Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from the Fast and the Furious films.

A/N: Thanks to AnaDry, crzywhtgrl and Brian for reviewing. Seeing as how I've apparently been added into the Tokyo Drift C2 archive (much appreciated, but next time ask please) I'd like to take the time to clear up a small misconception about my fic. Even though it will involve characters from Tokyo Drift, it isn't set in the film timeline, is not set in Tokyo and really has nothing to do with drifting. Most of the characters in this fic will be from the first two films (with the exception of Han, Twinkie and Sean) and any flashback scenes are largely going to be about Han's life, before he went to Tokyo.

So sorry to anyone who thought this was a Tokyo Drift fanfic, because it's not really.

Feedback: If you read, please review.


1 year later:

"So you really have to leave?"

Han smiled at Mac and slid an arm around her shoulders.

"If I'm going to improve my racing, I've got to go to where the real racers are. And you've got to face it; there really aren't many good racers around here."

Mac frowned and then hugged him tightly.

"Promise you'll come back sometimes?" she mumbled into his chest.

He stroked her hair and hugged her back.

"Promise. And you can call me anytime. You've got my cell number, so if you need something, just call."

She let go of him, but kept her head down, her hair covering her face. "Okay."

"Hey. C'mon now. No crying, okay? I'm not going too far."

Mac sniffled, but quickly wiped her eyes off.

"I'm not crying."

"Of course you're not."

Giving her one last hug, he slid into his car and pulled away, leaving Mac standing behind on the curb.


1 year later:

Han rolled over on his unmade bed, his eyes blinking sleepily as he tried to figure out what had woken him up.

The noise came again and he finally registered that it was his cellphone ringing.

He fumbled around for another minute, trying to find it, before his fingers connected with the small object and he lifted it to his ear.

"Hello?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line and he could hear crashing sounds in the background, like furniture being thrown and then a voice whispered.

"Han?"

"Mac? Is that you?"

There was another pause and then Mac spoke again. Her voice so quiet he had to strain to hear her.

"Um yeah, it's me. I'm really sorry for calling so late... or early I guess..."

"It's okay. What's going on?"

"Um, d'you think... maybe... I could, um, maybe, come stay with you for a few days?"

There was a shout and then the sound of something smashing.

"Mac, what's going on?"

Mac's voice was shaky and it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Kelly left. She said she couldn't take it anymore. And he's been drinking a lot lately. I-I just can't stay here. I would've called someone else, but there is no one."

"No. No, it's okay. You can definitely crash at my place. When do you want me to come get you?"

"Is this afternoon too early?" There was hesitation in her voice, like she expected to him to start telling her off.

"No, don't worry, it's not. I'll come get you this afternoon."

"Thanks. I-I can also call someone else though. I mean, I don't want to be a burden..."

Han sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. "Mac, you're not a burden. I said to call me if you needed anything and so far you haven't ever asked much of me, so it's okay."

"T-thanks..."

"I'll be there soon, okay? Just hang on for a little while longer."

"Okay..."

They made their good-byes and then Han flopped back down onto his bed. He'd have to go talk to Dom in the morning to see about letting Mac use the other spare room in the garage.


When Han pulled up at Mac's house, she was already sitting on the steps, with a small duffle bag beside her. The day was cloudy, but incredibly warm, but for some reason Mac was wearing dark sunglasses and a sweatshirt, which she had done up all the way to her neck.

She smiled when she saw him, but then winced and brought her fingers to her lip, which had a small scab on it.

"You okay?"

"Uh-huh. Just glad to be going."

"Well, let's get your stuff and then we'll leave."

Mac gestured to the duffle bag and her backpack, which was slung over one shoulder. "This is it."

"That's all?"

She shrugged. "It's all I've got."

Han was confused by this, but decided to ignore it.

"Okay. Let's go then."

They crossed over to his car and Mac let out a small gasp, when she got a closer look at it her hands danced reverently over the hood and custom paint job and she knelt down to inspect the wheels and undercarriage.

