The very man who's caused her nightmares and fears for years shifts on his feet uneasily. He looks more or less like how she remembers him -tan complexion, brown hair, brown eyes and standing at somewhere close to six feet. Fairly attractive for any woman who doesn't know any better, but Ellie isn't fooled by the looks anymore. Instead, she's terrified and internally hoping she's somehow hallucinating.
Thomas holds his hands up, "Ellie, look, don't panic-"
"Get the hell out before I call the police," she snaps in a spurt of boldness that surprises herself. Thomas also raises his brows -she'd never confronted him so aggressively.
"I just wanted to talk-"
"Talk? You came here to talk?" Ellie says in a venomous tone. She bares her teeth and practically snarls, "No. I have nothing to say to you. Get. Out."
Thomas looks at a complete loss for a moment. For the first time Ellie feels like the one in power, now. She's not sure how, or why, but her initial fear has morphed into a burning hot fury. She imagines it's from the painful memories of dealing with this man and his abuse for so long. Now that she's no longer trapped beneath him, she's come out stronger.
"Ellie, please. I just... I wanted to see them," he loosely gestures inside the house, "The kids..."
"Are you joking? After, what, six years you've finally decided to come around and see your kids?" Ellie's words spit from her mouth like lethal poison and pour out in her distraught, angry spout, "Your daughter, who's still terrified of you and your son who doesn't even remember you? The same son you fucking abandoned and spat upon just because he was deaf?!"
She glares at him until she sees his eyes slide past her. Following his gaze, she sees Charlie standing behind them, his eyes wide and very afraid. He openly gapes at his father, looking tense and ready to dart away as soon as he moves.
"Charlie?" Thomas said in a deceptively gentle voice.
Ellie snorts, "He can't hear you, idiot. He probably doesn't even recognize you."
Quickly she signs two words only, 'Room. Now.'
Charlie runs upstairs without a backwards glance. When she turns back to Thomas he's watching her curiously, "So that's, uh, sign language?"
"Yeah. Something you never cared to learn and communicate to your son with," Ellie crosses her arms, "I'm not asking you again Thomas. Leave."
Something dark flashes across his face. It's the same darkness she'd seen when she was still married to him. The same darkness on his face when he'd rear back his hand, or grab her throat, or force her into the bed. Ellie's prior confidence begins to steadily drop as he takes a threatening step forward. "Let me in, Ellie."
"No," Ellie stands her ground.
"You can't deny my right to see my kids."
"You lost that fucking right the moment you hit me for the first time," she hisses, "Leave!"
Thomas barges forward, causing Ellie to yelp and jump back as he breaches her home. He curls his lip and reaches for her but Ellie once again backs away before he can touch her. He smirks, "Of course. You act so tough at first, but in the end you're still pathetic. That's a shame. I was almost impressed with you, honey."
"Thomas, get the hell out of my house-" she says, but stops when she sees that he's not looking at her. She whirls her head around to see Maddie at the kitchen doorway, eyes wide at the scene before her. She looks fearfully between her mother, to her previously estranged father.
"Madison," Thomas says, looking surprised at the sight of his daughter, "You're so big now."
"Don't even start with that," Ellie growls, but Thomas either doesn't hear or ignores her. The second he moves towards Maddie, Ellie shoves him back hard and yells, "Madison, go! Run, right now!"
Maddie takes off. Not upstairs, but through the back door.
Instant pain in her scalp makes Ellie cry out and reach for the large fist dug in her hair. Thomas yanks her head up, snarls again, and pushes her against the wall. "And this is exactly why I didn't try to visit all this time. I knew you'd make it so fucking difficult."
Ellie gasps, unable to withold her tears of pain as Thomas retains his grip on her hair, so tight that it feels as though he's about to rip her whole scalp off, "Don't do this, Thomas, please-"
Ellie doesn't get to finish her plea. Thomas is suddenly yanked forcibly back, causing him to release her hair. Uttering a confused noise he turns to the side -only to receive a lightning fast fist straight to his face. Blood explodes immediately out of his broken nose and the impact is strong enough to knock him onto his behind yowling in pain.
Ellie scrambles away as soon as she's able to. She stands back, eyes wide as she recognizes the second large man who'd knocked her ex-husband senseless. Crosshairs clenches his fists and bares his teeth like a feral animal, standing between Ellie and Thomas, the latter looking up with an entirely surprised expression, his hands covering his bleeding nose.
