Kick in the Head - Alumni
Title: Kick in the Head - Alumni
Fandom: Transformers
Characters/pairings: Prowl, Barricade
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Old habits die hard, even for one as fastidious as Prowl.
Warnings: Car-on-car violence.
Notes: NO idea. It's late, I'm on watch, and I apparently have nothing better to do :D
Table of Contents
o o o
Old habits died hard.
After finding himself on Earth, Prowl almost constantly had a tap into whatever law enforcement communications were in the area; the local police, usually, or the nearest military base, occasionally the FBI. The part of his programming that had never made the transition from active Lawkeeper to army officer monitored the exchange of knowledge on criminal activity - who was caught, who had escaped, who was currently driving down Route 9, headed north at a hundred and twelve miles per hour-
Prowl went into a hard U-turn, the lights on his roof flaring to life. The names of the speeders driving hell-bent for Oregon were known to him, were known to the entire state - robbers, kidnappers, rapists, and most recently, murderers. They had taken a van full of young girls hostage, and when the ransom had been paid, they had disappeared, leaving only one broken girl to drive the van full of her friend's corpses back to safety. The girl claimed Mexico to be their escape, but it seemed Canada was their destination - and someone had seen them.
Prowl drove fast - too fast, he knew, for a normal Explorer, but some things couldn't be helped, and he doubted anyone was paying that close of attention, anyway. He took the ramp to get on 80, sirens screaming a warning, and as he approached a hundred and fifty MPH, he instinctively sent out a signal on a frequency he hadn't used in megavorns; the long-dead Lawkeepers band. /Prowl in pursuit, perpetrators must not escape/
Every half a breem, the same signal went out, containing an update on his position, the habit so long ingrained that his upper processes didn't even notice until he got a return signal and almost went off an exit ramp in surprise.
/Barricade, en route from Paradise Valley/
Prowl's fiercely Autobot programming had a brief fight with his old Lawkeeper programming over changing the target of his current pursuit. The Lawkeeper won - he could always hunt down Barricade later - and he immediately sent a confirmation, amazed and a little disturbed by how easy it was to ping off of the Decepticon's personal signal and set up an almost-direct connection, how easy it was to trust Barricade again, to know that his back was covered.
The escaping humans came into sight within minutes, a low-slung red corvette with two men in the front seat and a dozen Nevada State policemen on their tail. Prowl whooped his sirens in warning, the pack splitting to let him through as he sped up after the humans. A moment later, another vehicle pulled up at his side, the roar of its engine marking it as something not of this planet.
Autobot programming once again protested, only to be shoved down. Even back when they were master and apprentice, partners, occasional lovers, Barricade could only be trusted while on the job, and there he was absolute, unwavering, and Prowl suspected that under the Decepticon, that steadfast Lawkeeper still existed.
It took them only a moment to coordinate a plan between them, as if they'd never been separated by time and space and war. They shot forward as one, the Explorer and the Mustang, coming up on either side of the wayward humans. Barricade kept going past them as Prowl pulled up even - Prowl was faster, but Barricade had the dexterity to pull off a complex maneuver like a hair-pin U-turn without losing speed. Prowl saw the humans flail as the Mustang raced back towards them, and he braced himself.
Barricade's timing was perfect. His front bumper had just cleared the corvette's rear when he jerked hard to the side. Prowl pushed back, cutting his wheels to the right. Barricade did the same and they spun across the highway like a top, the humans trapped between them. Barricade was pressing too hard, challenging, 'What good is a partner who won't stand up to me?' Prowl pushed back, a deadly tug-of-war to keep them all on the road. And despite the Decepticon's tenacity, Prowl was still bigger, still stronger, still the dominate and Barricade knew it. He submitted, letting Prowl lead as they came to a stop.
Metal crunched as the two aliens disengaged and a throb on his right side told Prowl that his review mirror had been shorn right off. Barricade didn't look too much better off, albeit more cheerful about it. The human car was totaled from its brush with Cybertronian alloys, but the humans themselves were unharmed. A pity.
Human police swarmed the area, blocking in the human murderers. Prowl angled himself to let them see the Autobot insignia on his unblemished side. The insignia was known to the law enforcement agencies all over the west as a 'do not touch'. To his surprise, Barricade did the same, and after getting a good look at them both, the officer in charge waved them both off with a curt thanks.
Prowl hesitated as he pulled away, unsure. If he and Barricade were going to get into it, now was the time. He stared at the Decepticon as the smaller mech pulled up next to him, idling. Barricade was silent a moment, then revved his engine in disgust. "Hope they decompose without ever seeing the sun again," he muttered.
Almost surprising, to hear such vehemence against human murderers from a Decepticon. Not so much, when one knew that the one thing Barricade had never tolerated, even as a Decepticon, was harm to a Sparkling, and it seemed that he carried it across all species. Prowl made a sound of wordless agreement, watching the murderers get extracted from their vehicle, too aware of the Decepticon beside him.
Once the murderers were cuffed in the back of a police car and the scene was starting to break up, Barricade pulled back onto the highway without a word; flashing his lights once in a cocky farewell as he took off to the north. Prowl hesitated again, processors churning, before he headed south, towards Tranquility and Ratchet's repair bay.
