A/N: That chapter made me cry when I wrote it. Though I did it, I didn't want to kill him off. And yeah, you will probably hate me for this chapter as well. 'pologies in advance.

Chapter 37

She didn't know how long she had been there, kneeling beside his bed, gripping his hand tightly, but after a while she felt someone standing behind her. Turning her head, she was greeted by Dom towering over her.

"When?" He whispered as he crouched down beside her, the emotion evident in his voice.

"How long have I been gone?" Letty asked

"About twenty minutes."

"It was about ten minutes ago. I went to place the picture back on the shelf, and when I turned round, he," She didn't continue, couldn't continue. It was as if saying it would make it real, even though there was no doubt in their minds, "I should have told you." Dom shook his head before drawing her closer to him. She released her grip on Leon's hand, placing it carefully by his side. She turned her head into his chest, and breathed heavily, forcing back the tears. She had to be the strong one. Pulling away from him, she stood up.

"You alright?" Dom asked.

"Yeah, I'll go tell the others." She uttered, barely raising her voice loud enough to be heard.

Walking down the hallway was hard. Her legs wanted to give way with every step she took but she had to be strong. Descending the stairs, Letty could hear the banter between her friends. They sounded happy and it pained her so much that she would have to break up their contentment. Rounding the corner, into the kitchen, she paused for a second. Vince was busy eating a round of toast, laughing at Mia who was feeding Maddie. Roxy was standing by the counter, talking about a girl she had served in the restaurant the other night, whilst sipping back a large glass of apple juice. It was Mia who noticed Letty first. Staring at her, she knew instantly. Her face slipped from happy to sad in a brief moment.

"He's gone, hasn't he?" She whispered, her hand still holding the spoon she had been using to feed Maddie. Vince and Roxy were notified of Letty's presence as they heard Mia speak. Staring at her, they watched as her head slowly nodded.

"Yeah, he's gone." She whispered. Vince quickly left the room, closely followed by Roxy. Mia watched Letty, "Go on, Mi. I can take care of Maddie now." Pushing back the chair, causing it to grind loudly against the floor, the noise grating against Letty's broken heart, Mia stood up and left the room. Letty walked over to her daughter. She perched on the chair Mia had a short time ago vacated and took the spoon that she had been using to feed Maddie. Sitting there in the stony silence, not even the birds making a noise, she started to feed her daughter the remainder of her breakfast. Even Maddie was quiet, almost sensing the heartbreaking emotion that weighed heavily on her mother. As Maddie ate the last of the food from the bowl, Letty picked it up and discarded it in the sink. She took her daughter into her arms and slowly began the climb back up to Leon's room.

There was a heavy, oppressive atmosphere as she entered. No one was speaking, too numb to form a sentence. Mia was sitting on the edge on the bed, crying silently. Dom was still crouched beside the bed, his eyes almost willing Leon to breathe once more, to make this just one momentary nightmare. Roxy was stony faced as she stood by the window, whilst Vince paced relentlessly around the room, holding his head in his hands. Coughing slightly to break the silence in the room, Letty bit on to her bottom lip before speaking.

"I'll phone the funeral home and then tell Xander to go home. The garage doesn't need to be open today." She uttered, her voice monotonous, though tinged ever so slightly with sadness. It was as if she had switched on to autopilot, erecting a barrier against her grief. No one responded so she simply left the room.

Within a couple of hours, Leon's body had left the house. Vince had informed them all of the plans he had made, not realising just how quickly they would have to be implemented. Letty took them all in, resolute in her desire to get every detail right. Mia cooked a meal that everyone ate in silence. No one knew what to say nor what to do with themselves. As the day slowly wearied on the sound of voices slowly filtered back into the house.

"We need to tell people when the funeral will be." Dom uttered, as he looked over the living room. Everyone looked up and nodded.

"I'll do that," Roxy added, sitting on Vince's knee, her hand gently on his as it lay round her waist, whilst the other stroked his head delicately, "You guys have enough on your plate at the moment." Dom nodded and gave a fatigued smile. He glanced briefly over at Letty, who was standing against the wall, staring ceaselessly at the floor. She looked broken. Standing up from the seat, he wandered over to her and brought her into his arms. Fighting him off, she walked out of the room.

"Dom, she'll be fine. Just give her some space." Mia uttered, her crying having ceased temporarily. Dom sighed before agreeing it to be the best course of action.

