Love and War
Summary: Letty calls Dom her ex. He responds about as well as he would to any other kick in the pants. Fast 6 spoilers. One-shot.
Rated: M – for language
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own anything, just my imagination.
"Wake up, Dom", Letty demanded, flipping the bedroom light on abruptly as she leaned in the doorjamb.
"What the fuck- Letty", he muttered, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, I know", she drawled. "We've got to stop meeting like this."
"So, you've added B&E to your list of broken laws?" he wondered, sitting up with a wince.
"Just get out of bed", she ordered. "And go get Mia and Brian. We need to talk", she called over her shoulder as she walked back towards the main area.
Dominic got out of bed with slow deliberation. His muscles were pure tension, had been since Hobbs had shown him that damn picture. Whatever her reason for it, Letty's betrayal stung so deeply, he didn't know if they would be able to recover even if they did manage to wrap this disaster up in a tidy bow. The only thing her was sure of right now was that he was getting really damn sick of watching her walk away from him.
He crossed the hall and knocked on the other bedroom door and cracked it open after receiving a muffled answer. "You guys need to get up. Letty's here", he said tensely.
"We're coming", Mia answered immediately, any tiredness leaving her at the prospect of a face to face with Letty for the first time in over a year. She wanted answers. She hated this feeling that she had that told her everything she thought she had known about Letty had been wrong. It needed to go away.
Mia noticed that Brian had deliberately stepped in front of her as he walked out the door. It didn't settle well with her that he thought she might need protected from Letty, but she kept her mouth shut. She couldn't deny the Letty had, in fact, shot Dom.
They went into the open work area warily only to find the duo apparently at a stand-off, glaring at each other.
Brian rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to interrupt this touching reunion-" he started sarcastically. "Letty… what are you doing here?"
Her eyes snapped in his direction. "Still trying to play the hero, O'Conner?" she asked wryly.
"I guess that depends on your definition of hero", he shrugged.
"Got all your shades of grey ironed out then?"
Brian raised a challenging eyebrow. "I do. I don't think I'm the one in this room with my priorities out of wack."
"Brian", Mia muttered tensely behind him.
"I don't want to hear anybody tell me to go take a walk", he warned irritatedly, arms folding across his chest. "I don't think anybody here is the epitome of self-control – except maybe Mia", he said mildly.
"Somebody has to be the voice of reason around here", she rolled her eyes, stepping into sight completely. "Not that you guys listen. Letty", Mia hissed incredulously. She was still having a hard time with the fact that her friend was alive. It was like she was staring at a ghost.
"Hi, Mia", Letty said calmly.
"Hi?!" Mia repeated incredulously. "Try again", she said sharply. "Or else you'd better have a really damn good explanation for all of this-"
"Would you believe me if I said this wasn't the way I wanted things to end up?" Letty interrupted emotionlessly.
Mia stared back at her, shock reigning over her features. She warred internally with herself. The part of her that remembered Letty as her best friend wanted to hug her and not let Letty out of her sight for the indeterminable future. But the part of her that had been Letty's sister… kind of wanted to slap her for being so callous.
Still, she eyed Letty warily, almost feeling like she needed to touch her to make sure Letty was really standing in front of her. The Latina had never really been a fan of personal contact, and she looked even rougher around the edges than even Mia had imagined possible. Letty's personality had always been prickly, but Mia can't remember ever seeing her so cold before.
"Will you please explain to me exactly what the hell happened, Letty?" Mia asked roughly, emotional nearly choking her, "Because I can't even begin to make sense of this."
Brian slid an arm around her shoulder comfortingly.
"I think now would be a good time for you to explain yourself", Dominic said tightly.
"What the hell are you so pissed about?" Letty rolled her eyes patronizingly.
"Oh, you mean besides the fact that you fucking shot me two days ago, and then your rude wakeup call just now?" he asked sarcastically.
"Yes, besides that", she said flippantly.
"Letty", he growled warningly.
"Alright", Letty shrugged. "The last time I came to see you in the DR- I knew things had to change", she shook her head. "Every time I left, it felt like my freaking heart was being ripped out of my chest. We stopped being a team, and it went back to you making decisions that affected me without asking for my opinion. I couldn't do it anymore."
Brian listened to Letty's explanation worriedly. He didn't like stilted and distant tone she had taken on to recount what had happened. As a cop, he had heard that tone from people who had seen or experienced horrifying things that they weren't able to process at the moment. He knew she was downplaying the severity of the pain she had been through because she didn't want to feel it – couldn't feel it. Not if she had to continue with the jobs she had been doing.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me that?" Dom hissed angrily.
"I tried", she said flatly, staring blankly at the wall. "I woke up and you were gone."
"I mean why didn't you bring it up when we didn't have the police on our asses?"
"Look, things didn't exactly go like I planned, okay?" she muttered vaguely.
"Shit, Letty, what part of you being a martyr did you really think was going to fix our mess?" he sighed.
"Ride or die, Dom", Letty murmured. "That's all I know. And you didn't leave me a whole lot of options."
"That's bullshit!" he shouted, advancing on her. "Because what I know, is that Mia had to pack up all your things and plan your funeral. I know that there's a goddamn headstone sitting in a graveyard in L.A. with your name on it! You have no idea what you've done, to all of us. And you'd better hear me when I say that whatever is going on, we're ending it. Nothing is worth this, Letty."
Dom gave her one last irritated look and turned, heading through the house, ignoring the rage that was shown on her face. He would leave her to her anger. He couldn't look at her any more tonight.
"My mug shot is better than yours!" she shouted after him.
Her only response was the slam of the back door.
Mia glared. "Really, Letty?" she sighed, glancing between Letty and the direction Dom had gone, looking torn.
Brian settled a hand on her shoulder, "Go on, Mia."
