The Good, the Bad, and the Fast (Sparxman and driven)

[driven to drift]

"Alright, Ms. Taino..." The sarcastic sneer with which he said her name caused eyes to narrow and jaw to clench. "...my name is Deputy Charles and I will be briefing you on your assignment today." The metal chair set across the table from her creaked in protest as the middle-aged police officer settled into it and tossed a manila folder on the table between them. When she made no move to reach for it, he rolled his eyes and leaned forward with a displeased grunt to flip it open. She still made no move and he just sighed loudly.

"You have been selected to assist the department and a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the infiltration and eventual capture of a group of suspected drug traffickers and potential murderers. Following your cooperation, all prior charges of your arrest will be dropped-..."

"And I will permanently get my car back without question," she interjected, hazel eyes sharp and trained on the deputy's brown...which rolled in their sockets.

"...and, assuming all modifications are within their legal parameters, your car will remain in your possession." With a satisfied nod, she sat back in her chair, adjusted the well-fitted blue jeans at her waist and crossed her legs before he continued. "Anyway, you will be partnered with an FBI agent who will oversee any and everything that you do and make any and all decisions of importance in this case. Are we clear on that?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes and push her long, wavy brown ponytail over her shoulder. "Because I'm sure he'll know just how to deal with drifters and this scene. Clearly I wouldn't know anything about that..." she muttered sarcastically under her breath, no attempt made to be inaudible. Deputy Charles glared.

"Are we clear?" he reiterated and the muscles of her jaw flexed yet again. Was she being a bit bratty? Perhaps. But she was still kicking herself for getting caged in that situation.

"Yes. Crystal clear." She finally spat back. The only reason she was cooperating was because she couldn't bear to see her car impounded and likely crushed. The thought nearly ripped her still-beating heart out of her chest and tore it to shreds.

"Good girl." Her arms crossed over her chest and hands clenched into fists. Just stay quiet and maybe he'll get out quicker...think of the car. "Now then, you will attend any and all drift-related events put on at Ichabod Raceway with the goal in mind to impress and gain the trust of the other drivers. Prove your worth and they should eventually accept you into their elite circle. Once there, you and the agent will look for any and all evidence of the suspected illegal activities. The agent will know what to do from there." Great way to start: keep her uninformed of general procedures. Super helpful. The trust was obvious. "Any questions?"

She raised her hand sardonically, earning a pointed deadpan. "Just one: who the hell is this 'agent' supposed to be that they won't be suspicious of him?"

The response was clipped, agitated and, technically, unprofessional. She took it as a little win. "That will be between you and the Federal agent, won't it? Maybe if you put on a sweet disposition, he can pretend to be your boyfriend and you'll find your place."

She clutched dramatically at her chest, bunching up the cotton of her v-neck t-shirt. "Oh, that hurts! Whatever will I do without a man to validate my life?" Sarcasm dripped so heavily from every word that the deputy slammed the file closed and rose to his feet. A smirk turned the corners of her lips upward. Small victory.

"The agent will be in shortly. You better watch yourself, Taino. Or I'll make sure that precious piece of shit of yours rolls out of her with a few extra dings." And with that, the door closed behind him with a slam. She glared at it and pointlessly raised a middle finger to it before falling back into her seat and kicking her sneakers up onto the tabletop and crossing her ankles.

Roslyn Taino wasn't typically so surly - not at all, in fact - however her current situation was extraordinary. Having just moved into town following her twenty-fourth birthday, she had spent every few nights learning her way around and de-stressing in the best way she knew how: drifting the curviest back roads she could find. Multiple times those flashing red and blue lights had pulled up behind her, but the fake plate and her skill behind the wheel had easily outwit them.

...until, of course, after a particularly rough day, she had forgotten to swap plates. While she had escaped, they had traced the plate back to her name and then her home and she found herself thrown into a holding cell and her car in the one place it definitely should not have been. Fortune was on her side, however, as her abilities behind the wheel were needed. With a little incentive slid her way, she was happy to help. Except when it came to dear Deputy Charles. He was the smug bastard that had brought her in and she did not take kindly to being spoken down to. She was notorious for giving as much respect as she received.

...she just hoped this mysterious "Federal Agent" was easy enough to get along with. All she had to do was drift, and that was something she knew how to do and do well. Dealing with arrogant shitheads was something low on her tolerance range.

 

[MysticSparxman]

FBI agent Kai Valentine had been on one of his rare days off when Roslyn Taino had been arrested and her car had been impounded. He had known about the undercover assignment that the FBI had been planning, mainly because he was to be involved in the assignment. He had been one of the first agents to be picked for the assignment, even though the assignment had come to a slight standstill because they didn’t have a driver talented enough to go undercover. Of course the reason Kai had been included in the assignment was mainly due to his past before he had become an FBI agent. See, Kai was a street racer before he became an agent. He may have known how to drift a car well enough, but he didn’t possess the kind of drifting skill required for the assignment. His skill came in the racing itself.

Coming into work the next day, Kai was soon pulled into the office by Captain Rivers. Captain Rivers sat down in his leather reclining chair and motioned for Kai to sit down. ”Kai, sit down. I have some news regarding the assignment you’re going on.” As he sat down, he leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other.

Kai walked over to the chair opposite his captain, pulled it out and sat down. He had a look of curiosity on his face as he had focused his attention on Captain Rivers. ”Okay, so what is it Captain? Do you mean to tell me something has changed since yesterday? Something that’s actually going to allow us to continue with this assignment?” He folded his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair a little bit. He did sound slightly irritated, mainly because of how long they had been trying to find someone good enough for the assignment. It didn’t stop Kai from wishing that they could have just chosen him for the assignment though.

Captain Rivers sat forward in his chair and picked up a file that was on his desk. He handed the file to Kai before letting his hands rest on the desk in front of him. ”Yes, we can actually continue with the assignment now.” He started off. ”That file contains information about a young female that Deputy Charles apprehended yesterday. She’s a drifter, and supposedly a very talented one at that. Her car matches the description of one that has evaded capture on numerous occasions.”

Kai opened up the file that had been handed to him and his eyes scanned over the information contained within the file as the Captain informed him about Ms. Taino. He was able to read most of the information, but his interest was drawn to the information about her car. Even though he didn’t race much anymore, Kai had never lost interest in cars, especially fast cars. A small smile formed on his face as he read over the information on her car, but then after reading the rest of the information, he closed up the file and placed it back on the desk, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. ”So she can drift. What are you telling me for?”

Captain Rivers rolled his eyes and shook his head. ”I’m telling you because we are using her for the assignment. She’s the driver we are going to use, and she’s the one you’re going to partner up with.” He spoke in a serious tone as he had said this.

The smile on Kai’s face immediately disappeared, and he glared at his Captain. ”The hell she is!” He snapped. ”You want me to go on assignment with chick Charles apprehended simply by luck? If this file is anything to go by, then she was only caught because she forgot to switch plates. I can imagine we wouldn’t be having this conversation if she had switched her plates, would we?” He folded his arms across his chest. ”No, don’t answer that as the answer is pretty clear. Anyway, I can’t work with someone you’ve just basically pulled off the street. What’s in it for her anyway?” He asked, even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

”You might not like it Kai, but you don’t have a choice in the matter. You know perfectly well that we don’t have the time to train someone up, and before you say it, we can’t use you either. This girl is the skilled drifter we need for this assignment whether you like it or not, and to answer your other question, we are going to drop all charges against her and release her car if she goes ahead with this assignment. Now, Deputy Charles is about to brief her on the assignment, and since you’re partnering with her, you’re going to have to meet her so why don’t you go along to the briefing?”

