1.5-Terrible Life Choices(And Other Las Vegas Attractions)-F

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak did his best to follow the mech and keep close to as Wash smoothly darted in and out of the traffic. He didn't have Wash's easy grace in traffic and had to throw on his brakes a few times. He was learning rather quickly that the taxi cabs would completely cut you off without a backwards glance. Get out of their way seemed the Las Vegas motto.

"Aw, yeah nothing wrong with it, but yeah, whoa -- wait, is that the Excalibur? That place there? It- wow, haha, that's the oddest looking building I've ever- I'm not sure if it's neat or creepy, it looks totally out of place down here. Well, no, I guess it doesn't."

His avatar leaned nearly out of the drivers window to gawk at the white spires with their garish red, blue, and gold towers reaching up into cloudless sky above them. The sidewalks were full of people in equally bright colors. Surge of humanity, of cars funneling into the bright roads. Beside him a truck drove a mobile bilboard of three women; mostly naked - well, there was a wide banner with a telephone number strategically placed across their breasts and cute little fans made of feathers ruffled over their mostly bare bottoms.

"Call 24 Hours," Bluestreak mused, and then read off the number and the slogan. "Girls that want to meet you! Gosh, that's kind of a neat thing, that they just drive around big signs and offer an easy way to contact them. Humans are pretty social, aren't they, Wash?"

The bilboard trundled into the left hand lane and passed them, coming dangerously close to hitting a small silver Yaris. It was obviously a rental; the plates were out of state. The tall man crammed inside didn't seem used to the Vegas traffic, he clutched the wheel and white-knuckled the tiny car over a bit as the truck squeaked around him and into the main flow of traffic.

"Aw, don't worry about a wrong exit, we'll get there when we - ohhh, we get to go down the Strip?"

He'd seen it. From a distance. At night. Blazing light and color flaring against the surrounding landscape. The planes coming and going, helicopters circling overhead; tourists, he'd overheard. It was all about tourists, this place. It struck him, hey, that's what I am, I'm a tourist...

"Lead on!" he laughed.

[Deleted]

Wash did not immediately reply, mostly because he was trying to choke back laughter. Those ladies were probably paid to be very social, all right.

"Yes, of course," he said when he had regained his composure. He playfully flashed his four-way lights at Bluestreak, startling the hell out of the driver in the Sunfire directly behind him. "Follow me!"

Through the afternoon traffic weaved the two Autobots. They flashed beneath the overpass for Tropicana, falling briefly within the shadow beneath the bridge before emerging in the brilliant sunshine on the other side. A massive billboard soared past them - "EAT, DRINK, PLAY" and "JABBAWOCKEEZ" - before disappearing into their rear view mirrors.

Wash slowed only when he reached a right-hand turn off onto a side street. RUE de MONTE CARLO it read, a modest lane shaded by trees and a big ten story apartment complex. Though the street was narrower it bustled with traffic, while shoppers and window browsers strolled the sidewalks and jogged across the pavement, swinging bags.

Another big hotel loomed on the right. This one was designed to take on the appearance of graceful Manhattan skyscrapers - the 'New York New York Hotel and Casino', its sign read. Wash approached it at a slower pace, conscious of the people on the streets.

"Hey, check that one out," he laughed. He flicked on his right hand signal to indicate the hotel. "You ever been to New York, Blue?"

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak dodged after Wash when he flashed his lights. The avatar in his front seat had a sloping, friendly grin. On his wrist his bracelets rattled and shimmered; the turquoise bead sliding back and forth along the impression of twisted leather. He'd taken that for his avatar from one of the surfers he'd been watching on ESPN2 -- he'd just liked how it looked. Surfers seemed to wear that sort of thing. That and very loud shirts which he liked.

Meanwhile, he still was staring at everything around them. The overpass was loaded with foot traffic even at this time of the day in the blazing sun. Now that he could see straight ahead, the Strip emerged in a riot of color and light and constantly changing signs. A buffet was advertised on one of the huge LED screens; on the one of the MGM it declared KA was a feast for the eyes, acrobats spinning on a huge wheel that puffed out jets of fire.

A brilliant golden lion surveyed the Strip. Bright light reflected off of the surfaces of the huge statue. It was framed against a vast expanse of emerald green windows. It was huge. Bluestreak guessed it might have even been as tall as Optimus himself. Whew, glad that one wasn't real. Those teeth were awfully impressive.

