A/N: I'm tired and I've got a little over three days till school starts. Blowing off steam phase starts: now. Dom is just thinking back on Letty and her death and how close they were as a team. In which Dom is sensitive, and in which there is blatant tense abuse. Thought oneshot – begins now. Thanks to my beta, Kat!
Dominic Torretto sat at his desk, alone. He'd finally gathered up the courage to go through Letty's text messages. Most of them were from Vince and Leon, and of course Mia. The ones from Brian, he knew and now understood, much as he hadn't liked it in the beginning and had tried to tear Brian limb from limb. But the guy was like family now, he and Mia had been together for... well, a while, Dom knew. And Letty had loved Brian. She'd asked his advice and cared enough about his opinion to almost stay safe. It wasn't Brian's fault. He'd never planned on her being killed, never planned on them finding out. No-one had.
God, he missed his team. Vince and Leon had started their own lives. Gotten their own garage and families. They still stayed in touch but they'd been living in Virginia.
Jesse and Letty were both dead. Both killed by rival gangs. Thus is the life of a street racer, right? But he never thought he'd lose his best friend and his girl over it. He'd done a lot of shit, but he'd give it all to have Letty and Jesse back.
He loved his team. They weren't a family – families fell apart sometimes. They were a team – chosen by everyone and loved by everyone. Things worked best that way, and they'd been rock solid. It was a hard life, and sure they'd gotten pissed and angry, but did anyone ever notice – not one of them ever gave up and left. That's how close they were.
He was randomly flicking through her sent messages when he came upon one to him, that had never gone through. He opened it. It was apparently in the process of sending right when she got in the accident and that hurt a lot – what if the reason she'd been in the accident was because she'd been trying desperately to talk to him?
Mia was passing Dom's office when she saw the look of shock pass his face. She stopped. "Dom?"
He looked up, wild-eyed. "Mia, go see Brian. I'll talk to you in a minute, okay?"
Normal Mia argues the point. Normal Dom doesn't have tears in his eyes, clutching a phone like it's going to kill him if she doesn't go away and let him read in five seconds or less. So, in the interest of saving his sanity, and because her hero complex won't let her see him cry, she leaves. She goes and sits on her falling apart couch with Brian, and she doesn't tell him a thing.
And Dom reads the text message meant for him, hands holding onto Letty's cell phone as tightly as possible, wondering if it's real or not. Because "Dom...I'm pregnant. I miss you, babe. Come home soon." doesn't tell him nearly as much as he wants it to.
And now he's out in the living room. "Did you know she was pregnant?" He throws the question at Brian, who has his arm around Mia, who's watching Dom with the phone still held tightly in one hand.
"Dom."
"Yes or no, O'Connor, did you know?"
He bites his lip, brown eyes meet blue, and the force of the Dom Torretto glare makes him admit it, even though he knows this is probably the end of him.
"Yes."
"You asshole!" And all he wants to do is yank Brian out from under Mia, shove him to the floor and beat him senseless - but instead, he's going to be calm. "Mia, get off him."
"Dom, you can't kill him. He was trying to do the right thing-"
"Mia. Get off of him and go in the kitchen or your room or anywhere not right here."
Because of the almost-tears in his eyes, she's going to hope for the best and get up, to save herself from losing her aforementioned hero complex.
"Get up and fight like a man. You pussy. What the fuck were you thinking, keeping shit like that from me!?"
"Dom, she asked me not to say! She wanted to call you and tell you herself! And... I guess I just assumed she'd gotten to tell you. I'm sorry that message never sent. I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't know!" And he looks like the frightened 25 year old he's always been, even though it's 6 years later and he's got his own kid on the way, and maybe that's what hurts the most, isn't it, Dom?
"There's nothing I'd enjoy more than shoving you into the ground until you can't speak anymore."
"But you're not going to do it."
"I want the kid to have a father. That's the only reason I'm sparing you, I swear."
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me, I may change my mind later. You are one pathetic son of a bitch. How the fuck – did you really not figure something out when I never said anything about losing the kid, just Letty?"
"Honestly, I wasn't thinking about it. I know I ripped up your family, Dom – but it hurt like hell losing her, knowing I was supposed to be keeping her safe for when you came home."
"Fuck. You know, she always loved you. Even when you betrayed Mia, and I.... when you let the team down. She never held it against you. I was actually... happy, when she came back and I knew you were always on the line for her. Because I knew you could make her happy, if something happened to me. It wouldn't be the same kinda love and that shit, because you know I'd make God kill you if you actually tried anything with her – but I trusted you to be able to make her laugh again if I was gone."
"She always brought the best out of everyone – Mia was less neurotic, you were calmer, Vince and Leon stayed sober longer when she was around..."
"She was my best girl – The only opinion I ever took over hers was Mia's, and she accepted that. I loved her." Dom's eyes were downcast.
The pair only looked up when they heard the light footsteps of Mia. "I'm neurotic? I see how it is. Just remember how 'neurotic' I am when I'm having your kid and you have to sit in a hospital room for fucking hours. Then you'll see 'neurotic'."
"I'm sorry, baby." Brian was up off the floor, trying to take her in his arms, and she was having none of it.
Dom would've laughed, but the pain and discussion and hell he'd gone through today had exhausted him. So he gave Brian a smile, told him to keep trying, ("Keep trying? Really, Dom? You can't just let me stay pissed at him for once? You have to make it easier for him?") and laughingly gave his baby sister a kiss on the head before heading upstairs to his bed, where dream of Letty being in his arms kept him contented enough to keep the nightmares at bay for one more night.
A/N: I liked the idea... I actually got it from someone's awesome Claire/Mac CSI:NY story, and so I give credit to whoever's story that is with the cell phone message right before the world falls apart. I fully will give you credit, as soon as I find out who you are again. I have fallen in love with Dotty and Bria. And Jesse. I love Jesse, perhaps I will make a Jesse/Mia fic later. Again, big, big thanks to my beta, Kat, cuz she was sitting at my house reading these a couple nights ago, and she was pointing out my errors, and I was like, well, I'm unbeta'd... she was like, I'll be beta! So, now she's stuck being beta. I love you, Kat!