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Cindy was up early and left a tired Sherman sawing logs in their little bunk. As quiet as they had tried to be, she blushed as she could see on the other girl's faces they knew what had happened. Cindy mostly ignored their teasing as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Jenny was the only one like her and not dressed. Hell with it, her and Sherman were only here because they were security and with the general removed there was not much to protect them from. The only one that had needed protection was Jenny and that problem was all ready taken care of.

Aside from protecting Jenny from the few bugs that were in artifacts they brought in. Jenny had jumped up onto the chair as a little beetle crawled out of a pot. Cindy half expected Jenny to jump into her arms like a cartoon. So brave for tossing a bug back outside. Maybe it was time to think about a different career.

"Hey, what are you spacing out about?" Mary asked.

"Change of career." Cindy glanced down at her coffee.

"Burnt out all ready?" Katie asked as Jenny went back to get dressed.

"Not really, somehow the posters made this more exciting." Cindy said with a giggle.

"No one would join if the poster said 'travel the world and not do anything'. At least you saved the day killing a bug." Katie said and they all laughed.

"It just surprised me is all... That and I remember a little snake stirring up some trouble this time last year." Jenny made a hissing sound.

"So all of you are big pussies?" Cindy asked with a smirk.

"It fell out of a tree on me and I might have freaked out." Katie said.

"Might have? We heard you back at camp." Jenny teased.

"To be far, everyone has something they are afraid of." Sherman said as he came out, in just his blue jeans. The women all kind of stared at him.

"So what are you afraid of, Sherman?" Mary asked. God he was good looking.

"My father." Sherman opened the fridge to get something to drink.

"What about you Cindy, what are you afraid of?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know..." Cindy said.

"We will be out in the forest close by if you need us." Sherman pulled on a shirt, to the disappointment of the girls.

"Don't be gone all day again." Jenny said as he opened the door.

"We will try not to be." Sherman said with a smile. He pulled the door closed behind him and headed off to the spot they had left late last night. He was sure Nodrog would all ready be there since the dragon never slept. That part right there, he never sleeps, is why he is teaching the dragon to calm his mind and soul.

It was the only thing Sherman could think of that might help Nodrog. He considered them friends, and he liked both Jenny and Alice. Sherman respected few people and until rather recently had few friends. He really enjoyed the day they had all gone out. He paused at the edge of the clearing, if not for the pants and shirt Nodrog would look like a metal statue. One step into the clearing he could feel the dragon's gaze, even though his eyes were closed.

"Did I keep you up to late?" Nodrog asked and opened his eyes and glanced at Sherman with a smile.

"No, you didn't. Cindy did." Sherman said with a smile.

"Doesn't really matter, they won't find anything of note in the castle so we are just wasting time." Nodrog said.

"How can you be sure of that?" Sherman asked and sat cross-legged in front of Nodrog.

"Because Nightrunner and I all ready saw to it. Some things are better left buried and forgotten." Nodrog said.

"Kind of hard to do that when you are up and about." Sherman had to point out that rather important fact.

"Fair enough." Nodrog said.

"As strange as the world is now. I never would have thought I would be sitting in a forest next to an ancient Russian Castle, teaching a dragon meditation." Sherman said.

"I never would have thought transoceanic travel in hours instead of weeks or months possible." Nodrog said.

"Lots of things have happened, the world went mad while you were sleeping." Sherman said.

"The world has always been mad. The only thing that has changed is how efficiently a person can kill others." Nodrog said.

"True, we have devised some truly horrific weapons over our history. To be fair we have made and equal amount of advancement in saving lives." Sherman said.

"Still, it is depressing to think the greatest era of peace normals have known, is after so many died." Nodrog said.

"It is unfortunate that had to be the case. How do monsters remain so peaceful? Since we generally call the worst of our own kind that." Sherman said.

"Simply because so few of us have any violent tendencies at all. I being one of the few. It is hard to do much more then mischief when you are only four inches tall." Nodrog said with a chuckle.

"One never thinks of a fairy being much of a threat. You dragons on the other hand." Sherman said.

