Die Alone Die Together

Ch. 4 Take Me With You

It was a Saturday afternoon when there came a knock on the front door. Song had been checking on Crosshairs internally to make sure there was no longer any damage from hitting the tree a week ago; an accident the egotistical Autobot had claimed was caused by low visibility.

"That your neighbor friend again?" Crosshairs inquired from his alt mode.

"Reina? Yeah, should be," Song backed away from him, closing his hood and brushing her hands off on her jeans, "stay here a moment. I'll go check it out."

"...Not like I can go anywhere else," he grumbled begrudgingly.

Song stepped through the side door and into her kitchen, making her way to the main entrance. She found Reina waiting patiently outside.

"Hello dear," the old woman greeted her, "I know I don't normally come more than twice a week, but I thought maybe we could go out for some coffee. I know a young woman like you must get so lonely out here by yourself."

"Oh! Well I wouldn't mind at all, so long as we stick to the quiet side of town of course. Just, erm, let me grab some things real quick," Song turned swiftly and ran back into the kennel. She shut the door behind her so Reina couldn't hear her speak. Though the elder was on their side, it seemed best to keep Crosshairs a complete secret for now. "I'm going out for a while. Think you can handle it here by yourself for a couple hours?"

"Aren't you wanted by the government or something?" Crosshairs questioned her, still in vehicle form.

"Yes, but like you I can also hide in plain sight to an extent. So long as I don't show the mechanical parts of my body I should be fine," she reassured him. At the same time, she snatched up a thin black hoodie and put it on to hide the four, long metal cuffs that replaced much of the flesh on her biceps and fore arms.
...........

"Now remember, the metal plating on these Accessories is stronger than any other on Earth, you'd have to endure an extremely powerful, extraterrestrial blast to break it. However, if the metal, especially that violet stone, cracks through entirely, the damage will be catastrophic. The amount of energy compacted into these tiny vessels is linked together. If the Accessories are broken when you are in human form, it could result in an wave-like explosion of Energon vapors. It would kill you instantly and possibly any other organics nearby. Although, the chance of that happening is incredibly unlikely. You'd almost have to break it on purpose to result in such an event, haha," Que explained his thoughts thoroughly, though Song did not understand much of it.

"Right then, don't let any Decepticons break the purple rock... Got it."

"You'll be fine against them when using your Protoform. Just don't let them shoot the gemstone on your chest, because that will send you back to your own body. It's a safety mechanism set to keep your spark from coming to harm, because that would kill you instantly. Your spark is what is directly tied to your brain. It is what allows you to think, feel, and control your Protoform. If it is destroyed, you will perish."
.............

"Heh. Do what you will, just don't get us caught or I'll kill you," Crosshairs warned.

"So I've heard," Song turned on her heel and left the kennel, rejoining Reina outside.

As for Crosshairs, he continued his work on trying to find a signal to contact the remaining Autobots... maybe even discover an embedded message from Prime himself. Anything that would give him a sign that he wasn't alone on this dreaded planet.

For several hours he did all he could think of to get ahold of somebody... anybody. There was nothing. Nothing unless he boosted the signal, which would clearly give away his position; it was far too risky. Instead, he decided to continue awaiting someone else to contact him first. He had set up a commlink, all it needed was a signal.

It was not but three years ago he had arrived on Earth in hopes of finding Optimus Prime, and helping the Autobot cause. While he'd succeeded in his mission, joining up with several other Autobots, the time swiftly came when Cemetry Wind rose up to destroy the lives of the cybertronians, and their allies.

Separated from his comrades, he was alone. And while he wouldn't normally mind that so much, being stranded on a foreign planet with furious inhabitants (who wanted to kill you for something you hadn't even taken part in, no less) was not all that comforting.

That brought him to now. Reduced to slinking away into the hidden depths of some woman's barnhouse. And this woman, this girl, was nothing but an Autobot wannabe in his optics. He'd heard some stories about her, sure, but that didn't mean anything. The way he saw it, humans were all the same: greedy, aggressive, and narrow-minded. They were disloyal, and would stab you in the back first chance the got. The retailiation after the apparent Battle of Chicago was proof of that.

Sitting on a steel storage unit, Crosshairs began to clean and fix up his array of artillery, when there was a sudden creak as the side door opened.

Song came strolling through with a bag of dog food, "I'm back! Good grief, that took longer than expected. Don't get me wrong, I love Reina and she's done a lot for me, but boy does she like to chit chat. Anyways I--"

"I'm not staying here," Crosshairs interrupted. "As much as I've enjoyed your charming hospitality, I'll be taking my leave as soon as I've fixed all this crap," sarcasm seemed to drip from his rough voice.

"You're leaving?" Song's eyes widened in disbelief, "What if you're caught? Killed? I can keep you safe here... at least for the time being."

"Nah, I've got teammates to find. I can't get a hold of them over the air, so I'll have to seek them out instead. Besides, I'm sick of hiding anyways. If they catch me, fine. At least I'll be able to give 'em a piece of my mind and go down fighting."

"Look, I know this might not be in your favor, but--please, let me go with you. You're not the only one who's tired of hiding. And no matter what you think of me, two of us will have more firepower than one."

"Yeah? And what good would it do me to drag you along? You'd only slow me down."

"If that's what you decide, then you can drop and leave me at any point, and I swear I won't argue. But at least give me a chance, I can help you. A human can get into places a 'Bot can't."

Crosshairs narrowed his optics and scowled for a moment, then smirked, "Aw'right then, you give me your word that you do what I say exactly as I say it, with no complaints. You screw up, and I throw you out. Is that clear?"

"Whatever you say," Song agreed, trying not to smile and otherwise contain her excitement at the thought of reuniting with her lost friends.

"Right then, tomorrow morning we start planning. I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible..."