A/N: Okay, so I didn't get any feedback on the last chapter. (Sniff). Well, I'm gonna keep writing anyway. Here's the next chapter, it's a little sedate, but...there ya go. Thanks to everyone who put this story on their alerts list, though.
Reviews, even constructive criticism, are welcome. Enjoy!
"Mia, we need to talk," Brian, pleaded, following the willowy woman as she walked briskly along the sidewalk.
"I can't just now, okay?" she replied without turning.
Brian stopped, running a hand through his already tousled hair. "Dammit, Mia! We have to talk sometime! I know I screwed up, but I'm trying here!"
She finally stopped, turning slowly, pain in her eyes. "I know, I just can't deal with all this just now. I need my family back," she said, blinking back the tears.
Brian nodded, pulling her into a hug. "Okay, Mia. I can wait."
She melted helplessly in his warm embrace before she remembered she was still mad at him. Pulling back, she wiped furiously at the tears that had escaped, and squared her shoulders. "I've gotta got back to the Fort. I promised Rae I'd baby-sit so she could go visit Jesse and Vince."
Brian nodded. He had met the young woman the other day when she and her brother had met with him. She looked a lot like Letty, only…less sullen. It was kinda freaky. "Tell her to say hi from me, to Jesse at least."
"Yeah, I doubt Vince would appreciate it at this point," Mia said, a small smile lighting her face. She had gone to visit Vince yesterday, just after Rae had arrived, and had explained everything to him, including how Brian Earl Spilner, possible serial killer, was actually Brian O'Connor, undercover cop.
Vince had not been pleased. He had accepted, at least in theory, that Brian had saved his life, and chosen them over the police in aiding Dom; but in practise, it had been a little different. The nurse had sedated Vince, stating that she was concerned he would tear out his stitches. Again. Mia thought it was just an excuse to get some peace and quiet, although Mia couldn't blame the woman.
"Do you mind if I walk with you?" he asked almost shyly, reminding her of when he had first started coming to the market. "I'm supposed to meet Alex at the Fort too, we're going to talk to Hector and some of the others about helping the team out," he added, not wanting her to feel pressured. She just nodded, resuming her brisk pace.
When they reached the Fort, Brian noted how she skirted the spot where Jesse ha been shot. He had cleaned up the blood before she'd got back from the hospital, but she still seemed to see it there.
They went inside the cool house, finding Rae slumped down on the couch, Ella sitting on her stomach and talking away quietly. The little girl was two, almost three, and looked a lot like her mother. Her hair was rich dark brown instead of shining black, and her skin was a little paler, but she had the same wicked looking tilted eyes and full mouth. Mia had soon realised that although the little girl talked non-stop, most of it was just a running commentary of what was going on around her, with random comments or exclamations thrown in.
Rae looked up as they came in, and spotting Brian said, "Alejandro's out back, he on the phone with Viv. His wife," she added at their blank looks, "He'll just be a second," she said, smiling. Then she turned to Ella. "Okay Munchkin. I gotta go visit your uncle Jesse in hospital. Aunt Mia's gonna look after you for a couple hours okay? I want you on your best behaviour. We can't have her learning what a little hell raiser you really are, know can we?" the small girl shook her head grinning.
Rae tapped her cheek, "Kiss."
Ella leaned forward, pecking Rae's cheek. "'Bye Momma,"
"'Bye, Muchkin, now scoot!" she said, gently nudging the girl off her lap.
Rae stood up, stretching. Brian noted that she hadn't mentioned Vince, but not really knowing her place in the dynamic of the group, he filed it away.
"Thanks for lookin' after her Mi, I'll probably be a couple hours. Leave a message on my cell if there's a problem. Oh! And no sugar or caffeine for Ella unless you want her bouncing off the walls. Seriously," she warned.
"Noted," Mia laughed.
With that, Rae grabbed her messenger bag and made her way to the rental car parked outside.
"Ah, Jesse," Rae sighed, looking down at her young friend. He was pale and skinny, as always, but there was a frailty there that hadn't been before. It was heart breaking. For a moment, Rae felt a surge of anger at Dom and the others for getting Jesse involved in this. It didn't matter that Jesse was less than two years younger than her, he was still just a kid, and he always would be in her mind.
There were various tubes and wires linking him to bits of medical equipment clustered around his head, beeping away. She had already spoken to the doctor, explaining how she was the closest thing to family in the area.
The woman had explained that his chances weren't good, the hadn't been able to fix all off his injuries in the first round of surgery, fearing that if they kept him on the table too long, his body wouldn't be able to take it. She said that if he made it though the rest of the surgeries, his odds of survival would greatly improve, but the chances of him lasting that long were small. She advised Rae to prepare for the worst, and seeing the look on the young woman face, had left her in peace.
Rae pulled a chair up next to his bed, carefully taking one of his hands in hers, and began talking. Explaining where she'd been, why she'd left, everything, more than she'd told anyone, even her own brother.
Realising that an hour had passed already, and that she hadn't yet seen Vince, she stood up to leave. Leaning over, he whispered in Jesse's ear. "You fight, little brother, you hear me? The rest of us won't make it without you, so you've gotta fight."
Walking outside, she wiped away her tears and asked the way to Vince's ward.
