Echo woke up a few hours later to an angry looking crew surrounding her car. She shot up, only to feel pain shoot up her chest. She cried out, causing Tyler's face to soften a little. Once she calmed down, she looked at the crew confused
"What's going on? What happened to the Regera?" Echo asked, a little dazed
"Back with Weir where it belongs," Mac said coldly
"What happened after I hit that car?"
"What do you remember?" Jess asked
"I remember Tyler over the radio yelling my name as I flipped over the hood of the car and then the car rolling. I then remember hitting my head on the steering wheel and then lights out. Woke up here,"
Tyler sighed and opened the door, sitting down on the seat beside her, "Echo, I need you to answer me honestly here," Tyler said softly
"What is it?" Echo asked
"Are you working with The House?"
"Absolutely not! W-Why would you even think that?"
"Because I got a call from Jake, you're ex. He said that you were working with The House to take us down,"
"No! I'm not with them, I swear. Tyler, you saw me, if I was with The House, I would've taken you and Jess out before we made it to the rendezvous point and shut Mac's drone down,"
"She's got a point. She wouldn't've taken the Charger if she wanted to shut us down. She would've taken the Camaro, it's got high tech in it," Tyler said to Mac and Jess, "I believe her,"
Echo relaxed, letting out the breath she was holding. She shut her eyes and hugged her chest. Tyler placed his hands gently on hers, pulling her hands away from her chest and hugged her tightly, careful not to hurt her.
"So what Jake said was all a lie?" Mac asked
"Yeah, a ploy to get us to ditch Echo so they could grab her and do God knows what to her and her cars," Tyler replied
Echo wrapped her arms around Tyler tightly, and he ran a hand through her hair, calming her down. They pulled away and Tyler helped her out of the car to bandage up her ribs. Echo leaned against the Impala as the rest of the crew spoke amongst one another. Tyler slowly approached her after the group dispersed and leaned against the Impala next to her
"You okay?" Tyler asked
"I will be," Echo said, refusing to take her eyes away from the concrete floor of the garage
"Hey, even if Jess, Mac, and Rav don't believe you, I do. I've seen you first hand taking out The House's muscle. You did that, and I knew that you weren't with The House,"
"Look, I knew that Jake would be gunning to get me back, and he knows that I'm with you guys. He'll be wanting to get me back as a girlfriend so he can use my cars again," Echo chuckled, "The Mustang was his favorite. Always said that it handled the best on the roads," Echo smirked
"I can see why. That Mustang is amazing,"
"Even better since Rav modified it slightly,"
"No kidding,"
"So, um, where's the Charger?" Echo asked, finally looking over at Tyler
"Mac and Rav brought it back while you and I hid from The House. Speaking of, Jess and I were going to go get the Mustang, but I didn't want to leave you here with Rav by yourself. I trust Rav with my life, but I just couldn't bring myself to—"
"Leave me with someone I barely knew," Echo smiled
"Yeah,"
"Get me some Advil, I'll go with you and Jess,"
"You sure you're up for that? It's in a cave and it's off the asphalt,"
"I'll be fine. It's not the first time I've rolled a car... or two, or five," Echo chuckled, "I'm in the Runner business, kinda comes with the job,"
"Good point. Come on, I'll go get em,"
Echo nodded and followed Tyler over to the medicine cabinet where he handed her the bottle of Advil. She popped two out of the bottle and swallowed them quickly without water
"Impressive," Tyler said, "I gotta do that with at least water,"
"I've been taking Advil, Tylenol and Aleve since I was 17 this way because of accidents," Echo said, shoving the bottle into her jacket pocket
"We'll be taking Jess's car. Go wait by it and I'll grab Jess and we'll go,"
"Alright,"
Echo walked over to the BMW and leaned against the backseat. Jess and Tyler walked over a few minutes later. They all climbed inside, Jess driving with Tyler sitting shotgun and Echo in the backseat. They drove out to where the Mustang was hidden, and Tyler and Echo climbed out. They climbed into the Mustang and they drove back to the airfield.
"So, what made you come with me instead of Jess?" Tyler asked as he drove
"The tension. I could tell she doesn't trust me, and I wanted to feel safe being in the car with someone," Echo responded
"Gotcha,"
"I'm sure she doesn't actually want to, but she looked like she wanted to hit me with the BMW if she got the chance,"
Tyler nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence as he drove, the noise of the engine the only noise between them.
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Need for Speed: Payback is Everything
FanfictionEcho is your average female street-racer trying to survive in Fortune Valley. Echo was raised by the streets since she was in her early teens. When she gathered a crew, they were almost unstoppable. That is, until The House got involved. Echo had be...
