Pairing: Bayverse Jazz/Barricade

Rating: Teen

Details/Themes: Suggestive taunting, black and grey morality mention

Requested by Villaneous

As fast as his vehicle form could go, Jazz ran down the highway in the warm breeze of summer's dusk. He was out and flying because he wanted to, because no sign of Sector Seven meant free roam for the Autobots and who was he to deny himself a chance to go wild on this new planet? His fellow Autobots didn't approve but there wasn't much they could do since they were supposed to be undercover.

He revved his engine to the maximum, passing under bridges adorned with beautiful lights while occasionally shifting on his side to perform a two-wheeled "wheelie". No humans were really out right now and if they saw his tricks, they probably ignored him thinking he was an idiot and moved on wanting to go home. Everything felt great!

Or so he thought. Red and blue lights blared suddenly behind him, obscuring his rear view mirror's vision entirely. Where the hell did that bastard come from? Growling silently to himself, he slowed down to assess the situation. If he fled, Optimus would be angry that he put the human patrols on high alert in Mission City again. If he stayed, he would be screwed because they had yet to perfect a human holoform so their secret was at risk.

The unmistakable sound of the loudspeaker turning on broke through his thoughts. "Make your way to Mission Shipping Yard immediately!"

That was odd. Why would the cop instruct him to go there? Deciding he had enough, Jazz floored it. The cop car briefly fell behind stunned that he chose to run but it didn't take long before the officer was up to speed and closing in. Going towards the forest area which just happened to be near Mission Shipping, he desperately tried to shake the cop through the side roads but nothing seemed to be working.

This wasn't the first time he was in a situation of a chase with a cop but usually he outran them easily, especially among the woods so how was this one not failing? The paths he was taking were so far off course, most cops wouldn't dare follow unless they planned on risking sliding out, ditches, and severe vehicular damage. He could get through it because he was in fact a whole different breed of machine.

"Stop or I will force you to!" The intercom voice announced that much darker than last time, almost demonically.

Jazz became concerned and this time obeyed, slowing to a stop in front of…well ironically, the shipping yard itself. The cop car didn't stay behind him this time but moved to his side and brushed his bumper with the door in a careful, almost seductive way in Cybertronian standards. Since he was completely still now, he could scan for any Decepticon signatures in case of…

"When I give you directions, Autobot, I suggest you follow them for your own well-being. We wouldn't want Prime to have no choice but to rescue the remains of his criminal soldier imprinted on the side of a road now, would we?"

Barricade!? As if this evening couldn't get any worse? That explained how the chase went. Jazz scowled, revving his engine angrily, "What do you want, Decepticon?"

The cop Con sent a purr of his engine in response before circling the smaller vehicle, rubbing his door across the exterior angles he could find along the chassis. He could tell Jazz was desperately trying to keep his composure.

A deep chuckle emitted from him, "Bumblebee and I had a bit of a conversation while in a pursuit and he mentioned you think you own the roads. You managed to nearly drive him off and hog the lanes like it's a part of your own personal racetrack. You're fast and dangerous, a desperado of speed; a very tempting challenge to tame."

Barricade paused from his roundabout and slowly pressed his front bumper to Jazz's rear, nudging the Autobot forward. He forced the Pontiac to turn and enter the vacant shipping yard before both transformed while Jazz kept a good distance away.

"But we know better, don't we?" Barricade sneered, "I'll admit you've caught my attention and once I target someone, I won't give up the chase until the very end. Since you have a knack for disrupting the roads, I guess I'm going to have to monitor you more."

Jazz didn't flinch as the Con orbited him again, ghosting silver claws against his shoulders almost threateningly but also soothingly. No doubt to throw him off his guard. The damn cop was playing with him and right now, he really wasn't in the mood for sick Decepticon games.

The silver mech muttered, "What I do in my spare time is none of your concern. We fight, we part ways. There's nothing more to that. At least, there shouldn't be."

Narrowing his optics, the police car mewled, "Perhaps, but what if I say I love to chase you. What if I say watching you think you can outmaneuver me gives me a thrill I fail to find anywhere else? I live to watch my prey run and hide, not fight back. I'm a hunter but there is no point in hunting if a battle is arising before the hunt can begin."

"And you're posing as a human police officer, why?"

"Just to throw you off. I knew you would run and I like when my prey plays hard to get. The runaways are always the best to break," Barricade snarled.

Jazz shrugged away the servo trailing his arm and growled at the Saleen, "Be careful who you call a criminal, Barricade, because last time I checked, your cause isn't exactly keeping a clean slate."

A harsh laugh followed as Barricade stepped back, clapping his servos together mockingly. "You think you Autobots are the guardians of light? Last time I checked, you all aren't saints either."

Walking towards the exit of the yard, the muscle cop car paused at the gate and placed his servos on his hips briefly as if he was going to give another speech but instead he just scoffed to himself. He turned to walk backwards as he glanced at Jazz to make sure the speedster wasn't going to try anything stupid against him.

"Don't worry, I won't spill any dark secrets. It's not my thing. However, I will be seeing you again, my little outlaw. Don't go breaking the rules while I'm away," he huffed. "What am I saying? Break every single one of them! You'll only be drawing me closer to you and I'll be waiting to catch you. Next time, I plan on giving you more than a pep talk, Autobot."

A small frown embedded on Jazz's faceplates as he watched the police car fly away down the backroads. If Barricade's threat was true, it finally gave him an insight that maybe he shouldn't be speeding as long as the corrupted cop was hitting the city. He didn't want to run into him again, not alone.

"Don't worry, Decepticon, I'll be waiting to kick your punk ass," Jazz grumbled.

He hit the road again, turning back towards Mission City. Well, he had no intentions on meeting Barricade again but if he had to, this lawbreaker was sure to put up a fight. Prey he had no objective of being, not as long as his spark beats.

AN: A lot of people forget about the black and grey morality of the Transformers franchise. I thought a good mention of it would make you think a bit how the Autobots truly are. In war, nobody is a saint. They may have better morals but in the end, they can do just as much damage as the enemy...just perhaps in a different way that they don't realize. This especially applies in Animated.