Hey here is the second chapter I promised, its longer than the prolouge thank god, but its still rather short, but I hope you enjoy it, I will be trying to update weekly until I burn my mind out then I will be updating at LEAST monthly. Enjoy
The Search for Hope
Chapter One
It was late at night, and Brian O'Conner was having difficulties sleeping. It was a friday night, and he had the shift off. Glad for the break from work he tried to sleep, but to no avail as the sounds of high pitched revving reached his ears. Clenching his eyes shut he tried to ignore the sound of tires screeching against pavement and the sounds of engines at full throttle as a group of young street racers left thier indeliable mark on the road surface of Los Angeles. As the deep tones of exhausts and blow off valves faded from his hearing he opened his eyes, glancing, as always, to a picture of the women he had loved with all his heart. Her beauty never lost any of its quality no matter how many times he gazed upon her picture. He often layed awake at night, wondering what had become of them, wondering if he would ever see her, or her brother or his team, again. Probably not, he thought to himself, I'm just a pig to them...someone to avoid and run from at all costs. Despite that line of reasoning, he could not shake the wanting to see her, to see Dominic, and Letty, and Leon, and Jessie, and even Vince, again. "Someday..." he said out loud, his voice tiny and insignificant in the emptiness of his room. Sighing, he turned on his side, and closed his eyes, praying for sleep to overtake his troubled mind.
Brian awoke with a start the next morning, his alarm blaring loudly in his ears. Groaning he got out of bed and stood up, stretching his muscles before shuffling out into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him he turned on the water faucet and began to splash his face with warm water, attempting to awaken fully. With water dripping down his face he looked into the mirror, staring long and hard at his reflection. Who am I? he wondered silently. What am I now? What can I be now that I've tasted this other world? I can't just be a cop...I want more from my life...And I want her. Pondering more he stepped into his shower, letting the warm water caress his body as he continued to question his current exsistence. Could I really leave the force, though? Its been everything to me for the past few years, until I met up with Dominic. And besides, what would he say anyways? What would she? "Hey Brian! Welcome back! We missed you!"? Could they even begin to trust me again? And what about the people I'd leave behind? Tanner's been like a father to me, but could he truly understand me wanting to leave for them? Shutting off the water he towled himself off, before stepping in front of the mirror again, to brush his teeth. I need to make a choice...I can't go on just wondering what things would be like if I was still with the team. I need to find out for myself...But at what cost? With these things weighing heavily on his mind he went back into his room, dressing in his uniform. Glancing into another mirror he pondered more on his life. Well look at you, Officer Brian O'Conner. All spiffy in your uniform. You only took that undercover job to try to get a detective's badge. And look at what happend because of that? You're still a street grunt, your chances for promotion slim to none after the fiasco you made of that case. You let them GO for god's sake. Risked your entire career because of a group of people you got to know over a few weeks? Was it worth it? Staring hard at himself, Brian quickly answered his question, Yes. With that thought in mind he grabbed his keys, and left for the police station.
It was early afternoon when he left his apartment, traffic was less crowded compared to any other part of the day, yet it didnt stop a single blue Honda Civic hatchback from tearing inbetween lanes of cars, swerving in and out and cutting off other cars. The loud and aggressive howling of its motor counterbalanced by the mid tone wail of its exhaust. As Brian pulled around a turn the civic sped by him, its engine creating a doppler effect as it kicked up a cloud of dust into the air. His eyes lingering on the speeding vehicle for a moment, Brian quickly snapped into action. Toggling his siren and lights on he peeled out of his lane and gave chase.
Ricky Arroyo was no ordinary import fan, like man of the true enthusists his car was a rolling testamony to his dedication to his passion. Sporting a B18C motor from an Acura Integra, it featured higher compression pistons, custom valvetrain work, strengthend internals, and a host of other high tech wonders found on import race cars. Capable of clicking of solid twelve second quarter miles, its downside, like many GS-R powered civics, was its high speed endurance. Quickly shifting as he neared his 9000 rpm redline he was already in top gear, quickly reaching his high speed cutout. High on the immortality that every racer feels at full throttle, he failed to notice the flashing lights of the Brian's police cruiser until it was right on his bumper. Cursing he knew in the relatively congested afternoon traffic he stood little chance of out running a cop. Slowing down and pulling of the road he hoped that this cop would be different from the rest. Fat chance...he thought to himself as he watched the officer get out of his vehicle.
