Twist of Fate
Chapter 6 - Leaving the Old Life Behind
Staying at a motel wasn't completely her cup of tea. She couldn't very well tell the Griffin's she traveled two hundred miles within an hour. It just was physically impossible by car, at least with one that was built by a factory. But when one added in an intelligent alien robot disguising himself as a human built car, it was possible. And that was one thing the family would never learn, unless the Autobots were to become public knowledge. Katherine may not like being around the Autobots too much, but she knew the sense of urgency to help keep them a secret.
When Katherine was showered and dressed, she climbed into Ironhide and drove towards the home where the Griffin's lived. Knowing she was getting hungry; she had pulled into Starbucks drive thru. After she made her order, a coffee and a muffin, she waited while the car in front of her waited for his.
"Tell me again, why we are here?" Ironhide grumbled.
"I want breakfast and I know coffee isn't a real meal, but it helps to wake me up. And we have to wait for the guy in front of us to get his order. When he pulls away, I can get my coffee and then we'll be on our way."
With a quiet grumble, nearly too quiet to be heard, Ironhide continued to wait, mumbling something about humans but Katherine couldn't pick up on what he was trying to say. Once the car in front finally moved, Ironhide led off the brake and moved forward. On reflex, Katherine placed her foot on the brake when it looked like he was going to go too far.
"You don't have to slam on the brake," he snapped.
She ignored him as a lady opened a window, releasing some of the cool air from the air conditioner. Katherine handed her the right amount of change before reaching over and retrieving her coffee and muffin. She noticed Ironhide had a cup holder, must have been something added when he scanned the vehicle he copied and assumed its form. She set her coffee in the holder and placed the muffin in her lap.
Ironhide, knowing it was safe, pulled away from the takeout window and turned out onto the street, heading to the Griffin's home. Katherine took this time to eat her breakfast while Ironhide drove. As they approached the house, Ironhide took some time to scan the property. He wasn't going to let anything get by him. He was amazed in how the homes here looked, which were quite different from the ones he saw in Tranquility. It had palm trees and different sorts of flowers all over the front yard surrounding the driveway. The property wasn't very large by it wasn't small either. He pulled up to a car and stopped.
Katherine climbed out, taking her empty coffee cup and muffin wrapper, wanting to throw it out instead of hearing the Autobot growl more. With another verbal grumble from the truck, she walked up to the door, getting ready to ring the doorbell. Not being given the chance, the door suddenly opened, startling the woman for a moment before taking a deep breath and held it. It was Rebecca, the one sister who could cause a lot of trouble.
"Your boyfriend better not be here," she demanded.
"I don't have a boyfriend," Katherine defended herself.
"Oh? So the man who stood close to you..."
"Is someone who saved my life. I loved your brother."
"Sure you did. And I suppose you're now going to defy his memory. So, what brings you here anyway?"
Katherine sighed, there was just no getting through. "Rebecca, I came to visit your parents. If you don't like it then why don't you take it up with your parents? This is their home after all."
"Rebecca who is here," a man said as he came to the door. "Oh Katherine. Welcome. Come on in." He noticed Katherine's garbage. He then smiled. "I'm sure you also want to dispose of that."
Katherine smiled. "Thank you Mr. Griffin."
"Please, call me Tom. To me you'll always be a part of this family. We don't need to be so formal."
Tom ushered Katherine in, ignoring the glare from his eldest daughter. Deciding the house was too crowded Rebecca stepped outside, walking over to the Topkick. Seeing the style of truck and knowing it was new, she glared at it.
"Not only does she play the victim, but she also has a brand new car," she hissed. "Charles was just buried and she does that. How dare she? That little tramp!"
Ironhide wanted to tell her where she could stick her comments but knew he had to keep a low profile. He did not need someone seeing his true form, unless it was necessary. He watched as she walked over to a building and disappeared. Moments later, a car pulled out and he could see it was her, driving a 2005 Sedan.
Ironhide watched the car leave the premises. "Why do I get the feeling Katherine is right and that woman will be trouble?"
Not wanting to dwell too much into it, Ironhide turned his attention back to the house and activated his surveillance. He was going to keep his optics peeled for any sign of trouble. If danger was going to come to him, he was going to need to get to Katherine and in a hurry.
The visit at the Griffin's took nearly three hours. When the visit was over, Katherine went over to her truck. With Mr. Griffin's help, as he walked out with her, helped her climbed into the truck. When she was in, he closed the door for her. The engine revved to life, giving her the chance to roll down the window. She sadly smiled at the man. "Thanks for everything, Tom."
