Afternoon in Miami.

"So, you're in?" asked Suki to Rome who was in the driver's seat.

They were idly riding along around town in Rome's 'Cuda. He had just tuned his baby up with a new set of shocks which were a direct replacement of his old ones and the drive was mostly to break the new shocks in. Suki was there because she helped him out even though that wasn't her original objective at the start of the day.

Suki had went to visit Rome in his garage earlier that day. Two days before, Rome had a serious talk with Tej about that little team he was building and out of courtesy gave Rome some time to make a decision. Suki came to get his answer whatever it may be although she knew Rome enough that he really didn't need that much time to tell himself that this was an opportunity he would be insane to pass up.

"Sounds tight," he replied. "Real tight. I don't know how he came up wit' this."

"Oh you know Tej. Always looking for the best way to make cash and, of course, get his name around."

"What do Alex and Jimmy say?"

"Oh, they're all for it. So am I. I haven't been racing for a while so I've been looking for the opportunity to improve. The only driving I get to do nowadays is when I'm helping teaching Jimmy. Plus I've been doing too much for my modeling agency lately and they haven't given me too much free time."

"Well, you know I can't pass this up so I guess I'm in."

"Of course you're in. You like cars and money too much to pass this up."

Rome snickered. "Well, you know me, girl."

"Turn left."

Rome looked inquisitively at Suki. "What?"

"Just do it, turn left at this corner."

"But it's a one-way street!"

"I know. Just do it! Now!"

Rome did as he was told. He turned left down a one-way street going the wrong way. An angry old lady in a Camry honked as Rome barely missed scratching the side of her car with his own. Rome drove nervously all the way to the other side of the street where h finally had the opportunity to drive down the right side of the road again. When he did, he looked toward Suki for an explanation.

"Are you gonna tell me what was that for?" he asked.

"Yeah. Look behind us," she answered with a very serious tone.

Rome looked in his rearview mirror and saw a black Toyota Tacoma coming out of the same one-way street he just came out of and started to go in the same direction as they did. Rome's first thought was it might just be a coincidence.

"It can't be a coincidence," said Suki. "Those guys have been following us since we left the garage."

"What?!"

"That's what's been bothering me for a while and now that they actually followed you down that street just now proves that they want to get acquainted with us."

"Like hell they will. I'm loosin' 'em."

Rome checked the road ahead and saw that it was fairly clear of traffic and suddenly gunned the engine. The 'Cuda accelerated form a slow and cruise of about 40 mph to a tire-squealing 90 mph. The Tacoma behind them sped up to try and keep them in sight, as expected.

Rome was able to put some distance between his car and the Tacoma behind them. But this lasted only so long. Just when the Tacoma was about to disappear from the rearview mirror, Rome noticed that traffic was building up ahead due to the fact that road was starting to bottle-neck.

Rome knew that a pick-up truck like the Tacoma would have a hard time matching the speed of even a stock sports car, let alone a tuned one. But he couldn't take advantage of his car's overwhelming power due to the simple fact that there was thick traffic ahead. Soon, Rome was driving around other cars and was being forced to slow down to a speed the Tacoma could easily keep up with.

He needed to think of a way out fast. He looked for options and spotted one in the form of sign on the corner of the street. The sign pointed to a nearby boatyard. Perfect, Rome thought. At that corner he turned and the Tacoma followed suit.

Within five minutes. They were at the boatyard. Rome quickly began his plan of trying to lose the Tacoma by driving his 'Cuda erratically between the rows of boats stacked on either side of them, creating several 'avenues' between them.

Rome performed complicated hairpin turns as he reached the ends of the stacks in hopes of loosing the Tacoma behind them. The Tacoma followed after a second or two and surprisingly was able to do the same maneuver. The driver, Rome decided, was pretty skilled. Suki kept watch while hanging onto the handle bar above her. She also noticed the driver's skill.

"This guy's pretty good," she commented.

"Yeah, but I'm better," said Rome.

At the end of the next row of boats, Rome pulled the handbrake and did what looked like his usual hairpin turn. But that was just the start of it. He continued to pull the handbrake long enough that when he got to the next row he had done a complete 360 degree turn and was facing back in the same direction he was going in the previous row.

A second later the Tacoma showed up expecting to find the 'Cuda facing the other way. They got a surprise when the muscle car was suddenly facing them with its engines suddenly roaring away as Rome shifted down a gear and stomped down on the gas pedal.

The Tacoma broke to the left. Rome noticed and in his quick reflexes broke to his left as well. The two cars grazed past each other with barely an inch to spare between them. The Tacoma ended up facing the wrong direction and unable to pursue while the 'Cuda was primed to make a break for it.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rome as he looked into his rearview mirror. "That's how we do it in Barstow, baby! Yeah!"

