Chapter 38 - The Closet Soap Opera Addict
Jesse was scared. He was in a dark place he didn't particularly want to be, but couldn't find the way out of. He was alone and frightened. He didn't know why he couldn't get out of the place he was. He thought he heard his name being called all the time, and he tried to answer the people who called him, but they never heard him. He was floating, it seemed, somewhere, and he didn't know why. He could always tell when he wasn't alone, but he could never say anything. He hated it when he was alone. He often knew that Brian was with him. And he wasn't scared then. He knew Vince came a lot too. They held his hand and talked to him. Some times he told himself to remember to pick on them for holding his hand like little kids, than he just got scared that they were going to leave him alone in the dark again.
He had really tried to tell Vince he could hear him. Vince had told him all about Nyssa and how scared he was for both Nyssa and for Jesse. Vince scared was hard to take. Vince was the guy that wasn't scared of anything. Jesse had always looked up to Vince for that. Vince was fearless. Even more so then Dom. That was why Jesse had wanted to tell Vince it was going to be ok. Because he couldn't stand to hear Vince scared, that and to find out more about what happened to Nyssa. But he couldn't wake up and he couldn't say the words. And Jesse hated it when they left, left him alone to the dark place again. As long as his friends were with him he could handle it, but he started to get so scared when he was alone. Mia visited with Brian a lot, and Leon was by frequently, but Dom had hardly ever come in. Hadn't really spoken when he had come by. Dom had only spoken to Letty, or Brian or Vince. Never right to Jesse. Jesse wanted to know why. He hoped that Dom would forgive him for being so stupid. He figured that Dom was still mad at him for taking off. That was why Dom didn't talk to him, or visit on his own Jesse figured. Jesse'd done something really stupid, and Jesse knew he should have asked before he raced, should have told Dom before he did it, but he hadn't cause he'd known Dominic would say no.
Jesse'd heard Nyssa tell him that she was going home and he was glad for her, for Vince, but upset for himself. If Nyssa went home then the team wouldn't spend as much time keeping him company. He knew they came down to see him while some of them saw Nyssa and took turns visiting them both. But if they had Nyssa to care for at home they wouldn't want to spend as much time with him. He heard Nyssa tell him that he had to come fix Vince's Maxima, he never had finished it, and it was still only around 12 seconds on the quarter mile. Jesse was itching to get at that car. A 9 second Maxima was something to brag about, if he could build it, it would prove he was one of the best tuners ever, just like people told him he was. He missed his team, he missed working on cars, he missed life. He remembered Nyssa telling him she loved him. He'd wanted to tell her he loved her too. He could tell she was crying even if he couldn't see her. It reminded him of when she'd run away. She wasn't sobbing then either, she'd just had tears running down her cheeks, making her eyes such a dark color they'd almost looked black. But he'd heard the tears in her voice then, and he'd heard them while she was in his room on her way out, on her way home. He'd heard Vince make her leave, and he'd wanted to scream at them to stay, not to leave him alone again. But as always, he was forced to remain silent. It wasn't fair, that everyone was gone home but him, that he couldn't wake up, couldn't speak, couldn't tell them he was scared.
He heard someone come into the room, he hoped it was one of the team, but he couldn't tell, they had to speak to him, unless it was Dom, he'd know Dom's footsteps anywhere. They were the ones he really wanted to hear, Dom's footsteps. He might have known Leon for most of his life, Leon might be his closest friend, but Dom was like a father to Jesse, and it was Dom's approval and support he craved most of all. He couldn't wait to get better, to wake up and go back to work, to show Dom that even if he couldn't win races he could build the best cars that had ever raced. Then Dom wouldn't be mad at him anymore. They could all go back to the way things had been. The footsteps moved up to beside his bed. Then he realized it was a nurse as he was sucked back down deeper into the void, they always came in and drugged him right as he was fighting his way to the surface again. If they'd just lay off the meds he figured he'd wake up. Then he was past the point of even unconscious thought.
Vince sighed as his cell phone rang again. "Yeah?" He asked, a touch annoyed because if it was Nyssa it was going to be the 10th time she'd called him since he left for the garage, and that had only been just over an hour ago. She'd already called and asked him to bring home several girly magazines he had no desire to buy, even for Nyssa, ice cream, chocolate, Pepsi, and aspirin. All on separate phone calls. And she'd called just to complain about being bored and lonely three times. She was getting on his nerves, and it was only 11am. He saw Dom shoot him a dirty look for being on the phone, again. It wasn't like he could just not answer. Nyssa wasn't able to drive, what if she had an emergency?
"Baby?" Nyssa's voice came across the phone. He sighed mentally but tried to keep the frustration out of his voice.
