Disclaimer: I don't own the Fast and the Furious, it's characters or situations.

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I'll shut up so Letty can return now.

Chapter 11: Prodigal

Despite my personal problems business at the garage was booming. The teams' performance and Vince's win at Race Wars had brought in an influx of people wanting us to get under the hoods of their 'tuners. Business at The Racer's Edgewas booming for Harry too. Vince had casually let slip that he got all of his performance parts from the store to an avid racer in our crowd. The gossip had spread like fire on gasoline. The next day Harry called to thank Vince for the honorable mention. He also asked me if he could suggest DT Automotive as a reliable place for the mechanically inept to get help with their cars. I had to laugh and say yes. Vince had commented that we were probably the new K.C., referring to the mechanic Harry had sent us to back in our early racing work kept Vince, Leon, Jesse, and I busy over the next seven months. Time blurred and before I knew it another year had passed.

"Are you ever going to fix the seven?" Harry asked me flat out.

"Why what's it to ya?" I countered pleasantly. Oddly talk of my car did not hurt as much I had expected. While I missed ripping up the streets in it for races, I'd been driving the Charger around for everything else. I still went to races, but the team took on a more active role in terms of racing. I had contemplated my retirement of sorts off and on for the last seven months. Sometimes this led to me pulling off the large white sheet I now had covering the seven to stare at it aimlessly before covering it back up. Other times I would consider junking it and starting fresh. But I was starting to get antsy. My considerations were starting to become more focused since Hector had joked that maybe I should start organizing races. No thank you. He could keep the headache he'd inherited from his cousin.

Harry pushed a manifest towards me to sign but held the pen out of reach, "It's already April. Race Wars is roughly two months out."

I gave him raised eyebrow and nodded towards the pen in his hand. He handed it over before I had to ask for it verbally. I signed and paid on the garage account to give myself time to formulate an answer.

"I'm retired," I tried out.

"You're too good. Come outta retirement."

"You're really pushy today."

"Well I got a stake in a Team Toretto win if you get my drift," he said waving his hand around to point out the new shelving units and upgrades. His profits had turned the store into an appealing display of automotive parts worthy of frequenting by racers and wannabees.

I refrained from rolling my eyes, "Vince pulled the overall victory."

"You weren't in top form then," Harry said quickly.

"I'm rusty."

"You're a natural talent," he told me hearing the beginning of a return from retirement in my voice. He pretended to plead to feed my ego, "Please Dom. I'm trying to get a new computer system installed and pay the eye candy."

I let the corners of my mouth turn up. I appreciated Harry's decision to hire some very attractive female help. It had made the trips to The Racer's Edge worth the extra time. My team never waited for assistance but the assistants seemed to take an extra long time helping me and the guys do routine tasks. Flirting was a hassle but we suffered it somehow. Mia wasn't fooled that it was the hardship we were pretending it to be.

"Well I'll guess I need to get to work. I wouldn't want Celeste to be out of a job," I said loud enough for Celeste to wink at me and giggle from behind the counter.

"Thanks for thinking of me Dom," she trilled flirtatiously.

Harry came around the counter to give me a friendly slap on the back, "Just send the list of parts you need over. I'll order them on rush for you if I don't have the parts on hand."

Harry's pep talk banged around in my head as I returned home. It was still bouncing around in my mind when Mia called us to dinner twenty minutes later.

"So Jesse, what parts do you think I'll need to rebuild the seven?" I asked between bites of meatloaf. I couldn't wait to break out the grill tomorrow for a real Sunday barbeque. Winter was over and we were overdue.

"We're gonna rebuild the Mazda?" he exhaled excitedly. "Sweet!"

"Yeah, just in time for Race Wars."

"Guess Vince has a contender for his title," Leon ribbed.

"We need to make sure the frame isn't compromised," Jesse said absently.

"Yeah right," Vince snorted. Three quarters of his dinner were already gone. "Dom's rusty."

"We can retool it to hide your nitrous system," Jesse continued to fantasize, his eyes not seeing us anymore.