"Who the hell-" Thomas climbs to his feet and lowers his hands, his eyes running up and down the other man with scrutinizing eyes, "Who the hell are you?"
"Someone who's 'bout to break your whole fraggin' face if you don't get out right now," Crosshairs growls, with a dangerous tone intimidating enough to scare even Ellie. Maddie runs up to her and grabs onto her mother, both of them watching the men stand at an intense impasse.
Thomas is no small man, but Crosshairs is the epiphany of true masculinity. Her ex is relatively fit, but Crosshairs's holoform is seemingly designed to look like he hasn't skipped a day at the gym for a decade. There isn't a single pound of fat on him; only hard and powerful muscle. It's in this moment Ellie realizes that the more terrifying man in the room is ironically the one she's least afraid of.
She can see that Thomas is beginning to grasp the reality of his opponent, too. He looks frustrated that he has to look up, seeing as Crosshairs has a couple of inches on him. The Autobot isn't particularly 'bulky' but he's tall, broad, and not one to be underestimated.
"Screwing around as always, huh Ellie?" Thomas looks around Crosshairs's shoulder and sneers at her, "Who's this, you fucking slut, your latest-"
Crosshairs slams his palm against Thomas's chest, shoving him back, "Don't fraggin' talk to her, you worthless piece of-"
He doesn't get to finish. Thomas bristles as soon as he's shoved and swings his fist. Crosshairs catches his fist with reflexes so quick that it looks inhuman. With his eyes burning like blue flames, he squeezes until a few knuckles crack and Thomas is hollering in pain and trying to pry his fist out of his grip.
Crosshairs finally lets go and swings another punch of his own. It lands so hard that Thomas's head bounces against the wall with a painful thud. Then, in an incredible showcase of his true strength he grabs the human male's throat and lifts him against the wall effortlessly. Thomas writhes and hacks up blood, his eyes now wide with fear and his mouth uttering pitiful sounds. His hands claw at Crosshairs's fingers around his neck.
"Thomas, yeah? Y'know I've heard 'bout you," he sneers, seeming to take pleasure in watching the man squirm in his grip, "Enough to make me wanna make you fraggin' suffer, just like she did. You're despicable. Every bit as fraggin' pathetic as the enemies I've fought in the military. You're lucky I don't bust your damn skull open right now."
Thomas only continues to choke, unable to speak considering he's being held off of his feet. Crosshairs looks to the side to Ellie, who's still holding onto Maddie and watching the scene with alarmed eyes. His eyes grow soft instantly and he asks her, "He hurt you, doll?"
"I..." Ellie struggles to find words.
"Ellie," he says, a little firmer but still in a gentle tone, "Did he hurt you?"
Her eyes meet his, and with her lips pursed she nods once, sealing her ex-husband's fate.
Crosshairs turns back to Thomas and drops him. The man collapses instantly and gasps for air, but he isn't granted much recovery time as Crosshairs grabs the hem of his shirt, drags him through the front door and throws him outside into the cold, frosted grass.
Thomas coughs and scrambles to get away but Crosshairs is much faster, grabbing a fistful of Thomas's messed up hair and throwing him backwards, the man's miserable screaming echoing throughout the property. He falls onto his back and once again tries to get away. Crosshairs throws one heavy kick to his ribs, both hearing and feeling a few of them snap immediately from force that is far beyond human.
With another powerful kick to Thomas's stomach he forces him onto his back again and places his boot directly on his chest. Crosshairs presses down, making Thomas wheeze. He can easily brake the human's sternum with a little more pressure but suppresses that urge, bound by his oath to his Prime, as an Autobot.
We shall not kill humans. It is our duty, as Autobots, to protect them.
Crosshairs wonders, was Optimus aware that humans like the one underneath him exist? To him, Thomas doesn't deserve protection. He's a sad, disgusting excuse of human existence that Crosshairs is more inclined to eliminate than spare. If anything he'd still be protecting humans. More precisely, other human femmes who may fall victim to this monster, like Ellie. He watches the man squirm in pain under him and debates the consequences if he were to just go through with it in this moment.
"Stop, stop, please!" Thomas wheezes, covering his bruised and bloodied face with his arms, "I-I'll leave! I swear to God, I'll leave!"