"Yes Nyssa?" He asked, and it did come out sharper then he'd have liked.
"When you commin home?" She asked him. She was lonely and she hated being all alone in the house. Plus she wanted her Pepsi and chocolate and she had a funny feeling she was going to need to go to the bathroom soon. She knew she was pissing him off but she couldn't help it. She wanted to get up, go to the living room at least and watch TV but if someone got home before she could get back to bed she knew there'd be hell to pay.
"I don't know, we got pretty backed up down here while everyone was at the hospital worrying about you an Jesse and I'm not totally useful yet, and Leon goes to see Jesse twice a day. I'm pretty busy, we're all really busy trying to catch up, but I'll be home for lunch." He thought maybe she really needed him but was too embarrassed or now angry at his attitude to ask him. "Is everything ok?" He felt the need to add.
"Yeah, it's ok. I'm bored, and lonely, and gettin' hungry. But other then that..." She trailed off.
"Ok, well, it's only an hour till lunch, I'll see you then for sure."
"Ok...Bye." She added on a sad little sigh.
"Bye baby." He hung up the phone and went back to work before Dom shot him. He'd already lived through that experience once and had no desire to repeat it.
Nyssa sighed and hung up the phone. She wondered if she could wait to go to the bathroom long enough for Vince to come help her to the room. She thought about it for another minute and it became clear she couldn't. She knew she had another 6 days till she was technically allowed out of bed, but she needed to go, and it had to be now.
That decision made she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood beside it, weaving back and forth slightly. She didn't know if this was the smartest idea she'd ever had but she really needed the bathroom and it wouldn't wait. She took tiny steps and got to the doorway of the room and the hall. She took a breather against the doorjam and wondered if she could make it all the way down the hall. She knew it was a short hall, but when she was so weak it looked like it was a mile long. She cursed at herself. She never would have thought that one week of inactivity would weaken a person to the point she was weakened and she hated it.
In that moment she knew why Vince was so awfully frustrated about his therapy. It did really suck to acknowledge just how much you needed help when you were use to doing on your own. And she needed Vince to carry her, or half carry her at least, anywhere she wanted to go. And he likely shouldn't even be doing half the stuff he was yet either. But he was allowed to do whatever he wanted and they expected her to do whatever they told her to do. She made it to the end of the hall and went into the bathroom. It took 10 minutes to get down the hall but she did it on her own. She finished up and looked longingly at the shower. She knew she didn't have time to take a shower before Vince came home with her lunch, but she wanted one really bad. She made her way slowly and carefully back to bed and had just settled into bed with a book when she heard the back door slam open and heard Vince's footsteps on the stairs.
"I'm here." Vince called down the stairs ahead of his decent.
"It's about time." Nyssa called back. "Did you get my books and pop and chocolate and ice cream?"
"Yeah, and don't ever ask me to by Cosmopolitan again. The looks the cashier gave me while I bought these things were embarrassing." She took one look at her gruff, scruffy, growly, tough man with girly magazines, looking so mortified that he'd had to buy them she cracked up laughing. She could see him walking into the corner store and picking up Cosmo and Woman's World and then shooting the clerk dirty looks while the poor man tried not to laugh at the site of one of the toughest guys in LA buying a magazine that proclaimed in big white letters on a flaming red cover, 'How to make your guy crazy, try these positions tonight.'
"I'm sorry, but don't you want to know what this article says?" She asked, still giggling, while pointing at the section of cover in question.
"Yeah, but I think we have enough imagination that I didn't need the embarrassment of buying that." Vince said gruffly and sat on the other side of the bed. "Mia made your lunch, eat." He handed her the paper bag Mia had put her food in.
"Um, ceaser salad and a ham sandwich. I love Mia."
"Well then call her after lunch."
"Oh baby, was I getting annoying?" She asked with a wicked glare.
"Yeah, Dom was ready to take the phone from me and tell you off himself."
"Oh was he?" Nyssa asked between bites of food.
"Yeah he was." Vince answered.
"Well, the next time either of you feel that way, just remember if it wasn't for my plan you'd be in Jail, and Dom would likely be with you." She washed down her catty statement with a big chug of Pepsi.
"I hear you. But do you have to call every 15 minutes. Can't you just be happy you got your revenge on me for today and lay off, just for the rest of the work day?"
"I guess so." She conceded reluctantly.
"Ok, I'll see you after 5 for supper ok?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Do you need to go to the bathroom before I leave?" Nyssa felt guilty for going on her own when he was so concerned but she didn't want to lie about it.
"No, I'm fine, see you for supper."
"Ok then." With that Vince kissed her forehead and left the room.
