Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

You guys all ready for the movie!? I sure am.

Well, I had planned to finish before the movie came out but we all know Life seems pretty hell-bent on making everything so complicated. Anyways, enjoy.

Oh and I used a track to help me get inspired and I think it's pretty darned good.

Grindhouse- Planet Terror Soundtrack.


"What the hell happened to you?" Tej jeered from the hood of a new and shiny car- one out of many that littered the garage they had been stationed at.

Roman brushed a sleeve over his busted lip and stonily said, "Nothin,' man."

"Haha, nah! Tell me, man. Stray chick or what?" Tej poked, "I'll ask Han."

Roman glared at the man, picked up a clean rag whose purpose originally had been to clean some oil off the car parts but now served to clean up the subway grit and blood off him. "I-"

"He insulted Brian." Han cut in, "And because of that, Brian decided Roman was better off dead." Han limped in, hand over stomach and coughing from exertion, "He managed to catch sight of him when we were chasing him and some other dude in the subways. I let Riley and Giselle attempt to catch the other one while I followed Roman here- should have stayed with the girls…" He coughed.

Tej nodded with a smile on his face, "So he kicked both of y'all's asses. Tell Mia."

"Oh yeah, she'll be prouder than a mama hen." Letty rasped from the elevator, walking hand in hand with Mia whose smile was more radiant than the sun. Dom followed with an amused smirk on his features.

Riley smiled, a sense of restraint about her, "He's…very nice." She said concerning Brian and Mia smiled once more.

"Wha'd ya tell him to do that to you!?" Letty wondered, coming to stand in front of Roman and poked him on his shoulder, which had- as far as he knew- a big bruise.

"We both agreed this was going behind lock and key." Roman said smugly, escorting his kicked self to the nearest couch while ignoring even more interested stares that followed him.

"So what did we find out?" Dom inquired, once Hobbs had joined him.

Hobbs turned to Tej and the men started with no prompting, "Nothing, man. Believe it or not, wherever Owen's guys have been, the cameras have been down. Every time."

Hobbs nodded, "Seems too much of a coincidence, huh? We'll go to Interpol and work it out." With that, as fast as Hobbs entered, he left and this time with Riley.

While the gang appreciated the freedom Hobbs granted them, his quick exits always left some question as to what he was actually sharing with them and what he was hiding.

Once they swept out, Dom turned to the rest of the team who seemed too troubled to stay in one place. "So what up?"

Giselle began, lighthearted face turning stony and serious in seconds, "Mechanic didn't say nothing detrimental to this job." She started then turned to Dom, "But he did say something interesting."

"What do you mean?"

Giselle reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved an item whose exact figure Roman couldn't see from his position but as soon as she threw it atop the steel table, it became obvious what it was. "He said Braga was deeply involved with Shaw early on. He's the one that led Shaw to O'Conner."

"Shit! Why didn't you tell me that on the way here!?" Roman exclaimed, exchanging a glance with Dom.

The older man had a frown on his face. Letty stared wide eyed at Giselle, "What was the possibility…that this information is inaccurate?"

Giselle smiled grimly, "There's a phone number linked directly to the man. There's no doubt in my mind about its authenticity."

"What is happening?" Tej wondered, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "How is it that everyone on this goddamm' is in on this except me?"

"No." Han said, "I'm quite lost too."

"Braga is the guy we were chasing after Brian's…funeral." Dom explained, "Roman pulled in a favor and got Braga in the best prison L.A. had to offer. Brian… if what Braga said is correct, we cannot just-"

"It's not that simple. Braga knew who was after him that night… he knew who was chasing him but he didn't know whose car belonged to whom because we borrowed some from the DE. How he knew Brian was alive…and how Brian ended up in Tokyo is beyond me. This just serves to explain how the process was facilitated." Letty explained with a troubled semblance.

"But this dude is in prison, right?" Tej wondered.

"Yes. He's there for his entire life."

"Funny…I know what Brian might have said to that."


"You have a little dirt on your face."

"Hmm."

"And about a thousand bruises."

"Huh."

