L.A. The city of Angels, some might call it. For Letty, it was just another reminder of everything she'd lost. Having grown up on these streets and spent some of the best and worst times of her life in its embrace, the homecoming was bitter sweet. Everything seemed the same but so much had changed that she wasn't sure she even had a place here anymore. Especially since everyone she knew and loved thought she was dead.

Happy Happy Joy Joy, right? Funny how that little detail had never popped up on her radar when they'd all been dreaming and scheming in the old days. Guess thats why you lived and you learned. Or, maybe better put, you lived and you died. Only, Letty figured she was just to ornery to go quietly into the night. Hell no, if death wanted her, it was going to have to drag her kicking and screaming into the grave because thats the only way she knew how to roll. She might have forgotten that for awhile but recent events had brought it back with vivid detail.

Which was exactly why she was sulking around these streets and looking for someone familiar. Although she'd changed over the last few years, she'd taken care to stay out of sight until it couldn't be avoided. With those following her closing in, she couldn't afford to put off the coming confrontation any longer and she was fast running out of hope of evading those stalking her. Only thing was? Letty didn't want to be the one to bring this shit to the door of the one person who'd more than likely moved on with his life. Endangering him had never been on her list of things to do and the men she was running from were the worst kind.

She should know, she'd been forced to work for them for the last few years. Right up to the moment she'd woken up to the realization that she was living a lie. Literally. One minute she'd been blissfully unaware that the life she thought was hers was nothing more than make believe and the next? She'd remember exactly who and what she was. To say it was a bit of a shocker was putting it mildly.

It had taken her weeks to work out an escape from there but she knew that it had been only a matter of time before Braga figured out she'd come to her senses. Taking off across the border and heading for L.A. had been her only hope and now .. here she was. Trying to figure out her next move and moving through a mass of racers like a ghost.

Happy Happy Joy Joy, right?

The consistent scene of imports and an occasional exotic found itself broken up when a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda crawled its way into the mix. Behind the wheel was none other than the man at one point every racer feared. Many still did, but to some he was nothing more than a past hero. Some went so far as to say that he was just another face in the crowd, though no one actually thought that. He was still Dominic Toretto, and in his eyes, still the best driver on the lot.

There was a big difference in him though from his early days out here. No longer was he hunting down every opportunity he could to prove to everyone he was the best. No longer did he even feel the pressure to be the best. He really didn't even care what other people said about him, he only cared about what he knew he could do. Nonetheless, he still had the itch to race, he still had that burning passion he had years ago, and that's why he kept coming here.

Lately in fact, he made it a habit to show up every weekend even if it was just himself. You could probably safely say that it was because it was just a continuation of his dose of freedom he'd received ever since leaving Lompoc. The streets gave him the biggest sense of freedom he could ever have, and he was addicted to that sensation.

He parked the Plymouth neatly in a spot among a few "higher class" cars and walked out to get a sense of what tonight was about. There really wasn't a whole lot more than the typical college boys with their riced out Subaru's and Honda's, along with the occasional business tycoon with way too much money standing next to his Ferrari, trying to relive his youth. As he looked through the row, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure, but only for a split second as the figure moved steadily through the group of people. He followed the movement and caught another glimpse. That almost looked like...Letty? No, impossible. He kept watching though and saw more and more of the girl he knew all too well. Surely it was a mistake, she just looked like Letty, nothing more.

Despite his doubts, he began walking on the opposite side of the row she was by to get closer. A million thoughts raced through his head, but the most pronounced one was, what if that is Letty? He had to find out. Now. He blended in behind her and then suddenly grabbed her shoulder, whipping her around.

To say he was lost for words would be an understatement.

Moving through the crowds, Letty was amazed at how different it felt. Once upon a time, this had been the "it" thing for them all. The thrill they lived for every week and what all their money got sunk into when they had extra. Now though, it just seemed.. well, foreign to be honest. Like a different lifetime ago. A time when they were kings and queens of the street and Dom ruled it all.

