Present

Letty parked a few meters from the store and killed the engine.

She was about ten minutes late, not too bad considering she had lounged around in her apartment for half an hour, just…looking around.

She sighed and leaned her head on the steering wheel.

The drive to work went remarkably well.

Her life had been so melodramatic that she thought a part of her would break down in the middle of the drive, probably forcing her to pull over then arrive at the garage like some insufferable teenager.

So it was surprising to just get into her car and…drive. I felt weird, driving towards the garage from a different route. But it was the type of feeling that came with breaking in a routine for the first time, rather than adjusting to something horrible and tragic…

She was just…driving to work.

It was the same feeling that she got when she graduated high school, and found that all she had to do was show up at work.

At first, it felt like endless days of summer. Going to the garage, working on a car, being with Dom and hanging out with Mia and the guys…she didn't have to do homework, or study, or take tests. She didn't have to worry about being in school on time, or putting on her uniform, or wondering what to do just to get through the day without any incidences.

Then one day it hit her.

This was how things were going to be, for a long time. She wasn't on a vacation, this was life.

She had been going to the same school for nine years, seeing the same group of people. School had never really been her thing, and she never really had that many friends, but she knew them and they knew her—had known her since she was a kid. She may not have loved it there, but just being in the same place with the same people brought on a certain kind of stability that she'd come to expect.

The feeling had left her overwhelmed, much like how waking up in an entirely new place had left her overwhelmed.

But just like before, she realized that she was trading in something better for the security of her old routine: freedom.

1986

For the fifth time that morning, Dom sighed and almost slowed to a stop, waiting for the sounds of tiny footsteps to catch up with him.

He paused for a moment, panicked when he didn't hear anything.

"Fuck!" his mind screamed

He immediately turned around and nearly had a heart attack when he saw her staring up at him from his rear.

"Jesus! Letty!" he yelled "What the hell are you doing?"

"You told me to stay close" she shrugged

"I know" he growled "but…"

For the past few days, Letty had been kind of…spacey during their walks to school.

Normally, she liked to keep up with him and Vince, trying to show them that she wasn't a girl and that she could do anything that they did, and that included monkeying around with cars to shooting their mouths off.

But lately she had been falling behind them on their walks, dawdling behind, sometimes stopping, then suddenly running up to catch up with them when one of them would realize that she wasn't close behind.

At first both he and Vince thought that her bag was too heavy for her, and just to speed her up, they volunteered to carry some of her load.

She'd flat our refused and started walking in front of them.

Yet the following morning, she was back to her slow pace. It was beginning to get on their nerves.

It had gotten so frustrating that this morning Vince had decided to go ahead, leaving him stuck with Letty.

"Where the hell did you learn to sneak up on people like that!" he demanded

"I didn't sneak up on you" she answered "You just weren't paying attention"

He opened his mouth to say something, but gave up and just sighed.

You couldn't really win with Letty. He'd never admit it, but arguing with her was always a lost cause. She never gave up, and she always, always had an answer. She was starting to cuss too, mostly because of them.

He'd stopped watching what he said. He learned that he could either strangle her wiry little neck or let lose a few choice words, but only with the agreement that she would never use it around the house or in school.

She'd done well, so far.

"C'mon, well be late, let's just go" he muttered, then paused when he noticed that Letty was again slow in moving

He gave another frustrated sigh, but this time, he didn't walk. He stayed with her.

"Okay, what's wrong" he demanded

She hung her head "Nuthin'"

"Letty"

She bit her lip and fidgeted a bit, before looking up at him with these fierce eyes.

The intensity of her gaze surprised him. To see something like that coming from an eight year old made him sad.

Letty always was a tough little kid, but ever since their mother died and her own mother left, something had changed. He never paid that much attention to her before, but now during these morning walks to school he was able to make a better assessment.

"I wanna walk to school" she mumbled

"You wha?"

"I said, I wanna walk to school" she answered, loudly now "All the way to school. On my own. Without you guys."

Dom blinked. Part of him thought he'd heard her wrong but the kid in front of was all business.

