Chapter 31 - Cosmic Paybacks are a bitch
When he opened the door, it was to three angry men. Leon stepped out onto the porch and closed the door. No sense involving the rest of his team. He had this coming. As Brian had said, it was his fuck up. It was almost the first time he'd ever fucked up this bad but yet he had so he was going to take his beating like a man. He hoped they didn't leave him broken and bleeding too much. Sean spoke first.
"I heard what you did to Kat. And I gotta tell ya, I wanna beat you into the ground right now. But because Kat asked me not to, I'm not gonna. But if you ever, ever hurt her again, I'm not gonna beat you, I'ma kill ya. And you better believe dat, Fucker." Sean stepped back. The larger man was clearly having trouble holding on to his promise to his kitten not to start throwing punches. Seeing Leon made him so mad. But he knew that he needed to hold his temper for Kat's sake.
"I'll help him kill ya if you ever, ever hurt our Kitten again." Kale was succinct. He really didn't want to fight Leon, but that didn't mean he wouldn't if the other man didn't learn his lesson right here and now.
"I'ma kill ya if you ever hurt her again." Stacy added. He'd seen the marks on Kat's arm and there was no way he could let the other man off with just telling him off. After all he did have a reputation as a hot headed thug to maintain, plus he felt that Leon had better understand that he couldn't mess with Kat ever again. After his statement he paused, then threw a right hook catching Leon on the chin, and knocking him down. "And I'm not gonna just let it go at that. You had that comin' for how you talked to our princess and for makin her cry." Stacy grabbed Leon by the shoulders and leaned in to talk to him so that only the two of them would hear. "And for grabbin' her. Don't ever touch her in anger again or I'ma start rippin' parts off'o you." He stood up again. "Believe 'dat." He said loud enough for everyone to hear. Stacy turned and walked away and the others followed. He'd had to walk away while he still could, before the lust for the blood of the man who'd hurt his Kat overwhelmed him and their team and Leon's got into an out and out brawl on the lawn.
"Ya wasn't supposed to hit the little homeboy." Sean said to Stacy as they walked home. It had occurred to Sean that Leon was an awful lot smaller then them all, with the exception of Kale, who wouldn't have hit him unless really provoked. Leon could still hear them.
"It was hit him in the face or kill 'im. I figure of the two, punchin' him'll leave Kitten slightly less mad."
"True dat." Kale added. Kat was going to be mad enough Stacy had hit Leon once, let alone if they pounded him the way they wanted too. It did occur to the guys every once in a while that a 19 year old slip of a girl was making decisions for them, but she did have the most level head of the group. Plus they'd give her almost anything she asked for, and stuff she didn't ask for too, if they knew she wanted it.
"Stupid white boy had no idea what he had." Sean said and then they were out of earshot and Leon didn't know what else they said.
The line stupid white boy didn't know what he had hurt like hell. Those guys had all robbed him. At gunpoint none the less and now he was the one who felt like shit, who felt guilty. It wasn't fair. Mia and Jesse came running out of the house.
"Oh my god Leon, are you ok." Mia dropped by his side. Brian hadn't told her what had really happened between him and Kat; she just knew it wasn't right. "Do you want me to get Dom?"
"Naw girl, nothing Dom can do 'bout this. I had it coming. I'm glad he only hit me once. Stacy has one hell of a right hook." Leon rubbed his jaw. It hurt like hell. He'd bet it was going to bruise. That was irony at its best Leon thought with considerable sarcasm.
"How did you have that coming Leon? What did you do to the neighbours?" Mia was looking very concerned.
"I hurt Kat. Beyond hurt her. Crushed her. Was a total ass. Lost her." Leon stood up with Jesse's help and shook his head. Then he moved his jaw from side to side. Not broken thank god.
"How did you hurt Kat Leon?"
"She's the one Mia. Her and her team are the ones that robbed me. And when I figured it out I said horrible things to her. I know I had the right to be angry but not to say what I said. And the worst of it was she was still a lost little girl inside you know, and I made her think she was a horrible person. I'll never live it down with Brian and Harry and now I lost Kat."