Kai did feel tempted to give his Captain a smart answer, but then he knew it would get him nowhere, so instead, he pushed out his chair and rose to his feet. Turning on his heel, Kai proceeded to walk out of his captain’s office without saying another word. He was about to turn to head on over to the interview room, but instead, he headed on over to the impound lot to check out the recently impounded car. It didn’t take Kai too long to reach the impound lot, and it certainly didn’t take him too long to spot the car he was looking for. It was a bonus that he had been able to pick up the keys along the way too. It was probably the only car that actually stuck out for him in the impound lot. Roslyn’s car stuck out like a sore thumb to him. The majority of the cars in the impound lot were plain and boring. They were basically ordinary cars, but hers was a racer’s car, and Kai knew a racer’s car when he saw one. There was a huge smile on his face as he approached the car. When he got to the car, he walked around it slowly, placing his hand on the car and letting his fingers brush against the surface as he circled the car.

Kai stopped and unlocked the car, and then he climbed inside. He closed the door and the smile widened as he relaxed into the seat. Kai inserted the keys into the ignition and started up the engine. After starting up the engine, he pressed his foot down on the gas pedal a few times, revving the engine. ”Wow, this is a really nice car. It sounds incredible too.” He smiled a little more before shutting off the engine and removing the keys. Kai climbed out of the car and locked it up again. After doing so, he left the impound lot and headed on over to the interview room.

The briefing was already underway as he had reached the interview room. Kai stepped into the room beside the interview room to watch the briefing through the glass. He still had her keys in his hand, spinning them around on a finger as he watched the briefing. Despite how pretty she seemed to be, she really did seem to have an attitude on her.

As he watched the briefing, Kai never really imagined that he would have been celebrating his 29th birthday in such a manner. Sure, he may have had his party yesterday on his day off, but he still didn’t think his birthday would be anything like this.

As Deputy Charles finally walked out of the interview room, Kai straightened up the blue long sleeved silky shirt he was wearing, and the pair of blue jeans he had on. He was able to see his reflection in the glass ever so slightly. His eyes were a light blue colour, and he had short, wavy dirty blonde hair. He stood at a height of 6”4 and also had a slim and muscular build where he enjoyed keeping himself in shape.

Shortly after Deputy Charles had walked out of the interview room, Kai walked out of the room he had been in and walked straight into the interview room. He pushed open the door and let it close behind him, and then he looked towards Roslyn for a moment. As Kai walked past her to get to his chair, he swiftly knocked her feet off the table and then took a seat in the chair that Deputy Charles had been sat in moments before.

After sitting in the chair, he leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the table, crossing one ankle over the other. His eyes met with hers for a moment. ”So you’re the one I’m supposed to be going on this assignment with huh?” Kai started to swing her keys around on his finger again. ”It makes me wonder how someone of your skill could be stupid enough to forget to swap her plates around.” He grinned a little before shaking his head. ”Anyway, my name is Kai Valentine….or Agent Valentine to you.” It wasn’t long before he shifted in the chair, pulling his feet off the table and letting them fall to the floor. He leaned forward in the chair and wrapped his hand around her keys. ”I know you’ve been briefed about this assignment and I know what’s in it for you. Now believe me when I say I don’t like this as much as I know you don’t, but unfortunately we don’t have a choice in the matter….or so I’ve been told.” He muttered this part more to himself.

”Now I must say you’ve got a really nice ride out there, and the engine sounds incredible by the way. I can only imagine how much money you’ve put into that car, which is probably why you are so eager to get it back huh?” He leaned back in his chair again, folding his arms across his chest. ”I guess I can see why you want your car back, and I guess I don’t blame you. I was a racer once, and I could never be without my car for too long.” He spoke in a slightly softer tone as he had said this to her as he thought back to the time when he had been a street racer. There were times when he did genuinely miss it though. ”So, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been told about this assignment?”

 

[driven to drift]

Roslyn picked at her nails in the brief silence that had followed the ever-dramatic exit of Deputy Charles. She truly hoped she never had to deal with the smug shithead ever again after this assignment. In fact, she would make absolutely certain of it. If she needed to find an old beater and make it into a car she could drift, then so be it. Of course, after this little assignment, the entire police department would probably know her well-enough to know that any car on the street that drove like she did was, well...probably her. Her lips pursed at the thought. Looks like I'll be sticking to the track...again.

If she could even return to it after the shit inevitably hit the fan with the case.

At the sound of the door opening and closing once again, she lifted her gaze from her nails and immediately locked eyes with who she assumed was the agent she would be "partnered" with. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was surprised at his image, although she supposed they couldn't very well send in some older guy. He had to know something about the scene to be chosen for the job...right?

Her feet dropped heavily and abruptly to the floor as he walked past, her eyes narrowed in a rather unnecessarily distempered glare. Charles had certainly put her in a foul mood, but for once in her life she took a deep breath, found her happy place and tried to relax. She was going to have to be dealing with this one on a daily basis - she needed to at least try to be agreeable and she was adult-enough to at least give it the old college try. And so, instead of kicking her feet back up onto the table (something she was oh-so-tempted to do, especially once he had done so), she crossed her legs under the table and, without hesitation, met his gaze.

It wasn't until he spoke and she noticed the keys around his fingers that her eyes widened and her composure faltered just slightly, hazel eyes trained on the familiar key ring and square fob. She only vaguely heard his comment about the stupidity of her slip-up, too caught up in the keys as though they would tell her the immediate condition of her car. She finally dragged her eyes back to his as he introduced himself, unable to withhold a little eye roll at the "agent" delineation. She remained quiet as he continued, though, finding a little spark of curiosity at the little insight into himself that he had provided. Apparently, he had as little choice as she did.

His comment about her car had her full, undivided and unequivocal attention in the span of a millisecond. The protectiveness she harbored for the vehicle sparked and seethed unhappiness that he had clearly started it...but then her pride overruled that feeling. Anyone who could appreciate her car certainly couldn't be all that bad, right? Sure! Her brows rose in surprise, eyes alight in curiosity at mention of his past. He drove, eh? Maybe they would get along better than she thought!

The question made her realize that it was her time to speak and so she leaned forward and folded her arms on the table. "I'll overlook the fact that you checked out my car without supervision since you clearly appreciate what a gorgeous machine she is," she began and flashed a toothy grin. She was still trying to feel him out, and he hadn't completely rubbed her the wrong way as Deputy Douchebag had...so she would give him a chance and behave. To start.

"Anyway, I'm guessing I've pretty much been told the basics: we're undercover and have to get in tight with some arrogant shitheads who think they're God's gift to drifting and are apparently pretty dirty." Spending the majority of her life around men certainly hadn't done much for her vocabulary or communication. "It's my job to wow them with my stellar skills, and your job to gauge what's happening and make sure I don't get myself into a sticky situation I can't get out of and point me in the right direction. That about cover it?" she mused, head tilting just enough that the end of her ponytail fell over her right shoulder. "Oh, and I'm guessing we have to work on our cover story, because Deputy Dick didn't give me much to work with on that front."

 

[MysticSparxman]

Even though Kai had been with the FBI for a little over two years, he hadn’t been on many undercover assignments. If anything, this was probably his first serious undercover assignment. Sure, he may have been on one before, but that hadn’t been as important as this one. On top of that, he had been partnered with another FBI agent and one who had many years of experience. This was probably the first time he had been partnered with someone other than an FBI agent and Kai didn’t really know how the assignment was going to go. Of course he hoped it would be a successful operation, and he knew that he would have to be able to get along with Roslyn for that to happen. Thinking about the way she had been with Charles, it did make Kai wonder how easy it would be for him to get along with her.

He was still thinking about the assignment at hand as he had entered the interview room. After he had sat down in the chair opposite her, he saw the expression on her face when she had seen the keys around his finger. He saw the way her composure had faltered slightly, and it didn’t take him too long to figure out why, especially when he saw her eyes on the keys around his fingers. He sighed a little bit before speaking. ”Don’t worry as your car is perfectly fine. She’s still in the impound lot, and there’s not a scratch on her.” There was a small smile on his face as he had said this to her. He genuinely did find it hard not to admire her car, especially when it was such a beautiful model.

Despite the fact he had been a racer himself around three years ago, Kai had never really seen many other racers with cars like hers. Before joining the FBI, Kai had been a street racer since the time in which he had been in school. He had first got behind the wheel of a car when he was 12 years old and took part in his first race four years later. In those ten years in which he was racing, Kai would rarely see another racer with a Mustang. Many of the racers he would go up against would have Porsches, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. Then there were some racers who had Subaru’s, Aston Martin’s and there were some who even had the Bugatti Veyron. As nice as some of the cars were, it just bothered him that racers barely used Mustangs.

Kai kept the focus of his attention on her and he rolled his eyes at the comment she had made about overlooking the fact he had checked out her car. Kai leaned forward on the table, keeping his eyes locked with hers. ”You can overlook anything you want to overlook. I didn’t really need supervision to look over your car, and if I didn’t have to come in here to talk to you, you can bet your ass I would have taken her out for a spin, just to see how well she really handles.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. ”I may even do that after I’m done speaking with you.” He really did feel tempted to take her car out, but then he knew that was something that would probably have to wait anyway. He leaned back in his chair and started spinning her keys around his fingers again.

”Anyway, she truly is a gorgeous machine and you’ve done well to keep her in such good condition.” He leaned forward on the desk and placed both of his arms on the table again. ”And I can see why you were always able to lose the cops so easily. All that power under the hood, it’s really easy to see how you were able to do it.” He flashed her a small smile as he had said this. ”But as beautiful as she is, she still doesn’t top some of the older models of Mustang out there.”

He just nodded his head as she told him what she had been told about their assignment. It certainly sounded as if she had just been told the basics of the assignment. Kai folded his arms across his chest and crossed one leg over the other as he looked in her direction. ”Yeah, it sounds like you’ve just been told the basics.” Kai didn’t really sound too surprised by this. ”Yes, we do have to go undercover to target a specific group of drifters. I’m not sure what you have been told about them, but they are very dirty racers. Our information tells us that they use their drifting events to cover up drug dealing and possible murder. We have already confirmed that narcotics have changed hand at events frequented by these drifters.” He spoke in a serious tone before shifting in his chair slightly. ”We also have unconfirmed reports that they may have taken out rival drifters who may have threatened them on the track. Like I said, these are only unconfirmed reports, but we are hoping that will change sometime soon.” His tone remained serious as he had spoken. ”Now, do you have a better idea of who we are likely to be up against?”

Kai ran a hand through his hair and sighed to himself when she had mentioned they didn’t have a cover story. ”Well that’s just great. I know Charles can be a pain in the ass, but I at least thought he would have given you a cover story.” He shook his head back and forth a few times before letting his hand fall to his side again. ”Not that it matters because I’ve got an idea about our cover story. I guess it’s lucky that I’m able to think on the spot huh?” Kai swung her keys around his fingers a few more times before exhaling slowly. ”I’d like to think that our cover story should actually be quite simple.” He started off. ”As a racer, I’m pretty certain that you don’t just race on the roads, right? You take to the tracks too, don’t you?” He spun her keys around his finger once every couple of seconds. ”I would also take to the tracks during the time in which I was a racer. I still go to the tracks whenever I can in my spare time now, so we could say that we met at one of the tracks close to the city.” He lightly tapped his chin a few times, thinking something over. ”We met at the track around….let’s say….two weeks ago. The first time we saw each other at the track was when you were passing me on the track just as I was coming out of the pits. We raced each other around the track, never holding the lead for more than a few seconds, and when we were done, we talked for almost thirty minutes, getting to know each other a little better before going our separate ways. We would meet at the same track at least three times a week, and we heard about these drifters from another racer at the track. This racer told us about the event that we are going to.” He took a deep breath. ”Sound good?” He asked her, curious as to what she might think about his idea for their cover story. Of course he had no problem in coming up with another cover story if she didn’t like the one he had already come up with.

 

[driven to drift]

If she really listened to the rational side of herself, Roslyn knew there would have been nothing wrong with her car. Perhaps a scratch or two if the lot employees had been careless (something she would've dealt with in the least appropriate way possible), but she had figured - or simply hoped - that it was fine. Needless to say, it was still a relief to hear that it was. Not to mention she was getting that much closer to being behind the wheel once more.

Roslyn had to bite her tongue hard to restrain the smart-assed comment that attempted to lash out at him as her gaze hardened. It was a cliche she had probably heard one too many times, but that didn't make it any less true: her car was her baby - her child. She had worked and saved to make the initial purchase and worked some more to modify it to where it was then. She knew every inch of that car inside and out, up and down, backwards and forwards, and any other directional pattern...blindfolded. She trusted very few people to actually work on it and even less to drive it. She would wrestle him to the floor for her keys before letting him drive it without earning her trust. Rational? Probably not. But it was difficult to explain the relationship a person like her had with her car.

There was that pride yet again: so quickly replacing her sharp-tongued temper and helping her move on. Her brow quirked slightly as he continued, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "Hey, now, it's not all power. Skill helped me escape more than power. They should really train these guys better to handle road chases if they ever hope to catch anyone with any kind of skill." She paused and her expression deadpanned before she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. She certainly couldn't be talking considering her situation. "...at least ones that don't make stupid mistakes."

His comment about the older Mustangs caused her head to tilt somewhat curiously. "Well, yeah, the classics are the classics and are pretty hard to beat, I can't argue there. I just haven't had the joys of finding a classic...yet," her eyes sparkled mischievously. She still had any number of goals set for herself, and restoring a classic car was high on her list of things to do. If only she had the money to afford one that was salvageable.

Her hands folded comfortable on the table, thumbs twiddling with one another absently as their conversation continued. Her eyes were steadily leveled on his as he elaborated further on the group they were dealing with. A ball of dread tightened in the pit of her stomach, turning and churning anxiously. She really hoped she wasn't getting in over her head. Granted, it was a little late to back out, but, Jesus, if all of that was true? She could step on someone's toes and find herself in serious trouble. But then again, wasn't that what he was for? She just kept reminding herself of one thing: all she really needed to do was drift. They couldn't do anything to her if they couldn't catch her.

Nonetheless, her lips had pursed and her brow furrowed in thought, leaving a moment of silence between them after his question. She finally managed to nod curtly. "Yeah, I've got an idea what we're dealing with," she affirmed out loud but said nothing more on the matter. She would deal with it like she had dealt with everything else.

She felt her mood lighten considerably when even the FBI agent referred to Deputy Douche as a pain in the ass. So it wasn't just her! She sat back in her chair, stretched her legs out beneath the table in front of her and crossed them at the ankles once more to settle in and listen to his plan. She mulled it over for a little while, her expression neutral as she considered it. She eventually shrugged. "That should probably work. We became racing buddies and maybe the guy we heard about the event from overheard me talking about wanting to get involved in drifting or something and that's why he told us about the event. And then we don't need to worry about explaining him any further if they get suspicious of us for whatever reason and start asking: just another guy at the track," she thought aloud. "And it still works to my advantage for the story that I just moved here and hadn't heard of it yet." She found herself smirking slightly once more. "Although if we're going to pretend to be friends, you're gonna have to call me Roz or Lyn or some other nickname. Pretty much no one uses my full name."

 

[MysticSparxman]

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to him when he could see how relieved she had seemed to look when he had told her that there wasn’t a single scratch on her car. He could understand perfectly why she had seemed to be so relieved. It was the same reason he would often be glad whenever he was able to keep his car in perfect condition. Most racers felt an undeniable love for their car and Kai was no different. There were times when he loved his car more than life itself, so he could understand how she felt. He also knew how she was likely to feel and what she may have been likely to do if there had been a single scratch on her car. Not that he would have blamed her if she reacted the way he imagined she would. It’s only because he would have reacted the same way if someone had been dumb enough to scratch his car.

