Title: Fallen Angels I - Race Car Ya-yas
Author: Dragonfly ( guardhoe@yahoo.com )
Characters: Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan, Joe Dawson, Kaitlyn Mackenzie (ofc)
Summery: typical boy meets girl….in a garage? Part one of the 'Fallen Angels' series
Spoilers: set in between 'Methos' and 'Take Back The Night' (imagine it's about six months in between the two episodes, 'k? work with me here people.)
A/Notes: I promised myself I'd never do this….
= thoughts
//\\ = journal entry
* * *
//Dear Journal,
A friend I've met recently through R thought that it'd help me come to terms with my new life if I started keeping a journal. He claims that writing everything down will help me deal with all this shit and help me to think. I don't know. Maybe A's right.
If I'm going to keep this journal I might as well start at the beginning huh? Well it all started in the garage I was working in back in Kannapolis, North Carolina…\\
* * *
It was a typical garage; you'd never think that one of the biggest racing outfits in the United States was based out of it. On the wall hung posters of the drivers and of the crew's favorite bands, etc. The stereo on the workbench pounded out the clear, magical notes of Keith Richards' guitar solo. Richie looked around impressed. The stock car being worked on was clearly a work of art. And the person who's legs were poking out from underneath clearly had poured their heart and soul in to a machine that would more than likely be totaled in turn three at Talladega by some guy trying to prove themselves.
"Excuse me. I was told I could find someone here."
The red head's eyes grew wide as one of the most beautiful females he had ever seen slid out from under the number 8 car and stood in front of him. Her honey blonde hair was pulled up into a decidedly messy ponytail and her green eyes looked slightly bloodshot.
"Yeah?" She had a Southern accent, though it was not anything like the accents of the locals in North Carolina, but close by, maybe, Virginia?
"Yeah. I was told a guy named Mick would be here. You see I had a little trouble with my bike down the road and…" Oh god. He was babbling. Was she-? Was she grinning at him? Oh god. Five minutes and he'd already made total fool of himself.
"Well, I guess I could have a look at it."
"You?"
"Me." She cleaned of her hand and held it out to him. "My name's Mick."
Shit. "You're Mick?"
"Kaitlyn Mackenzie to be exact. But the guys on the pit crew call me Mick." She was defiantly smiling now. "You're Richie Ryan, right? Recently joined the Saracen team in France. What are you doing back State side?"
So this is what love feels like. Funny that it felt a lot like feeling like a total moron. "Umm, yeah. I was…umm. That is I…" damn it "We're not racing at the moment, and I was meeting a friend…"
Kaitlyn nodded. "And so you decided to check out a few races, and ran into trouble with your bike."
"Yeah." Urgh. Monosyllables, not good. "I, uh, the transmission's busted."
"No big. I can fix that in no time."
* * *
//So there I was, the girl that managed to keep from falling for all the handsome studs hanging out in the pits only to break my rule and fall for a driver. Not just a Winston Cup or Bush driver but one that raced motorcycles in Europe! Motorcycles for Christ sake! He might as well just slit his wrist. It'd sure hurt a lot less.
Oh but he was soooo cute. He still had the baby fat look in his cheeks and couldn't have been older than 18 or 19. R was defiantly getting to me. A teenager can only control their hormones for so long and at 18 I knew there was only one thing I could do….\\
* * *
Richie gunned the motor of the bike and flashed Kaitlyn one of the handsomest grins she had ever seen. Should have taken more time on that transmission girl, now he's gonna leave…and you'll never see him again.
"Wow. Thanks. It runs like a champ."
"Yeah well…" She rolled her eyes inwardly. Of all the lame replies.
"Listen, I'm meeting some friends for dinner up the road in a little while. Would you…I mean, do you want to join us?"
"Sure. I'd love to."
* * *
//So that's how I met R, D and A.
R and I kept in touch a lot and every time he was in the States he headed to Kannapolis to take me out to dinner or just to go for a drive on his bike. I have to admit I liked it. I really did. I still have a scrapbook somewhere of articles written about him and the races he won over in Europe. I'll never show it to him though. Way to personal.
Anyway, we had been going on like this for about six months, not much time I know, when R shows up at the garage with two plane tickets and a *really* crazy idea….\\
* * *
The red haired immortal paced around the entrance to the garage. He knew he could have just walked in and asked the guys if they had seen Kaitlyn. Hell, she was more than likely inside working. He just had to think for a minute, really think, about what he was about to do. Richie about jumped out of his skin when the door opened.
"Later Mick!" came the call from inside.
