Chapter Text
Lexa Woods took another look at the casefile that was in front of her, her team had spent months building a workable case and it was up to her to make sure it wasn’t time wasted. There had been a string of car thefts in the Polis area, cars which had then been used in street races or other forms of organised crime, and it was up to Lexa to infiltrate the street racing gang and bring them down from the inside. The police department had set her up with an apartment, a top of the line car, and a history that couldn’t be pulled apart too easily.
She looked at the time on her phone and saw that she had an hour until the street race started, that was supposed to be her way in, a way for her to get herself noticed by the right people. Lexa would be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to it, she’d spent the majority of her teenage years rebuilding classic cars with her sister Anya, cars which they would then race around the empty fields near their home. That love of cars made Anya choose a very different career path to her younger sister. Where Lexa had chosen a career in law enforcement, Anya had taken a very different, less than legal direction. Thankfully Lexa had never had to arrest her sister as she had joined a force on the other side of the country.
With one last look at the casefile, she grabbed the phone that she had been given for the job, her keys and her leather jacket, before leaving the apartment and going to the garage. She really hadn’t believed her boss when he told her what type of car they were giving her, a 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500, basically every street racers wet dream. With a few adjustments, she had managed to get it down to a 4 second car, meaning it went from 0 to 60 in 4.7 seconds, if she’d had a little more time she was sure she could get it down to a flat 4 seconds.
As she started up the car, she couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at her lips.
“I love my job.” Lexa said to herself as she drove out of the garage.
x-x-x-x
Clarke and the rest of the group were standing near their parked cars. Setting up a race in the city was getting tricky, so they had set one up at an old abandoned industrial area. It didn’t bring the same buzz as literally racing on the streets of the city, but the last time an actual street race had been set up one of the drivers nearly took out a pedestrian, so it was safer for everyone. There would obviously still be literal street races, especially when it came to settling scores and disputes, but that wasn’t what this particular night was for.
“Anything here grabbing your interest?” Raven asked as she stood next to Clarke.
“Not really,” Clarke said, looking around at the parked cars, “there’s nothing that jumps out and says ‘take me home’.”
“Well, it’s still early.” Raven replied with a small shrug, “maybe something will turn up.”
“Maybe.” Clarke said with a sigh.
They could all hear the approaching car before they saw it. Clarke and Raven shared a small smile, they both knew that sound.
“Is that…” Octavia started to say.
“1967 Shelby Mustang GT500.” Clarke said, “now that is one car I wouldn’t mind taking home.”
The group turned and watched as the car in question was reversed into a spot not far from them.
“I’m in love…” Raven said as she looked at the car.
“Close your mouth,” Clarke said with a laugh, “you look like you’re catching flies.”
“You think it’s a guy or girl driving it?” Raven asked as she glanced at Clarke before looking back over at the car.
“Guy,” Bellamy said, walking over to them, “definitely a guy.”
x-x-x-x
Lexa didn’t move to get out of her car, she could see three members of the street racing group that she were her targets, and she could see how they were all looking at her car. She got her phone out and sent Lincoln a text telling him she was there. It didn’t take long for her phone to ring.
“Yeah.” She said as she answered her phone.
“You actually sound like you’re having fun already.” Lincoln said with a laugh.
“Have you driven this car?” Lexa asked, the smile back on her lips, “I swear it’s better than the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“TMI Woods, TMI.” Lincoln said, causing Lexa to laugh, “have you seen anyone yet?”
“From where I’m parked up I can see Clarke Griffin, Raven Reyes and Bellamy Blake.” Lexa replied, “the car seems to be having the desired effect because I know they’ve seen me too.”
“Good,” Lincoln said, “a lot of work went into that car.”
“A lot more work needs to go into it,” Lexa pointed out, “I need it to be at least a flat 4 second car if I’m going to be taken seriously.”
“You still have the Infiniti in lock up, right?” Lincoln asked.
“Yeah, but that’s just a base car, needs some work too.” Lexa replied, “trust me Linc, I know cars.”