"Oh Leon. It can't be that bad. Just tell her you're sorry. You were really messed up after what they did. Just explain that to her and I'm sure it'll all work out." Mia was such a romantic soul, she felt that Kat and Leon were destined to be together and she figured that everything had to work out ok in the end. It was something a friend had told her once, that Leon would find his girl, he just had to wait for her to come along. It seemed obvious to Mia that Kat was the girl so it had to work out. Mia's friend had never to Mia's knowledge been wrong. She continued. "Just talk to her Leon. You're the one with the level head, and the charm, you need to make her see. If she really is like you say then she needs you. You're the one she needs to take care of her. You'll make her see." Mia smiled gently at him, she always could see inside him. Sometimes better then he saw inside himself. He should be taking care of Kat, likely should have been for the rest of their lives, but he'd gone and messed it up and he didn't know how to fix it.
"Well, it doesn't matter right now because Harry's taken' her to Japan it seems and she'll be gone for awhile. I'll tell her I'm sorry when she comes home ok?" Leon just wanted to be alone to lick his wounds in private, to be miserable on his own.
"You do that Leon. Let her have her trip to calm down." Mia smiled and went to get the full story from Brian. At the end she wasn't sure if this was fixable. Leon'd been pretty horrid. Mia was going to have a hard time looking at him the same way for awhile. She had always seen Leon as Prince Charming who just slept around quite a bit. He didn't use women, he didn't try to let on to them that he might like them more then he did. He had manners. To find out what Leon had said was very shocking to Mia. It wasn't the Leon she knew. If she didn't know how much more shaken he'd been over what happened then he let on to the rest of the team, to the guys, she'd likely be as mad at him as Brian was. But it was hard to be mad at someone who despite how tough he was woke up terrified for weeks after what they'd done to him. Leon wasn't like Dom and Vince, he hadn't even wanted to get involved in the truck deal, he'd done it to keep Jesse and Letty safe.
Mia was talking about it all to Brian. "Well, we need to fix them back up when she comes back. They're still meant for each other. I mean you know how Leon is, if it wasn't for what she did to him, he'd be the one protecting her from everything himself. That's just how he is. Look how he is with Jesse."
"I don't know if he can fix this Mia. I mean, I'll give you that he has to apologize to her but I don't know if she can forgive him to the extent that she'd need to to ever fall for Leon again. She'd never had a steady boyfriend before and this was one hell of an introduction you know."
"Oh Brian." Mia sighed and put her head on Brian's shoulder.
"We'll do our best Mia, don't be sad." Brian hated to see Mia sad. Maybe Leon could fix things. They'd watched Kat gently freeze out every other guy who'd ever asked her out or showed an interest in her, but Leon had gotten to her. That had to count for something. Brian didn't know how well another relationship between Leon and Kat would go over with Kat's guys either though. They really seemed mad at Leon and Brian didn't want to see Leon hurt, even if he was still mad at his friend.
Kat and Harry were on the plane, first class. Harry knew how to travel, and since it was a business expense, he figured they'd go all out.
"You ever been out of the country before Kat?"
"Nope, this is a first."
"You'll like Japan. They're all skyline crazy too."
"That and s15 silvia crazy." Kat smiled back.
"That too." Harry laughed at her knowledge. She knew so much more then she let on.
They landed in Japan and rented a car. Harry let her drive since she was already use to the 'backwards' car. He was glad to see she knew how to drive in normal traffic. She didn't hotdog it or do anything crazy. She was humoring him, but he knew she was, he was just glad she didn't try to give him an aneurism in the car. They arrived at the hotel and went to their room. They had a two bedroom suite. It was very nice. Harry told her that they had a car show to be at in two hours.
Kat had a swim and then got ready for the car show. She wore a red skirt, it was just above her knees, and a white button up sleeveless shirt. She left her hair down and did a small amount of makeup. She walked out into the sitting room when she was ready. "Is this dressy enough Harry, do I look businesslike?"
"Kitten, it's a car show. You can dress just like you would in the shop. You don't need to dress up. But you look good, if you're comfortable."
"I am."
"Ok then, let's go. You wanna drive?"
