When Ellie wakes up early in the morning she treads downstairs for her cup of coffee. With the kids still out of school until DC calms down, she decides to let them sleep in for a bit. She's waiting on her pot to finish brewing when she glances through the living room and spots the front door cracked open.

With her face contorted in confusion Ellie abandons the kitchen to check on it. She opens the door to see her daughter sitting on the front steps, draped in a thick blanket.

"Maddie!" Ellie rushes outside without a thought to the freezing temperatures, kneeling down to grab Maddie's attention, "Honey, what are you doing out here in the cold? You'll get sick!"

"I was waiting for Crosshairs," Maddie replies innocently.

"Waiting for him?" Ellie frowns, "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"He left last night and-"

"Crosshairs left?" Ellie says in mild alarm. Maddie nods affirmatively. The woman shakes her head for a moment and decides to prioritize the issue at hand, "Here, come inside, sweetie. I don't want you out here. We'll talk about in the kitchen, okay? I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Ellie brings her daughter inside, frowning when she sees that Maddie only has her pajamas on underneath the blanket. Her daughter's face isn't very red though, telling her that Maddie probably hasn't been outside for very long. A good thing.

Maddie sits at the island while her mother prepares some hot chocolate along with her brewing coffee. Ellie glances through the window, and frowns again at the sight of the open, empty garage. So he's finally done it. Left without saying goodbye. Goodness, how is she going to break this to Charlie?

"How long were you out there, Maddie?"

"Not very long," her daughter shrugs, "Maybe a few minutes? I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to wait for Crosshairs to come back."

Ellie looks over her shoulder, "Did he tell you he's coming back?"

"He promised."

She turns back to the coffee machine, internally cursing that Autobot. Big bastard better not break his promise and devastate my kids.

"He said that there's something he had to do," Maddie goes on, "I don't know what, though. Maybe he wanted to take a drive? He does that sometimes."

"I don't know, sweetheart, but if he promised you he's coming back then we're going to have to count on it," Ellie says, determined to keep a positive attitude for the sake of her daughter. With a smile she places a hot cup of hot chocolate in front of Maddie, "Now drink this, it'll help you warm up."

Charlie wakes up at around ten in the morning. As usual he's a little drowsy for the first half hour. Crosshairs still isn't home, so Ellie struggles not to let her sadness show when her son looks up from his cereal and signs with big pleading eyes, 'Outside soon?'

Forcing a smile Ellie slowly shakes her head, 'Too cold right now... C-r-o-s-s-h-a-i-r-s is taking a drive.'

Charlie's face falls a little bit but he nods in understanding and continues to eat. By noon he's asking when their Autobot guest is coming back, and each time Ellie has to sign to him to be patient and that she isn't sure when he's coming back. Each time she can see him growing sad and her heart clenches. Maddie is almost always watching the living room window.

Ellie realizes now just how much Crosshairs has become integrated into their lives. For weeks now he's stayed here, kept her kids and herself company, and even made her feel safer than she ever had before. Maybe that's because he's an Autobot, and they're sworn protectors by nature. In any case it's beginning to feel more and more empty without him around.

It's sometime in the afternoon, while Ellie is watching the news and Charlie is playing with Legos on the floor, that Maddie suddenly squeaks in delight. She's hopping in place and declaring, "He's back! Mom, he came back!"

Ellie doesn't even have the chance to sit up before her daughter is tearing the front door open. Maddie more wisely grabs her thick winter coat on the nearby coat hanger this time and runs outside while still trying to put it on.

Goodness, I swear she's going to get sick, she muses. But as she gets up she can hear the sound of a car engine roaring into her driveway. It sounds... much louder than she remembers.

Charlie's seen his sister's excitement and Ellie knows she isn't going to be able to keep him inside either, so she stuffs him into his own winter coat before grabbing her own and following Maddie outside. Her eyes widen at the sight before her.

Maddie is laughing in joy as the black Corvette quiets down into something like a purr and rolls into her, gently bumping her knees. Maddie splays her palms over the hood, "I knew you'd come back! I knew it!"