"Well rusty, are you planning let Vince's challenge go unanswered?" Leon instigated.

"Yeah, can we add a computer so you can view your mix," Jesse continued.

"No computers Jesse," I said pointing at him sternly to rein in his ideas. I pointed at Vince, "You're cocky for a guy who won by default."

He leaned back from his now clean plate, crossing his arms over his chest, "Not the swollen eye defense again."

Leon laughed, "You do anything lately to defile Tran's Cheerios rusty?"

"No but there's still time," Mia added flippantly. The whole table burst into laughter. I was glad we could laugh about my last two run-ins with Tran.

"Whatever," I tried to play like I was peeved but my lingering grin gave me away. "Let's get ready for races."

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. Perfect conditions for a barbeque. Mia was eager to have help on the cooking front. I diligently prepped the steaks with the Toretto family secret marinade before subjecting them to the fire. Mia put together the remainder of the feast: potato salad, coleslaw, and large pieces of Texas toast. Vince ran out for an hour and returned with beer and a bakery box. It felt like no time at all before the five of us were sitting at the wooden table outside trading jokes and shop talk. Leon had brought a radio outside so between the music and conversation it was easy for us to shut out the rest of the world.

About halfway through dinner Leon's cell rang. Mia shot him a look. She did not like cell phones at the table interrupting family time. He looked apologetically at the display before his mouth formed an 'o'. He stood up quickly and excused himself to take the call inside. Mia rolled her eyes. Two minutes later her eyes got wide as she focused on someone approaching from the corner of the house behind me. Vince and Jesse stood up and I whipped my head around to stare at who had captured their attention. Leon had returned tugging Letty along with him. My mouth was wide open. She had changed since I'd seen her last. Gone was the tomboy. This Letty had hair that was long and curly. She had on eye shadow and lipstick. She was tanner than I'd ever seen her here. She wore a sundress that fell to just above her knees but kept her shoulders bare. And she was wearing heeled sandals. The only odd thing was the set of dog tags she had around her neck. The look was completely unexpected. Hell, Letty was completely unexpected.

"Good, I stopped Vince's feeding frenzy so there may be something left for me to eat," she teased. Vince ran over to her and gathered her in a big bear hug.

"Look at you!" he exclaimed looking for a comment that would be good enough to encompass his feelings. He finally set her down and coughed gruffly, "You look good."

Her lips started to twitch but she hugged him again before moving to hug Jesse. He didn't say anything to her but there were tears in his eyes. She kissed him on the cheek and he blushed. Mia didn't wait for Letty to approach. She walked up to Letty and gave her a light shove.

"You call Leon?"

"You'd have squealed and ruined the surprise," Letty shrugged before gathering Mia into a long hug.

"You wait till I'm not around to get all wild on me," Mia giggled, waving at Letty's getup when they parted.

"Hypocrite," Letty said before they both grinned at each other sharing a secret with their eyes.

I coughed, unable to think of anything to say. I hadn't spoken to Letty since the day I'd been shot. Seven months was a long time. She crossed over to me but paused before giving me a hug. Her lips twitched again.

"Your Mom see you yet?"

"Nah. She would have squealed too. The whole neighborhood would know I was back."

"Is this temporary or permanent?" I left it vague. I was referring to whether she would stay in L.A. or not but she could easily think I was discussing her wardrobe.

"Not too sure."

"Your boyfriend going to lose his temper if he knows you're here?" The team looked between us. I ignored them. I was working to keep my temper in check but it didn't feel like it was going to flare up at the moment. I may be able to lie convincingly that I didn't care if she was still with that guy or a new one.

"Don't worry. His family isn't going to shoot me." Leon started laughing and came to hug Letty from behind.

"Well your mouth hasn't changed at least," he said, before marching her over to the chair across from him. We resumed our seats, scrounged up another plate, and started to eat again.

"So where were you?" Jesse asked.

"Virginia Beach visiting my brother Danny."

