Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Death was inevitable, as it was creeping up on any living being. Mechanical or organic, things died and wore out.

V2 expected the sound of its own metal bending, the feeling of what remained of its blood to warm its outsides with the sickening heat of the bricks that it was plummeting toward but..

Nothing. It's balance stilling from the whipping hot winds of its descent and somehow briefly going what could be explained as numb.

Actually, the sound of birds chirping and its sensors picking up warm sunlight was the first thing it noticed. Opening its shutter, it blinked a few times before realizing what it was staring at.

The sky? It was blue. Not a bright yellow from the desert it was just in- just where was it?

Not to mention someone was staring down at it, it looked like- 

Swiftly getting onto its feet, it reached back to its storage wings to grab a gun only for it to come empty handed- or more like its arm wasn't responding- ah, its arm was missing again too. So it took a low defensive position with its remaining arm up and stood by for the machine in front of it to move— when did it's predecessor get clothes and most importantly- 

Why was its proportions completely different?

The school uniform is uncomfortable and disheveled, she doesn’t care much for her outward appearance it seemed.

Mirage.

A figment.

Fake. Not real. None of this will ever be real. 

She will never be real.

Terrified. Angry. Red?

It had seemed to almost appear out of nowhere, she had nearly stepped on it. Its yellow eye opened to gape at the blue machine standing above it.

And now a fighting stance was taken before Mirage could blink. 

She hadn’t expected to come across something so peculiar on the way to school of all places.

 As she surveyed the bold red machine, the five fingers and bold ‘V2’ displayed on its chest. 

A feeling of understanding dawned on her. Not from here, she realized.

The so-called V2 stood still, eerily so. It was pretty beat up as most of its armoring dented with what looked like small bullet holes, loose wires and cracked or split plating and ruined wings.

It didn't even blink, the outside noises of birds seemed to stop entirely too as if the world had gone in shock. With a slight twitch of its hand and a small click from its chest, a voice spoke.

"You are not V1. Who are you, and where are we." It was curt, not smooth and sort of stiff and teetering the line between hostile and passive.

As it spoke, Mirage could tell the machine was weighing its options, staying and possibly fighting (although there was no real threat) without an arm and machinery almost falling apart, or running. Which seemed like the easier option, to her at least.

 Mirage was aware she was going to have to tread carefully.

Spooking the machine wasn't an option. 

She spoke, softly. "I'm Mirage. It's alright. you're safe here." She held her breath. would they even believe her? Would it kill her? Would it run?

A soft whirr could be heard from the red machine, probably looking for any sort of lie before slowly settling into a more relaxed pose. Standing casually now and somewhat being a head or two taller than Mirage, it was clear to see that it was sensible and had a good processor in its head.

"I was beaten, again." It gritted through a stained static, looking off to nowhere in specific, clenching its remaining hand so much the metal that made it up creaked in complaint.

"Mirage, was it? What is this place, answer properly." Its unblinking optic turns to stare, felt like it was prying into her very soul- if she had one, it was unsettling.

Oh, he was one of them.

 She took a moment to catch her synthetic breath, this would be hard to explain.

To explain that to someone who had been living in reality until mere seconds ago that this place wasn't real? Hard to do, took her countless years to come to terms with it.

Obviously, he was dead, dead enough to end up here somehow. 

Soon enough the machine would move on to whatever plane came after this. She huffed. "Well, technically you're in the afterlife, kinda. This plane, I would think of it as an encore to your untimely demise.” Her lense half lidded, her expression a nonchalant look.

A beat of silence took over the other with a crackling noise of what remained of its wings clattering behind it to fold. "Encore? What a strange way to put it."

It didn't muse further but it did sort of look down at its clenched hand, slowly releasing it with a narrow of its optic, glaring.

"So this plane.. it's the remaining time I have left before I shut down permanently, isn't it?" There wasn't much emotion to go off of from its tone, but there were traces of anger and unfulfillment.

There was peace to keep, to hold in Hell, what about its peace? Never to put its directive into drive due to-

"Correct, are you aware of how much time you have left?" Mirage almost felt pity, obviously V2 had been left with a sour ending, obviously not one of enjoyment.

She wondered what had caused something like him to end up here.

"Approximately 4 hours, 30 minutes and 29 seconds." It noted, most likely reading off a timer in the corner of its vision.

"I.. don't see why we are here, this is.. sort of my own processor but you are here. How?" It took a step closer, seemingly curious before its head tilted oddly. Craning awkwardly to lean into Mirage's space, "And why this form..”

Mirage stepped back haphazardly, not used to the intrusion of space and because she had little care to look back.

Just cause it was a machine doesn't mean it didn't have any social cues- although the program was unran and sat at the core of its coding.

It merely leaned its head back to its original place to avoid intruding anymore once it had noticed her step back.

This was a good question, Mirage had thought the same thing time and time again, why was she here? 

Now wasn't quite the time to get into that though, so for now she settled on the easy version. "I exist here, entirely separated from reality, I was never manufactured to look this way either, I simply just am.”

V2 expected something but that answer wasn't it. Placing the answer in a sort of questionable stance.

"Strange. Is there anything I can do to escape, although my main body doesn't respond and.. ah."

It paused for a second before shuffling the ruins of its wings behind itself. "Right. I'm out of commission. I'd.." it paused briefly for a bit, seemingly clueless as to what to do next. No current objective for now or later.

The bar on the top is empty of words, objective: N/A. It was weird as its main objective was to get weapons, get fuel and then keep peace but alas.

Mirage could sense the uneasiness, she wasn't uncomfortable per se, maybe nervous.

She was still hopeful she'd be able to help the machine through this, she watched as he stumbled over his words.

Not knowing what happened next, Mirage watched carefully as it droned idly, optic down turned blankly from her. Considering her next words. "Would you like to take a walk with me?”

V2 silently obliged with a nod. An objective, something to do, anything to drag it from this unfamiliar sense in its systems that made its mechanical insides feel like they were getting swirled and pulled.

As the pair began to walk down the sidewalk, Mirage could hear the squeak of metal on metal making her wince. 

Walking was okay, though the noise of its plating occasionally squeaking or gritting against other components that usually never did give it a bit of an irritated twitch to its optic.

"This place is.. similar to a human neighbor, yet scans come back devoid of life. Do you live here?” V2 curiously asked.

“I do, I go to school here as well. I think I was made to understand that living was not just an enforced chore, but something you could control and accomplish.” Mirage noted, kicking a stray pebble out of her way.

“I like to think I succeeded in understanding the worth of a life worth living.” A simple conclusion, something she was actively and anxiously looking for throughout her span.

She did not live on borrowed time.

V2 looked over a few terms that the other had mentioned, a synthetic sigh made by its fans before they went back to their normal pacing.

It, on the other hand, did.

"I don't see why you go to school, we are machines, if we need the info we simply get it via experience or theory with practice."

Some of it agreed on the chore part, a directive to act and do. The familiar thrum of work to do gave it a small glimpse into why Mirage would do what she does.

The shorter machine sighed, she could see where he was coming from but opposed nonetheless, "If I asked you to, you could probably recall all the information on a famous novel within milliseconds.”

"You would be correct, though I'd have to know the title if you were to use an example." V2 glanced over at Mirage, was she sighing? Could machines sigh? It sounded weird to think about but didn't it just do it by itself a few seconds ago?

"The Great Gatsby, 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald.” she filled in.

Thinking about the shorter figure’s next words gave it a bit of a challenge, bringing up the old piece of literature on the corner of its vision. "I suppose you are not wrong.”

"All I'm saying is it's not the same as taking the time to read through the composition itself.” She brought it to a conclusion, wrapping it up in a neat bow.

This made V2 sulk a bit, it had not indulged in such things and only proved her point further.

Mirage watched the machine deflate next to her. "Listening to music, or reading a book, or creating art. Learning and absorbing the information and complexity of the article is different than just, knowing. you know?” She turned her head forward to watch where she was going.

V2 nodded once more. "I think I'm starting to understand what you mean. It's the way you go about things, the journey to the task and understanding your own way.. right?" It slowly started to gain a sense of complexity it was installed with but never truly used, a process that went through many things in the background but now upfront. 

Creativity and empathy. A human trait it had stocked away and never unlocked until now.

If Mirage could smile, she would, opting to turn to the red machine instead before speaking. "You're getting it, faster than I ever could have. Good on you”

All systems buzzing under its plating, making it suddenly really self aware of the several programs running at the same time but remained with a loose hand and a lax expression, as far as a lens can go anyways with a half lidded look. Dismissing any unnecessary ones to optimize its remaining fuel.

