Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from The Fast and the Furious, or any from Torque. Or any songs that may or may not be mentioned. In fact, i don't own much apart from that which you do not recognise.
Summary: Following the lives of the Team shortly after the last heist. Their friends are close, but their enemies are even closer and time is beginning to run out.
Pairing: Dom and Letty eventually, Vince/OFC, Leon OFC eventually
AN: So, another fic I decided to post which I also have many chapters of. Any of you over at fanficdotnet might've already seen this, I don't know. But I thought, what the heck, I'll post here too.

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter One – No One Knows

“Ouch.”

“Sorry.”

He cracked open one eye. Someone else was in the room with him. He braced himself as the harsh white light seeped into his vision, temporarily blinding him. He blinked rapidly but as his eyes stopped hurting, another pain replaced it. A sharp intake of breath was followed by somebody attempting to shift him to a more comfortable position. He looked around, willing himself to focus on something, anything. Eyes squeezed shut, he opened them once again and slowly, shapes began to form before his eyes.

“He’s awake,” came the familiar voice. But they weren’t addressing him; there was another person in the room. Why had they all invaded his bedroom? Didn’t they realise he was trying to sleep, trying to get some – f-ck. A sharp, tugging pain bit at his stomach as he tried to move. He let out a sigh of relief as it subsided, only to gnaw at him again like a rat trying to escape the confines of his body. This time, it didn’t subside. It remained constant, harassing him.

“Its okay V, she’s hitting you up with some morphine.” He felt a clammy hand upon his forehead which then moved through his hair.

“This should calm him down, the guts a painful place to get shot.”

“Tell me about it,” he muttered, opening his eyes and looking up at the weary face looking back at him. She smiled at him and he suddenly felt a warmth attack his heart. “Letty…”

“Hey Pickle,” she greeted warmly, gripping his hand reassuringly. She looked rough but she was keeping up a calm exterior that worked surprisingly well for her. There were dark rings around her eyes as though she hadn’t slept in days. Her hair was scraped back against her head with a couple of loose tendrils framing her face. Yet she still smiled and it lit the room. The astounding rarity of a Letty smile. “Dumb question, but how you feelin’?”

“I’ve been better,” he replied.

“I’ll bet,” she laughed lightly, failing to relieve the harsh mood.

He breathed heavily, trying to lift his arm to his face, but only getting halfway. He groaned thickly as sharp shooting pains flew up his arm, from the wrist to the shoulder. He breathed deeply; hoping the pain would just pack up it’s unworthy bags and take a jet plane into oblivion.

Then it all came flooding back to him. The truck. The shotgun. A flash of white and he was bleeding from the gut. And his arm was entwined with wire, cutting deeper and deeper with every moment he spent on the side of the truck. The pain he felt physically at that moment had been numb but in his mind, he could feel everything that happened to him that afternoon.

sh-t, when was that? When the f-ck did that even happen…Did it happen? Oh God, the pain.

He winced, biting down hard on his bottom lip in a bid to stop himself from wailing. He wanted to so badly but as a man he couldn’t allow himself to be seen that way. He would much rather cry his tears in private where he could be sure that if he couldn’t stop, it wouldn’t matter.

“You look uncomfortable; you want me to help you find a better position?” Letty enquired with a genuine caring tone to her voice. He opened his eyes to look at her. She was peering at him meekly. Although it felt a little unnatural for her to be the caring one, she would always have special places in her heart for her closest of friends.

“No…No thanks Let. I don’t think the position I’m in would make any difference right now.”

“You gave us quite a scare buddy, thought you were gonna die on us for a while there.”

“Shoulda just left me to rot,” he muttered, turning away from her and suddenly feeling the urge to crawl into a dark space and weep.

Instead, he vomited.

In an instant, Letty was by his side, reassuringly rubbing his back. He wretched several more times but nothing escaped his mouth and left him gasping for air. He looked at the mess he had made on the white sheets and then looked up at Letty.

“I don’t recall eating carrots lately,” he said, earning him a chuckle. She shook her head at him as he leaned back and cleared his throat. He swallowed and his throat hurt from the acid that had just passed through. He watched Letty leave to get the nurse before allowing his heavy lids to droop closed.

…

The next time he awoke, his room was dark. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he scanned the room to find that he was alone. At the window, a light rain pattered and gave him a strange sense of ease.

He sighed, nestling into his pillow. The smell of vomit had disappeared, he noted, thankful. The room smelt of antiseptic though and he couldn’t decide which odour he would prefer at that moment.

He realised something was attached to his index finger on the left hand. He lifted it up in the darkness, barely making out the clip that was monitoring his pulse rate. He let it drop back to the bed and proceeded to drum the mattress by his thigh with his fingertips. He was itching to play his guitar, finding that he was unconsciously playing invisible chords with his undamaged hand.

He glanced down the padded bandaging of his right arm, feeling the urge to just rip it off. He knew that was dumb but if he could just get it at the right point…No. Don’t be an idiot Vince.

His stomach growled ferociously. A big, greasy burger would go down well right now. He slapped his cheeks together, an odd taste arousing his taste buds. He had thrown up earlier. That could have been the reason. That along with the starvation. Weren’t they supposed to be keeping him on a drip or something? He shouldn’t have felt that hungry, right?

Of all the possibilities, there were so many things he wanted right then – some of Dom’s barbequed chicken; Mia’s pot roast; Leon’s belly-busting breakfast; Letty’s…Well Letty didn’t cook. More to the point – she couldn’t. But that wasn’t to say she had tried. Oh Christ had she tried. Cue to the great kitchen fire of ’97 - the memories. Even Jesse made some grade A pancakes, oh those pancakes were the best.

Yeah that’s right, think of all the things you can’t have right now. That’s real clever. That’ll keep you sane…

He hummed a familiar tune to himself, a vain attempt to make himself think of a different subject. After a minute or so he gave up with the humming and began singing softly.

“Oh look, I’m talking to myself now. I’m going insane.” He shook his head to himself. “S’weird.” He chuckled at something…Nothing. “Nothing’s funny Vince, why are you laughing? I don’t even know. Oooh.” He sighed. “I’m still kinda hungry though. I wonder if this bandage is edible. Nah that’s stupid. Be cool though”’ He lowered his head, eyes darting around the room suspiciously. He stuck out his tongue slightly, grazing the thick gauze strapped tightly around his arm. “I could always just pretend its chicken – everything tastes like chicken. Who am I kiddin’, this tastes like fried bear crap.”

After several more minutes of having an intriguing conversation with himself, Vince came to one startling conclusion – He was bored.

…

“Leon man, stop fluffing my damn pillow, you’re buggin’ me. I’m trying to watch TV,” Vince complained, manoeuvring himself around the tall man in a bid to get a decent line of sight on the small portable. He sighed loudly, expressing his annoyance in a number of non-verbal manners. “If I wasn’t bandaged up man, I swear to God…”

“Fine,” Leon huffed. He collapsed into the chair by the bed and glared at Jerry Springer.

“See? Jerry’s not so bad once you get over the funky hair do. He’s a good guy; it’s not his fault that people have sexual relations with horses.”

“You’ve been here too long,” Leon tried to hide a smile while shaking his head at the big guy.

“You love it,” Vince quipped through a mouthful of mashed potato. Despite his injuries, he hadn’t lost his appetite and wolfed down the rest of his chicken, mash, carrots, peas, yams, stuffing, sausage and gravy. He pushed the tray aside and with a little help from his teeth, opened a pot of chocolate pudding, which he necked back.

“‘Memba the time we played that drinking game where we had to take a shot each time a fight broke out?” Leon asked, watching as the bald security man tried to rip about the two pieces of trailer trash.

“Yeah. Jess got so wasted.”

“Yeah, and ended up puking in Letty’s shoes.”

“So what’s up? You’ve been a big silent goon lately, that’s not like you.” Vince asked, licking the lid of his pudding.

“Just…Everything, I guess. Jesse’s gone, you nearly died, Letty’s broken a coupla ribs but she won’t see a doctor cause she’s a stubborn bitch and I’ve gotta figure out a way to tell my father that his son is dead. Aside from that, I’m peachy creamy,” Leon blurted, without taking a breath. He breathed in sharply, looking at Vince and letting the breath out.

“Dude, you really think it’s a good idea to be tellin’ your pop about Jesse? I mean, while he’s still inside?”

“This is his son we’re talking about. He’s got a right to know.”

“Yeah but…You know why he got an extra six months. This would just about kill him, or worse, he’d kill someone.”

