These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

XXXVIII. Currency of Love

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With the weekend coming to an end, it would take some time before Catherine could properly hangout with Sam, as another week of school was starting up. If she wasn’t dead to pretty much everyone she knew, she would have happily taken Jazz or Sideswipe down to Tranquility and visited them, but, well, she couldn’t very well say she was a zombie. Thankfully, that time was made up with going out and spending time with her foster family—she even partook of shopping, which she never imagined herself doing ever. With Lennox, her fun involved shooting or some other “man-fun” activity, and with Annabelle she could only stick to young, baby play, but that was a gift in itself.

Of course, she spent time with her robotic companions, and gladly took up teasing them as much as possible. She often found more alone time with Sideswipe, though, as Jazz became the favored form of transport for everyone—Sideswipe was a bit too reckless for Sarah’s liking, especially when Annabelle was in tow. It was a different, but wonderful gift that she personally enjoyed above all else, though would never say. 

And when no one was occupying her attention she found her thoughts took up the position. First and foremost was R2, the miniature Cybertronian she had made. According to Sam he was doing fine and following the rules, and he and Bumblebee both got along very well as, apparently, R2 was a fantastic conversationalist. For that she was relieved and glad, but still the question remained: how the hell had she done it? Tip-of-the-tongue was her mortal enemy in her battle for the knowledge, and no matter how many suggestions Sideswipe and Jazz could give her nor any questions she asked could put her on the right path. It was annoying, frustrating, maddening, and any synonym to describe a desire to throttle the mystery before her. Even worse—when she concentrated and tried to summon the same feeling, all she got were sparks and the darkness behind her eyelids.

By the middle the weeks she finally gave up—but not really—and let herself become preoccupied with working out to make sure she didn’t get stale over the break. Lennox helped to make sure of that, and so she also started doing chores, too. Of course, Sarah argued against it, but Catherine’s “responsibility” meter wouldn’t have it any longer. Besides, she knew Lennox would get her back at NEST even more than he already was if she didn’t.

It all helped keep her mind off too many things, the work outs weren't bad at all, and she always enjoyed shooting. Her drones helped with passing the time and making things better, too. They were always curious about everything she did, especially the horses. Their first encounter had been awkward to say the least, but soon enough the horses took on their usual “don’t-care” attitude, her drones were happy to prance around on their backs or to roll around in the dirt while she was shooting. Sometimes they played with Jazz or Sideswipe, and, after finally forcing them to confront the toddler terror, they had begun to make friends with Annabelle.

And so things went along smoothly and quickly through the week. It was honestly a good thing for Catherine, for it meant it was soon to be Saturday, which was the day Sam was going to bring his parents to the ranch and they were all going to have a picnic-dinner. It had taken much discussion, but it was decided it would be better at the ranch because she was considered dead, they didn’t want to take chances and it would allow the Autobots to walk around and have fun at the same time. His parents were still a little weary of Bumblebee being an alien sometimes, but they figured he could stretch his legs, especially if it kept him from getting antsy in the garage. It also just might have possibly had a bit to do with the fact Mrs. Judy often wondered aloud about the women who had “stolen” her potential “daughter” from her, but no one was foolish enough to say so. Sam mentioned Mikaela would be coming, too, and while it had surprised Catherine—although it probably shouldn’t have—she didn’t mind. It had been a long time since they talked, and, well, if she was Sam’s girlfriend, then she should try and get along again being Sam’s best friend.