Title: The Real Reason
Category: drama/angst-ish, some romance for multiple pairings, (DOTTY EVENTUALLY)
Rating: PG-13 (maybe R later...idk)
Disclaimer: not mine...only things that are mine are whatever you dont recognize!
Author: (me)
Completed: Not yet!

(A/N: i wasn't gonna post this but whatever. be sweet!)

Chapter One: Rachel Cordelia Duquesne

I know the story about my parents—Mia Toretto and Vince Duquesne had gotten together and separated, later to have me. They never married but Mom still lived at the Fort with Uncle Dom and Letty, as did Dad, Leon and his newest girlfriend, Carly.

Dom and Letty still hadn’t gotten married, even though they’d been together forever. Mom had dated on and off for years, but Dad hadn’t so much as given any girl a second look, even at the races, when only the bravest of the chasers ventured towards my father as I sat with him.

And then there was Jaya Nehru, a new mechanic working at DT. She’d moved to Los Angeles from Amritsar with her brother, Balraj, over the summer. It seemed she was always finding new ways to better my uncle’s automotive business. But that still wasn’t enough to keep Dad and Uncle Dom from taking on a suicidal stunt.

My mom wasn’t pregnant when Uncle Dom went into Lompoc. She and Dad had been dating casually but I guess something changed when Dom went in. Sure, Mom was legal and all that shit, but still, when Dom found out, he wanted to kill my dad.

Ma started going to see him again more frequently after I was born, usually leaving me with Letty—one of the few reasons Let would actually stay home from the garage without putting up a fight and wasn’t nursing one hell of a hangover.

I was two, almost three when he got out. I’d never met the guy but I’d heard about him. Letty and I were the only ones at the house that afternoon when Vince brought him home. I took one look at him before I hightailed it out of the room, hiding behind Letty. It took me around a week and a half before I’d even acknowledge him when he spoke to me. Balraj was close to my age and a wiz in algebra.

As I got older I got more and more into the cars, just like every other person who lived at the Fort, which pretty much labeled me a daddy’s girl for life…sure I might have looked like Mia but that didn’t mean I had to act like her.

Letty had been thrilled when I’d gotten interested in cars—she finally had someone who wasn’t a guy that was as into cars as she was—this drove Mama even more insane, especially when I came home with grease dried into my hair.

As I got older, I tried like hell to move past the lure of engines and NOS fumes. Unfortunately—but to Letty’s pleasure—it wasn’t possible. When most girls were taking Home Econ., I was in auto shop, leaving most of the guys behind.

“Hey Balraj; last one home’s doin’ oil changes for a month!” I said as I floored it out of the school parking lot one afternoon; he’d been at cross-country practice while I’d been in detention. I knew I could easily out run him if I took the shortcut home. I was sitting on the trunk of the car Letty was working on when he drove up.

“You cheated!”

“Did not! It’s not my fault your car’s a P.O.S!”

“You took the short cut!”

“Yeah, so what, you never said not to! You know how I change oil; don’t make me get Dom to make you do it over again!” she muttered something under her breath about me having Dom wrapped around my little finger as she left the shop.

“You seen my dad, Let?”

“He and Mia had a fight about some guy that asked her to a movie or something…” her voice trailed off and I knew where she was going with this.

“Blond, blue-eyed, likes the worst tuna in town?”

“So you’ve met Mia’s newest suitor?” Letty asked as she slid under the car.

“He makes me nervous…there’s something off about him. I’d have thought Dad would have scared him off after that blow-up at the diner…guess the guy’s ballsier than I thought he was.”

“It’s gonna take more than just your dad kickin’ his ass to make him go away.” Letty said, closing the hood of the car she was working on.

“So where’d he go after the argument with Mami?” I asked, curious how far I’d have to roam to find him.