Suki was laughing as well in celebration at the success of Rome's little maneuver. But her faced soo turned serious when she looked down the row they were on and saw that two black, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X's appear out of nowhere and blocked their path.

"Rome, watch out!"

Rome brought his eyes back onto the road and spotted the impromptu road block ahead. He slammed on the brakes and stopped the 'Cuda less than ten yards from the Evo X's. The moment they stopped the driver's of the two cars stepped out brandishing very intimidating Israeli-made Jericho .45 pistols. Both Suki and Rome swallowed nervously.

"You think we can still back-up?" asked Rome.

Suki looked out the back window. "Don't think that's an option anymore."

Behind the 'Cuda, the Tacoma had reoriented itself and was now blocking the last way out for them. The driver and the passenger stepped out, both carrying 9mm Uzi submachine-guns.

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Just under two weeks have passed since that fateful race on I-195. Even so, the buzz hasn't died down. Alex was enjoying a spot of fame now that he's established himself firmly in the underground racing scene. Bull and his crew on the other hand had skipped town, deciding that there were better prospects somewhere else.

Alex had taken to his new-found fame quite humbly. He spent most of the week simply repairing the damages to the Silvia and continuing with Jimmy's training. By now Alex had finished his stint as a pizza boy and has decided to work for Tej as a full-time mechanic and Jimmy personal racing instructor.

On top of all that, He and Suki had started going out officially. A couple of days after the race, he took her out to dinner and the two have been an item ever since. No surprise to Suki's friends as they have already hinted in the past that Suki has had a thing for Alex for quite a while now. This was however a surprise to every other suitor that went after Suki, and there were plenty.

Alex seemed to be on top of the world, yet he didn't feel like it.

"Yo, are you ok, dude?" asked Jimmy.

Alex snapped out of the trance he was in as he was looking over the engine of his car which was undergoing some tune-ups and was therefore disabled at the moment. He turned towards Jimmy who was looking at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

"You've been looking zoned out lately. And I called on you like five times already."

"Oh…it's, uh, nothing just…"

"Just what?"

Alex was at a bit of a loss for words. He tried to put together a phrase or sentence in his head to tell Jimmy how he felt but the stuff he came up with was only gonna make Jimmy think he lost his marbles.

"Well…Do you know that feeling you get when you know a storm is coming?" said Alex.

Jimmy looked a bit confused. "Sort of. You feelin' something like that?"

"Kinda."

Many animal show will tell you that some animals, through unexplained methods seem to have a latent sense which allows them to detect a coming of a natural disaster just like the way cats and dogs tend to seek cover just before an earthquake. Some scientists believe that humans have a similar capacity that is only a bit subdued by the evolution of logical thinking. Many people simply describe it as "getting a bad feeling" about something.

Alex couldn't explain it any other way. He simply had a bad feeling that there was a storm coming. Now he only wished he knew what it was.

"Well, whatever, man," said Alex. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"Alright, if you say so."

"Watch the floor for me, I'm gonna go take a leak."

Alex moved away from his car and walked towards the comfort room a few steps away. Jimmy looked on in confusion still wondering what all that talk about a coming storm or something like that was all about. This was really the first time he's seen Alex act this weird. Still it might really be just that it was a bad feeling due to something he ate at lunch. Better to just forget about it.

Jimmy turned around and headed for the door that lead to the front desk where there was a small lounge from which he might get a drink from. But just before he was about to reach the door, it suddenly opened up in his face and he literally had to jump back to avoid being hit by the door. Jimmy took a moment to collect his bearings. When he did he noted the presence of a newcomer.

Bursting from the door looking as if she just ran a marathon was a young woman looking around twenty or so as Jimmy guessed. Her attire was a curious mix. From the bottom up, she wore white sneakers with bright pink laces, shaggy looking, baggy, blue denim pants, a plain white blouse under an old, plain olive green army jacket adorned with dozens of assorted patches sewn onto it that ranged from car manufacturers to cartoon animals. Her face was very plain with a light complexion and her neck-length, dark brown hair was unkempt.

Jimmy stood there simply examining the girl like an oddity that fell from space. She hasn't seem to have noticed his presence yet.

"Um…can I help you?" he asked politely.

She turned to him with a kind of surprised look on her face. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to bust in like that. I was in a hurry."

"Ok…What are you in a hurry for?"

"I'm looking for a guy."

"Um…well…uh…don't take this the wrong way or anything but I'm kinda in the middle of some important training right now to improve some driving skills of mine and, to be honest, I sorta have this one-track mind so I don't really have time for--"

"No!! That's not what I mean! I'm looking for a specific guy."