Brian walked slowly out towards the now still civic. Glancing over the custom body work as he did, he admired the skilled blending of disparate body parts and the sleek exhaust canister poking out from the rear valance. Walking up to the drivers side door he watched the pitch black tinted window roll down. Brian first look upon the racer was a nervous smile and a thinly concealed resentment. Glancing inside Brian couldnt help but appreciate the amount of work done to the hot hatch, staring at custom guage faces, bezels, and dash. Numerous extra gauges were arranged in the car, telling things like Air Fuel ratio's, engine exhaust temperatures, oil and water temperatures, and numerous other things. Brian noticed that the oil temperature was spiking dangerously as the car idled, no doubt a result of the joy ride it was previously engaged in.
Arroyo was nervous. Cops were normally not a big deal to him, he had dealt with dozens before. But something about this one bothered him. He wasn't sure what...It was almost like he knew this cop from somewhere. But where? he wondered. A frown creased his face as he sought to remember where he had seen this cop before. "Afternoon officer," he said calmly, then adding "Whats up?"
"You tell me," Brian replied, "you're the one who was speeding recklessly."
"Ah...well you see," began Arroyo hesitantly, "I was kinda in a hurry...um...had to be somewhere quick like, ya know?"
"Right...sure, I know what you mean, but you wanna tell me the real reason why you were speeding like that?" Brian countered, knowing that the guy was probably lying.
"Man...You aint got no call getting up on me like that!" Arroyo was getting mad, he couldnt shake the feeling that he sould be wary of this cop, but he still didn't know why. And it's wasn't like cops understood why racers were the way they were. "You fool's don't get it, do you? You don't understand what and why we do the things we do, you never consider this to be more than a bad hobby! You hunt us down and cite us for doing nothing more than doind what we love!" By now Arroyo was red in the face. Who does this pig think he is? Trying to make me tell him shit, he doesn't know shit at all." he thought vehmenetly.
"Right. Look bud, Im gonna let you go on this one, but you'd better not let me catch you driving that fast in this kinda traffic again, you got it?" Brian really didnt have the heart to cite the racer for his crime, despite what Arroyo though, he fully understood why they did the things they did.
"Wha...? You mean you gonna let me go, just like that?" Arroyo was now confused. After his outburst he was sure the cop was gonna bust out the cuffs for some reason or another, but he didn't. Instead he was letting him go.
"Yeah, I am. Now get outta here." Brian waved a hand dismissvely, "Oh and...you might wanna install an oil cooler, I noticed your overheating on the lubes there..." Saying as much Brian walked back to his interceptor, and got in. Turning off his lights he pulled back on to the road and passed the Civic. He couldnt help but let out a short laugh at the dumbfounded expression on the racers face.
"..." Arroyo couldn't believe it. How'd that cop know what those gauges meant, and how'd he know what to do... Then it hit him, Ah shit! He's that guy that was at the races way back! The one who raced Torretto for slips! Damn! He's a cop? Maybe thats why no one's seen Torretto lately. As he pondered this he drove back into traffic, his mind now filled with questions as to what happened to Torretto and his team, he couldn't wait to hook up with his friends and tell them what happened.
Meanwhile Brian was just pulling into the police station parking lot...
----------------------------
Well thats it folks, thus ends the first chapter in my story. Now for the new section: QUICK TECH!
For those of you wondering what I was talking about in this chapter, I will explain the basics of a the Honda Civic hatchback featured in this chapter.
