The Secrets Beneath

by Litl A

The past comes back to haunt the Team. But whose past is it?

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Disclaimer: You know the deal...no one belongs to me, except my original characters. You'll meet one at the end of the chapter. The other you'll meet later on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just in case no one noticed: this was a previously posted fic, but it is being rewritten. So, enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the twenty-first of September and Mother Nature had decided to bring Hell to the Earth in the form of a heat wave. An "Indian Summer" some might call it, to others it was Hell. Others, like Mia Toretto, who had to spend the past three months slaving over an open grill for five hours in a un-air conditioned building, attached to a garage. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to stand at the counter and bear the heat, because, if she didn't, who would? No one, which was why she had to be there, not only that. No. That would make her life easy. Not only did she work - run - the restaurant-slash-store, she also had to do the books for this place and the garage.

She looked up to see Brian walking in, a magazine in his hands. He was about as tall as she was, muscular, with short blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes. He sat at the counter and started flipping through the magazine.

"Tuna on white, no crust, right?" Mia asked without looking up from her book.

"I dunno. How is it?"

She dropped her pencil onto the counter and glanced over at him. "Everyday, for the past three weeks you've been coming in here and you've been asking me how the tuna is," she said putting down her book and walking over to him. "Now, it was crappie yesterday, it was crappie the day before, and guess what?" She raised her eyebrows. "It hasn't changed."

"I'll have the tuna," he told her.

"No crust?"

"No crust." Brian smiled. She made his sandwich quickly, handing it to him. "Thank you."

Car motors roared to life around the corner and four sports cars pulled up in front of the diner. He turned to see what had made the noise and Mia took that time to check out his magazine. Import Racer! He was a racer. Figured.

Outside, the four people where just stepping out of their cars.

"Talk to me, Jesse. This ain't workin', brother," Vince said, motioning to the open hood of his car.

"It's your fuel map. It's got a nasty hole." The kid looked over the engine. "That's why you're unloading in third."

"Told ya it was third," Leon said, leaning in. Letty joined them.

"Shut up," Vince growled.

"I lengthen the injector pulse another milli-sec and just tune the NOS times... You'll be running tens." Jesse was about to continue talking, but Vince's arm on his shoulder stopped him. "Huh?"

"What's with this fool? What is he? Sandwich crazy?" He motioned to the red Ford pick-up before pointing to Brian inside Toretto's.

"Nah, V, he ain't here for the food, dog," Leon teased.

"Chill out, bro. He's just slinging parts for Harry, man," Letty spoke up, looking at them over her sunglasses.

"I know what he's slinging," Vince replied, walking towards the building.

"He's tryin' to get in Mia's pants, dog," Leon joked, adding fuel to the fire.

Mia looked up to see the Team walk in. The first person was Letty, her best friend in all the world. She was tall and thin, muscular in all the right places from years of working on cars. Jesse and Leon came in next, walking straight to the sunglasses an isle down from the counter. Jesse was of medium height and skinny, always looking as if he never ate, with short blonde hair covered under a beanie, and brown eyes. Leon was tall and well defined with tattoos on his right shoulder and his left hand. He had dark brown hair and bright green eyes. Vince followed shortly after them, pushing a sugar container out of his way before sitting menacingly close to Brian. He was what girls would consider and "All American Badass." Tall, big build, tattoos, brown hair and bright blues eyes. He was known to, on occasion, ride an "All American" motorcycle when he wasn't driving an imported car. His only problem, however, was his weakness for Mia.

"Hey guys, sup?" the woman in question asked as they walked in.

"How you doin' Mia?" Jesse asked.

"How you livin' girl?" Letty asked as she walked right past her and to the office door. "Hey, Dom, you want something to drink?" she asked Mia's older brother Dominic, who held up a can of soda without saying anything.

She turned her attention back to Vince who was still staring at Brian, fighting hard not to laugh when she heard Leon and Jesse making fun of Brian: "Oh, he's bea-u-ti-ful," Jesse said.

"I like his hair cut," Leon told him.

After three weeks of the same bullshit, Mia had had enough. "V?" she shouted, but was met with no response. "Vince!" He started slightly and when he finally looked at her, she asked, "Can I get you anything?"

Vince smiled at her and nodded in approval. "You look good."

Brian's face fell. He stood up and dropped some cash on the counter. "Thanks a lot, Mia. I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he turned and left.

"Sure," she answered.

"Tomorrow?" Vince asked, looking down at the counter.

"I love this part," Leon stated, his mouth full of chips.

Mia watched as Vince shook his head and followed Brian out to the street. "Yo! Try Fat Burger from now on. You can get yourself a double cheeseburger with fries for two ninety-five, faggot," Vince shouted, pointing off into the distance.

"I like the tuna here," Brian replied, glancing over his shoulder.

"Bullshit, asshole. No one likes the tuna here."

"Yeah, well, I do," came the snide answer. Just when Brian was about to open the door to his truck, Vince slammed into him from behind. What followed was pretty much Brian getting the shit kicked out of him.

"Jesus Christ! Dom would you get out there please? I'm sick of this shit!" Mia yelled through the gate to the office only to have Dom stand up and look at her. "I'm not kidding Dom, get out there."

"What'd you put in that sandwich?" he asked, leaning against the fence.

"Oh that's very funny."

"Dom!" Once Letty said it, it was final that Dominic would listen.

He looked at his girlfriend and sighed. "Aight," he replied almost reluctantly.

He walked out of the office, through the store and onto the street, passing some random businessman who was trying to enjoy a cup of coffee. He was followed closely by Leon, Jesse and lastly Letty who glanced back at Mia as if apologizing for whatever might happen.

Dominic pulled the kid off of Vince and slammed him into his truck, holding him there while the guy caught his breath. "Hey man, he was in my face!" the blonde told him.

"I'm in your face," he replied harshly. Vince tried to push past him, but Dominic held him back with one arm. "Relax! Don't push it! You embarrass me!"

Leon took Vince away, dropping his bag of chips in the process. "Get ove' there. What's wrong with you?"

Dom held out his hand. "Jesse, gimme the wallet." The kid picked it up and handed it to his boss who opened it and read. "'Brian Earl Spilner' sounds like a serial killer name. Is that what you are?"

"Nah man."

He handed the guy his wallet. "Don't come around here again." With that he started walking away.

"Eh, man, you know this is bullshit."

The bigger man whirled around to glare at Brian. "You work for Harry, right?"

"Yeah I just started."

"You were just fired."

-----

Harry was on the phone when Brian walked into the Racer's Edge later that afternoon. "Hey, Dominic, I appreciate what you did in a big way. Dominic, I owe you..." He hung up the phone and walked after Brian who was changing his dirt-ridden shirt. "Brian, you're messing with my business. When Dominic drives, he's golden. Kids pour in here, they want everything he had, every performance part. And they pay cash!

Brian moved over to the sink, running some water over his face before glancing at Harry in the mirror.

"What did Dominic say?"

The other man shook his head. "You don't wanna know."

"What did Dominic say?" he repeated, reaching for a towel.

"He wants you outta here."

"He wants me outta here?" Brian whirled around, towel held in midair.

"Yes!"

"And what did you say to Dom?" he asked, drying his face and moving from the room, towel draped over his shoulder.

"What do you think I said? I told him good help is hard to find," the other man answered, his voice raising frantically.

"Hey, relax," Brian walked through the store, his eyes resting on the NOS, nitrous oxide systems, display. "I need NOS." He turned to Harry: "I need NOS."

"No."

"My car topped out at a hundred forty miles per hour this morning."

"Amateurs don't use nitrous oxide. I've seen the way you drive: you've got a heavy foot. You'll blow yourself to pieces."

"I need one of these. One of the big ones." He pointed to a tank, ignoring the other man's protests.

"Actually, no. Let's make it two. And Harry, I need it by tonight.

-----

A green Eclipse pulled into a spot amidst the street full of cars, an eagle decal racing its way down the side and green neon glow under the body visible. Suddenly, the engine died and the lights went out before Brian stepped out, looking around himself in awe.

"Hey, hold up, hold up." A Latino man was heard saying. "Look at this Snowman right here." He removed a girl from his lap and walked to Brian. "Sweet ride. What're you runnin' under there?" Brian just smiled in response. "You gonna make me find out the hard way?"

"Hell yeah."

"You brave," he laughed, "You brave. They call me "Hector." I got a last name too, but I can't pronounce it, so-"

"Brian Spilner."

"Ah, typical white boy name, know what I'm sayin'?" The two men shared a laugh before Hector turned and pointed to a bronze Ford Focus ZX-3: "See that over there? That's mine. It's my baby. But I ain't cutting her loose tonight."

"Why not?"

"It's cause I'm going legit. Tryin' to get on the NIRA circuit. You heard about that?"

"Oh, hell, yeah." The NIRA Circuit or NHRA Circuit was an official, LEGAL, drag race. To even be considered part of the Circuit, one had to have a team, be able to drive, and have sponsorship from a company able to pay your way through.

"Yeah, yeah. So what's up with you, man?"

"I'm just waiting for Toretto."

"Shit. Better get in line," a black man said, interrupting them. He pointed to the Eclipse: "This yours?"

"Yeah. I'm standing next to it," Brian replied.

"That's funny. You know, Edwin happens to know a few things. And one of the things he knows it: it's not how you stand by your car. It's how you race your car." He pointed to Brian, raising an eyebrow. "You better learn that." A few seconds later a radio blared and the crowd went silent. "Oh, shit, here they come. It's on."

Five cars pulled through the wide side street in flying V formation. A red Mazda RX-7 flanked on one side by a blue Nissan Maxima and a white Volkswagen Jetta and on the other by a purple Nissan 240SX and a yellow Nissan Skyline, the holy grail of import cars. The cars stopped and six people stepped out, the leader immediately being swept into the crowd.

