Archive of Our Own

The day that Brian had given the Supra keys to Dom, was also the the last time he thought he would ever see Dom again. That was the day that he went on the run as well. It was through his own stupidity that he'd gotten picked up in Miami. When they offered him a job he'd taken it, hoping to throw himself into something that didn't remind him of Dom all the damn time. Problem was the FBI just loved to take advantage of his particular skill set. The skills that he'd honed while he'd been with Dom. He liked to drive fast, and he was good at it.
When the Braga case landed on his desk, he'd repeatedly moved it off to the side. He knew they were going to ask him to drive for them again and, he was perfectly happy keeping himself out of the racing scene and away from the memories that haunted his sleep. Then Letty came to him, and made a deal. She'd do the undercover work, then when all was said and done Dom could come home with a clean record. She wasn't doing it for Brian either. She was doing it so he could come home. She made that perfectly clear. Brian asked to be on the case after that. He knew that it probably wouldn't make anything better, but if he could help Dom, at all, he would.
It was two weeks before Letty would look at him with anything other than contempt, not that he blamed her. In his mind he deserved it. She'd always been the bulldog of the family, and had even tried to wedge herself between Brian and Dom when they met, but there was no stopping Dom once he saw something he wanted. Dom was addicted to adrenaline and Brian was a little to fearless to be healthy. They adrenaline that Dom craved, could come from a race or a trip to the store for milk, if Brian was driving.
Four weeks into the case, Letty got the call to meet in an abandoned warehouse on the east side. As soon as she pulled up, her tracker was killed. That night, Brian had to go out and investigate her murder.
When Letty had died, he couldn't even call Mia to tell her. Every time he tried she'd hang up on him, or just wouldn't answer the phone. Brian had finally gone over to the house with Stasiak and told her in person. When she heard the news, her face crumpled and then turned to rage. She glared at him with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you for informing me, officer." She said quietly. She closed the door and Brian flinched at the soft click of the dead bolt being locked.
Brian turned and walked back to the car, staring at the old Ford Interceptor, so he could avoid looking at the stretch of sidewalk where Jesse died. Stasiak took shot gun while Brian drove, a little faster than necessary, back to the station. He was lost in his own thoughts when he heard Stasiak say his name.
"What?" He snapped. Irritation lined his face as his gaze slid to Stasiak and stayed there, just long enough to make the other agent nervous.
"Wow, man." Stasiak raised his eyebrows. "She's got you all fucked up." Brian just hummed in response. "I was wondering about the possibility of Toretto coming back to town for the funeral."
Brian, hadn't thought of that. Shit. Mia was probably on the phone with him now. Fuck. His knuckles tightened on the wheel and his foot got a little heavier on the gas. "I don't know." He said, but he did know. Dom would come back, but not for the funeral. He'd come back to get revenge. He'd have to talk to Mia about it, if she would let him, but it was unlikely that he'd get a chance to.
He'd intended to go to the funeral as a mourner, but when Stasiak had told Penning about his theory, he'd been called to stand as an agent. He was beyond pissed. Letty deserved more respect than that, and what did they expect anyway? That he was going to arrest Dominic Toretto at Letty's funeral? That would never happen, and it ended up not mattering in the long run. Dom didn't show his face at the service.
Stasiak was disappointed, and said as much when he'd left. Brian just looked up to the hill that he knew Dom was standing on. He could almost see him, back dropped by oil rigs. It really hit him in that moment. Dom was back, he was pissed, and Brian was ready to let him beat the shit out of him if it meant seeing him again. It was these moments of brutal clarity that helped him realize that there was something seriously wrong with him. He looked away from the hill and drove with Stasiak back to the station.
The next morning, he saw Mia in one of the clear interrogation rooms with Stasiak. The first thought that popped into his head was something along the lines of Stasiak's an idiot for thinking she'd talk to his ass. The second was that he'd get a chance to talk to her about Dom.
The next day, he pulled up to David Park's apartment building and took a moment to admire the Nissan parked out front. He'd almost walked up to the car when he heard glass shatter above him. He looked up and saw David Park being held out of the window by his feet. Brian rushed into the building and up the stairs, hoping to get there before whoever was holding Park decided to drop him.
He walked into the apartment, and swallowed the lump in his throat. He'd recognize those shoulders anywhere, if only for all the time's he'd raked his nails down them. "Bring him up, Dom." His voice was steady, as were his hands as he pointed his gun at Dom's back. He congratulated himself inside for the minor victory. "Bring him up."
Dom turned to look at him, over his shoulder. His face was plain, and even though he was holding a grown man out of a window he didn't show it. "Here to take me in O’Connor?" He asked. "Shut up!"He yelled to the whimpering man he was holding four stories off the pavement.
Brian tried not to let the hurt show. "Letty was my friend too." He said.
"You weren't anyone's friend." Dom's voice left no room for argument and it stung, like he'd physically punched him.
Brian pushed on. "She was running for this guy, Braga, and things went bad. I'm gonna get these guys, Dom. Now let me do my job and pull him up." He should have known that it was the wrong thing to say. The cop routine never worked on Dom. In fact it usualy made him do exactly what you didn't want him to do. So when he said,
"I'm gonna kill this 'Braga', and any one else who gets in my way." Brian's only thought was, 'Shit.'
Sure enough, Dom dropped Park and it was all Brian to do to holster his weapon fast enough to catch the poor man, and pull him back in the window. By the time he'd managed it, Dom was long gone and Brian had to take Mr. Park to the station.
When he got back to the station, Brian was really starting to believe in Murphy's Law, because the second he walked in the door, Stasiak was down his throat about letting Mia go. It was no secret that Stasiak didn't like Brian. His line of thought was once a criminal always a criminal, and in his book that made Brian a criminal. It also made him a traitor, because he'd flipped on his handlers by letting Dom go. Stasiak was a good boy and a good agent, but sometime's you needed the guy who would damn near kill himself, just for the rush. Brian was honestly going to blow it off. He was going to let Stasiak say his piece and move on, but when Stasiak put his hands on him, he reacted. Brian introduced his face to the wall and then shoved his knee into the other mans rib cage. When Stasiak dropped, Brian backed off, not wanting the write up for assault.
Of course Penning just happened to be in the room and saw the whole thing. "That's enough!" He yelled.
A couple of agents helped get Stasiak to his feet. The broken agent glared at Brian. "Your through, O’Connor!"
Penning stepped in. "I said that's enough. Stasiak get yourself cleaned up."
"What?" Stasiak sputtered like a scorned child. "He hit me first!"
"This isn't the cub scouts!" Penning glared at the smaller man. "Now go on. Your bleeding on my floor." He watched Stasiak leave and turned to Brian. "O’Connor, do you know the difference between a cop and a criminal?" He asked.
"What?" Brian asked.
Penning leveled a glare at him. "One bad judgment call. Keep your shit in line son." Then he turned to Park. "Have have a good time."
Brian shook his head and led Park into the interviewing room. "Take a seat." He said, as he shut the door and sat behind the desk.
Later, in the conference room, Trihn caught his gaze and nodded to the end of the table. He had to suppress a smile when he saw Stasiak all bandaged up. 'Jack ass.' They shared a small smile at the other agent's expense while Penning briefed them about the race. When he told them that Brian got to go play, he could almost feel the envy rolling off of Stasiak in waves, and it made his trip to the impound lot even sweeter.
