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Chapter Quote:
"You can't just climb in the rink with Ali 'cause you think you can box."
~Jesse, Fast and Furious

Chapter 14

Jackson

I'd found an abandoned warehouse when I was running from Lynch's crew that I took refuge in. I slipped myself into a tiny spot that hopefully would hide me until Ember and crew came to rescue me. I just prayed that I hadn't left a blood trail after having been shot in the shoulder. Overall I felt fine but blood was continuously coming out of the wound and sooner or later, the loss of blood was going to start affecting me. It was also a miracle I'd even been able to outrun them considering I'd severely twisted my ankle trying to escape them.

"Find him!" Jenkins barked. He was the head tech guy for Lynch. The only person I knew so far that could give him a run for his money and win was Tej. Peeking through a small crack in my hiding spot, I could see Kaiser slinking around the room I was in. My breath stopped, fear coursing through my veins because if he found me, I was dead. Unlike the others, he was here to kill. Lynch wanted my head but he wanted to take it himself. Since Kaiser figured out that it was me who helped Jace and Brandon escape who proceeded to kick his ass, he had personal bone to pick with me.

With the worst timing possible, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Kaiser turned his head ever so slightly but it was obvious he heard. Miraculously, he started moving towards the other side of the room. Taking advantage of the moment, I slipped my hand into my pocket and read the text from Ember.

You're far away from the main door right?? It read. I frowned in confusion at it. She already knew the directions to get to me in the building. Why did she need to know whether or not it was close to the main door? I replied to her that I wasn't sure to which she answered.

Yes. I'm on the second floor. I answered, becoming more and more suspicious of her plan.

Oh then we're fine. See you soon. She sent back.

Ember what are you doing? I responded. She didn't reply but it didn't take me long to figure out why. All of a sudden, there was a massive crash downstairs. Kaiser immediately ran out of the room to see what the commotion was. Hardly twenty seconds later, there was the distinct sound of gunfire. I swear there was at least one machine gun down there but to my knowledge, none of Lynch's men had one that sounded as powerful as the one I was hearing.

"Jackson?!" A voice whispered loudly. "Where are you?!"

"Come on man! The girls are badass but they can't hold Lynch's men off forever. Sooner or later they're going to figure out it's a diversion!" Another voice called out quietly.

"Brandon? Jace?" I queried, stepping out from my hiding spot. The two boys whirled around, guns pointed at me, but they lowered their weapons once they realized it was me.

"Dude you look like shit," Brandon remarked.

I glared at him. "Want me to shoot you and see how you feel?"

"I already fell through a roof. I'm good."

"Speaking of rooves, let's get up to the roof here and rappel down," Jace encouraged.

"We're doing what now?" I asked, hobbling after them as fast as I could as I followed them to our escape route.

"We used some of those rope gun things to get ourselves up here. We're going to use them to get down as well."

"Guys, I don't know if you realize this, but I was shot. In the shoulder. I do not have the strength at the moment to rappel myself down the side of a building."

"Really? I had no idea you were shot," Brandon stated sarcastically.

"Can I shoot him?" I asked Jace.

"No, we need him. Also, don't think Ember would appreciate it and then she'd shoot you. Probably in your other shoulder," Jace responded. We ran up to the roof where we peered over the side of the building. Whether it was the realization of how high up we were, or the amount of blood loss, I wasn't quite sure but all of sudden my world started spinning. If it hadn't been for Jace and Brandon, I would've fallen over the side of the building out of sheer dizziness.

"How much blood have you lost?" Jace demanded.

"I don't know. Probably over half a liter, maybe one," I admitted.

"I think you're closer to one. You need that bullet out and the wound stitched ASAP." He pulled up the rope and tied it around my waist. "Okay, Brandon and I are going to lower you down. Then we'll rappel down and get in our ride. Got it?"

