Morning feels oddly routine when Ellie gets up and wakes her kids to get ready for school. Neither of them ask about their unexpected new guest but Ellie suspects it's because they are not fully awake yet. She helps Charlie get dressed and gets his school stuff together when Maddie appears in the doorway and finally asks, "How is he?"

Assuming she's referring to the Autobot Ellie frowns, "I don't know, honey, I haven't checked on him yet."

"Can I?"

"No," she says right away. Maddie frowns too so Ellie goes on, "I told you I don't want you or Charlie near him right now, Maddie. He's... really unstable. That makes him dangerous and I don't want to risk either of you getting hurt, okay?"

Maddie nods and slips into the bathroom without another word. Once Charlie is set Ellie brings him downstairs for breakfast, Maddie joining them a few minutes later, her backpack over her shoulder. Last night's deep researching on a particular Autobot means that Ellie had gone to bed much later than usual, which in turn caused her to sleep in a bit. Maddie's middle school starts in twenty five minutes, so pop tarts are going to have to do today. As they wolf down the sugary food Ellie leans over the island, signing while she speaks.

"Can you guys do something for me?" She glances briefly at the back door before continuing, "You guys know that we have an Autobot. You also know that we're not supposed to have one."

"Don't say anything," Maddie chirps with a mouthful of strawberry poptart. She swallows and nods, "I know, Mom. I won't say a thing."

Ellie turns to her son, who's gnawing down on his blueberry breakfast, "Charlie? You can't say anything about the Autobot, okay? You know why?"

Charlie looks up at her and nods vigorously, dropping his pop tart he can sign, 'It's i...l...l...e...'

She's surprised that Charlie is trying to fingerspell out the word 'illegal'. It's a big word for a little boy and she's not sure where he could have picked it up. She waits until Charlie makes a face and stops trying to spell the word before she nods.

"I-l-l-e-g-a-l," Ellie finishes the word for him with a small smile, "You're right, Charlie, it is illegal. Do you know what that means?"

'We get in big trouble,' Charlie signs.

"Right. And you should never ever do anything illegal. That's very bad to do. But this is special, because..." Ellie pauses there, "because..."

"Because it's not supposed to be illegal," Maddie finishes, meeting her mother's eyes. She taps her brother so he looks at her and she signs steadily, "Illegal stuff is bad stuff. But we're not doing anything bad. We're doing good, right Mom?"

Impressed at how easily her daughter is able to explain the situation Ellie nods, "Yes. But not everyone thinks it's good, so that's why you can't tell anyone, okay Charlie?"

Charlie looks up at her and beams, 'Okay. No tell.'


After Ellie drives her kids to school she decides on stopping by the gas station. She remembers Crosshairs's request for gasoline and brings along two big empty gas cans from the house garage. She's not sure what he plans to do with it but she hopes two cans of it is enough, one reason being that he's one very big Cybertronian and the other being that it's really expensive.

Unfortunately Ellie had not thought this through completely and as she fills up the second can she quickly realizes that it's going to take a lot of strength to carry these into her trunk. She decides to attempt one at a time but even then she only makes it to the back of her car before having to set it down. How in the world is she going to be able to lift these up into her trunk, let alone carry them to the separate garage?

"Excuse me," a voice says behind her "Would you like some help?"

Ellie turns around to see a man staring at her on the other side of the gas pump. He looks relatively young and is a little on the small side, barely a few inches taller than her and lean in body shape. Not skinny, but not muscular either. His handsome Asian features are contorted with worry and curiosity but Ellie can spot a hint of amusement in his eyes and tone. She laughs, vaguely embarrassed, "Yes please, if you don't mind. They're a bit too heavy for me."

He has the barest hint of a smirk as he comes over without a word. With seemingly no effort he picks up the gas can and places it into her trunk. Ellie watches, a bit amazed as he lifts the second can and deposits it as if it doesn't weigh much at all. She places her hands on her hips and chuckles, "Wow, you're pretty strong."

"Were you assuming I was weak?" the man asks with a raised brow.

"Oh, no! Not at all, just..." Ellie loosely gestures at the cans, "Full gas cans aren't really easy for anyone to lift up, you know?"

He nods slowly, the tiny smirk still pulling at his lips, and then he remarks, "Well, not many people fill up two full cans of gas. That is a lot."

"Oh, I just like to stock up this time of the year," Ellie says while mustering the most convincing smile she can, "With the cold season coming and all."