Dom. Even his name still had the ability to almost bring her to her knees. How many nights had they spent on these streets, betting and winning only to return home and spend the rest of the night heating up the sheets? To many to count for sure. Right up to the botched job that lead to all their downfall. The job that had sent them running from their homes and trying to make a living jacking fuel trucks and running crews south of the border.

They'd had each other though so it had been all right. Letty had been firmly convinced that they could make it through anything as long as they stayed together. "Ride together, Die together." that had been their motto and the latin beauty had never regretted it. She'd have followed Dom to the ends of the earth if he'd asked and never looked back.

He hadn't felt the same though because he'd left her sleeping in the bed they'd made love in and never come back. Lord knew she outta know. She'd waited for him. Finally, she'd been forced to move on though and found herself back in the states. A move that had eventually lead to her downfall.

Blowing at a breath at the emotions those newly remembered memories brought back, Letty heard the sound of a deep rumbling engine and glanced behind her. As her dark eyes lit on the Barracuda, she knew instantly who was behind the wheel. Dom. It was now or never but first, she had to get him away from the crowds.

Lingering on the edges of the gathering, she knew the moment he spied her and then she took off through the milling population. Careful not to lose him completely, she finally ducked back towards an alley and that was when the hand on her shoulder pulled her up short. When it spun her around, she gazed up into the face she'd never quiet forgotten but was completely different after all the time passed.

"Hello, Dom..." she said softly, eyes drinking in his appearance even as she fought to keep her expression calm and collected. "Your losing your edge, Baby.. thought I was going to have to send you an official invitation or something..."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Letty slanted a look at the crowd behind him, searching for anything out of place before looking back at him nervously. She could see he had questions but this wasn't the time or place for them. God knew he had the right to answers but this was to public. So, she lowered her voice as she pulled out a piece of paper stuffed down her bra and shoved it in his hand.

"No, I'm not dead but its a long story... You want to know? Meet me at this address." she said, silently trying to reach him through the shock on his expression. "Make sure you watch your back, Torretto. Trust no one..."

There was so much to say, so much to express. It was almost overwhelming. Letty though acted as if she was expecting this, it was like she was prepared for this meeting. Dom was anything but, even when he turned her around, he wasn't truly expecting to see her. It was the greatest feeling in the world, but also the most confusing. What sequence of events could've possibly resulted in these last few years?

Well, he knew the first event was that night when he decided the right call was to "release Letty" of what he saw as a long, tedious chase from authorities. He remembered those words she said that night they were out on the sea shore. He should've agreed, he would've not even thought twice today. How he thought leaving her was the best solution....well, it plagued him ever since the day he received the call that she was dead.

"Several years locked away take its toll on your edge." Dom said quietly with a subtle grin. Her personality hadn't changed one bit, that he could already tell.

The worry and concern on Letty's face was beyond obvious. So when she handed him the paper, he took a brief glance at it and tucked it away in his jacket. If it wasn't safe here, then what was after her? Her last statement sparked his curiosity even more, so he could be involved too...talk about intriguing.

"Then let's go."

OOC: I don't quite have the talent to match the length of your posts, so bare with me

So many feelings, so little time. Seeing him up close and personal like this was harder than she'd ever dreamed possible. Letting her dark gaze travel over his beloved features, Letty had to school herself not to giving anything more away than she had too. Questions lingered at the tip of her tongue but she managed to simply nod before shifting her stance back towards the shadows once more.

She couldn't help one last parting quip though as a little smirk settled over her lips. "Lets go then. Last one there has to answer first question." There. That felt more.. Normal. Something familiar that they both knew and understood. "You still good at handling those curves or have you lost that edge too?" she shot out, quirking up a brow even as she turned back in the direction of her car and took off.

Not bothering to glance over her shoulder to see if he was following, Letty made her way to the black and red customized Cobra and jumped inside. The location she'd given him on that paper was one of their favorite parking spots and out of the way of most activity. Twisting the key in the ignition, the latin beauty let the car rumble to life and then shifted gears, taking of with a squeal of tires that had a few people jumping out of her way.

