CHAPTER 21

Sari was flying before she even knew what had happened. One minute she was sitting on the back of the bike, holding onto Prowl with white knuckled hands, the next she was being sent rocketing into the air. Then she was falling. She instantly put out her arms to protect herself. Something grabbed onto the back of her dress and her position changed as an arm wrapped around her waist. Whoever had grabbed her, landed first, grunting on impact.

She opened her eyes to blue sky and something soft under her. She lifted her head and saw Prowl's bike lying on the pavement. It was scratched and the handle bars were bent but was otherwise in one piece. She did not see the her friend.

Her blue eyes scanned the area for the cyber ninja. "Prowl?"

The soft thing under her moved. The arm around her waist fell away and something pushed her into a sitting position. She looked over her shoulder. Prowl was behind her, looking scratched up but in one piece. He'd broken her fall with his own body.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

But there was no time to answer. He got up quickly, ignoring his injuries which were minor and grabbed her arm. "Let's go!"

He started running, practically dragging her along. She heard the sound of tires squealing behind her and realized why he was running away. She glanced behind them and saw the car had given chase.

"Prowl-" she began.

He jerked on her arm and she nearly tripped over herself as they rounded the side of a house, Sari could hear the car gaining on them with each step.

What is this about? she wondered. Why is this guy trying to kill us?

Prowl yanked on her arm and pulled her into somebodies yard. As he did so, he threw the large star he'd been carrying. It smashed into the grill of the cars engine, creating a shower of sparks. The car stalled. Prowl yanked back with his hand and the star came loose. It flew back into his hand as if he'd called it there.

"How did you do that?" Sari asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know," he said, honestly. "It just did."

"At least you took care of him," the girl said, looking back at the car.

Prowl's response was not encouraging. "Not even in the least."

She looked back at him just as the car started making strange noises.

Barricade stared up the length of the blaster until he was staring into the face of its owner. He saw it was a seeker in red, light gray, and blue colors. Its face looked familiar but he had no idea who this was. For all he knew it could be another clone. He didn't know how many Starscream had made. Megatron said that there was only supposed to be one!

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The seeker frowned as if the question annoyed him. "What kind of question is that?" he responded. "It should be obvious! What other Decepticon had take out an Autobot by himself without help?"

"Megatron," the police-bot replied instantly.

Obviously not liking that answer, the seeker kicked him. "Besides Megatron, you Autobot idiot."

Cade felt he should correct him. "I am not an Autobot."

"You're not?" the jet-bot kicked him in the side and flipped him onto his back. "Because you're obviously not a Decepticon. What else is there if you are not an Autobot?"

The answer hurt to say. "An Empty."

"An Em-" the word stopped him. Suddenly the seeker started laughing. "Oh, you're one of those!" he kicked the police-bot's gun across the room. "That explains why Megatron sent you in here. You're expendable." He knelt down and looked him right in the optics. "Tell me, how does it feel to know that your very existence does not mean a thing?

Barricade gave no answer. His silence said more than any words could.

The seeker laughed again and straightened up. "You see," he went on. "You're nothing to him. He sent you in here, knowing you would be killed and he figured you might just kill my dear daughter over there in the process."

The black robot's optics flashed. Daughter?

"Kind of like what the humans call killing two birds with one stone. The femme kills you while you kill the femme. Boom! Good bye to both problems."

"You don't know that," Barricade snapped.

The seeker looked at him with a pitying expression. "Of course I do," he told him. "I spent ten million stellar cycles watching it happen over and over."

Barricade stared at him as realization dawned. "You mean..."

"I am Starscream." the seeker smirked. "Couldn't recognize me could you?" he shrugged. "No matter. You're not the one I want to impress anyway." He raised his blaster. "Well anyway. Say hello to Primus for me."

Lockdown was transforming. This was bad. If the bounty hunter was going into robot mode it meant only one thing. Trouble.

He is after something. Prowl realized ans this time the answer came easily. Me! He lied to me before! Why else would he be here now?! The cyber ninja grabbed Sari's arm and pulled her toward him. She yelped in surprise. "Ow! Prowl! You're hurting me!"

Ignoring her he turned away and started running again. Behind him he heard Lockdown finish transforming. It would only be moments before he gave chase. But he's not going to catch us so easily!

Prowl reached the end of the block, turned, and took off down the deserted, early morning street.

Optimus Prime finished the retelling whole story for the twentieth time. He had told it so much he knew every detail and could repeat it in stasis. He was getting tired of reciting the same things over and over but the council kept asking him the same questions in hopes of jarring his memory and making him either remember a detail he forgot or trip him up and cause him to make himself look guilty of something. The only thing they were accomplishing was giving him a processor ache and a mild case of sleep deprivation.

Maybe they figured a tired Prime was more likely to implement himself but Optimus wasn't messing up he was only getting more and more frustrated. Why did they want him to keep repeating himself about the events following Megatron's arrest? Did they think he knew something else?

