Thanks for all the awesome reviews! Special shout-out to Shawnied77 - Your long and detailed reviews make me so excited to keep writing! Thanks for the continuous love.

Chapter 24- Taking the High Ground

The family was still gathered around the table twenty minutes after all the food was gone, each too stuffed or too comfortable to move. The conversations were light and playful, with back-and-forth banter going on between Leon, Dom, and Mia. Leon had brought up old memories of life at the Fort, and though some were hard to talk about, especially without Vince or Jesse, it was nice to reminisce on their life before crime.

"Damn, Mia girl. You really put your foot in that spaghetti," Leon smiled while rubbing his full belly. The rest of the boys agreed, each passing by and dropping a kiss on Mia's cheek as they helped clear the table.

"It's been a while since I've cooked a big dinner," Mia replied as she wiped the sloppy kisses from her face with a napkin. "Haven't had many guests to cook for."

"Well, we are all willing to be your dinner guests whenever you feel like cooking," James added as he flicked another piece of garlic bread in his mouth.

"We'll I'd love to stay and chit-chat, but I have to go prepare myself for the Twink Show," Twinkie said cockily as he stood from the table. "Germany has some beautiful women and I plan on meeting each and every one of them, starting tonight."

"Is he always this cocky?" Mia asked to no one in particular as the others began dispersing from the room.

"Remind you of someone?" Letty mumbled under her breath, receiving a kick under the table from Mia.

"All right, I'm gonna call Alvaro. Get this shit over with," Leon grumbled as he stood from the table, taking a beer with him on his way to the kitchen for privacy.

"I'm gonna put Brook to bed," Brian said as he lifted his daughter from her mother's lap. He dropped a kiss on Mia's lips before disappearing from the room.

"I guess I'll start on these dishes," Mia said none too happily as she stood from the table.

"Nonsense, Mia," James interjected, "Rob and Jerry – you guys are on dish-duty tonight."

Virtually, the room was emptied aside from Letty, Dom, and Julian being left at the table. Julian was on Dom's lap, his head bobbing back and forth as he tried desperately to stay awake. It was clear he didn't want to miss a moment with his dad as he clung to Dom's finger with a vice grip. With bread crumbs and potato salad plastering his sleepy face, Dom conceded that it was time for bed for the tot.

He looked in Letty's direction, where she was picking at her fingernails with a dinner knife. He couldn't stop the smile curving on his lips as he thought of the many arguments between Letty and Mia over personal hygiene at the dinner table. He knew she did it at times just to irk Mia. Dom knew it was also a bad habit of hers when she was nervous or uncomfortable.

"Does he have a bedtime?" he asked casually, not wanting to elicit any unwanted feelings from her.

"Haven't really had time to really drill in it. Our schedule has been a little jumbled lately," Letty replied, her voice cold and monotonous. "I'm sure he'd pass out right now, though."

"Do you want me to take him up to bed?" Dom asked, moving his chair away from the table.

"Sure. I'll find him some pajamas to put on."

Letty reluctantly moved ahead of Dom as he cradled their sleeping son in his arms. Dom tried to pretend he wasn't staring at her ass as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. Letty could feel his eyes burning holes into her backside and made sure to put a little flare in her walk. She wanted his every waking moment to be filled with regret for leaving her.

Guiding them to her room, Dom's face bore a wide smile as he saw clothes, toys, and stuffed animals strewn around the bedroom. She hadn't changed a bit, he realized, as her cleaning habits were still: move everything from the floor to the bed, then vice versa, until hours later, everything had been put back into it's rightful place. Clearly, she hadn't made it that far yet.

"You can lay him down there," she pointed to the bed then went to digging through the drawers for Julian's PJs. Dom moved to lay his boy in the center of the bed, stuffing the pillows around his body to prevent him from falling off.

Stepping back, Dom's eyes were fixated on his son. He never imagined himself being a father, there wasn't time to stop and think about that. Sure, he and Letty had discussed starting a family, but usually it was after passionate sex, both so love-drunk on each other that children, marriage, even a family pet had been fair game. Neither of them took the concept too seriously, but now, thrusted into the new world of fatherhood, he wondered how he made it so long without Julian. He was already madly in love with the two year-old boy whom he met merely hours earlier and Dom knew there was no turning back.

He thought about Letty's words as he watched his son sleep.

I just hope your son doesn't grow up to be anything like you.

