Jason lifted the frosted bottle of beer to his lips as Jake and Tom circled his racecar examining the damage it sustained in the race. This was nothing new really. After each race both men would inspect every aspect of the car just to be sure that all was well. Then they would begin grilling Jason about how the car handled, how the engine performed and a myriad of other things before they began tweaking the car for the next event. For the three of them it was ritualistic in nature.

"It's not too bad really," Tom said running his hand along the mangled fiberglass quarter panel. "We have one in the trailer to replace it with"

Jake grabbed the creeper leaning against the wall and rolled under the massive blue machine. The outer damage didn't much concern him since he knew that it was merely cosmetic. It was the framework and the suspension that he needed to be sure was in tact.

"Something wrong?" Jason asked moving from his perch when Jake didn't immediately reappear.

"Not really," a muffled voice from below spoke. "Just a couple of loose shims. The impact must have jimmied them. Nothing that a little welding rod won't fix." Jake took the hand Jason offered him as he pushed the creeper across the garage floor with his foot. "That was damn good driving today," the older man said as he began rooting through his tool chest.

"Yeah, I thought you were finished when that guy spun you around," Tom added.

"I got lucky," Jason said. "Besides a little rubbin' – that's what racing is all about."

"That wasn't a little rubbin' Jas. That guy slammed right into you." Tom focused on the green metallic smears of paint mixed with Jason's pearl blue.

"It wasn't on purpose," Jason stated thinking about how apologetic the driver whose name he didn't even know had been to him. The man even congratulated him on the win. Jason was a little thrown by that. It wasn't as if all drivers were like Billy Weston, out for themselves, but in this sport looking out for number was an unspoken way of life. "Weston was the real culprit."

Billy Weston's name caught Jake's attention. From the rumors and scuttlebutt going around the various tracks his reputation proceeded him. Jake also knew that he was the front running driver for Ryan Racing. Jake had been secretly following the growth of his one time friend's race team and once Billy had joined its ranks things began seriously heating up for Pat Ryan. Jake knew though that Jason was just about to step in and give Billy Weston a run for his money.

"Weston was so jacked about Hartill and Jackson holding him in position," Tom said almost laughing. "Hell I bet his crew chief didn't even need the headset to hear Billy screaming." Jason chuckled too taking the last swig of his beer before he tossed the bottle into the large steel barrel with a clink. "The best man won though," Tom said patting his friend on the shoulder.

"Thanks man," Jason smiled as he reached for a wrench and began to help Tom remove the damaged quarter panel.

"You don't need to be so damn modest!" Jake playfully scolded. "You ran circles around those guys –literally," he added with a laugh.

"Yeah man – you blew most of their doors off!" Tom said in awe just a little bit. "Besides I love when you beat Weston at his own game. He's such an arrogant prick."

"Uh-huh," Jason agreed with a grunt as the last bolt was removed and the fiberglass quarter tumbled to the ground.

"He is arrogant," Jake agreed, "but his a hell of a good driver as well."

"When he isn't bending the rules to suit himself," Jason scoffed unsure where Jake's sudden need to defend of all people Billy Weston had come from. "I can't believe that he's still allowed to drive with all the shit he's pulled. He's caused more spinouts and accidents than any other driver. Yet there he is still – the headliner for Ryan Racing."

"You can't blame the team for what Weston does behind the wheel of his car."

"Come on Jake," Jason turned and looked at the older man with a bit of shock on his face. "If I was pulling the shit that Billy was you would have my ass out of that car so fast I wouldn't know what hit me. Ryan's never so much as slapped his damn hand. He's just paid his fines and lets him continue racing. What kind of message do you think that sends?" Jason asked. "Hell it tells me that Pat Ryan doesn't care what Weston does as long as he's winning."

