Illusions of Love

by Zaru

Summary: Post Movieverse. After the events of Mission City, new Autobots arrive. Among them is Mirage who, as soon as he arrives, notices a young woman running for her life. Now, being a new human ally, she is torn between giving her heart to Mirage and Barricade, who has made his way into Autobot ranks. Who will win her over?

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. It belongs to Hasbro. I do own Zaru Kiys.

Author's Note: This is a Transformers fanfiction that I was inspired and asked to write from my new friend and fellow Transformers fan, Icarian Angel Wings. This fic is to help create a cannon coupling that she will be using in her third and final installment of her Immortal Soul Spark Series. It will be called Flames of Eternal Glory. Check it all out!

Also, the title is credited to Icarian Angel Wings. She helped me out when I got stuck!

Now, please, one and all, enjoy this fanfic. :)

Chapter 1

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The ending rays of sunset had finally disappeared behind the horizon. The mixed colors of pink, orange and blue faded away just as fast showing a cloudless, starry sky. A cool breeze blew in from the ocean beyond the Lookout and the sound of ocean waves crashing against the rocks below was all that was heard through a sweet silence. It was a perfect night to gaze at the stars. Yes, a perfect night indeed.

Sam and Mikaela sat down on a woolly blanket they had spread out to keep from coming in contact with the cool, dewed grass from that morning's rain. Peacefulness and protection comforted them as their friends, the four current Autobots residing on Earth, sat amongst them peering into the sky as well.

Four months had gone by since Mission City. It seemed like only yesterday they had saved the world from the devastation of Megatron and the other Decepticons, one of them they knew still residing on Earth. Although it was a little frightening to Sam and Mikaela that one of them still remained, it was comforting to know that the Autobots were there to keep as much peace as possible.

Silence continued among them until Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer, gasped. Optimus Prime turned to face the medic, worry crossing his face.

"Is something the matter, Ratchet?" Optimus asked, concerned.

Ratchet remained silent, standing up slowly to make his way toward the edge of the Lookout with all the Autobots watching closely.

"Ratchet?" Ironhide called, his voice a little gruff.

"Silence." The medic whispered. "I sense something."

Optimus, on immediate alert, stood up ready for anything. "What is it, Ratchet?"

"There's something coming this way." He stated in a low voice.

Sam and Mikaela looked up from the ground which they were sitting.

"Is it a Decepticon?" Sam asked frightened. Even though the now 17-year-old teenager had survived Barricade's attack as well as the entire situation in Mission City with him destroying Megatron, he was still uneasy.

"No, Sam. I do not sense a negative presence. In fact, I believe they are new Autobots coming into Earth's atmosphere." Ratchet averted his gaze to Optimus. "We must head back to the base."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "I agree. We'll be able to track them from there." He looked over at Bumblebee and Ironhide. "Let's transform and roll out!"

The sounds of grinding metal and gears echoed on the Lookout. When Sam and Mikaela heard that final hiss of their transformation into alt modes complete, they scrambled to grab the blanket and headed toward Bumblebee.

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Back at the Underground Autobot Base located at the edge of Tranquility, the Autobots Ironhide, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Optimus Prime transformed back into their bipedal modes heading quickly to the communications room, the humans straggling behind.

Ironhide sat down in the big chair and pressed a few buttons, the huge monitor in front of him beeping to life. Optimus stood situated behind him, a metal hand resting on the chair.

"Ironhide, release Delta-Sky to scan Earth's atmosphere."

"Yes, sir." A few beeps later, new images began appearing upon the monitor, the Autobots watching rather closely to see if they could find anything about what Ratchet had sensed earlier.

"Delta-Sky?" Mikaela raised an eyebrow turning to Sam. "What's Delta-Sky, Sam?" The brown-haired teenager just shrugged his shoulders indicating that he had no idea what it was either. Sighing, Mikaela stepped up and tapped Optimus' leg. "Hey, Optimus?"

The leader looked down to see the human femme looking up at him questioningly. "Yes, Mikaela?"

"What's this 'Delta-Sky' you just mentioned?"

Optimus smiled small and leaned down offering a hand. Curious, she climbed on and he lifted her up enough to see the monitor. "Delta-Sky, Mikaela, is our new Earth-scanning system. It is able to pick up traces of transformers entering the Earth's atmosphere whether it be Autobot or, hopefully not, Deception."

"Oh." She nodded. "That's neat." The brown-haired teenager looked up at Optimus. "But why have you never told us about it before?"

"The Delta-Sky Project was not finished until recently. Ratchet and Ironhide had been working on it secretly for a few months now."

"Ah."

"Optimus!" The gruff voice of the black mech called.

The Autobot leader turned back to the monitor. "Status report, Ironhide."

"Three Autobots are nearing the entrance of Earth's atmosphere."