Just like the old days, she thought slyly even as the mustang took off in the direction of her goal. It didn't much surprise her a few minutes later when twin headlights popped up in her rearview and a quick glance in the mirror showed her a Barraccuda baring down on her.

"Come on, baby.. Lets see what you got." she said aloud even as she shifted gears yet again and passed a Mazda like it was standing still.

{OOC: no worries hon. I just tend to start writing and forget to keep track of words so.... }

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see." Dom said with a smirk, almost as a bit of a challenge. His edge was as sharp as ever in the driver's seat. That was a talent he knew he'd never lose. He took one last look at the fleeting brunette, everything he loved so deeply about her was there. Her eyes, her attitude, her subtle way of keeping him humble...it was all there. Almost as if the years didn't make a difference. Admittedly, he wasn't totally sure this wasn't a dream, it didn't feel like reality. This wasn't possible in the reality he had accepted.

He turned off towards his Plymouth and hastily jumped inside and turned over that massive Hemi. The engine started with a chassis shaking rumble, but the noise soon became a ground shaking roar as the engine revved to 5k. Dom more or less dumped the clutch the moment he saw Letty's Cobra jet out from the lot. A competitive grin playing his features the whole time. The two muscle cars left a bit of a smokey show back at the lot as the Cuda took off in pursuit of the Mustang.

Traffic was light, but surely the few cars they did fly by must've been buzzed out of their wits. Dom steadily chewed up the distance between him and Letty with a few quick gear changes (and because Hemi's are badass). This was about as close to an official race as they ever had, yet it was still such a throwback to the old days.

Dom followed Letty closely for a couple corners, he wanted to see just how maintained her skills were from a 3rd person perspective. He wasn't disappointed, but he wanted to ask the first question. As they neared their destination, Dom took advantage of a tight right-hander and swung the car to the opposite side of traffic, setting up a wide entry. He got on the brakes hard but briefly and downshifted to 2nd gear. Giving the wheel a smooth but quick whip to the right, the Barracuda cut into the corner like butter and clipped the very inside of the turn, just inside of the mustang. This allowed Dom to get back to the gas very early, and the Plymouth forced it's way just ahead of the Mustang as Dom caught 3rd gear. "Don't make it too easy, now." Dom glanced in the mirror with a grin. He could almost envision Letty returning the same gesture.

Settling behind the wheel was as natural as breathing for Letty. It should be. She'd learned from the best, after all. Everything she knew, she'd been taught by the master himself. Only it was now the master chasing the student as they raced towards their destination.

The thought made her smile even as the race truly took off and stakes were raised.

With ease that was scary, she went through the paces of shifting gears almost on autopilot as she kept track of the car following her. Passing cars like they were standing still, the Latino figured it was probably a good thing it was so late or they'd no doubt have ended up in some sort of pile up at the speeds they were going. Spying a corner coming up fast, she scowled and played on the pedals even as she saw the lights of the barracuda disappear from her rear view and knew instinctively what Dom was trying to do. Unfortunately, the Mustang was lighter than the heavier muscle car and cornered with more hands on needed. Without the weight to slow it down, she was forced to ease up on the gas even as she teased the brakes.

Which allowed Dom the inside edge he needed to corner tight on the left side and slip around her. Damn it. Punching the gas hard as they came out of the turn, Letty tried to slip around him but it was obvious he expected just that move as he lumbered the bigger car in her path. Skating to the other side, she tried again but Dom held the road even as they left other traffic behind them. IT become increasingly more obvious that she was going to be answering the first question as they flew on to an empty water way and then coasted to a stop underneath a bridge.

Not that she had ever thought she'd win. Time to pay the piper, she mentally sighed.

Pushing open the door of the Cobra, Letty climbed out from behind the wheel before leaning on the hood and waiting for him to join her. Instantly, all her emotions re emerged and she drank him in like a woman starved from a desert. Licking her lips, she finally managed some words. "Your win.. Whats it gonna be?"

And make it easy she didn't.