Brian picked out three cars, two Skyline's and a GTR. He then spent the better part of the week, in the building's garage, cannibalizing the cars to build a car that he knew in the back of his mind, would have to race whatever Dom was driving. His first day out there Stasiak had come by, being the nosy little kiss ass that he was, just to see if he could cause trouble. Brian was pulling the block out of the blue Skyline when he showed up. The engine was hanging, in the engine bay, and Brian just had one motor mount to remove, when the block dropped. Brian jumped away, barely getting his arm out of the way in time and turned to the hoist. Stasiak was standing there, trying to look innocent, but it was obvious that he'd flipped the latch on the chain.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Brian shouted. His voice echoed of the concrete walls of the garage. "What if my arm had been under the block?" He turned back to the car and groaned. The motor mound had been ripped off the frame of the car and the drive shaft was fucked. Thank God for donor cars.
He reached over, grabbed Stasiak by the back of his neck, and pushed until he was sure the moron could see the damage. "Do you see that? Now I have to weld on a new motor mount." He let go of Stasiak, and took a step back. "This race doesn't mean anything if I can't win, and I can't win if your down here sabotaging the fucking car!" He took a deep breath in. "Get the fuck out!" He said, calmly.
He'd worked all through the night to make up the time he'd lost having to replace the mount. He was finally pulling the block out of the GTR when Trihn came down to the garage.
"Hey," She said. "How's it going?" She was dressed in her usual suit, with an arm full of paper work and two cups of coffee in hand.
Brian smelled the coffee and pulled the hoist, with the block, out of harms way. Thank God he hadn't wanted to use the Skyline engine. He walked over and took a cup from her. "You are an angel." He told her, sipping from the cup.
She smiled at him. "I even come bearing good news. Stasiak's been banned from the garage. At least until your done here."
"That is good news. I've been here all night fixing the damage he caused." He rolled his eyes and walked to the desk turned work bench and set the coffee down.
Trihn turned and started towards the door. "Don't work to hard." She threw over her shoulder. "We still need you to drive."
"Oh, I'll be able to drive." Brian smirked. If he could drive down the highway one at a hundred and ten miles per hour with Dom's mouth on his cock, he could drive with no sleep easy but Trihn didn't need to know that.
Trihn smiled and walked towards the garage door. He waited untill he couldn't hear her steps any more before letting himself get lost in the work again. When he was finishing the final tune up and programing the on board computer, an agent came down with a tracking chip.
"Standard issue tracking device." He said. "Boss wants to know where you are at all times."
Brian installed the damn chip, finished the tuning and then it was done. He took a look at the finished product and smiled. If Dom were around, he'd have been proud. It burned that he couldn't share this moment with Dom, or show him what he'd learned in the last five years. The guilt and self loathing made all his wins and all his accomplishments dull. He could have had it all, if he'd just been honest with Dom from the start. Brian pushed those thoughts aside and locked up the garage. The race was tomorrow night and he hadn't slept in three days. It was time for a little rest, and then the fun began.
When he pulled up to the location of the race and entered a familiar scene. Cars and girls in barely there clothing were scattered all over the parking lot. Leon used to joke that he and Dom were the only two homo's in the racing scene, and how lucky that they had found each other. To which Vince would grumble and Letty would roll her eyes. Brian looked around and found a parking spot behind a sixty nine Camero, and after a witty exchange with Dwight, was approached by a supermodel thin woman with a no bullshit attitude, who was flanked by big men.
"You one of Park's guys?" She asked.
"Yeah," Brian smiled at her. "Yeah, I am."
She didn't smile back. "Follow me."
He followed her past Dwight and towards the building. She then walked up to a silver seventy Chevelle SS, spoke to the driver and then continued on to the building. As Brian walked past the car, he saw Dom behind the wheel. He felt his chest tighten and breathing go shallow as he locked eyes with the bald man. He fought to keep his face neutral and the moment was over in no time flat, but it had felt like forever.
Dom was the last of the drivers to meet up with Campos. He only spared Brian the same cursory glance that he'd given the other two drivers. Brian ignored him in favor of studying the other men with Campos. He couldn't afford to lose sight of the mission just because his ex was there.
They guy sitting at the table made Brian's hackles rise. Everything about him screamed bad news. His hair was cut into a Mohawk and drew attention to the scars on his face. He looked like ex military and not this one. Brian had a mind to keep an eye on him.
Listening to Campos talk about 'real' drivers, Brian chuckled to himself, knowing that it was a non issue. But of course then Dom had to open his mouth.
"So what are we hauling?" He asked. The guy at the table startled, as if surprised at the question, and turned his unbelieving gaze on Dom. Brian closed his eyes and hoped that Dom's alpha male tendencies weren't going to get him shot. It was way to early in the investigation to blow his cover.
"With the money Braga's paying you, you don't need to know." Campos stated, and Brian should have know better than to think that Dom would stop there.
"You just said you wanted real drivers." He said. "A real driver knows exactly what's in his car."
Campos and the woman looked amused, but the guy at the table stood up and got in Dom's face. "Hey, real driver" Brian could see his silver teeth when he smiled. "No one's forcing you to race."
Dom raised an eyebrow and got right back in the other guys face. It was all Brian could do not to groan when Dom started talking. "Are you the boss?" He asked. "Or am I talking to the boss?"
Mohawk, leveled a glare at Dom. "Do I look like a boss?"
Campos took the opportunity to interrupt. "Papi. My job is to find the best drivers. Period. Whoever wins the race gets the info. We cool?" The supermodel had passed out GPS devices to all four drivers while he was talking, and Dom continued his stare down with Mohawk. "Are we cool?" Campos asked again, getting impatient.
Dom broke eye contact with Mohawk and looked at Campos. "Yeah, we're cool." He took the GPS, and the short guy next to Brian started talking.
"Ah, no man, we ain't cool." He sounded nervous. "Who's closing these streets?"
Campos laughed. "No one." He said. "That's the point."
They all looked a little nervous after that. Well, everyone except Dom of course. He didn't have anything to lose anyway. When they were all lined up on the starting line, Brian began to feel the tell tale rush. He revved his engine and took in the cheering crowd. He checked his guage clusters and made sure his Nos bottle was open. And then he cricked his neck, a habit he'd gotten into in Miami, to avoid looking at the other drivers. If there was one thing he'd learned from Dom, it was that showboating had a time and a place. The starting line wasn't it.
Then he heard Dom's car rev up. It was unmistakable. Brian was almost back in Echo Park, for all this Chevy sounded like the Charger. It was clear that Dom had built the car himself. Brian couldn't help but look over at him, and when he did, he found the big man looking right in his eyes. Brian met his gaze head on and didn't back down.
"You sure you wanna do this?" Dom had his game face on, and that spelled trouble for the other drivers.
"A lot has changed." He replied.
Dom's face hardened. "Your right." he said and then his gaze was on the road, and they were off.
Dom hit the throttle and popped the front wheels of the ground, in a horrifyingly familiar move. Brian watched as he took the lead and touched down again. While he'd been distracted by Dom, he'd managed to let the other two drivers past him. He quickly up shifted and took the corner as fast as he could, over steering into oncoming traffic.
He quickly righted himself and was soon level with Dom, who spared him a one second glance and then Brian took off. He was momentarily proud that he'd managed to pass Dom, but quickly focused on keeping Dom behind his car. Brian knew what would happen if Dom made the team instead of him. Braga was in the habit of killing his drivers instead of paying them, and Brian would sooner die than let Dom walk into that trap.
Dom was determined to win, and his anger was making him careless. He switched lanes and was now driving against on coming traffic, weaving out of the way of the other cars. Brian caught himself staring and when he looked back at the road, he noticed the rear end of a mini van that was way too close. He slammed on the breaks and got into the far left passing lane. He was coming up on the next turn when one of the other racers got t-boned in the intersection. The accident was quickly becoming a pile up and to avoid wrecking his car, he missed the turn.
