Hey, look who found the time to update! :D Lockdown is fun.

Chapter 10

Outside Minerva's, Axiom Nexus

Riella waved to Minerva through the window as she turned to go. "I'll see you tomorrow, Road Rage, unless you need help closing up."

"Nah, I got this." Road Rage's mouth quirked in half a smile. "Take a different route home, don't walk in the shadows, and get some rest."

Riella chuckled tiredly at her friend's warning. "Will do. I haven't sensed anything for a bit; maybe he got bored?"

"Don't take that chance, femme. Play it safe."

The first five minutes of the walk back were quiet, even though Riella had taken a shortcut through a neighborhood that was usually pretty rough. In retrospect, that should have clued her in to the fact that something wasn't quite right.

Just as she turned into the last alley, the presence stabbed into her processor like a shot, and she whirled to see a burly mech standing only a few feet away.

"Lockdown. I should have known," she hissed. How did he get that close without my noticing?

The bounty hunter's laugh echoed off the walls. "Yeah, you should've, darlin'."

Riella lowered her hands into the attack position for her preferred form, Metallikato. "Back off. I don't want to fight you."

"But you will if I make you?" Lockdown deliberately took a step closer, forcing her to back off. "You're gonna have to do better than Metallikato if you want to threaten me."

He knows Metallikato? Riella's spark pulsed just a touch faster. She forced her ventilations to slow down in response. "I'm not going to ask again, Lockdown. Back. Off."

Lockdown smirked. "Make me."

She sensed the step coming just a second before he moved, and was already responding, driving her right heel into his left knee. As he cursed and stumbled forward, she kicked off his thigh, flipped over his lowered shoulder, and landed behind him on her feet, sprinting back the way she had come.

Undercity, Axiom Nexus

"Are you sure?" Jazz stared down one of the dark alleys. "Sorry. I just can't see Riella hangin' out down here."

Blackarachnia rolled all four of her red optics. "And that would be why the Elite Guard is no match for a good hunter. Riella's smart. If she decides to disappear, she'll do it somewhere no one would ever look."

Jazz shrugged. "I guess, but why stick around, then? Sure, I get that she can't run forever, but this -" He gestured to a half-demolished bar and the scrawny mech crouched just inside, toying with some kind of improvised weapon. "How long's she gonna last in a place like this?"

"She made it for a decade at least," Prowl snapped. "I just don't see why she'd ever come back."

"Old habits die hard," Blackarachnia remarked calmly. "You know Riella well, Prowl; can you honestly see her trying to hide in unfamiliar territory? Trust me, that femme will never blend in with the higher levels, but with a little bit of color adjustment, she'd fit in here. No, that's not an insult," she added, as the ninja flushed angrily. "It's a fact."

"You mind backin' up here?" Jazz frowned. "Riella was a street kid? Never could'a guessed."

"It's…complicated." Prowl shot a glare in the direction of a mech who came too close. "Let's just say that at the time, it was an easy hiding place."

Back Alley, Undercity, Axiom Nexus

Riella dropped into a crouch to avoid a swing from Lockdown's chainsaw and snap-kicked up into his midriff. The blow barely knocked the bounty hunter back a foot, but that was just enough room for Riella to roll back on her shoulders and put some distance between them. Lockdown was bigger, faster, and stronger than she was; her only chance was to stay out of his way and try to catch him in a mistake.

But just as she thought she saw one, it became apparent that the bounty hunter knew far more about Metallikato than she had initially assumed. What had looked like an opening for a blow had drawn her in too close, and before the femme could pull back, he had grabbed her wrist and slammed her to the ground.

"Ahhhh!" Riella's body jolted painfully as she hit the pavement, vents rasping as she tried to force her gyros to reboot faster.

Lockdown loomed over her, dentas bared in a sadistic smirk. "Calm down, darlin', and I won't hurt you…much." His processor waves were giving off a far more disturbing sensation.

"Frag you!" The femme pulled her knee back to her chest and smashed her heel into Lockdown's crotch plating. Panic-fueled as it was, the kick knocked the burly mech back only a few steps, but it made him double over slightly in pain. That made just enough space for Riella to roll over, push herself upright, and use the edge of her hand to slam into the bottom of his chin, throwing him over backward. The instant he fell, the femme turned and bolted, hoping to get out of the alley before he got up.

She didn't make it four steps before the dart bit into her main energon line, and she collapsed, cables suddenly going limp.

As she struggled to move, the blurry image of a familiar mech loomed over her. The processor sense told her that this mech, not Lockdown, was her stalker.

"Oil Slick," she rasped, unable to even turn her head. "What do you want?"

Oil Slick smiled down at her, baring sharp fangs, and stepped over her without answering. "She's not going anywhere, Lockdown. Are you hurt?"

"You really think a little girl could do any damage to me?" Lockdown chuckled. "No, I'm fine. More than I can say for you…" He knelt beside the paralyzed femme and ripped off the visor, ignoring her yelp of pain as the bolts tore loose. "…Riella."

Her optics widened in terror as the bounty hunter scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder.