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Driven to the Edge [Blu and Driven]

"They're doing it tonight." Dani pecked away at the screen of her phone, quickly sending the message and flipping the phone back to it's face down position. "Who was that?" A more masculine voice asked her. She looked up at him with a smile, "It was just my friend Desi. You know, girl stuff." The interrogation stopped there, causing Dani to give herself a mental sigh of relief. She had been lying on the bed with none other than Michael Wachowski himself. The entire time she was thinking about how she was going to make Desmond pay her back.

Mike on the other hand, was too busy playing Call of Duty. "Mikey Mike! You can't fuckin' see me!" He screamed among his variable slew of racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs. Michael Wachowski was definitely 'That Guy'. Nothing was ever due to his lack of skill. Everything was always something or someone else's fault. "Oh fuck you. No. NO! I'll fuck your mother and your girl at the same time you fucking bitch!" He then muted his microphone for split second to turn his head slightly toward Dani, his eyes still on the television screen, "Hey babe, can you make me a sandwich?"

Dani's face quickly contorted into something along the lines of, "The fuck did you just say?" Lucky enough for him, he wasn't looking at her to see it. "How about... I don't make you a sandwich. I am not your fucking servant, Michael." She then reached for her phone again to text Desmond a second time. "YOUUUU OWE MEEEEEE." She then flipped the phone back onto the mattress, albeit this time with a bit more aggression.

"Love you too!" Desmond texted back before dropping his phone in the passenger seat of his cruiser. He had been planning this night for what felt like an eternity and so far, everything seemed to be going his way this evening. He had a good feeling in his gut as threw the shifter into Drive and set off for the police impound lot.

After about a fifteen minute drive, he pulled into the impound lot and cut the engine on the cruiser. He then strolled over to a husky man who looked to be in at least his early 40s. "You sure you still wanna do this for me, Ron? It could get us both in a lot of shit if I don't pull this off flawlessly."

"Yeah yeah, you're fine, Taylor." Ron stroked the bottom of his massive beard for a split second before continuing, "We've had a few other ones come in since I last seen ya, but I made sure to keep the one out of the crusher." Ron waved Desmond over, showing him a few performance-oriented cars in the back of the lot. A C4 ZR-1 'Vette and a base model C5 'Vette sat right next to each other. Farther down the line, there were a couple of 240s. One late model RX-7 that managed to catch Desmond's eye, but upon further inspection it turned out that the turbo had been blown.

"It's a damn good thing I planned ahead," Desmond said, rubbing his temple at the other options he would have had to work with had he not moved pre-emptively.

"She's right where you left her," Ron said before clearing his throat. The long years of smoking hadn't been nice to him.

Desmond made his way over to a slightly dusty Victory Red Camaro ZL1. It wasn't what he would have gone with if it were entirely up to him, but it was definitely the best contender for the situation. Not to mention that it was relatively low key. "The keys still inside?!" Desmond called out to Ron who responded with a silent nod, too busy being afflicted by his coughing. Desmond popped open the driver side door and slid into the cockpit. He eyed the interior of the machine for a second before pressing his foot into the clutch pedal. With a turn of the key, the blown V8 roared to life and sent a smirk to the corners of Desmond's lips. He moved the shifter to neutral before stepping out of the car. He went back to his cruiser and picked up a spare set of clothes, his phone, his cuffs, and his personal handgun that he'd kept in the glove box. By the time he'd finish changing, the Camaro would be warmed up.

The Camaro's headlights flicked to life and Desmond calmly shifted it into first gear, guiding the nearly two-ton machine out of the impound lot. He then reached for his phone, "Get him somewhere I can find him."

Dani was strapped into the passenger seat of Mike's Challenger by the time she'd received that message. Fortunately, she was quick on her feet, "Hey, Miiiike? Can you take me to that one gas station over by the bakery? They have that one flavor of Arizona tea that I really really like," she said to him with a smile.

"Fine. I guess it couldn't hurt to top 'er off anyway," Mike said somewhat reluctantly.

"Thaaaaank you!" Dani then quickly texted Desmond, "Shell across the street from the bakery. 10 mins."

Desmond planted his foot in the Camaro, prompting a bit of wheelspin. It was wrong, but it was almost liberating at the same time. He managed to beat them there as expected and parked his car in front of the bakery, cutting the lights to minimize attention.

Just like clockwork the Challenger pulled into the lot of the gas station, stopping in front of one of the pumps. "Hurry up!" Mike said to Dani as he slid his credit card into the pump.

"Don't rush me," Dani called back to him, quickly making her way to the cooler in the back. She tapped her phone twice and brought it to her ear. "Where are you?"

"I'm in a red Camaro across the street. I'm gonna follow you guys, but I need you to keep his attention. I don't want him to see me and remember my face or anything."

"Alright. I dunno how the hell you convinced me to do this shit, but..." Dani shook her head as she pulled a Black & White Arizona from the cooler, "You owe me." She hung up the phone.