"Damn." he said watching the damage in his rear view, and now he was off the programed rout. The GPS was trying to find an alternate rout, but all it was doing was annoying Brian. He turned onto a road that he thought would intersect with the original rout, only to find that it was a bridge over it. "Fuck." he muttered. The GPS told him to keep going, so he turned down an alley, that was running the same direction that Dom and the moron in the BMW were going. When he looked up from the GPS, he saw the people and cars crossing the alley. He honked his horn and hoped they had the common sense to get the fuck out of the way because he wasn't slowing down.
He passed the intersection with no incident and suddenly his biggest problem was the trash that littered the alley. He swore as he attempted to dodge a dumpster, and then yelled at the GPS as it told him that it was re-routing. He turned right again and cursed himself for not paying attention as he barely escaped the same fate as Moron number one. He spun out and then stopped completely. When he looked to his left, he saw Dom and the BMW passing him on the road below. He threw the car in gear, and took off, keeping pace with the other drivers.
"U-turn if possible." The GPS's voice called out. Brian looked up and sure enough, it was a dead end.
"Are you freakin' kidding me?" He yelled at the GPS. When the chain link fence ended, he saw an opening to the road below. "Sorry car." He said, and drove threw the wooden structure and on to the road.
"You are now one mile from your destination." he was right behind the BMW, and back in the race.
"Yeah! Guess who's back, Dom!" He shouted. He really wanted to prove that he could win this race. He watched the BMW ram Dom's car and knew that Dom was too good to let that throw him off. When the Beemer came back in to ram him again, Dom up-shifted and without a car to hit the Beemer lost control and rolled its self off the bridge, almost landing on Brian.
Brian dodged the wreck and took a breath to steady his nerves. It was just Dom and him now. He got back up on the right road and took the left hand turn wide to get out in front. Dom let the rear end of his car get loose and bump the Skyline hard enough to throw Brian off, so he could take the lead.
Brian quickly righted the car and sped after Dom. When the GPS told him he was a quarter mile from his destination, he looked over and saw that he was neck and neck with Dom. He almost smiled. It always seemed to come down to the quarter mile between them. He remembered Dom telling him that he lived his life a quarter mile at a time. It seemed fitting that they were the only two left for the final drag.
Brian glanced over at Dom and up shifted, taking the lead. When he was a car length ahead, Dom hit the Nos in his car, and shot past him. He watched Dom pass him and said to himself, "Too early, Dom." Then he hit the Nos, and scorched past Dom, and then Dom did the one thing Brian never thought he would do. Dom bumped the rear quarter panel of the Skyline and spun Brian out, mid boost. Brian straightened the car out but it was too late. Dom had won the race.
He pulled up to Dom's car and got out when Dom did. He stalked up to the man and got in his face. "At least we know you can't beat me straight up." he said. His hands were shaking, he was so pissed, but what made his blood boil was what Dom did next.
He looked down at him, with the coldest expression Brian had ever seen on the mans face, and said, "I didn't know there were any rules." It was a direct stab at his pride and Brian decided right there that he'd rather have Dom beat his ass than this, because at least then he'd know what to expect.
Mohawk approached both drivers and congratulated Dom on his win. "Now that's what I call real driving." he said.
Brian pointed at the Chevelle. "No, that's bullshit man." He was looking at Mohawk, but it was directed at Dom.
Mohawk just brushed him off. "Go cry to your mama, eh."
Brian got back in the car and drove off. He was furious. Dom never cheated and Brian hadn't been expecting him to fight dirty. He didn't know who he was more mad at. Dom for cheating, or himself for overlooking the possibility of Dom cheating. On his way out Dwight had some "helpful" tips for him about American muscle versus imports, and Brian got an idea about getting on the team.
Later that morning, just as the sun was coming up, Dwight was busted for possession and intent to sell, of meth. Despite his pleas to the contrary Dwight was arrested and booked for forty eight hours. Such a shame it had to happen on the night he made the team.
Later that day, Brian got a call asking if he wanted to be on the team. He just smiled to himself and accepted the offer. He was told to meet Campos at the same club that they had held the race at the night before. Giselle, he learned, was the supermodels name. She handed him another GPS and told him to consider himself on call. She then told him that Campos would be with him directly and to enjoy the club until then.
He walked farther into the club and spotted a pool table. What better way to kill some time. Half way through the game he noticed Dom walking over to the bar, so he put the cue stick down and followed him over. He slid in next to Dom and started talking.
"That's too bad about Dwight. Having the Feds raid your house the same night you make the team. It's unfortunate." He cursed himself internally for showing how nervous he was. He only rambled like that when he was nervous.
Dom only looked at him. "I wish I could say I was surprised to see you here." He took the Corona he'd ordered from the bartender and lowered his voice. "What's to stop me from telling them your a cop?" He asked, taking a swig.
Brian looked up at him from where he was leaning on the bar. "Probably the same thing that's stopping me from telling them why your really here." he said. He got the impression that the conversation would have carried on, but Campos chose that moment to greet them and invite them to the back with him.
"How's your car?" Campos asked. "It took a nasty bump."
Brian wanted to glare at Dom but knew better than to let petty bull shit blow his cover, so instead he just said. "It'll be ready." He sat down next to Campos and listened to his next question.
"I also heard you just got out of county." Campos was watching him but It was Dom that spoke up next.
"Yeah?" He asked. Brian hummed in agreement. "You know a guy named Jim Garcia?"
Brian was still pissed about the race and now Dom was just fucking with him. "No." He said, shaking his head. "It's a big place. Lots of names, lots of faces."
Campos turned to Dom. "And you. Your wanted by a lot of people, Homes."
Brian took advantage of that. "That kind of heat can't be good for business." He leveled a look at Dom.
Dom just stared at him and said, "Yeah, well that depends on how you look at things." With that statement Brian knew he'd been had. "I go down, I do time. I do real time." Jack ass. "I don't know about your other drivers, but when I see flashing lights in my mirror, I don't stop."
Campos sat back in his chair and glanced at both of them in turn. "Do you know each other?" He asked, gesturing at both of them.
They both scoffed to hide the fact that they hadn't thought about setting their story straight. Dom looked at Brian and was given the universal signal to bullshit for the both of them, so he looked back at Campos and said,
"He used to date my sister." Brian almost blew his cover laughing when he thought about him and Mia together. He kept his mouth shut, and watched Campos reach for a bottle of tequila on the table.
"Your a very luck man." He poured a shot for each and handed them out.
"Why's that?" Brian asked, taking the offered drink.
Campos smiled at him. "Because your still breathing."
Both Dom and Brian laughed because, had he actually been dating Mia when the shit hit the fan, Dom wouldn't have left him breathing. Brian was pretty sure that the only reason he really was still alive was because at some point Dom had loved him.
Campos raised his glass. "To the ladies we've loved, and the ladies we've lost. Salute"
Brian saw the haunted look pass over Dom's face and drank the shot. He set the glass down and with the suddenly somber air around them, it was time to get to work.
"So, what's Braga about?" He asked.
Campos leaned back in his chair again. "You know he's just one of us. Came up from the streets. Now he's a shot caller. A boss of boss's. You see all these cats in here?" He gestured around the room. "Any one of them would die for Braga."
He said it with so much confidence that Brian had to ask. "Including you?"
Campos gave him a no bullshit look and pointed at himself. "Especially me."
Just then a guy with to many chains on crept up and whispered something in Campos' ear. The mood changed and Campos got up. "Enjoy the party, fellas." He told them. "The club's yours, whatever you want. Booze, broads, it's all good." and then he left.
If Brian thought it was tense before, it had nothing on the tension right now. Now that it was just him and Dom. Unfortunately for Brian he tended to talk to much when he was nervous. "Dated your sister, huh?" He laughed.
Dom didn't even smile. "That's not a conversation to have here." He said. "Or one I'm willing to have at all, for that mater."
