So, first upload ended up all funky. Never had that happen before, but it has been years since I last posted a story. Let's try again!

CHAPTER 1

If there was one thing Brian O'Conner knew about the LA street racing scene - any street racing scene to be honest - is that no one was accepted into the inner workings without a lot of work being put into earning the respect needed. When he was picked to handle the undercover assignment that the FBI and the LAPD had joined forces for, he knew it couldn't be done in just a few short weeks.

But thankfully, though the LAPD didn't know it, Brian O'Conner wasn't your average cop. He wasn't dirty, far from it, but there were certain things that he let slide because he knew it wasn't worth the hassle.

Growing up in Barstow showed him the seedier side of life - all starting from the racing scene that his childhood friend and his family got him into. The freedom of a 10-second car, just him, the machine and the road kept him away from more life-altering escapes he could have taken as a kid.

A stint in juvie for being around a street race that was busted and being caught there while a drug deal was going down as well, led to him vowing to stay on the semi-legal side of the racing scene. Illegal mods, smuggled car parts were one thing - a necessity for life, but drugs, guns and the eventual major crimes that came with it wasn't worth the life Brian eventually wanted to build. It wasn't worth the idea that he could eventually have a family.

So, after finding a way to get his record cleaned up, he applied to the police academy at 18 after finishing his GED.

Which led to where he was now at 22, being pulled from a patrol route far from the races he'd already been sniffing around and placed in an undercover assignment to infiltrate the racing scene. A series of truck hijackings across California and into some of the neighboring states could only have been done by some skilled drivers and it became clear to the FBI that the place to start would be where those drivers would need to get those parts - the street racing underground.

After getting an impounded Supra transported over and being denied the funds to add the parts needed to make it a car to be respected, Brian started his work at Harry's where he knew all the racing garages got their parts. Afterall, that's where he got the parts for his Skyline.

Rather than the initial story the FBI wanted him to use, Harry and himself came up with a better in for why he had suddenly brought Brian in and let him do deliveries before showing he was trustworthy for the drops that were off the books. Who would deny Harry the right to trust his cousin's son?

"Sup, Hector," Brian called as he exited his Supra at a race meet 5 weeks after starting work at Harry's. After a bad accident a few years back, Hector became the man to organize the races, keeping an eye on locations, cops and filtering all the newbies into appropriate races. It wouldn't do to have them always be losing money after all.

Brian knew that it wasn't the top racer groups you start with. It was the connection to all the top racers.

"Snowman!" Hector shouted across the crowd, moving toward the undercover cop. "You finally making it out to a race? Here I thought seeing all our cars scared you into staying inside."

"Listen, dawg, just cause I need to work on my tan doesn't mean I'm hiding," Brian laughed back, clapping Hector on the shoulder as they shook hands. "Had to get my Supra out here or did you think I was going to be trying to race with Uncle Harry's truck?"

"Well, it looks nice - what's it working with?"

"The best thing in it right now is the driver," Brian admitted with a sheepish grin and a little bit of cocky confidence. "My last car got wrecked so bad I had to start over. Between that and the move, haven't had much to sink into it. I was hoping you could give me a couple low-balls to get my feet wet in the scene - I dunno what your minimum is, but I'm about ready to be putting up my slip just to get back in the game."

"Man, I got you, dawg," Hector promised his new friend. The knowledge that Brian had shown during the deliveries to the garage Hector and his crew worked out of had cemented at least a good working friendship between the two. He at least was a name to some of the other minor crews out there, but he'd been kept away from the two biggest rivals on the scene by Harry so far. "I got a couple stock kids new to the scene we can test you against. Show me something good and we'll check your workings to see what else we can work out."

Checking out the crowd as Hector finished getting things set up, Brian saw that both the Toretto and the Tran crews weren't on scene but that's exactly what he hoped for. Let the majors come to him and his reputation will be set.

Later that night as Brian smoked his second set of competitors, a truck just crossing out of the LA city limits was relieved of a portion of its cargo.

It was a month later before Brian had his first up-close encounter with any of the Toretto clan that actually raced. It was his fifth delivery to the garage since Harry put him on the route after his first night at the races. The first stops were early with only Mia getting the store/diner opened before the rest came in to open the garage.

Brian had kept it casual with the first couple encounters, chatting a little about the business and what Mia's textbooks were for while getting everything unloaded and the delivery signed for. Mia had begun to flirt a little, but Brian quickly shut it down. He didn't want to risk falling for anyone in the scene while undercover - not to mention, he wasn't really wired for women anyway.

It was edging into into the later half of the 5 o'clock hour when Brian finally made it to DT for his last delivery of the day. All the orders had been a rush with the next set of races being in two days, so he'd barely had time to stop for a piss before moving on to the next garage and DT's was the only one with food attached to it.

"Mia," Brian called out as he stepped out of the truck, checking over the delivery invoice as he walked up to the diner counter. "Please tell me you still have something hot on the grill."

"Sorry, Brian, everything's been shut off for the last 20 minutes," the young woman called back. The groan of disappointment that came from his mouth was almost drowned out by the growl that came from his empty stomach. Not even noticing the people at the back of the store, he dropped the clipboard on the counter and slumped to the side of it at the lone stool on the short end.

"Mia, I'm begging you for anything right now," the blonde whined, not even caring about how he was to portray himself with the hunger inside. Two straight days of work and dealing with the handlers had left little time for more than a snack. "I've been surviving off NOS and willpower with all these rush deliveries."

It wasn't until he heard the clank of a plate that he even raised his head. Sitting there was a tuna sandwich, a side of chips and a bottle of water. Stopping only long enough to remove the crust, Brian inhaled the food, groaning in satisfaction this time that he'd finally gotten something in his stomach. A second sandwich - this one with the crust removed already - was added to the empty plate as he finally opened the water. He looked up with a child-like adoration at the youngest Toretto.

"You angel of a woman, marry me?" Brian joked as he bit into the second sandwich, taking his time with this one.

"Now I know you didn't just propose to her over a tuna sandwich," a voice called from the back. Two men in their twenties walked out from the back office to join Mia and Brian at the counter. "You know if Vince or Dom hears about this, they'll go nuts," the Latino added to his first statement, directing this part to Mia.

"No one is proposing over the tuna, Leon, it's shitty tuna," Mia retorted as she cleaned up.

"Tastes like heaven to me," Brian answered around the last bite as he stood from the counter. "How much do I owe you?"

"It's on the house this time - you look like you needed it," she replied with a smile, waving the blonde off as she took his plate. Brian gave a wide grin right back before grabbing the clipboard back up and turning to the two men.

"So, which of you has the Skyline that just had to have the parts today?" Brian asked as he walked back towards the truck with the delivery slip Mia had signed while he was eating.

"How you know it's for one of us and not one of our customers?" The skinner man in the beanie asked. A raised eyebrow was his only answer at first.

"Because I can tell from the shifter alone you're looking for a quicker transition, especially out of 4th and I've heard enough about you guys at the races from Hector and the others to know you don't work on any other racers' car," Brian responded as he pulled boxes out of the truck.

"It's mine, name's Leon," the Latino answered as he took the first couple boxes from the blonde.

"Jesse," the younger added as he took the last set.

"Brian," the blonde responded as he shut up the bed of the truck. "Well, good luck with all that, I'll see you guys around. Thanks again, Mia!" he called inside before hopping in the truck to drive off.

It wasn't much of an introduction. But it was a start.