As he had mentioned her car again, Kai watched her closely and it almost looked as if she was trying to stop herself from saying something to him. He just looked in her direction with a smile on his face. ”I can see your car means a lot to you because I can see the way you’re trying so hard not to say something to me. Anyway, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’ve poured a ton of money into that car of yours and I imagine she has been worth every penny. Still, it is surprising as to just how much money you can put into your car, isn’t it?” He shifted in his chair a little bit. ”Not that I’m saying putting a lot of money into your car is a bad thing. God only knows how much money I’ve put into my car. I think I’ve actually lost track of how much money has gone into my car now.” He said, brushing a few strands of hair behind his ear. Of course he knew that she would never actually give her the permission to drive her car. It was why he had said he would drive it anyway, and he had meant it too. One way or another, Kai was determined that he was going to get behind the wheel of her car to drive it for a bit. It was a Mustang after all, and Kai loved to drive Mustangs whether they were old models or not.

Kai leaned forward in his chair, smiling mischievously at the comment she had made. He was beginning to think that there was the chance they may just get along well enough to get somewhere with their assignment. ”Okay, well I will give you that one. I admit that it’s not all about power, but as a drifter, you also have to admit that power does play a part in it. You know that you can’t have one without the other. You can’t have skill without the power. Skill and power go hand in hand, but yes I do agree that they should train these guys a little better. After all, something tells me that there aren’t going to be many street racers and drifters who will join up with the FBI or any other agency for that matter.” He leaned back in his chair again and clasped both of his hands behind his head. ”I’m sure they would have a much higher success rate of catching these racers if I were out on the streets.” He sounded confident of his abilities behind the wheel. ”Oh, we all make stupid mistakes from time to time. At least now you will probably remember to change your plates after eluding the cops again.”

He nodded his head as she had responded to his comment about the older Mustangs. ”Yeah, well you are right about that. The older Mustangs are much harder to beat, especially when other racers aren’t expecting to see an older model.” He tilted his head to the side slightly when she had mentioned she hadn’t been lucky enough to see an older model. ”You’ve really never seen an older model Mustang?” He tapped his chin lightly with his finger. ”There again, not many racers out there favour the older models now, especially older Mustangs. Anyway, if you’re lucky, you may just get to see a classic older model during the course of this assignment.” His lips curled up into more of a smile as he had said this. He didn’t mention that the classic older model Mustang she could see happened to belong to him though. ”What would you do if you were lucky enough to see a classic older model Mustang?”

The only reason Kai had told her more about the group they were dealing with really was quite simple. Kai wanted her to be prepared for the assignment, and in his opinion, the only way for her to be properly prepared for the assignment was to know the truth about the group they had to deal with. Despite what he knew about the group, it didn’t mean he was looking forward to dealing with them. They certainly were a dangerous group and had to be taken down. Just how long it was going to take to take down the group was a completely different matter. That was also why Kai was there. He was there to look out for Roslyn if things did get out of hand. It was going to be a tough assignment for sure, but one he was confident they would be able to get through…..hopefully without a scratch.

He nodded his head once again as she told him she had an idea as to who they were dealing with. ”Well that’s good to know. I thought it would be better to tell you what this group is really like just to prepare you for what’s ahead. Anyway, try not to worry about them too much as that’s what I’m going to be there for. I will do my best to keep you out of trouble while you do what you do best.”

Kai leaned back in his chair and set his hands down on the table. He could see her thinking over his idea for a cover story, and for a moment, he did think that she wasn’t going to agree with it. It’s probably why he felt glad when he heard her response. Thinking over what she said, he nodded his head in agreement. ”Yeah, I think that makes sense. We could say that we only saw the guy at the track this one time so we wouldn’t know much about him if we do get asked about him.” He said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. ”Okay, well that’s fine with me. I will call you Roz then, and that also means that you won’t be able to refer to me as Agent after all. I guess that means you’re going to have to call me Kai.” He smiled a little bit before he pushed out his chair and rose to his feet. ”And maybe if this assignment goes well enough, I may even consider taking you to the track for a bit.” He still had her keys wrapped around his finger and he walked around the table, stopping just by her chair and he looked down at her. ”Come on, it’s time to get out of here. Now you’ve been fully briefed on the assignment, there’s no reason to be here anymore. I think it’s time we went to check out one of these drifting events you’re going to be taking part in.”

He waited for her to get up and as he waited, he made his way over to the door of the interview room. Once there, he opened it up and stood in the doorway. ”I may even give you these back.” He said, spinning her keys around his finger again.

 

[driven to drift]

Roslyn's eyes misted over with a wistful sigh. Indeed, it was impossible to fathom just how much money she had found herself pouring into her car. Between the upgrades, regular maintenance, tires and everything else, had she kept all the receipts and documents, she probably could have purchased an island to herself. Or built her own private track. Or both. There was a very distinct reason she didn't keep track: she didn't want to sob into her empty bank account. "Yeah, it's amazing how quickly the money adds up..." she studied him a moment, a little grin on her lips. "And if you've put any kind of money into your car like I have, then you know how it is definitely worth every penny," she winked. She certainly would have spent it all again.

She didn't change her position as he leaned forward, and the mischievous little smirk remained the same as well. She could sense the potential to get along with this guy, that was for sure. Hopefully things wouldn't get too overly complicated and this could be wrapped up quickly. Who knows? Maybe she'd walk away with an actual "racing buddy". He obviously had more experience behind the wheel then he was outright admitting just yet. That little competitive inkling that was never completely gone from her mind perked up: she was always up for a good challenge, and if he was as good a driver as his confidence suggested...

"Power helps, but power without the skill is just dangerous," she offered with a shrug. She quirked a brow at him teasingly shortly thereafter. "Confident, aren't we? Sometime I'd be interested to see if you can put your car where your mouth is." Okay, so the butchering of the cliche was lame on her part, but she couldn't help it.

His comment about her eluding the cops caused her to laugh unexpectedly, clapping a hand over her mouth as she shifted forward in her seat and shook her head. He was a little blunt with that one - he wasn't a fool. "Me? Eluding the cops again? I would never! I learned my lesson, Agent Valentine, I swear!" she declared innocently, though the sparkle in her eye spoke anything but.

She released a resigned breath and nodded in admittance at never having been graced with the challenge of a classic Mustang. "Very few people have the balls to race a classic...or the cash to afford it," she shrugged. Curiosity colored her expression as her head tilted slightly. He was withholding some detail that she couldn't quite place... "If I saw one, I'd probably have to stand four feet away so I wouldn't drool on it. I'd hate to mess up the paint," she laughed.

Roslyn would have to admit that, despite the extra hint of anxiety that came along with it, she was glad he had been forthcoming with the information regarding the group. The local police department had done jack shit other than give her two options: help out or lose your car. She had to go into this with the right mindset, otherwise the two of them could have an even more difficult time. She offered a little smile and nodded. "Sounds good to me. You focus on making sure I don't screw up off the track and I'll just make sure they can't touch me on the track," she laughed lightly.

Her grin broadened when he agreed with her addition to the story, instinctively sitting upright in her chair as he rose to his feet. She nodded shortly. "Kai it is," she confirmed before the mischievousness of her smirk returned. "The track? Any opportunity to kick some ass, I'm game for!"

Her gaze couldn't help but shift towards the keys still around his finger up until he announced that it was time to head out. She rose to her feet, an excited spark tingling throughout her body. She was ready to be out of there and back in her car. She straightened out her clothes a bit before following him towards the door and pouting.

"Well ya gotta give me my keys back if I'm going to make a grand entrance at this event!"