“Thanks for pointing that out…” Leon muttered, leaning forward as his head fell into his hands. “Since when have you been the rational one, V? You’ve never had a rational bone in your body; now all of a sudden you’re tryin’a give me advice?”

“Christ Leon, I’m sorry. Anyone would think that maybe I’d had a lot of time to think lately due to this whole charade. It’s not like I’ve been in here by myself for days on end, unable to sleep at nights because I don’t know what’s happened to my family.”

Leon stared at Vince. Seeing him angry was hardly new but this was a new kind of angry. This was a hurt angry. He could understand that, but it felt odd to have the known brute of the pack to be giving him advice about such a tetchy subject. His brother had died, and he needed to tell his father.

“Look I’m sorry okay? I didn’t mean it the way you thought.”

“It’s okay. Just – just don’t underestimate me.”

Leon nodded slowly. “To top things off,” he turned to look up at Vince, “Dom and Mia have disappeared from the face of the earth, left no note, the banks have been cleared out – well the three I know about. There’s probably more knowing Dom and I can’t go back to the house ‘cause there’s bound to be someone watching it so I can’t get to any of the cash that’s hidden in my room. I can’t get to any of my clothes, neither can Letty. I can’t even go back to get the Jetta – although it’s probably covered in bullet holes anyway.’

“So we’re living at a motel with the money me and Let won between us at Race Wars and by the looks of things, we’re gonna last about three more nights before we’re burned out and have to live in our cars which will probably be in the system now meaning the pigs will be on the lookout for them, and they aren’t exactly indistinguishable. Hence a big friggin mess.”

“Feel better now?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he sighed. “I couldn’t tell Letty all of this ‘cause she’s kinda lookin’ at me to be the level headed one when really I have so many friggin doubts about how we’re going to survive.”

“I’ve got an account.”

“What?”

“A private account, just in case of emergencies and sh-t ya know? And this is kind of an emergency I think you’ll agree. I need to go into the bank myself to retrieve it though, but you two can stay at my place for the next coupla of days, I don’t know why you didn’t think of going there in the first place.”

“It didn’t cross our minds V; we were more worried about all this sh-t goin’ down.”

“Things will be fine Le. I know I’ve never been the protector and I’ll never fill the big brother role that Dom took upon himself but I can offer you a place to stay and some money that will get us outta here.”

Leon stared into the blue eyes of his long-time friend. And he saw him in a new light. Not the way you feel sorry for someone who’s in hospital because you’re glad it’s not you in that bed. Not because the real, witty, amazing person had begun shining through more and more in the past few days. But in the way you would look at your new born child.

It was strange but Leon was so captivated by the man before him at that moment. In a matter of seconds he had trusted him enough to tell of his personal bank account, offer them a place to stay and without even saying so, falling into the protector role. Despite not thinking he had done very much, Vince had done a whole lot in Leon’s eyes.

In all the years Dominic was around, Vince was always seen as the big, dumb dog that lumbered around after his master. Attacked when he was told to attack. Jumped when he was told to jump.

But in reality, underneath the shell, he was waiting to care for someone. And those someone’s were Leon and Letty.

Instead of spoiling the moment with expressions of gratitude’s, Leon pulled himself up from the chair, plopped on the bed and pulled Vince into an embrace.

They sat like that for some time, not a word shared.

…

“Look at you brother, look at you. What mess did you get yourself into this time?” Vince could just make out a looming form in the doorway, standing confidently against the frame. Looking down at himself, down his bandaged arm, the flimsy hospital gown that emasculated him when they came to wash him, he couldn’t help but feel pathetic.

“Long time, no see, bro,” he muttered, as the figure sauntered into the room and stood at the foot of his bed. He took in his brother’s appearance, he had changed a lot since the last time he had seen him – but then he was always changing.

“Sure is.” He looked around the hospital room, at the flowers on the side obviously purchased by a woman. “Sure is,” he mumbled again.

“What are you doin’ here?”

“Well, when word on the street is that my big bro got himself shot, I had to check it out for myself.”

“How noble of you. Come to mock, have we?”

“You’d love for that to be the case Vince, wouldn’t you? It’d be so much easier for you to fend me off if I ribbed you about being stupid enough to get shot. So much easier for you to put up that friggin macho act and tell me to get the hell out of here. Well,” he stared hard into the eyes of the living organism he had shared a womb with, “You’re feckin’ wrong.”

“You think you’ve got me figured out? You don’t even know me anymore, you haven’t done ever since you ran off with your little Hellions on your pretty lil Choppers and you’re ridiculous leathers. You made the decision to disown our family and now you’re back because you heard I got shot and God forbid you might not have seen me again? That sound about right to you?”

The two men shared daggers, puffing out their chests defensively and breathing deeply. For a long time there was no noise aside from the trees rustling lightly outside in the night sky. For three years they hadn’t seen each other, having left on bad terms and not speaking since. For three years they had been angry, angry with each other – angry with themselves.

“Henry, why the f-ck do you have a mullet?”

Man thbat is one good story you got there... i dont usually read tf&tf fics but this one is a goodun. i need more!

great story... i like it a lot! keep it up!!

chelsey :)

frickin awesome Jet :D

is it gonna continue in Vince's POV? or you gonna flip it about sometimes...

poor Leon :(

{Dom and Letty eventually is great :D }

more soon Jet...

Chelle xxx

this is gud! but now I hafta watch torque lol oh well. love it so far, especially the ending lmao very cool! :P

Hey! just caught up with the rest over on FF.net.. good job man! cant wait for the rest of it.

hey I saw torque so I undastand now! :P lol great idea! but ah? where's dom???? :sniff: can't wait 2 c what happens!

Hey y'all. I'm so glad you all like this, questions will be answered in due course my friends, you'll just have tokeep on reading now won't you :D

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Two – You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us in Prison

Leon sat uncomfortably in a hard backed plastic chair. Around him were several people talking to their lovers, brothers and fathers. He sighed deeply, staring through the thick, bullet proof plastic that separated him from the prisoners. He had to tell his father about Jesse but he was nervous, trembling all over. His forehead was slick with a cold sweat and his palms were sticky. He wiped them on his dirty jeans and realised that his knee was jolting up and down nervously.

By the door, a stone-faced guard stood with his hands behind his back. The door opened and his father walked out, wearing a white crew-neck and navy blue overalls that were only pulled on to the waist. Despite being in prison, he looked surprisingly well – but that was his way. No matter the situation, he always managed to have that little sparkle in his eyes, a trait he had passed on to his two sons and daughter. He smiled when he saw his son waiting for him, sitting in the chair opposite and lifting the receiver on the other end. Leon picked up his end and tried hard to make sure his hand didn’t shake.

“Hey son.”

“Hey dad. How’s the life treating you?”

“It’s pretty good, has its ups and downs, ya know?”

“Sure, just like regular life huh?”

“You could say that,” he chuckled. “So what brings you down here?”

Leon’s heart skipped a beat and he licked his dry lips. “Something happened yesterday.” He avoided his fathers questioning gaze, focused on the black speck on the grey wall behind him.

“What happened?”

“Well, Jesse…He was in a race at wars and he lost the slips to the Jetta. But instead of driving back to hand them over he drove away. He went missing for about four hours and then when he finally went back to the house…”

“What?”

“The guy he’d lost to, he and his cousin did a drive-by and Jess got caught in the fire.”

“Well, where? Is he okay?” His father was now almost pressed against the plastic, desperation in his eyes. The guard by the door looked over speculatively; ready to hold the prisoner back if anything happened.

Leon shook his head gravely, stared even harder at the black spot. “Jesse’s dead.”

He could see his father’s shoulders rising and falling with the deep breaths he was taking. His knuckles had turned white against the receiver and his face had turned a similar colour. Leon finally looked back in his fathers green eyes that matched his own and they both reflected the same emotions – heartbreak and anger.

“Who did it?”

“Tran…But he’s dead now too.”

“f-ck Le, why didn’t you stop him from racing?”

“I tried, I did. But you know him, once he thinks he’s onto a good thing…It’s my fault though, I coulda took away the keys or hidden the slips but no, I just told him it was dumb and he went ahead and did it anyway.”

“Leon, look at me. It’s not your fault. I know who to blame and his name begins with Toretto,” he growled, rubbing at the stubble on his jaw. Leon looked at him questioningly and realised his father knew more than he realised. At least, that’s what he thought. He didn’t think there was any possible way he would know about the heists but Leon could just never tell, unlike him, his father wasn’t very easy to read emotion–wise. He was an emotional wreck on the inside, Leon was sure, but on the outside he kept up a wall. A thick, bullet-proof, steel wall that kept all of his deepest emotions hidden. And though he was obviously upset about the death of his son, he wasn’t showing it. He wouldn’t show it because of where he was.