"Ah, I see," the man nods again. His eyes -which are a rather stunning and uncanny shade of blue- flicker towards her gas cans just briefly before he smiles at her, "Well, I am happy to have helped."

"Yes, thank you..." Ellie trails off, prompting for a name.

"Dre," he says, accepting her hand when she reaches out and shakes it, "I'm Dre."

"Ellie," she replied, smiling politely, "Nice to meet you, Dre. And thank you again."

He nods and steadily treads backwards to his own car, "It was no problem, Miss Ellie. Now, if you would excuse me, I must... head out of DC. Have a lovely day."

"You, too," she offered him one last smile, which he returns, before they go their separate ways. Ellie gives the full gas cans a long stare before she takes a deep breath and closes her trunk. She'll figure it out when she gets home. In the corner of her eye she sees Dre's vehicle roll out. It's a white Nissan GTR.

Ellie waves as he leaves and muses quietly to herself as she climbs into her own car, "Hm. Nice guy."


Recharge doesn't come to him easily, if at all. What memories he's lost during the attack gradually come back in static laced images and audio. His processors ache with a never ending pain as they work to repair his mind. He can very faintly remember what had happened in DC. He sees familiar faces, human and Autobot. Some memories are less corrupted than others and are more clear as they come back.

There's a smile gracing the face plates of a young Autobot beside him. He pauses, taking his optic off of the scope of his firearm, "Fraggin' -stop staring, will you? It's distracting."

The gray Autobot just grins wider, "Sorry. I just like watching you shoot."

The younger mech raises his own sniper, a customized weapon marked with signature streaks of blue. He takes aim only to be stopped by a hand reaching out and adjusting him.

"Shoulders back. Straighten your struts. Doorwings firm. Shoot like that n' your barrel ain't gonna be straight," he pushes and nudges his more inexperienced companion until he's in proper position.

The gray Autobot glances at him sheepishly, "Sorry. I'm, uh, still learning."

"You'll get there, kiddo."

"You think?"

He smiles faintly, "I know."

He's ripped from the damaged space of his mind when he hears a door open. War-born instinct tears it's way to the forefront of his control and he's got a gun trained onto his potential assailant before they step through. Except the assailant is a vaguely familiar face who's eyes widen tenfold as she sees the heated end of his barrel.

"Whoa, hey! It's just me! Just me!" She drops whatever she was formerly struggling to haul in with her in favor of shooting her hands up in surrender. He stares at the human woman for a long moment. She's told him her name but it takes a bit for his ever-lagging processors to recall that information. Upon seeing that she isn't a threat he steadily lowers his loaded gun and continues to stare until he can finally pinpoint her designation.

"...Ellie."

She looks astonished, most likely because he spoke. He hasn't done much of that lately. He's never felt the need to until he can piece himself back together. But saying her name out loud, he finds, is somehow comforting. It's a verbal confirmation that she's here, that he's safe, and that he really is one of the few to walk away from DC alive. Barely, but alive. On that thought he runs a short diagnostic to check on his condition. It's not much better and his low fuel levels don't help.

"Yes, that's me," she says. Once he slowly sets his weapon down she releases a relieved breath and then picks up the full gas can she was holding before. With a wobbly gait that he finds almost amusing she hauls it over until it's within his reach. She huffs, "Ugh, well, here you go, big guy. I got your gas for you. No idea what you need it for, but-"

Whatever else she says is muted to him as soon as he reaches for the can. He wrenches the top off with a sharp twist and eagerly brings it to his mouth with the famine of a starved animal. Generic gasoline -not nearly as efficient as the fuels they'd developed in N.E.S.T. for the Autobots in the absence of energon, but it's going to have to do. It's taste is almost vile enough to upset his already sensitive tank but he forces it all down for the sake of increasing his fuel levels. His self-repair isn't going to function properly, or at all, otherwise. Faintly he hears the disgusted sputtering of the human female nearby.

"Oh -Jesus! That is just..." she turns away and waves her hands, "You could have warned me before doing that! Gross..."

Once he consumes the gasoline he slouches, grimacing as his tank lurches. When it feels as though it's mostly settled down he groans slowly and then addresses the woman with a heavy glossa and voice, "You... got any more?"

She nods while still looking mildly disturbed by his unconventional use of the gas. But she slips out right away and drags in a second full can without a protesting word. Again she brings it over and again he twists it open and brings the can to his lip plates, taking the fuel down slower this time.

"I really hope you don't require this, like, every day," she remarks, "Gas is expensive, you know."

