Short note from the author...
I love Fast and the Furious and glad to finally add something to this category. The first movie is the one I've always been most fond of. I'm going to free-style a little more than usual. It's somewhat of a multi-fandom crossover, but I don't want to make too big a deal out of any of those little pokes into other worlds. Maybe some of you might spot them all~
There is more than fear when you are driven to fate.
It started with an earthquake in the desert nine years ago. It shook the ground on a scale of 2.4, barely on the cusp of being recordable. For those within a fifty mile radius of the origination point, though - a few miles south-east of the Tucson Juvenile Detention Corrections Facility - what happened next couldn't have been avoided. A wave of energy rose from the ground, sweeping upwards and dissipating in the atmosphere. It was invisible. For those awake at the time they would describe it as a small heat wave, but not one so unoriginal to the hot climate.
For those asleep in the bunk beds at juvenile detention, their fates changed more drastically than any. This included Brian O'Conner. Here for over a year and lifted just before his sixteenth birthday for boosting cars and bunked with Roman Pierce, as the now-seventeen year olds slept, the wave of energy radiated upwards through first Brian on the bottom and into Rome, spreading Brian's thoughts and feelings into Rome, mingling Brian within Rome on a deep level.
Both having just recently turned seventeen, they naturally were eager to leave juvie when they turned eighteen and head out into adulthood. Rome's plans for a life of involved crime and chaos were bathed with Brian's long ago decision to volunteer for the police academy. Rome's future now settled along the lines of serving and protecting as well, a life of quick money and thrills ruined. Pushed from Brian's body into him was now that same desire - urge - to protect as one of the good guys who so many times came to Brian's rescue as a young boy when his mom's boyfriends would get to be too much. By age fourteen, he stood taller than his mom and her asshole druggy boyfriends. Prettier, too, because the drugs had really taken hold. She wouldn't stop using. Worse…she wouldn't stop them like she used to when they noticed his face. So he dropped it all around that time and left without looking back. Rome he considered his first real friend, their bond solidifying in that last year behind bars and locking them together like two halves of an egg. Incomplete alone. Together - begrudgingly sometimes - a whole.
Seismologists recorded the minor shake and waved it off, but the event was filed away in a cabinet in the basement of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, Case #: X 771563256 warranting future examination.
Officer Roman Pierce got the undercover assignment that Brian wanted. Wanted bad. What those FBI agents were thinking giving it to the hothead beat cop who never showed a desire to go undercover was beyond Brian. LA was his neighborhood for the past year, he had more undercover hours logged than Roman, and he worked in the precinct the case originated from, so they should have chosen him. Brian was gutted that he lost the opportunity to show off in front of FBI agents, fast tracking him into a detectives badge and then onward. A petty sort of thumping was coming from within his chest, his heart belaying his cool but his face staying neutral. Brian stood in the bullpen on the third floor of his police precinct watching across the masse. He'd returned to base to get a look at the recruit, not expecting it to be that shithead. Hadn't even known Rome had applied for the posting; they hadn't talked in a year. He should never expect Rome to ever completely leave his life as he always showed up like bad luck or an unexpected hitch; the fucker always found a way onto the road ahead of him.
Even though Brian wore a police uniform, head to toe a done-up cop ready to get back in his patrol vehicle and head out, Rome seemed to be dressed in a higher rank. New but baggy street clothes, a big fucking grin and an even bigger FBI agent chatting into his ear about who-knows-what-not-Brian's-business. Rome just looked more comfortable in his own skin right now. Honestly, there was no denying that he looked the part of street racer. Whatever they saw in him they liked better, same story as always. Bosses liked Rome; pimps liked Brian. Same same. It was why Brian had been stuck in Vice until he met Tanner a year ago and moved to LA to get back on a regular track for his detective badge. All that Vice undercover work had pigeonholed him.
The door to the conference room they were all in was propped open, showing the people within gathering their stuff. They were moving the team out of the corner office for a safe house they'd just busted from some drug dealer, Brian had heard. He stood icy, sipping his acrid water in the waxy paper cone as he leaned against a wall with a good vantage point, blood overheating.
"I don't want to be too critical of you Officer O'Conner, but you're looking at that guy like you're planning his disappearance."
Brian followed the voice up to a familiar person decorated with a few too many indulging meals. Detective Tad Grusza was in his early thirties and had a liking for this Texas cowboy hat and classy suits that made him stand apart. He was also nice to Brian, insightful and friendly and definitely with a sense of humor, or he would probably have started an investigation on Brian to see if he really was the murderous type.
"And I thought I was being subtle," Brian replied evenly, crushing his paper cup.
Grusza approached, stopping with his shoulder on the wall next to Brian and a heavy sigh. His deep brown eyes bore into Brian with a gentleness and knowing. It was something Tanner often did towards him. These two friend had taken it upon themselves to watch out for Brian, be in his corner as he traversed the ladder up the food chain.
"Too bad you didn't get the undercover assignment," he said genuinely. "You were a good fit, anyone who knows you would say that. I'd put my vote in for you, for the record."
"Thanks, Detective. Doesn't look like they needed me, though. Guess this place is stuck with me awhile still." He knew for sure he was projecting the truth, even if it was a bit sour.
Grusza smiled, showing off a character building gap between his front teeth, and held out a file that he'd had tucked under his arm. "Good," he bated. "I could use you here, anyway."
"What's this?"
"Leg work, if you're interested."
Homicide was where he'd wanted to be from the beginning. How any one kid right out of juvie wanted to join the police force - let alone two of them - and both with a dream to be a homicide detective - was beyond anyone who knew Brian and Rome's history. The list was short in that regard. Tanner knew, but Brian didn't know if Rome ever told anyone beyond his mom and aunt about his career path. They weren't exactly thrilled by the news, other than to know that he could come home for holidays because cops generally weren't locked up behind bars. Rome really turned a leaf those years ago. Surprised everyone.
