Brian got off the idling motorcycle and unclipped his borrowed helmet, slipping off the tight head protection and slapping it hard against Lance's shoulder. Then he pulled his arm back and tossed the black helmet far into the road so it bounced and rolled away further. Brian wouldn't turn his back to the driver, but took several steps away. His body ached where he'd been hit and grabbed, but he showed nothing.
Lance stared at where the helmet settle against the tire of another car. He turned back to Brian and for a beat stared with narrow eyes at Brian's angry gaze. It was just his type. He smirked.
"Thanks for the dance. But next time I see you on my property, you're going to become my property. Johnny won't be sending you home again. So come back anytime."
"I'm not interested," Brian said, holding eye contact without a flinch.
That made Lance smile.
"Yes you are. You're interested in the machines we have, in the money that's in it for you. I'll hire you on the spot next time I see you, but the initiation isn't free." And here Lance's gaze turned predatory and ran down his body. "I'm going to watch you take it in the ass until everyone's tried it. Only then will you have what it takes to join me in my bed. You'll never want to leave it after I begin on you."
And Lance couldn't have said it more smoothly.
The transition between sinister promise and engaging the galloping engine took no time at all. Lance bore slowly over to gather the loose helmet, clearly skilled with these tight maneuvers. Without a backward glance he roared the engine further to life and ate up the asphalt, the night taking him and his shiny leather jacket away.
Brian couldn't have been more on edge. He wasn't truly sure Lance wouldn't return with a concealed weapon and fire him into a pile of meat and bones. The night he had - the days before that he had in Johnny's and Lance's world, too - was not to be forgotten any time soon. Tran's gang was fucked up and serious about gaining traction in the neighborhood. After tonight, there was no denying that this gang had to be stopped.
Brian heard a door open behind him and a little more light bathed him. He looked back at the house he had been brought to. The Toretto house. Mia was coming down the steps and over the grass to him, and Dom was on her heals. Brian noticed right away that they both were barefooted and dressed for bed. It was something like midnight; early for some people, but not for a college woman and the ex-con mechanic with a day job.
Mia had awoken when Lance's chrome and alloy motorcycle was still a few houses away. Her bedroom window was open and she was a light sleeper, but more importantly she had not had a settled mind since Dom had revealed that Johnny had burned another of Brian's cars down the street from DTs just hours ago. He'd told everyone that Brian was with Lance Nguyen since about closing time at the garage, but that there was nothing they could do as they needed to stay away from Johnny's territory. Mia told Dom to call Brian, but Dom refused. Her brother wanted to... He was worried enough about Brian's wellbeing to want to call, but he knew Brian was messing with something bigger than they understood.
Their street didn't usually have such loud motors coming down it at night, so the sound of the motorcycle waking her drew her attention. When she identified the sound, she quickly went to her window in time to see the back of a familiar blonde head tossing a helmet into the street.
Mia hurried to Dom's door and pounded on it twice. "Dom! Wake up! Brian's out front! Someone on a motorcycle dropped him off."
That was all she said as she rushed for the stairs.
Dom was right behind her as they went down the front lawn and stood on the edge of the risen retaining wall. Dom first scanned the area, feeling uncomfortable to have one of Johnny's guys around his house. His ears strained as much as his eyes, but soon he was taken in by Brian and what he was wearing. He wasn't in ordinary street clothes, not the kind they were used to seeing him in. It was dark, but whatever covered his legs was skin tight, showing off long straight legs with muscle tone. He oddly sparkled in the darkness, too.
Brian was still in suspense of actually making it out of Lance's company in one piece. His voice was tight and there was a fearful look in his blue eyes, but he found sarcasm. "What? Don't like the body paint?"
His chest, face, and hair was splattered with it. It picked up the minuscule light from porch lights like reflectors on road signs.
"It's the glitter," Dom said, but clearly that wasn't all that struck him down.
Brian knew he was something else. It was probably the sheer black stockings that had them stuck, or maybe the latex shorts. He was so thin that he fit the women's clothing with minimal stretching, but around his muscled thighs the layers had become tight. Even in full riot gear he always felt naked when squared off with people. Since his days in juvie, it was only in hand-to-hand combat that he ever felt safe. He could handle situations like that. Knives, easy. Guns just made him feel like soft putty, and each time his vest blocked a bullet he was surprised to still be alive.
"This is my cover, dug up from my time in San Francisco. Remember Jesse's girl from the party before? She gave me the idea. The cops are sorting out their fuckup with Tran. Now I'm neck deep undercover."
Brother and sister processed that with a good amount of work. In the end, Mia came to her senses first.
"Why'd you agree to do this?"
Brian looked perplexed, like he was surprised they hadn't pieced together that of course he would agree to do this. "You aren't the only ones to agree how fucked up the situation was when they let Tran out after the raid. He's angry and looking for someone to blame and the cops know he's going to do something violent. They've amped up patrols in the area, but they're sure something's on the rise."
Brian looked disappointed now, taut expression landing on Dom. "And I guess you were right about something else, too, Dom. I am just a dumb blonde beat cop, but I didn't want to sit around doing nothing while you and Mia are in the firing lane because of me. I knew Tran would want to find me. So I went to my sergeant and told him this was something I could do. My resume made me good for it."