Crosshairs glares down at him for a moment longer, then finally comes to a decision. He takes his foot off, but then grabs the man's neck with one hand and rears back the other, his fist colliding with Thomas's jaw, promptly either dislocating it or breaking it. Thomas moans in pain and his head lolls.
Bringing him up to his face Crosshairs hisses in a deep, lethal voice, "Next time you won't walk outta here alive. Leave."
With that he throws Thomas to the ground again. With shaking limbs the man rushes to his feet, gasping and coughing painfully. He turns to face Crosshairs, raises his hands, then bolts for his car, practically diving in it and racing out of the driveway. Crosshairs considers following him for a little extra scare, but decides against it. He's already beaten and broken the man. Following will only put himself in danger.
He glares at the driveway even long after Thomas is gone. Eventually, though, he starts to feel the odd sensation of cold particles landing on him. He looks around, eyes widening at the steady fall of fluffy white snowflakes. They stick to the green T-shirt his holoform wears by default and to his skin. The coldness doesn't bother him as much as it would a human, but he frowns when he lifts his hands, seeing his knuckles blue and just a little swollen.
Rubbing his numbed hands he turns to the porch, pausing and feeling his spark drop when he sees Maddie standing there. The young girl is staring at him with an expression he can't decipher. Crosshairs opens his mouth, but finds that he doesn't even know what to say, or how to explain what had happened. He'd hoped she wouldn't see him brutally beating her father; that was why he'd dragged him outside.
"Maddie," he comes forward, but she tenses right away. He feels a pinching pain in his spark. Is she afraid of him now? Now that he's demonstrated how dangerous he can be?
Then Maddie closes her eyes and the tears fall. Not even his countless near-death experiences as a soldier have made him as scared as he is now. Crosshairs stands stiffly in the snow, his body growing numb but his insides exploding with overwhelming guilt. Guilt, and fear that he's just traumatized this innocent child.
"Hey, Maddie..." he tries again, expecting her to flinch. But she doesn't respond, so Crosshairs tentatively walks onto the porch and approaches her, kneeling down to her level. Better to be as unintimidating as possible. He reaches up and rubs her bare shoulders softly, then cups her small face and wipes her tears.
He doesn't expect it when Maddie opens her eyes and suddenly lunges herself into his arms. He tenses only for a moment before pulling the young girl close as she sobs into his shoulder.
"I was so scared," she says between hiccups, "He was gonna hurt Mom again! I thought he was gonna hurt me, and Charlie, too! I didn't know what to do so I woke you up and-"
Crosshairs pulls her back and takes her face in his hands again, "Hey, hey, look at me, darlin'. You did the right thing, you hear me? You did good. If you hadn't gotten me, he would have hurt her."
Maddie sniffles and nods. Crosshairs smooths her hair from her face. It doesn't come across him how natural it feels, despite being the one Autobot on Earth who has zero experience with younglings of any kind. There's an instinct buried deep in his coding that comes alive the moment he sees either of Ellie's children in distress. Something he doesn't know how to describe, so he simply doesn't question it.
"C'mere," he murmurs and Maddie happily falls back into the embrace of his strong, protective arms. He opens his eyes and notices another, smaller form standing in the doorway. Charlie's wide brown eyes are brimmed with tears, too, so Crosshairs opens his arm and welcomes the little boy into the hug as well.
'You okay?' He signs when they all pull away. Charlie frowns and looks down, 'I saw. Window.'
Crosshairs sighs. He hopes Ellie isn't going to be upset that her kids had a front row seat in their father being beat into the ground. He doesn't regret doing it -frag no- but he regrets that these two had to watch it. On the thought of Ellie, though, he turns to Charlie and brings his palm to his face, thumb on his chin, 'Your Mom?'
"She went to the kitchen," Maddie answers. "I think... I think she was crying."
Crosshairs swears under his breath and stands up. With one last backwards glance he ushers the two human children inside, "C'mon, gettin' too cold out here."
He pauses in the living room, then turns to them and kneels down again, signing as he speaks, "'M gonna talk to your mama. Why don't y'all two go upstairs for a bit. Can you do that for me?"
They both nod. Charlie waves his hand to grab the Autobot's attention and signs, 'Make Mom feel better?'
Crosshairs nods. He's thankful that these are kids who seem wise beyond their ages. They both seem to understand his intentions and obediently go upstairs without protest. He walks to the kitchen and just as Maddie had said, Ellie's there. She's hunched over the counter with her back to him.
Crosshairs approaches her, "Ellie?"
