As they settled into their first Race Night since returning to the States, Dom couldn't help but feel a little bittersweet about it. All he could think of were the "ifs'. If only Jesse were there to see the crazy shit the kids were doing to their engines. If only Vince were there to see how the crowd was embracing the Buster, his arch nemesis. If only Letty were there to stand by his side and scare off the tagalongs.

If only she was there, period.

He absently wondered if she was at a race somewhere tonight, getting her adrenaline fix as well.

A collision during the first race got everyone's attention. There wasn't a sign of fire, but an impromptu pit-team drove down to help out.

"This bring back any memories, O'Conner?" Dom teased at Brian.

"Hell yeah," Brian replied with a cheesy grin.

Leon's date caught Dom's attention over Brian's shoulder, and only heightened Dom's suspicions of her. The color had drained from her face as she stared at the back of Brian's head dubiously. Though he didn't know her, Dom got weird vibes from the young woman. She acted as if she belonged, but everything about her said this wasn't her every day crowd.

Who the hell wears spiked heels to a street race? he thought while glancing at her choice of footwear. He could hear Letty now...

"Freaking bimbo! Hope she bites it hard."

Leon appearing on his left brought him out of his thoughts.

"I hear the shop's doing well," he used as an icebreaker, "It's good to know that place is up and running again. Too many good memories there for it to just sit rusting away."

"Thanks," Dom smiled, "It's come a long way. We got new lifts, all the power tools updated, and we added-on in the vacant lot next door. The twins specialize in paint and graphics, so we wanted to give them more room to work."

"Good to see my complaints about the cramped space in the old station didn't go unheard," he teased with a grin. "I guess asking for my job back is out of the question?

"From what I hear, you don't need to ask anyone for anything. I know Jesse would be proud of you going forward with The Lab. It's all you two ever talked about. I'm happy for you," Dom said. Dom was never a hard guy to read for Leon, and he could tell that Dom was being genuine.

"Thanks, man," Leon gave a spirited smile that dropped a bit, "I just wish he was around to enjoy it. Vince too. I just found out he didn't make it out of Rio."

Dom could see the pain lodged behind Leon's eyes, and guilt washed over him, "Vince was doing well in Rio. He found a nice girl, even had a baby boy of his own. Nico," Leon seemed shocked by the news, "We were being tracked by the Feds after a repo job and we pissed off the mayor, who then put a bounty on our heads. After the DSS took us in custody, our truck was ambushed. Vince died helping save a good friend, all of us."

"Pumpkin always did act like Superman," Leon said, his shoulders deflating with relief.

Dom felt his own emotions building up at the memory of his best friend and decided to change to the subject to something lighter. "So, a little girl, huh? Karma has a way of coming back to bite you in the ass."

"Right? Now I'll forever have to worry about her bringing home guys like us. Hopefully I can raise her to be a bit smarter than that."

"What's her name?"

"Jessica Nicole Diaz. She's six, and she's a handful, but I couldn't have asked for a brighter, more understanding kid. I couldn't be happier, man. Nothing more satisfying than being a father."

Dom felt genuinely happy for his friend, even if their relationship was on shaky ground. He deserved it after everything he had been through, all of them deserved it.

"Jessica after Jesse?"

"Her mother's name was Jessica as well, so it was only right. And Nicole being Letty's middle name, it was fitting."

"That's sweet," Dom grinned, "You should bring her by sometime this week. I know Mia would love to see you, and meet Jessica." Leon gave a smile that said he had finally let his guard down around Dom. "So who is the mystery lady? Ex-wife?" Dom turned to look over at Brooke, who was already staring in his direction.

"Shit, I wish. Brooke Jackson from Vegas. I met her this morning over breakfast."

"That's new. I can't recall you ever having breakfast with any of woman besides Letty or Mia."

"What can I say? I'm looking for someone a little more substantial," he replied with a cheesy smile.

