Word Count: 1,788/27,373


Chapter 11
Brian was talking to Sophie about the shot glasses when the GPS rang. He reported to Penning and then took off.

"Seriously?" Letty asked when Penning called about the traffic violations.

"Sure thing, Dad," Brian muttered as he closed the phone without really answering Penning and increased his speed even more.

Because he had a cover to maintain with Dom, he pretended to panic when the goons started scanning for trackers. He left it active for as long as possible before dropping it into the half-empty soda can he had brought along for that reason.

The goon gave the all clear and they were loaded into the truck. Frick and Frack were in first and raised up to the top before Dom backed in. Brian drove in last, facing Dom. Austin kept Brian updated on the panic going on back at HQ and he smirked to himself.

They had only been on the road for maybe twenty minutes when Frick and Frack got bored and jumped down. Brian didn't know their names and he didn't care to learn. If he had the chance, he'd keep them alive, but if it was a choice between one of them and Dom, there was no question who he'd pick.

He watched in amusement as they tried to engage Dom in conversation. Dom just sat there with his head leaned back and his eyes closed. Finally, they gave up and when Brian didn't cooperate either, they returned to their own cars to sulk.

Once they were gone, Brian went over and slid into Dom's car.

"What do you want, O'Conner?" he asked, not opening his eyes, though he made no move to kick Brian out of the car either, so he took that as a win.

"I just wanted to apologize. For everything. I shouldn't- I shouldn't have lied to you. I'm sorry for hurting Mia. I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to save Jesse and I'm sorry about Letty. If there was anything I could have done, you have to believe me, I would have. I swear."

"I have to believe you? Like I had to believe you weren't a cop?" Dom asked, looking over at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"I never said I wasn't a cop."

"Lying by omission is still lying."

Brian gave a mental wince. "I know," he said, looking away.

"This isn't the same, Bri. This lie is to save my life. He'll understand."

"I just- I wanted you to know. In case anything happens."

"Do you know what we're hauling?" Dom asked, though he looked as though he wasn't honestly expecting an answer.

"Heroin. I'm the fourth they've sent under. The other three have all come back in body bags. So just- Be careful."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"The FBI has been trying to shut this cartel down for two years. They still don't know shit about Braga; what he looks like, or even how old he is. I just- If they had been a little faster or a little better, Letty never would have gotten involved."

Dom studied him with narrowed eyes for a long moment. Brian wasn't sure what the other man was looking for or what he found. "How do you plan on bringing him down if you don't know who he is?"

"I'm still working on that."

Dom nodded slowly and changed the subject slightly. "Do you know what happened to Letty?"

"I have my suspicions. FBI always loses the UC when they run. Which, duh. Of course Braga's going to have his guys scan for trackers. It's stupid and they shouldn't even try. But the UC turns up dead a couple of days later. Originally, it was thought that they were made and that's why Braga had them killed. That's possible, especially if they weren't able to kill the tracker in time."

"Like you almost weren't?" Dom asked, raising an eyebrow.

Brian shrugged. "I'd of bullshitted my way out of it. I always do. Thing is, after Letty, I don't think that's why. I think they're killin' all of the drivers, regardless. That way no one talks. And like Campos said, racers are a dime a dozen."

"And most of us don't have family that'll miss us. What's your plan?"

"I don't know yet. Depends on a lot of things."

"Whatever happens, I got your back."

Brian looked over at Dom. He didn't say anything, but Dom must have read the question on his face.

"Anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me."

He wasn't sure what it said about him that a statement like that loosened the tension in his chest, instead of tightening it. "I got yours, too," he said.

"Someone tries to kill me, I'm gonna kill them first," Dom said.

Brian answered that as the question it was. "Dead men can't contradict my statement of self-defense."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Silence descended again while Dom studied Brian. He looked over and held Dom's gaze, hoping that Dom could read the truth in his eyes. "I let you down once, Dom," he said softly. "I'm not going to do it again."

Dom narrowed his eyes slightly before looking away.

"So am I worthy?" Brian asked, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

The corners of Dom's mouth quirked slightly. "Not yet. But you're in."

