The Fuel Cap is On Too Tight So Watch Out It Might Ignite
Rated M: For Violence, Cursing, and Eventual Intercourse
Parings: Bria/Dom (Brian/Dom)
Gender Bend
Chapter 3
After all the awkwardness of the situation wore off, Bria insisted on sitting outside on the porch swing rather than going back inside. The porch was long, the length of it allowing not only the two seated porch swings that Bria was sitting on to exist but also an outside table set on the opposite end with four wicker chairs. There was a railing that looked like it had recently gotten a new coat of paint and a rug at the foot of the door with the print "el hogar es donde está la familia". The porch had a small set of stairs leading to a bright green front yard that drastically dropped once you got to the sidewalk since it had been raised up while the walkway had been leveled down to meet the sidewalk with another set of stairs.
Although, to some extent, Bria knew that this arrangement was ideal for the purpose of her investigation, it felt less than. And she knew that being in this household would help her finish her job more quickly and eventually, successfully earn that promotion to a detective that she had always wanted. But this didn't make the situation any better, not even in the least bit.
For a while, everyone just stood around, not really knowing what to do. One by one the members of the household made their way back into the house. The noise that had grown during the argument before followed the group, and with everyone gone, Bria and Dom were left alone, the swing creaking with every kick that Bria made and Dom never taking his eyes off of her in motion.
"I'll need to go back to Racer's Edge," she stated her voice low and raspy, almost inaudible.
"For what?" Dom asked, crossing his arms over his chest, catching her words because he had been staring at her so intensely.
"I need to get my things and my job back."
"You can't work in this condition, and if you need the money that bad you can work for me in my garage."
Bria sighed. She knew that this argument could and would go round and round in circles before still ending up back at Dom's choice. For some reason, he seemed pretty final about her not working at Racer's Edge.
"Okay then," she continued, "I won't continue to work there but I gotta get my stuff."
Dom nodded, "Gotta clear out your desk?" He moved closer to the swing and leaned on it, his arm raised high causing him to pose like a living Roman statue.
Bria shook her head, her hair tickling her face as she moved, "I live there…" She coughed a bit wheezing. "I gotta vacate since I don't work there anymore."
Dom's face pinched, in irritation at the realization that his actions had very well made her lose the little home that she had built for was he always fucking up when it came to this woman? He let out a loud sigh and pushed himself upright before starting to walk toward his car.
"Okay, come on. I'll drive you." He stopped at the front door of the house yelling loudly that he was taking her to get her stuff and Bria could hear Letty respond "Okay!" before she limped after him. She wanted her stuff, needed it in fact. Especially her phone to contact Tanner.
They both made their way down the patio to Dom's car which was parked out front rather than in the driveway like the rest of the family's racers. Bria hobbled slowly to Dom's red Mazda, mixed feelings hitting her as she noticed that the car was a two-seater and she would be forced to be in close contact with Dom for longer than she wanted. She needed some distance for multiple reasons but it seemed that today was just a day of nothing going her way. Dom stopped the moment he got in front of the car, rubbing the back of his neck in thought before whirling around to address Bria.
"I think my car might be too small to carry all your stuff and we had Letty take your work truck back while you were asleep. Maybe I can get one of the others to let us use their car…" He trailed off trying to figure out whose car would be the best option but Bria interrupted,
"No, this is fine. I don't have much." She went around to the other side of the car, opening the door and flopping into the passenger seat.
"Come on Dom, let's get this done."
Dom seemed confused by the whole thing, a frown tight on his lips as he slid into the driver seat and started them on their way to Racer's edge.
=(So Fast and So Furious)=
When Dom finally said something, his voice surprised Bria. She hadn't known it but she had somehow started to fall asleep, lulled by the motion of the car.
"So, you live at the store?" He asked softly
"Yeah," she said sleepily nodding her head to add emphasis, "It was one of the appeals of the job."
"Racer's Edge doesn't seem like it can house anyone…"
"Honestly?" she turned to look at him, "It can't. I live with the backstock. Only got a sink and a cot, but it's better than most places I've lived in so I was grateful."
Dom's grip tightened on the wheels, "Better? What do you mean?"
