PoV: Not-Megan

I pulled out of the parking lot, acting completely normal and casual. I'm definitely not about to leave this building, then start breaking all the basic rules of driving. Hey, stop being sarcastic. You need to focus. I scolded myself, driving towards the exit.

"So far your world is boring." Kaylee noted.

"True. I need to make sure that the other Civic gets all the attention while we leave. It is quite likely they have one or two of their other agents by the exit, who we will have to make sure don't catch us," I said, taking a deep breath as I approached the exit ramp.

"Why do you seem nervous?" Kaylee frowned at me.

Storms, she knows me too well. Well, if she's coming with me, I can't afford to keep her in the dark. "Well, I've never been in a car chase outside of training. It's never come up in a mission before."

"Is now a good time to ask what you've been training for, and why you've been on missions?"

"Not really," I said, "Once we get off the ramp I'll likely accelerate very quickly, assuming they have a car or two watching the exit. So prepare yourself for that."

"Just so I don't get it wrong, how do I prepare for that?" She asked, looking pale.

"Relax your muscles. It will minimize any damage to them as I take corners and such." I answered shortly.

She nodded, still looking scared, but focused, "Is there anything I can do to help as you drive?"

"Let me know where our persurants are when I ask," I said, driving down the ramp, "And let me know the moment you see or hear any police sirens."

"Do you think they'll call the police to help them catch us?" she asked,

"They'd be idiots not to," I said, stopping at the end of the ramp, using the mirrors to look around for the cars following us, "See anything?" I asked Kaylee.

"Nope," she said slowly, "Do you think we gave them the slip?"

"I don't know," I inched the car forwards, then shrugged my shoulders, "Well, all we can do is drive forwards now."

I pushed the gas pedal down gently, and moved in with the evening traffic.

"I found the Corolla," Kaylee sounded panicky.

"Where?" I asked firmly. I knew that I could not panic visibly, as that would fuel Kaylee's fear, which would help neither of us. Though the CIA agents would probably be thankful for it. I thought.

"Behind us. They pulled out of an alleyway between buildings back there." She answered. It seemed like she was trying to mimic my tone.

Good, she's trying to keep a level head. If she wasn't, well, we'd be screwed. I thought, then got back to the more important matter of the people following us. I glanced at the rear view mirror, and saw the Corolla weaving in and out of the traffic, about two cars behind us. And about three cars back was the Sentra, also working to catch up with us.

I took a deep breath, scanning the area ahead. We approached an intersection just as the light was swapping from amber to red.

"Turning sharply." I warned Kaylee, hitting the gas pedal hard and taking a left, despite being in the wrong lane to do so.

"Gak!" Kaylee said as she slide into her window, "Ow."

"Sorry." I said quickly, weaving between cars and going way over the speed limit.

"Why aren't you slowing down?" Kaylee asked.

"Car chase, remember? Anyways, I don't think they are slowing down either." I said, checking the mirrors again.

Sure enough, the two cars were still behind us, and catching up quick.

"How many cars back are they?" I asked, returning my focus to what was in front of us.

Kaylee turned to look behind us, "About three or four cars."

I nodded, eyeing the upcoming intersection. Which way to go? If I take the left, and risk the long straightaway, that'll get us across the river, which means less civilians around.

"Kaylee, we are going left again. I'm going to try to get us across the river, which means we have a fairly long straightaway to deal with after the turn. Keep sharp for me." I said.

"Acknowled- oh storms. Flashy police lights up ahead. Turning looks very appealing."

"Calamity!" I swore, "Thanks for letting me know."

"You're welcome. And your world is getting a lot less boring very rapidly." She sounded very tense.

I smiled despite myself, "Yep, this is the fun part. Turning again." I spun the wheel quickly, feeling my grin widen as I got the car to drift around the corner.

Kaylee winced at the sound of the burning rubber, and leaned forward to put on the recirculation for the air conditioning.

"Good idea," I said to her, "That probably isn't the last corner I'll be taking like that." I pushed down harder on the gas pedal, swerving around the other vehicles, while getting honked at by said vehicles.

"The police are following us." Kaylee's voice was much higher pitched than normal.

"How many?" I continued make sure I sounded calm.

