Title: Confession

Rating: K+ - T

Continuity: Some bastardized version of Movieverse.

Characters: Will Lennox, Optimus Prime, Prowl

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Prompt: 4. Confession

Notes: Also inspired by: ?: So when was the first time you ever met Prowl, anyway? Optimus: Hm? Oh, it was about a vorn or two after I ascended to Prime, when he tried to assassinate me. ?: Oh, okay…wait, WHAT?!

March 2, 2013

"So..." Lennox said, watching Prowl walk away. He had arrived a few weeks ago, and the human could already tell that the base was running much smoother now that there was an Autobot handling the paperwork. "When was the first time you ever met Prowl?" he asked the Prime, who was standing next to the catwalk the humans often stayed on while in the Autobot sections of the base.

"Hm? Oh, it was about a vorn or two after I ascended to Prime, when he tried to assassinate me."

"Oh, okay. Wait, what?"

Optimus chuckled. "He was a bounty hunter, long ago. Involved with a very foul mech named Lockdown. He was one of the best... but this isn't my story to tell. I suggest you ask him yourself."

Lennox jerked back slightly. "Wouldn't he... I dunno, not want to tell me?"

Optimus let loose another chuckle, the heavy sound vibrating on the air. "He doesn't mind. Most of the Autobot Army knows who he was before he joined, as well as some of the Decepicons. He was known by a different name back then, but... he hasn't changed much. He would be happy to explain to you, I'm sure."

"Right," Lennox said, eying the hallway the tactician had disappeared down.

. . .oOo.

He had decided that he would just leave Prowl be and forget about what the Prime had told him.

Easier said than done. Lennox found himself wondering about Prowl whenever he saw the mech.

Eventually, he caved.

"Prowl?"

The mech glanced up from his datapad at the human standing in his doorway and nodded. "Colonel Lennox. How can I help?"

"Well... Optimus told me how you met, and..."

Prowl quirked a small smile at the human. "You wish to know the rest of the story?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Very well. If you will come over here? I have a chair your size on my desk, if you would like."

"Yes, please," Lennox said as he walked around the desk to Prowl's side The tactician leaned down and gently picked him up, setting him in a corner of the large desk and gesturing to a small chair. "Thanks."

"You are welcome. Now, how much do you know?"

"Only that you were a bounty hunter working with someone named Lockdown, and Megatron hired you to, uh, kill Optimus."

"I see. Well, there is not much more to tell. I was indeed a bounty hunter, vorns ago. One of the best..."

. . .oOo.

Lockdown was standing in the door, green, purple, and black armor scuffed and dirty. "Barricade. We've got a new call incoming. You feel up for it? Initial credit offer's pretty high."

The black and white Praxian looked up at his fellow bounty hunter. "Hit or capture?"

"Either. Both for the same amount."

"Hm," Barricade hummed and looked back to his datapad.

"C'mon, 'Cade! You haven't done anything in a groon!"

The bounty hunter looked up again, red optics glowing dully. "Nothing has interested me. I am bored with all that we have been asked to do."

Lockdown snorted. "Well, you've got to do something to earn your keep, or else I'm not giving you any more energon."

Barricade raised an optical ridge. "I can find ways of getting my own energon, Lockdown. I am not dependent on you. But perhaps this new hit will offer some form of entertainment. Let us see what it is."

Lockdown rolled his optics as the black and white rose from his desk and followed him to the bridge.

The message was short. The sender was unexpected.

"Greetings, Lockdown and Barricade," Megatron said from behind his desk, his grim visage displayed on one of the small screens in the bridge. "I have heard you are the best, and so I have decided to contact you. I wish for Optimus Prime's helm. Whether it be attached to his frame still or not, I do not care. The price I'm offering is ten thousand credits."

The screen blinked dark, and the two bounty hunters exchanged glances.

"Interested, 'Cade?"

Barricade cast a small smirk in Lockdown's direction. "A bit."

. . .oOo.

The Fortress of Iacon was a huge, walled complex that housed the core of the Autobot army. It was guarded all orn long, never was there a moment where a guard post was empty. Shifts overlapped, someone was always watching, waiting. All of them the very best.