"You know it." She laughed. He handed her the keys and they went to the car park. They headed to the show. Harry knew a lot of the sponsors. He was trying to make deals to carry some lines of products that were still only in Japan. He made dinner dates for them for most of the rest of the nights they were there, to talk shop and make deals. He got some of the products he wanted without any more work. He introduced her as a new partner to everyone. Kat blushed at all the attention, and he even told the people about her skyline.
Many of the people couldn't believe she had a skyline to drive and that she tuned it pretty much by herself. Harry was secretly trying to get her sponsors so she could get on NIRA with her car. She'd need a team and sponsors before she could even apply, but he knew that she had her team already and she'd never leave them. He knew that NIRA was her ultimate goal, that she didn't see herself doing anything for a career other then racing. He was making some progress. After all a girl in a skyline that could kick ass was something of a rarity and could draw in a whole new crowd to import racing. And a lot of company's wanted to have their logos on her car.
But the theme was always the same. He was told time after time 'When she is known as the best of LA then bring her back to us'. So Kat would have to beat Dom to get her sponsors. They considered Dom the best in LA, but it was well known that Dom wasn't allowed to race Pro in any way. Harry didn't know if Kat could beat Dom or not. If he was here getting sponsors for Dom, Dom's car would be so covered in decals that the paint wouldn't show. It wasn't really fair but it was a fact.
They were just standing talking to someone Harry knew when a man walked up to Kat.
"Hello Miss."
"Hiya." Kat answered him back. She didn't know anyone in Japan so she didn't know what the man could want.
"Are you the girl who races the black R34 in the USA?"
"That's me. How'd you know?" She wondered where this could be going.
"The man Harry told us. Would you do me the honor of being in a picture of my car?" He asked hopefully.
Kat couldn't believe he wanted her to model for him. A crowd formed and the general theme was this magazine, and that person wanted to have a picture of the girl who raced a skyline in the USA with this car and that car. Kat laughingly agreed to them all. They gave her a skimpy outfit, like all import models wore. It would not normally be something she would do, but she was here to have fun and people wanting her to model was quite novel to her in itself. She did pose after pose by car after car in a little plaid schoolgirl skirt and a white sleeveless shirt not unlike her own, only it was tied right under her breasts. The skirt was cut as low as was decently possible and they gave her stockings and knee high boots to wear too. By the end of the car show she was tired out, she'd posed beside cars in the show for the owners and organizers and by cars in the show for magazines, and by cars for the general public who wanted to take pictures. She figured she'd been in more pictures in one day then she'd been in for her whole life up to that point. It was confusing to her why they'd even wanted pictures of her when so many beautiful Japanese girls had already been at the show for the sole purpose of modeling.
She let Harry drive them back to the hotel. "All those people wanting me to model for them was hella weird Harry." She really didn't get it.
"Not really, you're a pretty girl, who drives and races their best sports car. I think you're gonna be embarrassed when you see how many of those pics end up in the American versions of these mags too. Plus you're different looking then most of the girls they get around the car shows over here and you race. You're not just another pretty face as it were."
"I'm not a pretty face at all, but I guess I am different looking from the Japanese girls. Oh, and the pictures in the American additions of the magazines'll never happen Harry." She laughed.
"You'll see." Harry winked at her. "Oh, and if you beat Dom, you've got NIRA. I've got more sponsors then you'll ever need if you can just beat Dom."
"Harry how'd you manage that?" Kat was flabbergasted. She was speechless and Harry couldn't remember the last time that had ever happened.
"You're the best, now you gotta prove it. Company's want to sponsor people who're gonna bring attention to their product. You proved today you can do that. You can even model your own car."
"Harry. I can't believe it. Dom Torreto was next on my list anyway but you better believe I'ma beat him now. NIRA's what I wanted since I got into racing."
"I figured. I hope you don't forget me when you're a famous racer on the pro circuit."
"I'll never forget you Harry. I'll be working at the Racer's Edge for the rest of my life if you'll have me."
"You'll always have a place with me and my store Kitten, but you won't always want it."
"Yes I will." She said, in the tone that left no room for arguments. She gave him a quick hug at a red light and they continued home to the hotel.
