The suit tracked her down which just screamed ominous. She was enjoying a quiet breakfast by herself, as she usually did. And then he was just suddenly there.
"Eggs taste better with no view," she said tartly. She was still smarting about the whole needle thing.
"This is from my higher up. They're deciding if the NDA is necessary or not," he said bluntly.
She paused with her bite mid-air.
"So what I just go home?" She didn't think that would ever be an option.
"No," the suit said, scrubbing at his face.
"They'll send you to another base," he said tiredly.
Now that just made her mad. She joked she was the military's pet and all but she didn't mean it literally.
"Why can't I just stay here?" She wasn't whining exactly but she was definitely close.
"They don't want anyone non military interacting with the Autobots," he said, definitely looking far more tired than he had before.
Her mind raced, trying to think of any example she could to plead her case. If she wasn't going home, she didn't want to leave.
"What about that kid! Sam or whatever," she said, finishing lamely. She didn't know much about him and honestly wasn't sure if she would get along with him but he was going to be her defense dammit.
"That's a different case," he said eying her critically.
"Oh what? Cuz I'm a girl? Or is it because I'm in a wheelchair?" she said snottily.
"It's because you're an adult," Lennox said, plopping down next to the suit.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" She was starting to get pissed. A kid shouldn't have more right to the bots than her just because he was a kid.
"It means that there isn't a time limit on you aging out. You aren't able to join the military so that's not something they can bank on. You're just a civilian and you always will be," Lennox said before taking a massive bite of his food.
She knew more but was also smart enough to not say anything about it. She knew that she had some kind of weird radiation that made the Autobots more invested and that should count, dammit.
"I'm positive human interaction that's not just military?" she tried weakly.
"No dice, kiddo. If the higher ups say you go, you go," Lennox said with a shrug.
Fucker. She just wanted to hang out with Jolt. Resuming a normal life would be nice. But being prisoner to the military? Super dee duper not ideal.
She was so gonna tattle to Optimus about this.
"We'll have an answer for you later this week," the suit said before standing up and straight up vanishing like mist. That dude did not like hanging around.
"Do you even like it here?" Lennox asked, peering over at her.
She frowned. Did she like the base? Not particularly. Did she like the people? Obviously not. She did like her alien friends. Quite a bit, in fact.
"I like the Autobots," she said bluntly with narrowed eyes. She was just aching for a fight. Lennox sighed but didn't fight her. He took one last bite and was gone and it was just her and her eggs once again.
She shoveled down the rest of her food as fast as she could and went out on the hunt. Normally she went out to the test range with Ironhide but this time she was seeking out the big guns.
"Hey you know where Optimus is?" she asked a lazy looking Sideswipe.
"Hell if I know," he said with a shrug.
"You're no help," she grumbled before moving on to where Ironhide was. He would tell her.
"You're late!" he growled before shoving a gun at her.
"I've got trouble, Hoss. You know where the big guy is?" Ironhide looked down at her with narrowed eyes.
"Why do you need Optimus?" he asked slowly, hesitantly.
"They're gonna try and kick me out," she said with a shrug. He immediately straightened and she felt the strong buzz of communication happen.
Well that worked.
"Optimus is on his way," Ironhide said quietly before sinking down onto the ground next to her.
"Where the fuck would you even go, fish bait?" he asked before taking a gun out and starting to clean it.
"They said another military base. I won't be released from custody. Just moved. Like I'm some kind of red headed stepchild no one wants custody of," she grumbled, crossing her arms and nearly dropping the gun from her lap.
"That ain't right," Ironhide said softly before turning to look out towards the base. In a great cloud of dust, Optimus was on his way.
Ironhide must have given him just enough information to make him pissy because the truck was roaring their way.
He transformed and slid, feet making deep grooves in the earth.
"What did they say to you?" Optimus growled. She'd never seen the cool and collected truck so pissed. It was a little pleasing it was on her behalf but it was still weird. She hadn't gotten much of a chance to hang out with him as he'd been so busy.
"They, uh," she felt herself choking up a bit in the face of his anger. She wasn't the one who caused it but she was still feeling a little cowed.
"They said I'm a civilian and there's no reason for me to be on this particular base," she said meekly. Optimus let out a rough sounding growl. Was that a snort? Like a bull? She wasn't going to question it.
"This directly contradicts what I was discussing with them," he said firmly, enunciating each word.
"What were you telling them?" Her curiosity knew no bounds.
"That you were an asset to our communication with humans," Optimus said before kneeling down in front of them.
"It is true, Katie. You have brought value and purpose to my time. I am in your debt," he said, those damn blue eyes piercing through her.
"You're welcome?" She knew her voice was shooting high but there was nothing that could be done about it.
"I will speak with them," he said before folding off and speeding away.
"He's pissed," Ironhide said with a chuckle.
