Author: Lash_Larue
Title: "Fading Dawn"
Pairing: Dawn/Faith, Buffy/Willow, Amanda/Richard Blake, others
Rating: PG 13 this chapter
Summary: Amanda and Ricky finally make the big show, accompanied by a Slayer pit crew and the trouble that never seems to go away
Warnings: none
Word Count:1600
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon
"Fading Dawn"
Chapter Two
"Stung"
"Driver change time coming up Mandy, how do you feel?" Richard Blake asked over the radio.
"Great, Ricky," Amanda replied, "I'd just as soon finish out if you don't mind, the Bitch and I are on the same page now."
Blake heaved a sigh of relief, he was damn tired, and he well knew that Amanda would have no trouble finishing the race. Besides, she was faster than he was, and he wanted to win.
"Slam the door on them, baby," he encouraged, "I love you."
"Me you too," replied Amanda as she braked hard for the hairpin, sliding by the factory Audi in the process.
The Audi factory drivers had learned respect for the black Ferrari the hard way, especially when Amanda was its pilot. Early in the race one of the very expensive diesel prototypes had crashed trying to follow her through a technical section. From then on, the mighty Audis had yielded to the GT1 car in the technical sections, as the Bitch moved aside on Mulsanne for the faster cars. The Audi drivers were not particularly happy about it, but there wasn't anything else they could do and not crash.
"Your wife is a brilliant driver, Ricky; do you think she'd be interested in Formula 1?"
"Feel free to ask her Michel, but I don't think she has the time. She has to get back to work in a couple days," Blake answered.
"Your wife works? Whatever for?" Michel asked in confusion.
"It's more of a calling, actually," Blake explained to Michel. Michel was head of Ferrari's Formula 1 team, and a friend of Blake's. It was Michel's influence that had gotten both versions of the Bitch built, along with Richard Blake's money, of course.
"What does she do?" Michel asked.
"Pray you never find out," Blake answered, watching Amanda blaze past the pits.
"Richard, do you realize that she is on the same lap as the lead Audi?" Michel asked him.
"What? How is that possible? The mileage advantage those diesels have should prevent that," Blake asked.
"The prototypes have all suffered damage trying to keep up with her in the tight sections, all of them have gone off-course at one time or another and have had to spend time in the pits. Your car has performed flawlessly."
"We're going to need fuel and tires one more time," Blake mused.
"So will they, they skipped the last scheduled stop in order to try and build a lead, but Amanda has caught them up."
"Time for homespun strategy then," Blake said with a gleam in his eye. "Mandy, how's things?" he asked.
"Great, but I'm gonna need to come in once more before the end," she replied.
"Make that twice," Blake countered, "here's what we're gonna do…"
At the entry to Mulsanne, Amanda moved over and gave the faster car room to pass, but she slid right in behind it, less than a foot away. The Audi pilot wondered why he was a tad slow on the straight, but even when his crew told him, there was nothing he could do about it.
The drafting threw off the fuel calculations for the Audi, increasing the consumption in its effort to pull away from the Ferrari that was tucked in behind it. For Amanda, the fuel consumption decreased, and the speed increased, but the engine was spinning well past design limits.
It was a gamble, but not the only one they would make.
"Come in next lap," Ricky told her.
"I've got gas for ten more," Amanda protested.
"Yeah, you do, and I want you to do them on new tires. The Audi is slowing, he's not any faster than you right now, and he'll pit when he has to and get tires and fuel. We're gonna throw 4 tires on without gas and send you back out as quickly as we can. I think you can get most of a lap on him before they realize what's happening, are you game?" Blake asked.
"Sounds like a plan, see you soon."
"Girls, let's see how fast you can change four tires, okay?" Blake asked his pit crew.
"Sounds like fun," Faith answered, "I've got an idea."
Faith, Kennedy, Renata, and Ryuki swarmed over the wall, Faith and Kennedy each carrying two tires. The jacks lifted the car and Ryuki and Renata slapped the knockoffs on the fronts, tossed the old tires over the wall and then moved to the back. Faith and Kennedy each moved to a front wheel, rolled one tire towards the back and then slapped on the front and slammed home the nut. Ryuki and Renata had the rears off when the tires arrived, and pounded them in place. All four slayers were back over the wall with the old tires in less time than it takes to tell it.
