Its been one hell of a week for me! 3 midterms, ugh. :(

A thousand thanks to the amazing people who took the time to review: Rue Dawn, Violet201, Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto, sweetist of sin, lovewerido, xsparklesthemagicalunicornx, and Vincesdirtygirl (Love the name! and I'm glad you love the story! :]). I always appreciate all of your input, compliments, ideas, etc. etc. :D

…just promise you won't hate me after this chapter… :\

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 44: Repercussions

By: LoveInk

A loud knock on their door made Alex jump. It was rare anyone knocked on their door, they usually just yelled at them. Raising an eyebrow, Vince got out of the bed, grabbing a pair of pants and pulling them on before opening the door. When he opened it, he found Mia looking very pale underneath her tan. He raised an eyebrow in question. "What's up, Mia?"

Mia shifted nervously from foot to foot. "The feds are here, V. They want to talk to you."

Vince's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. He had a feeling the heists would catch up with him eventually, but it had been so long since he'd last heard from the feds, he thought he might be safe. "Right now?"

She nodded. "Get dressed," she suggested. "Lee and Mickey are stalling right now, but they want to talk to you."

He nodded and closed the door. Alex watched as he crossed the room, his shoulders tense. He swore quietly to himself as he ran his hands through his hair. Her stomach flip-flopped, she'd only seen him this nervous once and it was before a heist. "Big guy, what's going on?" she asked, a little fear bleeding into her voice. Vince pulled on a long sleeved shirt in an attempt to cover his scars thinking it'd be best to hide the physical evidence from the heists. When he didn't answer her, she called out his name, "Vince?"

He turned to her, taking in a deep breath to try and calm himself down for her sake. "The feds are here, Tiny."

"What?" she breathed, already halfway out of the bed. "For you?"

Vince nodded slowly, running a hand through his hair again. "I'm sure it'll be okay. They can't come after me now, right? It's been too long."

Alex pulled on a pair of Vince's workout shorts and one of her black tank tops. "I don't know, baby," she said, looking at him with wide eyes. "Vince, what if they…"

"Stop," he cut her off, turning towards her. His hands gently cupped her face, thumbs trailing over her cheeks. "I love you, okay? Whatever happens, just know that."

Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. He wasn't supposed to talk like that; he was supposed to assure her that nothing would happen, not talk like he already knew he was going away. "No," she choked out, shaking her head at him. "Nothing's going to happen, right? Right?" When he didn't say anything, she put her forehead to her chest, trying her best not to cry.

He felt his heart break as he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. He couldn't promise her that nothing would happen. The fact that the feds were at their door wasn't a good sign for any of them. "Let's just see what they want, okay?" he said, holding her tightly. "No tears yet. Just relax."

She sniffed, nodding before standing on her toes to catch his lips in a quick kiss. "Okay."

Alex followed him out, wiping at her face as she did so. There standing in the living room was a tall man flanked by another slightly balding man and a very familiar face. "Rube?" she questioned, looking at her brother-in-law in shock.

Rube nodded to her in greeting, but didn't say anything more. The tall man in the middle cleared his throat. "Good afternoon. I'm Agent Bilkins with the FBI. Mr. Catella, we have some questions for you."

Vince nodded slowly. "All right."

"Now, we can do this the hard way and take you downtown in cuffs or you can cooperate," Bilkins said cordially.

"I'll cooperate," he replied easily. It was out of character for him, but he had Alex now. He knew putting up a fight would only stress her out more and stress wasn't good for their baby. Plus, going to the police station meant taking the heat away from Michaela and Leon.

Mia cleared her throat. "Can we come too?" she asked from her place next to Alex. At Bilkins' questioning look, she continued, "Please, they're about to get married. She deserves to be there."

"Are you Mia Toretto?" he asked, not answering her. She nodded in response. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "We have questions for you too. You can both come and wait in the lobby if it'll make you happy."

"Thank you, sir," Alex said softly.

Vince sat calmly at a table in the interrogation room. Bilkins and the police sergeant, Tanner, stood in front of him while Rube stood in the corner, observing. Bilkins tossed a file onto the table before clearing his throat. "You know why we brought you here, I assume?"

He shrugged a shoulder in response. "Sure," he answered coolly.

"Now, we can take this to court or we can settle this the easy way. I'm willing to negotiate a deal with you. I've got bigger fish to fry than you, Catella. I'm after Toretto. Do you know where he is?"

Vince sighed and shrugged again. He was torn at that moment. A part of him wanted to tell the Agent to go fuck himself, while the other part wanted to tell him everything. "What's in it for me?"

"A shorter sentence, a better chance for early parole once your sentence starts. That's all I can give you right now."

He clenched his jaw and inhaled deeply. That's not what he wanted to hear. "How much time am I lookin' at?"

"I can put you in there for up to ten years if you don't cooperate, Catella. If you do, a few months. Like I said, all I want is Toretto. You give me good information, and I'll make your sentence short and sweet. Get you back home to your fiancée as fast as possible."

Vince didn't miss the way Rube winced at the word "fiancée." Sighing, he nodded his head. "All right. I'll tell you what I know," he lied. There was no way he was going to give up his best friend, but he knew there were certain vague details he could say that would please the feds.

Alex stood from the uncomfortable couch when Rube walk in. She rushed over to him. "What's going on, Rube? What's happening?" she asked, her green eyes as wide as saucers.

Rube grabbed her arms, trying to calm her down and keep her still. "I told you to let him go, Lexi," he said in a low voice. "I warned you."

Her breath caught in her throat as her vision was blurred by tears. "No," she breathed, watching as Bilkins and Tanner walked Vince out of the interrogation room, one handcuff hanging off his wrist.

She went to run to him but Mia caught her arm, holding her back. "Lex, relax," Mia urged, knowing stress was bad for the baby.

"Stop! He didn't do anything wrong!" Alex shouted, pulling against Mia's grasp. She sent a desperate look at Rube. "Rube! Do something! Please!"

Mia sneered at the man when he turned his head away from her as if he didn't care. She let go of Alex's wrist and the girl ran to Vince, throwing her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. "Don't leave me," Alex sobbed, clinging to him.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, knowing it was going to be a long time before he got the chance to do it again. "Tiny, it's all right," he assured her, though he knew it wasn't. He pressed a kiss to her head. "I'll be back, okay? It's just a few months, Tiny. Don't worry."

She didn't say anything, just held onto him tighter. He watched as Tanner shifted uncomfortably before clearing his throat. He gave Vince a glance that clearly meant it was time to go. Sighing, Vince gently hooked a finger under her chin to lift up her face so he could see it. "I'll be fine, Tiny," he whispered, bending to press a soft kiss to her lips. "You be good, all right? Take care of the Gremlin. I'll be home soon."

Alex nodded, more tears falling down her face. "I love you, Vince."

He gave her one last, long kiss and one final squeeze before pulling away. "I love you too, Tiny."

When she finally let him go, Mia was there waiting with open arms. She turned into them, burying her face into her neck as she cried. Vince caught Mia's eyes. "Take care of them," he said, gently running his hand over Alex's soft hair. Mia nodded, her cheek against Alex's head. He felt his heart break as he took one last look at her before walking out the door and to the police car.

:( I thought this was necessary. There's no way Vince could just live in LA without having any repercussions from the truck heists. I imagine the feds didn't come until a few weeks later because a) they were putting all their energy on Dominic and Brian originally and b) Vince was in the hospital...Does that make sense? :\

Anyways, let me know what you think! :)

~Love Ink