Chapter 2: The Next 10 Seconds
"Dom ?" Jesse asked, blinking unbelieving who he saw standing at the bottom of the stairs. He slowly started he way down the stairs, one arm around his stomache the other on the banister. Dom just stood there, he didn't know whether to cry, scream, or fall over. When Jesse was finally standing in front of him, his blues actually looking at him, did Dom react. He reached out and pulled Jesse into a bear hug, and held on for a few minutes just to make sure he was real and not another dream. Only when Jesse let out a slight "ow", did Dom release him. They all stood around the hall just looking at eachother. Leon being the only one with a little sense left in him went to the kitchen and came back with a Corona for everyone, even Mia took hers. They all made their way out to the living room and Dom, Jesse and Mia taking up the couch, Vince taking his usual chair, and Leon opting for the floor.
"Dom man, where have you been?" Vince finally broke the silence.
"Down in Mexico. After Spilner let me go, I knew I couldn't go straight to the fort, or the hospital, so I just drove. I wasn't going to come back, but I realized this is my home and you're all my family and I needed to be back here. Quarter mile at a time isn't gonna cut it now. You all matter, nothing else." Dom sighed and slouched back onto the couch with tears in his eyes.
"So, where's Letty at ?" Dom questioned his team.
"We don't know man. When they let her out after fixing up her busted ribs, she never came back to the fort. Nobody heard from her since." Leon explained gently.
Jesse made a move to stand up but groaned in pain and fell back onto the couch clutching his chest. Vince and Mia were both up running to the kitchen for Jesse's meds while Leon was at his side trying to lay him down on the couch, while Dom stood back helplessly. Mia handed him a couple of white pills which he swallowed easily, and layed his head back on the couch.
"You overdid yourself again man" Vince berated the youngest member.
"The Wizard aint back to full power yet, he needs to take it easy or he gets the pain, he should be good as new in a few weeks." Leon explained to a very confused and worried Dom.
"Aight everyone, it's been a long day. Let's head off to bed. Dom you can have my bed, I'll room with Jesse so I can watch him. Vince. Leon, You help Jesse up to his room." Everyone nodded their agreement and headed tiredly up the stairs.
******************
The next morning found everyone out in the garage, save for Mia who was watching the restaurant. Leon and Vince were arguing over an engine's specs, while Dom and Jesse were in the back office looking over the latest program Jesse had whipped up. Brian arrived a little later to be greeted by the very menacing form of Dom. Brian stood his ground, bracing for the impact of Dom's fist but instead Dom stretched out his hand at Brian. Brian shook Dom's hand and was pulled into a hug. Whatever tension there had been in the room was dispersed on the spot and everyone got back to their work.
An engine roar later the afternoon cut into everybody's thoughts. A brunette got out, her dark hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, her cargo pants road low on her hips, revealing the waistband of her black thong, the matching bra was visible through her sheer army tank top. Black shades covered her dark eyes and she stood at the edge of the garage with her arms crossed against her chest, and hip stuck out, showing her obvious attitude. She lowered her rims and cocked an eyebrow at the starring men in the garage.
"What the hell you think you looking at grease monkeys?" She questioned. Leon came running out of the garage and scooped her up in her arms.
"Letty, girl where the hell you been chicka ?" He questioned. The mention of her name froze Dom to his spot in the office. After a slight nudge from Jesse and a shove from Vince, he made his way over to her. Letty just looked up at him not moving. Even though she was a good foot shorter than him and was outweighed by about a hundred pounds of muscle, she didn't flinch.
"Letty, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." Dom started but was interupted by a hand in his face.
"Save it Poppy. Whats done is done. You did what you thought was best for the team. I couldn't deal with it so I jetted and from what I heard so did you. There is no use in saying sorry. So hows about you make it up to me by giving me a massage?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"But Letty, the garage, we got shit to ..."
"I think you should make it up to me and give me a massage. Aight?"