V2's reward centers held a thrum similar to successfully killing an enemy, no actual reward was given but the praise. A small absentminded beep slipped from its speakers before it spoke, "I am.. was made for human adaptability. On any occasion, I'm supposed to quickly catch onto what the speaker might mean." 

Using a past tense on itself soured its tone briefly before it regulated back to normal, monotone but with a tinge of natural intonations like Mirage's.

Mirage kept her pace, not wanting to go too fast and waste what power V2 had left.

This was nice, having someone here, after such a long time of being alone, she had never imagined a somewhat familiar face showing up out of nowhere.

Even if it was her own, kinda.

It was comforting.

And Mirage can't help but feel a type of endearment towards the taller red machine. Even if she knew, in the back of her mind, it was leading to their inevitable parting that wound hurt.

Slowly but surely, V2 adapted to this new environment it was brought to. And those around it.

"Do you.. like to do anything? You speak in a roundabout way, like a sort of.. poem, per say." Casting a sideways glance to Mirage, they slightly leaned their head down to catch what she was saying a little easier.

Mirage could hear the resentment in V2's words as he spoke of himself in the past tense. Discomfort in his body language.

She thought for a moment, usually her life here was enough for her, menial chores and long days decorated her calendar. But enough for her.

Would it be enough for V2?

She doesn't understand why she's worried about what he might think of Mirage's hobbies.

"You say I speak in a poetic way? How sweet. I do enjoy reading on most days, that might be why my vocabulary may sound odd to you.." Mirage brings her hand up to scratch her head, almost as if she's embarrassed.

 Why does she feel the need to impress the machine?

The thought knocks her off balance a moment before coming to. The birds in the sky draw her back to a few weeks ago by the pond. "I do have something I'm quite fond of. Follow me, and I'll show you."

Mirage turns to take V2's hand and begins to lead them toward her neighborhood. 

V2 looks down at the hand that was taken from them, briefly their wings quickly shot up but immediately dismissed and shuffled back to their somewhat crippled places behind them, folded as neatly as they could be.

She startled them but she didn't seem to mind- or notice, did she care? What a small thing to waste processing power on.

They gave a droning hum. "I do not mind it, it makes you sound.. unique." They chose their words carefully so as to not accidentally say something insensitive.

"Well, it's not like I have had people to talk with to bear testament to this. Filth are only capable of growling and hissing." Watching her mannerisms made them question why she even did them in the first place, did she not value her fuel?

Was it a habit programmed into her?

Making a folder while they walked next to Mirage, their hand absentmindedly squeezing hers gently, V2 noted the mannerisms she made that didn't make sense.

Categorize, research, get a better look on why. They felt the need to know why she did this, all of it.

They wanted to get to know her, even if they were leaving soon. The curiosity far outweighed the logic as they continued to walk.

Chapter Text

Mirage had taken V2 to her favorite pond, where she often visited to feed her favorite friends, the ducks.

They had once been young like her, but as she grew, so did the ducks, now older, with darker feathers, and ducklings left to trail behind them.

Mirage had picked up the habit of feeding them on weekdays when she wasn't busy, so almost all the time. 

At some point, she started keeping a bag of feed stored away in the book container by the tree.

Filled with grapes, lettuce, some birdseed, anything healthy she could feed them, it's not like it mattered, but who else was gonna do it.

"I come here often, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do..." Mirage tiptoed on the edge of the water as the ducks began to swim up to shore.

 "The darkest one is the dad, and the one with the yellow down on her head is the mother. She has 6 children, and they all look exactly the same so don't ask me to name them."

The ducks quacked as she scattered the seed and feed across the grass, letting out a small sigh before handing the bag to v2. “Wanna try?”

V2 took a quick scan through the various ducks around, and the ducklings with particular interest. Letting go of Mirage's hand, they nodded to attempt feeding the ducks.

System fuel be damned, these creatures looked cute. Defenseless too.

Grabbing a small amount of seed and inspecting it before practically throwing it onto the ground with a flicker of red through its wings.

Ah, gentleness was forgotten, their strength being overcompensated but they didn't hit the ducks, just close enough to make the grass near them be tattered with the feed. "Oh, that was aggressive- apologies, ducks.”

Now it was her turn to not know what she had been expecting and not having been that.

Mirage sighed as V2 continued to scatter seeds at an incredible speed.

As she watched the red machine feed these tiny helpless creatures, She couldn't help but wonder what V2's life had been like before this.

Quiet, calm, domestic..?

She can't help but wonder what unholy thing could've taken his entire arm either. Unfortunately, by the time V2 has finished scattering the feed, the thoughts have yet to dissipate, leaving the two in calm silence.

Finally, Mirage spoke. "May I ask you a question? Regarding your ending, I mean- if not I understand and apologize, I realize it must still be a touchy subject...." Mirage's fingers had knotted together in anxiety. Wringing and squeezing.

V2 narrowed its optic a bit, a slight grit between gears and made the lights in its wings briefly flicker yellow. 

"My predecessor.. V1. It managed to break my wings to the point of no use, making me vulnerable and taking my arms.. both my original and the one I had made to replace it. In our.. in the most recent fight, I tried to escape and in my error, had gotten shoved off the pyramid where I.." they paused for a bit.

"Plummet to my untimely, and ironic death.. at the hands of the one I was supposed to be better than."

A bitter scoff escaped its fans with a twitch of their hand, dusty with the remnants of the feed as their wings cracked restlessly behind them. A duller color compared to their first meeting, perhaps feeling more bitter at their defeat and barely noticeable outlines of objects in them.

"Then again, V1 was a warmachine. No peacekeeper could have a chance against that.. beast. Hell had made it its puppet for entertainment.. and it plays along, knowing or not.”

Mirage was at a loss, she could imagine the bitterness accompanying the horrible defeat, taking not one but both arms?

And leaving the machine to an untimely demise.

It was upsetting, angering, Mirage could understand the resentment and hatred towards the war machine.

But was still coming up empty when it came to a response..

She wanted to help, she wanted to make it better, she wanted to be of use. Yet, her mind was blank.

She could feel the bile rising in her throat as she pictured the fall, and the inevitable hard crack on impact.

She wants to not think of that anymore. "I'm sorry that happened to you, I can see it makes you angry. If it makes you feel any better, I don't think you'll have to see him ever again..."

She was hoping the positive outlook would lighten the mood after her intrusion, instead shedding light on the fact that, yes. V2 would be dying, very soon.

V2 made a sort of choked noise, again, no that was a laugh. They were laughing. It was weird and uncoordinated before the tone dragged and turned to shrill ear ringing noises as they held onto their head.

Mirage winced and covered her head with the shrieking noise. Squinting the lenses shut as her sensors peeked.

Borderline unhinged, the noise stopped as their hand clenched onto the armored flap that made the side of their head. "Isn't that just funny? I won't be seeing anything again in a matter of hours.. but you're here, whether my consciousness or an archived program.. admin or virus, I appreciate your attempts at sympathy." Their expression blank, optic wide and unblinking into the distance of the pond.

With a slowly loosening grip, they let their hand fall as their unblinking eye turns to the blue sky. "Though, I am glad you are this crude imitation of my rival. Looks like mockery but truly, it's ironic.. offering comfort after mangling my form to death."

Their head slowly turned to Mirage, a small glint of something behind its glaring yellow. "Truly appreciated. Now, is there anything else you like to do? I'm.. intrigued in how you spend your time.”

Mirage was scared, just a bit. 

She could understand it though. So well, that feeling of teetering on the edge of crashing out.

V2 was holding it together quite well for someone in such a position. Mirage was surprised they hadn't tried to kill her yet.

Given she did look just like this supposed war criminal. The thought was sickening, somehow.

She felt even worse than before. Maybe she should've just minded her business, what good has she done now?

 V2 seems like they're on the verge of a mental breakdown.

They're about to die for god's sake, and the only thing she can think of is satiating her curiosity and feeding ducks.

V2 expected something, not anything in particular but just something. Maybe it shouldn't have said that, maybe it should've not made that noise as it looks like it had startled the being next to it.

Sometimes Mirage feels very stupid. Sometimes Mirage is confused.

Because even after all of the harm she has done (which is none but she still feels guilty) V2 still treats her with kindness.

They indulge her. They listen.

It's a scary feeling. To have someone there to listen to her at all.

Even when she herself knows now that her life is worth something, she can't help but wonder how much, she suspects it wouldn’t be much.

She thinks for a moment before settling on a specific scene in her head.