He decides not to reply to that and instead vents in deeply. It hurts, making him wince slightly. His fuel levels have reached about 67%, not enough to feel comfortably full but enough to initiate his self-repair nanites. The gasoline leaves a repugnant aftertaste on his glossa. He feels like he's going to purge again.

"...Crosshairs."


His head snaps down to her so quickly that it seems to make him dizzy. Ellie swallows the nervous lump in her throat and asks gently, "That's your name, right? Crosshairs?"

She can see his armor clench as he tenses. It's an intriguing defense mechanism.

"How do you know that?" He rumbles lowly.

Ellie isn't sure if she should answer, but seeing that she has no real way to lie about it she says honestly, "N.E.S.T.'s files got leaked into the internet. I... did some investigating. Looked through the Autobot profiles. Found yours."

"Leaked...?"

"Uh, yeah. Look, don't ask me how it happened, they're just out there. Some say the government did it," she shrugs, "I... read a little about how you guys function. Apparently you can tap into the internet so if you want to see for yourself, you can."

He pauses for a long moment, leaving Ellie to believe that he just might be tuning into the world wide web in this moment. His eyes grow slightly dim, but then he flinches and groans, his large hands reaching up to what she can assume are his temples. He stays like that for and few minutes before mumbling in a strained voice, "Hurts."

"Hurts?" Ellie repeats, a little confused.

Crosshairs shakes his head and grits his... metal teeth. Ellie's not sure what to call them. He leans back, "Can't... processor's fragged. Hurts to use it."

"...Don't, then," she offers, unsure how to go about giving a damaged Autobot moral support but still willing to try, "You shouldn't strain yourself. I'm sure that's just as bad for you guys as it is for humans. Just... try to relax, maybe?"

He drops his hands and she watches him, surprisingly, take in a deep breath. He doesn't exhale, the air blows out from some other vents in his body. It looks as though he's really trying hard to do what Ellie had advised, only it's not working as great as he was hoping. Rather, it looks like he's one step away from another mental breakdown. She can see the faint tremors just slightly wracking his armor.

"I know this is a really stupid question, but, are you okay?"

"...No," Crosshairs curls into himself a little more and half-whimpers, "No."

Ellie decides to go another route. She bites her lip and then asks carefully, "Did the gasoline, uh, help?"

That seems to get a better response. Crosshairs eases up a little and slowly nods, mumbling, "Raised my fuel levels a bit. I'll start healing now."

"Healing?" Ellie blurts without thinking, "You can heal?"

He looks at her like she's just asked the single most ridiculous question in the world, causing Ellie to wince at her own words, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean offense. It's just... surprising to know that you can heal."

Crosshairs's tone grows bitter, "Yeah, well, contrary to what you fraggin' humans like to believe, we ain't just a bunch of machinery."

He spits the word like it's a curse. Ellie can see the pain of betrayal on his face and her heart continues to sink, "If I thought you were just a machine, I would have turned you in by now."

He looks at her then, his glowing blue eyes shining with apprehension, "Why didn't you?"

Ellie stares, taking the time to piece together her answer before speaking. She asks, "Do you think, Crosshairs?"

"What?"

"Do you think?" She prompts, "Is that something you're capable of?"

He looks more than a little put off by Ellie's question. Despite the fact that he's not catching on, he still nods hesitantly.

Ellie steps closer to him, "Do you feel?"

Crosshairs tilts his head, but nods again. Ellie smiles sadly, "Then you're alive. You're a living being, just like me. It doesn't matter if you're made of metal if you have sentience and you can feel pain. Some inferior race shouldn't decide if you get to live or die. That's how I see it."

He looks away and remains silent. He shifts as if he's not quite sure how to comprehend her answer. Eventually he shakes his head, "They're saying it's our fault, ain't they?"

"Yes," she says quietly, "They're... saying that the Autobots attacked first. That they retaliated against the CIA when they tried to shut N.E.S.T. down."

His face falls into his hands, "'S not true. We didn't attack. We didn't."

Ellie nods, "I believe you."

Crosshairs looks at her and there's an expression on his face that she can't pinpoint. After a moment Ellie breaks eye contact and clears her throat awkwardly. Curiosity eventually gets to her and she asks tentatively, "Do... do you remember what happened? At DC?"

"...No," he shakes his head, winces again, and his eyes land on the floor with a frustrated huff, "I see... flashes, sometimes. Bits n' pieces of what happened. Fraggin' explosions... damaged everything. I try to remember, but..."

