Catalyst

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Dinah Jane doesn't lose. Someday, people would recognize that. But until then, she doesn't mind having a little fun.

Gripping the steering wheel of her car, she revs the engine and looks left towards her opponent. He appears to be a year or two younger than her, and she finds herself smirking at the fearful look in his eyes. She is so going to win this. Whoever this kid is, he doesn't stand a chance.

Ahead, a pretty girl in a short skirt and cropped top steps between their two cars. She waves a gun towards the sky, jutting her hip to the left. Dinah winks at her, causing the girl to smirk. Well, now Dinah has to win.

When the gun goes off, Dinah's heart jolts alongside the car beneath her. The rush that courses through her veins has her hooting to herself, her eyes bright with energy as she inches farther away from the kid in the other car.

Dinah had put her heart and soul into keeping this car in tip-top shape. Her father, the previous champion before he had a terrible accident a few years back, had taught her everything she knew about cars. They'd taken apart and put together so many vehicles Dinah couldn't even count. They were some of her fondest memories... And she put a lot of pride into any work she did on them now. She wants to make him proud. It's the reason she hasn't lost a single race.

The opposing team was one that had been trying to beat her for two years now. She'd faced many members of their crew several times over, but today they'd decided to switch it up. She can't help but have a strange feeling about their motives for putting her against this kid, but she doesn't have time to focus on it too hard right now. She needs to focus on winning.

Dinah can see the finish line not that far off, and she hollers with an unnamed joy that only comes from racing.

Her eyes waver from the prize momentarily when something glimmers in the moonlight, her attention becoming drawn to an anomaly in the middle of the road. Her eyes widen when she realizes what it is, shouting, "Shit!"

A trap had been laid on her end of the road, one that she knew would definitely blow her tires and send her spiraling. Her mind is too thrown off to react properly, she knows. But she can't fight the panic that settles into her.

Dinah pulls the wheel to the left, her tires squeaking with the unwelcome movement. Everything around her seems to slow down.

The impact of her car with the kid's beside her. The sudden jerk of her body. The sharp pain in her right side. The feeling of gravity tugging on her from all directions as her car tumbles.

The last thing she registers is the sound of sirens in the distance before she loses consciousness completely.

-

Dinah's eyes shoot open and she takes in a sharp breath. She doesn't jump. Doesn't scream. Doesn't cry. She just stares at the ceiling above her. There was a time, back when she had first been brought here, that she showed that weakness she was holding back in this very moment. But she would never let anyone see that side of her ever again. She couldn't risk it.

Slowly, she rises from her bed and pushes her blanket aside. She glances at Lucy still asleep in the bed next to her before tugging her shirt up to double check that her scar is still simply that... a scar. She could feel it burning with the memory of her accident, and she just needs to make sure it was just a dream haunting her mind.

Her eyes run over the long, pale line that traces down her right side. Her mind races back to being in the hospital and waking up to the news that she had been impaled during her accident. It was nothing compared to her opponent, who died from the impact. Faulty airbag mixed with the complete destruction that came from t-boning Dinah's vehicle...