AN: Hey everybody how we doing'? I have no clue how cars work or what the latest make and models are so everything that I write in this story is from Wikipedia and car websites. Anyone out there who has knowledge of the mechanics of cars don't be afraid to let me know if I mess up.
AN/2: Sorry folks, but I lost my muse to write this story in an Alpha/Omega universe so it's just going to be in a regular alternate universe. Hope you still like the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or cars, only the plot.
Enjoy!
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Chapter 1
Heat was a good thing; it brought cars and people to life in unimaginable and beautiful ways. From gentle purrs to fierce9 roars of engines, cars wait in anticipation for their turn to race along that quarter-mile stretch, to have their circuits and parts pushed to the limit so that for ten seconds, they can feel like they truly are more than just metal and gasoline. For people, the sheer speeds that they are able to push their cars to and beyond are pure freedom, and a very addicting high. But that's not the focus of this story.
The hot California sun seemed to be especially brutal as its unforgiving sight gazed upon Death Valley and its sole occupant who dared travel across the blistering sands and unforgiving air. The driver paid no attention to the sun though, rather, he soaked up the heat greedily like a sponge soaks up water. The air wafting through his car was both hot and cold, and it filled his veins with life as he gunned the engine. But he knew better than to drive too fast when he was carting precious cargo. The driver eased off the gas and the 2000 Dodge Ram slowed from eighty to sixty-five, the trailer in the back carrying a half-built '69 Charger, a '95 Eclipse GST, and a half-built '72 Z28 Camaro settling down. They were treasures all right, but the most important pieces were sleeping in uncomfortable- looking positions in the pickup.
At thirteen years old, his oldest daughter, Alexandria O'Connor was five feet of contradictions from her black military boots to the glitter and rhinestone barrettes decorating the multiple braids in her hair. She wore a dark purple tank top with a silver and blue dragon on it, grey camouflage pants held up with a black leather belt, black finger gloves, a short hemmed black jacket that had sleeves down to her elbows, and black sunglasses. She was also the only one of his three daughters to have inherited both of their father's dark brown eyes and brown hair. Well, if the man had hair at all. And if he really remembered what their father looked like. Getting off topic, need to focus. The amount of black she wore said that she wasn't bothered by the intensity of the sun's heat, which she proved further by peacefully sleeping under the direct sight of the sun without breaking a sweat. Her boot-clad feet were propped on the window sill next to the side mirror, and she was slumped low enough in her seat to rest her on the pillow on the center console, arms thrown carelessly across her belly. Brian, her daddy and the current driver, bit back his laughter at her soft snoring and wished he hadn't packed his camera in the suitcase.
He switched his gaze to the rearview mirror, the reflection of his fraternal twin younger daughters an adorable picture. Daniela, the older twin by ten minutes, had short blonde hair with dark brown streaks and her daddy's baby blue eyes. She was dressed a little more fashionably than her elder sister in designer jeans, a pink top and black tennis shoes. She loved shopping and accessorizing to an obsessive level, but she had no less the tough-as-nails attitude her daddy and elder sister had. Demetriana, his youngest daughter, was definitely the most outgoing of all his daughters. From sports to hiking and camping, Demetri (as she preferred to be called) seemed to be always full of restless energy which left Bryan finding the right outlet for her in every town they stopped in longer than a week. She shared his blue eyes with her twin, but her hair was opposite of Daniela's with brown hair and blonde streaks. And unlike the other two who took a little pride in how they appeared, Demetri's clothes looked like a cross between what she would wear when going to sports practice and lazing around the house. She was wearing a yellow soccer club t-shirt that had grease and grass stains on it, a pair of black sweatpants, and a pair of Adidas that had seen better days. The purple Lakers hat was pulled down over her eyes as she leaned against her elder twin, both of them fast asleep.
Bryan took a sip of water as the city of LA grew on the horizon.
"Last stop girls," he said quietly as he gave a small smile to each of his daughters, "then it's back to the real world."
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"So can you get the parts in by Thursday? Alright, thanks Harry."
"I take it we're in business?"
"Hell yeah. Race warriors is going to be hot this year."
"So long as it doesn't get so hot that your brains leak out of your ears along with your driving skills," said a third voice, a Hispanic female to the two males.
"Ah come on Letty," said one of the males, Leon, as the three of them walked into Toretto's Café. "We've got Race Wars in the bag."
"And we'll smoke every newbie that thinks they got the balls to race against us," said the other male, Vince, as he sat at the counter.