It was so fast that almost no one noticed it, and it was assumed that some sort of glitch in the pits had sent the black car out again so quickly. Confident now, the Audi pit crew relaxed a little. Meanwhile Amanda got busy.
"Come on girl, just hold together, okay?" she asked her car as she attacked the course.
By the time she had to come in for gas, she was up by nearly an entire lap. When she pulled in, Faith had the hose in place before the car had settled down, and Amanda still held the lead when she pulled out of the pits.
It was mostly mathematics now. The Audi was once again faster with its new tires, and pulled closer on every lap, but for the Blakes it was just a matter of not breaking down, now. The Audi gained about 3 seconds per lap and was looming in Amanda's mirror on the final straight.
"Just a little more, baby," coaxed Amanda as the tachometer scanned deep into the red, and the Bitch obligingly held together as they took the flag.
A stunned Audi team manager came over during the cooldown lap and offered his congratulations, which Blake graciously accepted. Michel, however, could not suppress a snicker. It had been a while since the rampant colt had pranced into the winner's circle here, and stepchild or no, the Bitch had been born in Maranello.
Blake tilted his head and listened as Amanda pulled into the pits with the checkered flag hanging out the window. The car sounded fine to him, and he sent a silent thanks to the wizard in Florida for his work.
Then Amanda was climbing from the car and he had no further thoughts for anyone but her.
"Mandy, you were amazing!" Blake cried as he swept her up into his arms.
"Thanks baby, but it was our girl here that did it! Bless her evil little heart."
"She did good, yeah," he admitted, "and so did your pit crew, there was never a tire change like that! Come on girls," he said to the slayers standing nearby, "it's time for your champagne shower!"
"I suppose that will do for a start," Amanda allowed, wrinkling her nose, "but I really stink."
"That's the smell of victory in an endurance race, sweetheart," Blake assured her, "but there's a nice shower and a big hot tub waiting for you back at the house. Let's go watch the losers pretend not to be pissed off." He took her hand and headed for the podium.
A gust of wind stirred the debris by the transporters, and Dawn emerged from between two large trucks and looked around for Faith. She caught sight of her with the rest of the team, and moved to join her.
Faith felt eyes on her, and looked over her shoulder and saw Dawn approaching. The smile that lit her face was the one that only came out for Dawn, and she hurried over to her.
"We won! Can you believe that shit? We actually won!" Faith exclaimed.
"Well of course we did, I never doubted it," Dawn assured her, "sorry I couldn't get here earlier, but we got a nest call from one of the field teams."
"Everything go okay?"
"Yes, it was slower without you, and Buffy was a little unhappy with the way a couple Slayers performed." Faith's face grew concerned. "Nothing dangerous," Dawn hastened to add, "just not what she's used to with the first team. You're kind of hard to replace, not to mention Ryuki, Amanda, Renata, and Kennedy."
"Let's not mention them then," Faith requested as she took Dawn into her arms and kissed her.
"Hey Faith," called Kennedy, "come get your champagne shower!"
"Go ahead, love," Dawn encouraged her, "get drenched in the stuff, I'll find some way to clean you up after." Dawn took Faith's lower lip between her teeth and tugged lightly. "Shoo, finish up here and I'll take us home."
"Don't you wanna stay for the party?" Faith asked her. "It should be a blast."
"If it means something to you, of course I'll stay, but all I really want just now is you. I've missed you, and so have the cherry trees. Not to mention Buffy and Willow." Faith felt a familiar warmth spreading through her; their house had a small courtyard much like the one at Yoshi's, where they had first given their bodies freely to one another, and it occurred to Faith that all she really wanted just now was to be beneath those branches with Dawn. Of course, if Buffy and Willow wanted to play too…
"Gimme a minute," Faith said, and she ran to join her teammates for the photos.
Dawn scarcely felt the sting as the tiny dart struck her neck.