When he opened the door, it was to three angry men. Leon stepped out onto the porch and closed the door. No sense involving the rest of his team. He had this coming. As Brian had said, it was his fuck up. It was almost the first time he'd ever fucked up this bad but yet he had so he was going to take his beating like a man. He hoped they didn't leave him broken and bleeding too much. Sean spoke first.
"I heard what you did to Kat. And I gotta tell ya, I wanna beat you into the ground right now. But because Kat asked me not to, I'm not gonna. But if you ever, ever hurt her again, I'm not gonna beat you, I'ma kill ya. And you better believe dat, Fucker." Sean stepped back. The larger man was clearly having trouble holding on to his promise to his kitten not to start throwing punches. Seeing Leon made him so mad. But he knew that he needed to hold his temper for Kat's sake.
"I'll help him kill ya if you ever, ever hurt our Kitten again." Kale was succinct. He really didn't want to fight Leon, but that didn't mean he wouldn't if the other man didn't learn his lesson right here and now.
"I'ma kill ya if you ever hurt her again." Stacy added. He'd seen the marks on Kat's arm and there was no way he could let the other man off with just telling him off. After all he did have a reputation as a hot headed thug to maintain, plus he felt that Leon had better understand that he couldn't mess with Kat ever again. After his statement he paused, then threw a right hook catching Leon on the chin, and knocking him down. "And I'm not gonna just let it go at that. You had that comin' for how you talked to our princess and for makin her cry." Stacy grabbed Leon by the shoulders and leaned in to talk to him so that only the two of them would hear. "And for grabbin' her. Don't ever touch her in anger again or I'ma start rippin' parts off'o you." He stood up again. "Believe 'dat." He said loud enough for everyone to hear. Stacy turned and walked away and the others followed. He'd had to walk away while he still could, before the lust for the blood of the man who'd hurt his Kat overwhelmed him and their team and Leon's got into an out and out brawl on the lawn.
"Ya wasn't supposed to hit the little homeboy." Sean said to Stacy as they walked home. It had occurred to Sean that Leon was an awful lot smaller then them all, with the exception of Kale, who wouldn't have hit him unless really provoked. Leon could still hear them.
"It was hit him in the face or kill 'im. I figure of the two, punchin' him'll leave Kitten slightly less mad."
"True dat." Kale added. Kat was going to be mad enough Stacy had hit Leon once, let alone if they pounded him the way they wanted too. It did occur to the guys every once in a while that a 19 year old slip of a girl was making decisions for them, but she did have the most level head of the group. Plus they'd give her almost anything she asked for, and stuff she didn't ask for too, if they knew she wanted it.
"Stupid white boy had no idea what he had." Sean said and then they were out of earshot and Leon didn't know what else they said.
The line stupid white boy didn't know what he had hurt like hell. Those guys had all robbed him. At gunpoint none the less and now he was the one who felt like shit, who felt guilty. It wasn't fair. Mia and Jesse came running out of the house.
"Oh my god Leon, are you ok." Mia dropped by his side. Brian hadn't told her what had really happened between him and Kat; she just knew it wasn't right. "Do you want me to get Dom?"
"Naw girl, nothing Dom can do 'bout this. I had it coming. I'm glad he only hit me once. Stacy has one hell of a right hook." Leon rubbed his jaw. It hurt like hell. He'd bet it was going to bruise. That was irony at its best Leon thought with considerable sarcasm.
"How did you have that coming Leon? What did you do to the neighbours?" Mia was looking very concerned.
"I hurt Kat. Beyond hurt her. Crushed her. Was a total ass. Lost her." Leon stood up with Jesse's help and shook his head. Then he moved his jaw from side to side. Not broken thank god.
"How did you hurt Kat Leon?"
"She's the one Mia. Her and her team are the ones that robbed me. And when I figured it out I said horrible things to her. I know I had the right to be angry but not to say what I said. And the worst of it was she was still a lost little girl inside you know, and I made her think she was a horrible person. I'll never live it down with Brian and Harry and now I lost Kat."
