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Brian swallowed; his throat dry suddenly. Vince's voice, no matter how weak, commanded attention. Before Brian would have ignored him, refusing to be ordered around by a man who obviously despised him. But this time was different, this time Vince wasn't in a position to order him around. Brian turned around to face Vince and smiled. Vince glared back, only his head turned towards the door. His dark eyes were full of the ferocity they always contained, making his feelings towards Brian perfectly clear. Nothing had changed there. Brian sighed; this was not going to be easy. Correction, it was gonna be damn hard.
"That's right" he replied at last, letting his voice become flat and defeated, it was how he felt after all
Vince continued to stare. If he was surprised by Brian's presence in his hospital room or Brian's admittance to being a cop then he didn't show it. His face remained stone chiselled blank.
"They send you here to guard me? Make sure I don't escape" Vince's voice was dripping with his usual brand of obvious rough sarcasm.
"They wouldn't let me if I wanted to" answered Brian "I don't work for them anymore"
"You been a bad boy Brian? Hanging around with the punk street racers, we been a bad influence on you?"
Now Vince's face clearly showed his anger. Brian could feel anger course through him, even though Vince's body was completely still save his hands twitching. He had to remain calm, getting into a shouting match with Vince always resulted in violence. It would be no different here, despite the location
"That's what they said after I gave Dom my car and let him get away" Brian said after a static pause
"And Mia"
"And Mia and Letty and Leon" Brian felt like he had to justify himself, it wasn't all about Mia. It was about the team. Team Toretto.
"So they've all gone without me"
Brian nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He might end up gloating that Vince got left behind and Vince might do something stupid like try leaping out of bed.
"O'Connor"
At the sound of his cover name, Brian was unexpectedly hit by a wealth of memories of that night. Talking to Hector and Edwin beside his car on that first night, being punched and insulted by Vince for looking at Mia, racing so hard his car nearly fell apart, Dom's impromptu speech about street- racing after taking Brian's pink slips, rescuing Dom from the cops and meeting the Trans for the first time. All in one night. So much changed.
"Get outta my room" Vince said, his voice full of anger
Brian was about to speak but then closed his mouth. Vince didn't want to know him now fine, let him feel sorry for himself as he lay in a hospital bed with no one to visit him. An image of a house in Mexico, dusty and hot came to him. He could see Leon, Letty and Dom having a barbecue and Mia bringing the food out from the kitchen. He smiled, there were pieces missing from the picture. One lay in a bed in front of him, one was dead and the other? The other handed in his cop badge a week ago.
Even though Vince had his eyes closed, he seemed to sense that Brian was still there watching him.
"I said get outta my room"
Brian paused for a few seconds, deciding on the words to say before he left
"I'll see you soon Vince"
Vince eyes snapped open at this but Brian had already gone out of the door, slamming it shut behind him. Vince growled, wishing he could punch a wall but realising considering where he was, it wasn't the most smart idea he'd ever had. They'd all gone without him. Even Dom who Brian has helped get away. Ha! The cop helping the criminal. It made Vince laugh to think about how Brian had probably got chewed out by his cop buddies for doing that, they'd fired him for it. O'Connor was nothing but trouble. If only Dom had listened in the first place
"I knew he was a damn cop" muttered Vince "I knew when he was eyeing up Mia he was a cop"
It hurt to think about Mia. She'd gone to their restaurant with Brian. The restaurant that Vince had told her so much about, the one he really wanted to take her to. Brian had stolen any chance that Vince had had with Mia. She was the hottest girl he'd ever seen at the race tracks, different to the easy sluts who were won by a fast car and winning driver. Mia was loyal to Dom. She was his sister and biggest supporter. Vince had wanted her as he'd watched her grow up from a scrawny sun-drenched girl to a warm beauty. Dom hadn't approved; his silent disapproving presence in the office spoke volumes. He'd never said anything to Vince but Vince knew. He could feel Dom watching him. He'd made moves anyway, Mia had never been interested or maybe she was just obeyed her brother.
Brian had taken her away.
