Die Alone Die Together

Ch. 9 Growing Closer

The next day, the gang was on the road again, this time headed for Chicago, where the whole mess began.

Song was, of course, riding with Crosshairs. Cade with Optimus, and somehow Tessa had convinced her father to allow her to ride with Bumblebee alone with Shane.

"So will someone please tell me how long this little road trip is gonna take? We don't exactly have the money or supplies to last us too long." Song spoke over the comm link. The fifty dollars she'd packed had already been spent refilling her water and food supply a few weeks back, and would be gone within a day or two.

"Well, so long as we keep up the pace, going at the speed we are, I'd say not much longer than twenty-four hours," Shane replied.

"Twenty-four hours? Yeah right, maybe half that, if not less. Don't worry yourself, Song, we'll be there in no time," Cade argued.

Unknowing of who to listen to, Song sighed and switched off her comm link altogether.

"You know, Cross? I'm almost starting to miss when it was just us two," Song laughed, sitting back in her seat.

"We could always make a run for it. Hey, ya never know, maybe Prime won't notice," He said sarcastically.

"Har har, very funny. I said almost."

"Right. Whatever you say, Songbird."

"Songbird?"

"Yeah, 'cause you never stop chirping and you don't know when to--"

There was a sudden crack through Crosshairs' radio, "Songbird... that sounds like some kinda stripper name or something." As it turned out, it was just Shane butting in to make a sleezy comment.

"Ay! Keep outta my business, ya lousy flesh bag," Crosshairs hissed.

Song's face heated up and she pinched the bridge of her nose uncomfortably, "You never turned your comm link off, Cross."

"Eh, doesn't matter now... and you humans are far too easily amused."

"Ugh, Cross," she groaned and shook her head.

"You're far too easily humiliated as well," he chuckled, "I'll have to remember that."

There was no doubt in her mind that this was going to be a long trip.

When night began to fall, the group made camp on the far outskirts of a quiet town. Optimus and Hound stayed alert and kept watch while Bee and the humans took some much needed rest; Drift went off to scout the area.

Crosshairs and Song, who was comfortably back in her Protoform, sat near eachother under the cover of several trees. They were the furthest from the group.

Crosshairs was fixing up one of his guns again, and Song saw it as a chance to poke some fun at him.

"Hey, Tinker Joe? You ever gonna stop messing with that thing?" She mocked.

"I don't know. You ever gonna shut your mouth?...Songbird?" Crosshairs paused what he was doing to glare up at her with a sly grin.

Song narrowed her eyes, "Careful there, bud. Treading on thin ice is dangerous..."

"I'll knock you out faster than Drift can spit haikus."

Song nearly gagged trying not to laugh at his retaliation, "Oh I'd love to see you try." She didn't really expect him to react, not physically at least. So imagine how unexpected it was that he tossed his gun to the side and pounced on her full force. She barely had time to even react.

Crosshairs was on top of her in a second, straddling her waist and pinning her hands to the ground with his own. His trenchcoat fanned out behind him, covering her legs. It was safe to say that their general position was... awkward. Or it would have been, if they'd noticed it.

Staring up at him, Song put on the best "please don't kill me I'm innocent" expression her faceplates would allow. This didn't seem to phase the paratrooper in the slightest. So, she tried a different approach and began trying to force him off of her. After twisting, kicking, and struggling against the Autobot's impossible grip, it almost started to scare her to realize just how much she was at his mercy.

Crosshairs smirked, clearly proud of his victory at this cat and mouse game, "Given up yet, Songbird?"

She spat at him.

"Eulg!" He recoiled, releasing her to clean the saliva from his face. She took her chance, diving forward and using the chain of her built in grapplehook to secure him to the ground.

Their positions were now completely reversed. Song straddled his chassis and used her knees to keep his hands on the ground at his sides. Lastly, she had a chain stretched across his neck.

"I win," she smiled darkly.

"Crosshairs, Soundbreaker! Go into recharge already--and quit straddling eachother like that... it's creepin' me out," Hound muttered from a short distance away.

"Tch," Song retracted her chain and stood up, then reached down to offer Crosshairs a hand.

He spat at it, then stood up on his own.

"Eww. Revenge, huh? How shallow of you," Song grinned playfully, shaking off her hand.

"Hey, I woulda won that little wrestling match if it wasn't for your use of foul play," he stood over her, looking down at her menacingly.

Song shrugged and made use of her middle digit.

Crosshairs rolled his optics and made his way back over to the gun he'd tossed earlier, returning it to its rightful place beneath his trenchcoat. He then transformed into his alt mode and opened his passenger side door.

"Cut the sass and get in 'ere," he ordered.

Song returned to her normal human self, but refused to take a step forward, "Cut the snark and maybe I will."

"Whatever happened to that promise you made to listen to everything I say?"

"It expired about two months ago."

Crosshairs shut the door, "Aw'right then, fleshie. Sleep in the cold then, I don't care."

"Fine, fine! I'm coming. Hold on to your engine, good grief."
............

It was late at night; the Autobots had stopped to rest and hide.

Jazz stretched out lazily and sat slouched against a concrete wall while Song laid down on the ground next to him.

From the moment Jazz had made the split second decision to allow her to come with him, Song knew her life had been changed forever. She bonded immedently with the extraterrestrial living machines and already considered them family. The family she'd never had. The parents who'd never raised her.

"Jazz, I'm s-so cold," She complained, shivering.

He chuckled lightly, "Here. Come hang with me for a while." He reached down and scooped her up unexpectedly, then held her gently to the top of his chest.

It took a moment for Song to register what had happened. Yet, even though there were more than a few rough edges digging into her back, the warmth that radiated from Jazz quickly began lulling her to sleep.

"We can't feel the cold, but I hope the heat from my spark chamber does the trick."

"Thank you, Jazz," she whispered softly, "Thank you."

............