Can't drive 55.

(Continuing from Stop and Stare )

'Shit. Shit, shit, shit.'

Ellis had a handful of Simon's jacket and was pulling him into the car as she stepped on the gas, gunning his Jaguar in reverse toward the main Strip. The street was beginning to fill up with cars and pedestrians the closer she got, but slowing down wasn't an option and the front windshield almost caving in was a good example why.

The chink noises from the tranquilizer darts had stopped and now the hood was covered by a furry wolf. It was huge and pretty fucking angry by the looks of it. It was barking and scratching at the reinforced windshield as the car picked up speed. With a quick look at the slumbering Simon, Ellis tried to reach across him for his seat belt when the windshield began to buckle under the weight of the dark wolf.


'GET OFF MY CAR!'

Light posts and buildings were blazing by and the open air coming from the missing car door was making her long black hair fly into her face and angrily she held the steering wheel with her left hand as her right kept trying to reach across Simon.

The huge wolf was scraping its nails along the glass, leaving angry trails of scratches and making the hair on her neck stand on end from the screeching noise. The intersection was quickly approaching and Ellis maneuvered the car from lane to lane in the wide street when she finally gave up on Simon's seat belt and just grabbed him tightly. She looked back over her shoulder and peered through the window's completely useless rear windshield.

'Ok, centrifical force...uh...need to turn...LEFT!'

Ellis hit the brakes and swung the wheel to the left, causing the car to twist to the right and gravity shoved Simon against her, pressing her up against the driver's side of the door. The wolf flew off the hood of the car, scratching the dark blue paint with its long nails. The car slid precariously across the lanes of traffic, partially side swiping a Honda as she frantically tried to move Simon off the gear shift.

'God...WAKE UP!'

Stepping on the clutch she shifted the car out of reverse and dropped it into third, gunning the engine. With a look over her shoulder she tried to see what was behind her when the blare of horns in front of her caught her attention.

'MOVE! MOVE!'

Ellis hit the brakes, sending Simon flying forward, hitting the dash board and almost the windshield. Grabbing at him frantically she pulled him back and manuevered the car one handed as they approached the intersection for the main Strip.

Tires screeching, horns blowing and red lights flew by her as she put more distance between the dart gun carrying assailants which were undoubtedly werewolves and Simon's poor car. The strip was full of cars but she had the green light coming up and she let her foot off the gas cautiously as they crossed over. She saw the black van just as it clipped the rear bumper, sending the Jag into a 360 degree spin.

The Pipers 15 years ago
LT pulled himself out of a manhole once he lost Duban's scent. With his inability to transform he knew there was no way for him to continue the chase and called in his position to the rest of the Pipers in the area. They spread out within a 10 city block radius all mapping the underground sewers so help was close by. LT's radio squawked at him.

'Piper One this is Piper Five.'

LT tried rotating his wounded shoulder as he answered his radio and gritted through the intense pain.

'Piper Five this is Piper One - do you have eyes?'

'Aye - south of your transponder, heading toward the city Strip. En route to intercept. Birds are flying.'

'Negative,' LT winced at the report. The last thing they needed was to attract more attention. 'Only eyes in the sky, nothing else.' There was a pause which LT immediately jumped on. 'Feel free to check that order with the Beta, Piper Five.'

'Aye Piper One, eyes only.'

LT pocketed his radio, muttering under his breath.
'Fucking idiot.' His radio squawked again as he began to trot back toward his vehicle.

'Piper Five to Piper One - on the ground we have eyes, intercepting in fifteen seconds.'

Quickly he pulled his radio back out. 'All ground units be aware of civilians,' LT rethought his words, 'Don't fucking kill anyone.' He let go of the transmitting button and waited. In the distance he heard a crash of glass and metal, followed by horns and screaming.

LT rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders with a sigh.
The Pipers 15 years ago
Michaels didn't care much for the way the Pipers did things state side. Recently reassigned from clean up detail in South Africa, the distant cousin had been sent to replace another Piper that had recently bought his papers. Detail in Nachton seemed to be more dangerous than any other assignment any Piper had seen recently, but the Commander handled their activity with a more controlled hand and not near as aggressive as years past. Still, LT was his superior as well as Elder, even if the second in command looked half his age.

'Aye - south of your transponder, heading toward the city Strip. En route to intercept. Birds are flying.' Michaels replied.

'Negative. Only eyes in the sky, nothing else.'

Michaels looked at the radio and then to his companions in the SUV with him. He mouthed silently "For fuck sakes". Then the LT spoke again.

'Feel free to check that order with the Beta, Piper Five.'

'Aye Piper One, eyes only,' he replied in a monotone voice.

Michaels drove the black SUV fluidly between the cars on the main strip, trying to make the intersection before Duban sped through. In his ear their bird's eye view reported in that they were in the direct path of a T-bone if they did not watch it.


'Piper Five to Piper One - on the ground we have eyes, intercepting in fifteen seconds.'

'All ground units be aware of civilians....Don't fucking kill anyone.'

Michaels clicked off his radio and grunted angrily. Who the hell did he think he was talking to? The other occupants looked at each other behind him and began to speak up.


'We got this.' Then the dark blue Jaguar they had been tracking flew in front of him just as they reached the intercetion and Michaels barely had time to hit the brakes as he clipped the bumper, taking it with them. Their SUV and the Jag spun dangerously across the four lane intersection, careening into other cars, causing a pile up.