"Alright." Dom conceded. Letty took him by the hand and lead him into the house. Dom looked back to see Leon and Vince shaking their heads at him and smirking. He just shrugged and went in.
They guys got back to work. Dom's car was a piece of shit and if they wanted to be back in the races this weekend, they had a lot of work to do.
"Wizard !?" Brian shouted into the office. Jesse peeped his head out of the office." Call Harry's and see if you can get the parts overnighted from Japan."
*******************
By that friday they had Dom's car ready. The team was back in motion. They roared into the warehouse backlot, Dom in the lead, followed by Letty and Vince and then Jesse and Leon and Brian and Mia. The crowd parted around their arrival. They "ohhhhhhed" as the king of the streets got out. Hector came running at them, shaking Dom's hand, asking him where the hell he'd been. They got to talking but were distracted by Letty shouting at someone. They calmly walked over to see what was the matter.
"Letty calm down"
"No! This chica was dissing my car. She thinks she can take me on."
"Hector?" Dom motioned him over, " You hold the money. 5 large total. One heat, 2 cars, winner take all."
"You got it man, lets get this shit started."
Various racers lined up along the street, cutting off the side roads. A blue and a black car pulled up to the line that had just been sprayed on. Leon watched the scanner. Letty lowered her window and growled at her opponent, who ignored her, and turned on her radio. The bass blasted, and speakers shook as "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit blasted out. Letty ignored her and reached behind her seat to turn her NOS tanks on. Her opponent did the same. They both sat at the line revving their motors waiting for the signal.
"Aight, we got a robbery up on the north side, with heat all over it. Lets do this" Leon shouted.
Hector got between the cars, established eye contact with both of them, he slowly raised his arms, and then threw them down. Letty and her opponent were gone in seconds. Letty allowed her car to rev up before shifting to second, only to shift to third a moment later. "Arrrrrrrrghh, rrrrrrrrrrrarrrrrrr," Letty growled. " I smell loser skank" Letty laughed before thumbing her NOS button and shooting out in front of the black car. The black car only waited two seconds before hitting her NOS button sending her in front of Letty and over the finish line by several feet.
Letty swerved around and smashed her fists against the steering wheel. She was pissed. She had never lost before, not to anyone, except Dom. She threw open her car door and stomped over to the black car. The girl leaned against the hood, with her arms crossed against her chest. Before Letty could do anything, Dom was there handing the girl her money. Jesse soon followed, motioning her to pop the hood, which she did. He called out the parts to Dom, who nodded his head and smiled. Letty was about to start shit when Leon's shouts interupted her.
" We got cops !!! Cops !! Go go !!!"
Everyone ran to their cars knowing the nights races were over and it was time to get the hell out of there. Jesse made a move to head to Leon's car but he was too far away, and Leon was already pulling out. Jesse started to run and headed for an alley but a black car pulled in front of him. The passenger door was thrown open, and Jesse quickly hopped in. He had barely gotten the door closed when he was shoved back in his seat by the speed they were hurtling at down LA's roads.
"You might want to put that on," the driver laughed as she pointed to his seatbelt. Jesse quickly pulled it on, and grabbed onto the dash and his seat for support as they wizzed through traffic. When they were finally out a safe distance and there were no more cherry lights in the rearview mirror did the car finally slow down.
"Hey, take a left here, and a right there. Now go..." Jesse directed the driver to Dom's house, his eyes never leaving the road.
"Ok, stop here." Jesse undid his seatbelt and got out wobbling slightly, his legs a little unsteady from the drive. The driver got out and headed over to where Jesse leaned against the car
"Hey, thanks back there" Jesse said as he extended his hand to the driver. Only when he saw a feminine hand take his, did he look up. He looked straight into the most beautiful set of eyes he had ever seen. He lowered his gaze and took in the rest of her, raking up and down her body a few times before returning to the eyes. She had a thin yet curvy figure. She was toned like Letty but had the figure of Mia, with the exception of her skin. She was white, no latino or anything in her. Despite the fact she sported a California tan, you could still tell she was as much a snowman or snowwoman as Brian. She had on baggy jeans, snugged around her hips by a black studded belt. She wore a black leather tank top with spaghetti straps that clung to her in all the right places. He could make out the starting of a tattoo on her lower stomache near her left hip, but couldn't tell what it was. She had flaming red hair, that fell to just below her shoulders. Some was crimped, some wasnt. A definite punk flair. Her hair was set off by her eyes. They weren't green but they weren't blue, they were somewhere in between and Jesse was getting lost in them.