“Whaddya mean?”

“Come on L, I’m not stupid. Jesse looked up to the guy, though I ain’t got no clue why. This is a guy, who willingly shaves his head, looks like he’s on ‘roids, cheats on that fine woman he’s got and yet Jess would do anything for him if he asked.” He shook his head, “He might not’ve asked him to race Tran but he’s the one who slept with Tran’s sister and generally caused a turf war between the two ‘gangs’,” he used finger gestures with his free hand and shook his head again. “Ultimately, he’s to blame for Jesse’s death. And nothing will change my mind on that.”

Leon swallowed thickly, knowing that if his father ever got his hands on Dominic he would likely end up back in prison. He hated to admit it but his father did have a good point. Dominic was the one who had caused the big rift between the Trans and ‘Team Toretto’. That was another thing that kind of grated on Leon, why they were called a team was beyond him.

He ran his fingers through his hair for the thousandth time and glanced briefly at the guard who was watching them with a close eye. When he looked back at his dad, he was lighting a cigarette and surrounding himself in a billow of smoke.

“I’m out in six months Le, and we’ll toast Jesse in a big way son. In a big way.” He spoke with the cigarette in his mouth and leaned back in his chair. He watched his eldest child look at him while blowing smoke rings into the air before him. “Where’s everyone else at then?”

Leon sighed, not about to go into the whole story while his father was still in prison. “V’s in the hospital, Letty’s outside in the parking lot and Mia and Dom…Probably halfway around the world right now.”

“Figures. He saves his own ass and leaves you to deal with the mess, sounds about right to me.”

“Kinda puts things into perspective for us,” Leon nodded, catching sight of the guard pointing at the clock and nodding. Time was up. “Well pop, give me a call when you can.”

“Yeah, and I’ll see you in six. I love you, don’t forget that.”

“Love you too.”

He stood up and Leon watched him leave, a trail of smoke in his midst. He hung up the receiver and left the prison building, handing in the temporary pass he was made to wear and going out to the parking lot. Letty was sat on a bench, leaning back with eyes closed. She faced the sun and had a small smile on her face. Leon thought she had never looked so beautiful but then she caught sight of him and smiled, making him realise that she had proved him wrong.

“How’d it go?” She asked as she stood up and they began their journey back to Vince’s apartment.

“Pretty good. I think it might take a while to kick in…He blames Dom.”

“Oh sh-t. That’s not good.”

“Nope, but we’ve got six months before he gets out and that’s even if Dom shows up again.”

“True,” Letty nodded. Leon glanced at her, noting that she became quieter at the mention of Dom. He knew it was hard on her after all this time when she had just begun trusting him properly again. It wasn’t her fault that he was an assh-le to her, despite him seeming all loved up towards her when they were alone he pretty much blew her off whenever he was on the scene, showing off and proving that he was the best.

Dominic wasn’t that great a racer as it goes. He could hold his own in the right circumstances, a drag race against some fools in it for the rush of racing, but in a circuit race? Tackling sharp corners at high speeds he probably couldn’t do. For so long, Leon had been blind to Dominic’s real personality, he seemed to hide it so well but then everything seemed to fit into place one day and he saw the true Dom - the selfish, arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic boy that he really was. Sure, he had his good days and his bad days, just like anybody else but there were more and more of the bad days during the heists.

“Did I tell you? Vince’s twin turned up,” Letty asked, as they crossed a road.

“Seriously?”

“For sure man, saw him myself. He seemed alright but no one really knows what went on between him and V that caused them not to speak for so long.”

“Yeah, it was probably something stupid, ya know? Siblings are like that,” Leon agreed, tripping on the pavement and chuckling along with Letty.

“You, Jess and Kate ever get like that?”

“Nah, not really. I guess we never shared a womb though, we all had different mothers so…’ He shrugged. Letty didn’t understand why guys didn’t talk much about their personal lives; she didn’t know that much about Leon or Vince when she thought about it. Despite having known them for over eight years, she knew nothing of their lives before the team. She knew their favourite music, bands, songs and smells, type of women they go for, turn-on’s, turn-offs…But nothing about their families or their childhoods. That was something was going to have to change.

…

“Vince! Vince, wake up! We’ve gotta get moving!”

“What?” Vince asked groggily, opening his eyes slightly to look at Henry, who had hurried into the room and was talking in aloud whisper.

“I just saw pigs asking about you downstairs, we’ve gotta get you outta here. Now!” He ripped away the covers that had been covering Vince’s bare legs and tossed him his jeans. Moving slowly, Vince swung his legs down to the floor and tried to pull his jeans on. He was barely able to move as it was and now panicking he was unable to get his jeans past his calves. Each time he moved his arm, sharp pains bit at the wrist and shot up to his shoulder making him convulse. Tears of frustration welled up in his eyes and Henry noticed, making Vince stand up while he pulled the jeans on and did them up. “We never speak of this moment,” he said, pointing at Vince and putting his other arm around his waist.

He grabbed Vince’s wallet from the bedside table as Vince ripped out his IV and pulled the clip from his finger. By doing so, the heart monitor flat lined and it was only a matter of time before they would get caught escaping. Henry pulled them both over to the door, glanced out to check that the coast was clear, and dragged Vince towards the stairs. He kicked open the door and they made the long, painful way down the stairs.

After two flights, Vince was sweating so much that Henry could no longer keep a firm grip on him. He carefully placed him against the wall and noticed with horror that blood was seeping from the wound in his gut.

“sh-t V, you’re bleeding,” he muttered, pulling off his jacket and holding it against the re-opened wound. Vince was ghostly white and wheezing for air, both of his arms trembling. “Oh God, I shouldn’t have moved you V. You’re a mess.”

“No,” he wheezed. “We have to get outta here.”

“Okay, I’ve got you,” Henry replied, slipping his arm around his brother’s waist once again and leading them down two more flights of stairs. They finally reached the exit and burst out into the sunlight. He pulled him over to a black Viper sitting by itself in the back parking lot.

The door swung open and Luther stepped out, ripping his shades from his eyes and hurrying over to help him. “What the f-ck happened?”

“Cops showed up so I broke him outta there,” Henry muttered as they piled Vince onto the back seat and jumped into the front. Luther sped out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. “sh-t, he’s not gonna make it…”

great work! Keep it up!

chelsey :)

::sitting here with my coffee and newspaper:: love the story

poor leon, having to tell his dad about Jesse

the sister Kate, will she be in this at some stage?

poor Letty too

dont really get the Torque references. i have the dvd, have had it this long while, but never sat down and properly watched it all so its kinda lost on me

but so far i havent needed to have seen it so its all good

Chelle xxx

AN: Ah, I'm glad you all appear to be enjoying this so far. So many questions there were, but I'm sure you'll find all you need in the upcoming chapters. You don't necessarily have to have seen Torque to get the references anyway. The character of Henry was played by Matt Schulze so he serves my purpose of being Vince's twin. And Luther kind of comes with the package so...There you have it ^_^

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Three – Ghost Man on Third

“sh-t Henry, we gotta get him to a hospital!”

“Don’t you think I know that? Just shut up a minute okay?” He ordered, pressing his thumb and forefinger together at the bridge of his nose. He looked back in the seat at his brother, sprawled across the back seat. His bandaged arm was held close to his body while his free arm was tightly gripping the re-opened wound. Blood was seeping through his fingers and his arm trembled, desperately trying to keep pressure on the hole in his side. His eyes were clamped shut tightly.

“Vince?” Henry spoke softly, twisting further in his seat so that he was half over the seat. “V?” Vince opened his left eye to look up at Henry and wordlessly acknowledged him before closing it again. “We’re gonna get you some help buddy, you’ve just gotta hang on for about ten minutes. You think you can make it?” He asked, ripping apart a dirty shirt he found on the seat and lifting up Vince’s hand to press it on his stomach. He placed his hand back over the rag, searching eyes scoping for anything that would hold it down but coming up empty. “Vince?”

“Mmm,” Vince grunted, to what Henry wasn’t exactly sure but he decided to stop asking him questions. He turned back to the road, noticing the blood that was already on his hands. He opened the window and lit a cigarette with shaking hands. Luther had remained quiet and Henry was quite frankly thankful. He was trying to deal with his own problems without having to deal with anyone else’s worrying.