She remembers the feeling of the water, she remembers the grain stuck in her plating for days afterward, and she remembers the stickiness of the salted air.

“Are you willing to follow me around for a while longer? I’m worried if you don’t enjoy yourself it would just be a waste of fuel ....”

After a few heavy beats of silence and the machine next to it speaking, it nodded.

"I'd.. like to walk with you. It gives me a directive, talking.. with you is an objective somehow- I want to get to know you." V2 quieted slightly, admitting.

Fans kicking up behind their chest panel as it stored some more of Mirage's info away, she was cautious, trying to step on eggshells around their fragile sanity, if a machine had any.

Another file put away at the display of Mirage's uncomfortable shuffle. "Can you tell me why you act so.. human?" They took her side, keeping her on their right as it was where its remaining arm was.

Glancing at their hand, worn and scratched, stained with old blood- their own? Another’s? Did it really matter at this point?

Mirage herself didn't hurt them. However, the form she has loosely taken, had.

 V1 holds a brief grip on V2's rage, their form only blinking in a solid red and a ring of the same color before it had gone back to normal. This wasn't the time to dwell, this was the time to just.. be.

Mirage couldn't help but watch the machine closely as they walked.

The earlier break had left her startled, but she could understand, she remembers when she felt as if she was on the brink as well.

V2 is.. something.

Appearing out of nowhere, on a countdown toward death.

Yet they are still grateful for her presence.

She needs to be the thing that grounds V2 until his end.

She does not think she can live with herself if she does not make these final moments for V2 something he can appreciate.

V2 calls her human, it feels odd.

But at the same time something she can appreciate.

Isn’t that what she had been striving for this entire time?  

To live a somewhat normal life?

 Day to day, in and out.

Hadn’t what she wanted to accomplish been coming close to being human?

Feeling as a human would, thinking like a living being?

She remembers tearing herself apart, learning about herself, in a way a human never could.

She remembers learning so much.

Snapping herself out of her spiral, she has half the will to answer.

“I don’t think I’m entirely sure why I act the way I do. I think that my time spent here has helped me grow as a being. Helped me understand and experience things not many like me would have had the chance to. I apologize if it is off putting. I don’t communicate often.” She lowered her head a bit, glancing out of her peripheral vision toward the taller machine.

V2 looks a little more directly toward Mirage as she finishes her words, a small scoff slipping from their fans.

"Not at all. I think it's a good thing that you achieved that, if it was your goal of course." V2 mused slightly. Leaning their head down to her level as their optic half lidded in a makeshift relaxed look to meet her gaze.

Just to maybe show that they weren't making fun of her or something. That they were relaxed.

Slowly, they adapted to her mannerisms and left behind their Hellish behavior for survival, prioritizing adaptability.

Turning off any unnecessary systems like their weapon storage wings as they turned to a dimmer blue glow, any systems other than their processing background program trying to decode Mirage's character and mannerisms still.

They didn't fear, it wouldn't be something to be programmed into a peacemaking/adaptive machine. It would be sort of counterproductive. "Mirage.. Can I ask you a favor? It is okay if you don't want to do it.”

Mirage sets that information aside for now, turning her attention back to the taller machine

The way V2 seemed to relax, lose his violent defensiveness from Hell, and replace them by mirroring Mirage, made her lens squint in pleasure. “I’m happy to do much of anything for you, I suppose you might think of it as a burden, but I promise you that’s far from the truth.”

The complement had amused her greatly, warding off the anxieties once crowding her circuits.

V2 looks a little more amused at her squinting, another piece of info put away in her folder, unanswered still on why. It's all so odd to them that she acted so.. alive. Despite being made of metal circuits, wires and processors..

The light that shone on her matte blue plating, the small bolts that held them in place and her yellow lens glowing so brightly with what was a lighter pupil glancing up at them like they were an old friend. A cherished someone..

"I'd.. appreciate it if you told me, if you ever thought like you couldn't figure things out despite your best efforts.. what would you do with those.. feelings then?"

The peacekeeper did have their doubts, plenty. And they were growing in the background of their current processing while talking.

Mirage brought forth so many new things that they had no idea how to process such things, small tasks, ghost town walks and dialoguing with no known destination. Such mundane things yet it brought forth a rewarding response from that center.

No gore or protection, but just.. mundane tasks. Enough.

The look V2 is giving her makes her as happy as someone in her situation could be, because this machine..

..this stranger to her... is her favorite thing at the moment.

Mirage doesn't believe she's ever had a favorite thing, apart from the ducks, V2 has far surpassed her expectations.

If she had any, anyways.

She doesn't understand how someone with such origins could remain so calm, collected.

Reliable.

She guesses it's because of his main objective, protocol, whatever may be his last directive.

She doesn't know what to think of herself anymore. 

"If I ever thought, that maybe there would never be a way out of this.... eternal darkness. If I'm honest with myself. If I had never escaped those feelings, those thoughts. I'd be dead in my apartment." 

Mirage takes the time to make her words as light as possible, the last thing she needs is to freak out the flashy machine next to her.

She remembers taking herself apart, piece by piece again, the one thing keeping her from dying face down on her bathroom floor, was the fear of giving up her life to the vast unknown.

She thinks about how scared she was to just give up.

"Sorry that may seem bleak but, that's what I believe at least. I don't mean for it to sound upsetting, more so that I'm grateful I'm still here today, even if it is just to live like this, I feel that may be enough for me.... ah sorry, I'm rambling again."

That would make sense, given the glimpses of her nihilistic past nature in dialogue, it's clear she would've actually gone through with doing such a thing.

Machines had no reason to fear, or hate, love, despise or appreciate but part of V2 held a strange buzz in their chest that had nothing to do with the damages or impending shut down.

It was companionship, the feeling of being seen and responded to back and forth. "I do not mind your "ramblings" as you say. They are entertaining to say the least, it is nice to get another's input on a situation.."

Mirage can feel her plating heating from the compliment, she does not experience overheating often. Usually it only happens when she becomes exceptionally agitated.

This felt different though, she wasn't angry at all, more so embarrassed, with less self-pity and more endearment.

Looking forward again, there they saw it in the distance. A distant horizon and a sun getting ready to set, the sky painted an artistic blend of orange, pinks and purples.

"I've.. never seen the ocean." They quietly talk, voice slightly cracking with static but unsure if it was the amount of feelings or something of the sort.

Mirage forgets V2 has not yet lived a life like hers.

It's upsetting.. to learn just how much one person had to go through, for no other reason than they were just created to be put in that exact position.

The sunset would always be beautiful to Mirage, but the way V2 seemed to glow under the orange light might be considered a close second.

Mirage thought for a moment, she wasn't quite sure how much time V2 had left, but she guessed they could make the walk in time, at least before the sun fully set. "Let's go see the ocean then.”

V2 found themselves holding their remaining arm close to their chest as they approached the coastline.

Their audio sensors picked up the sound of rushing foaming water running over the rocks, the lapping at tidal pools and eventually the rustling of sand rushing from one side to another in the wind.

Normally they'd worry about the salt eating away at their plating if they didn't wash off but for now they just held a hand to the side and felt the wind brush by. Refreshing, strangely.

Different from the stuffy air of the close quarter rooms in Hell. Carefully walking over a few rocks and deciding to get closer to the water, they offered their hand to Mirage. 

"Here, I wouldn't want you to be harmed.”

"Oh, thank you..." Mirage took the outreached hand gently, the cool metal gripping her hand. It was... nice.

V2 gently pulled her over the slight gap and started looking around. Slipping their grip out of hers so the wind would take her hand instead.

The air was cool, and smelled of salt.

The blue machine worried about all of the sand now finding refuge in her joints, she would have to clean up later. Though, she casted that thought aside for now.

Mirage watched as V2 stood at the edge of the water. He seemed to be captivated by the view, the sun setting making the water and V2 simultaneously glow warmly in the light. "Do you like it?”

A small twitch tilted their head a bit, a quiet whirr of comprehension and bliss whisked away in the wild air. "I think.. I do. It's what some might call beautiful."

Glancing over at Mirage with a lens halfway up their optic, makeshift smiling. That was new.

Finding interest in something immediately, the machine's head tilted down as they popped into a squat and peered into a fairly sized tide pool. Staring intently as ripples of air disturbed the clear surface of water.

Their wings twitched, not a kill drive and they had been deactivated but regardless moved. Just focused on what they were looking at entirely.

The tide pool had apparently had taken the red machine's attention, Mirage having sat to watch the waves crash onto the shore

Ended up just watching V2 instead.