She turned around again to look, "Two, wait, no, it's three. And I don't see the other cars anymore."

"That makes sense," I mused, "If there police are here, then they would want to leave it up to the them, so no one suspects that the CIA was involved." As soon as I realized what I said I winced.

Questions began bubbling out of Kaylee,"Wait, what? CIA? Is that what you are? Did you go rogue on them?"

"Me? CIA? Storms, no! And I'm definitely not rouge. I would never betray my organization and country like that." I checked the rearview mirrors and saw that the police cars were catching up quickly. I pulled in front of a pick-up truck, using its size to hide us from the police cars following us.

"You're part of an organization? At age fourteen?" Kaylee looked very confused and overwhelmed.

"I can't explain it right now. Once we've successfully evaded these police, then I can explain." I looked up ahead, and saw that we were coming up on another intersection that had just turned red.

Kaylee accepted my answer, "Fine. I just have one more question. If your name isn't Megan, what should I call you?"

I took a deep breath, preparing to go through the traffic in the intersection as I answered her question, "My name is Julia. I'm sorry about the deceit, but it was necessary. I hope you can forgive me." Emotions began to surface inside me - fear, sadness, hope, - but I shoved them back down, focusing on the task at hand.

"I think I can do tha- what are doing?" Kaylee yelled, cutting herself off as I drove through the intersection, weaving through the traffic. I misjudged the distance between two cars, causing a Lexus to slam on the brakes, but that wasn't enough. The car's front bumper hit the side of our car, shoving us to the side.

I swore, turning the car left trying to compensate, but we still went up on the sidewalk. I managed to move the car back on the road, narrowly avoiding hitting a parked car.

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Kaylee shrieked.

"According to my last psych exam, I am completely sane, thank you for your concern." I answered distractedly.

"That's not what I meant, but okay."

Traffic was thinning as we moved towards the river, but the foot traffic was getting more intense with couples and families wandering around, enjoying the river and the night life. The near collision back at the last intersection had held up the police, but there was likely to be more nearby.

"Kaylee, look out for more police. Especially as we cross the river, all right?" I said, looking ahead at the next set of traffic lights, trying to estimate the timing of what colour it would be when we got there.

"Okay... Julia." She said, trying out the name.

A spike of excitement hit me as she finally used my name. My real name. Then she asked the question I was dreading.

"What's your last name?"

I laughed nervously, "Um... yeah, least get to that later."

"Why? It's just a name." She asked curiously, narrowing her eyes.

"Just a- yeah, the thing is that I have a pretty good idea what your reaction will be, and now would be a horrible time for that type of reaction. So I'll answer that question later." I said, realizing I was only fueling her curiosity. Oh well, I'll deal with that later. I thought.

She sighed in annoyance, looking out the window.

Suddenly a police car came around the corner, blocking the upcoming intersection.

I swore, making Kaylee glare at me, until she looked ahead as well.

"Calamity!" She yelled, eyes wide.

I swerved into the other lane, against the traffic. The way was clear, until a truck turned down the road heading right at us.

More swearing ensued, and yet again, time seemed to slow down as I turned the wheel to the right slightly, aiming down the middle of the road. I could see that it was a tight fit, and my brain had enough time to process that we would hit at least one of the cars, but not enough time to do anything about it.

We continued forwards, right on course to hit the front of the police car.

The truck turned out of our way, and I automatically turned to use the extra room.

Next thing I knew, we had passed the police car unscathed, and were taking the time to slight turn onto the bridge across the river, and towards a tunnel.

"Wow," Kaylee said, her hand pressed against her chest, "I thought we were done for."

I nodded, my throat dry, "Me too."

Kaylee glanced behind us, then turned back quickly, "They're following us. About four cars."

"Joy and happiness," I said dryly, "At least we'll be out of downtown after we cross the river, so there will be less civilians to avoid."

"Am I a civilian?" Kaylee asked quickly.

I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped myself, replying with, "I'll discuss that later."

"When is this later?" she grumbled impatiently as we entered the tunnel.

"When I don't have to focus on keeping us alive and out of jail," I answered quickly, moving into the other lane, pushing the gas pedal down as hard as I could.