"You're welcome. Try and not be a stranger. We would love for you to visit again. But I'm sure you need to get on the road, you have a long trip ahead of you."
"Yeah and I need to rest up. I have a job interview in two days at the local newspaper in town of where I've been staying."
"Where are you living? When I heard what happened to your apartment complex, I feared for your safety."
"With my brother and his wife."
"Well I'll let you be on your way." Tom moved away from the truck and walked back to the doorstep where his wife waited.
"All right Ironhide," Katherine said. "Let's move."
"About time," he replied sarcastically. Moving forward carefully, he pulled into the driveway before shifting into reverse and backed out onto the street, facing the way they came.
Just as soon as they were past the house where she couldn't be seen anymore, Katherine climbed in the passenger seat. "Ironhide can you activate your hologram? I would just like to relax."
No sooner requested, sounds of static was heard and a man was sitting in the driver's seat.
"Thanks," she said. "What happened when Rebecca left?"
"Just like you said she would. She belittled you. And here I thought I was bad."
Katherine shook her head. "She likes to cause trouble even if it means hurting her parents. I have no doubt in my mind she caused an argument and was in the middle of leaving when we showed up."
"I have the feeling that today won't be the last time we see her."
"I'm sure you're right. Can we get home so I can rest?"
"Won't Captain Lennox's wife ask why you are back early?"
"She will probably think I'm already well on my way home as it is. I hate lying to her but..."
"You don't need to explain anything." The drive then became silent as they continued. The moment the two were on the highway back to Santa Cruz, Ironhide pulled it into gear, using his boosters so they could reach the town in record time. But he wasn't going the speed as he did when heading to the funeral.
The sun was almost to the horizon when Ironhide pulled into the driveway. He parked in his usual spot and allowed Katherine to get out. The hologram disappeared, as she pulled out her overnight bag and headed inside. She said hello to her niece before heading to the kitchen where Sara was making dinner.
"I've returned!" Katherine announced.
Sara turned with a smile. "I've been expecting you for the past hour now. How was it?"
"The service was well. Funny my mother was the one who was in charge. Afterwards however, was not so fun," Katherine answered. "One of Charles' sisters doesn't like me and she tried to start up shit."
"That's too bad. Will is in the horse pasture. Why don't you go and let him know you've returned."
"I will. Sara was there any phone calls while I was gone."
"No, why?"
"I have a job interview in a couple days. It's time to start pulling my weight around. I believe I'll get it, as it's a job at the local newspaper."
"No offence," Sara said. "But why would you want to get a job at a newspaper when you just lost all your friends?"
Katherine's face saddened. "It's all I really know. I didn't go to journalism school at Berkley so I can work behind a cash register. I was the best and I'm going to prove it again."
"Well I wish you luck."
Katherine nodded her thanks and walked out of the kitchen. She stepped out the back door and made her way to the horse pasture. She watched her brother groom one of the horses. As she drew closer, William noticed her presence.
"I didn't expect you back today," he said.
"Well I didn't want to stay in Santa Monica too long and I have a job interview in a couple days, so I wanted to relax and rest up. How's the clean up operation going of my apartment complex? Has all my belongings been picked up."
"Yes, actually. And for clean up, you know that's classified."
Katherine frowned. "One would think since it was my apartment building, I could be informed about some things."
"Don't get me wrong sis," he sighed. "You are lucky you've gotten the privilege that you've received. There are other military officers who has family involved in Mission City."
"Then what makes me so different?"
"The Autobots, under their protection. Which means you have no choice but to know who they are and what really happened in Mission City. But you see, the less you know about the cleanup operation, the safer you are. You will not be hounded down by the media for answers."
"Only under their protection per your orders."
"The shit I seen Qatar..." William stopped grooming the horse to give a serious look at his sister. "I lost comrades out there because of the Decepticons. And you saw the damage they did in Mission City. They have no regards for human life. The Decepticons are not to be taken lightly."
She sighed, realizing he was right. "Will, it's been two months. Hasn't the media been informed nothing is able to be printed about Mission City?"
He returned to the grooming. "That is true but there is still here say. And you know the media will do anything to make a buck."
"I suppose you're right. Would you like some help?" Katherine walked over to the stable and picked up another grooming brush. She loved horses and one thing she has always been able to relax is grooming horses or go for a ride.
As William continued to brush the mare, he said. "Now, why were you asking about your apartment?"
"You already answered that question. The rest of my belongings have been picked up. I have a folder with a copy of all my stories published stories. I want it for the interview."