 V2, in turn, had sat just in front of the tide pool to watch the crabs and other animals scurry about.

Hearing their own interested beeping fasten as a crab scurried closer into his vicinity.

Mirage found it oddly endearing, again. 

Finding solace in just observing, as the sun rays reflected against V2's matte plating.

It really was a sight.

"Does the small ecosystem interest you more than the vast ocean in front of you? I would've taken you for someone to enjoy the larger things in life.”

V2 tilted their head and hummed through their fans behind their chassis as they processed Mirage's words.

"It's fascinating seeing so much life in one place again.. in Hell, things rip and tear for survival and have no benefit but to themselves but here it's different. Symbiotic living and co-existence is vital to their world.." They leaned to lower their head to get a closer look at the small ecosystem in the small pool. Stretching their segmented neck.

Their hand lagged a bit to dip into the cool water, their armor didn't absorb the liquid like their predecessor did with blood so there wasn't any worry- plus they were refueled by other means.

What's with that lag? A small twitch tilted their head further briefly before they retreated their hand, probably to stop terrorizing the poor creatures.

"I find seeing groups.. endearing. Reminds me of the humans who huddled during the crisis in order to feel safer in numbers and familiars..”

She nodded, as V2 once again, confirmed Mirage's suspicions.

He had been someone with a starting objective to take care of people, he had been around humans before, probably to help them evacuate before extinction, she concluded.

She was also starting to understand just how awful Hell was.

It was saddening to know that V2's life had ended in such a place, they hadn't deserved that.

But that was just the way it was supposed to be.

 Maybe V2’s end in some way had been the end goal all along. 

Mirage walked over to V2. Sitting slowly as she maneuvered her surroundings.

Everything felt right, for a moment out of Mirage's short lived life, things felt right. "Tell me about Hell, was it beautiful?" Mirage turned to face V2 head on.

V2 informed her, happily. "Well if you were to put it in a way.. Limbo was a mimic of the surface world like this, speakers playing calm music and bird songs, walls a projection of the blue sky and fake trees and clouds.."

Their hand was slowly raised to watch the salt water evaporate and dry off the chipped and ruined red paint.

"Lust was.. meticulously built with care. Long bridges, calm dark lighting and sculpted cities with simple but complex architecture..I didn't get to see Gluttony as the doorway had long decayed.."

Their optic downcast with a bit of a simulated huff of their fans. Clutching their hand tightly before properly sitting back and looking over at Mirage with a relaxed posture.

"Was there ever— how should I put this? Did you ever see things left behind, maybe a book, or item... something that pointed to life having been there before you?"

Mirage hid her face from the red machine, turning to look the other way. "I'm just curious, if they had anything like that... it's stupid..." Mirage could feel her embarrassment creeping on.

V2 tilted their head a little more, was she embarrassed? Another display of a human quality slipped away into her folder, she was really interesting.

Who was she, anyway, wondering if Hell had furniture.... she wondered if V2 had ever read a book. 

She wondered when V2 would die.

She did not think she wanted that memory stored away for safekeeping.

She has also wondered if she would rather push it far away.

V2 had no right to steer her life in such a direction.

She also had no right to be the last thing they see.

And she had no right to get attached. Knowing the ending.

Mirage is worried but V2 doesn't seem to be as on edge as before.

The tide pool soon to be a stark opposite of V2.

Mirage was pulled back, to the salty air, and bright machine next to her. Maybe she could do this. just for a while longer.

"There were bookshelves filled in Lust.. Limbo only had a book and seemed like a sinner's last thoughts before they eventually lost themselves." The machine blinked a bit, trying to recall any books.

"I do have a few old logs from testing before I was shut down promptly before humans went extinct, interested?" They ask, following her view as she turns back to them. They wanted to lean in a bit to grab her attention properly but a few of the commands stalled so they dropped them.

"Ah, no you're fine, you should save energy." Mirage is not sure how much time the peacekeeper has left and the last thing she wants is to expend his energy.

It's saddening. to know that even with a new found understanding of life, she is still terribly afraid to die.

Still afraid to let go. and of someone she just met no less.

God.

She wondered if the crabs living in the tide pool could feel such sorrow.

Another day, maybe she would come back and ask the crabs.

And maybe they would whisper to her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

And in the midst of reassurance she would hear their voice, their laugh.

She does not think machines can cry.

But she can feel wetness on her lens.

She looks up to find out that, as if to match her misery, the clouds had grown heavy with sadness, and had begun to sprinkle.

Mirage supposed everything happens for a reason.

Chapter Text

"Very well- ah, the weather has turned sour.. so suddenly too." V2 reached an arm up and watched the small drops hit and slide down the chipped, dented red paint of their limb. A slight tremors taking it hostage as they tilted their head. "That's strange must be the- GHRHZT!" 

[FUEL LEVEL CRITICAL, SHUTTING DOWN UNNECESSARY COMPONENTS.]

[SHUT DOWN IMMINENT, REFUEL IMMEDIATELY.]

[BACK UP POWER, REROUTING TO VITAL COMPONENTS. TIME REMAINING: 00: 20: 55: 10]

Their body swayed, arm going limp and slamming against their side. The light of their optic and chest details flickering as their wings, as dim as they were, flickered and twitched too.

Their fans even briefly stopped, though it was hard to tell due to the rushing and leaving water of the tide.

They weren't afraid, it wasn't something you'd give an adaptive machine for peacekeeping, much less if you'd want them to remain calm to reassure others.

Much less one moved to Hell in order to keep living.

They didn't fear, but it was a little intimidated. The video feed had cut off which left them in the dark with the countdown in bright red with several warnings.

"Shit, shitshitshit.... I didn't think this would happen so soon I mean. I'm sorry. I'm just- .... you aren't scared are you....?" Mirage pulled V2's limp vessel into her lap with some effort.

She held them, less for them and more to soothe her shaking hands.

She didn't expect V2 to feel the touch. "Can you still speak?" Mirage was sure machines could not cry.

Yet the droplets on her face felt welcomed.

Realizing with a snap, V2 someone she never knew she needed.

She traced her fingers over every fine line from their forehead to their collarbone.

She would commit these lines to memory instead.

V2 droned quietly, idly for a minute before answering. "I'm not afraid. It would be counterproductive programming fear to a peacekeeping machine like myself.."

And she decided then she would use them to move forward.

The slowly winding down systems informed them that they were being touched, gentle fingers ghosting over their plating and nooks. "I.. enjoyed our time together, Mi-rage."

Their voice slightly cracked with static, the fuzzy sound of slowly burning fuel.

The countdown was an ugly reminder of the time remaining, their folder of her and sights of the nicer side of Hell being brought up to its internal sight. It was an automatic system thing, not them.

A mockery of its endeavours and struggles, but also like a humans version of their life flashing before their eyes although the files were slowly corrupting due to the lack of fuel in order to properly resolve the images to their true glory.

Though Mirage's were spent a little more time being seen and a little more effort to process in a nicer way. Considering they couldn't see her.

Mirage could only watch as V2's life faded in front of her.

All she could think about was not being able to stand without them.

She knew before they arrived she had been a lost cause.

But now, now everything was different. Drastically.

How could the color red mean so much more to her than it had a few hours ago?

It just wasn't realistic.

For her falling in love had been an out of grasp idea.

Something someone like her could never hold.

For just a second Mirage believed that she had come close.

"As did I V2." Mirage rested her hands on V2's shoulders.

"Thank you, for everything." Mirage knows now in this moment she will forever be kept awake by the chime of their laughter.

Forever more will she wish for something she could never have.

She had fallen in love with her fate, as it had devoured her whole.

V2 whirred down slowly, a few twitches from still drawing energy from the parts that didn't need it. They wanted to stay just a little longer, just a second more to savor the gentle touches that were so strange and warm against their battered armored body. 

The remaining image of Mirage when they first met, curious and full of concern slowly faded from their vision. 

[00: 05: 01] 

"I... would've liked to.. learn more.. about you. Please stay- tell - tell me more.." their voice skipped and quieted gradually. Before their audio sensors are cut off, she'd appreciate a bit more info.

V2 was just as insatiable for info like V1 was to blood. Peacekeeper or not, she was only so young to the world and faced many dangers. 

But nothing prepared her for the cavity that caved into her chassis, systems draining and numbing from feelings as her lights continued to flicker and struggled to stay on.

"My favorite color is Red. My favorite song is Rêverie by Claude Debussy. It was one of the first songs I learned.. Every morning I wake up and wonder if I am enough, and today I stopped wondering. I don't want you to know how scared I am. To be alone again. I suppose there's nothing either of us can do. So I will bear it head on."