Dom prayed that she was right; he didn't want Julian growing up a criminal or a thug. Those weren't the values his father instilled in him as a child, and though he royally messed it up, Dom vowed not to let Julian make the same mistakes. He would keep his nose clean and guide him in the direction of education and a real career, not tricky heists and street racing. Seeing his boy, picturing his future, Dom now had the motivation to leave behind the racing and the heists. Even if he didn't have Letty back, he had a child now, another human he helped create, that he was responsible for and he pledged to be as good a father to him as the one he had.

"You wanna change him?" Letty's voice snapped him out of his daze, but he still found it hard to take his eyes off his sleeping beauty. He nodded, though, and reached his hand out for the clothes without looking at her. He wanted to, he wanted to soak her in as much as he could, but he would have to control himself if he wanted to break down her walls. Take things slow, he reminded himself. Dom sat on the edge of the bed and started changing his son into his Scooby-Doo pajamas, smiling at the choice of sleepwear.

Letty watched Dom from the bathroom door, her heart breaking to have him so close and yet so far away. After all those years being separated, she always tried to prepare herself for the reunion, if it ever happened. She thought of everything to say to hurt him, to break him down to nothing and she accomplished that. But she never anticipated seeing the agony in his eyes after she refused his advances. Hell, she never really refused anything from Dom, but those times were over.

Though seeing him so infatuated with his son did help his chances. She was grateful that he didn't turn his back on Julian.

"Are you coming back down for the party?" his voice was even deeper than normal as he attempted to break the ice.

She cleared her throat, caught off guard by his question, "Nah, I think I'm gonna head in with the little guy. Kind of a rough day for us."

He chuckled slightly and shook his head in agreement. Dom leaned over the bed and kissed Julian's forehead, smoothing out a few loose curls before tucking the boy in gently.

"Goodnight Julian," he whispered before standing awkwardly next to the bed.

Looking at Letty, he was still flabbergasted that she was standing only a few feet away from him, her mysterious eyes hard to read as she held his gaze. He saw something in those eyes that he had only seen a handful of times – fear.

He remembered the first time he had saw that look on her face. It was the first day he met Leticia Ortiz, the keeper of his heart.

-Flashback May '91-

"Come on, Dominic. Put the Gameboy down if you want to learn anything."

Dino Toretto was having a hard time keeping his 12 year-old son's attention as he attempted to show him how to work on his '67 Oldsmobile Cutlass. He was getting frustrated with Dominic's lack of enthusiasm as he was stuck under the chassis of the classic car, roasting his tail off in the hot California sun.

"Ugh, Dad! Do we have to do it today? It's like 100 degrees out here," Dom whined, wiping sweat from his face as he rushed for another cool bottled water from a nearby cooler.

"Yes, because this was your idea. You begged me to spend my only day off this week working on the Cutlass, so you're gonna suffer with me," Dom sighed and turned off his game and crawled on a dolly to join his dad under the car. "Where is Vincent anyway? This was his idea too."

"He's grounded. His stepmom won't let him out."

"Again? I swear, that boy spends more time grounded than he does in school."

"It's Marie. She's crazy, Dad. Get this; she went nuts on V because he was five minutes late getting home. The school buses were late, it wasn't his fault," Dom defended his best friend, Vince.

"What's the deal with her, anyways? Is she always this mean to Vince?" Dino was becoming concerned with the growing problems over in the Matthews' household. After Tina Matthews, Vincent's mother, walked out three years earlier, his father Ryan immediately re-married and moved in his new wife, a fidgety postal worker named Marie. His father didn't take Tina's departure well and turned to the bottle to help him cope. Vince, merely eight years old at the time, suffered from the same verbal abuse his mother did and oftentimes found himself sleeping over at the Toretto's for days on in just to escape. Dino tried to keep his nose out of it, but Marie was becoming too overbearing even for him. Constantly screaming at him for working too loudly on his cars, or having a conniption when the Sunday barbecues ran a little too late. She was too uptight for any man, let alone an eleven year-old.

He wondered what the hell Ryan saw in that woman anyways.

"Yeah, Dad. She's looney," Dom replied.

Dino and Dominic worked well into the afternoon on the Oldsmobile, Dom learning the ways of brake rotors, crankshafts, and transmissions. It was almost lunch time, so the duo took a break to cool off inside the air-conditioned car.

"Hey, looks like we got new neighbors," Dino said as he spotted a moving truck in front of a home a few doors down.

Dom turned to look, spotting a woman carrying boxes inside the home. They watched as the lady and a small girl unloaded their things into the home.

"Come on, let's go give them a hand," Dino said while stepping out of the car.

"Dad! Why do we have to always help the new people? I'm hungry," Dom whined again as he exited the Cutlass.