"Dom!" some guy called.

"Marvin!" Toretto replied.

"Hey, Dom, how you doin'?" a woman asked, latching onto his arm.

"Hey, Camille. You been doin' Yoga?"

The girl said something only to have most of it drowned out by the noise. "...It saves this butt."

"You did?" Dom asked, incredulous, only to smile. "Of course you did- Monica!"

So there he stood. Toretto, God of the Streets, with two women hanging on his arms. "Rrrooow...I smell-" Letty pretended to sniff the air. "Skanks. Why don't you girls pack it in before I leave tread marks on your face?"

"Okay," Camille said simply, she and Monica moving along.

"Letty, I was just talkin'," Dom told her, sighing.

"Yeah, whatever," she answered, her tone making it sound as if this had happened many times before.

"Okay...Hector!" he called.

Hector left Brian by his car and walked over to Toretto. "Yeah, what's up, man?"

"Yo, what's up?" Edwin asked, following him.

"Edwin," Dom greeted, doing an intricate handshake with Hector before repeating it with the black man.

"How we doin' this tonight?"

Usually there would be more than one race, consisting of only two racers, but they had arrived late so there would not be a lot of time before the police caught on. "One race," Dom announced. "Two G buy-in. Winner takes all." To the side he added: "Hector, you're gonna hold the cash."

"Why Hector?" an Asian racer asked, handing over a folded wad of money.

"Because he's too slow to make away with the money," Edwin joked, slapping his money into Hector's hand. Hector, in return, glared half-heartedly at the other man.

Toretto gave his money and started to turn. "Okay, good luck, guys."

"Hey, wait. Hold up," Brian called, pushing his way through the swarm of bodies. "I don't have any cash. But I do have the pink slip to my car."

Jesse stepped in front of him. "Hey, you just can't climb in the ring with Ali, because you think you box."

Brian pointed over to Vince and said, "He knows I can box," obviously taking Jesse's analogy seriously. "So check it out. It's like this: I lose, winner takes my car, clean-and-clear. But if I win: I take the cash, and I take the respect."

Mia looked at her brother as the crowd laughed and mumbled. "Respect?" Dom asked.

"To some people that's more important."

After a moment Dom conceded, nodding towards the car in question. "That your car?"

Jesse ran up to the car, immediately jumping into mechanic made. He lifted the hood to the Eclipse, leaning in and toughing the parts as he went along. "I see a cool-air intake. It's got a NOS-fogger system and a T-four turbo, Dominic. I see an A.I.C. controller. It has direct port nitrous injection."

"Yeah," Toretto said, scratching his arm. "And a stand alone fuel management system. Not a bad way to spend ten thousand dollars."

The crowd around them mumbled to each other again. "You see that shit?" Edwin asked a neighbor. "He's got enough NOS in there to blow himself up, period."

"Yeah."

"So, what do you say?" Brian questioned, smiling over at Dom. "Am I worthy?"

"We don't know yet. But you're in." The man raised his arms, motioning for the crowd to move out. "Let's go."

Off to the side, Leon and Vince wrestled a little before everyone raced to their cars. A few seconds later, hundreds of cars poured out of the side street, driving in different directions only to meet up twenty minutes later, blocking off any side street leading to the current 'track.'

On one side street, a Domino delivery car stopped in front of a yellow Skyline and the driver stepped out. "What in hell's goin' on around here."

Leon leaned out his window, waving the older man away. "Street's closed, Pizza boy. Find another way home!"

"Goddamn street racers."

As the guy got back into his car, Leon adjusted his scanner. "Log on twenty-two. Tension is high. They've blocked the streets," a woman said over the radio.

As the four racers moved towards the starting point, two scantily clad women ran in opposite directions across the street, spraying down the starting line. The first three cars pulled right up to the line; the final car, the Eclipse, drove right over it. Brian backed up, nervously looking at Dom.

"Edwin," a girl cooed, leaning down to Edwin's window. She reached out, placing his hand on the inside of her shirt. "This is yours whether you win or lose. But if you win, you get her too." The girl in question bent forward provocatively, waving and blowing him a kiss.

In the next car, the Asian racer was finishing up his game of Midnight Club. Unfortunately, he had lost the race.

In the first car, Dom turned on his stereo before lifting the cushion to the passenger seat and turning a nozzle, releasing the flow of nitrous oxide.

"You're going to wind," Brian told himself. "I'm gonna win." With that he turned and opened up his NOS canisters.

"-In a public place," the woman said over the radio in Leon's car. "We had a reported homicide, one eighty-seven, at Barabian Liquors."

"I got a one eight seven in Glendale. Cops are all over it, man," Leon spoke into a two-way radio. "We're good to roll. I repeat, good to roll."

"All right," Hector responded, raising his hands as the four racers revved their engines.

"Let's race!" Leon shouted into the radio.

"Right." Hector threw his arms down. "Go!"

And they were off, the four cars shooting away from the crowd, zooming to the finish in a blur. "Damn that guy's fast," the Asian racer said, quickly falling to last place.

Two spots ahead of him, Edwin had dreams of winning the race and taking home his two lovely ladies. "Let's go! Menage a-!" He shifted, only to watch as Brian used his first hit of nitrous and shot past him. "No! Monica!"

Ahead of him, Brian's car was experiencing technical difficulties. As he gained on the leader of the pack, Dom pushed a button and burst forward. Beside him, Brian's laptop beeped its warning, but he ignored it, slamming it shut with a loud "Shut up" before hitting the second NOS button.

It quickly became apparent that he should have heeded the warning, because soon rings were flying around the cab of the car and the passenger side floorboard began to fall to the ground below. Immediately, the Eclipse spun out, the last two cars flying by him.

Brian sat for a few seconds, breathing heavily as his heart slowly stopped hammering in his chest. When he was sure that he wasn't about to have a heart attack, he started the car back up and drove to the awaiting crowd.

"Here's what you want, right here," Hector said, holding up a handful of cash. "You were racin' a bunch of skateboarders, know what I mean?"

Dominic the money, smiling towards his team. "My sister holds the money. Count it," he told Mia, before turning to Vince and Letty who were goofing around with each other. He cut in, lifting her up by her waist. "And you're my trophy."

On the other side of the crowd, Edwin was trying to catch up with his girlfriend, grabbing her by the arm. "Hey, hey Monica! What's up, baby?"

She snaked her arm out of his grip, walking away. "What's your problem, nigga? You didn't win." Obviously that was his problem.

"Fuck you then!"

When Brian pulled up, Jesse immediately ran up to the car. "Was that fun?" Jesse asked checking the engine, waving away the smoke that rose from the insides.

"What are you smiling 'bout?" Dom asked, leaning over Jesse's shoulder.

"Dude, I almost had you," Brian said pointing and chuckling at dom.

"You almost had me? You never had me! You never had your car!" The crowd 'oh-ed,' as Toretto continue, "Granny shiftin', not double clutchin' like you should. You're lucky that hundred shot of NOS didn't fry the welds on the intake." He turned to a guy who stood next to him, "Almost had me?" The guy shrugged his shoulders and laughed. Jesse closed the hood as Dom spoke: "Now me and the mad scientist gotta rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried." Again the crowd 'oh-ed.' "Ask any racer, any real racer, and they'll tell you. It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning."

Dom held his arms out will the crowd cheered. Jesse came up under his arms and wiggled his eyebrow at Brian.

"Available units, we have reported street racing along Hawthorne," the woman on the radio said.

Leon frowned. "Oh shit." They were on to them. He leaned out his window, calling out to everyone. "We got cops, cops, cops! Go!"

The crowd broke out into a run, everyone scattering to their cars. "Dom! Get in the car! Get in your car! Go!"

Brian stood in the middle of the street for a few seconds before finally jumping into his car and driving away.

Dominic Toretto pulled his car into a garage not far from where the races had taken place. He grabbed his tan jacket and got out of the Mazda, making sure to turn on the alarm as he walked away. Making his way down to the street, he pulled on his jacket and held his breath as a police cruiser drove by.

For a moment he thought he was in the clear. That was until the cruise pulled a U-turn. "Toretto! Stop right there!" He broke out running, ignoring the order. "Toretto!"

Toretto turned into a nearby alley, running as fast as he could without looking back. The lights behind him drew closer as a car pulled in front of him, blocking his path. "Get in!" Brian ordered, unlocking his door.

As the blonde drove, Dom held on for dear life, trying to keep his feet from the whole in the floor. "Whoa!" he shouted as Brian dodged two police cars. "Whoa!" They made it to the clear. "You're the last person in the world I expected to show up."

"Yeah, well," he checked the rearview mirror, "I figured if I got on your good graces, you might let me keep my car."

"You are on my good graces, but you ain't keepin' your car. You drive like you've done this before. What are you? A wheel man?"

"No."

"You boost cars?"

"No. Never?"

"Ever done time?"

"Couple of overnighters. No big deal."

"What about the two years in juvy for boostin' cars?" Brian blanched. "Hah. Tucson, right?" the blonde nodded. "Yeah, I had Jesse run a search on you, Brian Earl Spilner. He'll find anything on the web. Anything about anyone. So why bullshit?"

"What about you?" Brian asked, changing the subject.

"Two years in Lompoc. I'll die before I go back." The silence that settled between the two was broken by the sound of motorcycle engines. "Oh great."

"What?"

"It's gonna be a long ass night, that's what."

Before Brian could question any further, a semi-automatic was pointed in his face. "Follow us," the rider said, somehow managing to control his bike and hang on to the car at the same time.

The Eclipse followed the gang of Japanese bikes into the parking lot of some Asian building. "I thought we had an agreement. You stay away. I stay away. Everybody stays happy," the leader of the gang said, taking off his helmet.