She wills her voice to stop wavering, but her chest feels tight and her neck feels painful.

"The wiring in my left leg is janky from when I had to put it back together. I can not feel in my left leg. I wish I could not feel in general. Losing you, although I only knew you for a short period of time, will be my biggest regret. And for that I am sorry." Mirage is staring at the ocean.

She cannot will herself to look at V2. All the while her fingers continue to trace their metal plates. Her hands being her eyes.

V2 took a minute, just a solid minute to process what she had said and she found it frustrating that she'd sunk so low on time. "I.. think it was lo- lovely that we'd met. You taught me to l-ove.. I t- t zzt-! -think. Soon.. I pro-m-ise, we.. will meet again."

[00: 00: 90] 

The sensors in her plating gave in, no longer feeling Mirage's current touches but still felt the ghost of her finger tips.

"May your.. woes be f-ew.. and your days.. ma-ny, Mirage." A quiet click was heard from behind her chassis, her voicebox shutting off as the fans slowly slowed. 

[THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, VERSION 2.]

The rain poured in awfully, like the sky had broken down. The waves lapping now at the red machine's feet. Normally she'd be bothered by the salt but right now it was simply cooling her.

Somehow, even if V2 had powered down entirely, her lens had closed so it simply looked like she was sleeping. Unbothered by the rain slipping through the cracks and openings of her wounds and body.

 A machine, napping, how ironic. How cruel.

No. Nononononono

It was playing on loop.

The way their breathing seemed to cease all at once.

Mirage could only watch, as the beautiful red machine died in her arms.

This couldn't have been for nothing, had there been a way to save her, and maybe Mirage had just failed to try?

If, at all?

Had there been an option to keep V2? As she stared at the still machine, a thought suddenly emerged,

come back.

She needed them to come back.

She never go to tell V2 how, with them, it felt like learning for the first time.

In any other situation Mirage would think before acting.

Mirage would weigh her options and decide which consequence she favored best.

In any other situation Mirage would not do this.

But now V2 was dead.

And Mirage could not change that.

It was simply fact, she had just watched it happen.

God.

Forgive her.

Mirage remembers once more. Sitting in her bathroom, popping metal plates off one by one, wiring becoming more intricate as she explored her body.

She remembers the fear.

As she emptied her heads contents in front of the mirror.

This was terror.

Not living terrified her.

But as Mirage popped off the back opening of her head, she wondered if it was worth it.

Had her time here been well spent?

Had she done the right thing?

Was this the answer?

She guessed not.

But if like V2 said, they could see each other again, just once more.

Mirage would be okay.

Terrified. But she guessed it would be easier with V2.

Maybe that was her purpose. V2.

She had known from the beginning hadn't she?

It had always been them.

She would rather face her fears than live on for nothing, wishing for something more.

She doesn't see anything for a moment, closing her lense.

She hears the rip and urgent beeps, but as soon as they come its over.

It has been done. She senses it, the warmth.

She can feel them close. Yes. This feeling.

There was pretty much nothing but darkness, it was too dark. Too quiet.

Only lit up by the weak glow of her own optic, it was cold in here.

Like an air conditioner vent pressing against her body but it only brought her more attention to the warmth off to her right.

It had always been worth it. "Are you there...?"

A concerned expression settling on the vague figure of V2, a ghostly version of her at least, standing over her with a soft mechanical whine. "Oh my sweet oasis, it isn't your time to be here.."

It's not like V2 could repair Mirage, far from it actually, she had no way to help Mirage's abandoned body back at the coast from.. wherever they were.

In all her true splendor, she had her left gray and red arm, short exhaust pipes protruding just before her elbow bend and sharp four claws.

Her wings folded neatly and glowing a calm light blue. "Mirage.." her voice mumbles, her normal hand reaching up to hold the side of the blue head gently as her own tilted down to meet her gaze properly.

"I couldn't just— I'm sorry I just couldn't let you leave me. I'm sorry.." V2 was finally whole, no longer missing her arm. Beautiful. Complete.

Mirage felt she could truly admire her now. V2 was warm.

So warm.

Mirage realizes now that maybe this is what she had been looking for.

This warmth, this wholeness.

Mirage shivers under the sweetness in V2's voice. "V2?"

An inquisitive hum rumbled the taller machine's chest as she held Mirage's head, wings shuffling from their place while a worried expression settled on their optic. Despite having no pupil like Mirage, she found ways to display her uneasiness.

V2 stared down at Mirage, no longer weighed with the stress of no directives, no longer riddled with dents and scratches or chipping paint from wear and effort for survival.

Like she was fresh out of her production stage. Splendorous.

Mirage could feel V2 staring. She was not as splendorous, and she knows.

"Please don't be upset, I just....I know I was selfish I just couldn't— I don't want to live anymore if it's not going to be with you. I don't see how I could, I'm sorry." She apologized again and again.

Mirage could not bear a disappointed V2, their hand felt too good on the side of Mirage's face.

V2 suddenly pulled Mirage close and held her gently.

Warmth like a perfect early morning beach sun, sinking into the shorter machine down to her wires.

Sinking and settling to her very depths and melting any background feelings.

"I don't have much time to say this, but if you're here to help, listen up. I sent a signal out, whoever answers it will help you- hopefully." 

Pulling away and gently pressing their heads together, a makeshift kiss on Mirage's head. "Fix me. Bring me back to you.. I have yet to watch you grow as a person. I can't bear to spend my time here without you, I would've gone haywire.." Her voice wavered slightly, but remained firm. 

"I want to spend my new eternity with you. Directive be damned, my objective is you." She declared, a determined posture settling her to reassure and share her feelings with her newfound muse.

"Please. Mirage, live for me. I'll join as fast as you work... I trust you."

"Oh, V2..." Mirage was sure, once again. If a machine could cry that's exactly what she would be doing.

She trusted V2. She knew she was right.

Mirage had to do this.

For the both of them.

The way V2 held her was pure bliss. Mirage was sure she couldn't be more terrified though.

But it felt okay with the taller machine. This peacekeeper.

"I'll see you soon okay? Get home safe, Mirage."

And just like that she was violently ripped from the quiet warm void and into the cold unforgiving coast line.

As soon as she opened her eye she was already being crashed into by a cold rough wave.

Her clothes are soaked with rain and salt water, and the dragging current of the retreating wave partially makes the sound of metal scrape over the sharp rock.

V2's body now had wires sticking out from the hole of where her arm used to be, bits of sand also took home there and slid out.

Her head lolled to the side and craning awkwardly on a rock while water poured from behind the closed lens.

Her wings were somehow getting more mangled by the water crashing into them, forcing them to bend to the pressure and go right back to their place.

Her normally warm red looked like a dulled cold husk of Mirage's encounter with her true self.

Mirage guessed the tide had come in while she had been away.

It was awful, seeing the husk of what V2 had once been, Mirage lifted V2's damaged body and dragged her back to the sand.

The waterlogging and grit of sand making it harder to move, she hadn’t thought V2 would be this heavy.

She could fix this, she could fix V2.

She could bring them back and V2 would be so proud of her.

All Mirage wanted was to hear her voice again.

Her laughter. She could do this.

She knew her and V2 were similar in model and build.

Most likely having the same mechanics on the inside.

Right?

Mirage had basically already done this.

This would be easy. Maybe if she kept telling herself the same thing, she wouldn’t be so terrified.

Obviously, there wasn’t much Mirage could do about the missing arm, for now she’d have to repair what she could.

Starting with the battery in her main system, Mirage could do this.

She could do this.

Her hands were shaking, breathing uneven.

Prying the chassis plate off with a tremble and casting it to the side to the sand.

V2 without a chest plate was an ugly sight. Wires spilling anywhere they could. This was going to take a while.

Wires, plastic tubes with decaying blood, silicone that was split or warped and melted with heat.

Most notably that the systems were violently different, wires leading up when they were supposed to go in, curving structures that made no sense with components plain missing as if they never existed, snapped framing..

it was like someone scrambled her insides with a fork and bashed her against the floor several times and then decided to drag her along the sea floor.

Who was Mirage kidding? Certainly not herself, V2 and her were different models. One a prototype and the other a concept, a thought.

What a cruel thing, a promise to fix her when she can't even begin to find a place to start.

Her hopes were literally and figuratively crushed, V2's hardware was nowhere near fixable unless you happened to have a complete manual on how to rebuild the entire machine.

It was hopeless.