“Not sure…he could be damn near anywhere.” Letty said triumphantly as she pulled the tool she’d been searching for from the upright chest. “If you do happen to find him, tell him to make Jamille quit calling here everyday before I kick her ass a time!” I couldn’t help but laugh; Letty already didn’t like Jamille, and the poor girl was only exacerbating the situation. When Jamille did occasionally get the hint, she’d move on to Dad like clockwork.

I went down to El Gato Negro on a whim to see if Hector had Dad doing elbow-lifts again. When I got there, all I found at the bar was hector’s baby sister, Saige.

“Root beer float, kid?” I accepted and pulled my wallet. “Its on the house tonight, mi prima.”

“Have you seen my dad, Saige?” I asked, jabbing at the ice cream in the mug she’d handed me.

“He’s been here since around noon…said something about Mia and that was the last sober word he said.” She answered, rhythmically wiping down the bar.

“Cut him off when the night crew gets in and get him a room somewhere, will you? Mami’ll freak if he comes home sloshed.” I finished my float and left.

When I got back to the fort, Uncle Dom and Letty had the barbecue fired up while Ma was getting friendly with our dinner guest, Diner Boy.

“So what do you think of our dinner guest, Balraj?”

“I think your dad’s right—blondie smells like a cop. But your uncle seems to like him. We know your dad doesn’t, and leon doesn’t seem to give a rats ass one way or another. Not sure about Letty, though.” I laughed at this.

“Trust me, Balraj, Letty’s definitely with my dad on this one—mostly ’cause my folks hooking up would make Jamille stop callin’ here.” My mom and Letty walked in on the tail-end of my conversation with Balraj. “Hey, Letty…tell Uncle Dom he’s been replaced as my dad’s drinking buddy.” The chatter between Mom and Let stopped and Letty put down the case of Corona she held.

“By who?”

“He’s been at Hector’s since lunch, you do the math.”

“I thought Dom told Hector’s stupid ass not to serve Vince any more.” She turned to go back outside.

“I told Saige to make sure he got cut off when the night shift started, and that he didn’t drive home.”

That weekend, on Friday night, the buster made his first appearance at the street races. The cops came and broke it up like they almost always did, but not before Spilner lost his car. I’d been at Hector’s place earlier that day and wound up still being around when it was time for the races, so I opted to ride with them and meet up with my folks from there. Hector was the first to actually talk to him.

“Sweet Ride. What you run?” He didn’t answer. “You’re gonna make me find out the hard way, huh, ese?”

“Hell yeah.”

“You’re brave, hombre. Who are you, anyway?”

“Brian Spilner.”

“Name’s Hector; got a last name, too, but I can’t pronounce it so,” he said, shrugging it off. “So, what’s up with you, man?”

“Just waitin’ for Toretto.” So that’s what this idiot was doing here; it was kind of pathetic the number of rich white boys we’d been attracting to the races lately.

“Better get in line. This yours?” Edwin joined us; I wasn’t sure why he kept coming around; he never actually won a race, so it had to be for the women.

“Yeah, I’m standin’ next to it.”

“Tha’s funny. Edwin happens to know a few things; and one of the things Edwin knows is, it ain’t how you stand by your car, its how you race your car.”

The sound of supped up cars—most likely my family’s—approaching. I knew the order they’d arrive—it had been the same since before I was around.

Uncle Dom would pull in first, flanked by Dad on the left and Letty on the right, Ma would be with her if she chose to tag along for the night; then Leon behind Dad and Jesse tailing Letty.

Like clockwork, the skanks—Camille was the worst of all—swarmed the boys, specifically my uncle. And just like every other night we raced, there was Letty, breaking up the party the skanks were trying to bring to life.

The set-up for the races ensued, complete with the ritualistic exchanging of insults between other Dom, Hector, Edwin and Danny Yamamoto, one of the Asians Dom would race, simply because he wasn’t affiliated in with Johnny Tran.

