Chapter 5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -FLASHBACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Brian O' Connor, you're under arrest". His hands were pinned roughly behind his back as the Police Officer handcuffed him. "For aiding in truck hijackings and fucking us around", he went from sounding official and proper, to becoming a pissed off brute. Brian offered no resistance and allowed himself to be treated like dog shit. He was still shocked at the way Dom had driven out of his life, taking Mia and the team with him. The cop hauled him off the car he was pinned against, and threw him into the back of a police car. As the door shut, he looked out and locked his eyes on Tanner. It now become clear that he had let 'Team Toretto' down by being a cop, and he had let his long-time friend, Tanner, down by not being cop enough. Tanner looked back at him with obviously sad eyes, and then turned back to the FBI agent. "What do we do now, with Toretto gone? Brian cant possibly take the fall for all of it", he asked trying to find out what Bilkin's had planned for Brian. "No, you're right". The tall coloured man rubbed his forehead and sighed. "All we can do is try to scare a confession outta him, that he had some part of it. That oughta send him down for 5-6 years". "And if he doesn't talk?" "Well we got nothing on him but I'm sure Toretto's fingerprints are all over the Civic's. We just gotta find them." Tanner knew the drill, once they'd found the cars, an APB would go out on Toretto and he and Brian would go down for it.
A couple of days later Brian had been sitting in an interview room when he was told by Agent Bilkin's that the Civic's had been found. One by the roadside, which had exploded - "Letty's" Brain thought, "God I hope she's O.K." - and another of which had also been blown up, but intentionally. To his relief he thought they were all off the hook when something unexpected was said. "However, we found one shot up and my team are lifting the prints off it as we speak. Am I going to find Toretto's prints?" "No, only Johnny Trans!!!" He replied wittingly. "We cleared him though. You were there, remember? It was obvious that Bilkin's was trying to find holes in Brian's statement and trying to trip him up whenever possible. "Shit" Brian thought to himself. "You've landed yourself in it this time". He screamed inside his head, "SCREW UP!!!!!!". A few seconds later, Brian had pulled himself together and calmed down, then continued. "Those were decoy's" he thought quickly. "To throw us off his track". "Really?" he said as doubtfully as it could be said. "Yeah, I told Dom that he was under suspicion of the hijacking's, but that I thought it was Tran. By this time he knew I was a cop. Dom confronted Tran and he admitted it. Obviously he didn't know I was a cop. Once we left, that's when the drive-by happened. Me and Dom went after him and he started shooting on the main road. I defended myself and protected the public by shooting back." He took a deep breath, and slugged the water in front of him. The feeling of cold water running down his throat felt good. He put down the glass and looked at Agent Bilkin's. Bilkin's and his colleague stared at Brian for a couple of minutes, and Brian stared back just as coldly. "Well we'll see if your story checks out in just three days, when the results of the print's come back". Bilkin's broke the silence. "Your released on bail till further notice". Brian got up and headed out of the interview room. He collected his belongings at the front desk, getting some filthy looks from the cops in the process. He didn't say anything to any of them, and once out of the building, took the bus back to his apartment.
That night Tanner called. "So what d'ya tell them?" "What we agreed. Tran was responsible and Toretto wasn't involved. Did you sort your end out?" "When the results come back, that's when I'll do the switch. But I gotta go, I've got paper work as far as the eye can see!!" Brian heard him laughing down the phone. "Yeah, can't say that I'll miss that! See ya 'round". "Yeah!" Brian put the phone on the table. The day after his arrest, Tanner had came into his cell and told him the plan. He'd switch Dom's prints for Johnny Tran's. They'd concocted a story for the FBI about Jesse's death but he wouldn't say anything about Vince unless asked. But luckily nobody had asked anything as of yet. He remembered the conversation in the cell: "Why you doin this Tanner?" he had asked. "Listen.Brian. We've worked together for four years. I don't know what I'd without you" he placed his hand on his heart and spoke in a woman's voice. Brian punched his arm jokingly. "C'mon man!" "Seriously Brian. I don't think you deserve to go to jail. You just gotta trust me. I don't want you to go to jail". Tanner had always showed a paternalistic attitude towards Brian and it was shining through there. They had adjusted the story to cover Brian and Dom's asses and left it at that. At first Tanner wanted to let Dom take the rap, but Brian convinced him that if he did, Dom would take him down with him. He knew this wouldn't happen, but he saw no other way of helping out Dom and the team.
"Well Tanner. Brian's story checked out. Tran's prints were all over the car. Although he's dead, he's been charged with the hijackings. I got nothing on O'Connor or 'Team Toretto', so they're off the hook". Tanner looked at him. A surprised expression on his face.