When she heard his car leave she got up and slowly and carefully walked to the downstairs TV. If she had to stay home and quiet she was going to watch some TV. She got comfortable on the couch and settled down to watch soap operas.
Leon was having a bad day. He'd gone to see Jesse before lunch and the kid's lack of progress depressed him. He decided not to go back to DT for the afternoon. He figured he'd go home and play a little PS2. That always made him feel better. He drove his car up the drive as quietly as he could and carefully let himself into the house. He figured that poor Nyssa might be asleep.
He silently crept down the stairs only to find the girl in question wide awake on the couch watching one of those, unreal, sappy, everyone is having sex with everyone else shows that women watched.
"What're you doin' outta bed?" He asked her in his best imitation of a Vince angry growl. It must have been somewhat realistic cause she looked up in shock.
"What are you doing home from work?" She countered with.
"I want to know why you're outta bed first."
"I got bored, the TV's only a short walk away. Don't tell V. Please?"
"Ok, fine. I guess you're as quiet here as you would be in bed."
"Yeah. Now what're you doin' home so early?"
"I went to see Jesse."
"Oh my god, he's ok isn't he?"
"He's just, well, there. Same as he was yesterday, and the day before. I don't know if he's ever gonna get better."
"Yes he is Leon. He's gonna be fine. He's only been in there a week and a half. He was shot three times and lost a lot of blood. He'll be fine after his body has time to repair." Nyssa watched Leon try not to cry. Leon wasn't as tough as Vince, but all the guys were macho men, and she knew he didn't want to cry in front of anyone, but if he was this close to it he was really upset. She sat up a little and patted the part of the couch she'd freed. He sat down, and she leaned against him.
Everything crashed on Leon at once it felt like, all the stress from everything and he broke down and sobbed. He pulled Nyssa into his arms, he needed someone to comfort him. Even in his state he remembered to be careful with her, and she held him gently from his lap where he'd pulled her while he got out all his sadness and frustration. When he was stopped and just had his head resting on top of hers she asked him. "You ok Le?"
"I'm gonna be fine."
"You never showed a moment of weakness till now and you just had to get it out."
"Yeah."
"Jesse's gonna be ok."
"I hope so."
"I know so. Now go clean yourself up a bit then you can come back here and keep me company." Leon went and washed his face, combed his hair and returned. He sat on the end of the couch with Nyssa leaning against him and the drank cola, ate chocolate and ice cream and watched soaps all afternoon. They had a good time. Nyssa wasn't lonely with Leon making her laugh, and Leon forgot about his troubles while he was trying to make her laugh, and while he'd never ever admit it, soaps were addictive.
As Vince walked back into the shop after lunch the office phone rang and Dom went to answer it. He came back into the garage looking ashen under his dark skin. "Brian, it's for you." Brian looked up with a startled look on his face.
"I take it it's not Mia." Brian asked, trying to lighten the mood after seeing the look on Dom's face.
"No, it's someone named Tanner." Dom answered, still looking upset. It was Brian's turn to turn an awful pale color. Brian had known the day would come that Tanner and Bilkens would expect him to tell his story to them, he had hoped the statement he'd already given at the scene of the accident with the charger would be enough but he'd known in his heart the odds of that happening had been slim.
"Ok. Right." Brian left the shop and went into Dom's office and closed the door. He'd been dreading this day, ever since Tanner had told him that while he wasn't fired, he was going to be given a leave with pay while the police decided what should be done with him.
The FBI hadn't believed the story they'd been given any more then they'd believed Brian when he'd said that it couldn't be Toretto before Brian had flipped. Tanner was busy relating this info to Brian over the phone.
"So you're going to have to come down here and give a deposition Brian."
"But I told you guys all I know already."
"I know that, but the FBI doesn't believe you told the truth. They believe you're protecting Toretto from being charged with crimes they say they know he committed and they want you to give an on the record statement and account of what went on."
"Well, that's no problem Sarg, but it's just going to be the same story, cause I already told you guys all I know about what happened." Brian managed to stay calm and to keep his voice even but inside he was terrified. What if the FBI didn't believe him and went out of their way to try and slip him up? What if he couldn't lie well enough to throw them off?
"I know Brian. So it shouldn't be a big deal for you to come down and tell Bilkins to his face and let him record you and then it'll be all over."
"Fine Sarg, when should I come down?"
"They want to do it next week on Tuesday. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, well, my calendar is pretty open." Brian answered with a sarcastic little laugh.
"I know Brian, and I'm sorry. You know it doesn't look good that you're living with Toretto."
