[He just sags there. Even if he wanted to move, he couldn't. It's like every ounce of fight and strength has simply been drained out of him. He feels numb -- numb, hurting, terrified, all at once. Something cold has settled in his chest, like a heavy weight.]
[And it's dragging him down with it.]
[He doesn't even seem to register the touch. He honestly seems to be staring right through Mirage. Like the red bot has cloaked himself. He's... shaking. Very slightly. But in a frame as slender as his own, the tremors are obvious.]
No... no, he... he can't.
[Kids, even teenagers, tend to live under the impression their parents are invincible. Indomitable. The strongest people in the world. Sideswipe in particular had seen Ironhide bounce back from... everything. Anything. He shouldn't be able to be hurt.]
[And now he's just been smacked in the face with the reality his mentor, the one who saved his life, the greatest figure in his entire world... was gone.]
[Killed.]
[When he finally looks at Mirage, his optics are wild, uncertain, absolutely destroyed.]
no subject
[And it's dragging him down with it.]
[He doesn't even seem to register the touch. He honestly seems to be staring right through Mirage. Like the red bot has cloaked himself. He's... shaking. Very slightly. But in a frame as slender as his own, the tremors are obvious.]
No... no, he... he can't.
[Kids, even teenagers, tend to live under the impression their parents are invincible. Indomitable. The strongest people in the world. Sideswipe in particular had seen Ironhide bounce back from... everything. Anything. He shouldn't be able to be hurt.]
[And now he's just been smacked in the face with the reality his mentor, the one who saved his life, the greatest figure in his entire world... was gone.]
[Killed.]
[When he finally looks at Mirage, his optics are wild, uncertain, absolutely destroyed.]
No... no. No, I...
No.