The low rumble of the engine echoed in Pete's ears as he sped down the road. Thankfully, Jet had forgotten the keys outside when he ran in looking for Kobra, and Pete, after grabbing them, hopped in the nearest car and didn't think as he started down the path lined with dirt and sand.

It had been years since Pete sat in the driver's seat of a car. Now, with his fingers wrapped around the plastic steering wheel and his foot all the way down on the pedal, he heard Patrick's sure and familiar voice telling him to slow down, to call a cab instead, to let him take over, that his breath reeked and his hands were shaking and that goddamnit, he should just pull over already. But the dunes raced by still and his foot remained flat on the gas pedal. And though the shaking didn't recede, it gave him comfort to know it was only from nerves, and not his condition, as his friends had so kindly labeled it.

Shaking the memories away, Pete steeled his features, tensed his arms, and focused on the road ahead.

Focused on getting to Kobra.

~~~

In Kobra's rush to leave, he had forgotten to check the gas mileage on the Jeep. This was an issue because now, only nine miles from base, he was leaning over the cashier's counter at a gas station, trying to convince Travis, as written on the cashier's name tag, not to report him to the authorities.

And to let him get the gas for free, as he had also forgotten to grab some currency.

When friendliness and flirting eventually and expectedly failed, Kobra turned to his most trusted friend: his gun.

As expected, the moment Kobra whipped the weapon out and pressed the muzzle to the bridge of the man's glasses, he threw his arms up in surrender. After some slight threatening that if he told anyone what had happened here, Kobra would find him and finish the job, he was unlocking the car door and sliding into the hot leather seat.

Normally, he wouldn't have acted this way — brash and scary — but stress had broken him, and he had no patience for formalities anymore. He had to do this. He had to.

Kobra rested his wrists on the edge of the steering wheel and shut his eyes, breathing shakily as each precious second ticked by.

"So what exactly was the plan?"

Startled by the voice, Kobra spun around while simultaneously drawing his gun. But to his surprise, the man in the passenger's seat was not a foe, but a friend.

"Damn it, Pete." After cursing, Kobra exhaled and relaxed a bit. "What are you doing here? How did you even find me?"

"Honestly, I don't really know. I just followed the road until I saw the car. It wasn't too hard to figure out what was happening. Now, what are you doing?"

Holstering the gun, Kobra sighed. "Getting rid of those no-good pieces of shit who hurt Gerard." He didn't even care about codenames or masks or secrets today.

"Oh, really?" Pete's eyebrows rose halfway to his hairline.

"Yes, really." Kobra snapped. He had no time for this. "Go back to base, Pete. Now." No time, no time. Every minute sitting there was another minute they lived.

"Ha! Ironic coming from you. Did you know that Jet and Ghoul are worried sick about you? They don't know what the hell happened to you! I mea—"

"Wait, wait, wait. You didn't tell them?"

"I- well, no." Pete looked away, as if guilty about something. Whatever. No time.

"Perfect! Alright, fine. You're coming with me. But you have to do everything I say. Got it?"

"What? No! No, I do not 'got it'! You can't just—"

Kobra flew down the road, the roaring engine drowning out Pete's protests. "Oh, but I can."

——
645 words
January 7, 2020
——

Short chapter, I know. Ah, I'd say I'm sorry but I'm kind of not lol, it had to be done.

Anyways, yeah, Kobra's "fine", so yay.

In other words, school started up again this week, so I'm super busy and mega-stressed, so don't expect too much activity from me for a little bit, sorry!

Hope you're doing great and that you enjoyed! Also, hey! please always feel free to tell me how I can improve with this stuff and things like that. Like, what'd you think? Okay that's all I got for you for now. I gotta sleep lol.

Byeee!