"When did you become so lazy, Dominic? Get your ass over there and welcome them to the neighborhood," Dino's voice was stern, letting Dom know that the discussion was over. Dino grabbed the cooler, which was filled with Coronas, cold waters, and even a few Popsicles, and made their way over to the house.

As they crossed the street and closed in on the house, Dom spotted the little girl – whom he guessed was around his sister Mia's age of nine – as she was struggling to lift a box from the moving truck and decided to help. He couldn't see her face as her long dark hair cascaded down her shoulders, some even sticking to her neck and back from the terrible heat. He wasn't even sure if she was a 'she', the baggy cargo shorts and dingy, loose sleeveless shirt made it hard to tell.

"Let me help you," Dom grumbled while trying to take the box, but the little girl refused to release her hold.

"I can carry it myself," she replied coldly.

"Just let me get it before you drop it," he tried to pull it from her hands, but she pulled back just as hard. Soon after their tug-of-war match, the box was sent tumbling to the ground, it's surprise contents sent spilling out onto the floor.

"I told you I had it," she huffed and bent to pick up the toy cars that were scattered on the concrete.

Dominic made no move to help her until Dino smacked him upside his head. He sighed and knelt down to pick up the scattered cars, dropping them one by one in the box. There were a few dozen and he was impressed by the size of the collection. He wondered who they belonged to since he hadn't seen a boy yet. He didn't even let it cross his mind that they could be hers. That was impossible, to Dom.

Girls weren't tough enough to like cars.

But his mind became flooded with doubts by the way she was cradling the only broken toy in the bunch – a green GTO that was now broken in several pieces.

"Letty, what is taking-" at the moment, the beautiful woman stepped out onto the porch. "Oh. Well hello," she smiled while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Dino returned her smile while taking her in. She wore a pretty yellow floral dress that accentuated her caramel skin greatly. She had deep brown eyes and a smile that was warm and inviting.

"Hi, my name is Dino Toretto and that's my son, Dominic," Dino turned to see the two children both on their knees, staring at the broken toy in Letty's hands. "Dominic?"

By then, Dom's attention was now on the girl herself. He could see her face better and she seemed devastated by the car, maybe even scared, which only made Dom more confused.

"Letty, are you all right, mija?" the woman asked.

"He broke my car," she stood to her feet, finally making complete eye-contact with Dom. Her anger seemed to subside as she drank the older boy in. He was a bit taller than her with a strange-looking fro and scrawny arms that were covered in grease and dirt and she wondered why he was so dirty.

"Did not!" Dom replied childishly."What are you doing with all of those anyways? Girls aren't supposed to play with cars."

The scowl was quickly back on her face, "Girls can play with cars too!"

"All right, cut it out, Dom," Dino turned back to the pretty lady on the porch. "I'm sorry, the heat has apparently dried up his manners. We live across the street. Just wanted to extend the welcome and see if we could be of some assistance," Dino smiled and held up the cooler.

"Haven't you helped enough?" the girl named Letty spat.

"Actually, yes, we would love some help. Right Leticia?" the woman's cheery voice was obviously forced as she glared at her daughter. "I'm sorry; she tends to be grumpy all the time. Hi, I'm Angel. This is my daughter, Letty," the girl she introduced as Letty made her way up the porch. "We were actually just finishing up, just the last of Letty's things and a few end tables left, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Dino smiled and sat the cooler on the steps. He moved towards the truck, where Letty was still scowling down at her car. He kneeled down in front of her. "Nice car. '67 Pontiac huh?"

"Sixty-eight," she corrected, receiving an apologetic smile from Mr. Toretto.

He looked back at Angel with a grin, "Right, of course. You know, I'm sure Dominic didn't mean to break your car. If you want, I'm sure he'll be happy to use this weeks allowance to get you another."

"No, Dad," Dom begged.

Letty smiled at the distasteful look on his face, "That's okay. That one was special. My favorite."

"Well how about this," he turned to Dom, "I want you to go get your favorite car and give it to Letty. As a welcoming gift."

Dominic looked at his father as if he had grown another head. He didn't seriously want him to replace this girl's broken car with his favorite, most awesome one that he didn't even let V touch, did he?

"Dad, that's not fair!" Dom groaned angrily.

"Dominic, I wasn't asking you," Dino growled and Dom gave Letty a harsh scowl before taking off for his house. "Sorry about him. I think the engine fumes have gone to his head."

"Boys," Letty huffed and Dino couldn't stop his chuckle. "Will he be mad?"

"He'll get over it. Why don't you take your cars inside and come back for a freeze-pop?"

Letty nodded and bounded up the stairs with her box. Dino smiled and moved to grab a few tables from the truck.