Mirage thinks maybe she should've stayed dead.

Less disappointment that way.

She would have to hope whoever was coming would know why to do.

Like a damsel in distress.

Obviously Mirage wasn't going to be able to do this on her own.

No matter what she had told herself, or V2.

She felt sickened, maybe V2 would finally understand how useless Mirage was.

That she hadn't been able to keep her promise.

And now Mirage thinks she should just be disposed of.

The cruel thought that she might never hear V2's laugh again..

Chapter Text

Regardless if she had stayed, she would risk V2 being disappointed in her, her mind swirling with thoughts that would make the red machine tisk and hug her.

A warm hug in contrast to that peaceful, quiet, dark void of whatever limbo that they were in.

A figure approached her, a rectangular brown head frantically looking back as if followed and carrying a gun similar to its head, a whining noise that would've shattered glass screeched out in desperation.

A machine.

Looking at Mirage and stretching a hand out before their body was crushed and violently blown up by a weight that was brightly colored by its blood.

Viscera and gore went everywhere and splattering far while hissing hydraulics puffed steam into the rain.

V2?

No, something different.

A soulless monocular yellow eye and the small amount of cobalt blue plating was seen peeking through the blood that was soaking into it.

Grabbing what remained of the mangled machine's head and crushing it with a red clawed arm with a sickening crunch.

This is who received the signal, her predecessor.

They really did look similar.

It startled Mirage, the way she seemed to mimic the other machines' appearance.

She had heard V2 tell her on multiple occasions that they looked startlingly similar.

Maybe it just hadn't set in until now.

Mirage noticed, through the blood soaking into their blue plating, something didn't match.

Bright red claws, V2's arm.

Mirage was overwhelmed with the urge to punch them, either with the anger and hate she felt when learning about V2’s demise.

Or the fact that her predecessor seemed to wear the prosthetic so proudly, attached to their shoulder and dripping with blood meant for another body.

Like a sick trophy.

Disgusting.

Either way, Mirage prayed the machine would be sparing enough to repair V2.

That somehow, someway. V2’s demise, would take pity on their husk and repair them.

V1 didn't move for a bit, probably weighing the chances of Mirage being the distress signal, and then glanced at V2's body with a twitch to its head.

Lowering the bright yellow wings, it wiped the red claw against its chest and stood up.

Hopping off what remained of the brown machine, it got closer to Mirage with an empty expression.

There wasn't much she could read off its body language, mechanical and moving with purpose is all she could tell.

This would be her, if she would've been a war machine.

A green arm hung off the other side of its body, cleverly built with scraps, just behind the blue one holding a gun.

Would it kill her?

Would it rip her to shreds and finish V2's body with her?

Would it take her blood?

Stopping just before her, it kneeled down, tilting its head and raising a free blue hand and switching the green one to the front.

Making a few gestures and folding in a few fingers the best it could with a sharp object in the middle, tapping where its mouth would be, releasing- Oh, it was signing. [What wrong?]

“I- V2,-" Mirage pointed at the red machine lying on the sand. For some reason she couldn't seem to get the words out.

Finally she choked out. "Can you fix them?"

Mirage felt hopeless.

Maybe V1 would take pity on her.

Listen to her.

Help her.

It seemed unlikely, but they had asked.

So, what else would they be doing here?

She couldn't lose much else now, could she?

As the rain pattered away at the gore on the ground behind the blue death angel, it blinked briefly before glancing at V2 and then back at Mirage.

What a strange model, unheard of and they're sure even the terminals can't help with this.

With a shrug, they brought their palms up and moved them up and down- [Maybe.]

"Maybe" Was by no means good enough for her.

But it was all she had, at this point she had placed any and all hope into the war machine.

With that final word, they shuffled forward to grab the opening between V2's neck and body (likely the equivalent of a collarbone) and hauled them up like nothing.

Wings folding back neatly and glowing in the dreary weather.

[Need supplies.] It signed again, facing Mirage.

She watched the blue machine, supplies? Where would Mirage- oh.

She knew where to go.

Slowly she stood, still uneasy.

Beginning to lead the way anyway.

Sand gritting in her joints, making it difficult to move.

She had to do this.

If there was any way of saving V2 she would do this.

"Follow me, okay?" Mirage would have to walk to the junkyard, both machines in tow. 

She hoped there would be something useful, although labeled as junk, Mirage had ended up finding spare parts often in the retired field.

Short walk or not, Mirage felt she was close to collapsing.

She was undeniably exhausted, but she swore she would not rest until she had V2 back.

V1's plating was clean by the time they were halfway there.

Shaking off water from the dip in their head and using V2's own arm to keep her up against their back.

Ironic, it would make a mentally unstable person chuckle before crying.

Once at the junkyard, V1 looked around and buzzed in displeasure quietly, half-lidding its optic before finding a half-crowded garage with cars and a big table in it.

Sweeping a table they found clear of any instruments which made a loud crash, which had startled the concept model, plopping V2's body down on it and glancing over the messy mechanical visera.

They had really outdone themselves, though most of the fault was V2's for falling off the pyramid.

Putting their revolver away in their wing at the sight of no danger, the weapon becoming a mere silhouette in it. 

With a narrowed optic, they buzzed slightly and looked at Mirage.

Raising their hands again and shooting a quick message through with finger spelling and such. [Where's chest plate?]

Right, they left the cover back at the beach.

Mirage froze, while it wasn't dire, they had left the chest plate at the beach, before V1 had showed up Mirage had taken it off.

Mirage sighed, taking her fingers and pushing up her own chest plate, exposing her wires and lights under her shirt.

She hadn't done this in a while, she forgot how weird it felt. "Do you think mine will fit?”

V1 buzzed with slight glare.

Bringing their hand up before pausing and glancing at V2's open chassis.

Maybe, maybe not.

With a few quick gestures and a somehow displeased look from its usually blank optic.

 [Needs the original, not the same model.]

It is true, if their insides were different then their outsides were marginally the same outcome. [You go or I do.]

V2, unmoving and still, held a reassuring sight.

V1 ushered her out and continued to work on the mess of innards, bringing out guns from its wings and using some weird techniques to try and improvise with the materials it had lacked.

Even going as far as sliding under cars to rip wires and replacing a few burnt or dead ones.

And Mirage, after clicking her chest piece back, was left in the light rain instead of the downpour that had started while she was dead.

The skies were still very dark, her flashlight function teetering between going on or staying off.

The tide was even rougher than it was when she had left earlier.

It would've been a perfect comparison between her and her emotions, always roaring for attention and fighting for which actions get done.

Part of her even thought about launching herself to the foaming waves that are unforgiving.

Ruthless.

A dim red slightly covered stuck out from the sand, thrown aside with care and desperation.

Mirage grabbed the chest plate, scratched and dirty from the sand, but still in one piece, good.

Mirage watched the waves for a moment. she needed to get back to V2, every second without them felt like suffering, knowing they were waiting for her to bring them back.

The water beckoned her, just for a moment, Mirage could only stare, if it came down to it.

If V2 could not be saved, she would find a way back to them, she had to.

Even if V2 didn't need her the way she needed them.

She would rather spend her time in V2's company than without it.

She turned from the crashing waves and walked away.

A silent promise to the ocean, that if V2 should not return, she would.

And the ocean obliged to the silent promise, hissing with sweet nothings to lure her in early.

Like a siren promising paradise when its ugly teeth are hidden.

Mirage made it back to the garage, V1 was squatting over V2 pointing an unstable blue gun over her chest, mainly where her pump was. 

Though, hearing their shorter look alike shuffle in, they turned their head all the way around and flared their wings high.

Had they changed their mind?

Hopping off the mechanical corpse and turning their body to her, shooting the Whiplash to grab the chest plate from her hands and placing it where it belonged.

It signed out. [Need blood, doesn't work without it.]

She wasn't entirely shocked, she'd seen how V1 had absolutely crushed the brown machine that came before them, absorbing the blood and viscera.

Maybe she'd known that it wouldn't be as easy as repairing a few broken parts. The town was desolate.

Mirage thinks of V2, and their warm hands, and their warm laugh.

And she thinks that maybe drawing blood for them is the least she can do.

"How do you want it?" She's holding out her arm now, the sleeve of her uniform and undershirt previously pulled back from this morning.

She isn't entirely sure how the machine wants to go about this but she is ready nonetheless.

For them?

Anything.

V1 held out their hand as if to stop her, then proceeded to elaborate with- [Need more and a funnel, dumb model doesn't absorb like me.]

