A/N: Hey guys. So you may or may not be aware that FFN has been having issues for months now. If something happens and the site goes down or whatever, you can find me on Archive of Our Own and Wattpad under this exact username.

If God was watching right now, he was laughing his ass off. Here she was in a hospital bed, hooked up to intravenous drips, and next to her, like deja vu, sat the man who'd once taken everything from her, including her memories. "You shouldn't be in here."

"Neither should you." Owen Shaw sat forward in the chair Dom had placed at her bedside. The one her husband should have been sitting in. "Yet here we are."

"What do you want?"

He reached toward her face, only to brush a loose lock of her hair back out of her eyes.

One gesture and suddenly they were back in that garage, with Owen standing there, telling her that if something happened to Letty of all people, he might find it slightly harder to bear. Showing her that despite the black void he called a soul, there was something still human inside him. Something not completely marred by blood and violence.

At least that was what she'd thought until that day on the bridge and the moment Owen showed his true self.

"What every Shaw wants."

He looked at her as if he expected her to understand the implication.

Letty did.

"Payback."

There was no reason to say another word. Letty knew what he was planning to do, and to whom. If Shaw didn't kill Jakob, he'd make that asshole suffer at minimum. Every bullet returned to sender.

"What about your..."

The word 'sister' died on Letty's lips as the door to the room opened and Dom walked in, two cups of cheap coffee in hand. He didn't say anything as Owen pushed himself to his feet, collecting the crutches that leaned against the back of the chair.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Owen said. "Take care, Letty."

"You too."

As half-hearted as it sounded coming from her, right now Letty meant every word of it. Try as she might to ignore the reality of their situation, there was no denying that the Shaws had been their lifeline.

One that was now severed, no thanks to their enemies.

"Hey," Dom said once they were alone, giving Shaw's presence no more attention than he would a shadow on the wall, "are you alright?"

"Yeah."

No.

If Letty knew Owen Shaw as well as she thought she did, he wasn't going to sit around in this hospital for any longer than necessary. Screw his injury and all the other shit he was dealing with right now, there was business to attend to—someone in need of killing—and God help anyone who got in his way.

Dom looked at her with those kind eyes that said he could talk to her about anything and squeezed her hand. "Letty."

"I'm fine." God knew she wanted to tell him what she suspected, what might very well happen soon enough, but that wasn't Dom's problem. It wasn't hers either, for that matter. Owen could look after himself. "Really. How's everyone else?"

"Alive." But right now Dom didn't want to think about the rest of their team, or why Owen Shaw had been in his wife's room. "Letty..."

"We can't stay here."

It'd been ticking over in his head, too. If they followed Mr. Nobody's advice and went to some other base, what were the odds Cipher would track them down all over again? No, they had to keep moving.

And they had to find Sam.

Without her, Cipher would have nothing on Hobbs. No leverage, no power over him—the Fed could come home instead of worrying about his daughter. All they had to do was find a child-sized needle in a haystack.

"I know." Dom squeezed her hand again. Not so much to assure Letty as himself. Once she was up and out of bed, along with the rest of the team, he'd make that call and get them some much needed help. "So what did Shaw want?"

The words came out of her without hesitation. "He's leaving."

"What?"

Letty took a breath and continued, "Owen wants to go after Jakob."

With a hole in his foot? It sounded stupid, and the exact kind of thing that a Shaw would do. Clearly he'd have to make that phone call sooner rather than later before he had two angry women breathing down his neck.

"Shit." Dom pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed a number he had committed to memory. He'd told himself that using it would only ever be used as a last resort, in an emergency, and it seemed that time was now. As the phone rang, Dom switched over to loudspeaker and waited for the call to be— "It's me."

"Well, I can't say I ever wanted to hear your voice again, Toretto. What's happened?"

"Your sons were shot. Hobbs said to ask for Hattie's help."

"...You hear that, sweetheart?"

"How bad is it?" said a voice Dom could only assume was Hattie."And why isn't it Luke making this call?"

"Cipher kidnapped his daughter." He paused to let the message sink in. The reality of what awaited the two Shaw women when they finally arrived. If ever there was someone Dom didn't want to fight again, it was the Fed. Not because he couldn't hold his own in a fight, but because of what it meant—Hobbs would no longer hold back. "He's working for her now."