"Well, I'm not trying to tell you what's best for you but I don't think that most women today can afford to be picky especially if--"

"No, no, no!! Stop! You're not getting me! I'm looking for--"

Just then Alex walked back onto the floor. "Yo, Jimmy, I think we got a problem. I just noticed that were kinda running low on paper in the--"

He spotted the girl and did a double-take. The girl also did a double-take when she saw him for the first time today. Jimmy simply stood there confused as ever.

"Kate?!" blurted our Alex.

"Alex!!" exclaimed 'Kate' just as she charged at him and tackled him to the floor.

Jimmy had to jump back again as she did this. He watched as the strange girl hugged Alex tightly while he himself was losing oxygen and turning blue while struggling (hopelessly) to get up off the floor. Kate snuggled to him like she was snuggling as giant stuffed animal.

"Oh, my God!" exclaimed Kate. "It's so good to see you again! It's been so long, man! How you been?"

"That's great, Kate," he said in a struggling voice, "now please get off me!"

Kate looked and noted that she was just short of breaking his arms and ribs. She turned red in embarrassment and quickly let go. They both got off the floor and dusted themselves off. Alex rubbed his own arms to try and make the sore feeling go away.

"Sorry. Forgot about that little habit of mine."

"And you wonder why you're not in a relationship."

She stuck her tongue at him in response and Alex simply rolled his eyes. Jimmy just stood there dumbfounded. The two eventually noticed the young mechanic/amateur street racer simply staring at them.

"Oh, right! Uh, Jimmy…meet Kate," said Alex while gesturing to the girl. "Kate, meet Jimmy."

"'Sup?" said Kate.

"Ummm…Yeah, hi," replied Jimmy. "So…when you said you were looking for a guy."

"Yup. I was looking for this ugly mug right here," she said as she framed Alex's chin with her hand which he promptly pushed away.

"I see," said Jimmy though still obviously confused. "So, Alex…does Suki know about you two?"

"Suki?" asked Kate.

Alex turned to her. "A girl I'm dating." He then turned to Jimmy. "No, Jimmy she's just a close friend of mine."

"You're dating now?" asked Kate.

Jimmy turned to her. "Yes he is." He turned to Alex. "What do mean your friend? I've never met her before."

"Does she have a good-looking sister?" asked Kate, with a wry smirk.

Jimmy was about to say something but caught himself and gave Kate a curious look. She simply shrugged and Alex sighed exasperatingly.

Alex turned to her. "No, she doesn't but I might introduce you to her friends later." He turned to Jimmy. "You've never met her before because she isn't from around. She's an old friend of mine from my old hometown. She's like a little sister to me. Come to think of it…" he turned to her again. "Why are you here, Kate? Moreover, how did you find me?"

Kate's face turned serious. "Oh, crap! I almost forgot! Alex, you're in trouble. We're in trouble. They just decided to go after you first."

Alex's face lost all humor in it. When she said "they" it was already clear in his mind who she was referring to and they were nothing but bad news. Fear was what clarified everything in his head. There were few things and few people Alex was afraid of. No his greatest fear has been realized. The storm has indeed arrived.

"Me? Us? In trouble? What for?"

"They're here too. They're looking for you and it was only thanks to luck that I found you first. If they get to you--"

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Jimmy. "What's going on here? Who's after who exactly? And why would you guys be in trouble in the first place? What did you do?"

Kate and Alex looked at each other then back towards Jimmy. "It's a long story," they said simultaneously.

"Still," Alex turned towards Kate again. "How could they find me? We both left no tracks when we left California behind. We both started over from scratch. And also there can't be a "they" anymore. The authorities wiped them out during that incident, seized all their assets. They should've been gone already."

"I know," replied Kate. "But you know how he is. He's crazy but not dumb. He was able to rebuild his old crew. They're not as big as they were before but they're making up grounds by the day. And he never forget what we did to him."

"That wasn't our fault. We were narc'd out just like him and his crew. Only we had the sense to bail out while we were ahead. He still blames us for that incident?"

"You know how he thinks. He's always blaming us for all the crap that comes his way."

"That rat bastard. He just won't quit."

"Excuse me!" exclaimed Jimmy wanting to get back into the loop. "Exactly who are we talking about here."

Kate broke it down for him. "Basically some mobster wannabe who Alex and I happen to be acquainted to. There was an incident sometime back that caused his little group to collapse and him to loose big-time. He blames me and Alex for it even though we lost almost as much as him in the incident."

"And this guy who's after you, he's here you say?"

"Yeah, he is."

"And how did that happen?" asked Alex. "We covered our tracks. He shouldn't be able to find us."