“That’s our exit!” Henry exclaimed, swinging the wheel to the right and earning them several irate beeps from their fellow road users. Luther remained silent, pushing his sunglasses back up his nose with his middle finger and gripping the steering wheel a little harder.

“This doesn’t lead to a hospital, does it?” Luther asked, in a hushed tone.

“It’s as good as. This is something Jack can handle.” Henry muttered through a billow of smoke. Luther nodded once, speeding up now that he knew where he was heading. He looked in the rear view mirror at Vince on the back seat and hoped that they would make it in time.

…

Leon sauntered down the hospital corridor, car magazine under one arm and two bottles of water in the other. As he approached Vince’s hospital room, he noticed the two cops beside the door talking to a doctor and two nurses. Leon stopped dead in his tracks, mouth slightly agape.

sh-t, they got him. I should’ve been here. f-ck!

He stared hard at the gathering of people by the hospital room, trying to catch any part of their conversation but they were too far away. How could he not have thought about this? The cops were after them, why had he not thought they would find out where Vince was? It was only a matter of time and here they were.

One of the nurses looked in his direction and caught his eye. And then the familiar spark of recognition kicked in and she opened her mouth to speak. When she looked back, Leon was gone.

In the elevator, he punched ground floor hard until the doors closed. As he began the slow journey down, he hopped from left to right unconsciously. As the elevator doors ‘pinged’ open, he marched straight towards the exit, not letting anything get in his way. He knew if he didn’t get out of there fast, they’d be onto him and he’d be royally screwed. But that didn’t help knowing that Vince already was.

He broke into a run as he reached the parking lot, after discarding the water and magazine in a trash can. I gotta find Letty. I gotta figure out what the hell we’re gonna do about this. Oh sh-t.

He sprinted as fast as he could, heart pounding in his head and breathing becoming laboured. But he carried on going. He had to figure out what they were going to do now. He had no idea how he was going to handle it, let alone Letty.

Leon burst through the front door, finding the apartment empty. He dropped the keys on the phone table and strode quickly to the bedroom…Empty.

“Letty?” He called, his voice echoing throughout the small home. “Yo Let?” He knocked on the bathroom door and opened it without waiting for an answer. “Letty!”

He dropped to his knees before her. She was lying on the floor, still in a vest and boy shorts. Unconscious.

He pressed two fingers against the pulse on her neck. It was faint but it was still there. She was pale and her usually olive skin was slick with a cold sweat.

He slid his arms underneath her, lifting her limp body up with minimal effort. She whimpered against him and he hushed her soothingly. “Its okay baby, everything’s okay.” He carried her to the bedroom. He had no other option. He couldn’t take her to a hospital, not now. They were looking for them and after that nurse caught sight of him they would probably be on even more of a lookout. They had got to Vince. It was only a matter of time before him and Letty was found too.

He gently placed her on Vince’s bed and she murmured slightly. He hurried back to the bathroom to get a cold flannel, tripping over one of Vince’s many guitars in the process. On the panel of the sink there was what looked like, a pregnancy test.

…

“He’s in a lot of pain but I think he’ll be okay. For now anyway,” Jack said, looking into Henry’s eyes and then back at Vince. The middle-aged man had blood splattered on his white shirt. His black tie was tucked between openings of buttons, sleeves rolled up to the elbow.

“Thanks J man, I didn’t know where else to go ya know?”

“I understand Henry,” he nodded, narrowing his eyes. “You got somewhere to take him?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna head back to Luther’s place in Frisco for now. Lay low for a while and get Vince better,” Henry explained to the older man. Jack patted him on the back and led him to the back yard, where Luther was asleep on a sun bed.

“What happened?” Jack asked, as they sat opposite each other. His salt and pepper hair was neatly cut, obviously from his military days. His wife approached them, carrying a tray containing three bottles of beer. She smiled politely at Henry, placing the tray down on the mini table between them and turning to her husband. He kissed her cheek lightly, smiling at her as she headed back up to the house.

“It’s a long story.” Henry sighed, copying Jack by taking one of the beer bottles. “I’m not even sure of the details myself.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle him? He’s got extensive damage and may take months to recover fully. It’s clear this isn’t a fresh wound, it was one that had been re-opened.”

“We had to get him outta the hospital.” Jack nodded slowly, taking a swig from his beer bottle. He was a professional man, but also a friend to Henry. He knew not to ask too many questions, despite his own contacts and power, the Hellions wouldn’t give a seconds thought about wiping him out. He had helped out many a gun shot wound to know not to mess with bikers.

Henry shook Luther, waking him up. “Thanks for helping Jack, I owe you big time.”

“Anytime son,” he replied, proffering his hand and shaking Henry’s firmly. “Anytime.”

…

Vince opened his eyes. New surroundings again. This had to stop. He was getting confused. He was alone this time; well nobody was in the room with him. He couldn’t see anyone, but he couldn’t sense anyone either. He turned his head to get a full view of the darkened room. Nothing interesting though. Then he heard the slightly muffled argument of hushed voices outside the room.

“…I don’t even know this guy yet he’s staying in my house, with a near fatal gunshot wound and I’m the one who’s butting in?”

“He’s Henry’s brother Jules, we couldn’t just leave him to die. The cops were looking for him and I don’t know why but he’s Henry’s responsibility which means he’s my responsibility too.”

“Alright, alright…I get it. It’s just you bring this to my doorstep too too often and it’s just getting a bit much.”

“I’m sorry, truly, but we had nowhere else to go. We just need a couple of days to figure out what we’re gonna do and then we’ll be outta here. I promise you.”

A sigh. “Okay. But you pay for what you eat and drink. And you can fix my bike while you’re here.”

“Deal.”

Vince heard one of the two walk away and then someone opened the door to his room, peeking in at him. Vince closed his eyes, pretending to be still asleep. After a moment, whoever it had been closed the door again and walked away. Vince let out the breath he had been holding, and opened his eyes once more. He didn’t even know how he had gotten where he was; just that he was in pain. A whole lot of pain.

He scanned the room again, trying to sit himself up and wincing from the horrible aching that pulsated through his arm and side. He swallowed thickly, trying to ease back the sting of tears and hold himself back from screaming. For some strange reason, he didn’t want anyone to know that he was awake. He didn’t want to face anyone, let anyone see his pain.

They’d spoon-feed him bull crap about how it was only understandable that he was in pain but that only made it worse. It was strange how that worked, when people try to reassure you it only makes you feel worse about yourself and the situation. Vince just felt like telling everyone to shove their sympathy where the sun didn’t shine but then he knew that would upset them and he would later regret it. So, there he lay – alone, in pain and helpless.

everything sucks right now :(

is it wrong im more concerned about Letty than Vince :P

is he gonna let them know hes alright somehow? so that they dont end up getting caught whilst trying to find him....

Chelle xxx

great fic...keep up the great work!!

chelsey :)

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Four – Sweet Dreams

Vince pulled himself down the stairs in the darkness, holding his bandaged arm close to his body and over his shot wound. He had woken up a few minutes earlier and the loud grumbling of his stomach had told him that food was in order. After he had gotten used to the initial pain, he found that walking didn’t hurt too much, it was mainly sitting, and standing or anything that required a lot of effort just about floored him.

He made his way into the kitchen, taking note that the light was still on. He pushed through the door with his good arm to find the kitchen empty, but noticed that the back door was slightly ajar. He moved toward it and the smell of cigarette smoke hit his nose. He peaked out onto the back porch to see a pair of legs propped up against the porch rail. After a couple of seconds, he opened the door properly and was faced with a young woman sitting in a garden chair. She looked up at him, cigarette in one hand, and glass of water in the other.

“Smoke?” She asked, holding up the packet of Marlboro Lights. That accent…Sounds familiar. British. Definitely British.

“Please,” Vince replied, sitting down with a huff in the spare chair beside her. She proffered him the packet and he took a cigarette, placing it to his lips. Before he could ask, she was already lighting it for him. “Thanks,” he muttered, through a billow of smoke. Despite the tremendous amount of pain searing through his arm and side, the cigarette took the edge off that little bit. He was breathing heavily, earning him a curious glance from his smoking partner.

“You okay there?” She asked, seemingly concerned.

“Yeah,” he winced as he moved slightly to try and get into a more comfortable position. He looked back up at her, smiling slightly.

“You should be in a hospital,” she stated. “Well hey, as if that’s not at least obvious. Sorry.”

