To Be Needed

Part 4

"Jess this design is beautiful, but you know that I'm not letting you guys turn my car into a racer." She said gently. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. She came downstairs right after leaving Vince's room. She decided her shower could wait.

"I know. I guess I figure I'll be able to come up with one that's good enough that you'll want us to do it." He said, sheepishly.

"You're bored, aren't you?" Ashby asked, looking at him seriously.

Jesse looked up from his computer. He stared at her speechless.

"You're bored with designing and building race cars." She stated.

Jesse looked back down at his computer. "No, of course not."

Ashby sat down next to him and smiled. "It's okay Jesse. You can tell me."

Jesse looked at her skeptically. "Promise you won't tell Dom or the others?"

"Of course, sweetie. I won't tell anyone," she promised.

"Yeah, I'm bored. I have tons of disks with hundreds of different designs on them. It's all become so old now. I still like it and still want to do it. I just wanna do something different too. Do you know what I mean?" he asked her hopefully.

He wanted her to understand what he was saying. He needed her to understand. None of the others would. Jesse knew that much.

Leon would think his brain was fried from lack of sleep again. Dom would probably freak out. He can't lose his 'mad scientist.' And Jesse didn't think Vince would care one way or another. Poor Mia was still trying to get over Spilner, actually O'Conner was his real name, and what he did to the 'team.' Mia didn't have time to really worry about him anymore. Letty just left. No goodbye, no I'll keep in touch, nothing. She just left in the middle of the night and didn't look back.

No, Jesse knew no one was really concerned about him. They needed him, and he fits in with the 'team,' but if he didn't know anything about cars Jesse didn't think the 'team' would care as much about him.

Jesse wasn't like Letty thou. He couldn't just quit, not after he gave his word he would be there for the team. He said he would stick by the team no matter what, and that's what he was gonna do.

Jesse didn't want to quit designing cars, or fixing them. He just wanted to do other stuff too. The others didn't really understand his need when he tried to tell them once. So he gave up trying to make them understand.

Ashby coming to live with them was like a godsend to him. She was perfect. She listened to him. She always made sure everyone was okay. She made sure everyone had what he or she needed. She made Jesse feel wanted. Like how Mia use too, before Maria was born and before Spilner.

He knew Ashby would understand. She would care.

Ashby smiled at him. "I know what you mean Jess. I really do. Don't worry about the others so much. Do what you want and what makes you happy. Don't be so afraid of what others will think. You chose what you do. No one else. If you want to design other things besides racecars, then do it. Or if you want to do something completely different, then do that. You have the choice, Jesse. Don't let someone else make it for you. If the 'team' is really your friend, then it won't matter to them what you do." Ashby said, lecturing him.

Jesse watched her, entranced. "You're so smart," he said in awe.

Ashby looked away. "Yeah you would think."

Jesse opened his mouth to ask, but then decided against it. If she wanted to tell him she would.

"Thanks for looking at my design," he said instead.

Ashby turned and smiled at him. "You're welcome."

Ashby watched Jesse as he went back to his computer, typing and clicking away furiously. It still amazed her how smart Jesse is and he never even graduated high school.

"Hey Jess, can I ask you something?"

He turned his head and looked at her. "Yeah."

"Do you ever wonder what you'd be doing if you didn't have the 'team'?"

Jesse's eyes widened. He's never really thought about it before.

"No, why would I do that?" he asked confused. He's always had the 'team'. He had no desire to know what it would be like without them.

"You aren't thinking about leaving us are you?" He asked, suddenly scared. Letty had asked him something similar once, right before she left.

"Of course not, Jess. I would tell you if I were. I was just thinking about how most people who don't graduate high school don't go on to do something as incredible as what you do." She said.

Jesse smiled. He hugged her. "Ash' I swear to god if I didn't love you like a sister I'd be in love with you." He said.

Ashby laughed. "I love you too Jess. Now do me a favor and go make Maria's bottle while I take a quick shower. I know she'll be up soon." She said as she kissed his cheek. She stood and left the living room where Jesse keeps his computer.

Ashby didn't see Vince as he ran quietly back to his room. He wanted to go down and apologize to Jesse while Ashby was in the shower. He hadn't realized she went downstairs instead until he heard them talking. He heard it all. He was shocked. He didn't know Jesse felt like that. He really did need to pay more attention to Jesse. Jesse meant more that he gave himself credit for.

