Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Fast and the Furious. I choose to use the characters because the creators were brilliant, and they are quite colorful.

This is a story of revenge andfinding love,and ultimately the test of whether love can survive anything. This is not a story about racing. I used the characters from the movie and their past experiences to enrich the story.

Caterina De La Rossi sat in the cracked and dirty motel bathtub and sobbed. The hot scalding water cascaded over her battered body. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she rocked back and forth in time with the unique rhythm of her sobs. Pink water filtered down to the rusty drain as it washed the blood from her body. The pain and humiliation at the hands of the police had almost been as bad as that which she'd suffered before they'd arrived. She didn't know how long she sat there, but her body was reddened from the hot water.

The wounds covering her body would leave scars. Just as the events of the past 24 hours would scar her psyche. Where once she'd been a young girl with an enviable future now there was only a shell. She'd thought the most pain she'd ever have to face would have been the loss of her parents six years earlier. How ironic that she had been so wrong. This was a pain of a different model, but still as destructive.

When she finally stepped from the tub she made her way to the bed. Caterina sat on the edge of the bed. She hadn't been able to go home. Couldn't stand to be there now. Her tears were all dried up. She felt numb and empty inside, and she knew she would need to make a choice. She could either let this defeat her and crawl away to die somewhere, or she could make them pay. She could make them pay for what they'd done, and for what they thought they could get away with. Standing gingerly she walked to the only mirror in the room and met her own stare. Deep brown eyes, almost black in their hue, stared back haunted. She was a De La Rossi, and they would not defeat her. Her family crest said as much. Caterina had the money, and she definitely had the inclination. She would seek her revenge, and once she had it, then and only then would she discover if she had truly survived.

18 months later.

She was close. She knew it. Deep inside she was so tired. All she wanted to do was stop, rest, and forget it all, but she couldn't. Not when she was this close. How many cities had she been to? How many states had she gone through on her search? Too many to think about really. Then, in Nevada, she'd heard the stories. Those stories were what had finally led her to Los Angeles. If she thought about it she wasn't surprised he'd ended up here, however she was surprised it had taken him this long to get here. First things first she needed to find a base of operations, and then she could start her search.

It really didn't take that long to find a realtor who had what she wanted. She bought the house of course. She'd learned that renting was not the wisest thing. People, such as landlords, tended to want to ask questions. The house wasn't huge. It was a two bedroom home in an older part of town, and what made it perfect was that she knew he wouldn't go anywhere near it. Only the best for him after all. She didn't need much furniture, so she bought a bed, dresser, desk, couch, and television. Rina had her car delivered, and locked into her new garage. She didn't really know what type of neighborhood it was, but the realtor had told her it was mainly families. The woman did warn her that the house across the street tended to have parties frequently, and drove exotic cars, but that didn't bug Rina. In fact, it could possibly help her in the long run.

When she finished unloading her suitcases she decided she was ready to start. The first thing she did was go to the local racing store. She knew next to nothing about vehicles and racing, but she knew that The Racer's Edge was the best place to start. She didn't speak to anyone at first, except to say that she was just looking thanks, but she listened. What she heard was all about who was the fastest in town. A Dominic Toretto. Rina figured she'd check him and his posse out the next day. It was on the way home that her bike started the noise. She knew the damn thing wasn't out of gas. Sighing she realized she couldn't remember when the last time was that she'd had the thing checked over. She saw a garage up ahead. It looked to have been around for a while, and that suited her just fine.

Rina pulled in to the parking lot next to the building that said DT's, and kicked the stand down. A man was walking towards her. He was large, and that made her nervous. Her eyes darted from left to right to make sure she knew which was the best avenue of escape. If the man noticed he didn't give her any sign. He stood at least six inches taller than her 5'7" frame, and either he had fabulous genes, or he worked out quite a bit. He obviously shaved his head, and had a dark complexion and dark eyes. He was the type of guy that drew women to them like bees to honey. "Can I help you?" he asked her in his deep voice.

She hadn't taken her helmet off yet, and was hesitant to do so. "Yeah, my bike's acting up. I don't remember the last time I had her checked." she told him before he could ask. "Could you take a look at it?"

Dom looked at the woman standing in front of him. She had a tight little body dressed all in black, but he couldn't tell what her face looked like due to her helmet. Not that it mattered much. Hey, business was business. Her voice, though muffled, was clear and pleasant. He smiled, and noticed she took a step back. That action with the way her eyes had searched frantically spoke to him. Scared of men? "Sure we can take a look. If you want, just around the corner there's a small store, you can get a drink or sandwich there. We can come get you if you aren't back when we get it figured out." He held out his hands for the keys, and she dropped them into his palm without touching him.

Rina took two more steps back and then turned towards the small store. She was proud of herself when she only turned once to make sure he wasn't following her. He was at her bike, and was wheeling it into the garage. Her face turned to shock when she saw the name above the door. Toretto's. Good lord. These were the people she was going to find the next day. Swallowing her surprise she walked in and took a seat at the far end of the bar. It had become second nature to her to make sure a wall was there so no one could sneak up on her.

A tall, slender girl came out from the back and smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Mia, can I get you something?" she asked brightly.