Some time passed and Brian was leaning his hip against Grusza's desk, his nose in a file. Rome had spotted Brian awhile ago but only now came over. Like usual, he approached from behind, ready to take Brian by surprise. Grusza, for his part, had the vantage from his swivel chair and gave the approaching man a serious visual examination.
The muffled buzz of the precinct carried on around them, but for all Brian cared it was just the two of them in that moment, facing off like rivals instead of old friends.
Brian'd seen Grusza's change in nature. He looked over his shoulder.
A smile even broke out on Rome when Brian caught him creeping up. Same old game. He gave up his creep for a solid posture. Even if he hadn't seen Rome in a year and had been treated on-and-off like shit by the guy since meeting him, he couldn't look Rome in the eye this close and not realize he had missed his stupid face.
There wasn't any formal greeting going to happen. Not their style.
"Know why they chose me instead of you?"
"Why's that, Officer Pierce?" Brian asked.
Rome smirked, like it was obvious. "It's cause of that no-relatives thing you've got going on. Leaves you 'too open-minded and susceptible.' Not my words, I'm just quoting here. They say you too empty inside, bro, so it made them think you'd bore the street scene to death."
That was not true. Rome and Brian made waves growing up after juvie, racing cars even while wearing the uniform. It was bullshit and fun and he played just as much a part in it as Rome.
He slapped the file he held closed and took his weight back to the balls of his feet standing up to his full height, which placed him above Rome. Rome straightened, too. Not nose to nose, but it was like two real power boxes with different paint jobs, motors raring. When he was this close, Rome always backed off first…Brian knew how to stare too hard.
"What's going on here, fellas?" Grusza asked darkly, tensing and reading himself for…whatever this was going to be.
"This is just my old partner telling me he got to the Feds first for my character reference," Brian explained to Grusza. It was plain as day to Brian that he had. Rome and Brian…anyone who knew them in SF knew they were on the same wavelength. Brian found solace in the fact no one did around here.
Rome smirked.
"You're too slow, blondie. Never quite know how to work the system…just the corner of the street," more truth than fiction.
Brian's upper lip curled but not in a smile. He was like a cat after a hiss.
"Can't believe you, man…"
What he got was a shrug and a laugh, Rome brushing him off. He bumped Brian's shoulder with his superiorly muscled one, giving himself more breathing room. Brian held his ground.
"They thought of you, just that they took account for the mark's crews and figured I'd be more the family and friends type. You had more experience undercover from Vice, but they didn't exactly think any stripteases would crack the case in this line of work. What you want me to say, pretty boy? I got the case instead on merit."
Brian had a quick word for that little jibe. "I want to hear you say it, Rome. That you always thought it was my looks solving those cases and not my police work!"
Yeah, he didn't care that his voice was raising. He got all the mass that was Grusza out of his seat for that one, the man standing taller than Brian and larger than Rome, and he was standing behind Brian's shoulder ready to grab on. Rome gave the detective a look and his laugh was loud enough to throw even Grusza off his scent. But Brian knew this was when Rome would strike like a rattlesnake or just keep shaking his tail until he drew out enough antagonism to get the other guy to hit first. Power shuffle. Either way, Rome knew how to work it and Brian knew what to expect. Rome was predictable. Brian knew his next words would be the calculated ones that would sting the most. He braced himself.
"You want me to say you solved those cases, I will. All of them, O'Conner. Your numbers were good. No one can say you didn't do it without your looks, though, especially since you only got those drug dealers opening up as fast as your hooker legs could spread!"
Not disappointing him, Rome was loud for the gathered eyes and ears of the detectives and cops around them.
Grusza sprang forward and crashed into Brian's back, his arms going around Brian fast. All he did was knock Brian off balance. Grusza had thought Brian would have pounced. Hell, the people around them saw the fury in Brian's face at Rome's words and thought that, too. But Brian had stayed still, rocked only now because Grusza grappled him.
Rome cracked up. He didn't at all see the cold hard hurt that Grusza got a glance of when Brian turned to see what had grabbed him. He pushed Grusza away, but the guy kept a solid hold of Brian's arm, making sure he really wasn't going to follow through.
Rome walked away laughing, saying as he went, "You are the most repressed white boy I've ever met! Never lose that cool of yours, Officer O'Conner!"
Rome clicked the button for the elevator and waited with a white-toothed grin, looking out on the attention he was getting. He disappeared into the box and the doors closed. The precinct gave its attention to Brian for a moment. Brian shrugged, appeasing those he could with his nonchalance. The place got back into its usual flow when it was clear that Brian was left to detective Grusza to care for.
Grusza's skin was lighter than Rome's, but there was a flush about him right now. He looked pissed, too.
"Fuck that guy. Brian, don't let whatever that was get to you."
Grusza patted Brian on his shoulder roughly, looking like he needed the comforting as much as Brian did. The guy furiously stared at the elevator like it was the crime scene of a triple murder.
"He's always been that way about the work I did in Vice. I'm use to it. Thanks for having my back, though."
"Looks like you didn't need it," Grusza said with a bit of pride. "Can't believe you kept it together. I would have clobbered the nose off his face. A cop going undercover means they do things out of character, play the part to get the answers to the questions. Was he really always such a dick to you about it?"
Brian smiled, seemingly eased up already from the event.
"Pierce is the type of guy who loves to get under the skin."
Fact.
Grusza went back to his seat shaking his head, still mystified that that wasn't a bloodbath.