Oh yes. She had plans for this.

 

[MysticSparxman]

Kai smiled a little bit. He could understand perfectly how Roslyn may have felt, and he knew all too well just how much money she could have put into her car. Even though Kai didn’t race as often as he used to, he does still put money into his car. There are the occasional tweaks to the performance of his car he puts money into, then he would put money into keeping his car well maintained. He would even go as far as to have it professionally cleaned…..both inside and out. Of course he would always say that if he ever found a scratch or mark on his car, he would find the worker responsible shoot them in both of their knees. Not that he actually intended to go through with this, but it was usually enough to get his point across to those at the company who would clean his car. On top of that, there were the tires and he would even fork out money on getting his car resprayed every so often. There were many other things that he would have to fork out money for his car, but despite how much it would cost, Kai did feel as if it was always worth it in the end. If he hadn’t spent so much money on his car, the chances were likely that he could have been living in a really nice, big and very expensive house somewhere. Still, Kai wouldn’t have it any other way. His car meant the world to him and he couldn’t help but think that it was all money well spent. He chuckled a little at her comment before nodding his head in agreement. ”You know if I hadn’t spent so much money on my car, I could probably be living it up in one of those big 12 bedroom mansions.” He laughed a little bit before speaking again. ”But you are right. I don’t know how much money you have actually put into your car, but I imagine it is a lot. It sure is worth it though, it really is.” He flashed her another smile as she had winked at him.

As he spoke with her, Kai began to think that maybe this assignment wouldn’t be as bad as he first thought. He was beginning to think that there was the possibility that both him and Roslyn could actually get along. Not that he had thought they would be able to get along when he had first been told that he would have to work with her. Kai had actually been against the idea originally, but it did seem to help that they seemed to have a number of things in common already. Not only were they both racers, even if they were different types of racers, but they also seemed to share a passion for the same type of car. Kai hadn’t met many racers who liked Mustangs, so it was a welcome change for him. Still, he found himself wondering what it would be like to actually take her to the track and race her. Sure, he may have said it could work as their cover story, but now there was a part of him that actually wanted to see it through….even though he was certain he wouldn’t be able to take her to the track immediately.

With his arms folded across his chest, Kai nodded his head in agreement with her statement about power and skill. ”Oh, I don’t doubt that for a second. I’ve seen just how dangerous it can be with power and no skill.” He crossed one leg over the other as a thoughtful expression formed on his face. ”I remember one time as a racer. There was this kid in a souped up Corvette. To cut a long story short, he tried to pull a move during a race. He tried to cut past two racers, taking one on the left and then one on the right. As he started to pass the third, something caused him to lose control. He clipped the third racer just as he was approaching a tight bend. He tried to regain control of his car, but ended up rolling it six, maybe seven times. Luckily he survived, but his car was completely written off.” He shook his head a few times as he recalled the memory. His eyes lit up a second or so later and his lips curled up into more of a smile. ”Ah, well I like to think I have a good reason to be confident. My car should have no problem keeping up with yours. You may even get a run for your money. Maybe more so than ever before.” He grinned a little and winked at her before speaking again. ”I may not be able to drift as well as you do, but when we get some time to spare with this assignment, I will gladly take you to the track, or wherever else you might want to race. Maybe you will be able to give me the kind of challenge many other racers couldn’t.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes as she started to act all innocent with him. ”Hahaha, you might be able to fool the other agents, but you can’t fool another racer Roslyn.” His tone was both joking and serious at the same time. ”As soon as you’ve got your keys back, whether it be during or after this assignment, I can bet my bottom dollar that you are going to be out there again eluding those rookies they call cops. Maybe you will get a paintjob so they won’t recognise you, but I do get the feeling that you will be back out there. Not that I blame you because you do get a certain rush from the chase, don’t you? I know I did when I had to elude the cops.” He smiled fondly as he thought back to his times as a racer. ”Even if you get into a chase during the assignment, you won’t have to worry about me stopping you. Besides, it would be interesting to see just how you handle the cops. Not that I’m saying you should go out there deliberately looking to get chased.” He said, smiling a little more.

He didn’t really feel too surprised when she had told him how she had never seen a classic Mustang. He wasn’t surprised because pretty much every other racer he had ever been up against had never seen a classic Mustang until he had pulled up to the starting line. The other racers would never expect it and they certainly never expected to be beaten by a classic Mustang. ”Yeah, I know what you mean there. I barely saw a racer with a newer model Mustang, let alone a classic Mustang. Still, there may have been a time when I saw someone racing with a classic Mustang. You might find it hard to believe, but that person actually won the race.” He said with a nod of his head. It was true that he may have been talking about himself, but it wasn’t as if she knew that. ”Ah, well I’m sure drool wouldn’t ruin the paintjob too much. Of course I do suppose that would depend on just how fresh the paintjob is.” He shrugged his shoulders a little bit after saying this to her.

Kai could understand if Roslyn would have been reluctant to go through with the assignment after everything he had told her about the group, but he had just thought it would have been better for her to know everything about the group they had to deal with. He didn’t think it would do either of them any good if she was missing out on vital information about the group. Sure, it may not have been too great to know the group they had to deal with were both killers and drug dealers, but it was something she should have known regardless. It was why he couldn’t quite understand why she hadn’t been told when she was first briefed by the Deputy. After all, Charles had known just as much about the group as everyone else involved in the assignment. ”I know it’s not the best of things to know about a group of racers, but it is still something you should have been told. Anyway, I will try my best to keep you out of trouble off the track, even though I do get the feeling that you are still going to manage to get yourself into some form of trouble.” He laughed a little as he had said this to her. ”If you’re as good as everyone says you are, then I should certainly hope that they shouldn’t be able to touch you on the track.” There was a twinkle in his eyes as he had said this to her.

He nodded his head as she had agreed to call him by his name, and then he turned to face her after making his way towards the door. ”Just remember that you may beat everyone else at the track, but you will have much more trouble beating me when you eventually get your chance against me.” There was a mischievous smirk on his face as he had looked back at her. ”However, you would be more than welcome to try to beat me, but until then, I am more than happy to watch you kick the ass of everyone else there.” His smile had become incredibly cheeky as he had opened up the door.

Kai looked down to the keys in his hand as she had mentioned how he would need to give them back. Now it was Kai’s turn to pout. ”Oh, I don’t, do I?” His eyes met with hers for a moment and then he looked down at the keys before looking back to her again. ”And there I was, hoping to drive us to the track….even though questions could be asked about why I would be driving when it’s going to be you who is going to be racing.” He lightly tapped his chin before stepping out of the interview room. ”Oh well, we better get to the impound lot to get your car.” With that said, he turned and walked from the interview room and started to head back to the impound lot. ”If I’m going to give your keys back, I will try to give them back when we get to the impound lot.” He looked back over his shoulder at her as he had said this, and then he continued on towards the impound lot.

It took him approximately five minutes to get to the impound lot. When he got there, the guard did give Roslyn a funny look, but Kai just shook his head at the guard. The guard reluctantly gave them both access to the impound lot, and as soon as he was in the impound lot, Kai made a beeline for Roslyn’s Mustang. His pace had quickened quite considerably as he had been walking over to her car, and when he reached her car, he unlocked it once again. Kai began to open up the driver’s side door, and he looked back to Roslyn as he had opened up the driver’s side door. He really did want to drive her car, but deep down, he knew it would have to be her who drove them to the track. This was just him teasing her. Just to make it look like he was actually going to drive her car, he climbed into the driver’s seat, inserted the keys into the ignition and started up the engine.

 

[driven to drift]

The more he spoke, the more Roslyn had a feeling that they would get along just fine...or at the very least well-enough to handle this little assignment. "I probably could've bought my own private island," she joked with a little shake of her head. "Or my own personal track...but that wouldn't be nearly as fun as a public track," she couldn't help but muse aloud. It was nice to know that not all of the "law enforcement officials" held no concept of how or why she did what she did. She couldn't help but wonder just what his background in racing really was, however.

