How To Belong {ROTB, 2023}

Prologue

September 1992

Mirage sighed as the two humans left the garage. This whole 'being undercover' thing was getting awfully boring. He transformed in the rather spacious garage, stretching his legs and arms. "Golly," He huffed. Nosily, he snooped around in the place, looking at the lot of stray car parts and random tools scattered around. His eyes landed on a picture board as he knelt down, looking over the board. On it were pictures of a girl with numerous other people. Including the man who had driven the mech here. He squinted at a note titled to a girl, "Porscha, huh?" Mirage smiled, "Dig the name." He mused to himself. His eyes switched to a note above a sales ad listing several cars for sale. "Dream cars," Mirage read the letter quietly. Inside one of the ads was Mirage; or at least his alt. He tilted his head as he read a piece of paper next to the ads, posted next to the corresponding cars. "Cadillac Allante is a good project car, '92 Ford Escort RS Cosworth rally based, could turn a profit, '91 MR2, blah blah blah," Mirage vented his boredom until his eyes landed on the last note. "Unlisted, searching for Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 for a personal vehicle. Home-girl Porscha wants a Porsche. Let me know what's found." Mirage hummed. Then, he smiled as a thought came across him. Oh, this would be fun.

Around 9 am the next morning, the girl decided to head back to her garage to get some more work done. As she rolled the door closed, flicked on the lights, and moved inside, she stopped, staring at the Porsche with wide eyes. "What the," She moved closer. On a rolling work cart next to the Porsche was a note with handwriting she didn't recognize. "Enjoy?" She read the single word out loud. She looked at the car again, moving closer to admire it. As she ran her hand over the hood and fenders carefully. Mirage tried not to move, practically holding his breath. She moved away, setting the note down and picking up a phone, her back to Mirage. As it dialed, she bounced on her feet, waiting for an answer. "Yo, Porscha," Her friend greeted. "Yo, Lex, I thought you were giving me an Allante." She shook her head. "I did, ma. I dropped it off yesterday, remember?" Lex laughed. "Nah, I mean I remember but the Allante is gone. And I'm staring at a 911." "What?" "I'm staring at-" Lex interrupted her again, "No, I know what you said Porscha. But where did you get a 911?" He laughed lightly. "Lex, I didn't." "Yeah, sure," He laughed, "Well, either way, enjoy your dreamer." He joked. "Lex, I didn't," She pulled the phone from her ear as he hung up, huffing in frustrated confusion.

Mirage took his play to keep it rolling. "I brought it in." She whirled, snatching up a screwdriver as she held it out between both hands, going defensive. Her eyes darted around, revealing nothing. "Show yourself!" She stabbed the screwdriver forward viciously at nothing. Mirage chuckled, "Sure," He agreed casually. The sound of grinding metal and gears echoed in the large space as Mirage stood, rolling his shoulders. "Man, being cooped up really does a number on a guy," He joked. The girl swung the screwdriver at him, "What the fuck!" She screamed. "Hey, woah, woah, little girl! What's with the aggression?" Mirage put his hands up. "The government send you?" She yelled. "What?" "Did the government send you?" She barked again. Mirage laughed in disbelief as he crouched, moving towards her, holding a servo out, "You think the government built this face?" He joked. She jerked the screwdriver, catching his servo with it. "Ow, hey!" Mirage powered up his gun. The girl jerked and yelped but didn't back down, pointing the screwdriver at him. Mirage watched her as the two stared each other down, waiting for one another to make a move. Then he smiled.

"Tough little girl. I like that." He grinned, powering his gun down. She stared at him in disbelief, "What are you?" She barked her question. "Not 'what', darling. Who." Mirage corrected. "The name is Mirage." He extended his fist to her, expectantly waiting on a fist bump. She stared at his fist, dark eyes darting between his servo and optics uncertainly. "C'mon, I don't bite." Mirage urged. "Sounds like something someone who bites would say," She returned. He pushed his fist further as she brandished the screwdriver again. "C'mon, babe, don't leave me hanging." Mirage smiled. "Babe?" She yelped. "Well, you won't tell me your name," Mirage defended. The girl faltered, eyes changing as her energy turned evermore curious. "So you're Mirage?" The girl started. Mirage smiled, "That's me," He wiggled his fist at her again as if coaxing a dog. She took a breath, easing forward to connect her fist to his, and her eyes widened in wonder. Mirage didn't move, leaving her fist against his. She looked up at him, "Porscha. My name is Porscha Rae." She greeted warily. Mirage smiled impossibly wider, "So you own this garage." He confirmed. She smiled uneasily, "Something like that, yeah." She replied. The mech shifted, leaning closer to look her over, "We're gonna have fun. Pinky promise!" He added, pausing.

"Primus, that was cheesy when I said it."

Sometime in 1994

Laughter echoed from the empty parking garage, traveling down nine levels, and on level ten was the source. "And when I jerked the seat!" Mirage was sitting down, half doubled over in hysterical laughter. At his side, Porscha had tears in her eyes, "You're gonna make Lex think my car is going to shit!" She laughed, nudging the Autobot. He laughed, "C'mon, doll! It was a good jest." He defended. She laughed, trying to wave him off. "You're gonna-" "Mirage? Mirage, can you hear me?" The two froze, Porscha looking up at Mirage when the voice went off. Of course, she knew the voice belonged to Optimus Prime. But he rarely radioed in with such urgency. "Copy, Prime." Mirage returned, going serious for a split instance. He then made an underbite face at Porscha, the girl letting out a bout of soft laughter. "Mirage, I have a new mission. Post up at the location sent to you." Optimus returned sternly. Mirage and Porscha looked at one another, Mirage's demeanor falling. "Shit," Mirage frowned, optics darting around. "Hey," Porscha laid her hand on top of the servo that rested on the ground. "C'mon, M. We got this." She assured. He shook his head, "Porscha, I don't think there's a 'we' in this." He returned lightly. "You think I'm letting you leave me behind and have all the adventure for yourself?" She retorted. He looked at her as she grinned, "Fuck off with that." She added.

"I guess we've got an adventure to tackle then."