Letty returned to Sean's house sometime after eight o'clock at night and took her shoes off by the door. Then she set her bag down on the cluttered counter and sighed.
The bathroom was in through Sean's dad's room and Letty always felt exposed, despite that the door had a decent lock on it.
But she picked up the big t-shirt she wore to bed and tiptoed through the room and into the bathroom, locking the door. She looked at the shirt. It used to belong to Dom.
She inhaled the lingering scent of him and remembered the day he'd given it to her. It was in a bathroom, just like the one she was in, and had been just a passing thing. She'd never have known then that it would be the last thing of his she would be able to hold onto.
She closed her eyes, letting the memory wash over her.
-*-
Letty had a tendency of walking from the bathroom to the room she shared with Dom in the nude. It hadn't really been a big deal, at first. The bathroom was only two feet from the room. But then Vince and Leon had started to stare.
That bugged Dom.
One day, as she was showering, Dom climbed in with her. After they'd had a good shower screw and washed each other, she climbed out to find Dom holding the shirt out to her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"One of my old shirts. I don't wear it anymore."
"Why not?"
"Dunno. Just don't. But I want you…" He slipped it into her hand, "to wear it when you go from the bathroom to the bedroom."
"What? Why?"
"'Cause you never wear a towel and Vince and Leon are starting to catcall when you take showers."
Letty burst into laughter at that, not exactly expecting those particular words. When the giggles subsided, she grinned. "Seriously?"
"It's not funny. I don't like it."
"Oh, but you're allowed to 'talk' to girls at the races? Hypocrite!" But she grinned wider and held up the shirt. "Fine, fine. I'll wear your damn shirt. But only because it's got this hot '67 Chevy Impala on the back."
She pulled it on and put the towel on her head to dry her hair. She pointed to the towel. "This is why I don't wear a towel around my body."
Dom rolled his eyes.
"Stop that eyerolling and kiss me, papi."
So he did.
-*-
Letty looked down at the shirt, the sleek black Chevy Impala a faded gray at this point in the shirt's lifespan. She ran her fingers over it and sighed before hugging it to her face, inhaling Dom's scent again.
A few tears slipped down her face.
She swiped at them and stood up. "Neither the time nor place, Letty," she hissed to herself and then pulled her clothes off and turned the shower on.
Then, she stepped in and sighed as the water sluiced down her slim body, washing away grease, dirt and sweat from the day.
She put a dollop of shampoo in her hand and worked it into her wavy brown-black hair and then rinsed it. Then she worked in some conditioner and as she let it set in her hair, she scrubbed her face with her coconut body-wash before she poured a little onto her nail brush and started to clean the dirt and grease from under her nails.
After that, she did a quick job of washing her body, rinsed everything and climbed out.
She dried, thoroughly, with her towel and then picked up the t-shirt. Her fingers fisted the material and she was half-tempted to just wrap the towel around herself.
But Mr. Boswell was sleeping just outside the door.
And the shirt sometimes made her feel like Dom was still with her.
And if Mr. Boswell happened to wake up, she'd rather have the security of her thoughts of Dom to keep the embarrassment and anger away. She sighed and pulled the shirt on over her head, as well as pulling a pair of black panties on. Then she braided her hair and quietly headed out.
She peeked into Sean's bedroom. He was gone. Probably went to the drift races. And he hadn't even waited for her.
"Bastard," she grumbled. "Probably still sore I knew how to drift an' didn't tell him."
It was all right, though. She was tired from the day, and still a little scared about the Yakuza group that had come to the garage that day. She'd worked on that car from the time he'd come until the garage closed. She'd found that the reason the car was sputtering. His fuel filter had been a mess and his spark plugs were ruined. She'd replaced all of that and it was fine.
But no matter how she searched, she couldn't explain the clattering. His belts and valves were fine. Nothing had broken off. She just couldn't explain it. She didn't know when he'd arrive at the garage tomorrow to pick it up. But it was Saturday, so she'd be able to show up right when it opened and begin her search again.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep, Dom being the last thing she saw in her mind's eye before she drifted off.
-*-
Brian O'Connor put the bags he was loaded down with on the shining floor of the airport and turned to his girlfriend, making a displeased face at her. "Mia, why the hell are we here?"
Around him were a bunch of murals of advertisements painted on the walls, for random and strange products. Of course, they probably wouldn't have been so strange if he could read what the product actually was. As it was, he couldn't.
Because everything was written in Japanese.
Of course, he recognized some, like Coca-cola and McDonald's. But mostly, he just looked around, full of confusion.
He just didn't understand why it had to be Tokyo.
Well, yes he did.
Dom was here.
And after Mia's last call with him, Brian knew she wouldn't sit idly by.
Still, he had to ask. He was just that difficult a person.
"You know why, Brian," replied Mia, pulling out the little English-Japanese dictionary she'd bought in the gift shop and trying to decipher some of the signs around them.
"Okay, I guess a better question would be, why the hell did I get saddled with all the bags?" Brian continued.
"Because," Mia turned and grinned at him a little. "You love me."
"Damn."
