Queen's note: Big, BIG thank you to Storm Dracona for the help with Leadfoot. Otherwise this might have taken a little (lot) longer to write. Also, thank you Storm for putting up with my giggling and plotting with me XD

Also, come check me out on tumblr. its not overly exiting but I do post story clips to chapters I'm working on. Including this one. omicrontheicequeen . tumblr . com

Just A Stray, Just A Cover

Chapter Nine

Really? Really?

The raw tension and anger coming off Crosshairs was almost crackling in the air and in his field. Enough that the mecha wolf-dog stopped trying to get away and just half hang by its collar with tail tucked. The para-trooper had that tight grip on the collar, and some of the scruff, the mecha standing eerily still. Crosshairs extended arm did not waver, holding a perfect aim at the other mech with his semi-automatic hand held energy pistol. It was leveled with Leadfoot's left optic in fact, and the older mech, though he was very surprised, he did not doubt the green mech would flinch or miss.

From in Leadfoot's hands the small human gave a tiny sound that to his audios was somewhat pathetic, of fear and exhaustion. He saw how Crosshairs tightened his grip on his pistol, except the trigger finger that thankfully stayed still, steady.

The red and black mech slowly shifted, lifting his right hand and the panting human he held. "Easy lad... I didn't hurt her. Not intentionally, the bitty lass just panicked befer I could finish sayin' I'm a Wrecker. Take a look."

It took a klik or two before Crosshairs must have glanced down. Daring to look away, but Leadfoot stayed still, if this was a true decepticon he would have dared to lash out. But this was no Decepticon, this was a wrecker, one of the ones that came after his team with Roadbuster. Leadfoot had been fairly careful with the girl, and though his talons held the human youngling trapped against his palm they were not hurting her.

Finally, some of the raw tension eased in the younger mecha's frame. Not as still-ridged in anger-fear. The weapon lowered a little with a warning growl. If Crosshairs had standard armor, more panels would have flailed out but the over armor made it harder for him to bristle as normal. Not that he did not do a good attempt, he just did not have the same kibble. Crosshairs let go of the cyber-wolf's collar, dropping Steeljaw at last as he demanded, "Hand 'er over."

Leadfoot vented, but he was old enough to know to stay calm in this case, holding out his hand a little more and opened his digits. The femling human did not try for another bolt, more so as Amy seemed to have used up all her energy reserves. Amy just peeked up as she heard Stealjaw whining his protests and guilt, tensing in response to the cyber-wolf coming to hide behind Leadfoot's legs. Then familiar blunted claws were picking her up, the girl instantly let go of the new mech's forefinger and latched onto Crosshairs. Pulled out of the strange energy field only to be wrapped up into Crosshairs' own again.

The green and black striped mech stepped back, growling despite himself as he pressed Amy carefully against his front. Keeping her secured against him, an award but a real attempt to give reassurance as he got some space. Crosshairs dropped the weapon, sliding it into the holster inside his over armor rather than the one on his leg. Crosshairs gave a growling purr, rubbing his thumb against Amy's side and back in a reassuring attempt that seemed to work as he backed away a few more paces.

Crosshairs' lenses lifted off his optics as the taller mech checked over his apparent human from a safe distance. Once seeing this Leadfoot shifted and relaxed a bit, leaning on his cane after shifting it to his right side. Easing some of the pressure and pain from his damaged sounder, not so much from his hip though, "Better?" the older mech drawled, smiling slowly.

The green mech glared over, once satisfied the colors and scrapes on his charge was likely all from her fall off him. A few added scrapes that likely came from her run, but no clear or even indistinct claw marks. No damage, or bruising from a mecha's fingers on the girl. That was what convinced him that Leadfoot had not hurt Amy, though when she looked up with wide green eyes... Crosshairs lifted the girl, boosting her up to his neck and feeling her try and get where it was safe. She ended up against the right side of his neck, more huddling there alongside the muscle cables. So he gave a small reassuring rumble.

Crosshairs turned and narrowed his optics at Leadfoot, his own wrecker accent slipping thicker in the anger that was still simmering. "What the frag mech? Something get loose in that head o' yea'rs? She's a sparkling, even fer a human. An' sicking Steeljaw on me?"

"I thought yea were a 'Con mech, been tailed by a few since those fraggin' wankers attacked the base I was on." Leadfoot waved at Croshairs and then down at his improvised cane at the last part. The red and black mech shook his head, "How was I supposed ta know the lass was yea'rs o' all mecha? She just cam skittering out of the brush an' ran after yipping a name I wasn't expecting."

"How about getting' a line o' sight first before send Stealjaw after someone yea rusty spark?" Crosshairs did not quiet snap, as on a level he knew that he might have had a reaction alike to what just happened. Primus his first meeting with Amy was not all that good. Yet Amy was his now, he had claimed her as his charge, his sparkling. Weird organic or not she was his helpless charge. Crosshairs could not get to angry, as he understood... but he was.