"D..D..Damn" he forced out in a 'pretended to be angry' voice. "If only we'd known before. We wasted all that time and money on Toretto. We should've listened to O'Connor". "Yeah well" he said exhaustedly. After a long pause and countless "Fuck its" , Tanner started to head out of the building. "I'll go tell Brian" he announced before leaving.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - END OF FLASHBACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Brian had replayed the events of that week in his mind. He still had trouble believing that the charges against him and Dominic had been dropped. He had even more trouble believing how lucky he had been to get Tanner's help. At one time, he thought the FBI was setting him up. But in the end he had trusted Tanner, having nowhere else to turn, and it turned out that he had been right to do so. "That's a story for Dom and Mia. How I managed to stop Dom going down" he thought out aloud. "That oughta give me something to work with!" He thought that if he ever met Dom again, Dom might think that Brian was trying to set him up or bring him down. But hopefully this would be proof of his good intentions. But most of all, he just wished for a second chance.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -FLASHBACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Brian O' Connor, you're under arrest". His hands were pinned roughly behind his back as the Police Officer handcuffed him. "For aiding in truck hijackings and fucking us around", he went from sounding official and proper, to becoming a pissed off brute. Brian offered no resistance and allowed himself to be treated like dog shit. He was still shocked at the way Dom had driven out of his life, taking Mia and the team with him. The cop hauled him off the car he was pinned against, and threw him into the back of a police car. As the door shut, he looked out and locked his eyes on Tanner. It now become clear that he had let 'Team Toretto' down by being a cop, and he had let his long-time friend, Tanner, down by not being cop enough. Tanner looked back at him with obviously sad eyes, and then turned back to the FBI agent. "What do we do now, with Toretto gone? Brian cant possibly take the fall for all of it", he asked trying to find out what Bilkin's had planned for Brian. "No, you're right". The tall coloured man rubbed his forehead and sighed. "All we can do is try to scare a confession outta him, that he had some part of it. That oughta send him down for 5-6 years". "And if he doesn't talk?" "Well we got nothing on him but I'm sure Toretto's fingerprints are all over the Civic's. We just gotta find them." Tanner knew the drill, once they'd found the cars, an APB would go out on Toretto and he and Brian would go down for it.
A couple of days later Brian had been sitting in an interview room when he was told by Agent Bilkin's that the Civic's had been found. One by the roadside, which had exploded - "Letty's" Brain thought, "God I hope she's O.K." - and another of which had also been blown up, but intentionally. To his relief he thought they were all off the hook when something unexpected was said. "However, we found one shot up and my team are lifting the prints off it as we speak. Am I going to find Toretto's prints?" "No, only Johnny Trans!!!" He replied wittingly. "We cleared him though. You were there, remember? It was obvious that Bilkin's was trying to find holes in Brian's statement and trying to trip him up whenever possible. "Shit" Brian thought to himself. "You've landed yourself in it this time". He screamed inside his head, "SCREW UP!!!!!!". A few seconds later, Brian had pulled himself together and calmed down, then continued. "Those were decoy's" he thought quickly. "To throw us off his track". "Really?" he said as doubtfully as it could be said. "Yeah, I told Dom that he was under suspicion of the hijacking's, but that I thought it was Tran. By this time he knew I was a cop. Dom confronted Tran and he admitted it. Obviously he didn't know I was a cop. Once we left, that's when the drive-by happened. Me and Dom went after him and he started shooting on the main road. I defended myself and protected the public by shooting back." He took a deep breath, and slugged the water in front of him. The feeling of cold water running down his throat felt good. He put down the glass and looked at Agent Bilkin's. Bilkin's and his colleague stared at Brian for a couple of minutes, and Brian stared back just as coldly. "Well we'll see if your story checks out in just three days, when the results of the print's come back". Bilkin's broke the silence. "Your released on bail till further notice". Brian got up and headed out of the interview room. He collected his belongings at the front desk, getting some filthy looks from the cops in the process. He didn't say anything to any of them, and once out of the building, took the bus back to his apartment.
That night Tanner called. "So what d'ya tell them?" "What we agreed. Tran was responsible and Toretto wasn't involved. Did you sort your end out?" "When the results come back, that's when I'll do the switch. But I gotta go, I've got paper work as far as the eye can see!!" Brian heard him laughing down the phone. "Yeah, can't say that I'll miss that! See ya 'round". "Yeah!" Brian put the phone on the table. The day after his arrest, Tanner had came into his cell and told him the plan. He'd switch Dom's prints for Johnny Tran's. They'd concocted a story for the FBI about Jesse's death but he wouldn't say anything about Vince unless asked. But luckily nobody had asked anything as of yet. He remembered the conversation in the cell: "Why you doin this Tanner?" he had asked. "Listen.Brian. We've worked together for four years. I don't know what I'd without you" he placed his hand on his heart and spoke in a woman's voice. Brian punched his arm jokingly. "C'mon man!" "Seriously Brian. I don't think you deserve to go to jail. You just gotta trust me. I don't want you to go to jail". Tanner had always showed a paternalistic attitude towards Brian and it was shining through there. They had adjusted the story to cover Brian and Dom's asses and left it at that. At first Tanner wanted to let Dom take the rap, but Brian convinced him that if he did, Dom would take him down with him. He knew this wouldn't happen, but he saw no other way of helping out Dom and the team.
"Well Tanner. Brian's story checked out. Tran's prints were all over the car. Although he's dead, he's been charged with the hijackings. I got nothing on O'Connor or 'Team Toretto', so they're off the hook". Tanner looked at him. A surprised expression on his face.
"D..D..Damn" he forced out in a 'pretended to be angry' voice. "If only we'd known before. We wasted all that time and money on Toretto. We should've listened to O'Connor". "Yeah well" he said exhaustedly. After a long pause and countless "Fuck its" , Tanner started to head out of the building. "I'll go tell Brian" he announced before leaving.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - END OF FLASHBACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Brian had replayed the events of that week in his mind. He still had trouble believing that the charges against him and Dominic had been dropped. He had even more trouble believing how lucky he had been to get Tanner's help. At one time, he thought the FBI was setting him up. But in the end he had trusted Tanner, having nowhere else to turn, and it turned out that he had been right to do so. "That's a story for Dom and Mia. How I managed to stop Dom going down" he thought out aloud. "That oughta give me something to work with!" He thought that if he ever met Dom again, Dom might think that Brian was trying to set him up or bring him down. But hopefully this would be proof of his good intentions. But most of all, he just wished for a second chance.