“Yeah,” he repeated, taking a long drag of his cigarette. He tapped some ash into the ash tray placed on the arm of her chair, closing his eyes as he sat back again and wished the pain away.

“I’m Juliette, by the way,” she said, lighting herself another cigarette. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he caught the slightest smile through the darkness and smoke. She turned to look at him, questioning.

“Vince,” he nodded. The chick outside my room. This is her house. Her house that I’m staying in. Staying in with a gunshot wound to the gut and a heavily bandaged arm. Oh…f-ck.

“I know.”

“Of course…”

“You’ve been out for ages. Slept right through Thursday night and Friday.”

“That long? Jesus, what time is it?”

She peered back inside, “3.47am.” She glanced back at him and leaned back in her chair.

“So, uh, this is your house?”

“Well partly, I share with my room mate Connor but he’s away until Sunday.” She nodded. “Your Henry’s twin, huh?”

“Yeah, I shared a womb with it.”

“You don’t look that similar, really,” she mused, cocking her head slightly. “Maybe it’s the mullet.”

Vince chuckled lightly, “Someone should really tell him they went out in the eighties. Who’s he kiddin’?”

“He only keeps it because he thinks it bugs us. I mean it kinda does but why would you do that to yourself?” She sniggered along with him.

Vince finished his cigarette and closed his eyes, embracing the head rush. He had smoked since he was sixteen but since Dom didn’t like the smell, he had to quit. Well, he told Dom that he had. Secretly, he would go outside for the odd few. He was glad he didn’t share a house with him. He wouldn’t have been able to survive. He knew it was a bad habit but he loved the rush of nicotine. It gave him something to do when things got too heavy, when Dom and Letty argued, when someone was upset, he’d nip outside for a crafty smoke. Plus he was slightly vain and thought it looked cool.

Obviously, he wasn’t always that sneaky and had been caught by Mia one day. He had thought that she would give him some lecture about how it was bad for him, being a med student and everything. Instead, she had looked at him expressionless for a minute or so, while he dared to take a drag. She checked over her shoulder, making sure Dom didn’t catch her and ducked behind the wall where Vince was hiding. Then she had asked him for one. Of all the people out of the team, Mia had been the one who was a secret smoker. He gladly obliged, finally glad to have something that could maybe bring him closer to Mia…God, how he missed her.

He reached over and grabbed another from the pack without asking, earning him a lopsided smile. “Feels better huh?” She asked, bringing her legs back up onto the chair and resting her chin on her knee.

“A little,” he breathed, shaking slightly as he lit it.

He watched her out of the side of his eye, the way she squinted slightly each time she took a drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke out of the side of her mouth. The three sets of silver studs, one with an emerald coloured gem, she wore in her ears that glistened slightly in the night sky. The way her jaw line moved as she smoked and talked. All of a sudden, it seemed, Vince felt as though he was noticing the small things much more often. It wasn’t like he felt as though he was checking her out, merely observing this new person, trying to give himself a mental image. This was new to him, but maybe he had a new rejuvenation for life. Life in itself.

“You hungry?” Jude asked, standing up fluidly and holding onto the door that led into the kitchen. As if on cue, Vince’s stomach rumbled loudly and they both laughed. Vince however stopped himself after a couple of moments as an intense pain ripped through his gut and told him not to laugh. He was oddly glad that Juliette hadn’t seen his moment of weakness as he closed his eyes once more and bit down on his tongue. She had just walked back inside as it came over him and he found himself swaying ever so slightly in his chair.

After a minute or so, the pain subsided into a dull ache and a vengeful headache came on. He pushed himself up with his good arm, stumbling forward as a head rush caught him. He managed to grab the porch rail just in time but he could see blackness coming in from the sides of his eyes. And then the blackness encompassed him.

When he opened his eyes, Juliette was hovering in his line of vision, brow creased in worry. “Whoa Vince, you okay?” He tried to speak but instead, nodded his head. “I’ll get you a glass of water.” She said, leaving him alone once again. He could hear a cupboard door shut and then a moment later she arrived with a cold glass of water. She set it down on one of the chairs before turning to Vince and helping him up into an upright position. She handed him the water and slouched down beside him as he sipped at the cool liquid.

“How long was I out?”

“About 30 seconds. Not long. But you still scared the Be-Jesus outta me,” she replied, hugging her knees to her chest.

“Sorry,” he said, looking down at his bandaged arm.

“Don’t worry about it. You made one heck of a bang though, I’d say I was surprised you didn’t wake someone but we’re talking about Luther and Henry here. They’d sleep through a nuclear war and still keep on snoring.”

Vince wanted to laugh but he knew if he did, the same thing could happen to him once again and that’s not what he wanted. He knew now that it had happened, the likeliness of it happening again was slim; well he hoped they were.

“So what happened to you Vince? Henry won’t tell me anything, and I get the impression he kinda doesn’t know the full story himself…” Vince glanced at Juliette but she wasn’t looking at him. Instead she had stretched her legs out in front of her and was resting her head against the porch rail. He sighed, placing the glass of water down and leaning his head back also.

“It’s a long story…” He said after a minute. “But it was a stupid mistake on my behalf, so I’m only to blame.”

Juliette regarded him for a short while, watching as he breathed slightly out of rhythm because of the obvious pain he was in. He clearly didn’t want to be pushed on the matter so instead she pulled herself up. “Come on, I’ll help you up.”

Vince looked up at her, dumbfounded. “You won’t be able to bear my weight,” he said, flatly.

“Don’t be stupid Vince; I’m sure I can help you in to the couch. We have to do something, I’m not gonna leave you out here all night. Now-” she outstretched both her hands in front of him. He continued to stare at her a moment before coming around sceptically. He grabbed her hands and with the support of the porch rail, he heaved himself to his feet. “You okay?” She asked, as he stumbled slightly, feeling light headed and wanting to just lay down right then. He nodded sharply and she nodded back. She helped him through the back door, through the kitchen and into the living room. She led him around the couch and helped him gently sit down.

Vince nodded at her, smiling lightly for effect. “Thanks.”

“You’re okay? You want me to get you anything?”

“No thanks,” he breathed, trying to regain a breathing regularity.

“Okay,” she said slowly. She watched him a moment, feeling helpless for the stranger who could have slowly been dying on her couch. “Night.”

“Night.”

He watched her disappear from his line of sight and sighed as he heard her go up the stairs. He was in a lethargic stage where he was in between sleeping and being awake. He wasn’t really thinking of anything. He was just blank.

His life felt blank. All of it.

AN: Nobody read the last chapter :( I hope people like it.

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Five – You’re the Storm

Leon sat in the chair beside Vince’s bed, watching Letty sleep. He had placed a cold flannel upon her head with shaking hands, unable to rid the image of the white stick he had found in the bathroom. On the bedside table it sat now, on top of the box that had revealed what he had least expected that morning – Letty was pregnant.

He was restless and hadn’t been able to sit still for longer than five minutes, wondering what he, no, they were going to do. It was like Dominic had cut her by leaving her and now, he had come back to pour a tub full of salt all over the wound. Obviously he couldn’t have known if Letty had only just found out herself but that didn’t mean he was right in leaving them. Negative and negative didn’t make positive. It was his responsibility to them all to at least make sure they were safe – Alive.

He hadn’t believed Dom to be that selfish but this was just the cold truth that he only gave a sh-t about himself. It angered Leon so much to have the realization that the man they had trusted for so many years had just left them at such a crucial time. Part of him wanted to believe that there had to be a rational explanation as to why he had left. But the other part of him, the angry part, wanted to find him and beat him to a bloody pulp.

Maybe it was the protective side of him. The side that missed his brother and cared for Letty and Vince in a way he thought was impossible. Out of the Team he had always been the level-headed one, the one who could be relied upon to be calm and collected in any situation. He felt like it was his role of sorts, that he had to keep up the character all of the time in fear of actually showing how scared or angry he was.

He was good at hiding those emotions, he had to when it came to Jesse. He was the older brother and it had been rough on them both when their father had been sent to prison but Jesse struggled with handling such things so Leon had had to be the strong, reassuring one. Eventually, Jesse had come to realise that they would be okay, they had Dominic and the rest of the Team and their father would be out in a year, nine months, six months…

In comforting Jesse, he had been comforting himself. Things were going to work out alright. They could do the heists and that way they would have money to do whatever they wanted, as long as their father didn’t find out the real reason why they had all that cash. Jesse could get his own car and everyone would be happy.

Look where they were now.