Woah, that was told from a different perspective, lol. Mia and V have a daughter? Aww. I loved it! Glad you decided to post. Great start, and can't wait for the next chapter! :)

hey, Nakita--
you scratch my back (i.e. Scratch) and i'll scratch yours!

~*Mimi*~

Yay, glad you posted chika :)

Chapter Two: Things Fall Apart

Two days later, Mom was working on the books for the garage during a lull at the shop when I got there. So was Brian, a.k.a. the Buster.

“¿Qué tal, Mamí?” Brian eyed me cautiously as Ma went into the back of the store.

“So you’re Rae, huh?” My posture stiffened as I turned to face him.

“I don’t know who you are, but be warned. If you’re a cop, you’d better get the hell out of Los Angeles and stay the fuck away from my mother and our family.” I moved away from him right as Mia was coming out of the storeroom, about the same time Dad pulled up in his Maxima. “Say your prayers, Arizona; only difference between me and my dad is that I’m not nearly as violent as he can be.”

“Get outta here, Rachel.” Dad’s tone told me I should do as he said but I couldn’t let my dad kill a man in cold blood.

“Daddy. I’m not gonna let you try and kill this guy for hitting on Mama!” His face changed to something that told me I was mere steps away from committing treason against my family.

“Stay away from her, buster. You hurt her OR my daughter, I will kill you.” He left the shop and sped off. I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Letty.

“What’s up, Rae?”

“Send Leon to find Daddy. And find some way to get rid of Spilner.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The summer was almost over and Brian was still lurking around the garage. He and my mom had started dating on an almost nightly basis. Letty and I shared this theory that Ma did it simply because she knew it drove Vince crazy.

Yesterday, there was a huge brawl between Dad and Spilner, then Dad and Uncle Dom, and finally, one big loud fight between Mom, Dad, Uncle Dom and Letty.

See, Uncle Dom asked Mama’s new boyfriend to join his team at Race Wars, much to Dad’s dismay. And now here we were, fourteen hours later, the tension in the air so heavy you could cut it with a knife.

Everything was fine until Jesse got it into his head that he could race Johnny and win. It was a bad idea from the start, we all tried to tell him that. But that’s just how Jesse was—he did what he wanted, otherwise it would drive him crazy.

That night, after Uncle Dom nearly beat Johnny to a pulp, they were out on “business”, leaving me, Mom, and Spilner behind. I wouldn’t find out until much later exactly what was going on.

It didn’t matter anymore whose bright idea a stunt like that was, or that three of them were in the hospital’s intensive care unit, or that Jesse was hanging on by a thread. All I could really think about was my mom and Uncle Dom. He’d taken off after Johnny and Lance shot Jesse. The Trans, we would later learn, were dead. Mom was at the house, in her own deluded world; Dad had been right-on about Spilner—whose name we’d later learn was O’Conner—being a cop.

Leon called me after dropping Dad and Letty at the hospital. Dad had spent an hour in the trauma room till they could stop the bleeding and get him into an O.R., and Jesse had flat-lined three times—once in the trauma room and twice more in the O.R.—before they could stabilize him enough to move to surgery.

I spent most of their first day in the hospital, curled into Letty’s side drifting in and out of sleep, not that it did much for me. I was thirteen years old and watching my family fall apart right before my eyes.

I don’t know how long I’d been out when I began to come around, but when I did, one of the first things I heard when I came to were two heart monitors. I could feel by the body type that I was still with Letty.

“¿Qué pasó?” (What’s going on?)

“No mucho. Su tío Dom consiguió alguna idea estúpido en su cabeza otra vez. Nos no sabemos dondé esta ahora.” Letty said quietly as I sat up on the bed. (Not much. Your uncle Dom got a stupid idea in his head again. Don’t know where he is now.)

“What about my dad?”

“Outta surgery but he’ll be out a few more days.”

“¿Y Leon?” Letty nodded towards the chair beside the bed.

“He brought your mom in yesterday, round 3:30 A.M. half off her rocker. They gave her something to calm her and let her sleep it off.”