"So is it just you and Dominic?" Angel asked while taking one of the tables off his hands.

"No, I have a daughter named Mia, she's nine. And a stray from next door, Dom's friend, Vince."

"Well that's how old Letty is, maybe they can hang out sometime."

"Yeah, I think Mia would like to get rid of Dom and Vince for a while," Dino replied as Dom jogged back over to the house. Letty was now on the porch reaching for a frozen treat when Dom put his body between her and the cooler.

"Here, it's my favorite," Dom ground out while handing over a black car.

Letty reached for the car slowly, despite the fire burning in his eyes. His hands clenched at his sides as he watched her look between he and the car, a timid look in her eyes.

"It's a Dodge Charger?" she asked nervously and he nodded. "It's a good car."

"Try not to break that one," Dom snarled and stepped closer. He noticed the increasingly alarming look in her dark eyes as he reached his hand towards her hair. As he pulled his hand back, Dom saw her eyes clenched shut.

"You had something stuck in your hair," he said softly, showing her the leaf that he retrieved form her tangled hair. Letty's eyes flashed relief and her cheeks reddened as she gave a small smile. "You're weird," Dom frowned with a small smile.

Little did they know, Angel and Dino had been watching the interaction. The parents shared a knowing look.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Dino asked Angel while watching the children stand there, each staring at the other curiously.

"Those two are gonna end up being really close some day," she said with a smile.

"Maybe closer than we think."

-End of Flashback-

Letty furrowed her brows at the lost look in Dom's eyes. He was grinning as he stood frozen near the door.

"You all right?" she asked, trying to pretend that she was uninterested.

Letty's words seemed to bring him back to Earth. His smile grew as he slowly made his way over towards her, stepping over the mess in the floor to get to her.

"You remember the first day we met?"

"Yeah, you and Mr. T came over to help us unload our truck. You broke my favorite car," she replied matter-of-factly.

"I did not break the car," he argued, now standing only inches from her.

His arrogant smile only made her angrier about her prized childhood toy.

"Yes, you-" before she could finish, Dom's lips were attacking hers, his hands holding her face to ensure she couldn't pull away. Letty, caught by surprise, wanted to fight him off, to push him away, but after a few moments of resistance, she gave in, allowing Dom's tongue to enter a wrestling match with hers.

Letty's hands moved to his chest as he deepened the kiss, their tongues dancing in a rhythm that only theirs could. Letty felt a rush of adrenaline course through her veins, electrifying her insides as she felt the heat between them flourish. Dom's fingers tangled in her hair as he captured her bottom lip with his teeth, tugging slightly before releasing. She took advantage of the moment to feel up his pecs, impressed by how much they had grown, along with every other muscle of his visual to the eye. Her nails scraped down his t-shirt, running over hard-as-rock abs and obliques.

A little voice in her head told her that this was wrong, that he wasn't allowed to get this close this soon. She had meant to fight off any and every pass that he made, but the sweet taste of his kiss made her head foggy and non-functional. She couldn't deny to herself that she craved his touch, his kiss, and at the moment he was fulfilling her every desire.

When she felt her body becoming mush, she decided enough was enough. She pushed against his chest, finally breaking the passionate kiss as she stepped away.

"Dom..." she trailed off, wiping her smeared gloss from her face.

"I know," he cut her off, his eyes heavy and lust-filled. "I'll see you two in the morning."

Letty watched him saunter away, her head still reeling from the lingering taste of Dom.

"Hey Letty?" he paused at the door. "It's really great to have you back. I'm happy you're OK."

She nodded with a small smile, his words were sincere. She gave a final wave before he left out the door.

Letty sighed and collapsed against the wall with a small smile.

"That fucking Toretto charm," she mumbled with a grin and shut the door behind her.

Dom was smiling ear-to-ear as he made his way down the stairs. He had no intentions of kissing Letty, he didn't want to push her even further out of his life. Dom, though, found it hard to not take her then and there as she looked sexy in her leather pants, vulnerability pouring from her unsure eyes. Her bright pink lips were calling for him and he had to indulge in the sweetness that was Letty. Dominic didn't realize how wrong he had been to think that he could move on from Letty, to let a woman like Elena take her place in his heart. He needed to prove to her that he was wrong, about everything, and that's what Dom intended to do.

"Hey – what's with the smile?" Leon asked as he spotted Dom in the hallway.

"Nothing," he lied, "Just said goodnight to the kid."

Leon could tell by the shit-eating grin on his friend's face that it was a lot more than that, but he decided to let it go. He didn't want to involve himself even more in the love drama.