Charlie elicits a rare noise of pure happiness too, taking off like a bullet and plastering himself into the Corvette -the shiny, brand new, 2014 Corvette.

If a car could look happy, Ellie thinks Crosshairs best represents that in this moment. She's not sure how but he looks quite content with a couple of human children practically all over him. Ellie's head is reeling that she's no longer looking at a '98 Corvette and ushers her kids to give him space as she walks off of the front porch, "Crosshairs? What did... how did you...?"

He backs away a few feet and then transforms. The previous shape of his body has been long abandoned and Ellie feels like she's not looking at the same Autobot who's lived with them for so long. His shape is more lithe; tall and lean like his holoform. His broad torso narrows down into a similarly narrow waist -which now adorns what Ellie can only determine is a... metallic trenchcoat?

"...This is Crosshairs I'm looking at, right?"

He laughs, a familiar gritty voice that confirms that this is her same Autobot. Crosshairs kneels down and Ellie can't help but to stare at the coat as it bends easily like it's truly some sort of fabric. The kids rush to him eagerly and grab onto his fingers as he lowers his hand to them.

"Whoa," Maddie beams, "You look awesome!"

"So this what you went out to do, huh?" Ellie says, crossing her arms with amusement, "Car shopping?"

Crosshairs nods, "Figured after the officer thing... needed a better cover. Took me all fra-freakin' night, but 's better to make sure I ain't recognizable, y'know?"

"...Where did you even find a brand new Corvette to turn into?"

"Chevy dealership," Crosshairs answers as if it's the most obvious answer in the world. Ellie blinks, then simply decides not to ponder on how exactly Crosshairs broke into a dealership without anyone seeing. The important thing is that he's here.

"You've gotta let us ride in you!" Maddie hops excitedly, "Please, can we go for a ride?"

"Maddie..." Ellie begins, but Crosshairs transformers again before she can finish. His doors pop open and his engine revs.

"What're we waitin' for?"

Ellie sighs, but smiles as she watches her kids eagerly climb into the black Corvette. She's never been much of a car person, but even she has to admire the sleek shape of Crosshairs's newer model. The Autobot revs his engine again and inches towards her, obviously urging her to join them. Ellie shakes her head in amusement but eventually walks over the climbs into the passenger's seat.

"Do you know where we're going?" She asks as he buckles in.

"Nope," he answers, his holoform sitting in the driver's seat, "Just wanna drive for a while."

Maddie leans forward between their seats, "Can we go to the park? We haven't been there in forever."

Ellie hesitates at that. Technically it's open, since things have calmed down regarding the James River docks attack. There's nothing that says they can't go there -other than the fact that they have an Autobot to cover for. And that the local park is only an hour or so away from where N.E.S.T.'s destroyed headquarters are. She doesn't think bringing Crosshairs so close to that area after having survived it is a good idea.

But Crosshairs just shrugs his shoulders, "Fine by me. Gonna be a couple hours to get there, though."

Ellie touches his arm, concern filling her, "Are you sure? I don't know if that's... you know, after what happened..."

He shakes his head, "'S fine. Won't bother me."

"Okay..." she decides not to push it. If he feels comfortable enough to drive somewhat close to where he'd nearly died, then so be it. It's not as though they're going to see the headquarters. It's far enough from where they're going.

Crosshairs's holoform is glancing at her in the driver's seat. Ellie smiles, but her eyes rake over him and she frowns. He's wearing the default clothing that she normally sees him in -dark green T-Shirt, jeans and black boots. Not the type of clothing one would be wearing during winter.

"Um, wait, one second. Before we go-" Ellie climbs out and runs back into the house. It's a good thing she does. She grabs her purse and her phone, since it's been established that they're actually going on a trip, before she goes upstairs and into her room. She rummages through the back of her closet until she finds the box she's looking for.

A few minutes later she plops back into Crosshairs, sighs, and slaps a brown men's leather coat into his lap, "Put that on."

Crosshairs fumbles with it, caught off guard, "What, why?"