"Well Sarg, I have no where else to live. You know that. I'm not from LA, I have no house here. Dom took me in and offered me a place to stay, offered me a job if I need one, and Mia and I are together. I'm not going to pretend we're not. Besides they weren't doing anything wrong and so why shouldn't I be their friend. I like them." Brian was being put on the defensive by Tanner's questions.
"Because you were investigating them, and now they're your friends and your girlfriend too? Brian, it's a definite conflict of interest. I mean, you were sent to investigate them, you say you didn't find anything, but yet instead of them hating you for lying to them and trying to bust them, they take you in and offer you a job and a place to live? It looks like you're covering for them, I'm not saying you are, but you should have stayed detached till after this is all settled." Tanner sighed. He really liked Brian, and he didn't want to see him go to jail over the likes of Toretto and crew. "You sure they're worth the crap that's coming your way because of them?"
"Yeah, and anything that comes my way I can deal with because I never did anything wrong and neither did they." Brian said. He realized he should have stayed away till after the internal investigation that was bound to happen had happened but he couldn't just not see the team when he'd known Jesse, Vince, and Nyssa were in the hospital and known that Mia needed him. "I'll see you on Tuesday." He wanted to end the conversation before Tanner got him any more upset. He was fast loosing his ability to hide his emotions, that cool that was naturally his, his meal ticket, Dom had called it.
"Ok Brian. See you then." Brian could hear the upset in Tanner's voice and hoped it was going to be ok. Brian knew that Tanner was trying to tell him that Bilkens didn't buy his story and that Bilkens was going to give him a hard time. Brian wanted to just walk into the station on Tuesday and throw down his badge and gun for the team, just quit and refuse to tell them anything, but he knew that the team would suffer if he did that, he'd only be letting himself off easy. If he did that they'd assume he had something to hide, and not only would they come after the team to see what they could find out, they'd come after Brian too. They'd want to know everything he'd done, they'd look for any slip up he'd made. If he made his deposition and made it stick they'd have to go away, believe him or not. They weren't charging him with anything or they would have done it by now, so if Brian could just make them think he hadn't done anything wrong, that he hadn't found anything to report it would all work out. He headed out of Dom's office.
They all looked up at him. No one spoke, they could see the look of tiredness and worry on Brian's face, and in his ice blue eyes.
"Well?" Vince finally broke the silence, he wanted to know. Brian sighed.
"I have to go give another statement on Tuesday, an official one and they're gonna wanna record it for records. The FBI isn't buying the story that there was nothing on you all to find. But they have no evidence and I'm pretty sure they can't make anything stick. I'll sell the story really well and they'll have no choice but drop the investigation. But they're gonna be brutal with what they ask me. I'll tell the truth where I can and lie when I have to but it's not going to be easy. But I'll make it work. I'll make it work." Brian said again, almost as if he had to reassure himself too. "Then I'll have to work a desk job no doubt for a few months, because they'll pull me off field work for that long, and I'll have to do it because if I don't it'll look bad again, then I'll quit saying desk work isn't for me." Brian sighed.
Dom and Vince shared a look. They knew that Brian had loved his job as a cop. that he was willing to give it up for them and a life with Mia and their team was telling of just how much Brian really cared for them. "Well Brian, all you can do is your best man." Dom told him. "We fucked up, but if you can keep our sorry butts outta jail then do it." Dom felt the need to tell Brian that his hard work and dedication to the team hadn't gone unnoticed. "And you have a job here and a place in the team and in our house as long as you want it. And as long as you don't hurt my baby sister." Dom smiled.
"Thanks Man." Brian smiled. He really thought it was going to work out ok.
"Yeah, thanks for what you did man." Vince added and walked back over to his car. Brian sent Dom a shocked look. Dom's look mirrored Brian's. Vince had just said a polite sentence to Brian.
They all headed for home at 5 o'clock. They were worried about Leon, who had never returned to the garage after his noon time visit to the hospital. They entered the house and heard laughter from the basement. Vince headed down to check it out and there was Nyssa, curled up on the couch against Leon, and they were both laughing at whatever they were watching on TV. There were pop cans and empty wrappers all around them.
"What're you doin' outta bed, and what're you doin home here?" Vince asked. They both looked up at him like they knew they were busted. "You are supposed to eat good food and you were supposed to come back to work and finish that Integra." Vince added, pointing at them each in turn. He took a closer look at Leon and realized that his friend had been crying at some point. "Everything ok?"
"Fine Dawg." Leon answered.
"But we're hungry." Nyssa added.
"Ok, I'll bring dinner down here then, though I don't know how you could be hungry if you at all this chocolate." Vince looked around at all the wrappers. They giggled at him from the couch. When Vince was gone Leon turned to Nyssa.
"Thanks."
"You too." They smiled and then Vince returned with three plates and they all ate together in the basement.
