Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.


Chapter 9

Mia knew that something was wrong when she first watched Letty and Dom pull up on the street. The first thing that caught her attention was the fact that they were riding in separate cars. It was a small thing that Leon dismissed with a side comment about needing an extra car anyway. But he couldn't ignore the space between Dom and Letty. It had pain written all over it. Letty was the first person to reach Mia, Leon, Kendall and Kimberly and hugged them all. Dominic came next, but when their greetings were done, Mia could have fit in between the couple, when usually Dominic makes no room for anyone between him and his Letty. But she wasn't his Letty today.

"Why don't we head in?" Kendall suggested looking suspiciously between the two of them.

They all gathered in the kitchen and Dominic rested at the head of the table.

"So what are we looking at?" Dom asked.

"We are looking to break Vince out of jail," Kimberly responded, "you however are looking at a slow and very painful death."

"Nice seeing you too, Kim," Dom replied.

"And I plan on helping," Kendall interjected. He was in trouble. "Now I've given Leon, the 'I can't believe you were that dumb' speech about ten times now, so after we get Vince out, I'll give it to you both that speech at least twelve and Letty you get the honors of hearing it too. Because I honestly, I can't believe you were that dumb!"

"I think this is going to be your best lecture yet, K," Dom replied.

"How about we worry about the future when it comes," Letty cut in. "We need to go over the game plan."

"Right," Kendall agreed. "So the transfer bus to Lompoc is set to leave around nine in the morning and arrive at the prison at noon. Our best bet is to intercept Vince right before we hit the desert area, which is the halfway point, right Dom?"

Dominic nodded slowly.

"Leon and I picked up some more shot guns," Kendall continued. "I figured we'd have four cars. One in the far front, making sure that no heat is coming from the north end. One car in the far back to check for police from the southern end and then two cars who actually blow out the tires of the transit bus."

"And who's getting V off of the bus?" Letty asked.

"I'll do it," Dominic answered. "It's my responsibility."

It didn't miss Kendall that Letty rolled her eyes at Dominic's statement.

"So then it's settled," Mia said.

"Yeah," Dom agreed. "So we're going have one to a car, expect one car that's doubled? That's only going to leave us with one shooter."

"Actually, it's one two a car, with two doubles," Kendall clarified.

"Two?" Dom asked. "We don't have enough—"

His eyes fell on his younger sister leaning against the door way.

"Hell no."

"Dominic," Kimberly warned.

"Hell yes!" Mia spat back.

"No, how about I make myself perfectly clear: fuck no," Dominic continued. "You are not coming with us Mia."

"And why the hell not? Because I don't belong? Because I'm not cut out for this? Can't you see that none of that matters anymore?" Mia yelled back. "Vince was my friend too!"

"Besides," Kimberly cut in. "We don't have time to find another driver. Mia will be up front, on look out. She'll get the least amount of action. You and Letty will rid together and Leon and Kendall will rid together. I'll take the back end. No if, ands or buts about it. We all clear?"

Although a frown was set on Dominic's face they all nodded in agreement.

"What time is it?" Leon asked.

"Five past six why?" Letty asked.

"Good we have time," Mia said. "C'mon there's somewhere we need to go."

In the dew of the morning Oliver Memorial sat still and at peace. Mia, Leon and the Cadmen sisters led Dom and Letty out to Jesse's graves to finally pay their respects to their lost friend.

Letty reached the grave first and bent down, running her hands lightly over the tombstone. The feeling was almost surreal. She had never guessed that she'd have to live a day without Jesse and his awkwardness or his humor. He'd been her little brother. Someone she could look after the way that the Toretto's and the Cadmen family had looked after her.

Especially one person in particular…

Thinking about him made her heart swell in pain. She had trained herself so well to not let his name come across her thoughts, because the loneness that she felt after his death broke her to the core. He had been her rock. Her best friend and had protected her since she moved onto 7th Ave at the tender age of ten.

Letty hadn't noticed that her feet were slowly moving away from Jesse's grave to the other graves that were placed nearby, straight for Cameron's.

