Title: Double Trouble

Universe: TFP, season two

Characters: Autobot Ensemble, Agent Fowler, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe

Rating: T

Description: Fowler's worst nightmare is not, in fact, Decepticon in nature.

"Speeding. Reckless driving. Online gambling. Racing. Illegal parking. Theft. And failure to stop for a blue light." A hand slams down on top of a desk with an echoing thud. The papers beneath said hand give off a damning crinkle.

"And that, Prime, only covers the last two weeks," Fowler adds with a hiss of fury. "I've seen more paperwork from those two terrors than from every Decepticon encountered in the past three years combined!"

Fowler's shout echoes through main ops.

Optimus sighs. "I do apologize, Agent Fowler. Rest assured that they will be dealt with appropriately." He gestures to the screen, which has been divided, one half displaying the grinning faces of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

Well, Sideswipe is grinning. Sunstreaker might be better described as sneering.

"I'd be happier if you shipped them off planet," the government agent retorts with no small measure of irritation.

Optimus feels a twitch develop in his left orbital ridge. "Be that as it may, we currently do not have such an option."

"Then you'd better figure out something," Fowler all but snarls, hands planted firmly on his desk. "Because if I catch those two hooligans so much as switching lanes without proper signaling, I'll have them impounded. Fowler, out."

The screen cuts out with a sharp snap. The console then beeps the familiar tones of a received message, no doubt a copy of every single instance of law-breaking the twins have acquired.

"All of that in just two weeks?" Bulkhead comments, his tones stretching somewhere between awe and amusement. "It must be a record."

"And we thought Smokescreen was bad," Arcee adds with a pointed look at said once-new-recruit-now-rather-seasoned.

Optimus pinches his olfactory sensor, a habit he's recently acquired from Jack. "While I am grateful for the reinforcements Prowl sent, I wish he could have provided some mechs who aren't quite so-"

"Bothersome?" Arcee supplies before Optimus can find the proper descriptor.

"Arrogant?" Smokescreen suggests though he's hardly one to talk.

"Exhausting?" Ratchet growls with a glare toward a piece of mangled equipment that, for once, had not been Bulkhead's fault.

Bumblebee shrugs, lifting his hands. "Obnoxious?" he beeps at them.

"Glitched?" Bulkhead adds though the curve of his lipplate is just visible behind the lip of his mouthguard. He's more amused than annoyed.

Optimus' shoulders sink. "I was going to say insubordinate."

Part of him strongly suspects that Prowl had sent the twins to him not as a matter of necessity, but as a matter of vengeance. Mech can hold a grudge like no one's business.

"Always the diplomat," Ratchet says with a snort, rolling his optics.

Optimus ex-vents with a telltale rattle in his vents. "I will speak with them at once." He turns, heading for the corridor leading toward their meager quarters.

"Uh, Prime?" Smokescreen's tentative vocals make Optimus pause.

He turns, raising an optical ridge.

Smokescreen eases, just a pace, behind Bulkhead who shifts in place. "They're not here."

Ratchet whirls on the two warriors, flames burning in his optics. "I confined those two slaggers to base!" he snarls.

Optimus forces himself to resist the urge to sigh again. "Where are they?"

Arcee points a thumb over her shoulder. "If I had to guess, halfway to Vegas by now."

"We need a brig," Ratchet announces.

"I could give chase?" Smokescreen suggests with an eager rev of his engine.

"That won't be necessary." Optimus palms his faceplate. "Ratchet, track their location and bring them back."

Muttering subvocally, Ratchet stomps over to the main console, fingers tapping away to program the ground bridge.

This is, of course, the very moment that the monitor gives off a series of obnoxious tones that startle Ratchet. Fowler's face appears on screen again, bellowing Optimus' title.

He gives in to the urge to sigh. Where's a Decepticon attack when you need one?

a/n: Hopefully, more updates to come.

Feedback is welcome and appreciated and muse-inspiring!