The pursuit went fine for the most part. When Mike drew near to the same RX-8 a few miles out, two flashes. Mike responded with the appropriate four. Desmond, though he was following close behind Mike, did not...
 
Lara had made her way over to the gentleman with the Supra, admiring the condition of his car and chatting with him as she would anyone else who loved their car. She didn't ask for his name and he didn't ask for hers, another good sign of mutual understanding of the situation. Luke had come over to join them as well, admitting that checking out the car was too good a chance to pass up. The event was actually beginning to feel normal. Lara had relaxed, her worries temporarily forgotten as she answered questions about her own ride and Luke made some joke about the ugliness of the styling. She laughed and hit his arm good-naturedly. She was aware it wasn't exactly the prettiest of Mustangs, let alone cars, but it was the sentimental value more than anything that kept her attached...

The three were hovering around the popped hood of the Supra when Lara heard one of several nicknames being called somewhat frantically.

"Fox! Yo Fox! C'mere a second!"

She turned to face one of the guys who monitored the police scanners and kept in contact with the lookouts, and the moment she saw the unease in his eyes her mood began to take a downward turn. She forced a smile and excused herself before joining the other male at his slammed out 240sx.

"What's goin' on?"

"Eight said Mike's Challenger just drove by but another car was tailing him pretty close and didn't give the flash back..."

Her lips pursed, her mind beginning to turn over the possibilities slowly. She needed to stay calm about this. Everyone was still having a good time...maybe it was just some new guy that Mike had brought along. Hopefully. She ran her fingers through her ponytail in thought and then met his uncertain gaze.

"It wasn't a cruiser?"

He shook his head. "Nah. He didn't get a good look at it goin' by because he hadn't really noticed it until they got closer but he said by the taillights it's a Camaro."

There were a lot of explanations she could think of, however, they needed to air on the side of caution without causing total panic. She subconsciously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth before exhaling sharply through her nose. "Alright, we don't panic yet. There's a lot of explanations for this. Just kinda spread the word around to keep close to your cars just in case it turns out for the worst. Let me know if you get anything else that looks suspicious, alright?"

He nodded and she ducked back over to Luke and the Supra, greeting people as she went and carrying on like nothing was wrong, because there currently was nothing out of place. Just a potential misunderstanding. She hoped to God it was a misunderstanding. Luke eyed her as she returned with a smile.

"Sorry about that! Anyway, what kinda turbo are you running?"

Luke cut them both off. "Everything alright?"

She simply nodded and waved him off, focusing on the conversation before inviting him back to take a look at her own car. As they stood beside it, the hood still closed, she kept a continuous eye on the main road, waiting to see the familiar Challenger and whatever stranger might be behind him.
 
"What the fuck is this fucking asshole doing?" Mike said aloud, mostly to himself as he kept seeing flashing high beams in his rearview. Mike gripped the steering wheel of his Challenger, "You wanna race chump? I'll show you what's--"

"Stop it, Michael. He's probably just trying to get your attention," Dani barked at him from the passenger seat.

"Well that ain't the way to do it!"

"Look, just pull over. He'll just drive by if he isn't."

Mike looked at her before sighing and shaking his head, guiding his Challenger over to the side of the road about two or so miles from the RX-8 they'd passed. Lo and behold, the set of taillights behind him followed suit. "Wait here, I got this," Mike said with a smug grin on his face.

"Mmmhmm," Dani said calmly. As Mike stepped out of the car, she locked the doors behind him.

"Ey man, you got a fuckin' problem? 'Cause I can kick your ass in the street right here!" Mike yelled as he threw his arms out in an effort to appear tough. However, Desmond continued his approach without saying a word. "What the fuck man? You think I'm joking?! I'll fuck you u--" Mike stopped his speech then and there once he could recognize that face. "Oh shit. Oh shit!" He turned and went back to his car, only to find the door locked. "Let me in! Let me in! It's that fucking cop from before I was telling you about, let me--"

"Mister Michael Wachowski," Desmond said calmly with a smirk on his face. "You and I are gonna have another little chat."

"You got nothin' on me! I didn't do anything, bro!"

"I beg to differ, but honestly, that's not why I'm here," Desmond walked right up to Mike and slid his arm around his shoulder as if they were buddies, "Let's quit tugging on the car door, shall we?" He then guided Mike away from the Challenger, "Look here, Michael. From this point on, we're buddies, got it? I'm here with you. Anyone asks anything, we met through your girlfriend over there." He smirked at Mike, "You cooperate and you're off scott free for whatever happens tonight. Deal?"

Mike reluctantly answered, "Deal."

"'Atta boy," Desmond patted him on the chest a couple of times before letting him go.

Both cars pulled away from the shoulder shortly after. Roughly five minutes of silence passed before Dani asked, "So are you going to tell me what that was about?"