She'd been clear across the country! I recalled that I had offered to come get her. The tiny smirk around her mouth told me that she remembered my offer too.

"What you been up to?" Jesse continued.

"Workin', tannin', chillin'," she listed lazily.

"Shoppin'," Mia added slyly. Letty rolled her eyes.

Vince tugged her hair, "I bet you did more than that."

"Yeah Letty you seemed to have really gotten off in Virginia Beach." I hadn't meant to let the comment slip out but it had. Silence fell over the table as the rest of the team stared at us again.

She smiled calmly, "Why don't you just ask me outright instead of pussyfooting around the subject."

Jesse broke in, "I thought you two were friends."

"We are. Friends share that info all the time," I tried to keep my voice steady and conversational.

"But unfortunately I have to go explain my disappearance to my parents, sorry." She didn't sound sorry. Instead she shrugged and stood up. But as she passed she bent over to whisper in my ear, "You want to ask me outright?"

"Welcome home Letty," I said. She laughed all the way around the corner. Mia threw me a look that was exasperated and confused. The guys just looked like they were happy to have escaped being drawn into our battle of wills.

"You never ask me about my screwing around," Vince growled.

"Aww pumpkin, feeling left out?" Leon taunted.

The following Saturday night I found myself leaning against the Charger with Vince casually scoping out the parade of barely clothed ladies. It was normal for them to prance past me and the team but tonight they were making at least a half dozen passes. And there wasn't one approach.

Vince sniffed, "I think something off tonight brother."

I nodded my head in agreement. Maybe they could tell that I preoccupied. I hadn't seen Letty since her return. We kept missing each other: at the shop, at the café, at the house. But everyone else was hanging out with her hours on end, at least according to their stories. I was still trying to figure out where I had been when all of these long exchanges had been taking place.

Edwin approached us and I mentally rolled my eyes. Lately he'd been talking a lot of smack, claiming that I had lost my edge. He was working to become a contender in our crowd. I noticed that he was losing less often than he used to so the cockiness was to be expected. Still I disliked that he was trying to use my withdrawal from racing to do it. We shook hands then he started asking casually about who I thought was competition. Vince and I played into the conversation, not really giving much away. We firmly maintained that we were still the team to beat here though. I was happy to see Jesse approach us quickly.

"Um Dom, when do you think Hector will plan the main event?" he asked bouncing from foot to foot. He was really asking if he thought he might be racing tonight.

"He's been real slow on the uptake tonight," Edwin added.

"And I can think of one big reason why," Mia said. I whipped my head around. I hadn't noticed her approach from behind me. My eyebrow rose slightly and she shrugged in that maddeningly female way. I was saved the bother of breaking down to ask her. I heard the familiar purr of the 240sx before it came to a complete halt four cars away from us. The crowd whipped around to stare at the car which hadn't been seen here in over a year. Some of the parade participants had the guts to stare in my direction to gauge my reaction.

"I heard a rumor that my girl Letty was in town…"Edwin started before licking his lips and rubbing his hands together. I hoped his reaction was involuntary. At least that was the lie I would tell myself to keep from knocking him to the ground. Sam sauntered over to the driver side door and leaned over to talk to her before grabbing the door handle. He held out a hand which she surprising took before getting out of the car. Sam shut the door for her before gathering her in a bone crushing hug and laughing. When they pulled apart Letty was smiling.

I had to wait until she walked around to the front of her car to see her properly. The image would forever be burned into my retinas. I felt myself getting turned on by the outfit even as I wanted to rip every male eye out in the immediate area. She was wearing a white mini skirt. She never wore skirts to races. It was longer than the skirts of most of the girls out here but left her extremely tanned legs exposed to the avid gazers. She had on some purple heels that tied up her slightly past her ankles but finished in bow on the backs. Her hair was pulled up off her neck, twisted to form a mini waterfall of curls. And while her front was covered more modestly by the purple top in the front she turned to a voice hailing her and I saw her completely exposed back.