Kaylee frowned, "Do you realize you are in the wrong lane?" she asked hesitantly, then yelped, pointing at the car that has just entered the tunnel in front of us, lighting the tunnel up with flashing blue and red lights.

I kept the car going straight, right at the police car.

Kaylee looked nervous, "Is playing chicken really our best option?"

"It'll get us past him," I said shortly. Just before I began to move out of the way, the police car dodged out of the way.

"Yes!" Kaylee pumped her fist, "That was awesome!"

I grinned, but was also trying to think of our next move. As we crossed the bridge on the other side, I saw a more police cars coming down the road in front of us.

I took a deep breath, then yanked the steering wheel to the right, making the car drift as we turned into a parking lot. Turning the car left to follow the road in the parking lot, I then speed the car up, going far faster than a normal person would ever go in a parking lot.

I saw the police lights moving towards the two exits of the parking lot, including the one we'd used to enter.

"You have a plan, right?" Kaylee checked.

"Yeah, but now is when you need to make sure you're relaxed." I said hastily.

"I don't know how well I'll be able to do right now- oh please no!"

I turned the car slightly, using the sidewalk that lead to the traffic lights to leave the parking lot. We smashed through, ruining some bushes, and knocking over a sign.

"That was much less awesome," Kaylee moaned as we turned left, heading down a backstreet. Then she looked around seeming concerned, "Meg- gah, Julia, this is a dead end. There is a barrier up ahead."

"What kind of- oh, that kind," I said, seeing what she was talking about, "No problem."

We crashed through the barrier almost as soon as I'd finished speaking. Kaylee screamed, making me wince.

We had entered another parking lot, which would hopefully let us cut across to Mallon Avenue, assuming I remembered the map correctly. I slowed the car down, realizing that rushing through here and taking a wrong turn was a very bad idea.

"Can you watch out for cops?" I asked Kaylee.

"Yeah, sure," Kaylee said distractedly, "I have decided that I'd rather watch car chases then participate. Though I'm not getting out." She added quickly.

"Okay, we'll make it work." I said, glancing up through the windshield. That's odd. They really should have a helicopter out by now... I thought, confused but relieved.

"Where are we heading?" Kaylee asked, while looking around constantly, making the volume of her voice jump around.

"Nowhere yet. We need to lose these guys, and ditch the car," I explained, "We will never get away if they know exactly what we are driving."

"Right..." Kaylee nodded slowly, "Any ideas how to achieve that?"

"A couple." I answered shortly, looking for the way out. Finally, I spotted the 'pay here' sign for parking, and drove over quickly.

I glanced over to the right as we drove out, looking at the Riverside Park. Kaylee and I- no, Kaylee and Megan - had hung out there a lot during the end of the summer. I turned back to the road, shoving those happy memories away. I could not afford to be distracted from our escape.

"We're going to speed up again. Brace yourself." I warned Kaylee.

She nodded, and I hit the gas.

A couple seconds later, Kaylee yelped, "Police! Behind us! They came from around the corner!"

"Understood," I said quickly, glancing in the rearview mirrors. The cars were way too come for comfort. I groaned, "Kaylee, this will be a full out sprint till we get to the bridge. And any victory will be a close one."

"Just go!" Kaylee ordered.

Her tone triggered something in me, and I focused, holding the pedal down, checking the mirrors if the police were preparing to shoot, and watching if I needed to swerve around anyone.

Luckily, this road was clear, except for a couple parked cars on the sides. We raced by, running another red light, but thankfully there was no one to collide with. I glanced at Kaylee, and was surprised to see a huge grin on her face.

I looked back to the road as we continued to speed by the brick buildings. Finally, we reached the major intersection that would take us back across the river. Other cars were all over, and there were a couple in front of us, stopping us from continuing.

"Calamity!" I hissed, slowing slightly as I swung the car into the other lane, then hit the gas again, turning sharply to the left.

"I agree completely." Kaylee noted, her voice high-pitched yet again.

I smiled for a second, then checked the mirrors. The police were maybe a full car length behind us.

"The police are really close, aren't they?" Kaylee asked, glancing behind.

"Yes, but we just need to get to the bridge," I said, silently begging the car to go faster.