"Not today Letty."

Kendall's words were soft but staccato. She'd seen Letty's wandering gaze over to her younger brother's grave, but Kendall wasn't interested in feeling any unnecessary pain or guilt—especially not before this heist.

Dominic, who was squatted in front of Jesse's grave, gazed over past Letty, to the grave of his long lost friend and sighed. There wasn't enough time to do this right, and with the thoughts of the transit bus bombarding him, Dominic stood up from the grave.

"We need to get going," he said. "We've got quite the day ahead of us. C'mon Letty you're riding with me."

It was a bright, windy day at the pier and two males—one Italian, one African-American, sat across from each other silently eating their food. The ebony skinned man leaned back in his chair after one particular sip of his drink and smiled knowingly at his friend.

"So did you sleep with my sister?" Cameron Cadmen asked.

Dominic rolled his eyes. "Which one?"

"That's disgusting," Cameron replied. "You know who I'm talking about."

In truth Dominic did. By blood Cameron had two older sisters—Kimberly and Kendall, but in all other aspects, Leticia Ortiz was his younger sister.

"What's the question again?"

"Dom," Cameron snapped.

Dominic stopped eating and glared at his friend for a moment before asking, "When did you know that Keiara was what you wanted?"

"Keiara? What does my girlfriend have to do with Letty?" Cameron asked.

"Just answer the question," Dom replied.

"I don't know, um I guess I was at her house working on some project junior year and you know by then, we were already talking. I guess that night as we were working, I sort sat back and just let her talk. And as she was talking, I just thought about all the things I loved about her, all the things that drove me crazy. And as she was rambling and I was thinking, it sort hit me that this was what I wanted. And even if there was something better for me out there, I sure as hell didn't want it."

"Just like that?" Dom asked.

"Yeah, now how about you answer my original question," Cameron replied.

"No."

"No?"

"No, I did not sleep with Letty," Dom responded.

"Ah, I see. Why not?"

"Seriously?" Dom laughed. "You're asking me why I didn't sleep with your little sister?"

"Dominic, I already know you're slow, but I wasn't aware of the fact that you're also deaf," Cameron said. "Seriously, tell me what happened. You guys were in a hotel room together for about a week. Something happened."

"Other than the fact that my dad died this week?" Dominic asked.

Cameron didn't respond verbally, but nodded.

"I don't know," Dom shrugged after a moment. "It's just not the right time, y'know. Life is kinda crazy right now. I just need space. And Letty….she's special. I don't want to fuck things up with her."

Cameron smiled slightly at Dom before responding. "You know Dom, there's going to be a time that something is going to go terribly wrong. And for whatever reason, I'm not going to be there to help you figure things out, and you're going to have to a make a decision that goes just beyond your own welfare, but the welfare of others. Like Letty. And I know that you are capable of making good decisions—the right decision, so when you get to that moment, I really want you to think about what you just said."

The ride out had been awkwardly quiet for Letty and Dom. She refused to look at him or even acknowledge his presence the entire way there and Dominic, himself, had been lost in his own thoughts.

"Letty," Dominic began. "I know that you're sick of me saying this but—"

"If it has the words: I'm and sorry in it, I don't want to hear it. Save your breath for someone who cares," Letty snapped.

"Letty, I know I've been a dick and I haven't made this relationship the easiest," Dominic continued. "But, I am sorry. And I know that there isn't any excuse for what I did, but Letty I know that there isn't a single woman out there who gives a shit like you do, and I don't want to lose that."

"Here's the problem Dominic," Letty snapped. "You spin these tales all the fucking time. But there's never any action! Unless it has something to do with you and the bed sheets!"

Dominic sighed. He knew that this battle wouldn't be easy, but he knew more importantly that he couldn't lose her. Letty was too damn important to him.

"Kimberly, where the hell is this bus?" Leon complained over the walkie-talkies they were using. "It's been almost an hour. It should have been here by now."

