Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews guys, all that for a tiny prologue! I have a lot more planned, including bringing back Vince, yes, eventually. Just to note pairings in this fic are Dom/Letty, Leon/OFC, and I plan to have some sort of Mia/Brian/Vince triangle. Next few parts are just some "normal" happenings before our favorite team gets into trouble. So enjoy it while it lasts!

PS, I usually don't get chapters out this fast and finals are approaching so don't expect a new post every day! *grins* I just happened to have this written up along with the prologue.

Chapter 1: Home is With You

I remember time,
I remember days slid into years,
Building lifetimes, thinking you'd be here.

"You are Goodbye" – Holly Conlan

It was a week later when they were in Rio, driving from the coast through the crowded streets. Traffic was at a crawl and Letty yawned from the passenger seat, flipping the radio to try and find something that came in clear. It was hot and humid so the windows were up and the AC was on. The GPS was giving directions in Spanish and the road up ahead wound between lush green hills.

They'd decided that since it was the middle of the day the best idea would be to try and find Leon at his shop which was located in the suburban area of Rio called Cordoso Moreira. Traffic was sparse as they traveled higher up into the mountains, the one lane road winding up between rocky prefaces and groups of lush foliage. The thick brown-watered river wound its way alongside them as they drove, sun glinting off its dull surface.

Houses crowded together and low-lying buildings clustered the winding roads where the hills broke away around the little town. Along one of the streets apartment buildings and businesses sat close to one another. Their GPS showed their stop approaching and Dom pulled the car over to park at the curb. The tan stucco building had a fresh coat of paint and two large garage doors which sat wide open in the midday sun. There were cars parked in front of it and pulled inside, one up on a lift as a dark-skinned man in greasy coveralls circled it, marking things down on a pad. Music was blasting from somewhere in the back.

The glass door on the other side of the building had the words "L&S Body Shop" stenciled in white lettering and a sign that proclaimed they were open in both English and Portuguese. Letty pushed the door open and stepped into the air conditioned room. A woman with dark hair and honey colored eyes sat behind the desk and she glanced up when they walked in. She said something and Letty was able to get the gist of it through her knowledge of Spanish.

"We're looking for the owner," she said, "Leon?"

The woman smiled and nodded, then replied in halting English, "He's at clinic today. Up road." She motioned with her hand and turned back to her work.

Letty looked over at Dom and shrugged. They went back to the car and she sighed as she slid into the passenger side. Dom pulled back into traffic and Letty lowered the window, turning off the AC as the smells of food and exhaust washed over her. People were mingling here on the streets, some working in the sun, and some walking in different directions. A man with a weathered face manned the grill at a little shack where the local workers were lined up to get lunch. A woman stood by the side of the road in shorts and a bikini top, screaming angrily into her cell phone. A man and a young boy were loading fishing gear into the back of an old truck.

Letty turned her head as she heard music pounding and caught the sight of a pretty black Audi RS4 pulling into a parking lot up ahead. The back seat was stuffed with boxes and the music blaring from the car's speakers was definitely in English, a song she hadn't heard before. She realized Dom was turning into the same lot and watched as the Audi pulled into a space at the front of a sprawling one-story building. A woman stepped out, definitely not Brazilian. Her light brown hair was pulled up into a sloppy ponytail and sun-streaked blonde. She was tan but not dark and her cheeks were red from too much time in the midday sun. She wore torn denim shorts and a white tank top that had seen better days. She rounded the car to open the passenger door and a big black dog leapt out, immediately running through the front door of the building that was propped open with a cinderblock.

She was moving to get boxes out of the back seat as Letty and Dom got out of their car. She turned her head at the sound of their doors slamming shut and studied them for a moment, eyes concealed behind her sunglasses. She turned then, calling into the building.

"Lee, you got visitors!"

They couldn't hear his muffled reply but apparently the woman did cause she yelled back again. "Get your ass out here and find out!"

It was the dog that raced out of the building first, all teeth and drool and Letty stepped back, wondering if it was going to attack.

"Buster! Sit!" The woman snapped and the dog obediently fell onto his rear haunches, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted excitedly.

"Don't mind him," she said. "He was supposed to be a guard dog but turns out he's more like a teddy bear."

Leon appeared at the door a moment later, wiping his hands on a rag. He wore jeans and a white wife beater that were both splattered with paint. He stopped, stared at them and then let out a loud laugh.

"Well shit, look who it is!"

He grabbed Letty in a tight hug that had her smiling and then pulled back, looking down at her.

"Damn girl, you're looking good."

"Thanks Leo, you're not so bad yourself. Someone finally got you to shave eh?"

He rubbed a hand over his mostly smooth jaw sheepishly and shrugged. "Yeah, got a girl now." He reached over to grab Dom's hand in a tight shake, and then hugged him with one arm. "Man, I'm glad to see you guys. Finally got my letter, huh?"

"Yeah," Letty answered, watching as the woman behind Leon continued to unload boxes and bring them into the building. "Mia got it to us eventually."

"I figured she could." He smiled brightly, eyes crinkling around the edges and then laughed again, turning towards the building. "Shit, Ain't I being a real ass? I gotta introduce you."

