DISCLAIMER: Transformers isn't mine, Mystique, Zenith, Wing, and Wasp are. Yes, I named Wasp after the Animated character. Don't sue.

Warnings for this chapter: Same as the last one. I promise the action will pick up in the next chapter.

Peripheral Vision

Chapter 10

Mystique's sensors, for once, didn't pick up the mech in front of her until it was too late. Still invisible, she crashed head-on into him, both of them stumbling through a transformation and landing in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Owww!" The mech twisted and fought his way free, dumping her onto the ground and knocking the invisibility projector offline. "Mystique? Primus, you have no idea how glad I am to – "

"Sideswipe?" Mystique picked herself up and glared down at him. "What are you doing here? Are you – following me?"

"No! No." Sideswipe struggled upright and shook his head. "No way! I'm here about your twin! Mirage, right?"

Her jaw dropped. "W-what? How did you – "

"Look, it's a long story, but he's alive, and – OW!" Sideswipe yelped as she grabbed his shoulders frantically.

"How? Tell me!"

Prowl pointed the scanner between the narrow rocks. "He came this way. Follow me, Sunstreaker, and please stay close."

"Yes sir." Sunstreaker drew his gun and almost ran into the second-in-command's back. He could almost see Prowl's glare, even from behind. "Sorry, sir."

"Nowhere near that close." Prowl stalked away from him irritably.

Sunstreaker edged around one of the rocks, doing his best not to bump into Prowl again and open a comm channel at the same time. "Mirage? Mirage, can you hear me?"

Nothing but static.

The mech carrying Mirage dumped him roughly to the ground, growling, "Sir, we found this mech on the outskirts of the rocks."

Another voice, masculine but softer than the Autobot's captor, rasped from farther away. "Your point? You know what we do to trespassers."

"All due respect, sir." The mech moved awkwardly, causing a few small rocks to rattle against Mirage's shoulder. Mirage, for his part, was too scared to worry about paint damage. "I think you'll want to see this one."

"Very well." Mirage heard no footsteps, but someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder and flipped him over onto his back. A harsh ventilator intake hissed a few inches above him, and the visor was yanked from Mirage's faceplate. He found himself staring directly into dark orange optics that glowed with shock and absolute hatred.

The mech glared down at him for a long, agonizing moment. Mirage did his best not to break optic contact; the intensity of the stare frightened him more than the threat of whatever these 'bots might do to him, but it also suggested psychosis – which could easily be triggered by almost literally anything.

Finally, the black mech rose and turned away. "Wing! Wasp! Take him inside. I will deal with this one personally."

The silver femme and the green mech each grabbed one of Mirage's arms, almost wrenching them from the sockets as they dragged him backward. As the light dimmed, Mirage realized he was being taken into a cave. Slag. Even if he could turn on his comlink somehow, it would be out of range underground.

Mystique released her vice-grip on Sideswipe's shoulders with a shaky sound that was almost a sob. "Alive. Mirage is alive." Her green optics shuttered as she clenched her fists. "My brother is alive. I am not the last of my family."

"What's wrong?" Her visible distress puzzled Sideswipe; shouldn't she be overjoyed to find out her brother had survived? Had she not wanted to find him alive?

Mystique's jaw tightened as her optics opened. The fury in them was so clear that Sideswipe took a step back. Her voice was a low, steady growl. "He lied. He lied to me. He told me they searched and found no one but me. He lied." Her optics narrowed to slits, glowing with rage. "He left my brother to die."

Relieved now that he knew her anger wasn't directed at him, Sideswipe asked, "Who? The mech from Yuss?"

"He goes by Zenith." Mystique turned and stalked down the road, back the way she had come. "He told me that I was the only survivor of my family, that I should hate the Seekers for their deaths, that I had a duty to avenge them…and all along he was lying."

"Wait! Where are you going?" Despite their height difference, Sideswipe had to hurry to keep up with her.

Mystique's tone was perfectly, eerily, even. "It's time for Zenith to learn the price of lying to a trained assassin."

"But – shouldn't we find Mirage first?"

The femme stopped in her tracks and spun to face him. "Find Mirage?"

"He went to find you." Sideswipe gestured vaguely in the direction of their first meeting. "We can probably catch up with him if we -"

"No." Mystique's optics closed for a second. "Zenith knew there were Autobots there. When did he leave?"

Sideswipe told her, concern tensing every cable.

"It's too late. He will have been captured." Mystique turned back to the road. "I will find him. And if Zenith lays one servo on my brother, I will rip his spark out."

Sideswipe didn't doubt for an instant that she meant it. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you are not. Return to your base and warn your commander – Prime, was it?"

"Prime knows." Sideswipe kept pace with the femme assassin. "Mirage is your brother, but he's my friend. Besides, my brother and Prowl – remember him? – went to find Mirage. We have to stop them too."

Mystique looked at him for a long moment. "You have as much reason to come as I do. But please – be careful."

"I will."

In the distance, the rock formations that marked the Neutral camp darkened as the sun went down. Mystique studied them for a long moment. "I know who will be on guard. Follow my lead. We don't have much time before someone I cannot intimidate takes her place."