"Because if we're going out into public, you'll need to look as inconspicuous as possible," Ellie explains, twirling a finger at him, "And wearing nothing but a t-shirt in forty-something degree weather isn't going to help."

He eyes the coat for a moment, then grunts and slips it on. Ellie tries hard not to think about how good it looks on him. Especially since that coat once belonged to someone she would rather not think about. She had been meaning to take that entire box to donate somewhere, but with Crosshairs around maybe she'll keep it.

As he pulls and adjusts it she asks, "Does it fit okay?"

"Think so," he nods affirmatively, but Ellie can see when he zips it that the coat hugs him just a little tightly. Not enough to be uncomfortable, but enough to emphasize his holoform's well built frame in a way that Ellie really wishes it wouldn't.

She sighs, "Good. I have a box of... of my ex's clothes that he'd left behind years ago. You're a little bigger than him, so I was a worried it wouldn't fit. Oh-! And, here-"

Ellie pulls out a pair of dark aviators and hands them to him, "Put those on, too."

Crosshairs raises a brow.

"...It's to hide your eyes."

"'S wrong with my eyes?"

"Nothing, Crosshairs. I just don't want to take any chances."

His gaze flicks between her and the sunglasses a few times before he puts them on without a word of protest. Ellie struggles to hide her amusement as he blinks a few times, clearly never having worn the accessory before. Maddie peaks her head between them, "I think they make you look super cool."

Ellie laughs and she catches Crosshairs smiling too as they pull out of the driveway and towards the local park.

The first hour of the drive is mostly quiet. Charlie and Maddie are sharing the tablet Ellie had nabbed before they left and Ellie herself stares through the window while Crosshairs's holoform keeps up the illusion that he's driving, well, himself.

The silence begins to eat at her, though. With a glance to his holoform Ellie asks, a little shyly, "Hey, uh, is it okay if I turn on the radio?"

Crosshairs shrugs, "Sure."

The radio turns on abruptly, startling her. Goodness, it's easy to forget sometimes that Crosshairs is both the man beside her and the car itself. Almost immediately, the radio blares on a news channel that, as usual, is discussing DC, N.E.S.T., and the Autobots. Ellie quickly turns the dial. She catches his holoform stiffening just slightly but he says nothing.

For the last bit of the drive Ellie idly messes with the radio until she settles on a channel playing older music. Crosshairs's holoform shifts uncomfortably every now and then and finally Ellie asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just..." he looks at her, seemingly unsure of how to put his response, "Ain't really used to... bein' messed with. Feels weird."

"Oh-" she stops fiddling with the radio, having completely forgotten that he's able to feel everything she does, "Sorry, I kind of forgot... about that."

Crosshairs huffs in amusement, "'S fine, just not used to humans in my cab."

"Really?" She raises a brow, "You never, like, transported soldiers on missions and stuff?"

He shook his head, "Some 'Bots didn't like 'fleshies' enough to carry 'em around. I was, uh, one of those 'Bots. Didn't used to like the thought of a bunch of humans squrimin' around in my cab."

Ellie frowns, "Oh... I mean, if you don't want us riding in you-"

"Doll, if I didn't want it, I wouldn't have offered. Stop worryin'," Crosshairs says, shaking his head in exasperation. Ellie smiles bashfully and looks away, "Sorry, I do that a lot."

"I noticed," Crosshairs says. They exchange a glance at each other, Ellie softly blushing and Crosshairs finding the pink dust to her cheeks simply endearing. At that thought he looks to the road again, trying his best to ignore the strange feeling in his spark, and what it could mean.


The park is a comfortable balance between 'not crowded' and 'not completely empty'. There's a considerable amount of people walking around despite the cooler temperatures but it's not too overrun like it usually is when they come here during the summer.

Ellie and Crosshairs follow the paved path that wraps around the park's frozen lake. Maddie and Charlie are close by, playing tag with some other children in the field. It doesn't escape Ellie how Crosshairs consistently looks their way, monitoring where Charlie and Maddie are at all times. On top of that she catches him turning his head every so often, undoubtedly keeping track of the people around him. She wonders whether his paranoia is because of DC, because he's a soldier, or simply because it's his personality.