Her lips pursed and her own head shook in disappointment at the conclusion of his story. That all happened too often: young kids with money to spend and not the skill to back it up. They ended up destroying perfectly capable cars and giving the rest of the drivers around them a bad reputation. The discomfort brought on by the story was quickly replaced, however, by a mischievous grin as he mentioned a possible track day for them both. "I'm always up for a little challenge. I hope you're not rusty, though. Track racing isn't necessarily my favorite style, but I've got some skills beyond drifting," she chirped playfully. "I'm sure you wouldn't be bored in a race against me."

She bit her lip slightly as he laughed and called her out on her clearly false innocence. It seemed they shared very similar mindsets, indeed. Her mischievous glint reflected through her gaze. And her grin only broadened when he mentioned his potential interest in seeing just how she handled the cops. She could certainly arrange that. "...I was thinking a vinyl wrap or something...I rather like the black. Might have to just buy a second, older car since they've got their eye out for me now," she pondered aloud jokingly. Well...partly joking, anyway.

She shrugged at his comment regarding few drivers actually racing Mustangs. "Not everyone can handle the solid rear axle." She rolled her eyes. "Sure, it's not the best for handling, but you can wrestle it in place to perform well. Sometimes I just think that most people don't want to even bother with the effort," she huffed. It was disappointing, really. Every car had its weakness, and it was no secret that the Mustang's was in its handling. That didn't mean it should be written off strictly for the drag strip, however. She could name several drivers who had done very well on road courses in a Mustang. It just required a little extra...finesse.

She exhaled a slow breath through her mouth at the serious turn in the conversation, only nodding. "I appreciate you being upfront with me about it, if I'm honest...even if I don't have much of a choice in participating," she joked lightly as they headed for the door.

Her own eyes rolled in their sockets at the return of his cocky demeanor, although it was all good-natured. She wasn't exactly being any more modest. She pouted as he still maintained a hold of her keys. "Hey, I don't let just anyone drive my car, y'know!" she huffed as she followed him out the door, getting the distinct feeling that he was purposely withholding her keys just to tease her. It made the walk to the impound lot that much longer and her that much more antsy. She needed those keys in the palm of her hand...

At the lot, countered the guard's look with a bright smile, one that quickly faltered as she realized Kai was rather rapidly approaching her car. "Hey..." she began, her own stride lengthening in an attempt to keep up with him. The corners of her lips tugged down into a frown and she halted in front of her front bumper and crossed her arms over her chest as he opened the door. As much as she wanted to be agitated, though, the sound of the V8 grumbling into life sent a soothing shiver down her spine and her agitation melted into a little grin. "Alright, alright - very funny. Get your ass in that passenger seat and I'll give you an idea of what my girl can do," she smirked.

 

[MysticSparxman]

Even though he hadn’t really been speaking to Roslyn for long, Kai did get the feeling that he was going to get along with her better than he would with most people. After all, they already seemed to share a few things in common. Things that were going to help them with their assignment. Things that they could both talk about together even if they weren’t focusing on their assignment. It certainly was better than just partnering him with a complete rookie who knew absolutely nothing about cars. Kai knew that he would have found it quite difficult to work with someone like that. It was why he was glad that it was Roslyn. ”Yeah, I imagine you probably could have bought your own private island, and I don’t think your own personal track would be so bad. Sure, it might not be as fun as a public track, but at least with your own track, you would be able to hone your skills whenever you wanted to,” He smiled a little more as he now found himself thinking about what it would be like to own his own personal track. Maybe he would own his own personal track one day, but that day wasn’t likely to come for some time yet.

Kai saw the look on her face as he had told her his story about the rookie kid racer in the corvette too powerful for him. His eyes met with hers as she had shook her head. ”What makes that story worse is the fact the kid came from a rich family. I think it was his dad who bought him the Corvette, so even though I never saw him again, what’s not to say his daddy just went out and bought him another car,” Kai did sound slightly annoyed as he had said this, but in a way, it was perfectly understandable. That kid certainly wasn’t the first rookie racer Kai had seen ruin a perfectly good car and something told him that he wasn’t going to be the last either. His smile grew as he saw her smile widening at the mention of a possible track day. ”It’s good to hear you are up for a challenge because you are going to get one from me and the boss lady. Anyway, you won’t have to worry about me being rusty. I may be an agent now, but I still visit the track when I’ve got the time,” He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin with his thumb and finger. ”It sounds like we are two opposites. I have more skill on the track and the streets, and I do possess some skill in drifting, but not as much as you. You on the other hand, you are better at drifting, so maybe after our track day, we can come up with something or race somewhere where we are both as good as each other,” He suggested to her, not sure what she would think of his suggestion. ”Oh, I’m not going to be bored racing you, and I know you’re not going to be bored racing me. When we race at the track, you are probably going to say I am the best you have been up against,” He spoke confidently with a smile to match.

He couldn’t help but to laugh at her act of innocence. Sure, it may have been cute, but Kai had been just the same in his days as a racer. He had always lied to the cops, just like most racers normally did. Kai certainly didn’t miss that mischievous glint in her eyes. If anything, it was actually quite noticeable. Not that he would have said anything about it anyway.
Kai nodded his head as she mentioned how she might add a vinyl to her car. ”Yeah, you should definitely get a vinyl wrap for your car. Some of them actually look really cool. The tribal designs always look good, and if you do keep your car black, you could always colour the vinyl…..white, or maybe a golden colour. Maybe even some shade of blue or red, or maybe even…..pink,” It would have been hard to miss the teasing tone to his voice as he had mentioned the last color to her. ”Well if you’ve got the cash to spare, you should get yourself an older car. I have no doubt that it would be a Mustang, right?” He smiled and winked at her as he had said this. ”I would say that we could get you an older car using the FBI’s budget, but then they would probably want to know why you would want a second car anyway,” He was actually being serious with her too.

Once again, he nodded his head in agreement with the statement she had made. ”Yeah, tell me about it. I know the solid rear axle does make the Mustang harder to handle, but it doesn’t make it impossible. If I’m honest, I actually like the fact the Mustang can be so tough to handle. It just goes to show that those who drive Mustangs are better drivers than most, simply because of how tough the solid rear axle can make things,” He said to her. ”I think you’re right though. I think most people are afraid of the added challenge that comes with driving a Mustang. They really aren’t that bad once you get used to them,” His lips curled up into more of a smile as he had said this.

Had it been up to Kai and not his captain, then the chances were likely he probably would have skipped out of this assignment. After all, he knew that these people were dangerous and probably not the best people in the world to mess with. Kai knew that he was going to have a tough time keeping Roslyn safe, especially when he thought about how good she was. He knew that she was more than capable of beating the racers they were trying to capture, and he had read the reports about what had happened to the other racers who beat them in a race. ”It sure is going to be a tough assignment, but look on the bright side. At least you get your car back, and you also get my brilliant company too. Now that is always a bonus,” he grinned some more as he walked out of the door with her. ”Besides, if you hadn’t got yourself caught when you did, the chances are likely we would still be looking for someone skilled enough to carry out this assignment, so at least that says your skills are appreciated……in a way.”

Of course Kai knew all too well just how much Roslyn wanted her keys back. He also knew that it was unlikely that he would be unable to drive her car to the track, considering it was going to be her who was going to be doing all of the racing throughout the assignment. Still that didn’t stop him from enjoying teasing her. He had that same cheeky look on his face as she had said she didn’t just let anyone drive her car. He decided to act as if he didn’t hear her even though she was only right behind him. ”What was that? I’m not sure I could hear you. I’m not sure what you said, but it almost sounded like you said you let anyone drive your car,” he teased her again, knowing full well what she had actually said. He just found it fun to mess with her, and knew he was going to mess with her a lot more throughout their assignment.