Brian felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. His face turned to stone and his words held all the anger he felt. "Braga's mine." he said. "I'm taking the whole house down."
Dom's attention was on the girls around him when he said, "Good luck." Dom knew it would rile Brian up and, Brian knew that if he stayed he would say something stupid. He got up to follow Campos and do his job, like a good little agent.
He followed Campos to a back stairwell, and watched the man go in and leave the guards at the door. He waited until the guards left the door and then followed the man up the stairs. At the top he came across a door that was open just a crack and peered in through the crack. He saw Campos drinking with an older man, who he assumed was Braga. He then waited until they got up and left, so he could go in and collect the shot glasses for fingerprints. Jackpot.
The next morning Brian walked into the FBI command center and found Trihn at a computer. He smiled at her and handed her the bag with the shot glasses in it.
"I got a gift for you." He said.
She grinned and took the bag. "A dirty shot glass. Just what I always wanted."
Brian sat on the desk and pointed at the glasses. "I got these from the club last night. There's two sets of prints here, run 'em both. I know one of them is Campos, I think the other might be Braga's. And your going to have to go beyond Interpol."
She looked up at him. "So that means I have to contact individual agencies and that could take weeks."
Brian nodded at her. "Okay."
He felt a buzzing in his pocket and pulled the GPS out. It had a destination programed in it. "I gotta go." He said. "Tell Penning I'm on my way to Campos." And then he was out the door.
He jumped into the Skyline and shot off to follow the GPS. He was weaving in and out of traffic when his phone rang. He answered it, and hear Penning on the other end.
"That's your third traffic violation in less than three blocks. Slow it down, O’Connor."
Brian hung up the phone and threw it into the passenger seat. "Sure thing, Dad." He said to himself. Then he up-shifted and put his foot down.
When he pulled into the ware house, he saw that all the other drivers were there already. Campos was there and so was a handful of hired mussel. He looked around and once again, Dom refused to acknowledge his arrival. He and Dom were going to have to talk at some point if they were going to keep running into each other like this.
One of the guys with Braga was waving an emf reader around the cars. He was looking for bugs and damned if Brian was going to let something that stupid blow his cover. He kept his eyes up and blindly searched the center console for the bug he'd installed himself. Once he found it he ripped it out of the car and dropped it in his energy drink. The guy with the EMF reader reached him just as he killed the tracker. He knew Penning and Stasiak would be having aneurisms right about now, but it just wasn't worth getting shot.
Once they were given the all clear, they loaded the cars, drivers included, into the hauler that was parked in the warehouse. Once the hauler started moving, Brian checked his phone, only to realize that he didn't get service in a metal freakin' box. He heard the other two drivers get out of their cars and start complaining about being in the truck. They stood in front of Dom's car and asked him where he thought they were going.
Dom was reclined in his seat with his eyes closed. "Don't matter." he said. "We're all just along for the ride now."
Brian didn't know why, but he felt a wave of jealousy run through him when the other guys were talking to Dom. It shouldn't have mattered. It wasn't like he and Dom were a thing anymore, and Dom had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Brian. So he decided to take a leaf out of Dom's book and get some rest on the way to the rendezvous.
It was about three hours before they got to where they were going and unloaded the cars. Brian was glad for the chance to stretch his legs and get some fresh air. The guys that had been at the warehouse were now loading large silver crates, that Brian knew were full of coke, into the trunks of the cars. While the cars were being loaded up Giselle told them what they were going to be doing.
"Welcome to Mexico, boys." she said. "There are helicopters and cameras that scan for heat signatures at the border, but there are blind spots that I can get you through via satellite. There can be no margin of error, so you must follow my every direction. Any questions?" No one said anything, and then Dom opened his mouth again.
"I thought Fenix was gonna be here." He said.
"He'll meet you out there." she said. "Alright, everyone sync up. Good luck gentlemen." To Dom she said. "Vaya con Dios." Then she left.
The drivers got into their cars and set off in the direction the GPS told them to go in. Once they were well into the desert they heard Giselle’s voice from the GPS units, giving them instructions. She told them to keep heading north and to follow Fenix, who showed up out of nowhere in a green ford. They fell into a single file line and Brian fell in behind Dom, so he could keep and eye on him. Even if Dom didn't care for him anymore, Brian would never let anything happen to the man if he could help it. That's why he gave him the keys to the Supra five years ago.
Giselle’s voice came over the comms again. "Hurry it up. You guys have been tagged." She said. They all picked up speed and then Dom broke formation. "Toretto, get back in formation."
Brian glared out of his windshield at him. "Aw, shit." He muttered. What the hell was he thinking? Dom pulled back in line just behind Fenix, right before he entered the tunnel. The rest all followed and flipped their lights on. Brian didn't know what Dom hoped to accomplish, but he wasn't letting Fenix out of his sight.
"They're sending a helicopter." Giselle told them. "You have thirty seconds."
Brian looked around the tunnel and was really glad he wasn't claustrophobic. Then again he had always been told that he was a little too fearless, when it came to dangerous situations. Rome wouldn't even run with him these days.
"The window's closing fast. You need to get out of there before they send ground support." Giselle was starting to sound worried.
Brian swore again as he dodged a small rock slide caused by the Mustang in front of him, hitting the wall.
"Fifteen seconds." She said. "Your running out of time. You need to get out now!"
And then they were out, and states side. They'd made it out free and clear and no one got hurt. Now came what Brian knew was the hard part. They rolled up to the rendezvous, and lined their cars up so the cargo could be unloaded. Fenix got out of his car and slammed the door. "Sloppy." He grunted. "Very sloppy." Then he pulled out a gun.
Brian didn't want to but he looked over at Dom, because he knew what would happen next. When he saw Dom looking back at him, he wanted to believe it was because he had his back, but there was no way to be sure of that. The drivers were ordered out of there cars, so they stood out in front of them, no one really willing to stray to far from their only exit strategy. One of the other drivers got up in Fenix's face about the man handling and was met with the barrel of a gun. And then Dom opened his big mouth again, and this time, Brian was sure it would get them all killed.
"Hey, boss man." Fenix's attention moved over to Dom, and he lowered the gun.
"What did you say?"
"I said, only pussies, run nitro meth." Dom's eyes never strayed and his posture was all dominating presence. Brian's heart was beating double time as he watched the exchange.
"You looked under my hood?" Fenix looked like he was going to blow a gasket at any minute. He walked over to Dom and got in his face. "I'm talking to you. You got something on your mind?"
Dom stared him down. "Seventy Plymouth. Her name was Letty." His voice was firm. "Somebody wrecked the car."
Fenix's expression changed from anger to sudden comprehension."I wrecked the car." he whispered. Brian almost didn't catch it. "You remember her face? Huh? Cause I don't. Last time I saw it, it was burning." He pulled the hammer back on the gun and Dom's eyes trailed down to it, and then back up to Fenix's face. "Now what?"
Dom smirked. "I'm going to enjoy what happens next." Brian furrowed his brow in confusion and then Dom's car exploded, taking the rest of them with it, and all hell broke loose. Dom knocked the gun out of Fenix's hand and Brian dove after one of the thugs with a machine gun.
He knocked out the thug and used his body as a shield. He was shooting mostly at knee caps and his priority was to keep Dom safe. Dom was fighting with his fists and was looking for his next victim when a bullet hit his shoulder. He turned and saw a guy crouched between the trucks, his clip empty. Brian took the opportunity to run to the truck that had the drugs in it, and climb into the drivers seat. He pulled the truck around to where Dom was beating the shit out of the moron that shot him, and yelled at him to get in the truck.
"Dom get in!" He yelled. Dom looked over his shoulder at Brian in the car. "Get in! Come on!" Dom turned and hit the guy one more time. "Come on, get in the fucking car! Lets Go!"