"Hey," she nudges him, "Relax, big guy. No one here is out to get you."

He huffs and stuffs his hands into his coat pockets, "Sorry. Force of habit."

"I figured," Ellie smiles. She sees a bench and decides to pull him over to it, urging the restless Autobot to sit down with her. They watch the children run around for a quiet moment, then Ellie turns to him and asks, "So... on your home planet, did you guys ever have places like these? Parks? Social gatherings?"

Crosshairs seems momentarily put off from the sudden question, but he hums in thought and nods slowly, "Kind of. Depended on the city. Some were more military oriented. Others, more like cities on Earth. We had public areas, for the most part. Marketplaces, academies, clubs, transportation, streets..."

He trails off when Charlie falls over in the grass. He's laughing, though, which puts them both at ease. Ellie nods as she watches him scramble up and chase another little boy, then glances back at Crosshairs. She notices that he seems to be more at ease when talking about home, so she decides to continue on the topic, "What city are you from?"

"Iacon," he answers, still watching the children, "Was one of the biggest cities on Cybertron. Became the Autobot's capital city when the war started..."

A soccer ball comes flying their way. Ellie squeaks and jerks away as it smacks the back of the bench in the space between them. Her startled eyes fly to the older kids who had been playing with it. Maddie laughs among them, "Sorry, Mom!"

"It's okay," she says, laughing it off. She turns and sees Crosshairs failing to suppress a smile and smacks his shoulder, "Hey, I almost lost my head, you dingus!"

"Right," he says, amused. He picks the ball up and tosses it back to the kids. After a moment he leans forward and watches them with a thoughtful, almost longing expression, "I, uh, lived in the outskirts of Iacon. Small town area, wasn't too crowded. There was this empty sector that younglin's used to mess around at." He exhales in amusement as he recalls the memory, "Used to yell at 'em to get lost. Always were too loud behind our shop."

Ellie smirks as she tries to imagine such a scene, "You sound like the grumpy old man who lived on the corner."

"Nah, that was my sire," Crosshairs says with a short chuckle, "Old fragger was scarier than I'll ever be. Always sent everybot runnin'."

"Sire is your dad, right?"

Crosshairs nods, "We got sires 'n carriers. Sire's the one who, y'know, sired. Carriers are the ones who gestated."

Ellie nods, trying to understand the Cybertronian terminologies. She tilts her head, "So does that mean your carrier was, like, your mom? Since she's the one who... 'gestated' you?"

Crosshairs looks at her with another entirely amused smirk. She's not sure what he finds so funny but it becomes clear when he replies, "Kinda. 'Cept my carrier was a 'he', doll."

Ellie blinks, "...Oh. So you're saying..."

He leans back against the bench, seeming very entertained by Ellie trying to wrap her head around it. "My creators were both mechs. Don't matter if we're mechs or femmes, all Cybertronians have gestation chambers."

"Wow, that's actually really intriguing," Ellie says with a curious tilt of her head. It hasn't come across her how Cybertronians handle reproduction and how different it is. It's odd imagining that Crosshairs is technically just as capable of 'conception' as a female of his kind, but she supposes as human, such a concept is naturally usual for her. Human males definitely can't do that.

"...I guess sexual orientation isn't really an issue for you guys then, is it?"

Crosshairs shakes his head, "Not like it is for you fleshies. Femmes are rare, 's almost more natural to see mechs together."

Ellie hums thoughtfully, "A society where no one judges each other for who they want to love. Sounds nice. In fact, your culture in general sounds much more functional than our own, in all honesty."

"Not really," he says with a slight frown, "We destroyed our own planet."

Ellie reels, "You what? Really?"

"Wouldn't be on Earth otherwise," he says in a more serious tone. He looks away and watches the children. Ellie suddenly feels horrible for even mentioning his home planet. War is a universal language, it seems, and the fact that it's what destroyed Crosshairs's home makes it all the more saddening. He really, truly, has lost everything.

