Author's Note: I don't own any of these characters. So there.

This is a companion piece that I wrote over the weekend for my old story The Ritual. The modified name seemed fitting. I guess seeing the movie was a good muse catalyst (although this story doesn't have anything to do with the movie unless you want it to).

Thanks as always to my beta for giving this a once over. We're both sorry for the grammar/typos in our hurry to edit. I hope you enjoy it. Reviews are welcome if you have the time/inclination.

Companion Peace

He would never get tired of lying silently in her arms. They spoke through caresses across each other's worn bodies and hot breaths against damp skin. He loved to trail his fingers from the crevice of her breasts further downward until he reached the taut smoothness below her belly button.

Going any lower would only get them started again, not that he minded much.

But tonight wasn't about pushing themselves to the limit. It was so easy to let their shared desire carry the burden of their tired bodies over and over again as they found their release with each other. But there were plenty of other times for that. What they didn't get often enough was space alone where they could simply be. They were unconstrained by the images they created for themselves to maintain the lifestyle upon which they had grown accustomed. Forgotten were their responsibilities and emotional scars. Well, maybe not all of them but enough. They could talk about the things they normally feared would be overheard and the things they feared to even speak outright. Their conversations were uttered with reverence -- family, love, life. Future.

They shifted slightly so that he could feel all the best parts of her body against his. She held him loosely, his back lying against her front as she cradled his sturdy form in her arms. Physical satisfaction radiated off of them as they relished the intimacy they were finally being allowed to experience after so many weeks of tension.

It had been another intense night at the races, fun but hectic and heated. The usual happenings made the night unspectacular but the relief from all that activity was particularly welcome. Each had hung out with old friends and acquaintances; the usual skanks tried to make time with Dom only to have Letty shoo them away like the parasitic flies they were. Dom, of course, feigned exasperation with his fiery girlfriend but they both knew he got off on her possessiveness. The parties that had stretched late into the night had been good. Or at least the parts that they had experienced had been good. As was their not uncommon habit, they disappeared together well before the last song was played.

And then there was the adrenaline of the race itself. It didn't matter what circumstances found either of them racing behind the wheel of a car, they were going to push it to the extreme.

That's what made their comedown together so explosive. They could feel in the other the power of the rush, more a quiet intensity in Dom while Letty possessed a playful wildness. In the quarter mile, they were alone in their car, experiencing the thrill of the ride. In the bedroom, they had each other and an entirely different yet no less exciting ride in which to get lost.

Dom smiled thinking about the places to which his Letty had just taken him. After being together for so long, one would think their sex life would be boring. Except he made it a personal mission every once in a while to elicit that slight, sensual intake of breath when he pleasured her in a way that's completely unexpected. He'd savor the expression of lust on her face and commit it to memory.

However, tonight, she had been the one full of surprises.

Someone had recently asked Dom, as tactfully as possible, why he chose to be in a serious relationship rather than to sample the spoils of the countless women who would no doubt jump at the chance to get into his bed. It wasn't just the racer skanks that Dom denied, but many of the women he came in contact with -- store clerks, bank tellers, neighbors, even some of his buddies' girlfriends. Why bother with one girl when you could have so many?

Dom's response was simple enough in his mind. Why bother with so many women when you've got everything you need at home?

Letty got similar questions about why she put up with all the girls hanging on Dom and always having to look over her shoulder for someone trying to take her place. Dom could be callous, controlling, and he wasn't exactly a sweetheart when it came to her hanging out with other guys that weren't part of their close circle of friends. Still, to Letty, it was all just appearances because she never would have started something with Dom if she hadn't trusted him. And that just got stronger with time even if she did have to remind him to stop using his natural charm to encourage his hoes.

Sure they fought a lot but they had done that even before there was any serious romantic interest between them. They had caused a few scenes at the races and at the parties in their time too. But the truth of the matter was that they were one of the most boring couples ever. Anybody that knew them would say so. Behind closed doors there was very little drama. Their support of each other and their friends was background noise at this point. They didn't flaunt their relationship. That kind of insecure acting out was a thing of the past for the most part. They didn't hide it either. Letty didn't spend her time up Dom's ass in public unless she thought he was getting a little too friendly with the ladies. And Dom left her alone to have her own identity. But they were affectionate and familiar in a way that suggested their underlying intimacy. They had been friends and family long before they were lovers and their private life reflected that history. People knew them as these passionate individuals, however, there was a quietness in the way they treated each other that was sometimes hard to believe.

It was that quietness that surrounded the couple at the late hour after spending a hard night taking of life and of each other.

"Hey, what are you thinking so hard about?" Letty asked from behind him. She was looking down into his grinning face with an amused expression of her own.

He slid his fingers across the arms wrapped around his chest and grasped her hands in his. "Nothing," he growled softly into the crook of her neck. "Just enjoying myself I guess."

"Still!" Her chuckle was low and sweet to his ears and he couldn't help but join in.

"What can I say? You're that good, baby,"

She leaned down and kissed him quickly on the lips. "Damn straight, papi." She leaned her cheek against the top of his head and gently kissed him once more.

They lay in silence for long moments, lost in their own thoughts and the comfort of the early morning. It was nice to have someone you could do that with.

Dom brought one of her hands up to his lips and placed a soft kiss onto her palm. "I saw you earlier, you know. When you were out back with Ana."

Letty's brow furrowed in confusion and she lifted her head up again to look down at him. "You mean right before we went to eat? I didn't know you were home then. I thought you were still at the garage?"

"Naw. I had popped in for a second but then forgot my wallet back at the shop. So I met up with you guys later." In fact, he had only been at the house for about 2 minutes when he spotted Letty and her friend Ana out in the back. He had been about to announce himself when he saw Letty pick up Ana's 18 month old daughter and begin to coo at her and play. He had been completely unprepared for the emotional punch in the gut seeing her like that had caused. "You looked cute holding that baby." There. He had said it.

