A BLACK 1970 CHEVROLET Chevelle SS 454 LS6 cruised down the smoothly paved highway, its tinted windows hiding the driver from anyone who may have been trying to catch a glimpse. Their perfectly manicured hand had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel as they kept a close eye on the military convoy, which was just ahead of them.

Natalie Shaw took a deep breath when she caught sight of a previously military-issued roofless Jeep driving up from the dirt road in her rearview mirror, and joined the main concrete highway.

Show time.

It only took seconds for the Jeep containing Owen, Letty, Jah, and Denlinger to overtake her and pursue the convoy, which contained the computer chip that they needed. The car didn't waste any time in crashing into the smaller military vehicle that was escorting the convoy, allowing Owen, Letty, and Jah to climb from the Jeep and onto the convoy itself. They opened the hatch on top of it and climbed in, hiding themselves from the Shaw woman's view.

Natalie pressed harder on the accelerator and effortlessly changed gears - she needed to overtake the military vehicles so that she wouldn't be killed by one of the many next steps in their ridiculous plan.

She couldn't believe she had agreed to help with hijacking fucking NATO, but at the end of the day, it was just one of the many crazy things she'd do for family.

The Jeep that now contained only Denlinger, who was obviously driving, followed closely behind the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. Both vehicles overtook and put some distance between themselves and the convoy, knowing exactly what came next.

Natalie watched anxiously as Denlinger pulled the trigger for the wire, which screwed itself into the rock walls of the cliff-like structures on either side of the road. Less than a second later, the last remaining military vehicle smashed into it, sending the vehicle flipping into the air. The convoy then collided with the wire, allowing a whole-ass tank to emerge from its ruins.

Both Natalie and Denlinger switched to the right-hand lane, allowing their cars to fall back behind the tank - staying in front would have been a death wish.

"All system's go." Jah's voice came through her headset, followed by Letty's, "Everything looks stable."

Natalie let out a sigh of relief; everything was going according to plan, for now. Her car followed a few metres behind the tank, whilst the Jeep stayed further back to keep an eye out for Toretto and his crew.

It wasn't long before Denlinger's voice echoed through her headset too, warning them that Dominic Toretto had finally made an appearance, "We got company, guys. Toretto's coming right atcha."

Owen didn't waste any time in firing up the weapons. Dominic, Brian, and Roman drove past in the opposite lane, giving the Shaw the perfect opportunity to fire. Natalie held her breath as the ammunition missed its mark, and all three cars avoided the explosion.

They used a break in the barrier separating the two roads to drift through, and therefore join the lane that both Natalie and Owen inhabited. Regaining the speed that they'd lost from drifting, all three cars caught up to the tank with ease. What they weren't expecting was for the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, which they'd assumed was just a random civilian's car, to slow down and line up side-by-side with Dominic's 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, before sharply turning to the side and smashing into the red car.

Natalie quickly turned the wheel back, before going in again. The look of panic on Dominic's face was priceless. That was the beauty of Natalie's role in the plan - she was essentially a secret weapon, except now, the cat was out of the bag.

The sides of both cars were scratched up beyond belief - each had paint chips from their opponent's car embedded in their own original paint jobs.

Despite the tinted windows, Dominic couldn't shake the feeling that it was Natalie behind the wheel, making his jaw clench and his eyes ignite with a certain rage he only associated with the shunned Toretto.

Before Dominic could try and initiate an attack of his own, his attention was stolen by the tank completely annihilating part of the barrier, and therefore travelling to the lane that he, Brian, and Roman had just came from. It was too late for Dominic to switch lanes, as he had driven past the damage. Brian had as well, but luckily, Roman was able to turn just in time to drive over the destruction, and end up behind the tank.

Natalie cursed under her breath - she had also missed her opportunity to follow Owen, and had no choice but to wait for another opening. She let her foot off the accelerator, pushed down on the clutch, and switched gears, allowing herself to fall behind both who she assumed was Brian, and obviously, Dominic.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Owen crushing any and every car that was in front of him, which wasn't part of the damn plan. One of Natalie's hands flew up to the button on her headset, which allowed her to speak to everyone that wore one, including her idiotic brother-in-law.

"Owen, knock it off." Natalie seethed, releasing the button after she was finished speaking (the headset functioned almost as though it was a walkie-talkie). When Owen did not verbally respond, and continued to kill every innocent bystander that got in his way, the Shaw woman's blood began to boil. "Shaw, I said knock it the fuck off. That's an order." She barked, leaving no room for arguments.

From then on, civilians stood a fighting chance of making it off of that highway alive, as the tank slowed down and began to dodge oncoming vehicles. Whether he was willing to admit it or not, Owen Shaw was scared shitless of Natalie Shaw, especially when she used that tone.