"This morning, a delivery came with the rest of your belongings. Mom made sure to have everything placed in storage. You'll find more of your things in the other bedrooms.
"Good," she answered. "Saw her yesterday at the funeral. I had no idea she knew about the Autobots."
"She was given security clearance shortly after Mission City. Secretary of Defence thought it was necessary to include her."
A comfortable silence surrounded the two siblings until Sara called them for dinner. The two took the grooming tools and placed them in their proper spots. The two horses then walked away, heading for a nice grassy spot to chew. The three adults were soon eating with Annabelle in her highchair, also eating, well being fed by her mother. When supper was over, Katherine quietly stood and removed all the dishes and put away all the refrigerated items. Sara didn't know what to say. The woman was completely surprised by Katherine's change. When everything was put away, Katherine went back outside, allowing the family, time alone.
She looked to the sky, noting the sun was almost down. With a guess, there was probably another half hour before it was too dark to do anything. Making a decision, Katherine went back to the stables and decided to take one of the horses for a ride; she saddled him and then climbed on. Just as she went to grab the reins, Ironhide's hologram was standing by the fence. Wondering what he was doing, she decided to trot over.
"What brings you way over here?" she asked.
"You seem distracted."
Katherine snorted. "Wonder what gives you that idea," she said sarcastically. "Perhaps it was the fact I'm upset about Rebecca."
"I'm not here to argue with you," he sighed.
"Then what are you here for?"
"I wanted to see how you ride on those big beasts."
"Oh," was all she said. What more could she say? "I don't have much time to ride."
Ironhide watched as Katherine pulled the ropes that were wrapped around the horse's face. It moved with ease towards the direction she wanted to go. He observed how the horse picked up speed when she kicked its side. The beast began to run towards an area where there was a circular track.
He was quite fascinated in how the horse moved. While watching, he opened his web browser searching on horse back riding. While investigating, he marvelled how her body bounced with the horse's run, hair flipping in the wind. By the time Katherine was done riding and took the beast back inside the stables, he knew everything there needed to know about the animal. All the way from grooming and taking care of a horse to the proper way of riding and saddling the steed.
When she came out of the barn, she ushered the other horse into the stable before returning her attention to the hologram. The two didn't speak to each other as Katherine moved away from the pasture, Ironhide at her heels. When she reached the backdoor, she turned to Ironhide.
"What did you think?"
"Seems quite complicated," he answered.
"Only if you don't know what you are doing. Perhaps I could show you sometime."
"We'll see. Right now it's dark and I would like to stretch. Haven't been able to in a couple days. How does Bumblebee do it, I'll never know?"
"Lots of practice I'm sure."
"He's been on Earth a long time, much longer than the rest of us. We were only here for a day before your city was attacked."
Katherine's eyes widened in surprise. "You're kidding." One look in the hologram's eyes and she could tell he wasn't joking. "Well that explains why you don't know too much about human culture."
"We've learned some while traveling here but not a lot. We're now learning as we go."
"I suppose you guys have an unlimited access to the Internet. But how do you avoid viruses and spyware?"
"Too complicated to explain, just know we can. Our CPU could never be hacked by a human hacker. It's too sophisticated than the government."
"Well I better head in, Sara may get suspicious." Ironhide grumbled as he moved away and headed to the front yard.
Monday morning finally arrived. Katherine pulled her hair up into a French braid and wore her best two-piece skirt suit. She had bought it just before the attack in Mission City. With one look in the mirror, one couldn't even tell that she was a survivor of Mission City, which is the look she was going for. Even though her potential boss already knew she was a victim.
Right after eating a well-balanced breakfast, she climbed into Ironhide and pulled away. It would look very good on her to be punctual. Then again, she wasn't sure how long it would take to get into town and find the building. Knowing the address of the business, she continued driving until she came upon a sign 'The Cruz News'.
"Quite the name," Ironhide remarked.
"Yeah, well we are just outside of Santa Cruz. So it makes sense."
"What's with the file?"
"It's a portfolio of all my articles when I was in Mission City. Anyway, I better get in. Don't draw any attention to yourself."
She was about to open the door when she found it locked. Being trapped within, quickly got her angry, as she couldn't get out. It didn't take her long to realize he locked her in because of her comment. "Ok ok. I'm sorry," she huffed. "I guess you don't need to be reminded of your duty. Can you please let me out? I only have 10 minutes before my appointment."
"No," he answered simply, unlocking the door.