"Make sure he doesn't drop me. I have a feeling he wants to," I muttered. Brandon and I glared at each other but Jace assured me that he wouldn't let Brandon drop me. I took a deep breath and climbed over the side of the building. Slowly but swiftly, they lowered me down to the ground. While they came down the side of the building themselves, I untied the rope from around my waist. Jace quickly took his phone out of his pocket when he landed, barely had it out five seconds before shoving it back in his pocket. He and Brandon proceeded to wrap my arms around their shoulders. Pain tore through my shoulder but it was the only way they could quickly get me to our ride so I clenched my teeth to get through the pain. As we rounded a corner, a massive armored tank/SUV reversed out of an enormous hole in the side of the building I'd just been in. The car door flew open, revealing a girl who shouted, "Get in!"

The boys and I obeyed without hestitation. The girl slammed the door shut as someone else put the pedal to metal and floored it away.

"You three okay?" Ember queried from the front seat. Ah, so she was driving…

"We need to get him back to base. He's lost at least a liter of blood and is still losing," Jace informed.

"Guys, they're following us!" Brandon exclaimed right as bullets hit the rear window.

"What is this thing?" I asked.

"One of Hobbs' armored tank SUVs. We might have temporarily misappropriated it," Ember answered nonchalantly as she turned left onto a hill.

"You mean you stole it?"

"Basically."

"Why are you turning up a hill? Their cars are lighter than ours and won't have as much trouble pulling this hill!" Brandon pointed out.

"Oh I know. We're not going all the way up. Can you three duck down so I can see out the back window?" she requested.

"What are you doing, Em?" Jace groaned as he pulled me down.

"Oh nothing. Just hang onto something." Ember put the car into reverse, once more flooring it. Instantly I knew what she was doing, so I braced myself for impact. About ten seconds later, the tank smashed into the first of Lynch's SUVs. Ember maneuvered the tank around so she was heading back down to the original destination with the remainder of Lynch's crew having to get around the wrecked SUV.

"They're still catching up to us," the unfamiliar girl remarked.

"I have a plan for that too. Jackson, think you can hold on for a little while longer?" Ember questioned.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because we need to take a detour to remind Lynch he's not in America anymore." Ember made a few more turns before pulling up to what appeared to be a… racing scene? She came to a skidding stop and hopped out of the driver's seat. The rest of us followed suit.

"Sam, sneak around when they arrive and sabotage their cars so they can't follow us when we leave," Ember ordered. The girl who had been with us nodded, disappearing easily into the crowd.

"Ember, what is this?" A man called out, approaching us.

"Diogo, just the person I wanted to see. Don't worry, I'm not here to win your car again. I need your help with something. Want to show off your power against some punks who think they own this place?"

"What did you and family get into now?"

"I beat a heist team's best racer and now they want to recruit me but I don't want to join."

"You're lucky I like you."

"My uncle would also kill you if you didn't," she joked. With that said, Jace and Brandon flanked Ember while I leaned against the side of the tank for support as I was slowly beginning to lose my alertness of the whole situation. They were all armed; I could see the guns hidden in the back of their jeans.

A few moments later, three SUVS appeared, one of which Lynch exited from. He had a grin on his face that made me worry for Ember's well-being.

"That was brash, Toretto. You pull that off by yourself?" Lynch asked.

"I led the crusade, but I didn't pull it off alone," Ember said icily.

"Where's your family? Your uncle Dom? Your aunt Letty? Your mom? Your godfather? Let me guess, they don't know you're here."

"They don't need to. I can handle myself."

Lynch smirked. He proceeded to turn his attention on me. "Jackson, what are you doing?"

"Just taking some me time," I said casually. "Away from the killing and robbing."

"You could've been great, son. But you had to go and betray me for these fools?"

"These people are not fools. If they were, they'd be dead by now."

"Do they know about Jack? Or about Brian?"

"Don't speak about my brother or my father. You destroyed them both," Ember snarled, advancing on Lynch.

"And what are you going to do about it? You're not in America anymore. You don't own these streets."

"You're right, I'm not in America anymore; I don't own these streets. But you're forgetting one thing too: you are not in America either. And here?" Ember threw out her arms. As if on cue, every racer circling us raised a gun aimed at Lynch and his team. "You're in Brazil! Here? We have the upper hand. Because we have something you don't."