Maybe not calm, Brian was still steady enough to know he wouldn't go making physical contact in the precinct. It felt a bit unreal to have all these hateful feelings for the guy he once would do anything for rush back like they never left. Rome was in his bones.
When Vice picked Brian, Rome wouldn't let up. Brian was getting all that experience and attention from the sergeant for his stellar leads and reports and Rome was getting resentful. Brian figured Rome was jealous but never got a straight answer from him if that's what it was. He was acting like it, though. He wasn't a quiet-jealous type, but loud, bothersome. It made the other cops ridicule, too. Rome could make people join him, he had that quality the same as Brian, only Brian used it to get perps, not backstab. Thanks to Rome, Brian had to deal with finding thongs in his locker, little jabs in the halls when he showed up to report, and seriously grabby hands when the bosses weren't looking. It stung right down to his core. It made the offer to move to LA really easy.
Rome knew Brian's willingness to use his body as a tool without regard sometimes. He'd seen it in juvie when he'd calmed enough assailants down by sacrificing his face or his ass to someone with the upper hand, bringing peace along with it. Rome never saw the logic of it. Even now, he didn't see it as doing what was necessary.
A few days into Roman Pierce's UC work and after a weekend off duty and out of uniform helping Grusza with his case, Brian poked his head into his sergeant's office after his shift had ended, dressed down in a simple red shirt and jeans. It was around three-thirty in the afternoon, the blazing sun lighting the whole place up along with the cool florescent lights. The sergeant didn't have just one window in his office, it was made of them so he kept the blinds down, a little parted, so when Brian looked it the place was all white unnatural light.
"Hey Tanner?" Brian said softly, seeing his boss so focused on his computer screen that he hadn't noticed him, and didn't want to spook the guy. "You about ready for a break? Want to get a beer?"
Tanner smiled and leaned back in his squeaky desk chair. He looked eerily sick in the combination of the lights and his monitor.
"God…I should have invested in a cheap Office Max replacement with some actual lumbar support by now," he muttered as he stretched.
"Naw. It'd just get swapped out for someone else's old garbage one."
Tanner nodded in agreement. "I'd love to go out, Bri. A beer with you is always welcome, even if you should be making friends your own age."
"No one has as much to say as you," Brian replied smoothly.
Tanner smirked. "But I've got this report to finish, so rain check. FBI Agent Bilkins wants predictions on alternate ways to make the UC thing work better. The officer they brought in is taking the direct path into the illegal street racing scene, using Harry's parts shop as his connection to make fast friends - like predicted. He's the life of the world around there right now."
Brian didn't like the worry in Tanner's voice. He offered, "Anything you need?"
Brian never felt like more of a brownnoser, but Tanner had helped him out in a big way and never asked for anything but Brian's best. He was the one who guided him to join MAPD, SWAT division, and tried to get Brian in on this because he was already connected to racing. Tanner knew about his interest in cars and used his knowledge to get Bilkin's attention. Looks like even Tanner was chosen for the job instead of Brian, though little did Bilkins know all that Tanner knew about the street racing scene he learned from Brian. Tanner couldn't ask for more help from this point, though, as that would be a breach of security; Brian wasn't on the case. He had to help out with Rome instead on his own.
"Not on this one, kid. Strict rules about letting in people without clearance. Thanks, though." Tanner only sounded tired because he was tired, then. Brian eased up his dutiful role as dependent to the man he owed something to.
"Well, I'll let you finish," he told him, stepping back slowly.
Tanner went back to focusing on his monitor.
As Brian took the elevator back down to floor level and the parking garage with his ride home, he started to ponder Tanner's words. It was easy enough to picture it: Rome selling upgrades to rich kids, guzzing up to the more gullible racers, bragging about whatever vehicle the FBI had confiscated and set Rome up with to race. He was the one who got them into races after they'd signed up for the police force right at eighteen, basically doing the same thing now as he'd done when they ran against all those rich kids to pay for their college education. They'd always stayed on the outskirts playing their own game, but here he'd be in the scene soon enough.
And Brian already knew that it was the Tran's or the Toretto's who were heisting those trucks. He didn't have to read the confidential FBI file to know that, either. He'd been in LA for a year. He was making more money here in LA and about the only thing he felt right spending it on was the car. He'd been ordering parts from Harry's - using cash, of course, so his unregistered baby sitting in his garage wouldn't be traced back to him - and knew enough to know the top dogs on the scene.
No, as a cop he didn't know the two crews, as a person he didn't either. He just knew about them. Ask any real racer, the winner is the one people know about. And Dominic Toretto always won. Johnny Tran won, too.
And like with any street racing group, the key to knowing the man in charge was getting to know the crew. Rome knew this, it was why they put him in Harry's. Making friends took time, though, which wasn't Rome's style. Rome pushed hard, was noisy, and that made him fun to be around but Brian knew Rome was going to hit up a hundred sources for information, spreading himself far and wide. The kind of deep cover Rome was being asked to do wasn't expected to get quick results…he'd have time to prioritize his safety and still accomplish the UC assignment with the right bad guy being taken in for a solid case closed.
Rome was going to get himself hurt. They got into so much shit together that Rome talked them out of, or if he couldn't talk them out of then Brian could fight them out of. But Rome hated the long game. He wouldn't go for a serious relationship to solve this.
That was why Brian decided he would have a look at Dominic Toretto himself, who's crew was set up in Echo Park right nearby. Not undercover…he'd go in full uniform. There was probably some way into the life of street racing that would put Brian in a position to support Rome and not get himself totally in deep waters.
In another part of the States, in a basement office with an echoing hallway outside of it, a red-haired FBI agent looked up from her report. Her smooth and beautiful face was decorated with two keen intelligent eyes. She saw the square of her partner's shoulders and that was enough to require investigation.