She takes his hand in her own and says softly, "I'm sorry, Crosshairs. I... never realized just how much you've lost."

"...Y'know, Prime always told us that there ain't no victory without sacrifice. That sometimes we've gotta lose in order to win," Crosshairs pulls his aviators off and examines them idly. His blue eyes are stunning in the daylight. He meets her gaze, "'M just tryin' to remind myself of that. DC, N.E.S.T, Bluestreak... they've gotta be gone for a reason."

"Having faith," she mumbles, "That's a good way to look at it."

"'S the only way I can look at it," Crosshairs slips the aviators back on before looking to her again, "'M centuries old, doll, 'n I'm a soldier. I've lost a lot even before this slag. Lost my home town to a bunch of fraggin' 'Cons. Lost both creators to a spark defect. Lost my planet to war. Lost more comrades than I could count in all the fightin'. Loss ain't anything new to me, but this is the first time I felt... I dunno, alone."

"You're not alone, Crosshairs," Ellie says immediately. Without a second thought she gently squeezes his hand, still held in her own, "I know it may feel like that, and I know I'm just some little human woman who's letting you live in her garage, but I'm here. I may not be able to understand things the way you do, but if you ever need to, you can talk to me. Remember that, okay?"

He hesitates for a moment and glances down at his hand in hers. A little awkwardly, Ellie lets go, not having realized how intimate it looked. She fights the rush of blood to her face as he looks at her and gives a sort of half-smile, "Can't say I'm much of a talker but... thanks, doll."

Ellie nods silently and turns back to the children, just in time to see a nearby older woman walking a rather large German Shepard. The canine zeroes in on Charlie as the little boy falls to the ground with the soccer ball in his lap and lunges, tearing itself free from its owner and sprinting across the field.

Surging to her feet in blind panic, Ellie scrambles to run to her son. But Crosshairs beats her to it, launching off of the bench so quickly that he's practically a flash. Within seconds the Autobot reaches Charlie, who in turn jumps right into Crosshairs's arms and clings to his holoform with terrified eyes. Crosshairs holds her son up and away as the dog comes charging for them.

Only, the Shepard doesn't attack them and instead eagerly goes for the fallen soccer ball in front of them, tail wagging happily.

"I am so sorry!" The woman says, running over. She grabs her Shepard's leash and hauls him back to her. The dog whines and tries to reach the soccer ball, only for the woman to scold it and force it to sit beside her, "This beast has a thing for soccer balls. My granddaughter plays soccer and she always brings one when she visits me, so now my dog is completely obsessed with them. I promise he's a good boy, wouldn't hurt a fly."

Pleasantly relieved by the older woman's words, Ellie just nods while she reaches up to rub her son's back. Charlie is still holding tight to Crosshairs and stares at the panting Shepard warily, like he's expecting the animal to lunge at him at any second. Crosshairs is also staring at the canine with a distrustful frown.

"It's okay. My son is just afraid of big dogs," Ellie says.

"Yeah, I don't blame him. Buddy here looks mean, but like I said, he's very friendly," the woman scratches Buddy's ears for a moment and then smiles kindly at Crosshairs, "Good thing his daddy was so quick! I don't think I've ever seen someone move that fast. Paternal instinct is powerful, isn't it?"

Crosshairs glances unsurely at Ellie, who doesn't seem to know what to say in response. The woman goes on, saying something that has the two of them reeling even further.

"You know, your boy looks a lot like you. How lovely. My kids never looked much like my husband and I. Oh, well," the woman laughs to herself while both Ellie and Crosshairs look at Charlie, confused. Ellie supposes there's some resemblance, through tan skin complexion and brown hair, but Crosshairs definitely has sharper facial features and lacks curly hair, not to mention his bright blue eyes under the sunglasses, which are a stark contrast against Charlie's dark brown eyes.

"He's not, uh..." Crosshairs mumbles, then simply pulls his aviators off of his face, "...mine."

"Oh, I see. Step daddy, then?" The woman smiles, "Either way, I can tell you must make a great father. Especially with how quickly you reacted. That's nice, these days the kids don't always have such good parents, you know?"