"Short term memory loss. Yeah, I can see that. Again, don't strain yourself over it," Ellie says, trying to be as comforting as possible, "I'm sure it'll all come back to you eventually."

They meet eyes again one last time before a shrill ring shatters the short silence. It makes both of them jump and Crosshairs is instantly gripping at a weapon when Ellie waves her hand frantically while pulling out the source of the noise, "Hey, it's okay, it's just my phone!"

She internally chastises herself for thinking that bringing her phone was was a good idea, but luckily Crosshairs seems to trust her word enough to relax his grasp on his gun. He still, however, glares at her cell phone like it's a grenade ready to detonate. Ellie checks the number, curses to herself and then throws the Autobot an apologetic glance before backing out of the garage, "Sorry. I've, uh, got to take this. I won't say anything, I promise. Be right back!"

With that she quickly slips out of the garage and answers her phone, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before putting on a smile and addressing her caller, "Hey, Jenny."

"Hey, girlie," her sister's voice is as friendly and energetic as Ellie remembers, "How are things over yonder?"

"Oh... great," Ellie replies, "Kids are doing good in school, job is going well. Although... the restaurant I work at is closed for now since it's so close to the whole DC incident..."

The lack of work is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, since the time off allows for her to get her head around how to deal with Crosshairs's unexpected appearence into her around her kids' lives. A curse, since the lack of income might be a problem down the road, especially if Crosshairs happens to require more super expensive gas runs. Her decent monthly checks from her ex-husband will only help so far when there's an Autobot fugitive to account for.

"That's kind of why I wanted to call you, actually," Her sister says, causing Ellie to stop walking towards the house, "With all that's going on, I can't help but feel you and the kids could be in danger over there. You know, with all the Autobot and CIA shenanigans going on."

"Oh, pfft. We're fine, Jen, I promise," Ellie says, "We're far enough away that it's not like any of that is going to be dragged here. I live in the middle of the freakin' woods, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just worry about you, El," Jenny huffs a short laugh, "Heck, can you imagine if one of those big guys ended up at your house? Talk about terrifying, am I right?"

"Yeah..." Ellie forces out a laugh while simultaneously trying her best not to panic inside. Her eyes glance back at the garage that just so happens to hold within it exactly what her sister just described, "That would be... an interesting experience."

A short silence ensues, until she hears Jenny sigh through the call and say, "I wish you'd come here, Ellie. You know Alex and I will take you and the kids in a heartbeat. We have plenty of room and I promise Nevada isn't as bad as people say it is-"

"I can't, Jenny," Ellie shakes her head, "I've been planning on taking the kids and moving there, but..."

"But what? What's wrong?"

She finds herself once again looking back at the garage, "...Nothing, Jen, it's just... things changed. There's something I have to take care of first."

"You worry me, Ellie."

"You always worry about me."

"Just... please tell me this 'something' isn't anything that's super serious and could get you in trouble."

Oh trust me, this'll land me in federal prison, she wants to say. Instead, she goes with, "No guarantees."

"I swear to God, El, I'll buy a ticket and fly across this country so damn fast-"

Ellie interrupts, "Hey, just trust me, okay? I know what I'm doing."

No, Ellie, you have absolutely no idea what you're getting yourself into, her mind whispers. She promptly decides to ignore it. Jenny huffs at the other end, "I hope so. This isn't about that dickwad Thomas, is it? That sack of shit better not be causing you problems-"

"No, Jenny, I promise it has nothing to do with him," she quickly reassures, before her very protective older sister decides to go through on her previous threat, "It's... something I can't really talk about right now. Not until I... get it straightened out. Just trust me. Can you do that for me?"

"I'll always trust you, Ellie. I just hope you're making the right decisions."

"I am," she says, more as a confirmation for herself rather than her sister, "I am."

"...Alright. Well, I just wanted to check in on you, make sure my little sister is still alive," Jenny chuckles, "Alex just got off work and the hubby's going to be hungry when he gets home. It's either spaghetti or lasagna, I haven't decided yet."

Ellie laughs, "You should probably start dinner, then."

"Yeah. Hey, tell the kiddos I said hi, okay? And give them a squeeze for me. They're getting so big."

"I definitely will," Ellie says with a small smile. Once she and her sister say goodbye and end the call Ellie takes a deep breath to steady herself. She half humorously wonders who's going to kill her first; the government or her sister? Hopefully she won't have to determine the answer to that question.


Hmm, I wonder who that could have been. Posting this chapter early since I'll be super busy Monday and I don't want to forget to post.

Reviews are always appreciated and loved!