Chapter 13 Road Trip

Michelle walked to the kitchen carrying the tray of glasses in a daze. She couldn't stop thinking about Brook. What was he doing to her? When she was in his arms it was like he controlled her. She forgot everything. She was powerless... and she didn't want it to stop.

"What are you doing, still up?" Michelle broke out of her reverie to see Payton standing in the kitchen washing the dishes as he spoke.

"Er, I brought the glasses." She said laying down the tray.

"Go to bed. I'll wash them," he said.

"You?"

"Yeah, me. You got a problem with that?"

"No, it's just that I didn't think you were the kind of guy to clean up after everyone. Especially not by doing the dishes."

"You don't know me," he said briskly. Michelle hesitated for a second before going over to him.

"Move over, I'm helping," she said.

"I don't need your help." He said, pulling a plate away from her. She took another one from the pile.

"I know. But I don't want to look like a freeloader." Payton gave a half smile.

"Nice to see you have some integrity."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, since you're staying here and making trouble, you might as well make the most of it and do some work." Michelle decided not to get offended by that.

"Sure." She said in a collected tone.

"Sure? You're not annoyed?"

"Nope."

"Huh. Looks like I'll have to work harder to get under your skin." He said with a furtive look.

"And why do you want to do that? You could be nice to me, you know."

"Where's the fun in that?" He asked. Michelle's lips twitched.

"You know what Payton? I guess I had you all wrong."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, echoing her.

"My first impression of you wasn't exactly on point. Seeing you now, I don't think you're as tough as you pretend to be."

"Looks can be deceiving. Look at you – you pretend to be all tough like you can handle yourself but we both know better. You're in way over your head, Sweetheart. So leave while you still can." Michelle stopped washing the dish when she saw Payton's eyes hard on her. The amusement from his voice had gone.

"I don't have a reason to leave – to go back to my life. But I do want to stay and help you guys. It's my choice. You're gonna have to get used to it."

"You have a life, friends, and family and you chose to give it all up to fight a war that has nothing to do with you?"

"You don't know me either, Payton." She said with a touch of melancholy in her voice. "I know you don't think I can handle this but I'm tougher than I look. You said it yourself. So stop underestimating me."

"I never underestimated you," Payton said softly. "I just don't want to be around when you get hurt." Michelle was slightly taken aback at his next words. He continued to wash the dishes in silence. His hand brushed against hers in the process and he shied away.

"Payton..."

"Just forget it. Forget I said anything."

"I can't." She said quietly. He sighed and leaned against the sink.

"I won't get hurt." She said at last.

"You can't guarantee that," he said. He wiped his hands and went to bed without a backward glance. Michelle watched him go, her thoughts unsettled. Payton was right again; there was no guarantee for anything.

Leslie was the first one to come to the kitchen the next morning and found Michelle busy over a pot on the stove.

"Morning Michelle. Mind if I ask what's cooking?" Michelle grinned.

"Hangover soup." She said.

"Did things get too heavy for you last night?"

"No, not for me. but I bet the others will need this. I skipped the alcohol."

"Smart girl. So what's the recipe?"

"Ginger, lemongrass, garlic, hot peppers, cabbage broth, and... noodles."

"Sounds exotic."

"It's Asian with a touch of Michelle." Leslie smiled.

"Good luck getting them to eat it."

"I don't need luck – wait till you see Paige," Michelle said with a smirk. Soriano came in to make coffee.

"Hello, Michelle. I didn't know you were into cooking."

"I do all my own cooking at college. I figured the others will need this today." Soriano glanced at the pot.

"Hangover cure?" he asked.

"Good guess chief," Leslie said. Paige came in looking green-faced and heavy-eyed.

"Morning Paige." Michelle greeted her cheerfully. She looked disgruntled.

"Can you take your face full of sunshine somewhere else? Makes me wanna throw up."

"That would be the seven shots you had last night. Here, this will help." Michelle poured out some of the soup into a bowl and pushed it in front of Paige. She turned her face away from it.

"Ugh, I'd rather throw up than eat that."

"Suit yourself," Michelle said. Payton came in looking cool as usual. The rest of the guys followed, clutching their stomachs. Brook gave a weak smile at Michelle when he saw her.

"Morning." He said. Michelle smiled back.

"Morning is right. Now get over here and have some breakfast."

"You call that breakfast? My grandma wouldn't eat that," Reece said, staring into the bowl in front of Paige.

"You want to feel better or not?" Michelle asked. Jett sniffed at the bowl.