"We are one of the few races of monster that run the full gambit of personality and action. For all of my, um, destructive talent there are those like Alice and Jenny who could not harm a bug. And there are those like you who, only use their strength to protect others." Nodrog said.

"What about that shadow that seems to transport Nightrunner?" Sherman asked.

"Azule, he is a shadow. Everywhere and nowhere at the same time... His ability you could say is like a door, you can pass through him and instantly be someplace else. Azule is even more harmless then a fairy, a very kind and simple minded being." Nodrog said.

"Can he talk?" Sherman asked.

"Yes except you can't hear him, because of the frequency his speech is in." Nodrog said.

"A high frequency?" Sherman asked.

Nodrog shook his head. "No, the other end of the spectrum. Azule and his kind speak in a very, very low frequency range. It is just audible to me."

"Interesting, so does that mean you cannot hear high pitches?" Sherman asked.

"I can hear them as well. Dragons have the widest range of hearing and vocalization of any creature." Nodrog said.

"Seems you also learn things rather quickly. Is that another dragon trait?" Sherman asked.

"Possibly, I am however a menagerie of creatures, Dragon, Elf and Vampire." Nodrog said.

"So why can you be out in the sunlight?" Sherman said with a smile, it was a bright and cloudless day.

"Only weak vampires cannot handle direct sun light, or need some pathetic magic to be out in it. I am neither weak or wholly vampire." Nodrog grumbled.

"So you have all of the strengths of each and none of the weakness." Sherman said.

"If that were true, we wouldn't be out here. There is the hunger, and being metal has its own problems." Nodrog said.

"Not being able to swim would really suck. The cut resistance however would be rather handy... I see your point then. At least you blend in better now that there are more people like us." Sherman said.

"That has helped. The only person who was rather surprised by it was the salesman at the music store Jenny brought me too." Nodrog said, that old man had surprised a number of people as well.

"So have you thought about sticking this kind of work out or maybe try something different?" Sherman asked.

"Something different, I think I have taken enough life. I am seriously considering taking up your brother's offer if the rest of the group will have me. A thousand years of death, I think it is time to create." Nodrog longed for the keys of a piano instead of a weapon.

"A change might do you a lot of good. So what happens now that Jenny and Alice are getting married?" Sherman asked, he was curious about it. Since he did know the three of them had something together.

Nodrog scratched his chin as he thought about. "I don't know, we haven't talked about it. I am really happy for them, and the time I have spent with them."

"How many have you..." Sherman trailed off, maybe it was to personal.

"Been with or actually been in love with?" Nodrog asked.

"Just been in love with, counting Jenny and Alice." Sherman said.

"Counting them, three." Nodrog said.

Sherman was shocked, over a thousand years and only three women have ever held his heart. He wasn't even thirty yet and had been in love with more than that. "I would have figured more than that."

"Maybe I am too picky." Nodrog said and they both laughed.

"I think I have finally found the one." Sherman said.

"Then don't wait to let her know. Or you might spend a long time regretting it." Nodrog said.

"Sounds like the voice of experience." Sherman said.

"It is, and I have regretted it for six hundred years." Nodrog said.

"So do you know how Jenny asked?" Sherman asked.

"Probably with a little force and a lot of tears. You might want to try a more traditional approach." Nodrog could picture Jenny pinning Alice down to something to even ask her to marry her. The cat girl was some times over emotional, the thought made him laugh.

"I don't think that way would work for me, at least with Jenny it would have been cute." Sherman said.

"No but it would be funny if Cindy did it to you." Nodrog said.

"Speaking of those two..." Sherman raised an ear.

"More than two..." Nodrog said and they both sat quietly, waiting.

They both sat quietly and waited for the group on the fringes of their perception to draw closer. The small group that approached them came from some place other then the camp, they didn't recognize anyone. They all had hunting rifles and a pack of dogs with them.

"What are you two doing out here?" An old man asked.

"Taking a break. We are with the science team going over the castle." Sherman said.

"With the trouble last time and all of the looters. I can't imagine you'll find much." The old man said.

"Grandpa, he looks like the dragon great grandpa talked about." A young boy said softly.

Sherman glanced back to Nodrog and the others in the group tried to get a better look themselves.

"Has your family always lived close to the castle?" Nodrog asked.