The dog tags were also in place I noticed as the clinked against the chain around Hector's neck during their brief hug. I shouldn't have heard the chink of the metals from my position at the Charger but then I realized in Hector's funny look that I had approached them. And I must have looked like I was going to commit a homicide because he backed away to a respectable distance. The heels had given Letty some height but she was still over a foot shorter that I was. She looked at me over her shoulder, a wide innocent smile on her face. My eyes narrowed and she smiled wider. Hector coughed and focus turned to him.

"It's about time you showed up chica. Now we can get started," he called out loud enough for the crowd to hear. The crowd focused on his words even though they kept stealing glances at me and Letty. And I understood why. I was standing so close to her I could have rubbed my now folded elbow across her bare back. We were both looking at Hector, or at least I was pretending to give him all of my attention. But it was clear that there was a dramatic interplay occurring between the two of us.

"So who's racing tonight?" Letty asked casually, her head tilting slightly to the side. She her body adjusted to the slight alteration, leaning slightly towards me to expose her neck. I stiffened slightly to keep from reaching out to her. I wasn't sure if I would force her to get back in her car or rip her clothes off so I kept my distance.

"You want in?" Hector asked, his race persona now completely on.

"I don't know. I might be a little rusty," she replied. Her race persona was on now too but it held new facets. She was still cool and nonchalant but now she was adding a hint of edgy sexiness. Gone was the innocent sexiness she'd had before she left. This was a woman standing in front of me. Not my friend. Not the girl I used to date.

"Well I'm willing to help you check if you're still running good under your hood," Edwin said eagerly. I felt my muscles flex slightly in my arms.

"Oh I definitely want a piece of this," taunted some guy with brown hair who stepped out of the crowd. The crowd tittered, some guys making lewd comments that I forced myself not to respond to. 'Let them keep their eyes Dom. Don't rip out their eyes Dom.' I told myself to keep my stance firm and unyielding. It was just talk. Just harmless, albeit annoying, chatter.

"Well you got two. But we need one more," Hector said.

"I'm willing to take a ride," called out Ian, I kid I vaguely remembered from high school. The crowd 'oohed' and a couple people laughed.

"This ride will be two large," Letty said grinning magically producing a folded cache of money. She tossed her money to Hector which he caught with a goofy grin on his face. Edwin sauntered over to him, handing him the money while staring at Letty. 'Well maybe his eyes' I allowed myself. Ian and the brown haired kid gave their money to Hector who took a second from the excitement to look me in the eyes. He used his eyes to ask the question, 'Is this lineup ok for you?' I gave my head a short nod. I must have made Christmas come early for him.

"Alright then, let's race!" he yelled. There were cheers from the crowd and people disbursed to their cars to travel to the line. Letty turned and walked to her car and I followed automatically, shielding the view of her back from as many guys as possible. She stood near the door to the 240sx and I automatically reached past her to open the door. Letty took her time sauntering into the driver's seat, as if my gesture was commonplace. I gave the door a push to close it then turned as if I didn't have a care in the world, returning to the Charger so I could follow the racers to the line.

"That was a wicked race," Hector said to me half an hour later. We were standing around outside El Gato Negro, a lunch counter by day turned bar at night that he'd begun to treat as his after race hot spot. While the place had a small dance floor inside, the real action was outside where our cars were parked. This was where people preened and showed off their rides. It was almost like a tiny car show more than anything else. Well normally it was a tiny car show. Tonight it felt like the whole race crowd had turned out.

"Letty definitely took 'em to school," Carmen added, a wicked gleam in her eye. Mia had given me the same look when Letty had crossed the line first. Woman kind was celebrating a small victory tonight in our racing universe.

"I can't wait till you roll back up to the line," Hector continued.

"I bet," I responded gruffly before I let my eyes do a sweep across the crowd of people milling around. The parade of women had started up again. And again, they weren't approaching. The behavior was out of character given my checkered history since my break up with Joi. I didn't miss it though. I only wanted one woman's attention and she was missing at the moment. We exchanged pleasantries for another five minutes before Hector and Carmen left to cycle around, a wry smile twisting Hector's lips. I guess I wasn't being very covert about my attention being elsewhere.

I drained the last of my beer before making my way inside to order another. I glanced at the dance floor idly wondering where the rest of the team had disappeared to when I spotted Letty making her way towards the bar. She tapped the guy next to me on the shoulder. He turned and made no attempt to hide his perusal of her body.

"Oh hell yeah," he said. Then he must have noticed the slight shifting of my body next to him. I saw his jaw slacken as he took in the blank mask of my face and my piercing gaze. He cleared his throat, mumbling, "never mind," before he took off. Letty's eyes crinkled even though she didn't crack a smile. I raised an eyebrow inviting her to comment but she declined.

"Here you are," the bartender yelled, sliding the beer to me. She then turned to Letty, "What can I get you?"

"Two shots of Patrón," Letty ordered. I slid the girl a twenty to cover the beer and the shots.

"Hard liquor?" I questioned conversationally.

"I could use something stiff," she retorted. I felt myself getting aroused at the double entendre. The shots came and she pushed one of them towards me. I exchanged the beer bottle for the tiny glass and we clinked them together before throwing them back. I felt the sting of the tequila and instinctively reached for the beer to chase it. After swallowing a swig I tilted the bottle to her. She shook her head no. The waitress returned and Letty ordered two more shots. I paid again.

"After this you're buying," I said dryly. She chuckled.

"I could have bought this one."

"The first round was welcome home. The second," I said pointing to the two small glasses that had been pushed our way, "is congrats for the win. You did good tonight."

She gave me a small nod as we clinked glasses again then downed our shots. I paused for fifteen seconds before taking a drink from my beer. I didn't want it to be construed as a chaser since Letty had yet to chase her shots. She made to call the waitress back but I lightly tapped her shoulder with the bottle. She gave me a questioning look.

"What's the rush?" I asked.

"No rush. Just being sociable. You look thirsty," she responded.

I watched her lean over the bar to order four more shots. Her back arched and I sucked in a ragged breath. The waitress' eyes widened in curiosity for a second at the request. The she shrugged and brought us two more glasses. She quickly filled all four. Letty paid before suggesting we each take another shot. Clink. Then down into the stockpile already in my stomach. I saw her reach for the next shot but this time I leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Pace yourself. We have all night."

She moved in closer to whisper back, "I expect you to honor that." I could feel the heat emanating from her skin. She was so close. My hormones wanted to have a meltdown right here in the crowed club. The shots had helped to loosen up a portion of the hold I had on them. I watched her slowly lick her lips and I gave her a cocky grin.

"Letty girl we thought you left," Leon yelled, joining us at the bar. This is the part where I should have stepped back. I should have widened the gap between Letty and I to include Leon in our small circle. But I didn't back away. So when she turned slightly to talk to him her side was braced against my front.

"Nah. You want a shot?" she offered, her hand held out expectantly towards me. I passed her the little glass. Leon gave the label a look then shook his head.

"You really came back a big girl Letty," he said. His voice held some wonder. I watched his eyes reassess her. "You ready for round two?"

"Just a second," she replied before brushing against me to raise her final glass but I didn't oblige. She downed hers then raised her eyebrow at me. I shoved my still full glass gently towards her. Grinning she downed mine too then took Leon's hand to rejoin the crowd on the dance floor. Five shots in less than five minutes. She was well on her way to being exceedingly drunk.

Giving up on the warm beer I decided to return outside to see if I could find Vince, Mia, or Jesse to pass along the message that I wanted to leave early. I spotted Vince standing by his Maxima with a curvy bottle blond, his hands wrapped around her waist. He was whispering in her ear and she was grinning. Guess someone was getting lucky tonight.