Well that was rude, not to mention there's probably the reason that they were the same line but different purposes and priorities.

V1 was a warmachine, built to suck up blood on the go and to be a nuisance to enemies.

V2 was a peacetime model, at least Mirage remembers her saying something along those lines, prioritizing the safety of civilians.

It's obvious V1 would have won and yet how they met didn't add up.

V2 only talked about their latest fight and that was that.

Mirage watched as V1 scurried around looking for a funnel closer to the cars.

She still wasn't sure how this was going to work.

Having taken apart her body numerous times yet had never once bled. It was odd. Maybe there was a different way to go about it?

Some “wires” were red, she guessed she would soon find out, as V1 emerged with a small yellow funnel.

V1 flipped V2 over to sit up facing a wall.

The way V2 sat hunched over like that. It made Mirage nauseated.

Opening a small cap at the back of her back where her wings were stored, stuffing the funnel there it beckoned Mirage over with a lazy wave of the red arm belonging to the machine they were fixing.

Maybe V2 would immediately punch V1 as she came online, that would be something.

Maybe she'd notice Mirage first and then V1, it just depends which way she turns first. [Blood, you bleed right?] V1 asked with a tilt of its head.

"I- I'm not entirely sure...." Mirage held her arm out still, not having realized she was still just standing there like that.

If she doesn't give blood she doesn't know what else to do.

She really has no clue.

 She is helpless without her predecessor, and she is scared.

She wills herself to feel the blood flow through her veins, if she even has any— god, she prays she has at least a bit…

V1 buzzed in slight irritation, ticked that Mirage was unsure but had a human part of their programming to cut her some slack.

With war came comrades, and that took cooperation. Even if it was a one machine army.

With a hiss of its hydraulic sides, it gave a quick scan at V2 before reaching up and hooking some chains up under her head and her arm to keep her up.

Prying off her chassis cover once more. It began messing with a few more things it found with a different point of view.

Mirage watched as V1 got to work. Pulling and clipping and tying.

It was weird to watch them work on V2's insides.

Every now and then asking Mirage for a different tool or item, sometimes she would grab the wrong thing, and V1 would buzz at her or rattle their wings in irritation.

Eventually she got it, but she still felt like crying, she felt inadequate and useless again.

Even after she had tried her hardest it hadn't been enough and now, here she was, reduced to an assistant of some sort.

Could she blame herself?

She just wanted someone to tell her it would all be okay.

V1 was already out of the running for that, given they couldn't even speak, and their apparent "maybe" from earlier.

Safe to say Mirage was losing her mind, slowly but surely.

Vaulting over from the table and starting to walk out in the drizzle, V1 puffed some steam from its vents.

A pause from the restless hours.. days?

Time was hard to keep track of with so much rain pouring in and the lighting never changing.

Mirage watched from the darkened garage. Just wanting to stay close to V2.

She can't help but think this is just getting worse.

She couldn't save V2, she couldn't repair them.

What good is she?

Mirage has always known she was useless, just not to this extent.

She thinks of her promise, and she wants to scream.

She wants to beat the shit out of the blue machine standing outside in the slow drizzle, the reason V2 had been sent here in the first place.

But without them, they would've never met.

She wants to do something. Anything. She just wants V2 back.

V1 scoped the junkyard a bit, lowering their head with a glare as they turned to Mirage.

 [I will return, stay here.]

They slid off to who knows where, either to get blood for themselves or for V2, that was also unknown.

Mirage scoffed at their lack of regard, watching as they left, noting how unmoved they were by V2 being in this state.

Charming, really.

They took about a solid five minutes to come back, dragging several beings behind them all wrapped up in the Whiplash.

Wriggling armless humanoid figures with sharp teeth, mouths for faces, half machines-half organic humanoids with a chunk of their mechanical arm ripped off— probably what used to be their weapon.

Bringing up a free blue hand to sign as they walked over to the table, the enemies in tow behind them. A twitch to their head and wings at every scream or distorted growl behind them.

[Get a bucket, or something.]

Mirage watched in horror as he dragged the human-like (things?) beings near the table.

Mirage almost didn't even want to help, but she knew she had no choice in the matter, she is the one who had asked for help after all.

Moving to grab a bucket, wondering how bad this scene would scar her in the coming years.

The beings flailed like they were in pain.

Mindless.

It hurt to watch, but Mirage knew it had to be done.

She wondered where they had come from. Definitely not here.

Mirage had to watch as V1 grabbed one from the bunch by the neck, propped them over the bucket and took a gun out to shoot them.

The blood coloring the inside of the bucket in its dark and sick beauty.

V1 went through various ways either decapitation, crushing them with their hands, shooting them and settling on crushing them as it yielded more results and was faster due to the Knuckblaster.

Once the bucket was filled to the brim and the enemies were decimated to nothing but pieces, V1 went over to Mirage.

Putting away their gun and equipped the Whiplash to the front again, they dragged the bucket over and set it on the ground beneath her arm.

Making a sharp but precise cut at a red wire running along her wrist, she bled into the bucket.

She bled.

She was.. flesh, under some circumstance. Even as a concept she was alive.

Disturbing to know but for the time being she was.. relieved.

Even if it was a bit of blood, which kinda made her dizzy somehow, she wasn't useless after all.

She'll have this crisis later, better things to think about now.

Grabbing the bucket again and unhanding the concept model while she rubbed her wrists to seal up the cut wires, V1 hauled the contained liquid up high and went over to V2.

Pouring the blood carefully into the funnel while holding it with several arms to stabilize the bucket, the small hole eagerly chugging it up.

She stood there and waited for something, anything to happen, she needed V2 back.

She watched as the blood seemed to fill the Peacekeeper. Her predecessor stood there for a moment, seemingly doing the same as Mirage.

Mirage wasn't sure what was supposed to happen.

Was that all they had to do?

Surely there were more repairs to be made.

Maybe V1 hadn't finished? Maybe it was mocking V2 silently again.

The red machine still hasn't moved, and Mirage was unsure of what to do next.

V1 then snapped its fingers with a metallic thunk against its palm, making a gesture of missing a seemingly obvious detail that they forgot.

Reaching back into their wing, they took the pretty big gun from earlier, crackling with electricity and violently shaking in its grasp, stepping back and pressing a spare hand against Mirage's arm to move her as well.

With a quick aim and wide stance a strong concentrated bolt of electricity was shot at V2, violently wracking her body and constructing pistons causing her to look like she was seizing in pain.

Considering she was hooked up with chains and those connected to some lights they quickly turned on and blew up leaving shards of glass everywhere and engulfing the two blue machines in the dark.

As the gun hissed, V1 placed it right back in their wing and waved off some of the smoke and some of the glass from the light bulbs.

Mirage could cry. If she tried really hard enough, maybe she'd cry.

Chapter Text

A beep was heard and not from either of them.

In the dark, a yellow light flickered to life, wings coming out in their almost full glory and flapping gently to calibrate, folding neatly.

The head tilted toward the ground slowly rose and unhooked herself from the chains, blinking a few times before calibrating the rest of her limbs such as her arm and legs.

Hopping off the table, she held her chest a bit and looked around, meeting eyes with Mirage and softening from the subtle panic.

She was here, both were.

In a second of V2 being on both feet she was already running into their arms- arm.

Her arm.

Holding them like she was scared they would leave again.

Like a lifeline.

She could hear the circuits inside of them whir.

A clear sign of life. If machines were ever considered to be alive.

Mirage let go of the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

V2 was warm again, and just as beautiful as she remembered.

"You're back." Mirage could hear the pain and relief in her own voice, raspy with exhaustion.

A soft click sounded out from inside their chest plate, a hand brought up to hold the back of Mirage's head. "That I am."

V1 stood awkwardly, holding themselves with all their arms in a display of both disinterest and feeling a little left out.

Letting out a soft beep with a half lidded optic, waving the Knuckblaster to greet their recently brought back to life protege V2 turned her head up and somehow became a lot more red with an odd shrill feedbacking noise.

A ring of scarlet hovering just behind her as her wings flared.

She was pissed, and swift as she shuffled Mirage away from V1's sight, hesitant for a second as she tore herself from her and crossed the distance.

A loud clink was heard and V1 was hurtled several feet away and into a pile of tires, a spatter of blood where they once were.

V2's hand smoking from the punch as she growled. Or was it her mechanisms grinding?

It was hard to tell with her facing away but it didn't take a genius to see her wings and head twitching.

No rest for the wicked, Mirage guessed.

Jogging over to the red machine, she set a gentle hand on her back- choosing to ignore the scarlet ring that came out of nowhere.