Leon's interruption would have just been ignored by Dom, and he would have been able to go back to his conversation with Letty if Kimberly had given a response along the lines of, "Can it Leon and be patient", instead of the response that they did get—nothing.

"Kimberly?" Kendall called into the two way radio. "Kimberly, come in."

There was no response.

"She probably forgot to put the batteries in," Dom sighed.

"But Kimberly is the smart one," Leon replied. "After all I thought it was Kadeem who was the stupid one."

"Kimberly doesn't do well with electronics," Letty said.

"Besides," Kendall added, "Kadeem is the one with the big mouth. Don't you just love our family?"

"Yeah, and I like a hell of a lot more when one of us isn't behind bars," Dom snapped.

Letty snorted and Kendall simultaneously snapped over the two-way, "Welcome to my life!"

"Just call your sister," Dominic snapped back.

"You better slow your roll, Neanderthal," Kendall warned.

Dominic sighed and turned back to Letty who was starring out the passenger window.

"So where are you going to go?" Dom asked. "If you leave, I mean."

"When I leave," Letty corrected, "I'll probably head south, back down to the Dominican Republic. I've got some old friends down there who run a garage. I'll see if they need any help."

Dom opened his mouth to reply with Kendall's voice cut through the radio again.

"No response," Kendall announced.

"How many times did you call?" Letty asked.

"Three times. She didn't pick up."

"That's strange," Letty said. "She usually picks up by the third time."

"Unless she left it," Dom said.

"No, I remember her having it."

"Whoo hoo!" Leon cheered over the radio.

"What?" Dom asked.

"The truck has just been spotted," Kendall answered. "We're heading your way."

"Alright, Mia where are you?" Dom asked over the radio.

"I'm about ten miles up," Mia replied, "in the bushes. There's no activity on the scanners."

"Alright you stay there Mia and when we've got him, I'll give you the word to follow Kendall out."

"Everything is going to be fine Dom," Mia said.

"After this, hell yeah it will be," Dom replied.

Letty reached into the back seat where one of the shotguns that Leon had purchased lay.

"You sure you don't want shoot?" Letty asked putting in the rounds.

"No, I'm good," Dom replied. "Besides, I'm sure you have a much better aim right now."

Experience had taught all of them that a pissed Letty, was also a dangerously accurate Letty.

Letty smirked slightly. "Good point."

The bus drove past their hiding place not too much longer and Dominic's engine roared to life and sped on to the road. After he passed Kendall and Leon he drove the car to the transit bus' left side near the back, where Letty's first target was.

"The police scanner just went off, Dom," Mia called through the radio. "The transit bus just called into Lompoc about suspicious behavior on route."

"Alright everybody," Dominic called through the two-way. "Let's make this clean and quick."

Letty rolled the window all the way and pushed her torso as far as possible out the window with the gun outside the window in her ready hands.

"You ready Leon?" Dom asked.

"We're a go," Kendall replied.

"Alright, let's hit it."

Letty's shot went first and with a dead accuracy, the first of the back end tires groaned from the hit and went out. But with another seven tires still rolling, the truck still moved at a reasonable speed.

Leon's shot was not so accurate.

He too, pushed his head outside of the window with the gun, but his aim was screwed by the harsh impact that was felt after the rumble of another engine came and Kimberly ran her bumper into Kendall's.

"What the hell is she doing?" Kendall yelled as Leon swore.

"What's going on back there?" Dom asked.

"It's Kimberly," Kendall replied. "She's caught up with us and ran into by back end."

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Letty snapped in the background.

"We don't have time to worry about her," Dom said. "Leon I need you to get that shot."

As Leon pulled his torso back out of the window on the right side, Letty did the same on the left and her flawless shot took out the second of the back tires on the left side.

"Leon, how are we doing with that shot?" Dom asked.

Kimberly, having seen that Leon was pulling out again for another attempt, swung to the right and ran her car in to Kendall's. She wished that their windows had not been the dark tinted windows that Leon had insisted on. Maybe then she would have been able to get their attention without destroying their cars.

Kendall's car jolted again. Kimberly pulled back and swung right headed for Dom and Letty.