Her sultry voice asked quietly, "Something on your mind?"
Her partner sighed, caught in the act of being drawn into yet another interesting case file.
"What is it?" She had to press.
The shadows of the office couldn't hide him, so he looked up and confronted her with melancholy, which wasn't out of character. This man had a lot of weight on his heart that often staggered him.
"I was looking over old case files. I think there's one that's starting to sound like it might be worth going to take a closer look."
"What's wrong with that? It's our job to be looking into these sorts of things."
Another sigh.
"Now you're really starting to make me worry. What's the matter?"
"It's in Tucson, Arizona. I don't know…something about the idea of the desert summer heat just…all that sun…makes me hesitate."
Matte red lips smiled. This man had saved her life a hundred times over and had never hesitated, but the idea of a hot sun was? That humored her. They'd faced things unspeakable and improvable, yet he always had this ability to surprise her more than the cases they worked.
"The heat will be blistering. But if it's worth a look, we'll get a hotel with a pool."
She was graced with glittering brown eyes suddenly. Her partner had sparked a question. "I don't think I've ever asked you, but do you favor a one-piece or a two-piece?"
A refined roll of blue eyes enlivened the man in the shadows to lose some of his melancholy.
"Come on. Tell me," he encouraged.
She wouldn't. She said cryptically, "Wouldn't answering now spoil any surprise?"
Little did he know, but any trip they took to any part of the world and she wasn't going to be packing a bathing suit. Like with most things, it was better he not know some truths.
The first time Brian parked his squad car across the street from Toretto's Market and called in a Code 7 for lunch, he'd walked under that open bay door and was greeted by high tempo music and Mia Toretto laying half on the counter with a text book under her gaze, moving her index finger as it helped her focus on the lines. She wore a little shirt and tight black jeans. His heart was in the vibe of this place, that was for sure. Also, he liked her style.
She didn't even look up at him, just kept on with her book like he could wait because she was busy. She was in her early twenties and all too often Brian found women this young overly-helpful and eager. She was focused, though, with that drive that sets her apart.
Brian saddled up and eased into a seat at the wrap-around lunch bar, earning him a glance. His uniform earned him a little more. She immediately frowned and her frame tightened. When he saw that, his smile blasted her with more sunshine than the 104 degree LA day.
"How's the tuna here?"
"Crappy," she'd replied briskly.
And she wasn't good company. On the days that followed, she was mute except for when she was disagreeing with anything he said.
"Thanks. Have a good day," he would say as he stood and left his bills on the table.
"Not likely," was often her muttered reply.
The company may have appeared to not be a reason to keep coming back, except she'd cut the crusts off his tuna sandwich like he'd asked. That alone was endearing to Brian.
He'd been coming in on his lunch break around eleven in the morning for two weeks straight now, car parked right across the street, radioing in from Echo Park and everything. Open about it.
On the radio around ten, another officer in the area reached out, "O'Conner, got plans for lunch?"
"Yes I do," he'd said to the familiar voice as he filled out a speeding ticket for a red Nissan. "I found a place with good tuna. Over."
"Yuck. When you want tacos give me a call. Grusza out."
See. Open about it. He wasn't trying to hide it, he just hadn't been spooked away by any of the Feds yet. They hadn't even had eyes on this place as far as he could tell. Rome wasn't around, so he wouldn't be risking obstructing justice by getting in the way of the operation. He wasn't even crossing Dominic Toretto's path. Just Mia's, his sister. Mia's…a way into Dominic's crew that Rome wasn't going to take. Brian knew he could move in if he really wanted. He'd slept with guys and girls to get information he needed before now. But the nice thing about Mia…was that she wasn't a target. He wasn't undercover. He wasn't working a case. He was just here for lunch.
It made the hole in the wall with the cool modded car deco even better.
Brian was back again. He looked both ways and crossed the dead street. It was so blazingly sunny today that the shadowy interior of the store was pitch black. His black gear glistened, as did the skin of his face and bare arms. He'd crossed under the barrier of the rollup door and slinked into the barstool, eyes still not adjusted because of his fried retinas. He knew Mia was there, but turned instead his attention to a magazine on the counter because it was about as far as he could really focus - and he liked the cover.
He also liked that she was watching him.
"Tuna on white, no crust?" She proposed it as a question.
He smiled and narrowed his eyes, knowing that made them glitter because he was told by a john he'd arrested in SF. He lifted his chin like a sport and asked, "I don't know. How is it?"
She scoffed, because that was stupid and not funny. He saw now that she'd been doing her homework, as always. She stood up straight and went over to the prep table and got the simple sandwich put together in moments. Then she was sliding it in front of him like she just didn't have the time, and this time she didn't turn away at once.
Brian's ghost blue eyes left the magazine and met hers, which were dark and moody as she deadpanned, "It sucks. It always sucks, Officer…" Mia looked closely at his name badge for maybe the first time, and finished, "O'Conner."
That made him smile so big and wide that it pulled a smile out of her, as if she couldn't resist.
"Thanks," he said kindly, moving on to the food and digging in as she went back to her book.
Between the sandwich and the article on carbon exhaust, with an ad about sunglasses, Brian didn't see the man in the back until his plate was empty and he was already getting up to go, drawing the bills out of his wallet on instinct. The guy was at a table behind a mesh partition. He'd been wearing a khaki shirt with modified sleeves - torn off either because of impossible-to-get-out grease stains or just for the style of it - so blended in with the décor of that simple little back room.
He was packed with muscle, sunny skin, shimmering with sweat from the heat of the day. Brian's fried retinas had failed pinpointing him before now, but seeing him now he slowed down his body so he could really focus his vision over there. He immediately was attracted to the imposing framework. That shirt was like a cloth tarp badly thrown over a souped up American muscle car; it did no favors to the hot ride but no one could deny there was something worth seeing more of under there.