Natalie continued to tail Brian and Dominic, waiting to see what their next moves would be. What she wasn't expecting was for Roman to drive in front of the fucking tank, and get the tail-end of his car stuck underneath the front of the military vehicle.

Owen decided to target the bridge that was up ahead in an attempt to cut Dominic off - he fired at the structure, causing rubble to rain down, but somehow, Dominic managed to speed through it and continue on. What the Toretto hadn't realised though, was that the fallen concrete gave both Brian and Natalie an opening to the other lane.

Natalie quickly accelerated, overtaking Brian, and before changing gears and racing up the makeshift ramp. The woman remained stoic as her vehicle was airborne for a few moments, before crashing to the ground - she easily regained control of her car, switched gears, and sped against the flow of traffic.

Paying the others no mind, Natalie skillfully and flawlessly weaved through various vehicles, avoiding any possible collisions. Taking a moment to peek at her rearview mirror, the Shaw woman saw Roman jumping onto the roof of Brian's car, just as his white one was crushed underneath the tank.

What confused her was why the now-flattened car was dragging behind the military weapon, but it only took her a second to spot the thick wire wrapped around the barrel of the tank. She could practically see the cogs in Dominic's head turning, which is how she knew that he was going to use the car as an anchor to flip the massive vehicle.

Natalie slammed on the brakes, allowing the tank to pass her, before pushing on the accelerator and racing beside Brian's blue 1970 Ford Escort MK. Roman had actually managed to scramble into the passenger seat, before they tried to drive the crushed vehicle around like it was a football.

The barrier that was between the two lanes vanished, leaving both Natalie and Brian to switch to the right side lane - the O'Connor had managed to bring the flattened car with him, which was a big issue. Instead of simply having a dirt and concrete barrier, they now had a large gap between the two roads, meaning that Brian could actually be successful in flipping the tank, which was still in the left lane. Natalie could not let that happen, especially because of Letty and Owen.

So, the Shaw woman had no choice but to ram her car into Brian's in an attempt to stop him from possibly killing two members of her family. Dominic was trying to help the O'Connor, but the Shaw woman simply slammed into the back end of his Daytona, sending him into a tailspin.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long - Dominic was back at it, ramming into her side, after only thirty seconds of being immobilised. With the pressure of one car either side, Natalie had no choice but to brake and fall behind the two. Nausea bubbled in her throat as the anchor was driven over the railing, but what made Natalie feel as though she was going to throw up then and there, was the sight of Letty climbing on top of the tank to unwrap the wire.

"Get her back in that tank, Owen." Natalie yelled into her headset, panic consuming every inch of her body, "Letty's going to die if you don't get her in that fucking tank right the hell now!"

"Shit-" Was all Owen said before he was cut off by the anchor slamming into the bottom of the bridge, which completely flipped the tank.

Natalie's car screeched to a stop, the Shaw woman darted from her seat, and screamed as much as her lungs would allow.

"LETTY!"

The woman in question went flying over the gap between the two roads, her limbs flailing as she soared through the air. Somehow, Dominic Toretto managed to slam his own car into the railing and send himself flying, allowing him to tackle the love of his life in mid-air and land on the hood of a civilian's abandoned car.

Natalie held her breath as she waited to see if Letty was moving, and almost cried in relief when the Ortiz woman began to sit up. Her heart felt like it had leapt into her throat, along with her stomach doing constant somersaults. She had completely forgotten where she was until Owen's pained voice crackled through her headset.

"Natalie..." Owen panted, pain soaring through his entire body, "you have to run."

"But what about you and-"

"Don't worry about us. Just meet Vegh at the rendezvous point." He groaned, "We'll see you soon, I promise."

The woman allowed a singular tear to roll down her cheek, regret filling her entire body as she frantically climbed back into her car, suddenly all too aware of her status as an international criminal. She muttered apologies as she sped away, leaving both her brother-in-law and best friend behind.

As soon as she was a safe distance away, Natalie stomped on the breaks and pulled over.

"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" She cried, hitting her steering wheel as hard as she could. Tears streamed down her face as sobs racked through her body - the last thing she wanted to do was leave them behind, but she was no help to them if she had been caught.

She could only hope that Owen's failsafe would work, and that Mia was still willing to play along.

AFTER DRIVING TO THE rendezvous point and boarding the cargo plane (yet again), Natalie was greeted by Klaus and Vegh - the former having a terrified-looking Mia in his large grasp. At first, the Shaw woman thought that her sister was truly scared, but after a subtle wink and smirk, Natalie realised that Mia was a much better actress than she had thought.

