A Pirate's Life For Me [Victoria/Chase]

[Chase]

Chase bowed his head, his back leaning against the wall of the bar. A twinge of annoyance struck him when he didn't hear the girl leaving. Could they not give him some space? His heartbeat raced until the man finally opened his mouth, the words flowing out causing Chase's eyes to narrow.

So these dolts were Casey's lackeys. The entire time back up was three feet away and no one had bothered to let him know about it? He shook his head, not quite able to comprehend the turn of events. If Casey had arranged for backup to be present, why the hell couldn't he stop some chick with sticky fingers?

A dry laugh escaped his lips at the man's comment about lacking a battle plan. "Ain't that the story of my life?" he asked the ground, kicking a stray stone. At least the man was proper about responding quickly to a distress call; help came nearly immediately. That didn't lessen the rage in his chest, but he couldn't realistically take out all of his anger on two strangers in his same position. Theoretically.

"That girl back there stole my bike. I told her to leave me alone because I'm on an assignment and instead she cons me out of my ride. I don't care what Casey wanted here anymore; I waited for hours. There's nothing of worth," Chase pushed himself off of the wall and started following the pair to a truck parked nearby. "I need to get my bike back. Help me do that and I'll get out of your hair. You can tell Casey to forget my number."

[adrian]

That actually sounded pretty reasonable to Adrian so he just nodded and climbed into the car. He unlocked all the doors so that the others could do the same. As he settled into the front seat and started the car he flipped the heat on. It would take a second to start pushing out hot air since the engine had to warm up but Adrian hated feeling cold and the air this close to the ocean possessed the type of chill that could settle into your bones.

"So that bike we heard was your ride I'm guessing?" He asked as the kid climbed into the car. "We got any leads or any way to track her down? Do we even know who she is?" He addressed his questions to them both.

[Chase]

Chase grabbed the cool metal handle of the truck and moved to the back seat, allowing the girl to take what seemed to be her place as shotgun. Rubbing his hands together in an attempt to generate warmth, he quietly waited for the other two to arrange themselves before answering the man's question.

"Yeah," he nodded, internally hitting himself for the stupidity he had displayed earlier. Never again would anyone pull something like that on him, but for now he needed to let the anger cool. It would be impossible for him to think clearly and get his bike back if he didn't have a level head.

"From what I know, her name is Victoria and she's got some nasty attitude," Chase sighed, trying not to grit his teeth. "It won't be that difficult to find her; I stuck a GPS tracking bug in one of the compartments awhile back in case something-" He gave a knowing glance to the two in front of him, assuming they knew what he referred to. "-displaced me or my ride. Hoped I'd never have to use it, but that's how life works sometimes, eh?"

He pulled his phone back from out of his pocket, quickly typing in the appropriate commands to enter the tracking mode. "It looks like she's taking the Interstate, heading up toward Austin". Flipping the device shut and shoving it in his jacket, Chase turned his attention forward. "I hope you're familiar with that area. It's going to be one helluva showdown once we find her. The numbers will be on our side, though, it might pass as more realistic if I knew your names."

[adrian]

Adrian waited for Simplicity to climb into the car before putting it into reverse and backing out of the parking space. He switched gears and pulled out of the parking lot heading back the way they'd come so many hours ago. He switched on the radio. He wasn't that far out from his usual haunts but the radio stations were all different. After surfing through a couple of them and finding nothing to his liking he switched to satellite radio and the sounds of the hair raising strings and driving horns of Rider's of Rohan, composed by Howard Shore, started to come through the speakers. He lowered the volume a little so that the intense music wasn't as distracting. The satellite station was a classical hits station that had started mixing up their selection with some contemporary pieces. He approved of the change and settled back into his seat as they headed for the highway.