Dom walked to the passenger door and climbed in. As soon as the door closed Brian took off as fast as he could heading north. Once they hit a frequently used highway, he had calmed down enough to drive just over the speed limit.
Brian focused on the road and let his breathing level out. He wanted to scream and yell at Dom. To tell him how fucking stupid he'd been, but he'd wait till they got back to LA to bring it up.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He yelled. So much for waiting. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Dom didn't look over at him. he just kept his eyes forward. "Did you have a plan?" He asked.
Brian faltered, because, no he hadn't had a plan. A fact that only egged him on. "No, but dammit, if something happened to you I..." he cut the thought off right there. He was way to angry to have any sort of rational conversation.
Dom did look over this time, but Brian kept his eyes on the road. "You what?" He asked. "You're a goddamn liar, so don't you dare say you cared about me."
Brian winced, and took a deep breath to steady himself. "I loved you." He said, conviction in his voice. "Still do. I almost had a heart attack when I watched you roll the Charger. Then again when I saw you at the tryout race. These are dangerous people, Dom."
"How is it any different from you going undercover?" He asked.
Brian pulled the car over. If they were going to hash this out, he didn't want to be on the road. He stopped under an overpass, turned the car off, and turned in his seat to face Dom.
"I have the FBI at my back and a shit load of Intel, that's how!" He was way beyond rational at this point. His nerves were shot and he was stuck in a car with the most volatile man he'd ever met, who happened to be his ex-boyfriend. "Dom, everything I felt for you, was real. I wasn't acting when I was with you. The only thing about me that wasn't real was my last name." He turned back to face out of the windshield. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. Just do me a favor and don't get yourself killed. It's easier if I know your still out there somewhere."
Brian looked out the side window and scrubbed his face with one hand. He wouldn't let Dom know just how scared he'd been tonight. The quiet in the car was almost stifling. So much so that when Dom did talk, it almost made him jump out of his skin.
"I was ready to spend the rest of my life with you." The low rumble of Dom's voice filled the cab. "That last truck was going to be it. I was going to move you in with me, and out of the dinky room at Harry's. We would have been fine, but Jesse ran off, and we were two hands short..." He trailed off.
"Dom..." Brain started to say something but Dom steamrolled over what ever it was.
"I never thanked you for saving Vince's life. Or for handing me the keys to the car." He finally looked over at Brian. "I've been wondering, for five years, why a cop would turn on their own and help a wanted criminal escape."
Brian didn't say a word. Dom's expression was unguarded and he could see the pain in Dom's eyes and it occurred to him that, maybe Dom was hurting more than he was. After all, Brian had at least seen it coming even if he'd chosen to ignore it. Dom had been blind sided.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm so sorry." Because what else could he say.
"Yeah," Dom leaned into Brian's personal space. "Me too." And then he kissed him.
Brian felt like he could breathe again and kissed him back with all the emotion that he'd been shoving into a box a the back of his mind for the last five years. He broke the kiss, and gazed into Dom's eyes. There was still hurt, but it seemed to be fading.
"From now on," Dom gave him a stern look. "No more lies. If I'm gonna date one of the good guys, I think I deserve at least that much."
Brian sat back in the drivers seat, and rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. "I was Letty's handler." He said. Better Dom find out from him than some other way.
Anger clouded Dom's face again. "What did you just say?"
Brian sighed and began the story. "Letty came to me one day and offered me a deal. She knew this guy Braga was hiring drivers to import drugs and cash from Mexico. Deal was, she would go in, undercover, and gather enough evidence to put Braga away forever, if the FBI cleared your record." Brian looked up at Dom. "She just wanted you to come home."
"Oh, God, Letty." Dom whispered. He'd closed his eyes and grabbed the silver cross that Letty had given him. It took him a few moments to gather himself, but finally he stiffened up. "We need to do something about this haul."
Brian nodded and got out of the car. Dom followed him and went to the back while Brian made the phone call to Penning.
"Talk to me O’Connor. Where the hell have you been?" Penning sounded agitated.
"I got the shipment." He decided to talk quickly and plainly. The faster this was over the better off he would be.
"I got the shipment, or we got the shipment?" Shit.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"Traffic cams in the area picked up pictures of you and Toretto, together."
Brian's blood froze and he didn't say anything.
"Listen to me O’Connor. Bring in the shipment and bring in Toretto."
"I thought the point was to bring down Braga. We have an opportunity here." Brian tried to sway Penning's attention away from Dom.
"Brian, the clock stopped ticking. Bring them in. Are we clear?"
Brian was about to answer when he noticed the trail of blood running to the back to the truck. It was successful in making him for get about his boss on the other end of his phone. He hung up on Penning and followed the blood to where Dom was opening one of the crates.
They both took in the amount of drugs that were in each crate. "So this is what sixty million dollars looks like."
Brian watched the blood drip on the ground behind Dom. "We gotta get you to a doctor."
Dom countered. "We gotta find a place to hide this."
Brian thought for a moment and then came up with the perfect place. They loaded the drugs back into the car and Brian drove to the same impound lot that he'd gotten his car from.
He waved his badge at the guard and asked for a forty eight hour hold. He was told to park where ever he could find a space and then let through, no questions asked. He parked the car and they both got out. He smiled at Dom when he asked if this was a good idea.
"The last place they'd check, is their own impound yard." he said. "Trust me."
Dom glanced at the car with the drugs, and looked like he thought it was a bad idea, but he walked away and Brian practically beamed at the show of trust.
"You know I was thinking." He said. "When you blew up your car back there, you blew up mine too."
Dom smirked. "Yeah?" He knew where this was going,
Brian smiled. "Yeah. So now you owe me a ten second car."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah."
Dom walked up to a Subaru Impreza, and broke the glass on the drivers side door. He reached in, unlocked the car and pulled the door open like he would have for a date. "Now we're even." he said.
They drove out to the oil rigs where Dom had been hiding from the police and called Mia to meet them out there. She was the only doctor who would stitch Dom up with out asking questions. Well she would ask questions, but they would be more along the lines of 'What were you thinking?' and less along the lines of 'Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?'
When she got there she looked at Brian. "Is this your way of keeping me away from him?"
Brian knew he deserved that. "You were the only one I could call." He said.
Mia threw him an incredulous look over her shoulder. "He's my brother. Of course." She sat Dom down backwards in a chair with a Corona and started to examine the wound. She pulled the make shift bandage off and began prodding around looking for the bullet.
"Hmm. Bullet's not in there." She said. The she walked over to her bag and pulled a first aid kit out. "I'm going to clean it, and stitch it up. It's going to hurt."
Dom smiled, "I bet your gonna enjoy this."
Mia glared at him. "A little."
Brian watched they're exchange with a smile on his face. It didn't seem to mater where they were, as long as they had each other, life was good.
They ordered Chinese and sat around the table like they used to at the Toretto house. Brian and Dom hadn't eaten all day and Dom moaned around his first bite. The moment was ruined when Mia called him out on it.
"Dom what are doing?" He looked at his sister with question on his face. "You reached first, you have to say grace."
Dom looked over at Brian and they shared the humor of the moment without words. They all clasped their hands and Dom began.
"Thank you Lord, for blessing this table."
"With food, and family, and friendship." Mia finished.
After dinner Mia had to go home. The feds were still watching the house and she could look like she'd been helping Dom. She hugged them both and kissed Dom on the cheek. "Please be careful." she said. To Brian she said. "Hurt him, and I will hunt you down." Brian didn't need telling twice.
When they heard her car leave they stared at each other and neither knew what to say. Brian decided to break the ice first. "I'll go in first thing in the morning and see if I can renege the deal that Letty set up. Maybe we can get rid of Braga and clear your name all in one go."
