Escape to Paradise

Summary: The cold metal secured tightly around her wrists was a reminder that her loved ones had been spared, and that her crew wasn't going to have to face the same fate as her, at least she hoped. A Brian/OC fanfic.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fast & the Furious franchise, nor do I own any of their characters; I do on the other hand own the characters I've made up myself, though of course I do not own the people I have chosen to portray them.
("CJ" Santiago is portrayed by Adriana Lima, "Izzy" Santiago is portrayed by Jessica Burciaga)

Author's Note: If you don't like Brian being paired with an OC rather than Mia, I suggest you don't bother reading. The rating may change at some point? I'm just going to keep it at M for the time being due to explicit language. This story is also just the "beginning", I have many ideas for a Han/OC with the character Izzy; so I'm not sure how long this story will be (it's already finished, I'm re-editing and trying to make it better). It will contain frequent flashbacks and then present day time. You can find pictures of the two main characters on my profile.

Info: Carmen Jane Santiago, goes by CJ. 24 years old / 5'9" with slender but curvaceous figure. Of Spanish, Portuguese, and Brazilian descent. Born in South America, moved to the states as a child. Father was Javier Santiago; at one point, he had been a master of espionage with the CIA, but he fell off the grid after a job in Brazil. Afterwards, he became a street racer, mechanic, bank robber, and con artist. His best friend on his crew at the time, flipped and betrayed him; was arrested during one of his bank robberies in Long Beach, was given the harsh sentence of lethal injection. Mother became Elodie Toretto after remarrying a man named Jacob once her first husband died; after Jacob's death, she committed suicide on Carmen's eighteenth birthday. One younger sister, Isabelle; step-sister of Dominic and Mia Toretto. Street racer / mechanic. Her "ride" was an old school, maroon Dodge Challenger with a blower that she built from the ground up - it resembles the beast that is known as The Curse, the 1970 Dodge Charger belonging to Dom. Responsible / mature / practical.
Isabelle Rosa Santiago, goes by Izzy. 19 years old / 5'8" with slim, athletic figure. Moved to the states when she was just a baby. Daughter of Javier Santiago and Elodie Toretto; younger sister of CJ, really close despite the age difference. Step-sister of Dominic and Mia. Street racer / mechanic / expert with technology. Has an obsession with foreign / exotic cars, they are her weakness. Hard-working & work-oriented even though she has the tendency to be outspoken. Loyal. Location is currently unknown.

Chapter One
Court

-Present Day-

Orange—Carmen's least favorite color. She hated it when Brian chose to paint the damn Supra that color, and she sure as hell hated it on this damn jumpsuit she was forced to wear since she simply refused to put on the tailored, tweed blazer and skirt set her court-appointed lawyer brought her.

"On fifteen counts of grand theft auto, aiding and abetting fugitives, and the involvement in the truck hijackings of very valuable merchandise, how does the defendant plead?" Judge Carolyn Matthews asked in a firm, stoic tone; she was known for being the toughest damn judge in court on the Western Coast.

"Not gui—" The noise from Carmen's shackles drowned her lawyer out as she stood up from her seat.

In an instant, all eyes were on her and gasps erupted through the crowd as she spoke with hesitation. "Guilty, your honor."

The Judge was clearly stunned by the slack jawed expression on her face. Never once in her courtroom had a defendant claimed guilty on their own terms. "Ms. Santiago, are you sure about that?" The woman in orange with the blank expression looked straight at the judge, ignoring the slew of whispered curse words from her attorney, Daryl Hughes.

"Yes, your honor, and I would feel much more comfortable representing myself, as I've requested multiple times during my month stay in my jail cell. That is, if you don't mind of course."

The jury and Carolyn looked equally as stunned hearing this come from the woman's mouth. Though slightly reluctant, the Judge nodded her head in approval as Daryl quietly argued with the twenty-four-year-old woman who had just taken her seat. "You're looking at ten years. Minimum. You have no chance of winning this without me!" Carmen was a little disgusted with a few drops of spit landed on her cheek from the intensity of him talking.