“Leon?” Letty was blinking away the light and trying to focus on the man beside her. Leon moved out of his seat and knelt beside the bed, taking her hand.

“Yeah, it’s me girl. How you feeling?”

She lifted a hand to her forehead, pulling away the cold flannel and sitting up to rest on her elbows. “Got a killer headache. And I’m really thirsty,” she replied, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I’ll get you a glass of water,” he said softly, standing up and leaving her to recollect her self.

When he walked back in, glass of water in hand, she was sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the pregnancy test in her hand. He watched her for a moment, trying to work out how she was feeling when she sensed him and looked up.

“I guess you saw this, huh?” He nodded his head silently and sat on the bed beside her, placing the glass of water on the floor. She sighed, and with a mixture of bitterness and sadness in her voice muttered, “Kinda puts a new spin on things. My child’s never going to see their father.”

“Letty, don’t say that. We don’t know what’s happened to him yet, he could be looking for us right now.” The words spilled out of Leon’s mouth but he couldn’t help but think ‘yeah, right’.

“Come off it Leon! You know as well as I do that Dominic Toretto is perfectly capable of leaving us when we need him.” She looked as if she were about to say more but decided against it. Leon knew she was talking about when he slept with Mika Tran and all the other times he had cheated on her. He knew she was talking about the fact he had sent him back to get her from the car and not gone himself. Though, on the other hand he had been trying to get Vince but it had still stung her. She was talking about so many times he had been selfish and she had been left in a cold, empty bed to wonder why the hell she hadn’t just packed up her bags and left him.

But the fact remained, no matter how much he fecked her over, gave her the cold shoulder, whatever – she was still in love with him. Sometimes she asked herself why and came up with so many reasons. It was the way he looked at her when he woke up next to her, the sweet nothings he whispered in her ear when he gave her a massage or when they made love. The way he could express so much by taking her hand in his, kissing her jaw line, running his calloused hands through her hair. To love someone so much it hurt, that was what got her so much.

Before she could stop them, tears were spilling out of her eyes. Tears that she had fought so hard to keep from spilling over the years because of so many times he hadn’t been there to kiss her goodnight. Tears she hadn’t spilt when she found out he had slept with the Tran girl. The night Letty had also found out that she was pregnant.

She had told one person – Leon. She hadn’t even told Mia, her best friend, because she didn’t think she could. Leon had known straight away that something was wrong, worse than him cheating on her for the countless time. He had a way of seeing more in people, sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse.

But she had spilled to him and he had been the kind, caring, understanding person he always was. The genuine Leon. He had been there for her, stood by her when she had made the decision to have an abortion. He had been the one who held her hand and comforted her without saying a word throughout the whole thing. And nobody else had found out. She never spoke of it, so he didn’t either. But it had still happened and it had made them strangely closer than ever. A silent bond.

As soon as he noticed the tears spilling down her olive face, he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her body. He hated to see her cry, and this was another one of those times when he had the sudden urge to protect. He felt like a big brother to her and he knew, without her saying anything, why she was crying. Sobbing.

‘He left me,’ she stuttered, breathlessly. “I miss him so much.” Leon clenched his fist against her back, stroking her hair with the other. He could feel himself getting so much angrier with Dominic, but he still wanted to give his all to Letty in her time of need. It pained him to see her so distraught over the man that had screwed her over time and time again. The tough Letty so many people saw was someone who you wouldn’t expect to put up with so much sh-t from a guy but he guessed that’s what love did to you. He could only empathise with her since he’d never been in love, but surely it didn’t have to hurt as much as it clearly did.

Not many people got to see the real Letty but when you did, you saw how truly amazing she really was. She was a passionate person, everything in her life she loved or loathed, be it music, movies, actors, her job – anything. She was strong and opinionated, but she knew when to shut up and when to comfort. Leon always loved the times when him, Jesse, Vince and Letty would sit around and joke. She was one of the guys, but when Mia needed girl talk she would indulge.

She was different around Dominic. When they were alone, they were a perfect couple. When Dom was around she was more subdued, she seemed to hold back from making the inappropriate jokes that would always make him crack up because she knew they were inappropriate. She was herself but in a lesser form, he thought. Heck, that probably didn’t make sense but he could think of no other way to explain it.

After ten minutes of silence, aside from a couple of sobs, she pulled away from him. She closed her eyes, turning away from him to wipe them on the hem of her shirt. She turned back to him, her tearstained face straining into a smile. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at her, non-judging and caring.

“Leon -”

“You don’t need to say anything,” he said, in almost a whisper. She sighed, looking at her hands. He wiped a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Placing his fingers under her jaw, he lifted her face up to look at him. He stared intently into her eyes for a long moment, before she let her eyes stray away.

“You know I’ll always, always be here for you Letty. You don’t need to explain yourself to me. Ever. That’s what I’m here for – I’m your friend, it’s what I do.” She looked back up at him and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I can’t stand what he’s done to you, but I know how much you love him so…Whatever you decide. I’m here.”

He got up, seeing it a good time to leave her to get some rest. “Leon?” She said, timidly. He turned back to her. “I, uh – thanks.’”

‘Don’t mention it. I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.’

…

She woke up with a start, the faint sound of a late night movie the only thing she could hear. She got up and stumbled to the bathroom, suddenly feeling desperate for the toilet. Washing her hands, she looked up at the mirror in front of her, appalled at the sight before her. She straightened out her hair a little, before venturing into the living room.

Some B-movie from the fifties was playing quietly and she found Leon asleep on the couch. She half-smiled at the sight of the full grown man looking so…naïve and grabbed a blanket to cover him up. He snored lightly and woke himself up, looking confused for a moment before cocking his head at Letty.

“I was gonna wake you but you looked so cute,” she said, holding the blanket to her chest.

“Ha, thanks, I think.” She looked about to say something but thought against it and backed away, replacing the blanket in its original position.

“Night.”

“Night,” he called after her.

He turned the TV off and headed into the other bedroom, too tired to even brush his teeth. He stripped off his jeans and shirt and fell into bed. He was just drifting off when he heard his door open. He sat up on his elbows, seeing Letty standing in the doorway, her wavy hair falling around her face. “You okay? You need something?” He asked, genuinely concerned.

“No…Um, I just – can I stay with you?” She stuttered, looking at her feet.

He pulled back the covers and watched her slip in beside him. “You don’t mind?” She asked, not lying down.

“Not at all,” he replied, stretching out his arms so that she could sleep beside him. The warmth of her body against his was refreshing and he wrapped his arm around her back, as she placed her head on his chest. He breathed in the scent of her hair before drifting off into a deep sleep.

i read the last one sweetheart.

i didnt have time to post a reply, it was just before i had to get off the puter

im lovin' the story :)

not lovin' Dom in it. i hate it when he's the assh-le of the piece :(

but the story is going really well

you gonna have this Letty fall for Leon? :unsure:

Chelle xxx

I read every chapter at once. Sweety..... this is awsome!!!!!!!! LOVE the little twist of Letty being pregnant! Soo mad at Dom for leaving!! :cuss: Cant wait for more!!!

See ya later.......... :kick:

I actually just got caught up on this story. This is great! Can't wait to find out what happens. Are Letty and Leon gonna hook up? ?? And Dom better get his ass back there asap.

Update soon! :)

AN: I'm so glad people are still reading this. And seemingly enjoying it!

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Six – Hello Tomorrow

Henry and Luther walked in through the front door, finding Vince still in the place they left him. He had fallen asleep on the couch some time during the night, bandaged arm held close, protectively across his chest, his other arm a sort of shield across his stomach. He looked peaceful until something in his dreams made his eyes screw up in pain. They were back to how they were before but still, Henry hadn’t been able to get the image out of his mind.

He and Luther had headed out to get cigarettes and breakfast, figuring it was the least they could do for Vince and Juliette. Luther took everything to the kitchen while Henry sat on the coffee table and shook Vince’s shoulder in a bid to wake his older brother up.

“Get up,” he ordered, as Vince looked up and groaned.

“Don’t know if you noticed, but there was a slight accident where I was shot.” Vince seethed, annoyed at his brother for waking him from the hour sleep he had gotten that night. Ever since he could remember, Henry had been the first one up in the morning and he bitterly recalled mornings where he had been woken by the same shake of the shoulder.

“Yeah, I noticed when you bled all over my car. Thanks for that by the way,” Henry shot back, sauntering into the kitchen where the smell of bacon was beginning to arise.

“Anytime,” Vince replied to himself, pulling himself to an agonizing upright position. He breathed heavily; working his way through the pain like his mother had taught him. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Just let the air into your mind, honey.