"Your fault." She took a few steps toward him and kissed him before pointing. "If we go this way, we'll come out on one of the city's main streets. We can go from there. Come on!"
Brian rolled his eyes and hoisted the bags up again. "Here we go again."
He followed her out.
-*-
Letty wiped at her forehead, smudging grease across it, as she dug through the sedan's engine for a third time. She growled to herself. What the hell could possibly be causing the clattering? She'd checked everything!
It was then she noticed something. It was a soldered-on patch on one of the pipes. It must've been to patch some sort of hole. She blinked and opened the cap to the valve and shone a flashlight into it.
She saw something. Taking her pliers, she went digging around, until she caught it and then she pulled it out.
Her eyes widened. A bullet. She went fishing around again and found another. And another. By the time she was done, she'd fished out at least ten bullets, and that's when she noticed that the entire pipe was patched. She climbed out of the hood and looked at the body work, running her fingers over the flexible metal and black paint of the frame.
She could tell that a part of this had just been replaced and she put two and two together.
Dirty money? Definitely. Blood money?
She was almost certain, now.
"Is it ready?"
She jumped when she heard the voice and she turned to look at the man, her dark eyes widening. Then she cleared her throat. "Yeah, it's ready. Just finished, actually."
She put the cap back on and closed the hood. "Start it. It should be just fine now."
The man swept past her and climbed in, starting the car. It rumbled to life, quietly and stopped just the same. He climbed back out and placed his elbow on the roof of the car, smirking at her. "Totemo ii desu ne, kirei."
Letty closed her eyes, her lip twitching. She knew what kirei was and she didn't appreciate it.
"My name is Teiichi Katsumoto," he murmured. "You may call me Tei, kirei."
He licked his fingers as he pulled out the cash, flicking through it before holding it out to her. "Enjoy."
"I don't want it."
"Nani? Don't want it? And why is that?" He circled her like a buzzard circling its kill.
"Because, Tei, I don't like being paid in blood money," hissed the woman, as she shoved the tray of bullets at him.
Faster than she realized, he had thrown the tray to the ground and had her pressed up against him, his fingers wrapped tightly around her ponytail, pulling her head back harshly to look up at him.
He smirked down at her. "Don't test me, kirei. I'm an impatient man. I didn't get where I am today by letting a little saseko like you push me around. Wakata ka?"
"Entiendo," she replied, glaring at him. "Now let the fuck go."
SMACK!
Letty backstepped, and grabbed her face as she looked at him. Her cheek, a dark toffee color, was now turning an angry burgundy red from his slap.
"Chingo pendejo!" she hissed and she looked at the owner. But he just looked at his reports, pretending he couldn't hear a thing.
Tei laughed, coldly. "You're quite the feisty one. I think I'll bring all my cars here from now on. It'll be quite an entertaining thing to be able to see you every time. What was your name again?"
Letty's eyes were hard and defiant and Tei took a step toward her but she didn't budge. His malicious glee melted into a hard scowl at her lack of fear and that was when he pulled back his coat to reveal his gun.
Her eyes widened then, falling on the black, L-shaped weapon, unable to look away.
"Now, I asked what your name was, kirei."
The fear of the gun almost had her giving him her real name out of sheer lack of thinking straight. But she straightened her shoulders and tore her eyes from the weapon to look, glaringly, into his. "Anabella Gonzalez."
"Anabella? Ah, a kireina namae for a kireina onna no hito."
"Surprised you can say the 'L' so smoothly," growled Letty.
"I am in a position of power where being able to speak fluidly with an exotic hint of an accent is a…plus." He smirked. "See you soon, Anabella Gonzalez."
With that, he tossed the money roughly at her and then snapped his fingers, his chauffeur coming around the corner and opening the door for him. Then, he stepped around the car and climbed in himself, driving the car and the horrible man away.
Letty sunk to one knee, pressing her forehead to the one not on the concrete of the garage and taking a few long, deep breaths. She disliked being so close to a gun. She was used to guns, of course. Dom had had guns. For protection. For heists. For lots of things. But those guns had never been a danger to her. Dom had never been a danger to her, no matter what her relatives had wanted her to believe.
But that gun…that man just now…he'd been a danger. And she had a feeling the danger hadn't passed yet.
He'd be back.
-*-
Dom wasn't happy when he returned to his hotel room on Harajuku street that afternoon. All the money he'd won street racing was paying for the room, but it did not pay for the ex-cop or little sister sitting in the room when he returned.
As he walked in, he put his room key down, quietly, not saying a word to them, and then grabbed a Corona out of the fridge, popping it open. While his back was still turned to them, he murmured, "Why're you here? An' how did you find me?"
Mia smiled. "Come on, Dom. It's Harajuku street. It's like, capital city of street life in Japan. Nice cars, wild clothes, hip style. Where else would you be able to park a Plymouth Roadrunner without it seeming suspicious?"
He turned his head a little, his profile visible and he smirked. "Saw her, huh?"
"Hell yeah," Brian intervened, grinning. "She's nice, man."
"Yeah, she is," murmured Dom, taking a long swig of his beer before he sat down in a chair across the room. He stared at the beer's label for a long moment, before he added, "Named her Letty."