Letty wandered upstairs and into Leon's room. It was empty, but his presence still filled it. She could smell him lingering in the air. Walking over to the cupboard he had pointed to earlier that day, she spotted his chain. The thick, silver band that had adorned his neck for so long. She had never asked him where he had got it from, it was just part of him. The first time they had met him, all those years ago when he had stumbled across their paths, he had been wearing it. She remembered how he had shown up one day, then the next, and then somehow never left. Slowly he became part of the team, which at that point consisted of a fresh from Lompoc Dom, her fifteen year old self, Vince and of course, Mia, though only on occasion. He came in and fitted in seamlessly, then a few weeks later he brought Jesse along, and the four of them had evolved into a six, and had become a team, the team.

She ran the chain through her fingers as she sat down on the bed. It was too weird. He was gone and he wouldn't be coming back. She clenched the chain in her hand tightly as she lay down on the bed. For a while, Letty just lay there, not moving, gazing up at the ceiling. Slowly though, her body curled up into a ball and she fell asleep. Dom walked past the room and noticed her sleeping. Walking in, he wrapped the blanket around her body and placed a kiss on her cheek.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but by the time she woke up it was pitch black outside. She rolled over to the bedside table and saw that it was approaching midnight. Dragging herself from the bed, Letty wandered back downstairs to find Vince sitting on the sofa.

"Where did everyone go?" She questioned, still a little drowsy. She wiped her eyes, dislodging the remainders of sleep from them before sitting herself down next to him.

"Roxy left about an hour ago, Mia and Dom went out somewhere and Mad's asleep. You ok girl?" Vince asked, pulling her into him. Feigning a smile, she nodded.

"We've still got a lot to do before the funeral."

"Yeah, I know. It will be fine though, Let." He said trying to reassure her, his fingers entwining with hers as he took her hand, "You gonna be alright? I'm beat and just need to crash." Again, she nodded. He let her go before going to stand, but was suddenly overcome with grief, "It's not fair, Let. Leon didn't deserve to die. Especially not like that." Vince cried, letting his body fall back down into the sofa. Letty hugged him tightly as the tears flowed from his eyes. The ragged, exhausted sobs reverberated through Letty's body as she forced her own tears to stay inside. 'Stay together', she thought to herself. As she held him, his crying slowly easing, Dom and Mia wandered back into the house. Understanding the situation, they said nothing and simply left the room.

The funeral approached them rapidly. It had been four days since Leon had died and the time had been spent in a solemn manner. The garage had remained closed, Xander coming round to offer his help, but realising Letty's adopted military precision was seeing that no detail was left unchecked. Mia was standing by the kitchen counter, a black dress covering her tiny frame. As she poured the water into the glass, she felt Dom's dominating presence enter the room. She offered him a sombre greeting to which he replied in a similar tone.

"Dom, I'm worried about Letty." She spoke, turning from the counter to look at her brother, "I don't think she's coping."

"What do you mean? She's fine, well as well as can be expected."

"That's the thing though. She is keeping things together a little too well. She hasn't cried Dom, she's become compulsive with everything, she is running around ragged, looking after us, looking after Maddie, taking care of business. She has barely eaten anything. She only speaks when she absolutely needs to. The rest of the time it's as if she is on another planet. It's worrying." Dom stroked his chin, as if in thought before shaking his head.

"Mia, you know Letty isn't one for crying." Mia sighed before shrugging her shoulders. That much was true.

"I know, but she cried when Jesse died, she cried when," She stopped herself, refusing to divulge to her brother that his now wife had cried herself to sleep on many an occasion after he left, "You of all people should know she isn't always the tough girl. She can hurt just as much as anyone here. Just keep an eye on her, alright." She uttered as she left the room. She had to admit defeat, resolving though to keep an eye on her even if he didn't.

Vince looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, his face still dripping droplets of water off it having just been splashed. He hadn't slept well in the last few days but hoped that the relative closure the day would bring would slowly help them get back on their feet. After drying himself off, he sighed heavily and wandered towards the stairs.

"Maddie, would you just put your leg in the fucking hole. I can't be doing with your shit this morning." Letty moaned as she tried to dress her daughter. Vince caught the tail end of the conversation and quickly intercepted.

"Let, everything alright?" He questioned, knowing that in every way that question could be taken, the answer would always be a resounding no. "Want me to help?"

