4338.211 · July 30, 2018 AD
Adrenaline Reset
Soaked and bleeding, Sarah calls in forensics whilst struggling with unwanted attraction to Karl despite justified anger. When dispatch reports speeding cars near Collinsvale, adrenaline slices through pain and complexity—a welcome escape. Karl reluctantly abandons the blood trail, instincts screaming they're walking away from answers. But as two cars race past and the pursuit ignites, they rediscover their rhythm: power slides, airborne moments, catching number plates through torrential rain. The chase has always been their common ground.
The aftermath settles like mud. Sarah sits bleeding, calling forensics, fighting unwanted attraction as Karl approaches through rain. Wet fabric clings to muscle. Desire betrays justified anger. Then the radio crackles—drag racing, high speed, exactly where they are. Adrenaline resets everything.
Karl trudges from the cottage, instincts screaming they're abandoning breakthrough. But Sarah's already moving, decision made. He takes the driver's seat. Their ritual. Their rhythm restored.
Two vehicles scream past like missiles. Karl's foot hits accelerator before thought. Power slide, correction, siren wailing. Sarah grabs radio, transformation complete—for the first time in days, genuine smile. Unfiltered exhilaration.
The pursuit narrows focus to red taillights flickering through grey chaos. Karl navigates rises that send them airborne, landing with bone-jarring force, rear wheels breaking traction. Sarah braces, catches him watching her mid-pursuit—really Karl? Right now?—snaps him back to focus. They hit another rise. Brief weightlessness. She catches the number plate, fingers flying across the terminal whilst the car bucks beneath them.
Visibility deteriorates. Rain cascading in sheets. The lead car makes violent right turn onto Collins Cap Road, churning mud that obliterates their windscreen. Karl drives blind for heart-stopping seconds, steering by memory and feel.
They're committed now. Deep into storm, deep into chase. The fractured partnership remembers: this is where they work.