Dom didn't say anything, so Brian felt the need to fill the silence. "So, what are we now Dom?" He asked. Brian didn't want to hope for to much but he couldn't help it. It was all he'd hoped for since he'd given away his car keys.
Dom got in Brian’s space again. "I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else maters, because in those ten seconds or less, I'm free." Brian breathed in. "I think we should take it a quarter mile at a time, and just see what we end up with."
Brian nodded and kissed him. Then Dom took over and pushed Brian into the door that Mia had just walked out of. Brian wrapped his arms around Dom's neck and arched his body into Dom's. He moaned when Dom ground his hips into him, and wrapped his legs around Dom's waist. Dom carried him to the make shift bedroom and lowered him onto the cot that he'd been sleeping on. Dom then lifted his own shirt over his head and pulled Brian's off as well.
Brian looked up at the tan expanses of skin and his fingers itched to touch. So he ran his hands over hard muscles and rubbed his nipples until they were hard. Dom hissed at the contact and swooped down to kiss along Brian's jaw and throat, leaving little marks as he went. Brian moaned again
Dom shuttered and pulled away to get Brian naked. "If you keep that up, it'll be over way to soon." His voice was like smoke and gravel, and Brian had always thought it was one of the most sexy sounding things in the world.
"That's okay." Brian lifted his hips so Dom could remove his pants. "I'm not going to last long. I haven't done this in five years."
Dom froze, and glanced up at Brian. "What? Why'd you stop?" The blond asked.
"You haven't been with anyone in five years?" Dom asked.
"Yeah. So?" Brian was wondering why this was even an issue.
Dom sat back on his heels. "There hasn't been anyone else since I left?"
Brian pushed himself up on his elbows, and gave Dom a frustrated glare. "I'm still not getting why this is even an issue." he said. "I didn't have sex with anyone else, because I was still in love with you. No one will ever be able to take your place."
Dom swooped down and took Brian's lips in his own and kissed him for all he was worth. They made love that night like they never had before and it was like coming home. Brian felt all his anger and guilt melt away in Dom's arms. He'd never felt more safe. They fell asleep in each other's arms and Brian knew that whatever happened next, he was with Dom.
The next morning Brian drove Dom over to his house, so they could shower and Brian needed to change his clothes. He was soar all over and he knew he was going to have bruises all over. On the ride over Brian decided to see what the Impreza could do, and it was like old times again. Dom did everything he could to distract Brian, and Brian pushed the car as fast as it could go. He took the long way home so he could extend the moment. It helped that he could drive faster on the back roads than on the main highway. They got to a straight road, and Brian topped the car out at one hundred and eighty five miles per hour. Dom smiled at him as he whooped and laughed.
God, he wished that it would never end. All he'd ever wanted in his life was Dom and to just drive. His two favorite things just happened to fit together like puzzle pieces which had the makings for a perfect ending if he played his cards right.
They pulled up to Brian's small house, and Dom took it in with the same wary attitude that he did everything these days. It was a small two bedroom rental property, that had a small attached garage and a pitifully small yard. It was white and plain. It was the opposite of the big exciting and homely Toretto house.
Dom eyed Brian. "We make it through this, I'm moving you in with me."
Brian laughed and walked up the drive to unlock the front door. Once he got the door open he went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. When Dom walked in he saw a single couch and a comfy looking recliner sitting in front of a flat screen TV. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a bar and on the right was a small hallway that lead to the bedrooms and a small bathroom. It was small but it was almost perfect for Brian. There were no decorations on the walls, and the only appliance on the kitchen counter was the coffee maker.
"Mia would lose her mind if she knew you were living like this." Dom said.
Brian smiled and walked passed Dom on his way to the bedroom. "This is my room." He walked into the room and pulled his shirt off, dropping it on the floor. "The bathroom is across the hall. Clean towels are in the hall closet."
Brian wanted to get this over with. He was starting to feel the pressure and he didn't want Dom to see him crack. He kept his back to the door as he dug in his dresser for a clean shirt and a pair of jeans. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Dom's concerned gaze.
"Hey," The big man whispered. "It's gonna be alright. We can do this."
Brian smiled and went back to changing his clothes. "You and me against the world right?" he said.
"Yeah, you and me." Dom walked out of the room so he could get that shower. "We'll even take a trip to Rio, if you want." He called over his shoulder.
Brian laughed and shucked his filthy jeans and pulled on the clean ones. When he was changed he got the coffee that he'd started and sat at the bar with his file's on Braga. He felt like there was something he was missing. He was so wrapped up in his profiles that he didn't notice Dom come into the room until he wrapped his hands around Brian's waist. Brian leaned back into Dom's strong chest and let him kiss his way down Brian's neck.
"We're going to have to finish this later." Brian said. "I've still got to talk to Penning, and provided I still have a job, try to get this all taken care of." He spun in Dom's arms and kissed him. "Stay here, and make yourself at home. I'll call if they don't go for the deal. Give you some time to get out of town before they find you."
Dom shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere with out you." Brian smiled and kissed him one last time before he walked out the door.
When he walked into the station, every agent in the building was watching him and whispering. Brian just assumed the surveillance photo's had gotten around and there wasn't a whole lot he could do about that. His reputation for going native, as far as Dominic Toretto was concerned, didn't help matters. He held his head high and walked into Penning's office, ready to bargain everything he had away to clear Dom's record.
He sat down in one of the chairs in front of Penning's desk, and fidgeted under the glares being hurled his way from Stasiak and Penning.
"You'd better have one hell of an explanation." Penning said on a sigh. "You disobeyed a direct order. Where's the shipment?"
Brian kept his face blank. The less they knew about his relationship with Dom the better off he'd be. "It's safe." He said.
"It's safe." Penning straightened up. He looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Brian quickly jumped in to explain his position. "Look, we could use the shipment to parade in front of the media and get a few hundred pounds of heroin off the street but Braga's just going to send another shipment next week, and the week after that. Lets use the shipment to lure Braga out and lop the head off of a multi-billion dollar cartel."
Penning looked interested, but unconvinced. "And, how do you suggest we do that?" He sat on the corner of the desk, and Brian smirked. Negotiations were on.
"A hand to hand exchange with Braga." Brian knew it was a risky transaction but it was the only thing he could think of.
Stasiak spoke up next. "No, he'll never show."
"He can't afford not to." Brian was sure he had this in the bag.
Penning walked around the desk with his hands in his pockets. "You got a plan?" He asked.
Brian got a little nervous. This was the hard part. "There's a price." He said. "We bag Braga, you let Toretto walk."
Stasiak gave him look that spell out 'hell no' in capital letters, but ultimately it was Penning's decision, and thank God for that.
"Alright, O’Connor."
Stasiak's head whipped around so fast Brian thought he'd heard the mans neck pop. "What?"
Penning continued. "If we can bag Braga, we'll let Toretto walk." He leaned in so that he was almost nose to nose with Brian. "But if we can't get Braga, I'll take the credit for locking Toretto up just the same." Penning got up and walked out of the office, Stasiak following like a good little kiss ass, and Brian slumped in the chair, in relief.
When he got back home he found Dom sitting on the couch with a beer watching TV. He put his keys on the peg board by the door and snagged a beer for himself, before settleing down next to Dom.
"So how'd it go?"
Brian sighed. "We get Braga, and your a free man."
"But?" Dom raised an eyebrow in question.
"If we can't get Braga, Penning says that he'll take you down, just to have something to show for it." Brian passed his gaze over Dom and watched the gears turning in his head.
"When does all this go down?" He asked.
"We have to call Campos and set up a meet." Brian turned to the TV but wasn't really paying attention to it.
"I have just the number to call." Dom smiled at him, and suddenly the world didn't feel so heavy.
