This chapter is a little shorter than the others, i just got a bit stuck towards the end. Hmmm, not entirely happy with it but I put it up so that i can keep going with the rest of the story.

Oh, this may be entirely random, but i re-watched tFatF the other night and i kinda noticed some weird interaction between Letty, Vince and Dom at the BBQ. Dunno whether it was just me but it was when Vince turned up after storming off. He replies to Leon that he's gotta eat and Letty says "He's always hungry." Was it just me or was there something totally going on between them there? Perhaps i'm imagining things but Dom didn't look too happy, though that may have been because of the feud between V and Brian...Watch it again and let me know if i'm really going funny in the head or if you think there is sommat there. Would make a good fic if there was...hmmm...

Anywho, moving away from randomness. Thank you all for you great reviews, I really appreciate you all reading my stuff and telling me what you think. It's really turning into an epic, i'm not even half way through yet! Hopefully I'll be getting some action out soon, but the team have to settle down a bit first and Mia's story has a lot of developing to do before then. I'm actually quite excited about what i have planned for her and the twist i've got planned for Letty but i won't say anymore...wanna keep y'all guessing, lol.

Righto, Happy Reading.

Gem

xxx

Chapter 16: What Went Down.

"What? Don't I get a hug?" Vince chuckled slightly, attempting to dispel the sudden tension and disbelief that hung thickly in the hot morning air. "No proper Mexican welcome?"

Dom still remained mute, dazed eyes simply staring at his best friend almost as if he thought his mind was playing tricks on him due to lack of sleep.

It was Letty who broke the silence first, sensing the discomfort that radiated from Vince and Dom's sudden inability to actually speak. She hopped down the wooden steps two at a time regardless of her pyjamas and tiptoed towards Dom and Vince, wincing as the little chunks of stone and grit bit into her bare feet.

"What's shakin', Coyote!" she grinned, slugging him on the shoulder and laughing when he reached down and butted their heads together in the familiar greeting that they had used since she had been thirteen and he seventeen.

His navy blue eyes sparkled at her as their foreheads pressed against each other, silently thanking her. Letty had the innate ability to read people and situations. It had been how she had known that Dom had cheated on her with Johnny Tran's sister. It had been how she had known that there was something wrong before the last heist. It had even been how she had suspected that Mia was pregnant, though that may have been partly down to 'girl-issues' as Vince called them. But no matter what the situation was, Letty was always the one who straightened it out, eased the tension a little, removed the focus from one person to another or one topic to another. She always saved the day in Vince's eyes.

"S'up, Letty-Dawg?" he responded finally, using his nickname for her that had been born of her desire to be one of the boys when they were younger. She laughed louder at that and stepped onto his booted toes to save her sore feet and winding her arms about his neck in a tight embrace.

"I'm a'ight, V. Things are good, y'know." she smiled before pulling away and clamping her hands onto his shoulders to steady herself. "Missed you, man. It's not been the same without you and Leon around makin' fools outta yourselves."

Vince laughed out loud at her teasing words, but trepidation lanced its way across his face in a flash that anyone else would have missed completely. Letty's keen watch, however, saw it and she took a step backwards to fix him with a questioning look.

"V? What's wrong?" she inquired, dark eyebrows knitting together in concern. "Vince? This got to do with why you're here?"

Vince swallowed hard and ran his large, work callused hands over his face, taking a deep breath before even daring to continue. When he did, however, his gaze was directed at Dom instead of young woman standing in front of him, asking him the questions that Dom didn't know how to.

"They came after us, Dom." he said in a low tone, taking a step past Letty and towards where Dom stood unmoving. "Some dip shit thug from the Tran's. Knew it was them. They torched the shop and the garage, Dawg. And they beat up Leon. Bad man. Real bad. We had to get out."

Letty swore harshly under her breath, fisting her hand into Vince's shirt and tugging it desperately so that he turned and looked down at her.

"Where's Leon? He's okay, right?" she demanded fiercely, her dark brown eyes filled with panic. "He's not...is he?"

