This is kind of a long chapter. I live in the Midwest and thanks to a large amount of snow I've been stuck inside, so I had plenty of time to write. Enjoy and Happy Holidays to all.

To greenglowchassis – yes an angst ridden kiss would have fit the scene better too bad I didn't think of that. Guess I just wanted a little sweetness between the Sky and Leon since they've hit a rough patch. Hope you like what I've done with this chapter.

To everyone else – Those who have reviewed thank you and to everyone else if you get a chance send a review and let me know what you think.

Chapter 50

The hot California sun sent the thermometer to record highs. Dom and Letty had finally made it into the shop around noon. Sky and Leon had by then completed the wiring of the gauges for the Supra and finished off the small amount of engine work that was left. This left the graphics to be placed for the car to be ready for Race Wars and Mia was set to complete that later in the day. The couples split the workload of the shop hoping to complete it faster that way.

Sky headed for the parts room to get a filter and some oil for an Integra she had been assigned to. Within a few seconds Leon followed her into the room. "What do you think you're doing in here?" Sky knew what Leon had on his mind.

"Um…what do I think I'm doing?" He hoisted her up by her waist onto the workbench. "Let's see." He placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her into a deep kiss. His free hand wandered up the back of her shirt. With her hands free to do as they pleased she unbuckled his belt and pants and let them slide to the floor. "Not fair." He laughed softly in her ear.

"Who said I had to be fair?" Sky hopped off the bench and headed for the door. As she reached the knob Leon pulled her back into his arms.

"You're not getting away that easy."

After more than an hour of fun and games in the parts room they emerged. Slipping out the room they noticed Dom leaning against an Eclipse with Letty pressed up against him. "You gonna keep me?"

Letty smiled mischievously, "Maybe".

"Maybe, what do you mean maybe?"

Sky looked over her shoulder at Leon and made a gagging gesture. They crouched down on the ground to avoid being seen. "The house is empty. You know what that means?"

Leon looked at her puzzled, "No, what does it mean?"

"Did you leave your brain back in the parts room? We've got the place to ourselves to do whatever we want."

"Let's go." Leon grabbed onto her arm and pulled her out of the shop. As he made it to the door of the shop he turned back to see where Dom and Letty were. He watched as Dom took hold of Letty's ass and lifted her up off the ground. Feeling he had seen enough Leon crept out of the shop and out to his car.

Brian paced around the living room of his house. He had not meant to go there, but he just couldn't face the team. Too many thoughts ran through his head. His heart belonged to Mia and he respected Dom too much to turn him in. There seemed no way to keep the team out of jail and keep his career. He needed to make a choice that would certainly change his life no matter which side he chose.

Brian jumped into the parts truck and headed for the beach with his surfboard in the bed. When he needed to think he turned to the waves to clear his mind. There was an answer out there he just needed to reach it. There had to be a way to salvage his career and reputation while keeping the woman he loved out of trouble.

After hitting many sets he sat down on the beach to take in the sea air. His watch read 3 o'clock. "Shit." He cursed himself; he had promised to meet Mia at the shop by one. With no time to clean up he jumped into the truck and sped over to the shop.

As they drove towards the house Leon's attention was less on the road and more on what he and Sky were going to do. "Focus before you get us killed." Sky yelled after Leon almost took out four parked cars.

"It's your fault."

"What the hell did I do?"

"This." He reached over and pulled her closer to him so he could kiss her deeply.

Sky pulled back from his grip, "No no. You have to watch the road. Wouldn't want you to get into an accident; we need you to win some money."

"Come on. Damn."

"Not until we get home baby. I think I like being in control."

"We'll see who's in control when we get home."

The car sped up the driveway and Leon quickly killed the engine. Being on the left side of the car Sky had the advantage of getting to the backdoor first. Unfortunately for her Leon had the legs and caught her just as she unlocked the door. He threw her kicking and screaming over his shoulder and carried her down to his room.

The shop was deserted when Brian arrived. "Hello, anyone here?"