"We got lost, Johnny. What do you want me to tell you?" Dominic said.

"Who's we?"

"Uh, my new mechanic," he pointed to Brian. "Brian, meet Johnny Tran. The guy in the snakeskin pants, that's his cousin, Lance...So when are you gonna gimme a shot at that Honda two-thousand of yours?"

Johnny ignored his question, turning to look at Brian. "This your ride?"

"It was. It's his now," he answered, pointing to Dom.

"No, it's not. I haven't taken delivery," Toretto argued.

"Then it's nobody's car. Somebody put in the wrench time." Johnny joked, his gang laughing along with him. "What do you think, Lance?"

"It's an amazing machine." His cousin answered.

"Yes indeed." He ran a hand over the car, then got on his bike. "Let's go. I'll see you in the desert next month. Be ready to have your ass handed to you."

"Your gonna need something more than that crotch rocket," Dom said, running his hand along the back of his neck.

"I got something for you." He pulled his helmet and road away, the rest of his gang following closely behind him.

"What the hell was that all about?" Brian turned to Dom, walking towards his car.

"Long story. I'll tell you later. Let's get outta-" The bikes came back, this time around the front of the car, signifying that they must have circled around the building. Without warning, Johnny and Lance opened fire, spraying the car with bullets. "Oh shit! NOS!" Dom called seconds before the car blew up and the Trans got away.

Brian sat up from where he had been thrown from the explosion and stood, falling into step beside Toretto. "So what was that all about?" he asked as they exited the parking lot.

"It's a long story."

"We've got a twenty mile hike, humor me," Brian insisted, looking for a taxi.

"A business deal that went sour. Plus, I made the mistake of sleeping with his sister." They caught a taxi a few minutes later to Toretto's house. "Yo, Spilner!" he called as Brian started walking away. "Want a beer?"

"Yeah, sure."

Above them, Mia almost had a heart attack. "Oh shit!"

Inside the house, the party was in full swing, fueling Dominic's anger. He stepped over Letty, heading straight to Leon who had Monica on his lap. "Yo, Dom. Hey, man. We were just about to go lookin' for you, brother," the other man said, only to have his beer knocked out of his hand.

Vince stood in Toretto's living room talking to Camille while playing the guitar when Dom walked over to him. "Where were you?"

He put down the guitar, pointing towards the door. "There was mass cops out there, they came in from every direction. That shit was orchestrated."

Dom pointed to the beer on the table, "This your beer?"

"Yeah it's my beer?"

Dominic grabbed the bottle and walked away. "Yo, Einstein, take it upstairs! Can't detail a car with the cover on!" he shouted at Jesse.

"You all right?" Letty asked, stopping in front of him.

"Am I all right?" he repeated, incredulous.

"It was just a question."

That was when Brian walked through the front door, heading straight to dom. "Yo, Dom, why'd ja bring the Busta here?" Vince called out in anger.

"'Cause the Busta kept me outta hand cuffs!" He whirled around, pointing an accusing finger towards his friends. "He didn't just run back to the fort. The Busta brought me back." Dominic walked over to Brian and held out two beers. "You can have any brew you want. As long as it's a Corona." Brian picked the one in his right hand. "That one's Vince's so enjoy it."

"You-" Vince started.

Brian wiped the top of the bottle off on his shirt and took a drink. As Vince started to walk over to them - pushing some random woman out of the way - Brian turned to Dom: "Hey, bro, you got a bathroom?"

Dom kept his eyes trained on Vince, "Yeah, upstairs, first door on the right."

Dominic sat on a tiny cushioned bench and leaned against the wall sighing heavily. "He got no call bein' up in here. You don't know that fool for shit," Vince told him.

"He's right, Dom," Leon agreed.

"Vince, there was a time when I didn't know you!" Dom said, poking a finger at his best friend.

"That was the third grade." Came the answer, along with a grown-up version of a noogie.

Dom mumbled a few choice words then said, "Yeah, so what girls are here?"

"You just name it. You want mine?" Leon started. "You want two?"

Letty playfully pushed him, "You need to shut the F up."

"Ah, c'mon, Letty," Leon pouted.

" You don't have anything?" Dom asked ignoring Letty's comment.

Leon mouthed a few words then Letty sat on Dom's lap. "You look a bit tired. I think we should go upstairs and you gimme a massage."

"Look at all our guests."

"How 'bout we go upstairs and you give me a massage?"

"All right," he gave in. As they walked away Dom tossed Vince and Leon a sly smile.

"D! D! D!" Leon cheered.

Letty and Dominic passed Brian as they walked upstairs. "You know you owe me a ten-second car, right?" Dom asked, his arm over Letty's shoulder.

"Ouch. Oh shit," his girlfriend laughed as she dragged him up the stairs.

When Brian turned around Vince, Leon, and Jesse were waiting behind him. "Did ja wipe the seat?" Vince asked him.

The three stared at him as he looked around for back up, noticing the gun on the coffee table. "Jesus Christ!" Mia pushed her way passed Vince, "Would ja cut the shit already? Come on!" She grabbed Brian by the arm. "C'mon let's go get me a drink."

"Ah, c'mon, Mia! We was just about to get along," Leon told her retreating figure.

"Yeah," Jesse agreed.

The two of them walked into the dining room. "So, what do you want?" Brian asked as she sat at the hutch.

"Anything, as long as it's cold." He handed her a Snapple. "You know, my brother likes you. He usually doesn't like anybody."

"Yeah, he's a complicated guy."

Mia lifted an eyebrow and took a sip of her drink. "Yeah? What about you?"

"I'm simpler."

"You're a shitty liar."

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled.

"But there's a problem." He frowned.

"What's that?"

She leaned in to him. "You need to get some sleep. And you definitely, definitely need a shower." Placing her bottle on the counter, she held her hand out to him. "Come on. I'll take you home."

-----

Brian pulled his pick-up to the curb when he saw the lights to a police car flash him down. He cut the engine, sitting patiently in the truck awaiting instructions. "Show me your hands," someone said into a microphone and Brian followed the instructions to a T. "Very good. Now open the door. Put your hands on your head. Behind your head. Face the front of the vehicle, walk backwards towards the rear. Take two steps to your right, stop right there."

"What'd I do?" he asked as someone began to pat him down.

The officer nudged him slightly. "Shut up. He's clean, Sergeant." With that the man cuffed him and threw him into the back seat of the cruiser, where he sat for the next hour or so, staring out his window.

"Damn, Muse, will you take these things off?" he asked as the officer opened his door when they stopped. "Shit...you put em' on so tight."

Muse unlocked the handcuffs, smiling and laughing all the while. "I like realism."

"You like realism?"

"You never know who's watching, Brian," the sergeant said, looking back at the two men as he walked through an open fence.

"Wow," Brian stated in awe. "Nice crib, Sergeant. It's a lot nicer than that last place you confiscated."

"Ain't it? You know Eddie Fisher built this house for Elizabeth Taylor in the fifties."

The blonde turned to Muse, "See? Even the cops are Hollywood in Hollywood."

"Ok, here he is, fresh from Toretto's hot rod heaven," Sergeant Tanner announced, walking up to his desk.

"That was an $80,000 vehicle, officer," a black man told Brian, turning from his own desk.

"Wait a minute," he turned to his sergeant, "You tell him what happened?"

"He knows what happened," came the answer.

"Send the bill to Johnny Tran."

"Brian."

Bilkins turned to Tanner: "The kid's givin' me an attitude? That doesn't speak very well for Police-F.B.I. relations, Tanner."

"I walk in the door, and the guy's already givin' me...." Brian complained, running a hand through his hair.

"All right, all right. We'll talk, Ok? Let's talk about it...Muse, why don't you make us four iced cappuccinos, please? Come on."

Muse turned around, picking some files off his desk. "Regular or decaf, Serge?"

Tanner took a looked at Brian and Bilkins before answering: "Uh, decaf, I think."

A few minutes later, Bilkins, Brian, Muse, and Tanner were sitting in a conference room, drinking their iced cappuccinos. Bilkins jumped right into research mode, pointing to various pictures as he spoke: "Four hijackings in two months, and we don't have anything. DVD players and digital cameras alone are worth a million-two. Which brings the grand total to six million plus."

Tanner turned to Brian, his eyebrows raised. "We're in the political crosshairs now, Brian. That's why you're undercover."

"You want that detective badge fast, kid. And you want to know something? The FBI can help, if you come through for us," Bilkins offered.

"What does the truck driver say?" Brian looked away from the pictures and to his boss.

"He gave us the same MO Three Honda Civics, precision driving. The same green neon glow from under the chassis. Lab says the skid marks came back the same. Mashamoto ZX tires. So we know that it's somebody in the street-racing world."

Bilkins sighed. "We don't make this case soon, the truckers will take matters into their own hands. I tell 'em we're close. You gonna make me a liar?"

The blonde frowned. Everything was lying on his shoulders now. "Look, what do we know? We all know that this world revolves around Toretto, right?" He stood from the table, using his hands for emphasis. "Now, I'm not saying that he's necessarily the one that's poppin' these trucks, but I can guarantee the both of you that he knows who is. It's just a matter of time until I win."

The head of the FBI would have none of that answer, remarking snidely: "You want time? Buy the magazine. We don't have time. Just get me something I can use."

"Is Harry cooperating?" Tanner asked as he and Brian began walking from the house.

"Yeah," he replied sarcastically. "Like a guy who is gonna do three to five for receiving stolen property if he doesn't."

"What kind of vibe is he getting from Toretto?"

"He's scared to death of him, but he doesn't think he's jackin' trucks in his spare time. He's too controlled for that."

"Wait," Tanner said, stopping and pulling Brian to a halt beside him. "Not that I want to contradict Harry's fine judge of character but, uh, Toretto did hard time for nearly beating a guy to death. He's got nitrous oxide in his blood and a gas tank for a brain. Do not turn your back on him, period."

