Disclaimer: I own no part of the Fast and Furious franchise. I'm just a huge fan!

Chapter Seven: Choices to be Made

The sun was up well before Sara opened her eyes. Even after she was awake she fought getting out of bed with everything in her. For the first time in forever there had been no nightmares plaguing her dreams, only good memories had come to her and Dom had been front and center in those. Last night had been perfect. The picnic, the kiss...and after the kiss. Sara felt her cheeks heat up as the memories from the previous night assaulted her. She remember his hands... his lips... his body. He had been like a raging fire and she was all to happy to burn.

On the drive home she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. She hadn't felt that content in a long time, ever since her dad died actually. Dom made her feel safe, even her sleep was more restful because of him. She'd thought long and hard last night on the ride home about her life but it had been when Dom kissed her goodnight at her front door that she knew she had made her decision.

Not being able to fight it any longer she rose from her bed and made her way to the kitchen. There was a cup of coffee just screaming her name. What she saw when she entered the kitchen however, made her wish she had just stayed in bed.

"Jesus Brian! Communal living area!" Sara turned quickly and covered her eyes. Never had she wished that brain bleach existed more in her life. Mia had been sitting on the counter with Brian in between her legs and from the look of things they had been one step away from christening the kitchen counter, if it hadn't been already. She was going to have to destroy her coffee maker, it had been forever contaminated. "Dammit, I really liked that coffee maker too."

She heard Brian tell her. "Relax Sara it's safe to look again." But it wasn't until she saw Mia walk by her to Brian's bedroom that she turned around.

"Seriously Brian. The kitchen?" She walked around him to start the coffee pot. One last pot before it met a garbagey end. She couldn't deal with this shit before she had at least one cup and they had no spare.

"We were making breakfast and got distracted. Speaking of which..." Brian stopped talking when he heard the door to his bedroom open and another door close. Looking down the hall he waited until the sound of the shower started up. "I got a call last night. Another truck hijacked."

"Wow. What do you want me to do about it?" Sara poured herself a cup of coffee. Taking a big gulp she sighed, enjoying the burn.

"You were with Dom last night, but since you're here this morning obviously not all night. What time you get in?"

"Let me think. Uhh...Dom dropped me off around one in the morning. What time did the hijacking happen?"

"I got the call at five. That's a narrow window. They want to make a move against Tran. We need to be at base by one this afternoon."

"No."

"No? What do you mean no."

Putting her coffee cup down Sara turns to face Brian. "I mean no Brian. I can't keep doing this, not anymore. I'm going to go see Tanner today and turn in my badge, effective immediately."

"Look I know that he was an ass the other day but come on Sara, that's no reason to quit."

Shaking her head she huffed out a laugh. She dragged her hand through her hair. "Yeah, he was an ass but that's not the reason. I've fallen Brian, i've fallen hard and fast. For years I've felt like I've been going through the motions of living. I did what everyone else expected me to do and everyday I think I lost a part of myself. I'm a gear-head Brian. I love cars and racing and getting dirty changing oil or replacing a piston ring. That's who I am. Officer Trenton is who everyone else wanted me to be and I just can't anymore."

"Sara..."

"I won't rat you out Brian. I promise I won't blow your cover, but I'm not going to help anymore. I'm done." She walked up to Brian and gave him a hug. "Please don't be upset. For the first time in years I feel free."

"I'm not upset with your decision. I've figured it was coming for a while now. But over the last couple of months I've come to see you as my actual sister. I don't want to lose you."

She pulled out of the hug and smiled at Brian. "You're my brother Brian. My decision to leave won't change that. Not now, not ever. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get ready to go to the shop. Good luck today with the raid. Make sure your face stays covered."

"Yes ma'am. Good luck with Tanner."

A few hours later, Sara strolled into Toretto's garage. There was a lightness about her that couldn't be hidden and a smile that stretched from ear to ear. She'd gotten a full ass chewing from Tanner. He tried every trick in the book to get her to change her mind but she was set and handed him her badge and issued firearm. It was official. She was no longer a cop.

The garage was in a mad rush to get everything done before Race Wars. The Supra was sitting front and center sporting a fresh new coat of paint. Orange. They had to pick the most god awful color to put on the car. Shaking her head she leaned against the door and watched the crew work. Vince and Leon were doing some last minute tune ups on the engine before it got installed. Letty was inside the car, installing a dashboard gauge for the NOS. Mia was putting a decal on the side. Dom was in the back working on what she assumed was a customer's car.

Sara's smile, if at all possible, got even bigger. This was her family now, she was home. Grabbing a wrench she jumped in to help wherever she was needed. Hours passed and she was so focused she didn't even notice when the rest of the crew had left. She did notice though when Dom stepped up behind her pulling her tight to him.

Pressing a kiss to her neck Dom told her, "I missed you earlier today."

Turning them so Dom was resting against the car she had been working on Sara kissed him firmly on the lips while unbuttoning his shirt. "Sorry I was so late, I had to talk about a few things with Brian."

"Where is he today anyway?"

Sara did not want to be talking about where Brian was at that moment she pulled his shirt down his arms, "Do you really want to be talking about my brother right now?" He didn't answer her. Instead he kissed her harshly and lifted her so she had no choice but to wrap her legs around him. Holding tightly to her, Dom walked back to the couch in the back of the shop. They became so consumed with each other, they wouldn't have noticed if someone walked into the shop.

Later, while leaning against Dom to calm her rapid heartbeat, she couldn't help but think that yes...she was definetly home.

That night with Brian...

Brian couldn't believe it. Everything that they had busted Tran with had been circumstantial at best. "So, they're out already?" Seriously, they couldn't even keep them in the pen overnight?