"Wizard? That you? " Came a call from the porch that brought Jesse out of his trance.
"Yah Dom its me"
"Who's your friend ?"
"This is ummmmm...." He fumbled for her name.
"Aaliyah" she called to Dom
"Aaliyah ??" He questioned, curiousity and amusement evident in his voice.
"White girl, black name, I know, what can I say." Dom laughed at that.
"You wanna join the party, you kicked Letty's ass, I say that deserves a drink"
"Aight sounds good. You coming ?" She glanced back at Jesse who stood dumbly.
"Yah, I'm right with ya" and ran to catch up with her. He was at her side by the time they reached the porch. Dom headed in first, leading the way.
"So, you the Wizard?" she questioned Jesse, to which he could only nod, afraid of opening his mouth and making an ass of himself. " You a wizard at everything ?" she smirked, cocking an eyebrow at him. Jesse stood there not knowing what to say. She smiled at him and led him farther into the party.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Letty's anger obvious as she walked right up to Aaliyah and poked Jesse in the chest with her finger and sending a look of pure hatred and anger at Dom.
"Letty ?" Letty whirled around at the sound of her name, and was met by a fist in the face, that sent her sprawling back across the floor.
Aaliayh stood there, with her hands out motioning for Letty to bring it on. That was all the encouragement Letty needed, she was up and lunged at Aaliyah.
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Author's Note: I know the story is slow but it will pick up. Please review and let me know what you think.
"Dom ?" Jesse asked, blinking unbelieving who he saw standing at the bottom of the stairs. He slowly started he way down the stairs, one arm around his stomache the other on the banister. Dom just stood there, he didn't know whether to cry, scream, or fall over. When Jesse was finally standing in front of him, his blues actually looking at him, did Dom react. He reached out and pulled Jesse into a bear hug, and held on for a few minutes just to make sure he was real and not another dream. Only when Jesse let out a slight "ow", did Dom release him. They all stood around the hall just looking at eachother. Leon being the only one with a little sense left in him went to the kitchen and came back with a Corona for everyone, even Mia took hers. They all made their way out to the living room and Dom, Jesse and Mia taking up the couch, Vince taking his usual chair, and Leon opting for the floor.
"Dom man, where have you been?" Vince finally broke the silence.
"Down in Mexico. After Spilner let me go, I knew I couldn't go straight to the fort, or the hospital, so I just drove. I wasn't going to come back, but I realized this is my home and you're all my family and I needed to be back here. Quarter mile at a time isn't gonna cut it now. You all matter, nothing else." Dom sighed and slouched back onto the couch with tears in his eyes.
"So, where's Letty at ?" Dom questioned his team.
"We don't know man. When they let her out after fixing up her busted ribs, she never came back to the fort. Nobody heard from her since." Leon explained gently.
Jesse made a move to stand up but groaned in pain and fell back onto the couch clutching his chest. Vince and Mia were both up running to the kitchen for Jesse's meds while Leon was at his side trying to lay him down on the couch, while Dom stood back helplessly. Mia handed him a couple of white pills which he swallowed easily, and layed his head back on the couch.
"You overdid yourself again man" Vince berated the youngest member.
"The Wizard aint back to full power yet, he needs to take it easy or he gets the pain, he should be good as new in a few weeks." Leon explained to a very confused and worried Dom.
