Disclaimer - If you recoginize anything, then I do not own it. Anything Zelda related belongs to Nintendo while Need for Speed belongs to EA Games & whoever else owns it.

Summary - AU Link & Sheik are just 2 good ole boys living in Hyrule, who have the uncanny knack of getting into trouble. What happens when they meet a police chief who is just as cunning as them? Even more trouble of course. This fic will eventually contain male/male relationships so if you don't like Yaoi then don't read or review! I don't tolerate flames on the matter when you have been warned. Some characters may be OOC & Sheik is his own person in this fic. Almost forgot; Link is 16, Sheik is 18.

Author's Note - This fic is sort of a mix of Need for Speed & the Dukes of Hazard. This idea buried itself in my head one morning after watching an old episode of Dukes of Hazard & then playing Need for Speed Underground 2. Hyrule City is laid out like Bayville in NfSU2 & w/h characters from the entire series of games.

Need for Speed
by
Astera Snape

Chapter One - The Boys in Green

The smell of rubber burning on the pavement was intoxicating. He knew it was forbidden but he couldn't help himself. He was addicted to it more than any drug and one day it may cost his life. He couldn't help that he was a speed junkie. He knew the thrill was not worth the price he would eventually pay for his obsession. He had tried to quit himself of this drug but it was a useless endeavor. He was too deep into the scene and he was way too addicted to the thrill it gave him.

"He's gaining on us," his companion stated as he glanced at the flashing lights coming from the police car that was in pursuit, "if you don't lose Mido soon, we are going to be caught and thrown into jail again. Mom is going to be pissed if she has to bail us out. That is if she can or will. Do you remember her warning from the last time?"

"I remember," the driver sighed as his attention turned back to the road. He took a sharp left turn onto a busy street as he swerved in and out of traffic before adding, "but do not worry. Mido is not going to catch us."

"Watch it!" his companion shouted as he got a little too close to the wall on the passenger's side of the car as he drove into a tunnel, "if you keep driving like a maniac, we won't have to worry about ending up in a jail cell. We'll end up in the morgue and we'll be dead."

"Have faith, Sheik," he smirked as they got onto the expressway, "that bungling oaf is not going to catch me tonight or do I feel like dying. You need to have more faith my Sheikah companion."

"How can anyone have faith with your driving?!" Sheik smirked and then moaned, "I knew I should have drove tonight."

Sheik closed his eyes and gripped the dashboard tightly as Link grinned from the expression beneath the wraps around his face. He could hear Sheik reciting a prayer to Din as he chuckled at his friend's lack of faith in his driving. His childhood friend, Mido had only caught him once before and that was not going to change now. He looked in his rearview mirror and still saw the flashing blue lights. Mido had not given up the chase yet which only made the grin grow wider on his face. Link loved a challenge even if Sheik did not and whether Mido wanted it, he had one.

"Oh Din," Sheik muttered as Link pressed the gas pedal and the car sped up considerably.

He darted in and out of traffic as his Sheikah companion continued to recite his prayers to the Triad. He only got louder as Link sped the car up. He couldn't help it but he had to get away from the deputy that was in pursuit. Mido was a good driver but did not have the talent that he possessed behind a wheel. It was only a matter of time before he lost him.

The ringing of a phone snapped him out of his thoughts as Sheik looked at the small device sitting in a cup holder. Link hated that ring tone and had ask his companion to change it several times but for some reason, Sheik had not. He liked the Nocturne of Shadow since it had to do with his heritage and Link believed he kept it just to irritate him. The color drained from Sheik's face when he saw the number. Even Link gulped since he now knew who was on the other end and hoped to hell it wasn't her but him instead.

"Impa or Oni?" he mouthed as Sheik nodded at the first name but shook his head at the second.

"Oh f-," he murmured as Sheik answered the phone with an uneasy and quiet hello; only to hear a female voice shouting in reply.

Link heard his name along with several other obscenities and shivered. They were definitely going to get it when they got home as the caller was now shouting in Sheik's native tongue. Impa sounded even more intimidating in Sheikah than she did in Hylian and for once he was glad that he had not answered the phone. He cringed just hearing the obscenities that she was shouting at Sheik.

"She wants to speak to you," Sheik murmured, looking totally defeated as he held up an ear piece so he would not have to fumble with the actual phone.

"I'm trying to drive," he protested, hoping that would get Impa off of his back but there was no such thing as luck when she was concerned, "I can't talk and drive at the same time. I may wreck the car."

"I don't care," came the cold reply from the receiver of the phone as he gulped knowing that she had overheard.

Link hated trying to talk on the phone and drive at the same time as they raced along the expressway at speeds way above the limit posted. He didn't need a distraction with Mido in pursuit and he briefly wondered how she had found out about their current situation. The first person who came to mind was Telma. She had probably ratted the two of them out or it could have been Nabooru. She was still pissed that she had lost two grand to him in that drag race. Either way it did not matter, they were in serious trouble.

"Let's trade places," Sheik suggested, wanting to get behind the wheel of the car and drive them to safety before Link killed them.