"Who said I was trying to win?" Carmen cast him a sideways glance as she crossed her arms over her chest, the best she could with the heavy shackles weighing her down.

"Mr. Hughes, if you cannot find your way to the door, I'll have no problem having the bailiff escort you there." Mrs. Matthews snapped, her voice sharp and pointed as her thin lips formed a frown.

With a sigh, Daryl shut his briefcase, ran a hand through his greasy, slicked back hair, and headed for the wooden double doors, muttering absolutely every obscenity he could think of.

"Let's begin, shall we?" The Judge looked over to Jessica George, the lawyer representing the state. Born in the deep South, she had a thick accent, but after living in New York for years studying law, she had developed a harsh Northerner attitude.

"I call Carmen Santiago to the stand." Her Southern accent drawled, and Carmen went where instructed by the bailiff, calmly placing her hand on the bible when asked.

"You do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now pending before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" Carmen's only response was the careless shrugs of her shoulders. She was here wasn't she? In the courtroom... why does it matter?

Carmen knew she was royally screwed—that there was no coming back from this. It was her choice of course... she could've kept running, for how long she would never know, but she didn't. Not with what extra trouble her little sister had gotten into. It was her life duty to protect Izzy at all costs, and if that meant going to jail for her so her sister could try to live a semi-normal life off in some foreign country than so be it.

This wasn't the first time Carmen had been in a court room, but this was the first time she was risking going to a maximum-security prison for her serious felonies. But as said before, it was her choice. She didn't want to run from the law... constantly have to look over her shoulder like she knew her sister was doing now. The paranoia, constantly moving—Carmen didn't want any of it. There was consequences for certain actions, and she was willing to pay the price.

"Where were you the night of August 14th?" Jessica George's question brought Carmen out of her daze.

"Stealing a classic 1967 Pontiac GTO from a parking lot in Southern California." Carmen responded bluntly, having recited it one hundred times beforehand.

Jessica's eyes narrowed suspiciously; she had done her fair share of homework on Carmen Santiago. Her record was nearly spotless except for a few outstanding speeding tickets or traffic violations. In high school, she was a straight A student that had never even gotten a lunch detention. Clearly level-headed and family-oriented, with what family she had left. That younger sister of hers and the other criminals were the only family Jessica knew Carmen to have. Isabelle Santiago, on the other hand, was quite a ball of spitfire. In and out of juvenile hall and the courthouse, and she's only nineteen. In high school, the younger Santiago faced suspensions frequently, though her grades were exceptional. Jessica had to admit she was honestly surprised that Isabelle even finished school, and a year early at that.

Finally, after letting her scrutinizing gaze soften some, she responded. "Are you sure about that, Ms. Santiago?" The stone cold, gray eyes of Carmen flickered over to the lawyer only a few inches away from her.

"Yes."

"Then please indulge the rest of the courtroom and I—describe the car." Jessica challenged with a smirk.

"Define describe," Jessica was surprised at how quickly Carmen quipped, a smirk appearing on the criminal's face as she sensed the lawyer's irritation.

"Make, model, year, what was under the hood—that sort of thing." Jessica took in a deep breath, hoping to soothe her nerves.

"As I said before, 1967 Pontiac GTO. Custom paint job since it was metallic purple. Rochester Quadraget four-barrel carburetor with a high output engine. A V-8 to be exact. Three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic TH-400 with a Hurst Performance Dual-Gate shifter. License plate 5JK-812N." Carmen answered mindlessly; she knew all of the information about the 15 cars by heart.

Carmen still felt her heart break a little when she thought of the night Izzy came to her and told her what trouble she had gotten into.

Five Months Ago

"I did something really bad." Carmen just looked up from her desk, confused as she saw her sister standing in her doorway - hidden by the shadows. CJ was almost tempted to take her desk light and shine it on her sister, but it wasn't necessary when her sister came forward.

Carmen felt her throat constrict at the sight of her sister before her.