Dom didn't know Brian took those callous words so much to heart. He'd said them in anger that other morning after the garage scene. Brian had texted him to know if there was something he could do and Dom hadn't replied. He didn't know Brian would go and do this as a way to help, though. How on earth could anyone have guessed this?
"You think this is helping?" Dom asked with a mark of pain in his deep voice.
Brian set his shoulders back, the material on his tight leather jacket creaking.
"He's convinced of who I am, isn't he? Lance is, anyway. They're off the scent."
"That fast?" Mia wondered in a whisper.
Brian regarded her. He was only starting to feel less quivering.
"They put me in the red-light district where Lance hangs out. I got his attention in a way that he wouldn't forget. He's promised if I show up there again then I'm part of his gang. That sort of puts me in a good spot."
It was true. Hobbs would be for it. It was the quick bust he wanted. Hell, Brian could almost hear Lance singing the information he needed to bust them for smuggling - or whatever it was. He doubted Johnny would let Lance have his way and let the gang rape him as initiation…probably just a jump would do it. Brian had handled it in the past, no need to sweat over it this time, either.
Dom's whole body tightened, but if he only knew what Brian was planning he'd be calling the cops himself.
Of course Brian had Lance Nguyen's attention in this outfit. Lance went around in snakeskin pants and had all manner of other tastes Dom kept his nose out of. He knew Brian wanted out of Vice, but look how easy they put him back if this was how he played it. He was sexy in a really slutty way, just the way egotistical psychopaths probably liked it.
Dom turned back around for the house and beckoned him to come. "Get inside! We need to talk."
Dom didn't wait around. He stomped inside and over to the door in the hallway that led downstairs. He pounded on it, yelling out to Vince, "Get up here! House meeting!"
His voice was so angry and demanding that downstairs Vince awoke in a sweat.
Vince's heavy steps were heard coming up the steps just as Brian came inside. In the naked light he saw Officer O'Conner and froze. The others got a better look, too. He looked a hundred percent red-light district meat. Black military-style boots past his ankles, a bit loose latex shorts that hugged his package and barely went down his thighs, and stockings under them and up to his exposed bellybutton. He was thin, flesh tight on his marble cut abs. No shirt, just a bare chest slathered in multicolored paint smudges under a black leather jacket. And glitter everywhere. Even from here the cigarette smoke that lingered on him was mephitic.
"Pack it in!" Shouted Vince, jumping away in fright. "What the fuck happened to you?!"
"Nice to see you, too," Brian said sarcastically, taking note of the imprint on the side of Vince's face he got from his pillow.
"The fuck you been?" He demanded.
Dom had a heated answer. "He's undercover as a stripper and going for Johnny Tran. Trying to get himself killed!"
Vince was still processing the outfit and a step behind, even while Brian elaborated. "I'm going after Lance to get Johnny, actually. And I haven't stripped yet, just danced on stage."
Brian's corrections weren't any better received than Dom's words. He felt uncomfortable doing it. He really didn't mean to show up here tonight.
Indicating his own clothes, he added, "Easy to lure Lance in with just the outfit. I'd been playing like I had car trouble for two days before my shift at the club, along a route Johnny's bikers had been known to take. Today, one of them recognized me."
Dom nodded his head. His voice echoed even in his own ears as being hollow. "Yeah. Johnny called. He said you spent the evening with Lance."
Brian nodded, voice turning to a low timber, measured in syllables and not in emotion. "Yeah. Lance had to bring me here because Johnny told him to. I never had a chance to even shoot you a text about it. I was hoping you'd all just be in the house and I wouldn't have to inflict any of this on you."
Dom felt nauseous. In his gut seethed raw anger and twisted attraction. This was the part of Brian that lured Dom closer: that steel. That bravery to not just drive a fast car but to push it to the limit of safety. What he was doing with Tran and Lance was like opening the NOS fully in front of a brick wall and seeing what would happen.
"What is this all about?" Mia asked in awe.
She got her answer right away. Brian not holding much back.
"Johnny's in on something big. They figured they'd find something with the SWAT raid. Drugs, guns. Who knows what? Something. But they didn't. That's the big reason I'm here. Tran and his gang has been terrorizing the community lately, but no one's willing to speak up about it. My Skyline wasn't even the first shot up racing car found." He added as an aside, "They have a picture of it in the case file but it's not on record as being mine. They've got it mostly right: a car fast enough to beat Johnny's, so they did away with it. Just another unreported incident."
"This is intense," Vince said, taking a seat on the couch and rubbing his face to wake up a little. He was only just feeling capable of keeping up, but somehow it was moving so fast.
"You're going to get yourself killed," Mia told Brian urgently.
Brian shook his head and looked rueful. Piteous in a way, even, which didn't really suit the masterly put together slutty outfit.
"The only quick way of getting myself killed is getting my cover blown. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to get dropped off here tonight and get you all involved. I told Lance to just take me to the place they set me up in, but Johnny gave an order this is where I would land after work. Lance spent a lot of money keeping me at the club, too," Brian smirked, reaching into a zipper pocket in the latex shorts and pulling out a folded stack of large bills that rose the heckles on Dom, Vince, and Mia each. "He said Johnny called it 'terms of respect' that I come here."
Dom muttered darkly, "Johnny wanted me to see you. That's why."
