A Childhood Hangout

Mia took a deep breath as she watched Letty's maroon Nissan pull into the parking lot. It was five after ten, Letty was late, but then again, Mia hadn't really expected her to show up. Mia was dressed rather inappropriately for a trip to the desert, in black jeans and tank top, with a bulky black leather jacket she'd stolen from Brian. "You're late."

"I'm sorry, girl." Letty climbed out of her car in what was typical Letty fashion-- black flame boots, baggy pants, and a little tank top that showed her bra. "Are you ready to go? It's been a long time since we've talked, I'm looking forward to getting to it."

"Yeah, it's been a long time since we've been to the ravine," Mia's voice held a friendly tone, that masked the anger she really had toward Letty. The fight she'd started with Tianna at the race had pissed her off. She and Tia had talked about it, and unlike Dominic seemed to, Mia remembered Letty's threat of revenge and felt she had come back just to stir up dust. Despite that though she climbed into the passengers seat of the Nissan, and smiled at Letty when she started up the car.

As they drove Mia began to notice subtle things wrong with the image of Letty's car. It was all those cop shows Brian made her watch, she had learned to pick up on little clues, little mistakes in appearance. First it was the sand in the floor board. There was only a little, like it had been swept out, but there were still visible grains left. Then it was the splotches of darkness in her seat and on the cloth covered panels of the door. They had been harder to see as she interior of the car was already a dark purple, but Mia knew those spots didn't belong. Then there was Letty, she was being fidgety. Mia said nothing, and neither did Letty, the would be at their child hangout soon.

"So how's Dom been?" Letty asked as she and Mia exited the car, and began walking over the dust terrain to the ravine that they used to hang out at when they were in school. It was about a half hour hike from where they had parked.

"Well he was doing good," Mia said as she followed Letty up the 'mini mountain' as they used to call it. Despite the dark attire which absorbed all the light and heat, she did remember to where boots, so she would be able to grip on to the rough surface of the boulders and rocks they were climbing over. "He raced, he won, he worked on car, drank Corona, dated a couple skanks. Don't worry they didn't mean anything," Mia added when Letty turned to give her a questioning look.

"So this pink haired chick is one of those skanks." Letty said more than she asked, and helped Mia down off of their little mountain, which was really, now that Letty looked at it, just a tremendous rock, that took less time to climb over than to walk around.

"Woo, been a long time since I have had to do that." Mia exclaimed as her feet hit the ground, she turned to look her companion for the day in the eyes, "No, she's not just one of those skanks. She's where Dominic went from being just good, to being great. I have never seen him happier." The words were said a little pointedly, to emphasize that, her comment, had included when Letty dated Dominic.

"All right, so what's so special about her?" Letty had caught the comment, and instead of saying something nasty to Mia she just turned and started walking again. The sun was on their backs, and the heat was slowly feeling much hotter.

"He loves her. She has something in her that Dominic is lost with out. She was really spunky, and I think he liked that. Plus she was something he'd never had before. She had her secrets, and her life story, and in two or three days I think she loved him enough to tell it all to him. I don't know all the details of those secrets, Dominic didn't tell me that. He told me very little, just enough to give me an understanding, of the woman he wanted to marry."

They walked further along in silence and soon were side by side. Letty was contemplating what she'd just heard, analyzing it in her mind. O'Brien had made Tianna out to be a filthy, horrid person, with mental problems, and a history of being a pathological liar. Letty didn't really care about the girl. All she knew was, this girl was with Dominic, and Adian was willing to pay her a large sum of money to get her back. She paused again, "Wait a second, wanted to Marry? As in not anymore?"

"He's not taking you back Letty." When the smaller woman's eyes narrowed, Mia smiled softly and continued, "No, he still wants to marry her. She's been missing since the night Romeo's car crashed. You heard about that didn't you? It was all over the news. They think it was murder, but anyway, They found Ro, dead... but they didn't find Tia, just a bloody trail leading away from the accident. We think her step father had something to do with it. She ran away from him, but apparently he was so determined to get her back that he got someone to kidnap her and take her away somewhere. Dominic is heart broken. It's like he's empty with out her. One of his closest friends is dead, and you know that's hard on him after Mommy and Daddy, and then when Jesse and Vince almost died. Now Ro is dead, and the love of his life, the one that could have lasted forever, she's gone too."