They grinned at each other, remembering that first race.

"Was that a set-up?"

"Believe it or not, no. It was called in by a disgruntled pizza guy who was late with a delivery and got fired as a result. He wanted us to be as miserable as he was. I wasn't not gonna take advantage of the opportunity, though. And you did the rest when you invited me in."

"Yeah." Dom was silent for a moment, as though trying to decide what he wanted to ask. "Why us? Did you know it was me from the beginning?"

"No. Well, the brass did. Strongly suspected," he corrected. "I didn't. I was convinced you were too smart for that." He looked away. "Or maybe I just didn't want to see. Looking back on it, you guys weren't exactly subtle. Wasn't until after we raided the Trans that I actually had to stop and face what should have been obvious from the beginning."

"So you were there. I had wondered. After."

"Yeah. I told 'em to wait until I had some hard evidence. I mean, watching him torture his fence was-" He cast around for the right word, because he hadn't been- frightened exactly. "-unsettling," he finally went with. "But it wasn't proof of anything more than the fact that he was psychotic. Which I already knew. They didn't listen, though. Mainly because you guys went the next night and jacked another truck. They were- Impatient."

"If you didn't think it was me, why my crew?"

Brian snorted. "I look Hispanic or Vietnamese? I mean, I'm good. But no way in hell I'dda been able to infiltrate Hector or Tran's gangs. And it had to be one of you three, because you were the core of the racing scene. Anyone else and it wouldn't have helped. They were too disconnected. Yours was the easiest because you had such a misfit crew to begin with."

"Didn't hurt I had a pretty sister you could seduce, huh?"

Brian winced. "I'm not going to lie to you because I know you won't believe me. Mia is gorgeous. And I really like her. She's smart and funny and-" He trailed off and was silent for a moment before he sighed. "She deserves so much better than me. Even if I were who I was pretending to be. I'm not- what she needs. I always knew that and to be honest, the only reason I started flirting with her was because it pissed Vince off."

Dom let out an amused snort and the corner of Brian's mouth twitched.

"I didn't want to hurt her. I liked her. I liked all of you and I thought that I could have the best of both worlds because I didn't want to believe it was you. I didn't realize until it was too late that the family you gave me was more important than the detective's shield ever could be. If I could take it all back, I would. I would have told you the truth. If not that first night, then at least by that night outside of Hector's."

Dom was silent again for a long moment. "So you liked all of us, huh?" he finally asked with a smirk.

"Well, maybe not Vince," Brian admitted with a grin.

Dom let out a bark of laughter and attracted Frick and Frack's attention.

"Oh, I see how it is. You white boys think you're too good to talk to the likes of us, huh? Is that it?"

They just looked at each other and got out of the car. Brian stayed a step back, flanking Dom as the other man straightened to his full height, staring down at Frick. "What was that?" he asked in a low, growly voice.

"Nothing, Man," Frack said, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him back. "Nothing at all."

"Come on, Buster," Dom said, turning to Brian and dismissing the other two. "Tell me about your car."

They spent the rest of the trip talking about the safe topic of cars, with Letty throwing out the occasional random comment in an effort to trip Brian up. Eventually, Ali and Austin got involved as well. When the truck finally came to a stop, they exchanged a serious look before going back to their own cars.

"Where we at, Austin?" Brian asked.

"Same place as Letty, about thirty miles from the border."

"Great. I'm guessing we'll probably take the same tunnels, then. Bring up the map of Letty's route and see if it matches mine. We may need that information later."

The goons opened the truck and Brian backed out. Once they were all out of the truck and standing by their cars, Yashar went over the same last minute instructions she had given Letty. When Dom asked about Fenix, Brian sent him a glare.

"That's even worse than the question about what you were haulin'," Letty grumbled.

"Yeah, Dom would never cut it as a UC," Brian muttered as Yashar gave the order to move out. "As much as I hate lying to him, this would never work if he knew you were still alive."

"Good luck, Bri. Ali is on the other side, just in case."

"Fine. But stay out of sight unless I call. We still don't know who Braga is. I don't want to show any of our hand until we absolutely have to."

"Agreed," Ali said.