"Oh, God. Sam...I'll be on the next plane there."

"And my daughter?" Magdalene."Where's Elizabeth?"

Letty snorted, like she couldn't believe the question had even been asked. "That bitch betrayed us and joined Cipher. She helped Jakob shoot your sons, and she built the bomb that almost killed us."

If ever there was a time when she should have shut her mouth, this morning had been it. Elizabeth could all but see it in his eyes now—disgust, repulsion, outright loathing. If Hobbs hadn't thought she was a monster earlier, he surely did now. She could even feel it in his touch, too. In the way that he held her a little less tightly than before, as if her criminality might rub off on him.

Yet no matter what he did, Elizabeth remained focused. Eyes fixed on a target taped to the ramp that sealed them off from 27,000 feet of open air. Grip tight, arms close to her body as she lifted the Glock to eye level. Jakob had told her to do that, and it seemed to make aiming much easier.

"Good," said Hobbs, glancing at his watch. "Let's call it a day. We'll pick it up tomorrow."

"Sure."

Even if Hobbs was disgusted, though, what the hell did she care? He was nothing more than a temporary annoyance. Someone who would be out of her life in a little over two weeks, and then Elizabeth would be free to go wherever she pleased...and that'd be right back onboard this plane until the day Dominic Toretto lay rotting in his grave.

Elizabeth holstered her Glock, exiting the cargo hold before the Fed could get another word out. The clock in the galley said it was barely half past four in the afternoon. That meant Jakob would be lurking somewhere, or in the security room watching the camera feeds and listening to the mics.

If she was lucky, he'd be in his room and she wouldn't have to look him in the eye yet. If Elizabeth was unlucky, there'd be a brief two minute window before she found herself getting hauled off to some corner of the plane.

By some miracle, she managed all of four minutes alone before he popped up like some groundhog. Standing outside of the armory, black duffel bag in hand, Jakob was dressed in his usual protective gear.

"Going somewhere?"

"No, but you are." He threw the bag at her feet and said, "Get dressed. Now."

Oh, fuck. Elizabeth muttered and unzipped the bag, pulling out the pile of protective gear inside it. Kevlar bodysuit, vest, gloves, boots—was this some kind of a joke? She had two cracked ribs. Going on any kind of mission was presently outside of her limited range of capabilities.

"You're going to have to zip me up."

"That's not a problem." Jakob's tone was serious, yet the hint of a smirk on his face said he'd enjoy the show, too. "Need me to undo those buttons for you, too?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and got dressed right there in the hallway, letting Jakob do his part when she had the suit on, and when it came time to get that ridiculous vest on. She strapped her Glock to her right thigh again, gloves and boots pulled on last. "What's going on?"

"How's it feel?"

"A little tight around the chest." Maybe it was her ribs talking, but the pressure of the vest and straps felt uncomfortable to say the least. "Jakob?"

"Let's go."

They were still at cruising altitude. There was nowhere to go unless she jumped off the plane's ramp, and the only reason Elizabeth would ever do that was to get off this flying sardine can. She frowned in disapproval but followed him anyway, away from their sleeping quarters and around, down the hallway past Cipher's office and toward the front of the plane.

Turning left suddenly, Jakob led her through a secure doorway into an open room. PCs and monitors lined desks on the far side of the room where Hobbs sat, headset on as he stared at the screen in front of him.

What he was saying, Elizabeth didn't want to hear, but there was no escaping it now. Nor the fact Cipher sat to their right, one leg crossed over the other with her laptop braced on her thigh.

Jakob stopped just beside Cipher, gaining her attention through his presence alone. The hacker looked up, eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"You're a little old to be playing dress-up, Elle."

"Believe me, this wasn't my idea." Hobbs didn't turn around when Beth spoke, and thank God for that. The last thing she wanted was to hear a smartass comment come out of his mouth. "Your overgrown manchild is responsible."

Cipher chuckled and shook her head, returning her attention to her laptop for a brief moment. "Alright, Jakob. You've proven your point."