"What is with your sister?" Leon snapped pulling back into the car.

Kendall frowned. It wasn't like Kimberly to just sabotage something like this. Family meant everything to her. If she didn't love Vince like a brother she wouldn't be out here. So Kendall doubted that there was some secret agenda that Kimberly had. No, the only reason Kim would try to stop this was if…

"Leon," Kendall said. "I want you to look out of your window and count the heads on the bus."

"What?"

"Just count the heads on the bus!" Kendall snapped.

Leon did as he was told and stuck his head back out.

"Three," Leon replied. "Why? What's wrong with three people on a tran…oh shit."

"Oh shit is right," Kendall groaned, "because why would there be only three people on a transit bus to Lompoc. We've been set up."

On the other side, Dominic was pulling up to the front of the bus and Letty was leaning out the window ready to take her next shot.

"Dom, don't do it!" Kendall's voice yelled over the two-way. "It's a set up."

"What?" Dom yelled back. Letty froze midway out of the window. She pushed the gun back into the car and pushed her body further out and looked up. Her eyes met instantly with one of the three men on the bus. He was holding a gun.

"Shit!"

Letty pulled back in and grabbed the wheel, spinning the car away from the bus. Dominic threw the car in reverse as Mia's panicked voice came over the two-way.

"Oh my god. Dom it's the police. They're already here!"

"That's impossible Mia," Dom replied. "Lompoc is an hour away."

"They had to have been waiting for us," Letty reasoned. "They knew we were coming. We ran into blitz."

"Mia where are you?" Dom demanded.

"There were so many," Mia replied. "I couldn't just stay there. I had to run."

"Dom we have to get her out of there," Letty snapped.

Dom hit the gas. "Mia hang on we're coming."

As the raced to get in front of the bus, Letty stuck the gun out of the window and blindingly shot three shots.

"I want to keep it where it is," she explained when Dom gave her a look. Kendall and Kimberly's car were now behind them and not too far in the distance they could all see the flashing lights.

"Damn how many is that?" Leon asked over the radio.

"I'm counting ten," Letty answered, "maybe eleven."

"Letty I need you to work that aim," Dom said. "A collision on their part would do us some good right about now."

Letty leaned out of the window with the shotgun in arm. She waited until Dom sped closer before she put the gun in aim.

"Letty now!" Dom roared.

An explosion erupted from the semi-automatic as the bullet shot out headed straight for the police car to the right of Mia.

"Mia, move to your left!"

Mia's car moved just in time to avoid the collision that trapped two police cars in addition to the car that as it was hit, flipped over.

Right before Letty had taken her shot, Kendall had ordered Leon to hop into the back seat with Ol' Susana at the ready. In the split second that the officers were distracted by the collision of three, Kendall stopped the car and Leon hopped out, aimed low and struck under car near the engine, sending it in the air as well. From Kimberly's point of view it seemed like the officers were trying to play some version of "Pop Goes the Weasel."

"Kendall, watch out!" Dominic yelled over the two-way.

The warning came a second too late. Although Kendall was able to dodge the police car that was coming from the west, Leon was left in the middle of the playing field, dodging the bullets that were coming his way. He was a fish out of water.

Lucky for him, Dominic's car came roaring through and when the back door swung open, he gladly hopped in.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Letty snapped loading more rounds from the front seat.

"Mia, where are you?" Dom called through the two-way.

"She's behind me," Kendall replied back as Mia also answered, "I'm trailing Kendall."

"Alright Kendall lead her out to the highway and get the hell out of here," Dom ordered.

Kimberly's car now led Kendall's and Mia's as the sped back towards Los Angeles. Dominic wildly turned the car around and revved the engine a few times before sticking his hand out of the window and flicking off the police officers. His hand jetted back in to avoid another shot aimed his way, but since Letty took over the wheel and gas, Dom was able to save his hand and his car.

"What was the point of that?" Letty snapped as Dom threw the car in reverse and turned around.

"I don't want them following the wrong car," Dominic explained. "Now they know it's me."

