A/N - All readers can review now and thanx to all who could review. I greatly appreciate it. To let you know, I have a lot of chapters finished but I will be posting only one every week or so. I'm doing this so you will have something to read if I get writers block. ;) When I finish it, I might post more than one at a time. Until then, enjoy the first chapter.





Chapter 1: The Phone Call



~~~~~ One week later ~~~~~


"I'm coming! Hold on!" Mia yelled as she fumbled with her keys.


The phone in the house was ringing when she came home. She had just gotten home from visiting Vince and Jesse in the hospital. Vince was almost ready to come home but Jesse's injuries would keep him in the hospital another month. Finally getting the right key, she unlocked the front door and flew inside. She grabbed the receiver just before the answering machine picked up. Relieved, she plopped down on the couch.


"Hello?" Mia answered.


"Hey baby girl!" He said.


"Dom?! Oh my god! Are you alright? Where are ..." Mia screamed.


"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa honey! We're ok!" Dom interrupted her. "The three of us are fine. Letty's getting better everyday. How are you, sis?" Dom asked.


"I'd be better if you, Letty and Leon were here!" She said pushing back the tears forming. She told herself to calm down and be strong. Breathing deeply, Mia spoke. "Dom, Vince and Jesse..... they're alive!" Silence on the other end. "Dom, did you hear me? I said they're alive. Jesse is alive!"


"But.... I saw him get hit!" Dom said, his voice faint.


"He did get shot! Four times, but luckily for him, not a one hit anything vital. After you took off after Brian and the Trans, I called an ambulance and got him to the hospital. It was touch and go there for a few days but he pulled through." Mia told Dom.


"My god!" Dom said shocked. "He's alive! And Vince, you said Vince made it too?"


"Yes, V made it. Thanks to Brian. If Brian hadn't been there, V would have been dead." Mia announced.


As Mia said Brian's name, Dom cringed and gritted his teeth. Just hearing the fucker's name made Dom's temper flare. Brian had lied! I should have listened to V. Brian had been a cop. Dom thought to himself. A cop who had planned on sending me back to prison, me and my family. But then Dom told himself, but he didn't! He let you take his car and escape. He saved Vince's life. And he shot and killed Johnny Tran. As Dom thought about this, he forced himself to relax.


Taking a deep breath Dom asked, "So what happened to Brian?"


"I'm not sure. I never saw or heard from him again. Some FBI men came and asked me what I knew. I told them I didn't know anything. They told me that he had killed Johnny Tran and then went after you. But then for some unknown reason, he let you escape. And because of that, he became a fugitive himself. No one knows where he went." Mia explained.


"No shit?" Dom asked.


"No shit and there's more. The wonderful news is that without Brian's testimony, the feds can't pin any of you to the highjackings. You guys are safe to come home." Mia said smiling.


"Are you sure?" Dom questioned.


"Positive. It's safe and we need you guys here. I need you guys here!" Mia corrected. Her voice almost pleading.


Dom couldn't believe it. Jesse and V were alive. The team was safe from the cops. They could go back to the states and start again. Maybe Brian wasn't such a piece of shit after all. Dom thought. Brian saved us all. He could have turned us all in, but he gave us all a second chance. And in doing so, he put himself on the run. Now they were after him not us. Really, this was all my fault. I put my family in danger. Vince, my best friend since third grade, could have died on that truck because I thought myself untouchable. Letty, my girl, could have died when her car flipped, but luckily she walked away with only a few cracked ribs. And the team tried to warn me that night, but I didn't listen. All I could see was that last score. My greed and selfishness almost killed everyone I love. Suddenly Dom knew he couldn't go back. Not now anyway. He needed some time alone to reflect on what had happened and to clear his mind.


"Dom?.... You still there?" Mia asked, breaking into his thoughts.


"Yeah honey. I'm still here." Dom smiled. But then his smile faded and his heart sank as he realized what he would say next would break his little sister's heart. "Honey, that's great news. And I'm sure Letty and Leon will want to come home. Letty misses you and Leon will definitely want to be with Jess. But honey,..... I don't think I will be coming with them." Dom said slowly.


"What!" Mia screamed.


"I said, I don't think I will be coming with them." Dom replied.


"I heard you! But why Dom? Why won't you be coming home with them?" Mia screamed at him. Mia sat trying to blink back the tears that were suddenly threatening to fall at any second.


"Because, Mia honey, I don't think I can face either Jesse or Vince right now. And I could use some time alone to clear my head." Dom tried to explain. He just knew her heart had to be breaking.


"But Dom, I need you! Please come home!" She begged. Mia couldn't stop them. The tears began to stream down her face. She wanted her brother home. She didn't want to tell him over the phone that she was pregnant with Brian's child. She needed him here to help her. Afraid that if she told him now, he would never come home. Never forgive her.


"I'm sorry honey, but I don't think I can do that right now." Dom said. He could hear her crying and he wished he could hold her right now. Tell her everything would be alright. "But I promise to come home soon. Just give me a little time to clear my head, and when I come back, everything will be fine."


"Promise?" Mia cried.


"Promise baby!" Dom replied. "I need to go tell Letty and Leon the good news. So expect them home in the next few days. Okay?"


"Okay." Mia sniffed.


"Are you okay honey?" Dom asked.


"I'll be fine once you all get here. So you better not take too long, Dom! You hear me?" Mia screamed at him.


Dom chuckled, "I hear you sis. Well, I gotta go hon."


"I love you, Dom." Mia cried.


"I love you too, Mia. Bye!" Dom said.


"Bye!" Mia whispered as she hung up the phone.


Mia sat on the couch wiping at her tear soaked cheeks. Letty and Leon would be home in a few days. And although her brother wouldn't be with them, he had promised to be home soon. She hoped that when he did come home, he would not be too upset with her for not telling him then. But in the meantime, she would have her best friend to support her. The next few months would be hard but with Letty and the boys, she would be ok.


Dom hung up the phone. And went out the back door to find Letty and Leon. He stepped off the back deck into the sand, headed for the beach. Sure enough, Letty and Leon were down next to the water talking.