer when I got home. I felt numb for some reason. When they said explicitly they had killed my mom, I just felt a painful stab through my spark. I missed her so much, I still did after all those years. I got up, sitting down on my bed and stared at the wall as my optics filled with tears again. Would she be proud of me? I grabbed a photo of her from my subspace. 'I wish you were here,' I mumbled, sucking in a breath. I never tried to show much of my emotions. Ironhide is a tough mech and I felt embarrassed whenever I felt down or sad. I didn't want him to see it.

I grabbed the teddy bear off my shelf above my bed, sniffing at him. Sometimes I still slept him with him if I felt alone or sad. It's one of the few things I have from my mom. The door swung open and I quickly got up, wiping the tears off my cheeks. 'You're okay, kid?' Ironhide asked. I nodded and cleared my throat. 'Yes, what's wrong?' I asked. Ironhide shut the door and glanced at the teddybear and photo. 'It's not a bad thing to be sad, you know that right?' he asked. 'I have never seen you sad before,' I muttered. 'Doesn't mean I am never sad,' he replied, sitting down on my bed.

'Come on, talk to me,' he insisted. 'You had to think about your mom?' he added. 'Is that wrong?' I asked. He shook his helmut, 'you saw her die...' he replied quietly, staring at the photo. 'It's not an offense towards you or Chromia, I just miss her a lot. Even after all those years and I am mad at the Decepticons for killing her,' I said. 'It's never been proven they did it...' he trailed off. I didn't reply and looked out of the window. 'Decepticons... gosh I hate them,' I muttered under my breath. 'You never talk about the rape,' he said. I snorted, 'I am trying to forget about it...  there isn't much to talk about either,' I sulked. 'What you have seen and experienced is traumatic.' I turned around. 'People don't believe me when I tell them something... they think I am delusional...' I said, taking the photo from him.

'They took a lot of things from me... my mother, my father, my home and virginity... Barricade left me for dead on the streets. He said I was ugly and fragile. He didn't want to help me like he was supposed to do. The only ones who are stupid are the ones that won't believe me. Even you don't believe me,' I snapped. 'Because there's no evidence of an attack,' he said. I snorted and looked at the photo of my mother. 'She would've believed me...' I pointed at the photo and swallowed the lump in my throat. 'Do you really think she would've wanted you to be so full of hate?' he asked. I shut my optics as tears wiggled down my cheeks.

'You think she would've wanted to die? Everyone forgot about her...' I growled, trying to hide my sadness. 'We didn't forgot about her, but the case went cold because there is no evidence,' he said. 'My mother was killed by the Decepticons and my father was taken by them and I know because I spied on them... for years. I have been trying to find my dad but without success. They took him to a secret location... somewhere outside the city underground. I will never see my mother again but I still have hope to see my dad... he's the only family I have left. I don't want to lose both of my parents!' I hissed, glaring daggers at Ironhide.

My cooling vents kicked in. 'Come here, Mirage.' Ironhide pulled me in a hug. 'She died to protect me... I want revenge for what they did to me,' I spat. Ironhide rubbed my helm. 'Why did they take her from me?' I whispered and shut my eyes. 'I don't know, Mirage,' he whispered. I sniffled. 'I couldnt' even say goodbye, they just took her body...'

'I do think your mom would be proud of you,' he said. 'No, I don't think she is... I haven't reached anything yet... people still don't like me. Nothing changed since I was a sparkling,' I said, stepping back. 'You got Bluestreak,' he said. I gave a small nod, 'true, he's the only friend I have...' I whispered. 'I'd like you to meet someone,' he said and got up. I wiped some tears off my face and followed him downstairs where I saw a mech of my age. His optics where shinning with misschief, but they also carried sadness and grief. I could sense it.

The turned as he spotted me. 'This Sideswipe, he'll be staying here for a couple of days while his brother is out of town,' Ironhide said. The mech was a bit weird, he had wheels instead of normal ped. Never seen that again, but he was quite stunning and handsome to look at. 'Hey, nice to meet you.... you are...?' he trailed off. 'Dino,' I replied. 'Mirage, but he prefers Dino,' Ironhide subtilted. Ironhide walked off. 'Can I see your room?' he asked, but he was already heading upstairs. A little bit clumsy as he tried to climb the stairs with two wheels but he has done it before obviously.

I sprinted after him. 'Sweet...' he purred while glancing around. He looked at the photo on my bed. I quickly grabbed it and placed it my subspace. 'Is that your mother?' he asked. I nodded, 'yeah, but she's dead, so...' I trailed off. 'I am sorry, I didn't mean to upset you...' he said. I waved my servo and turned around again. 'I sense your pain,' he said. I cocked my head slightly to the side. 'I can feel it... Ironhide told me you have been through a tough time. I can relate... Sunny and I have been abused,' he said. 'I am sorry to hear that,' I muttered. 'Anyway... you got a nice room,' he said. I hummed and placed my teddybear back on the shelf.

'You got a brother?' I asked to change the subject. Sideswipe nodded, 'Sunstreaker is his name. He's my twin but he's out of town with Jazz and Ironhide decided to take me in because I drive Ratchet crazy,' he said laughing. I hummed. 'I have a bit of a strange request...' he trailed off. I raised an optic ridge. 'I would like if I could stay in your room for the nights. I don't like the dark and I don't like being alone. Ironhide told me to not ask you but I can always try, right?' he asked. I stared at him. I just met him, barely know anything about him, except he's abused and he wants to stay here with me? It was a strange request but I gave in. 'Okay, fine... you can stay here with me if you'd like,' I stated. Sideswipe flashed me a smile and his optics brightened up.

'Thank you so much. You really made my day,' he chirped. I sat down, not in the mood to talk. Sideswipe stopped talking, 'I am too energetic, isn't it?' He asked. I eyed him, 'how fast are you?' I asked. 'Quite fast, never really tested it tho,' he responded with a raised brow. 'Tell me something about yourself.'

Sideswipe frowned but flopped in the office chair. 'There isn't much to say. Bit of a rough start, my parents hated me. Uhm, loved on the streets mostly and now some bots are chasing us because they want us to fight in the arena. They think they can make money out of us,' he stated. 'Decepticons.' Sideswipe nodded. 'What are your skills?'

'My skills?' He asked confused. 'I don't know... I am mostly dragging annoying,' he mocked and smirked a little. I felt a wave of sympathy for this new mech. 'Why are you so interested? No one is ever interested in me,' he scoffed with a hint of sadness. I shrugged and slumped back. 'I think we have something in common... we both hate cons.' He snorted. 'They suck,' he mocked and started smiling. I could hardly believe he's ever angry.