"We have since it was first built. Been hunting this forest for as long. Used to be a dragon that the royal family had a long time ago." The old man said.

"The dragon hasn't been seen in a long time, its mostly likely dead by now. Thank god." A middle aged man said and spat on the ground.

"Nothing lives forever. I am sure its been dead for a very long time." Nodrog stood up. "We have held you up enough, Sherman lets head back to camp. You gentlemen have a good day."

"You as well." The old man said. With that both groups went their separate ways.

Sherman wondered what they would have done if they knew he was the dragon they hated so much. He understood why Nodrog was against returning here, too many bad memories. They walked in silence back to camp.

"Well that chapter has finally been closed, at least for them." Nodrog said.

"I'm surprised they have even remembered you this long." Sherman said.

"People hang onto the bad longer than the good." Nodrog said.

"Maybe with that, your past will be forgotten." Sherman said.

"Perhaps it will." Nodrog said as they walked into camp.

They split off and Nodrog headed to the trailer Jenny was working in. She had some music jamming on the radio above her desk. She turned at the sound of him closing the door.

"Hey I was hoping you would come by." Jenny said.

"Oh, really?" Nodrog watched as she got up and locked the door.

"Yeah, Cindy and Sherman went at it last night and I heard everything." Jenny hiked up her short skirt and bent over in front of him. She wasn't wearing anything under it. "Between them and not being able to with you or Alice, its driving me nuts."

Jenny wiggled her butt and her tail went straight up into the air as his tongue went right into her. Masturbating in the shower didn't do much for her and she purred softly as he ate her out. Might be a little risky doing this on a job site, but that's what locks and radios are for. Her knees and legs grew weak as his tongue teased her insides. Jenny moaned as he rubbed her clit lightly with a thumb. She had to use the chair to help hold herself up as she came.

Nodrog kept teasing her. It was a turn on knowing she had been working all morning with nothing on under her skirt. She moaned again as he brought her to a second climax. He smiled as she struggled to hold herself up breathing hard. She sighed as he ran his tongue from her clit to her tail. Jenny got down on her knees and leaned on the chair, he pulled down his pants and got on his knees behind her.

Jenny moaned softly as she felt him push inside of her. Her and Alice fooled around out in the field before. But this was different since no one knew they were this friendly, so there was a little more thrill of being caught. She was glad the chair was there to hold her up as he bent down and nibbled on her neck, his knot teasing her. Jenny pushed against him with the rhythm of the trance music on the radio. She moaned as she came again, and laughed on the inside of having an orgasm to a song titled 'Ecstasy'.

Jenny put a hand on his abs stopping him. "Wait. Let me finish you off in a less messy way."

Nodrog looked at her puzzled as she pulled off of him. Jenny smiled at him and gave him a kiss before she knelt in front of him. He moaned as she took all but the knot in her mouth. She had both hands firmly around his knot and skipped the usual teasing her and Alice did. His arms hung at his sides as her lips touched part of his knot and he came.

Jenny giggled and wiped her and his cum from her mouth. "Feel better? I know I do." She felt so much better.

"I do. However you still have a little problem." Nodrog pointed at the floor between her legs.

"Oh, good thing I brought a towel and something to put on under my skirt." Jenny slowly stood up. Nodrog pulled his pants back up and cleaned up her mess as she pulled on a plain white pair of panties.

As he was about to unlock the door Jenny put her hand on his. "I really needed that. Do me one more favor and take these to Frank." Jenny handed him a stack of paper.

"Anything for you." Nodrog said and she let him open the door.

Nodrog walked down the trailer steps and headed over to the trailer Frank's office was in. Frank answered his knock and he opened the office door and stepped into Frank's office. Nodrog handed him the stack of paper and said. "Jenny asked me to bring these to you."

"Thanks, have a seat. Couple of things I have wanted to ask you." Frank said.

Nodrog sat down in the older four legged chair. "Of course, I am here to help."

Chapter

Frank took a minute to gather his thoughts. They had surprisingly little to do with why they were at the castle or work at all for that matter. While Nodrog and Frank waxed philosophical, Alice was having a problem she wasn't used too.