"I don't know how he found you out. I only knew you were in Miami after I paid off the snitch he used. I tried to get to you before he and his crew did so that I could warn you."

"Well, you're here. You've warned me. Now what?"

"Do you have any friends, he can exploit?"

"Well, Tej is out right now and I don't think they can get to him, where he's at. Jimmy's right here. Suki and Rome are--"

At that exact moment, Alex's cell phone rang. He quickly fished it out of his pocket. He looked down at the caller ID and it said that it was Suki calling. Alex looked towards both Jimmy and Kate nervously before answering.

"Hey, babe, what's up?"

"Sorry tiger," came a man's voice. "She can't come to the phone right now."

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Somewhere else in the city.

In some non-descript, closed down parking garage, Suki and Rome were both sitting inside the 'Cuda with guns pointed at them. The Two Evo X's and the Tacoma were parked surrounding them. The man with Suki's cell phone was the same man who sat in the passenger seat of the Tacoma. Needless to say, both Suki and Rome were pretty surprised when these gun-toting weirdoes apparently knew Alex. Suki for one can't imagine Alex hanging out with these kinds of people.

"I wonder how these guys know Alex," said Rome. "Doesn't seem like his crowd."

"These guys aren't his friends, that I'm sure off," said Suki.

"Got that right. I think they're pissed at him. But what did Alex ever do to them?"

Suki didn't reply back at that. Because it was that moment when her memory kicked in. She remembered that night when he first took her out to dinner. She asked him why he came to Miami when it was obvious to her he wasn't exactly a native of Florida. Then, he answered, honestly, that he had little choice in the matter. He told her, honestly, that he had a past he'd rather forget. That there were things that he did that he was far from proud of. That there were bad circumstances that forced him to leave behind his old life and start over.

He was honest with her and she was able to tell. Furthermore, she was impressed by it. Few people have ever been this honest with her, let alone people she had feelings for. So she told him, honestly, that she didn't care what he did. That she, honestly, couldn't care less what life he led before coming to Miami. She knew he was a good man and that was enough for her. So whatever he did she forgot about it. Well, during that night after dinner she forgot about a lot of things but that's a different matter.

She never expected his past to catch up with him. Alex probably didn't either.

The guy using her phone finished up their conversation. He walked to the 'Cuda and tossed the phone back to Suki. she caught it and pocketed it away. The man leaned in.

"Sit tight, you're boyfriend's coming soon. Then he and Virgil can have a little talk about certain…debts."

"…Virgil?" she asked.

"You'll know soon enough." He then walked away, leaving Suki and Rome to their questioning thoughts.

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Back at Tej's garage

Alex pocketed his phone and looked back at Jimmy and Kate. "They've got Suki and Rome. They jumped them while they were driving around."

"Crap, they already know who you're friends are!" said Kate.

"Doesn't matter now. We have to help them. He's asking us to meet with them. No doubt he will show up there to."

"That guy who you said was bad news? asked Jimmy.

"Yeah, that guy. Jimmy listen. I need you to stay here and wait for Tej. Tell them about the situation. He'll probably have something for use to use."

"No, wait," said Kate.

She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a USB Flash disk. She held it out for Jimmy to take then said: "If something happens to us, use the data in this disk and send it to the cops, the FBI, the NSA, the Salvation Army, I don't care. Make sure that if something goes wrong this data goes to the authorities."

Jimmy took the Flash Disk and observed it curiously. Alex looked towards Kate. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Well, that makes two of you," said Jimmy. "What is it?"

"Evidence," declared Kate. "If we go down that bastard is going down with us. I've been keeping that close to me for all this time in case I needed a bit of leverage."

"Remind me never to piss you off," said Alex. "Alright, we have to get to them. Problem is my car is unavailable."

"Then we'll take mine. It's out front."

"Great." Alex turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, I'm counting on you to hold the fort for a while."

"Got it, bro," he replied, though with only a slight hint of uncertainty. He had yet to fully understand the situation. But right now he felt that all he needed to understand was that his friends were in danger and he trusted Alex, even if his friend seemed a bit quirky.

Alex and Kate both rushed out of the garage with a sense of urgency. By the time they left, Jimmy was already on the phone trying to reach Tej. Kate took the lead and Alex followed her as she made a beeline for her car parked outside.

"Nice to see you still kept the Impreza," said Alex as he got into the passenger seat.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't trade this baby for anything else." Kate got in the driver's seat and started the engine.

The two-toned black and lime green 2007 Subaru Impreza STi roared to life and soon shot off down the road.

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Author's note: Been a while huh? Well, here's an update already. Hope you all still find this interesting. Things will heat up soon so stay tuned for more action to come.