"See ya John." Her eyes lit up when she saw him standing there. "Richie?" With in seconds she had enveloped him in a hug. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"Well, you see….I kinda had this idea that…here." He pulled two airline tickets out of this back pocket and handed them to her.
"Richie…I…Paris?" Kaitlyn stared wide-eyed at the tickets. Paris? Her? No way. She was a high school drop out that had just barely been able to scrape out a living working in the garage. Hell, she'd never been any farther north than the capital, let alone left the country. "I can't go to Paris."
"Why not?"
"Well, I have a job for one thing…"
"Kaitlyn. This is a one way ticket."
"One way?" Her mouth gaped open. "A one way ticket to Paris?"
Richie nodded. "I've got this apartment, it's not much but…"
"You want me to come to Paris and live with you?"
"Yeah." Richie shoved his hands in his front pockets thinking that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. "I uh, talked to Saracen, and he's willing to let you work on the bikes if you want." Kaitlyn squealed and jumped him, planting kisses all along his face. "Is that a yes?"
"That's a hell yes! When do we leave?"
"In about two hours."
"Two hours?! I've gotta pack…."
* * *
It was funny; watching Kaitlyn grip the armrests during the take off reminded him of his first trip to Paris with Tessa. He'd been as nervous as she was now and he understood perfectly the mix of horror and awe that was circling around inside her.
"Relax." He placed his hand over hers. "Nothing's going to happen."
"Oh yeah? Sorry but some of us aren't quite used to jetting off to Europe when ever we feel like it." She winced at the way that had come out. She'd meant it to be a joke but hell, she was nervous. It wasn't everyday she left her job, and her home to go be with a guy.
"I know, trust me I certainly wasn't used to it until three years ago." Intrigued she had to ask him why. "Well, you remember Mac right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, one night I broke into his and his girlfriend's shop. Antiques. I figured they had to have plenty of cash tucked away in there."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope. Anyway, Mac ended up not pressing charges and he and Tessa took me in. Tried to straighten me out." Richie smirked. "One day Tessa got a job back in Paris and Mac bought the barge. Not what you expected huh?"
She shook her head. "No where close. But then my past is probably nothing like what you think it is like."
"Oh?"
"Yup. Lets see, I bounced in and out of foster homes until I was about sixteen, then I met a guy."
"A guy huh?"
Kaitlyn smirked this time. "Yeah, he ended up being the type people try to warn you about. One night we broke into this race track and ended up getting caught."
"Ouch."
"You can say that again. A friend posted bail for me and I never saw that loser again. Instead I headed for Kannapolis and got a job doing something I was good at."
"Being a grease monkey?" He laughed when she swatted at him lightly.
"Hey! I didn't see you complaining that night. 'Sides it's a good job."
* * *
//The rest of the flight was a blur, so was the trip to R's apartment and to J's bar.
Le Blues Bar, not very original but hey, who am I to judge?
Anywho, I spent the next couple weeks getting used to the new job with the Saracen team. And that's when my world turned upside down…\\
* * *
Kaitlyn stood in the pits watching the bikes go by. Richie was really flying out there. An overwhelming sense of pride came over her. She looked up into the stands and saw Duncan was there watching as well. She smiled knowing how much it would mean to Richie that he was at the race.
What happened next caught her totally off guard. As soon as she saw him go down he took off running. She knew there was no use; the flames had totally engulfed Richie and Basil.
"Richie!"
She fell to her knees in the grass and let her shoulders shake with sobs.
"God! Richie, please…no…oh my god. Richie."
She curled up on the grass, never taking her eyes away from the flames as they burned away at her lover.
* * *
//I thought for sure that he was dead. That crash would have killed any mortal.
It did.
I'd never been more sacred in my life. But then D and J found me back at R's and explained everything…\\
* * *
"What?" Kaitlyn looked at MacLeod and Joe like they had grown an extra head. "You know what, this is one sick joke Duncan! Richie's dead! I saw him!"
Joe nodded. "Yeah. He died, and you would have gone on thinking that just like everybody else if he hadn't asked that we tell you the truth."
"It's true. Kaitlyn, he loves you. That's why he's telling you this."
She bit back the tears. "Then why didn't he come and tell me himself?"
"He wasn't sure how you'd react. Not everyone deals well with the concept of immortality."
"Can I see him?"
"Yeah."
* * *
//I laid in on R as soon as I got to D's place. I couldn't believe had hadn't told me about all of this before! Truthfully I think that I dealt with it rather well. Don't you?
Oh well, that's all behind us now. I've gotta run. I promised R I'd met him at J's for lunch.\\
~Le Fin~