"And what point would that be?" asked Elizabeth. She fixed her attention on the only man in the room presently looking at her, arms crossing over her vest. "That I'll jump when you say to?"

"The point," Jakob said, stepping toward her, "was you don't look like a very nice woman. Put you in tac gear and it seems you come close to almost psychopathic."

Elizabeth's laugh was genuine and light as a smile spread across her face, and even he couldn't help but turn around for a moment. Hobbs stared, frowning, at the three of them acting like this was some fucking comedy club.

"Owen and I both get our good looks from Dad." Shaw shrugged, still smiling. As much as Luke was focused on Sam right now, there was something about her voice—her smile—that tugged at him. "And he is the worst of all of us."

It was like this morning all over again, only Elizabeth seemed vulnerable in an entirely different way. She was exposed now. Completely transparent. Her guard had come down, allowing him to see past the facade and lies that kept this smiling woman hidden from sight.

"Dad?" Sam's voice crackled in his ears. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, baby." Luke forced his eyes back to the screen and away from the giant distraction behind him. Why the hell was she in here anyway? "Sorry, Daddy got a little distracted. What were you saying?"

"Mani-pedis at the mall," Sam sniffed, wiping her eyes. "And Waffle House. As soon as we're together."

"Sounds like a plan." Hobbs tried to force a smile but it felt so goddamn fake and wrong. It was like all the energy had been drained out of him, and Luke knew the reason why. Almost his entire day had been spent trying to whip Elizabeth Shaw into shape, and no matter how he went about things, it was proving to be both physically and mentally taxing. "I'll see you soon, baby. I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad," Sam said.

He wrapped up the video call before the tears welling in Sam's eyes could fall and break his heart. Luke took a breath, got to his feet and turned to face the woman whose brother set off the chain reaction that'd caused his worst nightmare to come true.

"Shaw." Elizabeth looked at him, but he didn't give her time to react. Luke didn't want to hear so much as a single 'fuck you' from her right now. "We're done."

The smile on her face dissolved in an instant. Luke walked out, shoulders heavy, and shut the door hard behind him. If Shaw tried to argue, he didn't hear her, and if he said anything, she didn't hear that either.

"What the fuck was that about?" Jakob looked at the door, brows pinched in confusion. "You do something to piss him off, princess?"

"I don't know." She tugged at her collar and frowned, unzipping it to the top of her breastbone. The suit and protective gear, while comfortable, was making Elizabeth start to sweat in places she didn't normally sweat. "Probably."

"Then you might want to consider some ass kissing. See if you can't change his mind."

Kiss his arse? Yeah, right, like that would happen. She'd never go crawling on her hands and knees, pleading with some bastard, just because it was more convenient for her to work with Hobbs than not. "I don't think so."

"...As entertaining as this party is, I need you two to take it elsewhere," Cipher said, interrupting them. "Now."

"Alright. See you around, boss."

Jakob was the first to leave without argument, leaving Elizabeth standing there. She remained unmoving and stared at Cipher, and Cipher stared right back.

"Elle."

Oh, no, she wasn't going anywhere until there were some answers given. "Why was Jakob proving a point?"

"We have a bet."

"On whether or not I'll pull the trigger?"

It seemed like the logical answer. There wasn't much else to bet on onboard Air Cipher, and if Elizabeth had to guess, the bet was merely provocation. A push to get her to become what Cipher wanted without all of this being over. A way to nudge Elizabeth into growing that spine and start working for her earlier than agreed upon.

"No. Nothing as banal as that. Now if you don't mind, I need to have this meeting in private."

Elizabeth zipped up her suit, brushed her bangs back behind her ears and took up position behind Cipher's chair. "We're not done talking, but I can wait."

"In the hallway, not here."

The tone of Cipher's voice said there was no room for negotiation or discussion, so she walked out and waited opposite the door. Five minutes later, Cipher finally deigned to grace Elizabeth with her presence. She stepped out of the conference room and locked the door, their gazes meeting for one very brief moment.

"Comfortable?"

"What the hell is this?" Elizabeth gestured to the kevlar she wore. "Jakob tells me to get dressed so I do. Now you're making bets and proving points? Why?"

It was a valid question. One that Cipher wouldn't answer, however. Elle didn't need to know what went on behind the scenes, or anything outside of her purview for that matter. She was a knight in the chess game that Cipher was playing with Dom, not a Bishop. All Elizabeth had to do was listen, go where and do what she was told, not try to play the role of advisor.

"You can go back to your room now."

"Oh, can I? Am I dismissed then, ma'am?"

"Elizabeth."

"You don't need to play me."

"Yes, I do, otherwise you'd stand here for hours arguing with me like you're doing now," said Cipher, "and nitpicking the details instead of getting the job done. That's why you're here and not in Moscow. You got caught up in Makarov's web rather than kill him the day you landed, and for the next nine years you wasted your life. Am I wrong?"

"Sod off."

"You turned into your mother," she continued as Elizabeth's right hand went for the Glock, and for a moment it seemed she had the balls to use it. "Struggling to keep your head above water. Neck deep in shit and eyes closed so you wouldn't have to look at it."

"You think I'm ashamed? I did what I had to. I did whatever it took to—"

"Did you?"

If Elizabeth wanted a fight, she'd damn well get one. It just wouldn't be a fight that she had a chance at winning. Perhaps she'd forgotten but all those dirty little secrets Elizabeth had once confessed to still floated around in Cipher's head, like daggers waiting to be used.

"Is that what you tell yourself in bed so you can sleep when the nightmares come back?" Cipher said. "You were wrapped around Makarov's finger. You went there to kill him and what a surprise, you fell in love with him. He killed your mother and then he seized the opportunity to ruin you."

Cipher couldn't help but smile as the pain written on Elizabeth's face turned into fury, yet she never drew the gun on her thigh. Not even as Cipher stepped closer and lowered her voice.

"You were a glorified whore, and you adored him. You worshipped the ground he walked on, and for what? It earned you nothing but pain."

"Is that what you think?" Fury became a cold smile, as calculating and knowing as any she could wear herself. Elizabeth tilted her head, gaze underlined by something cruel and vicious. "Everything I went through was growing pains. Did it give me nightmares? Yes, but if that's the price I had to pay then it was worth it."

Catching herself before she could even ask the question of what exactly was worth the pain, Cipher chuckled as Elizabeth turned her back and walked back down the hallway toward the midsection of the plane.

The first thing she saw was Hobbs sitting on one of the lounges, hands clasped together and bent in half. Elizabeth made a beeline for him, helping herself to the adjacent seat. She didn't speak or make so much as a sound until Hobbs lifted his head and looked at her.

"I told you we're done," he said.

"Why?"

"Have you seen the way you are with them?" If she was on his side, he was a fucking clown. What he'd witnessed just a few minutes ago was proof of that, and the evidence was undeniable. "How long were you planning to screw me around before you finally used that knife?"

"How about I just screw you instead? You want to get your dick wet? Clear your head? I'd have you coming in the cargo hold in five minutes."

"Clear my—"

"Or should I borrow a wig and you can pretend I'm Hattie? We're about the same height. Close your eyes and you won't notice the difference."

If the look on his face had been disgust before, it was pure revulsion now. Hobbs clenched his fists like he was about to do something, then flexed them and went to stand. Elizabeth stopped him in his tracks, pushing him back against the lounge. She straddled his lap, resting her weight on him, and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Get off."

"Stop overthinking things, Hobbs."

God knew she was doing that, too. She was reading into every single twitch of his face and the sound of his voice. Trying to figure out exactly where they stood. Making the kinds of assumptions that Cipher was no doubt hoping she'd make. Playing into Cipher's hands like some idiot who couldn't see what was right in front of her.

"Shaw."

Elizabeth leaned down, bringing her lips as close to his ear as she dared. "Pick me up and take me to the cargo hold."

He picked her up, alright, and shoved her off. Luke glared at her, teeth grit, body tense and ready in case she tried to dry hump him again. "I'm not Jakob, so how about you go fuck him like you tried to the other day?"

"You want me to say it?" Shaw righted herself, staring right back at him. This time, she didn't try to touch him. "Ask me. I'll tell you as many times as I have to until the message sinks through your thick skull."

Ask her what exactly? Whose side she was on? If he could trust her or not? The exact time she'd betray him down to the millisecond? No. Whatever came out of her mouth from now on was a lie, no question about that. Luke stood, putting some desperately needed distance between them. "Stay the hell away from me."

She waited all of ten seconds to follow him straight down to the cargo hold. Luke could hear her stalk him like a bad smell he couldn't get rid of. It was pathetic. Truthfully, it was starting to piss him off, too.

"Woman, I told you to—"

Every pound of her slammed into him, making his spine hit the wall. He grunted in surprise and went to push her back but something inside Hobbs wavered. Maybe it was the look on her face, or the fact Elizabeth proceeded to draw her Glock and toss it aside.

Damn it.

What the hell was it about her that made him hesitate and second guess himself? The moment he'd crashed into her back at the base, Luke had felt the world come falling down on his shoulders. He was a mean sumbitch, not a cruel one—leaving her in that wreckage to fend for herself would've been a step too far, no matter what he thought of her.

She wasn't Reyes, after all. Her sins and crimes were minor in comparison, and everything she'd done following her arrival at the base was no doubt tied to what Luke himself had asked of her. Perhaps in the beginning Elizabeth was driven by pure self interest, but telling him about Jakob's arrival...surely there was some shred of respect for the deal she'd struck with him in play that night.

"We can stand here and you can pussyfoot around the issue or we can go into the cargo hold and talk. It's your choice."

"Shut up, Elizabeth."

Luke grasped her thighs, picked her up, and hauled her inside the cargo hold. He carried her straight to the SUV's rear door and braced Shaw against the car's side while he popped the door open. As soon as there was enough room, he all but threw her onto the floor of the SUV, climbed in after her, and closed the door.

If thousands of dollars worth of armor and reinforced glass wasn't enough to soundproof the goddamn car then they had more issues than just a lack of space.

Shaw helped herself to a seat against the side of the car, her right knee bent and arm resting atop it. Luke tested the door to make sure it was shut properly then leaned his weight against it, stretching his legs out so they wouldn't cramp up or fall asleep.

"If you lie to me," Hobbs said, "I walk."

"You asked for full transparency. You'll get it."

Elizabeth tugged at the zipper, struggling to slide it down again, then shifted her attention to her vest. Cursing under her breath, she struggled to find the straps and get them undone. The way Elizabeth went straight for where she thought they'd be told him she was familiar with the layout of the flak vests he wore, but that one? Not a chance.

"Piece of…" She looked down, finding the clips and releasing them. Elizabeth lifted the vest off, setting it aside before she gripped her collar and tugged at it. "Why the fuck did I put this thing on?"

"You met Cipher in Cuba two years ago."

"Yes."

Luke could see the zipper was caught on its own material. Nothing short of brute force would get that thing open now, or a knife. Something she clearly didn't have on her. "Was your plan to get revenge on me?"

"Why don't you ask me a question which you don't already know the answer to?"

"So that's a yes."

"For eighteen months, I was in a seven by twelve concrete cell for twenty-three hours a day. A cell you put me in. Yes, of course, that was the plan."

"Did your plan involve my daughter?"

"No." Elizabeth gripped her collar and began pulling as hard as she could. The zipper broke slowly, giving way, allowing Shaw to pry the teeth apart until the kevlar suit was open down to the top of her breastbone. She freed her hair from the elastic she wore, too, and sat back. "I didn't know she existed until now."

"Are you going to betray me?"

The look on Shaw's face turned serious, yet she didn't meet his gaze once. She stared out the side of the car instead, fingers drumming against her leg. A minute passed before she took a breath and finally fixed her attention on him.

"Yes," Elizabeth admitted, "but not until your daughter is safe."

"Okay."

Why he'd expected her to say no, Luke wasn't sure, but the thought had entered his head. Maybe it was some shred of hope that this ally thing would last a little longer, or maybe he was simply tired of having partners that he couldn't trust.

Luke wanted—No, he needed someone to have his back when this all ended in yet another ball of flames. The waiting, the hoping and crossing his fingers, all of the pain lodged in his chest right now, would eventually become too much.

When it did, someone would have to be there to catch him and stop him from falling to pieces. From taking his gun and finishing the job himself…even if that someone's name was Shaw.