Brian nodded, taking everything in. "Hey, Tanner. I'm gonna need another car," he added before leaving.

-----

A few weeks later the Team sans Leon and Vince were working in the garage. "What about parts?" Mia asked, chasing her brother around with a clipboard in her hand.

"Hold off on that," he told her, cleaning off a wrench before placing it back in the correct drawer.

"Dom, I don't know what to do with this."

Her brother was about to answer when the back of a flatbed pulled to the front side doors of the garage. A junk car that looked like it had seen the pits of Hell sat on the truck. "All right, what the hell is this? What do you got there?" he asked Brian who had come around.

"This is your car."

"My car? I said a ten-second car, not a ten-minute car."

Jesse walked up to the burnt shell of a car, hitting what was supposed to be the passenger's side door. "You could push this across the finish line, or tow it. "

Leaning against a car, Letty laughed as Dom finished the implied statement: "Couldn't even tow that across the finish line."

Brian smiled, raising his arms and pointing an accusing finger. "No faith."

"Oh, I have faith in you, but this isn't a junkyard. This is a garage."

"Hey, pop the hood," the blonde ordered, pointing the front end of the car.

"Pop the hood?"

"Pop the hood."

Once the car was off the flatbed and the driver paid, Jesse dove right into the car: "Two J.Z. engines. No shit."

"And what did I tell you?" Brian asked.

Dom smiled, nodding at the other man. "I retract my previous statement."

Jesse held a wrench out in front of him, smiling like a kid who had just gotten a new toy. "You know what? This will decimate all after you put about 15 grand in it. Or more, if we have to overnight parts from Japan."

"Well, put it on my tab at Harry's."

"Yes!"

"I gotta get you racing again so I can make some money off your ass. There's this show down in the desert called Race Wars and that's where you'll do it. I'll tell you what, when you're not workin' at Harry's, you're workin' here. If you can't find the right tool in this garage, Mister Arizona," Toretto said, motioning to his garage, "you don't belong near a car."

Brian smiled happily, jumping slightly when he felt a breeze of warm breath on his neck. "He owns you now," Mia said, walking away.

A few minutes later, Brian and Jesse were sitting in a trailer behind DT Automotives, in front of a computer. "Tell me what you think about this. Koni adjustables. Gonna save us about two pounds. And they're gonna give us better traction for the whole shot. All right? This is your basic layout of the car, and that's pretty much what it could look like when it's finished. Red. Green." Jesse explained, pushing a few buttons and pointing to different articles on the computer screen.

Brian turned to look at him, eyebrows knitted together. "Man, you should be going to MIT or something."

"Yeah, right. No, I got that.. Oh, what's it called? That attention disorder..."

"Oh, uh, A.D.D.?"

"Yes, that shit. Yeah. You know, I was good in algebra. And like math and shit. Everything else I failed. Dropped out of school. I don't know. It's just something about engines that calms me down, you know?"

-----

After two weeks of work Leon pulled his yellow Skyline into the driveway before Letty's 240SX. Vince walked up next to him. He saw Brian talking to Dom and handed Leon his bag of ice.

"I'm outta here," Vince said.

"Aw, c'mon dog!" When the other man made no move to come back to his friends, Leon turned to the back yard: "Yo, Dom."

"Vince, come ove' here and give us a hand!" Dom shouted, watching V walk away.

"Looks like you got all the help you need, brudda!" Vince shouted back. He got into his car and drove away.

Twenty minutes later Leon and Letty were playing basketball, Dom stood at the grill, and Mia, Jesse, and Brian walked out of the house carrying salad and beer. "Mia!" Dom shouted.

"All right, already!" she shouted back as she walked down the stairs.

"The chicken's dry already," he called over to her.

"I'm coming out."

"Aww." She walked straight over to her brother, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Five minutes later everyone sat at the picnic table. Jesse pulled a piece of chicken onto his plate. As he went to grab it Dom's hand shot out to stop him. "Hey, hold up. Since you we're the first one outta all of us to reach in to grab the chicken," Dom said to Jesse, "you say grace. C'mon."

Everyone folded their hands and closed their eyes. "Dear heavenly, huh-" Jesse started.

"Spirit," Leon offered.

"Spirit, thank you," Leon nodded and shared a look with Dominic. "Thank you for providing us with the direct port nitrous, uh, injection." Leon kept urging him on by nodding his head. "For core incoolers and ball bearing turbos and, um, titanium valve springs. Thank you."

"Amen!" Leon shouted, raising his hands in the air as everyone clapped.

"Prayin to the car gods, man!" Letty smiled.

"If he's not the best-" Dom started.

Leon looked up to see Vince standing a few feet behind Dominic. He smiled, "Look who it is. Old Coyotes 'R' Us. I thought you weren't hungry pumpkin."

"You know I gotta eat," Vince shrugged helplessly.

"He's always hungry," Letty added.

Dominic sighed, "Aight, sit down." As Vince walked by he kissed Dom on his head. Toretto looked at Brian and Leon realized that Vince would be sitting across from him.

"How ya doin' Mia?" Vince asked as he walked passed. He accepted the beer Leon handed him with a, "Thank you," and sat across from Brian.

"Hey, Jesse, hand me that chicken, bro?" Leon asked, pointing to a piece of chicken.

Vince and Brian continued their staring contest until Letty slapped Vince's shoulder, "Let's eat some grub, man. Want some of that chicken?"

Leon turned to V: "So where'd ja go? Rent a movie or something?"

Later that night the team sat in the living room, watching a movie and eating popcorn while Mia and Brian stood in the kitchen, cleaning up.

"Need a hand with anything else?" he asked, handing her the last plate found on the table.

"No, I'm good. You can go join the boys watchin' the movie."

"Well, you see. The cook does the cleaning where I come from."

Mia laughed lightly, rolling her eyes. "I'd like to go there."

"I think we should go out sometime."

Still up to her elbows in soapy water, she replied: "No. I don't date my brother's friends."

Brian grabbed a plate that she had just cleaned and began drying it off. "Wow, that sucks. I guess I'll have to kick his ass then."

Beside him, Mia chuckled. "I'd love to see that one. No, I would, I would pay to see that one, actually."

In the living room, the Team was watching a movie when they ran out of popcorn. Immediately, Vince stood up, offering his services. He walked into the kitchen, placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave and pushed a button, looking at Brian and Mia. "Wash my car when you get done."

"What was that?" Mia asked indignantly.

"Nah Mia, I'm talkin' to the punk. And wear your favorite dress, cause when your done I'm puttin' you on the street where you belong, cutie." When the microwave didn't start right away, he began pushing random buttons. "Is this thing broken? What's wrong with this thing?"

"V? What was-? What was that Cuban restaurant you wanted to take me to? The one with the picadillo and the-"

"Little red candles and the wooden table?"

"Yeah, the plantain too. Food all over the place what was it called?" Mia turned around, Brian turning with her.

"Cha Cha Cha?" Vince asked hopefully.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Yeah."

She turned to the man next to her, "Well, you can take me there. Friday night at 10:00. Is that good for you?"

Brian never took his eyes off the other man as he answered, "Yeah, it's perfect."

"Good."

Furious, Vince walked out of the kitchen, making his way towards the door. His path, however, was blocked by Jesse who held up a bowl that should have been filled with popcorn. "There's no popcorn?"

Vince knocked the bowl out of the kid's hand, sending kernels all over the living room. "Make your own goddamn popcorn!"

-----

Outside of the Racer's Edge, three cars raced down the street, pulling rapidly into the first few parking spots. "All right, now that's valet parking," Hector said, stepping out of his car. He motioned with his hand and he and his crew walked into the shop. "Harry, what's up dog?"

The older man shook his hand, making a gesture that took in the whole store. "Excellent brother, come on in man. Check it, it's yours."

The Latino walked up to the counter, immediately noticing Brian. "Damn. What do we got here? Hired some new help, huh?"

Brian smiled and shook his head. "Don't even think about it. What's up, Hector?"

"What's up Brian? How you feelin'?

"So, what's up? What do you need?"

"What's up man? I need you to hook me up. Three of everything." Hector handed him a folded up piece of paper, "I made a list. Why don't you look that over?"

"When do you need this stuff by?"

"Tomorrow, today, now. White boys work fast, don't they?" He turned to his friend, holding out his hand: "Beto, pasa la feria, homes. That's right."

Behind the counter, Brian typed in a few of the parts on the list, clicking an icon on the screen and pulled up a list of possible cars that would use the equipment. Top on the list: Honda Civics. "Hey, you said you need three of all this stuff?"

"Yeah, three of everything. What do you think about that? Check this out."

Later that night, Brian did just that. He climbed to the top of a garage, peering around a corner at a group of people that sat in the parking lot of "El Gato Negro." When he was sure that Hector and his people were not paying any attention to the garage, he turned and broke a window, making it easier for him to open the entire thing.

Once inside, he dropped down and moved about, checking out the three covered calls. All Honda Civics. No Mashamoto ZX tires. After finding that these were not the cars he was looking for, Brian climbed back out the way he came. However, when he dropped to the ground, he was hit in the back of the head with something.

The next thing he knew, he was lying in an ally with Vince holding a shotgun to his face. "He moans like a cop," the man said, speaking to the shadows behind him.

"Brian, this is one of those times that you need to be very clear about what you say." Out of nowhere Dominic Toretto appeared. "Nod if you understand me."

"Nod!" Brian did as he was commanded.

"Sit up. Tell me what the hell you're doin' down here."

