"Okay, now reverse... REVERSE."
"Okay!" La'gaan glared at Mal and grasped the gearstick sarcastically. Mal didn't even know that was possible. "So I move this PRNDL stick to..."
"Gear stick. They're gears."
"Well it says PRNDL. To the R, right?"
"Yes. For reverse." Mal tugged at his seatbelt to check, once again, that it was sitting snugly in place. There was no way they were getting out of this without crashing. "Now back up slowly... slowly... and keep an eye on what's behind you."
"Ugh, surface vehicles are stupid!" Eyes on the rear-view mirror, La'gaan reversed. Very slowly they backed out of the driveway. La'gaan started to turn to get on the road. There was a painful, grating tear. La'gaan ground the car to a halt and looked at Mal in panic. "That was a bad sound, wasn't it?"
"You scraped the curb. You don't wanna do that in a car you care about, but it isn't really dangerous. You're almost clear."
La'gaan took a moment to remember how to start the car again, and continued, muttering under his breath. "This is pointless. M'Gann has the bioship."
"What is you're going out without M'Gann?"
"Then I'm probably going out with you, an you usually take me on your bike."
That was a fair point. "Wouldn't it be nice to drive M'Gann somewhere occasionally?" Mal tried. "It's a surface tradition for men to drive their girls places." He didn't mention that such things were probably silly for a Martian and an Atlantean to worry about such things.
"Yeah... yeah, I guess so." Brows furrowed in concentration, La'gaan slowly manoeuvred the car onto the empty road. "Now I move the PR – "
"Gear stick."
"The 'gear' stick to, um..."
"D for drive."
"D, right."
They lurched forward and Mal bit back a curse. They groaned to a stop once more.
"Neptune's beard! This machine is broken!"
"It's not broken, it just takes getting used to."
They crawled slowly forward once more. Turned a corner. La'gaan slammed the brakes again; this time to avoid charging straight into a car moving at top speed on the wrong side of the road.
"Was that Tommy Terror?" La'gaan asked disbelievingly. Mal was already on his communicator, calling for backup; La'gaan pumped the accelerator and sped after the car.
"Hey wait, wait, LB!" Mal exclaimed, "You aren't ready for a car chase! Wait for backup!"
"He'll be gone by then." La'gaan drove a lot faster than either of them were really comfortable with. "Argh, this vehicle is so slow!"
"You're going to crash!"
"Have some faith Mal, I've climbed aboard your two-wheeled death machine!"
"But I actually know how to ride a bike!"
They skidded around a corner, the car sliding dangerously. La'gaan kept his eyes on the road, his face a mask f grim determination. Mal gritted his teeth and waited for death. The Team would be tracking his communicator, but he had no idea how long before they would show up.
In fact they showed up almost immediately. Cassie flew above Tommy's car, where he couldn't see her. She dipped low for a moment, opened her hand; Mal saw a familiar black and orange blur dart out and disappear in front of Tommy's car. La'gaan, apparently satisfied that the situation had been handled, slammed the brake and sent both of them jerking violently forward. Tommy's engine suddenly died. He pulled over and jumped out, only to face Cassie. Conner leapt down from the sky and landed behind him.
"Ha, who says I can't drive?" La'gaan crowed, pulling his seatbelt off. "Later, Mal!" He inflated as he leapt out of the car.
"Later, we're working on your braking!" Mal called after him, rubbing his neck. With a sigh, he climbed over to the driver's seat, shifted the PRNDL... gear stick, gear stick... into reverse, and got the hell out of the way of falling debris.
He wasn't all that worried about La'gaan fighting a violent superhuman. He was probably safer there.