Pairing: Movieverse Sentinel Prime/Charlotte Mearing

Rating: Teen

Details/Themes: Rivals, sexual tension, road trip, one-sided attraction

Requested by Erin Primette

"You're driving over the double median line."

"Are you really going to, as you humans say, backseat drive all the way to Detroit?"

"I wouldn't backseat drive if you didn't make mistakes."

Hours of bickering and interior road rage led to this moment, and Sentinel inwardly groaned at the stubbornness of this human femme which he was beginning to think he was losing to as she always had a snappy comeback while he was starting to lack clever jaunts. It was like a nightmare come to life. Why was he the one to suffer? Why couldn't he get the Colonel or the Witwicky boy? Their partnership, if one would even bother calling it that, was a rocky road with bumps, potholes, and various other obstacles littering it. Every once in a while though, the road had a few mellow straightaways.

Out of boredom, he casually stole glances towards her, feeling her body pressed against his interior fabric which he never mentioned also contained sensors he could feel. She was quite a looker even for her middle aged appearance. He wasn't any different on his world either. They were both just two old officers with nothing better to do than command and act on their high-end careers as protectors. Her personality needed work though, that was something he couldn't stand.

"Why are you so insistent on challenging me, human?" Sentinel scowled.

The woman who sat in his passenger seat, texting a few of her operatives, paused and stared directly into the screen on the mech's dashboard. "Have you ever considered not demanding respect and realize that you aren't the only person who worked your way up the system of authority? I am almost your equal here."

A snort of disbelief sounded from the truck, "I am a god compared to you. You are nowhere near my status."

Charlotte began to grin and went back to texting, "Oh I see, the male bravado in you is due to the fact that you have to compensate for not getting what you want…or maybe that you're losing. Or are you calling yourself a god so you won't admit you're just an arrogant idiot who probably couldn't please a one night stand in an alleyway even if your life depended on it."

Tires screeched as Sentinel was taken back by the comment. Mearing was pushed forward a little by the brief halt in speed by she didn't budge much, keeping her composure as she had expected it. Men like him were nothing but self-righteous imbeciles trying to dominate everything, even things out of their league. She played this game before. He was no different, and she would win again.

As the Autobot bureaucrat regained lost momentum, he muttered low but loud enough for her to pick up on. "I'll show you a one night stand, you little pest, if you even survive it."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She cockily smirked. He was breaking. Perfect.

A few more stutters and some odds words came before Sentinel cleared his voice, "Nothing, our destination isn't far now. Only thirty miles."

As a small huff came from the director, Sentinel watched her intensely through his mirrors and his screen. A few bumps on the road barely stirred her from her job. She seemed immovable. He hated that. He did admire her spirit though, a very formidable femme that would have torn even Megatron a new one in the Gladiatorial Pits of Kaon, maybe even rivaled him as head of Cybertron. She certainly looked and acted like she could run things there too.

"If you could, Sentinel Prime, try not to kill us on the way there. You're right tire is slowly dipping off the paved road."

Of course, there was room for improvement. The road was stretched far enough; he could only ride with her for so long before there were complications. If the Pit or Hell existed, he couldn't imagine it would be much different than this. He was in control and he would eventually prove it, even her beauty wouldn't distract him from that.

AN: Old farts quarreling, got to love it. Considering the have nearly the exact same character behaviors, they were made for each other and you can't prove otherwise.