"She's being such a brat this morning. Take her." Letty snapped handing the half dressed Maddie over to Vince. Cuddling her tightly, he watched as Letty stormed out of the room.

"It's alright sweetie. Mommy is just as little upset at the moment." He spoke softly to the small child. Vince silently cursed though. This was not Letty. She had never raised her voice to Madeline, she had never been so impatient with her and she had never, ever before sworn in the presence of the baby, let alone at her. Shaking his head, he slowly dressed Maddie and carried her downstairs. Letty was busy drinking a cup of coffee, unaware or not bothered that everyone was looking at her, neither of them daring to speak.

"Give me Maddie, Vince." She demanded having disposed of the rest of the drink. Handing her over, though with some caution, he watched as they left the room.

"You ok, V?" Dom questioned, noticing that his eyes had not left Letty's retreating figure. Vince nodded, slowly bringing his attention back into the kitchen.

The service was a mix of deep sorrow and happy reminiscing. Vince had prepared an eulogy that recounted the many times they had got into trouble, how it was either involving cars, women or both. He struggled to get it all out though, his voice cracking under the heavy burden of emotion. Dom had said a few words also before they turned to Letty. She passed Maddie over to Mia, and walked solemnly over to the lectern. Taking a deep breath of air, hoping it would calm her nerves, she looked at the mass of people sitting in front of her.

"Leon," She stopped, realising in that moment that it was too much, everything had been said and by saying any more it was just compounding the fact that he was no longer there, "Leon, I'm gonna miss you so so much. Say hi to Jess for me, bro." She uttered before taking her seat once more. Vince glanced at Dom, but his friend was wrapped in his own little world. As the coffin descended, destined for cremation, the muffled sobs of the mourners filled the chapel. Letty, who was once again holding her daughter, stared at the front, watching intently. Her face was emotionless. Maybe a slight hint of tiredness displayed in her eyes, but overall it showed no indication to how she was feeling inside. Mia watched her for a while, in between her own mourning. 'That's not right,' she thought, especially having noticed Vince and Dom's crumpled faces.

With the funeral over, everyone gathered at the fort. It was packed with almost the same group of people who had attended the wedding just over a week beforehand. Mia had busied herself with making sure everyone was feeling okay, Dom, Vince and Roxy were talking to various people whilst Letty stayed in the kitchen tending to Maddie. Mia swooped in on the kitchen, watching her for a while. She didn't know what she wanted to see, but what she saw was not it. Letty was still emotionless. It was as if the person who they had said goodbye to, meant nothing to her, just another person to have departed this world, the brutal reality that came with having life. Yet, she knew that was far from the truth. Leon was Letty's best friend, the guy who had stayed with her through everything.

"I'm going to put Maddie to bed in a bit. Its been a long day." Letty spoke, suddenly becoming aware of Mia's presence.

"Let, it's alright to cry. Leon told me he wanted everyone bawling." She replied with a small laugh recalling the conversation she had had with him a few weeks previous. Letty bestowed her a weak smile before leaving the room. Shaking her head, Mia started to pour another round of beverages.

A few hours had passed, and people were slowly leaving. Dom loosened the tie that was slowly suffocating him and rubbed his hand over his bald head. Roxy had kicked off her shoes and a more relaxed atmosphere was descending on the room. Vince came into the living room, glancing round as if he had lost something.

"You ok, Vince?" Mia questioned, looking up from the floor where she had been briefly glancing at a magazine.

"Where's Let? I haven't seen her in hours." It suddenly dawned on them that none of them had. Dom glanced around the room, almost as if he needed further proof she wasn't there, "I've checked the garage, and both cars are still here. If she left the house, she walked." Vince added, concern in his voice. The four people in the room suddenly began to worry.

"I'll be back." Dom spoke as he left the room and climbed up the stairs, three at a time. He opened the door to Leon's room, causing a waft of his scent to hit Dom's nose. He drew back in sadness before looking in but it was empty. Closing it again, he strolled down to their room. Yet again, he found it vacant. After trying both Maddie's and Vince's bedrooms, noting that his daughter was safe, there was only one option left. He tried the door to the bathroom, but it was locked.

"Let, baby, it's me. Open up." Pressing his ear against the door, he could hear the shower running but no sound of movement, "Babe, let me in." He asked again, his voice becoming more concerned. Still there was no reply. Desperation coursed through his body, a sickening sensation filling every fibre of his being. He was left with just one choice. Forcing his body against the door with a single violent push, it popped open.