a/n: sorry for sitting on this for so long. I had it posted to my LJ back in Oct'06 but never actually tossed it up here.

The crowd had dissolved with the squeal of tires and the first stretch of the race was a heated battle between the RX-8 and the Viper. The RX-8 fought hard to stay on course, as the Viper fought equally hard to run its opponent off. The first turn onto Main nearly saw both cars against the wall in a nasty collision, as Butch's overenthusiastic attempts at derailing Cale caused them both to lose control.

In Cale's experience, it was easier not to fight the car, letting the momentum to carry her around the bend until her angle was right. She feathered the dry-shot, which allowed the RX-8 to jump ahead before the Viper pinned it against the wall and ending the race there and then. Both driver and car ignored the scrape of metal on concrete that signalled Butch's ride slamming into and skidding around the rest of the corner, concentrating instead on the line they now had out of the turn and into the next section of the run.

The sound of police sirens were faint, but Cale knew that they would be getting louder any second; they were coming up on the Main-and-Fifth junction that would angle them further away from the finish.

Okay, normal run dictates a right at Main and Fifth, but we need to get to the Camden cut-off, which is straight through, but faster on the left. What're the odds that Butch'll go left?

Cale had to bank on the fact that Butch's reaction-time, Viper or not, would be a little slower. Not to mention the man had a slightly faster ride than she did. If she had the choice of only one short-cut – and there were many to be had on this cobbled-together route – it would be this one.

"Okay, Kincaid. You never fight the track, but all the other short-cuts are harder to anticipate, and some will even put you further behind. For what it's worth, we'll take this one."

Mind made up, she kicked it into gear and raced towards the awaiting challenge of Rockport's finest. In the very far distance, she could see the splatter of light that flashed the presence of cruisers. Her rear-view told her that Butch had managed to keep pace with her and was now itching to get in front of her.

"All right, man. They only send two cruisers to investigate possible street-racing claims. You want them both? I'll give you both." And with that, she swerved out of the other man's way and downshifted, smiling to herself at Butch's smirk as he blasted past her. She watched him carefully as he entered and exited the intersection, going straight through. A split second later, the sirens came to life and the two cruisers were off after the Viper.

Getting back up to speed, she crossed the line and power-slid into the intersection, angling for the left onto Fifth. As she came around, a third cruiser came to life, and Cale swore under her breath.

"Oh, you sneaky bastards. Okay. No problem. You want me, copper? Come get me." The RX-8 shot forward down Fifth as the cruiser filed in behind, steadily losing ground to the modified vehicle. She only had two shots of NOS to play with, and she hated the idea of wasting one here and now on one pathetic cruiser. "C'mon, baby. Gimmie a bit more speed. We just have to lose him around the next bend, and then take that sharp right-left onto the side-streets."

The RX-8 glided around the next corner and squealed around the next two. It shot through the side-street and peeled back onto the main strip. A glance in her mirror told her she had lost the cop. She followed the strip to the designated turnoff and hit the next section of the run.

Her progress was interrupted, however, as she slammed on the brakes and came screeching to a halt at the next intersection. The police sirens were very loud and she didn't have long to wait for the red Viper to streak past her, followed by all three cruisers. She sat and blinked at that for a moment.

"Oh, fuck. This is not good." The RX-8 jumped back into motion as Cale tried not to redline. She had to end this race as fast as possible.