"It was nothing," Mike said. His tone showed that he was nowhere near happy.

Desmond grit his teeth as they drew nearer to the meet. He looked at his phone and contemplated texting Greg, "I might need backup, but... fuck I don't know if Greg will be on board for this." He sighed and shook his head, giving himself a bit of time to regain his composure. He was headed into the middle of the pack and all of the assistance he had was coming from Dani, who was for all purposes just along for the ride at this point. He took a deep breath as he followed the Challenger into the meet, which was a lot less like a party than the last one. They were wising up.
 
Once the guy in the Supra had been swept off by one of the other girls, Luke focused his attention on Lara and the way she kept watching the road. He'd known her long enough to know that something certainly wasn't right. "You expecting someone?" he mused, his arms crossed over his chest as she finally pulled her gaze away from the road, eyebrows lifted in question.

"Huh?"

His eyes narrowed somewhat. "You've had your eyes practically glued to the road ever since you went and talked to our look out buddy. What the hell is going on?"

She sighed, exasperated and shrugged. "Mike's back and there's a Camaro coming in with him. Eight said he didn't flash back. Just want to see what we're dealing with..." she muttered just loud enough to be heard only by him over the throbbing bass of some song that was starting to grate on her nerves. She could only take the repetitive beat for so long sometimes, especially as distracted as she was.

He studied her for a moment. "You're worried. What, you think he led the cops to us?"

She shrugged again. "I honestly have no idea. I'm just being cautious."

He threw an arm around her neck and pulled her into a headlock before tousling up her hair to several curses and smacks. "Well relax! We're being way more careful about this one and you need to get that stick out of your ass! So what if he brought a friend? The more the merrier!" he joked once he had released her. She grumbled something incoherent as she sat back onto the hood of the Mustang and shook her hair loose long enough to flatten it out and whisk it back up into a ponytail once more.

"Well someone is being awfully fucking cheery all of the sudden," she retorted somewhat indignantly. She hated it when he messed with her like that...

"I'm just lookin' to have a little fun on my last run out. It's sorta like my pre-bachelor party party...but without the strippers."

Her expression softened and she laughed quietly. "Alright, alright. Then you have to run with me once tonight, how's that?"

He grinned. "Of course." Their conversation was interrupted by a few hoots and whistles as Mike's Challenger approached and, sure enough, Lara could see the Camaro following behind it. Her shoulders rolled back and she set one hand on the hood behind her to prop herself up in the seated position. Luke followed her attention again and sighed. "Looks like your friend's here."
 
It didn't take long for Mike to guide the Challenger over toward a decent spot with enough room for Desmond to park nearby. The engines on the two supercharged V8s became silent one after another with Mike and Dani rising from the Challenger first. Desmond quickly tucked his handgun underneath his flannel and through on a jacket, just to make sure no one saw the outline of the gun at his back. When he finally stepped out of the car, he smiled at Dani and Mike, but otherwise remained silent as he scanned the crowd.

"Mikeeeyyyy!!!" A voice called out from a small group of people approaching the Challenger.

"Dougiiieeee!!! Yo what's up, bro?" Mike responded to the man before tossing in an obnoxious bro-handshake maneuver. "You got some new wheels on the Charger?" Mike nodded to a bagged, matte black SRT-8 Charger that was literally touching the ground.

"Yeah man. The offset is like... crazy bro, I'm telling you. I can fit a pizza slice on the lip, man. No lie," Doug said with the enthusiasm of a small child. Beside him were a couple of females who mostly remained silent until one of which said, "Who's your friend?" Her eyes darting over to Desmond.

"Oh.. that's uh... just a buddy of hers," Mike said, sliding his arm around Dani. "He's into cars so I figured I'd bring him along."

"He's harmless," Dani chimed in.

Desmond stepped a little closer to the group with a simple smile and a wave. Just then the same girl from before added, "I like your car." She was twirling her blonde hair around her index finger.

"Thanks," Desmond said with a half smirk. He kept searching the crowd as subtly as he could, making sure to not draw attention to himself while still seeking out the Fox. Then he realized that trying to be too subtle was probably worse. It was a car meet and he was new. He was allowed to look around.

"Ey, what you got in that thing?" Doug asked him.

"It's stock. For now. Got a Borg Warner 9180 on the way. Bigger injectors. Some R888s. A few other surprises. I just decided to come out tonight and see what everyone else is all about."

"Niiice, nice. Well everyone out here is pretty chill, y'know?" Desmond nodded silently as Doug spoke. "There's a couple of people out here that are like crazy crazy fast though," he added, "There's a uhhh.. there's a Supra, this one S2000, an old Firebird, and a Foxbody. Like.. apparently the girl who drives the Fox like... started this whoooole thing way back in the day."

"No shit?" Desmond remained calm though on the inside he was ecstatic to know that the one he showed up for was present and accounted for. "Can I go talk to some of 'em?"

