Word Count: 1,654/27,373


Chapter 21
Brian led the way out of the city with Dom right on his bumper. They hadn't gotten far when Austin spoke up.

"Yo, Bri, I'm picking up a lot of chatter. Seems the goons have noticed the boss is gone. You may want to pick it up."

"You'll make it a couple of miles out if you're lucky," Braga said, a damn smirk firmly on his face.

"Unfortunately, he's probably right. Especially if you stay on the main roads. That's what they'll be expecting and they'll have the federalis waiting to cut you off. Your best bet is to head out into the desert and hit the tunnels. Take a right here."

Brian took a sharp right, not having time to let Dom know what he was doing. Still, he knew that while Dom would be confused, he would still follow. They were soon on the outskirts of town, heading into the desert.

Braga chuckled when he realized where they were going. "You sure you know where you're going? You want to borrow my GPS?" He laughed again.

Brian merely glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, scanning for pursuit. "Where are your boys at?" he asked, taunting. "Huh? Are they gonna show up or what?"

At that moment, they were surrounded by gunfire and half a dozen vehicles coming from out of nowhere.

"Careful what you ask for," Braga said with a sneer.

Brian mentally rolled his eyes, but stayed silent, dedicating his full attention to avoiding the gunfire and pursuit. He was starting to wonder where Dom was, though.

"Just stop. Just stop the car," Braga said, chuckling slightly before letting out a squeal of fright when the back window shattered.

The car behind them was rammed from the side and sent flipping into a small ravine.

"Right behind you."

Brian had never been more relieved to hear someone's voice than he was to hear Dom's just then. "Dom, head to the tunnel. Let's use the tunnel," he said, passing on the plan.

He managed to keep the STI in a straight line when they were sideswiped. The other car pulled back to try again, but a blast from Dom's shotgun sent the car spinning out of control.

"Get out of here, Brian."

Didn't have to tell him twice. Brian stepped on the gas, trusting Dom to deal with the pursuit as he headed for the tunnel.

"You're almost in a perfect line. Inch to the right just a little bit," Austin said.

Brian served just a little.

"You're good."

"You sure you know where the tunnels are?" Braga asked, smirking again. "You sure?"

He clearly thought his men were going to get him out of this and Brian wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face. Unfortunately, he had to concentrate. He had no way to raise the barrier, so he had to make sure he hit it at just the right angle, otherwise the car would go up in a spectacular fireball.

"Yeah, I'd hold on," he said instead. "This might hurt." He pressed the gas even further and they went crashing through the faux rock into the darkness.

"You're in my world now, Baby!" Braga exclaimed.

Brian mentally rolled his eyes again. He doubted Braga had ever made this run. He didn't reply, though, keeping his attention on the path in front of him. He had always had a good memory, but ever since he had woken up, he had noticed that his memory was near eidetic, a fact that he was incredibly grateful for right now.

He was going way too fast to second guess himself on the route and he couldn't afford to slow down.

He came to a fork, but for the life of him, he could not remember which way they had gone. He deliberated for a fraction of a second before jerking the car to the right, hoping and praying he had made the correct choice.

Fifty meters in, he realized he had chosen the wrong way.

"That's it, Baby!" Braga exclaimed, way too excited and laid back for hurtling a hundred miles an hour at a solid rock wall. "End of the road. Now what? Game over!"

"No, no, no," Brian said, frantically scanning for some way out of this without slamming on the breaks and being rear-ended by the goon behind them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of brown and reacted on instinct, jerking the car to the left and sending them crashing through the wooden wall that had been built to separate the two tunnels. He got the car under control and stepped on the gas.

The guys chasing them kept firing their weapons and Braga kept smirking and snarking and sneering and Brian just wanted him to shut the fuck up. He pulled his eyes away from the windshield for half a second to jab his elbow into Braga's nose, shutting the man up.

Unfortunately, that half a second of inattention was enough. He swerved sharply to avoid a pillar, but the car went into a spin. Before he could get it under control, he was t-boned by the guy behind them and went crashing through the wall on the US side of the crossing.

He had no idea how far the car rolled and he was unable to brace himself completely as the went slamming into the roof, the window, the back of the seat and the steering wheel while Letty was screaming in his ear. When the car finally came to a stop, he was bent almost double on the roof, since it had landed completely upside down.

"Brian?! Are you okay?!"

He remained still, fighting to regain his equilibrium and figure out where and how badly he was injured. When he finally felt he could move without hurling, he twisted and kicked out the door. He crawled out on his hands and knees and tried to stand.

Before he could get his feet under him, Fenix came out of nowhere and kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling in the dirt. He lay there, contemplating the odds of being able to take Fenix down before getting shot.

Fenix cocked the gun and he figured those chances weren't too hot. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but normally, he wasn't seeing two of the man.

A loud explosion from the tunnel distracted them both and Brian looked back to see a car come flying out through the dust. It wasn't the Charger, but when the car went up on the back two wheels, he knew that somehow Dom had managed to change cars in the middle of a high speed chase.

And Dom called him crazy.

The car headed straight for Fenix who fired two rounds before realizing it would be in his best interest to move out of the way.

Brian was having none of that. Dom deserved this vengeance for Letty, even though she wasn't actually dead. He forced himself to lunge at Fenix, wrapping his arms around the man's legs and holding him in place. At the last possible second, he threw himself out of the way to avoid getting run over.

He landed on his side and saw stars. He had to hold himself still to keep from throwing up. He heard the door slam and rolled over with a groan. Seconds later, Dom was at his side.

"Hey, easy," Dom said, crouching down next to him and helping him lean back against the tire. "Let me see that." He took a look at the wound from the broken windshield on Brian's side. "Yeah, just keep pressure there."

Brian was gulping in breaths of air, trying to remain conscious and upright. He could hear sirens in the distance.

"You'll be all right," Dom said.

"You gotta get out of here," Brian returned.

"I ain't running anymore," Dom said, shaking his head and keeping his hand on top of Brian's.

Brian looked up at him for a long second, squinting slightly so there was only one Dom instead of two. "I gotta ask you something," he said.

"Yeah?"

"You know I would have won that race if you didn't cheat, right?" he asked, hoping to surprise a laugh out of the other man.

Dom chuckled slightly. "You hit your head hard," he said.

Brian let out a chuckle of his own, but it quickly turned into a wince. "Don't make me laugh," he said, squeezing his eyes shut. "Seriously though," he began again. "Did you mean it? Not even mine?"

The look in Dom's eyes softened slightly. "Yeah, Bri," he said, reaching out with his other hand and stroking Brian's cheek for a moment before cupping the back of his head and pressing their foreheads together. "I meant it."

"Good." With that, Brian relaxed back against the car and closed his eyes, trusting Dom to keep him safe until the sirens arrived.

Instead of resting, however, his mind was in overdrive, planning how to protect Dom. He may be Dom's now, but the reverse was also true and Dom was his. And the other man had said he'd die before he went back to LOMPOC.

There was no way Brian was letting either of those happen.

Oh, don't get him wrong. He'd give the legal system a chance, but he knew it would let him down. It always did. And that meant he needed plans and backup plans and contingency plans for his backup plans.

Well, perhaps not. He knew what he'd have to do to save Dom. It was going to suck, but there was nothing he wouldn't do for Dom. He would move heaven and earth if he had to. Dominic Toretto would never again see the inside of LOMPOC if Brian had anything to say about it.

He could only hope that Dom would forgive him, one last time.