If the woman notices the completely bewildered looks on their faces, she doesn't take notice. Ellie isn't sure if she should be amused by the look on Crosshairs's face or uncomfortable with the fact that this woman is assuming that she and Crosshairs are a couple. She supposes that his quick reaction with the Shepard doesn't help to quell that image, but Ellie would be lying if she said that she isn't touched by how quickly the Autobot rushed to save her child from potential danger.

As it would seem, the older woman, who's introduced herself as Meredith, sticks around for a little while longer. She's nice enough and Ellie doesn't mind idle conversation with the kind woman. Meredith manages to convince Charlie that Buddy most certainly isn't going to eat him, and after a little coaxing from Ellie, he lets go of Crosshairs and soon enough is playing with the happy canine with the soccer ball. The other kids, as well as Maddie, join him in playing with Buddy.

At one point, though, Ellie glances at Crosshairs standing off to the side and hears Meredith chuckle lightly. The older woman leans over and murmurs, "I must say, you have yourself one very handsome man over there."

Ellie sputters, "O-oh, well... we aren't... he isn't..."

Meredith waves her hand, "Oh honey, I get it. I didn't see any rings, so I figured it's not official. Hopefully soon though, right?" She nudges Ellie and winks. Ellie finds herself at a complete loss of words and struggles to fight the blush rising to her face. She really hopes that Crosshairs isn't close enough to overhear any of this.

"Uh, well..."

"Is he active duty?" Meredith asks, watching Crosshairs curiously, "He strikes me as military."

Ellie fumbles with her reply, "He was. Recently he, uh... retired."

"He won't be having to leave you anytime soon then, huh? How lovely," Meredith chuckles, "I can see the soldier in him. He keeps close watch on everything around him. Watches your kids closely, too. He looks a little tense."

Ellie nods, "I know. He's... well, he's been through a lot."

"Oh, I'm sure. The poor thing. Our soldiers sacrifice so much to protect us. I can't imagine what he's experienced," Meredith shakes her head, but nudges Ellie again and smiles, "But he has you. That's important. You do me a favor and hold on to him, you hear? A man like him needs a woman like you in his life."

Ellie glances unsurely at her.

"Take care of him, honey. You just might be the best thing that's ever happened to him." Meredith holds up her hand, "Take it from an old lady who used to be an army wife."

Not knowing what to say, Ellie smiles and nods silently. She admires Meredith for being a former military wife, knowing that there are a lot of hardships to such a relationship. She glances at Crosshairs, who meets her eyes with a short gaze before turning back to the children. Even if they aren't exactly in the same boat, Ellie realizes that she very well may miss his presence when he leaves... if he leaves.

"Anyways, I think it's time for me to head on home. Buddy's gotten the exercise he's needed. I've got to brush that big doofus, too," Meredith offers her hand with a pleasant smile and Ellie takes it politely, "It was nice meeting you, Meredith. I'm Ellie."

Meredith then turns to Crosshairs, who had sidled up beside Ellie without her realizing. He pauses momentarily when the older woman extends her hand to him as well, but he shakes it. Meredith asks, "And what's your name, dear?"

"Chris," he replies, sounding a lot more confident with that name than he did with the officer. Meredith repeats the name and says, "Well, it's been nice meeting you too, Chris. Miss Ellie here was telling me how you recently retired."

"Oh..." he casts her a short glance, in which Ellie just weakly smiles and hopes he goes along with it. Crosshairs nods after a moment, "Yeah... would've stayed in longer but, uh... kinda had to leave."

"That's too bad. How long did you serve? And what branch?"

Ellie clenches her jaw at the questions, but she's surprised to see Crosshairs just smile a little and answer them calmly, "'Bout twenty years. Enlisted as soon as I could, back when I was still a young 'un. Was in the infantry. Sniper unit."

