Beca looked down at her phone and the latest message she received from Tommy. The smile couldn't be hidden, she was signed up for one of her favorite point to point races this evening, one she rarely lost. She looked back up at the blackboard and then down at her notes, she still had to keep her grades up as per the deal with her father. Quickly writing down the last few things she had missed on the board she flipped the notebook closed and shoved it in her bag before heading down the auditorium stairs to the professors desk.

"Professor Power can I borrow you for a second?" She asked smiling at the man, she had known of the man since she was a child and her father got the job at Barden.

"Yes miss…"

"Mitchell, Warren's daughter."

"Ah Beca! Yes I remember you now. How can I help you?"

"You spoke about us having a paper due at the end of the term, about any topic at all."

"Yes, it's to explore your understanding of the goals of the class." The man said as she closed his briefcase after stacking his papers in it, he motioned for Beca to follow him.

"Does it have to be fictional or…"

"Whatever pleases you Miss. Mitchell. Though I do hear you lead an interesting life. Just take your time and figure out what you feel best fits the base of this class." Professor Power stopped and turned to Beca. "Come talk to me at the five week mark and we shall discus this more deal?"

"Sounds good sir." Beca said before turning to head out the side doors leading to the teacher parking lot where she knew her beloved bike would be. "Have a good afternoon sir." Beca said and the man smiled.

"Stay safe young Mitchell, my class will be boring without you." He said bidding her goodbye as they went separate ways. Beca secured her bag onto her bike as she walked up to her father's parking spot, his 68 Z28 Camero sitting in his spot, and her Ducati 1098 sitting in front of the beast of a car. She couldn't help but grin, her father had promised she could keep her bike in his spot as long as she kept up her end of the deal. Having her bike on the campus gave her the ability to be able to leave whenever she wanted, it also gave her the freedom of her hometown she had always had and feared giving up. Walking up to the bike she ran her hand over the bike.

"Hey darling, how about a ride tonight?" She spoke softly to the machine, checking the list she had in her head, tires, lights, no dents, no scratches no imperfections. When she was satisfied she patted the bike as if it was a dog behaving well. "I'll be right back." She said and started toward her dorm, tonight would be perfect conditions for a race, it was 84 out today, and sunny meaning the roads were dry and would stay that way. Also the new moon cycle was tonight meaning if the cops caught her she could easily slip away by flipping her lights off and laying low. She pulled her key out entering the room, immediately met with Kimmy Jin glaring at her.

"You going tonight?" The woman snapped and Beca smirked.

"You are going to love the view of my ass again, just admit it."

"Not this time Mitchell, I've upgraded."

"What you finally got rid of that shit Honda you've had for years?" Beca flopped down on her bed, she actually had at one point liked Kimmy Jin, and the woman wasn't all that bad still but they both had a deep rooted need to win. She looked over at her roommate when she heard the woman flop down on her own bed and sigh.

"You ever think of quitting?"

"Think about it? Yeah a few times, mainly after that bad wipeout last year. I know I can't though, its what I love."

"You know what I love? Building the bikes." Kimmy Jin admitted and Beca rolled over to look at the woman, genuinely shocked.

"You like being a grease monkey?" Beca asked.

"Love it, my dad taught me before he died."

"I'm still sorry about what happened to him."

"He was a hero." Kimmy Jin said staring at the ceiling, Beca could tell the woman was upset, she had been close with KimmyJin when her father died. He was shot and killed while inside a small gas station getting medicine for Kimmy Jin's younger sister, Kimmy Jin was in the car and had watched it happen.

"Doesn't make it any easier."

"No, not really but he saved the store clerk, she's 26 now, has two little girls and a boy, she named him Brian after him." Kimmy Jin said and smiled at Beca. "I should go, Kev wants me there like now." Kimmy Jin said pulling her own riding helmet out from under her bed. "Stay safe tonight Mitchell."

"You too Kimmy Jin." Beca said grabbing her own helmet, she followed her out the door. They went separate ways once in the hall, their conversation pushed to the back of each their minds.

x-x-x

"Shit Tommy this is a huge turn out!" Beca yelled over the noise into the ear of the older guy, Tommy was their ring leader of sorts, he found nearly each member of their thirty plus gang, taught them to drive whatever he could get his hands on, and gave them the confidence to ride. Most of them were abused in one way or another, loners, stoners, and Tommy was their savior. He found Beca by accident when she was out admiring his Ducati one afternoon, instead of approaching her upright he stood back and watched the girl work the bike over with her eyes. She had only been thirteen at the time but he knew she had the spark in her, he taught her that night to drive in an old, stolen Ford Focus. Three weeks later she had won her first race in a stolen Tarsus, it was a point to point which she learned to thrive at. Six weeks after her first car win he had her driving bikes, then winning at those too.

"Well it is a huge race." Tommy said taking a drink from his beer. Tommy didn't race any longer, he was married with a child on the way so no one blamed him. He still managed the groups races and would show up for every race in the area. He had only missed one race and that was only because he was getting married, not one person from any group besides Kev's showed up to the race, they were all at the wedding.

"How's the wife?" Beca asked leaning against Tommy's car, a simple Ford Explorer, it didn't raise any eyebrows when he headed toward the races, he didn't want to be the reason why they got caught.

"Very pregnant, very mean… She's scared something is wrong, but it's nothing." Tommy said sighing, he looked exhausted.

"Can I help in anyway?" Beca asked putting a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Yeah, win tonight." Tommy smirked and grabbed Beca's helmet securing it onto her head. He kissed the top of it and shoved her toward her bike. "Win Becs, but be safe!" He yelled after her, Beca waved her hand getting on her bike, focusing straight down the road she started mapping out in her head how she would take the roads. The road in front of her was pitch black, the races were always held on the outskirts of town where the straight aways were, and minimal lights, both stop lights and street lights. She knew these roads like the back of her hand, she rode them every day for the last 18 years. Tonight would be no different from any other, ride from point a to b, as fast as you could, don't get caught, don't crash, don't die. She started her bike and leaned over it.

"You ready big fella?" She asked the powerful machine as it hummed under her. The second the flag dropped the machine roared to life and down the road, away from her friends, her family, all left behind in her dust, her mind completely focused on the pavement that laid ahead of her, the pitch black abyss that lay ahead.