"Is that-" he began and stared at the skyline within the... well, the skyline. the buildings, the towers, and the statue in front of it, raising a golden torch to the sky. Water sluced and fountained along the base of the casino. "No, haha, I've- nah, no, never been to New York. Don't get me wrong, I'd really like to go. I was watching TV in the rec room and they were watching cop shows that were like that- those were some nice cars, gotta admit it. Isn't it one of the biggest human cites out there? It's bigger than here. Pretty sure it is, and hey, Wash check that out, it's a-- wait, gotta make sure I'm not reading this wrong but-"

"It is!" the mech yipped with excitement, even as he craned his avatar to look out the window. The Datsun's front hood came precariously close to a car in the other lane and immediately he tapped his brakes and apologized. The other driver didn't even notice; everyone was a bit jammed in here and doing their best to avoid the double decker buses that just trundled out in front of everyone. "It's an amusement ride, isn't it? We totally need to do that sometime, maybe. I haven't done one since, since - well, it's been forever. Pretty sure."

His gaze followed the red track as the cars rattled over the casino; a loop, a crazy spin out over nothing. "So have you been to New York? Or other cites? What are they like? Are they all like this? Different?"

[Deleted]

Even Wash slowed down when they passed the giant red roller coaster. Though he had seen it many times before while on missions in the city, it never failed to impress him.

"I have been to New York!" he said. "I love it there. It's so busy, and all business. But lively too. I think it's my favourite city of all I've been too so far. I keep hoping I get a chance to go back there, someday."

He sighed, a wistful sound. Then:

"Oh, look! There's Lady Liberty."

His avatar pointed out the window of the car. Sure enough, a scaled down version of the Statue of Liberty herself stood outside the front of the massive hotel casino, in the middle of a broad pool of blue water. She held her torch aloft as she gazed out over the big intersection ahead of them.

The lights of which were currently red. Wash obediently slowed to a halt at the front of the line of cars, his nose parked just over the painted lines.

"Let's make a left onto Tropicana here, heading east," he said. "We'll do a loop around MGM. I kinda want to see what's up with - oh, hello, what's this?"

There was a bit of a commotion in the intersection ahead of them. While most of the east and westbound traffic flowed peaceable through it, a little red Honda CN250 scooter had just zipped through, weaving around the slower cars. The rider wore a red helmet and jacket with shorts and a backpack; her blonde hair streamed out beneath her. A moment later two more cars bullied through the intersection with haste, following her. Both were black, with tinted windows.

Wash's avatar craned its head to look after them through his window.

"Hmm," he said. "Dunno if I like the look of that."

[Bluestreak]

"If you go back sometime and it's possible, you think maybe I could get assigned to tag along there with you?" Bluestreak asked Wash. His own avatar was leaning, elbow out in the sun, following Wash's point to Lady Liberty in her harbor. Underneath her in the bright blue pool, two scaled down New York Fire Department boats sprayed a never-ending curve of water, cooling the pavement where the humans walked with a fine, drifting mist. "Kinda would- I'd like to see more of the cities, you know, all the different ones..."

He idled smootly up behind Wash as he trailed off. The big green building with the lion out front was the MGM and cornered across from it on the other side of the four lane street was a gorgeous waterfall surrounded by palm trees and the bright white facade of the Tropicana. It had a different feel than the other buildings around him, older; the lines straight and sharp, the awning over the main entrance lit with hundreds of light bulbs and shimmering with gold metal.

"Sure a right, got it, see what's up with--"

Bluestreak's attention was immediately distracted. He'd gotten accustomed to Vegas traffic, which he'd learned meant that you didn't immediately jump the line when the light changed to green. That was a great way to get broadsided by someone else. The humans in this city seemed to have a loose interpretation of the traffic laws. Well at least the thousands of taxicabs did, those guys were crazy drivers, for sure.

The scooter was different; she was moving through with purpose, using the bulk of the traffic to dodge around the slower cars. However, the two cars following around behind her just shoved their way through, and while Vegas drivers were rude, sure... this was something else. They were obviously after the woman.

"Maybe she ran a red?" Bluestreak offered, even as the Datsun rose up on its front tires to attempt to peer over the trunk of the car ahead of him. The mech's mirrors twitched and focused forward, even as his avatar brought up a hand to shade his eyes.

"I dunno, not police, they'd put the sirens on, right and move traffic if she'd run a red or something. Could it be casino security? I'm not sure what those guys are allowed to do but that doesn't seem right either because are they allowed to chase someone off property in a vehicle like that? I don't remember private security back home able to do that either, once you hit the border of the property you have to stop, don't you? Is it the same?"