It seemed like they blamed him for Megatron getting free instead of the one actually responsible. The Prime had done his job even if nobody thought he could. He was a hero even if it wasn't in his programing.

"Tell me again," Alpha Trion said, leaning forward in his seat. "The whole time you traveled from Earth to Cyberron Megatron didn't say a word to you?"

Optimus nodded. "He refused to talk to anyone," he replied for the twentieth time that day. "He did not speak and he refused to take in any energon."

"And you're sure he didn't say a word to you or your crew?"

"I am positive," Optimus answered. "The rest of my crew never entered the cells."

"What are Prowl?"

The question surprised Optimus. He turned to face the speaker. Perceptor. All during the interrogation the scientist had said nothing. He had just listened with his usual stoic expression. The Prime wondered why he had spoken up now and why it had been such a strange question. "At the time Prowl was dead," the younger Autobot told him. "There was no way he could have spoken to Megatron."

"That is what you believe," the scientist told him. "But you do not know how long he was in the form he has now. He could have been techno organic for much longer than he has led you to believe."

"If he was like that sooner he would not have hidden it from us," Optimus told him. "Prowl too was surprised by his new body. He seemed confused and scared the first time I saw him. I don't believe he was acting."

Perceptor was insistent. "But you do not know."

But I do. Prowl was never a very good actor. You should hear his attempt at fake static. "Prowl would not lie about such a thing," Optimus responded. "Besides, why would he want to speak with Megatron anyway?"

"That is something I believe we should ask him."

Why do you want to talk to him? You were there when we had his funeral. He didn't come back to life until after that.

Optimus studied Perceptor's face but the scientists expression told him nothing. Just what are you implying?

Barricade braced himself for the blast, shutting off his optics so he wouldn't see the shot that killed him. He knew there was no way he was getting out of this alive unless Primus intervened or he thought of something in a split second. Nothing. This was it. I deserve it. I never should have been so stupid as to get involved with Megatron in the first place.

He heard the blaster charge up but the fatal shot never discharged. He heard a scuffle then a yelp. Huh?

Relighting his optics he saw the female Starscream clone grasping Starscream's arm and aiming the cannon at the ceiling. The lighter colored seeker was fighting against her, trying to feet his arm.

Barricade saw his chance and dived for his blaster. He grabbed it up quickly and fired at both seekers. The blast hit Starscream in the back. He roared in pain then managed to shove the fembot away. He twisted around to fire at the police-bot but never accomplished it. Barricade dived into him, knocking him to the floor.

Meanwhile Slipstream had gotten back to her feet. She crossed the room and kicked out at the mechs. The blow hit Barricade, knocking him off Starscream. Then, ignoring the police-bot entirely, she raised her arm cannons and fired them both at her creator. The shots hit him square in the chest but did little.

He got up and faced her, his optics flashing in anger. " Why you insolent wench! You'll pay for that!"

He raised his arms to fire his cannons at her.

That's when Barricade remembered that he still had a pair of stasis cuffs. He quickly whipped them out and charged at Starscream. Before the seeker knew what was happening the police-bot slapped one of them onto his wrist. The cuffs sent a charge through his frame. Starscream tried to fight him off but Barricade ignored the blows and managed to slap the other one on.

Starscream fell to the floor with a thud, offline for now.

Problem taken care of, Barricade sighed with relief and nearly collapsed but before he could, he remembered the fembot he'd been sent in to take care of. He looked up at her. She stared back at him, looking shocked. For a moment neither said anything.

Slipstream was the first to speak. "I guess you're expecting a thank you."

He stared back at her then shook his head. "No," he replied. "Decepticons never thank any one."

She smirked. "You know more about Decepticons than I do." she walked over to him. "I was going to thank you but then again thanks isn't required since I too tried to kill you and I didn't save you before, because I cared about you. I just saved you because I knew after Starscream killed you he'd kill me and I figured I could use you as a distraction."

Barricade didn't look surprised. "As I said Decepticons never thank any one."

Sari head thunderous footsteps behind them as the two techno organic humans ran down the street. Prowl jerked on her arm and took her down an alley. Then, before she could get her bearings he opened a door in the side of a building and yanked her inside. The room was dark and cold. She had no idea where they were, but if she could guess they were in a meat locker.

Outside she heard the robot pause then stomp by. Prowl sighed with relief.

"Prowl, what is going on?" she demanded, turning to face him. Now that they weren't being chased she was going to get to the bottom of this. She raised her hand and created an orb.

Prowl was standing a short distance away, panting. He looked at her when she brought the light closer. Something about his expression told her this was serious.

"Prowl," she said again. "Would you mind telling me what this is about?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't get involved." he said, not looking at her.

"Well I am so spill it." she crossed the room and stood beside him. "Who was that robot and why did he try to kill us?"