He sees her shoulders tense for a brief moment before she turns around, hastily wiping at her face. Almost immediately he has the urge to reach out to her and hold her but he's not sure if that's what she wants in this moment.
"Are the kids okay?" She asks in a thick voice.
Crosshairs nods, "They're fine. Sent 'em upstairs."
Ellie offers him a grateful look, trying her best to fight her tears. Crosshairs shifts his weight unsurely, not quite able to pinpoint what is making her upset, "Did I... do wrong?"
"What?" She frowns at him.
"I thought... you nodded, so..."
"Oh, Crosshairs, no..." Ellie says, realizing what he's inferring, "No, I'm not upset about what you did. I'll admit it was... satisfying, seeing him being beat for the first time. I had to turn away, though. I just, I got overwhelmed..."
She trails off and covers her mouth with her hand. Shaking her head Ellie desperately holds it all in. She doesn't want to cry, she doesn't, but when she feels him pull her close Ellie finally lets it all out. Burying her face into his broad chest she silently cries out all of the fear, anxieties and worries of having faced Thomas again.
"I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if... if you weren't here," Ellie whispers once she calms down. She pulls away to look up at him, "It scares me to think about it."
"Don't think 'bout it then, doll," he murmurs, "Ain't gotta worry about 'im anymore. Fragger has the hardest codpiece in the galaxy if he comes back after that."
Ellie laughs weakly. For a moment she simply relaxes in his arms, relishing in the fact that she's most likely the most protected woman in the world and that her ex-husband has finally experienced her pain. It feels good to know he's been soundly beaten and most likely is too terrified to even think about coming back. For all Thomas knows he's gotten his ass handed to him by a seasoned soldier, not a being from another planet.
Ellie feels her chin being lifted and looks back up into Crosshairs's bright blue eyes, so endearing and sharp, like how she imagines he looks through his scopes; with an intense focus that's trained to spot his target out in the field. Except Crosshairs doesn't seem to find what he's looking for in her and releases her chin. Ellie thinks he was looking for signs of fear -any indication that his actions have disrupted whatever kind of relationship is between them.
Ellie suddenly feels compelled to place her hands on his chest. She stares with half-lidded eyes up at him, "You probably just saved my life..."
"I'll always protect you, Ellie," he replies with confidence.
Before she even realizes what she's doing Ellie rises up to the tips of her toes, so that she can tip her head up and press her lips to his. It's a soft, innocent kiss that lasts only for a handful of seconds before Ellie's mind catches up to her actions. She jerks back with a quiet gasp and a furious blush as she realizes what she'd just done, "Oh God, I... I'm sorry, I didn't... I'm just going to..."
With embarrassment burning her from the inside out Ellie rushes to turn away, only for a large hand to grab her wrist and stop her before she can run away. Crosshairs's face is unreadable but he carefully pulls her back to him. He stares down at her for one agonizingly long moment, then takes her head in both hands and pulls her into a searing kiss.
Ellie's heart is pounding in her chest, which she's sure that Crosshairs can feel. But it's not pounding the same way it did when she was with Thomas. It feels... pleasant, like she's about to fly away, fills her with the adrenaline that doesn't encourage her to flee in fear, but press closer with a passion.
It feels like an eternity passes before they break away. Ellie has to take a few deep breaths and opens her eyes to see Crosshairs opening his own, a bewildered expression on his face. Clearly, he wasn't expecting his own actions either.
"Okay, well..." Ellie whispers, looking away and bursting into bashful giggles, "That just happened..."
He releases her face and she hears an amused exhale escape him. Then he tips her head up, smirks, and asks, "...Can it happen again?"
Still breathless, Ellie can do nothing more than smile and nod and close her eyes as Crosshairs leans down and kisses her again. Her arms travel up the length of his chest and encircle his neck while his hands fall to her hips and tug her impossibly closer. Ellie can feel the heightened vibration deep in his chest against her own thumping heart.
They share sweet, short kisses for a little while until she feels Crosshairs's hands travel lower. She squeaks as she's suddenly lifted up and placed onto the counter top, where she no longer has to keep leaning up and he doesn't have to keep bending down. Before she can even settle Crosshairs steals her mouth again, his hands gripping the counter on either side of her. Ellie's fingers slip into his chestnut hair and briefly notes the dampness of it.