He focused his sight on the activity ahead of them, tried to get even a fleeting glimpse of the license plates on the black cars. Really, he didn't expect to be able to sight too much through all the traffic- his sight wasn't quite as reliable or sharp in this form. Not bad, but not like it would be through the scope of his rifle. However, maybe he'd be able to at least tell if they were police plates...?

[Deleted]

It was a good idea.

Though the traffic in the wake of the two black cars was rather heavy, a brief glimpse through the other cars on the street would reveal to Bluestreak that neither car wore distinct police plates.

"Oh man, will casino security actually get into high speed chases with people if you cause trouble?" said Wash. "If so, wow. Okay. Remind me never to count cards again. Wait, we've got a green light! Let's tail them a bit, see what's up."

Sure enough, ahead of the the intersection lights had turned green. The traffic crossing the street came to a halt, while the blue Lancer immediately surged ahead, making a left hand turn to follow the scooter and the black cars onto Tropicana -

Only to run straight into the traffic backed up in his chosen lane.

"Dammit!" The Autobot swore and laid on his horn. Immediately the driver ahead of him honked back, irate.

"Oh, damn it! This always happens to me. Why do I never go straight into the left lane when I turn like this? Son of - hey, Bluestreak!"

Wash honked again, and got both a horn and a finger from the driver ahead of him.

"Oh, shush, human! Bluestreak! Can you get around me and into the passing lane and follow those black cars? I have a hunch. I'll catch up with you once this line up gets moving again. Stop honking at me, asswipe!"

[Bluestreak]

The front end of the Datsun came up on its tires, lifting the long silver hood up as if it was on tiptoe. Or if it sported a set of super-fancy hydraulics. Inside the cab, Bluestreak's avatar was craning around the window and mirroring the fact that the mech was trying to get a better angle on those plates.

They were not official plates. He knew what those looked like, for sure. These were just plain old Nevada plates, nothing special, blend right in with every other car.

"Weird, why not? I mean, I think you can probably count all the cards you want, who cares how many they have, and - right got it, green light, let's go. Wash, hey, those aren't police plates or anything, those are normal Nevada plates--"

His chatter had caused him to lose a car length when Wash turned into traffic and was immediately stuck in the lane. Another car immediately took the opportunity to try and swing over, but Bluestreak had bounced foward, his mirrors shifting back and forth within their mounts.

"What? Wait, what-- oh shoot, that's not good you're stuck. Oh, I'm gonna be stuck, oh hey, no, there's a hole! Right, got it, I've got it - I can get around and follow, you bet," the sharpshooter chirped. His tires squealed on the hot pavement and the sleek silver car suddenly dodged into a space that was seriously about an inch or two wider than his hood.

Bluestreak's avatar leaned to one side within the cab as if he was taking a speedway curve, and his left hand mirror immediately folded back. That was the only reason he didn't leave a nasty strip-crease the driver's side door of the delivery van next to him. With another little squeak of tires, the Datsun shot around into the still moving lane, diving into that tiny space just ahead of him.

The human in the van he'd just about nicked slammed on the brakes and leaned on the horn before he thrust his hand out the window and snapped his middle finger up in the air, waving it back and forth frantically.

Bluestreak's hood ducked down slightly, his tires splaying to the sides. "Sorry, sorry, gotta go!" he called back, and stuck his hand out the window to return the one-fingered wave quickly before his avatar put both hands on the wheel again.

At least the guy was being nice and understanding about the fact that he'd nearly hit his van. Humans were wonderful like that, no damage done, no harm, no foul. Whew.

"I'm clear and I've got a sight on them," he told Wash as the traffic moved forward and he sped up with it. He was careful to keep cars between him and the vehicles he was trailing. "Catch up to me when you can! I'll keep you posted and let you know what's going on!"

[Deleted]

Behind him, Wash was trying to back up out of the roadblock. A cab had come up behind him however, trapping him in his lane.

“Ow! Son of a – thanks, Blue!” The blue Lancer sounded frustrated. “I swear I’ll catch up shortly. Let me know if you need any backup or another set of optics and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Ow! Hey! I’ll thank you not to ram my bumper again, madam!”