She nodded once before staring at the woman who had been sort of like an older sister to her growing up. "You, stay here", she ordered tensely, leaving without waiting for a response.
"So, how are things?" Letty asked conversationally after Mia was out of the house.
He folded his arms across his chest. "What are you playing at here?"
"This is not a game to me", she said seriously.
"No, it's not! People are getting killed, Letty. Can you honestly say you don't care?"
"I don't have a choice! I made some bad decisions, and now I'm suffering the consequences."
"It's a simple question, Letty", Brian said quietly. "Whose side are you on?"
"I'm on my own side."
His eyes narrowed. "What does he have on you, Letty?"
She said nothing, jaw tightening stubbornly.
"You're gonna have to try to trust us a little bit here", he sighed. "At the very least, you have to know we aren't going to let you be a casualty in the fallout."
"You might not have a choice", she said tiredly.
"I made you a promise", Brian said seriously. "If you let me, I want to try and keep it."
"Owen is… dangerous", Letty said carefully. "He's worse than Fenix. A lot worse."
"Fenix is dead, Letty. And Braga is in prison. The only person you're running from right now is yourself."
"How-"
"Dom", he answered tightly. "He let himself get arrested, and ended up with a twenty-five to life prison sentence back at Lompoc. However you think we all ended up here, you're wrong. He's not who he used to be. Losing you was the worst thing that's happened to him. And as angry as you are, he's even angrier at himself."
She felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Shit." Letty sank onto the couch, any fight she had in her bleeding out slowly.
"You okay?"
She sucked in a breath and finally met his gaze with steely eyes. "I'll help you get Owen. He deserves to rot in hell for some of the things he's done. We'll worry about the rest of it later. But I can't stay much longer. I think he has someone following me – especially since he knows Dom is here. I had to sneak out of my apartment."
He groaned. "When you step in it, you like to do it with both feet, don't you? I'm going to call Hobbs. We need a game plan."
"Wait", she froze suddenly, ice running through her veins, finally remembering what all of this was going to cost her. "There's a catch."
0
Mia glanced in both directions before seeing her brother leaning against the building, hidden in the shadows. She jogged after him silently.
"Dom", she said quietly.
He sighed wearily. "What the hell is the matter with her?"
"Do you want my opinion?"
He raised an eyebrow. "If I don't, aren't you just going to give it to me anyway?"
"Do you remember the first race she lost?" Mia asked thoughtfully.
"It was the only race she lost", Dom said wryly. "And that was only because her tire blew out over broken glass."
"She disappears for three days. You had to go find her."
"What does that have to do with this insane scam she's pulled off?"
"She almost lost her life trying to get you yours back. Can you really be angry with her?"
"Get to the point, Mia", he said softly.
"When she lost that race… she was humiliated. And she thought we'd be angry with her. It was only over a couple grand. This? The stakes were a lot higher, Dom. Your life, hers. She may have run to save herself, but I think she stayed away because she failed. Letty's never been good at losing. The last few years had been rocky for you guys. I think she was just trying to fix that. And when she couldn't… she took off and tried not to look back. I know you two have this weird invincible thing going on, but some things are fragile. I think she found that out the hard way."
"Mia, I can't help her if she doesn't let me. What do you want me to do?"
She smiled. "I thought you were the Letty expert. Figure it out. Her not wanting your help hasn't ever stopped you before."
"You should have been a psychologist or something", he muttered grudgingly.
"Oh, I prefer giving my sisterly advice to you", she teased.
"So, what do we do now?"
She nodded. "We go talk to Letty."
0
They came back in, finding Brian talking quietly with Letty at a work table with a few maps spread out.
Mia took in the situation warily, noticing how they both stopped talking immediately, and the way Brian was as tense as a livewire. "What's going on?"
"Letty's going to help us", Brian answered evenly.
"What's the problem?" Dominic demanded.
Brian grimaced. "Remember the last time I said things were going to be complicated? This might be worse."
"I need to leave", Letty said quietly.
Brian pulled his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to her. "Take it. Hide it where no one can find it, but you can get to it if you need it. All of our numbers are in it. If you need us, call. The last time I gave you a phone, you ditched it. I called for two days until a hobo finally answered, and he yelled at me for waking him up. A freaking hobo, Letty", he complained.
Mia snorted.
"I threw it out the window", Letty shrugged. "The FBI had a mole. I didn't want them tracking me."
"Stasiak", Dom growled.
"No", Letty shook her head, mildly surprised. "He's just a dick."
"I broke his nose", Brian grinned smugly. Then he made a face. "That could have been why he screwed us though."
"You think?" Dom said wryly.
"I'm leaving now. I'll talk to you guys when it's safe. Brian, I'll try to not to give your phone to another hobo", Letty rolled her eyes.
"That's all I ask", he said dryly.
"Wait, Letty, where the hell do you think you're going?" Dom interrupted, grabbing her arm as she passed.
"I have to go", she repeated, shaking him off. "He might have someone watching me. I sneaked out, and made sure I wasn't followed here, but if someone realizes I'm gone, we're all screwed."
"Letty", Brian called after her. She turned to look back at him. Any trace of chiseling he'd done to her mask was now completely smoothed over, and her features were hard. "Be careful."
Her eyes narrowed. "Don't start. That won't work with me again."
He just grinned and shook his head. "I guess we'll see."
Then she was gone.
"Dammit", Dom muttered. Then he looked over at Brian seriously. "I think you're going to have to tell me what happened while you two were working together in L. A."
Brian sighed roughly, but nodded. "I think we're all going to need a drink for this. It's not pretty." He didn't think that even time and the knowledge that Letty was alive, would ever be enough to heal all of their wounds.
00
A/N: Ugh, you guys all gave me ideas. Let me know what you think. :p*