"Mm... this feels familiar," Crosshairs comments as he breaks away from the kisses. Ellie glances down at their current position and chuckles, "It does, doesn't it? Except no nosey sisters calling this time."
"Nope," Crosshairs's lips stray from her own and begin to press kisses to her jaw, down to the sensitive skin of her neck, causing Ellie to gasp and squirm. It's been so, so long since a man has treated her like this -like she's something delicate and precious. Even Thomas, when they were dating and he hadn't started hurting her yet, hadn't made her feel as good as Crosshairs is now.
She feels the light tickle of his stubble as his lips press against her pulse. He lingers there, and Ellie wonders if he's intrigued by it. She laughs airily, "What are you doing?"
Crosshairs pulls back and gazes at her, "This... alright with you?"
Ellie blinks, "Yeah, it's... it's fine. I'm fine. Why, what's wrong?"
He reaches up and cups her face, "Your heart's racin', doll."
"Oh, I know," Placing her small hand over his she smiles, "It's a good thing, though. I promise."
Crosshairs nods a little, then leans forward and kisses her again, long and slow until Ellie's breath is all but stolen and she eventually has to pull back to catch it again. Her eyes open and she can feel the heat in her cheeks as she sees his painfully attractive smirk pulling at his mouth.
Then her eyes glance downwards for a moment and she notices the blue swelling on his knuckles. Taking his hand off of her face Ellie's eyes widen a fraction as she gently touches each knuckle, "Crosshairs, your hands..."
"Ah, yeah," he makes a face and lifts both hands for her to see, "'S fine, doll. Doesn't hurt."
"...Are you sure? You don't need ice or anything?" She frets, looking between each hand.
"Nah. Injuries ain't permanent on holoforms. When I reset it, this'll all be gone."
She huffs and releases his hand, "If only humans could do that."
Ellie glances to the side, her eyes widening as she notices the white flakes steadily falling. She gently pushes on Crosshairs and slips off of the counter, trying to ignore the blush still on her face, and walks to the back door.
"Oh, wow..." she murmurs. Already there's a thin layer of snow beginning to cover the ground. She looks to the garage, then to Crosshairs as he comes over, "You're not going to freeze out there, are you?"
He hums a negative, looking distracted by the falling snow as he answers, "I'll be fine. Garage is heated..."
Ellie watches him as the Autobot stares outside with mildly wondrous blue eyes. She nudges his shoulder, "You've seen snow before, right?"
"Couple times," he says with a nod, "Not like this, though."
Ellie assumes he means that he hasn't seen the true beauty of snow until now. She doesn't imagine being cooped up in a base allows for pretty scenery during winter. As the sun continues to set and everything goes dark, Ellie clears her throat and turns away. Now that the heat of the moment has passed, she isn't sure how to process the fact that they have just shared an intimate moment. "Um... I'm going to check on the kids, make sure they're okay. And probably get ready for bed after that."
She walks into the living room and sighs as the memory of Thomas barging through replays in her mind briefly. She forces herself not to think about him. After his run-in with Crosshairs he's more than likely never going to step foot onto her property again. Good riddance. Ellie takes the remote and shuts off the TV, turning around to see Crosshairs leaning against the doorframe and watching her thoughtfully.
The intense way he's looking at her causes Ellie's face to flush once again. It feels as though he's staring right through her. It makes her feel vulnerable, bare, but in an entirely different way than Thomas. It crosses her mind right then that, had Crosshairs been human, he could easily have any woman he wanted with that exhilarating stare and those gorgeous blue eyes. She imagines that he must have been good with the females -or males- of his own kind at some point. But... he had kissed her -a human woman with more baggage than what most men would want.
For the life of her, Ellie can't pinpoint why exactly Crosshairs had done it. To make her feel better? Do Cybertronians even kiss each other? Does he even understand what it means to kiss her? It can't be because of attraction, could it? She can't imagine what he sees in her, if anything at all.
A hand on her arm jolts her out of her thoughts. She stifles a squeak, not having realized that Crosshairs had come closer. He tilts his head, "What are you thinkin' about, doll?"
Ellie looks up at him, "...You."
"Yeah?" He leans closer, "What 'bout me?"
"Just..." Ellie fumbles for words. She's distracted by his eyes, which are very focused on something lower than her own eyes. His fingers graze her cheek softly and Ellie sighs, brushing his hand away, "I'm going to head upstairs. Um, are you staying in here, or...?"