"Are you crazy!" he yelled "Your dad don't even want you riding the damn bus"

"Well he don't need to know nothin'" she said, trying her best to be gritty

He almost laughed. Here was an eight year old girl in a plaid skirt, a red pea coat and braids trying to muscle him into letting her walk to school. Someplace in heaven, he knew his mother was roaring with laughter.

"Letty, you know I can't let you do that"

"Why not?" she said "I can do it. We did it once before, remember? When I got left by the bus?"

"Did you forget that you were almost late?"

"Then I'll leave earlier, way earlier" she reasoned

"Uh-huh. So that means me and Vince gotta leave earlier too, which means we gotta wake up earlier…"

"Oh shut up" she whined "We were already late in the first place"

She was looking up at him in her "defensive stance", with her lower lip jutting out and her hand on her hip.

It was amusing…and remarkably annoying at the same time.

He looked down and crossed his arms on his chest.

"No"

"But Dom"

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for kids your age to walk around the city on your own?"

"I've seen other kids do it"

"They go to Jefferson. That's a five minute walk. Holy Cross is at least 20 minutes."

"I need the exercise" she answered glibly

He rolled his eyes. Time was running out for them. He couldn't afford to be late, and neither could Letty.

"Letty"

"Please Dom?" she was pleading now "C'mon! Make it like your Christmas present or something"

"Christmas isn't for another month" he smirked

"But it's cold already" she reasoned

That made him laugh. He knew that tone, he'd heard it from all the women in his life. It was a tone that meant there was no way in hell the woman was going to take no for an answer. Mia had just started using it, and now Letty was learning too.

He crouched down to her level.

"Okay, here's the deal"

Her smile was so bright it nearly knocked him on his ass, which made him feel a little bit better for caving in…somewhat.

"You can walk all the way to school…but we're going to have to come with you."

"But Dom…" she whined

"No buts. Holy Cross is just a few blocks away from my school, so no excuses. And you're gonna to have to keep up."

"I always do" she said, sticking out her tongue

"Yeah, you always do" he said, ruffling her head and automatically buttoning up her coat

"I wish Mia were with us" she said

"I AM NOT BABYSITTING TWO GIRLS!" he groaned

"Well, I'm not a baby…so you don't need to baby sit me" she argued…then quickly latching onto his hand, smiling as they passed her bus stop, and went all the way to her school

Present

Dom knew she was there even before he saw her. He'd heard the Silvia even from a block away, his ears having been attuned to their cars.

A large part of him wished he had some sort of sixth sense with her, like a built in tracker that told him if she was close by, if she was okay.

It seemed pretty ironic, considering that he thought that kind of thing was crap.

He'd been with a lot of women, some of which claimed to be in love with him and told him that kind of shit. About feeling him and sensing him…did they sense her too? He'd laughed at all of them. This usually happened after an intense session in bed, and he always thought they'd gotten their emotions crossed with the after effects of a good fuck.

He was polite though. He always said "yes".

Letty never asked…but then, Letty wasn't one to show her affections. Or was she?

Driving around, he thought about that one sentiment over and over. Who is Letty?

It didn't take more than a minute for him to realize that he didn't know her…not anymore. Not as well as he should.

The incident with Jim had proven that. Months had passed and yet he was still smarting, still hurting. And what pissed him off was that he didn't think he was allowed to hurt, to feel betrayed. After all, he'd done worse right?

All those women…and for what? He didn't know.

There were reasons there, buried under years of guilt and regret. He didn't think he'd ever find the reason or the strength to ever uncover them, especially now without Letty by his side…

Until he realized that the strength didn't have to come from Letty, or anyone else. That was a cop out.

The strength was going to have to come from himself, something which prompted him to ask an even bigger question: who exactly…was he?

2004

Dom watched as the blue Mustang revved its engine and pull out of the driveway.

After three long days, he could feel the exhaustion draining away from him, his energy seemingly connected with the woman who was currently driving away from him with another man.

He slumped on the kitchen chair, running his hand roughly thought his head, feeling the rough sting of his palm on his scalp.

"Relax Dom, she'll be back" Brian told him, sitting down and placing a Corona in front of him

"Are you sure?" he asked, not afraid to let a little fear creep into his voice

Brian didn't show much sympathy and just stared evenly back at him.