"Name's Adrian," he said over his shoulder before reaching over Simplicity to the glove compartment. "Excuse me," he said as he popped it open and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He'd finished his last pack in the bar and had been too lazy to come out to the car to replace them but he was dying for a smoke. He popped the box open and put one of the stress relieving sticks between his lips and pulled it out. He threw the box in the cup holders between the seats and dug a zippo lighter from his jacket pocket. The lighter had a wolf engraving on the side of it along with some odd letters that looked like they might be Arabic or some derivation of it. The language was actually older than Arabic but the lighter wasn't out long enough for anyone to really look at it any way.

He dropped it back into his pocket after he'd lit his cigarette, the end glowing softly in the gloom inside the car as he took a drag of it. Rider's of Rohan ended and the final composition of August Rush started playing. It was a much less energy driven piece in the beginning as an odd instrument was used to simulate the sound of the wind and the haunting sounds produced by water and wine glasses combined to create and eerie, mysterious sound. The combination of the music and the cigarette relaxed Adrian like nothing else could.

"Don't mind do ya?" he asked, blowing out a stream of smoke, not really caring if the kid minded if he smoked or not. Still, to at least give the appearance of being polite he cracked his window and let some of the precious heat get ripped away.

[Simplicity]

Standing back Simplicity let the boys talk it out. She got his attention and listened as the kid ranted a bit. At least he had a valid reason for it and for running out like he had. Maybe giving him the evil eye wasn’t the best thing. She’d kill someone if her bike or car was stolen, if she had a car or bike that was. Also he did get points for jumping in that back instead of shotgun. She hopped in turned in her seat to look at both men as Adrian pulled out.

“No problem,” she moved her legs to let him get into the glove compartment. When he set the cartridge down she picked it up and pulled out a cigarette, “May I?”

She turned more and offered the kid her free hand, “Simplicity Kennedy. Wish we could have met under better situations. Sounds like your day just went five kinds of crappy. What ya heading to Austin for any way kiddo?”

Simplicity glanced at Adrian when he spoke again. She’d been used to being in the car with folks who usually were either chimneys or didn’t care that much about long term health. The cig dangled loosely in her fingers as she waited for the kid to answer, she needed to borrow Adrian’s lighter anyway.

[adrian]

"Be my guest," Adrian replied when Simplicity asked for the cigarette. He began to dig his lighter back out of his pocket but had to put both hands back on the wheel for a second as he navigated the roads and got back on the highway that was heading toward Austin.

The traffic wasn't terrible at this time of night and he didn't have much trouble hoping on or choosing a lane to go with for the moment. If there had been more cars he probably would have been one of those traffic causing lane hoppers.

Once they'd settled into a lane he fished the lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Simplicity, trusting the gloom to conceal the enochian symbols all over it.

[Chase]

"Not at all," Chase waved off Adrian's question of lighting a cigarette and leaned back in his seat while the two in front of him took a personal moment. Once they had finished, the girl introduced herself as Simplicity, and he accepted her outstretched hand, shaking once firmly. "Nice to meet you."

What was he doing in Austin? Yeah, that was a great question. Something he wouldn't be doing again for a long time to come. "Got recruited by Casey a few days back. Helped his friend out and then got sent down here to let someone steal my bike." A bitter taste still resided in his mouth.

"What about you guys? It's not coincidence that you were just conveniently in the same bar."

[Simplicity]

Simplicity took the lighter gently and flicked it open. With the cigarette lit she rolled down the window and exhaled outside. She ran her thumb gently over symbols idly half wondering what they were. Looking over the back of the seat Sim listened to the boy’s story and kept her hand with the lighter in her lap. Interesting little story she thought taking another drag. Still the kid seemed nice enough, and any ill will he had could be credited to who ever stole his bike.

“It was convenient because we got sent there,” she flicked some ashes out the window, “Maybe Casey figured you needed the back up. Guess he was right.”

She put the cigarette to her lips again and inhaled. The time it took before she exhaled gave a comfortable pause in the conversation, at least on her end. “So,” she asked both of the men in the car, “when you wanna go after chick-y pooh?”

[Chase]

"When?" Chase's eyebrows pursed together. What did she mean, when? It was obvious that they were doing that now. He could wait for anything, that would just give the freak time to get further and further away with his bike.