Jesse was scared. He was in a dark place he didn't particularly want to be, but couldn't find the way out of. He was alone and frightened. He didn't know why he couldn't get out of the place he was. He thought he heard his name being called all the time, and he tried to answer the people who called him, but they never heard him. He was floating, it seemed, somewhere, and he didn't know why. He could always tell when he wasn't alone, but he could never say anything. He hated it when he was alone. He often knew that Brian was with him. And he wasn't scared then. He knew Vince came a lot too. They held his hand and talked to him. Some times he told himself to remember to pick on them for holding his hand like little kids, than he just got scared that they were going to leave him alone in the dark again.
He had really tried to tell Vince he could hear him. Vince had told him all about Nyssa and how scared he was for both Nyssa and for Jesse. Vince scared was hard to take. Vince was the guy that wasn't scared of anything. Jesse had always looked up to Vince for that. Vince was fearless. Even more so then Dom. That was why Jesse had wanted to tell Vince it was going to be ok. Because he couldn't stand to hear Vince scared, that and to find out more about what happened to Nyssa. But he couldn't wake up and he couldn't say the words. And Jesse hated it when they left, left him alone to the dark place again. As long as his friends were with him he could handle it, but he started to get so scared when he was alone. Mia visited with Brian a lot, and Leon was by frequently, but Dom had hardly ever come in. Hadn't really spoken when he had come by. Dom had only spoken to Letty, or Brian or Vince. Never right to Jesse. Jesse wanted to know why. He hoped that Dom would forgive him for being so stupid. He figured that Dom was still mad at him for taking off. That was why Dom didn't talk to him, or visit on his own Jesse figured. Jesse'd done something really stupid, and Jesse knew he should have asked before he raced, should have told Dom before he did it, but he hadn't cause he'd known Dominic would say no.
Jesse'd heard Nyssa tell him that she was going home and he was glad for her, for Vince, but upset for himself. If Nyssa went home then the team wouldn't spend as much time keeping him company. He knew they came down to see him while some of them saw Nyssa and took turns visiting them both. But if they had Nyssa to care for at home they wouldn't want to spend as much time with him. He heard Nyssa tell him that he had to come fix Vince's Maxima, he never had finished it, and it was still only around 12 seconds on the quarter mile. Jesse was itching to get at that car. A 9 second Maxima was something to brag about, if he could build it, it would prove he was one of the best tuners ever, just like people told him he was. He missed his team, he missed working on cars, he missed life. He remembered Nyssa telling him she loved him. He'd wanted to tell her he loved her too. He could tell she was crying even if he couldn't see her. It reminded him of when she'd run away. She wasn't sobbing then either, she'd just had tears running down her cheeks, making her eyes such a dark color they'd almost looked black. But he'd heard the tears in her voice then, and he'd heard them while she was in his room on her way out, on her way home. He'd heard Vince make her leave, and he'd wanted to scream at them to stay, not to leave him alone again. But as always, he was forced to remain silent. It wasn't fair, that everyone was gone home but him, that he couldn't wake up, couldn't speak, couldn't tell them he was scared.
He heard someone come into the room, he hoped it was one of the team, but he couldn't tell, they had to speak to him, unless it was Dom, he'd know Dom's footsteps anywhere. They were the ones he really wanted to hear, Dom's footsteps. He might have known Leon for most of his life, Leon might be his closest friend, but Dom was like a father to Jesse, and it was Dom's approval and support he craved most of all. He couldn't wait to get better, to wake up and go back to work, to show Dom that even if he couldn't win races he could build the best cars that had ever raced. Then Dom wouldn't be mad at him anymore. They could all go back to the way things had been. The footsteps moved up to beside his bed. Then he realized it was a nurse as he was sucked back down deeper into the void, they always came in and drugged him right as he was fighting his way to the surface again. If they'd just lay off the meds he figured he'd wake up. Then he was past the point of even unconscious thought.
Vince sighed as his cell phone rang again. "Yeah?" He asked, a touch annoyed because if it was Nyssa it was going to be the 10th time she'd called him since he left for the garage, and that had only been just over an hour ago. She'd already called and asked him to bring home several girly magazines he had no desire to buy, even for Nyssa, ice cream, chocolate, Pepsi, and aspirin. All on separate phone calls. And she'd called just to complain about being bored and lonely three times. She was getting on his nerves, and it was only 11am. He saw Dom shoot him a dirty look for being on the phone, again. It wasn't like he could just not answer. Nyssa wasn't able to drive, what if she had an emergency?
"Baby?" Nyssa's voice came across the phone. He sighed mentally but tried to keep the frustration out of his voice.