He could always hunt down Barricade later.
Fandom: Transformers
Characters/pairings: Prowl, Barricade
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Old habits die hard, even for one as fastidious as Prowl.
Warnings: Car-on-car violence.
Notes: NO idea. It's late, I'm on watch, and I apparently have nothing better to do :D
Table of Contents
o o o
Old habits died hard.
After finding himself on Earth, Prowl almost constantly had a tap into whatever law enforcement communications were in the area; the local police, usually, or the nearest military base, occasionally the FBI. The part of his programming that had never made the transition from active Lawkeeper to army officer monitored the exchange of knowledge on criminal activity - who was caught, who had escaped, who was currently driving down Route 9, headed north at a hundred and twelve miles per hour-
Prowl went into a hard U-turn, the lights on his roof flaring to life. The names of the speeders driving hell-bent for Oregon were known to him, were known to the entire state - robbers, kidnappers, rapists, and most recently, murderers. They had taken a van full of young girls hostage, and when the ransom had been paid, they had disappeared, leaving only one broken girl to drive the van full of her friend's corpses back to safety. The girl claimed Mexico to be their escape, but it seemed Canada was their destination - and someone had seen them.
Prowl drove fast - too fast, he knew, for a normal Explorer, but some things couldn't be helped, and he doubted anyone was paying that close of attention, anyway. He took the ramp to get on 80, sirens screaming a warning, and as he approached a hundred and fifty MPH, he instinctively sent out a signal on a frequency he hadn't used in megavorns; the long-dead Lawkeepers band. /Prowl in pursuit, perpetrators must not escape/
Every half a breem, the same signal went out, containing an update on his position, the habit so long ingrained that his upper processes didn't even notice until he got a return signal and almost went off an exit ramp in surprise.
/Barricade, en route from Paradise Valley/
Prowl's fiercely Autobot programming had a brief fight with his old Lawkeeper programming over changing the target of his current pursuit. The Lawkeeper won - he could always hunt down Barricade later - and he immediately sent a confirmation, amazed and a little disturbed by how easy it was to ping off of the Decepticon's personal signal and set up an almost-direct connection, how easy it was to trust Barricade again, to know that his back was covered.
The escaping humans came into sight within minutes, a low-slung red corvette with two men in the front seat and a dozen Nevada State policemen on their tail. Prowl whooped his sirens in warning, the pack splitting to let him through as he sped up after the humans. A moment later, another vehicle pulled up at his side, the roar of its engine marking it as something not of this planet.
Autobot programming once again protested, only to be shoved down. Even back when they were master and apprentice, partners, occasional lovers, Barricade could only be trusted while on the job, and there he was absolute, unwavering, and Prowl suspected that under the Decepticon, that steadfast Lawkeeper still existed.
It took them only a moment to coordinate a plan between them, as if they'd never been separated by time and space and war. They shot forward as one, the Explorer and the Mustang, coming up on either side of the wayward humans. Barricade kept going past them as Prowl pulled up even - Prowl was faster, but Barricade had the dexterity to pull off a complex maneuver like a hair-pin U-turn without losing speed. Prowl saw the humans flail as the Mustang raced back towards them, and he braced himself.
Barricade's timing was perfect. His front bumper had just cleared the corvette's rear when he jerked hard to the side. Prowl pushed back, cutting his wheels to the right. Barricade did the same and they spun across the highway like a top, the humans trapped between them. Barricade was pressing too hard, challenging, 'What good is a partner who won't stand up to me?' Prowl pushed back, a deadly tug-of-war to keep them all on the road. And despite the Decepticon's tenacity, Prowl was still bigger, still stronger, still the dominate and Barricade knew it. He submitted, letting Prowl lead as they came to a stop.
Metal crunched as the two aliens disengaged and a throb on his right side told Prowl that his review mirror had been shorn right off. Barricade didn't look too much better off, albeit more cheerful about it. The human car was totaled from its brush with Cybertronian alloys, but the humans themselves were unharmed. A pity.
Human police swarmed the area, blocking in the human murderers. Prowl angled himself to let them see the Autobot insignia on his unblemished side. The insignia was known to the law enforcement agencies all over the west as a 'do not touch'. To his surprise, Barricade did the same, and after getting a good look at them both, the officer in charge waved them both off with a curt thanks.
Prowl hesitated as he pulled away, unsure. If he and Barricade were going to get into it, now was the time. He stared at the Decepticon as the smaller mech pulled up next to him, idling. Barricade was silent a moment, then revved his engine in disgust. "Hope they decompose without ever seeing the sun again," he muttered.
Almost surprising, to hear such vehemence against human murderers from a Decepticon. Not so much, when one knew that the one thing Barricade had never tolerated, even as a Decepticon, was harm to a Sparkling, and it seemed that he carried it across all species. Prowl made a sound of wordless agreement, watching the murderers get extracted from their vehicle, too aware of the Decepticon beside him.
Once the murderers were cuffed in the back of a police car and the scene was starting to break up, Barricade pulled back onto the highway without a word; flashing his lights once in a cocky farewell as he took off to the north. Prowl hesitated again, processors churning, before he headed south, towards Tranquility and Ratchet's repair bay.
He could always hunt down Barricade later.