Again he did as he was ordered, rubbing his head as he answered his mark: "Oh shit. What I'm doin'? Dom, I don't...I owe you a ten-second car. And what this is about, this is about Race Wars. I just went in there and Hector is gonna be runnin' 3 Honda Civics with spoon engines and on top of that, he just came into Harry's and he ordered three T-66 turbos, with NOS, and MoTeC systems exhaust. "

Toretto stood back, his hands down at his sides. "So, what are you saying? You're gonna go around and check everybody's shit out, one garage after another?"

"Yeah. Because, Dom, you know...I can't lose again."

Unwilling to let the subject be steered off course, Vince growled. "He's a cop. He's a cop!"

Dom looked over at his best friend before staring at the man on the ground. "You a cop?" Brian shook his head. "Let's go for a little ride." With that, Dom held out his hand and helped Brian to his feet.

"Walk!"

A few minutes later, they were in Jesse's car, parked outside of the building at which Brian's car had been blown to bits. "All right, kid, stand watch," Dom said to Jesse, who nodded and drove away.

Once in side the garage, the men went to work checking on the contents. Vince and Dominic looked at the cars, while Brian focused on the electronics stashed on the other side. "Yo, Dominic," Vince said, drawing attention to himself. "There's no engines."

"What are they plannin' on racin' with? Hopes and dreams?"

"I don't know, but I know they're sneaky as shit, and they've got enough money to buy anything."

Just then, a two-way beeped, and Dom held his up to his mouth. "Oh. What, Jess?"

In the Jetta, Jesse sat up after hiding from a pack of bikes that tour down the parking lot. "Dom, we got a wolf pack. It's Johnny Tran and he's comin' your way really fast!"

Back in the garage, the men started to hide. "All right, we got company. Spilner!" Brian got into a good spot just as the lights went on and the doors opened.

"Come on. Move!" Lance Tran ordered a man, jabbing a gun into his back.

"Let me ask you a question, Ted. Do you see anything wrong here?" his cousin, Johnny, asked.

"No," Ted answered, raising his eyebrows.

Not liking that answer, Johnny grabbed the man around the neck and rushed him to a nearby car. "We got no engines, do we?

"No."

"Do we?"

"No!"

"A couple of Nissan SR Twenty motors will pull a premium one week before Race Wars, huh?"

"Probably." Now the man was lying on the ground, Tran's gang standing back while Johnny stalked forward.

"You're a smart fence, Ted. Maybe too smart. What are you feelin', Lance? Forty-weight? Fifty-weight?"

"Forty-weight sounds nice."

Quickly, Tran pounced on Ted, kneeling on his chest while he held his hand out. Lance placed a tube in his hand, which Johnny shoved into Ted's mouth, while lance began to pump the oil. "Where are they Ted? Where are they!"

Shaking his head futilely, he cried: "They're-"

"Where are they!"

"They're in the warehouse. They're in the warehouse, man!" The hose was removed from his mouth and Ted turned over on to his stomach, spitting out as much oil as possible.

Leaning against a car that sat with no engine, Johnny Tran nonchalantly wiped off his hands with a white rag. "Ted? Kiss my shoes?" When the "fence" came close enough, Tran kicked him in the stomach, then motioned for everyone to leave. "Let's go get our engines.'

-----

"My superiors are flying in from DC day after tomorrow. I want something to show. Now, we have top echelon fence with a lube hose in his mouth, automatic weapons, a jacket full of priors on every one of these Asian punks, a garage full of DVD players and generally psychotic behavior. Now tell me why we shouldn't move on Johnny Tran right now and see where we are when the dust settles?" Bilkins asked dropping a manila folder onto the counter.

Brian, leaning against the opposite counter, ran a hand over his head, trying to get passed the headache that came with the shotgun blow to his head. "Because all we have is behavior. Just let me get some hard evidence, because what we have now is just circumstantial."

"What we have is probable cause and truckers arming themselves for some good old-fashioned vigilante mayhem."

Tanner, the voice of reason, pushed his way through the room. "Tell us about Hector, Brian."

"Oh, Latinos with spear guns. Give me a break," Muse said sarcastically.

"No, Hectors still working on the engines for the cars, but the tires don't match. Will some...will someone just give me a cigarette?" Brian asked, looking around.

Bilkins turned to Muse: "Get him a cigarette."

Tanner stopped him, "Don't get him a cigarette. I thought you quit?"

With a sigh, Brian nodded. "Yeah, I did quit. Just give me a cigarette."

The black man raised his voice. "Get him a cigarette."

"No! Tell me about Toretto," Tanner ordered.

"Well, I told you, I think he's too controlled for this. I mean what? Going suicidal on semi-trucks? No way. I mean, maybe his buddy, Vince, but he's too stupid to pull it off."

Towards the back of the room, Muse spoke up: "I think the kid sister's blurring your vision."

"What did you say?"

"I don't blame you. I'd get off on her surveillance photo's too, buddy." Before he could even finish the statement, Brian flew across the room, attacking him with a wild punch.

Immediately Tanner was there pulling the two apart. "Knock it off! What? Are you going native on me, Brian? Have you read Toretto's file lately?"

"Yeah, I memorized that file."

"Yeah, well read it again. No, better still, take a look at these." Another folder was thrown onto the counter, which Tanner opened, tossing pictures around. "Remember I told you about the guy he nearly beat to death? Toretto did this with a three-quarter inch torque wrench. He's a model of self-control."

"I need a few more days." With a shake of his head Brian turned to Bilkins before walking out. "I need a few more days."

-----

"Got a T.R.-seven here with a ball bearing upgrade. What it's gonna do is, it's gonna spool up really quick," Jesse said, leaning over the engine that sat suspended in the air.

"I got this set up for twenty-four P.S.I," Letty informed him.

Dom walked up to see Brian working on the wiring of the Supra. "So, you got big plans tonight?"

"Yeah, We're going out to dinner," Brian replied, looking up.

"You break her heart, I'll break your neck."

"That's not gonna happen," was his answer.

"I wanna show you something," Dom said,

They spent the next ten minutes in silence as Toretto drove them back to the house. Brian followed him quietly out of the car and into the back yard, before the other man opened a garage door. "Wow," was all he was able to say when he saw the seventy-nine Dodge Charger.

"Me and my Dad built her. Nine hundred horses of Detroit muscle. It's a beast. Know what she ran in Palmdale?" Dom asked as he ran his hands over the exterior.

"No. What did she run?"

"Nine seconds flat. My Dad was driving. So much torque, the chassis twisted coming off the line. Barely kept her on the track."

"So, what's your best time?"

A few moments of silence, then: "I've never driven her."

"Why not?"

"It scares the shit out of me. That's my Dad. He was comin' up in the pro stock car circuit. Last race of the season. Ah, a guy named Kenny Linder came up from inside, in the final turn. He clipped his bumper and put him into the wall at 120. Um, I watched my Dad burn to death. I remembered hearing him scream. But the people that were there said that he had died before the tanks blew. They said it was me who was screaming.

"I saw Linder about a week later. I had a wrench and I hit him. And I didn't intend to keep hitting him, but by the time I was done, I couldn't lift my arm." Dom flexed his arms, as if remembering the pain. Then he looked up at the other man in the garage. "He's a janitor at a high school. Has to take the bus to work everyday. And they banned me from the tracks for life. I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters. Not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free."

Later that night, Brian sat with Mia at a little table in Cha Cha Cha. "So, um how is it, anyways, that the...the gang came to be?" he asked, taking a sip of his soda.

"The what?"

"The gang."

Mia laughed at the use of the word. Gang? "The gang? No, they don't call themselves a gang."

"Well, what do they call themselves then?"

"They're a team. They call themselves a team."

"All right, so how is it that the team came to be?"

"Well, that's...that's...that's a whole lot of history."

He leaned his elbows on the table, smiling over at her. "I've got time."

With a nodded, she spoke: "Ok. Vince grew up with my brother. Actually, he didn't ever actually grow up. As you can tell. Uh, but they were friends as kids. And Letty, she just, lived down the street. Always into cars, though. Ever since she was, like, ten years old. So, naturally, you know, my brother always had her attention and then she turned sixteen."

Brian moved back in his chair. "And then she had Dom's attention."

"Yeah. Yeah, it's funny how that works, isn't it? Yeah." She smiled at him.

"How is it that Jesse fits into the whole thing?"

"Jesse? Well, Jesse and Leon just sort of showed up one night and never, ever left. Well, it's just the way my brother is, though, you know? Dom's like, he's...he's like gravity. You know, everything just gets pulled to him. Even you."

He shook his head. "Hm-mn. No. No. The only thing that pulled me in was you. Being friends with your brother is just a bonus."

Mia smiled widely, nodding in approval. "That - that's good. That's good. It's nice to come first every once in a while. Want to go for a drive?"

"Yeah."

She drove, much to his chagrin, around town at top speed. Taking sharp turns, drifting through many of them, and nearly causing him to have a hear attack. But eventually they ended back at his place, the apartment right above Harry's, where they slept together, taking their relationship a little bit further.

They were a sleep when Brian's cell phone began to ring. He unwrapped his arms from Mia's waist, and picked it up. "The hijackers have hit again. Bilkins made his decision. We're gonna move on Johnny Tran and his guys at seventeen hundred hours. Unless you say otherwise. If you agree, say yes," Tanner said on the other end, waiting for Brian to respond.

"Yeah," the man answered groggily, closing his phone.

Beside him, Mia moaned before asking, "Who is that?"

"It's just a wrong number." He turned to face her, smiling softly. "Hi."

With a shy smile, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "Hey."

-----

The FBI and LAPD teams had infiltrated not only the Tran household, but the Tran family's place of business, taking in every member of the Family that was under thirty. Unfortunately, they seemed to have taken the wrong men in.

"Yes, sir," Bilkins said, talking in to the phone, while he paced the makeshift office. "Yeah, I know, but. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes, sir. Yeah, I got it." He dropped the phone and turned to Brian and Tanner. "The DVD players were purchased legally. All we've got on Tran and company are a couple of low-rent weapons charges and some outstanding speeding tickets."