Brian felt like he was staring. He noticed Mia saw him staring, too, and came back to himself quickly.
"Thanks again," he said to her, hearing that his voice had deepened from his distracted state. Finally he let his bills leave his hand. He put his wallet back in his pocket and touched his radio and raised the volume just a tad, "O'Conner. 10-8 in Echo Park."
Immediately his radio fizzled back at him. "O'Conner. 10-33 on Sunset off the 2."
He was already turning to go check out that building's alarm call when he replied, "10-4. Enroute."
His long legs got him back to and in his black and white, and he sped away in the direction he'd been parked.
He didn't know it, but Mia had smiled and said, "Go get 'em, cowboy."
"Mia?"
The deep rumble from right behind her snapped her out of her daydream. She'd been twirling a lock of hair and it tugged as she jumped.
"Dom! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Dominic Toretto didn't look sorry. He looked like he had gotten a bit of an answer to a question he hadn't asked. But there was a darker follow-up question, now.
"Mia bella?" Dom said to his little sister. "How long has that cop been coming by flirting with you?"
She burst into an embarrassed laugh, rolling her eyes and waving her hand here and there.
"What? Dom! What? He's not - " she scoffed at the very thought of even repeating the question.
Dom crossed his arms and settled into giving her a glare and a scowl. She rolled her eyes again for effect and shrugged him off, turning back to her book and consuming it with her undivided attention. She wasn't even fooling herself, if she was honest.
"Leave it, Dom. He just likes the tuna!"
"Uh-huh."
She scoffed and flipped back a page. Really, nothing she read over while the cop was here stuck in her mind. She flipped back another page until the content started looking familiar.
"Really!" She said loudly, looking over at Dom who hadn't budged an inch. "Go away! I'm busy studying!"
Dom took his frown all the way back to his seat with him. He didn't press her, but he'd be taking care of this tomorrow. And even though he didn't tell her that, Mia looked across the street at the usual spot the cop car parked, knowing that the whole crew would be here this time tomorrow to scare off the pretty cop that kept coming by. Oh, well…but she sort of started missing the guy already.
The next day, sure enough, the crew came speeding up to the bay doors right around eleven, drowning out her choice of music with their roaring engines and thrashing base of their own sound systems. Mia rolled her eyes. She looked behind her where Dom had been sitting for an hour.
"Really, Dom?" She asked him angrily.
Dom tilted his head at her, just smiling like she was some silly little girl. This was a game he played with his little sister often enough: how to test the men who hovered around her. His doughy face pissed her off more than the obnoxious way their friends came around. She slammed her text book shut.
She'd even put on a real good pair of jeans and a bit of a shorter shirt than usual today. Not to mention she'd nearly been late opening up while she fretted over her hair.
Well, shit. Maybe Dom has a reason to act this way.
She was looking forward to seeing the blue-eyed cop.
The engines outside turned off and her music returned.
"Hey-o!" Bellowed Vince, entering the quiet little bubble Mia had blew up around her and burst it apart.
"Are we too late for prince charming?" Letty asked, swooping in at the counter and grinning at her.
"I take it Dom told you to come here?" She asked Letty crossly.
The tough chick nodded, a big grin on her face, her teeth sparkling as a harsh rattling laugh started to build. "Uh-huh! Brother doesn't want little sister dating a cop! Can't blame him!"
Mia had to scoff.
"Is he good looking?" Leon asked smoothly, coming in for some actual answers that he couldn't get from Dom. Of all of them, Leon was the only one who might bring a little peace to the situation. He always tried to stop trouble before it started; he locked himself in his vehicle and took to the police radio when they were at street races. He always warned them if the cops were ever on the way. These days especially he was sensitive to their crew causing waves with cops, hence his nervous nature at the moment.
Mia blushed and looked up at the ceiling, earning her whooping laughs from Letty as she took that as a yes.
"What's he drive?" Young Jesse asked, sitting on a bar stool but bouncing hyperactively so he had to seemingly grip the counter to stay on.
"A cop car," Mia spat sharply even though Jesse didn't deserve her tone of voice. "He's a cop, so he drives a cop car. Dom!"
She swung around and accosted the real source of her anger. She was about to lay into her stupid big brother for real, but Vince was standing right there behind her. She came up short, nearly bashing into him. He'd moved so silently.
"We're gunna run that fucking pig right out of here, Mia. Don't worry about that," he told her, so very sure of himself.
Leon spoke up quickly behind her. "But we're not going to use that word while we do it! And we're not going to be anything but friendly, either!"
Leon was making his point: no trouble. They make no trouble.
Mia pushed Vince out of her way and went to the far end of the store where the fridges were. There was a black milk container of sodas she hadn't stocked yet, that she put off when Dom showed up and had forgotten about until now. She ignored everyone as they made their fun, forcing Vince to make them sandwiches because he was standing behind the counter like she usually was.
She was just getting the last of the Coke into the fridge when she heard a vehicle approaching. It had a deeper rumble and started to slow. The crew quieted down and looked behind them. From her angle she couldn't see anything.
Worried that it was the officer, she went over for a look. Relief, because it wasn't who she thought. It was a buff black man in baggy clothes who got out of Harry's Racer's Edge red truck, now parked across the street.
The others knew about him, which was probably why Harry kept him around; a boost for business. He told everyone about his neon green Eclipse. He was loud, brash, and just a lot to handle. He rubbed Letty and Jesse the wrong way, for sure. No one really irked Leon. And Vince kind of liked him, which if Mia knew that (or him) she would right then and there know he was really no good.
Dom was trying not to make an opinion on this guy, and that was for Harry's sake.