They followed him towards the door, where the dog, Buster, was still sitting. He looked up at them, cocking his head to the side questioningly. Leon rubbed a palm over his head. "Good boy." The animal stood then and followed them in, his nose sniffing questioningly at their guests. He was all black, but his paws were brown like little socks and so was his belly. His tail was a short little stump that seemed to be going a mile a minute.

Inside the place smelled like paint and it was warm. Fans circulated the air and all the windows were open to let out the fumes. The front room was painted mute sandy tones, with a long mahogany colored desk stretched out across one wall. The floor was still unfinished and there was no furniture but it had the hints of a waiting room already. Doors on either side of the long desk were open, taken off at the hinges and hallways in a cream hue stretched out behind them.

"Hey Baby?" Leon called.

The woman reappeared, head poking out of one of the doors. She smiled, paintbrush held in one hand. "Your brain finally catch up with you enough to remember to introduce your wife?"

He laughed, rubbing a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah." He motioned towards his old friends. "This is Dom and Letty and guys this is my wife, Sydney."

They shook her hand and she smiled again. "Leon talks about you guys all the time. The good ol' days with the team in LA."

"Yeah those were the days," Dom replied.

"How the hell did you hook up with Leon anyway?" Letty asked, cocking a brow at the man in question. He scowled at her.

Syd laughed, shaking her head. "We met in Recife. I guess he was there lying low and I was doing some work with Doctors without Borders. We had these shitty ancient trucks that we used to transport all our supplies to the clinics and that we used to make our weekly runs into the more poverty stricken towns and they kept breaking down."

She paused in her story, grinning over at Leon who was leaning against the wall shaking his head. "I like cars but I really don't know anything about them other than how to change the oil," she continued. "So I decided to take em into a mechanic and Leo happened to be working there. I think it took two minutes for him to start hitting on me…"

The others laughed and Leon grinned shamelessly.

"And you let him?" Letty scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nah," Sydney shook her head. "I know a player when I see one. I made him work for it."

"But she married me," Leon was sure to add.

"About three years later." She smirked. "Took months for him to get a date though."

"We were kind of shocked to hear that he'd gotten married. Would have pegged him a bachelor for life," Dom said, shaking his head at his friend.

"Just needed to find the right woman," Leon said, slipping his arm around her waist.

"You must be crazy to have said 'Yes' to this idiot, Syd," Letty said with a laugh.

Over Leon's protests Sydney laughed too and nodded. "I can be. Not the adrenaline junkie like this guy." She kissed his cheek, and then turned back to the others. "Hey look, I'm gonna be here the rest of the day but you guys should head to the house, get settled in."

"Oh you can just point us to a hotel, don't want to impose…" Dom muttered and she waved a hand, rolling her eyes.

"We have plenty of room. If you guys decide to stay for a while we can hook you up with a place. Between the house and the clinic and the garage… well the real estate agents here kind of love us."

She disappeared into a hallway then came back, handing Letty a key. "This'll get you in and you have the address, right?"

She nodded, tucking the key into the pocket of her shorts. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem," Leon said. "We'll see you around 5. Hey we can have a barbeque. It'll be like old times." He laughed.

0000

It was after two in the morning when Leon slid out of bed with the urge to piss. Syd stirred slightly, sighing as she rolled onto her stomach and pressed her face into her pillow. The sheets caught around her waist and he admired the smooth skin of her back before tugging on his boxers and shuffling out into the hallway towards the bathroom. Groggy, he didn't bother to shut the door before going about his business and it was a minute before he noticed the faint glow of light coming from downstairs.

Idly he flushed and fixed his boxers before starting down the stairs. He paused at the doorway and looked in, spotting Letty sitting at the table alone. A half-filled glass of water sat before her and she was fairly drowning in what must have been one of Dom's t-shirts. She tilted her head, waves of black hair falling around her face as she looked at him.

Leon offered her a smile and crosses towards the fridge. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shrugged, raising the glass of water to her lips to take a small sip. "Not really."

"Wanna talk about it?" He pulled a carton of OJ out of the fridge and crossed to the cupboard for a glass.

She was silent for a long moment and he figured she wasn't going to talk. From what he remembered about the girl she was never one to. Always dealt with her problems on her own.

Then she spoke, her hands making patterns in the condensation of her glass. "Before we came here… things were getting hot ya know? Cops are still after Dom and… I woke up one night, he was leaving." She paused, not lifting her head to look up at him. Her tongue wet her lips briefly and she sighed. "Leo, if I hadn't woken up Dom would have been gone without so much as a goodbye."

"So you're freaked out that maybe the next time you'll wake up and he will be gone?" He lowered himself to the seat across from her and she nodded slowly.

"He doesn't want me to be around when he gets caught," she said.

"Of course not," Leon said. "He loves you, Let. But he ain't gonna get caught. What exactly were you guys doing anyway?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "You don't wanna know, Leo. Its better you don't."

"Shit, girl." He laughed. "You think you can go straight now?"

"Depends. How boring is life here in good ol' Rio?" She smirked at him and he smiled back, glad she seemed in better spirits now.

"Life's one big party out here. You'll see. Tomorrow we'll all go into town. I got some things to show you!" He grinned at her, downing his glass of juice in a long gulp. "Better get some rest then."

She stood, putting her own empty glass in the sink. "Thanks. G'night."