Tanner sighed, rubbing the nape of his neck. "So, they're out?"

"Yeah, father bailed 'em out. Is this the kind of intelligence I can expect from you, O'Connor?"

Brian frowned, looking up from the spot that he had been staring at. "You're gonna put this on me?"

"I can put it on whoever I want to, kid. Perks of the job."

"No, there's no way you're gonna put this on me."

"No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me tell you, I don't care if you have to put a gun to someone's head and blow your cover to smithereens. You've got thirty-six hours to crack this bastard, or you might want to be thinking about another career."

Angry, Brian stormed out of the office, pushing past his two superior officers on the way. He had made it halfway across the small little bridge before Tanner caught him. "It's Toretto, Brian. It always has been Toretto. Tran and Hector are...they're just fumes." The young man stopped as he continued: "Well, I know you've been lying to me. My question is this: have you been lying to yourself because you can't see past Mia?"

"He won't go back to prison." Brian said without looking at the older man.

"Well, that's a choice he's going to have to make. There's all kinds of family, Brian, and that's a choice you're gonna have to make."

-----

It was done, the Supra was finally done. Jesse closed the hood and motioned for Brian and Dom to step inside. "You ready for this, jumpy?" Letty asked as Brian started the engine. It purred like a kitten. Beautiful. Leon tapped the rear and Brian took off, burning rubber as he speed down the street.

He and Toretto were driving along the coast when they pulled up next to a Ferrari. The driver, an old man, sat flirting with his passenger, a woman who could double as a prostitute. "Nice car. What's the retail on one of those?" 'Spilner' asked.

The old man with the "soul" patch looked over at them through mirrored glasses. "More than you can afford, pal. Fer-rar-i."

Dom shook his head, turning to Brian as he grabbed onto the support bar by his head. "Smoke him." And Brian did...he even went so far as to drive on the other side of the highway for a few moments, mocking oncoming traffic. But now they sat at a little rest stop dinner, a bunch of bikers sitting outside, admiring the car. "So what's wrong, Brian?" Toretto asked, slipping a piece of shrimp into his mouth.

"Nothin', man. I'm fine."

"Come on. Obviously, something's off."

Brian dipped a piece of shrimp into some cocktail sauce before popping it into his mouth. "Look, I have my good day's and I have my bad day's. Just like everybody else."

"Brian, don't lose that cool of yours. That's your meal ticket."

"My meal ticket? What? I...I can't pay for my own shrimp?"

"I got the shrimp."

"No, see, that's one thing about me, Dom, you don't understand. I don't need handouts. I don't take handouts. I earn my way, every step. Just gotta make a little something extra on the side." He looked down before adding softly: "Like you."

"What do you mean, like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's what I mean."

"What does that mean, 'like me'?"

"Don't try...I'm not stupid, all right?" He pointed to the Supra that sat in the parking lot. "I know that there's no way in hell you paid for all that shit you got under the hood-" Dom motioned with his hand, making Brian drop his voice, "I know that there's no way in hell you paid for all that shit you got under the hood of those cars by doing tune-ups and selling groceries. Whatever it is you're in on, I want in on it too." After a few moments of silence, Dom took a card out of his breast pocket and slid it across the table to Brian. "Well, what is this?"

"Read it."

"What is this for?"

Toretto slipped another piece of shrimp into his mouth before answering. "It's directions. To Race Wars. We'll see how you do. Then we'll talk."

-----

Brian pulled to a stop next to a security guard and rolled down his window. "How you doin', bro?"

"What's up, man," the guard answered handing him a bracelet pass, while another guard used window soap to put a number on his back window. "Welcome to Race Wars."

"Great. Thanks a lot."

Letty was almost next in line to start her race. But try as she might, she could not ignore the annoying man that drove the car next to her. "Baby. Hey baby. You should be watching from the side. Wouldn't want to get any exhaust on that pretty face."

She turned to him, pulling her glasses down her nose. "How 'bout you put your money where your mouth is?"

"Well, hows about I race you for that sweet little ass."

Moving the car up as another race started, she turned back to the punk. "You want ass, why don't you hit Hollywood Boulevard? You want an adrenaline rush, it'll be two large. Right here, right now. What's it gonna be?"

The man with the dreadlocks pulled a roll of money out of his pocket. "You got it." Their heat was next. Letty pushed her glasses back up, focusing solely on the man that was standing in for the Christmas tree; it was still too early to put the lights up. As the man threw his arms down, they both shot across the line. "Uh, uh, uh, another one bites the dust," the punk sang, moving in tune to nonexistent music. "Come on. What do you got? What you got?"

Smiling, Letty pressed her NOS button, sucking in some breath as she picked up speed. "See ya!"

On the other side of the strip, Brian was just about to knock on the Toretto's trailer door, when it flew open. "Whoa! Yo, Bri', what's up?" Jesse asked, walking away.

His curiosity peeked, Brian turned and followed him. "Hey, what's up, Jesse? What do you have in your hand?"

"Throwin' down the pink slip, just like you." Did he not remember that Brian had lost?

"The pink slip to what? The Jetta?"

"Yeah."

"You can't bet your Dad's car."

"It's all right. I ain't losing. This fool is running a Honda two thousand. I'll win. That way, me and my Dad can roll together when he gets out of prison. It's all good."

The two of them walked along to line of cars waiting to race. "Well, they're gonna throw him right back in prison after he kills you."

Ahead of them, the Jetta was next in line. "Oh, shit. I'm up."

Leon, holding his place, stepped out of the car and grabbed Jesse's shoulders, trying to make him listen. "You visualize the win. Hey, visualize the win, Jesse. I'm serious. You got to listen to me, man."

"Who are you racing?" Brian asked, turning to the car next to them. Johnny Tran rolled down the tinted black window. "Jesse, don't do it. I bet you he's got more than a hundred grand under the hood of that car."

The kid just nodded and held up the pink slip to his car. "Uh huh."

The man threw his arms down and they were off, leaving Brian and Leon at the starting line. When he felt like he had had a good enough lead, Jesse hit his NOS, rocketing faster down the track.

"Too soon, junior," Tran said, waiting a second before hitting his own NOS. The sleek black S2000 blasted past Jesse in a blur.

"No!"

The Asian man crossed the finish line. "Whoo!" Only to watch Jesse continue past him and turn further down then he should have.

"Shit! Oh god!" the kid cried, driving as fast as he could.

Leon, having seen the whole thing, turned and high-tailed it up to the tent in which Dom and Vince were sitting. "Yo!" he said, slapping Vince's knee. "Heads up, bro. We got problems."

"What?" Dom asked, ending his conversation with some random girl.

"Jesse." He pointed to where Jesse was just leaving the airstrip.

"Where's Jesse going?"

"He just raced Tran for slips."

"Oh shit." Yeah. Oh shit was right.

And no sooner had the words left his mouth, Johnny Tran pulled up and stepped out of his car. "Where's he going?"

Dom thought quickly, pointing towards the exit. "He went to the car wash."

"Whatever. Go fetch my car."

"Go fetch your car? We're not on your block any more. You better watch who you talk to like that." With that, Dom turned and began talking to Vince, trying to get the people - who had come in hopes of seeing a fight - back off.

Tran had no intentions of leaving. "Toretto!"

Leon pushed away one of Tran's people, who was trying to get to Dominic. "Ok, watch it," he warned.

"Toretto! SWAT came into my house, disrespected my whole family because somebody narced me out! And you know what? It was you!"

Without answering, Dom turned and punched Tran in the face, the other man falling to the ground. From the looks of it, it was only intended to be a one-punch deal, but after one punch, Dom could not help himself. He grabbed Johnny by the collar, repeatedly hitting him in the face.

Vince ran over after making sure that the group was not going to cut in. "Dom, chill! Get off him!"

"Hey, yo!" Toretto yelled as security guards hauled him off of Tran.

To the side, Letty watched as Lance Tran came running to the fight. Just as the man was about to pass her, she threw her fist out, knocking him to the ground.

Because he was away from Tran, Dom struggled against his captors, trying to get back, but Vince held him at bay. "Dom, chill out man. Come on!"

"I never narced on nobody! I never narced on nobody!"

"Dom, let's go!"

As the team walked away, Johnny Tran wiped blood from his face, smiling viciously at the retreating figures. "This is all on you," he said to no one.

Later that night, after hearing about the fight and not being able to find the team, Brian went in search for everyone. He checked the trailer, walking inside and to the back. "Mia? Mia."

Then he heard her voice. "And now I am asking you not to go."

She and Dom were out by the cars, Letty, Leon, and Vince standing off to the side. "Mia, I am doing this for both of us," Dom said, holding out his hands.

"No, don't give me that crap. You're doing this for you. Why are you insisting on doing this? Dom, please. Just don't," she begged. But Dom did not listen, just moved towards the cars and then drove away.

Brian stepped out of the trailer and jogged over to where Mia still stood. When she saw him, she shook her head and began walking away. "Mia, what's going on?"

"What?"

He grabbed her arm. "You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't, Brian."

"Oh, so what? You always have tears in your eyes when Dom drives away?"

She pushed past him. "What is the matter with you?"

"Come on. What's your brother racing off in the middle of the night for? I'm talking about the trucks, you know about the trucks?

"No, Brian! What trucks? Jesus Christ." He grabbed her arm again and forced her to look at him. "What!"

"Listen to me. Mia, I'm a cop."

She sighed. "What are you talking about, Brian? What is this?"

"Ever since the first time I met you, I've been undercover. I'm a cop." With each statement, her eyes grew wider.

"Oh, you bastard. You bastard." Mia spat through clenched teeth. A cop? She pushed him again, walking away.