She had blown the competition out of the water on the longest stage and their main pit was a mob of media and fans. All of the attention was more then she could handle, her and Natasha had retreated into the trailer. They were lucky Big Joe was such an imposing figure.

"Seems you have quite the fan club." Natasha peeked out a window.

"Wonder how much of it is because I am winning or because I have boobs." Alice said, a bit upset.

"From the number of women and girls, I think it is safe to say, to many it is because you are winning. Though you do look very yummy in your race suit." Natasha said with a sly smile.

"And I still have to run the drift exhibition with Mike. Maybe the crowd will have cleared up by then... Did you say 'yummy'?" Alice asked and blushed as Natasha smiled at her.

"I did." Natasha got up and walked over to Alice. She put an arm on each side of her and leaned close. "Maybe I should just find out for myself." Natasha leaned even closer to Alice.

Alice was really unsure of what to do, she could feel Natasha's breath. Her heart skipped a beat as the door opened and a now red faced Little Joe looked in at them.

"Um, I'll come back." Little Joe stuttered and quickly closed the door between the living quarters and the equipment part of the trailer.

"Well now I really will have to." Natasha leaned in the last inch and kissed Alice. The little mouse quivered under her, Natasha smiled and looked Alice in the eyes. "You really are sweet. Consider it a good luck kiss for this evening."

"I really am going to need a cold shower tonight." Alice slumped in the sofa further, her heart racing. However a little idea popped in her head and she sent out a short little e-mail from her phone to see if it would be okay. Alice got up and used the bathroom before going back outside to talk to more people and get ready for the drift expo.

"The car is all ready down there. We got the drift tires on and its ready to go." Big Joe said as she walked up to him.

"Don't worry it will be good publicity, and its an excuse to burn up tires on Mike's dime." Alice said.

"Lets head out then." Wes said. Alice grabbed her helmet and they all walked to the runway where they had set up a course. There were a couple of cars out on track as they walked up. Mike was leaning against the fender of his car with some of his crew.

"So are you ready to play?" Alice asked as she walked over to him.

"Of course. Here is the course layout. We will do one slow lap get the cars warmed up and then two full tilt laps. I will lead the first two and you will lead the last." Mike said.

"So what do I get if I win?" Alice asked.

"Nothing, this is to draw some interest from other female drivers. Carly Whitman was supposed to be running with us." Mike said.

"What happened to Carly?" Alice asked.

"You didn't hear?" Mike asked.

"Hear what?" Alice panicked a little, because she hadn't heard anything.

"Drunk driver, we don't know if she is going to make it... All of those near misses and accidents out on the track, and some douche bag runs a red light..." Mike had to wipe his eyes.

Alice put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, I know you two are close. Then lets make sure we give them a good show like she would want us too."

"Hell yeah. Radio channel four is what we are using." Mike reached in the car to grab his helmet.

"Lets go." Alice pulled on her helmet as she walked to her car. She buckled in and started the engine. They did a quick radio check and waited for the officials to give them the green light. Alice kept a little more room between them and made mental notes of where the turn markers were for the warm up lap.

"Trac control off. Lets play Alice." Mike said.

"Hit it." Alice just hammered the throttle down. The engines roared and the tires howled. The crowd jumped to their feet and cheered. First corner Alice matched Mike's tire smoking slide with only little more than a foot between them. The special compound in the drift tires letting out green colored tire smoke. Carly's favorite color.

Neither let off, simply pitching the rear end out the other way around the next corner. Both engines screaming near their maximum RPM, each car leaving a trail of green haze as they picked up speed. The sound of howling tires, close to eight hundred total horsepower and a few thousand screaming fans drowned out everything else. Joe had to admit the two of them could put on a show. And as much as he disliked drifting, Mike was a damn good driver. The fact that Alice could keep pace with the guy titled 'the drift king' just proved she was more than a pretty face. It made him more determined to get her to race a full season. Obliterating the race competition and keeping up with a pro drifter, Alice was right, it would be good publicity for him and his employees. Since they helped build her car. After half a lap he gave in and started yelling and carrying on with everyone else.

"We switch in three turns." Mike said calmly as he pitched his car sideways around another curve.