Dominic's car raced to catch up with Mia's, Kendall's and Kimberly's on the high way. The seven police cars followed them hungrily until the group split up. Four police cars followed Dom on to the Solvang exit while the remaining three followed the girls as they sped down the freeway.

With only four left, Letty stepped into the backseat with Leon and picked up the shot gun again.

"What are you doing Letty?" Dom asked.

"Hold the door open," she commanded ignoring Dominic. Leon opened the back door and Letty pushed her torso out car, with her back parallel to the road.

"Grab a hold of her waist," Dom snapped from the front.

Letty aimed the gun again, and shot the nearest police car. The car didn't topple over but it did start a car collision, which caught another one of the police officers. Letty aimed to fire another again, when a bullet exploded from one of the police cars hitting Letty's gun. In shock, the gun fell from Letty's hand and Leon pulled her back in.

"Letty baby, are you alright?" Leon asked.

"I'm fine," Letty replied sitting up. "How many are left?"

"Two," Dom replied. "We can shake them."

"I don't want to take any chances," Letty said crawling over to the opposite side of the back seat. "Slow down Dom."

"Why?" Dom demanded.

"Just do it Dominic!"

"Not until you tell me why!"

"Dom, trust me!"

Dominic's grip on the wheel tightened as the car slowed down. When it came to a reasonable speed, Letty opened the door and jumped out, rolling against the dirt and sand.

The impact shot pain through her body, but especially her ribs, which were still healing from the past week. She groaned and slowly got up, spitting blood from her mouth. As she expected a police car was pulling over to arrest her. God must be smiling at her today—or at least he was being merciful. There was only one cop in the car.

"Put your hands on your head," the officer commanded. "And walk slowly towards the vehicle."

Letty did as commanded with no complaint or smart remarks. When she reached the car, the officer pulled out the handcuffs. As he clasped one of her arms around the cool metal, Letty pushed her elbow backwards into his chest and twisted her body and shoving the man against the ground. The officer staggered away from her and then as he came back, Letty's fist flew across his face and her right came in contact harshly with the man's groin.

The officer groaned in pain and the gun in his right hand slipped from his grasp into her own. She kicked the officer to the ground but not spare anymore time for him. Instead she hopped into his car and sped down the road.

In minutes she could see Dominic being trailed by the other police officer and when they were in sight the police scanner went off.

"Petersons, come up closer. I'm going to try to swing him," the officer said.

Letty advanced in the car, but instead of swinging to the right, she followed the police car in front of her and ran right into its bumper.

The car in front of her fell to the side for a moment before coming back.

Dominic swerved his car to the right and hit the reverse as Letty plowed forward. Both of them hit the police car around the same time, squishing the car and sending it flying like a pop fly.

Letty quickly abandoned the car, and hopped back into Dominic's in the front seat.

"Not bad Letty," Leon complimented as Dominic sped off.

"I'm glad to have your approval," Letty replied breathless. Dominic wordlessly put her hand in his, but Letty removed her hand from his grasp. The pain was too fresh and after their run with the police, she had no room for sympathy.

"So what next?" Leon asked. "Do we just run south and give up on Vince?"

"We're running north to the nearest garage," Dominic replied. "We need to switch cars. We'll head back to L.A. this evening. I came back to get Vince, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."


This is easily the longest chapter I've ever written for one of my stories. Sorry it took so long, life has been pretty hetic on my end and I'm just trying to keep my head above water. Although hopefully I'm forgiven for giving you such an incredibly long chapter. I feel really bad about not being able to introduce Cameron Cadmen the way I wanted to (that's what happens when you tell the story out of order) but for anyone who did pick up on it. Cameron was the youngest of the Cadmen clan, who grew up closely with Dom and Vince. He was also really close to Letty, whom he took under his wing as his little sister. But all of this will be explained in detail when I start The Forbidden Apple which will show Dom and Letty's beginning. You can look for that in the near future. And as always thank you for reviewing. Those reviews are amazing, it always puts a smile on my face. Well, I hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to review again!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter