Chapter 22: Our Separate Ways

"I could tell you was into me, from my instant chemistry
As I reflect memory, you ride or you die for me
I'll go to war over you I don't give a fuck about showing you"

Neva End - Future

The team found themselves sitting around Leon's kitchen table with a round of beers. Some of them were a little scraped up, others a little sore, most of them pretty tired, but they were all alive.

They had some new friends, Giselle sitting uneasily beside Letty and Mia, though most of them had been family longer than they could remember. A silence had fallen over them after they'd sat down, some still too shell-shocked to say anything, others were more than a little bit on their minds.

Finally, it was Brian who spoke, rubbing a hand over his face. "I had to contact the feds," he said softly. "We made a mess of the Villa and out there on the highway. No way the authorities weren't going to notice. So I'm going to have to take responsibility."

"Will you get in trouble?" Mia asked softly.

"Probably, but I was sent in to bring down Braga. That's what I did. With Vince's help."

"What about the rest of us?" Leon asked. "There's no way they're going to buy you did all that shit alone with just V."

"I was thinking about that," Brian admitted. "I could definitely draw up some paperwork to say I got Leo and Syd to help, even Mia. They might frown on it but since Braga dragged us out to Brazil I would have had to play a lot of it by ear anyway."

"I just have to make myself scarce before they show," Dom said lowly and Letty leaned close to him, wrapping her arm around his waist.

"I won't tell them you were here," Brian said. "But I don't have the authority to give you a deal. Maybe some day…" he let the sentence hang, not wanting to get anyone's hopes up.

Mia looked upset, though she'd come to terms with the fact that she would not be seeing much of her brother since the incident with jacking the trucks. Especially because he'd seemed hell-bent on doing more illegal shit each place he went. She'd already yelled and cried at him over it. It hadn't changed a thing.

Even here, he'd been trying to do the right thing and they were wrapped up in drug lords and people trying to kill them again.

"One day we'll get you home, Dom," she said, her voice full of conviction and he couldn't help but smile at her, reaching over to ruffle her hair until she shoved at him. They shared a laugh. At least some things never changed.

"Vince is out of jail for good now," Brian said. "We can all head back to LA. We'll make sure Mia's safe, Dom."

"I appreciate it."

0000

Dom and Letty were the first to leave the next morning. She'd left the pretty red Plymouth behind, passing the keys to Giselle. The other woman was going to be testifying on Brian's behalf. She'd destroyed her whole world and come out on the other side whole. She was going to need a new start.

Tossing her bag into the trunk she hugged Leon and Syd, promising to come back to visit again. Brian got a punch in the arm before she turned to hug Vince, making him promise to watch over Mia without being a creep. Mia got the tightest hug, two sisters who'd known each other since childhood. It was hard that they could not see each other very often. But Mia knew Dom was Letty's everything. And that she would give up anything just to be with him. She didn't resent that. She was glad that someone loved her brother so much.

After Dom said his goodbyes, trading low words with both Brian and Vince and pulling Mia into a tight hug that had her crying like a baby.

After a goodbye that was far too long for anyone's comfort they finally climbed into the Chevelle and Dom turned over the engine, pulling away from the little house in Cordoso Moreira and heading for the nearest highway.

0000

Brian, Vince and Mia boarded the plane from Sao Paolo back to LA on a red eye flight. They were all silent, a dozen thoughts whirling through their heads. Brian was on suspension from his job as the strike against Braga and his lackeys was investigated. They were sure it would turn out, having Giselle's testimony more than helped. And no one in the FBI was really mourning the death of the drug lord.

Vince was not sure what to do with his newfound freedom, and had mulled over it for a while before Mia brought up the shop back in LA. It had been Dom's shop, and his father's before him. Vince had worked in that place since he could hold a wrench. It was like a second home to him. A good mechanic could bring in a nice chunk of money, and it would help out Mia with the house. She would go back to her job at the hospital and they'd do the best they could.

He even offered Brian a part time job until he got reinstated, and Mia had stared at them in shock of their newfound brotherhood, shaking her head and muttering about men under her breath.

0000

Back in Rio Syd and Leon talked about reopening the clinic. The pain was still so new and raw, but then she thought of how much the people here needed doctors. How much Mrs. Alves had said it meant to their community. Braga had tried to destroy that. Maybe he'd destroyed a building. He'd killed people. He'd hurt their loved ones. But he was dead now. And they were alive.

She decided to get to work on the rebuilding as soon as they could afford it.

Though with a new baby on the way, that might have to be on hold for just a little while.

0000

Dom and Letty found themselves leaving behind the familiar warm beaches and cultures of South America as they boarded a plane to Tokyo. It was a call from Han that had spurned them to travel so far outside their comfort zone. He made note of mentioning the racing scene and offered them jobs at his buddy's garage.

Letty reached for Dom's hand as they disembarked into the crowded airport. There were a million faces around them and none they knew. No cops after them, no feds. No criminal enterprises to get wrapped up in – yet. She squeezed his hand and he smiled, pulling it free to wrap his arm around her shoulders and draw her close, dropping a kiss atop her head.

"I think what Mia said was true," she murmured softly. "One day we'll get home."

"Baby," he murmured. "Home is with you."

~Fin