Bria felt real embarrassment crawl up from her stomach into her throat and face. Everyone had agreed that keeping her cover story as close to her real-life experience would help sell her character, but this had been the one aspect she never liked talking about undercover or not: Her mother.
"Well…" she sighed long and hard. "I really don't speak on it much but I didn't really have that great of a childhood."
Bria never really remembered her father as a "good" or "bad" person. He was just there. It was like this silent looming presence that never interacted no matter what the situation.
Her mother, on the other hand, she remembered violently as the horrific and terrible woman that broke her in ways that still affected her now. Together they had made the dynamic duo of abusive power rangers who never heeded the call to save the day. But Bria really couldn't complain, at least not only about that. She spent the first years of her life avoiding her mother's tantrums, tip-toeing past the clusters of bottles of alcohol that littered their floor, and watching as her father passively took in the verbal abuse that spewed out her mother's mouth. And then one day she woke up and her father wasn't there. Although it hurt she was happy that he had escaped, that someone was free from this life that made a person question what exactly it meant to be alive. It took a long time for her to understand that he hadn't escaped.
Life continued on in their house, her mother graduating from alcoholism and enrolling in Drug Abuse 101 with a double major in Dating Dicks Who Have Control Issues. Either way, Bria developed a habit of being anywhere other than her house so that she could live a life as normally as she could. If and when she was at home she had to deal with adults that made her feel unneeded, unwanted, and burdensome. And it only got worse as she had gotten older.
"I'm sure you really loved your parents…" Bria started glancing over at Dom, who was nodding in an affirmative way. She chuckled, "I wasn't so lucky. My dad was killed when I was young and it derailed my already terrible mother from learning how to be a decent human being." Anger was starting to build on Dom's shoulders.
"My mom had men in and out of the house and stopped taking care of me. My house became a crack den of experiences that no child should go through, but I survived and eventually, I found a family…" she paused. "But I lost them too." At this point, Bria had curled into herself facing away from Dom and towards the window.
"Sorry…" Dom whispered, turning into Racer's Edge.
"You've already said that…" Bria said, "You shouldn't be, it wasn't your fault and there was nothing you could have done."
Dom huffed, "Yeah I know, that doesn't make me any less sorry that it happened or that it got brought up."
Bria looked Dom straight in the face, "It's a part of who I am, and it would have come up eventually…"
As soon as the car stopped Bria rushed out of the car to escape her suffocating past that had filled the air.
"You need any help?" Dom asked, also stepping out of the car.
"No, it's not that much, I should be able to grab everything by myself."
"Okay then. I'll link up with Harry then. You think you'll be ready in like 30 mins?"
Bria nodded. She felt some of the panic that had grown when she shared her past dissipate the moment she got out of the car, but some of it was still festering. She needed to make sure that she made some time to at least message Tanner about the current situation. If not they would assume that she went AWOL and she couldn't have them expose her in an attempt to make sure she was okay.
Bria walked into Racer's Edge with Dom right behind her, a comforting shadow she wasn't sure she liked. She shuffled quickly towards the back room noting that little to no one was in the shop at the moment.
Harry spotted them from across the room and looked uncomfortable before making his way to them. He reached Bria first pulling her away from Dom and whispered feverishly;
"Bria, you're messing with my business. Why am I opening up my shop to Leticia dropping off my worker's truck? And now you come in looking like yesterday's trash with Dom? What the hell?"
Bria looked at Harry while he spoke at her, continuing to walk, brushing past his line of questioning and moving past him towards her room in the back.
"I'm just here to grab my stuff." She could feel the questions in his gaze on her back as she moved past him and continued to the back room but knew that she wouldn't have to answer any questions because Dom would more than likely answer them for her. She didn't have to wait long.
She didn't even try to hear what they were going to talk about. She needed to grab her burner phone, send a text or call Tanner before Dom decided that her saying that she could grab her own stuff was another thing that he could ignore. She pushed through the swinging doors into her little room, feeling some relief as the air condition hummed loudly. This was familiar. Even though she hadn't been here that long yet, this had been her home for a little over three months. Even though the first thing on her mind was sending Tanner a message or calling him, Bria knew that she needed to start packing otherwise Dom would be suspicious if he decided to come to check in on her.