That look Dom gave was one that sent alarm bells off in Brian's head. Brian caught right on. This close, it was hard not to see Dom was flush, too.
Going to admit something, Dom? Going to say Johnny knows something's going on, too?
Vince cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him, at his narrowed expression. He asked, "What would you have done with Lance if he took you to whatever room you're staying at?"
Brian pressed his lips together.
"For the job…whatever it took."
Dom shot forward and took his arm in a vice grip with a growl. He cringed at the heavy smell of the club Brian had been at came into full range. Cigarette smoke, booze, perfumes and - yeah - latex oils.
Brian had raised words for Dom's grip on his arm.
"What, Dom? You can't tell me you want me to sit around doing nothing when it was the cops that set Tran onto the street with a vengeance!"
"You shouldn't have done this!" He roared, but just as quickly as Dom's anger rose it fell again. He let Brian's arm go. Brian was pushed back to the wall behind him and Dom set his palms on the wall, caging Brian in. Honestly and with such emotion, he repeated, "You shouldn't have done this. Look at yourself…"
Brian held firm, shaking his head.
"This whole thing will be over fast, Dom. Promise. If we do this my way, I'll have Lance singing."
Brian was so sure. Dom had no doubt that Brian had the potential to pull this off. It sickened him, but Dom had to admit that Brian's clothes were doing funny things even to him. Lance was a real kinky guy. Brian was proving how to work that angle perfectly.
This close was too much for him. He felt heat rising unbidden to his loins and backed up. He was only in his underwear, so any more rise out of himself and he'd burst through the little door on his drawers.
Vince didn't like it any more than Dom and wasn't having the same sort of altered effects, but he was feeling the tension.
Vince said, "Johnny told Lance to bring you here because he thinks you're with Dom, and that finding out you're selling yourself would hurt him. That's why he wanted you here, I bet."
Dom's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't told that to anyone. But it made sense that Vince would catch on. Johnny had hinted that Brian kept it a secret from Dom that he was going to the clubs at night. Made mention that Brian was maybe doing this without Dom's permission. And Vince was rather on the bandwagon of Dom hooking up with Brian. His best friend looked sympatric.
Dom glared upon Vince, shock passing back into anger. Mia looked flattened by the remark, too.
"Like, you know, fucking him." Vince emphasized to the crowd, a bit uncomfortable with saying it now, even though he was daring Dom to deny any of it.
Vince's motives were pure, though; he did it because his stupid best friend really didn't know Brian was stripping and really was hurt by it. Johnny maybe knew that and that's why he had Brian brought here. Vince wanted Brian to clearly know that Dom hated what he was doing.
Vince was tactless, of course. Always sort of was a little tactless.
Mia sat down on the chair, swiping her hair back and coming to grips with the whole evening.
Dom felt heat was rising to unmanageable levels again as the tension grew. He discreetly dug his fingers into his own hip, pinching to make the pain ease up the lurid growing feelings.
"What's in this for you, Brian?" Mia asked quietly, at a loss for what else to say.
Brian looked down at the floor. Perhaps his mind was swimming with remembrance of Dom's open emotions before he'd tossed him onto the garage floor, but up until this moment, all of this was as an olive branch for Dom as much as it was for Roman Pierce, because Brian had taken that oath that Hobbs had mentioned and in it he was part of a brotherhood. That meant as much to him as Dom's relationship with his crew. Tran was a threat to both of them and needed to be taken care.
"Tran gets off the street. What more should I want?" He wasn't even lying. What more should he want than to help keep the peace? But he wanted to help Dom.
"At what cost?!" She shouted, anger rising in her, too.
He shook his head and pushed it, "I'm a cop, Mia!"
"Not dressed like that you're not! And Johnny thinks you're with my brother?! And you're - what? Cheating on Dom with Lance and Johnny wanted to tell Dom that?"
Vince shoved his hands over his face and turned away, smothering his burst of laughter with a snort. No one else found it funny.
"That detective badge won't come to a dead man," Dom told Brian flatly, when Vince quieted down.
Looking at him again, Brian could see the reticulation that graphed in his mind. It was chaos and yet order. Dom was a smart man. Smart enough to be the one pulling off these truck hijackings. Smart enough not to look like the one doing it, too.
Brian said seriously, "I'm not doing this for the detective badge, Dom. If Johnny found out I was a cop and not a centrifuge, he'd have nailed you into coffins and buried you alive. I've been undercover for two days and you wouldn't believe how many stories I've heard. Stuff people won't say to the police because they're afraid Johnny would find out. They're afraid of what he can and has done. All I have to do is get in with Lance. Be there when shit goes down and get it called in so we can catch them in the act."
Dom shook his head.
"Centrifuge? What the fuck did you call yourself?" Vince asked.
"You know? Because I spin on stage?" Brian shrugged. "I like that better than stripper or hooker or prostitute, anyway. It's just a little light-heartedness," Brian changed the subject back. "I'm not going to report in to my handler that they brought me here. I'll just say Lance took me for a ride. That should keep you all out of this. I really don't want you involved."
"Thanks very much," Mia said sarcastically.
"And handler is a better way of saying pimp?" Vince wondered.
"My handler is law enforcement ready to get me out of trouble, unlike a pimp."
The brother and sister looked wounded.