Vince shut his eyes again. He slept a lot now. His arm was full of glaring pain from being the only piece of his body holding him to the careering truck. The shot wound didn't hurt as much; it was a dull pain he forgot about until suddenly he could feel it pulsing in his chest. A memory flared up in his mind. Brian leaping from his car with Mia at the wheel, onto the truck to try and free Vince from the cable. Brian risking his own neck when he knew he'd be found out. Mia probably knew anyway.
Whatever. He couldn't think about that now. It made his head hurt. All he wanted was to get well enough to beat Brian until he felt satisfied Brian knew how he felt. Then he could think about finding others. After he got out of being arrested.
*
Mia left the food cooking. Her heart pounded as she ran out of the house wildly. Dom was coming home? An irrepressible smile spread over her face as she stopped beside Letty, looking in the same direction her friend was. She could see the smoke moving towards them, whoever it was had only a small distance to go before they saw them.
"Are you sure it's Dom?" Mia asked uncertainly, her excitement fading
"Open your eyes Mia, no one is gonna come this way unless they have a purpose" Letty replied, not taking her eyes away from the horizon
Suddenly the car came into view. If you squinted against the sun; you could see the orange blob clearly as it zoomed towards the house. Letty felt her heart leap in her chest. It was a street car, that she knew. It had to be Dom.
Leon straightened out from where he was working under the hood and watched the horizon briefly. The two women stood beside each other, watching and waiting. Letty, in tight green cargos and a fitted black vest top, her hair messily tied back with her shades over her eyes and Mia in a slim summer strap dress that stopped short of her knees, her hair a river down her back. So different and loving Dom in two very different ways. But united in seeing him. Leon smiled and bent over the engine again.
The car was crawling closer, it was agony. Mia wanted to run all the way up the dusty road just to check if it was her brother behind the wheel. She felt her insides splitting in anticipation. She could feel Letty on edge beside her, gripping the wrench in her hand hard. They still had to watch and wait. Together until he arrived.
*
He could see the house clearly now. He noticed more and more things as he edged closer as fast as he allowed the car to sail along. There was a car parked in front of it with the hood popped. Someone was working on the engine. Leon he guessed.
Two figures were stood in front of the car watched the horizon behind him. He knew who they were. As he got closer, he could see them more and more clearly, knowing they were there waiting for him. He smiled a big beautiful smile. The pain in his body was lessened now though he was sure if he got out of the car, it was gonna hurt. He'd slept in the car after all, buying food from as many drive thrus as he could.
He was nearly at the house. Nearly. A tiny bit to go. In Brian's bright orange car. He wondered if they'd recognised it yet. Mia would, she'd driven it not so long ago to try and help Brian pry Vince from the truck and the thick cable his arm had become intertwined with. It seemed like a very long time ago.
He stopped the car in one smooth motion, not even squeaking the breaks. No matter how pleased he was to be back with them, he was not gonna damage the car. Mia ran up to the car and threw the door open. Her eyes were shining as she wrapped her arms around her brother. He wrapped his good arm around her in return. She was safe. That was all that mattered to him at that moment. Then she took in his injured state and pained expression
"What stupid thing did you do now?" she demanded
That made him laugh. Always the sister, no matter what
"Played a little game with the Trans" he replied "then 'race the railroad' with Brian before coming here"
Mia's expression dropped a little at Brian's name. Dom could see the pain so clearly on her face. The hurt was still fresh to her, but what was the hurt from he wondered? Finding out Brian was a cop or losing him altogether? Before he could think properly about it, Mia helped him out of the car, muttering unflattering things under her breath as she did about how heavy he was. Dom hissed through his teeth as his shoulder flared up
"What happened to your shoulder?" Mia asked, concerned
"I crashed the car" Dom said matter-of-factly "we got over the tracks but I ran into a car and got flipped, Brian had to pull me outta the window"
"Before you say it, I don't care" Mia said "I'm gonna make sure your cuts are taken care of and that shoulder"
Then she sniffed the air suddenly, a frown marring her face. She whipped around and ran back towards the house. She paused half way and turned back to Dom
"Trust you to be back in time for breakfast" she called, laughing before turning back and continuing her run
Dom smiled. Then he turned back to the other car where Leon continued to work under the hood. Letty stood staring at him. She looked beautiful, she always did. She was dressed casually sexy, the way she did when working on the cars back at the garage. There were no tears on her face and no cuts like when he'd last seen her; shaken and injured. Then her gaze shifted to the car he leant against.
