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.
"You're the expert on lying, O'Conner", Hobbs said dryly. "What do you think? Is Ortiz telling the truth?"
They had all gathered for breakfast the next morning, Dom calling everyone to get their asses in gear because they had information. Between the three of them, Dom, Brian, and Mia had shared their encounter with Letty the previous night and were now trying to make sense of the details. They hadn't slept well after their discussion, and empty Styrofoam coffee cups were scattered on the table.
Brian stared absently before shaking his head to clear the fog of the past. "She wasn't lying", he said quietly. "Letty took a huge risk even coming here."
"What do you know?" Hobbs demanded, eyeing him shrewdly.
"Owen is a possessive motherfucker", Brian said grimly, "Collects people like trophies. Letty thinks he drugged her the night she met him in a bar. She woke up at his place in the guest room – doesn't remember much of what happened. He told her he had a proposition for her. He gave her a lot of money to train his drivers. Half is in cash, but the rest is in a bank account and she can't access that part of it without him finding out." He had withheld the information Letty had told him last night, because telling Dom when he was already hot-headed wouldn't have been a wise decision.
"Jesus Christ", Dom growled in frustration. "Now, what's the bad part?"
"Letty said when she got there… there was another woman on the compound. Owen was sleeping with her. Three weeks later, he slit her throat. Supposedly, the woman tried to run away, but now… Letty thinks he planned on it since he picked her up at that bar and brought her back to his place. She's lucky he's still letting her keep her apartment. He trusts her enough to have given her the position she's in, but it's also the most dangerous."
"We were gone barely gone fifteen minutes", Mia said incredulously.
Brian nodded once. "She talked fast, knew I wouldn't ask too many questions."
"Your theory?" Hobbs asked seriously.
"He's definitely got guys following her to keep her in line. She can't run", Brian said quietly. "Letty knows he's manipulating her, and she's been more or less doing an awesome job not shooting him in the face – but she's nearing end game here. It's gonna get to the point where she snaps and goes after him… or she falls in line and gives up. And we all know which Letty would do first. If she makes that move… there will be repercussions."
"What do we do then?" Dom snapped.
"This is the problem", Brian admitted. "Dom, you know that whole thing with Braga… him and Fenix, they were both hot-headed. Braga was less, but Fenix just reacted. He didn't give a damn about anything but the end result. Letty said Owen isn't like that at all. He's cold and calculating. No account for human life is a given. She thinks that other than accumulating money, the only important thing to him might be keeping her."
"Like hell", Dom spat disgustedly.
"But even that might not matter if it comes down to it. And he knows we're here and why. He's already planning for that. And most likely, he's going to do his damndest to get her in that house with him permanently. We need to move fast, but make it look like nothing's going on."
"Great", Rome muttered. "We've got to deal with another lunatic like Verone. I'll tell you right now, there had not be any goddamn rats."
"Rats?" Dominic raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Don't ask", Brian grimaced.
"Bro, if anyone asks you to play chicken with a rat and a bucket… say no", Rome advised seriously with a shudder.
"And no", Brian said flatly, shaking his head. "This guy is worse than Verone –way worse. He doesn't care if he gets his hands dirty."
"Is this going to end up like Tijuana?" Hobbs asked, "Because we don't have the equipment for an extraction team right now."
Brian shrugged warily, looking pissed off. "Not sure yet", he muttered tightly.
"Tijuana", Dom repeated quietly.
"Not the time", Brian scowled.
"What was up with the maps you guys were looking at?" Mia asked.
He nodded, "Right. She marked a few changes. Letty said the rooms were locked though and she didn't know what was in them."
"Let's work up some plans", Hobbs said finally.
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Rome looked over at Brian and shook his head. They were all insane. "Do I even have to say it?" he asked flatly. They had all finally taken a much needed break for dinner, and were sitting around the cleared off work table. Rome couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore.
Brian raised both eyebrows. "I suggest you don't. Because I could really do without getting my face punched in because of your misinterpretation."
"You know, I had really hoped you'd finally stopped with this shit. And just because it doesn't mean what it usually means, doesn't make me wrong."
"Keep talking and no one here will blame me when I deck you", Brian said tightly.
"I'm lost", Han said blandly.
Tej smirked. "Rome's favorite thing to say about Brian is that he always gets in trouble over a female."
"Thanks for having my back, man", Brian said sarcastically.
"Do I even have to bring up Monica? That woman was so damn high-maintenance… I'm so glad she dumped your ass", Rome grinned.
"Dude, I didn't date her", Brian muttered. "Fuck that, I didn't even sleep with her."
"You still tryin' to tell me that she just sneaked in your window to say 'hi'?"
"Uh, no. If you remember correctly, she came to tell us that Verone's guys were supposed to kill us", Brian growled. "Which they tried to do. By the way, Dom- NOS works great for an ejector seat."
"I'll remember that", Dom said oddly.
Tej just nodded sagely. "Good times."
"Huh, I must have forgotten that. What with getting a concussion because you drove the damn car onto that motherfucking boat and all!" Rome continued, ignoring the interruption.
"Quit your whining", Brian smirked. "That was the best roller coaster you've ever been on."
"I broke my wrist!"
"And you got… some benefits out of the deal", he reminded vaguely. Brian didn't think it would be beneficial to rub it in Hobbs's face that they stole money from the FBI.
Rome snorted then shrugged. "That was nice", he admitted finally. "That doesn't mean that I'm wrong. Every time there's a damsel in distress- fuck that, she doesn't have to be in distress, just a damsel –you go all bleeding heart and irrational."
"You done?" Brian asked shortly. "And I would seriously advise against calling Letty a damsel. Although, I can't say it wouldn't be damn hilarious watching her kick your ass."
Despite the current situation, Dom was trying not to laugh. It was interesting to get some perspective from someone who didn't know how to censor themselves. "Are you both done?" Swear to god, those two were like junkyard puppies when they argued – vicious growling and a weak bite.
"Monica said to say hi, by the way", Hobbs mused.
Brian eyed him seriously. "How's she doing?"
"No more undercover work", he answered finally.
"Can't blame her. That one was bad."
"Psychologists wouldn't pass her assessment test."
"That's classified", Brian said flatly, following it with a pointed glare.
"You know you weren't supposed to go back in, right?"
Brian smiled, but it was shark-like, showing teeth. "I know. I failed my second assessment test spectacularly on purpose. I had been assigned to six months desk duty before I could take it again. When they made me take it again with a different person after two months, I knew they were looking for a person that would be dispensable if things got shot to shit. Believe me, when it went bad, I was surprised as hell there was an extraction at all."
"So you went back to the FBI?" Dom asked incredulously. "How stupid are you?"
"I wasn't supposed to be on the Braga case – at least not in field work. When I came back from Tijuana… the FBI had been on the Braga case for a year. I was supposed to have desk duty for at least another year, but they had me sit in because half that case was about the drivers. And that's what I know. I wasn't actually doing any of the leg work until Letty showed up. That changed everything."
Dom snorted. "I'll bet it did."
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A/N: Well, here's another little sound bite. Thanks for reading and all the reviews so far. Drop me a line.