Bria grabbed a box from a stack in the back and started throwing the few items that she had into it. As soon as it seemed like most of her items were thrown into the box, Bria glanced at the swinging door to check through the window and see if Dom was still talking to Harry. He was. In fact, it seemed that they were arguing about something. So, Bria quickly reached for her burner phone that was hidden behind some packages of lug nuts for threaded wheels that no one ever used.
She fast and furiously typed '10-75/10-1 Dominic Torretto. 10-106.'into the phone before burying the phone back in the box of lugnuts this time instead of leaving it behind the box. She then returned to putting her things in the box, which was half full by the time she was done with it. When she exited the backroom she was pleasantly surprised to see that Dom had chosen to wait for her, rather than coming behind her and treating her like someone who couldn't be held to their word. She said that she should be able to pack her own things in the time that he set, and he had trusted her to do so.
"Done?" he asked, moving away from the rack of items that he was looking at to keep himself busy while he was waiting.
"I believe so. Like I said, I don't have much." Bria leaned forward letting Dom see into the box and smiled to herself as she felt him gently take the box from her.
"I'm sure we have some stuff that you can use at the house, and whatever we don't have we can grab on the way home." He repositioned the box in his arms while he was talking and nodded his head toward Harry.
"Me and Harry had a good talk, he's got your final check. I'll be outside when you're ready." He then walked out of the store leaving Bria to finish her final goodbye with Harry.
To be honest she really wasn't in the mood to converse with Harry. He looked tired standing behind the counter in his customary blue and white bowling shirt, staring daggers and questions her way with his pale green eyes. She knew that whatever interaction she was going to have with him, it would at the very least be uncomfortable. She rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, shoving her other in the front pocket of her jeans. It would be best to get this out of the way as soon as possible so that she could get back to the house and figure out some sort of plan. She walked over to the register, expecting a scolding from Harry, but instead finding herself the victim of a forced smile.
"Bria… It was so nice having you work here…" Harry forced through his teeth, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you better accommodations, so there is a little extra something in your check to make up for that."
"Thanks…" Bria responded looking down at the check that was being passed to her with wide eyes and full knowledge that Dom had more than likely forced Harry to pay her for sticking her in the backroom.
Harry looked like he had something more to say, but was looking past Bria at the front door. Bria turned to see and found that Dom had returned from putting her meager items into the car and was watching their interaction. Bria knew that whatever Harry wanted to say and whatever questions she needed to answer wouldn't be solved now, they were under surveillance and neither of them seem to be in the good graces of Dom.
Bria nodded at Harry and walked out of the only home that she'd known for the last three months. It wasn't the best home, but it had been one of the most stable. She passed Dom who held the door open for her as she stepped out and they both made their way back to his car, her meager amount of items slipped into a trunk that she knew was there but couldn't see.
She quietly slid into the passenger seat and ignored the pull to stare as Dom folded himself into the small racer. This was the bed she had made for herself and she was now going to have to lie in it.
=(So Fast and So Furious)=
When they made it back to the house, Bria could see that Dom wanted to talk about something, but to be honest all she wanted to do was to crawl into a ball and stop existing for a while. It looked like no one was in the house, which made it a lot easier for Bria to decide to bolt out of the car and straight into the house to the room she assumed was now hers.
"Bria, We need to talk."
All she wanted to do was act like she hadn't heard him, but she knew that ignoring Dom would probably be more of a hassle than humoring him and hearing what he had to say.
"Are we going to actually talk, Dom, or are you going to lecture me, because I'm not in the mood for either."
Dom sighed in a sort of half-assed way like he was both amused and annoyed by Bria's response to him and then he shook his head while chuckling to himself.
"I just need to give you the low-down on what this is," Dom stated while gesturing to her and the house. "We got some house rules that might be different from what you are used to and there are some rules that are specific to you. This will also give you a chance to put your bid in for things that you want to make sure you need and what you may have opinions on"
Bria nodded wondering if Dom was only being nice because he was feeling bad or if this was the real him that he hid under the bravado and male aggression he normally sported,
"Okay, are we going to do this out here or in the house?" She asked, noting that Dom was still halfway out of the car while she had made it across the street and was standing at the bottom of the incline for the driveway.