Crosshairs growled, shifted his stance and then moved his weapon to the proper holster. He waved at the other mech with a free hand, giving a vent like sigh in leftover frustration and tension. "You said Decepticons are trailing yea?"

"Was," Leadfoot finally dared to walk closer, the cyber-wolf edging after a moment. He snorted softly, noticing how the human youngling edged back herself until green eyes peered out from the shade cast by Crosshair's head. The older Wrecker shook his own head, "Primus... I see yea there lass, didn't mean to scare the spark out o' yea," Leadfood said directly to the girl, despite another warning growl from the green mech. "Yea' said this slagger's name, an' Bumblebee's. Then took off."

It was a long moment or two, before the soft voice of Amy spoke up. Tire and likely unsure, if not scared anymore, "You said... not an Autobot... Crosshairs... Drift said to run from..."

She trailed off, swallowing and pressed against Crosshairs neck a little more. If the other two beings present were not Cybertronians, it was quiet possible they would have completely missed what was said. Though for Crosshairs at least he was used to listening for Amy's normal soft tones.

The older wrecker gave a soft rumble, but what bit of his field that reached the girl was...pride? "Aye, that's good. Yae did well to run from a 'Con lass. Was just a case of mistaken identity this time was all." Leaning on his cane Leadfoot shifted his stance to help ease his hip some.

That seemed to surprise the girl, but she was still unsure and inched back to into relatively safety-cover that was Crosshairs. As long as nothing knocked him over she felt safe there, almost as much as when in the armor pocket, but the taller mech was slowly becoming calmer. It reflected in his field to Amy at least, as little green eyes peeked out around a muscle cable. Crosshairs gave a rumble, glanced down before he looked up and waved at the cane, and the damage he could see, "What happed old mech Trip over a human?"

"Pah, no. Was tryin' to shield our own. 'Cons happened, hit the base hard an' fast. Somehow snuck past perimeter alarms," Leadfoot grumped, debating leaning on the large tree next to him and give hip and shoulder some temporary relief. Though something about how the attack happened even now still rankled the red and black Wrecker.

"Have any medical supplies?" Crosshairs asked, walking the last few paces over to the older mech. He leveled at a look at the cyberwolf, watching the malformed muzzle dip in guilt.

"For mechs? Nay, just what supplies for human crew we could grab. Couldn't get anywhere near med bay. Bolt hole's gunna be best bet if we're to have any for us." Leadfoots free hand went to affectionately tug to cyberwolfs ear in reassurance. Steeljaw had been doing as told after all, with the tug the dog like cyber-wolf lifted his head to get a reassuring pet and scratch with talons around the cropped ear.

"Yea know who made the local one?" Crosshairs asked, he seemed interested in the human supplies now, finally he smoothed his over armor and stepped up beside Leadfoot, not saying anything by being more solid then any tree. "Yea know how ta get to the local bolt hole?"

"Aye, was one of Hides. He did a good few, an' yea know how he is with bein prepared." The old gunner's paranoia would be what saved their afts this time. Leadfoot shook his head as he stood a moment, then his shoulder pressed against Crosshairs' side. Helping to keep his balance for a moment, "We're tryin' to make sure we ain't tailed but we were. Jolt back tracked ta lead 'em on a wild chase."

"Or fight?"

"Or fight 'em."

"How many bolt holes did that old mech make?" Crosshairs arched an optic ridge, switching topics back, but it was nice to hear of another mech that was alive (not that Crosshairs would admit it aloud right now). Really, all that talk about human allies and he's finding out more bolt holes were made... Well he would not trust the majority of this planet either. More so the annoying hunters.

...Crosshairs glanced to his left side, away from Leadfoot at the side where he felt Amy shifting to.

"I lost count, I know of 3." Leadfoot shrugged. "Seemed he saw ahead what most didn't." The old wrecker took a moment, digging in subspace before retrieving a small green thing and something else-which turned out to be a small apple and bottle of water.

"Here lil spark, ya look like could use this."

As expected there was no real movement from the back of Crosshairs' neck right away. Though the red mech could see Amy just peeking out after a minute. It was Crosshairs that reached out, sliding the tips of his talons back to be blunted looking as he grabbed the offerings, his other hand reached up. Wiggling blunted claws, "Its safe ta' come out."

Amy shifted around, gripping the muscle cables she was against, trying hard to use that to hide the shaking. A little confused, a lot worried of why she was not stopping doing that. But then...Amy had never run through a forest like that. Not even when trailing after Crosshairs. In fact she had not hurt anything like this since... since getting away and running from Him... She shivered a little more and in turn felt Crosshairs' energy flaring and wrapping tightening around her unseen in response. The girl able to feel both reassurance and affection, and in turn Amy started to calm down some more and move to peer at the beckoning, large hand.

Leadfoot tilted his head, arching an optic ridge under his visor, but even as he stood up right again the older wrecker made no comment. Letting Crosshairs coax his charge down into open hands again to get the treat. Or what Leadfood guessed was a treat to humans. Or in this case a peace offering to the youngling as much as her protector, "Yea alone with the lass out here Crosshairs?"