"Then why is she flirting with my mechanic?"

"I didn't say she was that someone," Leon smirked and gave Dom a pat on the back, "Good to see you, brother."

"Always," Dom replied and waited for until Leon was out of earshot before nodding the twins over.

"What's up, boss?" Sonny asked.

"I need you to find anything you can on Brooke Jackson, from Vegas. Quick."

"We'll try, Billie. She's a pretty decent hacker," Sonny said before pulling out his phone to begin his task.

Dom leaned against the hood of his car and gazed over the throng of people once again. It was probably the twentieth time that he caught himself searching for her, hoping to spot her blending into the fold. He closed his eyes and allowed his sense of hearing to take over, hoping to hear her laugh or raspy voice over the crowd. After a few seconds of nothing, he returned to reality. Dozens of blondes, redheads, fake tits and high-heels littered the crowd, but no Letty.

"What do you say, Toretto? For old times sake?" Edwin grinned while pulling a stack of cash from his pocket.

Dom looked over at Brian with an eager smile. They read each other's minds quickly.

"We're in. We need a fourth. What about you, Diaz?" Brian asked Leon, who had pushed his way back to the front with a pretty blonde hanging on at his side.

"Nah, not on this bum leg. I'm just spectating tonight."

"I'll take that bet."

Dom looked up to see Billie coming through the crowd. He had texted her on the way and asked for her to make an appearance. She clearly received the text, even though she hadn't bothered to reply. She stared at him, a thousand questions reading on her face, but her lips remained tight and pursed. He wasn't sure if she was angry about last night's debacle, or for his mental game of tug-of-war with her emotions.

"I thought you were busy tonight?" Oz called out from his seat next to Brooke.

"I was, and now I'm not," she snipped back, her tongue quick and icy. Billie was usually fair-tempered, always keeping a cool head in tense situations, but it was clear to Dom, and everyone, that she was not in the mood tonight. She turned to Dom, "What's the buy-in?"

"Five grand buy-in, winner takes all," Dom responded, turning to his car to reach in for his money. He, along with Brian, Edwin and Billie, all handed over their cash to Hector and moved to their cars. Lining up in order of Dom, Brian, Billie and Edwin, the four racers prepared for battle. At the drop of the flag, they were off, leaving behind only a trail of smoke and the smell of burnt rubber. The power under his hood lifted the front of his Charger into the air and it sped down the strip on just two wheels. The adrenaline rushed through his body like a rush of ecstasy and he only craved more. When the car finally settled on four wheels, he pushed to the next gear and launched his car down the strip, pushing ahead of Billie's GT. Brian was struggling to keep control of the powerful HEMI engine while fighting against Billie for second place. Strobe lights on either side of the road indicated the finish line and Dom grinned when he blew through it ahead of Billie by half a car.

After solidifying his undefeated record in LA, he headed back for the start to collect his winnings... a cool fifteen grand. It was a nice payday for less than twelve seconds of work, but it wasn't about the money for Dominic. He genuinely loved the thrill of racing; he craved it. It was in his blood. Though his dream was to continue his father's legacy and follow in Dino's footsteps racing legally on a track, his adolescent angst and impulses ruined that for him. All he had left now was the streets, where he had created his own legacy.

"I can't compete with that thing," Brian cursed his wife's car as they all stepped out of their cars. "Damn American muscle."

"You're losing your touch, O'Conner. Third place?" Dom feigned disappointment before flashing a grin.

"Shut up," Brian frowned as he watched his five-grand racing allowance be handed over to his brother-in-law. "Mia's gonna kick my ass."

"Can I talk to you?" Billie cut in, her expression and tone now serious. Dom nodded and pulled her away from the loud mob.

"I'm sorr-" Dom tried to apologize for their failed night.

"Don't," she said sternly without looking up from her phone, "That's not why I'm here. Do you know a Nicki Ramirez?"

Dom thought about the name, and though it seemed familiar, he couldn't place a face to it.

