Chapter 63 – Who says you can't go back again
AN: Sorry for the incredible wait, couldn't be helped. I'm gonna get on with the show here in a second, but first I'd like to plug some stories. In alphabetical order they are America's Fates, Knights on the Blacktop, Puzzling Pieces, Ultimate Betrayal, and Untimely revenge. Oh, and review review review please. Tempest is needy!
Stacy and Kale opened the door to the Toretto team.
"What do you want?" Stacy snarled to the whole team in general but he was staring at Leon while he said it.
"We need to talk to Kat." Brian answered for his team.
"That's a common request this morning." Kale answered, growling.
"What do you mean?" Dom asked, looking puzzled.
"We have the Russian mob in the living room." Stacy answered, confused about how he felt about that.
"Kat!" Vince called out, worrying about her because her friends had left her alone with 'the Russian mob' in the living room.
"Let them in guys." Kat called back.
Stacy and Kale came into the room again followed by the whole Toretto team.
"We can help you Kat." Brian told her.
"How Bri? This isn't some small time hijacking or liquor store robbery. This is the leader of the Russian mob who has not only my best friend but it turns out my mom. I don't want you guys involved. It's over your heads. It's too dangerous." Kat made a gesture that showed she considered the matter closed.
"He has our friend too." Letty broke in. "We have something at stake here too."
"Maybe that's true but we'll get Jesse home safe. There's no need for you all to involve yourselves in something out of your league like this." Kat just didn't want people off the Toretto team like Mia, Nyssa, and Leon who didn't seem to live the rough lifestyle to be in a position to get hurt.
"Kat, I was a cop remember? I'm trained in how to deal with these situations. Not to mention that Bilkens from the FBI has had an agent undercover with Sergei for the last few years and he can give us intel and agents to help us organize this operation." Brian explained. "We just need to pick a HQ and tell Bilkens where to send his agents."
"Well, HQ is picked. We were on our way down to Connor's." Stacy said, staring at the whole Toretto group, but sending death glares Leon's way more often then not. He knew Kat had said that everything was fine but she wasn't as great at lying to them as she thought.
"Fine, we're coming with you." Dom interjected.
"Ok." Kat sighed. "But you'll be listening to us. This is officially a Tiger operation and my brothers have agreed to that already."
"Your brothers?" Vince questioned.
"Yeah. Josef and Ivan." Kat pointed them out in turn.
Vince stalked up to the two men identified as Kat's older brothers.
"Which one is which?" Vince asked, deceptively calm.
"The taller one is Josef and the shorter one is Ivan. Josef is the oldest." Kat answered, looking curiously at Vince.
Vince walked up to Josef and with a minute movement launched a solid punch into the other mans face.
Josef hit the ground for the second time in as many hours and it was Vince's turn to shake out his stinging hand.
"That's for what you tried to do to someone as sweet as Kat asshole. Now let's get this show on the road. We'll have to follow you guys down to Connor's since we have no idea where it is." Vince was focused totally on the business at hand having taken care of the other issue he saw in the way.
"Does anyone else want to punch me before we continue?" Josef muttered around the hand that was holding his bruised jaw."
"You don't want to go there around this bunch." Kat warned him. "Besides, you can't say you don't deserve it, even if you are sorry."
"I suppose so." Josef looked like he wasn't quite sure he did really agree.
"Look, you might be my brother by blood, or at least half of it, but these men are my real brothers, by life, love and caring. So if they stand up for me like brothers should then you really can't say much about it. Let's go."
Everyone headed for the door and just before she followed them out of the house she programmed the phone to forward all their calls to her cell so she wouldn't miss her stepfather's call. Then snatching up her keys she exited the house and stood in the driveway.
"How we doin this Kitten?" Stacy asked Kat.
"What do you mean?"
"Who's riding with who?" Stacy clarified.
"I'm taking the skyline. I guess Ivan can ride with me. You can take the eclipse and take Josef. Kale can take the supra." Kat turned to the Toretto's. "I assume you guys will take your own cars and just follow us right?"
Dom answered for his team.
"Sure. We'll figure out our ride situation and then back out of the driveway when we're ready so you'll know we're ready to roll."
"Ok." Kat turned to her skyline and unlocked it after disarming the security system. Stacy and Kale and Kat's brothers all got in their respective cars and then they waited for Dom and his team to back out of their driveway.
Once Dom's team was on the road ready to go Kat backed down her driveway and the rest of her party followed suit.
"Have you been ok?" Ivan made conversation with his sister in the car on the way to Connor's.
"Mostly." Kat answered as she sped down the highway on the way to south central.
"Well, how so? What does mostly mean?" Ivan would never admit to it but he'd missed his little sister. Worry for where she was and if she was ok had coloured a lot of his days. He'd tried to find her several times but she'd covered her tracks far too well.