"Who the fuck did this?" CJ had gotten up from her seat with such force, the flimsy office chair she was sitting in collided with the wall behind her.

Moving forward, CJ gingerly touched the bruise that circled her sister's left eye; it looked swollen as well. Blood was crusted in her hairline and around her nose. There was a small burn mark by Izzy's collarbone, like someone had tried to put out their cigarette there.

"Who?" Carmen repeated, resisting from shaking her sister by the shoulders.

"I really, really cannot say. I don't think it was even his real name. He introduced himself only as Eli... but I don't know. I just know he was lying... that's not his real name... but he was just so charming, and he was British. I'm so stupid." Carmen felt her heart break as her sister collapsed onto the floor, crying into her hands.

"You're not stupid, Iz. Look, let me get my shit together, and we'll go home—you have no choice but to explain everything to me when we get there, okay?"

Within a half hour, the siblings were at home as Carmen got out the first aid kit and set about cleaning up her sister's face the best she could. After making a pot of hot tea and giving her sister a mug, she sat down on the couch next to Izzy, patiently waiting.

"I met him at a race a couple of months ago. Like I said, he was British... and so charming, like just the way he talked—panties would drop." Carmen saw the blush rise in Izzy's cheeks; the sisters never talked about anything like boys... even when CJ started dating Brian, Izzy teased her maybe once or twice before the two became official and that was it. Carmen could only imagine how awkward Isabelle felt. "I went out with him a couple of times, he would take me to really nice restaurants... but I always drove separate and would part ways after dinner. Even through all of his attractiveness, there was still something off about him. I don't know why I agreed to meet him alone one night after midnight a few weeks ago. I didn't think anything of it, or maybe that's from the few bong hits I had." Isabelle actually let out a weak laugh, and Carmen just smiled a little. Carmen personally didn't smoke, but she did in high school, and she wouldn't criticize her sister for doing it. "Anyways, when I got there, I got out of the car, and greeted him like normal. Remember me complaining about that migraine a few weeks ago?"

Carmen quickly responded, "You said you hit your head on the hood of the car while working on it..." She realized as her sister tossed a sideways glance at her that it had been a lie.

"I was hit over the head with a lead pipe—it knocked me out. He took me to some abandoned building, and didn't take this potato sack bag off my head until he heard me say 'what the fuck'. He took it off, and his smile... I have never felt a more hopeless feeling than I did the way he was looking at me. I was tied to the chair, no escape. There were a few other men lurking in the shadows, but he promised nobody would hurt me... yet. That's when he held up a list of cars all over California. Fifteen, specific cars. He told me I was gonna steal them... all of them, and I only have a certain time frame to do it before he killed you in front of me, along with Dom, Mia, Letty..." Izzy choked up on tears, so disappointed in herself for putting the only family she has in danger. Carmen simply rubbed her back soothingly. "That night was the first night I have felt the cold metal barrel of a gun pressed against my forehead. He told me then and there, if I dont accept, I'm already dead."

"So what the hell happened tonight? Have you missed your deadline?" Carmen was panicking, but she wanted to seem cool. She had to be strong for Izzy.

"No, actually, he just wanted to reiterate, and according to him, I've just been taking too long to get around to it. So, he taught me a lesson and sent me off. I have one month and a half, CJ. I've only managed to deliver three of the cars so far..."

"Don't worry, Iz, we'll get through this together okay. I have a secret garage that I haven't even told you about. Store the cars there if you need to."

Izzy huffed a sigh and stood up. "CJ, I appreciate the help, but I don't need it. I just needed to get the lies off my chest. I got myself into this mess, and I'll get myself out of it. I won't let you down."

Carmen had studied the list of cars Izzy was required to steal, and she personally saw the majority of them. It took a lot of convincing for her sister to run some of the cars to CJ's "secret" garage, but Isabelle knew her sister only meant well... just wanted to check them out herself. Her knowledge of the cars and where the crimes took place at least made it seem like she really committed them. She knew that her involvement in the hijackings had her screwed anyways.