He walked into the store with his arms raised wide, eyes obscured by sunglasses but his mouth wide with a grin.
"Alright! Now let's get the party started!"
Brian was a bit late to lunch at Mia's. Toretto's Market he thought of as Mia's, even though he was probably sure it was as rightly Dominic's as it was hers. He saw the red truck from Harry's place, The Racer's Edge, parked across the street and a chill went through him.
Simultaneously he contemplated the serious repercussions of his actions in coming here, considered just driving past today, but then caught the sounds of shouting. From the dark shadow of the interior of the place, an assailant six-foot, two-hundred pounds, tackled Rome outside into the sunlight through the open bay door and to the ground. Rome was laid out hard.
He'd been coming here over two weeks now and this was the first he had seen of Rome. Of course there would be a fight.
Mia ran into the sunlight, staring over the two men distracted by the fight right at him in his police unit, and he decided then to stop his car but not to flash his lights.
He parked and cut the engine right behind the red truck, stepped out and standing tall and still and focused right on the scene.
Dominic Toretto flew out next. He was a powerful wall of muscle that more barreled than ran right past his sister. He didn't stop until he was on his guy, pulling him off Rome in one move and pushing him away. He didn't spare Rome a glance. Faced Brian with an intense look as his guy got his balance back behind him.
Mia stepped down the slope toward him, up along a row of colorful cars that were modded for speed and flash.
"No problem, officer!" Mia called in a high octave.
Yeah, no problem. Brian thought, lips tight.
Brian walked easy across the street, giving time to let the scene sort itself out as best it could. Also, he was letting the look that washed onto Rome's face find its way back off of that face before he was seen by any of the people standing behind him. Brian looked away from him, past Dom at the guy Rome had been fighting. He was maybe twenty-four, Dominic's age, and stood there breathing hard, looking pissed and yet like a cornered animal. He didn't look hurt at all in the scuffle except maybe his ego. Rome had a bit of blood by his nose.
He met Mia by a white Jetta with a blue flame down the side. She looked panicked. Truth be told, though, Brian's eyes were gathered by the Jetta, taking in its sleek body and seeing right away that this car was loved. In his abstracted state, Mia reached out and took one of his arms in both her hands, squeezing firmly, definitely a little shaky.
"Lunch?" She offered urgently, a peace giving plea that showed in her eyes.
Brian took his steely eyes off the Jetta, across the two who had been fighting, and landed them on Dom. Dom raised his chin, as if daring Brian to say something about this, as if daring him to point out how fucked up they all were in this moment.
Instead, Brian turned to Mia. In a voice that oozed calm and collected, he asked her, "What's on the menu?"
She shook her head in disbelief that he had asked, that it was maybe possible that he would play along with her.
"Tuna?"
"No crust?"
"No crust," she said with relief and a breathy sigh, pulling him lightly towards the shadowy interior, past everyone who like moths followed along. Brian kept an eye behind him, seeing Rome get up and walk away when Dom shot a pointed finger at him and flung it off towards his truck. Rome didn't exactly hurry away, but Rome didn't exactly ever do what was best for him.
Mia let Brian go at the bar and hurried around. He took a seat. Usually she was so quick about that sandwich, but her hands were shaking. When she turned around with the plate of food and saw Brian sitting there, all calm and eyes focused right on her, her body stopped moving.
He was so big in her view. His blonde hair was so bright, his eyes so blue, his dark cop uniform so clean and crisp. The black gear attached all over his uniform was less intrusive today than it had been before, but she was sure it was the same look he'd always had. Something about him being here was…welcome? Somehow?
The air seemed to clear up drastically between them.
"Thanks, Mia," Brian said easily.
She couldn't help but sigh in relief.
His hands took the plate before it was set down. He had a bite of the tuna sandwich in his mouth before he looked behind him, raising an expectant eyebrow at the ragtag crew.
First off, they were in shock.
When his cop car had come rolling in just as Vince and Rome went to the ground, Letty, Leon, and Jesse had dropped their jaws in horror. Dom had felt a chill rise from his toes up to the tip of his head, with a special cramp that twisted his gut to go with it. Dom had been in the back, but he burst past the three of them and out to Vince, tearing his oldest friend away from that fight with a vicious steel grip.
Vince felt the pain in his shoulder bad, but then suddenly that big blonde cop and his big black and white response car filled his vision. That wasn't some fucking white patrol car…that was a black and white. That was a higher class of cop car, with all the bells of a better engine, audio and visual warning systems to hunt down crime and catch it. The one reason Vince didn't lose his lunch right then and there was the damn thing wasn't lit up at all, and the cop's gun was still in its holster on his hip.
Vince had paused in the doorway, staring at the look that cop gave him now and thinking what the absolute fuck? It was like some come hither look. Some fucked up twisted nightmare where this cop ran the show in here. Here in their place.
That's when Dom gripped Vince's elbow and dragged him in. Dom planted Vince down on the other edge of the wraparound lunch bar and kept going. He went to the back where there was a fridge and felt the cop's eyes on him the whole time. He closed his eyes with his back turned, braced an arm on the edge and rested all his weight there, letting the cold air seep into his lungs as he took a moment.
Survive this. Just fucking wait it out. Dom thought miserably. They were all cornered animals.
Brian heard him pop a drink - he couldn't tell what from this angle - and tip it back for a long cool off. Brian could feel how uncomfortable Dominic was and purposefully kept his body language easy and his stare light. Dom finding his cool and Brian being nothing but caused the others - except Vince - to settle. Letty closest to Brian and Leon and Jesse to the other side of Vince started to look around for who was going to make the next move.