The SUV came to a stop facing the opposite direction and he watched the Jaguar drag across the lanes but then right itself, peeling off again toward the marina. With a string of filthy curses, Michaels put the SUV back in gear and pursued.
Ellis Duban 15 years ago
Between the two of them, Simon was the driver, not Ellis so driving at break neck speeds down the Strip was not her idea of a fun night. As the black SUV side swiped the tail end of the Jag, Ellis over compensated and it flew them into a full spin. Once again Simon's unconscious body slammed into her, knocking the hell out of her. With an angry shove she pushed him back into his seat and spun the wheel in the opposite direction, righting the car. It still managed to hit another, causing a multiple car pile up, but she gunned the engine hard, dropping the car into overdrive and peeled back off, heading eastbound toward the Marina.

Ellis shook off the blurry vision the unexpected collision caused and peaked the car's speed to over 100 miles an hour. The club district flew by her - Babylon, Club Eternity...their nondescript detailing caught her eye, reminding her of the night time traffic that the Strip held and she let off the gas, looking for a street to turn on when the black SUV appeared in her rear view mirror, rambling down on her.

The Jaguar XJ was a V-8 super with 300 horsepower sitting underneath the hood. It was an updated version of what Ellis had given him several years back but as she gunned the car down the Strip, she definitely preferred this one better. It was pure luxury and thank god it had an engine that kicked ass. The blocky SUV behind her filled up her rear view mirror and behind the wheel was a thick necked face that she could barely make out. They were coming up on the east side of town quickly and as she drove past the bisecting streets, flashing red and blue lights began to appear in her side mirrors along with another black SUV.


'Great,' she mumbled and watched as the two SUV's sidled up next to the Jag. They were coming up on her bumper, blocking her in. Her eyes flicked up to the rear view mirror just as 'Thick Neck's' SUV swerved into her, knocking her against the other SUV. Correcting the path of the Jag, she glared up into the rear view mirror and smiled.

She waited for the SUV to side swipe her again and like clock work she saw the SUV swerve toward her only this time she hit the brakes. The Jaguar flew back, missing the SUV and she watched the two black SUVs collide.

Ellis chuckled happily to herself.

She looked over at Simon who still sat motionless in the passenger seat next to her. Sirens were wailing behind, again filling up her rear view mirror. The end of the street was rapidly approaching and finding a place to hide was becoming increasingly difficult. Her best bet was to try and make it to the slaughter district in hopes of losing them in the broken down buildings but they were attracting entirely too much attention.

The Marina loomed ahead. The horizon twinkled like glass as the Jag finally reached the end of the road. Ellis lifted the emergency brake and had no choice but to turn right to keep Simon from flying out of the missing passenger side door. He slumped against her as she led a trail of blue and red sirens along the marina.

A quick look over her shoulder revealed two police cars which would be easy enough to ditch, but no SUVs. Ellis looked down at the dashboard and pressed the bluetooth switch to call into the Clan's police department contacts. It took her a moment to locate it and quickly she pressed it, looking back up at the road albeit a little too late.

The black SUVs had appeared again, blocking the road running parallel to the marina.


'OH SHIT!'

Ellis swerved toward the docks and the open water.

The jaguar crashed through the white, wooden gates and its wheels squeeled, leaving black skid marks on the boardwalk. She had just been down in the Marina walking with Simon earlier. They were meeting the figurehead of Evenhet. Funny, she thought, as she recalled the meeting as the car careened out of control.

With no where to go, Ellis let go of the wheel and reached across to Simon, grabbing him into her arms as the car ran out of road and flew sixty feet into the air across the water. The car sailed valiantly for a few moments before the hood dipped forward, into the water. With no vacuumed seal from the passenger side door, the car began to fill with cold sea water. They were quickly submerged under water so with nothing much else to do, Ellis began to swim.

((OOC Ellis and Simon out - to the Waterfront))
The Pipers 15 years ago
Michaels gunned the SUV back down the Strip, following the zig zagging Jaguar as it pulled away from them. He pounded his large fist against the dash board as the radio squawked loudly at them.

'Piper Five this is Piper One - disengage. Repeat. Disengage pursuit. Return to base.'

Michaels ignored LT's command and shut the radio off. The Piper sitting in the passenger seat turned around and looked at the other Pipers in the back.


'Michaels, we do not disobey a direct order.'

Michaels turned a corner quickly, away from the path of the Jag.
'Will you trust me on this. We can get her. If we get Piper two, we can block them.'

'IF they go where you think they're going.'

'If they don't, then we didn't ignore a direct order.'

The other Pipers looked at each other. They all equally hated the Duban woman, it was in their blood as Jameson's and Hammerthynn cousins.Recon , who sat in the passenger seat looked back at Michaels. There was more than family hate driving him.


'Michaels, you have your one chance and then you will stand down.' His voice was clear as well as his intent.

Michaels looked at Recon and then the other Pipers in the rear view mirror. They all sat hovering behind him, looking at him with glaring eyes. He was asking them to break team and disobey the LT. It would be on him.


'Fine, but if we catch her...are you with me?'

Recon openly glared at Michaels.
'We're not in this for torture. This is for the Pack.'

Michaels smiled. 'Of course. For the pack.' After he showed LT what real werewolves were.

((OOC - Pipers out - continued in If I fell))