"His name is Lockdown," Prowl replied. "I've dealt with him a few times before. He's a bounty hunter."

"Bounty hunter?" she remembered that the Autobots had mentioned that 'd said something about a robot with no real fraction who could be bought by the highest bidder. "Is he the guy who tried to convince you to work for him?"

Prowl nodded.

"And you turned him down." she looked toward the door. "Wow he must be real sore about it if he's trying to kill you."

Prowl felt the need to correct her. "That's not why he'd after me."

"Then why?" she asked, looking back at him. "If he doesn't want to kill you why else would he be after you?"

"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "He told me before that he wasn't after me the last time I had a run in with him. Burt now I don't think he was telling the truth."

"Wait. The last time you had a run in with him?" she looked him right in the face. "When was that?"

"About a week ago."

Sari stared at him. Now she understood. "So that's why you haven't been at the plant very often lately," she replied. "You've been trying to find him."

He refused to look at her but did nod. "I thought if I found him I'd be able to force him to tell me what he's up to." he looked toward the door. "Now with this, I know. He is after me."

"Why would he be after you/"

"I don't know. But it's the only scenario that fits."

"Or you're just being paranoid."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not being paranoid." he walked past her toward the door. "Something has happened. When I confronted him he said I wasn't what he was after but he would not tell me the true reason he came back." he looked back at her. "Lockdown doesn't come to Earth unless he's after something. So there are two reasons he's after me now." here he held up his hand and ticked off the reasons. "One; he lied and really is after me for some reason or two; he was following us so he could find out where the plant is because he wants to capture all of us at once."

"Why would he want to capture you guys?" she wanted to know.

He shrugged and shook his head. "I am not sure," he admitted. "Either he's looking for revenge, which I doubt, or he was paid by Megatron to do it."

Sari looked doubtful. "I don't think so."

"How do you mean?"

"Well for one thing Megatron wants to deal with you guys himself," she replied. "and for another I think he wants to best you all while you're able to fight. If you guys were confined or something he would take away from the accomplishment. He might feel cheated."

Prowl said nothing. He hadn't thought of that. "So that means Lockdown isn't trying to find the plant."

"Which means your first guess was right," she replied. "Or it's the only idea we have right now that fits."

That didn't make the cyber ninja feel any better. If Megatron wasn't the one who'd hired Lockdown who had?

Slipstream noticed the police-bot's chest damage. "You might want somebody to look at that," she pointed out flatly.

Barricade looked at the damage. He saw his armor was cracked but no exposed sparking wires. "It's not as bad as it looks." he pushed past her and headed toward the control console. "It doesn't even hurt."

The femme watched him sit down in the chair and fire up the console. She frowned, fighting the temptation to hit him. She held herself back because she had an idea why he was going to use it and she hoped that if he did use it for that purpose that her life would be saved. I wonder what he plans to tell him?

"Megatron! Look!" Strika's voice exclaimed.

The Decepticon Commander lifted his head just as the screen blinked on. He found himself staring into Barricades purple tinted optics. "Megatron," the police-bot said.

"Barricade," Megatorn greeted him in a flat voice. "You're alive."

"Yes," the black colored transformer confirmed. "I am. I was able to deal with the problem here." No thanks to you.

The Decepticon Supreme Commander looked mildly surprised. "You took out the femme?"

Cade shook his head. "Negative," he answered. "But it turns out she wasn't the problem. "

"What do you mean?"

Barricade looked at something the Decepticon couldn't see. "I think I'll let you see it for yourself."

Sari poked her head out of the room. "I think the coast is clear," she said, looking back at Prowl. "I don't see that crazy bounty hunter anywhere."

Prowl grabbed her hand. "Then let's get out of here," he said. "We have to let the others know he's here. I should have said something before but-'"

"You wanted to take care of it yourself," Sari finished, smirking. "Yeah, that's typical for you."

He smiled slightly then stepped out of the building, looking both ways uin case Sari missed something.. "We'd better be going," he said after a moment. "Hopefully my motorcycle is still in working order."

They started for the street, moving quickly in case Lockdown came back. Prowl glanced over his shoulder but didn't see the bounty hunter anywhere. Relief began to course through him. Maybe Lockdown had lost them after all.

No. This is too easy. It almost feels like it was planned...

The walk back took less time than it had taken to run away. Maybe because there wasn't a crazy green muscle car chasing after them this time. The pair reached the street where Prowl had ditched the bike only a few short minutes later. It still lay where he'd put it. "There is is, Prowl!" Sari exclaimed, pointing. She yanked on his arm. "Come on!"

He let her lead him toward it, feeling uneasy all of a sudden. Yes, this feels way to easy.

He and Sari had almost reached the bike when a voice spoke up behind them. "Going somewhere, Prowl?"

A/N

I finally came up with a reason for Lockdown being there. Strangely is wasn't what I first intended but it seemed like a good idea anyway. Next chapter... FUN!