Out of the office walked Mia carrying the graphics for the car. "You're late, thought you weren't coming."

"The deliveries took longer than I thought they would. You aren't angry with me are you?"

"No Brian I'm not angry with you. You're here just in time to help me."

The room was quiet and dark. Sky waved her hand in front of Leon's face to be sure he was still sleeping. Assured he was out like a light, she slipped out of bed and wrapped the sheet around her body. Quietly she crept out of the room and out into the hallway where she ran right into Vince. "Um…hey…what's up?"

The anger was apparent on Vince's face, "What's up? Is that all you have to say? What the hell is going on?" His voice boomed in the closed hallway.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist pulling her back towards the room, "Where do you think you're going?" Leon looked over at Vince, "Sorry dawg couldn't help my self." He turned his attention back to Sky who was struggling in his arms. "I'm not finished with you yet." Over his shoulder he again threw her and marched back into the bedroom. The door closed with a thud.

Vince stood in the hallway half angry and half elated. What could he do? They were going to see each other no matter what his opinion. What better person to be with his cousin than one of his best friends. He knew Leon would protect her. If not Vince would have no problem burying him where no one would find the body.

Dinner time rolled around and the team gathered at the dining room table for another round of Mia's cooking. Most of them had developed an iron stomach able to handle the worst of her kitchen experiments. The night's selections included such delicacies as burnt pork chops and mystery mush that Mia claimed to be a vegetable. Each member spooned a little on their plates and prepared themselves for the taste. Sky made a gesture to Leon that he knew meant that later he would be taking her out for something edible. Letty caught the signal and decided to invite herself.

The team noticed that Dom was particularly quiet. Jess couldn't handle the silence and spoke up to break the mood, "When are you going to test the Supra?"

Dom shook out of his daze and answered, "Whenever Spillner gets over to the shop."

"You mean the fucking pig." Vince popped off.

Dom slammed his fist on the table, "He's clear Vince. We got nothing on him to prove he's a cop. Now let's talk about what's really getting at you. Mia picked him over you. Right V, your ego's been squashed."

Sky came to her cousin's defense, "Dom that's bullshit. V has always had your back and now you're going to pop off and trash him. I don't trust Brian anymore than Vince does and just because we can't find anything on him doesn't mean he ain't a cop. As for Mia picking Blondie over V well we all know her taste in men is lacking."

"Hey wait a minute," Mia spoke up from the end of the table.

Sky laughed, "No don't even try to deny it. We had to put up with Doug. Do y'all remember Doug?" The team all nodded in agreement. "Doug the guy you thought was the next "it" male model turned out to be a deadbeat who still lived with his mom."

"Like I am the only one at this table that has picked a loser," Mia put her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands.

"Not saying that. I'm just saying that sometimes you can be a little naïve."

"Now I'm naïve because I want to date someone other than your cousin."

"Give me a break Mia this is not about Vince. You're bringing in a complete stranger. Thank God we aren't popping anymore trucks so we don't know have to worry about getting caught."

Dom cleared his throat and said the words the whole team was dreading, "There's one more job."

A collective "what?" came from the team.

Dom put on his best salesman act, "One more job came up and it's the big one we had been waiting for."

Vince stood up and walked away from the table followed by Letty, Jesse, and Mia. Leon was about to do the same until Sky spoke up, "Dom do we really need this job?"

"It'd set us up. We could all take a long vacation afterwards."

"When's the job going down?"

"Sunday morning."

"That's during Race Wars." Leon shook his head. "How the hell do we get out of Race Wars? If the team's not there the cops will know something's up."

"We go to Race Wars and leave in the middle of the night when the party's in full swing. No one'll know we've left and we'll be back before the start of the Sunday races."

"I'm in." Sky said getting up from the table. She didn't say another word and headed for Leon's room. He followed her down.

"No baby we can't do this. It's suicide. A morning heist is too risky." Leon tried to reason with her.

"We can't back out on him now. He's counting on us." Deep inside her stomach was turning. Something told her that a member of the team wouldn't make it through the next heist.