He sat, shaking slightly, with his face resting in his good hand and his bandaged arm resting limply on his knee. The pain became a constant, dull throb once again and he began to feel dizzy. “Henry!” He shouted with as much effort as possible. He vomited on the carpet just as Henry stepped into the doorway.

“Might wanna clean that,” Vince added to Henry’s look of contempt. Henry shook his head, backing out of sight while mumbling to himself. If he hadn’t felt so disgustingly ill, Vince would have allowed himself to feel much smugger but just watching his twin clean up his own puke was good enough. “Still hungry?” Vince asked, sarcastic yet not filled with as much humour as it usually would have been.

“Ha, Ha. I’m having yours, I don’t wanna have to see my own breakfast regurgitated by someone else,” he replied, shoving the dirty cloths into the bucket full of soapy water and finally letting out his breath. “Yo! Jules!”

“Yeah?” She shouted from upstairs.

“You got any air freshener or something?”

“Why?” She asked, making her way down the stairs, towelling her damp hair.

“Vince here just chunked on your floor, thought you might wanna deodorise in here,” he answered, holding up the bucket.

“It’s in the cupboard under the sink.” She looked down at Vince’s pale face; his eyes closed and head resting back on the couch. She walked around the couch, carefully sitting beside him on the arm of the couch. He opened his eyes, blinking away the light before looking at her. “Mornin’.”

“Mornin’ yourself,” he answered.

“How you feeling?” She asked, watching him dubiously.

“Awful. But I did get to watch Henry almost chunk on himself after seeing my mess. Score.” He nodded to himself and she smiled lightly through squinted eyes, as though trying to figure him out. The smile she saw creep onto his lips was one of mystery, it was miniscule, just tugging at the corners of his mouth but she spotted it. He caught her watching him and he squinted at her, though the smile was still in place.

“I’m off to get dressed,” she stated, jumping up and avoiding the soapy patch on her carpet. Henry watched as Vince glanced after Jude as she walked upstairs. Leaning in the doorframe, he folded his arms at the sight of his brother checking out the woman in question.

“It’s that damn silky bathrobe that gets me too,” he said, earning himself a quirked eyebrow. “Don’t deny it brother, I saw you eyeing those legs.”

“If I didn’t have a disability at the moment, I think pillow to face would be contacting right about now Henry.”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist – just don’t let Luther see you checking her.”

Before Vince could ask why, Henry had disappeared once again. All he did was watch after her, maybe not so innocently, and all of a sudden he was having accusations pointed at him. He hadn’t been thinking about that sort of thing, he was hardly in a condition to be thinking about his crotch at that particular moment in time. Besides, it was hardly illegal to look at a woman…wearing a bathrobe.

He closed his eyes again, sitting as still as possible. He had yet to find a comfortable position but he found that if he refrained from moving unnecessarily he could wilfully repeat ‘f-ck you’ in his mind. It didn’t make the pain go away but it somehow made him feel better.

He knew he should still have beeb in the hospital. He had been there for a week and a half before Henry showed up but he had been told he would take a long time to heal from such an ordeal. His bandage needed changing and he was in no way capable of doing it himself. But if he had stayed in the hospital he would probably be under arrest and in a prison facility somewhere. Things weren’t looking good.

He wondered where Leon and Letty had gotten to. Last time he had seen them, they had just stayed at his place and brought him a few of the everyday essentials – own toothbrush, deodorant - and then he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, they had gone, leaving a note beneath his dinner tray. Nice to see we can keep you entertained, lazy as ever. We’ll keep your bed warm. There’s a treat for you in the drawer. Let and Leon.

In the drawer there had been a bag full of candy and a pack of smokes.

Juliette would probably have let him use her phone but he didn’t want to risk it. The pigs had probably tapped his home phone and he couldn’t remember their cell phone numbers – he had never been good at remembering digits.

What to do?

He was struck from his thoughts when Luther flicked the radio on in the kitchen and some indiscernible rap song blasted through the speakers. Vince flinched; the noise may as well have been a drill working a hole into his head for all it was worth. He growled, feeling his jaw set in annoyance and sheer pain.

The station was changed but by this point, Vince could no longer pay attention to whatever was on the waves. His head was pounding and all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed, go to sleep and wake up to find himself in his own apartment. Free of shot wounds, free of the creeping wound around his arm and free from all the sh-t that had piled on top of him.

Juliette wandered back down the stairs, now clothed and ready for the day. Luther and Henry came back into the living room, each carrying plates. Luther handed one to Juliette as she sat down in the arm chair and he lightly ruffled her already tousled hair. She winked at him and began to tuck in to her breakfast. Henry sat next to his brother and raised his eyebrows at him in a somewhat knowing way.

Vince was unsure as to whether that was some kind of signal towards the way Luther acted around Juliette or whether it was just a meaningless Henry look. Either way, he wasn’t caring that much any more. He just had no energy to think.

“So what do you guys plan on doing now?” Juliette asked, sipping at her coffee.

“No idea. But we need to think of something fast. He’s looked better, we need to figure out what we’re gonna do with him,” Henry replied, indicating Vince. “Now that we’ve come down to it and we actually have to formulate a plan, I’m stuck. Usually I’d run on my own impulse but I can’t do that now.”

“Well look, I’ll have to run it by Conner first, but you can probably stay here a few more days.” She answered, pausing as she chewed. “If you need to.”

“Seriously?” She nodded. “Oh you sexy bitch,” Henry exclaimed, winking at her. She smiled back at him before getting up to take her plate in the kitchen. As she walked back into the living room, all four of them heard a car pull up in the driveway. Each of them looked out of the window, unable to make out who was getting out of the vehicle. Juliette walked to the door, opening it just as the new visitor stepped onto the porch.

“Connor!” She exclaimed, as he gave her a smirk at her outburst.

“J baby,” he greeted suavely, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her into an embrace. “Miss me?”

“Course,” she replied, playfully swiping his arm. Connor turned to Henry and Luther, pulling his shades from his head to reveal a set of shocking blue eyes. He smiled lightly in recognition and moved forward to shake their hands.

“Nice hair Henry, have an accident with a lawnmower or somethin’?” Connor asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly at Luther. Henry pulled a face of mock anger and made a motion with his hands to signify that Connor was all talk. Luther and Juliette however laughed at the comment, earning them another smirk. “You must be Henry’s better half?” Connor presumed, staring at the man beside Luther who looked so much like him, yet so different. Vince nodded, managing a smile, albeit weak. Connor regarded him, noticing the raw wound that was around his arm. Vince looked down at his arm also, unable to conjure up a reason for having such injuries.

“You want some breakfast? Luther cooked,” Juliette asked, trying to vie her roommate’s attention away from the man with the bullet wound. Connor gazed at Vince a little longer before turning to Juliette and flashing another smile at her.

“Luther can cook? Well I’ll be darned.”

“Shut it, I’ve seen the messes you’ve created in the kitchen Con-man.”

…

“We really need to change that bandage Vince,” Juliette said, having come in his room and closed the door behind her. She was carrying a huge roll of bandage and some form of medical alcohol to clean the wounds. She sat down on the bed after flicking the light on, while he painfully pushed himself into a sitting position.

He made an attempt to pull his shirt off but struggled infuriatingly. She recognised the annoyance in his eyes and began helping him slowly get out of his shirt. She carefully freed his good arm and worked it over his head before pulling it down the wounded arm, taking care not to move it too much. He suddenly felt overexposed to the practical stranger who had let him in her house.

Silently, she began unravelling the thick material from around his waist. He watched her work so intently, and turned away at the look in her eyes that came about when she finally saw the shot wound. “Jesus,” she muttered, placing the old bandage on the bedside table.

She heard a sharp intake of breath as she dabbed at the wound with the alcohol. “Sorry,” she apologised sincerely, “This is really bad.”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry, I have a thing for stating the obvious. You were shot close range with a shotgun, how could it not be bad? I should just stop talking.”

“No…Carry on talking, I like to hear you talk.”

She paused momentarily to look up at him but he had his eyes closed, working through the pain again. “You must be the only person, most of the time people just tell me to shut up – well Luther anyway,” she laughed slightly. “How’s your arm?”

“Better than it was. I can still feel the pain which is good I guess.”

“Yeah, you should start to worry if you lose the feeling in it. Then you’ve got a problem.” His mouth curled in a light smile, so there was some light in the tunnel. “I hope I’m doing this right anyways, I’ve never had to clean up more than a grazed hand or something. I’m just going on the little knowledge I have from movies where they always have to clean the wound and stuff, ya know?”