"Mia!" Once more he grabbed her arm.

"Get off of me, Brian!"

"Mia! Listen to me! Everything I ever said I felt about you was real. I swear to God. You have to believe me, Mia. But right now this isn't about you and me. Your brother's out there. He's about to pull a job, and we're running out of time. Those trucker's, they're not laying down anymore. Maybe they'll make it through tonight, but every single law enforcement agency in California's coming down on 'em. If you don't want anything to happen to your brother, to Letty, to Leon, to Vince, you have to just get in that car with me right now. You have to help me. Mia, you are the only person that can help me right now. Please, Mia. Please help me."

It was almost dawn when they made it out onto the road. "Civics are stashed somewhere outside of Thermal," Mia told him, looking over a map.

"And they wouldn't double back." Brian took the map from her and glanced at it while watching the road. "And highway 10's just way too well patrolled. So what does that leave us with then?"

She leaned over and pointed: "That leaves us with all this."

With a nod, Brian took out his cell phone and it zero. "Nextel," the operator answered.

"Yeah, this is officer Brian O'Connor. Serial number three four seven six two. I need a cell phone trace."

"Okay. What's the cell number?"

"Mia, what's the cell phone number?" Beside him, Mia's jaw dropped, her bottom lip quivering. "Come on, Mia. She needs Dom's cell phone number now."

Determination in her eyes, she grabbed the cell phone and placed it to her ear. "Three two three, five five five, six four three nine." Then she handed the phone back over to him.

"Thank you. Yeah, you get that?"

Outside of Thermal, Dom and the team pulled up behind three covered cars. "All right," he said, as he began uncovering the Civics, "we're one man short. Letty, I need you on the left side."

Leon stepped out of his car, grabbing the spear guns. He walked over to the front car and placed them inside. "Your sister's right about this one. This don't feel good."

"Don't do that."

"Something's wrong." Letty said, slipping out of her jacket.

"Stop."

"We shouldn't be doing this without Jesse."

"Look, this is the mother lode. We've been on this for three months. After this it's a long vacation for everyone. Let's go."

Opening the door to the back car, Leon added: "I hope so."

"Listen," Dominic said, running his hands down Letty's arms, "the other night I had a dream that you and I were on the beach in Mexico."

"Really?"

"Really. Come on." He kissed her softly. "Let's make this happen. Leon, keep on those scanners."

"Copy that," the other man responded.

"All right, Let's go." With that everyone got into their cars, Vince sitting in with Dominic, and drove off.

Back in the Supra, Brian's cell phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Okay, we traced the number to the northbound eighty-six. Mile marker one fourteen outside Cochlea. We'll keep the trace open Officer," the operator said.

Again he took the map from Mia, glancing between the road and the map. "Let me see this. All right, I think we're about forty miles away."

"What are you gonna do?" she asked, but when he didn't answer, she tried again: "What are you gonna do?"

-----

At sunrise, the truck came into view and Dominic's adrenaline was pumping. "Okay! Go time!"

"We're all good, man. I got nothing on the scanners," Leon said, giving the go ahead.

Vince stood through the open sunroof, firing the first spear gun. The first shut took out the windshield, and the second one - which Dom had handed to him - stuck into the passenger seat of the truck. As It was when Vince climbed out of the car that Toretto noticed that the driver was packing.

"Vince! Vince, don't! Get back in! Vince!" He pulled out his two-way. "He's got a damn shotgun! Leon! "

"Back off! Back off! Get him off there!"

Without hearing any of the conversation, Vince jumped from the back of Dom's car, onto the engine of the truck. He began pulling himself up, only to see the barrel of a shotgun pointed at his head.

"Oh shit!" Dom yelled as the man fired.

Luckily, he missed, and Vince quickly discarded his helmet, motioning for his friend to pull up next to him. "Get me off this thing! Pull up! Pull up, I'll jump!" It was then, when Dominic was close enough, that the driver slammed on his brakes, sending V to the side of the truck.

"Un...unhook...unhook yourself. Do it! Do it!"

His arm was caught in the wire that was supposed to hold him to the truck. Unfortunately, it was doing its job. "I can't get-"

"You can do it! Come on, Vince!"

On the truck's left, the driver's side, Letty didn't know what was happening, but she knew she could help. "Dom! I'm pulling up to distract him!" She stepped on the gas, pulling up in front of the eighteen wheeler. "Come on boy! Shot doesn't get better than this." However, she never really expected him to shoot at her. "Son of a bitch!"

On the other side of the truck, Vince was reaching out to the Civic next to him. "Take me off here or I'm gonna unhook the wire!"

"Try it again. One, two, three!" Dom called, pulling closer to the truck. When Vince failed to jump he panicked. "Unhook yourself!"

"I can't get my arm free! My arm!"

Dom held his hand out, trying to grab hold of his friend's outstretched arm. "Vince, grab my hand!"

"My arm!"

"Listen, give me your hand. I'm gonna pull you off the rig! Vince!"

"Dominic! Hold on!" They got a hold of each other for a few seconds before the trucker swerved towards the Civic, making Dom lose his grip.

"Give me your hand! Listen to me!"

"Dominic! Dominic! Dominic!"

He got closer again, only this time, the trucker used his shotgun to blow out the front tire, sending Toretto swerving across his lane. "Shit!"

"Dominic!"

"Hang on!"

From her position on the other side, Letty surveyed the height of the truck. "Dom! Move out of the way. I'm coming to get him." Before waiting for a reply, she pulled to the left and quickly jerked the wheel to her right, sliding right under the truck and in front of Dom's Civic.

As she pulled closer, to line her own car up with Vince, the trucker sent the front wheel of the truck into her car, clipping the bumper. Letty herself lose control as the car swerved first, then ran off the road, hitting a ditch. Then she flipped. Not once, not twice. But three maybe four times, leaving her car bottom up.

"Letty!" Dom screamed as they passed by. "Leon," he called into his two-way.

"Yo!"

"Pull back for Letty. Get her out of there!"

"I'm on it! Go! I've got her! You get Vince off that truck." The other man pulled up his emergency brake and twisted his car around, heading towards the spot where Letty went off the road. Once there, Leon jumped out of his car and ran to his fallen friend. She was just crawling out of her car when he ran down the hill. "Letty! Come on, baby. Letty! You okay? Oh, shit. Come on, girl, you all right? Come on, let me look at you. Come on. We got to go. Let's go." He was so scared, he wasn't even sure he knew what he was saying. All he knew was that one friend had just flipped and the other was stuck on a truck.

"Vince!" Dom tried again to get to his friend.

"Dominic!"

"Vince!" It was starting to appear as though it was a lost cause. There was no way he was going to get his best friend of that rig. But then, out of nowhere an orange Supra came racing up the road and sped past Dom, keeping pace with the truck.

"Here, take the wheel." Brian said to Mia as he pulled next to the rig and popped the roof off his T-top.

She looked as him as though he were crazy. "What do you mean?"

"Take the wheel! Put your foot on the gas! I'm gonna get him. Put your foot on the gas!"

"Okay! Okay!" As she did so, he climbed from his seat to perch on the driver's side door.

"Come on. Keep it steady."

She switched from her seat over to the one that he had just vacated. "I got it!"

"All right, hold on, Vince!" he shouted over to the man that hated him, hoping that for just once he would trust him.

"Okay!" Mia shouted, letting Brian know that she was in control of the car.

"Hey, he's having a hard time holding on! Get me a little closer!"

"All right!"

"Closer!"

"I'm moving in!"

"Hold it right there!"

"Go!"

Without waiting for further instructions, Brian jumped from the Supra onto the passenger ledge of the truck, hooking his arm through the support bar. "Vince! You got to hang in here with me right now! We're gonna get you off this thing! Give me your arm! Vince, look at me! Don't let go! Come on, Vince! Throw this arm around me! Vince, don't let go!" Quickly, or a quickly as humanly possible, he unwound the wire from around Vince's arm, then motioned for Mia to come closer. "Come on! Come on, Mia! Get closer! Mia, get closer! Come on! Come on Vince. Here we go!"

Then he pushed the man into the back seat. Something told him, he wasn't sure what, but something told him to check the driver. And for a brief moment, he found himself facing the barrel of a shotgun. One of the scariest moments of his life. But, then he jumped, landing next to Vince in the back as Mia pulled off the road.

Dominic stopped a few meters down the road, getting out of his car and running up the Supra. It was then that he noticed it was empty and that Mia, Brian, and Vince were out on the desert floor. "V! Oh shit." Leon's car pulled up next to him and he immediately ran to the open passenger side window where Letty sat in the back, holding her stomach. "It's gonna be okay, Letty," he said, grabbing her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I love you." When she looked away he turned to Leon. "Watch her."

"Yeah, I got her."

Toretto ran down to where Mia and Brian were trying to keep Vince alive. "Come on, Vince!" Brian shouted, panic on his face. "Hang in there! Come on! If we don't get him to an ambulance in ten minutes he's dead." Dom nodded, understanding completely. "Hold this. Hold the pressure."

Mia sat to the side, holding Vince's arm in her lap. "I got it."

"Just like that. Don't let go. Hold his arm up."

She turned her worried eyes on their fallen friend. "Vince."

"Yeah. Yeah, this is Officer Brian O'Connor. I'm off duty M.A.P.D. I need a life flight roll out right away. My twenty is, uh, Highway 86, mile marker 147. I got one trauma victim, about 24 years of age. Six foot, maybe 200 pounds." He hazard a glance at Toretto who was seething quietly, his jaws working in opposition. "He's got a real deep laceration to his right arm, with arterial bleeding. And he's got a shotgun wound. Close range to his left flank. Yeah. Yeah. And he's going into shock!"