Dom asked, "Would they come talk to us? The cops. If they found out you were here?"
"They'd speculate how I know you and they'd want me to share everything I know about you to make sure it was still clear for me to keep up my undercover work. But so long as our paths don't cross - "
"Already have," Dom said.
"You don't want them here, Dom!"
And in that second, Brian showed that he was afraid for them. Really afraid. Dom couldn't understand why…except maybe it had to do with something on Brian's end he wasn't telling. Neither Brian nor the cops knew they were doing the hijackings, so that couldn't have been why Brian was afraid. And if the guy did know about the hijackings he would have gone looking or asking for information about it by now. That was his detective badge for sure. A young cop, moving in on Dom, getting wind that he was making around a million off highway robbery…yeah.
Brian really didn't know if it was Dom, though. Dom was too collected. And besides, Rome found out that Hector was ordering the right parts for Civics and Dom didn't show any sign of owning three of that style that was driving during the hijackings. Once Tran got sorted out they'd move in on Hector, looking to him to be the number one suspect.
But Brian was really kidding himself. Dom was just wild enough to be the one, too. This whole group of his was clearly capable of wild things, too.
Dom narrowed his gaze, seeing that Brian was on the verge of squandering that cool of his again. But it was no use in denying the real trouble at hand, here.
Dom confessed, "Still don't know about your car, do you, Officer?"
Brian furrowed his brow. "The Supra?"
"Not the Supra. Whatever piece of shit you pretended to break down with to lure his gang in. Johnny had it towed down the street from DT's while you were hanging out with Lance. Had it torched. Wake up, Brian. Johnny is subtle sometimes, but he burned your car because that's what he does to things that don't belong on his property. That's what he'll do to you if you show back up there."
It really was news to Brian. Dom almost felt sorry for breaking it to him like this.
"It wasn't your Mustang," Vince said.
"Couldn't have been," Brian said pensively, mind going a mile a minute. It wasn't his Mustang that burned, as that was still at the safe house. It was just another crappy car from impound, something he might have bought for a hundred bucks from any rando off the street. This was the first Brian had heard of it burning. He looked at the aggrieved faces of the others.
He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and looked at the screen, pressing buttons to find his messages. There were a few from Hobbs.
"Shit…they know, too," he said, and then he narrowed his gaze and looked out the window. "And they're outside. Shit!"
Dom nodded his head like he knew this was how things would turn out and took to the couch next to Vince. His best friend looked at him with a worried expression. If the cops were around it meant they'd be looking into them. Perhaps they'd even find out it was them doing the hijackings.
Brian was the last one standing, putting his phone away and taking a deep breath. "If I stay here, I'm going to have to talk to my superiors about you. I'm sorry, Dom. I can think a way out of this - "
Mia shouted, "Stop, Brian! You're not seeing what's in front of you!"
Dom nodded, tagging along with Mia that Brian just give in and agree that Johnny has them stuck together. "Johnny knows we have the Supra for you and that you're going to race it in the desert. He's sending a message to stop with the night job and stay here. Fuck, Brian. You don't have to worry about us narcing on you."
It was almost like Dom was in pain to say it. Brian winced, remembering how resolved Dom was to kiss him while they were in the garage, but then tossing him down. Like he'd remembered how much trouble Brian was. Like he remembered who he was. As if he could forget.
Brian shook his head. "Look! I can find a way for Johnny to know that I'm not welcome here anymore! Say I refuse to quit the night job! Say you're not into it and it was that or bust! The Supra's yours, Dom, not mine! Just keep it! Say this was a fight and just keep your distance from me until I can clean this all up!"
He'd have to go to Johnny and Lance soon. He'd have to deal with whatever punishment they used to initiate new gang members. It was the way.
Dom said ominously, "You don't know Tran like we do. You'll always be a part of this team in his eyes. He'd hurt you for that."
"And you don't know what sort of heat is behind this undercover job!" Brian retorted.
Dom took out his phone and dialed a number. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.
"Johnny," Dom greeted, staring Brian right in the eyes as he did it, seeing Brian wince when he knew who Dom was talking to.
He listened to whatever Johnny said then replied, "Deal. Race Wars. My Honda 2000 against whatever you'll be driving…but my mechanic isn't the prize. He's not for sale or for trade. I had him first. I'm keeping him."
That made Brian's heart race. Vince landed knowing eyes onto Brian, too. Mia looked perplexed.
Dom's eyes grew to be more animal than man. He was listening again, looking meaner. And that was when Brian lost nearly all hope to break from Dom's group; to prove that he wasn't part of this team and could be part of Johnny's.
"He's quitting that job. Won't show up on your territory again."
Brian stared hard, understanding how Dom was trying to keep him locked up and away. Safe. But Dom didn't know half of what Johnny's psychopaths were up to. The gasoline down the throat, the beatings, the broken bones. Or maybe Dom did know, and that was why he was doing this. Brian started to understand how controlling Dom was when it came to Mia finding a date; there were some real crazies in this town to keep away from.
Dom nodded once to whatever he was hearing.
"Lance will just have to deal with that broken heart. No lap dances. No blowjobs."
Brian lashed out and stole Dom's cell, jumping away into the kitchen as Dom shouted.
"Johnny!" Brian yelled into the receiver.