"Yes Nyssa?" He asked, and it did come out sharper then he'd have liked.
"When you commin home?" She asked him. She was lonely and she hated being all alone in the house. Plus she wanted her Pepsi and chocolate and she had a funny feeling she was going to need to go to the bathroom soon. She knew she was pissing him off but she couldn't help it. She wanted to get up, go to the living room at least and watch TV but if someone got home before she could get back to bed she knew there'd be hell to pay.
"I don't know, we got pretty backed up down here while everyone was at the hospital worrying about you an Jesse and I'm not totally useful yet, and Leon goes to see Jesse twice a day. I'm pretty busy, we're all really busy trying to catch up, but I'll be home for lunch." He thought maybe she really needed him but was too embarrassed or now angry at his attitude to ask him. "Is everything ok?" He felt the need to add.
"Yeah, it's ok. I'm bored, and lonely, and gettin' hungry. But other then that..." She trailed off.
"Ok, well, it's only an hour till lunch, I'll see you then for sure."
"Ok...Bye." She added on a sad little sigh.
"Bye baby." He hung up the phone and went back to work before Dom shot him. He'd already lived through that experience once and had no desire to repeat it.
Nyssa sighed and hung up the phone. She wondered if she could wait to go to the bathroom long enough for Vince to come help her to the room. She thought about it for another minute and it became clear she couldn't. She knew she had another 6 days till she was technically allowed out of bed, but she needed to go, and it had to be now.
That decision made she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood beside it, weaving back and forth slightly. She didn't know if this was the smartest idea she'd ever had but she really needed the bathroom and it wouldn't wait. She took tiny steps and got to the doorway of the room and the hall. She took a breather against the doorjam and wondered if she could make it all the way down the hall. She knew it was a short hall, but when she was so weak it looked like it was a mile long. She cursed at herself. She never would have thought that one week of inactivity would weaken a person to the point she was weakened and she hated it.
In that moment she knew why Vince was so awfully frustrated about his therapy. It did really suck to acknowledge just how much you needed help when you were use to doing on your own. And she needed Vince to carry her, or half carry her at least, anywhere she wanted to go. And he likely shouldn't even be doing half the stuff he was yet either. But he was allowed to do whatever he wanted and they expected her to do whatever they told her to do. She made it to the end of the hall and went into the bathroom. It took 10 minutes to get down the hall but she did it on her own. She finished up and looked longingly at the shower. She knew she didn't have time to take a shower before Vince came home with her lunch, but she wanted one really bad. She made her way slowly and carefully back to bed and had just settled into bed with a book when she heard the back door slam open and heard Vince's footsteps on the stairs.
"I'm here." Vince called down the stairs ahead of his decent.
"It's about time." Nyssa called back. "Did you get my books and pop and chocolate and ice cream?"
"Yeah, and don't ever ask me to by Cosmopolitan again. The looks the cashier gave me while I bought these things were embarrassing." She took one look at her gruff, scruffy, growly, tough man with girly magazines, looking so mortified that he'd had to buy them she cracked up laughing. She could see him walking into the corner store and picking up Cosmo and Woman's World and then shooting the clerk dirty looks while the poor man tried not to laugh at the site of one of the toughest guys in LA buying a magazine that proclaimed in big white letters on a flaming red cover, 'How to make your guy crazy, try these positions tonight.'
"I'm sorry, but don't you want to know what this article says?" She asked, still giggling, while pointing at the section of cover in question.
"Yeah, but I think we have enough imagination that I didn't need the embarrassment of buying that." Vince said gruffly and sat on the other side of the bed. "Mia made your lunch, eat." He handed her the paper bag Mia had put her food in.
"Um, ceaser salad and a ham sandwich. I love Mia."
"Well then call her after lunch."
"Oh baby, was I getting annoying?" She asked with a wicked glare.
"Yeah, Dom was ready to take the phone from me and tell you off himself."
"Oh was he?" Nyssa asked between bites of food.
"Yeah he was." Vince answered.
"Well, the next time either of you feel that way, just remember if it wasn't for my plan you'd be in Jail, and Dom would likely be with you." She washed down her catty statement with a big chug of Pepsi.
"I hear you. But do you have to call every 15 minutes. Can't you just be happy you got your revenge on me for today and lay off, just for the rest of the work day?"
"I guess so." She conceded reluctantly.
"Ok, I'll see you after 5 for supper ok?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Do you need to go to the bathroom before I leave?" Nyssa felt guilty for going on her own when he was so concerned but she didn't want to lie about it.
"No, I'm fine, see you for supper."
"Ok then." With that Vince kissed her forehead and left the room.
