There was nothing quiet as soothing as the beach at sunset.

Ambling her way down the sandy shore, Piper Blair swung her beer bottle in one hand even as she carried her sandals in the other. Toes digging into the surf dampened sand, she tilted her face into the salty ocean breeze, tawny hair floating out behind her, letting it sooth some of the stress lines that had begun to imprint on her delicate features.

With an empty expanse of beach before her, she could get lost in her brooding thoughts while struggling to find some inner peace in the only place she could think of that offered any haven from the chaos of her real world. A world in which she suddenly felt herself adrift in, unsure of her forward path or even how to be of help to those around her.

With Brian's death, an even darker cloud had come to hover over their shoulders and the petite blond was at a loss in how to comfort Jack as he'd drawn further away. The relationship between the two brothers had been tense at best but she'd seen the love in Jack's eyes the few times he'd let his guard down when he'd spoken about the older man. No matter what had passed between them, the older O'Conner's death had been a blow to the younger brother that she wasn't sure he'd recover from. In some ways, she wondered if he didn't blame himself a bit and it broke her heart to see him slowly withdrawn.

And then there were the Toretto's.

Feeling as if she'd been an intruder, she'd given her condolences the best she could before slipping out and taking off for a drive. The last thing they all had needed was some stranger barging in on their grief and she'd felt it best to make herself scarce while they figured how what needed doing.

After squeezing Mia's hand and giving her her number to call if there was anything she could do to help, Piper had taken her charger and left the family to it, hiding her own twisting emotions.

Driving thoughtlessly for a few hours, she'd finally found herself at the same meeting place she and Noah had often used and gone for a swim, hoping to burn off the excess energy she'd been brimming with. Then, climbing out of the water, she'd slipped on a pair of jean shorts before grabbing a beer from the tiki bar and wandering down the beach to a quiet section that seemed .. well.. peaceful.

Now, she dropped down on drier sand and watched as the waves crashed against the shore, lost in her own internal thoughts.

Saying times were tough was a little clique, but damn, when it rains it sure as hell seems to pour. Every moment he found himself asking the same question, why did he actually take the chance with Dieseli? Why did he feel things would to his benefit with doing work for him? If he had been man enough to turn the mobster down, Brian might still be here. Maybe Jack would've been less encouraged to engage in his own dealings with Stephano. Maybe they would've been living a fairytale lifestyle...

Maybe...

Cole remembered a quote that he heard from the racing scene once, supposedly said by some guy from Tokyo "You make choices and you don't look back." If only it was that easy...It was one thing if your choices made an impact on yourand own life, but what about the lives of others?

The young wheelman found himself on the edge of a beach in a pair of black board shorts and a blue shirt, sitting on the edge of the grass bank while overlooking the shore and the few on it. The shores and the water were among the few things he still liked about California, plus Stephano probably wouldn't be looking for him here. He didn't need to get stabbed again, next time could be in a more lethal area.

He was about to leave as the sun said its goodbyes until he saw what he thought was someone familiar...Ah, Piper, he thought she seemed like a bit of a beach girl when he first met her. Usually the southerners came out to the coast simply for the water. He contemplated leaving her be on her own but decided he might as well go have a few words. He sort of wanted to know how Jack was doing anyway, they were probably going to need him before all this was over.

"Had to get away?" He said as he realized no one else was with her and fell into the sand a few feet beside.

The sound of another voice startled her at first, jerking the blond from her own thoughts and causing the beer in her hand to almost tumble over. The familiar face, however, made her smile a bit even as she sighed. Rueful resignation colored her tone when she finally replied.

"Hey Cole...Yeah, guess you could say that. Seemed more a family affair and I didn't want to intrude, you know?" she returned, leaning back on her palms once more as she cast him a glance. "How about you? You doing ok?" she continued, knowing that the other man had been part of the crew too. "Sorry.. stupid question huh? Nobodys ok with all this, I guess."