As the helicopter landed five minutes later, Dominic stood next to Leon and waited for Mia to walk away from Brian. The two of them, Mia and Brian helped the paramedics get V onto the copter, but Mia just stood there afterwards, looking back and forth between her brother and her boyfriend. Eventually, her brother's protesting won out and she ran to him, getting in the back seat with Letty.

As the helicopter lifted off the ground, Brian ran to his own car, heading back to Toretto's hoping to catch them though they already had a good ten minute head start.

-----

He pulled up to the house a half-hour later, only to find that Dom had pulled out the Charger and was now loading a shotgun. "Dom, put the gun down now!" Brian shouted, getting out of his car and pulling out his own regulation pistol.

Toretto cocked the shotgun. "Move your car."

"No. Bullshit! Put it down now! No more running!"

"I'm not running!"

"Where's Leon and Letty?"

"They're long gone!"

The cop stepped out from the protection of his door and walked around to Dom, gun still aimed. "Then it's over. I didn't call the police. But don't push me! Put the gun down! I swear to God!"

"You are the cop! You're a cop! Brian! I got to find Jesse before they do. I'm all the kid's got."

"I'll call in the plates. PD will pick him up way before Johnny even gets near him."

He just didn't get it, did he? "Move your car," Dom practically growled.

Mia stepped out of the house and onto the porch "Dom, stop it! It's over! Please!"

"Mia, stay out of it! Move the..."

That's when Jesse decided to show up. He pulled to the curb with a screech and stepped out of the Jetta. "Dominic, I am so sorry. I don't know what I'm doing, Dom. I'm so scared right now. I don't know what's going on."

Toretto turned to Brian, making a show of putting down the shotgun, then turned to the kid. "Jess, what were you thinking, man?"

"I don't know! I panicked! I'm sorry. I'm scared! I don't know what I'm doing! Will you please help me?" The roar of engines made his last few words almost impossible to hear. Everyone turned their heads to see two men on motorcycles come down the street, firing off guns as they passed the house.

Unfortunately, while everyone else dove for cover, Jesse still had no idea what was happening, and therefore he was on the receiving end of the spray of bullets. "Dom! Jesse!" Mia screamed as she ran from the porch onto the sidewalk, where she saw Jesse lying on the ground. "Jesse! No, Jesse!" Her brother came over to them, held Jesse to him for a brief moment then looked over at Brian. The cop immediately got into his car and drove after Tran. Dom stood to do the same. "No, Dom, no!" But he did not listen, only he went in the opposite direction.

As Brian chased after the two Trans, they in turn tried to shoot at him. A little ways down the road, one of them took a hill down, intending on coming up behind the car. The maneuver did work, however, a black car came from a side street and clipped the back tire, sending the last bike right back down the hill.

That left Brian alone with the first biker. As the man turned slightly to shoot at him, the cop slammed on his brakes and jerked the wheel, bringing himself into a better position. Then he opened fire on Tran hitting him square in the chest.

"Call 911. You. Call 911!" Brian called after inspecting Johnny Tran and finding a pulse. He looked over to see the Charger sitting at the top of the hill.

-----

"I used to drag here back in high school. That railroad crossing up there is exactly a quarter mile away from here. On green, I'm going for it," Toretto said once Brian had finally caught up with him. They were sitting at a red light, a quarter mile down from a set of railroad tracks.

The light turned green and the two of them took off. Dominic won, no problem, but Brian had officially spent his NOS tanks. Luckily, both of them made it across the tracks in time to miss an oncoming train. The only problem, however, was the green semi that came out of nowhere and flipped the Charger, very similar to the flip Letty took not that long ago.

"Dom!" Brian yelled as he jumped out of the Supra and ran to his friend's battered car.

"That's not what I had in mind," the other man said as the two of them maneuvered him from the car. Then they stood there, side by side, as the sound of sirens grew closer. But the thought of sending his friend to prison was too much. Brian held out the keys to his car. "You know what you're doing?" Dom asked.

"I owe you a ten second car."

Without waiting for further explanation, Toretto hopped into the car and drove away.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm introducing my new character here.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Lonnie Jackson sat on the bench at Los Angeles International Airport, waiting for James Sanford to pick her up. She had received word a few days earlier that that was the name of the man who would be driving her home. She knew him; had spent the passed three years training with him, but the Superiors over in LA had no knowledge of that for some strange reason.

"Jax!" She looked up to see the man that had become her brother walking towards her. "Jax" was everyone's nickname for her. Well, at least everyone that she had met since she left LA. But now she was back. "Sorry it took so long. It's raining out."

"Rain?" She hated rain. Instead of letting it get to her, she pulled her duffel bag from the floor and onto her shoulder, then stood with a nod. "Where are you parked?" They made their way to his Firebird.

Then the two of them sat in silence for two hours until James dropped her off at her old house, where her oldest brother and her father -when he wasn't in prison- lived. Outside was parked a purple Mustang and a Grand Prix. That meant he was there.

"You want me to come in with you?" he asked as she unbuckled herself.

"No. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay."

Nervous and unsure of what to do, Lonnie made her way up the front walk through the rain, stopping at the door. At least it wasn't storming outside. It had been three years since she had been home. Was she supposed to walk right in? Or knock? Considering it had been so long, she chose to do that latter, waiting silently as someone worked the lock on the other side.

"What do you wa-" The low voice stopped as Lonnie looked into the eyes of her brother. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as he stared at her. They never really got along, the two of them. He didn't like how she was so much like their father; too afraid that she was going to ruin her life.

"Come in, Lon, why you knockin', girl?" he asked, grabbing her bag and moving to allow her entrance.

"I don't know, G." Lonnie smiled at Giovanni and walked in. The house hadn't changed at all from what she could tell. Still one story, all the rooms appeared as though they were in the same place. Good.

Giovanni was her thirty-year-old brother. Her scary thirty-year-old brother.

"Is it all right if I a few nights, G? They got me a room up at UCLA, but it won't be ready till next month," she explained, sitting down on the couch.

"Yeah, it's fine. It's your house too, you know."

"That 'Stang out there belong to who I think it does?" No one knew she was coming home that night, so it would be cool to surprise everyone.

"No." The smile fell from her face, but then her brother held out a key and tossed it to her. "There's a note in the glove box for you."

Nodding, Lonnie took the key and walked back outside, unlocking the door to the Mustang and sitting inside. It smelled like him. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about him. Tears that she wiped away quickly with the back of her arm.

Without thinking about it, she opened the glove box and pulled out and envelop with the words "My Love" written on them. Sometimes he could be so cute. She took a deep breath, then opened it, reading the words on the page.

Lonnie:

Hey. No one will tell us when you're getting out...They won't even tell us where you are. I'm so sorry I didn't come to visit you. I hope you know how much I wanted to.

In case you didn't notice, I left you my car, aight? I got a new one a year after you left. Figured since you liked mine so much, you could use it when you got back.

I know you wanted me to forget you. Believe me, I couldn't. I love you so much Lonnie. I wasn't kidding when I told you you were my world. Please come find me.

I love you so much.

Leon

PS: I took care of Jesse, promise.

The rest of the letter was just an address.

-----

Lonnie double-checked the address on the paper, glancing at the number on the house and matching it up to the paper in her hand. Yup they matched. She frowned. Why didn't Leon let her know that he was this-close to living in a crack house? Almost the entire front of the house was shot up.

She stepped out of his - her - Mustang, adjusting her sunglasses over her nose, and looked around. Praying that the chances of a drive-by happening any time soon were slim to none, Lonnie walked around the front of the car and climbed the steps up to the front door.

The place looked deserted. As if any second now tumbleweed would come right across her path. But none did only a stray dog.

Then she was at the door, staring at it in apprehension. What was she supposed to say? "Hey, Leon, remember me?" didn't actually sound all that great. And three years was a really long time, he probably moved on...just like she thought he would.

It wasn't going to work. It would only end with her feeling completely stupid for even doing this in the first place. Why did she even get in the car and come this far into Los Angeles?

Shaking her head, Lonnie turned and started back down the steps, only to freeze when she heard a door creak open.

"Can I help you?" the person in the house asked. She turned around to see a pretty Italian girl standing behind the screen. "Can I help you?" the woman repeated.

"I think I might have the wrong house," Lonnie lied, fearing that this would be the woman that Leon moved on with. She was so pretty.

"Who are you looking for?"

Man, she wasn't going to let her leave. "Just an old friend. He left me his forwarding address, thought I'd swing by and see how he was." Lonnie held up the slip of paper as evidence. "But," she pretended to look at it, "silly me, wrong address."

The woman opened the screen door and stepped out onto the porch. "Here, let me see. Maybe I can tell you where it is."

"Nah, that's okay. I'm bound to find it somewhere."

Before she could say anything else, the woman gently to the paper from her hand and read it over. "What's your friend's name?" she asked without looking up.

Lonnie knew that she knew who it was. The address was written on the bottom of the letter, anyone who could read knew who it was from. But she played along: "Leon."

"Leon who?"

"DePascale."

"Well, you came to the right house," the Italian woman said.

"I know I did."

"But Leon won't be back for a few hours. He and the guys are over at the garage."

Lonnie took the paper back and nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm Mia, by the way," she said, sticking out her hand.

"Lonnie," she answered, shaking it.

"You want me to tell him you stopped by?"

"No, thank you." Lonnie's brow furrowed and she shook her head. "Please don't mention this at all."

"Okay."

"Sorry to have bothered you." Without waiting for a response, she jumped down the last to steps and sped over to her car. "Take care," she called, getting in and gunning the engine.

She never looked back. Never saw Mia shake her head. Never heard the other cars come up the street. Never saw Leon glance down at her retreating Mustang. Never saw the hope that quickly turned to pain.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you go folks. The new first chapter of "The Secrets Beneath." Any questions or comments, drop 'em in a review.