"Oh? What would that be?" Lynch asked.

"Respect. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go take care of Jackson to make sure he doesn't bleed out. I'd say don't try and follow us but pretty sure my friends will take care of that."

Ember turned around, walking towards the tank when Lynch called out, "You tell her about her dad, Jackson?"

At the mention of her dad, Ember turned around.

"You mean the guy I haven't seen since you took him? No, I didn't. He's dead, Lynch. You killed him. Just like you killed her brother," I growled.

"Are you sure about that, boy?"

Without warning, Ember sucker-punched him in the side of the head. It stunned Lynch as he staggered sideways. I couldn't see Ember's face but taking her posture into account, it was obvious it was taking all her willpower not to shoot him.

"Leave my brother and my father out of this. Don't mistake me leaving you alive for mercy. Next time we meet, next time I have an opportunity to kill you, I won't hesitate. You killed my father, took my brother, and nearly destroyed my family. I will end you for that."

Ember spun around, heading back to the car. Sam slipped next to me, helping me in the backseat. Jace and Brandon followed suit. Just as Ember pulled up alongside Lynch, she rolled down the window and said nonchalantly, "I hope you brought some spare tires."

She then proceeded to drive off.

"What happened to the tires?"

"I let the air out of them," Sam said.

"Em, you okay?" Jace questioned softly.

"Fine. Let's get Jackson back to base because if he loses anymore blood, he's going to die," she responded.

"Oh, great," I muttered, closing my eyes as a new wave of pain hit me. The effects of blood loss were becoming more obvious not just to me but to my comrades as well. I wondered how fast we were going because despite how far their base seemed to be, it didn't take us long to get there…

"Let's hope our parents aren't here," Brandon remarked.

"Their cars aren't back so we're fine. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission anyway. Whatever punishment I incur, it'll be worth it. I wasn't letting Jackson be killed by those monsters," Ember stated. They helped me into the base which turned out to be another warehouse, but much better maintained. They placed me on the couch where Sam proceeded to give me medical attention. Ember helped while Jace and Brandon watched. After an hour of removing the bullet, disinfecting the wound, stitching it up, and wrapping my twisted ankle with an ankle wrap, I was commanded to rest. That was fine by me. My shower could come in the morning. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I was jarred awake by the door being thrown open. Ember, Jace, Brandon, and Sam all stood up, guns out. However, they lowered them when a deep voice demanded, "What happened?"

"Dom, remember how I said one of Lynch's crew members saved mine and the boys' lives?" Ember replied calmly.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Lynch found out he was helping and went after him. He got shot and called me. We went and rescued him."

"He's here?" Another deep voice demanded.

"Hobbs, he's on our side," Ember insisted. "And yes, he's here."

"Where is he?" Dom asked.

"I'm here, sir," I replied, forcing myself up into sitting position. Ember stood protectively in front of me but that didn't stop me from continuing to stand up to show myself to the alpha Toretto.

"Jackson?" Hobbs said. "Jackson is the guy that was helping you?"

"He saved my life. More than once. He helped Jace and Brandon escape when they were captured too. He's how we knew about the trackers on the GPS systems in our cars. Please just hear him out. And don't shoot him."

"We'll decide whether or not we're going to shoot him after Hobbs and I talk to him. Alone," Dom added when Ember was about to say something.

"Go to your rooms. All of you," Mia directed. "Ember, you and I are going to have a talk later."

Ember, the boys, and Sam skulked off, but not before Ember gave me a hug and whispered in my ear that she was glad I was okay. Her affection towards me took me aback, especially since she'd just done that in front of her family.

"Sit, boy," Hobbs instructed. I did as I was told. The Torettos approached me like a wolf pack surrounding its prey. I tried not to squirm.

Dom was the first to speak. "You tell us what happened and why you chose to help my niece. Make sure you choose your words very carefully."

Taking a deep breath, I started my story.

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