"You ready?" Vince asked spotting me. I nodded. He gave the blond a squeeze, whispered something in her ear, then stalked away to round up the rest of the team. I went to rest against the Charger again while I waited. Ten minutes went by before Jesse slunk out, his hands in his pockets but his eyes bright. He gave me a head nod which I returned but didn't say anything to me. Mia came out next, quickly followed by Vince. Mia's expression was amused. Vince's looked strange. It was like he couldn't decide whether he should take care of what was bothering him alone or ask me for my help. It was a look used right before he asked me to help him bring his mom home from the bars.

"Where are Leon and Letty?" I called out. Vince shrugged. He grabbed the blond's hand, shuffling to get in his car. Jesse and Mia started walking towards Jesse's car but I had my eyes trained on the door. I was going to give them two minutes before I walked in there myself. Fortunately they chose that moment to burst through the doors. Leon and Letty had their arms slung around each other's waists, their faces inches away from one another as she turned to tell him something in his ear. He grinned, shaking his head no. They continued to approach his Skyline but neither noticed I was watching.

Leon let go of Letty when they got to the passenger side of his car. Due to the quirks of the car, that meant they were on the side that I couldn't see. She leaned over saying something low in his ear and he grinned again. My eyes narrowed as he gathered her up by his side then opened the passenger side door. He gently pushed Letty towards the opening but she swung around to face him. I couldn't see her face but I saw Leon's amused expression change to shock. Letty's laughter rang across the lot. Heads turned in curiosity. I balled my fists. Leon leaned in, bracketing Letty between his hands now touching the roof. They stared at each other for a long moment, a contest of wills being played out.

I wanted to stop watching. I knew that Leon, one of my closest friends, would not mack on Letty. Yet I couldn't stop staring at them, watching the conversation get more intimate even as it seemed to get more animated. When Leon dipped in closer to bend his ear closer to her lips I started taking steps forward. The invisible tether was back in action.

"Oh is that all," I heard Leon say dryly.

"Yep," she replied.

"And you'll…" he started but she cut him off.

"Yep."

"This is against my better judgment," he said, handing over the keys to her car and pushing away. I watched her walk away then turned to face Leon.

"You and me are going to talk," I said with my arms folded. I wanted to fight him now but I would wait till we got home. I stomped to the Charger, violently ripping the door open then slamming it shut. The ride home gave me enough time to fester. I couldn't believe those two would think I would just watch them hook up. He was my family. And she, well she was…Mine.

I meant to pull up to my house but I found myself blocking the Ortiz's driveway. Letty waited for me by her car, her body stance patient. I approached aggressively but stopped an arm's length away.

"Something on your mind?" she asked. What was on my mind? I wanted to know about the guy in Virginia. I wanted to tear into her about whatever was going on with Leon. I wanted to figure out how she put away all those shots and didn't seem like she was going to fall down.

"You never used to wear skirts."

"It's a bad habit." I felt myself lose some of the aggressiveness. I really didn't want to fight with her. Not tonight anyway. I really wanted something else.

"That habit includes heels?"

She laughed lightly, "Yeah."

"Do these changes mean you won't work at the garage?" I asked impulsively. I wanted her back in my space. I wanted to know that I would have at least scheduled time to be around her since I could barely catch her any other time. She frowned.

"Is that what you really want?"

"Yes," I lied. I wanted more but we were playing it cool and friendly.

"Am I back on the team?" she asked softly. I wasn't expecting the vulnerability. I stepped forward and so did she.

"You will always be a part of this team."

"Good, 'cause I want to race at Race Wars," she stated suddenly business like. I grinned and reached for her, trapping her in a bear hug.

"Welcome home Letty." She snuggled into my chest. The two of us stood there for a moment. When we pulled apart I knew that all the crap was behind us. Anything that we had done to hurt one another in the past two years was out the window, leaving us free to start fresh. It left me hopeful. I pulled away, turning to march back to the Charger. I would push my luck tonight no matter how much I wanted to.

"Hey yo Dom," she called out. I paused to look at her. She looked around to check that we were still alone. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare bedroom at your place would ya?"