"What you doing with Brian's car?" she asked, anger and curiosity colouring her words
"He owed me a ten second car" Dom replied after a pause "and he helped me get away"
"The cop helped you get away?" Letty was disbelieving "ah I bet he's off the force now"
Dom nodded and began walking towards her. Letty didn't move, continuing to look at him. As he reached her, Leon looked up and smiled.
"Good to see you Dom" he said
"You too Leon, workin on your ride?"
"Yeah Letty's been helping me out while we waited for your ass to arrive"
Leon was back to normal it seemed. He'd been cut up over Jesse's death. They all had. Now Leon was back to joking and working on his car, two things he combined with superiority. Dom nodded to him
"I'm gonna go grab some of Mia's breakfast" Leon announced with a wink that Letty didn't see at Dom before walking back to the house
Letty stared at Dom. Watching and waiting. Finally Dom lifted his hands to her face, placing one either side and drew her in for a kiss. Letty's hands wound around his neck, pulling herself in close to him. Dom responded hungrily, his hands working their way down to her waist, the pleasure at seeing her again fuelling his actions.
After the heated kiss, he pulled away gently and rested his forehead against her's. She smiled; it was a different smile to he was used to. It wasn't cocky; it was still confident but touched with sadness.
"Welcome back" she said with a grin "want some breakfast?"
Dom grinned back, things were slotting back into place. Perhaps soon, things would actually go back to normal but he didn't think so. Everything had shifted slightly, all affected by the past events and the lives of two people; Jesse and Brian. A stab of pain jolted through him. Would they have to add Vince to that list?
"Sure do"
He wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and began walking back towards the house. Letty slung her own arm around his waist then poked him in the stomach with her other hand, teasingly. He responded by pulling her closer and kissing her forehead. He was back home.
Brian swallowed; his throat dry suddenly. Vince's voice, no matter how weak, commanded attention. Before Brian would have ignored him, refusing to be ordered around by a man who obviously despised him. But this time was different, this time Vince wasn't in a position to order him around. Brian turned around to face Vince and smiled. Vince glared back, only his head turned towards the door. His dark eyes were full of the ferocity they always contained, making his feelings towards Brian perfectly clear. Nothing had changed there. Brian sighed; this was not going to be easy. Correction, it was gonna be damn hard.
"That's right" he replied at last, letting his voice become flat and defeated, it was how he felt after all
Vince continued to stare. If he was surprised by Brian's presence in his hospital room or Brian's admittance to being a cop then he didn't show it. His face remained stone chiselled blank.
"They send you here to guard me? Make sure I don't escape" Vince's voice was dripping with his usual brand of obvious rough sarcasm.
"They wouldn't let me if I wanted to" answered Brian "I don't work for them anymore"
"You been a bad boy Brian? Hanging around with the punk street racers, we been a bad influence on you?"
Now Vince's face clearly showed his anger. Brian could feel anger course through him, even though Vince's body was completely still save his hands twitching. He had to remain calm, getting into a shouting match with Vince always resulted in violence. It would be no different here, despite the location
"That's what they said after I gave Dom my car and let him get away" Brian said after a static pause
"And Mia"
"And Mia and Letty and Leon" Brian felt like he had to justify himself, it wasn't all about Mia. It was about the team. Team Toretto.
"So they've all gone without me"
Brian nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He might end up gloating that Vince got left behind and Vince might do something stupid like try leaping out of bed.
"O'Connor"
At the sound of his cover name, Brian was unexpectedly hit by a wealth of memories of that night. Talking to Hector and Edwin beside his car on that first night, being punched and insulted by Vince for looking at Mia, racing so hard his car nearly fell apart, Dom's impromptu speech about street- racing after taking Brian's pink slips, rescuing Dom from the cops and meeting the Trans for the first time. All in one night. So much changed.