"Just make sure you're not blowing smoke when you get to the starters line," said the girl behind the counter. Mia Toretto was the co-owner of the Café with her brother, and the mother hen of their dysfunctional group. Long brown hair and dark brown eyes coupled with her tan, she looked almost exotic at first glance. She was tall and built, but didn't sport the unhealthily thin body that most California women preferred. The second female, Letty, was slightly shorter than Mia but was still healthily built. Her tan was a shade darker than Mia's and she had long black hair and brown eyes. Her don't-mess-with-me attitude only accentuated her independent and passionate personality.
Leon was tall and lean but one could still see the defined muscles on his arms and torso. His brown hair was short cropped and he had hazel eyes. There were random grease stains on his clothes, and he gave off a friendly but cautious air. The second male was scruffy looking: brown hair was spiked a little on his head, and he had full facial coverage with a beard trimmed short, a moustache, and side burns all connected together. His eyes were brown, and seemed to always be lit up with fire and aggression. He was tall and had more defined and bigger muscles than Leon. He was highly aggressive and was always suspicious and distrustful of every newcomer that the team interacted with, but this magnified ten times when the males started flirting with Mia.
The group's conversation was cut short by the deep rumble of an engine; they looked out to the street to see a dark blue Dodge Ram pulling a trailer pull over to the opposite side and the engine was killed. The driver's window rolled down and the driver reclined against the window sill, soaking up the sun's generous rays.
"Speaking of newbies," said Leon with a smile as he studied the new blood. The guy painted a pretty picture alright, Leon was positive about that. Golden-blonde curls, gorgeous sun-kissed skin, and Leon was ready to bet his pink slip that the guy's eyes were a light shade of either green or blue though he couldn't be sure since said eyes were covered by designer shades. His face was fine angled with high cheekbones, a strong but slightly feminine- looking jaw and a long, slender neck. Equally lithe, but graceful looking wrists and arms rested on the steering wheel and bottom of the window sill as he rested against the window, seemingly asleep. His cupids bow lips were pursed and seemed to be turned upward in a smug smile, as though he knew the others were watching him and he was basking in the attention. He looked to be about twenty- six. Leon watched Vince in his peripheral vision about to say something about the blonde when somebody exited the passenger side and headed towards their café.
"Damn, Pretty Boy doesn't waste time breedin'," said Letty, "and man does he have some good genes." She looked on with interest at the girl's looks and body build as she walked into the café. Camouflage pants, black army boots, leather finger gloves, and a purple tank top. The braids in her hair were pinned in all different directions with rhinestone butterflies and flowers. She was built like who had to be her daddy in the car, all flexible and elegant looking limbs and body. Her walk was completely different than what her body portrayed though; she walked with a powerful, confident stride with her shoulders set back and her head held high. The aura she gave off seemed to demand attention from around her, but she walked like everyone's attention on her wasn't worth her own.
The other's experienced this this first hand when the girl headed for the cooler without a word of greeting or even acknowledgment to any of them. Pulling several water bottles and a can of soda out, she headed for the magazine rack after setting the drinks down. The others watched her with interest as she pulled six car magazines (Racer, NASCAR Scene, Drift Tengoku, Sports Car International, Car and Driver and Car Craft), two sports magazines (Soccer America and Tae Kwon Do Times), two gun magazines (Gun Digest and Gun World), four fitness magazines (Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Women's Fitness, and Shape), and three computer magazines (Linux Magazine, PC World, and Wired) off the rack and set them on the counter next to the drinks.
"You got a menu?" she asked without looking up as she arranged her items to keep them from falling. She took the menu from Mia without a word and proceeded to ignore her as she read the food and beverage options.
"No need to be rude brat," growled Vince but the girl paid him no mind as she kept her attention on the menu. Leon and the others were amused at the girl's attitude towards Vince whose face was turning an impressive shade of red; it wasn't very often that somebody else showed him such a level of disrespect and disinterest all at once, or at all. The aura he gave off was like an aggressive bulldog leaping and attacking at everything it saw. A regular newcomer would normally be wary around Vince, but this girl was different; she showed no signs of caution or suspicion around him despite the aggressive air he gave off. Like how a normal person would start fidgeting or squirming in place under the interested attention of a few strangers all at once, the girl did the opposite by simply standing there like she was by herself in the café. After several minutes of looking the menu over multiple times, turning it over and over to compare one dish to another, she spoke up.