"I don't see why not," Doug said before lighting up a cigarette. He then looked over to where he'd last seen the Fox, "She's right over there," he said with a point and a puff of smoke flying from his mouth.

"You wanna come with me?" Desmond said, looking to the blonde woman that had been complimenting 'his' car before.

"Sure."

As they took a couple of steps away from the smaller crowd, Desmond slid his arm around her, "So what's your name?"

"Tracy," she said with a smile. They were making a beeline straight toward the Mustang.
 
Lara studied the Camaro and did what she could to listen to the motor over the din of everything else around them. She liked to size up the newcomers. She wasn't the type of person who couldn't admit where a car could get the best of hers, but she liked to think she made up for a lot of where her car lacked. Getting a handle on someone's car, though, could make a great baseline assessment of them as a driver or just them as a person in general...or that is what she told herself, anyway.

"What d'ya think?" Luke asked, leaning back against the passenger door of his old Bird while his eyes slowly shifted from the unfamiliar Camaro and back to the brunette who had yet to look away from it. He had seen that look one too many times to not know what it meant.

"Seems to still be stock...or mostly so, anyway. ZL1, obviously..." her voice trailed off as the driver stepped out. She couldn't quite see him, though, through the people that had surged to crowd around Mike. God, she never understood why so many people were drawn to him. Was it the money? She was no sweet little angel, herself, but he was just...

"-on something? Hello? Earth to Laur?" Luke's questions were going ignored until he finally stepped forward and yanked on the end of her white v-neck shirt. She scowled and tugged adjusted it, her gaze shifting indignantly to the culprit who was pouting. "I was trying to get your opinion on something, thank you very much!"

"Alright, sorry! What?!"

"You think I should swap superchargers for the strip? Or should I go for a totally different set up?"

She grinned mischievously. "Depends. How much money is Kel gonna let you spend on it?"

At that, they both started to laugh and she slipped down from the hood of the Fox to lean against the front fender, instead. When she picked up her head, she saw the unfamiliar tall, dark and handsome stranger making his way over with one of the regulars under his arm. She did not miss the fact that he they seemed to be heading quite obviously towards them. "Company." She said simply, although as they neared, her eyes narrowed somewhat. He looked...oddly familiar. Before she could ask the question to Luke, though, they were in earshot and she decided to make the first question. Oh, what the hell was that girl's name...? Tanya? Tabitha...something T...

"Hey, Trace, new friend?" she asked with a polite smile, her head tilted just slightly to the side. Opposite her, Luke, offered a wave and friendly nod. No reason to be unfriendly thus far.
 
"Yeah!" Tracy bounced a bit with her response. She looked up at him with a smile before looking back to the group. Even for someone who hadn't met her before, it was easy to tell that she was a ditz. The way she spoke practically screamed 'Valley Girl' and one would only have to resort to that if they gave her the benefit of the doubt. Her hair was straightened, and platinum blonde with dark lowlights. Her cropped tank top revealed her belly button ring and she was proudly wearing leggings as pants. It's usually a good idea to not judge a book by it's cover, but in some cases the cover told absolutely everything.

Desmond's choice of clothing however was meant to look a bit more low-key. Basic red and black flannel, a pair of dark wash jeans, and his 'jacket' which was technically a black zip-up hoodie. "What's up?" He said, his eyes flashing between the Fox, the Bird, and their respective drivers. Eventually his eyes settled on the Fox. It took every fiber of his being to remain composed when he was within arms reach of his prize. "That your Mustang?" He asked plainly.
 
Lara didn't tend to associate too much with the girls like Tracy that hung around the meets for rather obvious reasons. Most of them were there to find a guy with a cool car - maybe some money - and hitch around as arm candy. She didn't see the attraction to that way of life but she couldn't exactly judge. It was girls like Tracy that made her look borderline manly. Compared to the blonde's primped and pampered appearance, her unremarkable though tight-fitting v-neck, low-rise jeans and sneakers was not much to look at. Then again, she would rather have more attention on her car than herself.

She watched the newcomer's gaze, hazel eyes curious at this stage in the game as her palms rested against the hood behind her once more. His sudden focus on her car was a point of pride as well as something that wiggled at the inkling in the back of her mind that she had seen him somewhere before. She kept brushing it aside, though. The town wasn't that big, maybe she had just seen him in passing or something. She couldn't help but flash a little toothy grin and nod, patting the hood thrice fondly.

"That she is. For a good few years now."
 
"For a few good years, eh?" That was all Desmond needed to hear to know for sure that she was the one who had evaded him before. He eyed the Fox a bit more after she confirmed the ownership. The fresh set of tires threw him. Most Foxbody drivers are running 'em on a budget, at least that's what he was using to seeing. Did she come from money? Did she have the hookup? Almost every question brought more along with it. "What's it got under the hood?" He had a good enough idea, but it was hurting him to have to play dumb.
 