The B18C motor installed in this hatch is factory issue for the 94+ model line of Acura Integra, GS-R's. A Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC) motor, it had 170bhp and 138lbs/tq in stock trim, it redlined at 8000 rpm and was equipped with honda's famous VTEC system (Variable Timing and Electronic lift Control) which operates a seperate low and high speed cam lobe profiles which helps provide better low end torque with superior high end power than a single cam lobe camshaft. Basically it provides a "street" cam profile for low rpm toodling around town, and a "street race" cam profile for full throttle occurances. The aftermarket high compressions pistons in this car replace the stock pistons, which have a 10:1 compression ratio. Compression is what helps determine overall power. Imagine having 14.2 psi of air (atmospheric air pressure at sea level) and having a 10:1 compression ratio. That 14.2 psi is being compressed at a rate of 10 psi to 1 psi, basically its crushin 10 psi of air into a space only big enough for 1 psi. This is fairly accurate description, however the actual explanation is much different and far mor accurate, however it is more lenghtly to describe.
Why would an aftermarket exhaust be of a higher pitch and tone than the open air intake end of the engine? Well typically people imagine aftermarket exhausts to be deep toned and throaty. Typically it is, however, naturally aspirated motors (like the type that honda and toyota make) produce a exhuast stream that makes even aftermarket exhausts fade out from a deep tone to a more mid to high pitched wail than say, a domestic V8. However, with an open air intake (and especially with VTEC, VVTI, WVVTI and such equipped cars) their intake tone is very loud and VERY aggressive. At low rpms the exhaust is deep and drowns out the intake but at full throttle as the rpm climbs, the exhaust phases out and the intake drowns out the exhaust. This is different on a turbo car, but we'll get into that later.
Okay so that wraps up this chapters QUICK TECH. What did you guys thing? Like it, Love it? waste of your time? Im trying to make this story very detailed on the type of cars and such, to add more depth, but it be pointless if you didnt understand it. So hopefully this will help some. Opinions on this would be welcome, but either way I would hope you guys and girls would appreciate getting to understand the inner workings of those "damn imports" a little more.
Next Chapter: Brian and Tanner have a short heart to heart about Brian's lfe after team DT left. It should be about a week to get the next chapter written and posted. Im still in need of prereaders to send short pieces of each chapter to for revison/opinion/suggestions so hit me up.
Ricky Arroyo is the combination of two friend's names, first and last, and bears no connection to any other similarily named person. I dont even know if he'll even have another apperance in this fic.
Peace-
Brian
The Search for Hope
Chapter One
It was late at night, and Brian O'Conner was having difficulties sleeping. It was a friday night, and he had the shift off. Glad for the break from work he tried to sleep, but to no avail as the sounds of high pitched revving reached his ears. Clenching his eyes shut he tried to ignore the sound of tires screeching against pavement and the sounds of engines at full throttle as a group of young street racers left thier indeliable mark on the road surface of Los Angeles. As the deep tones of exhausts and blow off valves faded from his hearing he opened his eyes, glancing, as always, to a picture of the women he had loved with all his heart. Her beauty never lost any of its quality no matter how many times he gazed upon her picture. He often layed awake at night, wondering what had become of them, wondering if he would ever see her, or her brother or his team, again. Probably not, he thought to himself, I'm just a pig to them...someone to avoid and run from at all costs. Despite that line of reasoning, he could not shake the wanting to see her, to see Dominic, and Letty, and Leon, and Jessie, and even Vince, again. "Someday..." he said out loud, his voice tiny and insignificant in the emptiness of his room. Sighing, he turned on his side, and closed his eyes, praying for sleep to overtake his troubled mind.