Brian rolled his eyes for about the tenth time that hour. Kumiko had flipped when she had seen the abuse he had taken in that small tussle he had with the annoying idiot who somehow managed to be his friend before he had forgotten. How that had ever happened, Brian would never know because he got a sense the fool would never tell him.

The ice pack he'd used over his shoulder was long abandoned and lying on the table. He would be back in business tomorrow and everything would be okay.

"Where's Owen?"

Kumiko blinked and her face went through a series of expressions that told him she had forgotten to tell him something. "Oh…yeah, something about infiltrating some Interpol database…"

"And he didn't deem this important to tell me?" Brian wondered distractedly, eyes glued to the other side of the warehouse.

Snorting derisively, Kumiko crossed her arms over her chest, "Face it, Bri-Bri, we're loosing power here." She furrowed her brow and hummed, "Question is…who's gonna replace us? And when?"

Brian didn't even have to think about it. But he also didn't want to have this conversation in the middle of the warehouse. So he let Kumiko break her head over this and wandered over to the prints on the table. It was a full folder on every single project the team was overseeing or participating and most of these were already fully underway.

Had Owen already seen these?

'We're not winning anything by staying here. Except our hold on Tokyo and the underlying areas, we have nothing to lose if we disband from Owen. Yet…' he clenched his hand tightly on the dog tag that he had slipped by Mia, 'He will kill us. No questions asked.'

He had to find a way to safely get his team and their assets out of the metaphorical shooting range. Quickly.

And the only way to do that was to make his alliance clear as soon as possible. He glanced at the computer screen by the table, tracing the path the tracker left behind. Slipping the tracker had been relatively easy for Brian and more so when the chance had been presented to him so obviously.

Brian glanced back to Kumiko, pasted a quick smile and said, "Get the cars ready. Let's meet Owen over at this place…"


"What are we waiting for?" Klaus wondered, eyeing Vegh as she smiled dangerously.

"Who else but Brian?" she returned, turning to Owen for confirmation. Owen just chuckled, going back to his schematics.

Unbeknownst to them, Owen was surprised. Surprised that Brian, while already knowing the precarious position he was standing on, still chose to follow Owen. For all the former cop knew, he could be heading to his death and yet he still followed.

If Owen still believed in comradeship, he would have been touched. Now, all he believed was loyalty and the necessity to do whatever necessary to attain what was needed. In both, Brian still impressed him. Maybe, once, he would have changed his game plan but now…

'Sorry, Brian. Some just have to go.'

Though, he wondered…what Brian would have done had he had more time. What would have changed? Would Brian still follow or would he eventually betray Owen before Owen could betray Brian?

'Such a shame that hospital didn't give me his files earlier.'


"What do you mean we're going to help him!?" Kumiko screeched, arms flailing wildly, "Did you ignore what I said- about not needing us?"

Zane popped in a few chips, and munching he said, "I think that's why Brian's taking us there."

"That doesn't make any sense whatsoever, eat with your mouth closed and wait until you finished." Kumiko ordered, "I still think it's stupid."

Brian leaned back, placing his arms behind his head and resting his head on the bed, "Think of it like this: at least we don't die today."

There was a moment of silence I which everyone tried to wrap their heads around his words. Unsurprisingly, it was Kumiko who broke the silence first, "What!?"

Jake on the other hand, shrugged complacently, "Works for me."

Outraged at the nonchalant attitude the men in her team excluded, Kumiko faced the driving Pam, "Are you in on this? Pam, do you agree?"

Brian, for once, didn't understand why Kumiko was blowing this out of proportions. Did she fear death? No, that shouldn't be the problem for they had faced Death directly and laughed.

He focused on Pam and her answer. The sturdy woman sighed tiredly- which prompted Brian to remind him to make her rest every once in a while- and said, "It is balance, Kumiko. Would you prefer to die by the sword or the precipice?"

Brian noticed Kumiko's hands curl inwardly, "I am not ready to die at all. So you can all kiss my ass and shut up!"

Once again there was silence. Then Zane leaned forwards, "Is that offer-"

For his efforts, Zane received a slap and that closed the conversation for the time.