"For the good of the team, I'll be the first to try that. If I don't survive it, I want Michelle to have my PS4." Jett said with a serious expression. Michelle rolled her eyes and pushed the bowl to him. He gulped and took a spoonful.

"Bottoms up." He said. He slurped it down and winced at the heat. His face slowly changed from disgust to surprise.

"Dang, that's good!" he slurped more with relish. Michelle laughed.

"Anybody else brave enough to try?" she asked. Brook put up his hand.

"Really?" Reece asked, looking at him. "Fine, I don't want to look gutless so I'll try it too." Michelle poured out two more soup bowls.

"Hmm... I love that pepper kick." Brook said after trying it.

"I'm always down for Asian food so... Meh, it's okay," Reece said.

"I was worried you guys wouldn't try it," Michelle said. Paige hesitated, watching the boys before pulling a bowl forward.

"I'm not gonna let a bunch of guys beat me at this." She took a sip and not finding it revolting, sipped again. Michelle looked at Payton.

"Payton? Do you want some for your hangover?" he gave a self-satisfied smirk.

"I don't get hungover. I can handle my alcohol intake." He said pouring himself some coffee. Michelle studied his features. He really didn't look hungover – in fact, you'd never guess he'd had half a dozen shots the previous night. Brook narrowed his eyes at Payton.

"Says the guy who threw up three times in one night after downing four shots and a cocktail when he was seventeen," Brook said. Payton scowled.

"That was my first time." He retaliated. Michelle shook her head.

"Boys..." she muttered.

"Payton's tolerance has improved since then. Even I can't beat him at shots. And I'm the shot master around here." Reece said.

"Damn, now that's a gift I'd pay for," Jett said with his mouth full of soup.

"What, the ability to make mind-blowing shots or the tolerance for them?" Reece asked.

"The second one," Jett said.

"Hey, Michelle? You want some coffee?" Leslie asked.

"No thanks, I already had some earlier. And I made French toast for anyone without a hangover."

"Wow, you multitask? Cool." Jett said. Michelle smiled and placed a stack of French toast in front of Payton, Leslie, and Soriano.

"Bon appetit." Payton took a slice.

"Not bad." He said, but he ate the first one quickly and started on the second. Michelle smiled.

"I thought you'd like it." the others looked wistfully at the toast. Michelle saw them and laughed.

"Don't worry guys, you can have some later. I made plenty."

"There might not be time. I have an update on the Inferno Ghosts." Soriano said. Everyone sobered up at once.

"What's the situation chief?" Paige asked.

"The satellite footage showed no less than twelve of their cars heading east last night. Looks like they're heading into the city. That means they have fewer eyes out here in the desert."

"What do you want us to do?" Brook asked.

"Aside from the usual jobs, go scope out the place, see if the Ghosts have done any more damage."

"We can pick up some more groceries while we're at it," Leslie said.

"Right. Get moving." Soriano said. He turned to leave but Michelle called out.

"Um, chief! Is it okay if I go?" she asked. Soriano didn't speak for a moment.

"Yes... But stay with the crew at all times. And this is a warning for everyone: if there's any sign of danger, get out of there."

"Understood chief. Whoo-hoo! Road trip!" Jett whooped in excitement.

"You wanna go pick up groceries?" Reece asked Michelle skeptically.

"Hey, it'll be fun. At least you get to go out." Leslie said. Michelle saw Brook distracted watching Soriano leave.

"Brook? You ready to go?" Michelle asked. He waved his hand without listening.

"I'll be right back." He said going after Soriano.

"Come on, let's get moving. Even if those Ghosts are out of town, I wanna get back before nightfall." Reece said.

"Why, 'cause there's a Flash marathon tonight?" Paige asked slyly.

"Yeah and I don't want to miss it!" Reece complained. "It's the finale of season four which I missed three months ago!"

"The Flash? Like DC Flash?" Michelle asked.

"Duh! Don't you watch TV?" Reece asked.

"Not everyone's a sci-fi fan bro," Jett said. Michelle kept watching the door waiting for Brook to come back. He slipped into the room quietly after a few minutes.

"Hey. Everything okay?" Michelle asked him. His expression was clouded but he smiled as he turned to her.

"Yeah, it's fine. Come on. You're riding with me."

"Everybody ready?" Jett asked as they all piled into their cars a few minutes later.

"Where's the chief? Isn't he coming with us?" Leslie asked, looking around.

"No. Let's go." Brook said. Michelle glanced at him – he looked like he was hiding something.

"I'm leading!" Payton shouted through the open window of his car.

"Fine but hurry up before I overtake you," Paige said to him. Payton smiled in amusement.

"Like I'd give you the chance." He taunted. Paige revved the engine of her car.