"Got it." Alice said as calmly. Keeping the gap this close was harder then leading. She matched every move he made and after the last tight turn it was a drag race back to the first turn. The last second Mike braked hard and tucked in behind Alice as they went sideways once again.

Alice eyed her temp gauges closely as they kept up the race pace. It was harder on the drive train to drift then it was to race. "Two laps doesn't seem right." Alice said just loud enough to hear.

"You're right. The course is mirrored. Thinking what I'm thinking?" Mike asked with a smile.

"I keep this line if you jump to the other." Alice said.

"We will probably get in trouble." Mike said.

"It's worth it." Alice dropped two gears down to second and pitched her Lotus sideways the smell of burnt rubber hanging thick in the air. Alice tucked tight to the inside of the last hard turn and Mike gave it everything pitched wide and sideways.

The crowd's roar nearly drowning out the engine's cry as Mike slid way wide and crossed over to the other track. They each hit the first turn at the same time each going a different way. The officials and announcers were confused as were their crews. They had turned off the radios and laughed.

With not having to maintain a gap or worry about the other car they picked up speed and slung wider and faster than the other two laps. Without trying they hit every mark at the same time as if it where planed out ahead of time. They rounded the last turn, each stabbed the clutch pedal to the floor and jerked up on the park brake levers turning the cars 180 degrees so both were facing the crowd.

Alice revved the engine to get Mike's attention as officials started to head their way. She made a twirling motion with her finger, he gave her a thumbs up. Each revved their engines and side stepped the clutch. They both did a burn out, pointing the cars back down the run way and took off once more. They killed the lights, swerved through the course markers and disappeared out into the darkness of the air field that was not lit up from flood lamps.

The crowd lost it, the only other person who understood, managed a weak smile and tears. Watching from her hospital bed half a world away from them. Somehow knowing they did it for her.

Alice pulled off her helmet as Mike walked up to her. The booming music and screaming people in the stands a comfortable level out at the far end of the runway. They both jumped as the first couple big fireworks lit up the sky over head.

"Think she would have liked that?" Alice asked.

"We broke some rules, did more than we should have, and raised hell... Unless we missed something, I think if she sees it, she will know it was for her." Mike said.

"The fireworks add a nice over the top touch. Where is she being treated at? When I get back I want to go see her." Alice asked.

Mike reached in the breast pocket in his fire suit and pulled out a slip of paper. He handed it to Alice. "Everything is written on this. All we can do is hope for the best."

"None of us are very good at waiting." Alice said as the fire work blasts echoed across the large valley.

"No, seems like all of us are hammer down and never let up. Maybe its time to slow down." Mike said.

"Never thought I would hear that from you." Alice said.

"Never thought I would be so close to losing a friend... I was going to ask her tonight..." Mike held out a little black box.

Alice gave Mike a hug. "Then you will have to ask her when we get back."

Mike smiled and looked at the little box in his hand. "You're right. Just have to try and beat you to the finish line right now."

"Then you have a lot of ground to make up and only two days to do it in." Alice walked around to get back in her car.

"Provided they don't disqualify us from our little stunt." Mike said.

"They won't." Alice said as she got in the car.

Mike leaned down and looked in through the passenger window. "How can you be so sure?"

"Just listen to the crowd." Alice said with a smile and quietly headed back to her shared pit with Wes.

Alice beat everyone else back and was on the phone when they showed up. She held up her hand to cut them off. "That's correct, do you have a flight I can catch?"

Ron could tell something was wrong just from her tone of voice.

"That will work. Thanks for making such a last minute change for me." Alice said with a sigh of relief. She put her phone back in her pocket and looked over at everyone.

"What's wrong Alice?" Ron asked.

"Carly is in an intensive care unit. She keeps drifting in and out of a coma." Alice said and now that the drift and everything was over she couldn't hold the tears back any longer.

Ron pulled her to him and held her tightly. He knew the three of them had been close, he said a prayer for his daughter's friend. Little Joe flagged them down a ride to take Alice and Natasha back to the hotel for the evening.

Alice took a hot shower to relax the day away. She was only wrapped in a towel as she came out of the bathroom.

