These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

LXI. Heads Will Roll

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The strings of words that slammed against the sealed lips of Catherine’s mouth were ones that would have made her mother go completely ape shit and ground her for the rest of her life. Personally, she thought she had a very good reason. Galloway’s face alone was enough to elicit some profanity, and when he was talking that automatically brought on a few more. However, it was what he was saying right now that had brought on the true force of her profanity skills, and she had to do everything in her power to keep the words at bay and also to keep the daggers she had in her glare from striking their target. It wasn’t easy, but she was managing.

Yet, Galloway wasn’t the worst of her problems. No, even with him and his goons looking down on her and her fellow NEST representatives while he pranced around his end of the table, there was something more worrisome on her mind. It happened to be the very thing the arrogant man was “lecturing” her on, as she had no doubt he would call it: the traitor situation. She didn’t know how, but for whatever reason, the bastard and the other government organizations found out not even days after they finished their naval base mission and they had all wasted no time latching their claws onto it.

Things started with the obvious accusations—why hadn’t NEST informed them about this? What need did they have to keep it from them? Didn’t they know it put the security of the nation and the world at stake? Weren’t they being hypocritical by putting peoples’ lives at stake? Could they trust NEST anymore? How could they allow traitors to come about?

Needless to say, their reputation was at stake. NEST was beginning to look very weak and like a threat. Indeed, it could be with traitors amongst them. That, Catherine could not argue. However, they also had a solution.  

“As I’m sure you’ve realized, Ms. Wolf, the head of National Security, the Congress, and the Secretary of Defense are hard pressed to think NEST is getting the job done. In fact, they’re beginning to think we don’t need your program. I certainly don’t see why we need it—especially when you are harboring people working against humanity,” the man finished, pushing up his glasses in a haughty manner and meeting Catherine’s gaze, which had hardened.

“We’re hardly ‘harboring’ traitors, Mr. Galloway. To answer your question, though; we hid the fact we had traitors to prevent those very people from planning to escape,” she replied calmly, though there was venom imbedded in her tone. “We had hoped to search for them without their realizing we knew—thereby making it easier to apprehend them. Of course, now that you and everybody else know save for the public, anybody who might be traitor can now prepare and elude us. So, thank-you, Mr. Galloway, for blowing our entire operation.”

“Your ‘operation’? Ms. Wolf, please. If this was a legitimate operation, than it would have had Presidential approval, which means it would have gone through us. Seeing as we knew nothing about it until now, this was hardly legitimate. For all we know, you could have some hidden agenda that puts our security at risk! For all we know all of NEST could be aiding the Dece—,” he replied, only to be cut off by a venomous glare from Catherine as she stood up.

“Do not finish that sentence,” she growled. “While there are people in NEST whom have turned against us, many of the traitors are from outside the organization. Furthermore, what right do you have to call us traitors?”

Galloway frowned, “As the National Security representative it is my duty—.”

“’To ensure the safety of the United States’, I know, and a fine job you’re doing considering the fact you have a potential traitor among you!”

She hadn’t wanted to make that play. It was a card she had been hoping to hide until they had fully identified the traitors, but as she took in the array of gasps and shocked expressions along with Galloway’s paling face, she knew it had been a good move. That wasn’t to say she and her companions wouldn’t suffer for it later. No doubt the information was going to be leaked and the possible suspect could find a way to elude them, but then again—that very movement was what they’d been searching for ever since their mission at the naval base.