Meanwhile, the easy flown of mid–afternoon traffic sped Bluestreak onwards, past the lion statue and the Hakkansan Nightclub, past the MGM Grand casino - hell, past a Hooters, the familiar sign and its pop–eyed owl peering down at him from over the street. Sunlight gleamed off the hoods and fenders of cars, while a smoggy layer of heat hung shimmering over the asphalt. Tourists gadded up and down the sidewalks, oblivious to the excitement on the street.

Through the cars ahead Bluestreak would be able to catch sight of the little red Honda scooter. The girl kept looking back over her shoulder as she drove, trying to catch sight of who was following her. The tinted visor of her helmet hid her face from sight. She wove through traffic, switching lanes whenever a large enough gap appeared for her to squeeze her bike into.

Behind her the two black cars were attempting to do the same, with less success. But as they drew near the vast field of dirt and asphalt that marked the northeast end of McCarran International the traffic thinned and the black cars were able to speed up, trimming her lead down to a handful of car lengths.

The road opened up before Bluestreak as well, giving him a little more freedom to swerve or accelerate. Wash’s voice spoke over his comm a moment later.

“I’m free! Ha! Still caught in heavy traffic, but picking up a little speed. You got a good sight–line on our spooky black cars yet? Any idea who they might be?”

[Bluestreak]

There was only a blip of acknowledgement to Wash's question. Yes, Bluestreak had heard and he would absolutely comply to the other mech's orders. Right now though he was busy trying to figure out a plan in his head; right, blend with traffic while you can, they don't know they're being followed and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible because we have to get out of downtown or the only thing I can really do is something that involves this mode and okay, two plans on doing that, depending on what happens here with these guys.

The silver mech immediately ducked behind a truck and kept up with into the pacing traffic. He didn't dare dodge through the lanes like they did. Even if they kept their eyes on the girl; who was ducking and weaving... stay in traffic, he thought to himself and her as he smoothly shifted into the middle lane and nudged himself close behind a van. He kept behind the largest vehicles as much as he possibly could for as long as it was feasable and moved through traffic like that. Hopefully if they glanced in a rear view mirror, they'd only catch him for a moment and then he too would be like any other random silver new car.

As the MGM swept past him so did the newer glitz of the hotels; that Hooters building had changed hands several times over the past few years. They'd not upgraded the facade. It remained square and white and utilitarian even if the servers inside sure weren't by any means.

With the loss of the strip and the traffic thinning on the road, the rider's lead was diminishing. When the jostle of downtown Vegas fell away behind them and opened up, Bluestreak immediately accelerated to follow. He pulled into the far lane; and just paced along, his avatar resting a wrist lazily on the wheel, but his side mirrors tilted.

He also checked the road behind him; these might not be the only two cars after this girl. Anyone else that was weaving along, he was sure going to try and pick out. At least he had a shooter's eye for motion... it had saved him more than once.

"Yeah, I've got them, I've got them, right with them," he called back to Wash. "They're not cops, I mean, it could be some human thing, Wash, some private thing but it's not reading right to me, wish you were up here, you know this stuff I don't I'm just taking a guess based off of - well, a guess, I guess, haha, erk. They're not putting her to the curb and using those cars to sidle her over neatly pretty sure they're going to try pushing her somewhere where they don't have to deal with other gawkers that's the feeling I get and it's sure not a good feeling. I betcha they're going to try forcing her hand into a side street soon."

"You see any other cars like this coming up behind you, just checking, I'm a little concerned about that now... "

[Deleted]

"Nothing like those two cars coming up behind me in a hurry," said Wash. He sighed. "Nothing in front of me moving in a hurry either. Sorry, Blue. I'll try to get there as fast as I can, honest."

From Bluestreak's position in the far lane he would get a good view of both the Honda and the two cars following it. The scooter was obviously not designed for a race; its poor single-cylinder engine struggled gamely to accelerate it to a little over sixty miles an hour. Frustrated, its rider wrenched the throttle. Now and then she glanced back, her hair whipping.

The black cars had an easier time of it. They were both Crown Victorias, and their engines hummed steadily as they pursued in her wake. Through the tinted windows Bluestreak would be able to make out two men sitting in each car. The smoky glass gave up little detail other than that.

Sunlight beat down as all four vehicles soared past a broad parking lot, at the end of which reared an enormous stadium, baking in the Las Vegas heat. The little scooter coughed, and the girl made a desperate veer to the right to get around a slow running minivan in her lane. The tires of her bike hit the shoulder briefly and sent up a puff of dust.

Immediately, one of the Victorias sprang into action.