Kaylee turned back around, "What happens at the bridge?"

"Hopefully a car crash."

"I... try not to hope for car crashes." Kaylee noted.

"Okay." I said, distracted by the traffic, which was getting heavier. Thankfully, the police sirens were getting cars to move, but I was also trying to move into the crowd of cars, which took a lot of swerving and concentration.

We began to pull ahead ever so slightly, just as we got onto the bridge. Suddenly the police sirens were a lot less effective, as there was no shoulder to pull over to. I moved the Civic through the cars, weaving in and out. Then I saw my opening, and moved into over to the other lanes. Cars began honking and swerving around us. Kaylee ducked, and a part of me wanted to lecture her on how ducking did nearly nothing to protect her. I swerved around as well, but stayed in the wrong lanes.

Then I heard the crunching sound I'd been listening for. Checking the mirrors, I saw that a pileup had been started. I smirked, noting that the police had either participated in, or been blocked by the pileup.

A grouchy looking Kaylee emerged, "You could have mentioned that we wouldn't be in the car crash!" She complained.

"Um, sorry. I didn't really have a chance. Driving in a car chase takes a lot of focus," I said, then swore, seeing some incoming police cars, "Kaylee, my backpack is at your feet. Open it." I ordered.

"Okay..." she said slowly, opening it, "What am I looking for?"

"A closed up paper towel roll with a string poking out of the top," I said quickly, trying to guess how much time we had, "And hurry!"

She dug through the bag quicker, frowning at different things. Then she pulled it out, "Eureka!"

"Great," I said, taking a hand off the wheel to pull a lighter out of my pocket and hand it to her, "You have to light the string, and throw those at those police cars when I tell you to. Understand?"

She nodded, but looked uncertain, "What are they?"

"Smoke bombs." I estimated that it seemed like we might be able to get the timing right, but I needed to get these questions out of Kaylee's system as quickly as possible. And of course she had another one.

"Why do you have smoke bombs in your backpack?" She demanded.

"To help in this sort of situation," I answered quickly, the police about six car lengths away, "All right, light the fuse." I said, rolling down her window.

Hair whipping around her face, she managed to light the fuse.

"Throw in Three," I shouted over the wind, "Two, One!"

She threw it, banging her arm on the window in the process.

The smoke began billowing out seconds after it left her hand. By the time in landed, we had some good smoke cover in front of us.

I turned the car, talking a hard left at the Y intersection, then pulling into a parallel parking spot, and shutting off the engine.

I closed my eyes, trying calm my pounding heart. Well, I have now been in a car chase. At least that's something productive for me to tell Tata about. I thought, a grin breaking onto my face. I opened my eyes, and looked over at Kaylee. She looked both delighted and bewildered.

I took a deep breath, checking behind us for police.

Suddenly two police cars turned down the road.

"Get down!" I hissed while ducking.

Eyes wide, Kaylee followed my example.

We crouched there for a couple seconds as the police passed us. Slowly I sat up, looking to see if they had truly passed us. Confirming that they had, I nodded to Kaylee.

She sat up, "So, are we safe now?"

"For a little while, but we'll have to ditch the car as soon as we can. For now we need to get out of downtown." I answered, still tense from the chase.

"But the car chase is done?" Kaylee asked.

I nodded, "Yes, for now."

"So... how about answering some of my questions that are slowly driving me crazy?"

I smiled at her, "I'll do you one better, I'll answer everything that I can. If you are committed to coming with me, then I won't have you uninformed."

"Really?" Kaylee looked surprised, "Okay, first question, can I drive? After that insanity, I'd like to be in control of the car for a bit."

"I don't know..." I said thoughtfully, "That's a really hard one. You are getting at the deep secrets there."

She glared at me, "Oh, cut it out!"

A/N There! Car chase. What do you think? Is it good? Interesting? Funny? Horrible? Is there a completely different word you would use?
As usual, please let me know how I'm doing by either commenting, voting, or PMing me. And feel free to share this with your friends!
I have an an exciting observation/update about this story to share, which is in my book, Bulletin Board. It will be the most recent chapter there.
I'll share more story next week! Talk to you then!