One Piece

"He's trying to push me," Zan warned the others. He didn't like Thunder getting that close, and wouldn't put it past him to tap him just to try to unnerve him or make him spin out. Zan held steady though and geared down again, controlling the speed for all four of them. 

Hunter kept tight to Thunder's side and glanced over just once and simply smiled. Thunder's fury was written all over his face. "Oooh boy is he mad!" Hunter laughed. 

The novice racers who hadn't been pushed out at the beginning were all zipping around them now, speeding towards the finish. Jett's hands were in the air as he shouted with the crowd. Thunder was way behind now, having been forced to slow so much. The other racers were tightly packed right up until the finish when one shot ahead to claim the prize. It wasn't clear whether the crowd was more excited about the winner, or more excited about Thunder being schooled. 

Dylan lifted his bottle of rootbeer to Scarlet's and grinned. Good clean fun. He wasn't surprised this was the type of group Hunter hung with and... he really appreciated being with these people. With his past, he really didn't need to be around the temptations of this crowd by himself, and knew that none of these friends would let him falter. His eyes glanced over to Destiny, seeing how tense she was. Was she really just a friend of Zan's? He wondered. Paying attention to the race again, he smiled, seeing that the three had been successful. 

Realizing he'd been beat, Thunder hit the brakes. Left behind the three, he gunned it again and swerved around them to speed angrily back to the crowed. 

"Let him go," Eli suggested. "He's done and he knows it." 

Zan was breathing heavily as the adrenaline surged through his veins. Leading the way back, he chose to head off a short distance from Thunder and the other racers. No sooner had he and Hunter and Ryan parked though, and probably half the crowd swarmed them. Whooping and hollering, the crowd was obviously thrilled with the show. 

Hunter shook hands and laughed received punches to the arm. He made his way over to Ryan though, noticing with pleasure that she was getting just as much attention. It was clear that many people were very excited to see her racing again. Sidling up to her, Hunter ignored the others and pulled her close as he kissed her with passion. Drawing back, his eyes twinkled. "I am so proud of you. You did it. And you were awesome." 

Next to them, Zan enjoyed the attention for a few minutes before leaving his car and heading off to the side, over to where he'd spotted Destiny. Escaping the onslaught, he smiled at Scarlet and gave Dylan a quick salute, but his route was to Destiny. "Well... I made it in one piece... how'd we look?"

Eli had retreated from his spot and slipped through the crowd to keep a close eye on Thunder who was yelling, waving his arms around, and punched a guy who apparently had tried to explain why it all had happened. He started for all the excitement once but several people stopped him. And though he shoved them away, he ended up going back to his car and leaving in a cloud of dust. He'd been humiliated and was tucking tail. Satisfied he wasn't going to start any trouble, Eli finally left the scene and decided to go find Scarlet and the others. 


As Sam explained what had happened, Reese's eyes grew wide. And for several very long moments, one could have heard a pin drop. He finally looked up at Pete. "Do you have anything to add?"

Pete swallowed hard. "Only that in the heat of the moment I agreed with Sam's decision."

"To let Aaron go?" Reese got to his feet. "To release a man into the public who is an expert killer and who even kidnapped Susanne - one of our own? To let a man walk away who wants nothing more than to take his anger out on innocent people? That's what you agreed with?"

Pete remained silent. 

Reese's eyes went back over to Sam. His tone remained calm, although his eyes proved how upset he was. "I appreciate you telling me about this, but I'm afraid you made a very poor decision." He picked up his phone and buzzed Nate first. "Nate? Aaron is loose. I want you, Garret, Jason and Katie to go hunt him down. Immediately." He hung up, then dialed a new number. "Kirk - please come to my office. Thank you." He folded his arms and looked sternly at Pete and Sam, simply waiting until Kirk arrived. 

After a brief explanation, Kirk frowned at Sam and Pete both. "I... am stunned." He directed his speech at Sam. "How on earth could you have done something like this? Do you realize what you've done?" 

When he paused, Reese spoke to Pete. "I don't understand why you let this happen, but you better pray the others find Aaron and bring him back in. Because if they don't, you are partially responsible for anyone Aaron harms."

Kirk was still frowning at Sam. "And I believe the rest of the responsibility lies with you." 

Reese held out his hand to Pete. "Your badge and gun. You're officially on suspension."

Pete wanted to argue. He wanted to put up a fight. Justify what he'd done. But the rules were stricter now, and he'd known his decision could cost a lot. He hesitated, then did as he was told, turning in his badge and sidearm. 

Kirk gritted his teeth before shaking his head. "If you would have done this back at FBI headquarters, you'd be off the force for good. You know that right? As it is... I think it's only fair that you be placed on suspension as well. This will be reported, and you - and Pete - both risk losing your jobs here completely. Until either of you hear otherwise from myself or Reese, I recommend you not showing your faces here." 

"Agreed." Reese didn't like being this hard on them. He knew that the Elite had always bent the rules and had been governed by gut instincts. And he trusted Pete's instincts, and had started trusting Sam's. But at this point in time, the Elite could not risk something like this going unpunished. If he ignored their actions, it could shut down the rehabilitation program, or even the entire department. 

Pete held his head up, even though on the inside he felt sick. He'd been in trouble with Reese before, but never like this. Was it really worth it? He glanced at Sam, feeling badly for her as well.


Hearing Reese's call to Nate, Garret's eyes widened and he was immediately on his feet. "How on earth did that happen? Bum knee or not, he's gonna disappear if we don't get out there quick."