"What do you want cop?" Hector demand, the rest of his crew quickly standing behind him.
Alex spoke before Brian had a chance to reply. "Hector, I take it? I'm Alejandro Marquez, Letty's cousin. I need your help."
"Alejandro, huh? You're Rae's bro, right? The fancy lawyer?" Hector asked, eying him.
Alex smiled, "Yeah, that's me. Dom called me; I'm trying to help them out. So's the cop."
"Oh yeah? I think he's helped enough already, don't you?" Hector replied with disgust.
"Come on, we both know the cops would have found a way in either way, and it coulda gone a lot worse. Vince is still alive 'cause of him, and he let Dom leave, so why don't we cut the bull. Dom trusts him to help, and so do I," Alex replied, folding his arms.
Hector paused a moment, then nodded, still not looking at Brian. "What do you need?"
"Simple. I need witnesses at Race Wars who'll swear that they saw Johnny Tran kidnap Vince, and that the team took off after them. Dom said that you were the guy to talk to about this, he said I could trust you," Alex answered.
"What good's that gonna do?" One of Hector's crew asked, frowning.
Hector shot him an annoyed look. "He's gonna make it look like the Trans tried to set up Toretto and the team, right? You've already got dozens of witnesses including Race Wars security that can testify to bad blood between them, not to mention what happened to Jesse, and Tran ain't exactly around to deny it," Hector explained, sounding impressed and obviously not bothered with laying the blame on a dead guy.
"Yeah. Witnesses plus a convenient paper trail is enough for reasonable doubt at the least," Alex smiled.
"And you're okay with this, white boy?" Hector asked, finally looking at Brian.
"For the team? Hell yeah," he replied with hesitation.
Hector grinned, spreading his arms, "Let me make some calls."
Rae was sitting next to Vince's bed, reading a ragged copy of 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. It was one of her favourites, it reminded her of her time with the team. Easy, carefree days filled with jokes and laughter, until the shit hit the fan and everyone had to grow up and realise that life wasn't perfect after all.
She was leaning back in the chair with her legs propped on the bed next to his uninjured arm when he finally came to. "uugh," Vince grunted.
"Hey Vince," she said quietly, closing the book at setting it in her lap.
"Rae," he said, his voice surprised.
Rae frowned, "I thought Mia told you I was comin' round?"
Vince frowned back, "It's tomorrow already?" he asked groggily, the sedatives still wearing off.
"Yeah," she laughed softly, "Mia said the nurse was a bit shot-happy when it came to knockin' you out,"
Vince looked around suspiciously, "She ain't here is she?"
"I think she's on her break," Rae replied, trying to hold back her smile.
Vince lay back, blinking as he tried to gather his thoughts. "What're you doing here, Rae?" he growled, glaring at her.
She took her feet off the bed, and sat forward, with her elbows resting on her knees. "I've already covered this with Dom. I'm here to help, not cause trouble okay? I'm just gonna hang 'round 'till this is all sorted and Jesse's on the mend."
Vince didn't say anything, so Rae continued. "I know that saying we parted on bad terms would be a massive understatement, but I want to make things okay with the rest of the team, and you." She sighed, sitting back again. "I know that I fucked up, Vince, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you."
She waited for his response, and when she didn't get one, she started to get angry, finally letting all the pain boil up after three and a half years of suppressing it. "You know what? Yeah, I hurt you. But you hurt me too Vince, the things you said…" she trailed off, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill. She took a deep breath, and her voice once again calm, she continued, "I'm going to be here a while, and unless you want everyone finding out our dirty little secret, you and I are going to have to find a way to co-exist, okay?"
He finally nodded, shifting slightly and wincing, glaring at his arm.
Rae smiled sympathetically, "Hurts, doesn't it?"
He looked at her sharply, and realising she was trying to be nice, he nodded, his eyes drifting to her now-tattooed forearms, remembering the scars that were once obvious.
"Can I ask you a question, Vince?" she said, cocking her head to the side.
"Sure, go for it," he grumbled.
"What exactly made you think that jumping on to a moving sixteen-wheeler was ever a good idea?" she asked, raising her eyebrows disbelievingly.
He gave her a dark look.
"Mia told me you've got a kid," Vince commented, changing the subject, "I never took you for the motherin' type,"
Rae laughed, "Yeah, well neither did I, but she wasn't exactly planned," she shrugged. "Things change. I'm not exactly 'soccer mom', but I manage. She's a handful, no question, but she's a good kid. I'm gonna bring her in to see Jesse in a day or so, do you…do you want to meet her?" she asked quietly.
Vince just shrugged. "I guess I gotta meet the kid at some point."
Rae nodded. "Doc says you can go home in a couple days, if you behave and don't pull your stitches again. Alex, Ella and I have been crashing at the Fort. If me being there is going to bother you, I can go stay at a hotel, it's not a problem," she offered.
He just shrugged, wincing again at the pain.
"Look Vince," she said, as she gathered her things to leave, "I know you hate me, and that's fair, but the team…they were my family too, and I miss that." She stood for a moment, as though she was going to say something more, but shook her head and left, the door swinging behind her.
She was right. He did hate her. But what she failed to realise was that he hated himself more.