Its engine roared as it surged forward, passing smoothly around the minivan. As soon as it did it swung back into the right lane, directly in front of the scooter. The scooter tapped its brakes and the girl was flung forward against her handlebars. She recovered quickly, the front wheel wobbling as she tried to decide whether to swerve right or left to get around the black car. Almost casually the Victoria mimicked her, yawing to block her path no matter which way she veered.

Wash's voice broke over the comm again.

"Head's up, Blue!" he said sharply. "I've picked up a tail! One more car that I can see - definitely following me!"

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak was totally focused on the cars ahead of him. The scooter had veered from worried into dangerous territory, at sixty miles an hour it was straining the engine and doing its best, but Bluestreak could spot it - the little machine was dangerously close to a veer and a wipeout at those speeds and yet the rider still asked it for more.

He kept pace, shifting himself into the clearest spot for a burst of sudden acceleration.

There was a bit of a loop going through Bluestreak's mind right now. They're not cops. They're not private security. They're chasing this girl without anyone else in mind - because man if she wipes out she'll hurt herself but someone else on this road too, so that's so not any of those things, and ugh, why does everyone bad have to be all black and forboding. Seriously, can't like they pick some other color? Lime green? Hot pink. Wait, no, I know why, because even I can admit I'd be a little less threatened by someone in lime green and hot pink, black is just a whole lot more uh-- dark.

"Aw, frick!" was his immediate response to Wash. "Wash, keep yourself safe and - wait, wait, what is it on your tail, why would they do that I know they'd see me and make a jump, but you're not up here, you've been stuck in traffic, so why think you're even involved unless they know you --"

Wait. Wait. He'd heard the story about how Wash had been nearly picked up by...

Old memories dredged themselves out of places they'd been. Bluestreak was no hunter, he didn't like hunting things, to be honest. No reason for sport hunting in his opinion. However a lot of the mechs he'd shot with in tournaments... they were.

Turbofoxes often could be lured into the open by the squeal of something being hurt. Then you had an easy, clear shot at them. Forget chasing them down or trying to pick them off as they ran past. No, you pulled them to you and then you took them down.

For a change, Bluestreak cut himself off and his voice was calm and steady. "I think I know," the mech replied."Be freaking careful, Wash- but I'm going to have to make a move or this girl's getting hurt."

With that, Bluestreak's avatar brought his hand up to his ear as if he was in the middle of a phone call on Bluetooth, and totally utterly distracted. The car ahead was still weaving in the lane and he ducked between cars as if he was passing in the left hand lane - don't notice me just yet, come on, don't notice--

He snapped himself into place so that the Victoria couldn't pull out of that lane without smacking into his fender. This girl was looking for a spot to clear, and hopefully he'd given her a chance to de-accelerate a car length and duck behind him. So far she'd been a pretty darn good driver all things considered. Hopefully, that would allow her to get out of the pin. If not, well, next things next.

Still the matter of the second car, but he had an idea about that too...

[Deleted]

“Do whatever you need to do, Bluestreak,” said Wash. The mild–mannered Autobot’s voice sounded uncharacteristically angry. “I think we’ve been set up. I’ll take care of the guy behind me. I’ve played this game before, and I didn’t like it enough the first time to go for a second round.”

The driver of the Victoria did not appear to notice Bluestreak at first when the silver car eased up alongside him and took up a station there. Through the tinted window the Autobot would be able to see that the driver was checking his rear view mirror instead, and talking to his passenger.

But the girl noticed.

She risked a glance at him, startled. The visor of her helmet shielded her eyes, her hair flew madly behind it. With no further delay she relaxed on the throttle and let her scooter slow down. There was a jerk from the black car behind her as she immediately tucked in behind Bluestreak, following his bumper so closely she wobbled briefly in his draft.

For a moment she would be difficult to spot in his side mirror as she buzzed along, all but clinging to his left rear quarter.

But in his rear view mirror he would spy the second black Victoria slowly glide over into his lane to follow her, less than two car lengths behind him.

Meanwhile, the first Victoria had finally noticed what was going on. It blasted angrily on its horn as the driver realised that he was stuck in his lane.

[Bluestreak]

Wash's voice echoed through the interior of the Datsun. Okay, they were both thinking on the same wavelines. Actually, Bluestreak sort of thought at the moment that it had probably been Wash they'd been trying to draw out again, and apparently Wash felt the same way.

