These Paths We Tread (Autobot x OC)

XVII. Somewhere I Belong

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Catherine was beginning to regret having used her powers to bring her phone to life.

With a sigh, she turned away from the wall-side of her bed and found the blue optics of Teletraan staring at her with determination while its speakers wailed an ungodly sound that apparently passed for an alarm. Adding fuel to the fire, the little bugger was flashing the time on its chest-screen, which was at an even more ungodly hour of five in the morning. Of course, she couldn’t really be mad at the little guy. For one, he was adorable and would shut down the alarm as soon as she looked at him, and two, she had told him to do this for the rest of her stay at the Lennox’s. He was a good little drone thing.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m up, I’m up,” she grumbled, rolling out of bed and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She messaged her neck next and shoulders, too, trying to loosen up the sore muscles. They weren’t as bad as they had been after yesterday, thankfully, and she knew they would feel better once she was done with today, too. She just had to get moving into the routine. Luckily for her, the laziness had no chance of acting up with her little alarm clock ready to blare at her if she even so much as looked back towards the soft, comfy mattress.

With another sigh she stood up and began her morning preparations, Teletraan scurrying after her. Like she had for the past week and a few days, she slipped on her workout clothes and shoes and tied her hair back, putting it out of the way. She splashed her face a few times to help wake up before setting Teletraan into her short’s pocket and heading downstairs where Lennox would already be waiting. She knew Sarah and Annabelle were still asleep so she made sure to creep down the steps so as to not wake them, and then carefully close the back door. As always, her “commander”—she wasn’t sure if she could get used to calling him that—stood with his hands on his hips, already fitted in his NEST workout gear. He gestured with his head for her to follow, and they were off.

The jog was a lot longer now, ranging at about ten miles. The first six were a breeze after a full week of running the blasted trails, but the last four always strained her, and it didn’t help Lennox made her increase her pace at that time. She was getting better, though. Or, at least, that’s what she figured when she found she could keep up with Lennox better and better each day. Granted, he could have been taking pity on her too, but she preferred to think the former. If there was any good part, it was that their land had a great jogging view and the sun didn’t come up until after they were done. The little things just made it all the less tiring.

“Sore today?” he asked her after they had finished and she was holding her hands up on her head to help the breathing.

“A little,” she replied and lowered her arms now that she was almost back to normal. “But it’s fine. It’ll be gone by this evening.”

“Good. Now get going on the pushups and crunches while I get the horses ready,” he ordered and spun towards the barn. She held in her sigh, remembering his warning although her joining NEST was official now, and lowered to the ground. The post-jogging exercises were her least favorite part, especially since he’d increased their amount after she had come to stay here. All she had to say was that her arms and stomach had better be incredibly toned after all of it or she would be pissed. And their horses better be incredibly happy because she was grooming and cleaning them even with her sore arms and a burning stomach.

I swear to God if there are horses on the island I am going to go Godfather on a certain someone’s ass! She grumbled as she finished up the last of her pushups and went into crunches. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the horses—Lennox was just being a turd for making her do the work. He knew very well it was his job, and even his wife had told him it was his job, but he was being a sneaky bastard and making her do it while Sarah was asleep. She hadn’t said anything namely because he had oh so slyly mentioned her “membership” to NEST. While she knew he wouldn’t just suddenly take it back, he could make it as awful as he wanted being the Commander. While he was a kind man, she wouldn’t put it past him to take it up. He could be a real turd sometimes.