These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

LXXVI. Live to Rise

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Catherine let out a sob, which she quickly stifled and glanced over at Carly, who was thankfully undisturbed from her slumber. The blonde-haired woman had been given a change of clothes hours ago and now sported a nice white shirt and jacket with gray jeans. The redhead had been offered as well, but denied the fancy attire in favor of her NEST gear. Carly, however, was happy to be out of her party dress and was certainly more able to sleep in the new attire. Catherine only wished she could fall asleep so easy, but her eyes were too raw, her nose too runny, and her mind and chest too heavy.

They can't be dead, she told herself as he squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her knees closer. It had to be a lie, and yet she couldn't get the horrid news feed and caption out of her head. Over and over and over again, she saw the missiles hit the shuttle and ruthlessly rip it apart. There was no stopping her mind from imagining their defenseless frames being blown apart—their sparks snuffed out within seconds. All of them, gone. Her bond mate, his brother, her children, and the others were gone. Dead. Offline. Gone.

Her shoulders shook as the tears streamed down again. She clamped her lips tight, not wanting to wake Carly with her sobbing. She couldn't believe it was true, but she had seen it. How, though? How had it come to this? How could humanity just shove the Autobots away? They were their only hope—they were her only hope, and now they were gone. They couldn't take on the Decepticons alone. Why hadn't her father done something? Why hadn't Morshower or Mearing or the President or some other country? Why did they force the Autobots away? Why did they send them to die? Who was going to help them now? Their own forces which had been almost completely destroyed just months ago? She might have laughed had the situation allowed for it, but now the thought only combined with the sorrow of the undeniable, terrible truth.

The Autobots weren't coming back.

"Dammit, Sideswipe—you promised!" she cried out suddenly. Her head shot up just as fast when Carly flinched and began to murmur, her sleep disturbed. Catherine hoped the blonde would simply fall back into slumber, but it was dashed when the young woman leaned up, eyes narrowed with confusion at first. They widened moments later and she sat up quickly while her gaze locked onto the redhead. Fear immediately turned to concern as the redhead attempted to wipe away her tears, and Carly reached out for her comrade. Catherine shrugged her off and scooted away, assuring the blonde she was fine.

"No, you're not," the blonde-haired woman frowned and moved next to her. She took the redhead's hand and wrapped her other arm around Catherine's shoulders. "It'll… It will be alright, okay?"

The redhead laughed, "'Alright'? 'Alright'!? Everything's gone to Hell! The Autobots are dead! Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and my kids are gone. They're gone, Carly! Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone! They're gone and the Decepticons have won. It's not alright at all—it all over!"

"Catherine, no—don't think that way. NEST is still out there!"

"We're not strong enough to take on an entire armada!"

"We—we've got to keep our hopes up, though. We have to. Someone will come for us. We'll get through this."

"Who, Carly? Who? Who's going to come for us? Who even knows where we are? NEST won't know. Our base was destroyed and Blaster was the only one with the capability to find us without a direct call, and the Decepticons are bound to have cut our satellite links or they will soon enough. No one is going to come for u—."

Carly had tried to calm Catherine down by rubbing her back and squeezing her hand comfortingly, but, as the redhead continued on in her craze, the blonde realized the conventional means were not going to work. Her friend was devoid of hope and her sanity, and the blonde knew of only one sure way to bring her mind back around. While she preferred not to come to such means—especially when it was one of her dearest friends—it was needed in this case, and so Carly released Catherine's hand, raised hers up, and slapped it across the other woman's cheek. The redhead was silenced at once, and she stared at the blonde with shock.