DISCLAIMER: Transformers isn't mine, Mystique and Zenith are.
Warnings for this chapter: Pain ensues. Because it's a really, really stupid idea to tick off someone who spent their entire life training to kill.
Peripheral Vision
Chapter 12
Zenith's optics darkened as he stared at Mystique, a savage snarl rising in his vocalizer. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."
She wanted to flinch. She didn't. "What are you doing?" Out of the corner of one optic, she glimpsed red plating. Good. Sideswipe was doing exactly as they had planned. Something else – nothing normal, nothing connected to her external sensors – told her that her brother had taken the opportunity to move out of Zenith's immediate range. And probably hers. Focus. Don't flinch. He respects strength. Don't flinch. Don't blink. Don't back down.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The sudden scream almost made her step back. Almost. "This has nothing to do with you! They are not your family, I am your family! These Autobots will die tonight, and they will never again harm our people. Step aside, Huntress, or – "
"No."
Zenith froze mid-sentence, speechless for a moment. "…You dare –"
Mystique took a slow step forward, forcing her former leader backward. "You lied to me. You told me my brother was dead."
"I SAVED YOU!" Zenith's shouting had no effect any more. "Without me, you would have died!"
"You used me." Mystique took yet another step forward, and another. "You turned me into a murderer. Taking your revenge. Because you are a coward."
"STAND DOWN!"
"Never. Again." Her thin silver knife ejected from its housing in her lower arm and dropped easily into waiting fingers. "You. Will. Not. Hurt. Them."
With a primal scream of rage, Zenith lunged for her throat one-handed, claws extended. "THEN DIE WITH THEM, TRAITOR!"
Mystique swept her unarmed hand up, catching his attack on her armored forearm, and sidestepped away from any effort at grabbing her. Reversing her hold on the knife, she slammed it down like a nail toward his head, only for Zenith to twist away with no effort. Remember. He taught you. Unpredictable. She could no longer see Sideswipe, or the other two mechs imprisoned with Mirage. As for her twin, the sense of cuffs on her wrists was gone. Sideswipe had done his job. Time for Mystique to do hers. Time to end this. Her knife swept up and angled toward Zenith's throat as she turned sideways and closed the two steps between them for maximum impact…
And slammed full-on into a punch to the gut that doubled her over, sent the knife clattering to the floor, and almost knocked her down completely. The follow-up blow to the back of the neck dropped her onto her knees, struggling for balance, as Zenith took a step past her. Toward the others. Toward Mirage.
No. Not my brother. Whatever pain there had been disappeared as over four million years of close-combat training combined with over four million years of pent-up fury and grief. Mystique was throwing the first blow before she had even regained her footing, and by the time she had, Zenith was on his way down. She grabbed him by the shoulder fins before he could fall all the way, lifted him partway off the ground, and smashed him down onto the stone floor as hard as she could. His optics flared white but didn't go out, not even for a second.
So she repeated the motion. Once. Again. Again. The third time she didn't lift him back up.
Zenith's optics flickered with shock, energon trickling from the corner of his mouth, as Mystique's fingers closed on her second knife, the one in her leg plating. "…Y…you…."
"You shouldn't create monsters." The blade slid free from its housing and rose to the correct angle above the throat. "You never know when they might turn on you."
Zenith didn't respond. He didn't have time before the knife dropped.
Sideswipe stared in mixed amazement and horror as Mystique rose, pulling the knife out of Zenith's throat as she did. Other than the energon streaked across her abdomen plates and her weapon hand – probably Zenith's, since he hadn't had a knife – there wasn't a mark on her. She just killed a mech and made it look easy.
The femme didn't even seem to register his staring, or that of Prowl and Sunstreaker, who were obviously having similar reactions. Her optics were fixed on Mirage, and she suddenly looked far younger than any other time Sideswipe had seen her. Her voice, so cold and confident just moments earlier, trembled. ""Raj?"
Mirage, who hadn't made a sound since Mystique had entered the cave, took a tentative step toward her and lifted a hand slightly, almost reaching out to her. "Tika?"
Split seconds later, the twins were locked in each other's arms, Mystique's forehead resting against Mirage's shoulder and Mirage's face pressed against the top of her head. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both backed off, having had exactly the same thought. Give them a minute.
"We should go," Prowl muttered quietly. "It won't take long for the rest of his 'bots to notice what happened."
"Seriously, Prowl?" Sunstreaker glared at him briefly. "They haven't seen each other in how long, exactly? You can let them hug for a few minutes."
"No, he's right." Mystique pulled away from her brother, forcing any pain from the abruptly opened spark-link out of her processor. "There's a back way out. Follow me." She could already hear voices from outside the cavern. At least five, possibly more. "Can everybody run?"