Dom knew Letty for that crossover move she had adopted so well back in the day. It was only fitting that she try it. The Barracuda however was already in position to cover over that move, and as a result, a nice solid block was put in place. Dom hit 4th gear with ease and the Hemi saw him the rest of the way to the bridge. However, it was the one race of his life where he really didn't care about the result in the end.

He methodically climbed out of the Plymouth and saw Letty giving him the look over. They shared a glance that said a thousand words before Dom shared the hood of the Cobra beside her. He now had to be convinced this was reality, and for once, it wasn't harsh.

He thought again about the day years ago when Mia called him. Her voice was more shaken than had ever been. The words she delivered were simply unbearable. It was a day that forever implanted itself in his memory, and his heart. It was that day in April that he had to know about. He had to know how he'd managed to let down the love of his life.

"April 3rd, 2009." Dom paused and turned to look into her eyes. "What happened?"

"April 3rd, 2009." Dom paused and turned to look into her eyes. "What happened?"

Lord, that was a question that she truly wished she had the answers for. Unfortunately, she only had what she could guess at and it wasnt much. Having only recently realized that the life she'd been living for the last few years was false, she hadn't had a lot of time to go digging. The last thing she remembered from before was her car losing control and flipping over. Everything after that was lost in the fog of time and injury.

"The honest to God truth, Dom? Hell if I know." she finally said, meeting his gaze levelly. "As of four weeks ago, I knew myself as Katarina DelGazo and I was one of Manuello Montoya's right hand men. Or .. Women as the case might be. Montoya works for a man by the name of Braga and he needed drivers. I was one of the main ones.."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she worried on her bottom lip before continuing. "Four weeks ago, I was in another crash.. Woke up realizing that the life I was in was one big freaking lie. Only, by then I realized i was in over my head.. Braga was the target of the case I was working on for Brian before I "died", Dom... I was racing one of his henchmen the night of the wreck. I have no idea why he didn't kill me unless he was waiting for my memory to come back so he could drill information out of me... My best guess is they kept me alive thinking I'd be of some use but when I woke up a blank slate...they put me to other uses."

Pushing a lock of ebony hair out of her face, Letty looked away and stared out into the night. It gave her a moment to gather her thoughts and swallow the lump in her throat before she went on.

"Took me four weeks of planning to slip away but ... its only a matter of time before they catch up. They know who I am so it only makes sense they'll look here in L.A. when they realize I'm gone..."

So her memory was leveled...temporarily anyway. That already explained a lot. He remembered the conflict he had with Felix, what he said about Letty. They wanted him to believe she was dead. The fact that they changed her name gave away that they wanted her existence erased. That would be expected, no memory triggers meant no risks. But now, now that she had escaped, now that she had her memory and the experience for years of working under Braga's wing. That made her one hell of a danger to their operation. No question she was a primary target.

Braga...

He was all too familiar with the face to that name. If only Letty knew what kind of interaction Dom had with him after her 'death.' He was in prison now. His chances of getting out were about as good as the moon hitting Earth. Yet even with the head of the snake cut off, these were still determined, organized men.

"Brian and I drove for Braga." His eyes looked straight into the night, as if in a intellectual gaze. In the back of his head, Dom wondered if she knew about any of the antics they pulled just days after that day in April. "He brought it in new faces as quickly as he got rid of them. They were waiting for your memory to come back, they would've never even kept you around a week otherwise."

Dom contemplated if for the one time in his life, this was the time to leave home and camp out under the radar for some time. He just now received the greatest gift, he wasn't about to lose it. However, no matter how far away they got, they would never be free. They would look behind their back, and question everybody. That wasn't solving the problem, that was feeding it.

"We better get ready then." He said with the lightest smirk and drifted his eyes back over to her.

Dom's words didn't exactly inspire the warm and fuzzies but it wasn't anything more than she'd already figured out herself. Instinct told her that is why she'd been kept under thumb and watched so closely. They'd been hoping to find out how much the feds knew about the dealings of the cartel organizations. After three years though, they'd let down their guard enough for her to give them the slip and here she was.

