"You'll need to—"

"Yeah, I understand, Doc," Elizabeth huffed. "No strenuous exercise. No sleep for the next twelve hours."

Elizabeth pressed her hands against her ribs and winced. By some miracle, she'd walked away without any obvious internal bleeding. The fractures would heal in their own time, so long as she didn't go picking fights with tall Polynesians or angry ex-soldiers.

"Thanks, Jay." Luke gave an appreciative nod as the corpsman packed his bag and exited the motel room. "I owe you."

"Get me a bottle of that tequila you like," he replied, "and we'll consider this one on the house."

"Sure thing." Hobbs chuckled, giving a thumbs up to the empty doorway. He'd crossed his fingers the ex-Marine wouldn't kick up too much of a fuss, and Luke had been right. A quick admittance of responsibility and some arm-twisting had Jay on his way inside of five minutes.

"So do I mark this down as conspiracy or coincidence?" asked Elizabeth, once Hobbs closed the front door. The lock clicked into place before Luke sat himself on the cushioned lounge chair and stared right at her. "I talk to Cipher, then suddenly I'm in an accident at your hands?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really." Even if Hobbs had intentionally struck her, the end result was the same. She was bedridden for two weeks, minimum. No arguments, no buts or maybes. Her body had taken a beating and it needed to heal. "Probably would've crashed into a tree if I hadn't hit you. You saved me the pain of completely ruining the car."

For the first time in a long time, she'd gotten distracted. Lost focus and let her thoughts stray from what was important.

"We're leaving tonight, so I can't babysit you. If you need something, use the radio," Hobbs said. He'd left her a handheld as a means of communication. Without it, Shaw would be completely cut off from the outside world.

Luke had seen the remains of her GPS and it wasn't pretty. There wasn't a chance in Hell she could repair the thing, nor Tej or anyone else. Her little scheme had run its course along with her equipment. "The comms guys will patch you through if necessary," he added.

"Does this mean I owe you?"

"No."

"Good."

"But it does mean no more bullshit," Luke said. "You're done, understand? You tried to go for Cipher's throat and you failed, so I don't want to hear a goddamn word about you breaking into any buildings or climbing on rooftops."

Done? She'd barely begun. Still, it was better to appease him now. There was no sense provoking Hobbs into stationing a guard outside her room, or cuffing her to the bed. "Fine," Beth grumbled. "It's not like I'll be doing much of anything once the bruises kick in."

"This isn't a joke, Shaw."

Wasn't it? The tall, muscular hero who'd so nobly dragged her out of the wreckage was a Fed. And she'd snuck into his room and slept next to him just the other night. Now Beth lay in her own bed, wearing only her sports bra and a loose pair of shorts, while Hobbs sat not five feet away.

Had Luke been anyone else, she might've tried for a sympathetic kiss on the cheek. Flirted a little and milked her injuries for all they were worth. Instead, Elizabeth wanted to kick him out of her room so she could go sit in the shower and mope like a bleeding idiot.

"I don't need a big brother lecture from you, y'know. Deckard and Owen are perfectly capable of giving one."

"Really? Because it seems to me, you do." Luke leaned forward, his fingers digging into the upholstery. "And since Mama Volkova isn't here to put her batinok up your—"

Thump.

A silver butter knife, sharpened to a point, impaled itself in the wall two feet to the left of his head. Luke glanced at it then returned his gaze to Elizabeth who now sat upright, glaring at him with another knife clenched in her right hand.

"Say that name again," Beth hissed, "and the next one goes in your chest."

Luke opened his mouth as if to speak but thought better of it, pressing his lips together instead. A lone tear welled in the corner of Beth's left eye but didn't fall. He'd struck a nerve. The nerve. It'd been stretched taut for more than twenty-five years, and Luke had just waltzed right up and strummed it like a guitar string.

"You pull a knife on me again, Shaw," Hobbs finally said, "and I'll do more than dislocate your thumb."

No one ever paid attention to the people behind the curtain. Or those who lingered on the outside, always looking in but never making the effort to reach across their self-enforced boundary. If Shaw had turned cutlery into weapons while he hadn't been looking, who knew what else she'd gotten up to.

It was possible Elizabeth had cooked up a bomb to take out the warehouse or any number of buildings. Tampered with Toretto's car even. He'd given her free rein with no oversight, and there'd been no one around to stop her from crossing whatever lines she pleased.

"Oh really?" Beth's voice turned cold and harsh when she said, "Too bad you won't see it coming."

Screw this. Screw him. She couldn't sit around on her arse and twiddle her thumbs all day, every day, for two weeks, no matter how many bruises she bore. There was work to be done, and Elizabeth needed to find a new means of communicating with Cipher.

...Although there were other ways of getting around the most recent complication in her life. Simpler solutions that didn't require drawing more attention to herself.

"Now if you wouldn't mind leaving," she said, bracing one arm against the wall as she struggled to get upright, "I'd like to take a shower."

That was the clearest out Shaw could offer him, and Luke intended to take it. He pushed off the chair and stood, making his way towards the door. Turning his back on her was a bad idea, but he wouldn't walk out like Shaw were the literal Queen.

