Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or the kick ass cars the drive

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or the kick ass cars the drive. Too bad.

Setting: About six weeks after the movie's end. Dom got away, Brian lost his badge and skipped town.

Letty and Leon are gone.

                            ~*~*~*~

The garage was hot, humid, and musky on the July afternoon that Dominic Toretto was working on one

of his cars with his longtime friend, Vince. He had just bought a new car from his earnings from racing,

and they were fully engrossed in making it look its best.

But the new Honda was the least of Dom's worries. It was a temporary escape for him to get his mind

off of the happenings of the past month and a half. In just those six weeks, he had escaped the law,

spent several nights in the hospital, making sure his friend, Jesse, was okay after being almost killed by

a gunshot wound induced by one of his enemies, Johnny Tran, and lost two of the best friends he had

in the world after they skipped town. After the accident, and after discovering Brian's true identity, he

had gotten the news from his sister, Mia, that his best friend, Leon, and his girlfriend, Letty, were gone,

without a trace. They had searched both their places, noting that clothes were sprawled across both

rooms, as if the two had been in a hurry to leave. The money that Leon had always kept under his

mattress had been taken, and on top of the pillow in Letty's un-made bed, lay a single sheet of paper.

And scrawled in Letty's handwriting in blunt black ink, were the sentences that had etched themselves

into Dom's head:

                                    Dom,

                                    I'm with Leon. I'm guessing if you're reading this, Brian didn't turn you in.

                                    Leon and I are going someplace away from here, so don't try and find us. It's for

                                    your own good. We'll be back someday, sometime soon hopefully, but if not I

                     want you to forget us and move on. We'll come home when it's safe. Take care of

                     yourself, Dominic, and be careful. I love you.

                                   Letty

That day, he had driven himself mad, trying to come up with an explanation as to why two people he

considered a part of his family would pick and leave. Eventually, he had come up with the explanation

that he'd stuck to ever since they left: That they were scared of being caught by the cops, and ran,

leaving him to deal with Jesse's debt to Johnny Tran, and the rest of the loose ends from Race Wars.

And although he finally had the satisfaction of a reason, the hole they punctured into his heart was still

as fresh as the day he'd sat on Letty's bed and read the note.

But since then, he'd put up a stone wall around himself and his emotions, leaving the stone-cold,

emotionless Dom for the world to see. And ever since they'd left, his relationships with Vince, Jesse,

and his sister had strengthened, as if they were all trying to console each other, without really knowing

it.

"Dom!" he heard Vince call. Dom snapped out of his world of thought at the sound of his friend's voice,

and looked up.

"You've been a thousand miles away all day, man. What's going on with you?" Vince asked, wiping his

hands on an old cleaning rag.

Dom straightened up, coming out from under the hood of the car, and moved to the ledge a few feet

away, and took a swig of a beer. He shrugged, "Just thinkin'."

Vince nodded, almost knowingly. The whole gang had silently closed off the Letty-and-Leon topic for

discussion. It was as if they were dead, and to them, they were. Gone. Disappeared.

Vince cleared his throat, "So, what're you racing tonight?" he asked, folding his arms across his

coveralls.

Dom looked around the garage and at the driveway that was also dotted with several of their cars. He

finally pointed to the red RX-7. "She's the best, and I feel like a sure win tonight."

Vince nodded, shifting his gaze to the car, "She's a beauty. We'll need to replace the NOS tanks in her

before we leave. Shouldn't be a problem," he concluded.

Dom nodded in agreement. It was a good thing his cars didn't give him trouble. He couldn't say the

same about his friends.

                            *~*

Mia was at Toretto's, leaning over the counter, paging through a magazine. Despite the fact that she

hated looking at all the happy-looking couples that graced the pages, she was unusually bored. It was a

slow business day, and Dom wasn't seated in the back, like he usually was. As she skimmed the pages,

she couldn't help but notice the twinge in her heart that she got from looking at all of the pictures of

happy-looking friends and couples, with wide smiles, and goofy poses. She remembered when Letty and

Leon were still at home with them, and everything was like they usually ran things. Those were the days

when things were still normal. Ever since her two friends had left, things had been lonelier and quieter

over the Toretto household. And she knew she wasn't the only one who noticed it. Her brother had

gotten ruder, and more ruthless at the races, betting more and more money, as if he needed the extra

thrill in order to fulfill himself. It wasn't as if he hadn't always needed the thrill, but lately, it had seemed

like his lifeline.

Mia was in the midst of her thoughts, remembering old times, when she heard the revving of an engine.

She jumped slightly, coming out of her own little world of memories, looking up to where she saw a car

quickly pulling to a stop. She stood up straight, shielding her eyes with her hand from the blazing

summer sun, and watched as two figures got out of the car. As she took in their appearances, Mia's

breath caught in her throat as she realized who they were.