"I don't think so, why?"

"I looked up your Brooke Jackson from Vegas, and I didn't get a good dig because I was driving at the time, but I did find a recent place of employment - The Colony. Supposedly a banging nightclub in Vegas. A few months ago she was tagged in this photo of women celebrating a bachelorette party, with fellow bartender Nicki Ramirez."

Dom's eyes fixated on the picture on the cell phone screen, particularly on a brunette wearing a smug grin and a tight tank-top. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she clutched a Corona bottle between her fingers. He was certain the brunette was his Letty. He would recognize that audacious grin anywhere, and last he knew she still loved Corona. It then occurred to him that Letty's mother's maiden name was Ramirez.

"Where is she?" he demanded, his eyes never leaving the picture. For this, Billie was grateful that he missed the agony surely showing on her face.

"Found a cell number for Jackson and got into her call list. Last call was placed to cell number in Pasadena, belonging to a Leonard Diaz. Seconds before that, to Nicki Ramirez. So I tapped into Ramirez's phone, which is pinging a signal off a tower near the coast, Malibu. I'm not saying it's her, but it's possible."

Dominic's blood began to boil as he turned to glare at Brooke. Her face fell and fear became evident in her eyes. Dom watched as she scanned the crowd before calling out to Leon.

"It's her. Mia's at the beach house in Malibu. Don't tell Brian what's going on yet. Make sure the twins get home safe," Billie took in all of his requests, even as her heart broke into pieces. "Thank you."

"Sure. Good luck," she responded.

Dom hurried around to the driver's side of the Charger, shooting both Leon and Brooke one final glare before slamming it into reverse. He spun the car around and floored it away from the warehouses. No sooner did blue and red lights come speeding in his direction.

With his adrenaline rush only intensifying, Dom challenge the cruiser to a game of chicken, as he had no intentions of moving or stopping. With only seconds to prevent a devastating crash, the cruiser swerved out of harm's way and into a parked mini-van, allowing Dom safe passage out of the district. He hauled ass toward the freeway, speeding on his way to Malibu, and the last remaining hope of happiness for him. His car pushed speeds of ninety miles per hour as he dipped through relatively sparse traffic, avoiding several near-crashes in the process.

His mind raced with millions of questions and theories of Letty's disappearance. He wondered just how Brooke and Leon were connected, and why Letty was using a fake name. That explained why it became harder to find anything on her after a year, but was she hiding from someone else? Is that why she was back, because her life was in danger? He then questioned just how long Mia had been in contact with Letty and why she didn't bother mentioning it to him.

As he broke nearly every traffic law possible he made it to the exit in record time. For the sake of causing a deadly pile-up, Dom obeyed the traffic light and stopped off the ramp. His foot tapped impatiently on the gas, ready to peel out as soon as the light changed. In the distance, Dom heard the familiar sound of a powerful engine closing in. One he could pick out of a line-up with his eyes closed. A deafening, but beautiful sound that could be only be produced by a pair of Toretto hands. He watched as the street lamps across the road illuminated the deep maroon Camaro pulling up to the light. His heart nearly pounded out of his chest as her window rolled down and she turned to look out at the traffic. He managed a shaky smile as relief washed over him. Dom then went through every range of emotion in thirty seconds; elation that she was indeed alive and well, hurt that she didn't seem to care to get a hold of him, agitation because Mia didn't bother informing him that they were in contact, and finally, just plain confusion. He needed answers.

Dom revved his engine, getting her attention. Letty finally looked over and the two locked eyes. In those few seconds, the last fifteen years of his life flashed before his eyes. In every scene, Letty was there, playing his die-hard sidekick, trusting and backing his every move without question. Even after her accident, she still chose his team to side with. He was a stranger to her then, but even then something in her told her to trust him. Somehow, he had convinced her after their race through London that he was a good man, her man.

Dom was determined to convince her again.