Luke crossed his arms over his chest as he sat back and watched the interaction take place. The way someone got along with or even attempted to get along with Lara was typically a good telltale of how he would mesh with the group. So far he seemed to be showing all the right signs. Lara, at least, was bound to be enjoying the talk focused on her car. And yet something just seemed...off. He couldn't put his finger on it. But in the meantime, he was content to sit back and listen.

Lara was, indeed, intrigued by his interest in her car. The new guys typically ended up talking to her at one point or another, anyway, simply because of her position in the group. Too many times, though, they wrote her off because she had "nice tits and a great ass" that would apparently impair her ability to drive. He didn't seem like the type to underestimate someone based on something so frugal. She played off her pride, though, and simply shrugged.

"New Coyote, nice turbo, nothin' too out of the ordinary," she smiled, glancing over his shoulder and to the Camaro sitting pretty across the way. "Nice, clean bowtie. New?"
 
"Whew, new Coyote eh? With the turbo it's gotta be close to what, 600 horse?" Desmond slipped his left hand into his pants pocket, the other was still around Tracy who had comfortably settled into the position of arm candy. He looked to Luke for a split second. He scanned him over a couple times as he'd gotten the strong vibe that Luke was doing the same. Or maybe it was the paranoia of being somewhere he didn't belong. He then looked over his shoulder at the Camaro, though he was mostly checking to see if Dani was okay before returning his gaze to the Fox driver, "It's got a little less than 12k on the clock. I wanted to put some decent mileage on it before I started ripping into it too much. I got a turbo and some other goodies on the way. Good thing about engines that come boosted is that they require a lot less support to add more, y'know?" Oddly enough Desmond felt at ease talking about the car, even if he was lying through his teeth.
 
Lara's mischievous grin became a little cryptic at his question. She was never one to drop numbers, even when that was all some people were interested. Numbers could only tell you so much...and sometimes she just liked to have a little something up her sleeve, if not much. "Yeah, something like that," she mused. "I haven't had her dyno'd or anything recently but nonetheless, it's more than enough for the power to weight ratio to be pretty good." The newer Mustang models, while far-better looking, we're also larger and heavier. While she loved the look, it was rather nice to have a little less weight to start with.

She laughed and nodded in agreement. "I don't blame you there. Give her some time to warm up before you do what she's made for!" The little nagging voice in the back of her mind had become considerably smaller as the conversation wore on. He seemed to be doing just fine. If that changed abruptly, then maybe her opinion would. "Yeah, it's nice to have a little something extra to start with, for sure. I'd go turbo over superchargered any day, myself...although if I had some extra cash I might look into a procharger. Nothing wrong with making a spooling car sound like a jet," she laughed.
 
Desmond chuckled, "The motor is big enough where I can boost to around seven or eight hundred and still have a usable torque curve." He then looked over his shoulder at the car again, "Plus it's quick in stock trim, but it's definitely a cow. I just don't want to have to get rid of creature comforts to get it to move how I want it to." He then looked over his shoulder at the ZL1 once more, "I'm trying to figure out what to do suspension wise.” He looked back to the Fox, “Those magnetic dampers are hard to beat and I'm not too much into the laying frame scene like Mike and them."

Just at that moment Mike, Doug, Dani and a few others made their way over to crowd around Desmond. “So when we gonna quit runnin' mouth and start runnin' some races?” Mike asked with a wide grin on his face. He then kept on, "Come on, let's get this shit movin'."

It took every fiber of Desmond's being to not roll his eyes. He then threw up his free hand with a bit of a shrug, "Hey, don't mind me. I'm not trying to hold anything up."

Tracy then looked up to Desmond, "I wanna see you race!"

Before Desmond even got the opportunity to respond, Doug chimed in, "Yo that's a good idea. Let's get the new guy in the ring, eh?"

"Hey Fox, you should show him the ropes," Mike tossed in. "Then when you're done, I can show you my rope," Mike added with a wink and a highly immature chuckle.

"Yo, that's an even better idea!" Doug added, turning around to the group, "Who want's to see Fox race the new guy?"

The group that had followed Mike over responded with positive cheers. Desmond kept his eyes on the Fox driver, though he let a bit of a smirk form at the corners of his mouth.
 
Lara nodded in understanding and was about to offer her two cents on the matter when the rest of the group he had arrived with decided to butt in. She tried not to let her agitation show. It was nice to have a conversation with someone who wasn't just interested in making their car scrape on the ground as a form of pride. Or crush cans with their bagged suspension. That manner seemed to be taking over much of the scene and it could be somewhat disheartening...

She honestly tried to look impassive at Mike's usual, crass way of crashing the conversation, but she had the feeling a little tweak of agitation showed through her expression, something that was confirmed by the abrupt snort of laughter from Luke's direction. She didn't bother hiding an eye roll from Mike.

"Sorry, I don't carry a microscope strong enough to even find your rope."