“So no sign of the cop?”

“The cop and the car are nowhere to be found. The charger’s a different story, though.” Leon said, waking up from having dozed off.

“What?!” Letty and I both exclaimed at the same time. The beeping from her heart monitor increased.

“There’s no sign of Dom but that car is in the LAPD impound lot. Pretty much totaled; news says that Spilner let his mark go.”

Chapter Three: Are You Happy Now?

Three days later, Dad was taken off the sedatives but still doped up on painkillers.

By then, Mom was long gone. She took off the night Jesse died, a day and a half after his murderers were taken out. Dad stood to have a permanent limp unless he started physical therapy right away.

Letty came out fine, a little worse for wear but physically she’d be fine. Emotionally it was another story. With Uncle Dom on the run and Dad still down for the count, things were looking considerably shaky at the garage, even with help from Leon, Jaya, Balraj and myself.

I was alone in the garage one afternoon a few weeks after Dad got out of the hospital when Mom walked in.

“Where’s your boyfriend, the cop?” I asked after having simply stared at her for a while.

“I know you probably blame me, Rachel, baby, but I made a mistake.”

“You seem to do that a lot, Mama.” I tried not to sound angry but it wasn’t easy. “Like the time you and Daddy got into that fight over me when you said he was the biggest mistake you’d ever made. Have you even been to see him?”

“Rachel, baby, you know I didn’t mean that.”

“Come on. I can finish this stuff later. Daddy, Letty, and the others are at home; I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

The ride home was quiet and full of tension. I had so many things I wanted to say to her that my head was swimming, almost drowning in my thoughts.

“You heard from Uncle Dom?” she shook her head. “Granddad’s car is in the LAPD impound lot. Le says its pretty much totaled.” Mia winced, knowing how much that car had meant to her brother. An uneasy silence fell over us when she pulled up in front of the house.

“Come on. Its your house, too.” Ma gave a weak smile before killing the engine and getting out of the car.

Inside, things were quiet. Dad was in a chair by the fireplace, guitar in hand. Leon was dozing on the couch and Letty was sitting propped up against the banister of the stairs, staring at some spot on the floor.

“Slow day, Rae?” Letty asked, her gaze not moving from where it was fixed on the floor.

“You could say that, I guess. I had an interesting visitor, though. Ma’s back in town.” All three of their gazes were on me within ten seconds of saying this, fixed upon the fact that I was standing beside my mother as if nothing had happened.

“”Look what the cat dragged in.” Letty sneered. “What, sick of your goddamn cop already?” Even a warning glare from Leon wasn’t enough to silence an angry Letty.

“Oh, like you’ve never fucked up, Letty. You just can’t handle the fact that someone other than Dom fucked up!” It was then that the fists flew. It was unexpected and therapeutic at the same time.

“Are you happy, Mia? Your brother’s run off like a dog with his tail between his legs and nearly killed his best friend in the process! He’s lucky he can even walk, never mind the fact that he still has his arm!” by now Dad had Mom’s arms held behind her back, while Leon was restraining Letty to the best of his abilities.

“If you wanna have it out with Dom, feel free. Just remember: you gotta find him first!” Mia spat back simply because she knew Letty wouldn’t be able to hit her.

“Only person I feel like goin’ a few rounds with is your buddy, Spilner! Its his fault Jesse’s dead, Mia. He might not have pulled the trigger, but he’s still responsible for it!” Letty snarled, lashing against Leon’s restraint. This time it was me that slapped Letty. As angry as I may have been about the recent chain of events, it wasn’t a legitimate reason for her to berate my mother like that.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, my voice grave as Dad took Ma from the den out into the backyard. “You wanna yell at somebody? Go. Find. Dom. Do not take it out on her. I don’t intend to have this conversation with you again, Letty.”