"Can I get two grilled cheese and bologna sandwiches, a house salad, a salami sandwich, and two tuna sandwiches?" The looks she got from the others made her arch an eyebrow but she didn't call them on it. She folded her arms and just gave Mia an expectant look. Mia laughed nervously at the girl's gaze and got to work on the order. While waiting the girl pulled one of the car magazines towards her and she buried her nose in it. Vince pulled the others back into conversation outside where Letty and Leon could keep him from saying something stupid, this time in Spanish so the brat wouldn't understand what they were saying.
"Pocomierda.Parece quese olvidó desus modales, junto con sus emociones (Little shit. Looks like she forgot her manners along with her emotions)," said Vince as he took the can of soda from Letty when she sat next to him, the umbrella providing blessed shade from the sun.
"Vamoshermano.Ella es nuevaen la ciudad yno conoce a nadieaquí, no es una mala cosasi ellamantiene susparedesencima de agradabley de alta. Si sergroseroayuda a quese sientamás seguro, entonces está trabajandopara ella yno nos podemos quejarpor ello.Además, (C'mon bro. She's new in town and doesn't know anybody here; it's not a bad thing if she keeps her walls up nice and high. If being rude helps make her feel safer, then it's working for her and we can't fault her for it. Besides,)," said Leon with a smirk, "Apuesto aque tal vez ellano le gustabatener que mirar ala carafea (I bet that maybe she just didn't like having to look at your ugly face.)." Vince flipped him the bird and took a drink.
"Enfriarchicos (Cool it guys,)," said Letty as she looked at the girl out of the corner of her eye who seemed to still be engrossed in her magazine, "¿Quéte hace pensar quenonos escuchaen este momento (What makes you think she's not listening to us right now?)?"
"Yes, tontos. What makes you think I'm not listening?" The three of them turned; the girl had been facing her magazine when she spoke but she turned to look at them with a deadpanned look in her eyes. Leon and Letty had the grace to look a little ashamed for talking about her in her hearing range, but Vince didn't look the least bit sorry.
"Orders ready," said Mia as her voice cut through the mounting tension. Vince and the new girl were holding a staring contest as he tried to glare the other into submission; the girl didn't have the scent of a Wulf, and it made him uneasy and pissed that she wouldn't back down from the contest. But what angered him even more was when she immediately turned her attention to Mia when she spoke up, like Mia held the answers to all of life and Vince was nothing but insignificant. Vince growled at the blatant dismissal and was about to speak when Mia cut him off.
"So the food, drinks, and magazines come to a total of…$85.81," said Mia uncertainly as she met the girl's gaze. The girl's bored expression didn't change as she pulled four twenties and a ten out of her wallet.
"Keep the change," she said as she grabbed the two bags with her purchases inside and walked out of the café. As she passed by Vince she stopped to face him and met his hard gaze. "Una palabra deconsejosde amigos. Tevas adestrozara alguienhablar, entonces no lo hagasen un idiomaque puedan entender (A word of advice buddy. If you're going to trash talk somebody, then don't do it in a language that they can understand.)." She said all this in flawless Spanish, even going so far as to roll her r's.
Vince twitched at the girls' barb and levelled her with a glare that said if she were a boy, Vince would have smacked her for that comment. Aside from the tightening of her fists when he glared at her, the girl showed no other reaction to him. Leon and Letty had been ready to jump Vince if he opened his mouth to say something scathing, but when they saw him send a death glare at the new girl who was holding her own they were surprised and simply sat there, watching and waiting to react if she buckled.
A sharp whistle cut through the silence and shattered the dominant stare down. All four looked across the street and saw the blonde angel sitting upright with one hand clenching the steering wheel, the other hidden under the window sill. Gone was the laid back, easy- going bombshell with the gorgeous smile; in place was an angry daddy ready to pull his shotgun at any moment, was that what his hidden hand was holding on to? His eyes were still hidden behind his sunglasses, but his face had hardened and his mouth was set in a thin line.
"Quit aggravating the animals Ally," he called to her, "Let's go." The girl, Ally, turned back to meet Vince's outraged face at her daddy's words and let a smug smirk cross her lips, the first emotion she let show.
"See ya later hothead." With that she turned on her heel and headed back to her daddy's truck, her daddy holding his own staring contest with Vince as she climbed in. Starting the truck Ally's daddy pulled away and left nothing but a dust cloud behind. Having watched all this from the café Mia let out a laugh as she watched Leon and Letty try to calm Vince down.
"Welcome to Echo Park Ally."
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Well ya'll? Like it? Hate it? Love it? Wipe your ass with it? Let me know!