Jake shook his head knowing how close to the truth that Jason was. He had lived through Pat Ryan's tantrums and tirades when a race hadn't gone his way but in all the years he had known Pat he had never seen him bend the rules as much as Billy Weston did. "I can't imagine that Pat Ryan wouldn't want his drivers to win, but I don't believe that he sanctions the things that Billy does on the track – sometimes even to his own team mates. The driver who spun in and hit you... ..."

"Yeah," Jason said waiting for Jake to continue.

"That was Leo Jorgenson. He's another driver for Ryan Racing. You really think that Pat is happy about one of his drivers taking another out of the race? Come on Jason, the more drivers finishing the race means more money for Ryan Racing. I think you are wrong about Pat Ryan." Jake at least hoped his was wrong.

"Face it Jake," Tom finally piped in after returning from the trailer with the new quarter panel. "Weston is a snake and our boy Jason here is going to be the one to lop his head off."

The three men looked at one another and began laughing at that remark breaking the tension in the room. Jason looked on at Jake as he crossed the garage to get his welding torch and some rods. He didn't quite understand his need to support Pat Ryan or Ryan Racing. No matter what Jake said Jason had his own thoughts on the subject and in his mind Pat Ryan was no better than his maverick driver if all he cared about was crossing the finish line first and to hell with the consequences of how he got there.

Leo stood back looking at his wreck of a racecar. Not only was the ass end smashed the front end was as well. There pretty much wasn't a part of his green bomber, as he like to call it, that hadn't been effected by Billy's need to win. Angrily he kicked one of the tires that had now gone flat but that did little to relieve his frustrations. The only saving grace in it all was that for all his effort Billy still came in third. That fact brought a mischievous smile to Leo's lips. He knew that the coveted pole position would be going to Jason Morgan and not his teammate. "Serves you right you bastard," Leo stated as if Billy Weston had been there to hear him.

By the time Elizabeth entered the Ryan garage Leo had an array of tools scattered across the floor and the misshapen fiberglass pieces that once were the body of his car were sitting in a heap on the floor. Even from her ample distance she could hear Billy's name mixed between a few choice curse words. "Hey," she said softly touching his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Leo jumped. He was so entrenched in his own train of thought he hadn't even heard Elizabeth enter the garage. "You scared the shit out of me!" He placed his hand over his chest and let out a deep breath.

"Sorry," she giggled.

"What are you doing here?" he asked more than a little shocked to see her standing there. While she once had been a fixture in that place since her break up with Billy the Ryan garage was the last place she could be found these days.

"I wanted to see how you were doing. By the looks of things not that great huh?"

"I've had better finishes if that's what you are talking about," Leo remarked a little more sarcastically than he intended to.

"What the hell happened out there today?" Elizabeth questioned pulling the rolling stool closer to Leo's car and sitting down.

"What do you think happened?" he barked then thought better of it. "Hey Liz, I'm sorry. It's not you I'm mad at."

"I know," she smiled she had grown accustomed to driver's outburst when races hadn't gone according to plan. "I'm sorry about today. I really wanted you to do well. You deserve it."

"Thanks," he smiled. "I'm starting to think maybe Ryan Racing isn't the place for me anymore." Leo looked around and all he could see was the tribute to number fifteen – the tribute to Billy Weston.

"What? You are kidding me right?" Elizabeth couldn't hide her shock.

"Not really. Come on Liz we both know who the golden boy is and it isn't me."

"Don't let Billy run you out of here!"

"Oh you mean the way he's done it to you?" Leo immediately wished he hadn't said that but he missed his friend – his partner in crime.

"That's different and you know it. You can't leave Leo. My dad wouldn't want you to go."

"Let's be honest when was the last time I added a substantial win to the Ryan Racing coffers?" Leo cast a downward glance as he spoke.

"That's not the point. You love racing and you are a damn good driver!" Elizabeth stressed. "You can't quit."

"I didn't say that I was quitting. I don't know if I could do anything but be a driver but I think it's time that I was a driver for some other team."

"No!" The idea of Leo leaving wasn't one that Elizabeth was willing to accept. "I won't let you just walk away from all of this. You were here long before Billy and you will be here long after him."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that... ..."