"Whatever, dawg. I just talked to Koenig. I told him we would have his money, first thing in the morning."

"Good," Dom nodded, "He say anything else?"

"Nope. Which is strange 'cuz he loves to shit-talk," Leon replied as he remembered the short conversation with Alvaro. "Just to meet him at some warehouse. He left directions."

"Do you think we're walking into a set-up?" Dom could see the edginess on Leon and he wasn't sure if it was do to his sketchy ordeal with the drug lord or the drug habit he was trying to kick.

"I don't know, man. Possibly."

"I'll talk to Twink, see if we can get some extra hands on this drop-off," Dom placed a comforting hand on Leon's shoulder. At that time, the doorbell rang, signaling that they had company. "Relax. Look," Dom pointed to the front door, where James was allowing in several pretty women. "Grab one of those girls, and show her who the man of this house. Go take your mind off this shit."

Leon noticed one blond in particular with impressively large assets giving him a flirty smile, and suddenly all of his worries and fears were long forgotten. He bumped his knuckles with Dom and excused himself, swaggering over to the woman.

Dom shook his head with a smile as more women filed into the house and the sounds of rap music began pulsing from the back. It wasn't loud enough to wake the sleeping beauties upstairs, but just enough to fill the backyard and provide a kicked-back atmosphere. Dom stood watch as the boys played, each finding a girl or two to occupy themselves for the night.

Dom smiled; it reminded him of the old days when his family was all together and they never had a care in the world other than racing, laughing, and partying. When crime and evading police wasn't apart of their daily routine. He knew ultimately things would never be the same, especially without his original, die-hard band of brothers, but he hoped that his newly-acquired friends could provide the same loyalty and trust as Vince, Jesse, and Han had.

Dom made sure the boys weren't too rowdy before grabbing a few cold beers and making his way to his room, which was the last master bedroom on the first floor. On his way there, he noticed Luke making his way up the stairs and he felt a pang of jealousy hit his heart. He didn't want to think of him going to Letty's room, or even what they would do once he was there.

"Hey Lucas," Dom called to him. He stopped on the steps, slowly turning to see Dom standing there.

"Hey what?" he asked exhaustively.

"I just wanted to say sorry for earlier. And thanks. For looking after them ... and taking care of Lett," Dom said, taking the high-road. He hated it, but he would have to pretend to get along with Luke if he wanted to make any high-ground with Letty

Luke's face was one of surprise; he hadn't expected Dom to thank him. He expected more of a fight, but was glad he didn't get one. His body wasn't up for another and he wasn't feeling too hot.

"I know you two have history, but I don't know the extent of it. I don't think I want to. It's Letty's choice, at the end of the day, what she wants to do. I just know she doesn't want things to be the way they used to be. She wants a home, a real family. To stop running," Dom nodded as he took in the words that he already knew. "I won't give up Letty easily because I think she deserves better than you, but I won't stand in your way of having a relationship with Julian. Unbeknownst to me, he's already crazy about you."

Dom had to smile at his words. He noticed Luke's hand cradling his stomach, and the sickly look on his face made Dom increasingly worried. Dom frowned when he noticed just how pale he looked compared to earlier in the day. Something wasn't right.

"You alright?" Dom asked and approached the stairs slowly.

"Yeah. I don't wanna offend Mia, but I might have caught something from the dinner," he replied and wiped his sweaty forehead.

"Maybe you should- Luke!" Dom yelled and tried to close the distance as Luke collapsed, his body lunging forward as limp as a rag doll as he became unconscious. Dom took the stairs quick enough to catch Luke before he hit his head, but he soon lost his balance and both men tumbled to the bottom of the stairs. Dom made sure he was still intact himself before moving over to Luke, where he had been motionless on the floor. Dom slapped his face a few times to try to help, but he wasn't responding to the motion. Dom heard voices, but he tuned them out as he tried to get Leon's brother to wake.

"What did you do to him?!" Leon screamed as he rushed to Luke's side after heard the commotion only moments earlier.

Dom only shook his head as he looked down to Luke's stomach, where a red liquid was quickly seeping through his shirt.

"Mia!" Dom roared as recognized the fluid as blood.

Blood was serious.

Hearing several doors opening, Dom looked up the stairs, where Letty, Mia, and Brian were all standing, each wearing a different look of shocked expressions on their faces.

There ya go guys! I hope that holds until I get the next chapter up. I wasn't sure if the kiss was too soon, but I see Dotty as having the type of connection that no matter how long they are apart, they still have a passionate chemistry for each other that's undeniable. Hopefully in the next movie we'll get some more Dotty love action!

READ AND REVIEW.
-Kita