"Aren't you?" he asked "Seems like you were, otherwise I wouldn't have stumbled into that little black box in your drawer."

Oh, fuck…

"So you did see it" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose

"Oh yeah" he smirked "You're lucky I saw it. Who knows what could have happened if Mia saw, it. Or heck, even Letty."

Dom just groaned.

"Fuck man, you practically just left it there, in an unlocked drawer. What the hell were you thinking!"

"I don't think I was" he grumbled "I just…I wasn't planning on getting it."

"Then why did you?" Brian asked "Doesn't seem like an impulsive thing. Coz judging from the size of that rock…"

"She deserves the best" Dom answered, his mind drifting back to earlier days "I know I haven't treated her right, in the past. I wanna make up for that."

"And you think a big ass engagement ring is going to?"

He glared at Brian. "You're not helping."

"Oh. Was that why you called me in here?" he deadpanned

He opened his mouth and closed it. Fuck, he didn't know why he called Brian in here…well, he did. He just wasn't sure on how to say it.

"Jim's a nice guy."

Dom's blood almost froze as Brian continued.

"Letty's not going to leave you for him. If she wanted to, she would have done it a long time ago. She should have done it a long time ago."

Brian leaned on the table, fixing Dom with a steely gaze.

"I know why you asked me here. Letty doesn't suspect a thing, and don't worry, I didn't tell her. And I won't. Not until we get a few things straight."

Dom raised his eyebrows, wondering if he should break Brian's nose or throw his ass out of the door and have him crawl back after he remembered whose house he was in.

"Kinda protective aren't we?"

"You know I am, or else you wouldn't have asked me here" Brian answered evenly "Besides, you would have done the same for Mia."

"Not in his brother's house, I wouldn't" he smacked back

"Doesn't matter whose house we're in, facts don't change and you still have the ring" Brian pointed out

"Jim is a nice guy. He'd do anything for her. Heck, he's already done everything for her. She was a wreck when he found her, twice, from my count."

Brian gave him a hard stare, his voice steady in determined as he continued.

"I lobbied for you, because she believed in you. I could have let her stay with Jim. Instead you're here talking to me, so I'm gonna have to ask you: what do you have to offer her?"

Dom winced, not just from Brian's words, but from a time long ago when someone else asked the exact same question.

And he was about to give the same answer, simply because it was the only one he had.

"My life. Myself. I know it's not enough, but it's the only one I can give her."

He took a deep breath and looked at Brian, almost pleading.

"I need her Brian. I'm sure you know what that's like."

Brian's eyes narrowed, then just sighed. "Fair enough. That's what she wants, anyway."

He sighed with relief. He didn't know exactly why, but Brian's blessing suddenly meant a lot to him.

"Though I have to ask you" Brian said, fixing him again with that steely glare "If you were in my position…what would you say?"

Present

It was one of those moments…

Everyone looked up to the sound of Letty's lug soled boots scraping on the floor.

Mia had poked her head out of the office, phone tucked underneath her chin and four greasy heads were now looking at her, two from underneath a hideous chartreuse Acura and a purple and pink Honda.

Letty looked around, fidgeting, then raised a hand up.

"Uh, hey?" she said, awkwardly

With that, Leon snorted and got back underneath the Acura. Vince just rolled his eyes.

"Mornin' Let" Brian smiled, heading to the office, where Mia had smiled a good morning and went back to finish the call.

She was about to check the work orders when Dom called out.

"Hey Let, think you can give me a hand here today?" he asked, looking up at her from underneath the Honda

He didn't look very happy.

"Good morning to you" she said, crouching down

"Morning" he answered "You ready to work with me on this Barbie car?"

She guffawed. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good, grab a creeper. Ima have to show you something."

She raised her eyebrow at him. She'd heard that before.

He just laughed at her expression. "I swear, I need to show you something."

"Uh-huh."

"Honest" he grinned at her "C'mon, let's get to work."

She shrugged, smiling right back. "Slave driver."

"Letty!"

"Okay, okay!" she said "…slave driver…"