"Well hello! Little fight with your boss? Or is he your boyfriend?" He laughed.
"You torched my car?" Brian demanded, slapping a hand out at Dom's reaching claw, glaring at him even though he was trapped in the corner of the kitchen without even a window to fly out of. Dom help back, but latched onto Brian's wrist firmly.
"As a favor for Dominic. He doesn't want you on stage, can't you see that? You're as bad as my cousin Lance."
"In what way?" He lifted his knee to help kept Dom away, struggling still.
" Lance dodges around people he's into and it always makes a mess, winds up with a broken heart each time. You'll just be another on a long list of ex's as he circles around his destiny. My sister tried that with Dominic, too. She has her destiny set, too, though. People shouldn't share the ones they love with others. Built Dom that new car and I'll see you at Race Wars. Stay out of my territory if you know what's good for you."
Brian might have thought Johnny was on the level, that he was really doing this for love…but there was something sinister about burning a car in daylight to enlighten his life.
"So you torched my car so I would fix Dom's car and not break Lance's heart? Fucked up mastermind shit, Johnny. You shouldn't play with people like that. I paid for my Skyline with money I made on stages like that. The Supra will be ready, but there aren't races every night and it's more a sure thing when it's my mouth driving bastards like Lance than me racing against other cars!"
Dom froze. It was looking him right in the eyes now that irked Brian more than the abominable silence that followed his statement. Dom was gritting his teeth, hand wringing on his wrist and really hurting it. Brian was waiting to hear what Johnny had to say, though, and just kept still.
Finally, he said, "Put Dom back on the line."
Brian snarled, hoping for something different but living with what he got, then handed the phone back. Dom grabbed it, grabbing a hunk of Brian's jacket, too. Keeping him locked there against the cabinets.
Dom had no words for Johnny, just another growl. He listened for a time then looked twitchy.
"Yeah, fine," he said at last, then hung up.
Brian had the next words, "You know this can be interrupted as interference with official police business?"
"Stay away from the Trans, Brian!" Dom yelled, shoving closer to him.
"They're my job!"
"This is your job?" Dom roared. "Dressing like this?! Stripping? Giving Lance a blowjob for your badge? Even Johnny sees how fucked up you're being! Find another way to fix this than what you're doing!"
Juxtaposed with the outfit and the glitter, Brian's whole body language screamed officer at this moment. His voice was deep and intense. "Tell me something I don't know! Tell me why Tran respects you enough to make this deal! Tell me why you respect him enough to race your Honda against him! Tell me what's between you both, and why you're protecting each other, so that I'll have some clue as to how to keep my bosses out of your life!"
"I'm not protecting him," Dom sounded raw.
"Protecting you," Vince supplied from the doorway, where he and Mia stood.
"I'm doing the protecting! I'm doing this for you, Dom!"
Dom grabbed him and threw him away behind him just like he'd done the other night in the garage, so that he hit the kitchen table and sprawled back across it. Dom was over, grabbing his jacket again and keeping him down. The table wasn't going to take much more of this.
"I never asked you to do this, Brian!" He yelled, clad in blatant fury.
"You can't fix this without me! It wasn't your fault the cops fucked up and couldn't hold Tran! But you need him out of the picture as much as innocent people do! You're about the only crew they respect enough to have a truce with, but he's hurting people! You can't stop him by stalling him! You are only helping him spread his guns and his violence by not letting me do this! He's gathering people into his gang, he's definitely doing more to bring in money than street racing! He's got after him the LAPD, FBI, the DEA, Customs and Border Protection, and the bureau that covers explosives and firearms! They're moving in some dark shadows! Do you have any idea how much these agencies want to take him down?!"
Dom stared. he relented a little the muscles weighing down Brian in place, the sheer shock of what Brian was saying quelling him. Brian kicked out and sat up an inch, staring Dom right in the eyes. His own blue eyes were flashing icily.
Brian pushed it, sending an even clearer message. "They first thought he was just doing this job in town. Some hijacking bullshit! But the one conclusion made after the SWAT raid was that this wasn't what he was in on. It was something bigger, because Dom, remember how I told you about that guy named Hobbs? Special Forces for the FBI? He's fucking here. He's my goddamn handler parked in a car down the street from your house!"
Dom looked stricken. He eased up fully and Brian got his feet under him again. He still stood no farther than a breath away, could still smell the rank of cigarette smoke on Brian's body. Brian eased up on the anger, too.
"Luke Hobbs. Diplomatic Security Service. A highly skilled bounty hunter. He would just take someone like Johnny and make them disappear, but there's so many people looking at this right now that he has to do this by the book. He's in town. He's my handler."
"You were going to get in with Lance and make a name for yourself for Hobbs," Dom stated.
"And now you've made that really difficult." Brian lowered his face, eyes closed and feeling weak. Dom looked down on his glittery body, looking him over like he was some mad creature.
The two around the room looked wounded, too.
"You're working for the FBI?" Vince came to the conclusion, sounding awed and stricken.
Brian nodded. "There are so many acronyms tied into this case, I can't even begin... I'm in deep shit if anyone finds out you know all this, too. Even talking about the case - it's over for me. It's three years lockup for me minimum if they find out I did it and it ruined any chance at taking Tran down. Obstruction of justice. I'm breaking my own cover, risking your lives, obviously messing with evidence…"
Brian signed, bowing his head again.
