The Drifters

"I guess that's true," Serith agreed with a thoughtful frown. "Honestly I've never tried. Unless you count high speed chases I guess, and I've only had a couple of those."

"When we get back will you race me?" Lessa asked carefully, she wanted to share the joy of racing with him if she could.

"Yeah, I'd really like that," Serith admitted with a bright smile. "At least, if you think that would be okay."

"It will be fine, I'm sure you are a lot better than you think. You certainly have the attitude of a racer," Lessa laughed lightly.

Serith smiled a little brighter, then paused as his nose scrunched up in thought. "Wait, is that a good thing?"

"It's not a bad thing, if you can't roll with it then you'll never make it. You'll do fine," Lessa assured him.

Serith noticeably relaxed and nodded as he spoke. "Well thank you. Are you ready for tomorrow? It's going to be a pretty intense race I hear."

"I know I can do it, I mean sure it'll be intense but I just need to place for the finals . That much doesn't scar me," Lessa shrugged.

"I'm certain you will do just fine too," Serith agreed. "You are pretty incredible out there. When the race is over would you be willing to join me for dinner again?"

"I would like that, maybe we can do a little exploring afterwards. I know there area many cool places to explore around here," Lessa said softly.

"I think that sounds great," Serith eagerly agreed, he was just happy to spend more time with her.

The following morning the group headed out to the race location to prepare. There was an unusually large crowd present and the competitors all seemed to be extremely focused as they prepared for the race. About an hour before the race Sabine had gotten onto his radio. He sounded a little hoarse and tired as he walked her through the course and what to expect of the race.

Lessa listened intently as she went through her car, she wanted to be ready for this. When he was done talking she quietly asked how he was feeling.

"Just caught a bit of a cold," Sabine admitted although there was something in his voice that suggested that he might have not been telling the full truth. "You need to focus on the race. Your competitors will be much more vicious and determined to win this time. You need to be careful."

"I understand, but I just need to place high right?" Lessa asked carefully, she didn't want to be pushing for gold just yet.

"As long as you can manage sixth or better you will move on to the finale," Sabine agreed. He attempted to muffle a few coughs in his shoulder before he continued. "However you have fourteen racers out there today who will be attempting to do the same. Keep that in mind."

"I will, I just don't want to become as much of a target just yet. I would rather save that for just before we leave," Lessa explained.

"That is very smart," Sabine agreed, he was kind of surprised that she had thought that far ahead. "Your race should be just about to start. Be careful and let the boys protect you if need be. Remember that you are the only one who has a shot at winning this."

"I know, now take something for that cold and I'll call you when the race is over to let you know how I did," Lessa assured him. She would do better though knowing he was taking acre of himself.

"Alright. Good luck," Sabine agreed before he set down his radio. He kept it on, still wanting to hear what was going on, and stepped away to get a cup of tea.

Before long the racers were lined up and at the flick of a flag they were off. The field was full of extremely gifted racers and very fast cars.

Lessa took a deep breath and checked in with Reid and West before taking off, her mind was in high gear as she worked her way around the course making an effort to pass as many people as possible but always keep at least one car ahead of her.

West was surprised to find how difficult the field was but also thrilled. He was having the time of his life. He remained in fourth place until a few turns in, when another car clipped his bumper on a sharp corner, causing him to swerve and lose control until he finally hit the entrance to a subway tunnel and came to an abrupt stop.

"West are you okay?" Reid immediately called out having been a few cars behind his brother but forced himself to keep going. That didn't stop him however from checking in.

"That might hurt in the morning," West admitted with a wince as he straightened up and looked out over his broken windshield. "I don't think I'm going to be going anywhere. This sucks."

"I'm gonna keep going but get yourself out of there, okay?" Reid requested carefully as he kept pushing on.

"Stay safe West, please," Lessa requested as she passed another car.

"I will," West agreed before he gingerly began to work his way out of the broken car. After a time he managed it, at which point he stiffly made his way to the sidewalk. Shortly after he reached the sidewalk he turned back in time to witness another car slam into the side of his abandoned one. Oddly the move looked sort of intentional, and suddenly he was glad that he was out.

Out on the street Serith had been keeping an eye on the spectators and paused as he overheard an especially odd conversation. Something about bribes.