These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

XXXIV. Young Blood Part I

-------------------------------------------------------------

“I won’t be coming with you to the Lennox’s ranch, so you’ll need to do the scans yourself, which is why you’re going to be taking this with you. Go ahead and press the button on the bottom,” Ratchet stated as he handed a human-sized contraption that reminded Catherine of a mixture between a datapad and a tablet for a computer. She did as told and pushed the centered button, and at once the screen lit up not unlike the one on his arm did. There were only two options, one saying “scan” and the other “transfer”. “To scan, just press the option that says so and aim the screen towards you—it will do the rest. Once the data is completed, which you’ll know because it’ll tell you, just hit transfer and the data will go directly to me.”

“Got it. Sounds easy enough,” Catherine nodded, pressing the same button to shut it off, and then stuffed it into the duffle bag she’d brought to NEST. “Hopefully nothing will go wrong while we’re gone for two weeks.”

“I believe the correct phrase would be to not ‘knock on wood’ or something like that?” Ratchet hummed, and the redhead grinned a little.

“More like don’t jinx it, but I get what you mean. I’ll make sure to do a scan this Sunday. Time zones are a bit different, so don’t get your gears in a bunch if I don’t send it in at the right time. I’ll have Teletraan and the other two with me—they’re sleeping in the bag right now, actually—so you can get in touch that way if you’d like.”

“I’ll probably be too busy to notice,” he replied, looking over at the mostly-completed machine behind him. It was in the shape of something that looked like it was supposed to come from a sci-fi movie; it had a circular base with two arches running up the sides that nearly touched at the center, but couldn’t fully make it. From those ends extended two prongs with wires running to them, like some the point of a laser beam gun.

“You and Jolt making a lot of progress on the converter then?” she inquired, and a smile formed on his face.

“Yes, actually. It’s nowhere near completion, but we managed to at least make a foundation that should work. Now we just have to get through the worst part,” he spoke, at first with much gusto, but then ended with a sigh. “This is where I really wish Wheeljack or Perceptor were here. They would be able to figure out how to alter the particles in the metals in kliks!”

“You’re a medic, not a scientist, right?” she grinned, teasing him a little, and he snorted.

“Unfortunately. Now, get along, you. Your ride is waiting. I expect to hear you got plenty of rest and relaxation, too. It has not escaped my attention that your stress levels have increased lately.”

She laughed, “Alright, alright. I’ll see you when we get back, Ratchet. I’ll make sure to give Sideswipe as much hell as I can!”

“That’s our femme,” he smiled back, and nudged her towards the door once she’d turned around.

“Good luck and keep everyone safe!” she called back, waving as she slipped through the Medbay doors. Her grin from earlier widened and she nearly skipped down the halls. She was finally getting her break, and was going to see Sarah and Annabelle and Sam! Oh, it was a day of days today, and she didn’t care that she had to take an hours-long trip to get there! Besides, Lennox, Sideswipe, and Jazz would be joining her! It hadn’t take much more than the “for protection” excuse to give them the O.K. to come—particularly with the sudden Decepticon activity that occurred two weeks ago—and now they were all strapped into the transport plane and ready to go. All they were waiting on was for her to get there.

Luckily, all the Autobots knew and didn’t hold her up, although the Twins did try. However, Brawn and Springer were there and it was an easy thing for them to grab both by the scruff of their necks while they gave her a kind send off, and then took them for “training”. She could hear their groans and complaints all the way to the landing pad, where Lennox, her team, and a few other soldiers also going on their breaks stood waiting or were loading up. She grinned at the sight of “her” boys, and hurried over to accept the barrage of head-rubbings that turned her hair into a fine, love-filled mess.