If she hadn't gotten her picture into magazines they'd still have no idea where she was. Of course, then neither would Sergei, but the threat would still be hanging over her head then.
Sergei had been incredibly angry when Kat had gotten away. Josef had caught the brunt of his anger, and Ivan was still not sure just how trustworthy Josef was. However, as Josef had told the whole group, their own father would kill them in a heartbeat. Ivan figured that this revelation had been very sobering to Josef, and that Josef sincerely wanted his mother back.
Ivan figured it was best that the whole situation would be settled one way or another now, and everyone left standing could get on with life knowing it was over. He knew that meant that not all of them might come home, including himself or Josef. But as long as his sister wasn't hurt he didn't care. He was willing to die for Kat, willing to die for what he'd done to her. He doubted that Josef felt as strongly about it but Josef was sincere about how he'd felt when he'd realized his own father would kill him. He'd been crushed.
"Mostly means I've had some rough spots, but I've mostly been alright."
"What happened that was not alright?" Ivan found he really cared. There had been a hole in his life, and his heart caused by the fact that his own flesh and blood little sister had been running around the world, possibly alone, but at very least thinking he didn't care, that he didn't miss her. He was going to seize the chance to make things up with her, even if she ultimately decided she couldn't trust him.
"Well, I was raised by a gang since I left, and that had it's ups and downs. I guess we weren't so different from the mob in a lot of respects, we had leaders and followers, but there was just this sense of family in the Tigers that didn't seem to be present in the mob. Stacy was almost killed once, then so was Kale. Only I blamed myself about Kale because he's the quiet one and I was the feisty one, and I thought if I'd been there with him instead of out getting high that he would have been more on his guard or I would have protected him. I felt so guilty about it Itried to kill myself over it. I wrecked this car once..." Kat started to drift off into other, not so alright memories.
"You tried to kill yourself!" Ivan exclaimed and fell silent with his guilty thoughts of how he and Josef were to blame for that particular turn of events because had they never driven her to run away it never would have happened.
"Yeah. Before I stopped letting myself feel guilty over things."
"What could a little girl like you have done to feel guilty over?" Ivan tried to reassure her at the same time as express his genuine curiosity over what his innocent sister could have done that was so horrible.
Kat shot him a look. "You'd be surprised."
"Yes I would." Ivan told her and fell silent. He watched the miles of LA roll by at an alarming rate. He and Josef had a lot to answer for, but Ivan took it upon himself in that instant to make sure that his Ekaterina made it out of this latest trial safely, her and her friends. If Ivan had anything to say about it his little sister was never going to have cause to feel guilty over her friends getting hurt again.
Kat checked her rear view frequently to make sure the rest of her guys and Dom's team were keeping up with her. They weren't exactly keeping up, but she could see them all in various positions on the road. The only one keeping right up with her was Leon. She couldn't see his face because of her tint, and how dark it was in his car due to his own, but she imagined she could feel his eyes on her, burning into the back of her head.
She really wasn't sure how she felt about Leon and his involvement in the whole situation. He wasn't like her team, not even like Vince. She didn't really see him as a scraper. He was more like someone who'd only fight with what they had available to them if the situation absolutely required it.
And if he was determined to participate in the rescue of Jesse and Sean the situation would require it of him.
They arrived at Connor's a few minutes later. Kat was out of her car running for the door as soon as the car was parked.
Connor, having heard the cars pull up to his place came out his front door and saw the blonde bullet flying his way. He caught her with a soft umph and wrapped her tight in his arms.
"Shush baby girl, it's gonna be ok." Connor murmured to Kat as he stroked her hair.
"Things are so messed up C and it's all my fault." Kat wailed into the front of Connor's shirt.
"Nothin's your fault Kitten. And it's about to be put right so stop worrying about it." With that Connor looked up from Kat and noticed that while he knew the three large black men walking his way, he was being confronted with 8 people he didn't really know. "What's with the crowd Kitten?"
"Well, not only did they take Sean, they took the Toretto's friend Jesse, so they insisted on being included. And the other two are my brothers, Ivan and Josef." Kat pointed out her brothers in turn.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" Connor growled.
"They say Sergei has my mother, she's not dead at all, and they've come to try and help us get Sean and Jesse back at the same time as we get my mom back."
"Can you trust them?" Connor asked while he stared down the two Russian men in the group.
"I don't know, but I don't see where we have a choice." Kat admitted. "They know things about Sergei and his organization that we'll need to know to get Sean back."
"We'll watch them." Connor admitted reluctantly and went to walk back into his house, taking Kat with him. "You may as well come in." Connor called, almost reluctantly over his shoulder.
