Author's Notes: Okay so if there's any gripes, I know nitrous oxide is not flammable but they used it in both movies, so we're just sticking to the land of pretend here with that. I've got some more Vince action here and slowly moving along. Enjoy and thanks for the great reviews guys!

Chapter 9: Plans Coming Together

Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

"World on Fire" – Sarah McLachlan

When Vince pulled into the parking garage where the race was supposed to begin he was feeling more than a little nervous. He was a good driver, of course, but he wasn't great. In all the stunts they'd pulled through the years Dom had always been the one behind the wheel. Of course that usually left Vince to do the more dangerous things but he'd always gotten somewhat of a thrill from it. They all had, he knew. And look where it had gotten them.

He knew Brian was around somewhere but he had no idea what kind of a car he was driving. He pulled into an empty space and took a moment to gather himself. As soon as he stepped out of the vehicle he was met by a huge black man with scars on his face. He smiled and it was not friendly, but Vince raised his chin and met his gaze. This, he knew, was likely to be one of Braga's guard dogs.

"Follow me," the man finally said and led him to the rear of the garage where a set of stairs took them up a level.

There, a group of men, including Brian, were standing semi-circle around a seated man. He looked Hispanic and Vince gathered that this was Campos, Braga's right-hand man, and the one who chose all the drivers.

Another man, this one lanky with sharp cheekbones and dark eyes was setting up what looked to be portable GPS units. There were four of them. Vince's attention was turned to Campos when he stood and introduced himself to all of them.

"This is not the kind of driving that most of you will be used to. Here there are no straight lines. This is about getting to where you need to go as fast as possible without any other concerns. There are no rules. The streets will not be blocked off."

This drew some murmurs from some of the others but Vince said nothing. He watched as Campos strode over to the nearby table where the lanky man stood.

"This is Eddie. He's your contact if you get the job. He has programmed all of these GPS units with the race course. You are to follow the instructions. The first driver back gets the job."

At this information Vince wondered how exactly Brian was planning to get around it so that they would both get the job. Provided neither one of them lost the race or got killed in the process.

They filed back downstairs where Eddie installed the GPS into each of their cars and Vince let a soft sigh, wondering if it really would have been worse to stay in prison.

0000

Dom was up before the sun had risen and probably hadn't gotten more than a couple of hours sleep. But with Letty in danger there was really no way he could rest easy. He'd gotten a couple of sodas from the machine outside the hotel and then woken up Leon. Together they gagged their captive and stowed him in the narrow closet before taking Dom's car and driving out to the lot where they'd left the truck.

Dom had a toolbox in his trunk and they used it to remove all of the tanks of nitrous gas from the car. They popped the hood of the truck and shoved two of the smaller tanks in where they could find some space. The fuel tanks on the truck were located on either side, large cylindrical tanks under the step by the doors. The closer they could get to that, the bigger the explosion would be.

Leon rounded the car, carrying one of the tanks. "Are you sure this is going to work?" he asked.

"Can't ever be sure of anything Leon, but it's pretty likely this is gonna work the way we want it to."

"Let's just hope the rest of the plan goes the way we want it to." He slid under the truck to bolt the tank into place.

"It probably won't, but that's why we play it by ear," Dom replied, weariness threading through a voice that sounded calmer than he probably felt.

But Leon had known Dom long enough to know that when he was angry it was a cold, hard anger that would slowly build up until someone paid. The way the guy responsible for his father's death had paid, the way that Johnny Tran had paid for what he did to Jesse, and the way that these men would pay if they didn't get the girls back unharmed.

0000

Letty slowly lifted her head, blinking blearily out of a sleep she hadn't realized she'd drifted into and found Syd watching her with a serious look on her face. She rubbed a hand over her eyes and shifted, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"While you were gone that lady came by again, outside to talk to the guards. I guess she doesn't figure either of us speaks the language cause I heard everything she said."

"What did she say?" Letty sat up, her mind clearing the sleep a little.

"The plan is to take us back down towards Sao Paulo in a few hours. They're bringing lots of men. Once they find out where their drugs are they're going to kill us and our "associate"." Syd grimaced.

"Well we just won't make it that easy for them," Letty told her, combing her fingers through her hair.

"What exactly are we going to do? There's dozens of them, and we're not armed."

"It won't matter once we're on the road. Trust me, girl." She moved to her knees, brushing the dirt off her hands onto the faded material of her jeans. She lowered her voice, looking over at the other woman with serious eyes that gleamed in the low light like liquid coal. "All we have to do is gain control of one of the cars. Listen... this is what we're going to do..."