"Naw, Let. He's in the car, sleeping. But he got hurt pretty bad. I patched him up as best as I knew how, but Mia better take a look at him. Just to be on the safe side."

Letty nodded her head and released a great whooshing sigh of relief, placing a hand against her heart as if to still it's worried beating.

"Letty." Dom spoke finally, causing Letty and Vince to turn and regard him, his voice low so that Frankie, Jesse, Mia and Donni who were spectating from the doorway, could not hear what was being said. "Go get Mia and the others and take care of Leon. Vince and I need to have a little chat." he shifted his eyes so that he could focus upon Letty.

She crossed her arms and frowned lightly already beginning to shake her head defiantly as Dom finished speaking.

"I want to hear it, Dom." she replied firmly. "I have a right to know. Leon and Vince are my friends too. You can't just-"

"Letty, I said go take care of Leon!" Dom cut her off roughly, punctuating each word through clenched teeth, and both Letty and Vince started in shock. "Now!" his eyes blazed at her, telling her that he meant business, and even though her scowl deepened at being dismissed so harshly, she nodded her head and did as he said. She knew not to push her luck when Dom got that look in his eyes, but her obedience didn't mean that she wouldn't be giving him hell about it later on.

"Whatever..." she muttered, waving a dismissive hand in irritation over her shoulder and turning her frown to the ground as she made her way back into the house, taking their audience with her through to the front door where Vince had parked his car.

Dom turned back to Vince when he was certain that they were all well out of earshot, narrowing his eyes at the man that he had grown up with.

"It was Tran?" he asked and Vince nodded his affirmation. "You're absolutely sure?"

"No doubt."

Dom capped a hand over his skull and rubbed at his skin which was already beginning to prickle with the intense heat of the morning. He let his head fall back and glared up into the sapphire blue sky, a thousand thoughts and worries flying through his mind.

They simply stood there for several long minutes. Dom staring at the sky almost questioningly, and Vince staring at Dom, worried of what he was about to say. Finally, his head leveled upon Vince once more.

"You see the guy that beat up Lee?" he rumbled and Vince nodded, clenching his jaw tight in remembrance.

"Yeah, I saw him." his voice came out tersely and Dom gave a single nod of his head, almost in approval.

"You make him pay?" that was the question. The one that Dom had wanted to ask without the girls and Jesse around so they didn't have to hear the answer, for he knew even without asking what Vince's reply would be. But he'd asked anyway, to hear it for himself, to have the satisfaction of listening to what pain Vince had wrought on the man who had dared to harm one of the Toretto Team.

"You know it." Vince replied, surprisingly jittery all of a sudden. "I had to stop him, Dom. I couldn't think of any other way. There was a chair leg and I just...couldn't stop. Felt like my blood was on fire."

Vince's large hands began to shake as he combed them back through his messy, lengthening hair finally clamping them under his arms in a feeble attempt at keeping them still. His eyes looked raw, rimmed with red and tension, haunted by what he had done to another man, another living being for the sake of his friend. Dom knew those feelings of guilt all too well. How the regret conflicted with the conviction that if he had to chose again whether he beat that man half to death, he wouldn't have changed a thing.

"I don't want to go down for this, Dominic." Vince barely whispered, his voice shaking and in that moment he sounded so unlike himself that Dom had to look back at him just to make sure that he was there. "I ain't goin' to prison for it." he shook his head forcefully, removing one hand from his armpit to gnaw nervously on his thumb nail.

"You won't." Dom replied, patting Vince on the back and wrapping his arm around his thick shoulders. "The Tran's wouldn't dare go to the cops. I bet you the guy you beat up was wanted for more crimes than you can think of."

Vince gave a half-hearted nod and sighed, glancing up at the large detached house.

"Nice place you got here." he grinned, changing the subject and beginning to look and sound a little more like his normal self. "Got room for a lazy ass and a cripple?"

Dom chuckled, squeezing his shoulders once more before shoving him away. "It ain't my house, V. Gotta see what Tino says 'bout that." he joked.

-00000-

The end of chapter 16. I know i need another Tran chapter, might try one next. Please tell me what you think!