Vince remembered when he woke up in the hospital and they told him Jesse had been shot. His mind froze in shock. Not Jesse, their 'mad scientist'. Vince didn't care about himself. He refused to speak to any of the cops until he knew how Jesse's surgery went.

When the doctor finally came and told him Jesse would live he broke down and cried for the first time since he was a kid. Vince realized how much the 'team' meant to him. They were a family, no matter what happened they would always be family.

Seems to him that he needed to make sure that Jesse knew it too.

Vince waited until he heard Ashby walk past his room to go to her own room down the hall. He went downstairs to talk to Jesse.

"Hey Ash' where's my wallet chain?" Leon shouted from upstairs.

Ashby stood in the kitchen staring at Maria. "Princess, have you seen Uncle Leon's wallet chain?"

Maria cooed.

Ashby nodded. "Yeah I didn't think you did. How about we go tell Uncle Leon to go check the table in the living room? Since that's where he left it last night." Ashby asked the baby as she picked her up from the baby seat.

The others had already left for the garage. Leon was running late because he couldn't find his chain.

Ashby walked into the kitchen and checked the coffee table, but there was no chain. She frowned. She was down here in the middle of the night and saw it.

Maybe Jesse put it in Leon's room, because he knew it was Leon's, Ashby thought.

Ashby walked upstairs and found Leon tearing up his room, trying to find it. She had to laugh. He was even tearing the sheets off his bed, like the chain had managed to get underneath them on it's own.

"Leon, just go the garage. Dom will be mad if you're any later. I'll find it and bring it by." Ashby informed him.

Leon looked at her with hope. "Really? You'll bring it by? I'll love you forever I swear to god." He told her as he kissed her cheek and hugged her, mindful of the baby.

Ashby laughed. "Yeah, now go." She said as she gave him a slight push out his door.

"Thanks Ash!" Leon yelled as he ran out the door and headed down the stairs.

Ashby looked around his room. "Well it's definitely not in here. Let's go check the living room, sweetie." Ashby said to Maria.

Maria just smiled at Ashby.

Ashby pulled up in front of DT Automotive. She looked at Maria who had fallen asleep in the car, in the short ten minutes it took to drive over. She didn't have the heart to wake her; so Ashby decided to call inside have Leon come out.

"Leon, it's Ash'. I found it. Come out and get it." She said into the phone.

She laughed when she saw Leon come running out the garage at full speed. She climbed out the car and handed over his precious chain. He hugged her and kissed her repeatedly on her cheek.

"Thank you! Thank you! You're the best!"

Ashby rolled her eyes. He was such a kid sometimes. "Leon, chill. It's just a chain." She said amused.

"Yeah, but it's my lucky chain. I always get a girl to come home with me when I wear it." He said.

Ashby laughed. "You know Leon, one day you're gonna play the wrong girl and you're gonna be sorry. I just hope I'm around to see it."

Vince came outside when Leon didn't come back in right away. He scowled when he saw Leon kissing Ashby and hugging her.

"Hey Leon, get back to work!" he snapped.

Ashby turned and looked at Vince in surprise at his tone.

Leon glanced at V to tell him to relax, but he saw that look on Vince's face.

"Since when is talkin to Ashby a crime?" Leon asked, bewildered.

"My bad, bro. I just want to talk to Ashby. Alone." Vince said.

Leon was still confused, but he nodded anyway. "All right. See ya later Ash'." Leon said then jogged back into the garage.

Vince turned and looked at Ashby, who did not look at all happy.

"What?" He asked, resisting the urge to check out her body. He didn't want to make her mad.

"Nothing. What did you want to talk about V?" She asked.

Vince smiled at her. "You and me. Go out with me. Please. I want to take you to the races tonight. Mia said she was staying home." Vince begged her.

Ashby sighed loudly. "V…" she said wearily.

Vince cut her off before she could turn him down. "Please Ash' just this once. Mia needs time alone with Maria. It'll be fun. I wanna take you." He said, pleading with her now. He put on his best puppy-dog face, the one he knew she couldn't resist.

Ashby sighed again, this time in defeat. "I hate it when you guys do that. One day I'm gonna find your weakness. You'll be sorry then." She said.

Vince grinned at her. He hugged her tightly. "You're going," he stated excitedly.

Ashby pushed him away. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get too excited. It's not a typical date. And you're out your mind if you think I'm going to a party anywhere after the races." She told him firmly, and then climbed back into her car.

Vince watched her drive away. "We'll see about that,'" he said to himself.

If he could make her go to a race, then he was confident he could convince her to go to an after party.