One of the figures was a well-built man of about her brother's age, with a bandanna tied around his

head, with worn blue jeans, and a black t-shirt with the sleeves torn off. The second figure, was a toned

young woman, a bit younger. She had dark hair cascading around her shoulders with black sunglasses,

baggy black pants, with thong straps showing out the top, and a tight yellow tank top. The two people

met at the hood of the car, and were both constantly looking around them as they approached the

counter. Soon, both had made eye contact with Mia, which was when Mia knew exactly who they were.

"Shit," she muttered to herself, in spite of amazement, rather than fury.

The two eventually made their way up to the counter and slowed down when they were within speaking

distance of Mia.

The female spoke up, "What's shakin', Mia?" she asked, looking a bit cautious as to what she might say.

Mia didn't speak for a while. Eventually she took a deep breath, and turned on her heel, coming out

from behind the counter, so she was face to face with the two, without the bar in the way. She looked

at the two, before letting a smile creep across her face, as she pulled the girl into a hug, "It's good to

see you, Letty." Letty embraced her back, as Leon stepped forward, and put his arms around both

women, and hugged them with a sigh of relief.

                            *~*

Dom, Jesse, and Vince were all seated around the picnic table, eating dinner, that night before the race.

Mia hadn't gotten home yet, and Dom was getting a bit concerned. She wasn't usually this late, in fact,

usually she insisted on being punctual. But he knew she was a big girl, and he could only take the big

brother thing so far. In the meantime, he and his two friends made decent talking, discussing the

events for the night.

"So tonight it's just a normal night?" Vince asked Jesse, taking a bite of his hamburger.

Jesse shook his head, "Ethan is going tonight specifically to race Dom. He mentioned something about

high stakes," he said. Ethan Aames was the new version of Johnny Tran. He had come into town after

Johnny had been killed, and had earned himself the position of Most Hated Enemy in Dom's book.

Dom simply sighed. Ever since Ethan had come into town, Dom had wanted nothing more, than to

smash Ethan's face in. Normally, he wouldn't give an arrogant street-racer a second thought, but Ethan

seemed to just love taunting Dom. He was about Dom's size, black hair slicked forward, with a Latin

heritage showing through in his facial features. He could never pick out specific comments Ethan made,

but it was just something about him that made Dom uneasy.

Dom was about to respond, when he heard the sound of engines roaring. He quickly stood up and

turned to look at the driveway. Mia's turquoise car, along with a mysterious black Viper, pulled into the

driveway. He raised an eyebrow and slowly walked toward the end of the back lot, and waited for Mia

and whomever else it was to get out of the car. Mia soon got out, as well as two others out of the

Viper. Dom squinted, trying to make out who they were. After a couple of seconds, Dom's heart

slammed in his chest with realization. Letty and Leon.

The three were now making there way over to Dom, Jesse, and Vince, with Mia in front, and Leon and

Letty trailing a bit behind. Leon first made eye contact with Dom, and lifted his chin in acknowledgment,

"What up man?" Dom shook his head, "Nothin' much. Just wondering what the hell happened to you

two," he said, causing a light silence to fall on the group.

Letty simply averted her gaze, before meeting Dom's eyes, as Leon greeted Vince and Jesse. "Hey

Dom," she said, her eyes staring deep into his. It had been so long since he'd seen her

dark-chocolate-colored eyes. So long since he'd taken her in his arms and made love to her for the

better portion of a night. So long sin--. He stopped his rambling thoughts before he softened too much

to keep up his guard. His face remained still and his eyes locked with hers. "Letty," he simply said in

acknowledgment. He had had his mind set on them never coming home, the memory of the day they

left fresh in his head. "How've you been?" She asked, obviously wanting more out of him than an

acknowledgment. He almost laughed at the question, as if she didn't know. "How do you think I've

been, Letty?" he responded in a challenging tone. Leon, Mia, and Jesse didn't ignore the raise in his

voice. They all gave him a look, as if to say 'Chill'. Dom moved his eyes back to Letty. "We have to talk,"

he finally said, motioning for her to follow him as he headed over to the garage.

Once they were there, he turned to look at her and gave her an expectant look. Letty blankly stared

back at him, before speaking up, "Look, Dom. I know you're pissed. Probably feeling betrayed, but we

left for a reason." She looked at him with an earnest look. For a moment, he almost wanted to forgive

her right then and there. But he couldn't. "Letty, no matter what your reason, I can't forget the day I

read that note," he said with a rough tone to his voice, but he needed to get this out to her. He needed

to let her know how much she hurt him. "Christ, it was the day we almost lost Jesse, you get torn to shit in

that wreck of a car! Then I have to come home to Mia telling me you and Leon are long

gone! How the hell do you explain that? What kind of excuse can make up for that?" he challenged. He

half-expected her to back down, realizing that she was wrong in this, but he also knew Letty, probably

better than anyone. And what she said next couldn't have been said with more of her character

showing through. "He threatened to kill you, Dom."