"Let the girl go, Klaus." Natalie demanded in a monotone voice, acting as though she was bored of this whole ordeal, "She's not a threat, and you look like you're cutting off all of the blood circulation to her arm."

Klaus flushed red as he immediately let go of the Toretto woman, embarrassed that he had been spoken to like that by Natalie, again. The two goons were dismissed, and told to prep the pilots on the plan, leaving Natalie and Mia by themselves.

As soon as Vegh and Klaus were out of sight, Mia flung herself into her sister's embrace, burying her face in the crook of Natalie's neck. The older sister wasted no time in wrapping Mia tight in her arms, sighing in relief that their little plan had worked. The two pulled away after a moment, and Natalie immediately delved into questions.

"They didn't hurt you, did they? Because if they did-"

"Nat, I'm fine, I swear." Mia chuckled, "Other than that Incredible Hulk knock-off tryna bruise my arm, I'm perfectly okay."

Natalie sighed in relief - she was terrified that the two idiots wouldn't follow Owen's orders, and that Mia would end up injured, or worse.

"Is Jack okay?" Natalie asked, hoping that her nephew wasn't anywhere near his mother's 'kidnapping'.

"He's with Elena and completely fine - I made sure they were at the markets when Dumb and Dumber came to the house so that there was no chance that they'd be hurt."

The older sister couldn't help but laugh as she thought back to how Mia sent Brian to the markets with a long list of groceries, just so that she and Deckard could meet Jack. "The old 'market' trick, huh?"

"Works every time." Mia giggled, before noticing the absence of both Letty and Owen. "Wait, where are-"

"They got caught by you-know-who," Natalie sighed, not even wanting to say Dominic's name anymore, "but thankfully, we have a backup plan - you."

A FEW HOURS LATER, Mia's cell phone rang, meaning Owen had begun their plan. Natalie turned to Mia, who was back to being 'terrified', not only because Vegh and Klaus were back in the room, but because she had to sound scared on the phone call, otherwise their plan wouldn't work.

Natalie answered the call and held the phone next to Mia, who was back to being detained by Klaus. Thankfully, his grip was a lot lighter this time in fear of pissing off 'Quinn'.

"Mia?" Brian questioned fearfully, scared that what Shaw was saying was true - that he did, in fact, have the love of his life hostage.

"BRIAN!!" Mia screamed, really selling her act, before Natalie hung up the phone to add dramatic effect.

Natalie didn't waste any time in turning to the two goons, "You're dismissed."

They both knew not to question the woman, so they left and immediately made themselves busy with something else, anything else, giving Mia and Natalie another moment alone.

"Nicely done." Natalie grinned, causing Mia to give a theatrical bow for her performance.

"I guess being a part of the school plays wasn't a bad thing after all." Mia joked, making her sister laugh.

The two wandered over to the cars that were parked within the cargo hold, admiring some of them, before Natalie got an idea.

"Get in the car." She demanded, opening the back passenger door of a bright red car. Mia looked at her like she had lost her damn mind.

"No, you get in the car." The younger sister retorted, confused as to why Natalie was asking her to do this.

"Look," Natalie explained, "this car is at the back of one of the rows, meaning that when we pick up Owen and Letty, they can't park behind it. So, when the hatch opens, you climb into the driver's seat and reverse off of the plane, right onto the runway of the NATO base. You get to reunite with Brian, and you'll be safe in case anything happens."

Not needing any more convincing, Mia climbed into the back of the car and sat in the footwell of one of the passenger seats. Thankfully, she was quite small, so the woman could sit comfortably whilst she waited for her opportunity.

"I love you." Natalie smiled, before closing the door.

Only seconds later did the plane touch down on the tarmac of the Spanish NATO runway, and the hatch opened. Natalie opted to hide behind some crates as a vehicle bordered, because she wasn't sure whether it was Owen, Letty, or someone else entirely.

It turned out to be her brother-in-law, but she didn't get the opportunity to greet him before another car screeched to a stop, hitting Riley (who turned out to be working with Shaw), causing the woman to tumble up the bonnet and over the roof of the silver car.

Dominic climbed from the driver's seat, shotgun in hand, making Natalie's stare harden with pure hatred.

Oh, let the games begin.

HAYLEY WRITES...
double update? who am i omg

sorry about the cliffhanger, but
two-ish chapters until we're done
with act one!!

i'm interested to know what you think
of natalie, her personality, and the
decisions she's made so far in the book.
i'm hoping that i'm making her into a
likeable character! let me know in the
comments.

don't forget to vote! it really helps me
and this story, so it would be greatly
appreciated <3

until next time :)