"I was planning on talking to you in the car before you bolted, but if you want to talk inside that's fine. I just wanted to do it somewhere you felt comfortable and not pressured. Since I already forced you to stay here I don't want you to have to agree to more without having your opinion included."
Bria wasn't really sure how to respond given the fact that Dom had railroaded her into more than just her staying in his home, he also lost her, her job, and probably had more limitations that he was just waiting to impart on her. She wasn't going to be fooled by his change in rhetoric, things always went Dom's way.
"Uhuh, Okay, well I guess out here is fine…" Bria mumbled as she crossed the street again and sat lightly on the hood of Dom's car. "Shoot, gimme the goods, Dom, I'm ready to pass out at this point, so the quicker the better." She was starting to feel a little breathless and they hadn't even started having a conversation yet.
Dom nodded one of his eyebrows going up in question before shaking his head in amusement and closing the door he was standing in, to lean on the door instead.
"Alright, then, first thing first, the room you were in is yours." Bria nodded, crossed her arms, and started swinging her legs, the back of her foot hitting the tire of the car periodically.
" I would like you to stay at home as much as you can until you heal, but if you feel the need to go out I ask that you take Letty, Jesse, or Mia with you, for safety reasons."
"My safety or others?" Bria whispered under her breath to a point that Dom couldn't hear.
Dom was apparently ignoring Bria if he had heard her, " You've seen our cars, and you worked at Racer's Edge so I'm sure you know what we are doing every night when we aren't home."
"Illegally Racing?" Bria asked not missing a beat,
"I'm not gonna justify that with a response." He paused for a second before shifting his position on the car, "You lost your job because of me, so when you are better you can work at my garage."
"Okay, is that all?"
"No. It's not. No fighting with Vince. Like even if he tries to start shit I need you to be a bigger person and not respond."
Bria paused for a minute kicking the car tire hard and relishing in the minuscule flinch she saw Dom try to hide. "Just keep him the fuck away from me as you promised and there shouldn't be a problem." She smiled extra hard, the skin on her face feeling thin and burning.
Dom let out a huge sigh, scratching the back of his head before continuing,
"I'll do my best Bria, but you guys are going to be living in the same household. You are bound to interact and I need you to not stoop to his level. He has been warned also, but out of the two of you I am hoping that one of you has enough sense to stop all this."
"I just want to point out that I'm not the person to likely start anything, so I'll do my best but you better get on him about starting stuff," Bria responded. She wasn't going to start anything but if she really had to she would finish shit, hopefully, better than her last fight.
They talked for a bit more, Dom agreeing to send Letty and Mia out later to grab whatever items Bria needed that weren't in the house already. Bria informed Dom that she had her own racer that was parked at Racer's Edge that she would eventually need to grab also when they had the time. She was happy that she had put NOs in it before going to visit Mia. They talked a little bit more ironing out other details before it started getting dark and Dom noticed that Bria was looking more tired.
"Go ahead and get inside, you look like you're about to pass out on me," Dom said softly as he moved to grab Bria's things out of the car. "There isn't much more to talk more about and we can address whatever comes up as they happen."
Bria nodded at his comment and slid off the car hood, slightly wobbly from sitting down for so long. A sudden yawn inched across her face as she stretched her limbs out before looking both ways and making her way into the house. After she entered the house Bria was incredibly happy that they had chosen to have their conversation outside because the entirety of the Torretto clan was sitting and waiting like members of an estranged family being forced to play part in intervention as she tried to slip into the house quietly.
"How was it?" Mia asked as she moved to check Bria's injuries. Bria let her check her injuries, while giving her a thumbs up because the pain medicine had started to wear off long ago.
"I think it's time for you to take the next dosage of your painkillers," Mia started, and Bria nodded at everyone and hurried to sequester up in her new room. When she made it to her new haven, she quickly took the painkillers, flopped onto the bed, and fell into a dreamless slumber.
