Discmlaimer: I own nothing affiliated with the Fast and the Furious, or anything else you may recognise. This is for entertainment purposes only.

AN: Hey there. Well, as you may have guessed, this is a Vince central story. It's basically just a take on what could have happened, and how he deals with something completely unexpected. There's not much else to tell really, if you're interested it would be nice if you had a read, maybe told me your thoughts. Ok, cool. Truly yours, Venus.

Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints

Act One

Vince

He couldn't stand it. He had no way of getting his car back, so he was stuck driving a bucket with wheels until he figured something out. He was a convicted felon so nobody was going to take any chances helping him out. He was stuck and he knew it.

He pulled into the store car park, glaring at the two wannabe ricers who were pointing and jeering at his car. He turned his glare to the car, kicked the wheel with his heel before walking toward the store. He needed a drink. And he didn't want no damn beer; this was a call for strong, hard liquor. He walked straight into the store, knowing exactly where he was heading. He'd been away for so long but it still hadn't changed. The alcohol aisle was still in the same place, layout the same. He stopped before the whiskeys, trying to decide whether he wanted the big bottle or the bigger bottle. It wasn't really a contest, so he picked up the more expensive of the two bottles of Jim Beam, grabbed a six pack of beer, his usual staple diet and headed toward the checkout.

He paid for the drink and wandered outside, muttering under his breath at the dumbass students that always get employed by places like that. No, he did not have a saver card, and no he didn't want to get one. And no, he also didn't want a coupon for a free meal for two at Frankie and Joe's because for one, did he look like the type of person who would go to a fifties diner? And two, he was just a one, not a two.

He headed toward the area he was parked when the two punks that had been laughing at him previously walked past him.

"Hey dude, someone's tryin'a steal that hunk a' junk you were drivin'," one of them said. They both began laughing again as he cursed and broke into a sprint towards his vehicle. It might have been scrap metal but it belonged to him and he'd be damned if anyone weas going to steal that away from him as well.

He reached the car just as the cretin managed to hotwire the engine and it spluttered to life. He ripped his keys from his pocket, opening the passenger door and jumping in the car as the tires screeched. He slammed the door shut as they began speeding from the parking lot.

"What the fuck do you think you're doin'?!" He yelled, discarding his alcohol by his feet before grabbing the hands of the thief and yanking the wheel towards him. "Shit!" He turned the wheel the other way before they hit an unsuspecting pedestrian. He looked up at the car burglar, shock forming at his mouth in the form of another cuss.

"Jesus, the one time I steal a pile of crap car and someone catches me!" She shouted out loud.

"Hey honey, don't even start on my car. It might be a banger but it's my banger and you are not getting away with it," he seethed at her, totally out of control of the situation. As they squealed around a corner, he decided it safer to slip his seat belt on. She wasn't getting away with his car so if she wanted it, he came with it. A package deal.

"Look, I just needed to get away alright; I don't want your friggin' car," she began, in a slightly New York accent. 'I mean I probably woulda kept it 'cause it's not like people woulda made much effort tryin' to find it - well at least that's what I thought until you came along. I mean no offense, but it is a junk pile. It runs ok I guess, but I thought I'd go for the worst one and -"

"Don't you ever shut up?" He looked at her, clenching his fist, mind working overtime to try and figure out how he was going to gain control over the situation.

"I'm sorry, okay. I just need to get away. When we get to the place I'm headed, you can have your car back."

"No, this is not going to be some form of deal, kid. This is my car, and you will pull the fuck over!" He yelled. He knew no other way but force but she didn't seem to be taking heed. He wished he could have believed that she would obey him but things seemed to be taking a different road. "Now!"

She glanced over at him quickly, and the clear anger on his face was enough to terrify her. Of course, she tried not to let this show. She carried on driving, dodging through the evening traffic to an unknown location. He sighed next to her, clearly not drilling his point across. But what could he do? He couldn't try and take over like his initial thoughts had told him to. He didn't want to risk his neck and kill them both. As he slammed his fist down on the dashboard, she jumped in her seat and then felt her cheeks burn when she noticed that he had seen her do so.

