The Drifters

Reid pulled out happily behind West and easily tailed him cursing loudly as he spotted the near miss, "punch it and get out of here. Test her turning down side streets and try to lose the blue lights, you almost just hit one so it's time to disappear."

"Got it," West agreed as he turned sharply onto one of the adjacent roads. The cruiser's sirens echoed as the car followed him down the narrow side road but he wasn't worried. He knew that he could do this. Deciding to try for a challenge he smiled as he pulled out onto the nearest ramp for the highway. It was time to see what baby Ember could do.

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Yawning Serith blindly reached over to check his phone. He had hoped by now that maybe his girlfriend was home and making dinner. He still had another hour on his shift but he was hungry and the thought of food was making him happy.

Reid tailed West carefully ready at any time to rush in and act as a distraction, he had to be sure that West made it home tonight. He frowned as he followed West onto the freeway, "really? You realize it's rush hour right? You better have one hell of a plan for this."

"Dude, really? I know what I'm doing," West boldly answered as he swerved out between the fast lane and the median. He must have been going ninety and he was delighting in every moment of it.

Hearing a call on the police scanner Serith looked back up at the traffic and, frowning at the speeding cars, he turned on his lights and pulled out join the chase. Things were just starting to get interesting.

"Fine, I'll follow you on the surface streets. Be careful and I'll meet you back at the garage if you're lucky I can keep a few off your tail for now." Reid sighed as he peeled off the freeway and started tearing down the surface streets, he knew he could keep up and help keep West safe from here.

Seeing the other car divert Serith hesitated before he turned sharply to follow. He knew there were other cops already heading after the car on the freeway and he was determined to make sure neither of the drivers escaped.

When the traffic became increasingly congested West began to ease his way back to the nearest exit. He knew the highway would be impossible to navigate now but he had bought enough time and distance. He could make it.

Seeing the cop following him Reid kicked it into high gear weaving between cars as though they were parked, this would be fun. He turned sharply down small alleys and side roads trying to lose the cop and get in a little practice of his own.

Serith frowned in deep concentration as he fought to follow the racing car. Despite his best attempts he was rapidly falling behind, and before long he was forced to swerve off track to avoid hitting a pedestrian. Frustrated he could only watch as Reid's brake lights faded around a corner.

After nearly an hour of swerving up and down city streets West finally managed to lose the cops, at which point he turned to head back to the garage, unaware that three hours had passed.

"You are going to be in so much trouble," Reid commented as he watched West step out of Ember. "You're already an hour late, would you like me to come with you and try to defuse her?"

West blinked and glanced down at his watch before his eyes widened in horror. "Oh god, I am late," he admitted. "She's going to kill me. I was late last time too. She'll kill you too."

"I'll follow you, I have a plan but we have to get going," Reid said as he grabbed his keys and started locking up. He knew he could calm Seria down, at least enough that she won't outright kill West tonight.

West immediately agreed and scrambled to help. Once the garage was secured he lead Reid out on the twenty minute drive back to his house. Set in the suburbs the house was well-kept and had a small front yard and a beautiful stone entrance way. Parked out front was a beaten up mini-van which had clearly seen better days. The front door was open and even from outside West could hear the screaming kids, a sound which made him cringe. Seria already worked long shifts and he knew that she had already been exhausted. Combine that with the loud kids and a late husband and she was going to be pissed.

Sure enough, when he stepped inside he was immediately greeted by his wife's back, who was silently scrubbing dishes at the sink and seemed determined to ignore his existence.

"Hello Seria," Reid said softly as he stepped up ad set a soft hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I kept West for so long tonight. We had been talking about the mini-van and got carried away. I know it's not working so well right now so I would like to leave you my truck while I fix up the car."

Seria's shoulders relaxed slightly at Reid's presence and she looked up to offer him a tiny smile as she spoke. "You are so kind Reid, thank you." Her eyes were shadowed and it was clear that she was tired but grateful. "Can I offer you dinner? I made extra."

"Only if I can take it to go, I don't want to be keeping you up for much longer," Reid said carefully, he didn't want to make her night longer or force her to do more dishes. He was trying his hardest to make her feel better and not go after West.

"Oh, it's no trouble," Seria assured him as she placed the pan she had just washed into the disk rack and stepped back over to the stove where she had been keeping the dinner warm. Before long she had served him and, upon leaving West to serve himself, she stepped away to check on the kids. She still seemed determined to not be anywhere near West but, much to West's relief, she was clearly too tired to be murderous like he had feared.

"I make no promises about tomorrow but I think you are clear for tonight," Reid said carefully to West as they ate. When he was done he cleaned his own dishes and slipped away to find Seria again and see if she wanted anything specific done to the car.

Seria greeted him in the living room where she had been setting the kids up with a movie to watch with the hope that they would settle down. Once they were a little calmer she took him outside to look at the mini-van, leaving West to keep track of the kids while she spoke to Reid about the problems she had been having. She was clearly grateful for his willingness to help and gave him a tight hug and quite a few thank yous before she left him to take the van, which was clearly struggling to run.

Reid frowned at the clear lack of care by West and limped the mini-van back to the shop where he would keep it for five days fixing it, taking out the dents, repainting and reupholstering it. When he brought it back in the evening it looked and sounded like a new van. He was proud of his work and hoped that Seria would like it too.

Seria was clearly thrilled by his work and seemed much happier once her car was returned in working order. Over the course of the five days West had been continuing to lightly test and improve his fixed car. There was a street race coming up in a couple of days and he was determined to win it and hopefully start to work his way back up to the top.

Proud of his work Reid headed back to the garage to check in on West and see if anything had been reported on the police website, he had to be sure that there would be no chance of them getting caught on their way to the race. He couldn't risk either of them right now.

When he arrived West was just finishing up a bit of fine detailing on his car. He hadn't bothered to check the police website, but on it were both of their license plate numbers and descriptions of both of their cars.

"Time to repaint and fine new plates or there is no way we will make it to the next race," Reid announced as he stepped into the garage and over to West. He knew it wasn't what he would want to hear but it had to be said, and it was West's fault.

"What? They reported us?" West frowned as he looked up at his friend in clear disappointment. "But why would they do that? It's not like I hurt anyone or anything. The other day was all in pure fun. Surely even the police should know that."

"They are sticklers for the ones they can't catch, so they got fussy and now we have to pay for your fun. So choose your color, I think I have a few in the back that we can get on before the race." Reid offered, already he was thinking of how he was going to change up the look of his car.