Good God, Rina thought, there must be something in the water down here that makes these people gorgeous. Rina took off her helmet and waited for the hiss at the sight of her face. She was a beautiful woman, but she didn't see it any longer. A scar now ran from her temple at an angle over her cheek. She didn't realize the scar just made her beauty unique. That night so long ago, and the scars she would forever carry had tarnished her view of herself.

Mia however, didn't suffer the same view. The woman in front of her was stunning. Chocolate colored hair falling in a straight line down to her mid back, longish bangs hung in a fringe over her eyebrows, and her deep almost black eyes shone from a honey toned face. Naturally dark and thick eyelashes swept her cheeks when she blinked, and she was currently pursing her full lips as she considered what to order.

"How's the tuna fish?" she asked solemnly.

Mia smiled slightly as if she thought something funny. "It's not really good. But the roast beef is pretty good." she offered helpfully.

"Sounds good. How about a roast beef sandwich, and a Dr.Pepper?" She sat nervously waiting for the girl to come back. Rina fingered the photograph in her pocket. Should she risk it? Should she ask the girl if she'd seen him?

The tall beauty brought the sandwich and drink quickly. "Are you new around here?" she asked curiously.

Rina gave her a wan smile. "Yeah, not sure how long I'm staying yet. They're working on my bike next door." She took off the black leather jacket she wore, which left her in black jeans and a white men's t-shirt. A black tattoo on her arm caught Mia's eye. It was on her inner arm from her elbow to her wrist, and was something written in a foreign language. The woman had a tattoo of barbed wire wrapped around both of her wrists.

"What language is your tattoo in?"

Rina looked up at the girl. "Italian." Before she could talk herself out of it she pulled the photo out of her pocket. "Say Mia, do you think you could look at this picture and tell me if you recognize the guy?"

"Sure." Rina handed her the picture. As soon as it left her hands the group from the garage entered the area. At least she assumed they were from the garage. The bald man was with them. There was a shorter Hispanic girl, an average blonde man, an average dark haired man, a man who was comparable in size to the bald man, and a tall blonde man. They were all an attractive bunch, and were in the process of laughing at something . Where the bald man was as handsome as the devil, the tall blonde man was just as good looking but opposite in looks. Bad news, the whole group of them. As soon as they entered her entire being shouted 'DANGER'. "I don't recognize him, but let me check with Dom?" she waited for Rina's permission, and she gave it hesitantly.

She watched as Mia approached the bald man, and showed him the picture. He looked at it and frowned, then he looked at Rina. "Why you looking for him?" The other large man with tattoos had joined them putting his arm around Mia. He too looked at the picture and frowned. They recognized the picture, she knew it instantly.

Rina kept calm. She'd been questioned like this before. The racing community was close knit, and she didn't belong. "Let's just say I'm a skip tracer, and I'm here to collect on a debt." she said coolly. "Look I'm not asking for an address. I just need to know if you've seen him." She was starting to feel closed in. The others in the group had joined Mia, her brother, and the other big man. A telltale trickle of sweat made its way down her brow. "Never mind. If you'd just give me my picture back." she said anxiously and took a step back. "How much do I owe you for the bike?"

Dom looked at her through narrowed eyes and handed the picture back. "A wire came loose, although it could use a tune up. It's $20. Keys are in her."

Rina dug $40 out of her pocket and dropped it on the counter. "Thanks. Thanks for the roast beef Mia, it was great." She practically ran from the area. Rina was just getting on her bike when someone grabbed her arm. Without thinking she lashed out shoving the flat of her hand into her assailants forehead. He yelped in pain and dropped to the ground.

"Son of a Bitch!" he yelled holding onto his face. He had dropped her jacket and helmet on the ground.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" he had just been bringing her the jacket and helmet. Guilt slammed into her, and she felt like crying. His friends had come running at his yell.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." he told them. His voice was muffled through his hands.

"No, you're going to have two black eyes." she told him helping him to his feet. "He needs ice." she told Dom. He nodded and the small Hispanic girl ran for some.

"You okay Leon?" The shorter blonde man asked.

"I'm sorry, you just surprised me."

Dom made a decision. "We call him Trust Fund." he told her. "The guy in your picture. He showed up about two months ago. Always wants the best, always buys the best, and never runs short of money. So we call him trust fund."

"Is he alone?" she asked.

The taller blonde man spoke up. "No, he arrived in town with three other guys, but they look to him as their leader." Rina looked into his angel blue eyes. "They aren't well liked. They get plenty of the chasers, but they harass the girls who aren't interested." Letty and Mia had joined them with Leon's ice. "They haven't put the moves on Letty or Mia yet because either Letty would kill them, or Dom or Vince would kill them. Heck if it came down to it, any of us would."

"This a big debt?" Dom asked. When she turned to him the flat look in her eyes told him she wasn't telling them the whole truth.

"One of the biggest. Thanks for your help." She crouched down to look at Leon's face under the ice. "I am truly sorry. I'm old enough to know better than to just lash out."

"No problem." he told her with a nasally voice. "Just do me a favor and don't tell anyone a girl kicked my ass."

She gave him a half smile. "You have my word."