They finally reached the ravine where they used to sit and talk for hours years ago. It was more of a deep hole really, you couldn't see the bottom, and there really wasn't anyway to get out it you managed to get in. They'd lots all sorts of toys. They lost a puppy too, they hadn't been carefully and he just chased right after his ball. It was sad. Little white flowers had grown wild all around the open, they were Narcissus flowers. "I'm really sorry for your losses Mia. I'm sorry for all the hateful things that were said in Mexico, and all the problems I caused before the team split up. I'm sorry for coming back, and starting that fight with Tia, I was jealous. I didn't think she deserved Dominic. I'm sorry Adian took Tia of to Rostengburg, and I am truly sorry for Romeo's death." Letty had been looking down at the ravine, not at Mia, until she heard a distinct metal click behind her head, and turned to investigate it. Needless to say she was more than a little shocked to see Mia holding a gun up to her forehead.

"How could you?" Mia's voice was dangerously low. It was the genetic Toretto temper that rarely ever showed in this girl. "I know he hurt you, but that gives you no right to take away what he loves." Mia pushed a little closer, causing Letty to move back a couple steps. At the woman's confused look she continued, "I never told you her step father's name Letty. I never told you she was in Rostengburg. You knew that all on your own. How could you work for that man, Letty! How could you do that to Dominic, to Tia?! You didn't even know her, and she could be dead now because of you." Again Mia pushed forward, and again Letty step back. "Romeo is dead because of you. You had to have been the one that ran them off the side of the cliff, because you were the one to pick her up. You had to have been. Tia wouldn't have gone with her father, and you didn't clean her blood out of your car. Yeah I saw it, and the sand in the carpet. Her blood is on your hands."

Letty stared down the barrel of the hand gun aimed at her, just ready to go off. It was kind of funny, she knew she should feel bad, she even felt like she should cry, but it's amazing the kind of wall lustful revenge will build. "You're not going to shoot me Mia. You don't have it in you." Letty said her voice was cold, emotionless. It didn't hold the least, little bit of regret for her actions.

"I'm sorry..." Mia said quietly, releasing her hold on the gun, and letting it drop down into the dirt below. "I took the gun from Brian, he had it in the night stand." She looked down at the ground as if ashamed of her actions. "You're right Letty; I can't shoot you."

"I knew it." Letty relaxed a little now that the gun was no longer in Mia's hands.

"However," Mia said before turning angry eyes up to Letty, "I did learn something, from Tia."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Letty asked. Her answer was a swift, hard punch in the nose. It surprised her enough, and actually had enough force to knock her back. She fell, and desperately she grabbed onto the edge of the rock that made up the ravine with one hand. She couldn't get her hand to keep a hold, and every time she got both hands on the edge one would slip, the rock crumbling beneath her grasp. "Mia! Help me please! I'm sorry I did those things, I'm sorry!"

Mia knelt down over Letty, and spoke in cold tone, "Do you think 'I'm sorry' brings Romeo back? Or Tianna? Do you think 'I'm sorry' fixes it?" Mia shook her head lightly then stood, "Good-bye, Letty." Then she stood, and licked the gun lightly so it slid down into the ravine.

"Mia?" Letty called out, as the woman turned her back, and began walking off. "Mia, please don't leave me! Mia! I'm sorry..." Letty had more to say but the rock crumbled beneath her hands and she couldn't get her grasp back. She tumbled, screaming down into the ravine, and when her body finally hit the ground below, an nauseating crunch echoed off the enclosed space.

Mia had stopped when the screamed had abruptly ended. She took a deep breath, as tears slipped from her dark brown eyes, she kept on walking. There was no looking back. She climbed back into Letty's car when she got back to it and climbed into the driver's seat. Mia removed the spare key out of the glove compartment, and started the engine.