"I know the feeling actually. The O'Conners and Torettos have been together longer than I've even been racing." He sighed as he ran his hand through the sand. "Brian was as close to a friend as I've had in a long time though." He fought back his lingering emotions that simply refused to go away.

He almost laughed when the blonde retracted her question. By the standards of living in hell, he was doing alright. Otherwise he wasn't sure if things could get much worse...knock on wood. "Actually it's times like these that make you appreciate the days when the sun shines on you. There's always a resolution to everything. Somewhere, out there, is a happy ending." Cole had to force even himself to believe that, but it was that paradigm that gave him some form of hope or comfort.

Figuring he was the only guy who actually knew who was responsible for Brian, he thought the more people knew, the better. "Do you know the name Stephano Dieseli?"

Frowning as he spoke, Piper turned her gaze out across the ocean. "Yeah, I suppose your right. It just seems anymore, things are so crazy that finding the bright spots is hard." she returned, falling quiet as he asked about the some Dieseli. "No, I don't think so... but then.. I mean, up until a few months ago, I was a pretty average girl. Working and trying to make ends meet. It wasn't till I met Jack that things got interesting.

Casting a look back over at him, she arched a brow. "Why? Should I?"

Wow, Jack had done a better job keeping her out of this than Cole would've given him credit for. Dieseli was becoming a household name for both the Toretto's and O'Conner's these days...and certainly for himself.

Cole now sat up and crossed his legs, though tried to conceal the black wrap around his calf. "Dieseli is a mob boss that operates out of Los Angeles, fairly recently he's extended his hand into the streets here, and in some cases for more than just drugs. He actually has pawns out there in the racing world, working for him." Cole didn't want to be the first to tell Piper about Jack's involvement, that was something she needed to learn about from him if she hadn't already, so he kept out the fact that both he and Jack were under his employment at one time. "I'll cut to the chase, he's responsible for Brian's death." He said with a twinge of anger crossing his features.

As the story began to ravel out, Piper looked away once more and put the pieces together in her mind. With the problems they'ed had running from Russians, the blond couldn't help but wonder if that to tied into this Dieseli. Could the two things go hand in hand? The USB device they still had might shed some light on things but she'd given it to Jack to figure out what to do with. The thing had millions of dollars of off shore accounts on it that had already been transferred over to accounts Noah had set up for them but she'd gotten the younger O'Conner to agree to leave the funds alone for now.

Then, the stuff with Brian happened and there hadn't been time to really talk about it all. Jack had stayed out more often than not and Piper wasn't even sure where she stood in things anymore. Not wanting to push him, she'd given him space and now it was Cole who clued her in on the going ons.

Great. Happy freaking Joy Joy, she thought to herself before taking a drink from the Corona. Out loud though, she said. "Seems like a real nice guy..." in a tone that was clear she thought nothing of the sort. "I'm assuming if hes the one responsible for Brians death.... Their going after him?" she continued, playing with the bottle. "I want to help any way I can...."

"He's a demon" Cole emphasized harshly. There weren't many people he ever wished death upon, but Stephano made the cut and then some. Why he ever chose to associate himself with the mobster was a decision he would never fully understand his thinking behind.

It appeared as if some gears were turning in Piper's head...something he hoped was not a spark of enlightenment into who her rather new friends really were about.

"In a word, yes." He answered a little solemnly. Clearly unsure of where his own standing was on the issue. "I mean, its death sentence if we trip up anywhere, but I suppose we don't have a choice, right?" Cole shook his head at those words and shifted a little uncomfortably. "This guy just doesn't have weaknesses, there's a reason he's still standing today."

Cole was a little lost for words at first when she volunteered herself to whatever plan they had yet to come up with, though automatically admired her for it. "I don't mean to sound clique but...you don't know what you're signing up for." He warned. "I'm not the one who's gonna hold you back though, god only knows how much help we'll need."