After getting past the difficult guard, Kai looked back over his shoulder at Roslyn as he had all but dashed over to her car. As soon as he had unlocked her car, climbed into the driver’s seat and started up the engine, Kai seriously was tempted to shift the car into gear and drive off. Instead, he just pressed his foot down on the gas pedal, revving the engine a little bit. His foot came off the gas pedal and he stuck his head out of the open driver’s side door. ”Okay, say I do move over,” He started off. ”Are you going to let me drive this baby at some point? If you do, then you might possibly become only the second ever person to drive my lady,” he smiled before taking a deep breath and nodding his head. ”Okay, I will move over for now, and I will let you show me what your girl can do,” He moved over to the passenger seat and then rolled down the window. ”Just don’t speed…..too much. I’m not going to stop you from goading the local P.D into chasing you, but just try not to do it yet okay,” he smiled and winked at her before leaning back into his seat and buckling up. After buckling up his seatbelt, he motioned for her to get into the car.

 

[driven to drift]

Thoughts were swirling through Roslyn's head, mostly involving the question of what Kai drove...and toying with the idea of putting together a track day. No, she hadn't known the FBI agent for any length of time, but being new to the area had left her entirely uncertain to the car scene, and finding someone who was as inclined towards the machines as she was certainly was heartening and encouraging. She supposed, though, that they should get through their first day with these assholes at...Ichabod Raceway she'd been told? She was going to have to get directions there, too...

The fact that he was even dropping a little hint of encouragement about continuing her escapades with the local police officers was nearly enough to make her laugh out loud. Although the teasing mention of wrapping her car in pink earned him a little glare and sarcastic eye roll. "Yeah, sure. I'll wrap it in pink polk-a-dots and flowers. And maybe even throw on a few Barbie stickers for good measure," she snorted. His comment regarding utilizing the FBI's budget brought a little wistful sigh past her lips. "Can the FBI get me maybe an early nineties Mustang? I could go for a light little Notchback 5.0 for a little extra fun on the side..." she grinned playfully. The late eighties and early nineties Mustangs were certainly not the best looking, but what they lacked in looks, they made up for in less weight and girth than her current Mustang. While she loved her car, a fox body might even be a little more nimble.

The comment regarding her skills now being "appreciated" by law enforcement nearly triggered another roll of her eyes. She was, essentially, only doing this to get her car back. The fact that it involved doing something she loved was a little bit of a bonus, but she knew, at the very least, the local law enforcement would be less-than accommodating to her, no matter the outcome of the assignment. That was the impression she had gotten from her brief interactions with them, at any rate. Then again, she didn't quite care enough to dwell on it for any length of time. Let them think what they would.

She certainly didn't appreciate his teasing, although she knew that was just what it was. She was much too anxious to get back behind the wheel of her car, however, and make sure everything was still in working order. She didn't grace his feigned misinterpretation with an answer, it wasn't until he asked his question that she quirked a brow at him. "You prove yourself worthy, and I'll let you take her for a spin...maybe," she smirked playfully. If he was even half as good as his confidence suggested, she just might consider it. When he finally vacated the driver's seat, a grin spread like wildfire across her expression. "Finally!" she laughed, trotting around the front of her idling baby and dropping into the driver's seat. She pulled the door closed and settled back into the Recaro racing seat, pulling the harness around and buckling it in front of her as always. She gripped the wheel and did a cautionary sweep of her mirrors, ensuring nothing was out of place or adjusted without her knowledge.

When she was finally comfortable, her grin became a mischievous smirk. "Me? Speed? I would never," she finally spoke, setting her hand on the shifter, pushing in the clutch and shifting into first to slowly ease her way towards the lot's exit. The tinted windows would not allow the guard to see inside, although the way he watched them pass made her roll her eyes. It wasn't until she was at the lot's exit that she dumped the clutch and mashed the throttle, spinning the rear tires and peeling out into a brief slide onto the main road, rapidly and smoothly shifting gears until she was at a cruising speed safely within the speed limit. She was beyond relaxed at that point, the rapid take off having sent the rpms high and the engine's exhaust note pleasantly loud within the cabin. At cruising, it was just loud enough to be heard and pleasant.

"So...where exactly is this track? I was given directions but all I really remember is the left turn I just took out of the lot," she laughed.

 

[MysticSparxman]

Kai had no doubt in his mind that Roslyn must have been wondering just what car he drove. Of course he had been tempted to tell her that he drove a classic older Mustang. As tempted as he had been though, he figured it would have been better to let her find out when he rolled up in his car whenever they would put together a track day. Kai didn’t really know when he would be able to organize a track day for the pair of them just yet. However, he did know that it was likely that it wouldn’t be anytime soon. At least not for possibly the first or even the second week of their assignment. It really did depend on just how busy they were going to be with their assignment. He didn’t know how much free time they were going to have either. Kai definitely was eager to set up a track day for the both of them, mainly because of how much fun he knew it was likely to be. Before he could do that though, they actually needed to get their assignment underway. Kai knew the racetrack they had to get to, but he did wonder if Roslyn knew too.

Of course Kai knew that he shouldn’t really be encouraging her to continue her escapades with the local P.D, but at the same time, he knew she was likely to continue whether he encouraged it or not. It was something that he would have done as a racer. Even as an agent, there had been plenty of times when Kai had been tempted to purposefully get himself into a chase with the local P.D. It had always been something he had enjoyed as a racer, so he knew how Roslyn must have felt. Besides, he was certain that there was going to be no-one listening in on their conversation from the other room next door to their interview room. Kai couldn’t hold back the laugh as she had commented on wrapping her car in pink. ”Well don’t let me stop you. If you want to wrap your car in pink polk-a-dots, flowers and quite possibly a Barbie, then you be my guest and you go right ahead.” He laughed a little more. ”Not only would your car be fast, but it would also stand out. It would probably even be one of a kind…..in a way.” He couldn’t help but enjoy teasing her this way. It really was a lot of fun for him. Kai stopped laughing and thought over her question for a moment. A thoughtful expression formed on his face and he looked back to her before nodding his head. ”Yeah, I think it might be possible to do that. We might not be able to do it right away, considering we would have to find a dealership or someone who might be selling one…..unless you know of a place to get a Notchback?” Kai didn’t really know if she would know or not, which was probably why he had asked her in the first place. If she didn’t know, then it just meant it would take a little longer to get a hold of.

Even though Kai had commented on her skills being appreciated by law enforcement, Kai knew that almost all of law enforcement didn’t really appreciate the skills of drifters and racers. They didn’t appreciate it because of how difficult it could often be to capture them. Law enforcement may not have appreciated her skills behind the wheel, but Kai certainly did. He may even have been the only one in the building to actually appreciate her skills. Kai may be an agent, but he was always going to be a racer at heart. That was something that was never likely to change about him. It was probably why he appreciated her skills in the way he did. The agents she had already spoken to were some of the agents who disliked racers the most. It was probably why they had spoken to her in the way they did.

Kai knew all too well how anxious Roslyn was to get back behind the wheel of her car. It was probably why he had been teasing her so much. This time, it was Kai’s turn to roll his eyes when she had told him he would have to prove himself worthy to possibly drive her car. Kai did want to drive her car, considering it had been a while since he had been behind the wheel of a Mustang that was so new. Sure, he did love his older Mustang, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about what it would be like to drive a newer model. It was partly one of the reasons why he wanted to drive her Mustang. As she had told him he would need to prove himself, he raised an eyebrow at her. ”Oh yeah, and how do you suppose I prove myself hmm?” He asked in a somewhat curious tone. He had no idea just how she wanted him to prove himself worthy to her. There was a part of him that wanted to find out, but then there was another smaller part of him that couldn’t shake the thought she might ask him to do something a little crazy to prove himself worthy. Of course this was just a feeling he had. He didn’t know if he was going to be right or wrong. His lips curled up into more of a smile as he saw the look on her face when he had vacated the driver’s seat. As she slipped back into the driver’s seat, he could see how happy she looked and it only made him smile more. Kai was always happy whenever he got behind the wheel of his Mustang. Maybe it was just a racer thing. He didn’t really know.

