These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

LXXI. Points of Authority II

"You didn't know about this?" she asked with restraint in her tone.

"No. I didn't. I'm pissed, too," he replied.

She growled as she folded her arms, "Why didn't Optimus tell me?"

"I'm sure he has a good reason. It's Optimus we're talking about. He wouldn't leave you in the dark unless he had one."

Catherine sighed, arms still held tight to her chest. Her father pulled his hand away, though remained close. He watched his daughter for a moment longer before looking back to the video feeds. Ratchet and Optimus had returned to the ship and were now securing Sentinel and the pillars in the storage chamber of the vessel. The redhead glanced over at it, too, and her stomach twisted a bit more as her mind wondered on why she hadn't been told. She knew it was silly to dwell on it, but it hurt knowing Optimus had not— at the very least— told her about it, and, instead, had left her to learn about it from Mearing of all people.

"If it helps," Blasters voice crackled through the comm. link attached to her ear, "he didn't tell none of us, either. This is first we heard of it."

She looked over at the Communications Officer, but his optics were on the feeds, continuing to keep them running and protect them from Decepticon optics at the same time. It figured he was still listening in on everything around him, though, and no doubt had surveyed the rest of the Autobot on the issue in a matter of seconds. When she looked to Sideswipe, he nodded knowing what she was looking for. She looked to some of the others, but they were turned away. She was sure they were in the dark, too, and it eased some of the hurt, though not all.

"Looks like they're going to be entering the atmosphere in a few minutes. They'll land at the Kennedy Space Center pretty soon and get back here in a few more hours—unless Air Raid plans on bridging them," Lennox spoke up.

She chuckled a little, "He would like that. He'd get to boast how he was the first to see Sentinel Prime. Although would Ms. Director-Bitch agree? I feel like that might violate some regulations or something. Wouldn't want her to get any more gray hairs."

"Uh, yeah, no we wouldn't," her father laughed, but then quickly stifled it with a cough. "But I don't see why we can't. I mean, you would think she would appreciate things getting done faster and more efficiently, right?"

"Are you suggesting I piss her off then? Because there are far better ways of doing that—many of which I plan on using soon."

"Jesus, please don't do that. It's hard enough looking after you as it is," her father groaned, letting his head fall back. With a laugh, Catherine bumped her head into his shoulder.

"Don't worry 'bout me, Pop. I got a whole armada of Autobots to back me up. Anyways, excuse me while I get my boys ready to give OP and docbot a hand," she mused as she headed off back to the catwalk. Her father let her be, turning back to watch the feed where the spaceship was nearing Earth. The redhead, meanwhile, ascended and briefly explained her ire for the Mearing woman to her teammates and co-worker, which they all understood and make jokes of. Sideswipe, as usual, offered to blow her up, but was declined in favor of not causing a situation. Then it was her children's' turn, and all it took was mentioning "bridging" and "Optimus" for the green-armored Seeker's optics to widen, happily agree, and bounce vigorously where he stood.

He was only mildly disappointed when he was told he had to wait until his Commander was safely back on the ground, but he made it through a wait that wasn't too long—Autobot ships were better suited to entering atmospheres than human ones—and then he was gone in a burst of light and a wave of air, which surprised more than a few people and caused quite a racket. Unfortunately, it caught Mearing and the other General's attention, and they came back demanding to know what had happened. Said situation made a dramatic turn around after a few minutes when, in a rather timely manner, Air Raid returned in another brilliant flash and wind-gust with both Autobots and technology. Catherine would never admit it, but the priceless look on all their faces was a sight she would cherish forever. She didn't even regret it when the woman began to crow about them going against regulations. That, thankfully, was put on hold when the Pillars— as the technology was apparently called—were shuffled to the vault.