"I gathered that," she replied dryly.
"We'll look out for you, shark bait," Ironhide said calmly, peering down at her while still cleaning his damn gun.
"Why?" She didn't feel the tears exactly but they were coming if she couldn't manage to stop them.
Ironhide shrugged, the bastard.
"You're special what with the radiation and all. Jolt seems to really like you. Gives him something to do other than prank the military guys." He flashed her a cheeky looking smile which didn't bode well for her not injuring her hands to smack him.
"So I'm your pet now instead of the military's?" she asked.
Ironhide let out a low hum and even paused cleaning his gun while he considered it.
"I think you're thinking it of it as a bad thing. Like you ain't got no agency. In reality you're gonna be a spoiled pampered brat." He nodded, like that made it all ok.
"I still can't make decisions for myself," she argued, brow furrowing as she thought it through.
"Who says?" he replied, back to cleaning his gun.
"The military-"
"The military can eat a bag of dicks. That ain't who I'm talking about," he said, stopping his obsessive gun cleaning to look down at her.
"Kid, we're not going to put you on a shelf and never touch you. We think of you as part of us. Package deal kind of thing. Optimus will work it out," he said with a low rumble.
"I'm still like a pet," she pouted. It stung. She didn't want to be dependent on anyone nor have her choices stripped from her.
"Nah pets are better behaved," Ironhide said with a cheeky smirk.
"Oh fuck you," she said, laughing through the lump in her throat.
"You'll be fine, fish bait. Just let us take care of you," he said, stowing away his gun and standing up slowly.
"Now. We aim. Pretend it's military if that helps. I don't give a fuck. Just shoot the damn targets, kid."
Being out at the range helped a little with the pent up emotions but not by much. She was a bundle of nerves until she saw Optimus later that day.
He looked tired but not as pissed which she was going to take as a good sign.
"You will stay here," he said quietly, pinning her down with those damn eyes.
"What did you have to do to get that?" she asked, slumping down in her chair.
She had no idea how an Autobot's face could look exhausted and lined but it certainly did in that moment.
"You are officially in our care. If the military and us separate for any reason, you will follow us or be surrendered into military custody. I am sorry, Katie. I wish I could have given you more freedom," he said solemnly.
She actually felt great with that answer. She knew she was trapped either way and the Autobots let her get away with a lot more shit.
"I'll live," she said with a shrug.
"Does this mean I can take her on a joyride now?" Sideswipe asked, appearing from behind her.
"No," Jolt said firmly from god knows where. She craned her neck and saw he had followed Sideswipe.
"You're no fun man. Share the human," Sideswipe said with a whine before collapsing onto some kind of bed looking thing.
"My human," Jolt said quietly, ignoring Sideswipe's scoff.
"Katie. I must confirm you are all right before you leave. Are you sure you're ok?" Optimus was looking down at her with such concern, she couldn't help but be honest in her reply.
"Optimus, my whole life has been turned around. Do I love hanging out with you guys? Absolutely. Do I wish I could have a normal life? Sure as shit do. But that's not really an option for me. So I'm going to make the best of it," she said, keeping her gaze locked on Optimus'. He nodded slowly, seeming to agree with her sentiment before Jolt was suddenly folding himself around her.
"Later, bitches," he said with a loud long laugh and they were out the hangar door, speeding towards the sunset.
She rubbed her hand up against the steering wheel, eyes trained on the horizon.
"What's my life going to look like, Jolt?" she asked, still feeling a little out of sorts from her day.
She didn't know a car could shrug, especially while in motion, but somehow he managed.
"You just live. Take it day by day. Make goals for yourself I guess. Like learning to drive. That's a good goal to have," he said joyfully.
She reached out and brushed her hand against the lever. It did feel damn good to drive again, even if it wasn't the way she was used to. It gave her one tiny thing she could control.
It also made her incredibly grateful to Jolt. He was literally giving up his body just for her to get an ounce of freedom.
"Thank you," she said softly, leaning forward to brush her hand against the dash.
"For what?" Jolt's perky voice came through the radio loud and clear.
"For doing all this for me. I really appreciate it," she said softly, bapping the new driving tech to show what she meant.
"Of course, Katie. You deserve the chance to live just as much as us," he said with a fond tone.
Damn. She was really hoping she was done with the whole crying thing. This time it couldn't be stopped. She'd had a hell of a day and just needed to let it all out.
Jolt seemed to understand and didn't say anything, just cruised around even after the sun set and let her cry.
And cry she did. She sobbed, great heaving breaths wracking her chest. It felt like she was full. Full of emotion and pent up goop. So she just let it out. She cried for a solid thirty minutes before she finally came down.
The next few days were like the sun was too bright. She felt hungover as shit from her crying fit. But no one bugged her and everything operated as normal so she took that as a win.
She wasn't expecting a plane to land a week later.