"Your phone made some funny sound while you were showering." Natasha sat on the edge of her bed combing her hair.

Alice picked up her phone and giggled at the reply. After the up and down of the day she was happy that it would be okay. And since Natasha had started it... "I never thanked you for earlier."

"For what?" Natasha asked and it was her turn for her heart to race as Alice dropped the towel and sat on her lap.

"This." Alice whispered and kissed her.

"Are you sure its okay?" Natasha asked as she felt Alice's fingers running slowly up her side.

"Yes, because if she was here, you would be between both of us." Alice said and leaned forward.

"So then..." Natasha stuttered as Alice's fingers brushed across one of her nipples.

"Relax, besides you started it." Alice said softly with a smile. They kissed again and Natasha put her arms around Alice. She was surprised by how nervous Natasha was about being with a girl. It was cute, now she understood what Jenny had meant. It wasn't long till Alice got her to put the nervousness aside and really enjoy it.

Out of everyone in the pit, Alice and Natasha were the only ones who seemed to have slept good. If not for the fact most everyone believed Alice to be so innocent they might have thought something had happened. As it was their good morning cheer was lost in the quick prep work getting the race tires on the Lotus and it loaded on the roll off truck to be transported back to the starting line for the second to last stage.

Mike and his navigator were on the same shuttle bus as the four of them for the trip down to the starting area.

"You both put on a hell of a show last night." Wes said as they headed down the highway.

"Would have better with our third." Mike said.

"Carly?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah she was supposed to be the lead car, not me." Mike said.

"The emcee played it off rather well. The frantic work of those officials was hilarious." Wes said.

"The crowd just went nuts after the burn out. Glad we got out of there when we did." Natasha said.

"I got a text last night from her brother." Mike pulled out his phone handing it to Alice.

"It says, 'it took a stupid stunt from you to pull her around.'" Alice said, and handed back the phone.

"He said she had actually spoke our names when they showed it again this morning." Mike said clearly excited.

"That's good to hear." Kenny said as the van pulled off the highway to head up to the small air field that was acting as an impound/pit/starting area.

"We have a closer starting time today, to make up for the later start. So you only get a ten minuet lead on me today Alice." Wes said as they walked over to a rather sleepy looking pair of twins.

"All the excitement catching up with you two?" Alice asked. However they instantly perked up when they saw her.

"No, we stayed up little too late working on a long distance project." DJ said with a smile.

"Don't worry about us, we will be top shape." TJ said with an equally big smile.

"Are you two up to something?" Wes asked.

"Always!" They both cheered.

"So what is it?" Natasha asked.

"We can't tell you." They both said.

"Top secret." TJ said excitedly.

"Very hush, hush." DJ said cheerfully. And they both giggled as the four looked on shaking their heads.

They all helped unload the Lotus. Alice, Kenny and TJ checked the car over and filled the fuel tank up. Wes, Natasha and DJ were performing the same routine on the Austin. They were all ready to get under way.

"See you on the track my little mouse." Wes held out his right hand in a fist.

"Only if you catch me." Alice bumped his fist with hers.

The four of them strapped into their cars and headed out to the starting line. DJ and TJ rounded up all of the gear they had gotten out loaded back on the truck. They were ready to roll out as soon as Wes left the starting line.

"Radio check, you out there Joe?" Kenny asked as they pulled in behind the last car of the slower class.

Big Joe keyed his mic. "Yeah we are out here. You are going to have a fair amount of traffic today."

"Gives me something to chase down." Alice said.

"Your dad talked a friend of his into letting us borrow a radio from one of the chopper crews. We can hear everything the eyes in the sky see." Little Joe said after he keyed his mic.

"Make sure they film our good side." Kenny and Alice laughed.

Jim keyed his mic. "Come on now, every side of you two is good." Jim and Tim both laughed as they cruised down the road.

"You say the nicest things old man." Kenny said.

Big Joe keyed his mic. "Okay enough joking, time to race."

"At least today there will be some racing with the cars starting closer." Ron said as they watched the monitors.

"Thanks for borrowing us the extra radio." Big Joe said.

"Don't mention it, its just another way for me to keep an eye on my daughter. Speaking of kids, when are you and Katie going to have some?" Ron asked as the red Lotus rolled up to the line.