At that Luke - and several others - burst into laughter at Mike's expense, the young man sneering at her and muttering something unkind under his breath. Hell if she cared.

She shifted her attention to the new driver, however, and met his gaze without hesitation. His smirk was contagious as she pushed off of her car and let her weight shift to her left leg, her hip cocked. Her eyes shone mischievously in the light of the headlights around them and she was only faintly aware of the persistent cheers. He showed promise in knowledge, at least, and at any rate his equipment was more than enough to be considered a challenge and she had that distinct feeling that he knew what to do with it. She did say she wanted to run...

"What d'you say, new guy? I'll let you pick your poison, if you'd like? Drag? Little circuit? We do a little bit of everything around here."
 
Desmond snuck a chuckle at Mike's expense and even though he couldn't see it, he just knew that Dani did too. He then scratched his eyebrow before slipping his left hand back into his pocket. When she accepted the challenge that had been so unceremoniously thrust upon them, it threw him for a bit. More often than not, it seemed like the 'top dog' would let their ego get in the way and would consider the newcomers beneath them. It didn't do anything for the smirk on his face though because really, he was getting what he wanted, "Well you know the old saying, right?" His smirk faded slightly, "I know you've got the faster car. I just want to see how well you can handle the hardware."

"You should take me out for a quick lap, show me the route. I'm guessing it's a biiiit too long to walk," Desmond said with a chuckle. "I mean, unless your Mustang don't have a passenger seat or somethin'." The majority of Mike's crew didn't seem to take note of what Desmond said. Dani's eyes however, shot straight over to him. She had no idea exactly what Desmond was planning, but she was smart enough to know that he was trying to get Ms. Fox alone for a reason.
 
Lara's little grin didn't falter. He understood the importance of the driver more than most of the people around them - she was bound to have fun with this. "I respect that," she began, letting her head tilt slightly to one side. "If I'm totally honest, I'd like to see how well you can throw that weight around, as well." She wasn't afraid of a challenge: even a challenge lost was taken as a learning experience. As far as she was concerned, pride only hampered growth.

She laughed lightly and shook her head. "In fact, I haven't gotten around to losing the weight of a passenger seat, yet, so I can show you the circuit we'll take," she agreed without much thought before jerking her chin to the opposite side of the car. "Feel free to hop in." The passenger seat matched the driver's since Luke had talked her into keeping it all together.

Before she could move to take her own seat, though, Luke grabbed her arm and jerked her aside somewhat with a forced grin at the others. He didn't want to seem suspicious. "Just gonna borrow her one sec!" He ducked his head somewhat to meet her gaze. "Are you fucking insane? We don't even know this guy! You gonna let him ride? Alone?"

She rolled her eyes. Luke could be a bit over protective. "We've got spotters all over the place, if I'm not back in five, send a spotter and if you don't hear from me then panic. His car is staying here, what's he gonna do?" She shrugged. "I'll be fine. No one's pulling jack shit in my own car," she laughed before reassuringly slugging his shoulder and moving back towards her car and pulling open the driver door. She found the new guy's gaze again before grinning. "You comin?"
 
Just before Desmond could respond to Lady Fox's question about hopping in the passenger seat of the Mustang, Dani butted in, "Hey! Before you go off racing into the night or whatever, can I talk to you for a second? It's kind of important."

"Uhh... yeah, sure," Desmond slid his arm from around Tracy just before Dani grabbed his wrist with both hands.

"You can have him back in juuuust a sec!" She said with a smile before pulling him a few feet away from the group. She lowered her voice a bit as she spoke, "I don't know what you've got planned, but I don't want you to go out there and hurt yourself."

"I know what I'm doing, I'll be fine," Desmond said with a reassuring smile. With how things were going already, he was pretty confident in his plan.

"I'm serious. She might like... press a button that launches you out of the seat or something!"

Desmond smirked a bit, but quickly caught himself, "This isn't a movie, Dani. Things don't really work that way." He then lowered his voice and placed his hands on Dani's shoulders, "Call Greg in two minutes. Tell him where we are, tell him to bring backup."

"Okay..."

"Follow my lead." Desmond then made his way back over to the group with Dani in tow. As soon as he was nearby the Mustang once more he pointed to Mike, "When I get back, you and I are gonna have a loooong talk about how you treat women, Michael." He then looked to Stacy with a smirk, "And don't you go anywhere. You're gonna be my good luck charm for this race when I get back." Was that a bit hypocritical? Probably. At this point, that was the last thing on Desmond's mind as he reached for the door handle of the Mustang, "I'm ready whenever you are."
 
Lara somehow managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. So many girls seemed to eat that "good luck charm" bit up. She didn't think she would ever understood those women so content to just be eye candy. She got restless if she didn't actively participate or compete. The competitive streak in her blood was definitely strong and perhaps even a part of her genes at that point.