“I’m aware.” Lincoln said, Lexa could literally hear him rolling his eyes, “you going to race tonight or are you just going to watch?”
“I don’t know yet,” Lexa said, “depends if anything piques my interest.”
“Well, be safe,” Lincoln said, “Indra would kick my ass if you ended up in ER on the first night.”
“I’ll be fine, Lincoln, you worry too much.” Lexa said, a smirk tugging at her lips.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lincoln replied with a sigh, “Call me later, okay?”
“You got it.” Lexa said, before hanging up the phone.
She could see Clarke, Raven and Bellamy walking over to where she was parked.
“Show time.” Lexa said, grabbing her jacket off the passenger seat before opening the door and getting out of the car.
x-x-x-x
“Wow…” Raven muttered as the driver of the car finally got out, “I was not expecting that.”
Clarke’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the brunette put her leather jacket on, before lifting her hair out from underneath it. Clarke couldn’t help but think that the girl belonged in a hair commercial rather than at a street race.
“Stunning.” Clarke said, kicking herself once she heard the words leave her lips, she was sure she had said it in her head.
“Are we still talking about the car?” Raven asked with a smirk.
“Asshole.” Clarke replied, nudging her friend.
“That is too much power for a woman to handle.” Bellamy said as he looked at the brunette.
“Excuse me?” Clarke said, her brow furrowed a little as she looked at him.
“I’m just saying, it’s a…” Bellamy stuttered.
“The amount of times I’ve kicked your ass, you’d think that you would’ve gotten past that sexism issue of yours, Bellamy.” Clarke said, shaking her head as they finally reached the car.
“You’re new.” Raven said, folding her arms across her chest as she eyed the brunette.
“You’re observant.” Lexa replied.
“New to the area or new to the scene?” Clarke asked.
“New to the area.” Lexa said, which wasn’t really a lie, she was based on the other side of Polis, her work as a Detective had never taken her over to this side of the city.
“Clarke Griffin.” Clarke said, holding her hand out.
“Lexa Woods.” Lexa replied, shaking the blonde’s hand, while noticing the looks on the faces around her change.
“Woods?” Raven asked, “Any relation to Anya Woods?”
“She’s my sister.” Lexa said with a nod.
It didn’t really surprise her that these people had heard of her sister, she had quite the name for herself in street racing circuits all around the country.
“Sorry to hear about her accident,” Clarke said, “how’s she doing?”
“She’s healing,” Lexa replied, “slowly.”
“You here to race or just get a feel for the area?” Bellamy asked, eyeing her car more than her, though Lexa could tell by his tone that he was certainly interested in taking her on.
“Haven’t decided yet,” Lexa said, “my contact said it wasn’t mandatory to race tonight.”
“Your contact is right,” Clarke said with a nod, “you could just hang out, get a feel for how we do things here.”
“I might do that.” Lexa said, as she looked at the blonde, “my car still needs a little work, she’s getting to where I want her to be, but she’s not there yet.”
“Can I?” Bellamy asked, motioning to the hood of her car.
Lexa walked over to where Bellamy was standing, stepping between him and the car, before lifting the hood.
“She’s a 5, right?” Bellamy said as he looked at the engine.
“4.7,” Lexa replied, folding her arms across her chest, “on a good day a 4, like I said there’s still some work I need to do.”
“It doesn’t look like you’ve done any work on her,” Bellamy said, glancing up at Lexa, “in fact it doesn’t look like you’ve driven her at all.”
There was something in his tone that irritated Lexa no end, he was challenging her, and Lexa was never one to turn down a challenge.
“You think you can take me?” Lexa asked, her eyebrow arched slightly.
“Ooo,” Clarke said with a laugh, “sounded like a challenge to me.”
“Me too.” Lexa replied, glancing at Clarke, a small smile on her lips.
“What if it was.” Bellamy said as he stood up straight.
“Name your terms.” Lexa replied coldly.
“Pinks.” Bellamy said.