Brian wasn't alone where he sat, though. There were three plates of food set out, only a few bites taken. Clearly, these were the orders for food that Mia had heard earlier. She recognized the mustard gushing out of the one on white bread and picked that up from next to Brian's plate and replanted it in front of Letty. Then she made a good guess about the others and gave Leon and Jesse theirs.
"Can I make you a roast beef?" Mia asked amiably to Vince.
He had been staring at Brian, who was chomping down on another bite of his tuna. The damn cop was so smooth and hadn't flinched at all under their looks. When Vince looked away from him to register Mia lived on the planet, the corners of Brian's lips perked up.
Dom by now had downed and tossed the Cola in the trash. Fuck, but his nerves were on fire. He couldn't leave his crew out there to suffer, so while Mia made Vince his sandwich, Dom went out and leaned against the partition, on the border of the fray where he could observe it all so clearly. Dom noticed that the cop looked like he was utterly comfortable just sitting right there among them. He gave Dom a once over, eyes glittering, and Dom had to just take it. Dom bit his tongue to nail his mouth shut, or he was going snarl at the fucking nerve of the guy.
Mia set Vince's sandwich down.
"So, what was that about?" Brian asked Mia, just a moment after Vince had taken a bite of his sandwich.
Dom noticed the timing. He fucking couldn't believe it, either. Everyone was chewing their food. The cop timed it. His fingers dug into his arms where they were crossed and his shoulders tensed even more. His sister had moved against the counter farthest away from them all, tucked into the corner where the deli stuff was. She crossed her arms protectively, too, trying to look calm but only looking as aggravated by it all as Dom…except for different reasons.
"Just some guy. He came into the shop and started causing some trouble," she said.
The cop nodded, like that was certainly true, but… "But what caused the fight?"
She shook her head, pursing her lips and unable to look up from the floor. Brian knew she was clammed up and that was alright. He looked at the other four lined up nice and tidy for him and saw that Letty closest to him had just swallowed. He set his eyes on her and gave her his best no-one's-in-trouble look.
Dom even believed him. The look was freaking soft.
"You can tell me," he said to her.
Letty's mouth opened and it was like she was back in school and answering questions for a nun. "He started flirting with Mia. The bulldog didn't like it."
Her mouth clamped shut. She shouldn't have said it. She didn't even go to Catholic school! She turned to Dom, looking sorry she'd fallen for it. Dom was incensed, but he was holding steady. Clearly it would take more than a cop in uniform witnessing his crew fucking up to get them send down to the slammer.
But what Letty said, that's what made Brian cringe. He looked in earnest up at Mia and wasn't that just the most heartfelt request they'd ever heard in their lives when he asked her, "Are you okay, Mia?"
She was speechless and then she was burning with embarrassment. Before she lost it, she spun around. From her angle only Brian couldn't see that she'd pressed her hand over her mouth to hide a huge grin that plastered unbidden onto her face again. Again? Why couldn't she control this?
"What the - !" Vince burst out in shock.
And that was when Leon and Jesse both started giggling and Letty started her cackle again.
Dom saw Mia's reaction, too. The fear ebbed back as the tide pool of his reserve strength faltered in full. He groaned and rolled his head away. His plan to intimidate the cop had totally backfired into something fully out of his control now.
"Mia…" he said, this one low rumbling word the only he could manage to eke out.
Brian looked around at the sudden change in everyone's moods. He was quite pleased with it all, actually, but he was keeping his facial expression middle-of-the-road. Mia had turned back and was smiling, a little less embarrassedly and now owning up to it.
"Shut up, everyone," she said, not at all meaning them to. "Just eat your food!"
Vince looked like he was the only one left still on the hate-this-cop, get-him-out bandwagon. His eyes were full of warning, but then so were Mia's.
"Cut it out, Vince! I don't want you to start!" She warned.
"Mia! He's a - !"
"Stop it, Vince!" Dom growled, pissed off about it, too, but they'd regroup with a new tactic later. Vince got one look at Dom and knew it. Brian knew it, too. Or he could guess that's what that look was, anyway.
Mia saw and rolled her eyes. She turned to the blonde who made her blush and went over, leaning on the lunch bar with just one hand braced, not really in control of her other which went up and tucked her hair behind her ear.
She asked him, all charming-like, "So, Officer? You've been coming in here long enough, time we got to know each other a little, wouldn't you say?"
He burst with a burning grin and wasn't that just the sort of smile that was why Dom started all this? The others got their first look of it and oh, they felt sorry for Mia. Girl didn't have a chance to resist. He was stunning.
"Anything pressing you want to know about me, first?" He asked.
Mia was game with this. She leaned a little closer and nodded, a smile clearly suppressed for the sake of the others. Building up her own flirtation as she said, "Yeah, there is. What's your type?"
Brian knew what she meant. His smile may have gone down a degree, but only because it was probably hard to keep all those muscles stretched like that. He may have taken his time in answering, maybe having to think of the right words. He'd nodded along though, when the answer finally came to him. He leaned forward a bit and lowered his voice, acting all sultry.
"I won't lie to you," he said, "my type has always been the same. I'm predictable like that. Dark eyes. A sort of aggressiveness that doesn't make them mean but makes you feel…appreciated. Sun-soaked skin…" he followed her forward as she unconsciously leaned in. They were inches apart so he could feel her warm skin. He glanced over when he heard Dom growl, saw Vince stiffen up and the others stifle laughs as they watched, but met Mia's eyes again. "And I'm telling you the truth, and you can hate me if you want…" she nodded along, slipping further forward. "But the last thing I look for after all that? It's the muscle tone. A hard body. A sweet curve from broad shoulders that taper down into a trim waist."