She nodded as the driver of Camaro reached for the handle and turned to sit in the driver's seat as well. She caught Luke's disapproving gaze one last time and just shot him a reassuring grin and wink. Discreetly, she slipped her phone from her back pocket and slipped it, screen up, under her left thigh before pushing the clutch in and turning the key. A few cheers went up around them as the engine growled into life and it's grumbling idle clearing a path just as she flicked the headlights on. She waited a few minutes and set her right hand comfortably on the shifter and glancing at her passenger to ensure he was settled before shifting into first and pulling onto the road. She turned away from the way she had come in and decided on an alternate track route.

"I'll take you around the track I was thinking and we can have a few of the other guys park at the turns if you want just to make sure neither of us miss one," she offered with a light laugh. As they pulled slightly farther away from the crowd, she kept an easy pace: she wasn't about to show off and lay all of her cards on the table, and the whole point was to map out their course, anyway.
 
Desmond settled down into the passenger seat of the Mustang. He closed the door behind him and reached to put on his seat belt. "Of all the places..." he looked around the cockpit of the Mustang, really taking in where he was. Had someone asked him even a week ago if he could see himself here, he would have laughed in their face. When the Mustang roared to life, he gave a look that read 'Not bad' before shuffling in his seat a bit to get a bit more comfortable.

Dani had returned to the position of being Mike's arm candy. She cheered with the others as the Fox driver fired up it's engine. As it slowly made it's way through the crowd, Dani looked up at Mike, "Can I borrow your keys?"

"For what?" Mike asked as if he was offended.

"I wanna charge my phone, it's got like... three percent left..."

"I can just open the car for you."

"The car can't charge anything if it's not on," Dani was resisting the urge to call him a dumbass.

Mike sighed, "Fine. Just don't go anywhere."

"I hadn't planned on it, I don't want to miss the race," she said with a half-hearted smile. When Mike dropped the keys into her hand, she slipped from under his arm and made her way toward the Challenger. Her walk was a bit more brisk than usual, but not too much as she didn't want to draw any attention to herself. With a couple of clicks of the keyfob, she slid into the car's passenger seat. She closed the door behind her and slipped the key into the ignition, turned the key, and the supercharged V8 roared to life. Dani then quickly plugged in her phone Charger, on the off chance that someone might decide to come be nosy. Immediately after she dialed Greg.

"No, Dani, I do not know where Des--"

"Greg, shut up. Just listen, okay?"

Dani blew the whistle. She told Greg exactly where they were, roughly how many cars were out, and that Greg should call for backup immediately. Not too long after getting off the phone, Greg radioed the details of the meet and Dani deleted the call from her log, leaning back in the passenger seat of the Challenger with a long sigh.

"I think we'll be fine without having people sit at the corners," Desmond shrugged a bit, "Knowing the course is a big part of the battle too. I think if I expect people to be at the corners, I'll get a bit lazy instead of actually memorizing the route."
 
Lara had caught the expression on his face at the start of her car from the corner of her eye and smiled just a bit. She did love the way it sounded, herself. Plus, the added shutter of the turbo just completely did her in on the days she let herself really admire it. She never understood why so many domestic fans shunned the idea of a turbocharger...

The path she had begun to follow wasn't particularly windy, but had a good number of easy and hard turns as well as a decent stretch of straights. It was a pretty decent test of car and driver for some back roads as far as she was concerned. She nodded at his words, eyes settled steadily on the road ahead. "Fair enough, I respect that," she agreed, following a straight shot down a road that lead to a cul-de-sac-shaped dead-end.

As she lazily followed the edge of the road to turn around, she spoke again. "From here I figure we'd follow the same route back. Any objections and-or suggestions?" she couldn't help but ask. Sort of a polite offer for the new challenger.
 
Desmond subconsciously furrowed his eyebrows after she's asked her question, though that wasn't actually what he was thinking about. "Why aren't they scrambling? Did Dani call Greg, like I told her to? I know they have people tapping in to our radios." He scratched his chin for a second, "That only took us... what, a few minutes? And that was at a cruising pace. Is there any way we can stretch it a bit? Maybe head back a different way?" At this point, Desmond could care less what route they actually ran, he was just trying to stall.
 
Back at the main gathering, Luke was poorly controlling his urge to pace. A few people noticed his unease and rolled their eyes at him, making some snide remark about not being Lara's "keeper" or even her boyfriend for that matter. While aware of that, it didn't stop him from being concerned. Lara was the pain in the ass sister he never technically wanted but would look out for at any rate. Just as he was about to check in, he heard a nickname called.

"Bird! Birdy! Ya might wanna come 'ere a sec!"

He turned to see the guy from the 240 that had taken Lara away earlier waving him over somewhat frantically. He sighed and made his way through the crowd with hands in his pockets. Now what?

"What's goin' on?"