When she heard his car leave she got up and slowly and carefully walked to the downstairs TV. If she had to stay home and quiet she was going to watch some TV. She got comfortable on the couch and settled down to watch soap operas.
Leon was having a bad day. He'd gone to see Jesse before lunch and the kid's lack of progress depressed him. He decided not to go back to DT for the afternoon. He figured he'd go home and play a little PS2. That always made him feel better. He drove his car up the drive as quietly as he could and carefully let himself into the house. He figured that poor Nyssa might be asleep.
He silently crept down the stairs only to find the girl in question wide awake on the couch watching one of those, unreal, sappy, everyone is having sex with everyone else shows that women watched.
"What're you doin' outta bed?" He asked her in his best imitation of a Vince angry growl. It must have been somewhat realistic cause she looked up in shock.
"What are you doing home from work?" She countered with.
"I want to know why you're outta bed first."
"I got bored, the TV's only a short walk away. Don't tell V. Please?"
"Ok, fine. I guess you're as quiet here as you would be in bed."
"Yeah. Now what're you doin' home so early?"
"I went to see Jesse."
"Oh my god, he's ok isn't he?"
"He's just, well, there. Same as he was yesterday, and the day before. I don't know if he's ever gonna get better."
"Yes he is Leon. He's gonna be fine. He's only been in there a week and a half. He was shot three times and lost a lot of blood. He'll be fine after his body has time to repair." Nyssa watched Leon try not to cry. Leon wasn't as tough as Vince, but all the guys were macho men, and she knew he didn't want to cry in front of anyone, but if he was this close to it he was really upset. She sat up a little and patted the part of the couch she'd freed. He sat down, and she leaned against him.
Everything crashed on Leon at once it felt like, all the stress from everything and he broke down and sobbed. He pulled Nyssa into his arms, he needed someone to comfort him. Even in his state he remembered to be careful with her, and she held him gently from his lap where he'd pulled her while he got out all his sadness and frustration. When he was stopped and just had his head resting on top of hers she asked him. "You ok Le?"
"I'm gonna be fine."
"You never showed a moment of weakness till now and you just had to get it out."
"Yeah."
"Jesse's gonna be ok."
"I hope so."
"I know so. Now go clean yourself up a bit then you can come back here and keep me company." Leon went and washed his face, combed his hair and returned. He sat on the end of the couch with Nyssa leaning against him and the drank cola, ate chocolate and ice cream and watched soaps all afternoon. They had a good time. Nyssa wasn't lonely with Leon making her laugh, and Leon forgot about his troubles while he was trying to make her laugh, and while he'd never ever admit it, soaps were addictive.
As Vince walked back into the shop after lunch the office phone rang and Dom went to answer it. He came back into the garage looking ashen under his dark skin. "Brian, it's for you." Brian looked up with a startled look on his face.
"I take it it's not Mia." Brian asked, trying to lighten the mood after seeing the look on Dom's face.
"No, it's someone named Tanner." Dom answered, still looking upset. It was Brian's turn to turn an awful pale color. Brian had known the day would come that Tanner and Bilkens would expect him to tell his story to them, he had hoped the statement he'd already given at the scene of the accident with the charger would be enough but he'd known in his heart the odds of that happening had been slim.
"Ok. Right." Brian left the shop and went into Dom's office and closed the door. He'd been dreading this day, ever since Tanner had told him that while he wasn't fired, he was going to be given a leave with pay while the police decided what should be done with him.
The FBI hadn't believed the story they'd been given any more then they'd believed Brian when he'd said that it couldn't be Toretto before Brian had flipped. Tanner was busy relating this info to Brian over the phone.
"So you're going to have to come down here and give a deposition Brian."
"But I told you guys all I know already."
"I know that, but the FBI doesn't believe you told the truth. They believe you're protecting Toretto from being charged with crimes they say they know he committed and they want you to give an on the record statement and account of what went on."
"Well, that's no problem Sarg, but it's just going to be the same story, cause I already told you guys all I know about what happened." Brian managed to stay calm and to keep his voice even but inside he was terrified. What if the FBI didn't believe him and went out of their way to try and slip him up? What if he couldn't lie well enough to throw them off?
"I know Brian. So it shouldn't be a big deal for you to come down and tell Bilkins to his face and let him record you and then it'll be all over."
"Fine Sarg, when should I come down?"
"They want to do it next week on Tuesday. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, well, my calendar is pretty open." Brian answered with a sarcastic little laugh.
"I know Brian, and I'm sorry. You know it doesn't look good that you're living with Toretto."