"This is yours?"

"Yeah. I won it at a race a few weeks back."

"Wow. That is so cool. You must be getting really good."

Han shrugged, trying to play it off, but secretly her compliment pleased him.

"So I talked to my friend, the one who's place I've been staying at and he's cool if you borrow his other spare room, but he has one condition for you."

Behind the glasses, Mac eyed him warily.

"And what's that?"

"That you work in his garage. I told him how much you know about cars and he said he would pay you to work for him for the summer. With some fees deducted for food and board, of course."

Mac's face lit up and she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Really? I get to work in a professional garage and get paid to do it? Thank you so much!"

"You should really be thanking Dom. He's the one who's hiring you."

"But you set it all up. That was so cool of you."

"Well, if you want to start working, we should get going, so you're not late for your first day of work tomorrow."

Han picked up Mac's duffle bag and tossed it into the backseat, before opening the passenger door for her.


"Can we just make one stop before we leave?"

"Sure, where do you want to go?"

"Uh, I've got to say good-bye to someone. Rome had to leave about six months back and I promised him I'd look out for his younger brother, Twinkie. But I just wanna say good-bye to him, so he doesn't think I'm running out on him too."

"All right. Where can we find him?"

"Probably at the courts. The kid's short as hell, but he still thinks he's going to be the next Michael Jordan."

They pulled up to the basketball courts and Mac pointed to a small boy who had an impressive 'fro and was wearing an oversized jersey.

"That's him."

The boy spotted her and ran over, his shorts threatening to fall off his small frame with every step he took.

"Mac. What's up?"

"Hey Twink. Listen, I just stopped by to let you know that I've got to leave for a little while. I'm going to L.A. for the summer."

Twinkie's face fell. "Why? How come you gotta go to L.A.?"

Mac hugged him and then ruffled his 'fro.

"It's for reasons I can't really explain right now, little man. But I'll call you every week okay? Make sure you're doing all right?"

The smaller boy puffed his chest out and adopted a gangster stance. "Of course I'ma be doing all right. I can look out for myself."

"Sure you can. I'll see you around, Twink."

The boy impulsively threw his arms around Mac and squeezed her middle tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I know. Me too. But I've gotta go, okay?"

"'Kay."

Mac climbed back into the car and waved good-bye through the window, as they pulled away.

"Cute kid."

"Yeah, but I've got a feeling that he's gonna grow up to be a hustler, just like his brother."


"How can you see with those things on?"

They had stopped for lunch and Mac still had her sunglasses on, even though they were indoors.

She shrugged in response and picked nervously at her fries.

"Seriously, Mac, why are you wearing them?"

All Han got for an answer was another shrug and dead silence, so he leaned across the table and pulled the glasses off.

Mac jerked back and then ducked her head, letting her hair fall into her eyes, but not before Han saw the large purple bruise surrounding her left eye.

"Jesus, Mac. When did this happen?"

"Y-yesterday."

"Your dad did this then?"

She nodded, but kept staring at her hands.

"How long has this been going on?"

Mac's lower lip quivered and a few small tears slid down her cheeks.

"Since Kelly left."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"B-because I didn't want to bother you."

Han crossed over to the other side of the booth and slid in beside Mac, wrapping his arms around her.

"Mac, look at me."

There were still tears in her eyes when she looked up at him and he brushed them away with his hand.

"You are never going to be a bother to me, all right? If I thought you were, I wouldn't have told Rome I'd look out for you."

"That was two years go. And it was only supposed to be for an hour or so."

"Says who?"

He pulled her closer into his embrace and she let her head fall to his shoulder.

"I'm telling you this now, so I never expect to have to repeat myself, okay? You're never going to be any kind of trouble for me and if you ever, and I mean ever, need anything at all, you should never hesitate to call me, no matter where I am, okay?"

Mac nodded, her tears stopping. "Okay."

"Now, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

He looked pointedly at her sweatshirt, which was still done up and pulled closely around her.

"Only if you promise you won't freak out."