She gulped and bit down on her lip, hoping that he wouldn't do anything worse. She thought he looked like kind of a brute, there was anger in his eyes which she imagined was there a lot of the time. But from her experience, underneath the exterior was just a person looking for something - acceptance, closure, maybe even love.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking around and not having a clue where they were heading. When she didn't answer, he shook his head, muttering again.

This was the type of thing that would only happen to him. He'd been out for three weeks and already someone had attempted to steal his car.At least it's not the Maxima, he thought. He was so down on his luck at that moment and it pissed him off to high heaven. Hadn't he gone through enough already, paid off his debt? He had nothing left, not his car, not his family.

It was just another thing he was going to have to face alone. But to what avail? He was a hot head, and he had too much pride to even consider asking for help. But that was something he had come to expect from the team and he hadn't even told anyone that he was out. He would do of course. He missed them all immensely but for some reason he felt like he needed to prepare himself for seeing them again.

Mia had visted him within the first week of him being put away. As much as he loved that girl, he couldn't stand seeing her from the 'other side' and he had actually got angry with her. He regretted it deeply, but he had yelled at her and told her to not visit him again. She had left in tears and it broke his heart. But he just couldn't do it.

She had written to him after that, which he really hadn't expected. Even though she was young, she really was like a mother figure to them all. She was sort of the behind the scenes person, who held everything together and who everyone apreciated like no other - though they probably didn't show it often enough. Thankfully, she had understood why he couldn't stand seeing her. She had kept him sane when things went from bad to worse to almost insufferable. At night, after the fights or the punishments from the wardens, he would lay awake all night some nights just thinking of her.

He grabbed the bottle of Jim Beam from the plastic carrier bag and ripped the lid off. He took a long swig from the bottle, the alcohol leaving a burning sensation in his chest. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to calm himself down and failing.

"Look we'll be there in-"

"Shut up," he said forcefully. She bit her lip again, gripping the wheel harder as she began to get off the freeway. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes. She seemed to know her way around the city, yet didn't appear to know where she was heading. This was just great. What was he meant to do, trapped inside his own car with some chick who knew enough to be able to steal it, but really had no idea what she was doing?

"What are you running from?" He asked, not taking his eyes off her. She tensed up again, and he was beginning to worry about the speed they were travelling. She seemed to be a capable driver, now that she had calmed down and he sincerely hoped she wouldn't try anything stupid.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Well I didn't believe that a girl would ever steal my car so I think I could believe anything at the moment," he said, his tone a little less harsh than it had been. He watched her as she drove. She was debating whether to spill her guts to him, but then she knew she would be in a weaker position than she was already in and she wanted to keep some leverage.

She was scared, terrified in fact, and though he seemed a little less angry at her now she couldn't bare to tell anyone, let alone him, why she was running. She just needed to get as far away from them as she could. And fast.

"Nobody has this far, so you probably won't either," she replied, her voice trying to be cold but seemed to be filled with remorse. Possibly regret. "Listen, okay. I'm gonna drop you off at a gas station 'cause you're gonna need to fill your tank." She fished a twenty dollar bill out from her jeans pocket and threw it into his lap.

"Gee, thanks little girl. I really appreciate you stealing my car and then paying for the gas. What is wrong with you?" He fumed, holding up the bill.

"Don't even ask."

"I didn't expect an answer," he spat, taking another gulp from the bottle in his hand. He was trying to formulate a plan as fast as he possibly could. He breathed deeply, his mind in overdrive. He screwed the cap back on the bottle, shoving it back in the bag.

He flicked the car stereo on, an idle attempt to fill the silence. When she didn't like the CD that came blaring out, she turned her nose up in disgust and changed it to the radio, tuning into some station or other. Anything was better than that junk, she thought, just before the man beside her pushed the disc back into the stereo. She reached over again, about to push another button before he grabbed her arm and placed her hand firmly on the steering wheel. She flinched at his touch and began shaking slightly. It didn't seem like he had noticed, but she wasn't paying that much attention to him anymore.