She stood up straight and gasped in disbelief. She wasn't the only one. Vince had just jumped off his seat like it caught fire and took a leaping skip back. His whole body shook like a dog under stress. Only Letty had the nerve to roar with laughter, with Jesse starting up next with confused, shocked, dunno-what-else-to-do laughter. Leon looked mystified.
Brian looked out on the battlefield of his own making, his eyes eventually locking onto the parts of Dominic Toretto where skin was exposed and it was clear there was one person in this room who was exactly his type. Letty wasn't too busy laughing to notice; she simmered down at that look in Brian's eyes.
"Got a craving for Italian now?" She piped out, her smile turning rather predatory.
Brian's insecurities reigned his eyes over to her. He had a new flush about his cheeks. Dropped his sandwich onto his plate and slapped his hands together to get the crumbs off. His eyes skidded around at anything else but the people.
Dom had a curious look of revelation that was flowing into relief, because Mia wasn't in danger of having a cop boyfriend. Oh, thank god. It wasn't even alarming to have the cop look him over now. Now, he knew what that cop was addressing and why, and Dom didn't spend hours a week training his body to look this way not to appreciate attention from all walks of life who admired his hard work. He was even feeling sorry for the guy now. Letty was a viper and hugely protective of him. Looked like his uniform didn't make him exempt from that. Revelation.
"He's a fag!" Vince bellowed. "I cannot fuck-ing be-lieve it! A gay fucking cop sitting there!"
They all let him have his little tantrum, but Vince didn't get anyone jumping in with any sort of anger to go along with his. In that regard he was flying solo in his outburst.
Brian rocked his head from side to side, as if something he was thinking he wasn't quite in agreement with.
"What?!" Mia snapped, maybe not angrily, just still in shock. Her inner turmoil was slowly morphing into self-loathing.
She wanted…what? An apology given or taken? She more than him was the one who should be saying sorry. She was stupid - had two weeks alone with Officer O'Conner to get to know him. Why'd she have to wait until there was a crowded room? Why'd she believe he was coming here because he wanted a date with her? She'd never appreciated that from anyone! Why suddenly rely on that assumption now?!
Brian was quicker to the self-loathing than she had been, though.
His voice was somber as he said, "Oh, just thinking to myself. Not like it's hard to find that type of guy in LA, but the person who fits the bill perfectly would respect the man enough to respect the badge behind him. I think I pick my friends that way, too."
"No one respects cops!" Vince spat.
Brian nodded in agreement, smile turned into a frown, looking disappointedly at the remaining half of his sandwich.
"I know that. S'why I'm single. S'why I don't have any friends but work buddies. And imagine them finding out I drive these lanes? They'd haze me off the force."
And of course they would radio him right now. Brian heard the fizzle of static adjust near his collar bone and reached up instinctively to turn the volume up. The words came out clear.
"O'Conner, what's your 20?"
Brian grabbed the radio properly and swiped it right to his chin, voice gravelly as he replied, "This is O'Conner. Code 7 Echo Park, dispatch."
That got everyone in the room to shut right the fuck up. Only Leon knew the most codes from the police codebook, but even his heart was suddenly thumping with fear. The cop sitting on his lunch break suddenly looked so…coppish.
The radio was silent for a time, then the smooth voice replied.
"Call for a 10-19, officer O'Conner. Respond."
That was a code Leon didn't quite remember. He remembered the bad ones. He wondered what this might be.
It was actually a call to come into the office. Really, to hurry and come into the office. Brian remained in a relaxed state and said into the mike, "10-4. O'Conner enroute."
He got up, getting his wallet and a few small bills out. He looked at Mia while he did it.
"Gotta go, Mia. Thanks again for the food," but because he saw the look on her face, and because he wasn't a damn heathen willing to leave a girl with that expression, he asked her, "and now it's my turn, because there's something really pressing I need to ask you before I go. About getting to know you?"
She didn't speak, but her brow furrowed. She was quite embarrassed for her own sudden reactions to this whole change of events.
She nodded that she'd heard him. That it was okay that he ask.
Brian, with that same concern he'd shown her minutes before, with that same earnestness, "When someone's fallen out of your good graces, is there ever a way back in? Because, I don't think I want to let it end this way. And I really want to make it up to you."
Her mouth had fallen open.
Speak, Mia! She screamed at herself.
"Y-yes. No. Yes!" She responded.
And wasn't that just enough for the cop? He grinned, but unable to wait around he stepped back and waved a goodbye. He turned and jogged to his cruiser, ignited the engine on the first turn and was flipping around mid-street. He was headed for the office and knew full well Roman Pierce created a shit storm for him there.
"He was be-au-ti-ful," remarked Jesse.
Leon spoke with a mouthful of sandwich that he'd picked up again. "I liked his haircut."
"They let all cops look that good and they'd have a better reputation," Letty agreed.
"Dude!" Leon said with a laugh, turning around and looking now at Dom. "His baby blues were lookin' all up and down you, brother!"
The three still sitting at the lunch bar broke into a laugh again. Letty didn't look at all territorial as she laughed right with them.
Mia wrangled a smile, too. She was just disappointed, but only in herself. She couldn't believe all that had happened. That cop, batting for the other team - or driving these lanes as he put it - who was hurting so bad for nice people in his life and had spent two solid weeks being a good guy so she would just warm up to him, had laid it out for her and she'd gone and stuttered her way into this embarrassing anticlimax.
"Ah, don't sweat it, girl," Letty said smoothly, eyes sparkling. "I think he was letting you down the easy way. He did look like he'd be happy to frisk you, though, Dominic. Can't say I wouldn't be the first person to pay to see that!"
"We about done here?" Was all Dom said of their little snack break from hell.
On the way out the door, Jesse said to Vince, "Guess you don't have to worry about him and Mia, then?"
"He's still a cop," Vince replied resentfully.