Crosshairs backs away a little. It takes her a moment to realize that he's respecting her space. That, too, is something that sets him miles apart from Thomas. Saying no, and being listened to was rare around her ex-husband. Crosshairs, on the other hand, catches it right away. Ellie has to suppress the sudden urge to smile, cry, and let him kiss her all over again. And not necessarily in that order.
"Think I will, actually," Crosshairs's eyes travel around the room for a moment, "In case of, y'know..."
Ellie frowns, "Do you think he'll come back?"
He turns to her, "Do you?"
"...I don't know."
"Exactly," Crosshairs glares at the front door, as if fully expecting Thomas to break in at any moment, "Probably best if I sit the night out. Just in case."
"You won't get tired? Don't you need sleep, too?"
"My sleep cycle's different from yours, doll," he explains, with a slight smile, "I'll be fine."
"...Okay," Ellie nods slowly and smiles back. For only a few seconds their eyes meet and they stare at one another. For only a few seconds she feels the world narrow down to just them, the room thickening with wisps of whatever is there between them. Ellie can almost physically feel the tug deep inside, and by looking at the clench in his jaw, the urge in his eyes, she knows that he feels it, too.
"Goodnight, Crosshairs," she says.
"Night, Ellie," he replies.
Crosshairs is just beginning to settle into a book when he hears noises upstairs.
At some point he wonders when exactly he'd attained the patience to even think about reading. Pre-DC Crosshairs would have scoffed at the notion of integrating himself in human culture to such an extent. He barely read any sort of literature on Cybertron as is. He'd been created and raised with a long lineage of weaponry and serving in Iacon's military.
Crosshairs never would have been able to sit himself through some cheesy story for the life of him. Just like he wouldn't have been able to handle interacting with human younglings, let alone allow himself to become infatuated with a human femme. Primus, his sire is probably rolling in the Well at this point.
Ellie had remarked before that the Crosshairs who crawled out of DC was practically a different Autobot all together. He's beginning to realize how right she was.
Especially since old Crosshairs wouldn't have bolted upstairs the moment he recognizes what he's hearing.
Get Ellie, is his initial thought. She's the carrier, the mother. She'll know what to do. But Crosshairs finds himself overtaken by protocols completely foreign to him and yet familiar all the same. He stands in front of the closed door of her little boy, listening to his soft, distressed cries.
He's standing in the corridor, pausing mid-stride. It's somewhere close to midnight. Most are asleep, or in recharge but Crosshairs tends to train into the late hours.
There's crying on the other side of his shared quarters. This has never happened before. He hesitates, then raps his knuckles on the door, "...Blue?"
Crosshairs slowly opens the door. He's met with the sight of Charlie huddled under his sheets. The little boy is trembling, and writhing, and whimpering in his sleep. His noises are still so quiet, though, that it's only because of a Cybertronian's hypersensitive audio range that Crosshairs is able to pick them up.
He's flinging himself into action before he can even process the situation. He isn't thinking, isn't hesitating, only letting whatever protocol this is take him over. There's a sudden sense of familiarity to the scene. He feels as though he's seen this countless times, has acted upon it countless times; so much that everything he's doing now is running on pure, programmed instinct.
"Charlie," he says, before remembering right away that the little boy is deaf. Crosshairs instead sits on the bed and carefully shakes Charlie, determined to rouse him from his apparent nightmare. It vaguely comes to him now that even if he's got a case of raging protective protocols coming online, he really doesn't know how exactly to handle a distressed human child. One with a special condition, no less.
Swearing to himself, he's about to go and wake up Charlie's oblivious mother when a memory ticks. It offers him a quick solution so Crosshairs follows his gut instinct and grabs the small child and backs himself against the headboard while settling Charlie in his lap. The little boy squirms and whines but seems to jolt awake finally. He snaps his head up, mouth wide open as Crosshairs holds him close to his broad chest.
Primus, what am I doing?
Because honestly, Crosshairs doesn't know. He isn't sure where and why he's developed guardian-esque protocols as if he's some experienced sire. In the end, he decides not to question it. For now.
Charlie's little face is stained with tears and he looks around his room, as if expecting something to jump out and get him. He's also clearly confused as to why Crosshairs is here, holding him. Maybe he was expecting the more familiar embrace of his mother. Crosshairs hopes he isn't going to freak out even more upon realizing this.