"We'll be gone by ten o'clock tonight," Luke said, glancing back over his shoulder to see Elizabeth stripping off her shirt, "so if there's anyone you want to talk to, I suggest you do it soon."

This all felt oddly familiar when Letty thought about it, yet none of it seemed right. Han was gone, Mia's laughter couldn't be heard, and their beloved idiots, Leo and Santos, weren't sitting around, arguing in rapid Spanish.

"So this is it, huh?"

Letty glanced up from her car's engine only to meet the piercing gaze of Owen Shaw. Her half smile turned into a frown as she tossed a rag over her shoulder and stepped back, away from her former boss.

"Nothing's changed, has it?" Owen said. "You're the same woman you were when we worked together, and they still don't see that you're anything but the woman who used to race for slips and hijacked trucks to steal DVD players."

There was always a catch with him. Maybe it wasn't obvious at first, or ever. He always kept his cards close to his chest, passed himself off as a mild-mannered soldier, and maintained an air of chivalry. But once the mask came off, once the psychopath started tugging at its leash, he became more than the polite soldier who'd adopted an upper class accent just to fit in with the other bastards at officer school. "You need something, Shaw?"

"We were good together, you and I." He plucked the rag from her shoulders and used it to wipe the residual grease from his hands. "A well-oiled machine. Every part working in conjunction."

"Until you sent me outside that tank," Letty said, "and tried to kill me."

"I also could've killed you in Mexico, when I found you in that hospital. Both times you'd become a liability."

"You think I'm supposed to be grateful for that?" She was, in a small, non-plussed way. Grateful to be alive, at least, and not grateful that losing her memories, her past, meant she was somehow worthy to live. "I told you we shouldn't have taken the job."

Owen closed the gap between them and reached up, brushing a loose curl of hair behind her ear. There was no other way to put it: Letty was intoxicatingly beautiful, fiery and wrathful like Tisiphone herself. A true embodiment of a Furie. "I know. I should have listened to you. We wouldn't be in this position otherwise."

Him admitting she was right? "Well that's a new one. What do you want, Shaw?"

"Letty...I have a job opportunity. You could say there have been certain plans in motion since we arrived." Shaw rested one hand on her car and never let his gaze drift lower than her jaw. He wasn't going to disrespect Letty by pretending they were still the same people doing the same old things. "Now that we're close to finding Cipher, they're coming to fruition."

"What kind of plans?" Her questions were driven by curiosity, not a desire to feel the thrill of the chase. At least that's she told herself. Shaw's sister had been acting awfully friendly for a total stranger, but Letty had taken that as a flirtatious woman thing, not an attempt to lure her into some kind of scheme. "I'm not betraying Dom or the team. They're my family, you—"

He laid the rag over Letty's shoulder then reached into his pants pocket and withdrew a note. Given they were under surveillance, he wouldn't speak those words aloud without being certain he could erase them. Owen held it out to Letty and she promptly took it, unfolding it cautiously.

I'm taking Cipher's money, the piece of paper read. Every cent. Nod your head if you want in.

Letty's frown deepened. This was it? "You're an idiot," she said, slapping the note into his hand. "She'll kill you."

"Not if I get to her first."

So that's what this was. He was assembling his own team, except this one was to be comprised of two people: herself and him. Yeah, there wasn't a chance in Hell that Letty would allow herself to be sucked into his bullshit again. "You threw me away like I was fucking trash, Shaw. Discarded me the same way you did everyone else."

"But you're not like everyone else. You survived."

"'You make a mistake, you pay the price.' Those were your words. Well you made a huge goddamn mistake, so now you can pay for it."

Owen sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. The conversation wasn't going exactly how he'd hoped, but there'd been some progress made. For one thing, Letty hadn't stabbed, shot or punched him in the face. "I always liked you, Letty. Of everyone, you were the least inclined to lie."

For the love of God. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Was this Shaw's way of saying he was still hung up on her? Or that the whole thing was her fault even though she'd told him that Rhodes was bad news.

"Get out of my face before I knock you on your ass."

At that, he cracked a smile. Letty had certainly shown herself to be capable of doing so, and working with Klaus and himself had improved her skills greatly, but she wasn't quite as good as she thought herself to be. "I'd like to see you try."

"That can be arranged."

"Well," Owen turned to walk away, "when you figure out a time and a place, let me know."

"Owen!" Deckard's shout came from the hydraulic lift. "You seen the F2 around?"

"Not since last night." He gave Letty a slight wave and made his way towards the warehouse's north exit. What did Deckard want with Beth anyway? "What's going on?"

"Her and Hobbs are both AWOL."

"They're probably sleeping, or holed up somewhere, avoiding you."

Deckard scowled. "That's not funny."

"Or maybe they're sleeping together." With any luck, it was exactly where they'd be. Owen needed Hobbs out of the way, and his sister's pants were the perfect distraction. But without Hattie, the general process of getting Hobbs in them was taking longer than Owen liked. "Simultaneous avoidance of a pain in their arse."

"Really not funny."

Owen smiled. "Isn't it?"