It was very obvious that he wanted to survive the night and if they got over the bridge and into Zoran Hills they were safe from Mido since he had no jurisdiction there. He wasn't allowed to follow since the Zoras had their own police force and tended to side with the street racers rather than the Hylian police in their neighboring district. Sometimes it was a good thing that they lived near the Zoras, who turned a blind eye to the Sheikah and some of their more questionable activities.

With a lot of maneuvering on both of their parts and with some contortions that would have made anyone who practiced yoga jealous, Sheik and Link managed to trade places without losing control of the car. Sheik looked more comfortable behind the wheel as he adjusted the mirrors and seat to fit his taller frame. Link eyed the phone wearily since Impa was still on the line waiting for him. It was better to confront her now than waiting until they got home.

"Yes, obasan," he replied in a cheery tone as he heard a deep intake of breath and then a mild curse. Impa didn't consider herself old enough to be called by such a title especially by him since she knew most of the time he was joking and didn't mean it out of respect but as a tease about her age.

"What in Din's name did you think you were doing?!" she shouted, almost making him go deaf in his right ear, "I told both you and Sheik to stay out of the city and you both went and intentionantly disobeyed me. Wait until the two of you get home. You are going to wish that you were sitting in a jail cell rather than face me."

The blood drained from Link's face from that threat since he knew Impa meant it. He half-wondered if Malon would give them sanctuary on her father's ranch in Goron Heights. Was it really worth returning home to only be punished even more?

"And I wouldn't even think about finding refuge elsewhere," Impa warned, easily reading his thoughts as he shivered, "because I will come and find you. Then your punishment will be even worse."

Link gulped and simply nodded even though Impa could not see. He was as good as dead since he was the one who had convinced Sheik to participate in that illegal sprint through the city. They both had thought it was easy bank to earn but not if you had to face a smouldering Impa upon one's return home.

"I'll be seeing you two shortly," she added abruptly before she hung up without even a good-bye.

"Oh Farore," Link whispered as he handed Sheik his phone that he placed somewhere in his blue pullover, "we are in trouble."

"Mom is really pissed," Sheik added as Link noticed that the distance between them and Mido had considerably increased.

He would never admit to anyone that there were advantages to driving less reckless than he had been. The great bridge that spanned the waters of Lake Hylia was lying before them. All they had to do was get over that bridge and they were safe from Mido but it was not going to be easy since Mido's backup had arrived and was attempting to box them in. Link had to admit that under pressure, Sheik was the better driver since he could control the car when the police would try to spin it out of control with a tap from behind. He knew how to steer in the direction of a skid and regain control.

Link figured that it had something to do with genetics since Impa could drive anything with four wheels just as well. She was the one who had taught the two of them to drive but it was obvious that Sheik was more experienced since he had actually paid attention to her lessons about defensive driving. She after all had experience outrunning the police when she use to make runs into the city with moonshine for Telma during that bout of Prohibition several years before.

Sheik shouted in truimph as the car skidded to a safe stop in Zoran Hills. Mido and his fellow officers could only stop and stare at the pair on the bridge without entering the territory as they cheered and high-fived the other.

"See you later!" Link taunted as he climbed out and sat on the window before Sheik sped away to give Mido the finger. The latter only made a face and yelled something back that could not be repeated in civilized society.

"That was totally unnecessary," Sheik added, once they were safely away and headed to Kakariko Village where they lived, "it is just going to make him even more determined to catch us the next time we meet. I wish you would get over these childish grudges."

"Mido made my life a living hell as a kid," Link fumed, "you are not the one who had to deal with that idiotic Kokiri day in and day out. If it wasn't for Saria and her relationship to him, I would have beaten him to a pulp by now but she is fond of him. After all, they are cousins."

Link said the last few words in a high pitched voice as he mimicked his other best friend. He wasn't able to visit Saria often and had to rely on e-mail or the phone. He had lived in Kokiri Forest for the first nine years of his life until the sudden disappearance of his father in the Lost Woods just six months after the death of his mother. Since he did not have any other living relatives, he had been sent to Impa, who was a very distant relation on his father's side.

Since that initial meeting, the two boys had become close. They were closer than friends but less intimate than lovers. He guessed you could define it as a brotherly type of relationship, even though Sheik's feelings for the younger went much deeper but now was not the time to ponder pursuing a relationship. He had an irate mother to face and he dreaded going home. What had he done to deserve this fate he did not know but a brief look at his companion made the anger melt away and the corners of his mouth twitch.

It was times like this when he was glad he wore the scarf since it pretty much hid his facial expressions. He wondered if Link did it on purpose but the younger was still ranting cutely about Mido so he knew otherwise. Link always loved to tease him about smiling since he did not do it often.

"Time to face the devil," Sheik thought as he grimaced, wondering what type of punishment his mother had planned for them. Knowing Impa as well as he did, he knew it was going to be something much worse than spending a night in jail. He cringed just thinking about it as he listened to Link rant the rest of the way home.

tbc

R & R