“Rather you than Henry, I’d end up with a mullet bandage.”

She laughed again. God, she has a great laugh. No - not a time to be thinking of that now. She’s helping you, she’s cleaning you up. She’s seen you puke.

She carried on talking mindless babble, Vince listening but not really paying attention. Before he knew it, she was re-wrapping a fresh bandage around his waist and his head was resting on her shoulder as she did so. “You okay?” She asked softly.

“Mmm,” he mumbled, feeling his body become heavier and heavier.

“You need to rest V. Jeez, I bet that’s all you feel you’re doing but trust me you just need to sleep.” He made another incoherent noise. “Do you need some kinda pain killers or something? I might have some strong stuff, not like in the hospital but it might take the edge off…Vince?”

“Can you just stay there awhile, I don’t wanna move just yet.”

“Does it hurt too much?” He nodded against her, sighing heavily. “Okay.” She shuffled around for a moment, making herself more comfortable. She rested her hand on the back of his neck, making an invisible pattern lightly on his skin. He found that he had also placed the scar-ridden arm on her legs, and was mimicking the pattern she was drawing on her thigh.

A lifetime could have passed and he wouldn’t have noticed. He had been so strangely comfortable that he hadn’t even felt himself nodding off to sleep. “You ready to lie down again now?”

“Yeah…”

She helped him struggle back to the pillow, tenderly placing his arm across his stomach. “Thanks,” he muttered, just before she left the room.

She stared at him a long moment, before shutting off the light. “No problem.”

Awsome update! Now, wheres Letty and Leon and Dom and Mia?? Can't wait for more.

See ya later.......... :kick:

AN: Long time no update, huh? I've been neglecting this lately, but I do want to finish it at some point so let's see how it pans out. I sorta have an idea where it'll go but as a writer, I've never really ever planned anything out. So anyway, here we go x

Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Seven – Miles Away

Leon collapsed on the couch, flicking the television on and resting his feet on the cheap coffee table. Fiddling with a packet of cigarettes, he stared blankly at the ‘idiot box’ and tried to will himself into not craving nicotine. Placing the pack on the coffee table, he turned the TV up.

The news reader droned on and on about some politics but the change in story caught Leon’s attention. ‘A head on collision killed five people early this morning near the Mexican border. It was thought to believe that one of the drivers was a street racer, trying to overtake another vehicle when an oncoming car was heading their way. The bright orange Supra was totalled, killing both of the passengers straight away but the driver of the red Escort survived for two hours before passing away due to internal bleeding. An investigation is pending…In other news…’

Leon was stunned. Bright orange Supra. Oh sh-t…Surely it couldn’t be. It sounded like the car they had all worked on together, restoring it. They had re-built it into an ultimate driving experience and customised the colours to suit Brian’s taste. Heck that car was supposed to be Dom’s but since he had taken such a shine to the guy, the car was as good as Brian’s. But that meant…

Leon blinked, unable to think of anything to occupy his mind. It’s like he had to concentrate on the blinking, like one’s mind often has to think about something they are doing when they have been shocked in order to give themselves something to concentrate on. It was stupid, he knew that, but once you begin thinking heavily about a certain action, it got harder to block that out of your mind. He was stuck now.

He slowly sat up straight, thinking about his next moves. He had no idea for certain if it was Brian but they did say there were two in the car – so who else was with him? Dom? Mia? Who?

He sighed. He had to tell Letty. Tell her what though? ‘Oh, I’m not certain, but I think Brian might be dead and its possible Dom was with him. How’re you feeling by the way?’ He didn’t know anything. He knew he needed to calm down but this was one of those times when his mind would just not let him. One of those times when you get the most awful thought in your head, something about a family member dying in a horrific car crash and the fear that it might just come true. He hated that.

The past two weeks had been a big blur to him. Everything had happened so quickly and they had lost each other. That had been their biggest mistake – not sticking together long enough to find out what was going on, what had happened. They were falling apart, piece by piece and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He swallowed thickly, trying to clear his throat. He was breaking out in a cold sweat and he could feel himself slowly begin to rock to try and stop him from doing anything else. What was going to happen to them? It was just him and Letty. And her child, he thought.

“Leon?” He came out of his daze and focused on Letty, stood before him waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked and she sighed, perching on the coffee table. “I thought you were like delirious or somethin’. Scared the hell outta me there man, I’ve had enough of that lately.”

“Sorry girl musta just dazed for a while,” he smiled, suddenly able to keep his calm exterior when she was around. She nodded at him sceptically before getting up and noticing the flashing red light on the answer machine.

“There’s a message, has it always been flashing?” Leon twisted around to look; eyes squinted trying to remember if it has always been so persistent. He shrugged. “Should we answer it?”

“Why shouldn’t we? It’s not like we’re answering the phone,” he replied, climbing over the back of the couch and leaning back against it.

“Okay,” Letty nodded slowly and pressed the play button.

The machine beeped and then began to talk. “You have two new messages,” they were informed. Leon raised his eyebrows, how had they missed that?

“Hey V buddy, I think I figured out what’s up with your car. If you bring it down to the garage I’ll take another look. And pick up some smokes for me on the way.” Jesse’s voice resonated in their ears. Letty’s breath had caught in her throat and tears had begun to well in her eyes. She looked away from the machine, listening as the next message beeped in.

“No one’s home I guess,” a heavy sigh. “I was going to call home but figured this was a safer bet. I don’t know what else I can say to make what I’ve done seem any better in any of your eyes but…I’m sorry…”

Letty was now staring at the phone in disbelief. That was all he had to say for himself? After everything he had left them to deal with, he expected them to still be fit to meet him at the border so that they could run away from their problems. Had he not found out about Jesse, or that they had no idea what had become of Vince? She couldn’t comprehend what his motives were and that was what hurt the most.

Leon watched her, trying to figure out what she was feeling. Was now the right moment to tell her that he thought Dominic Toretto, the man she had once loved, the father of her child, might be dead?

“Letty…?”

She looked up at him, the hurt and anger present in her eyes. He opened his mouth, about to spill all but instead he opened his arms. She walked toward him, falling into his strong hold and resting her cheek against his heart. This was becoming a common occurrence, just another thing that had changed since everything happened. The only other times they had hugged properly were when she had terminated her first pregnancy and the day Dom had gone to prison. At that point in time, both of them needed the support.

…

“So it was Brian’s car?” Letty asked, staring at Leon inquisitively. He nodded, thankful to have the load off his mind now having told her his suspicions, or maybe fear. She had listened closely to him, obviously coming to the same conclusion he had that the other occupant in the car may have been Dom or Mia. They were laying side-by-side on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, a bowl of microwave popcorn by their heads which had been one of the only things in the cupboard. Ironic since Vince wasn’t much good with microwaves.

“You okay?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah, I think so…At least there’s still you.”

“Fat load of good I am though, huh?”

“Don’t say that,” she said, turning her head to look at him. Though he could feel her watching him, he couldn’t bring himself to turn his head, to look her in the eyes. She had a stare that could flaw any man, and most women. She sighed and he felt the warmth of her breath on his cheek, strangely worried that she was too close to him.

“We need to figure this all out Let. We need to get out of here, try and find Dom and Mia and Vince. Go-”

“I know…I know we need to do that Leon. But if the cops were gonna find us; surely they woulda made their move by now.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“Why not? It scares the crap outta me, just knowing that they might find me and take me in…I can’t stand to think about it but it’s always in the back of my mind saying ‘you know you deserve to go to jail for what you did’.”

“Look,” Leon began, sitting up and finally looking at her. “We’re gonna be fine. I promise you.”

“That’s not a promise you can keep Leon, and you know it,” she said, pulling herself to an upright position so that she could sit opposite him. He placed his hands on her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes.

“But it’s a promise that I can try my feckin’ hardest to keep Letty.” She sighed, unconsciously bringing her hand to her stomach. “Have you decided what you’re gonna do?”

She blinked slowly, and nodded. “I’m keeping my baby. I don’t know, maybe it’s my stubborn self but I feel like I owe it to myself to do this.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah…”

OMG..poor Letty :( ...

btw I love it

Absolutly loved it! I can't wait to see what she does when she finds Dom! I think It will either be this :punch: or this :makeout: with maybe even some of this :cry:
:P Can't wait!

See ya later......... :kick:

:huh: I am kinda lost here!!! :(