“I don’t know,” Lexa said, dramatically, “I’m pretty attached to this car.”
“Doesn’t have to be that car,” Raven replied, “just another 5 second car.”
“What are you driving?” Lexa asked Bellamy.
He motioned with his head over to his own car. A black Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
“0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds, 563 Horsepower, top speed of 197.” Bellamy said as he looked at his car.
“And you accuse me of not doing any work on my car,” Lexa said with a small laugh, “those are showroom specs.”
Clarke couldn’t stop the laugh at escaped her. A laugh which caused both Bellamy and Lexa to look at her.
“She’s got you there.” Clarke said.
“I’ve only had the car for a week.” Bellamy said, “haven’t really had the time to work on her yet.”
“You win, I get you a 5 second car,” Lexa said, “I win, I get that car.”
“How is that fair?” Bellamy asked.
“I thought you were confident,” Lexa replied, “I mean, you certainly sounded confident, maybe I was mistaken, my bad.”
“Okay,” Bellamy said with a nod, “you’re on.”
“Awesome.” Lexa replied with a small smirk.
x-x-x-x
“If he loses that car, he’s going to be pissed.” Octavia said as she stood with Clarke and Raven at the finish line of the race.
“He shouldn’t lose that car,” Raven replied, “he has a faster 0-60, faster top speed and it’s lighter.”
“What do you think, Clarke?” Octavia asked, looking at the blonde.
“Honestly,” Clarke said, “I have a feeling Bell is going to be looking for a new car.”
“Seriously?” Raven said, her brow furrowed a little, “how did you figure that one?”
“Well, it’s a half mile track,” Clarke replied, “if it was a quarter mile I’m pretty sure he’d beat her, but not at a half mile. You’ve got to remember who her sister is, Anya had most people beat on a half mile.”
“Yeah, till she got clipped and her car span out into a wall.” Octavia muttered.
“You probably shouldn’t bring that up around Lexa.” Clarke said, glancing at Octavia.
x-x-x-x
Lexa sat in the driver’s seat of her car, and rolled her neck until it let out a satisfying pop, she could feel Bellamy looking at her as she revved the vehicle. A smirk tugged at her lips as she looked across at him.
“You’re going down.” He mouthed, causing Lexa’s smirk to grow before she looked back at the dusty track.
Anya’s words were ringing in her head ‘trust the car, feel the car’. As the starter walked out between the two cars, Lexa took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“The rules are simple,” the starter called above the engines, “first one to the finish line wins.”
Lexa and Bellamy looked at each other again as the starter lifted his arms up, before they both looked forwards again as he dropped his arms to his side, indicating the start of the race.
Lexa knew she needed a good start, Bellamy had the faster starting car and the higher top speed, but she knew that she knew how to handle a car. As she took off she could hear Bellamy’s car stall. She couldn’t help but laugh, it was just the boys luck that his car would stall after he had been so overly confident about beating her. Lexa didn’t slow down though, knowing that once he got his car started again he’d be quickly up behind her.
As Lexa took the first corner she glanced in her mirror and saw Bellamy coming up behind her, she still had a little bit of a lead on him though, and slid the car back into the straight before putting her foot down again.
x-x-x-x
“He stalled at the start.” Raven said as word made it down to the finish.
“What a fucking idiot.” Octavia said, shaking her head as Clarke laughed a little, “you’re supposed to support your friends, Clarke.”
“And normally I would,” Clarke replied, glancing at her, “but not this time, he pulled the ‘that’s too much car for a woman’ card again, this time I’m backing Lexa to knock him down a peg or two.”
“My brother is an asshole.” Octavia stated, “we know that.”
“Here they come.” Raven said.
The three of them stood and watched with the rest of the crowd as Lexa took the final slight corner and crossed the line a full 2 seconds ahead of Bellamy.
Octavia groaned as she made her way over to Bellamy’s car, mumbling how he was going to be insufferable for the rest of the night. Raven and Clarke didn’t move. Clarke could feel Raven looking at her.