They had decided to waist some time by working on the Impreza. It had a few tweaks from the previous owner and Brian was a stickler for details when it came to his ride. If it wasn't part of his agreement with the FBI, he'd be riding around in a Skyline all the time. It was just getting dark when Dom pulled out his phone and pulled up Giselle’s number. He dialed out and waited for her to answer.
"Yes." Her tone was curt and to the point.
Brian stilled so he could hear the conversation.
"It's Dom."
"I was just thinking about you." She said. "You know when I gave you my number I was hoping you would call. But not under these circumstances."
"What circumstances?" Dom asked. "Me being alive?"
"Don't take it personally. It's just business."
"I got some business of my own. Get Campos." Brian looked over his shoulder and saw that Dom had his back to him. His shoulders were tense and he stood like he was ready for a fight.
The phone was passed over and Campos' voice came over the line. "Uh huh?"
Dom spoke up again. "Was that how Braga inspires loyalty? Killing his drivers."
"One can always find more drivers." Campos sounded almost happy about that fact, and Brian hated him for it. "It's just good business."
"I wanna trade." Dom got to the point and his voice was firm.
"Braga doesn't negotiate." Was the quick reply.
"Fine, then. You get to explain to him how sixty million dollars worth of product disappears. I know that can't be good for business."
"What do you want?" Campos asked.
"Six million cash. Delivered by Braga himself." Campos laughed over the line. "I don't like being shot at." Dom continued. "I'm not gonna stick my neck out again unless Braga's got something to lose too."
"He'll never go for it." Campos said.
"Either I deal with Braga, or you do." Dom waited while Campos thought it over.
There was a sigh, "When and where?"
Dom and Brian smiled. Gotcha. "The warehouse that you picked us up in, eleven o'clock tomorrow night. Don't be late."
Dom hung up the phone and turned back to Brian. "Now we wait." He said. "Got anything to kill the time?"
Brian smiled as he put the wheel back on the Mazda. "I could think of a few things we could do."
Dom watched him tighten the lug nuts. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," Brian put the lug wrench back in the tool box and walked over to Dom. "But first, dinner. I'm starving and if I recall correctly, you are in federal protective custody and that means we could go bug your sister about firing up the grill."
Dom smiled and pulled Brian into his arms. "You always know just what to say."
They left the house in the Impreza and drove over to Echo Park. Mia was home and glad to see them, even if she did toss Dom out to the grill so she could talk to Brian. She handed him a bag full of corn, and told him to shuck it and clean it.
He did so, waiting for what would inevitably be the second time he'd heard this conversation. The first time she'd had him take her out to a Cuban restaurant to piss off Vince.
"He's all I have left." She didn't look up from the green beans she was snapping. "He deserves to be happy."
"I know." Brian watched her. "Mia, I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing happens to him."
"I know that." She said. "That’s why I'm telling you to be careful." She started chopping the bacon for the beans. "I know you love him, and that means so much. I just don't want either of you hurt."
Brian got up from the chair he'd planted himself on to shuck corn and pulled her into a hug. "Mia, hey." He smiled into her hair. "We're gonna be alright. Its a simple exchange, and we'll have a swat team on standby." he pulled back to look her in the eye. "It's gonna be okay."
She nodded and went back to chopping. When Dom walked in she had started in on an onion and blamed her red eyes and tears on that. Brian passed a Corona to Dom and followed him out side with the cleaned corn so they could put it on the grill.
They ate and laughed, and for a few hours, they were a family again. They felt the palpable absence of Leon and Vince, while the ghosts of Letty and Jesse haunted each of them in their own ways. As Brian took in the back yard and the sight of brother and sister laughing together, he couldn't help but feel like this was home. It was everything he'd ever wanted out of life and then some.
Dom and Brian crashed in Dom's old bedroom. Still buzzing from good food, beer and good company, they relaxed into an old rhythm. Dom ran a thumb across Brian's cheek bone.
"God, your beautiful." His voice was low and his eyes were like molten chocolate.
They made love that night, and when they woke in the morning it was to the smell of coffee, pancakes, butter, and syrup.
Brian found his clothes on the floor and put them on while he followed his nose to the kitchen. There he found Mia, wearing a colorful sundress, flipping pancakes on the stove. Her hair was pulled back and she was smiling, as she handed him a stack of plates and told him to set the table while she got him a cup of coffee.
Brian looked at the food on the table in front of him. "You know, if you were the right gender, your brother wouldn't stand a chance." He said.
Mia laughed as she set the rest of the table. "Dom can cook. He just likes working on cars better."
"Ah." Brian laughed and Mia sat down just as Dom walked into the kitchen.
He was wearing tan cargo pants, and a white tank top.
"You telling on me, Cara Mia?" He still looked sleepy and he rubbed a hand over his face when he sat down at the table. He reached for the coffee, and got his hand smacked.
Mia glared at him, and Brian couldn't help but giggle at the expression on his face. He placed his hands together and waited while Dom said Grace. Once he was finished they dove into the pancakes. Brian had forgotten how good Mia's pancakes were. On the first bite he closed his eyes and moaned.
When he opened his eyes and looked at the other two, he saw that Dom had frozen, fork poised in the air, while Mia giggled behind her napkin. Dom raised an eyebrow.
"That was just dirty." He said, with a straight face.
Brian ducked his head and smiled. "Sorry, but these are really good." Mia laughed some more and Dom shook his head.
After breakfast was finished and the dishes were done, Dom and Brian had to go to the station to do the briefing for the sting that night.
They spent all day in conference rooms surrounded by agents, and if that wasn't enough to make Dom twitchy, Stasiak wouldn't stop sulking at them. At one point Dom leaned over to ask why.
"What's that guys problem?" Brian looked over to Stasiak, and smirked a little.
"He's never liked me." He said. "Thinks I should be locked up like every other criminal out there. He likes me less, because I'm better at my job than he his and I'm also the one who gave him the black eye and busted nose."
Dom chuckled in Stasiak's direction and that seemed to irritate the agent further, because he went from sulking to all out glaring. Dom just smirked and placed a kiss on the side of Brian's neck, his eyes locked on Stasiak. Brian noticed and elbowed him in the ribs.
"Stop it." He whispered. Dom just chuckled and leaned back in his seat. Finally at ten to eleven, Brian and Dom were standing next to the empty cases, in the warehouse. They were surrounded by agents, all in hiding, and waiting for Braga to show up.
"Well, the good news is," Brian started. "After we get this guy, you walk out of here a free man."
Dom turned to look at him. "Is that what they told you?"
"Yeah, that's the deal."
"You still put milk and cookies out for Santa Claus?"
Brian let out a nervous chuckle and reached into his pocket for the keys to the Impreza. He pulled them out just as Braga's crew showed up, and handed then to Dom. "Here." He said. "In case things go shitty."
Dom took the keys and said. "Just like old times?"
Brian muttered a distracted "Yeah." as he danced from foot to foot. Braga's guys got out of their cars, and Fenix started goading Dom. Brian held Dom back while Campos tried to calm Fenix. A fight wouldn't do any good for any one. When Fenix backed down, Campos turned and walked over to Brian and Dom.
"He's harmless. Don't worry about him." the Mexican tried to assure them. "And he's really sorry about Letty."
Dom's eyes left Fenix so he could glare at Campos for daring to say her name. When Campos asked for the stuff, Brian walked back to the crates and opened one to show that it was empty.
"You mean the stuff that used to be in here, right?" Campos' eyes darkened. "Well, you'll see it when we see Braga. That was the deal."
Campos smirked. "No worries. Braga keeps his word." Then he gestured at the limo and an older man in a gray suit and a pink tie, got out of the car.
Brian didn't dare look at Dom for confirmation, but if this was Braga, he'd eat his own shoe. It was the first drug dealer he'd ever seen wearing fucking pink.