"Aight everyone, it's been a long day. Let's head off to bed. Dom you can have my bed, I'll room with Jesse so I can watch him. Vince. Leon, You help Jesse up to his room." Everyone nodded their agreement and headed tiredly up the stairs.
******************
The next morning found everyone out in the garage, save for Mia who was watching the restaurant. Leon and Vince were arguing over an engine's specs, while Dom and Jesse were in the back office looking over the latest program Jesse had whipped up. Brian arrived a little later to be greeted by the very menacing form of Dom. Brian stood his ground, bracing for the impact of Dom's fist but instead Dom stretched out his hand at Brian. Brian shook Dom's hand and was pulled into a hug. Whatever tension there had been in the room was dispersed on the spot and everyone got back to their work.
An engine roar later the afternoon cut into everybody's thoughts. A brunette got out, her dark hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, her cargo pants road low on her hips, revealing the waistband of her black thong, the matching bra was visible through her sheer army tank top. Black shades covered her dark eyes and she stood at the edge of the garage with her arms crossed against her chest, and hip stuck out, showing her obvious attitude. She lowered her rims and cocked an eyebrow at the starring men in the garage.
"What the hell you think you looking at grease monkeys?" She questioned. Leon came running out of the garage and scooped her up in her arms.
"Letty, girl where the hell you been chicka ?" He questioned. The mention of her name froze Dom to his spot in the office. After a slight nudge from Jesse and a shove from Vince, he made his way over to her. Letty just looked up at him not moving. Even though she was a good foot shorter than him and was outweighed by about a hundred pounds of muscle, she didn't flinch.
"Letty, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." Dom started but was interupted by a hand in his face.
"Save it Poppy. Whats done is done. You did what you thought was best for the team. I couldn't deal with it so I jetted and from what I heard so did you. There is no use in saying sorry. So hows about you make it up to me by giving me a massage?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"But Letty, the garage, we got shit to ..."
"I think you should make it up to me and give me a massage. Aight?"
"Alright." Dom conceded. Letty took him by the hand and lead him into the house. Dom looked back to see Leon and Vince shaking their heads at him and smirking. He just shrugged and went in.
They guys got back to work. Dom's car was a piece of shit and if they wanted to be back in the races this weekend, they had a lot of work to do.
"Wizard !?" Brian shouted into the office. Jesse peeped his head out of the office." Call Harry's and see if you can get the parts overnighted from Japan."
*******************
By that friday they had Dom's car ready. The team was back in motion. They roared into the warehouse backlot, Dom in the lead, followed by Letty and Vince and then Jesse and Leon and Brian and Mia. The crowd parted around their arrival. They "ohhhhhhed" as the king of the streets got out. Hector came running at them, shaking Dom's hand, asking him where the hell he'd been. They got to talking but were distracted by Letty shouting at someone. They calmly walked over to see what was the matter.
"Letty calm down"
"No! This chica was dissing my car. She thinks she can take me on."
"Hector?" Dom motioned him over, " You hold the money. 5 large total. One heat, 2 cars, winner take all."
"You got it man, lets get this shit started."
Various racers lined up along the street, cutting off the side roads. A blue and a black car pulled up to the line that had just been sprayed on. Leon watched the scanner. Letty lowered her window and growled at her opponent, who ignored her, and turned on her radio. The bass blasted, and speakers shook as "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit blasted out. Letty ignored her and reached behind her seat to turn her NOS tanks on. Her opponent did the same. They both sat at the line revving their motors waiting for the signal.
"Aight, we got a robbery up on the north side, with heat all over it. Lets do this" Leon shouted.
Hector got between the cars, established eye contact with both of them, he slowly raised his arms, and then threw them down. Letty and her opponent were gone in seconds. Letty allowed her car to rev up before shifting to second, only to shift to third a moment later. "Arrrrrrrrghh, rrrrrrrrrrrarrrrrrr," Letty growled. " I smell loser skank" Letty laughed before thumbing her NOS button and shooting out in front of the black car. The black car only waited two seconds before hitting her NOS button sending her in front of Letty and over the finish line by several feet.