“Rae, I—”

“Personally, it makes no difference to me if he comes back or not. Either way he’s still family whether I like it or not. Until then, don’t yell at my mom because of what her brother did.” I turned and followed my parents’ led out into the backyard.

“She’s right. She’s absolutely right. I let him in here; into our family. I might as well have been the one with the gun in my hands.” I could hear my mother whimpering in my father’s arms—a sight that was almost completely foreign but comforting at the same time.

“She’s angry at Dom for leavin’ her behind, Mi. So much for that promise of a beach in Mexico.” He said. “She can’t yell at him like she used to so she’s takin’ it out on you.” I almost laughed at how intelligent my dad sounded—something Uncle Dom wouldn’t have given the time of day. What I saw next would have put Jesse on a permanent high.

I don’t know what prompted it—the tension of the moment, my mother’s emotional volatility from my uncle’s absence, or impulse—but it felt like a sign from jesse that we’d be alright. And then she spoke.

“I miss you, V.”

Talk about a quick update! :D Hehe

Nice. And so NOW Mia wants V back? Interesting. Wonder how that'll go. Where the hell is Dom? We need a Dotty reunion! :P

yeah, about that...its YOUR turn, now Nakita...i gave you an update, i think its time Scratch got a new chapter...

im gonna answer this truthfully: i dont know what i've done with dom just yet. and the dotty reunion will come, but you ARE going to have to wait it out a while.

This story is really awesome and you are doing a great job at this and anyother new updates? :lol:

i'm debating making the vince/mia thing angst central...

as far as dotty goes, it might happen a bit sooner than i thought. i read some fic online that had some good dotty dialogue, which helped me start developing that. no promises though.

~*Mimi*~

this is good i cant wait to read more

im working on a new chapter right now, but school's not exactly friendly to the whole productive process, ya know?

where the hell is NAKITA?!

~*Mimi*~

i know, you were expecting a new chapter but this is important and just as much fun!

Okay, i dont normally do this, but i've hit a serious case of writers block caused by either school or life in general (idk which).

i'm opening the floor to suggestions of what (if anything) you see happening in the near future of this fic.

please and thank yous!

~*Mimi*~

**this is all I've had for awhile now; read and enjoy!**
~*Mimi*~

CHAPTER 4:

As unpleasant as my father’s moods were before the accident, the physical therapy for his leg definitely made them worse; Mom and I usually received the brunt end of it. Letty began to come and go as she pleased, usually in a worse mood than when she’d left. I assume she was trying to find Uncle Dom, but was quickly realising the hopelessness of her endeavor.

By the start of school, wounds—both physical and those to the ego—had been licked and were finally beginning to mend. All except for one—Letty’s heart. It had been a while since people finally stopped asking about him, which allowed her to become her old self as much as possible—except she was detached from Dom. My parents had begun trying to rebuild what they’d had before Uncle Dom went to Lompoc. Dad’s therapy was done, and he’d moved on to learning to use his arm again. This time his moods were better. Things were back to relative normality.

that was really good
i just wish there was more
:[
up date soon!
:DD

see post before the uber short post.

i need suggestions...STAT!!

Hope you get over your writer's block chika.

i think Dom should come back
and eevveerryybody should start over together
letty should play hard to get
but it shouldnt be to cliched
:DD
just a suggestion

i think i need to go make some dotty art... or should i make vince/mia art??? gah, where's spring break when i need it?!

idk
both would be nice
lol

oh, trust me! dom's not gonna be in letty's good graces for a while when he comes back. but first, i might throw some brian drama your way.

who knows, i might even let vince have a run at him this time!

g'night ladies (and any possible guys)

~*Mimi*~

le gasp! i've been inspired to the point that i might just make Doms return happen a lot faster than i thought...im listening to Hey Baby by No Doubt.

it just made me think of the whole "i smell *sniff sniff* skanks" scene. i almost fell out my chair when it hit me.