"No. Not exactly. Three other Autobots are running around." Crosshairs said, tilting his head at the forest around them in general. He did not let Amy back up her riding/hiding spot just yet. Not until she was done eating and getting some energy back. Plus he did not want Amy eating on his neck cables. Not that the girl was a messy eater, very neat and considerate of the mechs in fact.

He could also get another good look at the girl sitting in his palm. Now that he was not ready to shot the other Wrecker if he had hurt his charge. Crosshairs finally looked up and the other, "How far is this bolt hole?"

"Not far, about a half local mile," Leadfoot pointed with a talon, letting go of Stealjaw's head and took a few steps, glancing back. The black and red mech did not need to, as Crosshairs vented a sigh like sound again but started after Leadfoot. Having some energon, even if it was compressed and some space to move around without worrying about being spotted or hunted was too tempting to pass up. Thus why he had stayed, well, semi close to Bumblebee and them.

"Alright let's find this place," Crosshairs said, almost keeping his normal stride, at least until catching up to Leadfoot before having to modify it to keep pace to the older mech's limb. He held his human sparkling against his front and slightly to the right side. Crosshairs glanced down, feeling Amy move a bit, resting and holding on to a seam in the armor with her own free hand, the apple long since gone but holding the water bottle. Amy was more sitting on Crosshairs' wrist, with her legs and feet in his palm, not protesting as blunted claws wrapped over her legs.

Crosshairs looked up, stopped just short of running into a tree branch at his optic level. The mech glared at the offending branch, and moved it out of his way, ignoring Leadfoot chuckling at him. "This bolt hole better bee a working base. I want a wash rack."

"There should be one lad," Leadfoot said, his voice too confident to give away that he was half guessing. "'Hide said this was a fully stocked on. Or what bolt holes like these count as fully stocked. How far away are the bots?"

"How far are the 'Cons?" Crosshairs asked back, successfully dodging offending branches before they could smack him. He already had earthy grit one and in his shoulders from being knocked over, and not even a day after that rinse off. "Close enough ta pick up on a ping?"

"Pick up on, likely don't have two credits worth o' sense to make use o' it with Jolt around." Leadfoot snorted, using the cover of his visor to glance at Amy. The visor was a calmer mix of blue-greens at the moment, though some purple shine edge in with the glare of sunlight on it as they walked. "Give 'em a ping, they might be closer ta the entrance."

"An' if the Decepticons are closer?" Crosshairs half asked but grinned as he was keeping his left hand free. Well able to use both hands to aim and hit any target.

"That's what yea'r fer lad, an' Stealjaw." Leadfoot snorted, glancing over and smirked despite himself as he used a tree to help him move as much as his improvised cane. The younger of the tree's creaked and shivered with the stress more than the older growth. It also explained the pattern Crosshairs had seen above on the mountain. "an' what your armor pocket is fer, with that lil' thing ta free yea'r hands."

The paratrooper snorted at that, though subtlety shifting his hand to rub the side of his thumb against the side Amy's leg. She grasped the blunted claw and return, still trying to keep the shaking to stop, though it was not quite as bad as when she was huddled against his neck. Primus he needed to get her down in the bolt hole as much as himself. At least there nothing too unexpected would happen. Even with Jolt around she should have some time to recover, and Crosshairs had enough supplies for a good long time for her in subspace.

Crosshairs huffed, shaking his head but took a moment to put together a quick message. This time, as there were Decepticons apparently nearby (possibly already being taken care of?), Crosshairs made a quick text burst. Using Cybertronian glyphs for 'Allies found. Decepticons spotted. Safe found.' even if it when over Hound and Drift's heads, Bumblebee should still be smart enough to figure it out. There was no way in Unicron's pits he was going to risk Decepticons finding out about the bolt hole. As much as Crosshairs would like a fight, even he could see that constantly defending a base in the ground from Deceptions would draw attention. Nor would he want to loose the resources.

Amy yawned.

Crosshairs sent the ping out, closing his fingers around the girl's legs again before relaxing the hand. Primus he was far too attached for his own good.

Reviews [holy scrap I'm trying to do this again]:

MareDattebayo:
Thank you for the nice review! Leadfoot... well he's gonna get a moment for sure, just not right this instent XD But there will be moments soon...soon... and yes, it might be fun working on Crosshairs' point of view, maybe in a flashback/back mention though. And I do like building the relationship slowly too.

Necrisha:
Thank you very much [or welcome back?] as I said in the pm, shutouts/cammeos are normally just for closer friends as of right now. But I'm so happy you like my stories, and this one.

Wolfimus prime:
...can I have some popcorn too?

DeadlyNightshade97:
I'm happy you liked it! The grumpy Wrecker grandpa's not having the best of days. [Also, Crosshairs is very cool]

Regan:
.o. thank you, I'm glad you liked it! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. [Amy's a smart little cookie once she's not in a fear lock. but she's reaaaaally sheltered... so why not mimic the mech that's talking care of her?]

Added note: ...also. Beware of Jolt. [evil writer's laughter is muffled in a pillow]