Before he could go after her, a massive 18-wheeler passed by, blocking Dom's view of Letty's car. He cursed the truck driver's slow driving as he craned to see the Camaro. In a flash, the beast zoomed past him, giving her a head-start onto the freeway.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as the passing traffic forced him to wait for the light. He waited for the traffic to clear before he made a U-turn onto the highway once again. He changed gears quickly, readying himself for the ride of his life. He knew there was a lot of power under that hood, and he had no doubts that she probably tweaked a few things in her two years of absence. With her skilled driving adding to his disadvantage. Dom knew he had to catch up to her if before she vanished again.

After flooring it over a half of mile, he began to panic when he didn't see her car. The dark of night did well to camouflage her car, and he almost missed her ducking between two semis. He didn't want to piss off the truckers and cause an accident for her, so he crept up the left side of the back truck slowly. In a move both dangerous and idiotic, Letty swiftly dashed out from between the trucks and directly in front of him. Dom slammed on the brakes to avoid running over her back end, but smiled while doing so. She was trying to shake him, not hurt him, but he was going to make her work for it. He approached again and changed lanes, now pulling up on her driver's side. Lining his car up with hers, he chanced a glance over at her. She gazed over at him with a fiery smile.

"You catch me, we talk," she hollered before rolling up her window and cutting a hard right to make the exit for Pasadena.

Letty had certainly improved her driving since the last time they road together. She was precise with her shift timing and unpredictable with her turns, making it difficult for him to gain the lead or even cut down the distance between them. Pasadena wasn't well-known territory for him, but Letty drove the city like a pro, maneuvering the big-body car through traffic without much effort.

Dom wasn't ashamed to say watching her handle all that muscle was a huge turn-on for him. He didn't know another woman - hell, another person - who could get behind the wheel of any muscle car and give him a run for his money. She posed a real challenge for him, and had actually beaten him once. The first and last time he saw those taillights was after a celebratory race after gifting her the Camaro for her birthday.

Just as Dom was closing in on the Camaro a few feet ahead, he heard his cell phone buzzing on the passenger seat.

"What?" he growled into the phone.

"What's going on, Dom? Billie won't tell me shit. Where are you going?" Brian's anxious voice said into the phone.

"Just get out of there, Bri. Get Mia and Jack and head back to LA. I'll be home later."

"What the hell is going on, Dom?"

"Letty."

Dom didn't wait for a reply before dumping his phone in the passenger seat again. Letty had finally slowed her car down to the actual speed limit before finally pulling into a vacant playground. He pulled in directly behind her, blocking her car in. He had things to say, questions to answer, and he wasn't going to let her vanish again before he said everything he needed to. He remained in the car and waited for her next move.

From the moment her black Converse shoes hit the ground outside of the car, Dom's eyes were locked on her. She was skittish, that much he could tell, but she held her tough reserve. Dom tried to gather his jumbled thoughts and rattled nerves before stepping out of the car.

"Wasn't exactly how I planned my return, but that was fun."

Hearing her voice knocked down walls in Dom's body that he didn't know were up. His bouts of depression and anxiety were instantly cured by the angelic sound of Letty's voice. The fact that she was standing in front of him, speaking to him, renewed every ounce of hope he had. He suddenly couldn't think of a thing to say, one question to ask, for all of he could do was stare.

"You did all of that just to stare?" Letty snarled, "Definitely not how I saw this happening."

"How did you see this going?" he finally asked, taking slow steps closer to her.

"I was hoping to make it back home before running into you, honestly."

The bite in her tone stopped him in his tracks. He chose to lean against the front of his car, giving her plenty of space. "Sorry to disappoint."

"How'd you find me?" she asked while rifling around in her car for something. She pulled back a pack of cigarettes, a habit he didn't know her to have.

"Why were you hiding from me?"

This question froze Letty in the midst of lighting her smoke, a question she clearly wasn't prepared for.