Kai just shook his head a little as she had shifted her car into first gear, especially when he saw that mischievous smirk on her face. He couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. ”Okay, so you don’t speed and I am the drift king,” he grinned widely, teasing her some more. He laughed a little as he settled back into his racing seat. As she had made it through the parking lot and out onto the main road, Kai looked back to her again. ”I never realized how different it feels to be in the passenger seat when a car is being driven like this. I have always been in the driver’s seat, so I haven’t really thought about how different it could be,” he spoke in a soft yet serious tone as he had said this to her, and then he started to think about where the Ichabod Raceway was located. He thought over it for a few moments before finally responding. He looked back to her a second later. ”It’s okay as I know where it is,” he smiled before looking back to the road in front of them. ”Keep going straight four another three blocks and then make a right turn. Once you’ve made that turn, follow that road for seven blocks then make a left turn. We need to get onto the freeway before we can get to the track though. If you get us to the freeway, I will direct you from there.”

 

[driven to drift]

She couldn't help but snort at his continued teasing in regards to the overly-feminine modifications they had been mentioning. "Yeah, stand out alright. So then when I kick these guys' asses they'll feel even more emasculated than they already do," she snickered. Roslyn had taken quite a bit of flack over the years simply for being a woman in a hobby dominated by men. She could handle the light teasing with gusto - it was far better than some of the alternatives she had experienced.

She had been partly joking about the Notchback, but the fact that he seemed to be serious had her pulse jump just a bit. She bit her lip slightly in thought, and also in part to control the grin that threatened to spiral out of control. She cleared her throat slightly. "I'm sure we could find a private seller somewhere around here..." she mused aloud momentarily. In fact, she was almost sure of it. The condition might be questionable, but she was definitely willing to restore and build as necessary. She could skimp on the food for a while to build another car. The thought almost made her laugh out loud.

His question tweaked a smirk upward. How would he prove himself? She had quite a few ideas for that. She mulled the question over in her head briefly before shrugging. "Well, I'd have to see how you handled another car, of course. Can't very well take your level of skill on your word alone, can I?" In all actuality, she did not expect that he was blowing smoke: something about the way he spoke and carried himself told her otherwise. Of course, she wasn't about to let him know that. She could dish out the teasing just as well as she could take it.

The sarcasm in his comment had her laughing. "I would never speed! And why didn't you tell me before, almighty Drift King?" she smirked, her right hand flexing over the shifter slightly as she grabbed another gear. Her expression softened slightly as she nodded in agreement. "Being the passenger is always a weird feeling for me, too. I don't like not being in control of the car. Makes me uncomfortable," she admitted with a little shrug. "Even if I really trust the driver, I just get antsy."

She listened to his directions and nodded slightly, committing the portion of directions he had told her to memory. "I can definitely get us to the freeway," she nodded, the corners of her lips tugging up slightly higher as she approached the first turn. She began to slow at first, shifting into neutral and letting the car coast...but upon seeing the road was, for the most part, deserted, she made a point to grab a lower gear and accelerate hard, spinning the tires and sliding neatly through the turn before resuming normal driving. It had barely been 24 hours and she had already missed her car so.

 

[MysticSparxman]

Kai couldn’t hide the grin that had formed on his face when she had reacted to his teasing. Even though she was just someone that he was going on assignment with; he did like the fact that they were able to get along easily enough to tease each other. Kai usually liked to tease others around him, even though it was only ever a gentle kind of teasing, much like it was with Roslyn. He laughed a little and nodded his head in response to her comment after he had been teasing her. ”Yeah, exactly.” He grinned some more as he had said this to her. ”So, when are you going to put all of these pink vinyls on your car? Or maybe you could make them pink and yellow?” He looked back to her and winked at her with that cheeky smile plastered across his face. Of course Kai found it very hard to imagine that she would actually put pink vinyls on her car, but it was still fun to tease her about it.

Even though he was a fan of the Mustang, Kai had heard of the Notchback, but he had also heard of how rare it could be too. He knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy car to find, but he was certain that they would eventually be able to find one with all of the FBI’s resources. Kai didn’t really mind using the bureau’s resources, especially since he considered it to be for a worthwhile cause. He turned his attention back to her when she mentioned possibly being able to find a private seller somewhere. ”Yeah, I suppose you are right. I think we probably could find a private seller around here somewhere. It’s just a question of where to look and how long it is going to take to find this private seller. Maybe we could even ask around at the track when we get there? I know it is a long shot, but we won’t know unless we ask, right?” He smiled back to her afterwards. ”Say we can get you this Notchback….just what do you plan on doing with it? You know that it is likely to need more work than your current Mustang, don’t you?” He said as his tone became slightly more serious than before.

Roslyn’s car may have been a newer model Mustang, but that didn’t change the fact that Kai still wanted to drive it. It had been a while since he had been behind the wheel of a Mustang other than his own, and it had been just as long since he had driven one as new as Roslyn’s. Everything about her car appealed to him, from the sound of the Mustang’s powerful engine, to the sleek black paintjob, the way the car looked and how surprisingly comfy the racing seats really were. Of course there were other things about her car that appealed to him too. Still, it did make him wonder what he was going to have to do to prove himself to her. When she told him, he looked back to her and raised his eyebrow a little bit. There was yet another look of curiosity on his face. ”Well, you could just take my word about how good I am, and you say you want to see me handle another car…..but you don’t say what car it is. Do you want to see how I handle another Mustang? Some other muscle car? Or something a little sportier?” He had no problem showing her how he could handle some other car, but he was just curious as to whether she had another car in mind. ”Wait a minute….you’re not going to make me get behind the wheel of something slow, are you? I don’t want to have to prove myself to you in a Mini Cooper or a Reliant Robin. That would just be a little too much.”

Once again, Kai couldn’t stop himself from laughing as she told him she would never speed. He just folded his arms across his chest and nodded his head. ”Oh, I’m so sure you would never speed Roslyn. You are so much like me as I would never speed in a car with this much power. The right thing to do would be to stay below the speed limit by at least 10mph.” He smirked as the sarcasm could be heard dripping from his voice. ”And you should know that the Drift King never reveals himself to just anyone. You should feel very privileged to know that I am in fact the Drift King,” he was barely able to finish his sentence before he burst out in laughter. ”But yeah, it is nice to know that you understand how I feel about being the passenger in a car. It just doesn’t feel the same as it does when you are actually in control of the car. I’m glad that I’m not the only one who feels uncomfortable being the passenger in a car.” His tone had become both softer and more serious as he had said this to her. ”So, how often are you the passenger in a car?” He asked in a somewhat curious tone.

Kai looked back to her with a smile as she had told him how she would be able to get them to the freeway. He leaned back a little more in the racing seat he was sat in. ”Oh, I have no doubt that you will be able to get us to the freeway.” He couldn’t stop the smile from widening on his face as she had all but drifted around a corner in the road after seeing how empty the roads seemed to look. As she had started driving normally again, he turned his attention to her once more. ”You’re lucky this road is so empty. Don’t go doing that too much if the roads get busier as it is only going to get you into trouble, and I’m sure you don’t want to get in any more trouble, do you?” He had a cheeky grin on his face, and the tone in his voice matched the grin on his face. ”Anyway, get us to the freeway and I will give you the rest of the directions to the track.”