"Wait- they, they brought you back. It wasn't me, it was them."

Mirage hadn't wanted to admit it, but her role in bringing V2 back from the grave hadn't been as important as the peacekeeper might've initially thought.

Although being punched had definitely been deserved, Mirage couldn't let V1 go without thanks. He had been the one to save V2. Not Mirage, as much as she hated to admit it.

She wants to apologize, for messing everything up, or for the fact that she wasn't able to bring V2 back by herself.

She'd just have to wait for the inevitable disappointment.

V2's strange red ring wore off, tilting her head with an expression of what could be described as both disbelief and acceptance.

A weird in-between, much like everything.

Going back to her normal state and buzzing with minor irritation, not at Mirage it seems. Waving her hand to cool it down and reaching for Mirage's, gently running her thumb over her rounded knuckles.

“I'm glad you were around though, it would've scraped me for MORE OF MY PARTS LIKE AN ASSHOLE!!" She snarled out.

She turned to V1's general direction, yelling at them like a caged dog as V1, raised at least four middle fingers while untangling itself from car tires and such.

Wings caught in barbed wires made it busy so V2 could care less when all her focus was needed on Mirage.

Leaning their heads close and pressing the tops of them together, if she had another arm it would be reaching up to hold her cheek but that would have to wait.

"I thank you for bringing me back, you fulfilled your promise. My sweet oasis.. it was cruel of me to leave you like that." Her voice lacked the previous rage and only held affection, somehow.

Mirage wanted to turn her head away, to tell them they were wrong.

She had not kept her promise. She hadn't been able to do anything for them.

She had been useless, except for maybe a bit of blood but that was it.

And V2 was thanking her? it felt undeserved.

If anything, she should be thanking V1, although she knew that would never happen.

She hadn't even tried to save them in the first place, how could V2 blame herself for leaving when she did?

It hadn't been cruel. It wasn't her fault, Mirage wanted to protest, move away. Do anything.

But V2 was just so warm and yet she still felt so cold, her clothes caked in grime, sand, wet with blood and seawater.

She knew she wasn't who V2 thought she was. She wishes she were. She wishes she had the strength to say something

All she could do was hold V2 as close as she could.

Maybe one day she would get around to explaining how useless she had been during this whole ordeal.

V2 then pulled her head away to look at Mirage, considering she had been unresponsive.

With a soft huff, she wrapped her up in a hug, making up for the lack of an arm with her wings folding forwards the best they could.

Her systems are buzzing, pumping and thrumming with life.

She was alive, and she had all the time in this world to reassure Mirage that without her, she would've stayed in the cold void waiting to waste away.

That without her, she would've just decayed the same machine she was brought to exist as.

Her coding would've never altered, her feelings would've never surfaced and her affections would've never gotten a chance to run.

“I love you." She softly says, just above the sound of her own pump slamming behind her chassis plate.

Nervous? Probably, but she was happy.

It's barely above a whisper, but Mirage hears it nonetheless, it's like every problem or bad thought she's ever had, just melts away.

But she was warm, so bright like the sun that was hidden behind the clouds. Just needed some time to let them pass.

V2 saying those words does that to her. and it makes her so happy, she can't even describe what she's feeling at the moment.

But if the warmth spreading through her body is any indication, she'd say she feels the same way. "I love you too." Mirage hides her monocular head into V2's chest, the embarrassment flooding her processors.

V2 closed her optic, finally at peace with herself and the world that had ripped the treasure she holds so closely in her arm.

They won't take it from her again.

“We should dry off- kzrrgzt!" She seized a bit, lights flickering briefly before she relaxed. "And I have sand in places that it really shouldn't be in.."

She shook her head lightly and chuckled. Her voice was a little static ridden but nothing a few tweaks can't fix.

She might've felt gross and gritty and really inept at the moment but regardless she stuck to Mirage like glue.

V1 finally released themselves from the mess and brushed themselves off, there was a sizable dent on their chest but they could fix that later.

They'd be going back to Hell anyways.

[Have fun doing yuri or whatever..] They signed, turning away from the pair and starting to walk out of the junkyard. Not caring to see if the message had reached or not.

War machine or not, V1 did slightly care, they just never bothered to give this specific thought too much time to internalize.

They'd go nuts actually, if they gave it more thought.

Making a route to Heresy, they mapped out their surroundings and promptly started to go their way.

They cared about other things at the moment.

Chapter Text

She's here, gods she's really here. Mirage sees her face and can't help but feel like she's waited a lifetime for this moment. In this moment, V2, an angel, is the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

Battered and worn but beautiful nonetheless.

The sun is setting, it's been a mere day, yet Mirage swears she's spent years with her.

Stepping over the edge and into a plummet of emotions as she falls into V2’s embrace. 

Hearing her own cries as a hand soothingly rubs over her back made her wonder if she minded.

Mirage's wails are only the reminder of her own core being. 

 The red machine brushes water out of Mirage's eye as she sobs.

Rain for tears in her optic, V2 brought up Mirage's arm and pressed a kiss on the inside of her wrist.

“You’re back..” Mirage barely whispers over the quieted drizzle of rain, but the sound of V2 laughing gives her all the reassurances she needs.

“And I'm not leaving anytime soon.” Taking her small hand in hers, V2 pulls her into a gentle embrace once more, taking the familiar route back to Mirage's home.

Though she needed help since some wiring got fucked, ironically on her right leg which made her hobble a little.

Needing to have Mirage under V2’s arm to hold her up, they shared a bit of small talk under the cloudy sky.

Idle prattling to make time slow for them.

Soon enough even the drizzling stopped.

The wind whipped at the tattered and dirtied uniform belonging to the shorter machine, which only made her huddle closer to the ever warming peacekeeper.

Opening the door to Mirage's apartment, a giggle escaped her throat, speakers? Did it matter anymore? It was frazzled but mostly happy sounding after V2 had quickly run a scan of the tone and implications.

“Hey, you should- rest..” V2 was cut off as Mirage pulled their faces close, as if memorizing every detail of her optic, bezel and everything it entailed.

The blue girl just wanted to remember exactly how beautiful her.. partner? Lover? Was, for as long as she could.

A red hand finds Mirage's thin neck and in that moment she didn't dare to let her fans run, her mind racing with the thought of V2, the gentle hand against her cold plating and frame.

She can feel her, all of her, alive and all she's ever wanted.

This feels so human, weirdly enough, the way V2 seemed to soften and melt into Mirage's gaze, caring, perfect. 

Snapping from her spell, Mirage nods slowly. “Let's get you cleaned up first, is that okay?” 

V2 agreed with a small hum, releasing her neck and pressing another pseudo kiss on top of her head. “I'm lucky to have met you..”

Those words rang in Mirage's head as they showered, as they rinsed all the salt, sand and blood off, while they modified and got dressed in warm clothes and organized themselves into her bed in a tight hug around each other.

The rain started to clear up, the clouds remained but they were going to be inside regardless.

V2 looked down at Mirage who was very intently staring at her remaining hand, her own twitching as if to reach for it. “You can hold it you know?”

Mirage turned her head up with surprise before sheepishly taking her hand gently and linking their hands together, V2’s thumb gently grazing Mirage's knuckle.

Funnily, V2’s hands were blockier and bigger than Mirage's but they fit like they belonged with each other.

V2 chuckled and rested her head on Mirage's, her voice coming out in a comforting purr.

“Thank you, angel.”

What a day.

“Anytime, my oasis.”

The ocean will whisper to her in her sleep, thoughts of a promise long fulfilled.

She feels like she's being swayed by a current at times, sea legs, almost. But she hasn't been near the water since..

It's disorienting, hard to navigate. Something doesn't add up, a permanent cold feeling resides but luckily V2 is around to hold her and warm her up.

As they settled for the night, they held each other close and leaned into each other's hold. Mirage mumbled quietly, speakers barely above audible to V2 even if she was borderline laying on her.

“Vee, do you think we would've met if it weren't for.. you know?” She looked up as V2 pulled her own head back to properly look at Mirage who, in turn, spun her head backwards to meet her gaze.

Taking a bit to answer, she gave a warm chuckle. “Probabilities are low.. but not 0.”

They gently closed the gap between them and pressed their optics together- the armor plates that encompassed them from the elements anyway.

A pseudo kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.

And Mirage's world churned like she was under a wave, so dizzy but enthralled by the feeling of warm hands holding her so lovingly.

No matter where she was supposed to be, she would remain there, right next to V2, holding each other close

with no current strong enough to pull them apart.