The older man tossed a duffel bag at their feet. "Two million." he said. "You'll get the rest when I get my property."
Brian had to ask, "Hey I got a question for you. Where you wearing pink when you were clawing you way out of the streets?" Then he saw it. The flicker of fear in his eyes as he looked at them both. "Your thinking what I'm thinking right?" He asked Dom.
Dom's face was stony. "He ain't Braga."
Just then the place was flooded with S.W.A.T. Brian secured the hostage, and told Dom to get out of there. If he was going to escape, now was the time to do it. "Get out of here now!" Dom ran towards the car, just in time to knock Giselle out of the way of Fenix's car and it raced by.
He helped her to her feet and they both got in and drove off. Once the chaos had cleared Brian got up off of the old guy and looked around in disbelief. When he saw Stasiak walk out of a shipping container he pounced on him.
"What the fuck happened?" He yelled. "Weren't you listening? I never gave the all clear!"
"We had confirmation that the prints you brought us were Braga's." Stasiak yelled. "We were going off of the Intel that you gave us, and now we have Braga."
Brian had never wanted to hit this man so much. "Campos is Braga, asshole!" He said. "If you'd waited for my go ahead, you would have fucking known that."
Brian walked away and drove back to the station where he knew the higher ups would be waiting to pin the whole failed sting on him. Sure enough when he got there they pulled every skeleton out of his closet.
"He was under your nose the whole time, and Braga's escaped. Toretto's heady south, probably way across the border by now. Do you have any idea the kind of trouble your in O’Connor?"
Brian sat across the table from them, and just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. "I was doing my job." he said, his voice was dead.
"Well, It's not the first bad guy you've helped escape the laws grasp. As of now your being taken off active duty, until this house can mount a formal inquiry."
Brian shook his head. "What about Braga?" He asked.
"That is no longer your concern." And then they left, and Brian was stuck in a room with this three least favorite people on this planet.
"We know where Braga is now right?" he asked.
Trihn answered, "Customs tracked him via satellite to his home base in Tecali Mexico."
"Mexico is out of our jurisdiction." Penning said. "The fact is, brass is going to be so busy holding press conferences about the seizure, that we'll skate under the radar."
Brian couldn't hold on to his anger any more. This is why criminals make better cops than good guys. A criminal will wait until they have all their cards lined up so they don't make what could be a potentially fatal mistake. "I thought we signed on to do the right thing."
Penning just gave him a look that spoke of shame that he belonged to such a bureaucratic organization. Damn them all for being more concerned about press conferences and getting a major drug lord behind bars.
It was six in the morning before he left. The whole drive home, he couldn't stop his thoughts from looping back around to Dom. He would have to leave now. He would have to go back to whatever hiding spot he'd chosen and Brian wouldn't be able to go with him without becoming a felon himself. That was the big question though. Was Dom worth spending the rest of his life on the run? When he phrased it like that in his head it wasn't really a question at all. It was more a matter of when were they going to leave and how were they going to get there.
When he pulled up to the house he didn't see the Impreza, but he didn't think that Dom was dumb enough to park it in front of a federal agent's house either. He unlocked the front door and wondered through the house. Dom wasn't there, so he changed into his trunks and a tee shirt, and walked back out to the garage. He kept his surf boards there, along with all the necessary maintenance plethora.
Brian needed to think, and when he needed to think, he liked to surf. It was something he'd been doing since his mom decided they needed regular trips to the shore for "family time". Then his dad left, when Brian was sixteen, and he started going by himself. Not long after that he got arrested for boosting cars. Two years in Juvi, and he'd decided to get his shit straight. He signed up to the police academy, and Rome took a personal offense. He spent five years on the beat, when he got his first under cover op. He was twenty six and looked younger. Young enough to pretend to be an upstart junkie without an overabundance of brain cells. Two long term undercover jobs and five successful stings later, he was recruited to infiltrate Toretto's crew. That was, of course, when everything went to shit. Had he done the job he was told to do, he could have made detective at the age of twenty eight. Too bad.
He flipped the lights on in the garage and pulled his orange sun burst board off the wall rack he'd installed when he moved in. He grabbed a wax bar and walked the half mile to the beach. As he sat in the sand, waxing his board, he thought about what he wanted from his life. He knew he was a good agent, and if he kept himself in line, could easily move up in the bureau. That would do a lot for him. It would make his dad proud, and his sisters might stop telling him what a fuck up he was. The only fault with that plan, was that Dom would be gone, and Brian didn't think he could handle that.
The other alternative was to leave the country with Dom, and live on the run for the rest of the foreseeable future. It wasn't that he didn't think they could make it, he knew they could, it was a question of moral and familial standards. If he left, he'd never see his family again, and he felt guilty, because damned if he was okay with that. It's not like they really knew who he was any way. They didn't know that he loved driving as fast as he could. They didn't know that he would risk his life, to win a race, or that he even knew how to build a ten second car. Hell, they didn't even know what a ten second car was.
He sat there in the sand, watching the sun come up, and waited. He knew there wasn't going to be any signs or any epiphanies, but he hoped he'd gleam some understanding by the time the sun was up.
And then is was, and he was no closer to knowing what to do, so he took off his shirt, grabbed his board, and paddled out.
It was noon when he finally got home. The house was still empty, and he worried for a minute that Dom had already skipped out without him. He picked up his phone, which he'd left on the counter, to call Mia and saw five missed calls from her, and one from Stasiak. Stasiak was convinced that Brian knew where Dom was, and Brian could honestly say that he didn't. He had a really good idea, but no definitive location.
Mia had left a message that Dom was with her, though she didn't know how long that would be. He was finishing the work on the Charger that Letty had started while she'd been staying with Mia. He fired of a quick text, that he was going to get some sleep, and if she could just keep him there until seven, he'd be there to talk everything out. She replied with "Okay" and he stripped to nothing and crawled into bed.
When six pm rolled around he got up and pulled on some jeans, a white tee and threw a hoodie on over it. He was always cold after surfing. Then he grabbed his keys, drove to Echo Park, and parked three blocks away. When the house came into view he saw Mia getting out of her car with some groceries. He ran up to help her get them into the house and as he was putting them away, he saw her shaking.
"Mia?" He asked, pulling her into a hug. "Mia whats wrong?"
She spun and held him at arms length. "You need to be out there with him." She said. "I'll be fine but, he needs you right now."
Brian nodded and walked back out to the garage, where Dom was tuning the Charger. he walked right up to the front of the car and looked into the engine bay. "Everyone's looking for you." He said.
Dom didn't look up from the car. "I'm right here." he said.
Brian shook his head and decided to avoid that conversation all together. "It's nice to see you've gone with the time's and switched to electronic fuel injection. Looks good."
Dom smiled and glanced up at Brian. "The buster became a gear head."
"I'm going with you." They hadn't talked about going any where but Brian knew that Dom wouldn't stop until Fenix was dead. Letty had been a sister to him and he wasn't about to let her death go unpunished.
Dom shook his head. "I don't plan on bringing anyone back."
"I know." And that was it. Brian had yet again signed his own arrest warrant. Looks like he was going on the run again.
Dom looked like he had something he wanted to say. Whether he knew that it would fall on deaf ears, or he knew what he should say but didn't want to, didn't matter because all he did say was. "Hit that throttle."
Brian held the throttle open while Dom adjusted it. They worked in the garage together until five am. The Charger was done and the Mazda was ready to go. They were in the driveway with Mia, saying good bye. She gave Brian a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
She walked up to Dom and said, "How do you say good bye to your only brother?"
Dom gazed in her eyes and said. "You don't."
Brian didn't hear the rest of their conversation, as he climbed into the Mazda, and waited for Dom. He watched them hug and then they left.