Tanner was the one who responded to Brian. "Yeah. Father bailed them out."

Bilkins was livid. Not only did they lose an agent from this case, now the one agent they still had was giving them bad intel. "Is this the kind of intelligence I can expect from you, O'Conner?"

"You're gonna put this on me?"

"I can put it on whoever I want to. Perks of the job."

Brian stood up to face Bilkins, "No, you can't put this on me-"

At this point Bilkins starting to yell. "No, wait a minute. Let me tell you! I don't care if you have to aim at someone and blow your cover to smithereens. We lost Trenton. What assurances do we have that she won't rat you out the first chance she gets? So here's the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. Time is ticking. You've got 36 hours to crack this bastard...or you might want to think about another career."

Dismissed, Brian storms out the front door. Tanner, realizing that he might be loosing his second agent decided to try to keep Brian on track and followed him out.

"It's Toretto, Brian. It always has been Toretto. Tran and Hector are... They're just fumes." Slowly walking up to Brian he stopped only a foot away from him. "I know you've been lying to me. My question is this: Have you been lying to yourself because you can't see past Mia?"

Brian glanced back to Tanner. It was a question he had been asking himself since this morning. Could he do what Sara did? Could he give up everything he was now? One thing he did know for certain though. "He won't go back to prison."

"Well, that's a choice he's going to have to make. Sara made her choice and if she gets involved with the hijackings she'll go down with him too. There's all kinds of family, Brian. And that's a choice you're gonna have to make." With that Tanner turned and headed back into the house leaving Brian to think things over.

The next morning found the whole crew in the garage awaiting the first official trial run of the new car. Dom got in the passenger seat with his laptop ready to watch the screens to find any problems they'd have to tweak out. Brian, who was still keyed up from the night before, sat in the drivers seat and turned the key. The Supra roared to life. The whole crew cheered, Jesse even went so far as to pet the hood like it was a cat purring.

Sara leaned into the driver's side, "You ready for this?"

Brian didn't even look her way, just nodded. Seeing that he was upset she asked, "Hey. You okay Bri?"

Looking at her this time he had an intensity in his eyes that worried her, she knew he'd feel some heat from her leaving, but now she was wondering if it was too much for him. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Whatever it is Brian, don't let it get to you. Have fun out there today. This is your baby after all." She gave him a peck on the cheek and just to be annoying ruffled his hair as well. It had it's desired effect, he laughed. Turning as they drove out of the garage she looked over at the rest of the crew. "Well, Boss man is out of the building! Who's hungry? Pizza, my treat."

The test drive went off without a hitch. They even raced a Ferrari and smoked them with ease. But Dom had seen the same tension in Brian that Sara had, the difference being that he had no idea what was causing it. They stopped at a diner that was frequented by racers to grab a bite to eat before heading back to the garage. Dom saw it as an opportunity to dig a bit into what was bugging Brian.

"So, what's wrong, Brian?"

"Nothing, man, I'm fine."

Taking off his sunglasses he looked straight at Brian. "Come on. Obviously something's off."

Shaking his head Brain said, "Look, I have my good days and bad days just like anybody else."

"Brian, don't lose that cool of yours. That's your meal ticket."

"My meal ticket? What? Like I can't pay for my own shrimp?" Brain motioned to the plate in front of them.

Turning the tray so the plate was in front of himself Dom replied, "I got the shrimp."

Brian saw an opening. It wasn't a big one, but it was one he was going to take. He needed to finish close this case. As much as he liked Dom, he wanted to make sure that Sara stayed away from the hijackings and if it didn't stop soon he had no doubt she would join up with them. Hedging on pride Brian said to Dom. "No, that's one thing about me you don't understand. I don't take handouts."

"I'm not giving you a handout Brian."

"Yeah, well just because you're sleeping with my sister doesn't mean I want any special treatment. I earn my way, every step. I need something extra on the side, like you."

"Hey, show some respect for your sister, because in case you've forgotten, you're sleeping with mine too. And what do you mean, like me? What's that supposed to mean?" There was no way that he knew...right?

"That's exactly what I mean."

"What does that mean, like me?" Dom needed a straight answer from Brian.

"Don't try-I'm not stupid, all right?" Brian pointed outside. "I know that there's no way you paid for all that shit you got under the hood-" He looked around quick realizing that his voice was getting louder. In a softer tone he repeated, "There's no way you paid for what's under the hood of those cars...by doing tune-ups and selling groceries. Whatever it is you're in on, I want in on it, too."

Dom sat back. It was an unexpected development. Brian was more observant than he thought. Sara too had mentioned more than once about the cost of the new parts, but always left it alone when he said he had it covered. Deciding to test Brian, he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Setting it on the table in front of Brian, he helped himself to some shrimp.

Brian picked up the paper. "What the hell is this?"

"Read it."

He did, but it didn't make any sense to him. "What is this for?"

"It's directions. To Race Wars. We'll see how you go. Then we'll talk."

It wasn't quite what he was looking for, but at least it was a chance.

Authors Area:

Next chapter is Race WARS! I figure there are two, maybe three, more chapters left of this story and I'm honestly getting a bit choked up about it. My only consolation is that I plan on doing sequels to this story, so even when we reach the end of this story, it won't be the end of Sara and Dom.

It took me a while to type this chapter out, even though it's so short. I struggled a lot on Sara's decision to leave the police force. At first I had her staying until the end but as I started expanding on it I really couldn't see Sara staying with her job while seeing Dom. She's too good a person to do that. I had initially put part of race wars in with this chapter too, but had a hard time figuring out where to stop the chapter. So there you have it. It's short, and kind of a filler, but still an important part of the story.

Until Next Chapter,
Ramzgurl