"Oh Leon. It can't be that bad. Just tell her you're sorry. You were really messed up after what they did. Just explain that to her and I'm sure it'll all work out." Mia was such a romantic soul, she felt that Kat and Leon were destined to be together and she figured that everything had to work out ok in the end. It was something a friend had told her once, that Leon would find his girl, he just had to wait for her to come along. It seemed obvious to Mia that Kat was the girl so it had to work out. Mia's friend had never to Mia's knowledge been wrong. She continued. "Just talk to her Leon. You're the one with the level head, and the charm, you need to make her see. If she really is like you say then she needs you. You're the one she needs to take care of her. You'll make her see." Mia smiled gently at him, she always could see inside him. Sometimes better then he saw inside himself. He should be taking care of Kat, likely should have been for the rest of their lives, but he'd gone and messed it up and he didn't know how to fix it.
"Well, it doesn't matter right now because Harry's taken' her to Japan it seems and she'll be gone for awhile. I'll tell her I'm sorry when she comes home ok?" Leon just wanted to be alone to lick his wounds in private, to be miserable on his own.
"You do that Leon. Let her have her trip to calm down." Mia smiled and went to get the full story from Brian. At the end she wasn't sure if this was fixable. Leon'd been pretty horrid. Mia was going to have a hard time looking at him the same way for awhile. She had always seen Leon as Prince Charming who just slept around quite a bit. He didn't use women, he didn't try to let on to them that he might like them more then he did. He had manners. To find out what Leon had said was very shocking to Mia. It wasn't the Leon she knew. If she didn't know how much more shaken he'd been over what happened then he let on to the rest of the team, to the guys, she'd likely be as mad at him as Brian was. But it was hard to be mad at someone who despite how tough he was woke up terrified for weeks after what they'd done to him. Leon wasn't like Dom and Vince, he hadn't even wanted to get involved in the truck deal, he'd done it to keep Jesse and Letty safe.
Mia was talking about it all to Brian. "Well, we need to fix them back up when she comes back. They're still meant for each other. I mean you know how Leon is, if it wasn't for what she did to him, he'd be the one protecting her from everything himself. That's just how he is. Look how he is with Jesse."
"I don't know if he can fix this Mia. I mean, I'll give you that he has to apologize to her but I don't know if she can forgive him to the extent that she'd need to to ever fall for Leon again. She'd never had a steady boyfriend before and this was one hell of an introduction you know."
"Oh Brian." Mia sighed and put her head on Brian's shoulder.
"We'll do our best Mia, don't be sad." Brian hated to see Mia sad. Maybe Leon could fix things. They'd watched Kat gently freeze out every other guy who'd ever asked her out or showed an interest in her, but Leon had gotten to her. That had to count for something. Brian didn't know how well another relationship between Leon and Kat would go over with Kat's guys either though. They really seemed mad at Leon and Brian didn't want to see Leon hurt, even if he was still mad at his friend.
Kat and Harry were on the plane, first class. Harry knew how to travel, and since it was a business expense, he figured they'd go all out.
"You ever been out of the country before Kat?"
"Nope, this is a first."
"You'll like Japan. They're all skyline crazy too."
"That and s15 silvia crazy." Kat smiled back.
"That too." Harry laughed at her knowledge. She knew so much more then she let on.
They landed in Japan and rented a car. Harry let her drive since she was already use to the 'backwards' car. He was glad to see she knew how to drive in normal traffic. She didn't hotdog it or do anything crazy. She was humoring him, but he knew she was, he was just glad she didn't try to give him an aneurism in the car. They arrived at the hotel and went to their room. They had a two bedroom suite. It was very nice. Harry told her that they had a car show to be at in two hours.
Kat had a swim and then got ready for the car show. She wore a red skirt, it was just above her knees, and a white button up sleeveless shirt. She left her hair down and did a small amount of makeup. She walked out into the sitting room when she was ready. "Is this dressy enough Harry, do I look businesslike?"
"Kitten, it's a car show. You can dress just like you would in the shop. You don't need to dress up. But you look good, if you're comfortable."
"I am."
"Ok then, let's go. You wanna drive?"