Dom was lost for words again. His arms reached out, looping around Brian over his ribs, around and palms spreading over his back. He honestly didn't know what force drove him to do this in plain view of his best friend and sister, but this felt like the one and only right thing to do. His hands felt small on the broad expanse of Brian's back, unused to pulling in so much body against his own. And Brian was bigger than him, pushed inches higher because Dom was barefooted and Brian was in those boots.
"You're not getting locked up for this," Dom promised. He squinted like there was sun in his eyes, but he was just so frustrated. He was nose to nose with Brian.
"It would have just been a fucking blowjob, Dom," Brian muttered.
Dom felt like his stomach fell out, or at the very least light on fire.
"That sounds like giving in to the bigger guys on the block, taking the easy way. That doesn't sound like you," Dom whispered.
Then he pressed forward, covering Brian's mouth and making sure to seal it good so that stupid mouth wouldn't say something so stupid again.
Mia gasped. That was the trigger enough to bring Dom back from the sudden kiss.
He looked pained as his gaze found her, then Vince standing by her side. His eyes dropped between him and Brian and he pulled away swiftly. For his part, Brian finally felt a little better about his relationship with Dom. Since the other night, he couldn't quite pin down whether Dom was embarrassed or angry with Brian. Now he knew it was the former.
He had been tender and firm and Brian wanted to return that back to him. But he only imagined his fingertips gliding against Dom's cheeks and down to his jaw. He wanted to lift Dom's face, lock their gazes, renew Dom's strength with just a look…but instead he only grasp the table behind him and exhaled a full breath. His body ached from more than his tussle with Dom.
"Well…" Brian said, "if now you really want to be a part of this, it's not only my life on the line. Not even just yours, either. Its everyone's. Hobbs wants this bust, Dom. He would bury bodies to get it. And you've cut me off from Johnny until Race Wars, so now what?"
Dom realized how much harder he made this, but he was solid in his reasoning now. Before, it was just knowing that Johnny thought Brian was his property, but really…this was stronger than that.
Brian held his look. "We can still do this my way."
"Your way sucks, literally," Dom said, anger and finality lacing his words. "You're not getting in through Lance. But if you want him…" Dom let the words linger long enough to make Brian twitchy, "then I think I know what you need to tell Hobbs."
"Talk to me, Dom."
Dominic Toretto looked again at Mia and Vince, and took a little pity on the situation and stepped even further away from Brian. Where before their bodies had been fused now there was room to breathe. Dom turned around and went to the sink looking in. The drain really was the symbol of his life right now.
"Johnny and I had a deal awhile back before I slept with his sister. Right after I got out of prison…Mia, you didn't know about it and if you still don't want to know about it then you better leave the room," and here Dom looked at her with sad eyes, ready to make his confession.
She was hurt, but she wasn't going anywhere. "Whatever you have to say, just say it. Get it over with. I still love you."
That was more than Dom expected. He looked away from her, embarrassed still that he'd been found wanting Brian. Embarrassed that he was embarrassed, even. He wasn't usually the type not to own up to his own. Here he was hiding.
Brian felt he had to make this clear, "I won't bust you for things you did in your past."
Dom chuckled darkly, looking over at him and sighing. He saw the intense way Brian looked at him. He'd been looking at him harder and for coyer reasons in the past, too.
"Of course you won't," he said knowingly. "I'm talking ancient history, anyway. You don't even need the background to move forward from here, but I want to tell you. They were quick hits. Johnny wasn't pulling his weight so there was a rally held for new racers. I was right out of the slam and Vince had heard about it, thought it'd be a good time."
"Lot of money," Vince said, nodding in agreement to the idea he had from the past.
"It was a guy from Tokyo named Han who liked people with guts. I got the job and some good lessons in souping up cars and drifting from him. For a guy like me straight out of prison, a guy like Han made you forget everything else. He had skills better than any I'd met before. He and I had a deal on the side from what we did with Johnny. Skimming right off the top of various business adventures. Johnny never even found out about it. I would have paid more attention to the stuff Han said about life and opportunity, but…there was a lot of money coming in. A lot of distractions." Dom shrugged and looked away, somewhere into the past. "He was born with the soul of a car in him, he once told me. I think Jesse has that, too."
"What were the jobs?" Brian asked, all coppish, Dom had to note.
"Side deals. We drove trucks into different warehouses in Little Siagon and people on the inside loaded us up. We'd cart the stuff back to the shipyards and it would get loaded back on cargo ships back to Han's guys across the water. He once told me this stuff was already off the books, we were just cleaning up messes where his guys over in Tokyo had to let the stuff through or it'd look suspicious. If it sold here, it was money earned at a loss. All we really did was park it then show up at the docks and dump it. Easy."
Brian narrowed his eyes. "And they're still doing this? Han's still working Johnny the same way?"
Dom shrugged. "Han's long gone. He's not in this anymore. And it looks like things have changed a bit. There didn't use to be bikes and guns like there are now. Since Han left, Johnny's gotten territorial. It's probably easier to keep where ever he's hiding the trucks safer."
Brian asked the obvious question, now. "And where did you use to hide the trucks?"
Dom looked like he was deciding something, something big. Brian caught the narrow glare Vince was sending him. Not so narrow, because even Mia was looking a bit spooked. Like the-information-still-mattered sort of spooked.