"How about before we all die of old age?" he sarcastically answered. Glancing down at the tracking locater, he confirmed the vehicle's movement toward the Austin area. "It shouldn't take too long to catch up with her, but we'll need to try to cover the distance between us."

"This thing got any kick to it?" Chase gave Adrian a sidelong grin.

[adrian]

"Not really," Adrian answered as he calmly moved into another lane to avoid driving next to an 18 wheeler up ahead. He'd gotten sideswipped by an 18 when he was first learning how to drive and, while he knew it was irrational, he had avoided driving near them since. "My truck runs, that's it's biggest accomplishment," he said with an equal mix of sarcasm and pride.

He didn't like his truck because it could roar down the road. If he'd wanted that he probably would have gotten a bike like the kid had. Nor did his truck possess any of the selling points found in auto commercials lately. It guzzled gas like a thirsty man in a desert, it spewed out visible pollution, he left rainbow puddles in parking lots from the spilled oil and it wasn't the smoothest ride because the shocks had seen better days. On rainy days the brakes squeaked when he used them and the heater coughed out hot air when he tried to use it. The truck had seen better days and it was past being a fixer upper and could just be considered a rolling wreck, junk on wheels.

But he loved it. He liked wondering where the slash in the upholstery on the passenger side seat had come from. Had the previous owner had a jealous or angry lover perhaps? Women had a tradition of slashing up the toys of the men they hated. And the cracked screen on the radio display, what had caused that? A car accident or a break in? The used paint, the creaky joints and the bumps and bruises all told him this car was a survivor, a proud old fighter who refused to die, and that's the type of vehicle Adrian liked rolling around in. And, as if in an effort to prove his assessment, the car had broken down many times but it had always worked when he'd needed it to. So were there some younger, flashy models out there that he could try to acquire? Sure, but he preferred to stay loyal to this truck.

"Unless she's inhuman, and we shouldn't rule that out, we'll catch up with her. There is only one of her and three of us. Even if she keeps going past Austin she'll have to stop and sleep eventually while we can switch off and keep going. Besides, I doubt she knows we're tacking her. Though she may expect some type of pursuit she'll figure we'll have the twin troubles of finding her and catching up with her and that'll mean she'll go slower than if she was flat out running so that's another advantage for us."

[Simplicity]

“Hey,” Sim pointed the two fingers holding the cigarette at the boy, “Buddy of mine once waited a week before going after the idiots who stole his car. Man, were they surprised. It was brilliant.”

She smiled at the memory before inhaling again. He patted the truck at Adrian’s comments, muttering words of comfort to the object while fighting a bigger grin from taking over. Yeah it wasn’t the best truck on the road, but she liked it. Probably a deathtrap, but she’d rather die in an old car than a freaking Prius.

“If you can guess where she’s headed, I may now a few short cuts. Especially if she hits construction, then we can cut her off at where the detours end,” She paused for a moment looking Chase over, “So how exactly did you catch Casey’s attention? Do you even know?”

[Chase]

He nodded, noting the underlying pride in Adrian's tone. Nothing came between a guy and his car; it'd be like separating Sherlock and Holmes, Bonnie and Clyde, or baseball and peanuts. Bottom line: constants in life no one should mess with. Victoria would learn that by the time they reached her.

"Surprise is on our side," Chase nodded firmly. "I doubt she expected me to have a ride anywhere. She knew I walked in alone." He pulled out the GPS at Simplicity's request to double check where the bandit was heading. "She's stopped in the middle of the city...some hotel, if I'm reading it right. Props Adrian, you were right." Credit where credit was due.

"Casey?" Chase's mood darkened at the mention of the man. "I went on a hunt with one of his guys, Sylus, a couple months back. Before that? Random message. Haven't met the man face to face; he's a shadow. He'll be thankful for that, because if I do meet him after this, he's going to have it in for him."

"Turn left up ahead, then it'll be on the right." Chase directed.