=(So Fast and So Furious)=
Bria awkwardly stood by her green Mitsubishi Eclipse after parking in what seemed to be the only free spot at the races. She felt out of place watching all the groups mingle with one another. She saw that they had separated themselves based on their race, the Hispanics chilling with Hispanics, Asians giggling and wiping down their cars, and the Whites and Blacks, respectively, dancing in their own crowds, eyeing one another up as if someone was waiting for something to go down.
Bria looked at the short skirts surrounding her and glanced down at the low-riding cargo pants and baggy dark shirt she was wearing, shrugging. She wasn't here to impress. Dom had warned her to make sure that her "skinny ass" was at the race site promptly at midnight, or he would be sending Vince after her.
In the wake of her injuries, Bria had been stuck in the fuckin' Torretto household more than she really wanted. The bruising had bloomed in a shade of dark purple over her entire being, making her look like a dropped eggplant and causing the household to become more protective of her. She had gained stalkers, two in fact. She was given Letty to counter interactions with Vince, who was itching to finish their earlier fight, and Jesse, well, because he was Jesse. So after living with the Torretto family for a few weeks, she was informed that she would be required to show up at the night races despite the fact that she looked like week-old roadkill. So, here she was, waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, awkwardly trying not to show everyone that she was casing the joint.
"Hey, hold up, hold up. Look at this Snowangel right here, man." Bria closed her eyes and let out a small groan. She noted that the voice had come from a group of Hispanic banger-looking guys with bald heads. She glanced around, in what she hoped was not a panicked fashion, as the man in question licked his lips and rubbed his chin while waltzing closer to her and her car.
"Sweet ride." he pointed out, circling her car, "What you runnin' under there, baby?" Bria smiled at the attempt, she may look it to some, but she was not a fuckin' idiot.
"You gonna make me find out the hard way?" he asked, returning her smile and edging closer to her.
"Hell, yeah." Bria rasped, her voice still in recovery.
"You brave, you brave." the man said as he pointed and took his final steps to put himself right in front of Bria. "They call me Hector. I got a last name too, but I can't pronounce it, so-"
"Bria Spilner," Bria responded, holding her hand out for a shake.
"That's a weird-ass white girl name," Hector stated as he gripped her hand firmly and pointed behind him. "See that over there? That's mine. That's my baby. But I ain't cutting her loose tonight."
"Why not?" Bria asked, genuinely curious.
"It's 'cause I'm going legit, hun. Tryin' to get on the Nira Circuit. You heard about that?"
"Aw. Hell, yeah."
"Yeah, So. What's up with you, sweets?"
"I'm just waiting for Torretto." As soon as she said this, Bria knew that she had fucked up. She had already garnered attention as a lone female driving up, but now everyone knew that she was here for the famous Torretto.
"Shit. Better get in line." Another voice joined in, this time belonging to an African American man with an extremely deep voice. "This yours?" he asked, getting closer to Bria than Hector had.
"Yeah. I'm standin' next to it," she replied sarcastically.
"That's funny." The man replied with a humorless laugh escaping his mouth along with the words, " You know, Edwin happens to know a few things. And one of the things that Edwin knows is that it's not how you stand by your car. It's how you race your car. You better learn that."
Bria scoffed and shook her head. "I think that Edwin should learn to speak like a normal human being and not refer to himself in the third person." She walked around him like he had circled her car during his speech, "You better learn at least that." She didn't get to hear his response because whatever it was, got drowned out by the revving of heavy engines, the marker that the main attraction was arriving.
"Aw, shit. Here they come. It's on." Edwin stated, dismissing the interaction between Bria and him without a second thought. They arrived in a 'V' formation, Dom at the very front in his neon orange Supra MK. He exited the car shaking hands with someone that Bria overheard was named Marvin, and proceeded like a King to greet his loyal subjects. Letty exited her car pulling at her leather mini-skirt and making her way towards Bria; as she got closer, she suddenly started to howl, startling the men who had suddenly surrounded Bria in the wake of the Torrettos arriving.