The 240-owner took a seat in his car and turned up the scanner, several voices saying much the same thing: what was going on at their location and a mode of action. Luke clenched his jaw and ran a hand through his hair. Lara would have to wait for now. The 240-owner was looking to him for a decision and he exhaled sharply.

"Don't panic. Tell everyone in show cars to head out without causing total panic or chaos. If we get as many out as we can early and without freaking everyone out, maybe we can prevent the big clusterfuck we had last time..." he breathed. "I'll handle everyone else."

Back in the Fox, Lara's brows rose as she glanced at him and chuckled. "If you want, sure. Longer the better," she agreed simply and took another side turn to bring the course out wider. Her phone vibrated quietly against her thigh, muffled by the cruising grumble of the engine. She shifted in her seat somewhat and glanced down at the screen to see Luke's name flashing across it. She rolled her eyes and ignored it to continue focusing on the road.

"These roads all kinda grid together pretty nicely so if we go this way we can swing it out wider and circle back around to the other side, the way we came in in the first place," she explained off-handedly. To her surprise, she heard the sound of various modded engines and glanced to the left where three cars were following each other off in the opposite direction. It was her turn to furrow her brows.

"People leaving already?"

Her phone vibrated again beneath her leg and she exhaled slowly. "That can't be a good sign..." she grumbled, frustration edging back into the tension in her shoulders. "Looks like we might be interrupted..."
 
As soon as word began to spread of the meet getting shut down, Mike threw his hands up with a toothy grin, "Ey yo! Party back at my place!" With cheers from various pockets of the group, Mike made his way back over to his Challenger, which Dani had unintentionally warmed up for him. As soon as his hand reached the door handle, he turned around to face Doug, "Ey, Dougie! Tell 'em to follow us if they don't know how to get to the house." Doug nodded and Mike slipped into the driver seat of the matte black machine.

"Eyyyy!!! If you don't know how to get to Mike's, just follow the sparks!" Doug said with a grin. Being that low to the ground being a source of pride for them and their little crew.

"What's going on?" Dani said from the passenger seat of the Challenger, looking up at Mike with a look of innocence on her face.

"Cops found us out, so we're trying to get it crackin' back at my place," Mike said as he reversed the Challenger out of his spot. Then once he felt he had room, he planted his foot on the floor, spinning his tires a bit while he assumed people would still be watching.

Back in the Mustang, Desmond nodded in agreement at the notion of a longer route, "Sounds good enough to me." Things weren't going exactly according to plan, but the stalling gave Desmond enough time to think of a backup.

However when it was mentioned that they might be interrupted, but no one appeared to be scrambling like before, Desmond's eyebrows furrowed again. "If it's cops, are you sure heading back is a good idea?" He then continued on, "We should just dip now. The Camaro is completely stock, and it hasn't been there long enough for it to get towed. Push come to shove, I can have Mike take me back to it in the morning."
 
Luke's glare spat sheer venom at the loud party declaration and the ensuing antics. This was not the time for that. He was infuriated and concerned that Lara still hadn't answered his damn call! Chances were that she had seen some of the cars leaving and would know with his frequent calls that they were compromised, but then why hadn't she returned? He knew he couldn't hang around much longer without putting his own legal situation in danger...

Lara's gaze shifted to her passenger abruptly at his suggestion. It seemed absurd. Who would be comfortable with leaving their vehicle in the middle of nowhere? But, then again, she had to remind herself that not everyone developed quite the...emotional attachment that she had to hers. As far as everyone else was concerned, it was a completely reasonable tactic. She tilted her head far to one side, stretching her neck slightly and then doing the opposite to the other with a loud sigh.

"I mean, if you're really cool with that, I guess we can head out." She withdrew her phone and dialed Luke back without a thought, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she turned off to the east and shifted as she steadily accelerated to appropriate speeds.

Luke's answer was unhappy.

"What the fuck, where are you? They're on their way here are you going t-?"

"Calm down, I'm heading out and I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Heading out? What about the ne-"

She hung up the phone and shoved it back under her thigh once more. She wasn't in the mood to deal with his nonsense. Her fun had been ruined.

Once a-fucking-gain.

Her shift into third gear was a little aggressive. "Well, so much for my fun for the evening..." she mumbled before shaking her head. "Where would you like me to drop you off?"
 
Desmond looked down at her hand as she made the aggressive upshift before looking back at her, "There's a storage place across town you could drop me off at. It's like a 20 minute drive from here, so I'll give you some gas money for your trouble." He then shifted his gaze forward before continuing, "I need to call someone reaaally quick." He slid his hand into his right pants pocket and pulled out his phone. After a few quick taps he dialed Greg, "Hey, Dad? You mind uhh.. picking me up from the storage unit? The sooner the better. It's... a long story." After wrapping up his conversation, he simply dropped the phone in his lap, "Sorry about that. Not entirely fond of strangers knowing where I live, y'know?" Desmond chuckled a bit, trying to shake the nerves of having to rely on Greg any more than he absolutely needed to.
 
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