AN: Sorry for the incredible wait, couldn't be helped. I'm gonna get on with the show here in a second, but first I'd like to plug some stories. In alphabetical order they are America's Fates, Knights on the Blacktop, Puzzling Pieces, Ultimate Betrayal, and Untimely revenge. Oh, and review review review please. Tempest is needy!
Stacy and Kale opened the door to the Toretto team.
"What do you want?" Stacy snarled to the whole team in general but he was staring at Leon while he said it.
"We need to talk to Kat." Brian answered for his team.
"That's a common request this morning." Kale answered, growling.
"What do you mean?" Dom asked, looking puzzled.
"We have the Russian mob in the living room." Stacy answered, confused about how he felt about that.
"Kat!" Vince called out, worrying about her because her friends had left her alone with 'the Russian mob' in the living room.
"Let them in guys." Kat called back.
Stacy and Kale came into the room again followed by the whole Toretto team.
"We can help you Kat." Brian told her.
"How Bri? This isn't some small time hijacking or liquor store robbery. This is the leader of the Russian mob who has not only my best friend but it turns out my mom. I don't want you guys involved. It's over your heads. It's too dangerous." Kat made a gesture that showed she considered the matter closed.
"He has our friend too." Letty broke in. "We have something at stake here too."
"Maybe that's true but we'll get Jesse home safe. There's no need for you all to involve yourselves in something out of your league like this." Kat just didn't want people off the Toretto team like Mia, Nyssa, and Leon who didn't seem to live the rough lifestyle to be in a position to get hurt.
"Kat, I was a cop remember? I'm trained in how to deal with these situations. Not to mention that Bilkens from the FBI has had an agent undercover with Sergei for the last few years and he can give us intel and agents to help us organize this operation." Brian explained. "We just need to pick a HQ and tell Bilkens where to send his agents."
"Well, HQ is picked. We were on our way down to Connor's." Stacy said, staring at the whole Toretto group, but sending death glares Leon's way more often then not. He knew Kat had said that everything was fine but she wasn't as great at lying to them as she thought.
"Fine, we're coming with you." Dom interjected.
"Ok." Kat sighed. "But you'll be listening to us. This is officially a Tiger operation and my brothers have agreed to that already."
"Your brothers?" Vince questioned.
"Yeah. Josef and Ivan." Kat pointed them out in turn.
Vince stalked up to the two men identified as Kat's older brothers.
"Which one is which?" Vince asked, deceptively calm.
"The taller one is Josef and the shorter one is Ivan. Josef is the oldest." Kat answered, looking curiously at Vince.
Vince walked up to Josef and with a minute movement launched a solid punch into the other mans face.
Josef hit the ground for the second time in as many hours and it was Vince's turn to shake out his stinging hand.
"That's for what you tried to do to someone as sweet as Kat asshole. Now let's get this show on the road. We'll have to follow you guys down to Connor's since we have no idea where it is." Vince was focused totally on the business at hand having taken care of the other issue he saw in the way.
"Does anyone else want to punch me before we continue?" Josef muttered around the hand that was holding his bruised jaw."
"You don't want to go there around this bunch." Kat warned him. "Besides, you can't say you don't deserve it, even if you are sorry."
"I suppose so." Josef looked like he wasn't quite sure he did really agree.
"Look, you might be my brother by blood, or at least half of it, but these men are my real brothers, by life, love and caring. So if they stand up for me like brothers should then you really can't say much about it. Let's go."
Everyone headed for the door and just before she followed them out of the house she programmed the phone to forward all their calls to her cell so she wouldn't miss her stepfather's call. Then snatching up her keys she exited the house and stood in the driveway.
"How we doin this Kitten?" Stacy asked Kat.
"What do you mean?"
"Who's riding with who?" Stacy clarified.
"I'm taking the skyline. I guess Ivan can ride with me. You can take the eclipse and take Josef. Kale can take the supra." Kat turned to the Toretto's. "I assume you guys will take your own cars and just follow us right?"
Dom answered for his team.
"Sure. We'll figure out our ride situation and then back out of the driveway when we're ready so you'll know we're ready to roll."
"Ok." Kat turned to her skyline and unlocked it after disarming the security system. Stacy and Kale and Kat's brothers all got in their respective cars and then they waited for Dom and his team to back out of their driveway.
Once Dom's team was on the road ready to go Kat backed down her driveway and the rest of her party followed suit.
"Have you been ok?" Ivan made conversation with his sister in the car on the way to Connor's.
"Mostly." Kat answered as she sped down the highway on the way to south central.
"Well, how so? What does mostly mean?" Ivan would never admit to it but he'd missed his little sister. Worry for where she was and if she was ok had coloured a lot of his days. He'd tried to find her several times but she'd covered her tracks far too well.