He doesn't, thankfully. After looking around one last time Charlie turns back to him and buries himself against the holoform's chest, almost like he's trying to physically become a part of Crosshairs. The Autobot sighs, one hand smoothing through the little boy's brown curls while the other wraps around him in a genuine show of protection. He isn't sure what Charlie is so scared of but he's willing to let him know that he's here to keep him safe.
It takes a long moment but Charlie eventually begins to calm down in his arms. Crosshairs silently signs when he looks up, 'You okay?'
Charlie nods a little, but Crosshairs can still see his bottom lip trembling and can feel his little heart beat more accelerated than usual. The little boy slowly signs back, 'Bad dream.'
'About what?'
'...Bad man.'
Crosshairs supresses a deep growl in his throat. He doesn't think he needs to ask who the 'bad man' is. The fact that this child just had a nightmare of his own sire only proves to Crosshairs that he probably shouldn't have let that stupid fragger live. No youngling should ever have to fear a creator, human or otherwise. It was just... wrong.
"'S okay..." he mumbles, well aware the the child can't hear him. Charlie seems to get the message anyways as he pulls the boy back into him. For a while he stays there, mulling over idle thoughts while Charlie clings to him until he finally drifts back into a more peaceful sleep.
Crosshairs carefully tries to maneuver himself off of the bed, but Charlie snaps awake almost as soon as he moves. Making a nervous noise of protest the little boy grabs onto his holoform's middle and refuses to let him go. Crosshairs freezes at the unexpected response, then slumps in defeat after trying and failing to pry Charlie off. They meet eyes, and as much as Crosshairs wants to be annoyed, it's simply not possible after seeing the fear in this child's expression.
'Stay,' Charlie signs. Then after a moment he rubs his palm in a circular motion on his chest, 'Please?'
A previously forgotten memory whips by Crosshairs.
"Can... can you just stay here? Please?"
He remembers. Bits and pieces fit together in his processor like puzzles. He remembers a weight in his lap, hands holding onto his armor, and tears streaking innocent blue optics. He was sitting on a berth, holding Bluestreak as he cried through the horrors of losing his home. That's why he'd moved to Charlie without hesitation, knew what to do without even realizing he did; he's been doing this for years.
Looking down at Charlie, Crosshairs mutely nods. With a silent internal command to rid his holoform of his shoes he settles back against the headboard. Charlie reaches for his space-themed blankets and tugs them closer. With Crosshairs's help he pulls them over the Autobot's lap and over his small body. Once they settle Crosshairs stares blankly ahead, one hand still idly running over Charlie's head while he tunes into the boy's lowering heart beat.
Crosshairs realizes that Charlie has actually fallen asleep right away and brings his free hand up to run down his face. He can't believe he's handled this so well. Part of him feared that he'd scare Charlie even more and Ellie would wake up to her son screaming. The other part of him is still trying to process the fact that his guardian protocols are very much online, and apparently have been for a while. Frag, how hadn't he noticed?
Crosshairs readjusts himself to sit more comfortably, knowing that he's going to be here for a while. As he slowly puts himself into a partial power-down, he accesses the last of his previously lost memories.
He walks into his quarters to see Bluestreak tossing and turning in berth. The young Autobot is crying and calling out names that he doesn't recognize. Crosshairs freezes. He doesn't know what to do, until there's a shift inside him. Certain protocols come to life, and suddenly Crosshairs moves.
He doesn't see Bluestreak. He sees a youngling in dispair.
"Hey, hey, Blue!" Crosshairs sits on the berth and shakes the smaller Autobot until he jumps straight up and cries out.
He doesn't think about what he's doing. He doesn't question it. He runs solely on what this new programming is telling him and he holds Bluestreak close. The gray Autobot whines and clings to him, desperate for comfort.
"My creators are dead," he cries, "I can't stop seeing them die! I can't stop seeing Praxus!"
"I know, kid. You're alright," Crosshairs says, soothing the traumatized Praxian, "I gotcha... I gotcha..."
What a doozy of a chapter. Ellie and Crosshairs are at a turning point in their relationship, and looks like Crosshairs isn't as clueless around kids as he thought he was. I'll admit that I enjoyed writing Thomas getting beat up just a little too much, haha. Hopefully he won't be a problem anymore. ;)
Thank you guys for all the kind responses, I'm still a little shocked at how many views it has so quickly. I'll see you all next week, and please don't hesitate to drop your reviews, they're very much appreciated! :)