Climbing out, she straightened her skirt, grabbed her portfolio off the passenger seat and proceeded to walk in the building. She walked straight to the receptionist to inform her of the appointment. The lady behind the counter checked her computer for appointments before asking Katherine to wait. She didn't have to wait long before a gentleman came up and introduced himself. He was lean and slightly handsome. However, he was also getting up there and age, as his head was half bald.
While in his office he began asking her questions she was forbidden to answer.
"Sir," she said as politely as she possible. "What does my previous job life have anything to do with this interview?"
"You know questions like that will not be tolerated."
Katherine stood anger shown. "If I had known this interview was going to be an interrogation, I wouldn't have applied. I have been forbidden by the military themselves to not speak about Mission City. If you have a hard time grasping that, then I don't belong here. You are barking up the wrong tree for information."
The man behind the desk stood and raised his hands up. He watched as she turned and was about to walk out.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I had no idea."
Katherine stopped just before the door and turned. She might have been angry with the man, but she would hear him out. God knows, it wasn't the first time she's walked out on an interview nor was it the first time she stopped.
"See my brother was in that city and I just thought that perhaps you could give me a piece of mind."
"I'm the wrong person for that. This is a job interview and you hadn't even looked at my portfolio. Who was your brother?"
"He was a boss at a newspaper company, Jessie Burns."
Katherine whipped her head back to the man. "Jessie Burns? So you are Johnny Burns."
The man's eyes narrowed for a moment before he realized he had something in common with the woman. "I'm Jonathan, Jessie's brother."
Katherine slightly smiled. She moved back and sat back down. The two had something in common. "I understand that, but Jessie always called you Johnny. Even after you two finished high school and moved to different states."
"So if you know my brother and then that means…"
With the file in hand, she reached over and rested it on his desk. He didn't have to ask, she didn't have to say 'this is my work'. He quickly opened the file, looking at some of the articles.
"I knew you worked in Mission City for a Newspaper but didn't realize you were a famous reporter. I thought I recognized your name. Is there anything you can tell me about Jess?"
"As long as it doesn't pertain to his death or the attack," Katherine said sadly. "Actually, I don't know what happened to him. I just know the building was destroyed. He was a good man, always teased me and I'm going to miss him."
"I was told the building my brother worked in was destroyed but never knew what newspaper. How close were you to him?"
"I wasn't really. I would show up at work, do my job and go home. I never really associated with him much, unless it was something to do with the company. He would always send me on the good assignments and any other stories, others would get. He was one hell of a good boss, though he did have a habit of hitting on people. Most never took him seriously."
Mr. Burns leaned on his desk, folding his hands in front of him. "Thank you," he said, she looked up. "At least I know now that he had the best."
"Thank you, sir."
"And this interview is over. You're hired. If my brother thought of you as his best reporter, then you got to be damn good. Considering some of your articles had reached other states. Welcome to the team." He reached over to shake her hand.
Katherine smiled and took the handshake. She quickly grabbed her file and began to walk out but not before Mr. Burns came up beside her and walked out with her.
"Everyone," he called, getting everyone in the newsroom's attention, "This is Katherine Lennox, the newest addition to our team. She is a survivor of Mission City. Be warned, she is not able to speak with anyone about the finer details of the attack." The whole room clapped at their newest employee. But it soon died, and everyone got back to work. Mr. Burns turned back to his news reporter. "Take the next couple days off to clear your head from your interview and then be back here first thing afterwards. I'm sure you would like to celebrate."
She shook her head. "Nah. I'll be here tomorrow. Thank you for the suggestion." Turning, she made her way to the elevator.
"Oh, and another thing. I am nothing like my brother."
"I know. He told me that you two were the complete opposite. I'm looking forward to having you as my boss." She soon walked out of the building and rushed over to Ironhide. "I got it," she squealed in joy.
"Well you don't have to squeal about it," he grumbled. "My audio receptors are good."
"Hey, it's not everyday I almost walk out of an interview and still get the job."
"Why would you walk out of the interview?"
"He was hounding me about Mission City."
Ironhide was silent; there was nothing else to say. He knew Mission City was a forbidden topic to anyone. When Katherine was in, he pulled away, heading back to the farm. Upon reaching the farm, Katherine was able to finally contain her excitement and calmed down. She told Ironhide to get some rest and at first light she was heading out to her new job and he would end up being stuck in a parking lot all day. He didn't like that idea too much, but at least it was something then seeing Katherine mope around all day at the farm, where he had to stay in one spot anyway, so at least he was used to it. He just wasn't used to the surrounding sounds of the city in silence.