"Don't tempt me." she retorted. Payton rolled out of the base the rest of the cars following in tow, Brook's car last.

"Whoa, it's so bright outside!" Michelle exclaimed as the car slid out of the dark cave.

"I almost forgot. You'll need these." Brook said, pulling out two pairs of sunglasses from the overhead compartment. He gave one to her.

"Ride in style." He said. Michelle slipped them on.

"What do you think?" she asked. Brook gave a low whistle.

"I think it just got hot in here." Michelle smiled.

"I could say the same." A voice came over the radio.

"Could you guys stop flirting before Payton throws up? Or at least do it with the radio off." Paige said. Michelle blushed red.

"The radio was on?" she mouthed to him in embarrassment. He quickly turned it off.

"That's better. More privacy."

"And what would you do with that extra privacy?" Michelle asked with her eyebrow raised. He threaded his fingers through her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Nothing that needs words." Jett swerved close and caught their attention as he made kissy faces through the window.

"Urgh, Jett, that's gross," Brook said laughing. Michelle looked past Brook at Jett's car.

"So what type of car does Jett drive? I'm not really familiar with six-figure sum cars."

"That's a Jaguar SVR. British. V8 engine with fairly decent horsepower. It can do 60 mph in less than five seconds."

"Cool," Michelle said, admiring the bright blue car.

"Reece's Audi R8 is cooler. For the fun lover. Suitable for Reece, don't you think?" Michelle looked ahead to Reece's silver car.

"It's kind of – cute." She said. Brook laughed.

"Don't let Reece hear you say that."

"So what's Paige's car?" Michelle indicated to the black and white car on the left.

"Chevrolet Corvette. She's got the looks and the bite. You'll find her in the top-twenty list for cars that can do 200 mph."

"Wow. You guys have really refined tastes in cars."

"We grew up around these machines. It's the only thing we've become experts at."

"And to think I drove a car without even knowing the name of my engine... So what about Leslie's car? I love that color." Leslie's lemon yellow car zoomed ahead on the right over taking Jett.

"Ford Torino Cobra. Oldie but goodie, it was all the rage in the seventies. It's valuable enough to be the talk of car thieves."

"You don't say," Michelle said with narrow eyes. Brook smiled uncomfortably.

"Anyway... Payton's driving Hennessey Venom. Wicked speed, raging horsepower, and has a seven-figure bill. It's also one of the rarest cars in the world." Michelle's eyes almost fell out.

"That's mind-blowing."

"Impressive, isn't it? But it's got nothing on my Bugatti though the competition is pretty close." Michelle smiled.

"I gotta agree there. This Bugatti is pretty much the sexiest car I've seen. There's something inexplicably attractive about it." she said, observing Brook out of the corner of her eye.

"You've got exquisite taste," Brook replied.

"Thanks. I guess we have that in common." Michelle said with a flirty look.

"Absolutely," Brook said, his eyes watching her through the mirror.

"What about Soriano? I remember seeing one more car back at the base, besides the Infiniti Q50 hybrid stealth car."

"You remembered? You must have some memory."

"Not really. I just happened to be paying attention to you that day."

"I'm flattered. Soriano changes his car every time something better comes along. Right now he has the 2013 Ultimate Aero. It can go at a speed you won't believe and packs a horse-powered punch. It's basically a supercar."

"Can it fly?" Michelle joked.

"If you send it fast enough over a slope, sure." Michelle blinked.

"That was a joke!"

"Yeah but it's true. Besides, you've seen me maneuver my Bugatti over a cliff."

"Right, how could I forget," Michelle said, shaking her head. The radio came on and Jett spoke.

"Guys! We're taking the east road to Mirano. It's longer but safer, just in case any Ghosts are around."

"Got it," Brook answered.

"So this is pretty much a typical lifestyle for you guys, isn't it?" Michelle asked.

"Does it intimidate you?" Brook asked back.

"No... actually, it's quite a rush," Payton spoke when he heard that.

"Don't get used to it, sweetheart. You're no match for this level of road rage."

"That's what you think, Payton. Don't forget, Michelle's the girl who got Brook to jump off a cliff." Paige said.

"Yeah, if she can get Brook to do something that stupid..." Reece trailed off.

"Like Brook wasn't already doing stupid moves before." Payton taunted Brook. Brook turned off the radio in irritation.

"Music?" he asked Michelle.

"Definitely." She replied. The slow tempo of a romantic song filled the car. Michelle smiled at Brook.

"Sets the mood." She said. Brook gave her a wanting look, his hand clasping hers on her lap.

"Agreed." He said.