So short? :( You tease. :P

Update soon! :)

yea exactly
makes perfect sense
niiice
update soon
nite

~bazz bazz~

me? i'm the tease?

how about that Scratch update you owe me, hm?

i've got a nasty case of writer's block...gah.

Must...have...scratch ®! :P

thank you
hopefully within this week
:DD

TEASER:
what i'm seeing in my head is, theyre at a race, the skanks are crowding some new guy, rachel goes over & breaks it up, sayin' something like, "just because Dom aint here dont mean you skanks should be scarin' off the kiddies." she works her way thru the skank crowd,and her reaction to what she sees is, "Oh, my god."

END TEASER


how's that for a tease, Nakita?? :P

that was nooott nice
haha
but it does make me want more

Okay you guys and whats going on???me well,I am laughing here are you's teasing nakita? :D

we really need more new updates around here. :unsure:

A/N: God bless those who've contributed to helping my writer's block! i figured i'd give an update of what i'd managed to write out on paper and then see what y'all said.

As unpleasant as my father’s moods were before the accident, the physical therapy for his leg definitely made them worse; Mom and I usually received the brunt end of it. Letty began to come and go as she pleased, usually in a worse mood than when she’d left. I assume she was trying to find Uncle Dom, but was quickly realising the hopelessness of her endeavor.

By the start of school, wounds—both physical and those to the ego—had been licked and were finally beginning to mend. All except for one—Letty’s heart. It had been a while since people finally stopped asking about him, which allowed her to become her old self as much as possible—except she was detached from Dom.

My parents had begun trying to rebuild what they’d had before Uncle Dom went to Lompoc. Dad’s therapy was done, and he’d moved on to learning to use his arm again. This time his moods were better. Things were back to relative normality.

By now it was almost October. The feds were pretty much leaving us—and Harry—alone, and business at the garage was beginning to pick back up.

With Uncle Dom gone, some of the gutsier guys we knew from the races took it upon themselves to try and ask Letty out—to dinner, movies, whatever. She hit the first guy and broke the second’s jaw. And then came Hector—the last guy anyone expected to attempt it. He was the only one she accepted.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So you guys don’t have a clue where Dom’s at, eh?” Hector asked, laughing. “Shit ain’t right, girl. Not right at all.”

“Shit wasn’t right for a long time before the white boy got involved.” Letty said, leaning into the back of the booth she shared with Hector at Cha-Cha-Cha.

“So what are you sayin’, hermanita, that you’re throwin’ the king himself to las chicas locas?” Hector asked. Letty snorted her dissent towards the reference.

“Last time I checked, Elvis was dead and buried.”

“And Toretto?”

“Over; done; ancient history.” Letty answered, her tone confident. “He lived his life and now I’m gonna go live mine. I’m through wasting my time on him.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was almost Halloween—about a week before.

Things were good: my folks were acting like an almost-actual couple;
Leon and Carly (A/N: see C1) were thinking about getting a place nearby; and I could almost swear Letty was beginning to fall for Hector.
Then it happened. They both came back.

Ahhhh, dude don't leave it there.
Letty and Hector?!?!
Ohhhh, wonder what Dom's gonna say 'bout that.
Good for Letty, you know to be able to move on and be strong.
Although I'm not saying that I'm not looking forward for a Dotty reunion.

Loved the chappie chika, good job.

Yeah, that'll kill Nakita, won't it?

Hehe.
Your evil.
I like that, lol. :P

Nakita's just as evil with her cliffhangers & impromptu new fics....

the scratch hiatus is killing me!

^^your not the only one 'bout to go bananas.
Her new fic seems interesting though, wonder where she'll take that one.

but i wanna know what happens with Dom's letter. i read that right before i had to leave for school, and i was tearing up!!

OH HECK NO!!
that was guudddd
:DDD

hehehe...i learned from the Queen of Cliffhangers (Nakita).

what can i say except i'm haulin' ass working on the next post!

kooleo

an' remember how letty hit lance @race wars?

she's gonna get violent again soon!!