Disclaimer: I do not own the fast and the furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

After her meeting with Brian, Letty sped home quickly and locked herself in Dom's old room. She belly flopped onto the mattress and clutched the pillow tightly in anger as hot tears streamed down her face. Brian's inability to help was a devastating blow. She felt utterly helpless now, because she knew that without the law enforcement being involved, the chance of clearing Dom's name was impossible. She tossed and turned all night in frustration; never really falling into a deep slumber.

Exhaustion eventually settled in because the faint vibrating sound coming from her phone wakes her up. She looks over at the clock and frowns, wondering who would be texting her so early in the morning before grabbing her phone. Seeing Brian's name makes her want to throw it across the room—thinking it's probably a lame ass apology—but clicks the view message button anyway. When she finishes reading the text a broad smile filled with relief occupies her face as she hurriedly texts him back saying: I'll be there. With renewed fervor Letty jumps out of bed to shower and prepare for her day.

As the afternoon approaches Letty pulls out her cell phone to call a cab and let's Brian know she's on her way. She slouches down in the backseat of the cab that she catches around the corner, and gives the driver an address that's a few blocks away from the FBI office. As she exits the car she tips the front of the baseball cap on her head further down, just shy of completely blocking her vision. The last thing she needs is someone from the neighborhood seeing her converse with the FBI or entering their building without cuffs. She walks the few blocks briskly toward the field office and enters discretely. The lobby is void except for a guard sitting at a desk in between the elevators. She approaches carefully and quickly mutters, "I'm here to see O'Conner."

"And your name?" he asks without looking up from the newspaper he's reading.

Letty is unsure about whether to give him her real name and briefly pauses before giving her last name only, "Ortiz."

The guard puts down his paper and briefly stares at her before picking up the phone to notify Brian. When he hangs up he grabs a portable metal detector and tells her to spread her arms and feet apart before approaching. He runs the flat detector around her body and when no alarming pitch goes off he points toward the elevator, "fifth floor."

She gets on and anxiously rides the elevator eager to work out the details of her demands and their own. When the shinny metal doors open on the fifth floor Brian is right there waiting for her, "Glad you made it."

"Wouldn't dream of passing up this opportunity," she tells him as he leads her toward Penning's office.

Before reaching the lead agent's office Brian confesses, "Look Letty, he isn't exactly sold on you being a recruit. He wants to meet you, so try and convince him."

"Piece of cake," Letty says confidently and walks into Penning's office.

He motions with his hand, "have a seat, Miss Ortiz."

Brian is about to take a seat as well when Penning's voice stops him, "Brian, we're fine. You can wait outside."

"But sir-"

"I'll be fine," Letty assures him and he reluctantly exits the office.

Penning wastes no time and jumps right into conversation, "So Brian tells me you're our meal ticket to infiltrating Braga and his whole operation."

"Absolutely," she answers honestly. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes, just as long as you satisfy my demands as well."

He sighs and clasps his hands together on his desk, "Yes, Brian has told me about that as well. That's no easy task, you know?"

"But not impossible," she adds.

"What makes you so confident?" he asks curiously. "Other than being familiar with this whole race scene, what makes you qualify to take this on?"

She looks at him incredulously, "You really don't think Dom pulled all stuff off by himself do you?"

He truly cannot imagine her holding her own alongside Dom and lending a hand in his dangerous track record, but the look in her eyes lets him know she's serious.

"You know you're saying this to an FBI agent?"

She smirks, "Yeah, an FBI agent that needs my help."

He leans back in his leather chair and stares at her as he contemplates his decision. He can tell by the intensity in her eyes that she's ready to spring into action. "Alright," he says. "We'll work together and you'll be in direct contact with me."

"No," she quickly states. "I'll only be in contact with Brian. He's the only one I trust, and I want our deal in writing."

He cannot believe she's already making such bold demands. "You'll get our deal in writing after you show us some promising results."

Letty can tell the older agent is not going to budge and extends her hand for him to shake, "deal".

The rest of the meeting is spent going over details of the Braga operation they've attained, hot spots where their last recruit made progress, and other ins and outs of the case.

When she exits Penning's office Brian immediately rushes over to her and bombards her with questions, "How did it go? What did he say? What did you tell him?"

"You're looking at your new recruit," she tells him coolly as she presses the button to call for the elevator. "I'll be in touch, chumpy."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The days following Letty's meeting with Penning she starts keeping a close ear to any interesting conversations around the race scene. When she comes up short in that area, she starts to make frequent visits to Edwin's, watching for any unusual purchases, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. A week passes and Letty still cannot offer any leads to help the FBI, she feels like she's failing, and decides to take solace at Hector's diner slash automotive repair shop.

She orders a generous amount of food and begins eating slowly as she dwells in her lack of progress.

"I still wonder how the hell you put all that away," Hector interrupts her thoughts as he occupies the seat across from her.

She smiles at the sight of her old friend, "Still a gift I guess."

"Why you looking all depressed and shit?" he asks.

Letty looks down at the food displayed before her, "Got a lot on my plate right now."

Concerned, he asks, "Any way I can help?"

She looks up from her food and contemplates confiding in Hector, but knows that the less he knows the better. So she lies, "Maybe...I've been trying to find some action, like the kind I used to do with Dom. I've been coming to dead ends."

Hector knows exactly what type of action she's talking about. News broke like wildfire years ago about Dom, his escapades and how he got away. He remains quiet for a moment, contemplating on whether or not to share a piece of information that might peak her interest. He sees the desperation in her eyes and finally tells her, "There's a Korean fool that drops by the races every month, loaded with cash. He asks to setup a race with the best drivers of the night. He picks a few drivers promising them more and says he recruiting for some serious business."

This immediately excites Letty. Feeling as though this could be her ticket in, she quickly asks, "Has he come this month?"

"Nah, but he's always recruiting the second weekend of every month," he informs her.

"So, he'll be here this weekend then," she says excitedly as she rises from her seat and drops some cash on the table to pay for her food. "Thanks Hector."

Before she has a chance to take another step Hector grabs her arm to stop and warn her, "Letty, those people he recruits, nobody every sees them around anymore."

The information sends chills down her spine, she knows exactly what he's hinting at. She pushes the thought of being killed out of her mind and frees her arm from Hector's hold, "I'll keep that in mind."