"Right," he replied to the blue mech, and then a joke rolled right out of him, keeping up with his tires and thoughts. "These guys should really think into buying less ominous cars or something. Geeze, no one expects the guys in black to be driving something in adorable orange stripes. Next time they open up their suggestion box I'm going to pay you in fuel rations to sneak over and drop in a bunch of votes for a Mini Cooper..."

He was keeping his focus on the girl though; come on come on come---

She looked at him. He couldn't risk lifting his hand off the wheel, couldn't risk giving away the fact that he wasn't talking to anyone - okay, he was talking to himself, but hey, that's not anything he hadn't done since - well that was a dumb self-moment, wasn't it. However, he saw her desperately leap for an opening and take it. There, she was right there, up alongside of him...

The driver on the other car laid on the horn. Bluestreak's avatar did a fantastic startle, even though the headlamps on the Datsun only dimmed, like the narrowing of an optic. Inside of his cab, the projection flailed at the wheel as if he'd just dropped his five dollar cup of coffee in his lap.

"Yeah yeah beep beep beep, mister I'm driving a Crown Victoria, well let me tell you something buddy, I know my altmode's side panel cost more than yours does. Mine also comes with a Ratchet who would probably not appreciate you crunching it, so let's try to keep that to a minimum, because oh boy I don't like him when he's grumpy, and those Snickers commercials just don't work the same for us as they do for you guys."

His swerve brought him dangerously close to the car honking at him. He was attempting to time it so that there was barely a human hand-span between him and the flank of the other car. A flash of his brakes, the girl hopefully would get it. Get alongside of him, now, and get in front so he could block both cars and be behind her, and use him as the blocker until she could find an exit, a side street, a loop. That's where the scooter would be at the advantage, not on the main roads like this...

Plus he'd have a much easier time running as a blocker. He had no tricks, no oil, no smoke. In this mode he couldn't shoot at them.

[Deleted]

The Victoria swerved away from him, its tires humming and its antenna wagging angrily. Its tires clipped the shoulder of the road, enough to make it sag.

Evidently the girl had been looking for that exact window of opportunity.

The instant Bluestreak drifted over she smartly accelerated, zipping up along his left side, so close she nearly touched his side mirror with her elbow. Her scooter whined and sputtered at the treatment but she was able to weave neatly in front of him, bike wobbling until she regained her posture. Her blonde hair waved behind her as she cast a brief, glad look back at the silver car from over her shoulder.

Meanwhile, the Victoria had already recovered. The driver looked around in vain – Bluestreak would catch a dim view of sunglasses through the tinted side window.

Then, smoothly, the driver stepped down on the gas.

The Victoria surged forward smoothly, its engine barely ticking over. It drew ahead of Bluestreak until its rear bumper was just ahead of his front one. It then stayed there, running alongside the girl, just slightly out of the Autobot’s reach.

The girl glanced at it desperately. She was already running her red scooter as hard as it could go. No chance of her speeding up to outrun it.

Over Bluestreak’s comm, Wash gave an evil laugh.

“Hey, Blue,” he said. “Can you give me your rough coordinates?”

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak's satisfaction made his tires dip slightly on the roadway.

Yeah, there, she got it, she got it. She's got it, she knows, I give this girl credit, she's got some driving skills on that little scooter. I don't know if I could keep myself that steady being hunted down by guys in black cars - wait a second, I am, haha, go figure. A point for me, yep.

At the awkward wobble of her tire, he tensed. Wait, what if she goes down? What am I supposed to do, she's not got protective gear on except for her head and humans are pretty breakable, way too breakable to flip in the road and there's people there and how do I keep her from getting hurt if that bike goes down. Okay, Blue, you get under her, somehow, you may have to duck and dive, pop the hood as if when she hit it - wait, what am I thinking, she's going to hit a freaking car at sixty miles an hour.

Scratch that plan. Different plan. Better plan. Don't fall over, miss, that's the new plan. Best plan.

When the car pulled in front of him, Bluestreak's headlights flickered brightly and dimmed. His engine whirred, the revs rising as fuel surged through his systems. His tires gripped the hot pavement underneath him; he was gathering himself, ready to- and then Wash's voice came across their comm.

"Yep," he replied. "I sure can, you bet, co-ordinates on the way, here you go, Wash..."

A second later, he'd blipped them across to the other mech.

For once, I really, really appreciate a slightly evil laugh. Yep. Totally appreciate it. Okay, mostly because it's not accompanied by a 'So now what are you going to do, Autobot scum...' that's nice. That's really nice. Always a bonus, yep.