"Dom, you have this thing about you. This energy, this pull. It makes people want to be around you, it makes people feel safe with you. I felt myself being drawn in so fast that nothing made sense. I went underground to avoid running into you and being drawn in again when I wasn't mentally prepared to be that close," she explained.

"You don't think you could've just said that to me? Did you really have to leave in the middle of the night? Do you know how scared Mia and Brian were for you? How panicked I was?"

Her face scrunched at his attempted guilt-trip, "Probably not as terrified as I to wake up in the middle of some run-down shack alone, with nothing but twenty grand to keep me warm."

Dom felt the heat from that sting and mentally slapped himself. He wasn't off to a great start of winning her over.

"How did you find me?" she repeated.

"Facebook," he said with a small smile. "Finally getting into social media, huh?"

Letty rolled her eyes, "No, but my roommate is. I told her the shit she posts would catch up to her one day."

"Brooke seems like a wild girl. How'd she end up with Leon?"

Letty furrowed her brows with a spiteful smile, "What's it matter? He only found out today that I was still alive. Same for Mia, so cut them some slack. I was in a bad spot, she thought it would be good for me to see a familiar face... kinda ironic now that I think about it."

"And what kinda spot you in now?" Dom could see the sheer panic and fear on Letty's face. She didn't hide her vulnerability as well as she used to. Her eyes gave her away every time.

"I'm not sure. Still trying to decide whether to hug you or dart away as fast as possible."

"Make that choice when we're done talking?" he asked. She nodded and flicked the cigarette butt toward the road, popping a stick of gum in after. "How long have you been back?" he asked casually, hoping to get her to relax a bit.

"Got in last night. Ran into some trouble in Vegas, so we split."

For the sake of preparing to tarnish his clean record, he had to ask, "That trouble still following you?"

"I don't think so, but if it was, it's not your problem. I didn't come back to ask you to be my savior, if that's what you think. I'm not some damsel."

"No you're not." Her sass set Dom's insides on fire. He missed her fiery spunk, and usually if he was on the other side of it, it meant a great night of make-up sex afterward. At this point, he would settle for a slap to the face if it meant she would touch him. He pushed off the front of his car as his desire to feel her skin grew stronger than his resolve to keep his distance. "Then why did you come back?"

"I ... I don't know. I guess I just got homesick," she shrugged. The closer he got to her, the more she fidgeted against her car. He now stood close enough to touch her, close enough to smell her tantalizing perfume. Her shampoo almost broke him down to begging on his knees, but he held his composure. The scent sent a wave of nostalgia rushing over him.

"Still using the coconut shampoo, I see."

Her cheeks tinted pink as she met his eyes, "Some habits are hard to break."

"Ain't that the truth," he murmured as he lost the fight with his willpower and took a chance by slipping his hand around hers, softly massaging his thumb over her skin. He felt a stinging-hot fire set ablaze the moment his flesh came into contact with hers. The noises around the city silenced, and suddenly they were the only two beings in the world. When she didn't object or pull away, he looked at her face that was glued on their interlocked hands. "I know you're different... I know everything is different now, but I missed you. I'm glad you're safe."

Letty sighed and pulled her hand from his grasp slowly, "I have to go, I'm sorry."

As she gently pushed him out of her space and headed for her door, Dom's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Wait, please."

Before Letty had a chance to rebuke, a low, unnerving growl came from the back seat of the car. A massive, teeth-showing German Sheppard snarled out the window at Dom, clearly warning him to unhand his owner. Dom took the chance of taking a step closer to Letty, resulting in a few deep barks from her guard dog that backed Dominic away again.

Letty stood at her car door with her back to him, one hand reaching into the window to calm to the infuriated dog.

"I missed you, too, Dom. More than I thought I would," her voice said shakily, "Move your car."

Not particularly happy with the way this turned out, but I'm anxious to hear what you guys think. I promise to have the next chapter up as soon as possible.