"I smell…" she paused, sniffing the air, "Dogs. Why don't you guys scatter before I leave tread marks on your asses" There was a collective "Okay." as the crowd that Bria hadn't even noticed found other spaces to be in.
"You good girl?" Letty asked, looking up into Bria's face to gauge if she was alright or not.
"I'm good," Bria responded by taking Letty's now outstretched hand and following behind her through the crowd.
"Okay, Hector." Dom's velvety voice broke through the noise of the crowd.
"Yeah, What's up, man?" Hector responded.
"Yo, what's up?" interrupted Edwin. "How we doin' this tonight?"
Bria noticed that even though Dom had asked for Hector, Edwin had once again found some way to include himself, but if Dom wasn't going to say anything, she sure as hell wasn't.
"One Race. Two-G Buy-in. Winner Takes All. Hector, You're gonna hold the cash." Dom continued.
"Why Hector?" A stray voice asked.
"He's too slow to make away with the money, man. " Edwin answered, gaining a few laughs.
" No," Dom clarified. "It's because he's trustworthy enough to not even think of taking off with the money." He looked at Edwin and back to Hector, clapping Hector on the back as he started to walk to his car. "Good luck, Guys."
"Hey, wait. Hold up." Bria interrupted, wincing as Letty squeezed the shit out of her hand. "I don't have any cash, but I do have the pink slip to my car."
Jesse squeezed into the crowd next to her, his hands waving wildly, "Bria, you can't climb in the ring with Ali because you think you can box."
Bria clicked her tongue, pointing at Vince, "He knows I can box." She sniffed, clearing her throat, she needed to be in this race. She needed to show everyone that she could race, that if needed, she could be an asset to whatever team was robbing the trucks.
"So, it's like this. I lose, and the winner takes my car clean and clear. But…" She paused looking directly at Dom, "When I win, I take the cash, and I take the respect."
"Respect?" Dom repeated the word, tasting funny in his mouth, "Respect is earned, not sold, Spilner. You're going to have to settle for just the money if I let you even race."
"To some people, respect's more important than money, Torretto." Bria finished, the crowd getting quieter than before.
"This is your car, right?" Dom asked, pointing to the green eclipse. She had finally been able to pick up the car that had been given to her by the force back at Racer's Edge. Dom nodded at Jesse, who walked over to pop the hood up and get a look at what Bria's car was made of. "I see a cool-air intake. It's got a nos-fogger system and a T-four turbo, Dominic. I see an A.I.C. Controller. It has direct port nitrous injection." Jesse barked as he stuck his head further under the hood.
"Yeah, and a stand-alone fuel management system." Dom added, crossing and uncrossing his arms, "Not a bad way to spend $10,000." The mass of people started to push closer to her car, and she heard a voice she was starting to pair with irritation break through the mass.
"You see that shit? She's got enough NOS in there to blow herself up, period." Bria looked at Edwin, who had again somehow included himself in a space where he had not really been invited to.
"Yeah, man, why don't you just shut up? I mean, I don't remember asking you for approval." She turned to Dom, "So what do you say? Am I worthy?"
Dom walked up, caging her between her car and himself, "I don't know yet. But you're in." He backed away, waving the money in his hand and gesturing to everyone, 'Let's go' while making his way to the starting line. Everyone moved at once, the whole lot slipping into their cars and speeding to what would be the start of the race. Bria sighed, rubbing her cheek where Dom had spoken to her, feeling weird about the whole situation. She looked up from her spot to see Letty watching her.
"What?" she asked, reaching to open her door so she could follow someone to the new spot.
"You know, we aren't together. He's free to be with whoever he wants. And I am free to pursue who I want also." Letty walked closer to Bria, her hand rubbing down the crease of Bria's ass and cupping what little booty she had. "I like you, Bria. I don't mind whatever happens, but after this race, you are going to belong to us." Bria blinked, caught off guard by the hand on her ass and the words that were being given to her.
"So, you better know what you are getting into because once you're family, you're always family." Letty trailed her hand up to Bria's back, rubbing her palm around and onto the warm flesh of her front tummy. Her breath was warm on Bria's neck, and she honestly did not know what to do before the hand slid away and Letty was sauntering away, the gum in her mouth being popped.