Brian awoke with a start the next morning, his alarm blaring loudly in his ears. Groaning he got out of bed and stood up, stretching his muscles before shuffling out into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him he turned on the water faucet and began to splash his face with warm water, attempting to awaken fully. With water dripping down his face he looked into the mirror, staring long and hard at his reflection. Who am I? he wondered silently. What am I now? What can I be now that I've tasted this other world? I can't just be a cop...I want more from my life...And I want her. Pondering more he stepped into his shower, letting the warm water caress his body as he continued to question his current exsistence. Could I really leave the force, though? Its been everything to me for the past few years, until I met up with Dominic. And besides, what would he say anyways? What would she? "Hey Brian! Welcome back! We missed you!"? Could they even begin to trust me again? And what about the people I'd leave behind? Tanner's been like a father to me, but could he truly understand me wanting to leave for them? Shutting off the water he towled himself off, before stepping in front of the mirror again, to brush his teeth. I need to make a choice...I can't go on just wondering what things would be like if I was still with the team. I need to find out for myself...But at what cost? With these things weighing heavily on his mind he went back into his room, dressing in his uniform. Glancing into another mirror he pondered more on his life. Well look at you, Officer Brian O'Conner. All spiffy in your uniform. You only took that undercover job to try to get a detective's badge. And look at what happend because of that? You're still a street grunt, your chances for promotion slim to none after the fiasco you made of that case. You let them GO for god's sake. Risked your entire career because of a group of people you got to know over a few weeks? Was it worth it? Staring hard at himself, Brian quickly answered his question, Yes. With that thought in mind he grabbed his keys, and left for the police station.
It was early afternoon when he left his apartment, traffic was less crowded compared to any other part of the day, yet it didnt stop a single blue Honda Civic hatchback from tearing inbetween lanes of cars, swerving in and out and cutting off other cars. The loud and aggressive howling of its motor counterbalanced by the mid tone wail of its exhaust. As Brian pulled around a turn the civic sped by him, its engine creating a doppler effect as it kicked up a cloud of dust into the air. His eyes lingering on the speeding vehicle for a moment, Brian quickly snapped into action. Toggling his siren and lights on he peeled out of his lane and gave chase.
Ricky Arroyo was no ordinary import fan, like man of the true enthusists his car was a rolling testamony to his dedication to his passion. Sporting a B18C motor from an Acura Integra, it featured higher compression pistons, custom valvetrain work, strengthend internals, and a host of other high tech wonders found on import race cars. Capable of clicking of solid twelve second quarter miles, its downside, like many GS-R powered civics, was its high speed endurance. Quickly shifting as he neared his 9000 rpm redline he was already in top gear, quickly reaching his high speed cutout. High on the immortality that every racer feels at full throttle, he failed to notice the flashing lights of the Brian's police cruiser until it was right on his bumper. Cursing he knew in the relatively congested afternoon traffic he stood little chance of out running a cop. Slowing down and pulling of the road he hoped that this cop would be different from the rest. Fat chance...he thought to himself as he watched the officer get out of his vehicle.
Brian walked slowly out towards the now still civic. Glancing over the custom body work as he did, he admired the skilled blending of disparate body parts and the sleek exhaust canister poking out from the rear valance. Walking up to the drivers side door he watched the pitch black tinted window roll down. Brian first look upon the racer was a nervous smile and a thinly concealed resentment. Glancing inside Brian couldnt help but appreciate the amount of work done to the hot hatch, staring at custom guage faces, bezels, and dash. Numerous extra gauges were arranged in the car, telling things like Air Fuel ratio's, engine exhaust temperatures, oil and water temperatures, and numerous other things. Brian noticed that the oil temperature was spiking dangerously as the car idled, no doubt a result of the joy ride it was previously engaged in.
Arroyo was nervous. Cops were normally not a big deal to him, he had dealt with dozens before. But something about this one bothered him. He wasn't sure what...It was almost like he knew this cop from somewhere. But where? he wondered. A frown creased his face as he sought to remember where he had seen this cop before. "Afternoon officer," he said calmly, then adding "Whats up?"
"You tell me," Brian replied, "you're the one who was speeding recklessly."
"Ah...well you see," began Arroyo hesitantly, "I was kinda in a hurry...um...had to be somewhere quick like, ya know?"
"Right...sure, I know what you mean, but you wanna tell me the real reason why you were speeding like that?" Brian countered, knowing that the guy was probably lying.
"Man...You aint got no call getting up on me like that!" Arroyo was getting mad, he couldnt shake the feeling that he sould be wary of this cop, but he still didn't know why. And it's wasn't like cops understood why racers were the way they were. "You fool's don't get it, do you? You don't understand what and why we do the things we do, you never consider this to be more than a bad hobby! You hunt us down and cite us for doing nothing more than doind what we love!" By now Arroyo was red in the face. Who does this pig think he is? Trying to make me tell him shit, he doesn't know shit at all." he thought vehmenetly.