“What?” Clarke asked.
“I think you’ve found something that you’re interested in taking home.” Raven said, a smirk tugging at her lips, “or should I say someone.”
“Don’t be stupid, Rae.” Clarke said, shaking her head, “we know nothing about her.”
“We know she can drive.” Raven replied, as they watched Lexa get out of her car, “and we know who her sister is. We can call Anya and…”
“I’m not going to run a background check on her, Raven.” Clarke said.
“I was just saying,” Raven said, “we’ve been saying that we need another driver, Clarke, and she’s good.”
“Do you really want to risk bringing someone else in?” Clarke asked.
“We need another driver,” Raven said, “and who better than a Woods.”
Clarke knew Raven was right, they did need another driver. They were getting orders in for top range cars, and a couple of their usual drivers had almost got caught, which increased the heat on all of them from the cops.
“She’s new to the area,” Raven continued, “they aren’t going to know her face.”
“We don’t even know if she’d be interested,” Clarke replied with a sigh, “there’s a bit of a difference between street racing and boosting cars.”
“Talk to her,” Raven said, patting the blonde on the back, “see if you can get a feel for what she’d say. I’m going to go and console Bellamy.”
Clarke nodded a little as Raven walked away, before she walked over to where Lexa was now standing leaning against her car, a very smug smirk on her lips.
“Looks like someone enjoyed that.” Clarke said as she walked over, the small group around Lexa and the car parting to let her through.
“He’s going to say it wasn’t fair because his car stalled.” Lexa replied.
“Driver error,” Clarke said with a shrug, “nobody to blame but himself.”
“Is he going to see it that way though?” Lexa asked as she looked at Clarke.
“Those are the rules,” Clarke replied, “though I think even if he hadn’t stalled he still wouldn’t have won.”
A low murmer sounded around the small gathered group as Bellamy pushed his way through, from the look on his face it was easy to tell he really wasn’t happy.
“That…” he started to say.
“Don’t even think about saying that wasn’t a fair race,” Clarke said, interrupting him, “if Lexa had stalled you’d expect her to abide by the results, so you do the same.”
Bellamy knew not to argue with Clarke, it was pretty well known in street racer circles that she was the head of their group, whatever she said went.
“You can pick the car up tomorrow from Raven’s garage.” Bellamy said before pushing his way back through the group, getting in the car and leaving.
“Does someone want to tell me where Raven’s garage is?” Lexa asked, shaking her head slightly before she looked at Clarke.
The blonde pulled a business card out of her inside pocket, holding it out to the brunette.
“Thanks.” Lexa said, taking the card and putting it in her pocket.
“Any time after 10,” Clarke said, “though I think Bellamy will probably drag this out as long as possible.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Lexa replied with a small laugh, “he really wasn’t happy.”
“Oh well.” Clarke said, a small smirk tugging at her lips, “there’s something I’d like to talk to you about, if you’re interested.”
“Depends,” Lexa said, with a smirk of her own, “are you about to ask me out on a date?”
Clarke was shocked into silence, she was usually pretty good at coming up with a quick come back, but for some reason in the short amount of time that she had been around Lexa she had come to realise that any hopes of a quick comeback were completely out of the question, it seemed that the brunette just had that effect on her. The blush crept up Clarke’s neck as Lexa let out a laugh.
“I actually have a job offer for you.” Clarke said, knowing by this point even the tips of her ears would be red, “but I can easily take it back if you’re just going to be a smartass about it.”
“I’m sorry,” Lexa said as she tried to stop herself from laughing anymore, “that was just too easy.”
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Clarke asked, sighing and shaking her head slightly.
“I’ll be there.” Lexa replied with a nod.
Lexa couldn’t believe how easy it had been, mentally she told herself it was too easy, but at least she had a starting point. She couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her as Clarke nearly tripped over her own feet as she walked away.
“Fuck you, asshole.” The blonde called back to Lexa.
“Too easy, Griffin,” Lexa replied, “too easy.”