Letty swerved around and smashed her fists against the steering wheel. She was pissed. She had never lost before, not to anyone, except Dom. She threw open her car door and stomped over to the black car. The girl leaned against the hood, with her arms crossed against her chest. Before Letty could do anything, Dom was there handing the girl her money. Jesse soon followed, motioning her to pop the hood, which she did. He called out the parts to Dom, who nodded his head and smiled. Letty was about to start shit when Leon's shouts interupted her.
" We got cops !!! Cops !! Go go !!!"
Everyone ran to their cars knowing the nights races were over and it was time to get the hell out of there. Jesse made a move to head to Leon's car but he was too far away, and Leon was already pulling out. Jesse started to run and headed for an alley but a black car pulled in front of him. The passenger door was thrown open, and Jesse quickly hopped in. He had barely gotten the door closed when he was shoved back in his seat by the speed they were hurtling at down LA's roads.
"You might want to put that on," the driver laughed as she pointed to his seatbelt. Jesse quickly pulled it on, and grabbed onto the dash and his seat for support as they wizzed through traffic. When they were finally out a safe distance and there were no more cherry lights in the rearview mirror did the car finally slow down.
"Hey, take a left here, and a right there. Now go..." Jesse directed the driver to Dom's house, his eyes never leaving the road.
"Ok, stop here." Jesse undid his seatbelt and got out wobbling slightly, his legs a little unsteady from the drive. The driver got out and headed over to where Jesse leaned against the car
"Hey, thanks back there" Jesse said as he extended his hand to the driver. Only when he saw a feminine hand take his, did he look up. He looked straight into the most beautiful set of eyes he had ever seen. He lowered his gaze and took in the rest of her, raking up and down her body a few times before returning to the eyes. She had a thin yet curvy figure. She was toned like Letty but had the figure of Mia, with the exception of her skin. She was white, no latino or anything in her. Despite the fact she sported a California tan, you could still tell she was as much a snowman or snowwoman as Brian. She had on baggy jeans, snugged around her hips by a black studded belt. She wore a black leather tank top with spaghetti straps that clung to her in all the right places. He could make out the starting of a tattoo on her lower stomache near her left hip, but couldn't tell what it was. She had flaming red hair, that fell to just below her shoulders. Some was crimped, some wasnt. A definite punk flair. Her hair was set off by her eyes. They weren't green but they weren't blue, they were somewhere in between and Jesse was getting lost in them.
"Wizard? That you? " Came a call from the porch that brought Jesse out of his trance.
"Yah Dom its me"
"Who's your friend ?"
"This is ummmmm...." He fumbled for her name.
"Aaliyah" she called to Dom
"Aaliyah ??" He questioned, curiousity and amusement evident in his voice.
"White girl, black name, I know, what can I say." Dom laughed at that.
"You wanna join the party, you kicked Letty's ass, I say that deserves a drink"
"Aight sounds good. You coming ?" She glanced back at Jesse who stood dumbly.
"Yah, I'm right with ya" and ran to catch up with her. He was at her side by the time they reached the porch. Dom headed in first, leading the way.
"So, you the Wizard?" she questioned Jesse, to which he could only nod, afraid of opening his mouth and making an ass of himself. " You a wizard at everything ?" she smirked, cocking an eyebrow at him. Jesse stood there not knowing what to say. She smiled at him and led him farther into the party.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Letty's anger obvious as she walked right up to Aaliyah and poked Jesse in the chest with her finger and sending a look of pure hatred and anger at Dom.
"Letty ?" Letty whirled around at the sound of her name, and was met by a fist in the face, that sent her sprawling back across the floor.
Aaliayh stood there, with her hands out motioning for Letty to bring it on. That was all the encouragement Letty needed, she was up and lunged at Aaliyah.
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Author's Note: I know the story is slow but it will pick up. Please review and let me know what you think.