"Right. Look bud, Im gonna let you go on this one, but you'd better not let me catch you driving that fast in this kinda traffic again, you got it?" Brian really didnt have the heart to cite the racer for his crime, despite what Arroyo though, he fully understood why they did the things they did.
"Wha...? You mean you gonna let me go, just like that?" Arroyo was now confused. After his outburst he was sure the cop was gonna bust out the cuffs for some reason or another, but he didn't. Instead he was letting him go.
"Yeah, I am. Now get outta here." Brian waved a hand dismissvely, "Oh and...you might wanna install an oil cooler, I noticed your overheating on the lubes there..." Saying as much Brian walked back to his interceptor, and got in. Turning off his lights he pulled back on to the road and passed the Civic. He couldnt help but let out a short laugh at the dumbfounded expression on the racers face.
"..." Arroyo couldn't believe it. How'd that cop know what those gauges meant, and how'd he know what to do... Then it hit him, Ah shit! He's that guy that was at the races way back! The one who raced Torretto for slips! Damn! He's a cop? Maybe thats why no one's seen Torretto lately. As he pondered this he drove back into traffic, his mind now filled with questions as to what happened to Torretto and his team, he couldn't wait to hook up with his friends and tell them what happened.
Meanwhile Brian was just pulling into the police station parking lot...
----------------------------
Well thats it folks, thus ends the first chapter in my story. Now for the new section: QUICK TECH!
For those of you wondering what I was talking about in this chapter, I will explain the basics of a the Honda Civic hatchback featured in this chapter.
The B18C motor installed in this hatch is factory issue for the 94+ model line of Acura Integra, GS-R's. A Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC) motor, it had 170bhp and 138lbs/tq in stock trim, it redlined at 8000 rpm and was equipped with honda's famous VTEC system (Variable Timing and Electronic lift Control) which operates a seperate low and high speed cam lobe profiles which helps provide better low end torque with superior high end power than a single cam lobe camshaft. Basically it provides a "street" cam profile for low rpm toodling around town, and a "street race" cam profile for full throttle occurances. The aftermarket high compressions pistons in this car replace the stock pistons, which have a 10:1 compression ratio. Compression is what helps determine overall power. Imagine having 14.2 psi of air (atmospheric air pressure at sea level) and having a 10:1 compression ratio. That 14.2 psi is being compressed at a rate of 10 psi to 1 psi, basically its crushin 10 psi of air into a space only big enough for 1 psi. This is fairly accurate description, however the actual explanation is much different and far mor accurate, however it is more lenghtly to describe.
Why would an aftermarket exhaust be of a higher pitch and tone than the open air intake end of the engine? Well typically people imagine aftermarket exhausts to be deep toned and throaty. Typically it is, however, naturally aspirated motors (like the type that honda and toyota make) produce a exhuast stream that makes even aftermarket exhausts fade out from a deep tone to a more mid to high pitched wail than say, a domestic V8. However, with an open air intake (and especially with VTEC, VVTI, WVVTI and such equipped cars) their intake tone is very loud and VERY aggressive. At low rpms the exhaust is deep and drowns out the intake but at full throttle as the rpm climbs, the exhaust phases out and the intake drowns out the exhaust. This is different on a turbo car, but we'll get into that later.
Okay so that wraps up this chapters QUICK TECH. What did you guys thing? Like it, Love it? waste of your time? Im trying to make this story very detailed on the type of cars and such, to add more depth, but it be pointless if you didnt understand it. So hopefully this will help some. Opinions on this would be welcome, but either way I would hope you guys and girls would appreciate getting to understand the inner workings of those "damn imports" a little more.
Next Chapter: Brian and Tanner have a short heart to heart about Brian's lfe after team DT left. It should be about a week to get the next chapter written and posted. Im still in need of prereaders to send short pieces of each chapter to for revison/opinion/suggestions so hit me up.
Ricky Arroyo is the combination of two friend's names, first and last, and bears no connection to any other similarily named person. I dont even know if he'll even have another apperance in this fic.
Peace-
Brian