Now, if she could just stay ahead of the race. The odds were against her but that was nothing new right? It wasn't like it hadn't been that way all her life and at least she'd been given a chance to see the man in front of her again. Second chances were so very rare in their world. His words gave her hope too. Hope she hadn't allowed herself until now. Three years was a long damned time, after all.

"What about you, Dom?" she asked quietly, refusing to let her hands leave the hood of the car behind her for fear of doing something stupid like reach for him. Damn him and that smirk. It had always made her want to jump his bones be there an audience or not. There was so much unresolved though and she had questions of her own. For all she knew, he had a new old lady, a new life, hell.. a new family. He could have a kid by now. Had he moved on? Experience told her he'd never turn her away but she couldn't take for granted that other things were the same. This had to be a shock on his system and no matter what her foolish heart wanted, she owed him the chance to walk away. "I'll understand if this isn't something you want to be involved with again... I was pretty selfish coming back here but... I .... Damn it, Dom... I had to see you...Maybe it would have been better to let you go on thinking I was dead if you have a different life now..."

What about him. There were the years in Lompoc, that place he swore never to go back to. There was the less than heroic way he escaped, and now there their family was dealing with the mafia in a deadly game of deception. Here Letty was probably thinking he was better off than her, that their lives had moved on without her and all was happy go-lucky.

How wrong she would be.

"Our operation with Braga ended with him and I in prison. Spent three years there. My sister went to our father's long time friend and asked him for help." His grin disappeared as he talked. "That friend was Stephano Dieseli, the godfather of California's largest crime organization. He paid my way out. It was through that I learned that Brian's brother had a target on his back for double-crossing them. Brian's done everything to make things right for him, and it's dragged us all in now." Dom folded his arms and released a sigh. "I'm telling you this because I think Braga's operation is connected to these guys. They run the same business. For all I know, they're the same group."

Dom gently started shaking his head. He was the one that left her, he was too afraid of her own safety that he couldn't even let her stick with her own decision. He split up their bond because only he thought that was best. Who does that make the selfish one? Him, and it was he that he blamed for practically everything she went through. Call it harsh, but it was the truth. "Letty..." He trailed off as she finished. "The only one to blame is me. I won't make that mistake again. Forever we'll stay side by side. I promise you that." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

The moment Dom touched her, Letty knew she was lost. Weeks of running, fueled by adrenaline alone, had taken its tole on her and no matter how badass a person might want to be..... Well, it was safe to say that everyone had a breaking point. For the slender Latino, it was then.

Without another word, Letty went into his arms and buried her face against his hard chest, inhaling his scent even as the promise in his words rang in her ears. For so long, she'd been dreading this confrontation that the lack of anger on his part made her almost limp in relief. She hadn't know how he would react to her presence, not really but maybe, just maybe... Things would be all right after all.

Eventually, she raised her head to meet his gaze with her first genuine smile. "You couldn't have known what would happen anymore than I could of Dom. We live and we learn, right? Lets just not make the same mistakes this time. Whatever happens...Its you and me..." she returned, gaze turning serious even as she studied his face. "God, I've missed you so damned much, Dom..."

Lifting up slowly on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his, touch surprisingly tentative even as she tried to put all her feelings into one embrace.

His large arms wrapped around Letty's figure as she collapsed into his chest. He hugged her as if he would never let her go, and really didn't want to. This was a moment he was craving for years. Words could not even describe the sense of joy, relief, and peace he felt. It was as if the same passion that burned between them was once again ignited, only much brighter. It was the happiest Dom had been since...well...the last night they were together.

Dom met her smile with one of his own, and a nod at her words. Somehow he was actually a little surprised that she was so forgiving about his actions. Maybe he was just being hard on himself. He knew that what she said was true, no one saw any of this coming. The time from when he left to when Brian put her undercover, it was all unprecedented what could've happened. But the one thing he did know, was that whatever happened led to this night, and to this moment. Only now, they were stronger people than they were before.

Her kiss was light but felt so emotional at the same time. Nonetheless, it was still too light for what he could handle. He streaked his hand up to the back of her head and pressed into her before letting up. "You and me." He emphasized her own statement.