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Skywarp had a short list of things and people he cared about because, admittedly, he tended to have limited attention for people. He liked interesting people, like Starscream, and Thundercracker. Not like, “this person has made it big” or, “this person is mega rich”, because a lot of those people were boring .
Not that he used to have a lot of reasons to rub elbows with the hoity-toity types. He was just a warframe, after all. After TC and him met Screamer and trined though, he did run into them a little more, them and their treasuries. What better thief than one who can warp in and out of anywhere, as long as he had coordinates?
Starscream was the schemer and expert at disabling security, and Thundercracker helped work out the details and organize the jobs, including any distractions required for the target. It was Skywarp’s job to get in, take the slag, and get out.
Realistically, his odds of ever meeting Mirage were pretty slim, but slim was still non zero and Skywarp was a lucky guy. In this case, lucky was warping into the vault of some Tower's mech Starscream was trying to rob, and finding you aren't the only robber there.
Skywarp had simply stared even as a timer continued to count down in his HUD, the pretty blue racer across the room from him also stared with wide, bright optics. An internal chime reminded Skywarp that he still had work to do.
“So. Uh, I see we’re both here for the same general reasons, mech. And I dunno about you, but I’m just here for the shanix and some of those choice gems in those cabinets. So. Yeah. If you don’t mind?” Skywarp said as he cautiously moved over to where his targets for the night were stored, keeping the other mech in view as he did.
The other guy was still frozen when Skywarp was half done. The timer was starting to blink rapidly at him, and he’d have to get back to Starscream and the party soon, before he was missed.
“Right, so I know this is like, suuuper awkward for the both of us, but come on, we’re both robbing the same mech, I’m not gonna tattle. Just get what you came for and we can both leave and pretend this never happened.”
“...I suppose you are correct, I cannot expose you without exposing myself. Very well then.” Said the mystery mech.
Skywarp saw the blue mech nod decisively, and then continue reaching to collect some weird little sculpture and a small painting which were quickly tucked into subspace. Skywarp was glad he’d been watching too, because otherwise he’d have totally missed the other mech disappearing into thin air .
He supposed that it made sense, that the guy was an outlier too. This vault was super hard to get into, that’s why Thundercracker and Starscream had gotten them into that party going on outside. The vault was built with some weird alloy that interfered with his warping. It was easier to deal with if he was closer, like, say, the hall outside.
Skywarp warped back out of this vault, subspace near bursting with his ill gotten goods for the evening. He resettled himself, then entered the hall where Screamer and TC were still mingling at the party, keeping an eye on security and the owner. Skywarp pinged them that he was out clean, and made his way over to the buffet where TC was charming some nobles.
Theft was draining work, and he was craving some well earned treats. The last thing he expected was to reach for one at the same time as another mech. Especially the mech who’d been in the vault, which he could see was just as surprised as he was.
“Hey!” Skywarp said too loudly, because what? “I know you, we met earlier, right?”
This drew the attention of Thundercracker and the mechs he was with, who stopped talking to look over.
“Oh, hello Mirage,” said one of them, “Do you know these mechs? Faultline invited them on account of their trine being rising stars in the military. Best fliers Cybertron has seen in an age, apparently.”
Well, Mirage was a nice designation, very mysterious, had hidden depths, like this mech apparently. A noble who was a thief, who’d a thunk. Mirage looked like he would prefer to be in any situation other than this one right now. Skywarp might be able to relate if he wasn't becoming more amused by the minute.
“Mirage! So that’s your designation! I totally forgot to ask what it was and introduce myself earlier, silly me! I’m Skywarp, and that’s Thundercracker!”
Mirage went from annoyed to Very Annoyed. It was a pretty good look on him. Regardless, he managed to address Skywarp with a cool, crisp voice.
“Yes, I believe we were both a little distracted at the time, it’s good to meet you formally, Skywarp. Are you and your trine enjoying the party?”
“Yup! It’s been a really interesting night, met some pretty cool mechs.” Skywarp said.
“Oh! Speaking of interesting mechs…”
The conversation was moved on by Thundercracker’s company, but Skywarp tuned it out. He was more interested in Mirage, who was delicately eating an oilcake from his small plate, occasionally nodding or contributing to the conversation.