Meredith makes a noise of appreciation. The way Crosshairs speaks gives Ellie the notion that he isn't straying too far from the truth. The older woman takes his hand suddenly and squeezes it. He frowns unsurely until Meredith only continues to smile and says, "Well, thank you for your service, Chris. You soldiers don't get enough credit these days. Bless your heart. I wish you a peaceful retirement."

Even if it's clear Meredith doesn't know just what kind of soldier he is, the fact that he's being thanked for what he's done throws Crosshairs in for a loop. He doesn't think he's ever been so graciously thanked for his services and it touches him in a way he isn't sure how to comprehend. Gratitude is something he hasn't even experienced on Cybertron. At a short loss of words, he mutters a simple, "Thanks..."

After bidding the nice woman a farewell, Meredith retrieves her happily panting dog and lets the kids say goodbye to him before she goes on her merry way. Ellie watches her go, humming thoughtfully, "Nice older lady, isn't she?"

Crosshairs raises a brow and glances down at her, "Retired, eh?"

"I didn't know what to say, okay?" She huffs, crossing her arms, "At least you handled that pretty well." She takes one look at the Autobot's slightly smug expression and deflates as she realizes, "You... heard that entire conversation, didn't you?"

Crosshairs smirks, "Maybe."

"Right, of course you did," Ellie sighs. She can feel her face heating up just wondering what he thought of Meredith so confidently giving her advice on him. She's saved, luckily, by Charlie and Maddie coming over breathless, ready to go back home. Ellie can feel the temperature dropping as it gets later into the day and promptly decides it is indeed time to leave.

They make it to where Crosshairs is parked when Ellie realizes there's someone standing next to the black Corvette. It's a man, smaller in stature, sporting red leather and sunglasses. It's not uncommon for people to admire a sporty car, she figures, but one look at Crosshairs's stiff holoform is evidence enough that he doesn't appreciate being stared at. Ellie's just very glad that he's painted over the Autobot insignia on his grille, otherwise they might have been in trouble.

"Um... hi," she says, waving to grab the man's attention. He looks their way, smiles kindly, and removes his sunglasses. Ellie is met with white teeth and gleaming cerulean eyes. His stylized dark hair and olive skin give her the immediete notion of foreign wealth.

"Hello, I was just marveling at this fine vehicle here," he says, with a strong Italian accent. He tilts his head curiously, "Is it yours?"

Ellie glances unsurely at Crosshairs before answering, "Uh, yeah, it's ours. We were just leaving, actually..."

"Ah. I will not hassle you then," the man says, still smiling. His eyes dart over to Crosshairs behind her, roaming up and down his tall form before remarking, "I do hope you didn't mind me staring."

Crosshairs says nothing in reply, only frowns and gazes intently at the stranger. Ellie, oblivious that the man was most likely talking to him, simply waves her hands while she helps her kids climb in, "Oh, it's no problem. Have a nice day, sir."

He nods, and moves to leave. As he passes Crosshairs, though, the man grabs his arm, tugs him down, and whispers, "Careful, my friend. Disguises don't last."

Almost immediately Crosshairs hisses and jerks away. He turns to growl at the man, only to find that he is already gone.

"The frag-?" Crosshairs whirls around for a moment, but he sees no sign of red leather, no sign that the Italian man had been here at all. He's momentarily so unsettled that he doesn't hear Ellie calling his name. He only comes to his senses when she comes over and touches his shoulder.

"Crosshairs? Hey, what's wrong?" She asks. He doesn't respond for a moment, continues to look around with sharp eyes, then finally looks down at her. "You saw that, yeah?"

"Saw what?"

"That guy, he..." Crosshairs trails off, "...disappeared."

Ellie frowns, "I'm pretty sure he just walked off, Crosshairs. He said he didn't want to hassle us-"

Crosshairs shakes his head, tearing his aviators off, "No. He was right fraggin' here. Swear to Primus, he just fraggin' vanished-" he stops, coming to a sudden realization. He knows, he remembers someone capable of doing just that. Appearing and disappearing without a trace. He glances back behind him, where the man had once been.

"That sneaky glitch."

Ellie reels, "I'm sorry, what?"

"...Nothin' doll," he mumbles, pushing her towards the passenger's side, "Time to go."