"I'll be damned if I will let Billy run you out of here," Elizabeth said cutting Leo off in mid-sentence.

Leo smiled when he saw that all too familiar determined look glinting in her large sapphire eyes. That was the Elizabeth he knew and loved. "There's no need to defend my own honor, but how about your own? Don't you think it's time that people knew just what a cad Weston really is – people like your dad?" Leo arched his brow all knowingly. "You need to set the record straight, Liz. People should know what really happened to cause you two to break up." Leo knew what a nasty tale Billy was already spinning and if he was willing to say such lies to Elizabeth's own father lord knows what he was telling the outside world. The last thing Leo wanted was for best friend to get hurt anymore than she already had been.

"What did or didn't happen with me and Billy isn't anyone's business, Leo," Elizabeth said forcefully. Even those few words brought back a slew of memories she would have rather forgotten. "Billy and I are over. What happened is in the past and that's where I want it to stay." The pain of it all still stung and there were times that Elizabeth wondered if she would ever truly get over it. "Telling the world about it isn't going to change anything!"

Leo resisted the urge to wrap her up in his large arms. He saw the tears hanging on her thick brown lashes looking for a means of escape. However he knew that wouldn't work with Elizabeth Ryan if anything it would have only pushed her further away. She wasn't one to let people in and Leo knew it. But he wanted to tell her that he knew the story. He wanted to tell her that he had been standing there in the shadows when she ran from Billy's trailer crying her eyes out. He wanted to tell her what a bastard he thought Billy Weston was for cheating on her. He wanted to tell how much restraint it took on his part not to snap Billy's neck that night when he walked in on him and the woman he was trying so desperately to hide from sight, but he didn't. He kept his mouth shut while his heart broke for her.

"Hey Jorgenson," a voice from across the garage broke the silence. "We pulling that motor or what?"

"Yeah – yeah, I'll be right there." Leo turned back and looked at Elizabeth. "You want to come help?" He nudged her playfully. Leo and Elizabeth in the past had worked on his racecar side by side for the years that he had driven for Ryan Racing. Yet that stopped when she started dating Billy. That was just one of the reason in a long list of things he hated Billy Weston for. "Come on just like old times," Leo pressed.

"I don't think so," she declined. "You go ahead. I wouldn't be much help anyhow."

"The hell you wouldn't. You're a better mechanic than half these guys in here," Leo stated knowing he was speaking the truth.

"You go ahead."

"Leo!" the voice from across the floor again invaded their conversation. "Come on man I don't have all day."

"You better go before Ray throws a hissy. Which we both know he's known to do," Elizabeth smiled weakly.

Leo kept his eyes trained on her retreating form. She had come there to cheer him up after his lousy race that day but in turn she was the one walking away upset. He hated to see her so sad and lost. He remembered a time when Elizabeth would have jumped at the chance to help him with his car or any one on the team for that matter. Yet now she fled the garage as if it was on fire. "Damn you Billy Weston, damn you!" Leo said through clenched teeth.

Jason and Tom were putting away the tools that were strewn across the floor as Jake lay underneath the rear end of the car spot welding the final shim back into place. In the morning they would touch up the paint on the rear quarter panel and secure it so that they could start the rigors of preparing for the race Jason just qualified for pole position that would be run in a few days.

Jake shifted on the creeper to get a better angle between the welding torch and the rod. Instantly he felt a numbness work its way down his arm. He thought nothing of it assuming it was the pinched nerve in his neck that took to bothering him now and again. He readjusted his position in hopes of elevating the pressure and the now tingling sensation would subside. Suddenly Jake felt as if a lead weight was sitting against his chest. The throbbing pain began radiating through his chest. Jake pushed himself out from under Jason's car and did his best to stand yet the ache in his chest was to great. Before he could catch himself the torch went rolling along the cement floor. The loud clatter brought Jason and Tom running only to find Jake lying on the floor clutching his chest.