Experimentally, Skywarp sent Mirage a short range ping with his comm number attached. The mech was too interesting to let go, he wanted to learn more and tonight would probably be his best chance.
::What do you want. It’s bad enough we met once.::
Oooh, he’s mad. But he replied! Skywarp could work with that.
::Nothing much! Just wanted to get to know a fellow thief a little better! What’s wrong with that? Call it professional interest.::
::I am not a thief. I am a professional retrieval specialist. Faultline stole some items from my client. I am returning them.::
::Cool cool cool. You licensed for that? WAIT! ARE YOU AN ENFORCER?! ::
Skywarp was starting to panic a little now. Running into another thief was just kind of bizarre, but if he was working with the enforcers he was in big trouble. Starscream would kill him. Mirage’s reply calmed him back down though.
::...No. My work is not, strictly speaking, legal. I’m not an enforcer.::
::Ha. So you are a thief!::
::You! This is ridiculous! Why are you even talking to me? Weren’t you the one who said we should pretend nothing happened?::
Mirage was starting to sound less uptight, so progress!
::Hey! You’re talking back! You totally could have ignored my comm, but you didn’t! You could junk my frequency now and walk away too! But here we are! Does that mean you like me?::
::I absolutely should junk your frequency. I can tell you’re trouble. But.::
::But??? But what?::
::I admit that you’ve caught my interest.::
Skywarp would have loved to continue, but just then Starscream messaged their group chat to say they needed to begin leaving now. Shoot.
::Likewise, mech. Tell you what, why don’t we meet up later? We’re gonna be in Iacon for a few more days, and I wanted to check out that fancy park they have with all the statues and crystals and stuff.::
Out loud, Skywarp interrupted the current conversation, “Sorry guys, hey, TC? Looks like Starscream is ready to go, he’s got some early meetings tomorrow and doesn’t wanna be out too late.”
Thundercracker said his goodbyes, and Skywarp waved cheekily at Mirage before bouncing off with his trinemate to find Sarscream. Mirage still hadn’t replied when they got back to their hotel room. Just before he was about to go into recharge though, he got a message.
::This is a terrible idea. I hope you know that. I’ll meet you at the park in the afternoon.::
YES . This was awesome, Skywarp didn’t know Mirage at all yet, but he had a feeling it was going to be fun finding out more.
★★★
To be honest, Skywarp hadn't actually thought that his relationship with Mirage would go anywhere beyond acquaintances. Maybe work buddies. That afternoon in Iacon’s big fancy park had been really fun though.
Mirage was clearly very educated, and surprisingly funny. He wasn’t shocked when somehow the topic got into physics and quantum theory and Skywarp could show off his own expertise. It was actually a really good day, and before either of them really stopped to think about it, they were making plans to meet again.
It went on like this for vorns. They would chat over comms when they were too far to spend time together in person. If either of them were traveling and would be close, they’d make plans to meet at least for a cube at a nice cafe or quiet bar.
When the relationship turned physical, it was natural. They’d been hanging out in Skywarp’s apartment while Mirage was free before a job he had in Vos. Just watching a holo together, and one thing led to another, before they knew it, their cables were crossed and charge was crackling all over and between them.
The romance took another few vorns to grow. They knew each other pretty well by now, and the interfacing was fantastic . That did not a relationship make though, there was still that little bit of distance there, good friends — with benefits — was all they were.
Mirage ended up saying “I love you” first, totally by accident. Skywarp remembered it fondly, because it had been in the sleepy hours of early morning just after they woke up together in Mirage’s berth. It was quiet and preceded by a really sweet kiss to his cheek.
Skywarp was so busy thinking about how his spark felt like it was fit to burst out of his chamber that he almost didn’t catch Mirage and stop him trying to leave when he was quiet too long. As soon as his motivator was kicked back into gear though, he hugged Mirage close and said “I love you” right back, peppering his faceplate with kisses. Mirage’s happy laugh was one of the best things he’d ever heard.
★★★
Not even a vorn later and the war started, and Skywarp and Mirage fought about it a lot. The disagreements got more and more heated, and especially when Skywarp admitted that he was a Decepticon himself.
They didn’t break up then, but they did stop speaking to each other so much. Then Megatron had the Towers bombed into slag, and when Skywarp frantically tried to comm Mirage after he heard, the frequency wouldn’t connect.