"Hector kept them at his garage," he said at last then studied Brian closely. There was nothing but solid interest in how to use this information today in Brian's eyes. He wasn't looking to use anything against Dom, anyway. "But Johnny never knew about Hector, either, so where he's hiding his trucks now has got nothing to do with Hector."
Brian nodded just once, then asked seriously, "How often did you use to pick up? Where and when did you offload?"
Vince said loudly, "You're making it really awkward, Dom! This guy is still a cop even if he is dressed and smells like a goddamn skank."
Brian shot him a cold look, then flared his collar for effect. His lean muscles were tight. "I'm the skankiest skank, Vince. I also stand on street corners. So come on, Dom," Brian turned his eyes back on Dom. "What corner am I standing on next? What day? What time?"
Brian had this glittering in his eyes that sparkled more than the stuff on his body. It was that look a racer gets after a win, that same look Brian had after he lost but still felt like a winner when he raced Dom. If Dom had to describe it, it was Brian's happy face. No wonder he was a cop if this did it for him this good each time he got the information he needed to close a case. No wonder he wanted to be a detective, too. And Hobbs. No wonder Brian wanted to be on the best team out there. If he was this happy busting up Johnny Tran imagine how happy he'd be getting someone bigger.
Dom was jerked by that line that had sprung out of Brian and crossed his path…feeling that little golden fish wiggle at the other end again.
"You'll tell all of this to Hobbs and not get yourself hurt?" Dom asked now, a bit out of breath if he must say so.
Brian nodded, stepping forward into Dom's space and making it clear he was wholly in agreement. Dom thought this was a pretty good plan, too. Simple.
"Han had it set up at night. The security guards were all on the payroll and would toss a towel over the cameras before we'd show up. We'd move the product off dock 42 on Thursday nights, sometime around midnight when the right ship was in port. Is that good enough?"
Brian took another step forward, right into his space. Dom's hand came up and grabbed Brian's head again, like before but gripping Brian's hair and tugging him in. It's not a kiss they aim for, it's just to be close. Dom settles his face alongside Brian's and knows he's getting paint and glitter on himself.
The others sense something dramatic is happening and veer away.
"You got this now, man?" Vince asks, shooting for the hall back down to his room.
"Yup!" Mia says for her brother, spinning for the stairs and taking them fast.
Alone in the kitchen now, Dom pulls Brian in at hip level and grips that latex material spanning his hip section. It means he's grabbing Brian's ass, but anything just to feel close. He smells cigarette smoke again and it's not just on Brian's flesh, it's in his mouth too, which opens and accepts his kiss.
They feel their breath quickening, hearts speeding up. And why would Brian be the one to stop this? Locked in the tight grip of Dom, eyes closed in darkness, fear and danger all around him, but with someone like this - someone who makes him feel like his back is being watched and he can safely let go. If he had to admit it, this was the first time in years that he felt truly relaxed.
"Maybe you should get in the shower?" Dom tells him, lips moving against his skin.
"Will you join me?" he asks, not wanting to be too far away.
And Dom might have except that would mean a lot…really too much for right now. He was ready for something, clearly, but maybe just not ready for that yet.
"Take it slow with me, Bri," Dom muttered.
Brian nodded. He had recollections of being flung onto the floor when he didn't take it slow.
Dom led Brian upstairs to his room. Their hands were intertwined up until Dom deposited him in the bathroom off his bedroom with a pair of sweats and a shirt that would be baggy on him but clean.
"You're sleeping here tonight. Was that not obvious?" Dom asked.
Brian smiled, relieved that it was said aloud and not something for him to ponder while getting cleaned off. "You'll hear me talking in here. I need to check in with Hobbs and let him know I'm fine."
"I won't interrupt," Dom said smoothly, pulling the door closed on that smiling face.
Once on his own in the bedroom, Dom looked at the mattress like it was Everest. He didn't have bunk beds; it wasn't like him telling Brian he was staying over meant staying apart. They'd be on that bed together all night long. He had a lot of thinking to do and just one dirty cop's shower worth of time to do it in.
Alone in the bathroom, Brian's smile fell just as his body did. He sat on the edge of the tub and sank his face into his glittery and paint splattered hands. He had the full picture painted for Dom with only minimal lies. The truth. Mostly. But Brian really meant the part that he wasn't going to let Dom be taken in for telling him how to get Tran.
And that had done it for Dom. He'd told him what he needed to know. The other two's expressions had told him the rest: how much trouble Dom was putting them in by telling him. How current their trouble was. Not past shit with whoever that Han character was. This was right now trouble.
It was Dom pulling the hijackings. He hadn't wanted to believe it. It was his crew, too, right down to Mia being in on it.
It was also Hector. Hector hiding Dom's old side job with Han, and Hector hiding the Honda Civics used to pull the truck hijackings. Rome had been ordering parts for Hector to outfit three new Civics, but they kept saying it was for Race Wars. Brian wondered if Dom would have the Civics moved away from Hector's place now that he told Brian about it, but he bet that Dom trusted him completely now and would sooner chop his own foot off than have evidence moved, taking that as a mark against his trust for Brian if he had.