"You know it." She laughed. He handed her the keys and they went to the car park. They headed to the show. Harry knew a lot of the sponsors. He was trying to make deals to carry some lines of products that were still only in Japan. He made dinner dates for them for most of the rest of the nights they were there, to talk shop and make deals. He got some of the products he wanted without any more work. He introduced her as a new partner to everyone. Kat blushed at all the attention, and he even told the people about her skyline.
Many of the people couldn't believe she had a skyline to drive and that she tuned it pretty much by herself. Harry was secretly trying to get her sponsors so she could get on NIRA with her car. She'd need a team and sponsors before she could even apply, but he knew that she had her team already and she'd never leave them. He knew that NIRA was her ultimate goal, that she didn't see herself doing anything for a career other then racing. He was making some progress. After all a girl in a skyline that could kick ass was something of a rarity and could draw in a whole new crowd to import racing. And a lot of company's wanted to have their logos on her car.
But the theme was always the same. He was told time after time 'When she is known as the best of LA then bring her back to us'. So Kat would have to beat Dom to get her sponsors. They considered Dom the best in LA, but it was well known that Dom wasn't allowed to race Pro in any way. Harry didn't know if Kat could beat Dom or not. If he was here getting sponsors for Dom, Dom's car would be so covered in decals that the paint wouldn't show. It wasn't really fair but it was a fact.
They were just standing talking to someone Harry knew when a man walked up to Kat.
"Hello Miss."
"Hiya." Kat answered him back. She didn't know anyone in Japan so she didn't know what the man could want.
"Are you the girl who races the black R34 in the USA?"
"That's me. How'd you know?" She wondered where this could be going.
"The man Harry told us. Would you do me the honor of being in a picture of my car?" He asked hopefully.
Kat couldn't believe he wanted her to model for him. A crowd formed and the general theme was this magazine, and that person wanted to have a picture of the girl who raced a skyline in the USA with this car and that car. Kat laughingly agreed to them all. They gave her a skimpy outfit, like all import models wore. It would not normally be something she would do, but she was here to have fun and people wanting her to model was quite novel to her in itself. She did pose after pose by car after car in a little plaid schoolgirl skirt and a white sleeveless shirt not unlike her own, only it was tied right under her breasts. The skirt was cut as low as was decently possible and they gave her stockings and knee high boots to wear too. By the end of the car show she was tired out, she'd posed beside cars in the show for the owners and organizers and by cars in the show for magazines, and by cars for the general public who wanted to take pictures. She figured she'd been in more pictures in one day then she'd been in for her whole life up to that point. It was confusing to her why they'd even wanted pictures of her when so many beautiful Japanese girls had already been at the show for the sole purpose of modeling.
She let Harry drive them back to the hotel. "All those people wanting me to model for them was hella weird Harry." She really didn't get it.
"Not really, you're a pretty girl, who drives and races their best sports car. I think you're gonna be embarrassed when you see how many of those pics end up in the American versions of these mags too. Plus you're different looking then most of the girls they get around the car shows over here and you race. You're not just another pretty face as it were."
"I'm not a pretty face at all, but I guess I am different looking from the Japanese girls. Oh, and the pictures in the American additions of the magazines'll never happen Harry." She laughed.
"You'll see." Harry winked at her. "Oh, and if you beat Dom, you've got NIRA. I've got more sponsors then you'll ever need if you can just beat Dom."
"Harry how'd you manage that?" Kat was flabbergasted. She was speechless and Harry couldn't remember the last time that had ever happened.
"You're the best, now you gotta prove it. Company's want to sponsor people who're gonna bring attention to their product. You proved today you can do that. You can even model your own car."
"Harry. I can't believe it. Dom Torreto was next on my list anyway but you better believe I'ma beat him now. NIRA's what I wanted since I got into racing."
"I figured. I hope you don't forget me when you're a famous racer on the pro circuit."
"I'll never forget you Harry. I'll be working at the Racer's Edge for the rest of my life if you'll have me."
"You'll always have a place with me and my store Kitten, but you won't always want it."
"Yes I will." She said, in the tone that left no room for arguments. She gave him a quick hug at a red light and they continued home to the hotel.