"Hopefully our first will be coming along in eight months or so." Big Joe said proudly.

"That's good to hear. You'll make a good dad." Ron said as Alice and Kenny got under way.

"I hope so." Big Joe said.

"You didn't think Jenny and that car were the only things Alice talks about? She has always made it a point to keep us informed of all of her friends." Ron quietly cheered as she over took the first of the eleven cars in front of her.

Wes was in a similar starting position as Alice, the car in front of him was the last car in Alice's group. He had to catch and pass nine cars to get to Mike, who was in third. Plus any cars the two of them passed in the mean time. Which when they finally got the green light, Alice had passed three. It would actually be a hard stage with the closer gap between the cars. Wes didn't mind at all, and he knew Alice would be fine. He was also thankful for the extra information they got from the borrowed radio.

As Wes worked on chasing Mike and Alice down, he made a mental note to ask if her dad would be willing to help run the pit with Joe more often. His and Alice's main concern was getting past as much traffic as possible before the course twisted south to the coast.

"The sky isn't looking to friendly." Kenny said after a half hour on course.

"Weather check." Alice said.

Little Joe typed away quickly on the computer and brought up a weather radar for them to look at. "There is a storm moving in. They might miss it." Little Joe glanced up at Joe and Ron.

Big Joe keyed his mic. "Right now I can't say 100% if you will miss it, or will drive right into it."

"Copy that. Better step it up a little." Kenny said.

"Lets hope for a miss." Alice gave the car more throttle. Now it was going to be a three way race between the other cars, the clock and now the weather. Bad weather could be a blessing in disguise for her, Mike and Wes. That was one of the benefits of their illegal racing and general screwing around at high speed. They could drive fast in crappy weather.

"Alice is going to leave us behind if the weather turns." Wes said after they got the news of the storm.

"Are you admitting she is a better driver?" Natasha teased.

"In bad weather she is, plus she is one of the few out here with an all wheel drive car. Alice is better in the wet." Wes said a little defeated.

"Then we better gain more time while it is dry." Natasha thought to herself 'if he only knew how good she was wet.'

"Truck one to both cars. We have drizzle at the half way mark." Tim said and turned off the mic.

"This isn't enough to slow the all wheel drives down, but depending on how long it sticks around Wes and that class may have to slow down or pull in for wet road tires." Jim said.

Tim leaned forward and looked up at the darkening sky. "Good thing they are all ready on dry/wet tires. Joe called it, running the mixed weather tire means we don't have to stop."

Further down the course the twins were in more than just drizzle. "This sucks, if it gets any harder they might red flag the race." TJ said as a flash of lightning lit up the sky quickly followed by a clap of thunder.

DJ grabbed the radio mic. "They might have drizzle but we got a thunder storm."

"That's not good. The twins must be along here." Little Joe said and pointed to the radar.

"Its moving slow, but the worst should be passing over them shortly." Ron said and they all turned to the radio as the spotter frantically said a car was off track.

"Come on tell us where it is all ready." Joe said.

Little Joe keyed both channels. "Car off track two minutes ahead of you Alice. Fifteen for you Wes."

"We got drizzle." Kenny said as Alice flipped on the lights and the wipers.

"Wes is making good time." Alice said.

"Yeah since he started twenty five minutes behind us. Probably trying to gain as much time as he can before they hit the weather." Kenny said.

"How far to the wreck?" Alice asked as they zipped past another car.

"Safety lights about eighty on the left." Kenny said.

Alice guided the car further to the right side of the road. Everything was off the road far enough they didn't have to slow down. The drizzle had turned to a light rain. Alice turned off the water meth system. Kenny gave her earlier warning for everything they would be coming up on. Both of them had to drive in some nasty weather for work so they adjusted easily to this. They gave the other cars a little more room when they passed.

"Wes must have hit the rain, he hasn't closed the gap between him and Mike any further." Little Joe said.

Joe keyed his mic. "Kenny how is the road?"

"Wet, but not oily. Are we past all the cars? I lost count." Kenny said.

Little Joe keyed up his mic. "Only one car in front of you at this point."