That he'd just been handed the information to solve both cases he was working tonight was a reason to have this cannon fire in his chest, but he knew it was for a different reason. Dom had just become the most important person in his life and he had no recourse for love. He was stuck with it. It had lodged within him and it was the most precious thing he'd ever felt in his life. He thought he loved Rome, yet he did nothing but protect himself from Rome's wild tendency to hurt him. For Dom it was the exact opposite: he wasn't protecting himself, he only wanted to protect him. This was the real deal. He couldn't question it.
He needed a minute to settle down before he called Hobbs, who had texted that he was in range and waiting. Brian didn't have forever, but he had for now to consider his next move. He started the shower and took his clothes off. He swore he'd never put any of them on again…except the boots, which actually came from his SWAT gear and just fit the look he was going for. The rest were women's clothes he'd picked up from the safe house and could live without forever.
When he stepped under the stream of water he watched about a bucket of glitter and paint twist down the drain. He hadn't even looked in the mirror, probably wouldn't have recognized himself if he had. If he looked anything like he did last night after making friends at that club he was hired to dance in for the patron's entertainment, he looked wrecked.
After soap was scrubbed into his flesh he could get a real view of the bruises that dotted him here and there. It was Lance's guys at the club. There were a lot of them there, a lot fooling around with that playground and the playthings like Brian who were put there for entertainment. It was almost a blessing having Lance grow possessive of him, considering that got him out of a rather intense situation with one of the gang who had dragged him away from the sight of the bouncers. But whatever…Brian was use to holding his own and having some luck on his side.
He didn't need long at all to come to the conclusion that he wouldn't tell Hobbs all of what Dom had just told him, just like he often didn't tell the full story of what he got up to at the club, too. He could use this, though. He could spin it. Rome had done the same but with less conclusive evidence. Brian had solid intelligence, he just couldn't share the source.
Brian dialed Hobbs' number before he'd even secured the towel around his waist. It only rang half a tune before it was picked up.
"You're not making this interagency cooperation feel very cooperative, O'Conner."
"I've got something for you, but you're going to have to live without me for a few days," he spoke quietly. Hobbs picked up on it.
"The fuck is happening over there?"
Brian licked his lips, glad he didn't taste paint anymore. "I'm in the bathroom washing up. Dom told me Tran torched the car. And Johnny called him to warn against letting me back into the club. Cover's not blown…it's just banned."
"It's all cleaned up and we kept it off the news. You going to keep talking?" Hobbs was getting antsy.
"Yeah. Look, the car was a message for Dom. Johnny told him he didn't like me hanging around. There's some territory deal he has with Dom and had me escorted out. Means that room you booked me is out of bounds, too. Say sorry to Fresco that I had to leave behind all those outfits he picked out for me."
Brian couldn't help grinning right there, liking that he could throw in that little hook at the end. Fresco, another elite solder, cringed as much as Rome when Brian was trying on the garments, but helped pick some out just to get it over with. Brian had teased them all a little, asking their opinions, with only Hobbs, Bilkins, and Tanner not falling for the game.
He could hear Hobbs' enjoyment of passing on that information. "I'll let him know. Tell me what you have on the case."
"Something's leaving Little Saigon and going to the dock yard."
"Which one?"
"Number 42. Thursday nights is just a guess, but a place to start. The security guards will cover the cameras."
"How did you come by this information?"
Brian lifted his head, imagining he was looking Hobbs right in the eyes. He had Dom to protect in all this. He couldn't tell them what he'd done; it was one more reason for them to look this way. He had to change the source.
"A few of Johnny's guys stayed behind to watch me on stage. One of them had a thing for bitching about Lance not letting them go to some high-end party last Thursday night, but that I made up for it a little. That's the first part."
Brian took a breath. Yeah, it was going okay so far.
"The second part was one of them had a work badge in his pocket. I got a look when Lance took me to the back."
Hobbs took a little long to reply to that. Brian'd been lying for too long not to believe even himself, so waited patiently for his reply.
"What happened in the back?"
"Honestly…nothing happened. Lance just paid for a lap dance. Clothes on. Didn't even touch me, but I think that's part of what gets him off. He said next time he was going to watch someone fuck me."
I'm going to watch you take it in the ass until everyone's tried it.
That silence again.
"Hobbs? You ever work in Vice? This is a pretty normal check in. I'm okay." He said that last word sincerely.
"You hit him pretty hard with that helmet, Officer O'Conner."
Brian hadn't. Hobbs was just letting him know he was being watched.
"I kept telling him to take me back to my place. I didn't know how Dom would take me being there."
"How'd he take you being there?"
"I'm in his bathroom. He's in his bed waiting for me."
There was another of those long pauses.
Brian took in a deep breath and let it out slow. "Gonna be here a few days. Until Race Wars this weekend, anyway. Dom doesn't want me going anywhere until Johnny's cooled off. I think he's still afraid I'll be found out."
"You got us a lead. Good work. We'll get surveillance at the dock yard. It's a place to start."
"I'm myself when I'm here. Call whenever you want, even if I'm with him. He just thinks it's Vice. Knows I want to make detective and this is what I have to do. Tran is a hang-up that he's sorry for. I told him there's no specific case making me do this. That it's just regular assignment."
"Again, good work, Officer. Call if you need anything. Over and out."
Brian heard the line go dead and shut his phone.