Letty's face broke out in a rich smile that made Dom's heart beat a little faster. "Yeah, right," she giggled skeptically. "It wasn't too terrible catching up with her and holding the baby though. She was so tiny the last time I saw her. I guess kids grow fast or something." Ana was a friend of Letty's from high school that had actually gotten things right in her life. She went to college and got her degree in accounting before finding her dream man and starting a family. Letty was happy for her because she had always considered Ana to be good people even if the life her friend lived was worlds different than hers.

"Don't worry, Dom. I didn't go getting any ideas," she said with mirth while running her foot up and down Dom's leg. She laughed imagining his fear at seeing her having such a good time with little Sonia. She was sure anyone would be shocked seeing her so chummy with a little baby. It seemed so ... not Letty. He had probably been expecting the "baby talk" any second now.

Dom pulled her hand a little to get her attention. "Would it really be so bad getting a few ideas," he asked carefully. He didn't know how she would react to that kind of admission. They made jokes and talked generally about them getting married and having a family. It wasn't an uncomfortable conversation. But lately, he had been looking at her and thinking some pretty serious thoughts.

"Are you for real, Dom? What happened to living life a quarter mile at a time? We can barely take care of ourselves, much less a baby."

"I'm not talking about tomorrow, Lett'. I'm just saying that, you know, do you ever think about that being a part of us?"

Letty remained silent, thinking honestly and seriously about his question. "I don't know. I guess." The truth was that she was afraid to think thoughts like that. Sure she loved Dom and she didn't foresee them breaking up any time soon. But she was scared to want that kind of life with him. Or more truthfully, she was scared that he wouldn't want that kind of life with her. "I figured that kind of talk would send you running," she responded finally.

Dom sighed and thought about what she had revealed. "It probably would have at times."

"But not now?" she inquired hesitantly.

Dom was having a hard time putting into words how he felt about the situation. "I guess when I saw you with that kid it ... it just got me thinking is all." He didn't know how to tell her about the intensity of his emotions at seeing her holding a child. And it was a laughing, happy child that could very well be theirs if they decided they wanted it badly enough. "I thought maybe it could be something that you would want. Someday."

Letty smiled down into his questioning face, amused by his apprehension but invigorated about what his thoughts revealed. Her smile grew until she was laughing at the thought of them raising a couple of kids. "I can see us running after a mini-Dom or mini-Letty." Dom grinned at the image as well. "I'm sure we'd get double payback for how bad we were as kids."

"How bad we still are now," he added and he joined in her laughter. "They'd probably be complete bad-asses."

"Or complete Poindexters. It would be fitting for us to have tragically uncool kids."

"And they'd get so frustrated with their crazy, old mom and dad that they'd go running to their Aunt Mia to bitch about us." Letty giggled over that too, both feeling content and spirited over the fantasy.

On the one hand it wasn't such a big deal to be thinking about family. It was a natural progression after the many years they'd been together. But on the other hand, the idea of bringing kids into the world in which they currently lived was unfathomable. They lived hard and fast and even though it was clear they loved each other, that was enough for now. Letty lightly kissed the crown of Dom's head again, staving off the weightiness of their silence.

Dom turned in her embrace, now sliding over her naked body with his own. He reached up and gently stroked her cheek before kissing her deeply. He pulled away and looked her in the eyes, now so full of love and passion. God how he loved her beautiful eyes.

"I can say one thing for sure, Lett'. I don't spend too much time looking past tomorrow. You know that. But when I do, you're always there." He ran his fingers slowly through her hair before again framing her face with his hand. "No matter what, you'll always be by my side." Neither had any way of knowing what was in store for them but they both understood that Dom meant what he had just said. Every word.

Letty smiled sweetly at him and then slowly devoured his waiting lips while caressing his head lovingly.

"Even when we're all old and cranky," she asked playfully after they broke to take in deep breaths of each other. She could imagine the arguments they would continue, even when they were in their golden years.

He chuckled, deep and soft. "Even when we're too blind and slow to drive."

"Yeah right! We'll burn out before then. I guarantee that." Letty couldn't imagine a scenario where they weren't able to tear up the streets, especially Dom. After his stint in prison, his freedom at the wheel of a car meant everything. It's all they knew since they were kids.

"Maybe. But I guess I'm stuck with your trifling ass." His words would have been harsh if he weren't also trailing his tongue down her neck, kissing and nipping her along the way. "I don't know how I put up with you." He even had to laugh at himself over that one since it was clear from his body's reaction that he put up with her just fine. "The next thing you know, we'll be settled down, working in offices. The kids will be running in the yard and you'll be in the house cooking or sewing or whatever the fuck regular people do." His caresses became more insistent at the images he was conjuring up in jest. Apparently, the idea of a domesticated Letty was something that turned him on beyond belief. "We'll have to go to PTA meetings and bake sales," he murmured between kisses along her jaw and earlobe. "Take the kids to church every Sunday." Throughout his joking, he could feel the vibrations of her husky laugh against his lips as he continued to lick down her throat.

She cradled his head in her hands, guiding him down to the cleft of her breasts which was his favorite spot to nuzzle. Their laughter died down and a satisfied silence fell upon them once again while their bodies built up to a slow, heated frenzy.

Before their pleasure consumed them, Letty gave a final thought to the picture Dom painted of their life together, free of the danger and unpredictability they lived with now. "You never know," she finally concluded.

He stopped his exploration to gaze back up at those beautiful eyes of hers. Her strong yet flushed features were fixed intently on him. But he could see the tenderness and love behind her expression. It was the face of his future.

"Yeah, you never do."

The End