"What's not funny?" Luke said, clapping Deckard on the shoulder. He'd parked his Gurkha, dents and all, around the east side of the warehouse, near the entrance that Toretto's alleged brother had used. At the very least, it was positioned at the top of a staircase Hobbs could ascend in five seconds flat.

"Nothing," Deckard muttered. Now that Hobbs was here, they could get down to business. There was still the matter of their late night visitor and his identity, or his general appearance "Any news on the intruder?"

"I'll tell you later."

Just like that, Hobbs was blowing him off without any of his usual charm. Back to business as usual then, it seemed. "Later?"

"I need to talk to Toretto first." So long as Dom kept his temper in check and didn't lie to his face, things would go smoothly. Dom's past and family wasn't any of his business, but for the purposes of the mission, Luke had no problem sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Especially when that 'family' could prove to be a threat to their team. "Confirm a few things."

"He's with O'Conner."

Well that made things incredibly easy. All he had to do was look for the only blonde on the team. Luke gave a nod of thanks and took off for the east end of the warehouse yet again. With any luck, he'd find them still together.

And he did. Luke spotted the pair milling around the Dodge, Dom with a wrench in hand and Brian looking the very image of a pretty boy FBI agent. "Toretto, we need to talk," he said. "In private."

"Can it wait?"

"No." Luke gestured to the metal stairs that led up to the entryway. "It can't."

"Well whatever you've got to say to me, " Dom set the wrench down on the car, "you can say in front of Brian."

"It's a family matter." Luke's tone said he wasn't messing around, and the look on his face said O'Conner had ten seconds to walk away before Luke dropkicked him to the other end of the warehouse. "Not a team matter. Unless you've already divulged all the skeletons in your closet, because right now, the last thing I need is for you to start lying to me, Toretto."

He'd always been honest with Hobbs from the beginning, except where it concerned Elena. It'd been her choice not to say anything and Dom had respected it. "Who's lying?"

"I need the truth." Luke took the stairs two at a time, Elizabeth's words still in the back of his mind. Cipher's listening. Slowly but surely, Dom followed him upstairs and outside, leaving Brian behind. Luke took up position next to his damaged Gurkha and leaned against it, waited till Dom slammed the heavy steel door shut before he spoke again. "Do you have a brother named Jakob?"

"No. You're a cop," Dom retorted, "you tell me. In every photo you've seen, has there ever been anyone but me and Mia?"

The answer was 'no', not that it helped any. "And you're sure your mom didn't have any other kids? Not even foster siblings?"

"Nah. She only ever wanted two kids and that's exactly what she got. Even afer they divorced, she still came to church every Sunday. Her and Dad were amicable till the end."

"Then who the hell is he?"

"I don't know, but he isn't family," Dom said. "Maybe Cipher sent him to kick the hornet's nest and see what happens, or could be she's poking holes in the boat and seeing where it leaks. How'd you find out his name anyway?"

"Doesn't matter." If Cipher were playing them, then Elizabeth's information could be false. Or-Or they were doing exactly what Cipher wanted by feeding Shaw bullshit and losing sight of the mission. Focusing on the details instead of the bigger picture. Tomorrow, and the day after that, their heads needed to be in the game if they were going to take the convoy on without losing anyone. "How's the team feeling?"

"How do you think they are?" Dom said. "No one thought they'd be back here. We were all ready to move on with our lives until Nobody showed up."

He'd been ready to move on too. One more push and Luke would've packed their things up, flown himself and Samantha to Australia or New Zealand before hopping a flight to Samoa. From there, he'd planned on showing his daughter all of Polynesia, including Palau and Tuvalu.

"Yeah," he sighed. Hobbs glanced down at his watch and his eyes widened in surprise. The day had passed by so quickly, he hadn't even thought about dinner. It seemed Toretto and the others hadn't either because no one was sitting around with a plate. They were all still working on their cars, finishing what they could. "It's almost go time."

"Almost. You still coming with us, cop?"

"You kiddin' me?" Hobbs smirked. "I wouldn't miss the look on Cipher's face when we take that convoy for anything."

But there was still the matter of telling Dom about his 'discussion' with Elizabeth, and what she'd said about the mission. It'd have to wait until they were all on the move, when the entire team was gathered. No sense in tipping their hand now. The attack plan could easily be changed midair without it affecting the greater strategy.

The only complication remained her.

By leaving Shaw behind, he made the team even more vulnerable than they were. Her morals and ethics were dubious at best, and she'd already proven herself to still be capable of violence. Her presence contributed nothing that couldn't be gained by simply hiring someone to do the work in her stead too.

"That everything, Hobbs?"

"...No." Sooner or later, it would all come out. He hated to lean on Dom like this but Luke needed to know someone else had the team's ass covered. His ass. "What I tell you next stays between us. You don't tell Letty or Brian. Mr. Nobody doesn't so much as catch a whisper of this. The Shaws either."

"Sure."

"Elizabeth's working for, with, against, Cipher."

"You've known about it the whole time?"

"Yes."

Dom shrugged. It wasn't the shocked reaction Luke was expecting, but it was something. Perhaps he saw the situation as akin to his former one, sans the necessary blackmail.

"What does this mean, Hobbs?"

"We know the truck in Nevada is empty."