TJ checked her watch and DJ keyed her mic. "He just past our position."

"Time is forty two seconds." TJ said after Alice went past.

DJ keyed the mic again. "Forty two second lead Alice."

"Must just be out of our sight." Kenny said.

"I told you there was still one more to go." Alice said.

"So fire me when we get home." Kenny caught just a glimpse of tail lights in the distance.

"I can't do that, no one else will ride with me." Alice spotted the brake lights as the other car slowed for a curve.

"Surly you know other crazy people." Kenny said.

"Yeah and they are driving." Alice down shifted for a hard left to start down to the coast line. They had only just passed the three quarter point.

"Steady downhill from here on. Hard left then harder right followed by long sweeping right." Kenny said.

"Where's Mike?" Alice asked.

Again little Joe clicked on a minimized timing window then keyed his mic. "Still third on track, but just took second with time. He is gaining on second, but neither are gaining on you."

Alice smiled as she powered the car around the long right. With any luck he should at least take second this stage.

Ron and both Joes glanced out the end of the open trailer as thunder rolled across the sky. Little Joe checked his radar as Joe and Ron stepped outside.

"Looks like the final stage will be wet too. Doesn't bode well for Wes." Joe said.

"Doesn't look good for a lot of cars." Ron said.

Little Joe flagged them back in. "Looks like a good third of tomorrows course is all ready getting rain."

"Lets go check in with the officials and see what they are thinking. You got everything handled here?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, I'll give you a shout on the hand held if something comes up." Little Joe said.

"Give me an update." Wes passed two cars before braking hard to make the next turn.

Little Joe keyed his mic. "You're holding time in you class. Alice is slowly eroding the time you gained on her."

"How about weather?" Natasha asked.

Little Joe glance at the screen he had the weather on and keyed his mic. "You're going to have rain the rest of this stage. And tomorrow is looking rainy as well."

"It is what it is." Wes powered onward. If it had stayed dry he could have caught up to Alice. Now he needed to just focus on maintaining his lead. Not much he could do about the rain, at least it kept the car cool. And the scenery green, the little he got to admire it at one hundred and fifty mph.

Alice and Wes were pretty much on cruise control, all of the problems were farther back in the field. They were comfortable in this kind of weather. Alice had passed the last car in front of her and had open but wet road ahead. Only thing missing was Jenny sitting next to her and some music.

"So how much of the race do you think they have been able to see?" Kenny asked.

"Jenny said in a short e-mail they were catching most of it." Alice said.

"Wonder if they will make us head out after we get back. Right, Left, Right, S curve, straight shoot them." Kenny said.

"Hard to say." Alice said as they climbed back over one hundred mph.

"We got four more miles then we turn onto the coastal road." Kenny said.

"Then... ten miles to the finish?" Alice asked as they weaved down to the coast.

"Just under ten." Kenny said.

Ron and Joe made their way back to the trailer. It had started to lightly rain up here. They picked up two large pizzas from a food vendor and were glad to get back inside since it had cooled off outside.

"Smells good. So what's the scoop?" Little Joe said as they stepped up into the trailer.

"Unless it gets really bad, things will go as planned." Ron set the pizzas down. Big Joe went up front and got the three of them a beer.

Little Joe grabbed a slice from the top box, didn't matter what kind he was starving. "Just after you left Alice over took the last car in front of them. Clear sailing for both of them." He held out his other hand for the beer Joe had brought him. "Thanks boss."

"I won't call it clear sailing till they are on the final mile." Big Joe cracked open his can. They really didn't have much to do at this point but wait for news that Alice and Wes had finished the stage.

TJ was instant messaging with Katie as DJ drove down the highway to the next spot they would camp for the night. "She says everything we wanted is in the shop waiting or on its way to the shop."

"Ask if she can get some of that stuff powder coated for us. Did she agree with our idea?" DJ asked.

"Just a second." TJ typed quickly for only using two fingers. "No problem and yes, she does think it's a good idea."

"It will be the first chrome less car we have built. Should be killer." DJ said.

"No doubt." TJ and Katie talked powder coating so that could get started. The plan was to have the Viper done before the car show the week after they got back.