Lockdown knew he wouldn't be able to get in. His armor and look were very distinctly not Autobot. But Barricade... Save for his red optics and claws, he could pass as Autobot. And those he could easily hide. The claws he could simply keep retracted, and his optics could be quickly changed with a simple programming patch.

After that had been done, the bounty hunter downloaded a few bytes of information on the movements of the Decepticons, transformed, and drove for the base. At the door, he gave a code stolen from an undercover operative. He told them he had critical information on the Decepticons, and it needed to get to those who could use it.

They let him in.

Once past the wall, he disappeared, moving through shadows, virtually invisible. He darted through the building, running off plans taken from various operatives, as well as his quick hack into the base computers.

Finding Optimus Prime was easy. Getting into his office was even easier. There were guards walking on a circuit through the command deck, but most of the mechs here trusted the Prime to fight if needed, so there were none stationed permanently at his door.

Grinning to himself, Barricade waited for the camera to move, then darted out of his shadow and through the door, closing and locking it behind him.

The Prime looked up from where he had been typing at a datapad. His optical ridges rose, and he settled back in his chair with a loud exvent.

"I suppose you are here to kill me," he said, voice even and a tiny bit... amused?

Barricade scowled. "Now, that doesn't really matter, does it? Because you're going to be dead."

The Prime smiled gently. "Of course."

Barricade blinked. "What? No calling for help? No pulling out weapons? No fighting?"

"You are Barricade, correct?"

The bounty hunter, surprised, nodded, then mentally slapped himself for giving that away, even if his only witness was the Prime.

"Then I do not have much hope. You are well known, Barricade. You do not do things half-way. You have this all planned out. If you wish it, I will be dead before anyone even receives my comm."

Barricade blinked. "Right."

"So I will not do anything to delay the inevitable. I accept my end with dignity."

"Dignity? There's nothing dignified about being assassinated!"

The Prime shrugged. "It depends on how you view it, bounty hunter."

Barricade vented. "I hate that."

"Hm?"

"'Bounty hunter.' Never wanted to be that."

"You don't have to be."

Barricade snorted, and the Prime gave him a curious look. "Yes, I do. Not like anyone would accept me."

"Are you so sure of that that you would not give anyone a chance?"

The bounty hunter glared at the Prime. "What? Are you saying you know someone who would?"

"Yes, actually, I do. Myself."

Barricade took a step back. "You? You would trust me?"

"I would give you a chance to earn my trust. To become someone you want to be, rather than someone you feel you have been forced into becoming. Would you like to try, Barricade?"

"I... can I?"

"Yes, you can."

Barricade sucked a deep draft of air through his vents. "Give me a moment to think?"

"Go ahead."

He took a klik, then activated his comm link.

::Lockdown.::

::Barricade. You have him?::

::No. And I'm not going to.::

::Slaggit. Get back to the ship, then. We can try on the battlefield or something, then.::

::You misunderstand, Lockdown. I'm not going to.::

::... What?::

::The Prime has offered me something. I have accepted. This is the last time I'm contacting you. You're on your own, now, Lockdown. Good bye, and good luck.::

::You slagger!:: the bounty hunter shouted, and Barricade closed the comm line.

"I will accept, Prime. If... If it is okay, I would also like to use a different name?"

"Of course," the Prime said, optics gleaming happily. "What would you like to be called by?"

"Prowl. I would like to be called Prowl."

"As you wish."

. . .oOo.

"After that, I was introduced as Prowl. I still looked much the same as I do now, so many knew who I had been before, but they trusted the Prime. I was given very little trust when I first joined, but I earned it eventually. And here I am."

Lennox blinked, startled that the story had come to an end. "So... Um... Okay."

Prowl smiled faintly. "Yes. I understand. Thank you for listening, Colonel Lennox."

"Yeah... No problem. Thanks for telling."

Prowl gave the human a nod and lowered him back to the floor. After the human had gone, he opened up a comm link.

::Prime?::

::Yes, Prowl?::

::Thank you, again.::

There was a quiet chuckle. ::Colonel Lennox came, then?::

::Yes, sir. And I just wanted-::

::Prowl, you are welcome, as always. And thank you for taking a chance.::

::Thank you for giving me one.::

Again, the deep chuckle rumbled over the link, and both of them closed it with a smile.