"Are we able to pinpoint the exact coordinates of their landing sites?"

Ironhide shook his head. "No, sir, but the coordinates are able to be estimated."

Optimus nodded. "Very good. Get those estimated coordinates stat and let's roll out!"

()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()

The usually darkened sky seem to light up a little as what appeared to be a star getting brighter. Soon, it brightened even more. Anyone who gazed at it would notice that it was not a star of any sort, but a meteor doused with flames flailing wildly around it as it sped up upon entering the atmosphere.

It was getting closer and closer, the fire and heat from it burning nearby trees as it finally crash-landed in the middle of an open field. Flames licked wildly at surrounding plant life as mechanical whirs and clicks resounded throughtout the area.

From the open crater, a protoform hand appeared, heavily pressing into the ground pulling the rest of its body out. The Autobot stomped heavily onto the land and looked around. Where am I? He wondered. I must contact Optimus as soon as possible. But first...I need to find an alternate mode for this planet. Quickly, he bounded toward the direction of Tranquility where he could hear honking horns in the distance.

()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()

She ran as quickly as she could. At least as quick as her high-heeled booted feet were able to take her. Her breath was quick to the point of panting, but she was used to running like that. Green hair blew wildly behind her as a heavy wind forced her to push her body's limit further, a bag clanking against her with the rush. Finally, she had to stop running and see where those men were. The young woman hated to run away from a fight, but it was necessary this time around since there were more than she could count and all had weapons on them.

Taking a quick breather, she leaned against the wall in the alley she just turned into and ran fingers through her waist-length green hair that was recently dyed from its original auburn color. Why me? Why do I always seem to get into these messes? Sighing heavily, she lifted the strap of the blue bag over her head to rummage through it. This is ridiculous. Dammit. She cursed in her mind. Where was that hair tie? It seemed like forever before pushing a large amount of stuff aside to finally pull out a thick, white hair tie. Yes. Still sifting through her bag, her hands grasped the handle of a hairbrush which she ran through her hair swiftly taking out knots, if any.

He saw her. It wasn't unusual though. There were many organics on the planet running amuck when they should have been recharging for the night. He had researched the planet using the World Wide Web as soon as he landed and gained his new Earth mode which happened to be a blue 2004 Ford GT with three alternating red and black racing stripes running from the hood to the back of the trunk. It was a form that seemed to appeal to him after scouring through several images of vehicles and settled on the GT.

As he was driving down the street, he noticed the organic femme running. But from what? He was curious, but his first priority should be getting into communications with the leader of the Autobots. The new Autobot was ready to drive away, but his spark kept telling him no. Why? Why shouldn't he leave the organic femme to herself? It had been a few moments since she stopped and nothing seemed to bother her, so why should he stay? Why should I? He wondered.

The wind picked up and she was getting a little cold. Zaru took ahold of the bag at her side, placing the brush back in. She lifted the strap back over her head, resting it on her shoulder and straightening it out. Glancing down, she noticed her denim jacket's zipper was undone. It's getting cold. Grabbing it, she zipped the jacket up to the middle of her chest and adjusted it to fit comfortably. I guess I better get going. Damn. I wish my car wasn't in the garage. Folding her arms across her chest tightly, she fell into a steady pace, but not before the sounds of feet crunching loose papers and other garbage was brought to her ears. Oh shit.

"Shit." She murmured. Why me again?

The Ford GT kept watching the femme. He could see she was ready to leave again, but realized her body stopped moving from the alley. I wonder what's wrong? Then, he saw it. Several men organized themselves in a group surrounding her. That's why I couldn't leave. She's in trouble. I must contact Optimus, but first, I'll deal with these feeble organic males. Slowly, he drove toward the entrance of the alleyway.

Zaru peered at the men surrounding her. Tonight just wasn't her night.

"I was wondering when you assholes were gonna show." She made a show of looking at her wristwatch. "'Bout damn time, too. I was beginning to think you couldn't make it in time for your ass-whooping."

One man, a big one with scraggly black locks falling around his face and a stubbled beard, whipped out a pocket knife, a smug grin on his face.

"You thought you could outrun us? Think again." He chuckled.

All she could do was sigh in disgust. "What is with you guys? I beat your asses, then you come back for more? What is this? A kinky fetish of having my foot colliding with your faces?" She looked around at them. "You get off on it or something? Cause I'm telling you now, if this is a fetish, I should be getting paid for this."

"You'll pay all right. You'll pay for what you did to Alan last week." Another man stated brandishing a small, heavy ball with a chain attached.

This isn't good. She thought. But there was no way out for her. It was too many guys to take on. Plus, they each had a weapon of their own if she did try to run. At this point in time, she wished for some help from someone, anyone or anything. Hissing and whirring sounds caught her attention. Anything it is.