If she hadn't gotten her picture into magazines they'd still have no idea where she was. Of course, then neither would Sergei, but the threat would still be hanging over her head then.
Sergei had been incredibly angry when Kat had gotten away. Josef had caught the brunt of his anger, and Ivan was still not sure just how trustworthy Josef was. However, as Josef had told the whole group, their own father would kill them in a heartbeat. Ivan figured that this revelation had been very sobering to Josef, and that Josef sincerely wanted his mother back.
Ivan figured it was best that the whole situation would be settled one way or another now, and everyone left standing could get on with life knowing it was over. He knew that meant that not all of them might come home, including himself or Josef. But as long as his sister wasn't hurt he didn't care. He was willing to die for Kat, willing to die for what he'd done to her. He doubted that Josef felt as strongly about it but Josef was sincere about how he'd felt when he'd realized his own father would kill him. He'd been crushed.
"Mostly means I've had some rough spots, but I've mostly been alright."
"What happened that was not alright?" Ivan found he really cared. There had been a hole in his life, and his heart caused by the fact that his own flesh and blood little sister had been running around the world, possibly alone, but at very least thinking he didn't care, that he didn't miss her. He was going to seize the chance to make things up with her, even if she ultimately decided she couldn't trust him.
"Well, I was raised by a gang since I left, and that had it's ups and downs. I guess we weren't so different from the mob in a lot of respects, we had leaders and followers, but there was just this sense of family in the Tigers that didn't seem to be present in the mob. Stacy was almost killed once, then so was Kale. Only I blamed myself about Kale because he's the quiet one and I was the feisty one, and I thought if I'd been there with him instead of out getting high that he would have been more on his guard or I would have protected him. I felt so guilty about it Itried to kill myself over it. I wrecked this car once..." Kat started to drift off into other, not so alright memories.
"You tried to kill yourself!" Ivan exclaimed and fell silent with his guilty thoughts of how he and Josef were to blame for that particular turn of events because had they never driven her to run away it never would have happened.
"Yeah. Before I stopped letting myself feel guilty over things."
"What could a little girl like you have done to feel guilty over?" Ivan tried to reassure her at the same time as express his genuine curiosity over what his innocent sister could have done that was so horrible.
Kat shot him a look. "You'd be surprised."
"Yes I would." Ivan told her and fell silent. He watched the miles of LA roll by at an alarming rate. He and Josef had a lot to answer for, but Ivan took it upon himself in that instant to make sure that his Ekaterina made it out of this latest trial safely, her and her friends. If Ivan had anything to say about it his little sister was never going to have cause to feel guilty over her friends getting hurt again.
Kat checked her rear view frequently to make sure the rest of her guys and Dom's team were keeping up with her. They weren't exactly keeping up, but she could see them all in various positions on the road. The only one keeping right up with her was Leon. She couldn't see his face because of her tint, and how dark it was in his car due to his own, but she imagined she could feel his eyes on her, burning into the back of her head.
She really wasn't sure how she felt about Leon and his involvement in the whole situation. He wasn't like her team, not even like Vince. She didn't really see him as a scraper. He was more like someone who'd only fight with what they had available to them if the situation absolutely required it.
And if he was determined to participate in the rescue of Jesse and Sean the situation would require it of him.
They arrived at Connor's a few minutes later. Kat was out of her car running for the door as soon as the car was parked.
Connor, having heard the cars pull up to his place came out his front door and saw the blonde bullet flying his way. He caught her with a soft umph and wrapped her tight in his arms.
"Shush baby girl, it's gonna be ok." Connor murmured to Kat as he stroked her hair.
"Things are so messed up C and it's all my fault." Kat wailed into the front of Connor's shirt.
"Nothin's your fault Kitten. And it's about to be put right so stop worrying about it." With that Connor looked up from Kat and noticed that while he knew the three large black men walking his way, he was being confronted with 8 people he didn't really know. "What's with the crowd Kitten?"
"Well, not only did they take Sean, they took the Toretto's friend Jesse, so they insisted on being included. And the other two are my brothers, Ivan and Josef." Kat pointed out her brothers in turn.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" Connor growled.
"They say Sergei has my mother, she's not dead at all, and they've come to try and help us get Sean and Jesse back at the same time as we get my mom back."
"Can you trust them?" Connor asked while he stared down the two Russian men in the group.
"I don't know, but I don't see where we have a choice." Kat admitted. "They know things about Sergei and his organization that we'll need to know to get Sean back."
"We'll watch them." Connor admitted reluctantly and went to walk back into his house, taking Kat with him. "You may as well come in." Connor called, almost reluctantly over his shoulder.