"Get outta my room" Vince said, his voice full of anger
Brian was about to speak but then closed his mouth. Vince didn't want to know him now fine, let him feel sorry for himself as he lay in a hospital bed with no one to visit him. An image of a house in Mexico, dusty and hot came to him. He could see Leon, Letty and Dom having a barbecue and Mia bringing the food out from the kitchen. He smiled, there were pieces missing from the picture. One lay in a bed in front of him, one was dead and the other? The other handed in his cop badge a week ago.
Even though Vince had his eyes closed, he seemed to sense that Brian was still there watching him.
"I said get outta my room"
Brian paused for a few seconds, deciding on the words to say before he left
"I'll see you soon Vince"
Vince eyes snapped open at this but Brian had already gone out of the door, slamming it shut behind him. Vince growled, wishing he could punch a wall but realising considering where he was, it wasn't the most smart idea he'd ever had. They'd all gone without him. Even Dom who Brian has helped get away. Ha! The cop helping the criminal. It made Vince laugh to think about how Brian had probably got chewed out by his cop buddies for doing that, they'd fired him for it. O'Connor was nothing but trouble. If only Dom had listened in the first place
"I knew he was a damn cop" muttered Vince "I knew when he was eyeing up Mia he was a cop"
It hurt to think about Mia. She'd gone to their restaurant with Brian. The restaurant that Vince had told her so much about, the one he really wanted to take her to. Brian had stolen any chance that Vince had had with Mia. She was the hottest girl he'd ever seen at the race tracks, different to the easy sluts who were won by a fast car and winning driver. Mia was loyal to Dom. She was his sister and biggest supporter. Vince had wanted her as he'd watched her grow up from a scrawny sun-drenched girl to a warm beauty. Dom hadn't approved; his silent disapproving presence in the office spoke volumes. He'd never said anything to Vince but Vince knew. He could feel Dom watching him. He'd made moves anyway, Mia had never been interested or maybe she was just obeyed her brother.
Brian had taken her away.
Vince shut his eyes again. He slept a lot now. His arm was full of glaring pain from being the only piece of his body holding him to the careering truck. The shot wound didn't hurt as much; it was a dull pain he forgot about until suddenly he could feel it pulsing in his chest. A memory flared up in his mind. Brian leaping from his car with Mia at the wheel, onto the truck to try and free Vince from the cable. Brian risking his own neck when he knew he'd be found out. Mia probably knew anyway.
Whatever. He couldn't think about that now. It made his head hurt. All he wanted was to get well enough to beat Brian until he felt satisfied Brian knew how he felt. Then he could think about finding others. After he got out of being arrested.
*
Mia left the food cooking. Her heart pounded as she ran out of the house wildly. Dom was coming home? An irrepressible smile spread over her face as she stopped beside Letty, looking in the same direction her friend was. She could see the smoke moving towards them, whoever it was had only a small distance to go before they saw them.
"Are you sure it's Dom?" Mia asked uncertainly, her excitement fading
"Open your eyes Mia, no one is gonna come this way unless they have a purpose" Letty replied, not taking her eyes away from the horizon
Suddenly the car came into view. If you squinted against the sun; you could see the orange blob clearly as it zoomed towards the house. Letty felt her heart leap in her chest. It was a street car, that she knew. It had to be Dom.
Leon straightened out from where he was working under the hood and watched the horizon briefly. The two women stood beside each other, watching and waiting. Letty, in tight green cargos and a fitted black vest top, her hair messily tied back with her shades over her eyes and Mia in a slim summer strap dress that stopped short of her knees, her hair a river down her back. So different and loving Dom in two very different ways. But united in seeing him. Leon smiled and bent over the engine again.
The car was crawling closer, it was agony. Mia wanted to run all the way up the dusty road just to check if it was her brother behind the wheel. She felt her insides splitting in anticipation. She could feel Letty on edge beside her, gripping the wrench in her hand hard. They still had to watch and wait. Together until he arrived.
*
He could see the house clearly now. He noticed more and more things as he edged closer as fast as he allowed the car to sail along. There was a car parked in front of it with the hood popped. Someone was working on the engine. Leon he guessed.