To say Skywarp was devastated would have been an understatement. He was destroyed, there was a gaping hole in his spark where Mirage was supposed to be and wasn’t . He hadn’t thought the hurt could get worse, and he was right. Nothing was worse than a dead Mirage.
Unfortunately, he discovered an entirely new kind of hurt a half vorn into the war. During a briefing, Soundwave was updating them on the newly identified Autobot Spec Ops mechs who had absolutely destroyed one of their supply depots. Skywarp almost overheated when he forgot to vent.
There on the projector, was an image capture of Mirage, with his name and as much data as Soundwave had managed to acquire on his history and abilities. It was a relief knowing that Mirage had survived the bombing, but it was another kind of sparkbreak to realize he was an enemy now.
A little after that, when they were preparing to leave their current base and move back to Darkmount, Skywarp found an innocuous datadive on his berth. It wasn’t his, and TC or Screamer would have just handed it to him if it was from them. Cautiously, Skywarp picked it up, plugged it into an old datapad to run a scan on it and open the single file it contained.
Skywarp, I don’t agree with your choice. And I will never allow a mech who believes in burning everything he hates to the ground despite the innocents dying to go unopposed. Goodbye.
At the time, Skywarp was too angry to be sad, but when he calmed down, he wept. When he finally got it all out, Skywarp crushed the drive. No use crying over a spilled cube, what was done was done. Skywarp had made his decision, and so had Mirage, they would both just have to live with it now.
★★★
A few million years, one surprising but very successful coup, and a Decepticon reorganization under Soundwave’s iron fist later, and the war was over. Megatron had been forced to step down, and grumbled about it but submitted to Soundwave anyway. They were having peace talks. A treaty was more or less ready to be signed, and rebuilding plans were under production.
Starscream and Thundercracker were busier than ever, and sure, Skywarp could be helping, but he’d rather not. It was a nice day, and he was going to enjoy it by taking a nap in the sun. Naps for pleasure were a luxury the war had taken from him, and Skywarp intended to make up for lost time.
So when his proximity alerts went off before a shadow blocked his light and cooled his plating, Skywarp irritably opened his optics. He hadn’t been expecting the intruder to be Mirage and his acerbic words died on his glossa. His jaw dropped and he froze for a moment, before a scowl returned full force.
“What do you want?” Skywarp said.
Mirage didn’t reply right away, and his expression was somber, his optics searching. Finally he sighed through his vents and slowly reached into his subspace. Skywarp watched like a cryo-falcon, sure they were technically at peace, but Mirage was making him nervous.
“I know it’s unlikely, but I have missed you, despite everything.” Said Mirage gravely, finally pulling his hand back out with something hidden in his fist.
“I don’t know if you missed me too, if you still have feelings for me like I do for you, but I wanted to ask. The war is over now, and we all still have a long way to go. But I want to walk that path with you, I’d like to try again.”
Skywarp thought about it. He thought hard. “We aren’t the mechs we used to be anymore, I don’t know what’s gonna happen if we get back together. It won’t be easy.”
“I know, but we don’t have to go fast, we have all the time in the world now. We can start from scratch, get to know each other from the ground up again. If nothing else, I miss my dear friend, and would like to at least be able to speak civilly with him again. To spend time together.”
…Skywarp had never been able to resist Mirage for long, apparently that hadn’t changed in all this time. Skywarp let out a big gust of air from his vents.
“Okay, okay, yeah, let’s do that, Mirage. So, any ideas where to start?”
Mirage relaxed minutely, smiled, and opened his fist. In his palm was a small crystal charm that was vaguely familiar to Skywarp…oh. That was the charm he’d bought for Mirage the first time they’d gone out in Iacon, to the park. Mirage had bought him a matching one. Skywarp had lost his ages ago, but Mirage still had his…
“I was thinking we could go to a National Park? Hound was telling me about one with interesting Crystal formations. It won’t be anything like the ones from home but…it should be interesting. Apparently there are ‘gypsum flowers’.”
Skywarp would never admit how his spark warmed at the sentiment. It was new and different, but there were echoes of the past.
“That sounds really cool actually. Wanna go this weekend? We can play hooky.”
Mirage laughed lightly, “That sounds excellent.”