Mac sounded childish, but catching the look on her face, Han knew she was serious.

"All right. I promise."

Scooting back into the booth, Mac carefully undid the sweatshirt and slipped it off, revealing many finger-sized bruises running along her arms and shoulders.

Han sucked in a breath, when he saw the damage that had been done to her small body, but he fought the urge to track down Mac's father and kill him in cold blood.

"Do they still hurt?"

She shook her head and then pressed down on one of the bruises with her index finger.

"No. They only hurt if you poke them."

"Well, don't do that."

Mac grinned at him and then leaned over and hugged him tightly.

"What was that for?"

She shrugged, still grinning. "I don't know. I'm just really happy, all of a sudden..."


1 year later: (A/N: last time, I promise!)

Han quickly threw clothes into his bag, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his left hand, whose knuckles were still bleeding.

He heart was racing and he could hear his pulse pounding in his ears, but he couldn't stop. He needed to get out of the country fast, before the authorities caught up with him.

"So, you're leaving again?"

The light in the hall behind her highlighted all the new curves she'd seemed to have grown over night, as Mac stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

When she saw the state of his hands and face, she swore softly and stepped further into the room. Taking his hand in her own, she inspected it carefully and then began pulling him in the direction of the garage's bathroom.

"Mac, I really don't have time..."

"Han, I'm not gonna ask you any questions, but if you show up at the airport like this, the authorities there probably will and I think that's the last thing you want right now. So sit still, shut up and let me clean this."

Her long black hair tickled his skin, as she carefully cleaned off and then bandaged his hands. Grabbing a wet cloth from the sink, she wiped off the blood that was caked on his temple and then covered the shallow cut with a band-aid. Her small fingers gently probed the already-forming bruise under his eye and she let out a low hiss.

"This doesn't look like it's going to swell, but it'll probably be a nice shade of purple by tomorrow."

Han nodded, his attention more focused on the golden skin that was revealed by the very short pajamas she'd worn to bed. His eyes trailed up her long legs, but then he snapped back to reality and silently berated himself.

C'mon man, you shouldn't be looking at her like that. She's only sixteen for Christ sakes. She should be dating guys her own age, not guys like me.

"So, where are you going this time?"

"Uh, Tokyo."

"Yeah? Why there?"

"Because they've got this new thing called drifting going on over there and I want to check it out."

Mac nodded and then swept her hair off her shoulders, pulling it back into a low ponytail.

"Sounds cool. So am I ever going to hear from you again or are you just going to disappear and the next thing I'll be reading an article about how you're some big-shot racer over there?"

"Nah. It won't be like that."

"So, you're gonna disappear and then I'll read an article about how badly you've lost to everyone over there?"

Han mock-scowled at her. "C'mon now."

"Kidding. I'm kidding. But am I ever going to hear from you again?"

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded slightly.

"Tell you what. When you turn eighteen and are done with school, if I'm not back, then you can come out to Tokyo. I'll save a place at my garage for you."

"What garage?"

"The garage I'm going to own by then."

Mac smiled, but he could tell she was sad to see him go. "Okay. But you should leave now, before the cops show up."

Han pressed a kiss to her cheek and then ran to get his stuff. He was about to leave when he suddenly turned back and tossed Mac a set of keys.

She caught them and inspected them carefully.

"What's this?"

"Call it a late birthday present."

"You're giving me your car?"

"Well, I can't take it with me, so yeah. I expect you to take good care of her while I'm gone."

Mac was speechless as she looked at the keys again. "Wow... thanks."

"You can pick her up at the airport tomorrow. I kinda need her to get me there right now."

"Okay. I will."

"All right. See you in two years, kid."

"...Bye."


Present Day:

Han came back to reality when he heard Sean ask him a question.

"So why do you drift then?"

Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs of his memories, he grinned slightly.

"C'mon. I'll show you."


A/N: Okay, nine pages later, I'm done. This deserves some magnanimous reviews people, so no reviews, now new chapter, kapeesh?