"How about the night of August 16th?" Jessica leaned on the stand, taking in Carmen's facial expression. It screamed boredom.

"Boosting a 1970 Buick GSX in San Fran." Carmen yawned tiredly; she hadn't been getting much sleepy lately—considering the only thing she's been sleeping on for a month was a flimsy cot.

"It is true that you were in a romantic relationship with a Mr. Brian O'Connor, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Department?" That question managed to catch Carmen off guard.

"How about the night of August 16th?" Jessica leaned on the stand, taking in the facial expression of Carmen. It screamed...boredom.

"Boosting a 1970 Buick GSX in San Fransisco." Carmen yawned tiredly; she hadn't been getting much sleep lately—considering the only thing she's been sleeping on has been a cot for a month, all for the arrival of her official court date.

"Is it true that you were in romantic relations with a Mr. Brian O'Connor, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Department?" That question caught Carmen off guard.

For a split second, Jessica could see the pure emotion the criminal sitting before her had been masking all along, but with as quick as she saw it, it was gone.

"I don't see how that has any relevancy to my court case." Carmen spat, a scowl settling on her face as she looked away from Jessica.

Brian O'Connor. She known him for eight months total now, yet she knew that there was no other man on this planet for her. The second she met, she got lost in those pools of baby blue's, and he had captured her heart the moment he spoke her name, whether she was aware of that at the time or not.

Not only was she taking the rap for her sister, she was also taking it for Brian and Dom. Except she couldn't do anything about Izzy and Dom's involvement in the hijackings, and Brian becoming a rogue cop. Brian's dismissal from the department was immediate, and they considered him a fugitive after he went on the run. He wouldn't even be on the run now had Carmen not insisted on it; he didn't wanted to leave her behind, but she forced him to, promising him that she would find him no matter where he went.

"I understand that they're your family... but why go down when they aren't beside you...? Why not go on the run too?" Jessica whispered so low that no other person in the courtroom except for Carmen could hear her.

"Don't wanna run. Just wanna serve it and get it over with."

"I know you didn't commit any of the grand theft auto, if anything you were only an accomplice." Jessica mumbled; she was confused on why Carmen would allow all of this to fall on her. If she was just going to jail for the hijackings and aiding and abetting, the sentence would not be so harsh.

"Prove it." A smirk lifted the corner of CJ's mouth, a twinkle in her eyes.

After four more hours what seemed like an endless run around of "Where were you at this time?" and "Will you give up your accomplices?", the court case was finally coming to a close.

"I understand that they're your family...but why serve their time?" Jessica whispered so low that not only the jury members couldn't hear, but Carolyn couldn't hear either.

"Like you said, they're my family." Carmen mumbled, locking eyes with Jessica.

After four more hours of what seemed like an endless run around of "Where were you at this time?" and "Will you give up your accomplices?", the court case was finally coming to a close.

"Jury, have you come to a decision?" Judge Matthews stared at the middle-aged, balding man holding an envelope.

"Yes, your honor." The man handed off the envelope to the bailiff who then gave it to Carolyn.

"In the case of Santiago versus the State, the jury finds the defendant..." At that moment, everything was almost slow motion. CJ was beginning to wonder where Brian ran off too. Where Isabelle was going, Dom... everyone. She could only hope they could escape, and live as happy as they could. "Guilty." The word made Carmen snap in the Judge's direction. "On fifteen counts of grand theft, one count of aiding and abetting national fugitives, and for your involvement in the hijackings of millions of dollars of equipment, you are to serve the next twenty years of your life at the maximum-security portion of the Valley State Prison for Women. No chance of parole."

I originally posted this story to Mibba's website, but I'm re-editing it some and re-posting it to here. The original story was only 17 chapters or present day / flashbacks, back and forth. It still probably won't exceed 20 chapters, because this is more of a background before I begin a Han / OC story, involving the younger Santiago sibling. But this is just part of her older sister's life I guess, lol. And it of course has underlying things you can pick up on if you've seen all of the movies - like the charming British guy? Not gonna reveal which one yet haha not until the Han / OC probably