"Well Sarg, I have no where else to live. You know that. I'm not from LA, I have no house here. Dom took me in and offered me a place to stay, offered me a job if I need one, and Mia and I are together. I'm not going to pretend we're not. Besides they weren't doing anything wrong and so why shouldn't I be their friend. I like them." Brian was being put on the defensive by Tanner's questions.
"Because you were investigating them, and now they're your friends and your girlfriend too? Brian, it's a definite conflict of interest. I mean, you were sent to investigate them, you say you didn't find anything, but yet instead of them hating you for lying to them and trying to bust them, they take you in and offer you a job and a place to live? It looks like you're covering for them, I'm not saying you are, but you should have stayed detached till after this is all settled." Tanner sighed. He really liked Brian, and he didn't want to see him go to jail over the likes of Toretto and crew. "You sure they're worth the crap that's coming your way because of them?"
"Yeah, and anything that comes my way I can deal with because I never did anything wrong and neither did they." Brian said. He realized he should have stayed away till after the internal investigation that was bound to happen had happened but he couldn't just not see the team when he'd known Jesse, Vince, and Nyssa were in the hospital and known that Mia needed him. "I'll see you on Tuesday." He wanted to end the conversation before Tanner got him any more upset. He was fast loosing his ability to hide his emotions, that cool that was naturally his, his meal ticket, Dom had called it.
"Ok Brian. See you then." Brian could hear the upset in Tanner's voice and hoped it was going to be ok. Brian knew that Tanner was trying to tell him that Bilkens didn't buy his story and that Bilkens was going to give him a hard time. Brian wanted to just walk into the station on Tuesday and throw down his badge and gun for the team, just quit and refuse to tell them anything, but he knew that the team would suffer if he did that, he'd only be letting himself off easy. If he did that they'd assume he had something to hide, and not only would they come after the team to see what they could find out, they'd come after Brian too. They'd want to know everything he'd done, they'd look for any slip up he'd made. If he made his deposition and made it stick they'd have to go away, believe him or not. They weren't charging him with anything or they would have done it by now, so if Brian could just make them think he hadn't done anything wrong, that he hadn't found anything to report it would all work out. He headed out of Dom's office.
They all looked up at him. No one spoke, they could see the look of tiredness and worry on Brian's face, and in his ice blue eyes.
"Well?" Vince finally broke the silence, he wanted to know. Brian sighed.
"I have to go give another statement on Tuesday, an official one and they're gonna wanna record it for records. The FBI isn't buying the story that there was nothing on you all to find. But they have no evidence and I'm pretty sure they can't make anything stick. I'll sell the story really well and they'll have no choice but drop the investigation. But they're gonna be brutal with what they ask me. I'll tell the truth where I can and lie when I have to but it's not going to be easy. But I'll make it work. I'll make it work." Brian said again, almost as if he had to reassure himself too. "Then I'll have to work a desk job no doubt for a few months, because they'll pull me off field work for that long, and I'll have to do it because if I don't it'll look bad again, then I'll quit saying desk work isn't for me." Brian sighed.
Dom and Vince shared a look. They knew that Brian had loved his job as a cop. that he was willing to give it up for them and a life with Mia and their team was telling of just how much Brian really cared for them. "Well Brian, all you can do is your best man." Dom told him. "We fucked up, but if you can keep our sorry butts outta jail then do it." Dom felt the need to tell Brian that his hard work and dedication to the team hadn't gone unnoticed. "And you have a job here and a place in the team and in our house as long as you want it. And as long as you don't hurt my baby sister." Dom smiled.
"Thanks Man." Brian smiled. He really thought it was going to work out ok.
"Yeah, thanks for what you did man." Vince added and walked back over to his car. Brian sent Dom a shocked look. Dom's look mirrored Brian's. Vince had just said a polite sentence to Brian.
They all headed for home at 5 o'clock. They were worried about Leon, who had never returned to the garage after his noon time visit to the hospital. They entered the house and heard laughter from the basement. Vince headed down to check it out and there was Nyssa, curled up on the couch against Leon, and they were both laughing at whatever they were watching on TV. There were pop cans and empty wrappers all around them.
"What're you doin' outta bed, and what're you doin home here?" Vince asked. They both looked up at him like they knew they were busted. "You are supposed to eat good food and you were supposed to come back to work and finish that Integra." Vince added, pointing at them each in turn. He took a closer look at Leon and realized that his friend had been crying at some point. "Everything ok?"
"Fine Dawg." Leon answered.
"But we're hungry." Nyssa added.
"Ok, I'll bring dinner down here then, though I don't know how you could be hungry if you at all this chocolate." Vince looked around at all the wrappers. They giggled at him from the couch. When Vince was gone Leon turned to Nyssa.
"Thanks."
"You too." They smiled and then Vince returned with three plates and they all ate together in the basement.