The drive home is silent. And it's not the comfortable type of silence. Ellie can see the change in mood, the way Crosshairs's holoform sits stiffly with his face slightly contorted in indecipherable emotion. Part of her wants to pry, but the other part says that maybe that's not a good idea with the kids in the backseats. Eventually, though, she decides to try starting off with a soft inquiry.

"Are you okay?"

He clenches the wheel for a moment. Crosshairs purses his lips, as if deciding whether or not he wants to answer. He nods a little, "'M fine."

Ellie sits up, "Are you sure? You seem... troubled."

This time he looks over at her, a slight frown pulling at his mouth. He exhales through his nose and slowly looks back to the road, even though he probably doesn't need to, "Don't wanna talk about it. Not right now."

'Not right now' probably means 'not in front of the kids', Ellie muses. They're seemingly asleep in the back but she knows that Crosshairs usually opens up the most when it's just the two of them. With that in mind she absentmindedly nods, but touches his arm gently, "Okay. But just remember what I told you."

Crosshairs just nods and falls silent again.

"Also... I want to say thank you. For what you did with Charlie earlier," Ellie says, "If Buddy hadn't been a nice dog and you hadn't gotten to him as quickly as you had, I can't even imagine what could have happened. Even though he wasn't really in any danger, I appreciate what you did, Crosshairs. Thank you."

He hesitates for a moment, and it becomes clear to Ellie right then that being thanked really isn't something Crosshairs has experienced all that much, which is both a sad and infuriating revelation. He shrugs and murmurs, "'S no problem. Didn't want the kid to get hurt, 's all."

Ellie frowns as she briefly recalls what he's experienced prior. She remembers the way Crosshairs launched to her child's aid and has a vague notion that such an instinct could only be instilled through loss. The memory of Crosshairs in her arms, mourning into her shoulder flashes by her mind.

"That's wasn't the only reason you rushed to save my son, was it?" The question leaves her mouth before she can stop to think about whether that's dangerous territory or not.

If Crosshairs is bothered by it, though, he doesn't show it. In fact, he gives no initial reaction to her question at all. Just when Ellie thinks she's not going to get an answer, she hears him say in an uncharacteristically small voice, "No, it wasn't."

Nothing else is said after. At some point though, Ellie reaches over and places her hand on his forearm resting on the center console, squeezing it gently in silent support. By the halfway point, he takes her hand and squeezes back.

By the time they reach home, their fingers are interlaced.


As the sun sets and her kids are settled down, Ellie sighs as she hangs up her phone. Still no word from her boss. She hopes that she won't be having to look for a new job soon. With her finger tapping idly on the back of her cell phone, she glances into the kitchen, where Charlie and Maddie are coloring. Crosshairs is in the garage, since he evidently wasn't in the best mood when they returned home. Off-handedly bringing up Bluestreak probably wasn't the smartest thing Ellie had done.

Just when she has the urge to get up and go see her sulking Autobot, the doorbell rings. Ellie furrows her brows in confusion. It's a little late to have guests. Her mind flies immediately to the policeman who had come by prior and she has to close her eyes to calm herself. No, it can be anybody.

The doorbell rings again, summoning Ellie to finally get up and answer it. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and remedies herself into a calm state before opening the door.

Ellie's face drains of color the moment she sees the face on the other side of the door. Her instincts scream at her to slam it in his face, lock it, and grab the shotgun but in this moment she feels frozen in place. Her mouth falls open and her body is overtaken by fear-driven tremors, as if the devil himself has come to her front door.

"Thomas?" She squeaks.


Well... it can't all be sunshine and rainbows, can it? ;)

There's no canon information to go off of when it comes to Crosshairs pre-war, so I'm going pure headcanon with him, including assuming he's Iaconian. I see him as the classic 'daddy's boy' kind of mech, who mostly likely followed his sire into enlisting as a soldier and was probably taught to shoot about as soon as he learned to walk. His family unit probably has a long lineage of veterans. :)

Reviews are loved and appreciated! Don't kill me yet!