He turned the stereo off again, to be honest, he couldn't bare to listen to anything any more than she could. "Would you slow down? Are you trying to kill us both or something?"

"Anything would be better than them," she said quietly. He cocked his head at her but she didn't elaborate any further. He appeared to have met someone that was equally as fucked up as him. He knew how many mistakes could occur from someone like that - he had lived it himself.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Barbara," muttered Vince, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh. Well Barbara," she began, earning her a somewhat menacing look. "Okay. Never mind."

She swerved around a corner, scarcely skimming past an oncoming car. "Watch out!" He exclaimed. "Jesus, you sure this isn't a suicide run?" He gripped the door handle with one hand as she seemed to be gaining speed and making stupid decisions.

Behind them, a car was steadily gaining on them. Speeding around another corner, the car fishtailed slightly out of control. "Shit," she muttered.

"What are you doing?" Shouted Vince, gripping the door handle, to avoid ending up on the drivers side.

"They're behind us," she gasped, her voice giving away the fact that she was on the verge of tears. Vince looked around to see the blacked out vehicle following their every move. Before he knew it, they rammed into the back of his car, sending them hurtling forward, and causing him to almost hit his head on the dashboard.

The girl beside him was losing control of the car, but he realised it must have been more than just the speed they were going. The car giving chase was wrecking his car, having rammed them three times now.

She was full out crying now, tears streaming down her pale cheeks and causing her hair to stick to them. He had no idea what the hell kind of situation he had gotten himself into but for some reason, unknown to him, he wanted to help the girl thief.

The other car was steadily pulling up beside them now, getting ready to ram them off the road. Vince's car was spluttering and groaning. One more hit coul send it over the edge and kill them both. Thinking quickly, Vince looked around, and spotted an abandoned multi-story car park that the Team often used if they ever found themselves in a police chase, a few blocks ahead of them.

"Look, I need you to trust me now. I need you to do as I say, ok?" She looked at him, shaking and upon seeing the seriousness in his face, she nodded. "Right, when I tell you, I want you to get ready and ram into the side of their car. Can you do that?"

"I-I think so."

"OK. When I tell you ok, then we're gonna head for that parking lot up ahead, you see it?" She looked, and then nodded. "Ok...NOW!"

She veered right slightly, then slammed the wheel to the left, crashing into the car and sending it the opposite way. Vince craned his neck in time to see it hurtle into the back of a hummer, and he breathed a quick sigh.

They were almost at the parking lot and he said, "I want you to go to the underground level."

She nodded again, steering the car into the entrance and driving into the dark and dingy underground level. She shut off the engine and they both jumped out of the car, while Vince motioned for her to follow him. He led them to a side door that lead out into an alleyway. It smelt of urine and they both curled their noses and moved quickly towards the stone steps, Vince still leadig the way.

Once at the top, he checked both ways and found that the street was practically empty. The girl prepared to walk out into the straight but he held up his arm and stopped her. She looked at him, her tear stained face looked all the more vulnerable close-up.

"I'm going first. I want you to wait here and then flag down a taxi or whatever. Just get out of here ok."

"You're just gonna leave me? What if they come back? What if they find me?"

"That's not my problem, honey. I don't know what kind of mess you're in, but I can't help you."

He began walking away but she chased after him, grabbing his arm and trying to get in front of him. "Won't you wait a second? Please?"

He stopped in his tracks and looked down at her. For a fleeting moment, she reminded him of Mia, but as quickly as he had felt it, the moment disappeared. "They're close by, they could find us here any second." He looked around, but thankfully the street was empty. It didn't make him feel any safer though.

"Please, I don't know what to do," she said quietly.

"Look," he began, the softness of his voice even surprising him. "I don't know what you've gotten yourself into - or me for that matter but -" he stopped. Fuck it, he thought. "Alright," he began again, sighing. "We can go back to my apartment, just so that we're safe. But you have to tell me what's going on when we get there, because I'm not helping someone if I don't know why I'm helping them. I don't help people, it's not me."

"Ok. Thanks...uh-"

"It's Vince."

"Well, thanks Vince." She smiled meekly, her eyes still brimming with tears. "I'm Jenny."