Mia's smile dropped and a deep frown took its place. "Dom—"
"You shouldn't have come. I get the feeling something's gonna go down here, Mia." He looked at Brian. "Why'd you let her come?"
"I couldn't stop her, Dom. I tried to. But she told me I was either with her or against her. So I decided it was safer if I was with her. She's determined to bring you home, dude," he replied.
"I'm not coming home. Not until I find her," Dom said with a sense of finality in his voice.
"Dominic!" Mia cried. "She's dead! She's not coming back!"
"I saw her, Mia!" Dom growled, standing, his large form towering over her. "I saw her. She was alive and she was standing at a bus stop. It was her, I know it was!"
"She's dead, Dom, she's dead! She's not coming back. She's never coming back!" Mia argued, tears streaming down her tanned cheeks. "Never! Not…n-not ever…"
Dom's anger deflated a little and he sighed, pulling his younger sibling into a warm hug and kissing the top of her head. "Just trust me, Mia. Let me look, just a little bit more. You can even stay in Tokyo while I do it. If I don't—if it really was my imagination…I'll come home with you."
"Swear?"
"Swear."
Mia took a step back from his arms and nodded, wiping at her eyes, gently with her index finger. "Fine. But…just be discreet, okay? I doubt even here it's safe for you."
"All right, Mia," he replied and then sat back down, picking up his beer and drinking the rest down.
She was here.
And he'd find her.
He had to find her.
-*-
Letty decided to go to the races that night. She needed something to get her mind off of her encounter at the garage that day and so she'd gone with Sean to the drift scene to watch the drifters in action.
She had no intention of racing herself. She was too shaken. So, she just sat on the hood of Twinkie's car and watched Sean race.
She should've known it was too good to be true. Too calm. She heard the rumble from far away. The rumble of an engine she knew well. She looked over and there it was.
A 1970 Dodge Charger, pulling into the parking garage. It had its original engine but she could tell it'd been modified for drifting too. She wondered…could it be…
She should've known better than to listen to her heart.
The person who climbed out of that car wasn't who she'd wanted it to be. It was someone she'd been dreading to see.
It was Teiichi Katsumoto.
He'd parked his car near Sean's Mustang, scratching the paint a little before he looked at Sean, grinning, cockily. "Oh, man, I'm so sorry. Was that yours?"
He closed the door to his car and shook a few hands with a smirk before he spotted Letty. His grin widened and he took a few steps forward, pulling her off the hood of Twinkie's car and pressing her close to him, twisting one arm behind her back with one hand, the other hand in her hair, pulling her head up to look at him.
"Nice to see you, kirei."
Letty gritted her teeth, glaring at him.
"Hey! Get your hands offa her!" Sean growled but a few of Teiichi's friends stepped between him and them.
"Should've known this was your scene, Anabella," murmured Teiichi, licking her cheek.
"Sonuvabitch, get the fuck offa me," hissed the girl, kneeing him in the groin. He hunched over onto the ground and growled a string of Japanese curses at her.
The commotion from the altercation was so great that no one noticed a Plymouth Roadrunner being parked or the muscular man climbing out.
"Bitch!"
The cry got Dom's attention and his eyes widened suddenly. It was her.
Letty.
"And don't touch me again, cabron!" she raged, but Tei jumped up and grabbed her, turning her around with both her arms pinned behind her back and slammed her onto the hood of Twinkie's car.
Twinkie jumped up then. "Yo, man! Careful!"
But one of the guards blocking Sean moved in front of Twinkie.
Teiichi leaned in, so his hot breath whooshed across her ear. "You try that again, chisai saseko, and you won't have any knees to kick with, wakata ka?"
"Fuck you," Letty hissed and just as Teiichi lifted her to slap her, he was wheeled around by a large hand and decked in the face.
When he recovered, he was looking at a very ominously pissed-off Dominic Toretto.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you," murmured the deep voice.
"You didn't just punch me, you—" But he was decked again and this time Dom stepped on his stomach.
"Get up one more time, see what happens," he told the kid before he looked at Letty. His eyes grew soft and he lifted a hand to touch her.
"Letty—"
She slapped his hand away and took a step back. "What're you—I'm not Letty! Don't touch me, I don't know you!"
"Letty, don't—"
"I'm not Letty!" She yelled and then took off toward Sean's car, yanking his keys out of his pocket without little more than a flick of her wrist. Before either he or Dom could give chase, she was gone.
Not…Letty…?
Impossible.
-*-
Papi = Daddy, literally. But girls call their boyfriends this.
Totemo ii desu ne, kirei = Very good, beautiful
Nani? = What?
Saseko = Whore
Wakata ka? = Understand?
Entiendo = I understand
Chingo pendejo = Fucking dumbass (I think)
Kireina namae = Beautiful name
Kireina onna no hito = Beautiful woman
Cabron = Fucker (I think)
Chisai saseko = Little whore
AN: Again, these translations are very tentative, so if something is incorrect please let me know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Beta'd by MoonchildDJ.
Special thanks to Kaika-sama for translation corrections