Two figures were stood in front of the car watched the horizon behind him. He knew who they were. As he got closer, he could see them more and more clearly, knowing they were there waiting for him. He smiled a big beautiful smile. The pain in his body was lessened now though he was sure if he got out of the car, it was gonna hurt. He'd slept in the car after all, buying food from as many drive thrus as he could.
He was nearly at the house. Nearly. A tiny bit to go. In Brian's bright orange car. He wondered if they'd recognised it yet. Mia would, she'd driven it not so long ago to try and help Brian pry Vince from the truck and the thick cable his arm had become intertwined with. It seemed like a very long time ago.
He stopped the car in one smooth motion, not even squeaking the breaks. No matter how pleased he was to be back with them, he was not gonna damage the car. Mia ran up to the car and threw the door open. Her eyes were shining as she wrapped her arms around her brother. He wrapped his good arm around her in return. She was safe. That was all that mattered to him at that moment. Then she took in his injured state and pained expression
"What stupid thing did you do now?" she demanded
That made him laugh. Always the sister, no matter what
"Played a little game with the Trans" he replied "then 'race the railroad' with Brian before coming here"
Mia's expression dropped a little at Brian's name. Dom could see the pain so clearly on her face. The hurt was still fresh to her, but what was the hurt from he wondered? Finding out Brian was a cop or losing him altogether? Before he could think properly about it, Mia helped him out of the car, muttering unflattering things under her breath as she did about how heavy he was. Dom hissed through his teeth as his shoulder flared up
"What happened to your shoulder?" Mia asked, concerned
"I crashed the car" Dom said matter-of-factly "we got over the tracks but I ran into a car and got flipped, Brian had to pull me outta the window"
"Before you say it, I don't care" Mia said "I'm gonna make sure your cuts are taken care of and that shoulder"
Then she sniffed the air suddenly, a frown marring her face. She whipped around and ran back towards the house. She paused half way and turned back to Dom
"Trust you to be back in time for breakfast" she called, laughing before turning back and continuing her run
Dom smiled. Then he turned back to the other car where Leon continued to work under the hood. Letty stood staring at him. She looked beautiful, she always did. She was dressed casually sexy, the way she did when working on the cars back at the garage. There were no tears on her face and no cuts like when he'd last seen her; shaken and injured. Then her gaze shifted to the car he leant against.
"What you doing with Brian's car?" she asked, anger and curiosity colouring her words
"He owed me a ten second car" Dom replied after a pause "and he helped me get away"
"The cop helped you get away?" Letty was disbelieving "ah I bet he's off the force now"
Dom nodded and began walking towards her. Letty didn't move, continuing to look at him. As he reached her, Leon looked up and smiled.
"Good to see you Dom" he said
"You too Leon, workin on your ride?"
"Yeah Letty's been helping me out while we waited for your ass to arrive"
Leon was back to normal it seemed. He'd been cut up over Jesse's death. They all had. Now Leon was back to joking and working on his car, two things he combined with superiority. Dom nodded to him
"I'm gonna go grab some of Mia's breakfast" Leon announced with a wink that Letty didn't see at Dom before walking back to the house
Letty stared at Dom. Watching and waiting. Finally Dom lifted his hands to her face, placing one either side and drew her in for a kiss. Letty's hands wound around his neck, pulling herself in close to him. Dom responded hungrily, his hands working their way down to her waist, the pleasure at seeing her again fuelling his actions.
After the heated kiss, he pulled away gently and rested his forehead against her's. She smiled; it was a different smile to he was used to. It wasn't cocky; it was still confident but touched with sadness.
"Welcome back" she said with a grin "want some breakfast?"
Dom grinned back, things were slotting back into place. Perhaps soon, things would actually go back to normal but he didn't think so. Everything had shifted slightly, all affected by the past events and the lives of two people; Jesse and Brian. A stab of pain jolted through him. Would they have to add Vince to that list?
"Sure do"
He wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and began walking back towards the house. Letty slung her own arm around his waist then poked him in the stomach with her other hand, teasingly. He responded by pulling her closer and kissing her forehead. He was back home.