Slowly, the Autobot pulled into the alleyway and stopped. The organics have arsenal to use against the femme. Ten against one is hardly fair. I have no choice but to help. Surely, but quickly, he began to transform. Mechanical whirs from the transformation brought the humans' attention to him rather quickly. He smirked when he saw the shocked and frightened looks on their faces.

"Is something the matter here?" He asked.

Zaru gulped when she the car transforming. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. I wonder what the hell that is. She knew it was some type of robot or something. A prototype from the government perhaps. Her oceanic blue eyes couldn't help shimmering with excitement at the miraculous creature before her. I wonder what it is. Then, she heard a smooth voice talking. A voice that sent shivers down her spine for some reason. Damn. What was that about?

"I asked if something was the matter here." The robot stated.

The men who were known as bullies were now sized down to little boys peeing their pants. She could hear slight whimpers escaping their mouths as they tried backing away from the bipedal robot.

"D-Don't hurt us! Please! W-We didn't mean a-any harm!" The leader stuttered, backing away slowly as possibly before falling backwards into a nearby trash can.

Zaru couldn't help but snicker at the man's predicament. "Always knew you were white trash, but this is ridiculous." She laughed out loud when he tried to free himself from the trash can, but didn't notice when a flash of blue was creeping up slowly behind her.

Mirage watched in fascination as the male organics backed away. It became a little entertaining when one man ended up in an organic's disposal bin. He could hear the femme laughing and couldn't help himself from smiling. At least she's all right now. But that thought was disposed of quickly when he saw one of the organics sneaking upon the femme. I don't think so. Quickly, the 30-foot robot lunged forward slamming a huge hand between the two.

Zaru jumped a couple feet in the air, a rush of wind whipping at her clothes as a large thud sounded behind her. Spinning gracefully on one booted foot, she looked to see something huge and black in her way. What the hell? Studying it, she realized it was a hand. What the hell?

"Are you all right?" The robot asked her.

Looking up, she saw a look of worry. Smiling, she nodded. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because there is a glitch in this organic male's CPU." Lifting his hand, he showed her what he meant.

Zaru saw one of the men who had surrounded her earlier brandishing a long knife. He was now down on the ground, knife in front of him, body shaking all over.

"You son of a bitch! You tried to stab me!" Her hands fell to her hips as her mouth was agape.

All the man could do was look up at her, a frightened expression crossing his features.

"This organic was ready to put you in permanent stasis." She heard the robot talking again.

She snorted. "I can't believe they would go this low as to try and kill me now."

The Autobot, Designation Mirage, looked down at the human femme. He was confused. She has dealt with these organics before?

"Femme, why do these organics pursue you?" He just had to ask.

She stared up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Why the interest?" He didn't answer and just blinked his optics at her. Exhaling, she replied, "It's a long story. Mind if I tell you later or something?"

Tell me later? Am I even interested in being around her later?

'Yes...' A voice inside his CPU was telling him.

Mirage shook his head trying to shake the thoughts and voice away. My duty is done here. As an Autobot I have protected a sentient being from being harmed. Now, there is no more harm. I shall take my leave.

"Hey! Are you okay?" He heard the sweet, feminine voice ask.

The blue mech looked down at her. She seemed a little concerned about him. Is she really concerned for my being although she has just met me?

"I am fine, human femme." He answered simply, not noticing that the last of the bullying men were gone leaving her and him alone together in the alleyway. "I must take leave of you now. You are out of harm's way." Quickly, he shifted into his alt mode, ready to roll out, but she stopped him.

"Wait!"

Zaru didn't want him to leave just yet. She had so many questions that were unanswered. What was his name if he had one? Where are you from? Who created you? Why did he save her? Questions that could only be answered him.

"What is it?" He asked. "Unfortunately, human femme, I am in a hurry."

She glared at the robot, hands placed on her hips. "I believe you owe me some answers."

Mirage scoffed. He didn't have time for this. He was already in a hurry since he wasted some time saving her from the organics. His number one priority: Contact Optimus. He couldn't stay there and answer any questions.

"Listen, human femme, I do not have time to answer any questions you may have. I have...important...duties I must attend to. If you will excuse me." He started his engine, ready to leave.

"Oh, hell no! You are not leaving me, buddy! You owe me a huge, and I mean, huge explanation for all of this!" She growled.

He sighed in defeat. She wouldn't leave him alone and quit pestering. Fine. I'll just answer her little questions and be on my way. Then he thought on it. Perhaps I should just offer a ride to her home and then she'll be out of my way for good.

"All right, human femme. You got want you wanted. Hop in." He opened the passenger side door for her and she smiled, brisking walking over and gently settling into the leather seat. She's so...warm... Damn. Why did he just think that? "Ready?" He asked, closing his own door.

"Sure. Let's go."

As Mirage was driving, he sighed. Optimus is going to kill me for this.

TBC...